//------------------------------//
// Chapter 21 - The bitter end 
// Story: Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness II 
// by bigsnusnu 
//------------------------------//

The bitter end

Everything was in chaos in downtown Canterlot. After seeing hundreds of what appeared to be insect ponies flying through the air from the castle, being pushed by powerful magic; all the ponies in the city were stunned. However, after the initial shock, the vast majority of the ponies just shrugged and went about their daily routines with the certainty that this couldn’t be anything dangerous.  After all, everyone believed they were protected thanks to the security that the Alicorn princesses offered them. Without even imagining how close the entire kingdom had come to falling.

When the ponies resumed their routines, it was that Dusk arrived at the center of the city. He had seen from afar how a green fireball had resisted the push of Shining Armor and Cadance's magic, and had fallen on the city.

Once there, Dusk began looking for signs of the Changing Queen or anything that could confirm his theory. His eyes widen in surprise when he saw what seemed to be a crater in an alley, surrounded by ashes. Then Dusk looked up quickly and saw that there was nothing in the closed alley. 

“She’s here. But if she's not in the alley, that means I was too late, and she ran away.” Dusk thought with concern. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “No, Cadance's magic must have left her weak and wounded, she must still be around here. And since none of these ponies have run away, that means she's disguised herself so as not to arouse suspicion.”

Reaching that accurate conclusion, Dusk looked towards the street full of ponies and walked there slowly with a mischievous smile. He thought it was time to piss off her prey to make her reveal herself. Then Dusk began to speak loudly, so that everyone around him could hear him. Something that surprised the nearby ponies, who stared at him in surprise.

"Everything in the castle was such a mess, wasn't it, Chrysalis?" Dusk yelled with an arrogant smile. “By the way, you don't mind if I just call you Chrysalis, do you? After all, I guess without this, you're not even a queen anymore." Dusk levitated the crown that Chrysalis had been wearing, now battered and crushed.

Dusk looked carefully at the eyes of all the ponies who saw him, hoping to find some hint of hatred or resentment. However, the crowd around him continued to look at him with confused looks. Dusk understood that he had to be harder with Chrysalis. He well knew how proud and conceited the Changeling Queen was, and Dusk would use that to his advantage, hitting her where it hurt the most.

"I don't blame you for hiding, I mean, I'd hide in your place too." Dusk said, with a small burlesque laugh as he walked in front of all the ponies who were looking at him. “How much time did you spend planning your little invasion? Years? Decades? Centuries!? All so that it would finally fail before two ponies in love? Hahaha! You really are pathetic. And you called yourself Queen? I guess we can call you... The Queen of Losers! Hahaha!"

“AGHHH!” Suddenly a furious old pony shouted, lunging at Dusk from his back.

As if everything had been in slow motion, while in the air, the old pony surrounded himself with green fire, revealing her true identity as Chrysalis, charging her horn with a great green flame. Then Chrysalis fell on Dusk, and in doing so, immediately a circle of green flames surrounded both of them.  Both of them disappeared, leaving only a black circle of scorched soil on the ground. All before the astonished gaze of all the ponies around them.

Those who also managed to see Dusk disappear were his five friends from Ponyville. They arrived at that street after following Dusk and saw how Chrysalis jumped him and disappeared.

"Where did Dusk go!?" Applejack asked, scared and confused.

"T-They teleported to another place." Rarity replied fearfully, recognizing that those green flames hadn’t been caused by Dusk's magic, but by the Changeling Queen.

While the five mares looked at each other with uncertainty, Sunset Shimmer had secretly followed the mares and dragon when they left the castle. The yellow unicorn only managed to see some green flames that disappeared as soon as she got there, but from what she heard from Dusk's friends, she quickly understood that Chrysalis had somehow resisted Cadance's magic and confronted the colt.

"Chrysalis couldn't have taken Dusk anywhere."Sunset thought, quickly realizing that Chrysalis must have been weak and that she must have taken Dusk to a nearby and safe place that she knew well. It was then that Sunset opened her eyes wide upon discovering where Chrysalis should have taken Dusk. "But, even if she took Dusk 'there', how am I supposed to get there to help him?"

“Sunset Shimmer.” A voice said suddenly, snapping Sunset out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw that it was Fluttershy. Who, along with her other friends, realized that Sunset had followed them. "You... do you know where Dusk could be?" 

Sunset was surprised by the shy mare’s question and noticed that all of Dusk's friends were looking at her. They were putting aside their resentment towards her in order to be able to unite to help Dusk.

"I... I'm sorry, I don't know where he can be." Sunset replied and looked away in slight annoyance.

“Just because I asked for your help in fighting changelings doesn't mean we're friends.” Sunset thought with a worried look. For a moment, the selfish mare of her past was starting to bubble up to the surface again.

As she averted her gaze, Sunset looked at the circle of ashes left by Chrysalis's magic when she disappeared. Then her eyes widened in surprise upon finally discovering how to get to where Dusk was.

Sunset turned and started to run back to the castle, however, something stopped her. An internal fight that she had at that precise moment herself, her old personality against the new personality that was being forged in herself.

"Leave now! If you go alone to help Dusk, all the glory will be yours!" The former Sunset yelled in her mind. “You’ll win Dusk's heart again.  This is your chance!”

"They are Dusk's friends, and they are as worried and scared about him as you are." Another voice pleaded, the one who had been Cadance's student for the past month. “They also want to help, and more importantly, Dusk needs his true friends, not you! You must put your wishes aside!”

"You girls!" Sunset yelled suddenly, before running back to the castle. She looked at the group of mares with a serious look and a small tear in one of her eyes, product of the decision she had made. “Follow me and keep up! I won't wait for you." The yellow unicorn huffed in frustration at the choice she had made. But it was the right thing to do.

As soon as Sunset started to run, the five mares put on serious looks and followed her without hesitation. As if for a second they had perfectly understood Sunset's heart. Knowing that above all, the most important thing at that moment, was to help the stallion they loved.

Meanwhile in the old Canterlot mines, Dusk was on alert and pointing his illuminated horn at the dark cave. Just moments before, he had been blindsided by Chrysalis and had been teleported to the Canterlot mines. Once they both fell into the mines, Dusk moved quickly and pushed Chrysalis hard into the dark. Realizing that he had made a terrible mistake, Dusk quickly lit his horn towards where he had pushed Chrysalis, but it was too late. The darkness of the cave provided the Changeling Queen with the perfect hiding place. In this way, it was Dusk who was now cornered, knowing that the cunning and deadly Chrysalis could attack him from behind if he wasn't careful.

Dusk quickly got into a defensive position, lit up his horn threateningly and waited for Chrysalis's attack.  However, no matter how long he waited, the Changing Queen didn’t attack him. He then heard Chrysalis laugh not far from where he was. He knew he could be walking into a trap, but he also didn’t have much other choice.  He proceeded towards the source of the laugh with the upmost of caution.

