Chapter 1 - A look into the past

A look into the past

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

'Flashback of Dusk Shine.'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

...

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

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

...

Great Celestia! I can’t stand it anymore!

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

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

...

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

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

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

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

...

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

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

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

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

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

...

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

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

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

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

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

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

'End of flashback.'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I need to warn the others about this."

End of chapter 1

Chapter 2 - A simple game of chess

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A simple game of chess

"Bishop to H-Five" Sunset said with a smirk, moving her bishop on the chessboard, causing Dusk's king to be in check. "Please, continue with your story."

Sunset had Dusk cornered, she was sufficient at chess as he remembered. As soon as Dusk moved a piece, Sunset immediately moved one of hers, which didn't give Dusk time to think, and certainly Dusk urgently needed some time to think! Not about his next move in the chess game, but to gather his thoughts and to be able to understand what happened with the disaster that occurred the night before and then with the sudden and unexpected appearance of Sunset back in his life. Now they were both played chess calmly, as if there was nothing pending between them.

Once Dusk woke up that morning, he almost jumped with fright, forgetting for a moment where he was and what had happened, and discovering that his old friend Sunset Shimmer was sleeping on his chest. With Dusk's cry of surprise, Sunset woke up, gave him a warm smile and then quickly began to chat about where they would go in Canterlot and what they could do together. It was at that moment Dusk perked up and demanded that they have a serious talk, since both had many things to clarify before being able to chat quietly. Sunset agreed, but only if they played chess while chatting.

Surprised by the request, Dusk couldn't understand what was going through Sunset's mind. Was she trying to avoid the topic of their past, or had she simply forgotten about it? Or worse, did she decided to ignore it, as if that past that had tormented Dusk hadn't existed. No matter what the truth was, Dusk had decided to stand up to Sunset and face her. But before that happened, Sunset smiled and placed Dusk's old chessboard between the two of them and quickly put the pieces into position.

"Sunset... I... I want to talk to you seriously." Dusk had said, looking at the yellow unicorn with a mixture of fear and confusion.

"I know, but like I told you, we can talk while we play. There are many serious things we need to talk about, and this will make it less stressful. You go first!" Sunset cheerfully responded, then she put on a sad look. "Please, for the old days?"

That had surprised Dusk. Not because of Sunset's insistence to play, but because of hearing her say 'please'. That was something that Dusk never thought he would hear pronounced on Sunset's lips, which left him confused for a second. Then Dusk looked at the board and reluctantly decided to follow Sunset's game so that he could chat with her about their past.

"You... Why you-?" Dusk had managed to ask, starting with his questions immediately after moving his piece on the board. However, he was immediately interrupted by Sunset.

"Pawn to D-Five." Sunset said, moving her piece quickly, without stopping to look at Dusk for any second. "Tell me Dusk, is it true that you now live in Ponyville?"

"Uh? Y-Yes, that's right... Pawn to F-Four." Dusk answered, surprised by Sunset's speed of play and by the unexpected question. "Anyway, what I want to know is-"

"Knight to H-Five. So, how did you end up in that little town?" Sunset asked, quickly interrupting Dusk again. She wasn’t even looking at the board; keeping her gaze fixed on him.

Without him realizing it, Dusk was now answering Sunset’s questions instead of the other way around. He told her about how the princess had sent him to Ponyville, how he had met his friends, how they had beaten Nightmare Moon, and all the other adventures he and his friends had gone through together.

"Pawn to G-Six." Dusk answered, understanding that the long game of chess they had been playing was nearing its end. "After that, the cockatrice ran away and Fluttershy took me to her house..." Dusk added, finishing the last story he had been telling Sunset while they were playing.

"Oh Dusk, you always have a habit of sacrificing your pawns so often." Sunset grinned, for the first time forgetting to ask Dusk something about his past in Ponyville, and only focusing on the game in front of her. "Rook to H-Two." Sunset added, making her rook to capture Dusk's last pawn.

"Sometimes you have to sacrifice the pawns to win. Knight to B-Four." Dusk said. For the first time, the colt had a small grin when he saw that he was only two moves away from a checkmate.

"Years ago, I didn't have such an exciting game." Dusk thought with a small smile, totally focused on the game.

"Poor Dusk, you must never forget..." Sunset countered, picking up one of her pawns. Which made Dusk immediately realize his mistake. "…A pawn can become a queen. Checkmate." Sunset added, arrived with one of her pawns at the end of the board, which made it a queen piece and at the same time cornered Dusk’s king into checkmate.

With that last move, Dusk's eyes widened in surprise and facehoofed in frustration. He had been so focused on offense that he had neglected his defense.

"How did I not see that!?" Dusk said, pretending to be annoyed, because in reality he felt very satisfied after such a challenging and fun game.

"I always told you, you should never lose sight of what’s really important." Sunset said, hinting that Dusk forgot to protect his king. However, that last comment was like a reality blow for Dusk, who realized how once again he had been manipulated during all of the conversation to avoid talking about what was truly important with Sunset. "So, do you want a rematch?" Sunset asked with an innocent smile.

"No… No! Stop!" Dusk finally yelled. The initial fear and confusion were swept away by the anger he felt now. "Enough of this, Sunset! Enough of this charade that you’re interested in my life in Ponyville, enough of the pretending that nothing happened in the past, enough of the manipulation. Stop acting like you’re my friend!" Dusk yelled furiously, as if all that rage that had been contained had finally exploded.

At Dusk's outburst, Sunset simply stared at him with a serious look. A look that seemed to be analyzing everything.

"Why do you think we are no longer friends?" Sunset asked calmly.

"Why!? Don't you remember what happened the last time we saw each other!? Those two bullies were beating me up, and you left me! You even encouraged them! I… I was just a foal, I was crying, and you were the pony I trusted the most. You abandoned me when I needed you the most!" Dusk almost screamed, finally reveling some of the pain he had felt for so many years.

"So that's how you remember our farewell..." Sunset said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "You weren't the only one who was just a foal, I was also just a little filly. Do you remember how I felt that day? You have no idea what was going through my head. I... I thought you might be mad at me for what I did that day, but I never thought that would be a reason for you to want to end our friendship forever."

"What friendship!? That false friendship you started only because the Princess and the Archmage ordered it?" Dusk said with small tears about to flow from his eyes when he remembered that cruel feeling of betrayal. "I read your diary, you never really wanted to be my friend!"

For the first time, Sunset seemed surprised. The fact that Dusk had read her diary was something she never knew about, and for that reason, it was out of her calculations.

"How did you read...? It was that nosy Mi Amore, wasn’t it!?" Sunset yelled furiously.

"What does it matter who told me!? The important thing is that I discovered the truth. You never wanted to be my friend, you were only with me out of interest, you just followed orders. For you, I... I was just a parasite..." Dusk added, clenching his teeth, feeling the pain of betrayal return to him.

Faced with the bitter truth told by Dusk, Sunset just lowered her head, her eyes closed for a few seconds, as if she was carefully choosing the words she would use.

"I already told you, Dusk. I was just a filly, a confused little filly, who made many… m-mistakes." Sunset said slowly, as if it pained her to admit that she had made a mistake. "And what you say is true, I approached you out of obligation. But what does it matter what the reason was? Didn't you enjoy the afternoons we talked about magic in your room? Or the times we played chess until nightfall? Or when we sneaked into the forbidden section of the library?"

At that moment, Sunset got as close as she could to Dusk, staring at him.

"If you can tell me to my face that it was all a mistake, that you never enjoyed being with me, then fine. I'll leave right now, and you'll never see me again." Sunset said, looking seriously at Dusk, while he kept a scared face. He knew that while it still hurt, what Sunset said was true. "You can't do it, can't you? Like it or not, you’re an important part of my life as I am of yours, and you can never forget that. Regardless of the reason, I was your first friend. And here I am, in front of you, admitting that I was wrong. Have you never argued or had a misunderstanding with your friends in Ponyville? Isn't true friendship being capable of forgiving somepony?"

As Sunset looked at Dusk, waiting for an answer, a big part of Dusk screamed in his mind not to forgive her. That this was just another one of her manipulations. That she had already betrayed him once. He couldn't be fooled again! However, there was a keyword that Sunset had used: 'Friendship'. And for Dusk, for almost a year, that word had a deep and special meaning. He had been sent to Ponyville to learn about the magic of friendship, and there he had witnessed its great value. He had even been able to save Equestria thanks to that powerful feeling. And now, before him, was his oldest friend asking him to forgive her, the friend who had betrayed and hurt him. However... as Sunset said, not everything in their past had been darkness, they had had good times together... So, that tiny spark that remained from their old friendship... was it enough to make Dusk able to forgive her? Especially him! Who was supposed to be the bearer of the Element of Magic.

"We all need a friend, and I… I need you with me, Dusk. That's why I came back to Canterlot, because of you! I want... to get back together." Sunset added with a sad look, just at the moment that Dusk's mental balance was indecisive, finally causing Dusk's kind side to win over his anger and resentment.

"I... I can forgive you... But I'll never forget what you did to me." Dusk added slowly, as if his mind had run a marathon and was now mentally exhausted. Feeling that even saying those words took a lot of effort.

As soon as Dusk said that, the remorse on Sunset’s face immediately disappeared and was replaced by her usual arrogant smile.

"I knew you would... We’re destined to be together." Sunset said, bringing her face closer to Dusk and staring at him. "Forever and ever."

Before Sunset's intense gaze, Dusk didn’t react, he simply remained motionless while lost in his thoughts. He still wasn’t sure if what he had said was the right thing or not. He felt like he wanted to scream out of frustration, confusion, anger, and grief, screaming at the accumulation of feelings he felt every time Sunset stared at him that way.

"Now that we've sorted out that little misunderstanding, we should decide what the first thing we do in the city will be." Sunset said, moving away from Dusk and putting on a thoughtful look. "We could go to the library to reminisce about old times, or maybe to the castle to-"

"Ponyville..." Dusk whispered, interrupting Sunset.

"What did you say?" Sunset asked, unable to hear Dusk's murmur.

"I... I need to go back to Ponyville." Dusk said, remembering that he still had something very important to do.

"Oh… I suppose you want to go back to that insignificant town to talk to those new 'friends' of yours, don't you?" Sunset asked, quickly erasing her smile and putting a cold look of contempt. "Don't tell me you really think you and those bitc- er, mares have a special magical bond just because you all saw the same rainbow the day you got your cutie marks. Come on, Dusk! We’re adult ponies, we’re no longer foals who believe in fairy tales."

"Don't you dare make fun of them or our special bond!" Dusk said immediately, angered to see that cold look on Sunset, a look that had brought back so many bad memories, and that he wouldn’t allow it to be directed towards his beloved friends. "I… did something terrible. Yesterday they... they told me something very important, and I wasn’t able to answer them properly." Dusk added, putting on a worried look when he remembered what happened at the Grand Galloping Gala.

Seeing that Dusk had glared at her angrily, Sunset quickly erased her cold gaze and smiled again, deciding to change strategy.

"Forget about them, now you have me. What could they do that I couldn't do for you?" Sunset said with a tender smile despite her cruel words.

"They would never abandon me." Dusk answered, again looking resentfully at Sunset. This surprised the mare, who upon seeing that look on Dusk, looked away and bit her lip.

"There are things you don't know about me, Dusk." Sunset whispered in a sad voice, something that surprised the lavender colt. However, Sunset quickly changed her attitude and turned to look at Dusk with a serious look. "Alright… if those mares are sooo wonderful and sooo important to you, I guess I'll have to meet them myself. But I don't want you to influence my opinion of them, so you'd better stay here while I spent a day alone with them, getting to know them thoroughly."

Hearing that Sunset wanted to meet his friends alone, a strange chill ran down Dusk's spine, immediately understanding that it was very dangerous for the sly and calculating Sunset to meet his kind friends.

"That’s not a good idea." Dusk said, putting on a worried look. Despite Sunset saying she was sorry for her past, Dusk couldn't risk having his past repeat itself with his friends.

"Hehe, silly Dusk... I wasn't asking you." Sunset said with a sweet smile. "You still don't realize it, but everything I do is for your own good..." Sunset added, making Dusk's gaze focus only on her eyes, so he wouldn't notice that her horn was starting to light up.

Pinkie Pie was jumping at top speed, trying to rush her friends as they walked through the streets of Ponyville. As soon as the sun had risen, she had sprinted to Rarity's house to tell her about what she had discovered about the mare that had taken Dusk the night before. However, Rarity had to perform her usual beauty ritual of washing and combing her mane and applying makeup before allowing herself to be seen by anyone. When she was finally finished, it took the unicorn around five attempts to understand what the pink pony was saying at blinding speed before she eventually understood the situation. The pair then set out on the journey to gather the other mares in the group.

Unfortunately, there were also long delays in receiving the other mares. Fluttershy had feed her animals breakfast before leaving her cottage and Applejack had to wrap up some small tasks at the farm before leaving. Rainbow Dash was the most difficult as it took almost all morning to wake her up and get her down from her house in the clouds.

Every one of Pinkie's friends had thought that she would gather them together just to tell them about some crazy party she recently came up with. However, after she managed to explain to them that that yellow unicorn that had taken Dusk was the mare that had hurt him in his past, the mares understood the severity of the matter and were determined to find the lavender colt.

"Ugh! That's why I went to warn you so early! We’re already late!" Pinkie Pie said, urging her friends to run as well. "We already missed the first train to Canterlot! And if we don't hurry, we'll lose the next one going out!"

As the five mares ran towards the train station, Rarity suddenly stopped in her tracks as she looked towards the library.

"Pinkie, wait!" Rarity said, causing everyone to stop. "I think before we go, we should see that Spike is okay. The poor dear has been alone in the library since yesterday, so at the very least we should notify him of what’s happening." Rarity added concerned.

"Hmm… It’ll be easier if we take him with us!" Pinkie said impatiently, changing direction and starting to run towards the library. "There is no time to lose, Dusk needs us!"

Once they all arrived in front of the library, Rarity knocked on the door.

"Spikey, darling, are you there?" Rarity asked.

Slow hoofsteps were heard from behind the door, and it finally opened. As it did so, the eyes of the five mares widened in total disbelief as they saw that the one who had opened the door was precisely the mare they wanted to face in Canterlot, Dusk's old friend, Sunset Shimmer.

"Wow…you five are always together. As close as Dusk said you were." Sunset said, smiling kindly. All while Dusk's five friends were speechless.

"Rarity! I- I'm sorry, I couldn't open the door." Spike said worriedly, appearing from behind Sunset. "I couldn't open the door because I had… an unexpected visitor." Spike added, looking somewhat resentful at Sunset.

"Y-You… What are you doing here!? Where is Dusk!?" Rarity asked, coming out of her amazement thanks to Spike, looking defiantly at Sunset.

"You know... I think I broke the horn of the last unicorn that looked at me like that..." Sunset said with a cold and terrifying look, causing Rarity to freak out for an instant and take a step back. "Oh relax, it’s just a joke! Hehe! I would never hurt Dusk's friends." Sunset added, radically changing her attitude and smiling kindly.

"You don't scare me, missy. Now tell us what you did with Dusk!" Applejack demanded, taking a step forward and this time she was the one threatening Sunset with her gaze.

"I already told you, it was just a joke." Sunset replied calmly. "Don't tell me that Pinkie Pie is the only one that can make jokes in your group."

Hearing that Sunset knew her name, Pinkie and her friends were shocked.

"How do you know my name?" Pinkie Pie asked, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Sunset.

"Well, I needed to know your names if I wanted to meet you." Sunset said with a shrug. "I spoke to Dusk this morning, and he kept talking about how great his friends from Ponyvile were. So, I told him I was going to Ponyville to meet them myself."

"Where’s Dusk?" Rainbow Dash asked, glaring at Sunset.

"He’s still back in Canterlot. I told him that the only way to really get to know his friends was to meet them on my own, without him interfering." Sunset explained. "Since we’re all friends with Dusk, I think it's good that we get to know each other, so we can also become friends!" Sunset added with a well-acted look of tenderness.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash looked at each other suspiciously, not sure whether to believe that mare or not. While Applejack, as a faithful representative of the Element of Honesty, could see that Sunset was only acting and had hidden intentions behind her. For their part, Rarity and Pinkie Pie narrowed their eyes, both recognizing from experience when somepony was faking, and internally accepted the challenge of unmasking that fake smile.

"Uh… girls. I-I think it’s best if you come back when Dusk returns to the library." Spike said shyly, looking askance at Sunset, knowing that it wasn’t good that a mare that had left such a painful mark on Dusk was now with his other friends.

"Don't be silly, Spike. We'll all have a fun day together!" Sunset said, giving Spike a little hug that made the little dragon shiver.

"So, how you plan to spend the day with us?" Applejack asked, deciding to play along with Sunset for now.

"Well, Dusk met each of you differently, and each of you has a talent that Dusk admires. So, I would like to see you in your daily life to get to know you even better." Sunset said smiling kindly. "And I think I could start with the mare that Dusk considers the bravest. The one he first met." Sunset added, staring through the other mares until she focused her gaze on the mare that was farthest away: Fluttershy, who upon seeing Sunset's gaze, flinched weakly, trembling at what might happen.

After leaving the library, the six mares and Spike went to Fluttershy's cottage. Sunset Shimmer continued to wear a cheerful grin as she happily chatting with the yellow pegasus, praising her for having been so brave in taking on an adult dragon and even a cockatrice. Fluttershy was admittedly confused by the pleasantries. Despite how aggressive Sunset had been when they initially met, it seemed like she was genuinely trying to be nice and friendly. However, Fluttershy continued to remain cautious, feeling that despite her kindness, the mare was still hiding something.

For their part, the other four mares were walking a couple of steps behind Fluttershy and Sunset, since it seemed that for now the attention of Dusk's old friend was focused only on Fluttershy. As they walked, the four mares hadn’t said any word the whole way, but they well knew that they were all thinking the same thing: they had to be careful. Spike was the most nervous of all and seemed wanted to be as far away from Sunset as possible, but he had forced himself to go to protect his friends, since Dusk wasn’t there to do it.

"Girls, you need to be careful with Sunset. She… She’s dangerous." Spike muttered, still worried that his friends would follow Sunset's game.

Seeing that the little dragon was in distress, the unicorn stopped for a moment to give him a few soothing pats on the head. "It will be alright, Spikey-Wikey. She's not the only one who wanted to meet face-to-face. We also want to know more about this 'friend' of Dusk." Rarity replied, smiling at Spike and then glancing at Sunset. "We know that she went to the same magic school as Dusk, so she must be very strong with her magic. But I'm sure she won't attack us, that would be a crime."

At Rarity's words, Spike bit his lip and looked away uneasily.

"Sunset’s magic is really strong, it’s true. But… that's not why she's dangerous." Spike whispered, speaking very softly, fearing Sunset would overhear him.

Finally, they all made it to Fluttershy's little cottage. Outside, most of the animals that the kindly pegasus cared for were still finishing breakfast.

"What cute little animals." Sunset said with a friendly smile, walking over to some little bunnies who were eating. However, as soon as the rabbits saw an unknown mare approach them, they all got scared and fled from there. "What's wrong with them? Dusk told me that the animals in this forest were very friendly."

"Oh, they are… But they’re always skittish when someone they don't know gets too close to them for the first time." Fluttershy politely explained, thinking that was a reason for the animals to run away. However, there was also another possible reason: perhaps they felt that whoever approached them had bad intentions.

"I see... Can you help them trust me?" Sunset asked kindly, with an innocent look.

Fluttershy looked confused for a moment at Sunset, then she approached her and together they called the bunnies. Seeing that Fluttershy was with that unknown mare, the critters began to quickly approach and finally allowed themselves to be caressed by Sunset, who genuinely smiled at the to be able to pet the cute little animals.

"Maybe I'm being paranoid… The little animals definitely wouldn’t approach her if she was evil." Fluttershy thought guiltily.

"You know, I bet you’re thinking that the bunnies would never trust somepony who is supposedly evil? Am I right?" Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow, perfectly reading what Fluttershy was thinking.

"Uh! I… no… I mean…" Fluttershy stuttered with nervous embarrassment.

"Although, I don't think somepony is completely good or completely bad. Through my travels, I’ve learned that the world is not black or white. It’s always gray, sometimes lighter, sometimes darker, but every pony harbors good and evil in oneself." Sunset said, caressing the bunny on her lap and smiling. "That's why I wanted to meet the kindest pony in all of Equestria, to confirm that she’s just a wicked sham." Sunset added, still smiling and stroking the bunny.

"A-A sham?" Fluttershy asked, surprised and confused.

"Well, what I mean is that you’re not really the pure angel that you pretend to be. You acted evil when you drove the dragon out of the mountain, or when you drove the cockatrice out of the forest." Sunset said, staring at Fluttershy. "Even now, what would you do if I decided to go ahead and snap this bunny’s neck?" Sunset added, smiling as she gently stroked the bunny, something the little animal seemed to enjoy a lot.

At Sunset's words, Fluttershy turned pale and immediately looked at the bunny. Fluttershy tried to move to take the bunny Sunset was holding, however she couldn't move. Only then did Fluttershy realize that a thin layer of magic was surrounding her body.

"Don't panic, I'm just holding you back with my magic so you won't react before I finish what I have to say. As I said, kindness and cruelty just depends on the point of view you look at it. What would you say if I told you that the dragon you drove out came here because it was driven out of the land of dragons by the Dragon Lord? Or if I told you that the cockatrice starved to death after it stopped hunting for the scare you gave it? Then the evil one would be you." Sunset said with a thoughtful look, still stroking the bunny, while Fluttershy couldn't help but have a look of horror as she looked at the bunny that Sunset was holding and fearing that she would carry out her threat. "Imagine how neglectful you were. You let a stranger get close to your precious animals without knowing their true intentions. But if you hadn't let me get close, what kind of selfish pony would you have shown yourself to be? Were you kind or were you merciless?" Sunset added as she released her magic.

As soon as she was free, Fluttershy pounced on Sunset and yanked the bunny from her hooves, much to the surprise of Spike and her other friends. They had been surprised to see how well Fluttershy and Sunset seemed to be getting along while they were talking, only to then see Fluttershy lunged violently at Sunset.

"Fluttershy!" They shouted in surprise from the furious act of their friend and ran to get closer and find out what had happened.

In that instant, Fluttershy felt something move hard against her hooves. Then the pegasus looked down and saw that the poor bunny was resisting her strong hold. She released the little bunny, who ran scared away from Fluttershy to snuggle up next to Sunset, who smiled fondly and gave him reassuring pets.

"Do you see it, Fluttershy? Everything is a matter of perspective." Sunset said with that same sickly-sweet smile. "I'm sure that you have only shown Dusk your tender and sensitive side, but you can never be a true friend of him until he knows your cruel side and accepts it."

At Sunset's words, Fluttershy felt a pain begin to grow deep within her heart. As desperate as she wanted to, she couldn't find the words to refute her, because inside herself, a part of her feared that was true.

"What in tarnation did you do to Fluttershy!?" Applejack said furiously as she rushed to her friend’s side. Regardless of what they had seen, Applejack knew that Sunset must have done something to make Fluttershy react that way. Then she looked at the bunny Sunset was holding, who, like the other animals around her, seemed to be looking fearfully at Fluttershy.

"You... you casted a spell on those rabbits, didn’t you?" Spike muttered in horror, as if he had remembered something horrible from his past.

"I haven’t cast a spell on anyone. I’m not using magic on any animal." Sunset said with an innocent look. "All we did was talk. I guess she didn't like some of the hypotheticals I told her. Perhaps she took them too seriously." Sunset added with a shrug.

After Sunset's words, Applejack stared at her for several seconds. It seemed that she was telling the truth, but then what had happened?

"R-Release the bunny." Fluttershy said with tears in her eyes once she was able to calm herself to speak.

Then Sunset raised a hoof and raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"I’m not holding him back. He’s free to go to you if he wants." Sunset said, looking at the little bunny that was looking shakily at Fluttershy after the rough grab.

"I'm sorry little one... Please, come with me." Fluttershy said with sadness and guilt, calling out to the little bunny. But the little animal simply refused to approach her, which broke the pegasus's heart.

"If you want them to come so close, I can help you." Sunset offered.

Then Sunset conjured her magic and the eyes of all the bunnies around her sparkled for an instant. Then all the bunnies smiled and ran to hug Fluttershy, bewitched by Sunset's spell.

"Seriously, taking care of animals is so easy. I still don't understand how Dusk was so impressed by something so simple." Sunset said with a shrug.

"Don't use your magic on them!" Fluttershy cried, worried when she saw her bunnies with their bright eyes.

As soon as Fluttershy said that, Sunset stopped using her magic. Then the bunnies came to their senses, and when they saw that they were hugging the 'violent' Fluttershy, they all ran to hide again, leaving Fluttershy even more depressed.

"You can catch more flies with honey… All that about understanding animals and being loved by them is nothing more than a simple facade." Sunset added, staring at Fluttershy and smiling. Then Sunset moved her head and looked at her next target. "I think after meeting Fluttershy, Dusk went to your farm, didn't he, Applejack?" Sunset said kindly as if nothing had happened.

At Sunset's gaze, Applejack was shocked and then glared at her with a very angry look.

"That's right." Applejack responded fiercely, determined that she wouldn’t fall into a trap like Fluttershy.

The walk from Fluttershy's house to Sweet Apple Acres was fairly short and otherwise quiet. Like before, Sunset was at the head of the group, only that she was talking with Applejack now. However, this time the conversation was not smooth. Every time Sunset talked to Applejack about what Dusk had told her about Applejack, such as the family reunion, the big apple harvest, or when she saved an entire town from a buffalo onslaught; Applejack just nodded her head in silence, still upset that Sunset had tricked Fluttershy into making her look violent.

As for the other girls, they were all behind trying to talk to Fluttershy about what happened. However, it seemed that Fluttershy barely listened to her friends as she walked. Even though she knew that Sunset had tricked her into reacting badly, Fluttershy kept wondering if Sunset’s philosophy on good and evil was true. No one knew her better than herself and she knew that she actually had a less kind side that she didn't show to others. But above all else, Fluttershy was thinking about what Sunset had said about Dusk, and if she could really consider herself a friend of him (or even think of being more than just a friend) if Dusk only knew her good and gentle side.

"Wow! I’ve never seen so many apple trees in my life! And I’ve traveled throughout Equestria and beyond. I’m impressed, Applejack! You and your family have a spectacular farm." Sunset said with a genuine smile.

"Uh-huh..." Applejack said raising an eyebrow, trying to sound nonchalant.

The truth was that Applejack felt conflicted with Sunset, she had never met somepony who spoke and acted like her. As much as Applejack saw and listened to Sunset, she didn't see or feel the slightest bit of a lie in what she said, and that puzzled her. She couldn't understand how somepony could be as cruel as she was supposed to be if she only told the truth.

"So, what is your main job on this farm? I think I remember Dusk said you were good at harvesting apples." Sunset inquired.

"Yeah... The main harvest of the year is just a short time away, so most of the apple trees are already bearing fruit." Applejack replied, looking carefully at Sunset.

"Could you show me how you harvest them?" Sunset innocently asked.

"Yeah! Show that mare your awesome bucking skills, AJ!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly, knowing that her friend was the best at it. Encouragement that her other friends also gave her, who wanted to motivate Applejack to show the true strength of the Ponyville mares, even more so after Sunset had managed to deceive poor Fluttershy.

At the encouragement of her friends, Applejack put on an unsure look. She didn't want to participate in whatever Sunset was planning. However, her pride kept her from hiding something she was proud of, so she finally agreed.

Applejack walked over to one of the apple trees that already had buckets under it, as she planned to harvest some apple trees that day. Then Applejack struck the apple tree with flawless technique, the product of years of experience, causing all the apples on the tree to fall in one fell swoop.

"Wow, what great strength you have." Sunset said very surprised by the strength of Applejack's hind legs. "I've never seen an earth pony buck like that before. It really is incredible what you can do despite all your limitations."

"Limitations?" Applejack repeated raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, this would all be so much easier with magic. Any unicorn could do this in far less time." Sunset said, looking carefully at the tree that Applejack had struck. "Obviously such a harvesting method wouldn't work for a big business, but I think it's fine for a simple hamlet as small as this one."

"Don't think I don't realize that you’re disguising your insults as flattery! I’m the best apple bucker in Equestria, and not even a dozen unicorn could beat me!" Applejack retaliated. "Even Dusk tried to harvest apples with magic and realized how difficult it is."

"Oh, of course. Dusk told me about that. It was when you two met and he couldn't harvest as well as you." Sunset replied without looking at Applejack, just keeping her gaze fixed on the tree as if she was analyzing something. "But it's not really that difficult, it just takes practice. If Dusk had kept trying a couple of times, he surely would have beaten you."

"That’s not true!" Applejack said, feeling tremendously offended to hear her hard work being looked down upon.

Following Applejack's words, Sunset simply smiled and lit up her horn. A row of magical battering ram constructs appeared in front of the apple trees. The battering rams then simultaneously leaned back and stuck their respected trees with great force, causing all of the apples to fall at once. The spectacle left Applejack speechless, who realized with just a glance that Sunset had indeed harvested all those apple trees in just an instant.

"Knowing Dusk, he probably didn’t put enough power into his buck. You have to hit them hard, and more importantly, at the right angle, like you do." Sunset said with a yawn, as if what she had done was the simplest thing in the world. "Dusk probably realized that but didn't want to. After all, what’s the point of humiliating somepony inferior to you?"

"I... I'm not-" Applejack stuttered for a second, as the shock of seeing that her hard work could be done so easily and Sunset's intimidating gaze made her slowly start to lose her courage.

"Sorry, that ‘inferior’ comment wasn’t meant to be an insult." Sunset said with a knowing smile. Every word Sunset said, she said with genuine honesty. Those words were like daggers to Applejack realizing that everything Sunset said, she believed faithfully. "Every pony has a role in this world. And for ponies with exceptional magical talent, like Dusk or myself, we'll always be amused to see how non-talented ponies manage to do their daily tasks... I guess that was what attracted Dusk to you, to see how different you were and how a prodigy in magic could be friends with a simple and worldly pony without great talent. It’s so adorable!" Sunset added with a small laugh.

Then Sunset moved closer to Applejack, grabbed one of her hooves and looked at her with a loving smile.

"But hey, I still want to be your friend too! Just like Dusk! So someday when I return to the city, I’ll be able to show off and say that I have a friend from the country like you. A friend who tries so hard to do something that for others is so simple, it’s worthy of praise!" Sunset said in a sickly-sweet tone. Applejack turned pale with a thousand-mile stare.

Applejack had been defeated in an instant in what was supposed to be her strength, her natural talent. But more importantly, Sunset's last remarks were like slow poison began to take over her thoughts. She wondered if Dusk had always seen her like this, just a simple country mare. She knew it was true that they both lived two very opposite lives, with Dusk living as a colt to a magic school in the big city, while she had lived all her life in the country... Was she just an experiment for Dusk? A simple anecdote to tell others when one day he leaves Ponyville? Did Dusk secretly think her job was simple?

After those thoughts, Applejack didn’t say any more words, she simply lowered her head sadly, with a lost look full of concern and fear. Seeing Applejack so crestfallen, Sunset smiled and turned her back on her. For their part, the other mares were surprised to see how Applejack's fighting spirit had been broken so easily, causing them to look at Sunset with fear. Finally, the mares understood what Spike had wanted to tell them about how dangerous Sunset was. It wasn't because of her magic, but because of her words, the knack of words that she had to make others feel miserable with themselves.

Seeing her dear friend in such a state of depression, Rarity shook her mane and approached Sunset with a big smile.

"You know darling, I remembered that I have some clients to attend to at my boutique. Would you like to accompany me?" Rarity said, with a big, forced smile of kindness.

"Sure! I would love to!" Sunset responded cheerfully, with the same forced smile.

Both mares remained still for several seconds looking at each other, only smiling at each other, but both knew that behind their smiles, other less benevolent feelings appeared.

The next stop on the mares' tour was Carousel Boutique, which they quickly arrived at. Sunset was leading the way, only this time with Rarity, who kept talking happily about various little things with a delightful smile, as if both were the best friends in the world. Behind them were Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Spike, and a little behind, Applejack and Fluttershy, who seemed unable to come out of their depressive states after being with Sunset.

"Come on, AJ! Don't let that bully get you down." Rainbow Dash said as she slowed down to walk with Applejack.

"How would you feel if you realized that your great talent was actually nothing special?" Applejack said with a pained look. That made Rainbow Dash step into Applejack's place and give her a chill.

"That won't happen to me, no one is faster than me!" Rainbow Dash frightfully thought.

"She’s just trying to get into your head by lying to you." Rainbow Dash said, trying in vain to motivate her friend.

"She… She wasn't lying, sugarcube. She really believes everything she said… about me being inferior…" Applejack replied with great sadness, knowing that also meant that what Sunset said about Dusk could also be true.

Once they approached Rarity's home, they all saw that in front of the front door were three mares: Daisy, Rose and Lily, the owners of the town flower shop. The trio were surprised to see that Rarity approached with her friends.

"Oh, how lucky you showed up! We were about to leave." Daisy said. "There was a sign on the door that said you were closed for the day."

"So it was, darling. I was planning to deliver the dresses you ordered from me tomorrow morning, but… there were some unforeseen events that canceled my trip to Canterlot." Rarity said, giving a fleeting, withering look at Sunset, who just kept smiling.

"Did you finish the dresses!?" Lily asked excitedly.

"They are almost ready; they just need a few details. But if you like, we can go in and finish them right now." Rarity answered with flair and opened the door of her boutique.

Once everyone entered, Rarity led the three florists in front of a curtain. Then she drew the curtain with her magic and showed three mannequins, in which each one wore a dress very similar to each other, but with some small details that differentiated them.

"Oh... they look so pretty." Rose cooed, reaching out to touch the soft fabric of her future dress, which left her very satisfied to see its quality.

"Thank you darling, but as I told you outside, they're not finished yet. These are just the base of the dresses." Rarity said. "I planned to add green petals embroidery to Daisy's dress on the trim and sleeves; fold Lily's dress at the waist to match a beautiful lace model that I have in mind; and I was thinking of decorating your dress with some ribbons and a flower pattern that I think will be divine." Rarity added with a big smile.

"What beautiful dresses! I can already imagine them!" Sunset suddenly forcing herself into the conversation, which surprised Rarity, who for a second almost forgot she had something more important to worry about right now.

"Of course they will be beautiful. I'm the best dressmaker in Ponyville." Rarity said proudly, something the three florists also accepted, who nodded upon hearing that.

"Well, it's not like you have a lot of competition. You’re the only dressmaker in town!" Sunset said with a raised eyebrow.

At that comment, Rarity lost her smile for the first time and pursed her lips, looking annoyed at Sunset.

"Does she want to belittle me the way she did Applejack?" Rarity mused in distain.

"Don't be offended, dear Rarity. I was just saying a fact." Sunset nonchalantly said and then looked at Rarity's three clients. "Wouldn't you like to know the vision of somepony who has traveled the world and really knows what is fashionable in the world today?"

The three florists were surprised by the question and looked thoughtful, as what that yellow unicorn was saying really interested them.

"I know what's fashionable!" Rarity said angrily, feeling offended.

"Let's see... Here it is!" Sunset said, ignoring Rarity and levitating with her magic one of the fashion magazines that the white unicorn had on her table. Then Sunset flipped through several pages until she found the one she was looking for and approached the three florists. "Look! This is what is in fashion nowadays in big cities."

As the florists approached the magazine, they saw that there were several photos of models wearing short dresses, usually in one color and without much embellishment. Seeing the beautiful models wearing the latest fashions they wore in Manehattan, the eyes of the three florists sparkled with excitement as they imagined looking as beautiful as the models in those magazines.

"T-That...might be what’s fashionable in cities right now, b-but-" Rarity said with concern, seeing how her clients were getting excited by designs that were far from what she imagined for their dresses.

"I've been to Canterlot, Manehattan, Las Pegasus, Fillydelphia… And you know what amazed me the most when I arrived in Ponyville? How old-fashioned the clothes here look." Sunset said, laughing as she ignored Rarity and focused only on the three florists.

At Sunset's comment, the three florists were offended and for an instant they glared at Rarity with resentment. Rarity, feeling hurt by those looks, she angrily turned to Sunset.

"Stop! You’re filling their heads with lies!" Rarity said angrily.

"I haven't told a lie. Have I, Applejack?" Sunset asked, glancing at Applejack, who in turn was surprised to hear her name, as she hadn't been paying attention due to how depressed she felt.

"Dusk used to say that you made the most beautiful dresses in town. And he's technically right." Sunset said, looking at Rarity and then at the florists. "But the truth is if you want to stand out in a big city, you have to dress fashionably like all the modern mares do." Sunset added, then used her magic to levitate scissors and began to cut Rarity dresses to make them more like those of the fashion magazine.

"What are you doing!? Stop!" Rarity screamed in terror when she saw that her dresses were being cut off. Then she stretched her hoof to try to stop Sunset, however, she was stopped by the three florists.

"Don't stop her." Lily said, looking away in embarrassment.

"Yeah, we… We want to dress fashionably like the mares in the big city!" Rose added, with a small look of anguish.

Seeing that her own clients had stopped her, Rarity froze, then took one last look at the dresses, of which little was left of their original design. Sunset hadn’t only cut the dresses, but the beautiful idea that was in Rarity’s mind of what those dresses would look like in the end and the smiles her clients would have when they saw those beautiful dresses.

Seeing how the dresses finally turned out, the three flower mares gave uncertain looks, as they felt that before the dresses looked better. Yet Sunset had shown them the truth, and now the dresses did look like those of those model mares in the magazine. So finally, the three mares thanked Sunset for help and left the boutique, somewhat satisfied with their new dresses.

"Why did you do that?" Rarity asked weakly, feeling destroyed that her goal of proving to Sunset that her tailoring skills couldn't be surpassed had been a total failure before she even started.

"I only gave them another option. A better option. They were the ones who chose." Sunset said with a shrug. "But fashion isn’t something that really interests me. It’s something so banal, so changeable, so subjective... The real power is in convincing others about what is fashionable. With enough skill, you can convince everyone that wearing a potato sack is the latest trend."

Then Sunset approached Rarity and looked at her with an evil look, finally leaving the fake smiles behind.

"So elegant, so dignified, so feminine, so fashionable... That definitely catches the attention of any stallion in this little dirt town, it even caught Dusk's attention." Sunset said, smiling wickedly. "But in the big city they would make fun of that false appearance. After all, as the old saying goes, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."

Having that cruel look in front of her, Rarity froze again, her lip trembling, feeling that she would start crying at feeling so humiliated in her own home.

"Enough!" Pinkie Pie said, jumping up to hug Rarity to consul her and glaring at Sunset.

"My my! If it isn’t the ever-smiling Pinkie Pie." Sunset said raising an eyebrow, smiling proudly. "It doesn't seem like you're smiling much now, does it?"

"I knew that a mare that hurt Dusk so badly couldn't be good at all." Pinkie Pie said with a serious look. Sunset narrowed her eyes slightly, as if that comment had stung a bit. "But you're right, I always find the time to smile." Pinkie Pie added with a smile. However, it wasn’t a smile of joy, but a smile of confidence. She stared at Sunset, knowing that this time it was her turn to challenge her.

"Alright, let's have a laugh then." Sunset replied, putting on the same Pinkie smile and looking at her defiantly.

With three of the girls in a state of depression after being deceived, despised, and humiliated by Sunset Shimmer, it was Pinkie Pie's turn to guide them elsewhere. Now there was nothing to hide, it was obvious that Sunset didn’t seek to know them better or get along with them. She only wanted to confront them and beat them in whatever they were good at. And if that was the case, Pinkie Pie knew what to do.

"We’re here!" Pinkie said with a big smile once they reached Sugarcube Corner and opened the door of the bakery.

As they entered, everyone saw that Mr. and Mrs. Cake's shop was full of foals, a few years younger than Apple Bloom and her friends. The entire bakery was filled with streamers and balloons, and there were several tables with small cakes.

"Today is Dinky Doo's birthday! I got everything ready in the morning so Mrs. Cake could host it while I was gone. But since I'm here, we're all going to enjoy this party!" Pinkie Pie said with a big smile, ready to start celebrating with the others, as if she had completely forgotten the tense atmosphere present just a few minutes ago between her friends and Sunset.

"Uh... Pinkie, I don't think it's a good time to be at a party." Spike said, a little concerned.

"You're wrong, this is just what we need!" Pinkie said, then turned to Sunset and surprisingly putting her hooves on Sunset's cheeks to force her to smile. "I'm not going to challenge you to anything Sunset, and that's how I'm going to win! All I want is for you to stop that fake smile and smile with genuine happiness." Pinkie Pie added.

Then Sunset moved her face away from Pinkie’s hooves, then she stared at her and put on a small smile while raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry, I assure you that all my smiles have been genuine." Sunset arrogantly replied.

After that conversation, Pinkie Pie ran to a drawer that was under the stairs of the bakery and stuck her head inside it, shaking it roughly. Then Pinkie popped her head out of the drawer, only this time she was wearing a big multi-colored wig and a lot of clown makeup on her face.

"Time for fun!" Pinkie Pie screamed with joy, causing all the foals to also scream with excitement at the knowledge that the pink pony’s show would begin.

With incredible skill, Pinkie Pie stood on a ball and began to play the accordion as she began to sing the happy birthday song to the birthday filly. Seeing Pinkie's antics, all the foals started laughing together. For her part, while singing, Pinkie Pie occasionally glanced at Sunset, who simply stared at her with the same fake and arrogant smile she had when she arrived at the bakery.

"I’ll show her that laughter isn’t silly… I’ll show her that even evil and grumpy mares like her can smile and change their hearts!" Pinkie Pie thought with a look full of determination as she continued with her act, remembering the words that Dusk had said to her about her old friend.

Suddenly Pinkie lost her balance and fell sharply to the floor, hitting her face as she fell. Then all the foals started laughing, thinking that this was also part of Pinkie Pie's antics.

For her part, Pinkie was shocked for a second. On any other occasion, she would have laughed at her accident and continued with her show. But she knew there must be a culprit behind her fall. And as much as she had wanted to smile despite seeing her friends being attacked by that evil yellow unicorn, for an instant her anger overcame her normally cheerful demeanor, and she glared at Sunset, as if all that pent-up anger she'd been trying to hide had finally come to light.

"You.. You made me fall!" Pinkie Pie accused, determined not to be intimidated or fooled by Sunset, as had happened with her friends.

Sunset just shrugged and looked confused at Pinkie’s angry glare.

"I didn't do anything, Pinkie Pie. It’s true that I thought about it, but how could I teach you a proper lesson with such a dirty trick." Sunset grinned. "It seems that you were too busy looking at me and thinking about other things, and you got distracted. I didn't do anything; I swear to you."

"I-It's not true!" Pinkie Pie claimed angrily, thinking that it was likely that had happened, but she didn't want to lose to Sunset.

"Smile! Isn't that your gift? To smile no matter the situation?" Sunset asked, staring at Pinkie Pie. "By the way, that ‘always making others smile’ shtick doesn’t seem to be working very well for you." The unicorn added, looking away toward the center of the room.

Pinkie Pie looked to wear she was gesturing and was startled to see that all the foals at the party were now looking worried and confused at Pinkie Pie. Because of that outburst of anger, Pinkie had forgotten about her show and that she was trying to entertain those foals, which made Pinkie feel bad about herself.

"No! Don't let her get into your head! Don't let her win again!" Pinkie Pie fearfully thought, forcing a smile so as not to worry the foals at the party.

Before Pinkie Pie could react and say something to lighten the mood, a light similar to a small sparkler, flew in front of Pinkie Pie's eyes, doing several loops in the air. Then the flare flew to the center of the room to where the foals were, who were amazed at the beautiful light that moved in such an amusing way.

"Fret not, little foals! Follow me outside and we’ll have some real fun!" Sunset said with a big smile, full of excitement for the foals to follow her. So, she used her magic to keep moving that magic light and persuade the foals follow her out of Sugarcube Corner.

All the foals ran excitedly out of the bakery, leaving Pinkie Pie and her friends alone. The pink mare still confused about what was happening.

Outside of the bakery, Sunset began working as the new emcee. She used her horn to create dozens of magic flares that twirled and looped over the heads of the foals, who playfully tried to catch them with their hooves without success. Then Sunset created several figures of lights, forming the multicolored silhouettes of a great dragon, a ursa and a chimera. Then she formed the figures of two alicorns, a stallion and a mare, who defeated the three beasts of lights, causing the foals to applaud excitedly for the show. Finally, Sunset built up her magic and launched several fireworks into the sky, causing the foals to be even more excited by the noise and lights of the great show.

As Sunset finished launching the last fireworks with her magic, Pinkie Pie approached her, because seeing the foals so excited, she didn’t want to interrupt their happiness. Once Pinkie was at Sunset's side, the unicorn smiled, winked at Pinkie, and used her magic to create a portal just below her, causing Pinkie to fall through. Then Sunset created another small portal just above the first, where Pinkie Pie appeared, but since this second portal was just above the first portal, Pinkie disappeared below and appeared above, falling in an infinite loop, so dizzy she didn't know what to do.

That lasted only a few seconds as Sunset, exhausted from using so much high-level magic, broke the spell and finally Pinkie Pie fell to the ground, totally dizzy and lost. Seeing Pinkie so dizzy, all the foals started laughing, thinking that all of that had been part of the show and started clapping. For her part, Pinkie shook her head to shake off the dizziness, then she looked at the foals laughing, and her mouth began to tremble, trying to smile. She then averted her gaze from the foals and looked ahead, where Sunset had come extremely close, almost touching her, with a penetrating gaze and a huge smile.

"Come on! Laugh! That’s why Dusk adores you, because you’re always happy and make others laugh, LAUGH! LAUGH!" Sunset exclaimed with an evil smile.

At Sunset's cruel gaze, Pinkie's smile and eyes began to tremble as she truly began to feel that there was no escape from her failures.

"YOU’RE COMING WITH ME!!" Rainbow Dash screamed angrily, who upon seeing Pinkie Pie about to cry, flew at full speed and grabbed Sunset by surprise and took her away from there.

Seeing that Rainbow Dash and Sunset were gone, Pinkie Pie wiped her eyes and stood up. Then her friends quickly approached her.

"Are you okay, Pinkie?" Rarity asked. The unicorn was quite concerned to see that her festive friend, despite all her efforts, had also fallen into Sunset's trap.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Pinkie replied without being able to look her friends in the face. She always hated when others, especially her friends, saw her sad or depressed. Save for one special pony, of course. "Come on… We can't leave Rainbow Dash alone with that… meanie."

The four mares hurried to where their daredevil friend had gone by following the rainbow trail she left behind. For their part, Mr. and Mrs. Cake had been watching from the bakery window and they hadn’t wanted to intervene when they felt the tense atmosphere between Pinkie and that yellow unicorn. However, when they saw that the mares were leaving and that the foals were still outside, they called for the foals to come back inside and continue enjoying the party. The only one left outside was Spike, who had just sent another letter with his fire.

After what happened with Fluttershy, Spike had run to Fluttershy's cottage to find a scroll and a quill and had sent a letter to Dusk telling him what had happened. He repeated this with both Applejack and Rarity while also trying to stay out of Sunset’s sight so that she wouldn’t be wise to his plans.

After what happened with Pinkie Pie, Spike had sent a fourth letter to his brother. However, after sending that last letter while waiting outside Sugarcube Corner, Spike put on a look of utter concern. Dusk and Princess Celestia were the only two ponies he could send letters to with his magic fire, and they both always responded immediately, which is why Spike began to freak out. It was already weird that Dusk hadn't answered one letter, but four unanswered letters!?

Knowing that Sunset was involved with his friends, Spike hated the fact that Dusk wasn't there to help them. Without Dusk's presence, it would have to be his responsibility to protect his friends. However… he was terrified of Sunset.

One of the first memories that Spike had in his short life was of crying as he was being controlled like a puppet by Sunset's magic. Both she and Dusk were just foals, and Sunset had wanted to try a control spell on someone, and sadly little Spike had been the perfect guinea pig. If it hadn't been for Dusk stopping Sunset, something worse could have happened with the poor dragon that time.

No… Spike knew what Sunset was capable of, and he, as much as he wanted to, couldn't face her alone. He needed Dusk, he needed the help of his older brother… At that moment Spike, gritted his teeth hard in frustration, wishing with all his might that he could be of any help.

"DUSK! ANSWER BACK ALREADY!" Spike yelled in frustration, not realizing that when he yelled, he released flames of his magic fire, which seemed to glow brighter than normal for an instant.

Meanwhile at the town park, Rainbow Dash was glaring at Sunset. She had taken her to the park, taking advantage of the fact that there weren't many ponies around, to finally confront her openly.

"I bit my tongue when you messed with Fluttershy and when you belittled Applejack and when you made fun of Rarity, but what I'm not going to put up with is you making Pinie Pie cry!" Rainbow Dash said, who had wished for quite some time that she could go face to face with Sunset.

"Well, what do you plan to do about it? Do you want to fight me?" Sunset ask, raising an eyebrow with a defiant look.

In that instant Rainbow Dash imagined how easy it would be to fly her up to the top of the sky and simply drop her. But no, she wasn't the evil one here, Sunset was.

"I want you to apologize to my friends, an honest apology!" Rainbow Dash said, threateningly putting a hoof on Sunset's chest.

"Huff... the ever-loyal Rainbow Dash… So blinded by loyalty to her friends, she can't see things objectively." Sunset replied with a shrug. "All I did was talk to Fluttershy, and she freaked out with a silly example I gave her. With Applejack, I just showed her how she could make her farm more efficient. With Rarity's clients, I just gave them a tip on fashion in the big city. And at Pinkie's party, I distracted the foals so they wouldn't freak out when they saw Pinkie Pie angry. Now tell me, exactly why should I ask for forgiveness?"

Those words served to make Rainbow Dash's fury waver. What Sunset was saying was largely true, but… Rainbow Dash couldn't get out of her head how sad and devastated her friends were after being with Sunset… Was what Sunset was saying true? Was she blinded to the truth by the affection she had for her friends? Whatever it was, the only clear thing that Rainbow Dash knew at the time was that she couldn't fight Sunset because of what she had done. Sunset hadn't used violence against her friends, so Rainbow Dash couldn't use it against her, no matter how much she deserved it.

"Wait… what if that was her plan? To make me angry for me to hit her and make it seem like she’s the innocent one in this whole story…" Rainbow Dash thought, her eyes widening in surprise. Then Rainbow Dash pulled the hoof off Sunset's chest and lowered her gaze in disgust, knowing she couldn't fall for Sunset's trap.

"You see? I didn’t do anything wrong. It's not my fault that your friends are useless." Sunset said with a smile laced with venom.

At that moment, Rainbow Dash's blood boiled in her body. She raised a hoof and punched Sunset's face with all her might.

"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack and the other mares shouted, who had just reached the park and caught sight of Rainbow Dash throwing a blow at Sunset. Then the group of mares ran to where the two of them were.

For their part, Rainbow Dash and Sunset were frozen with Rainbow Dash's hoof on Sunset's cheek, though more specifically, with Rainbow Dash's hoof 'almost' touching Sunset's cheek. At the last second, knowing that it would arouse Rainbow Dash's ire, Sunset had used her magic and protected herself from Rainbow Dash's blow, so a very thin but strong layer of magic had cushioned the pegasus's blow.

"Violence leads nowhere, Rainbow Dash. What would Dusk say if he saw this." Sunset asked with an arrogant smile. Then she expanded the aura of her magic, causing Rainbow Dash to fall onto her back.

Just at that moment, Rainbow Dash's friends came over and helped her up. Meanwhile, Sunset kept her horn glowing with magic.

"At no point did I attack you, however, one of you just attacked me." Sunset said with a wicked smile, flashing her horn with great intensity. "I suppose now I can defend myself and use my magic against you as I please. Perhaps wipe all of you from this mortal coil..." Sunset added, with so much accumulated magic that her horn began to shoot out some lightning bolts and sparks.

Seeing that Sunset threatened them with her magic, the five mares knew they had no chance, as they knew how powerful she could be. Then the five of them hugged each other and looked fearlessly at Sunset. Whatever she threw at them, they would face it together.

"No... there’s still something to destroy..." Sunset thought, looking with contempt at the friendly embrace that the mares gave each other. Then she looked up at the sky and a great idea came to her head.

"Fortunately, unlike you, I don’t encourage violence." Sunset said, shrugging her shoulders and gradually diminishing the magic in her horn until it disappeared. Then Sunset focused her gaze on Rainbow Dash and smiled. "How about we solve this little misunderstanding with a little healthy competition?"

"Uh?" Rainbow Dash said, totally incredulous at what she was hearing. On the other hoof, Spike had just arrived at the park and joined his friends.

"Let's see..." Sunset said with a thoughtful look, then looked to her right and pointed away. "How about the first to get to that hill, touch the clock tower, and come back here, will be the winner. Ready?"

"What!? You just threatened us with your magic and now you want-?" Rainbow Dash said, confused and annoyed.

"Three... Two... One..." Sunset said, getting into position ready to run, ignoring Rainbow Dash's confusion and counting down, not giving her time to think. "Now!"

As soon as Sunset gave the starting shout, Rainbow Dash averted her gaze and flew off to the hill. She didn't have time to argue, she couldn't let Sunset win again! No matter what she was planning, she wouldn't let her win! This was a race, and no one in the entire universe could ever beat her in a race!

Rainbow Dash was flying at full speed, almost about to reach the clock tower, one hundred percent focused only on the race. Meanwhile, at the starting point of the park, Sunset was still static, just watching in the distance as Rainbow Dash finally touched the clock tower and now began her speedy flight back.

"Wow... She really is fast." Sunset said with a hoof over her eyes as a visor to see better in the distance.

Just then, while Sunset was distracted, Spike burped out a scroll.

Rainbow Dash had already gone more than half the way back and was about to arrive with her friends.

"Yaaawn… Okay, time to win." Sunset said.

Quickly using her magic, Sunset teleported to the clock tower and was back in just an instant. Right before Rainbow Dash got to her friends. As the pegasus tried to catch her breath, Sunset looked at her and smiled.

"I think I won." Sunset said, playfully sticking her tongue out, which further irritated Rainbow Dash.

"You… You didn't win! Huff… You cheated… You cheated!" Rainbow Dash eventually stuttered out.

"I told you it was a competition, not a race. I had to touch the clock tower and come back, and I did." Sunset said with an arrogant smile. "It’s useless to be fast and train your muscles if you don’t use the main one, your brain! So fast, yet so dumb..."

"You..." Rainbow Dash growled.

"What do you think Dusk would say? Do you think he would want a friend who acts without even thinking? That's not Dusk's style, is it?" Sunset argued, smiling arrogantly at Rainbow Dash.

Seeing Sunset's intense gaze, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but look away and feel that what the unicorn was saying was partly true. She had always feared that Dusk would think that she wasn’t smart enough, since he was a brainiac. Seeing that moment of doubt in Rainbow Dash, Sunset smirked wickedly.

"Well, since I won the competition, I think I'll celebrate with something special." Sunset said while looking up at the sky where there was a small cloud. Then she closed one eye and made a face of concentration, as if what she was going to do required great accuracy.

Upon correct calculation, Sunset's horn lit up, and a beam of magical light flew out swiftly from her horn and hit the cloud, causing it to be destroyed. What happened next was nothing none of the other mares expected. As the cloud broke with magic, a rainbow light briefly expanded like a ripple away from the cloud, filling the sky with colors for a brief moment.

"That... That was..." Rainbow Dash stuttered, as if she had seen a ghost.

"I think you call that a Sonic Rainboom? It's really nothing special. Clouds are made of water and when strong light hits them at the right angle, the droplets refract the sunlight, breaking down the light into the visible spectrum of light." Sunset casually explained, as if what she was saying was the most basic thing in the world. She then shifted her kind smile to a fake look of pity as she looked at Rainbow Dash. "What? Did you think that explosion was something special? Or don’t tell me, did you think YOU were special!?" Sunset added, taunting the blue pegasus.

Rainbow Dash was already feeling terrible from falling into Sunset's trap and losing that race, where she basically made it clear that she was a dumb pony. However, nothing had prepared her to see that Sunset could also mimic a Sonic Rainboom... That was her thing! It was her trademark! As Sunset said, it was what Rainbow Dash believed made her special and unique. Not only her, but also...

"Did you think that was proof of a ‘special magical bond’ that you have with your friends?" Sunset then gestured to the rest of the mares. "Did you think that was proof of a special bond you had with Dusk!? Well, let me spell it out for you. None. Of. You. Are. Special." Sunset stated, enhancing each of her words. She raised her head high and smiled victoriously, since after everything that happened that day, the spirit of the five mares had been thoroughly destroyed.

The five mares felt downcast. They had been deceived, belittled, humiliated, mocked and insulted by Sunset. And what hurt them the most was that Sunset hadn’t technically lied… Without realizing it, Sunset had targeted their great fears and had used them to tear down what they believed to be their great strengths. And the last ray of hope that they had left, their great bond of friendship, had also been ridiculed and belittled, taking away the last of their courage and self-love.

"Enough with the lies! You say you haven't lied, but that's not true!" Spike yelled, taking all his courage to overcome his fear and face Sunset to defend his friends. "You said that was a Sonic Rainboom, but that’s not true. I’ve seen and felt the Sonic Rainboom that Rainbow Dash makes. It’s not just a simple rainbow, it’s so much more spectacular and grander than that, it reverberates in the hearts of all who see it. It fills you with energy and a feeling of joy that makes you want to jump with happiness."

Those words served to allow the five mares to raise their heads again. Words that slowly drove Sunset's hurtful words away. Then Spike walked over to Rainbow Dash and stared at her.

"I’ve always told Dusk that you’re Sonic Rainboom is the most spectacular thing I’ve ever seen. But do you know what Dusk always tells me? He always tells me that it pales in comparison to the mare that makes it, his dear friend Rainbow Dash." Spike said with a warm smile. Hearing those words, Rainbow Dash perked up for an instant and was able to smile again.

After that, Spike glared at Sunset and showed the scroll that had come to him a few moments ago. The yellow unicorn merely eyed the dragon intensely.

"I wrote to Dusk about all the bad things you were doing to our friends. And he finally answered me." Spike said, again reading the scroll, only this time, out loud:

"I don't know what trick Sunset used, but she can never make the forest animals love her more than Fluttershy. She takes care of them day and night. When they get sick, she is there. When they’re afraid, she is there. That unconditional love is not a hoax, it’s pure kindness, and it’s something Sunset can never match.

The same goes for Applejack. She doesn’t just harvest apples. She sows the seeds, grows the acres of trees, watches them grow and die, they are part of her family. So what does it matter if Sunset can harvest more apples than Applejack, she couldn't do it for the rest of her life. Because she doesn't love to grow and harvest like Applejack does! No pony could have a better farm than Applejack because no pony loves her job the way she does, and that's the honest truth.

Just like the love Rarity has with each of her dresses. She doesn't need to copy fashion styles; she creates fashion styles! It doesn’t matter that other mares dress in a sophisticated way, all in the same dresses. Rarity’s generous heart allows her to spend hours of her time imagining and devising a special and unique dress for every one of her clients.

And Pinkie must understand that anypony can throw a party, anypony can put on a show, even anypony can smile. But not just anypony can bring true joy to others. Pinkie Pie was born to make ponies happy! There are no tricks or hoaxes in her laughter and that's why her parties will always be the best in Equestria!

Girls! Don't be fooled by Sunset! What I want the most right now is to be there with you, with my true friend!. I'll be there soon!"

After Spike read the letter, he looked up and sighed in relief when he saw that his five friends were smiling again. They weren’t completely healed by the emotional wounds left by Sunset but hearing Dusk's tender words managed to rekindle their spirit and make them regain their confidence little by little. However, the little dragon’s relief lasted only a few seconds, as there was still one mare that was not smiling... Sunset had simply remained motionless, looking with a terrifying indifferent gaze at Spike. Feeling that intense look, Spike couldn’t help but tremble with fear.

Sunset's magic removed the scroll from Spike's grasp and slowly tore it into tiny pieces. Then she inched towards Spike, always keeping a cold, indifferent gaze. Finally, she lowered her head to be level with Spike and looked directly at him, almost touching his nose. And… Sunset smiled kindly.

"You're absolutely right, Spike!" Sunset said in a sweet tone, which did little to relief the anxiety in the dragon. He thought for sure that Dusk's words would thwart whatever plans Sunset had to annoy and depress his friends.

Then Sunset raised her head and looked at the other mares.

"What Dusk said in his letter is true. I could never match your talents perfectly. Try as I might, I could never take care of animals like Fluttershy, harvest with Applejack's passion, design like Rarity, or make parties like Pinkie Pie, let alone be as fast as Rainbow Dash. That’s because each pony is unique and has a unique talent, that's what differentiates us from other species. It's what our cutie marks reflect." Sunset said with a loving look. "But you must understand, having a unique talent doesn’t mean that talent is something special..." She added, looking at the mares with false concern.

"Do you think Fluttershy is the only pony in Equestria who takes care of animals? Is Applejack the only mare that works on a farm? Is Rarity the only fashion designer? Doesn't anypony else in Equestria party or laugh like Pinkie Pie does? Isn't anypony as competitive as Rainbow Dash? Without much effort, I was able to do everything that you girls do almost as well as you. Your talents are unique, but they aren’t special. To be special is to have a gift, like Dusk. Only he could awaken the Elements of Harmony, only he has the magic proficiency to become a powerful sorcerer. You must understand... none of you are good enough for him." Sunset added, glaring with a fleeting but intense look of contempt at the mares. "Even if you didn't realize it, everything I did today, I did to help you. I saw you the night before, and I knew I had to help you before you made a big mistake."

"You can still be friends with Dusk, so long as you understand that he’s on a different level than you. However, I was scared to realize that some of you could mistake that friendship for love... Can you imagine!? What if one day, one of you decides to declare your love for Dusk? Poor Dusk wouldn't know what to do or what to say if one of you fell in love with him. I suppose he would be so embarrassed that he couldn't even look you in the eyes." Sunset said feigning concern, just as her words sank deep into the hearts of the five mares. Each one kept the secret of that unanswered declaration of love that they had given him at the Grand Galloping Gala. Secrets that were now burning a hole in each of their hearts. "Dusk Shine said it himself in his letter: 'my true friends', and that's what you will always be, Dusk's friends. I just wanted to warn you before you got hurt, don't fall in love with Dusk. You are all unique, but you’re not special like him, you can never be on the same level. He will never see any of you as something else."

After Sunset's words, the five mares once again lost the brightness in their gazes, as if that fire that had briefly revived in their hearts with Dusk's letter had been completely extinguished. The mares didn’t know, but Sunset did know about the declarations of love that the five mares had made to Dusk. With that, she was able to pretend that she was simply giving them advice. False advice that attacked them right where it hurt the most. Sunset had once again exploited their greatest fears, only this time it hadn't been their talents, but their unrequited loves. And that caused the five mares to fall into a deep depression.

"Castling, I protect my most valuable piece and then checkmate. A perfect game." Sunset smiled proudly, turning around and walking away, happy to have accomplished her mission. "They‘ll never understand … Dusk belongs to me." Sunset thought with a look full of determination as she walked back to the library to await Dusk's arrival.

For their part, the five mares just stood there, all lost in thought. Each of them was sinking in the sadness, confusion, pain, and insecurity that Sunset Shimmer's harsh words had generated in them. Spike only stared at all of them with worry and confusion.

"I don't understand, why did Sunset's last words affect them so much? None of them declared to Dusk. None of them have fallen in love with him, otherwise Dusk would have told me. Right?" Spike thought pondered, not knowing what to say to encourage his friends again.

Spike suddenly put his thoughts aside when he was forced to burp, causing a scroll to appear from his magic fire.

"Great, now you're answering all my letters when it’s too late, Dusk!" Spike thought, taking the scroll with frustration. However, he was surprised when he reviewed it more carefully. "This isn’t a letter from Dusk… It has the royal seal."

At that moment, as if the weather wanted to be consistent with the atmosphere of depression experienced by the mares, it began to rain on Ponyville.

"Rain?" Spike asked, remembering that the weather team hadn't scheduled rain for that afternoon. Then, smelling something strange, Spike ran his tongue over some of the drops that landed on his nose. "It tastes like… chocolate?"

End of chapter 2

Chapter 3 - A regrettable train of thought

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A regrettable train of thought

Dusk had been engulfed in darkness. Without realizing it, he had fallen into a deep sleep, oblivious to everything that was happening around him. In his mind, Dusk floated in a giant library while reading his favorite books, one of his most recurring dreams. And he was so immersed in his imaginary reading that Dusk would have continued to enjoy that beautiful dream if it hadn’t been for a strange scream that pulled him out of his fantasies.

"DUSK! ANSWER BACK ALREADY!" Spike's scream could be heard echoing in Dusk’s mind, causing the lavender unicorn to finally wake up.

"Spike?" Dusk said in confusion, getting up and looking around unable to find his little brother.

Looking around, Dusk was even more confused to see that he was on his old bed, in what had been his room in Canterlot. Slowly, Dusk remembered that he had arrived here with Sunset Shimmer, and then... had he fallen asleep?

As he looked around trying to understand what happened, Dusk was surprised to see four scrolls on the bed. Then he opened them and saw that they were from Spike.

Each of the scrolls had been written very quickly, explaining how Sunset had come to Ponyville and manipulated Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie to make them feel bad about themselves. The more Dusk read, the angrier he got as he realized what Sunset’s plan was.

"Sunset used a spell to put me to sleep!" Dusk said furiously, angrily hitting the bed when he finally remembered what had happened that morning.

The last thing Dusk could remember was how Sunset had asked him to meet his friends without him being present, to which Dusk had refused. Then she had approached him and cast a spell on him without his realizing it.

"Ugh! How could I trust her again!? What kind of friend would use a spell to put his friend to sleep!?" Dusk said loudly and hitting his face with a hoof. Then, for some reason, he remembered the time that he had done just the same with his friends the time they were going to face Nightmare Moon. The anger then shifted from Sunset to himself, realizing how hypocritical he could be. “No, that wasn’t the same! Don't try to justify her!" Dusk chastised himself, denying that a part of him still expected Sunset to be a good friend.

Determined not to waste any more time, Dusk quickly got out of bed and ran to the door, ready to go to Ponyville to confront Sunset. However, as soon as Dusk put a hoof on the doorknob, he stopped, looked back, and went to the desk.

"By the time I take the train and get to Ponyville, Sunset can say many more bad things to my friends..." Dusk thought with a determined look, levitating the letters that Spike had sent him and starting to write an answer to motivate his friends. "Sunset tricked them into thinking that they're useless. But that's not true, they’re a thousand times brighter and more special than her… I hope this reminds them of that until I return to Ponyville." Dusk thought, finishing his letter and magically sending it to Spike.

After sending the letter, Dusk got up from the desk and quickly approached the door again. However, he stopped when he heard somepony knock on the door. Then Dusk opened it and was surprised to see that it was Princess Celestia's maid, Sweet Creme.

"Princess Celestia requests your presence at the castle, Dusk Shine." The blue-maned maid said, very ceremoniously.

"How did the Princess know that I was here?" Dusk asked.

"She knows everything." Sweet Creme answered with narrowing of her eyes, as it felt almost like an offense that someone implied that the princess didn’t know something.

Suddenly it seemed that Sweet Creme remembered something and looked carefully behind Dusk, as if she expected to find somepony else.

"Sunset Shimmer isn't with you?" Sweet Creme asked, trying to hide her concern.

"No, she’s not here. She…" Dusk replied, remembering again that Sunset was with his friends. And although he wanted to take the first train to Ponyville, now he must go to the castle before he could leave. “It doesn’t matter. Hurry, let's go to the Princess. If she requested my presence, it must be for something important." Dusk added quickly, closing the tower door. The colt quickened his pace so that he could see his teacher and then make his way to Ponyville as soon as possible.

Sweet Creme then caught up to walk alongside Dusk, remembering that her princess had asked her to escort him to the castle. As they walked, Dusk suddenly opened his eyes in surprise upon realizing something.

"How did you know that Sunset could be with me? Did you know that she went back to Canterlot?" Dusk asked, looking puzzled at the maid.

At Dusk's inquisitive gaze, Sweet Creme looked away and then pressed her lips nervously.

"She appeared the night of the Grand Galloping Gala, just as you and the Princess disappeared." She said with a pained look. "She… made me tell her where you and the Princess could be."

Dusk slowed his walking pace and slowly opened his eyes when he realized something important.

"Sunset knew what happened between my friends and I at the Gala!?" Dusk asked, looking concerned at the maid.

"I... I didn't tell her." Sweet Creme fearfully replied, then she put on a thoughtful and worried look as she remembered what had happened. "I didn't tell her, but… maybe she listened when I told the Princess what happened… I have the impression that she already knew when she spoke to me. She was very determined to meet you that very night."

"She knew about the girls' declarations of love… And she interrupted us on purpose!" Dusk thought angrily, and now more scared at the thought that Sunset could hurt his friends by making fun of their feelings.

"She has always been like this... She cheats and manipulates everypony in order to get what she wants." Sweet Creme added with a resentful look, as if remembering something from her past. That caught Dusk’s attention, who only then thought of something he hadn't thought of in years.

"Sweet Creme… Do you remember there was a time when you, me and Sweet Caramel used to meet at the castle to play? I always thought that you stop hanging out with me because I did something wrong, but... Was there another ulterior motive?" Dusk asked with some sadness, something that took the young maid completely by surprise.

Despite Dusk's gaze, Sweet Creme ignored Dusk and just kept walking. Then Dusk stopped her and looked at her with a pleading look.

"Sweet Creme, I need to know if Sunset did anything to keep you away from me that time. I can't trust Sunset again, and for that, I need to know all the bad things she did in the past. So that I don't fall back into her traps now in the present." Dusk said with a sad look.

The young maid looked scared, then closed her eyes tightly. She had a secret that Princess Celestia couldn't know, and Dusk was too close to the princess. She couldn't risk telling him. However, Sweet Creme understood that she owed Dusk something after what she and her sister had done to him the night before at the Grand Galloping Gala. Then she sighed and looked at him seriously.

"You... You must promise never to tell the Princess." Sweet Creme said with a guilty look, to which Dusk nodded. So, Sweet Creme started with her story.

"That day you took Sunset to the castle, the four of us played and had fun together. Nothing made me or my sister suspect Sunset's true personality. So, after we said our goodbyes, Sunset came back to the castle saying she wanted to spend some more time playing with us. The three of us went to our grandpa's room where we stayed while we received our training. However, Sunset insisted on doing something funnier, more daring… So, she convinced us to go to the Princess's room. Her Majesty was not there, as she was taking a bath. But still, my sister and I were scared to death for trespassing. Although Sunset fearlessly entered and insisted that we enter as well."

"Yes... She’s usually very persuasive." Dusk said, looking away with rancor.

"Once we entered the room, we stayed only a few seconds until we heard a noise and we all escaped. The three of us ran to hide in Grandpa's room… It was only then that we realized that Sunset had brought the Princess's crown with her." Sweet Creme said with a guilty look as she remembered. "Caramel and I were terrified, but Sunset put on the crown and pretended she was a queen. The more Sunset played, the less afraid we were, because she spread that security. So much so that even my sister and I also put on the crown for a moment to imagine what it would feel like to be a Princess... We were so distracted in our fantasies that we jumped in shock when we heard somepony knock on the door. It was one of the guards who was looking for the crown. With the shock, none of the of us knew who had had the crown in the end, and we didn't see it anywhere, which we thought was fortunate, since the guard didn't see us wearing the crown either. Then Grandpa Kibitz called us and asked us to leave the castle while the guards searched for the lost crown. However, before we left, Sunset approached a guard and told him that he should look for the crown in Grandpa Kibitz's room. Caramel and I were horrified that Sunset gave us away. However, neither of us had been able to find the crown after the guard surprised us, so we thought that even if they searched again, they couldn't find it. But…"

"The crown was there." Dusk said, guessing Sunset's trick.

"When the guard surprised us the first time, it was as if the crown had disappeared. However, when they went to check the second time after Sunset told them, the crown was in the middle of the room in plain sight!" Sweet Creme continued telling the story. "Seeing that the crown was in his room, Grandpa Kibitz looked at me and my sister with a look of deep disappointment. Then… he blamed himself and said that he had taken it."

"The next day, a small ceremony was held announcing that Grandpa Kibitz was resigning from his position as royal majordomo… But my sister and I knew that our grandpa loved his job and he would never quit, so he most likely did it after blaming himself for stealing the Princess's crown. We tried to talk to our grandpa, but he refused to talk about it, he only made us promise to never to do something so stupid again and to always be faithful to the Princess. However, despite what grandpa asked of us, we were determined to tell the truth. Although Sunset was at the farewell ceremony with the Archmage. She told us that our grandpa had already been expelled and if we told them the truth, they would also expel us too, and that… we would end the long legacy of royal maids that our family has. That was all it took to convince us not to tell anyone the truth. However, that wasn’t enough for Sunset. She then thought it was her duty to inform the Princess of what really happened so that she wouldn’t have dirty thieves as maids. So Caramel and I begged her not to tell anyone the truth... I still remember the smile she had knowing that she had gotten away with it… She told us that she wouldn’t tell anyone about the theft of the crown if we… promised never to see you again. That's why it was… that we got away from you."

"But… that was all Sunset's fault! She stole the crown and blamed you two!" Dusk exclaimed in irritation that the maid didn't want to tell the princess the truth.

"We had no way to prove it. Besides, you forget something important…" Sweet Creme said, looking seriously at Dusk. "We are royal maids. We’re not just any pony. Never mind that my sister and I hadn't taken the crown from the princess's room. We allowed Sunset to do it, and that will forever stain our honor as maids… As well as the guilt we feel for making our grandfather leave because of us."

Dusk lowered his eyes and was annoyed again when he saw how manipulative Sunset had been. She had used the loyalty the Sweet twins felt for upholding the honor of their family to make them turn away from him. It reminded Dusk that, as Spike wrote in his letters, Sunset seemed to be doing the same with his friends in Ponyville... Whatever the princess asked of him, he had to do it quickly, and return to Ponyville soon! Before Sunset did something wicked to her friends!

Finally, Sweet Creme and Dusk Shine arrived at the castle, specifically, the palace garden, where Celestia had said that she would wait for him.

"Thank you for escorting me here... And for telling me your secret." Dusk Shine said once they reached the palace garden. "I... I'm sorry we couldn't have been friends when we were foals."

"I... I'm sorry too." Sweet Creme said with a sad look as she took one of Dusk’s hooves in her own. "If it’s any consolation, my sister and me enjoyed your company before we had to end it. And I also regret what happened at the Gala. I didn't want to interrupt those important moments between you and your friends, but the Princess believed that it was the best for you." Sweet Creme added, turning and walking out of the garden.

"What? Wait… Princess Celestia asked you to interrupt my friends' declarations!?" Dusk asked, surprised at this new revelation.

"No, I wasn’t the one who gave Sweet Creme that order." Celestia said suddenly, walking through the garden to the colt’s surprise. "As much as I would like to discuss that, right now there are more pressing matters to attend to." Celestia added with a serious look, something that immediately alerted Dusk to the seriousness of the matter.

"I-I’m at your service, Princess." Dusk said with a small bow, anticipating that the princess had called him there for something very urgent.

"Strange phenomena have begun to occur throughout Equestria. Changes with the weather, disappearances, uncontrolled magic... It seems this all started on the farthest shores of Equestria, but they seem to be getting closer to the heart of Equestria." Celestia said with a serious face as she walked through the garden, making Dusk accompany her. "I don't know what may be happening, if it’s some foreign enemy invading or some magical being attacking us. So I sent Luna to investigate the West Coast in Vanhoover and Cadance to investigate the East Coast in Manehattan. However, I fear that soon I too will have to leave to investigate other possible… sources of the occurrences."

"Other possible sources... Are you planning to go to Tartarus!?" Dusk gulped, guessing that the princess was going to go to the most dangerous place in all of Equestria.

" There are great evils that remain locked there, and I must verify that nothing has escaped." Celestia said, looking with a reassuring look at her faithful student so he wouldn't worry. "By leaving, I cannot leave the kingdom's capital unprotected, so I’ll leave Canterlot in your care, Dusk." Celestia added with a small smile, which perfectly contrasted with Dusk's face of fear and amazement.

"You want me to take care of protecting Canterlot in your absence!?" Dusk asked in shock.

"The commander and captains of the Royal Guard accompanied Luna and Cadance to guard the shores, so in terms of power and magical ability, there is no one more apt to protect the capital in my absence than you, Dusk." Celestia said with a fond smile. "Officially, Canterlot will be under the protection of Prince Blueblood, but we both know that he’ll not be able to… respond adequately if someone were to attack." Celestia added, turning her eyes upward, imagining an army invading Canterlot and Blueblood running in fear.

"But I... I couldn't..." Dusk said nervously, unsure of the great responsibility that the princess planned to leave on him. Then his eyes widened when he remembered that he had to return to Ponyville, and with this that the princess asked him, he couldn’t leave Canterlot for maybe days until the princess returned. "I... I need to get back to Ponyville."

"If it's for your friends, I already sent a letter to Spike, asking him and your friends to come to Canterlot to keep you company in this difficult task." Celestia said, guessing what Dusk seemed to be thinking. "I don't know how long I'll be away, so I think it will be best if you and your friends are together. Besides… surely Sunset Shimmer is in Ponyville planning something against your friends. So once they are here, no one will be able to enter the castle and you and your friends will have enough time to talk alone." The princess reassured him.

"You knew that Sunset was in Ponyville!?" Dusk asked.

"No, but I thought that's what she would do. Sunset may be a very clever mare, but she’s not the only one who can read the movements of the other ponies and guess what they’ll do." Celestia said with a hint of pride, smiling mischievously at Dusk.

Understanding that Celestia had taken the time to call his friends and thus help him solve his emotional problems, Dusk sighed in relief, grateful to have a teacher as attentive and intelligent as the princess. However, the smile of relief vanished from Dusk's face when he saw that Celestia had suddenly stopped walking and was looking straight ahead with a terrified look. He looked where Celestia was looking, but he didn't see anything strange, just a broken pedestal in the middle of the garden.

"Guards!" Celestia screamed in fright, running to where the broken pedestal was.

In just two seconds, five armed guards appeared quickly upon hearing the call of their princess, running towards where she was. They surrounded her to protect her, threatening Dusk with their spears, since it seemed that he was the only one who was there besides the princess..

"Guards, what happened to the statue that was here!?" Celestia demanded, causing the guards to worry, since they had never seen her in a frantic state.

"Uh… apparently somepony broke that statue at the Grand Galloping Gala, your Majesty. The morning report informed us that some small pieces of rock had been found next to the pedestal." One of the guards answered, remembering the report from that morning.

Celestia's face turned paler than it already was upon hearing that. Then she looked up at the sky, where the sun was highest, and only then did she realize that at this time of day the sun should be closer to the horizon, since it should be close to sunset. In the notice of that, Celestia quickly activated her magic and tried to move the sun. For several seconds Celestia concentrated and increased her magic, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move the celestial body.

"I knew it... it started like this before... How did it not occur to me that HE could be the cause of this disaster!?" Celestia whispered, speaking more to herself than to the others, with a very scared look.

"Princess?" Dusk asked concerned, seeing the princess so lost in her thoughts.

"I made a mistake sending Luna and Cadance this far. The enemy is closer than we thought." Celestia murmured to Dusk and then turned to her guards. "Guards, get ready! We’ll mount defense here in Canterlot."

"Yes, Princess!" The five guards said automatically. None of them knew what was happening, but if it was something that scared the Princess of the Sun herself, it meant that it was very serious. Then the five guards ran to warn the rest of the Royal Guard.

"You’re not leaving Canterlot?" Dusk asked, still very confused by everything that was happening, and by what the princess wasn’t telling him.

"I need to stay here protecting the capital. And you now have a much more important mission." Celestia said approaching Dusk and looking at him seriously. "You must return to Ponyville immediately and take care of those valuable items you have with you."

"Valuable items? Are you referring to the Elemen-?" Dusk asked until he was interrupted as Celestia quickly put a hoof in his mouth to silence him.

"Don't say it, Dusk. There are ears everywhere, and the enemy we face… It can be anywhere." Celestia said, looking carefully at Dusk. Then, with the same hoof with which she had silenced Dusk, she moved it to caress the face of her beloved student. "You must be careful, my dear. I can't give you more details for now. Just go and take care of what I just asked you… They may be our only hope against the chaos that lies ahead."

After the princess's request, Dusk ran out of the castle and immediately went to the train station, where he gave the station supervisor a letter signed by the princess, indicating that a train should leave immediately for Ponyville. Without reproach upon seeing the princess seal, the supervisor ordered that the next train to arrive be boarded by Dusk and returned immediately to Ponyville.

While waiting for the arrival of the train, Dusk's curiosity to know what they were up against was enormous. However, his loyalty and trust in his teacher outweighed his curiosity, and if the princess said that they couldn't speak aloud and that the enemy could be anywhere, only that was enough for Dusk to follow his teacher's orders without hesitation.

Finally, a train arrived at the station and Dusk immediately stopped in front of one of the doors, waiting for all the passengers to get off to get on as soon as possible and go to Ponyville. But that impatience to get on the train vanished when he saw precisely from the same train he was thinking of getting on, Spike and his friends got off. The ponies (and dragon) froze when they saw each other, as if none of them had expected to be there.

"Girls… why are you here?" Dusk finally asked after the shock of seeing his friends there, since they hadn’t seen each other since the night of the Grand Galloping Gala.

"Uh... the Princess sent us a letter asking us to come to Canterlot." Spike said, raising an eyebrow in confusion when he saw that none of the mares had answered Dusk's question.

Only then did Dusk remember that the princess had told him that she had summoned his friends before discovering that the enemy attacking Equestria seemed to be already in the heart of the kingdom.

The train whistled, announcing the emergency departure of the Ponyville-bound train. Then Dusk looked scared at his friends and pushed them back to the train.

"There is no time to explain, we must return to Ponyville immediately." Dusk said as the train began to move, managing to board just before it began to move faster.

Once on the train, Dusk sighed in relief. However, that relief was only temporary, as he only needed to lift his head to realize that for some reason the atmosphere around him felt very tense. As if his friends weren't able to see him directly in the eye. None of them had said a word, not even when Dusk had pushed them back to Ponyville when they had just arrived in Canterlot. That was definitely worrying, but Dusk couldn't be sure what was the reason for the dower attitude of his friends. Was it because of what Sunset had told them, or because he abandoned them after the Grand Galloping Gala without giving them an answer to their feelings?

"This is the first time that we’ve been alone since they told me their feelings!" Dusk realized. But then Dusk remembered the princess's fearful face and the mission she had been entrusted with, which made Dusk shake his head as he realized that there were more important things to worry about at that moment.

"Girls… There are… There are many things we need to talk about, but for now we should focus on getting back to Ponyville. The Princess gave us an important job, and I think…" Dusk said, trying to speak calmly to explain to his friends what had happened to the princess and the danger to which all of Equestria seemed to be exposed. However, all of Dusk's words fell on deaf ears.

"What if one day, one of you decides to declare your love for Dusk? Poor Dusk wouldn't know what to do or what to say if one of you fell in love with him." The words Sunset had implanted in the minds of the five mares. Words that echoed over and over again when they realized that Dusk seemed to keep avoiding the topic that mattered so much to them, giving reason once again to the cruel words of Sunset Shimmer.

With that in mind, the five mares kept dull looks, and while Dusk kept talking, trying to explain to them the seriousness of the situation; the five mares simply turned around and sat on the train seats. As if unconsciously no one could pay attention to Dusk's words at that moment, which made Dusk freeze as he didn’t understand their reaction.

"What's going on?" Dusk whispered in concern, not understanding the behavior of his friends.

"Give them a minute, I think what Sunset told them still hurts." Spike replied. Then he and Dusk approached some seats and sat down. Next, Spike began to tell his brother what had happened after he sent his last letter to Dusk.

"She made a Sonic Rainboom!?" Dusk shouted in amazement, so much so that a couple of ponies that had also boarded that train carriage were startled by the sudden shout. However, none of Dusk's friends sitting in the other seats were affected by the exclamation. It seemed that each of them was lost in their own thoughts and concerns.

"Yeah, it wasn't as good as the original, but it did freak the girls out." Spike said with a worried look, continuing with the events that occurred later, with the arrival of Dusk's letter and Sunset's final words.

"I knew it... I should never have allowed Sunset to come back into my life." Dusk said, hitting his face with his hoof after Spike finished telling what happened.

Suddenly the train carriage went dark and brightened rapidly. Without warning, the carriage went dark again and then illuminated in a multitude of shifting colors. This lasted only a few seconds before the carriage was lit normally again.

"What was that?" Dusk asked, looking at his side only that Spike was no longer there. "Spike!?" Dusk yelled looking around. Then he stood up and looked back, where he saw that only he and his five friends were still in the carriage. Both Spike and the other passengers had disappeared.

“Terribly sorry, but I hardly find background characters as amusing as the real stars of the show." A male voice said suddenly, echoing throughout the carriage.

Immediately Dusk ran to the center of the carriage where his friends met him. Despite their insecurities, the mares knew that they all needed to stick together if they ever hoped to stand against whatever strange and potentially dangerous situation they found themselves in.

"Who are you!?" Dusk shouted, looking towards the ceiling of the room, lighting his horn to be able to defend his friends from any surprise attacks.

"Who am I?" The mysterious voice said, with a mocking tone. "Well..." Suddenly a red curtain fell in the front of the carriage, then a music very similar to a music box began to play. The red curtain rose and showed that there were now a variety of puppets, all moving and dancing mechanically to the music while singing a song...

"Hehe, Haha, Hohoho!

He’s Discord, he’s Discord, the amazing lord of chaos.

He’s Discord, he’s Discord, everyone give a cheer, Hooray!

He’s modest, clever and so smart, he barely can restrain it.

With so much chaos to give you, there is no way to contain it, to contain it, to contain, to contain, to contain!

Hehe, Haha, Hohoho!

He's Discord, he's Discord, he's the one that you're about to meet.

He's Discord, he's Discord, he's the genius who just can't be beat.

The magician and draconequus wiz, the best darn guy who ever lived.

The great Discord, here he is!"

Just as the music ended, a large throne rose between the puppets, however, there was no one sitting on that throne.

At the strange and bizarre image that they had just seen, the six ponies were left puzzled, not knowing what all that strange spectacle had been and where it had come from. Only Pinkie Pie seemed to be a little more amused than her other friends by that crazy presentation, but despite that, she was also silent. It wasn’t until some applause was heard in the back of the train carriage, the six ponies seemed to awaken from their stupor.

"Bravo! Wasn't that just magnificent? I was worried it was getting dodgy in the finale part. Maybe it would have been better if it ended with a big explosion." A huge draconequus said sitting in the last seats of the carriage, a creature that almost all ponies were unaware of, except Dusk, who at some point in his studies, had read about these strange and powerful creatures. But up until this moment, he thought that they were just a myth. The strange creature also wore a top hat, strange, huge and round dark glasses, and a long red jacket.

"Who are you!?" Dusk asked, taking a step forward to protect his friends.

"Seriously!? Didn't you listen to the song!?" Discord said, raising his eyebrows and pretending to be outraged, snapping his fingers and shedding his strange outfit. "My dear Dusk, I am Discord, the Lord of Chaos." The draconequus added, rising from his seat and raising his claws so that the six ponies could see his marvelous and magnificent figure.

"The Lord of Chaos!?" Dusk repeated, recognizing Discord's title before his name.

In his classes of old history of Equestria, an ancient legend was told about a strange being called the Lord of Chaos, who had brought confusion and destruction to Equestria, until he had been stopped by the alicorn sisters and the most powerful beings of the ancient Equestrian alliance.

"This is the being the Princess was afraid of! We have to get out of here! We have no chance of beating him without the Elements of Harmony!" Dusk thought with terror, understanding the gravity of the situation. If it was required of several powerful magical beings to defeat this being of Chaos a thousand years ago, perhaps not even the Elements of Harmony would be enough to defeat it this time.

"Oh, it won't do any good to teleport yourselves away from here." Discord said smiling when he saw that Dusk's horn lit up with magic, without succeeding. "Take a look outside." Discord added, pointing one of his claws towards one of the car windows.

Unable to avoid looking where Discord was pointing, the six ponies were shocked to see what was behind the windows. Apparently they were no longer on the train tracks, not even on the ground! The only thing they could see outside was a dark space full of stars, as if the train was traveling through outer space.

"Do you like it? Welcome to the Train of Infinity!...Hm, that sounded better in my head, although I suppose that the other name was taken." Discord mused after he instantly changed into a train conductor outfit. Then the draconequus reached toward the fourth wall of the carriage, raising an eyebrow. "With so many references in this story, the author better be paying copyright." Discord whispered, speaking to an invisible audience.

"Dusk... What do we do?" Fluttershy asked the colt, trembling after seeing that they seemed to be floating in space.

"Stay together." Dusk whispered, looking quickly at all his friends, not knowing what to do in the face of such a show of power by the Lord of Chaos. What he did know, however, was that whatever they were facing, they were stronger if the six were together.

"Sorry, this is my train, so you must follow my rules." Discord said with a wicked smile and raising one of his claws to snap his fingers. "And the rule of this train is: only one passenger per car." Then Discord snapped his fingers and a huge flash blinded them all for a second.

The next thing Applejack knew was that she was alone in the carriage, although she wasn't sure if this was the same carriage she had been in a second ago.

"Dusk? Girls?" Applejack called out as she looked around, getting no response.

Realizing that she was alone, Applejack was afraid of what might have happened to her friends. However, before fear totally engulfed her, she closed her eyes and calmed down, knowing she would achieve nothing by panicking. Then she walked to the front door of the carriage, thinking that if her friends weren't in that carriage, they might be in another.

Just before Applejack opened the carriage door, Discord's claw appeared next to her head and he moved his fingers, casting a strange spell, which caused Applejack's eyes to roll as she entered a trance.

"How curious, I thought I would have to look more thoroughly to find your fears. But apparently someone already did it for me." Discord's voice whispered just as his claw disappeared and Applejack's consciousness returned.

As soon as Applejack opened the door and went to the next car, she was surprised to see that she was no longer in a train car, but in a huge garden in the middle of the night. It took Applejack a second to realize that it was the garden of the royal castle, where she had been the night before at the Grand Galloping Gala.

"What the hay is this!?" Applejack said, looking back to see the door through which she had entered had disappeared.

Then the country mare saw that behind her were only the castle walls, where the ponies enjoyed the Gala as if nothing strange had happened. Not only that, but Applejack also noticed that she was wearing her ball gown, which left her even more perplexed.

"Applejack?" A familiar voice said behind her..

Turning around, Applejack saw Dusk, wearing his gala tuxedo. Everything was exactly the same as they had been the night of the Gala, just at the moment when...

"Dusk... I love you." Applejack said involuntarily, as if her mouth had moved on its own.

Those words were enough to make Applejack's heart race and she forgot what had happened minutes before, believing she was on a train. None of that had really happened, she had returned to that important moment in her life, everything was exactly the same. Only this time, no one would interrupt them.

Hearing Applejack's words, Dusk blushed and looked away nervously.

"Applejack, I… I have to be honest with you, as you always are with me. I... I see you only as a friend." Dusk answered with a sad look at Applejack.

"Oh... Uh... I... I get it..." Applejack said slowly, lowering her gaze and feeling her heart break. "W-We're friends… I shouldn't have mixed things up…" Applejack stuttered, trying to be strong, but feeling devastated and ashamed.

"I told you that I’ll always tell you the truth." Dusk said, moving a little closer to Applejack. "I’m a unicorn from Canterlot. You’re just a country mare. How did you ever think we could make a good couple?"

"Y-Yeah... I-It was very silly to believe it, hehe..." Applejack said, trying to laugh to hide her pain when she heard those words. She knew that the fact that Dusk rejected her was a possibility, but she never imagined it would hurt so much.

"How is it that you confused our friendship like that!? What would my parents say if I took an earth pony like you and said she's my girlfriend? It would give them a heart attack!" Dusk laughed at such an absurd idea.

"Please... that's enough." Applejack whispered, unable to avoid closing her eyes and shedding tears upon hearing all those words from her beloved.

"But it’s the truth! You taught that to me! Always be honest!" Dusk said staring at Applejack. "What did you think? That I would drop out of school, marry you, and become a farm pony? I always knew that you were dumb, but I had no idea you were this idiotic!"

"Please..." Applejack begged between sobs. She knew that it was all true, but she still didn't want to hear it.

"A mare without manners or studies, has poor grammar, likes to get dirty, and only knows how to talk about apples... I could be with any of the girls, but being your coltfriend... That would be ridiculous!" Dusk said with a look of disgust.

"Stop!" Applejack screamed, unable to bear the cruel truth anymore.

"Yes, Yes! Enough of all the honesty." Discord said surprisingly, appearing on Applejack while she was crying and touching her with one of his claws, causing Applejack's eyes to roll and her fur to lose a bit of its color, a sign of a manipulated mind.

Meanwhile, in another of the cars, something very similar had happened with Fluttershy. She freaked out when she saw that she was alone on the creepy space train. But after realizing that her friends might be in danger, Fluttershy closed in on the door to go to the next car. At that moment Discord's claw acted on Fluttershy's mind to search for her fears before she entered the next car.

Just as with Applejack, Fluttershy walked through the door and appeared in a very different place than she had expected: Sugarcube Corner. Realizing that, Fluttershy jumped out of shock and looked back, realizing that the door she had passed through had disappeared.

"What's up, Fluttershy? You look scared." Pinkie Pie said suddenly, approaching Fluttershy when she saw that she remained static in the middle of the room.

"Hah! That's not something new, she always looks scared about something!" Rainbow Dash said, laughing playfully as she ate cake at a table with her other friends.

"Girls!" Fluttershy yelled, happy to find her friends, running to where they were. "What happened!? The last thing I remember is that we were on a train and then that strange creature made you disappear.

"Strange creature?" Applejack asked. "You sure you didn’t have yourself a nightmare, sugarcube?"

"Perhaps I’m the strange creature." Dusk said suddenly, entering the bakery and giving Fluttershy a little kiss on her cheek. The yellow pegasus blushed completely. "You got ahead of yourself. I thought that now that you're my marefriend, you'd want to always come to parties together like couples do."

"Y-Y-Your marefriend?" Fluttershy stammered, feeling her brain refused to accept what she had just heard. Completely blushing when uttering those words.

"Yes... You don't need to rub it in our faces, darling." Rarity said, pretending to be upset, and then smiled. "Who would have thought that you would have the courage to declare your love to Dusk at the Grand Galloping Gala."

Fluttershy's jaw dropped, and she looked at Dusk in surprise.

"T-The declaration… You accepted it!?" Fluttershy asked in a mix of surprise and excitement.

"Of course, that's why we're dating now." Dusk said with a tender smile.

After hearing the confirmation of what she believed impossible, Fluttershy's jaw dropped for a few seconds, then she clenched her mouth tightly and turned around.

"I'll be right back!" Fluttershy yelled, sprinting toward the bathroom.

Once she was alone, Fluttershy pressed her hooves against her mouth to silence the happy cry she made, feeling happier than she had ever been. It had all been a bad nightmare! Dusk disappearing after she declared her love, the appearance of Dusk's old friend, that crazy train in space... Dusk had accepted her feelings! Dusk was her coltfriend! And her friends accepted it! Fluttershy couldn't be happier than right now.

After a few seconds, Fluttershy finally got out of the bathroom and into the main room. However, she stopped when she heard that her friends seemed to be talking about her.

"I'm really sorry, girls. You know that what I feel for you is much stronger than what I feel for Fluttershy, but… I just couldn't reject her." Dusk said with a melancholic voice.

"Don't worry, we understand." Applejack also said sadly. "We all know how weak and defenseless Fluttershy is. She couldn't handle rejection."

"Exactly, I… I didn't want to hurt her. She’s such a good friend, I couldn't break her heart." Dusk reasoned.

Hearing that, Fluttershy fell to the floor and began to breathe heavily. All the happiness she had felt seconds ago was gone in an instant. Everything she had believed was false. Dusk didn't love her, he was with her just because... he didn't want to hurt her.

"I know I'm with her out of pity, but as long as she's happy, I think everything will be fine." Dusk said with a somewhat tired voice. "It's the best we can do."

"No... That's not being kind..." Fluttershy whispered behind the wall she was hiding behind, crying as she discovered the truth. "Dusk wants to protect me... But he's hurting me more than ever." Fluttershy added as she closed her eyes, feeling betrayed and hurt.

"You see, a lot of kindness can be detrimental. Sometimes you have to be a little tougher to face reality." Discord's voice said, as one of his claws appeared above Fluttershy's head and altered her mind, causing the pegasus's fur to lose color.

At the same time in another of the cars, Rainbow Dash was flying at full speed, reaching the door of her car, crossing it and entering another empty car exactly like the previous one. Ever since she had discovered she was alone, she had flown to the door to look for her friends. But this was the tenth car she was entering, and they were all just as empty.

Before Rainbow Dash put a hoof on the next door to try for the eleventh time, Discord's claw lightly touched Rainbow Dash's head and searched for the memories he needed to follow through on his plan. Then Rainbow Dash got into the next car, and she was finally able to get into a different car, although this one was much more different than she expected.

Rainbow Dash was no longer on the train, somehow she had been transported to Canterlot Castle, the same night she had proposed to Dusk at the Grand Galloping Gala. In fact, she was wearing her ball gown and was just lying on top of Dusk, just as she had been before he disappeared after she confessed her love.

"You love me!?" Dusk said with a look of disbelief, looking at the pegasus from the ground.

"Uh!?" Rainbow Dash stammered, getting off Dusk so that he could get back up. "What happened!?"

"What happened was that you just said that you love me." Dusk said with a little embarrassment, scratching his head. "Look Rainbow… I like you, but I couldn't be with somepony like you. A relationship is built on trust and I… I don't think I can trust you."

"What!? What are you talking about!? How could you not trust me!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, feeling offended by what Dusk told her.

"What I mean is, I couldn't be with a mare that isn't even capable of keeping her own word." Dusk said, looking at Rainbow Dash nervously at the confused look of the pegasus. "Look what just happened with the Wonderbolts. How is it that you hide from them if your dream is supposed to be to fly alongside them?"

"I... I did it because I wanted to see you." Rainbow Dash shakily explained, hurt that Dusk looked at her with that distrustful look.

"But it was your dream! How could you so easily give up everything you believed in!? Do you realize how inconsistent you are!?" Dusk said seriously, looking at Rainbow Dash.

"I-It's not true... I... I'm following my heart." Rainbow Dash said nervously, increasingly scared of what Dusk was telling her.

"What about me? When I gave you a compliment, you said you didn't like me. You made fun of me and you said I was an egghead. And now you say you like me!?" Dusk said, looking at the pegasus with disgust.

"I-I didn't want you to think..." Rainbow Dash said, fearfully backing away as Dusk moved closer to her and glared at her.

"You’re just a mare without conviction, a mare who believes in nothing and changes her mind whenever it suits her." Dusk said with a look of contempt at Rainbow Dash. "You were supposed to be the representative of Loyalty. But being loyal isn’t just about not failing others. It means that you’re supposed to faithfully follow your own beliefs and principles. You need to be consistent between what you think, say, and do! Without lying to others or yourself!

"I... I didn't..." Rainbow Dash said, finally breaking at Dusk's harsh words, closing her eyes and shedding tears when she felt her heart break.

"Hiding the truth is not the best way to be loyal to yourself, is it?" Discord's voice said, touching Rainbow Dash with his claw as she cried, causing her mind to spin and her fur to lose color.

In another of the cars, Discord's claw was going through Rarity's memories just before she opened the door to her next car. Once the unicorn walked through the door, she found that she was no longer on the train, in fact she wasn’t even standing. Now she was sitting in the Cafe de Ponyville, having the traditional breakfast that she and her friends had once a week.

"How did this happen?" Rarity said as she looked around to try to understand how she had arrived here at the Café.

"How did this happen!? THIS is all your fault!" Rainbow Dash said with a slam of the table and glaring at Rarity.

"W-What are you talking about?" Rarity asked in fear, forgetting for a second that she had been on that magic train when she saw that not only Rainbow Dash, but her other three friends were also looking at her angrily.

"Don't play innocent! How dare you declare your love to Dusk at the Gala without telling us!?" Pinkie Pie accused in an uncharacteristically dark tone.

"I... I thought it was the right time." Rarity answered nervously, not understanding how her friends found out about her confession to Dusk.

"You’re a selfish pony who only thinks about herself!" Fluttershy yelled with tears in her eyes. "I thought we were friends!"

"W-We all wanted to be with Dusk Shine, I… I just wanted him to know my true feelings!" The unicorn tried to explain, seeing how all her friends judged her.

"You’re a vile and vain selfish mare." Applejack pointed at her accusingly. "You didn't even want to tell us what you would do! You knew that we all felt the same for Dusk, you took advantage of us and keep him just for yourself."

"No! That’s not true!" Rarity screamed with terror. "We all swore that we would do our best to make Dusk fall in love, and I… I just wanted him to love me as much as I love him."

"Well, congratulations. You got yourself a coltfriend. Hope it was worth losing all your friends." Rainbow Dash said as she stood up with her other friends. Then the four of them gave Rarity one last, withering glare and left.

"No... I didn't want this..." Rarity cried, watching her friends leave her.

"I can't believe what I just heard." Dusk said suddenly, appearing behind Rarity.

"Dusk!" Rarity said through her tears. She turned around but immediately she froze when she saw that Dusk was looking at her with the same angry look as her friends.

"The girls were right; I can't believe I thought I could fall in love with somepony like you." Dusk said looking with contempt at Rarity.

"W-What are you talking about?" Rarity said weakly, feeling Dusk's gaze pierce her like a knife.

"I felt like I was falling in love with you because you were the most generous pony I have ever met. But now I see that you’re just a selfish pony who only thinks about yourself." Dusk said with venom in his tone.

"No, I... I just wanted to be your marefriend..." Rarity said between tears, feeling that her heart ached as she was losing both her friends and the pony she loved.

"Now, you’ll be alone... All because of your excessive selfishness." Dusk said, turning around and leaving there too, leaving Rarity crying and breathing hard from the pain she felt.

"Sniff... It's not fair... I... Sniff... I just wanted to feel what true love was..." Rarity cried heartbrokenly, clenching her eyes and teeth tightly. "Is it so bad to want something just for me!?" Rarity yelled, feeling that because she was always generous, she could never have anything for herself.

"Yes darling... I’ll help you put an end to that pesky generosity..." Discord whispered as his claw touched Rarity's mind and her fur and mane became grayer and duller.

Moments before, in another of the cars, Pinkie Pie was about to go to the next car after seeing that she was alone. However, just as with her friends, Discord's magic acted on her mind and he searched for the memories that would make it easier to manipulate her. Something that continued to surprise Discord by how easy it was, as these five mares seemed to have their fears and insecurities very fresh in their minds.

As soon as Pinkie Pie advanced to the next carriage, she was surprised to see that she had been transported to the great ballroom of the royal castle, wearing her gala dress. In front of her was Dusk Shine, staring at her. They were both standing behind the stage, exactly like how it had happened on the night of the Grand Galloping Gala.

"Pinkie… what did you say?" Dusk asked, looking puzzled at Pinkie Pie.

"I... I..." Pinkie Pie whispered, not understanding what had happened, but knowing that something strange was going on. However, before she could react, her mouth moved automatically, as if she were reliving everything she had experienced that night. "I... I said I love you." Pinkie Pie said, reliving that feeling of nervousness and excitement that she had experienced that night by opening her heart and saying those words.

Dusk froze at the words, looking at Pinkie Pie without reacting. Then he finally lowered his head and put a hoof on his face.

"Pfft! It's a joke, right?" Dusk said putting his hoof over his mouth to try to hold back his laugh. "Haha! Jeez Pinkie, you're such a joker."

"Uh? N-No… It's not a joke!" Pinkie Pie said, surprised and scared by Dusk's reaction.

"Haha! It totally has to be a joke! Haha!" Dusk continued laughing, much to Pinkie Pie's horror. "Haha! No… I can't believe you thought I could like you! Haha!"

At Dusk's laugh, Pinkie Pie began to tremble with fear and embarrassment, and took a step backward. It made the stage curtain drop so that all the other ponies in the room could see them, which terrified Pinkie Pie even more when she saw how all the curious ponies saw with surprise how Dusk didn’t stop laughing.

"You don't know anything about love! Haha! Did you think that just because you did a silly dance for me I would fall in love with you!? Haha!" Dusk continued laughing, holding his aching stomach from laughing so much. "You’re so funny! You really are the perfect representative of laughter! Haha!"

Upon hearing Dusk's words, all the other ponies in the room, who had participated in Pinkie Pie's choreography, understood that her declaration of love had been a total failure, and they all began to laugh at that unfortunate and ridiculous pink pony.

"Stop..." Pinkie Pie said covering her eyes, starting to cry. She hadn’t only been rejected, she had been ridiculed and everyone saw her and made fun of her for having opened her heart.

Then Pinkie Pie ran out crying, pushing her way through the ponies in the room who were pointing and teasing her. But among all the laughs, the one that was heard the clearest and the one that hurt the most was precisely Dusk's laugh, who couldn't stop laughing, making her feel humiliated and emotionally devastated.

"PLEASE STOP LAUGHING!" Pinkie Pie cried as she kept running, in a room that seemed infinite and that never ended.

"No more laughter?... Wish granted!" Discord said with an evil smile, touching Pinkie Pie's head with his claw, causing something to change in her mind and her fur to lose color and shine.

Elsewhere on the Train of Infinity, Discord was preparing to attack his latest victim, the only stallion in that group of ponies. As soon as Dusk discovered that his friends disappeared, he ran to the door of the car to go in search of them. That's when Discord's magic claw appeared next to Dusk's head and searched Dusk’s memories for something fun to play with, so that he could manipulate him.

The seconds passed and it seemed that unlike the other mares who had their fears to the surface, Dusk's fears were more hidden, forcing Discord to take more time with this pony and dig a little deeper.

"Hmm… Oh! What a disappointment…" Discord said after checking Dusk's mind.

The words of the draconequus served so that Dusk managed to get out of the trance for a moment, turn around and summon his magic to defend himself from the Lord of Chaos.

"What are you doing!?" Dusk yelled angrily, pointing his glowing horn at Discord, feeling disgusted to feel that something had entered his mind.

"Oh relax, I was just reviewing your memories to see what to manipulate you with." Discord said with a shrug. "But the truth is, I don't like used toys."

"What does that mean!?" Dusk said angrily, then widening his eyes when he remembered something more important. "Where are my friends!?"

"The train hasn't arrived at the station yet, so they're obviously still on the train." Discord said chuckling, as if what he was saying was the most obvious thing in the world. "Tell me, since I'm not going to play with your little mind, how about we make a deal?"

"No way." Dusk responded immediately, secretly using his magic to try to locate his friends, but every spell he tried seemed useless on this train.

"It’s okay, I get it. Why don’t I give you a little bit of time to think about it and I’ll come back later!” Discord said with an evil smile, deciding to play a different game with Dusk. Then Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared from the car.

As soon as the draconequus disappeared, Dusk turned quickly and opened the door of the car. As he did so, he froze to see that at the bottom of the other car was a pony, who had also opened the front door of his car and was looking at the next one… It was himself! It was as if the next carriage was an exact copy of that carriage, with himself at the other end of the car. Then Dusk looked behind him and discovered that the back door of the train carriage had also been opened, and this time there was a pony exactly like him who in turn looked back, just as he did, making it impossible for Dusk could see his own face.

Immediately, Dusk understood that he was in a trap. However, he didn’t give up and he ran towards the next carriage, while his reflections from behind and in front of him did too, always keeping the same distance. No matter how many train carriages Dusk went through, it was always the same, entering the same carriage over and over again.

"This can’t go on forever… There must be an end!" Dusk thought, determined to keep running and crossing the train carriages, always with the latent fear of the phrase that Discord had said: 'This is the Train of Infinity', and if so... then Dusk had no way out.

Two days had passed since Dusk had been locked up. He was no longer trying to change cars. More than an infinite train, Dusk understood that the doors seemed to create a deformation in space that caused him to always return to the same car. And as much as Dusk tried to find the magic that activated it, he couldn’t counteract that power, so he finally just waited in the train carriage, thinking of all the possible ways he had to defend himself from Discord and rescue his friends, none of which looked very promising in the face of the Lord of Chaos’s overwhelming magic.

Being on alert, Dusk immediately lit his horn with magic to defend himself upon sensing a magical disturbance. Then Discord appeared right in front of him, as always, with a big, wicked grin.

"It's been two days, what do you say? Are you ready to make a deal with me? You haven't even heard what it's about." Discord said, floating amused as if he were in an invisible hammock in front of Dusk.

"I'm not interested. Whatever you plan is, I’m not helping a being who only plans to unleash chaos in Equestria." Dusk said with a determined look, looking defiantly at Discord as he threateningly illuminated his horn.

"Huff... how boring you are." Discord said lifting one of his arm sleeves, making a clock appear on his bare arm. "Clearly you’re the type who needs all the time in the world to make a decision like an undecisive prick in the front of the line at Hayburger. No matter, I can wait. I'll see you in a few months." Discord said, snapping his fingers and disappearing again.

Locked where he was, unable to use his magic to escape, Dusk couldn’t do more than count the seconds, minutes and hours that passed. And so, the poor colt was trapped for another two months until Discord reappeared in the train carriage.

As soon as Discord appeared, he immediately noticed that loneliness was finally beginning to affect Dusk. His mane looked messier and his gaze also seemed more exhausted.

"It's been a difficult two months, hasn't it?" Discord said, amused when he appeared in the train carriage and saw an exhausted Dusk Shine.

"It's an illusion... I couldn’t have survived that long without eating or drinking any water." Dusk said, forgetting his fatigue and looking again defiantly at Discord.

"Hehe, poor Dusk, do you think this is an illusion? I assure you, all this is real, and your mind knows it, because little by little it’s weakening before the sad reality... that you’ll never be able to escape from here." Discord said, smiling wickedly. "So... Are you ready to hear what deal I want to propose to you?"

Unlike the previous time, this time Dusk wasn’t able to refuse immediately. This time he was just silent, so exhausted that he thought maybe he could hear the proposal this time before rejecting it. That made Discord smile with satisfaction when he saw that he was already beginning to diminish Dusk's mental resistance.

"The deal is: You tell me where the Elements of Harmony are, and I release you and your friends from this glorified reference that I call a train. What do you say?" Discord said with a fake look of innocence.

"I knew it! The Princess was right, Discord seeks to seize the Elements of Harmony! The Elements are the key to stopping it!" Dusk thought worriedly.

"You won't be able to keep me locked in here forever!" Dusk said angrily, immediately rejecting the proposal of the lord of chaos. "The Princesses will eventually come to confront you when they see that you disappeared an entire train!"

"Hehe, you still don't understand?" Discord said mockingly. "This is my train! And each carriage has its own rules of chaos. This one in particular is special in that it’s isolated from time. Here you can feel the passage of time infinitely, but outside of this carriage, not even a second has passed!"

Dusk's eyes widened in amazement and perplexity at the revelation. Was chaos magic powerful enough to be able to create something so complex!?

"Well, clearly you need more time to think on our little proposal. I’ll see you in about two paragraphs or so, though it’ll be much, much longer for you." Discord said, raising his claw and disappearing with a snap of his fingers, leaving Dusk completely terrified of what could happen...

A year...A whole year Dusk spent in complete solitude. He forced himself to sleep and meditate to prevent that loneliness from affecting his mind. Although the nerves and stress of it all was starting to affect his senses. Sometimes the days and weeks bled together, whereas other times a single minute felt like an eternity. Sleep had also become less as a respite as he was soon plagued by unending nightmares. Only this time there was no “Lady Night” to save him from such torment. Countless scenarios of his friends, his family, the princesses and the rest of Equestria meeting terrible and increasingly gruesome ends all at the claws of that horrid draconequus. It was torment for the lavender colt, and it felt even worse with the knowledge that not even a single second had passed outside his prison. To the rest of the world, his suffering was meaningless.

Finally Discord reappeared in the train carriage, right where Dusk remembered him having seen him disappear a year ago. As soon as Discord saw Dusk, he smirked evilly when he saw the effects of his abuse to the colt.. His mane was long and dirty, and his eyes were lost, as if it was difficult for him to tell if what he saw was real or not. More importantly though, this time his horn remained magicless as he was confronted by the Lord of Chaos. This time, Dusk just stared at him with dull eyes.

"So… are you ready to accept the deal?" Discord said with a wicked smile. "If you don't accept, you could end up dying of old age in this carriage, all alone."

Hearing that, Dusk stared at Discord, and to the draconequus' surprise, Dusk smiled.

"Hehehe… I wouldn’t count on that… I won't die like this." Dusk said with a tired laugh, remembering that due to the cockatrice he had seen in the eyes, he already knew how he would die. For the first time Dusk was grateful for having that curse, in order to verify that he would not die in a place like that.

After Dusk's laugh, Discord put on a serious look, since he was the one with the jokes, he didn't like others laughing at him.

"Well, you have proved your point. It seems that even threatening that you’ll die in complete solitude doesn’t change your mind." Discord said snapping his fingers, causing the carriage to shift suddenly. A brief self-inspection revealed that he had miraculously returned to the pony that first entered the train. His mane was well-cut, his mind no longer tired and ragged from extended isolation. Overall, he felt brand new...aside from the memories of his horrendous experience, that is. "Well, I suppose it’s time for a change in tactics. I think I’ll go ahead and place one of your friends in this time loop car. I doubt any of them have the same mental fortitude as you do." Discord added, looking askance at Dusk with a very evil smile. “Oh, but don’t worry, I’ll make sure to give you a view into their suffering. I wonder how long the timid one will last before she tears her hair out and claw at her eyes out of insanity.

Dusk turned pale at the threat. He had been isolated for over a year and he knew how brutal the damage was for the mind, being completely alone and isolated. He had barely endured it, always hoping that it was all an illusion and with the absolute certainty that he wouldn't die there. However, imagining his friends suffering what he had suffered made Dusk paralyze with fear.

"No!" Dusk yelled in a desperate voice, causing Discord to come closer and stare at him with a look full of satisfaction.

The promise Dusk made to the princess to not reveal where the Elements of Harmony were under any circumstances echoed in his mind. But what else could he do!? He had no issue risking his own safety and mental health, but what he couldn't do was sacrifice his friends!

"The Elements of Harmony are in a chest... in the Ponyville library..." Dusk said slowly, closing his eyes in pain. In that moment, he felt that he wasn’t only betraying the trust of the princess, but that he was also putting all of Equestria at risk.

Seeing that pained face on Dusk, Discord smirked and approached him with an evil smile.

"I thought as much...I already knew that as I was swirling my fingers in the little mind of yours. But I suppose I’m just the sort that wants to be extra careful." Discord laughed, moving the fingers of his claws in front of Dusk, who was shocked at that revelation. "The mocking, the torture, the threats... it was all just for fun. I just really wanted to see that pained face knowing that you were betraying all of Equestria just to save five mares… This time, friendship didn't save the little ponies… This time it was friendship that condemned all of Equestria to chaos, Mwahaha!" Discord laughed devilishly.

Then Discord snapped his fingers and a great flash blinded Dusk for a second. Once Dusk regained his sight, he saw that Discord was no longer there. Not only that, he looked through the windows and saw that the train was no longer flying through space and was the normal meadows and mountains of the everyday landscape of Equestria.

"Dusk, what are you doing standing in the middle of the carriage?" Spike said, sitting in his seat.

Upon hearing his little brother’s voice, Dusk immediately scooped up the dragon in a loving hug. An action no doubt driven by the memories of his year-long isolation. The colt then looked around to confirm that the other passengers were present. However, his blood ran cold when he noticed that five very important mares were missing from the carriage.

"The girls! Discord took them!? Maybe they’re in another car! We need to find them!!" Dusk exclaimed, removing Spike from the hug only to shake him side to side from his shoulders.

"Err-Err-Err… Stop!" Spike said as Dusk didn't stop shaking him, releasing himself from Dusk's grip. "Can you explain to me what the hay are you talking about?"

"Discord! The Lord of Chaos! He appeared in the middle of the carriage and transported me and the girls to a magical train!" Dusk said almost hysterically, not believing that Spike hadn’t noticed his disappearance. Then Dusk looked towards the door of the carriage and grabbed Spike to follow him. "Come with me, I'll tell you on the way while we look for the girls."

Dusk and Spike ran to the next carriage while Dusk began to tell his little brother in more detail what had happened.

"Hey! Who are you calling a background character?!" Spike accused, offended when Dusk told him why Discord hadn't taken him along with Dusk and the girls.

In the town of Ponyville, most of the ponies were out enjoying that peculiar day, even though it was raining heavily on the town. And the reason for that was precisely because of that rain, since everypony was amazed to see how it rained chocolate instead of water. Of course, the foals were happiest with the phenomenon, who jumped up and opened their mouths wide to catch as much chocolate as they could.

"What should we do about this?" Thunderlane asked, who was flying over Ponyville along with the rest of the weather team.

"I don't know about you, but I plan to enjoy it before it's over." Derpy said smiling as she ate cotton candy that she had pulled from one of the clouds producing the chocolate! It was so nice of whoever made it happen!"

Discord smirked when he heard the comment while keeping himself hidden. Only moments ago, he had appeared in Ponyville after having fun with Dusk and his friends on the train. Now, before obtaining his great trump card, the draconequus took advantage of hearing how happy the ponies were with his chaotic little clouds.

"It's always nice to hear that someone recognizes your work." Discord said, pretending to shed a tear.

Discord had only created those clouds to amuse himself and confuse the weather pegasi but hearing that the ponies were enjoying his chaos magic caused a strange feeling within him, a strange satisfaction that he hadn’t felt for many years before being petrified.

"Brrr! I don't want to go soft." Discord said with a shudder. Then he snapped his fingers and all the roads in Ponyville turned to soap, causing all the ponies to start slipping and falling. " That's better."

After that, Discord finally decided to go for his prize and flew up to the huge oak tree that was the town's library. Like a ghost, Discord broke through the door and flew straight into Dusk's room.

"Let's see... the Elements... the Elements..." Discord said as he snapped his fingers over and over again. Each time he did, something disappeared from Dusk's room. One by one, the books, furniture, bed and desk disappeared from Dusk's room. But no matter how hard he searched, Discord couldn’t find the chest with the Elements of Harmony.

"It’s rude to enter somepony's home uninvited." A voice behind Discord said suddenly, which surprised him.

Turning around to see who it was, Discord put on a mischievous smile as he saw the yellow mare with the red and gold mane staring at him.

"Well, I've been locked in stone for a thousand years, so I suppose my manners may be a bit rusty." Discord said looking with interest at the mare that was standing in front of him. "Let's see... your name was Sunset Shimmer, isn't it?"

Hearing that the strange being knew her name, Sunset felt more uneasy than she already was, but her perfect poker face remained intact, without showing her true emotions. The truth was, Sunset was terrified. As an expert in magic duels, she had long ago learned to grasp the magic level of her adversaries, and she had certainly faced opponents who were very skilled and powerful. But this strange being came out of all scales, not only in power, but in the type of power. Unlike other unicorns, the chaos magic of this being was a totally different and terrifying aura. Sunset understood that less than a second, this being could turn her into a worm with a single snap of his fingers.

"So you know me. I suppose it’s good that you know the name of the mare that will turn you to stone again, Discord." Sunset said, pretending to be calm and looking carefully at the strange being's reactions to see if she was right. Seeing that the draconequus opened his eyes in surprise, Sunset smiled to discover that her guess was correct. "So you are the Lord of Chaos. I thought you were just a myth. In fact, your name doesn't even appear in ordinary history books. But fortunately, the Archmage kept very interesting books on the ancient history of Equestria. It’s the only good thing about having lived in the house of an ambitious collector of books and antique objects."

"Hmm, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention." Discord said with an amused grin. "The truth is that I was also curious to meet the mare who made my job so easy."

"Well, that's how I am, always ready to help others." Sunset answered without a hint of hesitation, even though she had no idea what Discord was referring to. But for Sunset, this was just another chess match, one that she would lose in a single move if she showed any weak points.

"It was so cruel what you did with those five mares, even I couldn't have done better with my magic! Thanks to that, I could easily see their fears and attack them without suspecting anything." Discord bragged.

"I don't understand, why would someone so powerful go to the trouble to attack Dusk's friends…? There’s only one possible answer!" Sunset thought quickly, realizing what was happening.

"I know why you’re here... You seek the Elements of Harmony." Sunset said, staring at Discord, understanding that apparently the Lord of Chaos was afraid of the power of the Elements.

"Hmm... do you know where they are?" Discord asked in all seriousness. He was getting a little uncomfortable when he saw that despite everything, that mare still didn’t feel intimidated by his presence.

At that moment, Sunset smiled and used her magic, levitating a small chest that was behind her.

"When I learned that Dusk was keeping these valuable items, I couldn't help but take a look at them." Sunset said, smiling arrogantly. "It seems that Dusk used a magic key spell similar to the one I use in my journal to close this chest, but I'm sure-"

Before Sunset could finish, Discord snapped his fingers to draw the chest to him. However, that didn't happen. As soon as Discord used his magic, both Sunset and the chest were transformed into ripples and vanished, as if they were a mirage.

"Did you really think that I would face you head on without protecting myself first?" Sunset's voice echoed in the room.

"Huff... Another mare who wants to be the heroine." Discord sighed wearily, snapping his fingers and causing Sunset's concealment magic to vanish, showing that she was on the other side of the room, still holding the chest.

Then Discord snapped his fingers again, but Sunset immediately used her magic to counter Discord's, which surprised the Chaos Lord a bit.

"Wow, you’re strong. I haven't seen anyone counter my magic like this since I faced Celestia." Discord said with a shocked look. However, he quickly changed his gaze to a more serious one. "But I'll tell you the same thing I said to her. You just can't win."

Discord began to snap his fingers quickly to fire a barrage of attacks. Faced with Discord's attacks, Sunset had to use all her skill and concentration to defend herself and prevent Discord's magic from acting on her or the chest with the Elements.

Amazed at Sunset's stamina, Discord started walking towards her, always snapping his fingers and swiftly igniting his magic. Sunset was against the wall, sweating from the enormous effort of containing Discord's magic, feeling like her magic was running out due to the enormous amount of magic she had to use. Finally, Discord arrived in front of Sunset and smiled, knowing that this was the limit of Sunset's magic and that she couldn't hold out any longer.

"Stop!" Sunset shouted in exhaustion, breathing heavily but always keeping her poker gaze to show herself strong in front of others.

"What's wrong? Do you want me to give you a few seconds to rest?" Discord sarcastically asked, raising his claw to use his magic again.

"I... I still have a little magic left." Sunset said between heavy breathes. "If you attack me again, I’ll make the Elements disappear and they’ll go where you can never find them."

"Hahaha! And why should that be a threat? That’s precisely what I want! I want to get rid of those silly magic rocks!" Discord chuckled.

"Exactly... What you want is to get rid of it to make sure no pony uses it against you." Sunset said using the best bluff smile she had. "But if I teleport them away, you'll never know where they are. You’ll be able to rule Equestria for years, but you’ll have to live in fear. Always looking over your shoulder in fear that one day another pony will find them and use them against you."

Discord suddenly stopped laughing and put on a serious look. That made Sunset smile as she acknowledged that she was finally in control of the game.

"So...we’re at a stalemate?" Discord said, raising an annoyed eyebrow.

"Not at all, I would never dare to face the mighty Lord of Chaos." Sunset said, looking away and then looking straight into Discord's eyes again, with a big smile. "So tell me… Would you be interested in making a little deal?"

End of chapter 3

Chapter 4 - The answer

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The answer

Dusk Shine and Spike had searched through most of the train cars, but they had no luck in finding the five mares.

"So... You’re saying this giant lizard made the girls disappear and then locked you in a wagon for over a year." Spike asked incredulously, after his big brother told him a summary of what happened. "Maybe... you only fell asleep for a second and it was a nightmare."

"It wasn’t a nightmare. And it wasn’t a giant lizard, it was a draconequus." Dusk said without paying attention to the fact that Spike didn't seem to believe his crazy story. His focus was only set on moving forward until check every last of the train cars.

Before the colt could ruminate on the possibility that they weren’t on the train, Dusk and Spike finally found the five mares in the last car.

"Girls!" Dusk yelled in relief when he saw his five friends, ready to run up to them and hug them. However, that impulse was immediately stopped when he looked closely at his friends.

Apparently, after Dusk and Spike entered that carriage, none of the five mares had noticed their presence. They were all preoccupied with other things, and what each one was doing was precisely what surprised Dusk and Spike...

Applejack seemed to be hiding a suitcase behind her and repeated that she wasn’t hiding anything with a horrible poker face. The country mare was fighting with Rarity, who seemed obsessed with taking that suitcase away from her while yelling 'Mine! Mine!' over and over again. On the other side of the car was Fluttershy, who pushing Pinkie Pie and making fun of her. Pinkie had on the angriest face Dusk and Spike had ever seen and was trying to punch Fluttershy was she was flying in the air. Finally, Rainbow Dash was using the suitcase mesh above as a hammock, pretending to be asleep and ignoring the plight of her friends.

"What happened to them?" Dusk asked in amazement, becoming speechless when he saw his friends fighting each other.

"Uh… Is it my imagination or do they look a little duller than usual?" Spike muttered at their appearance.

'I was just reviewing your memories to see what to manipulate you with...' were the words that Discord had said to Dusk when he felt that something had tried to attack his mind. Words that immediately came to Dusk's mind when he saw his friends in such a way.

"It was Discord! He did something to their minds!" Dusk said, quickly understanding what was happening. Then Dusk ran to where his friends were to stop their fight and try to help them. "Girls, stop fighting! This isn’t you! This is just a trick that Discord used to confuse you!"

It was only when Dusk said those words that the five mares became aware of his presence. As they did so, the five mares immediately stopped arguing with each other. But in return, they all glared at Dusk and turned their backs on him, shocking the stallion.

"W-What is it? Why are you girls acting like this? What did Discord do to you? How did he manipulate you?" Dusk asked scared to see that all his friends seemed to want to ignore him.

Suddenly the train's whistle sounded, announcing that it was arriving at Ponyville station, which distracted everypony for a second. As the train stopped, Dusk looked at his friends again to try again to make them listen to him.

"Girls, I need you to listen to me." Dusk with concern, approaching Pinkie Pie to touch her and make her look at him. "We need to go to the library and-"

"Don’t touch me!" Pinkie Pie yelled angrily, making Dusk jump. Then the doors of the car were opened to let the passengers out. "Don't you dare touch me again, or talk to me, or even look at me! Never!" Pinkie Pie grunted, looking one last time at Dusk and then getting off the train.

"Same here, I'm better off alone. Later, loser!" Rainbow Dash said, flying to get out of the train fast, but not before hitting Dusk in the face with her tail.

"I don’t need to worry about anypony else other than myself! All my love is just for me!" Rarity said as elegantly as ever. She then glared at Dusk one more time before clumsily grabbing all of the suitcase in the car and heaving them out.

"Aw, do you want to cry? Well, that's what you deserve!" Fluttershy shouted in Dusk's face and quickly getting off the train.

"What's wrong with them?" Spike said in surprise after seeing his friends getting off the train. He also noticed the pained expression on his brother’s face. "Why are they so upset with you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't see anything strange." Applejack obviously lied. "Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to be heading to see my coltfriend." Applejack added, getting off the train.

"Does Applejack have a coltfriend!?" Spike asked in amazement, still not understanding why the mares were acting so weird.

When Spike looked at his brother for some explanation, he was scared to see that Dusk seemed to have a blank look, as if he had seen a ghost.

"I let this happen... Because of me they..." Dusk whispered, hyperventilating at the thought that because of him Discord had perhaps irreversibly altered the minds of his sweet and kind friends.

Before Dusk could continue sinking into guilt, he and Spike were surprised to see a dozen ponies with suitcases crowding the door of the carriage to try to get in.

"What's going on!?" Dusk yelled in surprise as he was pushed by all the ponies that filled the carriage to the fullest.

Obtaining no response, Dusk lit up his horn and teleported him and Spike out of the car. Then Dusk looked at the train station and was shocked to see that it was full of almost all the inhabitants of the town, all pushing themselves to try to get on the train.

Before Dusk could continue wondering what was happening, he saw that in the distance, his friends were moving away from the station and heading towards the town. Knowing that his friends should be his priority, Dusk ran after them. He only managed to make a few steps before being left stunned and speechless at what he saw. The town of Ponyville was in chaos, literally! The houses floated upside down, the paths seemed to be made of soap, dozens of animals leaped and danced alongside living flowers and trees, all wearing tutu dresses, and in the sky cotton candy clouds were moving back and forth raining chocolate all over the place.

"What happened to the town!?" Dusk yelled in shock, realizing that this was already the third inexplicable thing he had seen in less than five minutes.

"Oh! New visitors!" Discord said suddenly, appearing in front of Dusk with a big smile. Disguised in an elegant white suit and a black tie. "Welcome to Chaosville!" Discord proclaimed with a showmanship smile, making a huge sign appear with the town's supposed new name.

"Discord!" Dusk said with a look full of fury when he realized that he was the cause of everything. From the town turned upside down, all the ponies fleeing their own home, and above all, his friends changed into dark parodies of themselves. Small sparks of magic emitted from the colt’s horn from the anger and headache he was experiencing.

"Don't be so angry, dear Dusk. You'll see that this is for the better! Everyone will love the new Chaosville!" Discord said with a charitable smile, then looked at the other passengers who had gotten off the train with puzzled looks after seeing the crowd boarding the train and now seeing a town floating upside down. " My dear guests, I am Discord, the lord of chaos, your host. Welcome to Chaosville! Here we offer you a one hundred percent chaotic experience, free of any responsibility, where your wildest dreams can come true." Discord said elegantly.

Hearing Discord speak, Dusk's fury vanished for an instant in terror of what could happen.

"Discord attacked Ponyville! The Elements of Harmony!" Dusk realized in terror. He then made a break for the library, knowing that Discord had surely already destroyed the Elements, but had to check it out for himself.

As if the town itself had guessed what Dusk was thinking, just at that moment the library itself appeared floating turned right in front of Dusk. So, while Discord was distracted with the other visitors to the town, Dusk ran towards the library.

"No need for the rush, Dusk." A female voice suddenly said, making Dusk's fur bristle. Turning around, Dusk saw that Sunset Shimmer was there with her usual arrogant look of superiority. "If you look for the Elements, they’re safe." Sunset added, levitating the chest in which Dusk had hidden the Elements of Harmony.

"You... did you manage to save them?" Dusk asked in amazement, again not knowing how to react to Sunset and that news.

"Well, I'm glad you two were able to reunite." Discord suddenly said, appearing between Dusk and Sunset with an amused smile. "Now, to fulfill my end of the deal." Discord said looking askance at Sunset and then at Dusk, putting on a more sinister smile.

Discord then snapped his fingers, and the next thing Dusk knew he had been teleported. He was in total astonishment when he looked around him and saw that he was now in the middle of Canterlot Castle, just him and Sunset Shimmer, who kept staring at him, as if analyzing his reactions.

"Why are we at Canterlot Castle!?" Dusk asked, realizing that he had abandoned Spike and his friends.

"That was part of the deal." Sunset replied, looking away when she saw Dusk's gaze.

"What deal!? What are you talking about!?" Dusk immediately confronted Sunset with a glare that caught the mare off-guard.

Just at that moment, several guards entered the hall to discover that two intruders had entered without authorization, passing all the defensive fences of the castle. Followed by Princess Celestia herself, who was surprised to see that Dusk Shine and Sunset Shimmer were in the middle of the main hall.

"Everything is fine, guards. Return to your posts." Celestia said calmly, going alongside Dusk and Sunset as the guards followed her orders.

"What deal did you make with Discord!?" Dusk asked again, looking threateningly at Sunset.

"I rescued the Elements of Harmony from the library!" Sunset said, looking annoyed at Dusk after he looked at her with such fury. "I don't know how, but he knew exactly where they were." That comment made Dusk widen his eyes and lower his gaze, feeling that his anger was partly replaced by guilt.

Sunset thankfully didn’t notice the colt’s despondent look and was focused on speaking with Celestia.

"I took the Elements of Harmony before Discord did, then I threatened to make them disappear so he would never find them." Sunset said seriously. "Then I made a deal with him. He said he would make Ponyville the new capital of chaos, and in return he would leave the rest of Equestria alone. As long as we promised never to use the Elements of Harmony against him again."

"You... You sold out Ponyville!" Dusk said, terrified and furious at what he heard.

"I did what it took to save Equestria!" Sunset said, looking annoyed at Dusk. "I tried! I tried to face him! But the magic level difference is too great. Neither I, nor you, nor even the princess herself could stand against his chaos magic."

"But you condemned all the ponies that live in Ponyville!" Dusk shot back.

"That’s not true and you it. All the Ponyville’s ponies that wanted to run away did. He didn’t take hostages, all ponies who decide to stay in Chaosville will do so of their own free will." Sunset replied narrowing her eyes, then looking back at the princess. "I already deciphered Discord. He’s not a being that lusts for power, he’s quite the opposite. He wants to liberate and show his power. He’s like a foal. We can't stop it, but we can contain it."

Faced with Sunset's overwhelming logic, Dusk lowered his head and looked away. He knew that Sunset had managed to save Equestria from chaos, her logic was undeniable. He himself had experienced Discord's overwhelming power firsthoof and knew the damage it could have caused thousands of ponies. It affected Dusk more than anyone since it had been he himself who had almost delivered the fate of Equestria on a silver platter. Still... knowing that it went against logic, his heart prevented Dusk from accepting that the town he had learned to love had fallen into the clutches of the Lord of Chaos.

"It's a low price to pay, compared to saving all of Equestria." Sunset said, gently touching Dusk's shoulder and looking at him sweetly.

"You...the only thing that matters to you is yourself. Anything else is just in the way." Dusk brushed off Sunset’s touch with resentment, remembering everything Sunset had done to his friends. "You went to Ponyville and tried to ruin the friendship I made with my friends! All of the moments and memories that I made with them over these past months, and you just go ahead and try to take that all away from me! They weren't even able to look at my face! Now you say that you made a deal with the being who manipulated the minds of my friends, and you expect me to accept what you say and abandon them!?" Dusk yelled angrily.

"It's not my fault that your 'friends' are so weak-minded as to be so easily manipulated. Only the strongest survive in this world!" Sunset said, looking at Dusk with a penetrating gaze. "Besides, your friends don't matter, it's the Elements that matter! All we have to do now is find five other ponies who represent the values of the Elements of Harmony, so that we can use their power if Discord doesn't keep his word. Listen, Dusk, I know that you’re too sentimental to understand this, but those mares are nothing. Soon, you’ll forget all about them when we can finally be together. Like we promised all that time ago.

Something then cracked within the colt’s normally composed mind.

“My friends are not like any of your stupid pawns in your damn chess games, THEY ARE PONIES THAT I ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT!!!” Dusk roared as an exceedingly large amount of magic began channeling in his horn. He then began to direct that magic into a blast directed right at Sunset, who could only watch in shocked amazement at the colt’s uncharacteristic action.

"Enough!" Celestia said with a strong voice. She hadn't wanted to interrupt Dusk and Sunset in their discussion, hoping that they both managed to understand each other. But seeing Dusk's fury, she decided to act before Dusk did something he regretted. "What Dusk says is true, we cannot abandon Ponyville or Dusk's friends if Discord has manipulated them. But what Sunset says is true as well, we can't just go and just face Discord like that. Her plan… was smart enough to save the rest of Equestria from chaos."

"You’re agreeing with Sunset!? Are you going to accept the deal she made with Discord!?" Dusk exclaimed; the betrayal clear from hearing his trusted teacher’s words.

"Of course not. But at least it will buy us enough time to come up with a plan of action." Celestia tried to explain her reasoning. "Luna and Cadance should arrive in Canterlot tomorrow. Once all the princesses are reunited, we can act."

"B-But my friends are still trapped there! Discord played with their minds! We need to help them right now!" Dusk yelled impatiently. “They’re...They’re so important to me. If something horrible happens to them, I....”

At that moment Celestia gently touched Dusk's face in an attempt to calm him down.

"My dear, please listen to my words. I promise that we will help your friends, but you must be patient. I know that in this year that you have been in Ponyville, you have learned the great value of friendship and love, but you’ll get nothing if your feelings blind you and you sacrifice yourself in vain." Celestia said trying to reassure her dear student. She then used her other hoof to wipe away the tears that were beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. "Promise me you'll wait until tomorrow, and then we'll see how we can take on Discord." As a last resort, Celestia gave him a sweet smile that always seemed to have calmed him in his youth.

However, the smile couldn't help but remind Dusk that it was the same smile that Sunset had tried to reassure him with. That only served to agitate him even more to think that everypony was trying to manipulate him to only follow the logical thing, when the only thing he wanted at that moment, was to follow his heart.

Feeling trapped and alone, Dusk lowered his head in annoyance. And without answering anything or looking again at the princess or Sunset, he walked into the castle, reluctantly accepting what his teacher asked him.

"Dusk! Wait!" Sunset yelled, chasing after Dusk after he reached one of the corridors.

"What do you want?" Dusk muttered, not bothering to look Sunset in the face.

"You... you must know something." Sunset said slowly. "I… there was one other thing included with the deal I made with Discord. I made him promise that he would never use his magic against me, nor against you."

"Why did you do that?" Dusk asked after a long silence. So upset that he still didn't dare to look at Sunset for fear of refloating his anger.

Sunset was silent for several seconds, until she finally spoke.

"It was for love." Sunset said slowly. Dusk was silent again, simply containing his anger at the thought that Sunset just wanted to manipulate him again.

"You don't know what love is." Dusk said venomously and walked again to get away from her.

As Dusk left, Sunset just stood with her head down and her eyes closed, with dozens of thoughts and emotions running through her head.

"You don't understand Dusk, there is no going back." Sunset whispered, slowly opening her eyes as she remembered what she had to do to get Discord to agree to the deal never to attack Dusk or her. "The pieces are already in motion, and no matter what happens, I've already won."

Night finally fell in Canterlot, a very peculiar night, because since the appearance of Discord, the sun and the moon rose and fell at irregular intervals. So much so that the previous day had lasted almost two full days. The ponies rejoiced at the eventual nightfall, given how exhausted they were. However, while everypony took the opportunity to rest, a lavender stallion took advantage of the darkness of the night to steal a chest and flee Canterlot Castle undetected.

"I'm sorry Princess, but I can't wait any longer. I must save my friends!" Dusk said as he took off, taking the Elements of Harmony with him. Leaving Canterlot heading for Ponyville.

After running for three days and three nights, which in reality was only a few hours due to the Lord of Chaos messing with the sun and moon; Dusk finally arrived in Ponyville. He arrived earlier than expected given that he didn’t take the train. However, it seemed that all the roads leading to Ponyville had been turned into slides of soapy water, as if Discord wanted to attract more visitors to his fun and chaotic new town.

Once Dusk entered Ponyville, he realized how much it had changed. Not only with the houses floating upside down and the chocolate rain, but now the pigs were flying, the flowers were singing, the hills were upholstered in bright colors, herds of rabbits with giant legs were running everywhere, and several muffins were jumping on the floor saying 'eat me' over and over again. Despite that, what surprised Dusk the most was that there were still several ponies in the town. However, all of them doing very crazy things, like singing upside down, others dancing non-stop, and others floating and swimming in the air like if it were water. They all seemed happy with the circumstances, each one doing a different crazy activity.

"Why are there still ponies here? I thought most of them had fled on the trains." Dusk thought aloud.

"Some of them are new visitors, and some are a few who wanted to stay and see if all the wonders that Discord said were true." Bon Bon suddenly said, who had approached Dusk when she saw him arrive at the town. "And others like me decided to stay for our friends." Bon Bon added with a tired look, pointing towards a wheelbarrow she was carrying. There was Lyra laughing maniacally moving her front hooves, which had been transformed into a strange claw with five small limbs called 'hand'.

"I have thumbs!" Lyra laughed wildly, moving her new hands.

"So, what Sunset said was true... Here ponies free to come and go as you please?" Dusk asked, curiously more surprised by the fact that Sunset hadn't lied than seeing Lyra with that strange 'hand'.

"Yeah, but it’s dangerous to be here too long." Bon Bon replied with a worried look. "I’ve noticed that those who have been here for long enough begin to forget reality and what really brought them here... Anyway, I have to go, I must submit a report... Agent Sweetie Drops, over and out." Bon Bon added, putting on some dark shades and taking her friend in the wheelbarrow.

"Agent Sweete Drops? I guess Discord's spell is affecting her too." Dusk thought, trying to understand Bon Bon's sudden change in attitude.

While both mares were leaving, Dusk lowered his head and looked at the saddlebag he carried with him, where he carried the chest that he had stolen from Canterlot. He needed to find his friends quickly before Discord discovered him and stole the Elements.

"Dusk!" Spike's voice yelled, making Dusk smile upon hearing it.

"Spike!" Dusk exclaimed happily, looking to his left. For the first time, he had to look up instead of down to see his little brother.

Spike had grown up! Literally! His appearance was exactly the same, but his size was at least ten times what he normally was. Spike grinned as he peered down to the colt below him.

"What happened to you!?" Dusk asked, shocked to see that his brother had become super-sized. Noticing another small detail, that Spike's eyes seemed to be gray.

"What are you talking about? I’m the same as always." Spike said in confusion, bending down to slap Dusk on the head in a fatherly way. "Aw, who cares about that! I'm just glad my lil’ bro came here too."

"Lil’ bro? What are you talking about!? You’re the little brother and I’m the oldest!" Dusk explained with concern.

"Uh? That's not true, look at my size!" Spike said, raising an eyebrow. Then Spike was silent for several seconds with a thoughtful face, as if he had a hard time remembering something. "I was the big brother, right?" Spike added with a confused look, as a swirl in his eyes appeared fleetingly as he slowly realized the truth.

"No matter what size you are, you’ll always be my beloved lil’ bro." Dusk said with a tender smile.

With Dusk's words, Spike was finally able to come out of his trance and remember the truth. And in doing so, Discord's chaotic magic lost its effect on the baby dragon. With a big 'Poof!' and a flash, Spike returned to his normal size. He began to fall out in the air but was quickly caught by Dusk's magic before he hit the ground.

"What... what was I doing?" Spike asked, as if he had just woken up from a long sleep.

"I think Discord's chaotic magic fulfilled a wish you had..." Dusk replied with a thoughtful look, trying to understand how Discord's magic worked. "This may be more complicated than I thought… Spike! Do you know where the girls are?" Dusk asked after meditating for a second and reaching a conclusion.

"I-I'm not sure..." Spike replied scratching his head, still very confused by everything that had happened since he had returned to Ponyville.

"Come on! We need to hurry!" Dusk said, quickly lifting Spike onto his back with his magic and started running. "If my theory is correct, then we’re running out of time."

Since they were in downtown Ponyville, the first option to look for their friends was at Sugarcube Corner and Carrousel Boutique, however, neither Pinkie Pie nor Rarity were there. That made Dusk start to worry even more, thinking that perhaps Discord could have taken his friends prisoner. However, before accepting that idea, he had to at least check the rest of their homes before he could begin looking anywhere else. Dusk made one last bet and headed where he thought it was most likely that one of his friends was, the one with the strongest bond with her family: Applejack.

Running at full speed, Dusk and Spike finally reached Sweet Apple Acres. Once there, Dusk immediately noticed the changes that the magic of chaos had brought about in the farm and its inhabitants. The corn plantation had exploded and turned into popcorn; the apples from the trees were now gigantic, so much so that they made the treetops fall to the ground due to their excessive weight; while in front of the big Apple family house, Grannie Smith moved her hooves swiftly, dancing as if she were a young mare; while Big Mac was digging rapidly through different parts of the field, as if he were a huge mole making ditches everywhere. Both Grannie Smith and Big Mac had slightly gray coats, just as his friends had when Dusk found them on the train.

"Spike, you look for Applejack in the house, I'll go to the barn." Dusk decided, separating from his brother to find his friend as soon as possible.

Once Dusk entered the barn, he sighed in relief when he saw that Applejack was on a pile of straw. She was resting, eating an apple that regenerated every time she took a bite. However, what surprised and scared Dusk the most was that Applejack's fur, mane and eyes were much grayer than they had been the last time he saw her, as if her fur had lost all traces of color and shine.

"Just what I feared… As Bon Bon said, it seems that while somepony else is in this town, their mind is more affected by the chaotic magic.." Dusk carefully thought, slowly approaching his friend. "Still, Spike just needed to remember the truth to get him out of the trance he was in, and Discord's magic stopped working immediately… I hope it's not too late for Applejack and the others."

"Applejack!" Dusk yelled, causing the country mare to pay attention to him.

"Uh? Oh, it's you." Applejack said with a look of annoyance at the colt and then lowering her hat to pretend she was sleeping. "Sorry, I'm too busy working so I can’t talk with you until let's just say… never!"

"Applejack, you’re under Discord's spell! You need to remember who you really are!" Dusk said as he approached his friend so she could look him in the face.

"I’m telling you the truth when I said that I’m too busy." Applejack shrugged, looking away and starting to whistle nonchalantly.

In that instant, Dusk knew that she wouldn’t come out of the trance as easily as Spike had. As evidenced by her completely gray fur, Applejack's mind would need something stronger than mere words to remember the truth. And luckily, Dusk already had a backup plan that he hoped would work.

"You’re not like that! The Applejack I know would never lie. She’s always honest with everypony." Dusk said with a pleading look, trying one last time to make his dear friend see reason. He grabbed one of her hooves and made her look him in the eye.

"I..." Applejack stuttered, as if for a second she had the strength to fight Discord's spell. However, the spell immediately gained strength and reminded her of the vision she had had on the train. "No! I never want to hear the truth again! You said it the night I declared my feelings! I... I'm just a silly country mare, without manners or brains, who would only embarrass you if they saw you by my side!"

"What? Applejack, I would never say that." Dusk tried to reason with what his friend said to him. Then Dusk immediately realized that that was what Discord must have made her see on the train to confuse her and ruin her mind.

"You liar! You did so! You’re always thinking about it! You’re thinking it right now! You’re ashamed to be with me!" Applejack screamed, shedding a few tears. "I never want to hear the bitter truth again!"

Dusk lowered his head for a moment and closed his eyes.

"Do you really want the truth?" Dusk said slowly, raising his gaze to stare at Applejack with a look full of tenderness. "The honest truth is that I love your strength. And I'm not referring to the incredible strength of your hooves. I love the great strength of spirit that you have to always do the right thing and stand firm in the face of danger. The truth is, I love your pretty country accent and your sweet apple smell when I'm around you. I love that great love you have for your family, and the passion you feel for your work. And I love that you're the most honest and trustworthy pony I have ever met."

At that moment Dusk brought his face closer to Applejack's, who was only shocked by Dusk's statements, while his honest spirit recognized that everything Dusk said was authentic.

"That's the truth Applejack. The truth is... that I cannot live without you, nor hide from you the truth that my heart feels for you." Dusk added with a blush, bringing his lips to his friend's and kissing her passionately.

At the sudden kiss, Applejack's eyes widened in shock, but she slowly closed them, making her emotions overcome Discord's powerful mental spell for a second. While that was happening, Dusk made his horn shine, making Applejack's mind relive all those beautiful moments that she and her friends had spent together, where she had always been the pillar of their group's honesty, a value so deeply rooted in Applejack's soul, who was finally able to come to light and defeat the Chaos Lord's spell.

Feeling that a magical disturbance occurred in his friend, Dusk broke away from the kiss. He witnessed how Applejack's eyes glowed with a rainbow glow for an instant. Then Discord's magic began to slowly fade as the gray began to glow again with her signature orange color, blonde mane, and vibrant green eyes.

"W-What happened?" Applejack said as she shook her head side-to-side. "We were on the Canterlot train and then… did we fight? But then... was it all a dream?" She wondered aloud while looking at Dusk, remembering some parts of what she had experienced, while others were somewhat blurred, like in a bad dream.

"It wasn't a dream, but that doesn't matter now. The only important thing is that you’re back with us." Dusk said tenderly, gently touching his friend's cheek. The sheer joy that he felt from seeing that his plan had worked threatened to make him burst into happy tears right then and there.

"There you are!" Spike suddenly yelled with joy, after reaching the barn when he saw that Dusk was still there.

"Listen, we don't have time. If my theory is correct, with every second that passes, Discord's mental spell grows stronger." Dusk said, looking at Applejack and Spike. "I need you to go to town and keep looking for the other girls."

"What about you?" Applejack asked.

"I’ll go to the edge of the forest. I have to confirm if Fluttershy is at her cottage or not." Dusk said with a determined look. "If I can't find her, I'll come back and join you."

After they split up, Dusk ran to get to Fluttershy's cottage as soon as possible. Even before arriving, Dusk knew that something bad had happened there. Normally, when approaching the grove around Fluttershy's cottage, he could hear the chirping of birds and he could see the little animals running down the path. But now everything was quiet, with a haunting atmosphere that was not typical of that beautiful place.

Once Dusk arrived at Fluttershy's cottage, he was shocked to see what was before his eyes. All of Fluttershy's little animals were hiding in their burrows and nests, shivering in fear as the former yellow pegasus flew back and forth, taunting her little animals.

"Ha-ha, you’re such a cry baby! And you two, are you water or land animals? Make up your mind!" Fluttershy said, mocking her beloved bear Harry and the otters that were next to him, who immediately jumped into the river to get away from her. "And you... of all history’s monsters, you’re by far the most evil thing I’ve encountered." Fluttershy added, glaring at her beloved bunny Angel.

At Fluttershy's words, the Angel bunny was the only one who didn't tremble or run away from Fluttershy's sudden rudeness and cruelty, and instead glared at her and yelled back at her.

"Hey! What did you say about my mother!?" Fluttershy yelled, shocked by the strong words the bunny used against her. Insults that even she wouldn’t say.

"Fluttershy!" Dusk yelled, running to where his friend was.

"Oh... look who finally arrived, the great hero of Equestria...! Why don't you jump into a well where no pony can see your dumb face!" Fluttershy said, flying directly towards Dusk and looking at him furiously, face to face.

"Fluttershy, this is not the real you." Dusk tried to touch the pegasus to calm her down and bring her closer to him. However, Fluttershy saw what Dusk was trying and pushed him with great force, causing him to fall backwards.

"What do you know about the real Fluttershy!? You always wanted the weak Fluttershy. The shy, the great fool full of kindness who’d smile at everypony even if they trampled on her." Fluttershy said, glaring at Dusk. "Well no more! That Fluttershy is dead! Now I know how cruel the world can be and how kindness can hurt, you showed me that!

Hearing Fluttershy's words, Dusk immediately understood that, as with Applejack, Discord must have made some illusion on the train for her to believe that Dusk had hurt her in some way.

"Kindness isn’t a burden. It’s the most beautiful feeling you can have. It’s what makes us think about the feelings of others before our own." Dusk said as he got off the ground and looked tenderly at his friend.

"Shut up! Kindness makes ponies weak, kindness makes you only feel sorry for others... You're only with me because you don't want to hurt me... You're only with me because you feel sorry for me!" Fluttershy retorted angrily, raising her hoof and hitting Dusk in his face.

Before Fluttershy's blow, Dusk closed his eyes in pain, however he remained motionless where he was. Then Dusk looked at his friend again, and despite the pain from the blow to his cheek, Dusk kept looking at her with a small smile.

"You can hit me as much as you want, if you think that will make you happy." Dusk said calmly. "But I know that the real Fluttershy is so pure of heart that it’ll never bring her peace of mind or happiness. No matter how hard you try, your kind heart cannot be changed by a mere illusion."

Fluttershy became even more enraged at that, feeling that she was being challenged. Then she started hitting Dusk, throwing several punches right at the colt’s face. Even though the pegasus didn’t have the muscular strength of the like of Applejack, her blows were still strong enough to hurt Dusk, who just closed his eyes and let his friend hit him.

After a few blows, Dusk felt them decrease in strength and quantity, so he was able to slightly open his eyes. As he did so, he saw Fluttershy force herself to keep hitting him, however, now she was crying as she did so, as if it hurt herself to be hitting Dusk.

"The kindness in you is too bright, no magic can hide it." Dusk said tenderly, holding the hoof that Fluttershy was hitting him with and getting closer to her. "I love the compassionate and loving pony that you are, I love your tenderness and your delicacy. You’re an angel, Fluttershy. And I want the sweet angel that I love to come back to us."

Then Dusk kissed Fluttershy and used his magic to remind his beloved friend of her true essence, showing her all the memories that made her who she was. That made Discord's spell finally disappear and Fluttershy regained the color in her fur and eyes.

"W-What happened?" Fluttershy said, feeling dizzy after getting out of Discord's spell. “Dusk?” She eventually said as she noticed the colt in front of her. "Wait... I... was I hitting you?" Fluttershy realized as she began to remember her previous actions.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy. I’m just-“ Dusk tried to say before he was suddenly tackled to the ground by the pegasus.

“I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry!” The mare began frantically apologizing. “Oh Dusk, please forgive me for hitting you like that, I didn’t mean it! I wish I could take it back, I didn’t mean to hurt your sweet, handsome face. And !-“

“Fluttershy!” Dusk interrupted, causing the pegasus to stop and look right at him with her gorgeous eyes. “You would never hurt me.”

As much as Dusk wanted to stay there longer to admire the sweet smile that grew on Fluttershy’s face, he knew that there wasn’t any time to do so. “Come on, Fluttershy.” He said as he got back up. “We need to go save the rest our friends!”

Dusk and Fluttershy ran back to town, with Dusk quickly explaining to his friend what had happened and fill the blanks in Fluttershy’s memory. Once they got to town, they immediately ran into Applejack and Spike, who upon seeing their tender friend Fluttershy next to Dusk, sighed in relief that she was safe.

"We were just going to look for you." Applejack said, once they met with Dusk. "We’ve searched most of the town, all the places we normally go with the girls, but we could only find one."

"Rarity is at town hall!" Spike said with heavy concern. "We tried to talk to her and convince her that it was all an illusion, but it was useless. She refused to listen to us and to leave."

"It’s not so easy to break the Discord’s spell. I must use magic to strengthen her memories just when the chaos magic in her mind is most vulnerable to breaking." Dusk said with a serious look. "I'll deal with Rarity. The rest of you keep looking for the others. Wherever they are! They have to be somewhere in town without a doubt!"

The four of them separated and Dusk ran to the town hall, which was still in the center of Ponyville except it kept floating face down, while several ponies that normally worked in the town hall, did various crazy things around of the building. Once inside, Dusk immediately saw Rarity, who seemed to be on a throne in the middle of the room. She was laughing like a mad villain, while Mayor Mare was under Rarity's hooves as a stool for her to support her legs. On top of all that, the town hall was crammed with piles of random junk, as if somepony had gone all over Ponyville looting everything in their path and placed it in the main hall of the town hall.

"Rarity?" Dusk said strangely, slowly approaching where his friend was.

"Who is it? Another pony that will be part of my great collection?" Rarity said, with her mane and eyes completely gray, without the shine that Dusk had always loved to see in them. "Oh... It's you. I don’t want you." Rarity added scornfully seeing that the one who had entered the town hall had been Dusk Shine.

"What is all this? Why are you sitting in the middle of the town hall surrounded by trinkets? And why are you using Mayor Mare as a stool!?" Dusk asked without finding a logical reason for everything he saw.

"I just wanted a rest from all of the exhausting tasks of being mayor." Mayor Mare replied with a dopey grim, with her fur slightly gray, a symbol that she had already begun to be mentally affected by Discord's magic.

"Hush stool!" Rarity yelled, looking annoyed at the mayor and then at Dusk. "I’m the owner of Ponyville! Everything you see is mine, only mine! And I’ll never share anything with anypony, because these are all my precious treasures. The jewels, the buildings, even the ponies that live here! They’re all mine! MINE! MWAHAHA!" Rarity laughed maniacally.

As Rarity laughed, Dusk could understand how Discord's spell seemed to work in the minds of his friends. The draconequus had turned Applejack into a liar, Fluttershy into a cruel and rude pony, and Rarity into a greedy and selfish mare.

"You don't want to be locked up here alone, with all these things. What you really want is to go back to your friends, share with them and go back to being the loving and generous mare that you have always been." Dusk reasoned as he slowly approached the mare.

"Generosity only leads you to be alone and with nothing." Rarity said, slightly nervous at the lavender colt’s approach. "I’ll never give anything away again, everything is mine, mine, mine!" Rarity repeated as if she was trying to convince herself.

"You’re not like that. You’re the most generous mare in the world. You love to give your all! And it’s not because you feel any commitment or because you want to be recognized. That beautiful charitable soul that you have does it because you love to see others happy. As long as you see somepony smile, you’re able to give your money, your dresses, your time, your love…" Dusk said as he stood before Rarity and stretched his hoof to touch her.

"Stay away! I don't want you near me!" Rarity yelled in terror, slapping Dusk's hoof away so he wouldn't touch her.

That had already caught Dusk's attention previously, and although he decided to ask, Dusk already had a suspicion of the reason for Rarity's reaction to him.

"When I entered town hall and you saw me, you seemed disappointed... Why do you want to possess everything and everyone... except me?" Dusk asked, looking concerned at his friend.

"You… If I have you, everypony will hate me! My friends will hate me, I'll end up alone and without love…" Rarity sniffled. "No! This love is mine and only mine! I’ll not share anything with anyone! Not even my feelings! Not even my love! Never again!"

Dusk quickly understood the context to the spell Discord casted on Rarity.

"You know that our friends would never abandon us, no matter the reason!" Dusk said, finally managing to caress Rarity's cheek, who upon feeling Dusk's touch, began to tremble and cry in fear at what she thought would happen.

"My love belongs to me. I...I don’t want to lose it..." Rarity muttered weakly, beginning to fight the spell that Discord used on her.

"Keep your love. You deserve every bit of it." Dusk said getting closer to Rarity and staring into her eyes. "But if that’s still not enough, you can have all of mine." Dusk added, kissing Rarity sweetly and simultaneously activating his magic on her.

With Dusk's magic, the memories of a life of generosity became strong in Rarity's mind and made her relive that beautiful feeling of happiness from sharing what was hers. And those beautiful feelings finally managed to override Discord's spell, causing Rarity to finally regain her beautiful, shimmering purple mane, and her bright, deep sapphire eyes.

"Dusk? Where we are?" Rarity said as she woke up, holding her head with a hoof as she tried to remember what happened, with small flashes of memories that came to her mind.

"We’re in the town hall." Dusk said with a relieved smile when he saw his friend was back. "And now, we have to go save Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie."

After running out of town hall, Rarity inevitably stopped in shock at what had happened to her beautiful town.

"What a mess! This... This is an aesthetic horror!" Rarity said, overwhelmed by seeing the houses flying upside down and the chocolate rain, but mainly, by the hills covered in bright colors. "The colors don't even match!"

"Rarity!" Spike suddenly yelled, crying with joy and running to hug Rarity when he saw that she was back to normal.

"Don’t worry Spikey-Wikey, everything is right as rain now." Rarity said, gently stroking the baby dragon's head as he hugged her.

"And the others?" Dusk asked, concerned when seeing that Spike was alone.

"They found Pinkie Pie. Follow me!" Spike said, quickly remembering his original intentions and started to lead Dusk and Rarity.

Upon reaching where Spike led them, Dusk was surprised to see that they had arrived at the Ponyville schoolhouse. Once there, Dusk saw that Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Applejack were on the playground. With the former yelling and growling at the other two.

"Leave me alone! I don't want an apple maniac to tell me what to do or how to behave! And I don’t need advice from a mare who can’t even raise her voice to save her life!” Pinkie Pie yelled angrily, berating Applejack and Fluttershy. The pair just stood still; their heads lowered as if they were being bullied at school.

"What's wrong with Applejack and Fluttershy? Why won’t they say anything to Pinkie Pie?" Dusk asked, looking confused at Spike.

"I don’t know. When we found Pinkie, she was yelling at some foals here. Then Applejack told me to come find you while she and Fluttershy tried to reassure her." Spike replied, just as confused by Applejack and Fluttershy's passivity.

"Girls!" Dusk finally said to catch their attention.

Both Applejack and Fluttershy looked at him fearfully for a second, as if thinking that Dusk had also come there to scold them. However, after a second, their eyes widened and seemed to react.

"Were their eyes gray again?" Dusk thought worriedly, not sure what he had seen, since it had only lasted a second.

"Dusk! I don’t know what happened. We were trying to calm Pinkie down and then… I felt like I had to keep quiet when Pinkie started screaming at us." Applejack said, shaking her head.

"Maybe Discord's magic is more potent on Pinkie Pie, and it's affecting you." Dusk reasoned, speaking one of the two theories he was thinking at the time. His gaze turned to the pink mare who was staring back with a look of hatred. "You girls keep looking for Rainbow Dash, and stay together, Discord's magic seems to getting stronger. I'll stay with Pinkie Pie and help her. Go!" Dusk said looking seriously at Pinkie Pie, while Fluttershy and Applejack joined Rarity and Spike to follow what Dusk asked of them.

"Fine! All of you go! Who needs them!" Pinkie Pie growled, turning around and scooping up some sand from the playground. "This land… why is it so sandy!? And these games! What are they? For foals!?" Pinkie Pie continued, growling at everything she saw.

"They’re games for foals because we’re in a school for foals!" Dusk thought wryly. It seemed as though Discord’s magic had made the normally cheerful mare grumpy at just about everything.

"Well, the Pinkie Pie I know would enjoy those games, even if they were for foals, and she would laugh playing with all her friends." Dusk said, trying to appeal to that side of his friends that Discord had hidden.

"Laugh?! Why would I ever laugh?" Pinkie Pie replied, glaring at Dusk Shine. "The world is a sad and dark place… Laughter is useless. That's just a dumb thing for dumb ponies without brains."

Hearing those words, Dusk couldn't help but imagine Sunset saying those same words for a second. Words that he had believed true for so long, until precisely Pinkie Pie had taught him the great value of laughter.

"Those aren’t your thoughts, the real you would never say that." Dusk said as he got closer to Pinkie Pie. "You’re the light of this world, you illuminate our days when we all feel sad or angry. You’re the happiest pony in the world, with so much happiness that you infect everyone around you with a big smile… Perhaps a smile won’t change the world, but it’ll change the ponies that live in it." Dusk added, smiling tenderly at his friend.

Seeing Dusk's smile, Pinkie Pie widened her eyes, and for an instant she seemed to give in to Dusk's words. However, the false memory implanted by Discord on the train returned to her head and made her immediately growl again and glare at Dusk.

"Lies! They’re just lies! All you want is to keep making fun of me!" Pinkie Pie said with a bitter expression.

"I would never make fun of you!" Dusk said in shock at such an accusation.

"That's a lie! You made fun of me! Of my feelings! You all laughed at me because I opened my heart! Everypony makes fun of me, and I… I… I don't want any more laughs!" Pinkie Pie yelled with a mixture of sadness and anger, growling at Dusk. "There is nothing in this world that can make me laugh, because-"

"I love your smile." Dusk said suddenly, blushing and staring at Pinkie Pie.

"W-What?" Pinkie Pie said, widening her eyes.

"I said I love your smile, and I love your joy. I love your sweet voice, and I love your warm hugs." Dusk repeated without hesitation, always looking Pinkie Pie in the eye.

"Y-You're making fun of me!" Pinkie Pie accused, for the first time recovering some color as she blushed her cheeks. "They’re just lies! What you want is-"

"I love your parties and your games. I love that you make this world a happier place." Dusk listed again, interrupting Pinkie before she spoke.

"Stop!" Pinkie Pie yelled in desperation.

"I love that you fill my life with surprises. I love that you light up my life with your laugh." Dusk continued as he stared at Pinkie, causing her to freeze with a strange expression. It was as if her face was trying by all means possible to keep her brow furrowed and her mouth growling. However, hearing the word 'love' over and over again caused her mouth to start to tremble. It was as if her heart couldn't take it anymore and ordered her to smile with happiness, but her mind fought against it and tried to keep her grumpy.

At that moment, Dusk knew that finally Pinkie Pie's joyful soul was fighting Discord's mental spell. And to finish making her come out of the spell, she only needed one last blow of happiness, one that Dusk knew well since Pinkie herself had shown him how to share happiness with a pony who is loved. The colt brought his lips close and kissed Pinkie Pie, finally making her open her eyes even wider as her fur began to regain its characteristic pink color.

Seeing that Discord's spell was broken, Dusk stopped kissing Pinkie and waited for his friend to fully regain consciousness.

"Uh? What happened?" Pinkie Pie said slowly, once she regained consciousness. She seemed to have suffered the same blackouts that her friends had had when they woke up from the deep trance. Then Pinkie Pie tried to remember what had happened, and unconsciously raised one of her hooves and touched her lips. As she did so, the mare put on a big smile and started laughing happily. "Hahaha! I… I'm not sure what happened, but… for some reason I feel really, really happy!" Pinkie Pie said, blushing as she laughed and looked at Dusk tenderly.

Seeing the beautiful smile of his friend returned on her face, Dusk also began to laugh, unable to avoid catching his friend's laughter.

"Maybe it was a dream, but this feeling... I only felt this happy once before..." Pinkie Pie thought with a big smile, seeing Dusk and blushing when she remembered their first kiss.

After sharing those few seconds of happiness, a pig with wings suddenly flew past them, causing Dusk to refocus on his mission.

"Let’s go, we have to go help Spike and the girls find Rainbow Dash." Dusk said, getting serious again, but this time, smiling at the confidence he felt when he saw that he had almost recovered all his friends.

Although Pinkie Pie would have preferred to chase the strange flying pig, and she was amazed to see how crazy and funny everything seemed to be in town now; upon hearing that they should help Rainbow Dash, Pinkie forgot everything and concentrated on the mission. Once Dusk located his friends, he was concerned when he saw that they all had worried faces, which meant that there was no good news.

"We searched the entire town, but we didn't find Rainbow Dash anywhere." Rarity said.

"I searched in her house in the clouds and in the sky, but I couldn't find her either." Fluttershy said, fearful for her pegasus friend.

"The only place we haven't looked is at the train station… but Discord’s already there trying to attract more visitors to town. And I don't think it's a good idea to get close." Spike said, also concerned after having approached the train station and checking that.

"Well, at least Discord is still distracted." Dusk said with a thoughtful look, not knowing where else to look for his friend. "But if she's not in a house and Fluttershy checked the sky, where could Rainbow Dash be?"

"Maybe she dug a hole and hid there. I think I once saw her digging a hole down to Canterlot. She’s really good at digging." Applejack suddenly said, pursing her lips and making her bad poker face when she lied. Then she suddenly realized what she said and shook her head sharply. "Huh? I… why did I say that?"

Dusk quickly approached her and looked her directly in the eyes. He then noticed that for brief periods, Applejack's eyes seemed to turn slightly gray, but quickly recovered their color.

"The more we’re in this town, the more the mind is affected. If we don't hurry, you might fall under the spell again." Dusk said worriedly, beginning to think that it was strange that he still didn’t feel any effect from Discord's magic, even though he had been there all day.

'I made him promise that he would never use his magic against me, nor against you.' Sunset's words about the deal she had made with Discord immediately echoed in Dusk's head, making him realize what she was referring to.

"She did it out of sheer selfishness, but… at least it’s useful for me to save my friends." Dusk thought, feeling relieved for a moment that Sunset had protected him, but immediately dismissing that thought when he remembered how manipulative she had been.

Looking away from the memory of Sunset, Dusk suddenly stared up at the sky, as something caught his eye.

"Girls… isn't that cloud too high?" Dusk said with a look of doubt, looking at a lonely little cloud that was too high in the sky. "Fluttershy, you didn't fly that high, did you?" Dusk asked, guessing that indeed his shy friend had not flown so far from the ground as to see that cloud.

"Y-Y-Yes, I-I-It's R-R-Rainbow D-D-Dash..." Pinkie Pie said suddenly starting to shake, something that Dusk immediately recognized as her Pinkie Sense.

Relying on Pinkie Pie's supernatural sixth sense from experience, Dusk made a thoughtful face. He immediately knew that it was risky for Fluttershy to fly alone to Rainbow Dash, as she could run away or even attack her friend from the effect of Discord's trance. The best and only option was for him to go there himself. But how?

"Pinkie, I’ll need your help." Dusk finally said, looking determinedly at the pink mare, and handing Spike his saddlebag with the chest.

Knowing that they didn't have time to look for a hot-air balloon, since Cherry Berry was most likely one of the ponies that fled Ponyville before becoming Chaosville; Dusk's plan was for Pinkie Pie to inflate dozens of balloons and tie them around Dusk's waist. Following the plan, finally managed to rise from the ground, and slowly but surely began to ascend in a straight line towards that small cloud in the sky.

Given the great height at which the cloud was, the cold began to make Dusk start to shiver. However, Dusk stood firm on his goal, clenching his teeth until he finally managed to reach the small cloud. Once there, Dusk breathed a sigh of relief when he verified that he had been correct. There, lying nonchalantly with her eyes closed, was Rainbow Dash, completely gray, just as her other friends had been.

"Rainbow Dash! Thank Celestia that you’re here!" Dusk said in relief, puncturing one of his balloons to stop rising and using his magic to cast the cloud-walking spell.

Seeing Dusk jump on his cloud, Rainbow Dash gave him a displeased look and got up quickly.

"Pfft, of all the ponies, it had to be just you." Rainbow Dash said in a bad mood, spreading her wings to get away from Dusk as soon as possible. However, the pegasus failed to take off as Dusk used his magic to hold her there. "Let me go! Can't you see I'm busy training!?"

"Training?" Dusk skeptically asked.

"This is the Wonderbolts training field, can't you see?" Rainbow Dash said, pointing her hoof to the little cloud they were standing on. It didn’t take long for Dusk to understand that this seemed to be part of the trance his friend was in.

"Well... I know how important it’s that you train here with the Wonderbolts, hehe." Dusk said with a nervous smile, deciding to play along the Rainbow Dash's game. "But right now, Ponyville is in chaos and could really use your help.

"Meh! I'm not interested." Rainbow Dash said as she turned her back on Dusk. "I already told you, my training is the most important thing. Only thing that matters to me."

"Of course! Discord warped Rainbow Dash's loyalty!" Dusk internally realized.

"Rainbow Dash, you’re the most loyal pony in the world, and I know that you would never abandon us when we need you. Your friends need you! I need you!" Dusk said, gently touching Rainbow Dash's side to make her look at him again.

"Why should I care?! Why do have to give up my hopes and dreams whenever everypony else screws up?!” Rainbow Dash yelled angrily, starting to get annoyed at Dusk's insistence.

"Nopony wants to take away your dreams, but… you can put them aside for a moment when your friends need your help. You know it, nothing is more important than helping a friend in need." Dusk said without backing down despite Rainbow Dash's gaze. "Sometimes...you can even put your dreams on hold by following your feelings... You showed me that on the night of the Grand Galloping Gala." Dusk added, lowering his gaze for an instant and then looking tenderly at his friend.

"A mistake that I’ll never make again." Rainbow Dash replied, bringing her eyes closer to Dusk's and looking at him with contempt.

"That is not true. I know how you really feel, because I feel the same way." Dusk said before leaning forward and catching Rainbow Dash in a surprise kiss, who was only shocked to receive that kiss. However, before anything else could happen, Rainbow Dash pushed Dusk away from her.

Rainbow Dash didn't say anything. She just stared down with a confused look, as if she was struggling over what to say and feel right now.

"For love, you’re capable of risking everything." Dusk said with a tender smile. Then he used his magic and popped all the balloons that were tied to his waist. And in an act of madness, or perhaps faith, he fell back from the cloud and fell.

As he fell, Dusk could see that Rainbow Dash leaned over of the cloud and watched in amazement as he fell to the ground. However, her fur was still gray, which meant she was still under Discord's trance. And finally, Rainbow Dash turned around and just stayed on her cloud.

"Maybe this wasn’t a good idea." Dusk thought, beginning to doubt what he had done. "No! I trust my friends; I trust Rainbow Dash! Her loyal soul is stronger than anything, even Discord magic!" Dusk thought quickly, closing his eyes and trusting what his heart was telling him.

The seconds passed and Dusk kept falling, but his mind had unconsciously already calculated the speed of the fall and he realized that he was about to hit the ground. Until finally, Dusk heard a loud sound in the distance. A few seconds later, 'somepony' took him between her hooves and saved him from falling.

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND?!” Rainbow Dash yelled after she saved Dusk. The colt gave her an ecstatic look from her heroic action. The mare noticed this and tried to scoff it off.

"I just saved you from falling! This doesn’t mean that you’re important to me!" Rainbow Dash retorted, her eyes and eyebrows moving compulsively, as if the pegasus didn't know whether to be upset, indifferent or happy about what she had done.

"Dashie, you saved me because I’m as important to you as you are to me." Dusk said with a smile, taking advantage of his closeness to the pegasus to touch her forehead with his horn. Thus, activating his magic and making Rainbow Dash remember her friends, the value they meant to her, and her true essence. The blue pegasus to finally regain her color and rainbow mane.

Upon regaining her memories, Rainbow Dash awoke from her trance, causing her to be shocked and stop flying well, causing her and Dusk to fall to the ground. Which fortunately didn’t cause them major damage, since they had both been flying almost at ground level after Rainbow Dash saved Dusk from falling.

"Hnng... What happened?" Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her head after hitting the ground.

"What happened is that I got the most awesome mare in Equestria back!" Dusk replied, hugging his friend affectionately, causing Rainbow Dash to be surprised and blush at Dusk's surprise hug. However, she said nothing and just stood still, enjoying the tender hug.

"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie and the other girls shouted, who along with Spike, ran towards where Rainbow Dash and Dusk were after seeing them fall.

Finally, everypony was reunited: Dusk Shine, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Spike. The precious mares in Dusk’s life were safe. With that, they could get out of this crazy and disastrous town and be safe. However, Dusk knew that it wasn’t over. They couldn't just flee Ponyville and leave the town they loved and the other ponies who had fallen prey to Discord's magic. No, Dusk wasn’t like Sunset Shimmer... And although Dusk knew that Sunset Shimmer had been the most logical thing to do, he was again going to trust and follow what his heart told him.

"What do we do now, Dusk?" Applejack asked after everypony finished hugging.

"Spike." Dusk said looking at his little brother, who immediately understood what Dusk wanted and opened Dusk's saddlebag.

Using his magic, Dusk levitated the chest, brought it closer to him, and it opened. As soon as the chest opened its lid, everypony was amazed to see that inside it glowed. The Elements of Harmony were shining more than ever.

"That's new." Pinkie Pie said in amazement.

"I wasn't sure if they would work. Since the last time we put them on, we couldn't get them to work." Dusk said with a thoughtful look, remembering that time they had wanted to heal Rainbow Dash's wings with the magic of the Elements. "However, now it’s as if the very Elements are asking us to use them... as if they’re eager to drive away this chaos and bring harmony back to Equestria." Dusk added, using his magic to levitate the collars of the Elements and placing them on the necks of his friends.

"Aw yeah! The only necklace I would wear every day." Rainbow Dash said with a smile, proud to see the jewel in the shape of her cutie mark, and immediately felt magic that it emanated within her.

"They definitely feel different from the last time we used them." Rarity said, also remembering the last incident with Rainbow Dash's wings.

"But... what if they don't work?" Fluttershy asked, looking worried at Dusk.

"They’ll work." Dusk said confidently, feeling the magic of the Elements as he put on the crown with the Element of Magic on his head. Just like Rarity said, this felt different than the last time he put the crown on. This time it felt more like the time he and his friends used them to defeat Nightmare Moon. "Time to take back our town." Dusk added with a look full of determination, looking towards the other end of town, where the powerful Lord of Chaos should be.

At the train station, Discord smirked happily as he managed to lure more ponies into his new town. Anyone else would have thought that luring ponies into a chaotic town, where houses were flying and roads were made of soap, would be insane. But Discord knew very well how easy it was to attract bees with honey, and the only thing he did when a pony passed near the town was offer them to fulfill some dream, whether it was to make them more handsome, taller, wealthier, or some crazy fantasy. Something that was very easy to create with Discord's powerful chaotic magic.

What the poor ponies didn’t know, was that those fantasies that Discord fulfilled, were only momentary. Enough to draw them into town and have them be inside Chaosville for a few hours. Then the same chaos magic permeated the ponies' minds so much that they completely forgot their initial motivations, eventually ending up doing crazy things and bonding with the beings of chaos that Discord enjoyed seeing.

"Another satisfied customer." Discord said, grinning in amusement from a floating throne next to the train station. His latest victim, a colt named Caramel, relished his desire to be irresistible to the mares.

Discord had fulfilled the wish of the stallion, but with a touch of perverse amusement. Discord made the mares in effect fall in love with Caramel just by seeing him. Although these were not mares his age, but several old mares, who now chased after him and threw themselves on Caramel to be kissed, while Caramel struggled to escape.

"Hey, you didn't fulfill his wish right. That’s cheating!" Apple Bloom said from under the throne, who along with her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, were next in line for Discord's wishes.

"Of course I fulfilled his wish. It's just that you have to be careful what you wish for." Discord scoffed, who was already getting bored of properly fulfilling the ponies' wishes and was now having a little more fun.

The three fillies had been oblivious to all the chaos that had occurred in the village, because they had been with their teacher and other companions on a field trip. Upon returning, Apple Bloom had invited her friends over to her house, and upon arriving at Sweet Apple Acres, they discovered how strange Big Mac and Granny Smith acted. As they ran into town to seek help, it didn't take them long to find out what had happened and to find the strange Lord of Chaos, who promised the ponies to fulfill their wishes if they stayed in town.

"Apple Bloom, are you sure about this?" Sweetie Belle asked nervously, looking fearfully at the huge dragonequus in front of her.

"He said he would fulfill any wish, so I’ll ask him to return Granny and my big bro to normal!" Apple Bloom said with determination.

"Of course I can fulfill it, but that is only your wish. Why don't you take this opportunity and let your friends make their own wishes first?" Discord said with a fake friendly smile, deciding to have some fun with the little fillies.

"Oh! Oh! I could grow bigger wings so I can fly!" Scootaloo said immediately, jumping with excitement.

"A wish for me? Hmm… what could I ask for?" Sweetie Belle said with a thoughtful look. "Oh! I know! I wish there were more members in our club!" The little unicorn realized.

"A club?" Discord asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders!" The three fillies yelled with an almost ultrasonic scream, deafing Discord for a second.

"So, you want new members for your club…" Discord said with a thoughtful look after clean his ears. Then he glanced at the fillies and smiled. "Maybe you could invite someone tall and powerful in magic to join your little club... He probably isn't interested, but he would... just because he's bored." Discord said feigning disinterest, rubbing a claw across his chest.

"Tall and powerful... You mean Dusk Shine?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Hm, Dusk is really cool, but he’s not that tall. Maybe he means the Princesses! How did we not think of inviting them before?" Scootaloo said excitedly, but then putting on a thoughtful look. "Although Dusk and the Princesses already have their cutie marks, so I don't know if they could join..."

"Ugh! Consider yourselves lucky that this story isn’t rated high enough for me to seriously hurt your admittedly adorable faces! Enough, get out of my sight!" Discord said annoyed, snapping his fingers and making the three fillies disappear from his presence. "As if someone wanted to enter their silly club." Discord added, looking away with a mixture of annoyance and frustration after the three fillies didn't get his hint.

"I thought that in a thousand years, this strange feeling would go away, but… it's still there." Discord thought with a fleeting look of sadness, not understanding how to fill the emptiness that felt his heart. Despite his almost unlimited powers, and although he himself refused it, he still had feelings within himself. One feeling in particular, called loneliness, was growing larger and larger as the centuries of Discord's life passed. It had made him uncomfortable a thousand years ago, and it made him uncomfortable again now. "I guess I'll keep having fun until I figure out how to fill the void. After all, I have an entire immortal life to find out." Discord thought, not understanding what he had unconsciously been looking for when talking to those three little ponies.

"Discord! I have come to face you!" A male's voice suddenly screamed from behind Discord.

Once the draconequus turned around, he was a bit surprised to see that there was Dusk Shine with a look full of determination, and most importantly, with the crown with the Element of Magic on it.

"My, my, this is a surprise. I thought Sunset Shimmer had told you about our little deal." Discord said, quickly forgetting his melancholy thoughts and smiling wickedly upon seeing Dusk.

"I'm not interested in the deal you made with Sunset! I came here to save Ponyville and my friends!" Dusk yelled, not taking his gaze from Discord's eyes for a second.

"Oh yes, your friends. All for that valuable friendship you feel. Still don't get it? Friendship is useless!" Discord said with an angry look, as if the very word 'friendship' bothered him more than usual at the time. "So tell me, where are your friends?"

"They’re right here!" Dusk yelled and gestured behind him. There was silence for a few seconds before he turned around and saw that nopony was with him.

With a frustrated sigh, Dusk walked back, losing sight of Discord for a few seconds. He returned dragging a totally gray Pinkie Pie by her tail, who grunted annoyed as Dusk dragged her. After Pinkie came Fluttershy, with the same gray fur as her friend, who began to make fun of Pinkie Pie for being dragged by Dusk. Then Applejack appeared carrying a sleeping Rainbow Dash on her back, both with coats the same gray as the other two mares. And finally Rarity arrived, who was attracted by Spike holding a big emerald.

Seeing the mares in that state, Discord couldn't help but burst out laughing. It seemed that his trance was still working, and better than expected. On the train, he had taken pains to make the trance in those five mares particularly deeper than normal. So it was rather humorous to see that the Elements were now being carried by ponies that represented the exact opposite of their values.

"Yes, yes, you have your friends with you. Now what?" Discord said mockingly at Dusk.

"Now this." Dusk said, levitating the necklaces with the Elements of Harmony and placing them on the necks of his friends. "Formation, now!"

Reluctantly, Dusk's friends listened to what he asked of them and approached him.

"Oh, how scary." Discord said sarcastically, pretending to shiver. "You've clearly out-dueled me, and now it's time to meet my fate. I'm prepared to be defeated now. Fire when ready." The Lord of Chaos closed his eyes theatrically, making a bullseye appear on his chest to mock Dusk's determination.

Seeing Discord completely drop his guard, Dusk smiled confidently.

"Any other pony would think that merely bringing the Elements of Harmony alone would defeat you, but I know the truth. The Elements of Harmony are only rocks if there are no ponies to awaken their magic. They’re the ponies that represent laughter, honesty, loyalty, kindness and generosity that can awaken the true magic of harmony! You knew that! That's why you insisted on bewitching my friends!" Dusk said as he lit his horn, at the same time that the jewel in his crown also began to shine.

As Dusk used his magic, the spell he had used to paint his friends' coats gray vanished, and his five friends stopped acting and smiled the same confident smile as Dusk while their Elements were also activated. Seeing that it had all been a hoax, Discord widened his eyes in surprise, but it was too late to do anything.

Just like the night they defeated Nightmare Moon, the Elements of Harmony shone, the six ponies that carried them began to float, and Dusk's eyes shone with a strong glow as he felt the magic of harmony running through his entire being. Then a great flash of light shone on the bodies of the six ponies and a rainbow light was shot into the sky from where they were, flying at high speed and falling just as fast right on the Lord of Chaos.

Discord's eyes couldn't help but show terror as he recognized the familiar sensation running through his body, a magic that was the exact opposite of the magic he used: this was the purest magic of harmony. His body slowly began to petrify, and in a vain attempt, Discord tried to move his claws, but it was already useless. Petrification finally reached his head and Discord was finally turned into a statue again.

Having turned the Lord of Chaos to stone, the magic emanating from the Elements of Harmony slowly began to fade, and the six ponies gently fell back to ground, feeling the calm and peace that the magic of Harmony brought them once used it.

"Wow... That magic is really on another level!" Spike said in amazement, who hadn’t previously seen his friends using the magic of the Elements. "I promise I’ll never use Dusk's crown to grate cheese again." Spike added, who secretly kept using Dusk's crown for such banalities.

At Spike's comment, Dusk couldn't help but sigh with a small giggle. Then he looked straight ahead, where a perfect statue of Discord now stood, still with a look of utter amazement after being fooled.

"I-Is it all over?" Fluttershy asked sheepishly, still fearful that Discord might escape.

"Yes, it's all over." Dusk said with a reassuring smile.

"Well, that's great and all, but... How are we going to fix all this?" Rainbow Dash said, pointing towards the town behind them where the chaos magic held just as Discord left it.

"I don’t know. I was hoping the magic of Harmony would fix it, but I guess we'll have to." Dusk said scratching his head and sighing tiredly, thinking that he would have to spend days reversing all the chaotic magic that Discord had made. "I think I'll have to ask the princesses for help to-"

CRACK!

Suddenly Dusk froze upon hearing something cracking. Then quickly he turned to see behind him, where the statue of Discord was, still as motionless as ever.

"What’s wrong?" Rarity asked the colt in concern.

"I-It's nothing..." Dusk answered, lowering his head in relief. "I think I'm still a little paranoid. For a moment I thought that -"

CRACK!

This time there was no mistaking the six ponies and this dragon hear on the sound. Then they all turned again to see the statue and their faces were frozen with fear when they saw a crack in the statue that was getting bigger and bigger, with various cracking sounds each time a new fissure appeared on the statue. Until finally a light shone through the cracks, and a strong burst of light blinded everyone for an instant.

"Brrr! I hate being turned to stone. It feels so cold…" Discord said, shaking himself as if he were cold, as if nothing extraordinary had happened.

"I-It can't be possible..." Dusk whispered almost speechlessly after seeing that Discord had freed himself.

"Come on Dusk, I thought you were the smart one. If you just saw it, you can't say it's not possible." Discord said smiling wickedly, enjoying the face of astonishment and fear that the ponies had when they saw him free himself.

"Girls! Quickly!" Dusk shouted in terror, again lighting his horn to use his magic again.

The five mares quickly came out of their stupor and jumped to be next to Dusk so that their elements began to shine again.

"Oh! Oh! Wait! Now I want to strike a better pose." Discord said amusedly, putting on some sunglasses and pointing his index fingers towards the forehead like he was someone cool guy.

Ignoring Discord's taunts, Dusk only focused on correctly activating the Elements of Harmony just as he had previously done. Then, just as before, the six ponies began to float, their elements and bodies flashed, as did Dusk's eyes, and again a great and powerful rainbow beam shot out from where they were and hit Discord hard. Who for his part, kept doing his cool guy pose while being turned completely to stone.

Once Discord turned to stone again, the six ponies fell back to the ground, only this time Dusk was exhausted. Using so much magic to activate the Elements of Harmony was exhausting and doing it a second time hadn't helped. He had also made sure to use almost all of his magic so that the magic of the Elements worked even stronger on Discord, thinking that perhaps that had failed the first time.

"Huff… Huff… Is… Is it over?" Dusk heaved, weakly looking up and seeing that in front of him was Discord turned into stone again, only this time with a different pose than the first statue.

"W-What happened? How did he get free?" Applejack asked, still confused and fearful about what had just happened.

"I-I don't know... Maybe... The first time I didn't use enough magic." Dusk said with a look of doubt, not sure what he was saying.

"Well... It looks like it worked this time." Pinkie Pie said, who had approached the statue of Discord and tapped it a few times with her hoof, causing the unmistakable sound of a stone to be heard. "Yep, nothing but rock! And believe me, I know about rocks!" Pinkie Pie added with a smile.

While the five mares sighed in relief, already calmer to see that there was no crack in the new statue, Dusk just stood still with a thoughtful face.

"The magic of the Elements is incredible… So powerful… There’s no doubt that its power surpasses the magic of Discord's chaos, I could feel it! This power was as or more powerful than the time we used them against Nightmare Moon. No doubt! There is no way that Discord can free himself! And there is nothing that surpasses the power of the Elements of Harmony! This is the end!" Dusk thought, trying to calm himself. Yet despite all those reassurances, he was still uneasy. "But then what just happened!? How did Discord break free the first time?! I… I'm almost completely sure that the power we released the first time was identical to the one we released the second time we used the Elements…"

"Girls, we must return this statue to Canterlot as soon as possible." Dusk said, looking seriously at his friends, deciding not to want to take risks. Right at that moment, his five friends closed their eyes tightly, as if they all had a fleeting migraine that disappeared in just an instant. "The safest thing is that the princess will guard the statue, so that-"

CRACK!

Dusk's face turned pale, and he slowly and shakily turned his head to look back. When he saw the statue, he saw that a small crack appeared on Discord's chest, and as it happened before, it got bigger and bigger, slowly cracking the entire statue.

Unlike the previous time, this time Dusk knew what would happen. However, now the colt just stood still and speechless. He knew Discord was breaking free, but he didn't understand why! The magic of the Elements of Harmony couldn’t have failed! It was as powerful as he remembered it! How was this possible?! And the worst thing was that Dusk was so exhausted, that he could no longer use magic. That made the lavender colt just stare in terror as the Lord of Chaos broke free again.

"Ugh! Seriously, I hate letting you turn me to stone. But I guess it's worth it just to see those faces full of terror." Discord said once he freed himself again, smiling evilly and looking with joy at Dusk's terrified face.

The five mares were just as paralyzed as Dusk. They all understood the grave situation. If the Elements of Harmony had failed, there was no magic capable of defeating the mighty lord of chaos. And as the terrifying truth gnawed at the ponies' minds, Discord just stretched out his neck and claws as if all of this was an everyday occurrence and he was about to exercise.

Before any of them could react, Discord zipped forward and grabbed Dusk’s neck. The poor colt struggled in the draconequus’s grip as he was lifted up to his eye level. Dusk immediately went still as look into Discord’s eyes, which seemed to have a deadly undertone to them.

“You are becoming a greater pain in my rear than I initially realized.” Discord growled. “I’d suggest you accept your defeat before I decide use chaos magic in a much more painful way. Now get out of my town!”

Snapping his fingers, Discord made Dusk disappear from there, not even giving him time to react. Seeing that Dusk was gone, the five mares and Spike raised their heads and watched in terror as Discord towered over them and wickedly raised his claws, taunting and giggling wickedly, having shattered the ponies' last hope of salvation.

End of chapter 4

Chapter 5 - A bitter victory

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A bitter victory

After being blinded by Discord's magic, Dusk realized that he had once again been teleported. He looked around expecting that he had again been teleported to Canterlot Castle, however, now he was in an open-air area. The next thing that Dusk noticed was that Spike and his friends weren’t with him, which did little to ease his fears. Finally, Dusk remembered something important and touched his head, where he verified that he still held the crown with his Element of Harmony. Then he looked down to the ground and saw that under his hooves were the necklaces with the other five Elements of Harmony.

Seeing that the Elements were safe, Dusk should have felt relieved. However, the only thing Dusk felt was guilt. It made him clench his teeth hard and feel dejected and devastated by what he had done.

Moments before being teleported, Dusk had acted purely on instinct. He had felt that he no longer had magic reserve after using the Elements of Harmony twice in a row, so when he saw Discord raise his claw about to snap his fingers, he simply gave up. However, the last thing his logical mind thought before that was to protect the powerful Elements of Harmony. In that fleeting moment, Dusk used the last spark of magic he had left to grab the Elements with his magic. This is how he had managed to get Discord to inadvertently teleport him along with the elements of harmony... but at what cost!?

"I... I saved the Elements instead of my friends..." Dusk whispered in frustration, closing his eyes tightly and shedding a small tear.

The truth was that his magic wouldn’t have been enough to surround the bodies of his friends to save them. But even so, Dusk blamed himself for unconsciously having made the only and most logical option before Discord took him away from Ponyville.

After shaking his head, knowing that nothing would achieve blaming himself at that moment, Dusk raised his eyes again with a look full of determination. He looked around again until he could finally recognize the town of Ponyville, or rather, Chaosville, in the distance. So, Dusk could verify that Discord had indeed taken him away from the town, but fortunately he hadn’t teleported him as far as he had feared.

Determined not to wait another second to save his friends, Dusk took the first step to start his journey back to Ponyville. However, as soon as he took that first step, Dusk fell to the ground in complete exhaustion and dizziness.

"This... This is magical exhaustion..." Dusk thought, breathing heavily, not being able to move as he kept lying on the ground.

"And here I thought somepony as smart as you would know that it’s ill-advised to completely drain your magic." A female voice suddenly said behind Dusk, a voice that he knew very well.

"Sunset..." Dusk murmured, motionless on the ground, so exhausted that he could barely speak.

"Take it easy. I’ll give you some magic so that you can recover faster." Sunset replied calmly, standing in front of Dusk and touching the stallion's horn with her own horn. Then she illuminated her horn to transfer some of her magical energy.

As Sunset closed her eyes to concentrate, she also levitated the necklaces and crown with the Elements of Harmony and put them in Dusk's saddlebag. While this was happening, Dusk couldn't help staring at Sunset suspiciously, even though she seemed to be helping him.

"What are you doing here?" Dusk asked, annoyed as he waited for his magical energy to recover.

"When I woke up, I saw that you had fled, and I also discovered that someone had taken the Elements of Harmony. It wasn’t difficult to add two and two together and guess what you would do." Sunset replied calmly, keeping her eyes closed and her magic focused. "Now, could you tell me what happened?"

Faced with Sunset Shimmer's innocent question, Dusk opened his mouth to answer, after all, he owed her since she was helping him at the time. However, a sudden and terrible idea came to Dusk's mind, which made him narrow his eyes and look suspiciously at the yellow unicorn. The idea was a terrible thing, and yet… it was not far-fetched. Knowing Sunset's personality, was she capable of hurting all of Equestria by altering the Elements of Harmony in some way? Dusk well knew the answer to that question.

"You know what happened, don't you?" Dusk accused, feeling a mixture of mistrust and anger.

Sunset simply fell silent for a few seconds. Then she pulled her horn away and looked at him.

"I'm done transferring part of my magic to you." Sunset said with an indifferent look, ignoring Dusk's question. "With this you can move yourself and do basic spells until-"

"Answer my question! Do you know what happened in Ponyville!? Were you there!? Did you free Discord!?" Dusk yelled, standing up, feeling his anger rising.

"I wasn’t in Ponyville. I already told you, I woke up this morning and I came here to find you. Discord surely teleported you here because you were part of the deal I made with him." Sunset replied, annoyed at Dusk's questions. Who, on the other hoof, looked at her angrier when realizing something. "I know what you're thinking, how do I know that Discord teleported you here? It's so obvious! Who else has the power to exhaust you and get you out of town all the way here!? Would you take a minute to just stop blaming every disaster on me?!! Everything I do is for the two of us!" Sunset added, with a mixture of anger and sadness.

Seeing that look on Sunset, Dusk looked away annoyed and closed his eyes tightly. He didn't know if what Sunset was saying was true or just another one of her tricks, he couldn't trust her anymore. Try as he might, every time Dusk tried to trust Sunset, the memory of that time she left him instantly returned to his mind.

Eventually Dusk left the yellow unicorn’s presence, knowing that there were more important things to do. He walked determinedly to Ponyville to try and sort out this mess.

"Where are you going?" Sunset asked confused when she saw that Dusk avoided looking at her face.

"I'm going to rescue my friends." Dusk answered without taking his gaze off Ponyville.

"No, you won't." Sunset said suddenly, using her teleportation to appear in front of Dusk and stopping him in his tracks. With a look just as serious as the one Dusk had at that moment.

Dusk's anger seemed to rise to levels never seen before when the unicorn tried to stop him. And the straw that broke the camel was the cold look that Sunset had. A cold gaze that had haunted him throughout his childhood.

“Get out of my way!” The lavender stallion growled.

Dusk's horn fired sparks and with a look full of fury, he pounced on Sunset, making her fall backwards. Seeing that look full of anger paralyzed Sunset with fear.

"Those eyes… I've seen them before!" Sunset thought, scared for a moment as she remembered something from her past.

"You're just a selfish mare who will never understand the value of friendship!" Dusk yelled as he was face-to-face with Sunset, his eyes so full of anger that for an instant they seemed to glow red. "I am going to save my friends and there is nothing you or anyone else in Equestria can do or say that will stop me!”

Dusk shut his eyes tightly for a second and opened them again with the same burning glare. However, the initial rage he felt slow began to dissipate. He knew that this wasn’t right. His parents and Princess Celestia taught him to be a gentlecolt and control his emotions. No matter what Sunset had done to him and his friends, he knew that acting so violently wasn’t him. His mind drifted back to the only time he felt such violent rage; when he punched Hoity Toity when he thought that he was the one who had hurt Rarity. His stomach churned at the memory. It was that day he realized that friendship could have a more negative effect on his passive and rational character than he initially thought.

Finally Dusk got off Sunset and closed his eyes with a look of guilt and pain, feeling that the frustration of not having his friends was getting him out of control. For her part, Sunset remained where she was with a very different expression than Dusk had at that moment.

"I… I'm not selfish. I did the same as you did." Sunset finally said, slowly standing up and looking at Dusk with a sad look. "I made a deal with Discord so that we would both be safe, just like you disobeyed the Princess to save your friends. The only thing we both want is for our friends to be safe."

Dusk lowered his gaze sadly and then looked at Sunset, who kept looking at him with a sad expression. Dusk didn't know what to say to Sunset or if he should believe her. Did she really still see him as a friend? Her only friend? Had she changed? Was she telling the truth? Or maybe it was another trick to manipulate him?

"Those mares… Are they that important to you? Couldn't we just go and enjoy our friendship? They’re only five mares with nothing special about them! We can save all of Equestria if we let Discord have them." Sunset said, looking confused and concerned at Dusk.

Dusk merely sighed at the mare’s weak justification. Apparently he had already expelled all his anger and could now think more calmly. No matter how insensitive Sunset's words seemed, she just couldn't understand it.

"I can’t. I want them to… go back to being the same kind and loving mares they are. And my town be the same as always... For everything returns to normal…" Dusk replied, looking at Sunset again with a sad smile. That made Sunset widen her eyes and then close them quietly, as if she had made up her mind.

"You know that the world isn’t that simple. The law of equivalent exchange dictates that you always have to give something to receive something." She said, opening her eyes and staring at Dusk. "Tell me, Dusk... What are you willing to sacrifice in order to save your friends and your town?" Sunset added, beginning to move her next piece on the chessboard in her mind for her final move.

Things were just as crazy in Chaosville as the last time Dusk was there. It wasn’t surprising given Dusk had been only a few hours outside that crazy town. The only thing that seemed to have changed was the number of ponies running around town acting chaotically due to Discord's magic. Also, apparently another train had arrived at the town station, magically diverted from its course and appeared there in Chaosville. So now there were many more ponies waiting in line for Discord's wishes, waiting for the mighty draconequus granted them a wish without even imagining that they were selling their soul to be trapped for life in that crazy town.

With so many ponies around, it wasn’t difficult for Dusk Shine and Sunset Shimmer to enter the town without being seen by Discord. The really difficult thing now was finding Dusk's friends. The previous time, Dusk had spent the whole day looking for his friends and the task of getting them out of Discord's trance hadn’t been very easy. So Dusk feared that he would have to go through the same process and take the same amount of time.

"Dusk!" Spike suddenly yelled, excited to see that his brother had returned. However, when running towards Dusk, Spike stopped in his tracks when he saw that his brother was accompanied by Sunset Shimmer.

"Spike! Are you okay? Are you falling under Discord’s influence?” Dusk asked, relieved to see his little brother, but worried that he might be in a trance again. So, he walked over to him and inspected him carefully from side to side.

"Uh... No, I'm fine." Spike replied slowly, glaring at Sunset with utter mistrust. Then, feeling Dusk open his eyes to check that they weren't gray, Spike finally stopped staring the yellow mare and focused on Dusk. "You were only gone for a couple of hours, so I think Discord's magic hasn't affected me yet. But the girls… well, you better see for yourself." Spike added, looking worriedly at Dusk.

Dusk and Sunset ran to follow Spike until they neared the center of town, where the greatest concentration of ponies in trance seemed to be affected by Discord's chaotic magic. There, Dusk was reassured when he saw that all his friends seemed to be together, which was good, since he wouldn’t have to search for them all over town like before. The other good thing was that their coats and manes still had their normal colors, although their eyes had turned gray again. Dusk had hoped that this meant that the mares were not as deep into Discord’s trance as before and could therefore snap them back to reality quicker. However, upon closer inspection, it seemed that his friends were under a different type of trance altogether.

In the center was Rarity wearing a long purple cape fit for a queen, using her magic on all the objects she saw, making them more ostentatious, bright and colorful, thus obsessing over beautifying everything that was in her path. On the other side was Applejack, who was no longer wearing her signature hat and instead wore an elegant black tie around her neck, with an unfriendly look as she held up a map of Ponyville and muttered about expanding the farm and expropriate land to form a big apple-selling company, as if she had always been a business pony. Elsewhere Pinkie Pie was wearing terrifying evil clown makeup painted on her face, running and throwing pies in the face of everypony she saw, taunting them, carrying the bad jokes to a new level. Then there was Fluttershy, who for some reason had vines surrounding her body and mane as if she were a mare that had lived her entire life in the wild. She laughed maniacally as she commanded hordes of bunnies and birds to destroy everything that wasn’t natural, as if she were the self-proclaimed guardian of nature and wanted to end civilization. Finally, it was difficult to get a good look at Rainbow Dash despite the fact that she attracted the most attention. She was flying circles at full speed around the town and from time to time she flew so hard and so close to the town that it made small sonic explosions that devastated everything in her path.

It wasn’t difficult for Dusk to understand that this time his friends hadn’t fallen into a trance that was influenced by a lie, or that had turned them into the opposite of who they were. Now it was the opposite, the trance they were in seemed to have pronounce their talents and tastes to a ridiculous level, where they didn’t care how they affected others by exaggerating their tastes. Thus, leading to a Pinkie Pie obsessed with comedy, a forest-loving Fluttershy, a beauty-mad Rarity, an Applejack blinded by her apple business, and a Rainbow Dash one hundred percent focused on flying and being fast.

"I already tried talking to them, but they won’t listen to me." Spike said, concerned to see that Dusk had been stunned seeing these new behaviors of his friends taken to the extreme.

"Discord made sure the five of them were the most affected by his chaos magic... I realized that the first time I snapped them out of their trance." Dusk said with a worried look as he tried to think of a plan. "Their coats aren’t gray yet, meaning that we should be able to pull them out of their trance more easily. The real problem is… how to do it…?"

"What are you talking about? Just do the same thing you did last time." Spike said nonchalantly.

"I don't want to have to use magic on their minds again, it's dangerous. Also, I don't think it’ll works... The last time Discord fooled them with an illusion, and I just had to activate their memories to make them remember their true essence, since Discord's magic made them act totally opposite to how they normally were." Dusk said with a thoughtful look. "However, now it’s not as if they are acting against their own essence. Now they’re acting according to their own tastes and interests, only they are exaggerating them... There is no illusion to break!"

"Hmm... If you don't have a plan, I have an idea." Sunset said suddenly, who had also put on a thoughtful look, reaching the same conclusion as Dusk after seeing how those five mares behaved. "We have to get everypony to come here and pay attention to us even for a few seconds."

At the words of Sunset, both Dusk and Spike looked at her suspiciously, knowing that as long to accomplish her mission, Sunset Shimmer was able to do anything. And in this particular case, maybe do something bad and irreversible to their friends.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt them, I promise." Sunset said with a serious look, guessing what Dusk was thinking. "If you keep your promise, I'll keep mine." Sunset added as she stared at Dusk, who understood what the mare was referring to; something that made Dusk look away for a second in dread. Then he looked at his friends under Discord's trance and looked back at Sunset.

"Okay. Tell us your plan." Dusk said, with a look full of determination.

Following Sunset's orders, Spike and Dusk began to separate their friends from the rest of the crazy ponies that were in that part of town, trying to gather them one by one.

The first one they tried was Rarity, who just ignored Dusk and Spike's requests as she continued to use her magic to 'beautify' everything she saw. It wasn't until Dusk saw an old couch floating by that he tore it apart and showed it to Rarity. Upon seeing it, the unicorn ran after it to try to beautify it. So, Dusk used it as bait for Rarity to follow him back to Sunset. When the yellow unicorn saw her first victim, she immobilized Rarity's hooves so that she couldn't flee, although Rarity didn't even realize that, and only dedicated herself to ostentatiously decorating that ugly broken couch.

Next was Applejack, who was only focused on drawing plans for a future large apple orchard, which she would plant in the middle of Ponyville. It seemed that the magic of Discord had given the country mare great knowledge about the operation of a company and the laws of property ownership. So, it wasn't until Dusk used his magic to create a fake deed to the Golden Oak library that Applejack finally paid attention to them. And after promising that they would give her the title to remove the huge oak tree and thus plant a big apple tree, Applejack finally followed Dusk and stayed where Sunset was.

The third was Pinkie Pie, whom neither Dusk nor Spike could get close to, since she ran everywhere, simply throwing pies at everypony she saw, Dusk and Spike included. Knowing that Pinkie Pie had boundless energy to do crazy things and easily escape from them, the only option was for Pinkie to come up to them. Spike came up with the plan to bring a big box that looked like a birthday present, to which Dusk installed a handle next to it to make it look like a surprise box. Then, seeing the huge surprise box, Pinkie Pie ran over to where Dusk and Spike were and started cranking the handle to reveal the surprise inside the box. Something that would never happen, since there was no such surprise, but it served to distract Pinkie Pie, and thus keep her in one place.

Fluttershy giggled wickedly as her horde of bunnies nibbled on the ponies to drive them away from town. The first attempt to get close to the yellow pegasus was a failure, as the bunnies menacingly showed their rabid teeth at Dusk and Spike when they tried. Spike then saw that the leader of the bunnies was none other than his eternal arch enemy, Angel Bunny. The dragon didn’t know if he was also under Discord's trance or just liked that new aggressive attitude of Fluttershy; but Spike took it upon himself to distract all the bunnies so that they would chase him and not continue to come between Fluttershy and Dusk. After that, Dusk approached Fluttershy and tried to talk to her, but she was only obsessed with taking care of the forest, animals and plants. And after much thought, Dusk took a flower that was in the way and tore a petal from it in front of Fluttershy. That enraged the normally calm pegasus, and served for her to chase after Dusk, and thus finally to catch her with the others.

The one that was obviously saved for last was the hardest to catch. Rainbow Dash just kept flying in circles, so fast that there was barely a rainbow trail in the sky. And the most troublesome thing of all was that Spike was no longer there to help Dusk, as he had simply disappeared after running away from Fluttershy's bunnies. But finally, Dusk thought of something that might interest his friend more than the need for speed. Dusk got into position and yelled with all his might: 'Free Wonderbolts autographs!'. It only took a second for the rainbow trail to rush down to where Dusk was and collide with him. After the sudden blow, Dusk quickly used his magic to restrain the blue pegasus, and thus be able to take her to where all the others were.

"Well... here they are all." Dusk huffed, using his magic to prevent Rainbow Dash from flying away, who was struggling to fly again after seeing that there were no Wonderbolts autographs there. "Now... what do you plan to do?" Dusk added, looking suspiciously at Sunset Shimmer.

"You said it yourself. They’re acting according to their own tastes and interests." Sunset said, approaching Dusk. "You just have to look for something that interests them even more."

"Something that interests Rarity more than beauty? To Applejack more than apples? To Fluttershy more than nature? To Pinkie Pie more than pies and pranks? To Rainbow Dash more than speed? Good luck with that." Dusk said with a small nervous sigh. "Maybe we should-"

At that moment Dusk fell silent and widened his eyes when suddenly Sunset kissed him.

What the yellow unicorn did was totally unexpected, so much so that Dusk completely forgot to keep using his magic to hold Rainbow Dash. However, it wasn’t necessary. As Sunset continued to kiss Dusk for several seconds, with Dusk Shine totally shocked by that, the five mares, who had been so focused on themselves, were finally distracted by seeing that kiss. The five of them stared speechlessly as that yellow mare was kissing that lavender stallion sweetly… THEIR lavender stallion!

"What do you think you're doing!?" The mares shouted at once. The five of them looking with a mixture of surprise and anger at Dusk and Sunset. That was the catalyst that the five mares needed to get themselves out of Discord’s trance.

"W-What happened? Deja-vu?" Pinkie Pie said, dizzy and confused, having come out of a strong trance twice in a single day.

"You were in a trance. Dusk and I saved you." Sunset said to them with a cold gaze.

After seeing that the five mares had come out of the trance, Sunset had immediately broken the kiss with Dusk and stared at the mares, without looking at Dusk again. However, despite trying to hide it, Sunset's cheeks betrayed some emotion and were slightly blushed. For his part, Dusk was speechless. Sunset's kiss had taken him completely by surprise, and it took him several seconds to realize that this had happened because Sunset discovered that the five mares had a strong interest in Dusk, so much that it had been enough to bring them out of the trance. It was brilliant! Pure and cold logic.

"That kiss… Was she just doing it because it was the logical thing to do?" Dusk thought, touching his lips.

Dusk honestly thought he would feel aversion for being kissed by a cold and calculating mare like her. However, it had been the opposite. Sunset's kiss had been sweet and tender, full of warmth, totally contrary to the appearance that she externally emanated... Contrary to what Dusk expected, this kiss didn’t resemble the kisses without feelings like those that the maid twins had given him.. If Dusk had to say it, that kiss... it was more like the kisses that his friends had given him... But that was impossible!

"No! That's impossible! She's just playing with me! It's another one of her tricks!" Dusk thought, terrified at the idea that his heart could confuse him again. Thus, unlike other kisses that had made him feel happy, surprised or confused, this time he felt a new feeling, one that he would only discover what it later.

"Wait... what the hell are you doing here!?" Rainbow Dash suddenly accused, after coming out of her confusion and seeing that Sunset was next to Dusk.

"I already told you. Saving you." Sunset answered back in annoyance, as if every time those mares looked at her defiantly, she got more and more angry.

"Yeah right, as if that was true..." Rainbow Dash said sarcastically as she glared at Sunset. Supported by her four friends, who also looked angrily and distrustfully at the yellow unicorn.

"Girls. It's... It's true. She helped me get you out of Discord’s trance." Dusk said quickly, getting between Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer. "There’s no time to argue. What we need to do now is stop Discord." Dusk added, looking seriously at his five friends.

"Wait... We already did that... And it didn't work." Applejack said, holding her head as her memories slowly returned to her.

"I know, but this time, we’ll not fail." Dusk said with a tender smile, levitating the necklaces with the Eements that were in his saddlebag and putting them on the necks of his friends. "Trust me."

Always trusting in what Dusk told them, the five mares touched their necklaces and looked at Dusk full of determination, ready to follow him wherever he went, trusting in their friendship, and more importantly, in their hearts.

The group of ponies went again to the train station, where Discord was still on his floating throne. And since there weren't any more pony in line for wishes at the moment, Discord was focused on writing a list.

"Let's see… Since Chaosville is finally complete, I should invite some other chaos beings to enjoy it. Hmm… I could invite Bill… No! That psychopath if far too power-hungry even by my standards. And for a triangle, he’s far too square. Maybe invite Chaos… Nah! I have an allergy to blue cats... Maybe Mr. Mfrsptk... Mrclptrf... Mxyzr... oh, forget it! I can't even pronounce his name!" Discord grumbled as he crossed names off his list. "In any case, traveling between dimensions is such a hassle, no one would come. I think that only I’ll enjoy this town alone… Just me…. Always… me." Discord added, trying to smile, although he looked away with a clear feeling of sadness when he said that, again feeling that strange emptiness in his heart that he couldn’t explain.

Averting his gaze, Discord was surprised to see Dusk Shine approaching again with his friends. That made him smile evilly again, thinking that he could at least kill time by taunting Dusk Shine again.

"Huzzah! The great hero arrives again to fell the great evil!" Discord yelled laughing, transforming his body to make his stomach sound like a drum, his nose like a trumpet, his claws like accordions, and his head like repeatedly clanging cymbals. Thus, transforming himself into a one-man orchestra, making fun of the arrival of Dusk and his friends. "So, what now? Do you think the third is the charm?" Discord asked mockingly after returning to normal.

"It doesn't matter how hard you try. Our friendship never-" Dusk said with a look full of determination, until Discord interrupted him, putting a finger in his mouth.

"Yuck! Save yourself the silly friendship speech." Discord said with a disgusted face. "If you insist so much, I’ll let you try to defeat me one more time. Just make it quick. I'm missing some excellent chaos here." Discord added, making a clock appear that was going backwards, and then teleporting to his throne again, closing his eyes and yawning as he waited for Dusk and his friends to put on their little show.

"Alright girls, one more time!" Dusk said with a serious look, shining his horn and the Element of Magic on his crown. Then his five friends approached him and their elements also began to glow.

Slowly the six ponies began to glow, and just as slowly, they began to float. Unlike the previous two times that they had used the Elements against Discord, it seemed that this time the magic of the Elements worked slower for some reason.

"Yaaaawn… What’s the matter? Is someone hesitating to use the magic of the elements?" Discord said, opening his eyes when he realized that Dusk's magic seemed to waver for some reason.

Right at that moment, when Discord opened his eyes, two things happened. The first was that Dusk's magic finally managed to fully activate the Elements of Harmony, and for the third time that day, a strong rainbow beam shot into the sky, then plummeted towards Discord. That would have worried the mighty draconequus in other times, however he already had insurance to counter the magic of the Elements. One that had already worked twice, so there was nothing to worry about. However, the second thing that Discord noticed was that not far from there watching in the distance was Sunset Shimmer, looking at everything with an indifferent and cold gaze.

"What is she doing here?" Discord thought, confused for just a millisecond. And instantly his eyes widened in horror at the realization of the truth.

In just a second, Discord understood Sunset's true plan, yet it was too late. At that moment, the powerful rainbow beam hit Discord squarely, who in horror tried to move his claws to counter the powerful magic. But it was all in vain, the magic of Harmony was already working on the Lord of Chaos. His elongated body soon began to freeze and cement into cold stone. First his claws, then his tail and legs, slowly petrifying up his chest until it ascended to his head.

"No! Anything but this!" Discord shouted in desperation, understanding that this time couldn’t be released because he had been betrayed. "Send me to Tartarus! To a jail! Just don't petrify me! Cold! Loneliness! Silence! Darkness! Anything but that!" Discord yelled as petrification finally reached his head. A cry more like a desperate plea. And so finally, the mighty Lord of Chaos was locked up again.

After Discord turned to stone, the six ponies slowly fell to the ground as their respective Elements stopped glowing. They felt exhausted after having been radiating for so long the enormous power of the Magic of Harmony.

"Now... Now is it over?" Rarity cautiously asked, immediately turning around to look at the statue and saw that there were no cracks.

"Why was everything slower that?" Pinkie Pie asked, looking doubtfully at Dusk, as she had paid a lot of attention to Discord’s last words, about which Dusk was apparently hesitating when using the Elements. "Was it because you weren't sure about using the elements?"

"Girls, come closer, there is not much time." Dusk said with his head down, slowly catching his breath, as he had used a lot of magic, and he still had to use enough magic for what followed.

Noticing immediately that Dusk's voice seemed more tired and shaky than normal, the five mares came to Dusk and looked worried. Fluttershy was the last to join, since for some reason, she stared sadly at the now petrified Lord of Chaos.

"If we don't hurry, Discord will free himself again..." Dusk said slowly once all his friends were in front of him. Then he looked up with a sad smile at his five dear friends. "Everything will be fine now, I promise you. I’ll never let Discord play with your minds again." Dusk added as a tear fell down his cheek, activating his magic once again, blinding the five mares present.

After Discord was permanently imprisoned, the vast majority of the chaos magic invoked by him instantly disappeared. Only a few vestiges, such as a cloud of cotton candy that Derpy hid in her house, or a certain stallion that from that day on was irresistible to all the old mares of the town, were the remnants of all that chaotic magic that had invaded Ponyville. But everything else, like the houses, the animals, the trees, the sky, and mainly the enchanted ponies, returned to normal.

Soon the news that six great heroes had managed to stop the mighty Lord of Chaos reached Canterlot. A city that had initially been exempt from Discord's chaotic magic. However, after Dusk first used the Elements of Harmony against Discord, he had allowed the draconequus to break his end of the deal as well, and with just a snap of his fingers he had made the capital of the kingdom also rain chocolate and the houses began to fly. So as all that chaos stopped, all the residents of Canterlot breathed a sigh of relief to see that everything had been fixed. And all those residents of Canterlot, including most of the nobles of the kingdom, smiled happily when they learned that Princess Celestia had sent for the heroes of Equestria to give them a great ceremony of gratitude.

In just one day, a great ceremony was put together in Canterlot. With many of the city's ponies waiting in the royal castle to pay homage to their great heroes. While a few others waited with the guards at the train station, waiting for the six heroes of Equestria to arrive from Ponyville to escort them to the royal castle.

Celestia smiled on her throne, surrounded by the most important noble families of the kingdom. The doors of the great hall opened to admit the great heroes of Equestria, who entered being cheered by all the ponies present there. And among so many cheers of joy and applause, few noticed the surprised face of some nobles when they recognized the mares that entered, because the heroines they had wanted to thank so much for were precisely the mares that some remembered had ruined the Grand Galloping Gala.

Seeing that some nobles were speechless, Celestia couldn’t help but put a hoof in her mouth to contain her laughter seeing that those smug ponies should eat her words now, since Dusk and his friends would no longer be unknown ponies and frowned upon. If not quite the opposite, they would be remembered as great heroes of Equestria.

While Celestia was thinking about that, she saw how happy Pinkie Pie jumped, happy to be in what she thought was a great party, approaching where the princess was. After her came Applejack, who couldn't help but blush, seeing all those city ponies applauding her. Then came Rarity, who, as always, walked gracefull, as if on a fashion runway, used to crowds and bustle. Completely opposed to that attitude, Fluttershy entered with a shy smile, lowering her head a lot, feeling proud to receive a medal from the princess, but always fearful of crowds. Then Rainbow Dash followed, who always with a somewhat self-centered touch, smiled arrogantly and posed for some photos that some journalists took. And finally Spike entered, who unlike his five friends, didn’t enter the great hall smiling, but only kept a worried look as he approached in front of the princess, where his five friends were already waiting.

Seeing that Spike entered alone, and that behind him the doors of the great hall closed, Celestia raised a confused eyebrow. Surely the pony that had saved Equestria would be here with the rest of his friends. It had been her pupil Dusk Shine who, against her wishes, fled the castle and managed to save his friends, Ponyville, and all of Equestria from Discord.

"I’m sorry, but where is Dusk Shine?" Celestia asked, looking at the five mares and the baby dragon in front of her.

"Who’s Dusk Shine?" Rarity asked in confusion. The other mares shared the same gesture, who shrugged their shoulders at the princess's strange question, since none of them knew anyone by that name.

Celestia opened her eyes in fear, not understanding what was happening. Until her gaze fell on little Spike, who only looked up when the princess looked at him, and returned a sad look.

"That was the price... That's what Dusk had to pay..." Spike whispered slowly, closing his eyes in pain...

'Flashback of Sunset Shimmer.'

The day before, at the Golden Oak Library, minutes before Ponyville became Chaosville...

"So...we’re at a stalemate?" Discord said, raising an annoyed eyebrow after Sunset threatened to teleport the Elements of Harmony away.

"Not at all, I would never dare to face the mighty Lord of Chaos." Sunset said, looking away and then looking straight into Discord's eyes again with a big smile. "So tell me… Would you be interested in making a little deal?"

Hearing those words, Discord couldn't help but smile mischievously. He loved to make deals that backfired horribly on his victims. So, he decided to play along with that mare.

"So, what kind of deal would you like to make?" Discord asked, grinning wickedly.

"You can have with this town and do whatever you want with it. And in return, you’ll free the rest of Equestria from your chaos magic." Sunset said, also deciding to smile wickedly so as not to look weak in front of Discord.

"And why would I settle for this small town when I can make the world my chaotic playground?" Discord asked mockingly.

"Because I’ll convince Celestia never to use the Elements of Harmony against you again. So you’ll be free for all eternity, without having to worry that someone will ever petrify you again." Sunset said, analyzing every move and gesture to form a mental model of her adversary. "Let's face it, probably not even with all your magic you could destroy the Elements of Harmony. Your only chance would be to hide them, and that's a guarantee that someone could find them and use them against you. My method is safer."

"You could never convince that bore Celestia to accept that." Discord said, narrowing his eyes. That was the first sign of weakness in Discord that Sunset found. He didn't reject the deal outright, which meant he was open to accepting it if she managed to persuade him further.

"I’ll convince her. Trust me, I'm very persuasive." Sunset said with an arrogant laugh. "I’ll have to tell her that we’ll let the ponies of this town be free to go. But even if they’re free to go, that doesn't mean you can't 'motivate' them to come back and stay." Sunset added, glancing mischievously at Discord, who immediately understood what the unicorn was referring to and smiled wickedly as well.

"Yes… I could do that. I guess it would be fun to see how I trick the ponies into my town, and they never come out again, hehe…" Discord laughed wickedly.

"You see it? It's a good deal." Sunset said with a cheerful smile. "The only thing I would add would be that you promise never to use your magic on me or Dusk Shine. And besides I-"

"I haven’t even accepted your stupid deal, and you already want to put more conditions. You’re a lousy businesspony." Discord said, annoyed to realize that Sunset was apparently dumber than he thought if she thought he would accept the deal so easily.

"And besides I..." Sunset repeated again, pretending not to have listened to Discord. Deciding to risk it all and move her next piece to put together her plan. "…I'll tell you a way that they can never petrify you again. Even if they use the Elements of Harmony."

Hearing that, Discord stopped smiling for the first time and put on a shocked look. Which made Sunset smile when she saw that Discord had taken the bait.

"Do you know a way to prevent the magic of the Elements from affecting me?" Discord asked inquisitively, raising an eyebrow.

"We have a deal?" Sunset asked, also raising an eyebrow.

At that moment, Discord narrowed his eyes and looked suspiciously at the mare.

"Why should I trust you?" Discord asked seriously.

"Well, trust is a vital thing among thinking living beings. Trust is the first step to becoming friends…" Sunset said feigning disinterest but glancing at Discord and his reactions. And seeing that the word 'friend' seemed to dislike Discord, she quickly took a mental step back and softened what she really wanted to search for on Discord. "Of course, I’m not saying that we’re friends. But trust is essential to be together with others, to not be… alone." Sunset added, emphasizing that last word, hoping with all her might that her suspicion was true and that her plan could work.

Just as Sunset expected, Discord made a slight gesture of discomfort upon hearing her last words. Which made Sunset start to move her pieces on her mental board, seeing that little by little she managed to disrupt Discord's defense and was getting closer to winning the game. Discord was an all-powerful being, but he was just a wild, sad and lonely fool; and those were the flaws Sunset's cunning mind would use to defeat him.

"Okay, deal. Now spit it out." Discord finally said, accepting Sunset's deal.

"You must use an 'Anchor Spell'." Sunset said, with a smile at the brilliant idea that had occurred to her.

"An anchor what?" Discord asked confused.

"An anchor spell, that's what they were called in ancient times. They’re prohibited nowadays, and they’ve another name: 'curses'." Sunset said, staring at Discord. "Anchor spells or curses are spells in which you use your magic to bind your soul to something, be it an object or another living being. It’s how many of the powerful ancient magical artifacts were made, that is why they have so much power."

"Save the exposition for the audience, know-it-all! I know very well how that magic works; I know magic that you can't even imagine!" Discord said, annoyed that Sunset believed he didn't know that kind of magic. "An object with a bound soul is very easy to find. It’s easier to hide it in a living being, but it’s very fragile, since it ties the life of the one who made the spell with the one who carries it... If that was your brilliant idea, you disappoint me." Discord added, feeling he had wasted his time.

"Don’t use it on an object or a living being. Use it on something harder to find and something harder to destroy." Sunset said with an evil smile, thinking that she was giving Discord one of the brightest ideas that had ever occurred to her. "Use it on the very Elements of Harmony."

"The magic of Harmony in the Elements is too much-" Discord said, before being interrupted.

"Not in the elements themselves, but in their carriers." Sunset said, staring at Discord. "And not in themselves, but in their memories. Use the anchor spell on their memories, one memory that they’ll never want to forget. For a unicorn it would be impossible to do. But with your magic level, it’s possible!"

Hearing that, for the first time Discord looked thoughtful. Certainly he knew that spell, in fact he knew it very well, because he knew another terrifying being who had used it. But the way Sunset was telling him to use the spell was so novel, he didn't know of anyone who had used that spell on a memory! It was a terrifying and wonderful idea!

Realizing that in this way, even if the ponies broke the deal he made with Sunset, he could go free without problems; a big and evil smile appeared on the Chaos Lord's face.

"And if you want a suggestion, I know the perfect memory you could use on those five mares. The memory of a lavender stallion that they would never voluntarily want to forget." Sunset said with an evil smile of her own.

Immediately understanding what Sunset Shimmer was referring to, Discord couldn't help but laugh wickedly as he saw that the mare in front of him had planned everything to perfection. So much so that she wasn’t only giving him the key to never being locked up again, but she was also making sure to totally take those five mares out of the game so that Dusk Shine fell completely into her hooves.

'End of flashback.'

"Whatever happened, I would win." Sunset thought with an arrogant smile, walking up the stairs inside the Ponyville library. "If Dusk and Celestia accepted the original plan, Discord would stay in Ponyville, keeping those five mares in an eternal trance. And if Dusk rebelled against the plan, as it finally happened, I could tell him the truth; and in doing so, there was only one way to break the anchor spell: erasing the memories of him from the minds of his friends. Be that as it may, Dusk's friends would get out of our way."

Upon reaching the second floor, Sunset saw that Dusk Shine was sitting on the edge of his bed. The stallion had a downcast look, staring into nothingness, knowing that now his friends would never remember him. Which made Sunset smirk.

"And the best of all, is that I told Dusk that before telling him how to beat Discord, he had to promise that from now on, both of us would always be together." Sunset thought happily, approaching Dusk and sitting next to him. "Now everything is going according to plan..."

"Everything will be fine." Sunset said with a tender smile and hugging Dusk. "Now we’ll be together, forever and ever." Sunset added, entwining her hooves around Dusk's body, as if she were a snake about to devour her prey.

Three days had passed since the ceremony in Canterlot, where the newspapers published the photo of the six great heroes of Equestria, without knowing that the true protagonist of that story was kept hidden in the shadows, locked in his room since he had erased the memories of his friends.

That morning, Spike was eating breakfast alone in the library kitchen. It was his routine ever since he came back from Canterlot. Dusk hardly left his room anymore, only occasionally to look for something to eat or to look for a book. Always having a sad and gloomy look, not listening to anything Spike said to him. And after Dusk, there was always Sunset Shimmer, who seemed to never leave him alone. She always went after Dusk with a big smile in contrast to the downright gloomy expression the lavender stallion had.

Not even at night Spike could talk to his brother, because since Sunset stayed with them, Spike couldn’t bear to see her, and preferred to sleep on the first floor. No matter how hard Spike tried, he couldn't bear to see Sunset. And it was no longer because of a fear of the past, but because of the disgust and helplessness he felt when he saw the mare who had manipulated and deceived his brother and felt that he could do nothing to help him.

Suddenly Spike stopped eating when he heard footsteps on the stairs. He got up and went to the main hall where Dusk Shine and Sunset Shimmer were now, both with the same expressions of depression and happiness respectively that they had had in recent days.

"We’ve finished reading 'Advanced Calculations for Space-Time Magic', how about reading 'Equestrian History of the Second Age, Volume Two' again? I remember you were very fond of ancient history." Sunset said with a big smile as she put a book on the library shelves and levitated another with her magic.

"Okay... I guess…" Dusk said without even looking at Sunset or the book, just turning around to go back up to his room.

Suddenly several voices were heard behind the door of the library, until it was opened, letting in five mares that everypony in that room knew very well. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack entered the library, laughing and chatting happily with each other.

"I tell you! You must read the last volume of 'Forbidden Love', otherwise everypony else will just spoil it for me." Rarity said, smiling at Fluttershy.

"Oh! Oh! You mean when Clarity got out of the bathtub and-" Pinkie Pie said excitedly, being immediately silenced by Applejack.

"I already told you Pinkie, no spoilers!" Applejack said looking seriously at her friend.

"Nah, I don’t know why you guys love those lovey-dovey comics so much.” Rainbow Dash said scratching her head. Of course, they weren’t aware that she was also secretly a fan of Lyra's comics.

"Oh! Hello dear Spike." Rarity said, noticing that Spike was in the library with two other unknown ponies. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but do you know if a copy of the last volume of the comic 'Forbidden Love' came to the library? It seems that it’s sold out everywhere."

"Uh... I... I-I think someone borrowed it yesterday." Spike said nervously, looking askance at Dusk, who just froze, seeing his friends with a surprised and hurt face.

When Spike looked away, Rarity couldn't help but see the stallion he was looking at, a lavender stallion she had never seen before, who for some reason was looking at her with a strange look.

"Uh... well, if you don't have it, I think we'd better go." Rarity said, feeling uncomfortable under the watchful eye of the stallion.

Like Rarity, the other four mares couldn't help but see the stallion that accompanied their friend Spike. Even Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy remembered that he was apparently the town librarian. But beyond that, they couldn't remember ever talking to him. They didn't even know his name. And more importantly, seeing him look at them with a strange look of pain, made them feel very uncomfortable, giving everyone a withering headache for some reason.

"Y-Yeah, let’s go. My head’s feeling ouchy." Pinkie Pie said, shaking her head to clear the withering headache she had felt, averting her gaze from the disturbing look the stallion had.

Then the five mares said goodbye to Spike and left the library.

"Don't you think the librarian looks a bit like the 'Dusk-Sempai' from the comic?" Applejack whispered as they all left the library.

"I don't think so... There’s something really...unnerving about him." Fluttershy replied sheepishly, closing the door behind her.

That unexpected visit from his best friends was devastating for Dusk Shine. Seeing how they all looked at him without even acknowledging him was more than his heart could bear, causing him to lower his head and close his eyes tightly, holding back the tears while his chest ached like never before. That was the reason why he had been locked up for three days, because he was afraid to know what would happen when he was reunited with his friends. However, it had finally happened, and as he feared, it had been the most painful thing he had experienced in his life.

"Dusk, this doesn't have to go on like this!" Spike said, taking the opportunity he had to talk to his brother. He no longer cared that Sunset was present, he just wanted to help his brother. "Maybe they forgot that you were friends, but what does it matter! You just have to talk to them again and be their friend again! You don’t deserve to be miserable like this!"

"That wouldn’t be a good idea." Sunset replied, looking at Spike with a cold, indifferent look.

"Sunset is right..." Dusk added sadly. "Discord's curse is attached to the memories of the five of them. If I meet them and force our friendship again, I would be putting them at risk for them to relive those memories. And if they do, they would free Discord again."

Dusk lowered his head again and as if it were a body without a soul, he slowly approached the stairs to return to his room, and thus remain sunk in his depression. For her part, seeing Dusk so depressed, Sunset couldn't help but stop smiling for a second and look annoyed at Dusk.

"How much longer is this going to last!? Why is he still so damn depressed!?" Sunset thought in frustration, shaking her head and sighing to calm herself. "Don't worry, it's only a matter of time. Nothing is eternal, not even depression. Sooner or later, Dusk will end up forgetting about those stupid mares."

"Dusk, how about we hang out for a bit? You've been locked up for too long." Sunset said, approaching to touch Dusk. "How about we go visit your zebra friend? I remember you told me that you were a friend of one and I've never met one despite my travels."

At Sunset's request, Dusk turned around and just looked at her without any emotion, as if he simply no longer had any motivation for anything. Also, his friends had already seen him and they hadn’t reacted, which was the worst that could happen. Now there was no reason to stay locked in his room.

"Whatever you want." Dusk replied monotonously, knowing that he was doomed to simply follow what Sunset asked of him. His cunning and wicked friend had won her stupid chess game, and Dusk had no reason to confront her, since he had already lost everything.

