Night Dust: The Child Prodigy (prototype story)

by NightDust

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Dark, Sad
Length: 8513

Night Dust, from colt to stallion, he struggles with who he wants to be.

After King Sombra's defeat by the Regal Sister's, the crystal heart goes missing, and a barrier prevents the resident's from leaving the city. A young colt, by the name of Night Dust, yearn's to see what is beyond his home town, but his overprotective father won't allow it.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-12-29 23:00:04 UTC

Prologue: The Birth of a Warrior

The Night was calm in the Crystal Empire, very few ponies were still out this early in the evening. Some ponies were sitting at cafe tables, enjoying a nice evening dinner with their friends and family, other ponies were walking home with shopping saddle bags on their back, or carrying them by the use of their magic.

On the far north east side of the city, at the Crystal Empire Military Academy, a moss-green stallion with yellow eyes, who wore an army vest and hat, was about to brief the new recruits with a new attack technique.

Soldiers all stood in the packed Gym hall, mumbling amongst themselves about the new training

"Men, you are all called here to be briefed on this month's new weapon" he bellowed to the armored ponies that stood straight, and focused all their attention on the general.

"Yes, General Bullet Stain, SIR!" they replied with a mighty shout.

"This attack formation will require a set of two different teams, The first Team will act as a defense unit for the attack unit's counterattack maneuver. I have selected special Type B classes of Unicorn's, who will act as the main defense for our forces, Type C Unicorns and Earth Ponies will provide the new attack tactic we have devised."

The gruff Unicorn's horn emitted a dark blue aura as a small image displaying the colt prince appeared before them, "As you know, our once great Leader, King Sombra, was a cunning ruler, and had forced many of our own people to become subjects to his dangerous weaponry, however, through some successful interrogation of the Crystal Blood prisoners we have discovered and developed the new ultimate weapon for you all."

He took a quick glass of water that was waiting for him on the side stage, and continued as he switched images, "As you can see, we have discovered that magic beams can be fired from the horn at a rapid speed, through the use of a unicorn's tail. Your training will be consisted of learning to control the firing output of your magic, whilst the earth ponies in turn will be responsible for your stamina output and not to overuse the ener-," before he could finish his sentence, a Pegasus pony of golden brown mane and blond coat burst through the door.

"General Bullet Stain, sir" the young Pegasus saluted, "URGENT MESSAGE FOR YOU, SIR" he shouted in a rather high pitched tone.

"Get a hold of yourself son, what is it?" he asked in a calm tone.

"Sir, message from the C.E Hospital sir...." the sweaty Pegasus said slowly, "Its your wife sir, she's in pain, she's requested that you be there....." he finished

Bullet Stain's eye's widened, his breath had shortened and he began to panic, he turned to his officer who was taking note's on the situation, "Officer Gears" he shouted, "I leave you in charge of the rest of the briefing, tell Commander Snake I need to see my wife at once" he said as he headed off with the Pegasus pony who waited for him at the door

Thirty minutes had passed since he left the Academy, Bullet-Stain galloped as fast as he could, he wanted to be sure that his love would be alright, "This is too soon, they said it wouldn't be for another few weeks".

He noticed the white glow of the familiar building he knew, he burst through the doors as several ponies jumped in shock as he ran toward the nearest nurse, "Excuse me, but can you tell me where I can find my wife, her name is Sunny-Sweet" the nurse ran through her clipboard as he stood there with a panicked expression.

"Ah, your wife is located in Emergency room D-13, just pass through that hall turn right and its the third door on the left." she replied.

"Thank you" he bowed to the nurse and quickly made his way to the emergency room, as he got closer he could screams of pain coming from the room, he rushed in to see nurses and doctor's crowded around an emergency bed, a sun coloured Pegasus was breathing heavily and crying in agony, she noticed him appear from the doorway and smiled weakly at him.

"Bullet.....you're here..." she exclaimed in a weakened tone.

Bullet took his hat off and rushed to her side, holding tight to her hooves, "It's alright my love, I'm here, and I shan't leave until you make it through." he declared, keeping his voice steady as he could.

Sunny Sweet smiled weakly at him, but her face twisted in agony as the doctor's urged her to keep pushing, she felt more relieved with her husband supporting her through the painful trial.

"That's it, keep going, your doing great!" said one of the nurses.

Sunny kept pushing with all of her strength, eye's closed and hoof clenched, she pushed as hard as she could and let out a cry of pain, she stopped as a shrill cry of a young baby pony could be heard. She opened her eye's slowly, breathing heavily and sweating from the pain as one of the nurse's held a young aqua colored filly, with blue and black spiky hair, and lime green hooves.

"Its a colt," said the nurse, she wrapped him in a red blanket, and handed him to Sunny, who breathed a sigh of relief and tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Oh... my son..... Bullet.." she cried softly, "This is our son"

Bullet knelt down beside her, slowly took the foal and held him close, "Hello my son, I am your father, and this is your darling mother." he whispered to the sleeping filly, Sunny blushed at his comment and sighed.

"What shall we call him?" Sunny asked as she slowly touched her newborn's forehead.