"You’ve noticed, haven’t you?" Chrysalis's voice echoed in the cave. The stallion was unable to distinguish where Chrysalis's voice came from. “No one will look for you here, no one knows you are here. Very soon, I’ll sink my fangs into your neck, and this place will become your grave.” Chrysalis added in a cruelly satisfied voice.

"You trying to scare me?  Feed of my fear?" Dusk called out, trying to appear calm. “You're weak, right? You need to regain your strength, that's why you got me here."

Chrysalis didn’t answer. Instead, she simply laughed ominously, causing Dusk to get a shiver down his spine.

"Why are you doing this? Why attack Equestria? Why feed on the love of ponies?" Dusk said, deciding to appeal to reason. “We can help your kind, find another way to feed themselves and coexist. Together we can be stronger. Changelings and ponies can be friends." Dusk added, with a small spark of hope. Remembering how they had even managed to reach the heart of Nightmare Moon by appealing to friendship.

Chrysalis simply laughed. Not with a cruel or intimidating laugh, but as if what Dusk said had genuinely amused her a lot.

"Hahaha! Do you think I do this for my brood? Those dirty insects that only live to serve me, Hahaha! No... I don't care about them at all, let all those weak insects rot. They only serve to help me achieve my ends.” Chrysalis laughed from the dark. “I steal love from ponies and turn it into fear because I enjoy it!! I enjoy cheating and lying! Everyone give me their trust and I stab them in the back. Seeing their suffering and pain, It's what I was born to do! That’s my nature! Hahaha!" 

With Chrysalis's laugh, Dusk lowered his gaze slightly with disappointment and fear. The creature with whom he spoke had no salvation. Everything Chrysalis had done hadn't been to help her subjects, it hadn't been to feed herself, it hadn't been for revenge. Everything that had happened at the wedding, the injuries, the fear, the assassination attempt on Shining, had all been just because that creature enjoyed deceiving and hurting. A heart born of darkness that would never see the light.

Faced with that brief moment of doubt on Dusk, Chrysalis suddenly jumped out of the darkness and pounced on him again. Dusk fell on his back and again pushed Chrysalis, only this time, the Changeling Queen didn’t fly away, but only managed to be pushed a few steps in front of Dusk.

Dusk quickly stood up and prepared to launch a magical attack. However, to his surprise, he was unable to cast any spells. In fact, the light that he used on his horn to illuminate his surroundings began to dim rapidly. It was then that Dusk touched his neck and realized that he was now wearing a kind of stone necklace. One that Chrysalis had put on him when she lunged at him.

“It's the necklace I put on Celestia. It's cracked, but it's still works... It's what I've been looking for all this time.” Chrysalis said with a cruel smile. She approached Dusk while he tried to understand why he couldn't use magic.  Chrysalis hit him hard in the face, causing him to fall hard to the ground.

With Dusk stunned on the ground, Chrysalis lunged again, hitting him with her strong chitin hooves while Dusk tried to protect himself.  Chrysalis laughed maniacally as she savored the fear that emanated from Dusk as she beat the crap out of the pony who had dared to mock her and destroy her precious crown.

"S-She's not using her magic…" Dusk struggled to think as he was pummeled. “She is weaker than I thought.”

With that little glimmer of hope, realizing that they were on equal terms and that everything would be resolved through a simple physical fight. Dusk put all his strength into his rear hooves.  He imagined kicking an apple tree like he had seen his marefriend do a hundred times. Chrysalis was catapulted of the colt with a great pain in her stomach.

"Don't think that because I can’t use magic, I won't be able to fight." Dusk said, getting up and wiping his bloody lip.  “I’ve practiced my kicks by hitting hundreds of apple trees. I’ll make your armor crack." Dusk added with a smile full of confidence.

Getting up with pain after the strong blow that Dusk gave her in her abdomen, Chrysalis stared at Dusk with hatred. And at that moment, seeing Dusk's smile full of confidence, a slight tremor ran through the changeling's back. The pony in front of her felt no fear at all, even though he couldn't use magic, even though he was alone, even though she had hit him with all her might. In that instant, Chrysalis, for the second time in her life, just on the same day, felt fear again.

Before she could react, Dusk launched himself at Chrysalis, hitting her hard. Then Chrysalis forced herself to overcome her hatred before her fear and hit Dusk back. The two traded blow after blow in what could only be described as a simple, bare-hoof brawl.

Chrysalis continued hitting Dusk randomly, feeling frustrated that the colt was still standing. That being said, Dusk's body could barely continue to resist Chrysalis's strong blows. However, unlike Chrysalis, Dusk didn't throw random punches. He focused on repeatedly punching Chrysalis's abdomen. Right where he had hit her with all his might with his kick. The changeling slowly began to bend over due to the pain and Dusk began to take the lead in the fight.

Dusk took advantage of the opportunity and this time it was his turn to pouncing on top of Chrysalis. Then, just as the Changeling Queen did with him before, Dusk began to cover Chrysalis's face with blows to knockher out as soon as possible. It was at that moment, after a series of blows to her face, that Chrysalis finally dropped her hooves tiredly, leaving herself at the absolute mercy of Dusk.

Seeing his opportunity, Dusk raised both front hooves high to give Chrysalis one last and accurate blow. However, at that precise moment, Chrysalis used the last of her changeling magic to transform herself into a perfect of Applejack, her face bloody and beaten.

"Dusk... Please..." 'Applejack' begged the lavender stallion.

Dusk stopped at the sudden transformation. He knew that she wasn’t his real marefriend and that this was just to distract him and could cost him his life. However, seeing his marefriend so beaten was such a shocking image that it made Dusk hesitate for a second.

That second of doubt was all Chrysalis needed. She took advantage of it, pushing Dusk hard with her hooves and launching herself at him with her winning card. The weapon that she had kept as a last resort, her golden dagger, to attack Dusk when he was most unprepared.

After Dusk was pushed, he saw how 'Applejack' jumped on him with the weapon, transforming back into Chrysalis. He was barely able to stop Chrysalis's hooves, pointing the edge of the dagger directly at Dusk's chest.

For several seconds, they both stood still sans their trembling hooves.  Dusk concentrated on holding the daggar back so that it would sink deep into his chest and pierce his heart.

"It's ironic, right? Two brothers pierced by the same dagger, hahaha!” Chrysalis laughed cruelly and put all the weight of her body to push the dagger on Dusk.





The stallion’s heart was beating erratically from life-threatening fear.  However, that fear turned to anger as Dusk was reminded of what happened to his brother on the alter.

"AGHH!" Dusk yelled with pain in his chest. A spark flew from his horn, and the necklace he was wearing to cracked again, breaking and falling to the ground.

Chrysalis was pushed forward and dropped her dagger. She stared at Dusk in shock, seeing that somehow he had managed to break the anti-magic necklace.