Dusk and Sunset went to the Everfree Forest, heading in the direction of Zecora's house. Dusk was walking slowly, always with his head down and his gaze dull. While Sunset was smiling, enjoying being able to walk together, asking several questions about the forest or the old castle of the two sisters, trying to get Dusk to be interested and talk with her. Something that didn't work despite Sunset's enthusiasm, because to each question, Dusk only answered curtly and kept walking.

Finally, both ponies arrive at the rustic home of Zecora, a big tree surrounded by tribal masks and other artifacts from strange lands. After knocking on the door several times, Dusk was confused and decided to enter the huge tree. There, he saw that his second teacher didn't seem to be anywhere.

As Sunset stared in amazement at all the strange artifacts and potions that were there, Dusk simply ignored her and left the house.

On any other occasion, Dusk would have wondered why Zecora hadn’t come to meet him before arriving at her house, since she always took good care of her home. Furthermore, she wasn't inside her house either, which was even weirder. She could have gone on a trip, but she would have left a note, and wouldn’t have left half-made potions like the ones Dusk had seen when entering the house. However, none of those great doubts appeared in Dusk's mind at that moment. He just felt so downcast that he couldn't reason well. So, he just started his way back to Ponyville.

"Dusk! W-Why are you leaving? There are many interesting things here." Sunset said, leaving Zecora's house when she saw that Dusk was leaving. "These potions are unique! We could do some little experiments taking advantage of the fact that your friend isn’t here." Sunset added with a small, tender smile.

After having endured seeing that tender and fake smile on Sunset's face for so many days, Dusk simply couldn't take it anymore. However, he didn’t get angry or react, he simply closed his eyes, since not even his own heart had the strength to express his feelings.

"I… I'm sorry, Sunset." Dusk said slowly, remembering Zecora's teachings to concentrate, and thus be able to break the limit of his normal spells. "I know I promised that we would always be together, but… I need some alone time." Dusk added, using his teleportation to disappear from there.

Seeing that Dusk had left without even looking at her, Sunset was shocked. Then she lowered her head and glared at the ground. Sparks started to come out of her horn due to anger, and just as she stomped the ground with her hoof, she accidentally fired a strong beam of magic that destroyed a tree in front of her.

"Why is this happening!?" Sunset shouted furiously, full of frustration, not understanding Dusk Shine's feelings. “I won! I stopped those stupid mares from stealing Dusk Shine and I won! Why can’t he see that?!”

Moments before that happened in the Everfree forest, shortly after Dusk and Sunset left the library, Spike had taken the opportunity to finally enter Dusk's room. A room he hadn't entered in three days. But despite that, Spike had paid close attention to it, watching over it, listening from behind the door, and sometimes even leaning out to spy on Sunset the few times that she was alone when Dusk went to the bathroom.

Once he entered the room, Spike ran to Dusk's bed, under which was the saddlebag that Sunset had brought with her. Then Spike quickly opened it and searched, until he found what he wanted: a little red book.

Instinctively, Spike immediately tried to open that book, but as he already knew, the book didn't open, despite all the force Spike used. This was because it was Sunset Shimmer's diary, a diary that she herself had protected with a spell so that only she could open.

If Spike hadn't spied on Sunset all those days, he would never have known how to open that book. However, the day before, Spike had gotten to see Sunset open the book. To his surprise, Spike discovered that Sunset had used a spell similar to the one Dusk had used to close the chest where he kept the Elements of Harmony, a keyword lock spell. That had surprised Spike a lot, as it led him to think how much the two unicorns were alike at times. So much so, that even Spike came to think that, if it hadn't been for Dusk's five friends, perhaps Dusk would have ended up being just as cold and calculating as Sunset.

Despite the surprise and chill that Spike felt when he saw that Sunset had unknowingly created the same spell as Dusk, what astonished him the most was discovering the keyword that Sunset used. Three words that Sunset had uttered extremely softly when opening her diary, so that no one would hear her. However, due to Spike's keen dragon hearing, he did manage to hear her from the door he was spying through, and almost dropped his jaw at hearing the words.

Now that Spike was alone and finally had Sunset's diary in his possession, Spike whispered the three key words in the diary, causing the book to unlock with a soft click.

Spike's mission was to find some dirty secret to threaten Sunset with so that he and Dusk could finally have a reason to expel her from their lives. However, as Spike read the diary, his amazement grew and grew as he read things that he never thought he would read in that little diary.

"All of this was planned... All this time... All to... achieve her goal." Spike gravely whispered, finally understanding what Sunset Shimmer wanted to achieve.

Oblivious to the truth that Spike had discovered, Dusk walked alone through the streets of the town. After catching his breath after having teleported so far from Sunset, Dusk now walked aimlessly, just lost in his sad and desolate thoughts.

"Who would think that the first pony I see when I arrive in town is just the pony I’m looking for." A female voice suddenly said, landing right next to Dusk.

When he looked up, Dusk made a confused look when he didn’t recognize the mare donned in a cape and a hood. The only thing Dusk could know despite the cape and hood, was that she was a tall and thin mare. Then he narrowed his eyes to try to see the face hidden under the hood, where he could see big beautiful cyan eyes. And only then was it that Dusk's atrophied depressed mind finally recognized the voice that had spoken to him, and the mare to whom those characteristics belonged.

"Princess Luna?" Dusk asked awkwardly, coming out of his depressed state after three days.

"Something is wrong with you, isn't it? I knew it! I should have gone back to Canterlot sooner!" Luna said, concerned when she saw Dusk with a sad look. "I’m absent for four days and everything is a disaster! I find out that Discord was released and that you and your friends locked him up again... My sister said that the magic of Discord had already disappeared but look at you! Surely he cast a spell on your mind or some other trickery!" The alicorn said nervously, taking Dusk's head and opening his eyes and mouth, as if looking for some physical sign that Dusk was in some trance.

"I… I'm fine. You don’t have to worry." Dusk replied, turning his head away from the princess and forcing himself to smile to show her that he was fine.

There had been several letters that Celestia had sent to Dusk, asking him if he was alright, promising him that as soon as she could, she would escape from her royal duties and visit him. And just as it was now with Luna, Dusk had simply assured her that everything was fine, even though in reality he wasn’t. That was because Dusk knew how important it was to keep Discord locked up, and the last thing he wanted was to worry the royal princesses with his silly depression. Just like Sunset said, having his friends lose their memories of him was a low price to keep them safe, both themselves and all of Equestria. The only one who had to pay the price was him, and no one would carry his depression more than him, no one else.

"Wait… did you say you just arrived in Canterlot today? I thought Princess Celestia had asked you and Princess Cadance to come back three days ago?" Dusk asked, wanting to divert the subject so Luna wouldn't notice his depression.

"Yes, it was. But when I was coming back from Vanhoover, I had to divert to the northern border of the kingdom." Luna replied with a thoughtful look. "Apparently there is a strange storm that is affecting the towns of the North. I have discussed it with my sister, and although it’s highly unlikely, perhaps it’s a sign of…" At that moment Luna fell silent, remembering that she was there to see that Dusk was okay, not to bring him more worries. "ENOUGH! I came here for another reason!" Luna added, forgetting for a second to speak in a normal voice and shouting in her loud royal voice.

"I... I'm glad to see you again." Dusk said with a small but genuine smile. One that made Luna blush when she saw it. For some reason, seeing Luna finally made Dusk put aside all his depression for a second, as his heart had longed to be able to see Luna again for a long time. "We haven't seen each other since that dream I had in Appleloosa." Dusk remembered.

"Y-Yes, well… My sister and I were worried about you." Luna replied very nervous, remembering something important, which made her lift a hoof and hide her face even more under the hood. "That… That time I said we couldn't see each other again. But… at the Grand Galloping Gala you made me promise that I would see you again…" Luna added, feeling embarrassed for contradicting herself.

The truth was that as soon as she got to Canterlot and found out about what happened with Dusk and Discord, Luna forgot everything and just flew directly to Ponyville, not caring about anything, just wondering if Dusk would be okay. And so improvised had her trip been, that she hadn't even realized that this was the first time that Dusk would see her in the way she was, without her full power. Fortunately, she was still wearing her traveling cloak, with which she could partially hide her figure, but for Dusk it would be obvious to note that she was shorter and less imposing than the figure he had seen of her in his dreams, where she used her true form. And the worst thing was that Luna had sworn to herself that she wouldn’t let Dusk see her in that incomplete form she was in, but now… She had broken that promise!

"Please don't put your hood on. I think… I really need to see a friend's face right now." Dusk said with a sad smile. Feeling that finally, after three days, his heart felt something again and he didn’t want to let it escape.

"Uh… but… but this is not me. Not the one you knew." Luna said, trying in vain to hide the fact that she was nervous. Averting her gaze so that Dusk didn’t see under her hood.

"You’re the same as always." Dusk said with a tender look, finally understanding what was worrying Luna. "Maybe your mane doesn’t wave as before, nor is your fur that dark. But when you arrived, I could recognize your beautiful voice; and seeing you in the face, I recognized your eyes, and that look of compassion and greatness that you had when I saw you in my dreams... Also, remember that I freed you from Nightmare Moon, so I’ve already seen your two forms, and I assure you that they’re both equally beautiful." Dusk added, to give Luna reassurance.

Luna couldn't help but blush at the words and after thinking about it for a few seconds, she finally agreed and lowered her hood. So Dusk could see that indeed this wasn’t the figure Luna that he remembered seeing the last time, but that it looked more like the figure of the first time that Dusk saw her when he released her from the spell of Nightmare Moon. With her blue fur and light blue mane, which seemed to be halfway to transforming into the ethereal mane that Dusk had seen in 'Lady Night'. But more importantly, as he himself said before, Luna's sweet and compassionate gaze remained intact in all her forms, and when he looked into her eyes, Dusk couldn't help but smile as he felt a renewed warmth in his heart. For her part, Luna shyly looked away when she saw that Dusk was staring at her, feeling ashamed to feel weak and small. But upon seeing Dusk's sweet and tender smile, she also smiled weakly, blushing and finally managing to look Dusk directly in the eyes as well.

"I-I guess it's okay for the ponies in this town to see me like this… After all, they managed to see me this form during the Summer Sun Celebration." Luna said timidly, then sighing and putting a more serious look, because no matter how hard Dusk tried, she knew that her reason for being there was for him, not for her. "Now, dear Dusk. Could you stop giving me evasions and tell me what is affecting you so much?" Luna asked, getting straight to the point, having immediately recognized that despite Dusk's smiles, his gaze hid a great regret that he struggled to hide.

Seeing Luna's serious and determined look, Dusk sadly lowered his gaze, feeling the depression was sinking him again. He didn't want to tell what happened, it was bad enough to know that he had lost his friends, and the last thing he wanted now was to worry the princesses. In those thoughts Dusk began to isolate himself, until he felt a warm hoof touch his side.

"'I used to believe the same thing. That solitude and confinement were the solution... But the truth is that we all need somepony...' Do you know who said those words to me?" Luna said, looking at Dusk with a tender look.

Dusk widened his eyes when he realized that those had been exactly the same words he had said to her when he asked her to fight Nightmare Moon and not blame herself for the past. Realizing that, Dusk closed his eyes, realizing that he, like Luna, had been isolating himself from everypony and suffering alone. Then he finally sighed and decided to share his pain.

"It’s a long story." Dusk said with a sad smile.

Dusk and Luna began to walk slowly through the town, with Dusk telling Luna everything that had happened since Sunset Shimmer's return in his life. Summarizing his stormy past, Discord's attack on his friends on the train, the deal Sunset made to keep Discord in Ponyville, how he freed his friends from Discord's trance, how the Elements of Harmony failed, and how Sunset finally revealed the truth to him, telling him of the sacrifice he had to make in order for Discord to be finally locked up.

"That's why… despite knowing that I did the right thing, I… can't feel happy. Because I can't forget what I lost." Dusk said sadly when he and Luna arrived at the library just as he finished telling his story.

"I... I didn't think things had gotten so complicated." Luna said, surprised and scared when she realized Dusk's sacrifice and everything that he and his friends had to go through. "But with everything you told me… Don't you think it could all have been a plan from that Sunset mare from the beginning? Just for you to lose your friends and… so you promise to always be with her." Luna added worriedly, narrowing her eyes at the realization of something horrible.

The alicorn realized that this was the perfect opportunity for her. Her maid, Sweet Caramel, had told her about the declarations of love from Dusk's five friends, something that had depressed and frustrated her since she found out about it. But now things could be different, now she would have no competition to fight for Dusk's heart! It was perfect! However, Luna knew that she couldn’t be so cruel as to take advantage of that circumstance. Not even she herself would do something as evil as force Dusk to erase the memories of his friends just to keep his heart.

"I know… Sunset is very clever. This was probably her plan the whole time." Dusk answered with a sad and dejected look. "But that doesn’t matter. She managed to find a way to deceive the Lord of Chaos and thus save all of Equestria. That's all that matters."

"No!" Luna said, looking seriously at Dusk. Making the decision to help Dusk, despite the fact that with that she would be losing her opportunity to win his heart just for her. "You can't give up, that's not the Dusk Shine I know!"

"But... There's nothing I can do..." Dusk said, astonished by Luna's gaze then looked away sadly.

"Fight! Fight for the friendship and love of your friends!" Luna demanded, raising her voice and looking at Dusk firmly. "There must be a way to keep Discord locked up so that your friends can get their memories back. And if there is no way, we’ll find one. The fight is not over! You must defeat Sunset and get your friends back, only then can you say that you won this fight! This is just a nightmare in life, and you must wake up! If your dream is to live happily with your friends, fight for that dream!" Luna motivated her beloved Dusk, wanting with all her heart to help him, and thus, to see him smile again.

At Luna's words, Dusk froze, feeling that courage returned to his heart and that his eyes regained their brightness when he felt that he regained hope. Until suddenly, with one word Luna said, Dusk's brain went back to working one hundred percent until a crazy, dangerous, but hopeful idea came to him.

"Dreams..." Dusk repeated with his eyes wide, a word that Luna had said and that stayed spinning in his mind. "That's it! It could work!" Dusk said excitedly, full of hope.

Then, without saying a word, Dusk quickly opened the library door and lunged towards the bookshelves to search for what he needed. Finally Dusk found the book he wanted and quickly started flipping through it to find the spell he needed. While Dusk was concentrating, Luna also entered the library, and although she didn’t know what Dusk was doing, it was enough for her to see that he had finally regained the sparkle in his eyes and had returned to being the pony that she so much loved. That made her smile fondly as she watched him.

"Here it is! Mind spells!" Dusk said excitedly, pointing to a page of the book he was reading.. "I didn’t erase the memories of my friends, since completely erasing a memory is complicated and dangerous. What I did rather was block them, which is much more secure. But if I can delve deep into her memories, I could locate specifically where Discord's curse is attached, and thus destroy the curse without affecting my friends' memories."

Hearing that, Luna couldn't help but look worried when she understood what Dusk wanted to do.

"Dusk, mind spells are quite dangerous. Any mistake could irreversibly affect the minds of your friends." Luna warned, thinking that the hope she had given Dusk might have been too dangerous. "And the most dangerous thing is that you wouldn’t be trying to hide a bad memory, or putting a mental illusion, what you want to try to do is destroy a curse! Which is a thousand times more dangerous."

"I know. But with your help I can do it." Dusk said, staring at Luna. "You’re the only pony that can enter other ponies’ dreams, and just like you did with Applejack, you can make memories visible like no other pony can! Through the world of dreams, you can more easily access the memories of a pony!"

"It’s... It's true, I could do it, but it's still too dangerous!" Luna said worriedly, not wanting to think that by helping Dusk, she could be damaging the minds of five innocent mares.

At that moment, Dusk got closer to Luna and gently took her hoof, looking at her with a pleading look.

"Please, this is the only chance I have to get my friends back." Dusk said with a sad look. "I would never hurt my friends, I already thought it. If I cast the spell and serve as a catalyst focus, only I’ll be at risk, not them."

"Catalyst focus?" Luna asked, widening her eyes in terror when she discovered what Dusk wanted to do.

"You get it, right? Only I can do this, because the memories that we live together not only live in my friends but also through me." Dusk said with a small and sad smile. "Because of that bond, I can make sure that if I make a mistake and see that my friends' memories begin to deteriorate, the damage will be reflected in me rather than the minds of my friends. That way they wouldn't be in danger while I destroy the curse."

"But that means that all danger will fall only to you!!" Luna said in fear, finally losing her calm at the madness that Dusk was thinking of doing. "Enter the dream world, mirror their cursed memories with your own healthy memories, and destroy a powerful curse, all at the same time!? Dusk! It’s impossible!"

"It's not impossible, I'll just have to be careful... very careful and very patient, so as not to make any mistakes." Dusk said as he lowered his gaze, then raising it again and looking pleadingly at Luna. "I know it's dangerous, but please… I need your help. I...I can’t live like this anymore."

Seeing Dusk's gaze, Luna looked away, thinking that everything was too risky. If she had to do a calculation, she would say that Dusk had only a twenty-five percent chance of success, another twenty-five percent chance of failing without consequences, and the other fifty percent... of failing and suffering irreparable damage to himself. It was crazy! However, she had sworn to herself that if Dusk ever asked for her help, she would give all of herself to give it to him. After all, after having saved her from a horrible nightmare and pain that she endured for a thousand years, she couldn’t refuse what Dusk asked of her with such determination. He knew the risks, and yet he was willing to take them in order to win back his beloved friends.

"O-Okay... But... you must promise that you will be very careful... More than with any other spell you have performed in your life." Luna said, closing her eyes in pain, knowing the risk that Dusk wanted to expose himself to.

After having made his decision, Dusk stayed in the library, going over and over the mental spells that he should use, despite the fact that he had already read the book before. Meanwhile, Luna went to look for Dusk's five friends, who, seeing that the princess of the night required them for a special mission, accompanied her without hesitation.

Once the mares arrived, Luna asked them to stay in the center of the library. Then she used her magic to make the five mares fall into a deep sleep. The alicorn got closer to them and lit her horn into a spiraling shape from the immense concentration she needed to cast the complicated spell.

"I’ll transform this room into a reflection of the dream space. So you can run easier if… something goes wrong." Luna said as a mist began to appear throughout the library, gradually making the environment look more like the ethereal space that Dusk remembered feeling in Applejack's dreams. "You already know how powerful Discord magic is, so you can imagine how powerful the curse will be in your friends' memories..." Luna added, averting her gaze in fear, still unsure of what Dusk wanted to do.

"I know, plus my mind will have to bear the memories of five different ponies... Six counting my own memories." Dusk said, approaching Luna with a look full of determination. "I know the risks, and I accept them."

Seeing that despite her last warning Dusk was still determined to risk himself, Luna closed her eyes. She touched Dusk's horn with her own, transferring the shine that her horn had had after having touched the minds of the five mares.

"When you’re ready." Luna said, trying to hide her concern. "I can be by your side, but I’ll not be able to do anything, everything will depend on you. You’ll be the master of the spell."

"Thanks, but... I'll be fine by myself." Dusk said with a small reassuring smile. "Besides... There’s another even more important task that you could help me with." Dusk added, putting on a more serious look.

Minutes later, Dusk had finally begun to cast the powerful and complicated mind spell, which would partially materialize the memories of his friends, as if the entire library had become part of the realm of dreams. From outside the library, the windows of the library could be seen shining as a thick mist filled the interior, preventing anyone from seeing what was happening within that temporary ethereal space.

In spite of everything, it seemed that no pony paid more attention to the peculiar spectacle. After what happened with Discord, the few ponies who saw something strange happening in the library pretended not to have seen anything and ran off, frightened by any strange magic that could enchant them again. Only one pony seemed surprised and intrigued by what was happening, and she quickly walked over to the library.

Sunset had finally returned to town after Dusk left her. She had spent quite some time in the Everfree Forest, feeling that for some reason she felt more liberated in this desolate place than surrounded by ponies in town. But after returning to town and seeing that something strange was happening in the library, she immediately knew that Dusk was doing something suspicious. Then she ran to the door of the library.

"Stop." A female voice said suddenly, stopping Sunset before she opened the library door. Sunset looked up and was surprised to see that a blue alicorn, with a cape and hood fell from the sky and came between her and the door.

"You... You must be Luna..." Sunset said, hiding her surprise and looking with a small arrogant smile at Luna. "Or maybe you'd rather be called Nightmare Moon? The truth is that I don’t know, given how little of an impression you make nowadays." Sunset added, realizing immediately from Luna's gaze that she wasn't welcome there, so she decided to tease her immediately to see how she would react.

Knowing that the arrogant yellow mare only wanted to provoke her, Luna stood firm and dignified, showing no emotion, and without saying a word.

"If you don't mind, Luna, I'd like to come in to see Dusk Shine." Sunset said calmly.

"He’s busy. Right now, he’s performing a complicated spell, and he needs absolute concentration." Luna finally answered, keeping her gaze proud as she looked at the arrogant Sunset.

Upon hearing that, Sunset's sharp mind came up with various theories of what Dusk might be doing at the time, and no theory was very favorable, which made her feel uneasy, despite the fact that her face betrayed no emotion whatsoever.

"Huff... I guess you don't know." Sunset said sighing, then looked annoyed at Luna. "He and I made a deal. He promised that we would always be together, so it's my right to come in and see him."

"I already know everything. I know how you tricked him into making him your slave and forcing him to erase the memories of his friends." Luna said, finding it harder and harder not to show anger at such an arrogant pony. "Dusk warned me that you could come to try to prevent him from getting his friends back. So, I won't let you take another step." Luna added, glaring at Sunset.

Sunset lowered her gaze for a few seconds while her mind tied up some loose ends. Then she looked up again, only this time she looked at Luna with an evil and arrogant smile.

"Heh... It's been years since I faced an alicorn." Sunset said, getting into position to attack, lighting her horn. "I guess it’ll be interesting to see how much I’ve grown in power and magical ability, even if it's a duel against an incomplete alicorn like you."

Seeing Sunset's defiant look and hearing her arrogant words, Luna assumed the same attacking position and also lit up her horn. She was determined to protect the lavender stallion that she loved.

"Try if you dare... witch."

End of chapter 5

Chapter 6 - Reawakening memories

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Reawakening memories

The Golden Oak Library appeared the same as ever on the outside, except that now its windows gleamed. However, the inside was something quite different. The main library hall had completely disappeared, the only thing that could be seen there was a thick fog that surrounded everything from the floor to the ceiling and made it impossible to see anything that had previously been in the room. In the middle of that mist was Dusk Shine, standing with his eyes completely closed and his horn flashing intermittently. In front of him were his five friends, sleeping soundly while they seemed to be floating because the mist didn't allow to see the floor.

After Luna left the library, Dusk had been totally focused as he used the first mental spells to delve into the minds of his friends. Finding the memories he needed wasn't difficult, since he knew exactly what memories they were. All where he had been with his friends, the same memories that he himself had blocked the day that Discord was petrified for the third and last time.

Having made the first step of connecting to the memories of his friends, Dusk slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was no longer surrounded only by that thick mist from the world of dreams. Now, spinning around him and his friends, were hundreds of moving images. These were the memories of his friends, who, thanks to the magic invoked by Luna, were able to materialize in that temporary dreamlike space in order to more easily see the memories that Dusk needed for his arduous work.

Slowly the memories that Dusk didn’t need faded, leaving only about a dozen memories revolving around him. Floating images that had a chain and a padlock partially blocking their view. That made Dusk remember the time he and Luna had entered Applejack's dreams and her trauma had also been represented as a chain and a padlock.

Upon seeing those memories, Dusk immediately recognized that the chain that surrounded them was the product of his own magic. The block that Dusk himself used on his friends' memories so that Discord's curse wouldn’t escape from there. Whereas now Dusk could physically see the memories of his friends, he could see that precisely those memories that floated around him emanated a dark aura, as if a purple fire surrounded them. That was Discord's curse, permeated deeply in those cherished memories of the five mares.

After verifying that he had the memories he needed before him, Dusk could have immediately started trying to destroy the curse they contained. But he knew that if he did, he would be risking the precious minds of his friends. No, before continuing, Dusk had to make sure that his dear friends didn’t suffer any harm from his mistakes. So Dusk refocused his magic to make another spell, feeling the bond that linked his own memories with those of his friends.

At that point, Dusk began to tremble slightly, feeling his mind tire from containing the memories of five ponies, and now adding his own memories. However, that didn't stop Dusk, who only sighed to reassure himself and continued with his work.

Thus, slowly, behind the floating chained memories of his friends, other memories began to appear. These new memories were the same as those of his friends, only from Dusk himself. And unlike the memories of his friends, these memories were free of chains and dark aura. Although the memories were essentially the same, they were also different in another aspect, since they were seen from Dusk's perspective. In addition, each memory radiated different feelings, because each pony felt something different when living the same situation.

Once Dusk finished that laborious task, he opened his eyes again, but this time breathing heavily as he felt his conscience struggle to stay awake from the mental exhaustion that he was beginning to feel. Then Dusk raised his eyes and verified that each cursed memory of his friends was being reflected by another of his own memories. Thus, Dusk made sure that any mistake in his spell affected him and his own memories, instead of those of his friends.

"Huff... Good... Now... it's time for the hard part." Dusk said with a slight tremor in his voice, knowing that from that point on there was no going back. Now he needed to begin destroying Discord's curse piece by piece, not yet knowing how powerful it was. Knowing that if he lost, his mind could be lost and fade forever.

In that instant, the ethereal space Dusk was in seemed to tremble, causing the thick fog around him to swiftly spin, darken for an instant, and then rumble powerfully, as if it were a huge storm cloud. As quickly as that happened, everything calmed down again. However, even though everything seemed to settle down, Dusk was left trembling, breathing heavily as he struggled to continue concentrating his magic, so as not to break any of the spells he was performing.

"What was that? I… I haven't done anything yet!" Dusk said in fear, since the strange phenomenon occurred just before he began his attack towards Discord's curse, which scared him, believing that for an instant his mind was being destroyed.

"It seems I was just in time." A female voice suddenly said, a voice that made Dusk turn pale.

"Sunset!?" Dusk exclaimed, turning to see that behind him was Sunset Shimmer walking to him.

Such was the impact of seeing her there, that for an instant Dusk almost lost his concentration. So he had to close his eyes tightly to calm himself, knowing that as long as he was connected to the minds of his friends, he couldn't lose focus.

"Easy, you’ll hurt your mind if you lose concentration at this point." Sunset said calmly, approaching where Dusk was and looking carefully at the floating memories of Dusk and his five friends.

"W-What are you doing here…? What happened to Princess Luna?" Dusk asked, speaking slowly to keep his concentration, but inevitably worrying when he saw the pony he least wanted to see right there.

"Oh, don't worry, she was no challenge." Sunset said calmly, not looking at Dusk, just concentrating on the chained memories, looking with interest at the dark aura that was locked behind them.

Hearing that, Dusk opened his eyes with surprise and fear. However, he quickly closed them again with force, lowering his head more as he felt that it was increasingly difficult for him to remain calm and concentrated, even more so knowing that now Luna could being hurt from standing up to Sunset.

"Dusk, what you are doing is suicide. Although you can keep the memories of yourself and your friends, which is amazing, it’s impossible for you to destroy Discord’s curse. I already told you that not you, not me, not even Celestia has the power to defeat Discord's magic on her own." Sunset said, turning to see Dusk and looking at him like she was a mother reprimanding her son.

"I-I don't care what you say... I... I need to get my friends back..." Dusk said slowly, trying with all his being not to lose concentration, even though his emotions seemed to want to get out of control. "Please go."

"Dusk, you know I can't do that." Sunset said with a tender smile. Then she stopped looking at Dusk and looked straight ahead. "If you don't care about your well-being, I'll have to take care of it." Sunset added, lighting up her horn.

"No! D-Don't use your magic here!" Dusk said terrified, as he struggled to keep his spells in control, knowing that Sunset was more dangerous here than anywhere else, and even more so with the exposed and defenseless minds of his five friends before them. So, Dusk tried to use a spell to block Sunset's magic.

"Dusk, it's useless. Even if you weren't invoking other spells." Sunset said looking askance at Dusk and easily breaking the magic block that Dusk had tried to impose on her. "Remember that I was the first to learn about mind spells. I have more experience, and also, I’m stronger than you."

Knowing that what Sunset was saying was true, and that he was trapped, Dusk had no choice but to lower his head in defeat, concentrating completely on the memories of his friends in order to at least protect their minds.

"Please… Let me do this. You don't understand… You don't understand how valuable they are to me." Dusk said, crying in anguish. "I... can't live without them."

"Dusk, I've always told you. You’re too emotional." Sunset replied, starting to use her magic, causing in the process, several of her own memories to also appear floating around that dreamlike space. "Tell me Dusk... Don't you trust me?"

After Sunset's question, Dusk slowly raised his head, and inevitably, being in that dreamlike space, found it impossible to hide his true emotions and thoughts.

"No." Dusk answered without hesitation.

Hearing that answer, Sunset turned to the anguished stallion, looking at him with a sad smile.

'Flashback of Sunset Shimmer.'

The Canterlot orphanage was the largest orphanage in all of Equestria, housing about forty young colts and fillies, which due to various circumstances, had ended up without either parent.

That was the case with Sunset, who had simply been found newborn at the gates of the orphanage. There she had grown up her first six years of life. Always fighting to stand out from all those other orphans who lived there. This was something natural that all orphaned ponies had acquired, probably as a consequence of being abandoned, always wanting to stand out and be recognized by the mares who cared for them. However, Sunset's mind had taken that stigma to the next level.

For as long as she could remember, Sunset had sworn to herself that she would be somepony special, and that she wouldn’t let her cruel origin dictate her fate. She was destined to be special, and one day she would prove it to everyone, especially to that mare who had cruelly abandoned her as a baby.

All that ambition had been increased over the years by having a window next to her bed that overlooked the splendid Canterlot Castle. Thus, Sunset was feeding on dreams and fantasies in which she arrived at the great castle and was received like a princess by all the ponies in the city... No, not like a princess, she would one day be a princess! Where everyone would love and respect her and where she would make sure that no one else would ever suffer, feel lonely, or be abandoned ever again.

Finally having a goal in mind, Sunset learned to read she began studying magic books. These fascinated her, knowing how powerful unicorn magic could be with so many different spells, so many possibilities. The only limit was power and she knew that within her a great power awaited, because she was special, she had to be special!

Sunset quickly finished reading the magic books that were in the orphanage. And despite her insistence, she couldn’t get the orphanage babysitters to buy more advanced magic books, due to their excessive cost. Sunset then realized that she could no longer continue in that orphanage, otherwise she would stagnate. However, there was nothing she could do at that age to leave. No filly of that age could be alone without the guardianship of an adult, and although several years had passed and from time to time pairs of ponies came to adopt a foal, couples always preferred to take those silly, smiling or cute foals, and not a little filly obsessed with magic books.

Fortunately for Sunset, one day a particular stallion arrived at the orphanage. A unicorn wearing a dark blue cape with a few stars on it, almost completely covering his purple fur, including a hood that covered his face. However, the most striking thing about that pony was a large golden medallion that hung as a brooch from his cape, which was engraved with a horseshoe surrounded by two olive leaves.

To all the foals present, the stallion was just another visitor, but Sunset immediately recognized that cape. It belonged to someone who had been officially proclaimed a sorcerer of the realm, someone so talented in magic that he devoted himself to studying and expanding the limits of it.

"Is there an interesting genealogical record on any of these foals?" The sorcerer asked one of the orphanage babysitters in a monotonous voice, as if he was in a hurry to get out of there.

"N-No... We haven’t been able to find anything like what you have requested... Great Archmage." The babysitter answered, with a slight bow of respect for the position of that pony, even though internally she disliked seeing him. This was because the archmage went once a year, always asking the same question, seeing the foals in the orphanage as if they were mere products for sale. "The truth is that we have the same records that you already reviewed. And about the other foals, well... some have been abandoned here, so there is no way of knowing their origin or the family to which they belong."

"I see..." The Archmage said, narrowing his eyes, not showing on his expressionless face the disappointment at hearing that. Then he turned and began to leave.

"Hey! I… I'm good at magic!" Sunset yelled suddenly, running over to where the Archmage was, levitating the last three books she had been reading with her magic, to show that she already knew how to levitate things.

"Hmph! Should I be impressed that you’re able to use a simple levitation spell?" The Archmage said, glaring at the little filly, even though it was indeed impressive that a filly of that age already knew how to control her magic.

"I can do much more." Sunset answered with a look full of determination, even though she only knew two or three basic spells.

"T-This is Sunset, she's a very talented filly." The babysitter said with concern, running to where the archmage was when she saw that Sunset had approached him. "She already read all the magic books we have, and-"

"Her family?" The Archmage asked dryly, interrupting the babysitter.

"Uh, no, we don't know. She was… left here just a baby." The babysitter said, looking askance at Sunset, feeling that her words could hurt her, however, that was far from reality. Sunset had simply stared at the Archmage as he stared back at her.

The stallion used his magic to surround Sunset's body, lifted her so that she was right in front of his eyes, staring at her, as if he wanted to see through Sunset's eyes. Then the Archmage used his magic to pull a hair out of Sunset's mane, letting her fall against the floor as he focused on observing the hair, using another spell as his eyes changed color and the hair that he had plucked from Sunset glowed, thus doing a little magical test of Sunset's hair.

"Hmm... Maybe you can be useful." The Archmage finally said, looking with an emotionless gaze at Sunset.

From that day on, Sunset had a new home, the Archmage's house. An old tower not far from the castle, where even Sunset had a room of her own for the first time. A small, dusty room filled with stacks of books that reached up to the ceiling. Something that, instead of demotivating Sunset, fascinated her, knowing that now she could study magic as much as she wanted.

"In the corner there must be a bed under that old pile of books. You can use it." The Archmage said, not paying attention to little Sunset's emotion.

"Thank you! Uh… Err…" Sunset said happy, but then she hesitated not knowing how she should call the archmage now, since they were now family.

"We’re not family, always remember that. You’re just one more tool that will be at my disposal." The Archmage said, as if he had read Sunset's mind. Then he used his magic and made an old book appear that he levitated in front of him and opened. "The only reason I brought you with me is because you seem to have a hint of noble blood running through your veins. Maybe from some secondary family, which is not what I'm looking for, but maybe it will do." Then the Archmage closed the book and stared at Sunset. "Whether you’re useful or not, I’ll check when you get your cutie mark."

Hearing those words, Sunset couldn't help but widen her eyes and tremble, understanding what the Archmage meant by those words. If she didn't prove she was good at magic, he would send her back to the orphanage.

"That will not happen! I’m strong! I’m special! I’ll show him that I’m special!" Sunset thought, closing her eyes tightly and then putting on a look full of determination.

The little filly continued on with her passion for learning magic. Being completely self-taught, she obtained the books she had to read and practicing each spell she read by herself. Although she lived in the same house as the Archmage, she rarely saw him, since he was almost always either traveling or locked in his office, where Sunset had seen that he kept his best books, as well as various special objects. The Archmage was a great collector, in fact, he was the greatest collector of ancient objects in all of Equestria. Having unique books, and magical collectible pieces that any museum would have begged to have.

Sunset's studies progressed through the days, weeks, and months, until finally one of the days Sunset had most waited for arrived, the day that she could take the test to attend the great magic school of Canterlot. She was finally able to give her proof of entry, being one of the first to audition, given her privileged position as a protégé of the great Archmage. There, she clearly demonstrated the fruits of her studies, showing how skilled she was in magic despite her young age, performing spells that second and third year of school fillies were just learning. With the great display of power and skill, further indirectly supported by being protected from the Archmage, Sunset was finally accepted into the Canterlot school of magic.

Hearing that she had been accepted, Sunset ran home, smiling to break the great news to the Archmage. He would surely finally recognize her and approve of all the effort she had made to study magic all those days.

"Sort your things. You’re going back to the orphanage." The Archmage said once Sunset returned home and told him the great news. Sunset was shocked, not understanding why he was kicking her out.

"D-Didn't you hear me? I got into magic school!" Sunset argued, feeling her whole body tremble.

"That doesn't interest me." The Archmage answered by levitating a book and beginning to read, paying no attention to the filly in front of him. "You're going to school and you don't even have a cutie mark yet. I told you, didn't I? Whether or not I kept you depended on which cutie mark you got. But at this point you don't even have one, when all the high-born foals already have theirs... You're just an ordinary filly, and I don't want to waste my precious time with you anymore." The Archmage added, down for a second his book and looking down on the filly.

Sunset was dejected at the cruel words, feeling that despite the fact that she had always fought to be strong, this time she couldn’t prevent her eyes from filling with tears. Then Sunset closed her eyes tightly, trying in vain to hold back her tears.

"That is not true! I’m strong! I’m special!!" Sunset thought, terrified and desolate. So affected by her young emotions, that her horn gradually lit up, starting to accumulate magic in it. "Please! PLEASE TELL ME THAT I AM IMPORTANT TO YOU!" Sunset cried, realizing that was what she had always wanted, for someone, whoever, to tell her that she was important to somepony.

At that instant, just when Sunset's horn had accumulated most of its magic, a distant explosion was heard in the sky, causing Sunset to become distracted and look out the window. There she could see due to some strange phenomenon, the sky was dyed red for an instant. And then she felt it... An explosion of magic that ran through her entire body, empowering her magic to another level, causing her to float for an instant while her uncontrolled magic made all the books around her fly in circles around her. That lasted a few seconds, until finally Sunset fell to the floor exhausted, feeling a strange sense of emotion inside her.

A few seconds passed in which Sunset simply lay on the floor of the room, until suddenly she saw out of the corner of her eye a glow on her side. Then she turned and saw that her flank was shining, slowly ceasing to shine to reveal a new image that would forever be stuck on her flanks.

Understanding that the glow on her flanks was the product of her cutie mark, Sunset smiled with joy at having finally obtained the magical mark that characterized all adult ponies. But in just a second, that joy turned to panic, knowing that if the cutie mark she had earned wasn't one the Archmage was interested in, she was doomed to return to the orphanage. Realizing that, Sunset wasn't able to see her cutie mark and only closed her eyes tightly, terrified of what may have appeared on her flanks.

As Sunset closed her eyes in fear, the Archmage slowly approached Sunset, still astonished after seeing that sudden magical explosion, immediately feeling that a powerful and external magic had somehow affected Sunset. Then the he bent down to see Sunset's new cutie mark and studied it carefully.

"Well, apparently you're not completely useless, Sunset 'SHIMMER'." The Archmage said with a look of satisfaction, thus revealing to Sunset the name of her lost family. For in her veins ran the blood of the missing Shimmer family, one of the oldest families in Equestria, whose trace had been lost generations ago. One of the unicorn families in charge of raising the Sun before the arrival of the alicorn sisters, during The First Age. "Starting tomorrow, you’ll have magic classes with me every day after school." The Archmage added, diverting his attention from Sunset and leaving the room.

Hearing the Archmage's words, Sunset opened her eyes and finally dared to behold her cutie mark. This one was shaped like a sun, with the same red and gold colors as her mane.

"This is my mark! I… I’m special!" Sunset thought, happy to know that she had always been right. Satisfied with that beautiful cutie mark, which meant power. But most of all, relieved to know that she wouldn’t lose her home...

Sunset attended her first day of classes the next day, proudly showing off her newly acquired cutie mark. However, to Sunset's annoyance, the first day at magic school was quite disappointing. Just as she entered the room, dozens of ponies approached her, all interested in her cutie mark and how she had obtained it. That greatly annoyed Sunset, who only saw the Archmage reflected in those prissy foals, who were only interested in nobility, legacies and valuable cutie marks. That made Sunset unable to help but look down on everyone around her, knowing that they were only interested in her out of sheer legacy. No, she didn't want to stand out just because of her cutie mark, she wanted to stand out on her own merit, and soon everypony would see how strong and talented she truly was.

"If my cutie mark hadn't been a Sun, would they even talk to me?" Sunset thought, sitting in her seat as she received false flattery from a filly sitting next to her. For a second, she glanced at a lavender foal that had sat at the back of the classroom and to whom no one was speaking. "Well at least this is better than being alone like that pathetic colt."

Besides those false friends at school, the other thing that disappointed Sunset was how boring and useless the classes at school ended up being. They only taught basic things that she already knew for a long time. Compared to the magic classes the Archmage gave her in private, Sunset discovered how boring and useless school was. The Archmage was already teaching her offensive and defensive spells, practicing until exhaustion for Sunset to perfect them. And even though Sunset ended up sore and exhausted after practicing so much magic, with the Archmage always over-demanding of her more than he could give, Sunset finally felt satisfied, knowing that she was learning real and powerful magic. More importantly, he was finally looking at her with interest, for she had finally become important to him.

"Only the strongest survive in the end. Always remember that." The Archmage said as he pushed Sunset with his magic and forced the filly to counter his spell. "Feelings only cloud reason. Power is the only true force in this world." He said, indoctrinating little Sunset to make her strong, not only physically, but also mentally.

Like any foal when they saw a strong father figure, little Sunset was absorbing all these teachings like a sponge. Thus strengthening her own beliefs that she had learned at the orphanage about how important it was to stand out from the crowd and be stronger than others. However, for a filly her age who had no one to talk to, it became essential that she somehow free her own thoughts and ideas from her that had no space in the lessons the Archmage taught her. From that time onward, Sunset began to keep a diary, in which she wrote whenever she had a chance. A simple object that for a long time became her only friend...

The weeks went by, and Sunset kept going monotonously to school, getting more and more bored of going to such a useless place. Her life passed in routine without any change until one day, leaving school, an old palace majordomo approached her and handed her a letter from Princess Celestia herself.

Hoping for the princess would have recognized that she was the most talented unicorn of all time, Sunset was excited to arrive at the royal castle. There, despite being astonished to see the beautiful castle and to be before the enormous and powerful Princess Celestia, Sunset could hardly hide her disappointment when she learned that the real reason why the princess had called her was to ask her if she could become friends with Dusk Shine, the loser of the class.

"You must do it." The Archmage said, once Sunset returned home and told him what Princess Celestia had asked of her. As always, he talked to the filly without looking directly at her as focused on reading his books. "It’s the first step in getting closer to Celestia. Also, it’ll definitely be helpful for you to approach that colt and find out why Celestia is so interested in him."

For the first time, the Archmage asked Sunset for something which surprised her. But what surprised her the most, and disgusted her at the same time, was that he ordered her to approach an insignificant and useless colt like Dusk Shine.

"I... I don't need friends or anything like that." Sunset said with a hint of discomfort, remembering how the Archmage himself had taught her not to trust anyone and how useless friends were.

"You don't need to be his friend, you foolish filly. You just have to pretend to be one." He clarified, still reading his book.

The next day, just as the Archmage told her, Sunset set out to fulfill the favor requested by the princess.

"Has anypony studied enough to tell me what the 'Accio' and 'Lumos' spells are?" The teacher asked at school. An advanced level question that, as always, the vast majority of the ponies in the room didn’t know the answer to.

Sunset automatically thought about lifting her hoof to answer that question, but then she remembered that on the first day of school that Dusk Shine had been the only one who had also raised his hoof to answer. That led Sunset to think that she could give that useless one a chance, and thus begin to win his favor.

Just as Sunset guessed, Dusk was the only other who knew the answer, and he responded excitedly to see that the teacher had finally given him the opportunity to answer. So happy was the little colt that he looked at Sunset, feeling satisfied that he had beaten the genius of the class for the first time.

"I knew the answer, don't think you’re on the same level as me!" Sunset thought to herself, looking away angrily when she saw Dusk's happy face.

Upon leaving class, Sunset was so frustrated at letting Dusk Shine beat her in an answer that she almost forgot her main mission. So, she had to go back to the classroom to talk to Dusk and try to get closer to him.

Returning to the classroom door, Sunset was surprised to see that two other colts appeared to be about to hit Dusk. And for an instant, Sunset thought she should leave them, so that silly lavender colt wouldn't think he was superior to her. However, seeing that Dusk simply closed his eyes helplessly, for some reason Sunset couldn't help but react at the last second, and finally stopped the bullies before they hit him.

"It’s just for the mission, that's all!" Sunset thought after chasing the bullies away. She felt rather uncomfortable for a second from helping someone else.

"T-Thank you." Dusk said timidly after Sunset saved him, looking at her with a somewhat amazed look and a small smile.

Sunset felt a strange feeling of warmth when the colt smiled at her, feeling happy inside to feel that she had been able to protect that little smile from those abusive fools. However, the Archmage's words quickly returned to her mind, reminding her that she had only approached Dusk to fulfill her mission. And Sunset quickly hardened her heart again to hide her true feelings and portray a cold and indifferent look.

"He's just a weakling, and I hate the weak! As the Archmage always says, only the strongest survive! And my feelings... Feelings only hinder the thought!" Sunset repeated herself mentally, always reminding herself that she had to be oblivious to all feelings if she wanted to be strong enough to be a princess one day.

From that day on, Dusk Shine began to constantly meet with Sunset. Chatting after class and even meeting a few times outside of school hours.

At first, Sunset just ignored Dusk's words and only had him as a private butler who had to carry her saddlebag day after day. However, upon discovering that Dusk was also a great reader of magic literature and knew more than he appeared, Sunset slowly began to pay more attention to him, beginning to exchange ideas and facts about spells they had practiced and books they had read.

Despite that, there was something that didn’t stop annoying Sunset about Dusk, the fact that she always had to defend him from those two bullies, despite the fact that it was a good thing for her plan. In fact, the Archmage himself had advised her that defending Dusk would make him trust her more. However, Sunset hated feeling like her 'minion' was a weakling.

"Why don't you defend yourself against those bullies!?" Sunset said one day they were chatting at school. “You know defense spells! You could blow them up almost as well as I can."

"I… I don't think it's a good idea. The Princess always told me that magic was for the good of ponies, of all ponies. And our duty as unicorns is to use it to protect, never to attack…" Dusk replied shyly. "Besides, I don't want to cause problems for my brother or my family… With all the problems I have caused them by entering this school, it’s best not to cause any fuss."

Sunset then understood that Dusk was more aware of what the others thought of his family origin and how noble families didn’t like him being there. That led her to think about what Dusk would think if he discovered her true origin... Maybe he would stop hanging out with her...? A chill ran up her spines at the thought, thinking that Dusk might want to stop hanging out with her.

"Besides, I don't have to fight, because now you're with me!" Dusk said with a warm smile.

Seeing that smile, Sunset looked away and closed her eyes.

"He’s just a tool to get closer to the Princess!" Sunset tried to reason, not realizing that day by day thinking about those words was getting more and more difficult for her.

After finishing her talk with Dusk, Sunset returned to the Archmage's tower. There she ran to her room and levitated her small diary, as she had many things to write...

"Today Dusk asked me to be his friend. It's kind of weird, I thought he already considered me a friend.

I wasn't sure how to answer him. It's part of my mission after all, but since I've never had one before, I wasn't sure if we were already friends or not.

I told him that if he wanted to be my friend, that I’ll always look out for myself and my own interests. I think it was a fair warning. But the incredible thing is… that he accepted anyway!

That made me feel very happy-"

In that instant, Sunset stopped writing, realizing that she had gotten carried away and was talking about happiness and feelings, when she knew she couldn't really soften. So she tore the page out of her diary and wrote again...

"Today Dusk asked me to be his friend. It’s one more step to fulfill my mission with the Princess. That's all! THAT'S ALL! I already want to finish my stupid mission so that I can stop pretending to be friends with that stupid Dusk!"

When she finished writing, Sunset angrily closed her diary, threw it under her bed and laid face down on her bed, hiding her head under her pillow. Every time she started to feel any kind of feelings, she got frustrated with herself. And as a means of reaffirming her goal, she wrote in her diary over and over again how annoying it was to be with Dusk and how false their friendship was in order to always remind herself that she should be strong and not be fooled by feelings. But the truth was that every day it was harder for Sunset to hide her true thoughts, and she only ended up writing what she thought she should think. Because without realizing it, that diary had already ceased to be her only friend.

Thus the days passed, and the post-school meetings with Dusk were increasing. So much so that Dusk finally invited Sunset over to his house. There, for the first time Sunset was able to meet his entire family. And for the first time, Sunset got to know what a family really was.

Sunset could see what it was like to have a loving mother, a concerned father, a pet dragon, even though Dusk insisted that Spike wasn’t a pet. And she could even see that despite the reproachful looks that Shining Armor gave Dusk, she could feel a genuine concern and affection in everything they did together.

"This is… a family?" Sunset thought after visiting Dusk's house for the first time. An experience that had left her with a strange but comforting new sensation, which in turn, brought another new and unpleasant feeling.

For the first time, Sunset knew what familial love was, something she had never really known. And for the first time, she questioned the words of the wisest and most powerful pony she knew, her tutor, the great Archmage.

"Dusk's mother is not powerful. She’s just an ordinary unicorn with no ambition. She simply settled for getting married and having two children. And yet... why do I feel inferior to her!?" Sunset pondered, sensing a strange feeling of jealousy when seeing a truly happy family. Happy unicorns, that despite not having great power, could live their lives happily. "Maybe… feelings aren't so bad. Perhaps… you can be powerful and be happy at the same time…" Sunset thought, for the first time defying one of the lessons the Archmage had implanted in her mind from a young age.

Just that day, when Sunset was returning to her tower with that revolutionary new thought, the Archmage called her into his office for a new mission.

" I want you to step in to get the Princess' new maid fillies fired." He said, sitting from his desk while reading an ancient book.

"H-How do you want me to do that? I don't even know them." Sunset said, surprised with the strange request of her tutor.

"It seems that this Dusk spends time with them at the castle. You can ask him to invite you to the next meeting they’ll have, there you can have them expelled." The Archmage said, always reading his book, not even looking at Sunset.

"But, why do you want me to do that?" Sunset asked confused.

"It seems that the Princess not only asked you to befriend that colt. She also asked those young fillies. And since our plan is for you to get closer to Celestia, we must make sure that only you earn her favor." The archmage said lowering his book and looking out the window, which overlooked Canterlot Castle. "I learned that due to his age, the chief majordomo, Kibitz, will resign his post next week. And apparently he doesn't want to tell his family. So you can use that information to your advantage to achieve your mission." The Archmage added, glancing at Sunset, who only surprised and lowered her head obediently, fearing that cold gaze, knowing what the Archmage really wanted her to do with 'that information'.

As expected, Sunset managed to get Dusk to invite her to the palace. There she was able to meet the twin maids, with whom she had to fake an afternoon of fun so that they quickly trusted her. However, despite wearing her best fake smile, Sunset couldn't help but look annoyed at the twins every time one of them came to play with Dusk. All that time, Sunset thought that she was Dusk's only friend, only her! And for the first time, without her realizing it, Sunset began to feel a strong feeling of jealousy when she saw somepony else approach Dusk.

That afternoon, after playing for hours in the castle, Dusk finally retired and Sunset began with her plan. She tricked the fillies into entering the princess's room, stealing the crown, and hiding it in their grandfather's room. Everything went perfectly, and Sunset returned home satisfied that night, expecting the Archmage to congratulate her. However, as she walked home, Sunset couldn't get the betrayal looks out of her head she saw on the twins when they saw they were cheated.

"It's their fault! They only want to get closer to Dusk to get closer to the Princess!" Sunset thought, shaking her head to drive away those feelings of guilt. "No one will get closer to the Princess than me! And... no one will get closer to Dusk than me..."

The next day, just as the Archmage and Sunset had planned, the chief majordomo announced his resignation. Something that left his granddaughters horrified, who thought it was all for their fault. And taking advantage of the fact that old Kibitz was so disappointed in his granddaughters that he didn’t even tell them the real reason for his departure, Sunset approached the twins to carry out the final phase of her plan.

Upon hearing that the twin maids were willing to talk to the princess to admit that they had been the culprits of stealing the crown, Sunset's cunning tongue managed to convince them that it was useless, and they would only have them fired, thus ending their family legacy of majordomos. And by making them change their minds, everything was ready. All Sunset had to do now was go accuse them while they were silent. That way, Sunset would get them to be expelled for good for hiding that secret.

At that moment, just as Sunset was about to leave to speak to the guards, she took one last look at the fillies. Watching how they cried in fear and helplessness, not knowing that they had been deceived from beginning to end.

"What does it matter if they cry… Only the strongest survive!" Sunset thought, repeating the words the Archmage had taught her so much and that always served to harden her heart. However, seeing the twins cry so bitterly, this time the Archmage's words failed to completely harden Sunset's heart.

"Listen... I think I changed my mind..." Sunset finally said, with a look of doubt, turning to look at the maids again. "I… could shut up and keep your secret. Only… Only if you promise not to see Dusk Shine again, never again!"

After making the twins agree to the deal, Sunset smirked and returned to the Archmage, who had been waiting for her at the castle gate.

"Why didn't you go talk to the guards? Your mission was to have them expelled." The stallion said, always keeping a look of indifference.

"I managed to keep them from getting any closer to Dusk Shine. That was the point." Sunset deflected, knowing that she had angered the Archmage by not following his orders.

Seeing that Sunset had challenged him, the Archmage narrowed his eyes in annoyance, looking at her with a cold and terrifying gaze.

"You’d best be careful. You know perfectly well where you’ll return if you disobey me again." He said, deciding to end the matter and withdrawing into the tower. Immediately followed by Sunset, who knew that deep down she was a prisoner, always with the probability of being returned to the orphanage if she didn’t follow the Archmage's expectations.

Time passed, with Dusk and Sunset finishing their first year of school. Getting closer, studying together more and more, and advancing both as the best students to their second year of school.

The afternoon before the first day of school that year, Dusk had invited Sunset to celebrate his birthday. A modest party that only Dusk’s family had attended. But despite the few guests and the short duration of the celebration, Sunset really enjoyed that little party, seeing how Dusk's parents had given him some magic books, and how everyone ate cake and laughed, telling anecdotes about little Dusk.

For Dusk's parents, it was strange to see that Sunset always had an indifferent look, always trying to hide her feelings. So they always tried to integrate her into the conversations to make her smile, which never happened. However, what the two unicorns didn’t know was that despite her expression, Sunset did enjoy being with them and feeling that family love. She had been trained not to express her feelings and thus always follow the Archmage's example, to one day be as powerful as him. But the truth was that Sunset loved to feel the warmth of a real family, and that's why she secretly loved those times when Dusk's family tried to integrate her.

Maintaining that warm feeling of family love throughout the night, Sunset woke up the next day happy and ready to start her next year at school.

"Stop there." The Archmage said suddenly as Sunset was preparing to leave the tower to go to school. Then the he approached Sunset and handed her a box.

Not knowing what the Archmage was giving her, Sunset took the box and opened it. There her eyes widened in surprise to see that there was a big magic book, entitled: 'Advanced Transmutation Magic, Volume One'.

"It's about time we started with advanced level spells." The Archmage said, always looking indifferently at Sunset. "I have a copy of that book, but it’s a first collector's edition, and I don't want you to touch it. So I bought this one for you."

Those last words of the Archmage didn’t reach Sunset's ears completely. This was the first time the stallion had given her anything! He had never celebrated her either a birthday or a cute-ceañera. For the first time she was receiving a gift, and the only thing Sunset could hear from the Archmage was, 'I bought it for you.' That made Sunset embrace the book, still having in her head the fresh memory of Dusk's birthday from the previous day, and leaving some of that familial love in her heart.

"Thanks, Dad." Sunset said with a big smile. A smile that disappeared instantly when she realized that she had inadvertently said 'Dad' to the Archmage.

In that instant it was as if everything froze. Both ponies were still for several seconds, with Sunset blushing from involuntarily saying those words, and with the Archmage wide-eyed, as if he had been completely taken by surprise.

Finally, it seemed that time returned to take its course, and the Archmage closed his eyes and looked away.

"I told you when I brought you to this tower. Don't ever call me that." The cold pony said, returning to his customary cold gaze, but with slightly arched eyebrows.

Sunset lowered her head and averted her embarrassed gaze. However, after a second, she pursed her lip in annoyance. Memories of the previous afternoon came to his mind when she could see Dusk Shine happy with his family.

"Why can't I? You… You’re my only family." Sunset said slowly, with a mixture of sadness and embarrassment in her voice. "Perhaps… you don't love me because you have a real daughter?"

As soon as Sunset said that, the Archmage for the second time was surprised. And for the second time, the stallion looked away, however, this time his gaze was different. For an instant, the Archmage seemed lost in his memories, with a pale face and a sad look that he seemed to want to hide in vain.

"I saw her. I saw in your old trunk." Sunset said, glaring at the Archmage. "There was a picture of you with a mare and a filly, and-"

"Stop!" The archmage screamed in fury, shoving Sunset against the wall with his hoof. With a strange, dark gleam in his eyes, as if the very color of his eyes had turned dark for a second, with a look full of fury and pain. "You’re only a tool for me to gain power! Nothing more!" The Archmage added, seeming to calm down again, returning to his customary cold, emotionless gaze, and releasing Sunset from his grasp.

After the Archmage released her, and still trembling after seeing that fierce, dark gaze, Sunset ran out of the tower.

"Don't cry! Don’t Cry! You’re strong! You’re strong!" Sunset repeated to herself gritting her teeth as she ran and held back her tears. Full of frustration, fear and confusion after that experience.

Upon arriving at the school, Sunset took a deep breath, knowing she needed to calm down. She couldn't let anyone see her upset, that was a sign of weakness, and she would never let anyone call her weak. In addition, the pain and loneliness she felt should be left at home; at school she had a strong image to show, and above all, she had Dusk, with whom she could be distracted and ignore those sad feelings.

Just when entering the school, Sunset saw Dusk Shine, who again, just on the first day of school, was being harassed and beaten by those two bullies who always annoyed him. With the frustration and anger that Sunset was already feeling, she felt satisfied that she could use her magic to blowing away those two colts. But what surprised Sunset, was to see that Dusk began to mourn and told her that his grandmother had died the night before.

In that instant, seeing her only friend crying, Sunset instinctively lifted a hoof and gently touched his head, feeling like she wanted to comfort him. For an instant, Sunset felt that their feelings were in tune, and that she wanted to cry with Dusk, share her sorrows and finally release the frustration that she had felt for so long. However, after a few seconds Sunset closed her eyes tightly and realized that she couldn't be weak. Dusk was always very sentimental, and she had to be the strong one of the two… No, not only her, Dusk also had to be strong.

"You…idiot! This is why they keep bullying you! You’re too weak!" Sunset said, looking down at Dusk angrily. Words that without Dusk knowing, were more directed at herself than at Dusk Shine.

"I’ll become strong... And when I achieve it, I’ll abandon the Archmage, and no one will ever tell me what to do, nor will anyone ever see me cry..." Sunset thought as she rebuked Dusk, filled with conviction.

The whole day had been chaos, with Sunset waking up happy, then wanting to cry after the Archmage threatened her, then Dusk crying for his dead grandmother, and finally, the day ended even stranger, with the archmage himself going to look for Sunset to school for the first time. As soon as the two were reunited, neither of them said a word. Perhaps that was the Archmage's cold, archaic way of asking Sunset for forgiveness. However, Sunset cared little, she had already made the decision to think more on her own, and not be just a mere tool of the cruel unicorn...

Guessing the repercussions that the Archmage's visit to the school would have, the next day Dusk confirmed to Sunset what she feared. By now everyone at the school knew of the relationship that she and the Archmage had. That was something they had both wanted to hide, because Sunset wanted to be valued for being herself, and not for being the Archmage's pupil. For his part, the Archmage had kept it hidden so that it wouldn’t be said that that yellow filly was his daughter or something similar. However, finally everyone knew that they were both family, despite the fact that in reality, neither of them would ever say that they actually were.

"You're just a miserable orphan from the orphanage!!" Angrily yelled a filly that Sunset had forcibly moved from her seat when entering the classroom, for taking Dusk's seat.

That was something that completely froze Sunset. She thought everyone would think she was the Archmage's daughter, but had they delved into her past to find out the truth? Sunset never thought that one of her clumsy classmates would discover her dark past, and that caused her to freeze for the first time at school, not knowing how to react.

Then the voice began to spread among the students in the classroom, and laughter began to be heard in all corners of the room. Meanwhile, Sunset just lowered her head to hide her face. With her lip trembling and her gaze lost.

"Are they making fun of me!? Smash them! Send them flying! Show them that you’re strong!!" Sunset repeated in her mind, trying to regain control of her body. However, all she heard was the foals in the room calling her an orphan, laughing at her. And her body refused to respond. "You’re not weak! You’re strong!" Sunset repeated to herself in vain, feeling her eyes tremble and small tears peeking out of her eyes. For the first time, feeling helpless in front of all those prissy noble fillies and colts, who despite being weaker than her, had something that she had always secretly longed for: a real family.

"What does it matter who Sunset's family is and where she comes from!?" Dusk yelled, glaring at everypony in the room. "Sunset is my friend! She’s strong, smart, skilled, and courageous! And that's all that matters to me!" Dusk yelled angrily, thinking that Sunset had been frozen by the fury she felt, without guessing the truth.

Hearing those words, Sunset's chest could finally feel warm again, causing her to manage to lift her head again. As she did so, she could see that there was Dusk, defending her before everyone, for the first time facing his classmates just to help who he thought was his friend. The colt whom she had forced to carry her saddlebag for a year, who she wrote bad things about in her diary to reinforce her mission, who was supposed to only have a false friendship with. That pony was the only one who came to her aid when most she needed it… It made Sunset finally understand the truth, they hadn't pretended to be friends… They really were friends! And a warm feeling ran through Sunset's body, making her regain her strength and her spirit.

After the teacher got to the classroom and everyone ran to sit in their seats. Sunset decided to sit next to Dusk at the end of the room. As she did so, Dusk looked at her and smiled sweetly, thanking her for accompanying him there. While Sunset, for the first time, smiled the same way, and stared at him, feeling her cheeks blush as she did so.

"I’ve never felt like this. I… I can't stop looking at him…" Sunset thought as Dusk paid attention in class and Sunset just stared at him. Enjoying the warm and happy new feeling that she had discovered, a feeling that she didn’t know how to explain, but that she never wanted to let go...

Days passed, and Dusk and Sunset's bond grew stronger than ever.

"Today in the library I made a small proposal to Dusk… I told Dusk that we could get married and rule Equestria together!

Obviously it's something we can't do now, but someday. Only him and me. Nopony else.

I no longer care what the Archmage says, I want to be strong, but I want Dusk to be by my side, forever and ever. Always together and... Always happy!"

When Sunset finished writing in her diary, she couldn't help but write her name and Dusk's, and after thinking a lot about it, she finally dared and locked both names in a heart. Then she tenderly embraced her diary and felt happier than she had ever been in her entire life.

Sunset had a new goal, or rather, her goal had added someone else. She was still adamant about wanting to become a powerful unicorn, and thus one day rule Equestria, be important, and let everyone know who she was. But now in her dreams, she was no longer alone on a throne in the castle. Now by her side was her beloved Dusk, the colt who had become her great friend, her brave knight who protected her against everything. A unicorn as clever and powerful as she was. Both would be the ideal couple, and both would one day rule the entire kingdom with strength, justice and peace.

The only thing that seemed to ruin those beautiful days of newfound love for Sunset was the arrival of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Every time 'Cadance', as she liked to be called, met with Dusk and Sunset, the yellow filly couldn't bear to see Dusk's gaze at the pink alicorn. The infantile jealousy of the first love manifested itself stronger than ever in a filly who saw how her only friend, and first love, focused his eyes on another mare.

So it was that, as much as Cadance tried being kind and nice, Sunset's jealousy simply made it impossible for her to think about being her friend. And when Cadance applied to be Sunset's babysitter, she just ignored her and concentrated on writing in her diary. Always writing about her future plans, about her and Dusk's plans.

"What is this?" The Archmage asked one day, uncharacteristically waiting for Sunset as soon as she returned from school.

Looking at the stallion, Sunset turned pale as she saw him holding her diary in his hoof. Then the Archmage looked at her with contempt and opened the diary, reading it in front of Sunset.

"Drawing hearts around Dusk's name? Imagining yourself as a queen and him as your king? Embracing your feelings... How friendship brought you true happiness to a life full of darkness..." The Archmage said, showing the pages of what Sunset had written genuinely in the last weeks. "This is all rubbish!" The Archmage exclaimed, ripping out with his magic all the pages in which Sunset spoke of her feelings, her friendship and her love for Dusk.

"NO!" Sunset screamed in terror, jumping up and using her magic to try to take her diary from the stallion. However, Sunset only remained suspended in midair, surrounded by the Archmage's magic.

"I brought you here because I want you to become strong. Strong enough to one day snatch the throne from those who don't deserve it. That is why you must be strong! Did you forget everything I’ve taught you!? Feelings only cloud reason!" The Archmage said with an indifferent look, though his voice held anger. All while he kept tearing the pages out of Sunset's diary in front of the little filly's face.

"Let me go!" Sunset yelled furiously, using all her magic to try to free herself from the Archmage's magic. But despite being the strongest filly of her age, she was still very weak against the strongest unicorn in the kingdom.

"Can’t you see? The only thing that matters is power. Remember that, Sunset Shimmer." The Archmage said, tossing Sunset into her room, along with her diary and the few remaining pages. "Challenge me when you have the true power to stand up to me." He added, glaring at Sunset one last time, before opening the tower door and leaving.

Once the Archmage retired, Sunset got up in pain after being thrown. Then she snatched up her diary, where she verified that the Archmage had ripped out all the last written pages of the diary, where she had expressed her true feelings for Dusk. Then Sunset couldn't help but feel hurt and frustrated, and threw her diary away, while little tears ran down her cheeks.

Despite all the fury that Sunset felt at that moment against her tutor, the truth was that she had to accept that the Archmage wasn’t wrong. If only she was stronger, she could have overcome him and protect what she wanted. As that cruel unicorn said, strength and power were everything.

"Not anymore..." Sunset thought furiously. This time the Archmage had gone too far, and he must somehow pay for the loss he had caused her.

For the first time, Sunset trespassed into the Archmage's private office, which she had only entered a few times. There, Sunset saw the enormous collection kept by the Archmage as the largest collector of books and ancient objects in the kingdom. Then Sunset began to look for something to take from him, like he did with her diary. Now he would feel the pain of losing something precious.

Sunset's first option was to take away a valuable book. So the filly went to the main shelf, where there were several very old books, which would surely be worth a fortune for being first editions or even single volumes. There Sunset saw some books titled 'Ancient History of the First Age of Equestria' and 'Dark Magic and Cursed Objects', which seemed to be very old. However, Sunset was struck by a particular row of books. There was a very old and gnawed book, which was the only one that didn’t have a name on its spine. However, it was grouped together with other books that Sunset recognized were about the noble families of the kingdom, since each book had the name of a noble family written on their spines: 'Landcastle', 'Shimmer', 'Lis', 'Starlord', 'Glimmer' and various more. Why would the title-less book be grouped together with the books of the noble families?

As Sunset approached to take that book, a peculiar glow from across the room caught her eye. There were various objects stored on pedestals. The filly realized that they must have been magical relics entrusted to the Archmage due to their potential danger. Sunset became particularly interested in an object, and took it from its pedestal, immediately feeling the magical power it contained.

"Damn old pony, say goodbye to your precious collectible." Sunset said with an angry look, running back to her room and hiding the stolen item under a floorboard.

After committing her little crime, Sunset threw herself on her bed, thinking that with that she had already gotten her revenge. However, the truth was that her rage was such that she still couldn't appease her temper. She wanted to see the look on the Archmage’s face as he suffered, just as he had seen hers. She needed to completely take out her anger, and more importantly, show her evil guardian that she wasn’t a useless weakling.

With that thought, Sunset got up from her bed and walked out of the tower. She already knew the Archmage had certain commitments that day with the academic council of Equestria. One of the many tasks that had been entrusted to him, and the reason why he always wore a golden medallion on his cape, as a sign that in addition to his title as Royal Archmage, he held the position of Chancellor of the Equestrian Education Association.

The filly eventually came to a large building not far from her tower, where the Equestrian Education Association met. She entered easily, since there were no guards like in the castle, and opened the door to the great hall. She had come there only guided by fury, she didn’t know what she would say to the Archmage or if she would challenge him again, the only thing that interested her was to see him face to face. However, all that fighting spirit instantly vanished when she saw that all the ponies of the educational council seemed to be gathered in the great hall, all sitting in their high seats as if they were a grand jury. In the middle of the hall, there was Princess Celestia herself! That made Sunset quickly close the door before anyone noticed her presence, but not before leaving the door slightly open so she could hear what was being said there.

"Well, indeed, everything seems to be in order." Said a pony with grayish-white fur and black mane, with a pointed beard, who also wore a red cape like all the other council members, and was seated to the right of the Archmage, who was sitting in the main council seat. "So, Princess, you're making us understand that you want approval for the teaching position again?"

"That's right, Secretary Neighsay." Celestia replied calmly. "I have already finished my teaching courses, and I want all you to accept my application to tutor a student."

"Tutor of a student is not a problem. The real problem is WHO will that student be." The Archmage said, always looking coldly, even at Princess Celestia herself. "Tell us, Princess, you have been very insistent about wanting to be a tutor for a particular pony. Isn't that favoritism? Are you not detracting from the talents of so many other ponies just because of unfounded personal preference?"

"It is not like that. I know of a little colt that has a lot of potential." Celestia said calmly, not intimidated by the Archmage's gaze. "I don't want that talent to go to waste and not flourish properly."

"Well, if you’re looking for a talented pony to be your personal student, I think we can choose for you. After all, aren't we the academic council of Equestria? Who better than us to choose a suitable foal to be your personal pupil?" The Archmage said with a wicked little smile, knowing what Celestia really wanted, and he wasn’t willing to give it to her, as he already had his own plans. In fact, he had already been training a filly to earn that coveted position. A filly that without anyone knowing, was just listening to everything behind the door.

Hearing the Archmage, everyone in the hall began to speak, giving their approval to what the chancellor was saying. Meanwhile, Celestia simply remained silent, staring at the Archmage, knowing that he wasn't willing to let Dusk Shine be her student.

"If so, then I would like to tutor two ponies." Celestia said, causing the hall to go quiet again. "I think there is a young colt and a filly in particular that-"

"What is this nonsense, Princess!? You had said you wanted to have only one student, and now you want two?" The Archmage said, feigning surprise. "That would be asking too much of you. You’re a princess. The ruler of the entire kingdom. I can only imagine how exhausting it'll be to have to teach a student in addition to all your meetings, outings, receptions and so on. But having two students would be asking too much of you. It's not something we can allow, for the sake of Equestria."

"The job of this council is to ensure the education of the kingdom, and mine is to ensure the safety of the kingdom. That is why I must insist that those foals with special talents learn as soon as possible the true power of magic. Dark times ahead, and we must prepare those talented unicorns to guide the new era of this kingdom and save us from those who want to plunge it into darkness." Celestia said, for the first time narrowing her eyes and staring at the Archmage as she said those last words. "I know you don’t like to be called by your first name, but you must not forget your name and its meaning, great Archmage. Your duty is to enlighten young foals to reach their destiny, not to divert their path to darkness… You know very well who I am talking about. I'm talking about Dusk Shine and Sunset Shimmer."

For a second, the Archmage narrowed his eyes in annoyance, hating that the princess wanted to use his real name instead of his title. Then, as if doubts had enveloped him for a second, the archmage touched his chest, where, under his cloak, he confirmed that he still had 'something' important there. In doing so, he regained his safety and composure, and he looked back arrogantly at Celestia, knowing that sooner or later his time would come.

"I’m fully aware of my duty, Princess. But I think our methods for a unicorn to reach its full potential are quite different…" The Archmage said, staring at Celestia. “Indeed, I know those two foals that you mentioned. And it's true, they both have some interesting magical potential."

"There is no one more capable than me to help them develop their magic." Celestia added, looking at the rest of the council with a pleading look.

"That's where you’re mistaken, Princess... Here's somepony else who is also apt to teach them first-rate magic." The Archmage said with an evil smile, slowly getting to his hooves. "As I told you, Princess, I accept that those two foals have potential. However, we cannot have favorites when choosing. So, I suggest to this academic council that we test all colts and fillies in first and second year in the school to choose who really deserves to be top-notch students. Whoever shows the most talent will be the Princess's new student. And whoever comes in second will be MY new student. In this way, we’ll show that all the foals of the noble families had the opportunity to be elected. We’ll verify if indeed Sunset Shimmer and Dusk Shine are as talented as they appear to be. And we’ll not overload the Princess with two students. All agree?" The Archmage said, immediately putting everything to the vote, raising his hoof to show his support.

Before the Princess could say more, the hooves of all the other ponies in the council also rose and said in unison 'agree', thus closing the matter. For Celestia, it was as if a bucket of cold water fell on her, and although she felt that with so much power at her disposal, she should do whatever she wanted. Finally she just lowered her head, resigning herself to the fact that she must maintain order and follow the institutions that her beloved ponies had formed. However, the most dejected of all was someone who wasn't in the room: Sunset Shimmer, who understood the seriousness of this whole situation...

From that day until the day of the test, Sunset couldn’t look Dusk in the face again. Every time she saw him, she couldn't help but think that only one of them would become the princess's student. This was her big break! She had dreamed of being an apprentice to the princess and living in the castle for as long as she could remember. But to achieve her dream, Sunset had to prove that she was better than all the other unicorns, and that included Dusk Shine, her only friend and first love, who would she have to beat and leave behind in order to achieve her dream.

Finally, the day of the big test arrived, and Sunset got up very early to be among the first to arrive at school, where the test would take place. However, as soon as she left her room, something else caught her attention. It seemed that in just one night, the Archmage had packed most of his belongings in several boxes, which were now piled up all over the hall.

"What is all this?" Sunset asked thinking aloud, looking confused at the boxes with books.

"Tomorrow I’ll be going on a long journey. I have decided that it’s time to investigate magic outside the confines of the realm." The archmage said nonchalantly, leaving his office and approaching Sunset. "By the way, apparently a valuable piece is missing from my private collection of antique objects… Won't you know anything about that?" The Archmage added, narrowing his eyes and looking intimidatingly at Sunset.

"No, not at all. I know very well that I'm prohibited from entering your office without permission." Sunset answered without a hint of hesitation. If she had learned something perfectly from her tutor, it had been to always show a cold and indifferent look so as not to show her nervousness when something was wrong.

For several seconds, the Archmage stared at Sunset's perfect poker face until he finally looked away in annoyance.

"Maybe I lent it to a museum, and I don't remember it." He grunted, seeing that Sunset's face showed no signs of lying. "Anyway, let's go to school. Today my tool will finally show how useful it is." The Archmage added with a somewhat evil look, talking to himself despite the fact that 'the tool' he was referring to was right next to him, looking at him with an annoyed look.

The two ponies made their way to the school. There, the Archmage opened the auditorium door while Sunset stood outside, with some fillies who had already arrived to wait their turn at the audition.

"Remember, all you have to do is show everything I have taught you, show all your skill and power without hesitation." The stallion said looking at Sunset with a slight look of pride. "Celestia believes that because she chose the judges, she’ll make this choice fairer. But it will all be in vain; everything is already decided. We forge our own destiny! Luck is for the weak. Only the strong reach the highest." The Archmage added with slight emotion, as if he were talking more to himself than to Sunset. After saying that, he closed the door behind him, leaving Sunset with her eyes closed, lost in her own thoughts.

The truth was that she wanted with all her might to be Princess Celestia's student. But she hated that by doing so, she was also following all the plans the Archmage had planned for her. As if she were just one more cog in a great machine the stallion was putting together.

Little by little, the students were arriving. Including Dusk Shine, who, like all that week, tried in vain to look for Sunset's gaze, who only avoided him so as not to be distracted from her final goal. Thus, the colts and fillies entered the auditorium one by one, until finally it was Sunset Shimmer's turn.

"Sunset!" Dusk yelled before Sunset entered the auditorium. "Good luck!".

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

"Luck is for the weak. Only the strong reach the highest." Sunset said with a cold tone of voice, repeating word for word what the Archmage had told her, knowing that after that day, nothing would be the same.

Upon entering the auditorium, Sunset immediately felt the pressure of dozens of gazes watching her step by step. The nobles seated in the front rows, who expected her to fail so that their own children would obtain that coveted position that the princess offered; the old judges elected by the princess, who looked proudly at the new generation of sorcerers unicorns; Princess Celestia herself, who always kept the same smile, despite the fact that inside her she was nervous and anxious that 'a certain colt' would win the competition; and the Archmage, who saw Sunset more intensely than anyone, almost threatening her with his gaze.

"Okay, young lady. Show us what you have." Said an old mare who was part of the judges once Sunset reached the center of the stage.

Accustomed to pressure, given the daily lessons she had had with the Archmage, Sunset began her spells. First, she made two vases appear out of nowhere with some small flowers in them. Then she used powerful magic to cast a growth spell, which caused the small flowers to grow into big trees, which almost completely covered the stage. That left the judges speechless, who weren’t expecting magic of that level in a young filly.

Sunset then used a variety of spells that were far above the level of a filly, doing each one without blinking, as if it didn't cost her any more effort. Using elemental magic to summon a great gust of wind, then transformation magic to transform the stage curtains into ship sails, and finally making a dozen books appear, which she floated and swirled over her head, hurling them at the judges, who in surprise almost hide by reflex, but Sunset created a shield that protected them before they hit them.

"My goodness! Conjuration, control, elemental magic, attack, defense, transmutation… How many types of magic do you know!? And at such a young age!" One of the judges said astonished, after getting up from his desk to see that the books that Sunset had thrown at them had only been to show her defense magic.

"I can also do some mind spells." Sunset said, remembering the last book she had read with Dusk in the library weeks ago. "If somepony volunteers, I can make them believe in an illusion, or even erase a memory." Sunset added proudly.

"No, no, no, no… That would be very dangerous!" Another of the judges said nervoulys. "It would be best if you ended your presentation with something simpler. Although perhaps it’s no longer necessary, with everything you showed us, hehe." The judge added with a nervous smile.

Seeing that the judges were satisfied, Sunset also smirked. Then she looked at the rest of the audience, who were stunned by Sunset's magic display. But among all those faces, the one that stood out the most was the one that wasn’t surprised at all, but rather smiled proudly with a hint of evil. The Archmage's face showed only satisfaction that his tool had done a good job. And seeing that smile that only saw her as a tool, Sunset couldn’t help but tremble with fear and anger when she saw that she simply continued to fulfill his goals, without ever receiving a compliment from him.

As Sunset kept her eyes fixed on the Archmage, he was staring at her as well. However, he was distracted when another pony approached him to speak to him. It was the secretary of the Equestrian Education Association, now wearing the medallion that the Archmage had worn with pride for so many years and had approached the stallion to give him a respectful farewell salute.

"I had forgotten. I was so focused on doing the test, that I didn't realize… If the Archmage goes on a long research trip alone, he’ll have to leave his position and all his other responsibilities…" Sunset thought, only then remembering the words that the archmage had told her that morning. And suddenly Sunset turned pale as she realized something else, something vital and extremely important that she hadn't realized and that now terrified her.

At that moment Sunset stared in terror at the archmage, who greeted the new chancellor kindly. After he turned to continue watching Sunset, maintaining a wicked smile, knowing that he was secretly fulfilling his dark goals.

"Whoever shows the most talent will be the Princess's new student. And whoever comes in second will be MY new student." Those were the words the Archmage said that day at the education committee meeting. That meant… that if Dusk came in second place, he would be the Archmage's new student! That’s why he’s planning on travelling! He was making sure that the princess would never see Dusk again! He was getting Dusk out of the way so that only she was with the princess!

Realizing the truth, Sunset couldn't help but tremble. In her mind, immediately came the images of Dusk smiling at her, always being so sentimental, weak and kind. And then she imagined that kind colt being punished and trained harshly to exhaustion by the Archmage, the cruelest pony she had ever met.

"Well, I think that's all for-" One of the judges said before being interrupted.

"Wait!" Sunset yelled, trying to hide the tremor in her voice. "I... I have one last spell to show." Sunset added slowly, with her head bowed.

Then slowly, Sunset began to accumulate magic in her horn, and small fireballs began to appear on the ceiling, gently falling and fading before falling to the floor or on someone.

"Oh! Splendid!" One of the judges said, applauding and putting out at the same time a small ember that hadn't been extinguished in time and that had fallen beside him.

As if Sunset hadn't heard anything, she just kept her head down, only accumulating more and more magic in her horn. While at the same time, the small fireballs were getting bigger and began to reach to fall on the floor and on the public.

"Young lady, I think that is enough." One of the judges warned, seeing how the ponies of the public began to beat the embers that fell to extinguish them.

"No! I can do more than this! Much more!" Sunset yelled, accumulating more and more magic, causing the fireballs to grow larger and larger. The ponies in the audience to started to scatter in terror to avoid the falling inferno.

"Stop!" The judge yelled, standing up in fear and using her magic to block Sunset's. However, Sunset had already foreseen that, and was able to block the judge's magic, causing amazement and fear in the old mare.

"I am Sunset Shimmer! And no one will tell me when to stop!" Sunset yelled with an evil smile. But at the same time dropping her head and ceasing her magic out of sheer exhaustion from doing so much magic.

After the public calmed down when they saw that the fireballs had disappeared, the judges called for order and for everypony to return to their seats.

"Young lady! A unicorn your age should already know her limits, and have self-control." The judge said, annoyed that she had tried to stop Sunset.

After being silent for a few seconds, Sunset raised her head again and looked arrogantly at the judge.

"Maybe I haven't learned enough in school yet." Sunset said, turning around and leaving the auditorium.

Once Sunset left the auditorium, she saw that Dusk was still there. However, they didn’t even manage to meet glances, because as soon as Sunset left, Dusk Shine was called to enter the auditorium. Then Dusk entered, this time leaving Sunset alone in that hallway.

"What did I do!?" Sunset yelled in terror and worry, hitting a wall. "I… I let go of my biggest dream! Why!?" She asked herself, even though on the inside, she did know the answer.

Before continuing to torment herself about what she had done, Sunset ran down the hall to enter through the main door of the auditorium, since now that she had given the test, she could see the test of Dusk Shine. Entering the auditorium, Sunset fell silent seeing that Dusk's test had already begun, so she stood right next to the door, staring at the little lavender colt in the center of the stage.

In amazement, Sunset saw that Dusk's spells worked perfectly. And not only that, but they were also of an advanced level, almost as much as the spells that she herself had cast in her test. That made Sunset for a moment forget all her doubts about what she had done during her test, and she felt proud to see her dear friend performing all the spells that both had secretly practiced for more than a year. However, what filled Sunset with the greatest emotion was seeing the last spell that Dusk performed, which was to make some small magical fireflies appear that beautifully illuminated the auditorium for a few seconds. That was Sunset's favorite spell! It was a message for her! A sign of how important Sunset was to Dusk! And the filly understood it immediately, causing her to feel a great warmth and happiness inside her.

"You’re completely useless." A voice behind Sunset said suddenly, making the filly pale. She didn't even turn around to look at who it was, for she immediately recognized that voice. It was the Archmage, who, seeing that Dusk had finished his test perfectly, already knew that he would win. So he approached the auditorium door, ready to leave. "Say goodbye to your foolish friend forever, now you’ll take his place. We leave immediately, the train leaves in ten minutes." The Archmage grunted, opening the door to leave, while the audience burst into applause to congratulate Dusk for finishing his test.

As the stallion left, Sunset only kept looking at Dusk, as if she wanted to keep that beautiful smile well in her memory. However, she no longer saw him smiling. Now her face was pale, knowing that this would be the last time she would see Dusk, the little colt she had hated at first and whom she had learned to love.

For a fleeting moment, as Princess Celestia approached to congratulate Dusk, his and Sunset's gazes met. And then Sunset pressed her lips tight, feeling a great sadness begin to invade her. Knowing that she shouldn’t cry and should always be strong, she simply turned and left the auditorium, assuming her new destiny, which would be far from Canterlot and Dusk Shine.

As Sunset sadly walked towards the train station, following a few steps behind the Archmage, she almost froze when she heard Dusk's voice in the distance, who was shouting her name and seemed to be running towards her. Then Sunset squeezed her eyes tight, knowing that at that moment her heart wouldn’t bear a goodbye, and she simply hurried her pace to prevent Dusk from reaching her.

When turning a street, Sunset couldn't help but see that in a corner, those two bullies who always annoyed Dusk were hiding. As frustrated as she was at the time, Sunset would have loved to blow those two fools away, however eventually she just ignored them and rushed to catch up with the Archmage.

As she walked, Sunset suddenly froze upon hearing a scream.

"Sunset!" Dusk shouted desperately with all his might from the other corner of the street.

Hearing Dusk's cry for help, Sunset couldn't ignore her heart anymore and ran to where Dusk was. As she rounded the corner, Sunset saw that the two bullies had been hiding to ambush Dusk to beat him up. That made Sunset's blood boil and she came quickly with a murderous glare to where they were.

"Why don't you fight back!? Dusk! You’re strong! Show them!" Sunset thought furiously, not knowing if she was angrier with the bullies or with Dusk for always letting them hit him.

"What is all this!?" Sunset said with her most threatening look. Staring at those bullies to get them to see her furious faces before blowing them away for the last time.

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

Sunset looked at him and froze. Dusk had just proved minutes ago that he was the strongest and most talented colt in Canterlot! Why didn't he defend himself!? Now she knew it, he had just given the answer… He always trusted that she would save him, just as she had been about to do now. But what Dusk didn’t know was that this would be the last time! She was leaving Canterlot, she could never defend him again. What good would it be if she saved him now? Just so Dusk would always think someone would save him? No! Dusk couldn't be like this forever! They would marry one day! They would both rule Equestria together! And Dusk needed to be strong, he needed to realize that the world was a dark place, and, as the Archmage taught her, you had to manage on your own to survive.

"Why should I help you? You’re no longer useful to me. I don’t need you anymore." Sunset said with a cold look, hiding with her perfect poker face the pain she felt when she saw Dusk's look of fear.

"W-What...? T-That's not true… We’re friends." Dusk said, trembling with fear.

"Hahaha! Friends?! Why would anyone want to be friends with a pathetic pony like you?" Sunset laughed while mocking Dusk. "You cannot trust anyone, only you can save yourself!" Sunset was mentally repeating herself, unconsciously repeating the advice the Archmage had implanted in her, to give herself strength to continue her deception.

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

"To be recognized and reach the top of Equestria, that's what I always wanted... And you took that from me." Sunset said without looking Dusk in the face, closing her eyes in pain, feeling that she couldn't bear to see Dusk's pleading look and that she wanted to tell him the truth. "If I can’t be great here, then I’ll become stronger elsewhere. I’ll not return to Canterlot until I’m powerful enough for everypony to bow to my hooves." Sunset added, turning her back on Dusk and starting to retreat, feeling like she was on the verge of collapse.

Before leaving, Sunset paused one last time and glanced at the two bullies standing there. Giving them a furious and penetrating look.

"Dusk could turn you into dust if he wanted! He’ll show you! He’ll show everyone how strong he really is!!" Sunset thought, glaring at the two bullies.

"Do what you want with him. Hit him as much as you want, I won't defend him anymore." Sunset added with a cold look, thinking that she was giving Dusk one last gift. From that day on she would never defend him again, from that day on he would show his true power. And for that, she needed Dusk to stop seeing her as his shield.

Sunset then continued on her way with a great pain in her heart, for knowing that Dusk would have to take a few blows to learn to defend himself, for knowing that she was hiding the truth from her best friend and knowing that this would be the last time she would see the pony that had made her open her heart.

'End of flashback.'

Moments before Dusk and Luna arrived at the library, Spike had run out of the library after reading Sunset's diary. He had heard that Sunset wanted to meet Zecora, so Spike ran into the Everfree forest, not knowing specifically where the zebra's hut was, as he had never been. But with all the times that Dusk had gone before and told him about it, it wasn’t difficult for him to guess where it would be near. Despite that, there came a time when Spike went into the forest and didn’t know where else to go, since a path divided into three, and he wasn’t sure which one to take.

When Spike began to give up and believed that perhaps it would be best to wait for Dusk to return to the library, Spike's ears perked up at the sound of an explosion not far from where he was. Then Spike took the path that he led to where he had heard the noise, and slowly approached to see what it had been.

As he turned a corner, Spike was surprised to see Sunset, who seemed to be angry. So much so that she was using her magic to shoot lightning bolts towards some trees, hitting them so hard that she had already managed to knock one down.

"Why!? Why!? WHY!?" Sunset yelled furiously, shooting one last bolt towards a tree and then furiously hitting the ground. Then, to Spike's amazement, Sunset lowered her head sadly, with a look full of pain and confusion. "Why can't Dusk be happy just with me? I've done so much for him… For both of us…" Sunset added, falling to the ground and squinting her eyes in frustration.

"Jealousy will get you nowhere." Spike said, taking all his courage emerge from his hiding place. The dragon felt some pity to see Sunset with that look of pain, because she was always cold and indifferent.

The yellow unicorn instinctively lit up her horn to grab Spike with her magic. Then she aggressively turned Spike onto his back and pressed him to the ground with her hoof.

"What did you hear!? Are you making fun of me!?" Sunset said, glaring at Spike with a murderous look.

"'I- I love Dusk'! T-That's your keyword." Spike said as he began to feel a bit of pain from the hoof that Sunset was pressing against him. Sunset tried to keep her gaze cold, but couldn't help but turn pale when she saw that that little dragon knew the keyword to her diary. "I... read your diary..." Spike added, taking the opportunity to breathe when he saw that Sunset had stopped pressing on his chest.

"How dare you?!" Sunset said, finally snapping out of her shock and getting furious again. She began pressing her hoof against Spike and threateningly lighting her horn.

"Do you think hurting me will help you!? Do you think hurting Dusk's friends will help you!? You say you love Dusk, but you don't know anything about him!" Spike yelled with all his might.

With Spike's yell, Sunset cast a hesitant look for a few seconds, until she finally decided to release Spike from her grasp. As she did so, Spike coughed loudly after having pressed his stomach, then stood up and looked at Sunset with a look of mistrust.

"If you read my diary, you know how I really feel about Dusk. And what I’m willing to do for him." Sunset said, looking with a mixture of anger and insecurity at Spike.

"You may think what you feel is love, but it’s not!." Spike said. For the first time, he felt like he was talking to the real Sunset Shimmer. "What you feel is obsession."

"You... what do you know about love!?" Sunset yelled, unconsciously feeling vulnerable in front of the little dragon. He had read her diary and now he knew her true feelings, which she always tried to hide from everyone.

Spike couldn't help but blush a little and look away at Sunset’s accusation. Then he closed his eyes and looked back at Sunset. He had to make her understand the truth, it was the only way to help Dusk.

"I… I may not know much about love. But I know that true love is wanting to see who you love happy." Spike said sheepishly but gathering strength with every word he said. "It’s just like you did in the past. You sacrificed your dream to help Dusk… How come you can't see it now? Dusk can never be happy if he doesn't have his friends."

To Sunset's amazement, Spike's words really affected her, as if deep down, she had always known this, but had refused to see it. For Sunset, Dusk was special, unique, her greatest friend. Her focus of hope, her first love, and she only wanted him for herself, for no one else. And when Sunset orchestrated all her plans, she always thought that Dusk would see at some point that he and she were destined to be together. But... What was the use of being together if they weren't happy? Was this what she really wanted?

For several seconds, which seemed eternal, Sunset stood still, completely silent staring at nothing. As if internally, she was in conflict and didn't know what to do.

"You don't know anything..." Sunset finally said with an annoyed look and started to walk back towards the town.

During the journey, Sunset didn’t turn to look at Spike, she only focused on Dusk, thinking that she would find a way to make him happy and achieve that they could be together, as she had always dreamed of.

Upon reaching the town, Sunset was surprised to see that the library windows were glowing. That made Sunset shiver, as it could be a very bad sign. If Dusk had been so desperate to try to get his friends back, he could be doing something extremely dangerous, which could have dire consequences, such as the release of Discord, or perhaps even worse outcomes that she didn’t even want to imagine.

What Sunset didn’t expect when approaching the library was that the Princess of the Night came down and blocked her way. That made Sunset put on her arrogant facade again, never showing weak or doubtful in front of anyone and demonstrated her strength and pride.

"Dusk asked Princess Luna for help to do something... No! This could be dangerous!!" Sunset's agile mind thought in horror, imagining the desperate spell that Dusk might be trying to cast to try to get his friends back.

"It's been years since I faced an alicorn. I guess it’ll be interesting to see how much I’ve grown in power and magical ability, even if it's a duel against an incomplete alicorn like you." Sunset said arrogantly, lighting her horn, ready to defeat any obstacle that would prevent her from seeing Dusk.

"Try if you dare... witch." Luna answered, ready to respond to the confrontation. Also determined to protect Dusk and his wishes, whoever it was against.

"STOP!" Spike suddenly yelled, who had chased Sunset from the forest and was now scared to see that Sunset was willing to fight Princess Luna.

Seeing that the little dragon ran and got between them, both mares ceased their magic. However, both of them narrowed their eyes and stared fiercely.

"Dusk is doing something very delicate. It cannot be interrupted by anypony. I’ll protect him with my life." Luna said, still glaring at Sunset.

"Tell me you’re not trying to destroy the curse." Sunset said, unable to hide her worried look for a fleeting second. "That mist and light that the windows reflect… Is Dusk trying to find the curse and destroy it? But that would be too dangerous for the minds of those mares... Unless he uses himself as a catalyst to protect them, and he is the only one who can, since only he shares the memories with his friends." Sunset added, hoping with all her might that her conclusions had failed.

"How did you know?" Luna said, opening her eyes in amazement.

"No! How did you let him do something so dangerous!? His mind won't be able to take it! Discord's magic is too powerful!" Sunset yelled, forgetting about her facade and showing a look of genuine fear.

"He... He said he knew the risks... And he was willing to accept them..." Luna said, looking away with pain. Deep in her heart she also knew how dangerous and almost impossible it was what Dusk wanted to do. But even so, she had accepted, because he had begged her.

At that moment, a few seconds of silence followed. In which Sunset just stared at the ground, with a look of fear and concern as she thought about everything that could go wrong and how Dusk could lose his mind if anything went wrong, which, was the surest probability. For his part, Spike had also kept silent, because although he didn’t understand anything about mind spells or curses, he could understand that Dusk was in great danger.

"Sunset." Spike said, touching the yellow unicorn, pulling her out of her thoughts. "You wanted to go in to see Dusk... If you do, could you help him?"

Seeing Spike's gaze, who for the first time in his life was asking her for something and wasn't looking at her with fear, Sunset looked away for a second. Then she looked up again and looked seriously at Luna.

"Let me in." Sunset said, reverting to her arrogance facade.

Seeing that insolent look on Sunset, Luna immediately became defensive, knowing that she couldn't let that dangerous mare in to see Dusk.

"Please, Princess..." Spike said slowly, touching Luna's side and looking at her with a pleading look.

At that moment, Spike didn't care if Dusk didn't remember his friends again. He knew how reckless his brother could be to get back something he loved. And right now, the only thing that mattered to Spike was that Dusk and his friends were safe. And for that, Sunset had to come in and make sure nothing changed.

Before Spike's gaze, Luna stared at him for a long time. Then she looked back at Sunset, who was standing still, staring at her.

"How did you let him do something so dangerous!?" Those were the words Sunset had said and now repeated over and over in Luna's head.

Finally, Luna closed her eyes in pain, and turned away from the door. Then Sunset quickly stepped forward and entered the library...

Dusk couldn't do anything against Sunset. Moments earlier, Sunset had entered the library and started using her magic while Dusk tried not to lose concentration as he physically reflected his own memories and those of his friends, the ones that were marked with Discord's curse.

"Please… Let me do this. You don't understand… You don't understand how valuable they’re to me." Dusk said crying in anguish. "I... can't live without them."

"Dusk, I've always told you. You’re too sentimental." Sunset replied starting to use her magic, causing in the process, several of her own memories to also appear floating around that dreamlike space. "Tell me Dusk... Don't you trust me?"

"No." Dusk answered without hesitation.

Sunset turned once more to Dusk, looking at him with a sad smile. Then her horn lit up to its fullest expression, taking control of the spell that Dusk was casting.

Slowly, the chains that were in the memories of the five mares, which had been put by Dusk at the time of locking up Discord to block those memories from their minds, disappeared, leaving them floating with the dark aura, a sign that they were cursed.

"No! If we don't block those memories, Discord will be released again!" Dusk yelled, while he used his magic to keep the floating memories visible, knowing that if the spell suddenly disappeared, it could damage both his mind and those of his friends.

Ignoring Dusk's screams, Sunset continued to use her magic, concentrating absolutely on what she was doing. Because like Dusk, she was performing a very complex spell, and she didn't want anything to go wrong. Suddenly, Dusk was amazed to see that the dark aura that surrounded the memories of his friends slowly disappeared.

"W-What did you do…?" Dusk asked, knowing that the power imposed on Discord's curse couldn’t be removed so easily.

Before Dusk could continue asking, he felt a strange tingling in his mind. Someone was interrupting his spell! Sunset was interfering not only with his magic, but with his own mind, which frightened him deeply. And although he tried to oppose her, Sunset's magic was simply stronger than Dusk's. Then, the floating memories of Dusk's five friends began to slowly disappear, while other memories began to appear floating around both ponies.

"What did you do with the memories of my friends!?" Dusk exclaimed in horror, thinking that Sunset could have completely erased them instead of just hiding them.

"The curse is tied to the carriers of the Elements of Harmony. And if you don't want them to carry the curse, the only alternative is for you to carry the entire curse." Sunset replied, for the first time looking somewhat exhausted due to the enormous effort and concentration she was doing at that moment.

"You want... to transfer the curse to my memories?" Dusk said, amazed and confused, still not knowing what Sunset was planning.

"Discord's magic is too powerful... We can't destroy the curse..." Sunset said, grunting as she began to feel pain in her horn from dealing with Discord's curse. "The only alternative is for the curse to change its objective... That it’s YOU who has to block memories to contain the curse... And... And the only feeling that can be compared with the love you feel for your friends... Is... It’s hatred and resentment you feel towards me…" Sunset said, closing her eyes tightly from the pain of moving Discord's curse between memories.

At that moment Dusk looked up and saw that he no longer had any control over the mental spell that was being performed. He, too, couldn't feel the presence of the minds of his friends. There were only Dusk and Sunset, and around them, all the memories that Dusk and Sunset had lived together since they had met.

As he watched them, Dusk realized that just as it had happened when he paired his own memories with the memories of his friends, now there were also two pairs of memories from each memory. One from Dusk Shine's point of view, and one from Sunset Shimmer's point of view. And while Dusk looked at those memories with amazement, he realized that they had certain differences and, mainly, different emotions.

As Dusk had discovered since he had been with Luna in Applejack's memories, in the world of dreams, memories were recorded with feelings. And for every sad, confused, or bitter memory that Dusk felt while recording his memories of Sunset, there was Sunset's counterpart, who had guarded her memories with affection, hope, and regret.

"Why are your memories so warm...?" Dusk asked, shedding a small tear when he saw and felt the memories of him and Sunset. Then Dusk felt more confused when he realized that she was replicating her memories for the same reason that he had tried with his friends, to protect the other's mind. Now Sunset was the one who was putting herself in danger.

As focused as she was, giving her all in her spell to counter the curse, Sunset didn't respond. And when Dusk didn't get an answer, he looked at all the memories again, noticing things that he hadn't noticed before. Furthermore, Sunset's mind was so exposed at that moment, that other memories of her began to appear around her and that Dusk watched in astonishment. The memories of Sunset's childhood in the orphanage, the scolding and mistreatment she had suffered from the Archmage, how happy she had been to write in her diary her feelings for Dusk, and the pain she felt when the Archmage tore the pages. The sacrifice she made for him! Sabotaging her own test so that Dusk was chosen to study with the princess! The pain she felt when she didn’t defend him from bullies so that Dusk would learn to be strong; and more memories of Sunset's lost time... When she was abroad with the Archmage, always practicing magic until exhaustion, the years she spent in loneliness, in which the only thing that gave Sunset strength in all those years was writing in her diary, writing about her love for Dusk, and her hope that one day she would see him again, and that he would end her loneliness... Even the memories of the last days, the joy she felt when she saw Dusk again, the jealousy she felt when she saw his friends, and the hope she felt for wanting to recover all that lost time, and that they were just her and him again…

"What is all this…?" Dusk said, crying in confusion. Then he refocused on his own floating memories, whose feelings were so disparate compared to Sunset's memories. For him, Sunset was his greatest friend, who ultimately betrayed him. Instead for Sunset, he was a source of light that brought her out of the darkness and gave her hope to live all those years.

Suddenly, Dusk was scared to see that one of his own memories was surrounded by a dark aura. Then all the memories that belonged to him quickly began to surround themselves with the same dark aura that had surrounded the memories of his friends minutes before.

"The... The curse was transferred..." Sunset said with her exhausted face, looking like she was going to pass out any second. "B-But it's not over yet..." Sunset added, with a face of great pain. Not because of the physical pain she felt, but because of what she was about to do.

As quickly as the dark aura had appeared surrounding Dusk's floating memories, golden chains appeared on the memories surrounding them and blocking them forever. At that moment, Dusk realized that Sunset hadn’t only transferred the curse on him, but that she was sacrificing herself. The curse would remain on Dusk, and it would be he who would lose his memories, but not of his friends, but of Sunset Shimmer.

"It’s a sad luck that you have held so much resentment towards me. Thanks to that I was able to equate the feelings of love towards your friends and guide the curse towards our memories." Sunset said, looking at Dusk with a sad smile. "That trauma... must have been an unexpected effect of the spell I used on you years ago..."

"What?" Dusk said, still shocked by everything that was happening and everything he had just discovered about Sunset.

At that moment, a memory appeared floating in front of Dusk, one of his own memories, which was already chained. However, when Dusk looked at it carefully, he saw that the chains that surrounded that memory looked different, smaller and older. Then the chains were broken, revealing to Dusk for the last time the memory that had been blocked years ago, before it was permanently blocked again...

Years ago, the day Dusk had won the test to become Princess Celestia's student, he had gone looking for Sunset. But he had been ambushed by bullies, and then he had been abandoned by Sunset herself. Then Dusk, knowing that he was alone and still destroyed by the cruel words that Sunset had said to him, finally freed himself from the bullies' blows, making them fly away with his magic, just as Sunset always did.

Dusk ran to where he had seen Sunset gone, realizing that she had gone to the train station. As the sun fell and left a beautiful sunset on the horizon, Dusk ran desperately along the train platform, making his way between the passengers and the steam released by the train about to leave, until he saw Sunset's tail. Then Dusk ran at full speed trying to catch up with her, and unlike what he remembered… This time Dusk caught up with her!

"Sunset!" Dusk yelled, touching his friend to turn her around. In doing so, young Dusk was shocked to see that his friend was crying. In all the time he had known her, he had never seen Sunset cry. "Sunset?"

"Y-You fool! Don't you see what I did to you!? I abandoned you! Leave me alone!" Sunset said, crying hard after feeling guilty for what she had done to Dusk, feeling the pain of letting bullies hit him.

"It doesn't matter what you do or say... You’ll always be my friend." Dusk said with a tender smile, gently touching Sunset's cheek to make her stop crying. He had been correct! Sunset was his friend! She suffered for what she had done! "You don't have to keep pretending anymore."

Realizing that her entire plan had been ruined, Sunset closed her eyes in frustration, feeling that she hated that Dusk saw her crying like that. Then the colt got closer to her and gave her a warm hug, so comforting and so full of love that Sunset was only shocked, and then she simply closed her eyes, enjoying one last time feeling what love was.

"I knew you couldn't betray me... We’re friends, and we’ll always be friends..." Young Dusk said with a happy tear as he hugged his friend, overjoyed to discover that everything had been a misunderstanding.

Then Sunset broke away from the hug slowly, wiped her tears and looked at Dusk tenderly.

"Together forever and ever..." Sunset said tenderly, placing her hoof on Dusk's cheek and giving him his first kiss.

Upon receiving the kiss, Dusk was surprised, with his cheeks blushed, feeling for the first time how sweet and warm a kiss could be. And without realizing it, Sunset used her magic on Dusk, erasing that beautiful memory from his mind.

"Be strong Dusk, be strong. My first and only love..." Sunset whispered one last time with a tear, using the spell to erase the memory, not knowing that doing so would leave a trauma in Dusk that he couldn't erase in years...

Back in the present, Dusk was shocked after seeing the memory, finally remembering why he couldn't remember his first kiss, even though he did remember feeling it.

"That was the truth..." Dusk whispered in amazement, with tears in his eyes.

Suddenly the new chains locked away the old memory again, thus ending up chaining and blocking all the memories that Dusk Shine had of Sunset Shimmer.

"It’s time to finish." Sunset said, concentrating her magic one last time to finish the spell.

"No… No!" Dusk yelled desperately. Having finally discovered Sunset's true feelings and their true past, knowing now what she was sacrificing all for him! "Sunset! I don't want to forget you!" Dusk shouted desperately, feeling that he had finally recovered his true friend.

"Heh… You were going to do it too, right?" Sunset said, looking one last time at Dusk with a sad smile and a tear falling down her cheek. As Sunset's horn lit up to its fullest and the mist around them both grew brighter and thicker. "Sometimes you do silly things for love..."

"Noooo…!" Dusk shouted as he cried, feeling that he was losing his first friend again, and his first love.

The day was almost over in Ponyville, the sun was about to set, and the ponies in the village would walk calmly again after those strange lights that had appeared in the library disappeared. And at the train station, there was a very peculiar couple, Sunset Shimmer and Spike, waiting for the train to arrive in the direction of Canterlot.

"So, when Rarity and the others wake up, will they remember Dusk again?" Spike asked, still trying to understand everything that had happened inside the library a couple of hours ago.

"Yeah, now Dusk bears the curse of Discord, so they’ll remember everything, and Dusk will remember them too..." Sunset said slowly, as if saying each word hurt her. "Princess Luna said that she would see to it that the six of them slept peacefully until tomorrow, but since Dusk tried to oppose my spell before finishing, perhaps he would wake up before the others."

"Oh... I see..." Spike said slowly, looking back at the horizon as an awkward silence remained between the two characters.

Just at that moment, the whistle of a train was heard, which was the train that Sunset was waiting for and that was going soon to Canterlot. As soon as the train stopped, several passengers from the train got off, mostly residents of Ponyville, several of whom had fled after Discord’s invasion, and were only returning now days later after making sure that it was true that everything had returned to normal.

"Uh... you... will you be okay?" Spike asked shyly. After reading Sunset's diary, he knew that the mare, despite showing a cold and rigid appearance on the outside, could hide complicated feelings inside her. And after having made Dusk forget her, Spike knew that it was impossible that Sunset wasn’t affected in some way.

"Heh... Don't think I've become a weakling, little lizard." Sunset said with her usual arrogant smile, glancing at the baby dragon.

"Spike!" Dusk suddenly yelled from afar, causing both Spike and Sunset to freeze. Slowly Spike turned around and saw in amazement how his brother seemed to have woken up and was approaching happily to where they were. "I woke up a few moments ago. I guess the spell I did to remove the curse from Discord left me exhausted... I woke up somewhat confused, but there was a note from Princess Luna saying that everything had worked and that she herself had gone to leave the girls at their houses." Dusk added with a big happy smile.

As Dusk spoke, Sunset slowly turned around and stared at him, trying to put on a cold and serious look at all times. Seeing that Sunset was staring at him, Dusk looked away from Spike and stared at her for a moment, not knowing why that mare was looking at him like that.

"Oh, look! It's Bulk Biceps! Finally, he returned to Ponyville. Wait a minute Spike, I'll go say hi to him." Dusk said, looking away and smiling when he saw that his friend, the well-known bodybuilding stallion, had gotten off the train with his suitcases. Then the lavender stallion walked and passed by Sunset's side, without even paying attention to her, nor looking at her again.

Feeling that Dusk passed her without even recognizing her, Sunset turned pale. She opened her mouth to try to say something witty to distract herself, however, the pain of seeing that the only pony she had ever loved no longer remembered her was a greater shock than she could have imagined.

"The first time I sacrificed my dream so that he could be happy... Now I sacrificed my memories so that he could be happy again... Twice I have sacrificed everything for him and... And now he doesn't even know who I am..." Sunset said slowly with her lip trembling, trying with all her might to stay strong, with her haughty gaze. However, the pain finally got the better of her determination to appear strong, and she simply squeezed her eyes shut as tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"I... I may not know much about love..." Spike said shyly, touching Sunset's side as he understood the pain of losing what was most dear to her, repeating the words he had said to her in the forest. "But I know that true love is wanting to see who you love happy... and that's what you just did, even if that someone doesn't know it."

Hearing those words, Sunset wiped away her tears and looked up again. Then she looked where Dusk had gone, who was laughing happily as he conversed with the muscular white pegasus. And seeing Dusk's smile, Sunset closed her eyes and took a deep breath, thinking that everything had been worth it, just to see him smile again.

As Sunset looked at Dusk, Spike looked at her, and saw that now she was smiling too, and more importantly, for the first time he saw that Sunset no longer had an arrogant and cold look. Now her eyes were like those of his other friends, full of warmth and affection.

The train's whistle sounded again, but this time announcing that it was about to leave for the next station. Then Sunset took her saddlebag and walked to the door of the train.

"Goodbye liz… Goodbye Spike." Sunset said with a small smile, deciding to call the little dragon by name for the first time. "Take good care of Dusk."

"I promise." Spike said with a small smile. Which didn’t last long, as his cheeks suddenly puffed out and he let out a small burp, from which came his green flame accompanied by a scroll. Immediately Spike took the scroll with curiosity, seeing that it was from Princess Celestia, since it had the royal seal, but the name to whom it was addressed... "This... This scroll is for you." Spike said in amazement, handing the scroll to Sunset, who also took it by surprise.

Without giving them time for anything else, the train began to move, and Sunset climbed the last step to get on the train, giving one last look of thanks to Spike, who also waved goodbye with his claw as the train left. After that, Sunset got into one of the carriages and took a seat. Then she opened the scroll and read it carefully, going from curiosity to confusion.

"She want me to have classes with the pink princess?" Sunset said incredulously, after reading the scroll and what Celestia asked of her. "Pfft, that's ridiculous. What could Cadance teach me that I don’t already know?" Sunset asked herself aloud, leaning her head on her hoof while watching the landscape from afar, without realizing that her expressions and feelings toward others had changed, and she was finally beginning to discover what true love was.

As the train pulled away, Spike walked over to Dusk, who had already finished chatting with Bulk Biceps. As Spike approached Dusk, he saw that his brother was carefully watching the train go away, which was just moving away under the beautiful crimson light of the sunset, showing a beautiful picture.

At one point, as Dusk watched the train move off into the sunset, a tear fell down his cheek.

"Dusk? Are you okay?" Spike asked, concerned when he saw that Dusk was crying.

"What? Oh! I… Yes, I'm fine. I don't know why I was crying, but...." Dusk said, wiping his tear and then looking back at the horizon. "I was just thinking... that I had never seen such a beautiful sunset." Dusk added with a strange feeling of nostalgia.

End of chapter 6

Chapter 7 - Princesses on the attack

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Princesses on the attack

"I refuse!" Cadance said with a voice firm and angry, very different from the sweet and kind tone of voice she normally used. And worst of all was that front her was not just any pony, but her own aunt, ruler of the kingdom of Equestria, Princess Celestia. Which had left the maid twins, who had just been serving them at breakfast, horrified and speechless.

Minutes earlier, the three alicorns of the kingdom had been quietly eating breakfast. While Luna remained at one end of the table, eating slowly with a sad look for some reason; Celestia and Cadance were on the other side, talking about various topics. But mainly about the events that had occurred in recent days, such as the appearance of Discord and the great problem that Dusk Shine had to face. For both alicorns, the young lavender unicorn was somepony very dear, and they were both relieved that Dusk had been able to defeat a threat as great as Discord. Thus, they inevitably got to talk about a certain yellow unicorn that had largely interfered in these events, which had led Celestia to ask her beloved niece Cadance for a great favor.

"You will not change my mind, Auntie! I will never be a teacher to that vile mare!” Cadance reiterated, after seeing that her aunt had simply stared at her, saying nothing. "You know everything that little Dusk suffered because of that mare. Because of her, Dusk didn't have a happy childhood. Because of her, Dusk wasn't able to make friends nor was he able to trust anyone again for years. I... I cannot forgive her so easily for having broken my dear Dusk's heart!"

"I know that Sunset Shimmer didn't make the best decisions when she was a filly. Even now that she came back, I realized that all those emotional flaws that she showed when she was younger only grew, now that she has grown up." Celestia said, speaking quietly at first, but then narrowing her eyebrows with a guilty look as she remembered the past. "That is why I’m trying to repair that serious mistake I overlooked years ago. Sunset wasn’t a bad filly, she just had a very bad influence, which taught her the wrong thing about love and friendship. I need you to help her. I know deep down Sunset is not an evil pony, and I hope it's not too late so we can teach her what's right."

At that moment Celestia didn't want to tell Cadance everything she suspected about Sunset's true nature. Ever since the yellow unicorn had returned to Canterlot, she had felt that Sunset only showed a mask in front of everyone. A mask of coldness and selfishness that the cruel Archmage had forced her to wear for years. But Celestia always felt that deep in Sunset's heart, there was a warmth that struggled to come to light. Maybe they were just false hopes, but Celestia wanted to believe with all her might that Sunset could be a good mare. And this hope in Sunset had been increased after Luna returned from Ponyville and told her that Dusk's friends had already recovered their memories. Luna didn't say anything about Sunset, but Celestia easily guessed that she had been involved, ultimately proving to her that despite Sunset's selfish behavior, the yellow unicorn could still do good and think of others before her own benefit.

"Cadance, you’re the Princess of Love. A title not given by me, but by the ponies who gave it to you. No one understands the feelings of ponies better than you. Nopony is as kind, empathetic and warm as you. Nopony knows more about true love than you. And that's just what Sunset Shimmer needs to learn right now." Celestia added, looking with a tender smile at her niece.

After Celestia's insistent words, and after seeing her tender smile, Cadance found it very difficult to deny what her aunt asked of her. Celestia had seldom asked for something as personal as that, and Cadance would have happily accepted any other pony as a student. However, she had assimilated for many years the pain that Dusk had felt after the loss of Sunset, and to her tender and warm heart, it was a thorn in her that she couldn't remove so easily.

"I’ll think about it." Cadance finally said, standing up and leaving the room.

After Cadance left, Celestia gave a great exhausted sigh and dropped her head back onto the back of her chair.

"I... I never thought that Princess Cadenza would refuse a request from you." Sweet Creme said with a slight annoyed tone of voice, as she returned to her maid duties and brought some donuts to Celestia's plate, knowing that her princess liked sugar after an argument.

"Cadance doesn't worry me. I know she’ll accept… eventually." Celestia said, looking up at nothing and then closing her eyes in pain. "What bothers me is knowing that I could have avoided all of this years ago. For an oversight, I let somepony poison the mind and heart of an innocent filly... I’m only relieved to know that despite everything, Sunset's heart was stronger."

Celestia got up from her seat and went to a window, looking in the distance at the center of the city, where dozens of ponies were going from one place to another. They were all smiling happily and securely, knowing that they were safe thanks to her protecting them. The fate of all those ponies, no, of all the ponies in Equestria, no, of the vast majority of living beings in that world! They all depended on her! Of her strength, of her raising the sun, of not making mistakes... Because, as it had happened with Sunset, a single bad decision could lead to the fate of a pony falling into darkness.... How many ponies had suffered without her knowing!? Just because she wasn't able to see all of them or make the best decisions!

At that moment Celestia began to hyperventilate and covered her face with her hoof to calm herself. The occasions were rare, but once or twice a year, Celestia suffered from panic attacks, feeling that she couldn't control everything and that something horrible had happened only because of her. She carried the weight of thousands of ponies, and despite having enormous power and immortal life, she was still just a pony, and therefore she sometimes felt that the weight she carried was too much for her.

"Sister, are you okay?" Luna said worriedly, approaching Celestia. She had been so absorbed in her own sadness, lost in her own thoughts, that she only realized that something was wrong with her sister when she saw that she was silent.

"Yes, I'm fine." Celestia said, closing her eyes to calm herself. Because what she wanted the least at that moment was to scare her sister with her silly worries.

Closing her eyes, Celestia began to calm her breathing as she reminded her loved ones. Dozens of faces came to her mind that she had known throughout her long life, and the ones that were clearer at that time, were those who were closest to her heart in last past years, the faces of Luna, Cadance, and Dusk Shine...

"Sweet Creme, call Raven Inkwell, please." Celestia said after remembering Dusk's face, realizing that she still had to do something important with her beloved student.

Quick as only a royal maid could be, Sweet Creme swiftly left the room, and in just six seconds she was back with Raven Inkwell, a mare with white fur and black mane tied with a bow, who was the pony in charge of coordinating the princess's agenda.

"Yes, Princess?" Raven Inkwell said ceremoniously, holding up a quill, ready to jot down whatever the princess asked for.

"I want to make a change in the agenda. I need a little break." Celestia said without looking at her, just keeping her gaze fixed on the window and the ponies walking through the city.

"Of course." Raven said with a smile, going over the agenda that she had carefully scheduled for that day. "I think we could put off the meeting with the Canterlot beautification council for a few minutes, and leave five minutes free for-"

"I'll take the day off." Celestia said with a smile.

Instantly, Raven Inkwell dropped her quill in amazement. Both maids had the same face of astonishment while Luna put a confused look.

"Uh... I... I don't know if that's possible..." Raven Inkwell said shyly, beginning to nervously review her schedule, knowing that with so many daily commitments, the entire schedule for the month, perhaps the entire year, would turn into chaos if the princess didn’t fulfill her duties for a day. "It could be that if you schedule it today, you could have a few hours off for next week, but..."

"I am the Princess of the Sun, and that’s what I have decided." Celestia said with a smile, but with a look full of determination, one that made it clear that her decision wouldn’t be discussed. "Give the notice."

"Y-Yes, Princess." Raven and the twins maids said nervously, running out of the room to warn as many ponies about that sudden change in the program.

"Sister, what’s wrong? This is not normal for you." Luna inquired with a raised eyebrow. "Wait… Is this another one of your pranks like when you ran away to that fall race in Ponyville and left me with all your extra work!?" Luna added with a mixture of fear and annoyance when she remembered that.

"Don’t worry, this isn’t a prank... at least this time." Celestia said with a mischievous giggle before switching to a more serious tone. "There are times when I feel exhausted, both physically and mentally. And I think today is one of those days… It's not the first time that I’ve taken a full day off, but the last time I think it was fifteen years ago. So it's normal that Sweet Creme and Raven Inkwell haven't experienced it. Before, Kibitz always managed to take care of everything when I… needed to run away from everything for a day."

"Run away from everything?" Luna asked.

"You know, all this about being a Princess. To just drop this heavy burden of ruling for a day and just be me. Just an ordinary pony that can fly, walk and eat without everything being scheduled, or everyone seeing me and feeling like they should bow down to me." Celestia said, sighing tiredly and then putting on a sad smile.

"Uh... I regret to break your illusion, but no matter where you go, somepony will always recognize you." Luna said looking up at her sister, emphasizing how difficult it would be to go unnoticed with her grand height.

"Hehe, you think so?" Celestia said with an arrogant smile. "Come with me." She added, holding out a hoof for Luna to hold.

As soon as Luna touched Celestia's hoof, the white alicorn teleported and appeared in the middle of her room. Then she went to one of her drawers, and from there she took out a necklace that had a gold medallion of a curved and triangular shape.

"What does that medallion do?" Luna asked curiously, noticing immediately that that necklace was a magical item.

"Now you’ll see." Celestia said, putting on the necklace, and immediately causing her body to glow and transform in just an instant.

Where the tall white alicorn had been standing, now stood a young pegasus with white fur, pink eyes and blond mane with a blue lock to one side.

"You... You were the mare who threw water balloons at me when I was on my night watch!" Luna yelled, outraged to discover that the mare that had pranked on her at night had been none other than her annoying sister.

"Hehe, you got me." Celestia said, now transformed, showing that her voice had also changed slightly to complete the perfect disguise. "What do you think?"

"Hmpf! Yes, well, it is quite impressive." Luna grumbled, still feeling offended by her sister's secret pranking. "The cutie mark isn't very subtle though." Luna added when she saw that her sister's cutie mark had also changed, but not as much as the other aspects of her body. Now her cutie mark was a yellow sun with a purple mask.

"Well, you know how complex it’s to alter a cutie mark. Besides, who would think that they’re in front of the powerful Princess Celestia when they only see a cute pegasus." Celestia said with a loving look, winking at her sister.

"Where did you get that strange necklace? Did you create it?" Luna asked, looking curiously at the necklace that she had managed to transform her sister.

"It's... a long story, I'll tell you about it another time." Celestia answered, looking away for a second and putting on a sad smile when she remembered the origin of that necklace. Then she ran back to another of her drawers and pulled out a big medallion in the shape of the sun, which shone on its own. "Here I kept a little of my magic, so that you can lower the sun without problems." Celestia added, giving the sun medallion to Luna.

After Luna took the medallion and stared at it for several seconds, she sighed and looked seriously at her sister.

"Celestia, why are you doing this right now?" Luna stared at her sister. "Don't say that it's only to escape the tasks of the palace. I know you think of something else."

At Luna's question, Celestia was surprised, then she lowered her gaze and looked at Luna with a sad little smile.

"What I told you is true, I need to relax a bit. But it’s also true that I’m doing this for another reason. I know how much Dusk has suffered these last few days, and I… I don't want to keep waiting for a free hour next month to just go see him. He's almost like a son to me, and I need to see with my own eyes that he's okay." Celestia said with a small smile. "Besides, since my little sister doesn't want to tell me why she came back so melancholy from Ponyville, maybe I can find out if I go there myself." Celestia added, looking lovingly at Luna. The blue alicorn looked surprised and then looked away in embarrassment.

"Well, see you tonight." Celestia said with a big smile, opening one of the windows in her room and flying outside.

For her part, Luna slowly approached the window and saw her sister while she was flying away and no one paid her attention, since they only saw an ordinary pegasus fly.

"Sister, you’re too nosy." Luna said, sighing as she watched Celestia flying away. She didn't want her sister to find out why she felt so sad since she had returned from Ponyville. But the truth was that deep down, she was also happy to know that her sister was still worried about her. "Hmpf! You’ll not fool me with your sweet words… I have to think of a good way to get revenge for when you return!" Luna added, changing her melancholic gaze for a mischievous smile. Determined to get revenge on her sister for all those water balloons she had thrown at her while disguised.

In the Ponyville library, Dusk Shine was walking in circles in the main hall. That morning he had woken up very early, however, almost two hours had already passed, and Dusk was still undecided about whether to leave the library or not. All that time, he had been staring at the floor with a worried look, completely terrified at the thought that he needed to reunite with his dear friends today.

"The letter from Princess Luna said that the spell worked. Although I don’t remember, I managed to erase the curse of Discord. So everything should be fine…" Dusk thought, walking towards the library door again, encouraging himself to join his friends. "But… what if it didn't work!? What if they still don't remember me!? I… I couldn't bear to see their looks of fear and indifference again!" Dusk feared, contradicting himself immediately, and again turning around and walking away from the door.

"If you keep that up, you're going to leave a hole in the floor." Spike said while eating some little sapphires from a bowl like they were cereal. The little drake was initially amused by seeing Dusk walking in circles from one place to another, but after so long, it was already beginning to irritate him. "I already told you. It was difficult but… I'm sure everything went well." Spike added, looking away, feeling somewhat sad when he remembered the price that Sunset had to pay to help Dusk.

"Love is seeing who you love happy, even… even if that someone is happy without you." Spike thought, a bit sad for some reason.

'KNOCK-KNOCK' Suddenly Dusk and Spike came out of their thoughts when they heard somepony knock on the door. Before either of them could approach the door, it opened, showing that those who had knocked had been precisely the five mares that Dusk wanted, while simultaneously afraid, to see.

"Girls..." Dusk said slowly, turning pale from not knowing how his friends would react.

Upon seeing the five mares, Dusk immediately noticed that they were all looking at him right in the eyes. And instantly, just by seeing the sparkle in their eyes, Dusk knew that this time his friends did recognize him. Realizing that, Dusk felt as if his body had lifted a great weight from him, and he immediately put on a tender smile and felt a great warmth in his heart when he saw that he had finally recovered his friends.

Applejack and the other mares slowly entered the library and looked away for an instant, as if they wanted to avoid seeing Dusk's smile at the moment.

"Are you sure you want me to do it?" Applejack asked, turning back to see her friends with a worried look. Then her four friends nodded and looked away again.

Not understanding what was happening, Dusk was confused as Applejack approached him slowly and stood in front of him. Then she raised her front hoof very high and hit Dusk in the face with all her might, causing the colt to jump from the blow and fall backwards against the floor, with a face of complete confusion and disbelief.

The lavender stallion was motionless on the ground, staring at nothing as he touched his sore cheek. Then he slowly shook his head to see his friends again. And then his surprise was even greater when he saw that they were crying.

"How...?" Applejack said with tears in her eyes, looking at Dusk with a mixture of anger and sadness. "How could you think we could be happy forgetting you!?" Applejack screamed, crying in anguish after hitting Dusk to remove the pain she felt inside.

Applejack's cry of sadness was something that hurt Dusk much more than the blow he had just received. Before him were his five precious friends, everyone with the same expression of sadness and anger, feeling betrayed to discover that Dusk had tried to erase his existence from their minds.

"That was very cruel... to make us forget all the beautiful moments we spent together." Fluttershy slowly wepted, staring at Dusk.

"I... I know..." Dusk answered, lowering his head and then returning to see his friends, sharing the mixture of emotions that they also felt at that moment. "I just… I wanted to keep you safe. And… It was the only way to keep Discord locked up so that he wouldn't hurt you anymore."

"We could have looked for another way! Together!" Rarity said, looking reproachfully at Dusk and then wiping her tears. “Dusk, never pull something like that again. Be it destiny or some other force, you are an important part of all of our lives! Our lives without you are....frankly, unimaginable!”

"Yeah! I know for a fact that an egghead like you would think of a way better plan!” Rainbow Dash accused before shaking her head. “No, this is all Sunset Shimmer’s fault! How the hell did that mare trick you into pulling that stunt?!”

"Who is Sunset?" Dusk asked confused, not understanding what his friend was referring to.

The five mares froze and looked just as confused. Then Spike appeared from behind Dusk and, without Dusk seeing him, he made quick signs to his friends not to continue talking about Sunset in front of Dusk.

"Uh... I-It seems there are a lot of things we need to talk about." Rarity said, looking a little confused at Spike and then at Dusk. Understanding that despite having recovered their memories, it seemed that there were still things they didn’t know.

"Oh… sure… I get it. I know we still have things to talk about." Dusk wrongly answered. Since he hadn't seen Spike's strange signs, he thought that Rarity and the others could be referring to something else, a very important matter that was still unfinished between them. "We still have to talk about what happened at the Grand Galloping Gala, about the answer that I -"

"No!" The five mares yelled at the same time, scared that Dusk would say something else out loud.

The truth was that none of the mares knew yet that their other friends had also declared to Dusk that night. And obviously they didn’t want Dusk to talk about a possible answer to their declarations in front of the others, as it would be a very uncomfortable situation for everyone.

"A-About what happened at the Grand Galloping Gala… W-We'll talk about it another time." Rainbow Dash said slightly blushing, trying to hide her nervousness. "We were not referring to that."

"Uh? So what were you referring to?" Dusk asked confused.

At that moment, Spike again desperately jumped behind Dusk for the mares to see him, and again he motioned for them not to continue talking about the subject.

"Uh... Well... We're not sure what happened yesterday..." Pinkie Pie said, looking at Dusk after looking confused at Spike, understanding that for some reason the little dragon didn't want Sunset Shimmer's name to be mentioned in front of Dusk. "But what we can tell you is…Stop attracting so many mares!”

"Attracting...mares?" Dusk asked with a heavy blush.

"Yes… Enough of playing the Casanova! If a certain mare hadn't become a jealous maniac, none of this would have happened." Pinkie Pie added, winking at Spike when she said 'certain mare' instead of Sunset's name, to which Spike only responded by slapping his claw across the face for how 'subtle' Pinkie Pie was.

"A certain jealous mare? What are you talking about?" Dusk asked again, thinking that everything his friend was saying was another of her crazy nonsensical speeches. "And I’m not a Casanova. I don't attract mares." Dusk tried to refute.

“Phooey!” the pink mare said as she got up close to the colt’s face. “You’re always alluring mares! With your handsome face and soft eyes and soothing voice and lovable dorky personality and how I can’t help but giggle to myself whenever we’re together, and-“ The pink mare cut herself off and blushed heavily when she realized that she was listing off the things that made her fall for the cute colt. “Just...try not to add more mares in your life!”

'KNOCK-KNOCK'

Just then, for the second time that morning, there was a knock on the library door. Pinkie Pie zoomed from where Dusk was and opened the door to see who it was. As she did so, she saw that there was a pony in an elegant blue cape, with a hood of the same color that hid her face. The pony lowered her hood to reveal that she was probably the most beautiful mare anyone present had ever seen. A tall mare with pink fur and pink, lilac and yellow mane.

"Hello! This is where Dusk Shine lives?" The beautiful pink mare asked, with a sweet voice and a radiant smile.

'SLAM! 'Pinkie Pie slammed the door and looked annoyed at Dusk.

"What did I just say?! I don't want any more rivals!" Pinkie said, looking threateningly at Dusk.

"Pinkie! Don’t be rude!" Rarity said quickly, rushing to open the door again. As soon as she opened the door, she immediately began to apologize to the pink mare. "Forgive my friend, she's a bit distracted this morning, but..." At that moment, Rarity froze as she recognized the mare standing in front of her. "You… You’re the Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!" Rarity yelled, almost shocked by surprise and excitement.

"Princess?" Applejack asked in confusion.

"Mi Amore What?" Rainbow Dash asked, believing that Rarity had said some tongue twister.

"Cadance?" Dusk said, as surprised as Rarity, seeing that his former babysitter was standing in front of the door of his home.

"Dusk!" Cadance said excitedly, quickly entering the library to give Dusk a big hug, who in turn blushed when he felt the soft aroma and fur of the alicorn. "I missed you soooo much! Tell me, do you want us to do our secret hoofshake?" Cadance added after hugging Dusk, looking at him with a tender smile.

"UH!?" Dusk said surprised, blushing a lot at what Cadance asked him. "I-I... I think I'm too old for that..." Dusk said, looking askance at his friends before averting his embarrassed face.

"Come on... for me?" Cadance said with the most tender smile that a mare could have, causing Dusk to panic and lower his head, resigned to what he was about to do.

"~Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake!~" Cadance and Dusk sang at the same time while jumping, then ducking, covering their eyes and uncovering them. "~Clap your hooves and do a little shake!~" They both sang as they clashed their hooves and then put their butts close and waved them.

"Pfft!" Rainbow Dash snorted, holding back her laughter when she saw Dusk doing the dance. While Dusk's face was redder than he could bear, feeling that he wanted the earth to swallow him at that precise moment.

"That was very sweet." Fluttershy said with a small smile.

"Yeah... It's good that you liked it, because no one will ever see it again." Dusk said, covering his face with his hoof while trying to hide his shame.

"I wouldn’t be so sure." Spike said with a malicious smile, who had taken the opportunity to take a photo of Dusk just when he was shaking his butt. Which caused Dusk to lower his head in defeat, knowing that later he would have to blackmail his little brother with several gems to be able to take that photo from him.

"Anyway... What are you doing here!?" Dusk asked, refocusing on Cadance's surprise arrival.

"Well, I haven't seen you for a long time, so I wanted to come see how you were. Even more so after finding out about everything you and your friends went through." Cadance said looking at Dusk with slight concern. "Besides, there is something I wanted to give you personally." The alicorn added, levitating a small envelope that he carried under her cloak, and giving it to Dusk.

As Dusk took the envelope, he opened it, and read with amazement what it had written.

"It's... a wedding invitation..." Dusk said with amazement.

"You look somewhat surprised." Cadance said, looking a little worried at Dusk. "I thought Shining had told you that our relationship was... serious enough."

"Uh? Oh, yeah, it's just… it's something sudden…" Dusk said, trying to smile, even though he felt a strange feeling of confusion.

"I knew that Cadance and Shining had a serious relationship. For so many years, I said I would do everything I could to take Cadance's heart from that fool. I vowed that if this moment ever came, I would do everything I could to prevent that wedding. But now…" Dusk thought, looking askance at his friends, who were looking at him intently. "What I feel for Cadance is love, but it’s not the same love that I feel for..."

"That idiot is too lucky..." Dusk finally said, pretending to be annoyed. "I hope you’ll be very happy." Dusk added with a small and honest smile. Feeling proud of finally being able to recognize, control and better understand his own feelings.

"I'm glad to hear that, soon-to-be little brother." Cadance said very happily, giving Dusk another warm hug. "I also want you to be as happy as I am now. And that's why… I'd like to have a little chat with your friends." Cadance added, turning to look at the five mares there.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Princess Mi Amore Cadenza wants to talk to us!" Rarity said excitedly, who seemed to know more about the Princess of Love than the others, due the celebrity and fashion magazines she read.

"Is she really a Princess?" Applejack asked a little incredulously, uninformed about things that happened in the big city, and her granny had always taught her that Princess Celestia was the only princess in the kingdom, at least until the arrival of Princess Luna.

"Yes I am. Though I prefer to have a much lower profile than my aunt, hehe." Cadance replied kindly, raising her wings hidden under her cloak for a moment, so that Applejack would see that she was indeed an alicorn.

Seeing Cadance's wings, the faces of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were frightened for a second as they realized that they had been talking face to face with a princess, without giving her a bow, and even almost made fun of her dance with Dusk. But Cadance was far from bothered, only laughed at the funny faces of the mares.

Giving a quick goodbye to Dusk, Cadance and the other mares left the library in an unknown direction, while Spike and Dusk stood in silence, not knowing what to do.

"When will the day be that I wake up without something strange happening?" Dusk thought aloud, realizing all the things that had happened in just a few minutes that morning.

"If nothing exciting happened, I couldn't eat as many gems as I do." Spike replied with a shrug.

"What? What are you talking about?" Dusk inquired.

At that moment, Spike covered his mouth, realizing that he almost revealed to Dusk his little secret 'part-time job' in Ponyville, which Dusk couldn't find out about.

"Uh, nothing! I-It doesn't matter, hehe." Spike said with a nervous laugh. "B-By the way, it was nice seeing interact with Cadance without you acting like love-struck fool." Spike added to quickly change the subject.

"Uh? Y-Yeah… I think I’ve changed a lot in the year that I have been in Ponyville…" Dusk said, putting a thoughtful look when remembering all his emotional changes in that year.

"Yeah... Well, I'm going out too." Spike said quickly, taking advantage of the fact that Dusk seemed lost in his thoughts to be able to go to his 'part-time job'. "Today there’s a big comic convention in town, so I'll be there all day. See you." The dragon said goodbye and left the library.

"Yeah... maybe now I just know what true love is..." Dusk murmured, so focused on his thoughts that he paid no attention to Spike when he left.

Dusk widened his eyes and quickly hit his head as punishment.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid! How can you say you know what true love is when you’re still undecided between five mares!?" Dusk thought, getting annoyed with himself. "Even... maybe undecided between six mares..." Dusk thought with a blush, remembering that a certain alicorn had also kissed him and had begun to generate strong feelings within him.

"Heh... Maybe what Pinkie Pie said is true, and I'm just a shameless Casanova who seeks to fall in love with many mares..." Dusk muttered crestfallen, mocking himself. "What am I saying, it's crazy! It's not like I'm so irresistible that beautiful mares just knock on my door incessantly." The colt giggled.

'KNOCK-KNOCK '

Just at that moment, there was a knock on the library door again. Then Dusk smiled as he opened the door, thinking that Spike must have forgotten something. But when he opened the door, Dusk's face twitched in surprise, seeing that indeed the one who had knocked had been a beautiful unknown mare. She was a pegasus with white fur and blond mane with a blue streak. The mare couldn’t help but remind Dusk of someone, but he couldn’t place his hoof on it. Then the white mare smiled happily and looked fondly at Dusk.

The white pegasus seemed to want for an instant to jump up and hug Dusk, however, she immediately restrained herself. Meanwhile, Dusk just stared at her, thinking that maybe Pinkie was right and he was a magnet for pretty mares without knowing it.

"How can I be so shameless!?" Dusk blushed, shaking his head to drive away those absurd ideas.

"Hi, my name is… uh… Golden Feather!" Celestia said under her pegasus guise, quickly creating a new identity for her temporary new look. "I'm a pegasus visiting from Cloudsdale. I don't know much about Ponyville, and someone told me that the town librarian was a very nice pony. So I wanted to know if you could give me a little tour of the town… If you’re not busy." 'Golden Feather' added, getting a little closer to Dusk and giving him a flirtatious look to have a little fun with her beloved student.

Dusk immediately took a nervous step back and blushed, still unable to get out of his head the idea that perhaps it was true that he was a Casanova without realizing it.

"Uh... I... well, actually, I don't have anything else to do today." Dusk said, looking away nervously, then looking at the white pegasus who was smiling. When he saw sweet smile reassuring him, a strange feeling that made him feel homesick for some reason.

"Perfect!" Golden Feather said excitedly, jumping to take a hoof from Dusk, and pushing him so that they could start touring the town right now. The disguised mare was ready to spend a pleasant time with Dusk, check that he was okay, and not least, to play a joke on him as was her custom.

Dusk and Celestia, or rather, Golden Feather, began to walk the streets of Ponyville, with the colt serving as a tour guide, indicating to Golden the names of the main shops and other prominent buildings in town, such as the town hall and the fountain. However, little by little Dusk realized that Golden Feather didn't seem to care about buildings. She simply smiled as she clung to Dusk and shoved him from time to time playfully, as well as concentrating more on the ponies that passed her than on the buildings.

"You don't know how much I enjoy this tranquility." Golden said with a huge and tender smile when she saw that some foals were playing ball and they passed by her without even noticing her. "Walk quietly without anyone looking at you or wanting to bow."

"Do the pegasi in Cloudsdale bow to you?" Dusk asked at the weird comment.

"Uh…. Yeah, it's just... you know... my family is very wealthy and sometimes some ponies treat me like I'm almost royalty, hehe." Golden laughed nervously, realizing that she had to be more careful when speaking so that Dusk wouldn't find out who she really was.

"Oh, sure, I understand." Dusk said with a polite smile. "Actually, for a few days, I-"

"Look! It’s Dusk Shine!" A female voice said suddenly, which made Dusk and Golden turn around. Then Dusk recognized Daisy, the florist, who approached where he was with her two inseparable friends, Lily and Rose. "Today we went back to Ponyville. After all the mess that Discord made, we weren't sure whether to come back or not. But we already checked that everything is fine. And we wanted to thank you for saving all of Ponyville."

"Thanks, but actually it wasn't just me." Dusk said with a nervous smile, showing exactly what he had wanted to say to Golden Feather moments before. Many ponies from the town approached him to thank him ever since him and his friends had saved Ponyville from Discord. And although Dusk liked receiving these thanks, he was also beginning to be uncomfortable that he could no longer walk calmly without somepony interrupting him.

"At least it's something that won't last forever. I can't imagine how Princess Celestia can bear to always be the center of attention." Dusk thought with a tired look. Something that made Golden Feather smile mischievously, guessing what Dusk was thinking.

"It was horrible! Our own flowers started dancing and making fun of us!" Lily said, horrified to remember when Discord started to change their town. “We were all in danger and Princess Celestia didn't even move her fat flank from her throne to help us! If it hadn't been for you and the girls, this town would be over." Lily added with resentment in her voice.

"Uh... yeah..." Dusk said, looking away, wanting to hide the fact that he disliked that comment.

"Well, see ya! We have to go to the comic convention that is in the park." Daisy added, smiling at Dusk again. "Again, thank you!" Then the three florists continued on their way, leaving Dusk and Golden alone as they watched them as they walked away.

"Dusk, are you okay? You look somewhat annoyed." Golden asked curiously, raising an eyebrow when she saw that Dusk was frowning slightly.

"It's nothing, it's just... I don't like it when they talk bad about my teacher." Dusk said with a sigh. "None of them know what Princess Celestia really does for this kingdom and to protect us all."

"Hmm, that could be… But they’re right too. I… I think that Princess Celestia could have handled things better." Golden said, looking away with a thoughtful look. "We must have better defenses and be stronger against the evils and dangers that threaten the kingdom..."

"So you think it's all the Princess's fault? That she must carry all that weight alone?" Dusk asked, feeling a bit annoyed at believing that Golden was judging Celestia.

"No… that's why she has you." Golden replied with a smile, affectionately touching Dusk's side with her hoof.

"The Princess doesn't just have me. She has you, and all the other ponies in Equestria." Dusk said with a tender smile. "She trusts in everyone's strength, and that when all ponies are together, no evil can defeat us."

"Hmm... Maybe the evil that haunts us is too much, even for the three pony tribes united..." Golden whispered thoughtfully, thinking of something she had been thinking about for quite some time. Then she realized that Dusk was looking at her with concern and that she had once again stepped out of her role. Then she changed her serious expression and reminded herself that she should stop acting as guardian of the kingdom for that day. "Uh… Those mares said they were going to a convention. We should go too!" Golden quickly added with a nervous smile, changing the subject so that Dusk would stop looking at her suspiciously. Then Golden pushed Dusk to run and go to the park as well.

Upon arriving at the park, it was Dusk who was more surprised than Golden to see what was there. Several stands had been set up, in which various books, comics and action figures appeared to be sold. There was also a stage where some ponies gave talks while the ponies in the audience, like the vast majority of ponies that visited the stands, were dressed as a fictional character. And at the park entrance a big sign had been put up that read: 'PonyCon'.

"What is a PonyCon?" Dusk wondered aloud. Then he remembered that Spike had mentioned to him that there would be a comic convention in Ponyville.

"Wooow… Why are there so many ponies in disguise? It seems fun! Let’s go!" Golden Feather said excitedly, seeing that there were several stands selling different products.

Excited to see something new, Golden immediately ran to one of the stands that was more crowded, assuming that if there were so many ponies there, it must be because there must be something good. Dusk quickly followed her, feeling strange to be surrounded by ponies wearing masks, eye masks, or even full body costumes.

"Wait a minute… I know that comic!" Dusk said after arriving with Golden at the stand chosen by the pegasus. There was a large table where Lyra's famous comic: 'Forbidden Love' was sold.

"What is this? Local art?" Golden said, taking one of the comics that were for sale and starting to read it.

As Golden Feather read, Dusk came over and picked up one of the comics. Although he didn't like to read comics, he had promised himself to read this one a long time ago, since everyone in town seemed to like it.

"Well, I guess it's time to see what all the fuss over this comic is about..." Dusk thought as he looked at the cover and opened it. "How odd, the pony on the cover has the same mane cut as me."

Little by little Dusk was reading the comic, and as he progressed through the pages, his eyes slowly opened more and more. He soon began to turn the pages faster, concentrating more on the drawings than the dialogue, his eyes wide with shock as he finally discovered the true nature of that comic.

"What the heck!?" Dusk yelled, completely blushed after finishing watching the comic.

The first thing that shocked Dusk was to discover that he had allowed a comic with quite suggestive, almost obscene drawings, to enter the library. He had always thought that Lyra's comic was somewhat childish and simple, because he had even caught Spike reading it on the sly, who had always liked just reading superhero comics. But the reality was that the drawings were for an adult audience, showing their protagonists in various situations that always ended in some carnal act.

That was enough to shock Dusk on its own, but it was the other obvious big detail that left him stunned… the comic was about him! It didn’t use his original name, but the main character was a young stallion named Dusk, also nicknamed by the mares 'Dusk-sempai' who had the same coat color and mane as Dusk Shine. In addition, the story was about how the mares of the town where they lived fell in love with him. With characters like 'Clarity', 'Flutter-chan', 'Kinky Pie', 'Juicy Apple' and 'Rainbow Lash' that were an obvious allusion to her five friends and looked nearly identical to them.

"I... I never did any of this with them..." Dusk said awkwardly, red with shame when he saw drawings in which 'Dusk-sempai' kissed 'Clarity' and 'Juicy Apple' at the same time; or when 'Dusk-sempai' had a carnal relationship with 'Flutter-chan' under a tree; or when 'Kinky Pie' dressed completely in leather to fulfill a strange fetish for ‘Dusk-sempai’. "This... This is immoral!" Dusk said looking away embarrassed, but inevitably imagining himself and his friends in those lewd acts, which made him turn even redder than he was.

At that moment, Dusk noticed another very important detail. The creator of the comic, Lyra, had to have the inspiration to write her comic in his own life. In fact, there were several events drawn in Lyra's comic that were strikingly similar to real situations that had happened to Dusk and his friends. And now that Dusk saw it externally, he realized how obvious it was to see that the mares were in love with the protagonist, seeing how the mares from the comic did crazy things to get closer to the comic’s Dusk in a romantic way, just as his real friends had done with him!

"Lyra made this comic. The girls and Spike read it. Everyone in town read it! Maybe… Was I the only one who was oblivious that my friends were in love with me!?" Dusk thought ashamed, remembering the declaration of love from his five friends. He held his head as he realized how clueless he had been.

"Hey, good 'Dusk-sempai' cosplay." Suddenly a pony passing by Dusk said, disguised with an orange jacket, a blue headband and a spiky blonde wig. “Although you got the colors of the cutie mark wrong. Rookie mistake." The fanatic stallion in disguise added, walking away again.

“This isn’t a costume!. The Dusk of the comic is based on me!" Dusk tried to explain, getting mad at the irony that the fanatic ponies at that convention thought he was doing some kind of ridiculous cosplay. "Come on Golden, we better get out of here." Dusk added, determined to get out of this crazy convention soon.

Dusk lowered his head to his side and saw that Golden was still absorbed in reading the comic. Dusk couldn't see Golden's face because it was covered by the comic she was reading, but he was concerned to see that Golden seemed to be trembling slightly.

"Golden, I... I’m sorry. I didn't know that they sold this kind of provocative merchandise in this place." Dusk said, thinking that seeing such sexualized drawings had horrified that pegasus, who didn’t know how 'special' Ponyville ponies could be. "I promise you, the ponies in this town are kind and they don't think about doing those things that-"

"I love it..." Golden Feather whispered, breathing heavily, trembling with excitement. "I love this comic! How did I not find out about this before!?" Golden said excitedly, detaching her face from the comic and showing that she was all blushed, with a somewhat perverted smile as she breathed heavily and hugged the comic she had just read.

"I didn't know that Dusk could be so lewd..." Golden thought, seeing his beloved student with a mischievous smile. "No, Dusk would never do any of that... But just imagine it...!" Golden thought excitedly while her imagination thought of new erotic situations that Dusk could experience. Something told her that her evenings in bed were about to get a lot steamier.

Suddenly, Dusk was distracted when he saw that several ponies around him began to look and point at him, whispering among themselves while holding their newly purchased copies of Lyra's comic. Dusk quickly understood what they must be talking about, as he was just standing next to the stand where they sold the comics of his cartoon doppelganger.

"We better go." Dusk said nervously, taking Golden by the hoof to for her to follow him.

"Uh? B-But I want to keep reading…" Golden Feather said with a pouty face. However, seeing that Dusk had an uncomfortable gaze upon becoming the center of attention, Golden remembered that she was there to spend a nice day with Dusk, and that was her priority. "Okay, just… give me a second." At that moment, Golden ran to the comic seller behind the stand and wrote on a piece of paper. "This is my address, please send collect a copy of all volumes of the comic." Golden Feather added with a smile, giving the paper to the vendor, and then running back with Dusk to get out of there.

As Dusk and Golden left, the comic book seller, who was there as Lyra's employee, took the paper that the white pegasus had handed him and read the address.

"The Royal Castle of Canterlot!?" The seller read in amazement, not knowing if this was a joke or if it was real.

Once they left the Ponyville park and got away from the 'PonyCon', Dusk and Golden went back into the main streets of the town. Which had very few ponies circulating, since it seemed that the vast majority of the town was at the convention.

"Maybe we could go to the Ponyville Spa. My friends really like to go there." Dusk said with a thoughtful look as he walked. He wanted to be a good tour guide for Golden Feather for her to get the best of Ponyville's impressions.

"Nah! I always go to Spa on the sly." Golden Feather said, remembering that sometimes when she had five or ten minutes off a week, she would sneak out of her maids for a quick steam bath.

Suddenly Dusk was distracted by hearing a little colt cry. He looked to his side and saw that not far from there under a tree, there were three youg colts, of which two looked sadly at the top of the tree while the third cried.

"Don’t worry!" Golden Feather said suddenly, flying up to the top of the tree, pulling out a ball that had gotten stuck there and giving it back to the little colt. "Don’t cry. When you're afraid and don't know what to do, you just have to ask for help." Golden said, caressing the little colt tenderly, as he stopped crying and smiled at the warm touch of the white pegasus.

While that was happening, Dusk just kept looking from where he was. Then he smiled tenderly and blushed a little when he saw how sweet Golden Feather was.

"Come on Dusk, why don’t we join in these little ones’ game!" Golden said with great enthusiasm, looking at Dusk with a big smile that filled his heart with warmth. Then Golden Feather started playing ball with the little colts, sharing and laughing as if she too was just a little filly.

Seeing Golden's enthusiasm, Dusk couldn't help but feel infected by that joy and forgot for a second that he was already an adult to join the game. So they played ball for several minutes, with Golden Feather becoming competitive from time to time, to show her good skills dominating the ball, but at the same time, always paying attention to the young colts so that they too had fun.

Finally, the mothers of the colts called them, and the three little colts walked away, but not before giving Golden a big hug, who, for her part, smiled excitedly when she felt those hugs.

"Huff... That was fun." Dusk said, still a little tired after playing, since he wasn’t used to so much physical activity. "So, what would you like to do now?"

At that moment Golden Feather put a thoughtful look, then widened her eyes at a great idea. She looked flirtatiously at Dusk, approaching slowly and gracefully, and touching his chest with her hoof.

"Wanna have a roll together...?" Golden said bringing her face close to Dusk and giving him a very sexy look, causing Dusk to be surprised and blush to his ears.

Then Golden quickly crouched down and rolled onto the grass, bursting into laughter seeing how nervous Dusk had gotten. Only then did Dusk realize that Golden had referred to rolling around in the grass, which made him sigh in relief and gave the pegasus an amused reproachful face. Then, Dusk also leaned back on the grass, smiling as Golden rolled and laughed, as if never before had rolled on the grass.

"How is it that you like this more than going to the Spa?" Dusk asked once Golden stopped rolling and lay down next to Dusk.

"It’s not that I like it more, in fact, I love going to the Spa. Sometimes a mare wants to be pampered and her coat and mane to shine." Golden answered, moving her mane with a very feminine gesture. "But there are also times when you just want to enjoy the simple things, hehe." Golden added with a small smile.

Seeing Golden's smile, Dusk couldn't help but blush and look away. Then he turned his gaze back to the sky while mentally repeating something he had been thinking about for a while, after spending so much time with Golden Feather.

Dusk couldn't get out of his head how sweet and tender Golden had been with the little colts, just as Fluttershy would have been if she had been there. Also, Golden was as competitive and fun as Rainbow Dash. And her laugh, every time she laughed, Dusk couldn't help but imagine Pinkie Pie laughing, because they both had that same warmth in their laughter. Furthermore, it was clear that Golden had two very opposite sides that she could reconcile very well. On the one hand, she had her flirtatious and feminine side, worthy of Rarity herself, one of the things that Dusk loved the most about her. On the other hoof, Golden also loved simple things, and whenever she spoke she had a look full of honesty, which made it impossible to mistrust her, just like her dear friend Applejack... If Dusk had to say it... It was as if Golden Feather had the best features of her best friends in a single pony. And thinking that made Dusk blush even more.

"Dusk!" Golden said suddenly, appearing over Dusk's head when he was lost in thought, staring at the sky. "I want to meet your zebra friend!"

"Uh? You... H-How do you know I have a zebra friend?" Dusk asked nervously, standing up while his cheeks were still blushed from what he had been thinking seconds ago.

"Oh! I… Well… I think I heard somepony mention it when I got to town, hehe." Golden Feather answered nervously. She had been so amused, that for a second again she almost forgot to hide her secret identity.

Then both ponies got up and started walking towards the Everfree Forest. With a very radiant Golden Feather, while Dusk kept his cheeks slightly blushed while dozens of different thoughts and feelings crowded into his mind.

Away from everything that happened with Dusk, his five friends were in Sugarcube Corner with the Princess of Love, Princess My Amore Cadenza, or, as she herself had asked them to call her, simply Cadance. Who for her part, now that they were in a closed place, had removed her traveling cloak, in order to show her true and impressive figure. A tall and beautiful alicorn, dressed in all the royal adornments and crown that came with being one of the three princesses of the kingdom.

Besides Dusk's five friends, only Mr. and Mrs. Cake knew that Princess Cadance was in Ponyville. The bakers were stunned when Cadance pulled her cloak and revealed her identity. Then both ponies ran back and forth to bring their best cakes and tea to the table where Cadance and the five mares had sat.

"Please, don't worry. This is more than enough." Cadance said kindly, after seeing how nervous the owners of the pastry shop were, who continued to fill the table with cakes so that she wouldn’t be missing anything. "Don't stress yourself too much, Mrs. Cake. It’s important that you’re relaxed in the weeks to come. By the way... How long until you’re due?" Cadance added, looking tenderly at the already visibly pregnant mare with a smile.

"Oh, don't worry! There’s still a few weeks left until this beautiful bun is ready to come out." Mrs. Cake answered with a pat of her swollen tummy, impressed with the sweetness of the princess.

"I’m very happy for you." Cadance said with a another smile, as Mrs. Cake smiled again and withdrew to give them privacy.

"Hm? Why was that smile so...sad?" Pinkie Pie thought, who, as an expert in smiles, knew how to recognize that smile was to hide something that briefly reminded Cadance of something sad.

"I’m so happy to finally be able to speak with all of you. For such a long time, I wanted to meet the shy but brave Fluttershy, the fearless Rainbow Dash, the fun-loving Pinkie Pie, the strong and reliable Applejack, and the elegant Rarity. You’re all so beautiful!" Cadance exclaimed with a tender smile, sincerely complimenting the five mares before her.

"Dusk Shine always sent Aunt Celestia letters recounting his adventures and lessons learned in Ponyville. So I was able to learn how much you helped Dusk grow as a pony, and how much Dusk loves all of you. I really appreciate that you have managed to make Dusk reopen his heart to friendship and love." Cadance continued speaking, thanking the five mares heartily, and then sipping gracefully from her cup of tea. "This tea is delicious Mrs. Cake! Thank you!" Cadance added happily, speaking to the kitchen for her hosts to hear.

At Cadance's beautiful words, the five mares couldn't help but blush and look away. The mare was not only kind, friendly and tender, she was also as beautiful as a model, and her voice was sweet and melodious. And to top it all off... She was an alicorn! A pony of royalty!

"She was Dusk Shine's babysitter!?" The five mares thought in shock, understanding perfectly why Cadance had been Dusk's first love. "She’s a perfect ten! Even I would fall in love with her if I was a stallion! And... She’s known and adored Dusk Shine since he was little!" The five mares thought in terror, realizing that if that princess entered the race to win Dusk's heart, none of them would have a chance to compete against her.

"I… there is another reason I wanted to meet with you." Cadance said, putting on a more concerned look. "I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry to have interrupted your declarations of love to Dusk that night, at the Grand Galloping Gala. I… I was the one who ordered the palace maids to whisk away Dusk before he answered you."

The five mares stared at her in confusion for a second after the alicorn’s apology. But then they each remembered exactly what Cadance was referring to. That moment at the Gala, in which they had opened their hearts and each one had had the courage to finally confess their feelings to Dusk. And each time, before Dusk was able to react and give an answer, someone had teleported him away from them.

"You were the one that screwed up my declaration!" The five mares yelled angrily at the same time. Forgetting that they had a princess before her, the mares only felt fury at Cadance for ruining their special moment with Dusk.

However, that fury quickly disappeared when each mare realized the that the other four yelled the same thing. But, how was that possible? They each thought that her other friends didn't know about her declaration of love. But if with what Cadance said was true, that could only mean...

Then, like a bucket of cold water, the five mares froze and looked stunned at each other, finally understanding what had happened. As if it were a deja-vu, when months ago each had talked about the stallion they liked and they all suddenly found out that they were all talking about the same stallion. They finally realized that Dusk had in fact received multiple confessions that night.

"You... You too..." Rarity muttered terrified, looking at her friends.

"I... I didn't know that..." Pinkie Pie said shakily, becoming incredibly speechless at that moment.

"Everyone…? How’s that even possible…!?" Rainbow Dash said, slapping her hoof on her face with a mixture of fear and frustration inside her.

"I have a very particular ability. Canterlot ponies call me the 'Princess of Love' because my magic has always reacted strongly to the emotions of those around me. Especially powerful feelings, such as love. Cadance said, looking with a worried smile at the five mares. Her incredible magical empathy allowed her to sense the growing sense of fear and dread growing the five ponies.

"That night of the Grand Galloping Gala, I was very excited to see Dusk. I saw him entering the castle from afar, and immediately I could feel what he felt his heart... For so many years, his poor heart was closed to everyone around him. But after a year without seeing him, I could feel how his heart and his feelings had changed, and I felt enormous joy for my little Dusk." Cadance added with a tender smile. "However, that was not the only thing I felt when my magic and thoughts focused on Dusk. I could also feel the strong bond that several mares had formed with him. And it wasn’t a simple bond of friendship. All those mares that had managed to touch Dusk's heart had also reciprocally opened their hearts to Dusk and had created that beautiful bond of love! And I was even more shocked to discover that those mares just so happened to be the five friends he made back in Ponyville. I looked deep within all of you and knew that you were all preparing to confessing to him on the exact same night! And that’s why....I decided to act.

"I don't understand, why did you interrupt us if you know that we are all really in love with Dusk?" Applejack asked, still confused.

"She did it for us... Because she knew Dusk would reject us." Rarity said, looking away sadly. She inferred that if Cadance could feel the feelings of others, she could guess that Dusk wouldn’t accept their declarations.

"On the contrary, I stopped Dusk from answering you because Dusk was going to accept your declarations." Cadance said with a slightly more serious look, to the surprise of the five mares.

"Dusk going to...return our feelings?" Fluttershy gasped, a little happy to hear that if Cadance hadn’t interrupted, Dusk would have also told her that he loved her.

Rarity covered her mouth in fear and Pinkie Pie lowered her gaze sadly. Both mares being the first to really understand what Cadance meant.

"What’s wrong? Isn't it good to know that Dusk feels the same about us?" Rainbow Dash asked, confused by seeing Rarity and Pinkie Pie's expressions.

"Just one..." Applejack said slowly, finally understanding the truth. "Dusk would only have accepted the feelings of whoever had declared to him first." The pink alicorn slowly nodded in confirmation.

"You five and Dusk have a very special bond. You all love Dusk, and I'm pretty sure he loves you all too. But it’s not something he can accept. Right now, his heart is divided." Cadance explained to each of the mares. "If I hadn't intervened, Dusk would have stayed with whoever had declared himself first. And maybe there would have been nothing wrong with that, since I would be letting two ponies who love each other be together. But what about the other four? Would it have been fair for them to have been rejected just for being a minute late? And what would have happened to the one who would have stayed with Dusk? Would she be happy knowing that the stallion next to her loves her, but only chose her because she was the first to tell him?"

The table fell into an awkward silence that lasted for quite some time as the five mares collected their thoughts and feelings. Each one understood why Cadance had done what she did and what it meant for them overall.

"What you did… could have been the best for us. But for Dusk…" Rarity said with a worried look, finally breaking the silence.

"Now Dusk is even more confused about whom to choose, because now he knows five mares really want to be with him." Pinkie Pie said, also with a worried look.

"I know. That's why I'm here." Cadance said, looking seriously at the five mares. "Dusk is very important to me, I've known him since he was a young colt. That is why I want him to be happy in his life, and for that, I must make sure that the mare next to him is the best mare in the world."

At Cadance's words, the five mares were shocked. Did she... Did she want to put them to the test!?

"Uh... Princess... If you want to test us or something like that, it is not gonna fly with me." Rainbow Dash said, scratching her head and looking away. "We already went through that with that crazy Sunset Shimmer mare. So I don't want nopony to test me."

“Yeah… No offense, princess, but I think this is something that concerns only us and Dusk." Applejack said with a nervous smile. However, she immediately lost her smile upon seeing that Cadance's expression had changed drastically.

"Don't ever mention that name again!... It’s because of that mare is why I’m making sure love never hurts Dusk like that again!" Cadance said with a furious look. All the kindness that was present in the mare disappeared as soon as Rainbow Dash mentioned Sunset. Just remembering how devastated and hurt her beloved Dusk had been when Sunset left him made Cadance's blood boil. Then she closed her eyes to calm herself and smiled sweetly again. "I don't want to put you to a test. I just want to make sure 'Dusk-get-the-best-mare'." Cadance repeated again with a very large and exaggerated smile, emphasizing her last words.

As soon as Cadance was angry, the five mares felt how tense the atmosphere had become. For a second, the mares almost forget that they were facing an alicorn princess. Thankfully, Cadance retained her composure and returned to the sweet and kind mare that she was. However, her last words made it clear that she was not asking a favor. Cadance would make sure that Dusk didn’t suffer for love again, no matter what the means.

"B-But how will we know which is the best match for Dusk?" Fluttershy asked sheepishly.

"Oh! I know! I'll go ask him!" Pinkie Pie said, quickly standing up.

"Oh no. Not you, missy!" Rarity said quickly, using her magic to make Pinkie Pie sit back down. "Princess Cadance already said so. Dusk feels something for all of us, and that is why he’s confused and cannot decide. If any of us go and press him, chances are that Dusk will choose that mare."

"So, what we do? Do you want to decide for Dusk?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Cadance. She didn’t like the idea of the alicorn princess coming all this way just to make a choice for Dusk.

"As much as I would enjoy choosing a mare for Dusk, love is hardly that simple. It must be him who finally decides. Also, as I was telling you, I only know you from the letters that Dusk wrote to Aunt Celestia, and unfortunately I cannot stay here for more than one day, since I must return to my royal obligations." Cadance sighed, thinking that she would indeed like to stay there and meet more of Dusk's potential marefriends. "However, I've been thinking that maybe there is another way to know which of you would be Dusk's perfect marefriend." Cadance added with a small smile as she levitated her traveling cloak to search for something.

"I know! We can ask the fans!" Pinkie Pie said, turning to face the fourth wall of the room, staring out at an imaginary audience. "What do you think?! Who should Dusk Shine stay with? Oh wait! Didn’t the author already do a poll at this point of the story." Pinkie Pie said with a thoughtful look.

"Could you please focus on reality for a minute? This is serious!" Rainbow Dash groaned, turning Pinkie Pie back so that she would put her crazy things aside and stop imagining that they were all in some kind of romantic fictional story.

"Well, I don't know. How likely is it that five girls will fall in love with the same guy? Maybe we’re in a bad romantic fanfic and we don't know it." Pinkie Pie added with a shrug. "Hopefully I'm the fan favorite!"

"There are no fans!" Rainbow Dash yelled and briefly dropped her face on the table in irritation from how the pink mare was making her question reality...again.

"Actually, asking the fans is precisely what I had in mind." Cadance smirked, to the amazement of Rainbow Dash and the others. "Tell me, have any of you read this interesting comic?" Cadance asked, holding up a copy of Lyra's comic: 'Forbidden Love'.

End of chapter 7

Chapter 8 - Cupid's Arrows

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Cupid’s Arrows

In the park of Ponyville, an event was taking place that all fans of comics and fiction books looked forward to year after year, the famous 'PonyCon'. A mega event that just that year was held in Ponyville, to the relief of Mayor Mare and the town council, because after the recent Discord attack, the town needed to regain its reputation throughout Equestria. Although, unexpectedly for them, it was precisely because of the Discord attack that the fans filled the town to visit which was for a few hours, the home of the lord of chaos.

Just at that time in the afternoon on the center stage of the PonyCon, Lyra Heartstring, the creator of the hit comic series 'Forbidden Love' was there for a Q&A panel. Her comic had already surpassed the limits of Ponyville and was beginning to cause a sensation in some large cities nearby, such as Canterlot and Cloudsdale.

Lyra was sitting behind a podium. While in front of her was a crowd of ponies in cosplay. Everyone waiting to be able to ask a question to the creator of the new favorite comic book of the kingdom.

"Hi. Misty Morning from Cloudsdale." A mare from the audience said as she stood up. She was dressed in a sailor scout uniform and a blonde wig with two long pigtails. "I wanted to know if you could tell us if 'Dusk-sempai' will end up married to one of the mares in his harem."

"Ugh… I already told you. I can't reveal any spoilers about the story! Next question!" Lyra said with frustration, since she wasn't used to questions from fans, and it was beginning to irritate her that everyone wanted to know how her comic series ended.

"I’m Cherry Fizzy, from Ponyville. I wanted to know if the great and powerful 'Vixie' will meet 'Dusk-sempai' again in the future. And I also wanted to know if Jerky, the mailmare, and Mayor Bare will be part of the harem." Another fan in the crowd asked, who was disguised with a black mask and pointy ears like a bat.

"Oh! Very good question." Mayor Mare murmured, who was right next to the previous pony, wearing a green cape and a crown with two golden horns.

Before Lyra could even reply, the crowd began to argue, causing an uproar.

"Jerky can't join the harem!"

"Princess Moon and Princess Hestia better join too!"

"No, no, no! You can’t add mares to the harem just like that. Seven mares is the maximum number!"

"Yeah, I hate when harem stories add a lot of girls and there’s no character development."

"I want all the mares to join the harem."

"That’s not realistic!"

"May a dragon or a griffin join the harem in the future?!"

"Why is the comic monthly? It should be weekly!"

“Your editor missed a typo in the last issue!”

"By the way, what happened to that zebra? Will she also join the harem?"

Thus continued the discussion among fans of the comic 'Forbidden Love'. And while the comic's loyal readers argued with each other, Lyra simply held her head and put on a tired look as she watched them argue.

"The fans are great, but some of them just won’t calm down and enjoy the story..." Lyra thought, sighing with a smile, raising her gaze thoughtfully as she stopped paying attention to the audience and began to think of new scenarios for the characters in her comic. "Although, having Dusk fall in love with a princess does sound like a pretty good idea… Nah! That would be crazy…" Lyra laughed as she thought how absurd it would be to see an important and respectable alicorn princess in love with her comic book character.

Not far from there, six mares were approaching the main stage. Five of them appeared not to be in costume at all, unlike the vast majority of the convention ponies present. However, the sixth mare did seem to be more in line with those around her, as she wore a long cloak and a hood to hide her face and much of her body.

In any other crowd, the one who would have stood out from that group of six mares would have been the tall pink mare wearing a cape and hood. However, it turned out that the five other mares stood out the most to the crowd. Many of them were looking on in awe and some where even applauding.

Finally, the six mares arrived in front of the stage, and all the ponies around them, who seconds before had been discussing about Lyra's comic, began to applaud them for the spectacular cosplay that was in front of them. Next to Cadance, who remained hidden under her blue cape so as not to attract attention, was Rarity, who had gathered her mane to give it an even more elegant manestyle, in addition, she wore a fine diamond necklace on her neck. Next to her was Pinkie Pie, who also remained almost the same, only her mane was now divided into two ponytails, and she had a patch on her flank to disguise her cutie mark for that of a cake and a whip. Then there was Applejack, who had simply traded in her stetson hat for a simpler gardener's hat. After her was Fluttershy, who kept the same style of mane, but had painted the ends a light green. And finally there was Rainbow Dash, who had her combed back and had two lines of red makeup painted on her cheeks like war paint.

"Those are the best 'Forbidden Love’ cosplay I've ever seen!" An excited fan finally yelled, causing the other ponies around him to also shout excitedly, clap louder, and start taking pictures of them. Most of them without knowing that before them were the true versions of 'Clarity', 'Kinky Pie', 'Juicy Apple', 'Flutter-chan' and 'Rainbow Lash', or at least, the versions on which Lyra based her characters on.

As everyone in the audience applauded, Rainbow Dash covered her face, embarrassed that she had ‘dressed up’ for a nerd convention. Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy also felt somewhat uncomfortable, although little by little that discomfort wore away as they felt the support of the other ponies. The only one who seemed to enjoy the whole thing was Pinkie Pie, who even did some sexy poses, which her comic book counterpart did regularly.

"You see? I told you it would be a good idea." Cadance whispered to the mares, referring how the Princess of Love had asked them to dress up as Lyra's comic characters in order to know the opinion of the fans at the convention. "Excuse me, has the comic book Q&A session started yet?" Cadance asked sweetly at Lyra, who was staring in amazement at the girls and their costumes.

"Uh... Yeah, go ahead." Lyra eagerly replied, thinking that it had been good that the girls arrived, and thus the fans would have forgotten about their crazy discussions.

"Good!" Cadance beamed, ready to ask her question as the other ponies in the audience continued to praise the cosplay of the five mares. "My question is: Of all the mares who are in love with 'Dusk-sempai', which is the best mare?"

As soon as Cadance finished her question, a deathly silence covered everything around her. All the fans around her stared in shock, stopped paying attention to the five mares, and fixed their gaze on Cadance. Meanwhile, Lyra opened her mouth in shock and gave a look of deep terror.

"Nonononono! You can't ask the fans that!!" Lyra thought in horror, knowing what was to come.

As if it were an avalanche approaching, the noise grew louder and louder as fans began to argue with each other. A discussion that little by little gave way to a fight, while the public began to separate into groups and different signs began to appear, such as: 'Team Flutter-chan', 'Team Kinky Pie', 'Team Mayor Bare' which curiously it was raised only by Mayor Mare.

To Cadance's surprise, her simple and innocent question had caused chaos among all fans of the ‘Forbidden Love’ comic. An argument that gradually ceased to be just a verbal discussion, beginning to physically push and fight between the crazed fans, who couldn’t bear to have somepony tell them that their favorite mare was not the best.

"Death to Team Clarity!"

"Long live the tsundere girls, long live Rainbow Lash!"

"My waifu is Juicy Apple!"

The screams of the fans were getting louder. Meanwhile, Fluttershy and the other girls remained motionless, terrified to see the sudden change in attitude in the fans.

Realizing her mistake, Cadance looked scared at all the ponies, then closed her eyes for a second, and illuminated her horn with a great light. As she did so, everyone around her felt a warm and pleasant feeling in their chests, and all that unbridled passion that they had felt to defend their favorite character quickly disappeared, leaving everyone with a silly smile of satisfaction.

"What happened? Why were we fighting over something so silly?"

"It's true, we shouldn't fight. We all love the same thing."

"Team harem! Team harem! Team harem!"

With that last shout, all the fans joined in, and slowly they all left the main stage, enjoying that warm feeling of love that Cadance had managed to ignite in their hearts.

"Huff… My bad. I never thought the fans… would be so passionate." Cadance said softly, panting a bit and looking guiltily at Dusk's friends. While the five mares slowly calmed down again as those crazy fans around them retreated.

"That was dangerous, you know?. You should never ask a romantic comedy fan who the best girl is." Lyra said scratching her head, walking off the stage. "Well, at least it served to get all those fans off my back." Lyra said with a satisfied sigh and began to leave.

"W-Wait!" Cadance said quickly before Lyra pulled away. "If I can't ask that question, could you at least tell me who does Dusk stay with in the end?"

"Ugh... again..." Lyra said, smacking her forehead with her hoof in frustration. "I already told you, you have to wait until the end of the comic!" The minty mare then left, leaving Cadance and Dusk's five friends alone in front of the stage.

"Well... That was crazy." Rainbow Dash said, tousling her mane back to normal and brushing her makeup off her cheeks.

"I don't know, I thought it was fun." Pinkie Pie said, smiling as she picked up from the ground a sign that said, 'Team Kinky Pie' and another sign that said 'Death to Team Clarity', which made Rarity shoot her a look.

"I thought it would be a good idea to ask other ponies, but it definitely didn't turn out as I expected." Cadance said with a sad look.

"But, how will you know which one of us loves Dusk Shine the most?" Fluttershy asked.

"What, I already know the answer to that. You all love him equally." Cadance said with a confused look.

"How do you know?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Remember, I have a little gift." Cadance smirked and lifted her hoof to her horn, which lit up dimly and made the five mares feel that warmth in their hearts that they had felt a few moments ago. "From the moment we got together and talked about Dusk, I could tell how much you all loved him."

"So, what was the whole point of this dorky stuff?" Rainbow Dash asked, a bit annoyed.

"I already told you, to see who is the right marefriend for Dusk. Since you’re all tied in his heart, I need to find a way to find out who would be ideal for him. I thought the fans might see something that maybe I wasn't seeing, but that was obviously a mistake." Cadance said with a thoughtful look. And while she was thinking about it, she saw something in the distance that caught her eye.

Backstage, there was still Lyra, who was apparently chatting with someone. Sharpening her eyes, the princess saw that Lyra was chatting with a well-known baby dragon, who in vain wore a trench coat and hat to try to go incognito.

After meeting Lyra backstage, as previously agreed, Spike pulled out two scrolls that he had written from under his trench coat. Then Lyra took them and gave Spike a big bag, which the dragon opened and verified with satisfaction that it was full of gems. At the end of their deal, Lyra said goodbye to Spike and left, while the little dragon stared hungrily at all those gems that he had gotten for his little 'part-time job'.

"So that's how Lyra finds out about everything that happens between Dusk and us." Applejack said surprisingly, who along with Cadance and the others, had approached Spike when they saw him.

"Waah! T-This....isn’t what it looks like!…" Spike yelled, surprised to see his friends there, who had caught him red-clawed. However, being surrounded, Spike had no choice but to accept his guilt. "O-Okay, I admit it. Lyra pays me to tell her some… anecdotes that have happened between you and Dusk."

"Y-You’re the one who writes those provocative scenes?!" Cadance asked in surprise.

"N-No! Of course not! Those are made up by Lyra." Spike responded quickly, blushing. "I only tell her when Dusk meets with one of the girls, like the time they had a slumber party, or when he traveled to Appleloosa. Lyra comes up with everything else."

As Dusk's five friends looked at Spike with scolding glances, Cadance was left with a thoughtful look, realizing that before her was the answer that she had been searching for so long. After all, who knew Dusk better than his inseparable, adorable, little brother?

"Spike, I would like to ask you a few questions regarding Dusk." Cadance said with a motherly smile. Meanwhile, the other mares stopped berating Spike so that he could answer the princess. "Tell me... have you noticed if Dusk has been acting strange lately?"

"Strange? Strange how?" Spike asked.

"In love, silly." Cadance said, deciding to ask bluntly.

"I-In love!?" Spike repeated in surprise.

For Spike, everything related to Lyra's comic had always been pure fiction. In fact, he was absolutely certain that Dusk had never done any of those lustful acts that his alter ego from the comics did, otherwise he would have found out. Dusk was definitely still as clueless and innocent as ever. However, Spike had noticed how much his brother had changed that last year at Ponyville. At first, he only attributed it to Dusk finally having friends. But after reading Lyra's comics, and seeing how nervous Dusk sometimes acted with his friends, Spike increasingly doubted whether his brother only felt friendship for his friends. In fact, how much of what was in Lyra's comics would be just fiction!? Maybe some of the romantic scenes in the comics were real? Spike was increasingly unsure of how much of Lyra's comic was fiction and how much was real.

"I... I don't know if Dusk is in love." Spike finally answered, slightly blushed and confused. "And to be honest, he might not even know it himself."

"Exactly! That proves it, Spike is the one who knows Dusk best!" Cadance thought with satisfaction. She realized that despite the young age of the baby dragon, he already had a very good notion of what was going on sentimentally around Dusk, and how Dusk could think and react.

"But if Dusk were in love, who do you think would be the perfect marefriend for him?" Cadance prodded, to the surprise of the other five mares, who were amazed at how direct the alicorn princess could be.

"Uh?" Spike said confused. "A marefriend!?"

"This is all just hypothetical. But… If what happens in Lyra's comic happened in real life, and Dusk's best friends were in love with him, which of them do you think would be the best mare for Dusk?" Cadance asked again, this time pointing her eyes at the five mares beside her. They in turn looked away to feign disinterest, but all held their ears up to be attentive to what Spike might answer.

"I... I don't know..." Spike said, somewhat nervous and scratching his head as he looked at his friends. Then Spike's eyes fell on Rarity, and the little dragon couldn't help looking away uncomfortably as he imagined Dusk and Rarity as a couple. "Anyone but Rarity..." Spike muttered slowly.

"Sorry, did you say something?" Cadance asked, moving a little closer to Spike, since she couldn't hear what he muttered.

"N-Nothing!" Spike responded quickly, embarrassed. Then he looked away again, making a confused face. "D-Dusk would probably see that each one of them has their own merits. I think he likes several things about each one. I don't know if he could choose one of his friends as his marefriend."

"But there has to be something that Dusk is more attracted to than anything!" Cadance insisted, deciding to push Spike a bit to find the truth. The mare was desperate to find an answer to this conundrum. Since even with all the love-sensitive magic she possessed, she couldn't decide which of those five mares was the most suitable for her beloved Dusk. "Come on Spike! Think, what would Dusk value more than anything to choose an ideal mare as a marefriend?" Cadance added, leaning closer to Spike and looking at him with wide, watchful eyes.

"I-I don't know!" Spike said, nervous and a little scared when he saw that it seemed that everypony wanted to know the answer to that absurd hypothetical question. "Maybe if one of them made a great sacrifice of love for him… Like Sunset Shimmer did."

"Uh? What did you say?" Rainbow Dash asked with a confused look, who stopped feigning disinterest upon hearing what Spike said.

"What do you mean by a sacrifice of love?" Rarity asked, making the same confused face that Rainbow Dash and her other friends had.

"Uh, nothing! Forget I said anything!” Spike responded quickly, covering his mouth when he realized that he had said something that he had promised not to tell anyone.

"Spike." Cadance said suddenly, looking at the baby dragon with a very serious, almost grim gaze. For upon hearing Sunset Shimmer's name, Cadance's gaze had immediately hardened. "Tell me. What are you talking about?" Cadance said, for the first time, speaking to Spike without her usual smile. That made Spike feel a little chill, realizing that Cadance wouldn't let him go without an answer.

"O-Okay, I'll tell you. Just... promise not to tell Dusk." Spike finally said, sighing guiltily and glancing nervously at Cadance and the other mares. He knew that he had already screwed up and couldn't back down.

Spike told the girls about everything that happened with Sunset Shimmer and Dusk. How he had read Sunset's diary and discovered what she truly felt for Dusk all those years, her hidden past, her plans to make Dusk forget his friends to have Dusk just for her, and how she finally sacrificed the most valuable thing that she had, the memories that Dusk had of her, so that Dusk would be happy again.

With each word that Spike said, the faces of his friends became more and more astonished to discover the truth of why now Dusk didn’t remember anything about his old friend, nor should he even hear her name. As for Cadance, at first she too put on a shocked look upon discovering the truth. However, near the end of Spike's story, she frowned, closed her eyes and looked away, as if she refused to accept what she was hearing.

"It can’t be true! It's... It's just a hoax. She… She’s trying to fool us again." Cadance whispered with a mixture of anger and fear, trying to reaffirm the hatred she felt towards the mare she had hated for so many years for hurting her beloved Dusk.

"She sacrificed those memories...for Dusk? That... That may be true. I remember the evil Archmage, and the day of the performance test… Also, the diary that I showed Dusk, the diary did have torn pages! And in my resentment with Sunset, I showed it to Dusk!" Cadance thought with a pained look, realizing little by little that apparently her hatred for Sunset hadn't been justified, and yet she couldn't let it go so easily. Then, as if her logical mind refused to let her emotions dominate her, another memory came to her mind, about what she had told Dusk's friends a few hours ago at Sugarcube Corner.

'All those mares that had managed to touch Dusk's heart had also reciprocally opened their hearts to Dusk and had created that beautiful bond of love! And I was even more shocked to discover that those mares just so happened to be the five friends he made back in Ponyville.' That was what Cadance had told the mares. But what she hadn’t told them, was that she felt more than those five strong ties of love tied to Dusk's heart. That night, Cadance had felt seven links tied to Dusk's heart. The sixth bond that Cadance had felt was shown as a fearful and indecisive love, but just as intense as that of Dusk's five friends. A bond of love that Cadance felt was leading towards one of the castle towers, and that she could guess from whom that love for Dusk was probably coming. However, the seventh tie had left her completely baffled. She had felt that bond of love just as the Gala ended and Dusk disappeared, an intense and fleeting wave of jealousy and obsession on the part of a seventh mare that she couldn’t identify at that moment.

"That mare… Her feelings were more intense and violent than those of the others. A love almost taken to obsession. Now I understand! That was because that mare didn't know how to express her love properly! That kind of love… That mare was Sunset Shimmer!" Cadance thought with a tired and pained look, as she understood what Sunset must have experienced. "I can't forgive her so easily, but…" Cadance thought, closing her eyes, opening herself to a small possibility of something that, until a few minutes ago, she would have thought was impossible.

"Thank you so much, Spike. I really appreciate that you could tell us the truth, it’s very important to all of us. And don't worry, none of us will say anything to Dusk." Cadance said, smiling again and looking fondly at the little dragon. "Now, could you leave us alone for a moment? There is something I have to talk about with Dusk's friends."

Taking advantage of the fact that Cadance seemed to have returned to being the smiling pony as usual, Spike took the opportunity to run quickly from there. He didn’t want to be cornered anymore to tell more secrets, or to keep asking absurd questions about whether Dusk was in love or not.

"Hah! Dusk in love with one of the girls. That’s ridiculous… right?" Spike thought as he ran. Only to realize that perhaps that crazy idea wasn't so crazy after all.

"What Spike said about… Sunset… was unexpected." Cadance said once Spike left, with a thoughtful look and a little pause before saying Sunset's name, as if she still had a hard time saying it without getting angry.

“Tell us about it. I thought she was a total ass." Rainbow Dash said, still surprised.

"And yet it’s so sad. She was also in love with Dusk." Fluttershy said with a sad look.

"Yeah, but that don’t mean it was right of her to act all crazy jealous with us." Applejack said with a frown.

"Princess, did you know that Sunset was in love with Dusk?" Pinkie Pie asked Cadance with a thoughtful look.

"In my youth, I wasn’t that good at differentiating between different feelings. I always knew that Sunset had feelings for Dusk, but… only now do I realize what it was that confused me back then. My own resentment blinded me and prevented me from noticing it, even when she came back." Cadance replied with a pensive and somewhat sad look. Then she closed her eyes to focus and looked back at the mares. "Even if Sunset has feelings for Dusk, we can't do anything at the moment, since Dusk cannot remember her without the risk of releasing Discord. So what remains is to see which of you five will be Dusk's marefriend."

"You still want to know which of us would be Dusk's best romantic partner!?" Rarity asked in surprise.

At that moment Cadance reached under her cloak and took out a small golden locket in the shape of a heart, which carried a photo of Dusk when he was a young colt.

"I told you that I'll make sure my cute little Dusk has the best mare in the world for a marefriend." Cadance said, smiling at the little locket and then looked more seriously at the five mares. "I've thought about it and... I have a small proposal to make to you." Cadance added, finally deciding to fall back on Plan B she had thought of to find the ideal partner for Dusk.

Away from the comic convention, in the middle of the Everfree Forest were Dusk Shine and Golden Feather, who continued to keep her true identity hidden while walking with her beloved student.

"I’ve always been so amazed at how powerful and dark the magic of this forest feels…" Golden Feather said, smiling as she walked happily.

"Well, it seems like you don't really care." Dusk answered with an amused look. Noting that, unlike all the ponies who entered the forest in fear, it seemed Golden wasn’t at all scared by how dark and gloomy it was. "By the way, can you feel the magic of the forest even if you’re not a unicorn?"

"Uh... yeah, well... it feels like a chill on the tip of my wing feathers. You know, pegasus thing, hehe..." Golden laughed nervously, realizing that she had to be more careful so that Dusk didn't suspect her. "By the way, how long is it to get to your zebra friend?"

"It won't be long. But it’s strange. By now she should have found us. She always goes out to watch when someone is near her house." Dusk said with a bit of concern, remembering that he hadn't seen Zecora for a long time.

"Maybe we have to make more noise for she to find us! Rawr! Roar!" Golden Feather began to scream and growl like a bear, scaring Dusk Shine away.

"Shh! Be quiet! There are many wild beasts prowling this forest." Dusk whispered nervously, approaching to silence Golden. However, she evaded him and continued roaring, amused by Dusk's nervousness.

"Relax, nothing bad will happen. You’re with me!" Golden Feather said, smiling at Dusk so that he would calm down and have fun with her. She knew that in reality, a pony like her didn't have to fear anything there in the forest.

Suddenly, just as Dusk feared, the bushes began to stir in the distance with movement that was getting closer and faster, until finally, three timberwolves jumped in the middle of the road, staring fiercely with their bright green eyes at their prey. Seeing the fearsome wolves, Dusk tensed, lit his horn as a precaution, and slowly took a step back.

"Don’t make any sudden movements... and back up slowly..." Dusk whispered. Suddenly, he saw a stone fly out and hit one of the wolves squarely in the face.

"Take that, ugly wolves!" Golden Feather said with a defiant smirk, holding another stone in her hoof. All while Dusk's jaw dropped at how reckless Golden was.

After the wolf the stone hit recovered from the blow, it growled angrily, and two more wolves joined its group. Instantly, the five wolves began running to pounce on their prey.

"Oh, great! I was looking forward to a good race!" Golden Feather said, playfully hitting Dusk with her hoof to wake him up from his daze and started to run from the wolves. "Run Dusk! Run!"

"You’re completely crazy!!" Dusk shouted mortified, starting to run next to Golden to flee from the fierce pack of wolves.

As they ran, Dusk looked back from time to time to see how far they were from the wolves, which were closing the distance more and more, something that kept him running in a panic. Golden Feather was the complete opposite, who laughed full of energy as she ran as if she was enjoying running for her life.

At one point in their escape, Dusk and Golden jumped a log that blocked the path. However, because Golden wasn’t used to making that kind of jump at her new height, she tripped and fell to the ground.

"Golden!" Dusk yelled, stopping immediately to help the mare.

"Don’t worry, I'm-" Golden replied calmly. However, she immediately noticed that something was missing from her neck. "Where’s my necklace!?" Golden Feather yelled, panicking from discovering that she had lost her precious and important magic necklace.

Golden quickly looked around, until she saw that the necklace had caught on one of the branches of the trunk that she had jumped. She stretched her hoof to grab her necklace, however it was too late. The wolves that were chasing them jumped the trunk and pounced on Golden, to the horror of the white pegasus.

In the last tenth of a second before the wolves began to lunge down to sink its teeth into the mare’s neck, Dusk used his magic to teleport Golden onto his back as he continued his escape from the wolves.

"My necklace!" Golden yelled in terror after realizing that she was being carried by Dusk, looking back and seeing that the wolves almost reached them.

"There’s no time!" Dusk argued, giving his best to run with the pegasus on his back.

"No! Without my necklace I can’t return to my true form! That necklace has all my magic stored in it!" Golden Feather thought, aware of how silly and careless she had been.

With the extra weight, Dusk's speed much slower, and there was no time for Golden to get off his back and resume her own run. The wolves were almost reaching them and Dusk knew that they could only be saved using his best spell. He refocused all his magic, remembering Zecora's lessons, and finally managed to teleport away with Golden, just before the wolves could reach them.

Just an instant after disappearing from the Everfree Forest, Dusk and Golden reappeared just outside of it. The inertia of teleporting while running caused both of them to fall and roll a bit before coming to a complete stop.

"That... That was close..." Golden said slowly, after catching her breath.

"What do you think you were thinking!? I warned you! Don't you know how dangerous the Everfree Forest is!? Something really serious could have happened to you! How can you be so irresponsible!?" Dusk yelled angrily, standing in front of Golden and giving her a harsh look.

At that moment, Golden opened her eyes in surprise. She had never seen Dusk act like this with her. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time somepony had scolded her for something, since for over a thousand years she had always been at the top of the hierarchy of everyone around her. It reminded her of when Star Swirl used to scold her in her youth for annoying Luna or for disobeying him in something. Just as a father would scold her filly daughter when she did something wrong.

"I’m sorry. I was a fool." Golden said, lowering her head and ears, feeling like a complete idiot for having exposed Dusk and herself to such danger. "I think… I felt too safe. I was having so much fun that… I never thought something bad could happen." Golden added, touching her empty neck, remembering that she now had a very serious problem to solve as her valuable necklace was now lost.

"Are you seriously thinking of your necklace? You could have gotten hurt! What does a silly necklace matter?" Dusk said, annoyed and worried when he saw that Golden seemed to be more worried about having lost her necklace than about her own well-being. "Material things come and go, but life is irreplaceable. I don't understand why you did something so crazy, but you should value your life more. Please promise me that you’ll never do something as foolish and careless as what you just did." Dusk pleaded, calming down, gently touching Golden with his hoof and looking at her affectionately.

Seeing Dusk's intense and warm gaze, full of concern for her, Golden was surprised for a second, then she shyly looked away and blushed.

"I... I promise." Golden replied sheepishly.

"What was that?" Golden asked herself, not understanding what she had just felt for that fleeting moment when she saw Dusk's intense gaze.

"Good. Now that you understand, I guess it's okay to give this back to you." Dusk said with a sigh of relief and a small smile, using his magic to levitate something that he had also managed to teleport along with them.

"My necklace!" Golden yelled, surprised and relieved to see that Dusk had her necklace. Then she quickly took it and put it back on.

"When the wolves fell on you, I teleported you with the necklace." Dusk said, smiling with a small grin. "By the way, where did you buy that necklace? I'm not sure, but it seems to have a strange magical aura."

"Uh… I-It's an old family heirloom, hehe." Golden replied with a nervous smile, relieved that Dusk was still unaware of his disguise.

"Come on, it's already sunset. Let's go back to town." Dusk smiled, extending a hoof to Golden for her to follow.

"Uh… sure." Golden replied. Her outgoing personality was lost when she nervously touched Dusk's hoof, blushing in the process.

That is how they both walked quietly back to town. However, unlike going to the forest, this time Golden Feather walked much calmer. She was silent most of the way, lost in her own thoughts as she kept a confused and thoughtful look.

"We’re almost there." Dusk said. They arrived on a small hill that had an amazing view of the Ponyville park, which was still full of visitors to the great comic convention. "We arrived just before sunset."

When Dusk was about to continue walking, Golden Feather's hoof held him gently from behind.

"Do you think... we could watch the sunset together before saying goodbye?" Golden asked with a tender smile. Then both ponies sat on the little knoll and looked towards the horizon, waiting for the sun to set behind the distant mountains.

As the sun slowly lowered, Golden put on a sweet smile, gazing in fascination at the distant star as it set.

"The sunset... seeing it this way is so comforting..." Golden said with a nostalgic look and a tender smile. "I usually close my eyes to concentrate. But now… I realize how beautiful it is."

For a few seconds, Golden just sat enjoying view, but then she realized that Dusk was looking at her with a confused face, and she quickly realized that she had once again said something that could give her away.

"I understand. It’s like looking at the stars. You know they’re there, but you seldom stop to see how beautiful they are." Dusk smiled, understanding what Golden was referring to. Then Golden smiled tenderly. Not because of the fact that Dusk still didn't realize who she really was, but because she saw that her beloved Dusk understood her perfectly as very few ponies could.

"Was he always so mature?" Golden thought as she watched the sunset, thinking of her beloved student sitting next to her. She had always seen as a cute little colt. But now she could see that her beloved Dusk Shine was a true adult stallion.

Gently Golden dropped her head on Dusk's shoulder and continued enjoying that beautiful sunset.

"Thanks for this day, Dusk. This was just what I needed." Golden said softly as she enjoyed the tranquility.

For Celestia, this would have been impossible in her castle. As ruler of the kingdom, she had to maintain an image in front of her subjects. But as Golden Feather, she could calmly feel the warmth of Dusk's fur and express all the affection that she felt towards him, without anyone judging or reproaching her that it wasn’t correct. For his part, Dusk was surprised to feel Golden's head on his side, but after blushing a little, he simply smiled, grateful for having met a mare as fascinating as her.

Finally, the sun fully set behind the mountains and night began to fall slowly. At that moment, both ponies were about to stand up, until suddenly a huge light and a thunderous noise took them completely by surprise and made both of them fall backwards to the ground.

Slowly they both got up from the ground and realized that that loud noise had been a firework. One of many that began to light up the sky in commemoration of the end of the 'PonyCon' in Ponyville.

Realizing what had scared them, Golden and Dusk looked at each other and started laughing. They had both been taken totally by surprise, their hearts still somewhat racing with fright. And after they had fallen, they were now much closer to each other, with their sides touching each other. Then they both stopped laughing and stared at each other, while the sky lit up with colors and the noise of the explosions surrounded them.

For several seconds, neither of the two ponies said anything. Both simply stared at each other, lost in each other's eyes, slowly feeling how their cheeks were blushing and their hearts were racing. Dusk couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful Golden was and all the great qualities he had seen in her, which definitely made her an attractive and unique mare. For her part, Golden couldn't stop thinking about how much she loved Dusk, how he had been so good to her that day, how he had saved her, how he had gallantly carried her on his back, how he had been the only one to dare to reprimand her, and how his personality was everything she wanted in a good stallion.

"I can’t...I shouldn’t...!" Golden thought frantically, trying in vain to stop what she knew she was about to do. "But… I love Dusk… I've always loved him… Like a mother. But now… I see him as a stallion. And I… I 'm just a mare." Golden thought, slightly closing her eyes and bringing her lips to Dusk's.

"Sorry." Dusk said suddenly, turning his head away at the last second, completely blushed. "I can’t do it."

"Uh?" Golden said, her eyes widening in surprise, as if she had suddenly awakened from a beautiful dream.

"I… I don't have a marefriend, but I realized a while ago that I was in love. I still don't understand my own feelings completely, but that feeling that was born with my friends as friendship grew to become more intense, until it became love." Dusk said, blushing with a small smile. He then looked up again at Golden. "You’re one of the most beautiful and fascinating mares I've ever met in my life, but... I don't want to confuse my heart anymore. Every second that I’ve spent with you, I realized how kind, cute, competitive, smart and funny you are. And although all those qualities made my heart race, little by little I realized that the only thing I was thinking about was how those great qualities of yours resembled those of my friends. I couldn't stop thinking about how similar you were to Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie… I couldn't stop thinking about them! That's why... I beg your forgiveness for not being able to reciprocate your feelings." Dusk added, looking at Golden with a sad smile.

Golden simply stood in shock, listening intently to Dusk’s every word, realizing how enamored he really was and how impulsive she had been, again getting carried away by her emotions while in disguise. Finally, to Dusk's absolute surprise, Golden covered her face with her hoof, trying to contain the emotion she felt at that moment, until it finally exploded.

"Pfff…. Hahaha! Hahaha…. Oh, gosh… I can't believe how dumb I was…" Golden said with a huge laugh. She finally woke up from her crazy dream of being a young pony again and reminded herself that she wasn’t Golden Feather, but the immortal Celestia. "You really have matured... Even more than me apparently." Golden added, wiping a tear from the huge laugh she had let out, looking at Dusk with a loving, but not at all lustful, look of a mother to her child.

"Love is so complex to experience and it comes in so many forms… Friendship, brotherly love, motherly love, romantic love. But still… I can't believe I got carried away by my hormones!" Golden thought, still amused to see that her little Dusk had unknowingly given her a maturity lesson for the second time that day. "However, despite everything... It was very nice to feel in love once more..." Golden thought, blushing a little.

"Cupid is an idiot who sometimes shoots too many arrows." Golden said looking at Dusk tenderly. Speaking not only of the problem that Dusk had with having fallen in love with five mares at the same time, but also because she almost fell in love with him as well. "Love is something very complex, and sometimes it’s very difficult to carry. But it's still worth it because it's a beautiful feeling." Golden added with a big smile

Seeing that Golden had taken his ‘rejection’ very well, and that she was even giving him advice on his love situation with his friends, Dusk was finally able to sigh in relief and was able to be relaxed again with Golden.

"I think you're right... Love is definitely worth experiencing." Dusk said with a tender smile, remembering the warmth in his heart that he felt every time he saw his friends. "Golden, have you ever been in love? How do you know to distinguish when somepony is your true soulmate?"

Dusk's question took Golden completely by surprise, who gave a shocked look. Then she slightly narrowed her eyes as she recalled a distant past of hers.

"I… I was in love once. A long, long time ago…" Golden finally replied, looking away with a sad expression.

For the first time that day, it seemed that Golden was sad about something Dusk had told her. And he immediately realized that there must be something painful in Golden's past for her to react that way. However, before Dusk could say anything, Golden noticed that Dusk had a worried look and smiled again.

"I can’t give you an answer to your love dilemma. You must trust your heart. Only then will you know what is correct." Golden said, smiling at Dusk again. Then she stood up and did a few stretches. "I think it’s time for me to go home, before my sister gets mad at having run away from my duties for a whole day." Golden added, thinking that she would have to thank Luna for helping her today.

After Dusk got up, Golden Feather spread her wings to take flight. However, in the last second before taking off, she turned around and gave Dusk a quick, tender kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you for this wonderful day, Dusk Shine. I shall cherish it always." Golden said with a small blush. Then, without waiting for Dusk to respond, Golden took flight towards the horizon.

As Dusk watched the white pegasus fly away, he touched his cheek where he had been kissed and smiled tenderly. All day, he had inevitably been comparing Golden's qualities with those of her five friends. However, that fleeting kiss and the way she said goodbye made him remember another mare that was in his heart, a blue alicorn that, now that Dusk analyzed it well, also had a lot in common with Golden Feather.

"Pinkie was right... I need to stop adding mares in my life..." Dusk thought with a small smile. Remembering when Pinkie Pie had told him he was a shameless Casanova.

Slowly Dusk began his way back to town, descending from the small hill where he had watched the sunset with Golden. But he didn’t get very far into the town, because as soon as he had descended the small hill, he saw five mares in the distance walking towards him. Five mares that he knew well and that hadn’t been able to get out of his head that day, even though he hadn’t seen them since the morning.

"Girls? How did you know I would be here?" Dusk asked once his friends reached him.

"Princess Cadance said you would be around here." Rarity replied.

"Yeah, it seems like she has some kind of love radar or something. Although, I still think that’s total bullshit." Rainbow Dash added, still naive about Cadance's ability to feel love.

"Love radar? like Pinkie's Pinkie Sense? Hmm… that makes sense. She always had a gift for reading the true feelings of the ponies around her." Dusk said with a thoughtful look. Perhaps in the future he could talk to Cadance to do some experiment to try to understand her particular ability like he did with Pinkie.

"By the way. We had a long talk with the Princess and… well… we discovered that the night of the Gala, it seems… the five of us declared our love to you at the same time." Applejack said, scratching her head with a nervous look, looking at Dusk out of the corner of her eye with a heavy blush.

"You..." Dusk murmured in surprise. He blushed heavily when he saw that his five friends also made embarrassed faces and looked away, very sorry. "I... I wanted to tell you, but then Discord showed up, and I... I..."

"Relax, we understand." Pinkie Pie said with a nervous smile.

"It's not your fault, and... uhm... apparently, it’s not our fault either. It was Princess Cadance who ordered the maids to interrupt you before you said anything." Fluttershy said.

"Cadance did that? Why!?" Dusk asked, surprised and confused. Though deep down, his rational brain could already imagine the possible reason why his former babysitter had done what she did. Finally solving the mystery that Sweet Creme had left him unfinished, by telling him that a princess had ordered her to do what she did.

The five mares looked fearfully at each other for an instant, and then they looked back at Dusk.

"Before answering you, we wanted to ask you a question..." Applejack said nervously.

"The night of the Grand Galloping Gala, when Princess Celestia teleported us to the Café... What were you going to tell us?" Rainbow Dash asked, trying not to sound nervous.

"You were going to... respond to our declarations of love?" Pinkie Pie added, staring nervously at Dusk.

At that moment, the lavender colt remembered what happened at that night, where he knew that there was no correct answer to his great dilemma, and nevertheless, he knew that he should give an answer to the feelings of his friends. He had been about to do so, but… something had interrupted him… What had it been? As much as Dusk tried, he couldn't remember what had interrupted him that night. Despite that mental gap, Dusk decided to let it go for now, because more important than his bad memory was the fact that his five friends were before him again, waiting for an answer to their feelings.

Just like on that occasion, Dusk remained motionless and silent for several seconds, with a mental mess in his head due to all the thoughts and feelings he had at that moment. However, unlike on that occasion, a new, and more recent memory, came to him and calmed his heart a little.

'You must trust your heart. Only then will you know what is correct.' Golden Feather had told him moments before. A piece of advice that made room in his heart. Dusk then took a deep breath and decided to open up and be completely honest.

"I need time." Dusk finally said, lowering his head slightly in distress. He then looked affectionately at all his friends. "I don't need time to respond to your feelings, but to know how to act. I... I never imagined that you could be in love with me, and knowing it filled me with a joy that I had never felt, because my feelings were reciprocated. I… I love you all too! In all these months, I realized that I was slowly falling in love with each one of you. It wasn’t only friendship, but it was love. However, listening to each of your beautiful declarations, I wasn’t only filled with happiness, but also with fear. Fear of knowing what I would say to you, fear of thinking that I could only be with one of you, fear of thinking about what would happen to our friendship, fear of not knowing what was the right thing to do. The only thing I know for sure is that I would be the happiest pony in the world being with any of you. Because for me, all of you are perfect in your own way and each one has a place in my heart. But... it's for the same reason I can’t decide, because I feel that... I would be loving one over the others, and that is something I don't feel right now... I know that I'm a coward for not giving you an immediate answer. I understand if you want to hate me or don't want to see me anymore, but I want to do this right. Simply…. I don't want to trample on any of your feelings."

After finishing his answer, Dusk looked at the faces of his friends, who simply stared at him with calm, but serious expressions.

"Damn it... The Princess was right..." Rainbow Dash said, hitting her forehead with her hoof, somewhat frustrated (yet touched) by Dusk's response.

"Well, to be fair, we all knew that Dusk was probably going to answer something like that." Pinkie Pie said, looking at Rainbow Dash and shrugging.

"Do you always have to be so indecisive!?" Applejack added, thinking that deep down, she knew perfectly how confused Dusk was inside. But even so, it bothered her to think that she would have to continue feeling uncertainty in her heart.

"So… will we do what the Princess suggested?" Fluttershy asked with a blush, looking at her other friends.

"I guess..." Applejack replied, also blushing while scratching her head.

"W-What did Cadance tell you?" Dusk asked. The colt was still surprised that his friends didn't seem to be mostly mad at him, and he was even more surprised to find that it seemed that Cadance was deeply interested in his love life.

"We’ve discussed it, and the truth is that... we understand that you’re confused." Rarity said, looking at Dusk with a somewhat sympathetic face. "For months, each of us tried to get closer to you and… make you fall in love with each one without you even realizing it. And... well... it seemed to have worked... Besides, you've never had a marefriend, and well... we've never had a real coltfriend either. So, we thought it might not be fair to force you to decide between one of us so quickly. That's why… well…" The fashionista trailed off, getting nervous at the end of her speech.

"That's why we decided that you would be the coltfriend of all of us!" Pinkie Pie added with a huge smile.

"… … What?!" Dusk said in shock, followed by a long silence, in which the mares simply blushed, and Dusk looked at nothing, as if for a second his brain had short-circuited. "D-Do you all want to be in a relationship with me at the same time?" Dusk asked after a long silence, blushing as he imagined himself as a Sultan of Saddle Arabia, surrounded by his own harem of mares.

"Hey, knock off that look!" Rainbow Dash yelled while red with embarrassment, jumping up and bonking Dusk on the head. She could easily tell that the stallion was imagining some shameless thing. "You won't have your own harem like in Lyra's comic, idiot!" Rainbow Dash added, redder with embarrassment than she had ever been.

"Ouch! Uh… I-I don't understand…" Dusk said in confusion, rubbing his head.

"We won't be your five marefriends at the same time." Rarity said, calmer and with a more serious look. "What we want is for you to be the coltfriend of one of us for a while, then another and another, until you have seen what it means to be in a romantic relationship with each of us." Rarity added, explaining what they had planned with Cadance.

"That way we can know if our love is true and... see if our friendship can support seeing you as a coltfriend with one of us." Fluttershy said with an embarrassed look.

"That means you’ll be our full-time coltfriend. With all the obligations and privileges that this implies." Pinkie Pie said, with a slightly more mischievous look. "So then we’ll all know who’s the best mare for you and who’ll to become a permanent couple in the future."

"That... that's ridiculous!" Dusk finally almost yelled, realizing how crazy the idea his friends were asking him was. "You want me to choose a marefriend, then break up with that marefriend, and choose another marefriend... And repeat it five times!?"

"Do you have a better idea? You were the Casanova who said 'I love all, too!'. Rainbow Dash said with a mocking voice as she imitated Dusk. The mare was still red with shame to know that indeed what they were asking was crazy, but it was the only way to give Dusk more time and that everyone could verify that their love was true. “So pony up and take responsibility for this, egghead!”

Dusk simply pursed his lips and lowered his head in shame. What his friend said was true. He had taken his friends to that point, and now he couldn’t refuse the solution they proposed, because the problem was only the fault of his indecision.

"By the way, even if you haven't wanted to choose a permanent marefriend, you’ll still have to choose which of us will be your first marefriend." Applejack said, turning to leave.

"What? B-But…" Dusk stuttered, realizing that his friends were forcing him to choose, even temporarily.

"We’ve already decided." Rarity said, turning around to leave with her other friends. "If you don't choose one of us within the week, we'll assume that you only want us as friends in your life. We’ll just be friends and we’ll never be more than that with you… none of us."

Hearing those last words, Dusk froze, understanding that this was an ultimatum. He could either followed the plan that his friends chose and one by one become their coltfriend; or simply rejected them, rejected their love and theirs, and pretend that in his heart he didn’t love them.

As the mares walked away, Dusk froze in the middle of the night, realizing that whatever he chose, the relationship between him and his friends would change forever.

Just seconds before, Golden Feather had said goodbye to Dusk and was preparing to fly back to Canterlot. However, as she flew over Ponyville, she heard the train whistle, announcing that it was about to depart.

"Hehe… I haven't traveled by train in a long time. It could be fun." Golden giggled. She ought to take advantage of the occasion, since today she wasn’t traveling with an escort nor was she obliged to travel in her customary golden chariot.

Quickly, Golden landed at the train station, bought a ticket, and boarded the train just as it began to depart. Then, Golden made her way through the wagons, which were mostly full, since after 'PonyCon', many visitors were returning to their hometowns. Finally, Golden found an empty seat in the last wagon and sat there, settling into the soft couch and sighing as she reviewed everything she had experienced this hectic and fun day.

Before Golden could fully relax, she looked at her side, at the pony that had been sitting by the window before she sat next to her. The pony was a taller than average mare, and wore an elegant long blue cape, and partially covered her face with a hood of the same color.

At the same moment that Golden Feather turned to see her seat companion, Cadance also stopped looking out the window and turned to look at the pony next to her, a young white pegasus with blonde mane and a strange golden necklace hanging from her neck.

Although both were disguised, their eyes met, and immediately the product of years of living together allowed them to instantly recognize each other. A long and uncomfortable silence remained between them as they looked at each other without even blinking, and not knowing what to say.

"I won't ask if you don't ask either." Cadance finally said, still looking at Golden.

"Deal." Golden responded immediately. Then both mares looked away and pretended they hadn’t seen each other, both thinking that it would be difficult to explain why each was traveling in disguise on the train from Ponyville.

After going through that awkward situation and agreeing to pretend nothing had happened, Cadance looked out the window again, lost in thought. Having her aunt sitting next to her, Cadance couldn't help but remember their conversation that morning, and more importantly, remember what she had discovered about Sunset Shimmer today.

'Sunset wasn’t a bad filly, she just had a very bad influence, which taught her the wrong thing about love and friendship.' 'Nopony knows more about true love than you. And that's just what Sunset Shimmer needs to learn right now.' It had been the words her Aunt Celestia had said to her that morning.

"A mare bred to hate, who likewise managed to fall in love..." Cadance thought, breathing deeply, letting go of her past to face a new challenge. "There was a time when I volunteered to be Sunset's babysitter because I felt that deep down there was a light of goodness within her. A light so powerful as to overcome the dark teachings of her teacher… A light that if not protected, could finally fade…" Cadance finally thought, closing her eyes, having finally made up her mind.

"I... I’ve decided to accept Sunset Shimmer as my student." Cadance said with a tired look, not bothering to look at Golden and continuing to fix her gaze on the landscape behind the window. Deep down, the mare was wishing with all her might that she wasn't making a serious mistake.

Golden gently touched Cadance's hoof to make her look at her.

"I knew you would." Golden said, smiling tenderly at her.

Cadance smiled too, remembering that once her Aunt Celestia had saved her from falling into darkness, and now it would be her turn to do the same with Sunset Shimmer.

After that conversation, both fell silent again, not wanting some stranger to overhear them talk and discover that two royal princesses were traveling alone and without an escort. However, as they remained silent, this time it was Golden Feather's turn to lose herself in her own thoughts...

"I know that Dusk doesn't believe in fate, although I think his opinion of that has been changing lately. However, unlike him, I can't help but notice how fate seems to show us the inescapable path we must follow…" Golden thought, closing her eyes with concern. "I spent centuries without thinking about that terrible event. And now, in less than a week, Luna detected that a great storm appeared north of Equestria; later, Dusk asked me about my first love; and finally, fate laughs in my face by making me go sitting on a train with Cadance... I guess... the time has come."

"Cadance, you..." Golden said slowly, with a worried look, still unsure whether to speak or not. Finally, she closed her eyes for a moment, sighed, and looked seriously at her niece. "You... What do you know about the Crystal Empire?"

End of chapter 8

Chapter 9 - Synergy

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Synergy

It was a quiet morning in Ponyville, although perhaps 'morning' was a bit subjective, since the sun hadn’t yet risen, and the sky was still dark. So, most ponies still had a few minutes before waking up and starting their daily jobs.

Among those ponies was Dusk Shine, who waited peacefully asleep for the first rays of the sun to arrive.

'KNOCK-KNOCK!'A knock on the window of his room made Dusk come out of the dream world and open one eye with an effort.

"What was that? A bird?" Dusk thought, still a bit sleepy. He decided to go back to sleep, since it wasn't dawn yet. "I hate woodpeckers that make noise so early..."

'KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!' Dusk heard the knocking on the window again, only this time, it was much more insistent.

Grouchily, Dusk rose from his bed and went to the bedroom window to shoo away the annoying early bird.

"WAAAH!" Dusk shouted when he saw that there wasn’t a bird tapping at the window of his room, but one of his dear friends, who had her face and cheeks pressed against the glass of the window, as if she wanted to force her way into the room. "Rainbow Dash?" Dusk asked, after calming down and recognizing his pegasus friend.

Without understanding why his friend was here so early, Dusk opened the window. As soon as he did, Rainbow Dash rushed in and landed in front of Dusk.

"What are you doing?! Why are you still in bed?! Don't you know what day it is today!?" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently, taking Dusk by his shoulders, and shaking him hard. "Today is cider season!"

"Cider season?" Dusk asked, still not understanding anything of what his friend was doing.

Not far from there, a loud snoring was heard which distracted both ponies. It was from Spike, who was still sleeping soundly in his little basket-bed.

"Wow, the little guy is a heavy sleeper." Rainbow Dash said. Surprising that the baby dragon was still sleeping despite all the fuss she had made.

"Yeah. Yesterday he ate a big gem cake Pinkie Pie baked for him. So I guess he'll be asleep on a full stomach for another long time." Dusk said with a thoughtful look. "I still don't know where Spike got all those gems from..."

"Hmm… Maybe it's for the best that he doesn't go with us. After all, Spike tends to get drunk very easily on cider." Rainbow Dash said with a thoughtful look. Then she grabbed Dusk by the hoof and spread her wings. "Hold on. We gotta hurry up!"

Without giving Dusk time to ask anything, Rainbow Dash took off quickly, flying out of the same window from which she had entered the library. Only this time, she had a passenger dangling from her hooves.

"W-What's going on? Why such a rush? It's not even dawn yet." Dusk said nervously, holding on to his friend's hooves while she was flying at full speed. And as if the sun had been waiting for Dusk's words, the first rays of morning began to illuminate the sky and its surroundings.

"I already told you, today is cider season. Cider from Sweet Apple Acres!" Rainbow Dash answered excitedly. "They only make it once a year, with the juiciest apples on the farm. It's the best cider in the world! You definitely have to taste it!"

"Uh... Well, I think I'm beginning to understand why you're so excited." Dusk said with a still confused look as he swayed in the air with each change of course his friend made while flying. "But I still don't understand why we're going so early."

"Pinkie Pie..." Rainbow Dash replied, narrowing her eyes. "She’s always the first in line. She drinks liters and liters of cider, and in the end when my turn comes, I only get to drink the last bits of the barrel. But not this year, I’ll anticipate her and I’ll be able to drink all the cider I want before her!"

"Oh... I see..." Dusk said, looking away, thinking that now that he had satisfied his curiosity, he could talk about something else with his friend. However, as much as he tried, something else was filling his head at that moment and preventing him from thinking about anything. The truth was that there was still an important issue to discuss between him and his friends which they hadn’t yet resolved.

"Dusk, have you been avoiding us?" Rainbow Dash suddenly asked as they kept flying. Without lowering her gaze to see Dusk, the mare kept it fixed on their destination as they got closer and closer to the Apple farm. "You haven't met any of us for two days."

At Rainbow Dash's question, Dusk was shocked, and then lowered his head in shame.

"It's not that I'm avoiding you. It's just… that I needed time to put my thoughts in order…" Dusk replied with a melancholy voice.

"Huff… You know, we already discussed it together. What you decide will be fine. I think I understand you a little. I felt like that too, not knowing what to feel when… well, you know, when… when I fell in love with you…" Rainbow Dash said blushing, while Dusk felt that she tightened her hooves in her grip, because of how nervous she was. "But finally, at the Grand Galloping Gala, I decided to stop thinking so much and just tell you my feelings. Maybe that's what you need to do, stop thinking so much and just impulsively follow your heart... Also, remember that this isn’t the end. No one is asking to marry you, it’s just a test run. And most importantly, whatever you decide, we’ll still be friends." Rainbow Dash added, looking down at Dusk and giving a big smile.

Seeing Rainbow Dash's confident smile, Dusk also smiled shyly. However, as soon as the pegasus looked up again, Dusk narrowed his eyes and put a guilty look.

"I'm as cowardly as ever..." Dusk thought, annoyed with himself. "Rainbow Dash and the others had the courage to openly confess their love to me, and I… I still wonder how to react."

"Oh, come on! Seriously!?" Rainbow Dash suddenly yelled, snapping Dusk out of his thoughts.

It was at that moment that Dusk realized that they had already arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. And the reason Rainbow Dash was so upset was that there was a huge line of ponies camping in their place. They were all waking up, ready to secure their place in line to be the first to buy the precious cider. And right in front was Pinkie Pie, who just at that moment came out of her tent next to a bunch of balloons, which apparently had served as a mattress.

"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash groaned and landed next to her happy pink friend. "Why is everyone camping here!?"

"Yesterday I got an idea to camp outside so that I could be first in line for cider. You know how there’s always a long line and I didn't want to be last, like you last year." Pinkie Pie answered cheerily, winking at Rainbow Dash while it seemed that the pegasus was going to pop a vein in her forehead. "It looks like word got out, and some ponies copied my idea."

"Some ponies? Almost the entire town is camping here!" Rainbow Dash yelled, pointing towards the huge line, so long that it seemed to disappear into the horizon. Then Rainbow Dash widened her eyes at a great idea that occurred to her. "Well, that doesn’t matter. Thank you for reserving us a place." Rainbow Dash said with a huge smile, quickly forming behind Pinkie Pie, pretending that everything had been planned.

As soon as Rainbow Dash slipped into line, all the ponies behind her began to complain about cutting.

"Easy, y’all. She’s my friend." Applejack said suddenly, finally appearing to calm her customers. She had approached a table that was next to Pinkie Pie, from which she would start selling the cider for the day.

"That's right. I’m friends with the owner of the farm." Rainbow Dash said, taunting the ponies who had called out her line cutting.

"…And since she's my friend, I know she'll line up just like everyone else." Applejack added, raising an eyebrow and looking seriously at her friend, much to Rainbow Dash's disappointment. The prismatic mare opened her mouth to try to say some excuse, but finally lowered her head in resignation, knowing that she could never convince her honest friend to help her cut in line.

"Don't worry, if you want I can give you some of the mugs of cider I'll buy." Pinkie Pie offered, showing off a whole sack of bits that she had been saving up all year just for this day.

Hearing Pinkie's proposal, Rainbow Dash's ears perked up in excitement. However, she looked at Pinkie Pie's huge smile and finally puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, full of frustration, and looked away.

"That would be like admitting my defeat against you again." Rainbow Dash huffed, turning around and slowly starting to walk to the end of the line. "I'll buy my own cider, so I can enjoy it when you have nothing left!"

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie Pie said with a big smile. "By the way, Hi Dusk!" Pinkie added, looking at Dusk for the first time since he had arrived.

"Uh... Umm. Hi..." Dusk replied, a bit surprised that none of his friends had paid attention to him since he had arrived. In fact, Applejack only gave him a quick hoof salute as she was so busy tidying up the counter behind which the cider sale would begin. "I... I’ll go to line up with Rainbow Dash." Then Dusk trotted to catch up with his blue friend.

After walking for a long time to the end of the line, where Rainbow Dash didn't stop growling and cursing how clever Pinkie Pie had been; Dusk and Rainbow Dash waited patiently in line. While it advanced slowly and Rainbow Dash continued muttering that the ponies bought too much cider and that it wouldn’t be enough for her.

While Rainbow Dash was still grumpy, only focused on waiting her turn to buy the prized cider, Dusk remained silent and lost in thought with a confused look.

"With what happened on the day of the comic convention, I thought the girls would be as or more nervous than me, but… they’re acting like nothing happened. The only one acting like a fool… is me." Dusk thought, again getting annoyed with himself. "Enough! If it had been a while ago, I would be convinced that they weren’t interested in the decision they asked me to make. But it’s not like that. I have grown and so have they, and I know what they really feel. They’re acting like this because they don't want to worry me; and most importantly… they trust me! That's right, I... I must stop acting like a nervous fool and go back to being the friend that I have always been."

The hours passed, and slowly the line was advancing. But as the wait grew longer, the voices of the impatient ponies that had waited for hours became more and more noticeable. And among all those boisterous voices, two particular ponies stood out. Two unicorn stallions with cream color coats and red-white manes, vociferously complaining about the slow service, adding every minute to more disgruntled ponies who still couldn't drink the delicious Apple cider.

"I've never seen those two unicorns in town… Are they brothers?" Dusk thought, raising an eyebrow curiously, seeing how similar those two instigating unicorns were.

Dusk didn’t want to join the demands of the ponies, who became increasingly frustrated as the minutes passed. Because it was his friend's business and Dusk had to support her. However, Dusk had to admit that those two stallions had a very good speech and could easily convince everyone with whom they talked to join their demands. Even Rainbow Dash also got carried away by the ponies’ claims, and she also turned up the volume of her voice as she complained about the slow service and lack of cider.

With the whole atmosphere heating up around them, Rainbow Dash and Dusk Shine finally arrived in front of Applejack's counter.

"Ten glasses of cider!" Rainbow Dash said quickly, placing a sack of bits on Applejack's counter.

"Coming right up!" Applejack replied. Then she pulled out a mug and pressed the faucet of the keg to release the cider, all while Rainbow Dash excitedly opened her eyes to see the cider fall. However, only a few drops fell from the barrel, leaving more air than cider. "Sorry, looks like the keg’s tapped out… Big Mac, Apple Bloom! Keg change!" Applejack yelled at her siblings.

"Grrr… Fine, I already waited for hours. I can wait a few more minutes…" Rainbow Dash grumbled in frustration, frowning. Meanwhile, seeing that the line was delayed, all the ponies behind Rainbow Dash, who had been claiming seconds before, turned up the volume again and protested louder.

"It seems that everypony is getting a little impatient with the sale of cider, hehe." Dusk said, a little worried about Applejack. He decided to take advantage of that moment to chat a bit while they waited.

"Yeah, every year is the same. Although it seems that this year everypony is a little more anxious than usual." Applejack replied with a shrug, determined to ignore those grumpy ponies.

"Maybe it would be easier if you sold in town. I even think more ponies would come and you could make more money." Dusk said with a thoughtful look.

"Hehe, trust me, we're doing well enough here." Applejack answered with confidence, showing Dusk the huge sacks full of bits that they had earned in just a few hours. "Also, last year we came to the center of town, and two annoying salesponies pestered me all day to sell them the recipe for our apple cider. So, I’d like to avoid meeting those two annoying ponies again." Applejack added, taking advantage of wiping the counter with a towel.

"Does the cider have a secret recipe?" Dusk asked.

"Of course not! I told those merchants: the only secret is our apples." Applejack said with a shrug. "Everyone comes to buy here because they know that our cider is the best, because it’s made with love and tegridy... I mean, integrity... hehe." Applejack added, finishing wiping the counter with the little blue towel.

Just at that moment, Apple Bloom arrived next to her sister.

"Sorry sis, the cider barrels are out for today." Apple Bloom said with a sad look.

"This is a joke, right!? Every year is the same!" Rainbow Dash yelled, annoyed to hear the little filly.

"Yeah! There is never enough cider!" Another stallion yelled from far behind. All the other ponies in line to also start screaming in anger. "Cider! Cider! Cider!" The same stallion began to yell, quickly causing all the other ponies to follow him in his chant as well. Then did Dusk realize that the stallion was one of the two stallions that had been instigating others to claim against Applejack since before.

"He certainly knows how to rile up the crowd to his side..." Dusk thought, a little surprised.

"Listen friends, I know you were all eager for cider, but we’re all out for today. There’s nothing I can do." Applejack said a little nervously, seeing herself surrounded by a lot of annoying ponies.

"Did someone say cider?" Suddenly a voice yelled from the other end of the road where everyone was.

Slowly, a huge and strange machine appeared on the road, much like the front of a small locomotive, only it used wagon wheels. It had several barrels and large glass tubes, some long exhaust pipes from which smoke came out, and a huge seat in front, where the stallion that had shouted sat quietly, moving the bizarre machine only with the force of his unicorn magic.

"Don’t be afraid! Here comes the solution to all your problems!" The stallion that had been heating up the atmosphere in line yelled, running to where the strange machine was and jumping on it and standing right next to the other stallion that had brought the machine there. "Meet: The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000!"

Upon finally seeing both stallions side by side, it was very obvious for Dusk that both unicorns were brothers. They were identical, down to the same vests and hats. The only thing that differentiated one from the other was that one of them had a mustache.

"You... You’re those two pesky merchants from last year!" Applejack accused, recognizing both stallions.

"What is the super-speedy-whatever?" Rainbow Dash asked, approaching to look at that strange machine.

"I'm glad you asked, miss." Said one of the salesponies, winking at Rainbow Dash and ignoring Applejack.

Then both brothers jumped out of the machine and began to sing a very catchy song, to which most of the ponies present joining in the singing and dancing while both brothers explained who they were and what they were doing there. And although most of the ponies present sang and were delighted with the funny musical number, Applejack and her family stayed away, looking suspiciously at the two stallions.

"If you allow me, the time has come to clear up all doubts and demonstrate what our particular gadget does." The stallion who introduced himself as Flim in the song said. While his mustached brother, Flam, began to use his magic to make their machine work. "Dear Applejack, I would be honored if you would allow us a few of your delicious and appetizing apples. So that all of our friends can see the wonders the future brings for all of us." Flim added, using his cunning silver tongue so that everyone was attentive to his request and that Applejack couldn't refuse.

With great distrust, Applejack accepted. Flim levitated several apples, which were quickly sucked into the suction hose of the machine. Then the barrels of the machine began to rotate, the pipes spewed more smoke, a huge light bulb was filled with magical electricity, and two large tubes were they began to fill rapidly with cider.

"Wooow... it even has a selector module." Dusk said with intrigue, approaching the Cider Squeezy. The colt could help but be fascinated with how the machine used magic and engineering in total harmony to perform such mechanisms. Unfortunately, that same intrigue distracted him from the fact that he was supposed to be suspicion of the stallions that his country friend had ire for.

"What do you say, Granny Smith? Do you want to taste?" Flam said, offering Granny Smith the first glass of cider the machine made.

"Of course I'll taste it!" Granny Smith said in a bad mood, realizing that those two ruffians wanted to take away their lucrative cider business and swiped the glass to her.

"Granny, no!" Applejack pleaded.

"Relax, I assure you that these ruffians can’t match the quality of our cider." Granny Smith said, sipping from the glass of cider. Then, to her surprise, she couldn't help but open her eyes wide and lick her mouth over the delicious beverage she had just drank, identical to the cider that her family sold. Then she realized that everyone was looking at her and looked away in embarrassment.

"The Apple family cider has no secrets. It's just her delicious apples. Anyone who has these apples can make delicious cider out of them." Flam said, smiling victoriously at the grandmother's reaction.

"And with our Cider Squeezy, we not only assure you top-quality cider, but we assure you that we’ll have it in half the time of what Granny Smith and her family currently take!" Flim yelled, causing all the surrounding ponies to scream with excitement, including Rainbow Dash, seeing that now they could finally drink the precious cider.

As the ponies applauded, Applejack realized her grave mistake. Last year, she had admitted to these two unscrupulous merchants that her cider had no secrets, only the seasonal apples from her farm. And now somehow, those two had come back and found a way to match their cider, and they could even do it faster. Now their entire cider business could collapse because of her.

"Well, without our apples you won't be able to make any more cider. And I'm not going to sell you a single apple just to have you steal our business from us!" Granny Smith countered, taking a sack of apples that was near Flim and Flam and putting it behind her.

"Come now, Granny Smith. Don't be a curmudgeon." Flim said with a friendly smile, looking at the rest of the ponies present. "All we want is to help quench the thirst of these thirsty ponies. Providing quality cider for a small fee. We’re even willing to split the profits, if you provide us with the apples. Let's say… seventy percent for us, thirty percent for you."

"That’s a bunch of hornswoggling hogwash if I’ve ever heard some!" Granny Smith screamed. Big Mac and Apple Bloom stood by their grandmother when they finally realized how unscrupulous those two twins had.

"So, are you going to leave all these ponies without a drop of cider just because you want to monopolize the business?" Flam asked with a sarcastic smile.

"Of course not!" Applejack yelled with all her might, determined to end this absurd discussion. "Tomorrow we’ll have much more cider and it’ll be enough for everypony! That’s the honest truth! I swear!" Applejack added, turning to look seriously at all the other ponies, especially Rainbow Dash, who had been one of the most annoyed about the lack of cider.

Seeing her friend's firm and honest gaze, Rainbow Dash bit her lip and looked away with embarrassment, realizing how she had exaggerated and how that had complicated her friend and her family. Then the other ponies also felt similar guilt to see the always honest Applejack putting her word at stake. And although most were still upset that they hadn’t managed to drink cider, they slowly withdrew, determined to trust the country mare's word.

"So you’ll have more cider tomorrow. That’s a relief." Flim whispered, moving closer to his machine when he saw that the other ponies had calmed down and there was no point in shaking things up anymore, at least for the moment. "Still, I wonder... Will it be enough for everypony?" Flim added with a smug smile. The stallion then got onto his machine with his brother and drove off from the farm.

"I didn't think things would get so tense..." Dusk Shine muttered, who had been left aside in that discussion.

"This ain’t over. I just know it." Applejack said, eyeing Flim and Flam's machine suspiciously as it drove away. "Family meeting!"

Big Mac, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith quickly rushed over and huddled up with the orange mare. Seeing that this was more of a family matter, Dusk decided to leave along with the rest of ponies present. However, as he was leaving, Dusk couldn't help but give Applejack one last look, noticing that, even if she tried to hide it, it seemed that his friend was extremely nervous and worried about what was to come.

The next day, Dusk arrived at Sweet Apple Acres just before dawn, all to taste some of the Apple family's legendary cider. However, to his surprise, even with how early it was in the morning, there was already a line of ponies waiting to be served. Fortunately, this line was a little shorter than the one he had had to do the day before.

Approaching the end of the line, Dusk smiled when he saw that Fluttershy and Rarity had just arrived there as well. Both mares smiled kindly when the lavender colt joined them. And just as with Pinkie, Rainbow and Applejack, neither of the mares appeared to be nervous to be around him. That made Dusk breathe deeply again, and he forced himself to be just as calm as his friends were.

"It’s nice to see you again, ladies.” He greeted with a smile. He looked around their surroundings and then towards the front of the line. "Huh… I thought Rainbow Dash would already be here."

Fluttershy and Rarity looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Darling, if Rainbow Dash woke up early yesterday to come here, it's impossible for her to be here now." Rarity giggled.

"Rainbow Dash… well... it’s impossible for her to get up early two days in a row." Fluttershy said, also smiling in amusement. "Before coming here, I tried to wake her up, but she sleeps like a log." Fluttershy added, looking at Dusk with a shy smile.

Dusk thought about going himself to try to wake up his friend. However, if what his friends said was true, even he would find it difficult to wake the blue pegasus from her heavy sleep. In addition, the ponies were beginning to arrive and were already forming behind Dusk, so he would lose his position if he left. Maybe if he stayed, he could give his place to Rainbow Dash, although then Dusk remembered what happened the day before and that his friend would probably not accept that as she considered it a defeat.

After half an hour, Dusk and his friends finally recognized Rainbow Dash's voice in the distance, who had finally managed to wake up. Only to discover that again the line to buy cider was already huge, and again she was a long way from achieving her long-awaited goal. Although the pegasus was in the back of the line, Dusk and the mares could have sworn that they could here the swear words that she was muttering in frustration.

To everyone's surprise, it seemed that the line was moving much faster that day than the day before. So it wasn’t long for Dusk and his friends to wait before it was their turn.

"It seems you have everything under control today." Dusk said once he arrived next to Applejack, relieved to see that those two annoying merchants seemed not to have come that day.

"Yeah, we worked overtime yesterday to make more cider kegs. And we’ve organized ourselves better to serve customers faster." The country mare proudly gestured the rest of her family, who indeed moved in a much faster and more efficient way to count the money, serve the glasses of cider and change the kegs. Dusk couldn’t help but notice the dark circles under Applejack’s eyes, clearly showing the effort she put herself through for the sake of satisfying her customers. “Anyway, here’s your cider, y’all!” Applejack added, giving a mug of cider to Fluttershy, Rarity, and Dusk respectively.

Slowly Dusk took the mug of cider, sniffed it a bit to verify that it seemed to be a simple cider. However, as soon as he tasted it, he immediately understood what all the fuss was about. It was a very tasty and sweet beverage beyond measure, which Dusk thoroughly enjoyed drop by drop while he drank it. Applejack eagerly watched Dusk’s expression and couldn't help but put on a huge smile and blush a little when she saw how her beloved Dusk enjoyed the cider of her family and the fruit of her work.

After enjoying the delicious cider, Dusk was tempted to buy more. But he held back as he remembered that he had to do his part to make that there was enough cider for everyone, especially his friend Rainbow Dash. Who was still lined up in line, slowly approaching, eager to finally taste her long-awaited cider.

It was at that moment, as Dusk watched Rainbow Dash approach, that he noticed that in front of his pegasus friend was Flam, waiting for his turn in line.

Finally it was Flam's turn, and as a precautionary measure, Dusk decided to stay with Applejack to avoid a conflict again. Applejack simply narrowed her eyes and wrinkled her muzzle in disgust at the sight of the unscrupulous merchant.

"What's wrong dear Applejack? Don't you want to sell me your delicious cider? Isn't my money worth the same as everyone else's?" Flam said in a very theatrical way, so that all the ponies behind him would hear him.

"Hmm... No problem..." Applejack said slowly, knowing that the merchant was planning something. "How many mugs of cider are you going to want?"

