Brand New Dusk

by AlphatheGriffin17

Owl's Well That Ends Well

It was a perfect division of labour between the two assistants of Twilight Sparkle in the library that evening. Dusk, in charge of library duties, was packing the quills, ink and parchment into the red cart that they were going to bringing up the hill, whilst Spike, who did the domestic duties, was packing up the food, punch and picnic blanket for after the shower would be completed.

Dusk was quite looking forward to the shower tonight. Though he didn't have a diverse of astrology, not as much as Twilight, he would be looking forward to the sheer beauty and wonder of the centennial event that would be taking place. It was meant to be spectacular, a cluster of sparkling stars shooting across the sky. How very fortunate they were that it would be happening tonight.

"This meteor shower tonight's gonna be amazing!" said Twilight from above.

"No arguments from me," remarked Dusk, as he levitated the quills neatly into the cart

"Awesome!" added Spike, throwing some bananas into the mix

"You know, this shower only happens once every 100 years," she informed.

"A centennial celebration!" noted Spike, as he juggled some apples into the cart, permitting a low whistle of admiration from Dusk.

"We better get a move on!"

"Don't wanna be late!" Dusk hurried forward as Spike had some difficulty with the punch bowl, placing it delicately on the top. "There. Thanks bro."

"No problem little bro," Dusk assured, sharing a high hoof with him.

"Dusk, did you grab my quill and ink?"

"Affirmative," saluted Dusk.

"Scrolls?"

"Placed and packed, as requested."

"Excellent! And Spike?" she turned to the dragon.

"I've packed a telescope, apples, bananas, fruit punch and my freshly baked home-made triple-decker nut-crazy vanilla cream cookies!" He held up the dish of sugary treats to prove his point, traces of crumbs around his mouth.

Twilight giggled at the sight of this. "I can see that." This prompted him to lick the crumbs off his face. "Once again you've read my mind, Spike. And that is why you are my number one dragon assistant." She proceeded downstairs, Dusk following behind.

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear you." Dusk chuckled, knowing full well that he had and he just liked having his ego stroked.

"That is why you are my number one dragon assistant," she repeated.

"Missed that! Huh...?"

"I said-" She stopped herself when she realised what he was getting up to. She giggled and shook her head. "Oh you… and Dusk, you've proven once more that you can be reliable, efficient and helpful."

"I try my best," he said modestly, shrugging as they reached the door. "Spike's been around longer than me though, he deserves the number one position more."

"He's my number one dragon assistant," she emphasized, "but you are my number one pony assistant."

"Really?" he asked, touched that she took him into consideration. "Number one pony assistant… I rather like the sound of that."

"Well, don't let it go to your head; you're supposed to be the modest one." They shared a laugh at that, as they reached the door. "Come on, let's get going. Wait! I almost forgot. I wanna bring the "Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac to All Things Astronomy"."

Spike expression changed to one of confusion. "The Astronomo-lomo homono what?"

"You know that really old big blue book on stars, moons, planets, the Universe...?" she prompted, as he finally recognised what she meant.

"Check!" He dashed off inside to get it.

"You don't mind that he's going to go and get it?" Twilight asked him. "I know the library itself is your realm, so to speak."

"Not at all, I've got a feeling tonight's going to be Spike's night anyway. Let him have a little bit of glory, I say."

"That's sweet of you Dusk, I'm sure he'd appreciate that," she noted, a slight blush coming to her cheeks at the mentioning of the word 'sweet.'

Dusk had noticed, since yesterday, Twilight had been passing compliments to him a lot more easily now and her gaze seemed to linger on him a little more so than normal. She was less hectic when she started blushing, more stable. Was it too much to hope that, perhaps, she had feelings for him that matched his for her. Probably not, she was most likely just being nice… it would be good to hope though.

"You know me, I am the modest one," he reminded her. "Still, I've just had a thought. Maybe we could mix up our duties a bit, Spike does more library stuff and I could do some house duties."

"Really? Do you know how to cook?"

"Well… um… no, but I could learn," he added.

