//------------------------------// // Wedding at the Gates of Tartarus Part II // Story: Return to Society // by Silent Sir 224 //------------------------------// Dusk saw the changlings surrounding the group, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Twilight and Pinkie Pie were keeping them at bay, but there were too many to hold them off for too long. He still couldn't believe what just happened to his Mentor, to Twilight's Brother and to Princess Cadence. The seven were moving to the Hall of the Elements, but Dusk knew what had to be done, "girls... get out of here and get the Elements, I'll hold them off," he sighed, stopping dead in his tracks, the six followed suit. "Absolutely not!" Fluttershy shouted, "We are not leaving you behind, I'm not leaving you behind!" "Not up for discussion!" He yelled, it was the first time he yelled at her... ever and it hurt him to do it. "You all need to get out of here now!" Most of the group nodded and started off, all except Fluttershy, she ran up to him and wrapped him in a tight hug, "I don't want to risk losing you again today..." "I'm not gonna lie... I might not make it back this time, but if my sacrifice keeps the ponies of this city, my mentor, my friends and you safe... it's worth it." He squeezed her tightly, "promise me one thing before you go," she nodded. "Promise me you won't look back, I want you to remember me like I am now, not the monster I might become." "I promise," she kissed him, for the last time, before turning and running with the rest of the group. Dusk took a deep breath and turned around to face the swarm that built around him, "okay, HEY YOU LITTLE PARASPRITES, YOU WANT SOME? COME AND GET IT!" The angry swarm began to close in on him quickly. He took one final breath before doing something he only did once in his life, the thing that put him on this path, opening the floodgates. All of his safeguards to keep his power in check came down leaving only a wild amount of energy to flow freely, as his vision faded out and his eyes began to glow white, he remembered how this day started and how it came to this point... ***** Dusk awoke with the rising sun and his love stayed asleep as it usually happened, and as usual he waited for her to wake up on her own before getting up. She gave a cute yawn and slowly opened her eyes and smiled. "Good morning Ms Bridesmaid, can I get you some breakfast?" "I would love some," she stretched out on the bed. He walked into the kitchen to find it fully stocked, he decided eggs and toast would be easy enough. After three poorly cracked eggs he managed to make a decent plate of eggs over easy and golden brown toast. "Breakfast is served," Dusk announced walking out of the kitchen with a tray with her food sitting on top of it. Two eggs, two pieces of toast and a tall glass of orange juice. "Breakfast in bed? You shouldn't have." He placed the tray on the bed, only to pick it back up again, "oh, well in that case I will just put this on the table," he joked. She sat up in the bed and gave him a questioning look before the tray was placed in front of her, "thank you." Dusk walked back in the kitchen and made himself some toast for his breakfast, after the failures with the eggs he was reluctant to give them another attempt. He ate in the kitchen and exited to find that Fluttershy was still eating, "how is it?" He asked. "It's good, I didn't know you could make eggs." "Well, I lost a few eggs in the process," he admitted. She laughed a little, "well, they say you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet." Dusk nodded in agreement and let her finish eating her breakfast by getting in the shower and cleaning himself up for the day. When he got himself dried off and walked back into the bedroom he found that the breakfast was being finished and took the empty dishes back into the kitchen. She followed him, "you don't have to take care of the dishes, I can do it." "I want to take care of the dishes, besides you have a lot to do today with the rehearsal. Go ahead and get ready, I will clean up around here," he offered. "Okay, thank you," she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and headed into the bathroom. He just picked up around the suite, remade the bed took care of anything that was out of place. Once all of that was done, he simply sat on the bed and relaxed while Fluttershy ran from room to room getting her hair ready, making sure her dress was in good condition and keeping track of how much time she had. "You ready? It's almost time to go," Dusk levitated his suit and put it on before waiting by the door. Fluttershy walked out of the bedroom with her dress on and like last night, Dusk was unable to speak for a moment. "Shall we be off?" She asked. He stood silent for a moment before he could snap himself out of his trance, "of course milady." He led her out the door as they went to the wedding rehearsal, where the others were already waiting. "What took you two so long?" Rarity asked. "I was starting to worry that you overslept." "Sorry Rarity, getting ready took a little