My Little Pony: Power of the One

by Gavel Coaster

Rating: teen
Tags: Spike, Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Alternate Universe
Length: 10624

The Dusk Shine who never believed in the power of friendship, and may pay the price for it...

Following the realignment of the Elements of Harmony, Princess Celestia ponders the destiny of her loyal student Dusk Shine. As she recollects all his successes and failures on the path he chose for himself without her guiding hoof, the great question does not become any easier to answer...

Can she really hand the future of Equestria and perhaps all ponykind to such a cold, solitary, and faithless stallion?

Rule 63 Twilight fic, alternate universe and moonlit contemplation. What more could fans ask for?!

Published 2014-03-25 15:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-03-25 15:30:02 UTC

The Path He Walked

Princess Celestia, Co-ruler of Equestria, Light of the Day and Savior of All Ponies, stood on the balcony of her royal apartment at dusk, her horn glowing faintly as she lowered her beloved charge below the horizon.

He face bore a troubled frown, and her brow furrowed slightly as she considered.

It was over.  The hard project she had work towards for years was finally over.

So…if this was a success…why did it feel like such a failure?

Her sister, Luna, Co-ruler of Equestria and Illuminator of the Night, stood behind her, watching silently.  Celestia knew she did not need to speak for her sister to understand her thoughts.

“Thou art troubled, Celly,” she said quietly, “Mayhaps thou art thinking of thine…unique… protégé?”

“That I am, sister,” Celestia said, turning back towards her apartment and trotting inside to where her sister stood waiting.  She gazed at the floor in thought the whole way, “And I do admit that the manner of his success…troubles me…”

Luna raised one eyebrow at her older sister’s expression. “Art thou sure thou art not overthinking this matter, sister?  Dusk Shine hath passed every test thou hast laid before him over many years of planning...” she lowered her face for a moment, “…and whilst I was not privy to thine initial intentions until recent times,” she said with a grimace, “even I can see that he hath surpassed thine expectations with flying colors.”

“Indeed, he has…” Celestia replied quietly, “but has he done it the right way?”

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, also present in her apartments for this royal meeting, also looked down with a frown, although, in her case, for different reasons.

“Your Highness,” she said (although Cadance was royalty herself, she maintained a humble and submissive stance in the presence of the two older alicorns – an unnecessary courtesy Celestia and Luna had repeatedly tried to break her of) “I would not normally presume to question you, but…Dusk Shine has worked long and hard to fulfill your expectations…even though he had no inkling of your true intentions and the real purpose behind your education.  He has faced hard work and danger to prove himself to you…and he has done it out of pure faith…”

She looked up, “If we consider it in this light…do the means by which he achieved success really matter more than the success itself and the years of effort he put into it?”

“While I understand your reasons to believe in Dusk Shine, dear Cadance, and while I agree with your statements about his hard work entirely…” Celestia sighed again, “I believe his continued lack of faith is troubling…”

“Faith?!  He’s got lots of faith!” said the last being in the room, a small purple dragon hatchling riding on Cadance’s back, wearing a feathered foal’s cap denoting him as the ‘Junior Royal Scribe’ in bright, multi-colored letters along its front. “Dusk is the greatest!  He’s done everything you asked him to, Princess!  He’s never complained, and he’s never said no.  He’s got more faith in you than anypony else in the world!”

The Day Princess smiled briefly despite herself at the ever-loyal Spike’s declaration.

“Indeed, Spike.  It is not his faith in me which worries me…”

Before the eyes of her three companions, she looked down.

“It is his faith in others…or rather, the lack of it…that makes me wonder if he is truly ready for his destiny…”

***

Dusk Shine snorted bitterly as he began packing his things, “’Old mare’s tale’ is it, Princess?  I can’t believe she’s sending me off to this place Ponyville and telling me to ‘make some friends’ all over a damn letter…”

“Awww, come on, Dusk!” Spike said as he climbed down off the ladder, carrying several of his surrogate older brother’s favorite books, “It might be fun!  Canterlot’s great and all, but a change of scenery may be just what we need!  Besides - look at it this way – at least when we get to Ponyville you’ll have plenty of time to study up about this Nightmare Moon thing before the Summer Sun celebration, and we won’t even have to worry about those suck-up nobles following us everywhere anymore…”

Spike stopped.  He was behind Dusk Shine, but he had seen the unicorn stiffen as he spoke.

“What’s wrong, bro?”

“Spike…” Dusk Shine turned towards him slowly, a warm smile on his face that didn’t quite reach his eyes, “…we need to talk.”

Even if it hadn’t been for that expression and the slow, deliberate tone in his voice, Spike had heard that phrase often enough to know it rarely meant anything good. “Talk?!  About what?”

“Well, you see…” Dusk sighed slightly, “It’s not that I don’t appreciate all your help and everything, and I don’t get a lot done with the help of my number one assistant, but…”

Spike didn’t like where this seemed to be going, and he felt a knot clench in his guts. “’But’…?”

