//------------------------------// // Chapter 55 - The declaration // Story: Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness // by bigsnusnu //------------------------------// The declaration Fortunately for Dusk, the maids hadn't carried him too far after his kidnapping, so he assumed that that hidden corridor was very close to the hall where they had taken him. Something that was confirmed when he teleported at the same place in the castle that he had been to before disappearing. Once he returned to the illuminated halls of the castle, Dusk looked everywhere, seeing that it seemed that no pony had noticed his disappearance or paid attention to the fact that he had just appeared there with magic. And as he looked around, Dusk saw towards the lounge he had left behind, where Princess Celestia followed her monotonous routine of greeting the guests who were still waiting in line just to greet her. "I wonder what the princess would say if I told her what the twin maids just did..." Dusk thought with a small grin. Even though what the maids had done was crazy, it wasn't really out of evil and only they did so because they wanted to somehow protect the princesses. "I still don't understand why they wanted me to stop talking to the princesses, do they think I'm a bad influence?" While Dusk was thinking, a clock on the wall marked the time and seeing how late it was, Dusk remembered that he had promised that he would find his friends to enjoy the Grand Galloping Gala before it ended. So, Dusk turned around and started walking through the corridors of the castle to look for his friends. During his 'kidnapping', Dusk had realized how different his friends made him feel compared to other mares. However, as Dusk walked and reviewed what happened, he realized that when he remembered that feeling he felt when one of his friends kissed him, another mare had been on his mind as well. A mare that wasn't part of his five friends and to whom he hadn't seen her all night, several nights, in fact. Then Dusk began to walk slowly, until he finally stopped with a thoughtful look. "There... There is somepony else I want to see tonight..." Dusk thought, raising his head and changing direction, now walking towards the stairs that led to the upper towers. While Dusk walked, he couldn't stop thinking about Luna and how lonely perhaps she felt. So much so that Dusk thought that perhaps that was the reason why she had told her sister Celestia that she wasn't sure whether to appear at the Grand Galloping Gala or not. "This is the first Gala since she returned from exile. Maybe she’s afraid or insecure about something..." Dusk thought as he went upstairs of the tower, where he guessed Princess Luna's room should be. "Or maybe I’m just making up excuses, and the truth is... I just want to see her." The lavender colt blushed, again remembering the kiss that the Princess of the Night had given him after that sad goodbye the last they saw each other. Meanwhile in the room he was going to, Princess Luna was coping with her own internal struggles. The Princess of the Night's room was a mess, with dozens of ball gowns thrown on the floor as she stood in the middle of her room, standing on just one of her hooves as she flexed the rest of her body, with her eyes closed and breathing slowly. "Who knew that the ponies of this time would invent something so useful." Luna whispered, thinking aloud as she practiced this relaxation technique she had been taught called 'yoga'. "I’m beginning to feel much more relaxed now." Luna's serene figure was in stark contrast to how she had been just minutes before practicing those relaxation positions. A couple of hours before, when her sister Celestia had asked her if she would appear at the Grand Galloping Gala, Luna had doubts of whether to make an appearance or not. She eventually decided against it, as she knew that she would no doubt forget her royal duties if she once again met Dusk Shine. However, after Celestia left, Luna ordered her maid Sweet Caramel to stay with her to help her choose a dress for the Gala. And so, they had both spent hours while Luna tried on each dress and then rejected it, thinking that it would not be pretty enough to appear with it in front of Dusk. After she finished trying on each garment and feeling frustrated at not finding a perfect dress, Luna screamed angrily and flopped onto her bed like a grumpy filly. T hen Luna glanced at her faithful maid and saw that she just kept staring at the floor with an annoyed look. "Sorry Sweet Caramel, I have you here with me having a hard time while you should be enjoying the Gala." Luna said with a sad smile. "N-No, it's not a bother at all, my princess." Sweet Caramel responded quickly with embarrassment. While it was true that she felt somewhat annoyed, it certainly had nothing to do with her beloved princess. Rather, it was that bothersome colt Dusk Shine that always seem to put the alicorn in a frazzled state whenever the colt came up in conversation. "Huh... You can leave, after all... I think I’ve finally decided to not come down after all." Luna said with a sigh. She decided that she would no longer be plagued with these distractions. After that, the maid had left and Luna had spent the next few minutes trying different yoga poses while trying to relax, something she hadn't been able to achieve for almost an hour. She couldn't help but think that deep down in her heart, she did want to meet with Dusk, even if it was just for a while. But finally, after a lot of willpower, Luna was completely relaxed and no longer thought at all about the Grand Galloping Gala or Dusk Shine. 'KNOCK-KNOCK!' There was a knock at Luna's door. "Huff… Sweet Caramel, is that you?" Luna asked, exhaling air as she assumed another pose and achieved absolute serenity. "It's Dusk Shine." The colt's voice answered from the other side of the door. As soon as Luna heard Dusk's voice, she completely lost her concentration, lost her balance and fell heavily to the floor, causing a lot of noise. "Did something bad happen?" Dusk asked after hearing her fall over. "N-N-NOTHING! NOTHING IS WRONG! ALL IS WELL!!" Luna yelled, red with embarrassment and so nervous that she ended up yelling to answer. After the surprise, Luna rushed back up and immediately ran to the door to prevent Dusk from opening it and seeing the mess that was her room. Then she took a shaky breath after running, and slowly propped her head on the door as she tried to calm herself. "W-What are you doing here?" Luna asked after calming down a bit. Faced with Luna's question, Dusk was silent for a few seconds, not sure how to answer. "I... wanted to see you... and talk to you again." Dusk said sighing, deciding to honestly say what he felt. On the other side of the door, Luna was surprised to hear that, so she raised her head from the door and put a hoof on the knob to open it. At the last second, however, she stopped and looked back, where on the other side of her room, she could see her own reflection in the mirror. Then the alicorn sadly lowered her head and slowly pulled her hoof off the doorknob. "I’m sorry… It wouldn't be good for you to see me. I still haven't regained all my powers and… and I'm not the same mare you saw in your dreams." Luna said sadly. "Not the same mare...?" Dusk repeated. Then he understood that Princess Luna must be referring to her appearance as the beautiful 'Lady Night'. "I… I know that wasn't your true appearance, but that doesn't matter to me. I just want to talk with you." "No, you cannot. I mustn't see you." Luna replied sadly, closing her eyes tightly as she remembered her determination to put her duties before what she really wanted. "Nothing would make me happier than being able to be with you and chat together… And that's why I can't see you. I… I can't enjoy my life, that's my punishment. I have to repent for my previous actions." Luna added, saying that last thought with a whisper. She knew she couldn't be happy after all the damage she had caused to Equestria. To her sister. "But..." Dusk said quickly. "Please! Go away." Luna interrupted quickly, feeling very weak emotionally, realizing that if she spoke longer with Dusk, she would give in and try to be with him. "Stop there!" A third voice suddenly yelled. As soon as Dusk turned around, he realized that two ponies were approaching down the hall. The same maids who had kidnapped him minutes before. When Sweet Caramel saw Dusk was in front of the door of her beloved princess, she was enraged and ran swiftly to get between him and her princess's door. "You heard the princess. You had better go." Sweet Caramel said, glaring at Dusk. "I... I need to see the princess." Dusk said with a serious look as well. Then both he and the red-mane maid stared in silence for several seconds. "Maybe it's not bad for you to talk to the princess. After all,... we can't refuse a princess's order if that's what she wants." The other maid, Sweet Creme, said slowly, who had stayed behind her sister after she ran, and now she was slowly approaching where Dusk and her sister were. "But we must make sure that this is what the princess really wants." Sweet Crème added, looking seriously at Dusk, and giving a fleeting glance at her sister, who being her twin, quickly understood what she should do. "Huff... listen well Dusk, there were certain... events that made us change our minds, regarding preventing you from talking to the princesses." Sweet Caramel whispered so that her voice wouldn't be heard through the door, her eyes narrowing slightly as she remembered the pony they had talked to in the secret corridors of the castle after Dusk disappeared. "I'll convince the princess to come out and talk to you. But for now, you need to go." After the red-maned maid spoke, Dusk stared at her, looking for any sign of deception on her face. However, no matter how much he looked at her, it seemed that what she said was true. "Come with me. While my sister talks to the princess, we'll go downstairs to wait for her in the main halls." Sweet Creme said kindly, inviting him to come down from the tower next to her. However, before Dusk followed the blue-maned maid, he took a step closer to the door, and spoke in a loud voice so that Princess Luna could hear him. "No matter what you look like, you are still Luna." Dusk said with a small smile, accidentally forgetting to add the honorific 'princess', and simply