longer than expected," Fluttershy explained. "No point in dwelling on it now just hurry please, we have a lot to do today." The two did as requested, although Dusk just had to stand out of the way, he still wanted to watch the ceremony run though. Celestia and Shining Armor stood at the altar as the five mares walked down the aisle, "that's it girls not too fast," Celestia instructed as they took their place on the bride's side of the steps, "and then Cadence will enter." The main doors of the room swung open and Cadence walked up the aisle up to the altar. "I will a say few words and then Shining Armor will receive the wedding bands from his best mare." All eyes fell upon the vacant spot next to Shining Armor, "hey, has anyone even seen Twilight this morning?" The main doors were pushed open with a magenta aura and the mare in question stood in the doorway, " I'm right here and I am not going to be a part of this! And neither should you!" Twilight, when I talked to you last night, I did not mean to make a scene or put her on trial. I meant for you to look into things, do a little bit of research, find concrete evidence or something that helped prove something was wrong with Cadence! She teleported to the altar and pointed at Cadence, "she's evil!" She closed in on Cadence, like a wolf and there prey, "she's been horrible to my friends, she's obviously done something to her bridesmaids, and I even saw her put a spell on my brother that made his eyes spin!" Really, you approach her, accuse her of being evil and that's all you have? You didn't even follow up on any of these accusations! Cadence was cornered by Twilight, tears began to form in her eyes, "why are you doing this to me?" She pushed past Twilight and ran out of the room. "Because you're evil! Evil! And you won't stop until you ruin my brother's life!" Silence fell, each pony was speechless and Dusk just face hoofed at the display. Shining Armor approached his sister, "do you know why my eyes were spinning? Since I had to start putting up the shield here I've been getting terrible migraines. Cadence hasn't been putting any evil spells on me, she's been using healing magic! Her bridesmaids were only here to meet Canterlot royalty, so she replaced them! And she's been forced to deal with the wedding by herself so I'm sorry if she hasn't been the nicest to your friends right now! She wants to make sure that the wedding goes perfectly, something you don't seem to care about at all! Now if you'll excuse me I have to go and comfort my bride!" He walked through the door, "and you are no longer my best mare! In fact... don't even bother showing up!" He left Twilight in complete shock. She looked at her friends who were as shocked as she was before regaining their composure. "Come,on, let's go check on Cadence," Apple Jack suggested. The five mares and Spike just walked past Twilight, Dusk stayed though, still absorbing what just happened. "Dusk, you comin'?" "Oh, uh I don't think my presence will help the Princess all that much, go on ahead I'll catch up later." The girls nodded and continued, I feel I should talk to Twilight alone. Celestia approached Twilight, " I have a lot to think about." She left and closed the doors behind her, only Dusk and Twilight were left in the chamber. Twilight was crushed and in tears, all of her friends, her brother and her teacher just left her all alone. Dusk walked up to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder, "that couldn't have gone much worse." She hugged him tightly and started crying, "what do I do now?" "Well, the only thing you can do, ask for forgiveness." She took a step back and nodded, "I'm gonna go join the others, will you be okay?" "Y-yeah I think so." "Okay, if you need to talk, all you need to do is ask." Dusk walked to the doors, only to have them swing open in front of him revealing Cadence walking back into the chamber. "Are you feeling better Princess?" She ignored him entirely and walked toward Twilight, maybe I'll stick around and see what happens. Dusk closed the door and slipped behind one of the marble columns. He saw Twilight look up to her and say "I'm so sorry." The Princess' reaction was... shocking, to say the least, she said, "oh, you will be." A large orb of green flame surrounded Twilight and took her through the floor. Against his better judgement, Dusk jumped out his hiding spot, "what are you doing to her!?" Cadence just laughed and before he could do anything, he was in a orb of green fire and went through the floor. Dusk saw their destination, a dark, crystal cavern that must've been beneath Canterlot. The second his bubble touched the floor it faded away. He found Twilight a few feet away with her horn illuminating the cavern, "Twilight, you okay?" "Nothing is broken, I should be alright. But, where are we?" A voice filled the cave and echoed, "the caves under Canterlot, they used to be used as a prison for unicorns who tried to steal the gems inside. Now, I decided to make this one your prison." Cadence started to appear on various crystals throughout the