Bullet glanced out the window, he noticed the moon and caught a glimpse of a glowing moon rock fall toward Equestria, "...Night Dust, how does that sound?"

She smiled warmly at him and closed her eye's, "Its perfect" she whispered tearfully.

Bullet handed their son back to her, she laughed softly with joy, cradled him close and whispered, "I love you..... Night Dust."

The next morning, Bullet Stain and Sunny Sweet left the hospital with a sleeping Night Dust placed in a saddle bag, on the front of Sunny Sweet's chest.

"I've been granted leave from work for about three weeks" Bullet Stain said happily, "So we can spend our time together as a family."

Sunny smiled at him and snuggled gently at him, "We'll be happy forever, right?" she asked.

"We will, our son is the beginning of something greater, than we can imagine" he said softly.

As they headed for home, a gold Chariot pulled by two military Pegasi pulled up next to the family, Bullet stopped abruptly, as he glanced at a young grey stallion with messy brown mane and blue eyes, stepped out, Bullet bowed on one hoof as did Sunny Sweet.

"General Bullet Stain, I received the new's about your new born child, and I would just like to say, congratulations on becoming a father," the young colt declared.

"Commander, I humbly accept your words of kindness, I hope you can understand my sudden disappearance of last night." he panicked

The old stallion chuckled a bit as he raised a hoof, "Silver Snake is just fine, thank you, and you" he said to the shy mare with the filly in the saddlebag, "I would also like to congratulate you on becoming a mother, it must be exciting to know that raising a child will be a joyful burden."

Sunny chuckled a bit as she glanced down at the sleeping filly, "All I want for my family, is to be happy, in their unique way."

"Of course," Silver Snake replied, "I must return to my duties, before you go , Bullet" he called, "You needn't worry about your job, Captain Liquid will be overseeing the development of the training while you're on leave."

"Thank you, sir, I wasn't too worried, but I'm glad you've briefed me on this." Bullet said with a sigh of relief.

"Very well, Goodbye." he called as he hopped back into the carriage.

Sunny and Bullet stared at the carriage as it flew toward the academy, "Let's go home, shall we?" Sunny said gleefully.

Bullet smiled and nodded in agreement.

Chapter 1: A peaceful morning

Chapter 1

Days as a Colt

The young foal slept peacefully in his quite room, dreams filled his head with other fillies and foals, playing and laughing together, many of them were type's of ponies he never saw before,he spotted a young violet unicorn with a medium cut purple and pink mane and tail, she was holding a book in the air using her magical horn, which emitted a dazzling purple glow, she turned toward him and waved at him with a smile, he waved back as a whoosh of air dashed right past him. He followed where the sight of the blue blur came from, he gazed at the cyan Pegasus pony with rainbow mane and tail, she was flying super fast, spinning around in circles, executing Aerial rolls, and landing gracefully as she strutted toward him.

"Pretty cool, huh" she boasted, "I knew I could impress somepony with my awesome techniques!" NightDust was completely speechless, he felt like a fool with his mouth gaping open at her.

"Heh heh, you're a pretty funny guy for a filly, hey, do you have a name?" she asked, Nightdust tried to form word's, but couldn't do it, he stood there feeling embarassed in front of a filly he just met, in a dream no less.

"Guess you don't know how to talk, huh," she stated, while observing him with curiosity. "Well, I sure hope we meet up again, you could be my first friend!" she exclaimed happily.

He stared at her as she trotted away, suddenly, she and the world around them started to disappear, he tried galloping toward her, hopelessly growing slower, while she just stood there, unaware of the world that was evaporating around her.

He tried to call out, he tripped as he fell into a black void of darkness, he then began to sob quietly, his tear's floated like bubbles as the soared toward the once fruitful dream world.

His eye's slowly opened, as he squinted at the sunray's that burst through his window, he began to let out a small cry, he felt confused about what happened in the dream, he never met those two fillies in his life, but he didn't want them gone either.

His mother rushed in at the sound of his weeping, she cradled him and stroked his small spiky hair, "My Night Dust, do not cry, I am here for you, as I always have been, and shall always be with you," she whispered.

He stopped crying and looked up at his mother, she smiled sweetly at him and kissed his forehead "I love you."

Standing in the doorway, Bullet looked on with happiness, he sighed as he trotted down the hallway.

"We'll always be there, even when we're far apart." he thought to himself as he entered his office, the room had a moss green wallpaper, dim light, a working bench with several junk and weapon pieces, and a small desk in the corner.

On the desk, a parchment lay untouched, he picked it up via Levitation, unwrapped the scroll and read it.

"Dearest Bullet

My son, it is without a doubt that me and your father give our blessing's to your newborn child, we know that the road of raising a child will be difficult work, but you will come to understand how precious a gift a child can bring to a colt and mare when they truly need it. I remember the time's me and your father had some time with you as a filly, but you've grown so much in the years, that it only seem's like yesterday you were under our care, but now, your a father, and we hope that you will do your best to raise your child.