"No mugs, miss. Kegs." Flam said with an arrogant smile. Then he reached down and levitated a huge, heavy sack full of bits over Applejack's counter. "All the kegs of cider you have left."

Immediately all the ponies behind him, including Rainbow Dash, who was right behind Flam, began to furiously complain about running out of cider again.

"Friends, relax, there is nothing to worry about." Flam said in a calm voice as always, making great use of his ability to control to the masses. "It would be impossible for me to just drink all that cider. I'm buying it as a gift to the good ponies in Ponyville who haven't had any cider yet." Flam added, to the surprise of Applejack and Dusk, who had prepared for everything but that.

All the ponies still in line screamed with joy and began to chant Flam's name, thanking him for his noble gesture.

"I can't bear to see these thirsty ponies in this exhausting line. I prefer to make a little financial sacrifice to give them a little happiness. Happiness that was taken away by the Apple family's inept and slow cider service." Flam said, again feigning disinterest and giving Applejack a fleeting, almost imperceptible look of mockery. The mare only pressed her lips tightly as Flam passed behind the counter to approach the cider kegs.

Just as Flam was passing Applejack's side, he pretended to stumble and he hit the stacked cider kegs hard, causing them all to fall and all the precious and delicious cider to fall to the ground.

"Nooooo….!" Rainbow Dash screamed in horror, leaping towards the kegs, trying in vain to catch some of the cider that had already been sucked into the ground. She was only able to her mouth only with a bitter apple-flavored mud, which made her eyes fill with helpless tears.

"You... You tripped me!" Flam yelled, still lying on the ground after hitting the kegs and pointing at Applejack and yelling loudly in anger, for all to hear. "This disloyal salespony made me fall on purpose so as not to sell cider to these good ponies! Just because she wants to strangle the cider monopoly in Ponyville. I've never seen a salespony use such dirty tricks just to wipe out the competition!"

All the surrounding ponies began to whisper among themselves, all arguing if what Flam was saying was possible. Even if they trusted Applejack, they all really believed they saw that Applejack had tripped him. And slowly Flam's great mass suggestion technique began to eat away at the trust the other ponies had in the Apple family.

"Stop there! That can’t be true! The honest and trustworthy Applejack would never do that!" A voice suddenly yelled from another side. A voice that made Applejack feel relieved for a second, thinking that there were still ponies who didn't question her integrity. However, that relief disappeared instantly when she saw that who had said that had been none other than Flim, Flam's brother. The stallion was riding his huge Cider Squeezy machine. "What shame! How can all you distrust Applejack and her family?" Flim added, glaring scolding at the other ponies in front of him. That made the other ponies feel a bit embarrassed for actually having thought ill of Applejack.

"Uh... T-Thanks..." Applejack said with embarrassment, deciding to make amends with the twins, after Flim helped so that the others didn't mistrust her. "I appreciate it, I-"

"There is nothing to be thankful for, honest Applejack." Flim interrupted, speaking out loud for all to hear. "And don't be panicked! Because I promise all you that in less than an hour, we can recover all those kegs of lost cider. So everyone can finally drink the delicious cider of ‘Apple Family & Flim and Flam Associates’!!" Flim shouted, lighting the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy with his magic, causing all the ponies to scream with excitement, seeing that they could enjoy their delicious cider.

"Apple Family & Flim and Flam Associates!?" Applejack thought with a mixture of confusion, fear and anger. This had all been an elaborate plan by those two filthy merchants to leave her family without supplies and win over all their customers in the process.

"You won't be making cider with our apples!" Applejack screamed, furious at having been tricked. "There are no Flim and Flam Associates ciders or anything like that! There’s only the cider of the Apple Family! The same cider that my family has prepared for years! And no liar, with a crazy weird machine, will make us change our mind."

"Yeah!!" The rest of the Apple family yelled in support, gathering together to confront the two merchants.

"I can't believe my ears! Can you only think of yourself!? What about all these poor ponies who haven't been able to enjoy a single drop of cider!?" Flim responded to the country mare while facing the audience theatrically to sway their opinion. "Perhaps you did in fact tripped my brother on purpose! What a shame!" Flim added, as Flam suddenly remembered his 'sore hoof' and made a fake pained face.

Just as Applejack feared, all the ponies fell for Flim's honeyed false words. Everyone began to complain against the Apple Family, for not letting the brothers make cider, for the bad service, for the lack of cider, and for having hurt poor Flam just so that he didn't give them free cider.

"Applejack... maybe you should give in." Dusk whispered to Applejack, seeing that the atmosphere was heating up and the ponies were getting more and more annoyed, all while Flim and Flam smiled triumphantly and enjoyed the show. "Let them make some cider for the others to calm down."

"You don’t understand. The sale of cider is an important part of the earnings for the year. If we give in now, those two will take advantage and we’ll never make up for what we lost." Applejack said, trying to hide her nervousness, as she watched those two unicorns use their magic to activate the machine.

When Flim and Flam saw that, despite having all their customers against them, the Apple family was still adamant about not giving out their apples so they could make their own cider, the twins decided to push even harder.

"Dear Granny Smith, a refined and beautiful lady like you shouldn't be working so hard in a farm." Flim said, approaching the elderly mare and gently patting her hoof in an act of gallantry and chivalry. "With our Cider Squeezy, these beautiful hooves would never have to work in the farm again. That way, you would have more time to go out and meet someone special. To a stallion that saw you as beautiful as I know you are." Flim added, using all his charm, winking at Granny Smith.

"Hehehe, I think I'm too old for you, darling." Granny Smith laughed, pulling back the hoof that Flim was holding. "Age and hard work give experience. Such as being able to recognize when somepony is giving you false flattery." Granny Smith added, easily discovering Flim's true intentions.

"That's it, Granny! Show him that we’re no silly country ponies and that we’ll not be fooled by their silly tricks!" Applejack thought in that instant. Proud that her grandmother hadn’t fallen into such a trap.

Seeing that the charm technique hadn't worked on Granny Smith, Flim looked away in disappointment, but immediately put on a thoughtful look and came up with another way to sway Granny. If charms and false flattery weren't working to win her favor, perhaps he could do the opposite and still achieve his goal.

"I can't believe you don't want to give us a few apples to make our cider." Flim said out loud, speaking to Granny Smith, but looking at the rest of the ponies as if they were his audience. "You know Granny, I’m beginning to think that you’re afraid to compete against our machine." Flim added, glancing at his brother. Who, for his part, immediately understood what his brother was planning, smiled mischievously and walked away from there. "To me, Granny Smith is just a ‘CHICKEN’."

"What did you call me, sonny?" Granny Smith said immediately, glaring at Flim.

"No, no, no, no!" Applejack thought terrified, knowing what that word did to Granny.

"Nopony calls me a chicken!" Granny Smith said, coming face to face with Flim, looking at him menacingly. Meanwhile, Flim smirked, knowing that he had gotten Granny to take the bait.

"If you’re so sure that our machine can’t exceed your cider production, then give us a few apples to test. We could even make a small bet." The stallion with a false thoughtful look, because the truth was that all that was part of his plan.

"You can take all the apples you want! But you still won’t be able to beat the work and love that our family puts in our cider!" Granny Smith answered furiously. "That's something I can bet!"

"Great! Your whole family against our Super Speedy Cider Squeezy." Flim said, looking at Granny defiantly and speaking out loud for all to hear. "Whoever produces more kegs of top-quality cider will recieve the exclusive right to sell cider in Ponyville."

"Fine by me!" Granny Smith yelled furiously, immediately accepting the challenge.

"Granny, no!" Applejack screamed in terror.

"No backsies! We have a witness." Flam suddenly said, who had left and returned with Mayor Mare, who had been in line to drink cider, and who had wanted to stay out of that discussion. But Flam, knowing what his brother was planning, brought the mayor to the center of the discussion to serve as a judge.

"Mayor! This is crazy!" Applejack said, full of fear.

"I-I understand that. But if Granny Smith accepted the challenge…" Mayor Mare said, feeling uncomfortable in this situation.

"Of course I accepted! Right here! Right now!" Granny Smith added, much to Applejack's horror.

As Flim and Flam smiled victoriously, Applejack looked everywhere in terror. Then she saw Dusk, who seemed just as shocked as she was by this sudden challenge.

"Dusk, you... what would you do!?" Applejack thought, feeling a sense of dread as she understood more than anyone what her family was really risking in the challenge. She had a yearning to rush over to Dusk and ask if he could use that clever mind of his to come up with a solution.

However, that wasn’t necessary. Because as she thought about what her clever crush would do in this situation, Applejack came up with a brilliant idea.

"Tomorrow." Applejack said trying to calm down and looking seriously at Flim and Flam. "We accept the challenge, but it’ll be tomorrow."

"Let's do it right now, deary." Granny Smith said, looking at her granddaughter. "Let's show these dirty ruffians that we’re not cowards and that we can beat them at their own game."

"Granny, trust me. It’ll be better if we do it tomorrow." Applejack said, staring at her grandmother, so that by looking at her she would understand that she had a plan.

Before Granny Smith could guess that her granddaughter had a hidden plan, it was the cunning minds of Flim and Flam that realized that Applejack seemed to be planning something. With the years of experience being seasoned scammers, the twins quickly sensed that the young orange mare was planning something that could harm their schemes.

"Granny Smith said here and now, and we're willing to do so. Why put it off for a day? Is your intention to cheat? Isn't the word given by Granny Smith trustworthy?" Flam said, speaking as usual to all the other ponies present, to manipulate the public into thinking what he wanted them to think, and thus turn them in his favor.

"Of course my word is to be trusted! I already said I accept!" Granny Smith countered, shaking Flim’s hoof to close the deal while he smiled victoriously.

"Why aren’t you listening to me, Granny!?" Applejack screamed angrily, who saw her plan fall apart.

The plan that Applejack had thought was that, exactly the next day some of her relatives would come to visit her. Together with her cousins and uncles, she might be able to convince Granny Smith that the bet they were making was crazy. But now, that whole plan had gone down the drain. However, Applejack quickly thought of another desperate exit in order to avoid the trouble that was coming.

"I...I refuse to partake in this tomfoolery!" Applejack said with a furious look. "The deal was that you guys would compete against our entire family. If I refuse to participate, then you can’t compete." Applejack spat at the despicable twins. She hated looking like a coward, but if it was to save her family, she was willing to sacrifice her pride.

"So, you’re admitting that you’re a chicken like your grandmother?" Flim said, smiling maliciously, trying to provoke Applejack.

"Say whatever the heck you want." Applejack answered through clenched teeth.. "Come on, Granny." Applejack added, turning around and pushing her grandma away from the twins.

As Applejack pushed the elderly away, and the rest of the ponies present were disappointed, realizing that the expected challenge seemed not to be carried out. Flim and Flam looked at each other, realizing that their chance to fool the Apple family was fading. Then they both smiled maliciously, deciding to take the provocation to the next level, all in order to achieve their goal.

"So, Applejack wants to be absent from the competition. It's a shame, isn't it brother?" Flim said, this time speaking at a low volume so the other ponies wouldn't hear him, except for Applejack, who was still within reach of his voice.

"Yeah. 'Absent', what an ugly word. I guess it runs in the family." Flam argeed.

"Yeah, it seems that she wants to be absent just like her parents." Flim added, grinning wickedly.

As soon as Applejack heard that, she froze. Her vision clouded completely, feeling a fury that she had never felt before. She lost her mind to the fury she felt and her body moved only guided by anger. She fiercely turned around and landed a sharp blow straight to Flim's face.

"No!" Dusk Shine yelled. The lavender colt saw that Applejack lunged to hit Flim and he pounced and got in the way. His friend to hit him with all her might in the face instead of Flim, causing him to fall hard against the ground.

Seeing that she had hit Dusk instead of Flim, Applejack was able to get out of that state of blind rage she had been in and gawked at Dusk lying on the ground before her.

"Dusk! What did you do!?" Applejack yelled with concern, immediately crouching down to help Dusk up.

"D-Don’t worry... I-I'm fine..." Dusk said with one eye closed in pain. He didn’t want to worry her friend, even if the blow really hurt. Then, after Applejack helped him up, he stared at her. "Don't let them provoke you. If you hit them, they’ll make you and your family look like violent ponies." Dusk explained, trying to calm his friend.

Dusk's words were not necessary to calm Applejack, as it had only been enough for her to see Dusk lying on the ground in pain to quell her anger with concern. However, now that she saw that Dusk was fine, she glared at the merchant twins. Then she closed her eyes tightly and forced herself to calm down and follow Dusk's words, even though deep down she wanted to beat those two ruffians for what they had said.

"Thank you, noble knight! You’ve saved this humble merchant from the brutal beating that vulgar country mare wanted to give me." Flim said theatrically for all to hear, hugging Dusk between his hooves.

Flim's hug only lasted a second, as he immediately had to release Dusk from his hooves when he felt a strong electric shock. Then, after the fright, he saw that Dusk was furious and had sparks popping off from his horn.

"Do NOT touch me! If you make fun of my friend or her family like that again, I swear you'll regret it!" Dusk said with a fleeting red glow of anger in his eyes. So much was Dusk's anger that his horn couldn't help but shoot sparks and light electric rays when he contained his magic.

For the first time Flim was speechless and took a step back, swallowing hard and scared at the threat. Meanwhile, without Dusk noticing, those magical rays of anger that his horn released reached the Cider Squeezy. Electricity ran through one of the glass tubes, overcharging it with energy and caused it to explode. That replaced all of Dusk's fury with astonishment and horror at what he had unintentionally caused.

"This isn’t the first time… Why is it so difficult for me to control my magic when I get angry?" Dusk thought, terrified when he saw the glass tube explode.

"Woooh! Did you see that?! They’re sabotaging us! They want to break our Super Cider Squeezy so we can't have a challenge!" Flam yelled, immediately taking advantage of the accident to continue to have the support of the ponies around them.

The other ponies that were waiting for the cider hadn’t understood anything of what had happened. The only thing everyone saw was that for some reason Applejack hit Dusk and then Dusk used his magic to break the glass tubes of the Cider Squeezy. That, with the enormous persuasiveness of Flim and Flam's speeches, convinced the vast majority of the ponies present to believe what Flam was proposing to them.

"But don't worry, friends! Even with those dirty tricks that the Apple family and their friends make, I assure you that our machine, at half capacity, could still compete and beat the Apple family." Flam added, continuing the pressure for the challenge to take place.

As the audience slowly shouted and exerted their pressure again, Applejack's mind ignored the others and only looked at Dusk, who was still looking stupidly at the machine, realizing his clumsy mistake. However, Applejack smiled fondly, realizing that he had saved her from making a serious mistake.

"Sis, are you okay?" Apple Bloom said, who, along with Big Mac and Granny Smith, approached Applejack, knowing that there must be a reason for her to have reacted that way.

"I-I'm fine, don't worry." Applejack said with a nervous little smile, bviously lying to try not to worry her family.

"I don't know what those ruffians told you, but we need to teach them a lesson!" Granny Smith said, gently touching her granddaughter and looking at her confidently. "Applejack, let's show them how strong our family is."

"Yeah! We can beat them!" Apple Bloom shouted confidently.

"E....Eeyup." The ever-talkative Big Mac added.

Even though Applejack was already calm and she saw the security and trust in her family's eyes, she couldn't have that same look. Every time she thought about the possibility that she and her family could beat those two unicorns and their machine, the memory of her competition against Sunset Shimmer returned to her mind, and how the dastardly mare had shown her that a unicorn could beat her by harvesting apples.

"We can't beat them..." Applejack said, with a look full of fear.

"Of course we will!" The other three Apples answered together, looking determinedly at Applejack.

Applejack squeezed her eyes shut, slowly lowered her head, took a deep breath, and finally decided to believe in her family. Even if it was one chance in a hundred, she would believe in her family.

"Okay..." Applejack finally relented, hoping she wasn't making the biggest mistake of her life.

To Applejack's surprise, the weak words sounded far louder than she thought. Then she looked to her side and saw that Flim had put a bullhorn next to her.

"You heard it, friends! The cider challenge will take place!" Flim yelled in excitement, causing all the other ponies present to scream happily as well, knowing that with that challenge they would soon be able to drink the delicious cider that either team made.

"Oh! What a coincidence! Looks like we had a reserve tube." Flam said from the other end, feigning surprise and swapping the broken Cider Squeezy tube for a new one. "Now our machine will be able to compete at full power." He added, glaring at the Apple family.

After a few preparations, Flim and Flam settled down with their Super Cider Squeezy on one side of the orchard. While in the opposite side, the Apple family settled with all their rudimentary machinery to harvest and manufacture cider. In the middle of both teams was Mayor Mare, next to a brown stallion that had carried a huge hourglass with him. And finally, the rest of the ponies were behind a fence, an audience eager to see that interesting competition. Dusk and the other Applejack’s friends were in the front row, including Rainbow Dash, who had a sad look, full of guilt for having been part of the group that started the revolt against her friend.

"Well ponies, we're about to start this improvised competition that will determine who will have the exclusive rights to sell cider in Ponyville." Mayor Mare said as the brown stallion next to her, named Dr. Hooves, did all the paperwork. In addition to being the town scientist, the brown stallion was the notary, and he loved to sign all kinds of documents. "As will be recorded in the minutes, whoever makes the most kegs of the highest quality cider in one hour will be the winner. Do both parties agree?"

"We accept." Flim said, signing the paper that Dr. Hooves had brought before him.

"W-We accept..." Applejack replied, still unsure of participating and signed the paper.

"Let the challenge begin!" Mayor Mare yelled, flipping the hourglass to start the countdown. Everyone in the audience to scream with excitement.

On the part of the Apple family, the process began with Applejack hitting the apple trees and caused the apples to fall. Then Apple Bloom followed with a basket and caught the apples before they fell to the ground and carried them to her grandma. Granny Smith had the job of sorting, where she saw and smelled each apple, discarding the bad ones and dumping the good ones down a gutter. Finally, Big Mac ran on a makeshift treadmill to run a small artisanal mill, which turned a large wheel that squeezed the apples and caused the cider to flow out of one side.

Seeing the great teamwork they did, most of the ponies in the audience began to support the Apple family in their speed and skill to carry out that heavy work. However, there was a small group of ponies who immediately noticed that not everything worked as well as everyone believed.

"Is it me or is something wrong with Applejack?" Rarity said, saying what all her friends thought.

The experience of seeing her country friend harvesting so many times had led Rarity and the others to realize that Applejack was being slightly slower than usual.

"It's like something distracted her." Fluttershy added worriedly.

"We already have a keg!" Apple Bloom yelled excitedly, having completed the first keg of cider.

"We’ve never filled a keg so fast." Applejack thought with a slight hope growing in her heart. However, that hope was instantly dashed as she looked up and saw that in front of her, was her competition. Just as Apple Bloom yelled that they had completed their first keg, they had also completed a keg, but it was their third!

The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 was an impressive machine. While Flim and Flam rested peacefully on the seat of their machine, all they had to do was continually activate their magic, then the machine did the rest. With a huge hose, the machine sucked much of the apples from the trees from the air, then the apples went through an automatic selection cycle, removing all the bad apples, and finally the barrels of apples spun at full speed until creating the cider, automatically sealing the kegs and stacking them accurately.

Just as Applejack had feared, her family was at a disadvantage against unicorn magic. For every keg their family worked hard to make, the unicorn twins effortlessly made three kegs. The country mare was once again reminded of her duel against Sunset and how she had been overwhelmingly beaten. Applejack couldn’t fully concentrate from doubt and nervousness, and now, seeing the potential of Flim and Flam's super cider squeezy, she was becoming more and more imprecise at hitting and harvesting apples.

"Don't give up Applejack! You can win this! You're the best!" Rainbow Dash screamed at the top of her lungs, causing Applejack to snap out of her dark insecurities and look out over the audience.

There was her great friend and eternal rival, who was supporting her with all her might. The blue pegasus no longer cared about getting any cider or not, all she wanted was for her friend to win. Like her other friends, who also started screaming with all their might to encourage her. Then Applejack couldn't help but smile, regaining the confidence that for a moment she had begun to lose.

As she looked at her friends, Applejack instinctively scanned for one particular pony, the stallion that had so often helped and encouraged her. However, she was surprised to see that, unlike her other friends, Dusk Shine wasn’t supporting her from the audience. In fact, Dusk Shine wasn't even there, he had turned around and ran out of there.

"Dusk is leaving?" Applejack thought with a confused and concerned look. However, she quickly erased that look and returned to a look of total concentration. "No, focus, gal! The old Applejack would have believed that Dusk is leaving because he knows we can’t win. But he would never do something like that! I know that if he’s leaving, it’s because something very important happened. I… I trust Dusk with all my heart!!" Applejack thought, smiling confidently and regaining all the motivation that she lacked.

Time passed quickly; thirty minutes had passed and only half the time remained. And although the competition was as intense as at the beginning, the remarkable advantage of one of the teams was already more than evident. While the Apple family looked exhausted making four kegs, neither Flim and Flam had a drop of sweat on them, while their machine was had stacked twelve kegs of cider.

Right at that moment, Dusk Shine finally returned to the competition venue. Wasting no time, he jumped the fence that divided the audience from those participating in the challenge and headed to the side of the field. But curiously, instead of going to where his friend and her family were, Dusk went straight to where Flim and Flam were, still sitting comfortably in the seat of their machine.

"Excuse me, I would like to ask you a question." Dusk said, looking kindly at the merchant twins, holding a batch of papers with his magic. "Are honorary family members allowed to help in the competition?"

At Dusk's question, both Flim and Flam looked at the young lavender stallion in surprise. Then they immediately noticed his horn and narrowed their eyes, remembering the magical strength it seemed to possess.

"Of course… NOT! We won't risk you using your magic to help those simple country ponies. Who do you take us for? The deal is done! It's ONLY the Apple family against our machine." Flim replied, grinning wickedly. He couldn’t give the Apple family any chance of winning.

"Okay, I thought so." Dusk said, smiling victoriously. He then ran off as Flim and Flam looked at him in confusion.

Fully concentrated on her task of hitting the apple trees, Applejack barely realized that Dusk had reached her.

"Whatever you have to say... You better say it later..." Applejack said grunted, fully focusing on her task of bucking the tree.

"Applejack, marry me!"

The shock that those three words caused made the country mare lose all of her concentration and bucked the air, causing her to fall to the ground.

"W-W-W... What did you say?" Applejack asked with a hot blush, shaking her head as she thought she had misheard. There was no other answer, she definitely must have heard wrong!

"We’re running out of time!" Dusk said hurriedly, taking Applejack's hoof and making it marked as a signature on one of the papers he had brought with him. "Hurry, come with me." Dusk added, taking Applejack by the hoof to accompany him. The orange mare simply let him lead her, reeling from the extreme confusion she felt.

Quickly, Dusk pulled on Applejack until they both arrived in front of Mayor Mare. Then Dusk showed the batch of papers that he had brought with him.

"Mayor, you can marry us, can't you?" Dusk asked, looking at the mayor with a serious and determined look.

"M-Marry!? W-Well yes, I have the authority to perform weddings, but…" Mayor Mare replied, very confused and surprised. Applejack was absolutely flabbergasted by the lavender colt’s wild declarations.

"Marry me... That's what he said... Marry me..." Applejack repeated in her mind in the vain attempt to understand.

"We just need a notary, right?" Dusk said, smiling victoriously. "And we just have-"

"I’m a notary!" Dr. Hooves exclaimed. The stallion was fascinated with the batch of papers that Dusk had brought, beginning to read them quickly, signing them without even being asked.

"T-This is too hasty… And we're in the middle of a competition!" Mayor Mare tried to reason.

"That is precisely why we need this done now!" Dusk said, looking nervously at the huge hourglass.

"What... What do you mean?" Applejack asked slowly, finally managing to partly come out of her daze.

"If we get married, I’ll officially be part of your family, and I’ll be able to help you in the competition!" Dusk explained, looking excitedly at his friend. "We can get married to make it official and then we can just annul the marriage afterward!"

"That... That's abusing the system..." Mayor Mare muttered, annoyed that the colt was using something so sacred as marriage for something so crazy.

"I accept that it’s extreme, but desperate times call for desperate measures." Dusk said, smiling full of confidence. "We’re not doing anything illegal, right?"

"Hnng... Hmm... No... I guess not..." Mayor Mare replied reluctantly. Then she glanced off into the distance, where Granny Smith was still examining the apples she had, still struggling not to lose the challenge. The mayor knew that if they lost the right to sell their cider in town, it could mean that they would lose their precious farm. "Well… I'll accept it. But I insist again that it’s not correct."

"That's enough for me." Dusk smiled, satisfied to have convinced the mayor.

"Dusk, wait." Applejack said, taking Dusk by the shoulders and looking at him seriously. "Okay, I get what you’re saying. I accept that in your mind this must seem like a brilliant idea, BUT THIS IS CRAZY!"

"I know, but it's the only way you can compete fairly against those dirty twins." Dusk said, also looking seriously at his friend.

Applejack couldn't help but look towards where the Super Cider Squeezy was and saw the enormous number of kegs of cider it had produced. Even with Dusk's help, it was very likely that they wouldn't even manage to before them. And before putting her pride and her common sense before her, Applejack, as always, put her family before her.

"Huff… O-Okay. I accept." Applejack finally answered, blushing and dropping her head.

"Perfect! Now let me get the rest of the girls." Dusk said, calling with his hoof to his other friends. The mares had been attentive after seeing that something strange happened in the competition with Dusk, Applejack and Mayor Mare, immediately ran to where they were.

"What’s wrong? Why’s Applejack not bucking those trees like no tomorrow?" Pinkie Pie asked upon arrival, along with the rest of her friends.

"Um, Dusk." Mayor Mare said. "These types of...informal marriages only require documentation. We don’t need any witnesses."

"Oh, they’re not witnesses." Dusk said, levitating another stack of papers and showing them to the mayor with a huge smile. "I’m also marrying them."

A long and ominous silence was felt around, hearing only the sand of the huge clock falling through the glass. Both the Apple family and the merchant brothers had been trying to pay attention to what was happening with the Mayor, Dusk and the mares. And the only thing they could hear was the surprising and ridiculous phrase that Dusk said at that moment. A phrase that left everypony stunned and open-mouthed for a few seconds.

"HOW SHAMELESS CAN YOU BE!?" Rainbow Dash and Mayor Mare yelled at the same time. The blushing pegasus couldn’t stop herself from from bonking the unicorn on the head.

"Ouch…! Don't you understand? It's the only solution, so we can all be part of the family and can help Applejack!" Dusk said, rubbing his head from the blow he received.

While Dusk tried to explain his 'brilliant idea', and his friends and the Mayor were arguing with him about the extreme of his plan, Flim and Flam were thinking with very serious looks. Now that they understood what Dusk was trying to do, they realized that it was actually a big problem. If the Mayor agreed, not only Dusk and his friends could enter the competition, but also any other pony in the public could. Then, both twins made some mental calculations and realized that if Dusk managed to convince most of the ponies in the audience to accept that temporary marriage, they could be in trouble.

Both twins looked at each other, knowing they had come to the same conclusion. Then they both got closer and started whispering to each other.

"Madam Mayor! Please, we must stop this madness. In the name of true love. We can’t allow such a sacred institution as marriage to become dirty." Flim said, sweetening his words. “I’ve chatted with my brother, and we’ve decided that if no one marries, we’ll allow those five ponies to help the Apple family." Flim added, indicating contemptuously with his hoof to Dusk and his friends.

"But only with two conditions! One: Only they join and no one else is asked to join." Flam said, knowing that even with five extra ponies, the Apple family would be unable to beat them. "And two… Let none of the unicorns that help them use magic." He concluded, smiling wickedly with his brother. As long as they could use magic and their competition couldn't, their victory was assured.

"Done!" Dusk said immediately, smiling victoriously. Then he threw all the papers he had brought into the air, while Dr. Hooves ran to catch them and order them correctly, even if they were no longer useful.

"Well. Now, I suggest you go back to the competition." Flim said as he and his brother reactivated their magic in their Cider Squeezy. "It's not like you're going to win, but at least it’ll be fun to watch you try." Flim added, grinning evilly just like his brother.

"Let's go!" Dusk yelled, running for his friends to follow him and go back to the apple trees.

"Wait... this was your plan from the beginning?" Applejack asked, running to Dusk's side.

"Of course not." Dusk said, looking at his friend as he ran with a blushing smile. "It wouldn't have been so bad if we had gotten married, right?" Dusk added. For the first time, Dusk was actually comfortable talking on the subject of love without feeling awkward.

At that smile, Applejack couldn't help but blush and lower her embarrassed gaze.

"Well listen, Applejack and her family have to focus on their tasks, and each of us will help them with something." Dusk instructed, stopping in front of the Apple family and his friends. "I'll help Applejack with harvesting. Pinkie Pie will help collect apples with Apple Bloom. Rarity will help Granny Smith in the selection stage. Rainbow Dash will help Big Mac in the runner. And Fluttershy will seal the barrels and change them. Now let’s go! There is no time to lose!"

Without questioning Dusk's orders for a second, each of his friends went directly to their position. None of the five mares had questioned the gift that Dusk had for organization. And slowly they were surprised to understand how quick Dusk had been to designate the right mare for the right task. Pinkie Pie's jumps made her perfect for easily catching falling apples; Rarity's great aesthetic sense made her perfect for instinctively sorting a good apple from a bad one; Rainbow Dash's speed was perfect to help on the treadmill; and Fluttershy could add a new stage, making the process continuous and non-stop.

In just two minutes, the Apple family was surprised to see how fast the entire process had become. With the help of Applejack's five friends, their speed had tripled. Minute by minute, their production was accelerating more and more. It wasn't just more hooves in the process, now it seemed that the stress of the competition had disappeared and each pony enjoyed the work they did, causing better and fasters results.

One of those who was most surprised by all this was Granny Smith, who never, even in her best days, had seen that job of making cider done so quickly. And while her eyes were proud of all her grandchildren, she couldn't help but stop her gaze on one granddaughter in particular.

Harvesting with all her energy with a huge smile, was Applejack. And next to her equally happy, was Dusk Shine. Both of them kicking in perfect sync, with Dusk applying all the knowledge he had learned from Applejack. Neither of them spoke, it was as if both were a mirror of the other, they just smiled at each other and harvested apple tree after apple tree, enjoying the rustic but fun work. But more importantly they were enjoying each other's company.

Granny Smith saw the beautiful sight and couldn't help but remember her strong but tender son, when he picked apples with his beloved wife. At that precise moment, Applejack and Dusk were the spitting image of Bright Mac and Pear Butter, and Granny couldn't help but release a tear of happiness at the fond memories.

There were less than ten minutes to go, and Flim and Flam hadn't paid much attention to the competition. They had only seen them work the first round and quickly calculated that the Apple family wouldn’t make it. However, neither of them took into account the enormous synergy of the group of nine ponies had, and how their teamwork grew and grew until they finally surpassed them. It was only when Flam was yawning that he glanced at his rivals and realized how many kegs of cider they had made in just a few minutes.

"The two teams are tied!" Dr. Hooves shouted just at that moment, who was the one who was carefully keeping the score keg by keg.

That announcement made the audience scream with excitement, while Flim and Flam, for the first time in the competition, felt a chill and saw in their minds a possibility that they really could lose. Then the twins looked at each other and nodded, putting on serious glances. Instantly, Flim and Flam maximized the strength of their magic, and the Super Cider Squeezy began to move faster, converting many more apples to cider.

The minutes passed and quickly Flim and Flam realized that, although the Super Cider Squeezy was working at twice the speed, they were still tied with the Apple Family.

"Why isn’t it working faster!?" Flim yelled, starting to get nervous.

"Hmm… I got it! It's the selection process!" Flam said, moving closer to see the glass behind which the machine sorted the apples. Even though the Cider Squeezy had more apples, the selection process followed the same rhythm that couldn’t be changed.

"Stop it!" Flim shouted, jumping up and shutting down the selector module on the Super Cider Squeezy.

"What are they doing?" Dusk thought curiously, watching from afar how the twins seemed to be nervous and had been adjusting the machine. "Are they adjusting it to make it go faster!?" Dusk realized.

Just as Dusk feared, the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 began churning out kegs of cider at an impressive speed, tripling its output in just a few minutes. About that, it seemed that only Dusk noticed, since all the other members of his team were absolutely focused on their tasks.

"Don't get distracted!" Dusk thought, shaking his head to calm himself.

"Dusk, hurry up! We gotta-" Applejack yelled before being cut off.

"Time up!" Mayor Mare yelled, just as the last grain of sand fell from the hourglass, thus ending the competition.

With the Mayor's announcement, all the ponies in the audience screamed with excitement and ran to the mayor, eager to find out who had won the intense and disputed competition. As the competitors also approached, Flim and Flam smiled arrogantly, while the Apple family smiled kindly, thanking Applejack's friends for their help. Meanwhile, Dusk and Applejack couldn't help but put on tense looks as Dr. Hooves finished counting both teams' kegs of cider.

"By a difference of three kegs... Flim and Flam win the competition!" Dr. Hooves finally yelled.

With the announcement of the winner, all the ponies in the audience happily applauded the winners, as they bowed appreciatively and smiled modestly. Although deep down, both twins were smiling wickedly in their minds. They knew that by taking away the cider business from the Apple family, they could easily buy all of Sweet Apple Acres and get all that great business. Meanwhile, the Apple family, Dusk and his friends, were left desolate. They had lost the competition by just three kegs! They had given their all, but finally they had lost against those wicked and sneaky merchants.

"We lost..." Applejack whispered, knowing, as did the twins, that without the sale of cider, her family couldn’t keep their farm and expenses afloat.

"It's not fair! It's not fair! It's not fair!" Apple Bloom began to yell, crying helplessly after losing by only three kegs.

As Fluttershy and Granny Smith approached the filly to comfort her, Dusk thought that he would also have liked to approach her to calm her down. But the truth was that Dusk felt the same as Apple Bloom. After all the dirty tricks the twins had used, was it fair that Applejack and her family lost their business to them!?

"It’s not fair." Dusk thought, with a serious look, convinced that justice must exist somewhere.

At that moment, Dusk looked towards the twins' Super Cider Squeezy, which no longer produced cider, but was still on, even with a bit of the magic charge that the twins had used on it. Dusk's eyes widened when he saw that, although the machine was still on, the light on the sorting belt was off. The day before, he had come very close to the machine, to admire that impressive achievement of magic and engineering, and precisely one of the parts that had most attracted Dusk's attention had been the machine's selector module.

"Cheaters never win." Dusk whispered, finally understanding how the twins had made their machine work faster.

"What are you talking about?" Applejack asked, who was next to Dusk and was surprised to see him smile. Then Dusk whispered in her ear what he had discovered. With that, Applejack also started to smile slowly, realizing the twins' mistake. Then she and Dusk looked at each other confidently and nodded, both knowing what they had to do.

"Thank you, thank you! We did everything for you. Just to bring you the best cider in Equestria." Flim said with a fake smile of modesty to all of the ponies.

"I have to take off my hat to you two. Even if I don't like it, I have to accept that y’all won fair and square. Congratulations." Applejack said suddenly, pushing her way through the other ponies to get to where Flim and Flam were. "If you don't mind, I’d like to make a small toast together with everyone present to your victory. After all, I think we all want to taste the winning cider, right?" Applejack added, looking over at the other ponies and holding up an empty mug.

At Applejack's gesture, the other ponies present also raised their empty mugs, eager not only to share the victory with the twins, but also to taste as soon as possible the delicious cider they had been waiting for all day. For their part, Flim and Flam narrowed their eyes and looked suspiciously at Applejack, who was now looking away.

"Who do you think you are talking to? You’re a terrible liar!" Flim thought, immediately guessing what Applejack was up to. "You realized that we made the last kegs without selecting the apples, didn't you? Do you think we'll do a toast with one of the last kegs? You really are a simple country mare!"

"Of course! I'd be delighted for everyone to taste the cider that Granny Smith herself approved!" Flim said, smiling kindly, contrary to all the bad thoughts that were circulating in his head at the time.

Having unmasked Applejack's true intentions, Flim asked his brother to bring one of the kegs. Then Flam pushed his way through the surrounding ponies to where the kegs of cider his Super Cider Squeezy had produced were, and with a smile of victory, pulled out one of the first kegs of the lot. Then he opened it and generously poured the mugs of all the ponies present with the precious cider.

"Cheers!" Flim said, raising his mug alongside those of the other ponies and drinking the glorious cider of victory. "Haah... This really is the best cider in Equestria, isn't it?" Flim added, smiling after drinking and verifying that there was nothing wrong with his cider.

However, as soon as Flim and Flam saw the rest of the ponies, they saw with amazement and fear that the ponies present had faces of confusion, and even disappointment, after having drunk from their mugs.

"This cider isn’t bad, but..." A mare said with a confused look.

"Yeah... it doesn't look like the Apple family cider at all." Another mare added, with a somewhat disgusted look. "I didn't wait all day for some ordinary cider."

"W-What are you talking about? It's the same cider from the Apple family! It’s their very apples! That is their only secret!" Flim said with panic.

"You didn't even realize it when you drank it. That’s because you’re just a merchant who doesn’t know what he’s selling." Applejack said with a victorious smile. "It’s true that there’s no secret in our way of making cider, but what we do without fail is to make the cider only with the best apples from our farm. The selection process is very important to have true top-quality cider, and that is something that you guys skipped just to win the competition."

"That's right, this isn’t Apple cider!"

"It’s a fraud!"

Quickly, all the ponies present started yelling at Flim and Flam, who this time had no sweet words to win over a crowd that no longer trusted them.

"That’s impossible! I made sure to get one of the first kegs out." Flam said nervously, turning to see where the cider kegs were.

Looking up at the kegs, Flam was surprised to see that they were stacked differently than they had been when he went to get the keg. Then, in front of his eyes, the kegs glowed with a magical aura and again they changed places again, as if it were a gambling game in which someone hides something in a glass and turns the other glasses to hide it.

Before Flim and Flam could react, Dusk appeared next to the kegs, walking with a big smile, showing that he had been the one who had rearranged the kegs. Now Flim and Flam hadn’t only shown the entire town that they had cheated to make more kegs of cider in the last few minutes, but now they had no idea which were the kegs with good cider and which were the ones with mixed apples that hadn't passed the quality filter.

"M-My dear friends... I think we had a little quality control problem." Flim said with a nervous smile, looking at the town ponies. "But if you give us a couple of hours, I'm sure we can-"

"We don't want to wait any longer!" All the ponies shouted angrily, who had already waited too long for a good glass of cider.

"The challenge was who made the most kegs of 'highest quality' cider." Mayor Mare said, walking over to Applejack, along with Granny Smith and the rest of the Apple family. "And under the consideration that the quality of Apple cider has never been questioned in all these years, I award the challenge to the Apple family!"

The air was quickly filled with cheers, congratulating the Apple family. The applause and shouts that were heard much louder than when they congratulated the twins, because the truth was that deep down, everyone in town wanted Applejack and her family to win. Meanwhile, the Apple family embraced excitedly, happy to be recognized by the ponies and not to lose the important part of their business.

For their part, Flim and Flam quickly got on their Super Cider Squeezy while everypony was distracted activated it with their magic to quickly leave. The twins were scared of the thought of the Apply family demanding some type of reward for winning the competition. Something very far from the truth, because the only thing Applejack thanked and wished in compensation was to see those two unicorns out of her sight.

"HAAAAHHH…. This is what I've been waiting for so long!!" Rainbow Dash yelled happily after she finally drank a mug of cider. She was so eager that she gulped down the whole mug in one swig. "Another, please!" She asked, smiling with delight.

"Coming right up!" Applejack replied, looking back and seeing that thanks to the competition, they now had kegs to spare to sell much more cider than they had planned.

After the madness of the competition ended, Applejack and her family immediately began to sell the cider they had again, and for the first time in years, it didn't run out in the morning and were able to sell all afternoon with some kegs left to spare.

The first ones to be offered cider were Dusk and his friends, for having helped the family. However, Rainbow Dash refused and said that she would only drink after they served everyone else. It was a kind of self-imposed punishment that the blue pegasus did as a penance for being part of the cause of all that trouble with the twins. So, when all the other ponies in town were satisfied and returned to their homes, it was the moment that Rainbow Dash was finally able to savor her dose of cider, causing her to cry with happiness.

As dusk fell, Granny Smith chatted with the mayor while Big Mac and Apple Bloom began to tidy up and bring their entire sales and cider-making equipment back to the barn. Thus, the Apple family let Applejack rest with her friends, as a thank you for the great help they had given them.

With the six friends sitting under a tree, enjoying the best cider in Equestria, everypony rested and laughed at everything that happened today. Including how exhausting and fun it was to make cider, how funny it was to see the freaked out faces of Flim and Flam after they found out they had lost; and most of all, what brought the most laughs was when everyone remembered the Dusk's ridiculous plan to marry them all. That made the lavender stallion blush as much as he could, but it also made him laugh with his friends. Although there was still a pending romantic issue between all of them, there wasn't at all that much romantic tension that Dusk thought and feared that could exist.

"I suppose this happens when you have a friendship as strong as ours." Dusk pondered. He then thought about everything that he and his friends had to go through so that finally everyone could be this calm despite their strong feelings of mutual love.

"That reminds me, I think I still have to apologize to the mayor." Dusk said and got up. Then his friends looked at each other and decided to accompany their friend.

When Dusk approached the mayor, she was laughing along with Granny Smith. Apparently they were remembering something that had happened years ago with Applejack's parents.

"Uh... Excuse me, Mayor." Dusk said as Mayor Mare turned and looked at him seriously. "I… I wanted to apologize for the marriage thing. It's just that I knew those twins were scammers, and the only way to beat them was by following their own rules."

"I understand, you don't have to apologize." Mayor Mare said, bending down and picking up some papers, which curiously were the same ones that Dusk had thrown in full competition. "Besides, the marriage is still valid. At least one of them."

"Uh?" Dusk and his five friends said at the same time as they thought that they all misheard her.

"Your marriage with Applejack is totally valid." Mayor Mare said, showing the marriage certificates signed by Dusk and Applejack with their hooves. "Unlike the other documents, you both signed and both said 'I accept' in front of me, who was sponsoring as a minister. Also, it appears that Dr. Hooves signed as a notary. So everything is valid!"

A long and uncomfortable silence hung in the air, with the mayor looking seriously at Dusk as he, like his friends, had been left in complete shock. The only one who seemed amused was Granny Smith, who seemed to be holding back her laughter.

Then, after finally understanding that the mayor seemed to be serious, Dusk and Applejack snapped out of their initial shock and looked at each other, both with faces of fear and confusion.

"L-Listen Applejack..." Dusk muttered. "I... It's not that I don't feel something for you, but..."

"Just ask for the annulment!" Applejack quickly interrupted, with the same face of shame and fear that Dusk had. She understood that Dusk wanted to apologize earlier, but that wasn't necessary! They both felt that it was ridiculous for the two of them to marry like this!

"If Dusk marries me one day, it’ll be because he decided to, not because of some silly confusion." Applejack thought, red with embarrassment.

"Mayor, you must annul that marriage." Dusk said, relieved that his friend thought the same as him.

"I will... in one month." Mayor Mare said, coming closer to Dusk. "Just to make sure that you learn the value of a marriage!" She added, showing that she was still annoyed by the simplistic attitude that Dusk took towards the marriage. She then got closer and whispered in his ear. “Hope you enjoy your honeymoon, handsome.”

The mayor then said goodbye to Granny Smith and left without saying anything else. Meanwhile, Dusk and his friends froze, and the most perplexed of all were Dusk Shine and Applejack, who seemed to have lost the color of their faces.

"Well, I think it's about time for me to retire too! It's already getting dark." Granny Smith said smiling, approaching Dusk and gently pinching his cheeks. "Welcome to the family, hehehe..." Granny Smith added, laughing as she left.

While Dusk and Applejack were still perplexed, their other friends were the first to react. All of them felt a great mixture of feelings, such as confusion, sadness, envy, annoyance, so much more that they didn't know how to express them. Finally, the four of them looked at each other, and they all nodded slowly, with looks that tried to hide their sadness.

"W-Well... I-I guess that makes that clear..." Rainbow Dash said, breaking the silence, scratching her head as she smiled awkwardly. "Looks like Applejack will be Dusk's first marefriend."

"I-I guess... hehehe..." Pinkie Pie said, forcing a smile.

Upon listening to their friends, both Applejack and Dusk were able to get out of their state of shock and could see the clear disappointed in their faces.

"I... I didn't plan this." Dusk stuttered, fearing that he had hurt his friends from his actions.

"Maybe... you did want it and you hadn't realized it." Fluttershy said with a sad smile that looked like it would fall apart at any moment.

"No... I..." Dusk said nervously.

"Dusk, please, stop.." Rarity said, who seemed to be the most affected of all, as she was the only one who couldn’t manage to put on a fake smile. "You… You said you loved all of us, right? A-Are you saying you don't love Applejack at all? Were your words false?"

At Rarity's words, Dusk glanced at Applejack, who also did the same to him. When their gazes met, they both looked away and blushed.

"It's okay Dusk. We knew this would happen." Pinkie Pie said, gently touching Dusk to calm him down, smiling tenderly at him. "Remember that we’ll have to be doing this five more times, and if we want to know if our friendship is strong enough to support a romance, so this will be our first test."

"Yeah, the same goes for you." Rainbow Dash said, smiling at Applejack so she wouldn't feel guilty. "This is just the beginning. Remember, you’ll only be the first. But behind the scenes, the four of us will continue to fight to win Dusk's heart in our own way." The pegasus added, forcing a smile.

"We hadn't decided how long it would be, but I think a month is fine." Fluttershy said, slowly coming out of her sadness. She was determined to prove that their friendship would be stronger than a wounded heart.

"Yeah, it’ll be a long month, but we’ll get through it." Rainbow Dash said before turning around and spreading her wings. "Let's go, girls. Time to leave the lovebirds alone, hehe." The pegasus added, forcing one last big smile before taking off and flying away.

Just like Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy also gave their congratulations to the 'happy couple' and began to retire to their respective homes, determined not to show their sadness and disappointment in front of Dusk and Applejack. Finally, the last one to leave was Rarity, who was only able to say 'luck' before retiring back to the boutique, still disappointed that she wasn’t chosen.

"None of them have realized it yet… How important it was to be Dusk's first choice!" Rarity thought worriedly as she walked off. Having noticed a great detail that none of her other friends had noticed yet.

With Rarity gone, only Dusk Shine and Applejack remained in the middle of the field. Both were motionless and silent, lost in their own thoughts as the sun finished setting behind the great mountains.

"Hey! What are you two doing standing there?" Big Mac suddenly yelled from the home, bringing Dusk and Applejack out of their perplexity. "It's getting dark. Take that last table to the barn."

After Big Mac entered the house, Dusk and Applejack slowly turned their heads and looked at each other. Instantly, they both turned redder than ever and looked away again.

"L-Let's hurry to put this table away, i-it's already getting dark." Applejack stammered, hurrying to grab the remaining table from one end. Then Dusk quickly took the other end of the table and they both walked slowly to the barn.

The distance from where they were both to the barn wasn’t long, but it was long enough for both of them to realize the awkward silence between them now. They both wanted to say something to break that silence and go back to talking like they always did, but their minds were totally blocked by nerves.

"Wait...I could have just levitated the table with my magic! Ugh, idiot!!" Dusk thought upon reaching the barn, realizing that he was so nervous that he hadn't even been able to think of something so obvious.

After putting the table in the barn, both ponies remained silent, pretending they were looking at something else so as not to look at each other's faces. As nervous as they were, they would both turn red with embarrassment if they only met their gaze again.

"I-It's already night… I think I should go home and see if Spike is okay." Dusk said, scratching his head nervously.

"Y-Yeah, sure... I also have to see if Apple Bloom’s already in bed..." Applejack said, lowering her head to avoid looking at Dusk, walking quickly to go home. "See you tomorrow."

"’See you tomorrow’? I sound like I’m desperate to see him!" Applejack thought immediately, turning red with embarrassment, regretting her choice of words.

"Sure, it's a date." Dusk replied, also walking away quickly.

"’It’s a date’!? What's the matter with me!? She'll think I’m asking her out for something romantic too fast!" Dusk chastised himself at his choice of words.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking with a million thoughts swarming in his head, Dusk eventually made back to the library and went inside.

"Hi Dusk." Spike said, who was sitting in the living room, reading a comic. "How was the cider sale at Applejack's farm?"

"Itwasgood-I'msleepy-goodnight!" Dusk said quickly with no pauses in his words. He galloped straight to his room, reached his bed, and threw himself on top of it, covering his red face with the sheets.

After several minutes, Dusk was finally able to partially calm his mind and his heart and lowered the sheets from his face to stare at the ceiling, still red from the nerves and shame he felt.

"Applejack... Applejack is my marefriend..." Dusk whispered, still unable to believe that this was really true. He felt a mixture of excitement, happiness and a little fear of what would happen from then on. Despite all of that, however, the lavender colt couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

Unbeknownst to him, at exactly that moment in Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was lying in the same position as Dusk. She was staring up at the ceiling with her blushed face and a strange smile of disbelief.

"Dusk... Dusk Shine is my coltfriend..." Applejack whispered, feeling the same emotions that Dusk felt. And just like him, every time she repeated those words, she couldn't help but smile.

End of chapter 9

Chapter 10 - The first lesson about love

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The first lesson about love

Once a week, Dusk Shine and his five friends would get together for breakfast. A tradition that they had started since they had met, and that they sacredly fulfilled week after week. However, this time was different. It wasn’t six friends sharing a delicious breakfast together, but now two of them were different... Two of them were a couple! And it was that change that made the atmosphere at the table feel that much heavier.

All six of them had arrived at the Cafe de Ponyville at about the same time, and after ordering their breakfast, they had been silent for several minutes. None of them dared to speak. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Rarity looked uneasily from side to side at Dusk and Applejack, who had sat on opposite sides of the table to be as far apart as possible. Unlike their friends, the new couple kept their eyes lowered, as if they wanted to avoid at all costs meeting their eyes with those of their friends.

BOOM!

Suddenly, everyone jumped in shock at the sound of a loud cannon shot. Then the group turned and saw that it was Pinkie Pie, who had activated her famous party cannon, causing the entire table to be covered in streamers and confetti.

"It’s always a good idea to bring a party cannon in case of an Awkward Silence Emergency!" Pinkie Pie said with a huge smile.

"Huff... Pinkie Pie’s got the right idea. We need to be more relaxed... Especially you two!" Rainbow Dash said, pointing at Dusk and Applejack.

"It's... It's just... well... you girls... look a little tense." Dusk said nervously.

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious that you're uncomfortable with… 'all this'." Applejack added, glancing nervously at her friends.

Hearing the comment from the new couple, the four mares widened their eyes in surprise, then looked at each other and lowered their heads in distress.

"Well… It feels kind of weird to know that you’re now… a couple." Fluttershy said with a slightly sad look. "But it's just something we have to get used to."

"That’s right, it’s something that we must fix little by little." Rarity said, looking sadly at Dusk and Applejack. "That was our fault. But what isn't our fault is how you two are acting weird to each other too." The unicorn added, looking seriously at the couple.

"W-What do you mean?" Dusk asked, blushing slightly, even though deep down he knew what his friend was referring to.

"Ugh... I guess if we're going to go through with this, we need to get it right, and that includes you two!" Rainbow Dash said scratching her head in annoyance. "If you’re going to be dating, act like it!"

At that instant, the four mares rose from their seats, and Rarity used her magic to remove the seats that were between Dusk and Applejack. Then Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash stood next to Applejack's seat and pushed it with their heads until Applejack was practically glued to Dusk's side. At that gesture, Applejack and Dusk looked at each other, and both immediately looked away with heavy blushes. Instinctively moving their bodies a little away from each other, so that they wouldn’t touch.

"If we want to see how strong our friendship is, we need to see you two acting all lovey-dovey." Pinkie Pie said with a somewhat melancholic smile. "So you gotta act a like true couple in love. Which is actually true, since you two got officially married.” Pinkie Pie added, smiling more naturally, giggling as she remembered the express wedding the day before.

At Pinkie Pie's words, it seemed that her other friends also relaxed more and finally let go of the initial tension they had felt. Meanwhile, seeing that their friends were trying so hard to make it work, Dusk and Applejack looked at each other and forced themselves to relax a little more, causing their sides to touch slightly when they were sitting so close to each other.

"Well! Now that we’re all more relaxed, there’s something super-duper important that we have to say to Dusk." Pinkie Pie said with a serious look. "Time to go over the rules!"

"The rules?" Dusk asked.

"Indeed. Princess Cadance may have given us this idea, so that you could be everyone's coltfriend. But we decided to make rules so that this… would be fairer for everypony." Rarity said, looking at Dusk and then at Applejack out of the corner of her eye.

"So… what are the rules?" Dusk asked, hoping that there was no crazy rule that would add more complications to that temporary coltfriend agreement, which was already crazy.

"There are three rules." Pinkie Pie said, getting up and acting like an emcee to give the announcement more theatricality. "First rule: Both Dusk and whoever is his marefriend will have to act like a real couple in love 24/7. Until the moment they end their relationship, they’ll be one hundred percent coltfriend and marefriend at all times."

"That must a way of pressuring me to take this more seriously… To stop seeing Applejack as a friend and start seeing her as a real marefriend." Dusk thought, realizing the truth behind that first rule.

"Second rule..." Pinkie Pie said, staring at Dusk. "It’s forbidden to want to be TOO loving with Dusk."

"Uh? Too loving? What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked, realizing that the pink mare had changed the wording of when they all came up with the rules.

"Too loving…" Fluttershy murmured thoughtfully, until she suddenly remembered that, just at this time of year, the bunnies were VERY loving to each other. Which caused her to guess what Pinkie Pie really meant. "Oh! You mean the rule about sex?" Fluttershy said, smiling at the answer.

Fluttershy was surprised to see everyone looking at her with blushed faces. Then the mare realized what she had just said, and she turned red as a tomato. The poor mare then proceeded to cover her face with her mane to hide her shame.

"Ahem…! Yeah, that's what I meant. It’s forbidden for any of the five of us to want to get intimate with Dusk." Pinkie Pie said after a few awkward coughs to get back to the main topic. Then she took out a book from her floofy mane and put it on the table. The book was entitled: 'Ponysutra'. "The fifty traditional sexual positions are forbidden, including the thirsty mare, the upside down saddle, the crooked horseshoe, the-"

"PINKIE!!" Applejack screamed, red with embarrassment, throwing herself to cover her friend's mouth.

With all the talk of the second rule, everypony present was red with embarrassment. It was normal, of course. Given that the six young ponies were just entering adulthood and none of them had any experience in the mysterious field yet. However, Dusk Shine wasn’t only red from the talk about 'intimacy' they were having, but from a great detail that apparently only he had noticed.

"Something's wrong... Pinkie Pie could have said 'it’s forbidden to get intimate', but what she said was 'It is forbidden to WANT to get intimate'" Dusk thought, repeating in his mind what Pinkie Pie had said. "Also, she said that rule applied to all five of them… Maybe… Is she purposely leaving a loophole!? What if I'm the one to hint that I want to get intimate with one of them!? Is she insinuating that it's not really forbidden as long as I want it to!?" Dusk thought, red with embarrassment.

Then Dusk glanced at Pinkie Pie, who kept laughing at how red her other friends were. However, upon noticing that the colt was looking at her, Pinkie Pie also gave him a fleeting glance and smiled flirtatiously.

"I knew you would figure it out, my handsome genius." Pinkie Pie thought, knowing that now she would have a slight advantage in knowing that little loophole in her rules.

The little trick went unnoticed by Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity. However, unlike the first three, the latter noticed that Dusk had put a very thoughtful look after Pinkie said the second rule, and after analyzing Pinkie Pie's words for several seconds, word for word, Rarity finally discovered the trick her friend had used.

"That cheater… She found a way to get around our rule without the others noticing." Rarity thought annoyed. However, a second thought made the white unicorn blush as she realized that not only her friend could take advantage of it.

At that moment, both Dusk and Rarity fleetingly thought that they should tell their other friends what they had discovered. However, that would imply that they would close the door to that tiny but real possibility that 'something' could happen between them.

"Maybe... It's not a bad idea to leave a small door open for certain possibilities..." Dusk Shine and Rarity thought at the same time, blushing when they realized that, although they didn’t say it aloud, quite suggestive ideas crossed their minds about get intimate.

"And... And what’s the third rule?" Dusk asked after shaking his head clear of those impure thoughts and return to being the innocent stallion as always.

"Oh, the third rule is secret." Pinkie Pie smiled. "It’s a rule that we have between the five of us." Pinkie Pie added, looking at her friends. The other mares knew exactly what Pinkie was referring to and nodded.

Dusk was filled with curiosity, wanting to ask about the hidden rule. However, Dusk finally gave up on the idea, thinking that if his friends didn’t want to tell him, it was surely for his good. Besides, he had enough with the temporary coltfriend thing and the two rules they had come up with.

Once they finished talking about the rules that Dusk and his friends would have in the new game called 'love', again everyone was silent, as if no one knew what else to talk about.

"Ugh! Don't get uncomfortable again! Just… Act like a real couple in love! We can handle it!" Rainbow Dash finally said, annoyed to see that Applejack and Dusk seemed to be feeling uncomfortable again from sitting so close together, without even looking at each other.

Noticing that all of their friends were doing their best for them, Applejack and Dusk sighed and looked at each other, ready to officially begin their first day as a couple.

"I…" Applejack stammered with a blush.

"I..." Dusk stammered at the same time.

"You go first!" Applejack said awkwardly, after speaking at the same time as Dusk.

"N-No... please, after you..." Dusk said, just as nervous.

Then they both fell silent again, not sure what to do or how to act as a couple.

"What's wrong with you!? Stop acting like a fool! The girls are right, just tell her you want to spend the day with her!" Dusk thought, getting annoyed with himself. Then Dusk opened his mouth to finally say what he felt.

"AppleJAAACK-" Dusk managed to pronounce, just before something crashed into his back and made his head hit the table.

"Oops, sorry... Hi Applejack!" Derpy said suddenly, who had been the one who had collided with Dusk and now stood up.

"H-Hi Derpy… H-How are you…" Applejack said, startled by the surprise appearance of the gray pegasus.

"I’m good! I had a lot of fun yesterday with the cider making competition. So much so that I forgot to deliver the mail, hehe…" Derpy said, chuckling awkwardly. Then she picked up a large bag that she carried with her and deposited a pile of letter on the table in front of Applejack. "These are for you." Derpy added, always smiling. Then the gray pegasus said goodbye to everyone and flew off as fast and awkwardly as she had arrived.

"What’s with all the letters?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I don't know, but..." Applejack said, who suddenly widened her eyes in fear. She quickly took one of the letters and opened it. "No, no, no, no, no…." Applejack muttered, quickly opening each of the letters, and with each one she opened, the more scared she looked. "There’s too many... And everything for tomorrow!"

"Are they... invitations?" Dusk asked once he recovered from his run-in with Derpy and grabbed one of the letters.

"This is bad. I thought no one had confirmed, but it's the opposite. Everypony confirmed!" Applejack exclaimed. "I need to tell Granny Smith! I’m sorry, I gotta go." Applejack added, getting up quickly and turning to leave.

"W-Wait, Applejack." Dusk said quickly before the panicked mare fled. "I don't know what happens, but is there something I can help you with?"

"Oh... well..." Applejack replied, putting a thoughtful look and then glancing at Dusk. "I-I guess you’re invited too. After all… you’re now… p-part of the family…" Applejack blushed. "Come to the farm tomorrow and you’ll understand."

"O-Okay." Dusk smiled, feeling happy that Applejack wanted to include him in whatever she was planning. "So, see you tomorrow."

At that moment, Dusk should have turned around to go back to the table with his friends. However, like Applejack, they both stood in front of each other, while Dusk thought: 'Now that we’re dating, shouldn't we say goodbye in a different way!?'

Seeing that Applejack seemed to be nervous and thoughtful, Dusk slowly and awkwardly brought his head close to Applejack's. Now that they were dating, the logical thing would be to kiss her goodbye. However, not being sure how Applejack would react, it made Dusk stop at the last moment and turn his face away in shame.

"Don't be a coward! Just do it!" Dusk thought, closing his eyes tightly.

Then Dusk quickly turned his head to meet Applejack's face again. But what he didn't count on was that Applejack had also turned her head quickly towards him. Instead of a longed-for kiss, they both hit their heads hard.

"Ouch! I… I-I think I should go now…" Applejack said after rubbing her head. She turned around quickly with her cheeks red with embarrassment and galloped for the farm.

For his part, seeing that he had ruined his first official kiss as her coltfriend, Dusk facehoofed from the sheer humiliation of what had happened.

"Don't worry, it couldn't be that bad." Dusk thought, trying to get rid of the shame he felt. At least he count on the other mares to support him.

What Dusk didn’t expect was that when he turned back around, they all looked at him with pity, as if they had seen the most humiliating thing in the world.

"Damn...guess I dodged a lightning bolt by not being the first." Rainbow Dash said, looking at Dusk with a pitiful look.

"Yeah, that kiss attempt was so cringey..." Pinkie Pie said, crying at the embarrassment of seeing Dusk being so clumsy.

"S-Shut up! It's not like it's that easy." Dusk said, red with shame.

"If you go to see Applejack as nervous tomorrow as you’re today, your date will be doomed." Rarity sighed, feeling sorry for her poor country friend.

Dusk knew that Rarity was right. He had never had a marefriend before, and it was very difficult for him to know how to act in front of Applejack. Was Rarity right? Would his first official date be doomed?

"Girls… You… C-Can you help me?" Dusk pleaded with his four friends.

The four mares were surprised and looked at each other with unsure glances. Helping Dusk on his date with Applejack implied that they were helping a rival, who already had a huge advantage with being Dusk's official marefriend for a month. However, they were all still friends, and that was precisely one of the tests their friendship had to face in order to prevail.

Finally, the four friends of Dusk looked at him and smiled, ready to do their best to support their beloved Dusk to improve his clumsy skills as a coltfriend.

It was a nice morning at Sweet Apple Acres and Dusk Shine was walking nervously towards the Apple family house. As advised by his friends, Dusk had been concerned about arriving early for his date, since Applejack hadn’t specified a time for him. So, he made sure to be a good coltfriend and be ready early for whatever Applejack wanted to do today. Besides the schedule, Dusk tried to follow all the other advice that his friends gave him the day before. However, without his realizing it, mixing all these tips didn’t produce the expected result.

Rarity had advised him that for his first date, Dusk should look elegant, and he had to worry that his clothes would match his partner's. Dusk's logical mind then convinced him wear an elegant orange bow tie, which effectively matched Applejack's fur, but didn’t match his own lavender fur at all. For her part, Rainbow Dash had suggested he get a cool manestyle, so Dusk had done a crazy upward manestyle, which contrasted horribly with the elegant look he pretended to have. Fluttershy told him to bring flowers on his first date. Good advice, if it hadn't been the fact that the flower shop was closed that day. So Dusk, always excessively logical, simply took a bouquet of wildflowers, which didn’t look elegant at all. Finally, Pinkie Pie had advised him to always smile, another great tip, which would have worked if Dusk didn't feel so nervous about being on his first date. Resulting in his smile looking more forced and creepier rather than genuine. In conclusion, Dusk Shine looked like a total mess for a colt on his first date.

Upon finally approaching Applejack's house, Dusk was surprised to see that a bunch of wagons, and even a small blimp, were all parked in front of the house. Also, the entire entrance was filled with several dozen ponies of all ages.

"There’s the groom!" A mare in the crowd suddenly yelled when she Dusk. As she did so, everyone in the crowd turned and looked towards where the lavender colt was, who for his part froze when he was spotted.

Before he could react, a dozen ponies rushed up to Dusk and surrounded him.

"Wait, I know you… You’re Applejack's cousins!" Dusk said in surprise, recognizing several of the ponies that were there.

"That's right, and this time you won't be getting away." A stallion said, pointing at Dusk with a huge pitchfork from behind.

"G-Get away?" Dusk asked in confusion and nervousness.

"Yeah, like the last time we met." Another colt replied seriously, looking Dusk face to face.

After a few seconds, Dusk finally remembered what the ponies were talking about. The last time he had seen them, it had been to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration banquet. That time, Applejack's family had gotten confused and believed that Dusk would marry Applejack, and when Dusk told them the truth, they all chased after him to hunt him down to take responsibility.

Without Dusk Shine having any more time to think, the pony behind him pushed him with the pitchfork to start walking. Seeing no option for escape, Dusk began to look around to see if he could find Applejack. Finally, Dusk realized that the mob was guiding him to where Applejack was, who was under the door of the barn, which had been adorned with many flowers and white ribbons. But what most impressed and scared Dusk was seeing that Applejack wasn’t wearing her usual hat, but a wedding veil.

"W-What's going on...?" Dusk asked, completely pale as he was pushed next to Applejack.

"Granny told everypony in the family that we’re officially hitched." Applejack said with a loving smile. "But they all wanted to see a wedding, so we decided to have an official ceremony so that everyone could attend."

"UH!? D-Don't you think this is a bit much…?" Dusk stuttered, looking fearfully at Applejack's cousins, who kept brandishing the pitchfork.

"Of course not! After all, we’re husband and wife." Applejack replied, looking with loving eyes at Dusk. "Oh! Are those flowers for me? How nice! Now I have the bridal bouquet that I was missing." Applejack added, taking the bouquet of wildflowers that Dusk had brought. Then she looked at Dusk, closed her eyes and stretched her neck, putting her lips in a kissing position for Dusk to kiss her.

At Applejack's loving attitude, Dusk felt even more confused. Then he glanced to his side and saw that all of Applejack's family looked at him threateningly, waiting expectantly for him to kiss his wife.

The show of affection in front of so many ponies made Dusk turn even paler, feeling the true weight of being in a real wedding ceremony.

"Pftt! Hahaha! I-I'm sorry… I can't hold it back anymore." Applejack said suddenly, lowering her head and bursting into laughter.

Then all the other ponies also burst into laughter, laughing at Dusk's terrified face, while the poor lavender stallion froze, not understanding anything of what was happening.

"I'm sorry Dusk, haha... It was my cousins' idea. They wanted to pull a prank on you." Applejack said, pulling the veil off her head and wiping a tear away from laughter.

"Did you really think that we would force ya’ll to marry? Hahaha! We’re country ponies, but we’re not savages, hehe." The same colt that had been threatening Dusk with the pitchfork chuckled. "But you had it well deserved for last time."

"Applejack already explained everything to us." Another of Applejack's cousins said, approaching Dusk and looking at him with a smile. "She told us that you planning to temporarily marry her to help her save the farm. But anyway, welcome to the family!" The mare added, giving Dusk a hug.

After that mare, one by one Applejack's relatives approached Dusk and congratulated him on his little express wedding with Applejack, amused by this crazy situation and even more amused by the joke they had played on him. For his part, Dusk was still dizzy from the whole situation, realizing very slowly that it had all been a very well-crafted joke.

"I know we didn't get along when we first met, but I thought you were over it. At least I thought you would invite me to your wedding! Haha!" A voice suddenly said next to Dusk, one that he recognized from somewhere.

Dusk was surprised when he turned around and saw Braeburn, Applejack's cousin. Even more surprising was that standing next to him was Little Strongheart, the young buffalo who had helped them in Appleloosa.

"You… what are you doing here…? And together!" Dusk asked.

"Our tribe came back from the western slopes and decided to stay a season in Appleloosa." Little Strongheart replied with a friendly smile. "Right when we arrived, Braeburn told us that he had to travel to Ponyville. So, I wanted to come along for a couple of days to learn more about ponies and their customs."

"Nah... It's just an excuse, because this little one doesn't want me to leave her." Braeburn said, winking at Dusk.

"That is not true! You practically begged me to come with you!" Little Strongheart exclaimed and started to argue with Braeburn. Then Dusk remembered that those two always argued like this, yet always wanted to be close to each other.

"Wow, that's great! I think it's fantastic that ponies also get to learn more about other creatures and their customs." Dusk said, happy to hear what the little buffalo said earlier. "What does surprise me is that the chief let you come here alone with Braeburn."

"Hmm... Well..." Little Strongheart said sheepishly, pointing her gaze to a corner of the barn. Then Dusk looked there and saw that the great Chief Thunderhooves was right there, happily drinking with a couple of Applejack's great-uncles. "Apparently he's gotten addicted to cider."

"Listen up, everypony!" Granny Smith suddenly yelled with a megaphone to make herself heard. "We’ve had fun, now it's breakfast time to start our long-awaited reunion!"

All the ponies present screamed with joy and followed Granny Smith out of the barn, leaving only Dusk and Applejack.

"What's up with that face, did you think only Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were the only pranksters in our group?" Applejack said with a playful shove and smile, seeing that Dusk was still somewhat stunned by everything that happened.

"Well, yes, a little." Dusk said, smiling with embarrassment. "But how did you get your whole family to be here for just one day?"

"I didn’t. They were already planning to come here. Every hundred moons, our whole family gets together. And it just so happens that that day is today." Applejack answered, showing Dusk one of the letters that Derpy had given her the day before. "Usually we never get a full guest list, but yesterday's letters were everyone's confirmations. That's why I had to tell Granny Smith quickly. And so now I wanted to ask for your help."

"My help?" Dusk repeated.

Then Applejack led Dusk to the side of the barn, where there was an old trunk. She opened it and took out a huge photo album to show Dusk the photos of past family reunions that her large family have had.

"Our family’s been hosting these gatherings since Sweet Apple Acres was founded. Granny always organized them, but this year, she left me in charge of it. And that's why I want it to be the best family reunion ever!" Applejack said excitedly, as she showed Dusk photos of her uncles and grandparents playing seven-legged race, cooking apple fritters, sewing a huge quilt, and posing all together in front of the barn. "I want my lil’ sis and her cousins to have the biggest and best obstacle race of their lives this year. I want to have enough apple fritters for everyone, without some sweet tooth like Big Mac swiping them all up secretly. And I want Granny and my aunts to finally be able to finish that huge family quilt!"

"Isn't that a bit hasty? That is, if you want to do all that in one day." Dusk said with a thoughtful face. "You’ll need a lot of materials, and-"

"Yesterday afternoon I got most of the supplies with the girls." Applejack interrupted excitedly. "The only thing missing is knowing how to organize everything, and that's why-" At that moment Applejack widened her eyes and looked away with sorrow. "Aw, I'm sorry... Surely you wanted to do something more fun today, instead of organizing activities for-"

"Are you kidding?" Dusk interrupted Applejack. “You want me to spend the whole day planning activities? Making an itinerary and organizing everyone…? It’s...It's the best possible date!" Dusk added excitedly, with a twinkle in his eyes. The orderly neat-freak within him that lived for organization was starting to come out.

The country mare was initially shocked by the young stallion’s enthusiasm, although it quickly reminded her of one of the many things that she loved about Dusk. Then Applejack began to tell Dusk the plans she had for the day, where Dusk saw that she almost had everything planned, she just needed a little order and make a list, which Dusk gladly made, to order everything correctly. As they planned the different activities and where they would do them, they both laughed at the possibilities before them, hoping that everyone would enjoy their games, without realizing that the ones who were having the most fun at that precise moment were themselves from just being there in the company of the other.

"Running in pairs is fine, but don't you think it's a bit of a stretch to make them run up the hill and back?" Dusk asked when they were finishing planning the race.

"It’s so they have more time to share. Come with me." Applejack said, making Dusk accompany him.

They both went to the barn window and looked at the huge table Granny Smith had set up outside, where everyone was still eating breakfast. Then Applejack pointed to one end of the table, where the family fillies were sitting. There was Apple Bloom, who seemed to be a bit uncomfortable and was looking away. And sitting next to her was a filly her own age with ocher fur and red mane, who looked just as uncomfortable as Apple Bloom.

"There’s Apple Bloom with our cousin from Manehattan, Babs Seeds." Applejack explained. "They're both the same age, they both haven't gotten their cutie mark yet, and they're both family. They’ve got a lot in common, but for some reason they seem too nervous to talk to each other."

"How weird. Why don't they just talk about things like what they like and what they don't like? Shouldn’t be that difficult to make a friend." Dusk pondered. Then he remembered that until a year ago, it was as or more difficult for him than for those fillies to talk to somepony and make a new friend. So Dusk couldn't help but blush a bit at how hypocritical he had sounded. However, instantly, he looked to his side and saw Applejack, and remembered that thanks to mares like her, that was no longer a problem.

"That’s why we gotta have a long race so that they can trust each other more." Applejack said, looking out of the window. "Help me carry the stuff outside. We gotta hustle so that everything’s ready before they finish eating."

Following Applejack's order, Dusk levitated six cauldrons and some tables with his magic and together with Applejack, they went to set up the first of the activities: 'Cook apple fritters'. Dusk quickly installed the cauldrons while Applejack put the ingredients on the different tables.

"It looks like you need some help." Braeburn said suddenly, coming alongside Little Strongheart to where Dusk and Applejack were. They both arrived carrying a pile of wood, which they guessed would be necessary to heat the cauldrons.

Thanking her cousin, Applejack and the others quickly tidied up that entire sector, and began to install the implements for the second activity: 'Sewing the family quilt.'

"You brought sewing machines!?" Braeburn asked, surprised and a little confused to see that his cousin had brought several of those machines.

"Yeah, Granny and her cousins always sew only with their hooves. But with these machines, they’ll finally be able to finish their quilt in record time." Applejack said smiling, even though her cousin looked quite unsure if that would indeed be a good idea.

As they continued to order and install the various items they would need, Dusk Shine and company happily chatted about many things that had happened to them. Braeburn and Little Strongheart were amazed to hear what Dusk and Applejack had recently experienced with Discord and with Flim and Flam. For his part, Dusk was also amazed to learn how much the relationship between Appleloosa and the buffalo tribe had changed, and how it seemed that Braeburn and Little Strongheart were more than friends, despite neither admitting it.

"So… are you just friends?" Dusk asked with a small chuckle.

"Ha! Who would be friends with a pony as narcissist as him." The blushing buffalo said, pointing at Braeburn.

"You see? It's obvious to everypony that you're crazy about me." Braeburn said with a mocking smile. "On the other hoof, I would never get involved with someone as bossy as you."

Seeing that Breaburn and Little Strongheart argued again, both Applejack and Dusk couldn't help but laugh, amused by the love-hate relationship that existed between those two. And while the two of them laughed, Braeburn and Little Strongheart looked at each other and put sly glances, both thinking that it was time to act and do what they had really wanted to do since they had come to Dusk and Applejack.

As they continued ordering, Braeburn subtly pushed Dusk from time to time, pretending not to notice, so that he would get closer to Applejack. For her part, Little Strongheart also did the same with Applejack to bring her closer to Dusk.

"These two obviously like each other. I can't bear to see them act so shy anymore!" Braeburn and Little Strongheart thought. For the first time in the day, they had agreed on something. They both wanted to help Dusk and Applejack get closer.

For his part, every time Dusk bumped into Applejack or unexpectedly came face to face with her, he couldn't help but want to get closer to her. After all, she was his marefriend. But every time Dusk stopped thinking of Applejack as his friend and began to think of her as his marefriend, something happened in his head that made him go blank and become excessively nervous. Thus, every time Dusk felt that he wanted to touch Applejack or tell her that she looked cute, his mouth only stammered and he turned red with shame.

"Seriously, he's a disaster..." Braeburn thought, feeling ashamed for Dusk seeing him like that.

At that point, the rest of Applejack's family finally arrived to begin their day of activities. Then Applejack explained to her relatives how the activities would work this year. The cooks would have a timer, so that there would be no free time between making one apple fritter and another, and thus the number of fritters would finally be enough for everyone. For their part, the grannies would sew with a sewing machine to finally finish the old and huge family quilt.

At Applejack's instructions, everyone in her family looked somewhat insecure, but Applejack asked them to trust her. And before anyone could say anything else, Applejack, Dusk, Braeburn and Little Strongheart took the fillies to begin the race.

Once they all led the fillies to the outskirts of the farm, Applejack stood in front of them to give them instructions for the new and improved obstacle course.

"Alright, girls! Here are the rules for the race! First…" Applejack said excitedly, explaining one by one all the obstacles they would have in their race. A long race of more than one mile, where she and the others had put up an innumerable series of obstacles, from jumping fences, to spinning plates with chopsticks. "…And finally, the first to reach the finish line saying 'Pappy pony picked a pluck of prickly pluffnuggets' will win the competition! Any questions?" The farmer asked, after finishing giving the instructions.

"Hmm... Sis, don't you think this is a bit-?" Apple Bloom said sheepishly.

"No time for dilly dallying! Ready, steady, go!" Applejack shouted excitedly, not listening to her little sister.

Then all the fillies started running, and Apple Bloom had no choice but to run too. As did her cousin, who kept looking uncomfortable from being surrounded by so many ponies.

"Don't you think Apple Bloom and her cousin still look a little...tense?" Dusk said, looking to the distance that Applejack's little cousin had started running next to Apple Bloom, but little by little she was getting away from her.

"Hmm… Maybe you're right. I should go check that everything is going well." Applejack said thoughtfully.

At that moment, Braeburn looked seriously at Little Strongheart again, and the buffalo immediately understood what he was planning.

"I'll go with you, Applejack. Let's leave the boys here so they can watch the finish line." Little Strongheart said, running alongside Applejack to catch up with the fillies.

"Seriously dude, I've never seen someone so bad at flirting." Braeburn said once he was alone with Dusk.

"I know... I suck." Dusk said, lowering his head in shame. "I can usually talk with Applejack without problems. After all, we’ve been friends for a long time. But now that we’re dating, and we’re supposed to act like a couple… Every time I think about her being my marefriend, I get nervous. I… don't know how to approach her."

"Hmm... I think your problem is that you put the mares on a pedestal." Braeburn said with a thoughtful look.

"Uh? What are you talking about?" Dusk asked.

"Hey, Braeburn!" A voice suddenly yelled. Then both Braeburn and Dusk looked back and saw that Big Mac was coming over. For some reason, the normally quiet stallion looked a bit annoyed when he saw Dusk chatting with his cousin.

"What's up, cos?" Braeburn asked.

"I was looking for Applejack. I think… there’s something she should see." Big Mac said with a worried look.

Since Applejack wasn't there, Braeburn and Dusk Shine decided to accompany Big Mac to see what he wanted to show them. Then the three ponies came to where the cooking and sewing activities were and quickly Dusk understood why Big Mac had called them… It was all a disaster!

Applejack's aunts and cousins were freaking out at the cooking station. With the timers Applejack had set, her aunts had just finished one fritter and had to immediately start making another, giving them hardly any time to breathe. While all the other members of their family were starving looking at the fritters, as they had promised not to eat until all were finished.

Something similar happened at the sewing station with Granny Smith and her cousins. By using the sewing machines, they had all come a long way on the quilt. However, they all screamed at each other without being able to hear each other, all because of the noise made by the sewing machines prevented the old mares from being able to hear anything else or from talking to each other.

"Hey! Why didn't you stay at the finish line?" Little Strongheart asked suddenly, approaching where Dusk and the others were. Applejack followed behind her, who for some reason was crestfallen.

"Applejack, something wrong?" Dusk asked, concerned.

"She’s somewhat sad because she heard that the fillies didn’t like the race she organized." Little Strongheart answered, a little embarrassed. "When we got to supervise the race, we overheard Apple Bloom and her cousin chatting and saying that it was too long a race and that Applejack had lost her mind."

"Well, that's not the only thing that’s not working." Braeburn said, scratching his head.

Applejack looked up and saw what was happening to the rest of her family. She could quickly see how nothing she had planned was turning out. In fact, it was all a complete disaster.

"This... This wasn’t what I wanted." Applejack said, with a sad look, feeling like a complete failure.

At that moment, Braeburn hit Dusk's side and pointed his gaze at Applejack. Then, Dusk quickly understood that now, even though Applejack was surrounded by her family, now she was his marefriend and it was his duty to support her at all times.

"It’s okay, Applejack. We still have the whole afternoon to turn this around." Dusk said, affectionately touching Applejack's side. "Maybe our mistake was focusing too much on the competitions, and not on sharing. We need some activity in which everyone can share together, without pressure."

Hearing Dusk's words, Applejack looked at him and put on a more serious look.

"I don't want Dusk to see me sad. He knows how strong I am, I'll show him that I can pull this off!" Applejack thought, pushing her sadness away and filling herself with determination.

"Wait, I know what we can do!" Applejack said, lifting her head in excitement. "Gather everypony here. I'll be right back." She added before running towards the barn.

As requested by Applejack, Dusk and the others gathered the rest of the Apple family and waited for Applejack to return. Then the orange mare finally returned, bringing with her a large wagon, where she asked two of her sturdier cousins to pull her.

"For our next activity, we’ll have a nice relaxing walk through the fields of Sweet Apple Acres!" Applejack shouted excitedly. For their part, upon hearing the word 'relaxing', the rest of the Apple family sighed in relief, thinking that they would finally rest from the demanding tasks that the orange mare had previously planned.

The first to get on the wagon were the oldest members of the family along with the youngest, including Granny Smith and Apple Bloom. And to Dusk's surprise, Applejack asked him to go up as well, as she had a special surprise for him.

Finally Applejack indicated the route to the two cousins who were pulling the cart, and it began its quiet journey.

"So… how bad is it going with your first day being Applejack’s sweetheart?" Granny Smith asked, smiling at Dusk as they rode the wagon.

"What!? H-How do you know it's going wrong?" Dusk asked, surprised and nervous.

"Just a guess, hehehe..." Granny Smith laughed. "You look a lot like my son when he started dating Buttercup. He kept his relationship with her a secret for a long time, but it was obvious to me that he was in love with a mare from how nervous he was."

"Buttercup? Was that the name of Applejack’s mother?" Dusk thought at that moment, trying to remember something that he couldn’t reach, as if he had heard another name before.

"The same happened with Applejack's grandfather." Granny Smith, continued speaking. "My poor husband was dying of nerves on our first date, hehe."

"The same thing happened with poor Jonagold." An aunt of Applejack said, the also elderly Apple Rose. "Sometimes stallions forget that mares are just that: mares."

With those words, Dusk gave a confused look, remembering that Braeburn had also said something similar to him.

"I don't understand, what are they trying to say? That I shouldn't be chivalrous or something?" Dusk thought, still not understanding what Applejack's family was referring to.

"Hm? That’s strange… Why are we heading to the west orchard?" Granny Smith said suddenly, noticing where the wagon was heading. "We haven’t tended those fields since all the trees went and got filled up with..." At that moment, Granny Smith clamped her mouth shut, hoping with all her might that her granddaughter hadn’t come up with the crazy idea that she was thinking of that moment.

Unfortunately for Granny Smith, Applejack was thinking precisely that. She had run ahead to the west orchard, and just as the wagon was passing by, she kicked one of the apple trees there hard.

Instantly, all the nearby treetops shook, and a hundred colorful fruit bats flew out of there and covered the sky.

"Perfect! This will be a great postcard for the photo album." Applejack said excitedly, positioning the camera she had brought with her, ready to shoot as the rainbow of bats passed right over the heads of the wagon passengers.

Hearing the noise of the bats and seeing them flying overhead, all the passengers in the wagon were a little scared. But when they saw the beautiful colors of the bats filling the sky with a peculiar, moving and attractive rainbow, everyone was amazed at such a spectacle. Or at least it was, until the bats smelled the apples that Applejack's great-aunt wore in her hat.

In that instant, all the hungry bats instinctively threw themselves against the wagon, trying to eat those delicious apples after being awakened so suddenly. What had started out as a nice and relaxing wagon ride turned into a horror tale. Hundreds of bats plummeted against the passengers, while Applejack's aunts, grandmother and cousins tried to drive them away, terrified of the little bats. Just like Dusk, who didn't know if using his magic would harm those little bats or not, something Fluttershy would never forgive him for.

The stallions that were pulling the wagon released the harness that was pulling the cart amidst the panic. Then the wagon began to speed down the hill uncontrollably.

"Everypony! Jump out now!!" Apple Bloom shouted desperately, seeing that the wagon bounced uncontrollably and was going to crash into the house and barn.

Without waiting a second, everypony leapt out of the runaway wagon, with the exception of Dusk and the old mares of the family. Knowing that the old bones of the grannies wouldn’t withstand a jump and fall if they jumped that speed, Dusk waited for them and used his magic to teleport instead of jumping, and thus appear softly on the ground next to the old mares.

"Are you all okay?" Dusk asked, checking that Granny Smith and her cousins were alright.

CRASH!! Dusk was startled when he heard the loud noise of the wagon crashing. He turned around and saw with horror that the wagon had crashed into the barn and had completely destroyed it.

Slowly, all the ponies of the Apple family approached the destroyed barn, all with a terrified face when they saw how one of the oldest buildings in Ponyville, the pillar of their family and the meeting point of so many reunions, had been completely demolished. The pony who was horrified by it the most was precisely the mare that had caused it all.

"No..." Applejack muttered in complete terror. Then, all the strength that she had had until that moment crumbled in just an instant, and she began to cry bitterly. She hadn’t only destroyed her family's barn, which was so important to everyone, but she had also made the worst family reunion ever. All her effort, instead of improving something, just made everyone have one of the worst days of their lives.

While Applejack was crying, Braeburn had arrived next to Dusk, and as he had done previously, he prepared to hit Dusk to indicate that it was his turn to act. However, that wasn’t necessary, since before Braeburn could do anything, Dusk was already moving to comfort his friend, partner and marefriend.

When approaching Applejack, Dusk didn’t say anything. He simply stood in front of her and touched her gently. At that moment, Applejack looked up with teary eyes and saw her coltfriend. Now she hated herself even more when she saw that her beloved Dusk saw her crying, weak and frustrated. But that no longer mattered to her, the only thing she needed at that moment was comfort. Then she hugged Dusk, and cried on his chest, even more urgently.

"Ruined... Everythin' is ruined… I... I just wanted everyone to enjoy this day..." Applejack cried bitterly as Dusk hugged her.

Seeing Applejack crying so hard, Dusk couldn't help but share that pain. He had witnessed all the effort and enthusiasm that Applejack had put in throughout the day for her family to enjoy, and all that effort had gone to waste.

"Shhh, everything will be right." Dusk said, patting Applejack's head. "Maybe things didn't turn out the way we wanted, but at least we were able to spend a nice day together. Things didn't go the way I expected either, but the moments we shared together, planning and putting all this together, were fun."

At that point, Applejack began to remember that morning. Indeed, it was obvious that things between her and Dusk hadn’t happened as either of them expected. Dusk had been very nervous all day, just like her. However, as Dusk said, the moments when they planned things were fun, even if they themselves hadn’t participated in those activities.

"You didn't have to force it... The activity didn't matter, all you needed... was to share together." Applejack whispered, her eyes widening at an idea that had occurred to her.

Applejack wiped away her tears and looked at Dusk with a confident smile. Seeing that smile, Dusk also smiled, seeing that his beloved Applejack had regained her spirit.

"Listen to me, family, I… I'm very sorry I didn't realize it earlier. The important thing about these reunions isn’t how many apple fritters we can make, how much of the quilt we can sew or even an unforgettable race. It’s about sharing and making good memories together." Applejack said, looking at her entire family. "If you’ll let me, I would like to propose one last activity. I promise you that I’ll not disappoint you."

At Applejack's words, many of her cousins looked at her suspiciously since they were already fed up with Applejack's shenanigans. However, they were all family, and everypony deserved a second chance. That left a majority of the ponies present conflicted on what to do.

"I trust her." Dusk smiled, being the first to stand next to Applejack, finally tipping the balance in favor of his marefriend. Who for her part, couldn’t help but smile and blush to see that Dusk would always be on her side supporting her.

"Me too." Granny Smith said, walking over to Applejack.

Then Braeburn, Little Strongheart, Apple Bloom, Big Mac, one by one all took Applejack's word, and finally the whole family together decided to trust Applejack once again.

"Our traditional barn photo is still missing!" Applejack shouted excitedly. Then she ran over to one of her cousins, who always carried their violins and guitars with them. "But for that, we need ourselves a barn! Let’s get building, y’all! Yee-haw!" Applejack yelled, causing her cousins to start playing a happy country tune.

After that, Applejack began to sing a heart song called 'Raise this Barn!', causing everyone to start dancing to the joyous melody. Then everyone understood what Applejack wanted to do: hard and exhausting work, but something that they could achieve if they were all united as a family.

While half of the ponies worked, the other half had fun dancing and they quickly switched shifts, all happy to have fun while working towards the same goal. The hundreds of apple fritters that Applejack’s aunts had prepared earlier were a big help in keeping everypony’s spirits raised and kept their tummies filled. To top it all off, Chief Thunderhooves and great-uncle Apple Strudel brought the remaining kegs of cider that they hadn’t drunk throughout the morning, further enlivening the atmosphere.

Taking advantage of the fact that her family was finally laughing and having fun, Applejack rushed out of the dance and began photographing everyone. She could finally get good pictures for the family album, but mainly, finally getting everyone to make beautiful new memories.

"Hey, Dusk! Mind if I leave you this little troublemaker for a second?" Braeburn said suddenly, coming up next to Dusk. Little Strongheart with him, who looked like she was about to faint. "I told her she couldn't win a cider drinking contest against me since she never drank cider before! ‘Course that didn’t stop her from trying!" Braeburn added, holding the little buffalo on Dusk's side. "I have to go back to work, take care of her!" Braeburn said before leaving. Not without first moving a lock of hair from Little Strongheart's face, looking at her and blushing a little.

Without Dusk managing to say anything, he was finally forced to stand there, holding the young buffalo while the rest of the Apple family danced and worked.

"Hic! Hehe… Isn't he cute…? Hic!" Little Strongheart muttered drunkenly, looking up at Braeburn.

Dusk didn't say anything and smiled, thinking that it was necessary for Little Strongheart to get drunk so that she could finally stop arguing with Braeburn and accept what she felt.

"Sometimes ponies are so difficult to understand… Hic! But they definitely have good parties!" Little Strongheart continued, talking to herself, as if she hadn’t even noticed that Dusk was holding her. "It's like those two fillies… They were so scared to get close to each other, and now the two of them seem like best friends… Hic!" .

Looking where Little Strongheart was looking, Dusk realized that who she had been seeing had been Apple Bloom and her cousin, Babs Seed. Both fillies were chatting happily with each other while helping their relatives. Apparently, all that awkwardness from earlier had disappeared when they had something in common to complain about, and that something, curiously, had been Applejack herself. She had tried her best to get those two fillies to share with each other, but finally, by forcing them to run that absurd obstacle course, she made both of them complain about how ridiculous Applejack was being. That made both fillies finally able to talk about something in common, and finally express their true feelings. Because deep down both had wanted to get closer to each other all day, but their shyness and nervousness had prevented them.

"It's... It's the same as with Applejack and Dusk... It's so obvious that those two want to get closer to each other... Hic!" Little Strongheart added, nodding off again, almost falling asleep.

"Uh? What are you talking about?" Dusk asked the drunk buffalo.

"When we went to see the obstacle course, Applejack told me how silly she felt not knowing how to approach Dusk." Little Strongheart replied, without even realizing that it was Dusk Shine that he was talking to. "'What if he doesn't like me coming near?' 'What if I ask him for a kiss and he rejects me…?' Hic! So many pointless questions… When it's obvious that Dusk… likes her too… zzzzz…" Little Strongheart muttered, before finally falling asleep from drunkenness.

It was as if lightning struck Dusk at that instant, and he understood why Little Strongheart had compared him and Applejack to Apple Bloom and Babs Seed. As had happened with the fillies, Dusk had also acted all nervous with Applejack, when he thought she was his girlfriend. He had tried to approach her as a coltfriend, but his attempts had failed only because of his nerves. But why was he so nervous? For the same reason the fillies had been nervous with each other: Not knowing what the other was thinking. That was the problem with approaching someone with whom you want to establish a relationship, thinking: Will she like me to come closer? Will she reject me? Will she feel uncomfortable? Obviously, His and Applejack’s relationship was far different from the fillies, though the comparisons were still there.

For Dusk, his own nerves and insecurities had been evident, but only now did he realize that Applejack must be feeling. What Braeburn had told him about putting mares on a pedestal, and what Applejack's great-aunt said about stallions forgetting that mares were just mares, finally made sense. All day, Dusk had thought of Applejack as a pony very different from him, but she was just like him, neither more nor less, with the same feelings and insecurities. It could even be that Applejack felt even more doubts than he, since unlike him, she had dared to declare her feelings first.

"I need to take the next step." Dusk thought with a determined look. "I already learned about friendship, but now, I must take it further. Now I must learn...about true love."

With that last thought, Dusk looked up again and saw his marefriend, who now had a radiant smile while photographing her entire family, happy to see everyone happy. And just as Dusk felt Applejack's pain when she cried, seeing her so happy filled him with a huge and new happiness, because she was his marefriend, and nothing could make him happier than seeing her happy.

Finally dusk came and with everyone's help, the Apple family managed to finish the new barn.

Everyone smiled at viewing the fruit of their effort. A huge, beautiful barn built much stronger than the old one, and with much more love, given that the whole family of a new generation had helped build it. Then everyone took the traditional photo in front of the barn, and although Dusk hesitated, the whole family asked him to be in the photo in a place of honor in the center, next to Applejack, as thanks for saving Granny and aunts of the wagon accident.

After eating the last of the apple fritters and sharing the latest anecdotes, it was finally time to say goodbye. One by one, Applejack's aunts, uncles and cousins began to get into their wagons to return home. Among those goodbyes, there was one with special affection to Braeburn and Little Strongheart, who was already a little better from her earlier bender thanks to the Apple family home remedy against hangovers.

"I swear, I'll never drink cider again..." Little Strongheart said, clutching her head.

"Don’t worry about it none. Happens when lightweights like you try to drink cider like a stallion." Braeburn teased.

"Yeah... sure... like when you smoked the peace pipe and tried to kiss a cactus." Little Strongheart said, looking annoyed at Braeburn.

Then they both started bickering like they always did. However, neither Dusk nor Applejack said anything, since they knew that was how they showed that they loved each other.

"Take care of my cousin." Braeburn said as he said goodbye to Dusk.

At that moment, Dusk looked at Applejack and looked back at Braeburn with a cunning smile.

"I don’t think she needs to be looked after. But when she needs it, I'll always be there for her." Dusk said with a confident smile. With that answer, Braeburn smiled and finally went with the rest of his family and guests back to Appleloosa.

"There are still some of your cousins around here." Dusk said to Applejack, once they finished saying goodbye to Braeburn and he looked towards the family house, where Babs Seed and some of Applejack's cousins were still inside the house.

"Yeah, some of them are staying for a few more days." Applejack explained. Then she looked away and glanced at Dusk. "So… Did you tell Braeburn that you'll always be there when I need it?" Applejack asked, feigning disinterest.

"That's right. I’ll always be there for my friends." Dusk smiled warmly. Then Applejack lowered her ears with a disappointed look. "... And I’ll especially always be there for my marefriend." Dusk added, gently touching Applejack's face and finally doing what he had wanted to do all day: kiss her.

At the surprise kiss, Applejack widened her eyes and blushed deeply. Then she slowly closed her eyes and was carried away by the warm feeling.

After finishing the kiss, Dusk looked at Applejack and smiled shyly, while his cheeks were still red with shame for finally having dared to get closer to Applejack as a coltfriend.

"So… W-What was that all about?" Applejack asked, making an effort to keep a stoic look.

"Well, I've been thinking about it and… you're my marefriend. And… it's something we should do more… often." Dusk nervously explained, determined that he should take the next step in his learning of love. "I don't want to think about things so much... I think I'll get carried away more by my feelings, now that I'm your coltfriend."

"Hmm… So, you’re telling me that you’ll be kissing me whenever you feel like it?" Applejack asked, putting on a faux angry look.

"Uh... I... Well..." Dusk stuttered, red with embarrassment. Maybe he had made a mistake.

"Pfft... Don't worry, I like it that way." Applejack laughed, making Dusk realize that it had been just a little joke from his tender marefriend. Then Applejack took Dusk by the head and brought his head down to her height, coming face to face. "Figured that a smart stud such as yourself would come up with that idea. Hope you don’t mind if I use it from time to time." Applejack added, this time being the one who kissed Dusk sweetly, surprising the stallion.

After their kiss, they both looked at each other and smiled tenderly. The couple started their way back to the family house, walking very close side by side. This time there was no longer any discomfort between them. They had both finally broken the ice and discovered that they had both wanted to get closer to each other all day. They now knew that the other would never refuse a hug or feel uncomfortable if they kissed the other by surprise. Dusk Shine and Applejack both knew that their feelings were equal and reciprocal, and that they were both deeply in love with each other.

With the last rays of the sunset, Dusk Shine and Applejack continued walking slowly across the field, with so much joy in their hearts that they could barely hold back their laughter. Their tails were intertwined with each other as they walked, wanting this moment to forever b frozen in time to always be with one another.

While Dusk Shine was learning his first lesson about love on his own, in the city of Canterlot, another mare had her own problems learning about that complicated feeling.

Princess Cadance was with Sunset Shimmer in the middle of the dining room of the royal castle. The kitchen maids had just served them their dishes, all finely decorated, worthy of the castle's royal kitchen.

"Thank you so much, Vanilla Treat! Everything looks delicious!" Cadance said, smiling sweetly at the mare who had served the dishes.

"Thank you very much, Princess." The mare replied, happy to be flattered by the princess.

Then Cadance stared at Sunset and widened her eyes, as if waiting for her to do something. For her part, Sunset Shimmer had already raised her fork with her magic to start eating her dinner. However, seeing that Cadance was staring at her, she rolled her eyes and lowered her fork reluctantly.

"Thank... you…" Sunset grumbled while averting her gaze. It was as if the words were physical unable to leave the mare’s mouth with an exceeding amount of effort. "Thank you for doing well at what you do every day." Sunset Shimmer muttered sarcastically.

Hearing Sunset's words, Vanilla Treat lifted her indignant nose and withdre, back to the kitchen.

"Was that last comment really necessary?" Cadance said, glaring at Sunset.

"Well, I can’t help it if it’s the truth." Sunset Shimmer retorted. "Do you want me to lie?"

"I'm not telling you to lie. I'm just saying that you should start to understand a little more the feelings of others, have more empathy." Cadance said, also sighing wearily as she realized how difficult it was to teach empathy to a mare as proud as Sunset.

"I know... I know..." Sunset huffed in frustrated. She moved her plate away and dropped her head heavily against the table.

"Easy, it's not your fault." Cadance said uncomfortably, trying to cheer up her new student.

It had been difficult for Cadance to let go of the resentment she had felt for years against Sunset. But she had finally understood that it wasn’t Sunset's fault that she was like this.

"Please don't say it... Don't say it's the Archmage's fault." Sunset said, slowly raising her head. "I can't keep blaming others for my past. I could have rejected all of his teachings, but… deep down, I also wanted to believe what he taught me." Sunset added with a sad look.

In that instant, Sunset remembered all the evil she had done to so many ponies while she had been a student of the Archmage. She had enjoyed humiliating other ponies, believing herself superior to them. It had been that way for years, until one dire day, when the Archmage took things too far and Sunset finally had to run from him.

"That mare's terrified look... I'll never get it out of my head..." Sunset thought, closing her eyes in pain.

The pained expression didn’t go unnoticed by Cadance, who was surprised to see and feel with her innate magic that Sunset was indeed feeling empathy in that second, feeling some pain from the past that she had surely caused in somepony.

Sunset looked up again, and Cadance saw that her gaze had grown warmer, as if a layer of ice in her gaze had finally disappeared, at least for an instant.

"I want to change. I want to be a pony that HE can trust." Sunset said, managing to open her heart.

For her part, Cadance smiled as she sensed that there was no hint of falsehood in Sunset's words. Her new student had a powerful motivation to really want to change, and Cadance didn't need to ask, as she knew perfectly well who Sunset was referring to by 'HE'.

Just then, at the back of the room, Cadance saw the door open. The Princess of the Night appeared through the door. When she saw that Cadance was next to Sunset, opened her eyes with surprise, then closed them sadly. The alicorn closed the door without entering the room.

Cadance had rarely spoken with her new Auntie Luna. Unlike the older of the Alicorn sisters, Luna was more reserved. In fact, most of the talks they'd had had been in the last week after Cadance discovered at the Grand Galloping Gala that her aunt also seemed to harbor feelings for Dusk. This had taken the pink alicorn completely by surprise. However, what most caught Cadance's attention was the fact that day after day, the love that Luna felt for Dusk became more painful. Cadance could feel Luna's heart ache every time she focused on her feelings.

After much insistence, Cadance had finally managed to get Luna to tell her what made her so distressed, and why she used to avoid Sunset now that she often visited the castle. She discovered that Luna blamed herself for what happened with Discord and his curse in Dusk's memory. The Princess of the Night couldn’t forgive herself for agreeing to help Dusk and putting him in such great danger of forcibly altering his memories. If it hadn't been for Sunset, who found a way to save Dusk and his friends' memories without any of them getting hurt, perhaps Dusk would have received irreparable damage to his mind. This gnawed at Luna from within and made her hate herself more than she normally did for all of her past.

"Auntie Luna... You must leave that guilt behind, otherwise the darkness will swallow your heart..." Cadance thought sadly, after seeing Luna close the door. "You must learn about love too, but I can't teach you the first lesson... To be able to love someone, you must first love and forgive yourself..."

After thinking about the great challenges ahead, Cadance looked up at the ceiling and sighed, lost in thought.

"Friendship already saved this kingdom once... Perhaps love is the key to saving it in the future..." Cadance thought, not realizing that this would be a huge omen of things to come.

End of chapter 10

Chapter 11 - Confidence test

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Confidence Test

Inside a small wooden clubhouse built on a tree, a group of fillies met to begin their activities first thing in the morning.

"I’m starting the sixty-seventh meeting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Apple Bloom announced, standing behind a small dais. "To start, I want to welcome our new member. My cousin, Babs Seed!" The yellow filly added, pointing to her side where her cousin was, with a somewhat nervous look.

At Apple Bloom's announcement, all the other members of the club clapped to welcome the new member. And by all the other members, the only other two members of that club: Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

"Yay! We finally have another member!" Sweetie Belle cheered.

"Yeah! Now listen, these are the rules of the club…" Scootaloo said as she approached closely to Babs. "First rule of the club: Don’t talk about the club. Second club rule: DON’T TALK about the club! Third Club Rule: If this is your first time at the club, you have to-"

"Hey, wait! How will new members join our secret club if we have those rules?" Sweetie Belle asked, realizing the little paradox.

"But how is it supposed to be a secret club if everyone knows about the club?" Scootaloo whined.

As both fillies started arguing about how cool, but impractical their rules were, Babs Seed just got confused, looking at them both and then at her cousin.

"Don’t worry." Apple Bloom said with a shrug, used to seeing her friends argue. "All you need to know is that we’re doing everything possible to discover our cutie marks." Apple Bloom added, showing her cousin the wall behind her.

Turning around, Babs Seed saw that the wall was full with dozens of photographs. In all of them some or all of the members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders appeared doing some activity, such as climbing, cooking, beekeeping, water skiing, among many others.

"Have you really tried all that?" Babs Seed asked in surprise. Then Babs noticed a sheet of paper that was also taped to the wall and that had several things noted on it. "What’s 'Plan H'?"

Hearing Babs' question, the other three fillies were shocked and quickly looked away, since they had all forgotten that they had that note stuck there, which was the secret second objective of their secret club.

"Uh, yeah, well... It was a plan we had to make Dusk Shine fall in love with my sister and her friends." Apple Bloom said, a little embarrassed and scratching her head. "But we kinda stopped doing that since now Dusk is dating Applejack."

"Dusk is dating Applejack!?" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle asked in surprise. "And what do you mean that we’re not doing Plan Harem anymore!?" Sweetie Belle questioned with annoyance.

"Well, Dusk and my sister have been dating for a couple of days, so I thought it was obvious that we wouldn’t need to make a choice for him." Apple Bloom replied.

"That… That's not fair. We said that we would also make my sister become Dusk's marefriend." Sweetie Belle said, feeling uncomfortable thinking that her beautiful and elegant sister could lose to Applejack.

"Yeah, and we'd do it for Rainbow Dash too. And for Pinkie Pie and Flutterhsy, if there was time." Scootaloo added, always prioritizing her personal heroine.

"But... Applejack and Dusk make for a cute couple... Maybe... Maybe we shouldn't interfere anymore..." Apple Bloom muttered under her breath, knowing that maybe she was being unfair, but she loved seeing her sister with Dusk Shine.

"But we promised!" Sweetie Belle insisted, who was apparently the most upset with the whole situation.

"Hmm... Maybe we should ask your sister and the others what they think." Apple Bloom said with a thoughtful look. "I mean, they must know that Dusk is Applejack's coltfriend now. Maybe they accepted that the two of them are a couple and they're okay with it." Apple Bloom added, clinging to the last hope she had so as not to interfere with her sister and Dusk's perfect relationship.

Without waiting another second, Sweetie Belle turned and ran out of the tree house in the direction of Carousel Boutique with a serious and determined look on her face. As she ran, she couldn't get out of her head that Dusk was dating Applejack. In her head, there was only one perfect mare for Dusk, and it was herself! But if she couldn't be his marefriend, Sweetie Belle always hoped that Dusk would at least date her sister. Therefore, Apple Bloom trying to cancel Plan Harem so that Rarity couldn’t be with Dusk was something that annoyed her a lot.

In addition, her sister had been very good with her since the day before when her parents left her in her care, since they were going on a trip. Rarity had been very attentive, inviting her to the spa and preparing dinner. If it hadn't been for a customer arriving in the evening with an urgent order, she might have been able to share more with her sister.

"I hope she liked the surprise breakfast I prepared for her." Sweetie Belle thought, just as she arrived at her sister's house, remembering that that morning she had made an effort to cook breakfast for Rarity. She left it ready as a surprise before leaving for the Crusaders meeting.

As Sweetie Belle entered the kitchen, she was glad to see that her sister was already awake. However, to her disappointment, she saw that Rarity wasn’t eating the breakfast she had prepared for her. In fact, the toast and juice she had prepared were in the trash.

"Rarity, you... Did you throw away the breakfast I made for you?" Sweetie Belle asked with a very sad look.

"Hmpf! I woke up to the smell of burning bread… Don't cook again without my supervision, you almost burned the whole kitchen!" Rarity said, berating her little sister with a look.

The fashionista mare still had small dark circles under her eyes, which she had tried to hide with makeup, a product of having worked all night. That made Rarity more grumpy than usual. Something that her little sister didn't notice.

"It wasn't so burned!" Sweetie Belle said offended, approaching the garbage can and lifting the toasted bread she prepared, which was very burned, so much so that it looked like a large piece of coal.

Realizing that she was getting upset with her sister, Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself, after all, she was there for another mission.

As Rarity ate her breakfast, Sweetie Belle came up with a wonderful idea and she quickly ran out of the kitchen. For her part, Rarity internally thanked her sister for leaving, so she could at least eat her breakfast quietly again.

"I knew it! I can surprise Rarity with this to stop her from being in a bad mood." Sweetie Belle said with a smile.

The filly had come to her sister's room and saw what a mess it was, with dozens of fabrics and ribbons piled up on the mannequins and the floor. So, Sweetie Belle quickly got down to tidying up the room. Knowing how orderly her sister was, surely that mess had been left by Rarity after working all night. But if she ordered it, Sweetie Belle was sure that Rarity would be in a good mood again, so that they could both talk about what was truly important about that day: Dusk and Applejack's relationship.

"AAAHHH...!" Sweetie Belle was startled to hear her sister scream on the first floor. "Sweetie Belle! What did you do with my clothes!?" Rarity shouted angrily, who had come out to the patio and now was going back into the house, to face her little sister.

"Oh! I did the laundry in the morning!" Sweetie Belle said, smiling proudly, approaching the bedroom door so that her sister could hear her.

"You washed the clothes... And look what happened to my incredibly expensive one-of-a-kind designer crocheted wool sweater!" Rarity said angrily as she went up the stairs, levitating with her magic a tiny cotton sweater, which in no way would fit Rarity or any pony. "This sweater is made from the finest cotton! Now that you’ve washed it, it has shrunk, and no-AAAHHH…!" Rarity screamed again in horror when she saw her room and saw that everything was in order.

"Surprise!" Sweetie Belle yelled, full of energy. "I ordered your room!"

"B-But… what did you do!?" Rarity yelled angrily. Then she lowered her head and made many faces, as if trying her best not to explode with anger. However, as stressed and tired as she was, she couldn't control it and again she glared at Sweetie Belle. "This wasn’t a mess, it was organized chaos! This is my inspiration room! I put the fabrics on the mannequins to visualize and prepare the dresses that I spent designing all night!"

At that moment, Rarity stopped looking at Sweetie Belle when she saw a corner of her room, seeing a chest that was empty. A chest that she hadn't seen was empty, due to the mess in her design workshop the night before. A chest that shouldn't be empty, especially not that day!

"Sweetie Belle... W-What happened to the baby blue sapphires I had in that chest...?" Rarity asked, with a look of horror.

"Oh... Uh... Well, I..." Swetie Belle said nervously, knowing that her sister was very angry.

At first, Sweetie Belle thought about keeping quiet, but finally decided to take a chance and tell the truth. After all, Rarity was her sister, and she would understand what she did. In fact, perhaps after seeing it, she would get so excited that they would both be on good terms again.

Sweetie Belle went to Rarity's worktable and took out a big card, on which a score of baby sapphires were glued surrounding a drawing.

"Yesterday I was bored, so I made this drawing and decorated it with the sapphires you had." Sweetie Belle said with a small, shy smile. "I wanted to show you yesterday, but you were so busy that-" In that instant Sweetie Belle stopped talking when she saw that Rarity's jaw dropped, staring at all of her precious baby blue sapphires glued to crude cardboard.

"The sapphires were the finishing touch for a dress I had to deliver… The sapphires were the finishing touch, and now they’re covered in glue!" Rarity yelled angrily, knowing that those delicate sapphires would lose their exceptional brilliance from getting dirty with glue. Then she, who hadn’t even paid attention to Sweetie Belle's drawing, only to the sapphires that surrounded it, furiously took the drawing, crumpled it in anger and threw it furiously to the floor.

Seeing that her sister wrinkled her cute drawing without a second thought, a drawing in which she had put all her love, Sweetie Belle began to cry, seeing how cruel her sister had been.

"Why are you upset?! I'm the one who should be crying!" Rarity yelled, feeling even angrier at feeling guilty for making her little sister cry. Then Rarity covered her face and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself.

"Calm down, it's not her fault, she's just a filly." Rarity thought, breathing slowly to calm herself. "I think I exaggerated a bit, but… I'm just so tired… But I shouldn't have taken it out on Sweetie Belle."

"Listen Sweetie..." Rarity said, finally calming down. "I'm sorry-"

"You’re the worst!" Sweetie Belle yelled, this time being her the one who was furious, still crying over what Rarity had done. "I don't want to have a sister who only cares about herself. You’re the worst, the worst! That's why Dusk didn't choose you as his marefriend!" Sweetie Belle screamed furiously, remembering how foolish she had been to believe that she should support the love of Dusk and her sister.

Then Sweetie Belle turned and ran down the stairs, out of the house and slamming the door behind her hard. Meanwhile, Rarity froze, with a look of amazement and pain at her little sister's words, especially those last words, which were like a dagger that went straight to her heart.

Right at that moment outside Carousel Boutique, Dusk Shine was walking towards his friend's house. However, his plans would be truncated when he saw Sweetie Belle suddenly running away, crying profusely as she fled from there.

"Hey, Sweetie Belle! Wait!" Dusk yelled, following the filly.

Once Dusk caught up with Sweetie Belle, he accompanied her on her aimless walk and heard why she had run out of her house. The lavender stallion learnt about the argument she and Rarity had had, although, hearing only one point of view, Sweetie Belle made her sister sound like she had been a complete witch without feelings.

"I understand that you're upset, but I'm sure Rarity is sorry too." Dusk said once Sweetie Belle finished speaking. "Deep down, she always thinks of others before herself. If she scolded you, it’s probably because she had a lot on her mind. Remember, she’s your sister, and she’ll always love you." Dusk added, lovingly messing up Sweetie Belle's mane.

After receiving Dusk's caresses, Sweetie Belle stared at him with gawking eyes, and then she threw herself to hug him tightly.

"She doesn't deserve you… Stay with me. Be my coltfriend!" Sweetie Belle said tenderly, pressing her face against Dusk's soft fur.

"Hehe... Well, there are several reasons why that couldn't happen." Dusk said blushing, separating from Sweetie Belle and crouched down to look at her with a tender smile. "But the most important is that I already have a marefriend."

Only then did Sweetie Belle remember what Apple Bloom had told her about Dusk and Applejack. Then the little filly made a pouty face and looked away.

"So you finally chose Applejack..." Sweetie Belle said a little annoyed.

"Uh, yeah, I think so, but-" Dusk replied, until suddenly his eyes widened when he realized a small detail. "Wait, how do you know I had to choose?"

"Well, it wasn't just Applejack who was in love with you. There was also Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash… And me, of course, hehe." Sweetie Belle said, smiling mischievously.

"Huff… How many times is this going to happen to me…? Was I really the only one who didn't know it!?" Dusk thought, blushing and hitting his face with his hoof.

"Why did you choose Applejack?" Sweetie Belle asked innocently, snapping Dusk out of his thoughts. "You don't like the other girls? Did they give up?"

"Uh... well... it's something a little more complicated than that..." Dusk said, blushing and getting nervous, since he didn't want to explain to the young filly the complicated arrangement that he and his friends had regarding their new love relationship. "T-That reminds me, I was going to go see Applejack now. Maybe Apple Bloom is there and you can play with her, hehe…" Dusk said quickly, changing the subject to avoid that uncomfortable question.

Then both ponies started walking towards Sweet Apple Acres, with a very talkative Sweetie Belle insisting on why she could be a better marefriend for him than Applejack.

"Reason number twenty-two: Since I’m not yet an adult, I only pay for half the fare on the train. That’s a great financial advantage for a couple!" Sweetie Belle said, just as they finally reached Sweet Apple Acres.

"Trust me, being a filly is not an advantage at all." Dusk said with a tired look. Who after listening for so long to Sweetie Belle talking about being his marefriend, he already saw himself having a romantic dinner with Sweetie Belle, and then the guards arrived and took him to prison for harassment of minors. "Not even Princess Celestia could save me from that."

Suddenly, both Dusk and Sweetie Belle were distracted by a thumping noise. They continued advancing through the farm, until they discovered what the noise was. It was from Applejack and Apple Bloom, who, while the first kicked some apples from the ground, the second went with a bucket on her head and caught them.

"Woah… that looks fun!" Sweetie Belle said excitedly, completely forgetting about Dusk and running to where her friend was. For his part, Dusk took advantage of the fact that he finally detached himself from the little infatuated filly to go be with his real marefriend.

"Hi Applejack, what are you doing?" Dusk asked once he reached the country mare's side.

"Howdy, sugarcube!" Applejack said, smiling when she saw who was visiting her. Visits that had been made daily since Dusk became her coltfriend. "Apple Bloom was alone because she had some chores, and Scootaloo took Babs for a ride on her scooter. And since she was bored picking up the bad apples, we invented this game to make it more fun." Applejack added, kicking an apple again, which was cleverly caught by Apple Bloom, who in turn was also explaining to Sweetie Belle what they were doing.

"Hmm… It seems that Sweetie Belle seems to like it. Maybe she could help you too." Dusk said, looking from afar at the two fillies.

"Sure, no problem." Applejack happily replied. "But why are you with Sweetie Belle? Did Rarity ask you to take care of her?"

"Not quite." Dusk replied, proceeding to tell Applejack what had happened since he had found the filly unicorn. Of course, omitting the parts where Sweetie Belle hinted that she wanted to be his marefriend.

"Hmm... So she got into a fight with Rarity..." Applejack said after hearing the story, looking from afar at Sweetie Belle. Then she glanced at Dusk and gave a suspicious look. "So you... What were you doing walking around Rarity's house?"

"Oh! I was going to give this back to her." Dusk said with an innocent smile, levitating the little orange bow tie that he had worn on his first official date with Applejack. After hearing that answer, for some reason Applejack sighed in relief and smiled again. Something that caused a bit of surprise in Dusk, who didn’t understand the reason for that gesture.

"By the way, I just remembered. I wanted to ask your help for something." Applejack said, kicking one last apple where Apple Bloom was and walking over to a small table nearby. Then the country mare took a pile of papers that had been stacked on that table. "I wanted to see if you could distribute these flyers in the center of town. I would go, but I’m very busy with stuff on the farm."

Dusk took the flyers Applejack gave him and saluted to his marefriend.

"Of course. It’s the duty of every good coltfriend to help his marefriend." Dusk said as if he were a soldier, blushing slightly.

"Aw, quit it with the flattery, you doofus." Applejack said, blushing and looking away. She was unable to avoid smiling when hearing that Dusk called her 'his marefriend'.

For her part, in front of Dusk and Applejack, Sweetie Belle kept gawking as Apple Bloom caught the apples that Applejack threw at her.

"Do you and your sister always do stuff like this?" Sweetie Belle asked in wonder.

"Yeah. Sometimes farm chores are a bit boring, so we always make games to make them more fun." Apple Bloom said, jumping up to successfully catch the last apple her sister had thrown at her.

"It looks really fun. You should help her, Sweetie Belle." Dusk Shine said suddenly, who had approached where the fillies were to speak with Sweetie Belle before returning to the town. "Applejack needs some help to keep picking more apples. I think you should stay and help them." Dusk added, wanting the little unicorn to have fun, and thus forget her anger with Rarity.

"Can I really help too!?" Sweetie Belle asked excitedly.

"Sure! That way, you’ll see that not all big sisters are a headache." Apple Bloom said innocently, who had already been listening to how her friend complained about her big sister before Dusk arrived.

"Uhh... Rarity and I never play like this... In fact, we never do anything fun." Sweetie Belle said with a sad look, remembering that she was still upset with her sister.

"No! I wanted was for her to stop thinking about her fight with Rarity!" Dusk thought, slapping his face when he saw that his plan hadn't worked.

"W-Who knows, maybe Rarity would like to play this, hehe..." Dusk said with a nervous smile, trying to enhance Sweetie's image of Rarity. Although the truth was that Dusk also doubted that Rarity would stoop to throwing apples as a game. "I think I'll go talk to Rarity before handing out the flyers."

After that, Dusk left Sweet Apple Acres while Apple Bloom passed the bucket to Sweetie Belle so that now she was the one to catch the apples thrown by Applejack.

"So Dusk went to distribute the flyers?" Applejack said kicking some apples, as her little sister came to her side.

"Yeah, but he said he would go see Rarity first." Apple Bloom replied casually, watching her friend catch the apples. "Keep it up, Sweetie Belle! Catch those apples!"

The filly was so distracted that she didn't notice the strange look of mistrust her big sister had when she told her where Dusk was going. For the truth was that a small and dangerous idea had begun to circulate in the mind of the orange mare.

Back at Carousel Boutique, Dusk Shine got there just as Rarity did too, as she had apparently gone shopping. Next to her was Spike, who, as always, had offered to carry her purchases. All in order to be next to his lady.

"Darling, what a surprise." Rarity beamed, who was already in a better mood after breathing fresh air and walking around town. Then she opened the door of her house and invited Dusk to come in. "I hope you haven't waited long. It's just that I had to go out urgently to buy some sapphires, since CERTAIN FILLY used up all I had." Rarity added with a bad-tempered face.

"Yeah... About that, I just wanted to talk about it with you." Dusk said, telling his friend what he had talked to Sweetie Belle and how much she had gotten angry.

"Huff, you believe too much everything Sweetie Belle says. You know how manipulative she is." Spike said, after listening to Dusk, not believing that his beloved Rarity was as bad as Sweetie Belle made her seem.

"Yes, it’s true that in the morning I was a little in a bad mood, but I didn’t act like a complete witch as she makes it seem." Rarity said annoyed, going up to her room to store the sapphires. The colt and dragon followed her up the stairs. "It’s true that I exaggerated a bit but… Great Celestia! Sometimes it’s so irritating to have a little sister who makes a mess in your house!" Rarity added, walking into her room with an annoyed huff.

"Well yeah, I have to admit it does look pretty messy." Dusk said, entering Rarity's room and seeing that there were pieces of cloth all over the floor and on the mannequins.

"Uh… Actually, I did this. Sweetie Belle actually cleaned it up." Rarity admitted bashfully. Then she remembered what her sister did again and got angry. "She tidied up my inspiration room and ruined all the work I had done the night before!"

"Oh… So those fabrics are the ones you’re using in your next fashion line? They look good, although I don't know anything about fashion, hehe." Dusk said smiling.

"Um...yes, well, after Sweetie Belle took my initial job down, I started ordering again and came up with a better fashion line." Rarity said with a thoughtful look, thinking that maybe what her little sister did was not so bad. However, her stubbornness made Rarity shake her head and deny such a thing. "B-But!...She just shouldn't have touched my things without permission… It's like the sweater! A perfect designer sweater completely ruined!" Rarity yelled again, showing Dusk the beautiful wool sweater that had shrunk after Sweetie Belle washed it.

"Is that a sweater for Opalescence?" Spike asked naively, seeing the tiny sweater.

"What? No, this sweater is…" Rarity tried to correct, until she saw her cat. Then the fashionista came over to her and quickly put the sweater on her grumpy cat. "Hmm... You know, it doesn't look bad at all..." Rarity said with a thoughtful look, seeing how cute her beloved cat looked in the sweater. "B-But it was an accident, just a fortunate accident." Rarity added quickly, thinking that she couldn't so easily forgive her little sister for her mistake. "It's like at breakfast, it could have burned down the house…! Although… It was sweet that she wanted to make me breakfast…" Rarity said, feeling more and more regretful for having woken up so grumpy and having taken it out on her little sister.

"What’s this?" Dusk asked curiously, seeing a crumpled cardboard, filled with sapphires with glue, that was lying on the floor.

"Oh, it's just a drawing that Sweetie Belle…" Rarity said, taking the card and opening it. But in doing so, she put her hoof in her mouth and was speechless. She had been so angry this morning that she hadn't paid attention to the drawing, but only to the ruined sapphires. However, now that she saw it, her heart broke with emotion when she saw the tender drawing that her sister had drawn, in which both sisters appeared with a heart background and the words: 'For the best sister'. That made Rarity unable to hold back her tears and cried when she realized how cruel she had been to her little sister.

“Oh, Dusk!” The white unicorn cried dramatically, falling backwards for the stallion to catch her. Dusk did so, of course, although with a huge blush on his face. “How could I be such an absolutely dreadful big sister?!”

"Come on, we have to fix this." Dusk said, standing the unicorn upright and smiling sweetly at her, wanting to help the sisters reconcile.

Wasting no time, Rarity completely forgot about her job, wanting to immediately go and apologize to her little sister. For his part, Dusk commissioned Spike to distribute the flyers that Applejack had given him around town. Thus, both ponies ran back to Sweet Apple Acres.

It didn't take much searching for Dusk and Rarity to find Sweetie Belle, who was still next to Applejack and Apple Bloom, the three of them jumping on a huge bucket of grapes to make juice.

"Sweetie Belle! Thanks to Celestia that I found you!" Rarity said excitedly. Sweetie Belle saw her sister and reluctantly stepped out of the huge bucket, along with Applejack and Apple Bloom, and looked at Rarity with an indifferent look. "I am so sorry, little sister. I behaved like an ogre. I didn't know how attentive you were being to me, and that cute drawing you did, I-"

"Hah! You mean the drawing drawing that said you were the best sister? Don't worry, we all make mistakes." Sweetie Belle said with a fake laugh, looking away to Rarity's perplexity.

"S-Sweetie, I… I'm really sorry. I promise you that I’ll be a better sister, a big sister that you’re proud of." Rarity said, forgetting her pride and begging her little sister. She realized that Sweetie Belle must still be very hurt with her.

"Yeah, I’ll have the best big sister in the world... Because now Applejack will be my big sister!" Sweetie Belle said, turning her back to Rarity and hugging Applejack, leaving everyone perplexed. "I’ve come to realize that Applejack is a real big sister. She plays with Apple Bloom and they do everything together like real sisters."

"I can do that too!" Rarity said nervously. "We can go to the spa together, I can teach you to comb your mane, make dresses together..."

"Those are just things that you like! Don’t you see!? You only think of yourself!" Sweetie Belle said furiously, turning around and walking away from the ponies. "Applejack will be a much better sister than you! And she’ll also be a much better marefriend for Dusk than you!" Sweetie Belle yelled before running off, furious at her sister and how different she was from Applejack.

Seeing Sweetie Belle run, Apple Bloom stepped forward to go after her.

"I think I'll go with her to see her calm down. And to explain that Applejack is MY sister…" Apple Bloom said, before running after her friend.

"I'm going too." Dusk added, concerned at seeing the little unicorn so furious.

That left only Rarity and Applejack alone there. The former was in shock again by the harsh words of her sister. Applejack looked away nervously, not knowing what to say in this awkward situation.

"G-Gosh... I-I wonder if Dusk has already put out all the flyers I gave him, hehe..." Applejack said nervously, saying the first topic that came to mind to try to break that awkward silence.

"Dusk asked Spike to hand them out, and don't change the subject!" Rarity said with annoyance. "You… W-Why do you have to be so good!? You make me look bad!" Rarity said frustrated, looking annoyed at Applejack.

"Dusk asked Spike to hand out the flyers? Did he prefer to go see Rarity...?" Applejack thought, not hearing her friend's scolding. Again, an uncomfortable thought came to her mind, one that made her feel somewhat unpleasant at the thought that Dusk seemed to look for many excuses to see Rarity without telling her.

"I guess now you not only took Dusk away from me, but also my sister." Rarity looked away in frustration. Then she sighed and calmed down, knowing she couldn't blame her friend for what happened. "Listen, I-"

"And what will you do about it?" Applejack said suddenly, looking seriously at Rarity.

"Uh?" Rarity said, surprised by Applejack's look.

"I took Dusk away from you. What are you going to do about it?" Applejack said, looking very seriously at her friend. "Remember that he’s my coltfriend. And also... that we have rules."

"What are you talking about?" Rarity asked, a little annoyed to see that Applejack told her that Dusk was her coltfriend. Then, Rarity's eyes widened as she understood what her friend was referring to and she also gave a serious and annoyed look.

For his part, after reaching Sweetie Belle and seeing that she was calmer, Dusk quickly returned to where his friends were. When he returned, he stopped for a moment when he saw that for some reason Applejack and Rarity were staring at each other with very serious glances.

"Something wrong?" Dusk asked.

"I'm going!" Rarity announced, turning quickly to turn her back on Applejack. She was so upset that she didn't even say goodbye to Dusk. "Take care of Sweetie Belle." She added as she left indignantly, without even turning to look at Dusk or Applejack.

"What happened?" Dusk asked again to his marefriend.

"Nothing. I just...reminded her of something important." Applejack said, looking seriously at Rarity as she walked away. "By the way, what happened to Sweetie Belle?"

"Oh, she's doing better." Dusk said, a bit surprised by Applejack's surprising change of subject. "She said she was camping at the clubhouse tonight with the other Cutie Mark Crusaders."

"I guess it's for the best. Sometimes being apart for a while helps to reconcile later." Applejack said. "If they hadn't fought, we might have been able to convince Rarity to join Sweetie Belle in tomorrow's Sisterhooves Social competition."

"In fact, that was precisely my plan." Dusk smirked. "It occurred to me that Rarity-" At that moment Dusk couldn’t continue telling his plan, since Applejack put a hoof over his mouth to silence him.

"You don't need to tell me your plan. I trust you." Applejack said, giving Dusk a little kiss on the cheek, then turned around and walked away. "Or at least, I need to learn to trust you." Applejack whispered as she went back to her tasks, leaving Dusk very confused by that strange attitude of his marefriend.

After saying goodbye to Applejack, Dusk finally returned for the third time that day to Carousel Boutique. Fortunately, to speed things up, Dusk didn’t have to enter the house in search of Rarity, since the mare he was looking for was just outside the door of her house, pacing back and forth with her head down as if she was undecided about something.

"Rarity, are you okay?" Dusk asked upon arrival.

"Uh!? Dusk! I… Uh… Y-Yes, I'm fine." Rarity said nervously. Then, realizing that she was too nervous, she closed her eyes and took a slow breath to calm herself. "I'm fine, don’t worry. You... did Applejack send you here?" Rarity asked, calmer now, at least on the outside.

"No, she doesn't know that I came here." Dusk said with a confused look, not understanding why Rarity was asking him that.

Hearing that, Rarity looked away with an annoyed look as she remembered a certain conversation. Then she closed her eyes again and looked at Dusk with determination.

"Well. Then I need to ask you a favor." Rarity said, looking closely, very seriously at Dusk. "I want you to help me get back... what Applejack took away from me." Rarity added with a slight blush.

"Sure, I'll help you get Sweetie Belle back. In fact, that's exactly why I came here." Dusk reassured her. "I have the perfect plan."

"Yes... I didn't just mean Sweetie Belle." Rarity said, smiling at Dusk. Something that surprised and confused the stallion a bit. "Anyway, what is your plan?"

"Uh... y-yeah, I..." Dusk added, a little nervous at Rarity's possible hint, not sure if he had misunderstood it or not. "I was thinking that you could join the Sisterhooves Social." Dusk added, showing Rarity one of the flyers that Applejack had asked him to pass out.

"Sisterhooves what?" Rarity asked while looking at the flyer.

Dusk then explained to his friend the same thing that Applejack had explained to him the day before. Once a year the Apple family held a sister competition at Sweet Apple Acres, where the sisters competed in a series of hurdles to win a race, and that almost every filly in town participated alongside their older sisters.

"Do they do it every year? I've never heard of that." Rarity said, thinking and vaguely remembering that for years Applejack had mentioned it to her, but she had never paid much attention to it, since competing in such competitions was something she would never think about. "I... I'm not sure..." Rarity added, thinking how dirty she would be if she participated in something like that.

"Easy, I'll help you." Dusk said, smiling at his friend. While Rarity stared at him uncertainly, but then she thought that if Dusk helped her, she might be one step closer to her secret true goal.

"Huff… Okay. Everything is to recover the love of my annoying little sister." Rarity finally said, sighing in resignation. "I just hope that she agrees to participate with me. After all, she said she didn't want to see me again… Gosh! Why did I have to have a sister with such a complicated character?"

"Hehe... Easy, I'm sure Sweetie will want to participate with you." Dusk replied with a nervous smile, thinking that Rarity didn’t realize that both sisters were more alike than they themselves believed.

After convincing Rarity that his plan would work, both unicorns returned to Sweet Apple Acres, only this time they went to one of the most remote fields there. Both to avoid meeting Sweetie Belle and Applejack, and also so that no one would see Rarity practicing such vulgar activities. For his part, thanks to Applejack, Dusk already knew what activities the obstacle course would consist of. And although Dusk knew that telling Rarity the obstacles to practice was cheating, Dusk thought it would be well worth it as long as those two stubborn sisters could reconcile.

"The first obstacle will be to jump over a mud puddle." Dusk said, who had brought several buckets of water to make a small puddle of mud that Rarity could jump over.

As Dusk anticipated, Rarity's first reaction was to make a disgusted face, thinking that if she jumped over that puddle and fell, all her fur and beautiful mane would be ruined.

"This obstacle is easy; you just have to jump over it and you won't get dirty." Dusk said, touching Rarity and pointing at her. "But it’s important that if you fall, you can’t run away and abandon the race. So I have a little trick in case you do fall and get dirty… Just think you're in the mud bath at the spa!" Dusk added with a big smile.

"I think that will be impossible, darling." Rarity said, approaching to see the mud puddle and seeing with disgust that it was full of leaves and worms. "C-Can we move on to the next test?"

The next obstacle Dusk showed Rarity was some big boxes that had to be jumped up. This obstacle seemed more palatable to Rarity, and she started jump on them to practice.

"You jump too gracefully; you’ll waste a lot of time jumping like that." Dusk said after seeing his friend jump. "Follow me and jump like I do." Dusk added, standing next to Rarity to teach her to jump correctly in a race.

Both unicorns started running side by side, they both arrived in front of the big boxes and Dusk started jumping over them, followed by Rarity, who tried to imitate the way Dusk jumped. Then, not being used to those jumps, Rarity stumbled and almost fell from the boxes. Fortunately, Dusk managed to grab her by a hoof. However, the force of gravity was greater, and both unicorns fell together, toppling the stacked boxes, which fell on them.

After rubbing his head from a box hitting him, Dusk opened his eyes again. Now he was lying right on top of Rarity, since he had intentionally stayed in that position to prevent the boxes from falling on his friend. They were both face to face, with Rarity lying on her back. That made Dusk blush and look away from the strange and suggestive position in which they had been.

"A-Are you okay?" Dusk asked, not looking Rarity in the eye. He began to move his leg to get out of that position. However, at that moment Rarity stretched her front hooves and hugged Dusk's neck, causing both of them to stare at each other again.

"I’ll always be fine with you." Rarity said with a cute blush and huge, bright eyes that captivated the weak stallion.

Then Dusk quickly used his teleportation and appeared right next to Rarity.

"S-Since the boxes fell, l-let's continue to the next test..." Dusk said nervously.

The next obstacle Dusk took Rarity to was pie eating. A very simple test, in which they had to eat a whole pie before they could continue the race.

"The trick here is to take big bites." Dusk said, taking a pie and devouring it in just three seconds. "Blouh beeh?" 'You see?' It was what Dusk had wanted to say, but his mouth was still full.

"Darling, you have some pie just bit here...." Rarity said, smiling coquettishly. She slowly brought her hoof to Dusk's cheek and swiped up some of the jam that was left there, and in passing, caressing his cheek. Then Rarity put her hoof to her mouth and flirtatiously tasted the jam that Dusk had left on his cheek. The gesture made Dusk blush deeply, and almost spit out all the pie he still had in his mouth.

"Cough! Cough! Cough...! L-Let's go to the next test!" Dusk said quickly, coughing the pie he had eaten and focused don the next task at hoof.

"Is she flirting with me!? No… She’s always been like this… Right?" Dusk thought, thinking that perhaps he was just overthinking thinks again.

Unfortunately for Dusk, the following tests that they continued to practice only further increased his insecurity about Rarity's way of acting.

Pushing a huge bale of hay together, Rarity never took her eyes off Dusk. And since they both had to push their heads together, Dusk had no choice but to stare at her as well with a blushed expression.

The climax of how nervous Dusk could be that afternoon was when they got to the part where both had to carry an egg together by just using their noses. When doing so, the only thing that separated their lips from each other was the little egg, it was as if they were almost kissing! Dusk had Rarity's face too close. He could smell her perfume, feel her soft breath, see her beautiful blue eyes… That was more than Dusk could bear, and finally he turned away his red face, dropping the egg they were carrying.

"I-I think that's enough practice for today... I-It's getting dark already." Dusk noted, unable to look Rarity in the eye. "After that, you just have to run to the finish line with Sweetie Belle and you’ll win."

"Indeed, I think that is enough for today." Rarity said, watching the sun begin to set. Then she approached Dusk and gave him one last flirtatious smile. "Don't worry, you'll see that I won't lose the race. When I have a goal in mind, I make sure I never quit until I achieve it." Rarity added flirtatiously, saying goodbye to Dusk.

That night, as it hadn't happened for days, Dusk went back to sleep uneasily. Recently, Dusk had always felt a warmth in his heart whenever he thought about Applejack being his marefriend. However, that night, Dusk remembered again that Applejack was not the only mare who was in love with him, and he didn’t have only his current marefriend in his heart. And the image that became stronger in Dusk's subconscious mind that night was that of a flirtatious and beautiful white unicorn, who had once again awakened in Dusk that doubt that he thought he had overcome.

At noon the next day, it was finally time for the long-awaited Sisterhooves Social race. Thanks to all the flyers that Spike distributed around town, many fillies and their older sisters showed up at Sweet Apple Acres. Most of them were there with the intention of sharing a pleasant moment of sisterhood. Although, there were one particular pair of sisters that weren’t exactly on good terms. Of the two, the big sister was determined to win back the love of her little sister.

Rarity and Dusk Shine arrived at Sweet Apple Acres together and quickly began searching for Sweetie Belle. Finally Dusk pointed to the distance and they both saw that the little unicorn was entering the barn with her friends. The pair quickly made their way to the barn, as there wasn’t much time until the race began.

"How are you guys gonna to participate if you don't have big sisters?" Dusk and Rarity managed to hear Apple Bloom ask Babs Seed and Scootaloo.

"We have a backup plan." Babs Seed said, grinning wickedly.

"Yeah, it’s too bad Rainbow Dash isn't here. But there’s another way to compete." Scootaloo said with a shrewd look. "It’s as intrincate and precise as a well-played game of chess.....Well, I don’t know how to play chess, but it’s a great plan nonetheless!”

"I guess Sweetie Belle’s gonna be the only one not participating then." Apple Bloom said, looking sadly at her unicorn friend.

"It doesn't matter, anyway... I didn't want to participate." Sweetie Belle said with a very sad look. Then she remembered her sister and got angry. "Ugh! Who would want to compete with Rarity!? She’s just a selfish pony who only thinks about herself! She… She deserves to be alone! She’ll be left without a coltfriend and without a sister! Mares like her are doomed to be alone forever. No one will ever love her ever!" Sweetie Belle screamed in frustration, as she hadn't been able to stop thinking about her sister and how bad she had been.

Looking up, Sweetie Belle saw that her friends were pale for some reason. Then she turned and went just as pale when she saw that Rarity was right behind her, looking at her as if she were about to cry.

Rarity had peeked in just as Apple Bloom was telling Sweetie that she would be the only one who wouldn’t compete in the race. She had wanted to surprise her little sister, but she never imagined that the filly would say such cruel words. Unbeknownst to her, Sweetie Belle had just attacked an old and painful wound that Rarity had in her heart. Rarity could still remember her first false love, and the cruel words that the stallion had said that if he left, she would be alone forever and that no one would ever love her again. Those words had been almost exactly what Sweetie Belle had said in her anger. Those words were like a dagger to the heart for the fashionista unicorn. Those words hurt her more than anyone else. And Rarity could hardly bear it.

Rarity turned quickly and ran out of the barn, her tears floating in the air as she ran. Dusk, who had read Rarity's diary, immediately understood how those words hurt his friend and he quickly followed her. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle was perplexed. She didn’t expect her sister to run away crying over those simple angry words. After all, they always argued, she didn’t understand how those words could have hurt her so much.

"She… She deserves that for being a bad sister." Sweetie Belle tried to convince herself that she had done nothing wrong. Although deep down it hurt her to have hurt her sister like that, but her stubbornness was stronger than her forgiveness.

Not far from the barn, Applejack was making the final preparations before the big race. Then she looked up and saw Rarity run off with Dusk Shine chasing after her. That made the orange mare squint suspiciously, knowing that something important was going on between those two.

Applejack took a couple of steps to go after Rarity and Dusk, however, in the end she lowered her head, sighed, and decided to go to the barn instead of going after her coltfriend and her friend. She was determined to trust her coltfriend one hundred percent.

"I don't understand why Rarity got so upset, I'm the one who should be upset!" Applejack overheard Sweetie Belle say. Who was apparently still trying to convince herself that she had done nothing wrong. "I'm the one who’s had a terrible day! Maybe... Maybe I exaggerated a little bit, but... but she doesn't understand how stressed I was, and... and..."

"Easy now, sugarcube. I know Rarity will understand." Applejack said, approaching the little fillies. She didn't fully understand what happened, but she understood that Sweetie Belle must have said something bad to Rarity. "Sometimes you do and say things you regret when you’re upset."

In that instant, Sweetie Belle's eyes widened as she realized something very important. Rarity had also been very tired and stressed when she got upset with her. Now the exact same thing had happened, only the other way around. Finally, Sweetie Belle understood how similar she and her sister were, and her eyes began to fill with tears.

"It’s alright, don't cry." Applejack said, tenderly stroking the little unicorn's head.

"I know! How about you compete in the race with Applejack in my place." Apple Bloom said hastily, thinking that maybe that would lift her friend's spirits.

"Uh!? N-No… I… I think I should go…" Sweetie Belle said sadly.

"Come on. Granny Smith planned this day to see happy faces, not sad faces." Applejack said, trying to motivate Sweetie Belle. "I'm sure you and Rarity will patch things up eventually. After all, you’re sisters. So for now, take the opportunity to distract yourself and think about something else."

"Yeah… I… I really want to give you my place! I hate to see you sad." Apple Bloom said with a sad, forced smile.

Seeing that smile on Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle understood the sacrifice her friend was making to lift her spirits. Apple Bloom had been talking for days about competing with her big sister. She couldn’t simply decline the sacrifice that her dear friend was offering her.

"O... Okay..." Sweetie Belle said, wiping her tears away. She hoped with all her being that Applejack was correct and that later she could reconcile with Rarity.

Minutes later, all the competitors were finally at the start line, ready to begin the long-awaited Sisterhooves Social race. There were about a dozen participating couples, most notably Applejack and Sweetie Belle. Standing next to them were another particular couple, composed of Babs Seed and Scootaloo, the latter wearing a huge fake mustache, which was apparently her 'brilliant plan'. And at the end of the line of competitors, Apple Bloom stood alone, looking back, as if waiting for someone.

Behind the participants was the audience. Several onlookers who had come there either to support one of the couples, or to simply enjoy that crazy obstacle course. Meanwhile on the side of the starting line was Granny Smith, standing on a platform and ready to announce the start of the race Of course, it would be quite a while before the race would begin, as the old mare was giving a long-winded speech of the origins of the Sisterhooves Social that only led into longer tangents.

Not far from where everyone was, the lavender stallion had finally caught up to Rarity. She had stopped on her own, and after wiping her tears, turned to look where the other ponies not far from there.

"Rarity, I... I'm sorry for what Sweetie Belle said." Dusk said, trying to apologize for what the filly had said so that this sibling fight could finally end. "She doesn't know what you had to suffer in the past, and-"

"Enough, Dusk. There is no justification. What she said was simply cruel." Rarity said, looking seriously at Dusk. A serious and cold look that made Dusk understand that no word he said would make Rarity forgive Sweetie Belle. "I was thinking of leaving here, but I’ll not please my cruel little sister. I’ll stay here and show her that her cruel words will not affect me. If she doesn't want to have a sister, good for her, and good for me." Rarity added, walking with a terrifying gaze back to where the race would start.

Just as Rarity and Dusk were reaching the back of the race crowd, somepony came up to the small stage where Granny Smith was sitting. The old pony had fallen asleep in her rocking chair while telling her story and had completely forgotten that she was supposed to start the race. However, as soon as Granny was touched to wake her up, she screamed loudly, finally kicking off the long-awaited Sisterhooves Social race.

As soon as the race started, all the pairs of sisters ran at full speed. However, there was a filly that took only a few steps and came to a complete stop. It was Sweetie Belle, who while on the starting line, had seen all the sister pairs together, supporting each other before the race. And try as she might, Sweetie Belle couldn't get her sister's face out of her head, remembering the times they had both laughed together, which was in stark contrast to Rarity's sad face when she said those cruel words about she would be alone forever and that she would never find love.

"Come on, Sweetie Belle! Can’t be wasting daylight on this!" Applejack said hurriedly, holding out a hoof for Sweetie Belle to take it and they would resume the race. Then the little unicorn saw Applejack's hoof, and her eyes filled with tears.

"BWAAHHH! I… I want to run with my sister!" Sweetie Belle yelled, bursting into tears like she was a baby. Applejack was left in shock at the filly's surprise outburst of sadness.

Seeing that Sweetie Belle was crying, Dusk turned to Rarity. However, he was surprised to see that she was no longer by his side. Rarity's reaction was almost instantaneous. As soon as she saw her little sister cry, she instinctively ran off immediately, pushing her way through the audience. Then Rarity came out of the audience, ran at full speed, lowered her head as she ran, and in one quick and precise movement, lifted Sweetie Belle and onto her back, while still running to try to catch up with the others.

"R-Rarity!?" Sweetie Belle said in surprise, wiping her tears as she braced herself on her sister's back. Then guilt filled Sweetie Belle's eyes with tears again and she hugged her sister tightly. "I’m sorry, Rarity! I… I didn't want to say those things. *sniff*"

"Oh Sweetie Belle, I deserved them for not being a good big sister." Rarity said, still looking down the road. "You’re my little sister, and we’re more similar than we care to admit. We get angry easily, and we’re too stubborn to ask for forgiveness. But we also love each other very much, and we’ll always forgive each other because that’s what sisters do. Now… we have a race to win!"

Just then, the sister had reached the part of the race where they had to leap over the large mud puddle. Knowing that they didn’t have enough time, Rarity leapt into the air without taking Sweetie Belle off her back. She knew that with the extra weight, there would be no chance of clearing the puddle. So Rarity simply closed her eyes and fell right into the mud, trying to at least keep her little sister from getting her fur dirty.

"Do it for her. Do it for her." Rarity thought strongly. Giving himself the courage to move through that nasty mud as her pristine coat was dirtied.

Determined to show her little sister that she could be a good sister too, and that she could win the competition, Rarity gave her all after getting out of the mud. The pair finally caught up with the laggards of the race. Then both she and Sweetie Belle, full of determination, quickly made the following obstacles, overtaking the other couples one by one. Jumping the obstacle boxes as if they were one, eating the pie quickly in one bite, pushing the huge bale of hay with all their might, throwing all the apples at once while the other caught them with perfect precision, carrying delicately and swiftly the egg between the two, just with their noses. Until finally, they both caught up with the leaders, and sprinted the last leg of the race to reach the finish line.

The four leading couples, including Rarity and Sweetie Belle, ran at full speed. As everyone was about to reach the finish line, they all threw themselves to try to finish first, causing a large cloud of dust to be left in the surrounding air. That made the audience scream in amazement, waiting for the cloud of dust to disappear to see who had won. Finally the dust disappeared, and Rarity and Sweetie Belle opened their eyes to see if they had won.

To their disappointment, they had fallen behind two other couples, thus they only came in third place. Then everyone in the audience started clapping and screaming in excitement. Not so much to congratulate the winners of the race, but to all the competitors, for having done one of the most tight and crazy races they had ever seen.

"Well, well, it looks like we have a winning couple." Granny Smith said, walking slowly with the trophy to the couple who had arrived first. "And the winners... not you two!" Granny added, glaring at the winning couple.

"What!? Why not? We got there first!" Apple Bloom said, who had been the one who had arrived first with her partner.

"Because this competition is 'The Sisterhooves Social', and only pairs of sisters are allowed!" Granny Smith answered, looking with narrowed eyes at Apple Bloom's partner, who was none other than Big Mac. The stallion saw that Applejack wouldn’t participate with Apple Bloom and tried his best to dress up with a wig and dress to disguise himself as a mare.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about… I-I am a distant cousin of Apple Bloom. I’m… Orchard Blossom." Big Mac tried to say in a feminine accent.

Seeing that his cover was about to be exposed, Big Mac turned around in embarrassment and ran out of there. Then, after a few laughs, Granny Smith turned to the couple who had come second.

"The same goes for you two. This race was for sisters only." Granny Smith said. Although this time the grandma couldn't help but smile mischievously when she saw the second place couple. “At least Big Mac tried to dress like a mare.”

"Yeah, I know. It's just that I wanted to run with my marefriend." Dusk blushed, scratching his head in shame. While Applejack also blushed and looked away, happy but embarrassed that Dusk said in public that she was his marefriend.

Early in the race, as soon as Rarity picked up Sweetie Belle, Applejack was left alone as her partner had been taken away. It was then that Dusk also stepped out and pushed Applejack so that they both ran and she wouldn’t be alone.

It was then that Granny Smith finally turned to see the third couple that had arrived, Rarity and Sweetie Belle. The elderly mare smiled and approached them to present the trophy. However, just before handing it over, one of Applejack's cousins, who served as the race judge, whispered something in Granny's ear and she stopped handing out the trophy.

"I’m informed that Rarity carried Sweetie Belle early in the race and that is not allowed in the rules. So, you’re both are disqualified." Granny Smith said, turning one last time and finally handing the prize to the fourth couple that had arrived, Berryshine and her sister, two mares from the center of town.

As the audience finally applauded the victors, Rarity lowered her head with a very sad look.

"I'm sorry..." Rarity said very sadly. "I... I know how much you wanted to win-" At that moment, Rarity stopped speaking when she saw that her sister had hugged her tightly.

"I don't need a silly trophy to know that you’re the best big sister in the world." Sweetie Belle said, crying with happiness as she hugged her big sister. Happy to finally have reconciled.

"And you’re the best and most loving little sister in the world." Rarity said, also shedding a happy tear at feeling the same as her sister. "But you can be a headache at times."

"You too." Sweetie Belle replied. Then both sisters looked at each other and started laughing. Both finally putting their love before their pride and stubbornness.

After everyone congratulated the winning couple of the race, Granny Smith invited all the participants to a small banquet, where, as always happened in Sweet Apple Acres, the star was the apple candies and pies of the Apple family. Meanwhile, Applejack and Big Mac, who was no longer in costume, began to remove the obstacles of the race.

In the family home, all the fillies ate happily with their older sisters, regardless of whether they had won or not. They were just enjoying that beautiful bond of sisterhood together. All, except for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who had been talking in the middle of the field where they had had the race.

"Did you see that? I told you! Our costume was so perfect that no one disqualified us." Scootaloo said, smiling proudly with Babs Seed, holding in her hoof the fake mustache that she had worn in the race.

"They didn't disqualify you because you came in last place..." Apple Bloom said with a tired look. She then looked at her unicorn friend with a sad look. "I'm sorry you couldn't win, Sweetie Belle."

“It’s fine, Apple Bloom. The important thing is that I was able to compete alongside my sister." Sweetie Belle replied with a huge smile.

Seeing her friend in such a good mood, Apple Bloom smiled too. Then she remembered that there was another important topic to talk about, and that since her friend was in such a good mood, it might be the best time to talk about it.

"By the way... You all heard when Dusk Shine said that Applejack was his marefriend, right?" Apple Bloom asked, feigning disinterest and glancing at her friends. Their eyes widened at the memory.

"Yeah... We all heard it." Scootaloo said with a sad smile. "It seems like it was true that Dusk finally chose Applejack over Rainbow Dash."

"Then you’ll agree that Plan Harem is no longer necessary, right?" Apple Bloom asked, wishing that no one interrupted the love that was being born between Dusk and her sister.

"No. I don’t agree." Sweetie Belle said, looking seriously at Apple Bloom, much to her friend's surprise. "We started Plan H because we wanted everyone to be happy; Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They all deserve to be happy! And they all love Dusk very much! I'm sure that hasn't changed."

"B-But Dusk already chose my sister!" Apple Bloom said nervously.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we have to stop. That means we have to make Dusk also be the other's coltfriend!" Sweetie Belle said with a look full of determination, eager to help her sister in love. Because now that they had reconciled, she wanted her sister to be happy and to have her beloved Dusk as a coltfriend.

"It's true! I still haven't asked Rainbow Dash if she accepted that Dusk is now Applejack's coltfriend, but I'm sure she couldn't have forgotten Dusk so easily! We gotta help her so that Dusk falls in love with her too!" Scootaloo said cheerfully. Deep down, the orange filly fervently wanted to see Dusk and Rainbow Dash together.

Seeing the determined looks from her friends, Apple Bloom lowered her head in resignation, realizing that her plan didn’t work at all.

"Huff… Okay… We’ll continue with Plan Harem." Apple Bloom finally said reluctantly, sighing in defeat.

"Plan Harem?" Big Mac whispered to himslef. The big red stallion had been clearing the obstacles in the race near where the four fillies were, and had heard some of what they were talking about. A conversation that left him very confused, with a very uncomfortable look.

While that was happening in the center of the field, at the other end were Rarity and Dusk Shine in the barn. The white unicorn had asked Dusk for help to remove all the mud that had stuck to her fur when she fell into the mud puddle, and now Dusk found himself hosing down Rarity's muddy legs.

"You could take this off faster if you walked into the shower at home." Dusk said, slightly blushing as he helped his friend clean up.

"I’ll do that as soon as I get to my own home. But I can't do it here. I don't want to go into Applejack's house and leave the whole floor dirty." Rarity answered, moving so that the water finished cleaning the mud from her hooves.

Being so close to Rarity and seeing her wet fur made Dusk feel more nervous than at any other time when being next to her. It was almost as if they were taking a bath together, and that fired up Dusk's crazy mind with daring fantasies. So the colt barely dared to glance at his friend, trying with all his might not to look at her in the front and thus not show his red face.

"All finish!." Rarity finally said, finishing washing her hooves and toweling off her fine fur.

"T-That's good..." Dusk muttered while looking at the ceiling to avoid seeing Rarity and blushing more than he was. "I-I think I'll go then." He then began to leave.

At that moment, Dusk stopped when he felt Rarity touch his back. He turned around again and was surprised to see that Rarity threw herself to hug his neck. Thus preventing him from leaving, and at the same time being face to face with each other.

For an instant Rarity looked uncertain, but then she closed her eyes and looked at Dusk with her most loving and flirtatious look.

"Dusk... It's just you and me here." Rarity said tenderly, looking expectantly at Dusk. "I would like to thank you for everything you did for me today. Maybe… With a little kiss."

Hearing that proposal, Dusk froze. He knew that his friend was flirtatious at times, but he never thought that she would do it so directly. And now that she had him trapped between her hooves, Dusk couldn't help but see her face to face and admire her extravagant features... Rarity was so beautiful. Her gorgeous eyes, her soft perfume and her soft little lips were just a small movement away from touching them. At that moment, Dusk couldn’t stop remembering the kisses that Rarity had given him previously, and his body screamed to feel that warm and exciting sensation again...

"I can’t." Dusk finally said, closing his eyes and looking away. "Rarity,...you hold a very special place in my heart. I really like you. But...it wouldn’t be fair to Applejack. She’s my marefriend.”

Hearing Dusk's words, Rarity widened her eyes in surprise, then lowered her head, and for some strange reason she put on a sad smile that Dusk didn’t see. Then Rarity stopped hugging Dusk and stepped back.

"Well said, my perfect gentlecolt." Rarity whispered so that Dusk couldn’t hear. Then she turned one last time before exiting the barn. "Remember Dusk, you’re not the only one with strong feelings. I also feel something for you. I promise you those feelings won't change. And sooner or later I’ll kiss you, as your marefriend." Rarity said staring at Dusk, giving him a big, flirtatious goodbye smile.

While his beautiful friend left, Dusk couldn’t help but admire her beautiful figure as she walked and flicked her tail, and he blush even more as his mind again filled his head with fantasies.

"You have a marefriend! You have a marefriend! You have a marefriend!" Dusk mentally repeated himself nervously, giving himself strength so that his mind won over the worldly desires that his body was crying out for.

Outside the barn, Rarity sighed as many things went through her mind. She then saw Applejack hiding behind a nearby tree and put on an annoyed glance as she walked up to her.

"Did ya do it??" Applejack asked nervously once Rarity reached her.

"Don’t worry. Dusk is faithful to you. And I assure you that he’ll be as long as he’s still your coltfriend." Rarity answered reluctantly. Then she looked seriously at the country mare. "Why me? Why did you have to choose me precisely to be the first to put Dusk to the test?"

At that moment they both remembered the talk they had had the previous afternoon, for which Rarity had left annoyed after chatting with Applejack...

'I took Dusk away from you. What are you going to do about it?' Applejack had said, looking very seriously at her friend. 'Remember that he’s my coltfriend. And also... that we have those rules.'

'What are you talking about?' Rarity asked. Then her eyes widened as she understood what her friend was referring to… 'Are you talking about the third rule?'

'We said we would put our love to the test, both with Dusk and with each other, to see if what we feel is true love.' Applejack said, reminding her what the third secret rule of their romance was about, the rule that Dusk was unaware of. 'I want you to be the first to try to seduce Dusk...' Was the last thing Applejack had said before Dusk arrived and that conversation ended that day.

"I asked you, because... Dusk always sees you and... I'm afraid of you." Applejack said with a fearful look. "You’re pretty, elegant, graceful … You’re the complete opposite of me. I thought… you were my biggest rival to compete for Dusk's heart."

"Huff… Don't flatter me so much, you have your own virtues. You’re funny, honest, trustworthy, and believe me, I'm sure Dusk also thinks you’re very pretty." Rarity replied with a small smile. Then she became more serious as she returned to the main conflicting issue: The third rule and the favor Applejack asked of her. "I know we said we would put courtships to the test, but I never agreed with that rule. I know that we must confirm that what Dusk feels is romantic love and not friendship, and that as long as he’s the coltfriend of one of us, he must be faithful, but… I don't like pretending to be the homewrecker who tries to steal her friend's coltfriend."

"I’m sorry. I know the others will too if they get the chance, but… I wanted to know what would happen especially to you." Applejack said with a sad look. Seeing that her friend was really sorry for asking her that favor, Rarity sighed and decided to forget her annoyance.

"Okay, I guess I was the best option to be first. Perhaps the others had taken too seriously that flirting with Dusk and see how far they led." Rarity said, remembering how clever Pinkie Pie could be at evading the rules. "Besides, it's not like I disliked flirting with Dusk. Remember that I love him too."

"I know. That’s why I need to take advantage of my opportunity with Dusk now that I’m his marefriend." Applejack smiled. A somewhat shy smile, which, like a good smile from the Element of Honesty, made it clear to Rarity that Applejack was still very insecure of herself being Dusk's marefriend.

For an instant, Rarity thought she could just walk away and leave Applejack with that little insecurity inside herself. She was her rival in love after all. However, it was also true that they were friends, and the friendship within Rarity fought against her jealousy in order to help her friend in love.

"Listen, there are two things that you haven't realized and that can give you a lot of advantage with being Dusk's first marefriend." Rarity said slowly, knowing that she was advising a rival in love, but, always with a generous spirit, determined to help a friend anyway. "The first is… that you must pay attention to the rules that Pinkie Pie said. Listen to them CAREFULLY." Rarity explained, deciding not to explicitly tell her about the loophole in Pinkie Pie's rules, but giving her an important hint. "And the second thing that will give you an advantage is... Do you know why I was so upset when Dusk chose you as his first marefriend?"

"Uh? W-Well… I thought it was simply because he chose me first." Applejack guessed, remembering that that day that Dusk found out that she and he were officially married, Rarity was the only one who gave an uncomfortable and annoyed look.

"It's not because of that." Rarity said, looking seriously at her friend and rival. "You’ll be dating for a month. And Princess Cadance's wedding is in a month!"

"So?" Applejack asked, still not understanding why that should be important.

"Can't you see it!?" Rarity huffed. "YOU will go with Dusk to his brother's wedding AS HIS MAREFRIEND. You’ll meet Dusk's parents AS HIS MAREFRIEND. The nobles of the city, the princesses, his family… The whole world will officially see you as Dusk Shine's marefriend at the biggest event of the century!"

Applejack slowly took the weight of that situation and began to turn a little pale when she realized that she hadn’t noticed that important detail. While Rarity, after giving Applejack those two clues that she could take advantage of by being Dusk's first marefriend, quickly put aside her friendly side, and returned to being competitive, standing in front of a rival rather than a friend.

"You better take advantage of these opportunities, because when it’s my turn, I’ll not miss it, and I’ll make Dusk fall madly in love with me." Rarity said with a competitive smile.

Then Rarity turned around and left. As she did so, she was thinking about the three rules they had set for their crazy romance with Dusk.

"First rule: act like real couple. Second rule: don't ask Dusk for intimacy. Third rule: flirt with Dusk and put courtships to the test." Rarity thought, summing up the three rules. "Only those three, there are no more rules. And yet, there is another very important thing that we didn’t put in the rules... How will the courtship end? What if one of us refuses to end the courtship? What if Dusk refuses to end one of the courtships!?" That last question made Rarity give a little chill, wishing Dusk would never think that, otherwise, their first courtship could be the only one.

Unbeknownst to Rarity, Applejack was thinking the exact same thing. And while Rarity thought with fear about that last question, the orange mare thought about that same question with the secret little hope that Dusk would decide to stay with her forever.

At that same time in Canterlot, Dusk's future sister-in-law, Princess Cadance made a list of everything that was missing for her big day. In just a few more weeks, she and Shining Armor would finally be married. Like any bride, she knew that only a few weeks was a short time to check that everything was perfect, not to mention that she shouldn’t only be aware of her duties as a bride, but also as a princess and as a teacher. But fortunately, everything was going well, and she was sure her wedding would go smoothly.

"Princess, did you want to see me?" Flash Sentry, one of the palace guards, said as he entered the room of the Princess of Love.

"Yes, come in." Cadance smiled. She finished sealing some envelopes on a table, where there were hundreds of others in a neat pile. "I wanted you to deliver these invitations personally." Cadance added, giving Flash a few envelopes.

The orange pegasus approached the princess, took the envelopes, and read the names and addresses.

"These are... the invitations for Dusk Shine and his friends." Flash Sentry said a little surprised, remembering the time he had seen them when the princess sent him and a couple of guards to watch them drive the dragon off the mountain.

"That's right. It took me a while to send them their invitations, because they’re not only invitations, it’s also a request so that they can help me with certain tasks at the wedding." Cadance said happily explained.

At the princess's reply, Flash Sentry gave an uncertain look. He knew how the Canterlot nobles had tried to pressure them to be a part of the princess's wedding. After all, although the nobles didn’t like the choice of the princess as a bridegroom, because he wasn’t from a noble family, they all wanted to be part of the wedding of the century. A once-in-a-lifetime event, and from which they wanted their names to stand out. Yet Princess Cadance had insisted on making the arrangements herself, and keeping the wedding simple, or at least simple compared to the ostentatious marriages that other noble couples made in Canterlot. Therefore, Flash couldn’t help but be surprised that the princess wanted, as the nobles would say, 'simple country ponies', be part of the wedding preparations.

"I know how much the captain has had to endure for having such a high office and not being of the nobility. I myself have suffered it to a lesser extent. However, we’re both military, and we can bear that and much more burden." Flash Sentry thought nervously. "But if those Ponyville mares get the stares and scorn of those snobs… I don't know if they can bear it. I'm not sure this is a good idea."

"You think it's a bad idea and the nobles won't accept it, right?" Cadance said, feeling the insecurity that Flash felt and guessing what he was thinking. "You don't have to worry. Dusk and his friends have faced dragons, Nightmare Moon, and the Lord of Chaos himself! I'm sure they’ll be able to withstand the looks of scorn from a few overbearing nobles. Besides, I'm not asking for them help because they're friends with Dusk, but because they really are special, and the nobles themselves will have to admit it."

"What do you mean?" Flash Sentry asked.

"Rarity is an extraordinary dressmaker, and I'm sure she’ll soon be one of the best in Equestria. Pinkie Pie is a party expert, so much so that she even managed to get all the nobles to dance together at the Grand Galloping Gala. Applejack is an expert pastry chef, in fact it was Fancy Pants himself who recommended her to me. Fluttershy has a unique and wonderful chorus of birds that sang at the last Summer Sun Celebration. And Rainbow Dash is the only known pegasus that can successfully perform a Sonic Rainboom." Cadance listed. "Each of them has proven her worth, and they need not prove it to any noble."

"Hmm... And you’ll still put them to the test..." Flash Sentry thought aloud for a second. Then he quickly realized his mistake and looked up nervously, checking with fear that the princess had heard him. "E-Excuse me, Princess! I… I didn't mean-"

"Don’t worry. You're right." Cadance said, interrupting Flash with a more serious and thoughtful look. "They’re very special, but for me, there is somepony more special than them… I know it’s unfair that I put them to the test, but I must make sure that Dusk finds true love. I'll make sure of it!" Cadance added with a look full of determination. Then she looked back at Flash and looked at him seriously. "Speaking of which... Have you already chosen what your first objective will be?"

Flash was surprised at the question, and then put on a confident smile. He was going to greatly enjoy the special mission that Princess Cadance had entrusted to him.

End of chapter 11

Chapter 12 - Discovering new feelings

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Discovering New Feelings

In the royal dining room of Canterlot Castle, for the first time in days the three princesses had gathered for breakfast together. With all the preparations Cadance had to make prior to her big day, she had little time left to share that moment of the day with her two aunts. For her part, Luna had done her best to leave her room as little as possible. Apparently, Sunset Shimmer's arrival at the castle made Luna want to avoid meeting her. But luckily that morning, Cadance had gone to breakfast without her new student.

"Princess, do you want more coffee?" Sweet Caramel asked, as always, attentive to serve her beloved princess.

"Yes... And make it double." Luna growled, obviously in a bad mood.

After so many days blaming herself for exposing Dusk Shine to the danger of altering his own mind, Luna had finally accepted that she should stop blaming herself and finally personally apologize to Dusk. That night, in the world of dreams, Luna had paced repeatedly in front of the door that led to Dusk's dreams. She knew that she had promised herself to stop invading Dusk's dreams, but she thought it might be necessary to make an exception to apologize. However, that impulse to enter Dusk's dreams was instantly diluted when she saw and felt how Dusk's dream door changed to a red color and a soft heat emanated from it.

Spending years touring the world of dreams had given Luna the experience of recognizing when a dream was affected by a strong emotion. This was how Luna recognized when someone had a nightmare, as certain doors of dreams became dark and cold. And on the contrary, when the doors of dreams presented those characteristics that she saw in Dusk's door, it was the opposite. That meant that pony must be having a 'too' satisfying dream, most likely with some fantasy that set its heart on fire.

That had made Luna abandon the idea of visiting Dusk's dreams and she felt extremely upset after finishing her vigil and going down to breakfast with her sister.

"That shameless stallion... I'm sure he was having some fantasy with one of his friends!" Luna thought annoyed, as she took the third cup of coffee that Sweet Caramel served her. Without realizing that deep down, what bothered her wasn’t that Dusk had fantasies, but that those fantasies weren't about HER.

"What's wrong, Auntie? It’s not good to frown on such a beautiful morning." Cadance said, noticing immediately that Luna was in a bad mood. "Where’s that beautiful smile of yours?!" Cadance smiled lovingly, making a face for her aunt to smile too.

"I am a princess. I can be in a bad mood if I want to." Luna growled back.

"Well, I am a princess too. So, I guess it's okay to ask." Cadance politely replied back.

"Ugh... It was easier when there were just two princesses." Luna grumbled.

"Well now there are three of us, Auntie." Cadance corrected.

"Why does she keep calling me Auntie?" Luna thought, deciding to surrender to the loving smile of her new 'niece'. "I know my sister said that she said it as a way of affection. But I'm starting to think that she really thinks she's our niece…"

"You were in a bad mood because somepony did something that you didn't like. And now you feel uncomfortable with something… Is there anything I can help you with to brighten up your morning?" Cadance asked, staring at her Auntie Luna and noticing the change in her emotions.

"That is another thing that worries me. That ability she has to feel the emotions of others... Sister, what are you hiding? Does 'she' know?" Luna thought, ignoring Cadance and looking across the table. Her older sister was quietly enjoying a cup of tea and, as always, undeterred by anything.

At that moment, Luna and the others present came out of their thoughts when they heard the doors open. Entering the dining room, Raven Inkwell, Princess Celestia's aide, appeared, carrying a pile of papers with her magic.

"Princess, I have spoken with the advisers, and we have found a solution to this grave threat to the kingdom." Raven said, running up to the Princess of the Sun and showing her one of the papers that were ready to be scattered throughout the kingdom. "What do you think?"

Slowly lowering her cup of tea, Celestia took the paper her assistant handed her to find out what 'great' threat she was talking about. As she did so, Celestia saw that the paper was a poster showing the silhouette of an unknown mare with the question symbol inside it. And under that drawing was written: 'Gabby Gums, Enemy of the State'.

"Um... I think it's a bit of an exaggeration, Raven." Celestia said with an awkward little smile.

All that fuss that Raven Inkwell was creating was due to the fact that the previous day, a copy of a crude newspaper called 'The Foal Free Press' had come to her. In which a photograph of Princess Celestia had been published, caught red-hoofed eating a huge strawberry cake.

"Obviously that photo is faked, I would never eat a strawberry cake alone." Celestia said calmly. She was obviously lying, since both the other two princesses and the twin maids present there knew perfectly well that she always ate cakes secretly. For her part, Celestia cared little that such a photograph of her had been published, but it amused her to see how upset Raven and the other ponies in the palace were with that photograph. "By the way, have you already found out where that newspaper came from?" Celestia asked, anticipating where it might have originated. There was only one pony very close to her could have taken that photograph without her noticing.

"Yes, Princess. We still haven't found out who this 'Gabby Gums' is. But apparently this comes from a Ponyville school newspaper." Raven replied. At which, Celestia smiled mischievously and simply continued sipping her tea. She would have to think hard about a revenge prank for this little joke Dusk decided to spring.

Seeing that her princess seemed not to take the photography business seriously, Raven took the posters and gave up on the idea of hunting down the infamous 'Gabby Gums'. Then she thought about leaving, so that the princesses could continue having their breakfast quietly. However, there was another topic that Raven had discovered that the princess might care about, but she couldn't find the right way to say it to Her Highness without upsetting her.

"Wait, why am I hesitating? It's Princess Celestia I'm talking about. She’s never surprised about anything!" Raven thought, determined to tell the princess what she had discovered.

"Princess, while we were investigating the provenance of that newspaper, our agent in Ponyville reported something to us regarding your student, Dusk Shine." Raven reported in a calmer tone. She held out the latest issue of Ponyville's controversial 'The Foal Free Press' newspaper. "Apparently Dusk Shine got married."

"PFFFTTT!!" It was heard loudly in the dining room as the three princesses spat out the tea and coffee they were drinking. A scene that surprised both Raven and the maids, who never expected their splendid royal highnesses to be so shocked that they would react in such a way unworthy of their class.

Seeing that she had lost all decorum, Celestia quickly composed herself and returned to the same pose and serene look that she normally had.

"Ahem! Uh… could I please see that paper?" Celestia asked calmly, pretending that nothing had happened.

Then Raven gave Celestia the newspaper, which featured a photo of Dusk Shine and Applejack together on the cover, and next to it, a copy of their marriage certificate. The headline of the news read: 'Dusk Shine and Applejack, a married couple living in sin.'

"This... This can't be possible..." Celestia said stunned, reading the article quickly.

"I know!" Raven said, perfectly understanding that the princess was upset that such rumors of her student were circulating. "Surely it’s false news from that journalist, who-"

"How come he didn't invite me to the wedding!?" Celestia interrupted, saying what was truly bothering her. To Raven's amazement.

Every two or three days, Celestia took time to watch Dusk with her magic telescope and thus find out all the details that happened in his busy but entertaining love life. For Celestia, it was like watching her favorite TV show. But now, she realized that she had missed a valuable 'episode' of her favorite series and she deeply regretted not having seen it. Oh, how she wished she could have been there to see her adorable student take the first strides into adulthood…and maybe whisper into his ear about when she should be expecting some grandfoals.

Meanwhile on the other side of the table, Cadance was having a slightly different attitude after hearing the news. After wiping the tea she had spit out from her mouth, and recomposing her elegant image, she now covered her face with her hoof, as if she still didn’t believe what she had heard.

"I told Dusk's friends to take turns being his marefriend. Not for them to take turns marrying him!" Cadance thought worriedly. Thinking that perhaps she had underestimated how unpredictable and intense the love intentions of Dusk's friends could be.

Cadance's thoughts were suddenly distracted as she sensed that someone was slowly falling into a pit of sadness. She looked to her side and saw that her Aunty Luna was the only one of the three princesses who hadn’t recovered after the shock of the news. She still had her mouth open and a look of astonishment, while the coffee fell from her still open mouth.

The news that Dusk was now married had perplexed the Princess of the Night. She already felt bad about herself knowing that Dusk's friends had declared their feelings to him and that it was very possible that Dusk at some point wanted to go out and be a coltfriend of one of them. But getting married was something else! That inevitably left Dusk out of her reach, and that made a deep despair fill her heart, as she understood that she had lost forever the only stallion she had felt anything for... the only colt that perhaps she could have come to love.

"T-This is not normal for Dusk." Cadance said quickly, taking the newspaper from Celestia and glancing at Luna, not wanting her aunt to slip back into depression as she felt she was already doing. "It’s impossible for the Dusk we know to marry without telling us, or his family! There definitely must be something else behind it! Maybe he did it to help a friend, or to cover up something." Cadance quickly added, always glancing at Luna to see how she reacted.

"Y-You're right… Yes! You're right! The Dusk Shine I know is not so irresponsible as to do something like that for no reason." Luna said quickly to regain her confidence, approaching Cadance and taking her by the shoulders. "That's the truth! He must have a reason for doing this crazy thing! Right? Right?!?" Luna added, shaking Cadance, as if she knew the truth.

"Y-Yes, you're right. But the best thing is if we confirm it." Cadance said as she was shaken, happy to see that she had kept her aunt from getting depressed. "In fact, just today I was planning to send somepony to meet up with Dusk's friends. He’ll be able to clarify for us if this is all just a misunderstanding."

"Yes! Yes! Send it!" Luna excitedly agreed, wanting to know as soon as possible if Dusk was really married or not, hoping with all her might that he wasn't. Then suddenly Luna realized she had lost her composure, coughed to calm herself, and pulled away from Cadance. "Ahem… y-yes… I think it's for the best. These rumors can affect my sister if they aren’t handled properly." Luna tried to feint disinterest.

Then Luna turned around and quickly withdrew, embarrassed that everyone had seen her little outburst. Celestia stared at the door through which her sister had retired.

"Goodness me. Luna did seem worried about Dusk's wedding." Celestia said, narrowing her eyes with a serious look of suspicion. "I guess it also bothered her that she wasn't invited to the wedding... I didn't know she liked weddings too!" Celestia chimed, calmly drinking her tea again. While Cadance, the twin maids, and Raven Inkwell stared at Celestia and rolled their eyes. It seemed as though Celestia was probably the only pony in the castle who still didn’t realize how Luna felt for Dusk.

"This is too much!" Dusk huffed in annoyance as he walked through the streets of Ponyviile.

For the past couple of days, the entire town had been revolutionized by the school newspaper from the little school in Ponyville. Normally, it was just a mundane school paper that was run under the school foals to teach them about printing and journalism. However, all that had changed with the arrival of the mysterious 'Gabby Gums'. A new journalist who had somehow been intruding into the private lives of the town ponies, publishing scandalous news about everyone, such as that the mayor was dyeing her mane, or that Big Mac was still sleeping with an old rag doll. And of course, neither Dusk nor his friends had been spared from that, with news such as that Pinkie Pie was a crazy party mare, or that Rainbow Dash was secretly going to the Ponyville spa. It was all technically true, but the gossipy nature of the news had annoyed all of the mares.

The townfolk tried to ignore the scandalous paper that portrayed the secrets and habits of others, but the gossip was just too tantalizing for any of them to ignore. Thus, the paper became an overnight hit.

Dusk had thought that the culminating point of the mysterious journalist's impudence had been the publication of the photo of Princess Celestia eating cake. A photo that Dusk had kept secret for years to use in the future for a prank, but that somehow had reached Gabby Gums' hooves. Still, nothing prepared Dusk for what would come as a headline in that morning's newspaper. Now, he was on the cover with Applejack, where a false and scandalous story that Dusk and Applejack had secretly loved each other for more than a year and that their marriage was false and they lived in sin had been published.

"This newspaper is out of control... Is there no one in this town who doesn't like gossip!?" Dusk muttered after finishing the paper and realizing that it was also the fault of the town ponies that it had so many readers. "Cheerilee protects the identity of that Gabby Gums too much..." Dusk growled, remembering that the day before, he and his friends had tried to convince the schoolteacher to stop the foals from printing the newspaper. However, she had refused, saying that journalism should be free and that she couldn’t interfere. Besides, she apparently secretly enjoyed gossip a lot, and Gabby Gums had been smart enough not to post a story about her so she wouldn't get mad cancel it.

Unable to convince Cheerilee to cancel the newspaper, Dusk and his friends had made it a goal to meet that day and search for the identity of the mysterious Gabby Gums. However, before Dusk reached the meeting point, he was surprised to see a large gathering of ponies in the middle of the town square. Specifically, there were many 'mares' gathered around somepony as they laughed flirtatiously.

"What’s going on?” the colt asked to himself, thinking that maybe the mares were gossiping about his ‘sinful’ marriage with Applejack.

"Psst! Hey, Dusk!" A voice suddenly said not far from Dusk. Then the lavender colt turned around and saw that behind a tree, someone was calling him.

When approaching the tree, Dusk could recognize Caramel, who was next to Lucky Clover, Thunderlane and Bulk Biceps. Precisely the stallions that had helped him to carry the carriage on the day of the Grand Galloping Gala, and with whom he had begun an intermittent but fun friendship.

"Hi guys, how are you?" Dusk delightfully greeted the stallions.

"Hey Dusk, you... Do you know that dumb pretty boy?" Caramel asked, pointing to where the group of mares that Dusk had seen a moment ago was.

Dusk looked over and finally saw what all the fuss was about. There, surrounded by mares, was a young pegasus, a palace guard, wearing his characteristic golden armor. The young stallion, unlike most of the other guards, had orange fur. In addition, since he wasn’t wearing his helmet, Dusk could clearly see his bright blue mane and a smile like that of a runway model. He was smiling gallantly at all the mares who were gawking at him.

"I don't know him, but he appears to be a palace guard." Dusk said with a raised eyebrow, partially understanding why the stallions had called that guard 'pretty boy', but not understanding why they had said it so disparagingly.

"Hmpf! What does that dude think he’s doing smiling at all of our mares!” Caramel said as he glared at the stallion.

"Uh… 'Your' mares?" Dusk asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling mockingly.

"W-Well, not my mares specifically. B-But he’s getting all the attention!" Caramel said blushing. "If that pretty boy wasn't here, we'd be chatting with all those pretty mares."

"Hmm, I don’t know. I think you’re popular enough with mares." Lucky Clover said with a small mocking smile and gestured to the side.

When they turned around, they all saw that two old mares were just passing by, walking very slowly due to their age. And as soon as they saw Caramel, they both winked and smiled flirtatiously at him. Caramel shivered with fear as it appeared that the twisted wish Discord had granted him back when had taken over Ponyville still had some lingering effects.

"Well, they may not be 'our' mares. But they’re definitely 'your' mares." Thunderlane got back to the topic at hoof and pointed next to the new stallion.

Looking again towards the guard with more care, Dusk was surprised to see that Pinkie Pie was among the mares that surrounded him and was laughing coquettishly. Dusk felt a heavy pit in his stomach when he saw one of his dear friends hanging out with that…stallion. But he quickly closed his eyes and tried to push away that unpleasant feeling.

"A little while ago your friend Spike was here with us. And seeing how gallant that guard was with the mares, he ran to go with Rarity and prevent the two from meeting." Thunderlane said, looking seriously at Dusk. "Maybe you should do the same with your friends... Or maybe that doesn't worry you anymore, since I heard you're dating Applejack."

"You’re dating Applejack!?" Bulk Biceps, Lucky Clover and Caramel said in astonishment. Then the three of them had murderous looks of jealousy at Dusk. Especially Caramel, who seemed to have horrible luck in love.

Without paying attention to the murderous looks from his friends, Dusk just stared at Pinkie Pie and that guard, unable to shake off what Thunderlane had told him.

"Pinkie Pie is just chatting with him. That's not a bad thing…" Dusk said with a nervous smile, trying to sound disinterested. However, then he looked back to where his friend was and an annoying feeling made him impossible to believe his own words. "I-I think I'll go talk to her… Not that I'm worried! I-It's just that I have to talk something important with her…" Dusk said with a nervous look, moving away from the stallions and approaching where the guard and his new groupies were.

Just when Dusk came to where the mares were gathered, he was surprised to hear that they all gave a moan of disappointment, and little by little they all began to retreat, continuing to give one last flirtatious smile to the guard before leaving. That left the guard alone with one lone mare, Pinkie Pie.

"H-Hi Pinkie. How are you?" Dusk said with a nervous smile, without him knowing why he felt so nervous to see his friend chatting with another stallion.

"Hi Dusk! I was just chatting to Flash Sentry about whether he knew you from somewhere. Since he’s a palace guard." Pinkie Pie greeted Dusk as if nothing was wrong while also revealing the name of the stallion.

"Uh ... No, I don't have the pleasure." Dusk said, extending a hoof to Flash to greet him. "My name is Dusk Shine." He added with a polite smile. However, to his surprise, Flash didn't even react. In fact, the orange stallion pretended not to hear him and just looked away.

"Oopsie! You’ll have to forgive him. Flash is a bit shy." Pinkie Pie said, winking at Dusk. Something that of course Dusk didn’t believe, since until a few seconds ago, he had perfectly seen how that such 'Flash' was flirting with a dozen mares at the same time.

"Sure… Uh… Anyway, Pinkie Pie, where are the other girls? I know it's early, but we said we would meet to find out the true identity of that gossip, Gabby Gums." Dusk said, pretending to ignore the guard just as he had done to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I’m a little busy right now." Pinkie Pie said with a sad look. "I have to throw a welcome party for Flash Sentry."

"Oh... I see..." Dusk said sadly, looking askance at Flash and feeling that he was getting annoyed with him for no reason. "Then maybe I could help you." He added hastily, feeling that for some reason he didn’t want his friend to spend so much time alone with that stallion.

"Sorry, but we don't need your help." Flash finally said to the lavender stallion with a sneering look. Then he quickly changed his expression and smiled happily, hugging Pinkie Pie so tightly that their cheeks came together, which made the mare blush slightly. "I don't need your help, because I have Equestria's number one party pony with me!"

Then Flash detached himself from the hug and lovingly pushed Pinkie to continue on their way.

"S-Sorry, Dusk. I promise when I'm done putting together the party, we'll get on with the Gabby Gums thing." Pinkie Pie said with a nervous smile. Then she went on her way with Flash towards Sugarcube Corner.

Meanwhile, Dusk simply stood there motionless, feeling a strange discomfort that he had felt a few times before. A feeling that he refused to recognize and that little by little was opening up space in his heart.

"YAY!!" Dusk's guy friends suddenly shouted, throwing confetti at him and blowing trumpets. It was the same ‘celebration’ that they gave Caramel whenever he got rejected and it broke Dusk away from his serious introspective.

"We thought you were the heartthrob of the town, but now we know even you can be rejected, hahaha." Lucky Clover teased Dusk.

"I-I haven't been rejected!" Dusk retorted, red with embarrassment. "P-Pinkie is just a friend, and… and it's okay if she has other stallion friends."

"Yeah, sure. Tell that to the vein on your forehead when pretty boy ignored you and hugged Pinkie, haha." Caramel laughed, enjoying that this time he wasn't the center of that ‘celebration of rejection’.

Seeing that the stallions continued to mock him, Dusk pursed his lips in frustration and withdrew. As he walked, he couldn't stop thinking about how wrong those stallions were.

"Those four think I'm jealous, but I'm not!" Dusk thought as he walked. "Still, there is something I don't like about that Flash Sentry. I feel like he's someone suspicious…"

After getting back to the library, Dusk sat in the main room, took all the Gabby Gums articles that had appeared in the school newspaper and began to read them again. He tried to find some subtle clue as to who the mysterious author could be, but he couldn’t find anything. No matter how hard Dusk tried, he couldn't concentrate. He had made the decision to investigate on his own, since Pinkie Pie hadn't wanted to help him. However, the only thing Dusk could think about was how at that very moment his dear and affectionate friend was throwing a party with that unsympathetic and suspicious Flash Sentry.

"Huff... This is useless." Dusk sighed in defeat. Glancing up at the clock, he noticed that an hour had pasted with him not making any leeway in the investigation.

Knowing that he wouldn’t achieve anything if he kept thinking about Pinkie Pie, Dusk decided to visit one of his other friends. Fluttershy was the perfect option, since he knew that the shy mare wouldn’t take so easily to some random stallion visiting from out of town.

Dusk quickly got up and headed towards the small grove where his friend's cottage was. All without even realizing that his movements were guided by simple and childish jealousy.

The stallion finally reached the house of the yellow pegasus, where he knocked on the door several times, without anyone coming out to open it. After a while, Dusk resigned himself and began his way back to town, however he stopped when he heard the beautiful song of Fluttershy's birds not far from there. Thus, Dusk made his way through some bushes until he was finally able to find his friend, who was leading her choir of birds. But his relief lasted only a second, when he saw that next to Fluttershy was the pony he least wanted to see that day: Flash Sentry.

"It's a wonderful choir, Miss Fluttershy." Flash said, clapping his hooves. The shy pegasus blushed and looked away at the compliment.

Right at that moment, the birds heard the noise coming from the bushes as Dusk approached. Then the birds got scared and flew away. For their part, Fluttershy and Flash turned and looked where the noise was coming from, Flash putting himself in a defensive position, until he saw Dusk come out of the bushes and gave a fleeting annoyed look.

"You’re lucky that you let yourself be seen. One more second and I would have lunged to attack you." Flash Sentry said seriously, threatening Dusk with his hoof. Then he turned around and gently took Fluttershy's hoof. "This place is too close to the dangerous Everfree Forest. But it doesn't matter, because that's what this knight in shining armor is for, to protect this beautiful damsel."

After those words, Fluttershy blushed deeply and couldn't help but laugh nervously at Flash's gallantry. Meanwhile, Dusk's annoyance, which he thought would disappear when he went there, rose higher than ever, making him unable to stop looking angrily at the orange stallion.

"Enough of that false gallantry! What are you doing here? I thought you would be with Pinkie Pie." Dusk accused. Meanwhile, Flash simply looked away, pretending that Dusk wasn’t there. "Stop ignoring me!" Dusk added, annoyed to see that that nasty stallion didn't even look at him.

"Sorry, I don't like talking to stallions. They’re too temperamental." Flash said, waving his hoof disdainfully at Dusk. "I prefer to chat with mares. They’re much more interesting, and it’s always a delight to hear their sweet voice." Flash added, winking flirtatiously at Fluttershy, making her smile and blush again.

Before Dusk could say anything else, Flash Sentry spread his wings and took off quickly from there. Leaving Fluttershy and Dusk alone.

"What was that stallion doing here?" Dusk asked without realizing that he was no longer even hiding the fact that the presence of Flash bothered him.

"Flash Sentry? He came to deliver me a letter from the Princess." Fluttershy said, a bit surprised to see that Dusk seemed to be annoyed. She showed him the letter that Flash had given her. "Apparently Princess Cadance wants my bird choir to sing at her wedding."

"Oh... I see..." Dusk said, sighing in relief to see that Flash hadn't come there just to flirt with Fluttershy. "So that's why you were showing him your bird chorus." Dusk added, thinking that his friend had only been kind to Flash, it wasn't that she really wanted to spend time with Flash.

"Hmm... Actually, I was the one who invited him to listen to the choir." Fluttershy smiled and slightly blushed. "He was very nice, so I invited him. And he was very happy to be able to listen to my cute little birds." Fluttershy added, smiling fondly as she remembered how attentive Flash Sentry had been to her.

Hearing that and seeing that Fluttershy smiled and blushed at the memory of Flash, Dusk couldn't help but feel more irritated than he already was, seeing that Fluttershy had never acted like that with any stallion. None except him!

"Why does she act like this? That clumsy Flash did nothing but be nice to her… Did he say he would protect her? How dare him! I’m the one who will always protect Fluttershy!" Dusk thought, remembering that the situation in which he had seen Fluttershy and Flash, had been very similar to how he had met Fluttershy, vowing to protect her by thinking that she was in danger. Then Dusk widened his eyes in surprise when he realized how worked up he was getting. "Why am I thinking about that!? I… I'm not jealous of that stallion! I'm not!" Dusk thought with determination.

Seeing that his feelings were causing him to lose his normal reasoning, Dusk quickly said goodbye to Fluttershy and left. Mentally repeating himself over and over that he wasn’t jealous about Flash, but only suspicious of him, sure that that stallion was hiding something.

"What is a palace guard doing here? Spending so much time in Ponyville… It doesn't make sense… He's definitely hiding something!" Dusk thought as he walked away.

While as Dusk walked away, Fluttershy stayed still with a very confused look.

"What was that all about?" Fluttershy thought, watching Dusk walk away with his brow furrowed. "Maybe… Could it be that he was jealous?" She then realized, surprised at the crazy but valid theory.

Stepping out of the grove surrounding Fluttershy's cottage, Dusk quickly reached open ground. With his mind calmer, Dusk began to think about what he should do now, whether to continue investigating the mystery of Gabby Gums or to find out more about that annoying and suspicious palace guard. The latter was gaining a place in Dusk's head as his heart formed a whirlwind of emotions within him.

To Dusk's surprise, he was quickly pulled out of his thoughts when two strong breezes flew by very close to him, tousling him completely. After shaking his head due to the surprising gust of wind, Dusk looked up and was stunned.

Right in front of Dusk, Rainbow Dash and Flash Sentry had flown by. Apparently, they were both having some kind of race and neither had realized that they had flown too close to Dusk when they took a nosedive. Now both pegasi were flying high again, taking several turns in the air with Rainbow Dash in the lead, closely followed by Flash Sentry.

Dusk quickly went from surprise to anger when he saw that annoying guard was now with another of his dear friends. And the worst thing is that Rainbow Dash had a big smile as she flew fast and competed with that orange pegasus. That made Dusk even more bitter.

Finally Rainbow Dash noticed that Dusk was watching her from the ground, she signaled to Flash Sentry, and they both rushed down, both landing flawlessly right in front of Dusk.

"Wow… Huff… I have to admit it. You may definitely be the fastest pegasus I have ever met." Flash Sentry grinned, catching his breath after flying in a race alongside the blue pegasus.

"Heh! Was there ever any doubt?" Rainbow Dash said with a proud smile, blushing slightly at being flattered by the handsome orange pegasus. "But, you’re not too shabby yourself.”

"Ahem!" Dusk coughed after seeing that although both pegasus landed in front of him, they were still not paying attention to him. "Do you mind if I interrupt…? Why were you two flying together!?"

"Flash came to deliver a letter from Princess Cadance." Rainbow Dash said nonchalantly. "We got to talking, one thing led to another, and he challenged me to a race. "

"We would have invited you, but… you know, I guess there are a couple of things you're missing to be able to compete against us." Flash said suddenly, looking mockingly at Dusk as he proudly displayed his wings. "Although maybe you could compete with us if you use your butterfly wings." Flash laughed. A comment that made Dusk turn red with embarrassment.

"Pfft! Hahaha! You know about that?" Rainbow Dash laughed, surprised that Flash knew about the time Dusk used magic to fly with magic wings.

"Are you kidding? I was in the front line!" Flash Sentry regaled, ignoring Dusk again and focusing his gaze only on the blue pegasus. "On that day of the Cloudsdale competition, I accompanied Princess Celestia as her guard. That's when I saw our cute fairy flying." Flash added, glancing at Dusk and smiled mockingly. "By the way, that sonic rainboom you did was incredible!"

"You saw that too!? Yeah, well, I am pretty awesome, what did you expect?" Rainbow Dash said, blushing with mock modesty. So immersed in the praise of Flash, that she hadn't been noticed that Dusk was getting more and more red with anger.

"I don't-" Dusk began.

"Another race!" Flash said, interrupting Dusk as soon as he spoke. "Three, two, one, go!" Flash yelled quickly, spreading his wings and taking off swiftly.

As competitive as ever, Rainbow Dash didn't wait a second. She just smiled and took off just like Flash Sentry, going after him and enjoying racing against another speed-loving pegasus. For his part, Dusk was once again left alone on the ground, looking with enormous courage towards the sky, seeing how his friend ignored him and flew away with that annoying stallion.

"I'm not jealous ... I'm not jealous ..." Dusk Shine muttered irritably. Gritting his teeth and repeating to himself that what he felt wasn’t jealousy. Something that was becoming increasingly difficult to deny.

"That stallion is up to something… Why is he meeting only my friends!? Perhaps… does he want to steal them from me!?" Dusk thought, without realizing that jealousy was taking over his thoughts.

After seeing that Rainbow Dash and Flash got lost on the horizon, Dusk lowered his head and took a deep breath. He thought about how irritating it had been to see his friends share with Flash Sentry. It was then that Dusk opened his eyes wide when he discovered something extremely important. No matter how much Flash tried to grab the attention of his friends, there was still one mare who would never trade him for Flash. Then Dusk turned around and decided to go to that mare's house: his marefriend's house.

Dusk Shine walked calmly and safely towards Sweet Apple Acres, unable to stop thinking about Flash and how all his friends seemed to like him. However, when he was halfway there, all that tranquility that Dusk had felt disappeared when he saw that in the distance a small orange trail that flew quickly through the sky and landed right at Sweet Apple Acres.

Immediately recognizing the wake left by Flash's flight, Dusk stopped walking and started running towards his marefriend's house. Once there, just as he arrived in front of the door of Applejack's house, he stopped when he heard that everyone inside the house burst into laughter.

Dusk slowly opened the door and looked inside the house. There she saw that Granny Smith, Big Mac, Applejack, and Flash Sentry were gathered. The latter, being the center of attention, sitting in the main chair, while everyone was still chuckling from a joke he had just told.

"Okay, okay, here's another one..." Flash said, starting to tell a new joke. "I once took a honeycomb and a jackass into a brothel, and the madam asked me-" At that moment, Flash stopped talking when he saw that Dusk had entered the house. Then the pegasus stopped smiling and gave an annoyed look.

Seeing that Flash stopped talking, everyone looked where he was looking, and were surprised to see that Dusk was there, since no one had heard him enter. And to Dusk's surprise, Big Mac also put on an annoyed look upon seeing him there.

"Well, I already did what I had to do. I think I go away." Flash said as he stood up.

"It's a shame you're leaving." Big Mac said, stretching his hoof and tightly clasping Flash's hoof as a show of masculine affection between stallions. "It was brief, but it was nice meeting you."

"Same here, Big M." Flash smiled, gripping Big Mac's hoof just as hard and proving that the affection was mutual.

"Are you serious!? How many minutes has this stallion been here and already gets along better with my marefriend's family than me!? Dusk thought irritably.

"I thought you didn't like talking to other stallions." Dusk muttered just as Flash passed him to leave.

"I already told you, I don't like talking to temperamental stallions. Especially with jealous colts." Flash said with a grin before leaving. Which irritated Dusk even more.

Like Flash, Big Mac also retired from the kitchen, while Granny Smith also did it after greeting Dusk. Leaving Dusk and Applejack alone.

"Are you alright, sugarcube? You look a little upset there.” Applejack asked her coltfriend with a small smile. Dusk, however, was having a hard time containing his jealousy and frustration.

"That... That Flash Sentry... You shouldn’t be hanging out with him." He grumbled.

"Why? Do you know him or something? He didn’t…hurt you, did he?" Applejack asked with a bit of concern.

"Well… not that he did something wrong to me. B-But he's suspicious!" Dusk nervously explained, realizing his logical mind that he actually had no argument to support what he had just said. "That stallion was surrounded by mares, and then he left with Pinkie Pie, and... and then he heard Fluttershy's chorus of birds and said he would protect her, and... and... well... he had a race with Rainbow Dash too, and..." Dusk said, slowly turning red with embarrassment as he realized that he was angry but that he couldn’t rationally explain 'why' he was angry.

Seeing Dusk becoming entangled in his speech without getting anywhere, Applejack stared at her coltfriend for several seconds until she finally understood what was happening.

"Dusk, are you jealous?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No! I'm not jealous! He’s suspicious! I'll prove it!" Dusk retorted, red with shame as in his head he finally accepted the possibility that he could be 'a little' jealous. However, his pride prevented him from admitting that he felt such a childish feeling.

Then the stallion left the house with a huff. It didn't matter what others said, even if it was his own marefriend… He wasn't jealous!

Just at that moment, not far from there, Dusk was distracted when he saw that Scootaloo was riding her scooter, carrying Apple Bloom in her cart with a pile of newspapers and a camera. Only then did Dusk remember the problem he had started with that day, before the unexpected and annoying appearance of Flash Sentry. Dusk still had to find out the identity of Gabby Gums.

Dusk hurried to follow the fillies without being seen. He hoped that maybe the Crusaders had some clue as to who the mysterious Gabby Gums was. But mostly, he thought that this would be a good opportunity to stop thinking about Flash, even for just a little bit.

After running at full speed, due to how fast Scootaloo was riding her scooter, Dusk was surprised to see that they reached the Carousel Boutique. Upon arrival, Dusk knew immediately that Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were hiding something, as they didn’t enter through the front door, but rather met Sweetie Belle through the back door of the boutique.

Dusk began to approach slowly, wanting to hear what the three fillies were talking about. However, all his detective spirit disappeared when he passed by the window of the boutique and observed from the corner of his eye that Rarity was chatting with someone: none other than Flash Sentry again. This immediately caught the lavender colt’s full attention, forgetting about the whole Gabby Gums thing, and again focusing on that irritating and suspicious stallion.

Wasting no time, Dusk turned around and entered the front door of the house. There, Rarity and Flash looked at him in surprise from his abrupt entrance. The two of them had been chatting amiably while Spike, who hadn't looked away even with Dusk's entrance, kept looking at Flash Sentry with angry eyes.

"Hey, could you stop following me? You’re acting like a stalker." Flash said, looking at Dusk with an annoyed look.

"I’m not the one who is following you, you’re the one who’s following me!" Dusk accused. "It can't be that you're just meeting my friends by coincidence! You’re planning something! Admit it!" Dusk added angrily. He no longer cred if Spike or Rarity saw how upset he was, he simply wanted to face that annoying guard.

"I met with your friends because those were the orders of the princess." Flash said, showing Dusk some letters he had. "They’re the invitations to her marriage."

"Well…, if you only came to deliver the invitations, you’re missing something very important... Where is my invitation!?" Dusk asked with suspicious, not buying that delivering the letters were his only motivation.

At Dusk's angry gaze, Flash didn’t flinch and simply stared at him with a serious gaze.

"Oh, that’s right! I almost forgot, I still haven't given you your invitation." Flash said feigning surprise before approaching Dusk to give his invitation. However, at the last second Flash simply showed him his empty hoof and put on a mocking smile. "Sorry, I don't have your invitation. I only had in my possession the five invitations for your friends. The other two I gave to the mailmare so that she can deliver them to you later. One for you, and one for that grumpy dragon on the corner." Flash added, pointing his hoof at Spike. Who for his part, only growled more after being pointed out.

"Good..." Dusk muttered, trying not to growl after that mocking gesture from Flash. “Well, if you've already delivered the invitations, then it's time to go. I suppose a guard of your caliber has a lot to do at the castle." Dusk added, putting on a fake smile as he gestured towards the door of the house.

"Huff... I guess you're right." Flash sighed, turning to take Rarity's hoof and kiss it gallantly goodbye. Something that made Rarity blush and both Dusk and Spike clenched their teeth. Then Flash walked to the door and started to leave. "Although on second thought, I have a couple of days off... Maybe I'll stay a couple of days here. After all, I think there’s very good company in Ponyville." Flash added, glancing at Dusk and grinning. The stallion subtly bumped his shoulder against Dusk as he passed him.

Before he left though, Flash whispered something under his breath that only Dusk could hear. “Maybe that marefriend of yours will finally end up deciding to hook up with a real stallion.”

Rage boiled in the lavender colt’s heart when he heard the pegasus make such an awful comment. There was a strong urge welling up inside Dusk to bolt right out that door and beat Flash to a pulp until he took back what he said. However, before he could act upon such a desire, his mind stopped him from doing so. The memory of him punching Hoity Toity over a misunderstanding involving Rarity and her past flashed in his brain and forced Dusk to calm himself down. He promised himself that he never again act so impulsively and violently like that. Even if Dusk thought that Flash deserved it.

"What was that all about?" Rarity asked the lavender stallion as he stared daggers at the door. Dusk had finished calming down and turned back to the fashionista to answer her question.

"What was that? I'll tell you what that was! That cynical pegasus only came here to flirt with you!" Spike suddenly exclaimed just before Dusk spoke. "He would smile at you, look for excuses to touch you, and only feign interest to get closer to you. And even though I was here before he arrived, he just ignored me and challenged me the entire time without you noticing!" The little dragon listed on. Dusk was flabbergasted, since those had been almost exactly the same words that he would have wanted to say to answer Rarity.

"T-That's right, that pony is very suspicious. I'm sure he's up to something." Dusk added, approaching Spike, both of them looking seriously at Rarity. Who for her part, only opened her eyes in surprise, and looked confused at both of the boys.

"You're…jealous?" Rarity asked with a small surprised smile while looking at them.

"I-I'm not jealous!" Spike yelled, red with embarrassment. Then he puffed out his cheeks in frustration and ran out of Rarity's house.

As Dusk watched as his little brother walked away in embarrassment, Rarity approached Dusk and whispered in his ear.

"I wasn't talking to Spike, dear." Rarity said, with a small smile.

"What!? I-I'm not jealous!" Dusk yelled, immediately realizing what the mare was inferring to.

Seeing Rarity's funny smile upon seeing his attitude, Dusk got frustrated with himself for being so embarrassed and left Rarity's house annoyance. Dusk managed to take a few steps, until suddenly he stopped when he realized something.

"I… did I act the same as Spike?" Dusk thought out loud after realizing his own past actions. Then he remembered how his little brother had acted, and even to him it had been obvious that Spike had been jealous. But he... he had reacted the same way without realizing it. "I... I'm really jealous..." Dusk whispered in surprise, finally acknowledging and accepting the annoying feeling that had been generated in his heart when he saw his friends having fun with another stallion that was flirting with them.

After discovering his own feelings, Dusk looked up and saw his little brother walking away furiously in the direction of the library. Then Dusk narrowed his eyes and walked the other way to…anywhere else! The only thing Dusk was clear about was that he couldn't follow Spike. He couldn't afford to follow in his footsteps and remain as frustrated and jealous as his brother. No, he wouldn’t be like him. He needed to do anything else to show that he could stop being jealous.

Suddenly Dusk's walk came to an end after a few steps. Just as he turned a corner, something very fast and heavy crashed into him and made him fall.

"Ouch! That hurt…" Apple Bloom said, who, along with the other two Crusaders, had collided with Dusk for going too fast on Scootaloo's scooter.

"Hnng! You three need to be more careful next time." Dusk said rubbing his head as he stood up.

Seeing that the three fillies were still somewhat dizzy after colliding with him, Dusk crouched down and helped them up. At least, until he saw that after the crash, a dozen photos of Flash, Dusk and their friends, were scattered on the ground. Then Dusk bent down to take some papers that had been scattered on the ground and read a text in which it was titled: 'Flash Sentry, a heartthrob vs Dusk Shine, the most jealous stallion in Equestria'.

"What's this!?" Dusk said in outrage when he saw the photos and text. Apparently, this was a draft of a new article for the school newspaper. Where they showed that Flash had managed to make all the mares in town fall in love, and that he had become jealous and had challenged Flash to a duel. "Wait... Are you three Gabby Gums!?" Dusk realized and glared down at the fillies. He couldn’t believe that the true identity of that dirty journalist that exaggerated stories and uncovered secrets of other ponies were actually the little sisters of his friends.

"Oops..." Was the only thing Sweetie Belle could think of to say while looking sadly at Dusk.

"Wait! Please just let us explain all of this, Dusk!" Scootaloo said quickly, who was hurt to see that Dusk was giving her a mad and disappointed look.

After that, the three fillies told Dusk Shine how it all started and how they had become Gabby Gums. Apparently, they had joined the school newspaper to try to get their journalism cutie marks. However, what wasn’t expected is that they had just changed the editor-in-chief and now the newspaper was in Diamond Tiara hooves. She had demanded juicy news from them that would really get everyone's attention. The Cutie Mark Crusaders began to publish rumors under the pseudonym Gabby Gums, and with the correct photographs, they were able to exaggerate some rumors so that everyone would be interested in reading. However, the rumors escalated, Diamond Tiara demanded more of them, and things got out of control. The Crusaders really wanted to stop publishing those rumors, but Diamond Tiara had them threatened with embarrassing photographs of them, so they were stuck in a corner.

"Seriously, that filly has problems... Where did she learn to extort others at such a young age!?" Dusk sighed, scratching his head after hearing the whole story. He thought about what he could do to help the fillies out of their jam.

The easiest thing would be to talk to Cheerilee and tell her that the star editor of her newspaper was extorting her journalists. But Dusk also thought that there was an important lesson that everyone could learn, and for that, before accusing Diamond Tiara, Dusk needed to make everyone learn that false rumors weren’t good for anyone.

"I have an idea. Tomorrow you’ll publish two editions." Dusk explained his plan. "In one, you’ll publish the false story of me challenging Flash to a duel out of jealousy. And in the other, you’ll publish a story in which you’ll explain everything and apologize to all the ponies you offended."

"Uh…? But no pony will want to read the newspaper with our apology. Everyone will prefer to read the newspaper with the gossip." Sweetie Belle said fearfully.

"I know. That’s why we’ll not only put the letter with your apologies in the second edition. We’ll also have real news. A real interview that shows that facts and true journalism can be more interesting than gossip." Dusk said with a small smile. "I'll give you an exclusive interview, giving you all the ins and outs of how me and my friends defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord."

Hearing that, the three fillies widened their excited eyes. Everyone in town knew about the story of how Dusk Shine and their sisters had defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord, but none of the six told many details about it. They only told small parts of the whole story, since the six main ponies thought that there were things that should be left only between them. But if the three fillies managed to tell the full story in the newspaper, it could definitely be that they would triumph and that the ponies would rather know that than just read rumors and gossip.

"It's a bit late, so I'll give you the interview first thing in the morning." Dusk said, looking towards the horizon and seeing that the sun had finished setting. The fillies smiled and they all gathered around him to hug him, both as a way of saying thank you for helping them and to say sorry for what they did.

With that promise between him and the Crusaders, Dusk was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that he had managed to solve a problem. However, upon reaching the library, that relief faded as he remembered that he still had another big problem to solve.

As soon as Dusk got to the library, he saw that Spike was walking in circles, growling and muttering to himself as he repeated over and over again that he wasn’t jealous, and that Flash was a meddler who wanted to take away his beautiful Rarity.

Just at that moment, someone knocked on the library door and Dusk had to turn around and open it.

"Hi Dusk! Here, these letters are for you." Derpy cheered and got out two envelopes that we’re no doubt the wedding invitations for Dusk and Spike. "Flash Sentry asked me to give you these to you while he went to deliver the other invitations to Rainbow Dash and the others. He said he didn't like chatting with stallions." Derpy added, and then blushing a little. "Flash is very handsome, don't you think?"

"Even you, Derpy?" Dusk muttered, taking the invitations from the ditzy, but lovable mailmare.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Derpy exclaimed when she realized what she said. “I didn’t mean to say that you weren’t handsome, Dusk! I-I mean, you are…in a smart sort of way. Like how smart stallions can be attractive, like you and Doctor Hooves…I mean!....” The gray Pegasus was red with embarrassment the more she spoke. “I….gotta go! Bye Dusk!”

After Derpy quickly flew away, Dusk brushed aside what she told him and was back to thinking about Flash. Then he narrowed his eyes as his mind returned to a whirlwind from all the negative thoughts that appeared against Flash Sentry.

"He came here to deliver the invitations, but now he says he’ll stay in town for a couple more days… That's suspicious! He's definitely up to something! Especially after what he whispered to me!" Dusk thought. "It's not jealousy... well, maybe it’s a little bit, but I really think he's up to something! But there's no way to find out... Just like Derpy said, that fool pretends he doesn't like talking to stallions, so he can only talk to mares and flirt with them... There's no way I can go up to him and find out what he's up to..."

In that instant, a crazy and brilliant idea occurred to Dusk, one that filled him with shame. Then he struck his face and looked up with a look full of determination.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures...." Dusk said with a dark look, finding a way to approach Flash without suspicion, and thus discover what he was up to. "Back to the lab!"

It was a new day in Ponyville, and Flash Sentry had risen as soon as the sun rose, ready to make the most of that free time he had from his guard duties. Although that was only half true, since in reality, he was in Ponyville because he had been assigned a mission. But that mission was so simple and enjoyable that it was practically a vacation! After all, who wouldn't enjoy the mission to woo five beautiful mares?

Flash strolled leisurely through town, greeting all the early rising mares who were getting up to open their businesses, and waving back flirtatiously. So Flash continued, gallantly greeting all the mares he saw on the road, and ignoring the few stallions he saw, until he suddenly stopped when he saw a mare he hadn’t seen before... A beautiful mare that had escaped his radar? Flash believed he had met most of the pretty mares in town the day before, and being such a small town, he had no trouble remembering all the attractive mares he had greeted. Hence his disbelief at seeing that young mare standing in the middle of the street, almost as if she had been waiting for him.

For a moment, Flash narrowed his eyes to take a closer look at that pretty mare who also was staring at him. There was something awfully familiar about how the mare looked aside from her pretty face and attractive body, but he couldn’t put his hoof on it. However, after taking a closer look at the color of her fur and mane, Flash slowly began to realize why this mare looked so familiar to him.

For her part, the mare that was standing in front of Flash, had a nervous look while smiling uncomfortably, hoping that Flash didn’t suspect her. After all, Flash clearly had reason to be suspicious, given that this mare wasn’t really a mare, but was Dusk Shine himself in disguise.

"He's obviously suspicious… I can't believe I thought this would be a good idea!" 'Twilight Sparkle' thought, Dusk's female alter ego, as she remembered what she had done the night before...

In the days after Dusk and his friends switched sex from the mysterious blue flower of the Everfree forest, called 'Poison Joke', he took several samples and took them to his little secret laboratory. Together with Zecora, he had discovered that the real effect of that flower wasn’t specifically a genderbending effect, but that it produced random effects according to what whoever touched it valued the most, hence its name 'poison joke'. In the case of Dusk and his friends, they had been arguing about stallions and mares, and as a consequence, by valuing their own gender, the flower had changed their gender. However, after experimenting a bit with poor Spike, Dusk had discovered that the effects were variable. Such as Spike burping bubbles instead of fire after being affected by the 'poison joke'.

The other thing that Dusk had discovered was that once the flower plays its 'joke' on a pony, it’s more likely that this effect will become a trend if that someone touches the flower again. This was how he and Zecora catalyzed a potion that could replicate the initial effects of the flower. However, it wasn’t recommended to use it, since the more the flower effect was used, the side effects tended to be more difficult to erase. Still, Dusk took a chance, and decided to use the effect of the strange flower on himself once more.

"I was studying the effects of the 'poison joke' for my thesis 'Kingdom mage'… Who would have thought that I would use it to try to fool an annoying guard?" 'Twilight' thought nervously after remembering her goal: to try to unmask Flash Sentry.

"Hello... Uh... I... Do I know you?" Flash Sentry finally said after carefully inspecting Twilight Sparkle head to tail.

"I-I don't think so, hehe..." Twilight replied, trying in vain not to sound nervous.

"You look like a stallion I know..." Flash said, walking in circles around Twilight. "Tell me... do you know a pony named Dusk Shine?"

"D-D-Dusk Shine? N-No... I don't know him." Twilight answered, sweating very nervous, while in her mind she screamed: 'He found out! He found out!'

"Well, it's weird that you don't know him. After all, you two are both very similar..." Flash said, standing in front of Twilight and narrowing his eyes. "You both have the same fur color, the same eye color, the same mane color, and even the same cutie mark!"

"O-Oh… Yeah… You mean 'THAT' Dusk Shine… hehe." Twilight responded, feeling like she was sinking and that her disguise was slowly being exposed. "W-We’re siblings! Yeah, that’s it… he’s my twin brother. T-That's why we’re so similar. A-And my cutie mark has five twinkles around while his cutie mark has…seven! Hehe..."

For several seconds, Flash didn't say anything. He kept silently staring at Twilight penetratingly as she couldn't stop sweating from how nervous she was. Thinking that Flash would expose her and make everyone in town make fun of 'her' for disguising herself as a mare. Then Flash finally opened his mouth to speak but was suddenly interrupted by a scream not far from there.

"T-Twilight Sparkle!?" Bulk Biceps shouted. The burly stallion had been walking absent-mindedly when he looked up and suddenly found the image of Twilight, the mare with whom he had fallen in love since he had seen her months ago.

After his initial scream, and turning red as he could, Bulk Biceps quickly turned around and ran from there. A scene so strange that it served for Flash and Twilight to break the tense moment they had had, leaving both ponies looking confused at Bulk Biceps as he ran away.

"I know that stallion... He was in the carriage parking at the Grand Galloping Gala." Flash Sentry said with a thoughtful look. He remembered that he had overheard Bulk Biceps and his friends chatting about a beautiful mare he was in love with. "Wait… you were that beauty that stallion talked about so much!?"

"Uh?" Twilight stuttered, not understanding what Flash was talking about. But then she quickly understood that this was her chance to upgrade her cover. "Yeah… Yes! That's me, hehe… A-Apparently there are one or two stallions after me, hehe…" Twilight added quickly, feeling a bit dizzy as she heard herself talk about other stallions having a crush on her.

"Hmm..." Flash hummed, narrowing his eyes again in a thoughtful gaze. Until finally he shrugged and sighed. "Huff… I guess I'm being more paranoid than I should. After all, it’s impossible for a stallion… Anyway, it doesn't matter." Flash went on while scratching his head. A gesture that finally made Twilight sigh in relief, realizing that her disguise was working.

"We’re here!" A childish voice suddenly screamed. "We’re ready! Will you tell us how you defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord? "

Twilight turned around when she recognized the voice and saw Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo running towards her. However, when they noticed that the one who was looking at them wasn’t Dusk Shine, but a mare identical to him that they had seen months ago; the three fillies stopped in their tracks in front of the purple mare.

"What happened? Why do you look like this?" Sweetie Belle asked, recalling with disgust the time her sister and her friends had been transformed into stallions.

At the confused gaze of the fillies, Twilight froze and glanced at Flash. The guard was then giving her another suspicious look.

"Y-You already know me, girls. I'm Twilight Sparkle, Dusk Shine's sister, remember? hehe… Uh… M-Maybe you didn't recognize me because I changed my manestyle, haha." Twilight said quickly, glaring at the three fillies to get them to play along. Then the three fillies looked at each other, and quickly understood that Dusk was trying to hide something, for some reason.

"Oooohhh... yeah... sure, Twilight..." They said in unison, widening their eyes and pretending in a very bad way that it had all been a mistake. The fillies and Twilight smiled nervously at Flash in the hopes that he was buying the charade.

"What were these fillies referring to when they asked you about how you defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord? I thought Dusk's friends had defeated them, and that Dusk Shine had something to do with it, not you." Flash Sentry said, raising an eyebrow.

In that instant, Twilight opened her eyes to realize that Flash, like most of the ponies in the kingdom, didn’t know all the details of the defeat of Nightmare Moon and Discord. After all, not even Celestia herself talked about Nightmare Moon to prevent the Canterlot ponies from talking about Nightmare Moon's nexus with Luna. And the same happened with Discord, since only his friends had gone to the award ceramony in Canterlot after Discord was petrified again. That made Twilight smile internally, since those information gaps could serve just at this precise moment to help her on her cover and that Flash would definitely stop suspecting her true identity.

"Of course, it was me, and these fillies know it! That’s why they want to interview me." Twilight said, acting more relaxed so Flash would believe her story. "Dusk always wants to take the credit, but the truth is that I was, along with Dusk's friends, who saved the kingdom with the power of friendship!"

After that, Twilight made up a quick story in which she, Spike and 'her brother' Dusk, had arrived in Ponyville and had met the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. She then basically told the whole true story, only with the inclusion of a fake twin brother. And as soon as she told the stories of Nightmare Moon and Discord, Twilight put 'her brother' aside and told how really 'she' and her friends had been the ones who defeated those two terrible beings of evil.

While Twilight told the story, the Cutie Mark Crusaders wrote everything in detail. They knew that the parts in which 'Twilight' appeared were a lie, but that all the rest was true. And if Dusk wanted to tell the story that way, who were they to deny him?

For his part, Flash also listened carefully to the entire Twilight story. At first, he didn’t quite believe the story. But as Twilight progressed in her story, Flash put his suspicions aside and was surprised to learn several details of the defeat of Nightmare Moon and Discord that he didn’t know. They were so well explained that they gave greater credibility to the identity of Twilight

"And that’s how I secretly helped defeat those monsters, but I let Dusk and his friends get the credit. After all, I don't like fame. And I prefer that my brother takes the glory. After all, he’s the student of Princess Celestia." Twilight added with a proud smile after she finished telling her story.

"Wow... that's a story!" Scootaloo said in surprise after hearing details that she would never have imagined.

"Yeah! With this story this good, ponies will definitely stop reading only gossip!" Apple Bloom said excitedly. "We’ve got everything ready, now we just have to print the story in the newspaper. Come on Crusaders! To the printing room!"

The three fillies then quickly hopped on the scooter and drove to school, knowing they only had a few minutes to add the story before the morning edition of the newspaper went to print.

"It's weird… How come no one knows that YOU are actually the heroine who saved Equestria?" Flash asked, unable to stop looking at Twilight suspiciously. "And where’s Dusk Shine right now?”

Twilight simply grinned nervously, internally wishing that the dumb stallion would just drop it.

"Ahem!" Someone behind Twilight and Flash suddenly coughed. They both turned and saw that Bulk Biceps had appeared there again, only this time, with a bouquet of roses. "T-These… These flowers are for you… T-Twilight." The stallion said nervously and sweating hard. He then gave Twilight the bouquet of roses. Who for her part, received them with a puzzled look, not knowing how to react to such an unexpected situation.

Not far from there behind a bush, Twilight could see Bulk Biceps' friends: Caramel, Lucky Clover and Thunderlane. The three were supporting their comrade from afar to see how he triumphed in his declaration of love, or on the contrary, running to support him in their own joyous way if he was rejected.

Another who managed to see the stallions hidden behind the bush was Flash Sentry. Who narrowed his eyes in annoyance when he saw those stallions. In just a second, all suspicions he'd had of Twilight disappeared, and his stallion-competing spirit flared. To Flash, these stallions knew nothing of gallantry or conquering mares. And for some fun, he might as well show them how a mare’s heart should be stolen away.

"I want to vomit... " Twilight thought, finally coming out of her perplexity. Bulk Biceps was her friend and she hated that she would now have to break the noble stallion’s heart with rejection.

What made the situation even worse was the fact that all of this was taking place in the middle of the street, where ponies who had been walking by were now standing by to watch. If Twilight rejected Bulk Biceps right there, the poor white pegasus could make a fool of himself in front of everyone. However, she couldn't let that misunderstanding continue to grow.

"Bulk Biceps, listen, I…" Twilight said slowly, trying to hide her discomfort. She had no experience in rejecting somepony asking her out.

"Easy, Twilight, I'll take care of it." Flash Sentry said suddenly, putting a hoof on Twilight's back and standing very close beside her. The guard gave his arrogant smile at Bulk Biceps and spoke out loud for all to hear. "Listen big guy, the best thing is for you to go. Obviously, this lady is so considerate that she can't find the right words to reject you without hurting you. I can see it in her eyes. Don't worry, one day you’ll find a mare that is more in line with your….standard. But you gotta stop looking so high. Pretty mares like her deserve attractive stallions.” Flash added, smiling kindly after 'his advice', casually pointing at himself as he talked about 'more attractive stallions'.

Several mares who were around watching the scene and who had fallen in love by Flash the day before couldn't help but nod at his words. It was obvious that poor Bulk Biceps really didn't stand a chance if he was competing with such an attractive stallion like Flash Sentry. For his part, the sensitive Bulk Biceps sadly lowered his head and turned red with embarrassment, knowing that what Flash was saying was true. Bulk knew that Twilight was too cute a mare, that she would probably reject him, but still, he had decided to take a risk and get closer to her.

"Thank you, they’re very pretty flowers. A beautiful romantic gesture worthy of a gentlecolt." Twilight Sparkle said suddenly, shaking off the hoof that Flash had on her back, approaching Bulk Biceps, and smiling lovingly at him. Everypony, especially Bulk and Flash, were flabbergasted at the unexpected turn of events. Then Twilight turned to look at Flash. "Sorry, I don't like cocky guys." She said to the stallion with an upturned nose. “They usually act so high and mighty to make for what they’re lacking…” down there”, if you catch my drift.”

At Twilight's words, Flash froze. No mare had ever called him cocky. In fact, no mare had ever rejected him before. Then, Flash looked around and saw how most of the mares that had been watching began to murmur among themselves, laughing a little at the purple mare’s remark.

"Are they laughing at me!?" Flash thought as he felt the sting coming from the wound to his pride. He, one of the most handsome stallions in Canterlot… had been rejected?!

In that instant, Flash looked back at Twilight and she smiled victoriously, knowing that she had given that pesky stallion what he deserved.

"That’s what happens when you act all high and mighty, you dumb pretty boy." Twilight smiled before turning to leave. After publicly humiliating Flash, all those feelings of jealousy that had led her to disguise herself to investigate more about Flash, disappeared. Finally, Dusk's jealousy calmed down as she had her little revenge. "Now... I have another problem to solve..." Twilight thought with a nervous smile. Bulk Biceps hadn’t stopped looking at her after she had accepted the flowers he had given her.

"I knew it! You’re not Twilight Sparkle. There is no Twilight Sparkle! You’re not a mare, because no mare would ever reject me!" Flash yelled furiously. With his pride so hurt, Flash recalled all the suspicions he had had since meeting Twilight that morning. It was then that his pride led him to the logical answer to try to justify what happened: Twilight rejected me, but no mare ever rejects me. Therefore, Twilight is not a mare! She’s Dusk Shine in disguise!" Then Flash approached Twilight while she froze to see that Flash's fury had led him to discover the truth.

"You thought you managed to fool me, but you didn't." Flash continued speaking, smiling victoriously as he circled a terrified Twilight. "I admit that it’s a good disguise. I guess you used a spell to alter your height and change your voice. Did you use makeup to fix your face? Did you wear a wig for your mane? Or maybe it's all just magic? I wouldn't doubt it, after all, you’re Princess Celestia's student." Flash added, stopping just as he walked behind Twilight. "However, there’s something you can’t change. Something that no magic can change, and that… is this!" Flash yelled victoriously, raising Twilight's hind leg and staring at her groin.

In that instant, it was as if time was frozen. Both Twilight and Flash froze, as neither expected what happened. Twilight's brain switched off when she saw that someone had dared to take a closer look at her groin and private parts. For his part, Flash's brain was also disconnected for a second while his victorious smile had instantly vanished when he saw that what he expected to find wasn’t there. Instead, he was left seeing something that immediately collapsed his thesis of that Twilight wasn't a mare. Flash Sentry got a nice long look at Twilight Sparkle’s mare bits.

"I-I… I don't…" Flash finally reacted, redder with embarrassment than he had ever been in his life.

"Dear Celestia! Did he just…!?"

"He's a pervert..."

Flash began to hear that the ponies around him, especially the mares, quickly began to judge him and glaring at him.

"How dare you!" Smoke poured from Bulk Biceps nostrils as he gave Flash Sentry a deathly glare.

"N-No… Wait! This is just a huge misunderstanding! I…” Flash Sentry said nervously, immediately taking a step back when he saw the furious gaze of the huge white pegasus. A gaze so blinded by anger that Flash Sentry immediately understood that he couldn't reason with him, and that if he didn't do something, he would be beaten to death by those enormous muscles. "I… I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" Flash yelled regretfully as he turned tail to run away. He was so scared that he even forgot to fly and ran as fast as his four hooves could carry him. Bulk Biceps immediately chased after him like a brave bull chasing its prey.

Oblivious to everything that was happening, Twilight still seemed stunned by what had happened. A strange feeling of discomfort, annoyance, shame, and even relief, seeing that her perfect disguise hadn’t been exposed, made Twilight still not know how to react to what happened.

"Psst! Hey, Dusk. Over Here." A familiar voice suddenly whispered, pulling Twilight out of her thoughts. She turned around and saw that not far from there in an alley was Applejack, who was gesturing for her to come over to where she was.

Twilight took advantage of all the present confusion to move without anyone seeing her and go to the alley from where she was called. Upon arrival, Twilight was glad to see that her five friends were there smiling warmly at her.

"It’s good to see you safe and sound, darling. However, you better get back to normal soon. I don't trust Bulk Biceps’ libido control much." Rarity said with a little giggle.

"I don’t know, I think he should stay that way a little longer. It would be fun to see Dusk on a date with B.B." Rainbow Dash laughed, imagining the situation.

"It's not funny..." Twilight said with an embarrassed look. "I never thought that Bulk..." In that instant, Twilight froze as she realized something extremely important. "Wait a second, how do you know I'm Dusk!?"

"Well, it's pretty obvious if you think about it. I mean, you’re identical, only you’re a mare." Pinkie Pie smiled. "Anypony could make that guess. But they don’t come to that conclusion since they think there isn’t any magic out there that can turn a stallion into mare.

"But we know that it’s not impossible." Fluttershy continued, which only served to confuse Dusk even more.

"When you erased our memories and then brought them back, the memories of things we didn't remember also came back. Like the time we turned into stallions." Applejack said, understanding that 'Twilight' still didn't understand. "We hadn't paid attention to it, but seeing you transformed into a mare jogged those memories in our noggins!”

"That... That’s amazing." Twilight said in awe. She never thought that returning the memories to her friends would effectively return ALL their memories.

"We also remembered what you told us that time to get us out of Discord's spell." Fluttershy mentioned with a cute blush. “You have…quite the way with words.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, not sure what Fluttershy was referring to. It was then that she blushed at the memory... When Dusk pulled his friends out of Discord's trance, he kissed them and gave each one a speech about what he loved about them, so that their feelings were strong enough to break Discord's spell.

"I-I thought you didn't remember…" Twilight mumbled with her own embarrassed blush.

"That is why we remain so faithfully in love with you." Rarity smiled. "We know that our feelings are reciprocal. So you don't have to be jealous of any stallion." Rarity added, laughing as she remembered how jealous Dusk had been the day before.

"I-I wasn't…" Twilight tried to argue. Until she realized that she was lying to herself again and lowered her head in resignation. "Okay, I admit it… I was jealous…"

“Dusk, you gotta stop worrying so much.” Dash said as she went to the lavender mare’s side and hugged a wing across her back. “It’ll take a lot more than some cheesy gestures from some pretty boy like Flash Sentry to make us get rid of the feelings we have for you!”

“She right, sugarcube.” Applejack said, going to Twilight’s other side and giving her a loving nuzzle. “Our bond is stronger than a triple braided lasso!” Any small remaining bits of Jealousy that existed in Twilight instantly disappeared at her marefriend’s sweet words.

"Okay, now that we fix that, let's get down to business... Pinkie Pie cheered and gave Twilight a faux look of thought. “Should we have to worry if the stallion we love doesn’t have his stallion fun bits down there? I mean, I don’t normally swing that way. But I think I’d be willing to experiment for our Duskie!”

"Ha-Ha, very funny..." Twilight said with a tired look, while her friends laughed and began to chat about going to the spa for a day of beauty with the new mare of the group...

An hour later, Twilight Sparkle had finally disappeared, and Dusk Shine was back again.

Among the things that Dusk had discovered while investigating the 'poison joke' flower, it was that taking a bath with Zecora's potion was much more effective than drinking it, since apparently, the pollen of the flower acted on the skin. Thus, instead of taking the potion that Dusk and his friends had drunk before, waiting for the effects to manifest after a night's sleep; now Dusk was able to remove the effects of the potion in a matter of minutes.

"I need to record all this data that I got from using the 'poison joke' for the second time. As I told Zecora, if I used it for a few minutes, the side effects wouldn’t show up." Dusk said to himself while he started to write a report in the main hall. Of course, it would probably be easier to talk with the zebra face-to-face about how to efficiently write the report. "I haven't seen Zecora in a long time... " Dusk thought suddenly, remembering that he had wanted to visit his second teacher for a long time, but that he had been very distracted with Discord, and then, with his new marefriend. "I’ll definitely go see her tomorrow, without fail. No more distractions!

'KNOCK-KNOCK' Someone knocking on the library door brought Dusk out of his thoughts. Then Dusk went to answer the door and smiled when he saw that it was his marefriend.

"Applejack, is something wrong? I thought you had to go back to the farm." Dusk said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well... I just remembered that I had to ask you a question." Applejack replied. The country mare was blushing fiercely and looked away shyly before looking back at him again. "Dusk... Would you like us to spend tonight together?"

At Applejack's question, Dusk opened his eyes in surprise, turning red and wondering if he had misheard. Without realizing that fate had several surprises in store for him that night and the next day. Surprises that would even affect the future of Equestria.

In Canterlot, Celestia was finishing listening to the last hearings of the day. After having a long and boring hearing on oat duty rates, Celestia was almost glad to finish the hearings. And it was an 'almost', since the Princess of the Sun knew that after the hearings, she had to read and sign a lot of documents and royal decrees that were pending and that they always accumulated that day of the month.

"Yaaawn... Good afternoon sister." Luna yawned, entering the great hall just after Celestia said goodbye the last ponies from the last audience. Luna always arrived at that time in the great hall after waking up from her nap to start her work as soon as the sun goes down. "Are you going to rest or have a snack with me before the sun goes down?"

"I’m afraid not. Remember that today we must review and sign all the pending paperwork that we have left." Celestia replied with a tired little smile. A smile that contrasted perfectly with Luna's bored look. If both sisters had something in common, it was that they both hated the paperwork that came with being a princess.

Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel appeared, carrying several trays of small snacks for their princesses to enjoy before continuing to work.

"Hmm... I guess a little snack wouldn't be bad before I go back to work." Celestia said with a thoughtful look, without taking her eyes off an appetizing strawberry shortcake that was on the tray carried by her dear and attentive personal maid.

"Auntie Celestia, sorry to interrupt you, but I think there is still something pending." Cadance said suddenly, appearing from the side of the great hall. "There is still one more pending hearing." Cadance added, glancing toward the front door of the great room.

The great doors of the great hall opened and none other than Sunset Shimmer entered and walked up to Celestia. Who for her part, only raised an eyebrow and glanced at Cadance, not knowing what her beloved niece was planning with her new student. Luna gave a much different look of shock before looking away when she thought of something that she didn’t like to remember. However, none of those reactions compared to the one that the maid twins had. Both of the mares looked to Sunset with horror and anger before they both slowly backed away to behind the princesses’ throne.

"Thank you for accepting me in such an unexpected way, Princess Celestia." Sunset said seriously. As it was now, she always reluctantly followed what Cadance asked of her, even if it made no sense for her. But in the same way, she made an effort to fulfill what her new teacher asked of her. "I… there is something important that I would like to discuss with you. A misunderstanding that happened several years ago here in the castle, and that… I would like to clarify."

Hearing Sunset talking about a misunderstanding that occurred years ago involving Princess Celestia, both Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel peeked a bit more from behind the throne. Both were silently praying that Sunset wouldn't betray them and talk about 'that' that hurt them so much.

"Once, when I was a filly, Dusk Shine invited me to play at the palace. On that occasion, an incident occurred with her crown…" Sunset began. The twins gritted their teeth and glared at Sunset.

"She won't… She wouldn't! She promised!" Sweet Creme whispered.

"Doesn't she even care about her promises!?" Sweet Caramel muttered, glaring at Sunset.

The twins adored their work, and they adored being with the princesses, reaching the level of idolizing them. For years, they had given their all to satisfy Princess Celestia, and later Princess Luna. Neither of them envisioned a life without their beloved princesses. However, in their lifetime of perfect service, there was a dark stain. A small mistake they had made as fillies that had haunted them their entire lives. At the beginning, they thought that their mistake was stealing the crown, but it was not, their biggest mistake was trusting Sunset and falling into her trap. Because of her, their grandfather Kibitz had to resign. And now, years later, Sunset wanted to do the same with them.

At that moment, Sweet Caramel looked to her sister, who barely contained her tears, knowing their future as royal maids was over. Then Sweet Caramel looked back at Sunset, and a great fury blinded her. For years she had feared the return of the cruel unicorn, and now she was ruining not only her life, but also that of her beloved sister.

