My dearest student, Dusk Shine
Get a Life. You are grown man, and therefore too old to be reading such fairy tales. You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely, but there is more to a young man's life than studying and staying up late, researching conspiracy theories, reading and collecting manga, as well as reading porn at the 4chan bookstore. Yes, I've read your receipts and collection. You really need to hide your stuff better. Anyways, to expand on your social life, I have scheduled you and Spike to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, hosting in Ponyville.
Your concerned teacher
Princess Celestia Vi Equestria
P.S. There is an ulterior motive to your task: Make some friends!
After reading the letter, Spike turned to look at his brother. "Dusk?" he said with a worried expression.
Dusk sighed. He had never been more degraded in his entire life. The thoughts that coursed through his mind were filled with anger and devastation: She only wants to get rid of me!
"Big bro..." Spike said with worry.
Without looking at Spike, Dusk shine continued to speak as he stared at the moving landscape, "Everyday, I do my best to make the princess proud and prove everyone wrong. But even still, everyone still sees me as some sort of crackpot conspiracy theorist with an overactive imagination."
"Maybe it has something to do with that time you thought Slenderman was inside your closet," Dusk's expression faded into shock as couple beads of sweat fell from his face.
Stuttering; Dusk shouted with a rebuttal, "I-I was only eight at the time! Now, I'm seventeen, and everyone should be taking me more seriously. Especially, the princess!"
"Hey, big bro, we're here!" exclaimed Spike; 20-minutes-later, the floating, pegaus-driven chariot that was bringing Dusk and Spike was flying over a small town; looking over Ponyville with boredom and cynicism, Dusk Shine blinked a few times before letting out a deep sigh. Spike got a sad look on his face. "Well, look on the bright side. At least the princess arranged for you to live in the old library. Cheer up!"
"You know, you're right! Thank you, Spike, you're great!" replied Dusk Shine, causing Spike to smile proudly, "Yeah, I've heard
"I can't get myself down like this...it's just a minor problem," He stated, confidently. "Once we get to the library, I'll find the proof I need of Nightmare Monn's return, stop her, prove that I'm a hero and regain the respect from Celestia, herself!" standing up, Dusk flashed a pose of determination at the end of the sentence.
Spike curiously blinked at hearing that response, "But, what about making friends?"
"The princess told me I was in charge of the preparations. Being her student, I have to perform my royal duties; Equestria's fate doesn't rely on me making friends," Scoffed the lavender-haired bishounen; stepping off of the chariot, Dusk continued walking until he and Spike reached the center of town. The two observed as the decorations were being hung for the festival. "Wow, look at how everyone's working so hard on the preparations for the festival!" exclaimed Spike, excitingly. "Maybe we should join in on the fun?"
"There's no time to waste on having fun." Putting on a deadpanned look, Spike was annoyed by that response.
"Oh, come on, big bro. Why not we just introduce ourselves; maybe, there's someone around here that's like you? Give it a try, please?" He begged with pleading eyes,. In truth, Spike loved his older brother dearly, but he could tell that, deep down, he was lonely, and that he was worried about him.
Dusk sighed, annoyed and defeated, he trudged over to the nearest person he saw; standing near the decorations was a tall, human girl with pink, curly hair, blue eyes, and large breasts, wearing a pink top with three balloons on the front that exposed her midriff, blue daisy dukes with brown suspenders over her shoulders, brown fingerless gloves, pink stockings with two different patterns (One with blue and yellow polka dots and one with blue and yellow stripes), and a pair of brown knee-high boots. on the back of her right hand was a mark with three balloons, each having the same color was her stockings.
Dusk took a deep breath. "Um, hello miss, m-my name is Dusk Shine and this is my brother, Spike. Could you tell us the way to get to Sweet Apple Acres? We need to-" before he could finish, the pink-haired girl jumped two feet into the air as her eyes bulged while letting out a deep gasp, bolting away to Celestia-knows-where at lightning speed. Both Dusk and Spike stared with large droplets of sweat forming on their temples.
"Well, I thought she was kind of 'peculiar'." Spike commented while screatching his chin, timidly.
Dusk retorted, skeptically, "Many psychologists would have a different opinion."
Moving along, Dusk Shine walked up to another girl with aqua greenish hair, yellow eyes, and was about the same height, wearing a dark yellow dress with a light tanned top over it, and a pair of ankle-high boots. He wanted to ask her the same question he did with the pink-haired girl; tapping her on the shoulder, Dusk was stunned when she turned around. "Lyra?! W-what the hell are you doing here?!" the woman was, indeed, his conspiracy theorist friend and gifted fae, Lyra Heartstrings; seeing her cause Dusk to cringe in surprise.
