Rise of the Element Gang, Book 1: The Adventure Begins

by Power of Six

Chapter 5: My Mistake

Chapter 5: My Mistake

The rolls of scroll and parchment placed in my saddlebag, I walked back the way I came, returning to the library as quickly as I could. I didn’t want Twilight to think I was being lazy.

I was sure that I had made a good impression so far. I’d done all of the work I’d been given to the best of my abilities, had been polite with somepony that needed help. Things were going well so far.

But the day wasn't over yet. I needed to make sure I did everything as best I could, not make any mistakes. Just one slip-up could mean disaster and my job would be over before it even started. Then I’d have to leave. I didn’t want to go back to Canterlot. I’d lose my new friends.

Huh. I thought to myself. I’ve only known them for a day and now I don’t want to lose them. Took at least 2 years before I felt that way about my friendship with Shield and the others.

I shook my head, snapping myself out of those thoughts to get back on track, as I neared the library once more. As I approached the door, I could hear Twilight's voice on the other side. She was talking to somepony. I heard her say my name.

I pressed my ear to the door, quietly, my curiosity piqued

“…been great so far.” she was saying. “He was here early, he's done the sweeping, sorting, and he was really polite.”

“Oh, well, he sounds positively charming. Though I wouldn’t expect any less from him.” said the other voice. It was well-spoken, with a slight English accent. Kind of like what I’d hear in Canterlot. Though, with this voice, something clicked in my head.

I had no idea why, but that voice sounded familiar. Like I heard this pony speak before. And the way whoever this was used it in that sentence, it sounded like they knew me. Could I have met them before? I kept on listening in as the two kept talking.

“I would like to see him again.” The pony said. “Where is he now?”

“He just went to get some parchment from the store.” she explained. “I’m sure he’d like to see you too. But…”

“But? But what?” Yes, I was eager to know as well. Had I done something wrong?

“Well…he seems…shy, timid, almost.” My stomach dropped. I should have acted with more confidence like the guys told me.

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” the other dismissed. “Look at Fluttershy, she’s shy but she’s still an absolute dear. I can assure you, Dusk is no different.”

Okay, now I was fully curious to know who Twilight was talking too. This had to be a pony I met in the past. But who? I knew the answer to it, but I just couldn’t put my claw on it. But that curiosity went away when I realized what that pony said. She and Twilight knew Fluttershy? If that was true, then that meant…me and the guys already found one of the Elements of Harmony: the mare that Leon’s with. Yet another Element that a member of my team knew. With the way Leon described her, I had to bet that her Element was Kindness, the Aquilous Family virtue. That was two Elements that represent the virtues of two members of my group. If this happens a third time, then I wouldn’t know what to think of it all. I shook those thoughts away as I then went back to listening in.

“I suppose so.” Twilight agreed. “I just want to be careful. It seems like if he makes one mistake, he may lose what little confidence I think he has. I think that friend of his was trying to stop that.”

“Well, he certainly didn’t have much a problem with me the last time I saw him. He even introduced me to his friends with no trouble at all.”

“Well, he didn’t seem like that when I talked to him. He should be back in a few minutes, you can meet him then. Just be friendly with him.”

“Oh, Twilight, darling, what made you think I wouldn’t be?” Twilight must have frowned, because her voice became more serious. “Don't worry, I shall bear in mind what you've said. You have my word.”

“Good. He does seem nice enough, but shy. I’m sure it’ll get better the longer he’s here.”

“Oh, darling. There’s no need to explain, I know how he can be.”

“You still haven’t explained to me how you know him.”

“You’ll find out when he gets here.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

Well, at least I knew that they weren’t actually bored with me. Nice to see that I didn’t make so much of a bad impression.

Deciding I’d eavesdropped enough, I stepped through the door. I could see Spike at work near a shelf, whilst Twilight was there at the center with another unicorn. Though I was shocked to see who it was. Her fur was a bright white, her mane and tail a dark purple. It was well styled and cared for, showing she evidently looked after her appearance, to look as…well, beautiful as possible. With her cutie mark being three diamonds, I knew who it was.

“Rarity?” I said as the white unicorn smiled at me.

“Dusk, how good it is to see you, darling.” Rarity said as she walked up to me and hugged me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked her after we broke the hug and I smiled at her.

“Oh, just visiting my friend Twilight.” She said to me.

“Talk about convenience.” I said to her. “It’s been so long, how you’ve been?”

“Oh, just fabulous, darling.” She said to me. “In fact, I now own my very own boutique here in Ponyville.”

“Wait, you mean the Carousel Boutique?” I asked, surprised by this. “You own it?”

“Why, of course, darling.” She answered me. “Though I do wish I could open another boutique over in Canterlot.”