“Even Celestia couldn't break the necklace… Wait! The necklace was already cracked after Celestia broke free of it. It's not a big deal… But still…” Chrysalis’s mind raced as she tried to figure out how a simple unicorn was able to accomplish such an impossible feat.

For his part, Dusk was left very dizzy and completely defenseless from the magical outburst. He slowly got to his hooves and tried to use magic. But his dizziness was so intense that everything around him spun. Furthermore, even though he was no longer wearing the necklace, it seemed that all of his magic had been used up upon breaking free. The changeling noticed how dizzy and fatigued the colt was, leaving him as easy prey.

"DUSK!" Several voices suddenly shouted.

For a second, Chrysalis freaked out, thinking that somehow the alicorn princesses had found her. However, she was relieved when she saw that those who had arrived were nothing more than Dusk Shine's clumsy friends from Ponyville.

A few moments before after arriving back at the castle, guided by Sunset Shimmer led them to the castle infirmary. There, she told them that she had seen Dusk appear from the arcane circle after escaping from the mines below Canterlot. The mare was able to use the arcane circle to teleport them all to the other circle. Once there, they all hurried to look for Dusk. 

“Hehe… And here I thought that there was an actual threat arriving!  Instead, it was the main banquet.” Chrysalis laughed, running her tongue over her lip. With Dusk weak, it would be so easy to trick those mares and steal their love to regain her lost power.

"They’re all I need to defeat you." Dusk said as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy kept him steady. Even weak and dizzy, the colt was confident that with his friends there, it was impossible to lose to evil.

Despite being magically exhausted, Dusk closed his eyes and concentrated his mind, as if he were invoking his magic. The only difference was that he didn't recite any spells in his mind, rather he concentrated on remembering how he felt the times he used magic together with his friends. Like the time they saved Princess Luna from Nightmare Moon, the time they were saved from the Ursa attack on Ponyville, and the time they earned their cutie marks. In all those times, Dusk had obtained magic from another magical source, and now, by having all his friends there with him, ready to sacrifice themselves to defend each other, Dusk once again felt that connection and that magic.

"It's the magic of friendship..." Dusk said, managing to recall all those experiences and feelings towards his friends. At the same time he felt an internal heat, which made his internal magic grow and grow.

Dusk's eyes began to shine as he felt the magic returning to him, surrounded by the ponies he loved the most. He slowly realized that he was using the same spell that Cadance and Shining had used in the castle. A new magic that formed and grew based on the mutual feelings felt by the ponies who invoked it. Dusk had only needed a spark to ignite it, and that spark had always been his friends. Friendship was the spark, and love made it grow.

"It's like the magic Cadance and Shining wielded."Dusk thought as his magic grew, surrounding him and his friends with a warm and brilliant white aura. “The magic of friendship….of love.”

“No… Not that dark magic again!” Chrysalis yelled in shock as she witnessed Dusk had somehow managed to invoke a magic very similar to the one that Cadance had invoked to expel her army.

"It's not dark magic, maybe it's not even magic... I think it's just sharing the love and happiness you feel inside." Dusk said with his bright eyes, while the aura that surrounded him and his friends slowly compressed, becoming smaller but brighter. “It's just like Shining said, changelings don't understand true feelings and true love. That's why your body rejects love, because in your heart you refuse to really accept it, and you never will."

With his feelings of love revealing themselves physically as magic, Dusk remembered how Cadance used her magic to share her love and heal the divide of squabbling couples. Then Dusk used the spell and shared the love that he and his friends felt among themselves before directing it to Chrysalis. Finally releasing that magic, causing a wave identical to the one made by Shining and Cadance to be released from the bodies of the six ponies and spread throughout the cave.

That shock wave was less powerful than the one created by Cadance and Shining, but equally powerful enough to blow the Changeling Queen away. With a cry of rage and fright, the monster was blown back into a large pit that was on the edge of the old mine. Chrysalis tried to grab hold of the edge to avoid falling into the dark abyss. However, their own hooves were so exhausted after using them to hit Dusk that they didn't have enough strength to save themselves. With a piercing scream, the Changeling Queen fell helplessly into the deep, dark abyss. Finally, being completely defeated.

Dusk and his friends slowly stopped shining and saw that that dark creature had finally fallen into darkness.  They all hugged each other, filled with the happiness and joy that magic brought after being used, just as they had felt when Cadance and Shining used it at the wedding.

The six ponies held each other and laughed for quite a while, all while the 'happy' effect of the magic wore off.

"Don’t ever try to leave in the dust again like that, you handsome dumbass.” Rainbow smiled and gave the colt a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Sorry." Dusk laughed, rubbing his shoulder. At that moment, he felt happy not because of the magic used, but because of having his dear friends with him.

Dusk's friends slowly stopped hugging him, all except for one. Dusk looked under his head and was surprised to see that the mare was crying. That mare was his marefriend.

"Dusk... forgive me." Applejack cried. “I would never cheat on you or hurt you.”

For a second, Dusk didn't understand what Applejack was referring to. But after a few seconds, he realized she must have saw how Chrysalis disguised herself as her to deceive him and thus attack him.

"Don't worry, I know the real you would never hurt me." Dusk said tenderly, caressing his marefriend's head while she vents her sorrow.

While Dusk comforted his marefriend, from afar, Sunset Shimmer looked at the six ponies. She had brought Dusk's friends to him, and although she would have loved to go with Dusk when they arrived, she knew that she had to stay hidden,\ for Dusk's own good. Furthermore, she had understood and verified that what Dusk needed at that moment was not from her, but from his friends from Ponyville.

With a sad look, Sunset Shimmer pulled her hood back over her head, and walked away. Giving Dusk space to be with his TRUE friends.





After leaving the Canterlot mines and returning to the castle, Dusk and his friends met up with Cadance again. To their surprise, they found out that she had insisted that they continue with the wedding for that day.

"This is our special day, and we won't let an invasion or anything take it away from us." Cadance said with a big smile with Shining Armor at her side. Then she put on a more serious look at Dusk. "Auntie Celestia put a lot of effort into opening up Equestria to the world with this event, and I think it's the right thing to do to show that we're a happy, united nation." 

“But… do you think the guests will accept it?” Dusk asked, worried.

"See for yourself." Cadance said, pointing with her eyes to the rest of the room.

Dusk saw that the vast majority of the guests were still affected by Shining and Cadance's love magic. So everyone smiled and felt calm as if nothing had happened.

“Our love has revitalized them all. It's like everyone just walked out of a wonderful day at the spa.” Cadance smiled at her fiancée, who then smiled back.

Seeing his brother smiling so healthy and happy after having been on the verge of death made Dusk smile and open his mouth to ask him something. However, at the last second, he fell silent and looked away. Shining deserved to enjoy himself with his marefriend or his parents, rather than have a chat with his annoying little brother.

