"I'm not going to lie, this is a sad story." Dusk sat down on the couch his wound was treated earlier that day.
"Okay, I'm ready." Fluttershy prepared herself, sitting right next to him.
"The first part of my life was that of any normal unicorn living in Canterlot, I was and still am a bit on the short side and light weight. I had loving parents and I was an only child. I had made a few friends at my school." Dusk paused, to prepare himself mentally. "Life was going well, as I progressed through school, I noticed many students getting their cutie marks and I started to wonder why I didn't have mine yet."
"A normal thing for late bloomers. I was the same way."
Dusk nodded and continued with a sort of melancholy tone in his voice. "Two years passed and most of my classmates had their marks, but I still hadn't earned mine. I began to feel something was wrong with me, but everyone encouraged me saying that my time would come eventually. They were right, but in one of the worst ways imaginable. Cutie marks are suppose to show one's true talent and passion. Mine, it's just a constant reminder to myself and those around me of my curse. And that night I had received it, is one that I will never forget no matter how hard I try. That one fateful night the pegasi weather team planned a very powerful storm that night for the city. There was a drought from an accident in Cloudsdale and we had to make up about a month's worth of rain in a single night. The result was the strongest storm I had ever witnessed. I always had a fascination with storms when I was a colt."
Dusk began to choke up a bit, but he had already started and decided to keep going. "I was a fool for walking up to the window of my bedroom that night, but the lightning was extraordinary. It streaked across the sky, lighting up the city for mere instances before vanishing, only to reappear somewhere else. It drew me like a moth to an open flame. I just wanted a closer look. But I got a little too close, my parents always reminded me to stay away from the windows when a storm was rolling through. But, I didn't listen to them that night. I can't remember much of the rest of that night."
A tear dropped as he fought the urge to cry, "The only thing I remember after blacking out was waking up in a sterile white room. My parents and I were taken to the hospital because I remember waking up in an emergency room. I was considered lucky to have only a few bumps and scrapes and hey I even got a cutie mark from the incident. It was a miracle I didn't get more severely hurt, my parents were less fortunate."
"Dusk, that's not your fault! A freak accident nothing more," Fluttershy tried to convince him.
"It was my fault Fluttershy... it was my fault because I didn't listen to them. And because of that, they paid the price."
"Dusk, could you control that storm?" she asked.
"No, no I couldn't then and I can't now."
"Then it wasn't your fault," she decided.
I will just have to disagree, silently of course.
"Well, my parents managed to survive," Dusk's tone began to perk up for a moment. "But their bodies took a lot and they needed to go through physical therapy just to walk again, and after what I had done to them, their minds were no better. They couldn't have me in the same room as them, it was just too painful to see them. They didn't recognize me, they didn't believe they even had a son! To them my entire life didn't happen, they thought they were twenty years in the past. The doctor told me they had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that, at least for the time being, we had to be separated until they could overcome it. If they could overcome it."
He fought the urge to breakdown into tears as he continued, "If that wasn't bad enough being separated from my parents, the world had turned its back on me that night. I went back to my house, my neighbors and god-parents, who I had known all my life, looked at me with nothing but fear and hate. Same can be said with the ponies at my school, my friends shunned me at the drop of a hat. I was shunned by every pony that I needed when I needed them the most. I didn't understand why they treated me with such resentment. In hindsight, I can rationalize now, since, with age comes wisdom. But it doesn't help much."
Dusk took another pause to collect his thoughts, "However, back then I was still young and foolish, everywhere I went was the same, not one compassionate or caring soul among them. One night, about three years later, there was another storm, as powerful as the one that given me with this so called 'gift.' I walked out onto the highest hill I could find, and shouted to the heavens to try once more to strike me down."
"The world was indeed happy to oblige, since my body is a living lightning rod. I might have died from the strike too if it weren't for the only pony to care about me for the first time in a few years, Princess Celestia. She knew what had happened, but she didn't look at me as if I was evil or a monster. She saw me as I was, just a colt that was scared and alone."
Dusk felt this was an adequate time for a sort of intermission as he wiped another tear from his eye, to answer any questions about his curse and his lack of trust of the world. Fluttershy just sat there, unable to bring anything coherent passed her lips and there was a short silence from it.
"Well," Dusk inquired. "Any questions so far?" Nothing else was said, but Fluttershy scooched closer to him and gave him a tight hug before crying, perhaps because he needed to. He didn't know how to react so, he simply reciprocated her hug. The damn burst though, he just cried. The pegasus holding him started singing softly, like a mother would to their child.
"I... I really appreciate this Fluttershy," he spoke.
"Just let it out Dusk, I'll be here all night for you," she promised, the two sat together for some time before he regained his composure.
"Okay, I'm... I'm ready to continue." She relinquished her grip, before he resumed.
"The Princess saved my life that day, to this day I don't understand why. I was a lonely colt who had nothing to live for. My parents couldn't even see me and the world had simply ignored me, leaving me to rot. But, she knew what she was doing, because after two short years, here I am again." He paused to collect his thoughts, "The first thing she told me was that I would be living in the Everfree Forest for my training, and all I could think was 'is she serious, I would be eaten alive in a week.' But, I had no one else who would even talk to me, let alone help me survive in this world. She first taught me how to fend for myself, foraging, hunting, and how to shoot a bow."
"That was my first six months in that forest, from there my true training had begun. I was given a series of books to train mentally and a strict daily exercise regiment to keep my physical strength. The Princess used her power to conjure up storms in the forest to test my abilities, I quickly learned how to redirect lightning within six months. My next lesson was to create lightning. This was much more debilitating a task. Gathering the energy isn't a problem since it naturally builds in my body over time, but discharging it with any control takes a lot of physical strength."
"Every month I have to release all the electricity that builds up in my body, or risk losing control of it and ruining more lives." Dusk explained, the fear of repeating his mistake was all but too apparent in his eyes, "That skill took just over a year to finally be able to execute without risking losing control, maybe three months ago I finally got control of my life again. I was satisfied with living in exile for the rest of my days, but then the Princess said that I needed to get my life back. One step at a time, until I could finally live my life like anyone else and so, here I am."
"And I'm glad for that."
"Is that because you like playing doctor?" He smirked.
"Maybe... or maybe it's because you're a good pony who needs a friend."
"Needed a friend. I like to think I already have one. You're the first one I ever trusted to hear that story since Celestia saved my life. I wouldn't have it any other way."
"I am honored. Now, I think it's time to get some sleep. Tomorrow you can meet some of my other friends"
"Of course, I will see you tomorrow." Dusk rose and turned to the door.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"My room at the inn."
"My bed's a lot closer, I can take the sofa here. It wouldn't be the first time I slept on it. Besides, I can't have my friend walking around town this late at night."
"No, no, no, I thank you for, and accept, your hospitality, but I will take the couch. You go up to bed, I'll be fine here."
"Okay, I don't think I could convince you to do anything different." She pulled a pillow and blanket from a nearby closet and gave them to Dusk. "Sweet Dreams, Dusk. I will see you in the morning."
"Good night, Fluttershy. Thank you, for everything." She vanished from sight as she ascended the staircase.
Dusk put out the candle illuminating the room before situating himself and drifting off.