This story follows the main story of the series with a badass Dusk Shine replacing Twilight. There are also some other little tidbits for the hardcore fans as well.
You all know Twilight Sparkle and her goals towards Friendship, and you all have an idea of Dusk Shine, but what if that idea is the wrong idea? Dusk Shine is not the faithful student he has been made out to be, but in fact a total genius/smartass who hates social interaction and Celestia's teaching methods. So how angry do you think he's gonna be when he's sent to Ponyville to make friends on top of run a simple errand like checking up on the Summer Sun Celebration?
“Not again!” Princess Celestia shouted at the top of her lungs as she caught the spectacle before her. The Captain of her guard had rolled into the throne room along with her student, locked in a struggle.
Gleaming Shield sat on top of her little brother, one leg wrapped around his neck, the other around one of his arms. She had both arms pulling his right leg backwards, trying to make it touch the back of his head.
“Sorry, Princess… Didn’t mean to interrupt you.” Gleaming said.
“Oh yes, we wouldn’t want to interrupt her daily staring down at Canterlot below…ow… it might mean something interesting in her life happens.” the captured stallion replied, wincing at the jerk his older sister gave him.
“Shut up, Dusk. You’re being rude.” Gleaming said.
“Yeah what else is new?” The lavender stallion managed to click his fingers, and in an instant, he was teleported out from under his sister and knelt beside her.
Celestia looked at the two unicorns with a calm but disappointed demeanour. She spotted a look on Dusk Shine’s face that signified he wanted to speak to her privately.
“Thank you Captain, you may go now. Dusk, a moment, please?” Gleaming Shield mimicked her brother’s posture and bowed to Celestia before leaving her brother in the Alicorn’s presence. The doors closed and Dusk rose to his feet, taking his place at Celestia’s side. The two of them looked out at the city together.
“I thought you had class today with Mr. Caster.” the princess began, leaning against the stone window sill. Dusk huffed and joined her.
“Lessons prove useless when you’re correcting your supposed instructor. I swear that guy’s gone senile. He thinks teleportation’s an advanced form of magic.” Celestia smiled and a chuckle followed.
“It is an advanced form of magic, Dusk. You’ve just got an affinity for it. And levitation–.”
“And creation, and healing, and destruction, I’m the whole package wrapped up into one purple anti-social foal prodigy.” Dusk interrupted. “My special talent is magic; of course I’d find it easy. I don’t need teachers, Princess, I just need the books. Once I wrap my mind around the theory, I can more or less perform the spell.” Celestia remained silent for a moment.
“So if you don’t need teachers, I guess that includes me?” she asked. Dusk was as silent as the stone in the walls and pillars. Once again, his mouth had led him too far astray.
“I never needed to be taught magic; I needed to be taught how to control it. You were there the day you accepted me as your student, you saw that I was out of control. I trusted you, I still do. But I thought that being called your student meant exclusively yours, not in name only and being taught by others.” Celestia saw that he was still disappointed by that.
“But you never needed me to teach you to control your magic, you learned how all on your own. What you needed was for me to teach you how to interact with the rest of the world. A lesson you’ve yet to learn to its entirety.” she replied.
“What do you mean? I talk to others.”
“You condescend other students, you use sarcasm around Nobility and you act higher and mightier than my nephew Blueblood… whom you stole fifty bits from.” Celestia said, with little to no conviction towards the last part.
“I didn’t steal those bits, he lost them to me in an ill-considered bet.” Celestia sighed and shook her head.
“I should have known better. What was the bet this time?” she asked. Dusk huffed in amusement.
“To not talk about himself for ten minutes; he didn’t last three.” Celestia tried to stifle a similar chuckle as she made a judgement call.
“Alright then, Dusk. I’ll overlook my nephew’s claims against you once again. Fortunately, I have an assignment for you that you must attend. Fail to do so, and I’ll have no choice but to denounce you as my student.” she teased. Dusk said nothing for a good long moment. Celestia thought he was actually considering whether the class was worth remaining on as her student for. This upset her more than she cared to admit.
“What’s this assignment? It better not take too long, I have something I’m looking into here.” he said after a good long minute.
Celestia waited for him to explain this research to her, but he said nothing on the matter. “I want you to go to Ponyville and oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Festival that I’ll be attending.” she told him. Dusk seemed to exhale through his nose with great annoyance poorly hidden within.
“Hardly worth my time, if you ask me. I’m supposed to be your Student, not your errand boy.” he complained. Celestia just smiled at him with an evil glare to her eyes.
“That’s not the assignment. That’s the punishment for fighting with your sister in front of me again.” Dusk let out a low groan almost inaudible even to Celestia’s sensitive ears. “The assignment itself is for you to make some friends while you’re there.” she added. Celestia looked out at the city below, smiling uncontrollably at the sound of Dusk’s neck cracking as he turned his head slowly and systematically like a machine.
“You can’t be serious.” he stated.
“I’m dead serious, Dusk.” she deadpanned, turning to give him a look she knew he hated. He closed his eyes in submission and nodded half-heartedly.
“Very well… when do I leave?” he asked, breaking eye contact with her. Celestia looked back out to the city once again, her sun’s rays picking up glare from the windowed ceilings as it rose into Midday.
“Immediately.”
Dusk Shine Slumped along the seat of the carriage as he and his assistant were taken to Ponyville. For some reason, Celestia hadn’t allowed him enough time to gather anything as his basic necessities had been packed and carried onto the carriage during their conversation.
“Placed me in bloody Checkmate without me realising I was playing the game.” Dusk grumbled as he tried to catch some Z’s to calm down before arrival. He knew it wouldn’t do well for him to arrive in an even worse mood than he already was in.
“Cheer up, Dusk. Just look at it as a way to do what you want while you’re out here and not get scolded… at least until the Festival ends.” said a young dragon baby with a feminine voice.
“That’s hardly a helpful thought, Barb. What I want is to do more research into that Nightmare Moon thing. I’m positive that there’s a correlation between that story, the mare shaped crater in the moon and that missing passage in the Princess’ history. I swear she’s been keeping something from me from day one. That annoys me more than anything.” he replied, sitting up. He knew that with Barb talking to him, sleep would never come. Instead, he tried to clear his mind of negative thoughts and go into a mild meditative state. It worked for all of five seconds before some turbulence made him hit his head on the roof.
“OW!” he cried, growling afterward. He threw his head out the window and addressed the guards.
“Hey! Fly slowly. I’ve got a big enough headache without you two shaking me like a maraca in here!” the guards growled at him, adjusting their flight ever so much to throw him back into the carriage.
“No backseat flying, Dusk.” Barb said casually, examining her claws for imperfections. Dusk gripped his face and clawed his way down, trying to tear the stress out.
“I’m going to chew my sister’s ear out when we get back. She needs tolerable guards working for her. NOT SHODDY DRIVERS!” he called out to them.
“It was one bump, Dusk, and it just so happened to happen at a bad time. You shouldn’t condemn them as failures for making one little mistake.” Barb tried to calm him down, but Dusk wasn’t going to have any of it.
“Just one little mistake can mean the difference between life and death.” he mumbled, crossing his arms.
Stepping off the carriage, Dusk found himself crawling along the ground. Barb followed behind, staggering around before falling alongside him.
“You had to piss the guards off…” she complained, groaning. Dusk fell onto his side and shook slightly.
“I’m gunna… kill Gleaming when we get home.” he stifled a hurl as he thought about level ground and normal, non-rotating landscapes.
“The guards left with our things too.” Barb added.
“…And her little dogs too!” Dusk added to his previous comment. “Please tell me we at least have the checklist for the preparations?”
“Oh hand, literally.” Barb replied, tossing the scroll to him. Dusk felt the scroll hit his face and he sighed.
“I want you to burn this moment into your brain, Barb. So you will never again ask me such a stupid question as to why I hate other ponies.”
“Who’s up first, Barb?” Dusk asked after having picked himself up off the floor and handed the scroll back to her. Barb took it and opened it ever so slightly to reveal the first thing on the agenda.
“Food. Looks like that’s being handled by somepony named… Applejack.” she replied, closing the scroll again. Dusk sighed and tried to quietly vent his anger through breathing techniques. He was interrupted by a high pitched gasp. His eyes shot open just in time to see a shocked pink pony somehow hanging in the air before she shot off like a racer to Celestia knew where.
“This is going to be a long, long day.” Dusk said as he shook himself off. Barb followed suit and coughed a little in the process.
“Just don’t stress, alright? I don’t wanna be cleaning scorch marks off your body like last time.” she said. Dusk shuffled around in his clothes, going so far as to fix the collar on his shirt.
“You said Applejack?” he asked, changing the subject as he walked forward.
“Yes. And it’s that way.” she replied, pointing north. Dusk sighed and followed Barb’s directions.
The Orchard of the Apple family was… colourful to say the least. Dusk just knew this Applejack was going to be the happy-go-lucky type, with some probable sense of dignity. He was half right. Upon reaching the first pony he saw there, he tried to introduce himself.
“Hello, I’m–.”
“Well, howdy there partner! Name’s Applejack, proud member of the Apple family which has taken pride in selling the finest apples in Equestria.” she took Dusk’s hand and began shaking it faster than he could follow. The blood began to get forced back into a more motionless part of his arm, leaving his hand and forearm stinging from the vibrations. When she let him go, he fell to his knees with the same arm between his legs, trying to rub the veins to force blood into the sore appendage.
“Dusk… Shine. Oh buck! I came here from Canterlot to check up on the festival’s progress.” he managed to say as he smacked his dead arm against the nearest surface he could find. Unfortunately, it bounced back and slapped Barb in the face. It hurt Dusk more than it did Barb who gave him a dirty look. For the first time since arriving, Dusk smiled, but sheepishly.
“Well y’all don’t need to worry none. The whole family’s managed to come here for the celebration and they’ve gone and made their signature dishes. Why don’t y’all try some?” she offered. Before Dusk could decline, Applejack began ringing a dumbbell repeatedly.
“Soups on Everypony! Yee-haw!!!” she cried out. Dusk almost wished it was one of Barb’s insane notions of an undead stampede that had knocked him over and carried him along the wave of bodies, but sadly, it was the family. They very ceremoniously moved him to a wooden seat which sat by a table. They then began to place one of each kind of apple related baked goods on the table.
“Mr. Dusk, Allow me to introduce y’all to my family; Apple Cobbler, Apple Strudel, Carmel Apples, Apple Pie, Apple Cider, Apple Salad, Cousin Braeburn Apples, Apple Juice, Aunt & Uncle Orange, along with Squeezed Oranges, Orange Crush, and my side of the family: little Applebloom, Big Macintosh, and finally, Granny Smith.” Applejack gestured over to a sleeping elder. “Come on Granny Smith, we got company!” Granny Smith awoke from her nap to join the festivities. “Ah think they like you.” said Applejack. “I’d even say that y’all are already part of the family!” Dusk almost choked on his own saliva at the mere thought.
“Uh… I really don’t think–.”
“Too late Dusk, when the Apple family likes somepony, you’re as good as family.” Applejack interrupted. Dusk wasn’t sure what to say.
“Barb… help?” he asked.
“Are you kidding? I wanna eat before you go pissing everypony off. This stuff looks fit for the Princess.” she whispered. Dusk shuddered at the thought of having to eat so much food presented to him.
“Well it seems like you’ve got the food sorted out, so I’ll not trouble you any further and I’ll just head back to town to make sure everypony else is doing as splendid a job as y’all *ahem* you all are.” Dusk began to shift out of his seat nervously, smiling as sweetly as he could, but he was interrupted by the aptly named Applebloom.
“You’re not gunna stay for Brunch?” she asked, sounding like Dusk had just killed her puppy. Dusk had an incredible amount of difficulty trying to break free of the sad stare the little filly was giving him. He wanted to decline, but the stare had kept his throat locked and he refused to even breathe.
“Barb!” Dusk managed to squeak from between his lips. Barb heard him and did what she thought was save him.
“We’d love to stay!” she declared. Dusk gasped as he heard the reply. Fortunately, that gasp coincided with the gasps of joy from the Apple Family.
“Alright then! Dusk Shine, y’all are never gunna wanna eat anything else again after this.” Applejack declared in return. Dusk put on his best happy face and laughed with Applejack.
“HA I don’t doubt it. HA HA HA HA HA HA. You’re fired.” he turned to Barb at the end.
“I’m Union.” she replied, sticking her tongue out at him.
Dusk waddled along the road, hearing the sounds of the ocean in his gut. Every step he took hurt as he felt his belly button was going to burst open like a cork on a champagne bottle.
“How can one dragon eat more than me and not feel like I do? You’re like the black hole of Coltcutta.” he groaned. Barb just giggled at him.
“I’ve a fast metabolism, Dusk. Not to mention working for you is like community service for criminals.” she replied. Dusk tried to add up the two reasons in his head and factor in consumption rates, and it made sense to him.
“Whatever… what’s next on the list?” he asked, falling to the ground on his back. Barb looked at the roster and cleared her throat.
“Looks like weather control. And that’s supposed to be handled by Rainbow Dash… What do you think, gay colt or mare?” Barb asked. Dusk awarded a huff of amusement.
“Has to be a Mare… No gay Stallion would leave clouds in the sky when it should be clear throughout.” he replied. A sudden call from above alerted them to a presence.
“Look out!” the voice called out. Dusk lifted himself up into a sitting position, only to be knocked back down by a blue mass colliding with him. For a moment he thought the sky had begun to fall. Then with wide eyes, he noticed a rainbow tail sprawled along his face. With great difficulty, he rolled the mare off of him and turned onto his side.
“Gonna whiz red.” he groaned, clutching his groin.
The rainbow mare picked herself up and noticed the two newbies acting strangely together.
“Hey, sorry man. I tried to warn you. Name’s Rainbow Dash, and I’m the fastest Flyer in Equestria. And that’s not bragging, it’s fact… mixed with bragging… and awesomeness. And who are you?” Dash waited for Dusk to pick himself up with wobbly legs.
“Dusk… Shine. Oh buck! I came here from Canterlot to check up on the festival’s progress.” he said, repeating the same thing he’d said to Applejack… exactly everything.
“YOU’RE from CANTERLOT?! That means you must know the Wonderbolts!” Dash piped up excitedly.
“Well, they know Dusk.” Barb muttered, remembering a bad experience that involved said Stallion giving Spitfire advice on life, including quitting her day job in exchange for cooking and foal-bearing. Barb could tell he remembered that time also.
“I… may have met them once… never heard from them again though.” he replied. Dash burst with excitement.
“Ohmygosh! This is awesome! I’m talking to somepony who’s actually met the Wonderbolts! I’m gonna join them one day, you know. I’ll catch their eye as I demonstrate my awesome skills. I’ll show them that I’m fast, agile, flexible and–.”
“Lazy?” Dusk interrupted. Dash froze in place and slowly turned her head around as if bearing her gaze down upon an enemy.
“Come again?” she deadpanned.
“You’re supposed to have cleared the skies in preparation for the festival.” he scolded the mare.
“That sky is as good as clear.” Dash said with a passive attitude. Dusk clenched his fists, trying hard not to yell at the mare.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I must have missed it under all those clouds.” he said sarcastically. Dash got in his face and revealed a confident smile.
“I can clear that sky in ten seconds flat!” she declared. Dusk crossed his arms and pointed up to the sky.
“The proof is in the pudding… scratch that, no food references.” he said as he felt his stomach groaning in protest to the mere mention of pudding.
“You want me to prove it?” dash challenged. Dusk nodded, covering his mouth. In an instant, Dash shot up into the sky and began clearing the sky over Ponyville. After what felt like ten seconds, Dash landed in the same spot she’d taken off. Dusk had watched her with Barb. Only the dragon was slack jawed at the display.
“What’d I tell you? Ten. Seconds. Flat!” she said, ruffling Dusk’s mane. Barb suddenly got diarrhoea of the mouth.
“That was so cool, it was awesome, it was beyond comprehension, it was… it was–.”
“Eleven seconds.” Dusk interrupted. Both the mare and dragoness looked at him at once and cried out in unison.
“WHAT?!” Dusk rolled up his sleeve to reveal a watch with the time paused at 11.5 seconds.
“Eleven and a half to be exact. Anyway… Now I’ve goaded you into doing your job, I can move on faster to a more important matter. Barb, who’s next please?” Barb just stared at him, frozen. With time being wasted, Dusk growled, cracking his knuckles. The scroll floated over to him and opened in front of him.
Dusk stormed as grouchily as always to the Carousel Boutique. That blue Pegasus had done nothing to improve his mood despite his epic win, and having humiliated her had gone so far as to put Barb in a bad mood.
The boutique looked like the kind of place foals were warned not to go into because there would be a scary witch pony waiting to fatten them up and stick them in a stew. Then again, that candy shop they had passed by fit the description better.
Dusk entered of his own accord and took a quick glance of the lobby.
"The decorations look impressive enough." he commented, ticking off 'decorations' on the checklist.
"Beautiful." Barb added with a tinge of awe. Dusk considered the word for a moment.
"Yes, I suppose you could say they're beautiful, but I'm not really an appropriate judge." he replied.
Barb groaned and grabbed his maw, turning it as she corrected him. "Not the decorations, her!"
Dusk's eyes were led to a white mare with a Victorian styled purple mane and tail. It was that shade of purple that was often associated with royalty or nobility.
"Again, not the right judge." Dusk said, pulling his face from the dragoness' grip. The conversation seemed to attract the attention of the mare in question.
"Oh hello, darlings. I'm sorry to say we're closed today, I've had to focus all my skills on preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration."she said. Her accent was thick with the tongue of Canterlot Nobility. It struck Dusk much like Rainbow Dash had earlier. This mare was a high-class wannabe in a low-class town. He was in the damn Twilight Zone.
"That's good to know. We expect the best and the most dedicated to possess such a role as yours. Had you not focused your time solely on the celebration, your suitability for the role may have been brought into question." Dusk replied. Barb smacked her face, ashamed to even know the unicorn beside her.
"Uh... I... Suppose. Exactly who are you?" the mare asked, giving Dusk a warning look.
"I'm-."
"Going to go outside and leave this to your assistant so you don't piss off another local." Barb interrupted, shoving him out the door.
"I'm so sorry about him. Dusk's... Difficult to get along with. I'm Barb and I'm here to check up on the progress of the festivities." she said.
"Ah, excellent! Well you'll be happy to know I'm almost finished with it all, I just need to add the final touches to the sun designs. I've managed to procure some yellow gems and I need to stick them to this." She led the dragoness to the grand design; It was a fabricated sun with a mixture of red and orange inlays around the circumference. It looked like a giant more detailed version of the Princess' cutie mark.
"That. Is.... Amazing." Barb was beside herself. Still looking at the sun, she ticked the 'decorations' box off.
"Alright. I'll leave you to it, because if I stick around, chances are you'll find yourself short a few dozen gems." She said. Rarity giggled and shook the dragon's hand.
"Ta ta, darling. Come and visit any time you want after the celebration. We'll do Lunch." Rarity said, accompanying the dragon out.
Dusk waited outside for his assistant, taking the time to calm himself down and try to improve his mood. It managed to work to an extent, until the inevitable interruption of an exiting dragoness. With a deep exhale, he addressed Barb and they were on their way.
"Looks like 'music' is up next and it's being choreographed by Fluttershy." Barb said. Dusk considered the name.
"Sounds... Timid." He said, keeping an ear out for any form of music. He quickly discovered a chorus of birdsong harmonising beyond their usual ability. Dusk motioned for Barb to follow and within a minute, they spotted Fluttershy standing in front of a low hanging branch with a number of birds perched on top. They seemed to be going through a warmup when Fluttershy addressed an individual bird.
"Um, excuse me Mr bird. If it's alright with you, could you possibly sing at a lower register? You're kind of out of sync with the others." She asked. The bird seemed bashful at her words and Dusk had to blink as he wondered how an animal could actually respond so sentiently to a pony.
"Hello?" Dusk called out. Fluttershy turned around and spotted Dusk. She jumped up like a frightened cat and froze in place as if petrified. Dusk seemed unsure and slightly curious. He waved his hand in front of her face and even clicked his fingers. She was unresponsive.
"Okay, this is kind of funny." he said, beginning to chuckle. Barb joined him.
"Yeah, kind of." She agreed. Dusk pressed the yellow pegasus' forehead and she began to fall backward.
"Oops." Dusk said, quickly moving to catch her. He lifted her up and let her down against the base of the tree.
"We'll I think she has the music under control. Let's tick that off the list and take a break. Maybe check out our sleeping quarters." Dusk suggested. Barb smiled and drew her claw along the checklist, ticking 'music' off the list.
As the pair left and headed towards the Library, Barb suddenly began to giggle.
"What?" Dusk asked, looking to the bemused reptile.
"You were very kind to that last one. I think you like her." She teased.
"Nonsense. I just didn't find myself hating her on sight due to her funny display." Dusk defended.
"Whatever, lover boy." Barb teased.
"I don't like her." Dusk said cautiously.
"Yeah, you do." She pressed.
"I don't."
"You do."
"I don't!"
"You do."
"I don't!!"
"You do."
"I DON'T!!!"
Another voice entered the argument. "Excuse me." It said timidly.
"WHAT?!!" Dusk turned to the source of the voice, snapping like a dragon. He froze when he saw the topic of the argument sinking to the ground into a ball, tears threatening to surface.
"Oh crap." Dusk croaked, kneeling down to meet her level. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. My assistant was pushing my buttons. Are you okay?" As dusk spoke, he noticed his demeanour was the complete opposite to before when addressing the other ponies. He knew it wasn't a matter of liking her, he just couldn't bring himself to make somepony like her cry. He was cold, but not that cold.
The mare was still shaking and Dusk decided to take a different approach.
"Are you Fluttershy? My name's Dusk Shine." He said. She still shook like an earthquake. He tried to consider what he knew about her already and recalled her apparent affinity for animals.
"Hey look, a dragon!" He said, pulling Barb to his side. Fluttershy gasped with excitement that could combat her fear and threw Dusk aside. The stallion landed against the wall, making a unicorn shaped groove in it.
"Oh my goodness! A baby dragon!" Fluttershy exclaimed with glee.
"Oh she's so cute! I want to know everything about you." She said.
"Where to begin?" Barb said, considering her life so far, such as it was.
"And that's my whole life so far." Barb finished. Dusk's eyes sagged as he began to feel drained of all appreciation for other living beings.
"And here I though your life consisted of; wake up, get up, eat, work, eat some more, work some more, eat and sleep." He said. Barb scoffed at him.
"We'll If you ever took your fat nose away from those books, you'd notice what I do for you. I mean seriously, I'm your only friend because you're intolerable and I grew up with you." She replied.
"You haven't grown since your third birthday. You're predominately short." He interjected. The dragoness huffed in annoyance and strode beside her new friend instead.
"So you're the Princess' personal student?" Fluttershy spoke up.
"Yes, though she has difficulty understanding my priorities. Instead of letting me investigate into a potential legend, she has me doing this; checking off preparations for the celebration." Dusk replied, his irritation seeping through his teeth like venom.
"That legend is nothing more than an old pony's tale. If you ask me, she sent us here to stop you from wasting your time with it." Barb commented.
"I doubt her wisdom allows her to perceive my intentions so haphazardly." Dusk replied, stopping at the entrance to the Library.
"Oh thank sweet merciful Celestia, we're here." He almost cried out.
"Don't go celebrating yet, Dusk. I'm sure Fluttershy is tired from her day of training her animal friends. Any good Stallion would invite her in for a drink and to let her relax." Barb stabbed his hopes like a needle with a balloon. He almost went so far as to almost let his legs buckle from under him.
“Alright, fine. But she’s your friend, so it’s your job. I’m going to get some sleep before the dawn of the celebration.” he said, opening the door. He was met with pitch blackness. Fluttershy wasn’t too keen on the darkness either.
“Who would be so idiotic as to draw the curtains during the day?” Dusk groaned, throwing one of them open. As he systematically went from one window to the other, Barb and Fluttershy saw the collection of ponies crouched behind him, wearing party hats and decorations hanging above them.
As the bomb went off starting the party, Dusk could only stand in place, his right eye twitching of its own accord. Barb stood slack-jawed, watching Dusk for any immediate reaction. Fluttershy approached Barb and whispered into her ear.
“I-is that a normal shade of red?” she pointed out the colour Dusk’s face was turning. Barb shuddered as she imagined the outcome.
“Have you ever seen a kettle blow up?” Barb asked in turn. Fluttershy shook her head. “Well imagine Dusk as the kettle, and the water that’s supposed to be in there is his patience, only he’s run out of patience. It’s only a matter of time before he blows.” Barb explained. Fluttershy as expected, didn’t like the sound of that. She began to shake and curl up in on herself. Seeing this gave Barb an idea.
“Careful now, Dusk; you’re scaring Fluttershy.” she whispered into his ear. As if she’d spoken a safe word, Dusk’s expression calmed itself down as he sucked in air and let it out with the intensity of a yawn.
“I’m going to bed.” he muttered just loud enough for Barb to hear over the party that had managed to remain ignorant of his semi-episode. As he ascended the stairs, he began to unbutton his shirt, starting at the top. He’d managed to make it to the third button before a pink pony suddenly entered his field of vision.
“Ooh! There you are, I’ve been looking for you since the party started. I’m Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you! Do you like it? I’ve been told I’m the number one party pony in all of Equestria, which is great for me because it means that I know what other ponies like and it makes it easier to be their friends if I can relate to them, you know? Oh and you’re that guy that came to check up on the festival preparations Well don’t worry, because all the celebration stuff is taken care of so you can check that off the list–.” Pinkie rambled on and on. All the while, Dusk’s face began to twitch repeatedly as he fought the urge to… shut her up. Thankfully, Barb had caught on to the look and rushed to prevent a disaster as if her life depended on it, in which case, her social life did.
“Thank you so much for the party, Pinkie Pie. Dusk and I are very grateful and I intend to enjoy it to the fullest. Sadly, Dusk here has had a rather… trying day and it’s showing this very second.” Barb paused what she was going to say to look upon her partner with a mixture of fear and disgust as his entire body had begun to twitch. “So he’s a little… moody and needs to be alone for a while.” she added, pushing him past Pinkie to his bedroom door.
“Okey-dokey-lokey!” Pinkie replied, bounding off back into the party. She went so far as to leap off of the second floor and land in the crowd. It was impossible to tell if the others had actually caught her, or she’d bounced off the ground like an ice skater. Having liberated Dusk from the mouth of doom, she opened the door and shoved him through, slamming it shut afterwards as if she’d just thrown an explosive device in there instead.
Dusk’s vision had gone blurry and red for a moment, but as the sound of the party had been muffled by the door slightly, that vision turned to pink and he continued to unbutton his shirt like a mindless drone. As he did so, he wondered how in the wide, wide world of Equestria did that pink pony function. Having undone the final button on his shirt, he removed it to reveal a lean, ripped body that would have made even the Royal guard jealous. Those fights with his sister had proven to be beneficial in the long run.
On his lavender back, rested his cutie mark; the hot pink six-pointed star with a silver one underneath, surrounded by another five little white stars. On his chest rested a large surgical scar in the very centre where the cartilage was. He brushed his fingers along the scar, feeling the groove on his surface. The doctors had said that it would fade in next to no time, but it had been almost thirteen years and it was just a long pale bump.
Dusk refrained from recalling that particular memory and focussed on finding his bed. He didn’t bother to disturb the covers, but just took to lying on the bed with nothing but his pants. He’d deduced that the cold air would wake him up after a little while and he could begin researching his case before the celebration began. His head touched the pillow and he was out like a light. As slumber took him, he made one defiant comment.
“These ponies are going to kill my patience before the celebration begins.”
Barb was having the time of her life now that the party had gotten going and was out of Dusk’s way. A few choice ponies had gathered around the dragoness, Fluttershy especially. Funnily enough, they were the same ponies she and Dusk had checked up on earlier that day.
“So, sugarcube… what’s up with yer partner, Dusk?” Applejack asked, sipping some cider from her cup.
“Well, he’s single, but I don’t think you’ve got a shot there.” Barb replied. Applejack blushed redder than the apples on her farm.
“Ah didn’t mean like that! I meant–.”
“Well of course she doesn’t have a shot. She’s not as sophisticated as such a Stallion deserves.” Rarity cut in. Applejack forgot all about trying to rectify her mistake and turned to the fashionista.
“Hay now. Don’t go sayin’ nothin’ y’all will regret afterward.” she defended.
“A true lady has no regrets in any aspect.” Rarity argued.
“Not even that dog ugly perm you did for that Doctor guy that made him look like a Porcupine?” Dash interjected. Rarity drew daggers on the Pegasus with her eyes.
“We agreed to never speak of that again.” she hissed. Barb half expected venom to fly out of the unicorn’s mouth.
“What Ah meant before was,” Applejack interrupted, bringing the conversation back to normal. “What’s his problem? Ah mean, mah family gave him the ol’ Apple Family welcome and he looked more miserable than Cousin Toffee Apple with toothache.” she began.
“Yeah, and he had the nerve to argue with me about my flying skills.” Dash chimed in.
“An argument he won, if the rumours are true.” Rarity smirked. Dash growled at the unicorn and looked back to Barb for an explanation. All eyes were on her, except for Pinkie who looked around the circle, seemingly interested in the stares than what they were aimed at.
“Well, you see… Dusk is…very antisocial. Seriously, the marketplace in Canterlot goes silent whenever he walks past. Freaks me out every time. Seriously, I yearn for the days when he sends me there, just so I can pick up a decent conversation.” she replied. All the ponies seemed to feel sorry for the little dragoness.
“But why’s he so mean?” Rarity asked. Barb considered the question delicately. She knew the reason, but telling almost complete strangers would undoubtedly bring Dusk’s wrath upon her, and she’d had enough for one… lifetime.
“He just doesn’t like other ponies. The Princess and Captian of the guard are the only exceptions, although, he fights with the Captain so often, it’s become a ritual.” she replied. She felt that Dusk would find that response acceptable, should he ask.
“I’m surprised nopony’s beaten him up.” Dash said, punching her fists together. Barb found the comment funny.
“Seriously? We live in Canterlot. Ponies are all about status there, and Personal apprentice of Princess Celestia is up there with Nobility. Everypony’s afraid to even look at him funny. And those foolish enough to actually ignore his status wind up with dirt in their mouths.” Barb felt boastful at this point.
“How?” Dash demanded.
“He’s not Celestia’s apprentice for nothing. In addition to wrestling with the Royal Guard Captain, he’s supposed to be the most powerful Unicorn since Starswirl the Bearded.” The ponies cried out in unison, halting the entire party.
“WHAT?!”
“Y’all mean to tell us that that jerk who passed on a Pinkie Party is one of the strongest unicorns in History?” Applejack asked. All the guests gasped in surprise, leaning into the small group to look at Barb for confirmation.
“Well, he hatched me… and nopony has been able to hatch a dragon egg since Starswirl.” Half of the guests turned their heads up towards the door that barred them from the stallion in question.
“And you say he’s single?” Rarity asked. Barb snorted.
“Sorry, sweetie, but you don’t have a chance. For one, you’re too… fancy. And for another, he’s never showed any interest in mares, except family and the Princess.” Barb said. “I live with the guy and sometimes I think he forgets that I’m female.” she added just for example. Contrary to what most in Canterlot believed, Barb had no romantic feelings towards Dusk. Theirs was more of a fusion of symbiotic and sibling relationships. Then there was the minor age gap. While only a few years younger than him, Barb was still considered little more than an infant among her kind.
