The Colours of Dusk

by Gallifrey


A Dash of Firewhiskey

The Colours of Dusk
by Gallifrey

Chapter Fourteen
A Dash of Firewhiskey

A breeze walked along the branches, rippling the needles to where one last pine cone was being hastily made. The pine tree had laboured hard, but it had one last task it wanted to perform. Just one more.


Dusk wasn't quite sure how it had happened. He was sitting at a secluded corner table, on a large and squashy seat, sipping from a tall glass of ginger beer with whiskey. Despite it being one of his favourite drinks, he looked at it, frowning, as though it had planned this all along against his will. It certainly wasn't through any intervention of his own. If left to his own devices, Dusk would currently be in his bed reading a nice book, perhaps with some camomile tea. But no, somehow, he was in Jingo's, in a cosy, low lit corner with a tipsy Bubble Berry for company beside him, grinning stupidly, a pile of bottles and glasses surrounding him like he was a magnet for alcohol.
Leaning back slightly and looking around a wall, Dusk caught the eye of Butterscotch from the next table, who grinned shyly as he took a drink of his apple juice. He was sitting next to Applejack, who suddenly struck up conversation with the pegasus in a loud and boisterous voice. Needless to say, Butterscotch fell off his chair.
Dawn and Elusive had been in their own little bubble all evening, with eyes only for each other. Butterscotch's tumbling to his flank was enough to burst that bubble. Dawn turned around from her table to see if he was okay, then returned to her discussion with Elusive about current Seaddle fashion trends.
Meanwhile, on the same table in a little world all of his own, was Blitz. His eyes were glazed and he appeared to be in an unusual state of contemplation, which was slightly worrying. When Blitz was doing a lot of thinking (and drinking), you knew something was up. Butterscotch had noticed Blitz's odd behaviour and was speaking in hushed tones to Applejack, and altogether making a bad job of being subtle about it. Luckily, Blitz was too far out of it to notice.

"So, when was *hic* yours?" said Berry, finishing off another bottle of cider.

Dusk blinked. Evidently he had just missed a Berry monologue.

"Sorry, what?" he said amiably, raising his glass to his lips.

"Your first kiss, duh!" he said, slurring his words slightly.

Dusk coughed. Luckily for him (and Berry's fur) he didn't have a mouthful of liquid, but he did spill some of his drink over himself.

"M-My first kiss?" he stammered, a bead of sweat forming on his brow. "Yeah, I-I remember that."

"Ooh, ooh! Tell! Tell!" squealed Berry, clapping his hooves together.

"O-Okay... it was in, um, when I was at college, right? And I knew this, this mare called, um..." he searched vaguely for a name. "Hoofy McClopsonbury... right...? And er..."

"This never happened did it Dusk," said Berry flatly.

"Oh of course it didn't!" snapped Dusk.

Berry nodded in understanding, and hiccoughed.

"It's fine!" he said soothingly, clearing a path through the bottles to pat Dusk's hoof. "It doesn't, *hic* doesn't make you any more or less of a stallion."

Dusk sighed, his hoof slipping down the bottle he was grasping. He felt another one of his rants boiling up inside him, and alcohol had weakened the barriers that hold them back.

"I don't see why it should even be an issue," he lamented. "Everyone seems to either think that you're a loser, or they take pity on you! It's ridiculous! I mean for Celestia's sake I'm only twenty-one! Is it so bizarre that some of us have better things to be getting on with than chasing mares and stallions around like they're the something unequivocally necessary in my life? Does it ever occur to anyone that maybe I can survive without it? That I can handle the 'shame' of being single?!"
He took a breath in his diatribe to see that Berry looked a little hurt.
"Wait, I wasn't having a go at you, Berry," said Dusk quickly. "Just at... society." He spat out the word with disgust. It left a nasty taste in its wake.

"Oh goodie!" said Berry happily. "Ya know, I was *hic* worried for a minute there!"

"No no, sorry if I worried you."

"You know *hic* Duskie," said Berry slowly, a predatory, and alcohol-induced gleam in his eyes. "Since you've never been kissed, and you say it shouldn't matter..."

Dusk looked nonplussed.

"Yeah? What's your point?" he said, obliviously walking into a trap so obvious, it had metaphorical flashing neon lights around it.

