Dreadwing was on alert. As a member of Princess Luna's guard, he usually was. All guards took their duty seriously, but he always liked to think that he really went out of his way to ensure the safety of his royal entourage. While he served both princesses, his true loyalty was to the Night Princess and he would ensure that no harm would come to her, especially from this intruder they were told to be on the lookout for.
That was what he and his partner Knock-Out were on alert for, stationed outside of Luna's royal chambers. All of the Shadow Guard were patrolling Canterlot right this minute, with orders to capture the intruder if they spotted him and bring him straight to the princess. With so many guards combing the city, he wouldn't escape them long. Even if he did somehow manage to make it past the others, Dreadwing knew he wasn't going to get by them.
"So, what do we know about this guy?" asked Knock-Out, his pristine armour glinting in the light. "Why does he want to get to the princess?"
Dreadwing bristled from some annoyance. "The princess has enemies, Knock-Out. We're here to protect her from them. That's all we need to know."
"I knew that, obviously," he snapped. "It's just that we've barely been told anything, other than a little bit about what he looks like and to prevent his progress here. Doesn't that bother you at all? How are we supposed to protect the princess if we barely know what we're looking for?"
He bristled again. Did he ever stop talking? "I trust her highness's judgement, as should you."
He frowned at him. "Hmph, I knew you'd say something like that. You rarely do question the word of Luna, do you?"
"I focus on my duty. Something you should do, other than polishing your armour every second of the day."
"Hey! At least I can take pride in how I look," he retorted. "If I'm going to face up against a threat, it shall be looking my absolute fiercest!"
"Yes, nothing says fierce like an extra coat of turtle wax," Dreadwing countered.
"Hmph," he said again, but moved the subject away. "Do you know who I think the intruder is?"
"Please, enlighten me."
"You remember the reports about somepony who apparently broke into the Star Swirl wing, taking out guards without so much as raising a hoof?" he whispered. "That's who my money's on and I'll be looking forward to meeting him face to face."
"I'm sure you can't."
"I hear that he has the power to get inside your head and to disguise himself perfectly as one of us," he went on. "In fact, I could be him right now and you wouldn't have even noticed."
"Does that give me an excuse to knock you out then?" he asked curtly.
"Hey, hey, no need for that, I was only suggesting," he placated hastily. "I'm only saying from what I heard."
"Then how about you stop listening to rumours and let your eyes see the evidence for yourself?"
"I suppose you're right. He could never hope to compete with me and my finish, that's for certain," Knock-Out preened smugly and frowned. "Something wrong, Dreadwing?"
The vigilant guard had already stopped listening to his fellow's prattle and had focused his shadow-piercing eyes down the hallway. He had stopped listening the moment he saw a flash of movement, just for a moment.
"Dreadwing, what are you looking at?" asked Knock-Out irritably. "I thought you were telling me to stay focused, now here you are-"
"Shut up and check down that corridor," he ordered sharply. "I saw something there and I want to know what."
"You did?" Knock-Out glanced nervously. "Perhaps… it was one of ours?"
"If so, then why did he or she not announce themselves?" He nodded sharply. "Like I said, go and investigate."
He was still defiant. "Why don't you go?"
"Because I ordered you to. Now, go!"
He lingered a moment longer and moved off. "Better hope this doesn't ruin my armour."
He marched off into the dark hallway, until even Dreadwing lost sight of him and, thankfully, could no longer hear his petty complaints.
He squinted through the dark, hearing the steady clatter of Knock-Out's armour and his vague muttering. All of a sudden, he heard a louder crash and silence. The sound a pony in full amour would make if they were knocked out and dropped to the floor.
"Who goes there?" he called out. "Show yourself and surrender!"
Again, for a moment there was nothing. He stood tensed, ready to act at a moment's notice. Good thing he did, for a second later, something burst out of the shadows, barked past him and galloped down the corridor. Recovering quickly, he started to give chase after the shape, that appeared to have some strange sparkling quality to it.
He wouldn't get away, not from a member of the Shadow Guard!
But wait… why would he run straight down here when Luna's chambers were right here? He whipped around, saw a figure opening the door that certainly wasn't a guard and charged, tackling him before he could even set one hoof inside.
"Don't struggle," he growled to him. "Believe me, it'll be a lot worse if you do."
"It seems… rather bad right now," the intruder replied. "You responded quickly… well done, sir."
Wait… that voice sounded familiar. Now that he looked, his form was definitely known to him. He had seen him many times in the presence of Luna, to say the least.
"Hold on," he began, "are you not-?"
"Lieutenant!" He snapped his head up to see Luna bearing down upon him. "What in the name of sanity do you think you're doing?!"
"Your Highness," he said, bowing his head as much as he could, "I was only trying to-"
"To what?" she snapped. "To cause serious injury to my student? Because if that is the case, then you are certainly performing in an exemplary fashion in that area."
Those words struck him like an electric shock, jolting him up off the pony he now recognised as Dusk Noir, Princess Luna's student.
"My apologies, sir!" he said quickly. "I should have checked who it was before proceeding to attack, sir!"
"Don't feel bad about it, lieutenant," he assured. "You reacted as I would have expected you to against something suspicious. Good work, though as you said, check next time."
