“This is odd I wonder how I should act.” asked a young stallion to no pony in particular. The rising sun hitting his tan coat and crimson mane, “Should I be dramatic about it?” He continued to pace outside a house with anxiety clear on his face. “Maybe I should be nonchalant about it ‘hey I'm back did you miss me?’ Of course they missed me I was gone for more than two years, or is that too arrogant of me to assume?”
Suddenly the door of the house he was pacing in front of cracked open, and from inside an older stallion’s voice could be heard.
“Dear I’ll be back in a short while I'm just going to get some mil-” Cutting himself off when spotting the stallion standing outside his door, his brow made the slightest crease.
Noticing his cover’s had been blown the anxious stallion greeted the older stallion. “H-hi dad how have you and mom been?” With some strain in the pony’s voice he struggled to get the greeting out.
His father didn’t return the greeting; he just continued to remain silent.
“What was that dear? I didn’t hear you.” An unseen motherly voice emitted from deep within the house.
“Dear you should get out here, you won’t believe it even if I told you,” spoke the father.
His dad stood by the doorway content to just stare at his son with little readable emotion oh his face, the silence just continued to go on endlessly, unnerving the son.
“Think Dusk, you can fix this, just get him to laugh or something then from there will be smooth sailing.” Mentally agreeing with his plan he opened his mouth to tell a classic griffon joke he had picked up on his journey, but was distracted by another pony at the doorway.
“M-mom.” Was all Dusk could say before his mother raced to embrace him, her son.
“Dusk! You’re home, you’re home.” Tears glistening in eyes as she nuzzled her son.
Dusk’s mother was ecstatic seeing her baby boy once again; after all he was gone for nearly three years.
“Yes mom I'm home. I am so happy to see you to.” Dusk’s nervous face melted in his mother’s embrace, so glad he was coming home to a partially warm welcome.
“Nightshade!” yelled the mare, “you come down here this instant, and welcome your son back home,” commanded his wife.
Slowly walking down the steps to where the other two were Nightshade looked to his son. “Hey there Dusk, welcome back.” The poker face Nightshade had worn disappeared, revealing an uncharacteristic smile on his face. “What took you so long to come back?” joked Nightshade.
“You know the occasional intrigue, war, invasions, and a good beer,” Quipped back Dusk.
Dusk received a deep glare from his mom about that last one. “Dusk night, what is this about drinking? You’re still underage.”
“Dear, let up on the poor colt he just came back from a very long journey, and must be very tired, we should be getting him inside so he can regale us of his odyssey,” said Nightshade easing the mothers temper.
“Yes you are right dear. Come, come, Dusk let’s get you warm and comfy. I’ll get tea and muffins ready in a moment.” A light squee escaped the mother’s throat as she trotted in, followed by the father son pair.
“So did you find any good mares?” asked Nightshade.
“Maybe…” replied Dusk with a little mischievousness in voice.
“That’s my son.” Nightshade playfully ruffled Dusk’s mane as the two shared a laugh, three years in the making.
--
“Here’s the tea and muffins I promised,” cheered Evening star as she set down a tray of warm muffins and hot earl grey tea.
The family of three happily sat around a small table, within reach of the hot treats.
“So Dusk what brings you home,” asked his father, who received a deathly glare from his wife. “Not that we aren’t happy you are back,” Nightshade hastily added to quell the rage in his wife’s look. “It’s just we didn’t expect you for another half year from the last letter we got two months ago.”
“Well actually that was the plan, but something happened, something grandma said would happen,” said Dusk sipping his tea.
“You’re talking about nightmare moon, right?” asked Evening star.
“Yeah, I didn’t believe the legend at first but then the sun didn’t rise for a half day. I can’t believe grandma was right so I decided to come back a bit early,” replied Dusk.
“I didn’t believe her either son, but now we have the night princess raising the stars and moon at night it’s unbelievable,” said Nightshade.
“The funny thing was I thought for a second I was the only one who could stop nightmare moon, but that didn’t last long. When the sun came up I was still on the border of the griffon kingdoms, I made my way to the dragon lands and there I learned of her defeat at the hooves of the elements of harmony,” said Dusk.
“So I shouldn’t take this early visit as a sign you want to take over the apothecary now?” asked Nightshade
“Sorry dad, no I want to become a guards pony for the princess of the night,” replied Dusk.
“I guess that works.” Nightshade simply shrugged. “At least your back home now that’s all that matters now,” said his father.
“Speaking of the apothecary, how are the plants and other stuff I sent you doing?” asked Dusk.
