//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 - Cupid's Arrows // Story: Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness II // by bigsnusnu //------------------------------// Cupid’s Arrows In the park of Ponyville, an event was taking place that all fans of comics and fiction books looked forward to year after year, the famous 'PonyCon'. A mega event that just that year was held in Ponyville, to the relief of Mayor Mare and the town council, because after the recent Discord attack, the town needed to regain its reputation throughout Equestria. Although, unexpectedly for them, it was precisely because of the Discord attack that the fans filled the town to visit which was for a few hours, the home of the lord of chaos. Just at that time in the afternoon on the center stage of the PonyCon, Lyra Heartstring, the creator of the hit comic series 'Forbidden Love' was there for a Q&A panel. Her comic had already surpassed the limits of Ponyville and was beginning to cause a sensation in some large cities nearby, such as Canterlot and Cloudsdale. Lyra was sitting behind a podium. While in front of her was a crowd of ponies in cosplay. Everyone waiting to be able to ask a question to the creator of the new favorite comic book of the kingdom. "Hi. Misty Morning from Cloudsdale." A mare from the audience said as she stood up. She was dressed in a sailor scout uniform and a blonde wig with two long pigtails. "I wanted to know if you could tell us if 'Dusk-sempai' will end up married to one of the mares in his harem." "Ugh… I already told you. I can't reveal any spoilers about the story! Next question!" Lyra said with frustration, since she wasn't used to questions from fans, and it was beginning to irritate her that everyone wanted to know how her comic series ended. "I’m Cherry Fizzy, from Ponyville. I wanted to know if the great and powerful 'Vixie' will meet 'Dusk-sempai' again in the future. And I also wanted to know if Jerky, the mailmare, and Mayor Bare will be part of the harem." Another fan in the crowd asked, who was disguised with a black mask and pointy ears like a bat. "Oh! Very good question." Mayor Mare murmured, who was right next to the previous pony, wearing a green cape and a crown with two golden horns. Before Lyra could even reply, the crowd began to argue, causing an uproar. "Jerky can't join the harem!" "Princess Moon and Princess Hestia better join too!" "No, no, no! You can’t add mares to the harem just like that. Seven mares is the maximum number!" "Yeah, I hate when harem stories add a lot of girls and there’s no character development." "I want all the mares to join the harem." "That’s not realistic!" "May a dragon or a griffin join the harem in the future?!" "Why is the comic monthly? It should be weekly!" “Your editor missed a typo in the last issue!” "By the way, what happened to that zebra? Will she also join the harem?" Thus continued the discussion among fans of the comic 'Forbidden Love'. And while the comic's loyal readers argued with each other, Lyra simply held her head and put on a tired look as she watched them argue. "The fans are great, but some of them just won’t calm down and enjoy the story..." Lyra thought, sighing with a smile, raising her gaze thoughtfully as she stopped paying attention to the audience and began to think of new scenarios for the characters in her comic. "Although, having Dusk fall in love with a princess does sound like a pretty good idea… Nah! That would be crazy…" Lyra laughed as she thought how absurd it would be to see an important and respectable alicorn princess in love with her comic book character. Not far from there, six mares were approaching the main stage. Five of them appeared not to be in costume at all, unlike the vast majority of the convention ponies present. However, the sixth mare did seem to be more in line with those around her, as she wore a long cloak and a hood to hide her face and much of her body. In any other crowd, the one who would have stood out from that group of six mares would have been the tall pink mare wearing a cape and hood. However, it turned out that the five other mares stood out the most to the crowd. Many of them were looking on in awe and some where even applauding. Finally, the six mares arrived in front of the stage, and all the ponies around them, who seconds before had been discussing about Lyra's comic, began to applaud them for the spectacular cosplay that was in front of them. Next to Cadance, who remained hidden under her blue cape so as not to attract attention, was Rarity, who had gathered her mane to give it an even more elegant manestyle, in addition, she wore a fine diamond necklace on her neck. Next to her was Pinkie Pie, who also remained almost the same, only her mane was now divided into two ponytails, and she had a patch on her flank to disguise her cutie mark for that of a cake and a whip. Then there was Applejack, who had simply traded in her stetson hat for a simpler gardener's hat. After her was Fluttershy, who kept the same style of mane, but had painted the ends a light green. And finally there was Rainbow Dash, who had her combed back and had two lines of red makeup painted on her cheeks like war paint. "Those are the best 'Forbidden Love’ cosplay I've ever seen!" An excited fan finally yelled, causing the other ponies around him to also shout excitedly, clap louder, and start taking pictures of them. Most of them without knowing that before them were the true versions of 'Clarity', 'Kinky Pie', 'Juicy Apple', 'Flutter-chan' and 'Rainbow Lash', or at least, the versions on which Lyra based her characters on. As everyone in the audience applauded, Rainbow Dash covered her face, embarrassed that she had ‘dressed up’ for a nerd convention. Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy also felt somewhat uncomfortable, although little by little that discomfort wore away as they felt the support of the other ponies. The only one who seemed to enjoy the whole thing was Pinkie Pie, who even did some sexy poses, which her comic book counterpart did regularly. "You see? I told you it would be a good idea." Cadance whispered to the mares, referring how the Princess of Love had asked them to dress up as Lyra's comic characters in order to know the opinion of the fans at the convention. "Excuse me, has the comic book Q&A session started yet?" Cadance asked sweetly at Lyra, who was staring in amazement at the girls and their costumes. "Uh... Yeah, go ahead." Lyra eagerly replied, thinking that it had been good that the girls arrived, and thus the fans would have forgotten about their crazy discussions. "Good!" Cadance beamed, ready to ask her question as the other ponies in the audience continued to praise the cosplay of the five mares. "My question is: Of all the mares who are in love with 'Dusk-sempai', which is the best mare?" As soon as Cadance finished her question, a deathly silence covered everything around her. All the fans around her stared in shock, stopped paying attention to the five mares, and fixed their gaze on Cadance. Meanwhile, Lyra opened her mouth in shock and gave a look