Elements of Last Resort

by PredictableOffender

Honesty

Dusk ears are hurting, the normally loud sound of the train passing along the rails was being bleated over by Cotton Candy’s babbling. Dusk had long since learned to ignore her rambling, she rarely stayed on the same topic for long and all he could make of it is that she loved sweets. He honestly wonders how she is not three hundred pounds overweight. Her rambling slowed down until he felt a silence in the air followed by a yawn.

Cotton Candy stretched herself out and and wrapped her forelegs around Dusk, he turns around to see that she had fallen asleep. She is now completely leaning into him the way mom was yesterday Dusk tried to push her back into her own seat but she was holding on to him too tightly. Dusk put more strength into pushing her away, he managed to push her back to her normal seating position. Dusk let out and extended groan and leaned into the window.

After a peaceful train ride later Dusk was more relaxed but he has a mental list of things to do, finding out what mom even wants was in the top. The train stops and Dusk found himself stuck between Cotton and the hallway, he manages to sneak over her. Dusk is annoyed he had to leave his suitcase at Shatter Shell’s place but is Cotton is not lying he had more important things to do. Dusk paused for a moment wondering if he should wake up Cotton Candy, he decided to shake her with his hoof. The other ponies trying to get off the train walk past Dusk and almost knock him away a few times before Cotton moves.

“Hurry up Cotton or the train leaves with you.” Dusk says before walking away.

Dusk exits the train with nothing on him and no pony with him. He always forgets how much this town smells like farm, the smell of shit is nothing all round him. Dusk wonders why he even agreed to come back home anyway, he hates this place the ponies are way too friendly and are always prying on his business. The place also smelled like an outhouse for animals.

Dusk walks alone down the streets, Cotton Candy must have fallen asleep again and the train left with her. Dusk knows they probably kicked her off and she is looking for him somewhere, despite she was the one that told him where he is going. If cotton Candy lied he is going to kill her.

Dusk finds himself back home around noon, he uses his magic to push the door open and immediately smells company.

“Dusk! Thank goodness come we have sooo much to discuss.” Twilight says.

“What is it mom, what can be this important?”

“I don’t know, it's just that the Tree of Harmony was trying to summon you.”

“What I thought it could only summon bearers of the elements.”

“It was showing your cutie mark on the map, all I knew was that you in Canterlot.”

“But what do I have to do?” Twilight smirk when Dusk said that.

“You can try asking it, but to do that we might have to go to the Everfree. I’ll get some supplies and the girls.” Twilight says then wanders off into the castle.

Dusk walked over to the map in the middle of the main hallway. Dusk has always wondered why mom started taking orders from this map. He saw a glowing hologram of his cutie mark floating over ponyville. Dusk wonders how this thing even knows where he is, unless Cotton really knew where he was. In curiosity Duck decides to touch the map.

Dusk starts to feel a weird sense of euphoria, he felt like he was attached to the source of all wisdom in the world. Dusk feels himself lost balance and he wanders aimlessly around the area with little to nothing in his brain.

“Yeah mom we have to go to the Everfree right now, do you remember where you put the elements?”

~~~

Dusk groaned and fried the seventy seventh mosquito he has had to kill during this annoying trip, the fact that Mom made him do it is the only reason he even agreed. Cotton Candy was the only other pony the came along with them, mom thought there was a sense of urgency to everything.

“Mom you do know the tree summons to do completely pointless things too.” Dusk groans.

“I’m with Duskie we could have at least spent more time preparing.”

“It was because you got lost dumbass.”

“Duskie.....”

“Oh shut up.”

Twilight giggles while the group moved onwards into the Everfree, Dusk added significantly to his mosquito kill count along the way. The group arrived at the abandoned castle in the Everfree, Dusk quickens his pace and runs his way into the castle alone. Before Dusk could take the scenery in Twilight pushes him forward through the castle. Cotton Candy happily trot behind the two, Dusk has seen this place before but it never ceases to catch his attention. Dusk always wondered why Celestia would abandon a perfectly good castle, besides fixing this place does should be easy to restore. On that topic the Castle map was pretty similar to the map he was playing earlier, although much more of the roof has fallen in.

Dusk gallops ahead and out a door, he finds himself on the ridge of the ravine. Dusk looks around the ravine, roots and vines are hanging down into the depths of pale stone. Dusk looks around and sees a staircase cut from the stone, he looks where the stairs lead and he decides to jump. One fallbreaker spell later and Dusk finds himself in front of a strange wooden door, it looks like something out of a fairy tale.

“You have to be kidding.”

Dusk pushes the door open with his hoof and enters the room beyond. The first thing he saw what he assumed to be the tree of harmony, its crystal body and the white lights growing off it like leaves. There were gems at the end of the 6 branches but two had colored lights radiating from them one purple and the other pink. More importantly there was a structure in the middle that resembled Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark.

“Is there any reason why you could not get mom to do whatever you need to do?” Dusk soon realized he was yelling at a tree.

He turned around to see that the others had caught up with him, the two mares run up to embrace him. The two thought he has fell off the cliff and neither one know he has the ability to use his fallbreaker, despite he invented it and told Twilight about it. Twilight hasn’t really studied magic and Starlight makes her look like a child in magical ability alone. Dusk then felt a slight surge of magic appear behind him he turns around to see a vine that had grown near his foot, there is a large unbloomed flower at the end of the vine. It looked wilted than Dusk realized he was standing in it, after he moved the vine moved the flower to his face. The pedals opened up to reveal a hexagonal box with six locks on it.

Dusk reached out a good to touch it, when he made contact his mind went blank. Dusk felt like he was one with nature and all life, he understood all their emotions and their thoughts. When the brief moment of enlightenment ended Dusk muttered to himself.

“Honesty.”

“OMGDuskieyouweresosososooocool! Your eyes were glowy and there were magicalribbomstwirlingaroundyou!” Cotton Candy leapt on him and hugged him as tight as she could.

~~~

Cotton Candy held onto Dusk as long as she could, she could smell the pomegranate scent of his mane. Dusk used his strength to peel her off of him, Cotton looked back at him and can't help her face from getting a little redder.

“Hold this for me Cotton.” Dusk says before passing her the box.

When Cotton takes it her mind goes blank, and she loses her balance. She felt like she was one with everything in the moment before she hit the ground.

Author's Note:

Whep accidently left the title as Loyalty.

Comments

[mastermenthe]

Dusk got Honesty!