In just a few hours, the castle ponies cleaned the hall and arranged all the castle decorations again. Not as much as it had been before, but still, leaving with a quite acceptable result. In addition, Cadance herself confessed that from the beginning she had wanted a simpler wedding, and that she loved the new hall with the open-air roof, a gift from the changelings who flew out and destroyed the glass ceiling. For the same reason, Cadance wasn’t at all disappointed by the fact that her wedding dress had been destroyed. With Rarity's spectacular sewing skills, the white unicorn managed to fix a replacement dress in no time.

With all the preparations in place by sunset, Shining Armor was finally at the altar, waiting for his true bride. With Celestia officiating at the wedding, being on her feet with no problem, thanks to the magic of Cadance and Shining having also healed her wound. With Dusk Shine's friends serving as bridesmaids, since the original bridesmaids had been captured in cocoons, and had been either too scared or too confused to attend the wedding.

Because they had been encased in cocoons, the ponies that had been captured and replaced had been cut off from Cadance and Shining's love spell. For the same reason, most had chosen to stay in the infirmary and not attend the wedding. With few exceptions, like Sweet Creme, who was greeted by her sister, crying her eyes out as she recognized her real sister.

Unfortunately for Celestia, several of the foreign dignitaries also decided to leave after the effect of Cadance's magic wore off. Terrified by what they had had to witness in this place, the representatives of Caninia and Ornithia promptly left the castle. Whereas the cat representatives of Abyssinia had disappeared even before the wedding for some reason.

Curiously, the yaks and the griffins agreed to stay and enter into trade relations with the ponies. The old gryphons always respected strength, and if Chrysalis had won that invasion, surely the gryphons would have been the first to ask her to be their allies. However, seeing the power of Cadance's magic convinced them of the ponies' strength and that they were worth allying with. Something different went through the minds of the yaks, who decided to stay for the wedding because they never realized that something bad was happening. For it seemed that at yak weddings, there was always some kind of fight, wreckage and disorder. 

The time finally came. Fluttershy led her chorus of birds into song, the doors to the hall opened, and the real Cadance appeared. She walked slowly towards the altar while her fiancé waited for her with rapt eyes. 

“Hey! What are you guys doing?" Shining whispered to Dusk and Spike in the front row as Cadance walked towards the altar. "I’m gonna need my ‘best colts’ at my side when I get married!"

"Y-Your best colts?" Dusk stuttered with shock. "I thought you didn't want me to be your best colt." 

"Well... Being on the verge of death makes you realize what really matters." Shining added with a small smile. “My family comes first, and it is something that I’ll never hide again.”

Without really understanding what Shining meant by that, Dusk gave a confused look. Then, seeing that Cadance almost reached the altar and that Shining didn't have any best colt by his side, it made Dusk and Spike hurry up and stand next to their big brother.

"Uh? Is that our uncle's buckle?" Dusk asked curiously, eyeing Shining's suit and noticing that he was wearing an old family badge on his chest, which was the emblem of his family. The same pink six-pointed star that Shining and Dusk had on their cutie marks.

“I told you, I’m not hiding where I come from or who my family isanymore.” Shining answered with a firm look. 

Once Cadance reached the altar, she and Shining stood facing each other in front of Celestia.  The Princess of the Sun began to officiate the wedding.

“Mares and gentlecolts. We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” Celestia said, starting with the ceremony.

"Princess Cadance is fine." The pink mare interrupted with a small smile. Celestia smiled at her niece’s humility in front of all of the nobility.

"The union of our beloved Princess Cadance, with her noble and brave husband, Shining Armor of the Shine family." Celestia continued with her speech.

"Actually, it's Shining Armor of the Sparkle family." Shining politely corrected his future in-law.

Celestia widened her eyes in surprise, then she looked towards the first seats reserved for the nobles of Canterlot, who gave shocked looks upon hearing what Shining Armor had said. Then Celestia fleetingly glanced at Dusk, she closed her eyes, sighed with a smile, and looked at the white stallion again.

Dusk gave a confused look, not understanding why his big brother had changed the name of his family. Then he looked at his parents, thinking that maybe they could be upset about that. But to Dusk's surprise, the only reaction of his parents was to see that his mother for some reason got a little nervous, looking askance at where the high nobles of Canterlot were.

After the interruptions, the wedding continued normally, with the emotional reading of vows, the delivery of the wedding rings, and the kiss between the two lovers. After that, Celestia gave a signal to Rainbow Dash, and the blue pegasus flew across the same empty ceiling at full speed until breaking the sound barrier and causing a vibrant and colorful sonic rainboom to appear, which was followed by a rainbow that formed over the castle, achieved by the particular wave of Rainbow Dash's tail.

"And here I thought weddings were boring." Rainbow Dash said as she flew, remembering everything that happened that day. “An invasion, an evil villain, a happy ending, and a sonic rainboom… Best…! Wedding…! Ever!" She could only imagine that mayber her wedding would be just as cool.  Maybe 20% cooler!

With the ceremony done, it was time for what many ponies, especially Pinkie Pie, really expected... The wedding reception and party!

After the bride and groom's inaugural dance, Pinkie Pie was in charge of hyping up the reception. A task that was made relatively easy with the best DJ in Ponyville, a rising musician nicknamed 'DJ Pon-3', who gave way to songs that immediately livened up the atmosphere.

At the beginning of the party, and while the bride and groom greeted each of the guests, Dusk Shine took the opportunity to meet with his parents for a moment. Both of them had seen how their eldest son had been almost killed before their eyes, and had it not been for Cadance's love magic, they would probably have been left traumatized and fearful. For the same reason, Dusk didn’t want to approach his parents before, knowing that the only thing they should be thinking about was that Shining had been saved from death and that he was now marrying the mare that had saved his life.

"Mom... Dad..." Dusk said timidly, knowing that his parents must have had eyes only for Shining Armor at that time. "I hope I’m not-" Dusk suddenly stopped talking when he saw that both parents rushed to hug him.

"Sweetie, are you okay!? Are you hurt!? What crazy thing did you do now!?” Twilight Velvet asked as she tried to suppress her tears as she embraced her son.

"W-What are you talking about?" Dusk asked nervously, very surprised to see that his parents hugged him so surprisingly.

"Spike told us that you went on your own to face that creature in the old mines." Night Light answered after he stopped the hug and gave him a loving but serious look. "Besides, you haven't visited us for more than a year!  You expect us not to hug you?" Night Light added, hugging his son again.

"But... Spike always sends you letters." Dusk mumbled with embarassment. "Besides... I thought you would be more worried about Shining than me right now."

“Oh, my sweet naïve son. You, Spike and Shining hold equal places in our hearts.  We’re your parents, for Celestia’s sake!” Twilight Velvet said, reprimanding her son lovingly. "Shining has kept us up to date on everything that has happened to you in Ponyville... I know you don't like us hugging you in public, but to think that you've had to go through all those dangers alone..." Dusk's mother added, returning to hug her son tight.

