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Mornings were back to the way they had always been at the Golden Oak Library with just Dusk Shine and Spike eating breakfast together, since Rainbow Dash had returned to her own home the day before. That morning Spike was eating absentmindedly while Dusk held some toast with his magic while reading a book, or at least he tried to, since as much as he tried to concentrate, his mind was elsewhere: yesterday.
"Ugh, it’s no use!" Dusk said resignedly, closing the botanical book he had taken to try to distract himself, and dropping his head on the table while sighing.
"What's wrong?" Spike asked looking confused at his brother. Then his eyes widened in surprise at an answer. "Oh, I know! It's because of Rainbow Dash, right?"
Hearing his friend's name, Dusk instantly raised his head, completely red with embarrassment.
"W-What do you mean...?" Dusk replied nervously, thinking that his brother had hit the spot.
"Yesterday she left you alone on an abandoned cloud. Not a bad prank." Spike replied smiling and eating his breakfast again. "Maybe it was bad for you, but I was a bit more fortunate. I was chatting the whole trip back with Rarity, hehe." Spike added, blushing and giggling.
Dusk felt relief at his brother's blessed innocence of not thinking that anything else had happened between him and Rainbow Dash, but then Dusk became nervous again when Spike mentioned Rarity. By itself it would be difficult to explain to Spike the reason why he kissed Rainbow Dash, but he also had to tell him that he had kissed his beloved Rarity, and that would be much, much more complicated.
Speaking of his friends, Dusk Shine began to feel a huge weight from how he would react in front of his friends after what happened with Rainbow Dash. He hadn't only kissed Rainbow Dash, but also Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack. Now the circle was complete, he had kissed his friends without exception! That meant... What kind of friend did it make him into!?
Dusk dropped his head again and hit the table, totally discouraged and confused.
"What? You okay, Dusk? What's wrong with you?" Spike asked confused.
"I really would like to know..." Dusk replied without raising his head.
While looking at Dusk, Spike suddenly remembered something and put on a malevolent smile while Dusk didn't look at him.
"By the way, you still didn’t drink any juice yet. Why don't you drink a little? Maybe that will help you think clearly." Spike said making a great effort to hide his evil smile.
Dusk reluctantly raised his head and took the glass of juice, sipping it all in one gulp. It was then that Spike finally laughed out loud.
"Bwahaha! My revenge is complete!" Spike yelled, imitating the laughter of a villain.
"What revenge?" Dusk asked without understanding.
"The potion you gave me to drink yesterday that gave me a stomach ache." Spike replied pursing his lips. "I took the last of potion that was left in the bottle and put it in your juice. Bwahaha! Now you’ll get a stomachache now!"
Dusk stared blankly at his little brother while he laughed and pointed at him.
"Yeah…. Hmm, remember Rainbow Dash didn't get a stomachache. Surely that effect doesn't happen to ponies, only to dragons." Dusk replied with a shrug.
"Uh!?" Spike said freezing and stop laughing as he realized his mistake. "Geez! You're right… I'll have to find another way to get revenge…" Spike added biting his lip and thinking aloud.
"Will you really take revenge on me for what happened yesterday? It was for a greater good." Dusk said trying to get serious, but he couldn't help but smile remembering that he had used his younger brother as a guinea pig to try the potion that cured Rainbow Dash.
"If I want to play a good joke on you for revenge, perhaps I could ask the princess for help so- BUUURP!" Spike said thoughtfully until he was interrupted by his own belching, which was followed by a green flame and a scroll that came out of the dragon's mouth. "Ugh! How I hate that she does that without telling me!" Spike added, referring to the princess's letter, wiping the slime from his mouth.
"She would have to send you a letter to warn you that she will send you a letter, it wouldn’t make sense. Also, I'm sure that deep down she enjoys bothering you, just like with me." Dusk said taking the scroll that Spike had thrown. "Here we go... I was wondering why she took so long to send this letter..." Dusk added, thinking that since his teacher had seen him the day before with all that makeup on his face, he knew that she would make fun of him sometime.
Dusk opened the letter and read:
"Dear Dusk.
Yesterday I wanted to write you a letter, but I didn't find it fair to bother you on your little stroll with your friend Rainbow Dash."
"How does she know about my ride with Rainbow Dash!?" Dusk thought blushing completely, then continued reading the letter.
"It was a total surprise to have seen you yesterday in Cloudsdale, even more when seeing so creative and avant-garde style of makeup that you had in you.
I know you were probably expecting a letter where I would bother you, as is our custom, but this time I must put aside my sense of humor.
Dusk, I never want you to risk your life like that again!"
Dusk suddenly opened his eyes in surprise when he noticed the change of attitude in the princess's letter. Then he continued reading.
"After having lived for so many years, more than any normal pony has lived, the notions of life and death are blurred. That intrinsic fear that all mortal beings feel is seen as something alien and distant.
But yesterday, for the first time in years, I felt that fear of death again.
When you fell and your friend jumped to your rescue, I realized too late what was really going on. For a second, when you almost hit the ground, my heart stopped, and I was willing to use magic that no one should ever have.
Your friend not only saved you, but me from doing something that would have caused enormous and serious consequences for everyone. All for love.
I know I will never take the place of your mother, Twilight Velvet, nor do I want to, but I hope you don't forget that to me you are more than just my faithful student. You are my little Dusk Shine, my little bright light.
I may be over a thousand years old, but my heart is still fragile. Please don't do anything so dangerous again, because I don't know what I would do if I lost my beloved little one.
With love, Celestia."
When Dusk finished reading the letter, he stood holding the letter surprised, speechless.
"Wow... And she said you were too cheesy in your last letter..." Spike said with a tiny smile, who had come to Dusk and had read the letter behind him after seeing his brother give so shocked.
"She's not cheesy! The princess… took a big risk writing this letter…" Dusk said with a bit of fear, bringing the letter closer to his chest. For some reason, bringing the letter closer to him reminded Dusk of the warm hugs the princess would sometimes receive when he was a foal. "She can't have favoritism... She is the ruler of this world and must treat everyone as equal. That’s why she has never had a family... despite her strong maternal instinct..." Dusk added whispering to himself the latter, knowing that the princess saw him as her own son, just as he saw her as a second mother. Although neither of them had ever said it out loud.
"Then she must have been very concerned to write that letter to you." Spike said thoughtfully.
"That's right..." Dusk said holding the letter even stronger, knowing that the correct thing would be to burn that letter so as not to cause problems for the princess. But he didn't want to do it. He was also having a debate between what was logical and what he felt, for the letter of truth had moved him.
"Ugh...! I hate feelings!" Dusk said hitting his head on the table again. "Sometimes I feel that everything was easier when I thought everything with cold logic."
While keeping his head stuck on the table, Dusk shifted his eyes and saw a small bottle that Spike had left on the table. That bottle was the one that contained the potion that had cured Rainbow Dash, and that a few moments ago Spike had used to put what was left of the potion in his juice.
"Well, enough of emotional entanglements. I have something more important to think about, feelings can wait." Dusk said as he remembered that he still had a great mystery to solve. "Come on Spike, we'll go talk to the girls about the potion so they can help us find out who made it." Dusk added standing up and walking towards the door.
"Sure! But what did you mean by 'enough emotional entanglements'? Do you have another sentimental problem apart from the princess's letter?" Spike asked innocently, while Dusk Shine became deaf and just kept walking while his ears were blushing.
The six ponies and the baby dragon were reunited at Sugarcube Corner. Dusk had explained to them in broad strokes how Spike had found the potion at the library door and how it had finally healed Rainbow Dash’s wings.
"That’s why I would like to investigate all of this." Dusk said to her friends after finishing his explanation. "And I think a good place to start would be the Everfree Forest."