"Oh, hey, Dusk! I'm just here looking for Elder God signs! Rumors of a mysterious traveler living in the nearby forest drew me to this place. Probably, a cultist to one of the gods? Also, I'm helping out with the music for the Celebration, but with the Elder Gods! You know I can't resist finding clues!" She licked her lips, perversely, while rubbing her hands together. Just then, before she could ask Dusk anything, the lavender haired boy and his pointy eared assistant disappeared, leaving Lyra confused.
Dusk and Spike had finally stumbled upon sweet apple acres, after running away from Lyra and finding the directions from a girl with dark blue and pink hair. "Here it is, Spike, sweet apple acres," Dusk Shine announced as they approached the arch fence gate with an apple sign hanging under it.
Spike started reading from the list. "According to the list, the first thing to do is check out the food, which is overseen by someone named 'Applejack'."
Walking into the farm, Dusk soon heard a loud "YEE-HAW!" startled, they saw that it came from a girl with blonde hair, kicking an apple tree with her right leg, causing many apples to elegantly fall into several buckets. Having long blonde hair, freckles, and green eyes, she was dressed like a typical cowgirl with an orange blouse with the sleeves rolled up, blue jeans under brown chaps, brown cowboy boots, and a hat. On the back of her right hand, there was a mark of three red apples on the back of her right hand.
Spike whistled at seeing the display. "Wow! She's amazing. She might even be stronger than Shining Armor!" they waltzed over.
"Good afternoon. My name is Dusk Shine, and I'm-"
"Howdy there, sugarcube! It's a pleasure to meet ya. Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres! Here, we like meetin' new people and makin' all kinds of new friends!" Said the blonde cowgirl, as she smiled big with the tip of her hat. "Names Applejack, proud member of the Applejack Family! What can I do ya for?!" she reached out her hand and winked, the action catching Dusk Shine off guard.
Shrugging his shoulders, he bowed slightly with great refinement as anyone from Canterlot would, and kissed her hand tenderly. Might as well... he thought.
"Whoa, nelly," Though Applejack. "Is this city boy flurtin' with me?!" Eyes-widened, Applejack blushed hotly as she was stunned by Dusk's gesture. "Is-is he just like Caramel? No, no, not again!" Spike couldn't help but chuckle from seeing it. Applejack was still blushing, feeling embarrassed with streams of steam appearing on her head as Dusk continued talking. "I am here by order of the Princess-" He announced with such formality; however, before he could finish his sentence, Applejack slammed a bucket on top of his head, knocking him unconscious.
"Big Bro!" Shouted Spike. Dusk Shine was lying on the ground with the said bucket on top of his head, a pool of blood under him, dripping out of his mouth, his eyes white and groaning. "Hey, don't you think you kinda overdid it?!"
Applejack pondered and then nodded her head. "Not at all, bud. Had to give him somethin' to teach him not to go overboard with me." She remarked in a southern drawl.
"The only thing he's going to learn is what exists in the afterlife!"
"Sorry, little guy, but ah ain't got time to worry about yer friend! Ah'm busy waitin' for some Canterlot folks who're coming over!" AJ remarked as she turned away from Dusk and Spike.
Pushing the bucket off of Dusk's head, Spike replied while helping his brother up, "That would be us!"
"Eh?" AJ inquired as she turned back.
"We came from Canterlot the festival preparations! The guy whose head you just crushed was chosen by Princess Celestia, herself, to supervise everything!" AJ's face turned pale with every word she heard, following it with a nervous gulp. What did she just do? She knocked out an important nobleman from Canterlot who was suppose to inspect on her families food and judge if they were worthy for the festival! She dashed over and shook the lavender-haired boy awake; once he came to, she shook his hand while flashing an apologetic smile. "Ah don't think we've been properly introduced. Name's Applejack! Sorry fer what happened. Good thing it didn't get ugly.
Annoyed; Dusk shine shouted with a glare, "I have a skull fissure and it didn't get ugly?"
"Ya'll are lucky to come here first, purdy boy. Yer just in time fer the Apple Family Reunion!"
Shocked; Dusk shine tried to decline the offer, "Oh, no, no, I just needed you to tell me what food you'd be serving."
"That's th' great thing about th' Apple Family!" she said, proudly. "Ah can do both at once!" Ringing the dinner bell, AJ yelled at the top of her lungs "SOUP's ON, EVERYPONY!" suddenly, a loud rumbling appeared; so strong that it shook the earth a bit.
