Tales of the Element Gang, Book 1: Heroes of Equestria

by Power of Six

Prelude: A Talk with Rarity

“So…” That was the first word that Rarity said to me after she had invited me into the Carousel Boutique and shut the door.

I was unsure how exactly to respond to this. “So…”

“So…” she repeated. Her expression was blank and difficult to read (Though that might be because of my still terrible eyes), standing before me in the middle of the shop with the air of a judge about to pass sentence.

“So… what?”

“Don’t give me that you! You know exactly what.” she breathed, barely containing herself. “You know exactly why it is I have asked you here, for I have something that I have been meaning to say to you for a very long time.”

“Um… do you?” I racked my brain desperately. Had I done something wrong? Had I upset the debutante in some way?

“Yes, I do. Something very important, something of so great and surmounting significance that I daresay that you will remember it until your dying day, sir!” Her voice was rising slightly and it was making me even more worried.

“Is… that so?” I backed off a little, but Rarity only stepped closer and held out her hoof.

“Stay right there!” I stood stock-still, like she was a Gorgon who had just petrified me. “You will stay right there so you can listen to what I have to say and don't you even think about running off.”

“If you, uh… insist.” I stayed rooted to the spot, barely even daring to blink.

“I just cannot believe I didn’t say this to you before.” she continued, her voice still rising an octave or two. “In fact, I am shocked—horrified even—that I did not say this before or, even worse, that you did not come to me directly and speak about it.”

“Uh… sorry?” I said, trying my best to smile.

“Wipe that smirk off your face!” she commanded and I instantly obeyed. “Oh, don’t think sorry will help you now, because I am going to tell you, right this instant, what I should have told you last night when all of this started!”

That left me even more confused. A lot of things had happened the previous night and I couldn’t think of a single one that might be causing Rarity to act like this towards me. There was of course one thing that had happened and that had only happened because of her, but how could it be possible I had done something wrong concerning that already? We had only just begun! Unless I had…

“And, uh… what might that be?” I dared to ask.

“I’m going to tell you!” she cried, her voice rising now to screeching levels and still glaring at me. “And what that is… is…” All of a sudden, she broke out into a grin and her eyes lit up like the sun. “That you are going to be the happiest and most content stallion that has ever walked Equestria!”

“I… um… what?”

“After all this time, all the shy glances, the doubts, the denials, the looks, the smiles, the dancing, and lest we not forget the steadily rising betting pool going on through all of that, it’s finally happened!” She was beaming at me now and, considering how she had been before, I was rather unnerved by this sudden change. “You and Twilight are finally a… a…”

“Couple?” I supplied, as she clearly had trouble getting the word out.

“Yes, exactly! Oh, I am so happy for you both, I don’t think I could possibly gauge how ecstatic I am!” She let out a small squee of barely suppressed excitement and threw her legs around me in a hug. “You two are going to be the eye of all of Ponyville, I just know it!”

“Um… thank you.” I unsurely placed my arms around her, the thought crossing my mind that perhaps Pinkie wasn’t the only strange member of our group.

“I mean, it’s just so wonderful.” She pulled back and a dreamy look came over her face. “Two young ponies, who have watched each other from afar, never having known or experienced the mysterious and wonderful feeling that is love and perhaps even scared to. Now, both are discovering its wonders together at long last.” She let out a long sigh and smiled softly. “Oh, it makes my heart flutter just thinking about it.”

I was still feeling a little unsure as to how to react to all of this. Then again, Rarity could sometimes be a little overdramatic and perhaps this had just been her way of letting me know how happy she was for me. She had, of course, been helping me along every step of the way and this must have been like some sort of personal project for her. Now that she had achieved her goal, I supposed she had earned the right to act how she wanted.

She seemed to notice my rather bemused expression and frowned a little, but kept her smile. “Dusk, what on earth are you looking at me like that for? I don’t have a pimple, do I? Oh, by Celestia, tell me it’s not a pimple!”

