Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness II

by bigsnusnu

Chapter 1 - A look into the past

A look into the past

In Donut Joe's Cafe, everything was quiet. It seemed that after the declaration of Sunset Shimmer, everypony, except for her, had been in shock. Seeing the faces of fear and confusion that his friends had, Dusk was finally able to momentarily come out of his stupor and slowly got up from the floor.

"Did she say she's my fiancé!?" Dusk thought, still stunned by what had just happened.

"That... that’s not..." Dusk said scared, not knowing who to look at, his friends, his teacher or Sunset Shimmer.

"There’s nothing to explain." Sunset Shimmer said smiling kindly at Dusk, putting herself between him and the five mares, then stared at him with an intense gaze. "After so many years, we have a lot to talk about... alone."

Upon feeling Sunset's intense gaze, Dusk again froze. That gaze had haunted him for years, the gaze of his first and only friend, the gaze of the one who had earned his trust, and then betrayed him. A gaze marked into his heart for years, as a reminder that friendship didn't exist. And the fear of that trauma took hold of Dusk again.

It seemed that Dusk had lost the ability to speak, however, despite the fact that Sunset almost completely covered his vision, for an instant he could see his friends, and his heart forced to fight his fear and trauma.

"I..." Dusk repeated weakly, fighting his past fears.

"You owe me..." Sunset Shimmer whispered before Dusk continued speaking, for a second losing her strong gaze and showing slight fear in her. And those words were all that was needed to Dusk to lose what little conviction he had to face Sunset at the time, and a feeling of guilt washed over him.

"O… Okay..." Dusk said weakly, lowering his head.

"Excellent!" Sunset said smiling kindly and moving to Dusk's side, very attached to him. Then Sunset smiled at the other mares present while Dusk also looked at them, with a look of pity and guilt. "Nice to meet you all! I hope I never see you again, Bye-bye!" Sunset added smiling kindly, lighting her horn and causing both her and Dusk to disappear from the café.

After the bright flash product of teleportation, Dusk's five friends remained static for several seconds while they tried to process everything that had just happened, putting the cherry on the cake to the strangest night of their lives.

"W-What just happened...?" Fluttershy finally asked, not sure whether to be sad, angry or confused.

"Who the hell does that mare think she is!?" Rainbow Dash said furiously, finally snapping out of her daze.

"She is Sunset Shimmer." Celestia said suddenly, approaching the five mares, who were a bit surprised, since they almost forgot that they were in the presence of the princess. "She’s a former student of the Canterlot School of Magic, where Dusk studied his early years."

"But where did she take Dusk? We gotta find him!" Pinkie Pie said, looking at the princess.

"I don’t think she took Dusk against his will. Didn't you see it?" Applejack said, not even looking at Pinkie Pie, just with a frustrated expression on her face. "We all know how skilled Dusk is at teleporting. If he wanted it... he would be back here by now." Applejack added, thinking sadly that also applied to what happened in the castle, when the maid took Dusk away right after she declared her love to him.

"B-But… we don't know everything that happened to the two of them. Maybe… Maybe she somehow forced him to follow her!" Pinkie Pie said worryingly, wanting to believe that Dusk wouldn’t abandon them like this, even less after the declaration of love that she had made in the ballroom.

"Sorry Pinkie, but… I'm with Applejack." Rarity said with a sad look. "Dusk knew that tonight was important to us. And if he decided to go with that mare, it’s because he believed that it was the right thing to go with her, instead of being with me… with us."

"B-But..." Pinkie Pie said looking anguished at her other friends. She no longer had arguments to convince her friends, who all seemed to be equally saddened by Dusk's sudden disappearance. And she herself should be just as sad and hurt, but Pinkie felt that there was something beyond between Dusk and that Sunset Shimmer, she felt that there was something she was overlooking, but she couldn't remember it.

Finally, the five friends stared at the floor with sadness and resignation, each one believing that she was more dejected than the rest of her friends, because although the others didn’t know it, each one had declared her love to Dusk that night. Unfortunately, none of them had received a response.

At that moment Celestia's eyes widened with surprise as she truly understood the situation and what had happened with Dusk's love declarations.

"It seems that the bells have announced the end of the Gala, I think it’s time for us to return to the castle." Celestia said, moving closer to the five mares, and gently lifting the downcast heads of the five mares and smiling kindly at them. "I know Dusk Shine as well as you do. And I recognize when my dear student is lost and confused with his thoughts and feelings, even more so with the arrival of his old friend. But I assure you that once Dusk calm down, he'll talk to all of you and answer all your questions."

Then the princess's horn lit up, and the six mares disappeared from the café, leaving a very surprised Dona Joe, who didn’t understand anything that had just happened at his place.

Meanwhile, in one of the small towers near the castle, with a flash of light, Dusk Shine and Sunset Shimmer appeared.

Dusk wanted to be surprised at how quickly they had both teleported, but his astonishment took a back seat when he realized that Sunset had teleported them without even notifying him. Dusk realized that he had abandoned his friends without giving them any explanation, which made him feel worse than he already felt.

"You don't know how surprised I was when I found out that the Princess had let you live here in the South Tower." Sunset said as she looked around her. "Just a bed and shelves full of books… Just like your room at home. It seems that you haven't changed at all."

At that moment Dusk raised his eyes and looked around him, and for a moment he put aside his grief and guilt when he recognized where they were.

"This is... my old room in the castle." Dusk said astonished to recognize that they were now in the tower that had served as his home in recent years before moving to Ponyville.

Since he traveled to Ponyville on the 'order' of the Princess, Dusk hadn’t returned there in all that time, and it had remained intact. Only a few Spike's belongings and some few books were missing, which the guards had sent to Ponyville once they settled there. But his old bed as well as the shelves full of books, which Dusk obviously didn’t take since he now lived in a library, were all still there.

"Huff... I'm so tired..." Sunset said, throwing herself on Dusk's bed and stretching her body, getting ready to sleep, as if nothing important had happened in the last few minutes.

Seeing that Sunset seemed totally unconcerned, Dusk looked cautiously at the yellow mare and slowly approached her.

"Sunset... You... When did you come back to Canterlot?" Dusk asked fearfully, not sure if that was the right question to start their talk with, since Dusk had dozens of questions on his mind and he didn't know which one to start with.

At Dusk's question, Sunset remained silent, with her eyes closed and a small smile as she inhaled heavily and relaxed. Then Sunset Shimmer's horn flashed and Dusk was surrounded by a golden aura, which slowly levitated him and laid him right next to her.

"I’ve traveled almost from the other end of Equestria to get here. I'm really exhausted." Sunset said, looking at Dusk tenderly and then hugging him, resting her head on Dusk's chest. "I know you have a lot of questions. I promise that tomorrow we’ll talk about everything and plan our future." Sunset added, hugging Dusk tighter, falling asleep with a huge smile.

Surprised at Sunset's radical change in attitude, seeing her passive and relaxed, Dusk only opened his eyes wide, not knowing how to react. A part of him told him to get her off him and demand answers from her right then and there. Another part of him told him to just leave her and go back to his true friends. But thinking about the latter, another part of Dusk told him that for much of his childhood, Sunset had been an important part of his life, and that he couldn’t abandon her... despite what she had done to him.

And with that last thought, Dusk also began to fall asleep due to how exhausted he was, remembering precisely that part of his life...

---

'Flashback of Dusk Shine.'

The first day of school was important to the vast majority of young colts, and Dusk Shine was no exception. After being accepted to Canterlot School of Magic, Dusk felt like the luckiest colt in the world, because not only could he go to the best magic school in Equestria, but he could even meet the great Princess Celestia, who apparently was very interested in helping him control his magic after the magic outburst he accidentally made on the day of his test.

"Mom, hurry up! I'm going to be late!" The young colt as he jumped with excitement in front of the door of his house, not caring that he was carrying a saddlebag with several books. His enthusiasm was such that not even the weight of those books prevented him from showing his excitement for that day.

"Easy Dusk, I’m coming." Dusk's mother, Twilight Velvet, answered calmly, a mare with whitish gray fur, with a white and lilac mane, and three stars as her cutie mark.

Just when Dusk's mother was about to leave the house, a loud cough rang out from one of the rooms of the house, so Twilight Velvet stopped and immediately went to the room. There was Dusk's beloved grandmother, Twilight Twinkle, who had fallen ill a couple of days ago and unfortunately didn’t seem to have improve.

"Gosh Mom, it seems that cough is only getting worse... I'd better take you to see the doctor." Twilight Velvet said, looking worriedly at her mother.

"Cough! Cough! Nonsense, I'm fine." The grandmother answered with a weak smile. "Take little Dusk to school. It's his first day and it's important. I'll be fine... Cough! Cough!"

Hearing how bad her mother's cough sounded, Twilight Velvet decided to go against what her stubborn mother said and take her to the doctor immediately. Which left the problem of who would accompany little Dusk to school. Night Light, Dusk's father, was out of town doing some errands, so the only option left was for Dusk's older brother to accompany him.

After arguing with his mother, Shining Armor reluctantly agreed to take his little brother to school. As soon as Dusk saw who would be the one to finally accompany him, his joy immediately diminished, and his ears lowered as a sign of concern.

"Let’s go." Shining said without even looking at his brother and began walking.

As they walked through the busy streets of Canterlot, both brothers were kept in awkward silence at all times. With Shining Armor always facing forward, keeping his brow furrowed; and Dusk Shine with his head down, thinking about how to fix things with his brother.

For as long as Dusk could remember, both brothers had always been very competitive, but they had never gone to the extreme of not talking to each other. However, after the events that happened in Dusk's test to enter the magic school, it seemed that Shining was no longer able to even see Dusk in the eye.

"Are you still mad at me?" Dusk asked timidly as he walked quickly to catch up with his brother's fast pace.

"You know why I’m angry." Shining Armor answered dryly. "You still won’t admit that you're a cheater."

"I’m not a cheater!" Dusk claimed immediately.

"Oh yeah? So how did you break the roof on the day of your test? How did you manage to open a dragon egg?" Shining asked, giving his brother a fleeting, angry look.

"I... I don't know..." Dusk answered slowly, lowering his head sadly as he remembered the day of the test.

"You don't know how difficult it has been for me in school. All the effort I have put to show that despite not being from a renowned family, I can become just as good or even better than them!" Shining said feeling frustrated, remembering how other ponies teased him at school, especially those of noble families, who seemed to hate him just to see him. "And just when I thought I was finally earning their respect, you come in and screw it up!"

It was impossible for Shining not to remember the day after Dusk's magic test, which coincided precisely with the first day of tests to enter the Royal Guard training academy, where Shining had dreamed of joining since he was a young colt.