"Thanks Dusk, but I'm fine with the way things are now. Still, if you ever want to get a lesson in cooking, I'm sure Spike would be happy to help you."

"Actually, considering what happened last time I went near a kitchen, you're probably right," he chuckled good-naturedly.

"If you say so," she giggled, looking back into the library. "Hey! What's taking my number one dragon assistant so long?"

A few seconds later, Spike returned, but without the blue book. He also seemed to have tensed up a bit, a small bead of sweat trickling down his face. If Twilight noticed this, she didn't comment on it.

"Where's the almanac?" she asked him.

"Sorry, I couldn't find it, oh well never mind, let's go!" He said all of this rather quickly, grabbing the handle of the cart and rushing for the door.

"Did you look in right place?" Twilight persisted.

"Yep, but it wasn't there. Real shame, but I guess we'll have to make do. Now come on, let's go!" Before Twilight could ask further, he'd hurried out of the door and into the darkened streets of Ponyville.

"What do you think's gotten into him?" Twilight asked Dusk.

"I haven't the foggiest idea, but he is right. We'd better get along if we don't want to miss the shower." He held the door open for Twilight. "Now, Miss Sparkle, I do believe its ladies first?"

"Why thank you, number one pony assistant." Dusk smiled at the way that sounded, as they exited the library, heading out to a hill area where everypony would be gathering to watch the show.

By the time they arrived, the stars were shining in the sky, the dark blue cloak of the night being stretched across the sky. It seemed like the entire town had turned out to watch the show, with little groups of ponies scattered all around the hillside, waiting eagerly to view the astronomical event. Dusk could see their friends already gathered at the top of the hill, walking alongside Twilight with Spike bringing up the rear.

"I was sure I put the astronomer's guide back," she mentioned again. "The book would have helped me identify different planets and stars tonight. You didn't take it out, did you Dusk?"

"Not really my kind of reading, to be honest," he admitted. "I know the names of the planets anyway: Mercury, Venus, Equestria, Mars, Tuchunka, Skaro, Cybertron…"

"I'm sorry, what were those last three?" she asked, giggling.

"Oh sorry, those were a few of mine I know," he mumbled. "I'll explain later."

"You and your imagination." She didn't sound exasperated, just amused, which made Dusk smile again.

"Well... Maybe someone borrowed it?" Spike suggested. "Besides, you don't need that book. You can already name all the planets and stars, cause you're super smart and astronomically awesome!"

"Thanks Spike. You're such a flatterer," she commented.

The baby dragon shrugged abashedly. "Yeah, I'm a sweet talker."

"And a number one dragon assistant, right?"

"Check! Go number ones!" He shared a high hoof with Dusk, as the two of them set out the picnic, Dusk laying down the blanket and Spike laying down the food.

At this point, Rainbow Dash walked over and took a bite from an apple. "Wow, Twilight! You're lucky to have not only one, but two rad assistants. I wish I had someone to do whatever I told them."

Scootaloo perked up at this. "Ooh! Ooh! Me! Me! Me! I'll do whatever you want, Rainbow Dash!

"Oh yeah, pipsqueak?" She tossed her the apple core. "How about taking out the trash?"

"Yes ma'am!" She picked it up and hurried off, surprising them all at her willingness to comply. No sooner had she left, the others all gathered around.

"Do we have Spike to thank again for this amazing spread?" asked Rarity, joining the others in gazing adoringly at Spike, Dusk stepping back to let him have the spotlight. "Isn't he simply amazing?"

"Oh, come on." He looked quite embarrassed, then his expression changed to one of disappointment. "I said come on."

"Little Spikey-wikey!" Pinkie gave him an affectionate noogie. "Who knew that big ferocious dragon started off so cutesy wootsy?"

"For the record, I couldn't imagine any other pony, or dragon for that matter, I would divide my duties with," Dusk commented, giving him a pat on the back. "He can be a little lazy and cheeky at times-"

"I thought you were saying good things about me," objected Spike.

"Let me finish," put in Dusk. But, despite that, he's as much a friend to me as you all are and kind of like my brother too."