Deepest Love

Gale Gem and Chisel"

He put the scroll down as he smiled to himself, thinking of the time's he was a young colt, his parent's use to tell him that he would always get into some fit of mischief and earn some recognition, however, when he first met Sunny Sweet in High School Academy, long before King Sombra's reign of terror, he was determined to become disciplined and strong to prove his worth to her. "ah, I'll never forget those day's with her," he said to himself.

"I could never forget that day we met," Sunny giggled as she walked past his open office carrying Night Dust with her, he was gazing up at his mother at awe, her beautiful soft red eye's, her long smooth golden hair and her freckled cheeks, he touched his mother's chin who squeaked at the sudden reaction and giggled to herself. "C'mon you, its time we had something to eat."

"Its my turn to make breakfast this time!" Bullet called out, he made his way to the Kitchen bench and pulled out any available breakfast products they had.

"Alright, Sweetie, just be sure to grab the Filly's Breakfast Bottle for the young rascal," she called back, she stroked Night Dust's mane as she sat him in the foal's chair.

Bullet brought in two bowl's of Porridge with some honey on top, and gave the bottle to Sunny who took it from him and began feeding Night Dust, he gulped down slowly while his mother made sure to wipe his mouth.

Bullet went to the front door and picked up the newspaper that was wrapped up on his doorstep, he brought it in and began reading while he ate, he skimmed most of the new's which was more or less the same everyday, the Crystal Heart nowhere to be found, no word of the Princess's in a while, and the outer walls were still forbidden to anypony except the military or royalty, he almost closed the entire paper when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, a small advertisement for a Colt and Filly Daycare Center's had increased, and they were willing to take anypony aged two year's to five.

"This is interesting," he commented.

"Hmm, what is it?" Sunny asked him as she picked up the cooing filly.

"The both of us will eventually have to leave Night Dust in the care of some foal sitter's at one of the new Day Care Center's," he explained while showing her the advertisement, she examined the paper and turned toward him.

"We won't have to leave him for another 2 year's, but we should definitely consider this in future," she said, she stroked Bullet's hair and kissed his cheek, "Come on, let's go and show him the world," she called out.

He smiled at her as she left the kitchen and went down the hallway, he grabbed his hat, and quickly glanced at the add, he shook his head, and hurried after her as she opened the door.

Chapter 2: The First Day

Chapter 2:

The First Day

-4 years later-

Night Dust clung to his mother's hooves as he slowly followed her into the bright red building, it was a small center that looked it was built from Ancient Architecture, with columns filled with floral patterns, statue's of Foals and Fillies with halo's hovering above their heads and a bright Pink sign that read, "Foals and Fillies Fun Center", it was bigger than his home, and it felt very intimidating to him.

"Mum....?" he croaked, while tightening his grip on her as they entered the building.

"Yes, sugarplum?" she responded with a sweet smile.

"I....I don't like this place," he said as he blushed at a young mare who glanced at him with a grin.

"It'll be alright sweetheart, I'm sure you'll make new friends here," she assured him, she spoke with the receptionist, as he looked over the reception room, the wall's were filled with bright blue wallpaper with several Pegasus and Unicorn patterns, there were some child drawings of Pegasi moving clouds, Unicorns levitating objects, Earth Ponies farming in large green fields, and a very sketchy picture of the Crystal Palace.

Nightdust heard a door swing open, as the receptionist walked out from behind the counter and looked down at him with a smile, she was a tan orange mare with a long red and pink mane that reached down to her shoulders, he hid behind his mother, as she chuckled at the little's foal's shyness, "Awww, they're alway's so nervous on the first day here."

Nightdust peeped out and felt embarrassed about hiding from her, his mother nudged him toward her, he swallowed hard as he followed the young mare to the glass door's that stood next to the reception desk, she opened it as he slowly went in, he looked around and gazed at the open room, it was brightly lit with brown forest wallpaper and sky blue ceiling paint.

He noticed three ponies look at him with curiosity, one of them was a green unicorn filly with black and green streaked mane and long tail, the other was a red pegasus with a short purple mane and tail, the green one walked up to him and observed his appearance, "Uh......um, is something wrong?" Night Dust muttered.

The third pony, a grown colt with glasses with a white and blue mane stood up and chuckled, "Oh no, my lad, ho ho ho, young Rose always observe's new friends that come into our fun center, she can perceive a filly and foal's feelings through examination of body language."

Night Dust looked at him confused, he had no idea what he meant and what he was talking about, the filly sighed as she stopped the older colt from talking, "Basically, I can tell what you're feeling by the way you're shaking right now," she explained, "Oh sorry, I forgot to introduce myself," she bowed her head and greeted him with a hoof shake, "My name is Rose Stem, this is my father."

She pointed to the colt behind her, as he cleared his throat and took his glasses off, "a Pleasure young Night Dust, I'm Earth walker, but you may call me, Mr Walker," he chuckled.

Night Dust nervously shook his hoof as he noticed the Pegasus standing behind him, he had a very mischievous smile, and a daredevil look in his eye's, that Night Dust didn't know who to be imitated more by.

"Hiya, the name's Ace Flight, you can call me Ace!" the loud Pegasus shouted, Night Dust backed away a little and felt more than ready to bolt for home.