“Ah, it took us by surprise when your first letter arrived with so many plants,” said his mother, “but we were able to expand the green house and cellar to accommodate them, and if we didn’t have room or the proper tools to care for them I brought them to the university, we have an entire section of new plants thanks to your constant supply of flora, I guess now though that ends I was kind of hoping to see what kind of plants you would send us.” Evening star looked a bit despondent even though her son was back that meant no more new plants to take care of, she felt a bit conflicted.
“Oh that reminds me mom here, these are some of the plants I got while I was in the dragon lands.” Dusk reached into his bag pulling several crystal balls from his bag, all of them contained a plant of some sort that was in stasis.
Evening star looked at all of the new plants with eager eyes.
“This is called a fire flower.” Dusk pointed to the biggest of the orbs, inside was the head of a blazing red flower that was the size of a sunflower. “The flowers petals are made of actual fire, it’s amazing and I found it at the mouth of an active volcano this one-” Dusk was cut off by his mother.
“Well now dear, you don’t have to tell us about these flowers now we can talk about them later.” Evening star had stopped her son’s explanation just to avoid spoilers, she wanted to find and discover the plants secrets herself but she wouldn’t dare say that to her son so she made up another reason. “I want to hear what you learned on your journey, those letters you sent barely could tell us a fifth of what happened to you in the southern continent.” evening star never broke eye contact with the plants but she intently waited on her son to speak of his journey.
Dusk simply smiled at his mother recalling the many events that happened in the few years he was gone.
“Where should I start?” asked Dusk.
“How about the beginning son?” replied his father.
“Okay, but this might take a while,” warned Dusk.
“We got time to spare,” replied his parents.
Dusk told his tale, he spoke of meeting a vast variety of races some friendlier than others, vast landscapes of differing conditions, and of adventures you would find on the back of a daring doo book. He spoke for hours and his parents were just enraptured by the fanciful tales but soon time had worked against him, he had stopped at around his second year of his expedition with still many other tales to tell but his parents. They had severely underestimated how much time it would take to tell them everything.
“As much as I’d like to spend the rest of the day listening to your stories Dusk, I and your mother have to meet with somepony soon, and then I got some work at the apothecary and your mom has to get to the university to give a lecture,” said Nightshade.
“That’s fine dad, I should be on my way to the castle and sign up for the guard anyway. We can catch tonight,” reasoned Dusk.
“Oh I just had the most wonderful idea we can have a welcome back party, I’ll invite some of my colleges, and the neighbors and your dad can invite those old coots at the plaza they’ll love to see you again,” said Evening star.
“That sound great mom,” replied Dusk.
“Yeah I’ll get everypony to show up at seven, so make sure you show up on time dear,” said Evening star.
“Sure mom I can’t wait to taste the grubs you’ll cook tonight,” replied Dusk.
“Oh it’s almost one o’clock dear.” Nightshade pointed to a clock on the wall as it clicked. “We should hurry or we will be late, if you want Dusk you can follow us to the appointment,” offered his father.
“No I'm fine dad, I kind of want to see how much Canterlot has changed since I’ve been gone” replied Dusk.
“Sure thing dear, we will see you later Dusk,” the happy couple went off on their way.
As the family parted Dusk couldn’t help but smile. “Where to now?” he thought, “doughnut Joe sounds good.”
--
“Thanks Joe, you don’t know how hard it is to find a half decent doughnut shop outside of equestria,” said Dusk.
“Stop with the flattery kid, it’s good to see you again though you’re the only one who buys my super crunch zingers,” said Joe.
“I don’t know why no pony else doesn’t, it’s an awesome doughnut *crunch* well see yah later Joe,” said Dusk as he munched on the unique doughnut creation.
“I wonder where I should head next. Maybe the market, I should really get some bits together then I’ll head for the arcade then the library and if I'm Lucky I’ll bump in to her…” Dusk froze up, his mind filling with thoughts of a chance meeting with the pony of his dreams, but to any passersby he had the face of a freak mass murderer.
“Hey you; freak with the doughnut, freeze!” Dusk was ripped from his blissful stupor by a gruff voice; he turned to face the rude unknown pony.
“I said freeze punk, don’t make me Taser you.” said the gruff voice.
“Okay what is this about?” Completely ignoring the threat that was hurled at him, he turned to face two pegasi he knew, a mare who was struggling to keep up the gruff voice charade, and a stallion who looked like he wished she would just stop the embarrassing act.
“Hey punk I said to freeze now I get to taze you,” said the mare.
Instead of actually tazing Dusk the mare just barreled into him catching him in a spine crushing hug.
“You’re crushing my lungs Lucky,” wheezed out Dusk.
The mare either didn’t hear or care she just squeezed Dusk tighter.