cavern, accompanied by a maniacal laughter. She's just trying to scare us, and what a weak attempt it is, Dusk stifled a chuckle. Twilight started shouting for help, Dusk advised, "save your strength, we need to find a way out of here." "He's right you know, no pony can here you," Cadence explained. "In fact few actually remember these caves exist. So, they make an excellent place to stash those that get in the way of my plans." "What sort of plans?" Dusk asked. Cadence continued projecting herself on the crystals around the room, "the plans I have for Shining Armor of course." "You better not lay a hoof on my brother you fiend!" Twilight shouted, her horn glowing more intensely. "The only way to stop me is to catch me," she taunted. Twilight started fire beams of light smashing through crystals holding her image. "Twilight stop she's just baiting you!" Dusk warned, a beam ricocheted of a wall and nearly scorched his mane. "Twilight!" It was no use, she didn't even know he was there anymore, she kept firing until she broke through one of the walls. Another pony was on the other side of the wall, Twilight was about to charge them, they shouted, "no, wait!" Dusk held Twilight in place with his magic and approached the other captive, who was... Princess Cadence? "Princess? What are you doing down here?" Dusk asked. "I'm being held captive, like you two, the Cadence up there is a changling," she explained. "Likely story!" Twilight barked. "Okay, let's calm down," Dusk advised, "now if I let you go, do you promise to hear her out?" "I guess," Twilight answered, she was then put back on the ground and got in Cadence's face, "prove it." "Sunshine, sunshine lady bugs awake, clap your hooves... and do a little shake" Twilight joined in at the end. What in the name of...? "You remember me!" Twilight exclaimed, hugging Cadence. "Of course, I could never forget the filly I loved to foal sit the most." "Okay, not gonna ask what's going on here but can we get moving?" Dusk asked, "I don't know what this imposter's plans are but I know they are anything but good." "Yeah, let's get moving," Twilight stepped out of the hole in the wall. Dusk fired a beam of light from his horn that illuminated the cavern farther away, revealing a way out, "that way, it looks pretty far so we better get moving." The three ran through the maze of rock and crystal formations, after what seemed like hours of running they cam across a rail car on a set of tracks leading toward the exit. Dusk dislodged it from the rocks at the wheels, the two mares jumped inside the car before Dusk gave it a decisive shove and jumped in before it started rolling down the track. The trio rode the car for a good amount of time, until track came to an end. Dusk brought the car to a halt with his magic and helped the other passengers get out. "We're almost there! Just a little farther." The exit was about 100 feet above them, Twilight used her teleportation spell to get the three up the cliff. Fresh wind blew threw the exit and the three rushed out until three figures appeared out of the shadows. "You're not going anywhere," the three voices said in unison, the original bridesmaids. "So, I guess that's what happened to her bridesmaids," Dusk mused. The three mares started to step toward them, Cadence found a bouquet of flowers on the ground and waved it in front of them. They reacted as if it was a ball and they were dogs, when the bouquet was tossed away the three went after it. I guess that works... The three starting running to the ceremonial chamber, after another ten minutes of running they could see the doors of the building. Dusk saw Cadence collapse and picked her back up, "come on, we can't lose this." "I can't! I don't have the energy, I'm done." Dusk, bit his tongue and carried her the rest of the way. He could here Twilight inside, "STOOOP!" As he got closer he could hear Cadence's doppelganger, "why is she so possessive of her brother?!" She put on her facade again, "why is she ruining my special day?" Cadence shouted, directly past Dusk's ear, "BECAUSE, IT'S MY DAY! NOT YOURS!" "Ow, a little warning if you will, next time!" Dusk snapped, walking through the door.. "Oh, sorry," Cadence whispered. "Dusk? Where have you been!?" Fluttershy shouted. "I believe that will be explained in a moment," he replied, before turning to Cadence. "Can you stand?" She climbed off his back, "yeah I think I'm good." "What? How did you escape my bridesmaids?" The imposter barked. Before anyone could answer Apple Jack cut in, "how can there be two Cadences?" "She's a changling!" Cadence shouted, "she takes the form of some pony you love and feeds on that love!" The fake Cadence became engulfed in green fire, and shed her disguise. Revealing her true form, as tall as Celestia, her body was almost that of an insect. Her wings were a translucent blue, same went for her mane and tail, her body was a sleek black and her hooves and horn had holes in them. Sooo, that's a changling. "You are correct," she confirmed, "as Queen of the changlings it's up to me to find food for my