As soon as they got to the station, Spines hopped onto Dusk’s back before they started flying towards the direction of the castle. Spines took this opportunity to point something out. “You’ve been really quiet on the way here. Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Huh? It’s okay, I’m fine. Really.”
His assistant, however, wasn’t convinced. “You’re scared stiff, aren’t you?”
“What?” Dusk craned his neck over to her. “Me? Scared? Of having to confront the very pony that I, up until today, had no idea was actually in love with me for years now? I’m not scared or nervous at all! Nope, not me!”
“You do realize that you’re not fooling anyone here, right?”
He sighed. “Well… I guess I am a bit scared… okay, a lot scared. But really, what do I say to him? What is there to say about all this? I don’t want him to feel bad or anything, or betrayed that I’ve read his personal letters. Spines, I’m completely lost here.”
“Well for starters,” she advised, “just keep your cool. As long as you remain calm, you’ll be fine. I think at this point that no matter how you feel about him now, it’s important to speak whatever is on your mind. I mean, you have come to him for difficult problems before, why should this be any different?”
“Because it’s him that is making it difficult for me to even speak with him,” Dusk answered.
The alicorn flew up to the gates where he was greeted with the usual pair of Solar Guards. They noticed the Prince flying up to them before they gave their salutes. “Welcome to Canterlot Castle, Prince Dusk Shine,” one of the mares in armor welcomed him.
“Shall we inform the other Princes that you have arrived, Sire?” asked the other.
“He’s here for Solaris,” Spines told them. “It’s a bit of a personal matter.”
“Shall we inform him immediately?” the first guard inquired. “Prince Solaris is still in court at the moment.”
“Is he listening to concerns and grievances now?” Dusk wondered aloud.
“Since it’s almost 3:30,” the other guard said, looking at her watch. “He should be wrapping up, so if you wish to see him after that, I suppose you could wait til-”
“Actually, I think I want to see him now,” the Prince told them. “And I’ll wait in line if I have to.” He lowered the dragoness off his back and to the ground. “Spines, how about you go get some doughnuts for us while I have a talk with Solaris.”
“Uh, sure,” Spines reached into the saddlebag to grab out a few bits from it. “I’ll be right back,” she added as she started to head her way into the city.
“I’ll show myself in,” Dusk said to the guards. “I think I have a pretty good idea where to go from here.”
“As you wish, your Highness,” they said in unison as the lilac alicorn walked past them. Dusk Shine already knew where he’d be headed; up the staircase, down the hall, past dozens of rooms until he reached the Throne Room. As he walked, everypony that he passed -- castle staff and nobles alike -- would nod respectively or bow to him.
At the end of the hallway, he found a small line of three ponies and a Solar Guard, whose job was to inform the page inside the Throne Room of the Sun Prince’s next appointment. She spotted the Prince of Friendship walking up to her and said, “Prince Dusk Shine, welcome back.”
“Hello to you too Ms. Saber,” Dusk nodded to her.
“You wish to see Prince Solaris?”
“Yes actually. I’m here for some… personal business.”
“I see,” she turned to the gilded door to the Throne Room. “Shall I let you in now or do you want to wait?”
Dusk looked over to the three other ponies on the waiting bench to be let in, “I think I can wait. I have some things to think about anyway.”
“Very good,” she nodded. “Take a seat, Your Majesty.”
The Prince went over to the furthest end of the bench to reflect on what he’d learned today. Even though he had read all nine letters except for one, he felt that he’d learned quite a bit more about Solaris than before. There was no doubt that his former teacher was in love with him from the remaining samples of the hundreds that were burnt away. Dusk only had one thing left to answer: what did he think of all this?
On one hoof, never before had he received anything so passionate from anypony he knew. While it was true that he himself had crushes towards others before, he’d never really thought that anypony would fall in love with him the way Solaris had shown through his letters. Not even Bonnie from the human world had ever expressed something as colorful, as caring like this.
‘In a way,’ Dusk thought, ‘I may have fallen for a few in the past, but I didn’t really think anypony would fall for me for any reason. Perhaps Solaris was right; maybe I have given up on romantic love completely. But still… What do I tell him? How do I explain-’
“Your Majesty?” the guard named Ms. Saber interrupted his thoughts.
“Huh?”
“Prince Solaris will speak with you now.”
“O-oh,” Dusk got up, feeling embarrassed in not realizing how caught up he was that he didn’t notice the other three ponies were already gone. After checking that his saddlebag was still on him, he looked back at the guard. “I think I’m ready.”
“Very good.” She went up to the doors, disappearing shortly before reappearing to open the doors to him.
“Announcing Prince Dusk Shine of Ponyville!” a voice echoed in the Throne Room as the lilac alicorn entered.