“Come on Lucky his eyes will pop out at this rate,” said the other pegasus.
Finally conceding Lucky released Dusk.
“Thanks Hotshot,” said Dusk as he took in much needed air.
“No problem,” replied Hotshot who acted faster than Dusk could react, squeezing Dusk in a bear hug that put Lucky’s hug to shame. “It so good to see you again Dusk,” said Hotshot.
“Yeah I wish I could say the same though,” said Dusk as the last bit of air was crushed out of his lungs.
A small giggle escaped Lucky’s lips as she saw the display of love between the two full grown stallions. “Come on Hotshot you’re going to break a rib,” chortled Lucky.
Letting go Dusk finally could breathe again, his friends let him suck in much needed air for a few seconds before he did anything, a smile crept across his face.
“You ponies sure know how to make a colt feel welcomed,” joked Dusk.
With a sly grin on her face Lucky laughed at the quip. “Well we were just hanging out and we saw you with your trademark psychopath grin, and I thought hey lets screw with Dusk,” said Lucky.
“What do you mean by ‘trademark psycho grin’?” asked Dusk.
“Oh you know what I'm talking about, whenever you think about her your face contorts into a dopey eyed psycho,” replied Lucky.
“I do not,” quickly replied Dusk while sporting a disapproving look.
“Yes you do here I’ll prove it; think about twilight sparkle and you on a date,” said Lucky.
Slightly confused Dusk wasn’t sure what that had to do with his face but his mind went to the idea of him and twilight on a date. Suddenly there was a bright flash which brought Dusk out of his induced day dream.
“See irrefutable proof.” Lucky was holding a small camera which spat out a developing picture, on it Dusk saw his face take a rather dark sinister smile that some would call crazy, it was rather damning evidence if he ever saw any.
“Since when did you have a camera?” asked Dusk hoping to change the subject.
“Oh I’ve had this thing for a while. Hey don’t change the subject,” said Lucky realizing Dusk’s attempt to avoid the subject.
“Well okay it was nice seeing you ponies again, bye.” Dusk waved bye as he walked away, he would rather retreat then face reality. He only got two steps before he was stopped.
“Fine! I’ll drop it; just don’t go,” said Lucky she didn’t want to see her friend leave just yet.
With a victorious grin Dusk did an imaginary hoof pump, and turned around showing a 100 megawatt smile. “So how have you ponies been are you here on a date or something?” Asked Dusk expecting some heated words for the implications, Dusk was however confused when he only got nervous stares and awkward stammering as replies.
“You two are on a date,” Said Dusk rather taken aback by the realization but quickly recovered. “That’s awesome you two.” with a wide smile Dusk was truly happy for the two. “I’ve always thought you two had great chemistry and seeing you two happily together is really cool. So how long have you been dating three four months?” asked Dusk.
“No it’s been going on for almost two years,” replied Hotshot.
Dusk’s reply was a mute shock plastered over his face. “Nearly two years?” Dusk shouted the words more than asking them. “Don’t you think that it’s been long past the point of marriage?”
“Not you too Dusk,” said Lucky wearing a hurt look,” we just want to take this relationship slow.”
“Slow?” replied Dusk trying to understand, “this from the two pegasi who could put the entire flight team to shame, the same pegasi who tried to break into a certain authors apartment to steal the manuscript so you could read it ‘now’, or the same pair who wanted to see the wonderbolts so badly we had to sneak into their locker room, with mostly my help mind you just only to get a glimpse before they kicked us out. I didn’t even think ‘slow’ was in your vocabulary.” Dusk was nearly out of breath at the end of his tangent huffing in air as his face went blue.
“Yes slow,” curtly replied Lucky, “we get it Dusk, us taking something slow is unimaginable but here we are, taking it slow.” Lucky nuzzled Hotshot unexpectedly but he returned the affection.
Hotshot shot a very serious look to Dusk to drop the issue now; Dusk finally got the message. “Fine okay, I'm just saying you two look wonderful together and I think this is the last thing you should take slow but it’s up to yow two” said Dusk.
“Yes it is, now I think we need some drinks,” said Lucky.
Walking the trio of good friends still felt the tension as they walked over to an outdoor café and order a few drinks to cool off.
“So what do you two do for a job now?” asked Dusk as he sipped some hot tea.
“Oh the both of us are captains in the guard,” replied Hotshot.
“Yup we both made captain a year ago, we used to work together but now we both have separate assignments,” said Lucky.
“Today happened to be a day off for the both of us so we decided to have a date,” said Hotshot.
“Being a guard can be a pain, like last month some diamond dogs tried to steal from the castle,” said Lucky.
