//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Getting Sense Talked Into You // Story: Rise of the Element Gang, Book 1: The Adventure Begins // by Power of Six //------------------------------// Chapter 6: Getting Sense Talked Into You I arose from an uneasy sleep the next morning. It had taken me hours to eventually fall asleep, even then it hadn’t exactly been peaceful. My mind still played over and over again that one mistake I’d made, reminding me the last time I ended up doing that and the overwhelming shame I felt from it. I looked around at all of my belongings as he walked downstairs. At least it wouldn't take me long to pack up, and leave, without anypony noticing that I had left at all. I would just slip away. Until then, I thought I might as well go out for a last look around. Celestia was just starting to bring the sun up when I walked outside, locked my door and set off at a slow pace. I wasn't walking anywhere in particular, I just…walked. Lost in my thoughts. Almost nopony was up yet, not this early. That meant I had no chance of being disturbed in my thoughts. I could be alone, which was what I was used to, even after having the guys around me for so many years. I would certainly miss them and this place when I left. Everypony had been so welcoming, so kind… But I knew it wouldn’t have lasted long. Once they heard what I did to Rainbow Dash, they would only see me as a jerk and a complete dipstick that doesn’t care for anypony. Just like…him. Whether or not the guys would look for me and protect me from them, at least I wouldn’t have to face their scolding after I left. That wouldn’t stop me missing them though, especially from how friendly they'd been. I’d finally talked to Twilight, hear her wonderful voice for the first time, met up with my cousin Rarity after some many years, and talked to the others I’d met…honest Applejack and acrobatic Rainbow Dash. I hadn't even properly met Fluttershy or even met the wielder of the Element of Laughter yet and I was already leaving. And…leaving Shield and the others behind. Oh, well. It’s for the best anyway. They’ll all be happy here. I arrived at a lake, stopping to lie next to its bank. I liked the water, the way it shimmered in the light, the colors that were created from the rising sun, a blend of pinks and oranges. It was certainly a beautiful sight. I felt calm, relaxed a little…at least it helped to take my mind off things, seeing the beauty that nature had to offer. Then something bubbled out in the middle of the lake. I ignored it. Probably just a fish or something. Then it showed up again, this time closer. And again, once again moving closer. Odd. I peered as best I could below the shimmering surface of the lake. There was something down there, it wasn’t a fish. It looked like…no… It couldn’t be her, could it? “What in the name of…” Suddenly, a bright pink shape burst out of the water, causing me to leap back in shock. It was her. “Mr. Psychic Pony!” Pinkie Pie cried, hopping out of the water and shaking herself dry. “I thought I saw you!” “Um…hello, Miss Pie.” A few questions stumbled in my mind. The one I asked was: “What were you doing in the lake?” “Having an early morning swim.” she answered, as if it were obvious. “Helps to wake you up in the morning, you know, Dusk.” “Oh, right. Oka—wait a minute!” I whirled in shock. “I never told you my name! How did you… I mean why… How…?” “I told you, I’m psychic like you! And also ʹcause my friends told me your name yesterday when I saw them along with your guy friends, but I still wanna think I figured out your name before then. Psychic!” She said all of this very fast. “Oh…right…” I said, before I then realized what she said. “Wait, did you say you met my friends?” “Yeah! Shield, Dog, and Leon, right?” She asked me. “Yeah, that’s right.” I said to her before asking “You wouldn’t happen to be friends with a couple of ponies named Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity, would you?” “Well, of course, silly.” She said to me. “I’m also friends with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.” With that, I finally realized my assumption was right. Pinkie Pie was the wielder of Laughter. With the way she acts, she would actually get along with the Lightning elemental of the team, whoever they are. I also realized she said she was friends with Rainbow Dash, which meant she was one of the wielders. I began processing it all in my head to figure out which Element Rainbow was. Twilight was Magic, Applejack was Honesty, Fluttershy was Kindness, Rarity was Generosity, and Pinkie Pie was Laughter. Which meant Rainbow was…Loyalty! Now I knew that she and Shield were gonna get along just fine. “Right. Of course.” I sighed and resumed my silent contemplation. Maybe if I don’t say anything for a moment she would just leave… “Hey, what’s with the frowny face?” She parked herself next to me, lying on her back. “What’s on your mind?” “Nothing. Besides, it's not something I can talk about.” “Nuh-uh! It is something and it does matter.” “Who would it matter to?” “To me!” “And why would it matter to you?” “Because I'm Pinkie Pie!” “Again, why would that matter to you?” “Because I’m your aunt Pinkie Pie, here to listen to all your woes. Now come on, tell me what's up? Apart from clouds. And birds. And Pegasus