Just as I thought. That whole thing before had just been some kind of weird act she put on or it had just been her personal reaction to what had happened. Like I had said that night, the girls could still surprise me, even when I thought I knew them best. So, in the end, I returned her smile and relaxed, comforted in the knowledge she wasn’t really angry at me.

“No, it’s not a pimple. You look as lovely as you always do.” I complimented, though not without a blush and a mumble.

“Oh, aren’t you the sweetest thing?” she tittered. “Better not let Twilight catch you saying things like that to other mares or she’ll kick your tail.”

“Duly noted.” I chuckled. “Thank you again, Rarity, for all of your help in this. Sorry I couldn’t tell you that on the night, cuz.”

“Oh, it’s fine, dear, I know you had more pressing matters to attend to.” She giggled as I blushed. “Besides, we can’t let your special somepony know you had too much help, can we?”

“Um… why not?”

“Why, it’s really quite obvious. Mares like a stallion who’s independent and confident and I should think Twilight is no different.”

“Ah… I see.” That got me a little worried, for I didn’t see myself as independent, I preferred being told what to do or confident, for obvious reasons.

“But,” she added, seeing the look on my face, “that will come with time and practice and I think you two will be just fine the way you are at the minute. Just remember though, if you ever have any trouble, come see me and I’ll see if I can’t put on the right track.”

“You’d… you’d do that?” I felt relieved, for I had still been a little nervous about the whole idea.

“Of course. I do have some experience in this field you know. Some less pleasant than others…” She let a dark look pass over her and I knew she was probably still thinking about her experience with Blueblood.

“Right… thanks, Rare.” I said, feeling a little better.

“Oh, no trouble at all, darling. Now, come along. We must celebrate and I have just the thing for this sort of occasion.” She ushered me into her kitchen, just as another thought crossed my mind.

“Wait… betting pool?”

“Oh, Pinkie’s idea, darling. Nothing to concern yourself with.”

“But…”

“Now, now, enough of that. We have an occasion to celebrate.” She gave me a disarming smile and went to busy herself with the cupboards, while I stood waiting by the table at the window.

I still sighed with happiness when I recalled the previous night, a memory so strong that it even suppressed some less pleasant recollections that lurked in my mind. I couldn’t remember a time I had felt more content, more satisfied than the time I had spent with Twilight last night, one arm around her and holding her close, while her head was tucked under my chin and her sweet voice played in my ear reciting facts about the stars above, radiating more warmth than the sun on a summer’s day.

I had never actually thought I and Twilight would even share a moment like that, let alone caught in each other’s embrace. Yet we had done it and we had both enjoyed the special time we had spent together under the stars of Canterlot. It all seemed quite impossible enough before all that had happened to us both and after all I had done… I wasn’t sure if I would even be able to pull off my goal. But I’d done it. We’d done it.

Then, of course, there had been everypony’s reactions afterward. Pinkie had been ecstatic, practically over the moon about it. Fluttershy offered her quiet, yet warm congratulations to us but had mainly kept quiet. Rainbow had rolled her eyes and she and Shield warned us to keep the “mushy stuff” to a minimum when they were around. Rarity had beamed at me, but had shushed me from behind the rest of them. Leon didn’t really think it was great as usual. When Leon said if it was good for the economy, Rarity went over to him with an annoyed look and, like when we defeated Discord, punched him in the leg. Applejack and Dog, however, had stepped forward with barely concealed smirks.

“Now, Twi, I think this is all real grand and all, but I got just one thing to say to you ʹbout all this.” Applejack had said.

“And what’s that?” Twilight had asked, though from the tone of her voice she sounded like she knew what was coming.

“Now, I don’t want ya to think that I’m just bein’ a smart alec here, mainly ʹcause we already got two of ya for that,” she explained, clearly milking the moment, “but I feel there are times that, even somepony like me, has to say somethin’ like this.”

“And that is?”