"Thank you, sir, duly noted, sir and once again, my apologies, sir!"
"Accepted and you don't have to keep calling me sir," he added. "Call me Dusk. I'm not your commanding officer."
"Yes si… I mean, Dusk," he corrected. "Thank you again."
"No trouble. May I, Luna?" he added to the princess.
"But of course, step inside." The benevolent smile she gave him returned to a frown when she looked back at Dreadwing. "You are lucky my student is so forgiving. See you do not make the same mistake twice."
"Yes, Your Highness," he bowed. "Permission to go and check on Knock-Out and return to my duties"
"Granted. By the way, lieutenant," she added, glancing over her shoulder, "tell the others they may stand down. The intruder has been captured now."
"Yes, Your Highness. Wait, he has? But, what does that-?"
"That will be all, thank you." Without another word, she shut the door with a snap.
Dreadwing stood there for a moment, blinked once and then sighed. Though he was loyal to Luna with every fibre in his being, even he could see the obvious traits she shared with her elder sister. All too well…
"He's gone now, Luna," Dusk said, once she'd closed the door. "You can stop holding it in now."
"Why, Dusk I… I know not what you are referring to," she said in an attempt at a serious voice.
"If you say so," he shrugged. "I just thought you would have found it funny when you made one of your guards look like a bit of a fool there."
"Why… why would I find that… amusing?" she asked, her voice stuttering from giggles.
"I think I would have, just a little bit though," he went on. "Just when he thought he had accomplished his task, you emerged from your room and made him think twice."
"I… I suppose…
"I mean, I saw the look on his face there and I had to restrain myself a little bit to keep a straight face. I can only imagine how it must be for-"
He was cut off when, as he predicted, Luna burst out in a fit of laughter, almost doubled over from how much mirth she expressed. He had to wait about five minutes and even joined in a little bit himself until she finally calmed down.
"Oh… oh dear," she giggled, wiping away a few tears of laughter. "As much as I appear to disapprove of my sister's occasional pranks, I can certainly see the appeal of them."
"Clearly."
"Yes. Not that I would often stoop to such levels," she added, trying to regain her composure. "Not all of the time, but now and again…"
"Of course," he nodded. "Are you finished now?"
"A moment…" She let out a few more laughs, took a deep breath and straightened up. "I am contented."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes… wait, no… now I am, yes." She took one more breath and turned to him. "Onto business then. An excellent display of stealth for the most part. I shall be questioning each of the guards to see how your overall performance was, but you seemed to do well until the last part there."
"I noticed, yes," he nodded. "I meant to distract one and render the other unconscious. I was just unlucky, I suppose."
"Only in that you didn't know your opponents as well as you could have," she said wisely. "I would have knocked out Dreadwing due to his greater loyalty, then distract Knock-Out, for he would have been easier to do so. It does well for you to know your enemies as well as you know your friends."
"I understand, Luna," he replied. "On the subject of enemies, how's the search for Tube and Edge coming along?"
"I regret to say a lot more difficult than we anticipated," she answered. "They are moving with admirable forethought, never staying in one location for very long and leaving relatively few witnesses."
"What about the raids on their homes and workplaces?"
"Those haven't amounted to much either, apart from finding more evidence that only confirms what we already know about them," she said. "Captain Shining is performing one on Tube's home in a few days, but my hopes remain low that they'll find anything."
He felt an amount of disappointment. "I see. I'm sorry to hear that."
"As am I." She shook her head. "It seems like every time we pick up their trail, it almost immediately goes cold again."
"Do we at least know where they might be going?"
"Nothing for definite, but they seem to be moving towards Equestria's border with the land the Changelings call home," she said, with a slight grim note. "If they do pass in there, we would have to call off the search. Our relations with the Changelings are flimsy at best and it wouldn't do well to allow law enforcers to enter their land without permission."
Dusk nodded in understanding. "Let's hope they don't get that far then."
"Indeed, though it does work a little in our favour," she added. "If they do cross their border, they might not take kindly to ponies intruding on their land and do the work for us. There's something else too…"
"What about?"
"Occasionally, when we receive witness reports, there appears to be a third figure with them," she explained. "Often described as rather tall and wearing a hooded cloak, but these are so infrequent they're almost negligible. Would you happen to know anything, Dusk?"
"I don't really know," he replied, remembering that image he saw in the fire. "They might have just picked up some additional help. A mercenary or bodyguard, something along those lines."
"That is a reasonable explanation, I suppose." She looked thoughtful for a few moments before lightening up. "Still, you shouldn't concern yourself so much. You've done your part and I shall see to it that we shall do ours. You have nothing to fear, Dusk."
"I'm assured of that much, thank you, Luna," he bowed. "You still surprise me sometimes with the lengths you'll go to, rather like the girls."
"Well, what are friends for? Especially if they are of royalty," she said proudly. "Now, I shall have one of my carriages return you home. As I understand, you have a celebration to attend to."
He returned the smile and allowed her to lead him to one of her carriages and wave him off, feeling a little better. Though he still had some minor worries concerning this subject, Dusk knew also there wasn't any point in doing so. It was out of his hooves and he would have to trust in the royal forces to capture their quarry.