subjects. And this place has so much love that we will feed upon it and become more powerful than even we could imagine." "Riiiight, except for the giant shield that surrounds the city, thanks to Shining Armor," Twilight mocked. The Queen just laughed, "yes, the stallion whose under my complete control, isn't that right dear?" Shining Armor just nodded, it was clear that he was in the same somewhat zombified state the bridesmaids were in. Cadence was about to charge past the Queen, but was blocked, "ah, ah, ah don't want to go back to the caves now." Cadence backed off, "ever since I replaced you I've been feeding off Shining Armor's love, every minute I grow stronger and he grows weaker. Soon he won't be able to keep his shield up, especially with my army of changlings chipping away at it! Now we will take over Canterlot, and then, all of Equestria!" Princess Celestia took a step forward, "no, you, won't. Even if Shining Armor can't protect the city, I can still protect my subjects." Celestia and the Queen locked horns for a moment, Celestia reared back and fired a beam of golden light. The Queen responded with a green blast, when the two made contact Celestia's beam proved to be weaker and was cut through slowly, like a knife through soft butter. Celestia's horn took the blast and in a green explosion she was thrown to the ground, no, no, no, she is the closest pony from my youth! She cannot be taken down so easily! "Wow, I must have gotten more strength from Shining Armor's love than I expected. I AM MORE POWERFUL THAN THE GREAT PRINCESS CELESTIA!" She began that maniacal cackle again. Celestia spoke to Twilight and her friends, "the Elements of Harmony... get to them and use them to defeat the Queen!" The group gave a confirming nod before running out the door, Dusk followed. You're coming too?" Twilight asked. "Hey, who else is gonna make sure you girls aren't going to do anything crazy?" He smiled. His eyes were directed to the sky, the Queen wasn't kidding, her army is right on our doorstep and the shield is about to fall! "I feel a whole lot better knowing you're with us, what happened to you anyway?" Fluttershy asked, "I thought you either left or something terrible happened!" "Thankfully, it was the latter, I would never leave you!" Their tender moment was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass, the barrier was shattering allowing the changlings to come in and surround them we just can't get a break...! ***** Fluttershy ran as fast as she could, keeping her eyes tightly shut to make sure she would keep her promise to him. I just don't understand why he would do all of this to me... I need answers! And I know who has them... She caught up to the girls and they started running toward the Hall again, watching the changlings swarming behind them toward Dusk. "Wow, he's really doing it, guy's got guts," Rainbow Dash commented. "He's prepared to go through with all of this... just to protect the ponies that live here," Rarity stated. "He's not just doin' it for the city, he's doin' it to protect us," Apple Jack corrected. Fluttershy took a deep breath and stopped, this can't wait any longer, I need to know right now. "Girls, I need to tell you something," the five stopped and faced her. "I think that Dusk has been cheating on me... he's been sneaking around for the past few weeks and..." Four of the mares stared at her with confused looks, Rarity on the other hand gave her an icy stare, "how dare you!" "How dare I? How dare I what?! How dare I figure out that you've been sneaking around with him behind my back for at least a week?! I had one of my birds follow you yesterday and heard about how I 'didn't suspect a thing' about your little fling!" Fluttershy shouted. Rarity just turned away, "you don't even deserve him." This put Fluttershy into rage mode, "what was that?! What gives you the right to say I deserve him or not when he's the one going behind my back?! Especially with you?! Why would you do this to me?! I thought we were friends but evidently I was wrong!" "Okay! That's it! I can't take it anymore, even if he hates me for doing this!" She stared her right in the eye. "Do you want to know why he was meeting with me without telling you?! Because he wants you to marry him!" "W-what?" Her jaw dropped, "no, NO you're lying! You have to be!" "Yeah, that's right I'm telling the truth, I've been helping him set up a proposal for a week now! I've even been getting preparations set up for the wedding! He told the Princess about it if you don't believe me! He was going to do it at the picnic but the wedding made him change his plans! The fact that you could even think, let alone accuse him of cheating on you is just unbelievable! He's too good for you!" The two were at a boiling point, each one in each others' face ready to throw a punch, until Fluttershy just sat down with tears forming in her eyes, how could I have been so stupid? So blinded by fear? "You're right, I'm not good enough to be his wife... I-I can't believe this... I was so quick to assume that he was cheating on me. What