calling the blue alicorn by her name. "I just... want you to promise me that we'll meet again." Dusk added, feeling he couldn't go there without making clear what he really wanted: for Princess Luna to forget her promise to never see him again. After a long silence, in which Dusk and the maids froze, finally a weak voice was heard. "Okay... I promise." Luna answered slowly from behind the door. Satisfied with that answer, and that later in the party he would be able to talk to Princess Luna again, Dusk smiled in relief, and accompanied Sweet Creme as they descended the stairs to return to the main halls of the castle. "Sweet Caramel! I need you!" Luna shouted after a while, after checking that Dusk had already left. Knowing what was coming ahead, Sweet Caramel turned and entered the room of her beloved princess, knowing that again she would have to see how the princess tried on all the ball gowns before choosing one to go down to the party. For their part, Dusk Shine and Sweet Creme calmly went down the stairs until they returned to the halls where the celebration was taking place. Once there, Dusk noticed that for some reason, Sweet Creme raised her head high, as if looking for somepony in particular. And before Dusk could ask her something, she pulled Dusk's hoof for him to follow her. "Are you taking me somewhere specific?" Dusk asked somewhat confused, seeing that they were advancing through the corridors full of guests, without apparent direction. "I'm just looking for the best side so that you and the princess can talk quietly." Sweet Creme replied without turning to see Dusk, only pulling him to follow her at all costs. Then the maid suddenly stopped when she came to a corridor that was next to one of the castle gardens. "This is a good place." Sweet Creme added seriously. Then, to Dusk's surprise, she used her magic and teleported away from there. After the sudden disappearance of Sweet Creme, Dusk was left confused, thinking about why she had left him in this place in particular. Surely if he waited to meet with Princess Luna, he knew that there were many better places in the castle that were either more private or scenic. Dusk looked around and saw that this corridor was ordinary just like the others, with several guests walking around. The only thing that appeared different seemed to be a small group of ponies, which because of their clothing, seemed much wealthier than the other ponies that circulated there. These ponies seemed to be arguing aggressively in front of a small apple stand, a small wooden structure that Dusk was very familiar with. "Psst!" somepony whispered suddenly. Dusk raised his ears attentively to see who was whispering at him. "Psst!" Looking for the source of the whisper with his eyes, Dusk stopped when he saw a statue that was right in the garden next to the corridor. Behind it, he could see the tip of a stetson hat that Dusk knew very well. Then the colt left the hall and went to where the statue was. "Applejack, what are you doing hiding here?" Dusk asked with a small confused smile when he saw that his friend was sitting behind that statue. "I knew it was you, sugarcube! How did you get here!?" Applejack asked, who had seen Dusk's silhouette and had called him, but without being completely sure if it was him. Then she pursed her lips and glanced to where those elegant business ponies discussed in front of her small stall of apples. "I hid from them." "Who are they?" Dusk asked, thinking that perhaps those elegant ponies had somehow made fun of his country friend. "Wait a second... is that Fancy Pants!?" Dusk added, surprised when he recognized one of the stallions that were arguing there. "Do you know him?" Applejack asked curious. "Everyone at Canterlot knows him. He’s one of the richest businesscolt in Equestria." Dusk answered, sitting next to his friend. "Did he offend you in any way?" "No. The opposite, in fact." Applejack said with a nervous smile. "It turns out that he and those other ponies were very interested in the apple candies that I brought to sell. And now they… want to be my partners to do business." "That... That's amazing!" Dusk answered excitedly. No doubt a business venture with one of the wealthiest ponies in Canterlot would greatly benefit the country mare and her family. "Then, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be negotiating with them?" Seeing that Dusk was supporting her, Applejack lowered her head and was thoughtful for a moment. "I'm not sure. I mean, I think it would be great to make the apples on my family's farm famous, but maybe it's too big of a leap. I think I’d prefer something smaller…" Applejack answered with a nervous little smile. "Also, every time they talked about business; they spoke in fancy words I didn't understand and... I was a little scared that they would think I was just a silly country mare." "You're not a silly country mare! I assure you that you know more about taking care of a farm than all of them put together, hehe." Dusk said with a big smile. "There is no pony who knows everything in this world. Even me, with everything I know about magic, I'm also ignorant of how to run a business. But I've seen you sell apples in town, and I assure you, you know more than you think. You may not know some technical words, but the experience is there." Dusk added, touching his friend's chest to instill confidence. Applejack touched the place where Dusk touched her when he removed his hoof and lowered her head while blushing slightly. "That... That’s not the whole truth." Applejack said slowly, without lifting her head. "It's true that I hid from those ponies because I wasn't sure if I should negotiate with them, but I also did it because there’s something very important that I have to do… In fact, there are two important things that I have to do before I can think about any of that business nonsense..." "Oh. Well, what things do you need to do? Can I help?" Dusk asked curiously. "Are you going to do it now that you managed to hide from those ponies?" Dusk waited for his friend to answer him. However, as much as he waited, Applejack simply remained motionless and silent, keeping her head down. "I know I have to do those two things, but… I'm not sure what to do first." Applejack finally answered as her ears blushed slightly. Then she suddenly raised her head, with a look of determination. "Best to get the most daring one out of the way first!” Applejack stood up, and took a couple of steps forward, and seeing that her friend stood up, Dusk also did the same. Then Applejack turned around and stared at Dusk with a slightly nervous look, but full of determination. Then she slowly raised a hoof to gently touched Dusk's cheek, which made the lavender colt blush. Then Applejack looked tenderly at Dusk and slowly brought her mouth close to kiss him. As soon as he felt Applejack's lips touching his, Dusk turned completely red from surprise, however he didn't move at all to get away. Instead, Dusk slowly closed his eyes and returned the kiss of his beloved friend. "I was right... This kiss is nothing like the kisses the maids gave me.." Dusk thought suddenly, feeling his heart leap with emotion and enormous happiness ran through his body as his feelings ran wild. His mind screamed for that sweet sensation of that beautiful moment to last forever. How much time passed, neither Applejack nor Dusk Shine were sure, because in their minds the concept of time disappeared for that little moment. Until finally, Applejack slowly released Dusk's lips and stopped touching his cheek. "I guess I was finally able to give you... the kiss I always wanted." Applejack whispered shyly, completely blushed, lowering her head and shyly looking up at Dusk. "W-Why... did you kiss me...?" Dusk asked, just as red as he was completely stunned after his brain started reacting again. "That was one of the things I had to do." Applejack answered, as she breathed slowly to catch her breath and give herself strength for what was coming. "Because the other thing I had to do is… tell you that I love you." Hearing his friend's declaration, Dusk slowly opened his mouth. Although words failed to leave him as his mind still tried to contemplate under that thick layer of low self-esteem what he had just heard. However, his heart had overtime learned to accept such realities of being love and allowed to Dusk to fully realize what Applejack just said. "You..." Dusk said slowly, struggling with himself and believing that perhaps he misheard. "I love you." Applejack quickly interrupted while still staring at him, knowing that in that declaration there could be no ambiguity. This was HER moment, and not even Dusk's stubborn head would take it away. "I… I’ve known for a long time I doubted what I felt. I was afraid to feel that feeling and that it would somehow harm others. But now I realize that my indecision was a mistake, and I want to correct it. I love you, Dusk Shine. Without me realizing it, you swept me off my hooves since you foolishly fell from that tree the day we met, and... and slowly you were making me feel more and more things for you, until finally it was useless to deny it, and I had to accept... that I love you." Applejack said on the verge of tears, while in her mind all the moments with Dusk passed that led her to that precise moment. "Dusk, we've been through a lot, and… and I don't know if what I'm saying will change our relationship for the better or for the worse. But my heart could no longer bear to hide it anymore. I love you Dusk. It doesn't matter how many times I repeat it, or how many times you doubt that you're hearing wrong, but this is my honest truth. This is who I am. In front of you is the most honest mare who you can find, the mare that loves you with all her being." Applejack added, still blushing, but removing every bit of doubt from her heart and looking with a confident gaze at the colt she loved. Throughout the speech, Dusk had remained completely immobile, with his lost gaze. But even though he was in that state, in his mind he accepted every word that Applejack said to him. As she said, there was no doubt, his mind and his low self-esteem couldn't deny it more, less with that stare full of security that Applejack had. She really loved him, and she finally declared it to him. "There you are! Why did Sweet Creme bring you here!?" A third voice suddenly said. As soon as Dusk turned around, he