Besides, at the minute he had a more pressing concern, by making sure that he made it to this party on time. The streets of Ponyville were mostly empty when he arrived back, with a few houses darkened apart from a few exceptions, giving some additional light to the streets, but not a lot. Most would have found the darkness eerie, but with Dusk, considering how long he'd spent around shadows and that he was in his home, he didn't feel threatened at all.
Remembering the directions, he soon reached the house in question. It was rather easy to remember, as it was on the road that went down to the farm. Quite appropriate for him, really. On the outside, it looked like many of the other houses, though his was a lot closer to the centre of town than Dusk's. Probably wouldn't be the only difference.
He knocked on the door and was greeted seconds later by a very excited Pinkie Pie.
"Dusk, you're just in time!" she exclaimed, pulling him inside. "You can help me look for Ray. Rainbow Dash needs him to do a challenge with her he said he'd do tonight!"
"So, I haven't missed much then?" he asked with a laugh. "Where is the stallion of the hour, anyway?"
"I dunno, that's why I'm looking around for him," she said brightly. "See, the others are all waiting in the kitchen for him to show up because he wondered off while we were playing pin-the-tail-on-the-pony and I thought I'd be able to find him super-fast, but now you're here and we can find him even faster with your psychic powers!"
"I'm sure that it won't be too difficult," he said, walking into the living room, "especially considering he's just there on the couch."
"He is?" She looked to see that he was right. "Hm, whaddya know? Guess your powers make you more observant than me. Anyway, see you both in the kitchen. We saved you some cake!"
Before he had the chance to say anything else, she darted off back in the direction of the kitchen. Dusk could now hear the sounds of excited, happy voices echoing from that direction and looked closer at Ray now. He didn't appear to have noticed his presence and was sitting on the couch, apparently deep in thought. What was he doing here, away from the others?
He was somewhat the focus here, as this was his housewarming party that Pinkie threw for him. Looking around, he could see that it was decorated to a greater extent than his own. The walls were covered with flagstone-designed wallpaper, plenty of furniture and a few odd decorations. Two noteworthy examples were a regal-dragon-head bust placed atop the stand next to the couch, and an intricately-designed sword placed on display on the wall.
These must be items that he collected on his travels. At least he gave it his own unique taste. Putting that aside for now, he sat down next to his friend, who still didn't seem to notice him.
"You know, as I understand it, the real party's in the kitchen, waiting for the guest of honour," he remarked.
"Huh?" He snapped his head up and grinned. "Oh, hey buddy. When did you get here?"
"Just a few seconds ago," he said. "Luna let me go so I could come."
"Taskmaster being kind tonight, eh?" He chuckled a little. "Don't worry, just kidding. Well, you showed up just in time to one of the best parties this side of Ponyville!"
Dusk glanced around the empty room. "Yes, I was about to ask them to keep it down. I can't hear myself think."
"Is that sarcasm I detect? Who are you and what have you done with Dusk?" Dusk smiled as he glanced the pipe he regularly used in the corner. "To be fair, we've done a few games and stuff while you weren't here and I've been issued a challenge by Rainbow Dash."
"Yes, I heard about that," he nodded. "Considering this is Rainbow, what have you gotten yourself into?"
"It's fine, nothing big. We're just gonna stuff apples in our mouths to see who can hold the most without choking on them."
Dusk blinked. "To prove what, exactly?"
"To see who can hold the most apples, obviously."
"Right… and is there a penalty?"
"The loser has to do whatever the winner wants for one occasion, on one day."
"I see…"
"Yeah, you can see the look on her face now when she loses." He sighed and laughed again. "You know, after all the time I spent travelling, it's nice to settle down like this."
"I suppose it would be." He glanced when he noticed a slight break in Ray's voice and saw that his eyes were starting to well with tears. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
"Hm? Oh, don't worry, it's nothing," he said with a smile, wiping them away. "It just… just feels good to have others who care about me for once."
Dusk was rendered speechless by this. Though he was a lot more confident, blunt and forward than he was, it was easy to forget that, in some ways, he and Ray were very similar. They'd both spent most of their lives without true friends and now they'd both found them, here in this town. But the one difference was that it had been Dusk who had helped Ray find that.
He was the one who had made a difference in his life. If he could manage that, then his own really wasn't as pointless as he had once believed.
"Hey, Strike!" Rainbow called from the kitchen. "You gonna get in here and do this or are you just gonna chicken out?"
"You wish!" he replied, snapped out of his state. "Right, let's do this. You wanna come and watch her downfall?"
"I might as well," he shrugged, returning the smile. "Somepony has to be on standby in case one of you starts choking."
"I'll be fine," he dismissed. "Lungs aren't that important, right?"
The following day, on one of his breaks from the library, Dusk stood outside of Sugarcube Corner where he was due to meet with Pinkie Pie and head down with her to the spa with the others. It had been a while since he'd been and he was quite looking forward to it. A nice dip in some warm water was just what he needed… maybe some time in the sauna too.
He still smiled when he remembered last night. Ray and Rainbow had been closely matched in their contest, it had been Rainbow who had won by one apple, after about ten. Ray had tried, but he'd coughed up all of the ones he had and ended up on the floor, much to the evident distress of Fluttershy.