“Sorry Spike,” the unicorn said, looking down, “Yeah, I guess Ponyville might be a change of zone where I could make a clean start and do some research without those walking mouths slowing me down anymore.  But you’renot going, Spike.  I think it would be best for you to stay here…”

Spike’s heart shot up into his throat, “What?!  Dusk, you can’tmean that!!”

Dusk Shine, sensing his little number one assistant was about to collapse in tears, quickly approached Spike and laid a reassuring hoof on the crest of spines at the back of his head, “It’ll be okay, Spike!  You can stay here with the Princess!  I’m sure she’ll find your dragonfire letters really useful…”

“B-but I want to stay with you!” Spike said, looking Dusk Shine directly in the eyes, tears swimming under his slitted pupils. “I don’t want to leave you, bro!!”

Dusk Shine pulled him close into a hug, “Thanks, lil’ buddy.  That means a lot to me.  You can’t imagine how lucky I feel to have you around, but Spike…I won’t even be gone that long!  After the Summer Sun celebration I’ll be on my way back!”

Spike gave an over-exaggerated, childish snort, “Aw, come on, Dusk!  The princess is making you Ponyville’s librarian!  That means she’s gonna want you to stay there a while!  C’mon bro, you needme!” He clutched Dusk Shine harder.

Dusk gave a very slight groan.  He had been hoping Spike would miss that detail, but his dragon hatchling was as clever as he was loyal, “Okay, so maybe I will be gone for a little while, but…Spike, you have to face the facts!  Ponyville is just a small town out in the countryside near the Everfree forest.  There’s nothingthere for you!”

Holding Spike to his chest, his face twisted slightly as he frowned over the dragon’s head, “If I have to face this kind of punishment for displeasing the princess…then so be it.  But I’m notgoing to ask you to follow me to some boring little country Nowhere-ville away from all the exciting things in life, Spike!  You can have a much better time here in Canterlot city where it all happens.  My family and the princess will see to it you have a great time while I’m gone, and…I just want what’s best for you, is all.”

“Dusk…” Spike sounded more desperate now, looking up at him from his hooves, “…bro, I-I…I don’t doubt you…but…”

The unicorn knew what he was going to say next and mentally steeled himself.

“Bro…I…” the tearful Spike looked like he was petrified of what he was going to ask next, “I-I’ve seen the way you’ve changed.  How you always avoid everypony.  How you get so miffed when somepony comes to be with us and won’t leave.  It’s like you’re only happy when it’s just you and me, or maybe the princess.  Are you trying to get rid of metoo, Dusk?”

“No, Spike,” Dusk said softly, patting him gently on the back, “It’s not like that. Not at all.”

He hated himself for his lie.

***

Princess Celestia would never reveal it to either of them, but she had seen right through Dusk Shine’s excuses for leaving Spike behind.  She could understand that after many years of taking care of him and the changes in his personality as he grew that he might want to spend a little time on his own away from Spike.  But now she feared whether he would be keeping it down to just a “little time” considering how long it had already been since he first left for Ponyville and how seldom he returned to Canterlot.

And the worst part was, Spike must have picked up on that too.  Yet he continued to worship and look up to his surrogate brother and defended him from anypony who doubted him – either out of denial or loving naiveté.

“I do admit thou mayest have a point there, sister,” Luna said with a tiny frown, her eyes dilating in memory, “I hath not known Dusk Shine for long…yet, I sense he seems a most solitary figure…and the intrusion of other ponies hath made him ornery within my sights…”

But then she looked up at her sister again, “However, I do share young Cadance’s sentiment that mayhaps his means still do not fault his results.  Or at least, not enough to ignore all his hard-won accomplishments and the good he has done for you and I and all of Equestria…”

She grimaced in shame at a half-repressed memory, “I shudder to think what would have occurred had he not confronted me in my madness within the Everfree…”

***

Dusk Shine groaned in annoyance as he sensed that those five annoying mares were still following him.  He’d made it plain that he expected them to stay behind while he entered the Everfree Forest.  And eventually, when the five of them simply wouldn’t stop arguing, he had used another Banishment spell to send them stumbling back from him against an expanding force field – just like he had when they intruded into the library.

And still they followed.  There seemed to be no way to make them back off.  How could he possibly hope to get this crisis resolved with these five locals slowing him down?

He moved cautiously, bewildered at the lack of opposition he had faced on the way here.  Nightmare Moon’s attempts to stop him had been almost laughable, and he feared the evil alicorn was only trying to lull him into a false sense of security.

The cliff drop had been simple enough – he had simply levitated himself down.  The manticore was a simple matter of an invisibility spell.  The snarling trees illusion he had seen through in an instant and ignored.  He had frozen the river (pointedly ignoring some crazy water serpent sobbing nearby), and finally conjured a magical platform across a fallen rope bridge in his way until he finally stood here in the ancient palace of the royal sisters.

And still they followed.  He ground his teeth.  Didn’t they know how dangerous this was?!  He was likely going to have to bail them out of more trouble in the end…

“Yoo-hoo!  Du-uuusk!” came the voice of that maniacal pink earth pony aptly named Pinkie Pie – floating up from behind him. “We made it! Thanks for waiting for us to catch up…”

“Quiet!” he hissed sharply, spinning around on the spot to glare at his five unwelcome tails. “Do you want to let Nightmare Moon know you’re all out here?!”

