Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness

by bigsnusnu


Chapter 51 - Fear

Fear

It was early morning and a little baby dragon was standing in front of a mirror, doing various contortions and exaggerated poses while taking pride in his almost nonexistent muscles, which in his imagination would impress a certain white unicorn.

"So, Rarity… What do you think? Do you notice that I have been exercising?" Spike said as he flexed his arms in front of the mirror and made duck lips to look cooler. "These muscles are for you, baby."

Suddenly Spike moved his claw at his back, and side of him, facing the mirror, appeared a plushie that closely resembled his beloved Rarity. A new plushie that he had secretly order, which had cost him days of sacrifice of not eating gems to save them and thus pay for that little miniature imitation of his beloved muse.

"Oh, Spike! You look so strong and masculine!" Spike said imitating a high-pitched voice, moving his mouth almost imperceptibly to ventriloquism, all to make it seem that Rarity's plushie was the one speaking to him. "I am definitely in love with you!"

"I know, honey. I know." Spike said with a proud face, then looking Rarity's plushie and bringing his mouth towards it while his imagination flew and made him imagine himself being about to kiss the beautiful mare.

Just when Spike was about to kiss his plushie, he felt something move behind him, so he quickly hid the plushie behind him and quickly turned around. Then Spike saw that the movement had been from Dusk Shine, who had just woken up and was about to go to the bathroom.

"D-Dusk! I-I thought you'd sleep in a little more. I… I wasn't doing anything embarrassing!" Spike said quickly, who had taken advantage of the fact of getting up early to do that little show with his plushie, but he didn't want his big brother to make fun of him.

At Spike's words, Dusk glanced at him and saw that his little brother was embarrassed about something, and it most likely had to do with the plushie he was hiding behind his back. Since Spike was in front of a mirror, Dusk in the same way could see perfectly what his brother was hiding behind him. Any other day, Dusk had questioned his brother to know what he had been doing exactly, and then tease him, but that very morning, Dusk was not in the best of moods.

"Do what you want, my head is somewhere else right now..." Dusk said, sighing tiredly and continuing his way to the bathroom.

"Uh? What's wrong? You look a bit discouraged." Spike asked after hesitating a little, since he was glad that his brother had not seen his little show, but he was still worried about Dusk's mood.

"I don't know. I didn't sleep very well… I think I had a nightmare or something." Dusk said trying to remember the last thing he saw before waking up.

"Oh, then no problem. You're already awake, so no more nightmare, right?" Spike said a little nervous, walking slowly back to hide Rarity's plushie in a drawer so Dusk wouldn't see it.

"I know, but… it's strange… I don't know if it was a nightmare or something I imagined as soon as I woke up. I only remember one image and… the feeling it left me is very confusing." Dusk said as he uncomfortably remembered the only image he could remember from that nightmare. "Besides... if I had a nightmare... Why didn't she show up?"

"Hm? 'She' who?" Spike asked.

"N-Nopony..." Dusk replied slightly blushing, since he didn't want to tell Spike who he expected in the world of dreams.

Dusk still remembered the last time he saw 'Lady Night' and how that last time he had believed to have discovered her true identity. But more important than that, were the words that she had said to Dusk that time, about not being able to see him again. Something that seemed to be fulfilled, since Dusk had just had a nightmare, but SHE hadn't appeared to help him, which made Dusk Shine quite sad.

Once Dusk went to the bathroom and had breakfast with Spike, the unicorn got ready to start a new day. And just as his little brother told him, he tried to stop thinking about a silly nightmare. After all, he was awake now, and there was nothing to worry about, neither the nightmare, nor the strange feeling he felt.

"I think I'll go for a walk around town to clear my mind a bit." Dusk said saying goodbye to Spike and opening the library door to go out.

As soon as Dusk opened the door, a cannon shot of streamers and confetti hit him in the face.

"Yippee! You finally open the door!" Pinkie Pie said with an exhausted, yet happy face.

After the initial surprise and shaking his mane to remove the confetti stuck in there, Dusk looked confusingly at Pinkie Pie.

"Were you waiting for me to open the door? Why didn't you just knock or come in without warning like you always do?" Dusk asked confused.

"I couldn't knock on the door to get in, since today I'm celebrating 'Opposite Day'." Pinkie Pie said with a smile.

Dusk Shine stared at his friend for a few seconds, knowing that asking would only leave him with more questions, but he took a risk anyway.

"Opposite Day?" Dusk repeated very confused.

"Yeah! It's a new holiday I made up to throw a party for! Here are the non-invitations." Pinkie said showing that she was holding several cards in her hoof. "So, I don't want you to go to my non-party." Pinkie added with a big smile.

"So… if it's Opposite Day… That means you don’t want me to go to the party, right?" Dusk said raising an eyebrow and smiling at the crazy things his friend came up with.

"Nope." Pinkie Pie replied with a big smile as she nodded her head to indicate that Dusk was right, and then she handed him one of the invitation cards she was holding.

"Well... it'll definitely be a confusing party..." Dusk said scratching his head and taking the invitation to the 'non-party' that Pinkie Pie offered him.

Seeing the invitation, Dusk's eyes almost jump with excitement to see that the invitation was basically a photo of Pinkie Pie with suggestive bedroom eyes, lying on her bed with a sexy pose.

"P-Pinkie! W-Why are you giving me an invitation like that!?" Dusk said completely blushing when he saw the photo of Pinkie Pie. He tried his hardest to not ogle the suggestive image, but his basic instincts made it difficult for him to take his eyes off the sexy photo.

"Well, I wanted to give you a different kind of invitation..." Pinkie Pie said blushing a little and looking at Dusk with a flirtatious look.

"I-It's definitely different, and… it stimulates the imagination." Dusk said nervously. The poor colt then began to fantasize imagining Pinkie Pie in that pose lying on his bed and enticing him to lie down next to her and get a taste of her special ‘pie’, which made him blush even more. "Wait! You'll also invite the girls, right? And… Are all invitations like this?" Dusk added concerned, imagining dozens of photos of Pinkie Pie in that sexy pose.