Dusk didn't know what had been worse to watch: Rainbow's triumphant smile or Ray's expression when he realised he'd lost. Now, it was up to her what to decide what his penalty would be. If he was at the spa, he might ask him, if she hadn't done it already…
"Excuse me? Could you tell me where I might Sugarcube Corner?"
He turned at the sound of the voice, a bit of a Trottingham accent to it he noted and saw the pony who stood there. As he smiled pleasantly, Dusk took him in. Tan brown fur, darker brown mane and tail cut to a short length, dressed a blue suit with a red tie, an hourglass for his cutie mark. He wore a pair of reading glasses, not unlike his own and held a Ponyville Guidebook in his hoof.
The sight of him struck a chord in his memory, though he couldn't think as to why.
The stallion frowned a little. "Something wrong?"
He'd obviously spent too long being silent, so Dusk moved to correct that to avoid being rude.
"No, you just…" He thought of saying what was on his mind, but decided not to. "Yes, sorry, where did you want to go?"
"Sugarcube Corner." He held up the book. "I saw the name in a guidebook and I thought 'that sounds like a place for any good pony'. I mean, just the name alone. It's got sugar and it's got cubes, two things we ponies love. Not sure how ponies feel about corners. Usually corners mean something bad like 'backed into a corner', 'go and stand in the corner', 'you are cornered and now you will die'. Hm, I don't hear that one as much anymore, but still…"
"I see," muttered Dusk, having no idea what he was talking about. "Well, I'm fairly sure that, in that guidebook it would tell you how to find the bakery in question."
His eyes widened in apparent surprise. "Oh I see, right of course!"
"Also, if you'd look up, you'd see that you've found it," he added, gesturing to it.
The stallion looked at the book, then at Sugarcube Corner and grinned like he'd just been told he was now Mayor of town.
"Splendid, absolutely marvellous! Who needs this silly thing then?" He tossed the book away and turned his smile to Dusk. "Thank you very much for your help, young colt."
"Um… glad to be of service?" replied Dusk unsurely.
"I'm sure you are and such a good citizen deserves a reward for his efforts." He fished inside his pockets and gave Dusk something before he could say anything. "There you go, my thanks from me to you."
Dusk, feeling startled, looked at the item. "It's… a key."
"Indeed it is."
"A very old key, by the look of it…"
"A very old and very big key, I think you'll notice."
"I see… well, what does it unlock?"
"Absolutely no idea."
"And… you don't want it?"
"No thank you. I think you'll find this a lot more useful than I will."
Dusk could almost feel the weight behind those words, almost like he was saying more than he intended. He was going to ask, but considering this stallion's track record so far, he doubted he'd be able to understand the answer.
"I'll bear that in mind." He stored the key away and did his best to return the smile. "Thank you then, sir."
"My pleasure." He cocked his head to one side. "Something else wrong?"
"No, not at all just…" All of this did seem rather familiar for some reason. "Pardon my asking, sir, but have we met before?"
The stallion shrugged. "Not to my knowledge. But, you never know, maybe you've met me before and I don't remember or we're meant to meet, but we haven't yet, or maybe you met me when I wasn't me at all. Yeah, sorry, I've got a bit of a complex life, things don't usually happen in quite the right order."
"I'm sure they don't," he nodded, again completely confused. "Right, well… I hope you like what they have on offer."
"I'm sure I will, especially if there's any edible ball bearings. I've said it before and I'll say it again, marvellous invention, absolutely brilliant." He flashed another grin, almost like Ray would. "Well, you be sure to have a nice day too."
"I hope so. Wait, excuse me a moment," he said, just as the stallion walked off inside, "I didn't get your name there."
"No, I suppose you didn't. Very few do." And without saying anything else, the strange stallion left, replaced not long after by an equally strange mare.
"Heya Dusky, thanks for waiting for me!" Pinkie greeted. "I just had to finish baking a batch of brownies while also feeding Pound and Pumpkin. I managed to do both at the same time! Working at a bakery really helps, especially if you wanna a snack or you need to feed some hungry babies and you have a rolling pin handy for mashing some spare cakes into baby food."
"I… suppose that would help…" He didn't really register what Pinkie said, still trying to figure out what had happened prior to her arrival.
This didn't escape her notice. "Hey, you look a little bamboozled and that was before I got here. You okay, Dusky?"
"Well…" He thought for a moment and answered by smiling easily. "Never mind, it's nothing important. A bit of what you might call a nutcase came by, but nothing to worry about."
"Aw, don't be too harsh on nutcases, Dusky or where else are we supposed to keep all our nuts if not in a nutcase?" she asked seriously.
"That's a fair point. Now, care to accompany me to the spa, Miss Pie?" he offered.
"Why, it would be my absolute pleasure, Mr Noir," she replied, in a very close approximation of Rarity's accent. "See, that's one of the things I like about you. You're polite and nice without being too fancy."
"It's always preferable to have something in moderation," he shrugged. "But thank you for the compliment, Pinkie."
She laughed a little. "Wow, you really have changed a lot from the pony who almost experienced a tone of A-flat when I met him."