"Aw gee… Thanks bud," Spike said sincerely.

"You deserve it," replied Dusk.

"Spike, you are such a little star that I had to make a little bow tie for you." Rarity levitated a red bow-tie decorated with little gemstones to fit around Spike's neck.

"Try not to eat it, eh?" remarked Dusk.

"Gosh. You guys are embarrassing me. Stop it." He paused for a second. "Twilight, your turn."

"Spike, that's enough.," she said sternly.

"Yes, I think your ego has received enough stroking for one night," added Dusk, provoking a smile from the dragon.

"All right. That's enough," he agreed reluctantly.

"Hey, everypony! The show is starting!" At Sweetie Belle's announcement, everypony hurried to get a good view of the sky and gazed up expectantly.

First there was one. Then there was two. It just continued to build, until the whole sky was full of them. Streaks of light began to shoot across the sky, shining just as bright as the stars that they flew past, passing an unearthly, yet beautiful glow across everypony's faces, as they all gasped and awed at the magnificent spectacle. They left streaks of starlight in their wake, darting across the night sky and out of sight, if only to allow more to sail by. It was strange that they seemed so close, when in reality they were so far away. Dusk had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. It even beat the sonic rainboom, if only by a bit.

He was so engrossed in watching the meteors that he didn't notice he was moving closer to his right. He only realised when he brushed against Twilight's side. They both darted their heads up and blushed, about to move away but… they seemed to both think that the other wouldn't really mind. After all, what was a bit of closeness between friends? So, they remained that way and returned to watching the shower, with the added warmth of their fur being shared in the chilly night air. Nopony even noticed how close they were. They were too busy watching the show. Secretly, they were both thankful for that.

After the show was over, everypony was in animated conversation with each other about what they had just witnessed. Twilight and Dusk were also part of it, though only after Twilight had showed him various constellations and planets through the telescope. It always surprised him how much she knew about this kind of thing. Dusk didn't say anything, but merely listened as she told him what she knew about them all. At the very least he was learning something, which was rather special as it was from her.

"The planet Venus," Twilight was saying, as she showed him it through the telescope. "The only planet to be named after a mare."

"Good for her," remarked Dusk quietly. "But isn't it incapable of supporting life?"

"It is, due to the high gravity and the acid clouds. It's a very hostile world."

"Yet the name makes it sound so gentle," mused Dusk pulling back from the eyepiece.

"I thought you would say something like that."

"You know me too well, Miss Sparkle."

She giggled at that. "Maybe some time, we could look at the stars like this again, just you and me," she suggested, rather shyly.

Dusk wasn't sure if she meant that romantically or just as friends, but he did like the idea either way. "I'd like that."

"I hoped you would…" They shared another warm smile, then returned in comfortable silence to the spread, where Pinkie wolfed down the last of Spike's cookies.

"Wow! These cookies are deeleesh!"

"Spike made them. Speaking of, Spike, can you bring us some punch?" There was no response. "Spike?"

They all looked to see Spike was sleeping soundly in the punch bowl of all places, snoring peacefully.

"Ooh, poor little thing," cooed Rarity.

"Aww... He's worked himself to the bone," added Twilight.

"And now the punch has been... spiked!" joked Pinkie, ensuing laughter from everypony present, yet still Spike slept on.

"I think it's time to go," Twilight suggested, levitating him gently onto her back and rolling up the blanket.

"Right behind you," whispered Dusk, taking the cart and bidding their friends farewell, escorting Twilight and Spike back to their home.

When they arrived back at the tree that housed the library, Twilight was saying about how she wanted to write a report on the study of comets before she went to bed that night.

"Don't you think you should get to bed?" asked Dusk, as they stood on the threshold of the door.

"I will, but I want to get this done now, while it's still fresh in my mind."

"Do you want me to stay up and help? I'm not…" He paused to yawn. "I'm not that tired…"

"I think you are. You should go home and get some rest, you've done enough today," she advised.

"Are you sure?"

"Dusk, you need your rest too. Now go home, that's an order from your boss," she said in a mock commanding tone.