saw that it was Sweet Caramel, who quickly approached Dusk and grabbed him by a hoof. "We must go, the princess is waiting for us." The red-maned maid added, lighting her horn with magic as soon as she touched Dusk Shine. "No! Wait!" Dusk shouted, recognizing the spell that Sweet Caramel activated. However, it was too late. Sweet Caramel's magic was activated, and with a great flash they both disappeared from where they were, appearing elsewhere in the castle. As soon as Dusk realized that he had been teleported away from Applejack, he looked everywhere in confusion, and then glared at the maid. "What did you do!?" Dusk demanded, although it was for naught. Since as soon as he turned to see the culprit of his disappearance, he saw the maid had activated her teleportation again and had evaporated from there, leaving him completely alone. Faced with this new loneliness, the first thing Dusk did was take a good look around him, to discover in which specific part of the castle he was. The first thing that crossed Dusk's mind was that the maid had teleported him away from the castle, since there were no guests around. Not only that, there were no halls, no corridor, no ceiling, the only thing they had were several beautifully flowered trees and shrubs. It was then that Dusk finally recognized where he was and that even though it didn't seem like it, he was still inside the castle. "These are... the royal gardens." Dusk whispered, looking around. Then Dusk went over everything that had happened in the past few minutes and blushed, with a mixture of joy, frustration and confusion. "Great Celestia! Is this really happening?" the lavender colt added, holding his face with his hoof, still amazed at Applejack's declaration and annoyed to see that his friend had been left alone without an answer from him. Suddenly Dusk was distracted by hearing noise near him, as if dozens of animals were purring and singing at the same time. A very strange symphony that Dusk couldn't help but hear and be curious, so he slowly approached the place where all that fuss was coming from. Finally, Dusk arrived behind a bush and with his hoof moved some branches to see what was happening there, surprised at what he saw. Before him was one of the most tender images he had ever seen in his life. Lying on the grass, in front of a small pond bathed in moonlight, was his beautiful friend Fluttershy laughing while dozens of small and cute animals hugged her and insistently searched for her hooves for her to love and pamper them. "Hehe! I know you don't want me to go, but I really must insist." Fluttershy said, looking tenderly at her little new friends, who every time she said she would abandon them, they started to cry and hug her harder. "Please, I promise I'll be back." The pegasus added, trying in vain to stand firm, but every time the animals cried, she gave in and went back to playing and laughing with them. "It seems you made a lot of new friends." Dusk said with a tender smile, while looking at the pegasus. Upon hearing that somepony was there, Fluttershy immediately looked shocked to see who had arrived. When she saw that who was there was precisely her beloved Dusk Shine, she blushed deeply and tried to cover her face with her hooves to avoid showing how embarrassed she was to be surprised under those circumstances. "It can't be! How did Dusk get here!?" Fluttershy thought, red with shame as she was lying on her back on the grass, then she got up quickly and with her hoof smoothed the folds of her dress to check that she still looked elegant. Once Fluttershy checked that her dress was in order and that she had no leaves or grass stuck in her long mane, Fluttershy smiled and started talking to Dusk. However, as soon as Fluttershy opened her mouth, the little animals, who had felt that they had lost the attention of the tender mare, began to moan and with their little paws they gently pulled Fluttershy's dress so that she would sit back together to them. "No... Please, you must understand... I really have to go." Fluttershy begged, lowering her head to talk to the animals so that they finally understood that she should go. "What's going on? Is something wrong?" Dusk asked with concern, seeing how Fluttershy begged the animals to let her go. "Umm, something like that." Fluttershy replied with a sad smile, looking back at Dusk. "I had a hard time, but I finally got all the cute little animals in the garden to accept me. But it seems like they got addicted to my caresses, hehe." She smiled so as not to worry Dusk. "Oh! But… I thought you would like that." Dusk said, remembering how happy and adorable he had seen his friend when he saw her play surrounded by those little animals. "I've heard that the garden animals are very shy around strangers. Even when I lived here, they always hid when I walked around here. But it’s no wonder they took a liking to you so quickly… After all, you're the pony with the kindest heart in Equestria. And who wouldn't want to be caressed by you? Haha!" Dusk laughed, imagining that no animal would resist his friend's caresses. Only then, as he imagined dozens of different animals being caressed by Fluttershy, did Dusk imagine himself being caressed, so he blushed after imagining that. Hearing Dusk's compliment, Fluttershy blushed, lowered her head only to look at Dusk tenderly, while remembering that she had something very important to do. Now that the lavender colt was there, everything had become easier. However, one big question remained to be answered… Would she have the courage to do what she wanted to do? While Fluttershy began to doubt if she would have enough courage, the animals again insisted and pulled on mare’s dress so that she wouldn't abandon them. "Why don't you use 'the Stare'?" Dusk asked, a little nervous seeing that the animals didn't seem to want to leave his friend alone. "I couldn't. It took me a lot to earn their trust, and I… I don't want to scare them, and I don't want to be mean to them, because they're just showing me how much they love me." Fluttershy said, smiling tenderly at her little friends. "Heh, you're right." Dusk said, looking in amazement at his precious friend. "Every time I see you with the animals, I'm surprised to see how you manage to understand what they feel without knowing what they’re saying." "Well, that's my special talent, hehe. But it's not just that I manage to understand the animals, they also understand my feelings, and so we can understand each other." Fluttershy answered, until she realized that what she had just said was precisely what she needed at that precise moment: to make the animals understand how important that moment was for her. Then Fluttershy crouched down again and looked fondly at her new little friends. "Please, I want all of you to feel what I feel… The pony that just arrived is very important to me, I know you can feel it. That's… That's why I'm asking for your help, please let me tell him what I have to say, if I don't do it now… I don't think I'll ever have the courage to do it." she whispered to the animals while touching her heart, wishing with all her being that her feelings and desires would reach the hearts of the little creatures. Seeing the pleading gaze of the pegasus, with her eyes filled with the strong feeling of love, the little animals finally understood how important that night was for that mare. They all took a few steps back to give Fluttershy space, then they looked at Dusk and smiled. The critters then went towards the nearby trees and bushes, in order to leave both ponies alone, and at the same time have a front row seat for what that they felt was about to happen. Dusk couldn't hear what Fluttershy had said to the animals, but he was surprised to see that with a few words, she had finally made them leave her alone. Although soon after, some of those animals returned doing things that surprised Dusk even more. Some monkeys and squirrels began to swing between the branches of the tall trees, dropping some flower petals on him and Fluttershy. At the same time, the birds seemed to magically coordinate to sing at the same time a soft chirping very pleasant to the ear, as dozens of fireflies began to fly and dance in circles around both ponies. "Did you tell them to do all this?" Dusk asked, watching the beautiful scene that the animals were creating around them, then saw his dear friend, and realizing that that image was the most beautiful he had seen all night.. "No… I didn't tell them to do this. They just… finally understood my feelings." Fluttershy said shyly, looking at Dusk out of the corner of her eye and blushed. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, gathering what little courage she had to finally say what she wanted to the colt she loved. "I… …. ……" Fluttershy said, opening her eyes and moving her mouth to speak. However, as much as she moved her lips, no sound came out of her throat. "Uh? Did you say something?" Dusk asked, approaching his friend a little, since he wasn't sure if his friend had said something to him or not. Seeing that despite feeling determination, she wasn't able to express what she felt, Fluttershy began to breathe heavily as she began to panic, feeling that she was missing her big opportunity. "Dusk… Dusk! I… I… … …" Fluttershy muttered, again trying to say those three words that summed up everything she felt. Unfortunately, her nerves were such that no matter how hard she tried; those words didn't come out of her mouth. Then Fluttershy closed her mouth and her eyes gleamed as little tears of frustration appeared in them. "Run! Flees! You can't do this!" A voice in the pegasus's mind said, the voice of her common sense. However, another voice also spoke in her mind. The voice that was clearly the opposite of common sense as it continued to encourage her to stay: love. "No, this is our moment, and I won't run from it!" "Fluttershy?" Dusk asked worried when he saw his friend so distressed. "It's not fair." Fluttershy finally said, breathing slowly and taking all her courage to look Dusk in the eye as she spoke, deciding that if she couldn't say those three words she wanted, then she would explain what she felt. "It's so easy for the others to say what they feel, but not for me. And now it hurts me how I can seem to say the words that truly express how I feel... I... I want my feelings to reach your heart, that you can feel a pinch of this