He was mad. No, not just mad. Infuriated. He stared daggers at the park bench in front of him, wanting nothing more than to tear the thing into splinters, to rip the wood from its frame and leave it to rot.
Dusk sighed and gave the bench a small kick in passing. It teetered on the edge of toppling onto its back before settling back on all four legs. He didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to have to leave his friends. He had a great life, full of promise and hope here...
The young purple stallion shivered, the cold fall air stealing his warmth as he traversed the night-lit street. the metal of the lampposts and the short trimmed grass sparkled with frost. His breath was crystal as he let out a shuddering breath. Slowly, Dusk stretched out his wings, thoroughly examining the new appendages. They were still so alien to him, despite their natural blending with his body. His feathers even seemed completely normal, as though they were meant to be there. To Dusk, they were nothing more than signs of his changing life, more burdens, more disappointments.
High above, a rainbow haired stallion watched this nighttime stroll with increasing concern. Blitz sat on a cloud, hooves framing his face as his eyes followed Dusk’s path. It was very easy to tell when something was wrong with him; Dusk would always get very moody and tense. and a little over reactive.
Although Blitz was trying to hide himself from his thoughts, he knew there was something bothering him as well. Ever since he had met Dusk, there was something about him that was different. Blitz found he enjoyed hanging out with the reclusive colt. Blitz gave a few quick shakes of his head. Blitz knew he had to do something. He couldn’t just leave Dusk with the sour cloud hanging over him. There was no plan, no modus operandi, but that was how he worked. With a deep breath, Blitz dived down, alighting next to Dusk. The sound of hooves on stone broke Dusk from his reverie, and he looked up in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting anypony else to be out this late at night.
“Oh! Blitz!” Dusk said, a large grin spreading across his face as he wrapped Blitz in a tight hug. Blitz felt jitters run through him as Dusk’s surprised expression quickly grew into one of joy.
“Oh, yourself. what’s up, Dusk?” Blitz returned, allowing his own smile to break across his face.
“Well, a lot, actually,” Dusk returned,his face falling, his tone pensive.
“Come on then. Spill!” Blitz asked, hating to see Dusk so crestfallen. Dusks smile returned in part, eyes searching Blitz’ face.
“Alright,” he said, resigning himself. He was going to have to tell them all anyway. “Come on, I’ll tell you while we walk. I was heading home anyway.”
It was late at night, and late fall as well. The pairs breath commingled and misted in the cold night air, drifting into the dark nothing above as the pair worked their way back through the streets. It was a mere fifteen minute walk, but the two decided to take it slow. No point in rushing.
“So,” Dusk began, obvious discomfort showing in his voice, “I’m supposed to be moving soon.”
“Wait- why?” Blitz asked in return, eyebrows furrowing.
“Well, see, I guess because I’m a prince now I’m going to have certain duties,” Dusk continued. “I honestly don’t know what I’m going to end up doing though. For some reason, Solaris decided to leave me in the dark on that one...”
Dusk shivered as the cold got to him. He wasn’t used to being out so late, and the chill of the fall air was getting to him. His teeth chattered and his body quivered. He shrank down, trying to contain what heat he had. He kept his pace, but secretly hoped they could make it back to the library before he froze to death.
Blitz, on the other hand, barely felt the cold at all. Being a natural born pegasus, living and breathing the clouds and wind meant he had a much greater tolerance for the chill. Even if he had wings, Dusk wasn’t quite so lucky. He had still been born on the ground. Blitz watched his friend shiver, and suddenly had the rash desire to spread out his wing and cover him, warm him and keep him safe from the icy air. Without a second thought, he spread out his left wing and draped it across Dusk’s back, fluffing the feathers to help keep the warm air close. the act gave Blitz the shivers as well. Not from the cold, but rather from the feeling coursing through his lithe frame. He felt a different set of feather tickling his sides, warming him like a coat. He brought his eyes to Blitz’, curiosity ringing in their depths. Blitz quickly moved his eyes away, a small blush creeping across his cheeks. “Blitz?” Dusk said.
“You’re gonna have to learn how to use those wings to keep warm one of these days,” Blitz said, his voice quiet. “Otherwise, you’re gonna freeze to death out here.” Dusk wasn't entirely certain what Blitz was up to. What, precisely, was Blitz doing? He didn't want to make any rash judgement without more information first.
But still, Dusk didn't pull away. He had to admit, it was sweet what Blitz was doing. He wondered briefly if Blitz would have done this with the street full of other ponies. Something somewhere told him that wasn't likely.
“Well, I guess you’ll have to show me... sometime.”
They had arrived at the library, where Blitz quickly tucked his wing back at his side, his face still shining crimson.
“So, did you want to come in?” Dusk asked. He didn’t want Blitz to leave; he was far to interested in figuring out what had Blitz so worked up.
“Oh, sure,” Blitz said, trying to hide the excitement in his voice.
The two had been hanging out much more often than usual lately, their nights spent talking and watching movies. Dusk was surprised at the things Blitz would know. They had even managed to get into an argument over whether Beethooven was a better composer than Bach. It seemed Dusk’s attempts at getting his friend to read hadn’t been all a waste.
The windows kept the main room from being completely dark, but the blackness still covered most of the room. The bookshelves were unseen.
“Come on, let’s get in the basement. We don’t wanna wake up Spines,” Dusk whispered, doing his best to keep quiet as he snuck toward the basement door. Blitz simply flew above the floor, his wings barely making a whisper as they made their way down the stairs.