"I suppose I have," he chuckled. "Even I get surprised from how much has changed from when I used to think I wasn't worth it."
"Yep, now you've got a bunch of great friends, a nice home, a princess as your teacher and you're on my list with Twilight for one of the cutest, lovey-doviest couples I've ever seen!" she squealed.
He blushed a little. "I'm sure she'll appreciate that too, Pinkie."
"You read my mind," she giggled. "I always wondered, actually. How did you two meet?"
"Pinkie, you know how we met."
"No, I don't mean how you met met. I mean, how you met before you met because you met her and wanted to meet her more, but she hadn't met you enough to say that she'd want to meet you and you didn't even know if she'd wanna meet you."
He had to think for about a minute on that. "You mean… when did I first see her?"
"Yeah, that." She beamed brightly. "That's another thing I like about you. You always know just how to say stuff right."
"Thank you for that." He paused for a few seconds. "I suppose the first time… I had just arrived at Princess Celestia's School for the Gifted. They had onsite dorms there and I was already rather independent because… well, you know why."
"I get it, yeah," she nodded. "Go on."
"Well, it seemed nice enough. The teachers were good, I knew I could keep on top of the work if I tried, but as you know I thought about myself very differently back then." He stared off away from her. "I didn't try and make any friends and none of them really tried to speak to me, maybe because of that. I was… forgettable, really. Everypony never really seemed to notice I was there and didn't take much note of it when they did.
"The library was my regular safe haven. I'd go there, get some fact and fiction books for myself and just read for as long as I could. It was the only place I really felt accepted and safe, among all those books. I thought that was how it would always be. Until, about five days after I came there, I just remember this sweet voice ask me one question that gave me some hope."
"And what was that?"
He chuckled a little. "It's funny now. It was a simple question, one you might expect in a library, but all she asked was 'can I borrow this, if you're not using it?' I don't know what book it was, because all I was focused on was the filly who asked it. Nopony else would have thought much of it but… she was actually talking to me. She'd come up and spoken to me, just to ask for a book, but it was the most wonderful moment of my life.
"I just nodded, she thanked me and off she went to read it. I don't know how long I was staring after her, but I knew that now, whenever I came to the library from now on, it wouldn't just be for a book and if it was… it would be in the hope that she might ask to borrow it again."
"And did she?"
"Not really. She had her own private study, but she'd now and again come down for something that might not be there. They were mostly rare moments, but I cherished them whenever I could get them. I never tried to talk to her, I was always scared to. I tried following her once, but I lost my nerve and just settled for waiting. Waiting for the hope that… she might be my friend.
Pinkie's eyes had turned big and soft. "Awww, that's so sweet. And a little bit creepy, but mostly sweet."
"I was ten years old and wracked with nerves," he said defensively. "Though I did carry on like that for the next eleven or twelve years… until the day Nightmare Moon came back."
"And the rest is history." She beamed at him again. "For what it's worth, I'm glad she asked to borrow that book."
He returned the smile. "Me too, Pinkie. Me too…"
Feeling more willing than ever for a chance at some relaxation and to see his friends in the wake of that, the trip to the spa passed even quicker afterwards. They were all waiting for them, including Ray who was shifting around on his hooves. Overcome with a sense of gratitude, he crossed over to Twilight and gave her a particularly loving kiss.
"Wow… what was that for?" she breathed, when they broke apart.
"No reason, I've just been reminded of how special you are to me," he answered, both of them blushing but smiling regardless.
He decided to try a new treatment today, getting the same as Spike and just lying and listening to the others while cucumbers covered his eyes. Rarity was receiving a hooficure, Applejack a massage, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Ray were in the hot tub and Twilight was getting the tangles in her tail sorted and her hooves treated.
"Oh, this is the life, isn't it, everypony? The best hooficure I've ever had!" Rarity exclaimed.
"You said it," agreed Applejack, her voice vibrating from the massage.
Spike sighed contentedly. "I don't know if I've ever been so relaxed. Right, bro?"
"The feeling is mutual," replied Dusk, lazily hoof-bumping him.
It really was, until Rainbow Dash showed up.
"You guys!" The cucumbers Spike was wearing flew off his eyes when he jolted up and onto hers. Rainbow didn't seem that perturbed. "The new Gabby Gums just came out! "The Great and Powerful Trixie's secrets revealed!""
Dusk had barely even moved to acknowledge this, having no interest at all.
She was referring to a new gossip column that came in the Foal Free Press, the school's newspaper that was now being published around Ponyville due to the surge in popularity for this column. It was really rather remarkable, in that sense, that a thing intended for foals and fillies would be read by adults.
Dusk did get some amusement from the stories, but not a lot. Though he inadvertently heard a lot of it when he was still a loner, he'd never really had much interest in gossip, usually if it concerned things like a chipped hoof on a celebrity or a different style of clothing they were wearing. He felt that there were more important things to occupy his time than to read such things.
It was rather like the Nightlight series, only the gossip columns might actually be better written when compared to that.
"We already read that one, Rainbow Dash. Come on, relax, have a hooficure, it feels amazing," offered Rarity.
She swallowed one of the cucumbers and frowned. "Did you forget who you're talking to? The day I get a hooficure is the day I turn in my daredevil license. Besides, I haven't read this Gabby Gums yet."