"This!," said a giggling Berry, pulling Dusk towards him and briefly pressing their lips together.

Dusk's mind went haywire. Flooded with never felt before sensations and thoughts, his mind all but shut down as Berry kissed him. As soon as it had began, Berry pulled back and started sniggering uncontrollably at Dusk's expression, or rather, the lack of it.

"So does it still not matter?" he said though his giggles.

"N-No it doesn't..." said Dusk distantly. "But... it is an experience..."

"Eh, you get used to it," said Berry shrugging and downing his drink.

Dusk's brain finally caught up with the events occurring around it.

"Wait..." said Dusk, sticking out his tongue as though trying to get a bad taste off it. "Did we just..."

"Only a lil' one!" said Berry, his tone of voice hovering between both cheerfulness and trepidation.

"I see," said Dusk calmly. His eyes darted from left to right. "Uh, no-one saw us did they?"

"Nope! I think you'd know if anyone saw; especially Blitzy."

Freezing in his spot, Berry braced himself for the repercussions of his idiocy, but there didn't seem to be any.

"Why's that then?" asked Dusk, fishing the ice cubes out of the bottom of his glass and crunching them happily.

"Oh you know me, I just say words sometimes," said Berry, thinking faster than a bolt of lightning.

Meanwhile, the pervasive hum of the bar was entering one of Blitz's ears and floating straight out of the other. His mind had entered an almost zen-like state, where the melting pot of consciousness became eerily calm and mirror-like, passing the task of thinking to the aethereal veil of the subconscious. Naturally, this transition comes with its consequences. Drooling for example.
Butterscotch kindly put a napkin on the table before him, where the saliva was steadily dripping.

"Is he alright?" asked Applejack, waving a hoof in vain over Blitz's eyes.

"I'm not sure," answered Butterscotch honestly. "I've never seen him so... docile before."

"Hey Blitz," said Applejack with a grin. "My bro said he wants to sleep with ya! I read your crappy fanfiction where you shipped Soarin' with Spitfire! I..." he paused, running out of ideas. "Dusk is pregnant!"

At the word Dusk, Blitz was dragged out of his catatonic state.

"Whaa?"

"Ah said, Dusk is pregnant!" said Applejack, thoroughly enjoying teasing his dozy friend.

"P-Pregnant? What?"

"Don't listen to him," said Butterscotch, shooting a glance at Applejack. "I can assure you that Dusk is not pregnant."

"Why are we even talking about Dusk getting pregnant?" asked Blitz, blinking stupidly. He was clearly still a bit out of it.

"Why am I pregnant now?" called Dusk from around the corner, looking bewildered.

"I think I need a drink," announced Blitz.

"Me too," said Dusk, looking sadly at his glass; there wasn't even any ice cubes left.

"Blitz," said Butterscotch in the tone of a mother to a mischievous child, "how many have you had so far?"

"I've been on bloody blackcurrant cordial!" said Blitz indignantly. "You made me!"

"You have? It must have slipped my mind," said the yellow pegasus innocently.

Grumbling, Blitz got up and followed Dusk's lead, which was a big mistake on his part, because he now had an eyeful of Dusk's swaying purple rump all the way to the bar. It was impossible to look away from, and it wasn't for lack of trying. Blitz sighed; he could hear Berry's laughter over the din of the pub.
They reached the bar, after what felt like several hours to Blitz, he was still amazed with himself that he didn't have a wingboner, or worse...

"What d'ya want?" asked Dusk amiably, flashing Blitz an utterly disarming smile.

"I, uh..." he began weakly. He coughed. "A double whiskey," he said firmly.

"Blitz, are you sure that's wise–"

"A double whiskey," repeated Blitz resolutely. "Firewhiskey."

Dusk, knowing when he wouldn't win, went and bought him what he wanted, in addition to another ginger beer for himself. He straightened up to return to the bar when he felt a hoof stop him. He turned to find it was Blitz.

"Uh, can we go outside for a lil' bit?" asked Rainbow as casually as one can when your heart feels like it's going to jump out.

"Sure," said Dusk, "it's a bit loud in here for me anyway."