ponies. Anyway, tell me what's up!” I blinked. Had I really just had this argument with, probably, the craziest pony I had ever met? For that matter, was she genuinely interested in what was on my mind or was she just toying with me about what happened in order to make feel stupid? Was it really worth getting my hopes up again, only to dash them again? I resigned myself mentally. I was leaving, so it wasn’t like things could get much worse. I might as well tell her. If nothing else, to humor her until I had to leave. “You’re probably younger than me too.” I murmured in defeat. “Hm? What was that?” “Nothing… Alright, you want to know what’s on my mind? Here it is.” I proceeded to tell her all that happened the previous day, though I hated to relive it again. All without revealing my secret, both about my magic and the whole Element Squad. All the while, she listened. Whether or not she was taking it in, I couldn’t tell. “…And so,” I finished, “I’m going to be returning to Canterlot. I don’t belong here and I kidded myself to think I did. Shield and the others are really happy here. They’ll understand why I did this after I leave. I can handle myself without them. I did it before and I can do it again. Hopefully they won’t hate me after that.” She stared at me for a few minutes. All the while, her blue eyes sparkled. Then, without warning, she laughed. Just like that. She laughed like a small filly, giggling madly. Of course she hadn’t been taking me seriously. I thought bitterly. She was just joking to make me look like a complete idiot. “Hehehehe! Dusk…I’m so relieved!” she said in-between giggles. “For a few minutes…hehehe…I thought it was something really bad!” “What?" I stared at her incredulously. "What's that supposed to mean?” “What do you mean, 'supposed to mean'? What do you think it means? It's obvious! Am I speaking Prance, or something?” “What does that even mean?” “Never mind," she said in a sing-song voice. "Why are you worried about all that stuff? They were just silly accidents, they weren't your fault. If you just go apologies for being such a silly-pants, you'll be fine. See, obvious.” “It isn’t obvious, Pinkie Pie?” I shouted, losing my patience. “Don't you see? They all think I’m a jerk and idiot now, a clumsy fool! Why would they even begin to forgive me? Racer didn’t forgive after what I did to him, so…” “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” she said to me before she raised an eyebrow at me. “What’s this about a racer?” I then realized what I just said to her. I just said that guy’s name. That one story I have is the one I never told the guys and never wanted to tell anypony. Seeing how I already gushed so much of my shame already, I sighed as I decided to tell her why I thought none of the girls would forgive me. “Can you keep a secret?” I asked her. “This is something that I don’t want anypony to know about.” “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” she said, began miming several actions. “What was that?” I asked, confused by what she did. “I just Pinkie Promised not tell anypony what you’re gonna tell me.” “Pinkie…what?” “I made you a Pinkie Promise. It’s a special promise I made so, in case you ever need to keep a secret or make a really, really, really, really, reeeaaally big promise to somepony, you can keep it to yourself and the pony you Pinkie Promised to. And nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise.” “Oh, so it’s like an orphan promise?” “A what?” “It’s…never mind. Now for the secret. Rainbow Dash isn’t the first pony who asked me to help them with their tricks. And I don’t mean Shield. There was somepony else who asked me to help them, the first one I agreed to help.” I sighed before I began telling her my tale, reliving those moments from my past. “Back when I was a little colt, I met a guy who went by the name Dawn Racer. He was a start athlete in school. Never once did he slip up or made a mistake. He was fastest there was. He even got to be in the Equestria Games a couple of times, being the youngest there was to participate.” I smiled as I remembered all the good memories. “Guess it was something I kind of envy of him having. I was always amazed by what he did and how much he put into it. One day, he came to me and asked me if I could help him with something. He wanted me to give his tricks some pizazz, you know, make the trick look spectacular, something that draws attention from the crowd and bring up that roar of applause. He told me that he wanted to be a performer like those acrobats in the circus and do amazing tricks in front of a huge crowd like the ones in the Equestria. He even dreamt of one day performing in the Equestria Games. After so much asking, I agreed to help him. After that, we became partners. He would provide the physical aspects while I gave the visual touches. After a while, we finally perfected it. Even as young stallions, we were the perfect duo in entertainment. Thanks to me, Racer was able to amaze the crowd in spectacular ways. After a while we became friends, having a bond that I thought could never break.” I then lost that smile once I remembered…the incident. “But all of that changed one day. It was during the Equestria Games and Racer was asked to perform a spectacular performance as part of that year’s opening. He