"W-Why do you want to go investigate the forest?" Fluttershy asked, trying in vain to hide her fear.
"Because whoever left the potion at the door knew what caused the problem with Rainbow Dash's wings, after all, he or she had the cure." Dusk replied confidently. "And the only place Rainbow Dash was before going to her house and waking up with her crippled wings was the day before, when she was in the forest with me. The other option is that something in the Rainbow Dash house caused that rare effect on her wings, but I highly doubt that’s the case."
"Yeah, nothing in my house was out of place. It must have been something that happened in that gloomy forest!" Rainbow Dash said, who was also very suspicious of the dangerous forest. "For a moment, I even thought that someone may have entered my house at night and done something to my wings, but that would be ridiculous, no one definitely entered, I'm sure."
Hearing Rainbow Dash, Dusk lowered his head thoughtfully. He had also thought about the option his friend had said, but he had discarded it since Spike had said that he saw someone hooded running away the night he discovered the potion, and if it had been a pegasus, they would have flown away. No, the mysterious hooded pony was not a pegasus and had definitely seen Rainbow Dash in the forest before her wings broke.
"Anyway, that's why I think we should go to the forest and recreate step by step what happened that day. That way we'll know what happened and who helped us." Dusk said looking again at his friends and taking the opportunity to take out a cupcake that Mrs. Cake had left on the table, which Spike and her friends also did.
"So, that's why you called all of us here? How boring..." Pinkie Pie said, taking a cupcake in each hoof and devouring them quickly. "I came because I thought you would tell us about your kiss with Rainbow Dash."
"PFFFT!!" Dusk Shine and Rainbow Dash spit up the food at the same time, both choking with the cupcakes, with shocked faces, while the others were frozen, with the cupcakes in their mouths.
"H-How did you find out about that!?" Dusk asked completely red, almost as red as Rainbow Dash, who just hung her head in embarrassment.
"Well, we all went back to Ponyville while the two of you were left alone behind. I just guessed." Pinkie Pie said with a shrug, who was the only one at the table who was neither embarrassed nor shocked by the conversation. "But from how you reacted, it looks like I was right!"
Realizing that he had foolishly fallen into Pinkie Pie's trap, Dusk lowered his head, turning even redder with embarrassment. While Rainbow Dash was making a huge effort not to run away, she was so blushed that her face boiled.
"It can't be! Now everyone knows about our kiss! Everyone must be shocked to know that I'm in love with Dusk Shine!" Rainbow Dash thought naively, not realizing that her great secret love was no surprise to her friends.
"Oh... don't worry, Dashie. Now we are all the same!" Pinkie Pie said with a smile, hugging Rainbow Dash when she saw her so nervous, who was right next to her.
"That's not true... My kiss doesn't count, it was an accident." Applejack said a little annoyed, also blushing slightly.
"Of course it counts! A kiss on the lips counts regardless of the circumstance. All kisses count!" Rarity claimed, looking fierce at Applejack, thinking that her friend wanted to take advantage.
"K-Kisses on the lips..." Spike said slowly, looking scared, as he looked at Rarity with his huge eyes. "W-What do you mean that you are all the same...?"
Realizing her mistake, Rarity blushed and looked away slightly, pursing her lip. She didn't want to hurt her beloved Spikey-Wikey, and she wouldn't have wanted him to find out about her kiss with Dusk Shine like that.
After Rarity averted her gaze, Spike looked intently at Dusk, who all he thought about was teleporting away from there, yet knew that he could no longer evade that issue with his little brother, so he forced himself not to look away and look at Spike straight in the eye as he tried to put his thoughts and feelings in order to give his brother a good explanation, or perhaps an excuse, about why he had kissed the mare Spike liked. However, that was easier said than done. Since Dusk didn't find the right words, it was as if he couldn't speak. Seeing his older brother so silent, Spike just glared at him, stood up from his chair and left running from Sugarcube Corner.
"Spike! Wait!" Dusk shouted also getting up and trying to go after his brother. "It was all a mistake... That kiss meant nothing!"
"That kiss meant nothing!?" Rarity suddenly yelled offended. Dusk's words had been so harsh and direct that they made her completely forget the situation they were in. "That kiss meant nothing to you?! For me… It was special!" Rarity shouted hurt.
"I-I didn't mean that!" Dusk said stopping his pursuit of Spike and turning to look at Rarity again. "I-I mean, I did say it, but what I meant to say is... Uh..."
"Did you mean that all the kisses we have given you are the same for you?" Fluttershy asked, who, like her friends, looked seriously at Dusk.
"Yes! That's it!" Dusk yelled pointing at Fluttershy. So nervous that he didn't even notice how his friends looked at him as they bombarded him with quick questions.
"So, none of those kisses mean anything to you?" Applejack said seriously.
"Exactly!!" Dusk replied quickly as his mathematical mind followed the thread of the conversation and accepted that that answer could be obtained logically from what he had initially answered.
It took a few seconds for Dusk to mentally go over everything he had said, this time not from a logical point of view, but an emotional one. And seeing that now all his friends were glaring at him, it made Dusk finally realize the horrible thing he had said.
"NO! NO! It was very special to me! I…. It's just that…" Dusk began to stutter as he tried again to order his mind to find the words he wanted to say. But again, he was so nervous, and furthermore still worried about the 'betrayal' towards Spike, that he was again lost for words. "I-I don't know what to say..." Dusk finally said, lowering his head, being completely honest not finding a correct answer. Like that morning, it seemed that Dusk was unable to synchronize his thoughts with his feelings that day, much less be able to explain it in words.
"Enough, leave it at that." Rainbow Dash said, standing up and walking towards the door with her friends, all passing by Dusk's side while he remained frozen with his head down. "That clumsiness of yours is cute sometimes, but there are other times that you're so clumsy that it just makes we want to hit you." Rainbow Dash added from the doorway, while Dusk was still frozen.
Dusk remained motionless for a few seconds, looking at the floor sadly. Rainbow Dash was right... Why was it so hard for him to express himself and know what he really felt?
"What are you waiting for? Are you going to stay still like a statue or are you going to come with us?" Suddenly Applejack asked from the door, which surprised to Dusk.
As Dusk turned around, he saw that his five friends were still there, waiting at the door, and they hadn't left furious as he had thought. However, even though the five of them were still there, they didn’t look at him in the eyes.
"I-I thought you were gone..." Dusk said with a rueful look, walking slowly towards where his friends were.
"You said you needed our help to go to the Forest. Come on, we won't leave you alone." Applejack replied, indicating him to hurry up. "But it doesn't mean we aren't mad at you." She added when Dusk put on a small smile.
"I know." Dusk replied with a resigned sigh, understanding that his friends were not as angry as he thought, but they were still annoyed with him, so he could not escape as easily from that problematic situation he had gotten himself into.
After walking for a while, Dusk didn't know what would be more uncomfortable: Going back to the library and face Spike to chat about what happened with Rarity or continuing with the silent march that everyone had through the Everfree forest.
Since leaving Sugarcube Corner, none of the six ponies present had uttered a word. The five mares were still upset with Dusk for what he had said, and although they already knew from experience that it was normal for Dusk to be clumsy when talking about his feelings, the words he had said were still quite hurtful. Whereas Dusk remained silent thinking that if he opened his mouth he could ruin everything again. No, this time, if he was going to speak, he had to have a clear head beforehand so as not to stutter or tangle himself.
"Everything I said was wrong. I said that Rarity's kiss meant nothing for Spike not to get mad, then I got nervous and said that all the kisses had been the same, but I didn't mean that they were the same in a bad way… They were the same because they were all special!" Dusk thought trying to organize his thoughts before speaking. "Yes! That's! They were all special and they were all unique and different! That... Does that make sense? Ugh! Why are my ideas so complicated when I think about the kisses I gave them and what they make me feel…"
As Dusk kept debating with himself in his mind, he looked sideways at his friends.