“They tried to steal a jewel encrusted dragon egg worth upwards of two million bits,” said Hotshot.
“They broke in during the night while I was trading shifts with this bloke,” said Lucky.
“They had tripped the alarm and a regiment of guards bored down on all them,” said Hotshot.
“There were like five of them each in some sort of spy get up,” said Lucky.
“They had the egg in their paws but I managed to take it back,” said Hotshot.
“Yeah and guess what he does with it, he throws it at me” said Lucky.
“Well you caught it didn’t you,” said Hotshot.
“I barely caught the fragile thing, if I had dropped the thing; even if we worked the rest of our lives we would never be able to pay it off,” said Lucky.
“Then that left me to take care of the thieves, they didn’t last long though,” said Hotshot.
“Yeah, this brute hogged all the fun that night, brought down all five dogs while I and the other guards just watched the show,” laughed Lucky.
“Well I haven’t been able to flex these muscles outside of the bedroom,” said Hotshot as he brought his hoof up to flex it.
“Pshh I do most of the work while you just lie there,” snickered Lucky
Dusk sensing the conversation was heading in a rather uncomfortable area tried to change the subject.
“So,” interrupted Dusk so as to steer the conversation in a better direction, “I wasn’t the only pony to have adventures over these two years.”
“Yup being a guards pony is slow sometimes but then it’ll get hot and messy real fast,” said Lucky
“Yeah but there’s no other pony who I would rather get into a hot mess like that,” said Hotshot. That was when Hotshot decided to get a little affectionate with Lucky, giving her a deep kiss she didn’t mind in fact she returned the favor two fold, this wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t disturbing a particular third wheel of a pony. the loving couple only stopped when Dusk audibly cleared his throat.
“I-I can see you two are really close now huh,” said Dusk trying to banish the redness in his face.
The couple slightly embarrassed that they had gotten so intimate in public and in front of an old friend as well.
“Ah” Dusk was struggling to find another subject till a thought crossed his mind, “you two are guards at the castle right, so have you seen Princess Woona?” asked Dusk.
“Princess who?” asked Hotshot.
“I think he means Princess Luna,” clarified Lucky.
“Oh Princess Luna,” said Hotshot as realization dawned on his face.
“Her name’s not Woona?” asked Dusk.
“No,” replied Lucky, “why would you think so?” she asked.
“Well my grandma always told me” started Dusk but decided against it, “never mind so have you seen her?” he asked.
“Actually we both saw her at the welcoming ceremony here in Canterlot, but Lucky has seen her better than I have,” said Hotshot.
“Yeah I did see her, it was a late patrol and the sun was setting and then that was when I saw she was on a balcony. At first I noticed how much smaller she is compared to Celestia but still twice my size and her mane was still normal looking like ours but then she used her magic and her mane just came to life while all around me the moon and stars came out it was beautiful,” wistfully said Lucky.
“It sounds awesome,” said Dusk.
“It was, but enough about us what have you been doing in the south?” asked Lucky.
“Oh not much to mention,” replied Dusk.
“That’s not what I heard from your mom, she said that you did some crazy things down there like climbing the tallest mountain in the world and documenting plants and sending them here, so don’t be modest I heard you even fought in a war, what was that like? It must have been crazy what did your mom call them chang-” Lucky was cut off as Dusk banged his hoof on the table.
Dusk’s bright mood sank, he didn’t want to think about that war, nor talk to his friends about it he wanted to forget it, all of it. That was part of the reason why he came back, right? To stop hurting others and to protect?
Hotshot and Lucky were shocked, Dusk never got angry but this was the best word to describe him. This was not the happy go lucky friend they grew up with this was an dark angry pony; even his trademark psycho grin had a goofy quality to it which you could laugh at, however his expression now inspired fear and pain.
Dusk quickly regretted his reaction; he pulled his hoof back slowly and tried his best to smile. “Sorry I didn’t mean- I should go” said Dusk as he struggled to keep himself together.
“What, why?” asked his two best-friends.
“I am obviously a third wheel in the group,” said Dusk trying to avoid eye contact, “you two said that this was a date before I showed up, you two should enjoy each other’s company we can catch up later, in fact later this evening my parents are hosting a welcome back party for me, we can hang out then. I should really get going you know, see you two later then,” Dusk wanted to leave badly, to forget the outburst so he left quickly shooting off a quick wave at the two as he left.
“Bye,” replied the couple concerned for their dear friend but they didn’t know what they could do.
Walking away Dusk thought to himself “now what?’
“I should go to the market I'm really low on bits maybe some of the merchants will like my stuff” thought Dusk as he made his way to the market.