of deep terror. "Nonononono! You can't ask the fans that!!" Lyra thought in horror, knowing what was to come. As if it were an avalanche approaching, the noise grew louder and louder as fans began to argue with each other. A discussion that little by little gave way to a fight, while the public began to separate into groups and different signs began to appear, such as: 'Team Flutter-chan', 'Team Kinky Pie', 'Team Mayor Bare' which curiously it was raised only by Mayor Mare. To Cadance's surprise, her simple and innocent question had caused chaos among all fans of the ‘Forbidden Love’ comic. An argument that gradually ceased to be just a verbal discussion, beginning to physically push and fight between the crazed fans, who couldn’t bear to have somepony tell them that their favorite mare was not the best. "Death to Team Clarity!" "Long live the tsundere girls, long live Rainbow Lash!" "My waifu is Juicy Apple!" The screams of the fans were getting louder. Meanwhile, Fluttershy and the other girls remained motionless, terrified to see the sudden change in attitude in the fans. Realizing her mistake, Cadance looked scared at all the ponies, then closed her eyes for a second, and illuminated her horn with a great light. As she did so, everyone around her felt a warm and pleasant feeling in their chests, and all that unbridled passion that they had felt to defend their favorite character quickly disappeared, leaving everyone with a silly smile of satisfaction. "What happened? Why were we fighting over something so silly?" "It's true, we shouldn't fight. We all love the same thing." "Team harem! Team harem! Team harem!" With that last shout, all the fans joined in, and slowly they all left the main stage, enjoying that warm feeling of love that Cadance had managed to ignite in their hearts. "Huff… My bad. I never thought the fans… would be so passionate." Cadance said softly, panting a bit and looking guiltily at Dusk's friends. While the five mares slowly calmed down again as those crazy fans around them retreated. "That was dangerous, you know?. You should never ask a romantic comedy fan who the best girl is." Lyra said scratching her head, walking off the stage. "Well, at least it served to get all those fans off my back." Lyra said with a satisfied sigh and began to leave. "W-Wait!" Cadance said quickly before Lyra pulled away. "If I can't ask that question, could you at least tell me who does Dusk stay with in the end?" "Ugh... again..." Lyra said, smacking her forehead with her hoof in frustration. "I already told you, you have to wait until the end of the comic!" The minty mare then left, leaving Cadance and Dusk's five friends alone in front of the stage. "Well... That was crazy." Rainbow Dash said, tousling her mane back to normal and brushing her makeup off her cheeks. "I don't know, I thought it was fun." Pinkie Pie said, smiling as she picked up from the ground a sign that said, 'Team Kinky Pie' and another sign that said 'Death to Team Clarity', which made Rarity shoot her a look. "I thought it would be a good idea to ask other ponies, but it definitely didn't turn out as I expected." Cadance said with a sad look. "But, how will you know which one of us loves Dusk Shine the most?" Fluttershy asked. "What, I already know the answer to that. You all love him equally." Cadance said with a confused look. "How do you know?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow. "Remember, I have a little gift." Cadance smirked and lifted her hoof to her horn, which lit up dimly and made the five mares feel that warmth in their hearts that they had felt a few moments ago. "From the moment we got together and talked about Dusk, I could tell how much you all loved him." "So, what was the whole point of this dorky stuff?" Rainbow Dash asked, a bit annoyed. "I already told you, to see who is the right marefriend for Dusk. Since you’re all tied in his heart, I need to find a way to find out who would be ideal for him. I thought the fans might see something that maybe I wasn't seeing, but that was obviously a mistake." Cadance said with a thoughtful look. And while she was thinking about it, she saw something in the distance that caught her eye. Backstage, there was still Lyra, who was apparently chatting with someone. Sharpening her eyes, the princess saw that Lyra was chatting with a well-known baby dragon, who in vain wore a trench coat and hat to try to go incognito. After meeting Lyra backstage, as previously agreed, Spike pulled out two scrolls that he had written from under his trench coat. Then Lyra took them and gave Spike a big bag, which the dragon opened and verified with satisfaction that it was full of gems. At the end of their deal, Lyra said goodbye to Spike and left, while the little dragon stared hungrily at all those gems that he had gotten for his little 'part-time job'. "So that's how Lyra finds out about everything that happens between Dusk and us." Applejack said surprisingly, who along with Cadance and the others, had approached Spike when they saw him. "Waah! T-This....isn’t what it looks like!…" Spike yelled, surprised to see his friends there, who had caught him red-clawed. However, being surrounded, Spike had no choice but to accept his guilt. "O-Okay, I admit it. Lyra pays me to tell her some… anecdotes that have happened between you and Dusk." "Y-You’re the one who writes those provocative scenes?!" Cadance asked in surprise. "N-No! Of course not! Those are made up by Lyra." Spike responded quickly, blushing. "I only tell her when Dusk meets with one of the girls, like the time they had a slumber party, or when he traveled to Appleloosa. Lyra comes up with everything else." As Dusk's five friends looked at Spike with scolding glances, Cadance was left with a thoughtful look, realizing that before her was the answer that she had been searching for so long. After all, who knew Dusk better than his inseparable, adorable, little brother? "Spike, I would like to ask you a few questions regarding Dusk." Cadance said with a motherly smile. Meanwhile, the other mares stopped berating Spike so that he could answer the princess. "Tell me... have you noticed if Dusk has been acting strange lately?" "Strange? Strange how?" Spike asked. "In love, silly." Cadance said, deciding to ask bluntly. "I-In love!?" Spike repeated in surprise. For Spike, everything related to Lyra's comic had always been pure fiction. In fact, he was absolutely certain that Dusk had never done any of those lustful acts that his alter ego from the comics did, otherwise he would have found out. Dusk was definitely still as clueless and innocent as ever. However, Spike had noticed how much his brother had changed that last year at Ponyville. At first, he only attributed it to Dusk finally having friends. But after reading Lyra's comics, and seeing how nervous Dusk sometimes acted with his friends, Spike increasingly doubted whether his brother only felt friendship for his friends. In fact, how much of what was in Lyra's comics would be just fiction!? Maybe some of the romantic scenes in the comics were real? Spike was increasingly unsure