The Colours of Dusk
by Gallifrey

Chapter Eight
A Midsummer Night's Dance

There was the smell of lavender. And a soft snuffling sound in the low light, followed by silence. All was dark; most probably because her eyes were shut.

Dawn felt as though she had been hit in the face by a custard pie made of lead; her face hurt, her head hurt, her everything hurt. She tried to open her eyes, but they were far too heavy. She lay for a few minutes, in a bed if the softness was any indication, trying to coalesce her thoughts. The faint snuffling punctuated the air periodically. She tried to open her eyes again, and she saw that she was still in Dusk's room. The curtains were drawn, it appeared to be daylight outside, and she... she was in his bed! Turning groggily to the side, she saw Dusk, fast asleep in his rickety old writing chair across the room. His head was slumped forward, and rose and fell with the cadence of his breathing. He looked exhausted, his mane was frazzled as though he'd been electrified, and his horn had a dark streak, like a scorch mark on it. A crackle filled the air, and a vivid purple spark lanced from Dusk's horn, straight to the ground. What the hell had happened? She sat up, and immediately wished she hadn't. Groaning with pain, she fell back onto the bed with a flump.
Dusk snorted in his sleep and awoke, bleary eyed and confused.

"Well, in short, you happened," said Dusk, not unkindly. "I guess you saw the jar, yes? Either that or you were just sneaking around my room, but for some reason I doubt that."

"Y-yes, definitely the former," said Dawn, her head throbbing painfully as she nodded.

"Well, what possessed you to open it? Strange, mysterious liquid in fancy crystal jar, didn't you consider the danger of what you were doing?" Despite Dawn's delicate state, Dusk quite wanted to know what had compelled her.

"Of course I did," she said. "But still... I couldn't help myself." Dawn couldn't help but feel he was trying not to reveal the contents of the jars on purpose, to tease her.

Dusk tried to understand this, but came up with nothing. Were all mares like this?

"Well, whatever. If only you'd opened the other jar first... that's completely harmless."

"The one you opened... is pure, unrefined magic," he said simply, with a hint of embarrassment.

"But how?!" she stammered. "I thought it was only a legend! No mortal pony since the great Starswirl the Bearded has managed such a feat." Again, that feeling of mingled awe and jealousy was rising up inside her, but she stamped it down.

"It wasn't easy, not only did I have to contain all the mana, I had to concentrate and condense it down into a liquid. I want to do some research on it, I'm just glad most of it's still there." His face suddenly looked troubled. "It's lucky my quill had broken in the basement, if I hadn't come up here to get a new one..." He shuddered. "I dread to think what might have happened."

"Um, if I remember correctly, you opened the jar and of course the magic escaped, or at least it tried to, by diffusing into the nearest living thing, that being you of course. I jumped on top of you, sorry about that, and had to force it back in with my own magic." Dawn took a moment to appreciate the absurdity of Dusk commanding his own magic with his own magic. "Fortunately for you and unfortunately for me, I think my horn acted like a kind of lightning rod, so you were shielded, but now I'm full of surplus magic, no doubt It'll discharge outta me during the day."

"That explains the sparks from your horn a minute ago," she said. She looked him over and her ears drooped in shame. "I'm sorry, Dusk," she murmured, looking down at her hooves. She heard the creak of the chair, and hoofsteps cross the room. Dusk's hoof took hers gently as he knelt beside the bed.

"Just taking your pulse, don't worry, I'm not coming onto you or anything," he said matter-of-factly. "You don't have to be sorry. No-one was hurt... permanently, and I shouldn't really have left it in such a conspicuous place anyway, should have put a lock on it or something..."

"Stop trying to make it your fault, it was all mine, and I'm still going to say sorry."

"Well, in that case, I accept your apology." He stood up and gave his head a little shake. Unlike Dawn, he'd escaped a headache and was feeling quite keen to get on with his day. "Right, you better stay in bed today, you don't look too good."

"You don't," he said bluntly. "And it's not like you have a shortage of entertainment, you are in a library after all. If you want anything just give a shout, and either me or Spike will come and help, okay?"