----
The Canterlot market was very different than what you would expect of an upscale place like the capitol, it was located in lower Canterlot, a massive collection of couple thousand stalls with colorful verandas on each of the stalls, all who had merchants hawking their wares to anyone with the bits. If one were to fly over it they would see what looked like a massive patchwork quilt and be hard pressed to find an opening in the canopy to land.
“This place is as lively as ever,” thought Dusk.
Here you could find anything from common food to the most exotic fruits and this wasn’t limited to legal wares either, if you knew where to look you could even find items that the law frowned upon like stuff owned by the princess herself but that’s a story for another day.
“I wonder if I can get some stir fried beetle” thought Dusk he had frequented the market several times growing up, and his experienced was always different and new.
Wandering the stalls Dusk expertly navigates the crowds, calling it the living labyrinth growing up he and his friends played and explored these same stalls that acted as solid walls and every week it would change a dead end would later lead to deeper into the market, and more than once did the trio get lost in their massive playground.
“I don’t recognize any of these merchants here,” thought Dusk, “hi excuse me do you know where I can find-” Dusk was interrupted before he could complete his question by a shout.
“Thief! Thief!” screamed a pony.
Turing his head Dusk could see a pony screaming at the top of his lungs struggling to get through the thick crowd all the while pointing at a floating bag.
“Sigh I guess the beetles can wait.” carefully pushing his way through the crowd Dusk was catching up with the thief making his way through the crowd Dusk spotted two unicorn guards in their signature gold armor who were just standing there not reacting to the audible pleas of the robbed pony.
“Hey aren’t you supposed to catch thieves?” asked Dusk pointing at the floating bag.
With a dull look in their eyes one of them said, “We are on break not our problem.”
“Break?” Shaking his head Dusk decided not to waste another breath on the lazy guards and continued after the thief.
The crowd began to thin to the point where Dusk could see the thief levitating the bag, it was a small unicorn colt probably ten years old, running as fast as his little hooves could take him. He while slower than Dusk had the advantage of a smaller stature and was able slip through tighter spaces, while Dusk struggled to not crash into anypony.
Slowing down to catch his breath the colt thinking he had lost any pursuers in the crowd paled when he spotted a very determined looking Dusk barreling towards him, any thought of rest was lost as the colt bolted even faster than before through the market.
Chasing after him Dusk was making little progress. “It’s dark enough right now I can do a simple spell,” thought Dusk.
Slowly the running image of Dusk began to shift into a dark mist which took some ponies by surprise the mist was fast, moving through the crowd without any resistance and was nearly on the colt till the colt turned into a corner, following after him the mist reconstituted itself as Dusk, the alley was a dead end with a few crates but no colt or stolen bag.
“Hey kid I know your hiding here just hoof over the bag and we’re good” called out Dusk into the alley.
No response “you think I'm going to fall for that? think again,” thought the small colt.
“Come on as long as you just return it you won’t have to go to jail” Dusk continued to call out to the colt hoping to convince him to surrender the stolen goods.
Dusk scanned all the crates sending dark tendrils of mist into all corners of the alley like a dark fog till he sensed the small colt hiding in one of the crates, slowly making his way towards the crate he idly kicked it, this caused the colt to yelp.
“I know you’re in there kid, come out and just hoof over whatever you took and I’ll be on my way,” said Dusk.
The lid of the crate lifted just a bit to show the horn and face of the colt.
“You promise I won’t go to jail if I hoof it over,” asked the colt.
“I promise,” replied Dusk.
Slowly the colt got out of the crate levitating the bag of stolen goods.
“Okay here’s the bag,” said the colt levitating the bag towards Dusk, but just before it was within his grasp a bright flash blinded Dusk. Even though he was blind Dusk was used to darkness hearing the shuffling of hooves trying to get past him Dusk shot out his hoof to close line the running colt, feeling contact Dusk knew he had sent the tricky colt to the ground pinning him where he was.
“Let me go!” shouted the colt.
“Not until you fork over the bag,” simply stated Dusk.
“No!” replied the colt.
“Why not?” asked Dusk as he struggled to keep the colt pinned.
Just then a stallion appeared coming out from the corner. “Good you caught the little cretin now where’s my stuff” said the pony.
Looking around the stallion’s expression brightened up spotting his bag. Ripping the bag out of the colt’s magic grip he inspected the contents. Good it’s all here now for you, you little snot” sneered the pony.
“Hey you got your stuff back you don’t need to punish the kid or anything” said Dusk hoping that the pony would just let the colt scott free.