now? If he comes back what do I do?" Rarity eased back and calmed back down, "when he comes back, you are going to say yes... and you two will live a fairytale life together." She picked Fluttershy up and got her back on her hooves, "but for now, let's make sure the fiend responsible pays for what she's done to us," she turned to Twilight, "to Twilight." She turned back to Fluttershy, "and for what she's done to your stallion." ... The group ran into the hall, there were a few changlings left behind... but they were dealt with quickly. "He must be giving them a fight straight out of Tartarus if they left this few behind," Rainbow said before knocking the last changling out. "I hope he's okay..." Fluttershy mumbled, he better be okay, after what Rarity told me, he better pull through! "You're worried about him? I feel bad for the bugs lining up to get squashed," Dash did an aerial flip, "now come on, we can't let him take all the glory can we?" The six nodded in agreement before throwing open the chamber doors revealing the case of the Elements. Twilight picked up the case with her magic and grabbed the five necklaces for her friends, each necklace had a gold band and the cutie mark of it's wielder. Twilight put on the tiara with her cutie mark on it, "let's take this city back," she led the group back outside and they saw storm clouds building up off in the distance. "Is that what I think it is?" Rarity asked. "It can't be anything else, I guess that's what happens when all that energy comes out," Twilight mused, "but that's not our fight. We need to get back to the castle, he can handle himself right now, so let's make sure we take this city back before he loses that battle." The five nodded and ran as fast as they could, the lack of enemies in there path helped them significantly, but they had to detour around the epicenter of the fight. After running around buildings they made it back to the castle, Dash kicked the door open revealing there enemy, Queen of the Changlings. Shining Armor stood in the daze he had been put under earlier that day. The injured Princess Celestia was in a very strange position, she had been trap in some form of a cocoon of green gel and stuck upside down on the ceiling. Princess Cadence with her hooves stuck to the ground with the same green gel. "Don't you know the reception's been cancelled?" The queen barked. "Yeah, it's been replaced by your dethroning!" Dash retorted. "Wow Rainbow, that was actually quite clever," Twilight commented. "Well, that's how awesome I can be," she puffed out her chest. "Enough! I don't know what my subjects are doing, but I know I can deal with you myself," the queen began that cliche evil laugh again. "Oh, oh I know what they're doing!" Pinkie started jumping up and down in place. "Enlighten me." "Well... Dusk is probably dealing with them, like a bug zapper!" She began to jump around making little btz! noises. "Uh, Pinkie? Don't you think it's time to end this?" Twilight asked. "I guess..." "I believe you are correct, I want to return to the view of Canterlot's fall now." "Alright girls let's do this!" Twilight's eyes gave a white glow and the six lifted from the ground in a circle with Twilight in the center. The Queen reared back and fired the same green beam that took down Princess Celestia, like with Discord, the six fired a rainbow beam and it collided with the green blast. It was the equivalent of a green laser pointer coming in contact with a concrete wall. The Queen took the full blast of the Elements and watched in horror as she was starting to turn to stone, a few tragic seconds later... Canterlot had a new little statue. "Well, that pretty much settles that!" Apple Jack tap the petrified queen with a grin on her face. "Uh, not quite," Twilight responded, "we still have all of the changlings that haven't met with Dusk." "Oh, right, well how are we supposed take all them things out?" Apple Jack asked. "We do have the Captain of the Royal Guard with us," she pointed at her brother, "you know? the one with the barrier conjuring ability?" Shining Armor just stared into space, "oh yeah, the one who is completely stuck in a trance," Twilight deadpanned. "I need to see him! Someone get me out of this muck!" Cadence demanded. I know exactly how she feels, please let Dusk be okay! Twilight walked over and shot a beam from her horn that destroyed the gel, Cadence ran over to Shining Armor and snapped him out of his trance. "Wha? Huh? Is the wedding over?" "Uh... yeah, but first there are a ton of changlings running amok, can you put up a barrier to shove them all out, please?" Twilight asked. "I can try," his horn glowed for a moment before the magic faded away, "no dice, I must have been drained of my energy, I don't have the strength to get rid of them." Fluttershy walked over to the balcony to see the storm clouds fading away and a swarm of changlings heading toward the castle, "no... no, it can't be over! He can't be gone," she faced the group, "there has to be something you can do! Dusk's running out of time and a swarm is coming our way, you