emotion that I feel every time you speak to me, when you look at me, when you touch me." "I… feel that even, even though I can't say them, those three words that aren't enough to express all that I feel for you. That heat in my chest that suffocates me, intoxicates me and makes me immensely happy, that strange feeling that I knew… when I met you..." "For so long I felt it, but I wasn't sure what that feeling was, because I had never felt it before. Nopony had ever seen me as you do, nopony has cared about me like you do, nopony has made me feel like YOU make me feel … That feeling of wanting to give everything for somepony, that feeling that burns in my chest and that I can no longer bear to keep it just for myself … That feeling… That is my love! Because I… Because I… I LOVE YOU!" Fluttershy screamed, finally being able to say the three words that she hadn't been able to pronounce, feeling liberated when saying them, which made the mare finally lose all iota of fear, thus managing to see Dusk full of determination, feeling that although she feared many things, what she no longer feared was her feelings for Dusk. After Fluttershy spoke and shouted her declaration of love from the rooftops, Dusk froze, more surprised than he had ever been in his life. Not only by what he had just heard, but by Fluttershy's attitude. Dusk had never seen her so sure of herself, and he immediately understood the great courage that her shy friend had to have to declare herself in that way. "Is... is this real?" Dusk whispered in surprise, while his low self-esteem tried to force him to believe that it was impossible that two of his beautiful friends had fallen in love with him. Yet there was Fluttershy, staring at him, with her face blushed, but with a look full of determination and love. "Why are you here!? This is not where I left you!" Somepony shouted suddenly, approaching through the bushes until they reached Dusk. Feeling a bit of deja-vu, Dusk turned to see who was approaching, and saw that a maid was approaching him again, only this time it was Sweet Crème rather than Sweet Caramel. The unicorn reached Dusk and quickly activated her teleportation magic before Dusk could react. "What!?" Dusk yelled in surprise, seeing that he had suddenly appeared in one of the halls of the castle. "Why did you bring me here!?" Dusk yelled in frustration, turning to see the maid, who, like her sister, didn't wait to answer Dusk and simply activated her magic again to disappear from there. The same situation had occurred twice now, where he had been suddenly whisked away right after one of his friends had declared her romantic feelings for the colt. Dusk lowered his confused gaze, full of frustration, breathing heavily while a whirlwind of emotions hit his chest. "I need to get back to Fluttershy." Dusk whispered, thinking that his shy friend deserved a respond to her feelings after all the courage she had in declaring her love to him. But, despite the fact that Dusk knew that he should give her an answer, his mind still didn't ask himself the most important question: What answer should he give? As Dusk concentrated to teleport to return to the royal gardens, a pony suddenly touched his back, causing the unicorn to become distracted. "Excuse me." The colt that had touched Dusk's back said, with a very elegant voice. "I'm looking for-" The colt added, who immediately fell silent as Dusk turned around and he recognized him. "Prince Blueblood?" Dusk said, astonished to see who was speaking to him, and more so at hearing him speak so respectfully with him. Something that had never happened in the few times they had seen each other in the castle when Dusk was studying there. "Oh! It's you." Blueblood said reluctantly, putting aside all the formality he had previously used. "My mistake, I actually confused you for some noble-born pony. It's incredible how the quality of guests at the Grand Galloping Gala has declined this year." Blueblood added with a pretentious smile, taking the opportunity to mock Dusk. "Yeah… sure... did you want to ask me something... ‘Your Highness’?" Dusk asked, reluctantly adding the honorific at the end, since being surrounded by ponies of the nobility, Blueblood could make a fuss if he didn't treat him appropriately with his title. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time. "It's nothing that concerns you. I'm just looking for the love of my life." Blueblood replied, smiling as he remembered the mare who had stolen his heart. "You’re in love?" Dusk asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically. It was known that Blueblood was a casanova, so he had never been engaged, and even more so, Dusk had never heard him speak of being in love before, ever. "You wouldn't understand." Blueblood responded quickly in annoyance, guessing what Dusk must be thinking. "I've never fallen in love before, because the perfect mare never came before, but I finally found her. I fell in love with a noble mare of enormous beauty, elegance and grace like no other. Very different from the common town mares you live with today, as I've been told!" “Hey!” the lavender colt shot back. “I happen to be friends with some of those ‘common town mares’, and I would appreciate it if you treat them with a bit more respect!” Deep down, Dusk could help but get a bit fired up at how Blueblood was indirectly insulting those beautiful, kind and wonderful mares that he had grown to know and…well, love. “You…with friends? Ha! Now I’ve hard everything! Now if you’ll excuse me, commoner.” Finally, Bluebood decided that it was unworthy to continue wasting his time on a pony who was only at that party at the request of the princess, unlike all the other celebrities and special ponies out there. Then he went on his way while raising his voice and calling: 'Where are you, my beautiful muse?' Once Blueblood was gone, Dusk lowered his head in frustration, but couldn’t help but give a sardonic smirk. Since living so long among the friendly ponies of Ponyville, he almost forgot how unpleasant the noble ponies were to him. He couldn’t help but give a dark chuckle at how, despite everything Blueblood told him, the prince was one of the kindest, when compared to the other nobles, who even looked at Dusk with disgust for not belonging to a noble family. While Dusk's mind was distracted by his past, his mind suddenly forgot all that when his nose caught a very particular sweet aroma. "I... recognize that perfume." Dusk whispered when he recognized a subtle but intoxicating fragrance that was in the air near him. To better focus on his other senses, Dusk closed his eyes a little and walked down the hall where he felt the soft aroma grow stronger. Until finally, Dusk came to a table with sandwich and ducked his head to see under the tablecloth. "Rarity!?" Dusk said, surprised to see that his friend was sitting there, hidden under the tablecloth. "Shh!" Rarity squealed with her hoof in her mouth to make Dusk shut up, and quickly motioned for him to come closer to her. Thinking it strange, but not distrusting his friend at all, Dusk lifted the tablecloth and quickly hid next to Rarity, sitting next to her. "Why are you hiding!?" Dusk asked, whispering so that no one would discover them there. "You were one of the most excited to come to the Grand Galloping Gala! I thought you would be showing your beautiful dress and talking to the high-born ponies that come here." "Yes well, my plans had to change a bit after I ran into a certain prince." Rarity said, a little embarrassed. "I think without realizing it... I made him fall in love with me." "You were the 'muse' that Blueblood was looking for!?" Dusk asked even more astonished. "How did you make the greatest casanova in the kingdom fall in love with you?" "I don't know! It seems like he was used to being around mares that just did what he wanted, but I realized that for some reason, he began to force himself to try to be nice to me, and it seems that it caught his attention." Rarity replied with a shy smile. "Huff... well, I guess I can’t really blame him. Who wouldn't fall in love with you?" Dusk said thought aloud, after seeing his friend smiling tenderly, as elegant and radiant as ever. Then Dusk realized that he had said that out loud, and quickly blushed. "W-Well, I mean, y-you're beautiful…. I-I'm sure any colt would be lucky to have you as a marefriend, hehe." Dusk added nervously, trying to disguise what he had just said. Seeing Dusk blush after that compliment made Rarity smile even more and blush at the thought that she loved seeing Dusk's nervous face. "So... what do you think about Prince Blueblood?" Rarity asked, looking away from Dusk and looking straight ahead, pretending not to care about that question. "Do you think he and I would make a nice couple?" "Uh!? W-Well…" Dusk said, surprised at that question, then kept an awkward silence while he thought about what to answer, until he finally decided to be completely honest. "The truth is that Blueblood is a spoiled colt who only cares about social status. However, I think deep down he's a good pony, and I'm sure if he were with such a wonderful mare like you, you'd even change that bad side of him. Because that is one of your gifts: to see the inner beauty of all things, and to make shine what others would think is unpleasant... Besides, he is a prince, and I'm sure that he could give you a great life full of luxury and glamor. And there is no mare that loves those things more and that continues to keep her generous soul intact than you. So maybe… you both would make a good couple." Dusk had trouble forcing himself to say the last thing about accepting to see Rarity as the marefriend of another colt, feeling a strange pain in his chest when he said that, which made Dusk have to look to the same side as Rarity. He couldn't bear see her friend and imagine her in the hooves of another colt. After listening to Dusk, Rarity smiled again, keeping her gaze fixed on the tablecloth just like Dusk, not daring to look at the colt sitting next to her. Then she sighed and blushed before speaking. "Perhaps we would make a good couple. He is the prince I always dreamed of since filly." Rarity said, smiling as she reminisced about her past. "The only problem is… I'm already in love." Hearing that, Dusk felt his chest tighten even tighter, and although he tried to ask something, the fear of the answer when imagining Rarity