“No way, this little punk is going away for a long time, ain’t that right?” rhetorically asked the pony, he stamped his leg near the colts face kicking up dust sending the colt into a coughing fit. With a sinister grin the stallion looked down on the colt “and if you’re lucky your parents might even visit you.”
Just then the little colts breathing became very erratic his pupils becoming pinpricks tears running down his face while his heartbeat was a going a mile minute. “Hey kid you okay?” Asked Dusk.
Dusk was seriously worried about the colt, getting off him he noticed something was gravely wrong with. “Hey calm down, its fine just breath like this; inhale, exhale.” showing the colt how he was taking deep breaths.
“Why are you so concerned about this street urchin?” asked the pony as he tightly held his bag.
Ignoring the stallion Dusk made a quick examination of the colt.
“Hey kid calm down your little heart isn’t designed to pump that fast,” said Dusk with a hint of worry in his voice.
The colt didn’t seem to be paying attention to Dusk, his heavy breathing turning into haggard breaths punctuated by coughs. “I don’t like this,” muttered Dusk.
“Just leave him he’s probably faking and if not, no pony would miss him if you leave him to-” the pony stopped as Dusk just shot him an angry glare.
That was the last straw for Dusk he was going to give the pony a piece of his mind but that was when it happened the small pule he felt just stopped. Several things ran through Dusk’s mind: anxiety, fear, anger, worry, sadness, but the strongest thought he had was determination.
“Come on you bag o’ wonders don’t fail me now,” said Dusk as he quickly dug into his saddle bag pulling out an odd crystal attached to two differing colored wires.
“Hey you know what this is?” asked Dusk to the other pony, “This here is a mini defibrillator I made from some scrap wire and a shock crystal,” said Dusk as he slowly attached the wires to the chest of the colt.
“Don’t worry you’ll be up in no time kiddo,” said Dusk as he shouted, “clear!” Sending a small jolt into the colt, Dusk went to check on the his pulse to find a small but steady regular beat, breathing a sigh of relief Dusk just plopped himself down on the ground by the colt. “That’s good just rest for now kid,” Dusk watched as the chest of the unconscious colt rose and fell softly. Unhooking the defibrillator Dusk put it away in his bag.
“And as for you, you cold hearted-” Dusk wanted to rip him a new one, only to stop and pause seeing his face was filled with worry and regret directed towards the unconscious colt lying on the ground. Dusk heaved a sigh letting go of any lingering anger. “Don’t worry he’ll be fine, he just needs to see a good doctor, some bed rest, and not a cold lonely jail cell.”
The merchant silently nodded. “Don’t worry I'm not going to say anything, it’s just this bag contains my whole life and that’s no understatement, I was angry at him but now I can’t help but worry I guess I'm just weird,” said the merchant.
“I can understand that, but mind me asking what’s so important inside the bag?” asked Dusk.
“Sure you got it back for me; I might as well show you.” Opening the bag just enough to see inside the bag, Dusk spotted well over two dozen gems of all varying sizes and color, Dusk released a low whistle he could see the colt had a small fortune in his hooves.
“I was supposed to meet a buyer here in the market but they never showed. I was about to leave before well I got robbed” said the merchant.
“Shouldn’t you do these kinds of things in a far less crowded areas like a café or a restaurant?” asked Dusk.
“Yeah I know” replied the merchant “but I was just so eager, they just offered me so many bits despite how badly the gem market was doing, but I was about to decline because of how shady it was but they just offered more bits, that should have warned me that this was too good to be true, they never showed up and I nearly get robbed but thank Celestia you were there to get my gems back, I even passed these two guards but they did absolutely nothing when I said I was robbed, I swear this like the third time I’ve heard robberies happen because of lazy guards this past month,” the merchant huffed.
“I'm glad you are so lively, you said you were selling those gems right, how much?” asked Dusk.
“Sorry but no offense or anything” said the merchant as he looked at Dusk sizing him up, “but these are some of the higher grade gem variants, way out of your price range.”
“I asked how much,” said Dusk.
“10,000 bits” said the merchant expecting Dusk to either complain or back off.
“Hmm okay.” Dusk mulled this number over he didn’t have bits but he certainly had stuff worth bits. Reaching into his bag Dusk pulled out a large purple gem. “I hope this is enough to cover for the whole bag.”
“Cover?” asked the merchant in disbelief. “That- this is enough to buy three of my bags, do you know what you’re holding? This- this gem is called the alicorn’s eye and is the only gem Princess Celestia herself sees fit to use.” The merchant was practically salivating looking at the gem.
“Three times?” asked Dusk surprised at the projected value, “This thing is hard pressed to go for 15 hundred, see the minor defects here and here that lowers the price significantly,” Dusk pointed to a small chip and scuff letting the merchant get a closer look.