"Well, I'm not sure about a lot of things, so let's start with the facts. I’ve kissed my five best friends, and I... I liked kissing them! And that's... okay? I don't know! It's normal that a colt likes to kiss a mare, especially when he feels so much affection for her, but... But they’re all my friends!" Dusk thought, managing to put his ideas in order a little, but frustrated when he saw that he always reached a dead end. So he shook his head hard, trying for the third time to order his thoughts, still not understanding that he would never succeed if he didn't first he ordered his feelings.
"What's wrong? What are you thinking about?" Applejack suddenly asked, noticing that Dusk seemed frustrated for some reason.
Dusk looked up to see Applejack, who as always seemed to be the most mature of the mares, and mainly, more mature than him. Then he saw her straight in his eyes and remembered the element she represented, and so he thought that perhaps the best thing would be to be totally honest.
"Even I'm not sure what I think, that is the problem." Dusk said with a sigh, lowering his head as he kept walking. "I can't find the right words to apologize properly... I search for the answer, but I can't find it."
Applejack looked at Dusk a little surprised and then looked up thoughtfully.
"Maybe you think about things a lot, and you just... should say how you feel." Applejack replied.
"I... I don't know how I feel either..." Dusk said a little embarrassed to admit that out loud. "Perhaps it's easier for mares to express their feelings, but for colts it's more difficult, especially for someone as logical as me."
"Hehe... Sometimes that idea runs through my mind." Applejack said with a little giggle as she recalled all the love issues they'd had since Dusk's arrival. "How it would have been different if you had been a mare instead of a colt."
Hearing that, Dusk froze for a second, totally stunned, with a shiver running down his back. Unknowingly, Applejack had struck a chord. Dusk hated being told he was feminine or anything related, given the teasing he had been subjected to since he was a young colt due to his lavender fur and his finer facial features.
"Well, I also thought that perhaps would be better if all of you were colts!" Dusk said with an annoyed look, walking faster to get away from Applejack's side. "That way I wouldn't have as many problems or worry about things as vain as my feelings."
This time it was Applejack's turn to stop for a second with a shocked look, all while her other friends looked at her confused, as none of them understood why Dusk had said something like that so suddenly and abruptly.
"So... you want like to be surrounded by colts instead of mares?" Pinkie Pie asked with a slightly mocking smile, not being able to avoid teasing to lighten the atmosphere. "Isn't that a bit gay?"
"I don't mean that! I-I'm just saying that the colts don't talk about their feelings all day or get mad at trifles." Dusk replied nervously, still slightly annoyed at Applejack's hint that he might be a mare.
This time it was the five mares that gave annoying glances and pursed their lips as they felt their gender attacked.
"Hey Bud! Let's pee standing up on that tree over there." Rainbow Dash said imitating a masculine tone and hitting Dusk with her elbow.
"Let's fight each other to see who is the most macho!" Pinkie Pie also added in a deep tone, following Rainbow Dash's game.
"Let's go to look at sports magazines and discuss about them all day long!" Rarity said in a deep voice, joining in the teasing.
Then the five mares stopped walking when they couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing.
"Ha-ha... keep mocking." Dusk said pursing his lip, feeling the obligation to defend his gender. "If you think that this is the way all colts are, you’re wrong. On the other hoof, it has been scientifically proven that males have better decision-making and better orientation than females."
"That is not true!" Rarity said feeling offended.
"Yeah, we totally have good orientation! And Derpy doesn't count!" Rainbow Dash claimed, quickly including in her answer her absent-minded friend so that she was not taken as a prototype of female orientation.
"Oh, really? Then tell me, what path should we follow to get to the part of the forest that we went that day of our date?" Dusk asked with a mocking smile.
Rainbow Dash got nervous, looked everywhere and blushed realizing that she didn't remember where it was, and wasn't even sure where in the forest they were at the moment.
"T-That's because I'm not used to being on the ground. But in the sky, I never get lost!" Rainbow Dash finally replied, red with embarrassment at admitting defeat.
"See! And about decision making, it's obvious that the colts make better decisions. After all, colts are more logical, while mare are more emotional and sensitive." Dusk added, feeling victorious in the discussion of the genres.
"That's what you lack, sensitivity." Rarity replied annoyed, passing Dusk's side and continuing on her way. "If you had some, you would notice when someone yells 'I love you' in your face."
"What?! What are you talking about? No one has yelled 'I love you' in my face." Dusk said confused, not understanding what Rarity had said to him. All while her other four friends looked at Dusk with tired looks, all thinking the same thing, and continued walking, leaving behind a confused Dusk.
Thus, what had started out as an awkward and silent walk became an even more awkward and even more silent walk. The six ponies thought that all that discussion about the genders had been totally stupid, however, neither Dusk nor the mares wanted to give in, because deep down they all unconsciously felt that they represented their respective gender and could not lose to the other.
"Here it is..." Dusk said suddenly, finally breaking the silence. "Here we deviate from the path and go into the forest to a small clearing."
"Yeah, I remember this part." Rainbow Dash said taking a couple of steps along with her friends to follow Dusk, however she stopped when she saw that not all her friends advanced with her. "Applejack, what's wrong?"
At Rainbow Dash's words, Dusk stopped and turned to see Applejack, who had been the only one who hadn't advanced. The orange mare stood motionless, her eyes wide and her lip trembling as she stared fearfully at where her friends were moving.
"Dusk... W-We shouldn't go through that part of the forest..." Applejack finally said, after calming her breathing.
"Why not?" Dusk asked curious and somewhat worried to see his always firm friend tremble like that.
"They’re... There are evil creatures that inhabit this part of the forest." Applejack replied looking down at the ground nervously and then looking at Dusk. "And I don't mean animals or magical creatures. There are… There are wild ponies living there… Dark beings."
"Dark beings?" Dusk asked, trying not to panic at what his friend was saying.
"Many years ago, I saw two strange mares living in this part of the forest. They… had their bodies full of scars, wore terrifying clothing, and… worshiped d-death…" Applejack said, breathing hard again as she remembered that part of her past.
Dusk was thoughtful for a while at what his friend had just said. After all, Applejack, the most honest pony in the world, had just said it, that meant she couldn't be lying.
"Dusk... Do you remember that day of our date? T-This is where I told you I saw a shadow." Rainbow Dash said, who after the Applejack story, also seemed to be very nervous, like her other friends. "That day I didn't tell you everything, but I remember seeing a pair of eyes looking at me..."
Applejack’s story combined with Rainbow’s sighting suddenly made the Everfree Forest seem a bit darker.
"Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash have seen someone strange in this part of the forest. So it's very likely 'that someone' is the mysterious hooded pony who gave the potion to Rainbow Dash…" Dusk thought, thinking that if that mysterious hooded pony had helped Rainbow Dash, perhaps they was not as evil as Applejack said. However, it was only then that another idea occurred to Dusk, something that hadn't occurred to him before. "Wait! What if that same hooded pony who saved Rainbow Dash was the one who caused the problem in the first place!?" Dusk thought scared, thinking about various things, from dark magic to curses.
At that moment Dusk looked up and saw that all his friends were trembling, with scared expressions. Even the usually brave and trustworthy Applejack was now trembling from tail to head, as if she were seeing a ghost of your past.
"Don't worry, nothing will happen to us while we’re together." Dusk said approaching his friends and making his horn shine, as if he had drawn his sword, ready to attack whatever appeared.
With Dusk's words, the five mares finally calmed down a bit and they all moved forward together, repeating step by step the path that Rainbow Dash had taken that day before she crippled her wings.
