He saw her again, in the time just between sleeping and waking.
She was just like before. Vaporous, distant, and completely unaware of his existence. Yet he was painfully, achingly aware of hers. How couldn’t he be? She was everything he wasn’t. Graceful, beautiful, and real. She stood there, consuming his vision, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away and look at the hooves under his own head. He didn’t even know if he was actually there. He didn’t feel his own body, his own lungs filling with air. He only saw her, and she never once noticed him. Like all the other times, she never quite turned to face him, no matter how much he called to her. Every time, she would turn just enough that he saw the profile of her perfect face, and her eyes would focus on a point just far enough to the right that if she turned just a bit more...
If she just heard how loudly he cried out a name he didn’t know.
She’d finally turn and notice him.
He’d finally be able to tell her how perfect she was.
He’d know that somepony could really see him.
He had to find her.
/-/-/-/
Dusk Shine’s eyes shot open. They saw nothing but the ceiling, as usual. She was gone, like always, and he woke up breathing heavily and feeling utterly confused. Like all the other times, he couldn’t remember a single detail about her save that he couldn’t forget that he’d seen her. Desperate to move and convince himself he was awake, his eyes whipped to the right, looking for his alarm clock in the half-light peeking through his curtains.
A whole forty-five minutes before it was supposed to ring. He groaned and dragged his hooves over his eyes, turning over in his bed, but it was uncomfortably damp with sweat. He tossed the blankets away with a yank of magic and did his best to calm down, thankful that Spines’ gentle breathing was the only sound beside that of the birds chirping. Though it had been two weeks since the dreams started, she still knew nothing about it, partly because if Spines ever got wind that he’d been dreaming about a filly and waking up in a hot sweat about it she’d never let him live it down!
Of course, it wasn’t like he could explain it in a meaningful sense. How could he be having dreams about a pony he was certain he’d never met? You couldn’t be obsessed with a filly when you didn’t even know her face! Every night, the dream had come and fled with the same alacrity as it arrived. He reached out, groping blindly around his bedside desk with his hoof until he grabbed his notepad and wrote down all he could remember.
I saw her again. She didn’t turn around.
That was all he ever knew for certain. Every other entry was similarly lacking in details. No other clues, no other hints. The sight of incomplete data, of a total lack of evidence to build a proper hypothesis on, worried him more than anything. If he couldn’t quantify it, how could he understand it? This wasn’t Bubble Berry’s Bubble Sense. It was something far more intimate and disturbing than that.
Maybe he was just fooling himself. Maybe this was some kind of subconscious longing for a fillyfriend showing itself at the surface. Some of his books had pointed to that conclusion. But that didn’t explain why the feelings were so fierce, or why the dreams happened every night in the exact same way. Why he woke up feeling like he’d lost something without even getting it in the first place. Why he just knew that the mare he saw was just perfect.
But what did that mean? Beautiful though she may be, he didn’t feel attracted to her.
Well, maybe just a little bit.
But he felt he needed to see her, speak to her all the same. To look at her. To know her. It felt like some hole had opened up inside of him, one that only she could fill.
“What’s happening to me?” he whispered to his pillow. Was this normal? His books hadn’t given him an answer. He’d consulted all of them, even the ones that weren’t necessarily tailored to his age group. Even though Dr. Montyhoof’s prose was excellent, his stab at self-help: It’s Okay To Like Fillies! made Dusk feel more awkward than the day he’d walked in on his sister and Prince Crescendo making out in a side hall. So far, it held the record as the only book in the library he actively refused to read more than halfway.
He poked his head over the side of his bed and looked underneath to find Smarty Pants waiting for him. He plucked up his faithful doll and held him close against his chest.
“At least you understand,” he whispered. Smarty Pants always understood. He was always there with his comforting silence.
“I just really, really wish I knew what to do about this! It’s been three weeks now. Three weeks... I... should I write to Solaris? Should I tell my friends? I don’t even know if I’m just going crazy or what! There’s no reliable data, Smarty Pants! No reliable data! Do you have any idea how scary that is?! Especially given all the variables here, I haven’t even nailed down if it’s supposed to be a very lucid dream or some kind of apocalyptic vision like I got from next Tuesday... Why did it have to be a filly, Smarty Pants? And in my dreams, for crying out loud!”
Smarty Pants stared at him with his little nonjudgmental button eyes.
Dusk Shine nodded.
“You know what? You’re right. I’m overreacting; I’ve done that way too many times. How often have I just totally flipped out about something and it ended up being completely unimportant?”