"Thank you, Dusk, really," she said with a small smile. "Though, may I ask you something? Actually, two things."

"Right," said Dawn hurriedly, not particularly keen on the possibility of touching a nerve. "And the other, what was in the other jar?"

"Ah, not just any honey," said Dusk, walking back. "This is the best honey you could ever hope for in Equestria!" He rummaged in a drawer for a spoon, picked up the jar and returned. "From Princess Celestia's own beehive, the species Melissa majoria if you care to know."

"I never knew the Princess kept bees," said Dawn as the purple stallion dipped the spoon into the thick golden liquid.

"Oh yes, she's quite fond of them, she gave me this last year as a birthday present. Now open up, it'll do you good."

Dusk stuck the sticky spoon into her mouth. Dawn's eyes flew open as the flavour exploded like a syrupy tsunami. She'd never had that much of a sweet tooth, but she definitely liked this.

"Good, isn't it?" he said, sealing the lid back on and getting up. "Right, I'm headed out, there's a few things I gotta do in town before Blitz comes round later."

"Goodness!" he exclaimed, trying desperately to flatten his mane. "I look like Jimi Haydrix!"

"Perhaps a shower is in order before you go off galavanting," said Dawn, winking at him.

Dusk smiled sheepishly, and left Dawn to her own devices as he retired to his shower.

Rainbow Blitz was in space, spinning serenely and completely weightless. Looking around, he found he was swimming with the stars, bound to an unknown galaxy. Rainbow wasn't always the smartest pegasus, but he was pretty sure he should be boiling, suffocating and generally exploding to death, yet this clearly wasn't the case. Flapping his wings didn't seem to have any effect as he rotated slowly amongst the shimmering diamonds, so there he floated, unable to do anything except watch the infinite majesty and complexity of the Universe unfold around him in the shattering beauty of supernovae and coalescing cataclysms of spiralling hot gas and dust, forming stars, planets, life, kitchen sinks, wheels and all manner of other cool things. The spectrum of light split through his heart as each star shone with every colour of his namesake. This was what it is to be truly alive, to see all of creation telling its never-ending story, to be one with all that is, was, and ever would be.

After ten minutes, while he was drooling into infinity, he saw two apparitions materialise in front of him.

"Hold up," said Blitz. "Firstly, what the fuck is going on here? Secondly, sorry to disappoint, Princess, but this pegasus is batting for the other team, 'kay?"

Instead of answering, like any reasonable pony would, they decided to morph together into a featureless ball, which reshaped itself into Dusk Shine, the stars shining in his deep purple eyes.
The two stared at each other in the deafening silence, whole empires rising and falling around them, like candles in the gnawing dark. A powerful ache lanced through Blitz as he raised a hoof longingly towards Dusk, the stallion of his dreams. Blitz's hopes and fears leapt in tandem when Dusk began to reciprocate, extending his hoof to meet Blitz's. They were an inch apart.

His hoof was stretched out towards the ceiling, and it promptly fell, like his heart. Rubbing his eyes, he realised his cheeks were damp, but he passed it off as being sweat. Yeah, just sweat. Lying for undefined length of time in his bed, he thought about Dusk. His face swam across Blitz's mind and his insides clenched painfully as though were being clawed from the inside out. He screwed his eyes tight and some inner barrier deep inside him cracked.

It was time to take some action... or at least talk to him... nah, too upfront, maybe just... talk to Elusive first? Yes, that seemed like a reasonable thing to do, he always had good advice on that sort of stuff. Oh, but today was his weekly reading time with Dusk. Right. Reading time with Dusk, talk to Elusive tomorrow.

"Sounds like a plan!" he said to himself, throwing off this tangled covers and cricking his back. "But first, breakfast!" He looked at his bedside clock. It was half past eleven. He shrugged. "Alright, lunch then."

Squeaky clean and groomed, Dusk trotted out of Quills and Sofas, a small paper bag stuffed full of new pens. Another job to tick off the checklist! The town's bell tolled eleven times, its ringing bouncing down the streets and across the town.