"It was in this part that I saw that strange shadow." Rainbow Dash said pointing to her right. "Then I stepped back a bit and- WAAAHHH!"
Like that day, Rainbow Dash fell again and rolled down a small knoll until she landed in a small field full of blue flowers.
"Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked scared to see her friend fall.
"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry. I'll be right up." Rainbow Dash said standing up quickly.
Rainbow Dash started to get on the road again but stopped when she saw Dusk slide down carefully to where she was.
"Why did you come down? I told you I could get back up myself." Rainbow Dash said looking at Dusk, who seemed to be concentrating on something else.
"I heard you, but I wanted to take the opportunity to take one of these flowers with me." Dusk Shine said walking through the flower meadow and reaching out to carefully dig the ground to get a blue flower out of the root. "The other time you fell, I saw this flower, and I have been looking at botanical books from Equestria, but I don't recognize it... I'll take this opportunity to take one away. The flowers of the Everfree Forest are not well documented, and this could be interesting."
As Dusk took his time to gently remove the flower without damaging it, the other mares grew impatient and also descended to the field of blue flowers.
"Yes... a colt that likes flowers, I know it's not masculine." Dusk said blushing, saying what he thought his friends were thinking when they saw him doing that after their discussion about males and females.
"What are you talking about? You're not less macho because you like flowers." Rarity replied with a confused look, then smiled at Dusk. "In fact, I'd say that reaffirms your masculinity."
It was only then that the mares and Dusk met eye to eye after arguing, and all six smiled. Neither said anything, but the six understood that this was the end of their foolish discussion. But Dusk knew there was still something missing to get everything back to normal.
"I almost forget it! Come with me." Dusk said, indicating his friends to follow him.
Then the six ponies climbed the small knoll, followed the path just a little more, and reached Dusk’s secret flower field, the one that only Rainbow Dash had known until then. And while the mares were amazed to see a bright clearing in that gloomy forest, Dusk took the opportunity to take out the four ripe rainbow flowers that he had wanted to take out on the day of his date with Rainbow Dash and offered them to his friends.
"I know what I said at the town was callous and stupid." Dusk said with a smile and his cheeks blushed. Extending the flowers to his friends. "I still don't know how to answer correctly, but what I do know is that each moment I spend with you is special and unique for me. I only have four of these flowers, but I hope you will accept them as a sign of forgiveness."
The five mares blushed slightly, and each took one of Dusk's offered flowers, except for Rarity, since there were only four flowers.
"Don't worry about me, I still keep the one you gave me the night we went to save Princess Celestia. It’s already dry, but now it is a beautiful bookmark that I keep very fondly." Rarity said smiling. "Now we'll all have the same beautiful rainbow flower."
"I guess we can now…probably forgive you for that dumb stuff you said earlier." Rainbow Dash said slightly blushed.
"That’s a big relief, hehe." Dusk said smiling a little nervously.
"Maybe I'm not so bad at understanding mares as I thought... They all like flowers!" Dusk thought sighing in relief internally.
"Don't be silly. We didn't forgive you for giving us flowers." Rarity said looking seriously at Dusk, the same look that her other friends had when they intuited what Dusk was thinking.
"T-Then, why?" Dusk asked confused.
"We’re not tell you. You'll have to find out on your own." Rarity replied, looking at her friends, and the five of them smiling, complicit in what Dusk still didn't understand about the girls.
Finally the six ponies made their way back exactly where they came from, since from that point Rainbow Dash had fled after her date with Dusk that day, so there was nothing more to do. Although the worst thing was that they had found no evidence of what, or rather, who it was that caused the problem for Rainbow Dash’s wings. For Dusk, after listening to Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s stories, the likely culprit was that the mysterious hooded pony was some wild pony that lived in those sectors, but if it was as dangerous as Applejack predicted, Dusk preferred not to risk going with his friends and just go back to town before dark.
Once they reached the village, each went home, but before, the five mares made Dusk promise that they would speak soon about his feelings, since they thought it was time to put them in order so that Dusk would not suffer any more for this, something that Dusk finally reluctantly accepted, as he remained firm in his belief that feelings were more a problem than a solution to his mental entanglements. It was then that Dusk headed home, knowing that he still had an awkward task to complete before the end of the day.
"Spike...?" Dusk said shyly once he got to the library and went up to his room.
Upon entering the room, Dusk noticed that his little brother was already lying down, in his little basket in front of his own bed, completely covered to pretend to be asleep and not see Dusk.
Dusk walked slowly over there, knowing how angry his brother must have been with him.
"Spike, listen... It's true that Rarity and I kissed, but... it wasn't something I was planning, it just... happened." Dusk said with a sad look, hoping that Spike would forgive him. "Still, it's not an excuse. I should have mentioned it to you and-"
"Yes, you should have told me!" Spike said suddenly, standing up and looking at Dusk with deep resentment. So he took his blanket with one claw, and the basket-bed with the other claw, and walked with firm steps to the other end of the room. "I don't want to hear your excuses today, I'm still too mad at you."
With those last words Spike was silent again and went back to bed, this time looking at the wall, to turn his back on Dusk, who just stood still, with a sad look, understanding how betrayed his brother must feel. Deciding that it would be best for Spike's anger to subside a bit before speaking, Dusk sighed sadly, left the strange blue flower he had brought from the forest into a small vase nearby, and finally lay down on his bed, wishing that tomorrow was better than the hectic day had been.
It was another morning at the Golden Oak Library, and while there was still only Dusk Shine and Spike there, just like the morning before, the mood couldn't have been more different. Since they had woken up, Dusk had tried to get close to Spike, being extremely friendly, opening the bathroom door for him, preparing breakfast, but as much as he tried, Dusk obtained the same result, Spike kept ignoring him, without even looking at him.
"Maybe I should give him more time… I shouldn't force these things." Dusk thought as he levitated a toast to eat. However, he stopped when his stomach growled strangely. "Since I woke up my stomach feels strange... Who knows, maybe the potion that made me drink Spike yesterday does cause stomach pain..."
"DUSK! DUSK!" Shouts were heard after the front door suddenly opened.
Dusk peeked out from the kitchen and was surprised to see Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo there, all three completely exhausted with scared looks in their eyes.
"Hi girls… What happens?" Dusk asked a little concerned to see the three fillies so scared.
"Oh, thank Celestia you’re okay." Sweetie Belle said, sighing in relief.
"Hurry, you have to come with us!" Apple Bloom yelled, running behind Dusk and pushing him to hurry out of the library.
Without offering further explanations, the three fillies pushed Dusk to run and follow them. Seeing the three fillies so disturbed, Dusk had every intension of following them, thinking that maybe it really was an emergency.
"There! Now please tell us what's going on!?" Apple Bloom said almost on the verge of hysteria, just as they stopped in front of the Hayburger, the local fast food restaurant.
Dusk looked confused at the yellow filly without understanding, then he looked towards the restaurant, and walked there, closely followed by the three fillies. Once they entered, Dusk saw that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The Hayburger wasn’t particularly busy for this time of the morning, with the exception of five colts eating together at the end of the room.
Seeing the group of colts, Dusk narrowed his eyes to see them more clearly. However, once he got a better look, Dusk's blood ran cold as his eyes widened in terror and his mouth began to tremble. Of the five colts sitting there, the first was a big colt very similar to Big Mac, except that this one had orange fur and blonde mane who also wore a red scarf covering his neck, and the same characteristic stetson hat that Applejack normally wore. The second colt was a pegasus with yellow fur and a pink mane, but his most distinctive feature was his shy gaze. The third colt was pink with a reddish pink mane and a huge smile on his face as he conversed with the others. The fourth colt was a unicorn with white fur and a very elegant and well-groomed purple mane. The last colt was a pegasus with light blue fur and a messy mane that had the colors of the rainbow on it.