"As you wish, Miss Sparkle," he bowed. "Good night Twilight."

"Good night, number one pony assistant." She gave him one last smile and gently closed the door. He lingered for a few moments, and then made his way home, humming a merry tune to himself.

---

Dusk arrived bright and early as usual next morning, still in high spirits from the previous night. At first he didn't notice anything strange, setting down his saddlebag and gazing around for either Twilight or Spike. Instead, he discovered that the library had one more additional occupant, neither pony nor dragon.

A plump little bird was perched in the middle of the room, with a square-ish body and bright orange beak. His feathers around his breast were a light brown, whereas the ones on his wings were darker in colour. Dusk had read enough about animals, specifically Fluttershy's Hearth's Warming present, to recognise an owl when he saw one, either screech or tawny, but he couldn't quite place it. He'd need to consult it again. The owl turned his beady black eyes to stare at him, which sparked with a strange kind of understanding.

It didn't seem like he'd just flown in randomly, it looked more like he was meant to be there. Was he a new pet that Twilight had acquired? But she hadn't left the house since last night, where had he come from? Deciding to ask her later, Dusk decided to at least be friendly to him.

"Hello little fellow," he greeted, walking over and stroking him gently. "Where did you come from?"

The owl gave a small hoot, not objecting to his hoof moving over his feathers. Well, at least he liked him.

"Oh, good morning Dusk." He turned to see Twilight emerging from the kitchen. "I see you've met Owlowiscious then."

"Owlowiscious?" He glanced at him. "That's a fine name. Where'd you find him?"

"He rescued my parchment when it flew out of the window last night. I didn't like having to send him back into the cold, so I let him stay with me. I've decided to take him on as our new junior assistant."

For some reason, that caused a jolt of fear to spike in his chest. It didn't take him long to figure out why, though he kept his calm expression as best he could.

"Well, they are meant to be quite intelligent birds," he noted, looking him over. "It might be fun having him around, as long as he doesn't… never mind."

"Doesn't what?"

"Well, replace me or anything…" he murmured.

Concern flitted across her features. "Aw Dusk, why would you think that?"

"It wouldn't be hard to, that's all…"

"Dusk, nopony could ever replace you or Spike," she assured him gently. "You have a special place here that I don't think anypony could ever hope to match up to. You're still my number one pony assistant and always will be."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

"Well um… Thanks." They both smiled at the trust they had and Dusk looked for his fellow assistant. "Where is Spike? Shouldn't he be up by now?"

"He's still sleeping upstairs; last night really took it out of him. I let Owlowiscious do his morning chores so he could get some more sleep."

"Really?" He gave him an admiring glance. "Wow, he's good. Are you sure he's not going to replace me?"

"Pretty sure," she repeated, knowing he was just joking. "Anyway, I gotta head out for a bit. Would you mind rearranging the Classics section in the West wing?"

"You need only ask. Welcome aboard Owlowiscious," he added to the bird, as he set off to work, while Twilight went off upstairs to pack her things.

While he was pulling down all of the mismatched books, he heard the door slam a few minutes after Twilight left, probably Spike going off to pass the time in some other way now that his morning chores were done. He wondered if his friend had the same thoughts that he had, that the owl might replace them in the end. He resolved to talk to him later, returning his concentration to levitating the books he was piling up. Unfortunately, the pile wobbled precariously and one of the books fell from the top.

"Uh oh!" He tried to catch it before it hit the ground, but a pair of clawed feet caught it just in time. Owlowiscious hovered before him, lifting the book back up to the top.

"Oh… thanks for that," he said to the owl. He hooted in response, as if to say 'no problem.' Dusk gave the bird a fond smile. "I'm Dusk, by the way, Dusk Noir."

"Hoo," sounded the owl.

"'Who'? What do you mean 'who'? I'm Du-" He paused when he realised what he was doing. "Oh, I see what you did there."

"Hoo," replied Owlowiscious.

"'Hoo' indeed," Dusk chuckled, returning to his work. Maybe having him around wouldn't be so bad after all.