"That afternoon, together with the twins Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel, we went to her room..." Sunset Shimmer continued speaking. "Then they started to play with her crown and-"

"ENOUGH!" Sweet Caramel yelled furiously and shot a beam of magic at Sunset. The mare easily deflected the blast with her own magic as if it was just an annoying spec of dust. "How much more do we have to endure your cruelty!? Because of you, our grandpa was expelled. Because of you, my sister and I have been tormented for years! We did what you asked us to do! We stay away from Dusk Shine! We never got close to him again! We ended our friendship with him even if we didn’t want to! Now leave us alone!" Sweet Caramel yelled. Blinded by anger to protect her sister, the maid barreled furiously to ram Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset's surprise quickly faded, and she put on an arrogant smile when she saw the mare charging at her. Her twisted side came to the fore, and she was amused to see a rival who wasn’t on her level challenge her.

Surprised like everyone else with what was happening, Celestia opened her mouth to stop the fight. Yet just as she was about to do so, Cadance touched her side. Feeling her touch, Celestia looked at her niece, who only looked at her seriously. Then the mare nodded and simply stood silently to watch, understanding that apparently her niece had a reason to let this continue.

"I’ll never let you intimidate me or my sister again!" Sweet Caramel proclaimed and shot magic bolts that Sunset effortlessly deflected with her magic. She was so angry that she completely forgot that the princesses were watching her attack someone.

"Well, this was amusing at first. But it's starting to bore me." Sunset said at last. The unicorn blocked the last blast from the maid and bounced it back to hit Sweet Caramel and caused her to fall to the floor. "You should be more careful with the rivals you choose." Sunset added, putting a hoof on Sweet Caramel's chest so she wouldn't get up.

Seeing that her sister beaten and on the floor, Sweet Crème banished all of her fear. Sweet Caramel had always been the bolder sister, while Sweet Creme was always more shy. But upon seeing her sister being threatened, Sweet Creme charged as well and shot a magic bolt that appeared to be much stronger than her sister’s.

Just before the bolt hit Sunset, she dodged with a jump and narrowed her eyes as she saw the other maid attacking her.

"Two against one? How quaint. But you’re still not a challenge." Sunset smiled, putting herself on guard. She missed the thrill of being in a magical duel. She had missed it dearly ever since she started her “love lessons” with Cadance.

After confirming that her sister was okay, Sweet Creme helped Sweet Caramel to her hooves. Then they both glared at Sunset, lit up their horns and ran towards Sunset to attack her. For her part, Sunset lit up her own horn, ready to give those two mares who dared to challenge her what they deserved. However, while waiting for the twins' attack, Sunset looked up at the throne and saw Cadance looking at her with a serious look. She hadn't stopped the fight or said anything to her, nor did she show any expression. It was as if she was simply waiting for something.

"They were the ones who attacked me… What do you expect from me!?" Sunset thought angrily when she saw Cadance's gaze. Despite that, on the inside, Sunset knew what Cadance expected of her. With so many lessons in empathy and kindness she'd had, it was obvious to Sunset what Cadance expected of her. However, the big question was whether those lessons could finally overcome the great pride that the mare felt.

At that moment, Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel lit up their horns to jointly attack Sunset. While Sunset had doubt in her face. Not out of fear that the twins were stronger than her, but out of doubt if she was really willing to put her pride aside. And finally, with enormous effort, the latter option triumphed in Sunset's redeemed heart.

Faced with the twins' attack, at the last moment, Sunset simply closed her eyes and waited for the blast to strike her without making any attempts to defend herself. Fortunately, a fleeting but sturdy magic barrier appeared just as the twins' powerful combined beam was about to hit her. As fleeting as that magical barrier appeared, it vanished, much to Sunset's surprise. However, what that barrier didn’t stop, was Sweet Caramel and Sweet Creme, who had run towards Sunset to attack her, and after believing that their lightning had hit her, they pounced on her and threw her back against the floor.

"Why?! Why do you hate us so much?! What have we done to you?!" Sweet Creme yelled with tears in her eyes.

"Enough." Celestia finally said and stood up.

Hearing the princess's voice, both twins looked at her, and finally woke up from their blind moment of anger. Both of them had fearful glances when they realized that they had been carried away by their emotions and had made a tremendous uproar in front of the princesses. Then the twins looked back at Sunset and slowly crawled off her. For her part, Sunset slowly got up and looked towards Celestia, noticing that a slight golden aura was fading from her horn, which made her realize that it was she who protected her with her magic barrier.

"I believe that this is all just a big misunderstanding." Celestia said, looking kindly at the maids and then Sunset Shimmer. "Isn’t it?"

"Yes, you’re absolutely right. This is just a huge misunderstanding… One that I caused." Sunset replied with a worried look. She hated having to accept that she was wrong, but that was why she had come here. Cadance had convinced her to tell the truth, thus taking the burden of guilt off the twin maids. "That time your crown was stolen, neither Kibitz nor the twins were to blame... I was the one who hid it and tricked the twins into thinking they were the culprits."

Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel widened their eyes in surprise. They thought Sunset had come to extort from them again. They never thought that Sunset would decide to take all the blame for what happened to the crown... That wasn’t the Sunset Shimmer they knew and feared for years!

"Is what Sunset Shimmer saying true?" Celestia asked, looking at the twins.

Both twins looked away, not sure how to respond. Sunset had tricked them into hiding the crown, but it was also true that they were both royal maids, and even if they had been just fillies, they shouldn't have let Sunset into the princess's room, or played with something so valuable like the royal crown.

"What Sunset says is true... But we ... are also to blame for the robbery." Sweet Caramel said, looking with deep regret at the Princess of the Sun.

"If we had told the truth, our grandpa Kibitz would still be working at the palace!" Sweet Creme cried, feeling relief and sadness at finally revealing the guilt that had eaten at her for so many years.

Celestia looked back at Sunset, who returned her gaze. Then the alicorn understood that Sunset knew the truth about Kibitz, guessing that she had surely used it for her convenience. For her part, seeing Celestia's gaze, Sunset understood that she had discovered the truth, and now she hoped that she would say it herself.

"Your grandfather didn't quit because of you. The Archmage knew that Kibitz would retire, and I… used it to deceive you two." Sunset said looking away, feeling more and more uncomfortable seeing the mistakes of her past. Memories of that moment flooded into her mind, from when she hid the crown of the twins to incriminate them, until when she deceived them and made them believe that because of them, the princess had fired their uncle.

At first, Sunset felt compelled to admit her deceptions at Cadance's request, but now, she was venting herself on her own, feeling worse and worse about herself. This is how, without realizing it, Sunset slowly began to empathize with the twins, and to feel the fear and guilt that they must have felt all those years.

For their part, the twins were shocked when they realized that the guilt they had felt for years had been unjustified and that it had just been another one of Sunset Shimmer's deceptions.

"I... I..." Sunset finally stuttered, feeling a strange pressure on her chest. A feeling she hadn't felt very often: guilt and regret. "I-I'm really sorry..." Sunset added, looking at the twins as she had never seen them before, with a sad and regretful look after experiencing that emotional release.

The twins initially stared at Sunset with deep resentment. However, after seeing her that way, with a look that showed that she had lost all her strength, arrogance and pride, which characterized her so much; it made the twins confused, again not knowing how to react to that unheard of and surprising new attitude from Sunset.

"That Kibitz... All of this could have been fixed years ago if he weren't so proud." Celestia said with a tired look. The old butler must have been so tough and strict not to tell his granddaughters that he would retire, so that they would learn the lesson of not stealing. "And all of this was because you believed you had stolen this silly crown." Celestia added, taking off her crown and looking at it for what it was, a mere piece of metal.

"P-Princess, you... Aren't you upset with us?" Sweet Creme asked fearfully. Thinking that despite everything, her princess had various reasons to be angry with them.

"I guess I’m a little upset." Celestia said, looking seriously at the twins. Who trembled at that look. However, instantly, Celestia changed her gaze and looked at them tenderly with a sweet smile. "It bothers me that I didn't see those pretty fillies playing with my crown."

Celestia levitated her crown and placed it on Sweet Creme's head, leaving the blue-mane mare gaping. Meanwhile Luna, who had been listening carefully to everything, realized what her older sister wanted to do. The lunar alicorn did the same with her crown and levitated it on the other twin, who made the same shocked face as her sister.

"I guess once or twice a month we can leave Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel in charge, to be princesses for a couple of hours. That is, if they want to play with our crowns so much" Celestia lightly giggled as she made her way out of the room.

"Yes, I guess that's okay. After all, the crowns look lovely on their heads." Luna added with a smile, walking behind her sister. They both left the great hall, while the twin maids were still in shock by the tender and surprising gesture of kindness from their princesses.

"We... we don’t deserve to serve such noble ponies as they..." Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel thought at the same time in complete ecstasy. The pair looked at each other and saw how magnificent they looked with the crowns.

"Ahem! Yeah… I think there is another reason why my aunts decided to leave you as 'surrogate princesses' for a couple of hours…" Cadance said suddenly, breaking the twins' illusion.

The pair turned around and saw that Raven Inkwell had entered through the other door of the great hall, carrying a huge pile of documents that had to be read and stamped. Only then, Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel's faces were shocked again, realizing that they had been fooled for the umpteenth time. The princesses hadn’t not only left them as surrogate princesses only as a gesture of kindness, but also to escape their tedious tasks, since that day they had many pending documents to review.

The twin maids lowered their heads in disappointment, realizing that sometimes their princesses could be as tricky as any other pony. At the other end of the hall, Cadance and Sunset Shimmer were leaving as well.

"Sunset, I'm really proud of how you acted." Cadance said to her student after they left the great hall. "Tell me... how do you feel now?"

"I'm not sure." Sunset replied with a confused look as she kept walking. "That empathy thing sucks. Thinking about how the twins had felt after I cheated on them made me feel distressed, and bad about myself." Sunset added, stopping and turning to look at Cadance. "It felt bad at first, but now... I feel a little better about myself.” The unicorn felt as though she shed a weight, admitting her guilt after so many years.

Seeing how Sunset's expressions had softened as the days passed and she learned more about love, Cadance couldn't help but beam at her student's serene smile. Then both mares were distracted when they saw that Shining Armor, Cadance's fiancé, approached them with a young palace guard, who Sunset managed to remember was named Flash Sentry. Figuring that Shining Armor must be there to speak privately with his future wife, Sunset said goodbye to Cadance and left.

"I hope I didn’t interrupt you, your majesty. But I just got back from my mission to Ponyville, and I wanted to give you my report immediately." Flash Sentry saluted Cadance militarily as he held up a small batch of sheets for his report.

"I didn't expect you to come back so soon… Were you really able to accomplish… your mission, in just two days?" Cadance asked, without giving details of Flash's 'secret mission', as it was something Shining Armor was still unaware of.

"I'm sorry Princess. That’s precisely what I have come to talk to you about. I renounce my mission." Flash said seriously, leaving Cadance and Shining surprised, as it wasn’t normal for a palace guard to give up a mission that a princess had given him. "I must resign because my soul has finally found its other half, and I’ll swear that from now on my heart will only be for the one I love. An unconditional love for which I’ll fight, even from a distance."

"What are you talking about?" Shining Armor asked.

"Wait... did you fall in love!?" Cadance asked in surprise, understanding what the guard was referring to with his bombastic speech.

"Exactly! I finally fell for a mare that stole my heart. A mare that I knew VERY intimately." Flash said, slightly blushed as he remembered his mistake in Ponyville when he lifted Twilight Sparkle's leg. An image that had been burned into his mind. "Twilight Sparkle, the only mare who was able to reject me and resist my charms. I swear by Celestia's sun that my heart will be hers." Flash exclaimed like a poet.

"Twilight Sparkle?" Cadance asked, surprised that an unknown mare from Ponyville was able to woo the kingdom's most gallant palace guard in just one day.

"That's right… And I must say, Captain. How did I never find out that you had such an impetuous and beautiful sister?" Flash said, giving the report to Shining Armor as well as a newspaper, in which a mare was photographed.

Both Shining Armor and Cadance leaned in to get a better look at the newspaper, where it was titled: 'Twilight Sparkle, the heroine who saved Equestria.' As they did so, they both saw in detail the photo of the mare that had stolen Flash's heart. A mare with lavender fur, blue mane with pink and purple streaks, purple eyes, and a cutie mark that they would both recognize anywhere. The pair almost exploded with laughter, barely able to suppress it at the last moment when they recognized that 'mare', because it was obvious who she was. However, how was it that Dusk Shine had achieved that!?

"Captain, I… I don't want to be indiscreet. But with your permission, I wish you would one day tell me more about your younger sister." Flash said, gawked with love, at Shining Armor.

"Uh… Ahem! Y-Yeah… I think it's something I could do…" Shining Armor said, trying to sound as serious as possible, even though inwardly he was dying of laughter. “M-Maybe after you’ve had a few drinks with me.”

Satisfied with that answer, Flash Sentry saluted his captain and the princess and withdrew with a bright smile. The stallion swore to himself that he would improve as a stallion, so that one day he could conquer the elusive and daring Twilight Sparkle.

After Flash Sentry was far enough away, Cadance and Shining looked at each other and both burst into laughter.

"I’ll definitely have to ask Dusk how he managed to fool Flash." Cadance said, after wiping away a few tears of laughter. "Dusk is lucky that this newspaper didn’t reach Auntie Celestia. He would surely die of embarrassment if he knew that a photo of him 'in this state' almost began to circulate all over Canterlot."

"Yeah... I suppose he would die of embarrassment..." Shining Armor whispered with a thoughtful look. He then glanced once again at the photograph in the newspaper of his brother's female alter ego...

Night had fallen on all of Canterlot. And while most of the ponies slept in the castle, a hooded figure evaded the few guards in the castle corridors and secretly encountered another pony, waiting patiently in the outer courtyards of the castle.

"You're late... It better be something good that you made me come so late at night." Said the pony that had been waiting hidden outside the castle. It was none other than Nosey News, the obtrusive reporter of the newspaper 'The Canterlot Sun'. The reporter who had been about to expose the scoop on the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, but she was later ridiculed after the princess herself admitted to everyone her engagement and made all her research useless.

"Sorry. It wasn’t easy to sneak around the castle without the guards seeing me." The hooded figure whispered. They took off their hood and revealed that they were Raven Inkwell, Princess Celestia's faithful aide. "Tell me, is it true that you’re interested in Captain Shining Armor's family? Especially his younger brother."

"Yes, in the past I wanted to investigate this Dusk Shine, since it seems that he’s linked in some way with the fall of Nightmare Moon and the appearance of Princess Luna." The reporter replied. Her boss had insisted that she not continue investigating that scoop, but she was determined to see it through.

"Well, if that's the case, maybe this interests you." Raven Inkwell said, giving the reporter a small newspaper from Ponyville.

As soon as Nosey News picked up the paper, saw the photo, and read the headline, she smiled excitedly. She had finally discovered the piece of the puzzle that she had sought so much, to the long-awaited news that would finally make her a star reporter.

End of chapter 12

Chapter 13 - Myth and Reality

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Myth and Reality

A new day in Canterlot had just dawned, and Luna was on her way to the dining room after having lowered the moon and finished her work as guardian of the night and dreams. When she arrived at her destination, the Princess of the Night was surprised to see that neither her sister nor her supposed niece were there.

"Where are the others?" Luna asked her faithful maid Sweet Caramel. The mare hurried to serve her a cup of coffee, as was customary every morning.

"Princess Cadenza is busy with preparations for the wedding." The maid replied, giving the princess a tray with fruit. "And Princess Celestia, along with Raven, attended Teacher Inkwell's funeral."

The word “funeral” shocked the alicorn a bit. She vaguely remembered her sister asking her assistant, Raven Inkwell, about her grandmother's health a couple of days ago. However, she hadn't imagined that the situation was so grave that her life would be gone in just a few days.

"I see. How most unfortunate." Luna said solemnly. She didn’t move for a second out of respect, and then continuing with her breakfast in absolute silence.

As she ate, Luna remembered that her sister wasn’t the only ruling princess anymore. She was a princess too. And just as her sister had done, it would only be right for her to also pay her respects to the ever-faithful Raven for her unfortunate family loss.

With that last thought, Luna hurriedly finished her breakfast, quickly stood up, and headed out of the palace, towards the Canterlot Cemetery. It was somewhat far from the city center, but Luna was able to arrive there quickly thanks to her large alicorn wings.

Once there, Luna lamented seeing that apparently she had arrived a little late, just when the funeral seemed to be coming to an end. All the relatives and acquaintances of the deceased mare began to leave, including her granddaughter, Raven Inkwell. Luna approached her and slightly bowed her head as a sign of respect.

"Don't worry Princess, it was something we had been waiting for a few days. Her condition wasn’t improving, and…well, we're glad she's in a better place now." Raven said with a small smile. She was obviously that her grandmother was no longer with her, but also relieved that she was no longer suffering and that her mother and the rest of her family could rest from caring for her poor grandmother.

"Forgive me for asking, Raven. But did my sister already leave?" Luna asked, looking at all the ponies that were leaving the graveyard, and seeing that her sister wasn’t among them.

"Princess Celestia said she would stay for a few more minutes." Raven answered, pointing behind her. "She instructed me to go to the palace and adjust her schedule to compensate for these minutes of delay. So, if you'll excuse me, Princess." Raven added, remembering that she had a lot of work to do and hurried back to the castle and her duties.

After Raven left, Luna continued to advance through the cemetery, seeing from time to time a statue on a grave of a wealthy or famous pony. Finally, she saw her sister, who stood with a sad gaze looking at the grave of the recently deceased Teacher Inkwell.

"Sister, why are you still here? I think it's a bit of a gloomy place for the Princess of the Sun to be alone." Luna said with a small smile. The white alicorn still appeared to be lost in thought.

"I know… It's a place I always try to avoid. It makes me too melancholic." Celestia replied with a sad smile, not taking her eyes off the grave in front of her. "She was such a cheerful and enthusiastic filly…" Celestia added, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Hm? I thought this was Raven's grandmother's grave." Luna said, getting closer to check the name of the tombstone.

"That's right. Inkwell was a stubborn and somewhat peculiar old mare, but the image I remember most of her at this moment was when her father first took her to the castle when she was just a filly." Celestia said with a small smile and a twinkle in her eyes. "Did you know that some years ago some shadow creatures attacked the kingdom? They took us all by surprise. Everyone trusted me to protect them, but my magic wasn't enough to defend the entire city alone... It was there that a young Inkwell was the first to jump in to help me. She was a very talented unicorn in magic… I remember that it took me a lot to convince her to teach at the School of Magic. And she continued teaching for many years until just a few years ago... I trusted her judgment so much, that she was one of the judges I called to see Dusk Shine's test and see that he was worthy of being my student..." Celestia said trying keep her poker face, despite the fact that at times her voice cracked.

"Sister…" Luna said weakly, noticing that Celestia wasn't quite right.

"Over there is Honey Rusk, a shy little colt who grew up to be a fabulous baker…Over there is Red Blossom, a pretty filly with gorgeous braids, who grew up to be a mother and grandmother to many grandchildren…" Celestia continued speaking, raising her sorrowful voice, pointing to other nearby graves as she struggled to hide her sorrow. "All and every one… I've seen them be born, I've seen them grow, and… I've seen them die…" Celestia added, lowering her head and closing her eyes.

At that moment, Luna opened her eyes wide and looked away with pain, realizing something she hadn't thought about in all that time since she had returned from her exile. All the time that she spent as Nightmare Moon was like a long nightmare. A continuous fight against her dark counterpart for more than a thousand years, a mental fight that blurred her memories and the notion of time, making those thousand years locked up now only seem like something nebulous and far. The only thing that remained inside her heart were feelings, like fear, guilt, but mainly, loneliness. A loneliness that Luna thought that no one but her could suffer. However, now she realized that her sister had also suffered from that loneliness for a thousand years, only in a different way. Unlike her, Celestia was surrounded by ponies for a thousand years, but in all that time, no one could ever fully accompany her. For a thousand years Celestia had met and said goodbye to thousands of ponies, watching their lives fade away as she lived her immortal life, just like her, in complete loneliness.

Luna couldn't help but feel bad and blame herself again for the collateral damage that she hadn't realized until that moment.

"It's all my fault..." Luna whispered angrily, feeling a small shadow trying to break into her heart.

"No. It’s not your fault." Celestia said immediately, turning around and caressing her sister's face. "Stop tormenting yourself about your past. You made a mistake, we all do, including me. In fact… Especially me." Celestia added, putting on an anguished look as she remembered her own past. Seeing that look on Celestia, Luna couldn't help but put aside her own torment by worrying about her sister.

Since she had returned from the shadows, Luna had heard that same phrase from Celestia several times. She always averted her eyes with pain and sadness when she said it, as if there was something secretly tormenting her. For months, Luna thought about asking Celestia what exactly she meant. After all, Luna knew much of her sister's past, and although there were some reprehensible things, she didn't believe that Celestia had done something so bad that she would make such a gesture. However, there was a thousand-year void that Luna didn’t know about her sister, a void that day by day began to worry her more and more... What had happened to the Crystal Empire and Princess Amore? What had happened to their allies from other nations? Why did Equestria seem to be so cut off from the world? How was it that Cadance had become an alicorn? All those were questions that haunted Luna's head, but Celestia always looked for an excuse not to answer.

"Sister… Is there something you want to talk to me about?" Luna finally said, worried when she saw the fleeting look of pain that her sister had put on when remembering her past.

Faced with that surprising question, Celestia stared at her sister, seeing her look of sincere concern, eager to want to help her. However, Celestia well knew that there were things that were better secret, problems that were hers and hers alone.

"You have already suffered enough, sister. Only I must suffer with the weight of my own mistakes…" Celestia thought, putting on a sad smile.

"Don't worry, I'm fine now... I told you, cemeteries make me too melancholic, hehe." Celestia said, putting on her usual smile again. "Come Luna, we must return to the castle. The day is just beginning and there is still much to do." She added, spreading her wings, ready to take off and fly back to the castle.

"Why are you doing this…? Do you want to protect me from something? Or do you just not trust me?" Luna thought in anguish. Then she opened her mouth to urge Celestia not to evade the subject again. However, just at that instant, a surprising magical flash appeared in front of Celestia, and a scroll magically appeared in front of her.

"A letter from Spike? Isn't it a little early for Dusk to send a report?" Celestia said, raising an eyebrow. She opened the scroll and started to read it.

Luna frowned as Celestia again seemed to find an excuse to avoid their conversation. However, Luna put aside her doubts and also went over to read the scroll when she saw her sister with a worried expression.

"This a problem?" Luna asked after finishing reading the letter.

"Most likely..." Celestia said with a worried look. "I think I should go to Ponyville right away."

"I'm going too." Luna said immediately, looking seriously at her sister. When the white alicorn began to object to the idea, Luna stood her ground and stared at Celestia. "I’m. Going. Too." Luna repeated loudly, making her sister understand that the decision had already been made.

Knowing she couldn't change her sister's mind, Celestia sighed in resignation and agreed to let her sister come with her. Then both alicorns took flight to Ponyville.

Several hours earlier, at Sweet Apple Acres…

'Would you like us to spend tonight together?'

That was the question that Applejack had asked Dusk that afternoon. Something that made the lavender stallion blush deeply while his crazy imagination began to fantasize against his will with all the possibilities that simple but transcendental question implied. However, when the country mare brought her coltfriend over to the farm, Dusk Shine realized that things would be very different from what he expected throughout that afternoon.

"This... This isn’t how I imagined it..." Dusk Shine thought with underlying disappointment, lying on the floor of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo jumped above his head while playing. Granny Smith and one of her cousins were laughing uproariously as they reminisced about old stories. And finally, Big Mac was glaring at him from a corner of the house.

"Girls, quit jumping over Dusk. Save your energy to catch the 'Great Seedling'." Applejack said, walking into the clubhouse. She was a tiny bit concerned about how excited the fillies were still, even though it was already late at night.

"Sis! Tell us the story of the Great Seedling again!" Apple Bloom said excitedly, approaching her sister with expectant eyes that her friends also mimicked.

"Sure!" Applejack replied happy to see her innocent little sister so excited. "Hm? What's up Dusk? You look somewhat depressed." Applejack asked before telling the story, looking at Dusk out of the corner of her eye and noticing the disappointed face that her coltfriend had for some reason.

Seeing that Applejack didn't realize why he was disappointed, Dusk simply sighed tiredly, resigning himself to the fact that he would spend a night very different from the one his crazy imagination had suggested. He remembered what happened that afternoon as Applejack began to tell the fillies again the story of the 'Great Seedling'

That afternoon, following Applejack's instructions, Dusk had gone a little before sunset to Sweet Apple Acres. Repeating over and over to himself that nothing 'too daring' would happen between him and his marefriend. That is, Applejack had asked him to spend the night together, but maybe she just wanted to sleep next to him. But… What if she wanted SOMETHING ELSE!? That was the question that Dusk couldn't get out of his head until he arrived at his marefriend's house.

Once there, Dusk was surprised to see that Applejack was together with her grandmother and her great-aunt Golden Delicious, who had come there to celebrate the hunt for the 'Great Seedling'. It was thus that Applejack explained to Dusk that every hundred moons her family celebrated 'The Confluence: a date in which each apple ripened at the same time and had to be harvested in a few days. However, the highlight of the confluence was the appearance of the Great Seedling, a supposed mystical being that guaranteed perfect harvests to those who caught it. A hunt that had been faithfully followed by the colts and fillies of the Apple family for years until they grew up and realized that the Great Seedling was just a story to entertain the youngers ponies.

"So, the Great Seedling isn't real?" Dusk asked, a little disappointed after Applejack had told him the story, since he really would have loved to find out more about that supposed magical deer that helped with the crops.

"Of course it's real!" Applejack's great aunt, Golden Delicious, hollered out at the pair.

"Of course it's not real." Applejack said with a tired look, ignoring her aunt. "But still, I want Apple Bloom to have just as much fun as I did when I was a filly trying to catch him."

After that, the entire Apple family, plus Dusk and the Crusaders, took advantage of the last rays of daylight to surround the entire Apple family field with numerous traps. All of which to try to catch the elusive Great Seedling.

With the traps ready, they all went to the Crusaders' clubhouse on the edge of the family's apple orchards and waited patiently, each with their own reason. The Cutie Mark Crusaders waited excitedly for some trap to activate and run after the Great Seedling. Applejack, Dusk Shine and Big Mac were waiting for the fillies to fall asleep so they could secretly activate the traps, so that the next day the fillies would be surprised. The two elderly mares simply enjoyed their chat of the days of old.

Back in the present, after Applejack finished telling the story of the Great Seedling to the fillies again, she approached Dusk and sat next to him.

"Sorry if this isn't what you expected." Applejack said with a sad smile.

"I-It's not that. I've really had fun setting traps and hanging out with Apple Bloom and the others. It's just that..." Dusk replied, looking at his marefriend and feeling guilty. "It's no big deal! It's just that sometimes my imagination plays tricks on me, hehe." He blushed as he remembered the crazy fantasies he had had when thinking about what would happen tonight.

"Well, the night’s still young. And… I really like that you wanted to be here with me tonight." Applejack said, scooching over so that her body was touching Dusk's, smiling lovingly at her coltfriend. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here with you."

"Same here." Dusk answered, with a bashful but still loving look. Slowly, he brought his head closer to Applejack's, as he felt her heart fill with love for her.

"AHEM!" Big Mac coughed loudly, standing in front of Applejack and Dusk, startling both ponies to instantly separate. "Sister… Granny’s calling you." Big Mac said, with a very serious look.

Applejack stood up quickly with an embarrassed blush. Meanwhile, Dusk looked askance at Big Mac, who looked at him with a murderous glare.

"I guess he doesn't like that I’m getting so close to Applejack when he's present...But is it just that? I'm sure Big Mac has been looking at me with hatred for several days..." Dusk thought, not knowing the reason why Big Mac looked at him with such distrust that night.

The night wore on and finally the fillies' excess energy came to an end and they almost instantly fell asleep. And just like the fillies, the poor grandmothers couldn't stand to stay up so late either and fell asleep too. Thus, finally leaving the three young adult ponies so that they could continue with their mission of the night.

Silently leaving the clubhouse, Dusk Shine, Applejack and Big Mac headed towards the north field of Sweet Apple Acres to start activating the traps that they themselves had set, and thus simulate the passage of the magical Great Seedling.

Dusk Shine and Applejack began to walk together, but seeing that they were too close to each other, Big Mac quickly got in the way and walked right between them. That annoyed the young couple a bit, however neither said anything and just kept walking. It was obvious that the big red stallion was just being too overprotective of Applejack.

"I thought tonight might be fun if I was with Applejack anyway, but it seems Big Mac is determined that I stay away from her." Dusk thought sadly, noticing the tension in the air now that Big Mac was walking by his side.

"Maybe we should split up, that way we’ll activate the traps faster and move on to the other fields." Dusk said with a nervous smile. In truth, he wanted to get away from Big Mac for a bit, since it made him nervous that the big red stallion would look at him so suspiciously.

Deciding that this was the most efficient method, Applejack and Big Mac agreed and the three ponies split up. Dusk recollected where they had placed all the traps to deactivate them without falling into them himself. However, for a second, Dusk believed that his memory failed and that he fell into a trap when suddenly his leg got caught in something and made him fall.

"Ouch…! What's this?" Dusk said while rubbing his leg after falling. He looked back to see what had tripped him.

Meanwhile, in another sector of the north field, Applejack carefully untied a knot that activated one of the many traps that had been scattered around the orchard. As she did so, Applejack turned around startled when she heard a sound behind her. Her eyes widened with the childish illusion that that noise had really been the mythical Great Seedling. However, the one who made that noise hadn’t been some invisible magical beast but only her own big brother.

"Big Mac, you scared me… What are you doing here? I thought you went to set off the traps on the other side." Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow. Meanwhile, Big Mac just stayed silent, looking at her for a long time and then looked to the side with a huff.

"You... Do you know that Dusk is forming a harem of mares?" Big Mac asked, looking seriously at his sister.

"Uh… What?" Applejack asked incredulously, with a small, confused smile thinking that she had heard wrong.

"A harem. I heard Apple Bloom and her friends talking about Dusk having a harem." Big Mac repeated, narrowing his eyes.

"Pfft! Then you heard wrong. Dusk doesn’t have a harem or anything like that. He’s not like some prince of Saddle Arabia." Applejack scoffed, smiling at that absurd idea.

"So it's not true that you and your friends have a crush on him?" Big Mac retorted.

"Uh... Well... Actually... That's true." The mare reluctantly confirmed while averting her blushing gaze.

"And you accept that? That your friends look at your coltfriend with different eyes? And what about Dusk? Does he have feelings for them?" Big Mac continued questioning as he got closer to the mare.

"That… That’s none of your business! We’ve a deal." Applejack said, looking nervously at Big Mac.

"A deal?" Big Mac asked to the mare’s great discomfort.

"Dusk... He’ll be my coltfriend for a month. Then… he’ll be the coltfriend of one of the other girls.” Applejack stared at the ground.

"You… How could you agree to do something like that!? Do you think that's true love? Pretending to be a couple in love?" Big Mac said angrily.

"We’re not pretending! We really are a couple in love!" Applejack defended.

"He doesn't love you more than his other friends. That's not love. He doesn’t love you.” The older stallion berated his little sister. “You need to break off whatever sham this is and stay away from him.”

"He does love me! You don’t know anything!" Applejack yelled, glaring at her brother.

"I just want to protect you. I don't want anyone to play with you." Big Mac said seriously. "What do you think our parents would say about your relationship? Do you think they would agree to 'that deal' you and your friends made?"

Hearing her brother mention their parents, Applejack widened her eyes and looked away, remaining silent for several seconds. Then she pressed her lips together, closed her eyes and sighed sadly, raising her head again to look at her brother.

"I know that Dusk and I aren’t like Ma and Pa. They fell in love from the day they met, and they didn't stop loving each other until the day they died... But that doesn't mean I don't know what love is." Applejack said, looking at her brother with a sad smile. "I want to be with Dusk and that together we find our own way of loving, our own way! I know it’ll be difficult with a lot of stuff against us, but I really think... No, I really KNOW that Dusk loves me. And I love him too."

After Applejack's response, both siblings stared at each other, until a noise behind them distracted them. Turning around, they saw that Dusk Shine was approaching. When he saw that they were together in an awkward silence, Dusk stopped and decided not to approach until one of them told him.

With Dusk's arrival, Big Mac frowned, turned his back on his sister and began to walk away, just in the direction of where Dusk Shine was. Just as he walked past Dusk, the young unicorn decided to break the tense silence.

"Big Mac... I know that for some reason you don't want me near Applejack..." Dusk said with a worried look, whispering so that Applejack couldn't hear him. "So if you want me to go, just tell me. I… I don't want to leave Applejack, but the last thing I want is for you and Applejack to get mad over me. After all, family always comes first."

Big Mac stopped when he heard those words. The phrase 'Family always comes first' was something that his father had always taught him, a philosophy that everyone in the great and tight-knit Apple family shared. And the fact that Dusk Shine said those words to him, was something that affected the red stallion in several ways. Then Big Mac turned around again and looked Dusk face to face.

"You’re a good colt, Dusk. But no matter who it is, if anyone, including you, ever hurts my sister, or plays with her heart, I swear I won't forgive it." Big Mac said, looking menacingly at Dusk.

Before Big Mac's gaze, Dusk opened his eyes in surprise. But unlike other times, when he would have fearfully averted his gaze in the face of such a threat, Dusk stood firm. And to Big Mac's surprise, far from being intimidated, Dusk put on the same serious look as him.

"I swear on my life that I would rather die than hurt her." He said with absolute determination in his eyes.

For several seconds, Big Mac stared at Dusk to try and find any sign of falsehood or hesitation in his gaze. Eventually, it was he himself who finally looked away.

'CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: MAGICAL BEAST HUNTERS!' Suddenly the three ponies averted their gazes upon hearing a loud scream not far away. It had been the three young fillies who had apparently woken up and were preparing to go out in search of the Great Seedling.

"I'll go with Apple Bloom and her friends before they come here. I’ll distract them while you go to the south field." Big Mac said quickly, looking at Applejack and Dusk. "After that I'll take Granny and Aunt Golden back to the house. So it’ll all to you two."

Big Mac quickly walked away to go back to the clubhouse. As he did so, the red stallion's agitated mind continued to debate whether or not it had been a good idea to leave his sister alone with Dusk.

"I still can't trust Dusk one hundred percent, but for now... I'll trust that Applejack knows what she's doing." He thought as he walked away. Wishing he could talk to his father about what was the right thing to do as an older brother.

After Big Mac left, Dusk looked at Applejack and approached her. However, before Dusk could say anything, Applejack turned and started walking.

"Let's go to the south field before Apple Bloom and her friends get here." Applejack said as she rushed in that direction.

For several minutes, neither Dusk nor Applejack said anything. The two simply walked quickly to get to the south course early before the fillies saw them.

"I… I'm sorry if I interrupted you two. It seemed like you were talking about something serious." Dusk said, breaking the silence with a sad look as he followed Applejack. "I guess you were talking about me. I… I'm really sorry Big Mac doesn’t fully trust me. The last thing I want is for you two to fight over me."

"Well, he left us alone, so that's already a first step." Applejack said, calming down after getting angry with her brother, and then giving Dusk a small smile so that he wouldn't blame himself for what happened. "Besides, I'm the one who decides who to be with, not my brother." Applejack added smiling, staring at Dusk. Then Applejack noticed that Dusk was carrying something on his back. "What's that?" She asked, unable to see what Dusk was carrying due to the darkness.

"Oh, yeah! I wanted to ask you if this a normal field weed?" Dusk asked with a slightly worried look. He showed his marefriend a big black weed root with lots of thorns. "I stumbled upon this root a while ago and…well…it looks kind of weird."

With a best friend who was an expert in crops and country life, Dusk had already seen Applejack pull up weeds many times. However, this root seemed very peculiar to him, not only because of its penetrating black color and its sharp thorns, but also because when he touched that undergrowth, it made Dusk shiver a little. As if the black root emanated a faint and strange magical aura. Despite that, Dusk didn't want to scare Applejack and tell her that, at least until he knew what that thing was.

"Hmm… yeah, it's some kind of weird weed. It started showing up a few days ago in the fields." Applejack said, looking at the dark root that Dusk was holding. "It’s difficult to cut, but the worst thing is that it reappears super fast. It's a real hassle."

Understanding that Applejack didn't know exactly what that dark root was either, Dusk kept a thoughtful look as he walked and levitated the root in front of him. Suddenly Dusk came out of his thoughts and stopped walking when he noticed that Applejack had stopped. Dusk was surprised to see that Applejack was staring straight ahead, as if she had seen a ghost.

"Dusk... We didn’t already cover the south field... Right?" Applejack asked, with a puzzled look.

"Uh, no, we only managed to go to the north field. Why do you ask?" Dusk replied confused, approaching Applejack and looking where she was looking.

At that moment, Dusk raised his eyebrows in shock to see that, now that they had reached the south field, it seemed that someone had gone ahead of them in setting off the traps. None of them had caught anything, but all had been sprung as if something had passed by. However, the most surprising thing was that there were several apples lying on the ground, all forming strange circular patterns, as if someone had left several marks on the ground after escaping from the traps.

"Uh…maybe it's the real Great Seedling, hehe." Dusk said with a small smile, joking while his logical mind searched for some rational answer for that phenomenon.

"The Great Seedling… Yeah… Yeah! It really could be the Great Seedling!!" Applejack suddenly yelled, her eyes full of emotion to Dusk's total astonishment.

"Wait, I was just kidding… Do you really think the Great Seedling did this?" Dusk asked incredulously, thinking for a second that Applejack could be playing a joke on him. However, Applejack's honest and excited eyes dispelled any doubt that she was trying to trick him.

"I know it's crazy, but... what other explanation can there be!?" Applejack said, a little embarrassed to realize that she had gotten too excited. "When I was a filly, I always wanted to catch the Great Seedling. But of all those times, I never saw signs as clear as these!" Applejack added, pointing to the apple circles and the traps that neither they, Big Mac nor the elderly mares could have activated.

"There must be a logical explanation." Dusk said, trying to make Applejack realize that believing in a magical deer that brought eternal harvests was completely crazy.

"I stopped believing in the Great Seedling because I never saw any proof. And this year, I didn't want Apple Bloom to have that same disappointment. But these signs prove that the Great Seedling does exist! This time we’ll catch him!!" The country mare declared. She was so caught up in her own fantasies, she didn't even listen to her coltfriend trying to talk some sense into her. "The only weird thing is this." Applejack added, picking up a small pumpkin squash that was in the center of the circle of apples. "Where did this pumpkin come from? We don't grow them."

Suddenly, Applejack and Dusk's ears perked up in alert when they heard a sharp shriek. Then they both looked up and to their right. In the distance, just where that sound came from, they both saw a swift shadow moved through the trees, moving away from where they were.

"There he is! It’s the Great Seedling!" Applejack yelled excitedly, running quickly to chase the shadow. Dusk also ran to chase Applejack, amazed to see that shadow move so fast. Which led him to question whether the mythical Great Seedling really could exist.

As Applejack and Dusk Shine ran, they both suddenly heard a trap activate and 'something' falling to the ground. Then both ponies quickened their pace to catch the magical beast before it got away.

When they got to where they heard the noise, Applejack and Dusk saw that the trap that had been activated was a pitfall covered with a false floor to make its prey fall. However, when checking the trap, Dusk and Applejack were surprised to see that there was no magical deer trapped in the big hole, but Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash, who were complaining and rubbing their sore heads after having fallen surprisingly in the hole.

"What are you doing here?" Applejack asked, with a mix of annoyance and disappointment that she hadn't caught what she wanted.

"Uh... well...funny story, hehe..." Rainbow Dash answered from the bottom of the hole, giggling as she scratched her head. "During the afternoon, we found out that you two were planning to spend the night together, so… we decided to follow you."

"Not that we were spying on you, but we saw how you started setting traps all over Sweet Apple Acres, and we didn't understand why." Fluttershy continued with an embarrassed look. "Then we saw that you went to the fillies' clubhouse, and we heard from below the story you told about the Great Seedling."

"We all thought it was a lovely story, so we wanted to help keep the fantasy going for Sweetie Belle and her friends by triggering some of the traps." Rarity continued speaking with an embarrassed smile. "By the way, did you see the cute apple circle patterns I left? I think it’ll add a touch of mystery to the search for the Great Seedling when Sweetie and the others see them."

"So ... you made those patterns with the apples...?" Applejack said, deeply disappointed.

"Everything was fine until Fluttershy squealed in fear when she saw that you were close." Rainbow Dash added, scolding her pegasus friend with a look. "Then she ran and I went out chasing her. Until we collided with Rarity and fell here."

"You see, everything had an explanation." Dusk said with a proud smile, affectionately touching Applejack's side.

"I guess you're right..." Applejack said, pursing her lip. She couldn’t believe that she had gotten carried away, just like she had when she was searching for the Great Seedling when she was a filly. "The only thing I don't understand is why the squashes?" She picked up another squash that was right next to the hole where her friends had fallen.

"RUN!!” Suddenly a high-pitched voice shouted from behind Applejack and Dusk.

Turning around, Dusk and Applejack barely had time to see that the one who had screamed had been Apple Bloom, who, along with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, were running in terror to where they were. They were so scared that they ended up colliding with Dusk and Applejack, causing the five of them to also fall into the hole with Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy.

"Ouch! What happen? Why were you three running in terror?" Dusk asked the fillies, after seeing that they had also fallen into the hole.

Without giving him an answer, the three fillies simply pointed towards the top of the hole. Then Dusk and his friends looked up and saw that a strange shadow looming over the hole. The light of the moon slowly revealed more of the shadowy figure.

The silhouette over the hole was that of a VERY strange being. It was a kind of giant squash with legs and arms. It was standing on two legs, with a huge mouth and small eyes, almost completely hidden by its strange hair made of leaves.

Everyone's mouths hung open in disbelief as they had never seen such a strange creature. However, what stumped everyone wasn’t just its appearance. What made everyone freeze in perplexity, was to see that out of nowhere, the strange being smiled and began to dance as if he were celebrating some solo party.

"What's wrong? Haven't you ever heard of 'Sass Squash'?” The strange beast suddenly asked.

Hearing that question, two things surprised all the ponies in the hole. The first was that the beast didn’t move its mouth to speak. In fact, it seemed as if its voice had come from its stomach. And the second thing that surprised everyone was the familiar high-pitched voice that rang out from it.

"Pinkie Pie!? " Dusk and his friends exclaimed.

"Waaahhh! The beast ate Pinkie Pie!" The three frightened fillies screamed, since Pinkie's voice had come from the beast's stomach.

At that moment, the beast put its hands on its head and began to pull upwards until it detached itself from its body, revealing that it was nothing more than a disguise. Then everyone's eyes widened in amazement when they saw that under the suit was Pinkie Pie, carrying Spike on top of her. It seemed that both of them were operating the suit together.

"Pinkie, this... this is a new level of weirdness..." Dusk said, very confused at his friend's strange costume. "What is that costume supposed to be!?"

"I told you, it's a 'Sass Squash'!" Pinkie Pie answered with a cheery smile. "Back at the rock farm there is a legend. Once a year, the Sass Squash comes and exchanges the best stones for squashes, so you gotta hide your best rocks very well if you don't want the Sass Squash to take them from you. It sounded a lot like the Great Seedling legend, so I decided to wear this costume." Pinkie Pie added, finishing off her costume and grabbing Spike with her hoof.

“Well, ridiculousness aside, why are you helping Pinkie scare the living daylights out of us, Spikey-Wikey?” Rarity huffed and asked the baby dragon.

Spike blushed and tried to hide his face behind his tail. “Um,…she asked nicely.” He said with a shaky voice. He didn’t want the others to know that he was quick to help Pinkie when she offered to bake him some cupcakes with gem toppings.

"Anyway, I feel left out up here alone." Then Pinkie jumped into the hole too, landing with Spike on top of all her friends.

"Ugh! Pinkie, that was definitely not necessary..." Dusk growled in pain, as did all of his friends after Pinkie Pie used them as a mat.

Because they were all too tight and there were too many of them, Dusk couldn't use his teleportation to get them out instantly. So slowly, everypony began to settle down one by one to get out of the now narrow hole.

"What's up Apple Bloom?" Applejack asked once she got out of the trap. She noticed that her little sister seemed to be a bit depressed.

"It's just… If that monster was Pinkie Pie in disguise. Does that mean… the Great Seedling also isn’t real?" Apple Bloom asked, looking sadly at her big sister. A look that made Applejack's heart clench.

For a second, Applejack thought about insisting that the Great Seedling was real. But the truth was that with the filly looking at her like this, it was very difficult for her to hide the truth. Also, Apple Bloom and her friends only had to see Rainbow Dash and the others to understand that the only reason they could be there was to activate the traps. So it was only a matter of time before her little sister found out the truth.

"Huff... Well..." Applejack said sighing and then scratching her head, thinking of a way to tell the truth without breaking her little sister's heart. "The truth is that the Great Seedling is more of a feeling than a flesh and blood deer. It's the holiday spirit we have in the Apple family to commemorate the harvest, but that doesn't mean it's not-"

"It’s real! It’s real!" Apple Bloom suddenly shouted excitedly before her sister could finish. She pointed towards a distant tree, where, for some reason, a trap had been activated.

Hearing the trap being activated, Apple Bloom and her friends completely ignored the speech Applejack was telling them and ran outside to see if the trap had finally caught the Great Seedling. The other mares (and Spike) also ran, thinking that because they were so excited, the fillies might fall into another trap and hurt themselves. Thus, only Dusk and Applejack remained, the latter with a surprised and confused look upon hearing a trap going off without them.

"Do you... think maybe it was Big Mac?" Applejack asked looking at Dusk, beginning to walk towards where the others had gone.

"Probably. Maybe he doesn't want his little sister to stop believing in the Great Seedling." Dusk said, accompanying his marefriend. "By the way, I just realized why you could so easily lie to Apple Bloom about the Great Seedling."

"What are you talking about?" Applejack asked.

"I mean you represent the Element of Honesty. By the same token, well... you're terrible at lying, hehe." Dusk said with a sly smile. "But when you told the story of the Great Seedling to Apple Bloom, your face didn't have the typical expression you get when you force yourself to lie. You told that lie with your usual honest look, and that’s because deep down, you also want to believe that the Great Seedling really exists."

Applejack blushed and looked away in embarrassment at the admittedly plausible theory.

"I-It's not that I believe in fantastic creatures or anything like that…" Applejack explained. "I know the idea of a magical deer roaming the apple orchards is a bit ridiculous. But-" At that moment Applejack stopped talking when she saw that Dusk had stopped and froze with a completely perplexed look.

Looking up, Applejack saw that her friends and the fillies were also looking up with puzzled look. All looking at the hole that was in front of them, which apparently was the trap that had been activated a few moments ago. Not understanding anything, Applejack also looked down and adorned the same shocked expression everyone else had.

"D-Dusk…. That… That's…" Applejack stammered, still not believing her eyes.

"A... deer..." Dusk answered slowly. Inside the hole was a small creature with small, but distinctive horns on its head. The lavender colt recognized the creature from all the history book he had read growing up.

"What's wrong with you!? You went really overboard with the traps this year…" The creature trapped in the hole grunted, rubbing his aching head. Everypony was even more stunned to see that this creature could speak their language.

Just then the sky was slowly clearing with the coming of dawn. With the extra light, everyone got a better look at the so-called 'Great Seedling' they had captured. The creature was a small deer, a fawn to be more exact, due to his small size and age. He had ocher and white fur, brown eyes, and small horns on his head. In addition, a necklace from which a small barrel hung in front hanged on his neck.

"~We caught the Great Seedling~ We caught the Great Seedling~" The three fillies began to sing and dance happily after coming out of their disbelief.

"Well, I think the 'GREAT' Seedling part was a bit of an exaggeration." Spike said, noticing how small the deer was.

"Well you seem a little small for a dragon yourself." The deer shot back, clearly offended. "And by the way, I'm not some, Great Seedling or whatever. My name is Prince Bramble of the kingdom of Thicket."

"The Thicket?" Dusk asked, vaguely remembering that he had read that name in some history book, but it didn’t specify where that kingdom was. Then, quickly understanding that having captured a prince from another kingdom could imply a serious political problem, Dusk approached the hole and extended a hoof to the little deer to help him out.

Once outside, the little deer looked at Spike, and after checking that he was a bit taller than the baby dragon, he smirked, making Spike huff in annoyance.

"But, if you’re not the Great Seedling… what are you doing here?" Apple Bloom asked the young deer.

"I’m here because I need to contact the Princess of the Sun." Bramble said, radically changing his attitude and looking at Dusk with a very serious look.

"Princess Celestia?" Dusk said in surprise.

"Can you contact her somehow? Right now, if you can. I don't think we have much time." Bramble asked, remembering that he had a mission and had no time to lose.

"Uh, well, luckily for you, you have next to you the only dragon who can communicate with her instantly." Dusk said with a small smile and gestured to Spike. The baby dragon crossed his arms proudly, thinking that if that annoying deer wanted him to send a letter to the princess, he would have to ask very nicely. "Spike can send her a letter right now if necessary. But why do you want to talk to the Princess?" The unicorn’s mind was buzzing with faint excitement at the idea of getting to know about a new species and kingdom that Equestria hadn’t had relations with in centuries.

Just then, Bramble pricked up his ears in alert and looked back in fright.

"That was faster than I thought." Bramble muttered worriedly. Then he turned around again, looked at Spike and gave him a strong shove with his head, causing the dragon to fall into the same hole he himself had fallen into before.

"What are you doing!?" Dusk asked, shocked to see the little deer pushed Spike.

"Sorry. It's the only way to stop this." Bramble said, showing Dusk a small piece of black root that he had kept. Dusk widened his eyes in surprise, realizing that strange weed he found earlier was definitely not just any root if the deer kingdom was also concerned about it.

"Everyone quiet!" Suddenly a loud voice ordered from behind the ponies.

Everyone turned around and were shocked to see that there were now at least seven more deer, only these were adult deer. All of them were wearing golden helmets and pointing their horns menacingly at the ponies. The new arrivals had surrounded them so silently that none of the ponies had noticed them until now. It was then that Dusk understood that Bramble had been the only one who had managed to hear them before they arrived.

"Prince Bramble, are you alright?" Asked the deer that seemed to be leading the others. A deer taller than Dusk, who wore a red helmet and armor of the same color. In addition, he carried the same small barrel on his neck that Bramble and the other deer carried.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks Blackthorn." Bramble said, approaching the captain of the guards. "It was lucky you got here before these ponies that kidnapped me got too far."

"What!?" Rainbow Dash yelled at the blatant lie. Before she got ready to argue with the little fawn, Dusk stopped her by pulling her by her tail. Then Dusk looked at Bramble, who almost imperceptibly nodded, thanking Dusk for stopping Rainbow Dash. "What the heck, Dusk!?” Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder.

"Shhh… calm down. I think he has something planned." Dusk whispered, looking out of the corner of his eye towards the hole and guessing that Bramble had pushed Spike there so that the other deer wouldn't see him.

"How did these ponies kidnap you?" Captain Blackthorn asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"That doesn’t matter now. What we have to do is bring them before my father so that he can judge them." Bramble said with a small nervousness in his voice.

"Prince Bramble, you know that foreigners, especially ponies, are forbidden-" Blackthorn began to speak before being interrupted.

"I was kidnapped! We can't let these ponies go without judgment." Bramble insisted, his gaze full of determination.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Captain Blackthorn narrowed his eyes and finally accepted what little Bramble requested. Then the other guards made the ponies line up, threatening them with their horns to walk and follow Captain Blackthorn.

"It's lucky it's not dark anymore, thank Celestia for the Sun and its light!" Dusk said out loud, just as they began to walk. He hoped that Spike, who remained hidden, would understand what he should do now. Bramble picked up what Dusk was doing and secretly smiled, happy that that lavender colt was smart and went along with his plan.

The deer quickly led their prisoners to the Everfree Forest, wanting to get into the forest quickly before they were seen by other ponies. As they walked, Dusk thought about what could be the problem caused by that strange dark root. Meanwhile, Dusk's five friends were very restless, looking with fear at the pointed horns of the deer. On the other hoof, the little three fillies seemed oblivious to all that potential danger and chatted excitedly to each other and to Bramble, who seemed to enjoy talking with fillies his own age.

Applejack listened in on the youngsters’ conversation and discovered that the reality of the myth of the Great Seedling was arose because the deer were prohibited from approaching the lands of the ponies. However, years ago some deer had discovered the delicious apples of the Apple family from time to time would sneak away and take several apples. In return, so as not to seem like thieves, they used their magic to harvest the apple trees.

"Do deer know how to use magic!?" Dusk asked surprised upon hearing the story. He gazed at deer antlers and wondering if they would work the same as unicorn horns.

"Heh, why don’t you see for yourself?" Bramble replied with a small smile.

Just then, the deer and their prisoners reached the edge of the Everfree Forest. However, they couldn’t continue, given the thickness of the forest and the lianas that were there. Then, Captain Blackthorn reached down and slightly opened the barrel on his neck, causing water to fall from the barrel. As soon as the water touched the land, it trembled slightly and all the lianas that were blocking the path moved, clearing the way and opening a path never seen before there in the forest.

"Wow… Zecora would be fascinated to see this." Dusk thought, amazed to see how the deer's magic seemed to deal with the movement of plants and lianas. That made Dusk ask himself many questions about where that water would come from, if it would only be common water, if they could move the lianas at will, etc. Until he suddenly remembered that he was supposed to go in search of Zecora today, and again it seemed that he got sidetracked.

Ater going a little deeper into the Everfree forest through areas that none of the ponies present had traveled before, they all reached the secret the kingdom of Thicket. A kingdom completely hidden which was in the middle of the huge Everfree Forest by vines and other foliage. The ponies were surprised to see great constructions on the trees, even a castle inside a huge tree in the center.

Arriving at the Kingdom of Thicket, the deer natives of the place looked in amazement at the ponies, for many of them had never seen one. What caught Dusk's attention was that a few deer even ran away when they saw them, as if they were afraid of the ponies. Then the captain quickly led the prisoners towards the King's castle to keep the prisoners away from the more intrigued subjects. Once they entered the castle, a deer that seemed to be a majordomo quickly approached Bramble.

"Thank the Heart of the Forest that you’re well, Prince Bramble." The deer majordomo said, hugging Bramble and then looking at the captain and his prisoners. He looked at the ponies with interest instead of fear. "Captain, why are you bringing these ponies to the castle?"

"We brought them here for the King to judge." Blackthorn answered, looking around and wondering why the King hadn't appeared yet.

"Oh, I'm sorry captain, but the King left last night and said he wouldn't be back until tomorrow." The majordomo deer said.

"Hehe… great, just as planned." Bramble said suddenly with a mischievous smile.

"What is it you planned?" Blackthorn asked raising an eyebrow suspiciously, already accustomed to the mischievous attitude of the King's little son.

"My father is away, so in his absence… I’m in charge of the kingdom!" Bramble said pointing to himself with a proud smile. "And since I’m in charge, I order the prisoners to be released and to be my honored guests!"

All the deer in the room were shocked. Then Blackthorn frowned and glared at Bramble, knowing that he had fallen into his trap. Then the captain looked suspiciously at the ponies behind him and reluctantly ordered his guards to stand back and let the prisoners go free.

"The King will be back soon, and I'm sure he won't like this." Blackthorn said sullenly to the smaller deer before he made his leave with his troops.

As soon as Blackthorn and the guards left, Bramble began to jump for joy that his plan had worked. Meanwhile, Dusk couldn't help but smile a little when he saw how cunning the little fawn had been.

"Well, now that your plan has worked, what is the real reason for making us come here?" Dusk asked, already wanting to discover the answers to the dozen questions he had in his head.

"Oh yes, of course. The reason why-" Bramble said excitedly. However, he stopped as Apple Bloom yawned, showing that she was about to fall asleep. Then her two friends yawned too, and following the contagion of yawning, Bramble ended up yawning too. Only then did his body remember that he was actually very tired, as he, like everyone else, had been up all night. "Yaaawwn... Yeah, maybe we should get some sleep before we go through with all of this."

After that, Bramble asked the palace majordomo, named Birch, to guide the ponies to the rooms so they could rest. The majordomo did so with great pleasure, excited to have guests in the castle. As he led them on, the majordomo didn’t stop talking, showing how interested he was in the whole situation.

"You know, my dream has always been to own an inn. In fact, I had one before I became a majordomo. Of course, having a traveler's inn is a lousy business idea when there are no travelers in this kingdom, hehe. And this poor castle is so quiet and lonely that sometimes I even think I see ghosts. I'm really glad to have visitors!" The majordomo said, chatting animatedly as he led the ponies up a long spiral staircase that climbed up the side of the tree castle.

As they climbed the long staircase, the majordomo took the opportunity to tell the ponies a few details about the kingdom of Thicket. It wasn't really forbidden to leave the kingdom, but what was forbidden for the deer was to be seen by the ponies. Fortunately, their kingdom was in the middle of the Everfree Forest, so not many ponies would come that way. In addition, the few deer that dared to leave the kingdom of Thicket had the advantage of their race, of being very fast and stealthy in their walk. Something that Dusk and his friends saw firsthand, when they were ambushed by the guards without even hear them approach.

In exchange for talking about his kingdom, the majordomo also took the opportunity to ask the ponies that accompanied him for some information. He was surprised to discover that Dusk was the student of the Princess of the Sun, and that Applejack was the owner of the famous apple orchard where the deer sometimes went to sneak apples.

Finally everyone reached the top floor, where there was a long corridor with several doors on each side. However, what caught Dusk's attention the most was a side corridor that led to another larger room, with letters that read ‘library’.

"I need it, I need it, I need it!" Dusk thought excitedly, always a fan of books and libraries. "No! Wait until later, there are more important things for now." Dusk repressed his impulse to run to the library. The stallion was determined that after sleeping and helping whatever Bramble needed them to do, he would ask the deer prince for permission to visit it properly.

"These are all empty rooms." The majordomo said as he approached the first door in the long hallway. "As I was saying, we don't have many guests, so everyone can have their own room." The majordomo added, opening the first door on his left.

"We'll sleep together!" The three fillies said excitedly. Quickly entering the room together and jumping on the bed that was there. "Crusader Sleepover!" The three fillies shouted excitedly. Until their bodies reminded them of all the tiredness and accumulated sleep they had, and the three immediately fell asleep after screaming, falling on top of each other in total exhaustion.

"Yes, well... Well, let's move on." The majordomo said with a smile and closed the door to the fillies’ room.

Birch then led the rest of the ponies to their respective rooms. First Pinkie Pie, then Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy, until finally only Dusk and Applejack were left.

"This will be your room." Birch said to the surprise of both ponies.

"Uh… Is it a room… for the two of us?" Dusk asked with a subtle blush.

"Sure, you two are a couple, right?" The majordomo said with a mischievous smile. "You’ve been walking very close together since you arrived. A good innkeeper should be aware of those details, hehe. Alright, rest well." After that, the majordomo left, leaving Dusk and Applejack frozen in front of their room.

"I-I guess it's okay... I-If you don't have a problem..." Dusk finally said, completely red with embarrassment, not even daring to look at Applejack because of how nervous he was.

Without answering, Applejack just lowered her head so that Dusk wouldn't notice how red her face was and quickly entered the room. Dusk slowly closed the door behind him and moved just as slowly around the room, averting his eyes from his marefriend so that she wouldn’t notice how nervous he was.

Throughout the previous afternoon, Dusk had imagined what it would be like to spend a night with his marefriend. Later, he was disappointed to discover that what he imagined wouldn’t happen. But now, the stars had aligned and somehow his fantasy had come true. And now that his crazy dream was reality, the only thing Dusk felt was nerves and dizziness.

For her part, Applejack sat on one end of the bed, took off her hat and began combing her mane with her hoof. While Dusk went to the bathroom to wet his face and washed his hooves, wanting to delay going to bed as long as possible since he felt that his nerves would betray him and he wouldn’t be able to lie down with Applejack.

"What the heck is wrong with you!? It's just sharing a bed! You've done it before with your friends!" Dusk said to himself mentally, trying to give himself courage. "That's true, it's not the first time, but… It's the first time I’ll share a bed with MY MAREFRIEND!"

Finally, Dusk couldn't delay the inevitable any longer and walked to the bed. There, he saw that Applejack was already lying at one end of the bed with her back to Dusk, apparently already asleep. Seeing her like this, Dusk felt a strange sensation of relief and disappointment. He really wanted to be lying next to his marefriend, but he was also afraid of ruining the moment, and that was killing him.

Dusk opened the blankets and lay down on the other end of the bed, lying down in the same position as Applejack. Both ponies had their backs to each other as they tried to sleep. But the reality was, neither could sleep in that situation. Dusk couldn't stop sweating knowing that Applejack was lying so close to him, feeling her body heat in great detail. Also, those beds had been designed for the slender bodies of deer, so the two were closer together than in a normal pony bed.

Minutes passed and neither said anything, Dusk was so nervous that he was trying to control his own breathing so that it would be more normal and so that Applejack, if she was awake, wouldn't be able to hear how nervous he really was. Then, there came a time when curiosity was stronger than nerves, and Dusk slowly moved his head to look with one eye behind him. As he did so, he saw that Applejack had also done the same and was spying on him with one eye. They both noticed that they were looking at each other, and quickly looked away and pretended that nothing had happened.

"Wait a second… Was she doing the same thing as me?" Dusk realized.

At that moment, Dusk steeled himself and turned his body completely towards Applejack. Meanwhile, with perfect timing, Applejack also did the same. Thus, both were looking very close to each other, face to face.

Applejack had done the same thing as Dusk at the same time. The same looks, the same gestures, and now, Dusk saw the same nervous and expectant look that he probably had himself. That was how Dusk realized that Applejack had been thinking the same thing as him, and had been just as nervous as he was, doing exactly the same thing! It was as if both were a mirror of the other and they hadn’t realized it. And precisely at that moment, seeing each other directly in the eyes, Applejack also understood that Dusk was just as nervous as she was in that situation.

Finding that they both felt the same way, the couple looked at each other and laughed, finally realizing how clueless they had been in not noticing how the other felt, and at the same time glad that their partner shared those feelings. The nerves were finally starting to recede.

"We are such..." Dusk thought as he laughed.

"…a clumsy couple." Applejack thought, also laughing, knowing what Dusk was thinking.

After laughing for a long time, they both continued to look at each other in silence with gentle smiles, simply enjoying seeing the face and eyes of their beloved partner.

Steeling himself, Dusk slowly raised his hoof and nervously brought it closer to Applejack's face. Applejack meekly closed her eyes and let herself be caressed by her coltfriend's soft hoof. Then they both looked at each other again with blushing looks and got lost in each other's eyes.

A few hours later...

'KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!' The knock on the door was heard.

"Sis, are you up?" Apple Bloom said from outside the bedroom door.

"Uh!?" Applejack grunted, quickly raising her head with her mane completely disheveled.

"Bramble says to come downstairs right now, it's important." Apple Bloom said after verifying that this was her sister's room. Then Applejack heard her little sister walk quickly away from the door.

"She sounded a bit nervous... I think we should hurry up." Applejack said thoughtfully, looking at the stallion next to her and blushing when she saw his cute face.

Dusk and Applejack rushed out of their room, in such a hurry, that neither of them noticed that they were both quite disheveled. They then walked quickly down the corridor they had come through a few hours ago to go down the stairs and quickly reach the main hall.

As they walked, Dusk was distracted for a moment when he saw the entrance to the library again out of the corner of his eye. However, this time he wasn’t distracted by his strong desire to run there, but because he thought he saw something strange.

"Is it my imagination or did the library door open and close on its own?" Dusk thought. Then he remembered that the majordomo Birch had said that sometimes he thought he saw ghosts in the castle. However, Dusk's logical mind quickly discarded that absurd idea. He had to focus on more important things, and quickly continued walking with Applejack to go down the stairs.

Finally, Applejack and Dusk arrived at the main hall, where their other friends were already.

"Sis, why do you and Dusk look so frazzled? Did you sleep okay?" Apple Bloom asked when she saw her sister and Dusk.

Upon hearing that comment, the faces of the other mares present froze when they saw Dusk and Applejack in their current state: haggard eyes and their messy manes, a sign that they had not slept much. Then the faces of Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie turned pale, their gazes lost in space, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Dozens of theories went through the heads of the four mares to explain why Dusk and Applejack looked like that. There was a theory that seemed to be the most logical. However, that theory was so reckless and terrifying that none of them wanted to believe that 'THAT' could have really happened between Applejack and Dusk.

Just at that moment the great doors of the hall opened. Little Bramble walked through the doorway with a scared look on his face. And behind him, the most imposing figure the ponies had ever seen.

"So these are 'your guests'…" A huge white deer said as he stood next to Bramble. He spoke in a powerful voice and looked at the ponies with a fierce gaze.

As soon as the great white deer spoke, Bramble cringed as if he had been rebuked. While Dusk, Applejack and the three fillies froze before such an imposing presence. Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie seemed oblivious to everything, as if they hadn't even noticed the huge white deer in front of them. The four mares just kept staring at Dusk and Applejck with shocked looks, full of perplexity and disbelief while their minds seemed to have exploded at what they saw.

The white deer was markedly different from the other deer the ponies had seen that morning, both in size and in presence. This was a white deer with an ocher back, with a height almost equal to Celestia's; their huge antlers overshadowed the horns of the other guards who had captured them; his emerald eyes stared menacingly at the ponies; and on his neck, unlike the barrel carried by the other deer, he wore a golden necklace with a large red heart seemingly made of glass. The mere presence of that deer commanded respect. There was no doubt, if the Great Seedling really existed, that would be its vivid and powerful image.

"I am King Aspen, ruler of the Kingdom of Thicket." The great white deer added with a powerful voice, approaching to where Dusk and his friends were and looking at them threateningly. "Now tell me, which one of you is putting my kingdom in danger?"

End of chapter 13

Chapter 14 - Hidden in the shadows

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Hidden in the shadows

In the palace of the kingdom of Thicket, all was silence. After King Aspen's arrival, the ponies had been speechless at his imposing presence. Furthermore, the deer king kept glaring at each pony with a fierce gaze, dispelling any doubt that they weren’t welcome in his kingdom. With that in mind, neither Dusk nor anyone present dared to say a word, afraid of disturbing the great deer king.

"You ponies are barred from our kingdom and your Princess well knows it. Centuries ago, we severed all ties with the kingdom of Equestria!" King Aspen said, walking in front of the ponies. "Centuries of peace, and now, in just a few weeks, the forest is threatened by dark magic. Then the Lord of Chaos returns, and zebras and ponies appear in my kingdom without warning!"

"Zebras?" Dusk asked. He completely forgot about the tension in the room when he understood the implication of that statement. "Have you seen a zebra!? Do you know where Zecora is!?" Dusk asked worry and approached the king.

Aspen narrowed his eyes. A little surprised by that question, and by the fact that that pony dared to speak in front of him. It was then that something powerfully caught Aspen's attention, and his eyes focused on Dusk's cutie mark. He had seen that double six-pointed star once before.

"Answer me! Do you know where Zecora is!?" Dusk asked again with a little more force in his voice.

The young stallion forgot all the political protocol that he should have before a foreign king. The only thing that mattered to him was whether the deer knew of Zecora's whereabouts. If so, was she his prisoner? Was that why Zecora had disappeared so suddenly? It all made sense! Zecora also lived in the Everfree Forest, perhaps she had gotten too close to the deer kingdom, and they had captured her. Imagining that, Dusk began to get irritated and angry at the king in front of him, who kept looking at him and his friends with disgust.

For his part, Aspen raised his head and looked at him contemptuously. That look from Dusk, full of anger, made him remember something that had happened centuries ago, and that filled him with more mistrust than he already had initially.

"What is your relationship with the zebra named Zecora?" Aspen asked, looking at Dusk with contempt after he spoke to him in such an insolent way.

"I knew it! They have her prisoner!" Dusk thought, getting angry when he imagined his friend locked up in a cell.

"She’s my teacher." Dusk answered, staring defiantly at the great white deer. "Are you holding her prisoner?"

For a few seconds, Aspen didn't respond. He simply stared at Dusk's eyes, as if he wanted to search for something in the depths of the unicorn's eyes.

"What would you do if it were?" Aspen finally answered. He noticed how the unicorn's gaze showed even more anger upon hearing that. "For weeks, Zecora has been our prisoner. We ordered her to tell us who sent her to spy on us, and since she didn't want to cooperate, we had to force her... It wasn't easy. But we finally got her to talk, by force." Aspen added with a gloomy look, making a small mocking face to the angry stallion.

"What!?" Dusk exclaimed, clenching his teeth furiously, completely forgetting that he was speaking before a king.

At that moment, Dusk felt so angry at imagining his teacher Zecora being tortured, that little sparks of magic jumped out of his horn as he exhausted the little patience he had left. The only thing he wanted at that moment was to attack that deer for having hurt one of his friends. For their part, the guards who were behind King Aspen looked at each other in confusion while their king didn’t take his eyes off Dusk's eyes for a second, still looking for a certain “something”.

"Dusk! Calm down!" Fluttershy said suddenly, seeing Dusk's furious look and instinctively jumping to hug and reassure him. She hated more than anyone to see someone suffer, and seeing Dusk so angry, she knew that she had to help him before he did something drastic. "Everything will be fine, we’ll work it out. Now, you must calm down..." Fluttershy said, speaking in a motherly tone as she continued to hug Dusk.

Hearing the sweet and calm voice of his shy pegasus friend, Dusk couldn't help but close his eyes and calm his breathing. As he did so, his magic was also controlled and his horn stopped shooting magical sparks. Whereas Aspen narrowed his eyes with a suspicious look and then looked away in annoyance.

"That is why my people live isolated here in the forest. Pony magic is dangerous when they lose control of their emotions." Aspen said, looking up for a moment, as if he was remembering something. Then he narrowed his eyes again, advanced a couple of steps and crouched down to look closely at Dusk, both of them being face to face. "With your unicorn magic you could do it. Face me! Defeat me and my guards and save your teacher. It's the only way you'll ever see her again." Aspen said grimly, looking at Dusk with large and penetrating eyes.

It was as if Aspen wanted to provoke Dusk, as if he wanted him to lose control and use his magic against him. That even made little Bramble, who was nearby, startled to see that attitude in his father. For his part, already calmer after Fluttershy's hug, Dusk simply lowered his gaze and took a deep breath to calm down and cool his head.

"Take me instead." Dusk finally said, with a calm but firm voice. "I’ll not fall for your provocations. I'm not going to attack anyone. But if you want to imprison and torture someone so badly, I ask you to take me instead and free Zecora."

For the first time, anger and contempt left Aspen’s face as he was surprised at Dusk's attitude and words. Then he approached again and looked at Dusk's eyes again, as if he wasn't convinced that he would find something hidden and dark behind that pony's purple eyes.

At that moment, everyone was distracted by a murmur coming from outside the castle. Soon, a guard rushed in and gave King Aspen a shocked look.

"M-My king. There is… There is someone who wants an audience with you…" The deer guard said with fear.

Before Aspen could even reply, two large, bright, unmistakable figures burst through the castle gate, causing everypony present to sigh in relief at the sight of them. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna looked at Aspen and bowed their heads as a sign of respect towards the King of his kingdom.

"King Aspen, I am sorry to enter your castle so recklessly." Celestia spoke politely. "But this morning I received an urgent letter saying that my student and his friends had been wrongfully detained."

Aspen couldn't help but frown at the alicorn. Then he turned and looked directly at her, taking advantage of his height, which made him one of the few beings in Equestria who could see her face to face directly.

"No one has been wrongfully detained. Apparently it was just a misunderstanding caused by my son." Aspen replied, still looking at Celestia. As for Bramble, he didn't even take notice when he heard his name being called. The little fawn just kept staring at Celestia in amazement, never having imagined that a pony could be so impressive.

"Aspen! I'm glad I can see you again!" Luna suddenly said with cheer. She stepped forward to approach the deer King, already used to the fact that all eyes were always focused on her older sister when they both entered a place together.

"Princess Luna!? How…?" Aspen exclaimed in shock. Taking a step back, confused and a little scared when he saw Luna. Meanwhile, seeing Aspen gave that look, Luna stopped immediately and lowered her head in shame.

"It’s true… The last time he saw me… It wasn't at my best." Luna thought sadly as she remembered that the last they had met she had been Nightmare Moon.

"Princess Celestia. You know very well that you’re forbidden to enter my kingdom." Aspen said, looking away from Luna and returning to focus on Celestia. There were many questions to answer about Luna's return, but the most immediate thing now was to remove that potential danger from their lands.

After quickly verifying with her eyes that Dusk, his friends, and the fillies were fine, Celestia looked at Aspen again and bowed her head as a sign of respect.

"King Aspen, I know I broke our agreement, but I'd like to take this opportunity to chat with you for a moment." Celestia said, with a slightly sad tone in her voice. "Please." She lowered her head and looking guiltily at the deer king.

Having Celestia in her kingdom was the last thing Aspen wanted. Once the two of them had fought together and defended their kingdoms as a great alliance, but now, everything was different. However, there were two things that kept Aspen from turning down Celestia's offer to chat. The first was that he needed to know how Luna had returned from her exile and had returned to being the same as before. And the second was that Celestia might know something of the strange ill that was invading the forest.

"Okay... Just a chat." Aspen finally said, reluctantly accepting Celestia's proposal.

Then the King began to walk, heading to his chambers to have a private chat with the Princess of the Sun. Whereas Celestia immediately followed the big deer, relieved that he had accepted her offer to speak, after so many centuries without doing so. For her part, Luna also moved forward to follow them.

"No sister. This is something I need to discuss alone with Aspen." Celestia said, glancing at her sister with a sad look.

Celestia's words totally shocked Luna, who set about claiming that she too was a princess. However, seeing that they were no longer alone, but were being watched carefully by ponies and deer, Luna simply frowned and reluctantly complied with her sister's request.

Before leaving, Aspen ordered Captain Blackthorn to come closer. He whispered something in his ear, then continued on his way with Celestia out of the main hall.

"The Princess of the Night can stay here to wait for her sister and the King." Blackthorn said, turning to look at the ponies. "The other ponies must return to their rooms until the King decides they can leave."

Deciding that the best thing for them was for the princesses to resolve everything diplomatically, Dusk, his friends, and the fillies followed Blackthorn up the stairs back to their rooms.

"I guess the Princess of the Sun will be able to intercede for you to free you..." Blackthorn said surprisingly when they were already in the corridor where the rooms were. "But I highly doubt she can do anything for that zebra we're holding prisoner. After all, she’s from another kingdom."

Hearing Zecora name again, Dusk stopped short, scared at the idea that his friend and teacher was still a prisoner. As his words affected the stallion, Blackthorn smirked.

"You know, she's not in a comfortable room like you guys are. In fact, she's not even within the boundaries of the kingdom." Blackthorn said, turning around and looking at Dusk with a mocking laugh. "What's wrong? Are you worried about your zebra friend?"

Knowing that for some reason the deer captain wanted to provoke him, Dusk forced himself to try to calm down and pressed his lips together in frustration.

"What's wrong with you!" Rainbow Dash said angrily at the captain.

"Dusk, calm down, hun." Applejack said to Dusk, noticing that her coltfriend could hardly control his anger.

"Fate is curious, don't you think?" Blackthorn ignored the other ponies and only focusing on Dusk, looking at him face to face. "I am the one who takes you prisoner to your room. And it was I myself who tortured your teacher… with my own hooves.” The deer added, laughing wickedly.

Dusk couldn't take it anymore. He lit up his horn with magic and launched himself at the deer captain, causing him to fall on his back with him on top of the deer. Then Dusk pointed his magic-charged horn threateningly at Blackthorn's face.

"Dusk!!" The mares shouted, scared to see Dusk so angry and worried about what he might do.

As soon as Dusk heard the scream of his friends, it seemed as if he had woken up from the blind rage that he was in. Then he looked below him and saw Captain Blackthorn, who simply stared at him with a blank expression as if waiting for Dusk to attack him. Dusk closed his eyes tightly, remembering precisely the self-control lessons that Zecora had taught him, and he slowly calmed down while the magic of his horn slowly faded away.

'Pony magic is dangerous when they lose control of their emotions.' Those had been the words King Aspen had spoken minutes ago. A phrase that bothered Dusk a lot, since for him, magic was something beautiful that was used to help others. However, he now realized that if he attacked the deer with his magic, he would be proving the King right. That would keep the deer mistrusting the ponies and their magic.

With one last big breath to calm down, Dusk got up and got off Blackthorn. Then he turned for a second to look at his friends and smiled, grateful to have them by his side to calm him down. Dusk looked at Blackthorn again, put a thoughtful look, and finally activated his magic again to trap Blackthorn in a magical bubble.

"No matter what you’ve done to Zecora, I’ll not be as cruel as you. I’ll show you and yours that the magic of the ponies is for the good of all." Dusk said seriously, now much calmer. "This magic bubble won't hurt you, but it’ll stop you until I can rescue my friend." The stallion added, determined not to hurt the deer, but also determined to rescue Zecora from her cruel captors.

After locking the captain in a room, Dusk and his friends told the fillies to watch that no one approached him. Then Dusk and his friends hurried down the spiral stairs again to get to the lower floor. Only this time, they didn't go to the main hall. They couldn't be seen by Luna or the other guards, so they escaped through another corridor, looking for a side door or window to escape through. Fortunately for them, as Birch the majordomo told them, the castle was mostly empty, so no one saw them. The six ponies were able to exit the castle through a window on the other side of the great front door.

"Now what?" Applejack asked once everyone left the castle and hid behind a bush.

"I don't know… Blackthorn said that Zecora wasn’t locked up in the kingdom. That means she must be somewhere else in the Everfree Forest." Dusk responded with a thoughtful look. Then something distracted Dusk's gaze.

There, not far from the bush in which they were hiding, Dusk could see that there was a large black root full of thorns, just like the one he had seen in Applejack's field. The only difference was that this root was much larger and longer and seemed to come from within the Everfree Forest.

"I'm not sure... But I have a feeling 'that root' is the root of our problems." Dusk said pointing to the dark root, running towards it.

"Ugh! Dusk and puns do not mix well at all." Pinkie Pie said with a look of disgust, rushing to chase after Dusk and the rest of her friends.

As they walked away from the kingdom of Thicket, the six ponies fell completely silent, remembering that deer had very good hearing. They all stealthily followed the dark thorny roots, which became more numerous and wider as they advanced; a clear sign that they were on the right track towards their origin.

The six ponies were well aware that they were on a mission of the utmost importance, since not only were they being fugitives from a foreign kingdom, they had also captured a guard, were looking for a friend who was being held prisoner and had been tortured, were in the middle of one of the most dangerous places in the world, and they were also following the trail of a strange dark root. However, despite that, four of the ponies couldn't stop thinking about something else. Despite all the latent dangers around them, the silent journey had made Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Rarity unable to stop thinking about one and only one thing...

"So... what happened between you two?" Rainbow Dash suddenly tried to ask casually once everyone was far enough away from the deer kingdom.

Hearing that question, both Dusk and Applejack blushed. And as if neither of them had heard anything, they both just kept walking, making their way through the thick Everfree Forest.

"Yes... I mean, no one else woke up so haggard and disheveled... Just you two." Rarity added, also feigning disinterest. Although the truth was that she and her three friends were all very expectant to be answered with the truth.

Guessing that his friends wouldn't stop asking until they got an answer, Dusk looked at Applejack, who simply put on a worried look. Then Dusk sighed and tried to speak as casually as possible, despite the fact that his face was red with embarrassment.

"When Birch gave us the rooms, he guessed that Applejack and I were a couple and… well… we ended up sharing the room." Dusk said with embarrassment. Meanwhile, Dusk's friends simply stared at him as if Dusk hadn't said anything really surprising.

"What else?" Pinkie Pie insisted while looking at Dusk with an expressionless gaze. "What did you two do while alone?"

Before Dusk could say anything, the black roots that they had been following had begun to move, and suddenly attacked the six ponies that were walking among them. Dusk, Pinkie and Applejack managed to avoid the roots, while Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash couldn't escape, and the roots caught their hooves and start pulling them into the forest.

Pinkie and Applejack quickly helped their friends to hold them up and keep them from being dragged down by the roots. While Dusk quickly used his magic to cut those roots. Once everyone was free, more black roots appeared and charged at the ponies. Then Dusk continued cutting them with his magic while his friends fought against them in their own way. Applejack used the same cut roots as a lasso and tied several of those roots together; while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew around the trees so that the roots would tie themselves to themselves. Rarity and Pinkie made the roots follow them, jumping up and down over each other, until the roots couldn't extend any further and got tangled together.

"Huff… that… that was dangerous." Dusk huffed, sighing in relief after everyone had gotten out of danger. Then Dusk approached the roots that he had cut with his magic and was surprised to see that they began to grow again. "Those black roots are definitely not normal. I think it's best that we move quickly and get out of here."

"Yeah, I think you’re right." Rainbow Dash agreed. "But... What happened between you two?" Rainbow Dash added, looking suspiciously at Dusk and Applejack again as if nothing had happened.

"SERIOUSLY!?" Dusk shouted, unable to believe that his friends cared more about what he and Applejack did in their room than about being saved from the attack of a strange and dangerous magical root.

"Enough!" Applejack suddenly yelled and looked very seriously at her friends with a hot blush. "I know you guys are my friends, and I know there should be no secrets between us. But Dusk is my coltfriend, and... and there are things that are ours... only ours. Sometimes there are secrets you want to keep with the pony you love, and… and whether or not something happened in that room, it's one of those secrets. Because no matter what happened there, for me it was special, and although it sounds selfish, I want that to remain only between Dusk and me!"

After Applejack finished speaking, with her last cry being a mixture of pleading and annoyance, they all fell completely silent. Dusk couldn't help but look away with a blush, thinking that Applejack was right. He also felt that there were certain things that he preferred to remain a sweet secret between them. For their part, the rest of the mares gave a sheepish look, also thinking that perhaps they were being too invasive with Applejack's privacy. The five mares had promised that they would accept that one of them would be Dusk's marefriend, and respecting the couple's privacy should be one of those things to accept. They all finally decided to stop insisting and continued walking, trying to focus on the important mission: rescuing Zecora.

"There's nothing to worry about, after all, we all promised that none of us would do 'THAT' with Dusk. There's no way Applejack would break our deal." Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy thought. The pegasi a little more relieved to remember that her honest friend would never break a deal or betray them.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie had a more worried look, unable to be as calm as their other two friends. They both knew that there was actually a way to avoid the third rule that they had set for themselves, and that made both mares unable to stop thinking that something could have happened between Applejack and Dusk.

Finally, after going quite a long way into the forest, they all reached a part where the forest began to descend, entering a cavern full of lianas. Thus they continued advancing, seeing how the black roots became more abundant, until they reached a part where they could no longer advance past a part of the deep forest where thick vines blocked access. That caught Dusk's attention, since the lianas that blocked the access were the normal green lianas of the forest, like the ones that the deer had moved when they entered the kingdom of Thicket.

"I guess we'll just have to force our way through from here." Dusk said, touching the vines with his hoof and lighting up his horn, ready to use his magic to cut the vines. However, just then the vines moved on their own, opening the path in front of the ponies.

"What was that? I didn’t do anything." Dusk mused, realizing that the passage had been opened just like when Blackthorn used his magic.

Thinking that the fact that the vines moved on their own could be a sign of danger, Dusk kept his horn shining to defend himself from any attack, and slowly he and his friends continued to advance along the now open path. Once they passed through the mysterious blocked path, everyone was shocked at what they found.

"Zecora!" The five mares shouted excitedly, seeing that their search had paid off.

Sure enough, there was the zebra they had been looking for so long. Zecora was standing on an esplanade in front of a large tree, which was surrounded by those black and pointed roots. Around the zebra were dozens of vials, as if Zecora had used a lot of potions in that place. Furthermore, it seemed that Zecora was exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn't rested for days.

Zecora turned around and made a surprised face, as if the last thing she had expected was to find the familiar group of ponies there. The five mares ran to hug Zecora to see if she was okay.

"How come you are all here? And how come you all remember me!?" Zecora asked in surprise, since, like Dusk, she was unaware that the five mares remembered everything that happened and how they met Zecora after Discord’s spell.

Oblivious to everything that happened with Zecora and the mares, Dusk had also been surprised after arriving at that place, which looked like a cave covered with lianas and black roots. However, unlike his friends, Dusk wasn’t perplexed when he saw that his teacher was actually there, but rather because of the tree that was in front of Zecora.

Despite the fact that the huge tree was covered with black roots, as if it was being suffocated by them, Dusk could notice that it was far from a normal tree. It didn’t seem to be made of wood, rather it seemed to be made of some kind of crystal rocks, which seemed to have some faint glow of its own. Another thing that caught Dusk's attention was that there was a large emblem carved in the middle of the tree. The emblem had a very particular shape that made Dusk freeze and gave him a slight chill on his back... That figure engraved in the center of that strange tree, was identical to the central star of his cutie mark!

"Dusk... Dusk!" Applejack's voice said, shaking Dusk out of his train of thought.

Returning to reality, Dusk saw that his marefriend had been calling him. She and all her friends were with Zecora, waiting for him to come too. Only then was Dusk completely distracted from the strange tree and returned to focus on the mission that had brought him there.

"Z-Zecora! I'm glad you're fine." Dusk said as he approached his teacher and friend with a relieved smile. "We came here to rescue you."

"Rescue me? Rescue me from whom?" Zecora asked. Her confusion was mirrored by Dusk and his friends.

After Dusk explained that they were coming to rescue her from King Aspen, who was keeping her captive to torture her, Zecora laughed and said that everything seemed to be a big misunderstanding. Then Zecora began to tell Dusk what had happened.

Weeks ago, apparently a few days before Discord's appearance in Ponyville, the Lord of Chaos had appeared at the old Castle of the Two Sisters searching for the Elements of Harmony. There, Zecora had confronted him, but she was no match for Discord, who put her into a trance. It was there that King Aspen rescued her, taking her to the Kingdom of Thicket. After that, Zecora spent days asleep under Discord's trance, and it was only thanks to the magic of the deer and King Aspen that she was finally able to wake up. Once awake, the deer accepted her to stay with them, since she, like the deer, believed in the magic of the forest and its protection.

For days, Zecora kept learning about the deer's magic and their connection to the forest until King Aspen took her to where she was now, where those dark and terrifying roots had begun to grow.

"King Aspen took me to see the Tree of Harmony. For days, we have tried to stop these roots full of dark magic." Zecora said, finishing her story. "Sadly, we have only managed to slow their progress. The roots slowly continue to spread, and we fear that if we don't do something, they’ll end up engulfing the entire forest and perhaps all of Equestria."

"So, King Aspen isn't evil?" Fluttershy asked.

"But why did he and Blackthorn say they tortured you?" Rarity pondered, looking at Zecora just as confused as her friend.

"And more importantly... What is the Tree of Harmony!?" Dusk pointed towards the strange tree that had his cutie mark engraved on it, guessing that this must be the famous tree that Zecora was referring to.

"The truth is that I’m not completely sure. The deer haven’t told me all their secrets." Zecora answered, turning to look at the tree behind her. "All I know is that this tree seems to be connected to the Elements of Harmony in some way." Zecora added, narrowing her eyes and then putting on an annoyed look. "I knew that without the Elements the Forest would be corrupted at some point..."

Dusk stared at the big Tree of Harmony for a while and saw how slowly the black roots advanced, trying to cover it completely.

"I could bring the Elements of Harmony and use them against the black roots, but..." Dusk said with an insecure look.

"You feel it too, don't you?" Zecora said, guessing what her student was thinking. "Looks like those black roots... are also part of the tree."

"What!? So that makes it easier, right?" Rainbow Dash said shrugged. "If that tree is the one that is growing those roots, let’s use the Elements of Harmony against the tree."

"That's the problem..." Dusk replied with a worried look. “This tree exudes a strange magic… It resembles the magic exuded by the Elements of Harmony, but… it feels wilder, like the magic exuded by the forest itself. If I had to define it, it doesn't feel like something evil... I don't know if it's a good idea to use the elements against the tree."

"So, we don't know if the tree is good or bad?" Fluttershy asked. “But… If we don't do anything, those black roots could keep going all the way to Ponyville.

“They have already started to arrive.” Applejack remembered seeing those roots in her farm. It was frightening to imagine that those roots could grow in her farm just as thick and wild as they had in this part of the forest.

“We must know what the origin of this tree is.” Dusk said, looking seriously at Zecora. "We have to convince the King to tell us the truth about the Tree of Harmony."

"Hmm... I doubt the King wants to tell the secrets of his forest to you ponyfolk." Zecora replied thoughtfully, remembering her conversations with King Aspen noting his aversion to ponies. Then Zecora looked at Dusk curiously, remembering something. She reached over to her potion bag and pulled out a small glass bottle filled with a purple liquid. “For years, my mother kept this potion. Apparently, it’s a potion that allows whoever drinks it to see the past. If we could use it, we might know the true origin of this tree.”

“That… That's amazing! It's just what we need!” Dusk said excitedly, since he had never heard of a potion that allowed him to see the past. Then Dusk took the bottle, ready to take the potion, however, Zecora quickly removed it from his hooves before he drank from it.

“This potion is not ready; it’s still missing an ingredient. And it’s because of that missing ingredient that neither I nor anyone else has been able to use it before. To complete it, Alicorn magic must be used on it until it changes color.” Zecora said with a worried look. “Years ago, my mother requested an audience with Princess Celestia to help her learn more about the Lord of Chaos and his past. But the Princess refused to use her magic on the potion." Zecora added with some resentment in her voice.

“The Princess refused? Perhaps she didn't trust your mother to use that potion well..." Dusk said with surprise. "But now it's different, if I ask her, maybe-"

"I'm sorry, but I doubt my sister will help you." A voice suddenly interrupted, causing everyone to turn around. Entering the same way that Dusk and his friends had arrived was Princess Luna, accompanied by the deer captain, Blackthorn. “Unfortunately, my sister likes to keep her secrets. I doubt that she wants someone to see in the past.” Luna added, approaching to where Dusk and the others were.

Dusk didn't know how to react to the arrival of the unlikely pair. He thought that the captain would probably be furious that he had been locked up, however, it seemed that the deer captain wasn’t angry at all. In fact, once he reached Dusk, he bowed his head slightly and apologized.

"I'm sorry I provoked you in the castle, but it was the King's orders." Blackthorn said calmly, as if all that discussion between him and Dusk had never happened. "I guess your teacher already told you that the torture thing was just a lie."

“Wait… You were the one who opened the path covered by the vines, right? You’ve been following us all this time.” Dusk realized that with how stealthy the deer were, it wouldn't be difficult for the captain to follow them without them noticing. "But I don't understand, why did the King want to provoke me and make me angry?"

“Apparently the King is very afraid of the ponies' magic. There is an old legend of a raging pony who nearly destroyed the forest in its madness." Blackthorn answered with a more serious look. “I guess the King was testing you. Still, I think you passed it. No matter how much I provoked you, you ultimately didn't use your magic against me. You did lock me in a pretty harsh bubble though… If it wasn't for the Princess of the Night, I'd probably still be trapped.” Blackthorn added with a small smile.

Dusk was surprised, but then he couldn't help but look away with a worried expression at the memory of what happened.

“That's right, I didn't use my magic to attack Blackthorn in the end, but I almost did!” Dusk thought, scared with himself. “If it hadn't been for my friends… how would I have really reacted!?”

While Dusk and Blackthorn talked, Luna slowly approached the large tree trapped between the black roots.

“This is the Tree of Harmony. It’s the original guardian of the Elements of Harmony.” Luna said, recognizing that huge tree immediately. “With Celestia, we got the Elements out of here when we had to face the great evils that threatened Equestria. However… I have never seen these roots before.” Luna added, carefully touching one of the black roots and seeing that it reacted violently in a twist.

“Well, that's a clue. But we still don't really know where the tree or the black roots came from." Dusk said to Luna and then looked at Blackthorn. Who, seeing Dusk's look, simply shook his head, making him understand that he didn't know more about that tree either.

"Great, it seems that the only two who know about this tree are now in the castle, and neither will talk..." Dusk thought in annoyance.

Suddenly, a brightness next to him pulled Dusk out of his thoughts. Turning around, he saw that Luna had used her magic on the potion Zecora was holding. Just as the zebra pointed out, upon receiving alicorn magic, the potion changed color from purple to white.

“Celestia is no longer the only alicorn in this kingdom.” Luna said with a serious look, after having transformed the potion. “If I heard correctly, with this I’ll be able to see the past? Will I be able to see what my sister hides so much?” Luna asked, looking at Zecora. To which, the zebra nodded seriously.

"It’s not Princess Celestia's past that we seek, but the origin of this tree and the dark roots." Dusk said as he approached Luna. "Though... Perhaps they’re related." Dusk added with a thoughtful look, opening himself to the crazy possibility that his teacher, symbol of light and perfection, was somehow related to the dark magic of those roots.

“Whether or not my sister is related to this is something I’ll find out soon.” Luna said, taking the potion and bringing it to her lips to drink it.

"Wait! I… I also want to use it, I need to see the origin of this tree.” Dusk said quickly, stopping Luna before she drank the potion. Then Dusk looked at the tree out of the corner of his eye and again put on a worried look when he saw his own cutie mark engraved on it. “Since the potion is only activated by alicorn magic, I guess only a Princess can use it. But if I use a mind-binding spell, maybe I can see what you see too.”

Luna widened her eyes in surprise and then averted her worried gaze. That request to somehow affect Dusk's mind reminded her of when she accepted that Dusk put himself at risk when he wanted to alter his own memories. That had been a serious mistake, one that Sunset Shimmer had luckily managed to avoid. However, Luna continued to blame herself for having been foolish enough to accept that Dusk put himself at risk.

"I know it can be dangerous to mentally join two minds, but if I use-" Dusk said, thinking of a way to not put Luna at risk.

"You’ll do no such thing!" Luna yelled, causing Dusk to shut up. Then Luna stared at the colt face to face. “You're going to tell me that you want to take all the risk to protect me, right? Enough of wanting to sacrifice yourself for others! I'll use the mind-binding spell, but only I’ll expose myself. I’ll not let anyone, especially you, take risks in vain.”

“Especially me?” Dusk thought. A small blush rose up in his cheeks.

Luna lit her horn and stretched out one of her hooves for Dusk to hold. Dusk reluctantly took Luna's hoof, and his horn lit up in a spiral just like the blue alicorn's horn. Luna then levitated the vial with Zecora's potion and drank it.

For a few seconds, it seemed like nothing happened. Until Luna's eyes glowed brightly, as did her horn. A second later, Dusk's eyes lit up in the same way, and thus, both ponies stopped seeing what was in front of them, and their minds traveled to the distant past of six hundred years ago...

In the heart of the Everfree Forest, was the Castle of the Two Sisters. The castle already had parts of its roof destroyed after the battles fought there, but it was stiill in much better condition than the ruins in which Dusk Shine and his friends met it in the present. In the middle of that place, Princess Celestia stood in front of a great altar where the six gems that represented the Elements of Harmony were.

"Why…? Why don't they work anymore!? Why don't they respond to my magic!?" Celestia said with desperate frustration. Dusk had never seen such a destressed expression on his teacher’s face ever before.

“Celestia? What are you doing here?" King Aspen said suddenly, walking through the old castle gates.

"I need to use the Elements, but... I can't resonate them." Celestia huffed, not even turning to look at Aspen and just focused on the altar in front of her.

Aspen was also surprised. Then he narrowed his eyes and looked away with a thoughtful look, as if something unpleasant had occurred to him.

"Maybe you can't use them... because your heart isn't in harmony right now." Aspen said, walking over to Celestia with a concerned look.

"What are you talking about?" The princess questioned the deer.

“You know what I mean…” Aspen answered, looking seriously at his friend. "Ever since you were attacked by 'that creature', you haven't been the same... Ever since that day, you can't seem to stop thinking about the past."

At the deer's words, Celestia looked away in annoyance.

"You don't understand. 'She' didn't just attack me and my kingdom." Celestia said with an angry look. “She reminded me of all the mistakes of my past… Luna, Starswirl, Crystal… She knew how much it hurt me to remember them. Not just because I missed them, but because it was my fault that none of them are by my side now." Celestia added with a look full of anguish.

“You’re letting yourself be blinded by pain. You weren’t to blame for anything. They made decisions that affected their lives, you only stopped them for the sake of your kingdom.” Aspen said with worry, noticing that his friend Celestia seemed to be too emotionally unstable.

What Aspen said was totally true and deep down, Celestia knew it. However, after defeating the last threat that attacked her a few days ago, the remorse and guilt that Celestia felt for centuries finally overcame her... Years of suppressing her own emotions made them accumulate until they finally exploded like a raging volcano. In such a state, the white alicorn was unable to control her emotions, an inner despair forming in her heart, one that made it impossible for her to think clearly.

At that moment, Celestia gave up on the Elements of Harmony and glared at Aspen, blinded by pain.

“You have always been surrounded by your own. You’ve never had to say goodbye to a sister, a teacher, a student. You don’t know how I feel!" Celestia yelled in frustration, closing her eyes in anger. Then she made a decision that she had wanted to avoid making, but in such an emotional state, it seemed to her that it was her only option.

Celestia's horn gradually lit up, and the air around her grew thin. Instantly, it was as if she and Aspen were immersed in a deep and terrifying silence while Celestia gathered dark magic in her horn, ready to use magic that she herself had prohibited in her kingdom.

“I'm sick of being alone… I'm sick of trying to be perfect… I'm sick of making the same mistakes…” Celestia said as the air around her slowly began to swirl. Her eyes became bright, and her horn was covered in a strange green, purple and black aura. “If I can't use the Elements of Harmony to bring Luna back… Then I'll use other methods to obtain that power…” Celestia added, with so much pain accumulated in her heart, that she began to cry. Tears that, due to the heat of her magical aura, turned into flames running down her cheeks.

Aspen looked terrified when he saw Celestia using dark magic, slowly unleashing all of her enormous Alicorn power. In all the years that the two of them had fought together, he had always been surprised and terrified by the great magical power that his friend had, which always made him thankful to have her as an ally. However, now he saw before him a power that he could hardly face. He had to make her see reason, but he didn't know how.

“Celestia! Stop!" Aspen yelled to make himself heard, as they were surrounded by the great gust of wind that now enveloped Celestia. He was only able to stand there thanks to his own magic, given by the Heart of the Forest. “Do you think Luna would have wanted this!? Do you think Starswirl would have wanted it!?”

"I'll never know, because they're not with me anymore... But that is something, I plan to fix right now..." Celestia added, finishing charging dark magic into her horn. She then began to recite a spell; one she had found written in stone many years ago where her former master had disappeared.

~Spirit of eternal darkness, master of war and power, hear my call. Turn me into the flame that burns everything, turn me into the sea that drowns everything~ Celestia began to recite in ancient ponish.

That spell was actually a curse, the first of six stanzas. A very old spell that bound whoever said it with a very old and powerful being. One that was capable of bringing unimaginable power to whoever summoned it. But like all curses, this one had a huge cost. A cost Celestia was unaware of, but one she hoped she could control, thanks to her own power.

~Hold my enemies down to bow to my power, give me the strength to reach my desired goal. Turn me into the light that sees everything, turn me into the darkness that engulfs everything~ Celestia recited the second of the stanzas of the curse.

Celestia's magic turned completely dark, as her eyes seemed to slowly fade, turning completely black.

“Celestia! Don't make me your enemy! Don't make me stop you!" Aspen yelled desperately, trying to appeal one last time to the reason of his oldest friend.

“It's too late…” Celestia whispered, determined to gain power to get her sister back and end all evil in her kingdom.

~Abate the light, goodness and freedom from my mind, consecrate my soul to darkness. Turn me into the sword that cuts everything. Turn me into the spear that pierces everything ~ Celestia recited the third stanza of the curse.

Celestia's mane and tail seemed to burn in the air, their beautiful rainbow color disappearing into the colors of fire, or rather, her own mane turned into raging flames which would burn as long as her heart was filled with anger and darkness.

Understanding that he couldn't make Celestia reason, Aspen decided to attack with his own magic. Green fire surrounded the deer's antlers, a flaming heart formed between his antlers and a strong bolt struck Celestia's chest squarely.

~Dismiss any doubt and hope from my heart, cradle me in the icy eternal night of the abyss. Turn me into the storm that destroys everything. Turn me into the tremor that breaks everything~ Celestia recited the fourth stanza of the curse.

Celestia's magic increased exponentially. Her royal ornaments changed shape and color, becoming terrifying and spiky, a deep crimson color, as if they were cast iron glued to her fur. A bright yellow pupil finally appeared in Celestia's eyes. Finally, a strange and crooked devilish smile appeared on her mouth.

With a simple movement of her wings, Celestia blew away Aspen's powerful magic as if it were a simple breeze. Causing the great deer king to fall hard on his back in complete helplessness.

"Celestia... Please don't succumb to the darkness..." Aspen begged his friend weakly.

“I haven’t succumbed to the darkness… Can't you see!? I am pure light! Now my light will illuminate everyone!” Celestia laughed, causing her mane to catch fire and shoot flames all over the place and collapse the few remaining good walls of the old castle, burning everything around her. “There will be no more danger in my kingdom, no more evil… In place of a dark lord, there will be a bright lord. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the morning and the night! Fair as the sea and the sun and the snow upon the mountain! Dreadful as the storm and the lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair! They will all bow down to their Queen, DAYBREAKER!!” Celestia screamed, spreading her flames, burning everything in her path.

With the little magic left in Aspen, the deer tried to shield himself from the enormous heat spread by Celestia's fire. However, the heat was such that the gold in Aspen's necklace began to melt, slowly burning his neck as it melted into his skin.

~Old wraith, I offer my life to the shadows in exchange for the eternal power of the void, present before me, lord of darkness. Become my guide. Become my shadow. Become my eyes. Become my strength~ Celestia recited the fifth and penultimate stanza of the curse.

Celestia's consciousness was about to fade. There was only one verse left, only one to complete the ancient curse.

“Submit to me… Save your sister… Save your kingdom… Immerse yourself in the shadows…” Celestia heard as her consciousness shifted to another plane of existence. A dark voice that seduced her. There was no turning back, Celestia would no longer exist... Daybreaker would just be one more container, one to house its new owner... now its name would be...

"NO!!" Suddenly another voice yelled, a voice that made Celestia's eyes widen in recognition. The voice of a very old friend. "What do you think you're doing? I didn't teach you this! You’re more than this! Cease this foolishness!!" The old pony's voice yelled, with a mixture of fear and concern.

Celestia's soul felt disembodied in this place, wandering in what seemed to be a limbo. Yet despite barely being able to feel anything, she somehow knew she wasn't alone. At her side were other beings, other souls, who had also fallen into despair. All floating in a limbo struggling between existence and non-existence.

"Princess?" Said a weak voice next to Celestia, one that she didn't know how to recognize.

At that moment, Celestia could feel that in that dark limbo six small lights approached her, filled her with warmth, and slowly moved her away from the realm.

“Never say the sixth verse… Never!” The old stallion’s voice said, berating Celestia as if she were a filly. Then the old pony's voice softened and Celestia felt as if a hoof brushed her face. “Now go, and remember… You’re not alone… You never will be…”

In that instant, Celestia was able to regain her consciousness.

“Ahhh!” Celestia cried out in pain, feeling the incomplete curse fight not to leave her body. "Get out of my body!!" Celestia yelled at herself. She forced herself to control her power and expel the dark being that was trying to merge with her soul.

With a great explosion of fire, Celestia's appearance returned to normal and fell back onto the fall in complete exhaustion.

After several minutes of silence, Aspen slowly stood up, barely enduring the pain in his body, and walked over to where Celestia was. There, he saw that the alicorn could barely keep her eyes open. Fighting the curse made her use up all her magic, so now she was totally defenseless.

Seeing her in such a state, Aspen touched his sore neck where his gold necklace had melted and left a nasty burn. Then he looked at Celestia with an expression full of anger.

“You’re a danger to everyone in this world… I… I cannot let you live.” Aspen said furiously, raising his hoof, ready to attack his oldest ally. However, Aspen's heart couldn't help remembering the centuries of friendship the two had shared. He closed his eyes in pain, knowing he wouldn't be able to do what he should. "I’ll let you live, but I don't want you to come near me or my kingdom ever again... Today, you have lost your last ally and friend."

With those words, Aspen slowly withdrew. Celestia was too exhausted to say anything, she could only shed a small tear before completely passing out.

As if everything they had seen had been a very vivid dream, Luna and Dusk saw a great flash of light, and finally their consciousness returned to the real world. When they did, the first thing they saw were the worried faces of Dusk's friends, who were very worried when they saw that Dusk and Luna simply stayed frozen for minutes with their eyes shining like headlights.

“A-Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked with concern once she saw that Dusk and Luna's eyes stopped shining.

“I… I think so.” Dusk said, shaking his head, still surprised by what he saw.

“Did the potion work? Did you see anything? Zecora asked.

"Yes. We saw something, but… It wasn’t what I expected.” The lavender colt explain. Luna was still in shock what she had just witnessed. "I thought we would see the past of the Tree of Harmony, but we didn't see anything related to either the tree or the strange black roots."

"That... maybe it was my fault." Luna muttered, looking down at the ground with a confused look as if she was still trying to understand what she had just seen. “When I took the potion, all I could think about was knowing a little more about my sister's past. Perhaps that was why… We saw that vision.”

After putting on a thoughtful look for several seconds, Dusk narrowed his eyes at a very dangerous idea.

"Perhaps... the potion did show us the solution." Dusk suggested. "Perhaps with the spell Princess Celestia used, we may have the power to stop these roots."

"What!? No! Are you insane!? Didn't you see what that spell did to my sister!?" Luna said with terror.

“I've already tried cutting the roots with normal magic. No matter what I do, they just grow back.” Dusk said, also fearful of the idea he was proposing. But the truth was that he had no other idea at the moment. "But if we use dark magic, even just a little bit, maybe-"

"NO!" Luna said with a stomp of her hoof. “Dark magic cannot be controlled. You should know by now, you saw it in the vision, you saw it with me when I was Nightmare Moon!”

“But this curse is different, isn't it? I'm not entirely sure, but it seems like it's not the same kind of magic that turned you into Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago, is it?" Dusk asked, testing his theory.

Luna was surprised at the suggestion and averted her worried gaze. What Dusk said was precisely one of the things that scared her the most about that vision. She never thought that Celestia also had a dark side, that it even called itself 'Daybreaker', just as she had when she became Nightmare Moon. But the methods they used to obtain power were very different. Nightmare Moon had been born from her desire to be recognized. And for that reason, even though Luna had also used dark magic from a cursed book, Nightmare Moon was still a part of her. But seeing the vision of the past, Luna realized that Celestia's curse was different. Her power came from merging her soul with a dark and ancient being, and that could be much more dangerous.

"As long as I don't say the six stanzas of the curse, I'll be fine." Dusk said, thinking that his idea was crazy, but perhaps the potion had shown them such a vision for a reason. “Besides, if I were to lose control, you can stop me. After all, I'm just a unicorn. Even if I gain power with dark magic, your alicorn magic will still be stronger than mine."

Luna lost her nerve and put on a completely terrified look. She wasn’t only horrified by what Dusk was asking of her, but also because he wanted her to make the same mistake again.

"Enough!... Don't ask me a second time to accept that you risk your life." Luna said, looking at Dusk with a pleading look. “You're not 'just a unicorn' to me… Please, don't ask me to just look to the side while you hurt yourself…” Luna begged with glazed eyes, almost on the verge of tears.

At that moment the ground under their hooves shook, and all the black roots that surrounded the Tree of Harmony grew, spreading into the air, and started attacking the ponies. One by one the roots attacked and separated each of those present, forming a great vine, trapping each pony, preventing them from seeing each other.

While Dusk used his magic to cut the roots that attacked him, which immediately grew back; he heard the screams of his friends next to him.

"Girls!! Are you okay?!" Dusk shouted as he tried to look past the thick roots. The walls of black roots prevented him from seeing his friends, and it grew thicker with each second which muffled the screams.

Dusk could slightly see some flashes of blue lights, which were probably from Princess Luna trying to free herself. However, it seemed that even her aliocrn magic had trouble getting through the roots.

“Normal magic doesn't work!” Dusk thought with absolute terror. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before the sharp thorns of the roots would overcome his friends.

Seeing that the ponies' normal magic didn't work, Dusk remembered the idea he had had just before the roots attacked them. Then he closed his eyes tight and sighed, determined that it didn't matter if it was dark magic, he would sell his soul to the devil. If it meant that he could save his friends.

~Spirit of eternal darkness, master of war and power, hear my call. Turn me into the flame that burns everything, turn me into the sea that drowns everything~ Dusk recited the first stanza of the curse.

In the castle of the Kingdom of Thicket, Celestia and Aspen chatted after centuries without having exchanged a word. As suspicious as the Deer King was, he decided he didn't want to be alone with Celestia in his chambers, so they ended up talking alone in the castle's great library.

“Thank you so much for giving me this audience, King Aspen.” Celestia said solemnly.

“Don't think anything has changed between us, Celestia. The only reason I agreed to see you is because there are many doubts that I need to be cleared up.” Aspen answered coldly, touching his neck. Under his necklace, the scars that Celestia herself had caused six hundred years ago were hidden. “How is it that you managed to get your sister back? What's more, it seems that there is no trace of the darkness that consumed her. I thought bringing her back was-"

"Impossible. I know." Celestia interrupted. “It wasn't me who got Luna back. It was my student, Dusk Shine, along with his friends. They managed to activate the Elements of Harmony and expel the evil that had taken over Luna's heart."

At that moment Celestia's gaze was distracted, and she looked curiously to her right where there was a large shelf with very old books.

“Strange… I feel a residue of magic here. But I thought Aspen banished ponies from his kingdom…” Celestia thought, with a suspicious look.

"Still, I thought that even with the Elements of Harmony, it would be impossible to return Luna to her true form." Aspen said, remembering how Celestia had almost turned into a monster by using that cursed power.

"I haven't talked to Luna about where she got the dark power to become Nightmare Moon, but apparently she didn't use the same method as me." Celestia said with a sad look as she remembered her past. “After banishing Nightmare Moon, I searched Luna's old room for any clues as to what caused her to transform like that, but all I found was an old blank book. I guess the magic of that book affected her heart somehow. In Luna's case, there was 'something' that gave her power, but in return it filled her heart with rage. Still, she was still Luna on the inside... When Nightmare Moon came back, I could tell. Luna was still there, even at times, she herself was fighting against her own dark side. However, in my case, it was… different.” Celestia added, revealing the theories she had been thinking about for months since Luna's return. “I used a cursed spell. A curse that wasn’t tied to any object, but to the words themselves when reciting them. That curse made my own soul go to a limbo, a space far from this world, perhaps outside of the same time. There, something wanted to take over my soul, replace my existence with someone else's... It wasn't part of me, it was... something else. If it hadn't been for-” At that moment, Celestia raised her head and widened her eyes in horror.

"What's going on?" Aspen asked, confused and worried at the sight of the alicorn's face.

"Someone... Someone is trying to use the cursed spell, I can feel it!" Celestia exclaimed. She immediately thought of her sister and Dusk and prayed to the heavens that neither of them were making the same mistake that she had made centuries ago.

The magic emanated from Dusk's horn had turned almost completely dark, just like in the vision he had had about Celestia's past. However, Dusk's horn still released some sparks of his own magenta magic.

Unlike Celestia, who had been willing to accept the curse in her heart, Dusk internally kept fighting to prevent 'something' from taking control of his body. All he wanted was its power to help save his friends, but deep down he still refused to accept the consequences of that power. However, his resistance grew less and less with each stanza of the curse.

~Old wraith, I offer my life to the shadows in exchange for the eternal power of the void, present before me, lord of darkness. Become my guide. Become my shadow. Become my eyes. Become my strength~ Dusk recited the fifth and penultimate stanza of the curse. Thus, arriving at the same point he had seen Celestia arrive in the vision.

Like the Celestia of the past, Dusk's consciousness faded into another world that was no longer governed by the same rules as the real world. A world cut off from time and space, a world he would later learn was called: limbo.

Dusk lost all sensation of his body. In that instant, he understood that he had lost the battle. He could no longer exert any resistance to the curse in his current state. Dusk realized his serious mistake too late. He thought that like his teacher, he could stop the curse in that state, and thus control its power. But he understood far too late that this was the trick of the curse. It wasn’t necessary to say the last stanza of the curse, as his own self-control disappeared after the fifth stanza.

"Submit to me... Save your sister... Save your kingdom... Immerse yourself in the shadows..." Dusk heard a dark voice seduce him as his consciousness went into limbo.

Fleetingly, Dusk's mind managed to remember that those were the words he had heard in the vision of Celestia's past. But… Why did he listen to them there again? Was it a memory? Or was someone repeating them to him? Dusk couldn't know for sure. That world was so ethereal and confusing that Dusk couldn't even know if he himself continued to exist or not.

"NO!!" Suddenly the same voice that Dusk heard in Celestia's vision shout. It was the voice of a desperate old pony who was trying to save someone close to Dusk. "What do you think you're doing? I didn't teach you this! You’re more than this! Cease this foolishness!" The old pony's voice shouted, again yelling at the presence that was next to Dusk.

"Princess?" Dusk whispered weakly, fleetingly acknowledging the presence that was now at his side.

“Was it my voice?” Dusk tried to think. His whole world was a swirl of confusion and anguish. He couldn’t tell if this was Celestia's vision, a memory of him, or if it was happening right at that moment. Well, the truth was that everything happened at the same time, in a world isolated from time, which had only been created to lock up a monster.

Dusk felt how six warm auras approached the being by his side and took him away from that world, away from danger.

“Never say the sixth verse… Never!” The old pony's voice said from afar as he moved Celestia's soul away from the kingdom.

"Submit to me... Save your friends... Immerse yourself in the shadows..." The dark voice said again. Taking advantage of the fact that the six warm auras had moved away to seduce its new prey.

"NO!!" The old pony's voice shouted from afar, trying to return after having saved Celestia.

“You chose to save her… Now this one is mine…” The dark voice said, laughing triumphantly.

Then Dusk began to feel a cold sensation began to cover him completely. And even though he didn't feel his body or his mouth move, somehow he knew that his real body, somewhere, was about to say the sixth stanza of the curse. Because what was his body, no longer belonged to him. Now his body belonged to that deep darkness.

"Everything will be fine." A soft voice said. A very distant voice, but so powerful that it made Dusk regain his consciousness and feel warmth in his soul again. A warmth that chased away the icy shadow that had nearly eaten his soul.

"What's this!? Who are you!!" The dark voice screamed in terror, as if it had never faced the light and heat that had saved Dusk before.

The world around Dusk began to shine, while the sensations returned to his body, and his mortal soul returned to the real world.

“DUSK!!” A female voice yelled. A scream that made Dusk slowly open his eyes, so confused that he still didn't know where he was or what was happening.

"Princess?" Dusk said slowly, saying the first thing that came to his mind. That, because the voice that he had heard until just a few seconds ago, and that had saved him from the darkness, he had heard before somewhere.

'Everything will be fine' It was the voice that Dusk had heard when he got his cutie mark. A voice that calmed his magic out of control, and that Dusk had associated with the princess, because when he woke up, the first thing he had felt had been Princess Celestia's soft hooves supporting him. Now, he had heard that voice again, and again someone was hugging him, only this time it wasn't the princess but his friends. They had called out his name and now they were hugging him tightly.

“That voice… It wasn't the Princess… Who was it?” Dusk thought, not understanding how he had heard the same voice twice, more than ten years apart.

Dusk looked to his side as he slowly came out of his confusion. Around him were his five friends hugging him tightly, all of them covered in scratches. Apparently, seeing that they had all been separated by being attacked by the black roots, they all felt when Dusk began to use dark magic. They all felt that their beloved stallion was in danger and fought with all their strength against the black roots, making their way to Dusk to hug and contain him. They prayed that he would return to the real world after seeing his body being eaten away by dark magic.

"You gone and did something stupid again, didn't you?" Applejack said with a voice trembling with fear and relief. Tear were freely flowing from her eyes as she hugged the colt that she loved.

"You have to stop trying to sacrifice yourself and trying doing everything alone!" Pinkie Pie said, looking at Dusk also with tears in her eyes after seeing him in such a terrifying state.

“Never forget that we’re a team.” Rainbow Dash said as she wiped a tear from her cheek.

"We’re more than friends, Dusk. Our destinies are forever entwined with yours." Rarity said with teary eyes and sighed in relief when she saw that the lavender stallion was okay.

“You’re not alone… You never will be.” Fluttershy said with a tender smile, and her eyes shining from having been crying until recently.

At Fluttershy's words, Dusk remembered the vision he had of Celestia and how that old pony's voice had said exactly the same thing to the alicorn just before saving her. Then Dusk smiled and hugged his friends, immensely happy and relieved to be able to feel their warmth around him.

"I'm sorry... I'll never forget... Together until the end." Dusk said happily as he hugged his friends. He almost made the biggest mistake of his life and was so relieved that he was saved from it.

After a while, Dusk looked up and was surprised to see that the black roots that were around him began to recede. They retracted quickly and hid again under the ground just below the great Tree of Harmony.

"What happened?" Zecora asked, approaching where Dusk and his friends were. The zebra wasn’t present for what had happened between Dusk and the mares, so she had no idea why the black roots were receding.

The Tree of Harmony began to glow as the black roots receded. And then, Zecora was surprised to see that the cutie marks of the six ponies next to her also began to glow.

"The Tree of Harmony... is giving you its protection..." Zecora said in amazement, bowing in front of the huge tree that now glowed. For her, who had a strong connection with the forest and nature, this was a powerful sign that those six ponies had been recognized by the magic of the forest.

"Wait, are you saying that tree can think and choose who to save?" Rainbow Dash asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I know it sounds crazy, but... I think so." Dusk said, looking in amazement at the Tree of Harmony while the last black roots were banished. “It’s more than just a tree...”

“Was it your voice I heard?” Dusk thought as he looked at the Tree of Harmony, still not understanding everything that had happened.

"But what were all those black roots?" Captain Blackthorn asked, approaching the rest of the ponies. “Were they part of the Tree of Harmony? Why did it attack us?

"Perhaps... It wanted to test us." Dusk theorized, looking at the magical tree again and noticing that a black root hadn’t gone away. A dark root stood firm, standing right next to the tree. Specifically, very close to the engraved mark that was identical to Dusk's cutie mark. "I think it's a sign... That we should be careful about falling into the dark..."

The green vines that blocked the access to that cavern opened, and Aspen came down the path. He was surprised to see his captain, the Princess of the Night and the ponies that he had captured there. However, what surprised the King the most was seeing that the Tree of Harmony had returned to normal. All the black roots that had been suffocating it had disappeared. Even more so, the tree now had a faint glow of its own, something Aspen hadn't seen in ages, as if it were much healthier now.

Without saying a word, Aspen looked at everyone and saw that they were all very scratched after being attacked by the black roots, especially Dusk and his friends. The white deer opened the crystal heart that hung from his necklace, and with a quick movement he splashed the liquid that he kept on the ponies. Instantly, the ponies were surprised to see that as soon as that water touched their bodies, their wounds completely healed in an instance.

"Follow me." Aspen said once everyone was cured.

Immediately, they all followed the deer king as they left the cavern in which the Tree of Harmony was hidden. Then, when everyone was gone, Aspen again spilled some of the water from his crystal heart onto the ground. Causing the vines to once again block access to that important place, the true Heart of the Forest: The Tree of Harmony.

Once outside, everyone saw that Princess Celestia had accompanied the deer king, who sighed in relief seeing that everyone was okay. For her part, seeing the Princess of the Sun, Zecora couldn’t help but narrow her eyes in disgust, since she couldn’t fully trust someone who kept as many secrets as the alicorn.

When Celestia looked at her sister, she saw that Luna was looking at her with a sad look for some reason. Then she saw what her sister was carrying and recognized the potion. This potion was very similar to one that Starswirl himself had made once, one that could only be activated with alicorn magic and that allowed one to see events that had occurred in the past.

“Luna… What part of my past did you see?” Celestia thought with worry, understanding that her sister must have seen a part of her that she had wanted to keep hidden.

“Luna, I-” Celestia said fearfully. However, before she could say more, Luna walked over to her sister and gave her a big, warm hug.

“Please stop carrying all the weight of the world alone. I need you to trust and believe in me. I love you sister, and nothing you say or do will change that." Luna said, completely forgetting about her princess status. For a moment she didn't want to be the Princess of the Night, or an alicorn. She just wanted to be a normal pony, who hugged her sister and wanted to make her feel like she wasn't alone.

Fully understanding her younger sister's feelings, Celestia hugged Luna, smiled and shed a tear of happiness. It was such a relief that her sister didn't judge her for her past.

As both alicorn sisters hugged each other emotionally, Aspen kept looking at them thoughtfully. Remembering how both of them had made terrible mistakes, how both of them had even fought each other. But still, now both forgave and loved each other.

"What was it that happened here?" Aspen finally asked, turning around and focusing her serious gaze on Zecora and Dusk.

Dusk proceeded to tell the deer king what had happened. He explained how he and his friends had gotten there, the potion he and Luna had used to see the past, how the black roots attacked them, how in his desperation Dusk used a dark spell to gain power, and how their cutie marks glowed and the Tree of Harmony itself pushed back the roots. Dusk deliberately omitted the part where he had seen Celestia using dark magic in the past vision, since that could strongly affect the image that others had of her. As for Aspen, it wasn’t necessary for Dusk to explain that missing detail, since he himself had been in Celestia's fall, and he still remembered that moment very well. For her part, Celestia lowered her head sadly, realizing that she had failed Dusk as a teacher, since he had seen her selfishly using dark magic that could have ended Equestria itself.

“So you used the same cursed spell… And a voice managed to save you?” Aspen said with an incredulous look.

"I believe it may have been the Tree of Harmony itself who saved Dusk." Zecora said, looking at the deer King and pointing at the tree. Specifically, to the mark at the center of the tree. "It cannot be a coincidence."

Aspen looked at the tree and then at Dusk's cutie mark. The truth was that the Tree of Harmony was older than Aspen himself. He didn’t know all its mysteries, and that mark in its center had always attracted his attention. That was why when he met Dusk in his castle, he was strongly struck by seeing his cutie mark. Was it really a sign that the Tree of Harmony had chosen this lavender pony? Why a pony? They were just dangerous creatures that could endanger everyone with their magic. Or maybe… ponies were trustworthy, and he couldn't see it?

As Aspen looked thoughtfully at the Tree of Harmony, Dusk's and Celestia's gazes met. Seeing his teacher's sad look, Dusk simply smiled affectionately, making her understand that it didn't matter what he had seen. It didn't change the fact that she was his teacher, and he continued to admire her. Celestia was also able to smile at her student’s tender one, relieved to know that her dear student still seemed to love her, despite having almost fallen into the shadows.

“You also heard voices when you were in limbo, didn't you?” Celestia thought with a serious look. “We’ll have many things to talk about later, my dear student.”

“I don't know if the Heart of the Forest chose them or not, but what is certain is that the dark roots no longer threaten my kingdom. For that, I and my people are grateful to you.” Aspen said, bowing his head slightly in front of the ponies as a sign of thanks. “However, now you must go. You must return to your own kingdom.”

“King Aspen! Please." Celestia quickly pleaded, stepping forward and bowed at the great white deer. “I know that it’s impossible for us to return to the way we were before. But I beg you, please, let us return to our old alliance. I fear that dark times may come, and in the face of darkness, we’ll be stronger if we are united.”

Aspen narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the request, thinking that the only darkness that could threaten his kingdom was the one the ponies brought with them. However, then Aspen glanced sideways at Luna, who was also looking intently at him, waiting for him to accept her sister's request. Aspen couldn't believe that both sisters had forgiven each other after everything that had happened between them. If they could forgive each other… could he also forgive them?

"I refuse to form an alliance with the pony kingdom again." Aspen finally answered, looking seriously at Celestia. Who lowered her gaze sadly. "However, I’ll agree to resume diplomatic relations with your people... Ponies will no longer be barred from my kingdom." He added, looking at Dusk and the other ponies. He couldn't fully trust the ponies just yet, but he would at least take the first step to see if he could.

Celestia sighed and smiled gratefully. It wasn't what she had expected, but it was the first step. After six centuries, she had finally managed to talk to her former friend, and perhaps in time, their relationship could finally fully heal.

After both regents formally said their goodbyes, and Zecora chose to stay in the Kingdom of Thicket for a few more days; Celestia used her magic and all the ponies were transported out of the forest and back into the domains of the kingdom of Equestria.

“It's been a very hectic day, and Raven is probably stressed about me escaping my royal duties all day. But having reconnected with King Aspen, it was definitely worth it." Celestia said with a tired smile. She went to Dusk and gently touched his face with her hoof, while looking at him affectionately. “There's a lot we need to talk about, but rest for now. Also, there is someone else I owe a long talk.” Celestia added, looking away to look at Luna. She realized it was time to stop hiding things from her dear sister.

Without another word, Celestia spread her great wings and took flight, ready to return to her castle. For her part, Luna barely had time to say goodbye, and quickly imitated her sister and flew with her. Determined that at another time she would also talk more with Dusk, but for now, she and her sister had a lot to talk about.

After seeing the alicorn sisters fly away, Dusk turned and looked towards the forest with a smile and a look of astonishment.

“The Everfree Forest really is full of mysteries. Who would have thought that there was an entire hidden kingdom there? An entire race who live daily surrounded by the magic of the forest.” For the first time, the dark Everfree Forest didn’t seem so dark to him. "I hope this is the beginning for new friendships... And I hope we can see each other again soon, King Aspen..."

“Hmm, yeah… Uh… It might be sooner than you expect.” Pinkie Pie said, scratching her head and putting on a nervous smile. "Don't you think we forgot something?"

After looking at Pinkie Pie for a couple of seconds, everyone finally understood what she meant.

“The fillies!!” All the ponies screamed in fright.

Then they all ran back into the forest, unable to believe that Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had been left behind in the King's castle.

In the middle of the destroyed Castle of the Two Sisters, there was no one in the corridors or in the great hall, or at least, no one who could be seen with the naked eye. The ghost that had haunted the halls of King Aspen's castle had escaped from the kingdom of Thicket and was now wandering the ruins of the other castle.

"I suppose there's no need to be invisible here anymore." Said a voice in the middle of the room. Then, like a ripple in the water, a reflection began to appear until the figure of a pony appeared. "That invisibility spell was more useful than I thought." That pony added, while looking again at its hooves, which were now no longer transparent.

That pony continued to search the rubble of the old castle, with the certainty that what it was looking for must be there.

"I would have liked to see where Princess Celestia and King Aspen were going in such a hurry, but it was too risky to continue there, the Princess could have detected my spell... Surely that both of them left so quickly is related to that explosion of magic I felt not far from here.” That pony said while it continued in its search. "It was strange, first a dark magic was growing, and then the opposite, a great light magic overshadowed the dark magic until it faded away."

Not finding what it was looking for, that pony levitated a book with its unicorn magic and looked for a drawing in it, to remember what it was looking for looked like.

“It's a pity that the deer library didn't have any magic books. But at least it had excellent history books. Books that tell many things that don't appear in our history books…” That pony said with a smile while closing the book and looking through another set of rubble.

Suddenly, the pony opened its eyes in surprise to finally find what it was looking for. Then, that pony lowered its hoof and picked up the shattered helmet of the defeated Nightmare Moon's armor.

“There are many ways to gain power. But I prefer the safe path.” That pony said with a mischievous smile. "Now I just have to fix you up so you can fulfill your true purpose..." That pony added laughing. A laugh which resounded throughout that dark castle, predicting a new danger to the already threatened kingdom of Equestria.

End of chapter 14

Chapter 15 - Choosing a New Friend

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Choosing a New Friend

After being summoned by Princess Celestia, Dusk hurried to take the train from Ponyville to get to Canterlot Castle as quickly as possible. After all, he had been waiting for this call for several days.

After the events that occurred in the Tree of Harmony, Dusk had many questions that needed to be clarified. Especially, regarding what he saw after having recited the same curse that his teacher recited six hundred years before.

Once he arrived at the palace, Dusk crossed the doors of the great audience hall where Princess Celestia was already waiting for him along with her sister, Princess Luna. Celestia asked Dusk to tell her in as much detail as possible what had happened after reciting the cursed spell. Guessing that his teacher had the same suspicions as him, Dusk recounted in great detail everything he saw and felt in that ethereal place called 'Limbo'. At the end, Celestia put on a thoughtful look, while Luna looked at her sister in surprise as she also realized that the stories of Celestia's past, and the one lived by Dusk were identical in many parts.

“When you were both in that limbo… You heard the exact same voices?” Luna had seen the vision of her sister's past, but until now she didn’t know the details of what happened with Dusk when he used the curse.

Dusk and Celestia were silent for a few seconds, however it was clear that they both had something to say. Both knew that there was a very important revelation in joining both stories, but the implication that it had was so important that neither was sure whether to say it out loud or not.

"In that limbo, I heard three voices." Celestia finally said, looking at Dusk seriously. “The first voice was that of the creator of that curse. A dark being that sought to seduce us into falling into darkness.”

"The second voice was that old pony who saved the Princess." Dusk continued his teacher's train of thought.

"And the third voice was from someone who had also fallen into limbo and was by my side at the time." Celestia continued, narrowing her eyes. "I never knew who it was, until..."

"It was my voice... I called you when I felt your presence." Dusk said, guessing what his teacher was thinking. "And the fourth voice, the Princess couldn’t hear it because the old pony took the Princess out of limbo, while I stayed there."

"Wait a moment! You... You’re talking as if what happened to Celestia six hundred years ago had happened at the same time as what happened to Dusk." Luna said as she put the peculiar puzzle together. "Are you saying that Dusk traveled to the past!?"

"I don’t think so. Rather, 'limbo' is a space that remains outside of time. Or at least that's what I think." Celestia said thoughtfully, confirming to Dusk that they had both come to the same conclusion. “That would explain why our consciousnesses met when they were transported there. And that would also explain why I heard our teacher's voice there." Celestia added, looking at Luna.

"Your teacher? Wait…did that old voice belong to Starswirl the Bearded!?” Dusk asked almost in shock. "How is that possible!? I… I heard the voice of Starswirl the Bearded with my very own ears!” Dusk shouted euphorically, almost foaming at the mouth with excitement.

For Dusk, a unicorn who had grown up to become a student of magic, it was impossible not to know the name of Starswirl the Bearded. That was the name of one of Equestria's greatest heroes, mentor of Princess Celestia herself, creator of hundreds of magical spells still in use today, the kingdom's first recognized great Archmage, and a standard to which every student of magic sought to achieve. The legendary unicorn had been Dusk Shine’s hero for as long as he could remember.

“The last time I saw my mentor, he was on his way to Hollow Shades. When Starswirl didn't come back, I went looking for him. There, I found some ancient ruins with its entrance blocked. Still, I managed to make my way into those ruins, hoping to find him, but all I found was traces of a battle… That's where I found a wall with many ancient runes carved on it, where that dark curse was written.” Celestia said, remembering when she was younger. It was another of the many secrets she had kept from Luna in her youth. “The curse was protected with a very ancient magic, which made it impossible to destroy the wall where it was carved. However, what I could recognize was the hoofwriting of Starswirl, who wrote on the floor of the wall 'Never use this spell!' For years I followed the warning that Starswirl left, knowing that it was dark and dangerous magic. I avoided it… Until that fateful day.” Celestia added, putting on a look of pain as she remembered the desperation she felt that day she used the curse.

After giving his teacher a few seconds to forget that feeling of guilt she felt, Dusk looked at both princesses and spoke again.

“If Starswirl disappeared that day… And the voice we heard in limbo was his, that means he might be stuck in limbo!” Dusk said, excited to think that that legendary pony could still be alive. "If so, we-"

"No." Celestia immediately interrupted, staring at Dusk. "I know what you're thinking Dusk, but even if there is a very small possibility that Starswirl was alive in there, we can't do anything. I know you’re young and reckless, but you must understand that there are risks that are sometimes too high. The best example is my sister and I, do you know all the pain we cause others by our reckless actions? Believing that we could control dark magic, when in reality we were just their puppets... Dusk, you must promise that you’ll never use that curse again."

Seeing the worried and guilty looks of both alicorn sisters, Dusk remembered how terrifying both had become with their dark alter egos. What Celestia said was totally true. In their madness, both sisters had threatened the safety of all of Equestria and hurt those they loved. At that moment, Dusk remembered when he woke up after using the curse. At that moment he saw all his friends hugging him, all covered in scratches and wounds, from struggling with the roots of the forest to get closer to him. Then the colt lowered his gaze guiltily, understanding very well what his teacher was referring to.

"I think the best thing to do would be... to erase that memory from my mind." Dusk said, looking guiltily at the princesses. "If I remember the curse, in some desperate moment, I might try to use it again."

ABoth sisters looked at each other with concern. What Dusk didn't know was that a part of his memories had already been blocked by Sunset Shimmer, by transferring Discord's curse to him. That implied that altering Dusk's memories again would be extremely risky. After all, the mind of a living being shouldn’t be altered in any way, and if it happened again, both sisters knew that Dusk's mind could suffer some irreparable damage.

"I trust you, Dusk. You’re my precious student, and I’m sure you’ll know how to keep your promise not to use that curse again.” Celestia said with a motherly smile. "And remember..." The princess added, approaching him and whispering something in his ear. To which Dusk reacted by blushing a little and then smiled tenderly.

After that, Dusk said goodbye to the princesses and left the main hall. Meanwhile, Celestia got ready to start with the hearings that day. While Luna simply stood motionless, looking where Dusk left, putting on a nervous and sad look.

"Luna, you feel lonely, don't you?" Celestia said suddenly, taking Luna completely by surprise. Then Celestia smiled and looked at her sister with a worried look. “You've been spending a lot of time locked up in your room lately, and whenever you come out, you almost always have that vacant look you have now like you’re lost in thought. I… I want you to tell me how you feel, I really do! But maybe it's good that you don't just count on me, but on someone else. With a friend."

Luna was taken aback, and then sadly looked away. Her sister wasn't far from the truth, except that sometimes she didn't think of 'something else', but rather 'someone else'.

Months ago, Luna had made the decision not to get close to Dusk and to focus only on her real obligations. She had even forced herself not to see Dusk at the Grand Galloping Gala when he himself went to look for her in her room. However, after the Gala, everything had changed. Luna kept thinking about how far she was from Dusk, both physically and emotionally. And all of that got worse after what happened with Sunset Shimmer, where Luna ended up feeling even more guilty for putting Dusk at risk. Day after day Luna became more distracted, and the ponies around her, including her sister, began to notice.

“I… I don't have time for friends or anything like that. I must fulfill my duties as guardian of the night and having… 'someone' around would only distract me from my duties.” Luna answered, looking at the ground with a sad look.

At that moment, Celestia stood in front of Luna, staring at her.

“It’s true that we must fulfill our duties, but for that, you must feel good about yourself. If you’re sad, distracted or nervous, you’ll not be able to do it properly.” Celestia said, looking affectionately at her sister. “I know that you’re also a princess, and I cannot order anything from you. So next thing, I order you as your big sister: Go outside and make a friend!”

“You’re ordering me to… make a friend?” Luna asked with a raised eyebrow, incredulous both that her sister was giving her an order, and the very order she was asking for. "Wait, wasn't that what you asked Dusk Shine for when you sent him to Ponyville?"

"Hehe, indeed. And I recommend that you comply with my order. The last pony that didn't obey me woke up hoof-bound in a mail bag on the way to Ponyville. With a much-needed haircut, might I add." Celestia answered, laughing as she remembered her student. She then put on a more serious look and looked fondly at her sister. “We are princesses, but we must not forget that we are also ordinary ponies. We have our duties, but we also need to laugh, cry, love…”

After Celestia's words, Luna was left with a very thoughtful look. Her sister was right. She was a princess, but she was also a mare. And just like her sister said, she wanted to laugh, she wanted to cry, and also… she wanted to love.

“I promised that I wouldn’t put Dusk before my duties with the kingdom. And I’ll keep that promise! But in my free time… why shouldn't I enjoy my life?” Luna thought, having a great revelation. She opened her eyes wide and making a big decision.

Without saying anything else, Luna smiled with determination and quickly left the room, hurrying to catch up with Dusk before he left. She was determined to invite him to something she had been dreaming of doing with him for days.

Just as Luna was hurrying out the front door, the maid twins came in, carrying some snacks for the princesses. For her part, Celestia smiled sweetly when she saw her little sister smiling again, thinking that her speech had finally managed to reach her heart.

“Where is Princess Luna going? I thought she'd have a snack here before going to sleep.” Sweet Caramel said worriedly, watching intrigued as her princess left the room.

"She's going to look for a new friend... Or maybe she's in such a hurry because she wanted to invite Dusk on a date, who knows." Celestia responded with a thoughtful look. Something that made the maid twins gasp, seeing that it seemed their princess had finally discovered the truth. “Pfft! Hahaha! Sorry, that's so absurd, can you imagine? That could never happen, haha!” Celestia laughed, showing that what she had said had only been a joke. Then the maid twins hit their faces with their hooves, unable to believe that the Princess of the Sun was still unaware of her younger sister's feelings for her student.

For her part, after leaving the main hall, Luna hurried to go to the main gate of the castle to catch up with Dusk Shine before he left. However, she stopped short in the middle of the corridor when she looked towards a window and saw that instead of leaving, Dusk was still there, walking through one of the side gardens of the castle.

"Dusk? What are you doing here? I thought you had already gone." Luna said in surprise, going out to the garden to be with the stallion.

“I was going to do that, but I wanted to take the opportunity to walk around the garden for a while. After all, when I was a young colt I liked to walk around here a lot... whenever I wasn't in the library, hehe." Dusk said with a bashful smile.

Seeing Dusk distracted by some flowers, Luna put on a look full of determination. She had an important question to ask Dusk, but since 'her prey' was distracted, she could well take advantage of the moment. She pursed her lips, looked away, and tried to subtly approach Dusk. Although all subtly went out the window with how nervous she was.

“What did that book say…?” Luna thought nervously, remembering a very cheesy seduction book that had become her bible to seduce Dusk. “Oh, I know! 'Pony Love' says: 'Catch your prey and surround it. And if your prey doesn't take hints, go straight for it!'” Luna thought, following the advice in that book and thinking of 'her prey' as Dusk.

Then Luna discreetly stood next to Dusk, puckered her lips, putting them in a kissing position, and nervously approached Dusk, to give him a small kiss on his cheek.

"What's that?" Dusk said pointing to the side, not noticing Luna.

“N-Nothing! I-I was just whistled! Phewww-fweeet! Phewww-fweeet!” Luna began to whistle, red with embarrassment, pretending that she had puckered her lips to whistle and not to kiss.

It took Luna a few seconds to realize that Dusk hadn’t referred to her when he spoke. She looked to where he was pointing and saw a kind of rat scurrying throw the window into the garden carrying a large sack of almonds and walnuts with its mouth.

“Is that an opossum?” Dusk asked curiously, approaching where the little animal was.

When the opossum saw that he had been caught stealing food, he froze. Dusk got closer and could see that the opossum had a small bandage on one of its legs.

"That animal has been stealing food from the castle." Luna said, recognizing the animal. Then she blushed and gave a look of doubt, not sure if Dusk would like what she would say or not. “A few days ago, the guards set traps to catch it. And last night… well… I saw that this animal had been caught in one of the traps, but I was very sad to see it trapped. So… I released it and bandaged its injured leg.” Luna added sheepishly.

As if what Luna said had been a cue to remember, the opossum immediately raised its paws theatrically. Then he became shaky, as if he had been in agony and put on a pleading look, perfectly acting as if he were a dying animal.

“Hmm… If it's hurt, I could take it to Fluttershy. She could help it heal faster.” Dusk said, shocked by the opossum's surprising change in attitude.

Before the opossum could escape, Dusk locked it in a magic bubble. Something that seemed to surprise the little animal, who, being trapped, seemed to completely forget about his injured leg and simply crossed his legs with an annoyed look.

"Well, I think it's time to go. I'd better get this little animal to Fluttershy quickly." Dusk said, slightly bowing his head to say goodbye to the princess.

“W-Wait!” Luna said nervously, remembering that she had gone there to ask Dusk an important question. Then the alicorn blushed a little and shyly looked at the lavender stallion. “T-Tonight there will be a meteor shower, and… and I wanted to know if… if you… if you would like to see it… with me.” Luna finished speaking, her cheeks red with embarrassment.

"Meteor shower…? That’s right! It was today! I marked it months ago on the calendar! I almost forgot!” Dusk exclaimed and beamed happily at the lunar princess. “Of course I would like to see it together, it’ll be great! I’m a fan of astronomy. I'll take my books and my telescope up the hill to Ponyville tonight." Dusk then said goodbye and when on his merry way.

Once Dusk left, Luna couldn’t contain her joy anymore and began to jump in circles as if she were a little filly.

"He said yes! He said yes!" Luna said full of happiness while jumping. While on the other side of the garden, some guards looked at the princess in confusion, surprised to see the normally serious princess of the night so happy.

Once in Ponyville, Dusk immediately went to Fluttershy's cottage. There, Dusk released the opossum he had captured in the gardens of the royal palace and Fluttershy examined it.

“The opossum… Is it alive?” Dusk asked with concern. The opossum was motionless in Fluttershy's hooves. “Perhaps… It ran out of air in the magic bubble!?” Dusk added, scared of having killed the little animal without realizing it.

"I don’t think so. Opossums often play dead when they feel in danger.” Fluttershy replied calmly, noticing that the opossum was breathing normally despite being motionless. "Also, it looks like his paw is fine." The mare added after removing the bandage from the animal.

With his charade was being exposed, the opossum opened one eye. Then he saw that next to Fluttershy there was a huge sack full of seeds and acorns. It was then that the opossum stopped acting like a wounded animal and jumped squarely into the seed sack and sank into it.

"Hey! Weren't you hurt?" Dusk said surprised, approaching the sack with seeds. Then the opossum stuck its head out of the sack, its cheeks bulging, full of seeds and acorns. Then it looked at Dusk for a few seconds, smiled, and jumped on his head, quickly fleeing from Fluttershy's house by jumping out a window.

"Well... At least we know he's not hurt." Fluttershy said with a small smile. She stifled a quiet giggled when she saw Dusk had his mouth open and his mane full of seeds after the opossum jumped on him. The colt was frustrated that both he and Princess Luna had been tricked by that little animal.

After saying goodbye to Fluttershy, Dusk began looking for clues to see where that elusive and tricky opossum had fled. However, he realized that that would be of no use, and finally, taking advantage of the fact that he was close to the Everfree Forest, Dusk took the opportunity to go visit Zecora, since he hadn’t seen her since their meeting in the Kingdom of Thicket.

It didn't take Dusk long to get to Zecora's hut. Once there, the zebra greeted him and began to tell him some things that she had learned with King Aspen and the deer.

"So, the King didn't give you permission to check out any books about the Tree of Harmony from his library?" Dusk asked, seeing that Zecora had several scrolls written by herself, where she had written some things that she had learned in the Kingdom of Thicket.

"No. The King is still very protective of his kingdom, especially when it comes to the Tree of Harmony.” Zecora answered, showing Dusk the other scrolls she had. “Still, the King knows that you’re my disciple, and yet he taught me many things. So I don't think the King doesn't want to share his knowledge with you ponyfolk, he just wants to share it with the right ponies." Zecora added, smiling at Dusk.

Listening to his teacher, Dusk remembered what had happened at the Tree of Harmony and how he had been willing to use dark magic in order to help his friends.

"Do you really think I'm worthy of everyone's trust?" Dusk asked, looking away with an uncertain look.

“Only you can give us that answer. You can make mistakes, and I assure you that you’ll continue to do so. But the important thing is knowing how to recognize them, learn from them and correct them.” Zecora said, affectionately putting a hoof on Dusk's back. “You know, I've been thinking about it, and I think I finally found something I have in common with the Princess of the Sun. I think we both believe that you have a great destiny ahead of you, and for that reason, we want to help you have the right tools. But ultimately, the one who will use those tools and decide how to use them, will be you.” Zecora added, making Dusk regain his confidence and smiled with the zebra.

After that, Zecora told Dusk how the magic of the deer worked, who had a strong magical connection with the forest, so they could feel the forest and nature around them in a unique way. Despite that, except for the Aspen King, it seemed like the other deer couldn't use magic on their own. Thus, Dusk learned that the link between the deer and the forest was increased by carrying those small barrels with magical dew, which apparently came from a spring that emanated from the Tree of Harmony itself.

“Deer can sense the plants and living things around them in a unique way. I even saw some deer walking through the woods in total darkness with no problem.” Zecora said after finishing explaining some things that she wanted Dusk to start studying. “Perhaps it’s their very connection to the Tree of Harmony that connects them to the Everfree Forest.”

"Do you think we could have that same kind of connection to the forest?" Dusk asked with great interest.

"For my part I don't know, but I think you already have that connection." Zecora answered, pointing at Dusk's cutie mark. “There are still many mysteries about the connection of the Tree of Harmony with your cutie mark, even the King himself admitted that he doesn’t know. But what we do know is that you and your friends have that connection. Only time will tell if that connection can help us all when evil strikes again.”

After an extensive talk, Dusk finally said goodbye to Zecora, ready to return to town before nightfall, since he still had to prepare for the great astronomical event that night. He then took some of the scrolls that Zecora offered him and started on his way back to the village.

As he walked through the Everfree Forest, Dusk mentally reviewed everything he had learned from Zecora's talk about the deer. Just at that moment, Dusk arrived at one of the darkest parts of the forest, where he had to light the path in front of him in order to see.

"There are deer that can walk in the dark in the forest, thanks to their connection with it… Maybe it's something I should practice too." Dusk thought with a small amused smile. So he decided to keep walking without lighting the way with his magic, thus wanting to perform a little experiment with his connection with the forest and the Tree of Harmony.

Just a few minutes after Dusk came up with his little experiment, the lavender stallion began to regret that he had come up with his 'brilliant' idea. Walking in almost complete darkness, Dusk remembered how truly terrifying the Everfree Forest was. His hearing sharpened, amplifying dark noises of branches breaking or things moving not far from where he was.

Suddenly Dusk lowered his head upon hearing a strong flutter above him. That scared Dusk a little, who began to walk faster, to soon leave the forest. However, he refused to use his magic and spoil his experiment.

"Come on! Connect with the forest already!” Dusk murmured as his pace increased, beginning to get scared as he continued without feeling any kind of magical connection with the forest. That was until he collided head-on with a tree, causing him to fall on his back. "Ouch!" The unicorn was lying on the ground, rubbing his head.

'Hooo…' A very peculiar sound made Dusk open his eyes and look up.

There, standing on a branch was a little brown owl, staring at him with something in its mouth.

"An owl?" The colt said aloud. Then the stallion saw in more detail what the owl had in its mouth. "Those are my scrolls?" Dusk said in amazement, realizing that with all that about his 'little experiment' he didn't even feel when his scrolls fell from his saddlebag.

As Dusk stood up again, the little owl took a short flight over to him and placed the scrolls on his back. The nocturnal bird then went ahead and perched itself on top of Dusk’s head.

"Okay... I guess this isn't the weirdest thing that's happened to me in the forest." Dusk said without moving while the owl settled on his head. Then Dusk realized that that owl was sticking its beak into his mane, looking for seeds that had apparently been left in his mane when the opossum jumped on him. “Huff… anyway, I guess you earned it for returning the scrolls to me.” Dusk added, sighing with a tired look.

Dusk continued walking, trying to walk in the dark again but becoming more and more sure that it was nonsense. Besides, now he wasn’t only walking blindly through the darkest side of the forest, but he was also walking with an owl on his head, which definitely must have made him look very ridiculous.

'Hooo…' Suddenly the owl hooted over Dusk's head, making him stop in his tracks. At that moment, Dusk prepared to stop being nice and shoo that owl out of his head. However, he stopped when he realized that the owl had sang just before he had crashed head-on into a tree again.

“Wow! That was close..." Dusk said, feeling the tree with which he had almost collided. Then he looked up and understood that the owl, thanks to its night vision, had warned him before he crashed. “Heh! Who knows, maybe my connection to the forest sent you to help me, haha.” Dusk joked, while the owl simply stretched its wings and seemingly to settle more and more on Dusk's head.

Night finally came to Ponyville and Dusk's friends reached one of the hills near the town, where Dusk Shine had summoned them to watch the long-awaited meteor shower. Dusk Shine and Spike were already waiting for the five mares, as well as a new guest.

“Dusk, darling! There’s a bird on your head!” Rarity proclaimed in shock when she saw an owl perched on her beloved Dusk's head.

"I know, he's grooming me." Dusk replied with a smile, looking up out of the corner of his eye. “Or maybe he's just looking for more seeds, I really don't know. It seems that this owl became very fond of my mane.”

Seeing that owl above Dusk's head, all her friends came over, seeing how cute it was and joking about it. Fluttershy was especially excited to behold the owl on the stallion’s head. Although she already considered Dusk handsome, Fluttershy had to admit that the image of him interacting with animals with such synergy made him look more…dashing. The yellow pegasus had to try her best from suppressing her hot blush and not swoon at the sight alone.

“Yeah, yeah… What a cute owl… So great…!” Spike muttered jealously, after the owl had become the center of attention.

The truth was that Dusk had come to the library with that owl a few hours ago, and he quickly realized how useful and clever that bird was. The owl wasn’t only able to understand when Dusk asked it for a scroll, it also understood when Dusk asked it for a book, as long as he indicated its color and shape in detail. Dusk practiced all afternoon with that owl, seeing if he could train it to bring him some other things. However, that had bothered Spike, who took his job as Dusk's assistant very seriously, and the thought of someone tried to steal his position was upsetting to the little drake.

"Oh no!" Dusk suddenly said while his friends, especially Fluttershy, watched in amazement as the owl flew over their heads. “The meteor shower is about to start and I forgot to bring the 'Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac to All Things Astronomy'.”

"The Astronomo-lomo homono what?" Rainbow Dash asked, not understanding a word Dusk said.

"It's a huge blue book with a star on its spine." Dusk said, looking at the owl that was flying over his head. “Could you bring it to me?”

The owl stopped flying in circles and began to fly towards the library at Dusk’s instructions.

"Wait! I’ll get it!" Spike said quickly and started running towards the library as well.

"But you'll miss the meteor shower!" Dusk yelled as Spike ran.

"It doesn’t matter! I’ll prove to you that I’m still your number one assistant!” Spike yelled, disappearing down the hill.

Dusk raised an eyebrow in confusion, not understanding why his little brother had said that. However, his mind was distracted by something else. Just at that moment, his last guest to see the meteor shower had arrived.

Just as Dusk told her, Luna reached the highest hill in Ponyville, where he was waiting for her. The only problem was that Dusk wasn't there alone but was accompanied by all his friends. That made Luna barely able to suppress a disappointed face when she saw that she wouldn’t be alone with Dusk.

"H-Hello Dusk... I-I see you brought all your friends... hehe..." Luna said with a very forced smile, once she landed where the other ponies were.

"Of course! Like I told you, it's an event I planned months ago." Dusk happily replied, not noticing how disappointed the Princess of the Night was. “The more, the merrier!”

One by one, Dusk's friends approached Princess Luna, excited to be able to see the show with the Princess of the Night. None of them had chatted much with Princess Luna before, so they were all excited to get to know her a little more. For her part, Luna finally sighed, knowing that she wouldn't spend the night as she had hoped, and simply gave a friendlier smile. After all, these mares had helped her free herself from Nightmare Moon, and like Dusk, she owed them a lot. So she couldn't be in a bad mood in front of them.

All the girls encouraged Princess Luna to sit next to them on a cloth that had been placed on the grass, next to a pile of snacks that they had brought for a picnic while they waited for the arrival of the meteor shower.

"You can sit wherever you want, except next to Dusk." Pinkie Pie said when they reached the cloth. She dragged Applejack over and sitting her next to Dusk. "This position is reserved for Applejack, since she’s the MAREFRIEND of our beloved Dusk." Pinkie Pie joked with a wink at her friend. To which Applejack reacted by blushing and covering her face with her hat.

After what happened in the Kingdom of Thicket, Dusk's four friends had decided not to bother Dusk and Applejack too much with what had happened. In fact, strangely the opposite had happened. Since that day, every time the six got together, the mares didn't miss the opportunity to make Dusk and Applejack closer to each other. Deep down, the four mares knew that Dusk and Applejack felt guilty for keeping a secret between them, so they felt uncomfortable when their friends forced them to be too close together. So, forcing the two of them to always be together had been a small form of revenge from the girls for what 'may or may not' have happened in that room when the two of them slept together.

While the mares had a little fun joking with Applejack, seeing how embarrassed she was when her friends forced her to be close to Dusk; Luna stared at Applejack with a serious look. She was not sure how to react to Dusk's current marefriend.

Luna had read Flash Sentry’s report, and thus she was able to verify that Dusk was indeed married to Applejack. But she also found out that that marriage had been to help Applejack in a competition. Still, Luna found it strange that both ponies were still together and hadn't gotten divorced if it had been just to help out. However, she knew that there must be a reason, and if she couldn't spend the night alone with Dusk, she would at least take advantage of the time there to investigate a little more the true relationship between Applejack and Dusk.

After a few minutes, Spike and Dusk's owl finally returned to the hill. The latter arrived first, carrying a book in his claws. However, for some reason, the book was smoldering.

“What happened to the book!?” Dusk asked, horrified after the owl dropped the book in front of him. The inside of the book had been completely burned.

'Hooo…' sang the owl, landing on a nearby tree branch and pointed one of its wings at Spike.

"Snitch..." Spike muttered reluctantly. The boy then looked up to Dusk’s angry look. "Fine, it was me! I accidentally burned the book when I picked it up and the dust made me sneeze…” Spike admitted, looking away in embarrassment.

“Ugh… I told you to leave it to the owl.” Dusk groaned, hitting his face with his hoof.

"I-I didn’t want to! I don't want that silly owl to replace me." Spike said, looking reproachfully at Dusk.

"What are you talking about?" Dusk asked. Then he looked at the owl and then at Spike, and hit his face again, realizing the absurdity of the situation. “Okay, listen. No one is going to replace you, it's impossible! This owl could become my assistant, but you’re more than that. You’re my brother! And there’s no one who could replace you, end of story.” Dusk said, approaching Spike and giving him a little brotherly punch on his shoulder.

"Are you serious?" Spike said, looking at Dusk with huge eyes.

"Of course! Or would you rather lower yourself to become my pet and compete against my other pet?" Dusk said, laughing at the absurdity of the situation. “But don’t do that, please. Knowing how competitive you are, you'd be able to try to frame the poor owl in some silly way to get me mad at it. Right?"

"Uh... Noooo... I would never do that... hehe." Spike replied, blushing and looking away. The truth was that all the way back there, he had just been planning something to do exactly what Dusk said.

Seeing that everything was in his imagination, and that Dusk's owl could never take his place, the baby dragon relaxed completely and laid down on the cloth. He was so tired from how late it was that Spike instantly fell asleep.

"He must have been really stressed out all afternoon to fall asleep that fast." Dusk said, smiling tenderly and put a blanket over his little dragon brother. Thankfully, he hadn't seen Spike with his fake villain mustache, which he always wore when he was plotting something bad against someone. "I think I'll let him sleep for a bit and wake him up when the meteor shower starts."

"So, are you going to keep your owl friend?" Fluttershy asked, smiling as she approached Dusk and looked up where the owl was flying again. "You said he could be your pet."

Dusk blinked in confusion and then looked up, where the owl that had been accompanying him all afternoon was flying.

"Hmm I don’t know. I have never had a pet.” Dusk said with a thoughtful look, and then smiled at that idea. "But maybe, I could try."

“Oh! Oh! If you have a pet, we could do a ‘pony pet playdate’ for all of us to play together with our pets!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly. She stuck her hoof into her mane, and pulled out her little alligator Gummy, who had apparently been hiding in her mane all this time.

“What a splendid idea! Opal loves to play with other pets.” Rarity beamed, who sometimes didn’t realize that her cat was actually quite grumpy.

"Yeah, I think Winona would like some new friends." Applejack agreed.

"Oh! What a thrill! Angel will love this.” Fluttershy cheered with glee. It was clear that she was the most excited that her friends shared her love of animals.

While the four mares with pets surrounded Dusk, all together devising what they would do the next day; two other mares were isolated from that happy conversation: Rainbow Dash and Luna.

“W-Wait a minute! I want to go too.” Rainbow Dash said, slightly blushing while looking annoyed at her friends.

"Uh? But I thought you didn't like pets?" Applejack said in confusion.

“W-Well… I changed my mind!” Rainbow Dash replied, red with embarrassment. She didn’t want to admit that she felt isolated seeing all her friends sharing the same taste.

In that instant, Fluttershy's happiness reached new levels, jumping for joy just like Pinkie Pie always did, running to where Rainbow Dash was and looking at her with a very excited look.

"Oh! Oh! Tomorrow I can help you find your ideal pet!” Fluttershy said. “I've got so many wonderful choices at my house! Oh, and I know you'll just love them! And they'll love you! Oh, and you'll be best friends forever and ever!!” Fluttershy added with a big dreamy smile, almost touching her face to Rainbow Dash's, who was already beginning to think that maybe this was a bad idea.

"So, tomorrow morning, after Rainbow Dash chooses her pet, the six of us can have our first pony pet playdate!" Dusk said, happy that his stubborn pegasus friend also wanted to be part of the fun.

"M-Me too!" Luna said suddenly, taking a step forward and looking a little scared at Dusk.

“Princess, do you also have a pet? And you want to play… with us?” Rarity asked, surprised that royalty would want to be a part of something as mundane as a 'pet playdate'.

“O-Of course I have a pet!” Luna answered using her real voice because of how nervous she was, so that was heard as a scream. "M-My pet is magnificent, big, and beautiful, and... big..." Luna added, lowering her voice, trying to hide how nervous she was about lying.

"That... That's great!" Dusk said animatedly, giving Luna a big smile. He was glad to see that the Princess of the Night wanted to share more with ordinary ponies like him and his friends.

Dusk’s smile made Luna calm down a bit and slightly avert her gaze as her cheeks blushed. And just at that moment, all the ponies were distracted when they saw that the sky began to light up with the long-awaited meteor shower.

Dusk and his friends watched in amazement as the sky was filled with huge shooting stars, enjoying an event that could only be seen once in a lifetime, since that phenomenon was repeated only every hundred years. The six ponies kept their eyes fixed on the sky, while the Princess of the Night ignored it and took advantage of staring at the stallion next to her.

Luna had already seen the meteor shower in the past, and being locked on the moon, under the starry canopy of space, she wasn’t too interesting in watching those shooting stars. The only star she wanted to see at that moment was by her side. And although she knew that her love was impossible, she still struggled to maintain that little illusion, because she loved feeling how Dusk could make her happy just with a smile.

The next morning, in the Ponyville park, several of the ponies who had agreed to have their first pet playdate were already gathered. Applejack was running next to her dog Winona, throwing a branch at it so that her dog would look for it. Rarity was under a tree trying to lower her cat Opalescence, who refused to obey her. Pinkie Pie giggled as her baby alligator jumped up to bite her with its toothless snout. And Dusk Shine was trying to teach his new owl to sit on his back and not on his head, but it seemed that the little owl still preferred to sit on Dusk's mane, despite the fact that it no longer had seeds to eat.

"By the way, have you given your owl a name yet?" Applejack asked, approaching Dusk and saw how the stallion seemed resigned to having to bear the weight of the owl on his head.

"I've already tried. I tried all the names in the book: 'Names for your pet', from A to Z, but it seems that he wants something more original.” Dusk said, shrugging his shoulders. Meanwhile the owl seemed to have fallen asleep on his head. "The only thing he responds to is when I say: 'Owl, I wish...' and I tell him something to bring me." Dusk added, while his owl, upon hearing Dusk say: 'Owl, I wish…' it opened his eyes expectantly, thinking that Dusk would ask him to bring something.

"Speaking of new pets... How much longer will it take Rainbow Dash to choose one?" Rarity asked, walking towards where Dusk and Applejack were with her teeth clenched in pain. She had finally managed to get Opal down from the tree, but in return, the cat had dug her sharp claws into Rarity's back. “Opal is a bit impatient, hehe…”

Suddenly, the ponies were distracted as a small shadow crossed the sun and approached them. Then they saw that it was Princess Luna, who landed next to the ponies and timidly looked sideways. She still wasn't quite used to going out in broad daylight and being seen in her 'incomplete form' by the other ponies. That was something she would never do in Canterlot, but with Ponyville being the first town to celebrate her return, and with only the ponies who saved her being there, Luna was able to feel comfortable enough to be there without wearing a robe to hide her.

"Sorry for the delay, I... Yaaawwn... I was a little late eating breakfast..." Luna said slowly with a yawn.

Unbeknownst to Dusk, poor Luna had been staying up late for two days, and all because of him. Two nights ago, she'd had to do her night watch on dreams. Later, in the morning, she had the audience with her sister and Dusk. Then she spent the whole afternoon awake thinking about what her 'date' with Dusk would be like to see the meteor shower. Then she went with Dusk to see the meteor shower, and then she had to go back to her night watch. And finally, that day in the morning, Luna forced herself to stay awake again to be with Dusk a little more. But the truth was, her body was crying out for a nap.

"Wow... Is that your pet!?" Pinkie Pie said in amazement after Luna landed next to them. Behind Luna was a large bird that looked like a flame came flying through the air. The strange bird landed on Luna's back, and everyone was amazed to see such a majestic and brilliant bird.

Luna's pet was a beautiful phoenix. A tall bird, with red, orange and yellow feathers, that seemed to burn everything in its path with its mere presence. That bird definitely had to be the pet of someone from royalty, and it was. Only that royal pet was not Luna's.

"Isn't that Philomena?" Dusk thought in surprise, immediately recognizing the phoenix of his teacher.

“What a majestic and beautiful bird! Worthy of you, Princess.” Rarity said, amazed at the bright colors of that bird. "What bird is it?"

“It's a… Ouch! A phoenix... Ouch!” Luna said trying to smile. While the phoenix, in a bad mood, pulled at Luna's mane with her beak. “This… Ouch! This is my pet… F-Fit for a Princess, hehe… Ouch!” Luna added, forcing a big smile while the phoenix refused to pay attention to her.

Seeing the majestic phoenix, Dusk couldn't help but remember how annoying that bird was. Its personality closely resembled that of her owner, Princess Celestia. On the outside, everyone thought it was beautiful, dignified and elegant. But in reality, the bird was a playful being who liked to annoy others. So it was that Dusk remembered that sometimes when he studied in the castle, Celestia sent her pet to bother him from time to time. Burning some scrolls or waking him up when he was taking a nap.

At that moment, Fluttershy arrived along with her bunny Angel. However, to the surprise of the others, Rainbow Dash wasn’t with her.

"What happened? I thought you were helping Rainbow Dash choose a pet." Dusk asked once the yellow pegasus reached them.

“Wow… What is that beautiful bird…!?” Fluttershy asked, ignoring Dusk for a moment, amazed at seeing a phoenix for the first time. However, she instantly reacted, shook her head and forced herself to focus on Dusk. “Rainbow hasn't chosen a pet yet. She thought that all the options I showed her were bad, so I sang her a song showing her the virtues of each little animal, and now she’s undecided and doesn't know which one to choose.” Fluttershy added, looking sadly at Dusk.

“Ugh… You just have to choose one, it can't be that hard.” Dusk scoffed. While next to him, all his 'friends' looked at him raising an eyebrow because of how hypocritical that comment sounded. “Fine, I'll go find her and bring her here quickly. Otherwise, the day will end without us being able to have the pony pet playdate we had planned.”

As soon as Dusk began to walk away, Luna raised her hoof to follow him. However, a comment made her stop in her tracks.

"Come on Applejack, you should go escort your colfriend." Rarity said jokingly, winking at her friend for her to take advantage of the occasion.

"H-He said he'd be right back... I'm not a mare who has to follow her coltfriend everywhere." Applejack answered, blushing and looking away.

Then Dusk's friends laughed, while Luna lowered her head in shame, wanting with all her might to continue being with Dusk, but not wanting to seem like a desperate mare as they had just commented. Then Luna felt something next to her hoof, and she saw that the little bunny that Fluttershy had brought was leaning on her hoof, looking angrily at Fluttershy and her friends. She saw that not only was Fluttershy's bunny by her side, but she was surrounded by the other mares' pets, all glaring at the ponies.

Looking up, Luna finally understood why the pets seemed to be upset. There, in the midst of the mares, was Philomena, Celestia's phoenix that she had 'borrowed' to go to that pet playdate. And it seemed that all the mares had been stunned by the beauty and elegance of that majestic phoenix.

“Huff… I understand. I also know what it feels like to be next to someone who shines brighter than you.” Luna whispered, putting on the same look of annoyance that the pets had.

Dusk Shine quickly arrived at Fluttershy's cottage. There, he saw that Rainbow Dash was in front of the garden of her friend's cottage standing in front of a long line of various animals. Most of the animals were flying: an eagle, a hawk, a hummingbird, a bat, there was even a small wasp. The only animal that seemed out of place there was a small tortoise with an exhausted face.

“I need you to show me something unique, something that will prove to me that you’re worthy of being my pet.” Rainbow Dash said, walking like a military instructor in front of the candidates to be her pet. “Show me a unique talent you have… Now!” The pegasus added, giving the signal with her hoof to the animals in front of her.

All the animals began to do different things at the signal, all trying to get the attention of the demanding pegasus, in order to become her official pet. The hummingbird began to fly quickly, showing its great speed. The bat used a sonic screech that managed to break a window in Fluttershy's cottage. The tortoise hid its head in its shell and then popped it out again, showing that apparently 'that' was its great ability. But finally, all the animals stopped displaying their talents as the eagle spread its great wings and gave a loud, high-pitched screech, startling all the other participants.

"Awesome! That’s what I call impressive." Rainbow Dash said, pulling out a list and giving the eagle ten points for its scream. Then she approached the tortoise and looked at it reproachfully. "You should learn, now that's a talent!" Rainbow Dash mocked the tortoise, to which the tortoise only responded by blinking very slowly.

"Are you hosting so kind of talent show?" Dusk asked with a small laugh, finally approaching where his friend was.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but smile when she saw that Dusk had come to see her. And that joy doubled when she saw that the lavender colt was alone. Then she quickly shook her head before Dusk noticed the goofy look she had on and feigned disinterest with his arrival.

“Oh! It's... It's good to see you, Dusk." Rainbow Dash said looking away and blushing a little. “Yeah, I wanted to see which animal had the best talent… Fluttershy sang this corny song and now I don't know which pet is the best, they all have something cool! Or well, ALMOST all…” Rainbow Dash added, glancing sideways with displeasure at the little tortoise.

"Hmm... So you don't know which one to choose." Dusk said with a thoughtful look. "I think maybe you shouldn't choose the one with the best talent, maybe you should choose the pet that is more in line with your tastes."

"More in line with my tastes? You mean, someone like me?" Rainbow Dash said, raising an eyebrow. “You mean like you with that owl. Because you're both so smart?" The pegasus added with a snicker.

"Yeah... I guess that's one way of putting it." Dusk said with a small, embarrassed smile. “For example, Winona is as hard-working as Applejack; Opal is just as stylish as Rarity; Angel... well, I think maybe they’re the exception, hehe..." Dusk said, remembering how sometimes the spoiled bunny seemed to be in charge in its relationship with Fluttershy. "And as for Pinkie Pie and Gummy..." Dusk added, imagining his pink friend standing motionless next to her little baby alligator, both seeing how a fly landed on their eyes and they remained motionless with their minds blank. "Well, with those two, you never know what goes through their heads."

"So, if I want a pet like me... It needs to be as fast and cool as me!" Rainbow Dash said, smiling proudly.

Rainbow Dash ordered the pet candidates to prepare for further tests. They first ran a ten-lap race around Fluttershy's home. Then they went through a small obstacle course. And finally, Rainbow Dash did a third test where each animal had to fly very high, swoop down and take a photo in a cool pose next to her.

The prismatic pegasus made notes on how well each animal did in various factors. The falcon stood out for its speed; the bat caught her eye with its agility and the eagle won out in ‘coolness’ as Dash had put it. While all of this had gone on, Dusk kept his eyes trained on the tortoise.

Despite not being able to fly and being very slow, the little reptile continued to participate in the tests. In the ten-lap race, all the other participants finished in a few seconds, while the tortoise only managed to take three steps. For the agility race, the tortoise barely took a step up, but it stumbled and fell on its back. Finally, in the photo with Rainbow Dash, the tortoise was waiting intently for the pegasus to take a picture with it, even though it hadn't flown.

Seeing the tortoise's attentive gaze, Rainbow Dash looked away and pretended not to see it, but finally, reluctantly, she ended up taking a photo with the annoying tortoise anyway. Despite the fact that there was no chance that Rainbow Dash would choose it, Dusk couldn't help but smile and grow fond of the little reptile. Having fun with how enthusiastic and stubborn it was.

“I understand why you’d want in a falcon and an eagle, but why you have a tortoise among the candidates." Dusk said, smiling at the little tortoise.

“Ugh! Don't remind me. I told Fluttershy that I wouldn't choose it, but she insisted that I let it do the tests as a favor. I’m just being polite." Rainbow Dash said with embarrassment, thinking that Dusk was making fun of her. "Get lost! You don’t have a chance!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the tortoise, thinking that Dusk wouldn’t see her as cool if she was scene for being next to a tortoise.

The tortoise remained impassive, just looking at her and blinking slowly. Seeing that emotionless expression, Rainbow Dash hit her face with her hoof, frustrated that the tortoise didn't seem to understand what she was saying.

"Don't be mean, he’s trying his best." Dusk said smiling and stroking the tortoise's head. To which it reacted by hiding in its shell. "I think it's cute."

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but smile when she saw how amused Dusk looked when the tortoise hid in his shell, thinking that maybe the tortoise was a little cute. But then she realized that it was impossible for a speedster like her to have a pet tortoise and she quickly shook her head.

"But I don't want a cute pet, I want a cool pet!" Rainbow Dash said, blushing and going back to where the other animals were. "Though... I guess I'll give the tortoise a point for being cute." Rainbow Dash whispered secretly, putting one point on the drawing of the tortoise in her scorebook. Despite that, the other applicants had a lot more points, so the tortoise didn't stand a chance anyway.

Once Rainbow Dash reached the other pets, she turned around and saw that Dusk was still smiling looking at the tortoise, who was moving very slowly, towards where Rainbow Dash and the other animals were. Seeing Dusk so amused, the pegasus couldn't help but sigh and smile.

"Maybe I could give the tortoise an extra point for making Dusk smile for me." Rainbow Dash said, thinking out loud. "And whoever made Dusk my coltfriend would win a million points, hehe..." Rainbow Dash laughed, still thinking out loud.

At that moment, Rainbow Dash stopped smiling as she felt she was being watched. Then she looked both ways and saw that all the animals were staring at her. They all heard what Rainbow Dash said, they all understood it, and they thought that randomly said sentence was also a test... One that gave a million points!

After looking at Rainbow Dash, the heads of all the animals turned to stare at Dusk and they all quickly flew towards the lavender stallion. Knowing that they now had the ultimate test to become pets.

“Rainbow Dash! What's going on!?" Dusk shouted, covering his head with his hoof while the animals flew around him, fighting each other and struggling to get Dusk's attention. They pulled on his mane and pinched him with their mouths and beaks.

“Hey! Stop! It's just a misunderstanding, this is not a test!" Rainbow Dash yelled, hurrying to get to Dusk. Scaring the birds away from the stallion.

After a few minutes, Rainbow Dash and Dusk were finally able to calm the little animals, who didn’t understand why Rainbow Dash asked them for something, and then stopped them.

“What did you tell them to do?! What was it that they misunderstand?” Dusk asked once everything calmed down.

Rainbow Dash blushed at Dusk’s attentive gaze and looked away. She knew that she could lie to Dusk as she always did before in those situations, but the truth was that this time it was different. Now Dusk fully knew her true feelings. Besides, Dusk was Applejack's coltfriend, what would be the use of lying to him? Just to push him further away? When in fact she should be doing the opposite.

"Uh... Yeah, well, I... I might have said out loud that... the animal that made you become my coltfriend would win a million points..." Rainbow Dash replied, completely red without being able to look Dusk in the face. Then she remembered Dusk's situation and looked at him with a nervous look. “I-It's not that I want you to dump Applejack! I know she's your marefriend and all that. But I... I don't want you... to forget that I... I..." Rainbow Dash stuttered off, blushing more and more as her voice lowered in volume because of her nerves. She was unable to say the last word, despite the fact that Dusk perfectly understood what she meant.

Seeing Rainbow Dash putting aside her pride and acting so shy made Dusk blush a little when he remembered how cute his friend looked in those situations. For the stallion, it was great to see her with her great attitude and her huge ego, that was her essence. But that didn’t change the fact that on the inside, Rainbow Dash also secretly liked a lot of things. Things that she didn't like to show, because she thought they would make her look less cool. One of those things was the love she felt for Dusk, and now he was fascinated and touched by how cute and shy his friend was when she tried to express her feelings.

“Rainbow Dash, I’ll never forget when you declared your feelings to me at the Gala. Just as I’ll never forget what I feel for you.” Dusk said, approaching his friend. “I think we both know very well how we feel about each other. And, well, there are things we can do to express those feelings, and other things we can't. After all, Applejack is my marefriend, for now." Dusk added, blushing and scratching his head. "I know it's not what you expect, but for now at least, we can hug each other as friends." Dusk said, standing in front of Rainbow Dash and holding out a hoof to her to see if she would accept his gesture of friendship.

Seeing Dusk's offer, waiting for a hug, Rainbow Dash blushed and laughed.

"Damn it! Why do you have to be so corny?" Rainbow Dash lauged, looking askance at Dusk. Then she stared at the stallion and hugged him tightly. "Never forget how I feel about you, egghead." Rainbow Dash added while hugging Dusk.

Both ponies hugged each other for a long time, as if neither of them wanted to be the first to break the affectionate hug. Rainbow Dash felt Dusk's heat on her hooves wanted to stay like this for eternity. And it was at that moment that Rainbow Dash remembered the rules that she and her friends had proposed for dating Dusk, especially the third rule.

"I could try something more than a simple hug with Dusk... that's the third rule." Rainbow Dash thought. Until she reminded herself that she represented the element of loyalty, and thus, she couldn't betray a friend. "Nah! I’ll not follow that silly rule. I'm Rainbow Dash! A rebel! I don't follow rules." The pegasus thought, finally breaking the hug.

Once Rainbow Dash moved her head from Dusk's side, she moved slightly backwards and stared at Dusk very closely, still with her hooves hugging Dusk. The colt simply smiled while staring at her, a look that Rainbow Dash had dreamed of for many nights... Ever since that magical sunset over the lake when she had her first kiss with him. Then Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, and quickly kissed Dusk, taking the lavender stallion completely by surprise.

Dusk froze with his cheeks completely red. He thought that Rainbow Dash understood that they couldn't go beyond a hug since he had a marefriend. Also, Rainbow Dash had never been one to take the initiative on a romantic level. So it took a couple of seconds for Dusk to be able to react to such a surprising gesture. However, before Dusk could do anything, it was Rainbow Dash herself who ended the kiss and stopped hugging him.

"Sorry. Just think of that as a sneak peek to the future. I like being the bad girl." Rainbow Dash said with a big mischievous smile.

"I’ll be loyal to my friends, but I also need to be loyal to my feelings." Rainbow Dash thought. Determined not to go beyond that kiss, but at the very least, she would make sure the stallion she loved wouldn't forget her.

With Dusk completely stunned, still red with embarrassment from the surprise, and otherwise, very pleasant kiss; it was that just at that moment his other friends: Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack, arrived.

“There y’all are! I thought Dusk was hurrying you along, Dash? It’s been hours!” Applejack said once she got to Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, well... a lot of things happened..." Rainbow Dash answered, blushing and looking away.

"Yeah... I... Uh..." Dusk stuttered, not knowing how to react. He wanted to talk about anything but what had just happened. "B-By the way, where’s Pinkie Pie and Princess Luna?" Dusk quickly added, grateful for having noticed that so that he could quickly change the subject.

"Princess Luna fell asleep in the park, so Pinkie Pie stayed behind to watch her." Rarity replied. "Poor dear seemed absolutely sleep deprived."

"So you still can't choose a pet?" Fluttershy asked, noticing that all her little animals were still there, waiting attentively for what Rainbow Dash would decide.

"Yeah. I gave them three tests, but I still can’t decide.” Rainbow Dash replied, a little embarrassed. "But this audition has gone on too long, so I saved the best test for last!" The pegasus added excitedly, looking at the animals with an evil smile. Something that made the pet applicants gulp nervously, knowing that the pegasus must have planned some crazy new test for them.

Rainbow Dash had led the animals and her friends to Ghastly Gorge. A canyon not far from Ponyville, which was full of dangers like windy caves, bramble bushes and quarray eels.

"The pet that can keep up with me through strong winds, sharp thorns and dodge ravenous giant eels, and reach the finish line with me will become my new pet!" Rainbow Dash said with a sinister smile, purposely wanting to scare the candidates. Something that had the desired effect, since all the pets trembled at the sight of the large and dangerous gorge before them. All except the tortoise. “Who brought the turtle!?” Rainbow Dash groaned when she noticed that the reptile was there.

“Tortoise.” Fluttershy corrected her friend with a guilty smile before she then quickly hid behind Rarity. Rainbow simply sighed and shook her head.

"Anyway. You guys go to the finish line at the other side of the canyon.” Rainbow Dash said, making Dusk and his friends leave to be alone with the pets for one last ‘pep talk’.

After reaching the other side of the canyon rather quickly thanks to Dusk shortening the distance in some sections by using his teleportation; the ponies set a finish line and waited for the blue pegasus to arrive there with her new pet.

So they waited, and the more time passed, the ponies' looks became more bewildered.

"Shouldn't they have arrived by now?" Applejack asked, seeing that the sun was about to set and there was no sign of her friend or the pets. "I've seen Rainbow Dash fly by here before, and she’s never taken so long."

"Wait, I think I see her!" Rarity said excitedly when she saw a shadow in the distance flying fast.

The four ponies stood up, and shouted and clapped, eager to see which pet would arrive with Rainbow Dash. Everypony celebrated when they saw that the falcon finally reached the finish line, completely exhausted. After the falcon, not far away, came the eagle, followed by the bat and finally the hummingbird, all dead tired.

After celebrating that all the pets had achieved that great feat of crossing that dangerous canyon, it was only then that everypony realized that somepony important was missing.

"Where's Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked in concern.

"Something bad must have happened." Dusk said with equal concern, knowing that his competitive pegasus friend would never lose a race.

Then Dusk approached the edge of the canyon. He searched everywhere, but there was no sign of his friend. However, what Dusk could see that not far away that in a part of the gorge there had been a landslide, and everything was covered with dust and rocks. That made Dusk's blood run cold. The other mares ran next to Dusk and were also frightened by the horrible possibility that their friend had been crushed in that landslide.

"Girls! Go get Princess Luna and her phoenix! It's not long before nightfall, and we'll need light to look for Rainbow Dash if we don't find her soon." Dusk said in complete panic. "I'll go ahead with my teleportation and go find her."

Without waiting for his friends to even confirm, Dusk used his magic quickly and repeatedly, to quickly appear and disappear, and thus reach the collapse area at the bottom of the gorge in a few seconds.

"Rainbow Dash!" Dusk shouted in terror, running towards the rubble, hoping not to find her friend buried among the rocks.

It seemed like the collapse hadn't happened long ago as there was still a lot of dust surrounding the place. With that little visibility, Dusk's only option was to shout his friend's name until she responded. However, that wasn’t necessary, since just when the dust began to dissipate, Dusk managed to see the mare.

Fortunately, Rainbow Dash hadn’t been buried by the collapse. However, it seemed that one of her wings had been caught by a huge rock. Dusk thought of immediately running to where she was, but he stopped in surprise when he saw that his friend wasn’t alone. Next to the rock was the stubborn little tortoise of the competition trying to move the rock with its head, giving his all to move the huge rock.

Finally, the tortoise managed to move the rock enough for Rainbow Dash to get her wing out. Then, the tortoise got under Rainbow Dash, putting her on its shell, and very slowly the heroic tortoise began to walk, wanting to get the pegasus out of that dangerous place.

“Rainbow Dash! I'm glad you're okay." Dusk said, approaching after seeing the heroic and surprising scene.

"Yeah, I... I'm sorry I worried you." Rainbow Dash said, embarrassedly averting her gaze. “I guess I was too sure of myself in the race. I got distracted, crashed and… well, a rock fell on my wing.” The pegasus added, rubbing her sore wing. "This little guy was the only one who wasn't scared by the collapse and stayed to help me."

As Rainbow Dash recounted what had happened, Dusk realized that the tortoise had continued to advance. However, it was moving so slowly that it seemed that Rainbow Dash didn't even move.

"Maybe I should take you, to speed things up a bit." Dusk said with a nervous smile. He approached his friend to take her and the tortoise to teleport them.

At that moment, the tortoise looked at Dusk with annoyance and nipped at his ankles to make the stallion back away.

“Hehe, sorry, Dusk. It looks like this little guy doesn't want anyone to help him finish the race. He wants to do it for himself.” Rainbow Dash said, feeling a little proud to understand the little tortoise.

The tortoise continued to carry Rainbow Dash, and Dusk accompanied them veeeery slowly. Surprisingly, Rainbow Dash didn't seem to mind being carried around by the slow creature at all. For his part, Dusk Shine didn't mind at first either, however, seeing that it was already getting dark, he finally made Dusk go ahead. Thus, Dusk reached the finish line and advanced it until it was closer to the tortoise so that the proud reptile finally finishes the race before the next millennium.

When the tortoise was only a couple of meters from the finish line, Applejack and the others finally arrived, along with Pinkie Pie and Luna. And while the tortoise continued to finish the race, Dusk took the opportunity to explain to his friends what had happened. For their part, all the mares sighed in relief when they saw that Rainbow Dash only had one wing hurt after a mountain of rocks had fallen on her. As for Dusk, he had a very serious concentration problem when telling the story, since he couldn't help but glance at Luna every two seconds. For some reason, the Princess of the Night had what looked to be a mustache drawn in black marker above her lip.

"Don't look at her so much or else she’ll figure it out." Pinkie Pie whispered next to Dusk, once he finished telling what happened.

"Did you draw that mustache for her while she was sleeping!?" Dusk whispered, looking terrified at Pinkie.

"Duh. I couldn’t let the opportunity slide. When else was I going to get a chance to pull a prank on a princess? But don't worry, it's just water-based ink. I'm saving the permanent ink mustache prank for someone else. Mwahaha!” Pinkie Pie replied, faking an evil laugh. "Besides... She deserves it for muttering in her sleep..." Pinkie Pie added quietly with a worried look on her face, remembering what she heard Princess Luna murmur while she slept.

Before Dusk could ask Pinkie Pie what she was referring to, everyone got distracted and began to applaud when they saw that the tortoise finally reached the finish line, along with Rainbow Dash.

“Well done, little guy. I knew you would make it.” Rainbow Dash said with a proud smile, finally getting off the tortoise and patting its head.

At such a gesture of affection, the tortoise blushed and hid its head inside its shell, which caused everypony to laugh.

“Oh, Dashie! He’s just like you! He blushes and hides whenever you caress him!” Pinkie Pie cheered, hugging Rainbow Dash tight while said mare just blushed and averted his gaze embarrassed.

"I-I don't act like that tortoise..." Rainbow Dash tried to deflect.

"I think you do." Dusk Shine said, smiling at his friend. "This tortoise is brave, and he never gives up. He doesn't care if he’s the favorite in a race or not, he gives his all until he achieves its goal. Like you."

Rainbow Dash looked at the tortoise, bent down and took it between her hooves.

“Yeah… You’re unstoppable! Like a little tank!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. She looked the tortoise in the eye and putting on a big smile. “I know you didn't win the race, but you saved me! And despite how slow you are, you wanted to finish the race and you did.”

"Actually, I think the tortoise was the one that won the race." Dusk said, feigning surprise, because that was something he had been thinking about for a long time. “Before you started the race, you said that the pet that came to the finish line with you would become your pet. And, well, this tortoise was the only one that literally crossed the finish line with you.” Dusk added, helping her friend make the decision that, deep down, he knew she had already made.

"Yeah, that’s right! You did do that! You’ll be my new pet! You’ll be my little 'Tank'!” Rainbow Dash said happily, having already grown very fond of the hardworking and tender tortoise. Then Rainbow Dash remembered a very important detail and put on a sad smile. “The only problem is that you don't fly… I guess if you stayed with me, we wouldn't be able to spend much time together…”

"Hmm... I think I have something that could help you..." Dusk mused, thinking of a way to solve his friend's problem. “Come on! Let’s go to the library."

The six friends started walking towards the library. However, after taking only a few steps, Dusk realized that not all of them were there. Turning around, Dusk saw that Princess Luna hadn’t moved from where she was. In addition, she had her head down, looking sadly at the ground.

Noticing her sadness, Dusk raised an eyebrow in confusion, and then returned to where Luna was while his friends waited for him.

"Princess, I thought you would also come with us." Dusk said as he approached the princess.

“Uh, no… Actually, I have to go back to the castle. It's getting dark now and there are a few things I must do before my night watch.” Luna answered with a nervous and sad smile.

At that moment, Dusk gently took the princess's hoof and looked her directly in the eyes.

“Please join us. There's something I'd like to show you after we finish this.” Dusk gently pleaded, looking at the princess with a small smile.

Seeing Dusk's sweet smile, Luna looked away slightly and blushed a little. Then she stared at Dusk, and without saying anything, she simply nodded timidly.

In the library, Rainbow Dash was immensely happy with her new 'Flying Tank'. With a complex kinetic spell, Dusk managed to make a small propeller rotate continuously. Which added to a harness, managed to make Rainbow Dash's new pet able to fly like a small helicopter. The only setback was that from time to time, Dusk would have to renew the spell, but that was a minor inconvenience as long as he saw his pegasus friend so happy with her new pet.

Dusk's friends said goodnight and each one went home. After that, Dusk left the library with his new pet owl, who took advantage of the fact that it was night to go out with his new master. Then Dusk went to the outskirts of the town, to the bridge that crossed the river, where Luna was waiting for him next to Celestia's phoenix.

"Sorry for being late. I would have liked you to accompany us to the library.” Dusk said once he arrived with the Princess of the Night.

"It wasn’t necessary. I really appreciate what you do for me, Dusk, but... I think I'm not part of your close little group." Luna replied kindly with a sad smile.

Dusk remembered that he had to tell her something very important before going where they should. But the thing was, he wasn't sure how to tell her.

"How do you tell a princess to wipe her lip because she has a drawn mustache!?" Dusk thought, embarrassed and nervous. Luna wasn't like her older sister, so he wasn't sure how she would react. "I must tell her! I can't let her go back to Canterlot like this, but… How do I tell her subtly!?"

"Uh… Princess. You have... You’ve something there..." Dusk said nervously, pointing his hoof at his own lip.

Seeing Dusk's gesture, Luna thought for a second and then turned red with embarrassment.

"D-Dusk! So sudden!? You want me to…? Do you want both of us to…?" Luna stammered, totally taken by surprise when she believed that Dusk was pointing to his lip because he wanted her to kiss him.

"Pinkie Pie played a little prank on you...there." Dusk added, being a little more direct in his insinuation.

Confused, Luna touched her lip and saw that her hoof was covered in ink. Then she ran to the nearby river, illuminated her horn to see better at night, and saw with horror that her lip was stained with black ink, like a mustache.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Luna yelled indignantly, red with embarrassment. Not only for having been walking in full view of everyone with that stain on her lip, but mainly because Dusk saw her like that, and that it was precisely Dusk who had made her see how ridiculous she looked.

"It was just a joke! A joke!" Dusk said quickly in fear, running towards the princess to calm her down. Just as he feared, Luna didn't have the same sense of humor as Celestia. "Pinkie Pie always plays pranks on everyone. Princess Celestia pranks me too, and I prank her. It's normal, it's what friends do."

With a red face from embarrassment and a look full of anger, Luna looked like she was going to explode at any moment. However, as soon as she heard Dusk say 'it's what friends do', Luna's anger declined, and she slowly changed her look of anger for one of deep sadness.

“Do friends like to make fun of others?” Luna lamented.

"Friends like to laugh together.” Dusk replied, removing the ink that remained under Luna's nose with his hoof and drawing himself a mustache with the ink. He topped it off by putting on a very goofy smile.

Seeing the stallion’s silly face made Luna cover her mouth and began to laugh. Something she hadn't done in a long time. A laugh that captivated Dusk upon hearing it.

“Now that Pinkie Pie pranked you, you can prank her back. That would be fair.” Dusk said, cleaning the ink mustache that he had drawn.

"I’m a Princess. I wouldn't lower myself to that." Luna replied, gracefully averting her gaze and raising her head with dignity.

Despite the regal pose, Dusk saw out of the corner of his eye that Luna put on the same mischievous smile that her sister put on when she was planning a revenge prank. That made Dusk smile, hoping that he hadn't woken up a prank monster like the white alicorn. Then, seeing the princess more relaxed, Dusk was finally able to return to his initial mission.

“Princess Luna, come with me. There is something I’d like to show you.” Dusk said.

After that, both ponies and the pets that accompanied them went to the edge of the Everfree Forest, specifically near the grove that was next to Fluttershy's cottage. Along the way, Luna wanted to take the opportunity to talk with Dusk, but it seemed like she couldn't think of anything interesting to talk about.

"By the way, the opossum I took with Fluttershy yesterday turned out to be a trickster." Dusk said, remembering something that he had almost forgotten. "Turns out the opossum wasn't hurt and he took the opportunity to steal some acorns and seeds from Fluttershy."

"Truly? Hehe, I guess it was smarter than we thought.” Luna laughed. A reaction that surprised Dusk, since he thought that Luna would be angry just like him for having been deceived. "I know it was just a rat, but- Ouch!" Luna added, just as Philomena pulled her mane.

“Looks like Philomena already wants to get back together with Princess Celestia. She doesn't like the night very much." Dusk said casually as they walked through that grove. That comment surprised Luna.

“You… you knew that Philomena was actually my sister's?” Luna gasped. Then she rolled her eyes and sighed, annoyed with herself. “Of course, you were his student. I should have assumed that you knew…”

“Don't worry, I know why you did it. You wanted to spend more time with me and my friends.” Dusk said with a reassuring smile.

"Uh, yes. With your friends… hehe.” Luna answered, averting her gaze in embarrassment. Because what Dusk said was only partially true, since she hadn't done that to share time with more ponies, but to share more time with him.

"I imagine you can get lonely at night sometimes, since most of the ponies are asleep." Dusk said, looking towards the tops of the trees as if looking for something. "So, after what happened today with Rainbow Dash, it occurred to me that you could also have a pet to accompany you."

“I don't think that's a good idea. Unlike your owl, most animals are diurnal, so it wouldn't do much good." Luna replied sighing with a sad smile.

"I know. That's why I was thinking of a nocturnal animal." Dusk said, still looking up. “Today at the competition, there was a cute bat that I think would be perfect as your pet. It's elegant, mysterious, and-"

"Hey you! I know you!" Luna interrupted suddenly, looking down at the ground, not far from her.

Dusk looked where the princess was looking in confusion. There under a tree was the opossum that he had brought with Fluttershy. Next to him, there was a family of squirrels, all eating the acorns that that opossum had stolen from Fluttershy the day before.

The opossum pushed the squirrels away when he saw them approach and stayed there to 'sacrifice' himself in front of the ponies.

"You're that cute little rat I saved from getting caught." Luna said with a smile, approaching and bending down to get a better look at the opossum. "I mean, opossum, hehe."

Luna looked askance at Dusk and her smile disappeared when she saw how annoyed he look at the opossum. It was then that Luna remembered what Dusk had told her, about how that opossum had deceived them, and that it was also a thief.

"What am I doing? I am a princess! I can't say that I think a rat, opossum, or whatever is cute. What will Dusk think of me!?"Luna thought. Then she changed her countenance and looked seriously at the opossum.

“HOW DARE YOU FOOL ME, YOU DIRTY OPOSSUM! YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES!” Luna used her royal Canterlot voice, which caused her scream to echo throughout the forest.

The opossum was frightened at the shout, touched its heart, took a couple of turns, and dramatically fell to the ground on its back. His four legs were in the air and his tongue was out.

“Waaaah! Dusk! I killed the rat!” Luna screamed in terror. Bringing her face closer to the opossum to get a good look at it. She timidly touching it with her hoof, fearing the worst. "Get up, mouseling."

"I don't think it's dead...maybe." Dusk said with a nervous smile. Since he himself had fallen for that trick before, but after Luna's scream, Dusk was left in doubt as to whether it really could have given the little animal a heart attack.

Just when Luna looked closely at the opossum, almost with tears in her eyes for having killed him, he was that the opossum raised its head and kissed Luna on the nose. That made Luna turn her head away and look at the opossum in surprise.

"You... played a prank on me!?" Luna said in surprise, tightening her mouth and slightly puffing out her cheeks. At that moment, Dusk prepared to contain the princess's anger again, however... "Hahahaha! You completely fooled me! Hahaha!" Luna laughed, to Dusk's complete surprise.

Seeing that there was no danger, the opossum stared intently at Luna laughing. He then approached Luna, nimbly jumped on her and sat on her back.

"Perhaps, that’s the perfect pet for you." Dusk said, seeing how well those two seemed to get along. Feeling the same feeling he felt seeing Rainbow Dash laugh when choosing 'Tank'. “Opossums are also nocturnal. It could be the perfect pet for you.”

With Dusk's comment, Luna looked at the opossum and couldn't help but smile, thinking that indeed, she found it cute and adorable. However, then she glanced sideways at Philomena, who had stood on a nearby branch. Seeing the beauty of that phoenix, Luna lowered her head sadly.

"This... This’s not a pet worthy of a princess..." Luna muttered sadly.

“If I learned anything today, watching Rainbow Dash choose a pet, it's that you don't choose a pet because you think that pet looks great. You choose a pet because it makes you feel happy.” Dusk encouraged. “This opossum doesn't seem to fit in anywhere, but secretly, he's helping others. Just like you do at night." Dusk added, remembering how he had seen the opossum give the stolen acorns to that family of squirrels.

With Dusk's compliment, both Luna and the opossum blushed at the same time and both timidly averted their eyes.

“If you adopt him as your pet, I suppose there will be two of us who will have a nocturnal animal as a pet.” Dusk smiled, seeing that just at that moment his owl landed on his head. "We'll have a lot to share at night, hehe."

That last comment was the last and definitive reason for Luna to decide to accept adopting the opossum. Then Luna took the opossum between her hooves and put it in front of her, looking at it tenderly.

"What do you think? Would you like to stay with me, little Tiberius?” Luna asked, to which the opossum responded by giving her another little kiss on her nose as acceptance.

"Tiberus?" Dusk said, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, he needs a name. And when I was a filly, I really liked that name.” Luna explained. Then looking a little worried at Dusk. "You don’t like it?"

“No, it's perfect, it's just that I was surprised. It’s an old name.” Dusk said, realizing that after being locked up for a thousand years, Luna wouldn’t know that some old names were no longer used. “Today the name is still used, but it changed to 'Tiber'. The ending 'ius' is an old ending for names.”

'Hooo! Hooo!' The owl on Dusk's head hooted loudly, as if he had liked something. Something that Dusk hadn’t seen him do before.

"What is it? Did you like the name 'Tiber'?” Dusk asked, without getting an answer from the owl. “Or do you like Tiber-ius better?” Dusk asked again, but this time the owl reacted excitedly again. “So you like old names, huh? Or maybe you just like the ending 'ius'?” Dusk asked, getting a reaction from the owl again, after Dusk asked the second question.

After that, Dusk began to say a list of the names of old ponies that ended in 'ius'. However, it seemed that the owl didn't like any of them, as it didn't react.

"What do you want me to call you then!?" Dusk said tiredly, after no more names came to mind. “I’ve to give you a name, and I can't call you whenever I want something, just with 'Owl, I wish...'. And I can't just call you with the 'ius' ending either."

'Hooo! Hooo! Hooo!' The owl sang loudly, spreading its wings. As if it had liked what Dusk had said a lot. Then Dusk raised an eyebrow in disbelief, thinking he knew what the owl had liked.

“Owl-I-wish-ius?” Dusk asked, causing the owl to fly and hoot happily over Dusk's head.

“Owlowiscious? That is a pretty name." Luna said, causing the owl to happily land on Luna's mane and pet her.

“Okay, it's done. You finally have a name, Owlowiscious.” Dusk proclaimed, looking at Luna with a sweet smile, seeing how cute the princess looked with the two little animals on her body. "Thank you for helping me choose a name, Princess."

Then Luna looked at Dusk, with her cheeks blushed and with a tender smile.

"Thank you, for being by my side." Luna replied. It was clear that she was more and more sure of her feelings for that stallion.

Finally, after an exhausting day, Luna returned to Canterlot Castle. Fortunately, she had managed to sleep a little in the afternoon and recover energy for her night watch. However, before watching over the ponies' dreams, Luna had to return Philomena to her sister. Besides, it didn't hurt to take advantage of introducing her sister to the new member of the family, the little opossum that was now holding on to Luna's horn as if it were a pirate looking at the horizon.

Arriving in front of Celestia's room, Luna was surprised to see that the lights in her sister's room were still on, despite it being quite dark already. Another thing that surprised Luna was hearing some murmurs and giggles behind the door.

"What's this?" Luna said as she read the small sign on Celestia’s room that read: 'Don’t enter. Secret Princess Club'.

Feeling annoyed reading that, Luna opened the door to the room without even knocking. As she did so, she saw that her sister was inside with her niece, Princess Cadance. Both of them were sitting by the fireplace with what appeared to be a stack of magazines.

“Cadance? What are you two doing here? And what is this 'Secret Princess Club'!? Sister, you said no more secrets!” Luna accused, approaching to where the other two alicorns were.

“Sorry sister, it's something that Cadance and I made up this morning. It’s not that we wanted to hide it from you.” Celestia responded with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, Auntie. We were going to tell you, but you were in a hurry this morning and left without telling us where.” Cadance added with a sad look.

Seeing the scolded puppydog looks from both alicorns, Luna averted her annoyed gaze, looking up at the ceiling indignantly. The other two princesses lowered their heads sadly, knowing that Luna was very distressed when she felt excluded.

"Oh! What a cute opossum! Is he yours, auntie?" Cadance said suddenly, seeing the opossum that had been hidden in Luna's mane, now poking its head out.

"Yes! Isn't he cute? His name is Tiberius! He's my new pet!" Luna said excitedly, picking up Tiberius and bringing it closer to Cadance for her petting him. She had completely forgotten about her annoyance and felt happy that Cadance found her opossum cute too.

“So you found a friend…” Celestia murmured, remembering the talk she and her sister had had the day before.

Celestia had expected Luna to come back saying that she had managed to make friends with another pony and not an opossum. However, seeing her so happy, as she hadn't seen her in months, made Celestia simply smirk. After all, all she wanted was to see her little sister happy. In addition, she herself knew that a pet could become a great and reliable friend.

As if knowing Celestia was thinking of it, Philomena flew into the room, landed next to her mistress, and lovingly rubbed her head against Celestia's body. Meanwhile, the Princess of the Sun wanted to take advantage of the occasion to have a little fun, seeing that her sister's mood improved.

“Well, it's too late. You must return to your duties, and we must return to our secret club." Celestia said, approaching her sister and gently nudging her to the door with her wing.

“H-Hey, no. Wait!" Luna said in surprise, stopping right at the doorway. She then turned her head to look at her sister, and put on a shy, embarrassed look. "C-Can I join your secret club?"

"Oh... Do you want to join?" Celestia said, putting on a fake look of surprise. "Sorry, it's only for Princesses."

"I am a Princess!" Luna proclaimed, making Celestia laugh at how easy it was to annoy her little sister.

After that, Celestia led Luna back to the fireplace, and the three princesses sat together in front of the fire. Luna then looked at the stack of magazines next to them and raised an eyebrow.

“So what is this Princess Club about? Do you talk about foreign policy? Kingdom finances?” Luna asked.

"Not at all." Cadance laughed, taking one of the magazines that was next to her and showing it to Luna. "Tell me, auntie. You've never read the 'Forbidden Love' comic, have you?" Cadance added with a mischievous smile. Passing the magazine to Luna, which was actually the first issue of the famous erotic comic by Lyra Heartstrings.

Then Luna took the comic, opened it, and both she and Tiberius widened their eyes and blushed at what they saw.

End of chapter 15

Chapter 16 - The secret ingredient

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The secret ingredient

Applejack was in the middle of one of the fields of the family farm. It didn't matter how she got there or what she was doing as such things did not matter in a dream. As such, the only thing Applejack remembered was simply showing up in the middle of her farm.

Applejack was reliving part of her memories of the previous day. She had been in that same place on the farm when Rainbow Dash came over to talk to her. The only difference between what she experienced the day before and what Applejack was experiencing in that dream was that for some reason, she was now wearing the necklace with her Element of Harmony: The jewel of Honesty.

It was so, just like the day before, Rainbow Dash came down from the skies and landed in front of the country mare. Then the pegasus looked at her friend with a nervous and guilty look.

“Applejack, I… wanted to talk to you alone. I know it may not be the best way to tell you, but I need to. If I don't, the guilt won't leave me alone." Rainbow Dash said very nervously. While Applejack, deep down, knew what her friend would say, since it was exactly the same as what her friend had said the day before. "Yesterday I... I kissed Dusk!"

Despite the fact that all of this was deja-vu for Applejack, the dream kept the country mare's mind jumbled. Applejack acted as if she was hearing the news for the first time, perplexed and not knowing how to react.

“I know I shouldn't have done it. But Dusk was so nice to me, and I... I couldn't stop thinking about that silly rule we made for dating Dusk..." Rainbow Dash continued speaking, looking at her friend with a look full of guilt.

"D-Don't worry... It's fine, I guess..." Applejack answered, finally coming out of her perplexity. She averted her gaze nervously. “I-It's what we agreed on, isn't it? About… The third rule… To see if our friendship… can overcome these problems.” Applejack added, making a great effort to try to look calm with a forced smile.

After Applejack responded to Rainbow Dash, the jewel that represented her element of harmony cracked.

'How dare you kiss my coltfriend!? You're supposed to be my friend! No matter what we’d promised, Dusk is my coltfriend!' Applejack's voice was heard screaming in the sky.

In that instant everything around Applejack vanished, and she appeared in another place. This time she was in front of the barn, reliving another memory of the previous day. A memory that happened only a couple of hours after what happened with Rainbow Dash. In that memory, Dusk has just arrived to chat with her.

“I know I should have told you as soon as it happened, but…I wasn't sure how to react.” Dusk said shyly, after telling his marefriend that he had kissed Rainbow Dash. "Please forgive me."

“W-what are you talking about? It was just a little kiss, I-It's not like I'm going to stop being friends with Rainbow Dash, or that I'm going to stop being your marefriend because of that, hehe…” Applejack answered with a nervous smile. She was again herself to smile to try and hide her true feelings. “We are all friends, these things… can happen.”

'How could you do this to me!? You should have stopped her! It doesn't matter if you have feelings for her or the others, now you're with me! You’re only mine!' Applejack's voice screamed again from the sky. All the while the Applejack in the dream forced herself to smile.

'CRACK!' Again the jewel that Applejack carried around her neck cracked. This time completely breaking the element of harmony. Instantly, everything around Applejack vanished, including the ground. The mare fall into an abyss until she fell into what seemed like a lower level.

After falling to the ground, Applejack quickly got up and started running in what seemed to be an endless hallway. She wasn't sure why she was running; she just knew she had to. Running from something perhaps? She didn't know. The only thing Applejack knew was that she needed to get away from there.

There came a time when Applejack almost gave out because of how exhausted she was, which made her turn around for a second to look behind her. Then, she saw that nothing was chasing her. However, she couldn't even breathe a sigh of relief for just at that moment, she collided with something and she fell hard on her back.

Applejack looked up and saw that she had run into a large white wall, with a big number thirty on it. Then the tapestry on the wall was torn and another tapestry appeared behind it. One just as white as the previous one, only this one had a big number twenty-nine on it.

As the tapestries ripped apart, Applejack realized that she hadn't hit a wall, but instead hit a huge giant calendar. Which ripped one by one the days that passed, being a huge countdown that was accelerating more and more.

"No Please! I need more time! I don’t want this to end!" Applejack begged the giant calendar to stop. "No... I won't let you!" Applejack yelled in frustration. She slammed her forehooves onto the calendar so that the sheets would stop tearing.

By preventing the calendar to stop advancing, it disappeared. Then Applejack looked around her and saw that she was now surrounded by her four friends. They were all glaring at her and pointing accusingly with their hooves.

“Don't you want that day to come? You’re a cheater!" Pinkie Pie said furiously, as Applejack sat with her head down.

"You know you have little time left with him and now you want more!?" Fluttershy said with a look of pain, while Applejack began to cry.

“We should never have trusted you. How can you say that you’re our friend?” Rainbow Dash said with a look of disgust, while Applejack covered her ears so as not to listen to her friends anymore.

“You only think about what you want. You’re selfish.” Rarity said angrily, pointing her guilty hoof at Applejack.

"Yes, I admit it... I'm selfish... What's wrong with that!?" Applejack yelled and stood up again. She was still crying, but she looked at her friends with a mixture of anger and pain in her eyes. “I’m not the Element of Generosity, I can be selfish if I want to! I’m also not the Element of Laughter, I can feel angry and sad with others! I’m not pure kindness like Fluttershy, so I can do bad things! And I don't represent loyalty either, I can… I can betray my friends!” Applejack added, facing her friends, but crying even more as she admitted all those bad feelings she felt inside. "I represent the Element of Honesty... Why can't I tell the truth and say that I want Dusk to stay alone with me!?" Applejack screamed in pain.

"That is quite enough." Suddenly said a voice that echoed throughout the place. Then the friends and walls around Applejack disappeared like smoke. The orange mare was left alone standing in the middle of nowhere.

A big glow appeared from the sky and from it Princess Luna slowly came down, landing in front of Applejack. Who, for her part, dried her tears and looked surprised at the Princess of the Night.

"Princess Luna? This… Is this a dream?” Applejack asked, being able to finally react to the reality that this was just a dream, after the alicorn influenced it and awakened her conscious mind.

“It's funny that now it's you who has a nightmare. Yesterday it was your friend Rainbow Dash who couldn't sleep well, feeling guilty about kissing your coltfriend." Luna said, approaching Applejack and looking at her with concern. “Your friend's nightmare was easy to fix. She had a conflict with her Element of Harmony, believing that she had betrayed you. So her conscience was clear when she admitted what she did. But in your case, it’s different. You don’t have a conflict with the Element of Harmony that you represent. Your Element is influencing you to admit the truth, a truth that you try to hide so as not to hurt your friends.”

"I... I also don't want to betray my friends." Applejack said, closing her eyes tight in pain. "But the time I have with Dusk is almost over, and I... I don't want it to end! I should never have accepted the deal we made…”

“A deal? Does she have little time left to be with Dusk Shine? What is this all about? What did Dusk's friends agree on?” Luna pondered, narrowing her eyes in doubt.

Moments before, upon entering the world of dreams, Luna immediately went to the door of Applejack's dreams, feeling the stormy and strong nightmare that mare was feeling. Thus, Luna had witnessed Applejack's nightmare almost from the beginning. However, she didn't act right away, seeing that Applejack's nightmare was related to Rainbow Dash's the night before, and that they both had a strong conflict with 'a deal' they had made. That caught the attention of Luna, who decided to wait to better understand what it was all about.

“Why can Applejack only be with Dusk Shine for a month?” Luna thought, opening her mouth to ask Applejack that directly. However, before doing so, she caught herself. “What am I doing? I swore that I would never again put my own interests before my duties as a night vigilant. No matter how much I want to know about Dusk Shine, my duty before anything else is to help this mare.”

"You must do what is right." Luna finally said, looking affectionately at Applejack.

Applejack widened her eyes, then she looked away and finally raised her head again. She looked at the princess with a very serious and determined look.

"I'm staying with Dusk." Applejack finally said, determined to be selfish, if only for once in her life. “It doesn't matter if I break the deal, it doesn't matter if I betray my friends. The only thing that matters is true love! Right?"

"You know that's not true." Luna said with a sad smile. The sky above them began to get brighter, a sign that this dream was about to end.

"You don’t know nothing! You don't know what's right! I… I’m sure that my heart’s pointing the right way!” Applejack yelled, glaring at Luna as everything around their grew brighter.

"It's easy to know that's not the right thing to do." Luna said, caressing Applejack's cheek. With everything around them so bright, they could barely see their faces anymore. "If so, I wouldn't be here, and you wouldn't have this nightmare."

At that moment the dream ended, and Applejack opened her eyes in the real world.

The first rays of the sun peeked out from the distant hills and began to illuminate the orange mare's room. Then Applejack raised one of her hooves as she slowly began to remember everything she experienced in her nightmare. She turned her head and looked at a calendar that was stuck on a wall, where there was an important date marked for five days ahead. The date marked a month since she started being Dusk's marefriend.

"Dammit!" Applejack cursed, slamming her hoof and hitting the table next to her bed. She knew that what the princess had said was true, but she still refused to accept it.

It was a beautiful morning in Ponyville and Dusk Shine was walking calmly through the town's fruit and vegetable market. The day before, he had arranged to meet his marefriend there first thing in the morning to help her with her apple stall.

It was very important for Dusk to be with Applejack that day. Not just because she had forgiven him after he had admitted the day before that Rainbow Dash had kissed him. But it was also important because there was very little left for a month to pass since both were formally married, meaning that the mayor would keep her word and sign the divorce very soon. For this reason, Dusk didn't know what would happen after he and Applejack were formally divorced, would she break up with him? Or maybe she wanted to continue with him as a couple? But what about his other friends!? With all those questions, the only thing Dusk knew was that he should take advantage of his time as Applejack's coltfriend before everything got complicated.

As Dusk walked through the market, he was distracted when he saw that there seemed to be a new fruit stand, which was full of ponies. And among the crowd, Dusk was struck when he saw Apple Bloom was there.

“Apple Bloom? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping Applejack at her apple stall?" Dusk asked, approaching the filly.

“Yeah, I was just going to, but look at those pears! I've never seen pears like these in Ponyville." Apple Bloom said, showing Dusk a large and appetizing pear that she took from the counter of that stall.

Dusk took a good look at the new fruit stand that had caught the attention of everyone around. It was a stand that specialized in the sale of pears, and just like the Apple family stand, they not only sold the fruit, but also sold a wide variety of products derived from it ranging desserts, jellies and pear preserves.

"Do you want a free sample?" The seller of the stall asked. A fairly old earth stallion with amber fur, almost totally white mane except for a brown streak, a green bandana around his neck, and of course, a cutie mark of a big pear, a symbol of his family and his passion. "It's a gift." The old pony added with a tender smile, offering a big jar of pear jelly to Apple Bloom.

"Really!?" Apple Bloom gasped, immediately opening the jar and tasting the jelly. "It's delicious!" Apple Bloom said with big, bright eyes of amazement.

"Isn't that a pretty big jar to just be a free sample?" Dusk Shine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hehe, yes. I guess that's true, but it's okay." The old pony said a little nervously. He looked at Apple Bloom and was touched to see the little filly eating happily. As if little Apple Bloom reminded him of someone very dear to him.

"It's great to have Grand Pear back in Ponyville!" A happy stallion said, while buying a dozen pears. “He’s always been very kind to everyone.”

"Yeah, it's a shame when they went to Vanhoover." The wife of that stallion added, keeping the pears in a bag. “Together with the Apple family, they were the two most famous farms in all of Ponyville.”

"Thank you... It's good to come home." The elderly owner of the stall said, named Grand Pear. Smiling with a smile that seemed sad to Dusk for some reason.

Grand Pear continued serving the rest of the ponies who wanted to buy jelly before it ran out. Dusk and Apple Bloom said goodbye to the kind old pony and continued on their way to meet up with Applejack.

"Dusk, you have to taste it." Apple Bloom said once they got out of the crowd, jumping with her hoof, full of jelly, and forcing it into Dusk's mouth.

“Hm!? Hmm… It's actually very tasty.” Dusk said surprised, tasting his mouth. Not just because the filly suddenly filled her mouth with jelly, but because of the sweet taste left in his mouth. "I know it's not apple, but I'm sure Applejack will love it."

“Oh! That reminds me. Here, you should give Applejack a taste of the jelly when we get there.” Apple Bloom said, with a thoughtful face and gave the jar of jelly to Dusk. “I think my sis woke up on the wrong side of the hay bale this morning. Maybe you can change her mood if you give her this sweet gift.”

"Applejack woke up in a bad mood?" Dusk asked incredulously. Thinking the filly might be exaggerating, since it was difficult for Dusk to imagine his marefriend in a bad mood for no reason.

“Why wouldl she be angry?” Dusk thought as he walked. Then he remembered the talk he and Applejack had had the day before. When he confessed to her that he kissed Rainbow Dash. “I don't think it's because of that. She said it wasn't important, that she wouldn't stop being my marefriend because of it. But…what if she changed her mind!?” Dusk thought in horror.

Despite the fact that he hadn’t initiated that kiss with Rainbow Dash, Dusk had felt very guilty after that. However, he hadn't told his marefriend about the incident right away. That led him to spend a whole night without being able to sleep, until he finally had to go to his marefriend and admit guilt. A rush of horrible scenarios pasted through the colt’s mind, in which Applejack would get angry, hit him, even cry; it was that the scenario that Dusk least expected happened. Applejack just didn't react. She just made a nervous face and said that those things happened. That filled Dusk with momentary relief, but at the same time, it filled him with doubts as time passed.

Dusk and Apple Bloom arrived at the stand and Applejack was in fact frowning. All of the colt’s doubts and anxiety bubbled back to the surface of his mind.

“Where were you, Apple Bloom!? You should’ve gotten here a long while ago!” Applejack said in a bad mood, ordering some apples on the counter. “And you… You said you would help me first thing in the morning! Is that what a promise is worth to you!?” Applejack added, looking angrily at Dusk.

“I… I'm sorry.” Dusk said timidly, knowing that he was walking on a glass floor, and that any wrong answer could make him fall. “We stopped in for a few minutes by the new pear stand.” Dusk added with a shy smile. He showed his marefriend the jar of pear jelly that he brought her as a gift.

"Pears?" Applejack asked in confusion. Then she took a good look at the jar of jelly that Dusk was holding, and the country mare gave a look of surprise, and then one of deep anger. “Grand Pear is back in town!? And… And he wants to buy my coltfriend off with a dirty jar of jelly!?” Applejack added with fury.

“You… do you know Grand Pear?” Dusk asked timidly. Seeing that he had somehow made Applejack's bad mood even worse.

"No! I don’t know him. And I don't want to meet him." Applejack answered, averting her angry gaze. Then she looked at Dusk again seriously. “Don't go near the Pears again. I don't want you to try or buy any of their products."

“I… I didn't buy it. It was a present." Dusk said, confused with Applejack's bad mood. He wasn't sure anymore if she was mad at him, at Grand Pear, at Apple Bloom, or just mad at everyone.

“I don't want you near the Pears! I already told you!" Applejack yelled furiously. Then lowering her frustrated head, remembering in her anger, that she wasn’t only angry with Grand Pear, but also with Dusk's way of being. "You're always like this, aren't you? You never know what to choose. You’ve something good before you, but you dare not take the step.”

At Applejack's words, Dusk was surprised, and then he looked away with sadness and shame. Those words confirmed it, Applejack was angry with him. Not just because of the kiss, it seemed like the whole temporary coltfriend situation and not knowing which of her friends to have as a marefriend had finally blown up. Making Applejack confront him with his big problem: She was his marefriend, but he was still undecided in his heart.

Applejack felt her heart tighten, realizing that in her anger she was hurting Dusk. But it seemed that her anger was stronger than her reason at that moment.

Applejack had woken up in a bad mood after the nightmare she had, and her conversation with Princess Luna. Then she found out that the pony she hated the most in her life, Grand Pear, was back in Ponyville. That made her blood boil even more. An anger that took control of her body.

"Big sis! Why are you so mad at Grand Pear? He’s very kind." Apple Bloom said, frightened to see her sister so angry that she was taking it out on Dusk.

"Kind!? You say that pony is kind!?” Applejack said, surprised that her little sister was defending Grand Pear, despite what he had done to her family. That was the straw that broke the pony’s back. "Don't talk about things you don't know, ya little fool!" Applejack added looking straight at Apple Bloom with a look full of pain, so much so that small tears came out of her eyes.

Apple Bloom gave a frightened look and ran away, with tears in her eyes. Applejack felt a pang of guilt in her heart when she saw her sister run away, which ended up making her anger increase even more.

“It's all that Pear's fault! He shouldn't have come all this way!" Applejack said furiously.

Then Applejack went to Grand Pear's pear stand and shouted so that her voice could be heard among the crowd that was packed trying to buy pear jelly.

“GRAND PEAR! GET OUT OF PONYVILLE! YOU’RE NOT WELCOME HERE!!” Applejack yelled furiously. A cry that surprised everyone in the market.

For his part, hearing that enraged shout, the old Pear simply lowered his head sadly and closed his eyes in pain. Seeing that he didn't even respond to her provocation, Applejack averted her annoyed gaze and snapped at the last remaining pony: herself. Furious at seeing that she had ended up taking out her anger on Dusk, on Apple Bloom, and even on that old Pear; was that Applejack closed her eyes in annoyance and ran out of the market.

As Dusk Shine watched his marefriend run, he was simply stunned, just like everyone else in the market. None of the ponies present had ever seen Applejack so angry. And although everyone thought that that anger was against Grand Pear for some reason, Dusk was sure that the main culprit of all that was him.

Applejack went back to Sweet Apple Acres after leaving the market in rage. During the long walk back home, the country mare had enough time to cool her head a bit and reflect on her actions.

Throughout that morning, Applejack had a strong internal conflict between what she really wanted and what she knew was right. That made her feel frustrated with herself. Of course, having Grand Pear come back to town was more than her patience could bear. However, after her minute of anger ended, Applejack felt horrible for taking out her anger and frustration on everyone.

“Grand Pear… How dare he show up here? He… He deserved to be yelled at! It's the least I can do after what he did!" Applejack thought out loud after calming down a bit. She remembered that years ago she had sworn to herself never to forgive Grand Pear and to face him if she ever saw him. "Even so... I shouldn't have yelled at Apple Bloom and Dusk..."

Finally Applejack arrived at her house. Upon entering, she saw that Apple Bloom was crying and hugging her grandmother, while Big Mac was by her side trying to calm her down. That made Applejack finally forget the last of the anger that was left inside her, and finish feeling guilty for the way she had acted.

"Apple Bloom, I... I'm sorry I yelled at you." Applejack said sheepishly, approaching where his sister was.

Apple Bloom shirked away from Applejack and ran off in tears to her room. Applejack's heart broke into tiny pieces.

"Oh my! I've never seen Apple Bloom this upset by something you did. What happened?" Granny Smith asked, looking at her oldest granddaughter with a very concerned look.

“I…yelled at Apple Bloom at the market.” Applejack said with a very regretful look. “She was defending that old pony Grand Pear, and I… lost my mind for a second.”

“Grand Pear is back in Ponyville!?” Granny Smith asked in shock.

"Who is Grand Pear?" Big Mac asked confused.

At that question, Granny Smith freaked out and looked sideways at Applejack and Big Mac. The red stallion looked at her in confusion, while Applejack just looked down at the floor, trapped in her own guilty thoughts.

"H-He's an old neighbor from the farm, a stubborn stallion not worth talking about, hehe." Granny Smith answered very nervously.

“I didn't just yell at Apple Bloom. I also yelled at Dusk... I'm a fool!" Applejack thought out loud, frustrated for having gotten angry with Dusk when there were so few days left before the deadline for their relationship. "I should have been taking advantage of these last few days, but now... The only memory that Dusk will have of us will be when I yelled at him for no reason!"

"Are you going to break up with Dusk?" Big Mac asked, trying not to sound too happy about the idea. "Maybe it's for the best." Big Mac added with a serious look and left to go back to his work.

Contrary to the red stallion, Granny Smith saw how hurt and repentant her beloved granddaughter was and reached out to calm and support her.

"Don't worry, dearie. Couples always argue, but they always forgive each other. Love always wins out in the end." Granny Smith said, caressing Applejack's face. "Your parents also argued sometimes, but they always reconciled... Hehe. I remember that your mom always baked your dad an apple pie when she wanted to apologize for something.”

“Mom's apple pies… It's true! Mom made the best apple pies.” Applejack said, wiping away a tear and smiling at the memory of her parents. "Maybe I could try to make that same apple pie so that Apple Bloom and Dusk will forgive me for yelling at them."

"Oh dear, I'm afraid that can't be." Granny Smith said with a sad smile. “Only your mother knew the recipe for her famous apple pies. I could never cook one as delicious as the ones she made.”

"Hmm... Maybe..." Applejack said, looking at the floor with a thoughtful gaze. Then she realized that her grandmother was watching her carefully and she smiled nervously. “N-Never mind. I think I'll see it later. For now, I’m gonna go rest for a while in my room." Applejack quickly added, saying goodbye to her grandmother and going up to the second floor of the house.

Once Applejack went upstairs, she pretended to go to her room so Granny wouldn't get suspicious. Instead, she went to the end of the hall and jumped up to pull on a small rope that opened a small door in the ceiling. A small staircase descended to go up to the attic of the house.

Confirming that no one was watching her, Applejack quietly went up to the attic. Once there, she searched behind several dusty boxes.

"I haven't seen it in a long while, but I think it was around here.” Applejack said, as she searched the farthest box in the attic full of old photos and drawings. "Here it is!" Applejack finally said happily, taking a small yellow book out of the box.

"Aha! I knew something was off." Granny Smith suddenly said from behind Applejack.

“G-Granny! W-What are you doing here?” Applejack asked nervously, trying to hide the little yellow book behind her.

Without saying anything, Granny simply held out one of her hooves in front of Applejack, waiting for her to fork over what she was hiding. Then Applejack looked away sadly and gave the book to her grandmother. Granny Smith took the book and read its cover, where it simply said: 'Diary'.

"So you read Buttercup's diary." Granny Smith said, looking with a sad smile at the diary she was holding. "Although I guess by now, you know her real name was Pear Butter... I knew there was something fishy when you got so mad at Apple Bloom for getting close to Grand Pear."

After that, Applejack and her grandmother were silent for several seconds, unsure how to continue this delicate conversation.

"Since when did you know your mom was a Pear?" Granny Smith asked, looking worriedly at her granddaughter.

“For several years… I wanted to know more about mom. So one day I came up here and found her diary." Applejack replied with a sad look. "Why did you hide it from us?"

“Huff… If you read the diary, I guess you know why your mom abandoned her name and her family.” Granny Smith answered with a sad sigh. “Our family and the Pear family were neighbors, and they never got along. Grand Pear and I kept that family feud alive for years, and we tried to get our children to keep it alive too. That's why it was a surprise to everyone when we found out that Bright Mac and Pear Butter were in love."

“As much as Grand Pear and I tried to separate them, they always saw each other secretly. It got to the point where that they ended up getting married in secret. It was there that Grand Pear and I discovered them… At first, I refused to let my son marry a Pear, but sweet Pear Butter told me how much she loved my son, and I finally accepted that they both really loved each other. However, Grand Pear couldn’t accept that his daughter chose to marry an Apple and made her choose between Bright Mac and her family. Ultimately Pear Butter chose Bright Mac, and Grand Pear, along with his entire family, left Ponyville and never saw Pear Butter again."

“Pear Butter started using the nickname Bright Mac fondly called her: 'Buttercup,' and she never mentioned her family again, nor did she tell you about her past.” Granny said, looking sadly at her granddaughter. "After your parents died, I thought I should honor Pear Butter's choice and not mention your mother's real family to you or your siblings."

"I guess…it's the same reason I decided never to tell Big Mac or Apple Bloom what I found out about mom." Applejack said with a sad and annoyed look. “When I read mom's diary, I couldn't believe that her father had abandoned her when she needed him most. So I talked to my parents' friends: Burnt Oak, Mrs. Cake, and the Mayor. They all confirmed to me that Grand Pear abandoned mom… So, I swore I would never forgive Grand Pear for what he did. For me, there’s no Pear blood running through my veins. Me and my siblings are one hundred percent Apple!” Applejack added, with a steady gaze.

Granny Smith smiled at how proud her granddaughter was to carry the family name. However, then Granny looked away sadly.

“It's been so many years, Applejack. And if there's one thing time have taught me, it's that even hate doesn't last forever." Granny Smith said with a sad look. "Maybe Grand Pear tried to get close to Apple Bloom, because he's sorry for what he did."

"Oh no! Don’t you dare go about painting him as the victim here!” Applejack said angrily. “Mom never forgave her dad for what he did to her, that's why she never mentioned his name. And neither will I!” Applejack hit the floor hard with her hoof to emphasize her point.

The stomp was so hard that a couple of boxes that had been dumped fell and spilled several old newspapers onto the floor.

"Sorry..." Applejack said with embarrassment and immediately bending down to pick up the mess that had fallen to the floor. However, she stopped when she saw that there were not only old newspapers scattered on the floor. "These... These are mom's cooking recipes!" Applejack realized and picked up several sheets that were written in her mom's hoofwriting. They had all been hidden in a box that Applejack had never gone through, because she thought it only had old newspapers.

Excited with the great find, Applejack and Granny Smith rushed down to the kitchen with the recipe titled 'Buttercup Family Pie'. This sheet, adorned with many hearts, detailed the ingredients and how they should be mixed to obtain the long-awaited best apple pie that both mares had ever tasted.

Quickly, Applejack and Granny Smith mixed the ingredients following the recipe instructions in detail. Thus, in just under an hour, both managed to have the first apple pie ready. They immediately tasted it and smiled when they realized that the pie was indeed tastier than the ones they normally cooked. However, as the seconds passed and both continued to taste the apple pie, their eyes slowly changed to confusion.

"It's a very good apple pie... but it's not the same as your mom's." Granny Smith finally said with a look of disappointment.

"I don't understand. We follow the instructions to the letter.” Applejack said, taking the recipe again and scratching her head in confusion.

“Hmm… Perhaps you could ask Mrs. Cake what it was missing. I remember that they were both very close friends and always cooked together.” Granny Smith said with a thoughtful look.

Wasting no time, Applejack said goodbye to Granny and ran back to town. She wanted to recreate the perfect apple pie that her mother made as soon as possible to ask her sister and Dusk Shine for forgiveness in a sweet way.

Once at Sugarcube Corner, Applejack met up with Mrs. Cake and Pinkie Pie. There, Applejack quickly explained to them how she had found her mother's apple pie recipe and how she wanted to recreate it to apologize to Dusk and Apple Bloom.

"Oh... So that's why you went crazy and screamed in the middle of the market." Pinkie Pie said with a thoughtful look, while Applejack was surprised to hear that. "Everyone in town knows, it was big news." Pinkie Pie added seeing her friend's confused look. She then then blushed and averted her gaze.

“Awww… My dear Pear Butter… She really did make the best pies. If it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have gotten my cutie mark." Mrs. Cake said after Applejack explained what happened. Tears of joy had prickled the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry. I've been very emotional lately." Mrs. Cake added as she wiped away a tear. Applejack understood perfectly since Mrs. Cake was almost on her due date.

Pinkie rushed out of the kitchen to fetch a big, thick book containing all of the recipes that the Cakes used to make their delicious treats.

"Thank you, dear." Mrs. Cake said, opening her book and searching page by page until she finally found what she was looking for. "Here it is! I knew Pear Butter had left me a copy of her apple pie recipe. She always left me copies of all her recipes.”

After pulling out the recipe, Applejack and Mrs. Cake compared that recipe to the one Applejack had found. Both were identical, both in ingredients and quantities, even down to the same drawn hearts.

“Hmm… Perhaps the pie didn't turn out the same as the one Pear Butter made because you didn't use exactly the same ingredients that she used…” Mrs. Cake reasoned. “Pear Butter always used the best ingredients.” The pregnant mare added, noting on a sheet of paper the specific types of flour, butter, cinnamon, and apples she remembered seeing Pear Butter use in her recipes.

"Well, at least I brought the best apples from the farm with me." Applejack said, reading the list of ingredients that Mrs. Cake wrote down. "I guess now I'll have to spend the whole afternoon looking for the other three ingredients."

"I’ll help you!" Pinkie Pie suddenly said with a big smile. "It’ll be fun! And it’ll be even better because we’ll help make a delicious apple pie for Dusk.” Pinkie Pie added with a small blush.

Before Applejack could say anything, Pinkie Pie quickly ran out of the bakery, leaving her and Mrs. Cake alone.

“No! What is Pinkie Pie doing!? This apple pie is for ME to apologize to Dusk. I don't want Pinkie Pie or anyone else putting their hoofs in my pie!” Applejack thought scared. Remembering again the nightmare she had had the night before and getting upset again. “Why do Pinkie and the others always want to interfere in my relationship with Dusk!? Dusk is my coltfriend!”

At that moment, Applejack took a step to go after Pinkie Pie to prevent her and her friends from interfering in her apology with Dusk. However, she was stopped in her tracks when Mrs. Cake groaned in pain and crouched down.

“Mrs. Cake! Are you okay?" Applejack asked with immediate concern.

“Yes, I'm fine… It was just a small contraction. This baby likes to kick a lot, hehe.” Mrs. Cake said with a reassuring smile after the pain had passed. She then looked into Applejack's eyes and began to cry. “I still remember when you were born…You were so tiny and adorable! Waahhh! Pear Butter was so happy to have a filly… Sniff!” Mrs. Cake cried, the pregnancy making her extra emotional at the nostalgia.

Applejack ultimately had to stay with Mrs. Cake to support her instead of going after Pinkie Pie. Meanwhile, Mrs. Cake took the opportunity to tell her about several stories from her mother's past, which Applejack listened to with fascination since she always loved hearing how sweet and kind her mother was, or how brave her father was. It was nice know that she had such good parents, but it was also sad to know that they were no longer with her.

After several minutes, Pinkie Pie finally walked back into the bakery, loaded with all the ingredients that had been listed. Knowing that Applejack was in safe hooves, Mrs. Cake left the kitchen to leave them alone to bake the pie together.

"Pinkie Pie, that was fast!" Applejack said in amazement, since she thought her friend would take much longer. “How did you manage to get flour from 'Troyus Mill' and butter from 'Sun Dairy Farm' so quickly? Those places are on opposite sides of town!”

“Wait! Why am I surprised? I need to get Pinkie out of here!” The mare thought to herself. “No matter how much Pinkie Pie wants to help, I can't let her keep interfering with my relationship with Dusk! If I don't, she'll take credit for the apple pie!”

Pinkie Pie heaved all the ingredients on the table and let out a huge sigh of relief. Just then Applejack put on a firm look and approached Pinkie Pie to ask her to leave and stop interfering in her relationship with Dusk.

“I was able to get it done lickity-split thanks to the other girls helping me get the ingredients." Pinkie Pie said with a big and sweet smile. "Rainbow Dash got the flour, Fluttershy got the butter, Rarity got the cinnamon, and I got the special ingredient."

"Huh? Special ingredient?” Applejack cocked her head. At that moment, Applejack’s coltfriend walked through the doors and into the kitchen. “Dusk!? W-What are you doing here?”

Amused by her friend's confusion, Pinkie Pie put a hoof on Applejack's head and made her bend down so they could both talk without Dusk listening.

"There was another ingredient that Mrs. Cake failed to mention." Pinkie Pie whispered as she showed Applejack the hearts that were drawn on both recipes. “When I draw hearts in my recipes, it means you have to cook it with love. That's the special ingredient! If you wanna make this apple pie perfect, you gotta bake it with the pony you love!”

"W-Why did you bring Dusk?" Applejack asked in surprise, still confused by the fact that Pinkie Pie and her friends were helping her in this way... Or maybe, was it another one of their tricks?