It was more than obvious who those five colts looked like. They were nearly identical to Dusk’s five friends with the striking difference of gender. In fact, if it wasn't impossible, Dusk would swear those colts could be...
"A-Apple Bloom... T-That's just one of y-your many cousins…Right?" Dusk asked fearfully, unable to look away from the five colts he was seeing.
Just then, the five colts stood up when they noticed that their hay burgers had been finished. Then the five of them walked to the bar to ask for another order. By doing this, Dusk could more clearly see another huge and very important detail... Dusk recognized their cutie marks! But... It was impossible! That... That meant...
"Heya, Lil'sis! What are you doing there? Come eat a hayburger with your big bro." The orange colt suddenly said looking at where Apple Bloom was. "You too Dusk, or you'll miss out on some hay fries." The colt added looking at Dusk Shine this time, causing the lavender unicorn to freeze in shock.
"Nope. That is not my cousin." Apple Bloom finally answering the question that Dusk had asked her, although at that point the answer was redundant. There was no doubt... Those five colts were Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash!!
After several seconds, in which it seemed that Dusk had to reboot his brain, the lavender colt finally managed to take his eyes off the five colts and turned to stare in terror at the three fillies.
"What the hay happened here!?" Dusk asked looking scared at the three fillies.
"We don't know. When I woke up, Applejack was like this… Everyone in the house was frozen, unable to ask anything." Apple Bloom said with a worried look.
"It was the same with Rarity." Sweetie Belle added. "She… or he, was really talkative this morning, just like always. I-I think they haven't realized what happened to themselves."
"Haven't they noticed they changed gender!?" Dusk said stunned, almost in a scream.
"It's not that. What I mean is that they seem to think they’ve always been colts." Sweetie Belle replied.
"Yeah, when I asked Rainbow Dash, she said she didn't know of any Rainbow Dash, that his name was 'Rainbow Blitz'." Scootaloo said, remembering her encounter with 'Rainbow Blitz' that morning.
Dusk turned slowly to look back at the five colts sitting back down with a dozen trays full of fast food, eating voraciously, as if they hadn't eaten in weeks.
"It's impossible... No magic is able to change ponies like that!" Dusk thought terrified, not understanding what was happening and slowly accepting that it seemed to be true that those rough colts were his pretty mare friends. It was then that his rational mind began to try to find some explanation, but nothing occurred to him, until he remembered his trip to the Everfree forest and Applejack talking about wild and scary ponies. "Maybe a curse... No! Those things don't exist! But... What other explanation is there!?"
"What's the matter, Dusk!? Are you going to sit down to eat or are you going to stand there all day like an idiot?" The colt that looked like Rainbow Dash suddenly asked, which according to Scootaloo, was called 'Rainbow Blitz'.
At the call of the colts, Dusk turned again to see that the three fillies seemed to be more scared than him and had hidden behind the lavender colt, indicating for him to go to where the five colts were. Then Dusk swallowed hard and walked slowly to the table where the five colts were eating.
"Bubble Berry! You're eating all the hay fries!" The white unicorn shouted annoyed, pointing at the pink colt.
"Sorry, Elusive. You snooze, you lose! Right, Blitz?" Pinkie Pie's alter ego called 'Bubble Berry' said, replying to Rarity's alter ego called 'Elusive'.
"Hell yeah, survival of the fastest!" The Rainbow Dash's alter ego, 'Rainbow Blitz' yelled. Then looking at his friend, the yellow pegasus. "You should be more aggressive too, Butterscotch, otherwise you'll run out of hay fries!”
"No problem, I'm enjoying eating my burger." Fluttershy's alter ego, 'Butterscotch' replied.
"Applejack... Are you guys fighting over food?" Dusk asked once he got to the table and stood next to Applejack's alter ego. Realizing very late that he had apparently said the wrong name, though he still didn't know what Applejack was called now.
"They're not fighting, it's just a normal discussion between friends, hehe." Applejack's alter ego answered, who apparently was the only one keeping her name. "And you know I prefer you to just call me 'AJ', Mister Dusk Shine." 'AJ' added, giving Dusk a strange confused look.
Then AJ made a space for Dusk so that he could sit next to him. Dusk slowly sat down and just stood like a statue, watching the other five colts were eating their junk food, and trying to calm down as he seemed to be sharing with total strangers, although the reality was Dusk knew them perfectly before that day.
"What's wrong, Dusk? You look kinda nervous?" Butterscotch suddenly asked, in the same shy tone of voice that Fluttershy used only a tad bit deeper.
"N-Nothing's wrong, t-thanks... Butterscotch." Dusk replied with a nervous smile, making an effort to remember the new names of his friends. "B-By the way... Do you guys remember why I'm living in Ponyville?"
Asking that, the five colts looked at Dusk confused and then looked at each other confused. While Dusk nervously smiled as he had decided that he needed to start to find out what had happened, and one of the things that had to be started was what those five colts knew. Since apparently, whatever it was that It affected them, it had made Dusk's friends not only change their gender, but also in their minds, and perhaps also in their memories.
"Because you want to be with your friends to investigate the magic of friendship, don't you?" Bubble Berry replied with a confused look. "Although I suppose that doesn't matter to you anymore and you just enjoy staying here and hanging out with us."
"Why are you asking that strange question?" AJ asked.
"I-I just wanted to know if you guys knew, hehe..." Dusk said nervously, scratching his head and then turning to see Rainbow Blitz. "Rainbow... Blitz. Do you remember what we did two days ago?"
"Two days ago? We all went to Cloudsdale together. You fell out of the arena and I had to rescue your butt with my Sonic Rainboom." Rainbow Blitz replied, inflating his chest with pride.
"And then... how did we get home?" Dusk asked with a serious look.
"Uh... I don't know, weren't we all back together on the ground?" Rainbow Blitz replied unsurely, scratching his head and looking at his friends.
"Rar... Elusive! Do you remember the fashion show we had and when we talked about your diary?" Dusk asked, this time looking anxiously at the white unicorn.
"Of course I remember the parade, but I don't remember anything from a diary. Do you think I'm like a girl and I would have a hidden diary?" Elusive replied, smirking.
"And do you remember what we did yesterday?" Dusk asked looking attentively at everyone.
"Yesterday? We didn't meet yesterday. I was on the farm all day." AJ replied, narrowing his eyes, as if, unlike the other questions, this one was hard to remember.
"Yes, yesterday I... I gave Angel and the other bunnies a bath." Butterscotch said, also closing his eyes slightly and remembering with difficulty.
"I... I moved some clouds... I think." Rainbow Blitz said, making the same gesture as the previous two ponies.
"If I remember correctly... I think I was sewing some new jackets. Normal things I do every day." Elusive added, holding his head, as if he had a sudden headache.
"No... Yesterday we were at Sugarcube Corner... No, it must have been my imagination. I think I only made a few cupcakes." Bubble Berry said, starting to speak normally, but also with a headache in the middle of his explanation.
After everyone spoke, Dusk lowered his head and put on a thoughtful look as he tried to understand what was going on. It was already more than obvious that those five colts were his friends, there was no doubt, and Dusk's first theory had been proven too. Not only had they changed on the outside, their minds had also been altered. It seemed that they were still remembering past events and parts of their routines, but yesterday had been as if it had not existed, like the parts of their lives where they had acted as mares.
"Dusk, are you feeling alright? You won't be thinking about ruining the 'Bros Day' that we'll have today, right?" AJ asked looking carefully at Dusk and then smiling.
"Bros Day?" Dusk asked confused.
"Bros! Bros! Bros!" The five colts shouted at the same time, raising their hooves and hitting the table, making a lot of noise as if that was a tribal cry or something like that.