"Well, yours is special. The other girls’ invitations are a bit different." Pinkie Pie replied with a smile while she showed Dusk how the other four invitations were for her other friends.

Seeing the other invitations, Dusk's eyes again almost pop out of their sockets, but this time not by emotion but from the horror to see that the invitations of his friends were almost exactly the same as his invitation, but the one who was in a sexy pose on a bed… was himself!

"What…!? How…!? W-Why…!?" Dusk stuttered horrified to see that photo of him in that sensual pose. "WHERE DID THAT PHOTO COME FROM!?"

"Obviously it's not you, at least not completely." Pinkie Pie said with a big smile. "I asked the 'Forbidden Love' fan club to find someone to cosplay 'Dusk-Sempai' and then I pasted a picture of your face on the body."

"Lyra's comic fan club? And what does that have to do with me?" Dusk asked confused, unable to take his eyes off the invitation from his friends, where Pinkie had done an excellent job of editing the photo to make it seem almost true that it was Dusk Shine.

"I'm definitely going to have to start reading those comics... It seems like everyone knows something that I don't know..." Dusk pondered, thinking that even though he didn't like reading comics, he would have to make the effort to read that series.

"Why did I have to be the one on the invitations?" Dusk finally asked, after managing to calm down a bit, even though his cheeks were still red.

"Because I had to make sure everypony went to this non-party." Pinkie Pie said smiling.

"And how is it that a photo of me in... such a pose will convince them to go?" Dusk asked, blushing again.

"Who knows?" Pinkie Pie answered looking at Dusk flirtatiously and bringing her face a little closer to Dusk's. "Why do you think we would like to see you in such a pose?"

A seeing his friend so close, Dusk instinctively drew back a bit as he blushed more and looked again at the invitation he had in his hoof.

"Wait... The party is this afternoon?" Dusk asked confused, since when he saw the invitation with the photo of Pinkie Pie, surprise hadn't let him read the message after it, but now that he was paying attention, he could read what it said.

"Nope." Pinkie Pie said again as she nodded affirmatively, remembering that she was celebrating the made-up holiday. "Just today, Mr. and Mrs. Cake went out for two days in Canterlot, so I wanted to take the opportunity to have a party at Sugarcube Corner."

"It's a bit sudden… But I'll definitely go! After all, your parties are the best." Dusk said with a big smile.

"Hehe... I'm very sad to hear that!" Pinkie said with a big smile, as she started to jump backwards. "And remember, I don't want you to go because you're not important to me." Pinkie added blushing a little.

While his friend walked away, Dusk just laughed nervously, thinking that if the party was about the opposite of everything, he couldn't even imagine the crazy things his festive friend had planned for that strange occasion.


Punctual as always, Dusk and Spike arrived at Sugracube Corner for Pinkie Pie's party, although since their friend had told them that they were celebrating Opposite Day, Dusk wasn't sure if arriving on time as he always did was the right thing to do.

Once they entered the bakery, Dusk and Spike were surprised to see that everything seemed to be turned upside down in the main hall. With a carpet and a table somehow glued to the ceiling, and the floor full of balloons with their strings up, which finally gave the illusion of walking on the ceiling. And to Dusk's surprise, it seemed that he and Spike were the last to arrive, since their five friends were already there.

"Oh! It's a shame you already have to go, bye!" Pinkie Pie said with a huge smile seeing that Dusk and Spike had finally arrived at the party.

It took Dusk and Spike a second to understand that that farewell to Pinkie Pie was their way of welcoming them to that party of the opposite.

"Yeah... uh... goodbye..." Dusk greeted with a nervous smile, thinking that he would have to play along with his friend and say goodbye instead of saying hello.

"Will we have to do like this throughout the party?" Spike asked confused, thinking that it was kind of annoying to have to do everything backwards.

"Yes! But, it'll be fun!" Pinkie said laughing, but she quickly widened her eyes realizing her mistake. "Whoops! I mean, no! It'll be very boring!" Pinkie Pie corrected herself to continue her game.

With a quick glance, Dusk noticed that Pinkie Pie seemed to be the only really happy one at that party, since unlike other parties, her other friends seemed to have confused and uncomfortable looks. Rarity and Fluttershy were quietly eating some sandwiches in one corner, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash were chatting near a large bucket of water in another corner.

Seeing where Rarity was, the little dragon immediately ran to be with his beloved. And seeing his brother run, Dusk took the opportunity to approach his other two friends on the other side.

"Hi girls, how's the party going?" Dusk asked smiling, noticing that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were looking confused with the large bucket of water in front of them.

"Dusk! About time you showed up!" Rainbow Dash said smiling.

"I was punctual as always." Dusk said raising an eyebrow. "What surprises me is that you arrived before me. You're always the last to get everywhere."

"Yeah... well... I-It's just that I was excited for the party, hehe." Rainbow Dash replied blushing and looking away, the same gesture that Applejack also made. Though the four mares all enjoyed the parties their pink friend threw, the truth was that they had arrived very early to the party because they all had the small hope that at Pinkie Pie's party they could see Dusk Shine in the same pose sexy that he had appeared in the invitations they had received.

"By the way, why does everyone look so confused?" Dusk asked. "You're not celebrating like you normally do at Pinkie's parties."

"Well... it's complicated." Rainbow Dash replied scratching her head. "When we got here, the four of us were thinking of celebrating like we always do, but Pinkie Pie insisted we had to walk backwards, or speak differently. So, we don't really know what to do."

"That’s why me and Rainbow started here. We thought that there’d be some apples to bob for in this here bucket, you know, like that typical carnival game." Applejack added with a confused look. "But there ain’t no apples or anything floating in there."

"Oh! That is because you haven't searched in there yet!" Pinkie Pie said suddenly, appearing from behind with a smile.

"S,o is there something to look for?" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly.

"Well duh! It wouldn't be a game otherwise, silly." Pinkie Pie answered smiling.

Seeing that that bucket of water was indeed a game, the competitive spirit between Applejack and Rainbow Dash was kindled. Both mares looked at each other seriously, and quickly both dipped their snouts in the water to look for what was to be found there.