“You’re saying there’s no chance?” Rarity asked. Barb smiled and crossed her arms.
“Rarity, it’s more likely that the Nightmare Moon legend is real than you getting with Dusk is.” barb ended the comment there.
“Well, what about this ruffian and Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked, motioning to Dash and Applejack.
“Hay!” AJ warned.
“Well, Dusk may just appreciate hard working mares, and so long as Applejack’s entire family doesn’t make him sick with all the food he was offered today, maybe. And as for Rainbow Dash… I don’t think so. After what he said to Spitfire, I don’t think athletic mares even qualify for–.”
“Hang on, what did he say to Spitfire?” Dash demanded, showing her warning face.
“Oh crap.” Barb said.
“What did he say?” Dash asked again. Barb raised her hands.
“Trust me, you don’t wanna know. All I’ll say is that she didn’t take his comments very well and she ended up with a face full of dirt… well carpet, since it was inside when it happened.” Barb said. Dash seemed like she was on the verge of storming up to Dusk’s room. Barb decided to move on from the topic. “If anything, I think Fluttershy here would have the best chance of getting with him.” she said. This drew everypony’s attention.
“HUH?!” they all said. Fluttershy didn’t like the looks she was being given and she tried to hide under herself.
“Oh… m-m-my… I’m flattered, and he is kind of handsome, I guess… but I’m not looking for a relationship, and he’s kind of scary too.” she said.
“Hang on… how could Fluttershy have a better shot with him than all of us?” Rarity demanded.
“Well… thanks to her painfully obvious timid nature, she’s the only mare other than the Princess that he’s been nice to. Though, thinking back, throwing him into that wall may have been a deal breaker.” Barb contemplated.
“You know, I think it was better when you were talking about me under the guise of the party music. At least them I could drown the constant noise out, but now…” Dusk descended the steps, buttoning up his shirt. Barb caught sight of the scar on his chest and shuddered.
“Sorry.” she muttered. Dusk said nothing as he stopped in front of the dragoness with a serious look on his face.
“I’ve got to go and take care of some business. Will you be fine overlooking the celebration’s preparations?” he asked. Barb looked up at him and nodded.
“Count on me.” she replied. Dusk nodded and reached a hand out, brushing it along Barb’s face.
“I’d expect nothing less from my number one assistant.” he said. His actions and words were out of character for him. Barb looked him in the eyes and he seemed to be contemplating something… grave in his head.
“What’s this business you were talking about?” she asked. Dusk flashed a glance at the others.
“Just some advance notice to the princess, that’s all.” he replied. Barb could tell he was lying.
“Dusk… what did you discover?” the dragoness begged. There was hesitation in him for a moment.
“With any luck, you’ll never have to find out. It all depends on how the Princess takes the news.” he let his hand fall from Barb’s face and went to reach for the doorknob. Before he could turn it, he felt a pair of strong hooves grab him and fling him around. He was then slammed against the wall.
“Hold on there, pal! If we’re all in danger, we have a right to know.” Rainbow Dash declared. The other party members yelled their agreement in unison. Dusk sighed, taking a moment to choose his words carefully. In the end that turned out to be a waste of precious time and he just spilled the beans.
“Nightmare Moon is real and she’s going to break free tonight.”
“You can’t be serious?” questioned Rarity. Dusk gave off the impression that he was totally serious which made Rarity uneasy. Barb knew better than to question Dusk’s theories relating to legends, though said theories usually opposed the existence of creatures such as ‘Slendermane’, the ‘Loch Neigh Monster’ and the ‘Hound of the Canterville’. But Nightmare Moon was obviously a different story.
“What proof do you have that Nightmare Moon exists?” Dash asked accusingly, believing that this entire thing was a cover story.
“The legend itself explains it all. It’s common knowledge that Princess Celestia once had a sister, yet the history books never identify her disappearance, she wasn’t reported dead nor missing, indicating she was sent somewhere. Then there’s the Princess’ Cutie Mark; while she raises the sun and the moon, only the symbol of the Sun is displayed, indicating that that the long lost sister is the true conduit to the moon. On top of that, there’s a chunk of history taken out between the time of their co-ruling and the Princess’ sudden control over both day and night. Shall I go on?” he enquired. The ponies were rendered speechless, but Barb had one small detail she wished to clarify.
“But Dusk, the Slendermane myth seemed more realistic than the Nightmare moon pony tale.”
“The Slendermane myth had obvious flaws in the evidence. My evidence relating to the lost Princess is solid.” he replied.
“No it isn’t.” Barb argued. “It’s a half-assed theory based on missing historical data and the Princess’mysterious past.” the others looked to Dusk for a retort, which as Barb expected, he had.
“The final piece of evidence will be revealed through Celestia’s reaction to my conclusion. While she has an excellent Poker face when it comes to everything regal and royal, she’s a terrible player when I figure things out.” he replied. Barb sighed in defeat. She knew Dusk was going out on a limb with this theory and he wasn’t going to drop it so easily.
“Alright then. I’ll be here when you return.” she said. Dusk nodded and opened the door. The night breeze reached him and his fur stood on end. He shut the door again and sighed.
“Best grab a coat before I go.” he said, rushing back upstairs. Barb face palmed as Dusk’s sudden retreat back into his room killed the melodramatic moment.
Princess Celestia looked out from the nearest window at the setting moon. The celebration was close to beginning and she needed to get ready. She began to wonder if Dusk would succeed in his assignment. He was known for being as unbearable as Blueblood and twice as rude. She came to the same conclusion she always did; that he had the potential to be better than he was, to grow and become one of the greatest ponies Equestria would ever know.
With her train of thought reaching its climax, she was interrupted by screaming guards flying through the large throne room doors. She was caught off guard. A black figure swept through the room, circling the Alicorn and engulfing her in a cloak of black smoke.
Dusk teleported to the main entrance into the Castle. The guards recognised him almost instantly and waved him in with dismissive looks He got those often. As he made his way towards the throne room, he heard groaning in the distance. Hurrying his pace, he arrived to see the doors bent open, the guards responsible for the groaning struggling to get up and his mentor lying unconscious before a blackened version of the Princess, wearing a helmet that looked terrible on her.
“Oh, this must be the faithful student I’ve heard so much about. Dusk, was it?” a powerful but controlled voice asked, its owner crossing her arms as a sign of passivity towards him. Dusk knew that this black Alicorn, Nightmare Moon, didn’t consider him worth the effort to guard against.
“You should have heard my dear sister calling your name before I knocked her out. Such fond memories I shared with her, but she never sounded or looked so panicked in all the years I knew her.” Nightmare Moon boasted her victory and finished with an evil laugh. Dusk felt a cold chill run through his body and he found himself shivering slightly. He’d never imagined seeing Celestia in the state she was; lying unconscious on the stone floor, her white robes dishevelled. He clenched his fists, struggling to control himself.
“You know, I’ve always wanted to see if a pony would lose their sanity after seeing her knocked down. So, what’s it like to lose it, apprentice?” she goaded. The irises on Dusk’s eyes closed to the point where his pupils were little larger than one of those round sprinkles on fairy bread. As he brought his gaze over to the offending Alicorn, he grinned.
“Sanity? Who the heck is that?” he asked. His horn lit up and a purple haze began to rise around him, the aura like slow moving fire. Nightmare Moon huffed in amusement at his reply and decided to humour him by defending herself. Her own horn lit up, ready for whatever move the apprentice would make.
“Does he really expect us to believe that Nightmare Moon is real, much less coming back tonight of all nights?” Dash asked, circling the small group of ponies who had gathered in the town hall, waiting for the hour all the preparations had been for. Ponyville was bustling with ponies who had travelled from the furthest reaches of Equestria just to attend the Celebration. Barb was at a loss for words as she didn’t know these ponies well enough to convince them of Dusk’s… argument.
“Hold on now, sugarcube. When ya think about it, That stallion ain’t lied to us at all since we met him. When the family’d cornered him into stayin’ for lunch, he accepted, but he’d been expressin’ his dislike from the get go.” Applejack pointed out.
“That’s Dusk. He doesn’t lie, but he’ll tell the truth to an extent. Somehow, he always knows just how much of the truth to omit in order to get what he wants. He wasn’t lying when he told us Nightmare Moon was coming back, but he might not have told us the whole truth, like why it was important, or why it mattered to him. He said just enough to get us to let him out the door.” Barb explained.
“Why that sneaky little–.”Applejack went to say but was cut off as the ceremony began. Mayor Mare stood on the observation balcony where the curtain hiding Princess Celestia was drawn. Two Royal guards were stationed at either side of the balcony. They had been stationed to Ponyville the previous day.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts; We have all gathered here today for the Summer Sun Celebration, which honours Our Princess and symbolises our gratitude to her for raising the sun and the moon. And today is a special occasion as this marks the thousandth year since she began doing so.” the ponies cheered for the princess. “So without further ado, may I present to you all, the mare of the hour: Princess Celestia!” Everypony cheered, except for the group of five and Barb who were hoping things would go as planned.
The curtains parted and everypony gasped in surprise. The Princess wasn’t there. Mayor Mare looked to where everypony was staring and nearly fainted at the lack of a presence. The five ponies and Barb looked worriedly amongst each other.
…One Hour Earlier…
Royal Guards both heard and felt the power struggle within the Throne room. Fearing for their Princess, a large contingency of Guards, including the Captain, Gleaming Shield made track for the throne room. When they arrived, the fight was over, and neither the Princess or her attacker could be found. Gleaming had the unfortunate privelage of finding her younger brother passed out under a small crater shaped like him. His body was covered in blood and his clothes were torn and burned, like the fur on his body. Gleaming Shield knelt down in front of her brother and held him close.
“Get a stretcher here, now!” she commanded. The guard she’d addressed nodded and hurried out of the room. “Dusk, who did this?” she asked rhetorically. She knew he was unconscious and didn’t expect an answer, but to her surprise, he subconsciously replied.
“Nightmare…Moon.” was all he said. A few minutes passed before the stretcher came and Gleaming helped lift her brother onto it and followed him to the medical ward.
…Back in Ponyville…
“This is terrible, what do we do?” Rarity asked, looking to the others. Unfortunately, everypony was at a loss. Even Barb couldn’t figure out where to go from here.
“I wish Dusk were here.” Fluttershy began.
“Well he isn’t.” Dash replied rather harshly. Those two statements gave Barb an idea.
“You’re right. Dusk isn’t here, but his books still are. He’d have used them to come to his conclusion. Come on everypony!” she said. As the five of them were about to depart for the Library, something stirred the other ponies and they were forced to look back. A swirling night sky appeared on the balcony and took form She was black with a light shade of blue armour. A dark purple cape waved behind her and her helmet gave her an even more sinister appearance. In an instant, the legendary Nightmare Moon was made whole, her excess magic taking on the form of thunder and lightning. She met them all with an evil chuckle.
“Ah, it’s good to see you all, my little ponies. It gets so lonely on that old rock. BUT FEAR NOT, YOUR TRUE PRINCESS HAS RETURNED!” her voice took on a louder register and she drowned out the thunder.
“What did you do with the Princess?” one of the ponies in the crowd demanded angrily. Nightmare Moon looked down at him and smirked.
“Returned the favour, so to speak. As she has trapped me on the moon for a thousand years, I’ve now trapped her in the sun.” There was a pregnant pause amongst all the ponies as they assimilated this information into their minds; 'Nightmare Moon was real'. Only six beings thought differently to the herd. 'Dusk was right', they thought.
With Nightmare Moon entranced in her newfound freedom, the five ponies, plus dragoness made their way out of the main hall and headed for the Library. It was a relatively short trek, quite literally next door. A they snuck into the front door, they spotted a dark blue wisp burst through the roof of the Town Hall.
"We have to find a way to stop her. Without the sun, it's only a matter of time before the world tries to restore the balance itself, the weather will control itself just like the Everfree Forest and we'll all be subject to what accounts for an apocalypse these days." Barb stated, skimming through the books on the shelves as she spoke. Everypony chimed in, including Rainbow Dash who had the intent on finding the book, but not reading it.
"How do we know what book to look for?" Dash asked.
"Nightmare moon is fictitious, an old filly tale. Just look for the book titled 'Magical Myths and Tales'." Barb replied. With Everypony looking for the book, it was found within a matter of minutes. Applejack ended up going into Dusk's room, where she saw the book had been dissected and notes had been stuck onto various pages.
"Found it." she called out. The ponies gathered in Dusk's room and circled around Barb who took the book from Applejack to recite it.
"...Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her sister and banished her permanently into the moon... It seems that the Elements of Harmony are the key to preventing Nightmare Moon's plans of an eternal night." Barb said, reading on.
"What are the Elements of Harmony?" Rarity asked.
"The story says they're the most powerful source of magic in Equestria, obviously more Powerful than even the Princess if she had to resort to them in order to seal away Nightmare moon." Barb replied.
"But where are they?" Applejack asked. Barb read onto Dusk's notes. She was a little worried It looked as if he'd gone insane writing words that didn't seem to make sense around the text on post-it notes. But at the very bottom of the text, one note told Barb what she needed to know.
"Dusk's answered that for us. He figured out where the Elements are. According to his note, they're in..."
Dusk awoke with a start. His body suddenly ached all over and he felt like he'd fallen from the highest tower of Canterlot Castle. He felt a coarse but gentle hand touch his arm, followed by the sound of cooing.
"Careful now, Dusk. Your scar opened up. The doctors have done their best, but if you strain yourself, it'll open up again and it'll be beyond what modern science can heal." a familiar voice reached his ears. Slowly opening his eyes, he turned his head to see his sister and Parents beside him.
"Gleam...Nightmare moon, she's real. Celestia's in danger." he croaked out. Gleaming Shield just placed a finger over her brother's lips and shushed him.
"We know. She's made her presence known throughout Equestria. We're conducting a search."
"I know where she is." Dusk replied. Gleaming sighed, wishing that Dusk didn't have to involve himself in such a grave matter. Nevertheless, she had a duty to uphold and any information was greatly needed, regardless of who gave it.
"Where is she, Dusk?" The Captain asked, her despair clear in her voice.
"Leave him alone, Gleaming. Can't you see he's struggling to remain conscious?" Their mother, Twilight Velvet protested.
"More than his consciousness is at stake, Mother. He knows this better than any of us." Gleaming snapped in order to end the conversation and prevent more precious time from being wasted.
"Nightmare Moon will... be with the Elements... of Harmony. She'll be guarding... the one thing that... can send her back... to the moon. The Elements are in... The Everfree Forest." Dusk said between heavy breaths. Gleaming Shield rested her head on the bed beside Dusk.
"That's the last place I wanted to send my guards." she commented. Dusk said nothing in response to that. With a heavy sigh, she rose from her seat and leant over to kiss Dusk on the forehead.
"You did good, little brother. Leave the rest to me." she said, squeezing his hand before leaving him to their parents.
"This is crazy! How are we gonna find this ancient palace in a forest that contains creatures probably capable of eating stone for breakfast?" Rainbow Dash complained as she hovered above the group of ponies. Applejack led the way with Rarity right behind, Pinkie bouncing in the middle, Fluttershy crawling behind and Rainbow Dash bringing up the rear.
"Look, sugarcube. Barb said that the creatures don't go near that place. And they definitely won't now that Nightmare Moon's hauntin' the joint." she replied.
"Okay, then why couldn't Barb come with us?" Dash asked.
"She's still a baby Dragon, Dash; you really wanna be sendin' an infant into the forest?" Applejack retorted. Dash dropped her defensive stance and slumped.
"Oh... No, nevermind." she replied. Fluttershy, who had been quiet ever since Nightmare moon's debut began to speak up.
"I-i-it sure is scary out here. I feel like we're being w-w-watched." she stuttered. The other ponies looked around and to their surprise, glowing eyes were staring at them from all around. As they huddled together in fear, the trees suddenly appeared to form faces. While all the ponies began to let their fear overcome them, they suddenly heard uncontrollable laughter. As they looked over to the source, they saw Pinkie laughing at one of the trees.Rarity was flabbergasted more than anypony else as she thought she had been holding Pinkie during their moment of fear.
"Pinkie, what in Tarnation are you doin'?" Applejack scolded.
"Laughing at the tree, it's so funny!" she said as she giggled madly at the tree. The face on the trunk disappeared from view as if discovering that the shadow on your bedroom wall was just the shadow of a badly shaped tree branch. As proof of her tactic worked, the girls all began to laugh at various trees. The effects were the same. All the trees began to look like distorted versions of regular forest trees.
"I can't believe that actually worked!" Rarity said with astonishment written all over her features. Pinkie giggled in response to this.
"Never underestimate the power of laughter, Rarity. Not only is it super powerful, it's super duper fun!" she began to squeal with joy before bursting out again in laughter. The others settled for a mild chuckle before yet another obstacle sounded in their path.
A Manticore burst through the bushes in a rampage. With the body of a lion and the tail of a Scorpion, this thing was hideous in Rarity's eyes. And she gave what she believed to be the appropriate response.
"FFFFFFU-."
"Dusk, can you hear me?" a voice rang out in Dusk's dream state. He was floating in darkness, completely naked, or as those in Trottingham would say 'Tackle out'. His imaginary eyes cracked open and he looked around. A single bright light, like a dimmed sun floated in front of him.
"I can, Princess." he replied, blinking once. He closed his eyes and took in the warmth the presence of his one true Princess gave off. His dream had assimilated the pain in his body into his dream and he felt it all wash away like dirt in a shower.
"Dusk, you have to hurry. Your friends have gone to face Nightmare moon, but they can't do it without you. You have to be there in order to succeed in your endeavor." Celestia said. Dusk sighed.
"I have no friends. They're a hinderance to my studies." he said. Celestia seemed silent for a moment.
"Dusk, I'm going to tell you something I haven't told anypony before." she said. Dusk raised his head and opened his eyes once again, waiting for her to continue.
"Starswirl the Bearded refused to make any friends, just like you've chosen to do. In the end, he failed me because of that decision he made. I wanted him to progress beyond me, but he failed, and died as a result." she said. Dusk's face was unchanged. If there had been inspiring music playing in the background, it would have turned to a scratched record after Dusk's next words.
"That's a lie, isn't it?" he asked coldly. Celestia sighed.
"Okay, yes it is. But I have big plans for you, Dusk, and they all depend on you making friends. Understand?" she asked. Dusk groaned in annoyance.
"But Friendship is bothersome! There are dates you have to remember, like birthdays. Then you have to find out what they like so you can get them gifts for Hearth's Warming. It's a vicious cycle!" he complained.
"Dusk, if anypony can manage and remember dates, it's you. Please, Dusk. At least do it for the sake of Equestria. You know what'll happen if the land is shrouded in Night forever. Unfortunately, my sister remains ignorant of the consequences." Celestia said.
"I would help if I could, but my scar has been opened up again, thanks to Nightmare." he replied.
"What do you think I've been doing while I was talking with you? I've been healing your body through your dreams. Naturally, I shouldn't be able to do that, given that dreams are my sister's domain, but you're different, Dusk. We're connected." she said.
Dusk huffed at the mention of their connection. "You must have been so disappointed when I hit puberty and didn't have a wet dream about you." he teased. Celestia was silent for a good long moment.
"Little bit, yeah. Then again, you didn't have a wet dream about anypony, so I figured you were just impotent." she retorted.
"There's no such thing as Impotent, it's just laziness." Dusk replied.
"Dusk... Don't try and deviate from the topic at hand. Save your friends, save Equestria. If you don't, I'll never be free." Celestia's light faded to black and Dusk woke up. His body didn't hurt like it had last time and he felt his magical energy restoring itself. His magic burst out in waves as he yelled at the top of his voice. The metal bent in so many places and the wood snapped into little shards. The entire room was being forced away from him, including the bed which had been crushed against the stone floor like a can against an Elephant's foot.
An explosion could be heard from outside Dusk's room and as his parents rushed in to check up on him, they saw that the entire wall had been blown outward, everything squashed to the sides and the state of the bed, but the only thing missing was Dusk himself.
Rainbow Dash struggled to get up. Her sides hurt and her vision was blurry. After having gone through the fairly simple journey to the palace of the Alicorn Sisters, they faced Nightmare Moon herself. The stones had proven themselves about as useful as Rarity's magic against the Nightmare before them.
"Dammit! Why didn't they work? Did we have to say something? Was there an incantation or whatever?" she cried. Applejack was thrown over to beside the angry pegasus, sliding the last few feet.
"A-ah don't know... Sugarcube...*cough*... but we gotta... make do with what we got." She replied as she struggled to get up like her Pegasus Comrade. Applejack looked around the hall. All but Fluttershy had taken a beating, even Pinkie Pie was down for the count. The abnormal Earth Pony was just no match for an Alicorn.
"Can you still fly, Dash?" Applejack whispered. The rainbow pegasus checked her wings and nodded.
"Yeah, what's the plan?" Dash whispered back.
"If you can fly circles around her and git her distracted, I'll run on in and buck her right in the face. With any luck, that'll knock her out cold." both mares nodded as they confirmed their roles in the plan. Dash shot off, making rainbows around Nightmare Moon's field of vision.
"That's very pretty, young pegasus, but it won't be enough to stop me." Nightmare declared. She ducked her head to see under the ring of rainbows and found one of her opponents missing. There was an uneasy sound, then the crashing of the window behind her. It took the Alicorn mere seconds to figure out what had happened. She laughed as the image of Applejack missing her mark entirely entered her mind's eye.
"This is so sad, I almost feel sorry for you all. Nevertheless, my night will reign supreme regardless of your wishes, or excuses." she declared once more.
With glass in her leg, Applejack knew she wouldn't be able to try anything like that again, especially now that the enemy knew the tactic used to distract her.
"Darn it! We need a miracle now!" The cowpony cried out. Nightmare Moon decided to teach Applejack the harshness of reality. Miracles don't happen. With nearly everypony bruised and battered, just one pony remained unharmed, Nightmare excluded. Fluttershy had remained in place, trembling in fear from the get go. The fallen Princess stepped casually toward Fluttershy, intent on making her into an example.
"No, stop!" Applejack cried out, Rainbow Dash went to try and stop Nightmare, but the Alicorn just swatted her away with a burst of magic from her horn.
"I'm going to show you all that Miracles don't happen in the real world. If anypony can save this little mare before I kill her, then I'll be proven wrong, but that doesn't seem likely. The realisation hit them all. Nightmare Moon was going to kill Fluttershy and they were all too badly beaten to even move. They all cried out, pleaded for her to stop, but it was too late, the punch had begun its trajectory...
Suddenly, a burst of purple flaming magic broke through the floor between the fallen Princess and the petrified Pegasus. Following quickly afterward, the body of Dusk shine appeared through the rubble and his fist collided with Nightmare Moon's face, forcing her back and away from Fluttershy. His shirt was missing, leaving only his pants and a bare chest. His scar had been exposed, showing what remained of the damage Nightmare Moon had done to him before. Instead of a single scar running down his ribcage, now another one ran across from it, turning it into a giant 'X' shaped scar.
"Well, well! You're stronger than I gave you credit for, little Stallion." Nightmare goaded.
"It's Dusk!" Fluttershy cried out with absolute relief flooding her voice. Dusk stood ready to kill, his magic burning around him and acting like furious tails, whipping at the air. His eyes burned with a white intensity. The room filled with a single word as Dusk roared like a dragon into the sky, not caring who heard him.
With his magic blazing, Nightmare was forced to back off a few steps. Something had made him change within the past few hours. Before, he was weak, but this time, he was a whole new pony. It was as if she were staring at another Alicorn as corrupted as herself. Had she transferred some of her own magic to him by accident? No, she was not so clumsy as to do that.
"Dusk, you came for us!" Rainbow Dash called out. The fiery magic around Dusk dropped like a pilot light going out. The purple Stallion stood where he was, his eyes fixated on his target.
"You idiots took on Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?" he scolded.
"We had the Elements, but they were useless. We might as well have been throwing stones at a dragon. Now they're destroyed." Dash retorted. Dusk broke eye contact and looked at the crumbling stones at the foot of the ancient throne.
"That's right, my dear, and now the night will forever brandish the sky." Nightmare Moon boasted. Barely an instant passed before she found herself decked in the face.
"Who said you could talk?!" Dusk burst out, knocking Nightmare onto her behind. The Princess was stunned Never had she been struck so recklessly, much less by her own family. Yet this simple Stallion had the gall to even put her beneath him?
"I am the ruler of Equestria! Royalty by blood. You should be the silent one." she protested.
"There can be only one Princess!" Dusk growled.
"Yet I'm the only one available now that my dear sister is stuck in the sun." Nightmare challenged. Dusk growled low and with purpose, his magic slowly billowing like smoke.
"Not quite. There is another; Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Cadence to her friends and family. Celestia's niece and successor." he replied It was Nightmare's turn to growl. Her own magic began to rise and as the stray wisps touched, sparks began to emerge and thunder crackled from between them.
"The Elements of Harmony still exist." Dusk spoke up, getting his 'friends' attention as well as startling Nightmare Moon. "Elements aren't physical things, they are a representation of the physical world around us. It took me a while to figure out what Celestia said to me and why she chose now of all times for me to start making friends. She anticipated Nightmare moon's return, just as I had, but she planned ahead, having all the pieces of the puzzle to begin with." Dusk dropped his aggressive stance and turned around to help Fluttershy up. The timid pegasus took his hand and graciously accepted the lift. Once she was standing on her own two feet, Dusk suddenly teleported over to Applejack. and helped her up.
"I had to figure out what constituted Harmony, what the ingredients were. And I figured it out when I recollected the personalities of these five ponies." He teleported Applejack to Fluttershy's side so the cowpony could lean against her unharmed friend. Dusk repeated the process with each mare, Rarity whom had to be carried.
"You might not think so when you look at them, but these five ponies possess traits relevant to the Elements of Harmony, as such, the Elements themselves live on in them." Dusk said.
"What are you saying?!" Nightmare Moon demanded. Dusk grinned at the Alicorn, making her shudder.
"I'm saying," he used his magic to lift up six shards of the stones representing the Elements of Harmony and floated them over to the party behind him. "That you really would have delayed your defeat considerably had you managed to strike down Fluttershy here. These ponies you've been playing with are conduits for the Elements of Harmony." Dusk began to laugh at Nightmare as she backed away in fright.
"That's not possible! The Elements were physical objects last time My sister used them herself." she protested.
"You really think that something as powerful as these would stick to a single form? I'm disappointed in you, Nightmare Moon. Watch this, I'll prove my point." With a snap of his fingers, the stone shards began to glow different colours and rotate at such a speed that you couldn't tell lump from bump.
"Fluttershy represents the Element of Kindness." Dusk claimed, and immediately, the stone in front of Fluttershy burst with magic and turned into a golden Neck piece with a pink Butterfly crystal in the centre It latched itself to her neck and glowed happily.
"Applejack represents Honesty." Dusk continued, the same thing happened to Applejack, a golden necklace with an apple shaped ruby rested on her orange neck.
"Rainbow Dash has always displayed Loyalty to those she cares for, and as such, represents Loyalty in every sense of the word." A Ruby Lightning bolt adorned Dash's neck.
"Alright!" the Pegasus was the first to comment on her new item.
"Pinkie Pie's was obvious. Though I don't entirely enjoy this one, Sometimes, friends have to make sacrifices for others. Pinkie will undoubtedly do that with a smile every time." A light blue balloon resembled the Element of Laughter and it hung around the pink pony's neck, and bounced up and down as she jumped in place with glee.
"And Rarity represents Generosity. I know this because on my way here, I spotted a sea dragon with an oddly coloured moustache. Upon entering this room, I see now that it was once Rarity's tail." A Violet diamond rested against Rarity's breast and she squealed in delight. Nightmare was on the verge of a panic attack.
"What about the Sixth Element? Nopony knows what that is, and I highly doubt you could possibly know." Nightmare boasted. Dusk just smiled, his magic rising once again.
"Well you'd be wrong again, bitch! While it most certainly was the most difficult part, I didn't actually figure it out until I presented these five with their own Elements."
"WHAT?!" the fallen Princess cried.
"You see, I figured there had to be a reason Celestia sent me of all ponies to fulfil the task of befriending the first five conduits. It occurred to me that there must have been one redeeming trait I possessed that could help me make such friends as these. At first, I thought it was my knowledge of the History of Equestria, but such a thing has no place in Friendships. So what was the one thing I excelled at. And the answer was obvious. I excelled at the one thing that could be used to protect my friends, had I any to begin with. Do you know what that is?" Nightmare Moon shook her head, but the five conduits understood all too well. They cried the last word with joy together.
"MAGIC!!!" The sixth shard burst in a flurry of colours and Dusk got caught in the light. He lifted his head and raised his arms. There was a sound like pure magic rotating around him and it absorbed the billowing residue that escaped his own body.
"Incredible!" Nightmare commented as she covered her eyes from the blinding light. And just as quickly as it had started, the light vanished. All mares, including Nightmare Moon looked upon Dusk with a sense of awe as his Element had been the most drastic. His mane had been slicked back, and had become pointier. His eyes were whiter than sheets and the element itself wrapped around his jaw like a golden exoskeleton, the five pointed star acting like a goatee.
"Woah!" they all said, except for Rainbow Dash who accidentally blurted out another word altogether.
"HOT!" she covered her mouth instantly. the other girls looked at her in surprise. Rainbow Dash was known for not complimenting another pony outside the Wonderbolts.
"I-it doesn't matter how much you changed from those Elements I know how they work after the first time, so they won't be enough to stop me." Nightmare began to challenge, but her voice betrayed her.
"You didn't know that they still existed after you smashed the stones, did you? Besides, the Elements react to the thoughts of their conduits. And you have no idea what we want to do to you for taking Princess Celestia from us. For example. Your sister pitied you at the very last second and instead of killing you, she sent you to the moon. Well, I don't think we'll bother with that. I'm not as emotionally attached to you as your sister was." he threatened. Nightmare began to quiver with fear. But after a few seconds, she regained her composure.
"I'll defeat you regardless!" she cried out. Dusk threw his arms to the side and snapped his fingers. "Girls?" he called. Without a second's hesitation, all five mares shot towards Nightmare Moon, their wounds healed and their senses and abilities enhanced. They left little trails of dust in their wake as they swept past Dusk and bore down on their enemy.
Nightmare took the full force of each of their attacks. Applejack bucked her in the face, Rainbow in the gut. Rarity had her right side, Pinkie her left. Fluttershy even found herself moving in motion with the others, sweeping Nightmare's legs from under her. The princess was sent spinning backwards, halted by her head colliding with the stone floor. There was an audible crack from both the floor and Nightmare's head. She grabbed her skull and screamed in agony, the lump emerging almost instantaneously. The five mares backed off and allowed Dusk to step up to Nightmare with a destructive look in his eyes. Nightmare moon showed genuine horror for the first time in over a thousand years. She knew she was about to die.
"Where's your precious night now, Mare in the Moon?" Dusk teased. His body burst into flames and his entire coat changed from Lavender to cream, his mane and tail became hot flames and his eyes turned redder than the blood seeping onto the stone floor. "Your final hour has arrived!" Dusk declared. The other five Conduits burst into flames themselves and began rotating around Dusk. Their bodies changed shape and soon they merged with him. Another bright light engulfed the room for a few seconds before an entirely new pony emerged. He looked like a white fire spirit, clad in golden armour. The jaw piece was now a King's crown, The Elements of Honesty and Loyalty were gauntlets, Generosity had become a chest piece and Laughter had fused with Kindness to form a golden greatsword. The fire spirit gripped the sword and pointed it down to Nightmare Moon.