“Yeah, it would be nice to see you more often.” I said to her. “Though I think that Shield would run out the door if you asked him to wear one of your designs while you finish it.”

“Oh, so true.” She said as we both shared a laugh.

That little moment was cut brief when Spike rushed right over between me and Rarity, taking us by surprise.

“Wait, you two actually know each other?” Spike asked with eyes widen with shock.

“Of course we know each other.” I said to him. “Spike, Rarity’s my cousin.”

“Cousin?!” Twilight and Spike said in shock at the same time.

“This guy’s your cousin?” Spike asked Rarity, pointing to me.

“Yes, Dusk is indeed my cousin.” She answered him.

“Why didn’t you just say he was your cousin?” Twilight asked her.

“Because, darling, I wanted it to be a surprise when you met him.” Rarity said.

“Wait, how did you know I was coming here, Rare?” I asked my white coated cousin.

“Oh, Twilight told me you were coming.” She said to me. “When I heard that you were coming to Ponyville, I was so excited to see you again.”

“And you didn’t tell Twilight we were cousins why?” I asked her.

“Well, she never asked. Besides, I say it makes a wonderful surprise, don’t you agree?” She said, fluttering her eyelashes at me.

“Classic Raritina.” I said with a bemused smile on my face. “Always got to have the flare for the dramatic.”

“Raritina?” Twilight asked, confused by what I said.

“Oh, she didn’t tell you?” I said to Twilight as I explained. “Her full name is Raritina Turbor. ‘Rarity’ is just her nickname.”

“How exactly are you guys related?” Spike said to me and rarity as we looked to him. “You two don’t even look anything alike.”

“Related by marriage.” Me and Rarity said at the same time, shocking each other.

“We have relatives that are married to each other.” I said to him as me and my cousin had bemused smiles.

“Oh.” Spike said before he sighed in relief. “Phew! That’s a relief.”

“How’s that?” I asked the dragon, confused by what he meant.

“Uh…nothing!” he said as he got all frantic. “I just mean…it’s a relief because…we can work together better. Yeah, that’s it!” everypony stayed silent as he gave a sheepish smile. It was a while before he broke it. “I’m gonna…get back to work.”

With that, I then saw him get back to what he was doing before. After that awkward moment, I then decided to get on the next topic.

“Anyway, I’m back with the parchment, Twilight.” I reported, levitating it to her.

“Thank you, Dusk. I really needed this.” Her grateful smile made me feel warm inside.

“No problem.” I said to her.

“Still as polite as ever, I see.” Rarity said to me. “Though I wouldn't expect less from a Canterlot gentlecolt.”

“Rare, I wouldn’t call myself a gentlecolt.” I said to my cousin. “I just like to be polite.”

“Nevertheless, that is an admirable quality of any young pony. I think we are all going to get along just fine, Dusk.” she decided.

“Great.” I said before speaking to my fellow Canterlot unicorn. “So, er…Twilight, is there anything else you’d like me to, uh…to do?”

“Actually,” she said, giggling a little, “there’s some books down in the basement I’ve been meaning to sort for a while now. Would you get them and bring them up, so we can get started?”

“Certainly.” I inclined my head to Rarity again. “If you would excuse me, cuz, I have duties to attend.”

“I understand, no rest for the wicked.” she nodded. I then headed for the stairs. “Oh, and Dusk?” I looked back. “Mind I ask where your other friends might be?”

“Oh, Shield’s out practicing his stunts, Dog’s helping out at Sweet Apple Acres, and Leon’s chasing after a mare again.” I said to her. “You know the usual.”

“Oh.” She said to me. “Well, then I’ll leave you to your work.”

“Thanks.” I said to her as she then turned to Twilight.

Before I opening the door, I couldn't help but notice that, every now and again, Spike would look up from his work, sigh, and stare longingly at her and resume with a merry tune being hummed.

Looks like somepony, or dragon rather, is a little love-struck. I thought with a smile.

I then opened the door and descended to the basement below. I could make out the shapes of various scientific machines, no doubt Twilight’s. Most of it looked pretty sophisticated: brain-wave reader, anomaly detector, magical scanner. It made me wonder where she got them all.