That day, Shining immediately passed the preliminary tests of knowledge and physical fitness with the highest marks. However, instead of receiving the praise that well deserved, of all that was spoken among the other candidates, and even among the guards who took the test, was whether Shining would be cheating on tests, like his little brother who had even managed to fool Princess Celestia herself.

"Now all those years of effort may go to waste because of you..." Shining said with a mixture of sorrow and helplessness, looking askance at his little brother and thinking that even though his brother insisted that he didn't cheat, what he had done was simply impossible to do with his magic.

Still, Dusk was his brother, and deep down, behind all that anger and frustration, Shining knew he couldn't blame his brother like that. However, when his heart began to soften a bit, Shining couldn’t help looking askance at the cutie mark on his brother’s flank, which again harden his heart.

"And the worst of all is that cutie mark..." Shining muttered, frowning as he walked, talking more to himself than to Dusk. "Neither you nor I should have had that mark..."

Without understanding the last comment but knowing that it was probably another cause that his brother was angry with him, Dusk simply lowered his head and continued walking, feeling that all the joy and excitement with which I had started that day had already disappeared.

Finally, both brothers reached the entrance to the school of magic and stopped at the entrance. At that moment, little Dusk's eyes widened in amazement when he saw the great building full of unicorns of all ages, all running happily and their classrooms before classes began. Which made Dusk's innocent heart jump again with excitement at what he had before him. So much so that he completely forgot that his brother was mad at him and started walking quickly to get in there at once.

Seeing his little brother walk away with a hopeful smile, Shining's hard heart softened for an instant.

"Dusk!" Shining shouted before Dusk walked away completely, which made his little brother stop and turn to look at him. Seeing Dusk's innocent face, Shining opened his mouth to say something, but then he realized that perhaps he could be scaring his brother for no reason. But still, Shining knew the kind of ponies that studied in this special school, so he finally decided to tell him something. "Dusk... You... Don't let anypony tell you that you’re worth less than others." Shining said slowly, starting to worry about his brother.

Then Shining's heart shielded again, and he just turned and started on his way back home. Thinking that instead of worrying about his brother, he had to solve his own problems first, problems caused precisely by Dusk Shine.

After Shining Armor left, Dusk finally entered the school, marveling at everything he saw on his way: the large halls, the dozens of unicorns entering them, even the smell of books that he liked so much. He eventually got to the room where he had to go, which was the room for the youngest unicorns who were starting out in magic school.

As soon as Dusk entered, he smiled when he saw all the ponies of his same age that were there, all in different groups chatting happily. There was a group of fillies laughing uproariously, another group of colts that immediately looked away when they saw Dusk, and another big group of fillies and colts that seemed to be all laughing and trying to converse with a particular filly, who Dusk couldn’t see well.

The school bell rang and quickly all the colts and fillies ran to sit in their seats before the teacher arrived. Dusk looked everywhere looking for an empty seat, but it seemed that there was none left.

"Students must be seated at their desks before class begins." A harsh voice suddenly said from behind Dusk. Turning around, Dusk saw that it was an old unicorn with a wrinkled face, long black mane, wearing a completely black suit and cape.

"I-I… I'm sorry. I just couldn't find a seat." Dusk said shyly when he saw the stern face of the professor.

"Oh, I see. You must be our 'special case'." The teacher said with a wrinkling of his nose, as if he had smelled something unpleasant. Then the old teacher used his magic to make another desk appear in the room and placed it at the back. "It’s not our fault that there was no other desk. We didn't know we were going to have a 'special case' this year." The professor added grunting, ignoring Dusk and advancing towards his desk.

"Thanks a lot!" Dusk added happily, walking towards his desk, unaware of the murmurs in the room as he did so. Happy to think that being 'a special case' was good, because it meant that he should be special; without even imagining that this was just a derogatory way of referring to him and his family.

Once the teacher started class, he began to talk non-stop, chatting about the fundamentals of magic and all the basic theory that it involved. Advancing at a breakneck pace, in which most of the colts and fillies in the room could barely take notes of what the teacher said.

"If you are in this school it’s because you are part of the elite of Equestria. Therefore, you must not only know how to use magic. You must know how it works from its roots, all of the theory behind a spell." The teacher said looking seriously at all his students. "What are the three fundamental elements to invoke a spell?"

At the teacher's question, only two hooves were raised. One of them was from Dusk Shine, which the professor noticed first, but simply ignored it and pointed to the other raised hoof.

"The three basic elements are 'Power', 'Concentration' and 'Imagination'." The filly who had raised the hoof answered calmly.

"Very good! It seems that somepony has studied properly." The teacher answered with satisfaction, giving Dusk a fleeting look of displeasure before continuing with his class.

As the teacher continued with his class, Dusk couldn't help but feel disappointed that the teacher hadn't chosen him, even though he also knew the answer. Then Dusk looked from afar at the filly that had answered the question correctly who was sitting in the front row in front of the class. She had also been the filly that this big group of colts and fillies had been surrounding before class began. She was a filly with yellow fur, with red and gold mane, but what stood out most about her was her beautiful cutie mark: a red and gold sun. Dusk had never seen a cutie mark of a sun other than in Princess Celestia, so it caught his attention.

After two hours of Theory of Magic, the class finally ended, and the colts and fillies were able to leave the classroom for a short break. Since Dusk was sitting at the back of the room, he was the last to leave. As he did so, he saw that again several fillies had surrounded that yellow filly, trying to talk to her and get her attention, as if they wanted to ingratiate themselves with her.

Dusk wasn’t an expert in approaching other ponies. In fact, he was usually quite shy, and after he had learned magic, that had only worsened, since his leisure time was spent reading instead of playing with other colts. However, seeing that popular filly, who also seemed to know a lot about magic and had that peculiar cutie mark; it made Dusk feel that he should get closer to her and get to know her better. So timidly, Dusk began to approach the group of fillies.

Dusk only managed to take two steps before somepony pushed him down to the ground.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you." Said a stocky colt Dusk's age. Although, given the sarcasm in his voice, Dusk suspected that the colt pushed on purpose.

"Don’t worry." Dusk answered with an innocent smile, trying to sound casual about the situation.

"You’re not thinking about getting close to Sunset Shimmer, are you?" Said another tall and thin colt, next to the first one. Dusk then inferred that apparently Sunset Shimmer was the name of that popular filly. "She is at another level. She’s not an ordinary pony like you. She has a great future ahead of her." The skinny colt added, pointing to Sunset's flank where her cutie mark could be seen.

"Yeah. Even with all the study in the world, you’ll never be able to rise to the level of Canterlot's elite." The stocky colt added, laughing and turning his back on Dusk.

Still on the floor after the fall, Dusk blinked in confusion at what those ponies had just told him. What did they mean by never reaching the level of Canterlot's elite?

"Perhaps they believe that I didn’t know the answers to the teacher's questions..." Dusk thought naively, without yet having the concept of social discrimination in his mind. "I should show them that I can be just as good at school as they are!"

At that moment, Dusk's eyes widened when he remembered that Princess Celestia had wanted to see him this afternoon after school. And if what those colts were saying was true, maybe the princess expected him to show that he was good at school and that he was at the level of the class. And if so, he couldn't waste time trying to chat with other ponies.

Dusk quickly then abandoned the idea of ​​approaching to talk with that yellow filly, or with any other colt in the room, and withdrew to go over the study his books again. And while Dusk was leaving the classroom, a certain filly watched him walk away, keeping her gaze fixed on him.

---

The weeks passed and Dusk had already passed the mid-semester exams of his first school year. Having gotten outstanding grades, Dusk was proud to be the second-best grade in the class, behind only Sunset Shimmer, who truly seemed like a prodigy at magic. The only thing that made that day bitter was that after having attended a few private lessons with Princess Celestia, Dusk was going to have his last meeting with her.

Unbeknownst to Dusk at the time, the 'Equestria Education Association' and the nobles of Canterlot, had lobbied for Princess Celestia to stop giving private lessons to a simple colt like Dusk, to the detriment of all the other students, since he was being given a special privilege. And although Celestia was the ruler of the kingdom, she had to keep the peace and set an example by following the regulations of the various institutions of the kingdom. So reluctantly, Celestia had to accept that this would be the last meeting she could have with the adorable lavender colt.

"How is little Spike doing?" Celestia asked once Dusk met her in the palace gardens. Thinking that despite this being their last official meeting as a teacher and student, she would enjoy talking with the little colt.

"He’s very well, he’s finally used to me leaving him alone when I go to class. Although the first weeks… they were hard…" Dusk said with a nervous smile, remembering how exhausting it was to control the little baby dragon's appetite and sneezes of fire the first few days.

In one of the first meetings that Dusk and Celestia had had, the Princess of the Sun had entrusted Dusk with a particular and important task: taking care of the baby dragon that he himself had given birth on the day of his magic test. Celestia still remembered with laughter how she had scared Dusk by looking at him seriously and telling him that it was his duty since he was now the father of the dragon, which became the first joke that she would play on Dusk. However, what was not a joke was that Dusk would take care of that baby dragon, since Celestia knew that both had a strong magical bond that united them, and they should stay together. Besides... Celestia had another reason for Dusk to take care of Spike: for him to have a friend.

"So, how are classes at school going? Have you followed the advice I have given you?" Celestia asked, very interested in that last question, since she had noticed that Dusk was beginning to isolate himself from the other ponies. So his last lessons, instead of focusing on magic teachings, had focused on advice and tasks for Dusk to start talking to the other colts in his class.

"Yeah, uh... I don't think I’ve had much time to make friends, hehe." Dusk replied timidly, embarrassed for not being able to fulfill the task that the princess had assigned him. "Besides... it seems that others don’t like me..." Dusk added with a sad look, remembering some bad jokes that the other students in the classroom made about him. Jokes that seemed to be increasing both in quantity and severity. Just today, before going with the princess, the two bullies who always annoyed him had locked him in a locker all morning. And although he asked for help, and the other students and teachers heard him asking for help, no one came to his rescue.

It broke Celestia's heart to see poor Dusk so discouraged. She knew that one day Dusk would realize the truth and see that the teachers and other students at the school discriminated against him because of his humble origins and his relationship with her. But as much as Celestia wanted to intervene on Dusk's behalf, she couldn't, since precisely that favoritism she had towards the tender Dusk was the reason that the ponies of high lineage despised him.

"This can't go on like this… Even if I can't do something directly, I must find a way to help Dusk!" Celestia thought, feeling frustrated with herself for having so much power and not being able to do anything about it.