"No... Please! Don't kill me! I-I-I'll give everypony the sun back, I'll disappear forever, just please don't kill me!!!" Nightmare Moon cried. The white fire pony thrust his sword and plunged it deep into Nightmare Moon's heart. The point came out the other end. Nightmare Moon's own armour was useless against the blade. She screamed in agony as her body felt like it was being burned from within. The colour faded from her body and before long she was as white as the pony that had stabbed her. Seconds later, Her body burst into millions of pieces and evaporated before hitting the ground.
The white pony removed his sword from where it was and flung it over his fiery shoulder. He stood there, motionless save the flame outlining his body. All was quiet for the next few moments before a cracking sound began to fill the air. The source was from within the fire, and before anypony knew it, the five mares, plus Dusk were sent flying in six different directions.
"That... was... AWESOME!!!" Rainbow Dash cried out, taking to the air and looping around numerous times. Pinkie began to chatter on about what had just happened as if the others hadn't experienced it before. Rarity just admired her diamond element while Fluttershy and Applejack both gave praise to Dusk in their own way, Applejack chose the shoulder punch while Fluttershy chose to murmur the words as loudly as she could bare.
"Seriously, I can't wait to do that again!" Dash commented as she calmed down a notch.
"And you'll undoubtedly get the chance to do so, my little Pony." a voice sounded through the background. Standing there in all her majesty, was Princess Celestia. The five mares bowed down in respect while Dusk just crossed his arms.
"You owe me big time." he said, raising a brow. Celestia chuckled and nodded in response.
"Yes, I suppose I do. But I'm not going to rescind your assignment on making friends, i don't care if you did save Equestria." she replied. Dusk huffed at that.
"I'm beginning to wonder if I was better off with Nightmare Moon." he muttered.
"Well, you'll never know now, will you? The Elements of Harmony can't be used for evil, and Bringing Nightmare moon back would be considered an evil act." Celestia explained.
"Mole." Dusk grumbled, stepping aside to reveal a very small Alicorn filly with a light blue hue and an even lighter blue mane and tail. She was shaking and struggling to rise to her feet. "I assume the opposite is also impossible, We can't vanquish good. Seems there was a remorseful part of your sister buried within the Nightmare after all, Celestia. I was hoping for this." Dusk said. Celestia went wide-eyed.
"You never meant to kill her, you just wanted to get rid of the evil within her heart?" she asked. Dusk smiled.
"You spared your sister when you could have easily destroyed her a thousand years ago. Back then, she would have no regrets, but a thousand years spent to think things over on the moon can lead to a promising harvest. This is the culmination of your Sister's regret over the span of a thousand years. This is what remains of your Sister, Princess." Dusk said. Celestia began to tear up as she laid eyes on her long lost little sister. The blue filly in turn looked at the faces of those she'd just recently tried to kill and her regret grew, giving her power that allowed her to grow. She looked the same age as the Conduits by the time she had finished regretting what she'd done.
"Luna... I understand why you did what you did, and I'm willing to give you another chance. And I beg you take it. It's been so lonely these last thousand years without you. Come home, please?" Celestia said in the sweetest voice anypony had ever heard. Luna's eyes began to water and before she knew it, she was running into her sister's outstretched arms bawling like the filly she was just moments ago.
"I'm so sorry!" she cried out. Celestia shushed her and cooed at her like a mother would their daughter.
"It's alright, all is forgiven." Celestia said gently. Luna suddenly pushed herself out of her sister's embrace.
"Is it though?" she asked, turning her gaze over to the Elements. The five mares all agreed that it was forgiven immediately, talking over each other, Dusk remained quiet, His arms still crossed. All eyes were on him, Luna's pleadingly so. He walked towards the two Princesses and knelt down before Luna. She received a light bonk on the head, nothing painful at all. She looked up at Dusk who looked right back.
"The past is the past, nothing we can do about it now except to forget it ever happened. Welcome home, Princess." he said, standing back up and walking away.
The next day when everypony was well rested, Luna was officially welcomed home by the city of Canterlot. Her regal attire had been returned to her and she wore it on this special occasion. Dusk had taken the opportunity to pack some extra things for the trip to Ponyville, since he was stuck there for the foreseeable future. The other conduits to the Elements of Harmony had been given VIP sleeping quarters, which they enjoyed thoroughly. As the six of them stood before the Princesses, they all knelt down and bowed their heads in respect. Even Dusk wouldn't embarrass his teacher on such an important occasion.
The six ponies were presented with their medals. As Dusk was about to be presented his, Luna interrupted and claimed she wanted to give him his medal herself. Celestia accepted and handed Luna the golden medal. As he knelt before the returned Princess, he lifted his head.
"Princess?" he said, acknowledging her status. Luna smiled and gently placed the medal around his neck. She then leaned in close and kissed him.
"Thank you for saving me." she whispered. Dusk was unsure what to say, so he settled for a courteous nod. The Nobles among the crowd had stopped clapping, hate-filled glares trained on Dusk as in their eyes, he was the one who dared to kiss the Princess.
The six ponies all stood up and turned to the applauding crowd and bowed. That night back in Ponyville, all the ponies partied save Dusk who tried to get in a good read, but found it impossible since it was somepony's stupid idea to have the party at the Library.
"So, Dusk, what's your take on Friendship?" Barb asked, offering him a drink. Dusk took it without tearing his eyes away from the book.
"Friendship is Bothersome. And that's putting it mildly." he said, using his free hand to motion to the party around him. Barb just laughed and sat down beside him.
"Oh, Dusk, just how will you cope with the days to come?"
Ever calm was Ponyville since the Nightmare moon event. Everypony believed that the nightmare herself was gone for good and would not threaten the peace again. While that was true in a literal sense, technicalities would eventually have a way of screwing around with those plans.
Applejack and the others, sans Dusk had taken to meeting outside in the town square. They'd all become great friends ever since that fateful night and the one thing they shared was the desire to know their Introverted companion just a little better. They devised ways of getting him out of his books and into the social protocol that was gossip. They seemed to forget that Dusk Shine, the one who brought them all together was in fact a stallion. Gossip would be wasted on him, but it seems their determination drove them to learn the hard way.
In the middle of another of their conversations, a cart no bigger than a garden shed pulled up right in the centre of the town square. Some of the ponies gathered around, amazed at how a carriage could have pulled itself. Others wondered what the contents of said carriage were. The five friends joined the ever growing crowd, curious as to its purpose in their peaceful little town. With little time between the carriage's arrival and their own, a flash of smoke wafted from out of thin air. As it cleared, the carriage had been magically set up. This was enough to give awe to some of the younger members of the audience.
Another flash of smoke and a sky blue Unicorn wearing a star and moon spangled cape and pointy hat under her silvery mane and tail appeared, presenting the most confident pose anypony had ever seen. Underneath the cape were deep purple robes with a considerably shortened amount of astral objects imprinted on it. Her entrance gave way to another awed reaction from all except the five ponies.
"Fillies and Gentlecolts! Give a warm round of applause for the Great and Powerful Trixie!!" the blue unicorn called out. As she did so, sparklers and all sorts of fireworks erupted, giving her a flashy entrance.
The Library was quiet as usual, more so now that Ponyville had sampled Dusk Shine's social demeanour. Three books floated in the air in front of the pony in question. Still in his pyjamas, he sipped a cup of coffee as he appeared to stare at the centre book.
Barb had the idea to wear skates on her feet, making her cleaning in sweeping motions. She reached a tray out as Dusk placed his empty mug down at random. Success! The dragoness spread-eagled between a pair of books, finishing with a turn before pushing off into the kitchen.
"Did you see that, Dusk?" Barb asked as she left with a fresh cup of coffee for him.
"You're a regular Jim BuckElroy, Barb." he said, holding out his hand. His eyes never strayed from the books. Barb skated past, manoeuvring the cup into his hand. "Thanks." he said as she passed by. "Mind the Nix collection behind you." he added as he took a sip from his mug. There was a loud thump which signified Barb had heeded his warning too late.
"Oww..." she whined.
"Need help?" Dusk asked, still not distracted from his books.
"You could at least act like you care. I am still a baby after all." she whined. Dusk took another sip of his coffee.
"Of course I care. I just don't bother with mundane things like your little fall there. Such things will help you learn and grow. But until you're an adult and I'm long dead, if anything puts your life in danger, then I'll act accordingly." he replied. Barb stood up from the floor and sat down to remove her skates.
"The only threat to my life is you and this Library." she argued.
"Let's keep it that way then. Neither the Library, nor I have any intention of hurting you, so you're technically safe." he disputed. Barb sighed, her skates in one hand as she rose to her feet.
"I should have signed up for adoption. Maybe then I'd get some proper love instead of excuses for the mundane problems in my life." she mumbled. That elicited a twitch of the eye from Dusk, but Barb failed to notice.
"I'm glad you didn't. You're one of the few in my life that I trust completely." he replied Barb looked at him and smiled.
"And it's words like those that keep me here." she said. As she stepped into the kitchen again, she shed a tear, still smiling. Despite his personality, she'd grown to love Dusk as if she were born into his family. Despite what she'd said earlier, she was glad to have chosen Dusk as her carer.
The door to the Library burst open and an onslaught of ponies erupted through the entrance. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and a few others entered, all looking for him.
"Dusk, you gotta help us!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"In Equestria, we say 'good morning'." Dusk replied, not taking his eyes off the books.
"There's a unicorn in Ponyville!" Pinkie cried out.
"Is there now? And here I thought I was the only one." Dusk replied sarcastically.
"What Pinkie means is that there's a new one in town." Applejack corrected.
"Again, my answer stays the same." Dusk said.
"What's going on?" Barb asked as she entered the room.
"Mass idiocy, I think." Dusk replied.
"There's a new Unicorn in town claiming to be the most powerful in all of Equestria. She's challenged ponies to try and out-do her, so far nopony's been able to do it. We thought Dusk could put her in her place for us." Rainbow Dash said, ignoring Dusk's comment, mainly because the word idiocy didn't register with her understanding.
"Really? And why's that?" Dusk asked, taking a sip from his mug.
"Well, we remembered Barb saying you were the most powerful Unicorn since Starswirl the Bearded and we figured you could show this silver-maned witch what true power is." Rarity replied, getting all hyped up.
"I see she kicked at least on of your asses." Barb said, pointing to Rarity's mane. The alabaster mare just whimpered in shame.
"Not Fluttershy or me. After These three, we thought it best to leave it to the professionals." Pinkie said, pulling Fluttershy close to her side.
"I don't care for boasting my abilities. Only I need to know how powerful I am." Dusk replied. The girls began to fret.
"Come on, Dusk, we're your friends." Rainbow Dash argued.
"A nightmare that ceases to end." he retorted.
"She's a rotten apple!" Applejack tried.
"Apples are your problem." he replied.
"She's right here." Pinkie said.
"WHAT?!" the others cried out, save Dusk. The showmare, Trixie stepped through the door and around the beaten ponies to face Dusk.
"This is the pony you wanted me to go up against? He's little more than a joke." Trixie scoffed.
"Actually, you'll find a lot of ponies would say I'm not that funny." Dusk commented, magically turning the pages of all three books.
"What are you doing?" Trixie asked. Dusk sighed before responding.
"I'm attempting to increase the default output of my cerebral cortex by putting my peripheral vision into overdrive." he replied. Everypony, including Trixie turned to Barb for an explanation.
"He's trying to expand his learning capacity by reading three books at once, using the corners of his eyes." she explained. The ponies except for Pinkie Pie made sounds of understanding.
"Does that actually work?" Dash asked.
"I'm talking to you lot while doing it aren't I?" Dusk replied as if to prove his point. Everypony searched for something else to say.
"Please, Dusk? We're asking you to defend our honour, which she's damaged." Rarity begged.
"So call a therapist." Dusk responded coldly.
"Girls, if you want him to work with you, you gotta appeal to his likes and dislikes." said Barb, turning to Dusk.
"Dusk, if she claims to be the most powerful pony in Equestria, that means she's putting herself above the Princesses." Barb teased. Dusk paused his reading.
"Claims mean nothing. If they take offense to one such as that, then let them do what these idiots did and challenge her." he said, countering Barb's attack.
"She claims to have conquered an Ursa Major." Fluttershy let out. Dusk's head lifted and he finally turned away from his books, eyeing Trixie and quietly judging her.
"Really?" he asked, closing the books behind him. They made their way back to their appropriate shelves. "What proof do you have that you dealt with such a creature?" he asked. Trixie was stumped.
"My word should be good enough." she replied.
"If a pony's word was all it took, Everypony would be famous for things they said they did and prisons would be made redundant." Dusk replied. Again, Trixie was stumped. A huff of annoyance left Dusk's mouth before he turned away. "Come back when you've got solid evidence to back your claims." he commanded. Feeling embarrassed, Trixie tried to coax Dusk into fighting her, the wrong way. She charged a bolt of magic and shot at him. Dusk was hit squarely in the back. The stallion went forward and collided with the nearest bookshelf. He slid down, his face smacking against each shelf.
"Oh, horseapples." Applejack said, urging the others to step aside for what was to come next.
"That'll piss him off." Dash stated. Trixie felt herself superior to the Librarian which is why she didn't think before acting. Dusk slowly rose to his feet, his mane waving upward as if it were under water. He turned around to face Trixie. That's when she saw the scar on his chest and the bright white eyes.
"Oops." she said as she prepared to defend herself. Dusk growled and leaned forward, his horn becoming the focal point for a big attack that would undoubtedly require a new door and replacement windows. Barb leaped for the kitchen just as a massive purple ball began to grow and rotate. "Um. sorry?" Trixie tried. Dusk just frowned at Trixie before he launched his attack. The ball hit her dead on and as it made contact, it grew larger to the point where it was twice her size. It allowed her form to press into it before exploding like a waterbaloon. The force of the explosion blew out the windows and forced Trixie through the door and out into the streets.
Ponies looked at the grounded unicorn outside and then to the exploded Library.
"Did she go after Dusk?" Carrot Top asked. Derpy just shrugged.
"That was a death sentence waiting to happen." Lyra replied, gently trying to smack the unicorn awake. it was no use, Trixie was out cold.
Dusk emerged a few minutes later, fully clothed, except with his dark grey shirt unbuttoned, showing off his cross-scar. He stopped just short of Trixie and observed the damage. "Didn't think you could withstand the force of an Ursa Major. That was half the strength they put into swatting away what they consider to be pests." he said. "Just as I thought, you're nothing but a fraud." he declared. Behind him, the others were cheering over his victory. Their honour had been saved by their friend. Dusk walked off, leaving the Library and his 'friends' as they were. He felt hungry after expelling that kind of magic at this time of the morning.
Trixie had spent the day packing her things. Humiliated beyond reasoning, she wanted nothing more to do with this town. She didn't want mocking stares as she left, so she decided to cut through the Everfree forest, believing her carriage would protect her.
It was getting late in the evening and she decided to set up camp in a cave. Her spirits were down and her fire was dim. She truly felt nothing could get worse. Unfortunately, she was wrong on so many levels. Her fire, regardless of its weakness had awoken an Ursa. The same kind of Ursa Trixie claimed to have defeated. It went to yawn and Trixie mistook that for an angry roar. She screamed, giving the poor celestial bear an ear ache, then proceeded to throw a burning stick at it, hitting it on the nose. Now the Ursa was pissed. It set its sights on Trixie and roared in real anger. Trixie ran away, leaving her precious carriage behind. Sadly, it was crushed under the Ursa's massive foot, leaving Trixie truly homeless. But that didn't matter as she was about to be dead.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash had gone out to celebrate Dusk's actions regarding the 'rotten apple'. Their pride was in tact and the subject of discussion had left town without a trace. Things were looking good. As Dash went to chug another drink, Applejack spotted Trixie running as fast as she could from something.
"Look on over there, sugarcube. Ain't that the mare we were just talkin' about?" she asked. Dash almost spat her drink out when she saw her. Now she was pissed.
"What's she doing back here? Dusk practically kicked her out." The two mares went to intercept Trixie.
"So, didn't get enough of a beating the last time?" The pegasus asked.
"Ah thought you were gonna git outta here 'fore the day's end." Applejack added. Trixie was out of breath and she tried to warn the two why that was the case, but all she could do was pant like a dog and point to the massive celestial bear behind her. Rainbow Dash and Applejack both screamed in fright at the massive creature closing in on them. They sped out of there, leaving Trixie to fend for herself, which she did by starting to run again.
Dusk was having his appointed date with Fluttershy (by order of Celestia). He'd learned early on that even he couldn't stand upsetting the pegasus and as a result, acted uncharacteristically nice to her. They left the diner with ice cream cones in hand. Dusk had Boysenberry while Fluttershy had Banana.
"I had a nice time, Dusk, thank you." Fluttershy said meekly, proceeding to hide behind her ice cream. Dusk smiled sweetly and nodded.
"So did I. When do you want to make plans for next time?" he asked. Their conversation was interrupted by a speeding blue unicorn who tripped over the victor of the previous match. Dusk caught her and helped her upright.
"I see you're back. What's got your panties in a twist?" Dusk asked. Trixie took a moment to catch her breath. She'd managed to get some good milage on that bear. Dusk offered her some of the apple juice in his bottle, which she took gratefully.
"Left... through... Everfree... Accidentally camped... in an Ursa cave... Pissed it off... Now running. For. My life!" she managed to groan between breaths. She felt like she was about to have a heart attack. Dusk raised a brow in response.
"Fluttershy, are Ursas in your repertoire of animals to... persuade?" Dusk asked. Fluttershy shook her head, shying away behind her ice cream. Dusk sighed, looking into the distance where the Ursa was approaching.
"Please! You've got to help me. You're the only one here with a chance at defeating an Ursa Major." Trixie begged, grabbing hold of his shirt. Dusk growled and shoved her off, knocking her to the ground.
"That may be true, but I see no reason why I should help you. You're a liar and a cheat with no real ambition. As far as I'm concerned, the Ursa would be doing the world a favor by eating you." he said. Trixie couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Nopony would be so cruel as to suggest she was a waste of life. Tears filled her eyes and she stood to her feet. Thinking it over, she realised that Dusk was right. She was alone and unloved. She looked back out to the Ursa pursuing her and made a split second decision.
Without another word, she decided to face the ursa alone. She was prepared to die, but she wanted to at least give fighting it a shot. Upon seeing Trixie, the Ursa burst into a rage and began to charge. Trixie stood completely still, building up the courage. Her horn lit up and she pointed it at the Ursa. She tried to create a ball like Dusk had used on her and had succeeded to a degree. Seeing this made Dusk's brow rise.
Trixie took her best shot and fired. As it collided with the Ursa, there was a massive explosion. The creature roared in defiance as it was sent flying back into the Everfree. Trixie was surprised to learn that her attack worked. What she didn't know was that another attack more powerful than her own hid behind her own. She was speechless, but managed a surprised gasp. She fell to her knees and began to laugh hysterically.
Fluttershy smiled at Dusk and kissed him on the cheek. "That was very kind of you, Dusk." she said. Dusk looked at her with a slight smile.
"I have no idea what you mean. She took it out all on her own." he replied. Fluttershy giggled and leaned into him.
"Of course." she said.
Ponies gathered around the battlefield and spotted Trixie in a state of awe. They all began to wonder what had happened. Who had vanquished that Ursa? Was it Trixie? Was it somepony else? Applejack and Rainbow Dash approached Trixie and stood over her.
"I guess you'll be going now." Dash said. Trixie looked up at her with a confused look planted on her face.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Ya'll still lied to us and disgraced us. Proving you actually took down an Ursa Major ain't enough for us to forgive you." said Applejack.
"So go back to wherever it is you came from." Dash ordered. Trixie recalled the fate of her carriage and what that meant.
"But, I don't have a home anymore The Ursa smashed my caravan. I'm homeless." she said.
"That ain't our problem." Applejack replied coldly. Dusk sighed and looked to Fluttershy who was looking at him hopefully. He knew she wanted him to do something for her. Wasn't saving her life enough? Sighing one more time, Dusk stepped forward after having Fluttershy hold his ice cream.
"Alright, that's enough you two. She's been through a lot, even if that was just an Ursa Minor." Dusk said. Trixie looked up at him in disbelief.
"Minor?!"
"Come on, Dusk. Do you really think she deserves our pity after what she did? She made me dizzy for the first time, she made Applejack develop a bondage fobia, she turned Rarity's mane and tail swampy green and she literally shot you in the back." Dash argued. Dusk blinked for a few seconds.
"Wait, she turned Rarity's mane and tail green?" he asked, a grin reaching his lips. He then began to burst out in laughter. The image that brought up sent Dusk to the ground, gripping his sides. The girls just growled at him. He was impossible to deal with.
After a minute of laughing harder than he had in ages, Dusk managed to stand up and brush himself off. He looked to Trixie and offered his hand. "Listen, I saw you beat the Ursa. You tried to use the same trick I used on you after you'd seen it once. You showed the potential to become a great Unicorn." he said. Trixie took his hand, but only used it to get to her knees. She then bowed down before Dusk.
"Please, teach me?" she begged. Everypony was taken aback. Especially Dusk. He wasn't sure how to respond. "I'll do everything you say without question, I'll devote myself to your teachings, I'll... I'll... I'll sleep with you if that's what it costs." she declared.
"Good luck. You'd have a better chance of getting away with murder." Dash grumbled.
"That won't be necessary. There's a spare room in the Library. If you promise to help Barb with the maintenance, I'll teach you what i can, when I can; providing you devote yourself to my teachings." Dusk offered. Trixie grinned and bowed even lower.
"Thank you.. Master!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, Celestia, some really sick shit's going to happen in that Library." Lyra whispered to Derpy.
"I don't think Dusk goes in for that stuff." the wall-eyed pegasus replied.
"That's the sick part." Lyra groaned.
"Dusk, you can't be serious. This mare has humiliated us and you're offering to train her?" Rainbow Dash protested.
"Unlike you, I'm not willing to let something as idiotic as dizziness and getting hog-tied stop me from being the better pony. I could hold a grudge over the fact that she shot me in the back, but I'm bigger than that. I'd have thought you two would be as well. Right now, if you two really were my friends, I'd be ashamed to call you as such." Dusk snapped at the pair. Both the pegasus and Earth pony withdrew their objections and were humiliated for the second time that day.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Some ponies are born to have friends, others make friends as they progress, and then like me, there are those who have friends thrust upon... nevermind. I made a new friend of sorts, per your orders. Her name is Trixie Lulamoon. Once a Fake showmare, she is now my student in magics. While my other friends are apprehensive about allowing her to remain unpunished for humiliating them, I feel that perhaps they are the ones who need to learn about friendship from time to time. In short, it can take a bad situation to bring ponies together, but it can always come at a cost, however temporary.
Your ever loyal student, Dusk Shine.
P.S Tell Luna to stop sending me those love poems. While I appreciate the fuel for the fire, Barb gets sick very easily. Plus, they're awful. Don't let her read this or she'll send me to the moon. Let her know I appreciate her feelings, but explain to her why I can't return them... at least not yet.
Carnivore; a world-renowned word for 'meat eater', a word inspiring fear in the hearts of the ponies in Equestria. A carnivore is said to have little intelligence, but what they lack in the brain department, they make up for in hunting and capturing their prey. Sadly, there is one race known to Equestria and its inhabitants that possesses the same intellect as any pony. These are the Gryphons.
A vastly powerful race easily twice the size of a pony and ten times as ferocious. Due to their carnivorous nature, they grew to be somewhat short-tempered and prideful. Few know that their Pride is their greatest weakness, if exploited correctly.
"Come on, Dusk, I want you to meet my friend, Gilda. I told her all about how cool you were for an egghead." Rainbow Dash whined as she tried to drag the studious Unicorn by the tail from his Library.
"Egghead or not, I doubt your friend would be interested in a non-flyer, judging by the personality required to put up with you. Besides, I've no interest in making more friends than I have to I can barely stand the six I already have, one of which lives with me and Barb." he replied, flicking her off. Dash groaned and crossed her arms in annoyance, sitting in the comfy chair She tried to think of a way to move him, to convince him to meet her.
"Your brain hurting yet?" Dusk asked.
"It's been ten seconds." she replied.
"...And?"
"See, this is why I hate Stallions!" Rainbow Dash cried out in frustration.
"Damn, I owe Gleaming ten bits." Dusk said aloud.
"What?" Dash asked.
"I bet my sister ten bits that you were straight. Clearly, I was wrong and she was right. I should have known, she's got that keen 'gay-dar' thing going on." he replied. Rainbow Dash backed up in her seat.
"Woah! Woah! I am not gay! I'm straighter than a Rainbow." the pegasus tried to defend.
"Dash... you do know that rainbows have been associated with the gay community for a few decades, right? Given that like gays, they're colourful and... bent." Dusk said. Dash remained still, trying hard to think of a face-saving way out of the situation she'd wound up in.
"Your sister's gay?" she asked with slight shock in her voice. Dusk just huffed and snapped his book shut. He turned to the pegasus and leaned forward, resting his hands on the arms of her chair, effectively pinning her down.
"You got a problem with that?" he asked. Dash was quick to shake her head. "Good. Now kindly piss off, I've got a Doctor coming in to see me for some check-ups." he said. Dash's ears perked up at the mention of the word Doctor.
"Doctor? Is something wrong?" she asked. Dusk leaned away from the seat and sighed.
"It's nothing you need to worry about, just some routine check-ups on my scar, that's all." he replied. Dash seemed to relax. It was obvious to Dusk that even though he was downright mean to his friends, they still cared for him. What bothered him was why they cared. Why did they intrude upon his life and care about him? He just couldn't understand.
"So long as you're not dying." Dash spoke up.
"If I start coughing at random, then you can worry." he replied, clearing his throat afterward.
"Will you meet Gilda afterward?" she pleaded, giving Dusk her version of the puppy dog eyes. Dusk groaned and wiped his face with his hand, but eventually gave in to pressure. Dash was excited to say the least.
With the issue of Gilda out of the way, Dusk sat down in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He'd been growing tired quite a bit lately, even though he'd had plenty of sleep. He returned to his book and waited for the Doctor. An hour passed before the Doctor showed up with his medical tools in a black case.
"Doctor, come in. Have a seat." Dusk said, motioning towards the seat Dash had been in. Said doctor closed the door behind him and limped to the chair. Dusk heard the clanking of numerous tools in the bag. This was going to be one long examination.
"So this Dusk guy's an Egghead, yet you think he's cool?" Gilda asked, looking down to Rainbow Dash who casually cantered beside her friend.
"Yeah, I mean he's kind of an ass and he reads like, a lot... But when he does something cool, it's damn cool! Seriously, he took on Nightmare Moon alone and survived. Nightmare. Moon! I don't have to tell you how much trouble she was." Dash replied. Gilda raised a claw.
"Woah, back down girl, before you talk your way into his ass. Sounds to me like my old friend has gotten soft in the years." Gilda teased. Rainbow Dash viewed those words as a challenge and found herself unable to back down.
"I ain't soft! I'll show you how hard I am by kicking your ass in a race." she challenged. Gilda grinned behind her beak and chuckled.
"Well, alright then. Show me what you got!"
"No, that's not it either. I keep telling you: 'Moustache', not fricken beard." Barb said as she pointed ferociously towards the statue of a pony. Trixie groaned in annoyance and tried again. The stone beard disappeared from the statue and a goatee replaced it. Barb would have pulled her hair out if she had any.
"For the love of...VISUALISE the moustache and then enchant the stone." she yelled. The blue unicorn was beginning to get down in the dumps. It had been close to an hour and she couldn't even perform a solid transfiguration spell on an inanimate object. Displacement magic wasn't her strong suit. But that was the point of the exercise Dusk had set her for the day.
"Alright, let's try something else, think of a beard, and maybe we'll get a moustache." Barb said. Trixie visualised the beard she wanted and her horn began to glow. Suddenly, something sped past her, brushing her nose. The mare gave a startled yelp and accidentally lost her hold on the magic she'd built up. The spell ricocheted off the statue and struck Barb. The little dragon went to the ground. For a moment, Trixie was nervous, but as her foot twitched, she began to bark in amusement.
"Hah! Teach you to yell at me-why do you have balls now?" Barb looked down and started.
"Holy crap, you turned me into a dude! I didn't even know that was possible!" the young dragon paused for a moment. "Why did Rarity just pop into my head?"
"Doctor, I don't think this is it. Ponyville wasn't here a hundred years ago, it's still a fairly new town." Derpy commented, looking quizzically (or as much so as she could) at the town. A hazel coloured stallion with a green tie and a frazzled mane exited a blue box with windows near the top.
"I said ninety years ago from our last timezone. If I'm correct, we're actually back in the Ponyville you know and love. Though you said you loved the Crystal Ponyville in a billion-billion years." the Doctor said.
"Oh, right. So why are we back here?" Derpy asked.
"I thought you might wanna bring your daughter on the next trip, We're going to the Jeltarus, a planet made entirely of jelly, well with cake islands. I think you'll like Muffina." Before another word was said, Derpy shot off back home to grab her daughter. The Doctor just chuckled and turned around to observe his blue box.
"Even you like Jeltarus, don't you old girl?" Another sound of flying pegasi alerted the Doctor of another presence, when he turned around, he spotted a rainbow right in front of him. "Ooh, that's very clever. How's that work, then?" he asked himself as he pulled out a metal device with a blue tip. It made a whirring sound as he drew it along the path of the rainbow.
"Looks like you've still got it, Dash." said Gilda, clawing through the cloud she stood on. Dash just did a loop in the air, her cocky smile present at all times.
"Of course! I'm the fastest flyer in Equestria, and don't you forget it." she boasted. Gilda just chuckled and threw the cloud fragment at her.
"Don't let it go to your head. Somepony will come along in the next generation and they'll beat your records, perhaps it'll be a gryphon." she teased. Dash just scoffed.
"Doesn't matter, I'll still be a legend, especially when I become a Wonderbolt. That's my dream, ever since I was a little foal."
"Yeah, yeah. You've told me that a hundred times over back in flight school. C'mon, I wanna meet this Dusk guy you're so into." Gilda hopped off the cloud and began to freefall. Dash was close behind.
"I'm not into him. I just find him cool, despite the fact that he's an egghead." Dash defended. The gryphon just chuckled, spreading her wings and angling at a casual pace.
"You're a terrible liar, Dash. You obviously like him, or do you actually believe that you don't?" she teased again.
Dash was confused. True, she considered him cooler than most ponies she knew, but his attitude left something to be desired. "I don't like him. If anything I find him to be an ass. And I kinda wanna prove myself to him. I told him I could clear the skies in ten second flat, he pointed out it took me eleven. Since then, I've wanted to prove myself, like I said." she said, flying right next to Gilda so she could hear.
"Sounds like a strict coach. He'd be perfect for you, Dash." replied the gryphon.
"For the last time, I don't like him!" Dash growled. Gilda just laughed over the wind and began her descent towards the Library. As the pair went towards the door, they saw a doctor emerge.
"... sorry to say, Dusk, but it seems like that kind of problem can't fix itself. You'll have to find a way.. I recommend looking as soon as possible. Perhaps the Princesses will know. I wish I had better news." he said, stepping out into the porch. Dusk followed with his shirt undone, showing off the cross-scar on his chest.
"Thank you for letting me know, doctor. If anything, I consider this to be more of an embarrassment than anything else." the unicorn replied. The doctor just nodded quietly and tipped his hat before departing. "Goodbye, doctor." he said before closing the door. Dash and Gilda landed from the balcony to the porch.
"What was that all about?" said Gilda. Dash looked at the door with worrying eyes.