Applejack had stepped up close, cleared her throat, and, with a satisfactory smirk, said “I told ya so.”

“I knew it.” Twilight had laughed at this. “You certainly did tell me so and, for once, I’m glad I was wrong.”

I hadn’t known what they were talking about and I hadn’t asked either for Twilight had nuzzled into my neck after she’d said this and the warm feeling that buzzed into my brain made me oblivious to everything else.

I was still smiling when I pulled out Rarity’s cushion for her and accepted the wine glass that she had poured out for me. What I tasted, however, wasn’t wine. It was rather like apple juice, only with more fizz and with much more of a kick. It made my tongue tingle, my stomach buzz, and I coughed a little from the aftertaste. It was pleasant though and I liked it, wiping some of the froth from my upper lip.

“What is that?” I asked her.

“Some of the Apple Family’s homemade apple cider, freshly squeezed and freshly made every year.” she announced proudly, taking a sip herself. “They make it once a year, but they never seem to have enough of it. It’s quite popular with the town.”

“I can see why.” I remarked, taking another gulp.

“Yes, but luckily, I managed to save some and I thought now seemed like a good time to open a bottle.” She raised her glass daintily. “I propose a toast, to a happy and long relationship for the two of you.”

“I hope so.” I moved my glass to chink against hers, but missed due to my eyes and ended up spilling some of my cider on the floor. I spilled a little more when Rarity shrieked like a banshee from the mess. “Oh, my gosh! I’m so sorry!”

“It’s… it’s quite all right, Dusk.” she said quietly, clearly doing her best to suppress her neat-clean attitude. “Just a small accident, that’s all… I hope that doesn’t stain.”

“I really am sorry.” I sighed and rubbed my eyes, a habit I’d started to develop. “My eyesight still hasn’t cleared up.”

“Yes, I noticed.” Rarity cleared her throat and her pleasant voice returned. “Haven’t you considered taking Zecora’s advice and getting some glasses?”

“Um… well… I don’t know…” I diverted my gaze. “Why, um… why would I need glasses?”

“I’d say the answer to that is fairly obvious.” She gestured once more to her stained floor, which Opalescence was coming to investigate. “I’m sure price isn’t an object and any optician would tell you that you need a pair of glasses desperately. Even we think so.”

“Um… well…” I stammered and fell silent. I didn’t want to say what was on my mind.

“Dusk, what’s wrong?” she asked, picking up on it.

“It’s… it’s nothing, it’s stupid.”

“I shall be the judge of that. What’s on your mind, dear? Why are you so tentative about getting glasses?”

I knew she wasn’t going to let this go. “You see…” I sighed and looked at her as best I could. “I don’t want glasses… because I think they’d… well they’d…”

“Go on.” she prompted gently.

“They’d make me look like… a geek…” I muttered, Rainbow’s words echoing in my head.

A moment of silence passed between them. Rarity blinked, stared at me for a bit and giggled a little, making my cheeks burn with embarrassment.

“You see? Stupid.” I repeated.

“Oh, no. I’m sorry, dear.” she said quickly. “It’s just that you’ve really got to stop listening to Rainbow Dash.”

“She is right though.” I pointed out. “I’m already quite geeky as it is. Glasses would just be sealing the deal, so to speak. Kind of like an Axel.”

“Excuse me, a what?” It was then that I mentally slapped myself for what I just said to her.

“Uh…” I was now starting to get nervous.

“Dusk, is something the matter?”

With a sigh, I saw that I had no choice but to tell her. “Rare, have you ever heard of the Dragon-verse?”

“I can’t say that I have. What is it?”

“Well… you heard of the parallel universe theory, like the one used in science fiction?”

“Yes. You once told me about it.”

“Well, it’s like that. Though a bit… bigger than you think.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… amongst our own multiverse, there are others like it that surround it. Separate cosmos that occupy their own extradimensional space. Think of it as like having books in a library, groups of them placed among separate shelves.”