Just then, the chief majordomo of the castle, Kibitz, an old beige-colored colt, dressed very elegantly as his work ordered, entered the palace garden carrying with him a tray of sandwiches and tea for the princess.

Celestia couldn't help but be distracted as she saw her faithful majordomo enter. But her attention wasn’t directed to Kibitz, but to his little granddaughters: Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel, who had been in the palace for several months, always accompanying their beloved grandfather in his work. They were there to learn from a young age the tasks of royal maids, which for years had been in charge of their family.

"Both in his daily life and in his school… Dusk needs to discover the importance of friendship." Celestia thought, narrowing her eyes slightly at the sight of the little fillies approaching with their grandfather.

The next day, Dusk attended another day of school as usual. He no longer attended school with the smile with which he had entered the first day of classes. Now, he entered the classroom with a fearful look, scared by what his classmates might do to annoy him that day. In spite of everything, that day the bullies in the classroom seemed to feel pious that morning, and they only limited themselves to laughing and making fun of him as he walked crestfallen to his seat and sat sadly to wait for class.

The teacher entered the classroom and continued with his 'Theory of Magic' lesson.

"Has anypony studied enough to tell me what the 'Accio' and 'Lumos' spells are?" The teacher asked in his standard bad mood, deciding to start that day's class with a tough question.

No one in the room raised their hoof to answer, which didn’t surprise the professor, given that it wasn’t a question for first-year students. What did surprise the professor was that just as he was about to give the answer, a student timidly raised his hoof. It was the 'special case' sitting at the back of the room.

For several seconds, the teacher pretended not to see Dusk Shine and focused only on seeing the first row of students, where even his star student, Sunset Shimmer, didn’t raise her hoof to answer this time. Instead of answering, the yellow filly saw Dusk Shine out of the corner of her eye and looked away in annoyance, as if she was frustrated at not being able to answer that question.

Finally, the teacher had no choice but to reluctantly point to Dusk Shine for an answer, always hoping that this vulgar colt would make a mistake in answering.

"Those... Those are the Old Ponylatin names for the summoning spell and the enlightenment spell." Dusk replied shyly, surprised to see that the teacher had finally called him to answer.

"Yes... There are basic spells that you must learn even in their native language..." The teacher said without congratulating Dusk for his correct answer, unlike as he always did with the other students, and simply continued with his class. However, that didn’t matter to Dusk. He simply smiled, satisfied at being able to finally show his true knowledge of magic.

Once class was over, the teacher quickly left the room, followed by the students. However, this time Dusk Shine wasn’t the last to leave. Just as Dusk was about to leave the room, the two bullies from the classroom turned back and pushed him hard, causing him to fall sharply to the floor.

"What’s with that stupid grin? Think you better than us just because you answered a question well?" Asked the stocky colt, Rocky Landcastle, who was always looking for a fight with Dusk.

"Maybe we should do something to really wipe that smile off his dumb face..." Replied the tall and thin colt that always accompanied Rocky, named Squire. Then both bullies raised their hooves, ready to give Dusk a little beating.

"Stop it." A third voice said suddenly, just as Dusk closed his eyes tightly and covered his face to hide.

When he opened his eyes, both he and the two bullies were surprised to see that the one who had approached there was none other than Sunset Shimmer, who had moved away from the fillies that always sought to converse with her, and now she was looking annoyed at the two bullies. The two colts that had been about to hit Dusk looked at Sunset, thinking that while they respected the yellow filly for her supposed 'royal legacy' coming from her particular cutie mark, neither of them was sure if that respect was so much as to listen to her and follow her orders. For her part, just that moment of hesitation was enough to annoy Sunset, who quickly activated her magic and sent both colts flying from there.

"When I say something, it’s not a request. It’s an order." Sunset said, looking mercilessly at the two colts that she had thrown a few steps away. The two of them got up in pain and ran away, afraid of how fast Sunset's magic had been.

"Y-You... Did you help me?" Dusk said shyly, still unable to believe that the most popular filly in the class had helped him. "T-Thank you."

For an instant, Sunset didn't say anything. She just stared at Dusk with a cold gaze as if she were analyzing him.

"No one deserves to be beaten just for using his brain." Sunset finally said, looking away in agitation. Then she turned and began to walk slowly, moving away from Dusk while he simply stared at her with a gawking face, full of amazement and admiration for the filly.

"Are you going to lie there on the floor all day?" Sunset said suddenly, stopping and looking annoyed at Dusk, much to the surprise of the little lavender colt. "At least be useful and take my saddlebag." Sunset added, levitating her saddlebag and setting it next to Dusk.

What Sunset had just said to Dusk was arrogant, as if what she was asking for was an order. But that didn’t bother Dusk, because the only thing he saw was that Sunset Shimmer, the most popular, intelligent and brave filly of all, was asking him to accompany her. So, Dusk quickly took Sunset's saddlebag and ran to be next to her.

From that day on, things began to change at school for Dusk. Sunset forced the filly that sat next to her to exchange seats with Dusk, which obviously didn’t please her other classmates, but it seemed that no one dared to challenge Sunset. For the colts and fillies from wealthy and noble families, provenance was everything, and that was reflected in their cutie marks. Among the noble families, cutie marks were not just seen as a pony’s special talent, but also demonstrated features of lineage and elegance. Sunset Shimmer was special in that her mark was one of the Sun. A symbol of the royal blood that flowed through her veins, despite the fact that nopony actually knew who her birth parents were.

With Sunset sitting next to Dusk, he was finally able to stop being isolated in class. Although they didn’t talk much in class because of how strict their teacher was, Sunset always commented on things next to Dusk, such as how boring the class was, or that a certain spell could be done in another way, which made Dusk very happy. In the breaks between classes, Sunset and Dusk could talk without anypony interrupting them. Sunset even seemed surprised to discover that Dusk was also an avid reader, so every time they left class, they talked about the various spells and the great ponies of magic that they had studied and were ignored by their classmates, simply because they were both too advanced in their studies.

The bullying towards Dusk also decreased. Every time the two bullies who harassed Dusk waited for him to annoy him or push him, Sunset would always come and beat them up. So little by little, the abuse finally stopped. However, despite the fact that Dusk always thanked Sunset for saving him, it seemed that Sunset disliked that, because always after scaring the bullies, she refused to talk to Dusk and kept an angry look for the rest of the day.

Learning to know what she liked and what she disliked, Dusk was finally able to smile again at school, feeling that he had someone to talk and share with. The only problem that Dusk noticed in his new relationship with Sunset was that apparently the fillies who adored Sunset so much before now no longer did, and it even seemed that now all the other students in the classroom had isolated her too.

"Sunset... Doesn't it bother you that others no longer speak to you or follow you around?" Dusk asked one day while he and Sunset were chatting in a corner of the school about defense spells, which the teacher had recently taught them. "Maybe... It's my fault..." Dusk added, feeling guilty for making the others stop talking to Sunset.

"Pfft! It's not like I need them. I don't need anypony, least of all some mouth breathers who are only interested in me because of my cutie mark." Sunset answered, looking away at her other classmates who were talking in another corner, and giving them a look of contempt.

Those words eased Dusk's feelings a bit, as he realized how strong Sunset was inside, much stronger than him. But that same answer left another concern that he had had in his head long ago and that he wanted to resolve.

"Uh… You… We… Are we friends?" Dusk asked shyly, looking fearfully at Sunset, who for her part, seemed surprised by the question and was silent for several seconds while staring at Dusk.

"I guess so, although I've never had one before." Sunset finally answered, looking away so that Dusk wouldn't see her face, just as the bell rang to signal the start of next class. Then she stared at Dusk. "I’ll ask you the question: Do you want to be my friend? If you answer no, that's fine; but if you answer yes, remember, no matter what happens, in the end I'll always look out for myself and my own interests." Sunset added as she walked away.

"I… Yes! I want to be your friend!" Dusk answered with a big smile, taking his and Sunset's saddlebag and running to catch up with her.

---

Dusk and Sunset were beginning their second year at Canterlot School of Magic. On that particular day, Sunset had been late to school because of a 'problem' she had at home. She arrived in a bad mood that only got worse when she saw that Dusk Shine was at the entrance of the school being annoyed by Rocky Landcastle and Squire. They must have taken advantage of the fact that Sunset hadn’t arrived at the school that morning to go back to tormenting Dusk and pushing him to the floor.

"Get lost, you imbeciles!" Sunset said in a bad mood, using her magic to strongly push them away from Dusk, a throw that was much more powerful than it had been the first time she used her magic against them with her increased magical ability she achieved over the last year.

After Sunset used her magic against them, the bullies jumped up and ran to enter the classroom. Meanwhile, Sunset slowly approached Dusk, upset as always after having to defend Dusk. However, this time Sunset put a confused look. Instead of the usual smile and thanks, Dusk stayed on the ground with his head bowed while tears fell down his cheeks.

"What happens? Did those jerks hit you very hard?" Sunset asked with a mixture of confusion and discomfort upon seeing Dusk cry.

"It's not that..." Dusk said sadly, wiping his tears. "It's... It's just that my grandma died yesterday..." Dusk added slowly, unable to avoid crying again when he remembered his beloved grandmother, and that he wasn’t there to see her.

While Dusk cried, Sunset froze for a few seconds, then she slowly lifted a hoof and gently placed it on Dusk's head, which the colt felt comforting, feeling that a friend was trying to help him. But that feeling of warmth lasted only a second, because Sunset used force on her hoof and pushed Dusk hard so that he fell back to the ground, leaving the little lavender colt completely shocked.

"You…idiot! This is why they keep bullying you! You’re too weak!" Sunset said, looking down at Dusk angrily.

Before the fierce gaze of his friend, Dusk lowered his head and did his best not to cry. Sunset must have been right, she always was… With that thought, Dusk wiped away his tears and finally got up from the ground, determined that he should keep his feelings hidden to be as strong as Sunset.

"Come on, we're late for class." Sunset said, throwing her saddlebag at Dusk for the colt to carry her stuff as always.

From the moment Dusk and Sunset officially became friends, the two of them no longer just chatted at school. Dusk had invited Sunset to his house and she reluctantly agreed to go, thinking that it would be a waste of time to go to a 'friend's' house to play. However, to her relief, Dusk was more like her than she had thought, and just like her room, Dusk's room was filled with history and magic books. So, the times that Dusk invited her to his house, they both eventually ended up studying together, always trying to outdo each other, looking for ways to advance their magic studies. The “extra-curricular meetings” became more common, although it was always Dusk who invited Sunset to his home and never the other way around. Sunset never mentioned anything about her home or her family...