"I don't know." she said. Noticing Dash's concern, Gilda took her hand out from her jeans pocket and patted the pegasus' back.
"I see it takes a Gryphon for you to actually use the door instead of making holes in the walls." a voice said from above. Dusk had leaned over the balcony the girls had hidden on before and had heard every word.
"So you're the famous Dusk Shine, Dash's been tellin' me about?" Gilda spoke up.
"What are the chances of there being two Dusk Shine's in one small town?" Dusk replied, curling his finger for them to enter the Library. As he left the balcony to go inside, Gilda looked to Dash.
"You're right, he is an ass." she said. Dash just chuckled and followed her in, closing the door afterward.
"Dusk, this is Gilda, my best friend from 'Flight School'." Dash introduced Gilda to Dusk.
"I figured. It's odd that a Gryphon would choose an Equestrian flight school. Are you part of the exchange?" he asked. Gilda pocketed her hands and shrugged.
"Yeah, someone had to look good there." she replied, showing a laid back attitude. She'd planned to impress Dusk, but he had a pokerface that would make a painting jealous.
"I see why Dash thinks very highly of you." he said, crossing his arms.
"So, how'd you get the scar?" Gilda asked. Dash gulped as she knew where this was going to go. She'd forgotten to tell Gilda never to mention the scar. She gave Dusk an apologetic look before realising that his angry look was directed at her and not Gilda. Clearly, he knew this line of questioning was her fault too.
"Doing something dangerous?" he replied flatly. The room went colder, to Dash anyway.
"Fall on a table stand or something?" the Gryphon asked.
"Or something." he replied.
"Gilda, it would be best not to mention the scars." Dash said, giving Dusk the chance to button up his shirt.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because Big Macintosh, one of my friend's brothers who's like, twice as big as you, is still recovering from the hospital treatment after last month." Dash replied.
"So he's strong?" the gryphon asked. Rainbow Dash just facepalmed and groaned into her hand.
"Yes, he's strong. He fought with the Captain of the Royal guard on a daily basis before he came here." she replied. It was then that she remembered what the doctor had said before. "By the way, Dusk. Is there something wrong with your health? The doctor seemed pretty... sympathetic." she asked. Dusk's eye twitched slightly.
"Scar related problem. Say no more on the matter." he threatened. Dash raised her hands in submission.
"Alright, alright. I know better than to mess with you. You're clearly in a bad mood, so we'll just be going now. I'll come by later to check up on you. Remember we've got that playdate thing tonight." she said, pushing Gilda towards the door.
"Playdate, huh?" Gilda began to tease.
"I told you, I don't like him, it's a Royal decree that he has to make friends and me and my friends have been tasked to try and make that happen." she replied. Dusk closed the door behind them and sighed.
"Thanks for captioning my nightmare." he groaned. Looking at his archive, he began to take out the books relating to magical suppressants. He had some work to do.
Left to her own devices, Gilda decided to take a little stroll downtown. And oh, was she a naughty little pigeon. Fluttershy was a victim of verbal abuse and Pinkie Pie, the pony everyone loved (with the obvious Lavender exception), had been downright bullied. The entire town was in an uproar about it. With Rainbow Dash nowhere in sight, it was the town's word against her oldest friend's, and Dash's Loyalties could be called into question in a situation like this.
Everypony who cared gathered in the town hall to discuss the situation.
"We have to do something about her, she's terrorising the town. We'd chase her off if she wasn't an exchange student." said Carrot-top. Some of the ponies agreed with her, muttering a chorus of concurrence.
"It's not as simple as that, she's Rainbow Dash's friend." Derpy argued. Among those that had agreed before, some of them mumbled their resignation at that fact.
"Being a friend of one of the town's heroes is no excuse for her behavior. She has to go!" Lyra countered. More ponies voiced their agreement.
"And how do we expect to get rid of her? We're not exactly the Royal guard, and she's no reindeer." challenged Cheerilee. There was a pregnant pause as everypony considered their options.
"What about Dusk Shine?" a random pony asked. The others looked to Cheerilee for a response.
"Dusk may be a dead end. Gilda's actions aren't affecting his own work or life, so he'll have no reason to fix our problem unless it's one he shares." the Plum teacher replied, putting hand to chin in deep thought.
"There's no harm in asking him." said Carrot-top.
"Please, after a conversation with that stallion, you end up leaving the Library feeling worse than you did when you went in. I asked him to help me with some of the Stallion designs and after he declined, I felt like I needed a cold shower." Rarity argued, waving her hand around as if to dismiss the very notion.
"I'll ask him. He's less likely to say no to me. If that's okay with everypony." Fluttershy piped up. Everypony looked at her, making the shy mare feel very uncomfortable.
Fluttershy knocked timidly on the door. It was barely audible for a wolf to hear, yet somehow, Dusk had heard it. When Fluttershy saw him at the door, he looked a little frazzled to say the least. He was panting, sweating; his mane was all over the place.
"Fluttershy.... what's up?" he asked, out of breath.
"Um.. have I come at a bad time?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yes, but I don't see a better one on the horizon... come in." As he opened the door, Fluttershy was assaulted with the smell of perspiration.
"Have you been working out?" she asked as she sniffed the air, wrinkling her nose at the result. Dusk closed the door and coughed.
"Yeah, kind of. It's a new routine I'm working on. I'm trying to keep all areas of my mind active. That includes the physical, inquisitive and the arcane aspects of the... neo-cortex. So, what can I help you with?" he asked, unusually chipper.
"Um... well that is if you don't mind, Gilda, the Gryphon has been hurting everypony's feelings, as well as their livelihoods. Everypony knows that you're the one to come to if there's trouble beyond our ability to fix." she began. Dusk raised a brow as she poke.
"Not sure I... like that." he said, panting still.
"I'm sorry." she commented.
"Not your fault... so you want me to... what, scold a Gryphon?" he asked.
"Well, Applejack said something else, but I'm not comfortable saying those words." she replied. Before more words could emerge between the two, Trixie entered with a gardening mask and a scented spray can, spraying the room.
"Honestly Master, you really need to find a new exercise regime. It smells like sex in here, and believe me, I've had my fair share of sexual encounters. I was even raped a few times, and it felt great." she boasted. Dusk just stared at her.
"For Celestia's sake, Trixie, Nopony wants to rape you!" Barb asked as she entered from the kitchen, holding a hand towel to her mouth.
"What an awful thing to say!" Trixie commented. Fluttershy was beyond confused. She looked to Dusk for clarification.
"Well I suppose I could use one of your exercise regimes. I always enjoy doing a round of nothing." Dusk said, taking Fluttershy by the arm and leading her up to his room. Fluttershy couldn't get out of that situation with Dusk quick enough.
"Um... what was that all about?" she asked.
"I have no idea. Ever since I turned Barb back into a female dragon the two have been... well you saw for yourself... gayer than my sister, that's for sure." he said.
"You think there's something there?" she asked.
"I hope so. Then Trixie can deal with Barb's snoring. I've had to replace several bed sheets in the last three months because she keeps sending them to Celestia in her sleep." he said.
"That's terrible!" Fluttershy commented.
"Yes, and the bitch never sends them back. Keeps saying Luna steals them for her collection." he grumbled. Fluttershy put a hand to her mouth in surprise.
"Oh, my." she uttered.
"I mean what would Luna want with a collection of my bedsheets?" Dusk asked. Fluttershy raised a brow. Did Dusk really not see what Fluttershy saw? "Anyway, about Gilda," he began. Fluttershy brought her attention to the conversation at hand.
"Will you help?" she asked.
"I'm afraid I can't." he replied. That was not the answer Fluttershy wanted to hear. Her ears drooped slightly.
"Oh."
"You see, this is a personal matter between Gilda and Rainbow Dash. With the touchy relationship between Gryphons and Ponies, it's highly likely that even Rainbow Dash would consider the fact that you would all try to get rid of her by inventing lies. Then Its your word against her's. My input would undoubtedly just help Dash sway over to Gilda's side even more."
"So what should we do?" Fluttershy asked.
"Find Rainbow Dash and plan to have her see how horrible Gilda really is. Then let her decide for herself who to back." he replied.
"But nopony can find Rainbow Dash anywhere." she complained.
"She's bucking clouds for the weather company right now."
"Oh." she said sheepishly. "Hold on, how would you know that?"
"I memorised her weekly schedule. By the way, you've got five minutes before your Angel bunny starts storming the market looking for his Lunch." he replied, looking at his watch. Fluttershy gasped and rushed for the door.
"Okay, thank you Dusk, I'll see you later!" she called as she ran down the stairs and out the Library.
"Right... time to crack Pi." he said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them in anticipation.
Rainbow Dash reached the peak of the atmosphere. Her breath was short and her lungs were hurting No pegasus had been this high up before, but she needed to do this. Sucking in as much air as she could, she dove down towards the ground at full speed, her wings flapping as fast as she could take them. They burned with the excessive force she was putting into each flap. She stuck out her hands towards the front, trying to cut down on wind resistance. The ground was coming up fast and she had to bank before she got too close.
She got too close. She couldn't bank hard enough and she crashed right into Dusk Shine who had taken the time to relax and watch her practice her grandest trick yet. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to perform the trick since she was a filly. The cloud of dirt that surrounded the two was as large as the Library. Dash thought she'd killed the Unicorn when she felt his magic beneath her. She looked down to see him lying on his back with his hands in his pockets. He looked like a fallen statue of himself. He stared at the pegasus suspended in the air by the protective bubble he'd placed around himself at the last second.
"Heheh, sorry Dusk." she said, grinning sheepishly as he just stared back at her with the same grouchy expression on his face. The bubble popped and she came down the last few feet right on top of him.
"You need to bank sooner. Don't wait until the last second. If you don't hit the sound barrier a thousand feet above the ground, then you're in the red. There's no point in getting it a few feet from the ground because it'll be the last thing you ever do. You have to think things through, Dash. The Wonderbolts plan ahead, which is what makes them so astonishing... in some ponies' eyes anyway." he said, shoving her off. Dash sighed and placed her hands against her face.
"I've been at this for weeks and I haven't even come close to doing it. I need this to work if I'm going to impress the Wonderbolts!" she complained.
"Dash, the Sonic Rainboom is a form of Magic unique to you. Forcing the technique only makes it harder to do. You have to let it come out when you genuinely need it." he said.
"I do genuinely need it!" she argued.
"For what purpose?" he asked.
"To impress the Wonderbolts and become that much closer to obtaining my dream." she replied.
"Not good enough." he replied. Dash just slumped in the dirt.
"Then what else is there? What's more powerful than my dream?" she asked.
"Quite a bit, actually. Dreams are fragile things and break easily given the right amount of pressure. Sometimes, when you achieve your dream, it's not what you expected it to be." he replied. Dash sensed Dusk had spoken from experience.
"Did you ever have a dream?" she asked.
"Several in fact Just last night, I dreamt I was Barb having another one of her little tiffs." he replied Dash frowned at the unicorn as he made light of the situation. "Then I awoke to the sound of what I thought was the high pitched screeching of a gaggle of school fillies, but was actually them arguing. It was then I realised I'd dreamt of the argument they were having. So it was more of a nightmare now that I think about it." he said, snapping his fingers. The remnants of the dirt cloud around them blew away from the source of the snap.
"I meant di-."
"I know full well what you meant, Dash; and I'm not inclined to tell you just because you're so willing to share your dream to every pony you see for the first time. If you want to know about a dream, go ask that Scootaloo kid, she looks to you like I look to solitude; as a goal." he said, crossing his arms. Dash got up from the ground and brushed herself off.
"Dusk, I'm worried. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for me to make an impression. Not only that, but the Princesses will be there, and I don't want to fail in front of them of all ponies. Even you should be able to understand that?" she was on the verge of begging for help in her own way. Dusk raised a brow at this.
"Is there anything you want more than being a Wonderbolt?" he asked Dash shook her head. "Fine, then what would you do if you had to choose between your dream, and your friends?" he asked. Dash was stunned.
"Why would I have to choose? Why should I have to choose?" she demanded. Dusk sighed and looked towards his Library window where he saw Barb and Trixie watching the entire argument. He called out to them.
"This is how lesbians should act!" he said, motioning to Dash. "Like strong independent mares who question the unfair things in life. Not Hoity Toity and a mirror!" he added, motioning to the pair.
"Why do you keep placing me in the lesbian category?" Dash complained.
"It's the hair, Dash I can't help it! If the Gay Pride committee found out about you, they'd string you up to a pole and wave you around like a flag." he said, resting his head on his hand. Dash stared at him in confusion.
"God, I hope that's not a euphemism." she said.
"For the stallions, no..." he began. "For the mares... bring protection, just in case." he replied.
"Dusk, was that the doctor I just saw leaving the Library?" Trixie asked as she stepped through the doorway with Barb.
"Yes it was." he replied simply, leaning back into his chair, holding his forehead.
"Is something wrong?" Barb asked.
"No, nothing. I just gave some blood, is all." he replied, showing the bandage on his wrist.
"Don't they usually draw blood from the arm?" Trixie asked.
"Yes, but they couldn't find a vein, and they couldn't get any blood from the left side, my body was being stingy." he said, resting his head back.
"Can I get you something to eat?" asked Barb as she headed for the kitchen.
"Please. Something fatty too, I'd eat a chicken if I could digest it." he said. Trixie followed Barb into the kitchen.
"Something's not right. I've noticed since he moved to Ponyville that his condition has gradually been diminishing. He's not as... strong-minded as he used to be." said Barb.
"I thought it was just me, but you're right. He seems more... Irritable yet less aggressive than before." Trixie replied, showing Barb that she was worried.
"Well we can't confront him about it. He'll never tell under pain of death. We have to wait until he's ready to tell us." said Barb, sighing as she placed a hay sandwich on a plate for Dusk. "Take that out to him would you? I'm going to do another round." she said, handing Trixie the plate. Trixie took it and brought it out to Dusk, but he was already gone.
Cloudsdale stadium was bustling with ponies as competitors and guests alike prepared for the amazing shows they would undoubtedly see this day. Dusk had given Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie the opportunity to watch their friend's performance from the sidelines using the cloud-walking spell, a spell unknown to most unicorns. The five sat on the front lines, watching and waiting for Rainbow Dash to emerge.
"It's strange, I could have sworn she was number two." Rarity began. "Yet twelve have already passed us by. We're up to number thirteen now." she said.
"Rarity, do any of our eyes look cloudy at all?" Dusk asked. Rarity examined her friends' eyes.
"No."
"That's because we're not blind. Rainbow Dash was supposed to be number two, but she's obviously been switching the numbers around, trying to buy time in order to hype herself up." Dusk said, leaning back in his seat. With Rarity shamed, the five sat back and watched the show with differing levels of excitement. Pinkie found each performance more entertaining than the other, Fluttershy watched with quiet enjoyment, Rarity marvelled at the beautiful displays of technique and precision. Applejack silently praised each performer, commenting on a select few stunts that caught her attention. Dusk as one could imagine, crossed one leg over the other, grabbed Applejack's hat and placed it over his head to block out the sunlight as he went to have a quick nap. While Applejack was displeased at the notion of having her hat away from her head during the day, she'd caught on to Dusk's failing condition in the way that he'd cast his spell. Usually, he'd snap his fingers and channel the magic through them, but he seemed sore that morning and used his horn instead.
"This one's gotta be Rainbow Dash, there were only sixteen contestants." Rarity piped up.
"Obviously. She's too proud to lose her nerve." Dusk murmured under Applejack's hat. Sure enough, the rainbow maned pegasus emerged with false determination Those that didn't know her personally would never have known that she had a tinge of self-doubt in her heart. With great speed and ease, she managed to make it through the first few obstacles perfectly, but the last one broke that record. She crashed into a cloud, earning gasps from the audience. Dusk lifted the brim of AJ's hat to look at the now hyperventilating pegasus.
Rainbow Dash didn't know what to do next. her entire routine had been stumped by that last obstacle. Without thinking, she began to rise towards the sun. She flapped as hard as she could. She didn't want to be seen by anypony at that moment. Her resolve was absolute. She'd ignore Dusk's advice about safety. If she didn't impress the Wonderbolts with the Sonic Rainboom, then she had no reason to go on.
Dusk sensed something in Rainbow that drove him to action. He stood up from his seat and passed Applejack her hat back.
"Dusk, what are you doing?" Pinkie asked as the lavender stallion turned around to face his comrades.
"A leap of faith." he replied before pushing out from the edge of the cloud. The girls screamed as their friend just leaped onto the stadium and fell towards the ground. Dusk had his back to the ground. He looked up at the sun. Rainbow Dash was still climbing. He then saw the Wonderbolts leaping into action. They were about to catch him when he called out to them.
"NO!" he yelled. Spitfire and the others looked confused, even behind those goggles. "It's alright. S'all part of the act." he assured them. As the wonderbolts broke off from their rescue attempt, Dusk reached out to Rainbow Dash through his magic.
"Rainbow Dash."
Dash heard her friend's voice ring through her head, a soft and calm voice that didn't seem to belong to Dusk at all. She looked back down to see Dusk was absent from his seat and the other girls looking down towards the ground. She realised what had happened. She abandoned her performance and shot straight down towards the ground. She was going fast, faster than she thought she would have. Within a matter of seconds, she'd reached the stadium. Her friends and the other ponies watching were a blur as their eyes followed her down towards the ground. She saw the Wonderbolts ascent back to the stadium. Why they hadn't bothered to save him, she didn't know. She'd ask Dusk about that afterward.
She quickly began to wonder if she'd even be able to ask Dusk anything after she saw how far she was from him. She straightened her body, stretching every muscle she could. She could feel the wind pushing against her hands, forcing her back, but she endured. Her friend was in danger. She was mere meters away from him. He held out his hand, pointing a finger towards her. As she saw it, her entire world went black and she couldn't even feel herself moving, she couldn't see herself falling.
"Do you want to use the Sonic Rainboom?" Dusk's voice echoed through her mind as if they were in a hall.
"I do!" she called out. Dusk's form, frozen in time suddenly shot towards her, his finger touching her outstretched hand.
"To impress the Wonderbolts, or to save your friend?" his voice echoed in response. Dash then understood the question Dusk had asked the previous day. She'd thought that she had to choose between being a Wonderbolt and losing her friends, or being a friend and losing her dream. But it wasn't that. It was simply a matter of why she needed the Rainboom, for the flashy show that impressed the Wonderbolts, or for the speed required to catch her friend and save his life.
"I want to save my friend, I need to save my friend. I wouldn't be who I am without my friends, and you... you give me the freedom to learn the things I need to know to be a better pony as well as flyer." she said. Dusk nodded, his frozen form receding back to its previous place.
"Your dream requires a level of loyalty which you will learn alongside me, Rainbow Dash. You are loyal, but that is not enough. You need to understand that Dreams can be made as easily as a snap of the fingers, but Friends are unique. There may be similarities, but there will never be another pony like you or me, or Pinkie Pie, or Rarity, Fluttershy or Applejack." Dash began to break out of the darkness which held the two and she could feel the wind again. It was as if Dusk had pulled them out of time and space to have this conversation and they were slowly seeping back into reality. Dash's resolve was stronger than ever. She'd do the Sonic Rainboom or die trying, all in order to save her friend who had faith in her.
Dusk smiled as he saw the air begin to bend around Rainbow Dash. He reached both arms out to her as if to say 'come on, you'll succeed with me'. The air began to give and give and give. The space around Dash warped slightly and with a thunderous sound and a flurry of colour, she burst through the sound barrier. A circular wave of colour radiated outward in rainbow that stunned all who saw it.
As they were quickly approaching the ground, Dash grabbed hold of Dusk in a tight embrace and began to arc upward. She could feel him holding her in return. She admitted, it felt nice to have him embracing her.
"Well done." she heard him say over the sound of the air rushing past. She smiled as she squeezed Dusk tightly and flew back up towards the stadium. She went past it and flew directly over, creating a strong rainbow overhead for all to see.
That night, Rainbow Dash returned home after a day spent with her idols, the Wonderbolts. She was practically swooning through the door like a lovestruck filly. She'd had the best day. But it had to come to an end, as all good things did. She lit the lantern in her living room and turned around to see Dusk sitting in a cloud chair with one leg crossed over the other and his hands clasped together. Dash was startled to say the least.
"Geez, Dusk. What the hell?" she asked, not entirely disturbed by the fact that he'd broken into her home.
"Forgive me, I don't want to seem like a stalker or anything," he began.
"Too late there, pal." Dash chimed in. Dusk smirked and sighed in amusement.
"I'm here for two reasons, primarily to avoid Barb and Trixie as I think they're worried about my latest doctor's appointment even though I specifically said I was just getting a blood test." he said. Dash chuckled and placed her new scarf (a gift from Spitfire) on her coat rack beside her Winter Wrap-up vest.
"And the second?" she asked.
Dusk took the liberty of uncrossing his legs and standing up, closing the distance between them as he spoke. "While there's no doubt in my mind that you're overly proud of your achievement, given your upbringing, I doubt you've had many an encounter where somepony else was proud of you. So the other reason I came was to tell you how Proud I am of you and what you've achieved." he said. Dash was stunned. Dusk never took pride in anything or anyone. Even his apprentice's achievements were met with little more than an approving nod or statement. This was a big deal for Rainbow Dash. She looked up at him.
"You're... proud of me?" she asked, her throat beginning to lock.
"Yes." Dusk replied simply. Rainbow Dash placed her hand to her mouth as she felt tears of joy welling up. Dusk was right when he noted very few had ever been proud of her. The last pony to do so had been her father before he died.
"I'd best be going now." he said, heading for the door. As he opened it, without a thought, Dash grabbed Dusk's arm and pulled him back. Dusk was ever so elegantly flung around where he stopped to meet Rainbow Dash's lips with his own. He was stunned for a moment, but as he felt her need for this, he reciprocated and pulled her closer. Dash shut the door before the two of them began to move into the next room, Dash's bedroom.
Dash was gently thrown onto her back on the bed, stripped down to her underwear with shirtless Dusk kneeling over her on all fours. Both of them were breathing heavily in anticipation for the following event. Just as Dash thought her day couldn't get any better, than her night brought along a thrilling climax. She could see a faint glint of red in both of Dusk's eyes as he eyed her like a predator eyed its prey. She called him on it.
"Your eyes... there's a hunger to them. They don't belong to Dusk Shine." she said. Dusk just reached down and kissed her one more time.
"I don't plan on acting like Dusk Shine tonight." he said, reaching one hand down to her bra. He ripped it off like an animal and Dash grinned in response. She hadn't realised until this moment that she'd wanted this to happen ever since she'd met him. He was a bad boy, of that there was no doubt.
"Can I expect some strange sexy magic stuff to happen?" she asked. Dusk grinned at her.
"If you're lucky, I'll give you the horn." he mused. Dash just barked a single laugh before she felt Dusk's fingers tracing the edge of her panties.
"Have you ever done this before?" she asked him.
"A few times. The mares in the Royal guard had a habit of... convincing me to spend the night with them." he replied. Dash was thankful that he told her the truth.
"Well then maybe you can show me how it's done?" she teased, taking his hand and making him pull away at her final garment.
Dusk looked down at the naked cerulean virgin beneath him. At that moment, he didn't care about friendship or his work. He just wanted Dash all to himself. He surrendered to his baser instincts and shut off his brain. He felt himself throbbing for release as Rainbow Dash locked her eyes to his own and pulled at his zipper. His penis fell through the slit in his underwear and jeans and smacked Dash's belly. She began to shiver with anticipation as she felt it harden and slide down to position itself before her heated nethers.
"I'm ready." she said. Dusk's eyes glowed with anticipation as like a battering ram, his head struck Dash's hot, tight and welcoming sex. Like a foal with a present, he tore into her without a moment's hesitation. Dash was in pain, but it felt so good. She wanted more from him. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him further in, ignoring the pain that his length brought her. Dusk didn't hold back. He pushed himself in as far as he could go and Dash couldn't help but scream in pain as his head pushed through her cervix. She could feel herself bleeding, but it only served to slick his member and her insides, allowing for easier access, and the sounds made turned them both on more and more.
After twenty minutes, they were still at it. Dusk had used his magic to sprout a pair or arms from his shoulders to suspend him above Dash while his real hands were being used to rub Dash's Breasts. But Still she wanted more, she needed more. She was going to get all she could out of what was easily the best day of her life. She took one of Dusk's hands and proceeded to suck on his index finger. Shen she thought it was wet enough, she then brought his hand down to where he was pleasing her and rested his fingertip against her anus.
Dusk knew where this was going and he didn't hesitate to comply with her demand. Dash couldn't help but moan positive feedback as she was penetrated and pleasured entirely. A further ten minutes on and Dusk decided to show her how good he was with magic. He used it to twist his tail around until it was as solid as his penis. Using his magic to guide said tail, he added more magic to open a path through Dash's anus. She screamed in delight as the tough hair did wonders Dusk's fingers just couldn't.
"Oh, Dusk, I'm gonna cum, I'm gonna cum!" she started to say. Dusk abandoned all else but the use of his penis as he picked up the pace and intensity with which he moved. Dash threw her arms out to the sides and dug into the cloud as she felt herself approaching the climax. With another burst of magic, Dusk found himself filling Dash's womb at the same time She'd reached her orgasm. Dash stifled a scream as she felt her partner fill her up. The sensation was beyond words for the both of them. Dash felt as though she'd lost her stomach freefalling for the first time, whereas Dusk felt as though all his problems had been evacuated through his penis along with the semen.
The two of them stayed where they were for a moment, panting. Their minds were numb. It felt too good to pull out, but they knew it would feel even better when he did. Reluctantly, Dusk slid his tired member out of Dash's deflowered sex. The release felt fantastic. A pool of white flowed out from inside of her and it was a sight to behold. Against Dash's fur, it was like watching a new kind of birth of a cloud in the blue sky. The white cloud of ejaculate became diluted as Dash's blood turned it pink.
"Thank you." Dash said with heavy eyes. The animalistic glint in Dusk's eyes had vanished and he was his old self again. He leaned down and kissed Dash before using his magic to isolate the semen and remove it from the bed. He then grabbed Dash's covers and tucked her in. By then, she was out like a light.
Dusk stood over her with a ball of bloody semen hovering in his magic aura. With a quick spell, he teleported the ball over the Eastern lake. He then leant over Dash again, placed a hand over her head, brushing back her mane and pressed his lips to hers. She kissed him back in her sleep and moaned happily. He reluctantly broke the kiss and smiled.
"You're welcome." His timing was perfect. His cloud-walking spell wore off a single second after he'd spoken and he fell through the cloud. He only fell a few feet before he teleported himself back to his Library, landing with a slightly loud thud in the middle of the living room. Barb and Trixie had huddled by the fire in a romantic setting when Dusk had arrived.
"Shit!" the pair let out as they spun around to confront the intruder. Dusk looked at them giving him evil glares.
"There's the look of a pair of lesibans. Angry at every male that passes by." Dusk said before casually wandering off to his bedroom to sleep.
"Night girls." he called out. Barb and Trixie were left to wonder just what the hell had happened.
Dash banged repeatedly on the doors of the Library, her frustration showing in the weakening of the hinges. Barb hurried over to the door to let the frantic Pegasus in. Without a word, Dash zoomed up to Dusk's room and slammed the door shut. Curious, the pair, Barb and Trixie ventured upstairs to investigate the matter As soon as they opened the door, Dash kicked it shut.
"Go away guys, private business!" Dash said through the door.
"But Dash, you can't just-"
"I said PISS OFF!!" she screamed back at them. The pair were unsure what to do. Trixie turned to her draconian partner.
"Must be that time of the month." she said, defending their integrity. Barb agreed wholeheartedly and went with Trixie downstairs to finish off breakfast.
Dash listened through the door to make sure they were out of earshot. When she was certain they weren't being listened in on, she turned to Dusk who sat up from his bed and looked at her.
"Okay, so Dusk, I gotta know, did you tell anypony about last night?" she demanded.
"Dash, I just woke up. Thank you very much by the way." he replied sarcastically. Dash's ears folded back slightly. She didn't think this far ahead.
"Look, Dusk, while I admit that last night was... the best night of my life, I'm not ready to tell the others about it." she said.
"Fair enough." he replied. Dash took a big sigh of relief and fell to her knees.
"Thank you." she said, looking him in the eyes afterward. "Also, I have to know," she began again. Dusk raised a brow in response, waiting for the question to come. "What was it to you?" she asked.
"I don't understand the question." he said.
"I mean, what was last night to you? Where does that put us in our relationship? Are we still friends, or are we something more? Are we lovers, are we an item not made public yet?" she asked. Dusk understood where she was going with this line of questioning. While he had the answer in his head, he found it difficult to say. He then began to wonder exactly what the answer was as he lost his grip on it.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know. How about we meet half way?" he suggested. Dash seemed confused but went for a shot in the dark.
"You mean like friends with benefits?" she asked. Dusk nodded.
"Exactly. To tell you the truth, I needed last night more than anything. The stress has been building up ever since I moved here and last night made for an excellent... release. Until we sort it out, it would be best to call it a mutually beneficial arrangement between two friends." he said. Dash didn't get most of that, but she understood that the situation could work for the both of them for the time being.
"What if one of us wants to take it further?" she asked. Dusk pondered the thought.
"It can't go any further until we've both decided to do so. I need some time to think things through." he said. Dash realises she was pushing the issue and decided to back down for the time being.
"I understand. But please, don't let last night ruin our friendship. I'd rather have that with you than nothing at all." she said before leaving the room. Dusk considered her words carefully. He knew that he cared about Rainbow Dash, especially after last night, but something was stopping him.
He didn't want to bother thinking about it so early in the morning and decided to store it in his mind for later. As he went to get out of bed, he felt a slight rumbling under foot. Curious, he rushed to get his clothes on and hurried downstairs, Trixie and Barb met him before he got to the door.
"Either of you have an idea as to what that is?" he asked.
"No, you?"
"No."
The three of them hurried out of the Library and saw everypony scurrying for their homes. Dusk spotted Derpy flying overhead.
"Derpy, what's happening?" he called out. Derpy, being the pony she was, found herself focused on the pony that had addressed her and began to bank towards him. The inevitable happened and she crashed into Dusk, knocking him back into the Library where she landed on top of him, lips locked. Dusk took a second to process the situation and quickly shoved her off.
"I ask again," he said as he wiped his mouth clean of the saliva exchanged between them.
"It's a stampede. The cows are rampaging." she said, seeming to forget that she'd just kissed him. Dusk rushed to the doorway and pulled the dragon and her partner inside, slamming the door shut afterward with a kick of his foot.
Applejack ran alongside the cows, her dog Winona rallying them on the other side. Together, the pony and the dog worked towards changing the stampede's trajectory. It worked just in the nick of time.
After a small discussion with the cows, regarding their promise not to stampede towards Ponyville again, Applejack entered the small town receiving praise from everypony.
"Well Done, Applejack. It's acts like those that kick those Elitist Nobles in the ego regarding Unicorn Superiority." Dusk said as he stepped out of the Library.
"Thanks Dusk. Ah'll admit, it does me proud ta think Ah've proven nobility wrong, but Ah can't afford to spend too much time and energy controllin' stampedes." she replied.
"Oh? Why's that? I know your orchard comes first, but you and your brother usually get it done by Lunch." he enquired.
"That's just it. Big Macintosh hurt his back yesterday and Ah'm takin' over buckin' the whole orchard until he gets better. It's gonna take up most of mah time." she replied.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. If you want, I could pay for Mac to have a spa day. Rarity tells me that Aloe and Lotus have a therapeutic section for strained muscles and workplace injuries." he said. Applejack smiled at Dusk but shook her head.