"Everyone was a little jealous that you were baking a pie alone with Dusk, but he's your coltfriend, and more importantly, we all want you to make up!" Pinkie Pie said with a sweet smile that shifted to a more somber one. “The truth is that I would love to use the third rule and take the opportunity to get closer to Dusk. But the most important thing now is that you are happy. Maybe I'll use the third rule against Fluttershy. Believe me, that mare is super dangerous when she sets her mind to it.” Pinkie Pie said goodbye to Applejack and Dusk, and quickly left the kitchen, leaving the couple in love alone.

For her part, hearing Pinkie Pie's honest words, Applejack widened her eyes and felt horrible with herself for thinking poorly of her friends. It was still true that all of them were in love with Dusk and were looking for the moment to try to get closer to him. But it was also true that they were still worried about Applejack and helped her when they knew that her relationship with Dusk was having a problem.

"I... I was determined to be selfish and betray them... But they never forgot our deal, and more importantly, they never forgot our friendship..." Applejack thought to herself. She felt guilty for believing that her friends only thought of taking Dusk away from her. “That’s the challenge of our deal. We gotta believe in love, without forgetting our friendship!”

Seeing that Applejack had remained silent with a sad and guilty look, Dusk timidly approached his marefriend. He hadn't seen her since the morning when she yelled at him. And without Applejack knowing it, Dusk had spent the whole morning blaming himself, believing that Applejack was only angry with him because of Rainbow Dash's kiss.

“Applejack, I… I know you're mad at me, and you have a right to be! But… I would like you to please forgive me.” Dusk said with a meek expression.

"You're not the only one who wants to apologize..." Applejack almost whispered with a sad look. Then she raised her eyes and looked tenderly at Dusk. "Dusk, do you want to make this apple pie with me?"

After that, both ponies began to bake together. Applejack carefully mixed the ingredients for the pie filling, while Dusk faithfully followed each instruction that his marefriend asked of him so as not to spoil her valuable apple pie.

Applejack followed the instructions her mother had written to the letter like before, only with two different things. The first was that the apple pie would now have exactly the same ingredients her mother had used years ago. The other big difference, is that from time to time, both ponies would stop and laugh for some funny reason. Either because Dusk sneezed on the cinnamon, or because he in revenge threw some flour at Applejack for making fun of him.

As they both worked, they both laughed and joked around. They enjoyed being able to bake with their beloved partner. With 'that' new ingredient, Applejack was sure that now she would have a perfect replica of her mother's delicious apple pie.

“I wonder if mom was as happy as I was when she baked with dad.” Applejack thought happily, putting a little jelly on Dusk's nose and laughing at her sweet coltfriend.

Finally, they both finished assembling the apple pie, and put it in the oven and started waiting for it to bake. It was at that moment that the happy and fun atmosphere that had reigned in the past hour suffered a small break. With both of them just waiting in silence, both ponies got a bit lost in their thoughts. Knowing that even though they were both happy now, they still needed to talk about what had happened that morning.

"Dusk... I... I'm sorry." Applejack said at one point with a more serious look. "I'm sorry I yelled at you in the market."

“That… That doesn't matter. I understand why you did.” Dusk answered with an embarrassed look. “I shouldn't have thought you wouldn't mind Rainbow Dash's kiss. It was my fault... I-" At that moment, Dusk was interrupted by Applejack's hoof.

"Dusk, this is not the time." Applejack said with a sad smile. “This pie has to be made with love until the end. I know you're sorry, and… and that's enough for now.” Applejack added with a tender and brighter smile. She realized that Dusk thought that all her anger had been his fault, not knowing that it was largely due to Gran Pear, and also because of how frustrated she felt with herself.

At that moment, Dusk opened his eyes in surprise and then simply closed them with concern.

"I understand... You forgive me, but we still have to talk about it later..." Dusk thought, feeling agitated, but at the same time sure of what he had been thinking that day. “There is something very important that you have to know… Something that I have to do to put an end to this crazy game.”

"So this is the best apple pie you've ever had, huh?" Dusk asked with a small smile. Knowing that his marefriend wanted to end the previous conversation. "Funny that your mom was an apple pie expert despite being a Pear."

"H-How do you know my mom was a Pear!?" Applejack asked, very surprised.

"Do you remember the time I was in your memories with Princess Luna?" Dusk said with an affectionate smile. “It always struck me that your grandmother named your mom 'Pear' in that memory. But a few weeks ago at the family reunion, she called her 'Buttercup'."

"Did Granny call her by her real name?" Applejack asked, trying to remember that memory that accompanied her in her trauma for so many years when she lost her parents.

Slowly the memory became clearer, and it was only then that Applejack began to understand part of her own past.

"It's true... Granny was so scared, she called her by her real name when dad arrived." Applejack realized. “I was so scared that I didn't care, but I guess somehow my mind was trying to remember it… That's why I was so interested in finding out more about my mom. I wanted to know who she really was! But in the end, I discovered that regardless of whether her name was Pear Butter or Buttercup, the only thing that mattered was that to me was that she was simply 'mom', my dear, beloved mom."

“And since her real name was Pear Butter… I guess she has some kind of relationship with Grand Pear, right?” Dusk asked slowly, finally saying the theory he had been formulating during that day, to try to explain the big outburst his marefriend had had in the market.

"My mom has no relation to that Grand Pear!" Applejack said angrily, quickly changing her smile to an annoyed look.

Dusk was a little scared when he saw the drastic change in his marefriend's mood. Something that Applejack noticed right away. Then she closed her eyes tight, took a deep breath and calmed down. She couldn't let her grudge take control of her again.

"Grand Pear is my grandfather, although I don't even know if he knows it himself." Applejack said slowly with a sad look. “He abandoned my mom because she chose to marry my dad… During all those years, he never looked for her, not even when she had me and my siblings, not even when… when she died. I can't forgive that pony... And I'm sure my mom wouldn't forgive him if she was still here." Applejack added, her eyes shining, on the verge of tears as she thought of all that her mother had to suffer when she was abandoned by her own family.

“I see… Now I understand why you reacted like that in the morning.” Dusk lowered his gaze. He remembered the arguments that he himself had had with his older brother in the past. "I don't think that hatred and resentment can last forever... I understand how you feel, but maybe your mother didn't feel that hatred towards him as you think."

Before Applejack could answer, the oven bell rang, announcing that the pie was ready.

Applejack forgot everything and quickly took out the pie and sniffed it, realizing instantly that this apple pie must be one of the most delicious she had ever baked. She cut a piece of pie and got ready to taste it. However, she stopped at the last second and finally offered it to Dusk.

"Here, it's for you. My way of apologizing for yelling at you in the morning.” Applejack said with an embarrassed and tender smile.

Dusk took the piece of pie that his marefriend offered him and tasted it. It was then that Dusk opened his eyes in surprise, savoring with pleasure what was definitely the best apple pie he had ever tasted.

“Hmmm! This pie is delicious!” Dusk said with a big smile as he swallowed what he had in his mouth. "This apple pie is-"

"Not right." Applejack interrupted after having also tasted the pie. "This ain’t the same as the pie my mom used to make."

"What are you talking about? How can there be a better apple pie than this!?” Dusk said with surprise after Applejack's revelation.

“There has to be something else! I must have forgotten something!!" Applejack said, looking through the mess in the kitchen, where was her mom's recipe.

As Applejack searched for the recipe, she ran through all the ingredients for the apple pie in her mind. The flour, the butter, the cinnamon, the apples, she had even cooked it with all her love! Along with the colt she loved! Why did the recipe still not work?

'Do you think that's true love? Pretending to be a couple in love? What do you think our parents would say about your relationship?' Those had been the words that Big Mac had said to Applejack when they were looking for the Great Seedling. Words that began to repeat themselves over and over again in Applejack's mind.

“The recipe didn't work because… we’re not really in love?” Applejack realized, beginning to hyperventilate without realizing it. “No! I love Dusk! And he loves me! There must be another reason!”

"Is this the recipe you're looking for?" Dusk asked confused, finding the recipe that was thrown on the floor.

"Yes!!" Applejack exclaimed and snatched the piece of paper in a panic.

"I wasn't sure if that was the recipe you were looking for because it doesn't say apple pie, hehe." Dusk said with a small laugh.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Of course that-" Applejack said before she went silent after reading the recipe again. What Dusk said was totally true, her mother's pie recipe was called 'Buttercup's family pie', not 'Buttercup's apple pie'. “But… It's an apple pie recipe. It's in the ingredients. It's obvious that…” Applejack added, again falling silent as she put on a thoughtful look. After several seconds, Applejack finally widened her eyes and looked away annoyed. "It just can't be. It must be something else! It’s impossible!"

"What? What did you discover?" Dusk asked, looking closely at his marefriend, as he recognized that look on her, knowing that she had discovered something important.

For several seconds, Applejack avoided looking at Dusk. She just stared at the floor in annoyance, like she was struggling to decide something. Then she finally looked up seriously at Dusk.

"I'm not sure. And I don't want to be sure, but… I think I know what the missing ingredient is.”

A few hours later at Sweet Apple Acres, the entire Apple family was enjoying the most delicious apple pie they had ever tasted. A pie that Granny Smith and Big Mac thought they would never taste again after the cruel family tragedy they experienced.

"Hooo-wey!! This is definitely Buttercup's apple pie!" Granny Smith said, crying with emotion as she remembered her daughter-in-law.

"Ma..." Big Mac whispered excitedly, after trying the pie that his sister had brought them and recognizing that it was identical to the delicious apple pie that his mother made.

“Here, Apple Bloom. This one is just for you.” Applejack said with a small smile, offering her little sister a small heart-shaped pie. "It's my way of apologizing for yelling at you this morning."

Apple Bloom had gone down to the first floor after hearing the fuss Granny was making after trying the pies that Applejack and Dusk Shine had brought. Seeing that her big sister was there, she immediately thought of going back to her room, as she was still upset with her. However, the smell of those delicious pies made it impossible for the filly to leave without tasting a small piece.

"Do you think I'm going to forgive you just because you give me an apple pie?" Apple Bloom asked with a skeptical expression.

"It's not an apple pie, it's a family pie." Applejack answered with a small smile. “Because it’s made with all the love we feel as a family. With all the love I feel for you, lil’ sis.”

Although Apple Bloom wanted to deny her sister's offer, the sweet smell of that pie made it impossible for her to do so. As soon as the filly tasted the pie, her mind took her back to a distant memory, to the dimmest and oldest memory that her young mind had. As soon as she was born, Apple Bloom's eyes couldn’t distinguish figures, but the first thing that etched her mind at birth was the warm embrace of her weary mother, and the sweet aroma of a small kiss. The same aroma that Apple Bloom now remembered and made her shed a tear.

"These were mom's pies?" Apple Bloom said, wiping away a tear from feeling the bond with the mother that, unfortunately, she never got to know.

Both Apple sisters hugged each other tightly, knowing that they were both feeling the same bond with their dear mother at that very moment.

After everyone had eaten several pieces of pie, Granny Smith finally asked her oldest granddaughter how she had managed to match her mother's apple pie recipe. Then Applejack told them the story of how despite all her attempts, she couldn't match the apple pie because it was missing a secret ingredient. And instead of explaining it in words, Applejack decided to show her family what the secret missing ingredient in her mother's pies had finally been.

The Apple family and Dusk Shine walked to the edge of one of the furthest fields of Sweet Apple Acres, taking advantage of the last rays of light of the day.

“Goodness… I haven't been to this part of the farm since…” Granny Smith said on the way, who then fell silent and looked nervously at Applejack. The orange mare simply smiled and nodded.

“It’s the tree that our parents planted. Its fruits were the secret ingredient.” Applejack explained, seeing the tree they were heading for not far away. Looking to her siblings to tell them the story she had read years ago in her mother's diary. “Our parents' families hated each other, so they got married in secret. And to celebrate their union, they both planted a seed from their family trees. For years I took care of that tree in secret, and although it seems to me a beautiful tree, I must admit that there is a part of it that I hated for years.

The closer they got, the more defined they could see the silhouette of the tree that Applejack was referring to. It was actually two intertwined trees, whose trunks crossed each other in a spiral, leaving a space between their tops. The tree was full of fruit, mostly apples, seen from the angle they were walking from. However, as they got closer, Apple Bloom and Big Mac realized that there was another type of fruit on the other side of the canopy.

"Wait, you hated one of our apple trees!?" Apple Bloom asked in shock. She remembered that her sister loved every apple tree in the farm so much, that she even read them stories when they were just saplings.

"And what do you mean our parents' families hated each other?" Big Mac asked.

"That's because our mother was-" Applejack didn’t finish her thought and stopped when she saw that, as they approached the tree her parents had planted, there was someone else there. There, holding the trunk of the tree with a hoof in astonishment was Grand Pear.

"I never imagined that night, in this place, you planted the seeds of this tree... It's... It's beautiful." Grand Pear said as if he was speaking to his daughter. Seeing the beauty of that great, unique and beautiful tree, a symbol of the love that his daughter had for her husband. “I wish I could go back to that day and tell you how sorry I am… Tell you that you were my greatest pride, and that's why it hurt me so much that you didn't follow the path I thought was for you. But you… found your own path, and raised a beautiful family… If only… If I… I… How could I be so blind!?” Grand Pear yelled, falling down sitting in front of the tree and starting to cry bitterly from the biggest mistake he made in his life. A mistake that he always knew he made, but that his great pride prevented him from admitting, until age finally made him flexible and wise enough to admit the guilt accumulated over the years.

Not far from where the old stallion was crying, Dusk Shine and the Apple family were still frozen from shock and perplexity.

After a few seconds, Applejack finally took a few steps and slowly approached Grand Pear. The old pony tried to stand up and hide when he noticed somepony approaching. But after finally venting his pain and guilt accumulated for so many years, it was impossible for him to calm down and stop crying. It was then that through tears, he could see blurry that the one in front of him was Applejack, his daughter's eldest daughter. He had recognized as soon as he arrived in Ponyville, and he also knew perfectly well that she hated him from of how she had yelled at him in the market.

"You're right... I deserve no forgiveness... I'm so sorry..." Grand Pear said, looking at Applejack through his tears. However, to his complete surprise, Applejack did was gave him a hug, one that left the poor old pony speechless.

“I’ve hated you for so long thinking that my mom hated you with all her heart after you abandoned her.” Applejack said quietly as she hugged the old Pear. “But the truth is, she never hated you. Deep down, she continued to love her family until the end… And her dad.” She added with a heavy sigh. It was finally time to let go of the grudge she had held for so many years. She broke away from the hug Grand Pear and gave a small smile. The old pony couldn’t help but lower his head in shame.

“I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but what I did was unforgivable. I wouldn't blame Pear Butter for hating me after abandoning her…” Grand Pear said, looking sadly at the ground.

"That’s not true. And this is the proof.” Applejack said with a tender smile. She offered him a piece of pie that she had baked.

At that moment, Grand Pear looked at his granddaughter in confusion. But seeing that she didn't say anything else and just offered him that pie, it made Grand Pear take that piece and eat it. As he did so, Grand Pear's eyes widened in amazement as he recalled the taste.

“This tates like the pear pie that Pear Butter used to make, but… it's even sweeter.” The stallion said said in amazement.

“That's because it's not a pear pie, and it's not an apple pie either. This pie combines both fruits, the best of both.” Applejack said, finally revealing what was the secret ingredient that had cost her so much to discover. “Mom's pie recipe had the ingredients of a regular apple pie. But then my friend Pinkie Pie told me that the missing ingredient was love, and she was right. It wasn't the love that mom felt just for dad or her children, what was missing was the love that she felt for her entire family, including the Pears. So the missing ingredient was pears, not just apples. She never forgot her family, nor did she ever stop loving it."

Grand Pear looked at Applejack's pie again and began to cry again with a small smile.

“My Pear Butter… My sweet, sweet Pear Butter…” Grand Pear said, trying in vain to stop crying after learning that her daughter had never stopped loving her family.

At that moment, the rest of the Apple family also came over to where Applejack and Grand Pear were. Led by Apple Bloom, who came even closer, shyly, to where her older sister was. Then Applejack smiled and drew the filly closer.

“Apple Bloom. This is your grandfather, Grand Pear.” Applejack said with a tender smile.

At that moment Grand Pear looked at Apple Bloom, who was looking at him with wide eyes of astonishment, and he smiled. Until that morning, he thought that his daughter had only had two children, Big Mac and Applejack. After the death of Pear Butter, he refused to know more about his daughter's family because of the pain it caused him to remember her. Yet this morning, just as it was now, Grand Pear immediately recognized Apple Bloom as his granddaughter, the spitting image he remembered of his little Pear Butter as a filly.

"Your eyes are big and full of hope, just like your mother's." Grand Pear said with a small tear. While Apple Bloom came out of her astonishment and jumped to hug her new grandfather crying with equal emotion.

After a long talk and many hugs, where Big Mac was also moved to hear the story of his parents, and where Granny Smith and Grand Pear finally made peace after their families had fought for so many years; they all decided to return to the family home along with Grand Pear to continue talking. However, Applejack decided to accompany Dusk to his house, so instead of going with the rest of the Apple family, the couple began to walk in the opposite direction.

"Dusk... Would you mind if we stayed here a while longer?" Applejack asked after her family left before leaving her parents' tree.

"I was going to say the same." Dusk replied, approaching that big tree again with Applejack. "It’s indeed a beautiful tree." Dusk added, focusing his eyes on the tops of that particular intertwined tree.

"It is, isn’t it? When I found my mother's diary, I went with the Mayor and she told me that my parents secretly got married here.” Applejack said, patting the tree. “It was a surprise to find this tree. Although no one took care of it for years, it grew strong, like the love of my parents. Since that day, I always come here to water it and take care of it so that it grows even stronger.”

At that moment, Applejack sat under the tree and signaled for Dusk to come with her. Then the stallion sat next to his marefriend, both very close to each other.

"Applejack, I... I know you don't want to hear it, but I really need you to." Dusk said timidly, looking worriedly at Applejack. “I apologize for kissing another mare. I know yesterday you said it didn't matter, but…it really does. I know it really bothered you and I'm really sorry I didn't notice."

“I know… It's true. Yesterday, I said it didn't bother me, but... it really did." Applejack responded with a sigh. She decided to finally tell her coltfriend how she really felt. “But what’s really bothering me isn’t that you and Rainbow Dash kissed. After all, I accepted that. That’s… part of our deal.”

“Part of your deal? What does she mean?” Dusk thought, a little confused when he heard that.

“What bothers me is that in reality you’re not only mine. Remember that I'm not the only one who loves you, and that I'm not the only one you love..." Applejack continued speaking, looking at Dusk with a sad smile. “I’ve been feeling unsure of myself all day. Thinking that my friends wanted to take you away from me, when all they wanted was to help me. I want to scream and tell you to stay with me forever, that you love only me, and that we can continue being a couple forever.” Applejack added with her eyes shining, smiling even though she was about to cry.

“Applejack. This whole thing of trying to be the coltfriend of each of you, from the beginning I thought it was crazy.” Dusk said with a look of anguish and then looking seriously at Applejack. He took the mare's hooves between his own. "I've been thinking about it a lot too, and I want you-" At that moment, Dusk was silenced by Applejack's hoof.

"Look at this tree." Applejack said, indicating to Dusk that they both look up, at their parents' tree. “This huge tree grew from two small seeds. But it was planted with such love that it grew strong and became this beautiful tree.” Then Applejack caressed Dusk's face and looked at him with a tender smile. “Someday I want us to plant our own tree, and I want it to grow as big and strong as this one. For that, we’ll have to go through many tests to see if our love is worthy of blossoming and growing over time.”

At that moment, Applejack closed her eyes and stared at Dusk. Finally she had made a decision.

“A lot of things can happen in the future, and I don't want you to make a decision right now. The only thing that matters is that right here and right now, I love you and you love me. That's all that matters." Applejack said. She rested her head on Dusk's warm shoulder. “I don't want to think about what will happen in a few days. Please, let's just live in the moment… Let's live our love.”

Understanding very well how his marefriend felt, at the crossroads of what she wanted versus what was right with her friends, Dusk didn't say anything else. He would respect Applejack's choice and just as she told him, they would just live for the moment, not thinking about what tomorrow would bring. Without thinking about how much time they had left together, or what they would choose to do after that time was up.

Allowing himself to be carried away by what he felt, Dusk gently lifted Applejack's face and tenderly kissed her under the moonlight under her parents' tree, a symbol of faithful and lasting love.

At that instant, Big Mac approached from afar. He had gone back to his parents' tree to look at it one last time, since it really amazed him that he had never seen that tree, and even more so, that he had never known the true story of how his parents got married.

Seeing his parents' tree again, Big Mac froze to see that two ponies were kissing there. At that moment, the red stallion had to blink several times to try to clear his vision. For a second, he thought he was seeing his parents kissing in that place. However, it was then that Big Mac discovered that the ones who were really kissing were his sister and Dusk Shine.

Seeing Applejack being kissed so passionately by Dusk perplexed the red stallion. If he had seen the same thing a day before, he wouldn’t have hesitated to go separate them immediately. However, this time Big Mac felt a different sensation. He couldn't help but remember how happy he felt in the morning when he saw that Applejack and Dusk had argued, despite the fact that his sister was hurt and sad at that moment. Now his sister was happier than he had ever seen her as she kissed the stallion she loved... How could he have been happy with his sister's unhappiness? Was he really being a good brother? After having confused Applejack and Dusk for a second with their parents, it made Big Mac lower his gaze and begin to question things even more.

'I know that Dusk and I aren’t like Ma and Pa. They fell in love from the day they met, and they didn't stop loving each other until the day I died.' Those were the words that Applejack had said to Big Mac, the night he accused her that she and Dusk weren’t truly in love.

"They... They really look in love..." Big Mac thought, seeing how Applejack and Dusk kissed with innocent passion, expressing their love under his parents' tree. "The way they look at each other... It's like seeing mom and dad again..." Big Mac thought with a sad smile.

'Take care of your sister. You’re her big brother, and if I’m not here, it’ll be your duty to take care of her.' It was one of the phrases Big Mac most remembered his father saying to him. A phrase that he had taken very seriously after his father died. And that now, he remembered very clearly.

"You better take care of her... Now you'll be the one to protect my lil’ sister." Big Mac whispered with a sad smile. He turned around and walked away. Finally accepting that her sister had truly found a worthy stallion to give her heart to.

It was night in Canterlot and in the royal castle and a guard walked alone through the great halls of the upper floor. In the solitude of the night watch, the echo of the guard's footsteps was the only thing heard at that time of night.

"Hey you! What are you doing here?" Another palace guard with a spear guarding the hallway suddenly asked. "You don't have a guard tonight." The sentinel added, seeing one of his fellow approaching.

"Sorry sergeant." The first guard answered, standing in front of the sentinel and giving him a military salute. "It's just... what is that!?" The frightened guard suddenly asked and pointed behind the stallion.

Immediately, the sentinel guard turned to see what it was that had frightened his companion so much. However, when he turned around, he was very confused to see nothing.

In that instant, the sentinel's vision blurred. Then it became more and more dizzy until finally he fell unconscious to the floor.

After the sentinel fell to the floor unconscious, the first guard simply stood still. Looking up at the sergeant with a deadpan look in his eyes. Until finally his true intentions came to light, and the guard couldn’t hide a sinister and evil smile when he saw that this guard had fallen unconscious so easily.

Having shaken off the only obstacle that interrupted him, the guard continued to walk stealthily down the long corridor until he finally reached his destination: the Sun Princess's room. Once there, the guard very slowly and quietly opened the door to avoid making any noise. After gently opening the door, the guard peered into the room.

Inside Celestia's room, the fireplace was still burning. In front of the fireplace, there was a large sofa with its back to the door and sitting on that sofa, the princess must have been, still awake, writing some scrolls.

Since the sofa had its back to the door, the guard who entered the room couldn't get a good look at Celestia's figure, just her silhouette. But what he could see clearly was the crown that pony had on her head. The unmistakable golden crown of the Princess of the Sun, which stood out even more with the reflections of the fire in the fireplace, making it the brightest object in that room.

Having confirmed that his target was there and knowing that he had to act quickly, the guard moved quickly and launched himself at his victim before she could react.

Meanwhile, in a small secret room, Celestia and Luna rested placidly, enjoying the steam that surrounded them and cleaned their fur. Both had decided to take a relaxing steam bath in that small sauna that they had built after they decided that they should leave at least a couple of days a month to relax from their tedious work as princesses.

Just that night, both princesses had agreed to let the maid twins take care of their pending paperwork in order to rest and have some time together between Celestia finishing her work for the day, and before Luna went to fulfill her duties as guardian of dreams.

At that moment, a siren began to sound not far from where both princesses were. A thunderous sound that broke the silence of the night and that was getting louder and louder as the seconds passed.

"What's that noise?" Luna asked, annoyed that the siren interrupted her moment of relaxation.

“That… Is it the guards' alarm for intruders?” Celestia said in confusion since it had been many, many years since she had heard that alarm in her quiet castle.

“An intruder in the castle!? What would it look for? We’re here, and Cadance is out until tomorrow.” Luna asked, quickly tossing the towel from her mane.

Knowing her sister was right, Celestia quickly thought about a reason for entering the castle if they weren't there. After all, if someone wanted to attack the kingdom, the ones who should be the target of an attack would be the three princesses. It was then that Celestia opened her eyes in fright when she understood that whoever had invaded the castle couldn’t know that she and Luna weren’t in their rooms, since that moment of relaxation wasn’t scheduled, it was their secret.

“Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel!” Celestia shouted in terror, remembering that the twins should be in their rooms, replacing them with their royal duties.

Wasting no time, Celestia used her magic and teleported to her room. Once there, she confirmed with horror that her assumptions had been correct.

Her sofa was upside down, the fireplace was unlit, and there were various scrolls and documents lying on the floor. Next to that mess, Sweet Creme lay unconscious with Celestia's crown at her side. Then Celestia's eyes fell on the other figure there.

Standing on the balcony of her room was a guard. However, Celestia immediately guessed that this wasn’t one of her guards, since that pony was looking at her with a huge, crooked smile.

"The kingdom of the ponies will fall, and I’ll reign over your grave, hehe." The guard laughed with a chilling smile. Right at that moment, the guard's eyes changed into a deep green with an unnatural gleam.

Seeing those eyes, Celestia hesitated for a second, remembering that look and being horrified by the memory. The fake guard saw the window of opportunity, used the green magic on his horn to launch a strong beam onto the roof above Sweet Creme. Then the roof cracked and began to fall.

Celestia immediately snapped out of her horror and used her magic on the debris, stopping it just before it fell onto Sweet Creme. After that, Celestia turned around again, but it was too late. The creature that had taken the form of a guard had escaped by jumping over the balcony and all that was left of that invader was an evil and cruel laugh in the air.

With all the noise in that room, it didn't take long for the guards to get there. They were alarmed to see that Princess Celestia's room had been attacked.

"Lieutenant! Call all the guards.” Celestia said, looking very seriously at the lieutenant. “We must secure the castle and search for the intruder. No matter how long it takes, we have to find her!”

"Yes, Princess!" The lieutenant answered immediately, putting himself in a firm position. However, he then put on a doubtful look. “But… what about the security for the big event tomorrow?”

For a second, Celestia seemed to forget that important detail. Then she looked away with concern. This was the worst time for her kingdom to be threatened, after all, in just a few hours, the biggest event of recent years would take place right there… The wedding of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor.

"It's worse than I thought." Celestia muttered, guessing that the next few hours would be critical for her kingdom.

End of chapter 16

Chapter 17 - Among us

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Among Us

The day had finally arrived. The most anticipated event of the century, perhaps of the last millennium, was about to occur. After all, it wasn't every day that an alicorn princess got married. In fact, it was something that had never happened in history. So the vast majority of the ponies from all over the kingdom were waiting to know what the great wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and the captain of the royal guard, Shining Armor, would be like. And among those ponies waiting for the big wedding were Dusk Shine and his friends.

First thing in the morning, Dusk, Spike and their five friends took the first train to Canterlot bringing suitcases with the dresses/suits they would be wearing for the ceramony. In addition, each of the girls carried the necessary implements for the preparations that Princess Cadance herself had requested of each one.

Fluttershy carried traveling cages with her best songbirds for the wedding choir. Rarity was carrying the wedding dress she had been working on for weeks, as well as several suitcases with different sewing elements to make sure that the bride's dress fit perfectly. Applejack brought boxes of apple desserts, as well as various ingredients to cook some other sweets in the same castle. Pinkie Pie had several suitcases filled with games, confetti, and balloons, as well as her signature party cannon. And finally there was Rainbow Dash, who didn't take anything extra with her, but took advantage of the trip to stretch her wings again and again to prepare herself before the great sonic rainboom she had to do at the end of the wedding. For their part, Dusk and Spike were in the front seats of the car, with the baby dragon reviewing the list that Dusk had given him the day before, while the unicorn yawned tiredly.

"Done!" Pinkie Pie said after poking her head out of her party cannon. She had been inspecting her special cannon to make sure it was clean and ready for the big party of the night. At that moment, Pinkie Pie suddenly trembled. "Brrr!"

"What's wrong, Pinkie Pie? Are you nervous?" Fluttershy asked when she looked to her trembling friend sitting next to her.

"It's not nerves. I think it's my 'Pinkie Sense'. But it’s been going on and off ever since we started traveling to Canterlot." Pinkie Pie said, scratching her head in confusion. "The only one who really seems to be nervous, is SOMEONE ELSE." Pinkie Pie added, glancing at the back seat.

On the seat behind Pinkie Pie was Applejack. For some reason, the country mare had been talking to her own reflection in the window.

"Applejack, are you okay?" Flutteshy asked.

"I'm Applejack… No! My name is Applejack. It's a pleasure... No! It’s a HUGE pleasure! Yeah! That's it…" Applejack mumbled to herself at the window reflection. Her eyes managed to focus on her friends, and she realized they were looking at her. “Uh? Sorry, did y’all ask me something?”

"Flutterhsy asked you if you were okay..." Pinkie Pie said, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"S-Sure! Why should I be nervous!?" Applejack answered, looking away and putting on a bad poker face, which she always did when she tried to lie. "Just because I'm going to meet my coltfriend's parents? Because I’ll be in Canterlot as Dusk's marefriend? Because the most important wedding banquet of the century depends on me? Why would I be nervous!? Hahaha!" Applejack laughed out loud to try and hide her nerves.

On the other side of the train carriage, Rarity was able to hear how nervous Applejack was about meeting Dusk's parents. The day had finally come that she herself had warned Applejack would come. And now, once again, the white unicorn wasn't sure whether to be sorry for how nervous her friend was, or jealous for not having been the one to introduce herself to Dusk's parents as his marefriend.

"What do you think your family will think when they meet Applejack?" Rarity took advantage of asking Dusk, who was sitting in the seat in front of her.

"I... Yaawwn... I'm not sure." Dusk answered. The colt had fallen asleep for a while on the train after staying up all last night. “My parents are understanding, so I don’t think they’ll be any problems with them. But there will be several noble families from Canterlot at the wedding. They always tend to look down on those not of noble birth.”

"What about your brother? Do you think he’ll like us?" Rainbow Dash asked, sitting next to Rarity, also interested in knowing more about Dusk's family.

Dusk looked away and put on an annoyed look at the mention of his brother.

“Maybe he’ll hate you as much as he hates me, who knows. You have to remember that Cadance invited us and not by my brother.” Dusk grunted. “Shining Armor always argued with me and was embarrassed to be seen on the street next to me. Also, we both had Cadance as a first love. Maybe that's why he didn't even want to name me his ‘best colt’, despite being his brother... I think the hatred we have for each other hasn't changed, despite time and distance..." Dusk added with a look full of bitterness.

Seeing how upset Dusk was when talking about his brother, the mares were all caught in the awkward silence when they understood how fractured the sibling relationship between the two of them really seemed to be.

"Yeah... Dusk was really hurt to find out that he was just one more guest, and not his ‘best colt’." Spike whispered to Rainbow Dash and Rarity, so that they would try to understand Dusk's attitude a little.

Seeing how tense the atmosphere was from the topic of Dusk’s older brother, Rarity quickly changed the subject and started to talk about the weather and other things. Something in which her other friends gladly engaged in to stop the uncomfortable silence. However, for some reason, Applejack kept staring at Dusk with a look of great concern for her coltfriend.

"Hey! Why so serious?" Pinkie Pie asked, seeing Applejack's look. "Remember that you still don't know how to present yourself in front of your in-laws."

As soon as Pinkie Pie reminded her of the great test that lay ahead of her, Applejack blushed and started feeling dizzy from her nerves.

Finally, the train arrived at the Canterlot train station. From there, it didn't take long until they arrived in front of the Royal Palace. Where everyone was surprised to see many guards patrolling the sector, even more than the night of the Grand Galloping Gala. There was also a much longer line to get into the castle.

“Wooow… So many weird guests.” Pinkie Pie said as she saw strange creatures formed in the row. Dusk and the mares rushed to shut Pinkie up before she unintentionally offended any of the new creatures in the line.

Lined up to the entrance were mainly ponies from noble, wealthy, or famous families from other big cities. But the guests that stood out the most were the foreign guests, creatures of other races very different from the ponies that lived there. Among them were three griffins wearing rusty old armor, four-legged creatures, similar in size to ponies, with the body of a lion and the head of an eagle. Near the griffins were other creatures whose bodies were totally those of a bird, standing on their two legs, wearing elegant outfits. Standing next to them was another pair of bipeds, only these were canines, both female, wearing beautiful long dresses. Beside the two huge canines stood two huge cats, both dressed in extravagant tuxedos, eyeing the dog ladies suspiciously, who growled at them from time to time. And finally, the most peculiar guests were four huge and hairy buffaloes with gold decorations on their horns, creatures that Dusk and his friends would later learn were actually yaks.

“Oh sweet Celestia! The dresses of those cute dog ladies are divine! And those cat lords' outfits are so original!" Rarity said, marveling at the unique fashion show before her eyes.

“Where are all these creatures from? Are they from beyond Equestria?” Fluttershy asked Dusk curiously.

"I'm not sure, it's all new to me." Dusk responded with a confused look. Trying to remember if he had ever read or heard of those creatures.

"Indeed, they’re dignitaries from nations beyond Equestria." A female voice answered from behind Dusk and his friends.

Turning around, everyone saw that the pony who had spoken had been a unicorn mare with light brown fur, well-groomed black mane tied with a bow at the back. In addition, the mare wore glasses and a camera hung from her neck.

"Princess Celestia invited dignitaries from Ornithia, Caninia, Yakyakistan, Griffonstone, and Abyssinia." That mare continued speaking, smiling at Dusk and getting very close to him. "Rumors say that the Princess wants to take advantage of this great event to open the kingdom to the outside again."

"T-That's very interesting, Miss...?" Dusk responded, somewhat nervous at the excessive closeness of the unknown mare.

“Nosey News, from the 'The Canterlot Sun'. Nice to finally meet you, my elusive Dusk Shine.” The journalist said with a huge smile. While Dusk was surprised to see that the journalist knew his name. Then the journalist quickly took out a notebook and a quill and clung even closer to Dusk. “By the way, speaking of new alliances with the kingdom, tell me… did you and your friends have anything to do with the Deer Kingdom opening up to trade with ponies again?”

"Uh? W-Well, maybe me and my friends did have something to do with-" Dusk began to respond nervously, given the excessive closeness of the journalist.

"How does it feel to be Princess Celestia's private student, but still none of your accomplishments are valued in Canterlot?" The journalist quickly interrupted with another question, while she quickly wrote down in her notebook. She had to quickly take advantage of that small opportunity to finally be able to interview Dusk Shine.

"I... am I not recognized in Canterlot?" Dusk asked, somewhat stunned by the speed with which the journalist asked questions.

"Could you tell me more about how Princess Luna managed to return to the kingdom? And what about Twilight Sparkle? Could you tell me about her?" The journalist asked, continuing with her artillery of questions. While at the same time, she took several photos of Dusk and his friends.

Before Dusk could even try to answer, and before the journalist could ask any more questions, two guards appeared in front of Nosey News, preventing her from taking photos.

"We warned you, Miss, don't disturb the guests." One of the guards said. Both guards took the journalist between their hooves and started dragging her out.

“This is abuse of authority! Freedom of the press!" Nosey News yelled in frustration as she was led away.

Unbeknownst to Dusk and his friends, Nosy News had been obsessed with putting out a big story for her newspaper, and all her attempts had failed miserably. First it had been the attempt to publish how Dusk and his friends had saved Equestria; and then with the scoop on Princess Cadance's marriage. And it was precisely this last attempted scoop that had made the obtrusive Nosy News unwelcome in the castle. In fact, she was the only Canterlot journalist barred from the wedding. Something that of course didn’t please the obstinate journalist, who struggled all morning to try to get into the castle and interview the important guests of the wedding.

Still a little confused by what happened, Dusk and his friends decided to ignore the strange situation, and continued walking, approaching the entrance line to the castle. Once there, they saw that the line was moving very slowly, which worried them, since Dusk's friends had to start the preparations for the wedding as soon as possible. So finally, everyone decided to skip the line and go to the entrance to be able to enter the castle at once.

Once they arrived in front of the castle gate, Dusk was surprised to see the real reason why the entrance to the castle was so slow. There, the guards made an exhaustive examination of each guest, checking what they brought with them, in addition to applying a strange inspection spell to each one.

“Hey you! You gotta go through the inspection line like everyone else.” One of the guards in front of the door said after seeing that Dusk and his friends had skipped the line.

“I'm sorry, but we have to get in as soon as possible. My friends need to start with the preparations for the banquet, the reception and the wedding dress.” Dusk said, looking askance at the guards who applied the spell on the guests.

"Given name and family clan of each one." The guard said with an annoyed huff and raised a large list of names that he carried with him.

“Family clan?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Huff… It's a bad habit of the Canterlot nobles. At all their big events, they always want to show what a great family they represent and know who they are relating to.” Dusk said with an annoyed look.

At that moment, Dusk glanced fleetingly at his friends and put on an uncomfortable look.

"Don't worry, Dusk, you can trust me. Just like we practice.” Spike said suddenly, taking a proud step forward. The drake gave the guard a small bow and began to speak very formally. “Before you comes Miss Rarity, from the Belle family; Miss Applejack, from the Apple family; Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie, from the Pie family; Miss Rainbow Dash, from the Windbow family; Miss Fluttershy, from the Breeze family; and the brothers Dusk Shine and Spike, from the Shine family.”

Before Spike's great presentation, Dusk applauded proudly, since the little dragon had indeed made everyone's names sound very elegant.

"Well done, looks like I was nervous for no reason." Dusk said, gently nudging the side of the dragon. While the guard seemed not to give it much importance and simply limited himself to reviewing his list.

"Ah yes, here are your names." The guard said after reviewing the list. "But you still have to queue for inspection."

"B-But my friends have to start preparations now!" Dusk said, beginning to get annoyed.

“EVERYPONY must be inspected in order.” The guard insisted.

“He’s Dusk Shine! The personal student of the Princess!” Spike said also annoyed. Pointing at Dusk, although he knew that his brother didn’t like to use his title to take advantage. “We lived here for years. It can't be that you don't recognize him."

At the dragon's words, the guard looked carefully at Dusk and simply raised an incredulous eyebrow. Showing that he didn't know who Dusk was at all.

At that moment, both Dusk and Spike remembered what the journalist had told them minutes before when she saw them arrive… 'How does it feel to be Princess Celestia's private student, but still none of your achievements are valued in Canterlot?'

"It can't be possible that you don't know that Dusk and his friends saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon and Discord, right?" Spike reiterated.

At the dragon's insistence, the guard looked to his side to another of his fellow guards.

"Hey Bronze Shield, do you know a certain Dusk Shine?" The guard asked his partner.

"Not at all." The other guard answered, while still using a spell to inspect the guests.

"You see? All the guests think they’re important. So I repeat, EVERYONE get back in line for inspection.” The guard said, looking seriously at Dusk and his friends.

Given the guard's intransigence, Spike was speechless, as were Dusk and his friends. Everyone expected that perhaps there was a guard who didn’t know that Dusk was a student of Celestia, but that no one in Caterlot, not even the guards, knew of the great feats that they all had to face to save Equestria, it was something that took them to all by surprise. Were their exploits only known in Ponyville?

Still incredulous with what they had discovered, Dusk began to look to his side where the guards were still inspecting the guests. Looking closely, Dusk saw that what the guards applied was an unusual magical fading spell, which took a long time and ended with the guests quite stunned after the spell was applied.

"This is ridiculous! I’m the brother of the groom and student of the Princess!” Dusk proclaimed, looking sideways at his friends and then back at the guard. “I won't let my friends linger, let alone have to go through that pesky inspection! It can be clearly seen that it’s a very invasive spell!”

To Dusk's irritation, the guard stood even firmer in front of Dusk. While two other guards arrived to provide support and expel any uppity guests.

"It's an awkward spell indeed, but it's better than putting a shield over all of Canterlot." A voice suddenly said from behind the guards. One before which all the guards snapped to attention. "Easy sergeant, it's my brother and his friends."

From not far away a white stallion approached, with long blue mane and big blue eyes. He wore the typical golden armor of the palace guards, only with the difference that this one had the rank of captain. He was Shining Armor, Dusk Shine's older brother.

Seeing Shining Armor approaching, both Dusk and Spike tensed. None of them had seen Shining Armor since they had left Canterlot to live in Ponyville, even before that. Since even when they both lived in the palace, Shining did his best not to run into Dusk when he had to patrol the castle.

Finally, the moment of reunion had arrived, and Dusk and Spike were prepared for all the cold greetings that could exist, including ways to ignore them that Shining Armor would surely have with them.

“Dusk! What a joy to see you again! It's been so long!" Shining Armor said surprisingly with a huge smile, throwing himself to hug Dusk. "How have you been, little bro?"

Before Shining Armor's hug, Dusk simply froze. He hadn't expected at all that Shining would react like that when he saw him. In fact, had Shining Armor ever hugged him before? His brain couldn't remember such information, which made Dusk go into shock, not knowing how to react.

“How about you, Spike? How have you been?" Shining Armor then added, affectionately tussling Spike's head with his hoof. Who, for his part, was still open-mouthed when he saw Shining Armor receive them so friendly.

"I-I... I'm fine..." Spike answered slowly, coming out of his astonishment just like Dusk. The lavender colt stared nervously at Shining Armor, who kept looking at him with a radiant smile.

"That’s Dusk's brother?" Fluttershy whispered, who was behind Dusk along with the other mares.

"I know. He’s quite handsome.” Rarity whispered in response to her friend's comment.

At that moment, Dusk turned around and saw that the eyes of all his friends were fixed on the handsome stallion with shocked looks and blushed cheeks. Even Applejack, who was his marefriend, had been impressed with how attractive her brother-in-law was.

"Hnng..." Dusk growled annoyed remembering that Shining seemed to always have that effect on mares. Then Dusk decided to put aside Shining's strange behavior and started getting jealous.

"Sorry Dusk, but those are the rules. You and your friends have to line up and go through the inspection just like everyone else at the wedding.” Shining said with a good-natured smile.

“I've been to the castle hundreds of times, and I've never had to go through an inspection to get in. Do you not trust me that much!?” Dusk countered, remembering that their sibling relationship had always been rocky. “I won't let you distrust my friends either. I know them, and I’ll bet my life for them. None of them have anything dangerous to bring to the castle.”

At that moment, Pinkie Pie gave a nervous look and subtly hid the party cannon she was carrying behind her. While one of the guards looked at her menacingly.

“It’s not because we think you can bring something dangerous. It's because 'someone dangerous' can come in and sneak right in front of our eyes.” Shining Armor said with a much more serious look.

"What do you mean 'someone dangerous'?" Dusk asked.

Then Shining ordered the rest of the guards to continue with the other inspections, while he guided Dusk and his friends to one side of the line so they wouldn't be heard by the other guests.

"Yesterday we were attacked by a shapeshifter, a being capable of impersonating any pony." Shining said, looking carefully at Dusk and his friends. “The changeling, as the guards called it, knocked out one of our guards, took his form, infiltrated Princess Celestia's room, and attacked her maid, Sweet Creme. That's why we’re doing this inspection on every guest. The Princess thinks the changeling wants to infiltrate the wedding and attack us when we least expect it.”

“A changeling? Shape-shifting beings? I've never read anything like that!" Dusk said incredulously. "I've read every book in the library, and I've never read anything about a 'changeling'." Dusk added, looking suspiciously at his big brother.

“Uh… I do.” Spike said fearfully, making everyone look at him in surprise. “In chapter seventeen of the 'Power Ponies' comic! There appear some beings from space that change their shape and fool everyone! Making everyone believe that the Power Ponies were thieves!”

"That's just sci-fi!" Dusk said, annoyed that the little dragon distracted them with such nonsense. Then Dusk looked angrily at Shining Armor again. "This is nonsense! You made that changeling thing up because you don't want to let us into your wedding on time. Do you know how important girls are for the wedding preparation? Trust me! Not me, not Spike, not even any of my friends are changelings! If such a thing existed… Now, let us in or I'll tell Cadance that you didn't want to let us in and that's why her wedding was ruined!” Dusk added, looking very angry at his older brother.

Faced with Dusk's threat, Shining fell silent. He kept staring at Dusk for several seconds, until finally Shining sighed and resignedly lowered his head.

"I want to sort things out, Dusk. It's not that I don't trust you or your friends...” Shining whispered with a certain melancholy in his voice. Then he raised his head again and smiled. "You're right. Your friends have a lot to do for the wedding. And if you trust them, that's enough for me."

Shining Armor ordered the guards to let Dusk and his friends pass without inspecting them. Then Shining quickly said goodbye, saying that he also had many things to do before the wedding began, and quickly left, leaving Dusk and his friends alone again.

"Hmm... Don't you think Shining Armor changed his attitude too quickly?" Dusk asked Spike as everyone started their way to the main hall of the castle.

"I know. And not only that… It was weird since he actually greeted us!” Spike said with a small shiver. Since he had never seen Shining Armor so friendly with them before.

"Weird? I thought he was nice.” Pinkie Pie smiled. The other mares had to agree with their pink friend and even comment on how handsome Shining was.

Dusk felt his jealousy flare up again. He then glanced quickly at Applejack, to see if his marefriend would at least stop praising her brother in his presence. However, Applejack quickly looked away when Dusk looked at her, as if she wanted to hide what she was really thinking.

After arriving at the main hall, the wedding planner, who turned out to be Raven Inkwell, quickly indicated to each of Dusk's friends where they would have to make their preparations. Then each mare put on her most serious look and quickly went to their appointed places, knowing that they only had a couple of hours to put everything together and for everything to go perfectly.

While dozens of ponies ran from one side to the other, busy with the proximity of the wedding, Dusk and Spike stood motionless there, realizing that they were the only ones there without a task to do for the wedding.

Taking advantage of that opportunity, Dusk approached Raven and asked where the princesses were so that he could greet them. However, she informed him that Luna had left the castle, Celestia was unavailable until the time of the wedding, and that Cadance was without a fixed whereabouts, since she went from one place to another throughout the castle supervising each arrangement for the wedding.

Raven then ordered Dusk and Spike to leave, since they were in the way of the other ponies who were hurrying to their work by the corridor. Without giving them a chance to complain, the guards looked threateningly at Dusk and Spike and both brothers reluctantly left the main hall. Without having a place to be without getting in the way, the two went to the old tower that Dusk used as his room in the past. Once there, Dusk sat on the bed with a thoughtful look, while Spike ran to one of his old trunks to look for something.

"Here it is!" Spike said victoriously, lifting from the trunk an old Power Ponies comic that he had read years ago. "I knew it! Chapter seventeen, That's what changelings look like!" Spike added, showing Dusk the comic he was holding. Depicted was a strange creature similar to an octopus, which on the next page, was transformed into a pony with a superhero costume.

"Huff... Come on, Spike." Dusk sighed in annoyance. “Changelings don't exist, and if they did, they definitely wouldn't be an octopus from space. Surely it's something Shining Armor thought up to scare us."

“But… why would they be inspecting everyone if it wasn't real?” Spike asked with a thoughtful face. “Changelings can mimic anyone perfectly… Eep! What… What if I'm a changeling and I haven't realized it!?” Spike yelled in terror.

"Don't talk crazy... And how are you supposed to be a changeling without even realizing it!?" Dusk rolled his eyes, a little amused at how absurd the baby dragon could become when he let himself be carried away by his fears.

"I don't know... The traitor could be anyone..." Spike said nervously, starting to chew his claw nails. Then Spike looked at Dusk and grabbed one of his hooves. “Dusk! Cast the spell on me! I need to know if I'm the real Spike!"

"What!? That's ridiculous." Dusk said, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Besides, I don't even know what spell they used at the inspection."

"Please!!" Spike insisted, shaking Dusk's body to make him pay attention to him.

"Alright, Alright!" Dusk finally relented so he would stop shaking him. “Hmm… I think it was a magic vanishing spell or something, to remove illusion magic…”

Then Dusk concentrated his magic and used it on Spike. Instantly, Spike began to shake and tremble, then spun around a couple of times, becoming as dizzy and dazed as the guests in the inspection line.

"You see it? You’re still yourself.” Dusk said, shrugging his shoulders while Spike shook his head to get rid of the dizziness. “That's why I refused to let all of us go through. I didn't want to see my friends stunned by that spell."

“B-But… W-What if with that we made the changeling enter without being detected…? What if the changeling is among us!?” Spike yelled in terror.

"Enough of the paranoia, Spike!" Dusk insisted, although he then put on a thoughtful look. "I... I would have realized..." Dusk added, with a nervous tone of voice.

After that, Dusk and Spike stayed in an uncomfortable silence for a long time.

“No! I-It's ridiculous! Changelings don't exist. And… And there's no way I'm going to use that spell on my friends!” Dusk said, breaking the silence and shaking his head.

Then another long, awkward silence hung in the air.

"Hmm... I'll go see Applejack." Dusk finally said, pretending not to be nervous at Spike's crazy idea. “Not that I think she could be a changeling or anything like that. I just... I just want to go see her for a while..." Dusk added, opening the door and quickly leaving the room.

"Wait for me!" Spike quickly added, afraid of being alone.

Dusk and Spike quickly headed towards the castle kitchen, being careful that the guards didn't see them so they wouldn't send them back to their tower. Once there, they saw that everything in the kitchen was in well-ordered chaos. In a few minutes, Applejack, with the help of several cooks, had managed to order dozens of trays with snacks, most of them apple-related. At that moment the country mare was highly concentrated, putting the finishing touches on the wedding cake.

"Wow... You’re doing great, Applejack." Dusk said when he saw the great wedding cake.

“Oh, uh… thanks.” Applejack answered, who immediately averted her gaze. Then she jumped up to quickly go to the oven, just as the alarm sounded and took out several freshly baked apple muffins.

"I hope Cadance likes apple desserts." Dusk said, raising an eyebrow curiously, seeing that Applejack hadn't even looked him in the eye.

“She was already here. She said she liked them a lot.” Applejack answered. Without stopping running in the kitchen. She went from one oven to another, taking out the desserts she had prepared.

"Cadance was here?" Dusk asked in surprise. He knew Cadance must be busy, but it was weird that she hadn't even taken the time to go say hello.

“Hmm! They are as delicious as ever!” Spike said suddenly. The dragon had walked over to one of the trays and eaten an apple muffin.

"Of course! It's my marefriend's apple muffins, the best in Equestria!” Dusk said proudly, looking askance at Applejack, to see if she would react to his compliment.

Applejack finally stopped running and was silent for a few seconds, she turned to Dusk and put on a forced and nervous smile. Then she kept running towards the ovens.

That left Dusk a little disconcerted. He then hit Spike with his elbow and signaled for him to leave the kitchen.

"Applejack was a little weird, wasn't she?" Spike asked with his mouth full, as he ate another apple muffin.

"It seems so..." Dusk replied while lost in thought.

After leaving the kitchen, Dusk and Spike's next stop was the great ballroom, where Pinkie Pie was preparing for the wedding reception. There, everything was already decorated with streamers and balloons everywhere, just like Pinkie Pie always decorated her parties.

"Hi Dusk! You arrive just after Princess Cadance left.” Pinkie Pie said as she jumped up and hung balloons on the last pillars of the room. Then she froze for a moment, looked at Dusk and began to jump, moving away between jumps to the opposite wall.

“Cadance was here too!?” Dusk asked in surprise, approaching where Pinkie Pie was.

"Yeah. She was supervising the party games for the wedding.” Pinkie Pie answered, seeing that Dusk and Spike were approaching her. Then she again jumped up and ran away to paste on another wall a drawing of a pony, to play 'pin the tail on the pony'.

“Pinkie, you know about smiles. What do you think it means if your marefriend gives you a nervous smile after a compliment?” Dusk asked as kept approaching Pinkie Pie again. As soon as she saw that Dusk and Spike were approaching her, Pinkie ran to get away and put something on another wall.

"I-I don't know... Maybe she's just nervous about the wedding, hehe." Pinkie Pie said, always away from Dusk and Spike while laughing nervously.

Dusk and Spike tried one last time to approach Pinkie Pie, but she again jumped and ran to put more balloons on another wall. Seeing that Pinkie Pie's escapes weren't just his imagination, Dusk said goodbye to her and pushed Spike to get them out of there.

"Pinkie Pie was acting weird!" Spike whispered nervously as they started to leave the room.

“Yeah… B-But she always acts weird! It's not evidence that she's a changeling or anything!” Dusk responded with a nervous look. “Enough of giving me your paranoia! Changelings don't exist!"

After leaving the ballroom, Dusk and Spike went to a small room that had been set up especially for Fluttershy to practice with her bird choir. Once there, they opened the door to the room. As soon as they did, Fluttershy's birds, who were standing neatly on metal bars, flew wildly across the room.

"Oh no!" Fluttershy cried, running to calm her birds. "Easy, sit back down. Let's go back to choir practice."

Seeing how Fluttershy ran after the frightened birds, Dusk looked worriedly at Spike, who also froze and thought the same as his brother.

"If Fluttershy can control Angel, it shouldn't be difficult for her to control those birds…" Spike whispered in shock.

"P-Perhaps it's our fault... we-we came in making a lot of noise and scared the birds..." Dusk whispered in response, increasingly insecure as Spike's theory gained traction.

At that moment, Dusk and Spike felt watched. Then they both stopped looking at each other and looked towards the center of the room. Fluttershy had stopped trying to calm her birds down, and instead had stared at them both without even blinking.

"W-What are you talking about?" Fluttershy asked timidly.

"Oh, uh... just... I was asking Spike if Cadance liked the bird choir you brought, hehe." Dusk lied with a nervous smile.

“She loved it. She was here just a few minutes ago.” Fluttershy said. Then a bird flew over her head, reminding her that she still had to calm the frightened birds.

With their suspicions increasing more and more, Dusk and Spike quickly opened the door of the room to leave and close it before any bird could flee from the room. Then both brothers looked at each other nervously, and without saying anything, they both started walking quickly to see if their other two friends were also acting weird.

Dusk and Spike quickly reached one of the castle's balconies where Rainbow Dash was. With no immediate task to perform, the multi-colored pegasus was simply stretching out her legs and wings. Stretching every muscle in her body for the great aerial trick that had been requested of her at the end of the great ceremony.

"Hey, Dusk and Spike! What’s up!?" Rainbow Dash smiled as she saw her friends approach. "What's with those faces? It’s like you've seen a ghost." The pegasus teased when she saw the nervous faces of both of them.

“Oh, thank Celestia! You’re normal!” Spike said in relief. To which Dusk reacted by hitting him with his elbow, so he wouldn't make weird comments.

"B-By the way, Rainbow Dash... Have you seen Cadance around here?" Dusk asked casually.

"The Princess? Yeah, she was here just before you arrived.” Rainbow Dash responded by shrugging her shoulders and bending down again to continue stretching.

"That’s strange... It seems like she's always in one place, and she leaves just before I arrive..." Dusk thought out loud.

"Did you show her your Sonic Rainboom?" Spike asked excitedly.

"Nah, she was only here to ask me if I was in good condition and not to overdo it since she knew how difficult it was." Rainbow Dash replied then gave a confident smirk. "But I told her not to worry and that I could do twenty sonic rainbooms in a row if I wanted to."

Dusk put on a thoughtful look and then looked seriously at his friend.

“Could you do a Sonic Rainboom here and now? For us." Dusk asked. The mare was immediately surprised by Dusk's request. "I-I mean, it's not that we want to see one to check something, it's just that you haven't made one for a long time, and maybe you should make sure that you can still make one perfectly." Dusk added with a nervous smile to hide his true intentions.

At Dusk's request, Rainbow Dash looked away and tried to hide her look of concern. Then she put on a nervous smile and stopped stretching her muscles.

"Uh…, I think I'd better save the surprise for tonight, hehe." Rainbow Dash said with a nervous smile. “I think in the meantime, I'll do a couple of pirouettes to stretch my wings. See ya!" After that, Rainbow Dash took off from the balcony and flew away from there. Leaving Dusk with an even more confused look.

After having visited four of their friends, Dusk and Spike hurried to see their last friend. Their friends were definitely acting weird, but why? None of them had acted strange before entering the castle. Furthermore, the fact that they hadn’t yet seen Cadance with their eyes was something that began to bother Dusk.

"Rarity is fine... She can't be a changeling... She can't be a changeling!" Spike said nervously, starting to run towards the room where Rarity should be.

Dusk and Spike finally reached the room where Rarity was finishing the last details of Cadance's wedding dress. Walking in, they both saw the beautiful dress that Rarity had made, one that seemed perfect, but for some reason Rarity kept inspecting it. She was so focused that she didn't pay any attention to Dusk and Spike when they entered the room.

"Rarty!" Spike said through tears and jumped onto her hoof to hug it.

"Uh? Not now, Spike. The Princess has just come to try on her dress and I have to make some adjustments to make it fit her figure perfectly.” Rarity said, putting some needles on the waist of the dress.

“Cadance was already here? And she left just before I got here again!?” Dusk asked, looking insecurely at Rarity.

"That's right. She said the dress was perfect, but I insisted she try it on and that it fit her perfectly.” Rarity said, still looking at the dress.

For several seconds, Dusk just stared at Rarity, who was still looking at the dress while holding several needles.

"What's wrong? It seems like you don't know what to fix." Dusk said, narrowing his eyes and looking suspiciously at Rarity. “I thought you already knew exactly how this dress would look.

In that instant, Rarity stopped looking at the dress and focused on Dusk. The unicorn stared at him without even blinking.

“Y-You're distracting me! I need to concentrate!" Rarity proclaimed and pushed Dusk and Spike out of the room and locked the door.

Dusk and Spike remained in the castle corridor with the same uncomfortable silence that had followed them ever since this morning.

"They're all acting weird…" Spike whispered nervously, taking his head in his claws. "What if they're all changelings!?"

"Shut up!" Dusk yelled at his little brother. “I-It's true that they're acting strange, but… maybe there's another explanation. Also, Shining said that there was only one changeling. It's not like this was an invasion."

"And what if it is!?" Spike said biting his nails. "We can't trust anyone!"

At that moment, Dusk gave a thoughtful look and then he looked seriously at Spike.

"No, we can trust someone." Dusk said, looking seriously at Spike. "Send a letter to Princess Celestia."

“B-But the guards said that no one could get close to her until the wedding.” Spike argued.

"It’s an emergency!" Dusk said, giving Spike a piece of parchment and a quill, both things that Dusk took from the room Rarity was in before she kicked them out.

Wasting no time, Spike quickly wrote the letter, blew on his green flame, and the scroll magically vanished. Then, in less than two seconds, Spike let out a small burp, releasing another green flame, out of which came a new scroll. The baby dragon quickly opened the scroll and read it.

“The Princess says she’ll meet us in her room and the guards will let us pass.” Spike said, relieved at the princess's prompt response.

Dusk and Spike immediately began to rush towards Princess Celestia's room to tell her all the fears and suspicions that had arisen in them.

"But... what do we tell the Princess?" Spike said suddenly, starting to slow down. "Tell her our friends were acting a little weird?" Spike added, slowly thinking that maybe they were exaggerating a bit. After all, they didn't really have concrete evidence that any of them were changelings.

“It's not just them. Shining Armor was also acting strange, and so was Cadance, because she didn't want to see me at all… Any one of them could be the impostor.” Dusk said without slowing his pace. “I know we have little evidence, but it must be up to the Princess to decide. I can only be sure of one thing…..The impostor is among us!”

Just as they turned a corner, Dusk and Spike stopped in their tracks as they came face to face with Shining Armor.

“Dusk! Spike! What a joy to see you! I just wanted to meet with you.” Shining Armor said with a huge smile. "I'm preparing a little surprise for Cadance, and I'd like you to join me."

Before Shining's sudden request, both Dusk and Spike froze, not knowing how to react. Furthermore, neither of them could feel comfortable seeing Shining Armor smile so kindly.

"I-I'm sorry, but... we have something else to-" Dusk said nervously.

"Don't worry, it’ll only be a few minutes." Shining interrupted Dusk. He started to drag him and Spike to follow him. "It's for the wedding, so there's nothing more important than that right now."

Seeing that Shining kept pushing them and that he was giving them no other option, Dusk and Spike had no choice but to follow Shining Armor. Thus, the white unicorn led them through the long corridors of the castle, away from the main halls, until finally leaving the main castle walls and towards the training grounds of the guards. They were still part of the castle grounds, but they were the furthest part of the castle.

Finally Shining Armor led them to a large stone building, whose door was made of thick wood and engraved with the symbols of the royal guard. This was the guard quarters, which was completely empty, since all the guards and reserves were patrolling the interior of the castle and the outer walls.

Once they entered, Dusk Shine lit up his horn slightly, since the huge room was very dark, only illuminated by a few torches. Also, he needed to have his horn lit up to be on guard, beacuse all his senses told him that all this was very suspicious.

"I-It's so dark in here..." Spike muttered nervously, turning to look at Shining. However, upon doing so, Spike was terrified to see that Shining Armor was blocking the door with a large wooden bar.

"Now you won't be able to escape." Shining Armor muttered, turning around and completely erasing the friendly smile he had been faking all morning

Dusk immediately pushed Spike and jumped to get away from Shining. The lavender colt got into an offensive stance and pointed his lit horn at the stallion.

"Spike! Get back! There must be a back door. Go call one of the Princesses!” Dusk shouted seriously, seeing that Shining Armor was also in an attack position.

“You’ll do no such thing! No more games” Shining Armor shouted, looking at Dusk with a murderous look and threw a powerful magical beam at him. One that Dusk barely managed to dodge by jumping.

"Spike! Go!" Dusk yelled desperately, making the little dragon finally react after seeing both brothers fighting. Then the dragon began to run towards the back of the dark barracks while Shining Armor continued to attack Dusk.

As Spike ran, he saw Shining Armor fiercely use his magic, unleashing bolt after bolt from his horn. Dusk ran and used his own magic to stop his brother's magical blows. But it seemed that Shining's magic was stronger than Dusk's.

At that moment, as Spike was running and looking back, the dragon collided with something, causing him to fall backwards. The little dragon opened his eyes quickly to get to his feet, however, he froze upon seeing 'who' he had bumped into.

"Finally, now you can show your real face." Dusk panted after dodging another of Shining's magical beams. “That fake smile in the morning… It was all a trick. You wanted to attack me from the moment you saw me..." Dusk said, glaring at Shining. For Shining’s part, he didn’t stop to respond or show any empathy. He simply charged another magical beam and continued attacking Dusk.

After dodging that last magical beam, Dusk was distracted when he saw that something was approaching there from the other side of the barracks. Then Dusk opened his eyes in surprise when he saw that his five friends appeared there. They all watched him carefully with strange looks.

"Girls! Did Spike call you?" Dusk yelled, running towards where his friends were. "That's not Shining Armor, he's-"

At that moment, Dusk was surprised when Applejack crouched down and hit him squarely with her hind hooves. The colt fell to the ground in pain.

“Stop him!” Shining Armor shouted.

Immediately, the five mares jumped to hold Dusk's hooves and make him remain motionless on the ground. That was all that Shining Armor needed to finally be able to use his magic on Dusk, and thus immobilize him.

"W-What are you doing!?" Dusk shouted terrified, unable to move, confused to see that none of the five mares was listening to him. At that moment, behind the mares, Spike also appeared and stared at Dusk with a fearful gaze. "Spike! Run away! Find the Princess and-!”

"Enough!" Shining Armor shouted. Then he stood in front of Dusk and looked at him with a furious look. "Enough deception... Where is the real Dusk?"

At that moment, a deathly silence hung in the air. Dusk was perplexed by that question and began to look at everyone present. There was no doubt on the faces of any of the mares, it would be useless to continue pretending. Then 'Dusk' finally dropped his facade and smiled a macabre smile, unbecoming of the kind lavender unicorn.

"What gave me away?" The false Dusk asked while keeping that awful grin.

Upon finally verifying their suspicions, and seeing that cruel smile on Dusk's face, the mares couldn't help but take a step back. Terrified to see that smile on the face of their beloved colt.

“When you arrived at the castle, you were too insistent on evading the control. You said it was because your friends were in a hurry, but the real Dusk always respects the rules." Shining Armor said, glaring at the impostor who had taken the form of his brother. "I knew you would try to disguise yourself as someone we trust, but I never thought you would dare to disguise yourself as my brother."

"If you suspected me since I arrived at the castle, why didn't you stop me immediately?" The false Dusk asked, looking contemptuously at the white unicorn.

"I wasn't sure... That's why I decided to act cheerful and close with you to see how you would react." Shining Armor said, narrowing his eyes. “When I approached you, you acted surprised, just like the real Dusk would have done. But my brother would have immediately asked why I was acting so strange… Also, when I said that the Princess's room had been attacked, at no time did you ask if Princess Celestia or Sweet Creme were alright. You simply focused on insisting that the magical inspection wasn’t necessary.”

"Stop lying! If you had known from the beginning that I wasn’t the real Dusk Shine, you would have immediately arrested me.” The false Dusk said, looking angrily at Shining. “No, my imitation was perfect. Even the hatred he feels towards you, I imitated perfectly.”

"That’s not true." Applejack said suddenly. Taking the courage to approach that being who was trying to imitate her coltfriend. "Dusk doesn't hate his brother. He has a lot of resentment and rancor, but he would never say that he just hates his brother.” Applejack said. She remembered how Dusk himself had helped her two days before to overcome the resentment she had felt for her grandfather, when Dusk himself told her that hatred couldn’t last forever.

"It was Applejack who told me that you were being suspicious, which finally confirmed my theory." Shining Armor said, always keeping his eyes fixed on the captured impostor.

"Ever since we left Ponyville... Every word you said seemed to be honest. But in my heart, I felt there was something off, as if every sentence was rehearsed... faked." Applejack continued speaking, looking at the fake Dusk with a mixture of pity and disgust. "It was difficult to know that you were lying, because everything you did and said, all your essence, everything in you is false... It was then that I spoke with the others and told them my suspicions."

"I didn't get close to you, because I realized that my Pinkie Sense only reacted when I was close to you." Pinkie Pie said with a sad look.

"Dusk trusts me. He wouldn't have sasked to practice my Sonic Rainboom because it might not go well." Rainbow Dash said with an annoyed huff.

"And when you entered my room, the birds fled because they felt something strange in you." Fluttershy said, plucking up the courage to speak to the impostor. "Besides, Dusk would have helped me calm them down."

“I was looking uncertainly at the dress, not because I didn't know what to do, but because I was focused on choosing the best idea. Dusk would have known that." Rarity said with a serious look. "They were very subtle things, but thanks to Applejack's warning, we were able to notice them."

Seeing how they had all suspected his perfect performance, the false Dusk stared at Applejack, with a cruel murderous gaze. While Applejack, seeing her coltfriend's eyes looking at her that way, made her temper waver for a second. But then she put on a determined look and glared at this impostor, determined not to be intimidated.

"When you entered the castle, it was obvious to see that you wanted to get close to one of the Princesses, after all, they are your target." Shining Armor said, getting closer to the impostor while keeping his magic on it so it wouldn't escape. "You pretended to go see Dusk's friends when what you really wanted was to meet Cadance. When you didn't achieve your goal, you tricked Spike into having Princess Celestia meet you. It was there that I decided to act and bring you here. I didn't know how dangerous you could be, so I brought you to a place where no one was around."

"And we came to unmask you." Applejack added. Since everything had been clarified, now there was only one thing left to know, the really important thing. "Now tell us, where is the real Dusk!?" Applejack yelled, glaring at the impostor menacingly.

At Applejack's cry, the false Dusk simply lowered his head. The impostor hated being exposed. Their life was deception and lies, and that they had been caught in what was their greatest talent infuriated them. However, hearing Applejack's desperate cry, the impostor smiled again, enjoying the feeling of doubt and fear that the ponies in front of him still had.

Then the false Dusk began to laugh out loud, a sinister laugh that made the blood of all those present run cold. While the impostor laughed and making fun of the fear felt by the ponies, Shining Armor was filled with rage and pushed the fake Dusk hard against a wall with his hoof. While the impostor didn’t flinch at all, the false Dusk simply continued to laugh sinisterly, enjoying the ponies' desperation.

"Take this." Shining Armor said, taking out of his armor a small emblem, symbol of the royal guard, passing it to Applejack. “Show it to the guards guarding Princess Celestia's room. Tell the Princess we caught the changeling.” Shining Armor added, still staring at the impostor with a furious look.

The mares and Spike looked at each other and understood that indeed the best option was for the princess to go there. The most certain thing was that the princess would manage to make the impostor speak in order to find out where the real Dusk was as soon as possible.

The mares turned to do as Shining Armor asked, except for one. Applejack passed the emblem to Spike and stared furiously at the fake Dusk.

“You girls go. I’m not going until I know where my coltfriend is.” Applejack said furiously, looking menacingly at the impostor. Who, for his part, simply laughed, making fun of the country mare.

Knowing that there would be no way to change Applejack's mind based on the determination in her eyes, the other four mares and Spike nodded and quickly left, to notify Princess Celestia as soon as possible.

Dusk's friends left through the back door of the barracks and began to run to quickly return to the main grounds of the castle. However, after a short walk, they all stopped when they saw that the baby dragon slowed down until finally stopping.

"Spike, what's up?" Rainbow Dash asked as she trotted back to the drake.

"I…I didn't realize… Sniff!" Spike said in a weak voice. The poor thing wiped away a tear as he began to cry. "D-Dusk is my brother, and I... I didn't realize that impostor wasn't my brother!" Spike yelled in anguish, full of frustration.

"Oh, my dear Spikey Wikey. No more tears, okay? That hooligan tricked us all. You are not to blame here." Rarity said, looking at Spike with a somber, understanding smile.

Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity hugged the little dragon to comfort him. While Rainbow Dash looked away with annoyance. Not with Spike, but with herself, because she also felt horrible that she hadn't recognized the impostor since they'd gotten on the train that morning.

“The important thing now is to find the Princess. There is no time to lose." Pinkie Pie said, bending down to put Spike on her back, starting to run with her friends.

"Poor Dusk. Where could he be?" Fluttershy said worriedly as she ran. "If only he could give us a sign."

At that comment, Spike opened his eyes wide and put on a thoughtful look, as he settled on Pinkie Pie's back.

"Maybe... we can send a signal..." Spike whispered, as he began to think of a plan to try and find his brother.

While Dusk's friends ran into the castle, Shining Armor and Applejack remained attentive without taking their eyes off the false Dusk.

"If you're not going to tell us where Dusk is, tell us what are you? And where do you come from?" Shining Armor said, looking with disgust at the impostor. "Show us your true face." The white stallion was getting very irritated that the imposter had decided to impersonate his brother.

"Shining, I'm Dusk Shine, your brother! Don’t you recognize me!?” The impostor said, imitating a frightened Dusk to psychologically torment their captors. “Don't you remember when you walked me to school? The times Grandma baked us cookies… The time Mom and Dad traveled far away, and you took care of me… When-”

"Shut up!!" Shining yelled furiously. "How do you know such things!?"

"I already told you... I'm Dusk Shine." The false Dusk said on the verge of tears. While inside, they were smiling ominously as they felt a small shadow of doubt appear in Shining Armor's heart.

“I don't know how you know those things, but you’re definitely not Dusk Shine. I can guarantee that." Applejack interrupted, looking at the impostor without a shred of doubt.

Sensing that Applejack was firm in her heart and that he wouldn’t be able to deceive her, the false Dusk radically changed his false look of anguish and glared at the country mare with hatred.

"Do you want to know how I know these things?" The false Dusk asked, putting on a sadistic smile. “I needed to imitate him perfectly, so I tortured him to tell me everything about his family…There was a lot of screaming at first, but he eventually whimpered out the details. That’s how now I am the real Dusk Shine. After all, the Dusk Shine you seek so much is no longer in this world, hehe..." The impostor laughed cruelly, as they confessed to having murdered Dusk. Something that made Shining Armor's blood run cold. "I couldn't allow there to be two of us, so-"

"You’re lying." Applejack interrupted again, not scared by the lie the impostor had just told. "If you investigated Dusk's family and friends, you know that I represent the Element of Honesty. You’ll not deceive me; I can see through your lies. Dusk Shine is alive, and you know where he is."

The false Dusk stopped smiling and stared at Applejack. They both remained that way, staring at each other, determined not to be intimidated by the other. Until the false Dusk smiled when he saw that if the lies couldn't hurt that mare, maybe the truth would.

"Applejack, Applejack, Applejack... The most reliable mare in Ponyville... The always honest Applejack... It was precisely for that reason that I chose you to deceive Dusk." The false Dusk said with a cruel smile.

Then, taking advantage of the fact that Shining didn’t know changeling magic and that he could only block their magic so that they wouldn’t attack but not so that they wouldn’t transform himself, the impostor used their changeling magic to transform. Thus, with a fleeting green glow, the false Dusk disappeared and, in his place, a false Applejack appeared.

That transformation took both ponies by surprise. Shining Armor quickly used more containment magic on the impostor to confirm that they couldn't attack them with magic. While Applejack was a little stunned to see her exact double in front of her.

“Dusk Shine never saw it coming. He never imagined that his marefriend would betray him and stab him in the back." The fake Applejack said. “'I'm afraid, Dusk!' 'Help me, Dusk!'” The false Applejack added, imitating her as if she were in danger. “Dusk Shine got so scared when he saw you cry, Haha! It's so delicious the taste of a heart when it's betrayed by the pony it loves... HAHAHA!" The fake Applejack mocked cruelly, enjoying making the ponies suffer after tricking them.

"Enough!" Shining yelled furiously and ignited his horn menacingly so that the impostor would stop laughing. "Stop with the lies!”

"I-It's not a lie..." Applejack stammered, her face full of horror. The mare lowered her head with her lip trembling, almost on the verge of tears. "You used me to cheat on Dusk..." Applejack trembled, imagining what Dusk must have suffered when he saw the face of his own marefriend betray him.

At that moment, Shining Armor approached Applejack and gently touched her with his hoof. The strength of that mare seemingly disappeared. A soft and gloomy laugh was the only thing that was heard around.

"Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock... The era of the ponies is going to end..." The impostor laughed cruelly, transforming back into Dusk, passing their tongue sinisterly over his lips. “Say goodbye to your Princesses. You’ll bow down to your new queen soon, hahaha!”

"Who are you!?" Shining Armor yelled, furious and fearful at that cruel gaze.

Faced with that question, the impostor transformed their tongue, showing that it was now like that of a snake, his original tongue. And for an instant, the false Dusk's eyes glowed green, with his pupils becoming thin and dark.

"Who I am? Hehe..." The impostor laughed, finally stopping speaking with Dusk's voice, laughing darkly with a sharp, cold and chilling laugh. “Your queen's name… is Chrysalis!! The impostor laughed, revealing himself to be the changeling queen. She savored the feelings of betrayal, sorrow, anger and despair that emanated from the ponies present. Knowing that this was only an appetizer for the great banquet that was to come.

End of chapter 17

Author's Notes:

**ARTISTS 'CONTRIBUTIONS**
Dusk Shine II Chapt. 17 - DenDoctor

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New section at end of chapter: 'References'
Here I'll add some data about the references that are presented in each chapter Divided into official references of the show, and references to past chapters of the story

>>Chapter 17 References<<

-Canon references:

'The Wedding of Cadance and Shining Armor' The episode is based on: 'Season 2 Chapter 25, A Wedding in Canterlot, Part 1'

'Foreign beings from other races of Ornithia, Caninia and Abyssinia' Appear in several official comics, such as 'MLP, Friendship is Magic #102'

'journalist Nosey News' Appears in the official comic 'MLP, Friends Forever #23'

-Story references:

'Dusk and Shining Armor's bad relationship' well, it's mentioned many times, but you can see it in chapters like 'Chapter 1, Season 2'

'journalist Nosey News' appears in 'Interlude Between Seasons' and also at the end of 'Chapter 12, Season 2'

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& as always, many thanks to 'Scribe of the Nightwings' for his great help

Chapter 18 - The well of lies

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The well of lies

Cut off from all the preparations for the wedding, Celestia found herself alone in her room, determined to remain isolated until the wedding began. After all, she knew that she had been the target of the invader's attack last night, and because of her, her beloved maid had been hurt. For that reason, Celestia didn't want to be around anyone else so as not to expose anyone to danger. The only thing she could trust at that moment was that Shining Armor and the rest of the royal guard could capture the invader before the wedding started.

At that moment, Celestia found herself staring at nothing while her mind wandered to the attack of the previous night and the stormy past that haunted her. Then she suddenly snapped out of her thoughts upon hearing noises outside her bedroom door.

“Sorry, royal bedchambers are off-limits. Princess’s orders. The voice of one of the guards in front of Celestia's bedroom door said from the corridor.

“But I must see her! I… I need to see her!” A scared female voice was heard, one that Celestia instantly recognized. The alicorn quickly walked to the door and opened it.

“Sweet Creme!” Celestia said in surprise, seeing that two of her guards were preventing access to her maid. Then something else caught the alicorn's attention. The mare had a bandage wrapped around her head from the attack last night. The alicorn’s guilt then skyrocketed. "At ease, sergeant. You can let her through." Celestia added, looking kindly at her guards.

The guards nodded at the order and immediately made way. Then Sweet Creme quickly stepped forward and entered the room. Celestia closed the door with her magic after the unicorn entered.

"Princess Celestia! I'm so glad you're okay!" Sweet Creme said excitedly, taking advantage of the fact that they were both alone to approach and hug the Princess of the Sun.

Celestia opened her eyes in surprise at the gesture and looked affectionately at her beloved maid. Her eyes again focused her attention on the bandage that the unicorn had on her head.

"No Sweet Creme, I'm the one who's happy to see you're okay." Celestia said, crouching down a bit to come face to face with the unicorn with a tender look. "Please forgive me for putting you in danger."

"It wasn't your fault, Princess." Sweet Creme smiled somberly so Celestia wouldn't worry. “I… I'm sorry I didn't see who attacked me. The only thing I remember from last night was reviewing the royal documents, and then… it all went blurry.”

"Do not worry about that." Celestia said with a sad smile. "The only thing that matters is that you're okay."

At that moment Sweet Creme stared at Celestia and noticed the sad look the alicorn had.

"Princess... do you know who the invader was?" The maid asked curiously, looking closely at Celestia.

At the maid's question, Celestia simply lowered her gaze and closed her eyes in pain. Then her mind traveled hundreds of years back. To a past that she always ached to remember...

'Flashback of Celestia.'

More than nine hundred years ago, a few decades after Celestia had banished Nightmare Moon to the moon, the city of Canterlot was very different from what it would be in the time of Dusk Shine and his friends. After the alicorn sisters had changed their abode from the Everfree Forest to their new castle, little by little the city had been growing. In its beginnings, there was only the royal castle, but over the years, several families moved there as well, founding what would be known as the great city of Canterlot.

The first to settle were the old families of noble lineage, who always wanted to be as close as possible to royalty. And precisely from one of the wealthiest houses around the castle, young Crystal ran out, a mare with whitish fur and blue mane so long that it covered part of her face. She came from the noble Lis family, an ancient family whose emblem was the lily, also called Fleur de Lis. They were a family clan that was proud to be one of the oldest unicorn families in the kingdom.

Young Crystal had grown up in a large family with many siblings. With a mother who was proud of each of her children. Of all, except her... To her misfortune, and despite the fact that in the Lis family they always sought to maintain their lineage, joining in marriage only with noble unicorn families; Crystal had been born with a small recessive trait in her family which had caused her to be born an earth pony instead of a unicorn. This one small change in fate led her to be despised by her own family from the moment she was born.

Despite being despised, and that her own mother often tried to hide her mere existence so as not to be mocked by the other noble families of the kingdom, Crystal always fought to try to stand out. So much so, that despite not being a unicorn, that day she ran to take the tests to enter the Canterlot School of Magic. Her mother had forbidden her to go, so she wouldn't embarrass her family. However, the young mare was determined to show her mother and her family that she could be someone important, even without a horn.

To Crystal's dismay, as soon as the magic test judges saw that a simple earth pony wanted to study magic, they burst out laughing and jeered at the young Crystal. A mockery shared by all the other unicorns around her. Something had finally broke the heart of the resilient young mare, who had no choice but to run away from there while everyone around her made fun of the naive earth pony.

It was in that flight, with her eyes full of tears, that young Crystal saw Princess Celestia herself get down from her carriage outside her castle as she approached the gates of her huge palace, while all her guards and other ponies around her looked enthralled. Crystal had on the same look at the goddess who had everything: immortality, power, respect... everything that she couldn’t have and would never have.

At that moment, Crystal couldn't take it anymore, and not caring what the others would say, she ran over to where Celestia was. She made her way through all the ponies that had come to see the arrival of the princess, running towards her until the guards stopped her a few steps from the alicorn.

"Princess! Princess!!" Crystal yelled through tears, praying that the princess could hear her.

Fortunately, Celestia could hear the young mare. She then motioned for her guards to let her advance. Wasting no time, Crystal walked to Celestia in tears and threw herself on her hooves.

"Princess! Please… teach me magic!” Crystal cried, pleading with the princess to fulfill her greatest and only dream.

The guards looked at each other at the filly’s request and laughed at the ridiculous request that earth pony was asking for. While they and the crowd of ponies around them laughed at the ridiculous notion, Celestia looked down solemnly at the poor filly.

“My dear, there is nothing wrong with being an earth pony. You don't have a horn to use magic, but you can do things no unicorn can." Celestia said, tenderly stroking Crystal's mane.

"No! No! Everyone in my family is a unicorn! Everyone in this town is a unicorn! I must learn magic! I have no friends; my family hates me. They… They see me as a worm, a dirty caterpillar that they don't even want to look at… Please help me! Please!" Crystal cried desperately, sure that without magic, her life was useless.

Celestia's heart softened in a way it hadn't done in years. In fact, no one had ever approached her like that, or cried like that in front of her. At least not since before her sister Luna was with her. Then Celestia bent down and tenderly hugged her, seeing her own little sister reflected in that desperate little mare.

"Don't worry... Remember that a small caterpillar can become a beautiful butterfly one day." Celestia said as she hugged Crystal. “I… I will help you… I promise.” Celestia added. Words she so wished she had said to her sister, before she fell into darkness...

From that day, Crystal Lis became Princess Celestia's first student. A title that caused a stir in all the noble families that lived in old Canterlot. The most commotion coming from the Lis family itself.

Crystal's mother completely changed her treatment of her daughter. Pampering her and always giving the best food and the best clothes to her dearest daughter, who had managed to become a student of Princess Celestia herself. It was a radically different treatment from the one her mother had had with her before. Her siblings had also treated her different, switching from gazes of disgust to looks of envy. Looks that Crystal didn’t mind in the least.

“I knew it… I knew this day would come!” Crystal thought with a smile as she walked through Canterlot with her head held high. “I knew that one day everyone would stop looking down on me. I knew that one day everyone would love me, as they love the Princess!”

When Crystal attended her magic lessons with Celestia, she devoted herself completely to learning everything attentively. Knowing that the wise princess would make her able to use magic, and thus finally be able to stand out despite not being a unicorn. Celestia saw Crystal's obvious magical limitation and chose in the first instance to teach her potions and the history of magic. She emphasized to Crystal that there were many ways to do magic, and that she had to go step by step.

Crystal learned the secrets of magic thanks to the books of Starswirl the Bearded. She learned how to mix dozens of ingredients to create various magical potions, which Starswirl had learned from the mysterious Mage Meadowbrook. She then learned about Starswirl's travels and how he had traveled through ancient Equestria to become the powerful wizard that everyone knew.

While reading the Starswirl books, a great fascination came over Crystal as she learned of the great mysteries that even the great legend of magic couldn’t solve. Some of those mysteries talked about magical portals to other worlds, which Starswirl never dared to go to. While another of the big mysteries that Starswirl could never solve was the one he himself called 'the cursed well'. A mysterious pool of dark waters that Starswirl discovered on one of his travels filled with magic so dark that even Starswirl himself dared not touch it.

Time passed and Crystal's fascination with magic only increased. As did her unconditional love for Celestia, whom she saw as a goddess who had come to the world to save the ponies, and especially to save her.

With every class Crystal had with Celestia, the earth pony found excuses to brush against her body and touch her in some way. Excitement tingled in her body every time the alicorn looked into her eyes. She loved every gesture, every word, every look that the Princess of the Sun gave her. A love that became an obsession for the young Crystal, who began to spend her nights dreaming of the princess. She would wake up every morning excited to think that every day she would have a class with her goddess, the most perfect pony of all, her beloved teacher who had saved her from darkness.

"This is for you, Crystal." Celestia said one day as they were both starting a class. The alicorn gave her a small golden necklace, in the center of which was engraved the image of an acorn. "This necklace absorbs alicorn magic and it’ll make you able to use magic, as long as I recharge it." Celestia added, reaching over to hang the necklace around her student's neck. While Crystal reveled in the simple fact of having her beloved teacher's hooves around her neck.

“Wait… You said I could use magic!?” Crystal asked in astonishment after snapping out of her reverie.

Then the earth pony ran to a shelf, touched her necklace and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to levitate a book. Celestia, meanwhile, smiled at how excited Crystal was and walked over to her.

"It doesn't work..." Crystal said with huge disappointment, opening her eyes and seeing that she hadn't moved any book with telekinesis.

"Don’t rush. That is why we have been reviewing all this time history of magic and its foundations.” Celestia said, smiling at her student. "Like a unicorn filly, you must use the basics and learn little by little how to unleash the magic of your necklace."

Crystal closed her eyes again and concentrated at her teacher’s words. She remembered the three basic principles of magic: concentration, imagination, and power. Until finally, her necklace glowed and one of the books on the shelf glowed and flew away. It only lasted a few seconds, because as soon as Crystal saw that she had actually managed to use magic, she lost her concentration.

"I did it! I did it! I was finally able to do magic!” Crystal yelled excitedly, on the verge of tears and admiring her new magical necklace. Then she stared at it. "Why does it have the emblem of an acorn?"

"Hehe, I thought it was funny." Celestia responded with a small giggle. “I think the other unicorns wouldn't like me handing out items that can use alicorn magic. So if anyone asks, we'll say it's 'acorn' magic, hehe.” Celestia said, enjoying her little pun. “Also, you’re like a small acorn. An acorn seed that may one day become an 'a-li-corn'.” Celestia added, looking tenderly at Crystal and giving her a hug. Feeling grateful to Crystal after she helped her get over her grief after losing Luna.

Whereas Crystal, for the first time, felt immune to Celestia's touch. And in her head only one thing repeated itself over and over again.

“Become…an alicorn…” Crystal whispered, opening her eyes full of emotion at that possibility.

After that day, Crystal became obsessed with the idea of one day becoming an alicorn. She practiced her studies harder than ever, especially magic spells with her new magic necklace. Celestia continued to impart her teachings. So blinded that she could turn Crystal into a great student, that one day she could share with her like her dear sister did, that the white alicorn didn't realize the darkness that was growing in Crystal's heart.

One day, Celestia called Crystal into her room. There, the princess showed Crystal an ancient potion that Starswirl had tested on her years ago when she was still a young mare student of the great wizard. The potion could only be completed when mixed with alicorn magic, a potion that allowed whoever drank it to see past events.

By drinking the potion, Celestia linked her magic with the magic of Crystal's necklace so that her student could also see into the past. That was how Celestia showed part of her past to Crystal. Some memories of when Celestia was young and received classes from Starswirl the Bearded himself; when she ruled with her sister Luna, and the times that both shared happiness before the darkness took over her sister's heart.

“You’re the first pony I have shown part of my past to.” Celestia said with a melancholic voice once the effect of the potion ended and both returned to reality. “I… I have lost so much these years… My teacher, my sister… I know that everyone thinks I am made of stone and that nothing affects me. But the truth is that every night I remember what I've lost…” At that moment, Celestia looked at the young Crystal and smiled sadly. “But now I see a future ahead. I still have a lot to give, and I realized that thanks to you, Crystal.”

Celestia hugged her student, grateful to have found such a sweet pony in whom to place her trust. While Crystal blushed at her teacher's hug and smiled ecstatically at the words of the princess.

"I'm the only one the princess has shown her past…" Crystal thought with delight as she hugged her beloved princess. "I'm special... And she knows it..." Crystal thought, while her trauma of having been despised for a lifetime, now made her ego fill her with excessive pride and arrogance...

In Celestia's eyes, Crystal was just an innocent mare who had suffered a lot in her childhood. To her, Crystal would always be a lost little filly to help. And her love for her student was blinding her to what she was really creating. A pony who began to look down on others, believing that they weren’t as special as her.

The first time Celestia saw that something bad might be going on with Crystal was when her student didn't show up for her class. Something that immediately caught Celestia's attention since Crystal was never absent. Celestia started to leave the castle to look for her student, however, on the way she stopped when she saw that Crystal was in the middle of one of the palace gardens. The young mare was pacing back and forth as she caught sight of her own reflection in a small pond. With the magic of her necklace, Crystal had made light wings appear on her back, similar to those of a pegasus, and a horn of light had also appeared on her forehead, thus giving herself the appearance of an alicorn. What surprised Celestia the most, however, was hearing Crystal speak to her own reflection. With her magic, Crystal had changed her voice to sound like Celestia's, and with it, Crystal was talking to her own reflection and telling herself how special she was and how much she loved her.

That would have scared or at least worried any other pony, but Celestia, blinded by her love for young Crystal, simply saw a filly playing make-believe. Without realizing that the admiration that Crystal had for her, had long since become an obsession.

Despite that strange behavior, Celestia didn’t notice anything concerning after that. At least, until the day Celestia decided to tell her beloved student about an idea she had been planning for a while.

“You want to make your own magic school!?” Crystal said with terror after her class was over and Celestia told her about her dream of being a teacher.

"I think it's an idea that could work." Celestia said. "The Canterlot School of Magic is quite exceptional, but I thought I might as well give some private lessons, and help out ponies in need, like you."

"No! Why would you want to do something like that!?" Crystal yelled in fright.

"Crystal... Wouldn't you like to share with more ponies your age?" Celestia replied, surprised by her student's reaction. “Many friendless ponies could come here to learn magic together. Even your brothers and sisters could learn as much as you.”

"No! NO!! You can't teach other ponies! I am special!! ME!!" Crystal yelled hysterically, looking at Celestia in panic, watching her world crumble.

Seeing her student panic over something like that caused the veil that blinded Celestia's eyes to be lifted for the first time. For the first time Celestia saw Crystal as she was, a traumatized pony who was terrified of being one of the crowd. A pony who dreamed of being special, and to achieve her goal, she didn't need things like friendship. For the first time, Celestia saw darkness in her student's heart, and it frightened her.

From that day on, Crystal and Celestia's relationship suffered a breakdown, one that Celestia couldn't fix no matter how hard she tried. The alicorn changed her approach to teaching, setting aside magic lessons to try to teach her student the value of companionship and friendship. However, Crystal refused to learn such things. Crystal became taciturn, pretending to listen to Celestia, but with her mind wandering, afraid that she would no longer be Celestia's only student, afraid that she would no longer be special...

One day, Crystal just skipped her class with Celestia. As much as the alicorn waited, Crystal didn't show up. It was then that Celestia went to the outskirts of the castle and froze at what was before her eyes.

At the castle gate was Crystal, again using her magic to appear to be an alicorn. With the addition that now she had also caused her magic to make her mane slowly wave and change color, mimicking Celestia's mane. There, Crystal glared at two guards, forcing them to bow to her with her strong alicorn magic, which was actually Celestia's own magic, stored in her necklace.

“How dare you look me in the face!? I am Princess Crystal Lis! Bow before my glory!” Crystal yelled. The mare enjoyed watching the two guards, the same ones who had mocked her when she cried for Celestia to teach her magic, were now bowed down and completely subjugated before her powerful magic.

"Crystal!" Celestia screamed in terror, shocked at what she saw. A scream that made Crystal immediately let go of the guards and look at Celestia. A surprisingly blank look, as if she didn't understand that she had just done something wrong.

After that, Celestia led Crystal to her study hall. Once there, the princess asked Crystal for an explanation of what had happened. But as much as she insisted, Crystal didn’t respond. She simply said that she had done it because those guards deserved it. All with a look that showed that there wasn’t a hint of regret in her actions.

“Crystal… Starting today, you’ll take a break from your magic classes.” Celestia finally said, looking very worried at her beloved student. "You must learn that there are things more important than magic, and that other ponies are just as important as you."

Just then, before Crystal could claim, Crystal's magical necklace began to glow dimly. A sign that her magical energy was almost depleted, and that it needed to recharge.

"I’ll no longer recharge your necklace." Celestia added, taking advantage of teaching her student a lesson. "Magic is not everything in this world, and I think it’s something you should remember in order to value others again."

For Crystal, Celestia's initial punishment was something that didn't seem to affect her much. However, as soon as her teacher told her that she couldn't use magic anymore, Crystal freaked out. She begged, got angry, screamed and cried at her teacher to forgive her and recharge her magic necklace. However, Celestia stood firm, wanting with all her being that this would serve as a lesson to her student so that she would change her attitude.

With no magic lessons left, Crystal kept going to Celestia's castle and personal library. Only this time, just like in the beginning, she had no choice but to focus on magic books, especially the ones she had already read from Starswirl the Bearded. Unbeknownst to Celestia, Crystal's obsession made it impossible for her to see her mistakes and what Celestia was trying to teach her. The only thing the young mare focused on was finding a way to show her teacher that she was still worthy, so that she would continue to love her as her beloved student.

Thinking that somehow she had to prove to Celestia that she was still worthy to be able to use her magic, one day Crystal slipped into a locked room in the castle library, where books of dark magic and other valuable relics that should be protected were kept. There, Crystal was able to use the last of the alicorn magic in her magical necklace to open the lock on an old chest sealed by Celestia herself. That chest kept the only two objects that Celestia kept that had powerful dark magic, and that no one should touch. The first was an old book, covered with black chains and an open bolt. It was the book that Luna had opened the day she transformed into Nightmare Moon. However, since Luna opened it, that book had lost all its dark magic and its pages were simply blank.

Not noticing any magic coming from the old book, Crystal's attention turned to the other item in the chest. A crown, which Crystal immediately noticed gave off a strong dark aura.

By reading the Starswirl books, Crystal was able to identify that crown as that of the old mad king Orion. A former monarch of the now-defunct cloud city of Timbuktu, where the now-extinct sparkly-eyed pegasi lived. It was one of the great ancient kingdoms of the ponies, which existed since before the founding of Equestria, and mysteriously came to an end when its king went mad.

Having found what she was looking for, Crystal took the cursed crown and fled the castle that very night. The foolish mare was determined to prove to her teacher that she was worthy of continuing to be her student.

After days of not hearing from Crystal, Celestia started to get scared. So, she followed Crystal's footsteps, searching her room until she discovered what her student had been reading. The only clue Crystal left behind was Starswirl's old journal, along with a map, where Crystal herself had marked a point south of the Everfree Forest.

Fearing for the well-being of her beloved student, Celestia wasted no time and flew to the place that was marked on the map. Once there, Celestia immediately felt a chill like she had never felt before. The place was a huge, dark cavern. One that even from the outside could be felt to emanate a very strange sensation. Everything around it was completely silent, since not even the animals came near it.

As she entered the cavern, Celestia had to shine her horn to see better. However, she was surprised to see that her magic began to wane as she entered the cavern.

“This cavern… What rock is it made of?” Celestia thought worriedly, sensing that the cavern was made of some kind of magical stone that blocked her magic.

Despite not being able to illuminate her horn well, that wasn’t necessary, since when she entered, Celestia saw that a strange greenish glow came from the depths of the cavern. Being brighter than expected, Celestia could see that the cavern covered a huge hidden lake, of what seemed to be a strange and viscous green water, which was what emitted that spectral glow. And in the middle of that pond was a huge, withered tree, its roots below all the dirty pool of stagnant water.

It was at that moment that Celestia remembered Starswirl's journals, and quickly understood why she felt that strange aura. That well was one of the places her master had discovered in his youth, the so-called 'cursed well'. A well that somehow emanated dark magic from it with an aura so toxic that not even Starswirl himself dared even touch it.

“This pond… It's the total opposite of the Tree of Harmony…” Celestia thought with fear, feeling such an uncomfortable sensation for the first time in her life. “Instead of giving light… It seems as if that tree and the pond wanted to absorb everything they touch, like a huge bottomless abyss. ”

At that moment Celestia was distracted when she saw a movement near the pond, in some rocks that rose up and served as a viewpoint to that place. There, Celestia finally found Crystal, who seemed to be staring off into space, not even noticing her teacher's arrival.

"Crystal!" Celestia screamed in fright, seeing how close her student was to falling off those rocks.

It was only with the princess's cry that Crystal snapped out of her thoughts and was able to look at Celestia. Then the alicorn was even more scared when she saw that the mare was wearing King Orion's crown on her head, one of the cursed objects that Starswirl had found and locked away years ago. As for Crystal, she had a strange look, with her eyes had a slight red glow and a lost look, who seemed to struggle between looking at Celestia or not, as if she didn't know if this was really happening or if it was just a hallucination.

"Princess... You came for me." Crystal said with a big smile, but with a voice that sounded sickly. "I knew you loved me."

“Crystal, what are you doing? We have to get out of here now.” Celestia said, walking very slowly to where her student was. She knew from the look on Crystal's face that she wasn't feeling well mentally at the moment.

“I came here to prove to you that I am worthy of being your student… That I am worthy of being an alicorn princess.” Crystal said, always looking around Celestia and never meeting her eyes. As if she was talking more to herself than to her teacher. "I came here to find out the truth of this magic well... To investigate what not even Starswirl the Bearded could achieve..." Crystal added with a lost look and pointed to the pond in front of her.

“Crystal, you don't have to prove anything. Come with me." Celestia calmly said, feeling that her student's mind was being corrupted, both by the cursed crown she was wearing and by the dark magic of this place.

"I've been experimenting... It seems that this pond absorbs everything that falls into it." Crystal said, as if she hadn't heard Celestia. “I have thrown some insects at it, and I’ve seen how some mosquitoes are born from the well… It seems that it likes organic matter a lot.” In that instant, Crystal reached down and picked up what appeared to be a glowing stone, which suddenly began to tremble as if it was frightened.

"Is that a mimicker?" Celestia asked, recognizing that this rock was actually a magical creature, one that had the ability to transform into other objects, but in their normal form looked like simple rocks.

“Yes… there are plenty of those around here… The well likes them a lot.” Crystal responded, tossing the little mimicker into the pond with a big smile, as if she was feeding a pet.

As soon as the mimicker touched the pool, the creature began to dissolve, and the pool glowed an eerie greenish color. Celestia was shocked at what she had just seen. Her student had crossed a line from which she couldn’t return, she had just sacrificed an innocent creature just for fun.

“You’re crazy…” Celestia whispered in terror, trembling at the sight of someone so dear to her falling into madness. “Crystal… Please take off that crown and come with me…” Celestia begged with tears in her eyes. She wasn’t going to abandon someone precious to her again.

"Go with you?" Crystal said, staring off into space. Until for a second, she seemed to snap out of her hallucinations and managed to stare Celestia in the eye. "You love me, right?" Crystal asked in a weak voice.

"What?" Celestia asked.

"YOU LOVE ME?!" Crystal yelled furiously, her mood changing in a flash, going from shyness to fury. "I know you love me! You gave me this necklace!” Crystal cried with sorrow, and then laughing with mad joy. She revealed the golden necklace with the acorn that Celestia had given her so she could use magic. “Tell me that you love me… tell me that I am special and unique to you!!”

Following Crystal's shout, Celestia fell silent for a moment. The alicorn wanted to cry helplessly when she saw before her eyes how her student had gone mad. While in her mind, she kept remembering her confrontation with Luna and she felt that history was repeating itself. However, she suppressed her feelings and did her best to remain calm and not upset Crystal further.

"Of course I love you. You are my dear student.” Celestia said with a tender look, unable to avoid shedding a few tears. She held out a hoof for Crystal to take. “Please come with me. Let's go home together."

After Celestia's words, it was Crystal's turn to remain silent. The mare simply stared motionlessly at Celestia's hoof. Then she began to cry, while a huge smile formed on her muzzle.

"You're a liar... All that about being a Princess, it was all a hoax..." Crystal cried as her gaze began to wander again.

'Come…Come…' Crystal heard a voice call out to her. Then she turned and looked towards the well, from where she thought she heard that voice. 'Come… Come… I'll make you special…' The voice in the well echoed in Crystal's mind.

Having totally lost her mind, Crystal closed her eyes and dove into the pool of dark magic.

“NOOO!” Celestia screamed desperately. The poor princess ran to where Crystal had fallen only to watch her student sink into that dark pool of green water.

Celestia tried to use her magic, but again found that for some reason it wasn’t working properly. Then she ran from that slope she was on and went to the edge of the pond. She got ready to put her hoof to swim and try to look for her student, however, her entire body trembled at the idea. Starswirl knew it and she could feel it too. That well of dark magic only sucked things in. If she put a hoof in that pond, it would be the end of her, there would be no way out. The magic that emanated was so toxic, that she could barely breathe there, much less swim.

Feeling completely helpless, Celestia fell to the ground and slammed her hooves onto the edge of that pond. She wept for what seemed like hours at losing the pony that had managed to get her out of her depression after losing her sister. Her dear student, the pony who had loved her so much, and who she had inadvertently driven her mad.

With no one to comfort her in all the world, Celestia cried there until she ran out of tears, knowing that once again she had lost a loved one.

For three hundred years, Celestia never set foot in that well of dark magic again. Not only because the atmosphere there was almost toxic, but also because it had taken her years to forget the suffering she went through with her beloved student. Something that scarred her for life and made her promise never to have a pony as a student again.

During all that time, many things happened in Celestia's life, so the alicorn's mind struggled to forget what happened that day, forcing herself to forget that dark place. Until one terrible day, when fate decided that she should return to that dark place...

One day, Aspen, the King of the deer, came to Celestia's palace. Back then, Aspen still cared about other creatures outside his kingdom, ponies included. The Deer King informed Celestia of a worrying situation that was occurring south of the Everfree Forest in a small pony village. There, he had heard a rumor that dozens of ponies had begun to disappear without a trace. A rumor that Aspen decided to immediately report to his friend.

Wasting no time, Aspen and Celestia headed to the town mentioned by Aspen. Once there, both regents were shocked to find a ghost town. As Aspen would have known, this town was full of houses and shops, but not a single pony was in sight. However, the strangest thing was that in most of the windows of the houses in the town were white cloths and lit candles, even some banners that said: 'The dead are still alive' or 'Heaven is on earth'. Phrases that neither Celestia nor Aspen understood what it could mean at the time.

After searching and verifying that there was no one in that small town, Aspen showed Celestia some hoof prints that looked very recent. Then both began to follow them, hoping to elucidate the growing mystery.

Celestia began to get a feeling of dread when she saw where they were beginning to go... To the same dark cavern that hid that gloomy lake of stagnant water, where she had lost her beloved student.

Just as they were both about to reach that cavern, Aspen and Celestia saw in the distance two ponies were walking directly towards the cavern entrance with what appeared to be huge mosquitoes flying overhead. The pair walked as if those mosquitoes didn't bother them at all, in fact, they even smiled as they looked at them out of the corner of their eyes and continued to approach the entrance of the cave. It was then that Celestia and Aspen froze as they heard voices. Voices that didn't come from either of the two ponies.

“Are… Are those mosquitoes talking?” Aspen whispered to the alicorn.

Celestia didn't respond at all. She simply stood paralyzed watching the ponies enter the cavern, attracted by the voices of those mosquitoes. The same voices that also seemed to come from inside that dark cavern. There were dozens of happy voices calling to the ponies to enter the cave. Then, a shiver ran down the alicorn's back, realizing that something very dark and sinister must be happening in that gloomy cave.

Losing sight of the ponies ahead of them, Celestia and Aspen scrambled and ran toward the cave. There, Celestia paused for a moment, filled with fear as she remembered what had happened there years ago. But knowing that she had to investigate what was happening, Celestia took a deep breath and finally entered the cavern with the deer.

"What place is this? I… I've never felt magic as dark as this…” Aspen whispered as he made his way through the dark cave.

After entering the cave, Celestia and Aspen could finally see the lake of green water that was hidden there, dimly maintaining its ominous green glow throughout the place. Then Celestia and Aspen froze as they heard voices again, this time coming from the same pool of toxic water that was in front of them.

“Come… Come my dear… We will be together again…” An old female voice said.

"I miss you mom... Come..." Another voice coming from the lake said. Only this time it seemed to be that of a young colt.

In that instant, from the same high point in the cavern from which Crystal had fallen years ago, the two ponies they had been following when entering the cave appeared. An elderly mare and a stallion smiled with joy at hearing those voices and approached the edge of that well.

"I'm coming, my dear..." The old stallion said with a hypnotized look.

"Soon we’ll see each other again, my son..." The old mare said with the same lost look. She pushed the old stallion, causing them both to fall into the green pool of water.

"Nooo!" Celestia screamed in terror.

Again the alicorn had tried to use her magic to save those ponies. However, just like in the past, it seemed that the rocks in that cavern were blocking her magic.

Both Aspen and Celestia were horrified to finally understand what was going on here. Somehow, the mosquitoes of the dark pond had approached that village of ponies and had disguised their voices as those of the deceased. Tricking them into going to that place full of dark magic, and falling into that well, as if they were feeding it.

"We have to destroy this place." Aspen said fearfully but with a steady look. He instinctively understood that this place was extremely evil.

At that precise moment, the cave began to tremble slightly, and the water in that lake began to form waves from its center where that huge, withered tree was. Then the tree began to crack, and from its interior a thick dark and viscous mass began to come out, which sprouted from all the fractures and fell into the lake of green water.

All that viscous mass that fell into the lake seemed to sink into it, like everything it touched. However, the dark mass did just the opposite. The lake began to drain just in the direction where that dark mass had fallen, as if it were the one that was absorbing the lake in its place. And to the terror of Aspen and Celestia, that dark mass began to slowly approach where they were.

Finally, the mass touched the shore of the lake once it had absorbed almost half of the water of that pond. It began to make some unintelligible noises as it slowly began to take shape, forming four legs, a torso, a neck and a head. The shape of what appeared to be a quadrupedal being formed, just like Aspen and Celestia, only her entire body seemed to be made up of that slimy dark mass that had spilled from the tree.

Slowly, the creature formed what appeared to be facial features, as well as two glowing, eerie white eyes, which suddenly appeared on its face to stare at Celestia and Aspen. Who, for their part, had been paralyzed by the strange and terrifying situation they were experiencing. Finally, two green pupils appeared in the center of those terrifying and bright white eyes that this amorphous creature had. The creature began to make various unpleasant sounds with its new mouth, as if it was struggling to learn to use its new muscles.

Celestia and Aspen didn't need to use their magic to feel and know that they were standing before a creature that had been spawned by dark magic. All their instincts screamed at them to flee immediately. However, Celestia only managed to take a step back before she saw something that stopped her. A golden glow coming from the neck of the creature.

"That... That's Crystal's necklace..." Celestia whispered in shock, recognizing the gold necklace with the symbol of the acorn that was in the center. “Are you… Are you Crystal…? Are you Crystal Lis!?” Celestia screamed, staring at that abominable creature out of the dark well.

“Cryssss…. Alll…Lisss…” The creature repeated, finally able to utter a word.

“Celestia! Watch out!" Aspen suddenly yelled. The deer king tried and failed to use the magic of the forest.

Then Celestia saw those dozens of mosquitoes, the same ones that had attracted the ponies they had followed, began to attack her. Lunging over her body, poking her with their needle noses and taking a few drops of her blood.

Although Aspen and Celestia managed to crush several of the bugs, several of them succeeded. And once they did, they flew towards the amorphous creature that was standing in front of them as if they obeyed it.

As soon as the amorphous creature had the mosquitoes in front of it, it grabbed them tightly with one of its legs, and quickly ate them, tasting food for the first time with its new mouth. Then the creature again changed again, causing its form to appear more like a true body than a slimy shaped mass. By changing the creature's body, Celestia was able to see the skin of the creature, which looked like some kind of shell, like that of an insect. Furthermore, she could see that the creature was wearing a rusty crown on its head. But the change that most shocked Aspen and Celestia was that a horn appeared on the creature's forehead, one with a twisted shape. Then two huge wings, similar to those of an insect, appeared on the creature's back. And finally, several sharp teeth, with which the creature was finally able to smile, causing Aspen and Celestia to shiver at the sight of the grim smile.

"Crysss-allll-lisss... Firrrssst... fall..." The creature said with a more defined, terrifying female voice. It was finally able to express herself as her brain continued to evolve and learn at breakneck speed.

“W-what…? What does that mean?” Aspen asked, horrified that this creature could communicate.

"I not heeer... She just... first to fall..." The creature replied, slowly beginning to speak in a more coherent manner.

As the creature spoke, she kept her gaze fixed on Celestia. Who, for her part, looked terrified at the bright green eyes of that creature, trying to understand 'what' was what was before her eyes. While the creature, seeing Celestia's frightened look, smiled, as if enjoying seeing the terror on the alicorn's face.

"The well... a long time... I was born in darkness... Over the years, little by little... plants... mosquitoes... insects... snakes… fell..." The creature continued speaking, retelling the beginnings of her own existence. “Finally, a pony fell… Crysss-allll-lisss… That… That was…” The creature said, pausing briefly, before putting on a twisted smile. "So delicious…!"

"Crystal Lis... Was that the name of your former student?" Aspen said in shock, turning to look at Celestia. Then the deer was shocked to see the face of his friend.

Celestia had never felt so afraid in her life. It seemed that the dark creature that had just been born before her eyes spoke as if it were the same pool of dark magic speaking. A living being without consciousness that had lived there for centuries, perhaps even older than Celestia herself. A being that, as Crystal discovered before going mad, absorbed everything it touched, and in some way, assimilated it, until finally becoming aware of itself and creating the dark creature that was before them.

“Knowing how delicious ponies were, I had to eat more…” The dark creature said, already managing to speak more complex words. “Dozens of ponies had to fall, until… I was finally able to get a body. But... still missing... I'm still not... perfect." The dark creature added, drawing a snake-like tongue out of her mouth and tasting her lips as she stared at Celestia.

In that instant, the creature's horn glowed, and a fleeting green flame surrounded her body. Instantly, the creature in front of them transformed, taking on the appearance of the old mare that had fallen into that pond minutes before. The only difference from the original old mare was that this copy had the glowing, malevolent green eyes of the dark creature. In addition, part of her tail and one ear were not completely transformed.

"That transformation... It's like that of a mimicker..." Celestia whispered in shock after seeing the creature transform. It was then that Celestia remembered how her student had spent days experimenting in that well, throwing at it those mimickers.

The creature, in the form of the old mare, smiled wickedly. She was enjoying the fear of the alicorn before her.

“These… are feelings… Fear… is so…enticing…” The creature said, speaking in a voice that was a mix between her own voice and the old mare's.

Using her magic again, the dark creature transformed again. Only this time she was transformed into the stallion that had fallen next to the old mare. Just a second later, the creature transformed again, changing her appearance dozens of times at high speed. Transforming one by one into the victims who had fallen into the dark waters of that well and who were now part of her.

Both Aspen and Celestia were shocked to understand that all those ponies that the creature transformed into had been her victims. Which made them both feel scared and disgusted to see how dark and evil the creature could be.

"How is it possible…? Was that creature able to break the Great Taboo without consequences?” Aspen whispered, shocked at what he saw.

Before Celestia could say anything, the dark creature finally transformed into the last pony left in her catalogue. The first pony victim who had fallen into the dark pond. The creature that, by absorbing her, had given her the first light of self-awareness. The creature that, being the first thinking creature that fell there, was the base to form its essence. So much so, that without realizing it, the obsession to be recognized. To seek to be more important than others, and even to seek Celestia's love, had permeated the very essence of that creature, forming her soul.

"Crystal..." Celestia whispered in horror, with tears in her eyes when she saw her former student again before her eyes.

As with her other transformations, the dark creature had failed to become a perfect copy of the original pony. This copy kept the creature's green eyes, as well as her malevolent smile. Also, part of her right hoof hadn’t fully transformed. Still, there was something that made the copycat look a lot like the original in Celestia's eyes. And that was that the creature still wore on her neck the original golden necklace that she had given to her beloved student.

"You love me, right?" The creature said, mimicking Crystal Lis's voice. Only this time, she managed to perfectly imitate the voice of the pony she was impersonating.

Hearing that, Celestia's endurance finally broke. Causing her to take a few quick steps back, completely terrified, tears in her eyes.

That was too much for the alicorn princess. Not only was she looking at her dead former student, but Crystal had asked her that very question, just before she'd jumped into that dark pit. Hearing that, looking into her eyes, and hearing her voice again, made Celestia begin to cry as she felt again all the guilt she had been carrying for years, for not being able to save her student.

Seeing the alicorn fall into shock with fright, the dark creature couldn't help but smile evilly, enjoying Celestia's fear. Fear based on lost love tasted even more delicious.

"A small caterpillar can become a beautiful butterfly..." The creature said in Crystal's voice, using Crystal's past memories to remember what Celestia had said to her student when they met. The creature then used her transformation magic to make her original twisted horn and insect wings appear in the form of Crystal Lis. "Look at me! I'm finally an alicorn!"

"Enough!" Celestia cried, feeling a pain in her chest to see how that creature used Crystal's memories to torment her.

"Love... Fear... Guilt... Despair... They are so delicious..." The creature said, delighted with her new food. "I want more…"

With a fleeting flash of green, Crystal disappeared, and before Celestia and Aspen's stunned eyes, Celestia's old teacher, Starswirl the Bearded appeared. The dark creature was able to incompletely copy her target again, however, she was good enough to copy the old unicorn's face, as well as his characteristic cape and hat. Just like the original Crystal had seen when Celestia showed her past.

“Why did you abandon me? You never went for me." The creature said in a perfect imitation of Starswirl.

"No... I..." Celestia said in a pleading voice. Deep down, she knew that the one before her wasn’t truly her teacher, but still, she couldn't help but feel guilty for never knowing what had happened to him.

The fake Starswirl couldn't help but radically change his face and smile evilly at Celestia’s savory fear and despair. However, the creature couldn’t satisfy her thirst. Then the creature stared at Celestia and smiled wickedly.

Seeing the cruel eyes of the dark creature, Celestia immediately knew what she was planning.

"No. Please." Celestia pleaded, knowing that there was someone the creature could transform into that would definitely break her heart.

At that moment, the creature used her magic, and the green flash enveloped her body again. Celestia immediately shook her head and covered her eyes with her hoof, not wanting to see who she knew the creature wanted to imitate.

"Sister, why don't you want to see me?" The copy of Luna said with a kind voice.

“No… please…” Celestia cried, not daring to open her eyes to see the creature transformed into her sister. But just hearing Luna's sweet voice again made Celestia on the verge of collapse.

“Love me sister! Love me and only me!” The creature yelled with a voice that was a mix of Luna's and Crystal's voice.

"ENOUGH!" Aspen yelled furiously. He pounced on the dark creature to get it away from his suffering friend.

Knowing that his magic didn’t work well in that cave, Aspen took a risk and released the only white magic he carried with him: the water from the spring of the Tree of Harmony, which he carried in the crystal heart that he wore around his neck.

As soon as that water touched the body of the dark creature, her transformation into Luna undid, returning to her original appearance, and she made a face of burning pain. Seeing a flash of opportunity, Aspen took advantage of the dark creature's attack and lunged at it with his horns. It was a ferocious onslaught that hit the creature filled and pierced right into her chest where the water had hit her. However, to Aspen's surprise, his horns didn't pierce flesh and skin as he had expected, but rather, it was like hitting a wall of mud.

Aspen jerked his head away, fearful that the dark creature would absorb him as well. The creature was left with some holes in her chest where Aspen had pierced her. However, those holes were moving through her body, moving away from her chest, as if her body had become slimy again.

“Hehe… I'm not in my full form yet… But the day will come when I'll be the one to stab them. But my stab will be in the back, haha…” The dark creature said, laughing as she slowly backed away back into what was left of the dark green lake. "I'm not a caterpillar anymore... But I'm not a butterfly yet either... For now, I'm just a chrysalis..." The dark creature laughed as she slowly sank into the dark pond.

"We have to get out of here!" Aspen said, terrified at what they had seen. He looked at his friend next to him and immediately noticed that the alicorn seemed to be in shock.

Wasting no time, Aspen helped Celestia to her feet, and the two of them began to quickly exit the evil cave.

“Crysss-allll-lisss… Crysss-allll-lisss…” The voice of the creature began to repeat from the bottom of the cave. Repeating what were her first words, trying to pronounce the name of her first victim and now the main source of her essence: 'Crystal Lis'. “Crysss-allll-lisss… Crysss-allll-lisss… Chrysalis! CHRYSALIS! Hahaha!" The voice laughed ominously from deep in the cavern, enjoying her new name just as Aspen and Celestia managed to escape.

Noticing that outside her magic had returned to normal, Aspen furiously charged his magic into his horns to form a huge green flame and fired it at the entrance of the cavern. Then the entrance to the cave was blocked, and so powerful was the magic applied by the deer that the cavern itself began to collapse and sink in on itself.

After the dust from the collapse cleared and Aspen caught his breath, he checked on Celestia. The alicorn was still in shock, her eyes swollen from crying and staring at the ground with a lost look.

Seeing his friend in such bad state of mind, Aspen decided to give her a few words of encouragement. However, he stopped when he saw that something had gotten stuck in one of his antlers. Then the deer saw that after hitting the dark creature in her chest, the golden necklace that it was wearing had been hooked on his horns.

Aspen removed the necklace and approached Celestia and silently showed it to her, knowing that this necklace must be important to her. Celestia was finally able to snap out of her shock when she saw the necklace. Then she slowly took it and hugged it, crying again as she remembered her student, Starswirl and Luna.

"It's my fault... It's all my fault..." Celestia cried bitterly.

As the alicorn cried, Aspen stood there with her. He had never seen his friend in such a bad state. Even though she had gone through other misfortunes in her life, she had never broken. However now, it seemed that finally Celestia couldn’t take it anymore, and finally her pain got the better of her.

"I hope she recovers... I don't want to think that this has affected her in an irreversible way..." Aspen thought worriedly. Without realizing that this whole situation would be the trigger for Celestia weeks later to commit something so crazy that would end their friendship forever.

'End flashback.'

Celestia was looking carefully at Crystal's old gold necklace in her hoof. Somehow, the ability to absorb magic that Celestia had imbued it with when it was created had made it absorb part of the magic that had fallen into that dark well. Not the dark magic that naturally emanated from it, but some of the mimicker magic that had fallen into the well. It was for this reason that the acorn necklace helped Celestia transform so easily. Something that she had used a few times lately, the last time being to enjoy some free time as 'Golden Feather', together with her current student.

Celestia stopped remembering the past when she noticed that her maid, Sweet Creme, was also looking carefully at the necklace.

"It's a nice necklace." Sweet Creme said, smiling at the alicorn.

"Yes... It belonged to someone very special." Celestia said with a sad smile.

Just then, a ruckus was heard behind Celestia's bedroom door again, one that immediately caught the attention of Celestia and her maid. Celestia put the necklace in a drawer and walked quickly to the door.

"What is happening here?" Celestia said, opening the door. Her guards were forcibly holding Spike and Dusk Shine's friends.

"Princess! It's Dusk! The impostor was Dusk!” Spike yelled, struggling to get close to the princess as the guards prevented him. “Shining Armor trapped the impostor in the guardhouse!” The dragon showed the princess the guard captain's emblem that Shining Armor had passed to them. One that surprised the guards by recognizing it.

Surprised to hear that the changeling impostor had dared to impersonate Dusk, Celestia put on a serious look and told the guards to allow Dusk's friends inside. Then Celestia remembered something important, and quickly took a scroll, wrote a letter, and sent it with her magic to her 'special team' who were also searching for the invader.

“Guards, return to your posts. I’ll go personally to solve this.” Celestia said quickly.

"B-But Princess, our orders are-" The guard said timidly.

"That's an order!" Celestia looked at her guards with a gaze that made it clear that they weren’t to contradict her. Then Celestia looked at Dusk's friends and tried to give them a kinder look, despite the fact that internally she was scared of what could happen. “You girls go back to your rooms. I promise you that I’ll find out what happened to Dusk Shine.” Celestia added, looking at Dusk's friends in the same serious way.

Celestia walked away and trotted over to where Shining Armor was holding the prisoner.

"Princess! Wait!" Sweet Creme yelled, running after Celestia.

“Sweet Creme?” Celestia stopped. "You must go back to-"

"No! I don’t want to be alone!" Sweet Creme said, lunging to hug Celestia's hoof. It was then that the alicorn noticed that her beloved maid was shaking with fear. “After the attack… I don't feel safe anywhere, only with you… Please… don't leave me alone.” Sweet Creme added, almost on the verge of tears.

Celestia looked again at the bandage that her maid had on her head. Then Celestia stroked her head and understood how scared she must be.

Determined not to waste any more time. Celestia focused her magic, and instead of running, she decided to teleport along with Sweet Creme in front of the guard headquarters. Once there, Celestia opened the barracks doors and walked in with the maid. There, she saw that the barracks were quite dark, lit only by a few torches.

After getting used to the change in light, Celestia immediately made out the form of Shining Armor and Applejack. Celestia's eyes fell on who their prisoner was: Dusk Shine. His eyes were teary as he was held back by Shining Armor's magic.

"Princess... Please, help me... Shining Armor has gone mad." 'Dusk' said, looking at the alicorn princess and crying for mercy.

"How dare you take the form of my beloved student to deceive me!" Celestia said with a fierce look. Furious that this creature now wanted to savor her fear. “Show me your true face, Crystal Lis… No… Chrysalis!” Celestia said, looking seriously at the fake Dusk.

Seeing that his performance hadn’t paid off, the false Dusk erased his mask and smiled wickedly.

"My true form?" The false Dusk smiled.

In that instant, the false Dusk's changeling magic shone on his horn again, causing him to transform again. However, unlike when he had transformed into Applejack, this time the transformation was slower and with more noticeable changes. The false Dusk's body grew, reaching the height of Celestia herself. His fur changed from lavender to black, all hair disappeared from his skin and replaced by what appeared to be tough insect skin. His legs were filled with holes and a greenish armor appeared on its back. Two insect wings with holes appeared on his side, and on his forehead his horn changed, becoming twisted and pointed, while his mane changed color to a greenish blue. Finally, two huge bright green eyes focused on Celestia while a cruel and dark smile formed on her mouth.

"This is my true form, Princess..." The false Dusk said, now transformed into the Changeling Queen. “It took hundreds of years, but I finally achieved perfection, hehehe…” The Changeling Queen laughed wickedly.

"It's... It's her!" Sweet Creme yelled in terror, recognizing who had attacked her the night before. She then ran after Celestia, clutching one of her hooves tightly as she trembled as she could.

“Everyone leave at once! I must speak with… 'Her' alone.” Celestia said seriously to Shining Armor and Applejack.

For a second, Shining Armor hesitated to leave the Princess alone with such a frightening and fearsome creature. However, Celestia's gaze left no room for doubt. Furthermore, with a single word, the Princess had finally made the impostor show his true appearance. So, the safest thing was that if someone could make that creature talk to reveal Dusk's location, it was precisely Celestia.

Shining Armor stopped using his restraining magic, and he along with Applejack left the barracks.

"I… I can't move, Princess…" Sweet Creme stammered, her legs so shaky she couldn't even walk. She looked in horror at the Changeling Queen. "Please… don't leave me alone…" Sweet Creme added, keeping her firm grip on Celestia's hoof.

Seeing that her beloved maid seemed to be more traumatized than she expected, Celestia stroked her again, hoping she would calm down a bit. She wished that this would was only temporary, and that her poor maid hadn't been traumatized for life.

"I guess I left a strong impression on her, hahaha!" Chrysalis scoffed, seeing the young maid tremble in fear. “You must feel lucky… I could have slit your throat instead of just hitting you, hahaha!” Chrysalis added, scaring Sweet Creme even more.

"Where is Dusk Shine!" Celestia demanded, standing between Sweet Creme and Chrysalis, so that the Changeling Queen would stop scaring the young maid.

“Wow… You really loved him a lot, didn't you? Hahaha!" Chrysalis laughed, undeterred by Celestia's fierce gaze.

Hearing Chrysalis's laugh, Celestia was reminded of how cruel the creature could be and what it was capable of. Then Celestia was filled with fear and anger, feelings that made her mane rise and her eyes flared with the most menacing look she had ever given anyone. A look that was fleetingly reminiscent of her dark alter ego, Daybreaker, because of how menacing it was.

"WHERE-IS-DUSK-SHINE!?" Celestia yelled furiously in the Royal Canterlot Voice, causing her voice to echo throughout the barracks. She got even closer to Chrysalis and looking her in the face with a murderous look. For the first time, Celestia thought of breaking the Great Taboo if Chrysalis had done something to Dusk.

Not far from the castle, some time before the impostor was captured by Shining Armor, a rather peculiar pair of ponies walked the streets of Canterlot. It wasn't that either of these two ponies was overly peculiar, but rather because neither expected to one day be walking in the other's company.

Those two ponies were Princess Luna and Sunset Shimmer, Celestia's 'special team'. The former was wearing a cape that covered much of her body, as well as a hood that covered her head. While Sunset Shimmer walked by her side, with a look that showed that she didn't feel comfortable at all in that situation. A look identical to the one that the Princess of the night had at her side.

Since it was discovered that there was a shape-shifting creature prowling the castle, Celestia ordered that no one enter the castle for the royal wedding without being inspected. However, there was still the possibility that the shape-shifter was prowling outside the castle. So, after Celestia told Luna how dangerous the dark creature called Chrysalis could be, Luna offered to look for the changeling in the streets near the castle.

Knowing how dangerous Chrysalis could be, Celestia was very apprehensive about letting her sister patrol the streets of the capital alone. But after much hesitation, Celestia finally gave in, only on one condition, that Sunset Shimmer accompany her.

“If I send all my guards to look for the changeling in the streets of the city, it’ll only strike fear and alarm in the ponies. That's why it's better for a small group to go." Celestia said that morning after Luna offered to look for the changeling outside the palace walls.

"I get that, but what I don't get is, why do you want me to go with Sunset Shimmer!?" Luna replied, clearly uncomfortable with her sister's request.

“It's not that I distrust your power, Luna. It's just that you don't know what that creature is capable of.” Celestia answered, looking worriedly at her sister. “Sunset is Cadance's student and one of the most skilled unicorns in the kingdom. If Chrysalis runs into just one of you, she might try to trick you and stab you in the back. But if she faces two of the strongest ponies in the kingdom, I'm sure she won't be able to attack you two by surprise."

Two ponies who had fought for weeks not to see each other face to face were now together side by side, in a long, awkward silence that had lasted since they'd gone out to patrol the streets that morning to search for the impostor who had attacked the castle.

"Excuse me, are you Princess Luna?" A young mare suddenly asked as Sunset and Luna patrolled.

"I... No. I'm not her..." Luna answered quickly, hiding her face even more under her hood. Then she quickened her pace to quickly get away from the mare while she looked on with confusion.

Sunset simply sighed tiredly and hurried to follow Luna. This had been happening all morning.

Since Luna hadn’t yet publicly shown herself to all of her subjects, it was imperative for her to continue to keep her appearance hidden. Although it was known by all the ponies of the kingdom that Celestia's sister, the Princess of the Night, had returned to the kingdom; not many ponies had really seen her as she was. Except for a few blurry photos and some ponies that had seen her at the Grand Galloping Gala, most of the Canterlot ponies were still confused as to what the Princess of the Night really looked like.

“It’s useless for you to keep hiding your face. Your height and your figure give away that you’re an alicorn.” Sunset said with a tired voice once she reached Luna. “You should just show everyone how you are. After all, you’re still a Princess. Everyone will love you however you look.”

"I still haven't regained all my power... I don't want them to think that I'm weaker than my sister and that I'm not worthy as a Princess to protect them." Luna replied with a sad look. Then she stared at Sunset and narrowed her eyes slightly. “You said it yourself, remember? 'I'm just an incomplete alicorn.'” Luna reminded Sunset of what she had told her when they almost dueled in Ponyville.

Sunset widened her eyes and looked away. She would have liked to say that she had said that only to try to provoke her, but Sunset knew that a simple excuse wouldn’t forgive the damage that comment left in Luna. Then the unicorn closed her eyes in annoyance, realizing that it seemed that no matter how hard she tried, she would never escape her past. And so it was that the uncomfortable silence that had surrounded both mares during the morning settled again between them.

Just then, a flash momentarily blinded both mares. They both shook their heads and saw that a mare had approached them and had taken a picture of them without warning.

“You're Princess Luna, right? Thank Celestia! My luck is getting better!” The mare who had taken the photograph said, getting closer to Luna to try to photograph her face under her hood. “It's ridiculous that the best journalist in Equestria isn’t allowed to enter the wedding of the century. But at least with you, I'll get my scoop." The mare added, taking one photo after another of Luna.

That nosy mare was none other than Nosy News. The annoying reporter from the Canterlot newspaper who, frustrated by not being able to enter the palace, took advantage of having met Luna by chance to take pictures of her face and thus be the first to publish a clear photo of her face. If she was lucky, maybe she would be able to get an exclusive interview with the mysterious and elusive Princess of the Night.

“Are the rumors that you were banished by your sister true? How did it feel to return to Equestria after so many years? How true is it that a mare named Twilight Sparkle saved you and Celestia the night of your return?” Nosey News asked quickly as she took non-stop pictures of Luna. The shy alicorn tried her best to hide her face.

"Hey you!" Sunset Shimmer suddenly said with annoyance. She used her magic to levitate and remove the camera from Nosy News's hooves. “Leave my friend alone. She’s not the Princess of the Night, and she doesn’t like to have her pictures taken.”

Nosy News glared at Sunset and then looked back at Luna. She was positive that tall, hooded pony was indeed the princess. This was a scoop that couldn’t be missed.

“Give me back my camera! I am a journalist! It’s my right and duty to inform! Freedom of the press!" Nosy News yelled, jumping angrily to try and catch the camera that Sunset was levitating above her head.

"Oh, yeah? Well, it’s also my right and freedom to get rid of those ponies that I consider annoying.” Sunset said with an evil and menacing smile. She then crushed the camera with her magic.

Nosy News's courage was gone in a second at the unicorn’s menacing look. Then she backed away and ran away from the intimidating mare. Sunset removed the intimidating look and sighed in relief.

“Huff… I know I shouldn't threaten the other ponies. But sometimes it's impossible to forget the old ways with ponies this annoying." Sunset Shimmer said with a sad smile. She looked sideways at Luna. “Although I must admit, it still amuses me a bit when I scare off a bully that easily just with a stare, hehe.”

Sunset started walking to continue her patrol. Meanwhile, Luna stood still for a few seconds, just looking at Sunset in surprise as she walked. She snapped out of her thoughts and quickly started walking to catch up with Sunset.

For several minutes, both mares silently continued their walk until finally, Luna broke the ice.

“Thank you… for helping me with that reporter.” Luna said slowly, a little embarrassed to think that she was thanking Sunset Shimmer for something. "Also... I'm sorry you had to lie and say you were my friend."

"Don’t worry." Sunset answered without looking at Luna. “I guess I owe you an apology too. After all, I said you were my friend, and… well, no one would want to be my friend.” Sunset added with a wistful look.

“I know… I also always think the same about myself. When you've made so many mistakes in the past, how could anyone want to be your friend...?" Luna said with the same wistful look as Sunset. "I guess at least, in that we are similar."

"I guess..." Sunset said with a sad look. Then she stopped, lowered her gaze, and for some reason changed her attitude radically. She put on big eyes of an enraptured puppy, approaching Luna and affectionately taking a hoof from the alicorn between her own. "I've a great idea! Since we’re so alike, we can be friends!” Sunset Shimmer said, looking at Luna with a tender gaze.

For her part, Luna was shocked to see that loving gaze on Sunset. However, Luna simply slowly removed her hoof and gave Sunset a small mischievous smile.

"Not in a million years." Luna replied sincerely.

Sunset erased that silly look she had and began to laugh sincerely.

“Hahaha yeah, I knew you would say that. It’s natural to think so, honestly I also think the same about you.” Sunset answered with a small smile after Luna discovered her prank. “I figured if Cadance was here, she would have told me to ask you something like that. But I doubt she understands how we feel. We’re very different and at the same time very similar, like the Sun and the Moon. I think we're destined to never get along with each other."

"You're right about that." Luna added, sighing with a smile.

After finally speaking truthfully, the atmosphere between the two mares relaxed. They both knew they would never become best friends, and they would never attempt such an aberration. However, at least now they understood that one felt exactly the same as the other. Which made them both relax more, smile, and talk without being so tense with each other.

“There’s also another powerful reason why we couldn't be friends. And that reason is called: Dusk Shine.” Sunset said, mischievously looking at Luna. “We both compete for the love of the same stallion. And unlike Dusk's friends from Ponyville, I couldn't be friends with a rival."

Realizing that Sunset knew her 'secret love' for Dusk, Luna blushed deeply. She thought about how the cunning Sunset had managed to find out her biggest secret. Not realizing that for Sunset, like everyone who lived in the castle, it was very obvious to realize that. It was enough to see how Luna reacted every time she heard about Dusk, or how she went crazy when Dusk went to the castle.

Sunset smiled triumphantly, amused at embarrassing one of her love rivals a little. However, at the thought of Dusk, and it was the yellow unicorn's turn to blush and get nervous.

“Now that we’re finally alone… There's something I've always wanted to ask you…” Sunset asked trying to hide her nervousness as she looked at Luna. "In the trips you've had to the world of dreams, you... in Dusk's dreams... He... Has he ever dreamed of me?"

Luna stopped in surprise. Not only because of the question Sunset was asking her, but because of how nervous she was when asking. Sunset knew perfectly well that Dusk couldn't remember her due to the spell that she herself used on Dusk to contain Discord's curse. However, asking that was a clear sign that Sunset still had a secret light of hope in her heart that Dusk hadn't completely forgotten her, at least in his subconscious.

Luna looked away and remembered some dreams that she had seen Dusk have on some of her visits. In a couple of dreams in particular, Luna remembered seeing Dusk running, chasing a faceless mare. A mare that Dusk yelled at to tell him her name but who never said it. A mare with the same coat and mane colors as Sunset Shimmer. A very small and blurred sign, which showed that Dusk's mind still refused to completely forget the one who was his first friend and his first love.

"No... Dusk can't dream of you. He has completely forgotten you.” Luna said, closing her eyes. She was unsure why she had lied to Sunset. Maybe it was because they were still rivals in love? Maybe it was so Sunset wouldn't do something crazy? Or maybe it was to protect Sunset from giving her false hope? Maybe… It was all those together.

For her part, hearing Luna's answer, Sunset lowered her head and put on a sad smile.

“I see… Hehe, my spell is as strong as I expected.” Sunset said solemnly. Despite the fact that her eyes shone on the verge of tears, thinking that the possibility of being with Dusk again was becoming almost negligible.

Right at that moment, a small flash appeared before Luna and Sunset. One that surprised the mares and briefly annoyed Sunset, thinking that it was the journalist again taking photos of them.

"It's a letter from my sister." Luna said in surprise, looking a scroll had appeared floating before her. Luna then quickly took the scroll and read it. "It says they caught the changeling impostor, but Dusk Shine is missing."

“Dusk? The impostor captured Dusk!?” Sunset exclaimed, fearing for the only pony in the whole world who truly cared.

“The letter says nothing more. Surely my sister wrote it in a hurry.” Luna said, just as nervous as Sunset. "The best thing is that we return to the castle, and-" At that moment, Luna fell silent when she saw the street that was in front of her.

Not far from where Luna and Sunset were, Sweet Caramel, Luna's personal maid, was walking. For some reason, the red-mane maid had a lost look, as if she wasn't sure where to go.

"What's wrong?" Sunset asked, not understanding why Luna had stared at her maid so intently.

“Sweet Caramel should be taking care of her sister. She didn't leave her side all night." Luna said with a suspicious look. “What is she doing here alone? She would never be separated from her sister knowing that she was hurt."

Understanding Luna's suspicion, Sunset put on a serious look. Then both of them started to sneak up on Sweet Caramel, thinking that if she was acting strange, perhaps it was because she was somehow related to Dusk's disappearance.

They slowly followed Sweet Caramel through the streets near the castle. Until they reached a small alley where no pony was circulating.

"Enough! We don't have all day." Sunset said suddenly, who was impatient to know Dusk's whereabouts. Then Sunset quickly ran towards Sweet Caramel, and just when she turned around scared hearing footsteps behind her, it was that Sunset pushed her with her magic against the wall and held her tightly.

"What are you doing!?" Sweet Caramel fearfully exclaimed, seeing that Sunset was looking at her with a murderous look while holding her back with her magic. The maid looked up and opened her eyes in surprise when she saw that Luna was also approaching her. "Princess!" The maid added with a mixture of relief and surprise.

"What are you doing here alone, Sweet Caramel?" Luna asked once she got to where Sunset was holding her. She looked sideways with annoyance at Sunset for having acted so abruptly with her maid.

“I… I had to get out of the castle. Everyone is acting weird, especially the guards. It was as if everyone was suspicious of something.” Sweet Caramel said with a confused look.

Luna and Sunset looked at each other subtly and understood that the maid didn't know that all the guards in the castle were so alert to look for the 'imposter' that had attacked the castle. That was because Celestia didn't want everyone in her castle to panic. So the information that an invader who could change its shape had attacked the castle was only privy to the guards and the princesses. As well as Sunset Shimmer, who was informed by Celestia herself.

“You shouldn't be out here. You should be taking care of your sister.” Luna said, looking at her maid with a suspicious look.

“That… That’s not necessary. Sweet Creme woke up this morning and said she felt better. She said that she was afraid of being alone and that she needed to warn the Princess about an attack.” Sweet Caramel answered. For some reason, she looked away with discomfort.

"What's wrong?" Luna asked, noticing immediately that her maid was worried about something.

"I... I don't know how to explain it..." Sweet Caramel answered, trying in vain to hide her concern.

"Trust me." Luna said, reaching out and touching her maid's cheek.

Feeling the touch of her beloved princess, and seeing her look of concern, Sweet Caramel finally stopped trying to appear strong and put on a look of fear, almost on the verge of tears.

“I spent the whole night yesterday guarding the castle infirmary, as I didn't want anyone to disturb my sister. I didn't even let the guards pass, who insisted on waking her up to ask her questions about the invader who attacked her. I didn't get to talk to her until this morning when she woke up." Sweet Caramel said with a confused look. Then she was silent for a few seconds and looked at Luna with teary eyes. “My sister and I have been together forever. And today … She talked like always, looked the same as always, acted the same as always, but the bond of twins that we have always felt with each other…” Again Sweet Caramel fell silent, lowered her head and looked fearfully at Luna. "I know it's crazy, but that mare... She's not my sister!"

At that moment, Luna and Sunset widened their eyes in surprise, understanding perfectly that what Sweet Caramel was saying might not be crazy. And if that was true, it meant that everyone was in more danger than they thought.

"It's not just one..." Luna whispered with terror.

Back in the castle, in the guard barracks, Celestia had stared menacingly at the prisoner, asking it to tell her where Dusk Shine was. Celestia didn't need to use magic. All it took was the knowledge that her beloved pupil was in mortal danger for the Princess of the Sun to erupt in anger and give the Changeling Queen a withering death glare. She looked at the imposter with a murderous look that she had never shown to anyone else, and that made it very clear what Celestia was willing to do in order to save her beloved student.

However, Celestia widened her eyes when she saw something she shouldn't have seen. Chrysalis’s eyes only showed fear for only a second before they went back to display overconfidence.

Celestia knew very well the eyes of that dark creature, born in that well of dark magic. And she knew very well that this being had never experienced fear.

“You… You're not Chrysalis…” Celestia whispered in confusion.

At that precise moment, Celestia felt a sharp pain in her side, like something had stabbed and sank deep into her skin. With a great cry of pain, Celestia fell to the ground

“I told you that one day I would stab you in the back…” Sweet Creme's voice said. The maid was no longer trembling in fear. Now, she was looking at Celestia lying on the ground and smiled evilly while holding a golden dagger.

Looking closely at the dagger, Celestia saw that it was Crystal Lis's necklace. The same thing that she had been looking at minutes ago and that the false Sweet Creme had taken advantage of taking from Celestia's room when she was distracted. She must have used magic to sharpen one of its points. In this way, the former necklace was left in the shape of a dagger, completely bloody.

After seeing what she had been attacked with, Celestia turned around with difficulty, due to the wound on her side, and saw the cruel smile her maid had. However, what scared her the most was seeing that Sweet Creme's eyes had also changed, turning green and bright. That murderous and evil look verified what Celestia failed to discover in time. The one who had attacked her was the mastermind of it all, the true Changeling Queen: Chrysalis.

The fake Sweet Creme used her changeling magic to take off her disguise. Fleeting green flames transformed her almost the same as how the fake Chrysalis had transformed. Only the real Chrysalis was even more imposing and terrifying, with larger wings than her imitation and without any holes in her legs. She was wearing parts of green armor on her hooves and neck and her eyes even brighter yellowish-green and a crown on her head.

Following the transformation of the real Chrysalis, the fake Chrysalis approached her and bowed to her queen. Then the fake Chrysalis stood up, and both changelings looked at Celestia and smirked, glad their plan had worked. The one who smiled more happily was the true Changeling Queen, who enjoyed in ecstasy seeing Celestia hurt in front of her.

"You... You are two?" Celestia whimpered with a face of pain still feeling Chrysalis's stab.

“We’re not two… We are legion!” The real Chrysalis scoffed as the fake one stepped back to give their Queen room. “An entire army ready to take down you and your kingdom with just one order from me.” The Changeling Queen laughed, enjoying savoring Celestia's terror at discovering the truth.

Celestia widened her eyes in terror as she realized that last night's attack wasn’t just a revenge attack against her, but a full-scale invasion to destroy her kingdom. She gritted her teeth against the pain in her side, and quickly used her magic to try to defend herself and attack Chrysalis. However, as soon as she tried, a strange sensation she hadn't felt in centuries made it impossible for her to use her magic.

“Do you recognize this?” Chrysalis said, smiling wickedly seeing that Celestia had tried to use her magic. Then the Changeling Queen showed Celestia some kind of necklace, which looked more like a giant shackle, made entirely of small stones. “It’s made from the rocks of the cave where I was born. I thought to make a throne with the few rocks that were left, but I decided to use them as a weapon against my enemies.” Chrysalis laughed, levitating the necklace and sealing it around Celestia's neck. “I couldn't leave anything to chance. As I told you, I have planned this for centuries, since my birth. Now… I’ll end your kingdom and form my own on the ashes of yours, hahaha!”

“You… why are you doing this!?” Celestia desperately asked, feeling helpless when she saw that the situation was only getting worse and that if she didn't do something, all her beloved ponies would be in danger.

“Why? Simple, it's for love." Chrysalis said, approaching Celestia and caressing her face while smiling cruelly. “I’ll have your love, and your sister's, and your student's, and all those who love you. And I’ll take it by force!”

“Take love by force? What are you talking about!?" Celestia asked in shock. "That obsession with being loved... Does it come from Crystal Lis!?"

“Who knows, the only thing I know is that I was born that way. With an immense thirst for love.” Chrysalis said with a small smirk. “I’ve taught my subjects to feed on different kinds of love. But I’ve always told them that the most delicious love is when that love turns into fear. When ponies discover that they have been deceived by their loved one... That taste... Mmmm! It has no comparison.” The Changeling Queen added, running her tongue over her lips as if she were enjoying a delicious treat.

"Your subjects?" Celestia said, looking over at the fake Chrysalis, who was watching her Queen intently from a few steps behind. "Do you feed on love?"

"Yes, but I'll let you in on a little secret…” Chrysalis replied, leaning closer to Celestia's ear. "I could feed my subjects in other ways, but I prefer love, because it's fun to cheat and steal from ponies, hehe..." At that moment, Chrysalis's mouth opened close to Celestia and absorbed part of the feelings that emanated from her. “Mmmm… Yes… This is worry, right? I guess it’ll be a little snack before absorbing all your love.”

"Where are Sweet Creme and Dusk Shine?" Celestia asked, feeling a slight queasiness as Chrysalis 'ate' some of her emotions spanning from her worry for her student and maid.

“Don't worry, you'll see with your own eyes…” Chrysalis said, staring at Celestia. She used her magic to slowly induce sleep in the alicorn. “In the caves, no one will ever find you… And you… I'll keep you in a cocoon as my personal dessert, hehe…” Chrysalis added, making Celestia fall sound asleep.

Chrysalis used her magic again, only this time, she surrounded Celestia in a circle of green fire, and with a strong flare, the capture mare disappeared from there. Then only Chrysalis and the false Chrysalis remain.

“You have done well, my subject.” Chrysalis said, looking at her impersonator with a serious look. "What's your name?"

“I… I have no name, my Queen. I only exist to serve you.” The false Chrysalis responded with fear. Knowing that this question was a trap since the Queen didn’t care about the names of her soldiers.

"Well said. Now tell me…” Chrysalis said with a kind smile. She approached her subject and then suddenly started strangling them with her hoof. "Why did you transform into an incomplete form of me!?" Chrysalis yelled furiously, seeing that that changeling had chosen to transform into an incomplete form of her, when she still had those holes in her body. “I am the pinnacle of evolution! Are you making fun of me!?” The wounds that Aspen gave her centuries ago, going through her chest had gone down to her legs after continuing to evolve. But those holes in her skin remained for centuries in her body, being able to heal only in recent years when she completed her perfect form.

"I-It's not that, my Queen!" The false Chrysalis responded with difficulty, while being mercilessly choked by the true Changeling Queen. "I didn’t dare to transform into your full form because I could never imitate your perfection, my Queen..."

Hearing that soldier's excuse, Chrysalis kept strangling her for another while. After all, it was just one of her subjects, she didn't care if it died or not. However, the queen's vanity was flattered by the changeling soldier's excuse, causing the queen to finally release it.

As soon as the Changeling Queen released the fake Chrysalis, the impersonator grabbed their neck and gasped for air. Then the fake Chrysalis transformed into their true appearance. Being a smaller changeling, a simple soldier who followed the orders of his Queen. This changeling was the size of a normal pony with hard black skin like a large insect in the shape of a pony. But what most differentiated their Queen's subjects, besides their size, was that they had completely blue eyes without any pupils.

"Enough fooling around." Chrysalis said, using her magic to transform. Only this time, she transformed into an exact copy of Celestia. “There is a wedding we must attend.” The false Celestia added with a sinister smile. As if deep within her fractured soul, a part of her felt ecstatic at finally becoming the magnanimous Princess of the Sun.

Knowing he couldn't risk angering his Queen again, the changeling followed the plan his Queen had already told him, and then it was his turn to transform. This time it was the changeling soldier's turn to transform into a copy of Sweet Creme.

Smiling that her plan was still going perfectly, Chrysalis started walking out of the barracks. Followed a few steps behind by the changeling soldier.

"My... My name is Thorax..." The changeling soldier whispered weakly to himself so the Queen wouldn't hear him. Despite the fact that the Changeling Queen didn’t like her subjects to have names, he, like the vast majority of changelings, did have names in secret. A symbol of individuality that the Changeling Queen would never approve of.

'I could feed my subjects in other ways, but I prefer love, because it's fun to cheat and steal from ponies...' Were the words that Queen Chrysalis had said, and now, for some reason, Thorax couldn't get it out of his head.

“We don’t need to steal love to live? But then… We could…”Thorax thought, before realizing that it was a thought of betrayal. Which made him shake his head to push those thoughts away. “No! What am I thinking at! The Queen is perfect! My only mission in life is to follow her, I’ll never doubt my Queen!” The soldier thought, determined never to doubt the decisions of his perfect Queen. Although that little spark of doubt that had been born that day would only grow with time.

End of chapter 18

Author's Notes:

>>Chapter 18 References<<

-Canon references:

'Starswirl the bearded and Mage Meadowbrook' Two of the pillars of Equestria. Appearing in the TV show from 'Season 7'

'The alicorn potion to see the past' used by Twilight in the TV show 'Episodes 1 and 2, Season 4'

'The golden necklace with the acorn' It's used by Celestia to transform, in the official comic 'MLP, Friendship is Magic #65'

'The symbol of the acorn, associated with changelings. In addition to the dark well, from where Chrysalis was born, it's part of the official comic 'MLP, FIENDship is Magic #5'

'Crown of King Orion, worn by Chrysalis. And the sparkly-eyed pegasi', are also part of the official comic 'MLP, FIENDship is Magic #5'

'Mimicker, shape-shifting creature' appears in the official comic 'MLP, Microseries #7'

'The Deer King Aspen' appears in the official comic 'MLP, Friendship is Magic #27-28'

'Thorax, the changeling' TV show character from 'Season 6'

-Story references:

'The mention of Crystal, Celestia's student' is fleetingly mentioned to Crystal in Celestia's past, in 'Chapter 14, Season 2'

'The mention that the Lis family is an ancient noble family' is mentioned in the books that Sunset reads, in 'Chapter 6, Season 2'

'The golden necklace with the acorn' used by Celestia to transform, in 'Chapter 7, Season 2'.

'The alicorn potion to see the past' used by Dusk, in 'Chapter 14, Season 2'.

'The Deer King Aspen and his past with Celestia' are also part of 'Chapter 14, Season 2'.

'The Great Taboo' not yet explained in detail, first mentioned in 'Chapter 19, Season 1'.

‘And another very important reference, which I'll not mention. Since it seems like it's been overlooked by most, and I'll mention it much later bwahaha! xD'

----------------------

& as always, many thanks to 'Scribe of the Nightwings' for his great help

Chapter 19 - At the altar

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At the altar

Celestia walked the halls of the castle alongside her loyal maid, Sweet Creme. Or at least, that was what everyone saw when passing by. In reality, those who walked through the corridors without arousing any suspicion were Queen Chrysalis along with one of her changing soldiers. Both had managed to deceive the Princess of the Sun, captured her without anyone noticing, and had supplanted her, to carry out the last step before their expected invasion.

As she walked, the false Celestia was delighted to see how all the ponies looked at her with admiration and bowed to her. Chrysalis was a queen, and she had hundreds of changelings bowing before her, but the knowledge that an entire kingdom now stood at the tip of her hoof, and that every naive pony in the kingdom trusted her completely, it was something that excited her in a great way. Almost to the point of making it difficult to contain her laughter.

The time of the big wedding was about to arrive, so the corridors were full of dozens of ponies that began to make their way to the main hall of the castle. With each greeting a pony made, Chrysalis would pause briefly and greet them with a friendly smile. Despite the fact that for the Changeling Queen all those ponies were just a source of food, she perfectly maintained Celestia's facade so that no one suspected anything until the time was right.

Chrysalis paid special attention to the greetings she received from foreign dignitaries. Beings from other races, from distant regions, who thought they were greeting the unique and magnificent Princess of the Sun, when in fact they were greeting a dark Queen who only thought of lies and power.

“Thank you very much for inviting us to this wedding, Princess Celestia.” A huge parrot-like bird said, a dignitary from the distant country of Ornithia. “We are glad that you want to meet with us, so that our kingdoms can enter into new trade alliances.”

"The pleasure is all mine." The false Celestia answered with a kind smile. "I hope that from today, our kingdoms can be more united than ever."

"New kingdoms, more love to steal, hehe…" Chrysalis thought as she put a fake smile on Celestia's face, already savoring all the love she would steal as she expanded her empire.

After greeting each of the dignitaries, Chrysalis and Thorax maintained their facade and continued on their way to the bride's room. Where Cadance must have been receiving the last adjustments to her dress before going up to the altar.

Once they entered the room, the fake Celestia and Sweet Creme saw that the Princess of Love was standing at the end of the room in front of a mirror. Next to her, a dozen mares ran around her, from one side to the other, checking that her dress was perfect, as was her makeup, and all of her, so that Cadance would be perfect on the most important day of her life. Cadance kept a worried look as she stared into nothingness despite all the commotion.

Spike and his five friends from Ponyville were also there, oblivious to all of the excitement. After Applejack joined them, they had gone to the room where the wedding dress was after Princess Celestia had told them to stay safe. There, Cadance soon arrived with her assistants, and while she was putting on her dress, Dusk's friends told her everything that had happened with the false Dusk. Now, after being afraid for a long time, they all jumped when they saw Celestia appear, going straight to her so she could tell them what she found out about Dusk's whereabouts.

"I'm afraid we still don't know where Dusk Shine is, but we’re still looking." Chrysalis said, looking with a false look of concern at Dusk's friends. At that moment, Chrysalis was distracted to see that the baby dragon that accompanied the mares kept in a corner of the room. His eyes were closed, as if he had a strong migraine, and repeating Dusk's name over and over again. "What's wrong with Spike?" The fake Celestia asked, looking puzzled at the little dragon.

"I'm... Trying to call Dusk... LISTEN TO ME, DUSK!" Spike responded with an effortful face, shouting Dusk's name again, while launching a small flare of green fire.

"Are you calling Dusk?" Chrysalis asked.

"Yeah... A while ago, when Discord appeared, Sunset Shimmer used a spell to put Dusk to sleep. That time, before Dusk forgot about Sunset, he told me that I was the one who woke him up. Somehow he heard my cry for help, when Sunset was bothering our friends." Spike replied, looking worriedly at the fake Celestia. "I know it sounds silly, but maybe we… have some special sibling bond. If I say his name many times, maybe Dusk can hear my voice again."

The false Celestia approached the baby dragon and tenderly stroked his head.

"Keep trying Spike. I'm sure your bond with Dusk is special." The false Celestia said with a tender smile.

"Try all you want, little gecko. Do you think that love will give you a special bond with your adopted brother? Hahaha!" Chrysalis sneered cruelly in her mind while perfectly maintaining Celestia's friendly facade. "You have no magic, lizard. A being without magic must simply accept that it’s scum, nothing more." Chrysalis thought, vaguely remembering one of her past lives, when Crystal had begged Celestia to teach her magic. A pathetic creature that only served a greater purpose, to create her. The one and only perfect Changeling Queen.

Chrysalis looked at the rest of the ponies in the room and briefly narrowed her eyes in annoyance. Apart from Dusk's friends, none of the other mares in the room paid attention to 'Celestia'. All the other mares were only focused on Cadance and making sure she was the spitting image of the perfect bride.

"I'm impersonating Celestia. They should be looking at me. All their love should be for me!" Chrysalis thought, full of jealousy and fury.

"It's almost time, Cadance. Everyone is already in the great hall, and Shining Armor must be nervous, waiting for you at the altar." The false Celestia smiled and approached where Cadance and her assistants were.

"Auntie Celestia!? When did you arrive?" Cadance asked in shock. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't even noticed when her aunt entered the room. "I… I don't know if we should go through with the wedding…" Cadance added, lowering her head with a worried look.

"Don't worry, it's just the nerves about the wedding, that's all." The fake Celestia said, approaching Cadance and smiling sweetly at her.

"It's not that. Dusk's friends told me what happened." Cadance said with a frightened look. "With him lost... I don't think it's right to go ahead with the wedding."

"Dear Cadance. You know how important this wedding is to everyone. Not just for you and Shining Armor, but for the entire kingdom." The fake Celestia said with a look of concern. "For the first time we have foreign guests in our castle. We’re opening the doors of Equestria to the world. We can't cancel everything and just say go away. I know it’s a great burden, but it’s the duty of a princess."

"You... do you really think it's the right thing to do?" Cadance asked, looking uncertainly at who she thought was her Auntie Celestia, the most trusted pony in the world.

"Of course. Trust me." The false Celestia said, smiling tenderly. Internally, Chrysalis could barely contain a mocking laugh. "I promise you this will be a wedding everyone will remember."

After listening to who she thought was her dear aunt, Cadance calmed down a bit. However, feeling an unpleasant taste in her mouth, Chrysalis turned her head to see Dusk's friends. The Changeling Queen could feel how the baby dragon and those five mares were taken aback by her response.

"I think it's best for all of you to go get your dresses as well." The false Celestia said, looking at Dusk's friends. "I promise you that very soon you’ll meet with Dusk." She added, promising something that she really intended to fulfill, but not in the way the mares thought.

Dusk's friends and Cadance's assistants left the room. As soon as everyone left and taking advantage of the fact that Cadance had her back turned, the false Celestia put on a sinister smile.

"Everyone trusts every word I say, and they shouldn't have any reason to think otherwise. After all, I am now Celestia, the pony who has taken care of them for centuries." Chrysalis thought, smiling evilly. "It's exhausting to smile and act nice all the time, but it's well worth it, hehe... The taste of love is more enjoyable when you see that the one who stabbed you in the back is a being you always trusted, hahaha!" The Changeling Queen thought as she looked at Cadance. She wanted the climax of her long-awaited plan to arrive as soon as possible.

Once they left the room, Spike and the girls began to walk down the hall to the room where they had kept their dresses. Despite following what 'Celestia' had told them, Spike and the girls walked with uneasy looks.

"Don't you think the Princess was acting weird?" Rainbow Dash asked with a worried look. "A few minutes ago, when we told her that the impostor had pretended to be Dusk, she said that she promised to find Dusk. And now she comes here without Dusk? And she says that everything is fine and not to worry?"

"I know." Fluttershy replied with the same concerned look. "What she said about this wedding being important is true. But I don't think that's more important than- Ouch!" Fluttershy suddenly stopped talking as she rounded a corner and bumped into someone.

The yellow pegasus crashed into one of the foreign wedding guests, a huge cat in a red suit. Upon colliding, both fell to the floor and several bits, which seemed to fill the pockets of that feline creature, fell on the floor.

"Oh! I’m sorry. Really, really sorry." That huge cat said quickly. He got up to help Fluttershy up. Although subtly he didn’t stop looking at all the gold coins he had dropped.

"I'm sorry, it was my fault. I was distracted." Fluttershy apologized with a shy smile. Although the cat seemed not to care. He barely helped the mare and immediately began to quickly pick up the bits on the floor.

"Let me help you." Fluttershy said, also bending down to pick up the money. Same gesture that Spike and the other mares did. All except Applejack, who just stared at the cat with one eyebrow raised.

As soon as the mares bent down to pick up the money, the hair on the back of the cat's neck stood up, and he looked suspiciously at the ponies. However, his gaze radically changed to surprise when he saw that those mares were actually only helping him. After collecting the coins, they returned them to him.

"Here you are, sir..." Rarity said, giving him the collected coins.

"Capper, at your service." The huge brown cat answered with a deep bow. He opened one of his pockets for the ponies to drop the coins into it. "It was a pleasure." The cat added, after verifying that he had every last coin he had dropped and started to walk quickly.

"Aren't you going to the wedding, Mr. Capper? The main hall is on the other side." Pinkie Pie asked, seeing that the cat was going in the opposite direction to where he should go.

"Uh… No, sorry. My diplomatic duties call me. I’ll have to be absent from the wedding." Capper said, stopping and putting on a nervous smile. Then he started to continue on his way, but for some reason he stopped and looked at the mares that had helped him. "Perhaps... You should get out of here too..." The cat whispered with a weak voice.

"Uh? What did you say?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"N-Nothing! See you later, dear ponies! And thanks." The cat added with a nervous smile. He turned around and walked quickly down the hall.

Losing sight of Capper, the mares looked at each other, not having heard what the cat whispered and continued on their way. They couldn't waste any more time. The wedding was only minutes away and they weren't even dressed yet.

"I don't think that cat was a diplomat." Applejack said to Rarity as she walked.

"Of course not. He was a thief." Rarity answered without looking at her friend, as if what she said was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You knew!?" Applejack asked in shock.

"Well, you just needed to see his suit. It was very cheap cloth." Rarity replied with a shrug. "And when the coins fell, I think it was logical to come to that conclusion."

"How can you say that? You saw that cat and his companion in the queue at the entrance to the castle, and you said you liked their outfits." Applejack asked.

"Well, yes. I said that their outfits were very original. I was struck by how well put together their wardrobe was, using only low-budget fabric." Rarity said with a thoughtful look.

"But if you knew they were thieves, why did you help that cat to rob the castle!?" Applejack whispered loudly.

"Applejack, we don't know what the situation is like in other kingdoms. Perhaps they were really in need of money." Rarity said with a charitable smile. "When we find Dusk and this whole wedding is over, I'll pay for the bits they stole myself." The unicorn added. Applejack finally understood that her friend had let the thief steal, as it was impossible for her to deny her generous soul.

As the mares walked, another one who managed to hear what Applejack and Rarity were talking about was Capper the cat himself. He had simply pretended to go in another direction and then, when the mares turned their backs on him, he secretly followed them since he also had to go in that direction.

Just as the mares rounded another corner, Capper was left waiting behind. Then, just as they had planned, his cat companion came out of another room, their pockets also full of bits.

"The security inside the castle is horrible. It seems like all the guards are outside, like they're expecting an invasion or something." Capper's partner said, a cat with white fur and black stripes. "Intercepting those invitations and pretending we were Earls of Abbysinia was a great idea!" He added while playing with a valuable pearl necklace in his paw.

"Yeah, I know. But it's time to go. I have a feeling that something very bad is about to happen." Capper said with a confused look.

"Well, always follow your hunches, and I can’t fit any more jewelry in my pockets anyway." The white cat joked and started to walk towards the exit. "Let's go!" He added, seeing that Capper, despite saying that they should leave, remained motionless.

"I wonder if I should warn them…" Capper whispered worriedly, remembering how kind those five ponies had been, and how, despite finding out he was a thief, they let him go with the loot. "What am I thinking!? They… They’re not my problem!" Capper finally said, shaking his head to ward off such feelings. Friendship may be the norm for Equestria, but outside of the kingdom, it was every creature for themselves.

Capper discarded the idea of alerting those mares, thinking that the best thing was to get out of the kingdom soon before his heart began to be infected by that annoying 'friendship' that all the ponies there felt. Then he ran to where his partner was and they both began to run towards the castle's exit.

"By the way, what warning did you want to give to whom? And what is that bad feeling you feel?" The white cat asked as he ran.

At that moment, Capper remembered a few minutes ago when 'Celestia' had appeared down the hall, greeting all the foreign dignitaries heading towards the main hall.

"It's just... a good swindler knows how to recognize another..." Capper replied as he fled with his partner. Ready to return to their lands with pockets full of the gold and jewels of Equestria.

After her consciousness faded to black, the real Celestia finally began to wake up. She slowly raised her head and tried to remember what had happened. She tried to get up, but the pain in her side prevented her from doing so. Only then did Celestia remember the wound Chrysalis gave her with the dagger. Then she touched her neck and felt the necklace of stones that Chrysalis herself had put on her, so that she couldn't use magic.

"How long was I asleep?" Celestia thought, trying to snap out of her daze so she could warn everyone of the danger they were in.

With much effort, Celestia got up and looked around her. Everything was very dark, and as much as she tried to illuminate her horn, the necklace that Chrysalis had put on her prevented her from using her magic. However, after her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Celestia saw that she seemed to be in some kind of cavern with glowing walls and various crystals all over the place.

"It's the old Canterlot mine…" Celestia whispered when she finally recognized where she was.

The cave was a very old abandoned mine that existed even before the founding of Canterlot. Many unicorns had dug for magical gems and crystals that were so rare and valuable due to their unique magical properties. With those valuable crystals, many unicorn families became rich and built their fortune until they became part of the noble families of the kingdom. However, after the crystals ran out, the mine was abandoned and that place was forgotten until the alicorn sisters built their castle on top of those mines. This place was so old that Celestia quickly understood why Chrysalis had chosen it as her prison. No one would ever know that she was in that forgotten mine.

As she looked around, a faint green glow caught Celestia's attention. The alicorn walked slowly and silently in that direction. Her side was still burning with pain, but she trudged on regardless.

After verifying that everything was silent and that there was no one nearby, Celestia approached the source of the green light and her eyes widened in horror at what they saw. There were several dozen large greenish cocoons, all of them emitting a faint green light. And in each of those cocoons, there was an unconscious pony floating inside.

Celestia slowly approached the cocoons and recognized several ponies. One of her chefs, her gardener, at least five of her guards, and several ponies invited to the wedding. With that, Celestia was finally able to understand the extent of Chrysalis's invasion. The Changeling Queen must have captured all those ponies long before the wedding, all so that her changeling soldiers could supplant those captured ponies. And by disguising some of her soldiers as royal guards, Chrysalis had ensured that the magical control her guards had was useless. Since the only thing that the changeling soldiers had to do to evade the control was to pretend that they were carrying out the inspection with one of the fake guards in disguise.

"It's quite an army..." Celestia whispered in shock.

Suddenly Celestia stopped when she saw that in one of the cocoons, was her beloved maid Sweet Creme. She must have been captured the night before and supplanted by the Changeling Queen herself. Celestia tried to break the cocoon with her horn, but it seemed that they were very resistant and she would need magic to break them.

After giving up as she couldn't break Sweet Creme's cocoon, Celestia kept going on silently, promising that she would be back for her and the rest of these ponies.

"Why didn't I wake up in a cocoon? Shouldn't there be someone keeping an eye on all of this?" Celestia thought worriedly about the possibility of an attack from a changeling soldier.

Moving forward, Celestia saw that on the floor there were several circles drawn on the ground with diagrams inside. Arcane circles used to transport things from one place to another. This surprised Celestia, since she thought that thanks to those magic circles, Chrysalis had managed to teleport all those captured ponies there. But those magic circles must have disappeared after being used once, there was no point in them still being marked after being used. Then Celestia saw that at the tips of the circle diagrams were several small crystals. The changelings had used the leftovers from the same mine to reinforce the arcane circles so that the magic circles wouldn't wear off so easily after using them more than once.

"They’re very clever... They’re using everything against us. That way they can keep capturing multiple ponies without having to carry them all the way here and thereby keeping their invasion a secret."Celestia realized that this invasion that her kingdom was suffering was planned down to the smallest detail.

Celestia suddenly froze at the sight of something lying on the ground. And after verifying for a few seconds that what she had seen wasn’t moving, Celestia lowered her gaze and approached to take a closer look at what was on the ground. There, was a mix of pony and bug, with fur very much like Chrysalis's. This was an unconscious changeling soldier. And next to it were three other changelings that were also unconscious. All facing a cocoon that seemed to have been opened from within. As she got closer, Celestia saw that some hoofprints of the viscous liquid that filled the cocoons, left the cocoon, and were lost in the distance.

"Dusk Shine..." Celestia whispered in surprise and with a look of hope. Her student was the only one she hadn't seen captured in a cocoon and that he was skilled enough to have knocked out four changeling soldiers to make his escape.

Celestia was suddenly startled and turned around hearing a noise and seeing a green glow behind her. Upon doing so, Celestia was surprised to see that the changelings had teleported another pony to encase it in a cocoon. Then her eyes went wide with shock.

'Flashback of Dusk Shine.'

The night before the wedding, Dusk was spending a quiet night in the Ponyville library. Knowing that the next day would be a very important day, Dusk had taken out his list to check that everything was in order and that he hadn't forgotten anything before traveling to Canterlot the next morning. At that time of the night, he had already finished his preparations and was posing in front of the mirror with his suit for the wedding. Not out of vanity, but rather to make sure he knew his best pose for a photo since he knew that a princess's wedding, especially Cadance's, had to be perfect.

'Knock-Knock' Dusk was distracted when he heard someone knocking on the door. He opened it and was surprised to see his marefriend there with a sweet smile.

"Applejack? Isn't it too late for a visit?" Dusk asked, a little confused.

"Yeah, I know. It's just... I wanted to see you." Applejack replied with a tender smile. "Also, there is something I would like to show you."

At his marefriend's request, Dusk raised an eyebrow a little incredulously since it was too late for a night walk. However, seeing Applejack's tender look, Dusk couldn't refuse and accompanied her. At the request of Applejack herself, Dusk kept his wedding suit on blushed when his marefriend told him that he looked very handsome in it.

As they walked, Dusk took the opportunity to ask Applejack about the meeting with Grand Pear and how their relationship was going after so many years apart. Applejack simply replied that everything was fine, and for some reason, she kept asking Dusk several questions about his past with his brother.

"So one of the happiest memories you have with Shining is when you were both young and you two baked cookies with your grandma. That's so sweet!" Applejack smiled from the happy memory.

"Yeah, we weren’t always so distant from each other. Ever since Shining entered guard school, his attitude changed." Dusk said with a sad smile.

"And you’ve hated him ever since?" Applejack asked, looking carefully at Dusk.

Dusk stopped and looked away uncomfortably.

"I don't know if I would say I hate him. Although maybe he does hate me..." Dusk said, reflecting on his feelings towards his brother. He shook his head and looked at Applejack. "And what’s with this sudden interest in my brother and my childhood?"

"It's just simple curiosity. I want to know everything about you before I meet your parents.” Applejack answered.

Despite Dusk's confusion, he continued talking about his past and his brother, understanding that perhaps all those questions were due to his marefriend being nervous about being introduced in front of her in-laws. They continued walking in the stillness of the night, heading to the edge of the Everfree forest.

"Applejack, we should go back. It’s dangerous to enter the Everfree Forest at night." Dusk said, looking concerned at where his marefriend was taking him.

"Trust me. It's a surprise." Applejack said, affectionately taking a hoof from Dusk and looking him straight in the eye. Those beautiful eyes that had never lied to him and in which Dusk blindly trusted.

Dusk put aside his insecurities and entered the dark Everfree Forest with his marefriend. After walking for a while, Dusk began to hear some noises around him, so he immediately became alert and stopped.

"Applejack, take my hoof. I think we should get out of here… Applejack?" Dusk said, looking to his side, and got scared when he saw that his marefriend was no longer by his side. "Applejack!?" Dusk yelled. He knew that it was a horrible idea to scream in that dangerous forest, but he needed to find his marefriend soon and get out of there.

Suddenly, a green flame appeared out of nowhere and attacked Dusk from the side. Fortunately, the lavender unicorn was already on alert and with his magic he was able to protect himself from that surprise attack.

"Who's there!?" Dusk shouted, pointing his magic-charged horn in the direction from which someone had attacked him.

"As skillful as I expected. That's why I couldn't risk it, and it was necessary for me to come in person to face you." A voice suddenly said from the shadows.

The shadow of a pony approached Dusk, where he kept lighting up his surroundings with his horn. Then Dusk was surprised to see Celestia's personal maid, Sweet Crème staring at him with an evil grin and a green gleam in her eyes.

"Sweet Creme?" Dusk asked, staring at the maid. "No..." Dusk whispered, quickly understanding that it was too strange that Celestia's maid was there and had attacked him with that green fire.

Seeing that Dusk quickly understood that what he was seeing was just a disguise, the false Sweet Creme smiled mischievously and used her changeling magic to show her true form. The green flames surrounded her body and the Changeling Queen Chrysalis appeared before Dusk's surprised eyes.

"One point for discovering my disguise." Chrysalis said, smiling amusedly as she toyed with a crystal on her hoof. "I had been in that disguise for hours pretending to be unconscious in the castle infirmary. I wanted so much to return to my true form. Although soon I’ll have to disguise again to continue with my defenseless and scared maid act." Chrysalis added, as she stretched her neck and took advantage of those seconds of freedom to move with her true form.

For his part, Dusk's brain was filled with questions. Not understanding 'What' was what was before him. Was it some kind of insect pony? How was it that she had transformed her appearance so easily? What kind of magic was she using? Why had she attacked him? And why was she talking now as if she didn't feel threatened by him? However, there was something that powerfully caught Dusk's attention and made to one question the one that worried him the most at that moment.

"Did she mention she was in the castle infirmary? Canterlot Castle was attacked!? Will the Princesses be alright!? But… If 'that thing' was in the castle, how did she get here?" Dusk thought with confusion and fear. His cunning brain saw the crystal in the Changeling Queen's hooves and understood. "It's a magic crystal. If she used an arcane circle with magic crystals, she could have transported here easily, and she can come back whenever she wants. But... That means..." Dusk thought, reaching a conclusion that scared him even more.

"Who are you?" Dusk asked, feeling a chill. He asked that to start clearing up some doubts, but also to save time. Since his instinct and his eyes began to feel something that put his entire body on high alert.

Most unicorns never saw dark magic ever in their lives. However, Dusk had already experienced several encounters with that sinister type of magic, in his encounters with Nightmare Moon and the curse he recited at the Tree of Harmony. It was especially that last experience, in which his own body and soul were surrounded by dark magic, that made Dusk's eyes quickly recognize the subtleties in the dark magic that surrounded the sinister creature.

"The aura emitted from this creature resembles that of the roots that suffocated the Tree of Harmony. But the crown she’s wearing is different. The dark aura surrounding it… It's more like the one that surrounded Nightmare Moon." Dusk thought, while his eyes were gaining that peculiar ability to recognize dark magic. For some reason, his heart accelerated when he focused on that cursed crown. "What is this feeling!?"

"My name is Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen, and future ruler of Equestria." Chrysalis answered, feigning kindness as she calmly approached Dusk.

"What do you want with me?" Dusk answered firmly in his voice. However, he took a few steps back, to keep the distance between himself and the so-called 'Changeling Queen'.

"What do I want from you? Very simple, to use you for my purposes." Chrysalis answered with a calm. "I’ll use you to get closer to my enemies and to remove some annoying obstacles from the path."

"Use me?" Dusk asked, narrowing his eyes harshly. His horn lit up more in a show of force. "Try it if you dare." Dusk added with determination.

It was the queen's turn to use her magic. However, instead of attacking Dusk, she simply used telekinesis to float something to her. An orange mare that was surrounded by green magic.

"Applejack!" Dusk shouted, seeing that the Changeling Queen had captured the orange mare.

"Dusk! Please, help me!" Applejack said in a weak voice as if her throat was being squeezed by Chrysalis's magic. "I'm scared... Save me."

"Let her go!" Dusk yelled.

"But of course." Chrysalis said smiling wickedly. "Only if you bring before me the Elements of Harmony."

At the request of the Changeling Queen, Dusk widened his eyes in horror. It seemed that this creature knew very well the power that the Elements of Harmony had and wanted to appropriate that power. It was then that Dusk understood how meticulous that creature was being. Not only did she intend to attack Canterlot Castle, but she also wanted to make sure that no one could use those powerful magical items against her.

"Hurry up, I don't have all night." Chrysalis added. At the same time, she concentrated her magic around Applejack and she cried out in pain.

"Alright! I’ll do it!" Dusk cried out in desperation. Then he shone his horn, and in an instant, a chest appeared in front of him. He opened the chest with his magic and dropped the necklaces and the crown with the gems of the six Elements of Harmony on the ground. "There. Now let her go!"

After seeing that Dusk effectively made the Elements of Harmony appear, noticing the soft magical aura they emitted, Chrysalis smiled victoriously and removed her magic from Applejack. She fell to the ground and held her throat. Then Applejack hurried to go to where Dusk was.

"Are you okay?" Dusk asked, glancing at Applejack with a look of concern, then back to Chrysalis seriously.

"Yeah... Thanks." Applejack replied, holding her sore neck.

"Not at all." Dusk said without looking at the mare. "Now that I saved you, could you do me a favor and stop imitating my marefriend?"

At that moment, 'Applejack' opened her eyes in surprise. Everything had gone according to plan, everything except that part, in which apparently Dusk had discovered that she wasn't the real Applejack. That took the changeling soldier completely by surprise.

"W-What are you talking about?" The fake Applejack asked, getting genuinely flustered.

"Chrysalis came here from the castle teleporting through an arcane circle. It means someone must have drawn the finish circle here." Dusk answered, looking at Chrysalis. Then he glanced at the fake Applejack and smiled proudly. "Also, my marefriend is a warrior. She would never have begged me to save her if it meant putting others at risk."

"But… if he knew I wasn't the real Applejack, why did he help me?" Thorax thought, the changeling soldier who had imitated Dusk's marefriend. "Did he think the Queen was really strangling me?" Thorax thought, touching his sore throat. His Queen had told him that she wouldn’t have actually hurt him, but a little while longer and his vision would have gone complete black.

Seeing that his facade had been exposed, the false Applejack surrounded herself with green fire, showing his true appearance to Dusk, that of a changeling soldier who was there to deceive and capture him. Then Thorax gave a high-pitched shriek, and two more changeling soldiers leapt out of the shadows. They pounced on Dusk and immediately filled his horn with slime. A green and viscous slime that temporarily blocked Dusk's magic.

While he was being crushed by the two changing soldiers, the lavender colt watched as Queen Chrysalis approached the Elements of Harmony. She reached out one of her hooves to take them. However, as soon as she did, the Elements of Harmony reacted violently and shot out magical bolts and energy that made her pulled away her hoof as if it were fire.

Dusk smiled victoriously from under the changelings. "I thought that would happen. Nightmare Moon was also unable to touch the Elements. I guess they have some kind of ancient protection, so I dropped them on the ground."

Chrysalis looked at the colt with a violent gaze, as if she was imagining skinning him alive. However, after a few seconds, she smiled sinisterly again. "I didn't intend to use them. I just wanted to get them out of the way."

Then the Changeling Queen approached the Elements of Harmony again and opened her mouth above them. The same viscous green liquid that the changeling soldiers had used to soak Dusk's horn and block his magic shot from her mouth to make a small cocoon around the Elements of Harmony, covering them completely.

"Nothing will be left to chance. I've been planning this for centuries, and everything has to be perfect." Chrysalis said, smiling evilly after finishing sealing the Elements of Harmony. Then she approached Dusk, staring at him face to face, and began to use her magic to hypnotize him and make him fall asleep. "Sleep well, Dusk Shine. When you wake up, your beloved Equestria will be very, very different from what you remember, hehehe."

As his world faded and his eyes closed, the last thing Dusk saw was the changeling soldier who had disguised himself as Applejack approaching Chrysalis. He used his magic and transformed into an exact copy of Dusk Shine. After that, the real Dusk fell sound asleep, without even imagining that while he slept, an impostor was imitating him, deceiving his friends and his brother to infiltrate the royal palace.

"Dusk! Dusk!!" Dusk's mind slowly came out of the trance he had fallen into hours ago. Spike's voice began to be heard over and over again around him. This finally made the colt’s eyes shoot wide open.

The first thing Dusk saw when he woke up was a strange green mist around him. It was after a few seconds that he understood that what surrounded him was not fog, but rather something very similar to the green and viscous slime that the creatures that had attacked him used to enclose the Elements of Harmony.

"Am I in a giant cocoon?" Dusk thought. He looked around and noticed that it was difficult for him to move his body.

Dusk stopped struggling when he noticed that two shadows passed in front of him. He narrowed his eyes and saw that two of those creatures called changelings were passing in front of his cocoon. Both walking upside down, carrying another huge green cocoon. It was only at that moment that Dusk realized that it wasn't that the changelings were walking upside down, but he himself who was hanging upside down in his own green cocoon.

When the changelings were farther away from him, Dusk concentrated and felt that his horn was released. It seemed that the slime that the changelings had used on his horn had dissolved when they encased him in his cocoon, or perhaps they had removed it themselves since he was already knocked out.

"What time is it? What day is it!? That trance they put me into was very powerful." Dusk thought as he remembered everything that happened. "If it hadn't been for Spike, I might never have woken up."

Dusk activated his magic broke his cocoon from the inside. He fell to the ground and got up quickly.

As soon as the changeling soldiers heard a noise, they turned back, only to see to their surprise that one of their victims had freed itself.

"Well, now I'm the one with the advantage." Dusk thought quickly, taking advantage of the surprise of the changeling soldiers to make the first attack.

Dusk quickly used his magic to launch magical rays at both changelings, hitting them directly. Stunning them and causing them to fall unconscious. Just two seconds later, two other changeling soldiers who had also heard the uproar jumped up and pounced on Dusk. However, he managed to teleport away before the changelings fell on him. As soon as Dusk reappeared behind the changelings, he used his stun ray again to knock the both of them unconscious.

Dusk remained motionless and on alert, looking around, not knowing if someone else would attack him. After several seconds in complete silence and with his body in maximum tension, Dusk finally relaxed a bit when he saw that no one else was approaching. He approached the unconscious changelings and looked at them carefully. H touched their skins, seeing that more than skin, their bodies were reinforced with a kind of hard chitin, like the exoskeleton of an insect.

After taking a closer look at the body of his enemies, Dusk noticed a greenish glow coming from behind what had been his cocoon. Dusk used a sleep spell on the changelings, to make sure they didn't wake up for many hours, and then he approached the area that emanated that dim green light. Upon doing so, Dusk opened his eyes in horror when he saw that that brightness came from several dozen cocoons, all hidden in that cave in which they were. And each one of those cocoons contained a pony within it, completely asleep in a deep trance.

"I must tell the Princesses and the others as soon as possible." Dusk whispered when he realized the full danger the kingdom was in.

Dusk looked around and risked shining his horn to see better and thus try to recognize where he was. He verified that he was in a huge cave, surrounded by several crystalline walls and large pieces of crystal everywhere. With this data, Dusk immediately realized that he was nowhere he had been before. This place was unknown to the vast majority of Canterlot's ponies, except for a few bookworms who had read all the Canterlot books and remembered every detail read by heart.

"History of Canterlot, Volume One... These must be the old crystal mines on which the capital was founded..." Dusk whispered, discovering where he was. However, far from being happy, he was even more discouraged when he discovered that. "The entrances to the mines were blocked centuries ago… How am I supposed to get out of here?"

Dusk's best spell, teleportation, was closed as an escape option, since Dusk didn't know exactly how deep the mines were in Canterlot. And without knowing the exact point from where he was, and how far he needed to go, the teleportation spell was useless.

As he walked looking up at the ceiling, thinking of a way to escape, Dusk was distracted when his hooves collided with something. He looked down and saw some magic crystals surrounding the drawing of a magic circle on the ground.

"I was right, the changelings used arcane circles powered by magic crystals to teleport me and all these ponies here..." Dusk thought with a pensive look while his hoof touched the circle.

Having confirmed his theory, Dusk's next option was to think about using the magic circle to escape from the cave. However, that had the same problem as using his teleportation spell. Without a point of reference to go to, Dusk couldn't calculate how far he had to move.

"There is another magic circle in the Everfree Forest, which the Changeling Queen came to attack me with. But even if the changelings didn't erase it, if I appear there, it’ll take me too long to get to Canterlot to prevent their attack..." Dusk thought, wishing with all his being that it wasn't too late to avoid the changelings' attack. "There must be another way! Think!"

'End of flashback.'

Back in the present, far from the ancient crystal mines of Canterlot, Sunset Shimmer and Luna had run back to the castle. After talking to Sweet Caramel and discovering that there could be more than one impostor hanging around the castle, they both needed to inform Celestia and the castle's royal guard as soon as possible.

"Let's split up. You look for my sister and I’ll report to Shining Armor what we found out." Luna said after she and Sunset entered the castle. "If you see Sweet Creme, don't do anything until we meet. If she is also an impostor, we must exercise caution."

After that, Luna went to the main hall looking for Shining Armor. Sunset went to Celestia's room. There, a guard informed her that Princess Celestia had left her room to meet Shining Armor at the guard's headquarters.

Seeing that Luna would surely meet Celestia since she must be together with Shining Armor, Sunset's priorities immediately changed. The only thing that mattered to Sunset was knowing where Dusk Shine was and that he was safe. The only clue she had was that Sweet Creme could be an impostor, and she could know the whereabouts of the colt she loved so much.

"I have to catch a rat." Sunset whispered with a fierce look. She then headed towards the second impostor's last known whereabouts: the castle infirmary.

Quickly Sunset went to the palace infirmary. It was a small room away from the main halls, used only occasionally when a guard was injured in routine training, or for an occasional stomach ache or other minor ailment from one of the palace servants. Once there, Sunset was disappointed to see that no one was there. However, she decided to inspect the place well before leaving to make sure the Sweet Creme impostor wasn't hiding there.

It was in that search that at one point Sunset got distracted and looked intently at the floor next to the medical care bed. After a couple of seconds, Sunset lit up her horn, and the floor under her hooves reacted. Shining and revealing the drawing of a magic circle, on the edges of which were some magic crystals.

"Did someone use magic to hide an arcane circle?" Sunset thought, looking thoughtfully at the magic circle. However, her train of thought stopped when suddenly the magic circle shone,and a big flash blinded her. An impact force followed that pushed her away.

"Yes! I knew it would work!" Dusk Shine suddenly said happily as he appeared from the teleportation circle.

While Dusk had been trapped in the old Canterlot mines, he was able to remember his conversation with Queen Chrysalis. Thus, he remembered that she had said that she had spent hours in disguise in the castle infirmary. Knowing that, Dusk took a risk, and using the infirmary as a point of reference, Dusk was able to activate the arcane circle and teleport there.

After looking around, Dusk smiled as he recognized the castle's infirmary. However, he was startled to see that with the momentum of his magic, he had pushed someone there into the wall, and various medical supplies. A mare with yellow fur and red and yellow mane, a mane which completely covered her face.

"Sorry, I couldn't have known someone was here." Dusk said with worry and approach the mare. "Are you okay?" He asked, offering the mare a hoof to help her up.

After the surprise blow, Sunset was quite stunned. However, she was quickly regaining her senses and instantly recognized the voice of the pony who was speaking to her. Sunset quickly brushed her mane away from her face and stared at Dusk with a look of astonishment. For his part, after Sunset parted her hair to reveal her face, Dusk stared at her with the same surprised expression.

"I… Have I seen her before?" Dusk thought, feeling a strange sensation when seeing that yellow unicorn.

"Dusk... DUSK!" Sunset yelled excitedly and jumped to hug the lavender unicorn tightly.

For a moment, Sunset forgot everything that implied revealing herself in front of Dusk and hugging him that way. For a moment, Sunset was just herself, feeling enormously relieved and happy to see that the only pony she cared about in the world, who had been missing until just moments ago, had appeared safe and sound in front of her eyes.

"Uh… Do I know you?” Dusk asked as the mare hugged him. For some reason, He was blushing at the strong and warm embrace of that mare.

It was only at that moment that Sunset's logical mind returned to normal and she realized how much she was risking by hugging Dusk. Then she quickly stopped hugging Dusk and used her magic to make a hood appear over her head to hide her face.

At the strange gesture, Dusk simply raised an eyebrow in confusion, not understanding why that mare hugged him so familiarly, and then backed away and hid her face. A face that he had seen only a few seconds ago, but for some reason, itched at his mind.

Then Dusk opened his eyes wide when he understood that he was making a serious mistake. He himself had witnessed the ability of those changelings to transform at will into any pony, and now they were preparing to invade Canterlot. Dusk couldn't trust anyone, much less unknown ponies.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Dusk said, radically changing his attitude. He got into a defensive stance and pointing his horn at the yellow mare.

"I… I'm sorry." Sunset responded nervously, raising her hoof to adjust the hood well and make sure that Dusk couldn't see her face. Even if she lied, Dusk could find out and attack her. "I... I know your name because I’m Princess Cadance's student."

"Cadance's student?" Dusk asked suspiciously. He had never heard of Cadance having a student. Though to be fair, he hadn't been to the castle very long, so he couldn't tell for sure. "Prove it." Dusk demanded, starting to light up his horn to stun that mare at the slightest suspicion.

Seeing that Dusk was only seconds away from attacking her, Sunset quickly thought of some way to verify that she knew Cadance, without revealing anything about her true identity, since that would put Discord's release at risk. Sunset grimaced uncomfortably at having only come up with one thing in such a short amount of time.

Red with embarrassment at what she had to do, Sunset Shimmer crouched down, and began to dance and sing.

"~ Sunshine, sunshine ~ Ladybugs awake ~ Clap your hooves ~ And do a little shake ~" Sunset Shimmer sang, doing the same childish dance that she had seen Dusk do as a young colt, when Cadance came to take care of him as his babysitter.

At the end of her dance, Sunset realized that with her last movement, she had shaken her flanks in front of Dusk. The thought of her crush seeing her private bits made the yellow mare's face turn even redder, and she quickly got up and stood in front of Dusk. For his part, Dusk finally relaxed. At the same time, he couldn't help but raise his hoof and hide his laughter when he saw how clumsy, but at the same time tender, the yellow mare looked when doing that dance.

"Cadance makes you greet her like that too? Even though you're an adult pony?" Dusk asked with a small smile, forgetting all his suspicions about that mare, after she showed him the secret greeting that Cadance used with the ponies she held dearest. "So Cadance really has a student, who would have thought, hehe... Tell me, what's your name?" Dusk asked kindly. More and more interested in that mare with the red and gold mane while also feeling the strange sensation that meeting that mare was of the utmost importance.

Sunset froze at the question. With all her might she wanted to tell him her name. Tell him she was Sunset Shimmer, his childhood friend. The mare who had sacrificed everything to make him Celestia's student. The mare who had sacrificed everything for him to he was happy with his friends in Ponyville. However, as much as that was her greatest wish in the world, she knew that if she did, she risked unleashing a creature that would bring chaos to the entire world.

"My... My name..." Sunset stammered, feeling that something so simple was making it immensely difficult for her, having her beloved Dusk in front of her, staring at her. "M-My name is…"

Suddenly, the door to the infirmary was flung open. Princess Luna entered, looking annoyed at Sunset Shimmer.

"There you are, Sunset! I knew you had stolen my hood!" Luna huffed and pointed at Sunset. Luna's annoyance was such that she only focused on Sunset upon entering the infirmary. However, after pointing to the culprit behind the theft of her hood, Luna's eyes finally noticed that Sunset wasn't alone there. "Dusk Shine?" Luna gasped after noticing that the lavender unicorn was there.

After noticing Dusk, an awkward silence hung in the air. One in which Luna got nervous when she noticed that she had made a huge mistake.

"You... Your name is Sunset?" Dusk said, while holding his head and closing one eye. Like he suddenly had a big headache. "Sunset..." Dusk repeated in pain, as if something in his head was struggling to come out.

"Glimmer! My name is Sunset Glimmer!!" Sunset yelled the first name of the family clan that came to mind so that Dusk wouldn't remember her actual name. "I’m from Manehattan; grew up my whole life there. And by the way, I'd rather you call me Miss Glimmer, since I don't know you well enough yet, Mr. Shine." Sunset quickly added, pretending to be upset. She looked askance at the colt in the hopes that her quick planning had worked.

"Glimmer?" Dusk said slowly opening his closed eye as his headache disappeared. "I… I'm sorry, Miss Glimmer. I… I didn't mean to disrespect you."

Luna and Sunset internally sighed in relief. They couldn’t even imagine the disaster that would have occurred if, in addition to being invaded by shape-shifting impostors, they had released the Lord of Chaos at the same time.

"Is everything alright, Princess? I heard you were looking for me." Shining Armor said suddenly as he entered the infirmary without his armor.

Just as Shining was getting ready to dress in his wedding tuxedo a few minutes earlier, one of his guards had informed him that Princess Luna was looking for him. The stallion stopped all his preparations for the wedding and hurried to meet the Princess of the Night.

As soon as Shining Armor entered, both he and Dusk were surprised to find each other there. Then they both stared at each other in silence. Neither was sure how to react, since in addition to having various unfinished business, at that very moment, both of them had other important security matters for the kingdom to think about as well.

"It's... It's good to see you, Shining." Dusk said nervously and looked away.

Shining only remained silent at his brother’s nervous greeting. He had almost been tricked by a fake Dusk, so Shining Armor needed to make sure that this time the lavender colt that was in front of him was really his brother. However, after seeing Dusk's uncomfortable look, he narrowed his eyes and cleared his suspicions.

"I see... You’re the real Dusk..." Shining confirmed.

"What do you mean ‘the real one’?" Dusk asked, but then remembered the last thing he'd seen before he'd been knocked out the night before, when the changeling soldier had transformed into a copy of him. "Wait... Is there a fake Dusk hanging around the castle!? Are my friends alright!?”

"We already captured the impostor. Princess Celestia is questioning him at the guard headquarters." Shining Armor answered his brother stoically as he tried to process all the mixed feelings he had for his brother right now.

"How did you know it was the real Dusk?" Luna asked, who was surprised that the captain of the guard stopped suspecting Dusk so quickly after only seeing him for a few seconds.

"It's a theory, but I think those changelings don't understand emotions very well. They don't understand that somepony can have many different feelings towards the same pony at the same time..." Shining Armor answered, narrowing his eyes a little at Dusk. "The impostor who supplanted Dusk pretended to have only hatred towards me. But when I entered here and saw Dusk's uncomfortable look, I knew that he felt many things when he saw me enter, right?" Shining added, putting on a fleeting sad look before looking seriously at Dusk again.

"Yes... You're right..." Dusk looked back at his big brother with some concern. "I don't hate you Shining, but there are still things we need to talk about."

Knowing that they couldn't waste any more time given the situation they were in, Shining simply nodded and silently agreed to save this for later.

"Princess Luna, why were you looking for me? Is it something to do with the wedding?" Shining Armor asked, looking seriously at the blue alicorn.

"We believe there is another impostor in the castle." Shining Armor widen his eyes in surprise at what Luna said. "We talked to Sweet Caramel recently, and she suspected that her sister- Huh!?” Luna was perplexed when, halfway through talking, Shining turned around and bolted out of the room. “Captain?! Where are you going?!”

"Princess Celestia was alone with Sweet Creme!" Shining Armor yelled as he ran off. It didn’t take a genius to know the dangers that the princess was now in.

Quickly understanding why Shining had run so scared, Dusk, Luna and Sunset hurried to run after Shining. They quickly reached the barracks, where Shining Armor had asked two guards to guard the door after he left.

"Is Princess Celestia still interrogating the impostor!?" The captain quickly asked.

"No, Captain. The Princess returned to the castle only a few moments after you left." One of the guards answered.

Just as Dusk, Luna and Sunset also arrived, Shining Armor hurriedly opened the doors of the barracks. Once inside, he illuminated everything with his magic, and he felt his stomach sink as he saw what he had most feared to see.

"The changeling is not here..." Shining Armor whispered in fear.

"I-I don't understand..." One of the guards entered. "No one entered or left besides the Princess and her maid."

"Maybe it wasn't the Princess who came out..." Shining deduced from the situation.

"Shining, this isn’t an attack by a lone changeling. It's an invasion!" Dusk hurriedly explained to his brother. "There are dozens of ponies encased in cocoons in the crystal mines below Canterlot!"

"What?" Shining Armor said, his mind in shock upon receiving such information. "What are these creatures? What are we up against!?"

After a second of silence, it was Luna's turn to speak.

"Her name is Chrysalis…. My sister told me about her." Luna said weakly. She knew that the origin of the creature was a secret, but she felt that in such a critical situation, Dusk and Shining Armor also needed to know. "She is a dark creature that faced my sister centuries ago. Celestia thought she was dead, but… it seems she was mistaken." The mare had a look of pain at the thought of what her sister had to face in her absence.

Without giving them even a second to digest the shocking news, the group of ponies were distracted when the castle's bells began to be heard. Wedding bells, announcing the beginning of the great event.

"The wedding is starting...?" Shining Armor was even more confused. A check of the time showed that it was right time for the wedding, but how could it start if HE wasn’t even there?!

In the castle's main hall, all the wedding guests stood up when the wedding bells started ringing. They directed their eyes towards the front door.

Two little fillies bounded happily through the doors, throwing flowers down on the great red carpet that led to the altar. After everything was covered with beautiful flowers, Celestia appeared from the door with Cadance, who looked radiant in her beautiful wedding dress.

As soon as Cadance appeared, she looked towards the altar and put on a surprised look when she saw that Shining Armor was not there.

"Don't worry, he will come, I assure you." 'Celestia' said, whispering from behind to Cadance in a tender voice. "We must continue, everyone is waiting for you."

"It’s okay, I know that Shining would never abandon me." Cadance answered, taking a deep breath to calm down and starting to walk towards the altar.

As the Princess of Love made her way across the carpet, closely followed at all times by Celestia, everyone's eyes were drawn to how beautiful Cadance looked. Before their eyes was a beautiful princess. Quite possibly the most beautiful mare in the kingdom. Her cheeks were blushed and her eyes full of emotion, knowing that this was the most important day of her life.

All those feelings of adoration and love towards the Princess of Love didn’t go unnoticed by the false Celestia. Who did her best to keep her false smile serene, knowing that very soon all that love would be stolen and turned into food.

"I wonder what the first thing all these ponies will feel when they see their beloved Princess turn into a murderer..." False Celestia thought, stopping just before reaching the altar and lowering her head, to hide her face. "The fear obtained by the betrayal of a loved one... It’s the most delicious flavor..."

"Auntie Celestia? Is something wrong?" Cadance asked, just as she reached the altar. She stopped and turned to see that her aunt was no longer following her.

"I suppose... I hate not being the center of attention." 'Celestia' replied, charging her horn with a huge ball of golden magic and looked at Cadance with a sinister smile.

Before anyone could react, the false Celestia whipped her head around and launched the powerful ball of energy at Cadance. The mighty attack hit the mare squarely and sent her flying far away, smashing her into a pillar by the side of the altar. Causing Cadance to cry out in pain at the surprise attack.

After 'Celestia's' attack, all the ponies in the main hall froze, pale and speechless at what they had just seen. Despite seeing it with their own eyes, their brains refused to believe what they had just seen… The kind Princess Celestia had attacked her beloved niece? It was impossible! It couldn't be true! Their eyes were deceiving them!

After Cadance's scream, everything was completely silent, until it was 'Celestia' herself who broke it with a cruel, sadistic laugh.

"Do you think I was going to let someone else steal my attention!? I am Celestia! The Princess of the Sun! All the love and attention from the ponies is for me, and only for me!" The fake Celestia yelled, mocking the injured Cadance. Whose dress was all ripped and looked like she would pass out at any moment. "Do you think I adopted you so that one day you would steal my throne? Of course not! You were just an orphan I took pity on. Everyone here thinks you're a Princess, but what they don't understand is that the only legitimate ruler of this kingdom is me! Hahaha!" The fake Celestia let out a hysterical and terrifying laugh.

With 'Celestia's' words, the ponies in the hall slowly snapped out of their shock and began to tremble and cry, not understanding why their beloved princess was going crazy. On any other occasion, everyone present would have rushed to Princess Cadance's aid, but the one who had attacked the pink alicorn had been none other than the most loved and respected pony in the kingdom. The pony that had protected them for hundreds of years… Had she fallen into madness!?

Everyone in the room had the same great conflict: The nobles of Canterlot, the servants of the palace, even foreign dignitaries, who knew of Celestia's power and wisdom. And among all those terrified ponies were also Spike and Dusk's friends. All of them were trembling, with tears in their eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing and hearing.

"A-Auntie…" Cadance said weakly. She tried to get up, but she was so sore that she just fell to the ground again.

"I'm sorry, dear niece..." The fake Celestia said. She approached Cadance and lit her horn again to charge a final and definitive attack against the pink alicorn. "There is an alicorn of the sun, and an alicorn of the moon. I think you will become the alicorn of the ashes…"

"CADANCE!!" Shining Armor suddenly shouted. Who had run from the guard barracks when he heard the bells, going ahead of Dusk, Luna and Sunset. He arrived just then at the main hall from a side entrance.

Seeing that 'Celestia' had attacked his fiancée and was about to hurt her even more, Shining Armor ran at full speed, and quickly used his magic to teleport right in front of the fake Celestia. He then charged at her with a magical shield, which was his specialty. Thus, the false Celestia was hit squarely and was pushed by the force of the charge to the other side of the altar.

"Don't you dare touch my fiancée, you dirty creature." Shining Armor said with a furious look. He stood in front of Cadance to protect her and pointed his magic-charged horn at the fake Princess of the Sun.

"SHINING!!" A desperate voice shouted. A voice that Shining knew very well.

From the front door, the real Celestia appeared, who was being held by the pony who had screamed, the pony who had been teleported to the crystal caves minutes after Celestia herself had fallen there. That pony was the real Cadance, who watched in horror as her fiancé was protecting an impostor.

Not able to turn his head after hearing the warning cry, Shining closed his eyes in pain as something stabbed deep into his chest, straight for his heart.

Taking advantage of the fact that Shining Armor had turned his back on her, the altar's 'Cadance' plunged the dagger she was carrying deep into Shining's body. It was the same golden dagger with which minutes ago she had also stabbed Celestia. With the great difference that this last blow was deadly, mortally wounding the young captain of the royal guard.

None of those present had understood why 'Celestia' had attacked her niece. And now, much less did they understand why Princess Mi Amore had stabbed her fiancé. It was all part of an elaborate plan. One to discredit both alicorn princesses and show how those kind princesses could be cruel and wicked. And of course, all being part of a very elaborate plan to make everyone present fall into insecurity, and that the love they felt for their princesses would turn into fear, panic and horror. A plan that had worked perfectly and that was already beginning to generate the first cries of terror in the audience present.

After sinking the dagger and removing it from Shining Armor's chest, everyone present was shocked to see how the unicorn's white fur was turning crimson from the blood that stained it. Screams of horror ringed through the air from the very sight of the murder. It was something that none of those peaceful ponies had even dreamed of in their worst nightmares. An act so horrible, that it made everyone present freeze in horror at such a scene.

'Cadance' held Shining as he grew colder, and his vision blurred. Shining's mind still didn't understand what had happened. The last thing he managed to understand was that he heard the distant cry of his beloved, and now, that same mare whom he loved was looking at him with tears in her eyes.

"Shining, darling. I… I am so sorry!" 'Cadance' cried, while looking directly at him. Until she closed her eyes, and in just an instant, her lips curved into a sadistic smile. "I had to kill you because the truth is, I never loved you... Now, my dear, you’ll go to the other world, knowing that no one ever loved you." The fake Cadance mocked as Shining lost consciousness, falling little by little more into the arms of death.

After Shining closed his eyes, the fake Cadance's eyes turned bright green. Then she looked directly at Celestia, who for a second was stunned at the horrible scene she had just witnessed. And in doing so, the false Cadance smiled devilishly and levitated her golden dagger next to her face. She stuck out her serpent-like tongue and slowly licked up the blood staining the blade.

"I love the taste of a broken heart." The cruel Queen Chrysalis said with the sweet voice of Cadance.

End of chapter 19

Author's Notes:

**ARTISTS 'CONTRIBUTIONS**
Dusk Shine II Chapt. 19 - LoveApplexd

>>Chapter 19 References<<

-Canon references:

'Capper, the alley cat' Appears for the first time in 'MLP The Movie' as well as in several official comics, such as 'MLP Nightmare knight'.

'Canterlot Mines' it's mentioned that there crystal mines exploited by greedy unicorns, in the TV show 'Episode 26, Season 2''

'Glimmer' it's part of the name of Starlight Glimmer, who has appeared on the TV show since 'Season 5'

'Cadance's secret hoofshake' performed by Cadance and Twilight, 'Episode 25, Season 2'

-Story references:

'Spike's scream that Dusk can hear' Spike does it for the first time without realizing it, in 'Chapter 3, Season 2'

'Arcane magic circles, to teleport' used by Trixie in 'Chapter 30, Season 1'

'Protection of the elements of harmony with ancient magic' as mentioned, Nightmare Moon couldn't touch them, in 'Chapter 16 Season 1''

'Sunset's memory spell to Dusk' she used her spell on Dusk to make him forget her, but for extra protection, she must prevent Dusk from recognizing her, since it could weaken the spell. Spell performed in 'Chapter 6, Season 2'.

'Clan Glimmer' mentioned as one of Canterlot's ancient noble families 'Chapter 6 Season 2'

'Cadance's secret hoofshake' performed by Dusk, 'Chapter 7, Season 2'

----------------------

& as always, many thanks to 'Scribe of the Nightwings' for his great help

Chapter 20 - Love spell

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Love spell

As Cadance finished getting ready for the wedding, covering her long mane with a veil, she couldn't help but give a worried look. She knew that in just a few minutes she would go up to the altar to marry the stallion she loved. However, she couldn’t stop thinking about Dusk Shine.

After 'Celestia' made Cadance's assistants and Dusk's friends leave the room, only the Princess of Love, Celestia, and Sweet Creme remained in the room. The latter two were in complete silence as they watched a worried Cadance put the finishing touches on her wedding dress.

Just when Cadance sighed worriedly, a sudden chill ran down her spine. With her ability to sense the hearts and feelings of those around her, Cadance had a sudden chill as she felt someone looking at her with jealousy, desire and much, much evil in its heart.

“You really look beautiful… Now I get it. Now I know why everyone's eyes will be on you instead of me." 'Celestia' said, approaching Cadance from behind with a strange smile.

Hearing that strange comment, Cadance turned around and looked at who she thought was her aunt. Who at that moment had a strange and intense green glow in her eyes.

"Auntie?" Cadance asked, looking worriedly at 'Celestia'. Thinking for a second that the evil she felt could come from her aunt. But distrusting her aunt was something so crazy that her brain prevented her from believing such madness.

“I guess I'll have to change my appearance for the wedding. After all, it’s an important day, and I must stand out.” The fake Celestia said with a sinister smile. Her horn glowed green and a green fire cover her body completely. Then, in just an instant, a perfect copy of Cadance appeared, staring with a cruel smile at the real Cadance. "Now I will be the beautiful bride that everyone will look at." The fake Cadance added, speaking in a perfect copy of the pink alicorn's voice.

Cadance was so shocked that it took her a second to react. However, that second was crucial so that she couldn’t react in time. As soon as she saw that the creature that had been by her side was not her aunt, but the impostor they had sought so much, her body was paralyzed by external green magic.

Cadance could barely move her eyes to the side, and see that the one who had used immobilization magic on her was Sweet Creme. Who now also had a green glow in her eyes.

“Don't worry about the wedding, dear. I’ll take your place.” Chrysalis said, staring at the bride as she hypnotized her to sleep. “Soon, the perfect bride will become the perfect assassin. Which will fill this realm with fear and terror, haha…” Chrysalis added with an evil smile, as Cadance fell into a deep sleep.

Having fallen into the darkness of Chrysalis's hypnotic sleep, Cadance lost track of time and reality. Until she felt someone touch her and call out to her.

“Cadance… Cadance!” Celestia called, shaking her niece awake.

Just a few seconds ago, in the old mines of Canterlot, the real Celestia had been shocked to see that the changelings had captured another prisoner, her own niece. Then Celestia hurried to wake her up to get her out of the trance that Chrysalis had surely put her in.

Once Cadance woke up, she felt disoriented and confused. After a few seconds, she managed to remember what had happened. Then Cadance saw Celestia, jumped to her feet, immediately on her guard. She pointed her magic-charged horn at Celestia.

"Stay away!" Cadance yelled furiously at the mare she thought had betrayed her.

"Cadance, it's me, the real me." Celestia quickly said, imagining that her niece had been attacked by Chrysalis disguised as her. “The one who attacked you was a changeling. You must trust me."

Cadance stared at her. Then the pink alicorn concentrated on Celestia's heart. She was able to notice the genuine concern and affection that only the true Celestia could have towards her.

Once Cadance calmed down, she asked her aunt to explain what had happened and where they were. After a quick explanation, Cadance understood the great danger they were all in, and together with her aunt they got ready to quickly get out of there to stop Chrysalis's invasion.

To her bad luck, Cadance couldn't teleport since she didn't know how deep the crystal mines were and Celestia was still unable to use magic due to the necklace Chrysalis had put on her. The only option left to them was for Cadance to break the necklace with her horn, since her magic also vanished when she approached the necklace.

It took Cadance a long time to break the necklace of stones without magic, hurting her own horn in the process. However, that didn't matter, the only thing that mattered at that moment was to get out of there as soon as possible and alert everyone to the danger they were in. Especially her fiancé, who could be fooled by the changeling who was imitating her at that moment.

Once Celestia was freed, she walked over to Cadance and concentrated. The mind of the white alicorn struggled to have a little hope, despite the fact that she knew that they would arrive at the castle to face a battle at a clear disadvantage. They didn’t know exactly the size of Chrysalis's army, nor how many impostors were in the castle. Furthermore, Cadance had injured her horn and she herself had a serious wound on her side, making it difficult for her to even stand. Celestia feared for what was to come, however, they had to put their worries aside and simply go face the changelings before the damage they did was irreparable.

Having already been in the mines before in her youth, and knowing perfectly every corner of her castle, Celestia was able to use her powerful magic to teleport along with Cadance and all the cocoons with captured ponies to one of the main corridors of the castle. As soon as they appeared, two royal guards jumped in fear at the surprise appearance and were even more shocked to see the wounded alicorn princesses with several dozen huge green cocoons.

“Where is Shining Armor!?” Cadance quickly asked. Approaching one of the guards and looking at him with a frightened look.

"T-The wedding... It's already started..." The guard stammered, pointing towards the main hall.

Wasting no time, Celestia approached Cadance and they both teleported again, appearing right in front of the doors of the great hall. There, Cadance saw with horror how all the guests were already in the hall, all looking in horror towards the altar. In the middle of the altar was her fiancé. Who seemed to have attacked the fake Celestia, turning her back on the fake Cadance, protecting her.

“SHINING!!” The real Cadance yelled in terror.

To the mare’s horror, her doppelganger moved quickly and stabbed at Shining Armor fiercely. At that moment, Cadance turned pale and felt as if time had stopped, seeing how her beloved fiancé was murdered before her eyes.

Everyone else in the hall was shock for an instant at the horrible and evil act. For an instant, Cadance lost her other senses and her eyes could only see Shining bleeding while he closed his eyes. She couldn't even hear the cruel taunt Chrysalis said as she looked at Celestia. The only thing Cadance heard was the faint beating of Shining's heart before it went completely silent.

The pink alicorn was finally able to snap out of her shock and ran to her dying husband.

“SHINING!!” Cadance yelled in horror, not caring that Shining Armor's body was still being held up by the enemy's hooves. The only thing Cadance's eyes focused on was Shining Armor, running to help him, and having him between her hooves.

Witnessing the evil Chrysalis was capable of, Celestia gritted her teeth against the pain in her side and forcing herself to forget the pain for a second, Celestia spread her wings and flew to attack Chrysalis.

Chrysalis smiled evilly, let go of Shining's body and flew to the ceiling of the hall for Celestia to follow. As Cadance reached the dying white unicorn, screams of horror began to fill the hall and Chrysalis and Celestia began to fight over the great hall, flying and launching powerful lightning attacks at each other.

When chaos and fear began to spread among all the guests; Dusk, Luna and Sunset arrived at the great hall. The three of them had hurried after Shining Armor, knowing that the white unicorn ran that way because he knew something bad was about to happen. However, none of them imagined the horrible scene they would encounter.

Dusk saw how Cadance hurriedly took Shining Armor between her hooves at the alter while he didn't move at all. That made Dusk shiver like he had never felt before, imagining that the worst could have happened. For the first time in his life, Dusk didn't care what Princess Celestia or anyone else in the hall was doing. He just used his magic and immediately teleported to the altar.

For her part, something similar happened with Luna, only she saw how her sister flew around the hall with a serious wound on her side, fighting against a dark creature that she guessed was the evil Chrysalis. Without wasting any time, Luna spread her wings wide and immediately flew to help her sister.

The only one who was left standing at the side entrance of the hall was Sunset Shimmer. The always analytical unicorn was stunned by the horrible scene her eyes saw, but at the same time, she took a second to analyze everything around her to fully understand what was happening before acting. It was at that moment that Sunset's gaze focused on the false Celestia, the one who had been rammed by Shining Armor moments before, and who was now standing up after coming out of her daze.

For a second, Sunset and fake Celestia's eyes met. As they did, fake Celestia smiled evilly and opened her mouth, letting out a high-pitched shriek that echoed throughout the hall and made most of the ponies cover their ears.

Dozens of false guests surrounded themselves with green fire throughout the hall, revealing their true identities. Dozens of changelings appeared from the crowd, quickly charging at the other guests. Closing in on their necks with their sharp teeth, lashing out at them with their hard chitin hooves, all to wreak even more chaos and fear in the crowd.

As if this entire hall had been doomed to be a sacrifice zone, the changelings barred the main doors of the hall, lest anyone escape their first attack. All this was just the beginning of what would be their great invasion to take over the entire kingdom. Two changelings rushed at Sunset to attack her and block the side door as well. However, the skilled unicorn used her magic to hit both changelings hard and knock them away from her.

Having waved her horn, Sunset inadvertently caused her hood to fall back, revealing her face again. A face that showed a mare struggling to remain calm, despite the fact that she was also actually scared at the large scale of the attack she was in.

If she had been the old Sunset, she would have immediately gone with Dusk, or perhaps she would have fought to save herself alone. However, after being a student at Cadance, Sunset felt for the first time that she should put aside her own concerns and focus on helping others. So, the mare looked around, and saw how the ponies near her were being attacked. In the midst of the crowd, her eyes fell on a certain group of ponies. Five mares and a baby dragon, who were still in shock what was happening around them.

"You girls!" Sunset Shimmer yelled with a scared, but commanding voice at the group. “Don't just stand there! We have to help others!” She hated to ask those mares for help, but she couldn't stop an army by herself.

Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Spike snapped out of the shock they'd been in and stared at Sunset Shimmer in shock. A mare that they had all hoped never to see again, and that now appeared before them asking for help. That left the five mares even more shocked than they had been seconds before. However, Spike had witnessed the true heart of Sunset and how she really wasn't as evil as she liked to appear. With that background, Spike put on a serious look and ran over to where Sunset was to help her fight off the changelings in the hall. For their part, the five Ponyville mares snapped out of their daze, and ran to fight the changelings as well. They didn’t want to follow an order from Sunset, but they knew there was something much bigger at stake: Saving the kingdom.

As the chaos continued below the hall, Chrysalis flew over everyone, shooting lightning bolts at each other at Celestia and colliding from time to time, hitting each other every time they managed to meet in the air. Even with Luna's arrival, it didn't seem to bother Chrysalis at all, who simply continued to laugh evilly as she single-handedly fought both alicorns at the same time.

If it had been a fight between Chrysalis and both alicorns at another time, perhaps it would have been a fairer fight, even with the advantage of the alicorns. However, there were three factors that made the fight lopsided. The first factor was that none of the Alicorn sisters were at their full potential. Celestia was injured in her side, which made it difficult for her to fly, and even to breathe at times. Luna was still stronger than a normal unicorn, but she still hadn't regained her full power. The second factor was that Chrysalis was at her best. She was in her full form, with more power than she had ever had, and that made her power easily match and even surpass that of an alicorn. And finally, the third factor, was one that Celestia discovered while fighting. With every little pause Celestia and Luna took to catch their breath, Chrysalis smiled and breathed heavily. But what Chrysalis was doing wasn't breathing, it was feeding. Eating all the fear, horror and confusion that came from the ponies attacked in the room. With each attack of her soldiers, all that love that the ponies had was transformed into dark feelings, and the Changeling Queen fed on those terrible feelings, growing stronger with each bite she took, as if she breathed in the very terror that reigned in the air.

"Delicious..." Chrysalis said after sucking in and eating all the fear that was in the air.

In that little pause when Chrysalis fed and smiled evilly, Celestia and Luna hovered, breathing heavily, feeling their energy drain as Chrysalis's surged. They both knew it was a matter of time before they were defeated, but that didn't matter to them. As guardians of the kingdom, both were willing to give their lives for their beloved ponies. And if this was their last fight, they would keep fighting until their bodies gave out. Thus, both alicorns resumed their attack, while Chrysalis's cruel laughter filled the room, knowing how that battle would end.

In the midst of all the chaos, right at the altar of the hall, another important event was taking place. Dusk had arrived just before the false Celestia had given the changeling attack signal. Upon reaching the altar, Dusk approached where Cadance was holding Shining.

"His heart isn’t beating..." Cadance whispered, helplessly. She touched Shining's chest, right at the wound, which had reached his heart. She lit her horn with magic to try and stop Shining from bleeding.

"Shining..." Dusk whispered with tears in his eyes, turning pale as he felt an emptiness grow in his stomach. "He... He is..." Dusk stammered, not daring to pronounce the word 'dead', as if by saying it, all that would become real and it would stop being just a cruel nightmare.

Breathing heavily, feeling that he was about to panic, Dusk averted his gaze. Upon doing so, he saw that half of those present watched in terror as Celestia and Luna fought against Chrysalis, while the other half watched Shining's dying body in terror. Among those who looked towards the altar were his and his brother’s parents. His father, Night Light, held his mother, Twilight Velvet, who had fainted at the sight of her eldest son being killed on what should have been the happiest day of his life. Seeing his parents, Dusk opened his mouth and breathed heavily, shooting sparks from his horn as he felt he was losing control of his emotions.

At that precise moment, Dusk came out of the dark trance in which he was beginning to enter, having to cover his ears before Thorax's scream, disguised as Celestia. He watched in horror as dozens of guests in the hall transformed into changelings and launched themselves over the other guests. Then, Dusk saw that a large group of changelings, who had been disguised in the front row, smiled sinisterly and pounced at the altar.

At the last second, Dusk Shine cast a shield spell encasing him, Cadance, and Shining Armor. A powerful barrier of transparent lilac color that protected them from the attack, against which the changelings collided as if it were a wall. Then the changelings got up and began to hit Dusk's shield hard, making it tremble with each blow.

Dusk had to concentrate even more on maintaining the shield from the force of the blows. He knew that he couldn't risk making it disappear to fight back against the changelings, because it could put Cadance and Shining at risk.

"Magic shields are my best spell. I hope that with that I can impress the guards and let me join the royal guard." A very proud and young Shining Armor had said the day before he was accepted as a royal guard candidate.

"Wow… You really are strong, big bro!" Dusk said that the time, impressed with the strong shield summoned by his older brother.

The memory made Dusk closed his eyes and a tear ran down his cheek.

“I just perfected my teleportation to run away from trouble. You perfected your shields because you never ran away from anything..." Dusk whispered while crying, knowing that his brother could make a much stronger shield than his. "Shining... We still have a lot to talk about... Please, don't leave us..." Dusk cried, looking askance at Shining, who had her chest glowing with pink magic while Cadance struggled to close her wound.

"Cadance closed his wound. She… She's using her magic to put his body into stasis." Dusk thought, understanding what the mare was trying to do. Though he was still skeptical that it would work, since everything indicated that Shining was already dead. "But there’s no magic that can heal a dead heart, and without a heart… The moment Cadance stops using her magic, Shining's body will die."

As Cadance used her magic and held Shining, she wiped away her tears with one of her hoofs and put on a small smile. She forced herself to calm down, realizing her healing magic would suffer if she was emotionally weak. She decided to speak to Shining as she normally did, as if it was just the two of them alone.

"You know, Shiny. Spike told me that he thinks he and Dusk have a special magical bond." Cadance said tenderly while caressing her lover's face. “He said he can make his brother listen to him when they’re both in danger… I believe him. I believe in the magic of love. I believe that when two souls are united by such a special unique bond, their feelings can cross time and space. Even surpass death.” At that moment, Cadance couldn't take it anymore. She rested her head on Shining's chest and started to cry again. “You have to wake up Shining. You promised, you said you would be with me forever and ever… Sniff … Remember your promise, my love…” Cadance cried, as her tears fell on Shining Armor's chest.

'Cadance and Shining flashback.'

Years ago, Dusk Shine was a young colt who had not yet entered the School of Magic. But the ones who did go to school were Shining Armor and Cadance. They both attended Canterlot Academy, a prestigious academy for young mares and stallions, distinct from the School of Magic, which took in only fillies and young colts and focused only on magic. Canterlot Academy focused on higher education in a variety of fields to prepare young ponies for the world of work. A school with a more accessible income than the School of Magic, but in any case, just as elitist as the future school in which Dusk Shine would study.

There, by chance, Shining Armor and Cadance entered when they were the same age, both studying in the same grade. However, it seemed that both of them lived in parallel worlds light years apart.

Princess Mi Amore, or simply Cadance, as her friends called her, had entered the Academy late. Having spent his childhood away from the capital, she studied magic with the Princess of the Sun until she decided to enter the Academy and study with ponies her own age. For the young princess, it only took one day to become the most popular pony in the Academy. Being an alicorn princess, she made all the young sons of noble and wealthy Canterlot families want to approach her and praise her for everything she did.

For Cadance, it was a joy to see how all the ponies there approached her and sought her company. However, as the years passed, her innate talent for sensing the hearts of those around her grew. It finally served her to realize that many of those around her were only with her for selfish reasons, and that behind the false smiles were hidden envy and jealousy. For these reasons, Cadance eventually narrowed her group of friends, and despite her popularity, she only trusted a very small group of ponies.

Besides her title as a princess, there were powerful reasons why Cadance gained a lot of popularity. The first was that year after year Cadance's beauty only grew, becoming a beautiful and elegant mare. Her cute personality also made her easily trusted by everyone to help them with their problems, especially love-type problems.

It was around this time that Cadance discovered her talent for feeling and sharing the true feelings of those around her, and her ability to make those good feelings come out more easily in ponies. Thus, the mare helped many couples in conflict to forget their differences and remember the love they felt. Also to their friends, helping them to recognize which colts felt true feelings towards them, and which ones were only with them to enjoy the moment. For these reasons, Cadance became the most popular mare in the Academy and was recognized by the nickname 'The Princess of Love'.

On the other hoof, who had also entered Canterlot Academy late was Shining Armor. The young stallion had not been able to enter the School of Magic since his family was neither noble nor well-off. However, after his father got an important job helping the academic council of Canterlot, he managed to get a place to enter that prestigious academy. Something very important for Shining, since graduating from an academy was one of the requirements to be a Royal Guard, which was his dream.

Fortunately, despite not having attended a magic school, Shining Armor never gave up or stopped trying to learn since he was a young colt. Together with his parents and grandmother, he studied magic independently. Learning all the basic spells a unicorn was supposed to learn, focusing on one in particular.

"Gotta make my shields stronger." Shining Armor said as he trained his magic. Looking askance at his own cutie mark, which was a shield with a star in its center. “One day I’ll be a guard, and I’ll protect the entire kingdom with my shield.”

Shining Armor was eventually approved to enter the Canterlot Academy, but unlike Cadance, his admission was not well received by the other students in his grade. Shining quickly became an outcast in his class, being despised by the sons of the nobles, who couldn’t bear that a simple peasant who didn’t come from a good family could live up to their level and study with them.

It seemed that the only one who didn’t look down on the newly inducted unicorn from the Shine family was the young Princess Cadance. The pink alicorn recorded in her mind the first time she met eyes with Shining Armor. For some reason, she felt her heart stop for an instant and everything around her turned pink. Shining Armor felt the same thing upon seeing the beautiful alicorn, gaping at the sight of her. However, seeing that he had been staring at her like a fool, all the other young stallions around Shining pushed him away and started making fun of him at how goofy he looked. He dared to look directly into the eyes of the most beautiful mare in the Academy? It was a privilege that they wouldn’t give to that simple peasant.

Seeing how he had been ridiculed in front of the beautiful mare, Shining Armor turned red with embarrassment and ran away. As for Cadance, she simply watched that young stallion walk away and then she lowered her gaze, touching her cheeks and feeling that she too was blushing for some reason.

"Cadance, is something wrong?" Diamond Rose asked, one of the few close friends Cadance had at the Academy. She was a mare with white fur and pink mane.

"I... I'm not sure..." Cadance answered with a confused look.

Since that day, Cadance searched for Shining Armor with her eyes, to see if that strange feeling would repeat itself when their eyes met. However, as much as she searched for it, it seemed that Shining Armor was so shy, that every time she looked at him, he would blush and quickly avert his gaze.

Cadance was amused from the sight of the serious white stallion, turning red and clumsy with just one look. Day after day she grew fonder of him, despite the fact that she had not even exchanged a word with him. Something that could hardly happen, given that Shining Armor always ran away when she approached him, and those who always surrounded Cadance made it impossible for her to be alone with the tender white unicorn.

For Shining, that first year at the Academy was horrible, and was depressed that he still had another year. Fortunately, Shining didn't seem to be the only outcast at the Academy, and he got a few friends who were in a similar situation to himself. A group of young stallions from more humble families than those of the nobles, stallions who secretly got together to play board games and role-playing games. That made Shining's popularity drop from zero to negative, by hanging out with the nerds in the class. However, despite all the teasing, Shining cared little. He was simply focused on passing his courses at school so he could enter the Royal Guards Academy.

With every taunt, stumble and blow that the other ponies in the class gave Shining, he simply stood his ground and wore a blank stare. Without giving those bullies the pleasure of showing sadness or shame. The only time Shining would lose his serious look and run away in shame was when Cadance was present and watched as he was being mocked. This didn’t go unnoticed by the bullies, who began to annoy Shining more when he got closer to Cadance.

For her part, the pink alicorn did her best to exert her influence and stop bothering Shining Armor. However, it seemed that the more she tried to protect him, the more the others teased him, as if the fact that she liked Shining increased their jealousy even more. That was how Cadance lamented upon discovering that the only way to protect Shining Armor was precisely by not getting close to him.

“He has a beautiful heart full of integrity, kindness and courage. Why are their hearts so closed that they can't see it!?” Cadance lamented silently.

Without realizing it, Cadance became more focused on what Shining's heart felt. Noticing her strength in not being intimidated by the teasing of others, and how his heart beat like crazy when she looked at him. She felt that he liked her, but in a different way than all the other stallions felt for her. What Shining Armor felt was more intense and much more sincere. And without her realizing it, she began to feel the same, still not understanding what exactly that was feeling that she had never felt in her.

It was finally at a sleepover that Cadance had with her two best friends, before entering her final year at the Academy, that the pink alicorn discovered the truth.

“Buck Withers could be my ideal partner, don't you think? He's captain of the polo team, and he's sooooo handsome…” Lemony Gem, A mare with yellow fur and blue mane, cooed.

"I already told you, I don't think he’s your ideal partner." Cadance answered, amused that her friends always thought they were in love with the most attractive stallions without looking further. “I've felt how you two really feel when you're together. And Buck has no real love for you, and in time, you'll find that you don't have real love for him either."

"Cadance, you always tell us that what we feel is not true love. But then, what does true love feel like?" Diamond Rose asked.

"Hmm... I don't know, it's just something that I feel." Cadance replied with a thoughtful look. Throughout her life, she hadn't seen more than ten couples in love that she could honestly say really loved each other. “When I see a couple who are really in love, I can feel their hearts beating in sync, excited when they see each other. I can feel them giving off an aura of happiness that only the two of them feel, as if there is only the two of them in the world. I feel…"

At that moment, Cadance's eyes widened in understanding. What she had felt when seeing Shining Armor when their eyes met was the same as what she had felt when seeing those few couples who were truly destined to be together, only that her feeling had been much more intense, because she didn't feel someone else's heart, but for the first time she had felt her own.

“It’s him… He is the one my heart chose! And… I’m the mare he’ll love with all his heart! Our hearts connected and I didn't realize it until now!" Cadance said in surprise, slowly realizing the importance of her own words. Then she grabbed a pillow, hugged it tightly and began to laugh, filled with joy like she had never felt before. “Is this what a heart's desire feels like? Hahaha…” Cadance laughed, tightly hugging the pillow. She felt joy of discovering that she was in love, and that from that day on, she would do her best to follow her heart and that that bond that destiny showed her, would become a great and true real love.

The following school year started off quickly, and sadly for Cadance, her last year at Canterlot Academy didn’t start as she expected. That summer, Shining Armor had passed the tests to enter the Royal Guard Training School. And although he still had to graduate before being formally accepted as a guard cadet, he already had to complete extra training and studies. So Shining began to attend the Academy less and less, which caused Cadance to have even fewer opportunities to get close to him.

In addition to his training, another point that made Shining avoid the Academy as much as possible was that just that year, his younger brother, Dusk Shine, enrolled in the School of Magic. News that quickly became known throughout the Academy, and of course, brought problems to Shining Armor. He was constantly accused for being the older brother of a cheater who had tricked the test judges using magic that was impossible for a young colt to have. That caused Shining Armor to be bullied even more at school, further distancing himself from his classmates.

All of that made Cadance's plan to get close to the colt that year go down the drain. She couldn't just go with Shining Armor to try to be his friend and get to know him better, not when little Dusk had already been accused of being unfairly favored by Celestia. Cadance knew that if she got any closer to Shining, the rumors might get worse and they would start saying that she herself had used her influence to get Shining accepted into the Royal Guard Training School unfairly.

Still, knowing that she couldn't get close to Shining in front of everyone, Cadance didn't give up and struggled to secretly get close to who she thought might be her special pony. She conspired with her friends to help her meet him alone, taking advantage of every time that Shining was alone in the Academy to invent excuses so that both could meet. However, as soon as Shining Armor was alone with Cadance, he would start babbling like a fool and run away. With each week and each month that passed, she was questioning more if what she felt that time, they saw each other for the first time was indeed love at first sight or had only been something unilateral.

For his part, unaware of all the plans and feelings that Cadance had for him, Shining Armor simply ran away from his own feelings. Just as Cadance had guessed, Shining had fallen in love with Cadance upon seeing her for the first time. And with each kind gesture from the alicorn, with each sweet word of encouragement, Shining fell more and more in love with her. However, the scrutiny of the Canterlot nobility and his low self-esteem convinced him that he would never be worthy of Cadance’s love and always ran away.

"I will fight for her. One day I'll become a Royal Guard at the castle, maybe I'll be a sergeant one day. And when that happens, I’ll show Cadenza that I am a stallion worthy to be with her." Shining Armor said excitedly one day as he and his few nerdy friends were playing 'Ogres and Oubliettes' in the basement of the Academy.

"Sure… and you two will live in a crystal castle and live happily ever after… Get real!" Poindexter, a slim, white-coated stallion who wore glasses, said. "Lower your aim, pal. Princess Cadenza is on another level."

"Don't discourage him. You can totally get with her, but it must be now! It's your last year here!" Gaffer, a colt with green mane and orange fur, with white spots on his legs and snout, said. "Join the Royal Guard and become a sergeant? How many years are you planning to wait before proposing to her!? Do you think Mi Amore will wait that long? Maybe she could, but you gotta at least make sure she knows you exist!"

After listening to his friends, Shining had to accept that they had a point. He wanted with all his heart to show Cadance with concrete actions that he was worthy of being with her, but his studies at the Academy would end before he could. And by then, someone as perfect as Cadance would have already found another stallion to be in love with.

The young stallion gathered courage, and together with his friends, decided one day to participate in the end-of-the-year talent show and sing a song written by himself. All about a beautiful pink mare who had stolen his heart and he secretly loved with all his being.

For Cadance, it was the most tender and beautiful thing she had ever heard in her life. However, the other stallions' jealousy caused them to mock Shining and his friends' performance. A mockery that grew in the crowd and made Shining and his friends leave the stage in shame. And even though Cadance sought out Shining to tell her that his performance had really moved her, Shining simply left the Academy, thinking that he didn't want to be seen by Cadance after the entire Academy made fun of him.

Thus, both finished their last year at Canterlot Academy and ended up with what they believed was their last chance to propose to the pony of their dreams. Since then, Shining Armor would start with its full-time classes at the Royal Guard Instruction School; and Cadance would have to focus on her status as Royal Princess and forget about being a normal teenager.

That summer, each senior at the Academy was required to intern in their chosen profession to finally finishing their chosen career before graduation. For his profession, Shining obviously spent his summer with the Royal Guard, giving his all to one day become a worthy castle guard who would protect his beloved princess. For her part, having already known her destiny written in stone since a filly, being a princess, Cadance had the option of enjoying that last summer as a normal teenager and dedicated herself to being a foal-sitter. Thus discovering her love for taking care of young ponies, together with to her immense maternal instinct. The ponies spent that summer without seeing each other again, but always painfully remembering in their dreams that they had lost the opportunity to meet the one who could be their special pony. However, as if fate itself refused to separate those two hearts, it was precisely Cadance's hobby for being a foal-sitter, which could make both ponies in love meet again.