And as the time that Dusk and Sunset spent together increased, there were some occasions when Dusk invited Sunset to visit the castle. Around the same time that Dusk and Sunset became friends at school, Dusk received an invitation from Kibitz to have an afternoon of games with his granddaughters. Those meetings were somewhat difficult for Dusk, since unlike Sunset, with whom he had many common topics to chat with, Dusk and the Sweet twins couldn't find many common topics to chat with. However, as time went by, Dusk and the maid twins realized that no matter how little they had in common, they could just play and have fun, which made Dusk treasure those meetings. Those meetings to play in the palace lasted until one day Dusk invited Sunset to play with them... Dusk never knew why, but since that day, the twins never again invited Dusk to play with them in the palace, and all relationship of possible friendship between them ended.

Finally, after one year of attending magic school, Dusk Shine had only one friend in his life: Sunset Shimmer. And for him, she was everything. As for Sunset, Dusk never knew what she really thought of him. The truth was that she treated him many times as a subject, who always had to carry her things, and who she hated if he didn’t do or respond to what she wanted. However, Sunset had to admit that she liked having Dusk as a study partner. They were both still top of the class, way ahead of everypony else in their class in any area of ​​study, and Sunset was content to have such a capable subordinate, and that it also pushed her to be even better and stronger.

That afternoon, after Dusk and Sunset were late for class and school finally ended, the two were talking about the alteration spells that the professor had taught them, laughing when they remembered that they had studied those spells on their own the last year. But all that conversation came to an abrupt halt when Sunset stopped short before reaching the main gate of the school.

Seeing that Sunset had stopped and had a strange expression, Dusk looked towards where she was looking, which was precisely towards the main entrance of the school. There, an adult stallion wearing a dark blue cape, with a few golden stars on its edge and a large golden medal on its chest, covering his face with a hood, waited impatiently for the fillies that were studying there to come out. When he saw Sunset looking at him, he too was staring at her, with a look that scared even Dusk.

"Is that the Archmage? What is he doing here?" Astonished voices said from behind Dusk and Sunset, including some colts who were in their upper years at school.

Dusk didn’t need to ask who the Archmage was. It was the highest position a unicorn could hold in magic studies and there hadn't been more than twenty unicorns of that rank since Star Swirl the Bearded. And as far as Dusk knew, there was only one Archmage in Equestria's current generation of elite wizards.

"Let’s go." The Archmage said to Sunset in an indifferent voice, who hadn't moved from where she was either.

"Is… Is that your father?" Dusk asked timidly, surprised to see that the Archmage was looking for his friend.

At Dusk's question, Sunset just narrowed her eyes and slowly walked towards the entrance of the school.

"I'm not his daughter... I'm just another item from his collection..." Sunset answered grimly as she left the confused colt behind. "But it won't be like this forever..." Sunset muttered to herself before reaching the Archmage.

The next morning at the school, it seemed that the news that the Archmage had visited the school by surprise had reached everywhere. Given that the archmage also came from an important noble family and was the role model for many of the students, it was quite the big deal. And while many of the students were surprised by the arrival of the mighty unicorn, others were surprised to learn that the famous filly of second year, with the prestigious cutie mark of Sun on her, seemed to be a relative of him.

"Did you know that the Archmage's daughter attended school?" A fifth-year colt commented, walking down the school hallway.

"Are you sure? I heard that he had abandoned his family." A mare, classmate of the colt, answered. Showing how everypony seemed to be talking about the same thing at school.

That morning class hadn't started yet, so Dusk waited outside the classroom until Sunset arrived. Knowing her reactions, he knew that she would be upset when she heard that the whole school was talking about her, and Dusk wanted to be there to calm her down and prevent her from destroying everything with her magic.

Sunset finally arrived and Dusk was relieved to see that she seemed normal, without a hint of anger.

"I'm glad you're okay." Dusk said with a smile, upon receiving her out of the classroom.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Sunset asked raising an eyebrow. "If you mean yesterday, I guess everyone at school is already talking about that... It's not something that matters to me, I've already told you, don't pay attention to brainless ponies." Sunset added with her brow furrowed, entering the classroom, always staying one step ahead of her 'friend-subject' Dusk.

As soon as they entered, Dusk and Sunset were surprised to see that Dusk's usual seat was occupied by the same filly that, at the beginning of the first year, had been one of the closest to Sunset, and that Sunset herself had subsequently forced her to exchange seats with Dusk.

"What are you doing there?" Sunset asked in annoyance, facing the filly and speaking as always with her authoritative voice.

“Oh, you are not giving me orders anytime soon. I know the truth, and there’s no way in Tartarus that some nobody like you is going to order around a noble pony like me!” The filly said with an arrogant look, crossing her hooves as a sign that no one would move her from there.

Without a hint of hesitation, Sunset used her magic and forcibly pulled the filly out of her seat, and slowly began to drag her back toward the end of the room. Even though the filly used her physical strength and magic to counteract the magic against her, Sunset's magic was simply stronger, and she couldn't stop her from dragging her away.

"Let me go! You're just a miserable orphan from the orphanage!!" The filly screamed furiously as she was being dragged around the classroom.

As soon as the filly said those words, Sunset's magic ceased. And as if that were a signal, everypony in the room started to laugh and to make fun of Sunset, who just kept her head down. Dusk knew for a fact that she must have hated this humiliation. Before Sunset acted, Dusk was quick to defend his friend.

"What does it matter who Sunset's family is and where she comes from!?" Dusk yelled, glaring at everypony in the room. "Sunset is my friend! She’s strong, smart, skilled, and courageous! And that's all that matters to me!" Dusk yelled angrily, so much so that his horn lit up and sparked because from how upset he was.

Seeing Dusk's horn ready to fire a spell, the other students mostly stopped laughing, but now all eyes were directed towards Dusk.

“Of course you would say that. You and your family aren’t worth the dirt that noble families tread on. The same filly that had yelled at Sunset said furiously.

Before somepony else could say something, the professor entered the classroom and quickly caused the colts and fillies to find their seats. The filly that had started the whole argument glared one last time at Sunset and returned to sit in the first row. Dusk, to avoid causing more problems, went back to sit in the last seat of the classroom. Sunset was the last one still standing in the middle of the room, who finally walked slowly to the last row of the room and glared at a clumsy colt there, who quickly understood and vacated the seat. Then Sunset levitated the desk to get closer to Dusk, and they both sat at the end of the room.

Dusk was very surprised to see that Sunset had decided to sit next to him, but what happened next surprised him even more. For the first time in the one year they had known each other, Sunset looked at Dusk and gave him a genuine smile.

Once school ended, no one went to hang out with either Dusk or even Sunset. But that didn’t matter because they knew they had each other, and that was enough. Sunset never asked Dusk to carry her saddlebag again and those were the first changes that occurred in their relationship.

As the days and weeks passed, Dusk and Sunset became inseparable, always studying together at all times, both during school hours and later at Dusk's house. And more than being able to spend more time together, what made Dusk most happy was that Sunset began to be more open and smile a lot more in his company. They enjoyed studying together so much that they even began meeting in the library to begin to get even further ahead in their studies, occasionally infiltrating even the forbidden section of the library, where books with difficult and dangerous spells were read by a little filly and a little colt, who were already at a level of magical knowledge far superior for their age.

"Look at this spell... This can cause others to see the thoughts of another pony!" Sunset said excitedly one day while they sneakily looked at the books in the forbidden section of the library. Specifically, a book about mind magic, which had recently interested Sunset a lot.

"Yeah... I don't want you to test it on me though." Dusk said with a small nervous smile, since the previous week Sunset had insisted on using a mind control spell on Dusk, and he had had a headache for 3 days in a row. "I think it's a bit dangerous to cast spells that alter somepony's mind in some way."

"The mind control spell seems difficult, but I think I’m able to get handle of this memory wiping spell. And this other spell is only intermediate level since it only visualizes what others think. It should be easier." Sunset added, reading the spell very carefully, since as Dusk reminded her that her first attempts with mental spells had been a failure.

"Huff... I suppose that if we could do that spell, the others could see what we really think and feel and we could get along better with the other ponies in the classroom..." Dusk said, thinking out loud without realizing it.

"We don't need anypony else. You have to look out for yourself…" Sunset said without taking her eyes off the book, speaking with the selfish words that she had always been taught. However, this time she couldn't finish what she was going to say and looked up at Dusk Shine for a few seconds. Then she put down her book and took Dusk's hooves next to hers. "It's just you and me! One day we’ll get married and reign over all of Equestria together." Sunset said, staring at Dusk with an intense gaze.

"G-Get married!? Rule Equestria!?" the little colt said in surprise, not knowing which of those two proposals amazed him the most.

"Together forever! Promise it!" Sunset said unblinking, staring at Dusk's face, forcing him to respond at that precise moment.

"Uh... Yes, I promis-" Dusk replied, until the sound of a door opening distracted them.

"What are you doing here!? I told you that this section is forbidden for young ponies!" The old librarian said, running to catch the young ponies, who with their youth on their side, took the books they were reading and quickly fled from there.

---

Dusk's second year of school had brought many changes and surprises, one of which was that he would now have a babysitter. Since Dusk's grandmother was gone, and that his father needed extra help in his work, his mother had to hire a babysitter to take care of Dusk in the afternoons, since she would have to be away for several weeks. And when Dusk's mother was looking for a babysitter, she was surprised to see who was promoting herself for that job in the kingdom. A smaller surprise than the one their children had, when they saw who would be the one who would finally take care of Dusk.

"Hi! My name is Cadance, and I’ll be your babysitter." Said a teenage alicorn widely known as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the first time she came to the ‘Twilight’ family home. She was greeted by Dusk and Shining Armor right outside their home.

"Uh… Uh… I-I don't! You’re not going to take care of me. I… I'm a big colt!" Shining Armor said completely red when he saw the beautiful princess in front of his house. "Y-You'll take care of him! B-Bye..." Shining added, moving Dusk to leave his brother in front of the princess, and then he withdrew from there, walking robotically, more nervous than he had ever been in his life.

As Shining left, Cadance couldn't help but turn her gaze to him and laugh at how awkward and tender he looked, thinking he was very cute. As for Dusk, he was still spellbound when he saw a princess at the door of his house. He had told his mother that he didn’t need a babysitter, but despite all his magical knowledge, Dusk was still just a young colt who was just in his second year of school. And for that reason, he had to have supervision when he was left alone.