"Thanks anyway sugarcube, but the Apple family ain't ever taken charity from anypony. Ah suppose you could always ask Big Mac, but Ah'm pretty sure he'll give ya the same answer." she replied. Dusk shrugged.
"I'll take your word for it. But are you sure you can take on the entire field?" he asked. Applejack became defensive at the drop of a dime.
"Are ya sayin' Ah can't do mah job?" she asked very quietly.
"Everypony has limits Applejack, and that's a massive orchard. To my recollection, you've never tended the whole thing before, Big Mac's always been there to help." he replied.
"Ah can handle it!" she challenged.
"There's a fine line between Pride and Stubbornness, Applejack. Tending an orchard that size without rest is foolish even by your standards. It'll tire you out quickly and will begin to affect your social life. It's a potential hazard to your friends." he warned.
"And what would y'all know about friends? You've done nothin' but complain about our efforts to try and help you learn. Don't go talkin' ta me about friendship. If Celestia hadn't ordered it, none of us would have cared enough ta even get ta know ya." she snapped. There was a pregnant pause in the air between them as they looked at each other. One expressionless save the red glint in his eyes and the other horrified at what she'd just said.
"D-Dusk... Ah'm sorry, Ah didn't mean-."
"I'd offer to help you out with the Orchard myself, but I have to go to Canterlot for the week in order to get some... information regarding a personal issue. And something tells me your pride would prevent me from helping you anyway." he said. As he turned to leave, the two of them heard a hissing sound from underfoot. Applejack looked down to see a snake about to bite her leg, but a violet aura caught the python and lifted it up into the air. With great force, the snake was unable to bend at as far as Dusk had forced it to and its neck snapped. The reptile fell to the ground at her feet, void of any life it had before.
"I don't waste my time when learning. I don't fail my assignments to the Princess and above all else, I don't disappoint those I care about. Consider that last one while I'm gone." he said, leaving her standing where she was. The ponies that had gone to congratulate her on shifting the stampede decided that after that argument, they'd missed their chance. Winona walked up to Applejack and whined sympathetically at her. Applejack looked at her dog and smiled at her.
"Mah mouth's runnin' without me, Winny. Ah may have just lost a friend, and failed the Princess all in one day." she said.
Luna greeted her sister's Student at the front gates to the castle. She'd not seen him since her reintroduction back into society. As such, she could not contain herself.
"Princess Luna, I-Oof!" Dusk was knocked to the ground in an unceremonious fashion. Luna dove for the poor unicorn and managed to harpoon him to the ground. "Dusk!" she exclaimed, failing to hide her excitement. Dusk was winded and thus appeared unconscious. "OH NO, WE KILLED HIM! DO NOT GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT DUSK SHINE, STAY WITH US!" she began to yell at the peak of her voice, shaking him madly. Dusk could say nothing as his lungs struggled to work under the force of the tackle as well as the constant movement they were suffering. His face turned blue as his head was shaken free of blood. With what little sense of reasoning he had left, he reached a hand to Luna and rested it on her outstretched arm, making her stop her assault.
"Oh, you're alive! Thank goodness. I don't know what I would have done if you'd died." she began to cry into his shirt. Dusk could only manage a groan, which was what he'd been aiming at. He was annoyed.
--Half an hour later--
"Princess, while I appreciate your enthusiasm towards my visit, I'm actually here to see Princess Celestia. I have a rather personal matter I need to discuss with her." Dusk said as he brushed himself off.
"A pity, we would have very much liked to have spent some time with thee. Unfortunately, your visit has been in vain, Dusk Shine. Our sister is not presently in Equestria, she is away negotiating a potential break in the treaty between two rival nations. We do not know when she will be back." said the princess.
"Shit!" Dusk blurted out, throwing his head forward to look ahead. Luna ignored his verbal indecency and continued on as if he'd said nothing.
"Perhaps we could be of some assistance, things could not have changed so much in a thousand years." she offered.
"You'd think so. But I'm afraid that only your sister can help, and no offense, Princess, but she's been at this a lot longer and she'd undoubtedly have the advice I need." he argued.
"Sometimes a fresh but outdated perspective is what's needed, Dusk Shine. The Old ways are always the best ways, tradition breeds happiness." she countered. Her words drove Dusk to surrender to her.
"It's a rather private matter, can we talk about it somewhere secluded?" he asked. Luna nodded and led him to the Throne room. Guards were stationed at strategic points around the room, but were dismissed by the lunar princess.
"Now, what is your trouble, Dusk Shine?" the alicorn asked, taking a seat at her throne. Dusk stood before her, looking for the right words.
"It's a matter of... romantic interest." he began, earning the perked ear of his admirer.
"Oh? And who is this pony you've taken a fancy to? she asked, beginning to look for the slightest hint that she was the subject of his romantic feelings.
"That's the problem, Princess. I don't know." he replied. Luna was slightly confused by his choice of words.
"Some elaboration is required, my friend." she said.
"Well... Over the past few months, I've been developing my friendships with those in Ponyville, and I consider the other Hosts of the Elements of Harmony to be the best friends I ever had, sans Barb of course, she's like a sister to me." he began.
"Yes, and where are you going with this friendship talk, Dusk Shine?" she asked.
"Last night, after Rainbow Dash won the young flyers competition that you and Princess Celestia attended, I visited her home to congratulate her personally."
"Yes, you were her coach prior to the event, if I'm not mistaken. Go on." she said.
"Well, I didn't factor in her past history with others and as I mentioned how proud I was of her, we... entered into a physical relationship." he concluded.
Luna's ears dropped like anchors. "Oh... I see." she said, looking and sounding greatly disappointed. "So you're i-in love with R-r-rainbow Dash then?" she asked. At this point it was just going to be torture for the heart-broken princess.
"That's just it; I don't know. For whatever reason, I don't feel more strongly about her than I do the others. And I was wondering if it was possible for one to be in love with multiple ponies." he said Luna's eyes began to water and she didn't bother hiding them. "Princess, is something wrong?" Dusk enquired, finally noticing his friend's pain. Luna clutched at her heart with one hand, and cupped her mouth with the other. As Dusk went to kneel down before the Princess to see if she was alright, she threw herself at him, trapping him in her arms and quieting him with her lips. Dusk was stunned as Princess Luna poured her passion towards him into the kiss. He had to admit, it felt nice. An Alicorn's lips were so different to a Pegasus'. Dash's had been rough and unwavering, just like her personality. Luna's however brought on the sense of true love and devotion. Her lips were soft, but powerful, just like her.
As Dusk closed his eyes to allow the sudden invasion of privacy, an image flashed in his mind that brought him back to reality. He quickly pushed the Princess back, startling her into letting him go. While Luna was hurt and dumbstruck, her eyes widened at the taller figure standing right behind her love.
"S-sister..." Luna let out, her veins going cold at the extremely angry look displayed on the Solar Princess' usually expressionless face.
"Dusk, your auditorium, immediately." Celestia said with absolutely bone-chilling and ball-shrivelling calmness. Dusk complied, though not for the reasons Luna would have had she been asked to go somewhere.
--A minute later--
Celestia closed the door behind her and locked it, sealing Dusk and herself in the student's old room/study.
"What happened, how long did you kiss her for?" Celestia began her interrogation, bearing down on the unfaltering Unicorn.
"Nothing happened, she kissed me, and it only lasted a few seconds before I realised what was going on and shoved her away. Don't worry, Luna's not in any danger. The same cannot be said for my friends." Celestia's eyes went wide as her mind ventured to the worst possible scenario.
The following day, Ponyville was growing sicker and sicker thanks to the cupcakes Pinkie had made with the questionable aid of Applejack who was looking worse for wear due to her unending assault on her orchard. Half of Ponyville had been bed-ridden, including some foals and fillies. Even Pinkie herself had gone to the hospital to get checked on She was greener than Barb's frills.
With the absence of Dusk Shine, it fell to Trixie to come up with a magical based cure.
"Haven't you found anything yet?" Barb asked, wiping the forehead of a sick pony.
"Don't rush me, you cheating slut." Trixie called back.
"I was not cheating! Saying that I was 'more than happy to help' to another mare does not constitute cheating. In case you haven't noticed, I've an occupation as an Assistant, and in the Absence of Dusk, I'm left with idle hands Goodness knows I can't help you because you don't do anything." Barb argued.
"I do plenty." Trixie retorted.
"Name one thing you've done aside from this. You can't because you've done nothing!" Barb snapped. Trixie just looked at her partner, snapped the book shut and made her way for the exit.
"I'm just going to do nothing outside!" she said, trying to hold back the blubbering, but ultimately failed. Barb just sighed and looked to the patient she was helping.
"I never know when I'm going too far... But I'm oh so glad when I do." she said. The pony being treated just stared at the dragoness.
"You two need therapy." he commented.
While Ponyville tried its best to recover from the disaster, Applejack had just bucked her last tree. By now she looked crazier than Rarity would if she'd been told her designs sucked. Her mane and tail both were dishevelled to the point where their respective hair ties had gone missing somewhere in the Applefield. Even her usually solid Stetson had slumped as a physical symbolisation of how tired she was.
"A-Ah did it? Ah did it! WHOO~WEE! I bucked the entire Apple field!!!" she began to cheer as loud as she could.
"Nnnope." the voice of her brother startled her, and the word cut her off short of using a Pinkie Cannon. Big Mac pointed her sister to the other half of the field and her jaw hit the ground.
"B-but the... Ah just... y-you... Aw crap!" she stuttered, falling on her back in exhaustion.
--7 hours later--
Applejack woke up to find the stars glimmering through the loose boards in her family's barn. She'd slept the remainder of the day away. She felt the straw beneath her body and feared the worst. She'd been relieved of her responsibility.
"Oh no!" she said, beginning to sit up. She stopped as she saw the other half of the field's apples in dozens of apple buckets before her. What surprised her the most was how Dusk sat on the edge of one, his head resting on his hand which rested on his knee. He'd been watching her sleep. She hoped to Celestia that she hadn't said anything while she was out.
"You know, you and Rainbow Dash snore exactly the same way. It took me a while to figure out that the sound was her relaxing on a cloud, given the fact that it always came from somewhere different every day. But imagine my surprise when I see you passed out like you'd taken a coconut to the head, and that same sound, albeit with a different tone, comes out of your mouth." he said Applejack couldn't help but blush. She always hated the fact that she snored, but nopony knew that.
What's yer point?" she asked slightly defensively.
"No point, just making idle conversation; that's what friends do, right?" he asked. Applejack never thought a smile could be frightening, but a smile from Dusk was like seeing a Cheshire grin in the Everfree forest.
"Did you buck all these apples?" she asked. Dusk snapped his fingers and an apple floated into his hand. He took a bite from it and took a few moments to chew it and swallow.
"I picked them. There was a lot of science that went into the process. I made a mental map of where they all were and just pulled with my magic. I may have missed one or two, but they'll just be a little surprise for the CMC tomorrow. They wanted to go forest hunting, but I convinced them to try orchard hunting first, you know, the basics. To answer your question, yes, I did all this for you. I believe that's also what friends do." he said.
"So... we're cool?" she asked. Dusk tossed the apple to her which she caught without thinking. The apple zapped her, one of Dusk's magical charges surging through her body.
"We're cool." he said, smiling again. "But as for the rest of Ponyville... I suggest you board up your room for the next few weeks. Don't worry though, you've still got a couple of days until the mass sickness wears off."
"Oh no!" she said, hanging her head. Dusk just chuckled, unnerving Applejack for the second time in under a minute.
"Don't worry. I'll make them see reason. After all, the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to you." he said. Applejack blushed red and she wished now more than ever that she had her Stetson with her.
"W-where's mah hat?" she asked, stuttering slightly.
"At home, being washed. You wore it and yourself out Looked more like a hood when I picked it up." he replied.
"Thank ya, Dusk... for everything. And Ah'm sorry for what Ah said to ya yesterday, Ah didn't mean it." she said.
"You meant every word, Applejack. You're the host of the Element of Honesty, you always speak your heart."
"And look where that got me." she argued.
"It got you some shut-eye, the orchard is next to empty, and you have somepony standing before you who wants to be your friend. So tell me honestly, how do you feel about me?" he said.
Applejack looked up at him and stared into his Amethyst eyes. She knew exactly how she felt, but she couldn't put it into words. She tried for the closest thing to it and found what she was looking for. With a deep breath, she looked him straight in the eye and...
Luna greeted her sister's Student at the front gates to the castle. She'd not seen him since her reintroduction back into society. As such, she could not contain herself.
"Princess Luna, I-Oof!" Dusk was knocked to the ground in an unceremonious fashion. Luna dove for the poor unicorn and managed to harpoon him to the ground.
"Dusk!" she exclaimed, failing to hide her excitement. Dusk was winded and thus appeared unconscious. "OH NO, WE KILLED HIM! DO NOT GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT DUSK SHINE, STAY WITH US!" she began to yell at the peak of her voice, shaking him madly. Dusk could say nothing as his lungs struggled to work under the force of the tackle as well as the constant movement they were suffering. His face turned blue as his head was shaken free of blood. With what little sense of reasoning he had left, he reached a hand to Luna and rested it on her outstretched arm, making her stop her assault.
"Oh, you're alive! Thank goodness. I don't know what I would have done if you'd died." she began to cry into his shirt. Dusk could only manage a groan, which was what he'd been aiming at. He was annoyed.
--Half an hour later--
"Princess, while I appreciate your enthusiasm towards my visit, I'm actually here to see Princess Celestia. I have a rather personal matter I need to discuss with her." Dusk said as he brushed himself off.
"A pity, we would have very much liked to have spent some time with thee. Unfortunately, your visit has been in vain, Dusk Shine. Our sister is not presently in Equestria, she is away negotiating a potential break in the treaty between two rival nations. We do not know when she will be back." said the princess.
"Shit!" Dusk blurted out, throwing his head forward to look ahead. Luna ignored his verbal indecency and continued on as if he'd said nothing.
"Perhaps we could be of some assistance, things could not have changed so much in a thousand years." she offered.
"You'd think so. But I'm afraid that only your sister can help, and no offense, Princess, but she's been at this a lot longer and she'd undoubtedly have the advice I need." he argued.
"Sometimes a fresh but outdated perspective is what's needed, Dusk Shine. The Old ways are always the best ways, tradition breeds happiness." she countered. Her words drove Dusk to surrender to her.
"It's a rather private matter, can we talk about it somewhere secluded?" he asked. Luna nodded and led him to the Throne room. Guards were stationed at strategic points around the room, but were dismissed by the lunar princess.
"Now, what is your trouble, Dusk Shine?" the alicorn asked, taking a seat at her throne. Dusk stood before her, looking for the right words.
"It's a matter of... romantic interest." he began, earning the perked ear of his admirer.
"Oh? And who is this pony you've taken a fancy to? she asked, beginning to look for the slightest hint that she was the subject of his romantic feelings.
"That's the problem, Princess. I don't know." he replied. Luna was slightly confused by his choice of words.
"Some elaboration is required, my friend." she said.
"Well... Over the past few months, I've been developing my friendships with those in Ponyville, and I consider the other Hosts of the Elements of Harmony to be the best friends I ever had, sans Barb of course, she's like a sister to me." he began.
"Yes, and where are you going with this friendship talk, Dusk Shine?" she asked.
"Last night, after Rainbow Dash won the young flyers competition that you and Princess Celestia attended, I visited her home to congratulate her personally."
"Yes, you were her coach prior to the event, if I'm not mistaken. Go on." she said.
"Well, I didn't factor in her past history with others and as I mentioned how proud I was of her, we... entered into a physical relationship." he concluded.
Luna's ears dropped like anchors. "Oh... I see." she said, looking and sounding greatly disappointed. "So you're i-in love with R-r-rainbow Dash then?" she asked. At this point it was just going to be torture for the heart-broken princess.
"That's just it; I don't know. For whatever reason, I don't feel more strongly about her than I do the others. And I was wondering if it was possible for one to be in love with multiple ponies." he said Luna's eyes began to water and she didn't bother hiding them.
"Princess, is something wrong?" Dusk enquired, finally noticing his friend's pain. Luna clutched at her heart with one hand, and cupped her mouth with the other. As Dusk went to kneel down before the Princess to see if he was alright, she threw herself at him, trapping him in her arms and quieting him with her lips. Dusk was stunned as Princess Luna poured her passion towards him into the kiss. He had to admit, it felt nice. An Alicorn's lips were so different to a Pegasus'. Dash's had been rough and unwavering, just like her personality. Luna's however brought on the sense of true love and devotion. Her lips were soft, but powerful, just like her.
As Dusk closed his eyes to allow the sudden invasion of privacy, an image flashed in his mind that brought him back to reality. He quickly pushed the Princess back, startling her into letting him go. While Luna was hurt and dumbstruck, her eyes widened at the taller figure standing right behind her love.
"S-sister..." Luna let out, her veins going cold at the extremely angry look displayed on the Solar Princess' usually expressionless face.
"Dusk, your auditorium, immediately." Celestia said with absolutely bone-chilling and ball-shrivelling calmness. Dusk complied, though not for the reasons Luna would have had she been asked to go somewhere.
--A minute later--
Celestia closed the door behind her and locked it, sealing Dusk and herself in the student's old room/study.
"What happened, how long did you kiss her for?" Celestia began her interrogation, bearing down on the unfaltering Unicorn.
"Nothing happened, she kissed me, and it only lasted a few seconds before I realised what was going on and shoved her away. Don't worry, Luna's not in any danger. The same cannot be said for my friends." Celestia's eyes went wide as her mind ventured to the worst possible scenario.
"What happened?" she said as calmly as she could.
"I slept with Rainbow Dash." he replied.
"But did you feel anything?" Celestia pressed.
"No, nothing more than what I've been feeling for the others." he replied. Celestia decided to inspect the situation She unbuttoned the first few buttons on Dusk's shirt and inspected his scar. She was horrified.
"What is this?! Where'd this other scar come from?" she demanded.
"From my encounter with Nightmare Moon here in the castle." he replied.
"The seal's been damaged, Dusk... you're returning to your old self." she said matter-of-factly. Dusk sighed and stepped back from the princess, buttoning up his shirt again.
"I don't want to go back. But what's worse is that I want to love my friends." he said, looking his teacher in the eye.
"Dusk, we've all spent the past thirteen years pretending that nothing happened. All that will have been in vain if you return to your old self. Unfortunately, I can't risk performing the seal again. It nearly killed you the last time." she said.
"Princess, the problem isn't if you can perform the seal, it's if I want you to. Like I said before, I want to know what love is like, and I can't do that with the seal. I'm sick of pretending. I feel the slightest semblance of shame every time I tell my sister I love her, because she smiles at me and all I see is pain because she knows it's not true."
Celestia closed her eyes and held her hand to her forehead in frustration. She didn't know what to do.
"Dusk, I'm sorry to say that you'll never know what love feels like. You've got a few years at best." she said with as much solemnity as Dusk had emptiness.
"So you know about that then?"
"Of course I do. I gave the doctors explicit instructions to inform me of any problems with your health after you used the Elements of Harmony. I knew you would absorb the residual magic instead of letting it flow out into the others. Even without emotions, you always wanted to help others and protect them. You'd have made an excellent guard had I not taken you as my student." she replied.
Dusk stood still, mentally mulling over the dust on the floor. The place hadn't been touched since he'd left. Celestia knew that he would have never seen the Auditorium again and she wanted to keep it perfectly preserved from the last time he'd been healthy. This room was to be a tribute.
"And why did you choose me as your student? You knew who I was, what I could become." he asked, looking her in the eyes again to find them watering.
"Isn't it obvious? Like my sister, I fall in love with ponies who possess power. But not just for the sake of having power, but for the potential to use it for great things. I hoped against hope that you would not suffer from the effects of the elements. I hoped that for once you would not be predictable and let the others absorb some of the magic, not all of it, but enough so as it wouldn't kill you. I loved you from the moment I saw you, Dusk... I wanted to bring you to the top alongside me. I'd waited for years, but then the incident happened thirteen years ago, and you became this... a shadow of your former self trapped in this emotionless cage. I'd have dismissed you as my student then and there if I hadn't still seen your potential in your eyes, like looking through the keyhole of a locked door to find you still there inside. I knew you still had a chance... but now, everything's breaking apart. You're breaking free from your cage only to live for a few years." her tears stained the wooden floor beneath her, mingling with the dust. Dusk felt that the tears on the ground resembled the final spark of his true self, and like those tears, he would soon dry up and be no more than a small mark on the world.
"You took too many chances with me. You used a broken tool and made it irreparable. I'm dead because you took a chance when you believed I could defeat Nightmare Moon. And now, instead of planning ahead like you used to with my studies, you killed me." he said without bitterness or melancholy. Celestia had never thought of it that way before. She hadn't considered her role in his death. All that time, she believed he'd just failed to be unpredictable, but the truth of the matter was, she knew better than to pit him up against a superior power and she killed him.
Celestia brought her hand to her mouth and stifled a sob. She fell to her knees and grabbed Dusk's shirt with her free hand. The buttons gave way and the scars were revealed to her again like judging eyes, blaming her for what had happened.
"I'm so sorry, Dusk!" she began to bawl, squeezing her eyes shut as she buried her face into his chest. Dusk looked down at her with neutral eyes. Though the seal was designed to shut off all emotions within Dusk's mind, it never truly worked to its full effect. Always, he would have that small semblance of an emotion, like moving away from your home and not really missing it, but finding yourself thinking fondly of it from time to time. At that moment, though his eyes portrayed nothing but neutrality, he felt that niggling feeling, as if he was both mildly irritated after one of Barb and Trixie's arguments and scared like every pony was that one day, a long time from that moment, they would simply cease to live.
Celestia had repeated her apologies for hours on end, but she was forced to stop as guards outside the locked room began to grow nervous about her prolonged absence. She'd had difficulty projecting her voice convincingly, but the guards bought it nonetheless. Another minute had passed between them with a simple hug from the princess. She was nearly adamant about staying latched to him. Both parties knew there was nothing that could be done about Dusk's situation and that it was only a matter of time before he died.
Not wanting to desecrate his own tribute and perhaps his future tomb, Dusk took one of the guest bedrooms. Much smaller but by no means miniscule. The lavender stallion just sat in his rocking-chair, absent-mindedly rocking it as he thought about the day's events.
"You know, I wouldn't be surprised if she just said all that to get you to kill yourself sooner." a voice in his mind said. Dusk closed his eyes momentarily. As he opened them again, his room was darker, almost void of anything beyond himself, the chair and the mirror version of him.
"What do you mean?" Dusk asked. The mirror sighed and snickered at Dusk's apparent naïveté.
"Let me rephraze that; I wouldn't be surprised if she just said that to get you to kill us sooner. Sooner meaning before the seal breaks free." he replied. The mirror version of Dusk leaned forward in his seat.
"Who are you?" Dusk asked.
The other one threw himself back in laughter. "What happened? Did you suddenly cast aside your brain when you realised your life was entirely over? I'm you, you idiot! I'm the real you, the real us. The original Dusk Shine. The one that used to sing with our cousin Vinyl Scratch and play soldier with Gleaming Shield. I'm the life that you wanted, that you miss without actually missing it."
"You're a monster."
"I'm a Pony. That's all I am, that's all I've ever been and I would say that's all I ever will be, but in a few years I'll also be a corpse." the true Dusk began laughing his head off.
"You don't seem terribly worried about that technicality." Dusk commented. The true Dusk stopped laughing and looked at his emotionless counterpart.
"There's a reason for that. I like the word you used to describe it. Because that's all it really is, a technicality; easily fixable." he replied.
"Really? And why haven't I been able to come up with a solution?" Dusk asked.
"Because you don't consider the primary element. Don't worry, I can take it from here." the other Dusk said, going to get up from his seat.
"And what makes you think I'll let you take control? The least I can do for Equestria is prevent myself from becoming a monster again, at any cost." Dusk interrupted.
"Tell me, Dusk... what does a foal do when they don't get their own way? They lash out. But I've been with you every step of the way, considering every lesson taught us. What does an adult do when they don't get their own way? That varies. Some let it go, others look for an alternative means of regression. Me, I found out an alternative means last night." he replied, grinning at himself.
"You mean sex?"
"Ding, ding! Give the guy a medal! That's absolutely correct. Sex does two things; tire you out and make you feel great! Well me anyway, not you, you husk."
"So you have what, five potential stress relievers?" Dusk asked.
"Seven." the real one replied.
"Seven?"
"You're forgetting the princesses. Luna is ignorant of the true situation and the way she looks at us, mirrors our movements whenever we walk together, she's dying for a good time. I'm interested to see the difference between thirteen and a thousand years of pent up aggression. I love a good challenge." the real Dusk replied.
"And what about Princess Celestia, she's not so easily swayed, and she despises you." Dusk asked.
"Celestia is broken, just like us. Your words cut deeper than any blade she's been struck with during her reign. You've cut across the scars left by her sister, ironically enough, exactly like Luna did to you."
"Celestia did not create this scar." Dusk argued.
"The physical one, no, but the seal is a wound that has separated us. It's been an unending hell, screaming at the top of my lungs in your mind and never being heard. And you've always felt something, but it's never been enough to get you motivated. Like the brain, I'm the creative side, and I've been severed. Still in there, but unheard and unused. You are the logical left hemisphere Always working, but never having anything resembling fun. You've suffered too, but you just don't know it." he said.
"Then why are you the only one that wants to become whole?"
"You want it too, you just don't realise it. I heard it come from our own mouth. You want to love the girls. But you can't do that without becoming whole with me, and you know it. Ergo, you want me back so you can become me and feel something when you ride those mares into the next town." The real Dusk had leaped off his rocking chair and had thrown his arms around as if to emphasise the emotions that Dusk could potentially have.
"But I wouldn't be me anymore, I'd be you." he said, leaning back in his rocking chair and holding it back. The real Dusk looked at his logical counterpart.
"You'll be you, and I'll be me. We'll be ourselves, but so much more. You remember the emotions we felt as one, don't you want that again?" The emotional Dusk held out his hand and placed it on his chest, beginning to dig into his scar, which surprisingly lacked the one dealt by Nightmare Moon.
Dusk looked at it as if it were the antidote to all his ailments, yet he had nothing left to live for. He tried to be like the Dusk in front of him and just went with his gut feeling. He brought his hand to his own chest and tore at his scar. The two of them began to shine a bright white, their manes catching flame. As the Emotional one drew closer to the logical one, he spoke.
"I'll show you, and the others that I'm not a monster, not anymore."
And with that, Dusk awoke, his eyes still closed. He smelled the air around him and let out a big sigh. When his eyes opened, they were glowing a reddish violet.
"Time for the sexy sciences." he said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them before rising out of his chair.
Luna paced back and forth in her chambers, more confused than when Celestia had told her about the cessation of executions. She felt Dusk return the kiss, but pushed away at the last second, he was almost hers. What had happened? She scratched her head before grabbing one of Dusk's collected bedsheets and ripping into it out of frustration.
"He didn't really like us. He saw us as everypony else does. We are... still just Nightmare Moon." she whimpered as she sat out on her window looking up at the moon.
"Are you sure that's such a bad thing?" asked the voice of Dusk. Luna would have fallen off the edge had Dusk not surprised her further by wrapping his arms around her. She fell backwards but was stopped by the surprisingly strong arms of the pony she loved. "I always thought Nightmare moon had hips that put your sister to shame. She was smokin' hot. Just as you are, my princess." he added.
"We thought knocking was still customary these days, Dusk Shine." she said with slight anger in her voice.
"And we believed after seeing the way you mauled our bedsheets that you wouldn't let us in." he replied, leaning in to kiss her neck. Luna shuddered at the touch and the sound.
"A-are you mocking our speech Dusk?" she accused.
"If I were, would I be doing this as well?" he asked as he slid a hand over Luna's left breast She gasped at the slightly rough touch of the pony she'd pined over.
"Dusk, what has come over you?!" she demanded, shoving him off. Dusk allowed this and took a few steps back, giving her her space.
"Your... wordless confession earlier today surprised me. Now that I've had time to think about it properly, I came back to make it up to you. I did push you rather hard, after all." Dusk knew exactly what to do. She loved him, but was hurting from the events earlier today. He was offering her a bit of bait and all she needed to do was take it.
Luna looked at the hand outstretched before her and her eyes widened. This was her chance. Without a moment's hesitation, she took his hand and felt herself pulled into his body, encased in both his arms. This was it She wanted this more than anything. She forced herself on him, reaching up to kiss him. Unlike before, he returned the kiss with vigor. She got the sense that he was feeding off of her love like a Changeling. This idea festered in her mind and she shoved him away.
"We knew this was too good to be true! You're a Changeling aren't you?!" she began to scream at him. Dusk raised a brow.
"Nope. I'm a hundred percent myself, Luna. How else would I have known about the encounter before?" he asked.
"That could have been you too! Maybe Dusk never truly came here!"
"If I were a Changeling, would I have pushed you away and denied myself sustenance?" he asked.
"Changelings are crafty, this situation isn't beyond their mental capacity." she replied. Dusk knew he was being tested. Were he a Changeling, he would have been insulted and would have undoubtedly flinched.
"Would you have settled for a Changeling version of me?" he asked.
"What?!"
"Because I don't think even a Changeling could do what I do. I was always unique, I had the potential to be Celestia's equal, and possibly successor. I won't pretend to know all her plans for me, but there must be a reason she even has students. So would a Changeling do me justice, Luna? They'd undoubtedly be able to act better than I could hope to, but would you see through it as easily as you think you saw through me?" Luna was becoming confused. He was helping her confirm her suspicion in one way, but completely diminishing it in another No Changeling could or would do that. They'd deny the very thought of being what they were exactly as the real one would.
"How can you prove to us that you are the real Dusk Shine?" she asked. Dusk grinned at her and snapped his fingers. Everything in the room shuddered like an earthquake had struck in an instant.
"A Changeling can't use magic through their hands. They need their horns, like every other unicorn, even Starswirl the Bearded." he replied.
Luna needed no more convincing. She fell back into his arms and sighed.
"We're sorry... We suppose we just need to get to know you better." she said. Dusk smiled as he held her tightly.
"We've got all night." he replied, turning her to her bed and letting her down gently. She wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and gently slid it along the side, letting it fall to her side. She surrendered completely to him as he lifted her legs up and her night gown fell back onto her stomach, revealing her humorously night themed undergarments.
"I see Celestia took you shopping." he said, addressing the underwear with a finger tracing along the crescent moon just above her clitoris. She blushed as she gasped.
"She also got us a pair of panties with writing on them. We don't get the joke, but she said anypony would laugh if they had the chance to see them." she replied.
"Really? What did they say?"
"On the front, it said: "I'll do anything for love". On the back it said: "But I won't do that"." she replied. Dusk snickered and buried his head into her chest, trying not to laugh so loud as to attract the attention of the guard. "Please explain it to us?" she begged as if she'd just asked him to take her. Dusk smiled as he rose from her bosom and sat beside her.
"It refers to the two Primary means of sexual intercourse. The traditional method known as vaginal, which we're going to do," he said, causing Luna to blush as he mentioned his plans for her. "And the recently accepted but still strange anal sex." he concluded.
Luna seemed confused. "Anal? But the anus isn't a reproductive organ, there'd be no purpose to it." she commented.
"I understand your viewpoint, and never took an interest in it myself. But it's often used as a means to ensure reproduction never occurs, as some ponies do not wish to have offspring." he replied.