At the beginning of the year, just before the dance and graduation ceremony, Cadance was hired as foal-sitter for Dusk Shine. The young colt stole Cadance's heart instantly from how cute he was. And even before meeting Dusk, Cadance was very excited to learn that she could see Shining Armor again after not having seen him since the talent show.

Shining Armor was speechless when he saw that his little brother's foal-sitter was none other than Cadance, the most popular mare in the entire school and the one who had stolen his heart two years ago. As soon as he saw Cadance, she greeted him with a sweet smile, while he, already having the composure and serious look that a guard should have, simply melted, babbled awkwardly and ran away. Just like he did when he saw her at the Academy.

That babble made Cadance smile as she remembered how cute Shining looked being clumsy like that and moved her as she recognized that despite the time, Shining still had feelings for her in his heart. However, she also realized that fate was giving her one last chance to be with the stallion that could be her special pony. And this time, things had to be different. So it was that, for her prom, Cadance made a risky decision, and rejected all the stallions who offered to be her date, deciding to be the only mare to go alone.

The next day at prom night, Cadance waited for Shining Armor to show up. Not caring if she was the one who finally declared her feelings first, she was willing to take that risk and tell Shining how she felt. However, as long as she waited, the colt didn’t show up. Cadance was sad to realize that for Shining, the Academy was never a good place, and that he would hate going to a prom and being with all those ponies who had made fun of him.

Just when the dance was about to end, with Cadance always alone, without having danced even once, Shining Armor finally appeared. He had fought with himself to go to this dance. He knew that if he went, he would simply be the laughingstock of everyone for going without a date, as well as always being the center of ridicule in his class. However, a strong desire made him go to the academy one last time. The desire to see his beloved Cadance. It didn't matter to him if he saw her from afar, or if she was dancing with another stallion. The only thing that finally motivated Shining to risk ridicule was seeing the beautiful alicorn.

As Shining entered the room, his and Cadance's eyes finally met again, just as they had the first day they met. The big difference being that this time, both of them slowly approached each other.

Cadance sighed with a small smile, knowing that she would have to be the one to break the ice, since Shining was too shy.

"Are you going to talk to me this time or are you going to babble again?" Cadance asked coquettishly, wanting to enjoy seeing Shining blush before asking him to dance with her.

"I love you." Was what Shining replied immediately, with a serious look. As if he himself hadn’t realized what he had just said.

As soon as Cadance heard that, she put on a shocked look, her lip trembled and she turned red like she had never been before.

“What is this!? I was supposed to make him blush, not the other way around!” Cadance thought, covering her mouth and lowering her eyes embarrassment.

"I… I'm sorry.” Shining suddenly said, embarrassedly averting his gaze. "It's just... coming here, I promised myself that I would finally tell you what I think, but... those words... came out of my mouth as soon as I saw you." He sighed then, and it took all his courage to finally declare his feelings. "Cadance, I know this is the first time we've had such a long conversation, but I need to tell you my feelings before this night is over. Since I met you, I felt that I couldn't stop thinking about you, as if a strong magic told me that you were my soulmate, that I couldn't be happy if I wasn't with you. For years I thought it was an impossible love, and last year, I thought I had lost my chance. But yesterday, when I saw you again, I finally got it. I know that maybe I'll never be worthy to be with a Princess like you, but I didn't fall in love with the Princess, I fell in love with Cadance! The sweetest, most tender, beautiful and compassionate mare I have ever met. And I… I know that maybe it's crazy and that I'm a nobody right now, but the only thing I can offer you is my love. My total and utter love for you, and only you."

Surrounded by a crowd, who had been shocked to see the nerd of the class facing the most popular mare in school, all the ponies burst into hearty laughter. They made fun of that silly stallion again who fell in love with an impossible love. As for Shining, just like in the academy, he didn't flinch from the teasing. Long ago, he had learned to be someone brave and strong, and his only great fear had always been that the mare he loved would think he was a fool. But not anymore, he finally realized that there was something that scared him more than the fact that Cadance thought he was a fool, and that was not seeing Cadance again and that she would never know what he really felt. He had finally declared his feelings and no matter what happened, that heavy weight had already been lifted from his shoulders, and he could look to the future with no regrets.

As laughter filled the room, they were dead silent as Cadance touched Shining's face and kissed him tenderly. Something that surprised the white unicorn, who opened his eyes in surprise, and then closed them and returned the kiss to that beautiful mare.

As the two of them kissed, their horns briefly touched and cast a great glow. Inadvertently releasing some of Cadance's magic, making everyone in the hall excited and blissful with each other. It was just a small sample of what Shining Armor and Cadance really felt at that moment, as their lips touched. Kissing and being kissed by the pony his heart had longed for. Kissing the soul they knew they were destined to love for the rest of eternity.

Since that day, Shining Armor and Cadance officially began dating, and anyone would think that since then everything would be much easier for them, but it was not like that. Being Cadance a princess, and Shining a royal guard cadet, both had to hide their romance. The news that a princess had kissed an ordinary stallion had become the most talked about rumor in all of Canterlot. Paparazzi harassed Cadance for weeks, trying to take a picture of her with Shining Armor. For this reason, both continued to see each other in secret, away from the eyes of others, so that neither of them would have problems or start false rumors that would discredit them.

Despite the fact that both had very little time to see each other, and that in doing so, they had to do it in the strictest secrecy, both managed to make their love grow day after day. Enjoying each other's company and discovering together how compatible they were, and how they were truly meant to love each other.

Shining grew to love Cadance, both as his princess and as his marefriend. He knew that even if they had different opinions from time to time, he had to obey her in any order she gave, since she was a princess. Even having to put up with hearing her fellow guards talk about how sexy Cadance looked, since none of them knew that he was the princess's coltfriend. For her part, Cadance also learned to love Shining's complicated side, amused when he became jealous when she told him how cute his little brother Dusk Shine was. She laughed at how jealous Shining got every time she showed him a locket in which she kept a photo of Dusk.

Those small problems were very easy to overcome for the loving couple, whose love grew over the years. They had fun and fantasized about what it would be like to have a family together, have many babies and live in a crystal castle.

“I don't know if I would like to have too many babies. Siblings can be a nuisance.” Shining Armor said one day, making a thoughtful face as he hugged his marefriend in one of the palace gardens.

"Hehe! You only say that because you're jealous of Dusk." Cadance laughed. “One, two, five, I don't care how many kids we have. As long as we're both together." Cadance added with a tender smile, kissing Shining. "Although for that, there is still a long time, hehe."

While Cadance and Shining were enjoying thinking about their future, from not far away, in one of the windows of the castle, they were both being watched by Celestia. The white alicorn had made sure that no guard approached the lovers so that they could enjoy their moment together. However, Celestia couldn't help but overhear the conversation the two of them had, and as she did so, she put on a sad look.

From that day on, for some reason, Cadance began to have less time to see Shining Armor. A distance that became enormous when, surprisingly, Shining was chosen to guard the northern border. A designation that took him completely by surprise.

Standing on the icy northern border, Shining continued to write letters to Cadance. Letters that were never answered, something that made Shining suspect that something bad could be happening between them. The colt investigated who had given the order to send him to the northern border, thinking that perhaps it was the old Captain of the Guard or Princess Celestia herself, who wanted to prevent him from being with his beloved Cadance. However, his heart nearly broke upon discovering that the one who had given such an order had been none other than Cadance herself.

After finishing his long stay in the North, Shining Armor finally returned to the Kingdom's capital and his first action was to visit Cadance in private.

“Shining… I-I'm glad to see you. I heard you got promoted to lieutenant! I hope your watch in the north has… been fruitful.” Cadance spoke in a much more formal tone than usual once she and Shining were alone.

Knowing that Shining was smart enough to figure out that she was the one who had sent him to the North, Cadance knew that such talk would be hard. She knew that after avoiding that moment for so long, he would finally reprimand her for not answering his letters and for staying away from him for so long. She perfectly understood the hatred that Shining must have for her at that moment, and she was prepared to accept it.

"Cadance..." Shining said with a serious look, suddenly crouching down and levitating a small box in front of him. He opened it and revealed a beautiful gold wedding ring. "Will you marry me?"

The pink alicorn was shocked. Her lips trembled slightly and she looked teary-eyed at Shining.

"Why are you doing this…? You know I've tried to keep you away from me these months. I've been distant with you... You should want to end our relationship! Why are you asking me to marry you!?” Cadance yelled with tear, realizing that her beloved Shining Armor still loved her, despite how cruel she had tried to be to him.

"I don't care if you send me to the moon, I told you at the Academy, you’ll always have my absolute love." Shining answered, still holding the wedding ring in front of Cadance. “I don't know why you sent me to the North, nor do I know why you haven't answered my letters, but the one thing I do know is that I love you, and I trust you completely. And in my time away, I learned that I can’t live happily without you, and that I want to spend the rest of my life with the mare I love.”

Cadance covered her mouth as she got emotional and cried even more. As much as she shouldn't, she loved that stallion with all her heart, and she couldn't deny it.

“I love you, Shining…” Cadance said with a sad smile. "And that's why... I can't accept your proposal." The mare ran out of the room in tears, leaving behind a confused and heartbroken stallion.

After that day, Cadance took a break from her royal duties and shut herself in her room for days. For his part, Shining struggled for days with himself, feeling anger, confusion, sadness, all surrounding a broken heart, which told him that without his beloved mare, nothing had meaning, not even life. Thus, it was one day Shining couldn't take it anymore and went to Cadance's room, knocked out two guards stationed in front of the doors and broke in.

"Why?" Shining Armor asked on the verge of tears to a shocked Cadance. “If you don't love me anymore, I understand. If I’m not worthy to be together with a princess, I understand. But I need to know, I want you to tell me! Why don't you want to marry me!?"

Having spent several days alone, Cadance had been able to calm her broken heart. And despite the pain still tightening her chest, she finally had the strength to be able to give an explanation to her lover. After all, he deserved it.

"Shining, why do you want to marry me?" Cadance asked, looking with a sad smile at her coltfriend.

“Because I know we are made for each other. Because we love each other above all things. Because I want us to have a beautiful family and have many children. And because I want to be by your side until the last of my days.” Shining Armor replied, finally breaking down and looking in pain at his beloved.

"That's why I can't marry you." Cadance sighed, trying to smile as her eyes filled with tears. “Shining, I… I can't have children. I cannot give you the family you so long for.”

At that moment, Cadance explained to Shining a conversation she had with her aunt Celestia months ago, just before sending Shining to the Northern border. Celestia had explained to her niece that as alicorns were immortal beings, it was impossible for them to have children. This was against ancient magic and the natural order of things. It was why the Princess of the Sun herself had not had children in her hundreds of years of life.

Shining felt an emptiness in his stomach. Not for him, but for Cadance. For years, they had dreamed of having a family, especially Cadance. She loved foals and ever since she was a foalsitter, she had dreamed of one day being a mother. Shining understood the shock and pain that news must have had on Cadance and understood why she tried to make him break up with her.

Shining approached his marefriend and hugged her tenderly as she cried. A bitter cry that the alicorn released when she felt the pain of not being able to fulfill her most longed-for dream, in addition to the pain of not being able to fulfill the wish of the stallion she loved so much.

“Cadance, I don't care about that. I want to be with you." Shining said lovingly as he hugged his marefriend.

“You don't understand, I'm immortal! Not only can I not have children, but I would also be condemning you to live a life with someone who will not grow old with you. With someone who will not be able to be by your side forever as equals.” Cadance said, feeling the true weight of being an alicorn. The curse of living an eternal life in complete solitude.

“Cadance, I told you I wanted to start a family with you, but it can be just us! We’ll be a family of two, that’s just as beautiful.” Shining said, caressing the neck of his beloved. “Even if one day we want to have children, we can adopt. That doesn't have to be an impediment to our happiness!"

"Shining, you-" Cadance cried, until she was stopped by Shining's hoof. Who stopped hugging her and looked her in the face with a tender and affectionate smile.

"And about having an immortal marefriend, believe me, it's not a problem that my wife is eternally young, hehe." Shining smiled, wiping the tears from Cadance's cheeks. “Please don't worry about me, I promise never to die or leave you alone. It doesn't matter if I must fight my way through hell and fight death itself. I promise to always be with you. From today, my heart is only yours, and it will never leave you.” Shining added, tenderly taking Cadance's hoof and placing it on her chest, so that she could feel his heartbeat. The heart that he now gave her.

Speechless at that gesture, Cadance shed a tear and tenderly kissed Shining. Deciding that she didn't care about the future, all she wanted was to always be with that stallion and give him her love for the rest of her life.

A few weeks after Cadance accepted Shining's marriage proposal, Celestia was walking through the halls of the castle library, heading towards the forbidden section. She was looking for her niece since she had been missing for days from her royal duties.

Just as she feared, Cadance was in fact there. The pink alicorn had ransacked the entire forbidden section of the library, having read hundreds of books and discarding them on the floor. Just at that moment, Cadance was reading another book, with her brow furrowed, since it seemed that in that book there was not what she was looking for.

"I guess you accepted Shining Armor's marriage proposal." Celestia said from a distance watching her as she kept her gaze fixed on her book.

Cadance didn't flinch at the alicorn’s voice. She just kept reading, turning page after page, frustrated that she couldn't find the spell she wanted. As for Celestia, she put on a sad look and guessed what must be going through her niece's mind… through the mind of an immortal alicorn in love.

"This is why I warned you, I knew this would only bring you suffering." Celestia said with a sad look. She knew how beautiful love was, but how painful it could be to imagine losing it. “Tell me, is this what you are looking for?” Celestia added, levitating some scrolls that seemed to be very old.

Cadance looked eagerly at the scrolls, walked over to Celestia, and began to read them. Celestia knew it was dangerous to let her niece read those scrolls, but she wanted her to decide for herself that it was wrong to use them.

“This is an immortality spell. However, even if you use it, you won't be able to make Shining Armor become immortal like you." Celestia said with a sad look, while Cadance silently read that scroll. "Turning a mortal into an immortal will only make you create a monster." Celestia added, her eyes full of pain as she remembered something from her past.

"It's not the spell I'm looking for." Cadance said suddenly. She returned the scrolls to her aunt and went back to the pile of books to find what she wanted. Celestia looked at Cadance in amazement. She had been sure that Cadance was looking for that spell to make her lover immortal, all to avoid a cruel fate that was impossible to avoid. But then…

"Cadance, what are you looking for?" Celestia asked without understanding what her niece was really looking for in those books.

Cadance stopped searching through the books, sighed, and looked down at the floor with a sad look.

"I know that alicorn magic is very special, so I am looking for a spell to transfer my alicorn magic when the time comes." Cadance replied. Then she looked up and looked at her aunt with a sad but determined look. “I will fulfill my duties as Princess for as long as it takes. But when the time comes, when Shining has to leave this world, I will leave it with him.”

Celestia widened her eyes in surprise. Then she walked over to Cadance and gave her a warm hug. That hug said more than any words she could say. What Cadance was asking for was crazy, but what she needed was not to be told, but comfort to support her in a difficult decision. As for Cadance, she understood what that hug meant and began to cry helplessly.

“I love him, Auntie. I… I can't live without him.” Cadance said through tears. "I didn't ask for this... I never asked to be immortal... I never asked to be a Princess..." Cadance cried, feeling that all her power was useless if she had to give up everything she loved and desired.

“I know, dear Cadance… I know…” Celestia replied, stroking her beloved niece's head. Fully understanding the frustration her niece must have felt at that moment.

Remembering the words that Shining Armor had said to her when he asked her to marry him, Cadance repeated exactly those same words.

“Shining… It doesn't matter if I have to fight my way through hell and figh death itself. I promise to always be with you. From today, my heart is only yours, and it will never leave you.” Cadance whispered, swearing the same oath Shining Armor had sworn. Just as the tip of her horn inadvertently glowed, releasing a magical spark in the shape of her cutie mark, a heart.

'End flashback.'

Back in the present, everything was in complete chaos in the main hall of the castle. What should have been a beautiful wedding had turned into the first attack of an invasion. And at the altar, instead of having a couple lovingly reading their vows; groom and bride were lying on the floor. The bride holding her dying groom, who was only kept alive by powerful pink alicorn magic.

“Hold on, please…” Cadance cried as she used her magic on Shining. She knew that no magic could revive the dead, and that Shining's heart no longer beat. But in the same way, feeling deep down, that Shining was still alive in some part of his being.

The magic to keep someone alive having their heart stabbed didn’t exist. This damage was too severe, and Cadance well knew it. However, what Cadance still didn’t understand was that what she herself used in Shining was a new magic, a magic that she and Shining had inadvertently managed to create. One that had managed to miraculously save Shining's life, at least for a few more seconds of life.

To create a spell, various factors were required, and without realizing it, Cadance and Shining had fulfilled them. They had both sworn a strong oath to each other. Both had released their magic by declaring their feelings, creating a unique magical bond between them. Cadance's powerful alicorn magic was able to make her desire to give her heart to Shining, making Shining's life tied to Cadance's, which helped him survive. All of this caused the two of them to create a new and unique life magic spell, however, all of that would have been useless without a curious and lucky accident that managed to complete that powerful life magic.

Inadvertently, Chrysalis made a serious miscalculation which helped Shining's heart not die immediately despite being pierced. Since before stabbing Shining Armor, the Changeling Queen had stabbed Celestia, and some of the alicorn's blood had remained on the dagger. Unbeknownst to Chrysalis, alicorn blood was one of the few elements in the world that contained ancient magic, with alicorns being the only living beings to have such magic coursing through their veins. That caused Celestia's blood to partially protect Shining's wounded heart.

However, despite all those factors in their favor which had managed to prevent Shining from dying immediately, the white unicorn was still slowly sinking into death, as his heart was not beating. He needed a spark to wake up, a reason to live, and that was what his beloved Cadance had to give him.

Oblivious to all the chaos that occurred in the real world, Shining's consciousness was in a lonely and dark abyss. One that grew darker as he fell into death and his very essence ceased to exist.

"Where am I…? How did I get here…?" Shining Armor thought in the dark as his brain shut down and his soul left this world. His memories began to fade away, along with his own being. "I… Who am I…?"

In that last second before vanishing completely, a very small but bright light appeared in the dark mental abyss into which Shining disappeared. Accompanied by a warm feeling and a sweet voice.

“You have to wake up, Shining. You promised, you said you would be with me forever and ever…” The sweet voice of Cadance cried, using all of her magic for her voice to reach Shining Armor. "Remember your promise, my love."

"Promise?" Shining Armor thought, already forgetting his own self. However, there was one last thing that he still had to forget and that he refused to do. "It's true… I promised… I promised that… I promised that I would always be by your side!" Shining yelled in his mind, finally waking up, remembering that he had a very powerful reason to live.

"I love you." Cadance cried in the real world. She touched the face of her beloved and kissed him. Right at the moment when she felt a warm feeling like she had never felt before, and both her body and Shining's body began to glow.

Meanwhile, Chrysalis took flight and hit Luna hard, who in turn hit Celestia, and both alicorns finally crashed to the floor of the room. With an evil laugh, Chrysalis looked up with a smile and breathed in again to eat the fear out of the room, ready to deal the final blow to her enemies. However, as she ate the fear from the hall, a very unpleasant taste filled her mouth. That taste was that of pure love, a love full of hope, strength and kindness that shouldn’t exist in this room.

Chrysalis looked down at the altar. There, Dusk Shine vanished the shield with which he had been protecting the altar. Next to him, Cadance was standing, looking lovingly at her coltfriend, who had miraculously woke up and was also looking directly at her with a loving gaze. Both Cadance and Shining were enveloped in a bright pink and white aura so bright that it blinded some of the changelings that were close to them.

"That... That's impossible..." Chrysalis murmured when she saw Shining Armor was standing up alive.

Meanwhile, at the altar, Cadance and Shining kept looking at each other, as if for a moment they forgot everything around them and there were only the two of them in the whole world.

"You saved me." Shining smiled, feeling that his heart was healthier than ever. His horn magically connected with Cadance's, and he felt magic more powerful and warm than he had ever felt before, beginning to grow within him.

"It wasn't me, it was our love." Cadance said, also feeling her magic grow and grow. She felt happiness and warmth in her heart that she could only feel by looking her lover in the eye. And that now, by recovering him, it only made that feeling stronger.

“I… I KILLED YOU!” Chrysalis suddenly yelled in fury, swooping down to attack Shining and Cadance.

Still oblivious to the outside world, Shining and Cadance didn't even hear Chrysalis scream and simply kissed. Showing their love, just like that first kiss at the prom, where they had discovered that the pony they were kissing would be their special pony for the rest of their lives.

The love magic that had been contained in Cadance's secret bloodline for centuries was finally released. Then a great magical wave spread out from the two lovers and spread throughout the hall.

The wave had two effects on those present. In those ponies that had been filled with terror and confusion, it made them start to feel happy and fearless after that warm magic hit them. As for the changelings, who only sought to steal the love of others and provoke fear, the magic hit them like a strong slap to the face, leaving them dazed and confused. And precisely, who seemed to hit the hardest, was Chrysalis, who was hit by that magic just before she could touch Shining and Cadance. Chrysalis to hit the floor hard and roll on the floor in shock.

Seeing Chrysalis fall, Dusk Shine saw that something very important had fallen from the Changeling Queen: her crown. He hurried to go to where the crown was, raised his front hooves strongly, charging them with magic, and with a strong stomp he crushed that crown. As soon as he did, it gave a loud bang that caused Dusk to be pushed and fall on his back. At the same time, a black smoke came out of the crown and formed a strange figure, making a very strange mixture of a scream of terror and laughter, a noise that vanished into the air along with the smoke in just an instant. As if the crown itself had taken on a life of its own and vanished.

After the blow, Dusk raised his head in a daze, not sure if the crown had really made a noise or if it had just been his imagination. He then looked at his front hooves and saw that they seemed to have been burned after crushing that crown, even though he protected his hooves with magic.

"I knew it, that crown had dark magic. That gave Chrysalis power!" Dusk thought. He felt that his heart was in extreme agitation after destroying that crown.

"What did you do!?" Chrysalis suddenly cried out in terror. She got up after her fall and saw how her precious crown had been destroyed. Then the Changeling Queen raised one of her hooves and saw how her appearance began to change. The holes that she had tried so hard to hide with her 'perfect appearance', reappeared and filled her hooves. "My power! Give me back my power!”

"You have no power here." Cadance said, staring at Chrysalis. All while her and Shining's eyes glowed white. Both of them were surrounded by a huge pink aura.

“You… what did you do? It… It’s impossible to revive the dead, there is no such magic!” Chrysalis said, glaring at Cadance.

"Love is stronger than any magic." Shining replied.

"Love? Don't make me puke! Love cannot save you, Love is useless, more than to feed on another! That's not magic!" Chrysalis yelled.

"You believe in the power of evil, hate and fear." Cadance answered, looking at Chrysalis and then at her coltfriend. “But you will never understand the power of love. Because you fear it.”

Chrysalis widened her eyes in surprise. She couldn't be afraid… She had never been! And yet, there she was, standing all alone, unable to move at the feel of warm magic, her body trembling for some reason.

"Fear? Fear!?" Chrysalis thought furiously, not wanting to accept that what Cadance said was true.

Then Chrysalis looked around her and saw how some ponies who were looking at her, who had already forgotten their fear thanks to Cadance's warm magic and were now staring at her with pitying eyes. Glances that made Chrysalis even more irritated. She was a Queen! No one could pity her! She was perfect!

With a growing hatred for Cadance and Shining, Chrysalis spread her wings and with a cry of fury she charged back at them. However, the magic surrounding Cadance and Shining Armor shone brighter than ever. Causing both ponies to rise into the air as they crossed their horns, and an even more powerful wave of warm love magic shot from their bodies.

When that new wave of magic hit the changelings, this time it hit them even harder like a heavy concrete wall. This caused the Changeling Queen and her soldiers to come out heavily beaten and shot through the glass ceiling of the hall. Shattering the roof and throwing all the changelings present away from the castle. A magic of pure love that hit them so hard, it would leave a mark on those dark creatures for life. One that would forever remind them that love is stronger than anything.

After the changelings went flying into the air, everyone in the room looked at each other, smiling and hugging each other. Just like the first magic wave, the magic of Cadance and Shining made the hearts of everyone present fill with happiness and completely forget the traumatic situation that they had experienced minutes ago, leaving fear and horror behind.

Meanwhile, Shining Armor and Cadance slowly descended, and their bodies stopped glowing. While at their side, Dusk Shine stopped looking at the couple and focused his eyes on the distance. For some reason, perhaps because he was close to the dark magic of the crown when breaking it, Dusk was not completely affected by Shining and Cadance's magic. He kept watching how the changelings had been expelled far into the air, and in doing so, his eyes widened in fear when he saw that a distant point managed to stop the impulse that had made it fly, and with a green flare, it went back down to the center of the city.

"It’s not over yet." Dusk whispered, knowing that there was only one changeling who could be stubborn and powerful enough to have forced her fall in Canterlot.

Dusk quickly took Chrysalis's crushed crown, which no longer emanated any dark aura, and hurried out of the hall.

“Dusk! Where are you going?" Applejack asked from afar with Spike and his other friends at one end of the hall when she saw her coltfriend run off.

"Stay here! I'll be right back!" Dusk said quickly. He burst through the doors and away from the hall.

For their part, Dusk's friends looked at each other, and they gave serious looks. They managed to overcome the happiness of the magic of Cadance and Shining when they saw that Dusk abandoned them.

“Ugh! When is he going to learn? We're a team!" Rainbow Dash huffed as she rushed along with her friends to make their way through the crowd to follow Dusk.

Just at that moment, another nearby mare, a yellow unicorn with red and gold mane, also saw Dusk Shine leave and watched carefully as the five mares hurried after him.

End of chapter 20

Author's Notes:

>>Chapter 20 References<<

-Canon references:

'Chrysalis feeding on love physically' seen in the official comic 'MLP FIENDdship is Magic #5'.

'Cadance's love magic to unite couples' seen in Cadance's past, 'Episode 25, Season 2'.

'Shining Armor and Cadance young, going to the same school' seen in the official comic 'MLP Friendship is magic #11-12'.

-Story references:

'Cadance babysitting Dusk, and Shining seeing her that first time' mentioned in 'Chapter 1, Season 2'.

'Cadance is affected by not being able to be a mother' when Cadance congratulates Mrs. Cake for her pregnancy, Pinkie notices that Cadance's smile is sad 'Chapter 7, Season 2'.

'Ancient magic' mentioned a few times in big story events, like in 'Chapter 20, Season 1'. It's also directly mentioned that Celestia is the guardian of ancient magic in the 'Chapter: Interlude'.

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Furthermore, to commemorate 1000 subscribers in DA I was thinking of doing something special, so the question is:
What new work could I do to commemorate it?

Link to the poll

& as always, many thanks to 'Scribe of the Nightwings' for his great help

Chapter 21 - The bitter end

View Online

The bitter end

Everything was in chaos in downtown Canterlot. After seeing hundreds of what appeared to be insect ponies flying through the air from the castle, being pushed by powerful magic; all the ponies in the city were stunned. However, after the initial shock, the vast majority of the ponies just shrugged and went about their daily routines with the certainty that this couldn’t be anything dangerous. After all, everyone believed they were protected thanks to the security that the Alicorn princesses offered them. Without even imagining how close the entire kingdom had come to falling.

When the ponies resumed their routines, it was that Dusk arrived at the center of the city. He had seen from afar how a green fireball had resisted the push of Shining Armor and Cadance's magic, and had fallen on the city.

Once there, Dusk began looking for signs of the Changing Queen or anything that could confirm his theory. His eyes widen in surprise when he saw what seemed to be a crater in an alley, surrounded by ashes. Then Dusk looked up quickly and saw that there was nothing in the closed alley.

“She’s here. But if she's not in the alley, that means I was too late, and she ran away.” Dusk thought with concern. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “No, Cadance's magic must have left her weak and wounded, she must still be around here. And since none of these ponies have run away, that means she's disguised herself so as not to arouse suspicion.”

Reaching that accurate conclusion, Dusk looked towards the street full of ponies and walked there slowly with a mischievous smile. He thought it was time to piss off her prey to make her reveal herself. Then Dusk began to speak loudly, so that everyone around him could hear him. Something that surprised the nearby ponies, who stared at him in surprise.

"Everything in the castle was such a mess, wasn't it, Chrysalis?" Dusk yelled with an arrogant smile. “By the way, you don't mind if I just call you Chrysalis, do you? After all, I guess without this, you're not even a queen anymore." Dusk levitated the crown that Chrysalis had been wearing, now battered and crushed.

Dusk looked carefully at the eyes of all the ponies who saw him, hoping to find some hint of hatred or resentment. However, the crowd around him continued to look at him with confused looks. Dusk understood that he had to be harder with Chrysalis. He well knew how proud and conceited the Changeling Queen was, and Dusk would use that to his advantage, hitting her where it hurt the most.

"I don't blame you for hiding, I mean, I'd hide in your place too." Dusk said, with a small burlesque laugh as he walked in front of all the ponies who were looking at him. “How much time did you spend planning your little invasion? Years? Decades? Centuries!? All so that it would finally fail before two ponies in love? Hahaha! You really are pathetic. And you called yourself Queen? I guess we can call you... The Queen of Losers! Hahaha!"

“AGHHH!” Suddenly a furious old pony shouted, lunging at Dusk from his back.

As if everything had been in slow motion, while in the air, the old pony surrounded himself with green fire, revealing her true identity as Chrysalis, charging her horn with a great green flame. Then Chrysalis fell on Dusk, and in doing so, immediately a circle of green flames surrounded both of them. Both of them disappeared, leaving only a black circle of scorched soil on the ground. All before the astonished gaze of all the ponies around them.

Those who also managed to see Dusk disappear were his five friends from Ponyville. They arrived at that street after following Dusk and saw how Chrysalis jumped him and disappeared.

"Where did Dusk go!?" Applejack asked, scared and confused.

"T-They teleported to another place." Rarity replied fearfully, recognizing that those green flames hadn’t been caused by Dusk's magic, but by the Changeling Queen.

While the five mares looked at each other with uncertainty, Sunset Shimmer had secretly followed the mares and dragon when they left the castle. The yellow unicorn only managed to see some green flames that disappeared as soon as she got there, but from what she heard from Dusk's friends, she quickly understood that Chrysalis had somehow resisted Cadance's magic and confronted the colt.

"Chrysalis couldn't have taken Dusk anywhere."Sunset thought, quickly realizing that Chrysalis must have been weak and that she must have taken Dusk to a nearby and safe place that she knew well. It was then that Sunset opened her eyes wide upon discovering where Chrysalis should have taken Dusk. "But, even if she took Dusk 'there', how am I supposed to get there to help him?"

“Sunset Shimmer.” A voice said suddenly, snapping Sunset out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw that it was Fluttershy. Who, along with her other friends, realized that Sunset had followed them. "You... do you know where Dusk could be?"

Sunset was surprised by the shy mare’s question and noticed that all of Dusk's friends were looking at her. They were putting aside their resentment towards her in order to be able to unite to help Dusk.

"I... I'm sorry, I don't know where he can be." Sunset replied and looked away in slight annoyance.

“Just because I asked for your help in fighting changelings doesn't mean we're friends.” Sunset thought with a worried look. For a moment, the selfish mare of her past was starting to bubble up to the surface again.

As she averted her gaze, Sunset looked at the circle of ashes left by Chrysalis's magic when she disappeared. Then her eyes widened in surprise upon finally discovering how to get to where Dusk was.

Sunset turned and started to run back to the castle, however, something stopped her. An internal fight that she had at that precise moment herself, her old personality against the new personality that was being forged in herself.

"Leave now! If you go alone to help Dusk, all the glory will be yours!" The former Sunset yelled in her mind. “You’ll win Dusk's heart again. This is your chance!”

"They are Dusk's friends, and they are as worried and scared about him as you are." Another voice pleaded, the one who had been Cadance's student for the past month. “They also want to help, and more importantly, Dusk needs his true friends, not you! You must put your wishes aside!”

"You girls!" Sunset yelled suddenly, before running back to the castle. She looked at the group of mares with a serious look and a small tear in one of her eyes, product of the decision she had made. “Follow me and keep up! I won't wait for you." The yellow unicorn huffed in frustration at the choice she had made. But it was the right thing to do.

As soon as Sunset started to run, the five mares put on serious looks and followed her without hesitation. As if for a second they had perfectly understood Sunset's heart. Knowing that above all, the most important thing at that moment, was to help the stallion they loved.

Meanwhile in the old Canterlot mines, Dusk was on alert and pointing his illuminated horn at the dark cave. Just moments before, he had been blindsided by Chrysalis and had been teleported to the Canterlot mines. Once they both fell into the mines, Dusk moved quickly and pushed Chrysalis hard into the dark. Realizing that he had made a terrible mistake, Dusk quickly lit his horn towards where he had pushed Chrysalis, but it was too late. The darkness of the cave provided the Changeling Queen with the perfect hiding place. In this way, it was Dusk who was now cornered, knowing that the cunning and deadly Chrysalis could attack him from behind if he wasn't careful.

Dusk quickly got into a defensive position, lit up his horn threateningly and waited for Chrysalis's attack. However, no matter how long he waited, the Changing Queen didn’t attack him. He then heard Chrysalis laugh not far from where he was. He knew he could be walking into a trap, but he also didn’t have much other choice. He proceeded towards the source of the laugh with the upmost of caution.

"You’ve noticed, haven’t you?" Chrysalis's voice echoed in the cave. The stallion was unable to distinguish where Chrysalis's voice came from. “No one will look for you here, no one knows you are here. Very soon, I’ll sink my fangs into your neck, and this place will become your grave.” Chrysalis added in a cruelly satisfied voice.

"You trying to scare me? Feed of my fear?" Dusk called out, trying to appear calm. “You're weak, right? You need to regain your strength, that's why you got me here."

Chrysalis didn’t answer. Instead, she simply laughed ominously, causing Dusk to get a shiver down his spine.

"Why are you doing this? Why attack Equestria? Why feed on the love of ponies?" Dusk said, deciding to appeal to reason. “We can help your kind, find another way to feed themselves and coexist. Together we can be stronger. Changelings and ponies can be friends." Dusk added, with a small spark of hope. Remembering how they had even managed to reach the heart of Nightmare Moon by appealing to friendship.

Chrysalis simply laughed. Not with a cruel or intimidating laugh, but as if what Dusk said had genuinely amused her a lot.

"Hahaha! Do you think I do this for my brood? Those dirty insects that only live to serve me, Hahaha! No... I don't care about them at all, let all those weak insects rot. They only serve to help me achieve my ends.” Chrysalis laughed from the dark. “I steal love from ponies and turn it into fear because I enjoy it!! I enjoy cheating and lying! Everyone give me their trust and I stab them in the back. Seeing their suffering and pain, It's what I was born to do! That’s my nature! Hahaha!"

With Chrysalis's laugh, Dusk lowered his gaze slightly with disappointment and fear. The creature with whom he spoke had no salvation. Everything Chrysalis had done hadn't been to help her subjects, it hadn't been to feed herself, it hadn't been for revenge. Everything that had happened at the wedding, the injuries, the fear, the assassination attempt on Shining, had all been just because that creature enjoyed deceiving and hurting. A heart born of darkness that would never see the light.

Faced with that brief moment of doubt on Dusk, Chrysalis suddenly jumped out of the darkness and pounced on him again. Dusk fell on his back and again pushed Chrysalis, only this time, the Changeling Queen didn’t fly away, but only managed to be pushed a few steps in front of Dusk.

Dusk quickly stood up and prepared to launch a magical attack. However, to his surprise, he was unable to cast any spells. In fact, the light that he used on his horn to illuminate his surroundings began to dim rapidly. It was then that Dusk touched his neck and realized that he was now wearing a kind of stone necklace. One that Chrysalis had put on him when she lunged at him.

“It's the necklace I put on Celestia. It's cracked, but it's still works... It's what I've been looking for all this time.” Chrysalis said with a cruel smile. She approached Dusk while he tried to understand why he couldn't use magic. Chrysalis hit him hard in the face, causing him to fall hard to the ground.

With Dusk stunned on the ground, Chrysalis lunged again, hitting him with her strong chitin hooves while Dusk tried to protect himself. Chrysalis laughed maniacally as she savored the fear that emanated from Dusk as she beat the crap out of the pony who had dared to mock her and destroy her precious crown.

"S-She's not using her magic…" Dusk struggled to think as he was pummeled. “She is weaker than I thought.”

With that little glimmer of hope, realizing that they were on equal terms and that everything would be resolved through a simple physical fight. Dusk put all his strength into his rear hooves. He imagined kicking an apple tree like he had seen his marefriend do a hundred times. Chrysalis was catapulted of the colt with a great pain in her stomach.

"Don't think that because I can’t use magic, I won't be able to fight." Dusk said, getting up and wiping his bloody lip. “I’ve practiced my kicks by hitting hundreds of apple trees. I’ll make your armor crack." Dusk added with a smile full of confidence.

Getting up with pain after the strong blow that Dusk gave her in her abdomen, Chrysalis stared at Dusk with hatred. And at that moment, seeing Dusk's smile full of confidence, a slight tremor ran through the changeling's back. The pony in front of her felt no fear at all, even though he couldn't use magic, even though he was alone, even though she had hit him with all her might. In that instant, Chrysalis, for the second time in her life, just on the same day, felt fear again.

Before she could react, Dusk launched himself at Chrysalis, hitting her hard. Then Chrysalis forced herself to overcome her hatred before her fear and hit Dusk back. The two traded blow after blow in what could only be described as a simple, bare-hoof brawl.

Chrysalis continued hitting Dusk randomly, feeling frustrated that the colt was still standing. That being said, Dusk's body could barely continue to resist Chrysalis's strong blows. However, unlike Chrysalis, Dusk didn't throw random punches. He focused on repeatedly punching Chrysalis's abdomen. Right where he had hit her with all his might with his kick. The changeling slowly began to bend over due to the pain and Dusk began to take the lead in the fight.

Dusk took advantage of the opportunity and this time it was his turn to pouncing on top of Chrysalis. Then, just as the Changeling Queen did with him before, Dusk began to cover Chrysalis's face with blows to knockher out as soon as possible. It was at that moment, after a series of blows to her face, that Chrysalis finally dropped her hooves tiredly, leaving herself at the absolute mercy of Dusk.

Seeing his opportunity, Dusk raised both front hooves high to give Chrysalis one last and accurate blow. However, at that precise moment, Chrysalis used the last of her changeling magic to transform herself into a perfect of Applejack, her face bloody and beaten.

"Dusk... Please..." 'Applejack' begged the lavender stallion.

Dusk stopped at the sudden transformation. He knew that she wasn’t his real marefriend and that this was just to distract him and could cost him his life. However, seeing his marefriend so beaten was such a shocking image that it made Dusk hesitate for a second.

That second of doubt was all Chrysalis needed. She took advantage of it, pushing Dusk hard with her hooves and launching herself at him with her winning card. The weapon that she had kept as a last resort, her golden dagger, to attack Dusk when he was most unprepared.

After Dusk was pushed, he saw how 'Applejack' jumped on him with the weapon, transforming back into Chrysalis. He was barely able to stop Chrysalis's hooves, pointing the edge of the dagger directly at Dusk's chest.

For several seconds, they both stood still sans their trembling hooves. Dusk concentrated on holding the daggar back so that it would sink deep into his chest and pierce his heart.

"It's ironic, right? Two brothers pierced by the same dagger, hahaha!” Chrysalis laughed cruelly and put all the weight of her body to push the dagger on Dusk.

The stallion’s heart was beating erratically from life-threatening fear. However, that fear turned to anger as Dusk was reminded of what happened to his brother on the alter.

"AGHH!" Dusk yelled with pain in his chest. A spark flew from his horn, and the necklace he was wearing to cracked again, breaking and falling to the ground.

Chrysalis was pushed forward and dropped her dagger. She stared at Dusk in shock, seeing that somehow he had managed to break the anti-magic necklace.

“Even Celestia couldn't break the necklace… Wait! The necklace was already cracked after Celestia broke free of it. It's not a big deal… But still…” Chrysalis’s mind raced as she tried to figure out how a simple unicorn was able to accomplish such an impossible feat.

For his part, Dusk was left very dizzy and completely defenseless from the magical outburst. He slowly got to his hooves and tried to use magic. But his dizziness was so intense that everything around him spun. Furthermore, even though he was no longer wearing the necklace, it seemed that all of his magic had been used up upon breaking free. The changeling noticed how dizzy and fatigued the colt was, leaving him as easy prey.

"DUSK!" Several voices suddenly shouted.

For a second, Chrysalis freaked out, thinking that somehow the alicorn princesses had found her. However, she was relieved when she saw that those who had arrived were nothing more than Dusk Shine's clumsy friends from Ponyville.

A few moments before after arriving back at the castle, guided by Sunset Shimmer led them to the castle infirmary. There, she told them that she had seen Dusk appear from the arcane circle after escaping from the mines below Canterlot. The mare was able to use the arcane circle to teleport them all to the other circle. Once there, they all hurried to look for Dusk.

“Hehe… And here I thought that there was an actual threat arriving! Instead, it was the main banquet.” Chrysalis laughed, running her tongue over her lip. With Dusk weak, it would be so easy to trick those mares and steal their love to regain her lost power.

"They’re all I need to defeat you." Dusk said as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy kept him steady. Even weak and dizzy, the colt was confident that with his friends there, it was impossible to lose to evil.

Despite being magically exhausted, Dusk closed his eyes and concentrated his mind, as if he were invoking his magic. The only difference was that he didn't recite any spells in his mind, rather he concentrated on remembering how he felt the times he used magic together with his friends. Like the time they saved Princess Luna from Nightmare Moon, the time they were saved from the Ursa attack on Ponyville, and the time they earned their cutie marks. In all those times, Dusk had obtained magic from another magical source, and now, by having all his friends there with him, ready to sacrifice themselves to defend each other, Dusk once again felt that connection and that magic.

"It's the magic of friendship..." Dusk said, managing to recall all those experiences and feelings towards his friends. At the same time he felt an internal heat, which made his internal magic grow and grow.

Dusk's eyes began to shine as he felt the magic returning to him, surrounded by the ponies he loved the most. He slowly realized that he was using the same spell that Cadance and Shining had used in the castle. A new magic that formed and grew based on the mutual feelings felt by the ponies who invoked it. Dusk had only needed a spark to ignite it, and that spark had always been his friends. Friendship was the spark, and love made it grow.

"It's like the magic Cadance and Shining wielded."Dusk thought as his magic grew, surrounding him and his friends with a warm and brilliant white aura. “The magic of friendship….of love.”

“No… Not that dark magic again!” Chrysalis yelled in shock as she witnessed Dusk had somehow managed to invoke a magic very similar to the one that Cadance had invoked to expel her army.

"It's not dark magic, maybe it's not even magic... I think it's just sharing the love and happiness you feel inside." Dusk said with his bright eyes, while the aura that surrounded him and his friends slowly compressed, becoming smaller but brighter. “It's just like Shining said, changelings don't understand true feelings and true love. That's why your body rejects love, because in your heart you refuse to really accept it, and you never will."

With his feelings of love revealing themselves physically as magic, Dusk remembered how Cadance used her magic to share her love and heal the divide of squabbling couples. Then Dusk used the spell and shared the love that he and his friends felt among themselves before directing it to Chrysalis. Finally releasing that magic, causing a wave identical to the one made by Shining and Cadance to be released from the bodies of the six ponies and spread throughout the cave.

That shock wave was less powerful than the one created by Cadance and Shining, but equally powerful enough to blow the Changeling Queen away. With a cry of rage and fright, the monster was blown back into a large pit that was on the edge of the old mine. Chrysalis tried to grab hold of the edge to avoid falling into the dark abyss. However, their own hooves were so exhausted after using them to hit Dusk that they didn't have enough strength to save themselves. With a piercing scream, the Changeling Queen fell helplessly into the deep, dark abyss. Finally, being completely defeated.

Dusk and his friends slowly stopped shining and saw that that dark creature had finally fallen into darkness. They all hugged each other, filled with the happiness and joy that magic brought after being used, just as they had felt when Cadance and Shining used it at the wedding.

The six ponies held each other and laughed for quite a while, all while the 'happy' effect of the magic wore off.

"Don’t ever try to leave in the dust again like that, you handsome dumbass.” Rainbow smiled and gave the colt a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Sorry." Dusk laughed, rubbing his shoulder. At that moment, he felt happy not because of the magic used, but because of having his dear friends with him.

Dusk's friends slowly stopped hugging him, all except for one. Dusk looked under his head and was surprised to see that the mare was crying. That mare was his marefriend.

"Dusk... forgive me." Applejack cried. “I would never cheat on you or hurt you.”

For a second, Dusk didn't understand what Applejack was referring to. But after a few seconds, he realized she must have saw how Chrysalis disguised herself as her to deceive him and thus attack him.

"Don't worry, I know the real you would never hurt me." Dusk said tenderly, caressing his marefriend's head while she vents her sorrow.

While Dusk comforted his marefriend, from afar, Sunset Shimmer looked at the six ponies. She had brought Dusk's friends to him, and although she would have loved to go with Dusk when they arrived, she knew that she had to stay hidden,\ for Dusk's own good. Furthermore, she had understood and verified that what Dusk needed at that moment was not from her, but from his friends from Ponyville.

With a sad look, Sunset Shimmer pulled her hood back over her head, and walked away. Giving Dusk space to be with his TRUE friends.

After leaving the Canterlot mines and returning to the castle, Dusk and his friends met up with Cadance again. To their surprise, they found out that she had insisted that they continue with the wedding for that day.

"This is our special day, and we won't let an invasion or anything take it away from us." Cadance said with a big smile with Shining Armor at her side. Then she put on a more serious look at Dusk. "Auntie Celestia put a lot of effort into opening up Equestria to the world with this event, and I think it's the right thing to do to show that we're a happy, united nation."

“But… do you think the guests will accept it?” Dusk asked, worried.

"See for yourself." Cadance said, pointing with her eyes to the rest of the room.

Dusk saw that the vast majority of the guests were still affected by Shining and Cadance's love magic. So everyone smiled and felt calm as if nothing had happened.

“Our love has revitalized them all. It's like everyone just walked out of a wonderful day at the spa.” Cadance smiled at her fiancée, who then smiled back.

Seeing his brother smiling so healthy and happy after having been on the verge of death made Dusk smile and open his mouth to ask him something. However, at the last second, he fell silent and looked away. Shining deserved to enjoy himself with his marefriend or his parents, rather than have a chat with his annoying little brother.

In just a few hours, the castle ponies cleaned the hall and arranged all the castle decorations again. Not as much as it had been before, but still, leaving with a quite acceptable result. In addition, Cadance herself confessed that from the beginning she had wanted a simpler wedding, and that she loved the new hall with the open-air roof, a gift from the changelings who flew out and destroyed the glass ceiling. For the same reason, Cadance wasn’t at all disappointed by the fact that her wedding dress had been destroyed. With Rarity's spectacular sewing skills, the white unicorn managed to fix a replacement dress in no time.

With all the preparations in place by sunset, Shining Armor was finally at the altar, waiting for his true bride. With Celestia officiating at the wedding, being on her feet with no problem, thanks to the magic of Cadance and Shining having also healed her wound. With Dusk Shine's friends serving as bridesmaids, since the original bridesmaids had been captured in cocoons, and had been either too scared or too confused to attend the wedding.

Because they had been encased in cocoons, the ponies that had been captured and replaced had been cut off from Cadance and Shining's love spell. For the same reason, most had chosen to stay in the infirmary and not attend the wedding. With few exceptions, like Sweet Creme, who was greeted by her sister, crying her eyes out as she recognized her real sister.

Unfortunately for Celestia, several of the foreign dignitaries also decided to leave after the effect of Cadance's magic wore off. Terrified by what they had had to witness in this place, the representatives of Caninia and Ornithia promptly left the castle. Whereas the cat representatives of Abyssinia had disappeared even before the wedding for some reason.

Curiously, the yaks and the griffins agreed to stay and enter into trade relations with the ponies. The old gryphons always respected strength, and if Chrysalis had won that invasion, surely the gryphons would have been the first to ask her to be their allies. However, seeing the power of Cadance's magic convinced them of the ponies' strength and that they were worth allying with. Something different went through the minds of the yaks, who decided to stay for the wedding because they never realized that something bad was happening. For it seemed that at yak weddings, there was always some kind of fight, wreckage and disorder.

The time finally came. Fluttershy led her chorus of birds into song, the doors to the hall opened, and the real Cadance appeared. She walked slowly towards the altar while her fiancé waited for her with rapt eyes.

“Hey! What are you guys doing?" Shining whispered to Dusk and Spike in the front row as Cadance walked towards the altar. "I’m gonna need my ‘best colts’ at my side when I get married!"

"Y-Your best colts?" Dusk stuttered with shock. "I thought you didn't want me to be your best colt."

"Well... Being on the verge of death makes you realize what really matters." Shining added with a small smile. “My family comes first, and it is something that I’ll never hide again.”

Without really understanding what Shining meant by that, Dusk gave a confused look. Then, seeing that Cadance almost reached the altar and that Shining didn't have any best colt by his side, it made Dusk and Spike hurry up and stand next to their big brother.

"Uh? Is that our uncle's buckle?" Dusk asked curiously, eyeing Shining's suit and noticing that he was wearing an old family badge on his chest, which was the emblem of his family. The same pink six-pointed star that Shining and Dusk had on their cutie marks.

“I told you, I’m not hiding where I come from or who my family isanymore.” Shining answered with a firm look.

Once Cadance reached the altar, she and Shining stood facing each other in front of Celestia. The Princess of the Sun began to officiate the wedding.

“Mares and gentlecolts. We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” Celestia said, starting with the ceremony.

"Princess Cadance is fine." The pink mare interrupted with a small smile. Celestia smiled at her niece’s humility in front of all of the nobility.

"The union of our beloved Princess Cadance, with her noble and brave husband, Shining Armor of the Shine family." Celestia continued with her speech.

"Actually, it's Shining Armor of the Sparkle family." Shining politely corrected his future in-law.

Celestia widened her eyes in surprise, then she looked towards the first seats reserved for the nobles of Canterlot, who gave shocked looks upon hearing what Shining Armor had said. Then Celestia fleetingly glanced at Dusk, she closed her eyes, sighed with a smile, and looked at the white stallion again.

Dusk gave a confused look, not understanding why his big brother had changed the name of his family. Then he looked at his parents, thinking that maybe they could be upset about that. But to Dusk's surprise, the only reaction of his parents was to see that his mother for some reason got a little nervous, looking askance at where the high nobles of Canterlot were.

After the interruptions, the wedding continued normally, with the emotional reading of vows, the delivery of the wedding rings, and the kiss between the two lovers. After that, Celestia gave a signal to Rainbow Dash, and the blue pegasus flew across the same empty ceiling at full speed until breaking the sound barrier and causing a vibrant and colorful sonic rainboom to appear, which was followed by a rainbow that formed over the castle, achieved by the particular wave of Rainbow Dash's tail.

"And here I thought weddings were boring." Rainbow Dash said as she flew, remembering everything that happened that day. “An invasion, an evil villain, a happy ending, and a sonic rainboom… Best…! Wedding…! Ever!" She could only imagine that mayber her wedding would be just as cool. Maybe 20% cooler!

With the ceremony done, it was time for what many ponies, especially Pinkie Pie, really expected... The wedding reception and party!

After the bride and groom's inaugural dance, Pinkie Pie was in charge of hyping up the reception. A task that was made relatively easy with the best DJ in Ponyville, a rising musician nicknamed 'DJ Pon-3', who gave way to songs that immediately livened up the atmosphere.

At the beginning of the party, and while the bride and groom greeted each of the guests, Dusk Shine took the opportunity to meet with his parents for a moment. Both of them had seen how their eldest son had been almost killed before their eyes, and had it not been for Cadance's love magic, they would probably have been left traumatized and fearful. For the same reason, Dusk didn’t want to approach his parents before, knowing that the only thing they should be thinking about was that Shining had been saved from death and that he was now marrying the mare that had saved his life.

"Mom... Dad..." Dusk said timidly, knowing that his parents must have had eyes only for Shining Armor at that time. "I hope I’m not-" Dusk suddenly stopped talking when he saw that both parents rushed to hug him.

"Sweetie, are you okay!? Are you hurt!? What crazy thing did you do now!?” Twilight Velvet asked as she tried to suppress her tears as she embraced her son.

"W-What are you talking about?" Dusk asked nervously, very surprised to see that his parents hugged him so surprisingly.

"Spike told us that you went on your own to face that creature in the old mines." Night Light answered after he stopped the hug and gave him a loving but serious look. "Besides, you haven't visited us for more than a year! You expect us not to hug you?" Night Light added, hugging his son again.

"But... Spike always sends you letters." Dusk mumbled with embarassment. "Besides... I thought you would be more worried about Shining than me right now."

“Oh, my sweet naïve son. You, Spike and Shining hold equal places in our hearts. We’re your parents, for Celestia’s sake!” Twilight Velvet said, reprimanding her son lovingly. "Shining has kept us up to date on everything that has happened to you in Ponyville... I know you don't like us hugging you in public, but to think that you've had to go through all those dangers alone..." Dusk's mother added, returning to hug her son tight.

Feeling the warmth of his parents' embrace, Dusk decided to shut up for a second and simply smile and enjoy his parents' warm love. He almost forgot how good Mom and Dad's hug felt. In addition, Dusk had a greater feeling of warmth upon discovering how foolish he had been to think that his parents could put one of their children first in love.

"That's not how love works." Dusk thought. A lesson that would be etched in his mind and remembered long into the future.

“I know you said that you were afraid that I had gone through all those dangers alone. But the truth is thst I was never alone.” Dusk said after enjoying the hug with a smile. “I always had ponies at my side. And that reminds me, there's somepony I'd like to introduce you to." Dusk added, turning around and looking towards the party.

Looking into the distance, Dusk saw that Applejack was talking with the castle's chef, apparently sharing some recipes given the success of the apple desserts that Applejack had cooked for the wedding. Seeing Applejack smile, Dusk also smiled and prepared to go look for her. However, his gaze was diverted when he saw that Rarity passed by nearby, gazing spellbound at the beautiful dresses of some elegant mares invited to the wedding, making a mental note for future design ideas. And as he looked at Rarity, Dusk's gaze shifted to Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be the only one who seemed to get along with the strange yaks, laughing along with them. Nearby Pinkie was also Rainbow Dash, who wore a proud smile as she was praised by two old pegasi who had apparently been notable members of the Wonderbolts in their youth. And finally, Fluttershy, who was dancing next to Spike, giving the baby dragon a quick lesson since he wanted to ask Rarity to dance.

Seeing all his friend put a big smile on Dusk’s face. He wanted his parents to meet his marefriend, but he also wanted them to meet his other friends. Because all of them had always been with him, all of them had managed to change his heart, and also, it was no less true, that all of them held an important place in his heart.

"Will Applejack mind if I introduce my parents to everyone together?" Dusk thought, with a thoughtful look. "It's true that Applejack is my marefriend, and I want my parents to know it. But it is also true that in my heart..." At that moment, Dusk was distracted when, looking up at the sky while thinking, he saw the huge moon that shone especially beautiful that night. Then his eyes lowered and looked at Princess Luna in the distance.

Dusk felt his heart move at the sight of the lunar alicorn, just as it happened with his five friends. He blushed slightly at the thought that perhaps his heart was more divided than he thought. However, those thoughts came to an abrupt end when he saw who the Princess of the Night was chatting with.

"It's... Miss Glimmer..." Dusk whispered. The yellow mare was still rather shy while talking with Luna and had decided to keep her hood up. A small headache-like feeling started to form at the back of his head.

"What is this feeling?" He thought. "I can't quite remember her face, but… For some reason, I feel like it's very important to get to know that mare more."

Just when Dusk was about to go to where the mysterious hooded mare was, he stopped when the newlyweds arrived. Cadance and Shining Armor had already greeted all the other guests, thanking them for coming to their wedding, and now, they approached their family.

“Dusk! We’re finally family now!” Cadance cheered, giving Dusk a strong and warm hug. "I'm lucky to be married to Shining, but I'm even luckier to be the sister-in-law of the cutest colt in Equestria."

"Hey! You know those comments make me jealous.” Shining Armor said with an annoyed look.

"Sorry, honey. You’ll have to accept that in my heart there will always be a place for my little Dusk." Cadance laughed, amused by her new husband's jealousy.

With the Cadance's new comment, Dusk put on a nervous smile, while Shining put on a very serious look at his lavender brother.

“He really is mad at me!” He anxiously thought. Until suddenly Shining lowered his gaze and began to laugh when he saw Dusk's nervous look. Something that greatly surprised the young lavender unicorn. Then Cadance stopped hugging her new little brother, gave him a small kiss on his cheek and magically made something appear next to her.

"You’ll always have a place in my heart." Cadance said and showed him the small locket that she carried with his photo when he was a young colt. The fact that Cadance had something like that made Dusk blush a little.

Cadance then approached her new in-laws, gave them a big hug and began to talk with them. Leaving Shining Armor and Dusk Shine side by side, both in complete silence. They had both wanted to be able to converse with each other all day, and now finally, both brothers could talk. However, now that they had the opportunity, it seemed that neither of them wanted to be the first to speak.

"Cadance always carries that locket... I guess I'll just have to get used to seeing it every day." Shining finally said as he looked at his wife and parents.

“I… I'm sorry. I didn't even know she had something like that." Dusk awkwardly said without looking at the other stallion. He then lowered his gaze with sorrow. “I'm sorry about that. I… I don't want you to be jealous of me for something like that. Cadance is your wife, and I would never see her any other way.”

"Well, a couple of years ago you didn't think the same, did you?" Shining said, looking askance at Dusk with a small smile. “I remember overhearing you talking to Spike a couple of times, saying you were going to be Cadance's coltfriend someday. I even remember you tried to grow out your mane because you thought Cadance liked long-maned stallions.” Shining added, unable to help but smile as he remembered his young brother's past. Dusk eyes widen and he averted his gaze in embarrassment.

"Uh... Well... I..." Dusk stammered, remembering that there really was a time when he thought he was in love with Cadance. It had only happened a year ago but seemed like a long time ago.

"Easy, I'm just playing with you." Shining said. Amused to see that Dusk was so nervous, but then putting on a more serious look. “It’s true that I was always jealous. It always bothered me when Cadance said how cute you were as a foal and that she always talked about you when she got the chance. However, that’s in the past. And not because I am now Cadance's husband, but because it seems that you’re already in love with somepony else." Shining added with a small smile.

Dusk was surprised to discover that his big brother knew more about him than he thought. The colt always thought that Shining cared little about his life in Ponyville. Then he looked back at the party and saw Applejack with her friends.

“Shining’s right. I grew out my mane in Canterlot because I wanted Cadance to like me… I wanted to look like Shining!” Dusk though as he remembered his past. “Then Princess Celestia cut my mane and sent me to Ponyville. And even though during all that time I was able to grow my mane long again, I didn't... Until today I realize that I never thought about growing my mane long again because I stopped thinking about wanting to impress Cadance... I probably kept cutting my mane, because It was more important to me that my friends continue to see me as they did when they met me. ”

“Yeah… I think I finally found out what it really means to be in love.” Dusk said with a small smile.

At that moment, a small disturbance distracted Dusk and Shining from their conversation. Not far from them, two castle guards were dragging a waitress carrying a camera. However, looking more closely, Dusk saw that it was actually a reporter in disguise, one that Shining knew well, called Nosey News. Who had disguised herself as a waitress to sneak into the party and take pictures without permission.

As the guards escorted a very frustrated Nosey News out of the room, Dusk lowered his gaze thoughtfully, and then looked at Shining with a worried look.

"Shining... Spike told me about the incident he had with that journalist when the changeling imitating me came to the castle." Dusk said, speaking slowly. “She said that no one in Canterlot knew what my friends and I did to save Equestria. Even my name was still totally unknown to most..." The lavender colt was silent for a second and then he looked worriedly at his big brother. "Did you have something to do with that?"

Shining closed his eyes for a second and then looked at Dusk with a sad look.

"Yeah." Shining Armor said with a serious look. “I was in charge of hiding your name so that it wouldn’t appear in the newspapers. And also that the deeds that you and your friends did remained as a mere rumor here in the capital.”

At that moment, a long and uncomfortable silence remained between both brothers.

"So it's true... You really must hate me a lot to do something like that." Dusk said with a sad look.

"What!? No! Dusk, I don't hate you. I wanted to protect you.” Shining quickly said with a fright. For the first time, he was nervous when he heard that Dusk thought he hated him. Then the stallion sighed and put on a sad look as he remembered his past. "I know what it means when your name appears in the newspapers. Being harassed by reporters and photographers to the point where you can't even be with the mare you love without someone spying on you. I… I didn't want you to go through what I did. I wanted you to have a quiet life in Ponyville, and that if you fell in love one day, you could be with the mare you loved without any complications."

Dusk was surprised. Then he put on a confused and unsure look. As if he couldn't be sure that what Shining Armor had said was true. “W-Why would you help me with something like that? You never cared about me before.”

"Dusk... I was dumb when I was young. I was a lousy big brother who wasn’t able to be by your side when you needed me.” Shining said with a hurt look. “When you were a young colt and got your cutie mark, my world turned upside down. To think that my cutie mark was the same as yours, only with a shield, it was as if destiny said that my only purpose was to protect that star, the star that you carried. To think that my destiny was linked to my younger brother was something that hurt my pride a lot at that time.”

“Was Shining as confused about the meaning of his cutie mark as I was?” Dusk thought as he remembered how he had also hated his cutie mark in part by thinking that it was just a copy of his brother's.

“Then at the Academy, everyone said you cheated the test to get into Magic School. That made me think that the best thing at that moment was to get away from you.” At that moment, Shining looked at Dusk with his bright eyes on the verge of tears. He could finally unburden himself and apologize for something he had regretted for years that his pride wouldn’t let him. “I wanted at all costs to prove that I was worthy of being a palace guard, and in order to do so, I distanced myself from you… I wasn’t the brother you deserved. I… I know it's late and you have every right to hate me, but I want you to know that I never hated you. I always tried to take care of you in my own way, and I always wanted to apologize and get closer to you. But I thought that our bond was already broken and that you no longer saw me as a brother.”

At that moment, it was Dusk's turn to get emotional upon finally hearing his big brother's true feelings.

“I don't hate you, Shining. I always thought you hated me. But now I know the truth, and I'm so glad to know that you did care about me!” Dusk said with a small smile. “It always hurt me that you didn't come up to me to chat or give me support. But deep down, I always admired you. I didn't just grow my mane long because I wanted to look like you. Sometimes I put on your armor to imagine that I was a guard like you. I even learned the shield spells from secretly watching you when you practiced them at home.”

"Hehe... Actually, I always knew you watched how I practiced my shield spells in the house." Shining said with a small smile upon hearing Dusk's kind and affectionate words. “Why do you think I practiced those spells at home? I always thought that as smart as you are, you could learn those strong shield spells to one day protect someone important to you. Just like you did today when you protected Cadance while she saved my life.”

With Shining's words of encouragement, it was Dusk's turn to smile. However, he quickly lowered his gaze and put on a sad look. Remembering what he had thought back then, when he had summoned the shield on the altar to ward off the changelings.

"It's true that I learned by watching your shields, but it wasn't enough..." Dusk said with a sad smile. "If I had practiced my shields more to deal with my problems, instead of practicing my teleportation to avoid them, I might have helped Cadance better."

"I never thought that your best spell was teleportation to avoid your problems." Shining interrupted. “I always thought that it was your best spell because with it you could get there before everyone else to help. Just like you did today! You were the first to arrive to help me and Cadance. If you hadn't arrived on time, the changelings would have attacked Cadance and we wouldn't be having this conversation... Dusk, you didn't run away from the problem, you faced it and saved my life!"

With this new point of view given by Shining, Dusk opened his eyes in surprise, understanding what Shining was saying. Finally breaking that belief that Dusk always had about himself, that he was a coward who didn't face problems.

His heart renewed, feeling that he had finally made peace with his brother, Dusk looked at Shining, and the feeling of giving him a hug took over him. However, his masculine stubbornness made Dusk hesitate to show such affection. And at that moment that Dusk looked at Shining, his gaze stayed on his brother's chest, where Shining still wore his uncle's old family emblem. The same star that they both had in their cutie marks and that reminded Dusk that he still had an important question to discuss with his brother.

"Shining... Why did you say a different family name at the wedding?" Dusk asked confused. To which Shining reacted by looking at Dusk with a thoughtful look.

"As the captain of the Royal Guard, I have access to many ancient documents and records." Shining replied. “A few years ago, I found some old files that indicated that our real family name was 'Sparkle,' not 'Shine.' When I asked my superiors for explanations, they told me not to mention that name and best to forget it because it could cause me problems.” At that moment, Shining paused briefly, and frowned as he remembered all the mistreatment that he and Dusk had to suffer in their youth due to classism in Canterlot. “I don't know why, but apparently the high nobles don't like our family. That's why our ancestors changed their name more than a thousand years ago... You saw their faces when I told the real name of our family at the wedding! For some reason they hate our family, and I think that has to do with it as well.” Shining added, pointing to his uncle's emblem.

Dusk lowered his head and also put on a thoughtful look. What Shining said seemed crazy, but the truth was that it could explain a lot of things. Not only the excessive contempt that both he and Shining suffered from the nobles of Canterlot, but it also confirmed what Dusk had already suspected for some time, regarding his family star. "Our family emblem has the same shape as the star engraved on the Tree of Harmony… What does my cutie mark really mean!?"

“I don't know why the nobles hate our family, but after almost dying, I found that I don't care what they think of me anymore. I’ll never again try to hide my family.” Shining continued, affectionately putting a hoof on Dusk's shoulder. “I told you that when I was young I hated my cutie mark for symbolizing that I had to protect you. But now I understand that it's not just protecting you, but what you symbolize... Dusk, you and your friends have saved the kingdom from terrible threats. You’re the sword that protects the kingdom! And I, I’ll be the shield that will protect that sword.”

Shining had made the decision to finally act how he really felt, no matter what others might think of him. He gave his younger brother a warm hug, one he knew he should have given many years ago. As for Dusk, he was surprised at such a gesture. Then, appreciating his brother's gesture, knowing how difficult it must be for his brother to express his feelings, Dusk smiled and returned the hug with a big smile.

"Awww..." Some voices suddenly said next to Dusk and Shining. Both brothers looked to their side and saw that Cadance and their parents were watching them with excited looks. That filled both brothers with shame, who quickly separated and averted their gazes.

“Both of you are so clumsy at expressing what you feel.” Cadance said, walking over and hugging both brothers. "And you both look really cute when you're embarrassed, hehe." The mare laughed, wanting to show Shining and Dusk that they were both more similar to each other than they believed.

Dusk and Shining looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes and blushed and lowered their gazes meekly. Their parents smiled lovingly when they saw that, after years of sustaining a tense relationship, their two children laughed and hugged each other again as when they were foals.

"Umm... D-Dusk..." A familiar voice suddenly spoke up. Dusk turned and saw that it was Fluttershy. The mare looked at him shyly with her cheeks blushed. “Spike went dancing with Rarity. And I… I thought that maybe… if you're not busy… y-you'd like to dance with me… B-But if you don't want to, that's fine!” Fluttershy added nervously. She had to use all her courage to approach Dusk and be the first of her friends to ask him to dance with her.

"Sure, I'd love to dance with you." Dusk replied, moved by the shy look of his dear friend. His heart was renewed with joy after finally making peace with his big brother.

After saying goodbye to his family, Dusk led Fluttershy to the dance floor, and they both began to dance. They didn’t go unnoticed by Rarity, who was precisely also on the dance floor with little Spike, who was gawking at the beautiful white unicorn. Fluttershy and Dusk's dance also didn't go unnoticed by their other friends, who put aside what they were doing or who they were chatting with, and also approached the dance floor. Ready to also take advantage of the occasion and dance with Dusk after he finished dancing with Fluttershy.

While Dusk danced and the eyes of all his friends were fixed on him, the eyes of another mare were also fixed on the lavender unicorn from afar. There, Sunset Shimmer looked at Dusk and his friends with an annoyed look.

"There's Dusk, the only pony that I can say was my friend... the only pony I've come to feel love for... There he is, without knowing everything I've done for him!” Sunset lamented, starting to get annoyed as she felt completely frustrated. “I’ve given everything for him! I love him with all my heart and for that very reason I have sacrificed everything! All for this!? So that he only has eyes for his other friends!? So that he can't even see my face!?" Sunset gritted her teeth, feeling like she wanted to scream with rage, anger, sadness and frustration. She felt so helpless to see how it seemed that fate didn’t want her and Dusk to be together.

Not far from Sunset, Cadance looked at her student out of the corner of her eye and felt how the yellow unicorn was filled with all those negative emotions when she saw Dusk dance. Knowing that because of Sunset's character, she could explode at any moment, Cadance quickly approached her student to try to calm her down. However, just as she was at Sunset's side, Cadance stopped when she saw what the yellow unicorn did.

Just as Cadance had taught her, feeling filled with fury, Sunset closed her eyes. Then she inhaled sharply, raising a hoof to her chest, and then exhaled sharply. As if with that big breath, Sunset expelled all those bad thoughts and calmed down. A relaxation trick that Cadance had taught her.

Seeing that her student had managed to calm her hot temper on her own, Cadance touched Sunset's shoulder and smiled warmly at her. Proud that her student showed such progress.

"You did the right thing, Sunset." Cadance said tenderly, knowing how hard it was for Sunset to see that the stallion she loved couldn't even recognize her. "You have to be patient. I promise you that one day he’ll be able to see your face again. And both will be able to be as close again as you two were when you were foals.”

"Huff... I hope so..." Sunset sighed with a sad look, having almost zero hope that what Cadance said was true. Since to achieve it, a miracle would be needed.

"Believes in me. I’m sure that together we’ll find a way!” Cadance said with great encouragement. "The time has come for us to start looking for a solution to Discord's curse, and for that, I want you to join us on our honeymoon."

Sunset gave the princess a confused and uncomfortable look. “Uh…I know that I’m supposed to be your student, but I’m not sure that I should attend something so…intimate.”

The Princess of Love couldn’t help but giggle at the innuendo. "The duties of a princess never end." Cadance responded with a proud smile. “We’ll not only travel for my honeymoon. We have business to settle in Northern Equestria.”

While Sunset Shimmer found out that that same night she would leave with Cadance away from Canterlot, on the dance floor, Dusk continued dancing with his friends. After finishing dancing with Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie hurried to ask Dusk for his turn to dance, something to which Fluttershy reacted by smiling tenderly, since she knew that all her friends wanted to dance with their stallion as well. After Pinkie Pie, Rarity followed, leaving Spike for a moment, who was then joined by Applejack for a dance. The fourth dance was Rainbow Dash's turn, who blushed and averted her nervous gaze, not wanting to admit that she was also dying to dance with Dusk. Dusk had to approach his stubborn pegasus friend to 'force' her to dance with him.

Finally it was Applejack's turn, but unlike her other friends, Applejack didn't approach Dusk after seeing that he was alone. Instead, Applejack kept dancing with Spike. She seemed to be having a good time, but the colt was confused on why his marefriend had not looked his way on the dancefloor.

At that moment the music stopped as the bride and groom began to retire to their carriage. However, there was one last event tonight, one that many mares, especially Rarity, had been looking forward to: the tossing of the bride's bouquet. All the mares present gathered in the center of the room and waited anxiously for Cadance to throw her bouquet of flowers.

Cadance threw her bouquet high, and as soon as it fell, all the mares jumped, fell, and swarmed to try to catch the bouquet. An uproar lasted for a few seconds until the mares got up and looked everywhere, without finding the bouquet of flowers anywhere.

"It would appear…that I am victorious." Luna said suddenly, with a small mischievous smile. She hadn’t been with the other mares in the center of the room, but had been standing nearby, but without launching into a fight for that bouquet because her dignity as a princess prevented her from doing so.

“She disappeared and made the bouquet appear when everyone lost sight of it in the chaos?” Dusk thought with amusement. Who, being skillful in magic, managed to notice a slight magical flash just before one of the mares in the center of the room touched the bouquet of flowers.

While Dusk looked at Luna, the Princess of the Night noticed that he was looking at her. Then she lowered her gaze to see the bouquet of flowers, she blushed, and looked at Dusk again out of the corner of her eye with a small smile.

“Oh, Luna! Did you grab the bouquet? Congratulations!" Celestia proclaimed, who hadn’t been attentive to what had happened, because all her attention had been on the twelfth strawberry cake she ate that night. “Now we’ll have to find you a fine young gentlestallion to marry you off to! Celestia laughed, without even imagining that her little sister had cheated to keep the bouquet of flowers.

While the other ponies started to applaud in the hall, still a little confused, not understanding how the bouquet of flowers had reached Princess Luna, there were a few ponies who suspected that Luna might have cheated, but to think that was ridiculous! After all, the Princess of the Night was dignified and elegant, she would never lower herself to do such a thing. While a few servants of the palace also guessed what really happened, but they thought the opposite, because they knew that because of her lover, the worthy Princess of the Night sometimes behaved like a foal. What really surprised the palace servants was that just at that moment Celestia had been distracted and was still unaware of what was going through her younger sister's heart.

Finally, the bride and groom left in their beautiful carriage, heading to the North of the Kingdom, which was a signal for most of the guests to also begin to leave and for DJ Pon-3 to start putting on the last songs of the night.

"Dusk..." A sweet voice suddenly said. It was Applejack, who finally approached her coltfriend that night with a tender smile. "Shall we dance?"

"Of course." Dusk smiled, approaching his marefriend and starting to dance with her. Just when the DJ started to put on some slower songs for all the couples still present.

"I've been looking forward to this dance all night." Applejack said tenderly and affectionately resting her head on Dusk's neck.

"I'm glad to hear that. For a second I thought you were avoiding me, hehe.” Dusk laughed a little with embarrassment.

"S-sorry. I… I didn't feel good about myself.” Applejack answered slowly, squeezing her eyes shut as if it pained her to remember something.

Although Dusk couldn't see his marefriend's face, he could feel how tense she was. That made him meditate to think what could be the reason for that.

“Is it because Chrysalis turned into you at the old mine?" Dusk asked. “Applejack, I already told you, it wasn't your fault. Chrysalis took advantage of my feelings for you to distract me.”

"I know... And that's why it hurts..." Applejack said with sadness in her voice. “It wasn't just in the cave. She also disguised herself as me to capture you in the first place… She… She used your trust in me to hurt you.” The country mare had a small tear in her eye.

"Applejack, you can't blame yourself for that. A changeling also pretended to be me, but the important thing wasn’t that they deceived us with their disguises, the important thing is that we knew how to recognize that those impostors weren’t the ones we really loved." Dusk encouraged his marefriend.

At that moment, Applejack stopped dancing and just hugged Dusk. She didn’t raise her head to look at Dusk and kept it firmly on his neck.

"Who we really love..." Applejack said, repeating the last thing said by Dusk. "Love... Never in a million years would I have guessed that in just one year I would fall madly in love with somepony... The stallion who is now my coltfriend."

“Hehe… Same here.” Dusk said, thinking of all the changes his life had since he'd gone to Ponyville. A silly smile spread on his face as he remembered the beautiful moments lived with his friends that year, and then he focused on his marefriend again. “A year ago, I never imagined that I would tell a mare that I love her. But now-"

"I know…" Applejack interrupted. As if she didn't want Dusk to continue with what he was about to say. "You don't have to say anything else, Dusk... I know very well what you feel for me, and I feel for you too... Today and forever." Applejack added, leaning her head harder against Dusk's neck. As if she wanted both of them to be stuck like this forever.

The song ended and the DJ announced the last song of the night. Dusk and Applejack remained together, embracing each other in a romantic and intimate silence.

"Dusk... This next one will be our last dance." Applejack said, keeping her face buried in the stallion’s neck.

“I know… I wish this would last forever.” Dusk answered with a small smile.

“No… I… I mean this will be our last dance… as a couple.” Applejack said very slowly, as if it hurt her to say those words.

Dusk gave a confused look. Then a strange chill ran down his spine as he realized what was really going on. That wasn't just a dance, that was a farewell... Applejack was finishing their romance.

For several seconds, neither of them said anything else. Both simply continued dancing in silence and hugging each other. Applejack was struggling to be strong, and Dusk Shine was struggling to put his thoughts in order, not wanting to believe what was happening. He knew that this was something he had known would happen, but still, he wasn’t ready to face.

“I know there are still three days left for the Mayor to formally divorce us.” Applejack broke the silence. "But today I feel horrible about myself, because others took advantage of my love and trust to deceive you... That's why... I... I don't know if I'll be able to do it another day... This frustration I feel with myself has to give me the courage to do what I couldn’t do at another time…”

Dusk simply remained silent, still stunned by what was happening. He knew that Applejack loved him, she had told him! She wasn't doing this out of hatred for him, and as much as she repeated it, she wasn't doing it because of what had happened with the changelings either. There was something deeper, and Dusk knew it well... Behind the pink veil of their love, which bloomed that month, there were still four mares that they both also loved and didn't want to hurt.

“A-Are you sure…?” Dusk stuttered, realizing the courage and determination Applejack had to have to say those words to him. There was a battle in her heart for what she felt at that moment as love, versus the oath they had made with her other friends.

After Dusk's question, it was Applejack's turn to remain silent. She just couldn't lie, and even though she opened her mouth, the words refused to leave her lips. Deep down, the sweet country mare wanted to say no, that everything should continue as it is, that both should be marefriend and coltfriend forever, and that she didn't want Dusk to stop loving her. With her body refusing to lie, the honest Applejack simply pressed her head tightly against Dusk's neck, at the moment that the music in the room played the last chords of the night.

As soon as the music ended, Applejack stopped hugging Dusk and ran away through the room. Leaving him with his heavy heart, seeing how his first marefriend abandoned him. After losing sight of Applejack, Dusk lowered his eyes, raised his hoof, and touched the part of his shirt where Applejack had rested her face. It was wet from the orange mare's tears...

After the party was over, Spike and the six Ponyville ponies quickly packed their things to catch the last train heading home. With Applejack going ahead to the station 'for some reason', and with Dusk Shine walking like a zombie, 'for some reason'.

Finally, the seven boarded the car that corresponded to them and got ready to sit down. The first was Dusk Shine, who walked clumsily and sat in the last seats of the car, looking out the window with a vacant gaze. The second was Applejack, who also walked slowly and sat in the first seats, also looking out the window, choosing the seat farthest from Dusk Shine's. All while Applejack struggled to stay strong, despite the fact that her eyes showed that she had cried, and it seemed that at any moment she could do it again.

The rest of the mares looked at both ponies, from side to side, and then their eyes widened in surprise when they understood what had happened.

Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had many times imagined what would happen after Applejack and Dusk Shine ended their relationship. They had all imagined running immediately to Dusk's hooves, just like when none of them was even his marefriend. Fighting each other secretly between laughter and annoyed looks to see who could get closer to their prized colt. However, now that it had happened, and they saw with their own eyes how two of the ponies they loved the most had their hearts broken, it was that none of the four mares could smile or feel relieved that Dusk was alone again.

Completely forgetting about competition, deals, and all things love, the four mares' spirit of friendship washed over them, and the four split up to simply sit with their friends, hug them, and give them a silent support while they went through this difficult moment.

“Did we make the right decision…?” The four mares thought at the same time. Starting to cry silently upon seeing Dusk and Applejack's tears.

End of chapter 21

Chapter 22 - Magic duel

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Magic Duel

Sunset Shimmer had been through a lot in her life. Being an orphan, she had lacked loving parents. Being raised by the cruel Archmage meant having very few and fleeting moments of happiness. And a rebellious and arrogant attitude like hers had made her deserving of very little affection from anyone who knew her. Yet despite all that, Sunset Shimmer had never felt more uncomfortable in her life than where she was right now… Staying next door to newlyweds Shining Armor and Cadance.

After arriving at the famous Neighagra Falls, the newlyweds had been locked in their room for two days. And having stayed in the next room, Sunset Shimmer couldn't help but hear 'certain noises' that the loving couple made in their room.

That first night, Sunset Shimmer hadn't slept at all. With her pillow covering her ears, and her cheeks completely red as she imagined her current teacher being with her new husband. And everything had continued exactly the same that morning without the newlyweds even going out for lunch. Alone locked in their room, doing what any couple would do on their honeymoon.

“When Cadance asked me to accompany her, I didn't think it would be for this…” Sunset Shimmer cried with embarrassment, hiding her head under a pillow after returning to the room that afternoon.

The yellow unicorn had taken advantage of that day to visit the famous falls but seeing that there were only couples in love there, being a very popular destination for newlyweds, is that Sunset finally ended up hating being outside her room even more, and decided to risk go back to her room. Fortunately, at that hour, it seemed that things had finally calmed down and there was no longer so much noise coming from Cadance and Shining's room. Sunset pulled the pillow from her face and stared thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"I wonder if Dusk Shine will have the same energy as his brother..." Sunset whispered. A thought that made her blush deeply, and she covered her face with the pillow again. "What am I thinking!? That…” A thought made all her embarrassment disappear, and her eyes turned sad. "That doesn't matter... Dusk and I are condemned to never be together..."

'Knock-Knock' Suddenly there was a knock on the door to Sunset's room. The unicorn quickly got up from her bed and forgot everything she was thinking. She opened the door and saw a unicorn with white mane and gray fur. In fact, it seemed like his entire body, including his eyes and cutie mark, were just different shades of gray. As if there was no color at all in his fur.

"Excuse me, is this Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's room?" That singular gray stallion asked with a look full of concern. "I need to talk to her."

“Uh… I'm sorry. The Princess is…preoccupied until further notice.” Sunset replied, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Please! Tell her it's urgent!” That gray pony quickly begged for help. “My name is Sunny Skies, I am the Mayor of Hope Hollow. Our town need her help.”

“I'm sure you can solve your own problems, Mr. Mayor. That's what you were elected for." Sunset Shimmer answered without flinching and started to close the door.

"That's the problem! I'm the mayor, but even I can't stand up to the great and powerful Archmage…” Mayor Sunny Skies said. Sunset stopped abruptly from closing the door.

At the word 'Archmage', Sunset froze and stopped hearing everything else that Mayor Sunny Skies continued to say. At the mere mention of the pony that had 'taken care of' her and made her childhood hell, Sunset flashed back to all those dark moments in her life. Paralyzed when hearing that title, which she hoped never to hear again.

"What did you say?" Sunset interrupted.

“I said that neither I nor anyone in the village could stand against the Archmage's magic. After all, the Archmage is known to be the most talented unicorn in the kingdom.” Sunny repeated what Sunset couldn't hear. "A few weeks ago, the Archmage came to our village and cast a spell that took the color out of the entire village, even the ponies that live there!"

“It's… It's impossible. It can't be the Archmage." Sunset said quietly. Lowering her gaze as her eyes were lost in a memory she wanted to forget.

"I saw it. They have the royal seal of Canterlot, and those high-level spells… No normal unicorn could cast them.” Sunny Skies added. “Also, that cape with stars… I've read about it. It is the symbol given to the most talented wizards in the kingdom, following the tradition of the famous Starswirl the Bearded.”

"Wait, did you say 'they'?" Sunset asked confused.

"Yes. The Archmage arrived at the village with a student.” Sunny Skies replied. “After our town lost its color, the Archmage left but the student stayed in the village. Now she is the one terrorizing the whole town.”

“The Archmage's student!? That's me! Did he have another student…?” Sunset thought, very confused. “No, wait! I'm forgetting the most obvious. There's no way he's the Archmage. Not after…what happened the last time I saw him.” Sunset thought, closing her eyes in fear and shivered as she recalled that memory from her past.

“Once a day, the Archmage's student challenges someone from the village to a magic duel. She says that if we beat her, she’ll leave the village, but no one can match her magic!” Sunny Skies continued with a look full of fear. “The worst thing is that every time someone loses a duel, she imposes a punishment on us. Now we are all forced to serve her like a queen without being able to do anything about it.”

Sunset Shimmer fell silent and looked down at the floor with a thoughtful gaze.

"Okay... I'll go help you." Sunset Shimmer finally answered. Looking at Mayor Sunny with a look full of determination. She was going to solve this strange mystery, which in a strange way, involved her.

"Uh? You? B-But what we need is a princess! Only a princess can rival the magic of the Archmage or its student!” Sunny Skies said in alarm.

"Don't worry, with me it will be more than enough." Sunset answered with a smile full of pride. Imagining the surprise the mayor would have if he knew he was standing in front of the Archmage's true student. “After all, I’m Princess Cadance's student. It’s my duty to catch that pair of imposters.”

"What? Why do you think they’re imposters?" Mayor Sunny asked confused.

"Trust me. I just know.” Sunset replied with a serious look. It was impossible for the true Archmage to be in that town.

Sunset Shimmer prepared to leave the room to accompany Sunny Skies. However, just as she was about to leave, Sunset paused for a second and decided to write a letter to Cadance. Not because she was scared or needed help, but Cadance was still her new teacher nonetheless, and Sunset's new attitude told her that she at least owed the pink alicorn the respect to let her know where she was going.

“Anyway, I doubt that Cadance will even get to read the letter...” Sunset thought as she finished writing, with an amused smile. Just when certain noises began to be heard in the next room again, indicating that the newlyweds had returned to the fray.

On the way to Hope Hollow, Sunny Skies took the opportunity to tell Sunset Shimmer a little about the history of his town. Telling her how before him, his father had been mayor, and his grandfather before him. The latter being a talented inventor, he built a small 'rainbow generator', which they turned on once a year at their famous Rainbow Festival.

“A week ago, it was the date to celebrate our Rainbow Festival. However, after the town lost its color, no one wanted to celebrate the festival.” Sunny Skies said with a sad smile as they walked. “Heh! It would be ridiculous… For all those colorless ponies to celebrate a festival called the Rainbow Festival…”

At that moment, Sunset blinked several times quickly and looked attentively at Mayor Sunny.

“Is it me or is he even grayer now than before?” Sunset thought, not sure if that was true or just an effect of the light of the place.

Finally, both unicorns reached Hope Hollow. It was a small town that was very close to the river that flowed downstream of the Neighagra Falls. Once there, Sunset widened her eyes in surprise when she saw that indeed the entire town seemed to have lost color with everything, even the ponies and animals, in different shades of gray.

“Here, I think it's best that you hide for now. Your colored fur will draw a lot of attention.” Mayor Sunny said suddenly and put a cape and hood over Sunset Shimmer. “You had better see for yourself how powerful the Archmage's student is before she challenges you to a duel.”

“Ugh… Are you serious? Am I doomed to always hide my face?” Sunset muttered with annoyance. “There’s no need to hide. I'm not afraid that impostor will challenge me to a duel." Sunset added, grabbing her hood to pull it off. For an instant, though, Sunset remembered her past with the Archmage and imagined the very remote and unlikely possibility that somehow the real Archmage could actually be here. And with that thought, the mare finally chose to stay hidden under the hood.

“Sunny Skies! Where were you?" An earth pony, with a large mane of wavy mane tied in two pigtails, and a cutie mark of two flowers suddenly walked up to the pair. The gray mare walked up to the mayor and gave him a quick kiss.

“I’m sorry I didn’t notify you of my departure, dear Petunia. I had to go for help.” Mayor Sunny replied. "Have you seen the Archmage's student?"

"Yes. It's 'that' time of day. Everyone is gathering in the central square.” The gray mare answered and pointed towards the center of town.

The three ponies hurried to the central square, where most of the locals were already gathered. Everyone had fearful looks as they awaited for the Archmage's fearsome student to appear.

"Who will she face this time?" A fearful mare asked near Sunset.

"I don’t know. But what else can we do? There is no hope of beating the student of the most powerful unicorn in the kingdom.” Another colt answered.

Suddenly, everyone fell silent when they heard 'Her' approaching. A mare dressed in a cape and hood was carried carried on a huge gold and gems saddle by four very tired stallions. Then Sunset peeked through the ponies to get a better look at the pony they all feared. At that moment, a shiver ran down Sunset's back, seeing that indeed whoever was approaching, was wearing a cape with stars. A historical symbol used by the high-level mages of the kingdom. However, that chill quickly disappeared when she realized that although it was a cape with stars, it was not the cloak of the fearsome Archmage.

“I've seen that cape before… But I don't remember where.” Sunset thought at the approach of the supposed student of the Archmage.

“Mayor Sunny, what did the Archmage you met that time look like?” Sunset asked, still watching the 'Archmage's student' approach.

“Oh! She was wearing a different cape than her student, but it also had stars on it.” The mayor answered with a small shiver. “She was a terrifying mare. And she must be, if she is capable of being the teacher of an already extremely powerful mare.”

"The Archmage is a stallion, not a mare." Sunset corrected. Which left Mayor Sunny and his partner Petunia very surprised.

Finally the 'student of the Archmage' arrived in front of everyone and put on an arrogant smile when she saw the fearful looks of everyone present.

"Very well, who will dare to challenge me today?" That mare said, full of confidence. “Remember, if you can match any of my spells, I will gladly leave this town. But if you lose… Hehe, well, you know what will happen to you.” That mare added. Looking askance at the four ponies carrying her luxurious golden palanquin.

"I-I'll do it." An old unicorn said suddenly, with a fearful look.

"No, dear!" The wife of the stallion said quickly.

"We must try if we want to save our village." The stallion said, patting his wife before advancing towards where the fearsome 'Archmage's student' was. As if he was heading towards his imminent execution.

"Oh no! It’s Mr. Hoofington.” Sunny Skies said with a worried look.

"Is he a unicorn skilled in magic?" Sunset asked, who had been about to challenge that mare right there, before Mr. Hoofington beat her to it.

"He's just a pastry chef." Sunny responded with a frightened look. “He’s just desperate, like everyone else. All he wants is for that mare to leave town.”

“Hehehe… Well, a new challenger. Let's see… What will be today…?” The supposed student of the Archmage said with a mischievous laugh. She then smiled wickedly and with her magic brought Mr. Hoofington's wife in front of her. “I think today I’ll try something new.”

“Let go of my wife!” Mr. Hoofington yelled in fright.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen to her. In fact, she should be grateful for what I will do to her… Let’s make her bit younger.” The hooded mare smiled wickedly and used her magic on Mrs. Hoofington.

After a big flash, everyone was stunned to see that Mrs. Hoofington had transformed, or rather, rejuvenated. Becoming just a little baby filly that immediately began to cry.

“A de-aging spell!? ” Sunset Shimmer thought in surprise. That was a very high-level spell. One that even she doubted she could do properly.

"What did you do to my wife, monster!?" Mr. Hoofington yelled in terror.

"It's only temporary, it’ll last a few hours." The hooded mare said, shrugging her shoulders. “But if you want to get her back right now, it's very simple. You just have to do the same spell that I did.” The mare added with a wicked smile.

Fearfully, Mr. Hoofington approached his wife, now just a baby filly. He then focused his magic on his horn and concentrated to try to reverse the magic that had been used on his wife. However, no matter how hard he tried, his magic was so weak that he could do nothing to reverse the powerful spell.

"Poor Mr. Hoofington." Petunia said, fearfully hugging Mayor Sunny. The mayor watch with fury and helplessness as poor Mr. Hoofington tried in vain to get his wife back.

"When she used that spell, I felt something strange... A strange magic." Sunset whispered and carefully analyzed what she had just seen. "Perhaps that impostor is using some kind of trick."

"A trick?" Mayor Sunny said, feeling increasingly furious with that mare who called herself the Archmage's student.

"Hahaha! It's useless. Neither you nor any of the unicorns in this town can match the power of my magic! Hahaha!" The hooded mare scoffed, enjoying the frightened looks of everyone present.

"ENOUGH!" Mayor Sunny suddenly shouted and stared furiously at the hooded mare. “I already found out the truth. You’re not who you say you are, you are just an impostor! And you only use tricks! Leave our village alone!!”

The hooded mare stopped smiling and looked at him seriously.

"What do you mean I'm an impostor?" The hooded mare asked, looking with a red gleam in her eyes at the mayor.

The mayor turned to look at Sunset Shimmer, so that she, being Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's student, would tell everyone the truth about the false Archmage and her student. However, she subtly moved her head, so he wouldn't reveal her identity yet.

“There is something very strange… something that I still can’t see. As if a piece of the puzzle was missing…” Sunset Shimmer thought. “The best thing is to remain hidden until I discover the truth.”

Understanding Sunset Shimmer's suspicions, the mayor turned back to look at the Archmage's fake student. “I… I went to Neighagra Falls to talk to Princess Cadenza.” Mayor Sunny said. Deciding to tell what he discovered, but keeping Sunset's identity hidden. “There, she told me that the true Archmage is a stallion, not a mare, like the one that visited us a few weeks ago. And if she wasn't the true Archmage, then you can't be his true student either."

All the other ponies in the town started whispering amongst themselves at the mayor’s deduction. They were confused about whether what the mayor said could be true or not. As for the hooded mare, she simply fell silent and looked seriously at the mayor.

“You are all ignorant. None of you know the true Archmage, much less know the name of her greatest student…” The hooded mare said with an arrogant smile. She lowered her hood and moved her cape so everyone could see her face and cutie mark. "...the Great and Powerful... Sunset Shimmer!" The mare yelled, showing off her blue fur and cutie mark in the shape of a red and yellow sun.

“Lulamoon!” Sunset Shimmer yelled in her mind when she recognized the mare that pretended to be her.

Some time ago, when she was still outside of Equestria, she had faced Trixie Lulamoon in a magical duel. She was a skilled but inexperienced dueling unicorn who traveled performing magic tricks in and around Equestria. Normally, Sunset didn't remember the names of her rivals, since she had defeated dozens of unicorns in magical duels. However, she remembered Trixie for her particular cutie mark of a moon, which contrasted with her own. The very moon cutie mark that Trixie had now hidden, painting herself a copy of Sunset's cutie mark instead. In addition to mimicking Sunset's cutie mark, Trixie had also copied Sunset Shimmer's manestyle.

“At least she told the truth. She said that 'Sunset Shimmer' was the Archmage's student, but… why is she imitating me!?” Sunset pondered. “And not only that. If she's the Trixie Lulamoon I know, how come she can now cast high level spells? Was the age spell some trick?”

As Sunset's mind filled with even more questions, she didn't notice Mayor Sunny staring at her in confusion. Meanwhile, Trixie, aka, 'the fake Sunset Shimmer', glared at all the ponies that saw her.

“You, dumb villagers, doubting my identity. For that insolence, you should be punished.” Trixie said, touching her neck as her eyes flashed red for a second.

In that instant, Trixie used her magic and a huge barrier began to form in the sky, expanding and beginning to enclose the entire town under a bubble. All the ponies ran to the edge of the town to try to escape from being imprisoned, but it was too late. The dense magical barrier completely enclosed the town, before the terrified gaze of all, who in vain hit the barrier to try to break it.

"That's the punishment for doubting the Archmage, and the Great and Powerful Sunset Shimmer, hahaha!" Trixie cruelly laughed. “Tomorrow, you can challenge me to a duel again. And so, you will receive another punishment when you lose again, hahaha.” The mare then teleported away from the audience.

After Trixie disappeared, the real Sunset Shimmer walked to the edge of town, where most of the town's ponies were now. She touched the barrier and saw how strong it was. “High-level magic again… How can she do something like that?”

"That Sunset Shimmer is a monster." A little pegasus filly said, seeing that now she and her family were trapped.

“She and the Archmage… Are all the mages in the kingdom this evil?” An old mare pondered in fear.

Murmurs about how evil 'Sunset Shimmer' was and how the Canterlot unicorns were all evil began to spread throughout the crowd. All while the real Sunset Shimmer stood motionless, listening as everyone now spoke her name with fear and hatred.

For a second, Sunset closed her eyes and wanted to yell at those ponies that she was the real Sunset Shimmer and to stop believing everything they were told. However, her new empathic side managed to calm her down in that situation.

“Don't worry, they’re not to blame. They’ve all fallen for a deception. Now the important thing is to know, why does Trixie want to deceive them with a false name?” Sunset thought, managing to calm down.

“I could get through this barrier, but…” Sunset muttered, falling silent.

"You could go, but you don't want to leave us, do you?" Petunia suddenly said while approaching Sunset and looking at her with a sad smile. “That is very noble of you.”

At the mayor's marefriend's comment, Sunset looked at her in surprise, then looked away in embarrassment. What the mare said was true. Sunset knew that everything that happened there was not her problem, and that the old Sunset would have left without hesitation. However, now she knew that even if it wasn't her problem, if she could help, she should. It wasn't that she felt an obligation to help, Sunset legitimately felt inside that she WANTED to help. And that change of behavior inside her shamed her because she saw how Cadance's lessons had really taken their toll on her.

"Now I understand why you knew that those who attacked the village were just impostors." Sunny Skies suddenly said, approaching Sunset and looking at her with a serious look. “That mane and that cutie mark… You are the real Sunset Shimmer, right?”

Once again everyone in the town began to murmur and looked attentively and worriedly at Sunset. Then the yellow unicorn lowered her hood and showed them her face. As she did, they saw that it was the same manestyle that 'the other' Sunset Shimmer had that had locked them up. Then the ponies around her began to mutter different things, some frightened mutters, some confused, and a few hopeful ones. A few hints of hope began to grow among the townsfolk slowly.

“If she is an impostor, and you are the true Sunset Shimmer, then you are the true student of the Archmage!” Sunny Skies said hopefully. A comment that encouraged several of the ponies present, who for a second seemed less gray than normal. "With your level of magic, you could defeat that impostor!"

“It’s true that I was the student of the Archmage, but that was a long time ago. I am now Princess Cadance's student." Sunset narrowed her eyes, as if something was bothering her.

Back inside Sunset Shimmer, her two sides were fighting: the old Sunset and the new Sunset. The old Sunset was fighting to be heard, and what she was screaming was that she wanted to face Trixie in a magical duel. She wanted to defeat her and humiliate her for taking her name. However, the new Sunset wanted to avoid conflict. A part of her told her that there was something more hidden in all of this, and to discover it, she had to be smarter than just jumping in and attacking Trixie.

"Something is not right. I feel like there's something I can't see…” Sunset whispered out loud. At that moment she looked up and saw that all the ponies in the town were looking at her attentively. As if everyone was suddenly pinning their hope on her.

There was Mayor Sunny with his fiancée Petunia, Mr. Hoofington holding the baby filly that was his bewitched wife, colts and mares of all ages, old ponies and many foals, all waiting to see what Sunset's response would be. In that instant, for some reason, Sunset's gaze was drawn to two little pegasi, a colt and a filly, who appeared to be twins. Seeing them, both sides of Sunset finally stopped fighting in her mind, finding a common solution. She could have a magical duel, and at the same time, perform a cunning deception to swindle the scammer, and thus perhaps be able to unmask the mystery.

"Mayor Sunny, you said that your father and grandfather had been mayors too, right?" Sunset asked Sunny Skies. "Do they also live here in the village?"

"Uh? Y-Yes, why do you ask?” The mayor answered with confusion.

"Because everyone will be part of the greatest magic show you have ever seen." Sunset replied with a sly smile.

The next morning, Trixie lounged in a large room in what had been the town's hotel. There, she made sure that everyone in town filled the room with the greatest luxuries, so that she could have the room fit for a queen, as she had always deserved.

At that moment, Trixie was in front of the mirror, retouching her fake sun cutie mark, since in just a few hours, she would have to go out in public again to challenge another unicorn in a duel.

"What should I ask to be given now as punishment..." Trixie smiled wickedly while looking at her own reflection.

Trixie could have sworn she saw a red glow in her eyes in the mirror. She quickly shook her head and looked back at herself. After staring at herself in the mirror for several seconds, she found that her eyes were still the same violet color they had always been and that it must have been just an illusion.

Unbeknownst to Trixie herself, her eyes weren't the only ones that had occasionally changed, her own behavior had changed as well. Over the last few weeks, Trixie's actions had become crueler, and she had even begun to enjoy seeing other ponies suffer with her powerful new magic. Trixie thought that this was a simple consequence of having more power, but what she didn't know was that there was 'something' that was altering her own way of being. Something that she wore at all times hanging around her neck and that was slowly altering her mind.

After verifying that 'it' was well hidden under her cloak, Trixie went to the window of her room to look outside and check that everything was fine under her powerful barrier. As she did, she stopped as her hooves collided with something. Crouching down, Trixie saw a small travel bag, the one containing a few items that she had managed to salvage after her travel wagon was destroyed in Ponyville. She hadn't opened in weeks since she'd arrived in Hope Hollow.

Out of simple curiosity, Trixie picked up her bag and opened it. In doing so, the first thing her hooves touched was a photograph. His father's photograph, signed with his autograph. The one that Dusk Shine had given her before she left Ponyville, whose back read: 'To my biggest fan, don't give up and always smile.'

'Your father was a great wizard, but I think he preferred to make others laugh rather than demonstrate his great power…' These were the words that Dusk Shine said to Trixie some time ago. Words that now the blue mare remembered and, for some reason, moved her.

“What am I doing? Did I lock up an entire town just to show my power? Why?” Trixie thought with a struggle. At that moment her eyes glowed red again and she radically changed her gaze.

“What does it matter! The only thing that matters is that with my new power, I would shatter Dusk Shine if I faced him again!” Trixie said with a look full of anger. With her eyes glowing red, she threw away the photograph of her father.

Suddenly Trixie widened her eyes when she felt a strange vibration in her horn. The mare went over to the window again.

“Someone broke through my barrier!?” Trixie shouted, quickly using her magic to teleport to where she felt that magical disturbance. She was ready to punish anyone who had dared to break her barrier.

Arriving at the point where her barrier was broken, Trixie was surprised to see that the entire village was already gathered there. With all that crowd, she couldn't quite see who had broken through her barrier.

"Move! Make way for the mighty student of the Archmage!” Trixie demanded, using her magic to move the ponies in front of her. Once it did, Trixie finally saw what it was that had broken through the barrier. Which made her jaw drop. "What is this!?"

In front of the hole in the barrier, there was a small cart, yellow in color with a red roof, with a small lilac sign that had her original cutie mark drawn on it. That whole cart… It was almost identical to her old cart that was destroyed by the Ursa in Ponyville!

Before Trixie could say anything else, the cart suddenly opened up and stretched out on itself, forming a small stage. Just like her old wagon did.

"Who dares to put a barrier in the way of...?" A voice suddenly said from behind the curtains of the newly formed stage. Then the curtains parted, revealing the real Sunset Shimmer, only now she was wearing a little costume. “…the Great and Powerful Trixie!!” Sunset yelled, who was wearing a cape identical to Trixie's, as well as wearing her mane styled as Trixie originally wore it. In addition to that, unicorn hid her face with a small mask.

Trixie turned red with anger and embarrassment, remaining silent for a few seconds due to the impact of that surprise.

“Is this some kind of joke!?” Trixie yelled with great annoyance.

"Who are you to say that the Great and Powerful Trixie is a joke?" Sunset Shimmer said, mimicking the theatrical voice she remembered Trixie using at her magic shows.

"I... I'm the real-!" Trixie stuttered before shutting up suddenly as everyone in the village was staring at her. So she gritted her teeth in annoyance and glared at the 'fake Trixie'. “I am Sunset Shimmer, the Archmage's student…” Trixie said through clenched teeth, forced to play along with the impostor who was imitating her.

“As I thought, she's going to play along to keep up her facade… Alright, we're going with the plan.” Sunset Shimmer thought with a devious smile.

The night before, Sunset had explained her plan to Mayor Sunny and her closest friends. A very skilled handipony named Torque Wrench was able to perfectly follow Sunset's plans to build a wagon identical to Trixie's. And a skilled fashion designer named Kerfuffle managed to create a perfect imitation of Trixie's cape.

“Well, she already fell into the trap. Now it’s the mayor and the others’ turn to act.” Sunset smiled, determined that it would not be her who would free this town from Trixie, but that it would be the ponies themselves who would free themselves. “Time to scam the scammer.”

"Oh... So you're the famous Sunset Shimmer..." The real Sunset said, looking at Trixie and smiling arrogantly. "Well then, the Great and Powerful Trixie challenges you, Sunset Shimmer, to a duel of magic!"

The few ponies in town who knew of the plan watched the real Trixie closely, waiting to see if she would fall for it. Curiously, that small group of ponies seemed to look less gray this morning. As the rest of the town, they also kept an eye on everything that was happening there. They had no idea of what was happening, but they expected to see that someone challenged the Archmage's student to a duel. For her part, Trixie simply lowered her head and smiled ominously.

"Fine... I'll show you my power, and then you'll pay for pissing me off..." Trixie muttered with a fierce look in her eyes.

Quickly, Trixie teleported onto the stage and smirked at the fake Trixie. With her ace up her sleeve, it was impossible for her to lose in a duel of magic.

"Well, what do you have in mind?" Sunset feinted disinterest. "Are you prepared to present a true challenge to the Great and Powerful-?"

"Shut up!" Trixie interrupted furiously. She was getting more and more irritated to see that imitator making fun of her. "If you want a real challenge, how about starting with a simple age spell?"

Before she could react, Trixie levitated a surprised old pony from the audience, who vainly tried to flee into the air. Then she used her magic, and with a big flash, the old pony rejuvenated and transformed into a little foal.

"Top THAT, 'Trixie'." The real Trixie smirked. “Although you don't even have to beat it. Just like I've told all these useless townies. If you even manage to match a spell as high level as mine, I’ll accept defeat. But you and I know that this is impossible, right? Hahaha!" Trixie laughed wickedly.

“Yaaawwnn… How boring. This is not a challenge for Trixie." Sunset faked a yawn and levitated someone in the audience. Who curiously, was Mayor Sunny Skies.

Once on stage, Sunset made her horn shine brightly and cast a beam of light at Mayor Sunny. As soon as the beam hit him, a huge flash of light blinded everyone for a few seconds. Once everyone was able to see again, everyone, including Trixie, was shocked to see that Mayor Sunny was now an old pony.

"That... That's impossible." Trixie was stunned as that mare imitating her had also managed to cast a powerful age spell.

Without Trixie noticing, several ponies in the audience started whispering among themselves. Especially the older ones, who knew perfectly well that who was now on stage was not really Mayor Sunny Skies, but his father, the former mayor.

To trick Trixie, Sunset had to imitate Trixie's age spell, but it was something so complex that even she couldn't do it without practicing first. Because of that, Sunset asked the mayor to bring his father to trick Trixie into switching places when no one was watching. And fortunately for the plan, the mayor's father was almost the same as the mayor himself, with the same colors of fur, mane and eyes. The only different was that he was much older and with a long white beard.

"An age spell is nothing." Sunset said with a small smile, deciding to gloat while she was still in a daze. “How about transforming a colt into a mare?”

“W-what!? There is no such spell!” Trixie said, slowly snapping out of her daze.

Without notice, Sunset levitated someone else in the audience back onto the stage. A young colt pegasus who feigned surprise at being chosen. Then Sunset shone her horn again, shooting the same beam of light that blinded all the ponies for a second. When everyone could see again, they saw that the young colt had somehow transformed into a filly. Identical to how he was as a colt, only with her long mane and subtly more feminine face.

"It’s the Barrel twins!" Some young ponies in the audience whispered, immediately recognizing the young pegasi who liked to do somersaults in the air.

As the murmurs grew in the audience, realizing what was really going on, Trixie's jaw dropped, unable to believe her eyes. Not even she knew of a spell to do what the fake Trixie did.

“I see I left you speechless, how about one more? Imitate this!” Sunset yelled, illuminating her hoof with a white light. She then stomped on the stage and a huge rainbow-colored lightning bolt flew into the sky from the floor.

As soon as the rainbow lightning hit the sky, a large rainbow circle formed in the sky, filling it with an aurora that shone with all the colors of the rainbow.

"It can't be... It was a clear sky, no water in the sky... Even weather pegasi can't do something like that!" Trixie yelled in a mixture of panic and frustration. The mare could hardly comprehend that this fake Trixie could do better spells than hers and touched her neck. A movement that Sunset well noted, noticing that Trixie had something shiny hanging from her neck.

While Trixie screamed in frustration, not understanding what was happening, the opposite was happening in the audience. Some of the residents of Hope Hollow already knew the mayor's father, others already knew the little Barrel twins, but what they all knew, without a doubt, was the rainbow light. As Mayor Sunny told Sunset, every year Hope Hollow held the Rainbow Festival, where Sunny Skies' grandfather's generator was used to light up the sky with colors. It was thus that all the ponies in town finally understood what the mayor and the real Sunset Shimmer were doing. Since they couldn't match Trixie's spells, they were tricking her into finally leaving town.

Admiring what Mayor Sunny and the others were doing, hope finally returned to the hearts of all the ponies in gray in town. And as they watched the rainbow-colored sky, knowing that the Archmage's so-called student would finally have to go, they all began to laugh and celebrate, just as if this was their Rainbow Festival. By doing so, not only was the sky filled with color, but everyone in the town finally stopped being gray and recovered their bright colors in their fur and mane. Magically returning all the color to the town.

“Now I get it… It was 'hopeless magic'.” Sunset thought, widening her eyes in surprise as she saw the town and the ponies regain their color. “Supposedly when a pony loses hope, its inner magic is affected. But this… It was taken to a whole new level! To break it, all that was needed was for the ponies to recover their hope, but whoever cast the spell made sure that the hopeless magic was enhanced by everyone being in the hopeless town at the same time. And more importantly, whoever did it, made the ponies lose hope day after day so that they couldn't find the solution that was in front of their eyes... Something so simple and at the same time so cunning... Was it Trixie who planned all this?” Sunset thought intrigued.

As the town celebrated having regained its colors, Trixie glared helplessly at everyone there. Then she turned her attention to the fake Trixie and her fury grew and grew. Just at that moment, when Trixie saw who was imitating her, it was then she noticed a movement behind the stage curtain, fleetingly seeing some hooves, a sign that someone was hiding there. Trixie widened her eyes in surprise, and in a few seconds, her gaze glowed red again, putting on a look full of fury as she finally understood how that impostor had achieved such impossible spells... It had all been a hoax!

"You... the only thing you did... was make fun of me!!" Trixie yelled in fury, her eyes glowing red. She used her powerful magic to break through the huge barrier that covered the town and summoning a huge gust of wind that violently slammed onto the stage. Causing Sunset to take cover and the ponies in the audience to flee.

Once the gust of wind passed, Trixie was able to unmask the fraud. As the stage curtains parted, she could see that Mayor Sunny and the young colt that had supposedly been turned into a filly were hiding behind it. Neither of them had been transformed with magic at all. It had all been a simple trick, changing places when the light from Sunset blinded everyone for a second.

With such evidence in sight, Trixie would have reacted furiously. However, something else caught the attention of the blue unicorn. The gust of wind had not only moved the curtains on the stage, it had also blown away the mask and cape that hid the true identity of the false Trixie. A face Trixie had nightmares about for a long time, a mare she hoped never to see again. The mare whose name she had stolen to intimidate that town.

“Sunset Shimmer…!” Trixie muttered furiously. Her teeth clenched and her eyes glowing redder than ever as she recognized the mare she hated the most in the world.

Hearing Trixie call her by her real name, Sunset touched her face and realized that her mask had fallen off. She looked up and barely had time to react, throwing up a shield to protect herself just as Trixie, in her fury, launched a powerful bolt of magic to attack her.

With the magic of both unicorns colliding and converging on each other, both of them could sense in a split second the spell the other was about to cast. So they both cast the same spell at the same time. With a great flash of light, both unicorns disappeared from the stage, leaving Mayor Sunny and the remaining ponies there very confused.

Not far from town, near the famous falls where Mayor Sunny had gone to look for Sunset, Trixie and Sunset Shimmer reappeared. Both of them had used the teleportation spell to leave the stage, and being both united by their magical attacks, they both arrived together. Sunset was relieved that she'd gotten out of town so no one would get hurt, but a little confused as to whether they'd come to Neighagra Falls because she'd thought of it, or because Trixie had chosen that destination as well.

“You don't know how much I hated having to use your name…” Trixie said with a furious look and used her magic to fix her mane to its original manestyle. The drops of water that came from the fall of the waterfall, erased the painting of the fake cutie mark and showed the real one. “Ever since you defeated and humiliated me the last time I saw you, I dreamed of this moment… The day I would exact my revenge!”

“It's funny… Cadance asked me not to challenge anyone else to a magic duel again. She says they bring out the worst in me.” Sunset said, taking the opportunity to also fix her mane to its original manestyle. "But in your particular case, I think I'll make an exception."

“I know I'm disobeying my teacher, but Trixie deserves a lesson for tormenting that town…” Sunset thought with excitement. Her old personality quickly surfaced though and she smiled mischievously. “Who am I kidding? I'm not just doing it for the town, I'm doing it for myself. I want to have a real magic duel!”

Just like Sunset said, when she told Cadance about her past and how the Archmage raised her by forcing her to face magic duels; was that Cadance asked her not to have any more magic duels. Since she noticed that Sunset loved defeating her rivals, and that feeling of superiority prevented her from feeling empathy towards those she had defeated. However, despite complying with her new teacher's request, inside, Sunset was itching to duel magic again. And now that Trixie was challenging her head on, there was nothing Sunset's new kind personality could do to control the competitive urge that had always been within her.

“I’ll wipe that smile off your face… This time I’ll defeat you without a doubt.” Trixie touched her neck under her cape and smiled.

"You have a magical amulet that enhances your magic, don't you?" Sunset said with a small smile at Trixie's surprised look. “I noticed in town that you touched your neck a lot. It's the only explanation for you being able to cast such advanced spells now."

“Hmph… As cunning as ever. That's why I hate you." Trixie whipped off her cape to reveal what she wore around her neck. A black amulet with an alicorn emblem on it and a crimson gem in the center.

"I have no problem with you using a magic amulet in the duel." Sunset said with an arrogant smile, not even looking at Trixie's amulet. “But only if you take it off afterwards. Some magical items affect the mind and-” At that moment Sunset fell silent and opened her eyes in surprise when she recognized the amulet that Trixie was wearing. "That... Is that the alicorn amulet?"

Without giving her an answer, Trixie's eyes glowed red and she used a speed spell to launch herself at Sunset, shooting a powerful magical beam at the yellow unicorn at the same time. As for Sunset, she barely managed to react after her surprise, and jumped away to avoid Trixie's beam.

Both unicorns knew that this magical duel was no longer just a show of parlor tricks. This was a battle, one in which both would attack each other with strong magical rays to hurt and incapacitate their rival. A battle in which no mistake could be made, else risk the life of whoever failed.

Giving Sunset no time to fight back, Trixie continued to fiercely fire several powerful magic beams. The yellow mare invoked some shield spells so Trixie's lightning bolts wouldn't hit her. However, to Sunset's surprise, her shields only lasted two or three hits before being destroyed. Forcing Sunset to teleport to save herself, reappearing not far from where Trixie's lightning hit the ground.

“That was close! That amulet is no joke. I think it doubled the power of Trixie's attacks." Sunset thought while panting. With so much dueling experience, it was easy for her to gauge her rival's power.

"What's wrong? Where did that arrogant smile you always had go?" Trixie sneered with an evil smile and her eyes glowing red. “The last time we met, you made fun of me. I still remember… 'Power', 'Concentration', 'Imagination', the three elements of magic. You told me that a 'Concentration' expert like me could never beat a 'Power' expert like you, but what do you think? With the amulet of the alicorn my power has increased, and now I am an expert in both principles!” The blue unicorn threw another spell bolt at her opponent.

Seeing that Trixie was attacking her again, Sunset decided to forget the shields and defend herself in another way. After all, Trixie herself had given her the answer. Sunset's forte was 'Power', so the best defense was a good offense.

Sunset Shimmer focused her entire being into her horn and fired the same bolts of energy at Trixie's beams. The magical bolts canceled each other out upon hitting each other with huge rumbles.

"You... You won't beat me!" Trixie yelled and charged as much of her magic she could in her horn for a few seconds, to finally launch a single but very powerful magical beam.

Sensing that Trixie had taken a while to charge up her magic, Sunset also hurried to do the same. Likewise launching a single powerful beam that collided head-on with Trixie's beam.

Unlike the other lightning bolts, these last two bolts were so magically dense that they didn't cancel each other out. Instead they pushed back against each other while the two mares tried to concentrate more power into them.

"You can't... You can't match me!" Trixie screamed when she saw that her opponent was able to keep up with her despite having the power of the amulet. The red in Trixie’s eyes began to flash in and out sporadically.

"An expert in 'Concentration', who increased her strength by becoming an expert in 'Power' as well... That's what a good duelist should do..." Sunset said with effort, as she was using a large amount of magic to prepare for her next move. "That's what I did too... The only difference is that I didn't use shortcuts!"

Sunset looked at the ground and, using her training to strengthen her concentration, made two small portals appear in front of her hooves. Which appeared near Trixie, one on each side of her. So Sunset did her best to concentrate to keep the powerful beam colliding with Trixie's beam, while at the same time, keeping the two small portals active and launching other beams through them to attack Trixie from the sides.

Trixie was so focused on just powering up her beam that she didn't see the attack coming from the sides through the portals created by Sunset. Something that Trixie never expected, as Sunset's forte was supposed to be empowering high powered spells, not casting multiple spells at the same time.

With the attack coming from the sides, Trixie lost all her concentration on her main attack. As she did so, Sunset's strong beam pushed Trixie's beam toward her. Trixie received her own attack back, hitting her hard. Luckily though, Sunset banished her own magic at the last second. In order to at least save Trixie from the blow of both magical rays which could have left her very badly injured.

Although Trixie was able to evade a potentially killing blow, she was left quite sore and bruised. Sunset approached the battered mare, seeing that she had finally managed to defeat her.

"Im…Impossible..." Trixie growled in pain, gradually regaining strength, but still too weak to stand up. "I have the powerful alicorn amulet... You can't be that strong, it's impossible!" Her eyes intermittently changing color between red and their natural purple.

Sunset approached the defenseless Trixie, lifted her cloak to see the necklace she was wearing, and with a strong yank, ripped the necklace off her. As she did so, small red bolts jumped out from the necklace and the red gem that had been glowing stopped.

"No! That amulet is mine! That… I…” Trixie whined but quickly changed her attitude as her eyes stopped glowing red. It was as if she had woken up from a dream and all of a sudden, all the memories of what she had done hit her full force. “I… I enclosed all that town in a barrier? What was I thinking…?" Trixie muttered once her eyes completely returned to normal and was frightened at how cruel she was.

It wasn't that Trixie hadn't been in control of her actions. She was fully aware of what she was doing in breaking down the poor ponies of Hope Hollow. However, only now did she realize that she in her right mind would never have acted in such a cruel manner. Without realizing it, that magical necklace had not only increased her power, it had also intensified her hatred, her pride, her cruelty... And now that she was finally no longer wearing that necklace, all the remorse, guilt and fear that Trixie had been hidden inside herself for weeks pounded hard on her heart. Leaving her nearly speechless and finally being able to understand how cruel she had been for no reason.

"I told you that magical amulets affected the mind." Sunset said with a stern look after seeing that Trixie finally realized the horror she caused. “Especially defective ones.”

“Huh…? Defective?” Trixie asked slowly, coming out with a lot of effort from the impact caused in her by the avalanche of guilty emotions that she now felt.

Sunset threw Trixie's necklace on the ground and broke it with one stomp.

“If it had been the true amulet of the alicorn, I wouldn’t have been able to take it from you. The real one can only be removed by the wearer." Sunset answered, looking worriedly at the broken necklace.

"You... did you know that necklace was fake all along?" Trixie got up slowly with a sore face.

Sunset averted her eyes and put on a hesitant look. Then she looked at Trixie again, seeing the guilty and sad look that the blue unicorn now had after understanding all the evil she had caused. Something that generated a strong feeling of empathy in Sunset. Because she too had been through something similar.

Then she sighed and used her magic. As she did so, a small chest appeared out of nowhere. A chest that Sunset kept very well, since it contained her two most valuable belongings. She opened the chest with her magic and levitated some of it. When Trixie saw what Sunset took out of the chest, she widened her eyes in amazement, seeing that Sunset had an exact copy of the necklace that she had been wearing minutes before.

That necklace was the object that Sunset had stolen years ago from the Archmage in a moment of anger. The same thing that she hid for years under a floorboard in her old room and that she had recently recovered on her return to Canterlot.

“There are two alicorn amulets…!? No... That necklace is different... It exudes much more magic than my necklace exuded.” Trixie noticed the intense brightness and dark magic that emanated from the beautiful but dark necklace. There was no doubt that it was the true and only alicorn amulet!

“The amulet you had was a very good imitation. Like most ancient magical artifacts, it greatly increased your power, and also affected your mind when used. But the true amulet is much more dangerous.” Sunset said, looking almost fearfully at the now levitating necklace, remembering probably her darkest and scariest memory. "Ancient magical artifacts can give a lot of power, but the price of using them... is very high..." Sunset added, putting on a dark look and closing her eyes, remembering the last time she had seen the Archmage.

“She cheated on me…? She… She never told me that the amulet was fake.” Trixie whispered.

“Who gave you the fake necklace? Who was the-?” Sunset asked, shutting up suddenly upon realizing something.

Why had she brought out the alicorn amulet? Just to show Trixie? That had been a mistake! However, Sunset realized this too late. Just as Sunset widened her eyes in surprise, finally discovering what had been bothering her all this time, a powerful beam of energy came out of nowhere and hit her full on. Taking her flying away, falling next to the river that came down from the falls.

Once Sunset fell away injured, a hooded figure approached Trixie. The same figure that had given her the fake alicorn amulet, had guided her to Hope Hollow to enslave that town and told her to use the name of Sunset Shimmer to trick the town's ponies.

“Get out of here, Trixie. Your work here is done.” The mare wearing the hood said, not even looking at Trixie and focused at where Sunset Shimmer had fallen.

Trixie had dozens of questions, but what she did know for sure was that she had to obey that mare. Anyone who had hit the mighty Sunset Shimmer that hard was someone to be feared. So, Trixie gave a startled look and ran out of there.

After receiving that strong blow by surprise, Sunset slowly stood up and clenched her teeth at the pain she now felt in her chest where she had been hit.

"I was so focused on Trixie and the fake amulet, that I forgot what was really important. I shouldn't have let my guard down!" Sunset thought with a pained look. Watching as Trixie fled while the mare that had attacked her kept her face hidden under her hood. “There was someone pulling strings behind Trixie. The mare who posed as the Archmage. The same one who had to give the fake amulet to Trixie. Who knew that I was the former student of the Archmage…”

Sunset was surprised to see that the mare's hood was exactly like the Archmage's old cloak. However, being an expert at hiding her emotions, Sunset always kept her poker face, giving her rival no clues as to what she might be thinking, lest she use it against her. "Who are you?" she asked stoically, not wanted to give her opponent the satisfaction of her pain.

The hooded mare didn’t respond. She simply reached down and picked up the real alicorn amulet that Sunset had dropped when she was hit. She inspected it and smiled victoriously.

“I've stolen a lot of things lately. I don't regret anything, but I must admit that I did feel a little guilty." The hooded mare finally said to Sunset with a smile. “However, this time I don't feel any guilt. After all, you stole it from the Archmage in the first place, didn't you?"

Sunset tried to hide the shock from her face from the mare’s knowledge of her secret. She tried to remember all the ponies she knew to try to unmask the identity of that mare. However, her flow of ideas stopped abruptly when she saw the hooded mare take another step and pick up something else from the ground: Sunset's chest. In which, she kept her two treasures, the alicorn amulet, and an old photograph.

"How cute... The powerful and immutable Sunset Shimmer in love..." The hooded mare mocked, taking the photograph where a young Sunset Shimmer was with her first love, young Dusk Shine. “Hm, well, I do admit. This colt is pretty cute. Maybe I’ll find him and steal him away from you too!”

For the first time Sunset found it impossible to keep her poker face. She gritted her teeth and glared at the hooded mare, furious to see that someone else had her hooves in her most valuable possession. It was the only photo she had with Dusk. The one she had kept hidden from the Archmage, so he wouldn't destroy it.

"Give it back to me." Sunset Shimmer glared with a murderous look at the hooded mare.

At that instant, Sunset's horn glowed with enormous intensity. Accumulating an enormous amount of magic in her horn. A great burst of magic shone that would have frightened any unicorn in any magical duel.

The cloaked mare was indeed shocked, she even gave a nervous look at the huge magical aura surrounding Sunset's horn. However, after analyzing it for a few seconds, she lowered her gaze and smiled.

“You want me to believe that this is just a display of your power, haha! I congratulate you; you almost fooled me.” The mare smiled. “I suppose that would have put any other pony to flight. But I can read you like a book, Sunset Shimmer. I know you spent a lot of your energy fighting Trixie, and the pain in your chest from the blow I gave you must be killing you. Besides, you know very well that I have the alicorn amulet in my possession. You want to intimidate me because you know you have no chance of winning against me! Hahaha!"

“Damn it!” Sunset internally swore. Everything the mysterious mare had said was true. Sunset had used her moment of anger to try to scare her rival. Showing her a large amount of magic to intimidate her. In reality, Sunset had enough magic left for five or six more spells before she was completely exhausted. And if she added to that that her rival now had the true alicorn amulet, the truth was that Sunset's chances of winning in a duel were equal to zero.

"Don't worry, if you want to fight me so much, I'll give you the pleasure." The hooded mare said. Holding both Dusk's photograph and the alicorn amulet, and then looking at Sunset with a cruel smile. “By the way… I can beat you without much of an advantage.” The hooded mare added, keeping the photograph and the amulet in the chest.

Sunset smiled at her rival so confident that she wouldn't wear the alicorn amulet. Against the alicorn amulet, her chances of winning were zero. But fighting a simple unicorn was something she could do, even if she was exhausted. The only problem would be that it would have to be quick before she was completely exhausted.

As soon as the hooded mare put the amulet back in the chest, Sunset quickly teleported right in front of the hooded mare, who was surprised by such a fast attack. Then, before she could even react, Sunset kicked her far and she dropped the chest.

As soon as the other mare released the chest, Sunset used her magic to catch it out of the air to bring it to her side. However, the other mare managed to react before Sunset's hooves touched the chest. She launched a powerful beam that hit the chest and caused it to open and fall to the floor.

Both mares used their magic to grab from the items from the chest they most desired. The hooded mare levitated the alicorn amulet for her. Whereas Sunset, instead of fighting for the amulet, chose to ultimately save the photograph in the first place.

'Dusk, I've always told you. You're too emotional...' Were the words that Sunset had said to Dusk when he thought he would forget his friends. Words that now echoed in Sunset's mind, since she herself had chosen to save a photograph instead of the magic amulet, which would have saved her from losing the duel. "I'm just as emotional as Dusk..." Sunset thought with a nervous smile, knowing that she could have made the biggest mistake of her life but satisfied with saving her last memory of Dusk and her as friends, her true great treasure.

“And there goes your chances of winning…” The hooded mare gloated and used her magic to disappear and hide the alicorn amulet.

"It's true that I'm weak..." Sunset said, also smiling. She also took the advantage of the opportunity to disappear and protect Dusk's photograph. “But tell me… do you really think you can beat me without the amulet?”

Without waiting for an answer, Sunset charged her horn with magic and fired a powerful bolt of magic at the cloaked mare. However, this time Sunset's rival was prepared and stopped the beam, putting up a shield in front of her.

“What is this?” The hooded mare thought, noting that despite protecting herself with her shield, Sunset's beam was so strong that it slightly pushed her and her shield. “She's already fought Trixie… Does she still have that much power left!?”

Knowing she had to end this duel quickly, Sunset used her teleportation to appear in the sky above her rival. From there, she launched another powerful beam, which the hooded mare barely saw. Then Sunset's lightning struck the ground near the river squarely, causing a lot of water to fly out, as well as steam formed from the heat of Sunset's magic.

Sunset landed and stood guard. The steam had clouded the area and she had lost sight of the mare. She was sure her rival hadn't had time to react to her last attack, and she hadn't felt any other defensive magic activate the moment her lightning struck.

“I don't know if that lightning was enough to defeat her, but it must have hurt her at least.” Sunset breathed heavily, as her body began to feel the weariness of magical exhaustion.

“Not terrible, Sunset. I would have been hurt…if I had been there.” The hooded mare's voice said from behind a shocked Sunset. The yellow unicorn quickly turned around and flashed her horn to defend herself.

“I'm sure I hit her! She didn't react in time and she didn't use…” Sunset thought, until she finally recognized what had happened. “It was an illusion… Did she use the reflection of the water to create a kind of realistic reflection?”

"My turn." The hooded mare said, breaking Sunset's flow of thoughts. She charged her horn with magic and launched a strong beam at her opponent. Sunset saw that that beam was less powerful than the ones she launched, so she could stop it with a simple shield. However, knowing that she had little magical energy, she decided to evade the attack by jumping.

“What!?” Sunset thought, noticing that despite wanting to jump, her legs didn’t move.

Looking down, Sunset saw that her hooves were somehow glued to the ground along with her own shadow, which seemed darker than normal. Giving Sunset no time to understand what had happened, she was left with no choice but to quickly use a magic shield, just as the other mare's lightning bolt was about to hit her. The magical beam was strong, but with a shield it was more than enough to stop it. The only thing Sunset regretted as the lightning hit her shield was that she had to forcefully spend magic to stop the attack.

“She tied my hooves to my own shadow? When did she do that? And with what spell?!” Sunset thought, maintaining her magic shield while the other mare kept hitting her with her magic beam.

As if Sunset didn't have time to think, she again widened her eyes in surprise as her shield began to break. She hadn't been wrong, her shield was stronger than that mare's lightning. However, to Sunset's utter astonishment, the mare's magical beam began to spin like a drill. Thus, despite being weaker than Sunset's shield, the beam began to slowly pierce and crack Sunset's shield.

Realizing that the cloaked mare's lightning was about to pierce through her shield, Sunset raised her head, causing her shield and her rival's lightning to fly upwards. A huge burst of light lit up the sky as both magics collapsed. Sunset breathed heavily and narrowed her eyes, feeling that magical exhaustion was about to make her pass out.

Without giving her time to breathe, the hooded mare smiled and fired another magical bolt at Sunset. This time launching a yellow beam of light, much thinner, but faster, than the other magical beam previously launched.

Using the last of her magic, Sunset managed to summon a small shield in front of her, just as the yellow beam was about to hit her. However, to Sunset's astonishment and disbelief, her rival's yellow beam curved just before striking Sunset's shield, swiftly circling the shield and directly hitting Sunset from the side.

As soon as the lightning hit Sunset, she felt her body fill with electricity and she fell paralyzed to the ground. With no magic mana left, and being attacked by a strange paralyzing ray, Sunset was left trembling on the ground, completely defenseless. Her opponent smiled victoriously and slowly approaching Sunset.

“I heard what you and Trixie talked about with the three foundations of magic… About the importance of 'Power' and 'Concentration'… So naïve! Neither of you understands that the true strength of a spell, it comes from the 'Imagination'.” The hooded mare said as she approached the paralyzed Sunset. "It's useless in a duel to have unlimited power or concentrate to cast ten spells at the same time if you can't defend against a spell you don't know, hehe..."

As the hooded mare gave her speech, Sunset couldn't help but frown.

The hooded mare put a hoof on her, stepping on her in a show of superiority.

“Here is the almighty Sunset Shimmer. The mare that defeated dozens of unicorns in magical duels. Here she is… defenseless under my hoof, haha.” The hooded mare laughed, mocking Sunset. Then she stopped smiling and glared at Sunset. “I heard a lot of rumors about you. They even say that you broke a mare's horn after defeating her in a duel." At that moment, the hooded mare put a hoof over Sunset's horn and slowly pressed. "I don't blame you, I've had that thought too... What would happen to a unicorn when you break its horn? Let’s find out." With a cruel smile, she started to put more weight on her hoof to break the yellow unicorn's horn. All while Sunset screamed in pain.

Suddenly, the hooded mare saw out of the corner of her eye a great light approaching. Which gave her time to jump and evade a strong magical beam that almost hit her. With a great leap, the mare managed to get away from Sunset just before the mare that had attacked her landed.

“Leave my student alone!” Cadance said with a fierce look, standing in front of Sunset to protect her, glaring at the perpetrator.

“How did the Princess get here?” The hooded mare thought confused, until she remembered how Sunset blew up her drill beam alongside her shield, making them both explode with a great light. "Even under all that pressure, she thought of a way to let her know where she was, in case she lost the duel..." She couldn't help but admire a little how smart Sunset had been.

Seeing that it would be difficult to fight a princess, the hooded mare narrowed her eyes and glared at Sunset. Who slowly seemed to be coming out of her paralysis.

“Bah! This is pointless! I already have what I came here for.” The unicorn shot another beam of lightning at the river to cover the area in steam once again. “But this is far from the last you’ll see of me.”

Narrowing her eyes from the steam in the air, Cadance watched in annoyance as that mare fled hidden in the mist. She would have liked to go after her immediately, but the first thing was to see that her student was okay.

"Sunset, are you okay?" Cadance asked, turning to Sunset.

Cadance was surprised to see that Sunset was trembling. With her eyes lowered, hugging herself as if she were very cold.

"I… I lost. She… She almost broke my horn… She even… She could have… ended my life…” Sunset repeated what she had just experienced, as if her mind was still struggling to believe everything that had happened. She had just lost a magic duel for the first time that wasn’t her former mentor. Her pride felt…shattered.

“Oh…Sunset.” Cadance said worriedly, approaching her student to give her a comforting hug. The poor thing must have been trembling with fear after what she experienced. However, just before she hugged Sunset, Cadance stopped in her tracks at the sight of something strange… Was Sunset smiling?

“I… I want to duel her again!” Sunset said with a big smile. Indeed, she was trembling out fear, but it was also with excitement. The adrenaline was coursing through the yellow mare, giving her an almost high sensation. After all these years, she finally had a rival!

Seeing that her student was stronger than she seemed and that it was more than enough to console herself, Cadance sighed resignedly with a small smile. The side of Sunset that loved dueling magic, and that she had tried to suppress in Sunset, was precisely what gave her student the courage to go forward.

“Sunset, you are incorrigible.” Cadance huffed in amusement and helped the mare up with a hoof.

"I know." Sunset smiled and looked towards the river where the hooded mare had fled. The face she had caught a glimpse of under the hood when her rival had approached her was burned in her memory. “I think lilac has become my new favorite color.” Sunset added, determined to fight again against the mysterious mare with lilac fur and purple eyes.

In Golden Oak Library, Spike was snacking on some small emeralds while quietly reading Lyra's latest comic. Normally, he wouldn’t have been reading Lyra's comic with the naked eye, since Dusk had forbidden him to read it due to ‘certain scenes’ depicted in the story. However, now Spike had the freedom to read without fear of Dusk catching him.

At that moment, somepony knocked on the library door. The dragon reached over to open it quickly and saw that it was Derpy. The cross-eyed mare delivered the day's mail, as always, with several late letters that should have arrived several days before.

Spike prepared to throw it next to another pile of mail that Dusk hadn't opened. However, after thinking about it for a while, Spike put on a serious look, took all the letters that had arrived and went up the stairs to Dusk's room.

Spike opened the door to the room and sighed despondently as he saw that the room was still as he had seen it the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that... With the curtains closed, leaving everything in darkness, and with Dusk Shine lying on his bed, motionless, with the pillow over his head.

“Ugh… Duuuusk! You've been like this for a week, enough is enough!" Spike huffed and opened the curtains in the room. “Ever since we came back from Shining's wedding, you've done nothing but cry and wail in your room… You haven't even taken a bath! You're even still wearing your wedding suit!" Spike added, seeing that his brother was still wearing his tuxedo from a week ago.

After returning to Ponyville, Dusk had walked home like a zombie and locked himself in his room. Spike understood that his brother felt sad, after all, his marefriend had broken up with him at the wedding. For this reason, Spike let his brother sink into his grief, knowing that it was something he had to get over with time. But after a week of depression, seeing that his brother still refused to even get out of bed, Spike decided that Dusk's self-pity had to end.

"I know it hurts that you and Applejack are no longer dating, but you have to go back to your normal life." Spike added, looking worriedly at his brother. "You and Applejack can still be friends."

Dusk sighed and finally took the pillow off his face. He looked up at the ceiling with a serious look.

“I know… I know that Applejack doesn't hate me, and that she, just like me, wants us to be friends again. But how do I do that?" Dusk said, putting on a sad look. “I'm so embarrassed and scared to go out and see her again… I… I don't know how I should act now.”

It had been a long time since Dusk had already passed the stage of crying and sadness after breaking up their courtship. However, every time he thought about going out and meeting up with his friends again, especially with Applejack, it made Dusk's stomach ache with nerves, and he would remain motionless on his bed again.

Spike sighed tiredly and put on a thoughtful look. “Yesterday I ran into Apple Bloom at Sugarcube Corner. She told me that Applejack was also locked up for a couple of days like you.” Spike said, walking over to his brother. "But she’s already out of her funk and back with hanging out with the girls again.”

"I thought so... She's a strong girl... Stronger than me." Dusk said with a small sad smile. He then closed his eyes, inhaled strongly, and then exhaled, opening his eyes with a look full of determination. "You’re right! Enough self-pity. Time to get back up and move on!” The empowered colt finally got off his bed.

"That's the spirit!" Spike cheered and gave Dusk the mail they had received.

With a smile, Dusk took Spike's mail and opened some letters. However, as soon as he opened the second letter, Dusk's smile disappeared, and he lowered his head again as if a sudden storm cloud were floating above him.

"What's wrong?" Spike asked, concerned about Dusk's surprising change in attitude. The pony picked up the last letter he had opened and showed it to Spike.

"It's our divorce letter..." Dusk cried in a very tragic way. The mayor, as promised, had finally annulled his marriage to Applejack after a month. The letter couldn't have come at a worse time, just when Dusk had finally spent two seconds without thinking about his ex-marefriend.

“Ugh! Stop!" Spike cried. The small dragon jumped up to slap Dusk. "No more of this sad pony stuff! I want my big brother back!”

"You're right!" Dusk said after the drake slapped some sense into him, albeit leaving a red claw print on his cheek. “Time to go out into the world again!”

“Yeah!...Although you should probably go shower. You reek!” Spike added, seeing that Dusk was still wearing his wedding suit that was starting to smell ripe after so many consecutive days unwashed.

"Oh, right." Dusk said, finally taking off his wedding suit and walking towards the room's bathroom. "I've let a lot of time go by, and there are a lot of things that- Ouch!" Dusk screamed in pain after Spike threw a book at his head.

Turning around, Dusk saw that Spike was looking at him with a look full of horror.

"Get out! Changeling!” Spike yelled and threw more books at Dusk.

"What!? Ouch! Are you still paranoid?" Dusk panicked and evaded the books thrown at him by his little brother. “The wedding is over! The changelings were expelled from this kingdom!”

“You won't fool me again! You didn't even imitate my brother well this time!” Spike said without stopping throwing books at Dusk. "That's not my brother's cutie mark!"

"What are you talking about? My cutie mark is still-" Dusk gestured at his flank he hadn't seen in days since he'd put on his suit for the wedding. However, Dusk widened his eyes in surprise and went pale. His cutie mark was the same as always, with the difference that... "Why did one of the stars change color?" Dusk muttered, noticing that one of the five white stars on his cutie mark was now rose like the star in the center of his cutie mark.

End of chapter 22

Author's Notes:

>>Chapter 22 References<<

-Canon references:

'The town of Hope Hollow, Mayor Sunny and other inhabitants, the rainbow generator and 'hopeless' magic all appear in the TV special 'MLP: Rainbow Roadtrip'.

'Neighagra Falls' Equestria tourist spot, seen in, 'Episode 22, Season 7'.

'Trixie and the Alicorn Amulet' seen in, 'Episode 5, Season 3'.

-Story references:

'The Archmage' Sunset's former teacher, mentioned in 'Chapter 6, Season 2'.

'Sunset and Trixie's previous duel', Trixie mentions to Spike that there was a mare stronger than Dusk who defeated her before, 'Chapter 30, Season 1'.

'Explanation of the 3 basic elements of magic', mentioned in the duel between Trixie and Dusk, 'Chapter 30, Season 1'.

'Sunset's Secret Chest', Sunset hid her two great treasures from the Archmage in her old house in Canterlot. She gets them back in the Chapter 'Interlude'.

'The mysterious hooded mare', previously seen at the end of 'Chapter 14, Season 2'. Also, I wonder if there are any doubts about her identity? hahaha

----------------------

& as always, many thanks to 'Scribe of the Nightwings' for his great help

Chapter 23 - A train full of mysteries

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A train full of mysteries

Spike was in the basement of the library in the secret corner that Dusk Shine had arranged to use as a small laboratory. He was wearing a white coat and protective goggles. The little dragon went to a lever and pulled it. A small magic generator activated, shooting small lights and electric beams at two small pillars. Then, all that electrical current rushed towards a metal bed that was in the center of the room. One that covered 'something' under a large white sheet. As soon as the electricity touched the bed, that 'something' under the sheet groaned and began to slowly get up.

"It’s alive…! It’s alive!! Mwahahaha!” Spike laughed ominously as the electrical bolts from the magical generator lit up the room.

"Of course I'm alive, enough of the crazy references!" Dusk Shine said suddenly, taking off the sheet that had been covering him. His mane bristled due to the electric current that had run through his body. "It wasn't enough electricity to hurt me, I just felt a tingle." Dusk added, flattening his bristly mane so that it would return to its place.

After combing his mane, Dusk looked at his side to see his cutie mark, which still hadn't returned to normal. Then he sighed exhausted, levitated a long list with his magic and crossed out a box on the last line he had written.

"Experiment number 49: electric current... My cutie mark remains unchanged." Dusk Shine noted in defeat.

After discovering that one of the stars on his cutie mark had changed color, Dusk Shine focused all his attention on trying to find out the cause. He spent days locked up in his little lab with Spike, testing different magics and substances on his body to see if he could replicate what had caused it, or at least reverse it. However, nothing he had tried had worked so far.

While Dusk wrote down the conclusions of his latest experiment, Spike stared at his brother with a look full of suspicion. Ever since he discovered the change in Dusk's cutie mark, Spike was as worried as his brother. So when Dusk investigated and found nothing about it in his books, Spike gladly offered to help him with his experiments. However, after days of being there without leaving the house, Spike began to suspect that there could be another reason why Dusk was conducting so many experiments.

“Maybe… it’s time to ask Princess Celestia.” Spike tried to suggest casually.

"Uh? Oh! Yes... I guess... that would be a good option..." Dusk answered with an insecure look. "Although with all about the Canterlot invasion, I don't know if it's a good idea to ask her this kind of thing right now." Dusk added, with a nervous smile.

"Too bad, because I already asked her." Spike said with a mischievous grin and showed Dusk the scroll that had arrived that morning. "I already read it. She says that the change in a cutie mark is something very unusual, and that it’s best that you go to Canterlot to talk to her.”

“Go… to Canterlot?” Dusk said with a slightly nervous look. “Hmm… Maybe we could ask HER to come over here. I mean, here we have the lab, and-"

"Aha! I knew it!" Spike proclaimed victoriously. “This is all just because you don't want to leave the house. You're still nervous about meeting Applejack and the others again." The lavander colt merely deflated at the statement.

"Huff... I guess you're right... I can't keep hiding forever..." Dusk said with a melancholy look. After a few seconds of thought, he looked a little more determined and headed over to the stair. “Yeah, you’re right, Spike. It’s time I stop hiding and go interact with my friends like a normal pony!”

"Well said!" Spike said happily, running behind his brother as he left the main hall and approached the library door.

"I can’t be afraid." Dusk said and opened the door. Finally, he breathed in the fresh air after almost two weeks of lockdown. Fresh air that was clouded by a sudden sweet taste, when suddenly a cream pie hit his face squarely.

With cream reaching the bottom of his nose, after having inhaled strongly to breathe fresh air, Dusk slowly raised his hoof and began to wipe the cream off his face.

"Hi Dusk! Did you like my pie-invitation?” Pinkie Pie said with a big smile. "It's a sweet new way I invented to deliver messages."

"Of course... It had to be you, Pinkie Pie..." Dusk sighed in slight annoyance as he blew to remove the cream that got into his nose. Although the truth was that a part of Dusk was glad for the strange situation. Since in his isolated time, he had missed his friend's craziness a lot. "And what's this about a pie-invitation?"

“Huh? It’s a pie with a written message! Didn’t you read it?” Pinkie Pie asked with a cute tilt of her head.

“How was I going to read it if you threw it in my face!?” Dusk snarked back.

“Oh… I guess you're right. My bad." Pinkie Pie said with a thoughtful look. She pulled out another cream pie behind her and showed it to Dusk.

After finishing cleaning all the cream off his face, Dusk leaned towards Pinkie Pie to see the cream pie she was holding. There he could see that on top of that cake, it was written in caramel: 'Do you want to go to the dessert competition with me?'.

“Dessert competition?” Dusk asked.

"Yepperoni! Today’s the National Dessert Competition in Canterlot.” Pinkie Pie said, very excited. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake baked a huge cake with the best ingredients in all of Ponyville. I'm sure they'll win this year's award, but since they're taking care of the foals, they asked me to-"

"Foals!? What foals?" Dusk asked, very surprised and confused.

"Well, the twins, Pumpkin and Pound Cake." Pinkie Pie replied, shrugging her shoulders at the obvious response. Then she stared at Dusk worriedly. “Mrs. Cake gave birth to the twins on the day of the wedding. We all went to visit them after they were born… Gosh! I knew you hadn't wanted to leave the library, but I didn't think you were that uninformed." Pinkie added, scolding Dusk with her eyes.

At that moment, Dusk gave a look of surprise and then lowered his gaze with guilt. What Pinkie Pie said was true. He had been so absorbed in his own grief that he had completely forgotten that the world was still moving on, even if he didn't see it. To think that his friends had gone to visit Mr. and Mrs. Cake at that important moment and that he hadn’t been there.

“I… I'm sorry.” Dusk said sadly.

“Hmm…By the way, you already read the message on the pie-invitation, right?” Pinkie Pie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh? Yes, why do you ask?” Dusk managed to answer, before Pinkie Pie raised her hoof and crushed that other pie against Dusk's face again.

"What was that for!?" Dusk shouted, red with shame and annoyance, with his face again covered in cream.

“You already read the message, so I had to give you a pie face. How is a pie-invitation going to be if I don't give you a pie face? What madness!” Pinkie said, sticking out her tongue playfully and winking at Dusk. Then she suddenly looked at Dusk with a more serious expression. "Besides... You deserve it for leaving us alone for so many days." Pinkie Pie added, looking Dusk straight in the eye.

All of the annoyance in Dusk’s system was instantly replaced by guilt. Then he looked to his side and saw that Spike had run a finger over his face to taste the cream pie, and he made a face of enjoyment at how sweet it was.

"I told you." Spike said with a small smile, enjoying not only the cream of the pie, but also knowing that he had been right, telling Dusk that it was time to leave the library.

“Okay… You were right, I admit it.” Dusk said, leooking at Spike with a small smile, and then looking back at his friend. Knowing that this was Pinkie Pie's way of punishing him for not seeing her for so many days.

At that moment, from the train station, two rapid whistles were heard, indicating that the train was about to leave.

"It’s late! You're coming with me, right?" Pinkie Pie said in a hurry. Quickly taking Dusk by the hoof, without waiting for him to give her an answer, and just quickly pulling him at a super speed that only Pinkie Pie could have. A movement so fast that only Dusk's dust silhouette remained next to the pieces of pie that flew out of his face.

While Pinkie and Dusk ran, Spike managed to catch the pieces of pie that flew out of Dusk's face, and began to eat them as he said goodbye to both of them. Meanwhile, Dusk and Pinkie managed to reach the train station just as the train started to leave.

"Huff... Seriously, sometimes I don't know who's faster, you or Rainbow Dash." Dusk said, recovering his breath. Still impressed with how fast Pinkie Pie had run with him.

"Well, when desserts are involved, nopony beats me." Pinkie Pie said smiling proudly and got into a running position, mimicking a bit of Rainbow Dash.

"Hmm... Where is Mrs. Cake's cake?" Dusk looked around and seeing that in the car where they were, there were only passengers.

“It's in the last car. It's a huge cake, so it didn't fit here." Pinkie Pie said, signaling to Dusk to move towards the next car. "I even needed help getting it from Sugarcube Corner to here."

"Who did you ask for help?" Dusk asked, opening the door of the next car. In doing so, he found himself face to face with the pony who just opened the door from the other side: Applejack.

Both former lovers had not seen each other in days. The last thing Dusk remembered about Applejack was seeing her running away in tears after she broke up with him at the wedding dance. Even though they both returned to Ponyville on the same train, Dusk found it impossible to look at Applejack sitting at the other end of the train car. Something very similar to what Applejack remembered, because she hadn't seen Dusk since that night either. Although the last thing the orange mare remembered was looking at the handsome stallion one last time after they returned to Ponyville. That time, Applejack saw how Dusk was walking taciturnly towards the library at night, seeing how his gaze was lost and hurt. Seeing him suffer like this made Applejack's heart even more broken, knowing that she had been the cause of that pain.

Both ponies were frozen and had no idea what to say or what to do. They both knew they would eventually see each other again, and they both thought they were over their breakup as a couple. However, now that they saw each other face to face, they both felt how hundreds of feelings overwhelmed them.

"Wow... ~Awkwaaaard~" Pinkie Pie said in a singsong voice.

It was Pinkie's words that finally made Dusk and Applejack come out of their shock and look away, embarrassed and nervous.

"H-Hi Applejack... You... W-What are you doing here?" Dusk tried to ask casually, although it was very obvious that he was nervous.

"Uh... Pinkie asked me for help carrying the Cake’s dessert for the Canterlot competition..." Applejack answered, just as nervous as Dusk. “I was going to leave, but Pinkie invited me to come with her. And since the Cakes' dessert has apple jam from the farm, I thought…” Applejack added, glancing at Pinkie Pie.

Seeing that Applejack was looking at Pinkie Pie, Dusk also stared seriously at his pink friend. Only then did they both understand that Pinkie Pie had made them both go with her, without telling them at any time that the other was also going to be on the train, so that they would both find themselves there by surprise. It had all been Pinkie Pie's plan!

"What's wrong?" Pinkie Pie asked with a big, innocent smile.

Faced with that question, both Dusk and Applejack blushed and looked away. It was obvious that the whole situation was awkward, but they couldn't tell. It was assumed that both were fine, that both had passed their grieving stage and that both had accepted that everything was fine between them. Neither of them could admit that they felt nervous being with their former partner.

“N-No, it’s nothing. R-Right?" Dusk forced himself to look at Applejack and gave her a nervous smile.

“S-Sure, hehe…” Applejack said with the same nervous smile as Dusk.

"Okey-dokey-lokey! Now let's see that cake!" Pinkie Pie cheered and headed to the next car. After Pinkie walked past them, Dusk and Applejack took one last fleeting look at each other. Then they both looked away and hurried after Pinkie Pie.

As they moved through the cars, Dusk and Applejack stayed behind Pinkie, walking side by side but without being too close to each other.

"Applejack is still my friend. I… I know I shouldn't be acting like this, but I can't help it!" Dusk thought as he walked. "I don't know how I should look at her from now on. And I don't know what she's thinking of me. Maybe... Maybe she thinks I asked Pinkie Pie to get us together!?"

As they made their way through the train, Pinkie glanced sideways at her friends, who seemed lost in their own thoughts with concerned looks. The bubbly mare looked a little worried at how tense the ponies were.

Dusk and Applejack finally came out of their thoughts when Pinkie Pie forcefully opened the door of the last car, which seemed to be slightly rustier than the other doors, making an annoying creaking noise when it opened. Upon entering that train wagon, Dusk understood why the door was different, as it was a cargo car. There were three other passengers there: A gray griffin in a red scarf, a chef's hat; as well as having a long thin black mustache. The second passenger was a plump unicorn with cream-colored fur and a pink donut as cutie mark; who wore a white suit and baker's hat. And finally, the third passenger was an old mule who wore a necklace of blue pearls and looked suspiciously at the other two who accompanied her. The three creatures were all hiding something under a tablecloth next to them.

“Donut Joe? What are you doing here?" Dusk asked the owner of Princess Celestia's 'secret' favorite donut shop.

The unicorn perked up at seeing somepony familiar. “Well, if it ain’t little Dusk! I came to Ponyville because I needed some special color sprinkles for my dessert, or rather, my masterpiece.” Donut Joe replied with a huge smile.

"Are you also participating in the National Dessert Competition?" Dusk asked in surprise.

“Well, the competition is just a formality. In fact, that trophy is practically mine.” Donut Joe replied, looking askance at the other chefs and with a smile full of pride.

"Oh, yeah? What makes you so sure that you’ll win!?” The mule next to him accused.

"Well, it just so happens that Princess Celestia is one of the judges for the competition, and for years she has enjoyed my delicious donuts." Donut Joe said, full of pride. Putting a hoof on the tablecloth next to him to finally show everyone his secret weapon, with which he would win the contest. “If the Princess loved my donuts, she’ll definitely love my DONUTOPIA!” He yelled excitedly, revealing his special dessert to everyone. Under his tablecloth, Donut Joe had hidden a splendid replica of a city, all made of donuts of different sizes and colors adorned with the beautiful touch of bright colored sprinkles, which made that great dessert look like a true big city, full of bright lights.

Dusk and the other two mares gazed at the city-shaped dessert with great amazement. “Wow! It really looks very delicious..."

“Hmph! That's nothing." Suddenly the mule said. Then she too walked over to the tablecloth beside her and revealed her dessert. “The prize will go to me, Mulia Mild, with my great and delicious: Chocolate Mousse Moose!” A life-size replica of a huge moose made entirely of chocolate mousse was revealed from under the cloth. It was so soft, yet firm, that it wobbled with the swaying of the train. Which gave an idea of how fluffy that delicious chocolate mousse must be.

"Mmm... Chocolate..." Pinkie Pie droned with huge eyes and her tongue hanging out.

“Only chocolate? How absurd! True flavor is achieved by combining flavors!” The griffin suddenly joined the discussion. “Take a look and be amazed at my 'exceptionally Exquisite Éclairs', from the best chef in Griffonstone: Gustave Le Grand!” The griffin yelled, revealing that under his tablecloth was a huge tray with a dozen huge eclairs. Dough, cream and chocolate delights, with frosting so bright they almost seemed to shine on their own.

"Not only do they look good, they also smell great..." Applejack said, almost wiping the drool from her mouth as she smelled the delicious eclairs. "So, all of y’ll are competing in the Canterlot competition?" Applejack asked the three chefs. The three nodded with great pride for their desserts.

"Wow, looks like they’ll be a lot of delicious options for the competition." Dusk said, with an indecisive look.

"Yeah, yeah... They all look delicious..." Pinkie Pie said with a mischievous little smile, approaching the end of the car where there was a fourth table with a large tablecloth covering something very tall. Then Pinkie Pie took the tablecloth and revealed the dessert that she would bring to the competition. “…But no one will beat the Cakes' Marzipan, Mascarpone, Meringue, Madness, or 'MMMM' to abbreviate." Pinkie Pie added after revealing the huge three-tiered cake that Mr. and Mrs. Cake had prepared for the competition. “The most delicious cake ever created, made with the best ingredients in all of Ponyville! All that rich, creamy texture of marzipan, combined with the flavor of mascarpone, blended perfectly with the silky smooth sweetness of meringue…” Pinkie Pie added, describing in graphic words how delicious that cake was.

With Pinkie Pie's sweet explanation, Dusk, Applejack, and even the three chefs stared in wonder at the great work of art by Mr. and Mrs. Cake. All with their mouths open, drooling at the thought of how delicious that cake must be.

"What I wouldn’t give for one little bite..." Dusk thought before snapping out of it and wiping the drool away. “Gosh! Just looking at that huge cake was enough to make me crave it, but with Pinkie's description, I can't stop thinking about taking a bite!”

At that moment, Dusk turned around and saw that the three chefs were also wiping the drool from their mouths. And as soon as they noticed that the colt was looking at them, they looked away in embarrassment.

"Perhaps... we could just give it a little taste." Applejack said sheepishly.

"No, no, no, no, no…" Pinkie Pie said quickly and started pushing everyone out of the wagon.

"Hey! Why are you pushing us out!?” Gustave the gryphon asked as Pinkie closed the noisy door.

"Don't you get smart with me. I know very well how everyone looked at the MMMM. If I left you there, I'm sure you'll eat it." Pinkie Pie glaring at the griffin and the other chefs menacingly, even towards her two friends. "When we brought the 'MMMM' with Applejack, I asked the driver for the key to this car." Pinkie Pie said, pulling a golden key from her mane and locking the door. "No one will go near Mr. and Mrs. Cake' dessert until we reach Canterlot."

Seeing Pinkie Pie's serious look, the other chefs felt insulted. Deep down, however, they knew that they had indeed been about to sample a bit of Pinkie Pie's cake. So finally, the three just snorted indignantly and retreated to the next car.

Pinkie Pie stared at them menacingly until they left the car. Then she turned around and looked at her two friends with the same look.

"That goes for you two too." Pinkie Pie said, widening her eyes and getting closer to the faces of her friends. "I know you can imagine how delicious MMMM is, but I can't let you eat it."

"Hehe, don't worry. We wouldn't be able to ruin Mr. and Mrs. Cake's dessert." Applejack said with a small smile and looked away.

"Yes, and even if we wanted to, we couldn't since you locked the car." Dusk chimed in, as well.

At that moment, Dusk and Applejack's gazes met. For a second, they both saw each other as they always had, as great friends. However, in just an instant, they remembered everything about their courtship and subsequent breakup. And in doing so, they both averted their gazes uncomfortably. Pinkie Pie immediately noticed this and put on a sad look, realizing that her friends still hadn't gotten over their breakup.

Suddenly everything went dark as the train passed through a tunnel.

"Huh? Was the tunnel always this long?" Dusk said while the darkness continued in the car.

"Didn't you notice? The train is moving slower so the desserts don't fall out when it goes around the curves of the tracks." Pinkie Pie answered in the dark. "Hehe! Let’s pretend that it’s a haunted train, full of ghosts… Boooo… Boo-Hmpf!" Pinkie Pie said, mimicking a ghost moan. For some reason, she suddenly shut up, as if her mouth was covered.

"What's wrong? Are you imitating a mute ghost now?" Applejack asked in the dark, noticing that Pinkie Pie kept making sounds with her mouth covered. "Don't tell me you're doing charades. You know we can’t see you, right?”

In that instant, several noises were heard besides the sound of Pinkie’s muffled voice, such as hoovesteps and a small 'click'. That seemed very strange to Dusk, unsure if this was another one of the pink mare’s pranks. For an instant, the unicorn thought of lighting his horn to see better, however, he saw through the window that the darkness was beginning to clear up, a sign that they were about to finally exit the tunnel. So Dusk finally chose not to use his magic, just when the train finally came out of the tunnel and the light illuminated everything again.

As soon as Dusk and Applejack could see again, their eyes immediately focused on where Pinkie Pie should be, to see if their crazy friend had indeed been imitating a ghost in the dark. However, they both widened their eyes when they saw that Pinkie had a mail bag on her head.

Dusk quickly approached his friend and took the bag off her head.

"Pinkie! What happened!?" Dusk asked, scared and confused.

"I-I don't know..." Pinkie Pie scratched her head after getting a breath of fresh air. "I was pretending to a ghost in the dark, when all of a sudden someone put this bag over my head, and-" At which point Pinkie Pie suddenly fell silent and gave a startled look. Then, without saying anything, she jumped up and ran to the back door to the last wagon.

"Didn't Pinkie lock the door?" Applejack thought out loud as the pink mare opened the noisy door without unlocking first.

“AAAHHH!!” Pinkie Pie yelled in horror from the last car. Dusk and Applejack quickly ran to go to the last car as well. However, just as they were about to enter, Pinkie Pie came out of the car with a furious look on her face. “Someone took a bite out of the MMMM!”

"What!? How is that possible?" Dusk questioned until he opened his eyes in surprise when he understood everything. That 'click' that he heard in the dark, was someone opening the lock on the door! In the middle of the darkness of the tunnel, someone put a bag on Pinkie Pie's head, stolen her key and had entered the last car to bite into Mr. and Mrs. Cake's dessert.

"Hurry hurry hurry! The culprit can't be far!" Pinkie Pie declared and ran into the next car.

Seeing how determined Pinkie Pie was with the serious situation, Dusk and Applejack hurried to go after their friend. Pinkie opened the door to the next car and saw the other three chefs from the competition.

“One of you is to blame! One of you took a bite out of the MMMM!!” Pinkie Pie accused, pointing her hoof at whoever she thought was the culprit behind the culinary attack.

"What? What are you talking about?" Gustave asked.

"Someone attacked Pinkie Pie and took a bite out of her cake." Dusk answered, looking suspiciously at the griffin.

"Yes! It was you!" Pinkie Pie rushed to the griffin and shock him by the shoulders.

Wait, that can’t be right. No one left this car.” Donut Joe interjected before looking a little unsure. “Well, I think no one left. It was pitch black for a while.”

“That's right… And you helped him! You’re his accomplice!” Pinkie said, letting go of Gustave and this time grabbing and shaking Donut Joe. "You know too much!"

“Hmph! Those two always seemed very suspicious to me.” Mulia Mild said, glancing at Gustave and Donut Joe.

"That's true, though... That's what the real culprit would say!" Pinkie Pie said, this time shaking a very scared Mulia by the shoulders. "You want to divert attention so no one will suspect you!"

"Pinkie! Enough!" Applejack said, stopping her friend before she continued shaking the three frightened chefs. "It could be any of them. But before we accuse anyone, we need evidence."

"Or maybe it wasn't any of them." Dusk said with a thoughtful look. "The culprit had to go through this car, but we can't be sure that the culprit didn’t continue to another of the front cars in the cover of darkness..."

"Oh my gosh, that’s true!" Pinkie Pie said with a look of surprise. Then she ran quickly to the next car. "I'll catch you; you cake nibbling fiend!”

Dusk and Applejack accompanied every step their pink friend took. In each wagon, Pinkie repeated the same routine: she went crazy grabbing the other passengers by the shoulders, shaking them to make them confess the crime without having any evidence; and after questioning them, she would run to the next car and repeat the routine. However, it seemed that none of the passengers had any idea of the crime. All of this caused Dusk and Applejack to start looking at each other with insecure looks, realizing that her pink friend looked like she was just looking for random culprits.

Finally, the three ponies reached the other end of the train to the driver's car. The only pony there was the train conductor next to the engine and a huge pile of coal.

"AHA! I knew it! All clues led us to you! You’re the guilty one!" Pinkie Pie said with a big smile of triumph.

“What clues? All she did was accuse everypony she came across!” Applejack whispered in confusion at Dusk.

"I know." Dusk whispered back with the same insecure look as his friend. He then approached Pinkie Pie and lowered her accusing hoof, before she jumped back to question and shake another pony. “Pinkie, I think we did this all wrong. Maybe we should have looked for clues before we started accusing others.”

“Hmph! That's what the culprit would say!" Pinkie Pie said, this time accusing Dusk with her hoof. Only then did Pinkie Pie widen her eyes in surprise and realize what she was doing. “Oh! I'm sorry… Maybe you're right.” .

With the party mare calmed down, the three went back to the last car of the train, where all the chefs' desserts were. Upon arrival, Dusk was surprised to see that the other three chefs were also there. All standing together at their respective desserts, with very worried looks.

"What are you doing here?" Dusk asked curiously, looking at the chefs.

“W-Well… You told us that someone had ruined one of the desserts, so we came to take care of our own desserts.” Donut Joe said nervously.

"Yes! There's another tunnel on the way to Canterlot, so the culprit might try to take a bite out of my chocolate moose this time." Mulia said, averting her nervous gaze.

Understanding the fear of the other chefs, Dusk approached the MMMM to see for himself the bite in the cake and thus look for some clue of the culprit. He surprised to see that there was indeed no way to fix that cake, since the culprit had not left only a small bite as he expected. Although the cake looked fine when looking at it from the front, in the back there were several bites, in the three floors of the cake. Dusk got even closer to see the type of bite the culprit had left, however, after a couple of seconds, he got distracted when he heard Pinkie Pie start crying next to him.

“Waaaah! The cake is ruined!” Pinkie Pie cried her eyes out. “I didn't want this… I… I failed Mr. and Mrs. Cake! Waaahhh!”

Dusk looked at his pink friend with a sad look, thinking that finally her anger had given way to sadness, finally taking the weight that the cake that was in her care was ruined. Then Dusk looked at the other chefs, who looked sadly at Pinkie Pie and averted their eyes with great sorrow.

At that precise moment everything went dark again. As the other chefs said, the train had to go through another tunnel before reaching Canterlot. It was then that Dusk thought quickly and put up a magical shield around him, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and what was left of the MMMM. At the same time, it also illuminated their portion of the car so that the three of them could see.

"Why did you put up a shield?" Applejack asked.

"Just for precaution. The culprit could come back to finish the job.” Dusk replied and blushed a little as he realized he was looking at the cake bite like it was a real crime scene.

The three ponies widened their eyes in surprise and pricked up their ears as they heard noises and shouts around them. At that moment, Dusk undid his magical shield, just as the train finished passing through the tunnel and the light returned to the car.

"Noooo!" Mulia yelled between tears, seeing her chocolate moose.

"Whyyyy!?" Donut Joe yelled, falling to his knees at the sight of his Donutopia.

“Sacrebleu!” Gustave Le Grand cursed in another language, seeing his precious eclairs.

The three desserts had suffered the same fate as the MMMM, with multiple bites taken out of them.

“The culprit struck again!?” Applejack shouted and looked to Pinkie, who also looked astonished at what had happened to the other desserts.

"I know what Applejack is thinking, but it couldn't have been Pinkie Pie." Dusk thought, looking askance at Pinkie Pie. She, him and Applejack all had solid alibis. "The first suspect would be Pinkie Pie as revenge to the other chefs, but my shield wouldn't have let Pinkie Pie slip away from our side without me noticing."

Dusk looked at the other chefs, expecting them to start blaming Pinkie. However, none of the chefs approached them to blame them. In fact, all they did was wail, all in tears seeing their beautiful and delicious creations destroyed. Apparently, unlike Pinkie Pie, all of them had been affected more by grief than anger.

"Have any of you heard anything?" Dusk asked, turning to see his friends. However, as he did, he saw that only Applejack was behind him. Turning around again, Dusk saw that Pinkie Pie had approached the other chefs, and to his surprise, the four had hugged each other and were crying together.

"I understand... The four of them put everything into their desserts for the competition, and now all that effort has gone to waste..." Dusk thought with a sad look.

"I don't understand, this time I paid close attention to see if I could distinguish the steps of a pony, a griffin or a mule in the dark." Applejack muttered out loud. "But I didn't hear any!"

"Perhaps someone flew in?" Dusk suggested and followed the country mare’s logic of relying on what they heard. "There are some passenger pegasi on the train. But do any of them have the ability to fly in the dark inside a train? And without making noise?"

Sampling the desserts without permission seemed like a silly crime, but there was a true and complex mystery behind that crime, which made Dusk very interested in that case. That made him think he was in a real mystery novel. Then Dusk looked up and saw that Pinkie and the other chefs were still crying, hugging each other looking at their beloved desserts. The colt put on a thoughtful look and activated his magic. Instantly, a small detective hat appeared on Dusk's head.

"We must return to the other cars." Dusk said to Applejack. "This time we must search for clues."

Applejack widened her eyes and then returned Dusk’s serious look. They both knew that Pinkie Pie was too upset to investigate, so it was up to the two of them to find the real culprit.

After opening the noisy car door, Dusk and Applejack looked for clues in the next car, knowing that the culprit must have entered and fled through that car. They were both surprised to find a black stone in the corner of the car.

"Is that coal?" Applejack asked as she took that pebble. "Why is it here? You don’t think…"

"That the conductor is to blame..." Dusk said with a thoughtful look. "I don't know, but it's the only clue we have... We should keep looking at the other cars."

Going to the next car, in which initially only the other three chefs had been, Dusk and Applejack found other clues again: Blue and purple colored hair from the manes of ponies that shouldn’t have stepped on that car.

"In the fourth car there is a mare with a purple mane and in the fifth car a colt with a blue mane." Applejack said, remembering when they had gone looking for culprits with Pinkie Pie.

"Maybe it was them, but I still don't understand how they did it... Are they accomplices with the conductor?" Dusk pondered and opened the door to the next car with his magic. "Let's keep looking for clues."

Dusk and Applejack continued to advance through the cars, and the same thing happened to them in each car. They both found pony hair that shouldn't be in those cars. It was as if there was evidence that each pony had been in another car that did not correspond. That contradicted what Dusk thought he would find when he began his investigation. At first, he thought it would be difficult to find evidence, but the opposite happened, what he had in his hoof was an avalanche of evidence, which made it impossible for him to find a single culprit. Was everyone on the train guilty!?

"I've talked to every pony in every car." Applejack said, noticing Dusk's confused look and guessing what he was thinking. “They can't all be guilty. They all told me they didn't get out of their cars, and none of them have lied to me, that much I can tell." Applejack added, who functioned as a walking lie detector.

Dusk and Applejack finally reached the engine, where they began looking for clues again, until under a pile of coal, Dusk was surprised to finally find something he had been looking for since he began his investigation: the key to the last car, the one that had been stolen from Pinkie Pie.

“It's the key that Pinkie Pie had! That means the conductor must be the culprit!” Applejack whispered so that the stallion would hear them as he shoveled coal.

"I'm not sure..." Dusk replied, lowering his gaze thoughtfully.

"The only real clue we have is what we heard in the dark..." Dusk thought, remembering what he had thought after the second attack on the desserts. "But maybe the real clue... It's what we DIDN’T hear in the attacks!" He thought, opening his eyes wide upon discovering something important.

Dusk finally put together all the clues he needed, but the answer he found was not what he had expected. If his theory was correct, he had inadvertently been partly to blame for what had happened.

“We should head back to the car.” Dusk said with a sad smile that confused Applejack.

Back in the last car, Pinkie Pie and the chefs stopped hugging when the noisy car door opened and Dusk and Applejack arrived. By this time, Pinkie and the chefs seemed calmer now, but they kept their sad eyes.

"Did you find any clues? Did you find the culprit?" Pinkie Pie asked Dusk and Applejack with a sad look.

"Actually, there’s more than one culprit." Dusk said to Pinkie and the chefs. “We found hair from different ponies in all the cars. That makes it look like none of the ponies stayed in their own wagons. That would be proof that all of them could have come here in the dark and snacked on the desserts.”

“Everyone on the train is a suspect!?” Pinkie Pie asked in surprise.

“It would seem so, but there is other evidence that also exonerates all of them.” Dusk said and opened and closed the door. "The door of this car is very noisy when opening and closing."

"And what's important about that?" Mulia Mild asked.

"Well, during each blackout, we heard various noises, but the noise we never heard was this loud door opening." Dusk said, staring at Mulia and the other chefs. “That means no matter how hard the culprit tried to create false evidence, to make us believe that the ponies in the other wagons came out of their own wagons. In reality, no one moved from their cars, and no one entered this car to sabotage the desserts.”

“How come no one entered the car? Aren't you seeing the bites!? Someone must be to blame!” Donut Joe said with a nervous look.

“Of course there is a culprit. Like I said, more than one.” Dusk said, raising his hoof to point at the chefs. “You were the ones who ate the desserts.”

"What!? Y-You guys ate my delicious eclairs!?” Gustave LeGrand said, looking nervously at Mulia and Donut Joe. Then, the griffin got distracted when he felt that Dusk approached and touched the tip of his mustache.

"Actually, it was you yourself who took a bite out of your own dessert." Dusk said, showing his hoof so that everyone could see that what Gustave had éclair cream on the tip of his mustache. “That's why we didn't hear the noisy car door open. When the train went through the second tunnel, each of you three sabotaged your own desserts.”

"What!? Why would they do that!?” Applejack exclaimed and looked to the ashamed chefs.

"Guilt... They were the ones who bit into the MMMM." Dusk said, looking at Applejack and then back at the chefs. “None of them did it out of malice. With the sweet description Pinkie Pie gave, none of them resisted the temptation when they saw the cake unattended, so the three of them decided to give it a little bite. At that time, they couldn't control themselves, but after committing the crime, they felt very guilty, especially after seeing Pinkie Pie cry. So when we went through the second tunnel, the guilt got the better of them and they sabotaged their own desserts.”

"But... That doesn't make sense." Applejack said, scratching her head. “We didn’t hear the car door open during the first tunnel. So how could they had gotten to the cake then?”

"It's because that wasn't when they committed their crime." Dusk said, looking at his country friend. “After we got through the first tunnel, you, me and Pinkie Pie went to the next cars looking for the culprit. It was there that we left the MMMM unattended, and the three chefs committed the crime.”

The orange mare was still lost. "What!? But then who attacked Pinkie Pie? Also, the cake had already been eaten before we got out of the car.”

"Think about it. Neither of us saw that the cake had been ruined, not before coming back here after going all the way through the train. All we did was take Pinkie Pie's word for it." Dusk said, this time looking seriously at his pink friend. “It was one of Pinkie’s pranks. What she didn't expect, however, was that by leaving the dessert car unlocked, the other chefs would take the opportunity to take a bite out of the MMMM. That's why she started crying ONLY when we came back to this car for the second time. She knew that the three chefs were to blame, but she couldn't say so or she would have to admit that she lied to us in the first place. However, when we passed the second tunnel and she understood that the other chefs sabotaged their own desserts out of guilt, they all hugged and cried together. It was their way of apologizing to everyone.”

“It was all faked!?” Applejack said, understanding what had really happened. She looked at Pinkie Pie in amazement. "Now I understand. When we went looking for the culprit, you grabbed all the ponies and shook them up. That's how you pulled out some of their hairs. And when we got back here, you dropped them, just like you dropped the key on the driver's car. But… I don't understand. Why? What was Pinkie Pie getting out of all this?”

Dusk gave his pretty country friend an embarrassed smile. "She made it possible for us to speak normally again... She put together this whole mystery, so that we could return to the way we were before." Dusk explained, making Applejack open her eyes in surprise and blush slightly.

What Dusk said was true. Without him or Applejack realizing it, they had gone back to talking to each other as they always did. They hadn’t felt any discomfort or shame when they looked and talked to each other since they were so immersed in the mystery. They were just two good friends trying to help their pink friend.

“Mwahahaha! And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you two meddling ponies!" Pinkie Pie said with a fake villain laugh. Then Pinkie Pie stopped her act and looked at her two dear friends with a sweet smile. “It makes me happy that you two remember that no matter what happens, you will always be friends.”

Although Pinkie Pie's plan was a success, there was something that had gone out of her calculations: the appetite of the other chefs. Then Pinkie Pie glanced at the bitten MMMM, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt when she saw that Mr. and Mrs. Cake's effort had been destroyed by her little detective game.

"I'm so sorry, Mademoiselle Pie." Gustave Le Grand bowed to Pinkie Pie in apology. "Your cake was so delicious; I couldn't take even a small bite." Gustave added, as Mulia and Donut Joe also bowed their heads guiltily.

"D-Don't worry..." Pinkie Pie said with a nervous smile. Making it impossible for her to be mad at those three chefs seeing them so repentant. Then she looked at the other desserts and gave a small sigh. “Huff… It's a real shame that all four desserts are ruined. I wish everyone in Canterlot had tasted even a little bit of these delicious desserts…”

"Don't give up yet, y’all!" Applejack suddenly said to Pinkie Pie and the other chefs. “I've been to a lot of competitions, and you should never give up until it’s over. There's still time before we get to Canterlot! You can still fix your desserts!”

"It's true!" Dusk said, approaching Applejack to look firmly at the chefs as well. “You are the best pastry chefs in Equestria, aren't you? You can achieve the impossible!”

With words of encouragement from Dusk and Applejack, Pinkie Pie and the three chefs looked at each other, and then they smiled determinedly. Pinkie Pie then pulled a spatula and wire whisk out of her mane; Gustave pulled out a pastry bag from under his hat; Donut Joe took from the pockets of his suit two glass jars filled with color sprinkles; and Mulia Mild a large rolling pin from her purse. Then the four of them made strange poses, which together looked funny, but at the same time, quite cool, as if they were posing with large-caliber weapons.

Pinkie Pie and the other chefs gathered up their leftover dessert plates and began working together to fix them. For their part, Dusk and Applejack decided to get out of the car so as not to disturb them. Once outside, Dusk and Applejack sat on the seats of the car, but unlike that sad night when they returned from the Canterlot wedding, they both sat together.

"It's crazy, right?" Dusk said looking up at the ceiling with a small smile. "How easily we fell for Pinkie Pie's plan without realizing it."

"Hehe, yeah. I've always said that she's a little crazy, but she's pretty smart." Applejack laughed, also looking up at the ceiling. Then she lowered her head and looked directly at Dusk. "But we needed Pinkie Pie to do that for us to go back to talking like we always did."

"Yeah..." Dusk said with a sad smile, lowering his head. Then he, too, turned to look Applejack in the eye. “I'm sorry I acted weird and didn't come out of the library for so many days. I… I was very confused. I felt so many things, I wasn't sure how to react. And what scared me the most... was thinking that maybe you didn't want to see me anymore."

"Don't be silly, Dusk. I would never want you out of my life." Applejack said with a sad smile. “I also felt horrible after what I did at the wedding. The only thing I thought about was that I wanted to be alone because I was also afraid of seeing you again. And when I saw that you didn't want to leave the library, I felt even more guilty." At that moment Applejack lowered her eyes and gave a great sigh. “Dusk, when I saw you today on the train, I felt my heart stop and then it would start beating like crazy again. I… I know we're not dating anymore, but I want you to know that my feelings for you haven't changed, and never will. You’re a part of my life, and I don't want that to change!" Applejack added, looking at Dusk with a tender and shy smile.

"I don't want you out of my life either." Dusk said, also lovingly looking at Applejack with a tender smile. He then lowered his gaze and averted his eyes with a sad smile. “We should have done this a long time ago. So much trouble thinking that one might hate the other… Huff … I guess the way we ended up wasn't right. It was too abrupt.”

"Yeah..." Applejack agreed and lowered her gaze. She had a worried look and couldn’t at Dusk at that moment. “Perhaps that breakup…was a mistake.” Applejack added in a low voice.

Dusk gave a surprised look, staring at her while she just kept looking at the floor.

“Did she mean that it was a mistake THE WAY we broke up? Or maybe… She says it's a mistake that we broke up at all?” Dusk thought, not sure what her friend was referring to.

Before Dusk could speak, the train whistle blew and it began to stop. At that precise moment, the noisy door of the last car opened, and Pinkie Pie came out.

“Huff! We finished just in time!” Pinkie Pie said, wiping sweat from her forehead and looked out the window. "Come on guys, we need your help carrying our dessert."

"'Our' dessert? Whatcha mean by that?" Applejack asked as she got out of her seat.

The pink mare giggled. “Hehehe, it’s a surprise!”

While her two friends went back to the last car, Dusk Shine stayed behind for a moment, still thinking about the last words his ex-girlfriend had said to him.

After everyone gathered in the last car, Pinkie, Dusk, Applejack and the three chefs took it upon themselves to get their new masterpiece off the train, a dessert that apparently they had managed to make in such a short time and that was now hidden under a large tablecloth. But due to the height and width of that hidden dessert, Dusk could guess that it was a larger dessert than any of the other four that Pinkie Pie and the others had previously had.

Thus, the six of them finally arrived at the competition venue at one of the outer gardens of the Canterlot Palace. Once there, Pinkie and the chefs finally revealed their masterpiece. The four of them had decided to put their egos aside and simply merge their creations into one, because what really mattered to them was not winning the prize, but rather that the other ponies taste their delicious creations and enjoy them. So it was that this new dessert was based on the three floors of the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness, but a whole part of it had been cleverly cut and filled with cream and parts of Gustave's eclairs. Also, the first two floors had been decked out with the sparkly donuts from Donutopia. All to finally put Mulia's chocolate moose head on the top of the cake. Everything had been put together very harmoniously to make it look like a very complex and elaborate layered dessert.

As soon as Pinkie Pie and the three chefs' dessert wonder was revealed, all the ponies around immediately came over and stared at the dessert wonder in amazement. They smelled the mixture of sweet aromas and drooled as they wanted to give that culinary masterpiece a taste.

“Wow… If it tastes as good as it looks, I think we definitely have a winner.” A female voice suddenly said next to Dusk Shine.

"Princess Celestia!" Dusk said happily, turning around upon immediately recognizing his mentor. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, who do you think organized this national dessert competition?" Celestia responded with a small smile. “Huff … It's so exhausting having to do these contests. But it’s my duty as a princess to attend and be a judge at these important events.” Celestia added, faking an exhausted look.

"Hmm... I think you could easily have another pony on the jury." Dusk raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "I remember that you were never a judge for the national soup and salad contests, which were also organized here." Dusk added with a small mischievous smile.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. Do you think I'm here only because I forced the organizers to put me as a judge?" Celestia pretended to be outraged as she levitated a piece of strawberry shortcake and ate it. "Nom-nom... That wouldn't be worthy of a princess." Celestia added, enjoying her cake and giving her beloved student an amused little smile.

While Dusk looked at her with a smile, Celestia's gaze went to Dusk's side where she verified what Spike had informed her in a letter the day before. The alicorn saw with her own eyes that one of the white stars of Dusk's cutie mark was now reddish pink, similar to the central star of his cutie mark. Celestia's eyes widened in astonishment and quickly returned to normal.

"Dusk, I think it would be important for us to talk for a moment, after the competition." Celestia said with a small smile.

For his part, after having lived so many years near Celestia, Dusk immediately noticed that something had caught his teacher's attention. It was only then that Dusk remembered about his cutie mark, he looked at his flank out of the corner of his eye and then he put on a more serious look. “Yes, I think it is necessary.”

"Besides, that's not the only question that needs answers..." Dusk thought seriously, remembering that there were some things that he wanted to ask his teacher since his brother's wedding, but with everything that happened with Applejack, he had put it aside.

After saying goodbye, Dusk smiled at his teacher and went back to meet with his friends. While Celestia continued on her way to continue her work as a judge, examining the other desserts in the competition. However, before continuing, she took one last fleeting look at her student, where she saw that he was smiling normally and chatting happily with his friends.

"Dusk seems to be the same as always... I guess I can take it a bit calmly." Celestia thought in relief.

After returning with his friends, Dusk saw that the three chefs were happy, receiving compliments for their great culinary creation. Then they realized that someone important was missing, so they called Pinkie Pie to come with them and share the credit as well. That left Applejack and Dusk alone, who smiled happily when they saw how Pinkie Pie was surrounded by ponies congratulating her.

"I'm glad to see Pinkie Pie smiling like always again." Dusk said. “We really made her uncomfortable with all of that tension between us, didn’t we?”

“Yeah… that's how Pinkie Pie is. She always gets worried when she sees that someone isn’t smiling.” Applejack said before suddenly she remembered something and her smile faded. “She always… wants to see us smile. Even at the cost of her own smile…” Applejack whispered in surprise, as she looked at her friend.

"Huh?" Dusk didn’t catch was the mare whispered.

"This isn't the first time Pinkie Pie has helped us. Do you remember when I saw my Grandpa Pear and ended up mad at you?" Applejack said with a small smile. "It was Pinkie Pie who helped get the ingredients for my pie, and it was her who found out that you and I had argued and brought you to me so we could cook together."

"You're right..." Dusk said, turning to look at his pink friend and smiling warmly. He reminisced how kind, concerned and affectionate Pinkie Pie was always with everyone, especially with her friends.

“Pinkie Pie has many smiles, but there is one smile in particular that I like the most and the least at the same time.” Applejack explained. "Pinkie Pie's biggest smile is the one she puts on when YOU are with her, Dusk. That smile disgusted me, because my jealousy made me uncomfortable seeing how happy she could be with the stallion I love. But that smile is also my favorite..." She added, turning to look tenderly at Dusk. “…It's my favorite smile because just next to you, she has such a warm and loving smile.”

Dusk widened his eyes in surprise, then he turned to look at Pinkie Pie again. What Applejack said was very true, but only now did he realize it. Being friends with Pinkie Pie, he also noticed the subtle differences in all of Pinkie Pie's smiles which showed her different moods. But there was a smile that he had missed and that he hadn't seen on Pinkie Pie since he became Applejack's coltfriend... That loving smile that she put on when they two were alone together.

Just when Dusk and Applejack had focused their eyes on Pinkie Pie, something alerted them both. Her pink friend was still smiling while chatting with certain ponies, but that smile she had now was different from her normal smile. It was…. awkward. That made Dusk and Applejack get a little closer and raise their ears well to hear what the ponies were talking about in front of Pinkie Pie.

“Yes, now I remember! You were that mare that made everyone in the ballroom dance to help with that love confession!” A sharply dressed stallion said.

"Oh, yeah! At the Grand Galloping Gala! It was kind of fun, although I have to admit that I would never do something that ridiculous again, hohoho!” The mare partner of the stallion laughed elegantly. “So you're not just a party entertainer, you're also a pastry chef? Magnificent!" The mare started to look around. “By the way, how did that confession go for you, dear? Is your new coltfriend around here?

"N-No, he... he couldn't come." Pinkie Pie said with a nervous smile. “Actually… The confession didn't work. He… He didn't want to be my boyfriend, hahaha!” Pinkie Pie laughed.

"Really? hohoho! How ridiculous!" The elegant mare and the rest of the ponies present laughed, believing that it was no big deal since Pinkie was laughing about it. "Sorry dear, it's his loss."

“So that dance was for nothing? Hohoho!" The stallion with the elegant mare also laughed. "If the dance was already ridiculous, I feel even more foolish knowing that the confession resulted in a failure, Hohoho!"

"Yeah! It was all for nothing, hahaha! But at least it was fun, hehe!” Pinkie Pie laughed with a big smile. The same smile that gave the ponies around her confidence to start laughing... The same smile that only Dusk and Applejack noticed that it wasn't really a smile of joy, but a smile of nerves, shame and... pity.

At that moment, Dusk prepared to approach Pinkie to get her out of that awkward situation, however, he hesitated for a second. There was something still holding him back.

“You know… just like Pinkie, I want to see my friends smile too. And for that… I think we both know what we have to do.” Applejack said with a small, sad smile, lowering her hat slightly to hide her guilty look. The mare knew that it was HER who was stopping Dusk from getting close to Pinkie Pie. The lavender stallion looked at the mare and she sighed, raised her head and looked Dusk in the eye. "Dusk, maybe I'm not your marefriend anymore, but there are two things that will never change. I’ll never stop loving you, and I’ll always be there for you when you need me."

“I get it… This… This is the real ending.” Dusk thought, realizing what Applejack meant. However, unlike when she broke up with him at the wedding, this time Dusk didn't feel pain. This time, he felt inner peace. Knowing that the mare who broke up with him did it out of love. Not for the love of her coltfriend, but for the love of her friends. The same love that he also felt for each of his dear friends. With a smile full of determination, Dusk nodded and turned around again to go to where Pinkie Pie was.

"You know, I have a very handsome nephew I could introduce you to." The elegant mare said to Pinkie Pie, thinking she was helping when really she was just hitting a nerve. “You’re a great dessert chef, I think you two could make a cute couple. Though you should put aside those weird dances of yours, darling. Hohoho!"

"Hehe, yeah..." Pinkie Pie said, finding it increasingly difficult to keep her smile. Deep down, she felt sadder and sadder. "I... I don't know if I could-"

"I’m afraid that will be impossible." Dusk Shine said suddenly. The colt walked right up next to the mare and gave her a smile as sweet as her desserts. “I love Pinkie Pie's crazy dances. In fact, I love everything about her.” The pink mare in question was in complete shock.

"And… who are you?" The elegant mare asked.

"Me? Well, I'm Pinkie Pie's coltfriend, of course." Dusk responded with a big smile.

"Come again!?" The mare asked in surprise. "Oh wait! Now I remember you! You are the colt she confessed to! So we did help them in the end!” The mare added, looking excitedly at her husband.

"Well, at least it's a relief to know we made a fool of ourselves for a good cause." The elegant stallion answered. At the time that everyone around him began to chat animatedly with each other.

For a few seconds, all the ponies present forgot about the dessert competition and began asking for details about the dance that Pinkie Pie had organized at the Grand Galloping Gala. With several mares surprised by that romantic gesture, and others surprised that the simple pink mare had managed to convince so many ponies to make a 'flashmob' in the castle. For his part, Dusk animatedly answered the questions of those present, always highlighting how surprising and romantic all this was. Whereas Pinkie Pie, for some reason, froze. She just stopped smiling and stared at the floor as if in shock.

At that moment, the train whistle was heard from afar at the station, announcing that the next train was about to leave. It was that whistle that seemed to finally snap Pinkie Pie back to reality.

"I-I just remembered, there's something I have to do in Ponyville." Pinkie Pie said, raising her head high and making a break for the train. "Sorry, I have to go, bye!" Pinkie Pie quickly added with a big smile and ran at high speed to go to the train station.

That surprising exit shocked everyone, especially Dusk. Who didn't understand at all why Pinkie Pie suddenly ran away. Then Dusk looked at the chefs, seeing that they oversaw the dessert in competition, and then he looked at Applejack, who simply smiled and nodded.

"I know I'm leaving Applejack alone to take care of the cake, and that I'm also missing my meet with the Princess...But now, my first duty is to Pinkie Pie. With my marefriend.” Dusk thought as he began to run, still thinking it was a tad strange to think of Pinkie as his marefriend. He realized that he could never be able to catch up with Pinkie at her ludicrous speeds, so he decided to teleport on to the train once it was in sight just as it was leaving the station. Of course, the train conductor was hardly happy about this and made the colt pay a small fine.

Once on the train, Dusk began to advance through the cars until he was finally relieved when he recognized his friend's thick pink mane in one of the last seats of one of the cars. For her part, Pinkie Pie didn’t realize that Dusk was approaching since her gaze was lost looking out the window of the train. It was only when she felt someone sit next to her that she turned her head.

“Dusk!? What are you doing here?" Pinkie Pie asked in shock.

“When you ran out of the competition, I followed you here.” Dusk responded with a worried look. “Pinkie, is something wrong? Did you… Did you run away because I said I was your coltfriend?”

Faced with Dusk's question, Pinkie Pie gave a nervous look and just looked away without saying anything.

"I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you." Dusk said with a sad look. "I shouldn't have said that we were a couple without consulting you first."

"Why would you consult me? My feelings for you haven't changed. I’ve always wanted you to be my coltfriend." Pinkie Pie said, looking at Dusk with a nervous smile and a worried look. An answer that left Dusk even more confused.

"I… I don't understand. If you didn't mind that, why did you run away?" Dusk asked. Pinkie sighed and looked away again with more concern etched on her face.

"Dusk, I always wanted you to be my coltfriend... but not like this." Pinkie Pie finally said sadly to the floor. Then she raised her head and looked scared at the lavender stallion. "Dusk... Did you say you were my coltfriend out of pity?" The question made Dusk open his eyes very wide in surprise.

"N-No, of course not!" Dusk said very nervous. Then he closed his eyes and put a hoof on his face in anguish. Only now did he realize his big mistake. When he said he was Pinkie Pie's coltfriend, she thought he was doing it to help her. But now he realized that it was actually the worst way to ask Pinkie Pie to be his marefriend. “Pinkie, I now realize that the time wasn’t right. I swear I didn't mean to hurt you."

Pinkie Pie only responded with a sad smile. Then they both fell into very awkward silence.

"Pinkie... Do you want me to go?" Dusk asked sadly, thinking that maybe Pinkie was too hurt with him at the moment. For her part, Pinkie stared at Dusk indecisively for a few seconds, seeing how distressed and sad he was.

"I guess... I don't need to be with a friend right now." Pinkie finally answered and turned to look out the window again.

With Pinkie's response, Dusk sadly lowered his head and went to get up from the seat and leave. However, as soon as he moved his body, he froze, realizing something important. He then settled back in his seat instead of getting up.

"Pinkie doesn't want to be with a friend right now. But I don't want to be sitting next to her like a friend. I… I really want to be sitting next to her… as her coltfriend!" Dusk thought with a look full of determination, deciding to stay there even though Pinkie Pie wanted to be alone.

Pinkie Pie saw through the reflection of the window that Dusk remained seated. That made her put on a small smile when she saw that he had understood the true meaning of what she had said. That had been a test that she did, because she needed to see the truth. She needed to know if Dusk really wanted to be her coltfriend or had he only said that in the competition to help her.

Despite that small victory, Pinkie Pie quickly erased that small smile, sighed, and kept looking at the distant landscape through the window.

When the five friends had made the deal to be all Dusk's marefriends, there were several things they had never thought about. Various problems were encountered by Applejack as she was Dusk's first lover. Difficulties that Applejack and Dusk were able to overcome. And now, it was Pinkie Pie's turn to discover yet another new problem they never thought they would have.

“Dusk isn’t Applejack’s coltfriend anymore. He wants to be my coltfriend now, but… How can I know this is real?” Pinkie Pie thought with anguish. “Did Dusk ask to be my coltfriend out of pity? He just does it to fulfill our deal? Will he still have feelings for Applejack while pretending to have them for me? I… I… HOW CAN I KNOW IF HE REALLY LOVES ME!?”

End of chapter 23

Chapter 24 - The most beautiful smile

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The most beautiful smile

Dusk Shine was standing in front of his teacher with a slightly nervous look. The day before, Celestia had told him that she wanted to talk to him after the national dessert competition ended. However, after Pinkie Pie fled, Dusk chose to go after her and return to Ponyville with Pinkie. For this reason, Dusk had taken the train early that morning to return to Canterlot to apologize to his teacher.

Upon reaching the castle, Dusk Shine notified the guards of his arrival. However, unlike so many other times when Celestia received him immediately, the princess’s personal secretary, Raven Inkwell, indicated that he would have to wait his turn for an audience like any other pony. Dusk immediately thought that this was Princess Celestia's way of punishing him for leaving without warning the day before, which made him nervous while waiting for his turn.

After a long wait, Dusk was announced to enter the main hall. Princess Celestia, along with her sister, Princess Luna, sat elegantly on their thrones, just as they always received all those who requested audiences with them.

"Princess, I... wanted to apologize for not going to the meeting we agreed to yesterday." Dusk said after a small bow. After all, even if she was his teacher, Celestia was still a princess, and it hadn't been right to give her such a slight. “Yesterday, my marefri- er, my friend Pinkie Pie had a problem and she came back to Ponyville. So I decided to accompany her." Dusk added, becoming even more nervous realizing that he still wasn't sure if he could call Pinkie Pie his marefriend, after what happened the day before. They hadn’t spoken again after returning to Ponyville, and perhaps she didn’t see Dusk as her coltfriend.

"Well, the law says that offending a royal princess is a serious crime." Celestia said with a very serious look. "One that is punishable by exile to Tartarus!"

"Sister!" Luna interrupted, looking annoyed at her older sister.

“Pffft! Luna, I was just teasing! Relax!" Celestia said, covering her mouth with a small laugh. Since all that act had been to annoy Dusk, but of course, her sister didn't have the same sense of humor as her. Then Celestia looked at Dusk again and smiled tenderly. "Dusk, there is no reason to apologize. When a friend needs you, you should go to her. I'm glad you followed your heart. In fact… it's something that relieves me.” Celestia added, with a slightly nervous smile. Something that didn’t go unnoticed by Dusk.

“That relieves you? What do you mean?” Dusk asked.

Celestia slightly diverted her slightly strained gaze, concentrating her gaze on Dusk 's flank.

"Dusk, have you felt any change in you recently? I mean apart from your cutie mark.” Celestia finally asked, looking back seriously at Dusk.

“Well… Now that you mention it, there is something. Or at least I think so." Dusk replied with an insecure look. “When I found out about my cutie mark, I spent days with Spike, using my magic in different ways in different experiments to try and figure out what caused the change in my cutie mark. However, nothing I tried worked..." At that moment, Dusk raised his hoof and surrounded it with a bit of his magic. "It was then that I thought: It's not normal that I've done dozens of magic experiments for days, and I haven't suffered magic exhaustion."

"You say that your amount of magical mana increased?" Celestia asked very curiously.

"I think so, but I'm not sure, since it's not like I knew what my limit was before I exhausted myself." Dusk said, scratching his head in confusion. “It’s something very light, and my power as such has not increased. But I think my magic reserve did increase a bit.”

“Hmm, that makes sense. In my more than a thousand years of ruling Equestria, I only know of one case where a pony changed their cutie mark. And in that case, a change in that pony's magic also occurred. Although the change in her magic was much more radical and dangerous.” Celestia said with a thoughtful look.

“Did you already know of a similar case!?” Dusk gasped then lowering his head thoughtfully, talking more to himself than to the princesses. "So my case is rare, but not unique... But... what happened to that pony?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Celestia said with a sad smile and looked to her side.

Following Celestia's gaze, Dusk was confused for a few seconds to see that Celestia was looking at her younger sister. All while Luna kept her gaze down, looking sadly at the floor. Without being able to look Dusk in the eye.

Dusk 's eyes widened when he understood what his teacher was saying and saw Luna’s sad look.

"Nightmare Moon..." Dusk whispered in surprise.

As Celestia said, Dusk remembered seeing the cutie mark of Nightmare Moon, which had a very similar, almost identical, shape to Luna's when she got rid of Nightmare Moon's evil spirit. However, despite being similar, both cutie mark were of different colors. Nightmare Moon's cutie mark had been a teal crescent moon on a purple background; while Luna's was a white crescent moon on a black background.

All that conversation was something that Luna knew that Dusk and Celestia would have at some point. That was why she decided to attend that hearing with Dusk. However, despite knowing that Dusk would look at her with that look of fear when he remembered Nightmare Moon, Luna likewise felt guilt and pain when she saw that the colt of her dreams remembered her worst moment, the worst of her.

"So... That means my cutie mark... that I..." Dusk said with a slight tremor in his voice, imagining that he could turn evil, just like Nightmare Moon.

"Not necessarily." Celestia said, making an old scroll appear in front of her. “I did a little research in my private library. And it seems that in his time, Starswirl also found a pony that had a change in their cutie mark.” Celestia added, opening the scroll and showing it to Dusk.

“This… This scroll was written by Starswirl the Bearded!?” Dusk said with huge, astonished eyes. He took the scroll as carefully as possible, as if it were the most sacred thing in the world. For her part, Celestia simply smiled seeing her beloved student with that childlike look of wonder.

“Although he doesn't mention any name, nor what happened to that pony, Starswirl mentions that that pony changed their cutie mark, but didn’t turn evil. On the contrary, that pony changed their attitude and straightened its path for the better, whatever it was." Celestia continued speaking, while Dusk gawked at the old scroll. "As you know, cutie marks are a very old and powerful magic. Not even I, with my alicorn magic, can completely alter one. That's why Starswirl had a theory that there were two factors necessary to upset a cutie mark. First, there must be a powerful source of external magic. One strong enough to overcome the magic of a cutie mark. And second, the pony that experiences that powerful magic must undergo a great emotional change at that precise moment. Something strong enough to upset the sentiment or ideal that forged the original cutie mark.”

Celestia was silent for a few seconds. Dusk lowered the scroll and looked at his teacher, who now looked at him seriously, straight in the eyes.

"Dusk, have you suffered from any emotional shock recently? Anything that has altered your personality in any way?” Celestia asked. Luna bowed her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

It was not necessary for her sister to say it, Luna knew perfectly well what was going through Celestia's mind. Her sister was afraid that Dusk would suffer the same transformation that had filled her with anger and had transformed her into Nightmare Moon.

"Well, yeah… I mean, the whole wedding was an emotional roller coaster." Dusk finally answered with a nervous smile. "I was kidnapped, I watched my brother nearly get killed, I faced off against an evil and powerful shapeshifter, used the power of love and friendship to save the kingdom, and of course, my marefriend broke up with me."

"You aren’t Applejack's coltfriend anymore!?" Luna almost screamed. The lunar alicorn realized her outburst and quickly lowered her head in embarrassment.

"My informants were right. The marriage with Applejack would only last a month!" Luna thought happily, trying to hide a smile on her face that was beginning to grow. Dusk was single again!

For her part, Celestia looked curiously at Luna, thinking of a crazy idea to see her sister so excited just because she found out that Dusk ended their courtship. Such a crazy idea that Celestia immediately discarded it and returned to focus on Dusk Shine.

“If Starswirl's theory is correct, any one of those strong emotions could have triggered the emotional shift required to change your cutie mark. Which leaves us with the second factor, the external source of magic that affected you. And just like your emotions, I think I also have several options. Four to be specific.” Celestia said, levitating a golden dagger that Dusk immediately recognized. It was the golden dagger with which Chrysalis stabbed Shining Armor and almost stabbed him too. “This dagger was made from an ancient necklace, one that had been steeped in a well of dark magic for many years. Furthermore, this dagger also stabbed me during the wedding. So, it had some of my blood on it… This may be one of the external sources of magic that affected you. In fact, I have a theory that the blood on this dagger saved Shining from dying instantly after being stabbed."

"I don't think that dagger affected me... I never felt a magic coming from it." Dusk said, looking at that dagger with fear, since it brought back very bad memories. Celestia then put the dagger away and made a second item appear: the crushed crown of Chrysalis.

“This crown held much of Chrysalis’s power. During the wedding, it fell and you destroyed it." Celestia said, slightly narrowing her eyes and looking carefully at Dusk.

"Yes... I was the one who crushed it..." Dusk said with a scared look. Remembering that unlike the dagger, he did feel the dark magic emanating from that crown. And something he hadn't told anyone was that he thought he heard a gloomy scream, almost a laugh, when he destroyed it. “No… I don't want to imagine that such a dark magic would have changed my cutie mark!” Dusk said fearfully.

"It's one of the options, but dark magic wasn't the only thing that touched your heart that day." Celestia said. Deciding to quickly continue with the other two options, seeing the frightened look of his student. “The third powerful magic that could affect you that day, was Cadance and Shining's love magic. A magical burst of pure and unique love. One that you were even able to partially imitate with your friends to finally defeat Chrysalis.”

"Partially?" Dusk asked confused.

"Dusk, Cadance is an alicorn princess. There is a strong magical lineage running through her veins, that is where her power came from. But in the case of you and your friends, despite using love as fuel, I think that the magic you used came from another source... from the fourth option that I think could have affected your cutie mark.” Celestia said, looking at Dusk with a small smile. Since she knew that her student was smart enough to guess what she was thinking.

"The magic of friendship... Or rather, the Elements of Harmony." Dusk said, finishing saying what Celestia wanted. “Do you think it was my and my friends' connection to the Elements of Harmony that affected my cutie mark?”

"It's one of the theories." Celestia agreed. “In one of your letters you indicated that you had already managed to partially use the magic of friendship without carrying the Elements of Harmony. If you hadn't said so beforehand, I'd say it's impossible. After all, how could you connect to the magic of the Elements of Harmony without having them with you?" Celestia added, staring at Dusk. Since again she wanted her student to discover for himself what she was thinking.

Dusk looked thoughtful until his eyes widened and he looked at his cutie mark.

"My cutie mark… Do you think it has a connection to the Tree of Harmony!?” He asked, remembering the star engraved on the Tree of Harmony. "Do you think that's why my cutie mark changed?

"It could be, although I'm not sure yet." Celestia smiled softly. “As I told you, there are several theories, some better than others. The only thing I hope is that the change in your stars is something positive for you, and for all of us."

Dusk lowered his head and gave an uneasy look. When he had arrived at the castle, he thought that his wise teacher would have the answer to the change in his cutie mark. But the truth was that now he had more questions than answers, and that made him nervous.

"The Princess doesn't want to say it, but I think she wants me to understand that it’ll be in me that this change that affects me is for better or for worse..." Dusk thought, hoping that if there really was a connection between his cutie mark and the Tree of Harmony, it was a good thing. Then Dusk opened his eyes wide when he remembered something. "It's true, I didn't just come here to ask about the change in my cutie mark. There is something very important that I don't know yet and maybe it’s also related to my cutie mark. Something very important that I should know… about the origin of my family.”

Dusk looked up and opened his mouth to speak. However, he was unable to do so, as a magical scroll suddenly appeared in front of Celestia.

"Is that a letter from Spike?" Dusk asked, immediately recognizing the seal on the scroll.

“Indeed…” Celestia said, quickly opening and reading the letter. Then she gave it to Dusk with a big smile. "It’s for you."

Dusk Shine took the letter in surprise and read it. Spike wrote without much detail that Pinkie Pie needed his help, and asked if he could get back from his meeting with the princess as soon as possible.

"Why now!? Couldn't Pinkie wait for me to finish my meeting with the Princesses?" Dusk thought restlessly. Then he suddenly closed his eyes and smiled. “Let go of something that really matters to me, or help a friend? Heh! The answer is obvious.”

“Sorry Princesses, something important came up. I must return to Ponyville at once." Dusk said with a big smile and a quick bow before quickly leaving the main hall.

"Uh!? Oh! W-Wait..." Luna stammered as Dusk left, wanting to stop the lavender colt to talk to him a little more. However, Luna quickly realized that it wouldn’t be well seen by her sister if she stopped Dusk for no reason, and she bit her tongue so as not to stop Dusk while he was leaving.

"I hope Celestia hasn't noticed how clumsy I acted..." Luna thought uneasily, looking at Celestia out of the corner of her eye. To her surprise, Luna discovered that Celestia hadn't noticed her outburst. The only thing Celestia did was look with a worried look at the crushed crown that Chrysalis had lost.

"You’re doing it again." Luna said, looking annoyed at her sister. “You’re hiding something from me. Sister, you promised that you would not hide anything from me anymore.”

"I'm not hiding anything from you, Luna." Celestia replied, still looking at the crushed crown. "It's just that I always try to think of all the possibilities when faced with a strange fact that I don't understand."

Luna stared at the crown her sister was holding and guessed what Celestia must be thinking.

“You mean the crown. When we fought Chrysalis, I felt it." Luna said with an uneasy look. "Her crown had a very dark magic, but after Dusk crushed it, that magic disappeared."

“Did you recognize that magic?” Celestia asked, narrowing her eyes slightly. Meanwhile, Luna opened her eyes with surprise and looked away.

"Yes... That darkness... It looked like my magic, when I was Nightmare Moon." Luna answered with a sad look.

"When we were just fillies, Starswirl found two items of powerful dark magic: the ancient crown of King Orion and a book. The same book that released the magic that transformed you into Nightmare Moon. He locked both items in a chest, hoping no one would ever open it." Celestia said with a worried look. “Do you know why Starswirl kept those items, knowing that they were so dangerous?”

“To study them?” Luna guessed, remembering that his former teacher was very fond of researching all kinds of magic.

“Starswirl loved to learn all kinds of things, he even created black magic spells himself. However, he knew how dangerous those two objects were.” Celestia said, looking back at the crown with a worried look. “He kept them…because he couldn’t destroy them.”

"What!? But then, how was it that Dusk was able to crush the crown?" Luna asked, surprised and confused.

“Luna… Do you know how many fillies Starswirl had as students besides us?” Celestia asked, looking at her sister, who was left confused by the sudden change of topic. "None. Starswirl made an exception for us. He taught us magic as fillies, because he knew our alicorn magic needed control. Otherwise, our own power could destroy us."

"Wait a minute!" Luna yelled as she finally understood where her sister wanted to go. "Do you think that the increase in Dusk Shine's magic is dangerous!?”

“I don't want to think that. But it’s not normal that he was able to destroy the crown. A crown that neither Starswirl nor I could destroy." Celestia said with a worried look. “Maybe I'm thinking about it too much. Perhaps over the years, being sunk in that dark pit from which Chrysalis was born, the crown lost its power. But… I must always think of all the possibilities.”

"But even if Dusk had a sudden burst of magic, that's good." Luna said nervously. “You said it yourself, his link to the Tree of Harmony was able to provide him with magic to destroy the dark magic of the crown. It's good magic!"

“Luna, there is no such thing as good or bad magic. A light can blind, and darkness can hide you from evil. It’s the ponies who decide how to use it." Celestia said, taking a deep breath.

"Maybe I'm thinking too much, but so many years taking care of my beloved ponies have made me too cautious." Celestia thought, fearing for the future of her beloved student. "I can't stop thinking if everything that has happened in the last year is just a coincidence or is it part of something bigger and darker that I can't see..." Celestia thought, remembering how impressed she was years ago, when she first saw Dusk Shine’s cutie mark and the power he unleashed that day.

"I don't know what fate has in store for us, but I know that Dusk Shine will be involved in some way." Celestia finally added, looking at her sister with concern.

Back in Ponyville, Dusk hurried to get off the train to go to the library as soon as possible. After all, if Spike had written her a letter, it was because Pinkie Pie really must be in trouble. However, as soon as Dusk got out of the train, he almost collided head-on with Mr. and Mrs. Cake, who had waited attentively in front of the train door to see who was getting off.

"Dusk, dearie!” The pudgy mare exclaimed and pulled the surprised colt into a big hug.

“We were afraid that you wouldn’t be able to arrive on time. Or even worse, that our letter hadn’t reached you.” Mr. Cake said with a very tired face, sighing with relief while his wife continued to hug Dusk.

"What? Wait... did you ask Spike to send that letter to the Princess?" Dusk asked once Mrs. Cake released him from her tight hug.

“We’re sorry to have interrupted your meeting with the Princess, but…we were desperate!!” Mr. Cake sighed and squeezed his own face at the memory of what they had been through since last night.

“We have been looking for help all morning, but everyone is busy.” Mrs. Cake said, also with a pained look.

"Help to…?" Dusk asked, worried to see the tired and exhausted faces of Mr. and Mrs. Cake, thinking that a great evil must be weighing down that happy couple.

At that moment, Mr. and Mrs. Cake looked worried and then both turned to look at Dusk.

“We need a babysitter!!” Mr. and Mrs. Cake said at the same time. Dusk simply raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why would they have gone to the extreme of sending a letter to Princess Celestia herself for something like that?

“After our cake won the dessert competition in Canterlot, the mayor of Manehattan himself hired us for an important reception he is having in his city today.” Mr. Cake began to better explain the situation so that Dusk understood their great dilemma. "It's the most important job we've ever had, so we must go."

"The problem is that somepony has to take care of our little babies until we return." Mrs. Cake said. "We asked all the ponies in the town, but no one had time to take care of them today."

"I see..." Dusk hummed. For a moment he almost forgot that Mr. and Mrs. Cake had recently been parents, and now he understood their great concern. It was then that the weight of what Mr. and Mrs. Cake were really asking of him fell on Dusk. “Wait, you want ME to babysit!? Is there no one else available!?” Dusk said with terror, thinking that taking care of two babies only one month old was too much responsibility! “There must be someone else! Fluttershy, Cheerilee, Applejack…”

“They were our first choices, but they were all busy.” Mr. Cake said sadly. "We asked everyone in town and no one was available... Well... No one except... Pinkie Pie." The lanky stallion looked away.

"Pinkie Pie? That's great! Surely, she is a better babysitter option than me.” Dusk said nervously, wanting by all means to avoid the task.

"Dearie... We love Pinkie Pie, but..." Mrs. Cake trailed, looking at Dusk with concern.

"What's wrong with Pinkie Pie?" Dusk thought, beginning to imagine the pink pony taking care of two babies. Then Dusk imagined Pinkie Pie juggling a chainsaw and two babies in the air at the same time. He then went on to picture Pinkie Pie emptying a sack of candy into the babies' mouths, filling them with sugar and driving them crazy. “No! Pinkie Pie would never do that... right...” Dusk thought somewhat insecurely.

"Before we came here, we left Pinkie Pie taking care of the babies, but... we really wish someone a little more responsible could... help her with that." Mr. Cake said nervously.

“Pinkie is the most loving pony in the world, but taking care of two babies is a huge responsibility. She always plays with them, but taking care of them is something else entirely, and we're not sure if she can handle all the responsibility alone." Mrs. Cake said, looking at Dusk with a pleading look. "Please, Dusk. Could you help her?"

The train's whistle blew, announcing its upcoming departure for Manehattan. Then Mr. and Mrs. Cake stared at Dusk with pleading looks, waiting for his answer. The colt lowered his head as he contemplated his answer.

"I will." Dusk sighed in resignation. Then he looked up again to see Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and was surprised to see that they were no longer in front of him.

Dusk looked around and saw that Mr. and Mrs. Cake were already on board the train, saying goodbye from the window, with huge smiles of relief as the train began its journey.

"What the hay did I get myself into..." Dusk thought, watching the train depart, having a bad feeling imagining himself taking care of two little foals.

While Dusk was walking towards Sugarcube Corner, recalled his days as a young colt when Cadance was his babysitter. He hadn't been a bad colt and that he always listened to Cadance. Little by little thinking that maybe the same thing would happen with the baby Cakes, and that all the fear of taking care of foals was only in his imagination. He eventually reached the bakery with a renewed hope and opened the door, ready to have a nice afternoon with two calm and cuddly baby ponies.

As soon as Dusk opened the door to the bakery, a spoonful of baby food crashed into his face while his ears shuddered as he heard the crying of two infants filling the room. After removing the food from his face, Dusk saw that at the end of the main hall was Pinkie Pie with a scared look, trying to calm down two small babies sitting in their chairs to feed them.

"Now’s your chance, no one has seen you yet… Run away!"Dusk thought, terrified from the ultrasonic cries of babies. No way he could stand spending a whole afternoon listening to those cries. However, the colt’s fight-or flight response melted away with he saw how stressed the pink mare looked. He needed to do his best to help his beloved Pinkie Pie.

"H-Hi Pinkie..." Dusk said as he entered the home.

"Dusk!? W-What are you doing here?" Pinkie Pie whirled around with a shocked face.

The first thing that caught Dusk 's attention when Pinkie Pie turned around was that she was wearing a fake piggy nose for some reason. However, his gaze quickly diverted to the two foals, since it was the first time Dusk had seen them. He was surprised to see that one of the babies was a unicorn filly with yellow fur and orange mane; and the other a pegasus colt with white fur and brown mane.

"A unicorn and a pegasus?" Dusk thought with an amused smile. "If I were Mr. Cake, I would definitely take a magical paternity test.” Although the truth was that both babies had several facial features that made it undeniable that Mr. Cake was their real father.

"Pinkie, you look exhausted." Dusk said, noticing the small dark circles that the pink pony had under her eyes.

"Uh? Oh yeah! It's just that I stayed up all night." Pinkie Pie replied with a nervous smile. “Last night Mr. Cake told me that if they didn't find a babysitter in the morning, they would let me look after the babies. So I spent the whole night thinking about all the new games I would teach little Pound and Pumpkin Cake!” Pinkie Pie added, pointing to the baby pegasus and the baby unicorn respectively. Then a spoonful of baby food flew out and hit Pinkie 's face as she kept smiling, pointing at the babies. "But... It didn't turn out like I thought it would, hehe..." Pinkie Pie giggled nervously, her face stained with baby food.

"I see... I guess Mr. and Mrs. Cake were right." Dusk smiled when he saw Pinkie grinned despite the mess the babies were causing.

"What are you talking about?" Pinkie Pie asked as she wiped her face.

"It's just that Mr. and Mrs. Cake told me that it could be very difficult to take care of two babies alone, so they asked if I could come help you." Dusk explained. “I honestly don't know if I'll be of much help, but I'll do my best to be with you and help you in any way I can.” Dusk added with a big smile.

Despite the fact that Dusk smiled, Pinkie Pie simply stared at him with an expressionless look, while many thoughts went through her head. Then she gave an annoyed look and began to push Dusk out of the bakery, to Dusk's complete surprise.

"P -Pinkie, what's wrong!?" Dusk asked.

“I don't need your help or anyone else's to take care of the foals.” Pinkie Pie growled as she continued to push Dusk.

While being pushed, Dusk thought about the reasons why Pinkie Pie had reacted in such a way. And it was then that Dusk lowered his head and gave a sad look.

"This... Is it because of what happened in the dessert competition?" Dusk asked sadly, just when Pinkie had pushed him almost to the door. At that moment, the mare immediately stopped pushing Dusk.

"What? No! That's not why I want you to go!" Pinkie Pie flustered. “I want you to go because I want to show Mr. and Mrs. Cake that I can take care of the babies myself. I want to earn their trust to be their babysitter!”

After a few seconds of silence, Dusk shyly looked at Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie... Are you still mad at me for what happened in Canterlot?" Dusk asked. And then it was Pinkie Pie's turn to be silent for a few seconds and looked away awkwardly.

"Dusk, I'm not mad at you." Pinkie Pie said nervously, not being able to look Dusk in the eye. "It's just... It's complicated."

At that moment both ponies stayed with their heads bowed in a long and uncomfortable silence. A silence that made them both lose themselves in their own tangled thoughts while their feelings confused them even more.

"Wait, how is it so quiet?" Dusk and Pinkie Pie thought at the same time. Why weren’t the foals crying anymore?! They both turned to look at the other end of the room, and their faces went pale and expressionless when they saw that there were only two empty baby chairs there.

“WHERE ARE THE BABIES!?” Dusk and Pinkie Pie hysterically yelled in unison.

Dusk and Pinkie quickly ran to the baby chairs and began to search all around the main hall, completely terrified that it only took one oversight to send both babies to disappear. Then they both raised their ears when they heard little baby giggles coming from the kitchen.

Both ponies immediately ran to the kitchen and saw all the cabinets. The foals were no doubt hiding in one of them!

"I wanted to play hide and seek with them, but not like this!" Pinkie Pie said screamed as she opened the lower kitchen cabinets one by one. “I thought taking care of them would be easier since I always play with them. But now I stop looking at them for a moment and they disappear!”

"Calm down, we heard their giggles from here, so we know that they’re here somewhere." Dusk said as he opened another section of lower cabinets. He levitated a knife, which was completely covered with a rubber on its edge. "It seems that Mr. and Mrs. Cake protected everything dangerous here, so they must be fine."

"Still, they picked the worst time to play hide and seek!" Pinkie Pie said in frustration. “Since Mr. and Mrs. Cake left, they haven’t stopped crying. I did everything to calm them down, but nothing worked… I even did my best piggy dance for them! My best act!"

"Oh... So that's why you have a piggy nose." Dusk said as he continued looking for the babies. “Hehe, that’s so you. I remember when at the party for one of Apple Bloom's friends, you did the piggy dance and you gave sweets to the foals… You always do a dance to cheer others up.” Dusk said, smiling tenderly as he remembered dancing to Pinkie with that piggy nose.

Pinkie Pie stopped her search and touched her nose. Only then did she realize that she was still wearing the pig nose that she used for her dance. She had been wearing it all this time! Even during that tense moment that she and Dusk had had seconds before! That made Pinkie Pie blush deeply, and she took her nose off.

"I hope this time you didn't give the babies candy after they saw your piggy dance." Dusk said as he continued looking for the babies in the cabinets. He wasn’t looking at Pinkie Pie, who had stopped her search, looking embarrassed at Dusk. “If you gave them too much sugar, we can never get them to sleep.”

“I… I already know that…” Pinkie Pie whispered in embarrassment, remembering that she had just offered sweets to the babies until Mrs. Cake warned her not to give them so much sugar. Then she looked at the piggy nose that was on her hoof and gave a very sad look.

"I can take care of some foals, right?" Pinkie Pie thought sadly. "I'm being too childish! I don't want Dusk to think that I'm irresponsible! I can be a trustworthy mare like Applejack too!" Pinkie Pie thought, determined that that day she would show Dusk that she could be responsible and be worthy of his love!

Suddenly Pinkie Pie and Dusk raised their heads when they heard a childish giggle coming from one of the upper cabinets. The mare hurried over to that cabinet to open it. As she did so, she breathed a huge sigh of relief to see that both babies were there. They were entirely stuffed with baby food, playing with a bag of flour and in amusement that Pinkie Pie had found them.

"How did they get up there?" Dusk thought with surprise to see that the babies were in one of the upper cabinets in the kitchen.

"They’re okay! You don't know how scared I was …” Pinkie Pie smiled, taking both babies down from the cabinet. Then she looked at Dusk out of the corner of her eye and saw that he had a confused look. In that instant, Pinkie Pie realized that she had to be more responsible and gave the foals a serious look. “You two shouldn't have run off like that! You’re very bad babies.” Pinkie Pie scolded the two.

Pound and Pumpkin were unprepared for the scolding and started to cry again. Something that made Dusk cover one ear and Pinkie Pie put on a nervous look, since she didn't want the babies to cry, but she also wanted Dusk to see that she could be serious if the situation required it.

"Shhhh, don’t cry! I didn't want to scare you..." Pinkie Pie consoled the two. She thought about making one of her silly faces, but she didn’t want to look too immature in front of her crush.

As Pinkie Pie debated with herself what to do, the bag of flour that was in the top cabinet where the babies had been, slipped and landed directly on Pinkie Pie's head, causing the kitchen to be filled with a cloud of white dust.

After the flour dispersed, Dusk saw how Pinkie Pie and the babies had turned completely white from all the flour falling on them. That finally got the infants to start laughing again. The ridiculous sight couldn’t help but make Dusk laugh out loud.

As everyone laughed, Pinkie Pie simply giggled. Happy that the babies stopped crying but feeling embarrassed to see that Dusk saw her completely covered in flour. A small part of her was glad that the white of the flour prevented Dusk from seeing how embarrassed and blushing she really was.

"No! This is bad!" Pinkie Pie realized. "It’s never bothered me that Dusk sees me being myself, but just for today, I want him to see that I am more than a mare who likes to joke. I’m a mare that can also be serious and responsible!"

After tidying up the mess they had left in the kitchen a bit, they all went to the bathroom on the second floor together to bathe the babies. There, Pinkie Pie was in charge of setting up the bathtub, since it was not the first time she had bathed the Cake babies. She made sure to add in lots of bubbles and their favorite toys before jumping into the tub with the foals so that she could wash off the flour on her too.

"Hehe! This is sooo fun! Right?" Pinkie Pie said with a huge smile after removing all the flour from her mane. She put on a bubble beard to make the babies laugh, which always worked.

While the babies laughed at the antics of their funny 'Auntie Pinkie', the pink pony suddenly stopped smiling as she remembered something important. She had gotten carried away! Dusk was still there in the bathroom!! Pinkie Pie quickly took off her bubble beard and looked Dusk. There, she saw that Dusk wasn't even looking at her. For some reason, the lavender stallion had averted his gaze to the floor and had a disgusted look on his face. Then, he turned around and left the bathroom, leaving Pinkie Pie with a devastated look and her heart clenched.

"Of course… He must feel so bitter when he realizes that he traded the mature Applejack for the silly Pinkie Pie…" Pinkie Pie thought, slightly lowering her head in the water as a tear fell from one of her eyes. "He doesn't want to be my coltfriend… I'm too childish for him to take me seriously…"

After finishing bathing and drying the babies, Pinkie Pie came out of the bathroom and took the babies to her room. There, Dusk Shine had gone before her and had taken advantage of ordering all the toys that the babies had left lying around their room.

"Oh! Guess you took some time to make sure you were squeaky clean, huh?" Dusk said with a big smile as he finished putting the last toy in a trunk.

“Yeah… I had to make sure the babies got completely clean after all the flour that fell on them.” Pinkie Pie replied with a nervous smile. She was glad to see that Dusk was still there, but instantly felt depressed at the thought that he was still there just because Mr. and Mrs. Cake had asked him to.

Pinkie Pie walked over to the babies' crib, and put both foals to bed together, wrapping them up with some blankets. Which the babies immediately snapped out of and began to move and play in the crib.

“I thought that they would get sleepy after a bath. But it seems that their energy never runs out." Dusk mused as he looked at the pair.

“That's how babies are… Yawn…. Always full of energy." Pinkie Pie yawned tiredly.

At that moment, Dusk remembered that Pinkie had not slept all night, and it seemed curious to him to see for the first time a pony, or in this case two, that had more energy than the always restless Pinkie Pie.

“If you want, you can go rest. I can take care of the babies until they fall asleep.” Dusk said to Pinkie with a small loving smile. For her part, the pink pony looked at Dusk and then looked away.

“I think… it’s best if you leave now. I can take care of the babies myself.” Pinkie Pie said. Making it increasingly difficult for her to hide her sad look.

"But... I can still help." Dusk said with disappointment.

“I knew it… She doesn't want me to be around her. She's still upset with me...” Dusk thought sadly.

"Dusk... I appreciate all your help, but I really want to do this alone." Pinkie Pie stared at Dusk with a pleading look. “Trust me, I can do it. I want everyone to see that I'm also a trustworthy pony. Especially… Mr. and Mrs. Cake.” Pinkie Pie added, hesitating in that last sentence, since what she really thought was: 'Especially you.'

Dusk sadly lowered his head and accepted that Pinkie didn't want him by her side. After that, Dusk said goodbye to Pinkie and the babies and left Sugarcube Corner.

Once on the streets, Dusk walked slowly while he kept thinking about everything that had happened in the bakery. For some reason, there was something bothering him. He had a strange feeling that he had forgotten something. It was then that Dusk stopped dead when he realized what it was: Pinkie Pie's smile.

Since Applejack had made him see that Pinkie Pie 's biggest and most tender smile was the one she put on when he was alone with her, Dusk couldn't get that out of his head. And now, they had been together for quite a while, but Pinkie Pie had never put on that smile. The smile that Dusk missed seeing the most.

“I don't just want to see it. I need it! I need to see that smile on Pinkie Pie again!” Dusk thought, opening his eyes wide at that revelation. He not only needed to see that Pinkie Pie smile to know that she was truly happy, but also because he himself needed that peace and joy that radiated from Pinkie when she was truly happy.

Without wasting time, Dusk turned around and went back to Sugarcube Corner. Once inside, he quietly went up to the second floor, not wanting to wake the foals if they had fallen asleep.

Upon arriving in front of the room, the door was ajar, so Dusk was able to stick out part of his head to see carefully if the babies had already fallen asleep. In doing so, the colt saw that Pound and Pumpkin were still awake, in fact, with even more energy than before, since they bit and slobbered on the hooves that Pinkie Pie had on the cradle to rock it. Paradoxically, the one who seemed to be about to fall asleep was precisely Pinkie Pie. Who had rested her head on the cradle, while weakly singing a lullaby. Her eyes were half open, giving the feeling that they would close at any moment. Staring at the babies, so sleepy, she didn't even realize that Dusk had returned and was now looking at her from the door.

“Yawn... I… I don't know any more bedtime songs…” Pinkie Pie said with a yawn and weakly rocked the cradle.

“Is it legal to use a sleep spell to put a baby to sleep?” Dusk mused, wondering if he could use that 'probably illegal' little trick to help Pinkie Pie without her noticing.

At that moment the little Pumpkin approached Pinkie's head in the crib and began to suck her nose. While little Pound Cake began to hit Pinkie's mane with one of his toys. For her part, Pinkie Pie seemed to finally resign herself and simply smiled weakly as the babies did their thing with her.

"I wonder what babies dream about..." Pinkie Pie said weakly, as it seemed that her eyes closed more with each second, struggling not to fall asleep. “Would you like to know what my dream is?” Pinkie added,with a small tired smile.

“I already know the answer… It’s to have the biggest party in the world! She told me so herself.” Dusk thought as he continued listening from the door, remembering a time when he and his friends met for breakfast and talked about their dreams. “I remember that it all started because Rainbow Dash said that her dream was to be a part of the Wonderbolts. Rarity then said that her dream was to own a boutique in Canterlot. Later I said that my dream was to become an Archmage one day. Applejack said that her dream was to keep her family together and grow her family's farm... I remember it took a lot, but we finally got Fluttershy to tell us that her dream was to build an animal sanctuary. And finally, Pinkie Pie said..." At that moment Dusk opened his eyes with surprise as he remembered well what happened that day. “Wait… Pinkie Pie wasn't the one who told us her dream. We were the ones who immediately guessed what Pinkie Pie would say before she even said it. She... She just said yes, that we had guessed, that that was her dream...” Dusk thought, surprised to realize that small detail that he had overlooked all this time.

“My dream is… to be a mother.” Pinkie Pie blushed, a little embarrassed to say her secret out loud, even if it was only to a few babies. Dusk Shine was shocked by the confession. "I'm embarrassed to admit it, because it's not as big a dream as my friends', but… I think it's something I've always wanted in my future." Pinkie Pie added, looking tenderly at the two babies in front of her. Pumpkin slobbered her hoof and Pound Cake hit her on the head with a toy. "Although I suppose that after knowing how difficult it is to take care of a baby, maybe I’ll reconsider, hehe!”

For a second, seeing Pinkie Pie's tender and sad smile as the sweet pink pony opened her heart, both babies stopped what they were doing, looked at Pinkie Pie and hugged her face. Pinkie's pure and transparent feelings reached the hearts of the little babies. For her part, Pinkie Pie widened her eyes at such a gesture. Then she smiled, closed her eyes and hugged both foals while shedding a small tear.

"It's a silly dream... Besides, I'd never achieve it... How could I even dream of such a thing if... the stallion I love doesn't even truly want to be with me..." Pinkie Pie said, speaking haltingly. Beginning to drift off to sleep as she closed her eyes and felt the soft warmth of the babies hugging her face. "Dusk thinks I'm angry with him... But what I feel isn't anger, it's fear... Fear of not being like Applejack... Fear that he feels sorry for me... Fear of... that he doesn't love me... that... that's... zzzzzz…” Pinkie Pie continued to mutter, venting her true feelings as she fell asleep.

Dusk Shine was shocked to hear Pinkie's true feelings. He knew that he had been wrong to eavesdrop on Pinkie, but it had helped him finally realize the fear that Pinkie Pie felt.

For days, Dusk had regretted being in his situation, having ended his relationship with Applejack. During that process, he was also aware that Applejack must be going through something similar. But after they both got over it, it never occurred to Dusk that their relationship had affected not only the two of them, but also their friends. Especially Pinkie Pie after he recklessly asked to be her coltfriend out of the blue.

After meditating for a second, Dusk closed his eyes and remembered all the moments he had with Pinkie Pie. Times when she had always been one of his friends who had made it clearer that she liked him. A feeling that Pinkie had not forgotten, even though Dusk was Applejack's coltfriend. A feeling that Dusk had now begun to rekindle in him when he discovered how he missed her beautiful smile.

While his head was filled with the memories of all the happy moments that he and Pinkie had spent together, Dusk raised his head and looked tenderly at Pinkie Pie while she was sleeping. He felt an enormous urge to run to her and hug her.

"Do you think I don't want to be with you?" Dusk whispered from the door, blushing a little at how cute Pinkie Pie looked when she was sleeping. "Don't be silly, of course I-" At that moment Dusk fell silent and opened his eyes wide with fear.

“Wait a second! Pinkie Pie is sleeping alone…Where are the babies!?” Dusk yelled in his mind, terrified. Slowly opening the bedroom door and looking around scared. Not finding the Cake babies anywhere.

Dusk suddenly heard a small giggle above him and slowly raised his head and his mouth opened almost until it dropped when he saw that the babies were flying over him. Pound Cake flapped his wings rapidly while his sister Pumpkin flew after him using her unicorn magic to float. Both foals slowly flew over Dusk's head and went out the door into the corridor. While Dusk, with the speed at which they were going, it would have been easy for him to catch them. However, the colt was far too shellshocked by the revelation that he could only follow the two with his eyes.

“That's how they both got to the top cabinets in the kitchen!” Dusk thought, finally coming out of his shock. “They're only one month old and they can already fly and use magic!? Are they geniuses or are all foals this unpredictable!?”

Realizing that he had to attract the babies before bringing them down, Dusk entered the room and took some of their toys. Then Dusk prepared to leave quickly, but before doing so, he took a look at Pinkie Pie, who was still sleeping peacefully and resting her head on the crib.

Dusk Shine put on a cute smile, walked over to Pinkie Pie and put a blanket over her body to keep her warm. Even though she wanted to be the babysitter, it was only fair that she rest for a moment after staying up all night. Then, giving Pinkie one last look, Dusk slowly approached and tenderly kissed her cheek. A gesture that made Pinkie smile weakly and mutter something unintelligible.