agreed to it and we practiced until we were finally ready. With this, the whole course for his performance was set around the torch, really helped with my co…coordinated props!” I said, realizing I almost told her about my magic. Luckily she didn’t notice. “Yeah, the torch’s light really made my props stand out there. Racer’s dream had finally become a reality. He was now performing in a colosseum full of ponies there at the Equestria Games.” “By working together, me and Racer were able to dazzle the crowd by doing our best trick yet, the Pendulum Oddity. Everything went perfectly and we were ready to call it a day until…the crowd began cheering an encore. They wanted more action, more pizazz. More, more, more! They didn’t want to the show to stop until they had their fill of amazement. Though I knew I couldn’t do it, Racer was more than happy enough to oblige. In case of emergencies, we would use special signals to talk each other. With his that day, he told me to do the trick again, but add in some more pizazz and make it bigger and more spectacular. I told him I couldn’t do it as I’ve never done anything like that. But he still insisted on doing it, he wanted to give the crowd what they wanted. With this, I eventually went through. I did my best to make the trick look as big and amazing as possible. It was going great, but it was putting a great strain on me. To make matters worse, Racer started moving faster. He kept on getting faster and faster and faster and faster. He was moving so fast that I had trouble keeping up with him. And that’s when it happened. Right at end of the trick, I used the wrong prop and set it off right in front of him. He ended up blind sighted and got off course, sending himself straight through the fire of the torch! With all that fire on him, he lost focus and went straight into the course set up for his performance. Every part of his body hit every bar in there! After that, he was put into the hospital. He lived and was able to leave, but…he paid a heavy price.” “Was it really expensive to have him stay?” she asked. “Not that kind of price.” I said to her. “He recovered from the burn marks along with the bone fractures. Well, all but one. The doctor said that he received so much damaged to spine, Racer was now paralyzed from the waist down. Only thing he could still use from there was his own tail. With how much damaged he took, there was no certainty he would be able to walk again. Meaning…he was never gonna perform ever again. I tried to apologize, but Racer just scolded me, blaming me for what happened to him. I’ll never forget what he said to me that day.” “You! You did this to me!” Racer said to me as I reminisced what happened after he got out of the hospital. “This is all your fault!” “Racer, it was an accident!” I said to him. “I didn’t mean to paralyze you! I’m really sorry!” “Sorry?! ‘Sorry’ doesn’t make up for the fact that I’m now gonna spend the rest of my life in this wheelchair! You’re supposed to be the smartest pony in Canterlot, but you don’t even know anything! Ah! A cragidile haves a larger brain than you!” He then turned around before he then said “This is why nopony in the city wants to hang out with you! ʹCause you’re nothing but a big, bumbling idiot who can’t do the simplest thing right!” “Racer…” I said as I tried to talk to him, lifting my claw to rest on his shoulder. “Don’t touch me!” Racer yelled, making me stagger back. “After what you did to me, nopony will ever be your friend. Don’t ever, EVER bother me! I never want to see you again!” He then sped off in his wheelchair, leaving me with nothing but shame for what I’d done to him and the sorrow for losing him as a friend. “That’s why you ran away when Rainbow Dash got hurt.” Pinkie said to me as I hung my head in shame. “Does Shield and the other guys know?” “No, I never told them.” I said to her. “I kept it a secret from everypony. Nopony else knows about it or that I even worked with Racer. When they asked me what was wrong, I told them that a family member of mine died and they took me out and managed to cheer me up.” Pinkie gasped, no doubt shocked by what I had done that day. “You lied to them? Dusk, you never, ever lie to your friends!” “I know, but what was I supposed to tell them? That I lost a friend in an acrobat after I ruined his dream from helping with his tricks right behind their backs? They’ll be mad if I tell them. Which is why I ran after what I did to Rainbow. I knew the girls were gonna hate me once they found out about that. They’ll never want to speak to me again, just like Racer.” “Dusk, I doubt that they would be angry with you.” She said to me. “Sure, you ruined the life of one friend, putting him in a wheelchair and making him hate you for the rest of his life.” She no doubt saw she made me feel worse as she took on an apologetic tone. “Oh, I’m not making this better, aren’t I?” after a while, she then spoke again. “Anyway, the girls aren’t gonna be as mad as they are worried for you. They’ll forgive you.” “Why?” I asked as I looked up at her, my look of shame not even going away. “Because they were just accidents.” she said with a bright smile. “Besides, they already have.” “What?” I said, shocked by what she said. Had I misheard her? They'd…forgiven me? “What are you talking about?” “Well, when I met your friends yesterday, the girls were helping them look for you. Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. Ooh, you know so many of my friends. Anyway, they asked me if they’d seen you, they were really worried. I hadn’t though and I wanted to help, but I was really busy, so I couldn’t. Sorry.” “The girls were with the guys…looking for me?” Was that why Dog and Applejack had come to my house, Dog showed Applejack where I lived and come looking for me there? Had the girls really been worried about me? “Why? I understand why the guys were doing it, but why were Twilight and the others looking for me?” “ʹCause they’re your friends, silly! Friends look out for each other.” “Yeah, that’s what the guys tell me just about every day. Though I doubt the girls consider me as a friend.” I insisted. “They’re just being nice to me because I’m new. They’re probably gonna scold me for what I did.” “Dusk, what did I tell you?” I looked back up at her. “They’re not gonna hate you.” “But what if they will?” “Won’t.” “I’m just saying…” “Shush.” Okay, now I didn’t know what she was doing. “But what if…” “No! Got anything else to say?” “Uh…” I tried to say something, but I couldn’t think of anything to say. I had nothing to say. “Mmhmm!” she hummed in satisfaction. “Right, I gotta go. Lots to do and little time. See ya later, Dusk, remember what I told you!” With that, she pranced off in that odd way that she did, once again leaving me alone with my thoughts. Though now, they were a little less bleak…if a little more confused. Despite her apparent bordering insanity, somehow, Pinkie Pie was right. It had been a while since that happened with Racer. It could be different. So how could I know that I screwed things up again if I just ran away from it? New thoughts and ideas whirled in my head as I rose up, walked away from the lake, and down a forest path, trees lined on either side, their leaves beginning to gain a slight autumn feel to them. Maybe yesterday was just a mistake, an accident…everypony made mistakes. Nopony was perfect, I was certainly far from it. The guys had proven that. Could I really let a simple mistake get me down? Come to think of it, that stupid mistake I made didn’t seem all that bad compared to what happened to Racer. Maybe it would be like when Twilight stood up for me when I dropped all of those books. Of course the only reason it happened because I accidently tripped over Spike's tail. I shouldn’t have tried carrying so many of them. The Rainbow incident, everything had gone alright, up until that flare. I hadn’t even stayed to see what she might have said about it for I thought she would be like Racer, hating me for the rest of her life. Running off, that was stupid. I should’ve stopped when Shield told me to. I should’ve just stayed… Then, there was something I never considered. Maybe the reason that I was so nervous to make a good impression was because I was too scared to try, too afraid of rejection. Like I did with Shield and the guys. Here, I had started on the right path. It might be too much to hope right now but maybe…just maybe…it could work. I was so wrapped up in my meanderings, that I didn't see where I was going and collided with somepony going in the opposite direction. I collided with whoever it was, causing both me and the unfortunate soul to fall to the ground. “Sorry, sorry, didn’t see where I was going.” I picked myself up, refraining from negative thoughts. “Here, let me help you up.” “Thanks.” The victim said as he grabbed my claw. After I helped him up, I saw who it was. “Leon?” I said, surprised to see him. “Dusk!” he said as he then used his comm and said “Guys, I found Dusk! We’re over by the lake!” “On our way!” I heard Shield say over the comm. “Dusk!” Dog and Shield said as they both then dogpiled me, no doubt managing to get their using Shield’s speed. “Dusk, what’re ya doin’ out here?” Dog asked me as he and Shield helped me up. “Yeah, we’ve been looking all over for ya.” Shield said to me as I then just smiled at them. “Yeah, just…had some time to think to myself.” I said, before I frowned as I knew what I now had to do. “Guys, I’m sorry I shut you all out. I just couldn’t face you and the girls after what happened with Rainbow. Thought you all would hate me.” “Dusk, it was just an accident.” Dog said to me with a reassuring smile. “Nopony could’ve saw it comin’.” “Yeah, it’s no big deal, dude.” Shield said to me before he raised a brow. “And what do you mean ‘hate you’? What gave you that idea?” “Well…” I said as I was trying to decide what to say. With this, I sighed as I then decided to tell them what happened with Racer. “Because it didn’t end well the last time my color magic hurt somepony.” “What do ya mean?” Dog asked. “You guys ever heard of a stallion named Dawn Racer?” I asked them. “Dawn Racer?” Shield said to me. “Yeah, he was the best acrobat in Canterlot up until that accident in the Equestria Games.” “Well, there’s a reason for that accident.” I said to them. “You see…” With this, I began with the original version of the story. Because I was still keeping my color magic a secret, I lied to Pinkie when I said I used props for Racer’s performances. The real story was that I was using my magic one day and Racer found me doing it. So, what I meant by “props”, I actually