"Don't be frightened by him, he's always like that," Rose muttered, Ace heard her comment and angrily got up in her face, that she didn't even flinch.

"Just waddya mean by that, sis?!" he exclaimed, she smiled slowly and pushed him away.

"I mean, that you're alway's showing off in front of the new kid's that come by here, its no wonder they hang out by the other's."

Night Dust watched the both of them argue on and on, it was so bizarre to him that two siblings could be fighting over the silliest thing, he stiffled a laugh for quite some time until he could no longer contain it, he bellowed a small giggle as the two ponies stopped their bickering and stared at him.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Ace asked him.

"You guys.... are so strange, but..... I kinda like you guys," he said with a smile.

Ace stared at Rose, who looked just as surprised as him, she shrugged, and walked up to him, "Hey, would you like to play with us today, Night Dust?" she asked.

He looked at the both of them with great admiration, Ace gave him a cheeky smile while he scratched his mane, Rose smiled sweetly at him while she kicked a bit at the floor, he smiled and nodded, "Okay, lets go play," he said.

"'Alright, C'mon," Ace shouted as he ran across the room to a small corner of building blocks, Night Dust looked at Rose who just shook her head with a smile and walked with him to where Ace was waiting.

He sat in front of the blocks as Ace cleared his throat, "Ok, newbie, couple of rules we gotta lay down, Rose?" he called her to explain them as Night Dust began to relax a little, knowing he met some new friends, maybe this day wouldn't be half bad after all,

"First rule; no fighting or bad speeches, we want to treat everypony the way we want to be treated," Night Dust nodded in agreement and allowed her to continue, "Rule two; listen to any instructions from the teacher, emergency or no."

"Ok, anything else?" he asked her, "Just the last one, and this is important," she said professionally, Ace rolled his eye's and groaned, while Rose glared at him, "anyway, Rule Three; if any stranger from outside tries to talk to you while Mr Walker isn't here, you call for us."

Night Dust nodded but stopped when those last three word's hit him, "Um, why do I need to call you?" he asked her.

Before she could speak, Ace stepped in front of her, "Cause we know how to deal with ponies who try to mess with others, we may not look like it, but we can handle strangers." he boasted as he thrust his chest.

Rose stepped in and gently pushed him away, "We as a team can use our awakened ability to defend other ponies from harm, even if our abilities aren't fully awakened yet, we can handle at least one colt."

Night Dust didn't fully understand what she meant by abilities or working as a team, but he understood their commitment, he nodded in Acknowledgement and began to move the building blocks, Ace and Rose both smiled at each other and began to play with him.

-6 hours later-

Night Dust, Ace and Rose were all huddled in a circle recounting the day they spent together, they spent their time building bonds with each other, playing lots of games outside and inside, sharing morning break together, and by the end of the day, Mr Walker read all the fillies and foals a children's book.

It was a story of a young Colt who became jealous of a filly who was the best flier in all of Equestria, he was desperate for some form of recognition that he consulted an ancient Unicorn who would give him the power to be anything he wanted, but he had to help him conquer Equestria's Capital City.

He accepted, but in turn, his body transformed into an embodiment of heartless envy, his heart became stone, and his eye's became as dark as the night itself.

He returned to take over the Equestrian Capital, all seemed lost and hopeless, but through the words and voice of the young Pegasus filly, the colt's eye's flashed, as he saw images of his family and friends, they all played together, laughed, and enjoyed each other's company.

At the sight of his flashing memory, a single tear dropped from his eye as it melted the cold bitter stone body around him, vanquishing the evil Unicorn and returning the colt to his former self.

"-and so the Colt and the Pegasus filly became the best of friends, forever happy and never fought each other again, The End!" Mr Walker said as he closed the book.

Night Dust stared at the book as he placed it in the shelf, he couldn't help but think of the Ancient Unicorn that had helped the colt become an Idol, all for throwing away a Capital City.

"Hey, Night D, you cool?" Ace piped up as he looked at him with a serious stare.

"I'm.... fine," he replied, he shook as he pushed the book into place, Ace looked over at Rose, who just shook her head and trotted up to Night Dust.

"The Unicorn isn't real, you know," she said, Night Dust glanced at her slightly as he walked slowly to the other side of the room, Rose sighed as he caught up to him with Ace following her, before she could speak, Mr Walker spoke.

"Stories like that teach us what we should watch out for in life," he explained, "That Unicorn represents what happens when we make the wrong choice when we try to force things in life, but we aren't alone, because someone will be there to pull us outta trouble," He finished with a smile.

Rose and Ace nodded in agreement and smiled at Night Dust, who stood there speechless and rubbed his hoof with a small grin, "Besides, we're friends now," Ace said.

"And we'll always be there for each other," Rose finished.

At that moment, Sunny and the Receptionist walked in, Night Dust beamed at his mother and ran in for a hug, she cuddled him and giggled at the Receptionist, who smiled back at her. "Mum, I wanna show you my new friends," he said excitedly, he grabbed her wing and pointed to the pair of siblings who smiled at Sunny, as she smiled back.