Feeling the warmth of his parents' embrace, Dusk decided to shut up for a second and simply smile and enjoy his parents' warm love. He almost forgot how good Mom and Dad's hug felt. In addition, Dusk had a greater feeling of warmth upon discovering how foolish he had been to think that his parents could put one of their children first in love.

"That's not how love works." Dusk thought. A lesson that would be etched in his mind and remembered long into the future.

“I know you said that you were afraid that I had gone through all those dangers alone. But the truth is thst I was never alone.” Dusk said after enjoying the hug with a smile. “I always had ponies at my side. And that reminds me, there's somepony I'd like to introduce you to." Dusk added, turning around and looking towards the party. 

Looking into the distance, Dusk saw that Applejack was talking with the castle's chef, apparently sharing some recipes given the success of the apple desserts that Applejack had cooked for the wedding. Seeing Applejack smile, Dusk also smiled and prepared to go look for her. However, his gaze was diverted when he saw that Rarity passed by nearby, gazing spellbound at the beautiful dresses of some elegant mares invited to the wedding, making a mental note for future design ideas. And as he looked at Rarity, Dusk's gaze shifted to Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be the only one who seemed to get along with the strange yaks, laughing along with them. Nearby Pinkie was also Rainbow Dash, who wore a proud smile as she was praised by two old pegasi who had apparently been notable members of the Wonderbolts in their youth. And finally, Fluttershy, who was dancing next to Spike, giving the baby dragon a quick lesson since he wanted to ask Rarity to dance.

Seeing all his friend put a big smile on Dusk’s face. He wanted his parents to meet his marefriend, but he also wanted them to meet his other friends.  Because all of them had always been with him, all of them had managed to change his heart, and also, it was no less true, that all of them held an important place in his heart.

"Will Applejack mind if I introduce my parents to everyone together?" Dusk thought, with a thoughtful look. "It's true that Applejack is my marefriend, and I want my parents to know it. But it is also true that in my heart..." At that moment, Dusk was distracted when, looking up at the sky while thinking, he saw the huge moon that shone especially beautiful that night. Then his eyes lowered and looked at Princess Luna in the distance.

Dusk felt his heart move at the sight of the lunar alicorn, just as it happened with his five friends. He blushed slightly at the thought that perhaps his heart was more divided than he thought. However, those thoughts came to an abrupt end when he saw who the Princess of the Night was chatting with.

"It's... Miss Glimmer..." Dusk whispered. The yellow mare was still rather shy while talking with Luna and had decided to keep her hood up.  A small headache-like feeling started to form at the back of his head.

"What is this feeling?" He thought. "I can't quite remember her face, but… For some reason, I feel like it's very important to get to know that mare more."

Just when Dusk was about to go to where the mysterious hooded mare was, he stopped when the newlyweds arrived. Cadance and Shining Armor had already greeted all the other guests, thanking them for coming to their wedding, and now, they approached their family.

“Dusk! We’re finally family now!” Cadance cheered, giving Dusk a strong and warm hug. "I'm lucky to be married to Shining, but I'm even luckier to be the sister-in-law of the cutest colt in Equestria."

"Hey! You know those comments make me jealous.” Shining Armor said with an annoyed look.

"Sorry, honey. You’ll have to accept that in my heart there will always be a place for my little Dusk." Cadance laughed, amused by her new husband's jealousy.

With the Cadance's new comment, Dusk put on a nervous smile, while Shining put on a very serious look at his lavender brother.

“He really is mad at me!” He anxiously thought. Until suddenly Shining lowered his gaze and began to laugh when he saw Dusk's nervous look. Something that greatly surprised the young lavender unicorn. Then Cadance stopped hugging her new little brother, gave him a small kiss on his cheek and magically made something appear next to her.

"You’ll always have a place in my heart." Cadance said and showed him the small locket that she carried with his photo when he was a young colt. The fact that Cadance had something like that made Dusk blush a little.

Cadance then approached her new in-laws, gave them a big hug and began to talk with them. Leaving Shining Armor and Dusk Shine side by side, both in complete silence. They had both wanted to be able to converse with each other all day, and now finally, both brothers could talk. However, now that they had the opportunity, it seemed that neither of them wanted to be the first to speak.

"Cadance always carries that locket... I guess I'll just have to get used to seeing it every day." Shining finally said as he looked at his wife and parents.

“I… I'm sorry. I didn't even know she had something like that." Dusk awkwardly said without looking at the other stallion. He then lowered his gaze with sorrow. “I'm sorry about that. I… I don't want you to be jealous of me for something like that. Cadance is your wife, and I would never see her any other way.”

"Well, a couple of years ago you didn't think the same, did you?" Shining said, looking askance at Dusk with a small smile. “I remember overhearing you talking to Spike a couple of times, saying you were going to be Cadance's coltfriend someday. I even remember you tried to grow out your mane because you thought Cadance liked long-maned stallions.” Shining added, unable to help but smile as he remembered his young brother's past. Dusk eyes widen and he averted his gaze in embarrassment.

"Uh... Well... I..." Dusk stammered, remembering that there really was a time when he thought he was in love with Cadance. It had only happened a year ago but seemed like a long time ago.

"Easy, I'm just playing with you." Shining said. Amused to see that Dusk was so nervous, but then putting on a more serious look. “It’s true that I was always jealous. It always bothered me when Cadance said how cute you were as a foal and that she always talked about you when she got the chance. However, that’s in the past. And not because I am now Cadance's husband, but because it seems that you’re already in love with somepony else." Shining added with a small smile.

Dusk was surprised to discover that his big brother knew more about him than he thought. The colt always thought that Shining cared little about his life in Ponyville. Then he looked back at the party and saw Applejack with her friends.

“Shining’s right. I grew out my mane in Canterlot because I wanted Cadance to like me… I wanted to look like Shining!” Dusk though as he remembered his past. “Then Princess Celestia cut my mane and sent me to Ponyville. And even though during all that time I was able to grow my mane long again, I didn't... Until today I realize that I never thought about growing my mane long again because I stopped thinking about wanting to impress Cadance... I probably kept cutting my mane, because It was more important to me that my friends continue to see me as they did when they met me. ”

“Yeah… I think I finally found out what it really means to be in love.” Dusk said with a small smile.

At that moment, a small disturbance distracted Dusk and Shining from their conversation. Not far from them, two castle guards were dragging a waitress carrying a camera. However, looking more closely, Dusk saw that it was actually a reporter in disguise, one that Shining knew well, called Nosey News. Who had disguised herself as a waitress to sneak into the party and take pictures without permission.

As the guards escorted a very frustrated Nosey News out of the room, Dusk lowered his gaze thoughtfully, and then looked at Shining with a worried look.