of how much of Lyra's comic was fiction and how much was real. "I... I don't know if Dusk is in love." Spike finally answered, slightly blushed and confused. "And to be honest, he might not even know it himself." "Exactly! That proves it, Spike is the one who knows Dusk best!" Cadance thought with satisfaction. She realized that despite the young age of the baby dragon, he already had a very good notion of what was going on sentimentally around Dusk, and how Dusk could think and react. "But if Dusk were in love, who do you think would be the perfect marefriend for him?" Cadance prodded, to the surprise of the other five mares, who were amazed at how direct the alicorn princess could be. "Uh?" Spike said confused. "A marefriend!?" "This is all just hypothetical. But… If what happens in Lyra's comic happened in real life, and Dusk's best friends were in love with him, which of them do you think would be the best mare for Dusk?" Cadance asked again, this time pointing her eyes at the five mares beside her. They in turn looked away to feign disinterest, but all held their ears up to be attentive to what Spike might answer. "I... I don't know..." Spike said, somewhat nervous and scratching his head as he looked at his friends. Then Spike's eyes fell on Rarity, and the little dragon couldn't help looking away uncomfortably as he imagined Dusk and Rarity as a couple. "Anyone but Rarity..." Spike muttered slowly. "Sorry, did you say something?" Cadance asked, moving a little closer to Spike, since she couldn't hear what he muttered. "N-Nothing!" Spike responded quickly, embarrassed. Then he looked away again, making a confused face. "D-Dusk would probably see that each one of them has their own merits. I think he likes several things about each one. I don't know if he could choose one of his friends as his marefriend." "But there has to be something that Dusk is more attracted to than anything!" Cadance insisted, deciding to push Spike a bit to find the truth. The mare was desperate to find an answer to this conundrum. Since even with all the love-sensitive magic she possessed, she couldn't decide which of those five mares was the most suitable for her beloved Dusk. "Come on Spike! Think, what would Dusk value more than anything to choose an ideal mare as a marefriend?" Cadance added, leaning closer to Spike and looking at him with wide, watchful eyes. "I-I don't know!" Spike said, nervous and a little scared when he saw that it seemed that everypony wanted to know the answer to that absurd hypothetical question. "Maybe if one of them made a great sacrifice of love for him… Like Sunset Shimmer did." "Uh? What did you say?" Rainbow Dash asked with a confused look, who stopped feigning disinterest upon hearing what Spike said. "What do you mean by a sacrifice of love?" Rarity asked, making the same confused face that Rainbow Dash and her other friends had. "Uh, nothing! Forget I said anything!” Spike responded quickly, covering his mouth when he realized that he had said something that he had promised not to tell anyone. "Spike." Cadance said suddenly, looking at the baby dragon with a very serious, almost grim gaze. For upon hearing Sunset Shimmer's name, Cadance's gaze had immediately hardened. "Tell me. What are you talking about?" Cadance said, for the first time, speaking to Spike without her usual smile. That made Spike feel a little chill, realizing that Cadance wouldn't let him go without an answer. "O-Okay, I'll tell you. Just... promise not to tell Dusk." Spike finally said, sighing guiltily and glancing nervously at Cadance and the other mares. He knew that he had already screwed up and couldn't back down. Spike told the girls about everything that happened with Sunset Shimmer and Dusk. How he had read Sunset's diary and discovered what she truly felt for Dusk all those years, her hidden past, her plans to make Dusk forget his friends to have Dusk just for her, and how she finally sacrificed the most valuable thing that she had, the memories that Dusk had of her, so that Dusk would be happy again. With each word that Spike said, the faces of his friends became more and more astonished to discover the truth of why now Dusk didn’t remember anything about his old friend, nor should he even hear her name. As for Cadance, at first she too put on a shocked look upon discovering the truth. However, near the end of Spike's story, she frowned, closed her eyes and looked away, as if she refused to accept what she was hearing. "It can’t be true! It's... It's just a hoax. She… She’s trying to fool us again." Cadance whispered with a mixture of anger and fear, trying to reaffirm the hatred she felt towards the mare she had hated for so many years for hurting her beloved Dusk. "She sacrificed those memories...for Dusk? That... That may be true. I remember the evil Archmage, and the day of the performance test… Also, the diary that I showed Dusk, the diary did have torn pages! And in my resentment with Sunset, I showed it to Dusk!" Cadance thought with a pained look, realizing little by little that apparently her hatred for Sunset hadn't been justified, and yet she couldn't let it go so easily. Then, as if her logical mind refused to let her emotions dominate her, another memory came to her mind, about what she had told Dusk's friends a few hours ago at Sugarcube Corner. 'All those mares that had managed to touch Dusk's heart had also reciprocally opened their hearts to Dusk and had created that beautiful bond of love! And I was even more shocked to discover that those mares just so happened to be the five friends he made back in Ponyville.' That was what Cadance had told the mares. But what she hadn’t told them, was that she felt more than those five strong ties of love tied to Dusk's heart. That night, Cadance had felt seven links tied to Dusk's heart. The sixth bond that Cadance had felt was shown as a fearful and indecisive love, but just as intense as that of Dusk's five friends. A bond of love that Cadance felt was leading towards one of the castle towers, and that she could guess from whom that love for Dusk was probably coming. However, the seventh tie had left her completely baffled. She had felt that bond of love just as the Gala ended and Dusk disappeared, an intense and fleeting wave of jealousy and obsession on the part of a seventh mare that she couldn’t identify at that moment. "That mare… Her feelings were more intense and violent than those of the others. A love almost taken to obsession. Now I understand! That was because that mare didn't know how to express her love properly! That kind of love… That mare was Sunset Shimmer!" Cadance thought with a tired and pained look, as she understood what Sunset must have experienced. "I can't forgive her so easily, but…" Cadance thought, closing her eyes, opening herself to a small possibility of something that, until a few minutes ago, she would have thought was impossible. "Thank you so much, Spike. I really appreciate that you could tell us the truth, it’s very important to all of us. And don't worry, none of us will say anything to Dusk." Cadance said, smiling again and looking