“Yeah I see it now, but that is still more than enough for this bag” said the merchant.
“So is it a sale?” asked Dusk.
“You bet it is,” replied the merchant.
“Just promise me,” just as Dusk was about to complete the transaction he paused. “You won’t tell the guards about what this colt did he really needs to rest.”
“So you’re just trying to buy my silence huh?” asked the merchant.
“To be blunt yes,” replied Dusk.
“Sure I got other things to worry about anyway. After I turn this baby around, a few debts to clear and drinks to buy,” said the merchant as the trade was made.
“Good, now not to be rude but I think he would rather not wake up to the stallion who threatened to turn him in,” said Dusk as he pointed at the colt on the ground.
“Okay I got it buddy I’ll be on my way,” said the merchant. Leaving the merchant was nearly out of sight but turned around. “Hey I forgot to ask your name” asked the merchant.
“Ah my name is Dusk Night,” replied Dusk, “and you?”
“Oh just call me the Procurer, I find things lost items, gems, rare artifacts all legit mind you, and I charge a finder’s fee. If it exists I can get it for a price, here’s my card if you ever need anything, just look for my shop in upper Canterlot.” Procurer passed a card to Dusk with his shops name Canterlot Finds, and its location.
“Thanks, now off with you.” Dusk made a shooing move with his hoof.
“Fine ciao,” huffed procurer as he left for real.
Dusk sighed and turned to the motionless; but thankfully breathing body of the colt. “Now what to do with you, I don’t even know your name,” said Dusk.
--
“Ugh, what happened?” thought the colt, he really wanted to groan but he knew better than that. “Okay Everglow let’s run back what you remember,” he mentally asked himself as he tried to recall the past events to deduce his current state.
“I had taken the jewels from the mark as asked and then bolted, but what happened next? I think I was chased by some unicorn, did I lose him? Nope that’s right he trapped me, I had to hide in the crate, then he found me he had blathered on about letting me go if I hoofed over the jewels like I'm that stupid I blinded him then blank… no.”
“Hey kid I know you’re awake, your eyes are moving way too erratically for an unconscious pony,” Dusk said lazily.
Bolting upright into an aggressive stance Everglow was ready, except his body didn’t want to listen. As soon as he was on all fours he fell to his knees. “Stupid body, get up.” thought Everglow.
“Hey take it easy you just came back from the dead there,” said Dusk.
Shooting Dusk a confused; but still hostile look the colt struggled to reign in his body.
“Here drink this; it’ll make you feel better.” Dusk dropped an open bottle with a purple liquid that sloshed around inside.
Everglow smelled the contents “sweet,” muttered Everglow but he shot a glare at Dusk “why should I drink this? There might be something inside,” said Everglow.
“Drink it or not it doesn’t change the fact you would be dead if not for my help” said Dusk flatly.
“What do you mean?” asked Everglow.
“You went in to cardiac arrest, so I used a defibrillator on you to jump start your heart. I suspect you have a sever arrhythmia of the heart and I suggest you go to a doctor to get it looked after” said Dusk.
This didn’t clear anything up for Everglow, only causing his confused look to deepen pleading with Dusk to give him an answer a colt could understand.
“I guess you wouldn’t understand medical jargon; maybe I should explain better but promise me you won’t panic okay,” asked Dusk.
Everglow realizing he wasn’t going anywhere fast just nodded resting his weary body, still eyeing Dusk and the drink.
“Okay well simply put your heart stopped, so I had to restart it with a jolt,” said Dusk.
Everglow’s face just darkened that wasn’t what he expected to hear.
“Okay I answered your question now are you going to drink it or not?” Dusk pointed at the drink resting in front of Everglow. “It’ll make you feel better if you drink it I swear.”
Everglow just looked at the bottle if Dusk was telling the truth he had just died and been brought back to life, he felt like that was the case so what more could the drink do, so Everglow just decided to drink the bottles contents in one big swig, it tasted as sweet as it smelt and he felt oddly better.
“Good,” said Dusk as he watched Everglow finish off the bottle. “Now I'm going to need you to answer some questions they may seem odd but just bear with me,” said Dusk.
“What are the questions for?” asked Everglow.
“It’s to see if there was any lasting brain damage.” Answered Dusk.
“Brain damage?” Everglow asked as concern and curiosity overcame him.
“Yes, brain damage” answered Dusk as he pulled a clip board from his bag, “since your heart stopped pumping for a moment there is a minute chance of damage so I'm going to ask you a couple of cognitive questions, to gauge if you suffered any damage okay?” said Dusk.
“Yeah that’s fine,” answered Everglow.