As I searched for the books, my thoughts turned to my cousin. Rarity was certainly a pony that appreciated class and sophistication. She would definitely fit right in at Canterlot as far as I knew. With her being Twilight’s friend also got me to realize that she was an Element of Harmony. No doubt she was Generosity for there was never a moment when she wouldn’t be generous. My own cousin, an Element of Harmony. How about that? Speaking of generous, that also happened to be the virtue of the Air elemental. I wonder how them and Rare would be like if they met each other? I also wondered how long until I only hoped I could make the same good impression on the rest of Twilight's friends. Right now, I’ve already done it with Applejack, wielder of the Element of Honesty, and my cousin Rarity, the Element of Generosity. Now I just had to make a good impression with Fluttershy, wielder of Kindness, and the wielders of Laughter and Loyalty. I have a guess about who’s Laughter, but I’m gonna leave that assumption until I meet the wielder face to face. Speaking of Laughter, the name is another way of saying the Element of Joy, joy being the virtue of the Lightning elemental. I would have to expect the unexpected when I found them. The Lightning elemental’s role in the Element Gang is the wild one, so basically they would be all kinds of random, always managing to see the brighter side of things. Though I’m hoping that me and the guys can find our last two members, wherever they are. If we ever want to truly defeat the Dark Gang, we would need all six elementals together in this fight.

I soon found the books, various old volumes coated with dust and cobwebs. These were certainly old, but would no doubt be interesting. The majority, I could tell, were biographies or historical records. There were even a few rolls of scroll, yellowed with age.

Carefully levitating them with a spell, I piled up the majority and began to carefully carry them upstairs. It was only after I began nearing the top that I realized the books were heavier than I first thought. I had to put most of my concentration into maintaining the spell, only briefly looking up to make sure where I was going. I then emerged back out into the main body of the library.

“Oh, my!” I heard Rarity exclaim, with a hint of disdain. “Those certainly look…dusty.”

“Do you need any help, Dusk?” Twilight asked me.

“No thanks… I’m fine…” I glanced to look at her and, because I did, I didn't see Spike’s tail as I bent below a bookshelf.

I tripped on it and lost my footing, wobbling to the side. I couldn't keep my concentration, I was losing them…and they toppled, crashing down as I hit the floor. I wasn't sure what hurt more, the pain as I hit the floor or the shame of my stupidity.

“Dusk! Are you alright?” Spike helped me up.

“I’m fine. Did my books…?” I turned to see my misdeed and felt my stomach plummet.

Twilight was fine, bar some shock at all of those old books lying on the floor. However most, if not all, of the books had landed on top of Rarity. She was now digging herself out of the pile, her neat fur coat now covered in dust and her styled mane was frayed, no longer pristine.

“Agh! Dust! Get it off me, get it off me!” She looked at her mane, her eyes wide with terror. “Oh, Celestia, my mane! My mane! Oh, I look a mess! A travesty! Of all the things that could possibly happen, this is the worst! Possible! Thing!”

“Rarity,” Twilight attempted to console, “it’s alright, and it’s not that…”

“It is, oh, it is! This is simply, absolutely awful!” She narrowed her eyes at me and I recoiled.

“Sorry about that, cuz.” I said as I then used my magic to put those books back into a pile. “Guess I should’ve paid more attention where I was going.”

“Oooh! You…” Rarity growled as she looked she was about to attack me, making taking a step back in fear.

The reason I did that was because I knew she was gonna beat me up for messing up her mane and getting filth on her coat. I remembered the last she got this mad. Leon accidently bumped her into a mud pit and, boy, did she get ticked. Can’t really say what she did to him, but it was a very traumatizing moment for him and a reminder for me and the guys to never mess up her appearance. Because I did that, I knew that I was gonna get it. That is until twilight stepped in.

“Rarity, it was an accident.” She said to my cousin. “Dusk didn’t mean for it to happen. Can’t you forgive him for this one mistake?”

Rarity took some time to think about it. When she looked at me, I turned to look at the floor in shame. After a little while, I heard her give a sigh of defeat that made me turn back her with an ashamed look of her own.

“Perhaps this was not Dusk’s fault.” She said. “I supposed I can forgive him for this, only if he could forgive me for my outburst.”

“You’re forgive, Rare.” I said to her and she smiled.

“Thank you, my dear cousin.” She said to me for she began walking to the door. “Well, if you excuse me, I’ll be off to wash this dust of my coat and restore my mane back to its former beauty. Goodbye and good luck to you, Dusk.”

“See ya around, Rare.” I said as she left to clean herself up. I then turned to Twilight with a grateful smile. “Thanks for standing up for me back there. I thought she was gonna kill me back there.”

“Of course, Dusk.” She said to me with a smile of her own. “What are friends for?”

Yet again, I got that warm feeling inside of when she said that. After that, I then got back to work.

---

After I got off work, I met up Shield in a meadow outside of Ponyville and I told him what happened. The sun was still high in the sky, birds still chirped in the trees.

“I can’t believe it.” Shield said to me as laid on a cloud he brought down. “Your cousin and that mare Leon’s chasing are part of Twilight’s little group.”

“I know.” I said to him. “And Twilight stood up for me when Rare was about to pumble me.”

With this, I tapped into the unique magic that I possessed and began to weave the shapes out of the colors. I formed the three of them: me, Twilight, and Rarity. I used them to recreate what had happened to give Shield a more visual aspect of it. The me-puppet was cowering in fear as he backed away from the angry Rarity-puppet until the Twilight-puppet moved and stopped her, calming the Rarity-puppet.