Dusk Shine flicked his hooves, making Smarty Pants shrug.
“Well, yeah, I was vindicated that one time when the changelings attacked... but this is different. Nothing bad has happened. Yet. I need to keep looking. Keep searching. Keep...”
Dusk Shine petered out and released Smarty Pants. The little doll fell over, pointing at the doorway.
“You’re right. I need to get up. Get my thoughts in order. Thanks for the advice, Smarty Pants. I know I can always count on you.”
He pushed the doll back under his bed and tip-hoofed to the door, leaving Spines to snore in her litter. The alarm would wake her anyway, and she enjoyed having every minute of sleep she could get. After a quick and quiet wash-up he stepped outside, enjoying the crisp, cool air of a newborn dawn. The times between the coming and going of the moon and sun always called to him, giving him a bit more spring in his step when most ponies were dragging their hooves, either from just waking up or preparing for bed after a long day. Thank Solaris for little magical connections like that.
He needed a long walk and a friendly ear, and there was only one pony who could give both of those at this time of day.
/=/
“Applejack, have you been having any weird dreams lately?”
“No weirder than any ol’ dream can be. Why?”
Dusk Shine turned in step with Applejack at the end of the field, levitating the plough out of the dirt. There was a satisfying crunch as he stabbed it back into the earth to drag it down another row. The farmpony next to him took the turn without even pausing, powerful muscles guiding his plough through packed soil with the ease of a Sunday stroll.
“Nothing off about them? Nothing repetitive?”
“Not as such. Ah had one about turnips not too long ago. Talkin’ turnips claimin’ they were in love with me. Then Ah had a similar one about cherries! Grampy Smith said it was a bunch a’ hooey an’ maybe a zebra hexed me ta’ try an’ sabotage the farm.”
Dusk Shine sighed, eyes on the ground. His magic kept his plough perfectly straight as he walked unfettered.
“Nothing about ponies? Maybe something about ponies you used to know?”
“Nope. Why?”
“Just… just wondering.”
“Dusk, you’re hoppin’ around the issue like Angela Bunny when she scarfed Bubble’s sugar stash! Ya’ll gonna say what this is about?”
Dusk looked up at the sky to avoid Applejack’s critical stare. The partly cloud sky was now bright and blue as Solaris’ sun had risen over Canterlot’s mountains. Before he knew it, more than half the field’s distance had been covered in complete silence, and he felt shameful, like he was wasting Applejack’s time.
“I’ve been kind of distracted.”
“Darn tootin’. You’ve been lookin’ everywhere ‘cept at me this whole time.”
“I’m sorry, Applejack. I just haven’t been getting a lot of sleep. Not good sleep, at least.”
“’Cause of repetitive dreams about ponies you used ta’ know?”
Dusk smirked.
“That transparent, huh?”
Applejack’s face was still solemn, searching. “Like a freshly melted pool in spring. Ya’ll know you can talk ta’ me about anything, right? Tell me about it.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I dunno. I really don’t, AJ. It’s weird. I can’t remember anything about it, but I keep having it. I just know that I don’t know anything about what I just saw.”
“What did you see?”
Here was the moment of truth. Dusk Shine felt a jolt of realization that he’d come to the Element of Honesty to ask him to keep a secret. At least he’d be certain of its safety with Bubble Berry if he pried a Bubble promise out of him! But Applejack was always steady and dependable, a rock of quiet confidence amidst the neurotic phobias and hyperactive tendencies of his other friends. He really could talk to Applejack about everything.
In spite of that he felt Applejack’s stare instinctively searching for falsehood in the way he bit his lip and darted his eyes left and right, searching for the right words in the back of his mind.
“Ahh, well, hmm… that’s the thing, AJ. I, I kind of, um. See a… a fff…”
“A fff…?”
“F… fi…”
“Fi…sh? Finch? Fibs?”
Dusk Shine mumbled incoherently.
“Land sakes, Dusk! Filly! The word’s filly!”
Dusk’s head shot up, feeling indignant that Applejack had so brusquely thrust the issue to light.
“A.J.! Not so loud, geez!”
Applejack gave an indifferent shrug and kept his eyes forward, the very picture of no-nonsense. “Well, shoot, Dusk! You were makin’ it obvious the way your cheeks were burnin’ an your gums were flappin’. Ah’m one ta’ face a problem head-on, ‘specially if it’s fillies. Now, who is it? Gentle Hue? Meadowlark?” He raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t my cousin Braeburn, were it? Ah know you an’ her have exchanged pleasantries, but she’s a wild one, Dusk, Ah wouldn’t touch that if Ah were you!”