Later on, the girls all arrived to meet Twilight's new pet. Dusk joined them, happy to see they'd taken to him just as well as he did. Except for Spike it seemed, who leaned against a window above, reading a book on owls, with the attitude of somepony trying to learn the weaknesses of his enemy.

"Oh, what a fantastical, fluffelicious feathery little friend! I'm... HOOked!" They all laughed at Pinkie's pun.

"He's just wonderful," said Fluttershy, always having something to say on animals.

They were all rather taken aback when Spike repeated what she said in a mocking tone. "Uh, yes. Wonderful. He's quite... the charmer." He said this last bit through gritted teeth.

"And Owlowiscious is just such a star I just had to make this little bow for you." Rarity presented, rather tactlessly, him with the exact bow that she had made for Spike last night.

At this Spike raged in frustration and slammed the window on them. Knowing his worst suspicions would probably be confirmed, Dusk headed for the library door. "I'll go talk to him."

It didn't take long for Dusk to find him, stomping down the stairs and muttering to himself angrily.

"You okay, my brother?" asked Dusk.

"No, I am not." He turned to face Dusk. "Come on, you must have seen his little plan."

"Um… I'm afraid it's escaped me."

"Come on Dusk, he's trying to replace you and me as the number one's around here!" he said, as if it were obvious. "By the creed of the brothers in library-assistantship, we can't let him do that!"

Dusk blinked at this. "Spike, we don't have a creed."

"Well if we did, it would say that we shouldn't let upstarts try to replace us. But don't worry, we're just gonna have to work extra hard so that Twilight and Owlowiscious know who the top dogs are around here."

"Spike, I think you're overreacting about this. Twilight knows we can't be replaced." He looked to see that Twilight had returned, with Owlowiscious perched on her back. "Come on, we'd best get back to work."

"You got it, let's go into action!" Apparently he'd ignored everything he'd just said up to that point and hurried off, giving Dusk a knowing wink. Dusk just sighed and went back to the catalogue of their inventory he'd started earlier.

The rest of the afternoon passed by fairly uneventfully, at least for Dusk. Owlowiscious had retrieved a few books at Twilight's request, robbing Spike of his own duties, making the dragon even more frustrated. At one point, Twilight had broken her last writing quill and Spike had upended the house to hurry to find a replacement, obviously hoping to show up his rival this time. He even dashed out to find a new one, as Twilight tried to tell him that her pet had given her one of his feathers to use as a quill. Spike returned as Dusk prepared to leave, with a chicken feather, completely useless for writing purposes and had promptly fallen asleep on the stairs. Dusk just hoped he would be better the next day.

When that day came, Dusk was just arriving at the library when Spike strode out angrily, stomping off into town. He was so angry that he didn't notice Dusk and walked by without acknowledging him. Raising an eyebrow, he entered the library to find Owlowiscious sitting on his perch and Twilight levitating a blue bound book in front of her, shaking her head and looking quite perturbed about something.

"What's happened now?" he asked.

"See for yourself." She tossed the book to him and he only just caught it with magic. It was Twilight's astronomy almanac, but the pages had been burned away and the inside was blackened from soot. "Spike burned the pages out by sneezing and then tried to hide what he did from me."

"Oh dear…" Now he could understand why she was so angry. "How did you find it?"

"I didn't, Owlowiscious did, right where it was supposed to be." She let out a growl of frustration. "I can't believe that Spike tried lying to me, as if he could cover it up."

"I'm sure he did it with the best of intentions."

"That may well be, but he should know that he shouldn't lie to me like that." She growled again and shook her head helplessly. "He's been acting like this ever since Owlowiscious arrived."

"I've noticed that too." Dusk pressed his hoof to his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe he is jealous that Owlowiscious is around here, he thinks he's after his job, like I did."

"Yes, but you got over that and now you and Owlowiscious are fine." She sighed. "I just hope he doesn't let his jealousy get the better of him."

"Me too." Dusk suddenly had a thought. "Was he ever this jealous when I first arrived? He always seemed friendly to me, but was he ever… fuming when I wasn't here?"