"That's Ace, and that's Rose, they're the best," Night Dust said with a grin.

"Well, its great to meet you two, I'm Sunny Sweet, Night Dust's mother," she said as she shook hooves with each of them.

"Its great to meet you, Mrs Sweet." Rose said in a calm mature fashion.

"Hiya" Ace piped, "Me and Sis both had a lotta fun with him, we're gonna be the best of friends," he boasted, Rose rolled her eye's and smiled at her brother's comment.

"Well, its good to know my wittle Nighty has made some new friends here," she said in a innocent tone.

Night Dust blushed and scratched his mane and whispered, "Mum, you're embarrassing me."

They all laughed as Night Dust smiled at his new friends, who in turn smiled back.

"Well, I came by to pick up my wittle boy, come on Night Dust, home time," she called to him, his face saddened a little as he took a last look at his friends, who waved happily at him, he waved back as he followed his mother.

"Oh Night Dust, don't feel down, you'll see them again," Sunny assured him.

Night Dust brightened as excitedly asked her, "When?" she smiled sweetly at him.

"Tomorrow, silly."

Night Dust laughed happily as the sun began to set, "Come on, lets go home, I'm making Special Spaghetti Surprise!" Sunny said happily.

Chapter 3: Growth

Chapter 3

Growth

The next day, Night Dust woke up bright and early to a sunny sky that shined through his outside window, he hopped excitedly out of bed and trottered downstairs and into the dining room to see his Father reading the C.E paper. Bullet Stain turned his head toward him and smiled warmly at him, “Morning Son, sleep well?”

Night Dust nodded his head as he climbed onto a chair and sat at the table, “Yup, I had this super duper dream where I fought this big dragon, it was big and scary, but I beat the monster to the ground and saved the Princess of the Crystal Emp….. Epire….. Impi?”

Bullet chuckled softly as he corrected his mistake, “Em-pire, say it with M, then Pire, see?” he explained.

Night Dust motioned his lips and repeated, “Em-Pi-er….. Empire,” he looked up at his dad, who nodded and continued reading the paper.

At that moment, Sunny Sweet entered the dining room with a nightgown on, and cheery look in her eyes. “Good morning, you two,” She yawned as she made herself a small breakfast and poured herself a glass of Orange Juice.

“Hiya Mum,” Night-Dust piped, she gave him a short smile as she eyed Bullet Stain, who stood up from his chair and gave her a kiss.

“Morning Dear, sleep well?” he asked.

She nodded as she stretched her wings and back and gave a little groan, “mmmmm, yeah, just gaining a bit of my energy back, s’all.”

Night Dust stood up from his chair and walked to the kitchen cupboards, he opened the pantry door and laid his eye’s on his favourite cereal, ‘Flaky Foal Frosties,’ he pulled the product out and carried it to the kitchen table, his father pulled out a bowl for him and folded his paper on the kitchen bench as he glanced at his watch.

“Well, I have to get going; Today’s the day we head outside of the magic barrier,” he called out as he headed for the front door.

“Ok sweetie, just be careful out there, promise?” Sunny called back.

“Sure thing.” He replied.

Night Dust happily ate his breakfast as his mother gazed at him with awe, she sighed happily as she day dreamed of the family, they all sat on a grassy hill overlooking a crystal blue lake, the moonbeams shined down on the sparkling water, as several falling stars flew past the sky.

Night Dust took a mouthful of cereal, but froze as he stared at his mother who looked happily dazed, he glanced around the room in confusion and swallowed, he waved his hoof in front of her eye’s until she finally awoke. She laughed nervously as he stared at her with curiosity, she cheekily shook his spikey mane as he retorted in a friendly manner, “Awww, c’mon, mum, I just did my mane this morning,” He brushed his mane to its original look, as she giggled at him.

“C’mon mister, its almost time for pre-school.” She said cheerily, Night Dust beamed at her as he rushed upstairs, grabbed his bag, and put on his favorite hat, it was blue and white striped cap with the symbol of victory stamped on the front. Sunny waited at the front door as he happily hopped down the steps and out onto the street, she shook her head as she locked the door behind her, and followed after him.

Night Dust tugged his mother gently by her wing as she chuckled from the sudden jerk, “C’mon mom, my friends are waiting for me,” he shouted as he trotted several steps ahead of her.

“Slow down, just wait for me won’t you?!” She called after him; she never thought that he would be so happy to go back to school so eagerly, "He came home full of joy and stories of him and his friends, I didn't think it would work for him" she thought to herself.

As they neared the Fun Centre, Night Dust caught a glimpse of a black cloud near the end of the street, it had menacing green eyes with purple flames emitting from it, "Mum, what is that thing?" he called to her.

Sunny looked at where he was pointing, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary, "What thing, dear?"

"That thing right ov-" he stopped when he realized that it had vanished without a trace, "huh.... what... was that?" he thought to himself.

"Are you ok, Night Dust?" Sunny asked in concern.

He shook his head and banished the thought from his mind, "yeah.... never mind, I'm ok." he said.