fondly at the little dragon. "Now, could you leave us alone for a moment? There is something I have to talk about with Dusk's friends." Taking advantage of the fact that Cadance seemed to have returned to being the smiling pony as usual, Spike took the opportunity to run quickly from there. He didn’t want to be cornered anymore to tell more secrets, or to keep asking absurd questions about whether Dusk was in love or not. "Hah! Dusk in love with one of the girls. That’s ridiculous… right?" Spike thought as he ran. Only to realize that perhaps that crazy idea wasn't so crazy after all. "What Spike said about… Sunset… was unexpected." Cadance said once Spike left, with a thoughtful look and a little pause before saying Sunset's name, as if she still had a hard time saying it without getting angry. “Tell us about it. I thought she was a total ass." Rainbow Dash said, still surprised. "And yet it’s so sad. She was also in love with Dusk." Fluttershy said with a sad look. "Yeah, but that don’t mean it was right of her to act all crazy jealous with us." Applejack said with a frown. "Princess, did you know that Sunset was in love with Dusk?" Pinkie Pie asked Cadance with a thoughtful look. "In my youth, I wasn’t that good at differentiating between different feelings. I always knew that Sunset had feelings for Dusk, but… only now do I realize what it was that confused me back then. My own resentment blinded me and prevented me from noticing it, even when she came back." Cadance replied with a pensive and somewhat sad look. Then she closed her eyes to focus and looked back at the mares. "Even if Sunset has feelings for Dusk, we can't do anything at the moment, since Dusk cannot remember her without the risk of releasing Discord. So what remains is to see which of you five will be Dusk's marefriend." "You still want to know which of us would be Dusk's best romantic partner!?" Rarity asked in surprise. At that moment Cadance reached under her cloak and took out a small golden locket in the shape of a heart, which carried a photo of Dusk when he was a young colt. "I told you that I'll make sure my cute little Dusk has the best mare in the world for a marefriend." Cadance said, smiling at the little locket and then looked more seriously at the five mares. "I've thought about it and... I have a small proposal to make to you." Cadance added, finally deciding to fall back on Plan B she had thought of to find the ideal partner for Dusk. Away from the comic convention, in the middle of the Everfree Forest were Dusk Shine and Golden Feather, who continued to keep her true identity hidden while walking with her beloved student. "I’ve always been so amazed at how powerful and dark the magic of this forest feels…" Golden Feather said, smiling as she walked happily. "Well, it seems like you don't really care." Dusk answered with an amused look. Noting that, unlike all the ponies who entered the forest in fear, it seemed Golden wasn’t at all scared by how dark and gloomy it was. "By the way, can you feel the magic of the forest even if you’re not a unicorn?" "Uh... yeah, well... it feels like a chill on the tip of my wing feathers. You know, pegasus thing, hehe..." Golden laughed nervously, realizing that she had to be more careful so that Dusk didn't suspect her. "By the way, how long is it to get to your zebra friend?" "It won't be long. But it’s strange. By now she should have found us. She always goes out to watch when someone is near her house." Dusk said with a bit of concern, remembering that he hadn't seen Zecora for a long time. "Maybe we have to make more noise for she to find us! Rawr! Roar!" Golden Feather began to scream and growl like a bear, scaring Dusk Shine away. "Shh! Be quiet! There are many wild beasts prowling this forest." Dusk whispered nervously, approaching to silence Golden. However, she evaded him and continued roaring, amused by Dusk's nervousness. "Relax, nothing bad will happen. You’re with me!" Golden Feather said, smiling at Dusk so that he would calm down and have fun with her. She knew that in reality, a pony like her didn't have to fear anything there in the forest. Suddenly, just as Dusk feared, the bushes began to stir in the distance with movement that was getting closer and faster, until finally, three timberwolves jumped in the middle of the road, staring fiercely with their bright green eyes at their prey. Seeing the fearsome wolves, Dusk tensed, lit his horn as a precaution, and slowly took a step back. "Don’t make any sudden movements... and back up slowly..." Dusk whispered. Suddenly, he saw a stone fly out and hit one of the wolves squarely in the face. "Take that, ugly wolves!" Golden Feather said with a defiant smirk, holding another stone in her hoof. All while Dusk's jaw dropped at how reckless Golden was. After the wolf the stone hit recovered from the blow, it growled angrily, and two more wolves joined its group. Instantly, the five wolves began running to pounce on their prey. "Oh, great! I was looking forward to a good race!" Golden Feather said, playfully hitting Dusk with her hoof to wake him up from his daze and started to run from the wolves. "Run Dusk! Run!" "You’re completely crazy!!" Dusk shouted mortified, starting to run next to Golden to flee from the fierce pack of wolves. As they ran, Dusk looked back from time to time to see how far they were from the wolves, which were closing the distance more and more, something that kept him running in a panic. Golden Feather was the complete opposite, who laughed full of energy as she ran as if she was enjoying running for her life. At one point in their escape, Dusk and Golden jumped a log that blocked the path. However, because Golden wasn’t used to making that kind of jump at her new height, she tripped and fell to the ground. "Golden!" Dusk yelled, stopping immediately to help the mare. "Don’t worry, I'm-" Golden replied calmly. However, she immediately noticed that something was missing from her neck. "Where’s my necklace!?" Golden Feather yelled, panicking from discovering that she had lost her precious and important magic necklace. Golden quickly looked around, until she saw that the necklace had caught on one of the branches of the trunk that she had jumped. She stretched her hoof to grab her necklace, however it was too late. The wolves that were chasing them jumped the trunk and pounced on Golden, to the horror of the white pegasus. In the last tenth of a second before the wolves began to lunge down to sink its teeth into the mare’s neck, Dusk used his magic to teleport Golden onto his back as he continued his escape from the wolves. "My necklace!" Golden yelled in terror after realizing that she was being carried by Dusk, looking back and seeing that the wolves almost reached them. "There’s no time!" Dusk argued, giving his best to run with the pegasus on his back. "No! Without my necklace I can’t return to my true form! That necklace has all my magic stored in it!" Golden Feather thought, aware of how silly and careless she had been. With the extra weight, Dusk's speed much slower, and there was no time for Golden to get off his back and resume her own run. The wolves were almost reaching them and Dusk knew that they could only be saved using his best spell. He refocused all his magic, remembering Zecora's lessons, and finally managed to teleport away with Golden, just before the wolves could reach them. Just an instant after disappearing from the Everfree Forest, Dusk and Golden reappeared just outside of it. The inertia of teleporting while running caused both of them to fall and roll a bit before coming to a complete stop. "That... That was close..." Golden said slowly, after catching her breath. "What do you think you were thinking!? I warned you! Don't you know how dangerous the Everfree Forest is!? Something really serious could have happened to you! How can you be so irresponsible!?" Dusk yelled angrily, standing in front of Golden and giving her a harsh look. At that moment, Golden opened her eyes in surprise. She had never seen Dusk act like this with her. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time somepony had scolded her for something, since for over a thousand years she had always been at the top of the hierarchy of everyone around her. It reminded her of when Star Swirl used to scold her in her youth for annoying Luna or for disobeying him in something. Just as a father would scold her filly daughter when she did something wrong. "I’m sorry. I was a fool." Golden said, lowering her head and ears, feeling like a complete idiot for having exposed Dusk and herself to such danger. "I think… I felt too safe. I was having so much fun that… I never thought something bad could happen." Golden added, touching her empty neck, remembering that she now had a very serious problem to solve as her valuable necklace was now lost. "Are you seriously thinking of your necklace? You could have gotten hurt! What does a silly necklace matter?" Dusk said, annoyed and worried when he saw that Golden seemed to be more worried about having lost her necklace than about her own well-being. "Material things come and go, but life is irreplaceable. I don't understand why you did something so crazy, but you should value your life more. Please promise me that you’ll never do something as foolish and careless as what you just did." Dusk pleaded, calming down, gently touching Golden with his hoof and looking at her affectionately. Seeing Dusk's intense and warm gaze, full of concern for her, Golden was surprised for a second, then she shyly looked away and blushed. "I... I promise." Golden replied sheepishly. "What was that?" Golden asked herself, not understanding what she had just felt for that fleeting moment when she saw Dusk's intense gaze. "Good. Now that you understand, I guess it's okay to give this back to you." Dusk said with a sigh of relief and a small smile, using his magic to levitate something that he had also managed to teleport along with them. "My necklace!" Golden yelled, surprised and relieved to see that Dusk had her necklace. Then she quickly took it and put it back on. "When the wolves fell on you, I teleported you with the necklace." Dusk said, smiling with a small grin. "By the way, where did you buy that necklace? I'm not sure, but it seems to have a strange magical aura." "Uh… I-It's an old family heirloom, hehe." Golden replied with a nervous smile, relieved that Dusk was still unaware of his disguise. "Come on, it's already sunset. Let's go back to town." Dusk smiled, extending a hoof to Golden for her to follow. "Uh… sure." Golden replied. Her outgoing personality was lost when she nervously touched Dusk's hoof, blushing in the process. That is how they both walked quietly back to town. However, unlike going to the forest, this time Golden Feather walked much calmer. She was silent most of the way, lost in her own thoughts as she kept a confused and thoughtful look. "We’re almost there." Dusk said. They arrived on a small hill that had an amazing view of the Ponyville park, which was still full of visitors to the great comic convention. "We arrived just before sunset." When Dusk was about to continue walking, Golden Feather's hoof held him gently from behind. "Do you think... we could watch the sunset together before saying goodbye?" Golden asked with a tender smile. Then both ponies sat on the little knoll and looked towards the horizon, waiting for the sun to set behind the distant mountains. As the sun slowly lowered, Golden put on a sweet smile, gazing in fascination at the distant star as it set. "The sunset... seeing it this way is so comforting..." Golden said with a nostalgic look and a tender smile. "I usually close my eyes to concentrate. But now… I realize how beautiful it is." For a few seconds, Golden just sat enjoying view, but then she realized that Dusk was looking at her with a confused face, and she quickly realized that she had once again said something that could give her away. "I understand. It’s like looking at the stars. You know they’re there, but you seldom stop to see how beautiful they are." Dusk smiled, understanding what Golden was referring to. Then Golden smiled tenderly. Not because of the fact that Dusk still didn't realize who she really was, but because she saw that her beloved Dusk understood her perfectly as very few ponies could. "Was he always so mature?" Golden thought as she watched the sunset, thinking of her beloved student sitting next to her. She had always seen as a cute little colt. But now she could see that her beloved Dusk Shine was a true adult stallion. Gently Golden dropped her head on Dusk's shoulder and continued enjoying that beautiful sunset. "Thanks for this day, Dusk. This was just what I needed." Golden said softly as she enjoyed the tranquility. For Celestia, this would have been impossible in her castle. As ruler of the kingdom, she had to maintain an image in front of her subjects. But as Golden Feather, she could calmly feel the warmth of Dusk's fur and express all the affection that she felt towards him, without anyone judging or reproaching her that it wasn’t correct. For his part, Dusk was surprised to feel Golden's head on his side, but after blushing a little, he simply smiled, grateful for having met a mare as fascinating as her. Finally, the sun fully set behind the mountains and night began to fall slowly. At that moment, both ponies were about to stand up, until suddenly a huge light and a thunderous noise took them completely by surprise and made both of them fall backwards to the ground. Slowly they both got up from the ground and realized that that loud noise had been a firework. One of many that began to light up the sky in commemoration of the end of the 'PonyCon' in Ponyville. Realizing what had scared them, Golden and Dusk looked at each other and started laughing. They had both been taken totally by surprise, their hearts still somewhat racing with fright. And after they had fallen, they were now much closer to each other, with their sides touching each other. Then they both stopped laughing and stared at each other, while the sky lit up with colors and the noise of the explosions surrounded them. For several seconds, neither of the two ponies