Across the room on a velvety red throne sat the white alicorn, wearing his golden crown, breastplate, and boots. His mane and tail were as if they were made of fire as the reds and oranges seemed to be moved about by a never-ending wind. His beard was well kept as were his wings. Certainly, he was exactly the opposite of the Prince of the Sun that Dusk had seen this morning.
When the elder alicorn saw who was the last to enter, he stood up from his throne. “Dusk Shine! I wasn’t expecting you.” Solaris made his way towards Dusk, meeting him halfway in the expansive room. “I must say, this is quite an unexpected surprise.” He leaned his neck downward and nuzzled him on the right side of Dusk’s face. “What brings you to Canterlot?”
“Uh…”
Solaris looked down, taking notice that his former student was looking at the ground, his cheeks turning a darker shade of purple.
“Dusk? Is something the matter?”
“It’s… It’s kinda hard to explain.”
The elder Prince’s smile faded and gave way to worry. “Why? What’s wrong?”
Dusk looked around the room at the other guards present. “Could we go somewhere else? I, uh… wanted to talk with you. Alone.”
“Of course,” Solaris nodded. “My study I suppose?”
“Sure,” Prince Shine consented, “let’s go there.”
Solaris gestured with his wing towards a door. “You’ve actually come at a good time, to be honest,” he said. “Court was slower than I predicted. I was getting rather bored back there…” As the white alicorn talked, Dusk followed him by his side, not saying a word. Not to say that this went unnoticed. “Dusk?”
“Hm?”
“What do you think?”
Dusk stiffened up, not paying attention to the conversation. “Uh…”
Now his old mentor’s eyes were filled with concern. “Has something gotten you distracted?”
“Y-yeah,” he confessed.
Soon enough, they reached the private study that was filled from floor to ceiling with books, artifacts, antiques, a large oak desk, and two pillows to sit on. Solaris sat behind his desk while his former student sat in front, taking his saddlebag off of him.
“So what’s on your mind?” Solaris asks. “You’re not your usual self.”
“It’s… u-uh…” Dusk stuttered.
“Dusk, you know that you can tell me anything,” the white alicorn told him. “I’m sure that whatever is on your mind, I promise I don't think anything less of you.”
The bookworm looked up. “You mean that?”
Solaris nodded. “Yes. So tell me, what is bothering you?”
Dusk reached into his saddlebags. “It’s… kinda hard for me to explain.”
“Then try anyway.”
“Well… I’ve been reading something that has changed my point of view that I uh… need to talk to you about.” After he opened the bag, Dusk’s horn lit up to retrieve all nine scrolls before setting them on the desk. “I think it’s best that I show them to you so that it’ll give you a clearer understanding.”
“Alright,” Solaris said, picking up one of the scrolls. “I’m sure that whatever you’ve read can’t be as…” he trailed off as he unrolled the first piece of parchment. Dusk could have sworn that at that moment, that he saw his old mentor turned a paler shade of white. His horn lifted the rest of the letters and he unrolled them at once, scanning each and every one of them. The Prince of Friendship also saw his eyes taken a look of dread, slack-jawed in silent horror.
After a moment, Solaris lowered all nine scrolls on the table, looking at him with extreme nervousness. “Dusk,” he asked softly, “where did you get these?”
“Spines was able to save a few,” Dusk confessed.
There was a concrete silence in the room. For a while, two nervous stallions stared at each other, both of them trying to figure out what to say next.
“D-Dusk,” Solaris spoke, his voice shaky and quiet. “I-I-”
“I’m sorry,” Dusk interrupted.
This caught the elder stallion off guard. “What?”
“Solaris, I’m so sorry for intruding into something so private. W-When you came in this morning, you were so… not yourself that I wanted to know what was wrong. Spines were able to save a small fraction of what you’d destroyed and I couldn’t help but look into them. About halfway through, I figured out that they weren’t for me to see. Before I could do anything, I’d already read through them and I... guess I learned too much. Solaris, I have intruded into your privacy and further insight into your secret. Even as a friend, it was wrong of me to do so. Solaris, I’m really sorry.”
The white alicorn shook his head. “No, Dusk no, you shouldn’t be the one apologizing.” He said as he put his hooves over his face. “I should be the one saying sorry. Dusk… I never… I-I didn’t mean…” Solaris’s body shook, so thinking quickly, Dusk did the first thing that came to mind: he got up and hugged him.
His former mentor looked up in confusion, with tears forming in his eyes, he asked. “What are you-”
“Solaris, don’t,” Dusk interrupted. “I know what you're like when you’re beating yourself up. It was heart-wrenching to read. Don’t think any less of yourself. You’ve got nothing to feel sorry for.”