Dusk blush and smile too seeing that now the sweet and tender pink pony was smiling in her dreams. Then he left the room with a renewed spirit, levitating some toys while accepting his next challenge: babysitting.

As soon as Dusk left the room, his renewed spirit fell from the clouds and crashed to the ground. In just a few seconds without supervision, the babies were no longer in the hallway, and what was worse, they had left a mess in the hallway, throwing everything in their path. It was as if a small hurricane had passed through there.

"I think... I'm starting to hate foals..." Dusk murmured in fear. He thought that it would probably be a while before he’d be able to stand ten meters from a foal in the near future.

Pinkie Pie was having a recurring dream where she was happily jumping into a field of giant cupcakes. The mare was jumping on a big blueberry cupcake like a trampoline, looking around, happy to see that all her friends were there too, jumping and laughing with her. However, someone was missing, and Pinkie looked around until she finally found who was missing next to her.

"Dusk! Come jump with us!" Pinkie Pie said with a big smile as she continued to jump on the cupcake. Dusk Shine was standing on the ground with his back to her. He looked back and glared at Pinkie with a look of disgust.

“Pinkie, grow up. You're just a childish mare. Who would want to be near you?” The Dusk from the dream said and started to away from Pinkie.

"Huh?" Pinkie Pie said, very surprised and hurt. Then, as she kept jumping, she looked at her own hooves and saw that they were much smaller now. She had become a young filly just like in her youth.

As fear and confusion began to take over Pinkie. The laughter of her friends began to be heard around her. They were pointing at her and mocking her for being just a little filly. A filly who would never find love.

"No..." Pinkie Pie cowered and covered her face with her hooves.

Suddenly the teasing and giggling died down as Pinkie felt something soft and warm touch her cheek. Pinkie opened her eyes and saw that now a smiling Dusk Shine was by her side. She was an adult pony again and was no longer in a field of cupcakes, but in a beautiful field of roses.

"Don't be ridiculous, Pinkie." The Dusk from the dream said. “How could I ever leave somepony as wonderful as you?”

Pinkie Pie smiled again and her dream returned to being one full of happiness as they normally were. Dreams of parties, cupcakes, smiles, friends and her beloved Dusk, filling herself with happiness until she finally woke up.

Pinkie Pie slowly woke up, stretched her hooves and lifting her head from the Cake babies' cradle. Smiling after the happy and revitalizing dream she had. Then she touched her cheek, where the Dusk from her dream had kissed her, and she put a sad smile.

"It was just a dream..." Pinkie sighed, still touching her cheek. Then her eyes widened and she looked quickly towards the crib. "Where are the babies!?" Pinkie Pie yelled in terror. She realized that she had fallen asleep trying to put them to sleep.

Looking around the room, Pinkie Pie saw that the door was open, so she quickly ran into the hallway. After searching every room on the second floor, Pinkie ran for the stairs in fright.

Pinkie almost had a heart attack seeing all the mess that was there. It was as if a tornado had thrown everything on the floor.

"Sorry, I swear I'll clean up this mess." Dusk Shine suddenly said from one side of the room, getting a little nervous to see that Pinkie Pie looked surprised at all the mess that was there. Pinkie felt her heart calm down when she saw the foals next to him.

"What are you doing here? I thought you left." Pinkie Pie asked, approaching where Dusk and the babies were. “And how did you let this happen? You are a fan of order!” Pinkie Pie said in surprise, pointing to the messy room. Something that would be typical of her, that she was always very disorderly, but that was a strange behavior for Dusk, who remained calm in all of the disorder.

“Yeah, well… When you fell asleep, I took care of Pound and Pumpkin so you could rest.” Dusk scratched his head in embarrassment. “The first hour was difficult. I didn't think two babies could cause so much chaos. But I finally found a way to calm them down."

Taking a good look at the foals, Pinkie Pie saw that they were both still doing what they always did, with the difference that now they did it with musical instruments. Pound Cake, who always hit things, was now hitting the floor with a rattle; while Pumpkin, who always bit things, now bit a small tambourine, making it sound while shaking her head.

“I couldn't get them to stop hitting and biting things, so I thought they could help me with my song.” Dusk said, looking at the babies with amusement. Satisfied that he finally managed to calm them down.

"What song?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Oh, right!" Dusk said, opening his eyes wide when he remembered something important. Then he used his magic to play a record on the store's record player. "It's not the same melody, but it sounds similar, hehe." Dusk said, blushing and putting on a nervous smile.

As the record played, a soft melody began to play. The music became more lively and joyful in a few seconds. At that moment, Dusk began to sing:

~ What do I feel? I’d like to know ~ What is this emotion? That I can't contain~

~ Her gaze makes me smile, her lips make me dream ~ Her kisses make me feel, and my soul can’t stop trembling ~

~ Oooh! Uh-oh! ~ What will it be? ~ Oooh! Uh-oh! ~ What will it be? ~

While Dusk sang, he stared at Pinkie Pie with his cheeks blushed. Not because he was ashamed of what he sang, but because he knew he wasn't as good a singer as Pinkie, besides not being as good a dancer as her.

For their part, the Cake babies beat and moved their musical instruments. Obviously without understanding the rhythm of the song at such a young age but trying in their own way to be part of the show that Dusk was dedicating to Pinkie Pie. While the pink mare simply stared stunned at that strange but tender show, listening carefully to each word of Dusk's song:

~ With a small gesture we met ~ With a look we liked each other ~ With a hug we loved each other ~ With a kiss we fell in love. ~

~ What do I feel? I’d like to know ~ What is this emotion? That I can't contain~

~ At last I have your friendship, but now I'm looking for more ~ This is the truth, and I’ll never deny it ~

~ A feeling that reaches the stars ~ An emotion that surpasses the above ~ I would like to be your knight for today ~ And that when you hear it, don’t feel fear ~

~ What do I feel? I'll say it with courage ~ What is this emotion? This is called LOVE ~

Dusk pointed his hoof at Pinkie Pie and gave a wide, nervous smile at the end of the song. He waited for how Pinkie would react. For their part, the Cake babies continued to make noises with the rattle and tambourine, as if they hadn't known the song was over.

"Song’s over, you two." Dusk said, turning around nervously to look at the babies. Since all the noise they made broke all the romantic atmosphere that he had sought to have. However, seeing that the foals didn't pay attention to him, Dusk looked nervously at Pinkie Pie. "I'm sorry, now that I understand that you can soothe babies by sharing your feelings, I can't get them to stop making noise with their instruments."

“Share your feelings?” Pinkie Pie asked, still somewhat dazed after hearing Dusk's song.

"Yeah... When I came back here and saw you chatting with the foals, I realized that they understand feelings more than words." Dusk said, remembering when the babies had hugged Pinkie Pie. Then looking with a tender smile at Pinkie as he remembered his first meeting in Ponyville with her. “When we first met, you made the whole town sing a 'heart song' for me. So I thought if I could get the babies to understand what I'm feeling through a song, they'd calm down a bit.”

Pinkie Pie blushed a little and looked down nervously. For a moment, she was embarrassed to discover that Dusk had heard what she said to Pound and Pumpkin. How much did he hear!? But more importantly, Dusk had said that he managed to calm the babies down by sharing his feelings in that song. If his true feelings were in those lyrics… He was confessing his love!? Was that the feeling that Dusk really wanted to share with her?

"That song... It was the one I sang for you at the Grand Galloping Gala." Pinkie Pie blushed and looked nervously at Dusk. "You...You really remember all the lyrics?"

"Of course. That moment was so sweet and funny! It still amazes me to this day that you could convince all those Canterlot snobs to sing.” Dusk smiled, then looking tenderly at Pinkie Pie. "I could never forget something so beautiful."

Pinkie Pie lowered her head and felt a warm feeling fill her heart. Then she raised her head and put on a huge and tender smile. A special smile that she only had for the stallion she loved. A smile that she hadn't used in over a month because she could only use it when her heart felt true love.

"That is... You don't know how I missed that smile..." Dusk whispered, also putting on a warm and serene smile. At that moment, Dusk gave a thoughtful look. He walked over to Pinkie and touched her with his hoof.

" Pinkie, I… I'm still not sure how love works." Dusk said, looking nervously at Pinkie. “Before I was Applejack's coltfriend, I thought my feelings of love for her wouldn't change, but they did. During that month, they became stronger and more intense. And now that we're not dating anymore, I'm not sure where those feelings will go. Maybe that intensity will lessen over time, maybe it will stay the same, I don't know. But what I do know... is that love can decrease in intensity, but I’ll never forget it."

“Oh…I…I get it.” Pinkie Pie said, sadly lowering her head, thinking that Dusk was telling her that he still loved Applejack.

"No, Pinkie. What I'm trying to say is that what happens to me now also happened to me when I was with Applejack, but with you! You and the others were never completely far from my heart while I was with Applejack." Dusk said, staring at Pinkie so that she would look at him again. “I cannot erase or control my feelings, and all of you already have a place in my heart, and that place will never go away. Only now I realize that even though I was with Applejack with all my heart, I always missed that beautiful smile of yours that you only keep for me. Now that it's just the two of us, I want to be with you. I want to keep seeing that smile. I want my love for you to grow too and now it's my turn to show you what I feel for you… Pinkie, I promise that as long as I'm your coltfriend, I won't forget my friends, but I also promise that as your coltfriend I'll only be with you, and my heart will only be yours.” Dusk added, with his cheeks blushed and a determined look. He wanted with all his being to learn more about true love, this time, together with the funniest and most loving pony in the world.

Pinkie blushed at the intense stare that the colt gave her and her eyes sparkle at Dusk's declaration of love. This time it was what she wanted. She had always wanted Dusk to truly open her heart, and now she felt it. These were Dusk's true feelings for her. He really wanted to be with her! It didn't matter that Applejack didn't disappear from Dusk's heart, after all, she was also in Pinkie's heart! She also loved her friends! And for Dusk to admit that he would never forget his friends, it only made Pinkie remember that this was one of the reasons why she loved Dusk so much.

As hope began to grow in Pinkie's heart, a thorn of doubt caused that hope to slow down for a second.

"Dusk... Do you really want to be with me?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Before, when I bathed the foals... You... You made a disgusted face when you looked at me.”

"Huh?" Dusk asked, until he suddenly raised his head and made the same disgusted face that he had made in the bathroom.

"Yes! That face!" Pinkie Pie said, until she suddenly wrinkled her nose and gave the same disgusted look that Dusk had. “Yuck! What is that smell?” Pinkie said, covering her nose. Until finally her eyes widened when she recognized the smell.

"That's why I made that face in the bathroom." Dusk said with his nose wrinkled from the bad smell and pointed at the two little babies. "When you bathed them, I smelled the babies' dirty diapers."

Pinkie Pie stared at him in disbelief for a few seconds. Then she covered her mouth with her puffed out cheeks. Until finally she couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! That’s what that was?! Hahaha!" Pinkie Pie said, falling to the floor with laughter, realizing that all of Dusk's dislike for her had only been in her imagination. "So you do like me?! Do you really want to be with me?!" Pinkie Pie asked, forcing herself to speak while laughing.

"Don't be silly." Dusk said with a tender smile. "Of course, I-" Before Dusk could finish speaking, Pinkie Pie threw herself on him with so much momentum that they both fell to the floor. and gave him a huge kiss on the mouth to shut him up.

Dusk fell on his back with Pinkie Pie on top of him, still kissing him. After falling, Pinkie raised her head and they both looked at each other. Dusk was blushed, surprised, but more than anything, happy to see Pinkie Pie so happy. He was also excited after being kissed by his beloved Pinkie. As Pinkie, she smiled coquettishly at Dusk, and then slowly lowered her head. This time to give Dusk a slower and more passionate kiss. Something that the lavender stallion received with great pleasure.

For a few seconds, they both smooched on the floor, enjoying each other's lips, knowing that from that precise moment both had accepted each other as coltfriend and marefriend. And that could have lasted much longer if it hadn't been because in the middle of the kiss, Pinkie Pie began to laugh, releasing Dusk's lips and making a vain effort to avoid laughing.

"I-Is something wrong?" Dusk asked, scared that maybe Pinkie had stopped kissing him because he had bad breath or was a bad kisser.

"Hahaha! N-No… Hahaha! It's nothing… Hehehe! It's… It's just…” Pinkie Pie replied, trying to control herself to stop laughing. "It's just, I'm too happy!" The mare said with a renewed new smile that she had never had before. A smile earned after she truly felt like the happiest pony in the world. Finally being with the stallion she loved so much.

Seeing Pinkie's beautiful smile, Dusk blushed even more when he realized how cute Pinkie Pie was. And then he started laughing too. Realizing that from now on, he was the coltfriend of the funniest and happiest mare in Equestria.

After they both laughed, both staying on the floor, with Dusk on his back and Pinkie Pie leaning on him; was that they both finally calmed down a bit and looked at each other lovingly. Both eager to continue their round of kisses. However, all of that romantic atmosphere suddenly evaporated as they both wrinkled their noses and made disgusting faces.

The Cake babies came crawling towards the two laughing ponies. And of course, Dusk and Pinkie Pie immediately smelt of dirty diapers again, which they almost forgot because they felt so happy to start their new courtship.

"Ugh, I have to changing babies’ diapers." Dusk said and tried to get up. Which was a bit difficult to do, since Pinkie Pie grabbed onto his neck and wouldn't let go.

"Dusk, will you still love me even if I never let go of you?" Pinkie Pie asked with a sweet smile.

“How many times do I have to say it? Don't be silly." Dusk smiled, looking closely at Pinkie's face. Feeling like he couldn't help but smile every time he saw Pinkie's beautiful lovesick smile.

Pinkie Pie laughed tenderly and finally let go of Dusk's neck.

"Stay here, I'll change the babies." Pinkie said, approaching the babies and winking at Dusk. "Remember, I'm their babysitter, hehe."

Dusk watched while Pinkie Pie was changing the babies' diapers. He enjoyed seeing his marefriend grinning from ear to ear, even though she was changing dirty diapers.

Throughout that afternoon, the foals had been restless, and Pinkie Pie had been very tired and very scared by Dusk. But now, for the first time, Dusk could see Pinkie Pie smiling happily while the two babies calmly enjoyed her care. It was a beautiful image that Dusk wanted to keep very well in his memory.

"Pinkie Pie would be a great mother..." Dusk thought when he saw them, remembering Pinkie's dream. “Maybe I…wouldn't be a bad father.”. The lavander stallion imagined him, Pinkie and a little foal together. After taking care of the Cake babies, taking care of a baby was exhausting, but also, very rewarding and fun.

At that moment, Dusk opened his eyes wide when he realized what he was imagining. Then he shook his head, completely blushed.

“What am I thinking!? That will NEVER happen!” Dusk thought nervously. At that moment, Pinkie Pie saw that he was restless for some reason, and from the center of the room, she gave him a big and loving smile. Something that made Dusk calm down, but blush even more. "Maybe... It's hasty to say 'never'..." Dusk blushed. For the first time in his life, he seriously thought about being a parent one day.

After changing the babies, Pinkie Pie was eager to return to Dusk. However, the babies clamored for attention, wanting to be pampered by their beloved 'Auntie Pinkie'. So Pinkie Pie couldn't do more than sigh, smile, and put her wishes aside in order to make those little bundles of joy happy. Then Pinkie Pie put her piggy nose back on and did her crazy fun dance. One that the foals cheered and really enjoyed this time.

While dancing, playing, and making crazy faces, Pinkie Pie always saved a couple of seconds to look at her beloved Dusk and give him a tender, big smile. One that Dusk found more beautiful every time he saw her, even with the piggy nose that his marefriend used.

"That's my marefriend..." Dusk thought as he watched Pinkie's crazy and fun dance. With his heart full of happiness and love. “The happiest and sweetest pony in the world… She is my marefriend.” Dusk thought, smiling incredulously, as if he still couldn't believe how lucky he was. Happy just thinking about having that beautiful pink pony by his side, kissing and hugging him.

End of chapter 24

Chapter 25 - Laughter and surprises

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Laughter and surprises

Dusk Shine dreamed that he was in a huge library. One of his most recurring dreams, since it was his favorite place. However, unlike other dreams, where he read books and talked with his favorite historical figures, this time Dusk was sitting at a desk with what seemed to be a test.

Just like at school, Dusk wrote quickly to finish his exam as soon as possible, but in this dream, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't finish it. Not because he didn't know the answers, but because with each answer he wrote down, two new questions appeared written on the scroll. The colt started to become stressed with the eternal exam.

"I can’t take this! The questions never end!" Dusk yelled with exhaustion and dropped his head on the desk with a sigh. "Will I ever get all the answers?"

While resting his head on the desk, Dusk narrowed his eyes thinking he saw something behind some shelves. An ethereal blue mane, which it quickly moved and hid when it noticed that Dusk looked there.

Curious, Dusk raised his head and prepared to get up from his seat. However, a sweet smell distracted him from another side.

Turning around, Dusk saw that the sweet smell came from a huge strawberry cupcake which was coming towards him. Dusk drooled with hunger and jumped up and took a huge bite of that sweet cupcake that smelled so good.

"Ouch!" The cupcake yelled. The sudden scream made Dusk wake up from his strange dream.

When he opened his eyes, the only thing Dusk could see was a huge pink cloud covering his face. And in his mouth, he was apparently biting into something soft and pink. Something that moved and quickly removed itself from Dusk's mouth.

"Dusk! You bite me." Pinkie Pie's voice said playfully, getting up from Dusk's side, rubbing her bitten hoof. Dusk realized that the pink cloud that had been covering his face had been his marefriend's mane.

"Pinkie Pie...?" Dusk asked, still half asleep with a confused look. Then, after a couple of seconds, Dusk's eyes widened like two large saucers and he blushed completely. "Pinkie Pie! You…! W-What are you doing sleeping next to me in my own room!?”

"Well... I know it would be very daring to sleep with my coltfriend so soon, but I thought I could at least wake up next to him." Pinkie Pie said, slightly blushing with a huge smile. "So as soon as the sun came up, I snuck in here to wake up next to you, hehe."

"But... how did you get in?" Dusk asked.

Ever since they'd gotten back from the Canterlot wedding, Spike had been somewhat paranoid about the changeling invasion. So now, every night, he made sure to lock the doors and windows securely, so that no ' evil doppelganger', as Spike called them, would come in and trick him again.

"Hmm... I have my methods." Pinkie Pie replied with a thoughtful look. Looking sideways at a corner of the room. Where Dusk's pet, Owlowiscious, was eating a chocolate muffin. The proof of the secret bribe that Pinkie Pie gave him for entry into Dusk's room.

"What's all that noise?" Spike suddenly asked from his basket bed. The dragon raised his head, still sleepy after being woken up so abruptly.

"Sorry I woke you up, Spike. I'll make it up to you, I promise." Pinkie Pie jumped out of Dusk's bed and went down to the small living room that was left on the second floor. "I'll wait for you downstairs. Remember that today we have breakfast with the girls.” Pinkie Pie smiled. Then she approached the main stairs, but stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh! I almost forget it!"

Pinkie turned around, walked back to Dusk's bed, approached him and gave him a quick and tender kiss. One that made Dusk blush, and Pinkie Pie laugh tenderly. Then she turned around again and went down the stairs. Only this time, she went down happily, hopping until she reached the stairs and down to the first floor.

After Pinkie Pie disappeared, Dusk fell back on his bed and touched his lips, still surprised with how easily Pinkie Pie could catch him off guard.

"I wouldn't mind waking up like this every morning..." Dusk thought with a small smile, still savoring the warm, sweet taste that lingered on her lips.

It had only been two days since Pinkie Pie and Dusk had officially become a couple. In that short period of time, Dusk understood how different his new courtship would be compared to the previous one. Applejack had always been more shy when it came to kissing Dusk, it being quite a process until they reached the most intense and intimate kisses at the end of their relationship. Instead, Pinkie Pie didn't miss the opportunity to kiss and hug Dusk as soon as she saw him, expressing her affection much more openly. They both showed their love in their own way, but always made it clear how much they loved Dusk.

"Hey you! Get rid of that goofy grin of yours." Spike said suddenly, a little annoyed to see his brother's goofy smile.

“Sorry… hehe.” Dusk got out of bed and was unable to stop smiling.

After going to the bathroom and getting ready, Dusk and Spike went down to the first floor, and together with Pinkie Pie, went to the Ponyville Café.

On the way, Pinkie Pie hugged Dusk at all times. While Dusk was more than happy to accept the hugs, he thought it would be uncomfortable for the girls to see them together like this when they got to have breakfast.

"Hehe! Don't worry, it’ll only be for today. I’ll be extremely loving to you at breakfast to see how much they can take." Pinkie Pie smiled happily and then putting on a more serious smile. "I'll find out what their limit is, so we can be more relaxed from here on out."

Faced with Pinkie's plan, Dusk simply gave an insecure look, but let his marefriend continue with her plan. After all, she had already shown how smart she was many times, especially knowing how she should act in front of her friends, so they wouldn't stop smiling.

Finally, the three of them arrived at the Café, where all their friends were already gathered. They were all already eating their respective breakfasts, so Dusk and Pinkie Pie quickly ordered, while Spike simply kept eating a surprise muffin that Pinkie Pie had given him. For several minutes, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash tried to divert their attention from Pinkie Pie. Who sat almost glued to Dusk's seat and cuddled the lavender colt openly.

For all of them, it was obvious that Pinkie Pie was now Dusk's official marefriend. In fact, it was something they had already heard from Applejack, but they still weren't one hundred percent sure. However, the constant dotting that the pink mare gave cleared all suspicion.

“Huff… I can't take it anymore! I have to say it. So Pinkie Pie is officially the second marefriend?" Rainbow Dash finally asked in exasperation. Ever the sore loser, she couldn’t believe that Pinkie had beaten her to the metaphorical party punch.

"That's right!" Pinkie Pie said with a huge smile. Dusk couldn’t use his hooves to eat breakfast because Pinkie was tightly hugging them and had to use his magic for it.

“Hmm, I have to admit it's surprising. But I guess it's okay. I mean, it's what was supposed to happen… I guess.” Rarity said with a thoughtful look. She slowly diverted her gaze to another of her friends. “This is fine… right?” Rarity asked, looking at Applejack with a nervous look.

“Hmm? Oh! Yeah, it’s fine. I don't have a problem with it. It's overcome." Applejack said quietly. Who had been the only one who hadn't paid much attention to Pinkie Pie and Dusk and had simply focused on eating her breakfast since she was very hungry.

"But Applejack... are you really okay?" Fluttershy asked with worry.

At that moment, Applejack focused her gaze on Dusk and Pinkie Pie. Dusk had a nervous smile, since Pinkie Pie was being too clingy. He enjoyed the feeling of being loved by Pinkie Pie, but also wanted some personal space. Pinkie Pie knew that she was being too lovey-dovey to Dusk, but she was amused to see Dusk so nervous. Besides, that was part of her plan, so that all the tension that the girls could feel, they would feel only that day, and from there, they would get used to seeing both of them as the new couple. Seeing them so affectionate with each other, Applejack focused her eyes on Pinkie Pie's huge and loving smile and smiled too.

“I'm really fine, girls. I'm glad to see Pinkie Pie this happy." Applejack reassured them and turned her attention back to her breakfast and sipping on her apple juice.

“Girls, if we want this to work, you have to be just as mature as me. You can't let yourselves get carried away by feelings, and be childish...” Applejack thought calmly while she drank her juice.

When she stopped talking, the only thing Applejack could hear while she drank her juice was the playful giggles of Pinkie Pie and Dusk. Since it seemed that now Pinkie Pie was tickling Dusk as punishment for not accepting being fed in his mouth. Sounds of a couple very VERY much in love. Sounds that finally made a vein pop in Applejack's head. Suddenly, the country mare was feeling a little less mature. At that moment, Applejack lowered her glass hard, catching everyone’s attention.

"Besides, no matter how hard Pinkie tries... I'm still Dusk's number one marefriend. The number one and the best.” Applejack said, giving Pinkie Pie a sly, mischievous smile of revenge.

Pinkie Pie was startled, then she puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.

“That may be true. But I have a month to prove that now I can be Dusk's number one marefriend!" Pinkie Pie said, walking across the table to Applejack and giving her a challenging smile.

"Well, go ahead and try if you can." Applejack replied, giving Pinkie Pie the same challenging smile. Then both mares stared at each other for a couple of seconds with those looks full of pride and determination, until they both couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing.

While both friends laughed, the others were confused, since for a second they believed that they would really start fighting. But it seemed that somehow, they had managed to accept each other as rivals and still maintained their friendship. Dusk always remained red with shame, still unable to be one hundred percent comfortable having his current marefriend and his ex-marefriend sitting next to each other. But just the same, he was relieved that Pinkie Pie's plan to take the awkwardness out of the new courtship would work.

"Can they really laugh like that, knowing that they both love and received love from the same stallion?"Rarity thought, not understanding what Applejack and Pinkie Pie had to go through to achieve that understanding.

"Will I also be able to continue laughing with my friends like this when Dusk is my coltfriend?"Fluttershy thought worriedly.

"And if Dusk leaves me, will I be able to see one of my friends with him and be happy for her?” Rainbow Dash thought nervously.

In that instant, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity all looked at each other, and made uncertain looks at all the doubts they continued to have about 'their deal'.

"I also thought it was strange that Dusk started dating Pinkie Pie, since it hadn't happened that long since his break with Applejack." Spike said suddenly. Who happily ate a muffin with sapphires, specially prepared by Pinkie Pie as another bribe.

Suddenly Spike made a strange face, as if he was stuck, and released a large green flame that melted all of his special gem muffin.

“Nooo…!!” Spike yelled theatrically, watching his delicious breakfast vanish. "I hate those surprise scrolls!"

Spike reluctantly took the scroll that came out after his magical flame belch, opened it, and read the beginning of the letter.

"It's a letter... from Princess Luna?" Spike said with a confused look and gave the scroll to Dusk.

While Dusk read the letter, all his friends gave curious looks, since they knew that it was usually Princess Celestia who wrote to Dusk. The only one who didn't look curious, but rather serious, was Pinkie Pie. A look full of insecurity, which went unnoticed by everyone.

“Strange….I think she wants me to go to the palace to… help her be more funny?” Dusk said after reading the letter twice to check that he had understood correctly. “She says that she has always seen me and my friends smiling and having fun, and that she needs my help to improve her good mood.”

"Oh! Does the Princess want to be funnier? That's my specialty!!” Pinkie Pie yelled, surprised and happy to hear that request. She pulled out a mini party cannon from her mane and fired it over Dusk's head, covering it with a few streamers.

“Hmm… You're right. If I understand correctly, and what she wants is to be funnier, I guess it's best if you go with me." Dusk smiled at Pinkie Pie.

"But it won't be enough with me alone!" Pinkie Pie said, hugging Dusk and pointing her hoof at the sky. "This will be a mission of the utmost importance, the fate of Equestria will depend on us!" Pinkie Pie said theatrically, like she was giving the introductory monologue to a spy movie.

Dusk raised an eyebrow at that. "Aren't you exaggerating a little?”

"All of Equestria depends on us!" Pinkie Pie repeated theatrically, pretending not to listen to Dusk. “And for that we’ll need the most party team in Equestria. The four funniest and craziest party stars in the world.” Pinkie Pie added, casually lowering her hoof to where her friends were, much to their confusion.

After a quick train ride, Pinkie Pie and Dusk arrived at Canterlot Castle together. The mare carried a huge backpack from which several streamers, rubber chickens, balloons and whoopee cushions were visible on its edges. Fully prepared with her entire arsenal of emergency pranks.

Once they both reached the castle gates, they were distracted by a strange noise coming from the nearby bushes.

"Psst! Dusk!" Sweet Caramel whispered from the bushes before emerging from them. “Princess Luna doesn't want her sister to find out about your arrival. Follow me.” The red-maned pony added. Sneaking out of the bush to go around the castle wall.

With a confused look, Dusk decided not to ask and simply follow the maid. Just like Pinkie Pie, who, like in a spy game, was advancing and hiding in every tree and bush that was in the way. Although with her huge backpack, her effort to go unnoticed was totally in vain.

Finally, Sweet Caramel led them both to a side secret entrance, which led to one of the palace gardens. Once they reached the garden, the three met up with Luna, who was pacing back and forth with a nervous look.

"Dusk! Finally…!" Luna said, widening her eyes with joy at the sight of the lavender stallion. However, that joy instantly vanished when she saw that Dusk didn’t come alone. “Y-You finally arrived…” Luna added after a pause, with an evident look of disappointment after seeing Pinkie Pie.

"Yes, we came as soon as we received your letter." Dusk greeted with a smile. "Although... We're not sure what you meant by needing help with your good mood." Dusk looked sideways at Pinkie Pie for support, but his girlfriend had been distracted by seeing a huge tray of blue crescent-shaped cupcakes, which were close to where Luna was.

"It's... It's just as it sounds." Luna said trying to remain serious, although she was embarrassed to have to explain to Dusk why she needed his help. “My sister has played many pranks on me since I returned to Equestria, and I always say that I'll take revenge. But the truth is that I'm not as good at planning pranks as she is. Also, it seems that my sense of humor… is somewhat outdated…” Luna added, remembering a time when she tried to joke with one of the cooks, saying that he should have his throat cut for his bad cooking. But apparently, since the palace guards weren't used to her pulling pranks, the guards almost literally carry out the order against the poor cook.

“She play pranks on you too!?” Dusk asked, realizing that Luna had surely taken his place as the butt of Celestia's pranks after he left the castle and her sister arrived there. "Yeah... sometimes the Princess's pranks can be a pain in the ass." Dusk added with a small shudder.

"My sister is the queen of pranks, and not only to make them, but also to detect them." Luna huffed with a frustrated look. “I've tried to catch her off guard several times, but she seems to have a sixth sense that never goes off… That's why I need your help. I need to learn to be funnier, and thus play a good joke on my sister to finally see her surprised face and take revenge on her."

“Hehe… A joke against ‘Trollestia’. Well, luckily for you, I happen to be an expert.” Dusk said proudly, remembering some successful pranks he and Spike had pulled on Celestia in the past. “Also, I brought a secret weapon. The funniest pony in all of Equestria… Pinkie Pie!” Dusk pointed at his girlfriend.

Unfortunately for Dusk, after his great introduction, the first thing he and Luna saw was Pinkie Pie struggling to eat one of the crescent-shaped cupcakes while Sweet Caramel did everything possible to stop her.

“You can't eat them! They’re special for my Princess!” Sweet Caramel cried, holding the tray of 'moon cakes' in one hoof, while with her other hoof held Pinkie back so she wouldn't reach the tray.

“It's just cupcakes… I just want to eat one… or ten.” Pinkie Pie said, half of the maid's hoof in her mouth as she stretched out her hooves to try and grab the tray.

“I already told you, they’re special. It’s a recipe that has been passed down in my family for generations.” The maid said, struggling with Pinkie Pie. "Specials for my belov... F-For my dear Princess!" Sweet Caramel said quickly, blushing as she realized she almost said 'my beloved'.

Pinkie Pie calmed down when she saw that Dusk scolded her with his eyes. Then Dusk quickly explained to Pinkie Pie what Princess Luna had told him and how they needed her help.

“Oh… A prank for Princess Celestia, that sounds like fun! Now I can say that I have played pranks on two Princesses! Quite a record!” Pinkie Pie smiled, recalling how a while ago, she had painted fake mustaches on Luna when she fell asleep during pet play day in Ponyville. “Hmm… The Princess has a good point. Before you can do good pranks, you have to learn how to be funny. Hmm… I know! First, we'll test her to see how funny she is with my 'Funny-Meter'.” Pinkie Pie pulled out a huge ruler that marked from one to one hundred. Where the number one featured Pinkie Pie's sad face saying 'party pooper', and the one hundred featured Pinkie's happy face saying 'LOL'.

"How will you know how funny I am with that?" Luna asked curiously.

"Easy!" Pinkie Pie said, pointing her hoof at Luna. “What did the green grape say to the purple grape…? Breathe, you idiot! Haha!" Pinkie laughed gleefully. Something that didn’t impact Luna at all, who kept a confused face. “I tried to catch some fog earlier... I mist! Haha!" Pinkie joked while Luna remained confused. “You wanna hear a joke about pizza? Never mind, it was too cheesy!”

Pinkie Pie kept telling joke after joke. Most of them quite childish, but Pinkie Pie's way of counting them was so funny that Dusk couldn't help but laugh at several of them despite how simple they were. Even Sweet Caramel, who apparently was weak to childish jokes, laughing out loud at the silly jokes. The only one who didn't laugh at any time was Luna. Who made an effort to put on a nervous smile, despite the fact that at no time could she understand why those silly phrases should be funny.

“Huff… Huff… Wow, tough audience. We'll do something simpler." Pinkie Pie finally said in exhaustion. "Knock, Knock!" Pinkie Pie said, pretending to knock on a door and waiting for Luna to continue the joke to say the punch line.

"Uh... What's that supposed to mean?" Luna asked innocently, with a nervous giggle.

“You don’t know what 'knock-knock' jokes are!?” Pinkie Pie yelled with a terrified face. Then she took her 'Funny-Meter' and broke it in half. "I can't handle it …"

"Pinkie! Don’t give up!" Dusk said worried.

"I can't!" Pinkie Pie said scared. Turning around and putting a small visor on her eye, which was a little screen that looked like a scouter. “Her humor level is under nine thousand!!” Pinkie Pie said, faking an angry face and destroying her scouter with her hoof.

“Pfft! Bwahaha!” Sweet Caramel burst out laughing. She didn’t understand the reference, but she was so conditioned to laugh with Pinkie Pie, that everything the pink pony did was funny.

"I'm sorry, Princess." Pinkie Pie finally said, looking pained at Luna. "I could try to make you funnier, but in just one day, it's impossible."

"Please, Pinkie Pie!" Luna said, approaching Pinkie and pleading with her eyes. "I want to have that power!" She pointed to her maid, who was rolling on the floor laughing. "I'll do anything… I'll give you anything if you help me with this!"

"Hmm... Anything?" Pinkie Pie repeated with a thoughtful look. Looking sideways at the tray with moon cakes that only Luna could eat. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie ran at full speed and disappeared from everyone's sight, leaving Dusk and Luna stunned.

“I understand… I'm a lost cause…” Luna turned around and starting to walk head down back to the castle.

Then Luna saw a strange shadow on the ground. Looking up, she saw against the light the silhouette of Pinkie Pie, who was now standing on a statue in the garden.

"Do you want to learn to be funny?" Pinkie Pie yelled seriously, standing on top of the statue.

“Y-Yes…!” Luna responded, with her eyes wide open at the emotion of the moment.

"Then, I-Am-Your-Master!" Pinkie Pie said pointing to herself theatrically, with the most serious look she had ever put on in her life.

"Yes, sensei!" Luna yelled almost on the verge of tears. Her eyes sparkled at being accepted as a worthy disciple by the funniest pony in Equestria.

While that whole movie scene was going on, Dusk Shine and Sweet Caramel watched everything from afar. Then looking at each other in disbelief, not sure if all of this was finally a good idea.

After accepting her disciple in humor, Pinkie Pie asked Dusk and Luna to go to the tower where Dusk's old room was, since they had to keep their training a secret. The mare quickly went ahead to prepare everything, while Luna and Dusk went there calmly. They hid from the guards, so that no one would inform Celestia about their 'special training'. Upon reaching the tower, Pinkie Pie was already waiting for them at the door for her express course in humor.

“Here they are, the funniest and most partying team of all!” Pinkie Pie yelled with a big smile, opening the door and pointing inside.

Luna and Dusk went through the door and saw the room was full of balloons, signs with written jokes, whoopee cushions, cream pies, and countless other materials for pranks. In the middle of the room were four chairs. One chair with three rocks stacked on top of each other with a party hat on them; the other chair had a bucket full of turnips; the third chair had a sack of flour with a whistle around it; and the fourth chair had what appeared to be a clump of lint wearing some dark glasses.

"What are those things?" Luna asked about the objects in the room.

"I told you, it's my super party team!" Pinkie Pie said with a huge smile. Approaching the chairs to introduce her 'party team'. "This is Rocky, Mr. Turnip, Madame le Flour, and Sir Lintsalot." Pinkie Pie said, pointing to the rock, the bucket of turnips, the sack of flour, and the clump of lint. The pink mare then quickly rushed behind the objects and started to do voices for them.

"It was about time you arrived." 'Rocky' spoke in a Northern Manehattan accent.

"Nice to meet you, young lady." 'Mr. Turnip', greeted in the voice of an old pony.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess." 'Madame le Flour' said in a French accent.

“We’ll have a lot of fun together!” 'Sir Lintsalot' cheered in a slightly sophisticated accent.

Luna stared at the pink mare with a very strange look, while an awkward silence filled the room. Dusk facehoofed himself due to the ridiculousness of the situation.

"When you said we'd meet your party team… I thought you were talking about your friends from Ponyville." Luna meekly admitted.

"Yeah... I had also thought the same thing..." Dusk concurred.

“My friends are the best, but these four were the ones who taught me to be funny.” Pinkie Pie said to her four 'friends' and putting on a more rueful smile. “On my family's rock farm, I didn't have many friends to practice my jokes on. So, I practiced on the sly with these four guys.” Pinkie Pie added, with a brighter smile. "If they could teach me to be funnier, I'm sure it’ll work for you too, Princess."

"Wow! That’s kind of sweet, but also... kind of sad."Dusk thought with a look of compassion, thinking that there was still a lot of his marefriend's past that he didn't know about yet.

After a long look of doubt, Luna lowered her head and sighed in resignation. She supposed that if she wanted to be as funny as the party pony, she would have go along with her strange tactics.

"Okay, I guess I'll leave you two alone." Dusk said, once Luna agreed to stay with Pinkie Pie and her 'elite group of pranksters'. "I'll go chat with the Princess. That way I'll make sure she doesn't find out what you're planning.”

"Besides… I still have a pending conversation with her."Dusk thought as he left his old room. His last conversation with Celestia was interrupted, and there was still something important about his family that he needed to find out.

As Dusk left, Luna stared at him with a sad look, dropping her head sadly after he closed the door behind him. She would have liked to ask the colt to stay with them during training, but perhaps her attempts to be funnier would be viewed with mockery by Dusk. So, the alicorn was simply sad, not knowing if it was good or not that Dusk wasn't there.

"Pinkie Pie... Do you think I-" Luna said, turning around with a wistful look. She shut up suddenly when PAFF!! a cream pie smacked into her face. "HUH!?" Luna said in shock, not knowing how to react. Then she blushed deeply and turned quickly to face the door to make sure Dusk didn’t see.

After verifying that Dusk wasn’t in the room, Luna turned back to Pinkie Pie. There, the pink pony laughed out loud while rolling on the floor, hugging 'Madame le Flour' while pointing at Luna's face and laughing even harder.

Seeing that Pinkie was making fun of her to her face, Luna's face reddened even more, only this time, it was red with anger.

"I am a princess! How dare you mock me like this!?” Luna yelled furiously in her royal Canterlot voice.

Pinkie Pie simply stared at her outburst with a blank, puzzled look. Then she moved her hoof to slowly pick up another cream pie, and very slowly squashed it against her own face, always keeping an expressionless face. That made Luna freeze, who immediately stopped screaming and stared at her with confusion.

Pinkie Pie finally smiled again, her face covered in cream, and raised her front hooves to strike a presenting pose.

"Ta-da!" Pinkie Pie cheered with her face so covered in cream, that only her eyes and her huge smile were visible. That made Luna cover her mouth with her hoof as she began to laugh at how silly Pinkie Pie looked. "See? Pie-faces are fun!” Pinkie Pie took a mirror and showed it to Luna so she could see her own reflection and see that her face was still covered in cream. "The first thing you gotta learn is that before you can laugh at others, you gotta learn to laugh at yourself."

Understanding that this was Pinkie Pie's first lesson, Luna lowered her head in sorrow and embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. It's just… times have changed so much…” Luna mourned. “A thousand years ago, ponies looked at us in a completely different way. They idolized us as if we were almost goddesses. But now... my sister has fought a lot for the ponies to see us as just ponies like them."

“And did you like to be idolized as a goddess?” Pinkie Pie with curiosity.

"No..." Luna said with a sad look. She remembered the lonely nights she had in ancient times. Back then, very few ponies approached her for fear of being in her presence. Those feelings of loneliness paved her fears, jealousy and anger that led her to finally become Nightmare Moon. "I want to change. I want the ponies in the palace not to be afraid of me. I want… I want to have friends! I want to be able to laugh together with the pony I love! I want to be a new and better Luna for everyone!” Luna put on a firm look and her eyes shined with determination.

Those words, spoken so firmly, surprised Pinkie Pie. Especially the part where Luna said she wanted to laugh with the pony she loved.

"That's the spirit!" Pinkie Pie said with a big smile, full of emotion. Then sprinted behind 'Sir Lintsalot' and spoke behind it.

“Enough talk! There is a lot of work ahead!" Pinkie Pie said, giving the clump of lint a voice again.

"You are so wise, Sir Lintsalot." Luna laughed and followed Pinkie Pie's game. She gave a little bow to the clump of lint. "I am your humble apprentice."

At Luna's little performance, Pinkie Pie laughed from behind the chair. Maybe Luna could learn to be funnier, if she wanted to.

After leaving the old castle tower, Dusk headed towards Princess Celestia's room. There, he was surprised to find not his teacher, but Sweet Creme. The maid was at the center desk of the room, wearing Celestia's golden crown signing what seemed like an endless batch of documents with a face of utter exhaustion.

Sweet Creme explained to Dusk that the Princess had asked her to take her place signing documents, since she had a very important mission to accomplish that day. A mission so secret, she hadn't even told her faithful maid.

"Secret mission? Maybe she found out that Princess Luna is trying to play a prank on her!"Dusk thought. "Or even worse, she's preparing a surprise revenge prank!"

"My Princess thinks I don't know, but she has been going to the castle kitchen a lot lately." Sweet Creme said, looking at Dusk out of the corner of her eye and concentrating on signing the documents again. "Surely she's there now."

"The castle kitchen?"Dusk thought with fear, imagining her teacher cooking a giant cream pie, and throwing it at her poor little sister.

With that image in mind, Dusk hurried to go to the castle kitchen. Once there, the sweet aroma that was in the air, contrasted remarkably with the chaos that was on the part of the palace cooks.

Celestia was in the middle of the kitchen making one by one all the palace chefs present her with different huge cakes, with different shapes and flavors. Many of them having in common the blue colored bitumen. There, the alicorn inspected the cakes one by one, but after giving them a careful look, she discarded them and moved on to the next one. The chefs would then throw away their culinary works in the trash and run stressed out back to their kitchens to bake another cake.

"Dusk! What a delight! Why this surprise visit?" Celestia asked happily once she realized that her dear student was there.

"I just..." Dusk replied with a confused look. He completely forgot the reason why he came and was curious about what his teacher was planning. "What's going on here?" Dusk asked, seeing how restless all the chefs were running back and forth throughout the kitchen.

"Oh! It's just that I'm preparing a surprise for Luna.” Celestia smiled and approached Dusk. "I'm going to celebrate Luna's birthday with a surprise cake." Celestia whispered in his ear.

"Princess Luna's birthday?" Dusk repeated with surprise. He sighed with relief in his mind, seeing that his teacher wasn't preparing a secret prank for her sister. "I didn't know it was her birthday."

"I believe so... she doesn't even remember it herself." Celestia said with a sad look. "And I don't blame her... She spent a thousand years locked up on the moon... I doubt she remembers celebrating a birthday for a long time." Celestia had a look filled with guilt, but quickly shook her head to put on a look filled with determination. "That's why I planned to make her a special birthday cake just for her. But... I'm still not convinced by any of the chefs' proposals. It must be a very special cake!" Celestia looked disappointingly at a huge pile of cakes that were piled up near the trash can.

“All of those cakes are bad!?” Dusk asked. Normally, her teacher wasn't so picky when it came to food and even less so with sweets.

"N-No, they are quite delicious.” Celestia replied with embarrassment. “It's just that the cake for Luna… I want it to be perfect! And none of them have given me that feeling yet.”

At his teacher's baseless response, Dusk scratched his head. For the first time, his teacher wanted something to be genuinely 'perfect', as she thought her sister deserved it after all the suffering she went through for years. However, meeting those expectations might be impossible, as whether something was 'perfect' was highly subjective. Even more so for Celestia, who was by far the greatest display of perfection in the world. The proof was just looking at the chefs, who without Celestia realizing it, were about to go crazy for not being able to meet the expectations of their perfect princess.

"Hmm... You may never find a cake that meets your expectations." Dusk said with a thoughtful look. "But if I had to guess, I think Luna would prefer anything that was baked by you."

"M-Me?" Celestia repeated somewhat shocked. Then she lowered her gaze, remaining silent for several seconds. “Of course… It's so obvious! How come I didn’t think of it before!?" Celestia yelled in great surprise.

The suggestion from Dusk was something that any other pony would have thought of. But Celestia hadn't baked in ages.

Celestia quickly thanked all the chefs in the kitchen, apologizing for exaggerating her order, and gave them the afternoon off so she could have the kitchen to herself. The only exception was Dusk, who offered to stay with her, since his experience baking with Applejack and Pinkie Pie could be useful to her. Also, the colt didn’t want his teacher to burn down the entire kitchen.

"It amazes me that Princess Luna celebrates her birthdays and you don't, Princess." Dusk said as he kneaded a huge ball of dough with his magic.

"In the old days we both celebrated our birthdays, but since Luna left, I stopped celebrating them." Celestia answered, curiously at the oven since she wasn't sure how to turn it on. “We didn't celebrate it every year, since we knew we were immortal. But when we were fillies, we both took turns every year to celebrate on 'Hearth's Warming Eve'.” Celestia pulled her head out of the oven in fright when she managed to turn it on and nearly burned her eyelashes. “We did that for many years, but after our subjects began to pay more attention to our birthdays than to the actual celebration of Hearth's Warming Eve, we decided to change the date of the celebration and began celebrating our birthdays a few days earlier.”

That answer that his teacher gave him so casually surprised Dusk a lot, since he had never heard that. In fact, he doubted that anyone else knew about his teacher's past.

For as long as Dusk could remember, he never knew that his teacher celebrated her birthday. And in the history books, there was never a record of the date Celestia was supposed to have been born. That, Dusk understood, helped the mysticism that surrounded Celestia. Making her look almost like a goddess, an immortal being come to earth to move the Sun and give light and life to the ponies. A belief that the most learned ponies knew was not true, but that the vast majority of ponies did accept, even if Celestia herself denied it. Since most of the ponies felt safer thinking that they were protected by an immortal goddess.

"Since you spent the Hearth's Warming Eve with your family, you always gave me a present a few days before you left the castle." Celestia smiled tenderly at Dusk. “Inadvertently, you gave me a birthday present every year.” A confession that made Dusk blush and also smile tenderly.

Hearth's Warming Eve was one of the most important celebrations in Equestria. A date when families gathered to give each other gifts and remember the Foundation of Equestria. When the three original tribes: the unicorns, the pegasus, and the earth ponies; they joined and drove away the spirits of the ice, called 'windigos', with the 'Fire of Friendship'.

"If the princesses celebrated their birthdays on that date, do they have any relationship with the foundation of Equestria?"Dusk thought as his curious mind filled with questions. "That is, there’s no record of them before that. But it’s also true that the records of the Pre-Equestria era are very scarce."

“Do you want to ask me about my past?” Celestia suddenly asked, amused to see the confused face of her dear student. "I doubt you'll find it in any books, as many of those books were banned to make me look more divine than I am. Starswirl believed that the ancient kings of the different tribes would more easily accept Luna and me if we said that our origin was divine. A belief that lasts to this day."

"But then... what are your origins?" Dusk asked shyly, since he was facing a question that thousands of ponies had wondered for hundreds of years. "W-Will you tell me?"

Celestia looked up and stayed for several seconds with a pensive look. Then she looked at Dusk and smiled.

"Hmm, how about I let you choose. I can tell you about my past… Or I can tell you about yours.” Celestia said with a slightly more serious look. “After all, that's what you came for, right? You want to know more about the Sparkle family.” From the first moment, she had guessed the reason why Dusk was there.

Dusk Shine was silent for what seemed like an eternity. He was having one of the deepest existential doubts of his life. On the one hoof, he could learn one of the biggest unknowns in history: the origins of Celestia. And on the other hoof, there was the answer that had tormented him since the wedding: who were the Sparkle family and why did the nobles hate them so much?

"I..." Dusk gulped and inhaled hard after taking the transcendental option. "I choose to know more about your past, princess."

“Hm, I see…” Celestia replied, looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling. “Unfortunately, you picked the more boring answer. After all, I don't even know myself." Celestia added with a big, amused smile. Dusk’s eyes went wide and all the tension of the moment broke.

“Don't you know your origins!?” Dusk yelled in frustration from the deception.

“Well, it's not like you know yourself how and where you were born either. Everything you know, you know because your parents told you." Celestia replied, puffing out her cheeks in a pout. "And that is the point. I don't have a mother."

Dusk opened his eyes in surprise and calmed down a little more.

“I don't remember much from my childhood, since it was a long time ago…” Celestia said, with a serious look, lost in thought. "My earliest memories are being in the care of Queen Amore in the Crystal Empire."

“The Crystal Empire… I think it’s one of the many missing kingdoms from the Ancient Equestria Era.” Dusk remembered having read about that kingdom. Although, compared to other ancient kingdoms, very little was known about the Crystal Empire.

“I think my oldest memory is seeing Starswirl holding Luna and showing her to me. She was just a baby…” Celestia smiled tenderly. “Queen Amore was not our mother, but I always felt a great connection to her, just like I felt for Luna… She called us her little princesses. That's why we continue to use those titles to this day. For me, she will always be the only Queen." Celestia's eyes sparkled with excitement as she remembered something she hadn't remembered for so long.

“I don't know why, since Starswirl never told me. But one day, Queen Amore left us in charge of him, and our relationship was never the same." Celestia put on a sad and melancholic look. “We saw each other a few times after that, but she always kept her distance from us until… until the day she died.”

At that moment, the oven alarm sounded to indicate that the first part of the cake they were preparing had finished baking. Then Celestia and Dusk focused again on continuing with the cake in silence. Dusk understood that his teacher had to take her time to tell her story. After all, Celestia had lived hundreds, maybe thousands of years, and there were many sad stories in that long life.

Despite everything, Dusk was fascinated by knowing that unknown part of his teacher. An answer that, as always, filled him with even more questions.

“If Queen Amore wasn’t their mother, where were Celestia and Luna born from? They can’t have been born from nothing.” Dusk thought with a restless look. “Also, why did the Queen turn away from the alicorn sisters? And everything happened in the Crystal Empire, how come that huge kingdom just vanished without a trace!?” Dusk was getting a little desperate as he had more questions without answers.

"Heh... That's why I wanted to avoid answering your questions." Celestia said suddenly with a small giggle, seeing how Dusk shook his head when he was filled with questions. “You have an overly curious mind, and you always want to know all the answers. But the truth is, sometimes you won't be able to find all the answers… That's why I wanted to avoid telling you about the Sparkle family.”

"Will... Will you tell me?" Dusk said, opening his eyes in surprise. Celestia simply smiled and looked up as she remembered her past again.

“The Sparkle family name is also something that caught my attention in my youth.” Celestia remembered. “Noble families have always feared and hated the Sparkle family. That's something I noticed at the time."

“You mean that this hatred of the nobles towards my family… It comes from even before you!?” Dusk asked.

“It’s a hatred that has been passed down from generation to generation among the high nobles of the kingdom. From before I even ruled Equestria.” Celestia continued speaking. “That is why, just like your family, your ancestors concealed their family name. Since they knew that many highborn ponies hated them for no reason… Ponies that became famous over the centuries, but always hid part of who they really were.”

At that moment, the alarm from another oven sounded, indicating that the biscuits baked there were also ready. Then Dusk shook his head to clear his head and return to concentrating on the Luna's cake. After all, his questions could wait a bit.

"I doubt there are famous ponies that have been part of my family." Dusk said, without being able to hold back to draw their first conclusions as he took the biscuits out of the oven. "I mean, if they changed their family name to 'Shine', I don't know many famous ponies with that name."

"Oh! Well, it’s that in the past they hid their name in another way.” Celestia said with a thoughtful look. Then looking at Dusk to see his reaction. "Tell me... do you really think Starswirl's full name was ‘The Bearded’?"

The tray and the cake clattered to the ground from how shellshocked Dusk was from what he heard from his mentor. The implications of what she had said would forever echo in the lavender stallion’s mind.

In Dusk Shine's old room, Pinkie Pie continued to train Princess Luna to learn to be funnier so she could finally perform a prank as revenge on Celestia.

Pinkie Pie had taught Luna all the basics of pranks, from whoopee cushions to water squirt clown flower. It was rather hard and demanding training on Pinkie Pie’s part, who required Luna to improve her pranks, and mainly, her sense of humor. The only pause was when Luna's pet opossum, Tiberius, entered the room and ate Pinkie's poor and innocent friend, 'Mr. Turnip'.

After the tragedy, both mares held a small funeral for Mr. Turnip. Until Pinkie Pie simply refilled the bucket with turnips and they christened 'Mr. Turnip Junior' as a new member of the team.

After returning to Pinkie's lessons, the teacher put her student to the test with a great prank circuit that Pinkie Pie and her 'party crew' performed. The alicorn advanced through the circuit, throwing a pie at ‘the face’ of Madame Le Flour; making Mr. Turnip Junior slip on marbles on the floor; making Rocky 'blush' by making him sit on a whoopee cushion’ scaring Sir Lintsalot with a dragon mask, causing him to fly out of his chair in fear. And finally, much to Pinkie Pie's surprise, giving Pinkie an electrifying hoofshake by using an electric button that Luna hid in her hoof before greeting her.

After passing Pinkie Pie's crash course, both mares sneaked into the castle and began playing pranks on the palace guards and servants. Using the dragon masks, marbles and balloons to annoy everyone they came across. They were all a little scared to see that the one who had played a prank on them was the always serious Princess Luna. However, seeing her laugh like they had never seen before, made the guards and servants laugh as well, happy to discover that new facet of their princess.

For her part, seeing her beloved subjects finally laugh along with her made Luna also start to genuinely feel more joyful and grateful for all the help given by Pinkie Pie.

"I think it's about time...to play the prank on Princess Celestia!" Pinkie Pie finally declared after she and Luna dropped a bucket of water on the head of a clueless guard. "I think Dusk once made her sit on a whoopee cushion, but maybe we could combine several pranks into one to surprise her..." Pinkie Pie smiled mischievously as she imagined all the prank possibilities, to make it something truly spectacular.

"Actually... This time I'd like to be the one to come up with the prank for my sister." Luna said, with a small smile. She wanted it to be her, with no one else's help, to be the one to finally surprise her cunning sister.

"Okey-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie Pie answered happily.

With a smile on her face, Luna put on a thoughtful look and began going over the lessons learned with Pinkie Pie to think of the best prank for her sister. And so the seconds and minutes passed, and Luna remained silent. The only thing that changed in that time was that Luna's smile slowly disappeared as she began to look insecure.

Her sister Celestia always anticipated everything, and she... She was so perfect! Would she really be able to trick her sister? And if she didn't make it? What if all of that had been for nothing!? After all, her pranks would never measure up to Celestia's pranks... Even... She herself wasn't up to par with her sister...

Luna's nerves and low self-esteem began to take over her thoughts and making her start to lose faith in herself. That didn’t go unnoticed by Pinkie Pie, who watched with concern as Luna again seemed to have forgotten how to smile.

"Maybe you just need to give her a good pie in her face." Pinkie Pie said with a sheepish smile.

“That's too simple! Tia will be expecting that! " Luna huffed with annoyance.

"But Princess Celestia won't expect you to throw a pie at yourself." Pinkie Pie defended. "Just like we did in Dusk's room. That was really funny! And she definitely won't be expecting it!”

"That was a mistake! I am not going to humiliate myself in front of my perfect sister!” Luna yelled in frustration and took it out on Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie winced back a little. She knew that Luna still had a hard time learning the most basic lesson of pranks. The important thing is not who is being pranked, but that everyone can laugh together.

"Princess... There is nothing wrong with laughing at yourself." Pinkie Pie said with a cute little smile, bringing her hoof closer to touch Luna.

Seeing Pinkie Pie's hoof, Luna tried to catch Pinkie Pie's smile. However, the only thing her imagination allowed her to see was herself with her face covered in cream and her sister again making fun of her. All of the palace servants were also laughing at her as they whispered that she was not at Celestia's level. And finally, she imagined Dusk Shine mocking her and getting away from her forever.

“I… I am a Princess! I will never lower myself to be made fun of by anyone!” Luna yelled at the pink mare. “We are different, understand it! I am a Princess, and you are just a clown."

Those words shocked Pinkie Pie a lot. She sadly lowered her head, turned around and began to slowly withdraw from the room where they were. For her part, the moment she said those harsh words, Luna opened her eyes with horror when she realized how cruel she had been.

“P-Pinkie Pie! I… I'm sorry.” Luna apologized and reached out a hoof for Pinkie Pie to come closer. However, Pinkie Pie didn't even turn around. She just walked away with a very sad look.

"I'm just a clown..." Pinkie Pie thought sadly. Remembering her training to be funny with Luna. "I thought we were getting close, but to her… I was never more than just a-"

Pinkie Pie suddenly stopped her train of thought, when Luna teleported to appear right in front of her and blocked her way.

“I am the Princess of the Night! Don't you dare turn your back on me!" Luna yelled in the royal Canterlot voice.

That left Pinkie Pie very surprised, who looked up and fearfully saw how Luna was staring at her with a serious look. However, before she could say anything, Luna made a cream pie appear, and very slowly smashed it into her own face.

"Ta-da!" Luna said with a small, embarrassed smile while in the same funny pose that Pinkie Pie did in Dusk's room, when she threw a pie at herself.

“Pfft! Hahaha!" Pinkie Pie burst out laughing, surprised to see Luna so serious and then smile with her face full of cream. Meanwhile, Luna began to wipe the cream off her face, but she couldn't help but be infected by Pinkie Pie's laughter and they both began to laugh together.

"You're absolutely right, Pinkie Pie. What matters is the laughs, not who makes the joke." Luna recovered from her laughter. Finally accepting within herself Pinkie Pie's primordial lesson to learn how to be funnier. "I'm so sorry for insulting you and being so stubborn."

"No problem, hehe." Pinkie Pie smiled, quickly leaving her sadness aside when she saw that her student had surpassed the teacher, taking her by surprise like that. Then she gave a thoughtful look and then looked tenderly at Luna. "Princess... Would you like to be my friend?"

That question took Luna completely by surprise. That was something no one had asked her directly since… never! She had her dear sister, her loyal maid, her adorable opossum, and the stallion she loved. But… did she really have a friend?

Although Luna was ready to say yes immediately, she put on a thoughtful look for a second.

“Pinkie Pie… I would love to be your friend. If you can accept being friends with someone as unfunny as me." Luna finally answered with a small smile. “But before that…” Luna put on a more serious look. "I would like you to tell me... What is the deal that you and your friends made with Dusk Shine?"

This time it was Pinkie Pie's turn to put on a surprised look.

At sunset, Luna and Pinkie Pie were in the main hall of the castle. There, both of them waited patiently for Celestia's arrival after the sun went down. Then, it would be time to activate their trap.

Both mares had set up a simple but well-crafted trap in the middle of the main hall. One that would be activated by stepping on some marbles that were hidden under the main carpet in the center of the room. Then, when that someone fell to the floor, a little string holding half a dozen cream pies to the ceiling would be cut, and fall on whoever slipped on the marbles. And that someone... would be Luna.

Finally, the Princess of the Night had accepted that the only way to surprise her sister would be for herself to fall into her own trap in front of Celestia. Sacrificing herself so that those cream pies would dirty her own face. All in order to surprise her dear sister.

Once the sun went down, the doors of the great hall opened, and Celestia and Dusk Shine passed through them. Both with small spots of cream on their hooves and faces.

"Luna! I was looking for you!" Celestia said with a huge smile.

"I was waiting for you, sister." Luna smiled back and approached the center of the room to activate her trap and fall into it herself.

“Wait there! I have something important to tell you!" Celestia with glee and ran to the center of the room quickly.

“C-Celestia! Wait!" Luna yelled, trying to stop Celestia. However, it was too late.

As soon as Celestia reached the center of the room, she stepped on the part of the carpet that was on the marbles, and then the chaos began. Celestia's eyes widened as she slipped, her hooves snapping in all directions trying to get on solid ground. Then she fell onto her butt and a little thread snapping noise was heard. At that moment, the alicorn heard something fall, and looked up with surprise that several cream pies fell right on her face.

As soon as the trap ended, the only sound that was heard in the room were the trays that had fallen next to the cream pies, still rolling on themselves after turning their contents over on the face of the Princess of the Sun. Pinkie Pie and Luna stared at Celestia in shock, as this was not what they had planned. While Dusk, like the maid twins and a few servants who had entered the hall behind Celestia, were left with frightened looks... Who had been the blasphemer who had dared to do that to his beloved and revered Princess of the Sun!?

“Pfft! Hahaha!" Celestia suddenly began to laugh. Being herself the one who broke all that awkward silence. “I know I have cream all over my face… But you should see your faces! Hahaha!" Celestia laughed, amused with the frightened face of her loyal servants.

“Sister…” Luna said, approaching Celestia. Relieved that her sister was laughing, but still somewhat disappointed, since she had already made up her mind that she would be the one receiving all those pies, not her older sister.

"It was you Luna, wasn't it?" Celestia laughed with a mischievous smile. “Come closer. As revenge, now it will be my turn to give you a pie."

Luna smiled resignedly and got even closer to her sister. Full of happiness to see that she had managed to make her sister laugh, and also very satisfied to realize that she had finally managed to fool the queen of jokes. Then Luna closed her eyes with a smile while she expected the pie in the face that her sister would give her in revenge. After all, Pinkie Pie had taught her that it didn't matter if she received a pie in her face. She could put aside her pride as a princess, as long as she shared and laughed as equals with her sister.

The seconds passed and Luna continued patiently with her eyes closed. Then, not understanding why Celestia's pie was taking so long, she slightly opened one of her eyes to see what was causing the delay. Doing so, she saw that there was indeed a cake in front of her face, but Celestia hadn't pushed it against her face. Instead, her sister had lit a candle on top of the cake and was giving her a loving look despite being covered in cream.

"Happy birthday, Luna." Celestia declared. “I'm sorry it's not a great cake, but I hope you like it. I made your favorite flavor!”

That took Luna by complete surprise. She looked closely at the cake that Celestia was holding; a biscuit cake covered in blue frosting. However, the most distinguishable characteristic of that cake was that it was a little flattened on one side.

"You made this cake?" Luna asked, knowing that there was no way a palace chef would make such a misshapen cake.

"Yes. It wasn't in such bad shape, but SOMEONE dropped a piece of the cake and it got kind of squashed on one side.” Celestia replied, looking at Dusk out of the corner of her eye. Who, for his part, blushed with embarrassment when he remembered what happened in the kitchen. "Luckily, the cake-" Celestia managed to say before she trailed off suddenly as Luna jumped into her.

"Thank you, Sister!" Luna said on the verge of tears, not caring that her subjects saw her hugging her sister or that her face was stained with cream when she pressed her face against Celestia's. She only felt happy and loved to see that her sister had prepared that beautiful surprise for her.

While the two alicorn princesses hugged and laughed, the maid twins hurried to close the front door so that no curious pony would disturb their beloved princesses with their emotional moment as sisters, leaving inside the hall only them, the princesses, Dusk and Pinkie Pie.

"It seems like it was a day with many surprises." Dusk said to his marefriend as she approached him. "It seems that the classes you gave the Princess worked very well."

"Yeah, and better than that, I made a new friend!" Pinkie Pie replied with a big smile, glancing sideways at Luna. "And how was your afternoon with Princess Celestia?"

“Hmm… It was also very productive, hehe.” Dusk replied with a nervous smile….

' Flashback of Dusk Shine.'

After Celestia had told Dusk that Starswirl had belonged to the Sparkle family, Dusk had gone crazy. This was literally so unbelievable that his mind refused to believe it.

“Starswirl and I… We could… Be related!?” Dusk repeated aloud for the fifth time, still unable to believe that his great hero, probably one of the most powerful and famous unicorns in the history of Equestria, could be his great-great-great-grandfather.

"Starswirl had no offspring." Celestia said calmly so that Dusk wouldn't jump to conclusions. "But I suppose you could be related to some distant branch of the family."

"B-But how... how come that doesn't appear in any book!?" Dusk hyperventilated before slowly returning to normal after being almost in shock.

“As I told you, the ancient nobles of Canterlot made sure to erase most of the historical records in which the Sparkle family was mentioned.” Celestia answered. “When I assumed my responsibilities as a princess, I realized that the old nobles were hiding something. After much research, I found out that Starswirl used the nickname 'The Bearded' to hide his true origin.”

“This is crazy! I always thought that was a title used by the archmages of the kingdom.” Dusk said, still somewhat dazed. “'The Wise', 'The Wanderer', 'The One-Eyed'… Even the current Archmage's nickname is 'The Collector'!”

"After the disappearance of Starswirl, the wizards of the kingdom began the tradition of appointing the most skilled and powerful unicorn in the kingdom as Archmage, so that he would protect the kingdom along with the princesses." Celestia replied, narrowing her eyes slightly at the memory of the current Archmage. "They always thought that Staswirl's nickname was part of his name, and they started using those titles on archmages as a tribute."

“I-I don't get it. If you knew that, why doesn't anyone else know!?” Dusk asked. "D-Did the Canterlot nobles pressure you not to?

“It wasn't the nobles who asked me to silence… It was Starswirl himself.” Celestia replied with a somewhat sad look. “When I found out about his relationship with the Sparkle family, he asked me not to mention it to anyone and not to investigate further about it.”

“Starswirl The Bearded…asked you not to investigate something!?” Dusk asked, very incredulous since it was known that Starswirl was a great researcher. In fact, there were several famous phrases from him to encouraged to search for the truth and never give up.

“He said… that I might not like what I found out.” Celestia replied with a sad look. “Shortly after that, Starswirl disappeared, and I never saw him again…” The alicorn closed her eyes in anguish. “I always disobeyed him, and Starswirl… was more than a teacher to me. That's why, after he disappeared, I decided that I would at least fulfill his last wish."

"That's why you didn't tell anyone what you found out..." Dusk whispered, guessing that, just as it happened with him and his teacher, when Nightmare Moon made Celestia disappear; Celestia and her teacher probably had an argument before they last saw each other. Something that must have hurt her teacher until these days.

"Dusk, I hope you understand. But it’s for this very reason that I will not help you investigate your family, nor will I tell you what I was able to find out about it.” Celestia said, approaching Dusk and looking at him seriously. Then she softened her gaze and gently rest a hoof on his shoulder in an almost maternal manner. “However, I will also not stop you from trying to find out more on your own on the subject. It's your choice, but you should know, if Starswirl wanted to hide his origins, there must be a powerful reason for it."

'End of flashback.'

While Dusk watched Luna and Celestia laugh in the middle of the room with their faces smeared with cream, he gave a thoughtful and nervous look when he remembered all the secrets that his teacher had told him that afternoon.

"If unicorns started using titles for archmages only after Starswirl's disappearance… What about the ponies that were before Starswirl!?"Dusk thought, becoming anxious and nervous at the new theory he imagined. "Clover the Clever, Gusty the Great… Could those famous ponies be related to me too!?"

At that moment, Dusk shook his head to stop asking more questions and looked at his cutie mark.

"Just like in my dream, it seems that when I get an answer, ten more questions appear..." Dusk Shine thought with worry. “The worst thing is that I still haven't answered the initial question… Why do the nobles hate the Sparkle family? What terrible act did my family do that they were almost erased from history?”

“You knew about the prank all along!?” Luna yelled in surprise while she, along with Celestia, Dusk, Pinkie Pie, and some palace servants, enjoyed the cake.

"Well, the carpet looked a bit lumpy, and I could see the hidden cream pies in the ceiling." Celestia replied with a small embarrassed smile. "I thought it would be a nice birthday present to fall into it on purpose. You worked really hard to improve your sense of humor, so I thought it was the least I could do."

"Hmph!" Luna huffed, looking away in annoyance with her puffed-out cheeks. She was frustrated to discover that her older sister fell into her trap on purpose and that it still didn't really surprise her.

After everyone had finished eating Luna's birthday cake, which was surprisingly delicious despite its flattened appearance, Dusk and Pinkie Pie said goodbye, since they had to catch the last train of the night back to Ponyville. Thus, Dusk went ahead to wait for Pinkie Pie at the castle gate, while the pink pony ran to pick up and pack her 'party team' before meeting with Dusk. For her part, Celestia got ready to retire to her room while Luna began her way to the watchman's balcony to begin her night vigil.

"Princess Luna!" Pinkie Pie yelled just as Luna was advancing through one of the castle corridors with Sweet Caramel.

"Pinkie Pie! I thought you had already gone with Dusk." Luna smiled at her new friend, who was holding Mr. Turnip Junior, Sir Lintsalot, Rocky and Madame le Flour.

Before she even spoke, Pinkie Pie's gaze was distracted by Sweet Caramel, who was once again holding the moon cupcakes that were exclusive to the Princess of the Night. Then the mare drooled slightly while the maid quickly hid the tray of cupcakes to protect her beloved princess's sweets with her life.

"I... came to say goodbye." Pinkie Pie said, shaking her head and wiping away her drool. She then surprised both the maid and the princess by giving Luna a great big hug. "Hehe, I like to say goodbye to my friends with hugs."

After the initial surprise, Luna looked at Pinkie Pie and smiled. Just as the pink pony had said, she had agreed to be her friend, and now she had to accept that level of trust, despite the fact that Luna hadn't quite gotten used to hugs. All that confidence had been shown by Pinkie Pie when she answered the question that Luna asked her about the deal she and her friends made with Dusk.

Luna had suspected that something strange was happening between Dusk and his friends when she found out about Dusk and Applejack's hasty marriage. Then, she was surprised to see the reaction of the rest of Dusk's friends, seeing how they seemed not to be too worried despite having lost the love of their life. Finally, the alicorn knew that there was a deal involved when she entered the nightmare that Applejack had a few days before the royal wedding. With that background info, Luna directly asked Pinkie Pie what all this 'deal' was about.

At first, Pinkie Pie seemed reluctant to tell Luna. However, she finally said 'I have to, if you're my friend now'. With that in mind, the pink mare ended up telling Luna all about the deal she and her friends made with Dusk Shine. Luna finally understood why Applejack and Dusk broke up after a month.

At first, Luna was very surprised by the kind of deal they had made, thinking that Dusk's friends shouldn't be seriously thinking about love when playing something like that. But Pinkie Pie was very serious when she said that this was not a game, and that now she, as Dusk's current marefriend, took it very seriously because they really were a couple, even though it had an expiration date. It was thus that Luna finally accepted that Dusk's friends were serious about their love for the colt and that it was not just a game.

"And now here I am… hugging my new friend, who is my rival in love."Luna thought after finishing hugging Pinkie Pie and remembering what happened that afternoon. "A hug is the least I can do to repay your trust in telling me your secret."

"By the way, I still owe you your reward for helping me be funnier." Luna smiled. “I said that if you helped me, I would give you whatever you wanted. And a princess never breaks her promises." Luna added, glancing sideways at Sweet Caramel. Who, for her part, gave an indignant look, and reluctantly stopped hiding the tray with moon cakes so that Pinkie Pie could take her reward.

"It's true! I almost forgot!" Pinkie Pie gasped. She put on a pensive look and then looked intently at the moon cupcakes. "Whatever I want...." Pinkie said, closing her eyes and swallowing to calm her craving for cupcakes. Then she put on a serious look and looked directly at Luna. "I want you to keep your distance from Dusk Shine."

An awkward silence filled the hallway. At the same time, Luna's smile slowly faded as she made a face of utter surprise, not sure if she heard correctly. However, Pinkie Pie's serious look finally dispelled all doubt, she had heard well.

“W… What do you mean?” Luna said awkwardly.

“I only have the courage to say it because now you’re my friend. And I don't want us to keep secrets from each other." Pinkie Pie said nervously. "You like Dusk Shine, right?"

Luna opened her mouth to deny such a claim. However, her mouth trembled and she was unable to say anything. Seeing Pinkie Pie's fearful look, Luna understood that the pink pony was indeed seeing her as a friend, and just like Pinkie said, she shouldn't lie to a friend.

“I… I…” Luna stammered, feeling embarrassed being so nervous in front of an ordinary pony instead of being an imposing alicorn princess.

"Princess, I know you like Dusk since you went to our pet playdate... You murmured it in your sleep." Pinkie Pie said, still looking nervously at Luna. “And today, I could confirm it. Every time you saw Dusk or I mentioned his name, your expression changed. Just like when it happens to Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash or Applejack... Just like it happens to me." At that moment, Pinkie Pie looked away for a moment, and then she looked at Luna with some fear. "You and Dusk... You've already had some romantic moments, right?"

Not knowing what to do or say, Luna averted her gaze in embarrassment. She looked at Sweet Caramel, who also seemed to be in shock upon hearing that conversation. It was then that Luna remembered the moments that she and Dusk had together. Primarily visiting him in his dreams as 'Lady Night', and later in the real world. How they slowly got closer, in fleeting but beautiful moments treasured by Luna, little by little shortening their distance... It was useless, she couldn't deny that she loved Dusk.

“Princess, it's messy enough that my friends are in love with my coltfriend. And I... I want to enjoy this month that I’ll have Dusk all to myself!" Pinkie Pie said, looking at Luna with a pleading look. “This day, I got to know you more, and I saw how funny, innocent, kind and strong you are… and it hit me. If you get closer to Dusk, he’ll end up falling in love with you."

An uncomfortable silence filled the corridor again. For Luna, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown at her and now she couldn't move. Her body felt cold, but her heart was beating a thousand times a second from how nervous she was. Pinkie Pie knew that with just one more word she could deliver the final blow to Luna and make her never go near Dusk again. However, she didn't want that. Pinkie just wanted Luna to understand that Dusk was now her coltfriend and that she had to respect their courtship. They were friends now, and if Luna wanted to one day be part of the same group as Dusk and her friends, she had to understand that their friendship was much more complex than any other friendship. This was the first test Luna had to pass to become true friends, and Pinkie Pie was ready to strike first.

"I… I understand." Luna finally said, with a weak voice. She turned around and started to walk briskly out of the hallway, feeling her stomach ache from the whirlwind of emotions she felt.

As Luna left, Sweet Caramel quickly followed her, still stunned after that pink pony dared to face her princess like that. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie gave a big sigh and stared sadly at the floor.

"Maybe in the future, you’ll earn a space in Dusk's heart too..." Pinkie Pie thought, turning to go out on the opposite side of the hall. "But for now, you must understand that Dusk is my coltfriend... I'm sorry, Lulu."Pinkie Pie thought, savoring the bitter taste that a new friendship must sometimes have, all to make it stronger.

After that corridor was empty, from a small side corridor, Celestia appeared. Who, together with her maid, Sweet Creme, had happened to walk by there minutes before and they stayed in the shadows listening to what had happened.

"Did you hear that…?" Celestia looked at Sweet Creme and her cheeks puffed out as if she was about to burst out laughing. "Can you believe it? Hahaha! Pinkie Pie thinks that Luna is in love with Dusk! Hahaha!"

As Celestia laughed, Sweet Creme simply looked away and made a poker face. That made Celestia stop laughing slowly and stare at her maid confused.

"What's with that face?" Celestia asked. "You don’t really believe that..."

“Well…” Sweet Creme bit her lip. It was a question that had an obvious answer for everyone. For everyone except Celestia.

For several seconds, Celestia gave an incredulous look and thought about the conversation that she just overheard. And not only that, but all the expressions Luna had put on at every word Pinkie Pie said. For the first time since Luna's return, Celestia vividly remembered all the moments when Luna had shown a clear interest in Dusk Shine that she had overlooked. All the times that Luna blushed shyly averted her gaze, excited when she heard about Dusk, and finally... something clicked in Celestia's head. Something she had thought was impossible.

Finally Celestia realized how blind she was, and although Luna couldn't see it, her younger sister finally made it... Celestia made a face of genuine and utter surprise and shock.

End of chapter 25

Author's Notes:

>>Chapter 18 References<<

-Canon references:

'Pinkie Pie helps Luna to be funnier' It's the plot of the official comic: 'MLP Friends Forever #7'

'Celestia prepares a birthday cake for Luna' It's the plot of the official comic: 'MLP Friends Forever #22'

'Mr. Turnip, Rocky, Sir Lintsalot and Madame Le Flour' Appear in the official comic 'MLP Friends Forever #7'; besides being the same ones that appear in the episode: 'Party of one, Season 1, episode 25'.

'Hearth's Warming Eve', holiday featured in the episode: 'Hearth's Warming Eve, Season 2, Episode 11'

'Princess Amore', mentioned in the official comics, as in: 'MLP FIENDship #1'

'Clover the Clever', famous pony, portrayed by Twilight in the episode: 'Hearth's Warming Eve, Season 2, Episode 11'

'Gusty the Great', famous pony, Twilight reads a tale about how this pony defeated Grogar, in the episode: 'A Flurry of Emotions, Season 7, Episode 3'

-Story references:

'Hate of the noble families to the Sparkle family' mentioned by Shining Armor in 'Chapter 21, Season 2'

'Tiberius, Luna's pet opossum', appears in 'Chapter 15, Season 2'

'Luna finds out that Dusk's friends have a deal between them, about Dusk' mentioned in Applejack's dream, in 'Chapter 16, Season 2'

'The Archmage is a great collector of magical items' mentioned by Sunset Shimmer's memories, in 'Chapter 6, Season 2'

'Pinkie Pie finds out that Luna likes Dusk' Pinkie hears Luna whisper asleep, in 'Chapter 15, Season 2'

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And also... Here is the sixth special comic
Special Dusk Shine - Easter

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& as always, many thanks to 'Scribe of the Nightwings' for his great help

Chapter 26 - Heart's Warming Night

View Online

Hearth's Warming Night

Dusk Shine and Spike walked through the streets of Ponyville. Throughout the town, there was the festive spirit of the holidays. Hearth’s Warming Eve, one of the most important celebrations in Equestria, had all the ponies of the town decorated their houses with various garlands, bells and flags. All harmonizing perfectly with the winter snow that had fallen and that generated a beautiful postcard-perfect image throughout the town.

This year, Dusk and Spike had promised to spend the holidays with Pinkie Pie and her family. Something that the pink pony had planned months ago, asking not only Dusk, but all her friends, to spend the festivities together. However, for some reason, all of Dusk's friends canceled at the last minute, deciding to spend the holidays with their respective families. With Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash out of town, the only one who didn't need to travel out of town was Applejack, whose family lived in Ponyville. But even though Pinkie Pie invited the entire Apple family to her family's rock farm, Applejack decided to stay in Ponyville.

'We spent the holidays with Pinkie's family a year ago and… well… they’re quite a special bunch when it comes to celebrating Heart’s Warming Eve.' Dusk remembered what Applejack had told him when she apologized for not going. 'Besides… there's another reason why I can't go.' She had added almost in a whisper just before saying goodbye to Dusk.

“Is there a reason to cancel the trip at the last minute?” Dusk thought curiously as he walked and remembered what happened that morning. “Besides, why did Applejack have that nervous smile? Pinkie's family can't be that weird, can they?” Dusk imagined Pinkie Pie's sisters as happy and crazy as his quirky marefriend.

Finally, Dusk and Spike arrived at Sugarcube Corner. There, Dusk had a hard time opening the door for some reason. Upon entering, Dusk saw that what was blocking the door were hundreds of small colored stones. In fact, they weren't just at the door, the entire main hall of the bakery was filled with thousands of stones of different colors!

"What is all this?" Dusk asked, looking confused at all those colored stones.

"Dusk!?" Pinkie Pie said suddenly, raising her head from a pile of colored stones. Dusk looked carefully and saw that Pinkie had big dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept all night.

"Pinkie, are you okay?" Dusk asked with worry.

"Yeah! It's just… Yaaawwn… I stayed up all night making rock candy necklaces.” Pinkie replied with a big yawn.

"Rock candy?" Spike asked, picking up one of the small colored stones, sniffing at it, then popping it into his mouth. "Mmm! They’re sweet!"

"It's a recipe that Maud invented with a special kind of rock." Pinkie Pie said. She joined several rocks of different colors with a thread, to make a necklace, passing it to Dusk. “Maud and I have a tradition of giving each other rock candy necklaces whenever we see each other. But this year, I wanted it to be perfect, because this year will be the best ever!” Pinkie Pie cheered with a big smile.

“Your sister came up with this?” Dusk looked at the rock candy necklace carefully, while glancing sideways at Spike. Who had begun to devour with pleasure all the sweet rocks that he saw next to him. “I had never heard of rock candy. It’s awesome."

"Yeah, Maud is the best!" Pinkie Pie said, very excited. "I love all my sisters so much, but Maud is super-duper special!" Her eyes twinkling at the memory of her beloved older sister. “She's funny and talkative like me, she would get along great with all my friends! She likes fashion like Rarity; she reads a lot of books like you; she loves pets like Fluttershy; she’s a great cook like Applejack; and she loves to joke around just like Rainbow Dash."

"Wow... she sounds like the perfect mare." Dusk said with a nervous smile, thinking that his marefriend must be overreacting.

“That's why I've spent the whole night making rock candy. I really, REALLY, want this trip to be perfect.” Pinkie Pie said, passing a hoof over her tired eyes, which looked like they would close at any second. "Besides, I've been so excited to know that you're going to meet my family that I haven't been able to sleep all night."

"Huh... Pinkie... You know it's daylight already, right?" Dusk asked, raising an eyebrow. “Did you even pack your suitcase? The train leaves in less than an hour.”

Pinkie Pie gave a confused look and remained silent for a few seconds, as if she had a hard time understanding what Dusk had told her. Until suddenly she gave a great leap and a startled cry.

“IS IT DAY ALREADY!?” Pinkie Pie yelled in fright, running to her room to pack her suitcase, leaving only a trail of dust, and her worried coltfriend.

"Will she be okay?" Dusk muttered with concern and looked at the clock. As square and organized as ever, he was nervous about being late for the train. "She didn't sleep all night... Maybe I should help her pack."

"Nah, it's Pinkie Pie. She'll be back in just a few seconds with everything ready.” Spike replied. Who kept enjoying rock candy. "Mmm! They're not like gems, but they're definitely my second favorite food now." Spike added, savoring a necklace of red rock candy.

While Dusk and Spike talked in the main hall, Pinkie Pie hurried to quickly pack her suitcase. With only the essentials.

“Balloons, streamers, cupcakes, party cannon… Ready!” Pinkie Pie said, finishing packing her suitcase in record time. So she sat down for a second on her suitcase to rest. Sitting up, Pinkie Pie's head began to slowly droop, as her eyes closed.

"No!" The mare announced and slapped herself awake. Then she shook her head and put on a very serious look. "Everything must be perfect."

"Luckily, the other girls will be far away, so I'll be able to be alone with Dusk, now is my time to give my all as his marefriend!" Pinkie Pie thought. She remembered that her plan was already in action, and that the board was set. Now it was up to her to achieve her goal. "And most importantly, I managed to convince Dusk to give me a Pinkie-Promise that I choose instead of a gift. And I know very well what I want him to promise."

Dusk, Pinkie, and Spike arrived to board the train just in time. Once inside, they proceeded to the first car, where they placed their bags and then sat down. As soon as Pinkie Pie settled her flanks on the seat cushion, she immediately fell asleep. That was a clear indication for Dusk that his marefriend was indeed still very tired, after not sleeping all night.

Unfortunately, she barely managed to sleep for a few seconds. The train whistle blew, announcing its departure, and the pink pony jumped at the sharp sound.

“Oops! I almost fell asleep before the surprise, hehe.” Pinkie Pie said with a big smile. Even with tremendous dark circles under her eyes.

In that instant, Pinkie raised her head high and began to look around one by one at all the ponies that were there. The train car was almost full, since many ponies were traveling for the holidays.

"Hmm... I don't see her..." Pinkie Pie whispered nervously. After checking for the third time that ‘whom she was looking for’ was not in that car. "I think I'll go find the other cars."

"What are you going to look for?" Dusk asked.

"It's a surprise! Yaawwn… ” Pinkie Pie said with a loud yawn.

“Dusk couldn’t help be worry. “Pinkie, you really should take a few hours to sleep.”

“Don’t worry, I'll be fine. I’m the most energetic pony in all of Equestria!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed and did a high jump and somersault down the hall, to show that she still had energy to spare. Then she approached the colt and gave him a little kiss. "Wait for me here, I'll be back soon with the biggest surprise you can imagine!" The mare gave him a wink and hopped into the next car.

Once Pinkie Pie left, Dusk dropped into his seat and sighed. He adored the mare’s love for making others smile. He just wished that she didn’t do it at the expense of her health.

"I wonder if the entire Pie family will be like her..." Dusk said, thinking aloud. He remembered that Pinkie had told him that she had grown up on a rock farm. He imagined a crazy farm full of slides and fireworks. With dozens of ponies identical to Pinkie Pie. Her entire family smiling and joking as they worked on the funniest rock farm on the planet.

"I can imagine..." Spike said. The dragon imagined the same thing as Dusk, only instead of a dozen Pinkies, there were hundreds of Pinkies, and then thousands. All jumping up and down and yelling 'Fun!' as they lunged at Spike. Then the baby dragon shuddered at the thought of such a thing. "I think ONE Pinkie Pie is enough."

After laughing at his little brother's comment, Dusk looked thoughtful and began to imagine more seriously what Pinkie Pie's family should be like.

"The truth is that I don't know much about her family… But the one she always talks about a lot is her sister, Maud." Dusk thought, remembering how excited Pinkie Pie was that morning, and all the virtues she mentioned that her older sister had. "Funny, intellectual, likes fashion and cooking, good with animals… She can't be that perfect." Dusk thought, imagining a mare that had the best of her dear friends.

In Dusk's mind, the image of his five friends spun and they mixed in a whirlwind, until the mix of all of them finally appeared, a mare that Dusk could consider almost perfect and that had a bit of all his friends... a mare that once met, called Golden Feather.

It had been a long time since Dusk had remembered the friendly pegasus with white fur and blonde mane, that she had shared with him one afternoon when Cadance visited Ponyville. A beautiful mare that he had realized had a lot in common with his friends, and with whom he might have fallen in love, if his heart hadn't already been occupied by other mares. A mare that Dusk never thought about how much she resembled his teacher. Something obvious, since without Dusk knowing it, Golden Feather had been none other than Celestia herself in disguise.

With the image of the white pegasus in his mind, Dusk kept remembering his image for a long time. However, although for him, that mare was closer to what he could consider as an almost perfect mare, his heart was still unable to look at her with the same eyes that he looked at his other friends.

“You better stop looking at her!” Said the image of Rainbow Dash in Dusk's imagination, appearing suddenly from behind the image of Golden Feather.

Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Luna, Applejack and Rarity also appeared. And among the six mares, they rushed to push Golden Feather from Dusk's imaginary space until they got her out of his mind.

“We are already in your heart, don't even think about falling in love again!” The six annoyed mares shouted in Dusk's imagination. Something that made the lavender stallion close his eyes and smile.

"Heh! I already know that..." Dusk smiled, while the cloud of his imagination disappeared. Dusk suddenly opened his eyes in surprise when he realized something. "Did I also imagine Luna?" Dusk thought. Realizing that when he imagined the mares that were in his heart, he had imagined not only her five friends from Ponyville, but also the clumsy, but tender, Princess of the Night. "I… I shouldn't imagine Princess Luna! I can’t complicate things more!"

Finally, Dusk was distracted from his thoughts when the driver's carriage door opened. From there, a mare with gray fur and smooth violet mane appeared. She wore a bluish gray full body dress with a black belt. But what caught Dusk's attention the most was the cold and emotionless look she showed. The same look that kept looking at Dusk intensely, and that had made the lavender unicorn look at her uneasily.

That mare remained standing in the corridor in front of Dusk's seat, staring at him with an emotionless gaze for several seconds. While Dusk couldn't help but look away when he felt uncomfortable because of how much that mare stared at him, without saying a single word.

"C-can I help you?" Dusk finally said, with a nervous smile. Maybe the mare was mute, since she continued without saying anything.

For several seconds, the mare remained silent and blinked very slowly.

"Hey." That mare finally said. With a voice just as impassive as her gaze.

"H-Hi..." Dusk replied to the strange mare.

Once again, an awkward silence hung in the air after the mare didn't continue the conversation. Instead, she kept looking at Dusk.

Finally, the gray mare moved slowly and sat next to Dusk, to his complete surprise. Then he glanced at Spike sitting in front of him, and the baby dragon simply shrugged.

“I was in the engine room, looking at the coal they use on the train.” The gray mare said suddenly, always maintaining the equanimity of her voice and gaze. “Most of the coal they use here is sub-bituminous lignite. It would be better if they used more anthracite in the boiler.”

After that information came out of nowhere, an uncomfortable silence filled the air again... Why would someone start a conversation talking about types of coal? Was the mare trying to be friendly? Or was she just thinking out loud? It was something Dusk wasn't sure about.

"Uh... Yeah... T-That’s…interesting..." Dusk finally stuttered, thinking that maybe he should give that mare the benefit of the doubt, and that maybe she was just clumsy at starting a conversation.

The strange mare took out a small rock and placed it on the seat in front of her, which was next to Spike.

"Uh... That seat is taken." Dusk said, confused by the mare's action with Pinkie’s seat.

"I know... He's just reserving the seat." The gray mare responded, looking at Dusk. Then she turned slowly to face the stone and pointed her hoof at it. "Stand still there and be obedient."

Spike raised his head in confusion and looked carefully at the small stone. Maybe he had seen wrong and that wasn’t a rock, but some small animal. But was definitely a rock. That made Dusk shiver a little, realizing that he was sitting next to a crazy mare who was talking to the rocks.

“Next year I’ll finish my 'rocktorate' in rock science.” The mare said suddenly, again pulling a new topic of conversation out of nowhere.

“Oh…! Uhm… I… I am a librarian in Ponyville.” Dusk tried to banter back.

"Yes, I know. You’ve lived in the Ponyville Library for a little over a year.” The gray mare answered with a cold stare. "I know everything about you."

"She's not just crazy… She's a stalker!!" Dusk thought in terror. The fear of this mare kidnapping him and tying him up in a basement began to grow. Dusk subtly scooched away from the mare and continued to give her a nervous smile He didn’t want to offend the mare and make her pull out a weapon of sorts.

As if the mare had read Dusk's mind, she slowly bent down and opened the suitcase she had brought with her, looking for something.

"Do you want some?" The mare finally asked. Taking a small bag out of her bag, which she opened and brought Dusk closer.

The colt carefully approached the bag, slowly put his hoof in, and was surprised to see that it was just a bag of rocks. Then Dusk looked up in confusion, while the mare also took out one of the rocks and put it in her mouth.

“It’s a rock snack.” The gray mare said and noisily chewed on the crunchy rocks.

"Oh… I see. They're like Pinkie Pie's rock candy." Dusk finally understood with relief.

"Can I have one?!" Spike asked and jumped to get some rocks out of the back.

Both Dusk and Spike put a rock in their mouths and bit down. As soon as Dusk did, his teeth almost broke, while he almost spit out the rock. Those rocks weren't like Pinkie Pie's candy rocks at all. In fact, he wasn't even sure if it was edible since the rock tasted almost the same as a real rock.

Despite the hardness of the rock, Spike's strong teeth finished grinding it and swallowed it easily. It was impossible for the lavender pony to break that rock with his teeth, and he simply put on a goofy smile while the crazy mare looked at him attentively, calmly eating her rock snacks.

"What's that over there?!" Dusk pointed towards the other end of the train.

The strange gray mare turned slowly towards where Dusk had pointed, which gave the lavender stallion enough time to spit out the hard rock and throw it back out of the wagon.

"Ouch!" A colt yelled from behind the wagon, to whom Dusk's snack rock fell.

As soon as the gray mare turned around again to continue looking at Dusk, he kept smiling, rubbing his stomach as if he were satisfied.

"Mmm! Delicious, hehe.” Dusk smiled nervously, pretending to have eaten the snack rock.

For several seconds, the gray mare simply stared at Dusk in silence. While he just kept trying to play it cool.

"Do you want more?" The gray mare asked. Offering Dusk snack rocks again.

“I… I would love to, hehe. B-But..." Dusk stuttered, thinking of various excuses to reject the offer without offending that mare. Then Dusk looked askance at the boulder sitting on Pinkie's seat, and an idea finally occurred to him. Dusk approached the small rock and spoke to it, just as that crazy gray mare had done. “You wouldn't want me to eat another snack rock, would you? I mean, you’re a rock, and that... would be like cannibalism, hehehe... hehe..." Dusk laughed nervously, feeling silly talking to a rock, but thinking that at least he wouldn't make the crazy mare angry.

The mare simply stared at Dusk, without smiling or showing any expression on her face from his attempt at a joke.

"I-I think I'd better eat a fruit." Dusk said with an awkward smile, scratching his head, realizing that the gray mare was not thankful for his joke.

Dusk opened his travel bag and took out a juicy apple from Sweet Apple Acres. All while the gray mare kept watching him at all times.

"You prefer fruits..." The gray mare said suddenly, just when Dusk had opened his mouth to eat the apple. “Did you know that fruits are the developed and mature ovaries of plants?”

An uncomfortable silence remained in the air, in which Dusk stood frozen with his mouth open, unable to bite the apple. Then he looked at the apple, and the only thing he could think of was the word 'mature ovaries'. Thus, he slowly lowered the apple, looking at it strangely, and put it back in his saddlebag. There goes his appetite.

After that awkward moment, Dusk decided not to pay any more attention to the gray mare. So he stuck as close as possible to the window and stared at the landscape while the train continued on its way. However, from time to time, Dusk looked askance at the reflection in the window. Noticing that despite remaining silent, and that he was clearly trying to avoid her, the gray mare kept sitting next to him, staring at him.

"Do you want me to read you a poem? In my free time, I write my own poetry." She said suddenly.

"Uh... I... I guess so..." Dusk said with a nervous smile. This was easily the most uncomfortable ride he'd ever had in his life.

The gray mare cleared her throat, looked at Dusk, and began to recite her poem.

"Rock. You are a rock. Gray. You are gray. Like a rock. Which you are. Rock." The gray mare recited monotonously.

When she finished, Dusk gave a confused look and opened his mouth to speak. He wasn't sure if that could be called poetry. Dusk knew that taste in poetry was very subjective, but what was clear was that if it was a poem, it was the most boring poem he had ever heard. But of course, that was something that a gentlecolt like Dusk couldn't say, so despite opening his mouth, he wasn't able to speak, and he only gave a confused look.

"I see you're speechless." The gray mare said, misunderstanding Dusk's confused look out of astonishment. "I have written thousands. The next one is about rocks… They’re all about rocks.”

For the next hour, Dusk forced himself to listen to dozens of poems, and, as the gray mare said, all about rocks. All the poems were about the color, hardness or type of rock, all equally monotonous, all equally boring. As much as Dusk wanted to stop listening to those poems, it became impossible for him to tell that mare that he no longer wanted to hear her poetry. Dusk wasn’t capable of hurting her feelings, and with Spike asleep, and he trapped between the window and the gray mare. Thus, Dusk remained with a dull look, listening to each slow phrase of that mare, feeling that his brain was slowly shutting down upon hearing such boring and emotionless phrases.

Finally, Dusk's brain seemed to wake up again when the train whistle was heard, announcing that they were arriving at the next station, which was the stop for Dusk, Spike, and Pinkie Pie.

"Wait… Where's Pinkie Pie!?" Dusk thought, still somewhat stunned. So dizzy had he been listening all the way to the monotonous poetry of the gray mare, that he had lost track of time and completely forgot that his marefriend had disappeared since the train started on its way.

“S-Sorry, I have to go. This is my stop.” Dusk said quickly, glad to finally get off that train and get away from the mare. "Come on Spike." Dusk added, getting up from his seat and quickly taking Spike, who was still sleeping, to quickly get off the train.

While Dusk took Spike and his saddle bag, the gray mare simply stared at him attentively. Just as it had been throughout the entire trip.

"Phew! Finally, I’m free!" Dusk said with a big smile. Once he managed to get out of the train and onto the ground of the station. "If I listened to one more rock poem, my brain was going to turn into a rock." Dusk said, taking a big sigh.

Dusk looked around him and his smile slowly began to fade. As if fate wanted to make fun of him, Dusk realized that ironically that entire station was completely made of rocks. From the floor to the same signs that were there.

In addition to the fact that everything there was made of rocks, Dusk realized that that train station was quite rustic. It seemed that it wasn't a very popular station, since apart from Dusk and Spike, no other pony was coming out of the train.

"Where's Pinkie Pie?" The colt got nervous when he saw the train was about to leave without the pink mare leaving.

"Sorry." A monotonous voice suddenly said behind Dusk. A voice that made Dusk shudder.

Turning around almost in a jump from fright, Dusk saw that the gray mare that had harassed him throughout the trip was now behind him. It seemed that this was her stop.

“You… Are you really a stalker!?” Dusk slowly backed away from the mare with growing fear outweighing his chivalry.

The train whistle blew again, and it slowly started to run, continuing on its route.

“No… Wait!” Dusk yelled, seeing that someone very important was missing by his side. "Pinkie Pie! Pinkie Pie!” Dusk yelled, starting to run next to the train as it advanced.

Dusk suddenly stopped when from the last carriage, a postpony leaned out of a window. He lifted a huge mail bag with great effort, and threw it from his window, falling right on the edge of the station,in the area designated for mail. Dusk had to brake suddenly to avoid colliding with the postal bag, and when he looked up, he saw that the train had already accelerated enough to completely leave the station.

"It can't be..." Dusk said in panic, looking back and seeing that only he, Spike, and more worryingly... the crazy mare were at the station! "What do I do now!?"

Dusk was suddenly distracted and looked down when he heard a snore coming from the postal bag. Then he slowly opened the huge bag and saw that inside it was his marefriend sleeping peacefully on the mail.

"Pinkie Pie?" Dusk said, with a mixture of astonishment and surprise.

“Hmm? Yaawwn… What a nice nap. Just what I needed." Pinkie Pie woke up and stretched out her limbs.

“Pinkie… What are you doing asleep in the postal bag!?” Dusk asked, very confused.

"Say what…? Oh! It's true!" Pinkie Pie replied, looking down in surprise, at the letters that had served as a mattress. “I was looking for Maud on the train, until I got to the last car. I looked in the postal bag, and… well, I think I was so tired, I fell asleep, hehe.” Pinkie Pie laughed, a little embarrassed.

“Maud? Were you looking for your sister?" Dusk asked.

"Yes, she-" Pinkie Pie managed to say, until her gaze diverted to see who was behind Dusk. Then she jumped up with a huge smile. "There you are!!" she yelled and ran past her coltfriend.

Turning around, Dusk widened his eyes in shock to see that Pinkie Pie was hugging the strange and crazy stalker gray mare.

"Pinkie Pie! Be careful!" Dusk yelled and ran to the pair. "That... That mare..." He said, looking at the gray mare with concern, not knowing how to warn Pinkie Pie that that mare was crazy, without offending the gray mare in front of her.

"This is my sister Maud!" Pinkie Pie said with a huge smile while hugging the gray mare. "I wanted to surprise you that she was travelling with us."

"Oh, now I see. You..." Dusk answered automatically before his brain finally caught up with this body. "She... She is your sister?"

"Yep!" Pinkie replied, followed by a long silence, in which Dusk froze, staring at the smiling Pinkie Pie, and then at the gray mare, who kept her gaze without any emotion.

"Your sister?" Dusk repeated, as if those words couldn’t enter his mind.

"Yeppers!" Pinkie Pie repeated again. Followed by another long silence. One in which Dusk tried to make his mind understand what Pinkie Pie was saying to him, but seeing that those two mares were as different as night and day, it was impossible for his mind to understand.

"Pinkie… She… She can't be Maud." Dusk managed to babble out.

"Of course she is!" Pinkie Pie confirmed for the third time.

"Your sister... Maud?" Dusk asked again, fighting his disbelief. “Your perfect sister Maud!?”

"Yepperoni!" Pinkie Pie repeated, still smiling.

For the fifth time, Dusk was going to ask the same thing, but this time Spike hastened to put a claw in his brother's mouth to shut him up. “Dusk. She IS Pinkie's sister." Spike repeated this time. So that Dusk would finally assimilate the truth.

Maintaining a face of utter confusion. Dusk looked at the gray mare one last time, swallowed, and then looked at Pinkie Pie. One was a gray, cold-eyed and emotionless, and probably the dullest mare he had ever met. The other was a pink with vibrant eyes and a big smile, who was always laughing and talking to more than she could.

“B-But….It's impossible for her to be your sister!! You’re complete opposites!” Dusk yelled almost hysterically.

"What are you talking about? We’re like two drops of water!” Pinkie Pie smiled, bringing her face closer to her sister's. Who for her part, kept looking at Dusk with a look without emotion.

In Dusk's mind, the image of the perfect mare that Pinkie Pie had described shattered like glass, seeing that Pinkie Pie's idea of perfection was that crazy and boring gray mare. It was then that Dusk, in his nervousness and confusion, remembered all the virtues that Pinkie Pie had said about her sister Maud before the trip. “You… You said that your sister was just as funny and talkative as you are.”

"She is!" Pinkie replied, looking at her sister. “Didn't you chat on the train? We were supposed to have bought seats together.”

“I did chat with him… In fact, I spent the entire trip trying to chat with him.” Maud responded slowly, looking at Dusk. "But it seems like he didn't really feel like chatting with me."

At that moment, Dusk opened his mouth to say that this was not true. However, only then did he realize that although Maud spoke slowly and with long silences; it was always she who sought to strike up a conversation with him. "Y-You said that she liked fashion..."

"Well, yeah, she makes her own dresses." Pinkie Pie replied, pointing her hoof at Maud's dress.

Dusk opened his mouth again to reply. For in his opinion, and probably in that of any fashion specialist, such as Rarity, Maud's dress was too simple and drab to be considered 'taste in fashion'. "You…You said she liked pets, like Fluttershy."

"Yeah, she always carries him with her." Pinkie Pie replied. Then Maud took from her pocket the same small rock that she had put on Pinkie Pie's seat on the train.

“His name is 'Boulder'.” Maud added, showing the little pet rock on her hoof.

"That rock is her pet!? Can a rock be a pet!?" Dusk thought incredulously.

"Y-You said your sister liked to read!" Dusk said, getting a little desperate. Thinking that a mare that read a lot would have many topics of conversation. Contrary to what Maud really was.

"I love reading about rocks... I always read about rocks..." Maud replied monotonously. An answer that left Dusk stunned, since in effect she fulfilled the premise of being someone who read a lot, but who in their right mind would only read about rocks!?

"You said she was a great cook..." Dusk said, with a weaker voice. Realizing that everything he said, was returned against him.

"She is! Remember I told you that she invented the rock candy recipe." Pinkie Pie took the opportunity to put several rock candy necklaces around her sister's neck.

“Personally, I prefer my rock snacks. Since I'm not as much a fan of candy as Pinkie Pie." Maud added, pulling out her little snack bag and eating another one of her 'extra crunchy' snacks.

“You said that your sister liked to joke around! And she never joked or smiled the entire trip!” Dusk yelled desperatel, using his last letter to make Pinkie realize that it wasn't his mistake that he couldn't recognize Maud.

“Hmm… Now that's weird. She has always liked my jokes.” Pinkie Pie said, looking at her sister in confusion.

"Dusk made a joke about not eating my rock snacks, because 'Boulder' could get scared by doing cannibalism." Maud said nonchalantly. "That seemed funny to me."

"Hahaha! You see? She did find it funny!” Pinkie Pie laughed, looking at Dusk and pointing her hoof at Maud's face.

Dusk narrowed his eyes to better see Maud's face. But no matter how hard he tried, there was no change in Maud's cold expression.

"After his joke, I told him my fruit joke." Maud added, looking at Pinkie and then at Dusk. "But he didn't laugh and started ignoring me."

"Uh!?" Dusk said, remembering that indeed that happened, but it was due to a misunderstanding. "I... I didn't know that was a joke!"

“It wasn't just with the joke. He tried to ignore me during the whole trip, although I tried to chat with him.” Maud said, looking at Pinkie Pie.

"That... That's not..." Dusk said nervously. Was he really that rude to Maud?

“He also lied to me when he pretended to eat my rock snacks. I saw by the reflection in the window that he spat it out and threw it away." Maud added, speaking to Pinkie but looking at Dusk at all times. "I just wanted to be nice, and he ignored me and lied to me."

"I-It's just a misunderstanding!" Dusk stuttered. "I didn't know you were Pinkie Pie's sister. I thought you were a crazy pony or something."

Both Pie sisters stared at Dusk in silence. Maud looked at him with an indifferent gaze, and Pinkie Pie gave him with an annoyed look. It was then that Dusk opened his eyes wide and put a hoof in his mouth when he remembered Pinkie Pie's uncle, and that she didn't like the word 'crazy'.

"I recognized you right away because Pinkie Pie always talks about you in her letters." Maud broke the awkward silence. Then she turned around to face Pinkie Pie. "He’s not the kind, chivalrous and sincere stallion that you described to me... I'm sorry, but I can't approve of your coltfriend."

Pinkie Pie opened her mouth in horror, putting on a look of astonishment and fear, unable to say a word. Dusk was shocked to see that Pinkie Pie's older sister told him up front that she didn’t approve of his courtship with Pinkie. Spike kept eating candy rocks he had brought from Ponyville like popcorn, watching drama like it was a soap opera.

"I'll go ahead to the farm." Maud finally said, after a long and uncomfortable silence. She left Pinkie Pie frozen with a terrified face.

After Maud left the station, Dusk slowly approached Pinkie Pie, seeing that his marefriend still didn't react.

"Pinkie… I… I'm sorry." Dusk said with a sad look.

"I... I've never seen Maud so upset." The mare said with worry.

"How can you know if she doesn't even change the expression on her face!?" Dusk yelled in his mind. Getting annoyed with Maud for making their trip unpleasant. But soon that anger turned to guilt. “No… Maud is not to blame. I was the one who didn’t act well with her...”

Although it would have been very easy for Dusk and company to catch up with her, since Maud actually walked quite slowly, even when she was supposed to be in a hurry. However, Dusk couldn't catch up with Maud, since next to him, Pinkie Pie walked even slower than her older sister.

"I ruined everything…" the party mare sulked with a downcast look. "I wanted everything to be perfect, but instead I fell asleep and ruined your first meeting with Maud."

After seeing his marefriend, Dusk focused on Pinkie's mane instead of her sad look, because it had lost its characteristic floofiness, and was completely smooth.

"This is serious, this really depressed her a lot!" Dusk thought and instantly recognized how sometimes Pinkie’s hair reflected her mood.

"It wasn't your fault Pinkie; I ruined everything." Dusk said, remembering everything that happened on the train and how rude he was to Maud. He had been the one who ruined all his marefriend's happy plans, and he had accidentally said ‘crazy’ to the pony that Pinkie Pie most admired in the world. Dozens of ideas that made Dusk's gaze get lost in his own sad thoughts.

"Uh... Dusk, what's up with your mane?" Spike looked curiously at his brother.

"HUh?" Dusk tilted his head at Spike. A movement that made him notice that his eyes were now covered by his mane.

"This..." The colt realized that he had gotten so lost in guilt and depression, that empathetically and unconsciously his mane had had the same effect Pinkie Pie's mane had when she was sad. Then Dusk looked at Pinkie Pie, who kept walking looking at the ground with her sad look. "No! We can’t go on like this!” He said, shaking his head so that his mane would return to normal, and not only that, but also, literally, all the guilt and depression out of his head.

After returning to normal, Dusk stood in front of Pinkie Pie and looked into her eyes firmly.

The colt gave his beloved the best smile that he could muster to the mare. "Pinkie, it's not too late yet. We can still have the best Hearth's Warming Eve we've ever had!” He then sealed the deal by using a hoof to cross his chest and point at his eye. “I Pinkie Promise! Cross my heart, hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye!”

For a couple of seconds, Pinkie Pie seemed not to react when she saw Dusk's eyes. But after a few seconds, seeing her lover's eyes looking at her with such passion and determination made her mane explode with a little Puff! And Pinkie Pie had a sparkle in her eyes again.

"You're right! We can't give up!" Pinkie Pie said, full of determination.

"Good! Now the first thing is to settle things with Maud.” Dusk said and noticed that Maud had gained a bit of distance on them. He then started to hurry to catch up with her, but before even taking a step, he stopped and looked at Pinkie Pie uncertainly. “Maybe I should think of a plan before I go anywhere near Maud again. I don't want to ruin it again… Hmm… What do you think I should do to make her change her opinion of me?”

“I don't think you should do anything. Maud is very sweet and understanding. She’ll forgive you when she knows you better." Pinkie Pie said with a big smile.

At Pinkie Pie's words, Dusk narrowed one eye and gave an insecure look.

"I know that I must believe Pinkie's words. But I doubt that her sister is tender and understanding." Dusk thought, remembering the cold look that Maud Pie had at all times on the train. "I doubt that she can even express any emotion..."

At that moment, Dusk's eyes were distracted to see that Pinkie Pie had led them to a fence, from which a large barren field extended, full of various rocks of different sizes. A small wooden house was in its center, which was next to a small mill and a large metal silo. This was the Pie family's rock farm.

"I wanted you to get along with Maud from the start, because she’s really important to me." Pinkie Pie said with a sad look as they entered the family farm. "But I also wanted her to have someone to talk to while we’re here."

"What are you talking about?" Dusk asked. "Won't your parents and your other sisters be there too?"

"Well, the whole family will be together, but... my parents' relationship with Maud is somewhat tense." Pinkie Pie said sadly. "Mum and Dad never liked the idea of Maud running away from the farm so young."

“She ran away!?” Dusk asked exclaimed.

“Yeah, that's why she only visits us for the holidays. She became independent from a very young age.” Pinkie Pie answered with her head down. “Marble and Limestone also didn’t forgive her for leaving them either. I was upset too, but I know that we’ll always be sisters no matter the distance. That’s why we constantly write letters to each other. But the rest of the family… They barely say a word to Maud at the holidays, and the rest of the year, they never see each other.”

Dusk never imagined that Maud was so problematic, nor that her relationship with her family was so fractured. Now he understood better why it was so important to Pinkie that he get along with her.

“Wow… Maud is only a little older than you. So she left the farm before she was an adult mare.” Dusk said, surprised by Maud's independence. "But then, if she ran away from the farm so young, how did she pay for her rocktorate in rock science?"

"It was thanks to Uncle Fuzzy's inheritance." Pinkie said with a sad little smile at the mention of her late uncle. “The inheritance that he left us helped Maud to become independent. It also helped me move to Ponyville years later. Every month, money comes to us from his inheritance.”

The lavender colt remained silent since he knew that the pink mare’s uncle was a touchy subject. Fortunately for Dusk, he didn't need to change the subject. Since Dusk's, Pinkie's, and Spike's ears suddenly went up when they heard a scream from inside the house. Wasting no time, the three ran to find out what had happened.

Opening the door, Dusk was surprised to see that all of Pinkie Pie's family was there, or at least, he guessed, since apart from Maud, there were two other young mares of Pinkie Pie's age, as well as a stallion and an older mare. Those must be Pinkie Pie's other two sisters and their parents. And in just an instant, all the preconceived ideas that Dusk had of Pinkie Pie's family collapsed.

Instead of happy ponies with crazy manes and colorful fur; these ponies were more like Maud than Pinkie Pie. In fact, even Maud looked more colorful than her other sisters thanks to her dress.

One of the sisters had whitish gray fur and dark gray mane. The only thing of color on her was her cutie mark, which was three lilac-gray stone marbles; and her purple eyes, which had a shy look. Something that reminded Dusk a lot of Fluttershy... She was Marble Pie.

The other mare next to her had a darker, greyish-violet coat. Her mane was light gray in color, and her cutie mark was two light gray rocks and a lemon green color. The same color as her eyes, which held an angry, unfriendly look... She was Limestone Pie.

Finally there was the older couple, who Dusk already knew were called Cloudy Quartz and Igneous Rock, Pinkie Pie's mother and father. A mare with light gray fur and dark gray mane, with light blue eyes, and wore small glasses and an old-fashioned checkered scarf around her neck. And the other was a stallion with brown fur and a gray mane; who also had long sideburns and a large black hat. It was the latter who had the indignant look and, apparently, had been the one who had shouted.

“After a year of silence, and the first thing thou tells thine kin is that you have a coltfriend!?” Pinkie's father yelled angrily.

"Yes." Maud replied monotonously.

"Do not speak to me in that tone!" Igneous yelled furiously. “Why must thou always be so rebellious…!? Who is this stallion? Where do thine know him from? Is he even baptized under the Big Rock!?”

After a long pause, in which Maud seemed to think, she finally spoke.

“His name is Mudbriar… I met him at school… And he is not baptized under the Big Rock.” Maud replied, giving a brief but exact answer to what her father asked.

"Thou can't fall in love just like that." Pinkie's mother said sternly at her eldest daughter. “Tradition has guided this family for generations. You must consult the Pairing Stone. This is how it is decided who we should spend the rest of our lives with, not our simple worldly desires!”

"What’s the pairing stone?" Dusk whispered curiously next to Pinkie. Who along with Spike and Pinkie, seemed like they hadn't been noticed yet, despite going into the house thanks to the big argument that Pinkie's parents had with Maud.

"Oopsie!” Pinkie Pie whispered with a scared look on her face. “It’s a local town tradition. All the singles in town gather where families agree which son or daughter marries whom from another family.”

“Arranged marriages still exist!?” The colt was shocked at the very, very old custom.

At that moment, Dusk looked around and saw that the house didn’t have any luxury or excessive decoration. It was a simple cabin, drab colors and nothing fancy. Only some old tools and a few crystals on the walls, which Dusk guessed, must have illuminated the house at night.

"This house would be Rarity's nightmare..." Dusk thought as he looked at the house that seemed trapped in time. "Everything here should be in a museum."

"Gosh, they're making a scandal about your sister's coltfriend." Spike said, looking at Pinkie Pie and pointing at her parents, who were still arguing with Maud. "Imagine what they'll say when they find out that you and Dusk are-HMMPF!" Spike added, until Pinkie Pie and Dusk rushed to cover his mouth before he said the word 'couple'.

Spike was right. If Pinkie's parents found out that she also had a coltfriend who wasn't of their 'traditions', it would cause quite a disaster. Dusk had already ruined his first meeting with Maud, and now, he had to do everything possible so that at least his meeting with his in-laws wouldn't be ruined either.

"Wait… Maud knows that Pinkie Pie and I are dating!" Dusk panicked in thought. "If she tells them before I do, Pinkie Pie's entire plan to have a big celebration together will be ruined. Maybe I should say something first.”

Dusk kept looking at Maud expectantly while her parents continued to yell at her. However, Maud remained stoic and silent, receiving a reprimand from her parents. Seeing her so calm made Dusk breathe a little easier, seeing that she wasn’t intimidated by the pressure from her parents.

"Maybe we should come back later." Dusk whispered to Pinkie and Spike, taking advantage of the fact that they hadn't been noticed yet, to get out of that awkward discussion without being seen.

Dusk used his magic to slowly and silently open the door behind him. However, he didn't even manage to take a step back, because as soon as he used his magic, Pinkie Pie's entire family fell silent and turned to look at him with huge and terrifying eyes.

“How dare you sully my family home with thine dirty magic!?” Pinkie's father said with great offense.

"I'm sorry! I forgot to tell you!" Pinkie Pie said quickly, rushing to get between her father and Dusk, before they also began to argue with him. "I'm sorry, Dusk, you can't use magic here."

"What? Why?" Dusk asked.

"My parents, like everyone in the village, respect the old ways of earth ponies from the ancient era." Maud said, also approaching Dusk. "Everything here is worked and earned with the sweat of the hooves, not with magic."

At that moment, Dusk opened his eyes in surprise for two reasons. The first was the surprise of knowing that there were still ponies so outdated that they lived with traditions used since before the three tribes united. But that surprise faded to the background, when he saw that it only took him to use his magic for Maud and her parents to completely forget about their heated argument.

"It's not the first time that my parents don't agree with my decisions..." Maud said, guessing what Dusk was thinking. “This always happens when we see each other… It's like a holiday tradition.”

"Hmph!" Pinkie's mother snorted indignantly, looking away in annoyance.

"Our conversation is not over yet." Pinkie's father scolded his eldest daughter, but deciding they should continue their discussion another time.

Finally, Pinkie Pie took advantage of the calm to introduce her family. As Dusk guessed before, Pinkie's parents were very outdated, so much so that they even spoke with outdated jargon. With Pinkie Pie's sisters, Dusk couldn't even hear their voices, since Limestone limited to grunting when Pinkie Pie introduced her, while Marble was so shy that she couldn't even open her mouth, and she just made a little noise of greeting as she hid herself behind her mane.

After the introduction of Pinkie Pie's family, she introduced Dusk and Spike. The brothers used their manners learned in Canterlot to give a little bow and greet in the most courteous way possible. Everything to try to fix the bad first impression that Dusk had left when he entered. Despite the chivalry shown by the colt, for some reason Pinkie's family looked rather puzzled.

"What's wrong?" Pinkie Pie asked, seeing her parents' uncomfortable faces.

"Well, Pinkamena... When thou said you would invite a friend to our humble homestead, we thought that friend would be... a mare." Pinkie's mother mumbled. "It’s not appropriate for an innocent young lady to invite a stallion to thine parents' house."

"Oh! But Dusk is... is... a very, VERY, dear friend." Pinkie Pie responded embarrassedly, looking at Dusk out of the corner of her eye with a sad smile.

"I understand..." Dusk thought when he saw Pinkie Pie's look. "They must not know about us yet." Now, in addition to making a bad first impression, he would be lying to his marefriend's family during all the festivities.

After the initial hubbub and introductions, the Pie family set out to begin the traditions for Hearth's Warming Eve. Something that raised Spike's spirits a lot, since this was one of his favorite holidays, where he loved to eat delicious cinnamon buns next to the fireplace and wait impatiently to open his gift at night.

Unfortunately for Spike, his smile faded by lunch time. Instead of serving the usual cinnamon buns that Dusk's mother always prepared for them, the Pie family's menu consisted of rock soup.

“This… is what you have for Hearth’s Warming?” Dusk said while he cringed at the watery soup with one rock in the middle.

"Yeah, it's tradition." Pinkie Pie smiled and quickly sipped her rock soup, and with difficulty crushing the rock that it had. “Although, to be honest, we have rock soup almost all year round.”

After trying the rock soup and verifying that it was essentially tasteless water, Dusk looked at Spike, wanting to apologize for having such bland traditional food. However, to his surprise, Spike had finished his soup and was happily munching on the rock that was left on his plate.

"Can I get a second helping, please?!" Spike smiled, pushing his plate towards the center of the table. "This rock is not like gems, but it tastes pretty good."

“Heh, I guess you're right. That rock is an edible corundum, rich in chromium. That's why their taste must be similar." Limestone chuckled at Spike’s enthusiasm. Something that surprised Dusk a lot, who had seen her with a frown ever since he saw her. "I'll get you some more." Limestone added, taking Spike's plate.

It turned out that Spike’s ability to eat rocks with ease and recognize subtle differences in flavors made the Pie family very interested in the little baby dragon. Pinkie's sisters and parents began to chat animatedly with Spike, becoming very interested in everything the dragon knew about gems.

Seeing Spike happily sharing with his marefriend's family made Dusk feel very happy for him. When he saw how….conservative Pinkie’s family was, he was admittedly a little worried that they would be be a little cautious of a dragon. He was grateful that the opposite seemed to be true and that his little brother was fitting right in. However, he quickly realized that Pinkie's family only focused on Spike, leaving him out of the conversation entirely. Even in the few times that Dusk tried to join the conversation, using his basic knowledge of rocks, the Pie family simply looked at their plate of food, which Dusk hadn’t been able to finish, and they ignored him again.

Finally, the lavender colt plucked up his courage and ended up completely drinking the tasteless soup, and barely swallowing the rock that almost broke his teeth. Unfortunately, that was useless, since Dusk had barely finished eating, he saw that everyone at the table, except for him, Pinkie and Maud, left the house excitedly to show their star guest, Spike, their next tradition.

After Dusk, Pinkie, and Maud left the house, they saw that the rest of the family and Spike had gathered in front of a huge rock that was in front of the house. There, Marble Pie had finally gotten her voice out, and was animatedly showing Spike a small piece of rock, which was the material for the following lore.

On Hearth's Warming Eve, it was a tradition to leave dolls by the fireplace so that they would know who would get each gift the next day. Those dolls were usually made of cotton and cloth. However, the Pie family had a tradition of carving stone figures.

In silence, Dusk, Spike, and the Pie family began to carve their stone figures. A task that was routine for the entire Pie family, who had been accustomed to carving their dolls since they were little. They managed to make beautiful figures of ponies in stone, which were quite similar to themselves. Even Pinkie Pie, who was less neat than her sisters, managed to carve a stone worthy of a sculptor. As Dusk Shine, he had wasted almost all his time starting with his figure's eyes, making holes in it. Resulting in just an ugly amorphous rock with several attempted holes in it.

"Wow... It turned out really good for your first try!" Marble Pie's voice said, with a cheerful tone.

Hearing that, Dusk turned around smiling, grateful for the compliment. However, his smile disappeared instantly when he saw that it wasn't him they were flattering, but his little brother Spike.

The little dragon had been just as clumsy as Dusk to sculpt his rock figure with the tools he had been given. However, the dragon used his own teeth to shape his stone in such a way that he managed to create a small bipedal figure of stone, which, as Marble Pie said, was something very remarkable for someone who had never carved a stone before.

While Spike smiled proudly after receiving compliments, Marble Pie looked askance at Dusk's doll attempt, and couldn't help but giggle, quickly hiding her face behind her long mane, so that Dusk wouldn't see her laugh. She didn’t achieve this in time, since Dusk clearly saw how she and Limestone made fun of his stone sculpture.

"If only I could use magic, I could do something better..." Dusk thought, red with embarrassment. His jealousy only grew when Pinkie’s seemingly stern parents went up to congratulate the young drake for his efforts.

“Tis be a wonderous figure worthy of standing alongside 'Holder's Boulder'.” Pinkie Pie's father said, looking satisfied at the Spike figurine.

"What’s Holder's Boulder?" Spike asked.

"This, my dear drake, is Holder's Boulder." Igneous replied, touching his hoof to the huge oval rock in front of which his stone figurines had been carved. “Our great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Holder Cobblestone, found this boulder in a dragon's nest, older than time itself! He built the family farm around it, and it has stood here, bringing luck to our family since time immemorial.”

"Who knows, maybe you'll bring us luck too, little guy." Limestone smirked and affectionately patted Spike on the head.

After receiving Limestone's affection, Spike smiled and looked excitedly at the huge Holder's Boulder.

"Wow... This came from a dragon's nest..." Spike whispered in astonishment.

For some reason, imagining a dragon's nest made Spike wonder something he'd wondered since he was little, but almost never wondered anymore.

"My egg… How did it get to Canterlot…? What was my real family like?" Spike thought, putting on a sad look. "Dusk is my family and always will be, but... sometimes I forget that I'm really a dragon." Spike thought, putting the sadness aside, but still keeping a reflective look.

After Spike mentioned 'dragon's nest' and made a sad look, Pinkie's family looked worriedly at Spike. Then they turned and looked at Dusk with angry looks.

"What's with those faces…!? I didn't steal Spike from a dragon nest!!" Dusk thought hysterically, understanding from the looks, perfectly what Pinkie Pie's parents and sisters must be thinking.

At that moment, Maud also walked over to Holder's Boulder to place her perfect little stone figure there. As soon as Limestone and Marble saw their older sister approaching, they both looked away indignantly and backed away from Maud. Something to which Maud seemed not to care.

"Pinkie said that her sisters hadn't forgiven Maud for leaving the farm, but how much longer can they resent her?" Dusk thought worried, empathizing with Maud seeing that she, like him, seemed not to be entirely welcome on that farm. He also realized that the Pie family seemed rock hard when making decisions, and that if he failed to sympathize with Pinkie's family, he might suffer the same fate Maud suffered, being treated with indifference.

Finally the next tradition arrived: opening the presents. Something that again went against the tradition of most Equestria ponies, who opened their gifts the next day. However, this time neither Dusk nor Spike found it completely strange, since they, along with their family, also had that tradition of opening gifts earlier. Ever since Spike was a baby, he could never stand waiting all night to open his presents.

"I'll go get Spike's present." Dusk whispered to Pinkie Pie so that his little brother wouldn't hear. Though the keen ear of the dragon did catch a glimpse of his brother mentioning the word 'gift', and he was immediately excited.

"I brought presents too!" Spike said excitedly, turning around to go find the gifts they brought in their suitcases.

"Oh, don’t worry about that." Pinkie Pie said, smiling and stopping them both. “First we have to find the hidden gifts!”

"What?" The pair asked.

It was then that Pinkie Pie explained another Pie family tradition of finding gifts that they hid away. That filled little Spike with impatience, who was only eager to open his gift soon and find out if Dusk had bought him the Power Ponies comics that he wanted so much. However, Dusk finally managed to convince his little brother that it would be more exciting to search and find their gifts by surprise, just like the Pie family did.

"They can be hiding anywhere on the farm, so you can search anywhere!" Pinkie Pie said with a big smile., happy that her coltfriend wanted to join her family's tradition.

Dusk, Spike, and the Pie family began looking for their gifts throughout the rock farm. From the plow field, where the rocks were dragged to enrich them with minerals; to the quarry next to Holder's Boulder, which was where most of the farm's rocks were mined.

Fortunately for Dusk and Pinkie Pie, it was Pie tradition for the whole family to search for gifts together. So Pinkie Pie took the opportunity to try to make her family see all of Dusk's virtues, especially Maud, who must still have had a bad first impression of her coltfriend.

"Do you know why Dusk is the coolest pony in Equestria?" Pinkie Pie said as they all walked around the farm. "Do ya!? Do ya!?" Pinkie Pie yelled excitedly in her sisters’ faces.

"Who’s Dusk Shine?" Marble Pie asked in confusion while Pinkie Pie had her face glued to hers.

"HIM, silly!" Pinkie Pie pointed at the lavender colt.

"They don't even remember my name..." Dusk thought, red with shame.

"We don't know, Pinkie... Why is Dusk Shine so special?" Maud entertained her sister’s question.

"Well, I'll tell you!" Pinkie Pie responded excitedly. "Dusk Shine is super cute, he's kind, he likes to read, he's funny, he saved Equestria like a dozen times, he's good at magic, he likes cakes, he always thinks of his friends, he's friends with a zebra, he smells good, he can say ten tongue twisters in a minute, he’s very innocent, he makes funny faces when embarrassed…"

The minutes passed and Pinkie Pie didn’t stop naming even the most insignificant of the things that she liked about Dusk. That made the colt blush at first. However, as time went by, his shame began to give way to concern when he saw that his marefriend wouldn't stop talking. And after almost an hour since they had started looking for the gifts, Dusk saw the faces of Pinkie's family, who began to make angry faces after Pinkie Pie didn't stop talking about him. In her efforts to improve his reputation, Pinkie’s family seemed to only get more annoyed by Dusk’s presence.

"...he has good dental hygiene, when he coughs, he covers his mouth, he likes to see the stars..." Pinkie Pie continued with her speech, until Limestone finally exploded.

"Stop talking about that Dusk Shine guy!" She yelled, looking annoyed at her pink sister and growling at Dusk. Who for his part, hit his face with his hoof out of shame.

“Oops! Looks like my plan didn't work out." Pinkie Pie whispered to Dusk, hot understanding why her sister had yelled at her.

"I found one!" Spike suddenly exclaimed.

They all turned to see Spike, who had apparently tripped over a small rock sticking out of the ground. The drake dug quickly and everyone could see that what was buried wasn’t a rock, but a small gift package with a pink bow. Spike was excited to find his first gift and quickly tore the wrapper. There he saw that inside a box there was a rock with googly eyes attached to it.

"This is my present?" Spike asked, disappointed and confused.

"Oh! That must be mine!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly, taking the boulder with googly eyes and smiling excitedly at Maud. "You remembered! You remembered that ten years ago I wanted this rock with googly eyes.” Pinkie cheered and hugged her gray sister.

"Yes." Maud replied in a dull tone.

"Wow... It's kind that you remembered a present that Pinkie Pie wanted when she was a filly." Dusk complimented the mare.

"Actually, I had forgotten." Maud said without emotion. "I hid that gift ten years ago."

"What?" Dusk asked, looking around and seeing that no one had a gift after searching for over an hour. Only then was it that Dusk understood. “Are you telling me that you all hide your gifts… and sometimes you never find them!?”

"Yes... It's more fun that way." Maud replied, not even smiling.

“By the way, daughters, it’s already getting dark. I think it's time to go home." Pinkie's dad said. “A very pleasant gift hunt this year.”

After the words of the family patriarch, his wife and daughters accompanied him to start his way back home. While Dusk and Spike were paralyzed, unable to believe that this was the way to 'give gifts' in the Pie family.

After returning to the house, Dusk and Spike were surprised to see that Pinkie Pie's parents were taking Dusk and Spike's suitcases out of the house.

"W-What's going on?" Dusk asked with concern.

"Sorry... My parents say it's better if you sleep in the barn, there's more room." Pinkie Pie said with an embarrassed blush.

"I-I see..." Dusk said with a resigned sigh, then looking at Pinkie Pie with a small smile. "I'll do it in order to improve my image in front of your parents!"

Pinkie Pie stared at Dusk carefully, her cheeks blushing. She was just so gosh darn lucky to have a coltfriend who kept smiling at her despite having a bad day. She looked everywhere, to make sure that no one was watching, and then she gave Dusk a quick but intense kiss.

"Thank you." Pinkie Pie blushed with a big smile. "I promise I'll make it up to you!" It was a very cute gesture that couldn’t help but give Dusk a big, dopey smile.

"Ahem!" Spike coughed for Dusk and Pinkie to come out of their reverie, since Pinkie's parents were coming back. The pair separated quickly and looked in opposite directions, so as not to raise suspicions about their relationship.

It being late at night, they all dined together at the traditional Hearth's Warming Eve dinner. Which was of course, rock soup.

After dinner, Pinkie’s sisters went quietly to their room, a room with two cabins, where the four Pie sisters slept. For her part, Pinkie called for Spike to come with her to give him some candy rocks she had brought with her, so the baby dragon would have some extra snacks. Finally, Dusk stayed at the table for a while longer, since he couldn't eat the rock soup so quickly, both because of its tasteless taste and because of biting into the hard, edible rock. Still, he strove to finish his rock, even though his teeth ached. All so that his in-laws could see that he too was capable of being part of that family.

After finally finishing his dinner, Dusk got up, thanked Pinkie's parents for dinner, and prepared to leave the house to go to the barn to sleep. As he walked, he realized that Pinkie Pie's parents followed him.

“Uh… I know where the barn is. You don't need to escort me." Dusk said with a nervous smile, seeing that Pinkie's parents were following him closely.

“Thou are our guest. We will ensure you arrive at thine bed safely." Igneous said with a serious look.

"Besides, a mother of four mares canst be too careful." Cloudy Quartz added, looking suspiciously at Dusk.

“Oh! So that’s what this is about...They think I'll escape to their daughters' room..." Dusk thought, realizing that they weren't really watching that nothing happens to him, but that HE wasn't a danger to the 'purity' of their daughters.

The three fianlly arrived at the silo used as a barn. It was a tall but not very wide structure, in which there was a hayloft on one side where the bed was; and the other side kept various old rocks and trinkets.

Pinkie Pie's parents showed Dusk his bed. They didn’t continue accompanying Dusk into the barn, but they stared at him from the door, waiting for him to lie down on his bed.

Resigned to Pinkie's parents thinking that he was some kind of pervert, Dusk sighed and walked slowly to the haystack where his bed was. Sitting down on the bed, he tiredly rested his head on his hoof. He opened his eyes with surprise when he thought he heard a small murmur next to him. Dusk looked to his side and saw that the sheet that was on his bed was somewhat bulging, so he slowly lifted it up. To his surprise, he saw two big cerulean eyes, looking at him carefully... It was Pinkie Pie!

"Is something wrong?" Pinkie's father asked, noticing that Dusk had put on a surprised look. Then he and his wife walked towards Dusk's bed.

“N-NOPE! No problem here!" Dusk yelled, quickly opening the sheets to lie down so they wouldn't see that Pinkie Pie was there.

"If they see Pinkie Pie here… THEY’LL KILL ME!" Dusk yelled terrified in his mind.

Listening to her parents' hoofsteps, Pinkie Pie hugged Dusk's body tightly under the sheet, so the bed wouldn't look so bulky.

"Tell them Spike is asleep." Pinkie Pie whispered, also scared to hear her parents approaching.

“E-Everything is fine. I-It's just that Spike was already sleeping here, and... and I was surprised, hehe..." Dusk said, holding the sheets tightly over his body so that no one would take them off. He was sweating like hell, both from the heat of Pinkie's body and from the nerves he felt at that moment.

As they got closer, Pinkie's parents saw that Dusk was completely lying down, with a small bundle next to him. For a second they thought about uncovering Dusk to find out about his sudden suspicious attitude. However, they both felt sorry to wake up the little dragon that they had liked so much. Then they both turned around and started to leave the barn.

Reaching the barn door, Igneous turned off an ancient lamp that illuminated the barn, leaving everything in near darkness. The only light to be seen was the light of the starry night that showed through the barn door.

"Good night." Pinkie Pie's parents said in unison, leaving the barn and closing the door behind them. The barn in complete darkness. A darkness so thick that Dusk couldn't even see his own nose.

"Phew… That was close!" Dusk thought, relieved, but still afraid to speak, since Pinkie's parents may still hear him. "Now I have to think of a way to get Pinkie Pie out without her parents-" Dusk thought, until he heard several padlocks closing behind the barn door. “They padlocked the barn!? How much do they mistrust me!?”

After hearing the locks close, Dusk froze as he listened to the hoofsteps of Pinkie Pie's parents walking away, araid to make any movement or noise that might give him away.

"Pinkie... I think they’re gone." Dusk whispered in the darkness. A long silence followed Dusk's words. One where Pinkie Pie didn't even move. She simply hugged the colt, listening to the rapid and agitated beating of her coltfriend's heart, while in her mind she began to make certain decisions. Decisions that had led her to risk disobeying her parents and ending up in a secret embrace with her coltfriend.

"Pinkie?" Dusk said, confused at not hearing a response from the mare.

Suddenly Pinkie Pie settled in better, raising her body a little more to get closer to Dusk's face. Lying completely on her coltfriend's body.

Dusk was taken by surprise again when he felt his marefriend's sweet lips in the dark.

"Hearth's Warming night." Said the sweet and tender voice of Pinkie Pie in the dark.

End of chapter 26

Chapter 27 - The second impression

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The second impression

Dusk Shine slowly began to wake up. Before opening his eyes, he unconsciously smiled as he felt a pleasant warmth on him, as well as a sweet aroma. Then the unicorn opened his eyes, but because of the darkness, he had to light his horn to see better. When he did, Dusk couldn't help but smile even wider when he realized why he had woken up with that pleasant feeling of sweetness and warmth. On top of him was his marefriend, Pinkie Pie, hugging him. Sleeping peacefully on him, as if Dusk were her mattress.

Last night, Pinkie Pie had fallen asleep on him. To Dusk, it was something that made that dark night, sleeping in a cold barn, on an uncomfortable bed of hay, improve by a thousand percent.

*KNOCK KNOCK* There was the sound of a hoof hitting the barn door. And a subsequent noise of several padlocks opening.

"Time to wake up," the voice of Igneous Rock, Pinkie Pie's father, said. The barn door started moving.

Dusk turned to see Pinkie Pie's father open the door. And in half a split second he turned around scared to look at Pinkie Pie, who was still sleeping on him. Then Dusk dimmed his horn and hurried to cover himself up to his neck with the sheet, just as Pinkie Pie's father stuck his head through the doorway and looked in his direction.

“Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes,” Pinkie's father said, looking indifferently at Dusk. Who, for his part, only nodded nervously. Pinkie Pie's father would kill him if he found out that his daughter was sleeping in his bed at that precise moment.

Fortunately for Dusk, the barn was too dark for Igneous to notice Dusk's nervousness. So, the rock farmer simply backed off and headed back to his house, not giving Dusk much consideration.

For several seconds, Dusk remained alert, listening to Igneous Rock's hoofsteps moving away. When they finally faded, he sighed with relief.

Lifting the sheets again, Dusk looked at his marefriend and got ready to wake her up. However, Dusk was so touched to see his marefriend's sweet face sleeping so peacefully on him that he chose to carefully slide Pinkie slowly onto the bed, and thus let her sleep, even if it was only for a few more minutes.

After getting up, Dusk looked through the barn door and was surprised by how little light entered from it. That was because it wasn’t dawn yet. So, Dusk quickly understood that on this farm, just like on the Apple farm, they started their daily routine very early.

Out of simple curiosity, Dusk turned to see the rest of the barn and illuminated his horn more brightly. He decided to take the opportunity to better inspect the silo, since he hadn’t been able to get a good look at it the night before.

Little to Dusk's surprise, he saw that the barn mostly had columns of hay and many, many rocks. However, there was a small part of it that was filled with piles of antique objects, such as old paintings, primitive models of sewing machines, broken watches, and very old radios. While skimming, a small and ancient-looking chest caught Dusk's attention. It was at the bottom of all the artifacts and closed with a padlock.

The logical course of action was to not open it, since it was something that didn’t interfere with Dusk, and he knew that well. However, something about the chest made Dusk unable to stop looking at it.

'They can be hiding anywhere on the farm, so you can search anywhere!' That's what Pinkie Pie had said the previous afternoon, when they were looking for the hidden Hearth’s Warming gifts.

“This area IS part of the farm… I guess it wouldn't hurt to look inside a chest,” Dusk reasoned with a mischievous smile. Secretly hoping to find some old book in that space full of antiques.

Dusk was easily able to open the old lock with his magic. Looking inside, he couldn't help but make a disappointed face when he saw that there were only loose papers there. Upon examining them better, Dusk saw that it seemed to be some kind of old property title and a newer one; in addition to other more recent papers, which seemed to be accounts or debts of some kind, since each sheet contained several numbers with the money symbol next to it.

After looking carefully at several of those papers, Dusk's eyes widened in surprise as he understood what the documents were about.

"Hmm... Dusk?" Pinkie Pie muttered from the other end of the barn. She was finally waking up.

Pinkie’s mumbling served as an alert to Dusk, who quickly put the documents back in the chest and padlocked it again before Pinkie Pie saw him snooping around.

"I'm not sure if I should tell Pinkie Pie about what I found..." Dusk thought as he walked to where his marefriend was. Thinking that if he told Pinkie Pie what he found out, his now in-laws might get really angry with him for snooping on things that didn't belong to him.

When Dusk reached her, Pinkie Pie jumped toward his neck and sweetly kissed him on the lips.

"Hehe! Good morning!" Pinkie Pie said after kissing her coltfriend, wearing one of the biggest smiles Dusk had ever seen on her.

"Good morning sleeping beauty... I hope you slept well," Dusk replied, slightly blushing.

"Of course," Pinkie Pie said, also blushing. She embraced Dusk again, feeling as if she didn't want to get rid of her coltfriend's warm coat, which had sheltered her all night.

While Pinkie hugged Dusk, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She wanted to stay like this forever. Spending that night with Dusk had erased all doubt from Pinkie’s mind. She wanted to be like this with Dusk... forever.

"Dusk... Do you remember that I told you that I didn't want a gift for Hearth's Warming Eve?" Pinkie Pie asked, continuing to hug Dusk so that she couldn't see him face to face.

"Yeah... You said you wanted me to make a Pinkie Promise instead,” Dusk replied smiling. Then he broke away from Pinkie's embrace and stood in front of her. "~Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye~" Dusk said solemnly, drawing a cross on his chest with his right hoof and then touching his eye with his left hoof. That was the symbol of a ‘Pinkie Promise’. An unbreakable promise that Pinkie Pie and all her friends knew well.

After a short pause, Pinkie Pie lowered her gaze and then looked seriously at Dusk. He had already sworn the oath in advance; now he just had to repeat what Pinkie Pie would tell him.

"I… What I want you to promise…" Pinkie Pie said, speaking slowly and clearly. She knew that what she was going to say would change everything forever. Between herself, Dusk... and her friends.

"I want you to promise that you’ll never stop being my coltfriend..." Pinkie Pie rehearsed in her mind. She opened her mouth to say it aloud, fully aware that she was about to tie Dusk to her forever, and at the same time, she was ending Dusk's future courtships forever.

‘Cling-cling-cling!’ The sound of a bell distracted both ponies.

"What's that?" Dusk asked, confused.

“I-It's Mom's bell. She uses it to call us to breakfast,” Pinkie Pie answered. The sudden interruption had shattered her concentration.

"Oh! Then we better hurry,” Dusk said, walking towards the door. “Let's leave the promise for another time. If I want to improve the image your parents have of me, I shouldn't be late for breakfast, right?"

"Uh... Y-Yeah, you're right, hehe..." Pinkie Pie smiled nervously. Deciding that Dusk was right, and that this important promise would have to wait a little longer.

After leaving the large silo used as a barn, Pinkie Pie went ahead, telling Dusk that she would enter through the back door so that Pinkie's parents wouldn't suspect that the two of them had spent the night before together.

After waiting for Pinkie to go inside, Dusk approached the front door and entered the house. There, he saw that the entire Pie family was already seated, including Pinkie Pie, who had been the last to sit down, just a few seconds ago. As soon as Dusk sat down, he was relieved to see that Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz, Pinkie's parents, continued to look at him with indifference, which reassured him, since it showed that they didn’t suspect that anything happened the night before. The same was the case with Maud, who, as always, was indifferent to everything, concentrating only on her own plate of food. However, Dusk realized that for some reason, Pinkie's other two sisters, Limestone and Marble, were looking at him intensely, their cheeks slightly red.

"Now that I remember, they sleep together in the same room as Pinkie Pie! They must have noticed that Pinkie didn't sleep in her bed last night!" Dusk thought terrified. Meanwhile, as if they had read his mind, both sisters looked at Dusk even more intensely. Their looks said it all... They knew it!

For several seconds, Limestone, Marble, and Dusk stared at each other. With Dusk totally nervous, sweating profusely. Until finally both sisters looked away, annoyed. None of them liked that Pinkie Pie had secretly snuck out to sleep next to that stallion. However, neither of them was a snitch, and they would not anger their parents by ratting out their sister.

"What is this!?" Pinkie's mother's voice suddenly said, immediately after Dusk’s staring contest with Pinkie's sisters.

Turning around, Dusk saw that Pinkie's mother was standing next to him, less than a meter away. Then she raised her hoof and ran it through Dusk's mane, showing what she found to the entire table: a thin but long pink hair. Hair that could only belong to one pony sitting there. A hair that definitely shouldn't be in the mane of a stallion who had supposedly spent the night alone.

Pinkie and her sisters' eyes widened, except for Maud, who remained indifferent. They all saw how Cloudy Quartz stared at Dusk with a murderous look. It made Dusk feel very small, realizing that he was seconds away from his imminent death.

"Dusk is going to die!” the Pie sisters thought at the same time. They both knew that once their mother put on that murderous look, there was no going back.

“Yaawwn… Good morning,” Spike said suddenly, yawning. He was just entering through the front door… wearing a huge pink afro wig!

As if all of this was normal, and without even noticing the tension in the air inside the dining room, Spike rubbed his eyes, and calmly sat down in one of the chairs. Waiting for breakfast, like any normal day. All while everyone's eyes were fixed on him, looking in confusion at the pink wig he was wearing.

“This… This hair…” Pinkie's mother stammered in confusion, looking at the hair that she had taken out of Dusk's mane and at the baby dragon's pink wig, over and over again.

"I-It's a dragon tradition!" Dusk said quickly. He used his mental agility to quickly put aside his own questions and take advantage of this surprising and lucky fact. “I know it's weird, but dragons have a tradition of sleeping in a wig at night, hahaha! Hahaha… heh heh,” Dusk laughed awkwardly. He knew that what he was saying was the stupidest thing that had ever occurred to him, but it was the only thing that could save him at that moment.

"What?" Spike asked confused. Looking sideways at the wig he was wearing and then at Dusk. "I-mmph!" Spike managed to say before Dusk's magic silenced him. For the unicorn, foreseeing that Spike might ruin his alibi, used a subtle spell to prevent Spike from opening his mouth. One subtle enough that his horn didn't light up too much, so as not to attract attention.

Believing that Spike had shut up on his own, Pinkie's mother apologized to Dusk and returned to the kitchen to serve Spike breakfast. Pinkie's father also refocused on his food. Pinkie and her sisters sighed with relief, knowing that Dusk had been saved from their mother’s wrath by a miracle. All while Maud continued to ignore everything, except for her rock soup.

Taking advantage of the fact that Pinkie's parents no longer had their eyes on him, Dusk leaned towards Spike's seat and pulled him closer, so that they were within whispering distance.

“Why did you show up in a pink wig!?” Dusk whispered nervously in Spike's ear.

The baby dragon made an annoyed face and pointed to his mouth, which made Dusk remember that he had to remove his spell so that his little brother could speak again.

“Ptui…! Let me know next time you don't want me to talk!" Spike whispered annoyed. He started breathing normally again. "I wore that wig because Maud told me that it was customary here for guests to sleep in that pink wig."

"Maud told you that?" Dusk asked, surprised.

"Yeah, last night, when she told me to sleep in Pinkie Pie's bed,” Spike answered, still whispering. “She also told me that today at breakfast I should go out the back door and go in the front door for breakfast… Another Pie family tradition, I guess,” Spike added, shrugging.

Dusk widened his eyes in surprise and slowly looked up at Maud. Who, for her part, always kept her gaze indifferent. Calmly eating her rock soup, not paying attention to anything else.

"Maud helped us cover up what happened last night?" Dusk thought, looking incredulously at his girlfriend's older sister.

"You know, I don't know if you've noticed, but Pinkie Pie's sisters don't seem to like you very much,” Spike said, continuing his talk. “Yesterday, Marble and Limestone were arguing in the bedroom with Maud, all because she left the farm at a very young age. They were only able to stop arguing when the three of them agreed that they didn't like you, hahaha,” Spike laughed.

"So you got to know more about Pinkie Pie's sisters yesterday, huh?" Dusk said with a somewhat bitter look. He started to slurp his rock soup. It tasted pretty bland.

“Yeah, they adore me. It was like a little sleepover,” Spike replied, smiling. “Maud doesn't talk much, but Limestone told me about her dream of being the main caretaker of the rock farm, while Marble plans to go to study in a few more years. And I took advantage of the situation to tell them my dream…” Spike continued speaking, greedily eating his rock soup in between sentences. But, at that point, Dusk stopped paying attention to his little brother, since he didn’t want to hear Spike's dream of having a cave full of gems with his 'secret lover', a mare with white fur and purple mane, for the thousandth time.

The entire Pie family finished their breakfast, and this time they waited patiently for Dusk to finish his before getting up. The following tradition of Hearth's Warming Day required everyone to be together. So, Dusk gave his all to finish eating his rock soup quickly, managing not to take as long as the day before and mitigating the pain in his trembling teeth by biting into the hard rocks quickly.

"So, you raise the flag here, too?" Dusk asked Pinkie, rubbing his sore jaw as they walked out of the house.

"Well, rather than raise it, we put it on the highest part of Holder's Boulder,” Pinkie Pie explained gleefully, meeting everyone in front of the large rock that was in front of the family house, where they all stood facing each other.

For several seconds, Pinkie Pie's family remained motionless, and Dusk looked around, not understanding what was happening. Then he looked up at Holder's Boulder and saw that there was no flag there.

"If they don't raise the flag, and the flag isn't up there yet, what are they waiting for?" Dusk thought, confused.

"Oh! Right! I almost forgot that this year it’s my turn to put together the teams,” Pinkie Pie said suddenly, with a surprised look.

"Teams?" Dusk asked even more confused.

Pinkie Pie began to explain to Dusk and Spike that another of the Pie family traditions was to divide into teams to see who could find the hidden flag. Then, the team that found it had the right to place the flag on Holder's Boulder.

“Why does this family keep changing all the traditions!?” Dusk thought nervously. He wished that, for once, Pinkie's family would follow the traditions like everyone else in Equestria did.

“I think… What a great tradition!” Dusk said, putting on a nervous smile. Determined that no matter what he thought, he would give his all so that on this day, Pinkie Pie's family would finally accept him into the family.

"I want to team up with Spike!" The shy Marble said, surprising almost everyone else. She trotted over to Spike and took him by a claw.

"No, I want to be with the little dragon!” Limestone said, annoyed. She grabbed Spike by the other claw.

"Girls, calm down,” Pinkie's father said, walking over to where Spike was standing. Then he looked at Dusk out of the corner of his eye, rolled his eyes, and focused on Spike again. "It's obvious that we all want to be partners with our beloved dragon guest."

While Pinkie's family discussed who would be Spike's partner, the little dragon looked at his brother out of the corner of his eye and saw that Dusk was giving him a jealous look. At that, Spike put on an amused, smug smile. It made him feel proud to see that, for the first time, he was the center of attention and not his big brother.

Finally, the teams were assembled, and most of the ponies were satisfied. The first team was Spike, Marble and Limestone. The second team was Pinkie Pie's mother and father. And finally, the third team was Dusk and Maud. Which left Pinkie out, since she hid the flag and would act as judge.

“I could see it… again. Maud was ignored as much as I was,” Dusk thought as he looked at Maud out of the corner of his eye. He noted that neither Pinkie's sisters nor Pinkie's parents ever named Maud as a possible match for their teams.

While Dusk thought that, Maud obediently approached him and waited for the game to start. Like always, she kept her cold, expressionless gaze. Dusk didn’t give it a second thought. However, someone who did notice that Maud was uncomfortable with being Dusk's partner was Pinkie Pie, who was already used to noticing the very subtle expressions on her big sister's face.

“I know that Maud still doesn't trust Dusk, but I hope that after being a team together, they can improve their relationship,” Pinkie Pie thought a little nervously. She wished with all her being that her coltfriend would get along with her dearest big sister.

After the teams were assembled, Pinkie Pie said “Go!” and the other teams split up, leaving behind Maud and Dusk. Dusk was following behind Maud, who was advancing as fast as a lame turtle.

“It’s good that you take your time to walk. I… I have always admired patient ponies! Hehe..." Dusk said as they walked downward, towards the farm's quarry. He knew that what really mattered that morning was not finding the flag, but taking advantage of his time alone with Maud, so that she would accept him as Pinkie's coltfriend.

As always, Maud didn’t flinch at Dusk's flattery. She simply kept walking, paying no more attention to Dusk than to the ground. That demotivated Dusk a bit, but he quickly pressed his lips together and breathed out through his nose, determined not to give up.

"You know, now that we're at the quarry, could you explain to me a bit more about the different types of rocks?” Dusk asked, trying to smile and knowing that Maud loved to talk about rocks. “I really like rocks a lot,” Dusk added with a nervous grin. He knew he was risking another boring rock talk, like the one they had on the train.

Maud finally stopped and looked at Dusk. She stared at him while Dusk stood his ground, still smiling nervously.

"Fine..." Maud finally said, without changing her expression and continuing on her way.

As they walked through the quarry, Maud slowly gave a deep explanation about each different type of rock present there: tuff, basalt, granite, limestone, marble... Each type of rock explained in great detail by Maud, a list that seemed almost endless; when Maud finished explaining one, she immediately showed Dusk another type and continued with her explanation.

Dusk did everything possible to stay attentive, and he even had to admit that Maud taught him many interesting facts that he didn't previously know about the rocks. However, even though learning geology wasn't as bad as he thought, it was impossible for Dusk to fully concentrate and understand one hundred percent of what Maud was explaining to him. All because Maud's flat, boring voice made whatever she said sound three times as boring as if it were said by any other pony. Despite that, Dusk kept forcing a weak but convincing smile, so that Maud would think he was genuinely interested in all her explanation.

There were times during Maud's talk that Dusk almost fell asleep because of how boring it was. But thanks to luck, the small rocks that protruded from the farm’s ground made him stumble from time to time, which served to keep him awake and remind him to continue feigning interest.

“Now that I think about it… Maud hasn't stumbled once,” Dusk thought after stumbling for the fourth time and waking up from his drowsiness. Looking at Maud’s hooves, he saw that Maud never watched where she was walking. She simply moved forward, looking at the rocks on the quarry walls, searching for another interesting rock to show Dusk.

“…which is shale’s porosity,” Maud continued. She paused for a second to look at Dusk, noticing that he was just staring at her.

"Huh? Oh! Yes, very interesting,” Dusk said quickly, forcing another smile. He’d almost dropped his façade in the midst of being lost in thought.

For several seconds, Maud stared at Dusk. Then she carefully lowered the shale she had taken and laid it carefully on the ground, as if it were a baby.

"Why are you doing that?" Maud asked, raising her head and looking at Dusk. "Why are you lying? It’s obvious that you’re not interested in my talk.”

"Huh!? I…. W-Why do you say that?" Dusk said very nervously. He was surprised to see that Maud had managed to see through his fake smile. So, while Maud looked at him with her indifferent gaze, Dusk lowered his eyes and sighed, realizing that Maud's expressionless eyes were basically the same as those of honest Applejack. She could also recognize a liar, and Dusk had realized that too late. “I… I'm sorry. It's just that I wanted you to have a better image of me..." Dusk said, deciding to come clean with Maud. “Pinkie Pie is someone very important to me, and I know how important it is to her that I get along with her family. Especially with you."

"Hmm... It's better that way,” Maud said, turning back around. That left Dusk with the fleeting impression that Maud had finally smiled. It was very likely that Maud would continue to maintain her expressionless gaze, but for the first time, Dusk felt that he understood Pinkie Pie when she noticed Maud's very subtle mood swings. "That's how we're alike... We're both willing to do whatever it takes to make Pinkie happy,” Maud added, continuing forward.

"W-Wait!" Dusk said quickly, trying to catch up and take advantage of the sincere moment he’d just had with Maud. "It's true that chatting about rocks isn't my forte, but there are things I like about you,” Dusk added, finding a position next to Maud. “I think that despite how you appear, you’re very expressive deep down. You’re sincere, patient, thoughtful, attentive-whoooa!” Right then, Dusk stumbled over another rock and was about to fall. However, this time, Maud caught him and prevented him from falling to the ground.

“You must be more attentive to the road. After all, this is a rock farm. There are a lot of loose rocks,” Maud said, helping Dusk to regain his balance.

"I know, and that's another thing that amazes me about you!" Dusk said, thrilled to finally be able to genuinely compliment Pinkie's older sister. "You’ve walked all this time without paying attention to the road, but you haven’t stumbled at all."

“That's because I know every corner of this farm by heart. I grew up on this farm. I have traveled it millions of times from end to end,” Maud replied, with a fleeting and very subtle sparkle in her eyes, which didn’t go unnoticed by Dusk. “I love every pebble on this farm, so I have to know where every little stone is,” Maud added, looking around at the quarry walls.

After Maud spoke, Dusk was silent for a few seconds. He wanted to ask something, but it was something that might make Maud uncomfortable. However, Dusk finally decided to take advantage of the fact that Maud asked him to be completely honest and ask what was really bothering him.

"If you loved the farm so much... why did you leave it when you were younger?" Dusk asked shyly.

For a second it looked as if Maud's eyes would widen at that question. However, she barely opened them another millimeter. But now that Dusk knew Maud better, he could understand that that question really took her by surprise. However, Maud didn’t answer. She just turned to face forward again and kept walking, leaving Dusk embarrassed and thinking that perhaps he had overstepped his bounds.

"It was for love,” Maud answered suddenly as she walked. "Love to my family."

That answer left Dusk even more confused. He felt that, little by little, he was assembling the pieces of the puzzle of what had happened with Pinkie Pie's family. But he still couldn't see the whole picture.

“Are you sorry that things ended up like this?” Dusk asked. Feeling that instead of delving further into Maud's past, he could better help her if he knew how she felt. "That is, with your parents and sisters always looking at you suspiciously."

"I don't care that Marble and Limestone are still mad at me for leaving the farm,” Maud replied, keeping up her pace. "But I have to admit that I feel a little sad knowing that my parents still don’t forgive me."

At that moment, Dusk remembered what he found in the barn, in that old chest. Dusk immediately started to mentally arrange more pieces of the puzzle and began to have an idea about what must have happened between Maud and her parents.

While Dusk was thinking, Maud looked at Dusk carefully for several seconds.

"You're a better listener than I expected,” Maud said as she walked. “You even managed to make me feel sentimental.”

“She got sentimental!?” Dusk thought with a start, looking carefully at Maud's face. “Her face looked the same to me!” Dusk thought in shock, realizing that he was still light years away from noticing Maud's different moods.

After that talk, Maud seemed to want to stop talking about her family and her past. But even though they didn't continue talking, Dusk definitely felt a lighter atmosphere between him and Maud. So he felt comfortable with the new reigning silence. Thus, both ponies continued to search in silence for the flag that Pinkie hid.

"Wait a minute..." Dusk said suddenly, after he and Maud finished searching the quarry. "At what point did Pinkie Pie get to hide the flag?" Dusk thought aloud. He had spent the whole night with Pinkie Pie, and then, she had had breakfast with everyone before the search started.

Getting Dusk's train of logic, Maud looked up the cliff, just like Dusk. There, from below, they both saw Holder’s Boulder and part of the house. They both came to the same conclusion. Only Pinkie Pie could think of getting everyone away from the house to have time to hide the flag inside the house. After all, who would think of looking there?

Since they both knew Pinkie Pie so well, they both came to the same conclusion. Dusk and Maud began to go up the quarry path, which led back to the house. Once they got back to high ground, Dusk offered to search around the house, while Maud searched inside.

After Maud entered the house, Dusk looked around and picked up some loose boards from the porch, but found nothing. Then Dusk looked towards the enormous Holder's Boulder, which was in front of the house.

“I guess I have to rule out all the options,” Dusk thought. He tried to put himself inside his marefriend's naughty mind and think of all the crazy places she would hide something.

After looking around and making sure no one could see him, Dusk quickly teleported into the air, in front of Holder's Boulder. There, he checked that the flag wasn’t hidden on top of Holder's Boulder. Then Dusk looked down and sighed, thinking that perhaps there was a slight chance that Pinkie hid the flag under the rock.

“Well…Pinkie Pie always does crazy things,” Dusk smiled. Again checking that no one was seeing him, he used his magic to lift Holder's Boulder off the ground. “This… is harder than I thought!” Dusk thought, worried. Noting that he had to use a lot of magic to be able to lift Holder's Boulder. "Pinkie's father said that the rock came from a dragon's nest... Maybe that's why it's so difficult to use magic on it..." Dusk thought, feeling uncomfortable lifting the huge rock. Since the rock had a little magic resistance, he couldn't calculate well how much magic he had to use to pick it up without dropping it.

"Dusk, what are you doing?" Maud asked suddenly, coming out of the house. With a very, very subtly higher pitch of voice. Which, from Dusk's experience, meant almost a cry of fear in Maud.

Dusk was so focused on trying to keep up his magic, and he was so surprised to hear someone's voice behind him, that he immediately stopped using magic, remembering that on the farm it was forbidden.

Unfortunately for him, Dusk was so scared that he completely forgot where the huge rock was levitated when he stopped using his telekinesis on it. And that place… was directly above him.

Dusk raised his head in fear when he saw the great shadow of the huge rock above his head. Then he started to use his magic to levitate it again, but he hesitated for half a second when he remembered that Pinkie's parents forbade him to use magic. And it was that half second of doubt that made Dusk unable to react fast enough. The rock was only inches above his head, and it was going to crush him.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Maud leaped into the air and gave the rock a strong kick just before it fell on Dusk. Then the huge rock fell to the edge of the cliff, where the quarry was below. It wobbled for a second, then fell toward the quarry.

A moment before Maud left the house and surprised Dusk, Pinkie Pie was returning to the house along the quarry path. After cleverly hiding the flag in her own room, Pinkie had gone to see how the various teams were doing. She had found the other two teams, but not the one that interested her the most: Dusk and Maud. That was why she chose to return through the quarry; she hadn’t been there yet.

Pinkie Pie was smiling, as always, but she stopped when she saw a thin shadow appear over her. It was getting darker and darker. She looked up and gasped in terror. The huge Holder's Boulder was falling right in her direction!

"Pinkie!" Dusk yelled in a panic, leaning over the edge to see where Holder's Boulder fell, and terrified to find out that it would fall on Pinkie. He was so scared that he didn't even realize he wasn't the only one calling out Pinkie's name.

Without hesitation, Dusk jumped into the void, in the direction of Holder's Boulder. He felt that someone had also jumped next to him, but there was no time to look to the side, he could only look at the falling rock and Pinkie Pie. Then, as he fell through the air, Dusk's quick mental calculation told him that he would fall a second too late. Thus, he used his magic to teleport.

In just a fraction of a second, Dusk appeared next to Pinkie Pie. And with the inertia of his free fall, Dusk grabbed Pinkie Pie and jumped away from where she was, just before the rock that would have crushed his marefriend hit the ground, after making a curious detour in the air.

A great crash was heard all around after the huge rock fell, releasing a great cloud of dust. Once visibility improved, Dusk saw that he was holding Pinkie Pie. Both of them were a short distance from where the rock crashed, breathing heavily and looking towards the rock that had almost crushed them. Then Dusk looked up and saw that Maud had fallen on Holder's Boulder, almost at the same time that Dusk saved Pinkie. For the first time, Maud had her eyes wide open, gasping for breath as she nearly lost her darling little sister.

At that moment, Dusk's and Maud's eyes met. Then they both relived the moment and understood the entirety of what happened. They had both yelled out Pinkie Pie's name at the same time in fright. They both jumped into the void without hesitation in order to save her. Unlike Dusk, Maud couldn't use magic, so she stretched her body to its limits to deliver a powerful kick, which deflected the rock just before it fell on Pinkie Pie. That was the strange deviation that Dusk noticed in the rock just before it crashed.

It wasn’t necessary for Maud to say anything. For the first time, Dusk perfectly understood Maud's look, which was slowly returning to normal... Maud was forever grateful to Dusk for having saved her greatest treasure: her dear little sister Pinkie Pie. It was the same look that Dusk, who was amazed at Maud's courage, strength, and bravery, to also save Pinkie Pie, was giving.

“WHAT HAPPENED TO HOLDER'S BOULDER!?” Limestone yelled suddenly with a voice filled with anger and shock. She was the self-proclaimed guardian of the important family rock, and it was definitely not supposed to be at the bottom of the cliff.

Along with Limestone, Spike and the rest of the Pie family arrived. They all had heard the tremendous noise that Holder's Boulder made when it fell. There, the rest of the Pie family looked horrified when they saw what had happened.

Not knowing that they almost lost one of their members, the Pie family began to look for the culprits for that disaster. They wanted to immediately punish whoever had dared to drop their most sacred family heirloom.

“I was the one who pushed Holder's Boulder into the quarry,” Maud said quietly, keeping her cool gaze on her family.

"What!?" Dusk said, surprised and scared. "No! That’s-"

"Are you going to deny that I was the one who hit Holder's Boulder and made it fall?" Maud interrupted, before Dusk continued speaking.

"W-Well, that’s technically true, but I-" Dusk said, but he was interrupted by Maud again, who raised a hoof near Dusk's mouth to make him stop talking.

After Maud 'admitted her crime', the entire Pie family launched into criticizing her. With her parents pointing out how irresponsible she was, and Limestone and Marble criticizing her for always wanting attention. Meanwhile, Maud simply stood her ground, her gaze indifferent, claiming nothing, just accepting what she was told.

Dusk stared at Maud in astonishment, realizing that she wanted to sacrifice herself to prevent Dusk from having problems.

"Maud is always like this... she’s capable of sacrificing herself in order to save someone she loves,” Pinkie Pie sniffed, with small tears in her eyes. She was still recovering from the shock of almost being crushed, and watching her family criticize Maud without having heard the whole story was taking a toll on her. "I told you Maud was tender... The tenderest pony in the world,” Pinkie Pie added, looking at Dusk.

While looking at Pinkie Pie, Dusk thought for a long time. For some reason the words Pinkie had just said echoed in his head and he couldn't get them out of his mind. It was then that Dusk opened his eyes with surprise as he had the last piece of the puzzle that was missing, and now he could clearly see what the mystery behind the fight in the past between Maud and her family was.

“No… I already had all the pieces of the puzzle beforehand. It's just… I couldn't see the answer that was in front of my eyes,” Dusk thought surprised. “I couldn't see the answer because I was still under the impression that Maud was an insensitive pony. But I finally understand... Maud is as… no, she’s more empathetic and sensitive than all of us put together! She has never been indifferent to anything or anyone!”

While Dusk had been lost in his thoughts, Pinkie Pie had taken the opportunity to approach Maud and take her side, trying to explain to her angry family that Maud and Dusk had saved her from being crushed to death.

“She just admitted that she was the one who threw Holder's Boulder into the quarry!” Limestone yelled, pointing at Maud and looking at Pinkie. “And if she did save you, it must have been purely by chance. She has never cared about anyone but herself."

"That's not true... Everything she's done, she's done out of love for her family,” Dusk said, speaking softly at first, and then louder, so that everyone could hear him. He knew he was meddling in a complicated family matter, but if Maud and her parents' pride continued to outweigh their forgiveness, they were doomed to destroy their family. So regardless of the consequences, Dusk would take the responsibility of telling everyone the truth that they were hiding from each other.

"Don't talk nonsense! Don't get involved in things you’re not part of! These are family issues!” Limestone retorted, growling in annoyance.

"Well, then it IS something that concerns me... because I'm Pinkie Pie's coltfriend!" Dusk said with a very serious look.

That caused the effect that Dusk was looking for. They all stopped arguing with Maud and stood in stunned silence. Marble and Limestone had already suspected that Dusk could be Pinkie's coltfriend, but for Dusk to say it right then, in front of everyone, left them stunned. However, the ones who were most shocked were Pinkie's parents, who were as still as statues.

"Maud loves this farm with all her heart. I can see it in her eyes,” Dusk said, looking seriously at Limestone. "However, she left the farm because she found out that her parents planned for her to inherit it."

At that moment, Dusk looked at Maud, to see her expression. Which remained indifferent as always. However, from the expression Pinkie put on when she saw Maud, he reasoned that Maud was indeed surprised, which finally confirmed Dusk's theory.

"W-What are you talking about?" Limestone asked confused, looking at Maud, then at her parents, and finally back at Dusk. "My parents are leaving the farm to me. I already saw the title deed."

"Yes, but in the chest that they keep in the barn, there was an old title deed in addition to the new one,” Dusk continued speaking. "Your parents were probably going to leave the farm to Maud, and when she found out, she decided to leave, so you could continue with your dream of being the next main caretaker of the rock farm."

An awkward silence hung in the air. Limestone looked confused at her parents, who simply looked away in embarrassment, which was a silent confirmation of what Dusk was saying. Then Limestone looked at Maud again, and her lip quivered as she realized that she had hated her sister for leaving, and inadvertently caused her to flee.

“You ran away… because of me…?” Limestone whispered weakly, her voice trembling. A great level of guilt fell over her.

"I think you were just one of the reasons Maud had for leaving the farm..." Dusk said, pausing briefly. Knowing that now that he had uncovered the truth, he had to go all the way. "When you were little, you told Maud about your dream of studying, right?" Dusk said, this time looking at Marble. Remembering what Spike had told him that morning.

"H-How do you know that?" the shy Marble Pie asked.

"I can guess that with how traditional everyone is in this town, if magic is frowned upon, studying at a faraway university is as well,” Dusk said, expanding his theory. “Maud probably knew about it, and that's why she decided to be the first Pie to study at a university. That would leave the way free for you when you wanted to study. And she would show your parents and the other traditionalist ponies in town that studying isn't bad."

This took Marble completely by surprise, and she gave Maud a startled look. Then her eyes began to tremble upon seeing her older sister's expression, and understanding that Dusk wasn’t lying. Her eyes glazed over with tears as she understood that she had misjudged Maud for years. Her sister had only wanted to help her.

"I have no proof of this, but knowing Maud as I know her now, surely she decided to leave her beloved farm to help you too, Pinkie,” Dusk said looking at his marefriend tenderly. “Maud is the pony who knows you best, and she probably realized before everyone else that you didn't enjoy your job plowing rocks. She must’ve guessed that your joy would make you want to leave this town one day, but how could you do it? Your parents would never let you... Surely that was the third and last reason for making the decision to leave. She had to be the first to go, so that the disappointment and anger of your parents would fall on her and not on you or your sisters,” Dusk said, while Pinkie Pie was on the verge of tears. This time Dusk looked at all the Pie sisters together. "Maud left the way clear for you... She sacrificed herself, so that her three sisters could fulfill their dreams."

The three younger sisters stared at their older sister in shock. Who, for her part, stared at Dusk, with a bright and somewhat sad look. As always, hiding her true emotions, which this time were relief, but also fear.

“I get it… You didn't want your sisters to find out about your sacrifice. But they needed to know. Otherwise, this beautiful family was just going to destroy itself from the inside,” Dusk said, apologizing to Maud.

"Surely that's also why you rushed to the house yesterday, when you saw that I was coming with Pinkie Pie..." Dusk thought, remembering his arrival at the Pie family's house. "You said you had a coltfriend, only to see your parents' reaction, and for them to be mad at you instead of Pinkie Pie..."

"The pride Maud has in sacrificing herself without others finding out--she must have inherited it from you,” Dusk continued speaking, this time looking at Pinkie's parents, who were surprised to see that Dusk spoke to them so directly. "You must also show your daughter that you have never abandoned her,” Dusk added, using his magic to bring up some papers in front of Maud. He knew it was wrong, but she needed to know the truth.

"What is this?" Maud asked, taking the papers that Dusk left floating in front of her and reading them.

“They’re money deposit receipts,” Dusk said, remembering the papers with numbers that he had seen in the hidden chest in the barn. Then Dusk looked at Pinkie Pie's parents and launched his final theory. "There was never an inheritance from Uncle Fuzzy, was there?" Dusk asked, remembering what Pinkie had told him the day before. That statement surprised Pinkie Pie's parents a lot, which gave Dusk the courage to finish. “You couldn't forgive your daughter for leaving the farm at such a young age. Probably, as your eldest daughter, all your hopes were on her, and she dashed them by leaving. However, you couldn't leave her alone… You’re her parents, and you could never abandon a daughter. That's why you made up the whole thing about Pinkie's uncle's inheritance. It was you who sent Maud money for her studies! Even when you didn't approve of her decision or her abandoning her family values, you continued to help her in secret. Just like you did for Pinkie Pie, when she later decided to go to Ponyville too."

After Dusk's words, Maud stared at her parents carefully, her eyes slightly open. Which was, in Maud's expressions, a face of utter surprise.

For years, Maud believed that her parents had abandoned her to her fate, but secretly, they were always supporting her decision, even though it wasn't the route they had mapped out for Maud since she was little.

Both of Maud's parents and Maud stared, their eyes trembling. The three of them were on the verge of bursting into tears, but they held them back with an effort. Maud had always been the pride of Pinkie's parents, the pony who was most like them both, who always kept her emotions inside, and for that reason, it had hurt them so much when she left the farm.

The three of them wanted to hug each other, but their deep-rooted stoicism prevented them from being affectionate and emotional. However, it wasn’t necessary for the three of them to jump in and hug each other. That was what the emotion made pony was for: Pinkie Pie. She jumped crying with a smile to hug her parents and sisters, shedding tears of joy to discover that Maud had always thought of her sisters, and that their parents always cared for Maud.

While Pinkie cried happily, the rest of her family felt Pinkie's warm hug... How long had it been since the six of them hugged as a family? Then each of Pinkie's sisters and parents pressed their faces into Pinkie's fur.

Dusk didn't need to see the others cry. Although they hid their faces, Dusk could clearly hear the Pie family release their emotions. Finally, they were REALLY together.

After that touching family moment, all of Pinkie's sisters and their parents separated and looked at each other again with their respective looks of indifference, as if nothing had happened. The only one who wasn't ashamed to continue showing her emotions was Pinkie Pie, who wouldn't stop smiling.

As if it was just another day, Pinkie's father asked everyone to move Holder's Boulder up the path, back to where it belonged, and he included Dusk and Spike. That was a great sign for Dusk, who for the first time was being called by Pinkie's father to do something with his family.

Slowly, they all pushed the rock up the sloping path. And although Dusk could have helped more easily with magic, this time he respected the Pie family's tradition of not using magic. It made him feel that the family was more united. Everyone was doing their best to help.

With Holder's Boulder already in place, it was time to place the Equestria flag on top of it. The one who had found the flag was Maud, who guessed that Pinkie would hide it under her bed. However, the eldest of the Pie sisters gave Dusk the honor of placing the flag. That was another clear sign for Dusk that now Maud had also accepted him.

Once the flag was atop Holder's Boulder, they all sang an ancient song together. According to legend, it had been the song that the ancient founders sang to drive away the windigos, creating the Fire of Friendship thousands of years ago.

According to tradition in the Pie family, what would’ve followed was to spend the afternoon continuing the search for the hidden gifts. However, this time it was Pinkie Pie's parents who decided to make an exception and follow the tradition of Dusk and Spike, and that was: Deliver the gifts instead of hiding them! That news filled the little baby dragon with emotion. Who ran to where his suitcase was to deliver his own gifts as well.

"Wow... It's also fun to deliver the gifts instead of looking for them,” Pinkie Pie said smiling. She’d always wanted to wated her parents and sisters open their presents together, and it was finally happening. This was the first time because everyone finding their gifts had never happened before.

"Don’t get used to it. It's just for this year,” Pinkie's father said seriously. His gaze remained indifferent. “We are proud, traditional ponies. Never forget that.”

At that moment, Pinkie's mother saw where Maud was, who for the first time in years was sharing gifts with Marble and Limestone, who were smiling.

“But traditions are never more important than family,” Pinkie's mother whispered, dropping her usual cold gaze and lovingly looking at her gathered daughters.

At that comment, Igneous also glanced at his daughters, and couldn't help but smile fleetingly. He was proud of his traditions, but he had even more pride in his daughters.

Dusk looked around, thinking it was funny that in Pinkie's family, ninety percent of the gifts were related to rocks. Whether they were exotic samples, sculptures, or tools. The only gifts that weren’t rock-related were the one Spike had given him, which was a new book of advanced magic; and the gift he gave Spike, which was the Power Ponies comic he wanted so badly. The same one that Spike was now reading excitedly, lying on the floor.

"Here, Dusk! This is for you!" Pinkie said, approaching Dusk. Giving him a very small gift package. Opening it, Dusk smiled when he saw that it was a small miniature party cannon. Dusk pulled its little rope and some confetti jumped out. “It's your own party cannon!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly.

"Just what I wanted!" Dusk smiled, blushing. Then he reached to give Pinkie a kiss, however, he instantly felt the intense gaze of Pinkie's parents, which made him instinctively back away in fear.

“You don't have to say it; I can tell by your stares… There's still the matter of being Pinkie's coltfriend!” Dusk thought, scared. He put on a small, nervous smile.

"By the way, I owe you your gift too,” Dusk said, remembering what had happened in the morning, when they both woke up. "Are you still sure you just want a Pinkie Promise as a present?"

"Huh!?" Pinkie Pie said, confused for a second. Then she widened her eyes, as she’d almost forgotten. "Oh... That's right..." Pinkie said, looking away with a nervous smile. Then, for some reason, she glanced sideways at Maud.

"Wait! I almost forgot!" Spike said suddenly, raising his head and jumping up to go to his suitcase. "The girls sent you a present too, Pinkie,” Spike added, handing the pink pony a celebratory card.

Pinkie Pie looked at the card Spike offered her with surprise and took it. It was a very pretty card, signed with pictures of her five friends' cutie marks.

“How did I forget!? I was so focused on my plan with Dusk, and Maud's necklaces, I completely forgot to give the girls a gift!” Pinkie Pie thought, horrified. Then she opened the card and read it to herself:

'We hope you had a nice holiday with Dusk and your family.

This is our gift: letting you spend the holidays alone with Dusk!

We know that months ago you invited all of us to your house to spend the holidays with your family, but we wanted to give you something special, so that you could make the most of your time as a marefriend with Dusk.

Now YOU are Dusk's marefriend, and although it’s sometimes difficult for us to see you two together, we sincerely want both of you to be happy and to be the best duo possible.

A big kiss to both of you! '

"Wow! So, they planned for this to happen. They never had family emergencies to attend to,” Dusk suddenly said. He had walked up behind Pinkie and read the letter too, without her noticing.

"Oh! Y-Yeah… It seems so, hehe…” Pinkie Pie said quickly lowering the letter. With a nervous smile.

While everyone continued to chat pleasantly, the only one who seemed distracted for the rest of the afternoon was Pinkie Pie. She smiled when someone spoke to her, but when she thought no one was looking at her, she had a nervous and thoughtful look.

After the festivities, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Dusk packed their bags to go to the train station, to catch the last train to Ponyville. After saying goodbye to everyone, Maud accompanied the three of them to the station. She had changed her plans, deciding to stay a few more days now that the problem with her family had been solved.

“It's a relief to know that!” Dusk thought, blissful, after Maud said that she would stay longer. “Pinkie's family didn't talk about the family feud again all afternoon… I was afraid they still had some conflicts of interest, but I guess that hug they gave each other smoothed out all the rough edges.”

“There is still a pending issue in the family,” Maud said suddenly, looking at Dusk just as they arrived at the station, guessing what Dusk was thinking verbatim. "There is still the problem of Pinkie Pie's choice of coltfriend."

At that revelation, Dusk swallowed loudly with a nervous look.

“Relax… We just solved a family problem from years ago… so my parents will wait a bit before wanting to solve another problem,” Maud said with a very subtle grimace, which Dusk guessed was equivalent to a mischievous smile. "So for now, you're safe."

That made Dusk sigh with relief. Then he turned to look at Pinkie and smile at her. However, Pinkie Pie was looking away. It seemed that she hadn't heard any of what Maud had said, since she was lost in her own thoughts.

"Pinkie, are you okay?" Dusk asked, worried.

"Huh!? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine!" Pinkie replied with a big smile. Then she saw the train and picked up her bag. "I'm going to go ahead and find some seats,” Pinkie added smiling, giving Maud a big hug and then winking at Dusk. “We don't want to go separately this time, right? Hehe!" Pinkie laughed, getting on the train with Spike.

“Pinkie Pie was distracted by something?” Dusk thought confused.

“I’ve always liked the rock of this station,” Maud said suddenly, taking Dusk out of his thoughts. She had turned to face the station’s walls.

“Oh… That's ferrous corundum, isn't it? It’s extremely hard,” Dusk said with a thoughtful look. His comment made Maud turn and look at him. “Hehe, you thought I didn't pay attention to your rock talk, didn't you? I really learned a lot from you,” Dusk added, with a proud smile.

“Hmm… Well, you won a point. Now I like you a little more as Pinkie's coltfriend,” Maud said, looking at Dusk. Something that made Dusk smile even more proud. "But you lost a point for not knowing why Pinkie is distracted."

"You noticed, too?" Dusk asked, surprised. Maud had confirmed his suspicion. "Do you know why she was so distracted?"

"I don't know. I may not be very expressive, but sometimes it's harder to understand Pinkie than me... She always hides everything under her smiles,” Maud replied, staring at Dusk. "Now, Pinkie is your marefriend, and it’s your duty to help her when she needs it."

“I… I will, I swear,” Dusk replied, putting on a look full of determination. Then he turned to enter the train, however, he decided to have a few last words with Maud. "I'm sorry for judging you before I met you. Now all I want is to be someone as admirable as you, like when you sacrificed yourself for your sisters."

After Dusk's sentence, Maud slightly diverted her gaze, and for a moment, Dusk thought he saw a small and fleeting smile.

"I know you found out what I did for my sisters, but I wouldn't call it a sacrifice,” Maud said, looking at Dusk. "Rather, it all worked out for the best, thanks to my Maud Sense."

“Your Maud Sense…? Wait, is that like Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense!?” Dusk asked, very surprised.

“It runs in the family,” Maud answered, calm as always. "Although instead of guessing things like Pinkie, I get lucky when I choose to do something other than what I want.” Maud looked away as she remembered her past, when she decided to leave her parents' beloved rock farm. “I always believed that I would grow up and die on the family farm, but when I made the decision to leave, life brought me many surprises… By helping Limestone, I gave up my dream of inheriting the farm, but in return I learned many skills that I didn't know: how to cook, write poems and travel. By helping Marble, I decided to be the first Pie to study, and thanks to that I discovered my true calling, with my rocktorate in rock science. By helping Pinkie, I left the farm that was my world, and I discovered a whole new world out there, with so many different rocks that I had never seen before.” With that, Maud turned to face Dusk. "Even yesterday, when I lied for you, saying that I had a coltfriend... Maybe my Maud Sense will help me with that,” Maud added, remembering Mud Briar, a certain stallion she had met at university. Whose name Maud mentioned to her parents only because it was the first stallion name that occurred to her, but now that she was thinking about that stallion, perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a little closer to him, to get to know him better.

At that moment, Dusk could have sworn that for a fleeting moment, Maud blushed. But as always, it was hard to tell what Maud might really be feeling.

The train whistle blew, announcing their departure. Then Dusk looked towards the train, but one last time, he turned to see Maud.

"I wonder... did I get you to change your opinion of me?" Dusk asked, looking at Maud with uncertainty. For her part, Maud didn’t reply. She simply searched for something in a pocket of her dress and passed it to Dusk.

Dusk stretched out his hoof and saw that Maud had given him a simple rock. If Dusk had to say it, after being locked in a rock farm for two days, that rock was uglier than several other rocks that were on the farm.

"You and I are alike,” Maud said, looking at Dusk one last time and turning to leave.

"I don't think I'll ever understand her..." Dusk thought with a confused look, turning around to get on the train. “I went from a brother-in-law who hates me to a weird sister-in-law… Well, at least this sister-in-law is less dangerous,” Dusk thought, with a small smile of relief. He stepped on board the train.

"Dusk, one last thing..." Maud said suddenly, just as the train began to move. Then Dusk turned around and saw that Maud was on the side of the station. Then she raised her hoof and hit the huge rock wall, cracking it instantly.

“That…That wall was made of ferrous corundum! The hardest rock there is!” Dusk yelled in his mind, looking at the wall with his mouth open.

"Don't ever make Pinkie Pie cry,” Maud said. Finally glaring at Dusk with a firm and serious look.

Dusk was unable to say anything in response. He just stood there, stunned, with his mouth open, just as the train began to move with him on board, away from the town where his marefriend's family lived. After several seconds, and after losing sight of the station, Dusk swallowed, with a terrified look. Thinking he'd rather get hit by Big Mac than Maud Pie.

After calming down, Dusk reached the car where Spike and Pinkie were. There, his little brother had fallen asleep, and next to him was his suitcase, which was loaded with delicious rocks that Pinkie's family had given him. Although, Spike seemed to still prefer Maud's rock candies, as he had fallen asleep with half a necklace of rock candy in his mouth. Across from Spike, Pinkie Pie was looking out the window with a pensive look, but as soon as she saw that Dusk had arrived, she looked at him and put on a huge smile.

"Pinkie... Is something wrong?" Dusk asked, sitting next to her and remembering that both he and Maud had noticed that Pinkie Pie seemed to be distracted by something.

Pinkie Pie gave a surprised look at her coltfriend's question. For a second, she thought about lying, but after thinking again, she decided to come clean with Dusk. After all, they were coltfriend and marefriend, and they had to tell each other the truth.

“I’ve been thinking… that I’ve been very selfish,” Pinkie said with a sad look. “I forgot to give gifts to my friends, and all because I was only focused on my own happiness. I… I wanted to be alone with you so much that I completely forgot about them.”

Dusk thought for a moment and looked at Pinkie Pie with a small smile.

“We should never forget our friends, but I think it's okay to be a little selfish sometimes. After all, we’re dating,” Dusk said, tenderly taking Pinkie's hoof. "Tell me... would you like us to leave Ponyville and never see our friends again?"

"What!? No! Never!" Pinkie Pie said, scared by the idea.

"You see? You’re not a bad friend. You still think about them,” Dusk said with a big smile.

Upon hearing those words, Pinkie Pie's eyes trembled and she moved to embrace Dusk's torso.

"I love you so much!" Pinkie Pie said as she pressed her face against Dusk's chest.

“You don't know… You don't know what I was about to force you to do!” Pinkie Pie thought with tears in her eyes, as she continued to hug Dusk. Remembering that only a few hours before, when Dusk was going to make a Pinkie Promise, she was about to betray her friends and make Dusk promise that he would only be her coltfriend, only hers! Forever and always.

"Hey, now that I remember, I haven't given you your gift yet,” Dusk said with a smile, caressing his marefriend's mane. "~Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye~" Dusk said, mimicking the Pinkie Promise. Although it took him some effort to draw a cross on his chest, since Pinkie Pie kept hugging him. "Tell me, what do you want me to promise you?" Dusk asked, curious to know. Maybe his marefriend would ask him to give her more hugs and kisses, or perhaps, she would tell him to promise to tell her every day that he loved her.

For several seconds, Pinkie didn't move or say anything. She simply kept hugging Dusk tightly, hiding her face from her coltfriend. Memories of that afternoon flashed through Pinkie's mind, discovering how her sister sacrificed her own dreams for those she loved. Just like her friends did, demonstrating it on the card they had given her.

"I… I want you to promise…" Pinkie finally said, speaking very slowly. "Promise me that... no matter how much I beg... at the end of the month… you'll break up with me."

Dusk's smile disappeared instantly upon hearing that.

"W-What are you talking about?" Dusk asked. He felt a chill and remembered the night Applejack broke up with him. Was Pinkie Pie ending it with him too!? What did he do wrong!? It hadn't even been a month yet!

At that moment, Pinkie Pie stopped hugging Dusk and stared at him. She still had tears in her eyes after making that hard decision.

"Dusk, I love you too much. I… I'm not as strong as Applejack,” Pinkie said, with a look that showed she was about to cry at any moment. “As much as I might want to, I won't be able to end our relationship… Never… Ever! That's why… I want you to promise, that when our month of dating is over… you're going to be the one to break up with me.”

"P-Pinkie..." Dusk said with a scared look.

"Please…" Pinkie begged. She couldn’t contain her crying anymore and lowered her head. “This is the only gift I can give… for my friends.”

Dusk also lowered his head. What Pinkie was asking for was totally different from what he had expected. If Pinkie Pie didn't have the strength to end their relationship, would he have it when the time came? The truth was that at that moment, the only thing Dusk felt for Pinkie was love, and he didn't want that to ever end.

"You promised,” Pinkie Pie said pointedly, looking up and seeing that Dusk was very confused and insecure.

Dusk remembered that he had indeed already made the Pinkie Promise, and he knew well that once it was done, it couldn’t be broken.

“I… I-I promise,” Dusk finally said. He raised his head and tried with all his might to smile, managing to put on a nervous one.

Pinkie Pie also put on a sad smile and once again began to hug Dusk's body tightly.

“Thank you… I know I'm asking a lot of you. I'm really sorry…" Pinkie said. She was sad, but at the same time, there was tranquility--a feeling of a great weight being removed from above. She knew that just like her big sister, she was sacrificing her own happiness so as not to hurt her friends.

For several minutes, neither of the two ponies spoke again. They both just kept holding each other, feeling that they had to slowly digest everything that had just happened. Finally, Pinkie Pie stopped hugging Dusk and looked at him with a sad but very tender smile.

“There’s still a long way to go before our month ends,” Pinkie said, smiling at Dusk to try and lift his spirits.

"Yeah... I guess you're right,” Dusk said sighing, also looking at Pinkie with a sad but tender smile. Then he closed his eyes and gave a faraway look. Realizing that it hadn't been easy for Pinkie to ask him that, and he needed to show strength, for both of them. "I won't think about the future, I'll only think about now,” Dusk added, already smiling normally. Lifting his hoof to caress Pinkie's face.

Pinkie Pie smiled at her coltfriend's sweet touch. Then she nodded and approached Dusk to give him a sweet kiss on the lips.

"Hehe!" Pinkie laughed and blushed after kissing Dusk. All the sadness she had been feeling vanished when she kissed her cute coltfriend. Then Pinkie opened her eyes with surprise when she saw what Dusk had next to his seat. “Wow… where did you get that from?” Dusk turned to see what Pinkie was looking at.

"Oh, this is a gift Maud gave me,” Dusk said with a nervous smile, picking up the rock that Pinkie's sister had given him. "She said we were similar... I guess she thinks I'm also like a rock, hehe..." Dusk laughed nervously.

"Did she say that? So she did accept you!" Pinkie Pie said very excitedly.

"I don't understand..." Dusk said, confused. He examined the ugly stone from all sides, wondering if there was something he hadn't caught sight of, or maybe it was just another crazy Pie family tradition.

"Throw it to the floor,” Pinkie Pie said, smiling. Something in Pinkie’s expression made Dusk feel like she knew something, but he couldn’t put his hoof on what. "Trust me,” Pinkie added, noticing Dusk's confused look.

Thinking it was a bad idea to throw his sister-in-law's gift on the floor, but deciding to trust his marefriend one hundred percent, Dusk threw the stone on the floor. The rock split on impact, and Dusk saw with astonishment that the inside of the rock was shiny, with several beautiful purple crystals inside it.

"That's a-" Pinkie said, having recognized the rock immediately upon seeing it, from her years of experience on the farm.

"It's a geode,” Dusk interrupted. He also recognized the special rock, which looked like any other rock on the outside, but inside it crystallized in a unique and beautiful way.

"If Maud gave you that, it means she saw right through you,” Pinkie Pie said smiling. "Maybe she didn't like you at first, but in the end, she found out how cute and shiny you are on the inside."

"Just like her..." Dusk added, smiling and feeling moved by the beautiful metaphor Maud used to tell him that she accepted him as her sister's coltfriend.

Then Pinkie Pie hugged Dusk again, while he closed his eyes happily. Overall, it was a great trip, and Dusk knew that he would definitely love to meet the exotic and unique Maud Pie again.

End of chapter 27

Chapter 28 - The forbidden fruit

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The forbidden fruit

Everything was quiet in the Golden Oak Library, as a library should always be. There, Dusk Shine and Spike gave the perfect example of how ponies should behave in the calm and silent temple of knowledge. Spike was on the floor, hyper-focused on reading the comic that Dusk had given him for Hearth's Warming Eve. A large volume of his favorite comic: 'The Power Ponies', where the complete saga of the mega event of the year was told, called 'Flashpony', in which the fictional universe of the Power Ponies was restarting for the fifteenth time. For his part, Dusk was carefully reading the book that Spike had given him, also for the festivities, which was the latest edition of: 'Mysteries of Magic'.

Both Dusk and Spike read their books carefully and slowly, one word at a time. Spike, so as not to miss any important details of his comic; Dusk, to see if some muse would enlighten him and give him some brilliant idea to solve those mysteries of magic, which had not been solved in centuries.

While Dusk was reading, he felt some pulses around him, he could even swear that someone was touching him. But when he concentrated one hundred percent on his reading, he remained in such an absorbed state that nothing could distract him.

Suddenly Dusk felt a chill. One that started from his ear, ran through his entire body, and made him fall limply to the floor, with a silly smile of pleasure.

“Only one mare knows THAT weak point in me…” Dusk thought, immediately guessing who had given him a gentle bite on his left ear.

“Pinkie… I didn't hear you come in,” Dusk said, lying exhausted to the floor with a smile when he felt the warm weight of his marefriend on his back.

“I knocked on the door, but no one answered,” Pinkie Pie said smiling. She laid on her coltfriend's back and rested her head on his. “So, I came in and called you, but you wouldn't listen to me either. So, I had no choice but to give you a little nibble,” Pinkie Pie added with a cute playful grin.

“I'm sorry. It’s just that I was very focused reading,” Dusk said, blushing. He hadn't even seen his marefriend's face yet, but just hearing her voice and feeling her on his back was enough to make him smile.

"What were you reading? Something funny?" Pinkie Pie asked. She was enjoying just being on top of her coltfriend and hearing his voice, without even seeing each other face to face, as much as Dusk was.

“I was reading the book Spike gave me. It’s the latest edition of 'Mysteries of Magic,'” Dusk responded excitedly. He opened the book again for his marefriend to see. “Normally a first edition is always better, but with this book the opposite happens! Since new studies appear every year, of unicorn magicians who investigate these great mysteries and try to decipher them...” Dusk said excitedly while reviewing the book. Returning to the index, with excited eyes, “Did you know that there are seven great mysteries in magic? Spells that no one has ever been able to perform with complete success, not even Star Swirl the Bearded himself! Although if you like conspiracies, it’s said that Star Swirl did manage to decipher such magical mysteries, but he saw that they were so dangerous, that he left his studies incomplete on purpose, or even that he completed them, but kept them secret... Anyway, for more than a thousand years, these mysteries have stumped even the most learned in magic, to this day. The first magical mystery is 'Time Travel'. Magic has been able to slow down and speed up time, but time travel is more complex than it sounds. According to Professor Steedphen Hackney, the magical energy paradox makes this impossible. But there are newer studies from the University of Manehattan, which say that it is possible if a sufficiently powerful magical energy loop can be established. It's the same with mystery number two! The big question: 'Is a complete and permanent change of a cutie mark possible?' There are partial studies that show that enough magic can partially and temporarily alter a cutie mark, but a substantial change is another story. And I must admit that with the change in my own cutie mark, I could do my own research and publish magic studies on it. If I follow the latest advances reported by the theorist in astral magic, the Professor…” Dusk fell silent when he heard a noise above him, which made him stop his excited speech.

Looking up, Dusk realized that Pinkie Pie had remained too calm to… well, be Pinkie Pie. So, he slowly got up so that Pinkie wouldn't fall off his back, walked over to a window to look at his reflection, and saw that Pinkie had fallen asleep on him. With her head still resting on Dusk's, she was snoring, with a large bubble of drool coming out of her mouth. Dusk smiled, raised his hoof, and broke the bubble that came out of Pinkie's mouth.

“Huh? What? What’s wrong?" Pinkie Pie said confused, jumping in surprise as she heard the bubble burst.

“Well, it seems like you fell asleep with my explanation, hehe,” Dusk smiled, amused. Telling himself that he must have guessed that his fun marefriend would be bored by a talk about a magic book.

“Oh… I… I'm sorry,” Pinkie Pie said, looking away embarrassed. That surprised Dusk; he thought she would take it as something funny.

“It's not something you should apologize for,” Dusk said, smiling worriedly at his marefriend. “My explanation was very boring, and I-”

"No! That’s not it!" Pinkie Pie said, looking seriously at Dusk, which took him completely by surprise. “You really like books and magic, and although I don't like them as much as you, you’re my coltfriend. I have to learn to appreciate your tastes! Even though we are different, I want to like everything you like too. I…” At that moment Pinkie Pie stopped talking excitedly. Then she lowered her gaze tenderly and looked at Dusk shyly. “I want to be your best marefriend.”

That display of tenderness made Dusk blush and look away. He couldn't help but think that his marefriend was quite pretty when she wanted to be.

For a moment, Dusk thought of all the hugs and kisses he had received from his tender and cute marefriend, Pinkie Pie. All those cuddles and displays of affection... Would all that be over in a month? When remembering the moments he had spent with Pinkie Pie, Dusk couldn't help but remember the promise he had made to Pinkie just a few days ago, about ending their courtship at the end of the month.

Dusk's smile faded as he thought about the future. However, before Pinkie Pie could notice it, both of their ears perked up in alert, and they looked towards the window, hearing several chimes in the distance.

“That's it…” Pinkie Pie said knowingly.

“The warning bell of Applejack's farm.” Dusk finished the sentence, with a worried look.

After Discord's attack on Ponyville, Dusk and his friends had thought of a way to alert each other in case something bad was happening. If somepony rang the barn bell on the Apple farm, it was a warning that something very bad had happened.

Dusk looked back, and saw that Spike, just like him, was still absorbed in reading his comic, not paying attention to anything that was happening in the outside world. Seeing how similar they were filled Dusk with pride. Then he looked at Pinkie, who nodded, and they both quickly left the library, heading towards Sweet Apple Acres.

After running to the outskirts of Ponyville, Dusk and Pinkie Pie arrived at the Apple family farm. There, the first pony they saw was Big Mac. He was walking slowly and with his head down, dragging his plow through one of the fields.

“What's wrong with Big Mac?” Dusk said confused. Stopping his race and slowly approaching with Pinkie to where the big red stallion was.

When he was just a few steps away, Dusk suddenly stopped dead when he remembered something important.

“Wait! I haven't seen Big Mac since before I broke up with Applejack!” Dusk thought scared. Realizing his mistake. Looking to his side, at his new marefriend Pinkie Pie. “This was a mistake!” Dusk thought terrified. Guessing that Big Mac's overprotective nature towards his sister would make him immediately hate Dusk after the two broke up. Applejack herself had told him, she spent several days depressed, crying after breaking up with Dusk. And since Big Mac didn't know about 'their deal', it was logical that he would hate Dusk.

Dusk took a step back to slowly retreat. However, it was too late. Just at that moment, Big Mac raised his head and noticed his and Pinkie Pie's presence. That made Dusk freeze, terrified, while Pinkie Pie put on a confused smile, not understanding what had scared Dusk so much.

Big Mac looked at Dusk for several seconds, giving him an annoyed look. However, instead of getting angry, he simply sighed, and continued plowing the field, deciding he had bigger problems to worry about than that lavender casanova colt.

“That was strange…” Dusk thought confused. Relieved that Big Mac didn't come after him, but knowing that there had to be a reason for Big Mac to be so depressed. “Maybe it's because of the problem Applejack called us about…”

Deciding that it was safe to move again, Dusk and Pinkie Pie continued on their way to the Apple family's main house. There, they saw that Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy had also arrived. Then, Applejack opened the door to the main house and ran over to her friends.

"Dusk! Girls! I'm glad you came! You gotta help me!!” Applejack shouted, with a look full of terror. "Check this out!" Applejack shouted, showing something that she was holding in her hooves.

As they approached, everyone saw that what Applejack was holding was an apple, which seemed to be very dehydrated and almost colorless.

“A crushed apple?” Fluttershy asked confused.

“No… This is THE… WORST… POSSIBLE… THING!” Applejack shouted theatrically.

At that moment, everyone turned their heads to look at Rarity out of the corner of their eyes.

"What!?" Rarity said confused as she saw her friends' looks.

“Well, you're usually the drama queen.” Rainbow Dash said, shrugging.

“I'm not exaggerating; this could be the end of the family farm!” Applejack said, scared and throwing the dry fruit on the ground. “All because of them!” Applejack added, pointing her hoof at some apple trees nearby.

As everyone looked at the apple trees, they could see that the trees were full of black and gray bats. All sleeping face down, hanging from the branches of the apple trees, while dozens of juiceless apples were piled up at their bases. It seemed that all those bats had had a big feast on apples before going to sleep.

“Are they fruit bats? I thought they only lived in the west orchard.” Dusk said with a look of doubt. Remembering the Apple family reunion, where Applejack used those colorful bats to make a rainbow in the sky to impress her aunts and cousins. However, unlike how Dusk saw them that day, these bats were not colorful or small at all. These were larger and dark gray, with red eyes and large fangs.

“No, they aren’t fruit bats… They’re VAMPIRE fruit bats!” Applejack said with a terrified look.

After that outburst, Applejack told the others why she was afraid. Apparently, the so-called 'fruit vampires' were more aggressive and rarer than their smaller cousins, the fruit bats. The fruit vampires had only appeared once before in Sweet Apple Acres, when Granny Smith was still young. That time, the bats had devastated all the orchards, destroying that year's apple harvest.

“I can't let those juice-sucking vampires destroy this year's harvest,” Applejack said, running her hooves heavily over her face. “Why did they hafta appear THIS year!?”

"Why? What's so special about this year?” Dusk asked curiously.

Applejack led everyone to the side of the barn, where there was a big old apple tree, with its branches stretched out to one side touching the ground. It seemed like there was something hanging from that old apple tree, something huge covered under a white blanket. Then Applejack removed the blanket and everyone was amazed to see a huge red apple the size of a pony. It was the biggest apple they had ever seen.

"I’m gonna enter this beauty into the Appleloosa State Fair," Applejack said proudly. She breathed over the shiny apple and then wiped it to make it shine even brighter. “This is Old Tom's last gift, his last fruit.” Applejack added lovingly, stroking the trunk of the old apple tree. “Old Tom was the strongest apple tree on the farm. In fact, almost all the apple trees here are old Tom's seeds, and for the same reason, they’re not as strong as him and can’t produce apples as big as this one... That's why..." At that moment Applejack ran to the barn. When she came out, she was wearing a white hockey mask and holding a machete stained with red spots. “I won't let those dirty vampires touch my apples,” Applejack added, raising her machete as if she were a horror movie villain.

“W-Wait, Applejack!” Fluttershy shouted scared. Flying quickly towards Applejack, to stop her before she attacked the fruit vampires, who were still sleeping in the apple trees. “Maybe I could try talking to them.”

“Hmph! I don't know." Applejack said calming down a bit and lifting her hockey mask. “Those fruit vampires are pests. I don’t think you can reason with them.”

“I don't think they’re a pest. I'm sure they have very good reasons for being here.” Fluttershy said smiling. Then flying towards where the fruit vampires were sleeping.

“Fluttershy… Always thinking about protecting everyone…” Dusk whispered, smiling. Blushing slightly at how cute her kind friend was. It was a look that didn’t go unnoticed by his current marefriend’s attentive eye.

From afar, everyone watched as Fluttershy woke up some of the fruit vampires, who didn't seem very happy to be woken up at that hour. Then, everyone watched as the vampires screamed and made sudden gestures towards Fluttershy, until finally they sucked some apples, roughly spat them on the ground, and went back to sleep. After the 'chat', Fluttershy slowly returned to where everyone was, with a somewhat sad and confused look.

"So? What did they tell you?" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.

“Umm… Well… The language they speak is strange... I don’t think I fully understood it,” Fluttershy said sadly. “I think they said something about seeds… that they are strong, and… that all the apple trees are theirs.” Fluttershy said, looking worried at Applejack.

"They said that!?" Applejack shouted furiously, horrified to hear that someone else thought they owned her family’s beloved apple trees.

“Did they say anything else?” Dusk asked quickly so that Applejack wouldn't get too angry to think and go hunting vampires with her machete.

“Umm… I think they did say something else.” Fluttershy answered, embarrassed. “I think they said something about my mother and… some swear words.” Fluttershy added, very embarrassed.

“Well, that settles it.” Applejack said, lowering her scary white hockey mask and raising her machete again. “Those pests are not only annoying; they’re also rude! Let's finish them off!”

"No! T-That's not right…” Fluttershy said scared. She was trying to raise her voice, but she was too shy to confront Applejack.

“Fluttershy, you've had your chance, now we have to put an end to this invasion. Who supports me?” Applejack added, looking at her friends.

Applejack's friends would have immediately said they supported her. But definitely seeing her with a machete and a horror mask made her look very scary. Plus, it was a choice between supporting Applejack or Fluttershy, who obviously didn't want to harm any animals. That dilemma made the other mares and Dusk look away, unsure.

“You know, if there’s no harvest this year, there’ll be no apples for pies or cupcakes.” Applejack said with a sly look. Looking askance at Pinkie Pie.

“Oh no!” Pinkie Pie screamed. She jumped over next to Applejack, to give her support.

“And without a harvest, there will be no cider this season either.” Applejack added, this time looking at Rainbow Dash, with a mischievous little smile.

"What!? No way!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Also convinced, swooping to Applejack's side.

"I'm not sure." Rarity said, looking confused between Fluttershy and Applejack. Then she looked at the beautiful apple hanging from Old Tom. “I mean, it would be a crime to let bats damage this beautiful apple. Even though they may be cute little animals…” Rarity added, seeing her own reflection in the shiny big apple and smiling.

“Does this look cute to you?” Applejack added surprisingly, taking one of the fruit vampires and bringing it closer to Rarity.

“Yuck! Get it away from me!” Rarity shouted, scared. The sight of the horrible face of those ugly fruit vampires made her step back until she reached Applejack's side, along with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.

The only undecided pony was Dusk Shine. He looked at Fluttershy and she looked directly at him. The pegasus's gaze begged him to please be on her side, and that made Dusk's decision even more difficult.

“I should support Fluttershy. I don't want her to feel alone in this…” Dusk thought worried. Fluttershy's sad and tender gaze, which begged him not to abandon her, made him feel weak.

Before Dusk could approach Fluttershy, he looked to Applejack's side, where her other friends were. There was his marefriend, who watched him attentively. Also looking at him with a worried look, as if she was afraid of what Dusk was about to do.

'Even though we are different, I want to like everything you like too. I... I want to be your best marefriend.' It was what Pinkie Pie had told him in the library. It was clear that she had to do her best to support her coltfriend's tastes and decisions. But he... Was he doing the same thing?

“I… support my marefriend.” Dusk said, looking sadly at Fluttershy and approaching where Pinkie Pie and the others were.

Upon hearing that, Pinkie Pie smiled happily, seeing that Dusk had chosen her. Meanwhile, Fluttershy had a hurt look when she saw that the stallion she loved didn’t support her with her decision.

“Dusk… I know Pinkie is your marefriend, but… I don't want you to abandon me!” Fluttershy thought with great sadness and pain. Lowering her head in shame when she saw that she was alone against her beloved Dusk and her friends.

“I… I can't abandon her!” Dusk thought quickly as he saw Fluttershy's sad look. Feeling her pain seeing her suffer alone.

“We can drive out the horde, but that doesn't mean we have to use violence.” Dusk said quickly, looking at his friends. Turning to look at Fluttershy and give her a small smile. A smile that made Fluttershy smile again. Seeing that Dusk was on her side and he didn’t want to harm the little vampires either.

After a quick trip to the library, Dusk found a spell that could remove fruit vampires' desire to eat apples. As soon as he returned to Sweet Apple Acres, they took advantage of the fact that the bats were still sleeping together. Applejack and the others shouted in unison to wake them up, and as soon as the fruit vampires opened their eyes, Dusk used his spell on them. However, as soon as the bats felt a strange aura surrounding them, they all flew away.

“This won't do…” Dusk said disappointed, after seeing how all the fruit vampires fled in different groups towards other apple trees. “It's a hypnosis spell. I need all of them to be still and receptive to my magic for at least a few seconds. Otherwise, it won’t work.”

“I don't think those pests can stay still and attentive for even two seconds.” Applejack said, looking annoyed at the vampires who had gone to sleep in another nearby apple tree. “It would be easier to have the attention of a dragon than those dirty ones…” As she said that, Applejack fell silent and her eyes widened with realization.

Just like Applejack, everyone opened their eyes in surprise, since 'having the attention of a dragon' caused everyone to remember something very important. One of them had managed to calm and keep a huge dragon still with just her gaze. At that moment, everyone turned to Fluttershy, who gave a confused look when she saw that everyone was looking at her.

“Oh no!” Fluttershy said scared. Finally guessing what the others wanted to ask her. "No, no, no, no, no!"

“Fluttershy… It's the only way.” Rarity said, approaching her friend. “You have to use 'the stare' on those vampires.”

"I can't! I don't like to use 'the stare' on animals, unless I have no other way.” Fluttershy said scared.

“It's the only option we have if we want a cider season!” Rainbow Dash said with a pleading look.

“No… It's not right.” Fluttershy said, looking away on the verge of tears. “I don't like to use it. Please, don’t force me.”

“We won't force you, Fluttershy. But really, I think it’s the only non-violent solution we have for this problem.” Dusk said, approaching Fluttershy and gently touching her side. “I promise we won't hurt them. It’ll just be a little hypnosis. They’ll still be themselves, they just won't like apples anymore. It’s just a small change in attitude.”

Feeling Dusk's touch, Fluttershy looked at the lavender hoof that was touching her and then saw Dusk's face. Who looked at her with a kind and trustworthy smile. A smile she would trust with her life.

“O... Okay…” Fluttershy finally said with a sad look. Deciding to believe Dusk's word.

Fluttershy got into position in front of an apple tree, where Dusk and Applejack began stacking several apples to gather the fruit vampires. While the other three mares were in charge of going to look for the bats and take them there. Rainbow Dash used her speed to fly between the apple trees, grabbing several bats between her hooves until she took them with her to the trap. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie put on a huge apple hat and started dancing samba until the smell of the moving apples woke up the bats, and they were attracted by the apple hat to the trap. And Rarity, who wore a full-body chemical suit (because she was disgusted by the thought of touching bats), crushed an apple in the visor of her helmet, filling her suit with apple juice, causing dozens of bats to chase her, until, in her terror, she accidentally led them into the trap as well.

“Alright, they’re all here.” Applejack said, giving the signal to Fluttershy and Dusk. The vampires were gathered and awake, and it was Fluttershy’s turn to act.

Fluttershy sighed one last time, unsure of whether or not she should do it. However, Dusk touched her again and smiled confidently at her, which gave the pegasus the courage she needed to finally stand in front of the vampire fruit bats and use 'the stare'.

As soon as the vampires felt someone approaching them, the vampires turned to see her and screamed at her. However, they all froze when they saw the fierce stare of that yellow pegasus. It was a stare so penetrating, it paralyzed them all for a few seconds. At that instant, Dusk immediately used his magic from behind Fluttershy. Dusk's horn lit up and released light purple waves that reached the vampires. Then the vampires' eyes glowed purple for a second, after, all of them shook their heads, as if they had come out of a trance.

“Fluttershy, you can stop using 'the stare' now,” Dusk said, noticing that Fluttershy was still staring at the fruit vampires.

"What? Oh!” Fluttershy said, blinking several times. Then she shook her head, as she felt dizzy for some reason.

"Are you okay?" Dusk asked, worried. He approached Fluttershy to steady her, noticing that she was swaying.

“Y-Yes… I think I used 'the stare' too long,” Fluttershy answered. She blushed when she saw that Dusk had taken her between his hooves.

"So? Did it work?" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently, looking at the bats.

Observing the vampires, the ponies saw that they were all looking at each other in confusion. Many of them had been left with their apples half eaten when Fluttershy interrupted their feast. However, now that they could continue, they all smelled the juicy apples in their clutches and made disgusted faces. All of the fruit vampires stuck out their tongues in disgust, spit out the unpleasant apple flavor in their mouths, and flew away towards the farthest corners of the farm.

"Yee-haw!! We did it!" Applejack shouted triumphantly. “Hopefully, they'll go to Grandpa Pear's farm, hahaha,” Applejack joked. She was happy to finally solve her big problem and even happier to have saved her huge apple for the Appleloosa contest.

While everyone celebrated, the only one who remained motionless was Fluttershy, who stood looking intently at the apple tree that the fruit vampires had abandoned.

“Come on, Fluttershy. Applejack invited us all to celebrate with a secret stash of cider she keeps for emergencies,” Dusk said. He could see that Fluttershy was distracted.

“Oh! Y-Yes, I'm coming,” Fluttershy said quickly, walking towards where her friends were. She didn’t understand why she was suddenly craving apples so much, in addition to having… other cravings.

It was already past midnight in the library, and everything was still and silent in Dusk and Spike's room. The little baby dragon had fallen asleep like a rock after reading all day, and Dusk was also sleeping soundly after having drank a couple of glasses of well-aged cider.

Having five girls in love living in his same town and sharing his daily life with him, it became normal for Dusk to dream about his friends. Especially his marefriend Pinkie, who always kissed and hugged him lovingly. However, that night, it was one of those nights that Dusk's crazy and lustful mind dreamed one by one about his friends, who came up to him to kiss.

First it was Rainbow Dash's shy and quick kiss, then Rarity's more adult kiss, then Applejack's long kiss, then Pinkie Pie's tender and playful kiss, and finally Fluttershy. However, unlike all of his other dreams, when the Fluttershy from Dusk's dream approached him, this time she didn’t kiss him. Instead, she started licking his face and neck.

Even to Dusk's semi-conscious mind, that seemed very strange. It was at that moment that he opened his sleepy eyes, and just like in his dream, Fluttershy was upon him.

“Is this a dream…?” Dusk murmured sleepily. He was still waking up, so his mind was not fully awake and he wasn't sure what was a dream and what wasn't.

Hearing Dusk 's voice, Fluttershy immediately stopped licking his neck. Then she raised her head and looked at him with 'the stare'.

Seeing 'the stare' of Fluttershy, Dusk opened his eyes completely, and for a second, he started to jump and woke up completely. However, the hypnotic power of 'the stare' made Dusk immediately fall into a daze with his mind clouded. Everything looked rosy and cloudy around them, as if he was still in a dream.

“What is this? Fluttershy's 'stare' doesn't work on ponies; only on animals.” Dusk's logical mind tried to think as it faded away. Then he paid attention to the Fluttershy who was sitting on top of him.

This Fluttershy had her mane messier. Additionally, her ears looked slightly more pointed, like a bat's. In her mouth, two small fangs stood out, and her eyes shone reddish. However, what caught Dusk's attention the most was the look of 'that' Fluttershy. It was a lustful look, full of desire, which was incredibly different from the shy look that Fluttershy normally had.

“Yes… That proves it… This is a dream…” Dusk finally reasoned dizzily. It felt impossible that Fluttershy's 'stare' could hypnotize him, and that Fluttershy would act this daring in real life.

"Your smell... I love your smell..." Fluttershy moaned, licking Dusk's neck again. “It would only be better… Haahhh … If I spread apple juice on you,” the vampire Fluttershy said, licking her lips with pleasure while she licked Dusk's neck and cheeks.

After finishing licking Dusk's cheeks, Fluttershy raised her head and stared at Dusk, who, for his part, could barely react because of how dizzy he was. And even if he could have, he probably wouldn’t have had the willpower to say something to stop the exciting attack of sexy licks on his neck.

Fluttershy stared at Dusk, with that intense look that only Fluttershy's 'stare' had. Then she looked longingly at Dusk and put on a sexy mischievous smile that normal Fluttershy would never put on. She quickly approached Dusk's lips and kissed him with strength and passion. An intense kiss, which was followed by Fluttershy sucking hard, like vampires sucking juice from an apple.

"Ouch!" Dusk said in pain when one of Fluttershy's fangs bit his lip, and she stopped kissing him.

A small drop of Dusk's blood remained on Fluttershy's lips, which she removed by licking her lips and looking at Dusk with even more desire.

“Mmmm… Tell me…” that vampire Fluttershy said, looking longingly at Dusk. “You like my kisses, don't you...? You love me... Right? You love having me on you! You love that I play with you like this!” Fluttershy said, laughing excitedly.

“Yes…” Dusk said still in a trance. With his mind so weak and dizzy, he was completely vulnerable, being one hundred percent honest. “I love feeling you and kissing you…” Dusk responded, not being able to deny the warm emotion of feeling a mare on top of him. “But… Pinkie is my marefriend… she is…” Dusk added, as if a part of his mind was fighting to remind him to be faithful as he weakly tried to push Fluttershy away with his hooves.

“Forget her… I'm better,” the vampire Fluttershy said, bringing her face closer to Dusk so that he could only see her eyes. She was hypnotizing him more and more with her stare, so that he would fall deeper into her spell.

“Fluttershy…” Dusk murmured weakly. Being unable to resist the hypnotizing and sensual gaze of that vampire.

“Yes…” Fluttershy said, smiling with pleasure. Kissing Dusk again. “Say: I love Fluttershy!” The pegasus said with a triumphant smile. Wishing Dusk would say her name and that he loved her, word for word.

“I… love… the… real Fluttershy…” Dusk responded weakly, being able to neither lie nor disobey.

That last comment completely erased the vampire Fluttershy's smile.

"What? Why would you want her when you have me!? I’m sexier, more daring, better!” Fluttershy said annoyed. Then she looked away and her voice changed to a softer tone. "I made a mistake! “He loves me just the way I am!” Fluttershy said speaking more normally. Feeling happy. But then she looked at Dusk again and put on a serious look. "No! He’s just confused… He doesn’t want the cowardly one; he wants the bold one,” Fluttershy finished speaking, fighting with herself and finally uniting her two halves.

At that moment the vampire Fluttershy stretched out her wings, which Dusk could have sworn looked more like a vampire’s than a pegasus’s, and then she flew through the open window and out of the library. Meanwhile, Dusk began to feel dizzy, and his eyes closed as he fell into a dream again.

"Wake up!" Pinkie Pie yelled out of nowhere, jumping on Dusk's bed to wake him up that morning.

“Uff! G-Good morning…” Dusk said, waking up abruptly when he felt Pinkie Pie's weight on him. He shook his head several times because, despite it being daytime, he felt very tired, and also dizzy for some reason.

"What's wrong? Did I jump too hard?” Pinkie Pie asked worriedly, seeing Dusk’s behavior.

“No, it's nothing. It’s just… I think I had a strange dream.” Dusk said. Closing one eye as he remembered the strange, blurry dream about Fluttershy he had the night before.

While Dusk blushed as e remembered that crazy dream of the daring Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie looked at him suspiciously. Then she got closer to Dusk and sniffed him a few times. Then she made a surprised face, thinking she smelled another mare's scent on her beloved Dusk.

“You… Did you spend the night with someone else…?” Pinkie Pie asked, bewildered. Looking at Dusk seriously.

"What!?" Dusk asked, confused and a little offended that his marefriend believed he would betray her by sleeping with another mare.

For several seconds, Pinkie Pie looked at Dusk in fear. Until she lowered her gaze and then raised it again. Smiling normally again.

"I'm sorry. It was… It was just a joke, hehe,” Pinkie Pie said with a nervous smile. Then she jumped out of bed and started down the stairs. “I'll wait for you downstairs!” Pinkie said, looking at Dusk with a big smile and then turning around again.

“I shouldn't distrust my coltfriend. I shouldn't distrust my coltfriend.” Pinkie Pie repeated to herself in her mind as she walked down the stairs. Putting on a serious look. “And I shouldn't distrust my other friends either... Right?” Pinkie Pie thought, uncertain.

As Pinkie Pie descended, Dusk felt confused. He didn’t know why Pinkie had asked him that question out of nowhere. Then, Dusk was alerted when he felt something in his mouth. He touched his lip and found that he had a small wound on it.

“Is it… a bite?” Dusk said, thinking out loud. Remembering the 'dream' he had. But then he imagined his shy friend Fluttershy, being aggressive like the Fluttershy from his dream, and laughed. “Haha, nah! That’s impossible," Dusk laughed, immediately ruling out that the wound on his lip was a bite from her friend.

Dusk's ears suddenly perked up as he heard the distant call of the Sweet Apple Acres barn bell again. Which meant… there was another emergency to resolve?

Just like the day before, Dusk and Pinkie Pie arrived at the Apple family farm together. Again, the first one they saw upon their arrival was Big Mac. Who, like the day before, had a discouraged and sad face. Big Mac was so discouraged this time that he didn't even hear Dusk and Pinkie Pie pass by him. He simply ignored them, completely immersed in his thoughts.

Thinking he had to solve one problem at a time, Dusk decided to ignore Big Mac and continue to the Apple family’s house. Just as Pinkie and Dusk arrived, so did Fluttershy and Rarity. Rainbow Dash was already there with Applejack.

"What's going on? What is the emergency now?” Rarity asked, worried.

“It's the same as yesterday! Look!” Applejack responded with fear in her eyes. She showed them another dry apple with her hoof. “Now they’ve gone and attacked the apple trees behind the barn.”

“So… Dusk's spell didn't work?” Pinkie Pie asked, confused.

“That's the strangest thing. Look,” Rainbow Dash said, who had already thought about that before the others arrived. She took an apple and flew towards an apple tree, where some fruit vampires were sleeping. Apparently, they had made those apple trees their new temporary home.

As soon as Rainbow Dash woke up one of the fruit vampires, it smelled the apple, stuck out its tongue in disgust, and pushed it away, then continued sleeping.

“Then… Dusk's spell did work,” Rarity said, putting on a scared look. “But then, what is it that keeps eating the apples?”

"I don't know. Maybe it's another creature, or maybe it's other fruit vampires that we didn't see and Dusk's spell didn't catch," Applejack said confused, rubbing her head.

While the girls discussed this new mystery, the only ones who seemed oblivious to the discussion were Fluttershy and Dusk. When they both arrived, their gazes met for a second, and they both looked away, blushing. For some reason, they had both had strange dreams about each other, and upon seeing each other, they both remembered that crazy 'dream' they’d had.

“Nothing happens during the day; the attacks always happen at night,” Applejack said, seeing that the discussion about the culprit wasn’t reaching any point. “I guess if we want to know who or what keeps eating my apples, we'll have to come at night and catch it ourselves. Are y’all with me?”

"Yeah!" Dusk and his friends shouted. Or at least four of them, since one didn’t give her cry of support.

“Fluttershy, don't you want to come help us?” Rarity asked, seeing that her friend hadn't yelled with them.

“Oh… Umm … Well… I do want to help.” Fluttershy said, hanging her head in shame. “But… coming here at night… I think it would make me a little scared.” Fluttershy added, closing her eyes in fear.

“Don't worry, we'll be together. I promise I’ll take care of you,” Dusk said, approaching the yellow pegasus and gently touching her on her back.

As always, feeling the soft and trustworthy touch of her knight in shining armor calmed Fluttershy. So, she gave a little smile and nodded with a little more confidence.

While Dusk and Fluttershy smiled at each other, Pinkie Pie looked at them both carefully, with an attentive look and not smiling...

When night came, everyone gathered behind the Sweet Apple Acres barn. This time, they were accompanied by Spike, who had finally finished reading his long-awaited comic.

Since they didn't want to scare away the 'mysterious apple vampire', they all decided to go in the dark without a light. Fortunately, the moon that night was full and illuminated enough to be able to walk without colliding with the trees.

"How exciting! Let's go in search of a vampire! Just like the Power Ponies of the universe 216,” Spike said excitedly. He was remembering one of the chapters of his comic.

Since he had finished reading his comic, Spike hadn’t stopped talking about how great that mega event had been that redefined the 'Power Ponies universe'. It was amusing to Dusk at first, but now it felt tedious, since Spike couldn't stop talking about the characters and the events that had happened.

“So, are there many universes in the Power Ponies?” Rainbow Dash asked, intrigued to hear Spike talk about his comic.

"Yeah! Well, now there is only one, after the 'Flashponyt', which united all the universes. But before there were hundreds. One in which the Power Ponies were vampires, another one where they were zombies, another one set in the ancient era, another one where they were villains…” Spike responded excitedly. “It all started when Phanos used the Infinity Horseshoe to-”

“Shhh! Quiet. If we want to find who is eating the apples, we must be silent,” Dusk said. It was better to silence Spike before he got excited and started telling the entire story of the expanded Power Ponies multiverse again. “Besides, we're not looking for a real vampire. It’s just another fruit vampire that my spell didn't touch.”

“But what if this isn't a fruit vampire and it's a real vampire!?” Spike said, imagining it and swallowing in fear. “The vampires of universe 216 were terrifying. They saw in the dark and sucked the blood of other ponies, until they were bone-deep." Spike added, with a slight shiver. “Although the Power Ponies from universe 616 were able to defeat them using wooden stakes and necklaces of-”

“Ugh…” Dusk said frustrated, hitting his face with his hoof and seeing that it would be impossible to make his brother stop talking about his favorite comic for several days.

Minutes passed, and nothing strange appeared anywhere as everyone continued walking together.

“The orchard behind the barn isn’t as big as the others, but it’s still a lot of ground to cover. We oughta separate.” Applejack said, approaching Dusk.

At his ex-marefriend's comment, Dusk lowered his gaze and glanced at Fluttershy next to him. Who kept looking around scared. What Applejack said was something that Dusk had thought from the moment they began the search. However, in the morning, he had promised Fluttershy that they would be together, and he didn't want to break his promise.

“Huff… You’re right. If we all continue together, it could take us all night,” Dusk sighed, stopping. They had to be more practical if they wanted to find the culprit. “The best thing will be to separate ourselves to cover more ground. If you find something strange, make some kind of signal to the rest of us.” Dusk added, looking at his friends and illuminating the sky with his horn to show them what type of signal they might use.

“Umm…” Fluttershy said weakly. Looking scared at Dusk and then looking away embarrassed.

"Easy. Everyone else will separate, but I’ll stay with you,” Dusk said, touching Fluttershy to calm her down. “You didn't think I would break my promise, did you?” Dusk added with a big smile full of confidence.

Seeing that smile made Fluttershy blush and put on a small, cute smile as well.

“Okay, time to split up,” Dusk immediately said, so as not to waste any more time.

“W-Wait!” Pinkie Pie suddenly said. Raising her hoof to stop Dusk, just when everyone was about to separate.

For several seconds, Pinkie Pie didn't say anything. She simply looked at Dusk and then at Fluttershy, her mouth ajar. It was as if she wanted to say something, but didn't dare say it. Then, after a few seconds, Pinkie lowered her head and then raised it again, putting on a somewhat nervous smile.

“I-It's nothing. Everything is fine, hehe.” Pinkie Pie laughed nervously.

“Well, let's not wait any longer. Let’s go look for the vampire!” Rainbow Dash said, flying away. Everyone else took that as a signal to walk in different directions.

As she walked, Pinkie Pie couldn't help but take one last nervous glance at Dusk and Fluttershy, who were walking away together.

“I can't distrust Dusk, nor can I distrust my friends…” Pinkie Pie thought, repeating that over and over again to calm her doubts while she walked away from her coltfriend.

For their part, Dusk and Fluttershy walked in silence, looking for any sign of dried apples in the surroundings. Although compared to the others, they were still moving slowly, since Fluttershy kept stopping with fear when she heard a branch break or felt a leaf brush against her fur.

“It always surprises me that you’re the only one who has faced a huge dragon face to face, but you’re still scared of the darkness, hehe,” Dusk said smiling. Maybe talking a little would calm his dear friend.

“Dragons scare me, too. That time in the mountains, it was only because I needed to protect my friends,” Fluttershy said timidly. “But the darkness is scarier because you don't know what might appear... What if there really is a vampire!? Like the ones Spike mentioned in his comic!”

“Vampires don’t exist,” Dusk said as he continued walking. Blushing a little when remembering that just yesterday he had dreamed about a vampire. “By the way, it's curious. Yesterday when I was sleeping, I dreamed that-” 'GROWL...’ Dusk suddenly stopped talking when his stomach growled with hunger. "Oh, I'm sorry. I think with all the preparations, I forgot to have dinner,” Dusk added embarrassedly, scratching his head.

After looking around, Dusk approached one of the apple trees and took an appetizing apple from a branch, with Fluttershy watching from behind.

“I don't think Applejack will mind if I eat just one apple to stave off my hunger.” Dusk said while taking a bite of that juicy apple.

As soon as Dusk bit into the apple, Fluttershy froze and stared at him with big, attentive eyes. She began to drool when she smelled the inside of that appetizing apple, and without her realizing it, two of her teeth began to slowly lengthen until they became fangs.

Distracted as he was, eating his apple, Dusk didn’t notice that his friend lowered her head while her breathing became agitated and her body subtly glowed. Her ears became more pointed, and her wings changed shape slightly. From the side of the shy pegasus, the three pink butterflies that were her cutie mark, mutated to look like three pink bats. Under the moonlight, the shy Fluttershy disappeared, and in her place, was 'Flutterbat', the lustful and daring part of Fluttershy that she always hid, and that was now active thanks to an accidental spell.

“I think I'll have another one.” Dusk said, taking out another apple and biting into it. Then he turned and looked at Fluttershy. "Do you want one?"

“Yes…” Fluttershy said, hiding her gaze and approaching Dusk with a big smile. "Yes, I do."

Arriving in front of Dusk, Fluttershy hit the apple that Dusk had on his hoof and, without warning, kissed Dusk hard, tasting the apple juice that Dusk still had in his mouth. This left Dusk completely paralyzed, since never in his life did he imagine that his shy friend would give him such an intense kiss without warning.

"Yeah…! I love this flavor!” Fluttershy shouted after kissing Dusk. Looking up at the sky with crazy eyes full of excitement, tasting the apple juice directly from Dusk's soft lips. Then she lowered her head again and looked straight at Dusk, full of desire. "I want more!"

“W-wait, Fluttershy!” Dusk said in fear. He was red with shame from the implications of what he had just done. Taking a step back away from Fluttershy. “W-What are you doing? I… I’m with Pinkie Pie,” Dusk added nervously. He felt a certain insecurity in his words, and Fluttershy's intense gaze was still on him. “A-are you using 'the stare' on me?” Dusk asked uncertainly, seeing Fluttershy's intense gaze.

“I don't need to use it on you,” Fluttershy said with pride. She jumped on Dusk, causing him to fall to the ground on his back and her to fall on top of him. “I know you want me… I see it in your eyes.” Fluttershy said with a flirtatious look, bringing her face very close to Dusk's.

Before Dusk could react or say anything else, Fluttershy suddenly made a pained face. Then her body subtly glowed as her ears became more bat-like, and her wings became more pointed. Opening her eyes again, Fluttershy's eyes were sharper and redder, looking less and less like a pony's.

“Yummy… Apple… Dusk …” Fluttershy said, starting to lick Dusk's lips.

"Who's there!?" Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted from afar. A flashlight shone towards where Dusk and Fluttershy were.

Seeing that all that noise was caused by one of her best friends throwing themselves at her coltfriend made Pinkie Pie freeze for a second.

“Gaaahh!” Fluttershy screeched like a vampire and tried to cover the light with her hoof. Then she opened her vampire wings and flew away as quickly as she could.

“That… That was a vampire!” Spike suddenly shouted. He had also arrived there and managed to see 'Flutterbat'.

After hearing the noise and seeing Pinkie Pie's flashlight illuminated, everyone else had run to where Dusk was, so it didn't take long for them to gather together. There, while Dusk came out of his surprise and got up, Spike took the opportunity to tell Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash what he had seen.

“That… That was Fluttershy?” Pinkie Pie asked scared. Still unable to believe what she had seen.

“Yes…” Dusk said worriedly. “I'm not sure, but I think that when she used 'the stare' on the fruit vampires and I used my magic, somehow the desire to eat apples was transferred to her. Making… her totally change who she is,” Dusk added, scared and blaming himself for changing his friend to who she was now.

“Are you saying… Fluttershy turned into a fruit vampire?” Rainbow Dash said. Still unable to believe that crazy story.

“What if she didn't just become a fruit vampire? What if this vampire does eat ponies!?” Spike shouted in terror.

“Darling, Fluttershy couldn't eat another pony,” Rarity said, calming Spike.

“Well, I wouldn't be so sure…” Pinkie said with a pouty face. She looked askance at Dusk, who, for his part, blushed deeply.

“We must reverse the spell as soon as possible.” Dusk said worried. Remembering how he had seen Fluttershy transforming. "Come on! We must save Fluttershy!” Dusk added, running towards where he had seen Fluttershy fly. Followed by Spike and the other girls.

Rarity and Dusk illuminated their horns to illuminate their surroundings, as did Pinkie Pie with her flashlight. Rainbow Dash flew quickly through the tops of the apple trees to look for her friend. Everyone shouted Fluttershy's name, but there was no response.

"What's that!?" Spike shouted scared. He could see something flying low to the ground, directly in his direction.

The ponies barely had time to turn around, as Flutterbat flew quickly and smoothly between them, fleeing in the opposite direction. Everyone ran to the other side and Rainbow Dash hurried after her. However, unlike Fluttershy with her new vampiric traits, Rainbow Dash couldn't see in the dark. Causing her to crash into tree branches several times. Which in turn, caused Flutterbat to laugh.