"Shining... Spike told me about the incident he had with that journalist when the changeling imitating me came to the castle." Dusk said, speaking slowly. “She said that no one in Canterlot knew what my friends and I did to save Equestria. Even my name was still totally unknown to most..." The lavender colt was silent for a second and then he looked worriedly at his big brother. "Did you have something to do with that?"

Shining closed his eyes for a second and then looked at Dusk with a sad look.

"Yeah." Shining Armor said with a serious look. “I was in charge of hiding your name so that it wouldn’t appear in the newspapers. And also that the deeds that you and your friends did remained as a mere rumor here in the capital.”

At that moment, a long and uncomfortable silence remained between both brothers.

"So it's true... You really must hate me a lot to do something like that." Dusk said with a sad look.

"What!? No! Dusk, I don't hate you. I wanted to protect you.” Shining quickly said with a fright. For the first time, he was nervous when he heard that Dusk thought he hated him. Then the stallion sighed and put on a sad look as he remembered his past. "I know what it means when your name appears in the newspapers. Being harassed by reporters and photographers to the point where you can't even be with the mare you love without someone spying on you. I… I didn't want you to go through what I did. I wanted you to have a quiet life in Ponyville, and that if you fell in love one day, you could be with the mare you loved without any complications."

Dusk was surprised. Then he put on a confused and unsure look. As if he couldn't be sure that what Shining Armor had said was true.  “W-Why would you help me with something like that? You never cared about me before.” 

"Dusk... I was dumb when I was young. I was a lousy big brother who wasn’t able to be by your side when you needed me.” Shining said with a hurt look. “When you were a young colt and got your cutie mark, my world turned upside down. To think that my cutie mark was the same as yours, only with a shield, it was as if destiny said that my only purpose was to protect that star, the star that you carried. To think that my destiny was linked to my younger brother was something that hurt my pride a lot at that time.”

“Was Shining as confused about the meaning of his cutie mark as I was?” Dusk thought as he remembered how he had also hated his cutie mark in part by thinking that it was just a copy of his brother's.

“Then at the Academy, everyone said you cheated the test to get into Magic School. That made me think that the best thing at that moment was to get away from you.” At that moment, Shining looked at Dusk with his bright eyes on the verge of tears. He could finally unburden himself and apologize for something he had regretted for years that his pride wouldn’t let him. “I wanted at all costs to prove that I was worthy of being a palace guard, and in order to do so, I distanced myself from you… I wasn’t the brother you deserved. I… I know it's late and you have every right to hate me, but I want you to know that I never hated you. I always tried to take care of you in my own way, and I always wanted to apologize and get closer to you.  But I thought that our bond was already broken and that you no longer saw me as a brother.”

At that moment, it was Dusk's turn to get emotional upon finally hearing his big brother's true feelings. 

“I don't hate you, Shining. I always thought you hated me. But now I know the truth, and I'm so glad to know that you did care about me!” Dusk said with a small smile. “It always hurt me that you didn't come up to me to chat or give me support. But deep down, I always admired you. I didn't just grow my mane long because I wanted to look like you. Sometimes I put on your armor to imagine that I was a guard like you. I even learned the shield spells from secretly watching you when you practiced them at home.”

"Hehe... Actually, I always knew you watched how I practiced my shield spells in the house." Shining said with a small smile upon hearing Dusk's kind and affectionate words. “Why do you think I practiced those spells at home? I always thought that as smart as you are, you could learn those strong shield spells to one day protect someone important to you. Just like you did today when you protected Cadance while she saved my life.”

With Shining's words of encouragement, it was Dusk's turn to smile. However, he quickly lowered his gaze and put on a sad look. Remembering what he had thought back then, when he had summoned the shield on the altar to ward off the changelings.

"It's true that I learned by watching your shields, but it wasn't enough..." Dusk said with a sad smile. "If I had practiced my shields more to deal with my problems, instead of practicing my teleportation to avoid them, I might have helped Cadance better."

"I never thought that your best spell was teleportation to avoid your problems." Shining interrupted. “I always thought that it was your best spell because with it you could get there before everyone else to help. Just like you did today! You were the first to arrive to help me and Cadance. If you hadn't arrived on time, the changelings would have attacked Cadance and we wouldn't be having this conversation... Dusk, you didn't run away from the problem, you faced it and saved my life!"

With this new point of view given by Shining, Dusk opened his eyes in surprise, understanding what Shining was saying. Finally breaking that belief that Dusk always had about himself, that he was a coward who didn't face problems.

His heart renewed, feeling that he had finally made peace with his brother, Dusk looked at Shining, and the feeling of giving him a hug took over him. However, his masculine stubbornness made Dusk hesitate to show such affection. And at that moment that Dusk looked at Shining, his gaze stayed on his brother's chest, where Shining still wore his uncle's old family emblem. The same star that they both had in their cutie marks and that reminded Dusk that he still had an important question to discuss with his brother.

"Shining... Why did you say a different family name at the wedding?" Dusk asked confused. To which Shining reacted by looking at Dusk with a thoughtful look.

"As the captain of the Royal Guard, I have access to many ancient documents and records." Shining replied. “A few years ago, I found some old files that indicated that our real family name was 'Sparkle,' not 'Shine.' When I asked my superiors for explanations, they told me not to mention that name and best to forget it because it could cause me problems.” At that moment, Shining paused briefly, and frowned as he remembered all the mistreatment that he and Dusk had to suffer in their youth due to classism in Canterlot. “I don't know why, but apparently the high nobles don't like our family. That's why our ancestors changed their name more than a thousand years ago... You saw their faces when I told the real name of our family at the wedding! For some reason they hate our family, and I think that has to do with it as well.” Shining added, pointing to his uncle's emblem. 

Dusk lowered his head and also put on a thoughtful look. What Shining said seemed crazy, but the truth was that it could explain a lot of things. Not only the excessive contempt that both he and Shining suffered from the nobles of Canterlot, but it also confirmed what Dusk had already suspected for some time, regarding his family star.  "Our family emblem has the same shape as the star engraved on the Tree of Harmony… What does my cutie mark really mean!?" 

“I don't know why the nobles hate our family, but after almost dying, I found that I don't care what they think of me anymore. I’ll never again try to hide my family.” Shining continued, affectionately putting a hoof on Dusk's shoulder. “I told you that when I was young I hated my cutie mark for symbolizing that I had to protect you. But now I understand that it's not just protecting you, but what you symbolize... Dusk, you and your friends have saved the kingdom from terrible threats. You’re the sword that protects the kingdom! And I, I’ll be the shield that will protect that sword.” 

Shining had made the decision to finally act how he really felt, no matter what others might think of him. He gave his younger brother a warm hug, one he knew he should have given many years ago. As for Dusk, he was surprised at such a gesture. Then, appreciating his brother's gesture, knowing how difficult it must be for his brother to express his feelings, Dusk smiled and returned the hug with a big smile.