"Spike, where's that noise coming from?" Dusk asked with a puzzled expression; Spike, on the other hand, was too busy staring at the stampede that was in front of him. "Hey where are you taking me?! Leave me...wait...Help!" just then, Dusk and Spike were both tossed into a chair with a table in front of them.
"Meet the Apple Family!" AJ announced with pride, again. She took a deep breath and announced them all. "Apple Cobbler, Caramel Apples, Apple Cupcake, Apple Pie, Apple Flan, Apple Fridder, Apple Bumpkin, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Goldie Delicious, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apples, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp, Apple Rose, Great Auntie Applesauce, Applejohn, Lil' Red, Applebuck Apple Seeds, Hayseed Turnip Truck, Apple Dandy, Apple Cider, Apple Salade, Braeburn Apples, Apple Juice, Aunt & Uncle Orange, along with Sherbet Orange, Orange Crush, Babs Seed Orange, and mah side of the family: Lil Applebloom, Big Macintosh, and finally, Granny Smith!" Applejack gestured to the oldest on in the ground. "Come on, Granny Smith, wake up! Our new buddies have come to stick around the party!" waking up, Granny Smith, gingerly, stood from her walking chair and joined the party.
Gazing at the mountain of food that was on the table, Dusk became nervous with three droplets of sweat forming on his forehead. "They don't actually expect us to eat all that?"
Spike only smiled with drool coming out of his mouth. "I have no problem with that!"
Dusk Shine became even more nervous as many of the Apples began to stare at him. "Ah think they like you!" said Applejack. "I'd even say that you're part of th' Family!" hearing that, Dusk lost all expression on his face.
"Actually, I'm not that hungry." Looked down at the table with worry. "Besides, I have a lot of things to do, preparing for the apocalypse and all!" The Apple Family made an "Aww!" sound in disappointment. Suddenly, the AJ's little sister, Applebloom, walked up to Dusk.
"Arent'cha gonna stay fer brunch?" she asked with big, teary eyes. Dusk couldn't help but look into those soul-crushing eyes of sadness that could pierce into your soul.
I gotta remain strong! I need to prepare for Nightmare moon! He thought, trying to muster the will power. "I'm sorry, but...I have to...get ready...Nightmare Moon..." he tried the best he could to let her down, gently.
"Now, Applebloom, this handsome young man has some very important things to do, but a Canterlot gentleman would never disappoint a young girl, right?" Granny teased Dusk, as she looked him over.
Sighing in defeat, Dusk Shine replied with his head down, "I'll stay for brunch." then the rest of the Apple Family shouted a loud "Yeehaw!".
In no time, the young ladies of the Apple Clan, constantly bludgeoning him with flurry questions, soon encircled Dusk. "How old are you? Are you single? Do you have a girlfriend? Do you personally know the princess?" Dusk would do his best to answer each question, but it was hard to keep; he would even stress eat the apple delights to keep his nerves calm. Applejack looked at Dusk with a small grin on her face as she blushed a bit.
"Big Sis!" Applebloom slowly walked up to her sister with a big smile, looking up at her. "Yer boyfriend's really cool!"
Applejack's jaw nearly touched the floor as all color on her body faded into white.
"Yeah, it was sure nice of ya to bring him along," Granny laughed.
"H-he ain't mah boyfriend!" AJ exploded with a sense of embarrassment throughout her body.
"He sure is a cute one."
"Granny!"
Trudging through the streets, Dusk Shine had eaten too much at the Apple Part; his stomach was so full, it felt like it was about to burst. "What's next on the list, Spike?" he groaned.
"Weather Patrol," Spike Answered.
"I wanna puke..." Dusk grumbled, losing all expression.
"I'm impressed by how much you've eaten. The food was delicious. I hope we have the same luck next time; an imp's stomach is much more resilient than a human's," Spike chuckled, unaware that his brother wasn't paying attention; turning back, he saw Dusk Shine vomiting into a barrel. "Big bro?"
Spike just sighed at that display, turning his attention back to the list. "The person in charge of Weather Patrol is Rainbow Dash."
Dusk stared at the cloudy sky. "Well, she's obviously slacking off," Dusk snorted. "How are we going to watch and admire the sunrise with all these clouds in the sky?" Suddenly, out of nowhere, a rainbow-colored blur appeared and crashed into Dusk, and then everything went dark.
Struggling to breathe, the lavender fae was unable to see or move. Covered in mud, he felt a soft, warm, and squishy pillow covering his face. It took him a moment to realize that the pillow on his face was actually someone's ass. Upon raising her goggles, the rainbow haired girl became aware of what she had crashed into. Jaw dropped; Dusk tried to say, "Get off me", but it came out more like, "Mmph mmph mfhmfh!" it must've been really rude to a person whose black shorts-covered behind was sitting on him.