"Well, do it quietly, will ya?" Spike said irritably, taking them back. "Some of us are trying to unwind!"
"I like Gabby Gums too, but don't you think she can be a little mean?"
"She's not mean, Twilight, she's a hoot!" replied Applejack.
She read one from a previous issue. "Celestia, just like us? Gabby Gums doesn't value anypony's privacy."
"I second that concern," added Dusk.
"How did she even get that photo anyway?" he heard Ray ask.
"Oh, lighten up, you two, there's nothing but harmless gossip!" dismissed Rarity.
He heard Pinkie pop up out of the water. "Yeah, Twilight, I mean listen to this one. "Mayor, not naturally grey!" The Mayor in a mane dyeing scandal? Who wouldn't wanna read that?"
She sighed. "I just can't help feeling sorry for the ponies featured in her columns. It's gotta be a little embarrassing."
Nice to see that she was so compassionate about this.
Rainbow appeared to be anything but. "Are you kidding? Do you know how awesome it is to get your name in the paper?
"Rainbow, why don't you join me in one of these delicious hooficures?" repeated Rarity.
"It's that good, huh?" she asked nervously. "Well, maybe just one little hoof…" A few moments of silence passed and Dusk raised one of his cucumbers just as she darted off the bed. "Forget it, I don't like ponies touching my hooves. Man... I'd love it if Gabby Gums did a story on me."
"She did one on me," announced Spike.
"What?!" The others all gathered around Spike, shocked.
"Calm down, everypony," urged Dusk. "I'm sure we can read about that some other time, but right now? If you don't mind?"
They all looked around, remembered themselves and drifted back to their individual treatments. Dusk nodded in satisfaction and returned to relaxing.
"Well, I'm done here," Rainbow announced. "Come on, Ray. Time to pay up what you owe me."
"Oh um… can't I just have a few more minutes?" he asked nervously. "What about you? You just got here. You sure you don't want that hooficure? What's the rush, heh, you know?"
"Oh no, don't think you can back outta this now," she said mischievously. "Your house is still a mess from last night and I'm gonna make sure that you clean it. My way."
"That's it? Just cleaning my house?" He relaxed visibly. "I… I guess that's not so bad. Okay then."
Rainbow's smile broadened. "Great, just follow me." She waited for him to climb out and took a bag given to her by an attendant.
"Wait, what do you mean by 'your way'?" he asked suddenly. "What's in that bag?"
He heard her chuckle as she left. "You'll see. You'll see…"
As time passed over the coming days, it was becoming clear that Gabby Gums wasn't as popular as she'd started out. Almost everypony in town was starting to have their privacy breached, printed for all to see on the gossip column with embarrassing incidents, shaming and shocking everypony involved.
Dusk himself had gone to see some ponies he knew who had been involved, those who had helped him in his investigation. Nightfall, for being accused of using his telescope for perverted reasons. Gentle, who apparently, according to the gossip, stole other artist's work and sold them as her own. Frequency, made to appear like he was seeing two mares, both Vinyl and Octavia. Needless to say, they weren't very happy and quite upset.
It wasn't long either before Dusk and the girls were caught in the same mix of gossip, which they discussed at length at Sugarcube Corner.
"Applejack, asleep on the job!" Can y'all believe this?!" cried Applejack. "And this one: "Big McIntosh – what's he hiding?" Who the hay does this Gabby Gums think she is?"
Twilight was a victim too. "Listen to this one. "Twilight Sparkle: I was a Canterlot snob. A well-placed scaly source close to the prissy pony says Twilight Sparkle thinks Ponyville is nothing but muddy roads and low-class rubes.""
""Said scaly source also reveals rising lover's tension,"" added Dusk. ""You read it here first that Dusk Noir finds his marefriend Twilight to be pushy, bad-tempered, overly organised and afraid of commitment.""
"Spike!" she yelled, along with Dusk. "How could you say such a thing?"
"Well, I didn't!" he insisted. "Gabby Gums made that up! I never said anything like that!"
"Wait, hold on." She turned to Dusk. "Do you actually think that?"
"No, of course not," he said quickly. "Do you think that about Ponyville?"
"Don't be silly, no!"
"Then why are you asking me that? You know I'd never say such a thing."
"Well, I don't know, you might have."
"Why would I though?"
"I just-"
"Everypony, please!" silenced Rarity. "She's just a harmless schoolpony engaged in a little harmless gossip. You're really making too big a deal out of this."
"But it's all lies! It is, right?" she added to Dusk.
"Yes, I've said," repeated Dusk, controlling his temper.
"Right, sorry. Gabby Gums prints whatever she wants, she doesn't care whose reputation she destroys! "Fluttershy has tail extensions!"" Fluttershy hid behind a wall at the mention of this, looking mortified. ""Pinkie Pie is an out-of-control party animal!""
"What?!" Pinkie looked at it and started crying. "It's true! I do have a problem!"
"I know, it's disgraceful!" Ray shouted, stomping his hoof on the table, getting up from it. "I won't stand for this! Yes, I realise I'm standing, shut up!"
"Calm down, Ray, please." Rarity's eyes suddenly lit up. "You haven't been featured in Gabby Gums, have you?"