The first afternoons that Cadance was in charge of caring for Dusk were wonderful. Dusk never thought that a princess could be as funny as Cadance was. She knew a lot of games and jokes, and genuinely seemed to enjoy the time they both spent together. So much so, that they even created a secret hoofshake between them. And every time they laughed, Cadance couldn't help but hug the tender colt, who let himself be pampered by the sweetest and most beautiful mare in the world. And perhaps that relationship of sibling love between them would have gone on forever as it was, had it not been for Sunset entered the scene.

One day Dusk invited Sunset to their usual study meetings, with the difference that this time Cadance would be taking care of them instead of his mother or brother. As soon as Sunset arrived, Cadance greeted her with her always cheerful smile, but Sunset, far from smiling or having a look of amazement like other fillies her age had when seeing the alicorn, simply stared at her indifferently, as if she analyzed her with her eyes.

"Dusk, is this your friend? She’s very pretty!" Cadance said, smiling at Sunset, trying to get her to smile too. "So tell me, do you want to play something? Maybe we could cook something delicious, or maybe-"

"I'm not here to play dolls like a silly filly." Sunset interrupted, looking annoyed at the princess. "I meet with Dusk to study, read and practice magic. Games are just a hindrance."

"Oh... But it's always good to relax once in a while." Cadance said as she kept grinning, seeing that Dusk's little friend would be a challenge. But as a good babysitter, she wouldn’t be giving up. "It's okay to be studious and want to learn, but you should also take time to relax with your friends and enjoy life, right Dusk?" She added, looking at Dusk for both of them to convince his friend to play together.

Dusk looked at Cadance and then at Sunset, and realized of how different they both were, and both were staring at him, waiting for him to agree with each one, which made him very nervous. So, Dusk decided to try to stay in the middle, without damaging the argument of either.

"Uh… well… We don't always study. Sometimes we also play chess…" Dusk said with a nervous smile.

"I only play it because it stimulates thinking and strategy." Sunset added, without being willing to give in.

"That sounds like fun." Cadance said, thinking that at least that would be a good start to make Sunset relax.

After that, Dusk and Sunset began to play chess while Cadance watched closely and showed signs of exaggerated amazement at all the movements that both young ponies made, since it really amazed her how well they both played. In addition, it was her way of encouraging them and to feel included in the game. Something that was beginning to exasperate Sunset, due to the noises that Cadance was making.

"Checkmate!" Sunset said after beating Dusk on the board, staring at him. "You’re still too soft. Remember, this world is only for the strongest, and the strongest always survive. There’s no room for the likes of mercy." Sunset added with an arrogant smile as she levitated her queen piece and gave one of her classic pieces of advice to Dusk.

"Oh, I don't think so." Cadance interrupted, removing the queen that Sunset levitated with her magic and putting it back on the board, but this time she put it in front of a pawn piece. "I believe that the role of the strong is to protect the weak." Cadance added with a smile.

Seeing his babysitter’s tender smile, Dusk couldn't help but smile and think that perhaps this time Cadance’s advice was better, despite the fact that Dusk always tried to put Sunset's advice into practice. For her part, Sunset frowned at how amazed Dusk looked at the advice.

"You’re only saying that because everything is easy for you because you’re a princess. But the world isn’t as rosy as you think. This is a cruel world and emotions only hinder the logical, that’s the reality." Sunset retaliated as she glared at Cadance.

"That’s not true. The world is a beautiful place. And emotions don’t make you weak, it’s quite the opposite." Cadance said calmly with a bright smile, which irritated Sunset even more. "Why do you think the world is a cruel place? Did the Archmage tell you to hide your emotions? Has he taught you that?" Cadance asked with concern, realizing that what Sunset was saying weren’t words that came naturally for such a young filly, but rather seemed like recorded phrases learned by force by somepony else.

At Cadance's question, Sunset was shocked for a second and then stared at her, even angrier.

"Why don't you get out of here!? Nopony invited you! Dusk and I were fine by ourselves before you came into the picture!" Sunset said, feeling that this time she was in a back-and-forth argument with the princess, and she wouldn’t lose, because she never lost. "To me, you’re useless. You have all this alicorn power that you could do great things with, but you reduce yourself to being just a simple babysitter." Sunset added, deciding to attack Cadance at a personal level.

"I’m a babysitter because one day I want to be a mother, because I love colts and fillies. I feel like this way I can get to know the ponies around me better, and one day I’ll be able to be a good ruler for all those young ponies that I took care of." Cadance answered without flinching, always smiling. "Besides, it's not like I'm forced to take care of the foals. I’m the one who chooses who to care for, and I only offer my babysitting services to the cutest and best-behaved colts and fillies in Canterlot." Cadance added, winking at Dusk, which made Dusk smile tenderly and Sunset get even more irritated.

Sunset quickly got up and stood in front of Cadance with a defiant look.

"I challenge you to a magic duel!" Sunset said glaring at Cadance.

"A magic duel?" Cadance said in surprise, then putting on a nervous smile. "Look, I’m sure eyou’re very excellent at magic for your age. But I’m not-" Cadance stopped speaking as a magic spark exploded in front of her nose, causing her long eyelashes to almost char.

"Don't be condescending to me. You’re an alicorn! Show me your power! I'm not going to hold back." Sunset said, full of determination. She began to accumulate magic in her horn, ready to cast another spell without warning.

Cadance's first thought was that she was the adult pony and couldn't stoop to fighting a filly, and that she should make her see reason. However, Sunset didn't give Cadance time to speak as she quickly began to shoot magic bolts at her, which Cadance could barely contain with her own magic due to the suddenness of the attacks.

Seeing Cadance defend herself, Sunset smirked and began to be more aggressive in her attacks, both in power and speed. She continued launching the same magic beam attack, causing the alicorn retreat back a few steps. For each step that Cadance took back, Sunset advanced one, to corner her more and more. The alicorn’s back eventually hit the wall on the other side of the room, which made her a bit distracted, giving Sunset the opportunity to attack Cadance directly while her guard was down.

"Checkmate." Sunset said with a smile, casting her strongest magic beam.

"STOP!" Cadance yelled in fright, her eyes gleaming white for a second. At the same time, she reflexively activated her alicorn magic, causing her horn to shine with a great wave of power that sent Sunset flying to the other end of the room and hit the wall hard.

"Sunset!” Dusk shouted after regaining his vision from the flash of light, running to see his friend when he saw her lying on the floor.

As Dusk watched Sunset, Cadance froze, breathing hard, terrified by what she had just done. She was a symbol of light, beauty, and peace in the kingdom. She couldn’t just use her magic against other ponies, least of all a filly. She could tell Sunset made her do that, but she was an adult, and she couldn't be so easily provoked by a filly.

On the other side of the room, Sunset slowly opened her eyes and let out a wicked laugh as she looked at Cadance.

"Did you see, Dusk? That was the real Cadance." Sunset murmured, standing up with Dusk's help. "She's not cute or kind, she's just pretending. She could tear us apart in a second with her alicorn magic if she wanted to." Sunset added with an evil laugh, while Dusk turned around and looked fearfully at Cadance.

For her part, Cadance remained immobile with a mixture of panic and sadness at having fallen into Sunset's trap and seeing how the trust that Dusk had towards her crumble in just a second. Seeing Dusk looking at her with fear made her heart feel a pang of pain in it.

"This filly… is dangerous." Cadance thought almost to the point of tears, but with a new determination growing in her.

From that day on, Sunset also had a babysitter to take care of her. Cadance spoke to Celestia and interceded with the Archmage, who reluctantly allowed Princess Cadance to take care of Sunset some afternoons at her home when he wasn’t present, which was most of the time.

Cadance had understood how manipulative and malicious Sunset could be, but she also understood that this wasn’t her fault. There was always a culprit, and in this case it must be her guardian. And if her guardian, the Archmage, didn't set a good example for her, as the self-proclaimed guardian of the kingdom's foals, Cadance would make sure Sunset didn't go astray.

Despite the promise Cadance made to herself, there was little she could do while babysitting at Sunset's home. Whenever they were alone, Sunset simply ignored her and began to write in her diary. It didn't matter that Cadance smiled at her or invited her to dance or play, for Sunset, it was as if Cadance wasn’t in her room, and she just kept writing in her little diary nonstop.

This behavior was very different from what happened when Sunset went to visit Dusk's house. Every time Dusk was involved, Sunset radically changed her attitude and did her best to argue with Cadance. Whether it was on magical studies topics, on the friendship advices that Sunset gave Dusk or on any other topic, Sunset was always against Cadance. And with her great ability to irritate others and discover their weak points, Sunset always made Cadance upset or yell at her to stop. That made Dusk see Cadance with more and more suspicious and get closer to Sunset, which filled the yellow filly with satisfaction knowing that she could keep Dusk's heart under control, while Cadance was filled with frustration at not being able to control Sunset's wicked cunning.

The weeks passed, and one day Dusk Shine was called to the royal palace, something that hadn’t happened in months. Also, the invitation had the seal of Princess Celestia, so Dusk was excited to see the Princess of the Sun again, something he hadn’t done in almost a year, since they forced her to stop giving private lessons to Dusk.

Once Dusk arrived at the palace, a guard escorted him to one of the rooms where he had to wait. However, the minutes passed, and Dusk's childish impatience got the better of him. And since he already knew a big part of the castle, he decided to go himself to the royal garden where Celestia always met him. Once there, Dusk stopped when he heard that the Princess seemed to be conversing with somepony else. Although Dusk thought to move away a bit so as to not eavesdrop other ponies’ conversation, he couldn't help but be distracted and pay attention to it after hearing his name mentioned.

"I'm sure all this has helped little Dusk grow up as a good pony that I know he is." Celestia said. "This has served to both grow together and discover what is true friendship."

"Auntie... I know how you feel about Dusk, he's a very special colt. But when he finds out what you did, he might not take it in a good light." Cadance said, which was the pony Celestia was arguing with. "I think it’s best to tell him as soon as possible."

"I think… he’ll find out in due time. And when the time comes, I think he’ll thank me." Celestia said, a slight tone of concern in her voice. "Cadance, if you had seen him before... You don't know how helpless I felt to discover that the other ponies in his class were isolating and hurting him."

At that moment, Celestia stopped talking when she saw that somepony appeared from the door and was shocked to see that it was precisely the pony they were talking about: her precious little Dusk Shine.

"Dusk...!" Celestia said in surprised, approaching Dusk to give him a little hug, since they hadn't seen each other for a long time. However, at the last second, Celestia stopped and simply smiled at him. "I'm sorry Dusk, I have some duties to take care of. But Cadance has something very important to report to you." Celestia added, unable to help but maternally caress Dusk's face before leaving the royal garden.