meant I used my color magic for special effects. Like what happened with Rainbow, he got blinded by the light as I used too much of my magic to keep up with him. I was so ashamed of what I did, that I couldn’t find it in myself to use my magic like that again, which I ended up doing with Rainbow. “…And that’s what happened.” I said as I finished the story. “So those things he used for his tricks, that was you?” Shield asked me and I nodded “yes”. “So that’s why ya’ll were so tuckered down.” Dog said. “Why didn’t ya’ll just tell us?” “Because I was ashamed that I kept this away from you guys.” I said to them. “I was afraid you guys would mad at me for lying to you.” “Dusk, we wouldn’t be mad.” Dog said to me. “We’re your friends, remember?” “Yeah.” Shield said to me. “Besides, I think it it’s pretty awesome you got to work with Racer.” “Really?” I said, surprised by this. “Heck, yeah!” Shield said. “You actually helped one of the greatest entertainers in Canterlot and got to go to the Equestria Games! How cool is that?” “Yeah, that’s gosh darn amazin’!” Dog said. “I ain’t seen anypony who had ever come close to seeing it much less help somepony who was in it!” “So…we’re good?” I asked with a smile. “Of course, we’re cool!” Shield said before he then grabbed in a headlock and began giving me a noogie. “Come here, you knucklehead!” Shield released me after him, me, and Dog heard Leon yawn and looked at him as he tiredly smacked his lips. “Sorry, guys.” He said to us as I then noticed the bags under his eyes. “Just a little tired.” “Sweet Celestia, Leon,” I said to him, surprised to see him looking like he hadn’t slept in days, “what happened to you?” “Yeah, ya’ll look all plum-tuckered out.” Dog said to him. “Oh, I didn’t get much sleep last night…aah-t Fluttershy’s.” Leon said with a yawn. “What?” Shield said with shock before he gave him a sly smile. “Oh! I get it now. Good for you.” Then he spoke to me. “Hey, Dusk, what’s that word you told me to use to make sure Dog doesn’t get confused?” “You mean ‘kutta’?” I said to him. “You kutta!” Shield said to Leon. The word he said was Neigh-di (what you call Hindi) for “dog.” With the way he said things there, you can already guess what he meant there. “It’s not what you think.” Leon said to him. “Turns out Fluttershy is an animal lover like me.” “Like you?” I asked him, realizing what he meant. “Do you mean she had animals in her house like you did back in Canterlot?” Yeah, a few days after we became the Element Squad, Leon brought in all the animals he let live with him over the years into the house back at Canterlot. Still have no idea how his parents allowed him to do that. When those animals moved in, it was like a whole forest moved in there. Me, Shield, and Dog could barely sleep because of it. Luckily, Dragonis helped us take care of the problem by letting them stay in his private garden and Leon would take care of them from there. “Yep.” Leon said, still feeling tired. “They’re a little rowdy having another pony in there with them. Especially this one bunny who wouldn’t stop stomping his foot on my horn. It’s gonna take a while for the animals to get use to me.” “I can see they haven’t been making things easy for you.” I said before I realized what he said. “Wait a minute, what do you mean ‘get use to you’?” “Oh, right.” Leon said before he yawned and continued. “Forgot to tell ya. I’m gonna stay at Fluttershy’s cottage.” “You mean you’re not coming back to the house?” I asked him. “Nope.” He said to me. “I figured that, with all those animals living with her, she could use a hoof.” “Well, that’s really nice of you.” I said to him, making him smile. “Well, guess I’ll be seeing you around.” “Hey, at least you got Shield around.” Leon said. “Yeah, about that…” Shield said as he scratched the back of his head with his hoof before giving me an unsure look. “Dusk, is it okay that I stay with Dash?” “You too, Shield?” I said, surprised by this. “Yeah, Dash asked me to come and stay with her ʹcause we’re working together and she haves plenty of space at her house.” He said to me. “So ya cool with it?” I gave it some thought and my head said that this was a bad idea as it would mean the team would be split up and could cause some complication. But my heart said I need to let Shield stay with Rainbow as it was the right thing to do as his friend. With this, I made my decision, smiled and said “It’s okay, Shield. You can stay with her.” “Thanks, bud! You’re the best!” shield said as he gave me a strong bro hug. “You’re…welcome.” I said, strained from the hug squeezing me. He let me go and I managed to catch my breath. “And here’s the thing, Shield,” I said to him. “Rainbow is actually the wielder of the Element of Loyalty, your family’s virtue!” “Seriously?” Shield said with a big smile before he hoof-pumped in the air. “Awesome!” “Now, lookie here.” Dog said to us. “Us fellas are with an Element of Harmony.” “Yeah, we are.” I said as I realized it. “Dog’s living with Applejack, Leon’s living with Fluttershy, Shield’s living with Rainbow Dash, and I’m working with Twilight. The Element Squad foursome now friends with the new wielders of the Elements of Harmony. How about that?” “Yeah, and who knows?” Shield said. “Maybe having both us and the girls around this town will bring in our last two