“Oh.” She then began to take it all in. “So I am to guess that, in each dimension of these other… cosmos, there are ponies like you?”

“Well… yes.” That was only half true. There were others like me, but the ones I know weren’t ponies. I decided to leave that detail out as it would be too much of a shock for her. “Though I’m not sure how things in our own multiverse work, I do know about the others. The majority of them have Fire Dragons like me, but they go by the name ‘Axel’ instead of ‘Dusk’.”

“And do these Axels have glasses as well?”

“Yep. All of them. Though they look cool with them, I’m afraid it might not be the same case with me. Might end up more geeky than cool.”

“Dusk, darling, your intelligence is one of the things that we like—that I like—as your friends.” she said comfortingly. “Do you honestly think that any of us, apart from Rainbow and Shield, would care even an inkling what you would look like if you took to wearing glasses?”

“No?”

“Of course not!” she said with utter assurance. “If anything, glasses would only serve to emphasize your intelligence, make you look more clever. Not that you need to, of course, but I believe the right glasses would suit you as well as your delightful chapeau does.”

“You… you think so?”

“Of course, take it from somepony who also wears them.” She levitated a pair of oval-shaped red glasses onto her face. “See, fabulous, aren’t they? I only use them when I’m working, but that doesn’t mean I can’t look smashing in them.”

“Well, it does work for you,” I complimented her shyly. “I suppose, if I need to, it wouldn’t be so bad in that case. Thanks for putting me at ease, Rare.”

“Delighted to help as always.” she assured, removing her glasses and beaming. “When it comes to appearance, rest assured I always know what I'm talking about.”

“You do… and you’re still so helpful to me, even after…” I trailed off as the memories returned again.

They were usually suppressed, kept locked away inside of my mind, but sometimes they came crawling back like parasprites. The laughter echoed in my head again, echoing like a cry in a cave of lost souls. Screams from the very mare that stood before me while she was consumed by a boulder, begging for me to stop destroying her precious stone, as I demanded that she fall on her knees and plead for me to stop. The pain, the anguish, the torment…it had all been my fault, I was the one who had let him out…

“Dusk? Dusk, are you feeling well?” Rarity’s voice snapped me out of my episode. She was gazing at me with concern. “You look as if you’re about to pass out.”

Though I did feel assured, I also felt even worse from the tone she used. I didn’t feel I deserved such compassion after all I’d done. But I also was terrified of losing her, all of them, and being on my own again. So, I suppressed that feeling, suppressed the memory, and did my best to return a smile.

“I’m fine, I’m just… still coping with some bad memories.” I said quietly.

“Oh, I understand entirely. When I think about what happened whilst under his influence…” She shuddered and flushed red, but quickly covered this up. “Still, what’s past has past and now we must move on.”

“Yeah… I know…” I tried to keep the smile and looked out of the window, hoping she wouldn’t see the darkness moving behind my eyes.

“Oh, dear! Look at Opal!” Rarity said. I turned and actually smiled genuinely when I saw the cat was stumbling around in a drunken manner, her fur soaked in cider and banging her head against the wall. “Oh, you silly cat!”

“Indeed.” I chuckled again, well aware of the more sinister sound that echoed along with it…

Author's Note:

Hey, everypony! Just posting this up to show you that I'm not dead and have been trying my best to get things done, especially with the covers for my books. Speaking of which, it seems I hit a bit of a creative block with them and will accept some help if anyone likes to offer. Also, I would really appreciate some questions for Rise of the Element Gang since I would love to see the questions you all got for it. Also I found a new house and already getting this packed up for it, so I'm gonna be pretty busy with deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. Anyway, liked that little dating advice from Rarity and that little reveal about the Dragon-verse? Trust me, you're going to be hearing a whole lot more about the Dragon-verse in this series, especially with Dusk. Along with this prelude, there will also be a new log entry from Dusk and the first chapter of the story, Though that will be all for a while, I promise I will put in some more once things are all settled and done. Hope you all enjoy what I got!