“She managed to help sort out the whole misunderstanding with Rarity.” I said as the me-puppet looked at them in surprise as I smiled seeing it. “She did that for me.”

I canceled it all out, feeling better about myself, and just began doing shapeless colors, making them dance and twirl in the air, leaving sparkling shades behind them. All while Shield watched me.

“Still not gonna show them your magic?” Shield asked, wondering if I had changed my mind about sharing my color magic with them.

“No, Shield. Not yet.” I said to him as I canceled it out. “I’m still not sure about show it to them.”

“Oh, come on!” Shield said to me in annoyance. “You managed to finally become friends with Twilight after so many years and you still aren’t gonna show them? Why not? It’s cool!”

“Yeah, he’s right! What you did was way cool!” We both jumped at the voice and I spun around as we both looked. But there was nopony there.

“What the…? Who said that?” Shield said as we checked around the area, still nopony was there.

We both heard it, so it couldn’t have been out imaginations.

“Hello? Somepony here?” I said as we kept looking around.

“Duh? Up here!” We both looked up to see a Pegasus pony resting on a cloud.

“Oh, I forgot to check the sky.” Shield said with a look of embarrassment. “My bad.”

“What? How long have you been up there?” I asked the Pegasus.

“Long enough to see you do that awesome trick!” the Pegasus said as she then leapt down to meet me and Shield.

Her fur was a bright blue, in contrast to my darker coat of the same color. Her mane and tail, curiously, had the pattern of a rainbow on it, being split in different colors like Shield. It was windswept and slightly ruffled, indicating that she regularly flew at high speeds. There was a certain confidence and self-assurance that she had about her. Though I didn’t like being without a good description, there was no other word for it: this pony was cool. And she'd seen me.

“Hey, how come I've never seen you around here before?” she asked suspiciously.

“‘Around here?’ Is this your spot or something?” Shield asked.

Great, screwed up twice. I then said “Are we in your way? Sorry we’ll…just go.”

“Wait a sec, I was only asking.” She chuckled a bit. “Relax, I won't bite. Guess you’re new, huh?”

“Both of us are.” Shield said as she then looked him.

“Whoa!” she said as I then remembered that Shield was still on that cloud. “That’s awesome! How are you doing that? Only pegasus ponies can walk on clouds!”

“That’s a mystery we’ve been trying to solve for years.” I said to her. “Don’t even have a single clue to a straight answer.”

“Yeah, found out when I was colt.” Shield said to him.

“That is so cool!” She held out a hoof. “Nice to meet ya! Rainbow Dash is my name and speed is my game.”

“Dusk Noir.” I responded, shaking it. “The guy here on the cloud is my friend.”

“Shield Steedor, fastest pony in of all of Equestria!” he said as he stood proudly on that cloud.

“Oh, really?” Rainbow Dash said with a smug as she then went over and leaned on the cloud before she starting to looking at her hoof, briefly polishing it before looking at it again. “Well, hate to break it to ya, but I’m the fastest pony there is.”

Shield laughed before he said “Very funny.”

“Nope, I’m serious.” She said as she casually turned to him. “I really am the fastest pony there is.”

He then made a buzzing noise before he said “Wrong! I’m so fast that even a Pegasus like you have trouble keeping up with me.”

“Yeah, maybe a normal Pegasus.” She said to him. “But I’m not your ordinary Pegasus. I’m the fastest pony to come out of Cloudsdale.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, I’m the fastest pony to ever come out of Diggington!”

“Diggington?” she then fell onto her back on the ground, laughing as to no doubt thinking being from Diggington was not really something to brag about. “Dude, that’s all the way in middle of nowhere and you’re bragging about that dirtball?”

“Hey, you take that back!” Shield said as he angrily glared at the still laughing Pegasus. “Diggington is just as good in anyway as Cloudsdale! Probably even better!”

That got her to stop laughing as she gave a look of shock before then glaring at him.

“What did you say, punk?” rainbow Dash said as she got up, began hovering over Shield, and poked his chest, all while still glaring at him.

“You heard me!” he said to her. “And there is no way anypony like you could ever be faster than me.

“You kidding me? I can beat you with my wings tied behind my back!”

“I can run circles around you before you can even say ‘What!’”

I could feel the tension between these two as they growled at each other, their glares getting more intense. If it was actually possible, there would be electricity coming from their foreheads. I was actually getting worried that this might get ugly. But I was then given confusion as they began snickering before crashing down laughing, Rainbow Dash still hovering around and Shield on his cloud. They laughed like that for a while until they stopped and looked at each with smiles.

“You know, you’re one cool dude.” Rainbow Dash said to Shield.