“Are you making fun of me!?” Rainbow Dash shouted furiously. She turned to look at Dusk, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. “Light my way better!”

"I'm sorry, Rainbow! She's too fast,” Rarity shouted apologetically.

“Ugh… Who knew Fluttershy could be so fast…” Rainbow Dash sighed, flying in place.

"Right?" Flutterbat chimed in. She’d managed to sneak behind Rainbow Dash without her noticing.

Before Rainbow Dash could react, Flutterbat smashed an apple in her face, which completely blocked Rainbow Dash's vision.

“She knows… I'm better!” Flutterbat shouted with a triumphant laugh. She swooped over Dusk and the others, throwing apples in their faces as well. “No more good fool! I be new! I better!" Fluttershy said laughing. For some reason, she wasn’t speaking in complete sentences, like she had a hard time speaking.

“Ugh! She's too fast,” Applejack said, wiping the apple off her face.

As Dusk wiped the apple off his face, he was surprised to see that Flutterbat was in front of him, hovering upside down in front of his face.

“You not clean… I lick.” Flutterbat said with a mischievous smile and ran her tongue over Dusk's face.

"There you are!" Rainbow Dash shouted, launching herself quickly at Flutterbat. However, at the last second, Flutterbat moved and managed to evade the blue pegasus.

“Hahahaha!” Flutterbat laughed. She quickly flew to hide among the apple trees again.

"What do we do!?" Pinkie Pie asked, very scared after losing sight of Fluttershy again.

“If we can't be faster than her, we have to be smarter.” Dusk said blushing. He wiped the area of his face where Fluttershy had licked him.

“I… I think I have an idea,” Applejack said with a look of doubt. Then she turned and ran toward the barn. "Wait here, y’all."

After a couple of minutes, Applejack returned, carrying Old Tom's last huge apple. The apple that Applejack had cared for and saved for the big Appleloosa contest.

“Ah hopf ith workh…” Applejack said with a knife in her mouth. Her expression was pitiful, but then it changed to one full of determination. Cutting the huge apple so that its exquisite aroma could come out.

As soon as Applejack cut the apple, everyone around her could immediately smell the powerful and delicious aroma coming out of that enormous fruit. Applejack had sacrificed her precious treasure to help her friend. If that smell didn't attract Fluttershy, nothing would.

“Mmm… Delicious!” Flutterbat suddenly said in the dark. Giving everyone hope that she had taken the bait. Suddenly, Fluttershy started laughing. “Be trap! I apples all farm... Not fall into trap! Hahahaha! SCREECH!” Fluttershy laughed in the dark. She released a final screech identical to that of a real bat.

“No… It didn't work?” Applejack said terrified. Seeing that her last hope had vanished.

“This is bad… Every time she speaks, it becomes more difficult for her to speak normally. And every minute that passes, she looks more like a vampire,” Dusk said thoughtfully, with a scared look.

“Wait… That's good!” Rainbow Dash said, thinking of an idea. “If she becomes more and more like a fruit vampire, let's wait until she becomes less clever, and then she’ll fall into the trap!”

"No! It’s too dangerous. The effects on her could be permanent! We must reverse the spell as soon as possible!” Dusk said with a look full of terror. Feeling horribly guilty as he saw that his spell had altered his beloved friend's mind. "What do we do!?" Dusk added scared, holding his head to try to think quickly of a plan.

"I know!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, opening her eyes wide. She looked at Dusk anxiously for a second, but she quickly approached him with a look full of determination. "Come on! We must save Fluttershy!” Pinkie added, pulling Dusk with her.

Not understanding what Pinkie Pie was planning, all of her friends shrugged and followed her to the barn, carrying Applejack's huge apple back.

Not far from the barn, Flutterbat was hanging from the branch of an apple tree. With a new long, retractable tongue, she stretched out her tongue to pick up the apples around her until she sucked all the juice out of them. With every second it became harder for her to think about what she would do next or how she would continue making fun of her friends. With every passing moment, she began to act more on instinct, slowly forgetting that she was once a pony. She was losing her essence to become an animal.

“Gaaah!” Flutterbat suddenly screeched as she heard shouting not far from where she was.

With her animal curiosity heightened, Flutterbat flew to an apple tree in front of the barn. There, she saw that the mares who had been her friends were now shouting for her.

“Fools… SCREECH! I don’t trap… SCREECH!” Flutterbat groaned. It was getting harder and harder for her to think clearly, and she sounded more and more like a bat.

Fluttershy's friends entered the barn again, only this time, they came out with the huge apple that Applejack had saved for the contest. The one that was still cut on one side and gave off that delicious smell of apple juice.

“SCREECH! I... don't... fall... trap... SCREECH!” Flutterbat whispered weakly from the hanging branch. This time it was very difficult for her to control her animal instincts that were screaming at her to fly to that delicious and appetizing apple. However, she still had some reasoning left to control herself.

Wanting to get away from the temptation, Flutterbat spread her wings to get away from the barn. However, something else that came out of the barn caught her attention…

“I hope this works…” Dusk Shine whispered, red with shame, which ironically helped add to his outfit. He was dressed as 'Li’l Appleling, the happy apple'. It was the big costume that Applejack had once asked him to wear to help her sell apples, a long time ago.

“Okay girls, now!” Pinkie Pie shouted, pointing at her other friends from behind Dusk.

Hearing the signal, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack cut several large pieces from Applejack's huge apple and pressed them against Dusk, filling his suit with delicious apple juice.

From afar, Flutterbat hadn't understood what those ponies were trying to do. However, she didn't need to understand, after seeing and smelling Dusk from afar. Flutterbat's eyes shone with maximum desire as she saw the greatest temptation she could ever see. Her beloved Dusk Shine, half virile stallion, half delicious apple, bathed in sweet, sweet apple juice.

Flutterbat couldn’t resist the temptation, and with her mouth drooling with desire and her eyes full of love, she bolted towards where Dusk was. Her reason was lost, and she was completely letting herself be carried away by her animal instincts.

Dusk Shine could barely react when he felt a fast pink and yellow trail crash into him, making him fall to the ground.

"Mine…! Mine!! Delicious…!" Flutterbat screamed wildly, while uncontrollably licking the juice from Dusk's face. And with her hooves she began to tear the apple suit to try to reach its sweet center. "I love... so much…!" Flutterbat continued speaking full of desire, kissing and licking Dusk's lips. With a mind so confused, she wasn't sure if she was saying that because of the apples or because of Dusk Shine.

"It worked! Now, for the second part of the plan!” Pinkie Pie shouted to her friends, who had run into the barn after bathing Dusk in apple juice.

At Pinkie Pie's signal, she, Spike, and her three friends ran to surround Fluttershy, carrying several mirrors with them. They all waited for the next part of the plan. Dusk was too shocked to act, so they just stood there while the seconds passed and Fluttershy continued attacking Dusk with kisses and licks.

“Ahem…! Dusk… Your turn,” Pinkie Pie coughed, giving Dusk an annoyed look when her coltfriend wasn’t carrying out the next part of the plan.

“Oh! Y-yes, yes! I'm sorry!" Dusk said, red with embarrassment. Having Fluttershy on top of him, kissing and licking him so passionately, had made him lose track of time for a second.

After coming out of his daze, Dusk used his magic to teleport outside of his friends’ circle. Seeing that her desired prey had disappeared, Flutterbat turned and looked around angrily, immediately using 'the stare'. Under normal circumstances, it would leave her victim helpless. However, instead of seeing her prey, the only pony Flutterbat saw was herself.

The impact of using 'the stare' on herself caused Flutterbat to freeze for a few seconds. Then, from behind the mirrors, it wasn’t necessary for Pinkie Pie to give the signal again. Dusk immediately used a counter spell to reverse the spell he had used the day before, causing Flutterbat's body to glow with magic.

All the secondary bat characteristics that had been manifesting in Fluttershy's body slowly faded away. Until finally, the body of the shy yellow pegasus returned to being the same as always.

It was after noon when a sore and normal Fluttershy finally woke up in her friend Applejack's comfortable bed. Her mind was very confused as she opened her eyes, and she became even more confused as she slowly opened her eyes and saw that she wasn’t in her own room.

“Hngh… What happened…? Where am I?" Fluttershy said exhausted, even though she had slept for hours.

“Oh! You finally woke up! Are you okay?" Pinkie Pie suddenly said, approaching worriedly to where her friend was. She had been sitting in a nearby chair, taking care of Fluttershy.

“Pinkie Pie?” Fluttershy murmured in confusion. Then she let her head fall back onto the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. "Sigh... I don't know why, but for a second, I thought I would wake up and see Dusk..." After saying that, Fluttershy blushed deeply when she realized that she had been so dizzy, that she had accidentally said that out loud in instead of just thinking about it. “S-Sorry! I didn’t mean that!" Fluttershy immediately apologized, red with embarrassment.

"Don't worry, if you had woken up a few minutes earlier, you would have met Dusk." Pinkie Pie said with a small smile of relief. Her shy friend was acting like she normally did. “He never left your side. He stayed awake all night, until this morning, when I made him go eat something.”

“Oh… I see…” Fluttershy said, unable to resist putting on a small smile when she discovered that Dusk had stayed with her all night for some reason. “But… What happened? Did I fall asleep...? The last thing I remember was looking for the fruit vampire at night…” Fluttershy added, very confused.

“Well… We caught the culprit, but it wasn't a fruit vampire,” Pinkie Pie answered. Looking with a mischievous look at her friend.

"No? Then, who ate Applejack's apples?" Fluttershy asked still confused.

At Fluttershy's question, Pinkie Pie simply smiled mischievously and raised her eyebrows a couple of times. She looked carefully at Fluttershy, remaining silent. For several seconds, Fluttershy didn't understand why her friend didn't respond and just stared at her. If it hadn't been a fruit vampire, who else could have eaten apples in the night? She couldn't remember anything from last night, at least, nothing before falling asleep and having that strange dream...

Slowly Fluttershy began to open her eyes in horror as she imagined something. Then she looked at Pinkie Pie, who just kept staring at her, amused at the look on Fluttershy's face as she slowly discovered the truth.

“I… I had a strange dream…” Fluttershy said slowly, putting on a very nervous smile. “That… That was just a dream, right?” Fluttershy hoped for an answer, but Pinkie Pie simply widened her smile, barely able to contain her laughter. Then Fluttershy widened her eyes and gasped as she understood what her dream had really been.

“NO, NO, NO! It can’t be true!" Fluttershy shouted, red with embarrassment, covering her face with her hooves. So embarrassed that smoke was almost coming out of her red ears. “Noooooo…” Fluttershy gasped. Feeling more embarrassed than she had ever been in her life.

If everything that had happened hadn't been a dream, it meant that she... She had been the cause of everything! She had transformed into a vampire! Her animalistic and lustful side had taken over her. She had been conscious the entire time, but she had chalked up her bold manner to it being just a dream. She didn't understand why she acted differently, and also... She had enjoyed it! Be daring and fearless, make fun of others, steal apples, be like a bat... Kiss Dusk! She had attacked him and showed him her sensual side, licking his neck and his mouth... Not just last night! The night before, too! Sneaking into Dusk's room, hypnotizing him and having him under her control... Having Dusk all to herself was all she could think about!

Fluttershy's embarrassment was so great and her face was so red, that she began to feel dizzy until she almost fainted. Which caused her to fall back again, staring up at the ceiling, exhausted and dizzy, with steam coming out of her ears because of how hot and red her face was.

Pinkie Pie waited patiently for Fluttershy to calm down a little and for her face to stop being as red as a tomato. That took several minutes, until finally Pinkie felt that her friend had calmed down enough.

“I always knew you could be daring if you put your mind to it.” Pinkie Pie joked, smiling. She couldn’t help but joke one last time with her friend. Fluttershy raised the covers of her bed to hide under them because of the shame she felt.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Fluttershy said quickly, her voice slightly muffled from the blankets.

For several seconds, Pinkie Pie was silent. That seemed strange to Fluttershy, so she slowly peeked her head out of the blankets that covered her. As she did so, she saw that Pinkie Pie had a sad look, staring into nothingness.

“I was a fool… I could hardly control my jealousy.” Pinkie Pie said, looking down sadly and then looking at Fluttershy seriously. “Since the morning I smelled your scent in Dusk, I suspected you. I really thought Dusk could be cheating on me with you... Then, at night, when you and Dusk left alone, I wanted to scream for you to separate! The only thing I could think about was that I wanted you to stay away from my coltfriend.” Pinkie added, starting to speak seriously and then softening her gaze, until she was almost on the verge of crying. “But when I saw you transformed, all that jealousy disappeared. I didn't mind making Dusk come closer to you and you throwing yourself at him. The only thing I thought about… was that I wanted my friend to be well!” Pinkie added, hugging Fluttershy and crying with relief. “Kiss Dusk as many times as you want, but don't scare me like that again!”

Fluttershy put on a surprised look in Pinkie’s embrace. She thought that Pinkie would be furious with her for taking advantage of her coltfriend like she did. However, she realized that the friendship they both had was stronger than the jealousy or anger that Pinkie could feel. After hugging each other for a long time, they both separated and looked at each other affectionately.

“I'm sorry for kissing Dusk,” Fluttershy said seriously. This time not blushing at that memory, but sincerely wanting to ask for her friend's forgiveness for kissing her coltfriend.

“It doesn't matter, you weren't yourself,” Pinkie Pie said smiling. “Besides, it seems like you hypnotized him or something,” Pinkie added, turning her hooves to the side of her head and rolling her eyes to mime what she was talking about.

“I… I think so,” Fluttershy answered blushing, looking away.

“It was a dirty trick to use 'the stare' on Dusk,” Fluttershy thought sadly. “But... Did I use it every time? I'm not sure... what if... There were a couple of times when Dusk kissed me without being controlled by me?” Fluttershy thought. Ashamed of such a thought, but deep down, wishing that a part of Dusk had kissed her of his own free will.

"I remember now!" Fluttershy suddenly said as she remembered 'her dream', when she sneaked into Dusk's room. “I remember that the night before I approached Dusk and ordered him to tell me that he loved me, he resisted and said that you were his marefriend. He was able to resist 'the stare' for a moment, because of the love he feels for you,” Fluttershy stated, staring at Pinkie Pie. Who, for her part, was surprised and then looked away, blushing.

“Well… He's my coltfriend. It’s the least he could do,” Pinkie said. She was happy to discover that Dusk, even hypnotized, was able to resist a little thanks to her love. Then Pinkie fell onto the bed, on top of Fluttershy, and stared at the ceiling. “I guess this was our test.” Pinkie added, smiling, looking up at the ceiling.

"Test?" Fluttershy asked, confused.

“Remember the third secret rule of our deal?” Pinkie asked, keeping her eyes on the ceiling. “We said that we would test Dusk's love, when he was one of us's coltfriend. I guess this was our test.”

Upon hearing that, Fluttershy made a surprised face, since she had almost forgotten about that rule they had in their agreement to be Dusk's marefriends.

“So… what I did wasn't wrong?” Fluttershy whispered, lowering her gaze and making a thoughtful face as she remembered everything that happened. Then she smiled a little and blushed. Maybe bringing out her daring side was a good thing after all. Since it helped Pinkie overcome her jealousy, Dusk reaffirmed his courtship, and mainly... She had managed to kiss Dusk several times!

“Hey…” Pinkie suddenly said, breaking Fluttershy out of her thoughts.

Seeing Fluttershy smirking, Pinkie Pie put on a fake serious look and gave Fluttershy a small tap on her forehead.

“Ouch!” Fluttershy complained, touching her forehead.

“Don't put on that smile. Remember that you’re still a mare who kissed someone else's coltfriend.” Pinkie said, putting on an annoyed look.

"I'm sorry," Fluttershy quickly said, embarrassed. Then they both stayed silent for a second and both burst out laughing. Knowing that even if it was serious, they could joke about it. They had both passed a test of love, and their friendship had become stronger.

“I'm glad you're the same as always,” Pinkie Pie said as she laughed with her shy and kind friend.

"Me too," Fluttershy said laughing. Without realizing that, despite returning to normal, one of her teeth was still shaped like a small fang. A sign that 'her daring side' might not be hidden forever, and would be ready when Dusk least expected it...

Minutes before Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie made up, Dusk had finished eating his breakfast in the kitchen. Then he headed back to where Fluttershy was sleeping, however, seeing through the edge of the door that she was fine and that she was talking to Pinkie, he smiled in relief and walked away, comfortable with the thought that his friend couldn't be in better hooves than Pinkie's. Since he was satisfied, Dusk left Applejack's house and went to where his other friends were.

Next to the barn, in the apple trees where 'Flutterbat' had been caught, Applejack was nailing some boards together, and next to her was Rainbow Dash, carrying more wooden boards, and Rarity, painting a sign.

“Do you need help with the fence?” Dusk asked when he arrived with his friends.

“No, we're almost done,” Applejack answered, finishing nailing and placing the sign Rarity had painted by the fence, which said: 'Apple tree area for fruit vampires.'

The night before, after reversing the spell that affected Fluttershy, the fruit vampires woke up and regained their taste for apples. However, whether it was because of the fear caused by having been bewitched, or because they had been infected this time with a little of Fluttershy's kindness, the vampires didn’t fly throughout the farm eating apples. Instead, they stayed in a small sector of the orchard.

For a moment, Applejack had thought about shooing them away again. However, Dusk convinced her to follow Fluttershy's original plan and let them stay.

“They may not be attacking all the apple trees on the farm now, but I still think it's unfair that they stay, eat for free, and contribute nothing,” Applejack said, seeing how they had finished building the fence, and how those lazy vampires were sleeping, after eating all night.

“You know, I've been thinking, and maybe vampires aren't completely a pest…” Dusk said. He bent down towards a small sprout that was in the dirt. “Old Tom, who gave you that huge apple, is almost as old as Granny Smith. And you said that when she was young, Granny Smith saw the last infestation of fruit vampires here.”

"Well, yeah. But what does one thing have to do with the other?” Applejack asked.

“Do you remember what Fluttershy managed to translate when she talked to the fruit vampires?” Dusk said, pointing at the bats. “They said something about seeds, that they were strong and that the apple trees were theirs. Well maybe we misunderstood. Maybe they didn't say that they were strong, but that thanks to them, the seeds are strong. Therefore, they believe that the apple trees belong to them,” Dusk added, smiling at his friend. “I think the seeds that vampires spit out are stronger than the normal seeds that fall from apple trees. That's why Old Tom was so strong. If you let the fruit vampires stay here, in a few years you could have an orchard full of apple trees as strong as old Tom.”

“Hmm… sacrificing a good portion of one year's apple crop, in exchange for having dozens of strong apple trees for the next few years…” Applejack said with a thoughtful look while doing a mental calculation. Her eyes shone with excitement as she realized the enormous benefit it could have. “Yeah… that could be real nice,” Applejack added, her eyes shining so much with ambition that they genuinely looked like two huge bits.

When they saw that their country friend had changed her opinion about fruit vampires in just seconds, going from hate to love, Dusk and his friends began to laugh. Everything had finally had a good outcome for everyone.

While they were laughing, Dusk couldn't help but be distracted when he saw that Big Mac walked very slowly behind him. Sighing sadly, towards his plow, to go to work in one of the orchards.

“Applejack, is something wrong with Big Mac?” Dusk asked, approaching his friend to whisper. As the big red stallion walked away from them, not even paying them any attention. “Yesterday, he had the same depressed look as today.”

“Huff… It's nothing,” Applejack said sighing. “It's just that there was a mare in another town that was always asking for shipments of apples. Big Mac always went personally to deliver them to her because I think he liked her. But a week ago, that mare canceled all her orders.” At that moment Applejack put on a more serious look and let out a sharp breath through her nose as if she was upset about something. “Honestly, I'm glad that mare isn't askin’ for more of our apples. She was startin’ to brainwash Big Mac and convincing him to join a cult or something.”

“A cult?” Dusk asked.

Applejack lifted her hat and passed Dusk a scroll that Big Mac had brought with him the last time he visited that mare. Dusk took that paper and saw that it was a black and white poster, with a huge symbol of two large horizontal lines one above the other... an = sign.

At Canterlot Castle, a new day was ending. After finishing another busy day of work, Celestia headed towards her room. From there, she used her powerful alicorn magic to lower the sun, while in another part of the castle, her sister Luna was to raise the moon.

“I hope Luna raises the moon as big and brightly as she did yesterday,” Celestia thought after the Sun was hidden. She raised her eyes to look for that night's moon.

Seeing the night sky appear, Celestia waited a moment, but was surprised to see that the moon had not yet appeared. That was peculiar, but it wasn’t anything to worry about. It was common knowledge that the moon, like the princess of the night herself, was more temperamental. It usually appeared punctually from the opposite area where the sun set, with its round shape completely illuminated. However, there were times when the moon took longer to rise or rose a little earlier than the sun; in addition to there being some minor occasions when it shone only partially, causing its shape to change into a waning or waxing moon.

“I wonder if Luna is worried about something today…” Celestia thought, looking at the dark night sky, which was only lit by stars at the moment.

The Sun Princess was suddenly distracted when someone knocked on her door. Without waiting for Celestia to respond, it opened. Just as Celestia anticipated, her sister Luna appeared in the frame and entered her older sister's room with a serious look.

“Luna, is something wrong?” Celestia asked worriedly, seeing her sister's face. “You haven't even raised the moon yet.”

“Are you asking if something is wrong with me? That is the question I came to ask you,” Luna responded, keeping her look serious. She used her magic to raise the moon, and just as Celestia anticipated, it rose with a waning phase, as if the night star itself knew that Luna had a problem.

“Why would I have a problem?” Celestia asked, putting on her usual poker look. For a split second though, she glanced away.

“You haven't waited for me for breakfast for a couple of days. And when you lower the sun, you have done it from your room instead of your usual place: the balcony,” Luna said, changing her serious look to a worried one. “Are you… Are you trying to avoid me?”

For a second, Celestia thought about lying. However, she had promised not to lie to her sister anymore. So Celestia hesitated and remained silent for a few seconds.

“Are you hiding something from me?” Luna asked, looking at her older sister with a mix of concern and annoyance. “Is there something you don't want to tell me?”

“It's not that I want to hide something from you, Luna. I just don't know how to tell you.” Celestia said, looking sadly at her sister. “I don't want to hurt you, but I want you to understand the importance of what I'm going to ask of you.”

"Just say it," Luna said seriously, standing firmly in front of her sister.

For several seconds, Celestia stared at her sister's determined look. She didn't want to hide more things from her, even though she knew they could hurt her. It was then that Celestia sighed and also put on a serious look. She would take Luna's path and say things upfront.

“I don't want you to fall in love with Dusk Shine,” Celestia said, glaring at her younger sister.

It was Luna's turn to be silent. She was shocked to discover that her sister knew that she liked Dusk, and more importantly... asked her to stay away from him!? That… That was the same request that…

“I overheard your conversation with Pinkie Pie the other day,” Celestia said seriously, anticipating what her sister thought. “I think her advice was very accurate. Dusk is enjoying his youth with his friends. He’s just discovering what love is, and I don't want to further complicate his life and his decisions, involving you in the middle.”

Luna was simply speechless. She could hardly believe that her sister had spied on her, let alone in a conversation as intimate as the one she and Pinkie Pie had had regarding Dusk. Furthermore, the tone with which her sister spoke to her… Was she giving her an order!?

“I understand that you’re starting to have feelings for Dusk. But you’ve only met him a few times,” Celestia continued. She softened her tone as she realized that due to her fear, she had begun to speak too authoritatively. “I want you to stop meeting him before those latent feelings you may be feeling turn into true love.”

“What do you know about love…?” Luna finally responded, lowering her head angrily. That comment, unknown to Luna, hurt her sister more than she imagined. “I haven't seen him just a few times. I have seen him dozens of times, perhaps more than his own friends. I have visited him in his dreams. We have shared beautiful moments... And now that you find out by accident that I like him, do you want to use the advice that my new friend gave me, just because she is now his marefriend, to keep me away from him? I will stay away from Dusk as long as Pinkie Pie is his marefriend because I don't want to betray her trust, but that doesn't mean you can tell me who I can or can't fall in love with!” Luna shouted furiously as the pent-up rage that she hadn't been able to shout at Pinkie Pie that day she helped her on her birthday was released. It was a rage that Luna couldn't express because she didn't know how a friend should react, but now, in front of her sister, she could finally express it.

“She… She's more in love than I thought,” Celestia thought worriedly. It was surprising to hear that her sister had used her ability to travel in dreams to get closer to Dusk without her knowing.

"Give me a reason!" Luna said angrily, looking defiantly at her sister. “Just one reason why I can't fall in love with Dusk!”

Seeing Luna's fierce and determined look, Celestia sadly lowered her gaze. The only way to stop Luna would be to hurt her... with the truth.

While the two alicorn sisters were gathered in Celestia's room, two other sisters were walking down the hallway. Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel were heading towards the Sun Princess's room, knowing that their beloved princesses were there. They had both anticipated their Highnesses’ voracious appetites, and brought them their favorite sweets.

‘SLAM!’ Just before they reached Celestia's room, Luna fiercely burst through the door. She then paused just inside the hallway, breathing heavily. It was so sudden that both twin maids dropped the trays with all the sweets they were bringing.

“M-My Princess…” Sweet Caramel said worriedly, with a weak voice. Her beloved princess had left the room so suddenly, she didn’t know what to think.

Hearing a voice, Luna looked up. At that moment, both maid sisters became even more worried. Princess Luna had a strange look. It was a mixture of fear and anger, as if something had horrified her.

Seeing that her maids were watching her attentively, Luna closed her eyes tightly and walked quickly down the hallway in the opposite direction.

"Princess!" Sweet Caramel shouted, cantering after her beloved princess. She knew that something must have affected her princess greatly for her to look that way.

After seeing her sister run, Sweet Creme realized that she had to worry about her own princess. Then she quickly got up and entered the room of her beloved Princess Celestia. As soon as she entered, Sweet Creme froze before something she had never seen before... In front of the bedroom window, looking outside, was her beloved princess. She wore her usual contemplative gaze, which seemed to see everything. However, despite having a serene look, her eyes didn’t stop crying.

“M-My princess…” Sweet Creme murmured worriedly, watching in shock as her princess cried.

“Always surrounded by so much light… Sometimes I forget how beautiful the darkness can be,” Celestia said, still looking out the window. Since the moon was waning and didn’t illuminate the sky much, in the distance, she could see the beautiful and cold lights of the northern aurora.

End of chapter 28

Chapter 29 - A dragon and his family

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A dragon and his family

"Hurry up! The girls must already be waiting for us.” Dusk Shine said as he walked at a fast pace through the streets of Ponyville. “I knew you would be late… You baked too many desserts!” Dusk added, looking back at his little brother, who was walking behind him.

“There aren't that many.” Spike said, also walking quickly while balancing a large tray full of desserts. “Pinkie Pie and Applejack always make us desserts. So, I thought it would be nice if I cooked something for them this time.”

“Hmm… Uh-huh… And it has nothing to do with the fact that yesterday at breakfast Rarity praised a strawberry dessert that you cooked just for her, right?” Dusk said, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

“O-Of course not!” Spike stammered, blushing, feigning indignation at such an accusation. Well, the truth was that that was precisely the reason why Spike spent the entire morning cooking desserts—all to surprise his beloved Rarity again.

Despite it being a beautiful, warm afternoon, the streets of Ponyville were completely empty, except for Dusk and Spike who were walking towards the outskirts of town. There were even boarded-up windows, turning the once bustling town into an almost ghost town.

Even though his beloved town had that drastic transformation, Dusk Shine didn't care at all. In fact, he understood it. It wasn't that there was no one in the town, what was happening was that all its inhabitants were locked in their houses, many trembling with fear, due to the great migration of dragons that would pass over their town that day, just before sunset.

The migration of dragons occurred every hundred years when dragons flew from the distant 'Dragon Lands' towards their ancient ancestral home. A pilgrimage that all dragons had to make at least once in their lives, and that every time it happened, this made the ponies very scared. An ancient fear that came from ancient stories which told how dragons hunted ponies in ancient times. A practice that dragons had not done for thousands of years, thanks to the power of ponies like Celestia, Luna, and their ancestors, who managed to change those barbaric customs. However, despite the fact that the dragons no longer hunted ponies for food, and that they swore to cross Equestria in peace on their migration, normal ponies couldn’t help but fear those enormous fire-breathing creatures with sharp teeth. So, generally speaking, the ponies always hid in their houses until the migration was over.

Hiding for that event was almost a tradition for the ponies. But there were always a few, like Dusk Shine, who were fascinated by having the opportunity to see such enormous beasts so close for the first time. And, of course, Dusk convinced his friends so that they could all together see that great show, a once-in-a-lifetime event.

After reaching the outskirts of the town, Dusk and Spike came to a small ditch covered with bushes. One that he himself had excavated with magic the day before, so that his friends would feel safer seeing the fearsome dragons from a less visible place. There, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity were already there. All wearing camouflage clothes and hats, for greater safety. Although Rarity was a special case, since green and combat clothes were not her thing, she wore a beautiful purple dress with yellow and brown patterns. Which of course, took camouflage to a new level of fashion.

“What took you so long?” Pinkie Pie asked, looking at Dusk with binoculars, even though she was standing in front of him.

“Spike took a little while with the snacks.” Dusk responded with a small smile. Seeing that although Dusk told them that dragons were prohibited from attacking during migration, his friends had still felt unsafe, enough to wear camouflage clothing. “By the way, Fluttershy isn't here yet?” Dusk asked, noticing that one of his friends was missing.

“She won't come... I went to her house to convince her, but she says she's still terrified of dragons.” Rainbow Dash said annoyed. Remembering how Fluttershy had charged at her in her panic to flee, leaving her all dizzy. “Besides… I think she's still embarrassed to look into your eyes, after becoming the sexy kiss-stealing vampire.” The pegasus added, looking at Dusk and smiling at him with a mischievous smile. Which made the lavender stallion blush as he remembered the sassy side of his shy pegasus friend.

“It's time! They’re coming!” Applejack suddenly shouted. Who kept looking up at the sky with her binoculars.

At their friend's warning, everyone hid a little further behind the bushes, and put on their binoculars to look up at the sky. There, everyone could see how dozens and dozens of dragons began to fly towards Ponyville. Dragons of all colors, sizes and shapes. Some were more elongated, almost resembling snakes; others more robust with small wings; others with large pointed tails; reds, greens, whites; some the size of Celestia and others larger than a house. All very different from each other, but with something in common. Sharp and terrifying teeth, sharp and fierce gazes, and strong claws that could easily tear the skin of a soft pony.

Spike and the six ponies stared at the spectacle with their mouths open, almost seeing the sky darken due to the number of dragons there were. Watching in amazement those fierce beasts fly so close to them.

"I thought the dragon we saw on the mountain was terrifying... But now I see that they all are..." Pinkie Pie said with a nervous giggle, to try to calm her fear at seeing those superb, but fearsome creatures.

“Well, it was the first dragon we saw, so it left a big impression on everyone.” Applejack said. Looking with respect and fear at the dragons flying overhead.

"Hey!" Spike suddenly said. Offended with that comment. “That wasn't the first dragon they had seen. I have been with you all this time!”

“Uh, well, yeah. But I was referring to a… er… different dragon.” Applejack said nervously. Scratching her head. Since she almost said something that could have offended her little friend more.

“Different how?” Spike asked annoyed. Seeing that, from the way everyone was looking at him at that moment, everyone was looking down on him.

“Well, a real dragon. Obvious." Rainbow Dash said with a shrug. Saying what everyone thought, but none of them had dared to say, for fear of offending Spike.

“I am a real dragon!” Spike said annoyed.

“Pfft! Hahaha! No offense, Spike.” Rainbow Dash laughed. Taking one of the desserts prepared by Spike and eating it. “When you see one of those giant dragons cooking a dessert like these, then I’ll say that they’re the same, Hahaha!” Rainbow Dash continued to laugh while eating. Just having fun with her little friend. Not realizing that she was offending him by saying that he wasn't a real dragon.

“Don't pay attention to her, Spike. It's just that Rainbow Dash doesn't know how to express herself properly.” Rarity said, approaching Spike and stroking his chin. “Of course you are a real dragon! It's just that you're not like them, dear. You’re not fierce or barbaric, and that is a good thing.” Rarity added, pointing towards the sky. Just when two dragons seemed to have collided with each other and sent bites at each other as a warning.

“I… don't act like a dragon?” Spike asked, lowering his head thoughtfully. Even with an annoyed look.

"Of course not. You’re sweet, cuddly and gentle, my dear Spikey-Wikey.” Rarity added, playfully squeezing the little dragon's cheeks.

After that comment, Spike remained silent. At that moment, the roar of a huge dragon that passed very close distracted everyone, what made all the ponies took out their binoculars again and looked in amazement at that enormous dragon. Seeing that Spike had quieted down, everyone thought that the little dragon had calmed down, even more so with Rarity's explanation, because everyone thought it was true. Spike wasn't violent or savage, so it was a compliment to say that he didn't act like a dragon. But that only happened in the mind of a pony. Without them realizing it, they also offended Spike, saying that he didn’t act as his race should. Should all dragons be violent!? That was a prejudice!

While everyone looked at the sky in amazement, Spike began to look at the sky with a thoughtful look. Sadly realizing that not even he knew if all dragons were truly wild or not... How much could he not know about his own race when he was raised by ponies?

“Waah! I'm afraid! Hug me!" Pinkie Pie suddenly said, with a fake cry of fear. Looking at Dusk tenderly and taking the opportunity to snuggle between her coltfriend's hooves. “Hehe…” Pinkie laughed tenderly, looking at Dusk.

“Ugh… We get it… We'll give you two space…” Rainbow Dash said annoyed. Same look that Applejack and Rarity gave. All of them, along with Spike, moving towards the other end of the ditch, so that Pinkie Pie could take advantage of her right as Dusk's marefriend, to snuggle for a moment with her coltfriend while they watched that show.

“Tsk!” Applejack clicked her tongue. Not being able to help but think that perhaps she should have also been more affectionate with Dusk when she had the chance.

After separating, Applejack and Rainbow Dash returned to focusing on watching the dragons. While Rarity stayed for a moment looking towards Dusk and Pinkie. While the pink pony whispered things in his ear, and a blushing Dusk told her not to get so attached, even though he liked all that cuddling a little. And without Rarity realizing it, another one who stopped paying attention to the migration was Spike. Who was confused watching how his beloved Rarity stared at Dusk and Pinkie.

“Are you trying to read their lips?” Spike asked confused. Seeing that Rarity didn't take her eyes off them.

"What? Oh! No! Not at all." Rarity said surprised. Blushing and looking away when she saw that Spike had seen her looking at Dusk. Well, for a second, she imagined herself playing with Dusk, like Pinkie Pie did. “I, uh… Actually, I don't need to know how to read lips, hehe.” Rarity said quickly. Quickly thinking of something else to change the subject.

"What are you talking about?" Spike asked.

“Daisy and Lily recently begged me to learn a spell to eavesdrop from afar. You know how much those two like rumors.” Rarity said smiling. Glad Spike followed her change of subject. Remembering the spell she had learned to help the town's gossiping flower girls. "Hmm... Although on second thought..." Rarity added, looking back at Pinkie and Dusk. Thinking for a second that it wouldn't be such a bad idea to eavesdrop on them. "No! I could not! I must respect their privacy.” Rarity quickly added, looking away to avoid temptation.

Noticing from afar that Rarity was looking at her nervously, Pinkie Pie looked at her from afar, stuck her tongue out playfully at her, and finally separated from Dusk. Seeing that, Rarity sighed in relief, seeing as all that fooling around Pinkie had done, it had only been to have fun at her expense.

Seeing that Rarity looked at Dusk again and sighed, made Spike lower his gaze and remain very thoughtful. He remembered the time he thought Rarity wanted to be his marefriend, after she kissed him at the fashion show. That time, Rarity made it very clear that they were not dating, and he swore to himself that he would do everything possible to make Rarity one day think otherwise. After remembering that, Spike also remembered the time he found out that Rarity and Dusk kissed. That time, Spike got very angry with Dusk, but ended up forgiving him, telling himself that he couldn't force Rarity to love him, but rather he had to work hard to make Rarity look at him and fall in love with him. But... What had progressed since that time? Did Rarity still see him as just a baby? In fact… She didn't even see him as he really was, a dragon.

“Rarity?” Spike asked, his gaze downcast.

“Hm? Yes darling?" Rarity asked. Returning her focus to Spike when she realized that she had been staring at Dusk again, without realizing it.

“If you… If you had to choose between Dusk and me, who would you choose?” Spike asked, his head down.

"What? Why do you ask me that?" Rarity asked confused, surprised by that question. “I could never choose. Both of you are very important to me. I don't know what I would do if you or Dusk disappeared from my life." Rarity said worriedly. Approaching his beloved baby dragon to pet him.

“But if Dusk asked you to be his marefriend… Would you accept?” Spike asked, looking up to stare at Rarity.

That question paralyzed Rarity. This time she couldn't respond so quickly. She didn't want to lie to her beloved Spike, but telling the truth meant admitting that she did dream of being Dusk's marefriend one day. And that would obviously hurt the innocent and amorous baby dragon.

“I… I don't know, Spike.” Rarity said, crouching down, caressing Spike's face and looking at him tenderly with concern. “Like Applejack, Pinkie and the others, we're all trying to learn more about true love. I... I don't know what the future holds for us, but what I can promise you is that I’ll never stop loving you, because you’re unique and special to me, my dear Spikey-Wikey. My special sweet little dragon!” Rarity added, giving his beloved baby dragon a warm and strong hug full of love.

On any other occasion, Spike would have felt on cloud nine in the warm embrace of his beloved Rarity. However, this time, he simply looked away sadly. That hug proved it; for Rarity, he was still just a baby dragon who didn't know about true love.

“Her ‘special little dragon'…” Spike thought with a bitter look as he was hugged. “To her, I'm not even a real dragon…”

After Rarity's hug, Pinkie Pie called everyone to watch together the last dragons flying through the sky, just as the sun began to set. Everyone watched excitedly as the great migration of dragons finally moved away, except for Spike, who kept his eyes serious and thoughtful, and Rarity, who looked worriedly at Spike after he asked her such strange questions. Unfortunately, it didn't help that Rainbow Dash didn't pick up on Spike's bad mood and told him a few more jokes about how fierce the other dragons were compared to him.

Finally, as the sun set, everyone said goodbye and returned home. That's how Spike and Dusk finally returned to the library.

"What's wrong? You’ve been quiet since the migration ended.” Dusk said once they both entered his home. Finally noticing that his little brother was in a bad mood. Thinking that maybe Spike was uncomfortable seeing all those dragons flying, since he didn't have wings.

“I'm fine… Good night.” Spike responded grumpily, without even looking at Dusk. Walking up the stairs to climb into his bed and lie down. Remaining silent as a daring idea began to form in his mind.

The next morning, Dusk woke up like any other day, checking under the covers of his bed to see if his marefriend was there. Since Pinkie managed to sneak out in the mornings to wake up next to him every other day, that day was not one of those.

Upon getting up, Dusk was surprised to see that Spike was not in his bed. So he went downstairs to see if his little brother was in the kitchen, since it wasn't normal for Spike to wake up so early. When he went down, Dusk saw that the kitchen was empty, which worried him a little. Until he heard some noises coming from a closet at the other end of the room. There, Spike had opened a chest, where he kept his delicious emergency gems, and now, for some reason, he was selecting some and placing them on a small tablecloth.

“Are you going to eat all those gems so early?” Dusk asked, with a small chuckle. “If you were going to get up so early to eat, you would have at least made me breakfast too, hehe.”

“If you want to eat breakfast, make it yourself. I’m not your servant.” Spike said reluctantly, not meeting Dusk's eyes.

"What? What are you talking about? I’ve never said that you’re my servant.” Dusk said surprised, and somewhat annoyed by his brother's abrupt way of responding.

"Really? Then why do you always wait for me to make you breakfast.” Spike said. Beginning to throw the gems he took out of his chest more forcefully onto the tablecloth.

"You like to cook! I have never forced you!” Dusk responded annoyed.

At that moment Spike turned around and looked angrily at Dusk.

“Would you order breakfast from another dragon? Of the great dragons we saw yesterday, would any of them offer to serve you breakfast?” Spike said angrily.

At Spike's words, Dusk opened his eyes wide as he finally understood what all his little brother's tantrum was about.

“This is because of migration, right? Do you think you are not a real dragon?” Dusk asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Do you think I'm a real dragon?” Spike asked. Looking very seriously at Dusk.

“Of course you are a real dragon! Have you not seen yourself in the mirror?” Dusk responded with a small hysterical laugh, since he thought that question was absurd. “You’re a dragon, but you’re not like those terrible dragons of yesterday. You’re better!” Dusk added, affectionately touching the little dragon's shoulder.

“Stop saying I'm not like the other dragons!” Spike shouted, taking off Dusk's hoof. “What would you say if I told you that you weren't like the other ponies!? That all ponies are wild and violent, but you’re different. Do you think making me feel good by insulting my race is a compliment?”

Dusk was shocked by his brother's words. Spike was absolutely right. Dusk thought he was praising his little brother, but without realizing it, he continued to discriminate against him, thinking that all dragons were evil.

"I have decided. Everyone thinks dragons are wild. Everyone thinks I'm not a real dragon. Well, that's over!” Spike said very angry. Taking the blanket in which he had kept his precious gems, and wrapping it around the end of a stick. Ready to embark on your journey. “I'm going to go back to my origins and show everyone that I'm a real dragon!”

“Go back to your origins?” Dusk muttered confused, narrowing his eyes. Knowing what Spike meant by that, but thinking Spike was confusing things.

Just then, someone knocked on the library door. Dusk looked at the door, then looked at Spike, who simply looked away in annoyance. Knowing that this discussion was not over yet, Dusk hurriedly opened the door to see who was arriving at such an inopportune time. Opening it, Dusk saw that it was Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

“I'm sorry to come so early, darling. But I spent the whole night thinking that I should come and apologize.” Rarity said, entering the library. “Yesterday I noticed that Spike was feeling upset for some reason, and after thinking about it, I realized that we may have been very insensitive by saying that he wasn't acting like a real dragon.”

“Yeah… maybe I went a little overboard with the jokes.” Rainbow Dash said embarrassed. Scratching her head.

Before continuing speaking, both mares opened their eyes in surprise when they saw that a few steps behind Dusk, Spike was standing. Carrying an improvised hobo stick on his shoulder.

“Where is the little guy going?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking at Dusk.

“I go with my race, where I belong.” Spike said, looking annoyed at the ponies, approaching the door.

"Oh, come on! You belong here! With your family!" Dusk said, starting to get scared by his brother's stubbornness. Hugging Rainbow Dash and Rarity who were next to him. So he could see that they were his real family.

Unfortunately for Dusk, seeing him and Rarity hugging each other generated the completely opposite effect. Causing Spike to become even angrier.

"I’m leaving! Get away from the door.” Spike said furiously, looking at Dusk.

"I won't do it." Dusk said, with a worried and scared look. “You're my little brother, and I can't let you go-”

“I'm not your brother!” Spike shouted, squeezing his eyes shut.

That angry shout paralyzed Dusk. But what hurt him the most was hearing those words. Hearing that made Dusk literally feel his heart break.

“Y-You and I are not real brother.” Spike said looking away. Hesitating for a second when saying those words. But his dragon-like stubbornness was so great that his anger prevailed over his repentance. “You’re a pony and I’m a dragon. And I must return to my lands and discover who I really am.”

“Spikey…” Rarity said shocked. Covering her mouth in horror seeing how Spike's words hurt Dusk.

“Hey, Spike.” Rainbow Dash said annoyed, facing the little dragon. “I know I made bad jokes yesterday, but that's no reason for you to-”

“Let him go.” Dusk interrupted, with his head lowered. Moving to the side so Spike could walk out the door. Something that shocked Rainbow Dash.

Seeing that Dusk gave him free passage, Spike looked at him, and for a second his gaze softened. Feeling like he should immediately apologize to his brother for saying that they weren't really family. However, Spike knew that if he apologized right now, all his courage and determination would be gone. So Spike finally tightened his grip, and simply walked out of the library, without even saying goodbye or looking back.

"Seriously!? Are you going to let him go off alone to look for those scary dragons!?” Rainbow Dash shouted at Dusk, scared by little Spike, who was walking away through the streets of Ponyville.

“Dusk, darling. I know Spike’s words were harsh, but I know he didn’t mean them.” Rarity said, also scared. Approaching to touch Dusk, who still had his head down. “He knows you are both brothers.”

“Of course he knows.” Dusk finally said, raising his head. Showing to the surprise of the mares, that he wasn’t sad or shocked. He kept his gaze steady and determined, full of fire as he watched Spike walk away. “It doesn't matter what he, I, or anyone says. We’re both brothers and that will never change!”

“B-But then, why did you let him go?” Rarity asked confused.

“I know Spike is upset and acting impulsively,” Dusk responded, looking at his friends. "But it’s also true that we were prejudiced, and he has never had the opportunity to live with other dragons his age... I know it’s dangerous, but I cannot deny him what may be his only opportunity to be close to his race."

After Dusk's words, the three ponies watched from afar as Spike reached the edge of the town and little by little disappeared from sight.

“So… we’re following him?” Rainbow Dash asked.

"Of course." Dusk responded with a big smile. “He's my little brother.”

Thanks to Dusk spending a whole day reading books about dragon migration, Spike knew that the dragons must be resting in the mountains east of the Everfree forest. Recovering energy before continuing their last leg of flight and finishing their migration in the Dragon Lands.

That trip would take a full day, taking the shortest route, which was through the Everfree Forest. Spike knew it was a risky route, but he feared that if he took too long to reach the Eastern Mountains, the dragons would already be gone. His determination prevailed over his fear, and Spike finally chose that dangerous route.

That first day through the forest was like a walk in the countryside for Spike. Unlike other times, the forest looked less dark and scary that day. The same thing happened the night he camped; even the next day, he met a kind donkey who helped him cross the river. That was a great sign for Spike, to have even more confidence. Thinking that if he had managed to cross that dangerous forest without problems, meeting the dragons would be easier than he feared at first.

What Spike didn't know is that the entire peaceful journey was due to three ponies that followed him step by step without him knowing. From the moment Spike stepped foot into the dark forest, Rarity made sure to use her magic to subtly illuminate the right path for him. Rainbow Dash went ahead to clear the path of brush and leave gems along the way for the little dragon to eat, since Spike ate his entire supply of gems during the morning of the first day. And even more importantly, Dusk used his magic to ward off Spike of any dangerous creatures that dared to approach him, staying up all night to make sure nothing happened to his little brother. Everything to make Spike's adventure of self-discovery go smoothly.

Finally, Spike reached open ground, where there was a large hill. That was the entrance to the grand canyon and area of mountains, which were east of the Everfree forest.

“I guess it was good luck that Pinkie didn't come with us this time.” Rarity whispered. Speaking slowly so Spike wouldn't hear her. Since the baby dragon was walking a few steps in front of the ponies.

“Yeah, I don't think covert missions are her specialty.” Rainbow Dash responded, also speaking in a whisper.

In that last stretch, the only thing the ponies had to make sure of was not to make noise. Being an open terrain, they could no longer hide easily like they had done inside the forest. So Dusk used an invisibility spell so that Spike couldn't see them as they followed him.

“Dragons have good hearing, so don't whisper too loudly.” Dusk reminded his friends as they continued chasing Spike invisibly. “They also have a good sense of smell, but fortunately there is a headwind. So at this distance we should remain undetected.”

Upon reaching the top of the hill, Spike opened his eyes in amazement when he saw that he had achieved his goal. There, in a valley surrounded by high mountains, were dozens, perhaps hundreds, of dragons. Several sleeping, others launching flames of fire for pure pleasure. But what immediately caught the little dragon's attention was a small group of very young dragons, probably teenagers, who were apparently playing with each other.

“Teenage dragons like me!” Spike shouted very excitedly. Rushing down the hill.

“No, Spikey-Wikey! You’re just a baby dragon!” Rarity said, drowning her scream in a whisper. Covering her mouth in fear as she saw her beloved Spike running towards those fierce dragons.

“Those guys look pretty fierce to Spike.” Rainbow Dash said. Looking down from the top of the hill at the rest of the dragons. Grateful for Dusk's invisibility spell. “We must hurry up and continue after him.”

“It would be dangerous to go among the dragons alone with an invisibility spell…” Dusk said worriedly, knowing that the spell wouldn't cover their noises and would fade if someone touched them by accident.

“Don't worry, I have a plan. I won’t abandon my beloved Spikey-Wikey!” Rarity said. Backing away from the sight of the dragons. Causing the invisibility spell on her to disappear as she moved away from Dusk. “I knew my emergency sewing set would come in handy.” Rarity added, sitting up and pulling out a huge sewing bag she had brought with her. Glancing sideways at Rainbow Dash. Who had made fun of her for traveling there with that.

While Dusk and Rainbow Dash helped Rarity with her new creation, Spike finally reached the bottom of the valley. Where a group of seven dragons fought among themselves, apparently playing for who could reach the highest to a huge pile of jewels there. Those dragons were obviously young, being much smaller than the other huge dragons that slept on the mountain slopes. But still, they were three times taller than Spike, so the little baby dragon was still a little scared when he saw them face to face.

“No one beats the great Garble! The king on the hill!” A young red dragon shouted victoriously. That he had managed to knock off another dragon that had tried to climb from the top of jewels.

“Umm… Hi.” Spike said timidly. Causing all the young dragons to turn around to see who was speaking. Being surprised to see the little baby dragon there. “My name is Spike, and I was wondering if… Can I play with you?” Spike asked with a small nervous smile.

"Play?" The red dragon, named Garble, said. Climbing down from the pile of jewels and approaching Spike. Along with all the other teenage dragons. “We don't play, baby. We compete! We fight to see which of us is a real dragon!”

“Oh! W-Well, I'm a real dragon!” Spike said trying not to sound nervous. Puffing out his chest to, in vain, try to appear taller and stronger.

"You? Pfft! Don’t make me laugh. You haven’t even grown your wings.” Garble said. Grabbing Spike by the tail and lifting him up. So that everyone could see that that baby dragon had no wings. “Even my little sister is already shedding her wings at home. “How old are you, shorty?”

"Uh!? Am I going to grow wings when I grow up!?” Spike asked, genuinely very surprised.

Hearing that, Garble was surprised. Then he let go of Spike and burst into laughter, as did the other young dragons around him. As for Spike, he rubbed his nose as he fell face-first into the ground, and then hung his head in shame, watching as everyone laughed at him.

“Were you born yesterday? How come you don't know something so basic?” A purple dragon, whose blonde hair covered his eyes, asked mockingly.

"Yeah, and how did you get here without wings? Did your mom bring you on her back? Hahaha!" Another dragon mocked. One more obese, with brown skin.

“I… I didn't fly here. I came walking.” Spike said nervously. Starting to think that maybe being there wasn't a good idea, if he was going to be laughed at by everyone.

"Walking!? That's impossible!" Garble said surprised. Approaching Spike to see him face to face. “Hmm… Are you really a dragon? Maybe you're just a spy. A pony dressed as a dragon…” Garble added, looking suspiciously at the little newcomer.

While that group of teenage dragons began to look suspiciously at Spike, a strange dragon began to walk down the hill to approach them. That dragon had a long green body with several jewels embedded in it. It had two small light blue wings coming out of its back, which didn’t at all resemble the angular wings of the other dragons. Furthermore, it had a long neck, eight small legs, and its face had a very silly expression, with its mouth open and two large eyes looking in opposite directions. However, the strangest thing about that dragon was that if you looked closely, there were two small holes hidden in the middle of its chest, where you could see another pair of eyes.

"Hurry up! We must get closer to help Spike.” The stomach of that strange dragon said, with the voice of Dusk Shine, trying to hurry up his friends when he saw that in the distance, several dragons were looking threateningly at Spike. “It might be problematic if Spike says he was raised by ponies.”

“I would gladly go faster, but it's hard to move in this silly costume!” The dragon's tail said, in Rainbow Dash's voice.

“It's not silly, it's fabulous!” Rarity's voice said, from the dragon's head. With a voice full of pride. “Although I still think it would look better with a huge pink ribbon adorning her neck.” Rarity added, sighing in disappointment. Since she had failed to convince Dusk and Rainbow Dash to make her dragon costume look a little more stylish.

The three ponies hurried forward, risking their lives, hidden in that improvised dragon costume that Rarity had made. A costume that, in the opinion of the fashionista mare, had turned out splendid. Although perhaps she would have embedded more gems into the costume if she had more time.

“Yesterday I watched very attentively the migration of dragons that flew over Ponyville. And I'm sure I perfectly captured the essence of a dragon in my costume.” Rarity said scolding Rainbow Dash. Since she didn't like being judged as 'silly' something she had created.

"You are crazy? This dragon has the face of an idiot!” Rainbow Dash said annoyed. Hurrying to stay close to Dusk, who was walking in front of her in the costume. “Do you really think we'll fool anyone with this!?”

“What's up, Crackle!” A dragon suddenly said, walking next to the costumed ponies.

“It's about time you arrived, Crackle.” Another dragon said, who also passed by the ponies.

“You look good, Crackle. You've lost weight?" A third dragon said, flying close to where the ponies had stopped.

Dusk and Rainbow Dash stopped in their tracks when the dragons greeted them so casually. Amazed that the costume was so effective. While Rarity, who was at the head of the costume, standing over Dusk, gave a small triumphant giggle and looked towards Rainbow Dash.

“Fufufu… What were you saying about it not working, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity laughed mockingly. Proud of her impeccable costume. While Rainbow Dash was left with her mouth open, not believing that that silly dragon costume had actually managed to fool those dragons.

“Looks like we got lucky and they're confusing us with another dragon.” Dusk whispered, also amazed. “Who is this 'Crackle' dragon?”

While Dusk stood with a thoughtful look, several leagues away, a giddy dragon named Crackle, who curiously had a body as strange and a face as silly as Rarity's costume had, was flying happily with Derpy. Both lost in the sky, forgetting where they were flying, chasing some pretty butterflies...

Back in the dragons' resting valley, the three ponies in the 'Crackle' costume finally managed to get close to where Spike and the other dragons were. There, it seemed that the teenage dragons wanted to test Spike to see if he was a real dragon or just a cute pony in disguise. And to do this, they decided that the first thing Spike should do was compete in a burping contest.

Several dragons stood in a row and let out enormous belches. Generating enormous sounds that reverberated far away, but of course, what most characterized the dragons' belches was that accompanied by the enormous rumble, a huge flame of fire came out. And although all the belches were impressive, they all fell short compared to the belch released by the obese brown dragon, which made even Spike duck instinctively, thinking that he would be burned by such a tremendous flame.

“Very well, shorty. Your turn." Garble said, after congratulating his obese dragon friend with a smack. Looking at Spike with an expectant look of mockery. “Unless you're not a real dragon.”

“O-Of course I can!” Spike said nervously. Opening his mouth and trying to let out a big burp.

Spike had belched flames many other times. However, he knew they were nothing compared to the huge flaming belches of those other dragons. Furthermore, seeing that everyone was looking at him, it made Spike very nervous, and it made it impossible for him to belch at will.

As Spike was about to give up, he suddenly covered his mouth as he felt like he was going to regurgitate something. Then he couldn't contain it, and he let out an involuntary belch, from which came a green flame, and a scroll, which hit Garble squarely in the face.

"What is this?" Garble said, taking the scroll that had hit him. Then Spike rushed to take the scroll from him, tore it into several pieces, and ate the pieces of paper.

“I-It's nothing! I just spit something out from lunch! Hehe…” Spike laughed nervously. Rubbing his stomach so everyone would believe he had enjoyed eating that scroll.

“Why did the princess send a letter just now!?” Spike thought very nervously. “ If the others find out that I use my fire to receive letters from the princess, they will make fun of me even more! They will say that I’m not a dragon, but a postpony! ”

“So… Do you eat paper?” Garble asked. Before covering his mouth and bursting into laughter. “Pfft! Hahaha! You're more pathetic than I thought, shorty! Hahaha!" Garble mocked, as the other dragons also burst into laughter.

“Don't make fun of my Spikey-Wikey.” Rarity muttered annoyed, seeing how embarrassed her beloved Spike was. She then tried to move forward, but Dusk stood still, making Rarity unable to move due to the costume.

“Rarity, you need to calm down.” Dusk said, frowning in annoyance, but cooling his head so as not to react recklessly. "I don't like those fools making fun of Spike either, but it would be dangerous if they discovered that we were ponies and sneaked up on them... We must find another way to help him."

“Well, dwarf, since you amuse me, I’ll give you another chance to prove that you’re a real dragon.” Garble said after he stopped laughing. Looking seriously at Spike. “You'll have to win a tail wrestling.”

“T-Tail wrestling?” Spike asked scared.

“Charcoal, Backdraft! Show this dwarf what a real dragon looks like.” Garble said, looking at two of his friends.

At Garble's command, two dragons approached. One was thin and tall with blackish skin and green hair, and another was more obese with purple skin. Then both dragons turned their backs against each other and hooked their tails to each other's. As soon as Garble gave the signal, both dragons began to pull to their respective sides, trying to pull the other to their side with only their tails. That lasted a few seconds, until the purple dragon's strength was greater, causing the thin dragon to fall from exhaustion. With the added bonus that the loser was left with his entire tail twisted after the effort made.

Seeing the state of the losing dragon's tail, Spike instinctively took his own tail in his claws and put on a fearful look.

"That is! This is our chance to help him!” Dusk whispered to his friends, moving awkwardly under the costume to get closer to Spike. Then Dusk spoke again, but this time, out loud. “I challenge Spike to a tail wrestling.”

“You are… Crackle?” Garble said with a suspicious look. “Is it me or did you speak from your stomach?” Garble added, scratching his head in confusion.

“Yeah… You look kind of strange.” The obese brown dragon, named Clump, added. Moving closer and squinting his eyes to get a closer look at the costume's face. Right in front of where Rarity was hiding.

Seeing that dragon so close, Rarity instinctively stepped back, causing her to slip from Dusk's shoulders. That made it seem from the outside as if that peculiar dragon called 'Crackle', was quickly and strangely turning its neck in three hundred and sixty degrees. Until it turned completely, and from the force of the turn, it slammed the false head against that of the obese dragon.

With the strong and surprising blow on its head, the brown dragon recoiled dizzily and fell unconscious.

"Hey! Easy! Calm down Crackle! We’ll let you compete, don’t be angry.” Garble said quickly, with a scared look. Approaching another of his friends. “That guy is a real dragon. Even he scares me.” Garble whispered to his friend. Without realizing that that headbutt was just luck, because Rarity slipped.

Finally, the dragons formed a circle to surround Spike and 'Crackle'. Then Spike hooked his tail with the false dragon's. Trembling with fear as he faced a savage dragon that knocked another dragon unconscious with a headbutt.

“Ready… Now!” Garble shouted, who served as referee.

At the red dragon's signal, Spike began to pull with all his might to try to throw his opponent off. However, the enormous 'Crackle' remained motionless.

“Well, on the count of three, we let ourselves fall to the ground.” Dusk whispered to his friends.

“Uh… How about we wait for Spike to fall too, and then we'll have a tie?” Rainbow Dash whispered. Who wanted to help Spike, but her competitive spirit was crying out for her not to let herself lose in a competition. Except seeing how easy it would be to beat little Spike, who had so little strength.

"Don’t be silly." Dusk said, scolding his friend with his eyes. "NOW!"

With Dusk's signal, the three ponies dropped down. That made Spike turn around and open his mouth in surprise, seeing that he had managed to beat that huge and strange dragon.

"Oh! The little guy managed to beat Crackle!” The thin purple dragon, named Fume, said in amazement.

All the young dragons commented in amazement how the little dragon managed to beat the 'wild Crackle', and they came up to congratulate Spike. That made Spike smile for the first time in that place. Feeling proud that his dragon brothers recognized him.

“Well done Spike!” Dusk thought happily, still lying on the ground. Looking through the holes in his costume at how happy Spike was laughing.

“Haha! It was so easy. I don’t think I knew my own strength.” Spike said full of pride and arrogance. Feeling that if he could beat that wild dragon, he could beat anyone.

“So you think you're invincible, huh?” Garble said with his frown. Who had been the only one of the dragons not to approach Spike to congratulate him. “Well, if you think you're so strong, why don't you fight Whip?” Garble added, pointing to a small dragon with green skin and orange hair. Which was partially hidden behind the other dragons.

After taking a close look at his possible rival. Spike smiled confidently, seeing that that dragon was quite small, just a little taller than him. And if he had defeated the 'fearsome Crackle', he could well defeat that inferior rival.

"Sure! No problem! It’ll be easy.” Spike said full of confidence. Quickly getting into position to hook his tail.

As soon as Spike got into position, the other dragons also moved to make way for Whip. At that moment, Spike's mouth almost dropped as he saw the little green dragon finally in full body. Indeed, that dragon was small, but it had a disproportionately giant tail, like that of an adult dragon. And Spike was even more stunned to see that when he approached him, Whip smiled with fierce teeth, causing several thorns to appear from his tail, which made his tail look even more threatening.

The result was obvious. After only half a second of competition, Spike flew away.

“Ouch!” Rainbow Dash muttered after watching the duel. Seeing how Spike flew away, until he hit a huge rock.

The rest of the dragons ran to where Spike fell and burst out laughing when they saw how dizzy he became. Completely forgetting about the little dragon's previous achievement, and now mocking him even more at how far he had been thrown.

“Haha! So you can't last even a second in a tail wrestling.” Garble said, mocking Spike. “Crackle must have fallen asleep, since you weren't a real challenge… I knew you weren't a real dragon.” Garble added, looking Spike in the eye and pointing at his chest.

“I-I… I am a real dragon!” Spike shouted in frustration, almost on the verge of tears as everyone kept saying he wasn't a real dragon. “Give me another chance.”

“Maybe I could try making the 'lava cannonball.'” The dragon Fume suggested. With a small giggle, speaking to Garble.

“Yeah… That might be a good idea.” Garble said, looking at Spike with a wicked smile. Seeing that he could make fun of that clumsy baby dragon again. A look that made Spike swallow nervously and begin to sweat, anticipating that something very bad was coming.

Before Dusk and his friends could reach Spike and the rest of the dragons, since they were walking very clumsily due to their costume, the young dragons took Spike somewhere else. So Dusk and Rainbow Dash quickened their pace to follow them again to where they were going.

The teenage dragons guided Spike to a small cliff. Below it, there was a large crater containing a large pool of lava. Several dragons were already enjoying themselves, resting their bodies in the warm temperatures of melted rock, which only their dragon scales could withstand.

“D-Do you want to go and bathe inside a volcano!?” A scared Spike said, who had never seen a lava pool.

“It's not a volcano, it's just a crater with lava.” The obese dragon Clump said, shrugging his shoulders. Since for dragons, it was normal to bathe in lava. Something Spike didn't know about.

“Besides, we won't walk there.” Garble said, smiling evilly. “We’ll launch from here making cannonballs!” Garble added, raising his claws, to encourage his friends, who also shouted excitedly.

“J-Jump from here…” Spike muttered even more terrified, taking a step back.

"Haha! I knew it. You’re a chicken. No! Less than that, you look like a cute pony! Hahaha." Garble laughed, mocking Spike. Then he moved closer to the baby dragon and looked at it with a fierce gaze. “You’re not a real dragon. You’re just a baby.” Garble mocked, making Spike freeze at those harsh words.

“Huff… Huff… Why did all those dragons just stand there on the cliff?” Dusk whispered to his friends. Tired after running with the full weight of the costume to where the other dragons were.

“Don't ask me. I only see your butt.” Rainbow Dash responded annoyed, as she couldn't see anything. Although she also blushed a little, since seeing Dusk's butt so close was not something that had bothered her as much as she said.

“I don't know what they expect.” Rarity said from above Dusk's shoulders. "Wait! They are…” Rarity added, surprised to see what was happening.

“Whoever splashes the most lava will be crowned the ultimate dragon!” Garble yelled. Being the first to jump off the small cliff into the lava pool.

The red dragon made an impeccable cannonball with his body, which managed to splash a lot of lava everywhere. Disturbing some more adult dragons who were resting peacefully in the pool.

One by one the teenage dragons imitated Garble's action and also threw themselves into the lava pool. For their part, as the ponies approached, they could see that the dragons were not jumping into the void, but into a lava crater. Which of course, left them even more scared.

“This is something where we can't follow Spike…” Dusk muttered sadly. Knowing that only a true dragon could withstand falling into a pool of lava.

“Well… I think it won't be necessary.” Rarity whispered, motioning for Dusk to turn to look at her side. At which point Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to make another couple of holes in the costume to see as well, since she was bored of not knowing what was happening.

As they moved, Dusk and Rainbow Dash could see that there was still a dragon on the cliff apart from them. It was Spike, who was looking down in terror, where the rest of his dragon brothers had jumped.

“I… I can’t.” Spike whispered. Squeezing his eyes tight and letting out a tear. "I... I'm not a real dragon."

“Of course you are… You’re braver than you yourself believe.” Dusk whispered with his heart tight. Feeling the need to go out and hug his brother. But knowing that Spike would feel worse if he realized that his older brother had been secretly following him all this time.

'I'm not your brother!' were the words Spike shouted angrily before running away from home. Words that now returned to Dusk's mind and made him look full of determination.

“I'm your big brother, and that means… Helping you grow and overcome your fears!” Dusk murmured, closing his eyes, breathing slowly, and then opening them again, with a serious look. Using his magic to push Spike away.

The little baby dragon felt something push him, and suddenly he found himself falling off the cliff.

“WAAAHHH!” Spike shouted in terror.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Rarity and Rainbow Dash screamed in terror. Who managed to see the purple glow of Dusk's magic. Launching themselves to choke Dusk when they saw that he had thrown the little baby dragon to his death.

“D-Don't worry, trust me.” Dusk said trying to calm his friends. All while the shape of the costume was completely lost due to the uproar within it. “Or rather, trust Spike. I know he’ll make it.” Dusk added, with a smile full of confidence. One that calmed his friends for the moment. Then the three ponies approached the edge of the cliff in their costume and saw Spike fall.

As the baby dragon fell, he was completely terrified, watching as he was going to fall into a huge pool of deadly molten stone. With his own screams, he couldn’t hear the cries of astonishment of the young dragons, who saw how the baby dragon had dared to jump.

SPLASH! Failing to form a 'cannonball', due to his fear, Spike fell face first into the pool of lava.

“Ouch!” The dragons in the pool said so much, as did the ponies on top of the cliff, when they saw how Spike fell, generating a loud noise like a slap.

“Well… That wasn't part of the plan…” Dusk murmured nervously. Seeing how painful it must have been to fall like that.

Slowly Spike sank motionless into the lava, and after a couple of seconds, the baby dragon rose to the surface again. With his entire face red due to the strong blow to the face. Spitting lava as if it were simple water.

“I-I'm really swimming in lava!?” Spike said in amazement. So surprised that he almost forgot the pain on his face.

"Of course. And what a way to fall, hahaha!” Garble laughed with a big laugh. Same laugh that the other young dragons had.

“They keep making fun of me…” Spike muttered, looking away sadly and rubbing his sore cheeks.

"What? No, this time we're not making fun of you. That fall was spectacular!” Garble said, genuinely excited. “Anyone who falls into a pool of lava like that is definitely a real dragon.” Garble added. Grabbing Spike from below and lifting him up with his claw for all his friends to see.

As he was picked up by Garble, the other dragons also approached and congratulated him. Laughing at how brave the little baby dragon had been to jump in such a daring way. That made Spike forget all the pain on his face and put on a big smile full of pride. Not only had he been recognized by the other dragons, but someone had finally told him what he had wanted to hear so much: He was a real dragon!

“I knew you could.” Dusk murmured from above the cliff, full of pride. “That's my bro-”

“That's my little brother!” Garble shouted from the pool. Accidentally interrupting Dusk's words. “I'll make you my honorary little brother, Spike. How about?" Garble said, punching Spike's shoulder.

"My brother?" Spike said surprised.

What Spike answered was something that Dusk couldn't hear, due to the commotion and laughter of the other dragons. But it wasn't necessary, since just hearing someone else call Spike 'his little brother' made Dusk's heart tighten and he stopped paying attention for a moment.

“What's all this fuss!? How many times have I told you not to splash in the lava pools!?” A female voice suddenly shouted.

Spike and the dragons became distracted and looked up at the sky. There, another young dragon approached them, only this one was a female dragon. It had turquoise skin, glowing red eyes, and two horns on the side of its head, which grew downward in a curve.

“Oh, great… The 'little princess' had to appear.” Garble said, looking away with a frustrated look.

“Don't call me little princess.” The turquoise dragon said, landing next to the lava pool and looking very angry at Garble.

"Who is she?" Spike whispered to one of the dragons next to him.

"You do not know her? It’s Ember, the annoying daughter of the Dragon Lord.” The dragon next to Spike responded.

“Oh!” Spike said very surprised. Then the baby dragon rushed out of the lava to get closer to that dragon. Then he stood in front of her and, just as Dusk had taught him was the protocol towards a princess, Spike gave a small bow. “It’s an honor to meet you, Princess Ember.”

At Spike's bow, Ember opened her eyes in surprise and slight horror. Blushing with embarrassment. Meanwhile, the rest of the teenage dragons who were still in the pool burst into laughter, seeing how the little dragon had had the courage to make fun of the annoying Ember. Meanwhile, Spike was confused by the laughter.

What poor Spike didn't know was that Ember was indeed the daughter of the reigning Dragon Lord and could, therefore, be considered a princess. However, Ember hated being called a princess. She always wanted to prove that she could earn the respect of others on her own merits, not just by being the daughter of the Dragon Lord. That's why sometimes Garble and the others made fun of Ember by calling her 'princess'. Although of course, it was not something they did very often, since Ember was a fierce dragon who hated it when others made fun of her, and usually hit anyone who dared to make fun of her.

“Are you making fun of me, baby dragon!?” Ember shouted, red with embarrassment. Grabbing Spike by the neck and lifting him up, looking him in the face angrily. Then she looked closely at Spike and put on a confused look. "Where did you come from? I don't remember having seen you here before.” Ember added, looking suspiciously at Spike.

“I…I came walking.” Spike responded very nervously. Seeing Ember's fierce gaze.

"That's how it is. Even without wings, my little brother Spike managed to make the great migration on foot.” Garble added, walking over to Spike and giving him a few playful pats on the head as a sign of pride.

“Uh… Actually, I didn't do the whole migration walking.” Spike responded with a nervous smile. “I came from Ponyville.”

“Ponyville!?” Ember and Garble said at the same time. Both very surprised.

Just at that moment, Dusk, Rarity and Rainbow Dash had finally managed to get down the small cliff with their disguise, and they managed to see how Spike was now faced by Ember.

“Is that a pony town? What were you doing in a place like that?” Ember asked, a little worried.

“Wait, you were born in a pony town!?” Garble said with a look of displeasure, taking a step away from Spike and looking at him with disgust. “That's the strange smell I've been smelling all day.”

At that moment, Dusk swallowed nervously, and decided not to get any closer. Realizing that the dragons' powerful sense of smell had managed to subtly notice the smell of pony around, even under the disguise.

“Weren't you born in the Dragon Land…?” Ember murmured with a thoughtful look, not looking at Spike. More talking to herself than to Spike. However, the little dragon responded in the same way, nervously shaking his head. Then Ember put on a serious look and looked at Spike. "Come with me. “We’ll go see my father.”

“Y-Your father?” Spike asked very nervously. “The Dragon Lord!?” Spike added, gritting his teeth in fear. Since he had never seen a Dragon Lord before. The leader of all dragons.

"DAD! STOP SLEEPING AND COME HERE FOR A MOMENT!” Ember shouted at the top of her lungs, not paying attention to Spike.

At Ember's scream, a great noise, a mix of growl and yawn, echoed throughout the valley. Then, the earth began to tremble intermittently, as if huge footsteps were making everything around rumble.

As the valley rumbled, Dusk and his two friends stood paralyzed with fear, not knowing whether or not they should flee from there. For they were about to come face to face with what might be the scariest dragon of all, if he was the king of all those other huge and fierce dragons.

“Hey Crackle! What a miracle you didn’t get lost flying here.” Ember suddenly said, approaching Dusk and his friends. Then Ember stared intently at the fake dragon's face. “Hmmm… Your face looks a little strange… You should rest, and definitely take a lava bath, since the pony smell of these lands seems to have rubbed off on you.” Ember added, quickly putting aside her suspicions and putting on a small smile.

“Okay… Dragons have an excellent sense of smell, but they’re terrible at telling someone apart by their appearance!” Dusk thought, sighing in relief. Seeing that his disguise was still unmasked.

Finally, after one last loud rumble, a huge shadow appeared behind a hill, and surrounding that same hill, appeared the largest dragon that Spike and the ponies had ever seen. Almost the size of the hill itself. He had dull green skin, red wings, two huge horns falling from the sides of his head to the side of his neck, and he wore black armor and a gold necklace on one of his horns.

Just seeing that colossal dragon made Spike and the ponies freeze in terror. Even more so when seeing the fierce, unfriendly look that the huge beast had. Imagining that every pony in Ponyville could fit in the jaws of that dragon, if he wanted to.

“Why are you waking me up?” The huge dragon said, with a deep voice. Looking annoyed at Ember. “I told you I would sleep until tomorrow, before resuming the migration.”

“Father, this little dragon says he comes from a pony village.” Ember replied, pointing towards Spike.

"What?" The huge Dragon Lord asked. Bringing his face closer to get a closer look at Spike. Who, for his part, was left trembling with fear, upon seeing that enormous face, which was hundreds of times larger than him. “Hngh… What color was your egg when you were born, young dragon?” The Dragon Lord asked. Narrowing his eyes and clearing his voice a little, what seemed to sound like a growl.

“M-M-My egg?” Spike responded, shaking with fear. “I-It was lilac, like my skin. With purple spots.”

“Hmm… Where is elder Graytusk?” The Dragon Lord said, after meditating for a second. “He's the one who knows everything about the missing eggs.”

"He still has not arrived." Ember replied, shrugging. “The old dragon is always the last to arrive everywhere. He should arrive by nightfall.” Ember added, looking towards the sun, which was about to set.

“Well, he’ll clear our doubts. Now… Let me sleep! That's an order!" The Dragon Lord shouted in annoyance. Turning to go back behind the hill, which was his chosen resting place.

“You heard… Don't bother the Dragon Lord again!” Ember shouted, looking at the young dragons, as if she had forgotten that she summoned her father. Yelling in the same authoritative tone of voice as her father. “Take care of the baby dragon until the old dragon arrives.” Ember added, looking at Garble.

“I-I'm not a baby.” Spike grumbled in annoyance.

“Well, you called me, princess. Now we’re even." Ember said, narrowing her eyes in annoyance. Then she looked at Garble and then back at Spike. “Be careful who you follow as an example, little one. We dragons are strong, but being strong doesn’t mean destroying everything.” Ember added, glancing sideways at Garble again. Then she opened her wings and flew away from there.

Once Ember left, the young dragons approached Spike. Who, for his part, was still trembling a little, after coming face to face with the Dragon Lord.

“W-What was that all about?” Spike muttered, confused and afraid at everything that had happened.

“Looks like Ember was really bothered by us splashing in the lava pool, hahaha.” Garble said, mocking Ember after hearing that last comment she made about him.

“No… I meant, why was the Dragon Lord interested in what my egg looked like?” Spike asked confused.

“Oh, that. It's no big deal. It seems that a few years ago some eggs disappeared in the Dragon Land.” Garble responded, shrugging. “I guess they think you're one of those lost eggs.”

Those words left Spike's eyes wide open. Who began to ask himself many questions, or rather, remember dozens of questions about his origin. Questions that he had tried to ignore, but that were now impossible to put aside.

“Anyway, if you’re one of those lost eggs, it means that you’re indeed a real dragon.” Garble added, punching Spike on the shoulder again, as a sign of affection. “Although you’ll have to take several lava baths to get rid of that disgusting pony smell that you have, hehe.”

"Yeah. And that way you made fun of that annoying Ember, it was great!” The dragon Fume said, smiling. “Saying 'princess' to her face was the best!”

“Yeah, with that you already showed that you’re one of us.” Garble said, raising his claw. Which caused the other young dragons to also cheer for Spike. “What do you guys say? Let’s make ‘little princess’ Ember angrier?” Garble added, looking at his friends with a mischievous smile.

"Yeah! Let’s take the dwarf on a real dragon raid.” The obese dragon Clump said, very excited.

While the dragons were talking about their next expedition, Dusk and his friends were still somewhat trembling after seeing the enormous Dragon Lord.

“Dragons can be this big!?” Rainbow Dash whispered in terror.

“Maybe… They could be even bigger…” Dusk responded with fear. Remembering that in some books it was said that ancient dragons were even more enormous. Feeling a chill finally understanding the true danger they were in. If the Dragon Lord discovered their identity... What could he do to save himself and his friends from such a huge beast!?

Suddenly Dusk and his friends were distracted when they saw Garble and his friends take Spike and start flying. Heading to the top of the hills, as if they were thinking of leaving the valley.

Without wasting time, Dusk and his friends began to run to avoid losing sight of Spike. Although it was very difficult for them to run fast, because they had to remain hidden under the disguise of 'Crackle'.

While his friends went in search of him, Spike and the other dragons flew to the outskirts of the dragon rest valley, heading towards a small forest there. At that time, the sun had already set and night was falling quickly. But fortunately, it could still be seen relatively normally.

"What is this place?" Spike asked once they landed. Relieved that his new friends hadn't thought to go to the Everfree Forest.

“This, little bro, is where you’ll have your next test.” Garble responded, lowering his voice volume a bit. Approaching Spike, hiding behind some bushes, and pointing for a nearby tree.

Spike squinted his eyes a little to see where Garble was pointing. At the top of that tree, two feathered figures of red and gold could be seen. The little dragon didn’t need to be told what those creatures were, since he had already seen an identical one for many years, in Canterlot Castle. Those were phoenixes, legendary birds that could light their bodies and even rejuvenate from their own ashes.

“What do you want to do with those phoenixes?” Spike asked with some trepidation. Since he knew from experience, from meeting 'Philomena', Celestia's pet, that those birds could be very temperamental.

"You’ll see." Garble said with a sinister smile. “Your turn, guys.” He added, looking at a young white dragon and another purple one.

At Garble's command, both dragons jumped from the bushes, ran towards the tree where the phoenix pair was nesting, and began shouting and throwing stones at them.

It only took a few seconds before one of the phoenixes raised its head in annoyance, as a rock had hit it. Then the phoenix and its partner raised their wings and threw themselves against those two dragons. Setting their wings on fire from their fury. That made both dragons begin to quickly flee from there while both phoenixes chased them.

“Okay… Time to crack those eggs!” Garble said victoriously. Coming out of the bushes with Fume and Clump.

“Crack eggs? What do you mean by that?" Spike asked very nervously. Approaching Garble and the others, as they approached the tree where the nest was and began to climb it.

"It’s simple. I heard that there were phoenix nests nearby.” Garble said smiling mischievously. “So let's break those silly birds' eggs before they realize it, haha!”

“W-Why would you do something like that!?” Spike asked, widening his eyes in horror, not liking where this whole situation was heading.

"Why? That's very easy." Garble responded. Pausing briefly in his climb, and turning to smile at Spike with an evil smile, along with his friends. "Because it's fun." Garble smiled. With a normal smile, but one that seemed creepy to Spike, realizing that those dragons were going to break eggs just 'for fun'.

"Are here!" Fume said, who was the first to reach the nest. However, his smile faded when he saw that the nest no longer had any eggs. Just a small handful of little phoenix chicks. “Ugh, we're late, the eggs have already opened.”

“Well, change of plans.” Garble said, running his tongue over his lips. “I think we'll have fried chicken for dinner tonight, hehe.”

The little phoenix chicks were only a few days old, but not for nothing were they one of the smartest magical birds that existed. Instantly, the chicks sensed that they were in danger and began to fly and sting the dragons, trying to make them fall from the tree.

"Ouch! Take them away from me!” Clump said, moving one of his claws quickly. Trying to keep the chicks away, they lunged at his face to sting his cheeks and eyes.

As the three dragons struggled to get the chicks off their faces, they shook the nest so much that without realizing it, an egg that they hadn’t been able to see slipped and fell from the nest. Seeing it fall, Spike rushed to catch it in his claws before it crashed to the ground.

“Huff…! Are you okay, little one?” Spike whispered tenderly. Looking at the small orange and gold egg in his claws, feeling its heat and even thinking he heard a small throb. Which made him feel tender, seeing that defenseless being, and imagining that once he too was just a small egg.

"Enough!" Garble shouted, releasing a large flare. One that finally scared the chicks, who flew away quickly from the nest. Then, seeing his prey flee, Garble looked down, and was surprised to see that Spike had an egg. Garble jumped and landed in front of Spike. “Well done little bro. Now give me the egg.”

"What!?" Spike said scared. Instinctively moving his claws to move the egg away from Garble.

Just at that moment, Fume and Clump also jumped out of the tree as well. Staying behind Spike. So the little dragon was surrounded.

“I know you want to break the egg.” Garble said with a shrug. Then, smiling evilly and taking the egg from Spike, taking advantage of the fact that he was careless with the fall of the other two dragons. “But the thing is, there is only one egg. So since I'm the boss, I'll break it.”

Without waiting for a response, Garble lifted the egg high and threw it with all his strength towards the ground.

“NOOO!” Spike yelled. Jumping at the last second, managing to catch the egg before it hit the ground.

“Wow… Do you want to be the one to break the egg that much? Now that's guts, little bro!” Garble said with a small amused smile. Annoyed that Spike took away his fun, but amazed at the little dragon's thirst for destruction.

“I don't want to break it!” Spike shouted, looking at Garble and the others with a look full of fear and tears in his eyes. “Don't you see it? We were all eggs once, what would have happened to us if someone had broken our eggs just for fun? What would have happened to me if no one had taken care of me!?” Spike shouted, wiping away a tear and looking at the helpless egg in his claws. Then, he remembered his first moments with Dusk, playing together in the castle, while Princess Celestia looked at them and smiled. Those two ponies were the most important beings in his life, because the princess saved his egg and Dusk gave him a family. “You cannot just play with life and death… You must appreciate life, of every living being.”

At Spike's speech, Clump and Fume looked at each other and simply burst into laughter. Mocking at how cheesy the little baby dragon's speech had been. On the other hand, the one who didn't laugh was Garble. Who made an angry look and looked down on Spike.

“So you think you're better than us.” Garble said, standing in front of Spike and looking down at him angrily. “Being close to the ponies made you feel how tender and weak they are... We are dragons! The biggest and strongest creatures that exist in this world! We feel no mercy for anything or anyone! You would know that, if you were a real dragon.”

'Be careful who you follow as an example, little one. Dragons are strong, but being strong doesn't mean destroying everything.' They were the words that Princess Ember had said to Spike as a warning towards Garble, and he finally understood why she had said them to him.

“Being a dragon means being strong, but being strong doesn’t mean destroying everything, but protecting what is important.” Spike said, looking at Garble with fear, but also determination. Hiding the phoenix egg behind him and taking two steps back. “My real brother taught me that you must do the right thing no matter what danger threatens you, and that is precisely what I will do.” Spike added with teary eyes. Remembering Dusk Shine, his true brother and role model. Remembering how he and his friends had risked their lives so many times to protect others.

“So you think so, huh?” Garble said with a murderous look. Cracking his knuckles as he and his two friends advanced towards Spike. “You’ve disappointed me 'little bro'... Now we’ll have to teach you what it means to be truly strong.” Garble added, raising his fist.

Seeing that Garble would hit him, Spike closed his eyes tightly. He knew he could escape the beating if he gave them the egg, but no matter what happened, he wouldn't let them hurt an innocent baby.

“Ouch!” Garble suddenly shouted, after throwing his fist at Spike. "What is this?"

Spike opened his eyes, and saw that in front of him was a bright purple aura, which had served as a barrier between him and Garble, and which had been so hard, that Garble felt like he hit a concrete wall.

“Well done, little brother.” It suddenly said a voice, one that Spike knew well, and upon hearing it, the baby dragon couldn't help but let out happy tears. Then Spike turned around and saw that at his side was his real brother, Dusk Shine. "I'm proud of you." Dusk added, smiling warmly at him.

“DUSK!!” Spike shouted with euphoria, Hugging his brother's leg tightly. Then he opened his eyes in surprise when he felt the hug of Rainbow Dash and Rarity, who had also arrived to save him.

“We arrived just in time.” Rainbow Dash said smiling. Then she looked up and glared at the dragons. “Nopony's gonna lay a claw on him!”

"That's right! Fighting's not really my thing, I'm more into fashion.” Rarity said, elegantly tossing her mane back. Then getting into a fighting pose. “But I'll rip you to pieces if you touch one scale on his cute little head!” Rarity added, glaring at the dragons behind the barrier.

Just at that moment, Garble gave another strong blow to Dusk's magical shield, managing to break it. Something that greatly surprised Dusk, who thought that his shield would last longer.

"Uh? What is this? Did you call your pony friends to come help you?” Garble said, who was only able to see the ponies after breaking the magic shield and understand that what he had broken had been pony magic.

“Waaah! They skinned Crackle!” Clump suddenly shouted in fright. Seeing that behind the ponies, there was the dragon costume that Dusk and his friends had used.

“It's just a costume, you trio of idiots.” Rainbow Dash said annoyed. “We’re not savages like you.”

Being called idiots, the three dragons glared at Rainbow Dash and exhaled smoke from their noses, menacingly. That made Rainbow Dash crouch down a little, not being able to help but feel a shiver of fear when she saw those fierce gazes.

Dusk Shine quickly used his magic again to create another barrier that separated them from the dragons.

“It’s best that we leave here, before the other dragons come.” Dusk said, turning to look at his friends.

At that precise moment Dusk turned around again when he saw that Garble and his friends hit Dusk's barrier and cracked it with the first blow. And with just another blow, it once again burst into pieces easily. Leaving Dusk almost in shock.

“Magic isn't very effective on dragons!” Dusk thought scared, remembering something he had learned in class but almost forgot. Finally understanding why it was so easy for those dragons to destroy his barrier.

Dusk and his friends began to back away in fear, with Dusk ready to use his magic again, only this time, thinking about teleporting.

“It doesn't matter what trick you use. Nothing will stop us from smashing their faces for making fun of us.” Garble said menacingly, beginning to approach the ponies. “You must understand that a real dragon will never be afraid of a cute pony…”

“RUN!” Another voice suddenly shouted in the distance.

Both ponies and dragons turned around when they heard that scream. Then they saw that the one who had screamed was the white dragon that had flown away, to distract the phoenix couple. This dragon was flying quickly with his other friend. Both with looks of terror, fleeing from what seemed to be a great light approaching.

“What are you running from?” Garble asked as both dragons passed in front of him. So scared, that they didn’t stop in front of Garble and continued flying, to flee even further.

"A pony! A PONY!" The white dragon shouted, as he fled.

"A pony? Haha! Who would run away from a pony?” Garble said with a mocking smile. Turning to see what his friends had run from. However, upon seeing what he was, his smile slowly faded.

Approaching him was indeed a pony, but a different one from the ones next to Spike. This pony was very tall, with large wings, a large horn on her forehead, and a mane that waved and shined on its own. Garble had never seen that pony before, but every dragon knew well who that white pony was. The one pony every dragon knew they should never face.

"Princess Celestia!" Dusk said relieved and surprised. Seeing that his teacher was there.

“Dusk? What are you doing here?" Celestia asked, just as confused to see her beloved student there.

“You… Y-You are the princess of the Sun?” Garble asked stuttering.

At the red dragon's question, Celestia turned around so the dragons could see her cutie mark. Making it shine a little with her magic, to give an even more impressive effect. Then she slowly approached Garble, who, for his part, stood paralyzed, as did his friends; until they were both face to face. Then Celestia put on a big smile.

"Boo!" Celestia said smiling.

“Waaahhh!” Garble shouted in fright. Opening his wings quickly and fleeing the place. Same action that his two friends did. They almost collided with each other because of how quickly they fled the scene.

“Wow… I thought I heard they weren't afraid of ponies.” Celestia said smiling amused. Looking at Dusk and his friends.

“P-Princess, what are you doing here?” Dusk asked. Still somewhat stunned to see his teacher in that place.

“Whenever there is dragon migration, I come to this forest to take care of the phoenix nests around here.” Celestia responded smiling. “With each new generation of dragons, there are always some clumsy teenagers who come here to try to break or eat the eggs. I sent you a letter asking if you wanted to come with me, but since you didn't answer it, I thought you were busy.”

"A letter?" Dusk asked confused. Then he looked at Spike and they both widened their eyes in surprise as they realized that that must have been the letter that Spike tore up and ate, when he was at the burping contest.

'Crack!' Everyone suddenly became distracted when they heard something break. Then everyone looked towards Spike's claws, seeing the egg he was holding beginning to open. After breaking the top of the egg, everyone could see a cute phoenix chick, who looked at Spike attentively, and began to chirp very happily.

“Phoenixes never forget those who took care of them at birth.” Celestia said, looking tenderly at the little dragon. “I'm sure that little phoenix will remember you forever.” Celestia added, turning around to see that just at that moment, her own phoenix, Philomena, was returning towards her.

Celestia had traveled with her pet to that forest, so that they could both cover more ground and care for more phoenixes. For the same reason, she was surprised to see that Philomena was flying very quickly, in the company of two other phoenixes.

“I imagine they must be the parents of that chick,” Celestia said, using her magic to take the newborn chick and put it back in its nest. “It’s best that we leave it in its nest before the parents see it. Phoenixes are very protective of their children.”

At that moment, the phoenix couple arrived at the nest with Philomena. The mother phoenix looked at her newborn chick and immediately stroked it with her head. Meanwhile, the father began to fly in circles, screaming and looking everywhere, as if he were looking for something. For her part, Philomena flew back to where Celestia was and also screeched with a frightened look.

“It must be the other chicks!” Spike said, understanding the situation. “The father must be looking for the other chicks, who ran away from Garble and the others.”

“Hmm… We must find them as soon as possible.” Celestia said, with a slight look of concern. “Those young dragons could warn the Dragon Lord of our presence, and things could get complicated.”

“Yeah, we already saw the Dragon Lord. It really is intimidating.” Dusk added with a small chuckle.

"What? You seen the Dragon Lord!?” Celestia asked. For some reason, getting scared when hearing that. “And the Dragon Lord saw you!?” Celestia asked very worried. Looking at Dusk and his friends, but focusing her sight mainly on Spike.

Before Dusk could respond, the stallion was distracted when something began to glow next to him. At that moment Dusk and his friends opened their mouths and eyes in surprise when they saw that Spike began to shine. Something that surprised Spike himself even more. Meanwhile, Celestia looked scared, thinking that due to carelessness, what she had feared could be about to happen.

End of chapter 29

Chapter 30 - A dragon's word is law

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A dragon's word is law

It had recently fallen into darkness in that forest, next to the mountains that the dragons used to rest during their migration. A forest known to be the nesting place of the Equestrian phoenixes. A beautiful place, where even from afar, you could occasionally see the majestic magical birds, flying through the skies with their trails of fire. However, that night, instead of phoenixes flying through the night sky, there was a group of five young dragons who flew quickly from there. Completely scared as they quickly flapped their wings to return to the safety of the mountains.

Oblivious to that peculiar sight, another young dragon was also in the forest. A young cyan-skinned dragon, who was holding a small phoenix chick, while three other small chicks were on her shoulders, having fun, poking the dragon princess's cheeks.

“Stop poking my face or I swear I'll leave you here to your fate!” Ember shouted, blushing as she walked. Knowing in reality, that was a bluff since she wouldn’t dare leave those newborn chicks abandoned.

Moments before, when Ember was in the mountains and didn’t see Garble or his minions anywhere, she immediately assumed the worst and headed to the forest nearby. Once she arrived, she heard growling in the distance and headed in that direction. She was surprised by those little phoenix chicks, who flew towards her.

As soon as the little chicks saw Ember, they froze and hurriedly turned around to escape. But they did it so quickly that one of the little ones collided with a tree and fell to the ground. There, Ember rushed to approach the chick, while the little one just closed his eyes, thinking that this dragon would be as terrifying as the other three dragons that had scared them away from their nest. However, the phoenix chick was surprised to see that the dragoness gently took him in her claws and spoke softly to him.

Ember blushed at that moment, thinking that even though she tried, her voice didn't sound as tender as she expected, but it was the best she could do. No dragon spoke tenderly and she, of course, was no exception. However, she still tried her best. Seeing that the little chick must have been terrified and confused.

“Don't worry; I won't eat you,” Ember said, gently picking up the injured chick in her claws. I guess you're too small to fly alone at night. I knew it; Garble and the others must have come here to bother the phoenixes,” Ember added, looking away in annoyance. For a second, she forgot her soft voice and spoke harshly again, remembering the bully red dragon.

As soon as the other chicks saw that that dragon had no intention of harming them. They all flew to approach Ember as well. This is how the young dragon princess became, against her will, the transport of those chicks. Ember headed back to where she heard the dragons growled and the chicks were happy to be with their new protector.

"What the heck!?" Ember suddenly said, surprised, when suddenly her body began to glow. “Dad is calling us!?” Ember asked, confused, thinking out loud.

At that moment, another nearby light appeared between the trees. So, Ember started heading there.

Meanwhile, Dusk and his friends were so surprised to see Spike glowing that none of them heard the dragon princess approach there. It was only when Ember was fully in sight that everyone heard her and was surprised to see her there. Like Ember herself, who was shocked to see the little purple dragon with three ponies, and more importantly... The Princess of the Sun!?

“Princess Ember?” Spike asked surprised. After a long silence in which no one spoke, due to surprise.

“I told you not to call me princess!” Ember shouted in annoyance. Finally managing to react, thanks to her anger.

'Caaaw!' Everyone was distracted when the father and mother phoenix finally saw their chicks in the claws of a dragon, they screeched fiercely and set their wings on fire, lunging furiously at Ember.

With Ember taken completely by surprise, she couldn't even react when the phoenix was almost upon her, with their beaks open to begin their furious attack to defend their young. However, it was the chicks themselves that jumped in front of their parents, to prevent both phoenixes from hurting Ember.

The phoenixes stopped in mid-air in shock. While Ember, Spike and the ponies watched in amazement as the phoenix chicks chirped indignantly, defending Ember.

“Sorry, young dragon.” Celestia finally said, raising her voice when she saw that everyone was still surprised. “You were the one who saved those little chicks?”

Ember was even more shocked to see 'the fearsome Princess of the Sun,' as she was known in dragon legends, speaking directly to her. So she couldn't help but stutter a little.

“Y-Yes…” Ember answered timidly. Until she opened her eyes wide when she realized something very important... She couldn't appear weak! She was the daughter of the Dragon Lord! “I-It's not what you think! I saved them just because I felt like it! Not because I felt sorry for them!” Ember shouted in annoyance, pretending to be indignant, looking away.

That sudden change of attitude would have had a better impact, if it had not been for the fact that one of the chicks approached her cheek and caressed her with its small head. Causing Ember to blush and look even cuter next to the chick.

“Don't try to intimidate me, pony princess. I’m the one who will ask the questions!” Ember suddenly said, realizing her attempt to sound evil didn't work. “What are you doing here? Are all of you with that baby dragon?” Ember added, pointing at Spike.

"I'm not a baby!" Spike yelled in annoyance. Taking a step forward so Ember could see him properly.

It was only in that instant, as she pointed at Spike, that Ember saw her own claw and realized that her scales were still glowing. Just like little Spike, who was in front of her.

"What am I doing!? We must go!" Ember said scared. Raising her other claw so the chick it was holding would fly away and fly to its siblings, back to its parents. “My father is calling us!”

"Your father?" Spike asked confused.

“Ugh! I almost forgot it. You don’t know anything about dragons because you weren’t raised as one.” Ember said, looking away in frustration. “When a dragon's scales shine, it’s because the Dragon Lord summons us. It’s something that cannot be avoided, and it’s very rare that it happens. So, something very important must have happened for my father to summon all the dragons.”

“Oh… Uh… I…” Spike murmured nervously. Glancing sideways at Celestia and Dusk, not entirely sure what to do.

On any other occasion, Spike would have preferred to return home to Dusk and his friends. However, for some strange reason, Spike felt like he had to obey Ember. It was something strange he felt inside. As soon as it started to shine, he felt like someone was really calling him and he had to go somewhere.

“I see… You’re the daughter of the Dragon Lord Torch.” Celestia said, narrowing her eyes slightly. Meanwhile, Ember stood firm when she saw that the Princess of the Sun was looking at her. Trying her best not to be intimidated by Celestia. “Ember, I would be very grateful if you took Spike with you.”

"What!?" Dusk, Rarity and Rainbow Dash shouted at the same time.

“The Dragon Lord already saw Spike, and I think that's why he summoned all the dragons.” Celestia responded, speaking calmly to reassure Dusk and his friends. “The worst thing Spike could do is ignore the call of his race.”

“But…” Dusk murmured fearfully. Lowering his gaze as he remembered how Garble and the others teased and abused Spike.

“Don’t worry, Dusk. I’ll go too, to protect him.” Celestia added, with a reassuring smile.

"What!?" This time it was Ember's turn to scream in surprise. “I… I don't think that's a good idea.” Ember added, putting on a worried look.

“She won't go alone. I’ll go too!” Dusk said, taking a step forward, with a firm look.

“That's even worse!” Ember shouted worriedly. “I know this is Equestria, but we're not at a resort. We dragons don't get together with the ponies to drink tea, or whatever you do at your meetings.”

“Dusk, I think it's best if you leave this to me.” Celestia added, touching Dusk gently. “This is a delicate matter, and as the young dragon princess says, it’s best that the Dragon Lord doesn’t see you or your friends hanging around here.”

Understanding his teacher's wise words, Dusk lowered his head in resignation. Then Ember took Spike in her arms, opened her wings and flew away. While Spike just gave them a sad goodbye smile as he flew away from everyone.

“Go back to Ponyville. I’ll make sure to take care of Spike.” Celestia said with a small smile, also saying goodbye to her pet, Philomena. Then Celestia opened her wings and flew, following Ember and Spike.

“Wow… This got more complicated than I thought.” Rainbow Dash said, once she, Rarity and Dusk were alone. Breaking the awkward silence they remained in after Spike and Celestia left.

“It would be best if we returned home.” Rarity said, touching Dusk, seeing that he had remained silent, with his head lowered. “Spikey will be safe with the princess.”

“I know he will be safe…” Dusk said slowly. Raising his head and showing that he had a look full of determination. “But still, I’ll never abandon my brother!”

After a short flight, Ember and Spike arrived at the mountains where the other dragons were resting. There, all the dragons that had flown in the migration were already gathered. All shining, looking expectantly at their Dragon Lord, who remained silent, with his eyes closed, as if waiting for something. A particular scene, which looked even more impressive given that night had already fallen and there were several burning rocks lit, like bonfires, thanks to the fire of the dragons. Which provided a very ceremonial atmosphere.

Ember slowly landed near her father, where another dragon was also nearby. An ancient dragon, larger than Ember, but much smaller than the enormous Torch. But the most notable characteristic of that dragon was how wrinkled his face was and his bulging eyebrows, which covered his eyes. In addition, he carried with him a pile of old scrolls, which surrounded various parts of his legs and tail.

“You’re late for ‘the call’.” Torch finally spoke, slightly in a bad mood. Bringing his face closer to where Ember and Spike had landed.

"I'm sorry. I was… kind of busy.” Ember replied, glancing back nervously out of the corner of her eye.

“I wasn't saying that to you.” Torch said, moving his eyes slightly so his daughter could see that who he was talking to was the little purple dragon next to her. At that moment, Torch made a small growl inside his mouth, and instantly, all the dragons stopped glowing.

"What!?" Ember said confused, looking to her side. Surprised to see his father staring at little Spike. Who, for his part, remained trembling while the Dragon Lord looked at him intensely.

“I never thought this day would come.” The elder dragon said, named Graytusk. Approaching where Spike was, and looking at him carefully. After a few seconds, he looked back at Torch. “Are you sure you want to continue with this, my Dragon Lord? There is no way to verify that this baby dragon comes from where he says he comes from.”

“F-From Ponyville?” Spike muttered, trembling. Believing that the Dragon Lord would eat him for coming from a pony town.

“No... For coming from the egg you described.” Torch replied in a bad mood. “There must be a way to check your origin, without having to resort to those pesky ponies.”

“Hmm… Father. Actually…” Ember muttered, butting into the conversation. Pointing worriedly towards the night sky behind her. “There is someone who wants an audience with you.”

As soon as Torch looked up, he saw a white being radiating a faint light as it approached. The old dragon didn’t need to see the face of that being, because he immediately recognized it from afar. Growling when he saw that Celestia had come there. While the rest of the dragons, after turning to see, were left with their breathing stopped when they understood who was approaching.

“So, you came to see for yourself that I fulfill the promise made by my clan, isn't that right, Celestia?” Torch said grumpily, once Celestia was close enough.

“It's quite the opposite, Lord Dragon Torch.” Celestia said. Landing near Ember and Spike. “I came here to say that this is all a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?” Torch asked, raising an eyebrow. Who seemed to be getting more upset by the second. “Do you deny that this baby dragon was born from the egg you were caring for?”

Celestia was silent for a few seconds before speaking again.

"I cannot deny it. Indeed, Spike was born from 'that' egg.” Celestia responded, closing her eyes in slight regret. Knowing that the best option would have been to lie, but if Torch found out that she was lying, it could make things even worse. "But the promise the dragons made was for another purpose... Torch, I don't want you to believe-"

“Don't try to change my mind!” Torch snorted in annoyance. “The word of a Dragon Lord is law! And dragons always keep their promises! Without exception!"

Seeing that Torch was beginning to get angry, and that he refused to break his clan's promise even if it hurt him, Celestia decided to stay silent for a few seconds, so that Torch would calm down. Thinking that before continuing talking, she had to find a way for Torch to put his pride aside for a moment. Otherwise... she could lose Spike forever.

“Listen, dragons! Let’s go back to the Dragon Land right now!” Torch shouted, speaking loudly for everyone to hear. Instantly, all the dragons began to murmur in confusion, since it was normal for the migration to continue during the day, not at night.

“Father, why is this so sudden?” Ember asked, just as confused as everyone.

“Because tomorrow, at this same time, there will be a new Dragon Lord.” Torch said, frowning slightly.

"What!?" Ember and all the dragons shouted at the same time. Everyone is in shock. Meanwhile, Celestia closed her eyes with regret. Realizing that she couldn't change Torch's mind as easily as she wanted.

In a few minutes, all the dragons were ready to resume their journey. Time that Celestia took advantage of to try to change Torch's mind. At the same time, Ember also filled her father with questions, trying to understand the reason for that abrupt decision. However, the stubbornness of a dragon could be infinite, and Torch continued ignoring both his daughter and the Sun Princess, since his decision had already been made.

Once all the dragons were ready, they opened their wings together and began the last leg of their journey towards their home, Dragon Land.

This time, it was Celestia who offered to take Spike since the little dragon didn't have wings yet. Something that Torch looked at with displeasure, since he didn't want a pony to step on his lands. However, as soon as Torch looked at Celestia to complain, this time it was Celestia's turn to glare at him. Showing that she could also be just as stubborn as him, if the occasion required it. And there was no way she was going to walk away from Spike that easily.

Thus, dozens of dragons began their flight under the moonlight. Led by Torch and Ember in the lead, while almost at the end, were Celestia, Spike and some straggling dragons, who flew slower than the others, like old Graytusk.

“Hmm… Princess…” Spike muttered fearful, on Celestia's back. As she and the dragons began to fly over the sea of Equestria. “What was all that...? What is happening!?" Spike shouted, terrified and confused. Without understanding anything of what was happening.

Celestia flew in silence for a few seconds, until she finally turned her head to look at the baby dragon.

“Spike, I know I told you that one day I found your abandoned egg and took care of it until Dusk Shine managed to open it. But… that’s not the whole story.” Celestia said looking worriedly at Spike. “When you were born, I hoped to tell you the whole truth, but as the years went by… I began to think that perhaps it would be best if you never knew.” Celestia added, looking away with sad eyes.

This time it was Spike's turn to remain silent for a few seconds. Until he looked up and had a very serious look.

“This is the moment… Tell me the truth.” Spike said with determination in his eyes. Feeling for the first time in his life, that he had to know his past, before continuing to look towards the future. Meanwhile, Celestia looked up again and smiled at him with a sad look.

“Thousands of years ago, when I was still just a filly, Equestria was on the brink of destruction. It was a dark time, when many of the ancient kingdoms fell... It was thanks to the union of Queen Amore, Starswirl, and several of the ponies' former allies, that that threat was stopped. A victory that brought with it many sacrifices…” Celestia said, beginning to remember the past. “After that dark time, came an era of peace, but Starswirl realized that if another similar threat attacked us, it could be the end of our species. That is why he began to look for new allies. And when I got my cutie mark, he knew exactly who would be a powerful ally for Equestria: the dragons... Even at that time, there were very few ancient dragons left. Those fearsome dragons that were even bigger and scarier than Dragon Lord Torch himself…”

“Bigger than Torch…!?” Spike screamed in terror. “Th-Those dragons still exist...?” Spike asked, shivering at the thought of a dragon scarier and bigger than Torch.

“The dragons that lived in the First Era of this world dispersed and died in solitude long ago. However, a new class of dragons had already begun to form at that time.” Celestia continued speaking, narrowing her eyes as she remembered the past. “Smaller dragons, who grew according to their greed and ego, but who also understood the value of life better and, therefore, were less violent. They began to be the majority, and in them, Starswirl saw an opportunity... Despite being less wild, there is something that every dragon respects above all, and that is their ancestral laws. One of those laws is to venerate 'the eternal flame'.”

“The eternal flame...?” Spike asked confused, until he realized something important. Then he turned and looked down, to see Celestia's flank. And finally he understood. "Is the sun! What dragons worship the most is the sun! That's why Starswirl waited until you got your cutie mark to approach the dragons!”

“Starswirl couldn't know that Luna and I were destined to move the moon and the sun. However, when he saw it, he understood that my cutie mark could help us get closer to the dragons.” Celestia added with a sad look. “Still, he underestimated the dragons' aversion to ponies… That time, Starswirl and I headed to the place the dragons call the 'Withered Heath', the ancestral birthplace of the dragons.”

“The ancestral birthplace of dragons? Where is that!?" Spike asked excitedly. Feeling like he was learning more about his race in one day than he had learned in his entire life.

“Unfortunately that place no longer exists. Even I didn’t know it.” Celestia responded with a sad look, as she knew it wasn't the answer Spike was expecting. “It was beyond the Northern Mountains. That is the reason for the migration of dragons. They must cross all of Equestria, since their ancestral home was to the North of Equestria and the current Dragon Lands are to the South.”

“Oh… It's a pity.” Spike said, sorry that he couldn't know the birthplace of his ancestors. “But… The mountains of the North? Why would the birthplace of dragons be such a cold place? We dragons are supposed to love heat.” Spike asked confused. An answer that took a while to come, since Celestia remained silent for a while, slightly tense at that question.

“The dragons blame the ponies for freezing their ancestral home.” Celestia responded, with a voice devoid of emotion.

"What!? That can't be… Ponies would never do something like that!” Spike said in disbelief. However, seeing that Celestia kept her eyes straight ahead, without answering him, made doubts begin to grow in him. “The… The ponies didn't do that… right?”

"I don't know. That happened long before my era.” Celestia answered sincerely. “But what I do know is that in the First Era, there was a lot of barbarism. A time when death was commonplace and dragons crossed the skies hunting ponies. However, 'something' happened that made the dragons stop hunting ponies. Something that scared them so much that it ended that barbaric tradition.”

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air. With Celestia keeping a serious look, thinking about how lucky she had been to not be born in that time of chaos. And Spike, who kept a frightened look, imagining what a war between ponies and dragons must have been like. Which caused him to feel chills.

"When we sought to approach the dragons, Starswirl and I arrived at their frozen ancestral home, seeking to form an alliance with them... When we arrived at those lands, the first thing we both saw was a group of young dragons playing." Celestia continued telling her story. “Those dragons rolled ancient fossilized dragon eggs and made them explode, throwing them from above and crashing them to the ground. Ancient eggs that never opened, that were left in that ancestral cradle, when it froze... At that moment, when they were about to break the smallest of the eggs that were there, I noticed that although that egg was fossilized, there was still something of magic in it. So I saved it, before those dragons smashed it to the ground.”

“W-Wait a second!” Spike shouted scared. Fearing where Celestia was going with that story. “That happened when you were just a filly! Maybe… You're not saying…”

“Spike, you're just a baby dragon. But the reality is, your egg is older than me.” Celestia responded, with a small serene smile. Knowing that she had to calm Spike down after that shocking revelation.

Spike stood with his mouth open, frozen, for many seconds. While Celestia was left flying in silence. Knowing that the little baby dragon needed time to digest all this new information.

“Starswirl tried to dialogue with the Dragon Lord of that time. Showing him that I was capable of moving the Sun at will.” Celestia continued telling her story, after having been silent for a long time. “That had the effect Starswirl had hoped for, and earned me the respect of most of the dragons. But it also generated an unexpected effect... The dragons despised the council of unicorns that managed to move the Sun at will for the first time, and that hatred towards ponies prevented them from seeing me as a pony. The only way they would accept me would be if I was not a pony, and to do so, I had to show that although on the outside I looked like a pony, on the inside I had the soul of a dragon. And to do this, I had to break the egg that I had saved before meeting the Dragon Lord.”

“My egg…” Spike whispered, perfectly understanding Celestia's dilemma. Since he himself had experienced it a few hours before in front of Garble. Killing an innocent being to be accepted into a group.

“I told the Dragon Lord that I couldn’t kill an innocent, that it was against my nature, and even against Ancient Magic itself!” Celestia continued speaking, getting a little emotional as she remembered that sad event from her childhood. “However, the Dragon Lord sneered and told me that that egg was not alive. That the fossilized eggs were just exploding rocks, with nothing inside... I tried to explain to him that that egg still had some magic, but all the dragons made fun of me. Saying that I was the perfect example of how stupid and weak we ponies were... It was at that moment, when everyone made fun of me, the Dragon Lord swore as a final mockery towards me and Starswirl... He said that the dragons would happily accept an alliance with the ponies, even more so! He swore that the Dragon Lord himself would leave his throne... but that would happen, only the day I managed to hatch that egg. And that was the last great mockery of the dragons towards the ponies, which forever broke any attempt at an alliance between both races..."

“After failing in our mission, Starswirl worked day and night on the small fossilized egg, feeling, as I did, that the egg did have a strange magic in it. However, the years passed, and neither Starswirl nor I managed to revive that egg. The Dragon Lord was right. That was a dead egg, a lifeless rock… Or so I thought, until one day, a young foal finally managed to hatch that egg.”

“Wow…” Spike whispered, feeling a chill at finally discovering his past. After that, Spike remained silent for several seconds. With a thoughtful look as he digested all that information. Putting it in order, to see if nothing was missed. “There is something I don't understand… Why didn't I know about this before? I mean, if that promise that the Dragon Lord said as a mockery was fulfilled, wouldn't it have been easier to immediately go with the current Dragon Lord, to form the promised alliance? Or perhaps, you thought the dragons had forgotten that promise?” Spike asked, remembering that if that promise was made when Celestia got her cutie mark, it must have been thousands of years ago, before most of today's dragons were born.

“Dragons are not good at remembering things from the past. For this reason, only one dragon in each generation is responsible for keeping its records. Since others think that reading is a waste of time.” Celestia responded. Looking askance at old Graytusk, the old dragon flying not far from them, who always carried dozens of scrolls with him. “However, if there is one thing dragons never forget, it’s a promise. Their word is law, for all eternity.” Celestia was silent for a few seconds, and then looked worriedly at Spike. “Reminding them of the promise means that the dragons will be allies of the ponies from now on. But that means… that you’ll have to stay with them.”

“Stay with the dragons...? Forever!?" Spike shouted dazedly.

“According to their laws, young dragons cannot leave the Dragon Lands until they’re adults and can fend for themselves.” Celestia said, looking forward again. But maintaining her sad and worried look, with a slight shine in her eyes. Doing everything possible not to shed a tear.

"Stay with the dragons... until I'm an adult..." Spike muttered in shock. Trembling at the idea that the meeting he had with Dusk and his friends just a few hours ago could be the last time he would see them. “B-But that's not fair! If we talk to the Dragon Lord, I'm sure-” At that moment, Spike stopped talking.

For a second, Spike was about to say that they should try to convince Torch to let him return to Ponyville. But he quickly realized that would be useless. Just as Celestia said, for dragons, their word is law, and they don’t break break it for anything in the world. Even Torch was giving up his throne to fulfill a promise he himself hadn't made! Of course, changing his mind would be impossible.

At that moment, Spike looked at Celestia and saw how sad the alicorn's gaze was, even though she was trying to look firm. Then Spike understood how much Celestia was willing to sacrifice for him. She saw the birth of Spike and knew that with that, she could form her long-awaited alliance with the dragons to keep Equestria safe. However, she didn't because she ended up becoming fond of Spike. Deciding that she wanted Spike to grow up happy with Dusk and his family, instead of using him as a simple bargaining chip.

Spike moved closer to Celestia's neck, and hugged her tenderly. While Celestia simply closed her eyes and finally released the tear she had tried to hide. Knowing that she couldn't hide Spike from his race anymore. And if they both wanted to avoid breaking that old promise, one that could trigger a war, they both had to accept it.

While Celestia continued flying, near her, a little below, another clumsy dragon flew. A dragon that was actually three ponies dressed up in a bad dragon suit.

Hours before, Dusk and his friends had put on the 'Crackle' suit again, and thanks to Rainbow Dash's wings, they were able to fly while Dusk kept them stable in the air, thanks to his magic. Meanwhile, Rarity finally used the rumor-listening spell, which she had learned to gossip with the flower girls of Ponyville, and thus listen from afar to what Celestia and Spike were talking about. In this way, the three ponies were able to find out about that revealing conversation. A revelation that made them almost fall into the water, due to surprise.

After a long journey, all the dragons, including Celestia and three exhausted ponies in costume, arrived on the shores of the Dragon Land. There, there were several dozen dragons waiting. Everyone was very confused when they saw their Dragon Lord and their other brothers and sisters arrive in the middle of the night.

Most of the dragons that had stayed in the Dragon Lands were those that were too old or too young to fly in the great migration. Plus a few other great dragons who stayed to protect their home. There, everyone gathered near the Dragon Lord as soon as he landed. Filling Ember with questions since they didn’t have enough courage to ask their fearsome Lord why they had all returned before the migration and why the Dragon Lord summoned them with 'the call,' making them shine for a few minutes.

Before Ember could begin to answer the questions, a clamor of shock and horror began to rise among the youngest of the dragons. Surprised to see that along with her brothers, the only pony that everyone knew from legends also landed... the powerful and fearsome Princess of the Sun.

“Wow… I think we're just in time.” Celestia said calmly, once she landed. Looking up at the night sky and noticing that it was time to 'do her job.'

After Spike got off her back, Celestia calmly closed her eyes and began to use her magic. In a few seconds, the sky began to turn purple and pink at one end. Getting clearer and clearer, until the Sun began to appear from an orange sky from the distance of the sea horizon. Rising slowly until it appears completely in the sky and completely dyes the sky with the beautiful sky blue of the day.

That was part of Celestia's daily routine. Something she had done for hundreds of thousands of days. As for the dragons, they had also seen the sunrise hundreds of times. However, seeing Celestia in front of their eyes, raising the enormous star of incandescent fire, made several young dragons flee from there in fright.

“Never face the Sun or the Death!” Several frightened dragons echoed as they fled. Something that caught Spike's attention a lot. Who noticed that it seemed like a motto that all dragons knew.

"Every dragon! Gather here!” Torch shouted angrily, seeing that some dragons had started to run away in fear. “Today, an Era ends! My clan, has protected our race for over a thousand years. My ancestors have carried the responsibility of caring for our race since the ancient dragons became extinct. However, fulfilling the promise made by the Dragon Lords before me, today, I cease to be your Dragon Lord!”

A great clamor began to grow among all the dragons. All confused, surprised, some afraid, and a few others, very intrigued and excited. Different emotions that filled that land in just seconds. Well, as Torch said, in effect, an Era was ending.

“B-But Great Torch… If you will no longer be our Dragon Lord… Who will be?” A timid dragon asked, who mustered up the courage to ask that question in front of the huge dragon.

“If my clan will no longer be the guardian of the dragons, we’ll have to return to the old ways…” Torch said, looking down at his side. There was old Graytusk, carrying with him a long, old wooden box. Upon opening it, everyone could see that inside was a kind of purple rock scepter, with a huge red rock crystal that shined, on top.

“This is the 'Bloodstone Scepter'.” Old Graytusk said. “The symbol of power of our people, which has been passed down from generation to generation among the Dragon Lords. Going all the way back to the First Dragon Lord.”

“Only the Dragon Lord is allowed to touch it, because once a dragon touches it, the scepter makes it one with all other dragons… His word becomes law.” Torch said, taking the scepter, which between his huge claws, looked very small. As soon as Torch took it, the red rock on the scepter glowed, and all the dragons present felt a kind of small electric shock. Feeling that they were somehow connected to said scepter. “I hadn't touched it since my father named me his successor… It's a mighty relic.” Torch added, raising it, closing one eye, and putting the scepter in line with his vision and a volcano, which was on an island, off the coast where they were.

After taking aim, Torch suddenly stretched out his claw and threw the scepter towards that volcano. All before the shocked gaze of all the other dragons, who were left with their mouths open. Unable to believe that Torch had just thrown away such an important relic for the dragons.

“Heh! Do you want to know who will be the next Dragon Lord? My throne is yours for the taking, but you have to find it first! All the power of a Dragon Lord is hidden there... In that volcano! Whoever brings the scepter back to me will be crowned as the new Dragon Lord!” Torch shouted with a sly smile, looking at all the dragons. “I’ll not have favorites nor will I prevent anyone from competing. All the young dragons who accompanied me on this migration will compete equally for the right to the throne!” Then Torch lowered his gaze and looked at Celestia, with a more serious look. “Only the next Dragon Lord will decide the future of my race.” Torch added, with a defiant tone. Knowing that he must fulfill his ancestors' promise, but what kind of alliance ponies and dragons would have, would be something that only a true dragon would decide... The next Dragon Lord!

The dragons were shocked for a few seconds... Was what Torch said true? Whoever found that scepter would be the next Dragon Lord!? That sounded crazy, but... the word of a Dragon Lord was law. And that meant...

After coming out of their stupor, the dragons began to look at each other, until one stepped forward. Instantly, everyone began to run frantically towards the shore of the coast that looked towards that volcano. The first dragons to reach the cliff opened their wings and jumped to fly in that direction.

Those first dragons to fly smiled as they thought they had the advantage. However, barely two seconds had passed, when two enormous sea serpents emerged from the water, biting and hitting those dragons, who immediately fell into the water. Meanwhile, all the other dragons that had reached the edge of the cliff stopped dead in their tracks just before jumping.

"HAHAHA! Did you think it would be so simple?” Torch laughed, watching with delight as the young dragons that had fallen into the water, swam away in terror from the sea serpents that wanted to devour them. “Have you forgotten? That volcano is where our eggs hatch. It’s a place full of death traps to ward off anyone who approaches before the hatching date.”

The dragons widened their eyes in surprise as they remembered what Torch told them. Finally realizing that this challenge wouldn’t be as easy as they thought. Since all of them had contributed with those traps, so that reaching the center of the volcano was impossible at that time of year.

The more cunning dragons ran back to their caves. Realizing that they would need their armor to be able to avoid all the traps. Meanwhile, others stayed trying to cross the sea as they were, so as not to waste time.

“It's a very peculiar way you have to choose your successor.” Celestia said with a certain look of concern. Raising an eyebrow and glancing at Torch. “Aren't you afraid that if you leave it to chance, the next Dragon Lord might be someone who isn't a good leader?” Celestia asked. Realizing that this competition could be a real danger for Equestria. Since Torch's clan had kept peace for centuries with the ponies. But if some reckless leader arrived, it could cause that balance to be broken.

"You wouldn’t understand. A dragon must be strong, and only the strongest can be called a true leader.” Torch replied, with a small growl. Thinking that only brute force was required to earn the respect of his peers.

"Father! I won’t let you down.” Ember suddenly said. Who had been the first dragon to realize the danger, and had gone to look for her armor. Which was made of golden metal, with a helmet that completely covered her head. “I never wanted to be called a princess, or have the throne thanks to my father. Now, I’ll finally be able to prove myself worthy of becoming a true Dragon Lord!”

"What are you talking about? You’ll not compete!” Torch said, growling and looking seriously at his daughter.

"What!? Why!?" Ember shouted, surprised and annoyed. Taking off her helmet to look at her father's face.

“You’re too young… Even if you managed to reach the scepter before everyone, no one would ever respect you as their new Dragon Lord.” Torch responded, telling her the second reason why he didn't want his daughter to participate in this dangerous challenge. Since the first reason was because he didn't want her to get hurt. But of course, his pride would never allow him to say that. “A true dragon must be strong. The strongest of all! Strong enough to get past all the deadly traps that surround that volcano.”

“Being strong doesn't mean having a head full of muscles!” Ember shouted furiously. “I may lose to other dragons in a silly tail wrestling, but I assure you that my spirit and my inner fire is the strongest of all those here! I am fast, intelligent and a born leader. That's what our people need to grow! Not just some fool who thinks that being strong means hitting harder than the other guy!” Ember shouted furiously. All under the annoyed gaze of his father, who just remained silent.

Another one who stayed to watch that discussion attentively was Celestia. Who listened with interest to Ember's speech, seeing the fire in her eyes, and understood that that young dragon, indeed, was someone 'truly strong'. And not only that, but, although not even the young dragon realized it, she also had another quality that she didn’t value, which was very important in a leader. A quality that Celestia saw in Ember when the dragon took care of the phoenix chicks.

“If you'll excuse my intrusion, Lord Dragon Torch…” Celestia said, speaking calmly, as if pretending to remember something. “I seem to remember that you said that you wouldn’t have favorites in this competition, nor would you prevent anyone from competing... That all the dragons who accompanied you in the migration would compete equally for the right to the throne.” Celestia said, repeating almost word for word what Torch had said in his previous speech.

Both Torch and Ember widened their eyes in surprise. And then radically change your attitude. Torch putting on a furious look while Ember put on a happy look.

"It's true! Those were your words, father!" Ember shouted with a triumphant smile. Looking at her father with a defiant look. “A Dragon Lord always keeps his word… So not even you will stop me from competing!” Ember shouted, putting her helmet back on and quickly flying towards the cliff, where the other dragons were jumping from.

"If a violent dragon becomes a Dragon Lord, it could be dangerous for all of Equestria." Celestia thought, smiling as she watched Ember walk away. “But that dragon… Maybe she is our best option to keep peace between ponies and dragons.”

As Celestia looked hopefully at Torch's daughter, the great Dragon Lord glared at Celestia. Hating that that pony used her own words against him, to allow his daughter to participate in that dangerous competition.

“The word of a Dragon Lord is law…” Torch said angrily, looking towards Celestia and Spike. “And my words were that all the young dragons who accompanied me on this migration would compete for the throne… That includes the little dragon.” Torch added, looking at Celestia with an evil smile. She decided to take revenge on Celestia, forcing the little baby dragon she protected so much to participate in that deadly competition.

Both Spike and Celestia were surprised by that decision. Spike putting on a fearful look, looking towards the ravine and seeing how the sea serpents attacked the dragons that were flying through the sea. While Celestia looked at Torch and understood that this was the Dragon Lord's revenge, and from his look, it would be impossible to change his mind. For, as he himself said, the word of a Dragon Lord was law.

“Listen Spike… You’re a dragon, and as such, you must obey what the Dragon Lord says.” Celestia said, crouching down to speak to Spike. And without Spike or Torch noticing, Celestia subtly used her magic to surround Spike with an almost invisible magical aura. “You can't fly, so you'll have to swim to that volcano.”

“Do you want me to swim there!?” Spike shouted in terror. “The snakes will eat me!”

“Sea serpents only attack those who fly. If you swim, you’ll be fine.” Celestia lied, to reassure Spike. “Swim to the other shore and wait until the competition ends. You’ll have already passed the first test, and that will be enough to comply with the Dragon Lord's order.” Celestia added, giving Spike a reassuring smile, then standing up and giving Torch an annoyed sidelong glance.

Spike looked shocked, then looked down and began to sweat. He had no escape, and both Torch and Celestia told him that he had to compete. What other option did he have!? Finally, Spike swallowed, deciding to trust Celestia, and slowly approached the island's ravine.

A few moments before, after several dragons had returned to take their combat armor, three ponies dressed as dragons stood watching fearfully as several dragons jumped from the cliff, only to be hit or bitten by the enormous sea serpents... Dusk and his friends had been pushed to the edge of the ravine after the stampede of dragons pushed them. There, the three were forced to stay without being able to go back, since there were so many dragons gathered, that it was impossible for them to walk.

After trembling with fear for several minutes, being surrounded by dozens of dragons, the three ponies were finally able to breathe again when the ravine became clearer, after several dragons jumped into flight. At that moment, the smartest thing would have been to back away and hide. However, instead, the three ponies stood frozen, with a fearful look, looking at each other.

As the dragons gathered to jump, several of them excitedly shared their ideas, saying what would be the first thing they would do upon becoming the new Dragon Lord. There, the ponies could hear how several of those young dragons joked about making burps the new official greeting, or having each dragon pay a new tribute of gems to the new Dragon Lord. However, there were also more adventurous comments, about expanding dragon territory, or flying to steal Equestria; Even a few laughed sinisterly at the idea of returning to the old customs of eating ponies.

“It can't be... The peace of all Equestria may depend on this absurd competition!” Dusk thought terrified. Knowing that a war against the dragons could be the end of pony life as they knew it.

“We must make sure that none of those violent dragons become the new Dragon Lord…” Dusk murmured. Knowing that intervening in that competition could itself mean an act of war against the dragons. But even so, the risk was necessary to preserve peace.

"Are you kidding? How do you intend to do that!?” Rainbow Dash asked, almost panicking.

“Even if we could do something, we don't know which dragon would be the best to be the new Dragon Lord.” Rarity said scared. Understanding what was at stake.

Suddenly Dusk and company stopped whispering when a small dragon passed by them, approaching the edge of the ravine. It was little Spike. He had been so focused and nervous as he approached the edge that he didn't even look to his side or realize that his friends were there in costume.

"Is that magic…?" Dusk thought confused. Noticing that a very subtle aura surrounded Spike's body.

Before the ponies could say anything to Spike, the little baby dragon closed his eyes, gave a big sigh, stretched his claws forward, and jumped off the ravine, plummeting toward the sea. Immediately Dusk and company approached the edge to see if Spike was okay. Breathing a sigh of relief when they saw that the little dragon came out of the water and began to swim towards the volcano island.

“The sea serpents are going to eat Spike!” Rarity screamed in terror. Ready to come out of the costume to jump and save Spike.

“Wait… Look carefully.” Dusk said narrowing his eyes. Watching Spike carefully as he swam. “The serpents are not attacking him.” Dusk added, noticing that the huge sea serpents kept peeking out and attacking every time a dragon flew over them. However, none of them had come out to attack Spike, who had been swimming for quite some time.

“Why don't they attack him?” Rainbow Dash asked, relieved but confused. A question that didn’t have an immediate answer, since Dusk remained silent for a few seconds, looking at Spike attentively with a thoughtful look.

"I already have it! That's the magical aura that surrounded Spike!” Dusk finally said, opening his eyes in surprise. Discovering the trick Spike used. “Sea serpents attack dragons when they see their shadows flying over the water. But someone put a spell on Spike to hide his shadow. And not only that, I guess a camouflage spell is activated on the part of his body that is submerged underwater. Thus, it’s invisible to the sea serpents that see it from below… Such advanced magic, leaving such a subtle aura… There is only one pony capable of doing that!” Dusk said, moving to look back and see his teacher in the distance, who was still chatting with Torch in the distance.

“Are you saying that Princess Celestia is helping Spike in the competition?” Rarity asked in surprise, who also saw where Dusk was looking.

“Yes… It’s strange that the princess interferes with other kingdoms, but if she is helping Spike, it’s surely because she knows the risk that all of Equestria will have if a dangerous dragon takes the throne.” Dusk responded.

“So... What do we do now?” Rainbow Dash asked. “The princess's magic can help Spike hide from the sea serpents, but what about what's inside the volcano? I don’t think this is the only test that the Dragon Lord put in the competition.”

“Yeah, I don't think so either…” Dusk said with a thoughtful look. Then he raised his head and put on a look full of determination. “We’ll follow Spike and make sure he wins, for the good of Equestria.”

Dusk told his friends his plan, and in a few seconds, the three of them jumped in their Crackle costume from the ravine. There, just before they fell, Rainbow Dash used her wings to keep them in the air, almost touching the water. Dusk then used his magic to do the same spell that Celestia used to hide Spike's shadow. Dusk knew that it would be more difficult to use a camouflage spell at the same time, just like Celestia used, but as long as they stayed in the air, it would be enough to hide their shadow.

After moving a little over the water, the three ponies breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that their plan was working, and just like what happened to Spike, the sea serpents didn’t come out to attack them. Thus, Rainbow Dash did her best to keep them all in the air and fly quickly to get closer to Spike as soon as possible, who had already advanced more than halfway.

When the ponies were close to catching up with Spike, Dusk was distracted when the light from a reflection bothered his eye. The stallion looked up and saw that that reflection was that of golden armor. One carried by a young dragon, who fell into the sea after a sea serpent hit her in the air.

Ember fell hard against the water, becoming unconscious. Sinking rapidly, due to the weight of her own armor. Not far from where she fell, was Spike. Who, seeing she fall and sink, hurried to change course to go there.

Spike took a deep breath and quickly dove under. While Dusk and his friends also rushed to fly to where the baby dragon submerged. The ponies waited above the water for several seconds, waiting for Spike to come back out. Until finally, when the three were about to discard their costumes to jump into the water, Spike resurfaced, bringing with him an unconscious Ember, who kept her armor but had lost her helmet.

“Ember! Wake up!" Spike yelled. Who gave his all to keep both himself and Ember afloat.

When Spike felt that his strength was no longer enough, an impulse lifted him slightly from the water, and made him open his eyes in surprise.

“Don’t worry Spike! We’re with you!" Dusk said. Who stayed behind Spike. Using her magic to help Spike keep Ember afloat.

“Dusk! Girls! What are you doing here!?" Spike shouted happily, but also very surprised.

Before Dusk could respond, the stallion was distracted when he saw a shadow appear under the water. Getting bigger and darker.

"Watch out!" Dusk shouted. Using his magic to give himself momentum and push Spike and Ember. Then, the head of a huge sea serpent peeked out of the water. Reaching out to bite the tail of the ponies' costume. Which they couldn't escape in time after saving Spike.

Seeing that the sea serpent was fiercely biting its prey, the three ponies jumped out of their costume in terror, all three falling into the water.

“Swim!!” Dusk shouted in terror. Seeing that the huge sea serpent was still distracted by eating the 'Crackle' costume.

Without wasting any time, the ponies and Spike began to swim quickly. With Dusk using his magic to push everyone, so that they swam with more momentum. Knowing that he couldn't teleport to the shore, since his magic wouldn't work well on Ember and Spike, being dragons. Fortunately, the shore of the volcano island was not far away, and after an exhausting swim at full speed, everyone reached the shore of the volcano island safely.

“Caugh..! Caugh..!” Ember coughed. Waking up and spitting out the water she had swallowed when she fell. Then she slowly opened her eyes and saw Spike and three ponies in surprise. Everyone was lying on the sand, breathing hard as they tried to catch their breath. “What… What happened…?”

The last thing Ember remembered was flying over the sea, until a red shadow hit her head on. Then she heard the roar of a sea serpent, which she only partially managed to avoid, hitting her and causing everything to go cloudy.

“Are... Are you okay? Pri… Ember.” Spike asked, breathing heavily. Remembering at the last second that the young dragoness didn't like being called a princess.

“You… You saved me?” Ember asked confused. Believing she saw the little dragon diving to look for her at the bottom of the sea. But without being sure, since it was the last thing she remembered before falling unconscious. “Why would you do something like that?”

"Why?" Spike repeated, not understanding why she was asking that question, which had an obvious answer.

“If I fall, I’m one less competitor for the throne. Why are you saving a rival?” Ember asked again confused. Then she looked behind Spike and saw the three ponies, who had already recovered and were approaching them. “I get it… I almost forgot. You were raised by ponies. You don’t understand how important this competition is.” Ember added, looking with some contempt at the ponies that approached Spike.

"Hey! We helped Spike save your life!” Rainbow Dash said, very upset seeing Ember's look. “Don't think that-” Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped talking when Spike raised a claw in front of her mouth. Then she looked at her dragon friend and saw that the little dragon remained serious, staring at Ember.

“It's true that I was raised by ponies, but that's not why I saved you. I did it because that's the right thing to do! Being a pony or a dragon, what does it matter? Being evil doesn’t mean being strong.” Spike said seriously, something that really surprised Ember. Since it reminded her of what she had told her father minutes before, about being truly strong. “I know how important this competition is for all dragons. But, even if I won, what kind of Dragon Lord would I be if I let another dragon die, just for my own benefit?” Spike added, leaving Ember very shocked. Just like Dusk, who saw how mature his little brother was at that moment.

Ember slowly lowered her gaze and looked at her claws. For an instant, she remembered the night before, when those sharp claws, instead of hurting, helped hold a small phoenix chick... She had not even explained why she sometimes acted that way. For some reason, she hated it when Garble or other dragons abused the weaker ones. Pity and compassion were weaknesses that a dragon should not have. But then... Why did she have them? Did that make her weak? Is that why her father didn't want her to be the next Dragon Lord?

"Watch out!" Dusk suddenly shouted. Making Ember snap out of her thoughts. Then everyone looked up, and managed to avoid at the last second a huge rock that almost fell on them all.

The three ponies and two dragons looked up and saw dozens of rocks flying through the air. Launched by creatures called 'slingtails', which were large, hard-skinned creatures, similar to dragons, but dumber, more robust and wingless. Which had large pointed tails, which they used to pick up rocks and throw them at intruders, as if they were catapults.

After that huge rock fell, everyone heard a scream that got closer and closer. Then everyone saw a young red dragon fall, crashing into the sand, with a large rock on top of him, crushing him. It was Garble, who fell very close to where Spike and the others were.

As soon as Dusk saw Garble fall, he immediately used an invisibility spell. Realizing that they no longer had the 'Crackle' disguise to hide themselves.

"Uh!? Is that you, Spike?” Garble said weakly, surprised to open his eyes after the blow and see Spike there, next to Ember. Then Garble tried to move the huge stone on top of his chest, but it was too heavy to move alone. “Help me, Spike.”

Spike immediately took a step closer, but was stopped in his tracks by Ember, who grabbed his arm.

"What are you trying to do? Were you going to help him? It’s Garble!” Ember said annoyed. “That fool won't hesitate to stab you in the back if he gets the chance. Leave him alone."

“Cough! Cough… Help me.” Garble said melodramatically. Looking with a pleading look at Spike. “Please… Little bro.”

At that moment Spike thoughtfully lowered his gaze, removed Ember's claw from him and looked at her, full of determination.

“Garble may be a bully, but he can change. And I can’t leave him if I have the chance to help him.” Spike said. Finally approaching Garble and helping him move the huge rock, until finally the young red dragon was freed.

“Huff… Thanks buddy. I owe you one." Garble said standing up. Giving Spike a big smile. One that changed suddenly, putting on an evil smile. "Yeah, sure." Garble said mockingly. Raising his claw to give Spike a big scratch and take advantage of taking him out of the competition.

The change in attitude took everyone by surprise, except Ember. Who moved quickly and stopped Garble just before he delivered a deadly stab at Spike.

“I knew it was a mistake to take you out from under that rock!” Ember said. Using all her strength to stop Garble's claw with her own claws. “That red shadow I saw when I was flying… It was you who hit me! Isn't it!?" Ember shouted furiously.

“This competition is not for the weak, princess.” Garble said with a cruel smile, using his own strength to try to lower his claw and finish his attack on Spike. “You and that little dragon are too weak to be here.”

At that instant, Garble moved his tail to hit the sand. Throwing it directly into Ember's eyes, who was partially blinded. Which gave Garble the opportunity to take advantage and be able to get rid of two of his competitors in an instant. However, Garble suddenly stopped his plan, freezing for a second as he realized something.

"What's that?" Garble said, sniffing heavily with his nose. “Why does it smell so much like pony in here?” Garble added, slightly nervous. Looking around. Thinking for a moment that the Sun Princess would appear again to finish her job, and send him to the Sun to charred to death.

After a few seconds, while Ember rubbed her eyes to try to see again, Garble verified that Celestia wasn’t there. Then he sniffed strongly again and slowly advanced towards where the ponies were, which he still couldn't see due to Dusk's spell.

Neither Dusk nor his friends moved a single muscle. Knowing that if they did, Dusk's spell would disappear. They knew that if Garble continued to approach, he would discover them, and they would have no choice but to fight. However, at that moment there were several dragons flying over the volcano. And if the other dragons also saw that there were ponies in that place, Dusk and his friends would be in even greater danger.

“The pony smell is from my armor!” Ember shouted. Who partially managed to open one eye and ran to get in Garble's way. “A few months ago, I stole this armor from a chest kept by a pony ship.” Ember lied, so that Garble would focus on her again. Getting into a fighting stance. “I've beaten you in fights before, Garble. Even with one eye, I’ll be able to beat you.” Ember added, baring her fangs at Garble and looking at him with a fierce glare.

For a moment, Garble considered the situation. Ember was vulnerable, and Spike would be easy to get rid of. However, it might take some time, and in that competition there was no second place. He couldn't waste time.

"Whatever... We'll leave this fight for another time, little princess." Garble said mockingly. Opening his wings and flying away from there.

“Ember! Are you okay?" Spike asked scared. Running towards where the dragon was. “You saved me and my friends… Why did you do it?” Spike asked surprised.

"I don’t know." Ember said, looking away annoyed. Putting on a confused look as she felt a struggle inside her. Not knowing why she sometimes acted impulsively, just as she had. Acting in a way that would embarrass her father… with compassion.

“Another rock!” Dusk suddenly shouted. Noticing another huge rock falling in their direction. Then everyone looked up and moved to avoid it. Except for Ember, who only partially saw out of one eye, and couldn't see clearly where the rock was falling from. So this time it was Dusk's turn to help, who pushed her to save her from being crushed at the last second.

Ember looked at Dusk in surprise. Then she opened her mouth to thank, but those words couldn't come out of her mouth, especially if she was going to say them to a pony. So Ember just looked away and blushed, embarrassed at being saved by a pony and not being able to thank him.

“This is bad… I won't be able to fly and avoid the rocks like this.” Ember said rubbing her eyes. Noticing that little by little her eyesight was improving, but it would be several minutes until she could see normally again.

"I could help you." Spike said, thinking of a brilliant idea. Immediately noticing that the proud Ember wouldn’t like help, so he quickly changed his speech. “I mean, work as a team. You can fly and get to the inside of the volcano faster, and I can be your eyes and guide you in the air, until you fully recover. It’s a win-win for both of us.”

Ember was silent for a few seconds, until finally she gave a big sigh of resignation.

“Ugh… Okay... I guess I have no choice.” Ember said reluctantly. Spreading her wings and crouching down so Spike could climb onto her back.

Before climbing on top of Ember, Spike turned to look at Dusk and his friends.

“Dusk…” Spike said weakly, but with a look full of determination. "I think you shouldn’t-"

“I know…” Dusk interrupted, guessing what his little brother was thinking. “This is a test for dragons, and you don't want to compete by cheating... Don't worry, we won't interfere anymore.” Dusk added, giving his brother an affectionate smile.

After saying goodbye to Dusk, Spike gave Rarity and Rainbow Dash a big hug, promising them that he would be fine. Then Spike climbed onto Ember's back, and they both took flight, flying straight towards the ferocious slingtails.

“Are you sure he'll be okay on his own?” Rarity asked Dusk, very worried.

“Spike has matured more than I even realized. I’m sure that he’ll pass this test.” Dusk said with a proud smile. “Besides… Spike was right when he said we were prejudiced, saying that all dragons were wild.” Dusk added, remembering what Spike said when he ran away from home. Looking up at Ember. “Besides Spike, there are also other kind-hearted dragons.” Dusk finished saying with a smile. Lighting up her horn and using her teleportation to leave that island with his friends. Trusting that his little brother was in good hands.

For their part, Ember and Spike flew around the volcano while dozens of rocks were thrown into the air. Spike had the mission to warn when a rock was heading towards them, so that Ember could dodge it; At the same time, he had to find the entrance to the interior of the volcano, since entering through the upper crater was suicide, as it was full of deadly traps that couldn’t be avoided.

As they flew, Ember continued rubbing her eyes. Trying to remove all the sand that was clouding her vision. Starting to see better little by little. However, being careful to clean her eyes made her sometimes take a long time to react to Spike's rock warnings. So finally Ember decided to close her eyes completely and blindly follow Spike's instructions. She had never felt so vulnerable in her life. However, for some reason, she felt like for the first time she could trust someone one hundred percent. Spike wasn't like other dragons, and maybe... maybe that was a good thing.

Finally Spike saw the entrance through a cave and guided Ember towards it. Once they landed, Ember blinked several times, releasing several tears that she could accumulate while keeping her eyes closed, and finally she was able to open both eyes enough to begin to see on her own.

“I can't believe it… We really did it!” Ember said surprised. Still rubbing her eyes and looking at Spike. "Umm... I guess I should say... t-t-t... t-tha... thank.. you…" Ember added, looking away embarrassed. Since it was very difficult for her to say the word thank you, feeling that thanking someone meant being indebted to that someone.

"Don’t worry! That’s what friends are for!" Spike said smiling. Starting to walk into the cave. Meanwhile, Ember had a surprised look, and looked away awkwardly before continuing on her way following Spike. Mentally repeating the word 'friend' over and over again, feeling confused about it.

Inside the cavern, Ember and Spike were surprised to see that a few dragons had already made it there. But many had been stranded right there, trapped by the traps. Walls that closed and trapped those who approached, explosions of fire that charred anyone who dared to pass by, sharp crystals that could cut the hard scales of a dragon, and sharp stalactites that fell unexpectedly if you were not careful. At least a dozen dragons were trapped or injured in that area. Competitors who could no longer continue competing, if it weren't for Spike. Who again came to help them.

“Did you not learn anything from what happened with Garble?!” Ember shouted, surprised and annoyed, seeing that Spike was once again running to help others. “Dragons don't help each other!”

“Of course they can!” Spike shouted as he tried to push a wall that had trapped another young dragon who was all dizzy. “Garble is a bully, but that doesn't mean our entire race is evil... You and I are proof that a dragon can be good! And we can also use our strength to protect and help others.” Spike said, giving his all to push that rock wall.

Ember stayed still for a few seconds, with a restless look. As if she had a big debate going on in her mind. Until finally she growled in annoyance and walked over to Spike to help him. Thus, both dragons helped the rest of the injured dragons that were in that cavern. Where they had several very disparate reactions. Some dragons looked at them with strange looks and then simply ran away. Other dragons remained motionless, not knowing how to react. And others pushed them without saying anything and continued their race towards the scepter. However, what surprised Ember the most was that a few dragons smiled, put their pride aside, and thanked them both for their help. Which made a pleasant feeling fill the dragon's heart.

Finally, they both passed the large cavern and reached a part of the volcano where there were dozens of paths. A large labyrinth where you had to choose a route, without knowing the destination or what other dangers there would be there.

“Which route should we choose?” Spike asked fearfully. Without knowing what to do. While Ember stayed silent for a few seconds. Always thinking a little before acting, because if there was something that characterized her, it was that she was one of the smartest dragons in her tribe.

“The Bloodstone Scepter... It’s a scepter that was inherited from the first Dragon Lord... That means it wasn’t made in these lands.” Ember muttered, thinking out loud. “The current Dragon Land is an area of volcanic rocks… It means that the scepter might smell like a different rock from all the ones here.”

“The Withered Heath... the birthplace of dragons, was north of Equestria.” Spike said with a thoughtful look. Remembering the story Celestia told him. “That means the scepter must be the rock that smells most like the gems of Equestria!”

"That makes sense. But we’re in the middle of a volcano. The smell of sulfur is too strong to differentiate odors.” Ember said, sighing in resignation.

“I don't know, I have quite a bit of experience sniffing out Equestrian gems. After all, I grew up there.” Spike said proudly, beginning to sniff the entrance to the different paths, to see if he discovered anything. “Even sometimes, I help Rarity look for a certain special type of gem.”

“Do you help the ponies look for gems?” Ember asked, confused and a little upset. “That's not… Like you're her pet?”

"Of course not. I help her look for gems for her dresses, and I keep the ones that are broken, but taste just as good.” Spike responded without stopping sniffing. Not noticing the uncomfortable expression Ember had. “I'm not a pet, I'm her friend. I'm friends with everyone in Ponyville. Even though I'm a dragon, everyone treats me like I'm just another pony... They're all very kind! You should go someday.” Spike added, stopping suddenly when his nose caught a faint familiar scent. “I think that's it! That road smells a little like the mountains of Equestria.” Spike said pointing towards one of the paths.

“So you have hundreds of friends… That means I'm nothing special, just one of hundreds.” Ember said, looking down at the ground with an annoyed look.

"What? Of course not. Every friend is special.” Spike said confused. Nervous seeing Ember's annoyed look.

“I was surprised that you used the word friendship so lightly, that's the problem with ponies! They trick you with this thing called friendship, so that you do jobs for them. Just like you tricked me into flying with you!” Ember said very upset, as if for a moment she had had an internal struggle again, but this time, her pride and stubbornness as a dragon won. “I almost fell into the trap of friendship… You don't even realize that your friends are using you!”

“My friends don't use me! I do good things for them because I want to make them happy. That's what friends do!” Spike yelled, worried for Ember.

"Enough! There are no friends in this competition! There will only be one winner, one scepter and one Dragon Lord.” Ember shouted in annoyance. “From now on, everyone will go their own way, this's the dragon way!”

“You… You don't think we're friends?” Spike asked with great pity, looking scared at Ember. To which Ember responded by looking away and remaining silent for a few seconds. Then she squeezed her eyes tight, and growled in annoyance.

“Maybe if this were ‘Ponyland’, but here, it's Dragon Land.” Ember said passing by Spike and spreading her wings. “There are no friends here.” Ember added, flying away from there. Leaving poor Spike with his heart hurt.

“Well… It was worth the wait,” a male voice suddenly said, surprising Spike and making him turn around. However, it was too late. A red tail hit him hard and slammed him into a wall.

Spike opened his eyes in pain and saw that the one who had attacked him by surprise was Garble. Who smiled evilly, looking at the path where Ember had flown.

“All this time I have walked in circles through this labyrinth, always arriving back where I started.” Garble said, looking at Spike and smiling. “Just when I was going to try again, you guys came along and found the answer. It was lucky that you worked as a team, until Ember broke your heart, Hahaha! Remember, dwarf, we’re dragons, and we have no friends.” Garble added mockingly. Spreading his wings and entering the same path Ember had entered.

Slowly Spike stood up, his back sore after the blow. And then he put on a look full of determination.

“You're wrong… She's not like you!” Spike yelled. Rushing to run and follow Garble.

After a long walk, in which Spike gave his all to run at full speed. Spike arrived at what appeared to be the center of the volcano. An open place, at the bottom of which was a huge lake of glowing lava. In the center of everything, there was a large red crystal, where the Bloodstone scepter had been stuck. You reached there by a thin rock path, where if you fell, you ran the risk of crashing into that lava that shone incandescently, like Spike had never seen before. A lava that seemed much hotter and deadlier than the ones Spike and the other dragons jumped into in Equestria the previous day.

Despite the imposing view, what caught Spike's attention the most was the rock path, where there were two young dragons fighting on equal terms. Both holding the shoulders, trying to push the other to make it fall. One was the savage Grable, who smiled sinisterly, feeling that he was slowly pushing his rival. And the other was Ember, who kept her fierce gaze, sweating when she saw that even if it was just a little, Garble had a little more strength than her in that fight.

“Ember!” Spike shouted without thinking twice. Running towards where the two dragons were, gaining momentum and jumping forward to hit Garble in the stomach with his head. Who fell to the ground from the surprising blow.

“Spike!?” Ember said. Very surprised to see that the little dragon had helped her.

“Go get the scepter! I’ll stop Garble!” Spike yelled, seeing that Garble had a furious look and started to get up again.

If Spike had learned anything, it was that it was obvious that he would never beat Garble by force. So he would have to use what he had to his advantage, something he did have just as strong as Garble. And even if he couldn't beat him, at least he would buy time.

Spike again gained momentum to launch himself headlong into Garble. Something the red dragon anticipated this time. Putting his claws forward to stop Spike's impact. However, at the last second, Spike raised his head, opened his jaw wide, and bit down with all his might on Garble's arm.

“GAAAHHH!” Garble yelled in panic. Flailing his arm in pain as Spike put all his strength into his mouth, not to let go of his grip.

“Gruuunng Embegg! “Ggo gegt theg hecgtegg!” 'Run Ember! Go get the scepter!' Was what Spike shouted, his mouth full of Garble's arm. Seeing that despite his scream, Ember had been paralyzed for a second. Still shocked to see the little dragon sacrifice himself to help her.

After coming out of her surprise, Ember turned to see the scepter, and began to run towards it. However, she only managed to take a few steps before stopping. She lowered her gaze in confusion, looking at the ground as she heard Garble curse, shaking Spike to let go… The scepter was there! In front of her! What did Spike matter? She had said it herself, a dragon has no friends.

"Damn dwarf!" Garble shouted angrily. Using all his strength to pull Spike by the tail. Until finally Spike's teeth couldn't take it anymore and Garble was able to pull him out of his arm.

While holding Spike by the tail, who was totally exhausted with his mouth open and in pain, Garble glared at him and slowly approached the edge of the road. Holding Spike over the huge volcanic lava lake.

“This is the last time you get in my way, Spike… Now you'll learn how important it’s for a dragon to have its wings, hehe…” Garble sneered sinisterly, glaring at Spike as he held him in the air. “See that lava lake? None of the dragons on this island bathe there, because that lava melts everything it touches. Well, I guess you'll see for yourself… Good riddance, little bro.”

"Leave him alone!" Ember yelled suddenly. This time she was the one who attacked Garble. Causing the three dragons to fall to the ground. With Spike on one side and Ember on top of Garble, using all of her weight to keep the abusive red dragon from getting to his feet.

“Ember! You…” Spike said, confused and still dizzy. Feeling like he could barely stand up.

“You’re a fool! You won't be able to stop Garble on your own!” Ember shouted, struggling with Garble. “Go get the scepter! I’ll stop him!”

“Ember…” Spike said weakly. Knowing what Ember was sacrificing to help him.

“Just go!!” Ember shouted at the top of her lungs. Who was giving her all to prevent Garble from getting up.

Knowing that he couldn't waste Ember's sacrifice, Spike put on a serious look and ran towards the scepter.

"No! What are you doing!?" Garble shouted in horror, using all his strength to try to get Ember off of him. “Are you going to hand over the throne to that baby dragon!? He's not a real dragon! He’s a weakling!!” Garble shouted in panic, seeing that Spike had almost reached the scepter.

“You're wrong... He's no weakling... He's more of a dragon than you can ever be!” Ember growled, struggling. “Besides… If I have to choose between a bully fool like you and him… I WOULD RATHER MY FRIEND WIN!” Ember shouted furiously, with such force that she finally managed to completely immobilize Garble. A scream full of emotion, because, that shout was full of anger against Garble, for showing Spike the worst of dragons; with guilt against herself, for taking so long to understand what true friendship was; with relief, finally managing to change her paradigm on how a true dragon should act; and mainly, with pride, by admitting that she finally had a true friend to trust.

Before the scepter, Spike's eyes shone as he saw that magnificent rock, which was the symbol of power in dragons. Then he stretched out his claw, and with all his strength he pulled on the scepter, until he managed to detach it from the crystal in which it had been stuck. Causing Spike's eyes to glow and wild red magic to surround his body for an instant. Then, Spike raised the scepter high and a great wave of wild, red magic spread across the island, covering the Dragon Land completely. Causing, just like when Torch made 'the call', all the dragons felt magically connected for an instant. Feeling a chill that made all the dragons paralyze for a second and understand something even if they didn't see it with their own eyes... there was a new Dragon Lord.

“It can't be true…” Garble said in disbelief. Finally getting up, after Ember got off of him. Walking slowly towards where Spike was. “Are you really the new Dragon Lord!? You!?" Garble repeated, as if he couldn't believe it.

“Kneel before your new Lord.” Ember said smiling. Kneeling down to make a small bow. “Dragon Lord Spike!”

Garble watched in shock as Ember knelt. Then he looked back at Spike, who for some reason looked very serious, looking him straight in the eyes.

Not even Spike himself understood it, but when he touched the scepter, he felt filled with confidence and power. As if he suddenly realized that he was carrying the weight of dozens of generations of honorable Dragon Lords. Something that filled him with pride, and made all his fears disappear for a moment. Truly feeling like the master of all dragons.

“Kneel…” Spike said seriously, with a strong, firm voice. Pointing his scepter at Garble. With his eyes briefly glowing with red flame. Same magical flame that had surrounded him when he touched the scepter, and that had touched every dragon that was in those lands.

Seeing the scepter, and seeing Spike's fierce gaze, who maintained that penetrating magical flame, the opposite happened to Garble than Spike did. All his pride and courage disappeared. Feeling small and insignificant before his Dragon Lord. Garble didn't know what magic was working on him, and he couldn't deny it either. He simply couldn’t disobey the bearer of that scepter… It was as if before him, there was not just Spike, but all the ancient and powerful Dragon Lords who came before him.

Garble slowly lowered his head and reluctantly sank to one knee, just like Ember. While Spike, seeing Garble subdued so easily, with just one word from him, made him open his eyes in surprise, and all that overflowing power and pride he felt for a second disappeared. Going back to being the usual Spike.

“I… I am the new Dragon Lord!?” Spike shouted in surprise and disbelief. Returning to speaking like the young baby dragon he was.

"That's how it is." Ember smiled. Approaching Spike. Meanwhile, Garble also opened his eyes in surprise when he saw that all that power he felt inside Spike disappeared. As if everything had been an illusion. And again he saw that the new Dragon Lord was just a baby.

“You’re not worthy of the power of the scepter… You’re not worthy of being the Dragon Lord!” Garble shouted angrily.

Then Spike put on a serious look again and pointed the scepter at Garble again. That made Garble immediately paralyze with fear. He didn't want to feel that feeling of feeling small and insignificant again. Especially not if it was in front of Spike.

“You must obey the Dragon Lord.” Spike said, speaking normally, but looking seriously at Garble. “And your Dragon Lord commands you to return home and ask forgiveness of every dragon to whom you have been a bully.”

"What!? A true dragon never apologizes.” Garble growled.

“The word of the Dragon Lord is law.” Ember said smiling. “Perhaps this way you’ll learn that being a true dragon doesn’t mean physically hurting others, nor hurting their feelings.”

“Dragons have no feelings!” Garble shouted frustrated and furious.

“Of course they have them. Hmm… Actually, maybe you should write it down so you don't forget…” Spike said with a thoughtful look and then looking at Garble with a mischievous smile. “I order you to write a poem, where you express your true feelings.”

Garble stood with his mouth open and an incredulous look on his face for several seconds. As if someone had frozen him.

“It's a joke, right?” Garble asked nervously.

“Of course it isn't. The word of a Dragon Lord is law.” Spike replied smiling. “Who knows, you might like it.”

For a second, Garble thought about running away, and even thought about launching himself and attacking Spike, seeing that he was mocking him. However, as soon as he had that thought, the red gem on the scepter glowed dimly, and for an instant, Garble remembered that terrifying feeling of panic that the magic of the scepter had made him feel. That sent a shiver down the red dragon's spine.

“A-As you ordered… my Dragon Lord…” Garble said helplessly, clenching his teeth angrily. Spreading his wings and flying back the way he had come. Deciding to leave as soon as possible, before Spike gave him another ridiculous order.

As soon as Garble disappeared, Spike and Ember looked at each other and both burst into laughter. They couldn't stop laughing after seeing the ferocious Garble being bullied so easily. But the truth was that Garble had no choice, every dragon knew that the word of a Dragon Lord was law.

“Okay, enough laughing.” Ember said wiping away a tear of laughter. “We must return to proclaim your official coronation.”

"Oh yeah! About that…” Spike said. Approaching Ember and placing the scepter in her claws. “I don't think it’ll be necessary.” Spike added with a smile.

As soon as Spike passed the scepter to Ember, a new wave of red magic surrounded Ember. And just as with Spike, a new shockwave of red magic flew away from the scepter.

"What? What did you do!?" Ember shouted in shock. Just as the sparkle of magic in her eyes disappeared. “Only a Dragon Lord can take the scepter!” Ember added scared. Stretching out her claw to try to give Spike the scepter back.

"I already know it. That's why I gave it to you. You must be the next Dragon Lord.” Spike said, rejecting the scepter.

“Spike, you already touched the scepter! The magic of our race runs in you now! You can’t give it back!” Ember shouted almost in panic, feeling that Spike didn't understand the seriousness of the situation.

“I understand it, I felt it too when I touched the scepter.” Spike said looking at his claw. Remembering the powerful sensation of feeling stronger and bigger than any other dragon. “But I feel like that feeling faded when I gave you the scepter… That magic may run through me, but whoever possesses the scepter will always be the true and absolute leader of the dragons.” Spike added smiling. Feeling that in part he was glad to have removed all that power from him. “Besides, your father said it: Whoever finds the scepter and brings it back will be crowned Dragon Lord. The competition is not over yet.”

Ember stared at the scepter for several seconds. With a look full of indecision.

"Are you sure about this?" Ember asked, looking uncertainly at Spike.

“I still have a lot to learn about dragons. Until two days ago I didn't even know that one day I would grow wings!” Spike laughed, then putting on a more melancholy look. “Besides, I cannot rule for a hundred or more years. After all, I have a family that I must return to at some point.” Spike added with a tender smile. Remembering 'his real family'.

“I… I'm not sure about this…” Ember said worriedly, looking at the scepter in her claws. “I always wanted to be the next Dragon Lord, but now, after this competition… I don't even know how I should lead the dragons!”

“When we met and you saw that I followed Garble, you said to be careful who I choose as a role model.” Spike said, approaching Ember and touching her gently. “Now I know who I should follow as an example. And it shouldn't just be me, but all the dragons! You’ll be able to unite the dragons, and with your guidance, they’ll be able to realize that working together makes us stronger, and that we must use that strength with wisdom, and not cruelty.”

After Spike's speech, Ember looked at the scepter again, but this time her gaze changed to one full of determination. A fire shone in her eyes as she finally accepted her fate.

After a quick flight back, Ember and Spike returned to Dragon Land. Where most of the dragons had also returned from the competition, feeling that magical chill in their bodies. All the other dragons that had not participated in the competition also joined there. In addition to Celestia, who was still at Torch's side.

“There's Spike!” Rarity shouted full of excitement. Magically appearing out of nowhere, waving from the ground to Spike, who was approaching alongside Ember.

“Rarity, no!” Dusk shouted, who along with Rainbow Dash also moved to silence Rarity. And as they moved, like the white unicorn, the invisibility spell on them also vanished.

Several minutes earlier, when Dusk and his friends returned to the Dragon Land, Dusk immediately used an invisibility spell. Since by teleporting from so far away, Dusk couldn’t calculate well and they reappeared in an esplanade surrounded by dozens of dragons. And there they remained motionless under Dusk's spell, knowing that if they moved, they would be discovered. Fortunately, although the dragons smelled a pony smell near where the three ponies appeared, none of the dragons gave it importance, as they attributed that smell to Celestia present there. However, when Rarity moved with the excitement of seeing her beloved Spikey-Wikey again, the three ponies were completely exposed. Being seen by dozens of dragons. Those who were left with their mouths open when they saw that between them, there were three small ponies.

Celestia was as surprised as the rest of the dragons to see Dusk and his friends appear there. But her quick mind made her immediately use her magic to teleport the three ponies next to her. Partially covering them with her ethereal mane, as if trying to hide them from the eyes of all the dragons.

“What are those ponies doing here?” Torch said growling. Watching Dusk and his friends with displeasure.

“They're Spike's friends.” Ember suddenly said, finally landing next to her father, next to Spike. “And any friend of my friend is safe in my kingdom.”

"Your kingdom? Hohohoho!” Torch laughed loudly. With a certain pride, but also with a certain mockery. “I see you have returned with the scepter. And like I said, whoever returned with the scepter would become the next Dragon Lord. But do you really think you’re worthy of being the next Dragon Lord?” Torch growled, glaring with displeasure at her daughter. “I've always said it: a true dragon must be strong, and you still-”

"SILENCE!" Ember shouted in annoyance, flying quickly in front of her father's face and pointing the scepter at his face. Causing Torch, for the first time in years, to pull his face back in fear. Both because of her daughter's fierce gaze, and because of the intense red glow of the gem on the scepter. “I am strong, and I have shown it in this competition. I am the most worthy to carry this scepter and to lead our race.”

“Oh! So you think? Well, we’ll see what our race says…” Torch growled, looking seriously at his daughter, and then turning to look at the other dragons. “Do you think this insignificant dragon can be as big and imposing as me one day? Do you think this young dragon is worthy of being your new leader?”

At Torch's question, all the dragons began to whisper among themselves, looking at each other, not knowing what to answer. Deep down, everyone knew and felt that Ember was the rightful Dragon Lord holding the scepter. That chill they felt, it had told them. However, Torch also generated the same feeling as a former bearer of the scepter. They both had that magic running through their bodies. It was as if two bosses were arguing, and asked to choose who was the best.

Surprisingly, the first to speak and kneel was a small baby dragon that was near the group of ponies.

"The answer is no." Spike said kneeling, with his head bowed. An answer that left Ember frozen. “Ember won't be as big and imposing as you. But she’ll be a great leader. One that I’m willing to follow.” Spike added, lifting his head, smiling at Ember.

“I… I also think she’ll be a great leader.” Another dragon suddenly said, also kneeling. One that, when Ember saw it, recognized that it had been one of the dragons that she and Spike helped get out of the traps in the competition.

Just like that dragon, the first dragons to say 'I support her' and kneel were those dragons with whom Ember had been compassionate, and who saw in that strange gesture the greatness of a leader. From a few kneeling dragons, they grew to dozens and hundreds until every dragon in sight bowed before Ember. This caused Ember to tremble with excitement but put on a firm gaze to keep her figure proud.

“Hoahahaha!” Torch suddenly laughed. This time laughing without any mockery, but simply laughing as he felt full of pride. “The scepter can give you power, but the throne can only be given to you by your tribe. And that... you've earned it. Dragon Lord Ember.” Torch added, finally kneeling as well before his new leader: his headstrong and beloved daughter.

Seeing all of her subjects kneeling before her, including Spike's three friends and the Sun Princess herself, who also knelt out of respect, Ember puffed out her chest with pride and couldn't help but blow a little smoke from her nose at the feeling. That was the best moment of her life. She had finally achieved it, she was the new Dragon Lord, and not because she was a princess, but because she had earned it!

“Right. Now, your new Dragon Lord orders you… To celebrate!” Ember shouted. Accompanied by the uproar of all the dragons. Who ran to get their best food and drinks, and celebrate that once-in-a-lifetime event. The new Age of the new Dragon Lord.

As the festivities began, Ember landed next to Spike and thanked him for being the first to support her. Which Spike responded by giving him a big hug. Something that made Ember uncomfortable, who wasn’t used to displays of affection. But in the same way, she endured that hug from her little new friend.

“I have fulfilled my clan's promise.” Torch said seriously, moving his face closer to Spike and the ponies. “Now my daughter begins a new Era, far from the ties of old promises. And you, little dragon, have also earned a place among your own. From now on, you’ll live with us, your race.”

At that moment Spike looked at Celestia with a nervous look. One that was returned by Celestia with a sad smile. While Dusk and his friends looked worried.

“I… I appreciate you welcoming me.” Spike responded with a small bow. “And I’ll gladly accept to live with my race, as a loyal subject of the Dragon Lord Ember.”

“Spike, no!” Dusk shouted scared, trying to get closer to Spike. Being stopped by Celestia, who for some reason, seemed like she didn't want the ponies to leave her side. "Princess! I heard what you and Spike talked about, about how young dragons can't live outside of Dragon Land, but we can't let them force Spike to stay!”

“Dusk, they’re not forcing me… I want to stay.” Spike said with a sad smile. Something that left Dusk, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash in shock.

“W-What are you talking about?” Dusk stuttered nervously and scared. “You… Do you really think they’re your family? Do you think that you and I are not brothers?” Dusk asked on the verge of tears.

At that moment, Spike approached Dusk with a tender smile and gave him a strong blow on the side.

“Ouch!” Dusk said in pain, rubbing where Spike hit him.

“I’ve taught the dragons several things about compassion and friendship. But they also taught me not to be so cheesy, hehe.” Spike laughed. With his eyes shiny with tears. Showing Dusk that he did that to break the tension of the moment. Then Spike looked at Dusk with a tender look. “I'm sorry when I said you weren't my brother. You’re my family, Dusk, and you always will be.” Spike said smiling. “But now that I'm here, I want to learn a little more about dragons. There are still many things I don't know about myself, and I want to know them… I promise you that I’ll find a way to return home soon, but for now, I want to stay here a little longer and abide by the laws of my town.”

Dusk looked at his little brother in amazement. Surprised again by his maturity. Then they both gave each other a big, warm hug. Releasing small tears as they understood that they would be apart for a while, for the first time in their lives, but despite being separated, they would never stop being brothers. A hug that Rainbow Dash and Rarity quickly joined. The latter being the one who burst into tears, filling Spike with kisses and tears.

“I'll take good care of Spike.” Ember said, approaching Celestia. Who looked tenderly at that farewell scene. “And about the alliance of ponies and dragons... It’s not something I can guarantee yet, since I must convince my subjects. However, I’ll make sure that as a first step, we dragons start being friendlier to the ponies. And I think Spike will help us a lot with that.” Ember added. Smiling to see Spike surrounded by friends. Although Celestia's tail partially prevented her from seeing the ponies properly.

“I appreciate it, Dragon Lord Ember.” Celestia said smiling. Bowing her head slightly as a sign of respect.

After finishing saying goodbye, Celestia approached the three ponies, and using her powerful magic, the three teleported from the Dragon Land, and appeared in an instant on the outskirts of Ponyville.

“I know it all worked out in the end. But… I can’t feel happy.” Rainbow Dash said with a sad smile. Looking towards their beloved town and getting sad to think that they had left there in search of Spike, and in the same way, they had ended up returning without him.

"Yeah, I know." Dusk said, feeling an emptiness in his stomach. Happy to see that his brother had grown up, but sad to move away from him.

“This is not a farewell, but a see you soon. And like Spike himself said, when he's ready, he'll find a way to come back to us. And I'm sure he can find a way.” Celestia said smiling, trying to cheer up Dusk and his friends. “Remember, Dusk. You and Spike have a unique and unbreakable bond. Also…” At that moment Celestia brought her horn closer to Dusk's and a small green flame lit up for an instant at the tip of Dusk's horn. “From now on you’ll be able to write letters to each other whenever you want.”

"Uh? Is that the spell you use to receive letters from Spike!? I thought only an alicorn could withstand the magic of a dragon.” Dusk said surprised.

“Well… It's not just you who practice your spells, Dusk. I also train to improve mine daily.” Celestia responded with a mischievous smile. Then she remembered something and suddenly put on a more serious look. “Dusk, I want you to promise me that you’ll not approach the dragons again without telling me first.”

At that moment, Dusk opened his eyes wide as he remembered something that caught his attention in the final moments of his stay in Dragon Land... Since he and his friends appeared in front of the dragons, Celestia kept them by her side at all times, almost glued to her. As if she wanted to hide them from the sight of every dragon.

“Princess… Were you afraid that the dragons would attack us just because we were ponies?” Dusk asked unsure.

“I don't think the dragons would have attacked you for no reason. Even less, seeing that I was there.” Celestia responded with a small smile. Then opening her eyes and briefly looking at Dusk's flank. “But there are dangers from which it’s better to stay away…”

In the Dragon Land, night was already beginning to slowly fall, and the dragons were still celebrating their new Dragon Lord. However, at that moment, the protagonist of the celebration had moved away from the center of the celebration and was walking next to Spike. They both were walking along the coast of that enormous island.

“How about your first celebration as a real dragon?” Ember asked, smiling in amusement.

"It’s the best!" Spike said smiling. With his mouth full of emeralds and rubies, which Ember had agreed to share in gratitude to Spike for his help, and which were part of the enormous tribute that each dragon gave to their new Dragon Lord.

From the shore, both dragons saw in the distance the small island that had served as the center of the competition to elect the new Dragon Lord. An island that was slightly illuminated as night fell, thanks to the incandescent lava lakes that were in that great volcano.

“It's crazy that your father had all those traps ready on that volcano.” Spike said as he looked at the volcano.

“We all helped set those traps. Every year we renew and change them.” Ember responded. “Dragon eggs are hatched on that island. That is why it is full of traps, to prevent thieves from stealing them.”

“There are those who steal dragon eggs!?” Spike asked surprised and a little scared.

“Do you remember when I met you in the mountains of Equestria? We all thought you were one of the stolen eggs, but that wasn't the case. You turned out to be a much older and more important egg.” Ember replied, with a small sad smile. Then she looked at the horizon and put on a more serious look. “A few years ago, some dirty pirates came to our land from the East, and stole some eggs. That is why the eggs are now so protected.”

"Oh… That's a pity." Spike said, hanging his head with a sad and worried face. “I didn't know there were pirates in these waters.”

“There weren't any, nor are there any now. No being is foolish enough to approach our lands without risking being charred.” Ember replied, annoyed at the memory. Blowing smoke from her nose. “That dirty pirate was not normal… That 'storm' was not normal…” Ember added, averting her gaze worriedly.

“Hey, Spike!” A female voice suddenly shouted from afar. She was a young dragon who was only a little bigger than Spike. With orange scales, and light blue eyes.

“I think Smolder is calling you.” Ember said, pointing her gaze back.

"Yeah. She seems very interested in my stories about Equestria.” Spike said smiling. Saying goodbye to Ember and running towards where the young orange dragon was.

After Spike left, Ember flew towards one of the caves that were at the top of those lands. That was the home of old Graytusk, the only dragon scribe of those lands, charged with carrying the entire history of their race. And as such, that cave was the only one that, instead of storing large treasures of gold and gems, had several scrolls and books stored. Which was what that old dragon treasured most.

Upon entering, Ember saw that the old dragon was fast asleep. Always wrapped by dozens of old scrolls all over his body.

“Wake up old dragon!” Ember shouted. who, like his father, didn’t like to waste time. Causing the old dragon to jump in fright. “I came here to make sure you write my name on the scrolls of history. So that no one forgets that this day I became the new Dragon Lord.” Ember said proudly.

“Oh! Yes, yes. Of course, my venerable Dragon Lord.” The old dragon said. Rushing to find a book. The oldest book there was. "Here it is!" Graytusk said as he found what he was looking for.

The book that the old dragon took was so old that as soon as he opened it, several pages fell loose and fell to the ground.

“Hm? What is this?" Ember asked. Taking one of the pages that had fallen and seeing that a strange star had been drawn there.

“That… That… What was that…?” The dragon elder said. Scratching his head as he tried to rack his brain to remember. “Oh! I remember! That is the 'fade star,' the star that disappears. Symbol of terror, and enemy of dragons.”

For several seconds, Ember looked at that drawing, feeling the strange sensation that she had seen it before somewhere else. However, unable to remember, Ember gave up and returned the page to the old dragon. Without being able to remember that that same day, she had seen that strange six-pointed star on the flank of a certain lavender pony.

End of chapter 30

Chapter 31 - The truth behind the truth

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The truth behind the truth

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were gathered in the library with Dusk Shine. Unlike most times, when the three fillies would do some crazy activity together to try to discover their cutie marks, this time, each one was focused on a different task.

A few days ago, Diamond Tiara had teased Sweetie Belle for not being able to use magic yet. That gave the young unicorn the impetus to begin learning to use her magical horn once and for all. However, that was harder than she thought it would be, so she decided to ask Dusk for some advice, who wasn’t for nothing as the student of Princess Celestia herself, and his magic abilities is at a very high level.

For her part, after accompanying Sweetie Belle to her first lesson, Apple Bloom thought it would be a good opportunity to take advantage of also asking Dusk for advice on botany. Something in which the little filly had become very interested after becoming friends with the young deer prince Bramble and was amazed by how the deer could make the forest plants grow quickly. Thinking that could help her family's farm a lot.

Finally, Scootaloo didn’t want to be left out of that new study group and decided that she could also take advantage of that time with Dusk, learning about mechanics. After practicing her stunts hundreds of times, it was normal for some parts of her car to come loose and fly after a crash.

That's how that morning, Scootaloo was struggling with the pieces of a unicycle that she had taken apart, trying to put it back together to its original state. Sweetie Belle read a book on basic magic, understanding that to levitate an object, it was best to start with very light objects. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom was mixing various ingredients in a jar, trying to prepare a potion to grow a small apple sprout, which she had in a flower pot next to her.

“I finally managed to put the seat together!” Scootaloo shouted excitedly, raising the unicycle seat high. Looking excitedly at Dusk Shine. Who seemed to be distracted, watching something through the window. “Dusk was right, it’s easier to follow the instructions if I separate all the parts of the unicycle well before starting to assemble it.”

“Yeah, it was a good idea to ask Dusk for help.” Apple Bloom said, finishing her potion. Pouring it over the pot, causing the small sprout that was there to bloom. “We should do this more often. Make it a new weekly Cutie Mark Crusaders activity!”

“We could call it 'Dusk time' or something like that,” Sweetie Belle said, closing her book and focusing on some scrolls on a small table. Then she effortlessly shone her horn, and one of the scrolls levitated awkwardly and fell in front of Sweetie Belle. “I did it! I can't move a broom yet, but I can now move a scroll with my magic! Did you see it, Dusk!?” Sweetie Belle shouted excitedly, turning to see Dusk.

"Uh? Oh! Yes, congratulations Sweetie Belle!” Dusk said, a little startled, since he had been distracted. “If you practice daily and follow the advice I gave you, I’m sure you’ll achieve the goals you seek,” Dusk added with a small, sad smile.

Seeing that sad smile on Dusk, the three fillies understood why Dusk seemed to be so distracted. Apparently, he was still sad that Spike was no longer there. A few days had passed since Dusk had told them that Spike traveled and stayed in Dragon Land. But it seemed that Dusk still couldn't completely get over it.

“You're still sad about Spike, right?” Scootaloo asked, approaching the lavender unicorn. “I'm sure he'll be fine.”

"Yeah, I know," Dusk said with a small smile, feeling guilty that the girls had noticed he was depressed. “We’ve written to each other every day, but still, I miss him.”

“Is this a letter from Spike?” Sweetie Belle asked, reading the scroll she had levitated with her magic.

“No, that's a letter from Shining and Cadance.” Dusk responded, seeing the letter. "It seems that they have already finished their honeymoon, and now they will go on a diplomatic mission to the North of Equestria... Huff... I guess I have my two brothers away now..." Dusk added, with a sad look.

“Aww… I know you're sad about Spike. But I assure you that you’ll be very happy very soon! We have a big surprise waiting for you!” Apple Bloom said, approaching Dusk and giving him a big smile.

"A surprise?" Dusk asked with a worried look. Remembering all the crazy ideas that those three fillies came up with every time they thought about how to get their cutie marks. "I'm not sure…"

“Don't worry, it's nothing dangerous.” Scootaloo said approaching, guessing what Dusk must be thinking. “This is something you’ll like. It’ll help everyone, just like you always help us!” Scootaloo added with a big smile. Same as her other two friends.

Dusk couldn't help but look insecure at the 'surprise' the fillies were apparently preparing for him. However, before asking what the surprise was about, everyone was distracted when there was a knock on the door. Dusk approached and opened the door to see who it was.

“Hi Dusk, is Apple Bloom here?” Applejack asked after being greeted by Dusk. Then she saw that just as she suspected, her little sister was there, in the main room. “Apple Bloom, Granny Smith is calling for you. She said she already has the candy apples you wanted ready… Anyway, why did you want so many?”

“Cutie Mark Crusader, apple eating competition!” The three fillies shouted in unison. Showing that their next craze to try and discover their cutie marks was to see if they could participate in eating competitions. Then the three fillies hurriedly ran towards the door.

“Wait girls! The capes.” Sweetie Belle suddenly said, stopping in her tracks. Then the three fillies put on their red cloaks, which were piled in a corner. Proudly wearing the Cutie Mark Crusaders emblem stamped on them, the brand of their club.

“Soon, the emblem of the Cutie Mark Crusaders will be known to everyone when-” Scootaloo said, before being silenced by Apple Bloom. Who put a hoof over her friend's mouth, so she wouldn't continue talking. Then the three fillies looked at Dusk with big innocent smiles and ran out of there.

“I still don't know if this 'surprise' they’re preparing for me will be good or not,” Dusk muttered, unsure, once the fillies left.

Dusk Shine approached the mess left by the three fillies and began to tidy up silently. While Applejack stood at the door, staring at him. It was obvious that Dusk was sad, although he didn't want to show it, and it hurt as his ex-marefriend to see him like that. She would probably be just as sad if she were separated from one of her siblings so abruptly.

“I wonder if there's some way to cheer him up…” Applejack thought with a hoof over her mouth. Until suddenly a large shadow blocked the light coming through the door and Applejack turned to see what it was. As she did so, her face disfigured as she saw one of the strangest things she had ever seen.

In the doorway, Pinkie Pie appeared, wearing a big, fluffy purple dragon suit. With a huge fluffy head, which imitated Spike's head.

"Howdy!" Pinkie Pie said with a huge smile.

“Pfft! Hahaha! What are you wearing?" Dusk laughed, not being able to help but laugh when he saw how ridiculous his marefriend looked.

"Do you like it? I thought… all night… about a way… to get… you back to normal.” Pinkie Pie said with effort, as she tried to get through the door with her huge costume. Only succeeding when Applejack helped her, forcibly pulling her inside.

"Yeah… I'm sorry. I know I’ve been kind of depressed lately.” Dusk said, lowering his head and putting on a sad smile.

Pinkie Pie and Applejack looked at each other, with saddened looks when they saw that Pinkie Pie's surprise did manage to make Dusk laugh, but he quickly put on that sad smile he had since he returned without Spike. All to try to hide his sadness.

Applejack was eager to approach Dusk and comfort him, however, she knew that someone had priority to complete that mission. Applejack looked at Pinkie Pie and pointed her gaze at Dusk so that she would approach him. Pinkie Pie nodded seriously and slowly approached Dusk.

"That's it... Dusk doesn't need a friend now, but the loving touch of a marefriend who understands and comforts him at a time like this..." Applejack thought, with a tender look.

“Stop being a crybaby!” Pinkie Pie yelled, hitting Dusk on the head. Leaving Applejack with her mouth open, because she never imagined that Pinkie Pie understood the situation so badly.

“Ouch! That hurt." Dusk said, rubbing his head.

“You've had several days to be sad, it's time to move on.” Pinkie Pie said, looking seriously at Dusk. “You and Spike are still brothers and you’ll see each other again one day.”

Upon hearing those words, Dusk opened his eyes wide, remembering that those words were very similar to the advice that Spike himself had given him a while ago when he and Applejack ended their courtship.

"You're right! I'm sorry. I think it affects me a lot when someone I love separates from me.” Dusk said with a big sigh. Shaking his head and realizing that he should go back to how he always was and stop worrying his friends.

“Besides, I'm the one who should be upset, and you're the one who should be worried.” Pinkie Pie added, looking away in annoyance and pouting her mouth. “You went on a trip with Rarity and Rainbow Dash without even telling me, and I'm your marefriend!”

“I'm sorry…” Dusk said, making a scolded puppy face and then puffing out his cheeks, making a silly face. Knowing that when Pinkie got upset, the best thing was to make a funny face so she would stop being upset.

“Hmpf!” It was the only sound Pinkie Pie answered. Looking away blushing, since she wanted to continue pretending to be upset, but seeing Dusk's face, it was very difficult for her not to laugh.

Seeing Pinkie and Dusk's couple dynamic, Applejack couldn't help but think about how similar the two of them were, and what a good couple they made.

“I wonder if Dusk also acted a little like me when we were dating…” Applejack thought. Remembering the beautiful moments lived with Dusk as a couple, missing them more and more.

“I guess I forgive you.” Pinkie Pie finally said, surrendering to Dusk's stupid look. “But now you owe me a trip with you alone!”

"Me too!" Applejack said quickly. So lost in thought, she spoke without even thinking. That made both Dusk and Pinkie Pie look at her in surprise, and this time it was Applejack's turn to look away, blushing. "W-Well... Just because I'm not your marefriend anymore doesn't mean it doesn't bother me to see you going on a trip alone with someone else..." Applejack added stuttering, red with embarrassment.

“I-I guess I owe you an apology too.” Dusk said nervously. He couldn't help but blush, seeing that his ex-marefriend still clearly showed that she still had feelings for him.

"Yeah! That's how it is! You owe me an apology for leaving me alone and not telling us that Spike was leaving; we didn't even get to say goodbye to him!” Applejack shouted, very nervous and blushing. Wanting at all costs to try to hide the fact that she was as jealous as Pinkie Pie of Dusk, Rarity and Rainbow Dash's trip.

"It's true... We couldn't even throw him a farewell party..." Pinkie Pie suddenly added, looking away sadly. Instantly losing her smile when remembering that.

“I know, it was all very sudden. But at least we stay in touch.” Dusk said, caressing Pinkie's cheek and smiling at her. “If you want, we can send him a letter together.”

"How will you do that? I don’t think Derpy delivers mail in Dragon Land.” Applejack asked confused.

“The princess helped me with a spell. Now I can use the same spell that she and Spike used to receive letters from each other.” Dusk said with a proud smile. One that only lasted a second, before Dusk looked away in shame. “Although… it doesn't work as I expected…”

Before Pinkie Pie and Applejack could ask what he meant, Dusk suddenly puffed out his cheeks as if he were about to vomit. Then he couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a big belch, from which several purple sparks flew, and a scroll magically appeared in front of him.

“Ohhh… You get letters just like Spike!” Pinkie Pie shouted, very excited to see Dusk's new trick.

“Yeah… I'm sure the princess can make the scrolls appear just in front of me, just like she does. But I think she used this spell to play another of her pranks on me…” Dusk said embarrassed. Taking the scroll he had just burped and opening it. “I could complain to the princess, but I'm sure that if I do, she’ll make the scrolls appear in a less elegant way…” Dusk added, imagining that his teacher could make the scrolls come out of a fart. Having a little chill imagining it.

“Is this a letter from Spike?” Applejack asked, getting closer to Dusk.

"No. It belongs to the princess.” Dusk responded with a confused look. Reading the letter a second time, believing that he had read it wrong. “It says she's going to visit... her SECOND best student?”

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Dusk approached to open it and saw with surprise that the pony who knocked was a palace guard. The guard didn’t say anything, he simply turned and stood at attention. Then Dusk looked out the door and saw that the royal carriage had landed nearby, and the pony who was getting down from there was Princess Celestia herself.

"Princess Celestia? What are you doing here?" Dusk asked, very confused and surprised.

“Did you not read the letter I just sent you?” Celestia responded with a mischievous smile, because she had deliberately sent that letter seconds before announcing her arrival, just to see Dusk's confused face. “I said I was coming to visit my second-best student.” Celestia added, motioning with her eyes for Dusk to follow her, so that they could both re-enter the house.

"I don’t understand. What is this about the second-best student?” Dusk asked confused. Closing the door behind him as Celestia greeted Pinkie Pie and Applejack.

“I mean this, dear Dusk.” Celestia responded, showing Dusk a newspaper she brought with her.

Dusk took the newspaper, where on one page the name of a mare was indicated in huge letters, and it said that she was Princess Celestia's secret faithful student. When Dusk read that name, he looked confused, because he thought he remembered that name from somewhere, but he wasn't sure where.

"Twilight? Why does that name seem so familiar to me...?" Dusk thought confused. Then, when he turned the page of the newspaper and saw the photo of that mare, Dusk's mouth opened wide, finally recognizing the name of 'that' mare.

“They don't put her full name on there, but it looks like that mare's name is Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia added, amused at seeing Dusk's expression. This time, she handed Dusk another newspaper, a smaller one, which was titled 'Twilight Sparkle, the Heroine Who Saved Equestria'.

Unlike the first newspaper Celestia handed Dusk, the second newspaper was much smaller and rudimentary, and Dusk immediately recognized it by name. That was the ‘Foal Free Press,’ the newspaper that the Ponyville's school students created, and that was on everyone's lips in town a while ago, when the Cutie Mark Crusaders, under the pseudonym 'Gabby Gums,' published precisely that news. That time, Dusk transformed into Twilight to approach the suspicious Flash Sentry, and due to a misunderstanding, the fillies took Dusk's report, believing that he wanted to appear as Twilight Sparkle.

“I would love to meet Twilight, could you introduce me to your dear secret sister?” Celestia asked, with a fake innocent smile.

“She doesn't… I mean… I'm… Flash Sentry came and… that blue flower called Poison Joke… I…” Dusk stuttered madly, red with embarrassment. Knowing that his teacher would annoy him for life if she found out that he had transformed into a mare.

“Hahaha, calm down, everything is fine. If you go redder, I think you'll explode, haha.” Celestia laughed, touching Dusk's shoulder to calm him down. After all, she enjoyed teasing her beloved student, but she knew how to recognize when Dusk was about to have a nervous breakdown, so she calmed him down. “You’ll have to tell me one day the secret you used to achieve it.”

“You… Do you know it's me?” Dusk asked, still red with embarrassment.

“Sure, it's pretty obvious. Plus, I would know if you had any secret sisters.” Celestia responded, laughing. “Apparently, my assistant, Raven Ink, secretly delivered this newspaper to a journalist in Canterlot. Raven recently confessed to me that Shining Armor asked her for that favor so that that annoying reporter would believe that 'Twilight' was the one who saved Equestria and wouldn't start harassing you in Ponyville."

“I-I see…” Dusk said, slowly calming down. Remembering that during the wedding, Shining had said something to him about it. “So, that reporter was the one who spread the Twilight rumor…” Dusk added, reopening the first newspaper that Celestia had handed him. Only this time, he looked at it in more detail and widened his eyes in surprise.

That newspaper was from the city of Manehattan. In that newspaper, just as Celestia said, only Twilight was mentioned, the word 'Sparkle' was never mentioned. Furthermore, Dusk didn’t remember having posed smiling for a photo while he was disguised as Twilight; and more importantly... The newspaper said that Twilight was giving friendship talks in Manehattan’s park!!

“H-How is it possible…?” Dusk asked stunned. Looking confused at his teacher.

"I don't know. That's why I came with you, to see if you could decipher this mystery.” Celestia responded, looking tenderly at Dusk. “I think resolving this will be perfect for you to stop regretting being away from Spike.”

Dusk opened his eyes in surprise when he saw that, although Celestia was far away, she knew that Dusk must still be sad about Spike, and like his friends, she also cared about him. Then Dusk put on a serious look and looked determinedly at his teacher.

“I'm sorry to worry you, princess… to everyone.” Dusk said, turning also to see his friends. "So... If I want to find out how 'Twilight' appeared in Manehattan, I guess the easiest thing to do is go there to find out." Dusk added, returning to focus on the newspaper and the mystery of his female doppelganger.

“Well, if Dusk goes on a trip, I guess this is our chance for him to pay off his debt,” Applejack said from behind smiling, looking at Pinkie Pie.

"That's right!" Pinkie Pie said with a big smile. Jumping up to hug Dusk and stay cheek to cheek. “We’ll go with you.”

“Are you sure?” Dusk asked with a somewhat nervous look. “This trip will be to unmask a mystery, it is not a pleasure trip.”

"Don't worry. It’s always good to travel with someone, my dear Dusk.” Celestia added with a small tender smile. “In fact… I think I'd like to add another member to your little mystery-solving group…” Celestia added, this time, putting on a more mischievous smile. One that gave Dusk a slight chill, because every time his teacher smiled like that, it meant that one of her pranks was coming.

It was a long train ride from Ponyville to Manehattan, which was on the eastern coast of Equestria. As soon as Dusk and company boarded the train, their group immediately divided by gender. Applejack and Pinkie Pie went to find their seats, while Dusk and the palace guard that Celestia assigned as an escort went to store the suitcases in another car.

Dusk found it very strange when his teacher offered one of her guards to accompany them. Celestia's excuse was that that guard knew Manehattan very well and could guide them through the city, since neither Dusk nor his friends had been there before. For a second, Dusk thought about thanking his teacher for being so attentive. However, upon seeing which guard would be their guide, Dusk immediately realized that Celestia had not done it to help him, but only to make fun of him a little.

“I can't believe it... I'll actually get to see the beautiful Twilight again! The mare that stole my heart!” Flash Sentry said. The handsome palace guard, who had been chosen by Celestia to accompany Dusk and his friends.

To Dusk, it was obvious that his teacher chose Flash Sentry for that mission because he was the only guard who had seen Dusk transformed into 'Twilight Sparkle.' That would obviously make Dusk uncomfortable, and make Celestia laugh. However, Dusk thought that after the initial surprise of knowing that Flash would accompany them, nothing worse could happen. What Dusk didn't know, and what he quickly understood, was that somehow, Flash Sentry seemed to have fallen in love with 'Twilight.'

As soon as Celestia gave Flash the mission, he almost jumped for joy, knowing that he would be able to reunite with the mare who had stolen his heart. And now that they were on the train, he couldn't stop talking about how beautiful Twilight was and how he was burning with desire to see her.

“Your sister is a wild mare, Dusk. Free, beautiful, brave… Since I met her, I haven't been able to look at any other mare!” Flash Sentry said with eyes of a lover. While he and Dusk put away the suitcases. “I know I was a fool the last time we met. But now I want to patch it all up and show Twilight that she has stolen my heart... With your permission, of course, dear Dusk... or maybe I should say, dear brother-in-law, hahaha." Flash laughed, feeling that all his gallantry was now focused on winning the heart of a single mare. Filling him with renewed confidence.

“Yeah… hehe… we'll see…” Dusk responded, red with embarrassment. Not understanding how Flash had fallen in love with him so deeply.

“This fool fell in love just by seeing my private parts!? Although... They weren't my real private parts... Or were they...?” Dusk thought red with shame. Not knowing whether to feel offended or not, since he wasn't even sure whether to consider his transformed body as part of his true body. “I thought I'd have to worry again about Flash flirting on my friends again, but now... I think I'd prefer that to this madness!” Dusk thought, red with embarrassment, while he saw that Flash Sentry saw Twilight's photo in the newspaper, and smiled at it with his most gallant smile, practicing for when they were face to face.

“I… I think I'll go find my seat…” Dusk said awkwardly, turning to leave there. Not knowing if he wanted to vomit, cry, or punch Flash in the face.

After walking away from the suitcase car, Dusk reached where Applejack and Pinkie Pie were sitting. There, apparently, they were both chatting about something that seemed funny to them, murmuring and laughing among themselves. None of them managed to notice that Dusk was approaching down the hallway, so the stallion managed to hear a little of what they were both murmuring.

“Yeah, now that you mention it, Dusk always does that when… you know…” Pinkie Pie muttered into Applejack's ear. Laughing as her friend laughed too. “And when he sleeps, he also does it without realizing it, but towards the other side, hehehe…”

“Yeah, I noticed that too, haha.” Applejack laughed, covering her mouth so as not to be loud. “Also, have you noticed that-” Applejack suddenly stopped talking when she saw that Dusk had arrived at her side.

“What were you talking about?” Dusk asked, sitting in front of his friends. Trying to sound casual, even though he had heard that he was the central subject of that gossip.

Both mares looked at each other, then looked away. Covering their mouths as they held back their laughter.

“We weren't talking about anything important, hehe…” Pinkie Pie finally responded, with a nervous smile.

“Hey, look!” Applejack said surprised. Turning to whisper something to Pinkie Pie while pointing at Dusk. Then Pinkie looked carefully at Dusk and covered her mouth when she almost burst out laughing.

Both mares murmured among themselves again, always glancing askance at Dusk and laughing occasionally every time they commented on something. At that moment, for some reason, Dusk blushed and looked away embarrassed. Dusk realized that he had been the coltfriend of those two mares, and they both knew him intimately, so they must have known several secrets or habits that Dusk only showed when he was someone's coltfriend. Thus, for the first time, Dusk Shine realized that the only thing worse than a marefriend getting along badly with an ex-marefriend is a marefriend getting along well with an ex-marefriend. Thus, Dusk continued to sit, red with embarrassment while pretending not to notice that his marefriend and ex-marefriend were secretly gossiping about him.

After a long journey, one that seemed eternal to Dusk, the four ponies arrived in Manehattan. This was a huge city, full of large buildings and hundreds of ponies rushing from one place to another, as if they were all running late wherever they were going. The train station itself was several times larger than the Ponyville station, and that alone was enough for Dusk to realize that finding someone there would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

“This city is huge… Where do we start looking?” Applejack asked with an uncomfortable look. Since she didn't really like big cities.

"I'm not sure." Dusk responded, taking the Manehattan newspaper that the princess had handed him. “Maybe we should-”

"Oh no!" Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted. Starting to look scared everywhere. Approaching his friends' paws and lifting them to look under them. “I lost Gummy!”

“Did you bring Gummy with you?” Dusk asked surprised.

“Of course, I always take him on my trips. He really likes hiding in my mane, but sometimes, when he sees something new, he runs after it.” Pinkie Pie answered. Shrugging her shoulders at what she thought was an obvious answer.

“Do she always carry him with her?” Dusk Shine thought, remaining stunned, with his mouth open for a couple of seconds. For a moment, he remembered all the times he had been with Pinkie Pie and wondered if the little baby alligator had been hidden in his marefriend's mane all those times without him realizing it. Which left him with a strange mix of shame and confusion.

“He can't be too far away…” Pinkie Pie said, beginning to search through Flash Sentry's mane. “Maybe he beat us to it and went to the park on his own. He was very excited to see Manehattan Park… La-lala-lala!” Pinkie Pie began to jump happily, heading towards the city park.

"Wait! You're not sure if your pet really went in that direction. We should look on the train first, don’t you think?” Flash Sentry said , very confused by Pinkie's impulsiveness. Then he looked at Dusk and Applejack, who simply shrugged and followed Pinkie without hesitation. Already accustomed to blindly trusting the pink pony, despite not understanding why she acted without sense or logic.

After arriving at Manehattan Park, Pinkie Pie stopped dead when she saw a huge group of ponies, all gathered next to the river that runs through the middle of the park.

“Gummy must be there! He loves crowds.” Pinkie said, continuing her jumps to go there. While Dusk and the others followed her.

Upon reaching the crowd, everyone's eyes were surprised to see that exactly there was what they came to look for, but it was not Gummy, but rather THE OTHER THING they came to look for... There, in front of their eyes, giving a cheerfully chatting in front of all those ponies, there was a mare with lavender fur and purple eyes, with long dark blue mane, with a purple stripe and another lilac stripe in the middle... It was Twilight Sparkle! She was an exact copy of Dusk Shine when he transformed into a mare, with the only difference being that that mare did not have a cutie mark.

Dusk had gone there with the theory that the Manehattan newspaper had faked a photo of his female counterpart, to sell the false story that 'she' had saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon and Discord. However, he never imagined that he would find his doppelganger there. Neither he nor his friends imagined it, and for that reason, the three of them couldn't help but be stunned for a few seconds, watching how that Twilight was chatting happily with everyone.

“...and there we were me and my friends, going on the trail of the dangerous Nightmare Moon. Walking through the dark and sinister Everfree forest, until out of nowhere... A huge manticore appeared!” Twilight said, telling her story. “Body of a lion, with wings, horns and a deadly scorpion tail… Rarity jumped to kick its snout, but the manticore growled and completely ruffled her mane, making her flee from there… Applejack jumped on the beast and tried to mount it, but the beast sent her flying away with its strength… Rainbow Dash flew quickly and surrounded her with a whirlpool! But the manticore used its tail to stop Rainbow Dash in the air, causing her to crash to the ground... Each of my friends tried to confront the beast, while the timid Fluttershy tried to tell us something, but we were too scared to stop and listen to her... Finally, the five of us gathered our courage and launched an attack against the manticore, until suddenly, Fluttershy jumped in front of us and screamed for us to stop! Unbeknownst to me, she was about to give me a big lesson in kindness… Because as I always say…” Twilight added after reaching the climax of her story. Pausing briefly for the audience to participate in her story.

“The magic of friendship is the strongest magic there is!” The entire audience shouted in unison. Excited about the Twilight story. Shouting the motto of friendship that that brave lavender unicorn had taught them.

“Uh… We didn't find a manticore in the forest when we went after Nightmare Moon… Did we?” Applejack whispered in Dusk's ear. Doubting her own memories, since Twilight told her story so well.

"No, definitely not." Dusk responded seriously. Remembering that Fluttershy had indeed taught Dusk a lesson in kindness that time, but in a different way. Furthermore, Dusk couldn't help but be surprised to see how all those ponies were completely attentive to the lesson of friendship that Twilight had supposedly experienced.

“Before I tell you the end of the story, I would like to introduce you to a friend who has just arrived.” Twilight said, looking behind her and bending down to pick up 'something'. “Here is my most faithful friend… My number one assistant, who has accompanied me on so many adventures… Spike, the dragon!” Twilight added proudly. Showing the little baby alligator she had between her hooves.

“Wooow… A real dragon…” Several ponies in the audience said. Getting closer to get a better look at 'Spike'.

To most of those ponies, that lizard seemed too small to be a dragon. However, they had listened carefully to Twilight's stories and knew of the brave little dragon that always accompanied her. Furthermore, whoever told them that that lizard was a baby dragon, was Twilight herself! The very student of Princess Celestia, heroine of Equestria, who banished Nightmare Moon and Discord. If she said that that lizard was a baby dragon, none of them were in a position to doubt it.

“That's Gummy! Does she want to make them believe that Gummy is a dragon!?” Applejack asked Pinkie with a small laugh at how ridiculous it all was.

“It can't be… Gummy was Spike this whole time!?” Pinkie Pie yelled almost in shock. As always, confusing things. Leaving Applejack speechless.

“Can you believe Pinkie thinks Gummy is Spike?” Applejack asked again, laughing. This time looking at Dusk. However, as soon as she looked at the lavender stallion, she was once again stunned with her mouth open.

“Spike…” Dusk cried comically. Knowing obviously that that was Gummy and not Spike. However, when remembering his little brother and past experiences, Dusk couldn't help but cry when he remembered his little brother again.

“That will be all for now, friends.” Twilight said, after everyone looked closely at her 'assistant dragon'. “I’ll continue with the end of the story after a break… Don't miss the second part of the show!” Twilight added with a big smile. Winking at the audience as they began to applaud her, thanking her for the show.

“We are not that far from her, and she has looked in this direction several times. Still, she doesn't seem to have noticed us…” Dusk thought, narrowing his eyes. Beginning to analyze that 'Twilight', to begin to decipher her and see how she would react now that he was there. After all, she was stealing his stories. Although it seemed that, for some reason, she modified them.

“Let's go and talk to her.” Dusk said to his friends. Taking advantage of the fact that some ponies were beginning to withdraw and there was more space to get closer.

When Dusk and his friends were almost in front of that mare who called herself Twilight, the lavender mare blinked several times and stood motionless with a look of surprise. Then, to the surprise of Dusk and his friends, she put on a big smile and hugged Dusk.

“Dusk! You finally came to see me! I’ve wanted to see my brother for so long.” Twilight said, hugging Dusk. Who, for his part, remained frozen, not knowing how to react. “And you came with Applejack and Pinkie Pie! It's great to see you girls!” Twilight added. Releasing Dusk and also hugging Applejack and Pinkie Pie, with a big smile.

“Hi Twilight!” Pinkie Pie answered smiling, who wasn't sure who that mare was, but she never turned down a hug and a warm smile. Unlike Applejack, who stayed silent and gave an awkward smile. Seeing that a mare she didn't know was so close to her.

“Did you hear? This is Applejack and Pinkie Pie!” A stallion who had been listening to Twilight's stories said. Then, he and several other ponies approached to look at both mares in admiration, beginning to thank them for saving Equestria alongside Twilight.

“You say… That you’re my sister?” Dusk finally asked, after waking up from his initial surprise. Looking suspiciously at that mare that pretended to be his female alter ego.

At Dusk's question, Twilight simply nodded and smiled tenderly at him, as if the answer to that question was somewhat obvious. Dusk opened his mouth to immediately contradict Twilight, but then he remembered something and glanced back.

When Dusk and his friends approached, they left someone behind, who Dusk almost forgot. Flash Sentry had stayed several steps behind, watching Twilight attentively, with his cheeks blushed and a very nervous look on his face. It seemed that the handsome palace guard had suddenly lost all his courage upon seeing Twilight there. And now, his nerves prevented him from approaching the one he considered to be the love of his life.

“This 'Twilight' knows that I said that Twilight was my sister, when I tricked Flash…” Dusk thought, becoming alert. Realizing why that impostor was pretending to be his sister. She was following the very story that Dusk had made up.

“By the way, Pinkie, I have someone who can't wait to see you.” Twilight suddenly said, turning to approach Pinkie Pie and whisper in her ear. Then she raised her hoof and handed her Gummy. “I found Gummy lost near here. I'm sorry I said he was Spike, but Gummy seemed very eager to be on my show."

"Oh, yeah. Gummy always loves to be the center of attention.” Pinkie Pie said smiling. Taking Gummy between her hooves and laughing along with Twilight.

“By the way, how are the other girls?” Twilight added, looking at Applejack and Dusk. “I hope Fluttershy is feeling better now, after almost turning into a bat.”

“H-How do you know that?” Applejack asked, very surprised.

“Well, we’re friends. I obviously know everything that happens to my friends!” Twilight said smiling. Then she put on a more serious look, touched Applejack's side and smiled tenderly. “I know you recently reunited with your grandfather Grand Pear. I'm sorry I wasn't there to support you. But I'm glad Apple Bloom can chat with her new grandfather now.”

Applejack turned pale for a second and glanced at Dusk with an unsure look. While Dusk also had a nervous look, understanding what Applejack must be thinking at that moment... She couldn't be Twilight Sparkle! That was just a fake name for a character Dusk played. She didn't exist nor did she know his friends. But then... How did she know so many details about his friends!?

“E-Excuse me…” A male voice suddenly said and approached their side. Then Twilight, Dusk and their friends turned around and saw that it was Flash Sentry. Who had finally regained some of his courage and approached Twilight.

“Oh… Hi Flash! It’s been a while since we saw each other!” Twilight replied smiling.

Flash Sentry was silent for a few seconds. Staring Twilight from head to tail. With an unsure look.

“You… Are you really Twilight Sparkle?” Flash asked with an incredulous look.

"Obviously." Twilight scoffed. "Though for now, I prefer to just be called 'Twilight'."

Again Flash stared at Twilight, as if he sensed something was wrong.

“Hmm… You look a little different…” Flash said with a thoughtful look, observing Twilight carefully. Something that greatly surprised Dusk, who paid a lot of attention to it. “Your voice sounds a little different… and your eyebrows look a little different… and your cutie mark… Why don't you have a cutie mark!?” Flash asked, a little frustrated at his confusion. Asking the most obvious question that Dusk and his friends had been slow to ask.

"Hey! Don’t be rude!” A mare suddenly said. One of the Twilight fans who had come there to see her heroine with her friends. “Twilight sacrificed her cutie mark to save us from Discord, when he stole the Elements of Harmony! Have more respect!” The annoyed mare added. Causing several ponies around them to also shout in support of Twilight.

“Don't be mad at Flash. He didn't know…” Twilight said, looking away and making a sad face. “Just as they say, I lost my cutie mark facing the Lord of Chaos. But that doesn’t matter. I would give everything to save Equestria and my friends. Because more important than a cutie mark, they’re my friends.”

“Long live the magic of friendship!” Several ponies around shouted. Again giving their support to Twilight, thanking her for her noble sacrifice.

“What she just said is a lie…” Applejack whispered in Dusk's ear.

Dusk obviously knew that what that Twilight had just said was a lie, since that was not how they defeated Discord. However, Applejack's comment made a great impression on Dusk, because Applejack said that not because she knew the true story, but because she could recognize when someone was lying, no matter who they were.

“That is! We must interrogate this Twilight. Applejack will be able to unmask her and expose her.” Dusk thought. Realizing that he had to be careful when revealing this Twilight's fraud, since apparently, she had many fans, who could turn against him if he didn't show them clear evidence of the truth.

“Is that what happened? I… I was almost certain that the Lord of Chaos was defeated in another way…” Flash Sentry muttered unsurely. Who had occasionally heard the princesses talk about that event, but he wasn’t completely sure how things had happened.

At Flash's doubt, Twilight subtly stopped smiling for a moment and then approached Flash with a mischievous smile.

“Flash, I can show you that I am the real me. But there's no way I'm letting you look under my tail again to check it out.” Twiligh said, staring into Flash's eyes.

Hearing that, Flash Sentry's face turned completely red. He opened his mouth to try to say something, but he was so embarrassed that he only let out a few stammers. Then Flash couldn't take it anymore and ran away, almost blowing smoke from his ears. Meanwhile, Twilight couldn't help but laugh when she saw that the palace guard was still embarrassed when remembering that embarrassing situation.

“Miss Twilight, could we have your autograph?” A little filly asked, approaching Twilight with a photograph of herself.

“Of course!” Twilight replied smiling. But then, she glanced sideways at Dusk and Applejack, and noticed that they were both staring at her with serious looks. Then she bent down and looked tenderly at the filly. “Sorry, I'll sign it later. Now I have to talk alone with my friends.”

“Oh! Yes, I understand!" The little filly said excitedly. “If your friends need you, always go to them!”

"That's right! That's the magic of friendship!” Twilight said smiling proudly. Then she said goodbye to the filly and approached where Dusk and his friends were.

Understanding that it was time to clarify everything, Dusk guided his friends and Twilight to get away from the crowd a little so they could chat alone.

“Okay, now that we're alone, tell us the truth.” Dusk said, looking seriously at Twilight. "Who are you?"

“I told you, I'm Twilight, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight said with a shy smile. “Although it's obvious that the part about being your sister is a lie. But I said it so that no one would suspect. After all, how else can you explain why two ponies look so alike?”

“You're not Twilight! Twilight doesn't exist! It’s just a name I created.” Dusk said, starting to get annoyed when he saw that that mare was still lying. “And about being my sister, it wasn't the only lie you told. Your stories are too! The story of Fluttershy and the manticore, that's not how I discovered that she represented the Element of Kindness. And Discord never stole the Elements of Harmony!”

“Maybe not here, but in my world!” Twilight said, raising a hoof to make Dusk calm down.

"What?" Dusk asked, raising his head and putting on a confused look.

“I said that maybe things didn't happen like that in this world, but they did happen like that in my world.” Twilight said with a small smile. Giving Dusk a few seconds to process what she had just said. After all, she knew he would now begin to understand the truth.

“You say… that you come from another world?” Dusk said, almost ready to laugh in mockery. “Since I discovered your lies, do you want to make me believe that other universes exist and you come from a parallel universe? Hahaha! Don't be ridiculous!” Dusk mocked, annoyed to see that that mare thought he was stupid enough to believe such a silly story.

"It's the truth!" Twilight said with a worried look. “I was in the library, researching one of Mage Meadowbrook's nine enchanted items, when something went wrong, and somehow I got here, into this world!”

“Mage Meadowbrook only had eight magical items, not nine…” Dusk thought annoyed. Recognizing another lie.

“When I got here, I tried to go to Ponyville. But here, everyone was so in need of lessons in friendship, that I finally extended my stay in the city.” Twilight continued speaking. “This is how I have spent the last few days giving talks about friendship. Telling the adventures that my friends and I lived in my world. Although it seems that they’re a little different from the ones you have lived here..."

“It's a story too fantastic to believe…” Dusk said, looking annoyed at Twilight. "Everything is a lie! Applejack herself recognized that the story you told about how you lost your cutie mark was false.” Dusk added, looking askance at Applejack, who, for some reason, had looked away with a confused look.

“It's because that story is false! It was the only thing I could think of as an excuse for not having my cutie mark.” Twilight said, nervous about not being able to convince Dusk. “My theory is that since you’re my double in this world, my cutie mark couldn't be duplicated here. After all, cutie marks are a very ancient magic that-”

“And how did you find out about me, if all these days you have stayed here in Manehattan!?” Dusk interrupted angrily. Trying to corner Twilight with the gaps in her story.

“I ran into a reporter who knew you, or at least your story.” Twilight said with a shrug. “For some reason, she knew my name was Twilight and showed me a report from the Ponyville school newspaper. It said that Dusk Shine was Twilight's brother... Honestly, I don't know how you did it, but it didn't take me to put two and two together to understand that somehow you briefly transformed into a mare and pretended to be me... Or rather, another Twilight, since you didn't know of my existence.”

"ENOUGH!!" Dusk shouted annoyed. “It's a ridiculous story! The multiverse is just a baseless theory, they’re fictional stories for foals! It’s all a big, huge lie!!”

“Well, if it's a lie, why don't you ask the most honest and trustworthy pony in the world already!?” Twilight yelled in frustration. Pointing at Applejack, who was next to Dusk.

Turning around, Dusk saw that Applejack was pale, with a nervous look.

"What's going on?" Dusk asked worried, looking at his friend.

“She… She's not lying…” Applejack said. Still unable to believe that she didn't find a hint of a lie in anything that Twilight had said.

Upon hearing Applejack's response, Dusk opened his eyes wide and his face was also pale. Then, everyone remained in an awkward and long silence. One that was necessary for everyone to understand that somehow, the madness they had just heard... Was it true!?

"It's... It's impossible..." Dusk finally muttered. Fighting in his head to try to find a reasonable justification for everything he had just heard.

“Listen, Dusk. I know it's a lot to process. Take your time,” Twilight said, approaching Dusk and gently touching him on his side. Looking at him tenderly, Twilight said, “Now I have to get back to my show. Everyone is waiting for me to tell them the end of my story. You should come! Everyone is expectant, wanting to know how I was able to defeat powerful villains thanks to my friends and the power of friendship.”

Seeing that Dusk was still pale, without reacting, Twilight sighed sadly, looked at her friends, giving them a sad smile, and began to walk away. Back to the side of the river, where her audience gathered to listen to her.

“I hope you can see my show. I promise you that we can continue talking once it's over.” Twilight said smiling. “Come to the front row, so I can see you well,” Twilight added, winking at them. Finally, walking away from there.

“Dusk… Are you okay?” Pinkie Pie asked worriedly. Seeing that Dusk was still silent, with his head bowed and motionless.

“Yes, I'm fine… It's just…” Dusk said, raising his head and putting on a sad smile. He was still fighting the evidence before him. He wanted to ask Applejack if she was completely sure about what she said, but he knew he couldn't distrust his friend. Still, what Twilight was saying was completely crazy. Even though she sounded coherent, his rational being was screaming at him that something was missing, that it was impossible to believe such an absurd story. “I think… the best thing would be to watch the show…” Dusk finally said, after a long silence. Annoyed with himself, realizing that even a little, he was beginning to think that there was a small chance that what Twilight was saying could be true.

Dusk and his friends went to the park's river again to listen to the final part of the Twilight show. However, upon arriving, they realized that Twilight was no longer speaking in an open space. Now, for some reason, the show had been moved to a small improvised stage, which was next to the bridge that crossed the park's river. A stage that was surrounded by curtains, so that no one outside could see it from the outside.

Dusk and his friends approached the curtains that limited that stage and saw that at the entrance, there was a sign with Twilight's face, which announced her show and said: 'See here, Twilight, the heroine of Equestria! Hear her incredible stories for only 2 coins.' At the entrance, an old pony collects coins to be able to pass the curtains. Dusk gave a confused look, not understanding why Twilight had spoken loudly in the park before and now she was charging to be seen and heard. Feeling again that there was something fishy about it all.

After paying, Dusk, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie passed through the curtains. There, Dusk saw that almost all the ponies that had previously been in the park were now there too. Everyone looked expectantly at Twilight, who had just then begun to tell her story. She started precisely from where she had left her previous story unfinished. Telling how Fluttershy bravely approached the manticore and, although it roared at her, Fluttershy took its paw and removed a thorn that was stuck in it. Then, the manticore licked Fluttershy in gratitude. Twilight told how, with that, she understood that sometimes you just have to trust in the kindness of others. After that, Twilight continued telling how her other friends taught her about laughter, generosity, and loyalty until they finally faced the powerful Nightmare Moon, managing to defeat her together, thanks to Twilight discovering the magic of friendship.

As she finished her story, the entire audience burst into applause and cheers. Dusk looked at Twilight in surprise, seeing that her story was slightly different from what had happened to him, but the background was the same. More importantly, Twilight didn't miss the opportunity to emphasize how important friendship was and how it had helped her become a better pony.

“I'm still confused about many things, but what I can't deny is that Twilight has made all these ponies interested in friendship and learn from it…” Dusk thought in surprise. Feeling more and more insecure about his own position, thinking that perhaps Twilight was who she said she was.

"It just can't be!" Applejack suddenly said in distress. Something that brought Dusk out of his thoughts.

"What's wrong?" Dusk asked confused. Looking at Applejack and then where her friend was looking. Then he also put on a surprised look.

“Let's give another big round of applause to our great heroine!” A pony said, going up to the small stage. A thin stallion, with yellow fur, a red and white tail and mane. Additionally, he wore a blue and white striped vest and a hat.

“Twilight! The savior of Equestria! Protector of the kingdom!” Another stallion said, walking behind the other. Almost identical to the previous one, dressed exactly the same. With the difference that this stallion had a mustache.

“The Flim Flam brothers!?” Dusk said very surprised. Recognizing both stallions very well, as both had tried to take the farm away from Applejack and her family. “What are they doing here?”

“The story of how Twilight and her friends defeated Nightmare Moon is known to everyone in Equestria.” Flim said cheerfully while on stage. “But… Did you know that she also fought a dragon?” Flim asked towards the audience.

"I didn't fight... Rather, Fluttershy did all the work of chasing it away." Twilight said, blushing.

“As modest as ever, dear.” Flam said, interrupting Twilight and returning his focus to the audience. “What about the time you traveled to the Wild West and faced a buffalo charge? Or when you saved Canterlot from the attack of some dangerous changelings? Or when you faced the mighty Discord?” Flam added, leaving everyone in the audience excited to find out more about it.

“But dear brother, how do you know so much about Twilight's adventures?” Flim asked, feigning ignorance.

“Well, it's simple, dear brother. It’s all here.” Flam said, holding up a purple book with a large golden horseshoe on its cover. “This is the Journal of Friendship! A diary where our heroine Twilight has written down all her adventures with her friends. A text full of wisdom and lessons of friendship. A must-have book in every pony's home... And today you can get it for the incredible price of only 10 coins!”

Without wasting time, all the ponies in the audience rushed to try to be the first to buy that valuable book, which told the secret stories of their greatest heroine.

“And don't forget that Twilight will be signing autographs for only 1 coin!” Flim added while his brother sold copies of the Journal of Friendship. Bringing a stack of photos of Twilight, and placing them in front of the lavender mare. Causing another line to form in front of her to get her autograph.

“Dusk, look! I think I know that photographer.” Pinkie Pie suddenly said. Pointing at a mare that was in the front row, taking pictures of Twilight and her admirers. “Wasn't she the fake waitress that got kicked out of Shining and Cadance's wedding?”

Dusk's eyes widened in surprise when he remembered that. The mare that Pinkie was targeting was the mare that Shining told him was the one who was harassing him and Cadence. A nosy reporter who liked show business.

“That must be the reporter that Raven Ink gave the Ponyville newspaper to, with the story of Twilight saving Equestria.” Dusk said, putting on a thoughtful look.

“If that same reporter is here, it explains a lot of things. But there's still something that doesn't fit…” Dusk thought. Breaking his head at the mystery in front of him.

“Well… If we wanted to know if something strange was happening, this is definitely the test.” Applejack said, looking annoyed at the twins, as they sold their merchandise.

“Yeah… it seems that Flim and Flam are using Twilight for their own business, but…” Dusk said, looking from afar at Twilight, who seemed not to care that all of this was a business. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying herself while being praised by dozens of ponies.

While Dusk was looking at Twilight, he was distracted when he saw a filly passing by who had just bought a copy of the so-called 'Journal of Friendship.'

“Sorry, could I look at it for just a moment?” Dusk asked kindly.

“Hmm… Well… Twilight says you should always share.” The little filly said uncertainly, passing the book to Dusk. Then she opened her eyes wide when she saw that next to Dusk was Pinkie Pie. “You're Pinkie Pie!? Is it true that you have something called 'pinkie-sense' that warns you of danger!?”

"Yep!" Pinkie Pie said proudly. Until she realized something and opened her eyes in surprise. "How do you know that?"

“It appears in the book…” Dusk responded before the filly responded. Quickly flipping through the book and verifying that, as Flam announced, that book told several of the adventures that Dusk and his friends had had. With the difference that it told them in a different way, and in those stories, Twilight was the protagonist and not Dusk Shine. “The most important events that I had since I arrived in Ponyville are written here… In essence, they’re the same stories, but they happen in a different way for Twilight.”

“Well… She said she was from a parallel world. Things won't happen the same way they happened to you, right?” Applejack said, confused, scratching her head.

At Applejack's comment, Dusk simply remained silent, with a very thoughtful face as he looked at the book.

“That reporter was the one who exposed Twilight's story, and that's why the fake Twilight was able to know about my adventures. Just like Flim and Flam.” Dusk thought, trying to think logically. “But… that doesn't explain how Twilight knows so many details about my friends. Things that I never said when I was transformed as Twilight…” Dusk thought, frustrated, closing his eyes in annoyance, feeling his head hurt. Thinking that he could understand that Flim and Flam had made a fraud about Twilight, that whole theory fell apart because Twilight herself was there, and that her story and knowledge were unquestionable and true.

“Maybe we should talk to that reporter,” Dusk said, deciding to question everyone involved in that mystery. “Do you remember what her name was?”

“Hmm… Her name is Nosey News.” A female voice suddenly said behind Dusk and his friends. The three ponies jumped around and opened their eyes in surprise.

“Derpy!? What are you doing here?" Dusk asked, very surprised to see the clumsy gray pegasus there, in Manehattan. Carrying her small mailpony's suitcase.

“I have a letter for her.” Derpy said, taking a letter out of her suitcase and pointing it at the reporter, who was still photographing Twilight. “I've been delivering letters to Miss Nosey News for several weeks.”

“Anyone sending her letters from Ponyville?” Dusk asked confused, looking at the letter Derpy was holding. Then he opened his eyes in surprise when he saw that the envelope was closed with a stamp that he recognized. A blue shield with the golden drawing of a caped filly.

“That… Isn't that the club symbol of Apple Bloom and the others?” Dusk thought surprised and very confused.

“Can we see the letter?” Applejack asked, reaching out to take the letter from Derpy. However, the pegasus immediately took it out of her reach.

“It’s not okay to read other people's correspondence,” Derpy said, with an annoyed look. Which on her innocent face, looked quite adorable.

Without wasting any more time, the responsible Ponyville mailpony went and approached the reporter to deliver her correspondence. From afar, Dusk indicated to his friends to follow him, and they stealthily approached closer to the reporter. Hiding behind the other ponies in the audience so she wouldn't see them.

Nosey News received the letter delivered by Derpy with joy and she quickly approached the side of the makeshift stage. Where Flim and Flam began to count the coins earned that day, while Twilight continued happily signing the last autographs.

Flim saw the reporter with a subtle look of disgust and told Nosey News to follow him behind a curtain, which was behind the stage. Meanwhile, Flam approached Twilight, faking a smile, and indicated to the fans that it was time to leave and let Twilight rest.

Seeing that everyone was starting to leave the place, Dusk and his friends hid behind some chairs, maintaining their spy position. And when they saw that Flim and Twilight also walked back from the stage, Dusk and his friends silently approached a corner of the stage to listen from one side, where it was darker.

“I'm telling you, it's no longer necessary…” Dusk was able to hear what Flim was saying. Apparently having a small argument with the reporter.

“What is not necessary?” Twilight asked. Not knowing what Flim was talking about.

“I-It's nothing. Don’t worry, hehe.” Flim responded quickly, with a nervous smile. Then he subtly looked at his brother and signaled with his gaze to take Twilight out of there.

“Dear Twilight, it's just a business talk. There is nothing to worry about," Flam said. Quickly taking his brother's cue, he hugged Twilight from the side and guided her back the way they had entered. “The best thing is that you return to the riverside and continue telling your fans your great stories of friendship… But remember, only tell them the first part. The main show is where you tell the end of your stories.”

“Hmm… I still think it would be simpler to tell the complete stories with an ending at once.” Twilight said with an unsure look, as she was subtly pushed by Flam to get out of there. “I don't know if my friends would like to know what I charge for telling the end of their stories.”

“Nonsense, it's not for the money, it's just to make it more exciting!” Flam said smiling. However, seeing Twilight looking at him with a raised eyebrow, Flam had to change his deception tactic. "Okay, I know. It's true that we make a little bit of money on the second show. But it's all to have the funds to publish your beautiful Journal of Friendship! Isn't it good that your lessons in friendship reach every corner of Equestria? With your diary, it can be like that! But for that, we need some financing.”

“I-I guess you're right…” Twilight said unsure, but accepting the answer. Finally being taken out through the stage curtain. Heading again near the river, to continue telling her stories.

“Wow… she sure takes her role very seriously…” Nosey News said, a little surprised to see Twilight's reaction. Then she shook her head and returned her focus to Flim and their previous discussion. “What do you mean it's no longer necessary?” The reporter added, showing Flim and Flam the letter that Derpy had just given her. “Here are more details about the life of Dusk Shine and his friends in Ponyville. The more information we have, the more difficult it’ll be for us to be discovered!”

“Hmm… If you insist so much, I guess I'll take it.” Flim said reluctantly, taking the letter from Nosey News, approaching a table, opening a drawer and putting the letter inside a book he had kept there. Then, reluctantly, Flim motioned to his brother, and Flam handed the reporter a small bag of coins. “Here is your pay. But this will be the last time. We already have enough information about Dusk and his friends. We don’t need more to maintain the fraud.”

As soon as Nosey News heard Flim mention the word fraud, she frowned and froze right before taking the money. Then she lowered her gaze and looked away with sadness and disgust.

“I… I don't want your money.” Nosey News said, upset with herself for being in that situation. “I’m a reporter, and I have my integrity.”

Flim and Flam looked at each other, and both burst into laughter. Causing the reporter to blush in embarrassment.

"Integrity? You were the one who gave us the idea for this scam! Hahaha!" Flam said laughing.

“I didn't do this for money! I did it out of necessity!” Nosey News shouted, upset and embarrassed. Looking away as she remembered how she had gotten to that point. “How was I supposed to know that my informant in the castle was going to give me false information!? That damn Raven! I needed to redeem myself as a journalist so much that I did an entire report on Twilight Sparkle, based on the information she gave me! When I found out that Twilight Sparkle didn't exist and that all her exploits had been done by Dusk Shine, it was too late... After the wedding fiasco, if my boss found out the truth, he would fire me!”

At that point, Nosey News stopped for a moment to calm down. Releasing a small tear of helplessness when remembering everything that happened and how a simple mistake turned into a huge web of lies.

“Dusk Shine and his friends didn't seem to care about fame, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to keep up Twilight's ruse and not have my boss fire me…” Nosey News continued, venting her pent up frustration. “I was contacted by letter the first reporter who made the Twilight story, Miss Gabby Gums… She admitted that Dusk Shine had done all those feats and was willing to tell the truth… I had to fool her, too. I told her that my readers would love to know more about Dusk and his friends. Then she sent me unpublished details about them, about their adventures and how they learned more about friendship together... I promised Gabby Gums that I would make a book about friendship as thanks to her, where everyone would meet the real Dusk Shine and his friends. But instead, I made my Twilight hoax more believable... The Twilight story was a hit! Everyone started wondering where Twilight Sparkle was…”

“And that's when we appear in your story, isn't it?” Flim said pretending to yawn. Bored with the reporter's outburst moment of sincerity. "You worry too much! If you're worried about the book, that was no hoax! Here is the book! And we sell it at a very good price…”

“I never thought that fraud would grow so much… Now it's like a huge snowball that not even I can stop!” Nosey News said, holding her shaking head. “You knew from the beginning that there was no Twilight Sparkle and that all her feats had really been done by Dusk Shine. That's why you two took advantage of me. You started selling my stories to get rich… You even hired an actress so that no one would doubt that Twilight DID exist!”

“You're wrong about that. She's no actress; she's the real Twilight,” Flam said, smiling a sinister smile that made the reporter even more nervous.

"I'm not interested! I don’t want to know!” Nosey News said, turning around. Feeling like she couldn't stand being with those scammers anymore, she began to walk away. “I'm not interested in what you do. I’m just interested in keeping my job, and as long as the fraud continues, that will remain the case.”

As she was about to step through the curtain to leave, Nosey News paused for a second and took one last look at the unicorn twins.

“There's one thing I don't understand… Why doesn't your Twilight Sparkle have a cutie mark?” Nosey News asked confused. Realizing that with all that enormous fraud, drawing a fake cutie mark wouldn’t have been a problem for those two charlatans.

“When we unveiled our show sign, announcing that 'Twilight Sparkle would be performing live,' some rich nobles arrived insisting that we remove the word 'Sparkle'.” Flim responded with a shrug. “So they asked us to remove the fake name Sparkle and hide Twilight's cutie mark.”

“In exchange, they gave us a lot of money,” Flam added, smiling greedily. “With the power and money those nobles have, they surely could have canceled our show easily. But apparently, they liked the idea that everyone began to believe that the one who saved Equestria was an unknown mare named Twilight and not that detestable Dusk Shine.”

Hearing that, Nosey News put on a thoughtful and confused look. Feeling a slight chill that she hadn't felt in a long time.

"What is this? That chill… My journalistic instinct says there is a truly great story there!” Nosey News thought, her eyes shining with excitement. However, she quickly shook her head to concentrate. "No! Enough chasing ghosts! I still haven't escaped the mess my last big news generated. I won't be doing anymore crazy research for a long time!”

Finally, Nosey News broke through the curtains and left, wanting to get as far away as possible from all that Twilight fraud that she herself had created. Meanwhile, Flam got closer to his brother, then opened the drawer of the table next to him, taking out the book stored there and the letter that was there.

“What do you think brother?” Flam said, staring at the letter Nosey News had given them. “Do you want to include this new information about Dusk Shine and his friends for our show?”

"I don't think so. Our Twilight is already convincing enough with everything she already knows.” Flim responded smiling. Taking the letter and tearing it in half. “Besides, it's best that Twilight doesn't wake up. It would be risky.”

Flim and Flam laughed together and then also passed through the curtains, ready to prepare their act. Waiting for Twilight to finish telling the first half of her stories for free, then charging to hear how it ended.

When they saw that there was no one left behind the stage, Dusk and his friends came out into the light from the corner where they had seen and heard everything. The three of them looked surprised when they discovered that crazy conspiracy.

“I knew that multiverse thing was crazy!” Dusk said, hitting the ground, feeling relieved that his conception of spacetime was still intact. He used his magic to levitate the letter that Flim and Flam had torn up, showing his friends the Cutie Mark Crusaders symbol. That's how ‘Twilight’ knows so many details about you and me. Apple Bloom and her friends were the informants!”

“Why would Apple Bloom and the others do something like that?” Pinkie Pie asked confused.

“They didn't do it with bad intentions… That reporter contacted 'Gabby Gums' and promised them that she would tell the truth and make a book about friendship.” Dusk responded, looking away with sadness. That was the surprise that the three of them had prepared for me. They wanted to give me a book with our adventures. But that reporter tricked them, and what she really did was give those letters to Flim and Flam so that the fake Twilight would maintain her deception.”

“But… If that Twilight is fake, why couldn't I know that she was lying?” Applejack asked confused, scratching her head. “She must be a very good actress.”

“I'm not sure…” Dusk responded, narrowing his eyes and looking nervously at the ground.

“There is something that bothers me…” Dusk thought, feeling that something didn't fit right. “What did Flim mean when he said he didn't want to 'wake up' Twilight...?”

Suddenly Dusk looked at the table there. There was the book in which Flim had initially hidden the letter before his brother took it out. It seemed like they had forgotten to put it back in the drawer after taking it out. Upon seeing it, the first thing that surprised Dusk was that that book was not a copy of the 'Journal of Friendship' that those two charlatans were selling, but a magic book. And upon reading the title of that book, Dusk got a chill as a new theory began to form in his head.

“It can't be... They wouldn't be able to!” Dusk thought scared. Taking the magic book and starting to review it quickly. Then he stopped when he saw a specific page of the book, one where a certain spell was explained. And that page itself was scribbled, as if someone had written some extra things there, information on how to improve the spell printed on that page.

“They can't have fallen that low!” Dusk said almost in a shout, with a mixture of fear and anger. He threw the book on the ground and opened the table drawer where Flim had previously hidden it. There, Dusk found what he feared and a chill ran down his spine.

“Dusk? Are you right?" Pinkie Pie asked worriedly, approaching Dusk when she saw that his face turned pale. While Applejack bent down and picked up the book that Dusk had dropped.

“'Advanced Spells, Volume Three: Mental Spells'?” Applejack read the book's cover, looking at Dusk confused.

“Applejack, you were right… Twilight wasn't lying. Or at least, she doesn't think so…” Dusk said, looking down angrily. Then he raised his head and showed his friends what he had found in the drawer: a bell. “Twilight blindly believes that she really lived all those adventures... because she is hypnotized!” Dusk shouted furiously, finally discovering the dirty trick those two scammers used this time.

At that precise moment, at the Manehattan train station, a mare with yellow fur and a red and gold mane was getting off a train that came from Northern Equestria.

“It was a long trip… I hope it was worth the detour.” Sunset Shimmer sighed tiredly, as she got off the train and began to walk through the huge station. Then she used her magic and levitated a newspaper she was carrying with her. “Now… Let's see who this 'Twilight' pony is…” Sunset added, looking intrigued at the photograph of that purple-furred mare. Wondering if that mare that the newspaper called 'heroine of Equestria' was the cunning hooded mare who had managed to beat her in a magical duel weeks ago.

End of chapter 31

Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness II

by bigsnusnu

Chapter 1 - A look into the past

Chapter 2 - A simple game of chess

Chapter 3 - A regrettable train of thought

Chapter 4 - The answer

Chapter 5 - A bitter victory

Chapter 6 - Reawakening memories

Chapter 7 - Princesses on the attack

Chapter 8 - Cupid's Arrows

Chapter 9 - Synergy

Chapter 10 - The first lesson about love

Chapter 11 - Confidence test

Chapter 12 - Discovering new feelings

Chapter 13 - Myth and Reality

Chapter 14 - Hidden in the shadows

Chapter 15 - Choosing a New Friend

Chapter 16 - The secret ingredient

Chapter 17 - Among us

Chapter 18 - The well of lies

Chapter 19 - At the altar

Chapter 20 - Love spell

Chapter 21 - The bitter end

Chapter 22 - Magic duel

Chapter 23 - A train full of mysteries

Chapter 24 - The most beautiful smile

Chapter 25 - Laughter and surprises

Chapter 26 - Heart's Warming Night

Chapter 27 - The second impression

Chapter 28 - The forbidden fruit

Chapter 29 - A dragon and his family

Chapter 30 - A dragon's word is law

Chapter 31 - The truth behind the truth