"Okay everypony!!! I think the spell is ready so quickly gather around!" The purple pony stood proudly over the large red "X" that she had painted on the floor of the library. A saddle laden with books and do-dads drooped loosely over Twilight's back; she had hoped to somehow find time during their vacation to study the effects of the sun on the health of the ponies who lived in the area. Truth be told, this was her original reason for going to Jamaneca but after her friends had expressed their desires to go on "vacation" she reluctantly agreed to make it a group trip. Doing so also meant she had reluctantly agreed to learn a new teleportation spell that could transport a group of pony folk halfway across Equestria. "It's about time Twilight!!! I've been waiting here for hours!"
Twilight turned to the chromatically diverse pegasus, "Well Rainbow, if you had helped me prepare the spell, then maybe we could have been gone by now. Oh, and for the record, you only arrived five minutes ago so you haven't been waiting for hours." Rainbow Dash lounged on a small cloud just outside of a window on the upper story of the library, her face was buried deep into a book labeled "Daring Do and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". She had been reading the series nonstop for who knows how long and the bags under her eyes gave proof that Rainbow Dash had been neglecting sleep for the sake of finishing her beloved books.
"Ah, don't sweat it none Twi," started Applejack, "We already had enough ponies to to help mix your special paint so no harm done." Rainbow Dash gestured from her cloud down to Applejack and without moving her eyes from her book she called out, "Ya, that's what she said." Applejack glanced up to Rainbow Dash and responded with caution in her voice, "Uhh, Rainbow? You meant to say, 'What she said.' Right?" The sound of an old page turning over in a book came from the cloud, "Sure, what did I say?"
Pinkie Pie bounced around the can of freshly mixed paint shouting all kinds of "Pinkie Pie" nonsense. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!! I'm so excited! I mean really, WE ARE GOING TO JAMANECA!!! The sun! The beach! The music! The dancing! Ooh, and I hear they have the coolest little plant that makes life feel like a party no matter where you go!" Twilight used her magic to quickly pull the bucket of paint away from the prancing pony, "Umm, Pinkie... don't even think about it." Pinkie popped out of Twilight's left saddle and books spilled everywhere, "Ok... Think about what?" Twilight dismissed the question and dumped Pinkie out of her bag before placing her books back into the empty saddle, "Just don't... now where could Rarity be? Rainbow! Can you see her from up there!?" Rainbow Dash glanced around nonchalantly before throwing her face back into the book, "Ya, she's on her way."
Twilight picked up the last of her books, "What's taking her so long?" Fluttershy was cleaning excess paint off of the paintbrushes they had used, "Oh no, I hope she didn't hurt herself. *GASP* Maybe there was an accident!" A voice echoed in from the street, "Oh, don't you worry none Fluttershy my dear." A graceful white pony waltzed in through the front door with a bright red, green, and yellow hat and matching beach umbrella floating above her. Her purple mane bounced up and down with spring-like quality as she trotted to the center of the library floor, "Sorry I'm late everypony, packing was dreadful." Her five friends stared over at her as though they were crazy, the fact that she had packed so liberally surprised them greatly. "Um Rarity... I thought you would have packed a bit more um... Excessively.", admitted Twilight as she eyed Rarity's floating umbrella. "What? Oh, ha ha ha, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight. This is my carry-on my dear, Derpy will be arriving with the rest of my baggage later." The massive umbrella loomed over Twilight, "Right... Carry-on." Twilight began to worry about the maximum weight limit that the spell would be able to transport.
***
After gathering everypony around (and cleaning up the wall that Derpy had crashed through with Rarity's mountain of luggage) Twilight began to prime the spell. All of their luggage was piled onto the center of the red "X" and everypony stood in a circle around it. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and even Derpy waited patiently as the "X" began to glow purple with Twilight's magic before coming off of the floor and wrapping itself around the pile of Rarity's bags (everypony else only had a carry-on).