“You’re not bad yourself.” Shield said to her and I then watched them do a hoof bump.

I wasn’t really sure what had happened, but I was glad that things had settled down.

“So what’s up with you?” she asked me.

“I uh…I don't want to talk about it." I said to her.

“Dude doesn’t think you’d like him after seeing what he did.” Shield said to her.

“Are you kidding?” she asked incredulously. “A pony who can do awesome magic like that, why wouldn't I?”

“You…you think my magic’s awesome?” Was she just saying that for a joke? How could a pony like her think my magic was in any way good?

“Of course! The way you move those colors around, spinning and twirling ‘em as easy as anypony can walk? That's pretty cool.” She said as she then raised an eyebrow. “How’s nopony ever told you that before?”

“ʹCause the dude’s afraid of showing it.” Shield said to her.

“Yeah, he’s right.” I said to the Pegasus, my head hanged in shame. “There’s only a few ponies who know about my magic. Shield’s one of them. Besides them, I’ve never shown anypony that before. I’ve just thought they might think it was weird or stupid.”

“Well, I don’t.” First Celestia, now her? She sounded so genuine, I found myself believing her. Found myself smiling. “There, you see? Hey, I’ve got some friends who’d love to see that, let’s go find ‘em!”

“Wait!” She stopped mid-flight. “Sure, you think it’s good but…I’m not ready to show it to others. I don’t want them to know what they think, you know. Could you just…keep it to yourself?”

“But…”

“Dash, listen.” Shield said to her. “Dusk isn’t really the one to be confident about this stuff. If he doesn’t want anypony else to know, then we don’t tell anypony until he wants to. Let’s just keep it between us until he’s ready to show it, okay?”

“Yeah, I don’t want anypony else to know yet.” I said to her. “Please.”

Rainbow Dash seemed to consider. She looked almost disappointed that I didn’t want to show off something she thought was so good. Finally, she returned to the ground, giving an understanding smile.

“Okay then. Even though I think you're crazy to keep that hidden, I'll keep your secret.” She winked. “You can count on me.”

“Thank you, Ms. Dash. I’m very grateful.” I said to her.

“No problem.” She said as she laughed a little. “And you don’t have to call me ‘Ms.’ Just call me Rainbow. Or Dash, either’s good.”

“Alright then…Rainbow.” I smiled back, mainly because of how many times I’d been told that. “I guess we’ll be getting out of your mane. You’ve probably got better things to do.”

“Now you mention it, I do have some flight practice to catch up on…” She said.

“Knew it.” I said to her as I turned to leave. “Come on, Shield. Let’s leave her be.”

“Right behind ya.” Shield as he then hopped off his could and followed me.

“Hey, wait! Maybe you can help me.” she said as she stopped us.

“Help you?”

“Sure! Come on, I know where we can do it without anypony coming across us!” Without waiting for a response, she took off and sped away.

“What just happened?” I asked myself.

“I think we just volunteered to help her.” Shield said.

I sighed, started to walk in the direction Rainbow Dash, and said “Come on, let’s make sure she’s okay.”

“Hold it!” Shield said as he made me stop before he picked me up and put me on his back.

“Shield, what are you doing?” I said as I was confused by this.

“Just hang on.” He said to me. “We’re gonna follow Dash on the Shield Express!”

I soon realized he was gonna carry me as he sped off after Rainbow.

“Shield, no, wait…” I didn’t even get finish my sentence before he then ran off like a comet, a color trail of red, white, and blue following him from behind like that color trail Rainbow left as she flew off at the same speed as Shield’s running.

With this, I had no choice but to keep myself from falling off as Shield went after Rainbow.

He ran after Rainbow Dash for a few minutes, until we reached another meadow. This one, however, was on the threshold of a nearby forest. I had a sense of eerie foreboding about it. Something didn’t feel…right about it. Shield felt that too and stopped as we were at the edge.

“Okay, we’re here.” Shield said as I then slid off him, shivering in fright as I fell to the ground. He looked at me with concern. “Hey, you okay there, bud?”

I then recollected myself, got back up on my claws and hooves, glared at Shield and said “Never, do, that, again!”

“Hey, we caught up with her, didn’t we?” Shield said, trying to defend himself.

“Here we are, boys.” Rainbow declared, descending to us again. “The edge of the Everfree Forest. Nopony ever comes near here. Unless you’re me, of course.”

“Of course.” I murmured, eyeing the forest warily.

“Yeah, what better place than a forest that nopony wants to go anywhere near?” Shield sarcastically said.

“Hey,” she said to us, raising an eyebrow, “you’re not scared, are you?”

“No way.” Shield said to her, making sure he kept his tough guy image.

“Um…well, er…” I hated looking so weak on front of her. “A little.”