"I think I found something!" Rainbow Dash muttered excitedly, with half of her mouth still submerged in the water. "I think- AGH!" Rainbow Dash suddenly screamed as she felt something stick to her face.

As she pulled her head out of the water, everyone watched in amazement as Pinkie Pie's little crocodile, Gummy, had its mouth wide open and seemed to be eating Rainbow Dash. Although of course, the baby crocodile was so small that it barely covered part of Rainbow Dash's nose and forehead.

"What is that? Why was Gummy swimming in the bucket?" Applejack asked very confused.

"He wanted to help me with the game." Pinkie said laughing. "After all, we're celebrating Opposite Day, so instead of bobbing for a surprise, here the surprise bobs for you!" Pinkie Pie added excitedly.

"Ptui! So all the games will also be the other way around?" Rainbow Dash asked, spitting a bit after pulling little Gummy off her face, who had clung tightly to his prey despite having no teeth.

"Of course!" Pinkie Pie said smiling and taking out a board with the drawing of a pony that had a pin from which a toy tail hung. "You want to play pin up tail on the pony?"

Seeing the pin with the toy tail, Applejack and Rainbow Dash immediately imagined how they could play that game in the opposite way and imagined the worst, so they both made scared faces.

"I-I think that's enough games for now, hehe…" Applejack giggled nervously as she imagined Pinkie sticking a pin in her behind.

"Geez, Pinkie, this is definitely your weirdest party." Rainbow Dash said covering her face, unable to avoid being honest and saying what she was thinking at that moment.

"Yeah... but it's not fun to have the same parties every time, hehe." Pinkie Pie said with a small smile.

While that smile was normal for Pinkie Pie, it was also slightly different from the ones she had been having before hearing that disapproving comment from Rainbow Dash, and that was something that didn't go unnoticed by Dusk.

"Let's go over to Fluttershy and Rarity, it looks like they put on some music." Dusk said quickly changing the subject and pushing the others to get everyone together.

Just moments before, Spike had been listening to Rarity and Fluttershy talking about how confused they were about Pinkie Pie's party, as they couldn't seem to do anything without her telling them to do it backwards. And while the mares were talking, Spike had begun to drink the punch provided, taking advantage of the fact that Dusk wasn’t looking. The little dragon was forbidden to drink any punch that Dusk didn't try first, all after the incident at the Summer Sun Celebration when he had gotten drunk. And it was after having a couple of drinks and noticing how discouraged everyone was that Spike had the great idea to put music on the turntable to make the atmosphere more cheerful.

"Oh Spike! That’s a wonderful idea." Rarity said, noting that the music would indeed make the atmosphere more festive and thus maybe they could finally start celebrating like they always did.

Hearing Rarity's compliment, Spike blushed slightly and then bit his lip lightly when a great idea occurred to him.

"W-Would you like to dance with me?" Spike asked sheepishly, his cheeks blushed with embarrassment.

"Of course!" Rarity said lovingly, approaching her beloved Spikey-Wikey to dance animatedly together.

"Okie Dokie Lokie! Let's dance!" Pinkie Pie said very animatedly, seeing that her friends began to dance and cheer up.

"Dancing backwards would be too complicated. So I think it would be best if we dance the normal way." Dusk murmured near PInkie Pie as he approached to dance with her, anticipating what his friend might come up with and wanting to prevent her from doing so.

"Yeah... I think you're right..." Pinkie Pie said, sighing slightly disappointed, until her eyes widened when another great idea occurred to her. "Wait, I know how to keep dancing normally and keep celebrating Opposite Day."

Then Pinkie Pie walked over to the turntable, turned the needle in the opposite direction to where the disc was spinning, and turned the music back on. At that moment, everyone's dancing stopped when listening to the new music, which came from the same disc. But now that it sounded backwards, it seemed to be playing some strange music in a strange language, which seemed more like a dark curse than harmonious music.

"I-It's a little different, but we could dance it anyway." Pinkie Pie said with a nervous smile, looking expectantly at everyone.

At Pinkie's proposal, they all narrowed their eyes and looked at each other as the strange music played. The pink pony’s idea was admittedly horrible, that music was impossible to dance to, as it was more noise than music. Everyone was beginning to think about how annoying Opposite Day was getting, but of course, no one wanted to tell Pinkie Pie so as not to hurt her feelings. Something that wasn't really necessary, since Pinkie Pie realized that her ideas weren't working, and her smile was becoming sadder, despite the fact that she tried not to show it.

"Stupid Pinkie! I wanted to throw a different party, but I'm making everyone feel uncomfortable…" Pinkie Pie thought sadly lowering her head.

Just at that moment the music stopped, and Pinkie Pie raised her head to see that Dusk had been the one who had stopped the turntable.

"Since it's Opposite Day, let's not dance to music. Let's make our own music instead!" Dusk said with a big smile, taking Pinkie Pie by a hoof and starting to dance with her while he hummed a tune.

Seeing herself dancing so suddenly, Pinkie couldn't help but have a surprised face. But when she noticed that Dusk did that to try to help her, Pinkie Pie felt a great joy to see that her dear Dusk had noticed her depression and had jumped in to help her. Then, the pink pony laughed with a joy in her heart, and also began to hum to support Dusk's melody.

Thus, Pinkie and Dusk continued dancing while the others also began to add different hums at different times, each one different, thus achieving a quite catchy rhythm that made everyone have fun listening to the music they formed just by humming. Then it was Spike and Rarity's turn in the center to dance, and then each mare had their turn to dance with Dusk, which left a lot of laughs at all times. All except for Spike when he saw Rarity dance with Dusk, where the dragon just looked away annoyed and drank quickly from the punch, as if that would make him forget what he saw.

After that dance, the atmosphere at the party became more cheerful, and each time they thought of doing something at the party, they did it in a different way to play along with Opposite Day, but this time everyone contributed so that this time it felt a lot more fun.

"Thank you..." Pinkie Pie whispered in Dusk's ear while the others laughed while playing limbo, only instead of going under, they played who jumped higher.

Hearing that whisper, Dusk turned and saw Pinkie Pie smiling warmly at him with a grateful look.