have to do something!" "I have one idea, being the Princess of Love, I could help you put up the shield," Cadence touched Shining's horn with hers. "I guess it's worth a shot," his horn glowed again, as did Cadence's, only this time the barrier grew larger with each second encompassing the city once more. Fluttershy rushed back to the balcony, and saw the changlings just get flung out of sight, "there, anything else? Because I need to take a nap," he joked. "Uh, now's not the best time... notice some pony missing?" Twilight asked. He looked around, Cadence, Celestia, Twilight, her friends, Spike (who had been there the entire time), "... Princess Luna?" "And?" He took one more look around, "oh yeah, uh Dusk, wasn't it? Where is he? I know he wouldn't just leave you girls out there... right?" Fluttershy didn't need to hear the rest, she ran out of the castle as fast as she could to the last place she wanted to be, but the only place she would go. The ground was full of craters, from when the changlings landed and came up on the last place she saw him, he better not be dead! I swear to Celestia he better be alive! She saw the ground with burnt spots on the ground, there was no doubt about what caused then, eventually she came up upon the epicenter... with his body sitting on it's side at the very center. It was obviously Dusk, he didn't look too hurt and his chest was rising and falling slowly. Maybe he's okay... "Dusk?" she turned him over and was horrified. The battery that hung around his neck was red hot and melted, pressing again his chest, his hooves were covered in gashes and worst of all... his breathing was very weak and raspy. "Dusk! Dusk please don't die! Please!" She ripped the wire around his neck and threw the battery away. "I won't let you die! Not like this!" She debated for a moment about leaving him to get the others, but soon came to the conclusion that he needed medical attention that minute. The rest of the group saw her running toward them from the entrance of the castle as fast as she could. "Is he... okay?" Rarity asked. "He's alive... at least for now, but he's in really bad shape he needs to be in a hospital now!" The group ran over to the spot and saw Dusk's condition, they saw his wounds and the damage to the area around him. "Dear Celestia... why? Why did he just bait himself like that, knowing this would be the end result?" Shining asked. "For you, for the city, for all of us, he saw it as the only way... and he was probably right," Twilight admitted. The group rushed him to the hospital, which hadn't survived the attack unscathed, many areas were damaged and the ER was full of injured ponies. Cadence managed to convince the mob that Dusk needed help right away, and that he helped save their lives from the changlings. He was placed in the ICU, his body covered in bandages, most of the group waited downstairs because the ICU only allowed one visitor at a time, by the combined efforts of Cadence and Shining. Fluttershy stood at the side of the bed, "you only have to do one more thing for me, you just need to wake up and get better, that's all I want." The doctor walked in, he looked older and had a golden coat covered by a white coat. His orange mane cut short with a horn poking through it. "Is this Dusk, ma'am?" he asked Fluttershy. "Y-yes, do you know him?" "I knew that kid was alive for all these years. I always hoped to see him again one day. Heh, I guess that's a lesson about being careful what you wish for..." "Um, who are you?" "I'm Dr. Goldheart. I was the one who kept an eye on him when he was admitted here a couple years back," he explained. "The minute I heard about a blue pony rumored to throw lightning around at will, I had to be sure it was him." "So... you met him after it happened?" "Yeah... poor kid went through a nightmare. I did what I could to help but, I could only do so much. When he just vanished, I knew it wasn't nearly enough. But, enough about the past, the present is a bit more important. Are you a friend of his?" She pondered for a moment. Should I tell him? I mean, it's not like a big secret or anything... "I'm his marefriend." "You two are together?" "Y-yes, well I hope we still are." "Well I'll be, I never imagine the fella would have been able to have any interaction after he was cast out like that. But congratulations are necessary regardless," he smiled. "I just hope he wakes up so we can both here it." "Hey, he's been struck by lightning. I highly doubt a bunch of bugs could do him in. He's tough, he will pull out of this... with a little bit of help from us." Fluttershy did her best to smile back, "Thank you, I needed to hear that." "But before I leave, I need to know, has he seen his parents at all." "No, he would've told me if he did. We aren't even sure if they want to see him." "Oh, they want to see him more than anything, I can guarantee you that." "What?" "After Dusk took off, I made it my mission to make sure they completely recovered from what happened. I walked them through the physical and psychiatric rehabilitation. It was my