“Don’t worry, there’s nothing to be scared of in…” She paused and, in a spooky voice, “the Everfree Forest!”

“Knock it off, Dash.” Shield said to her. “You’re freaking Dusk out.”

“Relax, Dusky, I’m only kidding.” She laughed at how ridiculous I no doubt looked. “I like you guys. You’re alright.”

“Thanks.” I said, smiling a little. “So what are we doing here?”

“I told you, for my flying practice. I’ve gotta be the best if I wanna join…the Wonderbolts!”

“Wonderbolts?” Shield said as he stared at her in utter disbelief. “The Wonderbolts?”

“The very same.” she said, proudly. “Someday, I’m gonna join them.”

“Small world.” Shield said, smiling at her as she looked back at him. “I want to become a Wonderbolt too!”

“Really?” she asked him. “But aren’t you an Earth pony?”

“So what? Doesn’t mean I can’t be up there with them. I can walk on clouds, remember?” he said to her.

“Yeah, ever since he found out he could walk on clouds, Shield had been practicing all kinds of air stunts.” I told the Pegasus.

“Heck yeah. Watch this.” Shield said as he then jumped into the air and managed to land on a nearby cloud.

He then began jumping on it like a trampoline. After a few jumps and Rainbow yawned in boredom, Shield then started to make his landings harder, stretching the cloud downward. After a while and the stretch of the cloud about 4 feet and looking as stretched as a slingshot, the cloud shaking as it held on to Shield within the stretch. I looked and saw Rainbow’s eyes widen in shock as she saw this. Then the stretch then recoiled into the cloud, launching Shield into the air as he then made it to another cloud high up in the sky. While he made his way back to the he did all kinds of tricks like barrel rolls, summersaults, back flips, sling-shotting himself around the place, moving from cloud to cloud at an incredible speed and all of it showing pure passion, the love for speed and show-ponyship. Shield was definitely all the other stallions and I don’t mean because of his rare ability. While some ponies would see this as crazy and stupidity, others would see that Shield made it look like an art form, a “dance with danger” as Shield would say as he moved through the clouds, leaving a flash of red, white, and blue behind him. On a cloud closer to the ground, he finished it off by getting on his back legs and leaning back to fall off the cloud, doing a multiple back flips as he got closer to the ground. When he got to the ground, he landed on his hooves, stood up, a looked at me and Rainbow with a grin. I managed to look and see Rainbow look at Shield with her jaw dropped in shock.

“Still think I can’t get into the Wonderbolts, Dash?” Shield said to her as he walked back over to me.

Rainbow shook her head as she snapped out of state of shock, cleared her voice, and calmly said “Okay, you got some skill, I’ll give you that. But it’ll take a lot more than just some fancy cloud jumping to get into the Wonderbolts.”

“That was just the opening act.” Shield said to her. “I’m saving the best stuff for the Wonderbolts, like my Sonic Rainboom.”

“Wait, did you just say ‘Sonic Rainboom’?” she said with a confused look on her face.

“Yeah, that’s right.” Shield said, proudly.

Rainbow Dash then began to snicker as we looked at her with confusion before she broke out laughing, falling to the ground as she did.

After a while and me and Shield looked at each other in confusion before looking back at her, Shield then said “Hey, what’s so funny?”

“You! Saying you can do a Sonic Rainboom!” she said as she kept on laughing. “That’s hilarious!”

“I can do a Sonic Rainboom!” Shield said to her, angry that she didn’t believe him.

“Oh, yeah, sure you can!” she sarcastically said as she then continued laughing.

“I’m serious!” he said to her as she slowly stopped laughing and stood back up. “I’ve been doing it ever since I was a colt!”

“Sorry, dude, but that doesn’t even make any sense.” She said to him. “Only a Pegasus pony can do a Sonic Rainboom and you’re just an Earth pony.”

“Let me guess: you’re just gonna say it’s a myth?” Shield said with scowl as many ponies told him it was nothing but a legend.

“Nope.” She said, which shocked us.

“Wait, you believe me?”

“Well, I don’t believe you can do it, but I do believe that the Sonic Rainboom is real.”

“How come you believe in it?” I asked her.

“Because I’ve done it.” she said, surprising us.

“What?!” Shield said, his widen with surprise. “You’ve done a Sonic Rainboom?”

“Yeah, once.” She said to us. “I was just a filly.”

“That’s awesome!” Shield said to her with a smile. “I can’t believe there’s another pony who can do the Sonic Rainboom like me!”

“Hold it!” she said to him, making his smile fade away. “I still don’t believe you can do anything like that.”

“But I can really do it!” he said to her.

“Oh, yeah? Prove it!” She said.