-Foals and Fillies Fun Center-

He entered the fun room just as Rose Stem had placed a book gently on the ground, he could see her horn glow faintly with a purple aura, it vanished once she opened her eyes, she glanced in his direction and beamed excitedly at him. "Hey Night Dust, welcome back," she said, "its great to see you, my father and my brother are outside, putting out some play things." she explained, she waved at Sunny, who smiled and waved back at them.

"Your mum is pretty you know," she commented, Night Dust stared at her in surprise.

"Y-yeah, I guess she is," he stammered, he really loved his mother a lot and thought she was a very nice looking pony, but it was the first time he ever heard a filly his age call her pretty, Rose smiled a little as she took him by the hoof and led him outside, Ace rode on Mr Walker's back as he placed the last of the construction toys in a sand box.

Ace turned around at the sound of the back door opening and saw Rose with Night Dust, he jumped off and landed right in front of Night Dust, "Boo!" he flinched and gave a sudden squeal, Ace stiffled a laugh as hard as he could, but burst out as he toppled on his back cackling, "You, ha ha ha ha, shoulda seen the look on ya ha ha ha ha...... face, it, wooo, was, hee hee hee hee...."

Night Dust breathed heavily, as he tried to get ahold of himself, Rose patted him on the back, and glared at Ace, who nervously shrugged at her with a small grin.

"Uhhhh, gosh, that was pretty tricky of you." he said assertively at Ace, he picked himself up and lightly punched his shoulder.

"Eh, you gotta get use to scary stuff if ya ever wanna be a grown pony."

"Scaring him isn't the way to do that," Rose said with a low tone.

"If anything, he should learn to face his paranoia in the same way you two will learn." Mr Walker said, the trio stared at him, as he took his glasses off and wiped them clean.

"Fear is a natural part of life all ponies shall have to go through, but one should not feel any shame to encounter the trial of overcoming fear." he explained, Ace yawned, clearly not paying attention to what was to come next, Rose simply rolled her eye's, acting as if she knew everything that was going to happen, but Night Dust listened intently to what he had to say, "The first step is to know what drive's you to be fearful of what haunts your imagination, what is the last thing that gave you a chill that you can't stop thinking about?"

Night Dust thought hard and remembered the black smoke from the end of the street, it didn't scare him, but he did feel a sense of fear, hate, rage and sadness, if his mother hadn't seen it when he did, maybe somepony else did, "I saw this black puffy smoke thing, it was rather big, and had purplish like lightning coming from it, but....." he stopped suddenly, Ace and Rose looked at him with curious faces, Mr Walker lowered his head and thought hard.

"Black smoke..... Purple Lightning...... uh?!" images flashed in his head as he saw the Crystal Unicorn, King Sombra, stand triumphant at the balcony of the Crystal Palace, his menacing eye's emitted a purple flame, his armor was coated red as blood and his voice boomed like a lightning storm,

"Slaves, Work Harder, Work Faster, and no slacking, as your rightful King, I expect nothing but work for the perfect Kingdom!!" he yelled.

Earth stared helplessly at him as his neck was chained and pulled by other slave worker's, he shook his head as Rose was just about to hit him with a book, "Father, are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he stood up quickly and headed back inside, "I'm.... sorry Night Dust, it seems my knowledge of the type of fear your encountering is inefficient," he said.

Night Dust tilted his head in confusion, Rose sighed and stepped in, "He means he doesn't know much of what the Black Cloud you saw is, so it seems like you're going to figure it out for yourself." she explained. Night Dust hung his head in disappointment, he wanted to know what that strange cloud was, but if Mr Walker didn't know, who would?

-Outside the Foals and Fillies Fun Center-

The day had passed, and Night Dust, Ace and Rose stood on the front port of the Fun Center as they waited for Sunny, the other families had already come around to collect their everypony, Sunny had left a note with Mr Walker saying she would be a little late in picking him up due to an important matter she had to attend.

As they waited, street lights began to awaken, and the evening breeze gently brushed Night Dust's mane. Rose sat quietly as she levitated several flowers and began to accessorize, Ace slacked against the wall chewing on a piece of grass, and kicking at several stones, Night Dust stayed standing and began to whistle a small song, the leaves of the wind lay in the wind as his soft, comforting nostalgic tune drifted across the sky. Rose and Ace looked up at him, mesmerized with his talent to pass the time with a beautiful tune of memories.

Night Dust finished his tune slowly and softly, and noticed that Rose and Ace were both staring at him in awe, he scratched his mane a little and made a slight chuckle, "I, uh, do that when I have to wait sometimes," he said.

They kept staring at him, making him feel a uneasy, until Rose finally said, "That was..... amazing."

Ace nodded slightly and shook his head to snap him out of his trance, "Th.. That was just unbelievable, I mean, where did you whistle like that?!" he asked.

Night Dust kicked at the ground and mumbled a few words, "It was, uhm......., m... my mum."

Rose sighed softly and closed her eye's, "You must have a wonderful mother to teach you to whistle this amazing," she said dreamily, Night Dust laughed innocently, he never thought she'd be the type of filly to be easily impressed, or even a foal like Ace to give him such a big compliment.