“But,” he shook his head, “what about you? Are you not the least bit disgusted, or even angry at me?”
“Oddly… not really,” Dusk admitted and Solaris froze. “That’s the weird part, I’ve read eight of those nine letters, and never once have I felt disgusted. Look, I don’t know why or what it even means, but going through how much you really care about me… I couldn’t help but feel… well… flattered I suppose.” He said those last three words as softly as Butterscotch would talk to strangers.
Solaris on the other hoof froze in place like a statue, trying to process everything he’d heard. “Dusk,” he said at last, “you’re not saying that… are you?”
“I… I don’t know, Solaris. I really don’t know,” the young alicorn confessed. “I don’t know if this means I’m attracted to you too or if I happen to like guys too but never knew it or what. I’ve been asking myself what I feel towards you now and… I just don’t know. What if I am? What I’m not? Would it make a difference if you were a mare instead of a stallion?”
Solaris raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
“I mean,” Dusk explained, “would it make any difference if you had the same personality, but were a different gender. Would I feel differently? I’ve been thinking about this since I left the train station...”
“Have you found an answer to that?”
Dusk shrugged. “I guess that either way, it probably wouldn’t matter to me. Solaris, you’re the first pony that has that told me (although indirectly) that you love me because I’m… well, me. And here I thought that nopony would have been stupid enough to-”
“Dusk, stop it,” the Sun Prince cut him off. “Don’t you dare think any less of yourself. Don’t say that you’re not worth loving, because you are! You have been selfless to everypony and loyal to your friends and me, even in the darkest of times. You have a mind that elevates above genius, gives insight to things that even I wouldn’t have thought to look at, and don’t you ever believe that nopony would have fallen for you because you’re a freak. You’re worth so much more than that…” Solaris paused, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he relaxed a bit before saying. “Forgive me.”
The younger Prince was taken aback by this. “For what? Solaris, you have nothing to be sorry over. I’m not saying that I hate or love you, it’s just that I don’t know how to react.”
Solaris lowered his head, sighing. “I understand… I understand. Dusk, if you wish to leave and never want to see me again, then go ahead. I won’t stop you.”
There was a pause; Dusk didn’t move from where he stood when he got an idea. “Actually, this might sound a little weird but… Solaris…” his old teacher looked up, “do you… um… would you want to… go out? With me, that is.”
With wide eyes, Solaris stared at him for a solid minute. “What?”
“Y-you know, like a… a date or… something.”
Another moment of silence. “This isn’t a joke, is it?” Solaris questioned.
Dusk shook his head. “Not really, I mean… From what I’ve read from your letters, you’ve always wanted to make me happy. All you’ve been doing as long as I can remember is do nothing but give. You gave up your time to be with me, gave me the best education anypony could dream of, gave me a chance to become a better stallion, gave me the chance to live in Ponyville, and now,” he lifted his wings to make a point, “I guess it would be wrong, even for me, not to give something back.”
Solaris’s jaw dropped. “I-I…” his mouth opened and closed as if he tried to figure out the right words to express what he was thinking. “How am I supposed to respond to that?” he asked.
“So, will you, go on a date with me?” Dusk asked. “I’ll even let you set up the place and time to do it. I want to do this so I can fully understand where I stand on this. So… will you?”
Prince Shine saw his old mentor’s eyes tear up, even cracking a smile. “Dusk… I don’t know what to say except… yes. Thank you.” That smile grows into chuckles, and those chuckles matured into laughter. “Oh, where do I start? When shall it be?”
“Well, I did tell my friends that I may be gone for a couple of days,” Dusk explained, “so I’ve got some free time on my part.”
Still smiling, Solaris put a hoof to his chin, “Yes, yes… there’s much to do. Dusk, I don’t think I would be able to do it tonight. I’ve already got plans that would keep me busy. However, tomorrow night would be perfect. Does that sound good?”
Dusk nodded. “Sure. Since I have Spines here, perhaps we could take the opportunity to explore Canterlot to see if there’s anything new here.”
“Wonderful plan,” the Prince of the Sun rubbed his hooves together. “I’ll make sure that it’ll be something that both of us will enjoy. So how about… 7:30?”
Dusk Shine nodded. “That sounds great.”
_*_
“Dusk? You around here?” the dragoness called out from the castle’s hallways. “I got those donuts you wanted.
“There you are.” She turned around to find the alicorn she was looking for.
“Hey, I’ve got the donuts,” Spines said as she helps up the pink box. Said box was lifted in the air in a purple aura, being levitated by the Prince.
After opening it up, Dusk commented. “Ooh, you’ve got some good ones in here,” he said, lifting one of the chocolate glazed doughnuts.
“So I’m guessing it went well?” she asked.
Dusked nodded. “I think we came to an agreement.”