"Awww..." Some voices suddenly said next to Dusk and Shining. Both brothers looked to their side and saw that Cadance and their parents were watching them with excited looks. That filled both brothers with shame, who quickly separated and averted their gazes.

“Both of you are so clumsy at expressing what you feel.” Cadance said, walking over and hugging both brothers. "And you both look really cute when you're embarrassed, hehe." The mare laughed, wanting to show Shining and Dusk that they were both more similar to each other than they believed.

Dusk and Shining looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes and blushed and lowered their gazes meekly. Their parents smiled lovingly when they saw that, after years of sustaining a tense relationship, their two children laughed and hugged each other again as when they were foals.

"Umm... D-Dusk..." A familiar voice suddenly spoke up. Dusk turned and saw that it was Fluttershy. The mare looked at him shyly with her cheeks blushed. “Spike went dancing with Rarity. And I… I thought that maybe… if you're not busy… y-you'd like to dance with me… B-But if you don't want to, that's fine!” Fluttershy added nervously. She had to use all her courage to approach Dusk and be the first of her friends to ask him to dance with her.

"Sure, I'd love to dance with you." Dusk replied, moved by the shy look of his dear friend. His heart was renewed with joy after finally making peace with his big brother.

After saying goodbye to his family, Dusk led Fluttershy to the dance floor, and they both began to dance. They didn’t go unnoticed by Rarity, who was precisely also on the dance floor with little Spike, who was gawking at the beautiful white unicorn. Fluttershy and Dusk's dance also didn't go unnoticed by their other friends, who put aside what they were doing or who they were chatting with, and also approached the dance floor. Ready to also take advantage of the occasion and dance with Dusk after he finished dancing with Fluttershy.

While Dusk danced and the eyes of all his friends were fixed on him, the eyes of another mare were also fixed on the lavender unicorn from afar. There, Sunset Shimmer looked at Dusk and his friends with an annoyed look.

"There's Dusk, the only pony that I can say was my friend... the only pony I've come to feel love for... There he is, without knowing everything I've done for him!” Sunset lamented, starting to get annoyed as she felt completely frustrated. “I’ve given everything for him! I love him with all my heart and for that very reason I have sacrificed everything! All for this!? So that he only has eyes for his other friends!? So that he can't even see my face!?" Sunset gritted her teeth, feeling like she wanted to scream with rage, anger, sadness and frustration. She felt so helpless to see how it seemed that fate didn’t want her and Dusk to be together.

Not far from Sunset, Cadance looked at her student out of the corner of her eye and felt how the yellow unicorn was filled with all those negative emotions when she saw Dusk dance. Knowing that because of Sunset's character, she could explode at any moment, Cadance quickly approached her student to try to calm her down. However, just as she was at Sunset's side, Cadance stopped when she saw what the yellow unicorn did.

Just as Cadance had taught her, feeling filled with fury, Sunset closed her eyes. Then she inhaled sharply, raising a hoof to her chest, and then exhaled sharply. As if with that big breath, Sunset expelled all those bad thoughts and calmed down. A relaxation trick that Cadance had taught her.

Seeing that her student had managed to calm her hot temper on her own, Cadance touched Sunset's shoulder and smiled warmly at her. Proud that her student showed such progress.

"You did the right thing, Sunset." Cadance said tenderly, knowing how hard it was for Sunset to see that the stallion she loved couldn't even recognize her. "You have to be patient. I promise you that one day he’ll be able to see your face again. And both will be able to be as close again as you two were when you were foals.”

"Huff... I hope so..." Sunset sighed with a sad look, having almost zero hope that what Cadance said was true. Since to achieve it, a miracle would be needed.

"Believes in me. I’m sure that together we’ll find a way!” Cadance said with great encouragement. "The time has come for us to start looking for a solution to Discord's curse, and for that, I want you to join us on our honeymoon." 

Sunset gave the princess a confused and uncomfortable look.  “Uh…I know that I’m supposed to be your student, but I’m not sure that I should attend something so…intimate.”

The Princess of Love couldn’t help but giggle at the innuendo.  "The duties of a princess never end." Cadance responded with a proud smile. “We’ll not only travel for my honeymoon. We have business to settle in Northern Equestria.”

While Sunset Shimmer found out that that same night she would leave with Cadance away from Canterlot, on the dance floor, Dusk continued dancing with his friends. After finishing dancing with Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie hurried to ask Dusk for his turn to dance, something to which Fluttershy reacted by smiling tenderly, since she knew that all her friends wanted to dance with their stallion as well. After Pinkie Pie, Rarity followed, leaving Spike for a moment, who was then joined by Applejack for a dance. The fourth dance was Rainbow Dash's turn, who blushed and averted her nervous gaze, not wanting to admit that she was also dying to dance with Dusk. Dusk had to approach his stubborn pegasus friend to 'force' her to dance with him.

Finally it was Applejack's turn, but unlike her other friends, Applejack didn't approach Dusk after seeing that he was alone. Instead, Applejack kept dancing with Spike. She seemed to be having a good time, but the colt was confused on why his marefriend had not looked his way on the dancefloor.

At that moment the music stopped as the bride and groom began to retire to their carriage. However, there was one last event tonight, one that many mares, especially Rarity, had been looking forward to: the tossing of the bride's bouquet. All the mares present gathered in the center of the room and waited anxiously for Cadance to throw her bouquet of flowers.

Cadance threw her bouquet high, and as soon as it fell, all the mares jumped, fell, and swarmed to try to catch the bouquet. An uproar lasted for a few seconds until the mares got up and looked everywhere, without finding the bouquet of flowers anywhere.

"It would appear…that I am victorious." Luna said suddenly, with a small mischievous smile. She hadn’t been with the other mares in the center of the room, but had been standing nearby, but without launching into a fight for that bouquet because her dignity as a princess prevented her from doing so.

“She disappeared and made the bouquet appear when everyone lost sight of it in the chaos?” Dusk thought with amusement. Who, being skillful in magic, managed to notice a slight magical flash just before one of the mares in the center of the room touched the bouquet of flowers.

While Dusk looked at Luna, the Princess of the Night noticed that he was looking at her. Then she lowered her gaze to see the bouquet of flowers, she blushed, and looked at Dusk again out of the corner of her eye with a small smile.

“Oh, Luna! Did you grab the bouquet? Congratulations!" Celestia proclaimed, who hadn’t been attentive to what had happened, because all her attention had been on the twelfth strawberry cake she ate that night. “Now we’ll have to find you a fine young gentlestallion to marry you off to! Celestia laughed, without even imagining that her little sister had cheated to keep the bouquet of flowers.