Dusk tripped over his hooves, mind racing. He hadn’t been expecting to tackle the issue quite this intensely.
“Well, uh, that’s just it A.J.! It’s a filly, but I’m not sure which.”
“So it’s a whole bunch a’ fillies?”
“No! I mean I actually, truly do not know who this filly is. Whether I’ve met her before or I should know or it’s just some kind of weird enchantment, I just don’t know.”
Applejack was silent for a whole other row after that, staring straight ahead the entire time. Dusk watched him all the while, eyes wide and lips quivering, feeling the pressure to say something, anything begin to build, until he felt like a pressure cooker ready to explode. Applejack’s thoughtful nature could be maddening when he had so much uncertainty about the issue. Just when he thought he’d have to magic Applejack’s hat off his head to get his attention, the farmpony spoke, coming to a dead halt in the middle of the field.
“Well, Ah can see how that’s a consternatin’ problem, Dusk.”
Dusk’s words tumbled out of him in a frustrated rush. “You’re telling me! I mean, it’s not like I want to dream about her! I don’t know anything about her, Applejack, not a single thing. I just know she reminds me of somepony like me, and I know that sounds crazy, but she does. I feel like I should know her like I know me, but there’s no clues that point to who she is, but she can’t be me! That’d be crazy, right? Tell me I’m crazy, Applejack! No, don’t! Tell me I’m fine!”
“Dusk, please put down the plough.”
Dusk looked over his shoulder and realized he’d been levitating the dangerous farm implement while his feelings rambled from one emotion to another. He lowered it back into the dirt, staring miserably at the ground.
“I’m sorry AJ,” he whispered, “this is just something that’s really been eating at me. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I’d gotten to talk about it.”
A gentle hoof rested on his shoulder, a smiling face with green eyes regarded him warmly. “Then Ah’m glad you came ta’ me, Dusk. Takes guts ta’ look for help, and it ain’t no shame at all ta’ ask. Ah’d know, you taught me! Now this sounds like somethin’ you need big help with, Dusk, like one of your fancified unicorny magical conundrums. Elusive’s no help in stuff like that… so Ah think we both know the best next step.”
Dusk scuffed a hoof in the dirt.
“You really think he’d bother with something like this?”
“He bothered ta’ be a second father to ya, you told me that much. Quit yer worryin’, Dusk. He’ll give you advice Ah’d never be able to.”
Another moment of scuffing petulantly at the dirt, like a child afraid to admit they were wrong.
“You’re right. Sorry to bother you like this, Applejack.”
“It’s A.J. when it’s just you an’ me, pal. Now come on, let’s finish this field an’ we’ll get us some fresh apple cider!”
They turned back to their work with smiles on their faces, and it was quiet for a time until they finished and Applejack bumped his shoulder.
“So, our little Dusky’s startin’ ta’ think about the finer things in life, huh?” he asked with a huge, knowing grin on his face. Dusk smiled tentatively and ducked his head, finding interest in a bumblebee inspecting a nearby flower.
“It’s not really like that. Hardly a dream that actually has to do with fillies in general, it just... has a filly in it.”
Applejack threw a hoof over Dusk’s shoulder. “Ah knew Ah’d have this talk with ya sooner or later, Dusk. Since the important stuff’s outta the way, we might as well buck this apple outta the tree while the buckin’s good. Now lemme tell ya’ll somethin’ about fillies…”
/=/
“It’s absolutely nothing like what Applejack says!”
Dusk Shine looked over the rim of his teacup, the liquid inside quivering from a recent sip.
“No?” he asked Elusive. The other stallion tossed his immaculate mane back and forth in a definitive one-two motion.
“Absolutely not! Applejack has many admirable qualities, but his knowledge about the fairer sex is severely lacking. Dusk Shine, I’m glad you came to me about this! I assume you’ve read books about this matter? You know most of the, erm, more delicate points about anatomy and what bits go where? I dread the day I have to help Mother and Father give Silver Bell this talk, so I suppose this will be good practice...”
Dusk Shine tapped his hooves together.
“That’s not really my problem, Elusive.”