"No! I mean, maybe… who cares, who asked you?! Stop looking at me!"
"Hold on, let me look…" She flicked through the pages, gasped and started to giggle. "Ray… is that you here?"
"… Maybe…"
"And are you… dressed as a maid?"
"… Sort of…"
"No, no, you are. Look, a little Prench maid outfit in your house, cleaning up. Oh, you even have the apron and little feather duster!"
"IT WAS WHAT RAINBOW TOLD ME TO DO!" He teleported up, took it off her, teleported away and came back again. "Now, we shall never speak of this again."
"Oh come now, Ray," giggled Rarity. "You have to admit, it is a little-"
"Rock diamond," Applejack put in.
She pursed her lips. "Yes… never speak of this again."
"Oh look! According to this one, the Cakes are breaking up!" Twilight announced.
The couple in question burst from the kitchen. "We are?!"
Suddenly, the door crashed open, a huge pile of papers being flown in by a rainbow tail.
"Well, my life is officially over." She popped her head out of the pile. "Gabby Gums has made it to Cloudsdale."
""Rainbow Dash: Speed demon or super softie?"?!" Twilight read.
"I grabbed as many copies as I could, but it was too late! I'm a laughing stock!" she cried, ducking her head.
"See, Rarity? Your so-called 'harmless gossip' can be very hurtful!"
"Honestly, you ponies have no sense of humor. So she tweaks a few ponies every now and then, maybe they dese-" She gasped dramatically when she turned the page. "I'll destroy her! "The Drama-Queen Diaries"... she's reprinted my diary! How could Gabby Gums possibly get access to my private diary?!"
"We've got to put a stop to this once and for all!" announced Twilight. "Sweetie Belle's on the newspaper staff. Maybe she knows who Gabby Gums is!"
Rarity gasped in shock. "My sister would never associate with anyone as beastly as Gabby Gums! I resent you even suggesting such a thing, Twilight! Why, she's the most innocent, most lovely-"
She stopped herself, glanced around and hurried out of the shop without another word. They all looked at each other for a moment and returned to discussing what they should do about Gabby Gums.
As it turned out, they didn't have to wait long. It was discovered by Rarity not long after that Gabby Gums was just a penname that Cutie Mark Crusaders took for writing about in their gossip column. Dusk had been shocked and angry that it was those three fillies who had been printing all of those hurtful things about him and his friends. Even little Sweetie Belle…
Still, it could have been a lot worse than just a relationship problem. They could have found out about his other secret, the one that still had him waking up at night… not much, but sometimes…
Because of this, he didn't really object to it much when he arrived at the library to find that Twilight had erected a force field around the whole tree to ensure that they didn't get in. A part of him thought this was perhaps overdoing it a little, but he didn't really listen to it while he stepped inside when Twilight opened a hole to let him in.
From what he heard, the others were all doing something rather similar. Rainbow emptied storm clouds on them, Ray kept them out of Fluttershy's home while she cried out rivers, even Applejack just gave them the silent treatment. It seemed like the whole town was starting to hate those three for what they'd done.
"I still can't believe that they'd do such a thing," Dusk said to her. "I always liked those girls, I even helped Sweetie one time and this is how she repays us?"
"I know, I feel the same way," agreed Twilight. "I would never have suspected it was those two and now I know… I'm not sure what to think."
"I think that they'll have some trouble getting through that," he gestured to the magical barrier. "They won't be getting any more stories out of us."
"That's something we can both agree on then." She shifted around awkwardly. "So, you don't really think I'm pushy, do you?"
He sighed notably. "Twilight, of course I don't. You know they just made that up for gossip."
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Another moment of silence passed. "Dusk, can I ask you something?"
"If it's not about the column."
"Hypothetically speaking, if I wasn't… interested in you, like I am now, would you have gone with any one of the others?"
The question made him feel worried. "Are you saying that you don't feel that way anymore?"
"No, no, of course not! I love you, but… I'm just curious, I suppose. I mean, you do know five other mares just as well as me, so it could be a possibility that, if we weren't together then perhaps..."
Dusk hesitated. The question sounded reasonable and he'd be lying if this hadn't crossed his mind before they were a couple, but how was he supposed to answer this without upsetting her? Did he even have to or was there a way out of this?
She seemed to sense his unease. "You can tell me honestly, Dusk. I won't get mad, I promise, I just want to know."
"Well um… I'm not sure. I hadn't really thought about it that much, to be honest," he answered, trying to find how best to say this. "I mean, Fluttershy's like my sister, so that would just be strange. Um… Applejack's athletic and strong, honest and dependable, but… no, I don't think so. Rainbow's loyal and confident, but too harsh in my opinion, at least. Rarity's… well, you know how she is. She did have some feelings for me, but she's over that now and Pinkie… well…"
"Pinkie is Pinkie," she finished. "So, that's it then? You really don't think you would have?"
"No, I don't…" He turned back to her. "Really, why are you asking me this?"
"I don't know," she sighed, "just in the wake of the Gabby Gums column… I got worried, I guess."
"I know, I was too." He kissed her gently and hugged her. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise. You're the only mare I have eyes for. And glasses, for that matter."