"At first he was a little jealous," she explained. "But then he really warmed to you and you two are both good friends. Why can't he do the same with Owlowiscious?"

"Well, for one thing, he doesn't exactly say much." The owl hooted to prove his point. "I don't think it's really same scenario as it was with me."

"You may have a point there. Come on, we'd better go and find him before he does anything rash." She gestured and Owlowiscious flew onto her back.

"Right behind you Miss Sparkle." Together, the three of them set out to find the number one dragon assistant.

They ended up looking and asking all around town if anypony had seen Spike. A few had seen him, darting in-between hiding places and dressed in a cape and top hat, cackling to himself about something. They finally got a lead saying that they'd last seen him going back in the direction of the library, still laughing away and wearing his strange get-up. With this information, they proceeded back the way they came and entered the library. On the floor was a torn-up toy mouse, with red liquid poured around it.

Dusk approached it, dipped his hoof in and sniffed. "Ketchup. But why would-?"

He was cut off when Spike came from downstairs, dressed exactly as he was reported and laughing like a clichéd villain. He had a pillow, no doubt from Twilight's bed and was throwing the feathers everywhere. Dusk figured out what he was up to even before he backed into Twilight and even he felt a degree of shame and disappointment for his friend.

"That poor little field mouse!" cried Spike with effected emotion. "Torn to pieces! It must have been Owlowiscious! You know, since owls eat, you know, mice. What a terrible, terrible bird! He must be punished! Right?"

Twilight only glared at him. "Spike! I don't know what upsets me more. That you deliberately tried to set up Owlowiscious or that you actually thought this pathetic attempt would work! You've let your jealousy get the best of you, Spike. I am truly disappointed. This is not the Spike I know and love. Come on Dusk, I think Spike needs some time on his own to think about what he's done.

"Right…" Dusk complied, proceeding to follow Twilight out of the door.

"But Dusk, wait!" He turned to look at Spike, not frowning or glaring, but with a look of disappointment. He made sure he never even raised his voice when he spoke.

"Spike, I understand why you're jealous, but this is a step too far. I would say that you've let me down, as a friend and my fellow assistant… but you've only let down yourself." Shaking his head, Dusk followed Twilight out and shut the door behind him.

"I can't believe he did that," Twilight fumed. "I've never seen him act like this before."

"Neither have I… I'll clean up the mess when we get back."

"Thanks Dusk, it's good to know I can rely on you at least." Dusk didn't take that as the praise it was meant to be. If anything, it made him more ashamed for Spike. She was supposed to be able to rely on both of them, not one or the other.

He only sighed in response, hoping Spike would be okay… and that he would resolve his issues.

---

When they thought they'd given Spike enough time to think about what he had done, they returned to the library as it was getting dark, Dusk intending to pick up his saddlebag and head home, after making sure that Spike was okay.

"Spike!" Twilight called. "Come down, I need to talk to you." There was no answer. "Spike? Spike, where are you?"

There was no sign of him, even the mess he'd made trying to frame Owlowiscious was gone. For some reason, Dusk felt dread form in the pit of his stomach, as Twilight hurried upstairs, while he searched the library. No sign of him in any of the separate wings, or the basement. A few minutes later they met up again, dread changing to fear.

"He's not in the library anywhere," reported Dusk, hearing the quiver in his voice.

"He's not in my room either and all of his things are gone! Dusk, he's run away!" Fretting and muttering, she started to pace. "What are we going to do? Where could he have gone?"

"Twilight, please calm down," Dusk prompted, even though he felt like panicking himself. "I can use my puppets to find-"

"Hoo!" Owlowiscious was flapping frantically, trying to get their attention. He landed and gestured his head to a set of claw prints stained red from ketchup.

"Or we could follow those. Good work Owlowiscious." The owl hooted and flew back out of the door, Twilight and Dusk following behind him.

While Dusk could have easily used his colour puppets to find Spike, though he'd never done it before with him, he wanted to save his energy. If Spike was where he thought he would be, he had a feeling he was going to need it. Sure enough, the footprints led them out of Ponyville and they arrived at the foreboding borders of the Everfree Forest.