said anything. Both simply stared at each other, lost in each other's eyes, slowly feeling how their cheeks were blushing and their hearts were racing. Dusk couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful Golden was and all the great qualities he had seen in her, which definitely made her an attractive and unique mare. For her part, Golden couldn't stop thinking about how much she loved Dusk, how he had been so good to her that day, how he had saved her, how he had gallantly carried her on his back, how he had been the only one to dare to reprimand her, and how his personality was everything she wanted in a good stallion. "I can’t...I shouldn’t...!" Golden thought frantically, trying in vain to stop what she knew she was about to do. "But… I love Dusk… I've always loved him… Like a mother. But now… I see him as a stallion. And I… I 'm just a mare." Golden thought, slightly closing her eyes and bringing her lips to Dusk's. "Sorry." Dusk said suddenly, turning his head away at the last second, completely blushed. "I can’t do it." "Uh?" Golden said, her eyes widening in surprise, as if she had suddenly awakened from a beautiful dream. "I… I don't have a marefriend, but I realized a while ago that I was in love. I still don't understand my own feelings completely, but that feeling that was born with my friends as friendship grew to become more intense, until it became love." Dusk said, blushing with a small smile. He then looked up again at Golden. "You’re one of the most beautiful and fascinating mares I've ever met in my life, but... I don't want to confuse my heart anymore. Every second that I’ve spent with you, I realized how kind, cute, competitive, smart and funny you are. And although all those qualities made my heart race, little by little I realized that the only thing I was thinking about was how those great qualities of yours resembled those of my friends. I couldn't stop thinking about how similar you were to Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie… I couldn't stop thinking about them! That's why... I beg your forgiveness for not being able to reciprocate your feelings." Dusk added, looking at Golden with a sad smile. Golden simply stood in shock, listening intently to Dusk’s every word, realizing how enamored he really was and how impulsive she had been, again getting carried away by her emotions while in disguise. Finally, to Dusk's absolute surprise, Golden covered her face with her hoof, trying to contain the emotion she felt at that moment, until it finally exploded. "Pfff…. Hahaha! Hahaha…. Oh, gosh… I can't believe how dumb I was…" Golden said with a huge laugh. She finally woke up from her crazy dream of being a young pony again and reminded herself that she wasn’t Golden Feather, but the immortal Celestia. "You really have matured... Even more than me apparently." Golden added, wiping a tear from the huge laugh she had let out, looking at Dusk with a loving, but not at all lustful, look of a mother to her child. "Love is so complex to experience and it comes in so many forms… Friendship, brotherly love, motherly love, romantic love. But still… I can't believe I got carried away by my hormones!" Golden thought, still amused to see that her little Dusk had unknowingly given her a maturity lesson for the second time that day. "However, despite everything... It was very nice to feel in love once more..." Golden thought, blushing a little. "Cupid is an idiot who sometimes shoots too many arrows." Golden said looking at Dusk tenderly. Speaking not only of the problem that Dusk had with having fallen in love with five mares at the same time, but also because she almost fell in love with him as well. "Love is something very complex, and sometimes it’s very difficult to carry. But it's still worth it because it's a beautiful feeling." Golden added with a big smile Seeing that Golden had taken his ‘rejection’ very well, and that she was even giving him advice on his love situation with his friends, Dusk was finally able to sigh in relief and was able to be relaxed again with Golden. "I think you're right... Love is definitely worth experiencing." Dusk said with a tender smile, remembering the warmth in his heart that he felt every time he saw his friends. "Golden, have you ever been in love? How do you know to distinguish when somepony is your true soulmate?" Dusk's question took Golden completely by surprise, who gave a shocked look. Then she slightly narrowed her eyes as she recalled a distant past of hers. "I… I was in love once. A long, long time ago…" Golden finally replied, looking away with a sad expression. For the first time that day, it seemed that Golden was sad about something Dusk had told her. And he immediately realized that there must be something painful in Golden's past for her to react that way. However, before Dusk could say anything, Golden noticed that Dusk had a worried look and smiled again. "I can’t give you an answer to your love dilemma. You must trust your heart. Only then will you know what is correct." Golden said, smiling at Dusk again. Then she stood up and did a few stretches. "I think it’s time for me to go home, before my sister gets mad at having run away from my duties for a whole day." Golden added, thinking that she would have to thank Luna for helping her today. After Dusk got up, Golden Feather spread her wings to take flight. However, in the last second before taking off, she turned around and gave Dusk a quick, tender kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for this wonderful day, Dusk Shine. I shall cherish it always." Golden said with a small blush. Then, without waiting for Dusk to respond, Golden took flight towards the horizon. As Dusk watched the white pegasus fly away, he touched his cheek where he had been kissed and smiled tenderly. All day, he had inevitably been comparing Golden's qualities with those of her five friends. However, that fleeting kiss and the way she said goodbye made him remember another mare that was in his heart, a blue alicorn that, now that Dusk analyzed it well, also had a lot in common with Golden Feather. "Pinkie was right... I need to stop adding mares in my life..." Dusk thought with a small smile. Remembering when Pinkie Pie had told him he was a shameless Casanova. Slowly Dusk began his way back to town, descending from the small hill where he had watched the sunset with Golden. But he didn’t get very far into the town, because as soon as he had descended the small hill, he saw five mares in the distance walking towards him. Five mares that he knew well and that hadn’t been able to get out of his head that day, even though he hadn’t seen them since the morning. "Girls? How did you know I would be here?" Dusk asked once his friends reached him. "Princess Cadance said you would be around here." Rarity replied. "Yeah, it seems like she has some kind of love radar or something. Although, I still think that’s total bullshit." Rainbow Dash added, still naive about Cadance's ability to feel love. "Love radar? like Pinkie's Pinkie Sense? Hmm… that makes sense. She always had a gift for reading the true