"Thanks a lot Twilight! I've always wanted to go to Jamaneca, I heard they put this special plant in the muffins that lets you see the world!!!" Derpy was rocking back and forth with excitement after Twilight had agreed to accept one more passenger. Pinkie bounced excitedly, "See Twilight! It's in the muffins too, that means it's healthy like bran!" Duct tape wrapped itself around Pinkie's mouth before retreating back to Twilight's pouch, "Much better, now watch this..." The magic in the air began to thicken and everypony's manes began to stand on end. "MY MANE!!!", cried Rarity.
Rainbow Dash was growing antsy at this point but not because of the magical sensation, "The end is almost near, *sniff*. Oh, please Daring Do, let your series end well!" Twilight snickered silently, 'It won't.'
Applejack leaned over to Twilight and whispered in her ear, "Are you sure all of Rarity's belongin's won't interfere with your magic Twi?" The purple unicorn leaned back and whispered her response, "I set the spell to work with the exact weight of all of the luggage in the center of the X so as long as the weight doesn't change we'll be fine." The luggage was now engulfed in the red "X" that had come off of the floor and the collective mass began to glow.
Rainbow Dash's pupils constricted and her rainbow colored mane began to singe as her rage boiled to the surface, "MOTHERBUCKIN' ALIENS!?!?!?!" Ripping her face from the book she slammed it shut and stared straight at Twilight before raising the book over her head, "What kind of ending is this?!" Twilight watched as the book left Rainbow's hooves and flew through the air towards the glowing orb. Twilight felt the adrenaline slow down time as she witnessed the book collide with the luggage.
"BUCK YOU!!!", yelled Rainbow.
"NOOOO!!!", yelled Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy.
"Yay! Wait what are we cheering for? Why is everything so slow? Can someone tell me? Derpy, are you following this?", asked Pinkie.
"muffin...", Derpy whispered as she caressed a rock that had the word 'muffin' written across it.
The book slammed against the pile of floating luggage and there was a bright flash of light before the mass disappeared into a black hole in the middle of the library. The air in the room drew everypony in and try as hard as they might to escape the gravity, the strength of the vortex ripped them off of the floor and right into the center of the black hole.
***
"Poke 'em with a candy cane, if they stick to it then they're witches.", said a male voice eagerly.
"Bubble Berry, that's a horrible idea. Science disproved witches. Besides, we don't even have a... wait where did you get that?", said another male voice.
"My candy cane-pocket, next to my cake-pocket."
Twilight's eyes softly fluttered open and light pour in through the creases, "Uhhh, what happened?" When her eyes adjusted to the light she came face to face with her own face (albeit it was a bit more masculine than her own). "Are you okay? You look a little banged up, I can get you to the hospital if you want." Twilight rolled to her hooves and shook her head; all of her friends were scattered around her, unconscious. As she continued to survey her surroundings she found that they were still in the library, though now there was a bright pink colt with curly hair, whom she assumed was Bubble Berry, and a colt who looked just like her if not a bit more ragged. "I'm Dusk Shine, what's your name?"
"My name is Twilight Sparkle, don't worry about me. I'll be fine but I need to figure out what went wrong." Dusk helped steady her as she stumbled slightly on her way over to a chair. "Well for starters you fell from the sky and you're now in my library. Are you sure you don't want to visit a hospital? Your friend there may have hit her head." He gestured over to Derpy who was wide eyed and giggling at the rock balanced on her nose, "Oh, Mr. Muffin, you paint such beautiful music." Twilight shook her head, "No, that's actually normal for her."
Bubble Berry began to poke at the pile of luggage in the corner of the room, "Witches, I'm just saying." Rarity's eyes burst open and she growled fierce enough to scare even a manticore, "Rainbow Dash! If you assault my personal belongings again, you will get it! And you!", her anger now directed at Bubble Berry, "Pinkie Pie! You step away from bags, they are worth more than your monthly sugar allowance... Oh my goodness, I am terribly sorry, I thought you were Pinkie Pie... Um, he he he, might I ask where we are darling?" Rarity eyed her surroundings and saw that though they were in the library, certain details were off (such as a statue misplaced or a wall painted a slightly different color). "Your in the Bronyville library.", answered Dusk.