"Why? I don't know what you mean… This was all your idea; look how much fun everyone is having!" Dusk answered smiling, feigning ignorance.

Upon hearing that, Pinkie saw that Dusk hadn't only helped her when she needed it, but also helped her not to feel bad about herself. That made Pinkie lower her head and blush.

"You're definitely the one..." Pinkie whispered to herself, smiling at what she felt in her heart.

"Dear Rarityyyy… Hic! I… I love you sooooo much… Hic!" Spike said suddenly, approaching Rarity with a wobbly step and a somewhat lost look, while holding a glass of punch in his claw.

"Darling, Is something wrong with you?" Rarity asked concerned to see the baby dragon in that state, until she saw the glass of punch he was holding and got scared. "Spike! Don't tell me you drank too much!? "

"Ju-Just a little... Hic!" Spike replied with a goofy grin, hugging Rarity's leg tightly. "I love you sooooo much... Hic!"

"Pinkie! Why did you put alcohol in the punch!?" Rarity asked annoyed as she looked worriedly at Spike, who looked like he would fall at any moment.

"Did you try the punch?" Pinkie Pie asked confused.

"Of course not! I was going to do it when I got here, but I thought I saw Gummy swimming in it, so I didn't want to drink it." Rarity replied worriedly, holding Spike tenderly like a baby and walking beside him to the couch.

Seeing his little brother so drunk, Dusk walked over to the punch, sniffed it carefully, then poured himself a glass and drank it.

"This punch is alcohol-free." Dusk whispered confused.

"I know, that's why I asked Rarity if she tasted it." Pinkie Pie said with a shrug.

"But then… why is Spike drunk?" Dusk asked even more confused.

"Maybe he still remembers drinking the punch that summer night when he got drunk... I think it’s called the placebo effect." Pinkie Pie said with a thoughtful look.

Dusk looked at Pinkie with surprise that she knew those specific medical terms, since even he had hardly heard of it. It was then that Dusk also remembered the time Pinkie Pie was a psychologist with him when they were studying her pinkie-sense, where Dusk had already been surprised that his peculiar friend could do such accurate mental analysis.

"Pinkie, you're a box full of surprises." Dusk said with a big smile.

Hearing that compliment, Pinkie Pie felt even happier than she already felt, and began to laugh.

"Hey, if it's Opposite Day, then you don't have to laugh when you're happy." Applejack said suddenly, who had come jumping back to where Dusk and Pinkie Pie were.

"Oh! It's true." Pinkie Pie said surprised. Then she tried to put a serious look but seeing Dusk out of the corner of her eye, she couldn't bear it and smiled again with happiness. "Sorry, I can't, hehe." Pinkie Pie added, smiling again. Then it was Pinkie Pie's turn to jump back to get closer to chat with Fluttershy while she didn't stop smiling at Dusk's compliment.

"Hehe, I knew she couldn't do it… It's hard for me to imagine Pinkie Pie sad." Applejack said with a smile as she watched Pinkie Pie jump.

At Applejack's words, Dusk remembered that he had seen Pinkie Pie cry, when she was locked in her secret room. But that was something they both kept secret, because Pinkie was the symbol of happiness of the town. An image that needed to be kept for everyone’s benefit.

"M-Maybe the opposite of happy isn't sad... Maybe the opposite is being angry." Dusk said slightly nervous, wanting to change the subject to remove from his mind the painful image of seeing his cheery friend crying. "Although I don't think I’ve seen Pinkie Pie angry either... I can't imagine Pinkie yelling at someone angrily."

"Hmm… I think you're right. I've seen her upset, but I've never seen her angry enough to yell at somepony else." Applejack said thoughtfully, until her eyes widened at the memory of something. "Although… there was that time when Trixie was in town. That time, after her first show, we went to see her because we knew she was planning something against you. Then she told us that it was strange that the whole town was against you except us, and she said that it could be because we were crazy or because we were under a spell..."

"Did Trixie really say that?" Dusk said surprised, but then he remembered everything that mare had done to make the town see him poorly, and then he realized that what Applejack was telling him was not really that far from reality.

"Yeah. When Trixie called us crazy, I remember Pinkie yelling very angrily 'Don't tell us crazy'… I remember it well because I've never seen Pinkie Pie scream like that." Applejack said thoughtfully.

"Maybe she doesn't like to be called crazy." Dusk said thoughtfully.

"Or maybe she got mad because Trixie was offending how she felt about the colt that she lov-" Applejack said, quickly shutting up, as she was about to say that Pinkie loved Dusk. "R-Rainbow Dash! You called me!?" Applejack said quickly, blushed, quickly moving away from Dusk since she knew that if she kept talking she could be risking the secret of love of her friend and the others, because the truth was that that time, Trixie had deduced that they were neither crazy nor bewitched, but in love.

After making sure Spike was sleeping peacefully on the couch, Rarity turned to go back to the party. It was then that she saw that Dusk was eating some snacks, and for the first time at the party, alone. This was a great opportunity to get closer to him and talk more in private, after all, her sharp eye had noticed that her other friends seemed to be paying more attention to their other friends than to her. Actually, since Applejack had returned from Appleloosa, Rarity had noticed that Rainbow Dash didn't take her eyes off Applejack, as if she feared leaving Applejack alone with Dusk for a long time again. And something similar happened with Pinkie Pie, who after the slumber party at Fluttershy's house, she always glanced at Fluttershy to make sure she didn't spend too much time alone with Dusk.

"With them busy keeping an eye on each other, that leaves the field open for me!" Rarity thought, smiling with pride as she approached Dusk. "Time to flirt with my 'darling' a bit."

Once she arrived next to Dusk, Rarity opened her mouth to speak, but at that same moment, she saw that her other four friends had also approached Dusk, and without him noticing, they all glanced at Rarity. With just one look, Rarity fully understood what her friends were thinking: 'You won't take advantage, we haven't forgotten about you.' Which made her chance to flirt with Dusk slip away.