Seeing that Dusk was not joining the battle cry, AJ and Rainbow Blitz held him one on each side to join the hug and shout with them. Faced with the surprise gesture of brotherhood, Dusk couldn't help but smile a little, first seeing how strange it was to imagine his female friends doing male things, but what Dusk also valued internally, was that brotherhood among colts that existed. Afterall, he had never had colt friends that include him like this in a group, and Dusk had to admit that it felt good.
"So? What will we start this Bros Day with?" Bubble Berry asked, drawing everyone closer and hugging each other in a circle.
"How about Dusk chooses? He seems a bit distracted today, perhaps he has a good activity that he is thinking about." AJ said smiling at Dusk.
"M-Me? I don't know what activity you might like…" Dusk replied nervously, forgetting for a second how strange that whole situation was. "Yesterday you wanted us to talk about our feelings."
Hearing what Dusk said, the other five ponies froze, then looked at each other, and burst into laughter and mockery at what their friend had just said.
"Oh-la-la, yes, let's talk about our feelings, hahaha." Rainbow Blitz said feigning a feminine voice and then burst out laughing again.
"Hahaha! Dusk, why are you always so sentimental? Hahaha!" Elusive scoffed as he pointed at a Dusk Shine that was blushed with embarrassment.
"Hehe, leave your feminine side somewhere for today. Today is Bros Day!" AJ added, giving Dusk a brotherly blow on the back, something he was not used to, so he almost fell down at the sight of AJ's force.
After recovering, and the teasing stopped, Dusk looked thoughtful until an idea occurred to him.
"Maybe we could go to the Everfree Forest." Dusk said looking at his friends, who were surprised by Dusk's proposal.
"Yeah, that could be fun... An epic adventure for six brave bros." Rainbow Blitz said throwing punches at an imaginary opponent. "If we go, it’s got be to a dangerous part, where no one else has gone before!"
"I know a place." Dusk said smiling, happy that his idea was well received, since it was not only for an adventure, but as part of Dusk's plan to find out how to solve all that. "I have heard that in a certain part of the forest lives a mysterious wild pony, who casts curses and-"
"I-I'm sorry, I remembered that I have some jobs to do later. B-Better to do something else, something that doesn't take us so long." AJ said surprisingly, totally nervous, with the same characteristic face of his female alter ego when she lied.
Dusk immediately noticed that what AJ was saying was just an excuse, and then he remembered Applejack's fear for that part of the forest. It seemed that her fear had not been altered by the gender change.
"Sorry, I forgot you were afraid to go to that part of the forest." Dusk said with a small supportive smile, looking at AJ.
AJ was surprised at Dusk's comment, then he looked at the rest of his friends, who were also watching him closely. AJ felt the pressure of the group, and then looked at Dusk again with an annoyed face.
"I'm not scared! I'm not lying!" AJ said looking away annoyed, then looking down sadly at the floor. "I'm not lying…"
"Well, anyway, if we can’t go to the forest, we’ll just plan another activity for Bros Day." Bubble Berry said, starting to brainstorm as the others joined in the discussion as well.
As the five ponies returned to discussing what activities to do, Dusk stared askance at AJ, thinking how much he missed the real Applejack, and that if she had been in that situation, it wouldn't have bothered her to look weak in front of the others if it was to tell the truth.
After reaching no consensus on what activity to do, where it seemed that every time they didn't reach an agreement, everyone would start fighting; finally everyone chose to leave the restaurant and that they would think of something while they walked through the town.
Once they started their tour, Dusk was amazed that his new colt friends were less eye-catching than he had expected. As soon as they came across someone, the first thing they had were astonished glances, obviously due to the immense similarity of those five colts with those of the well-known five mares that lived there in the town. However, after a few seconds, the other ponies stopped seeing them and went on with their business. Even Dusk seemed to hear the words 'brothers' and 'cousins' a couple of times, that he guessed was what the other ponies thought of those five colts. And Dusk didn't blame them, after all, it was impossible for a pony to easily change its gender! As far as everyone in the town was concerned, they were finally seeing only five ponies who were probably relatives of the five mares, and no other choice was in their closed- minded minds.
"Hey, guys! I know what we can do! There is only one thing you can do after eating junk food and drinking liters of soda." Rainbow Blitz suddenly said, stopping and putting a hoof on his chest while pressing lightly. "~Burping~Contest~!" Rainbow Blitz said, saying the latter with belching.
Instantly, the colts burst out laughing, even Dusk, who hesitated for a second at Blitz's surprise speech, but then he couldn't help but laugh at how funny it had been. Although he knew it was very silly, it was also very 'colt thing' laugh at such nonsense. It was then that the other colts also began to say words with belching, where Bubble Berry stood out, who tried to dictate the alphabet with his belching belches.
"Well Pinkie Pie would have participated in a belching contest too, hehe, but the other girls would never have." Dusk thought as he joined the challenge and said his name between burps, and then burst out laughing with the others.
While looking at his friends, Dusk couldn't help but stop at Elusive, who had also joined the challenge, but belching very little. Clearly seemed to feel somewhat uncomfortable, just as it had been Rarity in such awkward situation, however, likewise he had joined the group.
"Rarity is quite a lady… Her femininity and delicacy… She would never have done this." Dusk thought, inadvertently, giving a sad look as he recalled Rarity's unique style and grace.
It was then that Dusk realized that perhaps it was bad to laugh and have fun with the five colts, after all he had to make his friends return to normal. But... How would he even be able to do that? Was it possible if he didn't even know the cause? What if he couldn't find a solution to get them back to normal…!? And for the first time Dusk began to think about the terrible possibility that perhaps his friends would never return.
"Pfft! What's wrong? Did your stomach turn inside-out or something?" Bubble Berry said suddenly, who was next to Dusk and seemed to be the only one who had noticed Dusk's scared face.
"I... I'm fine. It's… it's just that I remembered something." Dusk said shaking his head and putting on a nervous smile.
Bubble Berry looked curiously at Dusk, then he raised his hooves and approached Dusk as if he was going to hug him, however, at the last second, Bubble Berry realized they were in public, in front of his other friends, so finally he just tapped Dusk in the side.
"Don't make that face, whatever worries you, you can say it and we'll help you." Bubble Berry said giving Dusk a big confident smile, to lift his spirits.
"Uh... yes, thank you. I'll be fine." Dusk replied, smiling more relaxed and touching his side, where Bubble Berry had beaten him gently as a sign of masculine affection.
Dusk had noticed the action of Bubble Berry and that he almost hugged him, but that he had changed his mind at the last second.
"The Bubble Berry's hit was fondly, it was his way of showing support, but... Pinkie Pie wouldn't have hesitated to give me a big hug..." Dusk thought looking down at the ground and touching his chest remembering Pinkie’s soft and warm hugs. "Maybe sometimes it is necessary to show your feelings through actions..."
After their belching contest, in which Bubble Berry was the clear winner, the six colts continued to walk the streets of Ponyville, aimlessly, only walking and telling jokes, which made Dusk recover his spirits and laugh again at the silly and rare occurrences that everyone was saying, jokes and situations that he could hardly have heard from his mare friends.
"I'm so happy to live in a town where so many mares live." Elusive said suddenly, who a few seconds ago had seen two mares pass nearby, he had winked at them, and both mares laughed coquettishly. "I'm glad to be a costume designer, but sometimes I'm thankful that the mares walk without any clothing." Elusive added whispering to his companions.
"Yup, I know I’m thankful for seeing all those firm hindquarters." AJ said imagining a strong country mare.
“It’s called an ‘ass’, dingus.” Rainbow Blitz corrected with a playful jab to the side. “And I’m with you there, although I like a bit more bounce to a mare’s behind. Derpy may be a klutz, but she has one rocking bubble butt.”