Twilight stirred for a moment, "Wait, what do you mean? We are in Ponyville aren't we? But this is my library, I'm sure of it! I demand an answer!" Dusk put his hoof on her shoulder, "Calm down, we don't want you to hyperventilate now do we? This is Bronyville and it always has been. Prince Solas sent me here after he asked me to report my findings on the magic of bromance. Well... it's more like the magic of friendship but the other sounds better in the oddest way." Twilight sat wide eyed with her jaw nearly reaching the floor, "Is this some kind of joke? What's really going on, there's no way this is real!" Applejack and Fluttershy had started to come back to reality during Twilight's outburst and now Rainbow Dash was being shaken by Rarity who refused to waste energy yelling at an unconscious pegasus, "Wake up, darn you." Dusk felt slightly insulted by this accusation, he was 100% sure that this was where he had spent the last few years. "I'm telling you Twilight Sparkle, it's all true.", started Dusk, "Tell me now, where do you think you are?" Twilight straightened up, "We are in the Ponyville library. My friends and I were attempting the mass transportation spell to get us to Jamaneca for a vacation but there was a slip up along the way." After a moment of deep thought, Twilight and Dusk both felt as though a lightbulb was turned on inside of their heads. Dusk removed his hoof from her shoulder and looked at Twilight as though she were contagious with an incurable disease. Twilight quickly stepped out of the chair and away from Dusk as she brushed off the shoulder that Dusk had touched, "You aren't thinking the same thing I am, are you?"
Dusk followed up her question with a quick response, "You mean that there was an anomaly that caused you and your friends to break into a different dimension?"
Twilight nodded, "Well, It was more a spell gone a muck, but it still placed us here and if we come in contact too often then..."
"We may cause both of our worlds to crash together!", said both in an eerie harmony.
Applejack and Fluttershy shrugged at each other, "Too much scientific mumbo jumbo for my tastes." Fluttershy nodded, "I just hope nothing too bad happens, I only left enough food for Angel to last him our three day trip." Dusk began to frantically search the room, "Wait, where is Bubble Berry? Oh no, when did he run off! This could be worse than the parasprite invasion!" Twilight was now running around the room as well, "Pinkie Pie is gone and I can't find Derpy anywhere!" Twilight turned to Dusk, "If they mess around with anything then who knows what will happen!" Dusk began to freak out as well, "We. Are. Doomed." Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash watched silently as the two unicorns ran around the room prophesying of the destruction that would befall the world.
"Um, Rarity?" Rarity turned to Fluttershy who tapped shyly on the unicorn's back. "What is it Fluttershy?" The tan pegasus lowered her head and softly mumbled, "I don't understand what they are talking aboutÉ" Rarity reassured her confused friend, "None of us do."
***
Pinkie Pie and Bubble Berry bounced down the Bronyville street as they roamed the area. They had left shortly before Twilight and Dusk had the chance to decide that their meeting would destroy the world. Pinkie Pie and Bubble Berry had been talking non-stop ever since they left the library and it seemed that neither knew what the other was saying.
"Wow! Jamaneca is amazing! There are colts everywhere, where I come from they are incredibly rare and often boring.", said Pinkie as she sprung upward.
"Really! I didn't know this was Jamaneca! Oh my gosh, maybe I was transported too! We should go tell all of my friends, they've always wanted to go to Jamaneca!", said Bubble as he fell back down.
"*GAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSP* We should totally throw a HUUUUGE party!"
"Oh my gosh, YES! Everypony will love it! It's like have two parties because there are two of us!"
"DOUBLE THE PARTY!!!", they screamed.
***
Twilight felt a cold chill run down her back, "We need to find them now!" Dusk nodded (he had felt the same thing), "I agree. Knowing Bubble Berry he probably went to get the rest of the group which means the exposure between our worlds may increase!" The library was cleared out as Dusk and Twilight lead the now conscious group of ponies out of the building. "How do you know that?", asked Twilight. Dusk looked to her with a smirk across his face, "It's the exact thing needed to successfully buck up the universe and I'm sure that is secretly Bubble's personal goal." Twilight giggled for a moment, "I'll have to agree." Twilight looked up at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy who were flying high above them, "Rainbow! Fluttershy! We need you to search for Pinkie and Bubble from the air!" Fluttershy nodded and broke left, Rainbow Dash on the other hand was still mad about being led on to read a great series with a horrible ending. "I don't know, Twilight...?" Twilight face hooved and shook her head... while running, "Rainbow Dash, just go look for them."