"Such a shame. We would give almost anything to be able to reproduce. Sadly, we lost that privilege during our exile to the moon. We'd rather not speak of it." she said. Dusk nodded.
"I understand." he said. Luna turned to him.
"Yes, you do, don't you? Only you could ever understand us. Celestia told us of your strangeness compared to the other ponies and we feel that we are linked in that sense." she said, leaning forward. Dusk said nothing on the matter. He was certainly strange, of that there was no doubt. And he did desire a link between himself and Luna, but he wanted it to be more than a link, he wanted a web between himself and those he loved, both the princesses and the girls back in Ponyville.
"We love you Dusk Shine." she said, daring to throw it out there for him to catch.
"I love you too, Luna. But I can't love just you alone. Friendship is new to me and I've developed feelings for the others also. I wish I knew what I could do." he said, growing sad as he spoke. Even with emotions he was still half-lying. While he spoke the truth, he wasn't sad about his feelings towards others.
Luna, being the inexperienced romanticist fell for his half-lie and offered him a way out.
"There was once a stallion who came to us with a similar problem. Celestia and I resolved to let him be with those he loved and to marry both with equality in mind. What became of them, we are unsure. It was shortly before our exile. In short, we are willing to... share you with your other loves, on the condition that you do not stray from those five and provided they are willing to do the same as we have." she said. Dusk had won. Luna had granted him the means to be with all of those he wanted, all for the sake of her love for him. He couldn't help but grin as he threw himself upon her.
"I promise, my love." he said with the deep and dark kind of voice that the mares appeared to love, proven by Luna's twitching of the ears and her sudden rolling onto her stomach.
"We have delayed for too long, Dusk... begin when you are ready." she said as if to order him. Dusk clapped his hands together rubbing them.
"With pleasure, your majesty." he said in the same voice. As he positioned himself over her, his face entered the shadows and his eyes turned from the usual amethyst to crimson.
Celestia thought she'd heard something coming from her sister's room. While she was in no mood to entertain a silly tantrum if that was indeed what it was, she couldn't abandon her sibling duty on that reason alone. She threw herself out of her bed, abandoning the tissues she'd been using since she'd retired for the day. The guards stood at attention at either side of her doorway, ready to obey her orders. She ignored them and left them stationed there. She marched with purpose over to the other side of the hallway.
"Guard, has anypony entered this room after my sister?" she asked the Night guard stationed outside the room. The guard saluted the princess.
"No, Princess Though I did hear her throwing what could only be described as a tantrum earlier, but that was close to half an hour ago." he replied. Princess Celestia looked at the door and raised an eyebrow at it as if she were judging Luna over the tantrum. The door failed to give her any sort of answer.
"You're dismissed." she said. The guard saluted once more and left the older Princess to her devices. Celstia calmed herself down in order to face her sister Two unstable Princesses would not help to fix either mood. She took a deep breath and exhaled. As she opened the door, the waft of sexuality assaulted her nose. "Luna I hope you're not playing with those bedsheets aga- WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT'S PONY!!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as she saw the sight before her. Luna was stark naked with her ass raised in the air while a red-eyed Dusk Shine fucked her silly.
"Oh, bugger!" Dusk let out as he spotted the elder princess, and heard her screaming. Luna took no notice of her older sister as she was enjoying the effect Anal seemed to have on her. "Luna, I forgot to mention, your sister's one of the ponies too, is that alright?" he asked. Luna just continued to moan for a moment before answering.
"That's fine, just don't stop this!" she cried out. Dusk wasn't sure whether to keep going in front of Celestia or disappoint his current partner and stop. So he thought of the first thing that came to mind.
"Celestia, glad you're here, come join us and shut the door, it's cold." he mentally smacked himself after he'd heard what he'd just said.
Celestia was somewhat confused. Why was Dusk having sex with Luna? The smell played havoc with her mind as she had just started her Estrus cycle. Dusk was supposed to be emotionless, he wouldn't actively take action towards Luna... unless.
"Oh shit!" she cried, backing into Luna's cupboard. "You're back, you're Dusk again!" she began to panic. Dusk huffed.
"What gave me away?" he asked, groaning as he plunged deep into Luna's ass. The lunar princess cried out in pleasure as she felt Dusk's juices fill her up. She was on the verge of unconsciousness and had been leaking from her vagina since the beginning. A thousand years had made her extremely randy.
Dusk leaned over Luna and pulled her mane aside to kiss her neck. As he left her on the bed, he approached Celestia. "Was it the eyes? The smile on my face, your sister rolling her eyes to the back of her head as she enjoyed what I believe you've imagined for... quite some time now?" he asked, pinning her to the wall. Celestia was so confused. Between the smell, her urges and the fear that Dusk's return had inspired in her, she didn't know what to do. This just wasn't her day.
"Do you hate me?" she asked. Dusk raised a brow at her, smiling.
"You seriously just asked that question, didn't you? Do I hate you? No, I don't hate you! You've only fucked me over time and time again!" he growled at her. He took some small amount of satisfaction in her sadness, but he had other motives.
"I'm sorry." she whimpered. Dusk relaxed his expression, his eyes changing from red to their usual colour in the light from the doorway.
"Earlier today, you confessed your love to me. I truly despised you until you told me why you did what you did. I realised that like Luna, you just couldn't let me go. So all my hatred just fell off me, much like your tears. So, no, I don't hate you. I love you too. But as I explained to Luna, I love all the mares that have been in my life save immediate family and their girlfriends Even I wouldn't enact upon that kind of love." he said. Celestia only heard him mention that he loved her. All else just faded away.
"You asked me to join you... I'd love to." she said, throwing herself at him. Dusk was prepared. He'd played on both princesses' feelings and had emerged victorious with two out of seven loves under his thumb. Celestia found Luna waiting patiently with a smile on her face.
"You are in for a treat, sister, Dusk Shine is amazing." the dark alicorn commented, earning a stroke of the mentioned Stallion's fingers along her still sensitive sex.
Celestia watched with great jealousy as Dusk seemingly ignored her. She knew he didn't really love her back. How could he after what she'd done.
Her woes were put to rest as she felt a hand gently push her onto her stomach beside Luna who just lay where she was, eager to receive whatever Dusk believed she could take. As Luna gasped from something Celestia failed to see, she in turn whimpered out of jealousy. It was after her outcry that she began to receive more frequent attention. She squirmed with desire as Dusk teased her with the slightest brushing of his fingers against her clitoris. It was agonising! In her Estrus cycle, she was gagging for a good ploughing. Her mind caused her to despise her sister for having him first. After all it was her that had taken him under her wing, her that had desired him and had waited for him to come of age, her that had sacrificed her desires so he could continue living, even if he were to be a shadow of his former self. While Luna only had to wait a few months after being isolated for a millennia, knowing nothing about the stallion that had stolen both their hearts. Did Celestia not deserve to be taken as her sister was?
Once again, as if Dusk had read her mind, she felt a finger slide easily into her dripping folds. She bit the bedsheets, realising too late that they were Dusk's old sheets and reeked of his scent. She went wild. She lifted her bottom into the air, flicking her tail aside. She would offer everything to Dusk then and there. Just please, let him have her!
Celestia was rewarded with the remaining four fingers, venturing further in. As his hand stretched at her folds and her internal walls, she covered her mouth. He wasn't stopping. She threw her arms forward gripping the corners of the mattress. She didn't want to have the guards come in and end the heaven that was Dusk, so she agonisingly refrained from screaming.
"It's okay, my love. The sound barrier I erected would prevent even your royal Canterlot voices from reaching the guards outside. But perhaps I should I remove the barrier make the situation that much more thrilling Cry out and they'll see their Princesses in such a blissfully embarrassing situation." Dusk teased. Celestia and Luna both began to pant at the thought of being watched by their faithful guard.
"I wonder if any of them would join in? Surely most of them have entertained the thought of winning your attention at some point or another. Just imagine it, you two, me and an audience of your servants all enjoying one of Luna's most memorable nights: The night I returned to my old self, The beginning of Celestia's Estrus cycle, and the anniversary of my becoming your student, Princess." Dusk spoke in the irresistible voice that had Luna swooning. Neither of the two mares could take it. Together, they felt a rush of ecstasy and as Dusk timed his final thrust perfectly, the force of their orgasms had them both squirting past his arms. They both screamed in their Royal voices, breaking the mirrors, glasses and windows in the room.
Dusk knew that that wasn't it. It always felt great to have a few more thrusts after they peaked. The sensitivity sent them twitching like they'd been electrified.
Unable to move, Celestia felt Dusk moving her into position. She watched as she was positioned below a spread Luna. Dusk turned her face so she was looking upward.
"What's going on Dusk?" Celestia asked.
"Luna tried something new, I thought you might like to as well. After all, you're all about equality." he replied. The Sun princess heard her sister moan as Celestia was pushed slightly upward. She went to move her head to realise that her horn had been placed in her sister's anus.
"Uh, Dusk, isn't this a little extreme?" she asked. Dusk didn't reply with words. He wet his index finger and quickly jabbed Celestia's anus with it.
"HELLO! THANK YOU FOR COMING!" she called out. Her surprise caused her to move upward, pushing against Luna who moaned in pleasure. Dusk just chuckled. and removed his finger, much to Celestia's chagrin. She was rewarded afterward by a hard and ready cock which wasted no time with niceties. Celestia was shoved upward, her horn being swallowed by her sister's ass. All Celestia did was gag as the pleasure filled her senses. Dusk shifted closer so that he was truly pressing Celestia into her sister who pushed against the bedpost to get more of the horn inside of her.
He cupped one hand over Celestia's left breast while the other pinched and rolled her clitoris between the thumb and index finger.
"OH YES! YES! YES!! FUCK US LIKE THAT!" Celestia began to scream, dropping into Luna's vocabulary. Dusk thrust harder and faster, earning uncontrollable moans from the others. Dusk pulled out from Celestia's ass and went straight to her vagina. He moved the hand that was playing with it to her ass and began to finger it with two fingers. Celestia lost control of her legs and began to push herself upward, practically piercing her sister's bliss filled anus as all three finished at once. As per Dusk's plan, he came inside of Celestia, sending her into blissful happiness as her juices mingled with his. At the same time, she was covered by Luna's cum which had squirted out all over her body A great deal hit the vital areas, namely her face, breast, and abdomen. A few drops landed on Dusk's still thrusting cock and became one with the mingling juices within Celestia.
Celestia was white-eyed, as was Luna. Dusk chuckled as the two of them relaxed, unconscious after the pounding. He pulled Celestia free from her sister and placed her down beside the gleeful night princess. With that, he threw the surprisingly unstained blanket over them and kissed each of them with equal passion.
"I promised myself I would prove I wasn't a monster... But it seems being one in the bed is exactly what's needed in order to fulfil the goals required." he whispered, going over to the study counter to write a pair of letters.
Luna yawned as she awoke. Her entire body was sore from a night well spent. The sunlight shone in her eyes as she opened them, but she was surprised to find Celestia just waking up herself.
"Good morning sister, we did not know you were able to raise the sun in your slumber." Luna noted. Celestia blinked a few times and turned around to face her sun.
"I can't. And I didn't wake up until just now." she replied. The two princesses went to rush out of bed but were stopped as they felt something give way between their legs. They stared at each other and threw the covers off to find a pair of identical notes wedged in their marehoods. The two alicorns screamed in fright at first, both going to rip the notes out. After the initial surprise had died down, Luna went for her note and opened it.
Dear girls,
I don't know which of you will wake up first, so I wrote these letters for each of you. I wanted to thank you both again for that amazing night and at the risk of sounding like a pretentious ass, I'll accept your unspoken thanks as you read this. The two princesses scoffed to each other as they read the letter.
I've headed back to Ponyville as I believe I have some unfinished business regarding earning the love of five more mares there as well as continuing my research into the magic of Friendship. And don't worry, as Luna and I agreed, I will not start adding to the pile of mares I fall in love with. Those five and yourselves are the only ones for me, after all, it's been a hellish thirteen years, right Celestia? (Don't cry if you read that part, it's a joke, I still hold nothing against you) I love you both and can't wait to see you again soon. Get the Auditorium ready because I have a few ideas regarding a ruler and a telescope.
Your student, lover and not-a-changeling (Luna),
Dusk Shine.
P.S. I forgot to mention that the last few bedsheets that were sent to Luna were actually Trixie and Barb's so yeah. It's good to be back!
Celestia and Luna's eyes widened as they read the last part. They took one quick glance at the bedsheets and leaped off them.
"EW!" Luna screamed.
"Aw, fuck!" Celestia groaned.
Dusk approached the Apple orchard in time to see Big Macintosh pointing out the remaining half of the field to his sister. Applejack's jaw hit the dirt in surprise and Dusk knew what had happened.
As the mare fainted, Dusk approached, addressing Big Mac.
"Finally gave up, did she?" he asked.
"Eeyup." replied Mac as he prepared to help his sister out.
"Wait, let me do it. I need to speak with her when she wakes up anyway." he said. Big Mack shrugged it off and left Dusk to his own devices.
--some hours later--
Applejack woke up to find the stars glimmering through the loose boards in her family's barn. She'd slept the remainder of the day away. She felt the straw beneath her body and feared the worst. She'd been relieved of her responsibility.
"Oh no!" she said, beginning to sit up. She stopped as she saw the other half of the field's apples in dozens of apple buckets before her. What surprised her the most was how Dusk sat on the edge of one, his head resting on his hand which rested on his knee. He'd been watching her sleep. She hoped to Celestia that she hadn't said anything while she was out.
"You know, you and Rainbow Dash snore exactly the same way. It took me a while to figure out that the sound was her relaxing on a cloud, given the fact that it always came from somewhere different every day. But imagine my surprise when I see you passed out like you'd taken a coconut to the head, and that same sound, albeit with a different tone, comes out of your mouth." he said Applejack couldn't help but blush. She always hated the fact that she snored, but nopony knew that.
"What's yer point?" she asked slightly defensively.
"No point, just making idle conversation; that's what friends do, right?" he asked. Applejack never thought a smile could be frightening, but a smile from Dusk was like seeing a Cheshire grin in the Everfree forest.
"Did you buck all these apples?" she asked. Dusk snapped his fingers and an apple floated into his hand. He took a bite from it and took a few moments to chew it and swallow.
"I picked them. There was a lot of science that went into the process. I made a mental map of where they all were and just pulled with my magic. I may have missed one or two, but they'll just be a little surprise for the CMC tomorrow. They wanted to go forest hunting, but I convinced them to try orchard hunting first, you know, the basics. To answer your question, yes, I did all this for you. I believe that's also what friends do." he said.
"So... we're cool?" she asked. Dusk tossed the apple to her which she caught without thinking. The apple zapped her, one of Dusk's magical charges surging through her body.
"We're cool." he said, smiling again. "But as for the rest of Ponyville... I suggest you board up your room for the next few weeks. Don't worry though, you've still got a couple of days until the mass sickness wears off."
"Oh no!" she said, hanging her head. Dusk just chuckled, unnerving Applejack for the second time in under a minute.
"Don't worry. I'll make them see reason. After all, the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to you." he said. Applejack blushed red and she wished now more than ever that she had her Stetson with her.
"W-where's mah hat?" she asked, stuttering slightly.
"At home, being washed. You wore it and yourself out Looked more like a hood when I picked it up." he replied.
"Thank ya, Dusk... for everything. And Ah'm sorry for what Ah said to ya yesterday, Ah didn't mean it." she said.
"You meant every word, Applejack. You're the host of the Element of Honesty, you always speak your heart."
"And look where that got me." she argued.
"It got you some shut-eye, the orchard is next to empty, and you have somepony standing before you who wants to be your friend. So tell me honestly, how do you feel about me?" he said. Applejack looked up at him and stared into his Amethyst eyes. She knew exactly how she felt, but she couldn't put it into words. She tried for the closest thing to it and found what she was looking for. With a deep breath, she looked him straight in the eye and...
"Ah dunno how to say how ah feel about ya." she replied. Dusk smiled again and approached her. He touched her ever so gently. Applejack felt a jolt of magic around the area he'd touched her and blushed as he pushed her back down into the hay.
"Well let's find out How far will you let me go? And don't worry, I'll stop when you want me to... if you want me to." he said, kneeling down before her. Applejack lost control of her breathing.
"Woah now, this ain't some cruel joke or nothin' is it? Cause if it is, then well played... ah won't upset ya again, sugarcube alright?" she asked, growing nervous. She caught her breath as he leaned forward and kissed the base of her neck. Her eyes turned to discs as she felt him exploring her upper body. She was uncomfortable before, but she tried to relax afterward with little difficulty, her body wouldn't stop shivering. Dusk had moved from her neck to her navel. She tried to pull her stomach in, but that didn't stop him. She gasped as she felt his tongue push against her belly button.
"Y-yer serious then? Ya wanna do this... a-a-after what Ah said yesterday?" she asked. Dusk stopped his teasing of her body and met Applejack's flustered face.
"I have to say before I go any further..." he told her the situation regarding his love for her and the others. Applejack listened intently.
"But I'm more worried about upsetting you, Applejack. While I've explained the situation to you, I know that you're very traditional when it comes to family and relationships." he said. Applejack took a moment to process everything she'd been told.
"Well that's true. But Ah also believe that for the right pony, Ah'd share him if he was in that kinda situation. Don't worry about me Sugarcube Just please, finish what ya started." she said, leaning back into the hay. Dusk smiled and brushed his hands along Applejack's bare torso, stopping just below where her short flannelette shirt started. He dragged his hands back down once before brushing them up again, This time, he curled his fingers under the fabric and pushed forward, getting a firm grip on her breasts. Applejack gasped as she felt him touch her. She'd only ever experienced sex once before and it was horrible, but she wasn't dissuaded. Dusk's movements and intensity with which he grabbed her was different in every aspect to her first time. Dusk was gentler, more sensual, more passionate.
"Ah love ya, Dusk." Applejack moaned without thinking. She covered her mouth and looked at him. All she saw was him smiling at her.
"I love you too, AJ." he replied as he slid his hands down to her legs. He got a firm grip on her jeans and began to pull them down. Applejack lay back and let him have his way with her. She experienced his fingers and their expert skill. This was not his first time. That was okay; experience bred more pleasure.
"Ah can't stand it, Dusk... hurry up and buck me like an apple tree." she begged, her breathing becoming erratic. Dusk chuckled and reached over to grab an apple.
"I like a good challenge." he said, drawing her attention to the apple. AJ smiled and spread her legs to allow him access. Dusk managed to insert the apple with ease, but it was still visible.
"It's taken up most of the room. Ah can't fit much more in, Dusk." she told him, Dusk leaned over and kissed Applejack, distracting her as he suddenly pushed against the apple. Applejack threw her head back and gasped loudly as the apple was pushed to the very back. She moaned as her partner began thrusting, smacking the hard apple against her cervix.
"A little more Dusk, Ah'm almost there!" she said to him. Dusk grinned and thrust harder, pounding against the apple. It began to break under the tightening walls of AJ's marehood and the battering pressure of Dusk's cock. It wasn't long before the two found pleasure in Apple bucking barnyard style. The apple gave way, giving both parties a sense of achievement. The apple was cold, but the semen from Dusk was hot and sticky. The combination of both sent her through the roof.
"YEE~HAW!!!" she cried out fortunately, Dusk had the sense to erect a sound barrier around the barn like he had with Luna's room.
"God, I love Earth ponies!" Dusk exclaimed, keeping his spent cock inside of AJ as he leaned down and tongued her.
"Ya'll cum again now, ya hear?" Applejack asked as they broke the kiss.
"Hey Dusk, guess what we learned in Canterlot today?" Scootaloo said with a chirpiness to her voice. Rainbow Dash had decided to spend some time with Dusk in the Library, for reasons known only to her. The orange filly didn't question Dash's intentions, and truth be told, she'd taken a shining to the Librarian lately. To her, Dusk was the second coolest pony in all of Equestria.
"That could be any number of things, kid. Why don't you just tell me?" he said, flicking his wrist. A dozen books flew like birds around him and took their rightful places on the bookshelves.
"We learned about Discord the dracone... the drago... dryad-."
"Draconequus?" Dusk offered. Scootaloo smiled.
"That's the one!" she replied, pointing a hoof at the older pony. Dusk raised a brow and pulled out a book from the second floor bookcase.
"So who's Discord?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking to Scootaloo.
"Discord's the spirit of chaos and disharmony. Apparently my friends and I displayed disharmony during the explanation when we argued about who was right." she explained.
"Discord is more than that. The Draconequus race used to be the dominant species on this world before the cataclysmic event that brought ponies to the surface occurred. Discord was the last of his kind and he ruled the ponies like a puppet master rules the stage." Dusk said, showing the two of them a book on the subject of Draconequus.
"That's him!" Scootaloo said, pointing to an image of Discord.
"Discord was defeated by the Princesses Celestia and Luna before the events of Nightmare moon. The sisters were the previous hosts of the Elements of Harmony before us. Rumour has it that Discord wasn't killed, but in fact turned to stone, the same stone that you undoubtedly saw in the Garden of the Royal Palace." Dusk said, leaning over Scootaloo with a scary grin on his face. Scootaloo curled up on herself.
"Y-you mean... We actually saw the r-r-real Discord?" she asked. Dusk looked to Rainbow Dash who had an amused smile on her face.
"Only Celestia knows, but she doesn't like talking about it. Some believe it was because she used to love Discord, and that she plans to release him sometime soon. After all, love makes ponies do crazy things. And a thousand plus years without the one she loves... I'd be locking your bedroom doors at night if I were you." he put on a deep and dark voice, laughing evilly as Scootaloo screamed and ran upstairs to Dusk's room, slamming it shut behind her.
Dusk and Dash both burst out laughing. The former taking a seat on the couch beside the latter.
"You really shouldn't scare her like that. She's got enough problems at home as it is." Dash commented. Dusk looked up at his room and sighed.
"Yeah, but it seems I'll be paying for that with my room tonight." he said, looking down to Dash. She smiled at him and huddled up to him.
"You know, If you want to use that cloud walking spell again, you could stay with me tonight. I'd be happy to share my bed with you. Ive done it before and it was awesome to say the least." she teased, tracing her fingers over his chest. Dusk smiled and leaned in to kiss her.
"DUSK! YOU GOTTA COME WITH ITS AN EMERGENCY I REALLY NEED YOUR HELP!!!" A frantic Pinkie Pie burst through the entrance to the Library, huffing and puffing like crazy.
"This is what you constitute as an emergency?" Dusk asked, his eye twitching slightly. Pinkie just nodded, looking as worried as if her pet, Gummy had keeled over. "You need a taste tester for your newest cupcake recipe?" he asked for confirmation, which the pink mare gave in the form of a cheerful hug. She believed the question doubled as an agreement from him to do it.
"Thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU!" she exclaimed, cutting off Dusk's circulatory system.
Pinkie...choking... not breathing!" Dusk managed to let out, allowing the pink mare to know that she had to release him. With a frustrated sigh, Dusk looked at the cupcakes. He'd just had breakfast, and he was far from hungry. But Pinkie wouldn't care about that sort of thing.
"What's the recipe?" he asked out of mild curiosity. Pinkie shifted slightly.
"Let's hope you never find out." she said, somewhat wearily. Dusk was almost compelled to press the issue, but he figured that tasting them would give him some hint. He picked up a cupcake and examined it thoroughly.
Interesting food dye colour. Looks like blood." he commented, taking a bite.
"Yes... food dye. That's what it is." Pinkie commented as she watched Dusk mull over the taste of the cupcake.
"Why are there different cutie mark icings on the cupcakes?" he asked.
"So I knew who was who." she replied.
"Huh?"
"Nothing!" Dusk got the sense that Pinkie was being uncharacteristically secretive about this recipe. Her nervousness didn't seem to fit the bill either. And the taste... it wasn't very pleasant.
"I'm sorry, Pinkie, but there's just something about these cupcakes that doesn't sit right with me. They taste kinda... meaty... Perfect if you were to serve Gryphons, but..." Dusk paused for a moment. No... Surely she wouldn't. Could Pinkie have made these from actual ponies?
"Exactly how was this an emergency, Pinkie? You never asked me to taste test your goods before." Dusk said. After he'd said it, he couldn't help but notice the unmistakable double entendre he'd made in regards to her 'goods'. The real Dusk Shine truly was back, and badder than ever.
Pinkie sighed and pulled a frying pan out of nowhere. Before Dusk could ask about it, she hit him over the head with it and he was knocked unconscious.
The next morning bore strange outcomes in regards to Ponyville's landscapes. Clouds were made of cotton Candy and rained chocolate milk. Fluttershy's animals looked like they'd been the offspring of their original species and a giraffe. A certain pink pony wearing a propeller cap and bore spiraling eyes fiddled with her lips as she did a Pinkie and hovered around town, seemingly in her own little world.
"Great, first Dusk doesn't show up last night and now this!" Rainbow Dash groaned, still sore about being stood up by him. Applejack and Fluttershy were standing under a tree with her while the chocolate rain fell, turning the grass brown.
"Look on the bright side, sugarcube; It cant get any worse than this." Applejack said, trying to cheer her up. Almost immediately afterward, a giant apple landed on her head, flattening her stetson.
"AJ, that's the kind of statement I'd have expected to come from Pinkie Pie's mouth. You should have known better." Dash growled.
"Yeah..." AJ replied with a defeated sigh.
"Where is Dusk anyway? Wouldn't he love the chance to test some new fail-safe spell or something?" Fluttershy asked, looking around for any sign of the lavender stallion.
"Ah'll betcha his books have come to life and are flying around sortin' themselves in the wrong order." she mused. That earned a laugh from the others.
"His problems are really small compared to ours, huh?" Dash asked, looking at the chaos beyond their tree.
"Oh, look. It's Barb with Trixie." Fluttershy pointed out.
"There's a shocker." Dash muttered. The two beings in question approached the three mares hiding under the apple tree.
"Girls, we have a problem; Princess Celestia has called for Dusk and the Elements of Harmony to head over to Canterlot immediately." Barb said between exhausted breaths.
"The worst part is that we can't find Master or Pinkie Pie. Nopony's heard from them since Master went to taste test for her." Trixie added, looking around in the hopes of finding either one of the two. Now everypony, plus dragon, looked worried.
"Where's Rarity?" Fluttershy asked.
"Getting ready to go to Canterlot. We thought we should tell her first because she'd take longer to prepare than the rest of us." Barb replied.
"Good call." Dash said, getting ready to take flight.
"We can't afford to wait around for Dusk and Pinkie. We should go and find out what Celestia knows about this, and then come back so we can tell Dusk. Hopefully, he'll turn up by then, Pinkie too." she said, lunging into the air.
"Rainbow Dash is right. We gotta get movin'. Barb, Trixie, ya'll come with us. Might need to put your trainin' with Dusk to good use." Applejack said.
"Actually, I should stay here." said Barb. "That way if Dusk does come back while you're there, I can let you know through a letter." she said, looking to Trixie for understanding. The pale blue unicorn nodded and kissed her partner on the cheek.
"Take the letter from Princess Celestia to let the guys at the Train station know that your passage is essential. They shouldn't charge for a summons from the Princess." Barb said, handing Trixie Celestia's letter.
"Thank you, my love."
Dusk felt a heavy lump on his head as he began to wake from his slumber. The last few moments before he fell unconscious were lost to him as he strained his eyes to stay open. A light shone on his face, hurting his eyes to no end.
"What in the name of..." he began before realizing that he was tied to a metal bench.
"Finally awake, I see. Boy you slept for ages. It's already tomorrow morning." a voice said in the darkness beyond the light. To Dusk, it sounded like Pinkie's voice, but the words weren't hers.
"Pinkie, is that you?" he asked. There was a moment's silence before she replied.
"Yes... and no. I'm what you might call an extension of the pinkie that you know. Or rather, the Pinkie that you know is an extension of myself. My own little 'Mare-Do-Well' so to speak." she replied. Dusk was speechless. Pinkie, being the curious type, spoke up. "Something wrong, Dusk?" she asked.
"You're actually forming a coherent sentence and making sense. Why does that scare me?" he asked. Pinkie would have fallen on the ground would the gesture not have been clouded by the shadows.
"And here I was hoping torture and amputation would be the first thing to scare you. That's a shame." she replied. Dusk did not like the sound of those words and tried to remove himself from the spot. "Don't bother trying to use magic either. I injected a drug into the base of your horn that cuts off the flow of magic to it. You're about as good as an Earth Pony for the time being." she stated. Dusk felt that she war right about the horn, but Pinkie had obviously forgotten about his hands. Unlike other Unicorns, Dusk was born with the unique ability to channel magic to any part of his body. His horn was just there for racial verification. He could use his magic whenever and wherever he wanted, but he decided to play this out a little.
"So, can I expect to be one of those cupcakes you made me try? Which taste like shit, by the way. Needs more sweetener." he said.
"Thanks for the tip." Pinkie said glumly. "No, I'm not going to make you into a Cupcake, Dusk... Well actually, that all depends on you." she added, stepping into the light for Dusk to see. The stallion was impressed to say the least. The change in her mane and tail style made the world of difference to how he saw her. "You see, I was diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder. It occurred when Rainbow Dash did her first fucking Sonic Rainboom. The sight split my personality in two. I just happen to best resemble my older self, though I have much darker tendencies than before. I wasn't what you'd call happy." she explained.
"Ah, well that makes two of us!" Dusk said with a hint of glee in his voice.
"What?" Pinkie asked somewhat cautiously.
"Well, that is to say that my personality was... severed from my mind... locked away and left to view my body and heartless mind do stuff the boring way." Dusk replied, grinning at the Pink mare.
"What are you babbling about?!" She demanded.
"Turn off the light and see for yourself."
"Princess, Celestia, we're here as requested." Rainbow Dash said as she and the others entered the Throne room. Princess Celestia turned around, unsure as to how she would react after seeing Dusk for the first time since...
"Thank you all for coming... Where's Dusk?" she asked, somewhat disappointed.
"He's been missing as of yesterday, as has Pinkie Pie." Trixie replied. "I've come in Dusk's place."
Celestia drew a single conclusion from Dusk's absence. And that conclusion was that Discord had taken him hostage, as well as Pinkie Pie. Of course, Pinkie would have been a great playmate for Discord, since their personalities... clicked, but Dusk would have been taken as leverage against her and Luna.
"Very well... There's no easy way to say it, so I'll just tell you what's happening throughout Equestria; Discord has broken free of his stone prison and is on the loose again. furthermore, I believe he's taken Dusk and Pinkie Pie hostage. How and when, I cannot say." she said. As the ponies present gasped in unison, a chuckle echoed throughout the walls in the room.
"While I find it flattering that you'd find me so devious as to kidnap your precious student/dominator, I'm proud to present you with a great big negative buzzing noise." the voice of Discord chimed in, followed by the sound he'd described.
"Discord! You give Dusk back this instant!" Celestia shouted into the room.
"And Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy added. All they received was another chuckle from Discord.
"I already told you, I have nothing to do with their absence. If I didn't know better, I'd hazard a guess as to say that those two knew about my return and cowered in fear. Quite a shame really. Pinkie Pie was my favorite of the bunch and I was looking forward to a divertissement with the great Dusk Shine. Oh well, I guess I'll have to make do with you." he replied, flashing into existence within the glass windows.
Pinkie stepped closer, becoming unusually wary of Dusk's presence. It was strange. Nopony had rattled her simply by relating to her before. All of them simply begged for their lives, but Dusk was transparently different from the others. Different did not suit Pinkie, not this Pinkie anyway. With a tug on the little chain, the light shining in Dusk's face disappeared and a powerful glow emanated from the Stallion's Irises.