"I like to see their necks; I think they’re... really sexy." Butterscotch said blushing slightly.
"Her lips! She definitely has to have good lips to kiss." Bubble Berry said smiling.
"What about you, Dusk? What do you like the most in a mare?" Rainbow Blitz asked looking mischievously at Dusk.
When asked, Dusk had to admit that he also liked all the physical characteristics that his friends had said. After all he was a colt too, and he couldn't help seeing, thinking and fantasizing about mares. Like with Rainbow’s athletically toned flank, Rarity's soft and aromatic mane, Applejack's beautiful eyes, Fluttershy's elegant neck, Pinkie Pie's soft lips… And without realizing it, Dusk began to focus his thoughts on his mare friends and what he liked them, but when he did it, he realized that this was only a small part of what he liked about his friends. There were many more things that caught his attention.
"I like when a mare is tender and kind, generous, honest and loyal... that she has a beautiful laugh, that she loves you for who you really are..." Dusk said thoughtfully, more talking to himself than to his companions, who watched him closely.
Listening to Dusk, the other five colts were silent for a moment, thinking that perhaps their responses had been very simple.
"W-What are you talking about...? We’re talking about a mare's physique here, not feelings! Damn, you're always so sentimental…" Rainbow Blitz said blushing slightly and then looking at the rest of his friends. "A mare’s look always comes first! All that other mushy crap come later. Right, guys?!”
"Yeah! Bros! Bros! Bros!" They all screamed in unison, hugging each other and spinning animatedly in a circle.
As Dusk spun, forced by the embrace of his friends, he looked at Rainbow Blitz and how he was smiling normally after what he had said.
"Rainbow Blitz and Rainbow Dash are admittedly pretty similar. They’re both really afraid to express their true feeling. But Rainbow Dash would have done it anyway, and… she would have blushed very cute while doing it clumsily…" Dusk thought, missing that so bipolar but tender attitude of his dear mare friend.
"Look! Two girls are watching us." Bubble Berry suddenly said, thus ending the boys' tribal cry.
Dusk saw where Bubble Berry was looking, and immediately recognized the two mares he was talking about. They were Lyra and Bon Bon, who had remained motionless, with eyes of astonishment when they saw the six colts present.
"Rule sixty-three... Rule sixty-three! Why didn't I think about that before!?" Lyra suddenly shouted, full of excitement as she looked at the colts. At the same time she made a little notebook appear with her magic and she began to write down quickly in it. "I already know what I'll draw in my next comic! A little 'BL' will definitely bump up my reader base! New lounge chair, here I come!"
Then Lyra turned around and started running back to her house.
"’BL’? What does that mean? Lyra, what are you up to this time?!" Bon Bon asked confused, running after Lyra, not understanding what had happened to her friend's perverted mind for her next love story.
"What happened to those two? They ran off as if they saw a ghost." Elusive said after watching Lyra and Bon Bon run.
"I don't think they've seen a ghost, but I suppose they did notice the truth, unlike the others in town." Dusk whispered, believing that both mares had fled upon realizing who those five colts really were.
"Oh! Speaking of ghosts, I know what else we can do for our Bros Day!" Bubble Berry said suddenly, then put on a sinister smile. "How about we pull some pranks on some unsuspecting victims?"
"Great idea!" Rainbow Blitz said supporting his friend.
"Yeah, that does sounds kinda fun! We could go to the library and prank Spike!" Dusk said smiling, encouraged by the idea. Dusk and his little brother had always had a habit of pulling pranks on one another over the years. However, only then Dusk remembered that his little brother was still mad at him. "Oh! N-No… W-We better do something else…" Dusk added nervously, immediately regretting his idea.
"Too late, egghead! Plan’s already in motion!" Rainbow Blitz said smirking at Dusk.
"Trust us, Dusk you really need this. All day you’ve been acting like a mare with all these feelings and whatnot. Time for you to start acting like a stallion!” AJ said, looking at Dusk intensely, like the other colts.
For the first time, Dusk felt the overwhelming pressure of feeling part of the group and not wanting to be less macho than his colt friends, although these were actually mares without knowing it.
"O... Okay..." Dusk finally said, yielding to the pressure, while the other colts hit him in affection, and all together they went screaming through the streets: 'Bros! Bros! Bros!'.
Spike was alone in the library lounge, lying on his stomach while holding the 'ultimate weapon' in his claws, his last resort for revenge against Dusk Shine for what he had done to him. The baby dragon had held that little paper he had for hours, determined to send it to a certain pony so that Dusk would really suffer for the betrayal he had done, however Spike kept holding that 'ultimate weapon' without knowing whether to use it or not.
"I'm angry... furious with Dusk! But… I don't know whether to send this…" Spike thought holding the small paper between his claws. "He’s my brother, and I don't want to be mad at him. I know he regrets it but... What's done is done! Why had so many girls around him, he had to just kiss Rarity!?" Spike thought frustrated, this time covering his face and then dropping his head on the floor.
KNOCK KNOCK
The little dragon jumped up when he heard someone knocking on the door.
"Come in." Spike yelled from the living room.
The door opened and a group of colts entered the library, preceded by Dusk, who entered at the end with a guilty face on him. Spike stared at Dusk's guests and narrowed his eyes at something strange but still couldn't recognize. Those other five colts were very familiar to Spike, and since when had Dusk had a group of colt friends? Seconds ticked by and Spike continued to stare those five ponies head to hooves. His mind seemed to have already realized who those five colts were, but his reasoning prevented him from accepting it. But as the seconds passed, his mind understood that his eyes didn't deceive him, his instinct was right, and his eyes and mouth began to open as could be fully impacted the realization of who were the five colts.
"Spike, darling." Elusive said suddenly, approaching Spike with a fake flirtatious look. Realizing who that colt was, Spike's little use of reason faded away, leaving him completely frozen with a terrified face. "I know you've been secretly in love with me all these years, so have a love letter for you." Elusive added, offering Spike a small letter with a heart stamp.
That was the maximum seriousness that the colts could endure in this situation, so without being able to bear it any longer, the five colts burst out laughing at how stunned Spike had been after the joke. Not realizing that Spike had stayed frozen not by the letter, but by the fact of seeing his beloved Rarity transformed into a colt. Meanwhile, Dusk only covered his face and approached Spike, thinking that his brother had reacted as he had predicted.
Before they reached the library, the five colts pressured Dusk to play a prank on Spike. So what Dusk finally told them was that the last night Spike had dreamed of a beautiful mare with white fur, from which he had fallen love, an mare coincidentally much like Elusive. So, to make fun of the little dragon, it occurred to everyone that Elusive gave Spike that love letter as a mockery of the false fantasy that Dusk invented. And as Dusk had thought, the colts had confused Spike's shock at seeing them, with the impact of his silly joke.
As the five colts continued to laugh at Spike's face, Dusk moved closer to Spike's ear.
"I'll explain it later. For now just play along." Dusk whispered to Spike.
"What did you do to Rarity and the others!?" Spike asked weakly looking at Dusk, still angry with him but so shocked that he was barely recovering from the shock.
"I didn't do anything to them, and I don't know what happened to them. But I swear I'll fix it." Dusk whispered, looking determinedly at Spike to trust him despite his anger.
"Come on Spike! Aren't you going to kiss your pretty sweetheart?" Rainbow Blitz said, approaching Spike and shaking his head so that he looked at Elusive, who was making a false kiss.
"Spike, who would think that you would dream and fall in love with a mare that looks like me." Elusive said mockingly. "Now I understand why sometimes you looked at me with desire, hahaha."
"Our little baby dragon has entered puberty! Even if it's falling in love with an imaginary mare, hahaha." AJ teased, getting closer to Spike to tease him more closely.