Applejack was right alongside Twilight and was itching to help in some way, "What can I do Twi? I don't wanna just run in circles the whole time." Twilight looked around and groaned, "Uhh, go find Rarity, I think we left her behind."
***
Rarity stood at the library door staring at the town full of colts, every single one she found uncouth in their own special way. "The humanity. This is the Worst. Possible. Thing! What ever happened to manners and civilization? What happened to the elegant ladies that once populated this great place? WHY!!!" A white colt with a carefully groomed, purple mane stood beside her, "I agree with you entirely. The chaos of living in a town surrounded by mongrels is enough to drive anypony to insanity." Rarity just stared at him; he seemed to be the only colt worried about proper grooming and his manners seemed decent enough. "Oh silly me, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Exclusive."
***
Fluttershy had panicked the moment she saw the town crawling with colts, "Oh my... Where are all my friends? Oh, I don't know where I am! I need to get home to Angel!" Flapping her wings as quickly as she could manage, Fluttershy made her way to where she thought her home would be but when she arrived she found a tan pegasus with a pink mane sitting at the doorstep holding a black rabbit. Fluttershy landed behind a tree and peeked out at the familiar figure sitting by "her" home. 'What's going on?', thought Fluttershy, 'Oh, I'll never figure out unless I become more assertiveÉ' She breathed in deeply and shouted, "Who are you?!?", from behind the tree. The colt jumped about a mile into the air and squealed while squeezing the rabbit tightly. "EEP! Who's there?!?"
Fluttershy came out from behind the tree, "Oh!I am soooo sorry! Did I scare you? I am so so so so so sorry! Please forgive meÉ" She tucked her head closer to the ground to cover up her nervous blush.
The colt slowly calmed down and came out of his hiding place, "Oh, no. It's my fault for scaring you by letting you think you scared me. I scare easily you know... My name is Butterscotch and this is my rabbit, Devil."
***
Applejack was running back to the library to escort Rarity when she saw a speeding pink blur come in from her left peripheral. "APPLEJACK!!!", screamed Pinkie Pie as she tackled her. Pinkie's momentum caused them to roll across the street and continue rolling for what felt like the longest time ever. "Hey, Applejack. I have someone I want you to meet!" Applejack was starting to feel sick now that they had been rolling across town for three minutes straight, "Pinkie Pie! What the hay are you do... *URP* Uh, Pinkie... *URP* Please stop... *URP*" Pinkie Pie giggled, "Okay."
Pinkie stopped rolling and Applejack continued rolling until she rolled right onto her feet. Then another pink blur and orange blur came rolling along from the opposite direction and when it stopped rolling Applejack found herself face to face with an orange colt who immediately began shaking her hoof. "Hi, I'm Applejohn. I own an apple orchard around here and I heard you are a fellow apple fanatic!" Applejack nodded enthusiastically, "Ya, I am! Can you give me a second?" She turned to a bush and began to make retching noises.
***
Twilight and Dusk had been running for a while now and the search was starting to look like it wasn't making any headway. During the time they had spent running across town they had occasionally exchanged in short conversations. They had already began to theorize what had happened by debating amongst themselves.
"So because the spell is designed to form a wormhole along a very thin plane, the added weight of a book had pushed the second point beyond your realm and into ours.", concurred Dusk.
"Most likely.", stated Twilight.
"Too bad you set the spell to reverse in three days or else the dimensional cross could have been permanent."
"What do you mean by, 'Too bad?'"
Dusk faltered for a moment, "Well, we could have become good friends. Around here there is nothing but colts."
Twilight nodded slightly, this was the first time anypony had even remotely understood her theories and speculations. "I don't think we are going to find my friends at this time of day. We should probably head back", suggested Twilight who watched the sun lower itself beyond the horizon. "I think we should end our search for today."
Dusk nodded as he noticed the sun drop as well, "We should head back to the library, everypony else is familiar with that place more than any other."