with another colt, made Dusk remain silent. "Honestly, I still don't understand it myself. Unlike Blueblood, the colt I love isn't the typical handsome, muscular stallion that fillies dream of. Rather, I'd say he's more cute and cuddly instead. Besides, he's certainly not a perfect prince, in fact, he's far from perfect, hehe." Rarity said, blushing and giggling as she opened her heart. "He's always making mistakes and puts on quite the goofy face when he's nervous. But… it’s those same mistakes are what I love the most about him. I love when he makes that silly and cute face when he's confused. I love when he gets nervous and blushes up to his ears. I love when he makes mistakes and struggles to fix them, I love his badly cut mane and his beautiful purple eyes, so intense and full of sincerity that make my heart tremble every time he looks me in the eye." As Rarity spoke, Dusk began to realize who her friend might be talking about, but then his logical mind struggled to deny it. "It's not you! It's impossible! A beautiful mare like Rarity would never notice somepony like you!" Dusk's low self-esteem screamed in his mind. However, Dusk's heart, which was beating a thousand seconds, was fighting against that low self-esteem, and it made the colt finally stop looking at the tablecloth and turn to see his friend. When Dusk turned around, he was amazed to see that Rarity had also turned around, and now she was looking at him with an intense gaze, with her fearful blue eyes as she finally opened up in front of the pony she loved. "That colt…is you, Dusk. With you, I finally discovered what true love was. I… struggled so long to find love, so long that I even made serious mistakes that left a mark on my heart… And when that happened, I thought I could never love again. Until that faithful day you arrived in Ponyville." Rarity said, looking more helpless than ever as she remembered her past, shaking a little as she held her own hooves to her chest. "Dusk, you have my heart and you'll have it forever. I'm madly in love with you, and nothing in the world can ever change this beautiful new mark you have left on my heart." As soon as Rarity finished speaking, she couldn't help it and had to wipe away the tears she had been holding back, and with how well Dusk knew his friend, he understood perfectly how emotional and vulnerable she felt at that moment. Unlike Fluttershy, who was extremely shy on the outside but had great courage inside, Rarity was the exact opposite. She displayed a trusty breastplate to hide the wound in her heart that a certain evil colt had caused her generating enormous inner insecurity. Yet here she was in front of him, taking a risk and showing herself completely vulnerable, knowing that the colt before her had her absolute trust, and more importantly, her complete love. "Rarity..." Dusk said, touched by the beautiful declaration of his friend. However, Dusk couldn't say anything, since suddenly a hoof crossed the tablecloth that hid them and grabbed Dusk tightly. For the third time that night, Dusk disappeared by magic, instantly appearing in another hall. Dusk's confusion was enormous when he saw that, despite being hidden under a tablecloth, one of the maids, this time Sweet Caramel again, had touched him and activated the teleportation again without even asking him. "Why are you doing this!?" Dusk said furiously, reaching to grab Sweet Caramel's dress before she fled. "I don't know what you're talking about." The red maned maid said, looking away to avoid seeing Dusk. "I left you in another place, you're the one who moved from where I left you." The annoyed maid added, taking off the hoof that Dusk had put on her, and using her teleportation again to get out of there. After Sweet Caramel disappeared, Dusk lowered his head in frustration and then looked around. He was again in another part of the castle, specifically in one of the small internal courtyards, quite far from the corridor where moments ago he had been talking to Rarity. "No more distractions, I must fix this." Dusk said quickly, closing his eyes and focusing his magic to return to Rarity. "Watch out!" A voice suddenly said from afar. As soon as Dusk turned to see where the voice was coming from, it was too late. The owner of the voice collided with him and knocked him to the ground, both falling in the middle of a bush. After the initial daze, Dusk opened his eyes and was surprised to see that the one who had collided with him was his friend Rainbow Dash, who was now standing on all fours above him to prevent Dusk from getting up, all while she looked back to where she had come flying from with concern. "What are you-!?" Dusk asked, until Rainbow Dash quickly put a hoof in his mouth to shut him up. Then the pegasus turned and poked her head a bit to see through the bush. When he didn't get any answer, Dusk got up slowly, remaining in a sitting position like his friend, and slowly poked his head out of the bush along with the pegasus. As Dusk watched, he was surprised to see that not far from there were two pegasi that he didn’t recognized. But that was the least of it, since both wore the indistinguishable uniform of the famous Wonderbolts, who seemed to be looking for something, but when they didn't find it, they snorted in annoyance and left the courtyard, returning to the inner corridors of the castle. "Huff... Finally managed to lose them." Rainbow Dash said with a relieved sigh. "You were running from the Wonderbolts!?" Dusk asked in amazement, not giving credit to what his friend said. Then he approached his friend's face and put a hoof on her forehead. "Are you feeling okay? Don't you have a fever?" "Hey, quit it!!" Rainbow Dash said with a hot blush, quickly removing Dusk's hoof from her forehead and looking away. "I'm sorry, it's just… why were you running away from the Wonderbolts? Weren't they your idols?" Dusk asked confused. "Yeah, they still are. It's just that they wanted me to help them with a stunt but I… I needed to do something else." Rainbow Dash said, scratching her head and looking at Dusk out of the corner of her eye. Her blush was still quite present on her face. "They invited you to fly with them!?" Dusk asked in amazement. "What do you have to do so important that you refused to fly with your heroes?" "Yeah, well... there were more important things, and... well... you know..." Rainbow Dash stuttered out in embarrassment. "I had to meet with this pony because… you know, sometimes there are things that… and then I… needed to say… you know…" Rainbow Dash added, more nervous than she had ever been. "Sorry, I don't understand you." Dusk said with a nervous smile, noticing that Rainbow Dash's speech was going nowhere and was full of gaps. At Dusk's response, Rainbow Dash blushed even more and put on an angry look, covering her face with her hoof. "Ugh! Why does it have to be so difficult…" Rainbow Dash growled, pulling her hoof off her face and looking at Dusk again. "I’m Rainbow freaking Dash! This should be so complicated! You... you're clumsy, and an egghead, but... but that's okay, because you're great, and I... I don't dislike ponies like you." The pegasus said, looking seriously at Dusk. "Uh… yeah, I don't dislike you either. I thought that's why we were friends, because we liked each other even though we’re kind of different." Dusk said, raising an eyebrow in confusion, finding it strange that Rainbow Dash doubted their friendship at a time like that. "I-I already know that! But... But I don't want to be your friend!" Rainbow Dash said, smiling victoriously. At that latter sentence, Dusk felt as if a vacuum had been generated in his stomach, feeling a huge depression that was reflected in his face. And only when Rainbow Dash saw Dusk's sad face did she realize that he had misunderstood what she wanted to ask of him. "N-No! No! It's not that I don't like you! I want to be your friend!" Rainbow Dash corrected, scared and getting even more nervous, prompting her to give a speech full of gaps. "I want to continue being your friend, but… you know, this happened… and I feel like this… and we… Ugh! I can't do it!" Rainbow Dash yelled in frustration, hitting the ground angrily with her hoof. "If you don't want me to be your friend, I think I'd better go." Dusk murmered, since he didn't understand what his friend wanted to say to him, and he was still not sure if she wanted to be his friend or not. "Stop! I know what you're thinking!" Rainbow Dash quickly ordered, before Dusk even moved a hoof to get up from where he was. Then she stared at him, forgetting for a second her embarrassment and postponing her declaration. "Look at me in the eyes! Who is the most loyal pony you know? Do you think I would abandon a friend?" she asked seriously. At Rainbow Dash's words, Dusk widened his eyes, and understood his mistake. "You’re... You're right, you would never abandon me." Dusk said smiling, remembering who he was talking to. "You're Rainbow Dash, you never abandon anypony, especially your friends. I'm sorry I got confused, it's just… that sometimes I have a hard time understanding how such a brave, self-confident, loyal and reliable mare can be friends with somepony like me, haha." Dusk added, taking the opportunity to flatter his incredible friend a bit. "And cool! Don't forget how cool I am." Rainbow Dash added with her chest swollen with pride, blushing a little at Dusk's flattery. "Yeah, don't worry, I'll never forget how cool you are." the colt said, rolling his eyes at the characteristic 'great humility' of his friend. "But then, if you don't want to stop being my friend, why did you say that?" Dusk asked, remembering that everything had been caused by what the pegasus herself had said. "Uh… I… was confused… t-that's it." Rainbow Dash said nervously, looking away while putting on a goofy smile while trying to give a nonchalant laugh. While his friend laughed nervously, Dusk widened his eyes when he remembered that he had to do something very important: go back and talk to his other friends. "Well, then, excuse me, I think I should go. There is something important that I have to go do." Dusk said seriously, drastically changing his gaze and turning to stand up. Seeing that Dusk was leaving and that she was going to miss her big opportunity, Rainbow Dash started cursing herself in her head for being so clumsy and getting so nervous expressing her feelings. While her life was