Elusive’s eyes were closed as he went on, ignoring Dusk. “The first thing you need to know is that all fillies appreciate a gentlecolt! More than anything else they desire to be treated right. A relationship with a filly is like a fine wine. It needs to be given the utmost care and concern, or it will spoil and go bad. The filly herself? First of all, one must understand there is a proper method to courting the mare of your dreams. Unlike what Applejack told you, one does not simply approach them and say… what was it he said to Spring Thyme? ‘Ya’ll awr mighty pretty an’ I’m rather sweet on ya, so let’s swing bah th’ café?’”
Dusk had to suppress a snigger at the way Elusive butchered the farmpony’s accent. The white unicorn shook his head.
“No, never like that! A proper lady deserves only the utmost respect. But good behavior is just the start. When a stallion approaches a mare, he must observe all the proper courtesies. Ask her name, maintain eye contact…”
Dusk raised an eyebrow as Elusive crossed his hooves over his chest, like he was clasping something. Elusive continued, “Tell her… tell her how beautiful she is. How her fair mane cascades over her neck and shoulders like a sparkling stream. How you couldn’t help but notice the way your eyes met from across the room, hers shining like a lighthouse in the night. And you say: ‘My name is Elusive, my lady. But I would never dare slip away from one as fair as you.’”
“Lucy…”
“Oh, your name is Marigold? How pretty. Much nicer than Princess Bluebell. Ha! What a stuck-up old goat she was! Let me tell you about how she very nearly ruined my dreams of ever achieving marital bliss in this life!”
Dusk leaned back. “Lucy? Are you all right?”
Elusive’s eye twitched as he looked straight at Dusk with a worryingly unfocused expression. “All right? Perfectly all right! Just another lovely daydream ruined by the sneering visage of the one mare impervious to the most courteous gentlestallion behavior in all Equestria, who I’d rather take an ice pick to the head than have to spend another night with!”
He leaped up and slammed his hooves down on the table, breathing heavily. Dusk felt the stares of other ponies swing their way, and watched uncomfortably as Elusive’s expression went from incensed to mortified. He sat down and smoothed out his mane, laughing nervously.
“Erm, yes, well, I don’t think Silver Bell will get quite that kind of a talk from me. You were saying, Dusk Shine?”
“That wasn’t really what I was here to talk about.”
Elusive blinked. “Oh. Oh, I’m so sorry! Here I am condescending to you like a little colt! Of course our Dusk Shine doesn’t need advice on that particular subject.”
“Yeah, like I was saying… these weird dreams. They’re making me uncomfortable.”
Elusive blinked again. “But… they’re not about fillies?”
“No! That’s what I’ve been saying. Just one in particular. It’s not one of those dreams, it’s a strange kind. And I really don’t know what to do. My books don’t say anything about it, so I thought it had to be something magical! I mean, if it’s not a dream like that, and I’ve told you about them so you know, you don’t think they’re just me crying out for a fillyfriend, do you?”
Elusive rubbed his chin. “Well, as adorable as the idea of bookish old Dusk Shine finally breaking into his romantic side is, no, I must say that on review, these dreams are not what I’d call a blossoming desire for companionship. It sounds almost like a message of some kind, really!”
“Exactly!” Dusk Shine said, bouncing in his seat. “Exactly. And if somepony is trying to tell me something, why not the rest of the Elements of Harmony? Applejack said he hadn’t felt anything, and I haven’t found Rainbow Blitz today yet.”
Elusive hummed, tapping his hooves together. “If it’s a magical message that we can’t decipher, would it not be better to let Prince Solaris know?”
Dusk Shine sighed. “It took Applejack telling me for me to finally send the letter. I thought after all the trouble I’ve caused it’d be better not to bother him…”
They looked up as a bright green flash heralded the appearance of a bound scroll in the air between them. Dusk Shine caught it before it could drop in his tea.
“But I guess he thinks otherwise.”
“What does it say?” Elusive said, leaning over the table as Dusk Shine unwrapped the scroll.
“It says he got my message,” Dusk Shine murmured, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry, “he wants to talk to me about it personally… and to come as soon as I can.”
/-/-/-/
“Signed, Princess Celestia.”
Twilight Sparkle gulped heavily as she finished reading. If the Princess said it was urgent, then it was urgent! She knew there had to be something important going on.
Rarity set down her teacup, the bustle of the cafe no longer so important. “So it’s true?” she wondered, a worried look on her face.
Twilight gave her the most reassuring smile she could conjure. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much. Clearly, the Princess believes she has an explanation. So once I talk with her, she’ll be able to explain everything. But there’s only one course of action to take from here,” she said, and the look in her eyes brooked no argument.
“I’m going to Canterlot.”