After Celestia left, Cadance sighed in resignation. She wanted to tell Dusk what she had discovered, but her Aunt Celestia had refused. Even now, with Dusk arriving so suddenly in the middle of their conversation, Cadance didn't know if it would have been better if Dusk heard it or not. However, Cadance decided to respect her aunt's wishes, and avoid telling Dusk, at least for the moment.

"What’s for the best for him? A truth that will hurt, or a lie that’ll make him happy?" Cadance thought, still unsure whether to tell Dusk what she had discovered about Sunset.

"Uh… why did the Princess call me here?" Dusk asked shyly, after seeing that Cadance seemed lost in thought.

"Oh! I'm sorry. She… She wanted me to warn you about something very important that will happen. She would have done it herself, but at this stage she cannot show favoritism towards any young pony." Cadance said, indicating for Dusk to come closer to her. "Tomorrow, your teacher will announce that a special test will be held next week to select my Auntie’s next student."

"The Princess's student!?" Dusk said in amazement. "B-But I thought the Princess couldn't have a personal student… That's why she didn't give me any more private lessons."

"So it was. That is why she took classes these past few months for the E.E.A. to approve her as a private teacher." Cadance replied with an excited smile. "She really wants to be a teacher. And even if she can't say it, she would very much like to be YOUR teacher. So she asked me to tell you to try your best on the day of the test. May you demonstrate all that you have learned so that everypony can see the great unicorn that we know you can become." Cadance added, hugging Dusk to encourage him.

"Woow... So if I pass that test with the highest score... The Princess will teach me lessons again!" Dusk said amazed and excited.

"Hehe, the important thing is that you win that test at all costs… Including Sunset Shimmer." Cadance added, frowning at the memory of the yellow filly.

With Cadance's final comment, Dusk finally understood the true point of that meeting and felt the true weight of responsibility that was being left to him.

---

As Cadance told him, the next day at the school they gave the big announcement, which caused quite a stir, especially among the first and second year colts and fillies who would be the ones taking the test. And for the entire next week, the atmosphere in the classroom changed radically.

All the students knew that there would only be one winner, only one place to become the closest pony to Celestia, the most important and well-known pony in Equestria and the world. So all the previous friendship ties in the classroom seemed to be broken. Each of the colts and fillies were completely isolated, studying in every free space they had and trying to answer everything the teacher asked them in class. And that also included the friendship between Dusk and Sunset.

Since the announcement was given, Sunset seemed to avert her gaze every time Dusk saw her. Everytime he approached her or tried to speak to her, Sunset simply ignored him and concentrated on her magic book. That made Dusk, unlike everypony else, lose motivation to study and feel that perhaps winning in this case was not the best...

Finally, the day of the great test arrived and dozens of important ponies, including Princess Celestia herself, gathered in the great auditorium of the school. The colts and fillies taking the test would enter one by one to demonstrate their best spells and how fit they were to become the princess's student.

One by one, the colts and fillies were called. And one by one they all left satisfied with what they had shown, confident that they were the best and that if they didn’t manage to be the best, at least their parents could intercede to make sure they won the precious position. Finally, only Dusk Shine and Sunset Shimmer remained with Sunset being called first.

Once she was called, Dusk pursed his lips in concern. His precious friend hadn't spoken to him all week, and Dusk knew why. For Sunset, this was her dream. She had always wanted to reach the top of Equestria despite being born an orphan, and this was her great opportunity. And as she said when they became friends: 'Remember, no matter what happens, in the end I'll always look out for myself and my own interests.' And that was what hurt Dusk.

"Sunset!" Dusk yelled before Sunset entered the auditorium. The filly stopped. "Good luck!" Dusk added with an encouraging smile.

For the first time in a week, Sunset turned to look Dusk in the eye with a cold, almost lost look.

"Luck is for the weak. Only the strong reach the highest." Sunset said in a cold tone of voice, turning back around and entering the auditorium.

Minutes passed, and for a second Dusk heard a chorus of gasps and then a thunderous applause, which was surely due to some great spell that Sunset did. And although he couldn't see anything and wished with all his might to win the test to become the princess's student, a part of him couldn't help but feel proud of his friend. Then Dusk also started clapping, knowing that what he wanted was contradictory, but also wishing that Sunset would win.

Sunset's audition finally ended, and she left the auditorium. However, Dusk was unable to speak to her as he was immediately called to enter the auditorium. Then Dusk had no choice but to enter, unable to speak to his friend before the big moment.

The auditorium was completely packed. All the parents of the colts and fillies that were taking the test were there. Dozens of wealthy ponies of high lineage, the impenetrable nobility of Canterlot. And in the first seats was the princess, sitting next to three other very old ponies that Dusk had never seen before.

"It’s the colt of that…vulgar family!" A well-dressed elderly mare with a tiara in her mane whispered.

"That trash doesn’t stand a chance. Not after the last performance of that filly." Another stallion whispered from the audience.

Dusk only heard those whispers from the audience, but they were enough to make him feel more than nervous as he stood on center stage.

"Okay lad. Show us what you have." Said one of the elderly ponies sitting in the front, who seemed to be one of the judges.

"Alright, you can do this. Just like you practiced…" Dusk thought, sighing to calm himself, remembering his classes, and more importantly, remembering everything he had learned with Sunset. And with that last thought, Dusk smiled and finally calmed down. "Show everything you learned with your friend and do your best just as she did!"

Instantly, Dusk activated his magic and used his best spell, teleportation. It was a spell that was normally too advanced for a second-year student, but he and Sunset had practiced it day and night to perfection. With that, Dusk teleported to a corner of the stage, and when everyone discovered where he had gone, he teleported back to another corner of the auditorium, repeating it over and over again. He performed everything at high speed, making everyone in the audience amazed at the speed and magical technique that the little lavender colt used.

After showing his best spell, Dusk recalled his practices with Sunset and showed other spells of materialization, light and transformation. All performed to perfection and that none of those present would believe that a colt of Dusk's age could perform. Finally, Dusk finished his presentation by performing one of Sunset's favorite spells, which was to invoke magical fireflies that illuminated the entire room. The spell had never worked as well for him as Sunset, so he only cast a few before exhausting his magic. Thus, ending with a secret tribute to the one who had helped him so much to improve his magic, his only and best friend.

Once Dusk finished his performance, most of the ponies in the room began to applaud for Dusk's extraordinary talent. Although there were a few, who Dusk quickly guessed were Canterlot noble ponies, who simply looked down on Dusk without clapping or saying anything.

"Incredible!" Said the judge that had been the first to speak to Dusk. He began speaking with the other elderly judges. "This colt is on the same level as the last filly that performed."

"Yes... It's a shame the little filly failed that last spell." Another of the judges said. "I suppose it was just too powerful for the poor dear."

"Well, given that this fine young pony was the final contender, I believe we can all make our decision." The third judge added, followed by nods from the other two judges in agreement.

"Dusk Shine. Congratulations. You have qualified to become Princess Celestia's personal student!" The head judge said, smiling kindly at Dusk.

As soon as the judge made the announcement, the audience roared with applause, withholding the noble ponies that were leaving the room in contempt. For his part, Dusk still couldn't believe he had won. It was only when Celestia approached him with a big smile that Dusk's brain seemed to react to what was happening.

"I did it...?" Dusk asked still incredulous.

"I knew you would do it." Celestia said, smiling sweetly at him.

That moment was one of the happiest in Dusk's life, a few seconds full of absolute happiness and satisfaction. At least, until Dusk's sight saw the retiring audience, where near the door, he saw Sunset Shimmer, looking at Dusk from a distance with a very strange look. Then Sunset turned around and left the room.

"Wait!" Dusk yelled from the stage but given the bustle and the number of ponies present, his cry was drowned out.

Completely forgetting that he was next to the princess, Dusk ran up the stairs of the auditorium, slowly making his way through the retreating ponies to try to catch up with Sunset.

Once outside the auditorium, Dusk looked everywhere, but he couldn't see Sunset. That was until far away, Dusk caught a glimpse of his friend's red and gold tail, which was going down the streets away from downtown Canterlot. Then Dusk ran at full speed and quickly closed the distance. He only needed to turn a corner and he could reach her, but just at that moment, something hit Dusk head-on hard, causing him to fall flat on the ground.

"Well, well! Look who's here. Equestria's number one cheater." Rocky Landcastle said, the bully who always harassed Dusk and who had purposely got in his way.

"Yeah. First you cheated your way into school, now you’ve cheated your way right next to the Princess." Rocky's accomplice Squire said, pushing Dusk again when he tried to stand up.

Dusk didn’t want to waste time with those bullies, but he saw something different in the eyes of those bullies. They were going to beat him taking advantage of the fact that there was nopony else in sight, all because they felt surpassed by that vulgar lavender colt who wasn’t of their same social class.

"Sunset!" Dusk shouted, remembering that he still needed to find his friend.

"It won't do you any good to ask your little friend here for help." Rocky said with a look full of malice, raising his hoof high and giving the first blow to Dusk in his stomach, making him gasp for air.

Then both bullies started hitting Dusk while he was still on the ground, preventing him from standing up and laughing at how weak and pathetic he looked.

"This is supposed to be Princess Celestia's new student? Hahaha!" Rocky said as he kept hitting Dusk.

Enduring the taunts and blows, Dusk just covered his face, not understanding why these colts were so bad to him. He was praying for someone to come to his aid.

"What is all this!?" A female voice said suddenly.

Hearing the voice, the bullies immediately stopped and looked back in fear. It took Dusk a few more seconds to open his eyes due to the fear and pain in his hooves. As he did so, he felt his soul return to his body. There was his friend, just in time to save him.

"Sunset... Help me..." Dusk said weakly with a pleading look at his friend.

When Dusk saw Sunset, it seemed that her gaze froze, and they stayed that way for several seconds, which to Dusk seemed like an eternity.

"Why should I help you? You’re no longer useful to me. I don’t need you anymore." Sunset said with a cold look, making a shiver run through Dusk's body.

"W-What...?" Dusk asked incredulously, feeling the cold take hold of him. "T-That’s not true... We’re friends."

"Hahaha! Friends?! Why would anyone want to be friends with a pathetic pony like you?" Sunset laughed as she mocked the colt.

"I-Is it because I passed the test? I… I thought you would win!" Dusk said full of guilt and pain. To which Sunset responded by looking away quickly.

"To be recognized and reach the top of Equestria, that's what I always wanted... And you took that from me." Sunset said as she looked away from Dusk. "If I can’t be great here, then I’ll become stronger elsewhere. I’ll not return to Canterlot until I’m powerful enough for everypony to bow to my hooves." Sunset added, turning her back on Dusk and starting to retreat.