members.” “Yeah, then our little squad will become an actual Element Gang.” Dog said and I was happy to think we would become the full the team we were meant to be. “Guys!” Leon said to us before speaking through gritting teeth, his eyes widen in shock. “Ix-nay on the Element-way Ang-gay!” “Leon, why are you speaking in Pig Latin?” I asked him as me, Dog, and Shield were confused by this. Leon sighed and hanged his head broodingly before he then said “Because I’m not alone.” “What?” I said, still confused by what he meant. He then moved away a bit and revealed somepony stand on the other side of him. Seeing the yellow coat, pink mane, and those blue eyes, me, Shield, and Dog gasped in shock as we all saw it was the Pegasus Fluttershy, one of the wielders of the Element of Harmony. She was looking at us with her eyes widen and her jaw dropped in shock. “What the…?” Shield said as Fluttershy then gave a look of worry. “How long has she been standing there?” “The whole time.” Leon said, his head still hanging. “We were walking together and kinda hid behind me. Probably should’ve told you that before we started talking.” “Yep.” Dog said, his eyes narrowed in disappointment at Leon. I gave a look of complete shock as I looked at Fluttershy, freaking out on the inside. We just told our secret to somepony outside of the circle and it was one of the Elements of Harmony! Seeing how there was no way we could turn back now. With this, I decided to let her in on the truth. “So you’re Fluttershy.” I said as I put on a calmer and friendly demeanor before putting my claw out to her for a shake, no doubt having some sweat on me. “It’s nice to finally meet…” The pony in question scurried away from my outstretched claw, quickly hiding behind Leon with her eyes currently hidden, as best she could, behind a lock of her mane. “You?” I said as she looked at me nervously. “Hey, are…you okay?” She just whimpered and hid further into her mane. “Wow!” Shield said a bemused smile as he saw this. “She sure isn’t called ‘shy’ for nothing.” “Shield!” I said to him with a glare. “What?” he said to me, no doubt oblivious to the fact that he just insulted Fluttershy. “Sorry, guys.” Leon said to us. “Fluttershy isn’t really much of a bigger talker when it comes to new ponies.” “That reminds me of somepony I know.” Shield said, giving me a sly smile. He then sarcastically said “But I can’t figure out who.” I smiled and rolled my eyes at him as he was talking about me back when I first met him and the guys. To be honest, seeing how Fluttershy was acting actually did remind me of myself from back then. “Hey, it’s okay.” Leon calmly said to Fluttershy with a reassuring smile, speaking like he was talking to scared foal. “No need to be scared, Flutters.” “Flutters?” Me, Shield, and Dog said, confused by what he said. “Yeah, that’s my nickname for her.” Leon said to us. “Dog calls Applejack ‘AJ’ and Rainbow Dash likes to be called ‘Rainbow’ or ‘Dash’, so I decided to give Fluttershy a nickname too, shortening ‘Fluttershy’ to ‘Flutters’. Pretty clever, huh?” “Yeah, I guess.” I said to him. “So you’re gonna introduce us?” “Oh, right.” Leon said before speaking to Fluttershy. “Come on out. Don’t worry. These are my friends.” After a moment, it seemed like Fluttershy was gonna decide not to come out until she then started walking to stand beside Leon. “Come on, Flutters.” Leon said to her as we gave friendly smiles. “Say hello.” “H-Hello.” She nervously said in a voice so quiet and gentle that she couldn’t hear from much farther than we were and with a look of uncertainty. “Well, it’s nice to finally meet you, Fluttershy.” I said as I began introductions. I motioned to myself before motioning to mine and Leon’s cowpony friend. “My name is Dusk Noir. And these two are Dog Fries…” “Howdy.” Dog said, tipping his hat to her. “And Shield Steedor.” I said, motioning to our group’s athlete. “Sup.” Shield said to her. “I-it’s nice t-to meet you t-too.” She said, still nervous. Shield laughed before he looked at me and said “Man, she sounds just like you.” “Shield, give her a break.” Leon said to him. “Flutters is just not use to speaking to ponies that’s all.” “So…you four know my friends?” she asked us. “Yep.” Dog said to her. “Yeah, we saw you girls back in Canterlot on the new window.” Shield said to her. “So you’re really an Element of Harmony?” Leon asked her. “Y-yes.” She said to him. “Yeah, she’s the Element of Kindness, your family’s virtue, Leon.” I said to him. “Is that why you were being so nice to me?” Fluttershy asked Leon. “Because I was an Element of Harmony?” “What? No.” Leon said to her. “Flutters, I didn’t even know you were an Element until just now. Like Dusk said, being nice is part of who I am and I really want to help you.” “Really?” she said to him, no doubt surprised by this. “Really.” He said with a reassuring smile. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for a friend.” With that, she returned the smile. After a moment, the two then looked back at me, Shield, and Dog as we continued to talk. “So you heard everything, huh?” I asked her. “Yes.” She said at a normal volume, her head hung in embarrassment. “So is it true? Are you four really the Element Gang?” “You know about them?” I asked her. “Of course.” She said to us. “Everypony has heard about the Element Gang. So is it true?” “Kinda, yeah.” I said to her. “Though we’re not really an Element Gang. There’s supposed to be six, not four.” “Yeah, back at Canterlot, we’re known as the Element Squad.” Shield said. “Regular ponies by day, awesome heroes by night.” “That’s pretty amazing.” She said with a calm yet excited look on her face. “But why are there only four of you?” “We would be a whole Element Gang, but our Lightnin’ and Air elementals didn’t even show up.” Dog said to her. “Oh. So which members of the Element Gang are you?” she said. With this, I then revealed my tail and blew some fire before I said “Fire elemental.” “So you’re El Dragon?” she asked. “That’s right.” I said before I revealed who the others were. “Dog’s the Ice elemental, Shield’s the Earth elemental, and Leon’s the Water elemental.” “You’re the Water elemental?” Fluttershy asked Leon. “That’s right.” Leon said to her, proudly. “But I thought Aquatillia was a mare.” She said, making Leon narrow his eyes. “I’m not Aquatillia.” Leon said to her. “But I thought you said you were the Water elemental.” She said. “He is.” I said to her. “Just not the one you know. You see, we’re not the same elementals. Every few years, the responsibility of the Element Gang is passed down onto a new generation of heroes, their knowledge being passed down from parent to child.” “Really?” she asked. “Yeah, it’s true.” Leon said to her. “Aquatillia is actually my mother.” “Wow!” she said. “And, with each generation, each member of the Element Gang haves the choice of either using the name of their predecessor or making their own.” I said to her. “Yeah.” Shield said to her. “My hero name is Apolloid.” “And mine’s Icedra.” Dog said to her. “I decided to go with my pa’s hero name.” “And what about you?” she asked Leon. “What’s yours?” “Mine’s all original.” Leon said as he stood up straight. “As a hero, I am Posidacus!” “That’s nice.” She said to him, kindly. “Thank you.” He said to her. “So does anypony else know about this?” she asked us. “Here in Ponyville? No.” I answered her. “You’re actually the first.” “Oh, wow!” She calmly said, though I could tell that was her way for being excited. “But you can’t tell anypony.” Leon said to her. “If everypony found out, then we would be in trouble. Really big trouble. Can you promise to keep it a secret?” “Oh, of course, I will.” She said to him. “I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to any of you. Your secret is safe with me.” “Thank you, Fluttershy.” I said to her. I heard a quack behind her, and looked to see a small family of ducks following her, including a mother, father, and three ducklings. “Awww, a little group of ducks. How old are the young ones?” “They just hatched a few days ago.” This time, she looked at him with a kind of admiration. “Do you…like animals?” “Of course he does.” Leon said to her. “Who do you think was helping me with my own animal friends?” “Oh, come on, Leon. I do like animals in most respects.” I said. “I don’t know any great deal about them, but I have a passing interest. What about you, Fluttershy? Do you like animals?” “Oh, I love animals! It’s my special talent and I love taking care of them!” she said excitedly. “This little family has only recently hatched, so Leon and I are taking them for their first swim today. They’re very excited, but we have to make sure they get there safely or…” She suddenly stopped talking. Her cheeks went red and she hid behind her mane again, her voice going quiet. “Sorry. That must have been…tedious to listen to.” “Oh, no, not at all.” I assured gently. “I think it’s great that you care so much about little critters. It’s really admirable, I think.” “Y-You think so?” she asked, peeping out. “Yes, I really do.” I promised, feeling a smile grow on my face. I then looked to Leon when I realized it. “Wait, you two are watching this family? No wondering you two were walking together. So where are you two taking this little family?” “Oh, we’re escorting them to a new swimming ground by the lake.” Fluttershy said to me. “I wanted to do it early, so I wouldn’t run into anypony whilst guiding them.” “And I wanted to act as a second set of eyes for her.” Leon said. “Got to really make sure that the little ones get there safely.” “Leon, I can be able to do this by myself.” She said to him. “You really should get some rest.” “What? What are you talking about, Flutters? I’m fine.” He said to her. “Really, Leon. You need to rest.” “I can sleep later. Right now, we need to get these ducks to the lake. Trust me, I’ll be fine.” “Well…” For that moment, it looked like she was gonna tell him to get some sleep, but instead said “Okay.” “Thank you.” He said to her. “Hey, maybe we should help you two.” I said to her and Leon, speaking for myself and the others. “W-w-what? You-you sure you want to...help us?” she said to me, surprised by this. “You don't have to, if you don't want to.” “Of course we want to help.” Shield said to her before pointing to Leon this his hoof. “I mean, Leon doesn’t seem to be in any shape to watch over some ducks.” “Yep.” Dog said. “Plus we can make sure that none of those little fellas wander off.” “Plus, that’s what friends are for, right?” I said to her. She thought about it for a moment until she gave a little smile and said “Okay.” “Well then,” I