feelings of the ponies around her." Dusk said with a thoughtful look. Perhaps in the future he could talk to Cadance to do some experiment to try to understand her particular ability like he did with Pinkie. "By the way. We had a long talk with the Princess and… well… we discovered that the night of the Gala, it seems… the five of us declared our love to you at the same time." Applejack said, scratching her head with a nervous look, looking at Dusk out of the corner of her eye with a heavy blush. "You..." Dusk murmured in surprise. He blushed heavily when he saw that his five friends also made embarrassed faces and looked away, very sorry. "I... I wanted to tell you, but then Discord showed up, and I... I..." "Relax, we understand." Pinkie Pie said with a nervous smile. "It's not your fault, and... uhm... apparently, it’s not our fault either. It was Princess Cadance who ordered the maids to interrupt you before you said anything." Fluttershy said. "Cadance did that? Why!?" Dusk asked, surprised and confused. Though deep down, his rational brain could already imagine the possible reason why his former babysitter had done what she did. Finally solving the mystery that Sweet Creme had left him unfinished, by telling him that a princess had ordered her to do what she did. The five mares looked fearfully at each other for an instant, and then they looked back at Dusk. "Before answering you, we wanted to ask you a question..." Applejack said nervously. "The night of the Grand Galloping Gala, when Princess Celestia teleported us to the Café... What were you going to tell us?" Rainbow Dash asked, trying not to sound nervous. "You were going to... respond to our declarations of love?" Pinkie Pie added, staring nervously at Dusk. At that moment, the lavender colt remembered what happened at that night, where he knew that there was no correct answer to his great dilemma, and nevertheless, he knew that he should give an answer to the feelings of his friends. He had been about to do so, but… something had interrupted him… What had it been? As much as Dusk tried, he couldn't remember what had interrupted him that night. Despite that mental gap, Dusk decided to let it go for now, because more important than his bad memory was the fact that his five friends were before him again, waiting for an answer to their feelings. Just like on that occasion, Dusk remained motionless and silent for several seconds, with a mental mess in his head due to all the thoughts and feelings he had at that moment. However, unlike on that occasion, a new, and more recent memory, came to him and calmed his heart a little. 'You must trust your heart. Only then will you know what is correct.' Golden Feather had told him moments before. A piece of advice that made room in his heart. Dusk then took a deep breath and decided to open up and be completely honest. "I need time." Dusk finally said, lowering his head slightly in distress. He then looked affectionately at all his friends. "I don't need time to respond to your feelings, but to know how to act. I... I never imagined that you could be in love with me, and knowing it filled me with a joy that I had never felt, because my feelings were reciprocated. I… I love you all too! In all these months, I realized that I was slowly falling in love with each one of you. It wasn’t only friendship, but it was love. However, listening to each of your beautiful declarations, I wasn’t only filled with happiness, but also with fear. Fear of knowing what I would say to you, fear of thinking that I could only be with one of you, fear of thinking about what would happen to our friendship, fear of not knowing what was the right thing to do. The only thing I know for sure is that I would be the happiest pony in the world being with any of you. Because for me, all of you are perfect in your own way and each one has a place in my heart. But... it's for the same reason I can’t decide, because I feel that... I would be loving one over the others, and that is something I don't feel right now... I know that I'm a coward for not giving you an immediate answer. I understand if you want to hate me or don't want to see me anymore, but I want to do this right. Simply…. I don't want to trample on any of your feelings." After finishing his answer, Dusk looked at the faces of his friends, who simply stared at him with calm, but serious expressions. "Damn it... The Princess was right..." Rainbow Dash said, hitting her forehead with her hoof, somewhat frustrated (yet touched) by Dusk's response. "Well, to be fair, we all knew that Dusk was probably going to answer something like that." Pinkie Pie said, looking at Rainbow Dash and shrugging. "Do you always have to be so indecisive!?" Applejack added, thinking that deep down, she knew perfectly how confused Dusk was inside. But even so, it bothered her to think that she would have to continue feeling uncertainty in her heart. "So… will we do what the Princess suggested?" Fluttershy asked with a blush, looking at her other friends. "I guess..." Applejack replied, also blushing while scratching her head. "W-What did Cadance tell you?" Dusk asked. The colt was still surprised that his friends didn't seem to be mostly mad at him, and he was even more surprised to find that it seemed that Cadance was deeply interested in his love life. "We’ve discussed it, and the truth is that... we understand that you’re confused." Rarity said, looking at Dusk with a somewhat sympathetic face. "For months, each of us tried to get closer to you and… make you fall in love with each one without you even realizing it. And... well... it seemed to have worked... Besides, you've never had a marefriend, and well... we've never had a real coltfriend either. So, we thought it might not be fair to force you to decide between one of us so quickly. That's why… well…" The fashionista trailed off, getting nervous at the end of her speech. "That's why we decided that you would be the coltfriend of all of us!" Pinkie Pie added with a huge smile. "… … What?!" Dusk said in shock, followed by a long silence, in which the mares simply blushed, and Dusk looked at nothing, as if for a second his brain had short-circuited. "D-Do you all want to be in a relationship with me at the same time?" Dusk asked after a long silence, blushing as he imagined himself as a Sultan of Saddle Arabia, surrounded by his own harem of mares. "Hey, knock off that look!" Rainbow Dash yelled while red with embarrassment, jumping up and bonking Dusk on the head. She could easily tell that the stallion was imagining some shameless thing. "You won't have your own harem like in Lyra's comic, idiot!" Rainbow Dash added, redder with embarrassment than she had ever been. "Ouch! Uh… I-I don't understand…" Dusk said in confusion, rubbing his head. "We won't be your five marefriends at the same time." Rarity said, calmer and with a more serious look. "What we want is for you to be the coltfriend of one of us for a while, then another and another, until you have seen what it means to be in a romantic relationship with each of us." Rarity added, explaining what they had planned with Cadance. "That way we can know if our love is true and... see if our friendship can support seeing you as a coltfriend with one of us." Fluttershy said with an embarrassed look. "That means you’ll be our full-time coltfriend. With all the obligations and privileges that this implies." Pinkie Pie said, with a slightly more mischievous look. "So then we’ll all know who’s the best mare for you and who’ll to become a permanent couple in the future." "That... that's ridiculous!" Dusk finally almost yelled, realizing how crazy the idea his friends were asking him was. "You want me to choose a marefriend, then break up with that marefriend, and choose another marefriend... And repeat it five times!?" "Do you have a better idea? You were the Casanova who said 'I love all, too!'