Suddenly two shock waves rocked the ground and deafened Twilight and Dusk for a few seconds. Two massive rainbows stretched themselves across the sky as the evening sky began to show its stars to the world. Rainbow Dash and another voice cheered as they shot across the sky. Twilight stared in amazement, "Double sonic rainboom..." Dusk began to cry from the pain in his ears, "What does this mean?!?!" Twilight grabbed his hoof and began to drag him towards the end of the rainbow, "It means that my Rainbow Dash and your Rainbow Blitz just shattered the sound barrier and light spectrum. Now let's hurry before they shatter reality as well." Dusk looked at the hoof that Twilight had grabbed onto, his first thought was to pull it away but... what was the worst that could happen? After all, it's not often he was able to hold a filly's hoof, especially a filly as smart as Twilight.
As Twilight and Dusk neared the tree house they saw rave lights pouring out of the windows and a heavy bass shock the neighborhood. "Oh no", they began. Twilight and Dusk burst through the front door of the library and found all of their friends running around the tree house: dancing, eating baked goods, talking, mingling, having fun, and (most importantly) disrupting time and space. Twilight screeched to herself, "We are sooo dead!!!"
Applejack and Applejohn were drinking cider on the couch and telling apple related stories, jokes, and secrets that only they would understand. Rarity and Exclusive were wearing the fanciest dress and suit, respectively, and were chatting about all manners of fashion and high society. Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Blitz were playing games that ranged from tic tac toe to a full on race around the library. Fluttershy and Butterscotch were petting a black rabbit and feeding him different kinds of sweets.
Pinkie Pie and Bubble Berry bounced right up to Twilight and Dusk before they even could react, "Hey guys, are you having fun yet? We went around and found everypony and brought them here for a double world party!" Dusk grabbed Bubble Berry and stared him straight in the eyes and put on the most menacing face he could, "What. Have. You. Done." Bubble Berry slammed a pie into Dusk's face and Twilight giggled slightly, "Oh relax Dusk, lighten up and have fun. Me and Pinkie Pie did the math and nothing could possibly go wrong if our worlds mingled!"
Dusk wiped the pie off of his face, "Somehow, I doubt that." Pinkie Pie then slammed a cupcake into Dusk's face and stuck a cherry on his horn, "We could show you our work! It's done in crayons though..." Twilight was trying hard not to break out into a laughing fit as Dusk continued to wipe cream and pie off of his face before he was hit with another pie, "Glad you find this funny.", joked Dusk as he smirked at Twilight. Twilight was holding her abdomen while she laughed when suddenly a pie and two cupcakes slammed into her face. "Pinkie! Bubble!", growled Twilight as she rubbed desserts out of her eyes. Pinkie Pie and Bubble Berry chuckled and pointed to Dusk who held a pie behind his back with magic. "What?"
***
After the party Twilight and Dusk hesitantly looked over Pinkie's and Bubble's numbers. "They're... they're spot on. I can't find a single error, not even a single decimal is off.", said Dusk who had barely managed to pick up his jaw from off the floor. Twilight was equally amazed, "How did you do this?" Pinkie Pie fell from the ceiling and right onto the table with all of their math spread across it. "Easy, me and Bubble have Masters degrees in all things physics and interdenominational correlations. Why do you think we can do what we do?" Twilight and Dusk stared at the two pink ponies who were taking turns striking poses. Sadly, that was both the most sensible and illogical thing they had heard all day.
Applejack walked up to Twilight, "Twi, sometimes it's best if you just go with it. Besides, we are supposed to be on a vacation so I don't see the harm in just hanging out with ourselves." Twilight and Dusk were still hard headed on the subject, it was hard for them to accept a new ideal so quickly. Finally Twilight let out a slow sigh, "Fine, but don't get too attached. We leave in two days and we don't want anypony to feel like they have lost a friend, do we?" Dusk turned to address the whole group of ponies, "Just be careful, okay? You heard what Twilight said and we don't need anypony crying like a filly in two days." Rarity turned up her nose, "There is nothing wrong with showing you emotionsÉ" Exclusive nodded, "I concur."