Blitz chuckled on the way out. Dusk always did love the quiet, he had done for as long as he'd known him. He fondly cast his mind back years ago to when he first spooked the unicorn by swooping down upon him from the sky. Blitz made sure to never do that again near a tomato stall, the fallout from Dusk's jumpiness had been extremely messy, and expensive.
The pair stepped out into the cool, dry, and above all, quiet night air. Dusk inhaled deeply and caught the scent of tobacco from a few ponies who had come outside to smoke. Despite not being a smoker himself, he enjoyed the atmospheric aroma.
While Dusk was distracted watching an elderly, bearded unicorn blow some pretty smoke rings, Blitz necked back his whiskey and shivered as it burnt his throat. Dusk turned back.

"You alright? You look like you just ate a lemon."

"'m fine," Blitz said with some difficulty. He swallowed painfully, eyes almost watering. "W-Would you like to go for a walk or something?" he asked with much less grace than he imagined in his head.

"What for?" asked Dusk simply.

"Dunno," Blitz shrugged. "Just seems like a nice night for it that's all." He gestured vaguely to the clear sky, complete with stars and moon.

That seemed to grab Dusk's attention; anything regarding the heavens usually did.

"What do I do about my drink?" the unicorn asked.

"Just take it with you, dude. They won't care."

"Why won't they care?"

"Because they'll never know! Quickly!"

Leading the way, Blitz hurried off down a deserted side street that lead to the river, Dusk in tow behind him.

"Where exactly are we going?" asked Dusk, noticing that Blitz's running wasn't exactly straight.

"I 'unno, wherever my legs are taking me, snrk!"

"What the hell was that noise?" said Dusk, catching up to him and trying not to laugh.

"Dunno what you're on about," said Blitz absently, crossing the old bridge into the park. The pair made a circuit of the park's perimeter, talking about everything and yet nothing under the moonlight, with Blitz occasionally stumbling. He blamed it on the tree roots, but Dusk didn't seem to be suffering any such issue.
Exiting the park by the new bridge, Blitz led Dusk up the small hill he had fallen asleep upon the other night and they both flopped down on the cool, silver-kissed grass. Blitz turned his head to see Dusk looking up at the sky with a look of pure awe on his face.

"Ya know, for a unicorn, you sure do like the sky," Blitz observed.

"I've noticed that a lot of notable astronomers are pegasi," Dusk returned.

"No, I mean a sort of... real love for it, if- if you know what I mean. Not like a scientist, who studies it and writes stuff down, but a love for... what it is, ya know?"

"Astronomers love the sky too though," said Dusk fairly.

"Well, yeah, but you know what I mean, it's like two different loves I guess."

"I suppose it is, I never thought of it like that." A golden shooting star fell above them. "Oh wow! Look at that!" he squealed with delight.

"I really like the sky too, for slightly different reasons of course," Blitz continued, "but I guess it's something we both share in common huh."

"Yup yup," said Dusk, sitting up to drink the remainder of his drink.

Blitz sat up to, and swallowed hard.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, we share quite a few similarities," he tried. He knew being subtle with Dusk would be tough.

"What else would you say we had in common?" asked Dusk, curious of the answer, looking back up.

"Er," said Blitz, not expecting to actually have to say. "We both love reading, we are both, um male? And both... like super attractive..." he tailed off lamely.

"Oh Blitz, you flatter me," said Dusk softly, still staring into the sky, and running a rather self-conscious hoof through his mane.

"I mean it," Blitz pressed, feeling as though he was too far gone to stop now. Heat was rising treacherously to his face. "And I'm sure a lot of mares would agree with me."

"I wouldn't go that far," said Dusk, taking his eyes from the stars and locking eyes with the pegasus.

If any eyes retained memory, Dusk's would certainly qualified. Blitz could swear he still saw the reflections of the ancient stars glimmering in his irises. Blitz felt powerless, Dusk was a stallion of words, he was one of action, time to bite the bullet.

"Dusk... are you busy anytime soon?"

"Only to the dance, why?"

"I was just wondering if- if you'd like to I dunno, like go to the theatre, or to dinner or something."

"I'd love to see the theatre!" said Dusk enthusiastically.

Such sincerity glowed from Dusk, Blitz wasn't very sure he understood the underlying offer.

"You would?" he said delicately as is possible when tipsy.

"Yeah! I haven't been since my birthday."