While Dusk ate, he saw his five friends, who without him noticing, had surrounded him. They all smiled kindly, but it seemed that none wanted to speak, as if they expected Dusk to be the first to say something. And in that smiling silence, in which none of them dared to take the step to approach Dusk, knowing that if one did the others would also act, it was that they all understood that they had reached the next phase in their war for Dusk's love: A Cold War, in which none could get closer to Dusk without the others waiting passively, without the others retaliating.

"Why…isn’t anypony saying anything?" Dusk finally said, with a confused smile, thinking that perhaps his friends were playing something without him knowing.

"Hmm... You know Dusk, I've been thinking..." Pinkie Pie said smiling and then suddenly frowning and looking at Dusk with an angry face. "I hate you."

"W-What?" Dusk said very surprised, like the other mares, since none of them expected Pinkie to say something so hurtful so suddenly.

"That's right, I’ve hated you since the day we met, I hate you with all the strength of my soul." Pinkie Pie said again, this time unable to bear her facade and smiling again, slightly blushing.

It was only when Pinkie Pie smiled that everyone remembered the party they were at, where nothing was what it seemed and everything was backwards. And if Pinkie said she hated Dusk, what it really meant was...

"W-Well, I hate you more, much, much more!" Rarity said quickly, the first to understand her pink rival's bold move. Blushing in the same way when saying that while taking a step to approach Dusk.

"I hate you too, I hate you since I met you and I hate you more and more every day." Fluttershy said, completely red as she looked at Dusk.

"T-That's nothing. I hate you more than anyone. I hate you today, I'll hate you tomorrow and… And I'll always hate you!" Rainbow Dash said blushing.

"I… I also hate the way you are. I hate you so much that I don't know what to do." Applejack said staring at Dusk.

"I... uh... yes... we all hate each other a lot, hehe..." Dusk said very red when he saw that his friends stared at him directly while showing their feelings of affection. "Since I met all of you, I have learned to hate you with all my heart. If you hate me, know that I hate you much more, hehe." Dusk added with a nervous smile, thinking of how to 'hate' could mean 'affection' and 'friendship' in this crazy party, so everyone was really saying how much they wanted themselves as friends, showing how important and valuable their bond of friendship really was.

"But… the exact opposite of 'hate' is… 'love'." Dusk thought nervously. "If only one of the girls had said that, for a second I would have believed that, but since they all did the same, I understood that it couldn't really mean love… Right? … right!?" Dusk thought nervously, feeling his heart for a second almost paralyze with emotion at the thought of what all of his friends really meant, but his rational mind had quickly acted.

At another time, Dusk would have settled the matter with that answer, but now his heart wouldn't let him. Since he had discovered his feelings for his friends, a small spark of hope in his low self-esteem had created a space to believe that there was a slim chance that one of his friends might feel something for him. And now, with that little spark of doubt, Dusk was forced to ask to get out of doubt.

"Uhm... W-Which really means-" Dusk started to say, until he was interrupted.

"How dare you tell my dear Rarity that you hate her!" Spike said suddenly, waking up with his psychological drunkenness. Then Spike staggered to where everyone was, glared at Dusk, and then looked at Rarity.

"Don’t worry, Rarity, I’ll always like you." Spike said with a goofy grin.

"Hmm, but Spike, today is Opposite Day." Pinkie Pie said laughing at Spike's fake drunkenness. "So, what you're really saying is that you’ll always dislike Rarity."

Hearing that, Spike's fictional drunkenness seemed to dissipate, and he made a face of horror. Seeing that Spike realized his mistake, they all began to laugh at the foolishness of the situation.

Finally, seeing that it was already night, everypony decided to end the party. Dusk carried Spike on his back, who seemed to be very depressed because of what he had said to Rarity. And while everyone was leaving, Pinkie was listening through the window as her friends were talking about how strange that party had been, but that everything had finally turned out well, despite it starting very boring.

"I just wanted to throw a different party... if I don't try new things, I'll never know if they could work." Pinkie Pie said speaking to herself as she began to tidy up the mess they had made in the room, then she pulled out a list and crossed out where it said, 'try an Opposite Day party'. "I don't think I'll have a party like that again. Although… thanks to Dusk, everything turned out fine in the end."

In that instant, Pinkie Pie widened her eyes in surprise and then closed them tightly, showing concern.

"Oh geez… I should stop talking to myself." Pinkie Pie thought remembering something from her past that scared her.

After deflating the last balloon, Pinkie Pie looked around her, seeing that she was completely alone in a quiet room. It was a pretty big juxtaposition had been just minutes ago, with all her friends laughing together. Then a terrifying feeling of loneliness seized her. The party mare had always been the definitely of a social butterfly. She was always in the presence of other ponies, be it her friends or some other pony in town. Even in the evening, she with Mr. and Mrs. Cake and knowing that they slept in a few rooms down from her own brought her a sense of comfort.

But this time she was completely alone, and that alone began a small trickle of dark thoughts to pop up in her head.

"Sleep! I need sleep... If I fall asleep quickly, tomorrow will come faster, I'll be able to get together again with my friends, and I'll stop being alone..." Pinkie Pie said, who again realized that she was talking to herself and pressed her lips strong in frustration. So she took Gummy next to her and hugged him. "I'm not talking to myself, you're here with me, right Gummy?" Pinkie said with a small smile as she went upstairs to go to bed.


As fast as Pinkie Pie closed her eyes, she opened them the next day. She had been so tired that she felt as if she had barely blinked and it was already dawn, and the fact that she hadn't dreamed that night gave more to the illusion that the night had lasted only a blink.

Rubbing her eyes from exhaustion, Pinkie got up and sat on her bed, staring blankly. Her mane was long and straight, without a hint of the usual tousled and fluffy mane that she always had. For several seconds, Pinkie froze, trying in vain to remember if she had dreamed something, but her fatigue had been such that the night before had simply been like turning off her conscience and that morning she would have turned on again.

"It's not usual to sleep without dreaming anything... I wonder if that’s what death will be like... not like a long dream, but just... you stop thinking and your consciousness is lost..." Pinkie Pie murmured with a dark look. "Although it doesn't matter if sleeping is like being dead. There are worse things than death…" Pinkie added with a scared look, even more concerned when she realized that she was speaking to herself again.