He was cantering leisurely past the town hall when something caught his eye on the noticeboard. He scanned his eyes past the various sales, coffee clubs, weather reports and other paraphernalia that came with such boards until they came to rest upon a colourful, yet tasteful poster.

Ponyville Annual Midsummer Night's Dance
21st June, 19:00-01:00
Everypony welcome
Meal optional (+10 bits)
5 bits entry
Alcohol will not be served to under 18's!

"Ooh! The dance is back!" Dusk squealed excitedly as a bright spark of magic discharged from his horn, catching the poster and setting it alight. He hastily blew it out and trotted away, whistling nonchalantly.

Every year, as part of the Summer Sun Celebration, Ponyville hosted a fun, semi-formal evening dance, as had been the tradition ever since the town's founding. Dusk had attended the last two dances and had enjoyed them immensely, even if he never actually had a partner to go with, he had still had a grand time with his friends.

"That's the day before Dawn leaves! Perhaps she would like to go? There's no harm in asking; as friends of course."

Humming merrily, he all but skipped the way home, daring to break his schedule to inform Dawn about the dance. She did want to learn all about Ponyville after all, and what better place was there to meet the townsfolk themselves?

"Spike, I'm home!" he called over the tinkling bell, "I got you that special phoenix quill that you wanted!"

There was a scampering, and Spike appeared at the foot of the stairs, eyes sparkling.

"It's no problem. You've worked hard lately, I figured you should have a treat," said Dusk with a warm smile. "How's Dawn by the way?"

"Alright. She's gone back to her own room, and she's looking a lot better, but still a little... fragile."

Dawn sat alone in the guest bedroom, the blue flower on her window-sill was still as youthful as the day it had been picked. The same could not be applied to Dawn. She was as tired as a rubber wheel, and felt like one to boot. She drew the covers closer to herself as she snuggled deeper into her bed. She was licking a hoof and turning the page of the book she was reading when she was interrupted.

"Oh no, maybe you have concussion too!" said the unicorn worriedly as the attempted joke sailed clean over his head and into the Zebrahara.

"Riiight," said Dusk slowly, entering the room with a cup of cocoa. "How are you feeling?"

"Still really tired," she said, stifling a yawn. "But better than when I woke up."

"Oh yes," said Dawn happily, "he's such a little gentleman. You're lucky to have him."
Dusk nodded approvingly as he sat down at the end of the bed, the bed springs creaking slightly.
"What's going on in the outside world then? All I can tell is that the birds are quite happy," she said, nodding to the branches outside the window.

"Not too much, Blitz hasn't been doing his job as usual, I've seen a lot of rogue clouds floating around..."

"Probably about one o'clockish, you might wanna watch out for that, he likes to make, how shall I say, dramatic entries... oh, oh, and there's a dance coming up soon as part of the Summer Sun Celebration," he said excitedly.

"Yup! And I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?" said Dusk rather thickly, as his tongue felt suddenly twice its usual size in his mouth. Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Just as friends of course," he added quickly.

Dawn, who had been wondering if she could ask Elusive to the dance, met his gaze. It took a more heartless pony than Dawn to turn down those warm purple eyes that radiated sincerity like a... sincerity radiator.

"Sure," she said brightly. It wasn't like Elusive wouldn't be there anyway, plus, she owed Dusk Shine for his gracious hospitality.

"Oh, thank you! I've never gone with anyone before! It's going to be so much fun!"

With a veritable skip, he left the room and cantered down the stairs, humming happily again.

Sometimes I wonder if he ever does work, thought Dusk, the familiar tsunami of fabulosity hitting him as he entered Elusive's domain. He appeared to have been reading a newspaper but had found the struggle to stay concious too overwhelming, for he was slumped over his desk, asleep, with his face pressed into the paper.
Dusk looked at the bell on the counter and grinned mischievously.

"Snnk!" said Elusive elegantly, snapping bolt upright, a sheet of newspaper stuck to his face. He peeled it off and took stock of his surroundings. "Oh Dusk! Please, you're going to give this stallion a heart attack one of these days!" he said while washing his face with a wash cloth he'd procured from seemingly nowhere.