Next thing that happened, the said girl switched from sitting on him to punching him right in the face. "WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOU FREAK?!" the flat chested girl shouted, followed by a loud scream and an almighty crash. Dusk landed back on the ground with several bumps on his face and a few cracked ribs. "ARE YOU ONE OF THOSE PERVS IN MY FANCLUB?! STAY THERE AND DIE!"
Weakened, Dusk shine protested, "You're...wrong..." standing back up, he did his best to explain while avoiding the tomboy's sharp glares. "I'm...from Canterlot! I don't know anyone here!"
"Canterlot?" the rude tomboy asked; her mood then automatically changed. She then examined the lavender fae before helping him up. "Say, egghead, you said you're from Canterlot."
"Egghead?" he repeated, taking that with much offense.
"Have you seen them? Have you seen Spitfire?" the tomboy asked.
Dusk Shine could only answer with, "Who?"
"The captain of the Wonderbolts!" she answered, irately.
"The Wonderbolts? Sorry, but I'm not much of a sports fan," Dusk stated, deadpanned, expressing his ignorance on the subject.
"The Wonderbolts, dumbass! The most talented acrobats in all of Equestria! The ones who always make it to the finals in the Equestria games and always takes gold in the aftermath!" she shouted as a Wonderbolt poster appeared behind her out of nowhere as stars and lights appeared in the background, as well. "They'll be in the celebration tomorrow, and I'm going to show them my moves! They'll practically beg the great Rainbow Dash to join them!" cackled the tomboy loudly with such arrogance and narcissism.
"Are you Rainbow Dash?" Dusk ask with curiosity and a little irritation.
"The one and only!" she answered, proudly, while striking a pose. "Captain of the weather teams and fastest flier in all of Equestria!"
"And a slacker..." Dusk scoffed with a deadpanned tone.
"What did you say punk?" Rainbow roared, glaring at Dusk.
"No offense but the sky needs a little tidying up, and you're off doing stunt-flying all day," Dusk criticized with a sly gaze. Summoning her blue, translucent wings from the blue tattoo on the upper side of her back, Dash was floating too feet off the ground. That's the power of a harpy, for you.
"I could clear these skies in ten seconds flat, pretty boy!" bragged Rainbow Dash.
Dusk looked a Rainbow Dash and said, skeptically, "Prove it!" with a smirk.
Dash growled, she didn't like her talents to be questioned; lowering her goggles, she flew with lightning speed and, in a blink of an eye, she expelled all of the clouds from the sky, making it clear for the festival. "She's amazing!" whistled Spike as he watched Dash bursting through the clouds like a bullet. Dusk, however, only remarked with "She's good."
"What did I say?" said Rainbow Dash. "Ten. Seconds. Flat!" she remarked, leaning on a cloud, smiling, with both arms crossed, condescendingly. "And as a bonus." kicking the cloud, a shower of rain fell on Dusk Shine, drenching him completely in water. "That'll help you get the dirt and humiliation off and as an apology for beating you up earlier, I'll help dry you up, too. Tornado Style!" Dash giggled deviously.
"Hey wait," Before Dusk could object, he was taken away by a whirlwind made by Rainbow Dash, blowing him in a spiral for a couple of minutes. After it had ended, landed back down while noticing Rainbow Dash and Spike's gazes.
"What?" he asked. "What's so funny?" then the two began giggling.
"Your hair!" Spike answered. "You look like a clown!"
"No, no! He looks more like Napoleon Dynamite!" Dusk corrected; both her and Spike howled in laughter, rolling on the ground while holding their sides.
"Haha, you're funny, egghead! Really funny!" giggle Rainbow Dash playfully.
"Dusk Shine, my name is Dusk Shine!" he explained sternly. The tomboy grew a wide and sly smirk after finally learning his name. "Well, 'Mr. Dusk Shine', you don't seem like a bad guy. Maybe if we hang out together, my coolness might rub off on you."
"Never!" seethed Dusk Shine, gritting his teeth as a cross-shaped vein formed on his head.
Taking to the skies, Dash waved goodbye and said, "Well, see you later, little elf and Mr. Dusk Egghead!" she then zoomed off high into the sky, soon becoming nothing more that a shimmering blue star in the distance.
"Wow, she's so awesome!" Sighed Spike in a chill way; however, he was slightly annoyed that he was called an "Elf" when, in fact, he was an imp. Turning to his brother, he saw him wandering off and ran to catch up to him, "Bro, wait up!"
Dusk glared sternly at Spike, "We don't have time to waste. Hopefully, we won't run into any more crazy girls."
to be concluded