I then decided to summon my scrapbook to find the proof she wanted. Dragonis gave me a special camera I could use to take some memorabilia photos when me and the guys became the Element Squad. I didn’t have it on me now for we didn’t get to a memorable moment yet. I opened it to the page I was looking for and then went ahead to show it to Rainbow.

“Here’s your proof.” I said as I then showed her a picture of the first ever Sonic Rainboom I ever saw Shield do, his mane and tail in the colors of the rainbow as he flew through the air and a rainbow formed behind him.

“What?” Rainbow said as she looked at the photo in shock. “This can’t be real.”

“Pictures don’t lie, Rainbow.” I said to her.

“But…but…that’s impossible!” She said, still couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Told ya.” Shield said to her with a smug before speaking with determination on his goal. “Which is why I’m gonna go and become the first Earth pony to join the Wonderbolts.”

“That…is…” she said as we thought she was gonna freak out until we saw her excited smile. “awesome!”

“Whoa!” Shield said as Rainbow grabbed him with her front leg.

“That’s it!” Rainbow said to him as she held him in a neck hold. “You and I are teaming up!”

“Wait,” Shield said to her, surprised by this, “you want to team up with me?”

“Heck yeah! Think about it: we both got speed, we both got mad skills, and we can both do the Sonic Rainboom!” she said to him. “With our awesomeness combined, we’ll make the Wonderbolts for sure! So what do you say?”

Shield gave it a moment before he smiled and raised his hoof up for a hoofbump “I say let’s do it!”

“Oh, yeah! Now we’re talking!” She said as she then gave him a hoofbump.

“Well, I got to say, I’m amazed you want to be a Wonderbolt.” I said to Rainbow as she let go of Shield and let him stand with her. “They’re not just good, they’re the best! You must be a brilliant flyer, if you’re aiming your sights that high like Shield!”

“Just watch this…” She said to me as she then sped off into the sky in the blink of an eye.

From there, I could only watch in utter amazement as she pulled off a series of loops, swoops, barrel rolls, loop-de-loops and various other stunts. She twirled around clouds, dived at incredible speeds, all of it showing a pure passion, a love for speed and show-ponyship.

I’d seen a Pegasus fly, but nothing like Rainbow Dash. Like Shield, she made it look like an art form, a deadly and daring dance as she soared through the sky, leaving the flash of a rainbow behind her. She finished her routine with a loop in the sky, swooping back down and landing in front of me, where I applauded with my hooves and Shield looked at her with his mouth opened in shock.

“Thank you, thank you.” she said, bowing to us and giving that self-assured grin of hers.

“Dash, that was…awesome!” Shield said to her with a big smile.

“I have to agree.” I said to her. “It was simply amazing!”

“I know, I know.” she smiled. “Good of you to say so though.”

Me and Shield chuckled a little at her confidence. “With moves like that, you’d get in the Wonderbolts in a flash. And Shield too. So you say you need to practice. What could I do?”

“Well, that color-thingy you do, can you make shapes with it?”

“Um…” I never thought I’d be talking about this with anypony. The only pony I ever talked to about anything like this was Shield. “Well…I can do just about anything with it…circles, squares, rings. Pony shapes need a little more concentration.”

“I just need basic shapes.” she assured me. “How big can you do ‘em?”

“Er…usually, only as big as what you saw. But I have done them bigger…sometimes. Why?”

“Alright, well,” she began, “I need some practice on my maneuvering. With that color thingy, you can make hoops for me to fly through. That way, I don’t have to make ‘em myself from the clouds.”

“So that’s it?” I said to her. “All I have to do is make rings for you to fly through?”

“Yeah! Easy enough, right? Whaddya say?”

“Well…” I still wasn’t completely sure about this. What if somepony did see me? What would I do then?

“Come on, Dusk, please? This would be a big help to me! Come on!”

“Um…” I thought about it for a few minutes. I sighed in resignation. “Fine, I’ll help you.”

“Great! I knew you would!” She took off again. “Just make ‘em appear and I’ll fly through ‘em as fast as I can. Try and make it challenging. Let’s do this!”

I couldn't help, but have my spirits bolstered a little as she soared off again.

“Dusk, you think you can be able to do all that?” Shield whispered me, worried that it might be too much for me.

“I don’t know, but I’m gonna try.” I said to him at the same volume.

Tapping into my magic once again, I conjured up a large ring of sparkling blue, watching as she flew towards it. It was brighter than normal, but that would help her to see them.

This was why I was a little wary about doing them this big: they got brighter the bigger they got. Which was why I didn’t want to use it for Shield’s practice runs. I could control the brightness, but only to a certain degree. They would still be bright. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be a problem.