"The Everfree Forest. Why did it have to be the Everfree Forest?" Dusk groaned, feeling his legs shaking.

"This is no time to be scared, Spike could be in trouble," Twilight reminded him, though she sounded equally afraid.

"I know but… why is it always the Everfree Forest?" Swallowing in his throat, Dusk galloped after Twilight, Owlowiscious leading the way in the air.

After battling through branches and brambles, but no monsters thankfully, they arrived at the mouth of a cave where the footprints went inside. A loud roar resounded inside, as did familiar cries for help. Dusk felt fear grip him even further. There was only one creature in all of Equestria that could roar like that…

"Come on!" Twilight's voice bolstered him a little, the two of them running to the mouth of the cave.

Filling up the whole interior was an enormous green dragon, one far larger than Spike. His scales glinted fiercely in the dark, the wicked points of his spiked tail as big as tree trunks. He was roaring in rage as Owlowiscious flew around his head, distracting him from a little purple shape that was crouched just behind his larger brethren.

Twilight began to wave frantically. "Spike! Over here!" He ran out of the cave past the dragon, his face a visage of relief.

"Am I glad to see you two!"

"Hurry! Hop on!" He jumped on Twilight's back, Owlowiscious flying out ahead of them, the dragon shaking the earth with his foot falls.

"Here we go again," muttered Dusk, then in a louder voice. "I'll distract him for a bit! Keep running, the trees will become too thick for him to follow!"

Twilight looked like she was about to argue, but she nodded and galloped away, Spike bobbing up and down on her back. Suppressing his fear as best he could, Dusk looked right up at the dragon, who was about to lunge at him. Hoping this would work, he conjured up colour words saying STOP. Surprisingly, it did, the dragon looking a little confused at this display of magic. Now that he had paused, perhaps he could be reasoned with…

"Okay… now then, Mr… Dragon," Dusk began a little timidly. "My uh… friend, he no doubt upset you in some way-"

"He ate my gems!" thundered the dragon.

"Right… um, anyway." Swallowing again, Dusk continued. "So um… I'm sure he didn't mean any uh… offense, sir so… maybe we could just… call this one an accident and uh… move on?"

"Perhaps." He snorted steam. "Or perhaps I could eat you instead, then we could 'move on.'"

"Ah… I was afraid you might say that…" Dusk started to back away slowly. "Well… it was nice talking to you, but uh… this where I remember I'm a quadruped equine and uh… make an immediate strategic withdrawal."

"You mean… run?"

"Exactly. Good evening!" Screaming at the top of his lungs, Dusk dashed away as fast as he could back into the depths of the forest, thinking of Twilight and conjuring a colour puppet to follow through the dark.

Behind him, he could hear the ripping of trees and the shaking of earth as the dragon pursued him, driving him to keep running. Fear was a great motivator. He just kept following his light, the trees becoming thicker all of the time, his chest burning from the physical exertion. Even after he could no longer hear the dragon's stomping feet, he kept on running until he reached the edge of the forest, spotting his friends by a tree. He stopped next to them, wheezing and panting, still feeling the fear in his chest.

"Dusk!" Twilight caught him a tight hug. "You're okay…"

"That's… debatable…" He was still catching his breath and could barely speak.

"I was so worried…" Her face was full of relief, then she frowned and punched him on his leg. "Dusk Noir, you might be the stupidest pony I have ever met."

"No…arguments… here…" he panted.

"How many times are you gonna throw yourself in front of a monster like that?"

"Believe me… I don't want to make a habit of it…" he felt bad for making her worry, but a little proud that he'd at least been able to try and protect her and Spike.

"I almost lost one of my number one assistants and best friends today… I didn't want it to be two…" It sounded like she was trying hard not to cry.

"I… I'm sorry Twilight…" he hung his head, but it was lifted up gently by Twilight, who held his gaze.

"Apology accepted. Just… try not to do it again, okay?"

"Yes… ma'am…" They both exchanged a smile at the tender moment, before Twilight turned to Spike.