Before leaving, Sunset paused one last time and glanced at the two bullies standing there.

"Do what you want with him. Hit him as much as you want, I won't defend him anymore." Sunset said with a cold look, then continuing on her way.

Hearing that, Dusk's heart broke, feeling that he was falling into an endless abyss. For their part, the two bullies looked at each other and gave evil looks, knowing that now nothing could stop them.

Without waiting another second, both bullies lunged at Dusk again, hitting him as much as they wanted as the poor colt tried to cover his face. In his mind he was trying to focus, but the only thing he could hear over and over were Sunset's words, telling him to his face that they had never been friends.

"It can't be... It can't be..." Dusk repeated over and over again in his mind, remembering the good times he had spent with Sunset, and he repeated to himself that they couldn't be a lie.

"It just can’t be!" Dusk suddenly yelled, feeling an immense pain in his heart and his magic out of control for a second, causing an explosion of light that sent both bullies flying.

Breathing hard, Dusk looked around and realized what he had done. But there was something more important to do than worry about it. Without stopping to think, Dusk again started running towards where he had seen Sunset go, specifically, the train station outside of Canterlot.

As if it were an omen of what he was looking for, the sunset light fell on the platforms, the air filled with the smoke of the trains announcing that they were about to leave. Despite the poor visibility, Dusk desperately searched everywhere, until he saw Sunset's tail in the distance. He then ran and ran through the smoke of the trains. But as much as he ran, he could never catch up with Sunset, and the last thing Dusk remembered was the sound of the train's whistle as it left for an unknown direction, away from Canterlot.

The next day, Dusk attended school, and just as he feared, Sunset didn’t show up, nor would she attend again. With Sunset away, the bullies had full rein to continue abusing Dusk during class breaks, who only managed to get away thanks to his great ability to teleport. However, there were a couple of times that Dusk felt so dejected and sad that he simply let the bullies give him a few blows, feeling that this was a means to atone for his great guilt.

After finishing his classes, Dusk had to attend his first private lesson in the palace. It mattered little to him, however, and instead he went where Sunset was supposed to live, the Archmage's home. Once there, Dusk's sadness only grew when he saw that there was no pony living in the tower anymore. Dusk entered the house and checked each room, seeing several shelves full of books, as if those who had left them had done so in a hurry, but there was no sign of Sunset. Then Dusk threw himself on the floor and began to cry.

"Forgive me..." Dusk cried, feeling guilty for Sunset's escape.

"Dusk?" A sweet voice said, slowly entering that abandoned house.

It was Cadance, who upon discovering that Dusk hadn’t gone to his first lesson, searched for him in various places until she finally found him there. Seeing her beloved Dusk cry, Cadance quickly approached him and hugged him.

"Don’t cry, Dusk..." Cadance said softly, feeling that it broke her heart to see little Dusk cry. "Tell me, why are you crying?"

"'Sniff '… It's my fault… It's my fault Sunset left." Dusk said between sniffles. "I should never have taken that test… I knew how much Sunset wanted to be the Princess's student… And I took away her dream! I betrayed her! 'Sniff'"

Hearing that, Cadance was silent for a few seconds, just stroking Dusk's small head, thinking about whether it would be right to tell Dusk the truth, knowing that it could hurt him.

"It's not your fault, Dusk. She was the one who was wrong." Cadance said, trying to calm Dusk down.

"I… I won't go to class. I don't want to study magic anymore..." The lavender colt cried, feeling that this was the right thing to do after being such a bad friend to Sunset.

Hearing that, Cadance squeezed her eyes tight, still undecided as to whether she should tell Dusk or not. But eventually, Cadance decided that before Dusk could heal, he needed to know the truth. She slowly separated from Dusk's embrace and looked at him with a mixture of guilt and concern.

"Dusk... there’s something you should know." Cadance said, closing her eyes. Then she used her magic and made some sheets of paper appear, levitating them in front of her. "You should read this."

"What's that?" Dusk asked, holding the papers in his hoof.

"It's... a copy of Sunset's diary." Cadance said with a rueful look. "I... I shouldn’t have done this, but I was worried about you and how... Sunset was influencing you."

In disbelief, Dusk began to read the first page. As he did so, he immediately recognized Sunset's writing, so what Cadance said was true, it was a magical copy of Sunset's real diary.

As Dusk read, he felt even more guilty for invading his friend's privacy, but that guilt took a back seat when he started reading, and his guilt turned to sadness, and then pain...

"Today was the first day of school. Not much to tell, just mediocre ponies trying to get along with me just because of my cutie mark.

I hate these ponies and I hate school. It seems that no one is at my level, not even the teacher, who only teaches us basic things that I’ve known for a long time. And the most pathetic of all is that lavender colt who everypony hates, what was his name? I can’t even be bothered to remember. He’s just a nobody that’s doomed to be forgotten by history.

Big ponies are born to be great, and mediocre ones are just cattle that follow the greats.

...

Today Princess Celestia invited me to the palace. Who'd say!? I thought that the Princess had finally heard of my great abilities and talents. But no, the only thing she called me for was to ask me for a favor. She wanted me to make friends with that Dusk Shine, ha! The loser of the class! Why should I waste my time pretending to be his friend!?

The Archmage insists that I comply with the Princess's wishes. Who knows, maybe if I help the Princess with her silly project, then she’ll be in my debt.

...

Great Celestia! I can’t stand it anymore!

After I saved his butt from those two clumsy ones, Dusk doesn't get off my side. That fool thinks I'm his friend and doesn't understand that he's just a parasite to me. A little parasite that can at least carry my saddlebag. If he is going to be with me, he might as well serve a purpose.

Every day I have to be with that weakling and pretend interest in everything he says. The only saving grace is that he’s somewhat competent with magic to the point where I can have a semi-intelligent conversation with him. But in everything else, he is completely useless. Every time he puts on that silly smile, it makes me want to punch him in the face. I don't know how much more I can take.

...

Another day pretending to be friends with that idiot. Although this time it was fun.

Dusk took me to the palace. It's always great to see the castle and think that one day it’ll be mine. The only annoying thing was pretending that I was having fun with Dusk and those two maids. Maids! How pathetic can Dusk be to want to be friends with two simple maids!? Well, at least I've taken care of that and it won't happen again.

Why would anypony want to approach that stupid colt? It has to be because they want to get closer to the princess. I still don't understand why Princess Celestia protects him so much, and I suppose it was a matter of time before others realized that and wanted to take advantage of Dusk’s desire for comradery. But that won't happen… I'm the only one who will take advantage of his connection with the Princess!

Ha ha! It's so easy to get rid of all those who want to get close to Dusk. The other day a fool from the other class... Moondance or something like that, wanted to come and talk with Dusk. I had to explain to her 'clearly' that this wouldn’t happen. The stupid filly left crying... Everypony in this school is so weak... I hate the weak!

...

That ingrate, Mi Amore, is trying to spy on me. I'm sure she did something in my room when I got distracted.

Of all the ponies, I think she is the one I hate the most...

She’s a princess with so much power, yet she’s so weak. At Dusk's house she could easily finish me off, but even though I provoked her, she held back. All of that power at her disposal and she chooses to use it protect the weak?! How idiotic can one pony be?!

The only funny thing about her is seeing how she despairs when I sway Dusk against her. She doesn't understand it, but Dusk will do everything I tell him. After all these months together, Dusk adores me, he would jump off a bridge if I asked him to.

I wonder what will happen when Dusk finds out the truth... No, he never will, my performance was perfect, just like me."

...

The more Dusk read, the more he felt his throat tighten. With each new paragraph, the feeling of betrayal and pain became more and more intense, almost unbearable. Finally, Dusk couldn’t contain it anymore, he crumpled the papers and cried with a strange mixture of feelings that he had never felt, with a pain so great that he could barely think and breathe.

Dusk had given everything to Sunset, and it was all a sham. To her, he was nothing more than a toy, something unpleasant she could hardly bear. The pony he had trusted the most in his life, the only pony he had ever called a friend in his life, had always secretly made fun of him and hated him from the moment they met, until the moment of their farewell.

Discovering the bitter truth, Dusk couldn’t stop crying. Cadance, seeing her beloved little colt suffer in such a way, jumped to hug him and began to cry with him, sharing the pain of his betrayal and suffering.

"She... She was my friend..." Dusk cried, discovering that he had lived a lie. "No... She never was..."

Cadance had always had a gift, that of understanding and sharing the emotions of other ponies better than anypony else. Normally she shared the happiness she felt with others, and she was happy to make others happy. But this time, feeling the sadness and pain of a loved one like little Dusk, for the first time in her life Cadance was forced to receive that negative wave of emotions. For the first time in her life, Cadance felt hatred for somepony for causing such pain her loved Dusk.

"I’ll never... ever... have a friend again..." Dusk cried bitterly as a mark burned itself in his heart, a mark that would accompany him for many years. A mark that would only heal when in his future when he visited a small town called Ponyville.

'End of flashback.'

---

Dusk's five friends had returned to Ponyville in complete silence. Unlike the one-way trip to Canterlot, none of the five said a word as they rode back in the carriage. Each was lost in their own thoughts and concerns, all focused on Dusk Shine, their declarations of love, and what had happened next. None had obtained an answer to their feelings, and worse still, Dusk had left with an unknown mare without explaining anything to them.

Pinkie Pie had arrived at Sugarcube Corner over an hour ago, and although she was already lying in her bed, she still couldn't manage to fall asleep. In her mind, she reviewed what she had experienced that night, since they had arrived at the castle until Dusk disappeared from the Cafe.

"I feel… like I'm forgetting something…" Pinkie Pie whispered, thinking aloud. Closing her eyes from to exhaustion, finally seeming like sleep had caught up with her.

As Pinkie Pie began to enter the world of dreams, she kept remembering what she experienced that night. At that moment, she remembered what Princess Celestia had told them after Dusk disappeared.

"She is Sunset Shimmer. She’s a former student of the Canterlot school of magic." Princess Celestia had said. "I recognize when my dear student is lost and confused with his thoughts and feelings, even more so with the arrival of his old friend…"

And lost in her memories, just as her mind disconnected from the real world, another memory came to Pinkie's mind. But this wasn’t a memory of that night, but one much earlier. Of the time that Pinkie helped Dusk in the Everfree Forest when they were going to face Nightmare Moon.

"In those days I only trusted a mare, my best friend... but she would never have solved a problem by laughing… She said that all problems had a logical solution and that feelings only numbed ponies, mainly silly emotions like laughter." Dusk had said, after Pinkie made Dusk come out of his nightmare with the power of laughter.