Dusk’s horn lit, and the candles in the basement burst to life, leaving the entire room in a serene, flickering light. The room was just as Dusk had left it earlier, and unfortunately, that meant it was a complete mess. He had left his test tubes wily-nily across the countertops in the back of the room, the machines were pulled out and plugged in, and even the couches had been left unfluffed and in disarray.
Dusk gave Blitz a sheepish look, which merely caused Blitz to laugh. “Hey, if you wanna see a mess, check out my room sometime.”
“It’ll be just a second,” Dusk returned, giving a small smile to the blue pegasus. His horn lit again, and everything in the room began to dance as it was tidied. Little bits of purple magic held test tubes suspended midair, flying them away into the cupboards. The machines were whisked away across the floor, unplugged and neatly placed against the far wall. Everything was finished and sparkling within minutes. Blitz gave a small whistle.
“Haven’t seen you clean that fast in forever,” he marveled. dusk gave a small laugh.
“Well, haven’t had reason to.”
Blitz quickly jumped up on the couch, turning a few times before laying down on his back with a soft ‘pomf’.
“This things getting almost as comfy as a cloud,” Blitz joked, wiggling to get more comfortable.
“Or you’re just getting used to it,” Dusk pointed out. “I’m surprised there isn’t an imprint in the seat yet.”
Dusk quickly flipped through the modest movie collection he had. They had already seen pretty much all of them, but it put some noise up and gave the two of them a chance to talk about something vaguely related to whatever was flashing on the screen.
“So, which movie? Haven’t we seen them all already?” Blitz asked, eyeing around for some kind of snack bowl or other food item.
“Oh, it’s some kind of love story. I forget the name,” Dusk said as he popped the disc into the player. They settled in, watching the movie with rapt attention.
Dusk had to admit, he never would have thought Blitz a deep thinker. As the movie went on, he found himself thinking of all the time they’d spent down here just talking about the last movie they’d watched. Not just the movie, but the concepts. After they had finished Avatar they’d wondered about the possibility of alien life. Dusk thought it must be true, while Blitz was more skeptical. Some of the insights he had were certainly different from what Dusk had expected. Ever since they had started hanging out watching movies and talking about them had become the norm.
Soon, it was over. The two sat for a moment while the credits rolled across the screen. It had been a rather cliche love story which Dusk determined to be a remake of Romeo and Juliet.
“That was not what I expected,” Dusk commented. Blitz huffed in annoyance.
“Lame. Like we haven’t all seen the ‘hopeless romantic’ crap before.”
“No idealistic love for you, hm?”
Blitz kicked a hoof at the couch cushion he sat on, which made a small puff.
“It just doesn’t happen like that in the real world. You don’t just walk up and sing, or just tell them they’re the perfect one for you. At best, you’re gonna get some weird looks.”
“Well, I kind of like it, myself,” Dusk admited. “To know there’s someone out there looking for you, waiting to find their perfect somepony...”
Blitz scoffed before smiling and giving a small laugh. “You’re such a little colt.”
“Well, no one's ever told me I had to grow up,” Dusk countered, giving Blitz a little half-smile.
“Well, I guess that’s something I’ve always liked about ya’...” Blitz started, suddenly much quieter. This gave Blitz Dusk’s full attention. “You’re always looking at the brighter side of things.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say all the time,” Dusk replied.
“Always when it mattered, though,” Blitz replied, not quite looking Dusk in the eye as he spoke. “We would never have defeated Eris unless you’d believed in us. Take’s some kinda mind to do that after what we did.”
“To be fair, you all weren’t in your right mind to begin with. You wouldn’t have done any of that if you hadn’t been under Eris’ spell.”
Blitz couldn’t help put a hoof to his face. “Guess I’m gonna hafta’ spell this out for you...”
Dusk was still confused.
Blitz seemed very, very nervous as he looked everywhere except at Dusk. “All I’m saying is, you know, I don’t like Ideal love, but, I do like the kind of love, that, blossoms... you know? I mean, I’m not saying anything, but, well, it can happen, ya know...?”
Dusk was quiet for a moment, searching Blitz’ face.
“So...” Dusk drew his word out.
“Dammit, why does this have to be so hard...?” Blitz berated himself.
Dusk eyes widened as he realized just what was happening.
“Here, let me help...” Dusk said, a sudden glimmer in his eyes. Blitz looked at him shocked as he began speaking. “Repeat after me... Hey Dusk,” Dusk began, “I think I might like you more than as a friend.”
Blitz couldn't stop the blush that came across his face, and he mumbled incoherently, before trying a second time. “Hey Dusk, I think I like you more than as a friend....”
Dusk continued. “And, I think I would like if you were my colt friend.”
“I would like, if you were my, colt friend-”
“Yes.” Blitz looked surprised at Dusk’s suddenness.
“You-” Blitz began, but Dusk caught him off guard with a hushing hoof, a smile blessing his lips.
“Yes, I will be your colt friend.”
Blitz sat stock still for a moment, unable to process what had just occurred.
“You mean...”
Dusk waited, a nervousness starting to build up inside. Had he guessed right? Was that was Blitz had been trying to ask him this whole time? He was suddenly doubting his decision.
That’s when Blitz pulled him into a hug, shaking with excitement.
“I, Dusk! Thank you This is just, I never thought, I mean I didn’t think you would be into me like that. I was scared to ask.”
“Well, honestly, I’m glad you did,” Dusk responded, giving Blitz an extra hard squeeze in return.
Author's Note
God, it sucks. Oh well, I'm hoping its gonna get ripped apart so I can hopefully learn to write even better fiction in the future.
please, if you like, dislike, or otherwise read the story, leave a comment! Let me know what you think! What could be improved! Wording problems, character problems, length, not drawn in, lost.... Tell me! Help me improve! =3