"What is this?!" Pinkie demanded, stepping back out of reach. All she received was an amused chuckle from the Lavender Stallion.
"Surprise!" he said before closing his eyes. Now even Pinkie was blinded by the darkness. "You know, it's so good to see that I'm not the only abnormal pony in Ponyville, let alone Equestria. How about you, Pinkie Pie?" Dusk asked, his voice darkening.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!!" Pinkie screamed at him. She wanted to lunge at him out of fear, but the sudden appearance of those eyes right in front of her caused her to trip back. She knew the layout of her workspace and realized the corner of a workbench was waiting to greet the back of her skull. She was about to die. Something grabbed her from the small of her back and behind her neck and pulled her up. She felt the warmth of another body against hers and saw those eyes staring down at her, and somehow the whiteness of his teeth even glowed. Dusk Shine could really grin like a Cheshire Cat.
"What would you like to be called, if not by your common name? Perhaps your birthright, would suit. Am I right, Pinkamena?" Dusk asked. The chill that Pinkamena felt was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. She suddenly realized that it was the chill of the metal bench. Before she realized what had happened, she was where Dusk had been not a minute ago. The light blinded her as Dusk flicked it on. All of a sudden, the glow had disappeared from his eyes. "In case you're wondering, The Dusk you initially met when I came to Ponyville, was not the Dusk I am today. You, Pinkamena, as well as the others have brought me back to my old self. Only unlike you, I plan to show the world I'm not the monster Princess Celestia believed me to be." he said, leaning in to Pinkamena's face.
"So that's where we're different? I want to kill and you don't?!" Pinkamena demanded. Dusk brushed a strand of her long pink mane aside.
"That is the difference between us, yes. But I figure we can channel these desires of yours. What do you like aside from killing?" Dusk asked.
"Stuff you could never bring yourself to say." Pinkamena replied with a victorious grin. Dusk just returned that grin and switched the light off once more. Pinkamena felt a hand slide behind the small of her back and another just above it. She then felt Dusk's body connect with hers once more like before and the table she was on began to tilt back to a horizontal position.
Rainbow Dash and the others awoke from a slumber none of them remembered falling into. They were together, they were confused, and they were outside, all the while, Princess Celestia was nowhere to be seen.
"Where in tar-nation are we?" Applejack demanded, shaking her head free of diziness and parasprites circling around her field of vision.
"Looks like the Royal Canterlot Garden." Trixie commented, doing likewise. The ponies began to gossip amongst each other, wondering how they got there. The answer came to them in a miniature Thunder Storm. The thunder was loud and the Lightning brighter than the sun.
As the Lightning struck the ground,a shape appeared on all fours, darkened by the shade of the storm cloud above. It rose to two legs, its forearms twitching ever so slightly as they stretched outward. A laugh accompanied the creature and the voice belonging to the laugh was somewhat familiar to the ponies. The cloud disappeared, revealing the Draconequus, Discord standing before them with a goofy look on his face.
"You should see the looks on your faces; priceless!" he said, cupping his face in his disparate hands.
"Discord! What are we doing outside?!" Rainbow Dash demanded, zooming up to his face. The Draconequus snapped his fingers and Dash was forced to the ground, her wings gone from her body. She let out a surprised cry of horror as she went to inspect them. "My wings! What did you do to my wings?!" she cried, circling around to try and get a look at the absent appendages. The other ponies weren't faring any better. Rarity and Trixie were without their horns, and Fluttershy had also lost her wings, though that made little difference to the selectively grounded pony.
"You'll get them back in good time. For now, I decided we should play a little game of Maze. I've taken your Elements of Harmony. Make it to the centre of the maze, and I'll tell you where I put them." he said, spiralling in the air over the ponies.
"Of course, there are rules to the game; no giving up, no flying and no magic. Follow these rules in the maze and you're sure to find the centre eventually. As soon as the game is over, I'll give you our precious horns and wings back. Until then; good luck, everypony!" Discord finished off with a laugh as he disappeared in a brilliant flash of light.
"Alright, everypony. We gotta find the Elements of Harmony. Let's try our best to find the centre of the maze." Rainbow Dash declared, taking lead of the team in the absence of Dusk. Everypony nodded without a word.
"And we'll do it together!" she said, each one stepping a hoof on the ground towards the maze. At that moment, the Maze expanded, growing upward between each of them. They were cut off from each other.
Pinkamena awoke to the darkness. There was nary a sound, let alone a sight. She was no longer strapped to the table, nor was she even on the ground. She was in a void of sorts.
"Where am I?" she asked, her voice unable to escape beyond her mouth. She didn't expect an answer, and so she was surprised to receive one.
"You're where you were before, Pinkamena. As for where your mind is, it's within my own. I daren't venture into yours. I can't afford insanity on top of everything else." Dusk's voice rang out like Thunder.
"Your mind's... emptier than I imagined it to be." Pinkamena commented. A laugh escaped Dusk that rattled the void the pink pony was floating in.
"Every idea starts off with a Blank Slate, Pinkamena." Dusk replied, the words spoken appearing like flames burning onto a black surface. "When introducing one to your mind, you must be careful not to overwhelm them." the words appeared underneath like a list of rules. "Though you may be the exception." Instead of fire, the words appeared like light before disappearing again.
"And what's the purpose behind bringing me here?" Pinkamena asked. Instead of text appearing, Dusk's visage appeared instead.
"This is to be your... training ground. Within my mind, I can conjure whatever you want to kill for as long as you like. It's no big deal for me, I'm still awake and I'm watching you sleep peacefully... without any clothes." he commented, disappearing from view. Pinkamena suddenly found herself in the slaughter room, exactly like Dusk had just described. He stood over her, admiring her up close.
"Did I mention your mane looks best when it's straight like this? Not the cotton candy mess it usually is. This is the side of Pinkamena Diane Pie that I truly love." he commented.
"You think I won't kill you just because you compliment my mane and my body?" she asks, getting up from the table.
"You can't kill me, my dear. I know who you are, I know what you are. And nopony else will ever accept this side of you." he replied. Pinkie grew mad and slashed his neck with a scalpal. Dusk gargled for a moment before falling to the ground, dead.
It was then that her door burst open and her other friends saw her. Pinkamena's eyes widened. She'd been found out just like that.
"Pinkie... what have you done?!" Fluttershy asked, her voice raised to just above normal conversation level.
"I...I...I didn't-."
"You killed Dusk!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, almost yelling at the pink pony who was scared beyond belief. This was not what she wanted. She wanted her friends to remain blissfully ignorant of this side of her. Now that was thrown away with Dusk's Death.
"How dare you do this, Pinkamena!" A very regal voice said from behind her. She turned around to see Princess Celestia herself along with her sister, Princess Luna looking furiously at her. This was it, the end of her life.
"WE HATE YOU!!!" they all cried in unison. Pinkamena covered her face with her hands, sobbing into them.
"I'm sorry! He found out, he wasn't supposed to find out!" she sobbed.
"And with anypony else, that might change things. But you can be yourself with me, Dear Pinkamena." Dusk's voice responded. Pinkamena looked up to find she was in the same dark space as before. She hadn't really escaped his mind, the events weren't real. Her friends stood emotionless, like Dolls around her, even the Princesses.
"I'm still..."
"Yes, you're still here in my mind. But excluding that situation with the others, didn't it feel good to kill me with that scalpal in your hand?" he asked, appearing beside her with a grin on his face. Pinkamena retraced the steps she took and realised that it did feel good. She even felt the slight push one got when cutting something.
"It felt... real. I could feel your blood touch my hand, I felt the coldness of the table beneath me." she replied. Dusk smiled and snapped his fingers.
"That's because you remember how it felt. You've done those things before. Slit a pony's throat, sat on the edge of that table... felt me against you." his last words elicited a yip from the usually sadistic mare as she felt his fingers brush ever so lightly against her marehood. At the same time, multiple kitchen knives appeared at the throats of their friends and the Princesses.
"I can take any scene, any sensation any desire from your mind and project it to you in here, the space between our minds. I've been doing it for a while. I can even share my own sensations with you; what it feels like to use magic, how it felt both emotionally and physically to punch Nightmare Moon. I can give you a rage you'd never think possible, an emotionless feeling that would leave you shaking, whatever suits the occasion." he said, sliding those fingers up to her belly, between her breasts and just under her lips.
"I... could kill as much as I want in here?" she asked, the mere thought enticing her.
"Any time, anypony, anything... any number of. Pony, Gryphon, Dragon, you name it. If we've seen it, You can kill it. I'll even join you if you want me to." Dusk disappeared from her field of vision, but she felt him still there beside her. There was a menacing purr right next to her ear and she felt something like a tongue slither into it. She shuddered at the sensation. She'd never felt that before.
"Barb had a tendency to... hiss in her sleep. My ears would often get agitated." he mused. Pinkamena was at a loss for words. Instead, she raised her hand and snapped her fingers. The knives reacted and slit each of her friends' throats as well as the Princesses'. They all made dying sounds before collapsing to the ground.
"And what do you get in exchange for this godsend?" Pinkamena demanded. Dusk chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.
"Just make sure you don't kill me in real life." he replied.
"This is a bargain, Dusk. So long as I have this, you can have me and the others. This alone has made me fall in love with you all over again." she said.
The girls had failed. Each and every one of them had been altered by Discord's manipulation. Rainbow Dash was affected the hardest. Her Loyalty made her abandon her friends and in the long run, that would hurt her. Applejack had become a Liar, Rarity a disillusioned gem-digger, Fluttershy a meanie and Trixie had basically become a melancholy version of Fluttershy.
They'd lost the game that Discord had set out for them, and they were defeated. Their new personalities had rendered the Elements of Harmony useless, and deep down, they knew it, but didn't care.
"Sister, our friends have lost the way." Celestia commented, looking down at the altered ponies leaving the maze. They were headed toward their home, Ponyville.
"It appears so, Sister. But what shall we do? Unfortunately, I am not strong enough to be of any help to you yet, and you cannot face Discord alone." Luna replied, reminding her older sister of the gravity of their predicament.
"We must place our faith in Dusk Shine. Perhaps he can convince the others to return to the way they were." Celestia said.
"Ah, yes, Dusk Shine. Such a shame he didn't come out to play." a voice other than Luna's said. The two looked at each other before looking behind to see Discord sitting in Celestia's throne, drinking a mug of hot chocolate.
"Is this it then Discord? You've finally won. Luna and I cannot defeat you, the Elements of Harmony are useless and you are leeft to replace us without a challenge." Celestia noted. Discord considered her with as much seriousness as he could muster.
"Well, I admit, the outcome was a little disappointing. Hardly had to bat an eyelid." he replied. A small version of himself wearing a baseball outfit and holding a bat began to swing bits of eyelash towards the two.
"Still, I can't argue with the results. Dusk was obviously afraid of me. After all, I am his complete opposite. Dusk is known for his tidiness and I... well, you know." he said, returning to his hot chocolate.
"I can't believe Dusk! He didn't even try to help us, the bastard. I'm gonna kick him in the balls when I see him." Fluttershy scolded, flying over the others.
"Ah don't wanna hurt him!" Applejack lied, sucking her lips into her mouth and shifting her eyes from side to side.
"What's happening to us? We've been divided." Trixie whimpered, barely audible even from where Applejack stood.
"Ah won't pretend ta understand how ya feel, cause Ah don't. But if I did, then I certainly wouldn't care about those traitors." Applejack said, repeating the shifty process again.
"Oh, boo-hoo. I'll bet you're about to cry like Barb did that time she tripped on the step to the Library." Fluttershy protested. Trixie tried to defend her lover.
"She broke her tail, Fluttershy. Granted it grew back after it was removed, but still." she said.
"And you! What's the deal with you two, huh? Are you some sort of foalcon? I've seen you kiss Barb. She's a baby dragon, you know. And if you've slept with her, that's all kinds of wrong." Fluttershy retorted with venom.
"No, that's a misconception. Barb's actually three years younger than I am. Trixie's one year younger so the age gap is legal." a voice said, drawing the three mares to it. Dusk stood with Pinkie Pie clutching his arm as if they were on a romantic date, but something was different about Pinkie. Her mane wasn't puffy like it used to be.
"Hey, Pinkie, what's with your mane? It's not curly." Trixie commented.
"Dusk said It looked better long, so I decided to keep it that way. Also, my head doesn't feel quite as heavy as before now, so double-win." she replied, grinning like the Pinkie Pie they all knew.
"And where were you two, huh?! We just got our asses handed to us by Discord and you were playing dates with the party queen of Ponyville?" Fluttershy demanded.
"Got a problem with that?" Dusk asked, his gaze meeting Fluttershy's. She paused for an instant before recovering herself.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do! You chose a date with her over stopping Discord with the rest of us!" she argued.
"Let me get this straight; it was a choice between a hot date filled with sex... and kicking Discord in his ovaries?" Dusk asked.
"Yes!... Wait, I get it now. When you think about it, the choice was obvious, huh?" she said.
"Yes it is. Now go back to being your old self, Fluttershy. Two egotists are bad enough and it really doesn't suit you." he replied. Fluttershy grew red.
"Why should I care what you think?" she demanded.
"Because that's how relationships work. And unless you want to live your life like the crazy cat-mare up the road, you'll shut up now." he replied. Fluttershy huffed at him.
"You know, you've got a lot of nerve. The three of us should be kicking your nuts off right now." she replied. Dusk sighed before looking to Pinkamena.
"Here's my response to that." Dusk said. Fluttershy was met with a Lavender fist an instant before darkness fell upon her.
"Dusk! You just knocked Fluttershy out!" Pinkie exclaimed, staring at the downed pegasus.
"Kind of. Fluttershy has been Discorded. Not unheard of in an encounter with the draconequus. Her personality has been negated. Instead of the sweet and shy mare we know and love, she's been turned into... well that. Figuratively, Trixie's the new Fluttershy here. If I didn't know better, I'd say their personalities have been swapped." he replied. Trixie dragged her foot across the ground in embarrassment.
"Ah don't know what you're talkin' about." Applejack said.
"Oh please, you're so bad at lying you can't convince me even when your personality's been programmed to lie before telling the truth." Dusk said. "Come on, help me get Fluttershy to the Library. She's no good to us in the middle of the street."
Trixie went to say something but decided against it. Instead, she took a limb and helped lift her up.
"Alright, somepony want to tell me just what the BUCK is going on here?! How could you let Discord turn you so easily?" Dusk demanded, looking and sounding really pissed off. Trixie placed the unconscious Fluttershy on the nearest table and began to fan her face. That left Applejack to explain.
"I ain't let Discord discordify me." she lied. Dusk just stared blatantly at the Earth Pony.
"Trixie, you can multi-task, you did it as a showmare by displaying your magic tricks and lying at the same time. Go." he said. Trixie whimpered slightly at the topic and Dusk's forcefulness of the issue.
"W-w-well, we were told to play a game of maze after Discord gave us a riddle regarding the Elements of Harmony. We all figured he meant that they were hidden in the maze. Before we knew it, we found ourselves teleported there. As we were playing, Discord must have interfered with our personalities, causing an inverse effect." she replied. Dusk nodded.
"So you lost your confidence, Applejack lost her ability to tell the truth, Fluttershy... gained your confidence and then some, Rarity fell in love with a rock the size of Rainbow Dash's ego, and the pegasus in question..."
"Betrayed us in order to protect Cloudsdale." Fluttershy said, waking from her stupor.
Dusk turned to face her. She seemed brighter than before. "Ah, joined the land of the living, have you?" he asked. Fluttershy frowned at him.
"Yeah, thanks a lot, jackass." she replied, her colour fading once again.
"I'll be much obliged to do it again, possibly in a few seconds. Trixie, what was this riddle Discord gave you all?" Dusk said.
"Twists and turns are my master plan, then find the Elements back where you began." Trixie recited. Dusk thought about the riddle once more, then turned to the Library storage cupboard. He opened the door and found an unfamiliar box. Bringing it over, he opened the lid to find the Elements.
"You stupid girls. Of course the Elements would be here. Back where we began." he said, tossing each pony their respective Elements.
"B-but what about the twists and turns part?" Trixie asked.
"Discord was describing his plan." Dusk said. Trixie felt ashamed of herself.
"Okay, so why should I help you?" Fluttershy asked, tossing her Element back to him.
"Because Discord needs to be stopped. He's a threat to Equestria, to us and to the Princesses, and I won't let anypony or anything get in the way of defeating threats to the Princesses, that includes you. I'll tie you down and glue your Element to your head if I have to." he replied, walking up to Fluttershy and shoving the Element around her neck. Fluttershy huffed, but took it nonetheless.
"That's all well and good, but what about the others? Rarity's probably still trying to lug her rock back to Ponyvile and Rainbow Dash is in Cloudsdale. How do you plan to get them here?" Pinkie Pie asked, taking her element from Dusk. The Unicorn in turn snapped his fingers, and in a bright flash, Rarity was teleported along with her rock. The sound of Rainbow Dash hitting the inside of the door alerted them to her presence within the Library.
"Lemme go! I have to protect Cloudsdale from danger!" she demanded.
"And you think being there at Cloudsdale will help achieve that goal instead of attacking the threat directly?" Dusk asked. Dash was brought out of her panicked rush as she thought Dusk's words over in her head. He passed her the Element of Loyalty and Rarity the Element of Generosity. He then donned his Gauntlet of Magic.
"Come on, then. Let's go kick Discord's ass." he said. The girls all shouted out in agreement.
Discord appeared in a flash of light just outside Ponyville's borders. He chuckled to himself before snapping his fingers. Ponyville's houses and buildings were turned upside down, some of them relocated. Lands began to rise in massive chunks, floating in the checkered pink sky. Clouds of cotton candy rained chocolate milk over the lands.
"Ah, it's so much fun to cause chaos unopposed. Nothing and nopony can stop me now!" he said triumphantly, throwing his arms in the air.
"Almost nothing, Discord!" Fluttershy challenged, herself and four of the Elements of Harmony stood together. Discord was about to make a mockery of the Discorded Elements, but noticed something odd.
"Hold on, aren't there six of you?" he asked. Before an answer came, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around quickly. The only things he saw were a pair of glowing red eyes and a fist. Things went black for a moment before he found himself hurled closer to the ponies bearing the Elements.
"Very good, Discord. Tell the Daconequus what he's won, girls." Dusk said. Each of the bearers chuckled.
"A Millennia supply of stone!" they chanted together. Discord growled and stood up, brushing himself off.
"That was a cheap shot, Dusk Shine. Not what I'd expect of the famous student of Celestia." he said, ignoring the bad joke.
"You know, I've lived in Canterlot most of my life, I've seen your statue a thousand times going through the Royal gardens, but it still amazes me to this day, that you can be called the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Your goals are so... uninspiring, measly when you think about it. I mean, honestly, Chocolate rain? Pinkie Pie would have a field day for the rest of her life. As for Ponyville, Pinkie's basement was more chaotic than this." Dusk replied. Discord growled at the insult. He was the Spirit of Chaos, and no measly Unicorn was going to tell him otherwise.
"Oh, nice use of wording, Dusk. Eat any books, lately?" he teased. Dusk just huffed in amusement at the Draconequus. "Fine then, you want Chaos? I'll give you Chaos. How about like the olden days. You and me, single combat?" he offered. Dusk, being both intelligent and charismatic, couldn't turn down such an opportunity. To go one on one with the Legendary Discord was a dream come true. The Unicorn smiled and leaned forward.
"I thought you'd never ask." he said.
Rarity leaned over to Pinkie. "Why are we being ignored?" she asked.
"Dusk wants to have a go against Discord himself before using the Elements. It's a guy thing." Pinkie replied, smiling sweetly. "We can sit over there on the sidelines and watch." she said, pointing out a bench for them all to sit on.
"Well that ain't mighty convenient or nothin'." Applejack said, trotting over to the bench. The girls all sat down side by side and watched as Discord and Dusk faced off.
"You know, I imagined you to be a little taller, Dusk." Discord commented.
"And I expected you wouldn't talk so much, Discord. But hey, it's a chaotic world we live in." he replied. "Can we just get this thing started already?" he asked.
No sooner had he asked, than Discord flew forward, catching him off guard. Dusk felt his head collide with Discord's. As he closed his eyes to try and suppress the pain, he felt the Draconequus' body coiling around him like a giant snake.
"You think I can't multi-task, Dusk Shine?" the spirit of chaos teased, tightening his grip. Dusk felt his body being squeezed by the sheer strength of Discord's body.
"I'm sorry, but all I'm hearing at this point is: 'Hit me, Dusk. Please kill me? God, this shade of brown makes me look fat'!" Dusk challenged.
"Why you little... wait, does it?" he asked, checking himself over. In the confusion, Dusk managed to get a hand free and he grabbed Discord by the face. Like an alligator, he began clenching. Discord could only get out muffled sputters from between his lips.
"You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you, Discord?" Dusk asked, throwing his arm forward. Discord was forced to uncoil from around the Unicorn as he was thrown forward, hitting the ground like a whip. Dusk shifted his grip on Discord's face and pushed him into the ground. he then began running around, dragging Discord's face along it. Dirt and rocks came up around him.
"Enjoying your train set, are you, Dusk?" Discord asked, standing in the middle of the circle. Dusk's eyes widened before he looked down, and sure enough, he was dragging a model train along a railway. The Unicorn threw the train at Discord, hitting in the head. "OW! Really now!"
Dusk dove for the Draconequus, knocking him down. "That's a mean twinkle in your eyes you have there, Dusky." Discord said, noting the shade of red his eyes had turned.
"All the better to glare at you, dear." Dusk replied, head-butting Discord before standing up and holding him into the air. Dusk flashed a glance at the girls and they all nodded, standing up from their bench and taking a circle around them.
"Aw, had enough games? It was just getting fun." Discord teased.
"Sorry, Discord. But I have sciency stuff to get back to, you wouldn't understand." Dusk replied.
"Oh, I'm truly hurt by that statement. Very well, lock me up and throw away the key, I will not resist." Discord said, dramatically.
With another nod from Dusk, the girls and he activated their Elements of Harmony. It was working. Each gem from the elements were glowing, and each bearer had begun floating in the air. Dusk grinned as his eyes turned a bright white. There was a slow and bright flash of white light before... nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. Discord was still standing there, his arms crossed. In fact, the only thing that had changed was Discord had a big target covering his stomach.
"Oops, did I forget to mention? There's a reason I turned your friends. Granted, fun was a part of it, but with their personalities engineered to an inverse of the Elements of Harmony, your little light show there won't work on me. In short, Dusky; I've won!" Discord then began to break out in to a chorus of laughter.
The six ponies were unsure on how to proceed. Should they try again? Should they attack Discord together? Dusk chose to attack himself. Having thrown Discord to the ground just before, it should be easy to do again. Sadly, it was not. Discord began to use tricks he'd refrained from using before. Dusk was thrown seven ways to Sunday. He took punches and kicks and tail whips to the face, torso, legs... he was bruised from head to hoof.
The girls watched in shock and horror as their friend, partner and in some cases, lover was sent flying into the air, before grabbed in a corkscrew headed straight for the ground. They backed up just before Unicorn touched dirt. A huge explosion tore through the area, blowing the ponies back.
In the cloud of dust, Discord emerged, holding Dusk's Gauntlet. The gem was cracked and the gauntlet itself was bent in all sorts of places. The ponies looked on at the spectacle, seeing the item that belonged to Dusk last. They gasped in horror as the realisation dawned upon them. Discord truly had won, Dusk... was dead.
The crater was wide and deep. The water from the town centre's well had flooded out, creating a small lake in the middle of town. Everything was calm, everything was quiet. Discord and the former Elements of Harmony had gone, the latter having felt defeated.
With nopony in sight, Ponyville had been reduced to little more than a few houses, a Town square, the Library tree and some floating islands. Sweet Apple Acres' trees had grown larger and had begun walking by themselves, like Ents. Animals ran, scuttled and/or slithered this way and that way. Everything was utter madness. All the while, a figure began to surface from the water in the crater.
Dusk regained consciousness and flailed around, managing to grab the edge of the crater with his fingers. He pulled himself to the edge and began breathing heavily. Coughing from time to time, he crawled out of the crater and rolled onto his back, sucking in air as he looked up at the pink chequered sky. His clothes were tattered, the buttons on his shirt had gone, the sleeves were gone and half the right pants leg was ripped to shreds.
"Why... did I... explode?" he asked to nopony in particular. The stress of the situation began to encroach upon his mind and he felt his eyes growing heavier and heavier. Within a few seconds, he was unconscious once again.
The dark recesses of Dusk's mind were a place even he feared to venture. Each place held certain memories he wanted to forget, certain situations he found himself in that he wished he never had. It wasn't until he'd been made whole again that he came to terms with his past. Now, Dusk found himself surrounded by doorways leading to those dark places. He also found himself separated from his emotional half. He was as he'd originally met his friends Dusk Shine, the intellectual student of Princess Celestia, emotional pretender and all-around asshole to those whom he should have cared about and loved.
Sitting opposite the dome of doorways on a big silver throne with a smug grin on his face was the Dusk Shine those who knew of wished they hadn't, the Dusk Shine whose return they all feared. Should one ask him, he would be the Dusk Shine who was the complete and utter badass.
"Well, well, well. What a sorry situation we've found ourselves in. Practically swirlied by a creature whose face we can't distinguish from his ass? Dusk, we're not completely in sync." the dark Dusk said, his eyes flashing red at his intellectual counterpart.
"I thought we were." Dusk replied. There was an amused chuckle from the darker half as he waved a finger at his other half.
"Didn't you feel it? That pulling as we fought him? We both wanted to do different things. You used your mind to try and think of a way to defeat him while I actually did the defeating. We had him on the ropes before you began wondering what he had hidden up his proverbial sleeve. Then he flashed the red card and handed us our own ass. I don't know about the girls, but I do not want to look upon it again." he replied, leaning forward.
"What would you suggest we do?" Dusk asked. Dark Dusk flashed a smile.
"We need to be fully synchronised. We believed we were last time, but there's obviously something we haven't gotten over yet. So, would you like to tell me just what it is you still feel compelled to deny our true nature for?" he enquired.
Dusk thought for a moment. There couldn't have been anything left unsaid between them. Unless their original goals were off peak. "You wanted to prove to everypony that you weren't a monster, yet we've done monstrous things since we joined. You guilted Celestia into sleeping with you, you seduced Luna and goaded her into accepting our friends as lovers also. We were having enough trouble deciding between the five of them, but we went ahead and added the Princesses to the mix."
"Technically, you helped with Celestia, but alright, yes. We got all seven ponies we loved, didn't we? I don't see what you're complaining about." Dark Dusk said.
"THINK! We don't even love the Princesses in that manner." Dusk replied.
"Do we not? Because I think what I feel towards them is something akin to love. It's no different to what I feel for the girls."
"You feel loathing and hatred towards Celestia, you've warped it into a false love. You want to get close to her so you can hurt her when the timing's right." Dusk said.
"Are you describing my desires... or your own?" Dark Dusk asked. Dusk paused for a moment. "because if these were my desires, how would you know unless they were yours as well. And if they were yours as well, would they really be mine at all, or are you feeding me hatred like a Changeling feeds on love?" Dusk rose from his own throne and rushed towards his darker side.
"I am completely devoted to the Princesses!!!" he shouted.
"Doesn't mean you can't hate them, does it?" Dark Dusk asked. Dusk grabbed him by the collar on his shirt and lifted him up.
"I love Celestia and Luna both!" Dusk cried out.
"Really? because a minute ago, you said we didn't love them. Or were you just describing it as platonic love?" Dark Dusk asked.
"No... I love them both. And the girls. I love them all, even though you're the emotional half of me."
"Love drives many a folk mad, Dusk. We are no exception. I love Celestia and Luna both. Celestia taught us self-control. As a young colt, we couldn't control our hatred. But now we can, thanks to her intervention. As for Luna, well, she was hurt by Celestia in a way not entirely unlike ourselves. Only except for separating the emotional side of her, like with us, she was banished to the moon for a millennium. If you ask me, I'd have preferred the moon. All the pretty stars..." Dark Dusk began to trail off in his own little world.
"So what do we do now? There's still the matter of Discord." Dusk suggested. Dark Dusk snapped out of his dream and chuckled.
"Well, we'll need the Elements of Harmony, for starters. Bringing the girls back to their proper senses shouldn't be too much of a task for us. If Nightmare Moon was supposed to be just a story, then why not the all-curing kiss of love? After all, we love the girls, don't we?" he said.
Dusk nodded. "We'll have to fully synchronise too, no more of this patched up teamwork substitute, either." he said.
"Yes. In order to do it, we need to have the same thought. Plotting on how to defeat Discord should do it. I'm thinking we need to think this through, play by your strengths." Dark Dusk said.
"I was thinking we'd need to fight Chaos with Chaos, go by instinct, your area of expertise." Dusk replied. Dark Dusk smiled at his counter part.
"Let's try both, shall we?" he offered, holding out his hand. Dusk smiled back and took it.
"Together, as one." Dusk said...
Discord was having a ball of a time. Constantly snapping his fingers, he laughed as the local wildlife began to distort into familiar but unnerving shapes. Rabbits began to look like giraffes, dogs became scaly, Gummy grew sabre teeth. All the while, the Spirit of Chaos sat in his throne, enjoying a glass of chocolate milk, or in this case it was more like a chocolate milk of glass.
As he drank heartily, the Elements of Harmony sat tied down in front of him, as did Trixie and Barb. All had distant looks on their faces after either witnessing or hearing about Dusk's demise. Barb in particular had the most glazed over look one would find on a dragon.
"Why so glum, ladies? Take a look around you! So much colour in the air, birds buzzing, bees flapping away. It's magnificent!" the Draconequus declared, waving his arms in the direction of each object he described. None of his words even reached them. He slumped down in boredom. "Oh, you're not still hung up on that Dusk fellow, are you? The guy's dead, move on!" Discord teased, hoping to get a reaction out of them. He did not go unrewarded.
"Dusk was our friend! Even more than that, he was..." Rainbow shot her mouth off, but got caught as the gravity of the situation forced itself back onto her. The only other being that seemed to display even a modicum of a reaction was Barb. She gave Discord the same look a dragon would give if you'd just destroyed her clutch of eggs. That intense gaze that overshadowed Fluttershy's own 'stare', mixed with seething hatred. Discord just drank it up like a Changeling.
"Something to say, Barbera?" he asked, slithering off of his throne to come face to face with the baby dragoness. "A tale of woe, perhaps?" he goaded.
"I hate you." was all she said. Even Discord was surprised by the blatant statement. Not even Celestia or Luna had said such a direct thing. They'd always called him a villain, a fiend... a bastard. But never had anypony ever claimed to hate him. It was a first.
"Well... I'll be honest, Barbera, I... I wasn't expecting that. So, you hate me, huh? I'd have thought you'd be thanking me after the events that transpired thirteen years ago." he teased.
"DON'T YOU DARE MENTION THAT DAY!!!" Barb screamed at him. Everypony, even Discord fell backwards at her sudden outburst. Barb began to struggle against the bonds that held her. "Thirteen years ago, Dusk made me feel loved for the first time in my life! How he did it doesn't matter!" she snapped at him. Discord grinned in excitement.
"Oh? You don't think Dusk Shine's ex-girlfriends deserve to know about that day?" he coaxed. The five mares and Trixie were watching them talk, each one wanting to know what they were talking about.
"It doesn't matter now, anyway. He's dead. They don't need to know." she replied.