While the other ponies started to applaud in the hall, still a little confused, not understanding how the bouquet of flowers had reached Princess Luna, there were a few ponies who suspected that Luna might have cheated, but to think that was ridiculous! After all, the Princess of the Night was dignified and elegant, she would never lower herself to do such a thing. While a few servants of the palace also guessed what really happened, but they thought the opposite, because they knew that because of her lover, the worthy Princess of the Night sometimes behaved like a foal. What really surprised the palace servants was that just at that moment Celestia had been distracted and was still unaware of what was going through her younger sister's heart.

Finally, the bride and groom left in their beautiful carriage, heading to the North of the Kingdom, which was a signal for most of the guests to also begin to leave and for DJ Pon-3 to start putting on the last songs of the night.

"Dusk..." A sweet voice suddenly said. It was Applejack, who finally approached her coltfriend that night with a tender smile. "Shall we dance?"

"Of course." Dusk smiled, approaching his marefriend and starting to dance with her. Just when the DJ started to put on some slower songs for all the couples still present.

"I've been looking forward to this dance all night." Applejack said tenderly and affectionately resting her head on Dusk's neck.

"I'm glad to hear that. For a second I thought you were avoiding me, hehe.” Dusk laughed a little with embarrassment.

"S-sorry. I… I didn't feel good about myself.” Applejack answered slowly, squeezing her eyes shut as if it pained her to remember something.

Although Dusk couldn't see his marefriend's face, he could feel how tense she was. That made him meditate to think what could be the reason for that.

“Is it because Chrysalis turned into you at the old mine?" Dusk asked. “Applejack, I already told you, it wasn't your fault. Chrysalis took advantage of my feelings for you to distract me.”

"I know... And that's why it hurts..." Applejack said with sadness in her voice. “It wasn't just in the cave. She also disguised herself as me to capture you in the first place… She… She used your trust in me to hurt you.” The country mare had a small tear in her eye.

"Applejack, you can't blame yourself for that. A changeling also pretended to be me, but the important thing wasn’t that they deceived us with their disguises, the important thing is that we knew how to recognize that those impostors weren’t the ones we really loved." Dusk encouraged his marefriend.

At that moment, Applejack stopped dancing and just hugged Dusk. She didn’t raise her head to look at Dusk and kept it firmly on his neck.

"Who we really love..." Applejack said, repeating the last thing said by Dusk. "Love... Never in a million years would I have guessed that in just one year I would fall madly in love with somepony... The stallion who is now my coltfriend."

“Hehe… Same here.” Dusk said, thinking of all the changes his life had since he'd gone to Ponyville. A silly smile spread on his face as he remembered the beautiful moments lived with his friends that year, and then he focused on his marefriend again. “A year ago, I never imagined that I would tell a mare that I love her. But now-"

"I know…" Applejack interrupted. As if she didn't want Dusk to continue with what he was about to say. "You don't have to say anything else, Dusk... I know very well what you feel for me, and I feel for you too... Today and forever." Applejack added, leaning her head harder against Dusk's neck. As if she wanted both of them to be stuck like this forever.





The song ended and the DJ announced the last song of the night. Dusk and Applejack remained together, embracing each other in a romantic and intimate silence.

"Dusk... This next one will be our last dance." Applejack said, keeping her face buried in the stallion’s neck.

“I know… I wish this would last forever.” Dusk answered with a small smile.

“No… I… I mean this will be our last dance… as a couple.” Applejack said very slowly, as if it hurt her to say those words.

Dusk gave a confused look. Then a strange chill ran down his spine as he realized what was really going on. That wasn't just a dance, that was a farewell... Applejack was finishing their romance.

For several seconds, neither of them said anything else. Both simply continued dancing in silence and hugging each other. Applejack was struggling to be strong, and Dusk Shine was struggling to put his thoughts in order, not wanting to believe what was happening.  He knew that this was something he had known would happen, but still, he wasn’t ready to face.

“I know there are still three days left for the Mayor to formally divorce us.” Applejack broke the silence. "But today I feel horrible about myself, because others took advantage of my love and trust to deceive you... That's why... I... I don't know if I'll be able to do it another day... This frustration I feel with myself has to give me the courage to do what I couldn’t do at another time…”

Dusk simply remained silent, still stunned by what was happening. He knew that Applejack loved him, she had told him! She wasn't doing this out of hatred for him, and as much as she repeated it, she wasn't doing it because of what had happened with the changelings either. There was something deeper, and Dusk knew it well... Behind the pink veil of their love, which bloomed that month, there were still four mares that they both also loved and didn't want to hurt.

“A-Are you sure…?” Dusk stuttered, realizing the courage and determination Applejack had to have to say those words to him. There was a battle in her heart for what she felt at that moment as love, versus the oath they had made with her other friends.

After Dusk's question, it was Applejack's turn to remain silent. She just couldn't lie, and even though she opened her mouth, the words refused to leave her lips. Deep down, the sweet country mare wanted to say no, that everything should continue as it is, that both should be marefriend and coltfriend forever, and that she didn't want Dusk to stop loving her. With her body refusing to lie, the honest Applejack simply pressed her head tightly against Dusk's neck, at the moment that the music in the room played the last chords of the night.

As soon as the music ended, Applejack stopped hugging Dusk and ran away through the room. Leaving him with his heavy heart, seeing how his first marefriend abandoned him. After losing sight of Applejack, Dusk lowered his eyes, raised his hoof, and touched the part of his shirt where Applejack had rested her face. It was wet from the orange mare's tears...

After the party was over, Spike and the six Ponyville ponies quickly packed their things to catch the last train heading home. With Applejack going ahead to the station 'for some reason', and with Dusk Shine walking like a zombie, 'for some reason'.

Finally, the seven boarded the car that corresponded to them and got ready to sit down. The first was Dusk Shine, who walked clumsily and sat in the last seats of the car, looking out the window with a vacant gaze. The second was Applejack, who also walked slowly and sat in the first seats, also looking out the window, choosing the seat farthest from Dusk Shine's. All while Applejack struggled to stay strong, despite the fact that her eyes showed that she had cried, and it seemed that at any moment she could do it again.

The rest of the mares looked at both ponies, from side to side, and then their eyes widened in surprise when they understood what had happened.

Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had many times imagined what would happen after Applejack and Dusk Shine ended their relationship. They had all imagined running immediately to Dusk's hooves, just like when none of them was even his marefriend. Fighting each other secretly between laughter and annoyed looks to see who could get closer to their prized colt. However, now that it had happened, and they saw with their own eyes how two of the ponies they loved the most had their hearts broken, it was that none of the four mares could smile or feel relieved that Dusk was alone again.

Completely forgetting about competition, deals, and all things love, the four mares' spirit of friendship washed over them, and the four split up to simply sit with their friends, hug them, and give them a silent support while they went through this difficult moment.

“Did we make the right decision…?” The four mares thought at the same time. Starting to cry silently upon seeing Dusk and Applejack's tears.

End of chapter 21