Hearing the jokes, Spike slowly turned red with embarrassment. He understood that apparently all the joke was a deception of Dusk, but still, the laughter and mocking voices that pointed to him was a lot to be enduring without getting upset. The same thought of Dusk, who at first laughed to pretend that he was having fun with his friends, but now it was no longer funny that they mocked Spike so shamelessly. It was then that Dusk also noticed that Butterscotch, who had laughed with everyone like the others, was now laughing more nervously at how they seemed to abuse the teasing of Spike.
"Fluttershy's soul knows that this isn’t right, and if she were here, she would have put out her voice despite everything and convinced us all that enough was enough." Dusk thought as he watched the nervous Butterscotch surrender to the peer pressure.
"You were right, Dusk. It was a lot of fun teasing the little casanova with his imaginary girlfriend." Bubble Berry said laughing next to Dusk Shine.
Unfortunately, Dusk was not the only one to hear that comment, since Spike was attentive to everything. His face was red with embarrassment enduring the humiliation, but upon hearing that Dusk had planned to annoy him with 'his imaginary girlfriend', Spike's anger could more than anything else and finally he decided it was time to humiliate his older brother.
"Hey guys. I didn't know you liked hanging out with a colt as effeminate as Dusk." Spike said looking at the colts and then fiercely looking at Dusk, who froze at his brother's ruthless comment.
"What do you mean?" Elusive asked, looking curiously at Spike.
"See for yourselves." Spike replied, holding up his 'ultimate weapon', the small piece of paper, which turned out to be a photograph.
The six colts, including Dusk, approached to see the photograph that Spike was holding. And Dusk's blood ran cold when he saw that it was a photograph of the day of the Cloudsdale competition, when he flew with his butterfly wings and wore a strange makeup on his face.
The five colts immediately burst out laughing, laughing much louder than when they mocked Spike. It seemed that none of the colts had memories of that performance of Dusk, so the lavender colt rushed and tried to take the picture to hide it, but among the five colts they passed it to him, so that Dusk couldn't take it.
"Well, well... no wonder you were so sentimental today. Really we have a princess in our group of males, hahaha." Rainbow Blitz scoffed at the photo, handing it to Butterscotch before Dusk took it from him.
"Hehe, sorry Dusk, but that makeup definitely doesn't fit you." Butterscotch said unable to resist teasing Dusk due to the ridiculous photo.
"Look at that beautiful butterfly, I almost want to hug her, haha." AJ said, taking the photo before Dusk snatched it from Butterscotch, then passed it to Bubble Berry.
"You talk about your feelings, you like to put on makeup, you wear butterfly wings… Are you hiding something from us that we don't know? Just tell us, we'll won’t judge you if you think that deep down you are a pretty mare, hahaha." Bubble Berry scoffed with a shrill laugh and passed the photograph to Elusive.
"I know all about fashion, Dusk. Those wings definitely go with your purple fur, haha, although for next time, try to use less blush on your checks, hahaha." Elusive scoffed, laughing loudly.
With that last joke, Dusk stopped trying to reach the photo of his humiliation. Everyone had cruelly mocked him, humiliated him, just as it had happened when he was younger at school. And with each joke from his friends, his spirit sank further, until finally he just stood still, pressing his lips together to endure such humiliation.
Seeing his brother like this, almost on the verge of tears, Spike felt deep regret, believing that perhaps he had gone too far with his revenge.
Suddenly, Dusk felt a soft hoof resting on his back.
"Dusk, take it easy, we’re just giving you a hard time because we care." AJ said suddenly, stopping laughing and looking at Dusk with an affectionate smile. "We like to joke, and sometimes we exaggerate a little, but we do it that way because we're friends."
"Yeah, the crueler the jokes, the more we have affection for each other." Bubble Berry added, who also noted that Dusk had taken the jokes he had been told very badly. "It's like when Elusive passed gas and stank up the entire Spa."
"Hey! I told you never to talk about it." Elusive yelled blushed.
"We're friends and we joke around with each other, but only between us." Butterscotch said smiling tenderly. "Don't worry, nopony else but us will see this photo."
"When you came to Ponyville, you said you wanted to study the magic of friendship. Well, that's how friendship works between colts." Rainbow Blitz said smiling. "We might joke with each other, so much so that anyone who saw us would say we hated each other. But if someone messes with one of us, they’ll have to face all of us, because that’s what brotherhood is all about! No pony gives our Princess Dusk the business but us!"
At that moment the five colts looked at Dusk with friendly and trustworthy smiles. It still wasn’t the same feeling as when he was with his mare friends, but still, he could feel the affection and security that this group of friends gave him.
"I'm not worried... If anything, Rainbow Blitz has me more worried. Don’t want him to get too dizzy from seeing so much book together, after all he's an airhead." Dusk finally said, smiling and finally understanding the dynamics of being in a group of trusty colts.
Finally, the atmosphere relaxed, and the six colts began to joke around with one another, which ended up causing a lot of laughter. Every once in a while, mostly Rainbow Blitz or AJ, they talked about times they had to fight someone else, causing everyone to come together imaginatively and see themselves fighting together to help each other, that was the brotherhood they had and felt! A masculine affection that was not expressed in words but with actions.
Eventually, night fell, and the colts decided to end their Bros Day, but not before making one last tribal cry of ‘Bros!'. Each one returned home, leaving a Dusk Shine with a very pleasant feeling, because now he knew a new type of friendship. Granted, a very different one from the one he had with his mare friends, but still, a friendship of great value.
After saying goodbye, Dusk went up to his room, where Spike was already lying down, still in the corner opposite where Dusk's bed was.
"Spike... do you want to talk to me already?" Dusk asked, knowing that he still had to explain what had happened with Rarity and the kiss between the two.
"F-First fix Rarity and the others... Then we'll talk." Spike replied without turning to see Dusk. Who, after the cruel revenge that he did in the afternoon, already felt as guilty as Dusk felt with him, but even so, his stubbornness inherited from his inner dragon, still prevented him from forgiving Dusk so easily.
Noticing that Spike's anger was already waning, Dusk smiled and walked over to his bed. Then he noticed that with everything that had happened that day, he had completely forgotten the strange blue flower that he had brought from the Everfree Forest, so he put some water in the vase and promised himself that he would study it the next day. After watering the flower and placing it next to his bed to remember to study it, Dusk finally went to bed and prepared to sleep.
"Wow… it feels like my stomach doesn't hurt anymore." Dusk thought, putting a hoof on his stomach, remembering that morning had awakened with stomach pain, mild discomfort that had fallen during the day and had now completely disappeared. "It’s the same as with everything on this day. It started strange, but finally everything went well." Dusk thought, remembering with some guilt that although his friends didn't remember who they really were, they were still the same good ponies at heart, and he had spent a great afternoon exploring the masculine side of friendship. Dusk Shine turned to the side of his bed and continued to analyze everything while trying to fall asleep.
"Deep down Applejack and the others are very similar to their male versions, only that these male versions try to hide their feelings more to look stronger..." Dusk thought, analyzing the differences between the two groups of friends. "I wonder if I’ve been doing the same thing without realizing it... hiding my feelings..."
Dusk Shine turned again to settle in, almost on the verge of falling asleep, but still with one last dilemma on his mind.
"Friendship between colts is different from friendship with mares. But if it's about sensations... The feelings that the five colts left me today are more like the feelings that I felt when I met the mares the first few times... But it’s different from what I feel now towards my five mare friends..." Dusk thought as he fell asleep, having a revelation that for the first time his mind allowed himself to accept, that his friendship with his friends could be something else. "So if it's not friendship how I feel about girls... what is it?" Dusk finished thinking, before falling asleep, while deep inside, the truth was finally beginning to emerge in his mind.
End of chapter 43