"Okay…" She sounded less tense now, her smile easier. "Thank you, Dusk. I love you."
"I love you too." They leaned in and kissed again, breaking apart when they heard Spike calling out the window.
"A-ha! Twilight thought you might try show your faces around here, so she put up a force field."
They looked outside to see the three fillies trudge away dejectedly. Even after all that had happened, Dusk couldn't help but feel pity for them, seeing them like that.
"You don't think we're being too harsh on them, do you?" he asked.
"Maybe, but they have to learn that actions like this have consequences," she said firmly. "They'll either find some way to make up for it or they won't."
Dusk gazed after them. "For their sake, I hope they do."
The next day, he found out those hopes had been fulfilled. The Crusaders came by once again with a new column for them to read. Seeing their photos on it, Twilight lowered the barrier and took it from them, allowing Dusk and her to read over it. It was a formal signing off for Gabby Gums, a message to Ponyville from them saying they'd learned their lesson and asked for their forgiveness.
"We're really sorry, to both of you." Sweetie looked imploringly at Dusk when they finished reading. "I really didn't want to print that story, but we were made to."
"You guys haven't broken up because-a us, have ya?" added Apple Bloom fearfully.
Twilight giggled and placed her hoof around Dusk. "No, we haven't, Apple Bloom. Dusk and I are doing just fine and we accept your apology."
"Thanks. Well, we got some other ponies to see," said Sweetie, starting to move off. "Thanks again and we're sorry."
"We know," called Twilight. "Well, that's that sorted. Everything should be okay from now on."
"Yes, I expect they will be," replied Dusk, nuzzling her cheek.
"Security check completed, sir," reported Dreadwing sharply to the captain.
"Good work, soldier," he commented, letting other soldiers file out of the house. "Find anything else here?"
"Some other journals and research data, sir, but we haven't had the time to examine them thoroughly. Everything else that might be of use hasn't been found, looks like Tube has cleared out," he continued with a slight growl.
"It's better than nothing." He gestured to the back room. "What about what we found in there? You and your buddy moving them?"
"As ordered, sir," he nodded. "Since we can ascertain no other purpose other than decoration, they will be moved to the sculpture gardens per your request."
"Good to hear. You two okay handling them on your own?"
"Yes sir, we'll be fine."
"I'll let you get on with it then." He nodded as Dreadwing saluted. "Carry on, then."
"Sir, yes sir!" he barked, remaining at attention until the captain departed.
He turned about face and re-entered the house the fugitive had once called home, darkened except for a few lamps that served to illuminate it. Not that he needed them, being a pony of the night of course, but not all of the Royal Guard were nocturnal-based like they were. It really was too bad they hadn't found much here.
As part of the on-going search for Doctor Test Tube and the rogue ex-guard Hard Edge Dreadwing and a number of others were part of a series of searches going on at their respective places of work and living quarters in the hope of finding something useful, as well as a manual search. As it turned out, neither of them had left much behind.
He felt a spike of anger when he thought about it. Tube's actions had threatened the safety of the realm, all for some half-baked science experiment and Edge had betrayed them. He didn't know him personally, but he'd met him enough times to know that he didn't like him. Even he could have seen what was coming in the wake of Discord's attack, but he still felt the sting of betrayal for what he'd done.
What he wouldn't give to get his hooves on the two of them…
He put those thoughts aside for now and headed towards the room he was ordered to, where he saw his acquisitions inside. It looked like the doctor had a weird taste in art, in the form of four statues of pegasi, slightly chipped with age, dressed in long, flowing robes, with their manes done-up in a Nest-of-Vipers style cut. They'd all been arranged in a circle, looking at each other with faces trapped in angry snarls.
Weird taste indeed. Even so, he and Knock-Out had been ordered to move them and he'd left his fellow, complaining about limestone dust messing up his armour, shifting them while he'd reported to the captain. It looked he'd been doing that, the statues no longer in a circle. The only thing was that his fellow soldier was nowhere to be seen.
"Knock-Out? Knock-Out?" he called. "Where have you gone?"
He moved among the statues, seeing if there was any sign of him. He really had moved these statues very quickly. Perhaps he'd gone somewhere else to rest. Trust him to be more worried about himself than his orders…
But hold on… hadn't all the statues been snarling? Why were they now covering their eyes with their hooves, heads bent over… like they were weeping? Except for one, that appeared to be stretching its hoof towards an empty spot. Almost as if it were reaching for something… or somepony.
He passed a cursory glance over it, thinking it might be some sort of childish joke that Knock-Out was doing. He wouldn't put it past him. Dreadwing walked past it, checking another corner of the room, starting to get a little annoyed now.
A shadow moved behind him. He thought he heard the sound of rushing wind. Knock-Out? An intruder?
He spun around and had to control a yell of surprise when he noticed the statue he'd walked past and the others. They all appeared to be walking towards the door, frozen mid-step, except for this one... Hadn't it been facing the other way? Why did it now appear to be reaching towards him?
Of course they had been and this one had simply been moved. They had to have been moved and he knew exactly who had done it.
"This is not amusing, Knock-Out," he called. "I am going to count to three and you will cease this foalish behaviour. One… two… thr-"
He blinked.