***
The library was fairly large so Dusk set up guest rooms after cleaning up most of the mess from the party. He gave Twilight his bed because he thought it would help her feel more at home in this alien environment. "But where are you going to sleep?", asked Twilight who sat on the bed. Dusk pulled a scarf around his neck, "I don't feel like I can sleep tonight. There's just too much going on and I'm not all that tired." With that he walked out the front door and began to shut the door gently, "Goodnight Twilight Sparkle... Sweet Dreams."
Twilight lie awake in Dusk's bed pondering how the day had gone. Dusk seemed like a nice pony, and though it was a bit awkward to think, she admitted to herself that she did like him. She had never met somepony so down to earth as smart, not to mention that he was always willing to help her whenever she needed it. She felt like going out for a walk as well so she borrowed one of Dusk's scarves and pulled it around her neck. It was soft and smelled like the dusty pages of a book, it smelled like home to her, it even smelled a little bit like Dusk himself or what she imagined he would smell like. She sneaked out late in the night and began to wander the familiar yet alien streets. The street lights were dimming because morning was beginning to creep closer but she figured there was still plenty of time before everypony else would wake up. She found Dusk sitting in an open field, staring at the stars, Twilight knew this is where he would be because she often came here on her own when she was in Ponyville. In an attempt to have a bit of fun she silently slid closer and closer to where he lay in the grass. "You can keep that scarf if you want." Dusk turned his head to Twilight who looked back down at her neck and began to blush, crickets sang their chorus throughout the fields and cicadas occasionally called out from far away trees in the cool summer air. "I'm so sorry I just feel better when I have a scarf, it's like I can just bury my face in it and..." Dusk cut her off, "... and you are all alone, feeling the comforts of being held by somepony who isn't there. I know."
Twilight slowed her walk towards him until she eventually stopped a couple of yards away. "So Dusk, do you come out here often?" Dusk breathed in the country air and exhaled, "Almost every night." Dusk turned his head so that he could see Twilight, "I don't bite. There's no reason for you to wait for an invitation to come over." Twilight began to move slowly over to where Dusk was, "Are you sure you don't mind? I know that back in my world I would come out to this place when I wanted some privacy." Dusk chuckled, "I don't mind at all. It's not like this place is really a secret to you now is it?" Twilight lay down in the grass next to Dusk and stared at the stars, the grass was soft and the stars were bright just like they were back in Ponyville. "You don't mind if I just talk do you?" Dusk smiled, "Sometimes we need the satisfaction of speaking to somepony else more than we need the satisfaction of eating, so I don't see why you can't. In fact I think we both could use somepony to talk to."
Twilight smiled, "I had fun today. Sure half of it was spent running around town waiting for the apocalypse but spending time with you wasn't so bad." Dusk watched as a shooting star streaked a path across the sky, "I thought so too. I wish we had spent more time just talking at the party though instead of throwing pies." Both Twilight and Dusk broke out laughing at the mess they had made with their grudge match. Twilight continued, "Remember when you nearly hit Rarity and she about nearly tore your head off? Ha ha ha!" Dusk chuckled a little more, "Ya, I swore I was going to die. *sigh* Maybe today wasn't all wasted." Twilight slowly stopped laughing and her tone grew sad, "Ya, I wish there were more colts like you where I come from. I sometimes feel like being smart makes me a monster." Dusk stopped laughing and he watched as more shooting stars lit up the sky, "Elaborate, please."
"Being intelligent usually just scares others away, like a disease really. Like they are afraid of you because you know so much." Twilight was starting to tear up as she spoke, until Dusk cut into her monologue, "It feels as though it's impossible to find somepony who really understands you. You want to learn as much as the world can offer and you want to share it with the people around you but they refuse to accept it. Eventually, the more you learn the less others care, it begins to feel like there is less that you can share." Twilight nodded, it was exactly the way that she felt. She turned her head over to Dusk who was still watching the shooting stars fly by, "We understand each other though... Don't we? What it's like to want to understand how the world works and what makes it up yet we can't understand one of the most basic emotions that defines sentient life..." Dusk closed his eyes and held back tears, "Love..." His voice was solemn and distant.