"Aw, but we really really wanna." Pinkie Pie chimed in. Barb just shot her an evil look that made her draw back.
"Well, if you're good girls, I'll tell you once I'm done rearranging Equestria. So... in a few minutes." Discord teased, chuckling.
"Well, you'll want to tell them while you can." a voice said from behind. Discord, along with everypony present looked towards the source of that voice. Dusk sat in Discord's throne, one leg over the other, arms crossed. His shirt had lost its sleeves as well as its buttons. His pants fared no better, one half of the right legging was missing and there were patches missing from all around. "Did you miss me?"
"How in Celestia's name did you survive that?!" Discord asked, completely shell-shocked.
"I got worse ass-kickings from my sister, that's how. I'd tell you not to quit your day job, but that would be counter-productive for me. See, I'm about to fire you." Dusk replied, standing up from the throne. Barb and the others had smiles that went from ear to ear. They'd never been so happy to see somepony in their lives. Barb even had tears streaming down her cheeks. Dusk stepped closer to Discord, casually unfolding his arms. "You know, I have to thank you for beating me earlier. You see, I haven't been swimming in a while, and it was just what I needed." he said, stopping just a few feet in front of Discord.
"You've got some nerve, young pony. Sitting in my throne. Who do you think you are?" the draconequus demanded.
"Somepony who matters." Dusk replied blankly.
"What, you think I don't matter?"
"Let me ask you, Discord; will you be missed if you were to die?"
"Ouch! Ooh, that hurt. What are you, some kind of louse?"
"No, just a realist." Dusk placed his hands in his pockets.
"You know, you're incredibly rude for Celestia's student." Discord noted, crossing his arms.
Dusk just shrugged. "Yet she prefers me to you. Guess that means I have my answer. Nopony really likes me, so they sure as the sun rises won't miss you." he retorted. "We gonna fight now or what?" he asked. Discord just huffed and approached Dusk, rearing to punch him in the face. As Discord made contact, Dusk's body turned to sand and blew away in the timely wind.
"What the?"
"Where you aiming at Dugong?" Dusk asked him from behind. Discord turned around but saw nothing but the girls. Looking up, he saw Dusk was standing on thin air.
"How the heck did you do that?" Discord asked. He went to look at the girls to see if they were as surprised as he was. Even more shocking was Dusk standing inches from him. "You're creeping me out now."
Dusk cracked a smile for the first time. "Come on, Discord, you should know. If you know about that day thirteen years ago, you should know what happened last month. Or did you stop learning about me before Nightmare Moon?"
Discord paused for a moment before slumping. "Guilty as charged. I lost interest after you became an emotionless shell." he replied.
"Well news flash, Dissy; I'm back." as if to prove Dusk's claim, his eyes flashed crimson.
"You know what? I've had enough of this." Discord stated. he went in for a quick jab. Dusk caught it and jumped over Discord's second blow. He grabbed the other arm and began to force them together from behind. Discod started wailing.
"Look at the great and mighty Discord! You were boasting your success a few moments ago. Now here you are, crying like a girl!" Dusk teased.
"I am a girl!" Discord let out. Dusk was speechless for a few seconds.
"What?" he asked.
"I said I am a girl!!!" the draconequus cried. Dusk turned to the ponies, each wearing the same surprised and speechless expression as him. Everypony then looked back at Discord and shouted at once.
"WHAT?!!!
After letting Discord go, he turned to face Dusk. Upon doing so, his body morphed. His snout shortened slightly, his eye lashes grew... that tuft of white on his chin disappeared while the hair on his head grew. His serpentine form began to shift slightly, becoming more solid and fleshy in some areas.
"Ooh, that's much better! You know, ever since I changed my appearance, I've had this horrible crick in my neck. Having a neck like a giraffe sucks!" Discord commented. As if to prove her point, Angel bunny ran past wailing as his miniature giraffe form caused him no end of displeasure. Upon seeing this, Discord gave a sheepish chuckle, blushing slightly. She noticed Dusk wincing in pain as he held his head.
"You alright over there?" she asked.
"I think I just had a small stroke." he replied.
"That's kind of sad when you think about it." Eris commented.
"Sad for you!-" Dusk found himself kicked into the nearest building. Once again, silence fell over everypony. A hole in the wall of the building shaped like a pony was all they could see from within.
"Dusk?... You okay in there?" Rainbow Dash asked. Everypony blinked a few times, waiting for a response.
"Ugh! Did anyone get the number of that bitch?!" the reply came.
"ERIS-666" Discord replied, Smiling.
There was a pregnant pause from the Purple Unicorn. "...*creaking metal sound* I hate this town!" he said as he stepped out. Despite having been sent through a wall, there were no new injuries on his body. he just rubbed the back of his head and cracked his neck from side to side.
"Do you feel like using the Elements again, Dusk?" Eris asked.
"I don't think I can afford to." he replied simply, leaving all including Eris confused by those words. The purple Unicorn took a moment before his entire body flinched. An instant later, Eris found herself knocked a few dozen meters away. As she went to stand up, she noticed Dusk standing just inches from her. Her face was right next to his torso.
"Oh my god, you could grind meat on tho- Gah!" she threw herself back and tried to distance herself from the unicorn, but felt a really sharp pain on her tail. She held back a scream as she looked back to see Dusk had stomped on her tail, effectively breaking it. "Get off of that! It's not a kit-kat."
To her surprise, Dusk actually obeyed and released her tail. She pulled it away from his reach with lots of discomfort before grabbing it to see if she could nurse it at all. The villain settled for holding it in her arms before turning to face her enemy who once again was standing inches from her. She stood up to declare she was ready for a challenge before she felt another sharp pain in her stomach. She was stunned for a moment. Dusk had a neutral expression on his face, his eyes glowing scarlet as he looked at her with a bored expression.
"I'm not a monster, Eris. I've decided to devote my life to proving that fact." Dusk said as Eris slowly looked down to see the source of her pain. Her eyes grew wide and she froze with terror at the sight. Dusk had impaled her with only a single finger. Normally that might not be such a big deal for her, but the positioning of the entire hand was what caused her the strife she was now in. "The only obstacles I see are those like you who bring out the worst in me." he continued. Eris looked him in the eyes. She couldn't speak she was so scared. She tried to plead for forgiveness, but his eyes portrayed the message that he was no longer willing to listen.
"P-p-please..." she managed to croak. "I-I can do things...things those girls could never hope to do. I have the flexibility of a snake, I could make you very happy. Just please, don't kill me." she begged. Dusk jammed his finger further into her gut, causing her to stop talking with a scream.
"You also have the personality of a snake, Eris. If I let you live, I may not have another chance at stopping you. If our roles were reversed, would you take that risk?" he asked. Eris took a moment to think of her answer. Those in her situation may say yes, to make their attacker think that if they'd give their prey a second chance that maybe they should as well, but she could tell Dusk was not like that. He didn't want to be like her.
"Honestly... no, I wouldn't. But please, if you're going to kill me. at least make it painless?" she begged. Dusk took a moment to answer her.
"It will be painless." he replied. Eris closed her eyes and waited for the end to come. She felt Dusk remove his finger from her stomach, but thought nothing of it. "Because you're going to die of old age." she snapped her eyes open and looked at him. The red in his eyes was gone and he had that stoic expression on his face.
"Y...you're giving me another chance?" she asked in utter surprise.
Dusk nodded. "I've decided to trust you, Eris. There's no guarantee that I can stop you again should you decide to terrorize Equestria again. But there's also no guarantee that I won't be able to stop you again. And I don't think you'd be willing to take that kind of a chance. Because you know that if you screw up again, I won't let you go a second time. This is your last chance. Don't make me regret it."
Without another word, Dusk turned around and went to his friends to untie them. "And clean this shit up! I like my Library to be upright as opposed to under a volcano." he called back to her. Eris couldn't move. She looked into the eyes of something far more destructive than herself and it spared her. That unicorn didn't know if he could stop her if she went wild again, but she knew. Should they fight once again, she'd have no chance against that... monster. I shouldn't be surprised he beat me. After all, I saw what happened on that day.
Dear Princesses Celestia and Luna,
I hope everything's going well back in Canterlot. I've managed to defeat Discord (hereafter known as Eris) without resorting to the Elements of Harmony. To be honest, I'm not sure what using them again would have done to me. Eris has requested to stay with me for a while before going back to Canterlot. She wants to learn about the magic of Friendship with me. I think she wishes to earn a place as your ally in the near future, so she's decided to reinvent herself. In a way, I'm glad I didn't have to kill her.
Eris has told me that all of Equestria should be back to normal, but to let her know if she's overlooked some areas. The girls are back to their normal selves and some of them are trying to make up for their altered personalities. Rarity's destroying rocks left and right. Apple Jack's revealed secrets to me I wish I didn't have to hear. Rainbow Dash is currently sleeping on the branches of the Library as I write this. Pinkie's cleaning up her basement (don't ask). Fluttershy's literally asking for punishment for her angry outbursts, and Trixie's... Trixier than usual. Barb's paying for it too. She said something about you flooding her stomach with letters. I was wondering what she was using for kindling since we hadn't gotten any firewood recently.
If there's a lesson in here somewhere, it's this: don't try to change your friends, because it's not good for anypony.
I ask that when Eris finally arrives in Canterlot, you be nice to her. Because of me, she's lost her purpose in life and is trying to find her way. Help her out would you? After all, that's what friends do.
With love,
Dusk Shine - Your favourite Stallion.
Dusk placed his quill down and folded the letter in half before placing it in the envelope addressed to the Princesses. Now he just had to convince Barb to look at another letter without throwing it in the fire. "Allow me?" a voice said from behind, plucking the letter from his hand with a lion's paw. Eris cleared her throat before blowing a small plume of fire at the letter. It disintegrated into ash which took flight upon an invisible wind and went out the nearest window.
"Thank you, Eris." Dusk said, turning to face her. She gave him a smile and waited as he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. "Now, about that flexibility you were talking about. Care to demonstrate for me?" he asked with a smile.
"Only if you keep those eyes red. There's something about them that just gives me Goosebumps. It's a real turn on." she replied. As if by command, Dusk blinked and the eyes were aglow in the dark of the room.
"Something tells me the Timberwolves won't be the only ones howling at the moon tonight." he said as he pulled the draconequus towards his bed.
"I'm so excited about Nightmare Night. I'm gonna stuff my face full of candy." Barb said excitedly as she bounced around the Library.
"I don't mind you eating as much candy as you want, but I urge you to eat it in moderation. We don't want a repeat of the Canterlot Castle flood. Some of the cleaning crew still haven't forgiven you for that." Dusk replied, fixing up his costume.
"I thought you were going as Starswirl the bearded." Barb said, stopping to look his costume over.
"I am. I've just taken a bit of artistic license with it. I wanted to see if I could pull off Starswirl if he'd turned evil. It gives me the chance to go out with my eyes their real colour." he said, turning to face the dragoness with glowing red eyes.
Barb swallowed before sighing. "I still can't believe you're back. I mean how did it happen?" she asked.
"I figure the Elements of Harmony damaged Celestia's seal and it just took a bit of nudging to break it. But make no mistake, my dear Barbara. I am not the same as I was before. But enough about that. It's supposed to be a scary themed night, not an actually scary night." he replied.
"And it's statements like those that prove you spent the last seven Nightmare Nights indoors with your nose glued to a book." Barb commented.
"This coming from the girl who dressed up as her own kind for Nightmare Night."
"It's an Alligator!"
"You look like Barney the Dinosaur."
"I look like a dragon."
"You look like something Sweetie Belle might keep on her dresser."
"Well I can't go dressed as a Timber Wolf again, Granny Smith would probably start swatting me with a broom!" there was a pause in the argument before Dusk burst out laughing at the implication. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Starswirl." Barb crossed her arms as she moved towards her room. "Trixie went out to get candy for tonight. I asked her to get that chocolate you like." she added. Just as she'd reached the steps, a pair of purple arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a strong but gentle embrace. The laughing had subsided and Barb turned her head to see the smiling face of her big brother, his eyes closed in a look of pure happiness.
Dusk held her closely, feeling the hum of her reptilian body as she breathed. "It'll be a dark day for me when my favourite dragon decides to go off and make a life for herself with Trixie. How could I ever manage without you?" he asked. Barb turned around and hugged him, throwing her arms around his neck. Dusk lifted her into the air and carried her over to the nearest chair. As he sat down, the dragoness melted onto his lap where they just snuggled together for a while. "Without me, you probably never would have gotten that scar." she said finally. Dusk tightened his grip on her.
"I'd give up my magic to have you in my life, Barb. I can't imagine a world that I'm in, and you're not." Dusk replied.
"But aren't I to blame for the last thirteen years?" she asked, her voice breaking.
Dusk angled his head and kissed Barb between the eyes on the bridge of her snout. "Of course not. You were a victim just as I was, if not more so. If anypony's to blame it's... them." Dusk replied, his anger seeping through with the last word. But he quickly reigned it in. "Which brings me to an important question;" he said, causing Barb to look him in the eyes. "Do you hate me for what I wound up doing?" he asked. Barb lost her composure and began to shed tears over the memory.
"How could I ever hate you? It's because of what you did that I chose never to leave your side, even after Celestia turned you into an emotionless husk. I'd do what you did myself if it meant I could stay with you." she replied. "That day, you became the most important pony in my life. I love Trixie, but she comes second to you. That's how I feel about you, my brother." as she spoke, she began to smile. It became clear to Dusk that if she could, Barb would let the world burn if it meant nothing changed between them. He would live as he saw fit, and she would be there by his side, as it was meant to be. A moment of silence was shared between two smiling faces before Barb decided to tuck herself into the crook of Dusk's neck.
A knock on the door drew Dusk's attention. Not wanting to move, he called out to the visitor. "Come in." The door opened a second later to admit Miss Cheerilee, Ponyville's resident school teacher. "Miss Cheerilee. How can I help you. Does the school require new text books, or recommended reading material?"
"Actually, Dusk... I was wondering if you'd be interested in coming to the school after lunch hour as a guest. Scootaloo recommended you as somepony who could make the history of Nightmare Night and I quote 'Even Cooler'." Cheerilee replied.
Dusk tilted his head slightly as he considered the invitation. Already, he was thinking of ways to make it as Scootaloo advertised. "Alright, Miss Cheerilee. I know exactly how to entertain your students. Best make sure the toilets are handy though. I plan to make some of them nearly wet themselves with fear." he said. Cheerilee gave him pause before blinking.
"Oh... Right. Good! I'll just uh... get everything ready on my end." she said uncertainly. Dusk watched with amusement as Cheerilee went back out the door. As she closed it he heard her mutter to herself. "Dear Celestia, what have I done?"
The two chuckled amongst each other at Cheerilee's expense. "You really should think about dialling it down a notch. Never mind scaring the foals, you're going to give her a heart attack." Barb said. Dusk grinned back at Barb before teleporting out from under her. The dragoness fell into the soft cushion of the chair.
"Fine, I'll leave the fog machine here." he said, going upstairs to prepare for the day's events.
Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were barely able to contain their excitement as the School day seemed to fly by. The only class they had left was the History class, which to their opinion wouldn't be a total bore because it was about Nightmare Night; easily their second-most favourite holiday. Today had been special because even Diamond Tiara was in such a good mood about the holiday she hadn't even bothered to bully anypony. She just chatted with Silver Spoon about their costumes for the evening. They expected Cheerilee to be the one discussing Nightmare Night's history, but the appearance of a surprise guest made Scootaloo above all else grin from ear to ear.
"Alright, class, today we're going to be learning about Nightmare Night from a very special pony. Upon Scootaloo's recommendation, I've invited Mr. Dusk Shine here to teach us all about Nightmare Night. So without further ado, Dusk, would you be so kind?" Miss Cheerilee said.
Scootaloo knew it would be good when she noticed Dusk had a cheeky grin on his face. "Thank you, Miss Cheerilee." he began before turning to the rest of the class. "Nightmare Night... Nightmare Night. NightmareNight-NightmareNight-NightmareNight-NightmareNight-NightmareNight-NightmareNight-Nightmare... Night! Show of hands who thinks they know what Nightmare Night is all about?" Dusk asked, taking a rather relaxed attitude towards the whole thing. He's so cool! Scootaloo thought.
Immediately, Diamond Tiara's hand went up. Nopony else dared go before her. Dusk pointed to the light pink filly and waited for her answer. "Nightmare Night is about the exorcism of the demons Nightmare Moon conjured during the war one thousand years go. It's the anniversary of the day the last of the demons were banished from this world and sent back to Tartarus." she replied. Everypony seemed impressed by Diamond Tiar's knowledge of the subject, all except for Dusk who seemed as smug as all get out.
"Actually, Nightmare Night has nothing to do with the exorcism of demons from the Dawn War." Dusk replied, making Diamond Tiara's face drop from happy to unamused. Scootaloo watched the transition with unhidden glee. "Nightmare Night goes further back to before the rise of Nightmare Moon. The origin you spoke of was a gimmick that those who hated Nightmare Moon told in order to spread fear and hatred towards the lunar princess. It gave birth to a cult who lived in the name of Princess Celestia. As some of you could imagine, Celestia was not too pleased with those ponies, choosing to favour her over Luna even after the war, which was what initially started it in the first place." Dusk looked around the room at his temporary students, their eyes gazing at him with the desire to know the truth behind Nightmare Night.
"The true origin of Nightmare Night is more romantic in nature than that. It's actually the anniversary of the night the Orphanages throughout Equestria were emptied. About ten years before Nightmare Moon came to be, Luna proposed to Celestia that they expand the country to another location, creating a whole new nation. Many believe that Celestia rejected the idea, and Luna, out of rage, took the orphans of Equestria from their beds and carried them all to a new place beyond the world we know. Some even go so far as to claim that those orphans are on the moon, or that they became her stars. The truth is, that Celestia agreed to the idea, and suggested the orphans be given a home together."
"Whether or not the part about them going to the moon or becoming the stars is true or not, nopony knows. And after a thousand years, Luna has lost track of her little nightmares. But legend has it that throughout Equestria, those nightmares descend unto Equestria on the anniversary of their unusual Adoption, taking on the title of 'Children of the Night'. That's why we ponies dress up on this day, so that the Children of the Night can mingle amongst us without us knowing if they're one of us or from the stars above." The whole class was listening in to Dusk's story, Diamond Tiara's anger forgotten as she found herself drawn in.
"And guess what, my little ponies. Tonight's the night." he said. as if on cue, a soft giggle of foals began sounding from within the walls. None of the class had made the sound and foals were looking left and right.
Scootaloo looked back to Dusk. "But how come we dress up as scary creatures?" she asked.
"The Royal guard were new at the time, not used to the creatures we take for granted nowadays. Other ponies, they could handle, but creatures the likes of which they'd never seen before terrified them. Legend has it that the spirits of the guards from back then are still searching for the Children of the Night, and so we dress up to help them confuse the guards and make it home to their beloved mother moon." Dusk replied.
"Is all of that true?" asked Silver Spoon.
"Heard it from the Princesses themselves. Are you calling them liars?" Dusk asked. Suddenly, the pale faces of foals nopony had ever seen before emerged from the walls and all pointed to Silver Spoon with angry glares, their eyes hollow. "Because her children don't seem to like it." he added. Silver Spoon began shaking as she looked at the eyeless faces all around her.
"Could we become Children of the Night?" asked Sweetie Belle. The faces turned to the pale unicorn filly and their angry expressions turned to smiles. They were almost like theatre masks that showed different expressions.
Dusk's grin became scarier than those of the foals' pale ghostly faces. "You'll have to ask Luna herself when she gets here tonight." he replied, earning mutterings from the classroom. "That's right, little fillies. The lunar princess is back to bring your nightmares tonight." All of a sudden, the room went pitch black, even the light of Celesti's sun couldn't shine through the windows. All anypony could see were the faces of the young ghostly foals, and the crimson eyes of Dusk Shine.
"Ugh, I can't get it to fit! I'm too fat." said Scootaloo, trying her hardest to suck in her gut as Dusk tried to pull on the zipper at the back of her costume. The orange filly had decided to go as a werewolf for Nightmare Night and had asked Dusk to help her with the dress. When the Unicorn asked why she didn't ask her parents to help her instead, she was quick to evade the topic.
"You're nowhere near fat. If anything, you look malnourished. Who exactly feeds you?" Dusk asked as he struggled with the zip. He contemplated using magic, but he didn't want to catch the filly's skin in it. "Ugh! Was this washed by any chance? Because either you've gone up a size within a matter of hours, or this thing's gone down one." he groaned. Scootaloo whined before letting her breath out all at once, gasping for fresh air.
"I don't see any way around it. The only alternative I can see at this point is going to Rarity's but it's highly likely she's dealing with Sweetie Belle's costume. Only other way is if you let me try a spell I've not used since... ever." he said. Scootaloo looked at her second idol for any hint of uncertainty, but the Unicorn was as difficult to red as a Prench Encyclopaedia.
"What will the spell do?" She asked, looking worried.
"Theoretically, it should alter the size of any object any which way I see fit. So as far as I can tell, it's tight around the upper torso. Anywhere else you'd like me to loosen?" he asked.
Scootaloo considered his question carefully. She knew that the upper torso was really the only unmanageable area that she was comfortable talking about, but then again, this was Dusk. "It rides in the crotch area. Maybe make that a bit loose?" she asked. Dusk nodded, looking Scootaloo over.
"Alright. Stand still... I need to picture this if I'm gonna get it right." he said. As Scootaloo remained frozen in place, she watched as the air around Dusk began to stir, the darkened robes he'd been wearing as his costume having begun to sway every which way. Within a matter of seconds, she began to feel her costume loosening up in certain places, namely the crotch and chest.
"It worked!" she said aloud. Dusk let the spell fall and he opened his eyes.
Upon closer inspection, he deemed the costume to be good to go. Turning Scootaloo around, the zipper made it all the way to the top without incident. "There, how's that feel?" he asked, patting Scootaloo's hips and letting her get a feel for the costume. The filly in question paced around in a circle a couple of times before stopping and smiling up at Dusk.
"It's great. Thanks Dusk, you're the best!" she said, running over to hug him. This was not the first time she'd hugged Dusk. Quite frankly, the Unicorn found himself hugging the filly more than anypony else in his life. It made Dusk wonder just what was going on at home that she had to get such intimacy from ponies outside her immediate family. Nevertheless, Dusk didn't mind. He was fond of Scootaloo. She was a good girl who kept her nose clean as best she could. He felt honoured to be put up there with Rainbow Dash as one of her idols.
Ponyville's streets were bustling with activity as colts, fillies, Stallions and Mares dressed as varying creatures patrolled the houses, knocking on doors. The town's fountain had somehow been dyed red, making it look like blood. Anypony who drank it found that it was punch. Activities were set up such as the bobbing for apples trough and the school yard had been set up for the spider throwing competition. Pinkie Pie and Rarity had outdone themselves with the decorations. The two mares looked beautiful. Pinkie Pie had taken Dusk's advice and had let her mane and tail grow long. She'd even drenched herself in fake blood. Please, let it be fake!
Dusk himself wore black robes with a crimson inlay, the symbol of Starswirl on the back in silver. His wizard hat was like Trixie's only the brim was wider and blackened throughout, covering his face in darkness, his eyes the only thing that could be seen. "Ladies." he addressed the two whom had been enjoying a nice chat together.
"Wow, Dusk. You look super scary." said Pinkie, offering him the seat next to her. Dusk sat down and crossed one leg over the other. "Thanks Pinkie, you look particularly bloodthirsty yourself. And Rarity, ever the beauty, and forever young if those fangs are anything to go by." he commented.
"Oh, Dusk. You flatter me. Do go on." she said, blushing under her... blush. "Pinkie was just telling me about this arrangement you have with Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Something about a polygamous relationship?" she commented.
Dusk took a second to register where she was going with this. "Ah, yes. I've been meaning to talk to you and Pinkie about that. See the deal is that I've grown very fond of all of you. Celestia, Luna, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and the two of you. I went to the Princesses for guidance on the matter and we came to an arrangement. If it was mutually agreed upon, the eight of us could enter into a polygamous relationship and they would agree not to be jealous of the others. So far, Both the Princesses and Applejack are okay with it. I haven't told Rainbow Dash about it yet, as far as she's concerned, we're still just friends with benefits. I was worried about how I would approach each of you about the subject. Especially Fluttershy and yourself, Rarity. I know such a relationship as the one I'm proposing isn't exactly ladylike, but It's completely impossible for me to choose between the seven of you. I love each of you equally." he said. Rarity took a moment to process all the information given to her. She didn't bother looking to Pinkie who seemed unphazed by the whole event.
"I understand your situation, Dusk And I'd be lying if I said I didn't find you attractive. Your attitude has certainly gone up since we first met. Realistically, you've grown into the ideal Stallion for me. And you're right, such a relationship isn't exactly ladylike. However, that being said, if both Princesses are for this relationship, then I suppose I can accept it as well. However, I would ask for a level of discretion. I don't care if you make your relationship with the others public, but I would ask that you keep my part of it secret, and make sure the others do too. If you can do that, then I will consent to the relationship." she replied.
Dusk smiled at the off-white unicorn. "Thank you Rarity. You truly are a one of a kind gem. To show you how grateful I am, I would like to take you to dinner at 'Le Cigare Volant' Tomorrow in Canterlot. My treat." he said. Rarity gasped and a smile appeared on her face, her eyes shining like gems.
"Le Cigare Volant? That's the most prestigious restaurant in Canterlot! They've been booked for years. How could you get reservations there of all places?" she asked.
"Strength and power are not the only pros to being Celestia's student. I'm labelled a VIP to them. Plus, I made reservations last week as a means to woo you into the relationship." he replied, giving her a sheepish grin.
Rarity giggled at him, placing her hand on his. "You're one of a kind yourself, my dear. I look forward to sampling the benefits of such a relationship." she said. Dusk took her hand and lifted it up to his lips to kiss it.
"Of course, my immortal mistress. This will also give you an opportunity to showcase your dresses to Canterlot's elite, expand your business." Dusk replied.
"Oh, yes, of course! If you'll excuse me, I must return home to decide which dress I shall wear for tomorrow. What time shall we be leaving for dinner?" she asked.
"Five. I've arranged for a carriage to fly us to Canterlot straight to the restaurant. It should take about an hour. I'll not spoil the entire evening, but I'll say this. I have a few things planned for after dinner that I believe you'll love." Rarity gasped, the concept of such an evening taking her breath away. She could barely wait for tomorrow.
"Till then, my darling." she said, racing off home as stylishly as she could.
"I can see it now; Dusk Shine dies after having spent all monetary assets. Will is half a page." he said, gesturing headlines with his hands. Pinkie giggled at him.
"Why didn't you tell her that I was already a part of the relationship?" she asked, leaning closer to the Unicorn.
Dusk reached a hand out to her cheek and brushed her mane back over her ear. "Because nopony knows about that day you nearly killed me. Which brings me to a very important question. Tell me that's fake blood you've rubbed on yourself." he said.
"Well... It's not pony blood, that's for sure." she replied.
"I'm afraid to ask."
"Fluttershy asked me to take care of her animals yesterday while she went out to the market. Angel was giving me the shits because I wouldn't do him a salad. So I grabbed another bunny and snapped its neck right in front of him. Since then, he hasn't been able to look at a carrot salad or that book without crying. It helps that he's the only animal Fluttershy can't understand." she concluded.
Dusk just stared at her, blinking every few seconds. "Seems I'll need to teach you to deal with stressful animals. That's not okay, Pinkie. You know how much Fluttershy loves animals. If she ever found out about that, she'd never forgive you." he said, lowering his voice for the sake of discretion. Pinkie sighed and nodded in agreement.
"I know. But at least that bunny didn't die in vain. He taught Angel a valuable life lesson about not getting everything you want, and he made a great addition to my psycho Pinkie costume." she said.
"I guess..."
As the night began to progress, the full moon revealed a silhouette of two ponies pulling a carriage in the sky. The inhabitants of Ponyville watched as the carriage approached them, moving left and right like a snake before lowering to a few feet above ground. Eventually, it touched grass and came to a slow and steady halt. One of the guards unstrapped himself from the carriage and went to open the door closest to the onlooking ponies.
Dusk and the others had approached the front of the crowd and waited for their guest to show themselves. A dark figure stepped out, clad in a cloak. Their eyes were white and there was obviously a horn and a pair of wings attached. Dusk knew already who it was, as did the foals who'd attended the class. Dusk pushed ahead of the crowd and took a knee before his Princess.
"Princess Luna, welcome to Ponyville." he said aloud for everypony to hear. The shadows gave way to the Alicorn and everypony could see her face clearly as she threw her hood back. Everypony else followed Dusk's lead and knelt before Princess Luna. The dark Alicorn examined her subjects before resting her eyes on Dusk. Her heart fluttered at having the chance to see him again. He looked more beautiful to her than before, dressed up in the darkened robes of Starswirl the Bearded. And his mane combed back as it was.
"We are pleased to see you once again, my love." Luna said, taking Dusk's chin and lifting it to face her. Some of the ponies grew confused looks at her words. Before any gossip could begin, she addressed them all. "CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE, YOUR PRINCESS HAS ARRIVED!" her voice was amplified by her magic, the words reaching the farthest reaches of the town. There was a moment's silence before one of the ponies panicked and started a frenzy with three simple words.
"IT'S NIGHTMARE MOON!" Screams of fright ran throughout the town as they all scrambled to get out of sight of 'Nightmare Moon'. Dusk was the only one to remain. Even he expected the other girls to remain, but they too left with the crowd. He rose to his feet and looked at the empty town before him.
"Huh... perhaps scaring the foals earlier wasn't such a good move after all." he said to himself before turning to Princess Luna, whom had disappeared. Her guards remained where they were. "Which way?" he asked. They both Pointed directly ahead of them to Dusk's right. With a sigh, he made his way to follow her. Wherever she went, she was fast.
Princess Luna leaned against a small bridge overlooking a quaint little pond. The tears she shed caused ripples in the water below. She could see her reflection in the water, illuminated by the moonlight above. "I knew it. They still see me as that Nightmare. Nopony ever looks beyond the Nightmare." she spoke aloud, more to herself than any listeners.
"If you wanted to be seen as anypony other than Nightmare Moon, you picked a terrible night for it. Nightmare Night is a holiday in which fear is the theme. Ponies dress up in scary costumes and do their best to scare and prank others, going door to door for candy. If anything, Nightmare Night is the one night of the year where it's alright to be remembered as Nightmare Moon." said Dusk as he appeared in the reflection beside Luna.
"But how do you know that it's because of this holiday that they're afraid of me? How do you know they won't fear me tomorrow when it's all over?" she asked, not having looked away from the reflection of herself. Dusk placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her, making her look at him.
"Have faith in your little ponies. Show them that there's nothing to be afraid of. And if that doesn't work, then you have nothing to prove to them. You are their Princess, whether they like it or not. Besides, you'll always have me, until the day I die. You know that I love you, and so long as one pony loves you for who you are and accepts who you were, do you need all the others?" he asked. Luna let the tears flow as she took in his words. He was right. All she really needed was him.
"If only you were there a thousand years ago, my love." she said sweetly.
"If I were there a thousand years, ago, I'd only have two marefriends instead of seven." he teased, causing the night Princess to laugh. She gave him a light smack on the chest and pressed herself against him.
"Will you help me through the night?" she asked. Dusk said nothing. He simply nodded, kissed her and led her back to Ponyville to introduce her to the ponies he'd gotten to know over the past few months.