full of daring feats, expressing her romantic feeling felt like one of the most challenging experience in her life. However, when she saw that Dusk was going to stand up, her body acted on instinct and launched herself to hug Dusk from behind, resting her head on his back, to prevent him from standing up and leaving. "Please don't go... I have something important to do too." Rainbow Dash whispered in a soft voice, red with embarrassment as she rested her head on Dusk's back. However, not having to meet his eyes finally made her able to speak without getting so nervous. "R-Rainbow Dash?" Dusk stuttered in surprise, looking back and only reaching to see his friend's colorful rainbow mane. Out of all his friends, Dusk never thought that he would ever feel that Rainbow Dash would hug him like that. "I'm pathetic, aren’t I? Just a few moments ago you were saying how brave I am, but the truth is that… right now I'm so scared that I can't even look at your face." Rainbow Dash said slowly. "Dusk... I love you." Hearing that, Dusk again turned pale upon hearing that declaration, but despite his surprise, his heart quickly recovered and began to beat wildly upon hearing those three beautiful words. "Don't you remember? She had already told you this once… It's a joke!" A voice screamed in Dusk's mind, reminding him of that time in the Running of the Leaves, when Rainbow Dash tricked him to distract him. However, while thinking about that, Dusk looked down and could see how Rainbow Dash's hooves were trembling with fear, then he felt the heat of Rainbow Dash's face on his back and her nervous gasping breath, a genuine show of true emotion.. "What if... that time was not a joke?" Dusk thought as his heart struggled to accept and feel worthy of such feelings of love. "I… always wanted to show myself as a cool mare who’s not interested in that thing called love. But… no matter how hard I tried; my heart can no longer deny it." Rainbow Dash said, breathing hard as she finally told the colt how she really felt about him. "Dusk… I think of you before I go to sleep. And when I wake up in the morning, you're the first thing I think of. And every time I feel lonely, just remembering your smile makes me feel better, and I… I told you that I didn't want to be your friend because… Because I want to be more than that!" Rainbow Dash added, yelling at the end, sticking her head out of Dusk's back, causing Dusk to fall backwards onto the grass. The prismatic mare then got on top of the lavender colt and got face to face with him. When Dusk fell to the ground and looked up, he could finally see the face of his friend, who was looking at him intensely with her beautiful magenta eyes, with her blushed cheeks, a shy look, so close that he could feel the warm breath of her agitated breathing. "Dusk, I love you!" Rainbow Dash said, staring at her crush. "I love you, I love you, I love you! I don't want to hide it anymore, I don't care if they call me sappy, if with that... I get you to see me as a mare and you can feel even a little of all the love I feel for you." Rainbow Dash said, tears pricking the corners of her eyes as she was finally able to say what her heart was screaming this whole time. While Dusk was staring back in amazement, feeling again a swirl of emotions in his heart, Rainbow Dash stared at him, fearful of the answer that would come now. She had gambled everything, and now her fragile heart feared the answer that would come. Then Dusk, with his heart beating at its maximum capacity, acted according to what his own heart dictated, and slowly raised a hoof to touch the soft cheek of the pegasus and feel her warmth. Every iota in his body then told him to try and close the distance between the two of them. In that instant, Rainbow Dash was distracted and looked up when she heard somepony pass through the bush behind which they were hiding. Then Dusk raised his eyes too, and all he saw was a huge flash, and when he blinked for the second time, he saw that he was once again inside one of the castle halls. Knowing what had happened, Dusk jumped up and searched for the culprit, whom had teleported him again. That's when Dusk saw that this time it had been the blue maned maid, Sweet Creme, who had interrupted his moment with his friend. As Dusk saw Sweet Creme, he saw that she had a distressed look, but that didn't worry him, since he realized that her horn was lighting up to leave again. At that, Dusk immediately thought of grabbing her to interrupt her spell, however, he realized that he shouldn't make the same mistake again, and he should prioritize going back to his friend. So, as soon as Sweet Creme disappeared, Dusk did the same, and activated his magic to teleport back to Rainbow Dash... And at that precise moment, Dusk felt a strange pressure over him. "Somepony... Somepony blocked my magic?" Dusk whispered in surprise, realizing that that brief but intense pressure had caused his teleportation spell to be canceled, leaving Dusk stunned. "Who could do something like that?" Dusk turned to look around and discovered that there was no one close enough to have done something like that. In fact, now that he could see well the room where he was, he was struck by the fact that that hall was empty, even more so since this was the castle's ballroom, which, since it was the Grand Galloping Gala, should be full of guests. While Dusk wondered where everyone was, from the back of the hall a well-known figure appeared, a pink mare that walked slowly towards him. "Pinkie Pie?" Dusk asked confused, after seeing that his friend was the only one in that room. "Why are you alone here?" "I'm not alone, silly." Pinkie Pie replied, smiling tenderly as she blushed and took Dusk's hoof to invite him to dance. "I'm with you. But enough about that. Shall we…dance?" Without waiting for an answer, Pinkie Pie began to dance an elegant waltz with Dusk, who just out of inertia got carried away, surprised by what Pinkie was doing. Dusk had seen Pinkie Pie dance many times, however he never believed that she would know how to dance a slow ballroom dance. Something he was well accustomed to thanks to his etiquette classes when he lived in the castle. For the next couple of minutes, they both danced elegantly in circles, to the sound of soft classical music. "Music? "Dusk thought, who a little late noticed that there was music in the room. Then he looked to the center stage, where he checked that the orchestra was playing music. "How strange... I could have sworn that there was no one in the room until a moment ago..." Dusk thought confused. As Dusk went with the flow, dancing with his friend, he looked at her carefully. Along with the empty ballroom and orchestra nowhere to be seen, there was something else that was bothering him. Pinkie Pie had remained silent throughout their dance, with her eyes closed and a smile small. The pink pony looked so elegant and calmer than Dusk had ever seen her. Finally, the orchestra finished its song and Pinkie stopped dancing. She separated a little from Dusk, and made a small bow, as was traditionally done in those types of ballroom dances. "What say you, Mr. Dusk? Did you enjoy our dance?” Pinkie Pie asked, with a small and very calm smile, showing her elegance and refinement. “Um…the dance was…nice, I guess. Though I have to admit, but it didn’t exactly feel right.” Dusk explained with an awkward smile. The Pinkie Pie I know wouldn’t be the biggest fan of these fancy ballroom dances. She would want to be the life of the party and dance around wildly. I definitely know some here that would think that kind of partying a disturbance, but I know the real Pinkie Pie wouldn’t care about nonsense like that. I also know that she definitely wouldn’t want to dance all alone in a dark room. She would want to invite as many ponies as she could so that as many ponies as possible could be having fun and laughing together. So, that’s the Pinkie Pie I know, and it’s also the Pinkie Pie I would like to dance with. Upon hearing Dusk's words, Pinkie Pie began to drop her calm facade and her big and characteristic smile began to spread on her blushing face. She had heard precisely what she expected to hear, yet she just wanted to verify that that cute colt was indeed the one who knew her best. At that instant, Pinkie Pie looked towards the orchestra and gave a great whistle. Then the ponies in the orchestra nodded and radically changed the style of music they were playing, beginning to play a much more upbeat and rhythmic melody in contrast from the graceful slow ballroom music they had been playing seconds ago. And to the sound of that festive music, dozens of ponies, who had been hidden behind the tables, waiting for that signal, came out of their hiding place and quickly filled the ballroom, before Dusk's astonished gaze. "One, Two, Three, Go!" Pinkie Pie yelled as cheerful as ever, giving the signal to all the other ponies to start the real show. With the absolute certainty that they were following the advice of 'the councilor of the princess', all the refined ponies of the room began to dance among themselves, following the instructions that the pink pony had indicated. Each one dancing with their respective partner, but as the music progressed, they began to mingle with other couples and perform a highly coordinated dance. "~ What do I feel? I’d like to know ~ What is this emotion? That I can't contain ~" Pinkie Pie began to sing happily, dancing in the middle of the room, following the joyous melody of the music. "~ His gaze makes me smile, his lips make me dream ~ His kisses make me feel, and my soul can’t stop trembling ~" "~ Oh! Oh! Uh! Oh! ~ What will it be? ~ Oh! Oh! Uh! Oh! ~ What will it be? ~" Everyone in the room sang in chorus, little by little cheering up at the fun show they were putting on. "~ With a small gesture we met ~ With a look we liked each other ~ With a hug we loved each other ~ With a kiss we fell in love. ~" Pinkie Pie sang with a blush, grabbing Dusk by the hooves to accompany her to the dance. While Pinkie danced with Dusk, everypony in the room made way for them and continued to sing the chorus of the song, smiling and dancing more and more joyfully, not only dancing to believe that they would please 'the councilor of the princess', but because they really enjoyed it. Pinkie led Dusk to the stage, and to Dusk's surprise, the ponies that were next to them lifted them