Dusk sat up and leaned forward, his eyes focused on the grass around him, "Perhaps that is a lesson that cannot be taught. Some ponies never find it after all and even less know what it is." Twilight watched as he held his hoof to his heart, it was obvious he was in pain, but not a physical pain. Pain of the heart. Twilight edged over to him and put her head on his shoulder before wrapping her front hooves around his waist. This gesture was confusing to Dusk, he had never been the target of a symbol of affection before. It felt nice. Her face felt warm as she blushed brightly enough to be seen even in the dark night. "I'm tired of everypony just pretending to understand me. I'm tired of being the only one who knows what I'm going through. Dusk, I'm tired of being alone..." The last sentence came out of Twilight's lips as a stutter but Dusk received the message nonetheless. Dusk laid back down in the grass and he returned Twilight's embrace, he now place his head on top of hers, "I know. *sob* I know." Then she pulled her head back away from his chest and looked into his eyes. His eyes were murky with tears and the stars in the sky reflected off of the pools. Twilight couldn't help herself, she closed her eyes and brought her face close to his.
Dusk let go of her gently and started to stand up, Twilight opened her eyes when her lips had met only air, "Wait! Where are you going?" Dusk dusted himself off and turned his head away so that she couldn't see him cry, "I'm sorry Twilight, but we can't be together." Twilight watched in despair as Dusk turned and left, his hoofsteps leading off back to the town. Twilight lay there in the grass crying into her hooves asking herself, "why, Why, WHY!!!", as Dusk left. Dusk had to hide his tears from Twilight, he didn't want her to know the pain he was in.
***
Later that morning everypony woke up early and began to plan their activities for the day. Everypony from Ponyville had made plans with their counterpart to go explore the area or do something along those lines. Everypony except for Pinkie Pie and Bubble Berry, who had entered a sugar induced coma, and Twilight and Dusk, who felt too awkward about the events that had transpired in the early morning. Twilight was personally grieving by reading books in the library whereas Dusk was out and around town doing field studies.
'That was the first time I have ever shown emotion like that and he leaves me! What did I do wrong?', thought Twilight as she read "The Guide to Love : All You Need To Know About Relationships". 'Maybe I was too pushy... or maybe... or maybe I'm just unlovable.' Twilight threw the book onto the floor and turned over on the couch to scream into the cushions, "MHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Her muffled shrieks were heard by no one and she found irony in it. Once again there was nopony around her who could actually understand her.
Dusk watched the pond as he applied different magical wavelengths to the surface of the water. It had started as a science experiment but he didn't even remember what it was, he now did it out of boredom as he contemplated that morning. "How could I have been so stupid? WHY THE HAY DID I LEAVE HER OUT THERE?!?!?!" The ripples in the surface of the water began to grow spastic with his shouts. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRGGGG!!!!!!" Columns of water shot up into the air with his scream and passer byes watch as the lake turned into a turmoiltulous fountain. A police pony walked up to him and began to give him a warning, "Sir, calm down. You're startin' to scare some of the youngun's." Dusk apologized and turned back to the lake, no matter what he did he still couldn't forgive himself for breaking her heart. 'Don't worry about it Dusk. It's better it's broken now as opposed to later.' The pep talk didn't quite make him fell better though. "FUS RO DAH!!!" The water shot up into the air and he started to run as the police pony turned.
***
Later that day the group had planned a picnic to wrap up all of the fun they would be having before the had to go back the next day. Pinkie and Bubble who had recovered from their coma where in charge of planning it, Applejohn and Applejack preparing the food, Rarity and Exclusive were setting up decorations, Fluttershy and Butterscotch were supposed to help set up, Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Blitz were avoiding all responsibility (naturally), and Twilight and Dusk were supposed to be coordinating the event.
Through a brief conversation, Twilight and Dusk had agreed to coordinate their group of friends so that they could avoid awkwardness. Twilight had actually wanted to work with Dusk on the project but she had it imprinted in her mind that Dusk would leave her again. Dusk watched from afar as the obviously miserable Twilight lazily planned the events with her friends. He really felt bad for leaving her and he wondered if she would ever feel better.
***
The picnic kicked off incredible well and everypony was having fun, even Twilight who had decided that it would be best if she got over Dusk (which involved her lying to herself whenever she began to feel something for him). Dusk, however, still felt guilty for leaving Twilight and he was determined to fix things between them. The minutes that had passed since that morning had felt like hours and the hours like days, something had to be done if he was to ever look himself in the mirror and say he was happy with who he was.