No, he hasn't got it, Blitz sighed internally. He then sighed externally and threw all of his cards on the table. He shuffled closer to Dusk and leaned close to him, his face mere inches away from his purple friend's.

"Dusk, I'd really like you to come to the theatre with me. Like really like."

Dusk blinked.

"Th-This isn't just about going to the theatre is it?" he said, realisation starting to dawn on his face.

"No, no it isn't."

"I–"

Dusk paused and looked out from the hilltop. The humble golden lights that made Ponyville twinkled beneath him, and the sparkle of the stars reigned above him. In between them sat himself and Rainbow Blitz, whose eyes were shining with what must have been months of hope, uncertainty and... love...

"I... don't know," said Dusk, averting his gaze, this was already painful enough for him. "This is all very sudden for me, I–"

"I know I know, I should have just been more obvious about it," said Blitz, speaking very quickly, almost as if he was scared. "I know what you're like... Dawn noticed ya know, she's the one who persuaded me to get the balls to ask you."

"Dawn, she would notice," said Dusk quietly. "Why must these things be so complicated? Is that why you got so cut up about that argument we had?" asked Dusk. "I thought there was something odd about it."

"Yes," said Blitz miserably, it was becoming clear what Dusk's answer was going to be and he didn't want to delay this any longer. "So... I think I know the way this is headed..."

"Huh?"

"You don't want to, do you?"

Dusk found himself at a loss for words. The abyss of silence that had opened up was begging to be filled, and Blitz felt like he had to oblige the deafening quiet with something. Anything.

"I... really like you Dusk," he whispered, staring at the grass beneath him.

Dusk sniffed. Blitz assumed it was just the cold of the night, but when he turned he saw that Dusk's eyes were shimmering.

"Dusk! Oh gods, I'm sorry if I've upset you!"

Dusk shook his head.

"No, I'm not upset, it's just... all a bit much. I'm sorry Blitz, but I really don't know what to feel right now... may I have some time to think?"

"So you're not saying no?" he asked with an unmistakable air of hope.

"No, but neither am I saying yes."

"O-Okay," said Blitz, his voice faltering, not sure how he felt right now. "Can I ask one thing though?"

"Perhaps."

"Can I have a hug?"

Dusk looked up at him, the proud, confident and boisterous friend he knew well looked completely diminished, leaving a small, sad and scared pony in his wake. A terrible pang of guilt clutched at Dusk's heart, but that didn't stop him smiling warmly.

"You can always have a hug from me," he said, extending his hooves.

Blitz fell into the warm, comforting hooves of Dusk. Blitz's face rubbed against his neck and the pegasus was trying fiercely to hold back tears, as six months of suppressed feeling threatened to break the dams. Dusk could feel his friend's breathing becoming ragged and he gently stroked Blitz's mane in an effort to calm him down. This helped a little, but it wasn't long before Dusk felt hot droplets of water hitting his back. Blitz's barriers had finally burst, and he cried unashamedly. Dusk tightened his grip and comforted him as best as he could, a few tears falling from his own eyes. Time passed, how much, neither knew, but Blitz eventually came to his senses and withdrew, coughing awkwardly and drying his eyes.

"Er, never tell anyone that just happened," he said hoarsely.

"I Berry Promise," said Dusk, going through the motions.

"I'm sorry to be such a pain in the ass," Blitz mumbled.

Dusk looked at the poor stallion hopelessly.

"Can you do one thing for me?"

"Name it."

"I want the old Blitz back. The Blitz who reminded me how great you can be if you are determined. The Blitz who could make me laugh about almost anything. The Blitz who was always there when I needed him. The Blitz who at times had even more energy than Berry! Can I have that Blitz back?"

Blitz looked astonished.

"I mean all of that to you?"

"That, and more. You're my best friend! So, can I have the old Blitz back?"

Blitz couldn't help but grin widely.

"Yes, and then some!"


On Blitz's way home, he crossed the old bridge again in the park, and something struck him on the head, bouncing off. He grunted with pain and rubbed between his ears. He picked up the guilty pine cone and looked at it blankly.

"Dumb tree," he grumbled, almost throwing the cone into the river, but instead he decided to keep it, and carried on his way.

It could have been worse, he decided at length. Sure, he was a castaway floating in the turbulent waters of the unknown, but then again, aren't we all?