between their hooves and left them on the stage, next to the orchestra. The orchestra began to play more animatedly while the other ponies in the room, following the choreography they had rehearsed, began making figures in the lounge as they danced and threw streamers and confetti, making a great show that Dusk never thought he'd see in the castle, much less from those boring sophisticated ponies, which made Dusk even more astonished at the enormous positive influence his friend had on others. As Dusk looked at his cheerful friend with wonderous eyes, Pinkie Pie blushed and continued with the second verse of her song. "~ What do I feel? I’d like to know ~ What is this emotion? That I can't contain ~" Pinkie continued singing, getting more and more excited. "~ At last I have your friendship, but now I'm looking for more ~ This is the truth, and I'll never deny it ~" "~ A feeling that reaches the stars ~ An emotion that surpasses the above ~ I would like to be your lady for today ~ And that when you hear it, don't feel fear ~" Pinkie Pie sang, standing in front of Dusk and stopping dancing. "~ What do I feel? I'll say it with courage ~ What is this emotion? This is called LOVE ~" Pinkie Pie sang, ending the second verse, which was the signal to all the dancers that the song ended, without them knowing that there was a hidden third final stanza. With Pinkie Pie's cry of love, the pink pony pulled the curtain off the stage, causing only her and Dusk to remain behind the curtain. And as the orchestra finished its melody, and all the ponies on the other side of the room laughed and congratulated each other for having achieved such a beautiful show, Pinkie Pie and Dusk froze, looking at each other in silence, completely blushing. After a few seconds, Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to sing the last verse, but at the last second she realized something important, and decided to make a sudden change of plans. "Dusk, I don't want you to think that this is just one of my random song, or that you believe... that this is just another of my shenanigans." Pinkie Pie said shyly, looking at Dusk tenderly. "Everything I sang was real, every word. And I did this, because that's how I am. This is the best way to express what I feel, because what I feel for you is so great that I want to share this happiness with everypony and let them know how happy that makes me to be with you." "I knew it a long time ago, and I wanted to tell you since then, but I didn't say it because… I was afraid of what might happen when I said it… But not anymore! Just like we talked about yesterday, I want to live my life to the fullest! And for that, I want the colt I love to be by my side. The colt that knows me better than anypony. The colt that laughed and suffered with me. The one pony that even saw me cry, but still saw me as the pony that loves to spread happiness to others. That colt is you, Dusk! Nopony but you makes my heart go wild every time I see you, nopony but you makes me feel so safe and so happy. I know that’s what love is supposed to be, and I… I want to share it with you and… and always be by your side loving you." Pinkie Pie finished speaking, breathing heavily as she felt a mixture of fear and joy after finally declaring her love. With Pinkie Pie's love declaration, Dusk was again stunned. Not in his wildest dream could he have imagined one of his friends declaring herself in such a romantic way as her friends had done that night, making enormous efforts and having enormous courage to do what they did. And yet what really made his brain short-circuit was that all five of his best friends had confessed to him on the same night! While Dusk thought about everything that happen, it was that he remembered that this time he had to avoid letting one of the maids teleport him away at all costs before he could speak. So, Dusk quickly turned and looked around, the magic of his horn on guard, thinking that he would avoid being transported again. However, this time neither of the two maids appeared nearby, there was just him, Pinkie Pie, and a dozen pony heads that surprisingly peeked out from behind the curtain. Seeing that he and Pinkie surprisingly had spectators, Dusk stared confusingly to the sides of the curtain. The ponies in the room, who had helped Pinkie Pie's declaration of love, had finally peeked out after seeing that the pair followed behind the curtain, wanting to know if the love declaration had managed to make that colt fall in love. When Dusk saw the curtain, he saw that only a dozen ponies had peeked out to spy, but with each passing second, the number increased exponentially. It seemed that everypony was curious as to what happened with the declaration. "Watch out!" Dusk suddenly yelled, noticing that the ever-increasing number of ponies grabbing onto the curtain had caused it to tremble. The huge curtain then ripped from the ceiling and fell on top of all the ponies that were on stage: Pinkie, Dusk, the orchestra, and all those who were spying on the couple, causing a huge disaster in the room, with screams of fear and surprise when seeing that everyone had been trapped under the great curtain. A few minutes earlier, with all the noise caused by the chorus song and the choreography arranged by Pinkie Pie in the ballroom, it made the ballroom catch the attention and curiosity of everypony in the castle because of how loud it was. So, the great majority of the guests, servants and guards of the castle had approached the great ballroom to observe what was happening. And everypony was shocked and scared to see the uproar caused on stage by the fall of the great curtain. "Is that Dusk!?" Applejack said in surprise, who had come to the room out of curiosity, and now she saw Dusk, who had been the first to come out from under the fallen curtain. "There’s Miss Applejack!" Fancy Pants said enthusiastically, rushing to secure her promising apple candy business. "Not this time, Fancy! She'll do business with me!" Another of the wealthy stallions shouted, who, along with other ponies, ran to try to catch up with Applejack and be the first to close the deal. Seeing the business ponies desperately running towards her, Applejack freaked out and ran over to where she had seen Dusk was, causing even more noise and disorder in the great ballroom. "I already told you I'm busy! I need to find Dusk!" Rainbow Dash yelled suddenly, flying into the ballroom. "There’s no time! We promised we'd end the show with your Sonic Rainboom!" Spitfire yelled angrily, flying as fast as Rainbow Dash as she flew into the room with Soarin. With the three pegasi speeding through the room, their swift flight brought with it a great gust of wind that sent the hats of the other ponies in the room flying through the air, as did the snacks on the tables, causing even more clutter over the already chaotic ballroom. "What is all this ruckus?" Rarity said in surprise upon reaching the ballroom. "There you are! My dear Rarity! My true love!" Prince Bleublood shouted from across the room, seeing that he finally found the mare he longed for. "Guards! Make way for me to my muse!" Blueblood commanded a few guards there, since the crowd of ponies would make it difficult to advance. As the guards reluctantly began to advance with Blueblood, another growing rumor began to grow in the ballroom, that of dozens of young mares of the nobility who dreamed of being the lover of Prince Blueblood, and who had just heard that he had shouted that he was already in love. "Who is that mare!? I'm prettier! Look at me, Prince Blueblood!" Several mares began to shout, causing more noise and disorder as they tried to approach Blueblood to demand an explanation, as the guards tried to advance in the squabble. For her part, Rarity began to flee again when she saw that Blueblood had found her. However, a few other mares who had managed to see that SHE was the mare that Blueblood was looking for, began to corner her and pressure her, demanding to know how it is that that mare had dared to fall in love with the most sought-after colt in all of Equestria. Suddenly, just when it seemed like it couldn’t get any more chaotic, the whole room began to shake slowly, increasing more and more, until suddenly the door that led to the royal gardens were thrown open, and a frightened yellow pegasus entered. "Please! Don't follow me anymore! I really must be going!" Fluttershy screamed back, crying with grief, just as the shaking reached its maximum expression, and a herd of different animals stampeded into the room, all looking to catch the sweet pegasus. As the animals entered the room, they all marveled at all the food and sandwiches that had fallen from the tables as a result of chaos. Then the animals ran everywhere, trying to eat those delicious delicacies they weren't used to. With the entrance of the animals to the room, the elegant ponies couldn't bear it any longer and they all began to run like mad because no one would have ever imagined even in their worst nightmares that in the middle of Canterlot Castle, at the most elegant party of the year, in the presence of Princess Celestia herself, such chaos could occur. With the desperate cries of dozens of ponies, one of the last ponies entering the hall was Celestia, who couldn't bear the curiosity anymore when hearing all that noise. As soon as she saw the scene before her eyes, with the smashed stage and dozens of ponies under a curtain, Blueblood trying to give orders to the guards, some business ponies almost about to hit each other while arguing, the Wonderbolts flying around the room trying to fix the damage caused, and all the garden animals running around the room... the only thing that Celestia inevitably did was cover her mouth to avoid laughing. Never in her more than a thousand years of reign had she seen a Gala so chaotic and fun like that. And as she looked around the room, Celestia couldn't help noticing that precisely in the middle of the room was her beloved Dusk Shine, completely paralyzed and pale upon seeing the disaster that, Celestia guessed, he had caused in one way or another. "Dusk always told me in his letters that the parties in Ponyville were a bit crazy... But I never thought they were at this level." Celestia said speaking to herself, still struggling not to laugh at what she saw. "I wonder what happened..." "I think it's all due... to a declaration of love." Sweet