I continued creating loops, erasing them as she flew through and conjuring another one, giving her enough time to veer around to fly through the hoop again. I couldn’t help, but marvel, at how quickly she turned, how easy she made it look. Shield even began cheering for Rainbow as she did this. We kept this up for a few minutes. Then Rainbow called out:

“That’s too easy! Come on, spice it up a little!” She continued on as I thought about it.

How could I make it a challenge? Then I had an idea. As Rainbow swooped through my latest one, I conjured another seconds afterward, almost directly behind her. That would give her a challenge.

But something went wrong. I conjured it too quickly, I didn’t have time to temper the brightness. It literally flared, like an explosion, just as she turned around again. I tried to dull it, but was too late. She was caught in the full glare of the brilliant glow.

“What the…?”

I saw her try to cover her eyes, veer away from it, lose control of her flight pattern, and begin a rapid, uncontrolled descent. She smacked into the ground, skidded and crashed, and headfirst into a nearby tree. She slumped to a halt, unmoving.

“Rainbow Dash!” I yelled out as me and Shield sprinted up to her, Shield turning her over. She had a rather nasty bump and looked dazed from concussion. I was so shocked from all of this. This whole thing…it reminded me of…the accident. Just wanting it gave me horrible flashbacks of that, all what happened and what became of it after that.

“Huh…wha…whazza…” She said, still dazed from the crash.

“Oh, Rainbow, I am so sorry!” I bowed my head in shame. “I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry.”

“Dusk, it isn’t your fault.” Shield said to me. “You didn’t know.”

“No, it is my fault.” I said to him, not wanting to look at this anymore. “I messed up, big time. I’m sorry.”

“What? Dusk, what are you…?” Shield said as I began backing away before I started running away. “Dusk, where are you going?”

Not wanting to face Rainbow now, knowing I’d screwed up, and from revealing my magic to somepony today. I ran. I knew where I would be going. I just needed to get away, to be alone somewhere.

How could I have been so stupid, thinking I could help with my stupid little magic tricks? I couldn't control it. I can barely do anything with it. Why had I let my hopes get up like that, I should have known it would end badly?

I sprinted, not back into town where I would be seen and where I might run into Twilight, I ran around the outskirts. Someponies saw me, but I didn't stop. I continued to run, not looking back.

Reaching my home, I dashed inside, shut the door, and locked it. I leaned against the door, hung my head in shame and slinked off into my living room, lying on the couch. That was it. I just lay there. I didn’t know how long for, nor did I really want to know. Once the others heard that, then they wouldn’t want to be my friends anymore. Applejack, Rarity, even Twilight…they would all be too angry with me to ever want to be my friends.

I had failed. My hopes for finally being friends with Twilight, for finding a new home and life here, were gone. All in just one day. Word would spread about my mistakes, proving that I was a clumsy idiot, who couldn’t do a single thing right with his magic. Just like I was before with… No, no, no! It’s all happening again! Now I got one choice now. I have to leave. I could probably find a different job, but maybe it would be better…if I just went back to Canterlot…

Hours later of just wandering around my home, wallowing in my loneliness or reading a book, I heard a knock on my door. Who knew I lived here? Who even cared?

“Dusk? Dusk? Ya here?” It was Applejack. How had she known where to find me? Guess Dog told her. “Dusk? It’s us, Applejack and Dog. If you’re here, we just wanna talk. Hello?”

I crept to the door, my claw wavering on the handle. For a few seconds, I was tempted to open it. But decided against it. If I was going to leave, it would be better if I just slipped away, with nopony even seeing me again. It was best for me, for all of them, especially my team.

I then heard another knock at the door and then Dog’s voice.

“Dusk, I know you’re in there.” He said to me. “Open the door, we just wanna talk.”

“Go away, Dog!” I said to him, wanting him to leave. “I don’t want to talk to anypony right now.”

“Come on, Dusk. We’ve been wonderin’ where ya were for days. Come on out.”

“I said go away! I just want to be alone!”

I heard him sigh on the other side before I heard speaking to somepony, no doubt Applejack. “Let’s give the fella some time. He’ll come out when he feels better.” The sound of hooves came, indicating they were leaving.

Returning to my couch, I decided it was definitely for the best. I would leave tomorrow, back for Canterlot, where I belonged. I’d never find anything good here. It would be easy, just going home. Though I would be going alone. I saw how happy my team was here. I couldn’t take that away from them. So…I also decided I would leave the Element Squad and allow them to stay and protect Ponyville. I managed to take care of myself for a few years and keep crime in check just by being on my. I could do again for a little while. Maybe, after a while, the guys would forgive me. It was for the best…

Yet, that didn't stop the tears rolling down my cheeks. It was what was best, I told myself. For the best…

Author's Note:

Well, things just turned for the worst. After an accident from using his magic, Dusk is now going back to Canterlot and leaving the team! How will all this effect the Element Squad? And what accident is Dusk talking about? Find out next time!