In that instant, Pinkie realized the dark thoughts she was thinking and then noticed the morbid expression she had on. No one wanted to see a sad Pinkie Pie, not even herself. Then Pinkie Pie shook her head to drive away all those gloomy thoughts, causing her mane to fluff up as it normally was, and then Pinkie smiled happily, ready to start a new day in the best possible way.

Pinkie started her daily routine; bathing herself with Gummy, having breakfast and chatting with her little crocodile so as not to feel alone. Then Pinkie placed some orders that Mr. Cake had asked of her to keep her busy at the bakery, but she finished them quickly, fixing a few things in the kitchen and delivering some cake orders that a couple of ponies had left in advance. Finally, the pink mare was completely unoccupied, alone in the bakery, with a silence that made her feel more and more uneasy, until the solution occurred to her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cake come back home tonight... meaning I can throw another party with my best friends before they come back!" Pinkie Pie said with a big smile, taking Gummy between her hooves and setting him down on the main counter. "Gummy, I’m leaving you in charge of the bakery while I go to invite my friends to the party." Pinkie said looking seriously at Gummy, who just replied indifferently, sticking his tongue out and touching his eye with it.

After leaving Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie knew who she wanted more than anyone at the party, so her first visit was to the Golden Oak Library. Once there, she knocked on the door this time, unlike the day before. However, the one who came out to greet her was not Dusk Shine, but little Spike.

"Hey Pinkie, how are you doing?" Spike said smiling.

"Hi Spike!" The pink pony greeted happily. "Where’s Dusk? I wanted to invite you both to my after-party this afternoon!"

"Dusk isn’t here right now. He’s been having some strange nightmares lately, so he went to the Everfree Forest to meet with Zecora for her advice." Spike said scratching his head, until he realized the invitation Pinkie Pie was giving him. "Wait?! Did you say you were having a party THIS afternoon?"

"Yep!" Pinkie said very happy. "But we’re not having an Opposite Day party this time. I still don't think about what I'll do differently for this party, but I assure you it'll be fun!"

"Yeah… uh… I remembered that I won't be able to go, because… because I have to tidy up the library!" Spike replied nervously, trying to smile at Pinkie Pie.

"Oh… But is it a lot of work? Maybe you could save it for tomorrow so you can go to the party." Pinkie Pie said with a small smile.

At Pinkie's insistence, Spike narrowed the door and sneezed into the library.

"Oh no! Look!" Spike said feigning surprise and opening the door. In doing so, Pinkie was surprised to see a small fire in the library. "There's even a fire in the library, that's how messy it is! I-I think it would be best if I started, I'm sorry I can't go to your party!" Spike added quickly, slamming the door, leaving a very confused Pinkie Pie outside.

"How strange… it almost seemed like Spike had caused that fire on purpose…" Pinkie Pie muttered thoughtfully, but immediately shook her head. "No, why Spike would do something like that, he loves my parties!" Pinkie Pie added smiling again, thinking how silly she was for mistrusting Spike, and regretting that the little dragon couldn't come to her party.

After going to the library, the next pony on her invite list was Rarity, so Pinkie headed towards the Carousel Boutique, knowing that at least her unicorn friend wouldn't be busy with her work.

"Oh, I'm sorry darling. I won't be able to go to your party this afternoon." Rarity said with a nervous smile after Pinkie had asked her the question just as she was taking out the trash on the street.

"Why not? I thought I heard you say yesterday that you would be free from work today." Pinkie Pie said disappointed, remembering what her friend had said the day before at the party.

"Uh… yes, quite. That's not why… I won't be able to go because…" Rarity answered shakily, looking around until she saw the trash bin that she was holding in her hooves. Then, having great willpower, Rarity stuck her head in the trash, completely dirtying her mane. "I can't go because I need to wash my mane today... Ugh!" Rarity said quickly, holding back the urge to vomit and running back to her house, slamming the door behind her, leaving Pinkie Pie alone and confused for the second time.

Unfortunately for Pinkie Pie, when she went to invite Fluttershy, she had no better luck.

"I'm sorry, I can't go to your party because… I have to take care of Angel!" Fluttershy replied after Pinkie arrived at her cottage.

"B-But that's not a problem, you can take Angel with you." Pinkie Pie said with a nervous smile.

"Uh… I couldn't. It's just... Angel doesn’t get along very well with Gummy." Fluttershy said quickly, looking askance at Angel, who only shrugged, knowing that this was a lie. Then Fluttershy used 'The Stare' to scare Angel, and the little bunny had no choice but to pretend to be angry and wild to hear that he would be with Gummy.

With a new wave of disappointment, Pinkie left Fluttershy's house and headed over to where she knew Rainbow Dash should be with the weather team. And as Pinkie walked, she started to become a bit more suspicious, because what all her friends had told her seemed like simple excuses for not going to her party, but her heart refused to suspect her dear friends in that way.

"Sorry Pinkie, I have a lot of work to do today. But count me in for the next party." Rainbow Dash said worryingly as she flew over Pinkie when she stopped her to ask her.

"What are you talking about? We're almost done-" Cloud Kicker said, one of Rainbow Dash's pegasus companions, who couldn't finish her sentence, as Rainbow Dash quickly put a hoof in her mouth to shut her up.

"Hehe, yeah, like I was saying, sooo busy." Rainbow Dash quickly added, getting very nervous. "Bye!" The blue pegasus added, flying quickly away from Pinkie Pie.

This was the fourth rejection that Pinkie Pie received for her party. It seemed of little use to continue inviting her friends, however Pinkie decided that even if only one of her friends could go, that was enough for her. So, she went to Sweete Apple Acres to invite the last of her best friends, hoping that she could be with her to accompany her and get her out of her loneliness.

"So, can you go to my party this afternoon?" Pinkie Pie asked her honest friend, Applejack, with a smile that almost seemed like a plea.

Hearing her friend, Applejack froze and closed her lips tightly, then she began to sweat a lot. The orange mare was horrible at lying and she knew it. So finally, she just pointed at her throat and spoke without making a sound, thus pointing to her friend that she had suddenly become hoarse and could no longer speak.