*TAP TAP TAP* "Is this thing on?" asked Bubble who spoke into a piece of paper rolled up into a fake megaphone. "Greetings everypony! And welcome to the closing event in our Dual World Tour! We sure are glad that you fell from the sky and we want to wish you the best of luck on your return trip! But for now..." Bubble Berry stopped as the megaphone began to rumble, finally Pinkie Pie popped out of it and through her hooves into the air, "JUST HAVE FUN!!! WOOO!"
Applejack and Applejohn continued to share their trade secrets and give each other pointers on how to run the business, Fluttershy and Butterscotch ate cupcakes in silence as they watched the rest of their friends socialize, Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Blitz were asleep on the floor after racing all day without rest, and Rarity and Exclusive were modeling a new line of fall clothing that they had made that day. Twilight was all alone by a tree at the edge of the picnic, Dusk saw this and tried to psych himself up. "You can do this. Just walk across the field and say you are sorry, just walk across the field and say you are sorry, just walk across the field and say you are sorry." Twilight was leaning against a tree swirling punch around in her glass when Dusk's shadow caught her eye. "Twilight, I have some things I want to say."
Twilight looked up into his eyes and looked for a single piece of evidence proving that he was lying to her. Dusk's eyes were crestfallen and sincere, they were the type of eyes that only told the truth. Twilight nodded, "Not here though,", she peered around Dusk and over at the party, "Let's go back to the library." Dusk nodded back, "I understand."
Dusk and Twilight were the only ones in the library for the best interest of privacy. Twilight turned to Dusk and rose her voice, "What was that Dusk? Of all the ponies in the world I put my trust in, I chose you and you left me!" Dusk had already expected a reaction such as this, "I know, I just didn't want you to get hurt." Twilight rose her voice again, "Not get hurt? NOT GET HURT? How is turning down my emotions, running off, then avoiding me all day not hurting me?" Her stance was becoming aggressive and Dusk knew it. "I wanted to protect you Twilight! There is no way I could ever stand falling in love with somepony as beautiful and smart as you are only to have them disappear from my life forever! Or did you forget that?" Twilight stopped and loosened all of the tension that she had built up in her body, "I... I don't care..." Dusk stared at her like she was crazy, "What do you mean you don't care?"
***
"Do you remember the stars that were in the sky this morning? They are the same stars no matter where I go. Every week or so I go out to the same field and I do the exact same thing that you do. I just stare at the stars and wonder if the one who could ever love me is staring at them too... Now I know there is at least one person out there." She lifted up his head with both of her hooves and brought her face to his in a deep and passionate kiss. Their lips melded together and Dusk forgot all about everything that had happened that day. Time felt like it stopped for both of them. Dusk felt like there was a fire burning in his chest, one that would never burn out. Twilight felt it too, the heat from their passion was warm enough to melt ice. Twilight pulled away from Dusk's face and smiled, "So this is love."
They spent the rest of the night on the couch just holding each other and kissing the other every so often. For two eggheads, they hardly ever spoke except to whisper, "I love you.", on occasion. They fell asleep on that couch in each others arms, they had never been happier.
***
The next morning everypony gathered around the library and said their good byes. Twilight and Dusk said the longest good byes to each other. Finally Twilight hugged Dusk and he whispered in her ear, "I will find you again." Rarity's luggage (plus her new fall line) was sucked into the portal first and Dusk watched hopelessly as Twilight and her friends disappeared back into their dimension.
***
"Oh my gosh!!!" When they arrived back in Ponyville, Rarity began to scream. "What is it Rarity? What's going on?", asked Applejack who was convinced something was missing. Rarity looked at all of them and screamed with fearful voice, "We forgot Derpy!!!" Everypony began to freak out when suddenly a blue box flew through the library. Twilight and her friends stared at the wreckage.
Derpy crawled out of the box and everybody just stared, "Hi guys, I brought a friend!" Twilight watched as a purple unicorn who looked just like her walk out.
"I told you I would find you.", said Dusk.