Creme, Celestia's personal maid, said suddenly. Who upon seeing her princess move towards the ballroom, quickly followed her. "Actually, to be more specific... five declarations of love." After Celestia raised an eyebrow, not understanding what the maid was referring to, Sweet Creme quickly proceeded to tell her what had happened, about how Dusk Shine's five friends had declared their love for him at the same time. Although in the story, the maid omitted the participation that she and her twin sister had had in all that. "Enough!" a guard yelled suddenly in an authoritative voice. It was a white unicorn with blue mane. As soon as that guard entered the ballroom and yelled, everypony in the hall, including the other guards, froze and fell silent at his commanding voice. "Who is responsible for this!?" Shining Armor, the young captain of the royal guard, yelled. Upon hearing the question, dozens of hooves stood up pointing out different culprits, however, the keen eye of the captain of the guard noted that the accusations were mainly focused on six ponies: A yellow pegasus with a shy look, an orange mare with a graceful cowboy-style dress, a rainbow-maned pegasus, a white unicorn with a well-combed purple mane, a pink mare that just came out from under the great curtain very dizzy, and... "Well, time to step in, I suppose." Celestia muttered, swiftly activating her magic just as Shining Armor turned his gaze towards Dusk Shine. In an instant, the six ponies to which all pointed in the ballroom disappeared with a huge flash, along with the princess herself. And at that very moment, in a café specialized in selling donuts not far from the castle, the seven ponies appeared, to the absolute surprise of the café owner. "The usual, Donut Joe." Celestia said calmly as if nothing had happened, walking towards the bar and away from the six ponies that were still static, fearing even to move. "R-Right away, princess." Donut Joe said quickly, the stallion who owned the place where Princess Celestia always went at night to get a donut when she was craving something sweet and didn't want to disturb the royal cooks, something that was already routine for him. What was not routine for Joe was that the princess had shown up with six more ponies, and just when the princess was supposed to be at the Grand Galloping Gala. "P-Princess... did you teleport us?" Dusk finally asked shyly, after coming out of his stupor. "That's right. I think it was for the best. I didn't want some malicious journalist to photograph you and accuse all of you of ruining the Grand Galloping Gala." Celestia said without turning to see Dusk, just sitting at the bar and concentrating on the delicious plate of donuts that Joe put in front of her. "W-We ruined the Gala..." Dusk said slowly, remembering the chaos of the ballroom and feeling enormously embarrassed before his teacher. "Dear Dusk, of course you didn't ruin it. In fact, I'd say it's the funniest Gala I've ever been to!" Celestia said trying her first donut and turning to smile at Dusk. "But you know how tabloid newspapers are, they always exaggerate things." Despite the princess's smile, Dusk only lowered his gaze sadly, knowing that not everypony had the particular sense of humor of his teacher, and that surely many ponies would hate him even more for ruining their sophisticated party. And worse of all, his own older brother had arrived and had seen the disaster that he and his friends had caused, although Dusk wasn't sure if Shining caught sight of him or not before the princess used her magic. "Don't worry yourself about what others might say about what happened." Celestia spoke again as she ate a second donut, but this time with a more serious look as she pointed her gaze at Dusk to look back. "I think you have something much more important to worry about right now." Celestia added. Without Dusk knowing it, THAT was the real reason why she had also teleported with Dusk, since she didn't want to miss that moment. No matter how it turned out, he alicorn knew that she could not miss seeing such a special moment for her little colt. With the gesture of Celestia, Dusk looked back where were his five friends, who looked among them with looks embarrassed by the chaos they had caused. However, when they noticed that Dusk was seeing them, the five of them stared at him and blushed. This was the first time they had seen each other face to face since each one had confessed to Dusk, and although no one spoke, the five mares had the same question on their minds: 'I already declared my feelings to Dusk, now... What will happen?' And that was something that Dusk was very clear about, he had to give an answer to their feelings. "But… what should I answer!?" Dusk thought, turning pale with fear and confusion, because, no matter how much he thought, there was no correct answer. "If I answer that I'm not sure what I feel, it would be a lie and it would hurt them… Because the truth is that I do feel something every time I see them, but… if I say that I feel something for all of them, I would be acting like the most shameless colt of the world! And if I only chose one, I would never be able to look the others in the face again by betraying their feelings... And if I said that I don't want to be with any of them, it would be the coward's exit and it would be like making fun of them after the courage they had for declare. No… There’s no correct answer!!" Dusk thought, breathing heavily, analyzing every possible answer and realizing that there was no logical path in which everypony would end up happy. While Dusk thought and began to panic, looking for a way to the correct answer, in which he didn't hurt anyone's feelings, he looked his friends in the eye. Despite seeing that they were just as fearful as he about what might happen, Dusk also felt the enormous love they felt for him. "Everything led us to this moment, I… I love them all." Dusk thought slowly, calming down as he looked at his friends. Every time his eyes met those of his friends, Dusk remembered all the moments that lived with each of them. The happy moments, tense moments, awkward moments, sad moments... Every experience recorded in Dusk’s heart, each moment had brought them closer to each one, forge a powerful bond that went beyond mere friendship. Now they all knew each other like no other pony knew them, and what was more important, they complemented each other. Now, Dusk realized that each of them formed such an important part of his life that he couldn't live without any of them... Dusk could no longer live without seeing the beautiful figure of Rainbow Dash, nor could he live without feeling Pinkie Pie's warm hugs, nor could he live without feeling the sweet aroma of Applejack, nor could he live without seeing Fluttershy's beautiful eyes, nor could he live without hearing Rarity's melodious voice… But, no matter how wonderful the five were, Dusk knew that one decision had to be made. "I don't know if it's the right thing to do, I don't know if I'm going to hurt someone with what I'll say, but… for the first time, I'll be honest with what I feel." Dusk thought, closing his eyes tightly. "I..." Dusk said finally, blushing and getting more nervous than he had ever been. Then Dusk gasped and realized again the great courage that his friends had to have to be able to declare their love, but now, it was his turn. "I...!" 'Clink! Clink!' The front door bells rang as the cafe door opened. "Dusk! At last, I found you!" A mare's voice shouted excitedly from the door. They were all so immersed in what Dusk was about to say that it was difficult for all of them to turn to see who had interrupted this important moment. Dusk was the last one to see who had opened the door. However, his eyes went wide as dinner plates and his face turned pale as he saw one of the ghosts of his past in the doorway. Without waiting for an answer, the mare that opened the door rushed forward quickly, like red and yellow lightning, crossed the cafe and pounced on Dusk to hug him, who for his part was so surprised and incredulous at what he saw that he lost strength on his hooves and fell to the floor with the mare on him as she was hugging him. "I finally returned to Equestria... You don't know how long I waited for this moment." The new mare said with a big smile, while Dusk continued with his pale and scared face. "W-Who are you?" Rainbow Dash asked, being the first to react. Like her other friends, she was paralyzed and confused when she saw that unknown mare jumping on Dusk Shine. Only upon hearing the question the unknown mare averted her eyes from Dusk and gave a brief but cold look at Rainbow Dash and to other mares. Then she slowly got up and smiled kindly. "I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself." The mare answered. She was a unicorn with yellow fur, red and gold mane, and a cutie mark of a red and yellow sun. "My name is... Sunset Shimmer." The mare said smiling. Upon hearing the name of the unknown mare, Dusk's friends kept their perplexed looks, because that name didn't explain anything, and they thought that at least that mare would explain to them why she had thrown herself to hug Dusk with such confidence. However, after saying her name, Sunset Shimmer didn't say anything else. She just kept smiling. "But, why did you-?" Rainbow Dash asked again after a long silence, being interrupted by the yellow unicorn before finishing her question. "And I..." Sunset Shimmer said, having fallen silent to purposefully interrupt Rainbow Dash when she spoke. Then she radically changed her smile, replacing her kind smile with a more arrogant one. "…am Dusk Shine's fiancee." Sunset Shimmer added, looking defiantly at the five mares in front of her. A long and tense silence hung in the air after hearing those words, with the yellow unicorn smiling maliciously while Dusk stayed under her, still pale when he saw that mare, the same pallor that Dusk's five friends now had after hearing the declaration of the unknown mare. "Wow... I didn't expect that..." Celestia whispered, just as surprised as everypony. In the distance, the castle bells were ringing to end the Grand Galloping Gala. And just as if it were a fairy tale, it seemed that those bells also announced the end of the fantasy of Dusk Shine. Whose mind was still in shock he realized that from that moment on, nothing would be the same. End of chapter 55 ~ END OF SEASON ~