Seeing Applejack's gestures, Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes and brought her face close to her friend's, who just looked at her nervously.

"Is your throat really that sore?" Pinkie Pie asked looking questioningly at her friend.

Seeing Pinkie's intense gaze, Applejack just squeezed her eyes shut and nodded quickly, then ran back to the barn and shut the door behind her.

As the last door closed in her face, Pinkie Pie couldn't help but sadly lower her head and frown when she saw that her friends couldn't be with her, and perhaps worse still, they DIDN'T WANT to be with her.

"No! I can't distrust my friends! They wouldn't fool me! They… they like to be with me…" Pinkie Pie said very sadly, although she couldn't help but doubt her friends a bit. Then Pinkie realized that she was talking to herself again, so she closed her eyes tightly in frustration.

Finally, Pinkie decided to go back to the library to see if Dusk had returned. Not only because he was her last chance for someone to agree to be with her, but also because she was beginning to feel very sad, and she knew that in those cases she needed to be close to Dusk for him to help her cope with that sadness.

When Pinkie was about to arrive at the library, she stopped when she saw that suddenly the door of the library opened and Spike crept out wearing a strange raincoat and a hat, which instead of making him go unnoticed, it generated the opposite effect. At the sight of the little dragon in such a suspicious attitude, Pinkie decided to quickly hide behind a house and started tailing Spike from afar, while the baby dragon trying to go stealthily through the streets of the village.

After a short chase, Pinkie saw that Spike went to Rarity's house. Seeing that, Pinkie Pie sneaked closer to hear what they were talking about. The pink mare thought it strange that the pair looked so nervous. Weren’t they supposed to be busy this afternoon?

"Where is Dusk?" Rarity asked after opening the door of her house and seeing the little dragon in his raincoat.

"He still hasn't come back from seeing Zecora. By the way, is the package ready?" Spike asked Rarity, as if they were in a spy novel.

"Yes, here it is." Rarity said levitating a box next to her. "Now we must move fast. Before Pinkie Pie sees us."

"Yeah… By the way, I probably said some weird stuff yesterday, but it wasn't my fault! It was the punc!" Spike said blushing, taking the opportunity to apologize.

As Spike and Rarity sneaked out of Carousel Boutique, Pinkie Pie continued to secretly follow them, repeating in her mind what she had just heard Rarity say: 'Before Pinkie sees us.' Why did they want to do something secretly from her? Pinkie couldn't get the thought out of her head as her heart clenched a little at the doubt that grew in her.

Following Rarity and Spike around town, Pinkie was surprised to see them reunite with Fluttershy, since her pegasus friend was supposed to be taking care of Angel as she had told her.

"Were you able to gather the other things to… you know." Rarity muttered once she met Fluttershy behind a house, who had another box on her back.

"Yeah, but it was hard to hide so that Pinkie wouldn't see me in town." Fluttershy answered a little worried. "Even I had to lie to her and tell her that I would take care of Angel. Thank goodness she believed me."

"Yes, I know, I also had to lie to her." Rarity said a little embarrassed. "But it was necessary. If she finds out about our little secret meeting, she'll ruin everything."

As her two friends and the dragon were walking towards a new location, Pinkie Pie tried to move to chase them again. But after hearing what her friends had said, her heart clenched with so much pain that it was impossible for her move for a few seconds.

"They… they lied to me so that I wouldn’t be with them…" Pinkie Pie muttered with a pained look, but then she squeezed her eyes tight and shook her head. "No, no, no! They're my friends! I... I must have misheard them... That's it!" Pinkie added starting to breathe heavily at feeling so cheated, but still holding out a little hope that it was all a misunderstanding.

When Pinkie was finally able to move again, she looked up as a shadow passed over her. Then she saw Cloud Kicker fly over her, doing a few twirls while having fun.

“C-Cloud Kicker! Have... have you finished your work yet?" Pinkie Pie yelled from below to call out to the lilac pegasus.

"Yeah, quite a while ago." Cloud Kicker replied smiling.

"And... do you know where Rainbow Dash is?" Pinkie Pie asked with a nervous smile.

"I don't know. When we finished moving the clouds, we wanted to all go for a hay burger together, but Rainbow Dash said she couldn't because she needed to see one of her friends, and she went to a secret party or something." Cloud Kicker replied thoughtfully, but as soon as she finished speaking, she realized that the pony who shouldn't find out about Rainbow Dash's secret party, was precisely the pony she was talking to! "Uh… I'm sorry! I-I remembered that I have to do something!" Cloud Kicker quickly added in embarrassment, quickly flying away from the pink pony.

As Cloud Kicker walked away, Pinkie Pie remained static, with her eyes wide and her mouth dry from surprise. She had finally verified her biggest fears, her friends were having a party without her! And thinking about that, Pinkie started to breathe rapidly as she felt her chest tighten.

"Why did they lie to me!? Why don't they want to be with me!? Was it because they didn't like my party yesterday!?" Pinkie Pie began to say as she began to hyperventilate when she felt betrayed by the ponies she loved the most, her best friends, the same ones who no longer wanted to even see her and lied to her face. "Why are they doing this to me!? Were we... Weren't we friends!? I… ENOUGH! STOP TALKING TO YOURSELF!" Pinkie Pie suddenly screamed in pain, closing her eyes tight as she realized she was doing something she hated doing again.

When she was silent, Pinkie Pie tried to calm herself, but in her mind she kept asking herself the same questions without getting an answer, and with each question, she felt a pang of pain shoot through her heart. At that moment Pinkie closed her eyes tightly as she felt that they began to fill with tears.

"I have to find Dusk… I need to be with Dusk!" Pinkie Pie thought when she realized that she was about to cry, and that now that she no longer had her room of sadness, Dusk was the only pony she could trust, who could help her deal with this great pain.

Pinkie sprinted into the Everfree Forest in a desperate attempt to find the lavender colt. Once there, she remembered when with Dusk they had gone in search of the 'curse' that had affected Rainbow Dash's wings, and thanks to her GPS (her Great Pinkie Sense), she was able to make her way until she reached a strange hut that it was in the middle of a big tree, right near where she felt that Dusk could be close.

