A Sparkle's Little Dusk IV:
A Family Eternal
Prologue: The Family's Getting Bigger
On a nice sunny day at the Ponyville Schoolhouse, there was the Watcher, looking down at the school, getting ready to tell the tale of what's about to happen.
"I am the Watcher. I am the guide over infinite different realities. And now we return to this reality. One where it started off with a young colt who once had an entirely different body. Prince Dusk Shine, originally, a human boy named Henry Calvin. He went from being treated badly due to his former Aunt and Cousin treating him like a slave. Now, he's the first Alicorn Prince in the land of Equestria, having been reborn as a unicorn and the son of Twilight Sparkle, currently the Princess of Friendship. We also have Nyx, the failed attempt of becoming Nightmare Moon from another Equestria, cloned and sent to this reality. And of course, Samantha Calvin, Henry Calvin's former biological sister turned adopted sister in this reality, now going by Daylight Savings. These three siblings have an interesting life in this Equestria. They're now a part of a big family. And with their Aunt Cadance being pregnant, their family is just getting bigger. I think it's time we..."
Just then, the Watcher's face was being passed by Derpy, who was in her uniform. She then said, "Okay, just a few more deliveries, and I can pick up my little Dinky from school." She then looked around for the next delivery, trying to look through the Watcher. "Huh, that's weird."
"Hold on. What? Can she... see me? Impossible. I am an inter-dimensional being who constantly watches over all realities. There's no way she can see..."
"Oh, there it is," Derpy said. "Hey, Bon Bon! Your package from Canterlot has arrived!" She then flew through the Watcher's face.
"O... kay... That was odd. You know what, I'm gonna come back to check on this reality later. I better go see what other realities are in need to be viewed. Maybe that Aaron Blazer has an interesting story."
The Watcher then disappeared from. It then went inside the Ponyville Schoolhouse. The students of the class were taking a test. Some of the students were having trouble figuring out some answers, but Nyx was writing down all the answers quickly. Dusk looked towards Nyx, seeing that she was flying through the test. Nyx finished up and took her test towards the desk where Cheerilee was.
"All done," Nyx said.
"Already?" Cheerilee asked. "But this test doesn't end for another 20 minutes."
"Sorry, I guess I wanted to get school work done as fast as possible," Nyx said. "Plus, I'm also very excited about what's going on with Aunt Cadance and Uncle Shining."
"Okay, Nyx," Cheerilee said. "Why don't you... sit down quietly and let the other students continue their tests?"
"Okay," Nyx said. She then bounced towards her desk and sat in it.
"Well, it has been a while since Aunt Cadance made that announcement," Dusk said, continuing with his test.
"I think Nyx is going to be the happiest out of all of us," Daylight said. "After all, she was hoping to meet Cadance and Shining Armor's baby in the other dimension if I remember correctly."
"You remember correctly," Nyx said. She then sighed. "I just can't believe I missed it."
Dusk, Nyx and Daylight arrived back home the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Tri-Pies were with them, seeing Starlight looking around the castle, trying to find a certain room. Starlight opened one door, and coming out of it was a few brooms, a ladder, a brush, a dustpan and a bucket which landed on Starlight's head.
"Are you okay?" Daylight asked. Starlight used her magic to put all the stuff back into the broom closet.
"I'm okay," Starlight said. She then walked towards another door and was about to open it.
"No wait!" Dusk said. "That's the..." Starlight had already opened the door, and she saw Spike, standing on a stool, and flexing his muscles in front of a mirror. He then noticed Starlight looking at him.
"Ugh! I am never gonna find my way around this place!" Starlight said.
"Yeah, we've all had the same problem, too," Dusk said.
"Yeah," Nyx said. "It was actually my idea to put our Cutie Marks on our bedroom doors to know who gets what room."
Spike then came out of the room, noticing that Starlight was walking away. He then asked, "Gee, Starlight, what's wrong?"
"I don't know, Spike," Starlight responded. "Twilight's figuring out what my first friendship lesson is, and I guess I'm not exactly thrilled with the options. Well... with one of them."
"Which one?" Spike asked.
"Reuniting me with my first friend," Starlight answered.
"What's so wrong with that?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Yeah, you should at least go see your friend," Sweetie Belle said.
Starlight sighed and told them all what happened. "When we were foals, Sunburst knew everything there was to know about magic. He always knew just what to do. And he was always there to help me. I guess it's not surprising that Sunburst got his cutie mark in magic and... went off to Princess Celestia's school. But when he left..."
"You blamed cutie marks and stripped a whole village of theirs, and when Twilight and the others stopped you, you went back in time and almost destroyed Equestria," Spike interrupted.
"Wait a minute," Dusk said. Everypony looked over at Dusk. "Did you say the name 'Sunburst'?"
"Yeah, why?" Starlight asked.
"Orange coat, white patches, darker orange mane and tail?" Dusk asked for a description.
"You've met him?" Starlight asked.
"No," Dusk said. "But I did see him with his family. Including his older sister, who was the one who showed me their family photo."
"Okay, who's Sunburst's sister?" Spike asked.
"I'll give you a hint," Dusk said. "She's a certain unicorn friend of ours who lives in another dimension."
"Sunset Shimmer?!" Spike, Nyx and Daylight asked.
Spike then thought about it and said, "Actually, that kinda makes sense. Sunset... Sunburst."
"Anyway, what Spike just said, it's not stuff I'm super eager to tell Sunburst about," Starlight said. "I mean, he's probably some big important wizard now, and... I can't even find my way around Twilight's castle."
"Well, if Sunburst is that good at magic, maybe he'd appreciate your, uh..." Spike said, trying to think of the right words. He then cleared his throat. "...exploits. You should talk to Twilight about it. I'm sure she'd want to hear what you have to say."
"I agree," Nyx said. "Twilight is very understanding about this."
"I know," Starlight said. "But I don't want her to think I'm not ready to learn or that I'm not grateful for everything she's doing."
"She's the Princess of Friendship," Daylight said. "I'm sure she'll understand."
"Spike! Kids! Come quick!" came Twilight's voice from the balcony. Then the foals, Spike and Starlight followed Twilight's voice and went towards the balcony. Twilight was looking out at the view, seeing something coming towards the castle. It looked like a snowflake. Twilight extended her right wing to reach out for it. In the middle of the snowflake, there was a little card.
"It's a Crystalling invitation!" Spike said, excitedly.
"Shining Armor's a father! I'm an aunt!" Twilight said. She then looked at Spike, Dusk, Nyx and Daylight. "And all of you are cousins to the new baby in the family!" She then looked at Starlight. "Well, this settles it! Since we're going to the Crystal Empire, your first friendship lesson is going to be... reuniting with Sunburst!"
"Great..." Starlight said, unsurely. As soon as the others walked back into the castle, Starlight bit her lower lip.
"Hey, Twilight," Nyx said. "Is it alright if our friends come with us to the Crystal Empire?"
"As long as Scootaloo gets permission from her family, and if Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie say it's alright for Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and the Tri-Pies to come," Twilight said. "And if they don't make too much of a mess."
"We won't!" the Crusaders and the Tri-Pies said in unison.
"Then, go ask your families, all of you," Twilight said. "Since my parents aren't going to come back until a few days, you three foals might as well come and meet your new cousin." She looked especially at Nyx. "At least you won't be able to miss out on meeting this foal."
"Yeah," Nyx said. "Although, in this Equestria, this family just keeps getting bigger."
"True," Twilight said. "Anyway, let's get packing. We've got a long train ride to get to the Crystal Empire." The Crusaders and the Tri-Pie went to their homes so they could go ask their families if it was alright for them to go to the Crystal Empire.