said, trotting behind the line with Shield and Dog walking beside the ducks. "Lead the way, whenever you're ready.” “Okay then. Come on, little ones.” she coaxed quietly. “Follow me and Leon, little duckies, come on.” The family resumed its waddling, with Fluttershy and Leon leading and me, Shield, and Dog bringing up the rear, following them closely. As Fluttershy was walking backwards to lead the ducks and Leon kept a look out for anypony else coming by, me and the others had the additional task of warning him that he was about to hit something that he couldn’t see due to all his drowsiness. Fortunately, there were no other ponies walking this way and the few things that were a hazard were the odd rock or tree. Occasionally, as Fluttershy and Dog had thought, one of the ducklings did try to wander away from the rest. I, however, was able to gently herd them back into the family with no kind of difficulties. All it required was a gentle hoof and a little nudge, easy as pie. As I and the guys acted as uncles to the ducks, I pondered about the pony I had just met. I’d never really known anypony like Fluttershy. She was shy, timid, yet she still had a complete aura of kindness about her. She was almost like a loving mother, the way she treated these animals. It really was…well, wonderful. Now I was seeing why Leon was trying to so hard to impress her. We soon arrived back at the lake where I had just left. From here, it was smooth sailing for the little family. They hopped into the water, quacking appreciatively to Fluttershy and Leon as they left. One of the ducklings looked up at me and, to my surprise, gave a happy cheap before swimming off. “You’re welcome.” I kindly said to the little guy, watching as they swam off. “We did it.” Fluttershy said proudly. “Thank you for your help, boys. You all did a wonderful job.” “Was ain’t no problem, sugarcube.” Dog said to her. “Yeah, what do you expect from the Element Squad?” Shield said, proudly. “We were glad we could help.” I said to her. “Thank you so much for taking the time to.” She said to us. “You’re all really nice ponies.” “Well, thanks, Fluttershy. That means a lot to me.” I said, sincerely. “You’re welcome.” she said. Just seeing that grateful smile on her face made him glow inside. “Now, there’s only one thing left to do.” Shield said to me. “What’s that?” I asked him as I didn’t know what he was talking about. “Ya’ll still got to talk to the rest of the girls.” Dog said to me. I sighed before I said “Right.” “I’m coming with. Whoa!” Leon said as he then tripped himself and fell to the ground. “Leon, no.” Fluttershy said to him as she help him up, speaking with concern. “You’ve already done enough for one day. You need to rest.” Leon sighed as he then said “Fine.” “Good.” Fluttershy said, smiling at him. “Well, then I guess we’ll see you two later.” I said to the two animal care-takers as me, Shield, and Dog took our leave. “Bye, guys.” “Bye, Dusk. You too, Shield and Dog.” She said as the three of us left. “You know, guys,” I said to Shield and Dog as we finally got out of ear range of Leon and Fluttershy, “I was actually thinking of going back to Canterlot and leaving you guys here.” “What?” Shield said, shocked by this. “So that’s why ya’ll were up so early.” Dog said, realizing it. “Yeah.” I said to them. “I saw how happy you guys were being here in this town. As the leader of this team, I knew it was wrong to abandon you like that, but, as a friend, I knew I couldn’t take that joy from you. I thought you would be depressed if we left.” “Dusk,” Shield said to me. “We would miss this place, but that doesn’t mean we were gonna leave ya.” “Shield’s right.” Dog said to me. “We’re your friends, Dusk. And that means we’ll always be there for each other. Always.” “I know.” I said to them. “You guys are right. I see that now. Before, I thought I was trying to be a good friend and let you guys live in Ponyville, but really I was trying to run away from my past. After what happened with Rainbow, I thought I made the same mistake with Racer. But now I see that I was wrong. I shouldn’t be running away from my problems. If I do that I’d just make ponies worry about me. And I’ll never know what’s gonna happen if I run away.” The sun was rising on this new day, raising on the start of what would, hopefully, be a new me, a new Dusk Noir. “It’s time I set things straight.” I said to the guys. “And, like before, I’ll start with Twilight Sparkle.” “That’s the spirit!” Shield said to me. “Now, how about a little race to the library?” “Really, Shield?” I said to him. “Actually I can use a little run myself.” Dog said to me. “And ya’ll do need to hurry back to library before you get Twilight all worried.” I thought about it for a moment and saw that I really did need to hurry before I was late and a good, old fashion race does sound fun. With I smiled and said “Okay, let’s go!” “Alright!” Shield said as the three of us got ready. After all that, our hooves (and claws in mine and Dog’s case) planted firmly on the ground with smiles of determination, we then sped off, dashing right towards the library. There, I was gonna confront the girls. Whether or not they were mad at me for what happened, I’m ready to face it. Looks like the story's over, huh? Well, think again. This is only just the beginning.