"Spike, we were so worried about you. I was so worried about you. Why did you run away?"

Spike too now looked guilty. "I thought you didn't need me anymore. And that you didn't love me anymore." Pity for his friend welled up in Dusk's chest.

"Spike," Twilight began gently, "sure, I was disappointed, but you are my number one dragon assistant! And friend. And you always will be. It's just that sometimes I need some help at night. I can't ask you to stay up late. You're a baby dragon and you need your rest. I can't ask Dusk either, because he has his own home to get to. Owls are nocturnal. So I asked Owlowiscious to help. But not to take your place. No one could ever replace you, Spike. Not even when you are being a jealous numbskull."

"I'm sorry, Twilight. I never should have been so jealous," he admitted.

"And I'm sorry too, Spike. I should have been more sensitive," said Twilight.

"I'm at fault here too," Dusk put in. "As your friend and fellow assistant, I should have tried to help you with this, rather than let what happened happen. You're still my assistant brother and always will be." He offered his hoof to claw.

"Thanks buddy." Dusk was surprised when Spike hugged him instead, which he returned, patting him on the head.

Spike then looked up at his rival, who was perched on a branch nearby. "And Owlowiscious... I know now that you weren't out to take my job. Forgive me?"

"Hoo?" replied the owl.

"Me. Forgive me, Spike."

"Hoo!"

"He forgives you," Twilight told him.

"Hey! How did you guys know where I was?" he suddenly asked.

"It was your ketchup covered feet. Owlowiscious discovered your footprints and we followed them all the way to the cave," she explained.

"Funny how things work out like that," remarked Dusk.

"Oh yeah, the ketchup. It looked pretty real though, didn't it?" he said, referring to the earlier incident. Twilight just glared at him, making Spike giggle nervously.

With that, the four librarians set off for home, soon just being able to laugh about what happened, the jealousy incident completely forgotten. Dusk was just glad to have his little friend back. This was going to make an interesting report to the Princess for sure.

As they walked, he looked up at Owlowiscious, who was flying overhead. The owl had certainly proved useful in his own right. He was intelligent, loyal to his friends and rather good company, though not in the same way a pony was. It was a simpler kind of company, one that was inspired by loyalty and care, the kind of thing that only a pet could give. It occurred to him that the others all had pets too, with the exception of Rainbow Dash. For the first time, Dusk could see the appeal of them.

Perhaps he should get one…

Comments

[Shadow Runner]

"I know the names of the planets anyway: Mercury, Venus, Equestria, Mars, Tuchunka, Skaro, Cybertron…"

LOL laughed hard at that line

Along with him screaming and running away!

[Lord Etters]

2222770

Skaro....Cybertron....OH HOLY BEJESUS ROBOTS AND ALIENS!!!! RUUUUUUUUUNNNNN FOR YOUR LIIIIIIIVVVVVVVVEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!

[Twilight Best Pony]

wait a minute.. turchunka, skaro, cybertron.... holy shit there real!!

[Tesla Moon]

Well shit ...... Equine shaped robots ! We all bucked

[Witchery]

Well.....Wrex is gonna come and fuck all our shit up. Someone write a crossover!

[Pencil Lead]

OMG CYBERTRON!!!!!!

[TheSkittish]

Reginald!

No? Okay then...

[Pencil Lead]

3109282 Literally I mean we will be bucked by them.

[Cereal-Killer]

4439121 Reginald?

Are you some kind of MADMAN?

[KovKILLer97]

6365422 every time I read this, I call the dragon Reginald

[Stellar_]

Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac to All Things Astronomy

Try saying that five times fast.

[Luna is back]

"Not really my kind of reading, to be honest," he admitted. "I know the names of the planets anyway: Mercury, Venus, Equestria, Mars, Tuchunka, Skaro, Cybertron…"

[Theresa]

The thing I always hated about this episode was spike is a kid and instead understand that kids do stupid stuff especially when they are scared. she proceeds to make decisions that affect spike and scold him for reacting like a child when that is exactly what he is and with the night assistant working during the day of course spike felt replaced.