obligation to to get that family back together, but once it was all said and done, there was no trace of him." "Oh my, but they've healed?" "More than anyone expected, they just kicked themselves for what they did to their son and no one other than Dusk could fix that." "Dusk blames himself for what he did to them, it would almost be a little funny if things were different." "That it would, but it was nice to meet you Ms.?" "Fluttershy," she answered without hesitation. "Well Fluttershy, I'll be around. If you have any problems, don't be afraid to ask for me." "Thank you." Goldheart nodded and walked out into the hallway, Fluttershy could hear him outside talking with another doctor, "I told her he would be able to pull through... but his heart is too damaged to be repaired, he needs a new one and their aren't any donors. Even if we do there's a chance his body will reject it and put him in the same place he is right now, there's not much to be done. He won't last long outside of that room, just keep the mare in their calm and relaxed, we will do everything we can but even the facilities here can't work miracles like the one he needs. But he's surprised us before, he might do it again." So, that's it... he needs a new heart to keep living, and there's no donors... she began to cry softly and slipped back down to the waiting room. Where her five friends were waiting to hear any news on Dusk's condition. "Well, how is he?!" Rarity all but shouted. "He's... he's not well, I heard the doctors talking... he needs a new heart. But there aren't any donors and his body could reject any one that they try to put in him. There's nothing more they can do..." she began to cry again, until her friends surrounded her in a group hug. "So... how's the Princess?" "She's alright," Twilight answered. "Her horn is a little burnt from the blast but she is otherwise fine... she is on her way here now." As if on cue, Celestia entered, "I came as soon as my staff would let me... how is my student?" "He's in severe condition, his heart took too much damage to repair, and it won't last too long. And to make matters worse there aren't any donors to replace it," Twilight explained. "Even if there was a donor, his body's immune system could always reject and attack it," she fought back the tears. "I see..." "That's all you have to say? You have to know of some way to help him!" Fluttershy cried. "I suppose there might be another way to save him," Celestia saw that she had the group's attention. "H-how?!" Fluttershy shouted. "I could try to use my magic to repair the damage to his heart. My magic is more powerful than a unicorn's... it would be risky, a lot of things could go wrong, but I might be able to recover it enough to keep him going." "You could do that?" Twilight asked. "Well, of course my student, I study all forms of magic, just as you do, I can't say I'm perfect but I think it's worth trying." "Are there any alternatives?" Fluttershy asked. "I highly doubt it, however, this procedure will require me to actually get in contact with his heart, so there are many risks," Celestia answered. "Then I think you should at least try," Twilight interjected. Fluttershy contemplated for a moment before deciding that Dusk would want them to try, she gave a confirming nod. "Well then, I think I should get prepared," Celestia began to walk through the doors to the ICU. "Wait Princess, can I talk to you for a moment, in private?" Fluttershy asked. "Of course, come with me," the two walked up to Dusk's room and closed the door behind them, "so, what did you want to talk to me about? I assume Dusk." "Rarity told me that he was planning on proposing and I need to know for certain... is it true?" Celestia gave a heavy sigh before answering. "Yes, I talked to him about it last night, while you were with my sister talking about what you're heart desires, very interesting by the way." Fluttershy blushed furiously, great, she's knows about that too, it's really embarrassing to think about, let alone have others know about it. "I told him that I felt he was being impatient about this, and the fact that he and Rarity were working together in secret about it made things even more hesitant for me to approve of it. I really wanted him to meet his parents again before trying to get married too, but I hope that he can still meet them. That was the driving force of his life... at least, until he met you." "His parents? Where are they now? They should know what's going on!" "You're right, but you should go find them, I need to be ready for this surgery, I believe they still live in the home Dusk grew up in... 8703 Everfree Drive." With that Fluttershy ran out of Dusk's room, barely stopping in the waiting room long enough to shout a boarely coherent sentence. "Gonna go find Dusk's parents if he wakes up when I'm gone someone come find me!" "You got it, good hunting!" Rainbow Dash saluted. Fluttershy nodded and took off again, I have to hurry! She ran out the hospital as fast as her hooves could carry her, her mission clear as she headed toward that address...