. Rainbow Dash said with a mocking voice as she imitated Dusk. The mare was still red with shame to know that indeed what they were asking was crazy, but it was the only way to give Dusk more time and that everyone could verify that their love was true. “So pony up and take responsibility for this, egghead!” Dusk simply pursed his lips and lowered his head in shame. What his friend said was true. He had taken his friends to that point, and now he couldn’t refuse the solution they proposed, because the problem was only the fault of his indecision. "By the way, even if you haven't wanted to choose a permanent marefriend, you’ll still have to choose which of us will be your first marefriend." Applejack said, turning to leave. "What? B-But…" Dusk stuttered, realizing that his friends were forcing him to choose, even temporarily. "We’ve already decided." Rarity said, turning around to leave with her other friends. "If you don't choose one of us within the week, we'll assume that you only want us as friends in your life. We’ll just be friends and we’ll never be more than that with you… none of us." Hearing those last words, Dusk froze, understanding that this was an ultimatum. He could either followed the plan that his friends chose and one by one become their coltfriend; or simply rejected them, rejected their love and theirs, and pretend that in his heart he didn’t love them. As the mares walked away, Dusk froze in the middle of the night, realizing that whatever he chose, the relationship between him and his friends would change forever. Just seconds before, Golden Feather had said goodbye to Dusk and was preparing to fly back to Canterlot. However, as she flew over Ponyville, she heard the train whistle, announcing that it was about to depart. "Hehe… I haven't traveled by train in a long time. It could be fun." Golden giggled. She ought to take advantage of the occasion, since today she wasn’t traveling with an escort nor was she obliged to travel in her customary golden chariot. Quickly, Golden landed at the train station, bought a ticket, and boarded the train just as it began to depart. Then, Golden made her way through the wagons, which were mostly full, since after 'PonyCon', many visitors were returning to their hometowns. Finally, Golden found an empty seat in the last wagon and sat there, settling into the soft couch and sighing as she reviewed everything she had experienced this hectic and fun day. Before Golden could fully relax, she looked at her side, at the pony that had been sitting by the window before she sat next to her. The pony was a taller than average mare, and wore an elegant long blue cape, and partially covered her face with a hood of the same color. At the same moment that Golden Feather turned to see her seat companion, Cadance also stopped looking out the window and turned to look at the pony next to her, a young white pegasus with blonde mane and a strange golden necklace hanging from her neck. Although both were disguised, their eyes met, and immediately the product of years of living together allowed them to instantly recognize each other. A long and uncomfortable silence remained between them as they looked at each other without even blinking, and not knowing what to say. "I won't ask if you don't ask either." Cadance finally said, still looking at Golden. "Deal." Golden responded immediately. Then both mares looked away and pretended they hadn’t seen each other, both thinking that it would be difficult to explain why each was traveling in disguise on the train from Ponyville. After going through that awkward situation and agreeing to pretend nothing had happened, Cadance looked out the window again, lost in thought. Having her aunt sitting next to her, Cadance couldn't help but remember their conversation that morning, and more importantly, remember what she had discovered about Sunset Shimmer today. 'Sunset wasn’t a bad filly, she just had a very bad influence, which taught her the wrong thing about love and friendship.' 'Nopony knows more about true love than you. And that's just what Sunset Shimmer needs to learn right now.' It had been the words her Aunt Celestia had said to her that morning. "A mare bred to hate, who likewise managed to fall in love..." Cadance thought, breathing deeply, letting go of her past to face a new challenge. "There was a time when I volunteered to be Sunset's babysitter because I felt that deep down there was a light of goodness within her. A light so powerful as to overcome the dark teachings of her teacher… A light that if not protected, could finally fade…" Cadance finally thought, closing her eyes, having finally made up her mind. "I... I’ve decided to accept Sunset Shimmer as my student." Cadance said with a tired look, not bothering to look at Golden and continuing to fix her gaze on the landscape behind the window. Deep down, the mare was wishing with all her might that she wasn't making a serious mistake. Golden gently touched Cadance's hoof to make her look at her. "I knew you would." Golden said, smiling tenderly at her. Cadance smiled too, remembering that once her Aunt Celestia had saved her from falling into darkness, and now it would be her turn to do the same with Sunset Shimmer. After that conversation, both fell silent again, not wanting some stranger to overhear them talk and discover that two royal princesses were traveling alone and without an escort. However, as they remained silent, this time it was Golden Feather's turn to lose herself in her own thoughts... "I know that Dusk doesn't believe in fate, although I think his opinion of that has been changing lately. However, unlike him, I can't help but notice how fate seems to show us the inescapable path we must follow…" Golden thought, closing her eyes with concern. "I spent centuries without thinking about that terrible event. And now, in less than a week, Luna detected that a great storm appeared north of Equestria; later, Dusk asked me about my first love; and finally, fate laughs in my face by making me go sitting on a train with Cadance... I guess... the time has come." "Cadance, you..." Golden said slowly, with a worried look, still unsure whether to speak or not. Finally, she closed her eyes for a moment, sighed, and looked seriously at her niece. "You... What do you know about the Crystal Empire?" End of chapter 8