He spotted a Mare from the corner of his eye, and saw his mother walking up the path to the center, "Mum, over here!" he exclaimed happily, she smiled at him sweetly as he collided into her arms for a hug, Rose smiled and Ace rolled his eyes, but grinned when she wasn't looking.

"Did you have fun with your friends?" she asked, Night dust nodded and beamed at her, she noticed Rose and Ace, as they waved at her, she waved back, and pulled him off her, "C'mon you, its time to head home," he nodded happily and waved goodbye to his friends.

Night Dust's Home, Late Evening

Night Dust had finished brushing his teeth after a long bath and a helping of some his mother great cooking, he trottered to the other side of the hallway to his room humming to himself quietly, he passed the stair railing as he overheard his parents talking, he didn't usually listen to what they said to each other, but just as passed the railing closet to the living room, he could hear their serious tones, he stopped and listened to what they were saying.

"I think we should tell him in the morning, besides, I think it'll keep him up if he know's what we will tell him." he heard his father say.

"Yeah, I think its for the best, ooooooh, this will be so exciting ." his mother said, as she tried her best not to squeal, his father often told him that she had a bad habit of squealing over the most excitable things, but he always liked that about her.

Night Dust hurried to his room as questions started to fill his mind, "I wonder what they what they're hiding," he thought to himself, he climbed into bed and tried to sleep it off, but more and more questions came to him than answers could find themselves, he shook his head and buried his in the pillow, hoping to know what would happen tomorrow.

Chapter 4: Promise

Chapter 4:

Promise

-The Realm of Dreams-

Night Dust groaned as he awoke to find himself standing on a patch of clouds, he looked around and noticed several tall buildings and pieces of earth floating in the sky, he stood in front of a giant marble door, with several chiseled images of Pegasi, Unicorns and Earth Ponies.

In the middle of the door, four Alicorns each representing an element of magic, circled around a slot, there was no image in the middle of it, but small fragments of dark steam seeped out, as it gave off an unsettling power.

He touched the gate, gathering all the courage he had in him, and slowly opened it, a beam of light shot through the slits as it opened to reveal a fountain garden of lush green grass, crystal clear water's, tree's with ripe fruit, and many Pony types playing and chatting amongst each other.

He trottered around the garden, gently pushing away ponies that he passed, he remembered the first time he came here, it was all clouds and sky, and yet he could walk freely without the fear of falling, but he didn't come to remember the nostalgic feeling, he remembered the  Rainbow-colored Mane, Cyan-Filly he met, and wanted to be able to meet her again.

He searched helplessly, but to no luck, he paced himself through the garden again, until he laid eye's on a yellow cream filly with long smooth pink mane and tail sitting atop a stone fence looking at the sky, he gazed up, and gasped loudly, the Rainbow filly with lightning speed flew across the sky as fast as a bullet, spinning in loops and twists, he could not help but smile as his search had ended.

"Um, excuse me...?" a quite voice asked, he blinked out of his gaze as his attention fell on the small yellow filly staring up at him, "Oh, pardon me, I was wondering, if, ummm, you know that filly up there?" she whispered quite timidly, he nodded his head slowly.

"I've met her once, but I don't know her name," he said disappointingly.

His head hung sadly for a while, the yellow filly hid her face in her mane, "I, um, my name is fluttershy, she muttered quietly.

He raised his head and held a hoof to his ear, "Sorry, what did you say your name was?" he asked, before she could answer him, a chant of enthusiasm boomed from the sky, the Pegasus Filly swooped and landed gracefully on the ground.

"Aw yeah, did ya see that, I span round those clouds as fast and lightning and-" she stopped abruptly and stared at Night Dust who stared at her back.

"Hey, I know you," she said, the yellow filly, brushed her mane back and smiled brightly at the observant pony.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind, but I think this foal was looking for you," she said, the athletic filly smirked at Night Dust as he gulped and stood there feeling uneasy.

"Soooo, it seems my awesomeness spreads throughout my dream as well as Equestria, even for my first friend," she boasted.

Night Dust gave her a funny look and thought to himself, "If she's dreaming this, when I'm dreaming this, does this mean that this place......"

His head began to hurt as the yellow filly glanced at him in concern, "Oh my goodness, are you alright, um....." she stood there blushing a little and hid behind her friend as he realized he never told them his name.

"Night Dust, Yeah, I'm ok, but, can you tell me your names?" he asked with a pleading tone.

The Cyan Filly punched his shoulder lightly and introduced herself, "Name's Rainbow Dash, I'm one of the fastest fillies to ever come out of Cloudsdale, its our home in the sky in the real world."

The yellow filly crept out a little and cleared her throat as quiet as a mouse, "I'm Fluttershy, I'm not a very strong flier like Rainbow Dash, but I do so ever love the little critters and birdies that frolic and play here."

"So where do you come from, huh? Any place I know?" Rainbow asked Night Dust.

"My home is in the Crystal Empire, but, I don't get how I came to this dream like world, did I do something to get here?" he asked, his head was filled with so many questions, he felt he could explode and all the pain would still remain.