With that last clue hidden in her memories, Pinkie's brain clicked, and she widened her eyes in realization.

"How didn’t we see it sooner…!?" Pinkie said frightfully. "She was THAT friend of Dusk!"

Finally discovering what had been bothering her so much since Sunset had appeared, Pinkie Pie sat on her bed with a worried look. Then Pinkie Pie gave a serious look, a rare expression for a pony like her.

"I need to warn the others about this."

End of chapter 1

Author's Note:

We finally pick up the story. After writing the chapter I listened to this song and I thought it was good for this chapter:
Bad Blood
And what do you think, does it remind you of another song? We'll see if in each chapter we have different songs

Many thanks to 'Scribe of the Nightwings' for his help

Comments

[Scribe of the Nightwings]

First things first, loving the new cover for the season! I especially love how cuddly Pinkie and Dash are with Dusk.

Secondly, this is a great start for the next season of this incredible story. I'm especially interested in seeing why Sunset wants to reconnect with Dusk after all this time and after she thought of him in the past.

In any case, let me know when you have the next chapter done and I'll take a look at it for you, as always!

[TheStoryMaker]

Hooray! Season 2 is here!

[MLPMekarm]

wo the new story is out. yay.

[BlackOpsElf]

Fantastic opening chapter! Season One was the story that got me back into MLP fanfic after many years away, and it's great to see it continue!

[The Toaster]

16 THOUSAND words only in the first chapter, that's a lot of freaking dedication

[Ijustgoodbob]

Ooh dang I did not see that coming, sunset shimmer is one clever girl.

[Neon Starch]

Oh, I am loving this already. I can only imagine what's going to happen now that Sunset is involved. Though, from has been seen, I can tell she's gonna try to pull Dusk away from his friends. Hopefully, Dusk lays down the law soon. Something like this:

Sunset: You need me, Dusk! I am your fiancé! Your only real friend!

Dusk: No, you're not! You only saw me as a means to an end! A lackey for you to toss away when you no longer needed me! Well, you know what Sunset? I realize that I no longer need you.

[bigsnusnu]

10758236
I'm glad you like the drawing
To tell the truth, I was very indecisive in the face that Dusk had to have haha but I think it was the right choice
and yes, we'll soon learn more about this strange relationship between Dusk and Sunset
as always, thanks for your help and thanks for commenting

[bigsnusnu]

10758262
Thank you very much, I'm glad that you like my story and it motivates you to read more about the MLP universe

[bigsnusnu]

10758264
haha yeah I wanted to make a shorter chapter, but there were many things to tell about Dusk's past, and I wanted the readers to know well the context of Dusk's old trauma, as it's an important point.
I hope you like the chapter

[bigsnusnu]

10758265
yeah, for better or for worse, Sunset is one of the most cunning ponies in this story.
We'll see more about it in the following chapters

[bigsnusnu]

10758271
I'm glad you liked the chapter
And yes, soon we'll see more about Sunset, she's a character that will have great relevance these first chapters, so soon we'll see how Dusk and his friends deal with this new character
thanks for commenting

[Greenhorn]

I wonder if Cadance still keep Sunset's diary, that would be a good blackmail material.

[2tail]

I wonder if Sunset really fail the last spell or if it was a setup.

[spectre203]

Since this is just one chapter I'm gonna wait it out until at least it got 5 chapters so it could be worth reading!.

[Darth_krayt]

That's a lot to take in

[mothra80fan]

At long last, the prophecy has been realized. I am glad to see you back and I can't wait for future updates.

[cornholio4]

Hope those bullies gotten taken care of

Don’t think about wanting sunset in the harem now

Jerk whining, if he keeps this attitude during the wedding hen I hope cadance publicly and loudly chides him and tells him what a bully he is to his brother

[Forevergent777]

Ngl, it's starting to get really infuriating how much of a beta male Dusk is.

[BrawnyBold]

What a great way to start off this story’s second season! Keep up the great work!

[FictionPony21]

The plot thickens! And I love it ! Sunset and Dusk's story was very epic and sad
Is it just me or are the nobles more cretins than I expected? I'm dying to read your reactions when Dusk turns into Alicorn and prince, it's going to be hilarious.
Season 1 ended with honor enrollment friend! You are doing great

[bigsnusnu]

10758420
who knows, maybe we'll find out in the future.
Although it must be remembered that it wasn't the original diary, but a copy made with magic.

[bigsnusnu]

10758438
Apparently Sunset tried to cast too big a spell, but failed. Maybe at some point they will talk about it
thanks for comment

[bigsnusnu]

10758454
well, there are 16 thousand words, I would say that it's enough to entertain yourself reading
but of course, you can wait if you like

[bigsnusnu]

10758465
it was time to find out about Dusk's past
and yes, there was a lot to tell

[bigsnusnu]

10758488
I'm already working on the next chapter, I hope it won't take too long
thanks for the support

[bigsnusnu]

10758489
haha well, several events will happen before the big wedding, so many things can happen

[bigsnusnu]

10758599
well, there are no perfect characters, the nice thing is to see how characters grow

[bigsnusnu]

10758729
Thank you very much I'm glad you liked this beginning of the season
soon more chapter
thanks for comment

[New Rebellion]

Wow. Poor Dusk. No wonder he was so traumatized against seeking friendship. Sad as it is to admit, I can easily see Sunset doing something like that at this point in her life. I think I can predict what's going to happen over the course this season, but I'll try to not make too many assumptions. After all, you make an ass of you and me when you do that.

So, regardless of anything else, this was a great opener to the story!! Thank you for posting it (FINALLY!!!!!)

[bigsnusnu]

10758978
you're definitely not wrong, the nobles are cretins
haha and as you say, we'll have to see if Dusk ever becomes an alicorn, definitely the nobles would have a heart attack haha
anyway, soon more chapters
thanks for comment

[WritingNonsense]

I constantly reread the previous season. So I am looking forward to this seasons development and reread it again and again as well.

Well done!

[bigsnusnu]

10759171
yes, Dusk had a more difficult childhood than Twilight. Sunset definitely left a mark on poor Dusk, which he luckily healed thanks to his friends from Ponyville.
And about the predictions, you're free to make theories but of course, I always try to make a continuous story, but with several surprises haha
Anyway, I'm glad you like the chapter
Thank you very much for commenting

[bigsnusnu]

10759177
I'm glad you reread the story (and as always sorry for the spelling mistakes in the first chapters ) I think when I write the last chapter of the story, everyone will have to reread it to see how everything actually connects and from old chapters I left certain clues of what will happen in the future
I'm very glad you like this chapter and soon many more chapters
thanks for comment

[Forevergent777]

10759157
True, but I question if that's ever gonna happen, judging by how he easily accepts Sunset back despite what she did, which goes to further emphasize how Dusk is even more of a doormat than Fluttershy.

[Richer19]

I do hope Dusk grows a back bone and fights against Sunset Shimmer. I really don't want to see him fall under her influence.

[Pluto Daze]

Glad to see that you're still continuing with this. Normally not the biggest fan of romantic novels, but this has pulled me in.
I will say that I'm not the biggest fan of Sunset's inclusion currently, but it's barely enough to drive me off and I can't say what you can and can't do with your story.

[bigsnusnu]

10759566
we'll have to wait to see how Dusk reacts
thanks for comment

[bigsnusnu]

10759797
well, it's true that it has romance, but I try to make it a story that has a little bit of everything, adventure, drama, etc.
And about Sunset, she's a character that will bring several surprises, I hope you like this little arc that is about the arrival of Sunset
thanks for comment

[Alphamon_Ouryuken]

10759365

Got to agree with you there, I would at least like to see him snap back at her and call her out on the way she treated him.

Harems with a male lead that can't stand up for themselves tend to get old real quick.

[Kiue Jin]

Poor Dusk... he's found himself being pulled back into a toxic relationship and he doesn't know what to do.

Also, I suspect that Sunset has actively put that mind magic to the test, considering that Dusk clearly has an altered memory of his first kiss.

[Shadowblade019]

This show you how useless adults are when their kids are bullied or bullies! Than the passive say just ignore and turn the other cheek. That never works for the defenseless. Down vote me to prove I'm right!

[TheMyth]

I can imagine how Dusk will be when they are all married and the mares are pregnant...

[bigsnusnu]

10760173
yes, toxic relationships are very complicated, and the hardest thing is to accept that 'that' is a toxic relationship.
Let's hope Dusk soon finds out who his true friends are
thanks for comment

[bigsnusnu]

10760639
yes, bullying is something that is always present and is something that is difficult to deal with, even more so for a child. It's a complicated topic

[bigsnusnu]

10760799
haha I wonder if this is how the story will end, who knows It would definitely be something unexpected for Dusk haha
thanks for comment

[Mix-up]

Nice backstory, it help to put a lot of context to Dusk's past. From the looks of it Dusk and Shining Armor don't have anywhere aren't very close and have nowhere near the same relations as with Twilight Sparkles; I wonder how Dusk would get to me Shining first mare, would Candance force the issue between the two. It might seem that Chrysalis might have sights on other then Shining in this story. L oved the idea that Discord was going to turn Zecora into a bureaucrat part. Loved the parts with Sunset, I do like her ambitions in life, even if a bit worrying, I think it represent her pretty well from the comic before EqG, and she did had a lot of gusts in going through the mirror, I wonder where she had been sense she was with Dusk and how much did her magic improved sense then, I am sure she has lots of stories to tell, I wonder if she has been around the Kirins in the period. I wouldn't be surprised that Celestia intervened to try to get Sunset to befriend Dusk, but I am not sure what is written in the diary is true or accurate, from the looks of it Sunset was pretty paranoid(given her 'father') and I wouldn't be surprised that she codes her writing, or a spell that filters the content by using the opposite on meaning or intention, or even was a decoy intentionally planted for Cadance to read through. From the sound of it Sunset isn't really all that impressed by Celestia and I don't think she would have done befriend Dusk on Celestia's request or promise, she sounds too head strong to be a flank kisser like other ponies.

Looking forward to see more of this

[bigsnusnu]

10762085
I'm glad you liked the chapter
Good analysis, and as you say, there are still many things to tell about Sunset. She's definitely a character who will bring very interesting things to the story
thanks for comment

[DavisSentoV5]

Jesus Christ.... That whole flashback from how they met leading up to how dusk learned the horrible truth that Sunset never cared for him... you definitely started off this new season with the bang, now we wait to see where it goes from here

[K-O-D-E-X]

You know something thatr caught my attention is importance they gave to the starburst in Dusk and shining's CM I wonder if that is gonna be explained