“So first question, what is your name?” asked Dusk.
“My name’s Everglow,” replied Everglow.
“Good, now what’s your guardian’s name?” asked Dusk.
“My mom’s name is Elegant glow,” replied Everglow.
“Good what does she do for a living, do you know?” asked Dusk.
“She’s a merchant, she sells the best glow crystals here in this market,” proudly replied Everglow.
“Okay for now I’ll assume those were all correct, now let us see how good you are in mental math,” said Dusk.
A low groan escaped the poor colt’s lips, Dusk just smiled at the display.
--
“Okay after my preliminary check you appear perfectly healthy now time to get you to see a real doctor” said Dusk.
“Wait, you mean you’re not a doctor?” asked Everglow in disbelief.
“Nope” proudly proclaimed Dusk, “but I did study to be one, and I’ve seen my dad do it plenty of times to pretend to know what I'm doing.” with a silly grin Dusk playfully played with the mane of Everglow.
Everglow just gawked at the stallion shocked that he let an amateur diagnose him Everglow was starting to think he maybe shouldn’t have drunk that medicine anymore.
“I'm joking about that last part, don’t worry I know what I'm doing but I would feel better if I got you to a professional.” said Dusk.
“You know my name so what’s yours doc?” asked Everglow.
“Funny my name is Dusk night, but just call me Dusk,” said Dusk. “I'm glad you’re able to take this event in stride most ponies would be panicking right now,” said Dusk.
“Yes but not most ponies have had to deal with creatures that could eat you on a daily basis” said Everglow.
“Really, and what are these creatures?” asked Dusk.
“Griffons most ponies avoid them but they’re not that scary, and dragons most ponies run from those but they don’t scare me,” said Everglow puffing out his chest. “My mom trades with all different kinds of races so I got used to seeing razor sharp things most ponies would faint at,” said Everglow.
“Everglow it’s been bugging me, but why did you steal those gems?” asked Dusk.
“I stole them because I was asked to,” said Everglow.
“You were asked to steal?” asked Dusk.
“Yeah they would pay me if I did, I’ve done it a few times already I would steal from the mark and stash the merchandise for them to pick up. Some of my other friends told me about them, they told me even if somehow they got caught they always got released, but I haven’t been caught yet, till now,” said Everglow.
“Did you ever see these ponies?” asked Dusk.
“No but I did hear them one time, there were two of them, I heard them arguing about the split but I just hid, why is it important?” asked Everglow.
“No not really but promise me something you won’t steal again, okay?” Dusk pressed his two front hooves together in a pleading a manner hoping to coax an agreement from Everglow.
“Sure” replied Everglow, “I won’t steal anymore, but Dusk you caught me right, what happened to the jewels?” asked Everglow.
“I gave them back to the pony” replied Dusk.
“You what, why would you give them back?” Everglow was in utter disbelief not that it was new around this pony.
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” replied Dusk.
“You could have easily pocketed them,” said Everglow.
“I said it was the right thing to do, and as for you no more stealing you’re lucky I don’t hoof you over to the guards to lock you up,” said Dusk.
“First you hoof over the gems then you even let me go boy are you a colt scout,” said Everglow.
“You bet, I have over forty badges to show,” Said Dusk as he mocked a salute.
Everglow just groaned at Dusk for his stupidly proud grin for such an obvious insult. “Sure whatever come on let’s go see a real doctor then,” said Everglow.
“Nuh-uh, we need to see your mom first, you said she was a merchant here so let’s stop by her stall she needs to know what happened to you,” said Dusk.
“What? No, not my mom I’d rather go to jail than tell her what happened.” Quickly Everglow tried to run off but was picked up and hefted onto Dusk’s back.
“You aren’t walking while I'm around not till you’ve been checked out you hear me,” said Dusk to the desperate colt. Everglow struggled helplessly against Dusk “Would you rather she find out the truth while you were in a jail cell?” asked Dusk.
Everglow stopped his struggling and resigned himself to his fate. “Fine I’ll tell you where the shop is.” Everglow lazily pointed in the direction of his mother’s shop, Dusk smiled and followed the colt’s instructions to the shop.
As the two ponies bounded away another pair of ponies entered the alley.
“Are the gems not really there?” asked one of the ponies let’s call him Bob.
“Nope it’s not” said the other pony as he dug in the crate that Everglow was in before “what do we do?” he asked let’s call him Kim.
“No way that pony just hoofed them over, he must have them on him, we just need to take them both in for questioning,” said Bob.
“What if they resist?” asked Kim.
“If they do we just arrest them, I mean who argues with a guards pony” said bob I don’t like bob.