"I'm not so sure if we can help you with that question," Fluttershy replied, she gave Rainbow Dash a questioning look, who simply shrugged and pondered the thought as she laid back in the air, "The truth is, we ponies come here as often as we want to, without knowing how, you simply need to have the will to find this place to clear your head, and here you are," she explained.

Night Dust nodded and trottered to the stone fence Fluttershy sat on earlier, crossed his hooves on the surface and stared out into the Horizon, Rainbow Dash slowly put a hoof on his shoulder and said, "If there's something bothering you, come and find us, we always come here, and we could alway's do with some new friends."

He glanced at Rainbow, who gave him a cheeky grin, he smiled at her and then at Fluttershy, who smiled sweetly and kicked at the ground softly.

Upper Garden Level 3

Observation Decks and Lounge

.

The three friends climbed up to the top of the stairs, as the lounge came into view, Night Dust gazed in awe at the outside view behind the large glass windows, Floating Islands of different sizes and each with different environments circled around a giant Island with a gigantic marble castle in the middle, with a chain attached to each of the islands.

"What is that?" he asked Fluttershy, she smiled and replied.

"That's the Castle of Inner Heaven, we don't know what it does, but we are told that we will learn when we are old enough."

Rainbow swerved onto a single massage chair and laid back, turning on the normal speed function, "I wanna fly there some day and see everything with my own eye's," she said dreamily.

Night Dust chuckled at the thought and wondered what he wanted to do with his life, he came to realize he had no dream, only friends and family that told him all about the world, and there was that black mist that haunted him from the day he laid eye's on it.

"I've alway's wanted to see the surface someday," Fluttershy said, she sighed and clutched her chest as she childishly hummed a sweet tune to herself and danced around the lounge.

"I wish I had a dream of my own...." he murmured, Rainbow sat up after the recliner silently came to a stop, Fluttershy stopped where she stood and stared at him in surprise, "I....I don't get out often," he turned his head away from them and explained, "I've always's wondered, what would the outside world would be like without barriers or anything to be afraid of, is there something out there that's better than being stuck at home?"

Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at each other and nodded, they each put a hoof on his shoulder and looked at him, "When you're older, you should come and find us," said Fluttershy, she gave him a sweet smile and a wink.

"Beside's-" Rainbow said as she shook his spikey mane, "-meeting my first friend outside of CloudsDale will be so awesome!"

He smiled at the both of them, his eye's then burned with determination, he put his hooves around the both of them and grinned, "Then its a promise, we'll all find each other and become the best of friends." he declared.

"Aw, yeah, that's what I'm talkin about." Rainbow shouted with enthusiasm.

"Yay!" Fluttershy said quietly, despite the amount of energy she had put in.

Night Dust smiled and closed his eye's, his search to find the Mysterious filly had ended, and he had found another new friend, he could wish for nothing more, but for it to last forever. Just as he opened his eyes, he felt the ground sink beneath him, he gazed down to find golden brown clouds encasing his hooves, he looked around in shock, and noticed that Rainbow and Fluttershy had vanished without a trace, all that was left was the howling cold wind, and the churning feel of his stomach.

He struggled with all his might to loosen himself of the restraining cloud, the sky grew darker and his grip was tightened underneath the stubborn patch, just then, a bright flash of red light sprang from the dark clouds, a Colt's face with a red horn, flaming green eyes and black mane appeared. He cackled loudly and lightning strikes boomed triumphant as his menacing look gazed upon Night Dust.

"Ahhhhhh, my precious little pawn." his cold voiced hummed. Don't even try to break free, I control where you stand and walk, whenever I feel like it."

Night Dust quivered in fear, but stood as firmly as he could speak, "Who are you, and where are my friends?" he demanded.

The large figure cackled, as he approached him menacingly, "Oh, they have simply just woken up in the real world, you are still restrained by the holds of slumber through my own will." he explained, "For you see, my dark power, allow's me to create nightmare's to any Pony I find, worthwhile."

Night Dust struggled twice as hard, knowing he was being toyed with by this freak, he wasn't going to let this colt control him.

"Its no use, no matter how hard you try, no matter how much you want me gone, I will always be your shadow!' he growled and disappeared into the dark mist, as he did, the clouds became distorted and the world began to suck itself into an invisible black hole. Night Dust held on to the patch of cloud he ironically tried so hard to free himself from, but to know use, got pulled in.

He woke up, face on the floor, body hanging off the bed, and a confused mother staring down at him, "What're you doing with your face on the floor, Nighty?" Sunny asked him, he pulled himself onto his two front hooves and out of his blankets.

"I had a really weird dream." he muttered.

"About what?" his mother asked as she headed out of his room.

Night Dust stared down at the floor, unsure of whether to tell her the truth or forget about all the things that happened in the end, "Its nothing, I'm ok," he reassured her.

His mum eyed him suspiciously, but accepted his explanation and slowly walked down the hallway.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at his clock, it read 8:08 AM, Saturday.

No Fun Center Day, today. "I think I'll play LittleBig-Equestria" he said to himself, as he headed downstairs.