Pinkie approached the hut slowly, give how terrifying it looked on the outside, and approached a window, where she could see that Dusk Shine was indeed there, talking with that strange zebra called Zecora. Watching from outside, Pinkie immediately felt that the atmosphere was tense for some reason, so she just kept seeing them secretly and listening carefully to what was happening.

"I can't! I can't believe that that image and that… feeling will stay with me forever." Dusk said with a scared look.

"It was too early for you; you shouldn't see it yet." Zecora said with a calm voice. "For us shamans, it's a normal ritual, but we perform it only when the mind is ready to accept it. In your case, there is no turning back, now you must learn to use it, that is the way to overcome yourself and learn to use your magic beyond the common limits!"

"I… I don't think I can. Wouldn’t it be easier... to erase that memory?" Dusk muttered closing his eyes in frustration. "It's forbidden but... there is magic capable of erasing memories..." Dusk added fearfully, thinking about what his teacher Celestia would say when hearing him talk about using forbidden magic.

"You could, but then you would erase all the progress we've made with your magic and your concentration so far. You must understand that your soul has not rejected what it saw in that vision, nor has your mind. It's only your prejudice that prevents you from accepting it completely." Zecora said seriously. "So far your magic has taught you to control the aura around you, but it'll not take you beyond where you are now. If you want to advance to the next level, you must accept that there are things that you can't control, and that there are things that you must let go... You must let go of the illusion of control!"

After Zecora's words, the unicorn fell silent, still thinking that what his new teacher was telling him was crazy but knowing in part that she was right.

"I need…I need some fresh air. I need to think." Dusk muttered, turning around and leaving Zecora's hut.

Once Dusk was outside the hut, he closed the door and leaned his back against it while closing his eyes, and, against his will, he felt a chill again when he remembered the 'nightmare' he had had that morning, the same one he had had also the day before.

"I know I asked Zecora to be my teacher, but I never thought she would even make me question everything I’ve learned throughout a lifetime. And mainly, that it made me question who I am and... where I’m going..." Dusk thought while feeling a mixture of confusion, frustration, fear and anger at the unknown. "Zecora was right about something… I wasn't ready for this."

"Dusk?" Pinkie Pie asked shyly, slowly approaching Dusk.

"Pinkie Pie!? What are you doing here?" Dusk asked surprised to see his friend there.

"Dusk, I... Is there something worrying you?" Pinkie said shyly, still feeling great pain for all the feeling of betrayal and sadness that she felt. But seeing Dusk so confused, she tried to put Dusk first before herself.

At Pinkie's question, Dusk widened his eyes in surprise and then looked away. It was very obvious that something was bothering him, but he couldn't tell his friends, no matter how confident he felt towards them. What he felt was something that not even he could deal with at the time, and if any of his friends found out about it, Dusk couldn't even imagine all the pain and worry that it would cause in his dear friends.

"It's nothing, please don't ask." Dusk grumbled, closing his eyes tightly.

"Dusk…You know can talk-" Pinkie said shyly until she was interrupted.

"I said it's nothing!" Dusk interrupted abruptly, scaring PInkie Pie a bit. "Why are you here anyway!?" Dusk added annoyed, feeling that his thoughts about what Zecora had revealed to him were making him want to vomit.

"I... came here because... I needed to be with you." Pinkie said sadly, not wanting to mention that she wanted to be with him because she was about to cry. "Today... I went to invite our friends to a party, but I discovered that none of them want to be with me."

"That can't be true... Why do you think of something like that?" Dusk asked narrowing his eyes, since his head was starting to hurt because he couldn't focus on what his friend was saying, all he thought about was the discomfort he felt and what Zecora had revealed to him.

"Because I heard them! They lied to me! They … They said they didn't want to see me and… and that I could ruin everything if I was with them … "Pinkie Pie said hyperventilating, no longer able to bear it and expressing all the fear and pain she felt.

"That can't be true..." Dusk repeated annoyed, feeling that at that moment he needed to be alone.

"They tricked me! They… They don't want to hang out with me anymore!" Pinkie Pie said on the verge of tears.

"You're wrong..." Dusk said, closing his eyes tightly while he couldn't get that image of that nightmare or that uncomfortable feeling out of his mind.

"I followed them! They want to have a party without me because they don't like my parties!" Pinkie said releasing the weight of the greatest fear she felt. "They don't want to be my friends anymore!"

"They'll have their reasons." Dusk answered again, with more and more headaches, thinking that he had more important things to worry about at that moment than that Pinkie was worried because she wasn't invited to a party.

"No! I'm sure! They-!" Pinkie Pie screamed in fear, until she was interrupted.

"STOP!!" Dusk yelled annoyed. "They rejected you because they have something important to do! And I have more important things to think about right now! For once in your life, act normal and stop acting CRAZY!"

At Dusk's scream, Pinkie froze, her eyes wide and dull, as if she had seen a ghost. For his part, Dusk just closed his eyes, frustrated and angry with himself, and lowered his head as his breathing began to calm down. What Zecora had revealed to Dusk was already causing a lot of trouble, not only for him, but also for those around him, and Dusk quickly realized his mistake.

"What am I doing? I'm taking my fear and frustration out on Pinkie Pie." Dusk thought after calming down a bit, a temporary peace of mind that he had when he found himself completely silent. But it was that very silence around him that made him realize something important. “She looked upset. She didn’t go to her secret room. She looked for me. My promise to her!”

"Pinkie?" Dusk said as he opened his eyes and looked up again. However, as he feared, when he opened his eyes, Dusk saw that his friend was no longer there. "PINKIE?! Great Celestia... what have I done?" Dusk muttered as he began to grasp the consequences of his actions.

Meanwhile, far from Zecora's hut, was Pinkie Pie, running at full speed, her eyes full of tears at the fear, sadness and helplessness she felt.

"Dusk! What have you done!?" Pinkie Pie yelled as she cried uncontrollably and kept running. "You promised that you would be there when I needed a place to cry... But what do I do if it's you who makes me cry!?" Pinkie Pie cried, feeling sadder and more lost than ever.

“Without you, I’m all alone!”

End of chapter 51