"Ooh!" said the alabaster stallion enthusiastically, leaping out of his chair and starting to pull out fabric willy-nilly. He halted abruptly and wheeled around. "Oh look at me, I'm so excited I'm getting ahead of myself. I can hardly design you a suit if I don't know what it's for now, can I? Or your size for that matter! Get up onto the measuring stand, would you?"

"It's for the Midsummer Night's Dance," said Dusk, hopping up onto the slightly raised wooden platform while Elusive pulled out snakes of measuring tape which he had to untangle.

"You don't say?" said Elusive with interest as he shook one length of tape free. He briefly contemplated on why he had so many when one was sufficient. "Will you be going with anypony this time?" he asked as he ran the tape from Dusk's left forehoof to his withers, jotting down some numbers with his magic.

"Only b-because I felt it was my duty, seeing as I am hosting her and everything," said Dusk, desperately trying to explain his actions.

"Oh, my dear friend," said Elusive smoothly as he ran the tape around Dusk's barrel, "you sound worried! Rest assured, I understand entirely. Besides, I bet it feels nice for you to be finally going with somepony, isn't it?"

"Well, there you are!" said Elusive happily, making some more notes. "Have you thought at all about what we were talking about yesterday? Also, lift your tail please."

"Your tail, Dusk. How do you expect me to measure your inner leg? I'll use my magic for this bit don't worry–"

"No, I mean what we were talking about," said Dusk, obediently following his instruction, if with a little reluctance.

"Oh that!" said Dusk, trying hard not to giggle at the tape's tickling. "No, not really, but that may be because Dawn kinda almost killed herself last night."

"She what?!" shouted Elusive, losing control of his magic, causing the tape to snap back like an elastic band. "How?!"

Dusk however, was in no position to respond. His position, in fact, was on the floor, writhing in exquisite agony.

"'Lucy," he hissed through clenched teeth while rolling back and forth, "I trusted you!"

"A thousand apologies!" said Elusive fretfully. "Believe me, this has never happened before!"

Elusive just stood there, not sure what to do. Most stallions at this point would be laughing their sides off at such an event, but he was above such vulgar humour, and instead just stood there like a fashionable lemon.

"When you've... recovered, could you please hop back on? There's a few more measurements I need to take," he said delicately.

"As long as they don't involve my balls, near my balls, or anywhere in the vicinity of my balls," Dusk grumbled, gingerly getting to his hooves and wincing. Elusive merely coughed in a nondescript manner.

"Now," said Elusive eventually, breaking the silence that had fell upon them, "what were you saying about Dawn nearly killing herself?"

"Hm? Oh, she uh, opened a jar of pure magic and it sort of attacked her. She's resting up today."

"Once released it tries to inhabit the nearest living thing, and it would have been too much for her, it was almost too much for me..."

"Goodness. Why in Equestria do you have something so dangerous in your home? Especially where Dawn could be hurt!"

Dusk was surprised at Elusive's sudden change in tone, it was almost... accusatory?

"It was in my room," said Dusk defensively. "None of this was my fault, she might have died if I hadn't found her!"

"But–!" Elusive began hotly, then took a deep breath. "Sorry," he said shortly, clearing his throat, "I just feel... never mind. Does– Does Dawn want a dress made?"

Dusk, having never been known for his tact with the opposite sex, hadn't considered this.

"I uh, suppose she should, shouldn't she?" he said slowly, the thought of the huge hole he would have in his bank balance looming over him.

"I know that look!" said Elusive briskly. "And you don't have to worry, I'll do it for free!"

"Are you sure, Elusive?" said Dusk, feeling as he always did, a little guilty when Elusive was extremely generous.

Dusk hopped off the table and Elusive trotted over to his calendar, where he consulted his empty days.

"If you tell Dawn to pop down... the day after the day after tomorrow, I'll measure her up."

He had the entire afternoon off, he might even take her for coffee after. Coffee and... who knows?
A dreamy look must have come over him because Dusk was waving his hoof.

Elusive nodded thoughtfully and bade Dusk farewell, a smile attached to his face.