“Why, Dusk Shine, darling…” the white unicorn named Rarity quietly admonished, “Must you be so short?  We came to help you!”

“Yeah!” agreed Applejack, rearing and stamping her orange hooves slightly on the stone to clear out the strain. “An’ it’s been one hayuva rodeo ride, lemme tell ya…” She tilted her Stetson slightly with one forehoof to cover her eyes in weariness.

“I-I hope we haven’t been that much trouble though…” the yellow-pink pegasus named Fluttershy added quietly.

Dusk groaned inwardly again. As much as he wanted to let fly with a sarcastic comment, he wasn’t so petty as to upset this fragile pegasus who was by no means the most troublesome of the lot.

**That* dubious honor went to…*

CRASH!!

Rainbow Dash swooped low and collided with him again, drawing a grunt of annoyance from the unicorn as he sprawled on the ancient stonework and roughly, impatiently shoved her off him. “Nice going, Rainbow Dash! You might as well have announced our arrival with trumpets and drums!”

The multi-colored mare stuck her face into his rudely, “You got something you want to say to me, egghead?!”

Dusk rolled his eyes. He just had.

*

The five mares screamed and flailed helplessly as Nightmare Moon crushed her prison sphere even tighter upon them. Dusk Shine knew the air inside that bubble wouldn’t last for another minute.

“DESPAIR, DUSK SHINE!!” Nightmare Moon cackled over the growl of her dark magic in the air, “WITHOUT THE OTHER FIVE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY, THINE MAGIC IS FOR NAUGHT!”

“That’s what you think!” he shot back at normal volume, lighting up his horn. The crown of magic burned upon his brow, but Dusk gathered his power and kept pushing, slowly breaking the uncooperative element to his will.

“DOTH THOU KNOWEST WHOM THOU ART CHALLENGING, DUSK SHINE?!” Nightmare Moon trumpeted, apparently angry at his defiance, “KNOW THAT EVEN NOW I MAY DESTROY THEE WITH BUT A WAVE OF MY HOOF. THINE LIFE IS STILL THINE OWN ONLY FOR SO LONG AS THOU ART AMUSING!”

“Well, you should’ve taken care to spell-proof that barrier…” Dusk muttered, before the Element of Magic broke completely and followed his bidding. Nightmare Moon’s dark, insane eyes widened as she realized what he was doing.

Reaching out with the Elements’ connection, Dusk Shine grasped hold of the five other elements resting around the five annoying mares’ necks. With a thought, he extinguished their connection to each of their new owners and bound it to himself. The collars ripped free of their necks and shot through Nightmare Moon’s force field to revolve in a circle around Dusk’s head, unwilling but docile and obedient to their new master’s willpower.

Calling upon the power of all six of the Elements of Harmony, Dusk summoned a magic rainbow, willing it to destroy Nightmare Moon and return his beloved mentor to him…

***

Luna nodded to herself, “Without him, I might never hath been rid of my madness. I know now that my defeat was always a certainty, but mayhaps my mind would hath never been preserved if not for him…”

Celestia sighed, “You are too hard on yourself, sister. I agree that your return to sanity would have been slowed if he had not purified you…but remember, he did it by breaking the Elements of Harmony to his will – not by allowing their chosen wielders to join their power to his…”

“So?” Spike asked pointedly, “Those five mares had been bothering him ever since he arrived, and they insisted on throwing themselves into danger…”

“Indeed, they did…” Celestia said with a faint smile, “And what better friends could a pony hope for?”

Spike groaned, forgetting who he was speaking to in his indignation, “They made a giant bucking mess of Dusk’s trip through the forest – which he warned them was dangerous and he didn’t want them along for in the first place! All they did was slow my bro down and get themselves captured by Nightmare Moon, and he had to pull them all out of danger in the end!!”

“Spike…” the princess chided him gently, “Mistakes can be made even with the best of intentions, you know. I think it was very good of those five mares to accompany him…”

The little dragon huffed, his expression seeming to say to follow and annoy him, you mean.

“That was another reason I sent him those tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, Spike…” Celestia went on, looking out the balcony at her sister gathering dusk, “I hoped it might solidify his friendship with one of those mares…maybe even a little more than that…”

Cadance stiffened and grimaced slightly at those words, but said nothing. Spike, however, was not quite as diplomatic.

“Yeah,” he snorted, “and we all know how that turned out…”

***

Dusk Shine bucked his door closed, cursing under his breath for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Ever since the princess had sent him those gala tickets that morning, he had been living his own personal vision of Tartarus.

At first, when he discovered she had sent him two tickets instead of one after she commanded him to attend, he had tried to destroy the other one immediately, only to be stopped by Applejack, the orange farmer pony who’d insisted on following him to the Everfree. He’d had the misfortune to be passing by her farm on his daily errands when he received the letter and the envelope containing his tickets.

After Applejack stuck her nose far enough into his business to find out what was going on, she had asked to go with him. Dusk had tried to explain the gala was nothing any sane pony would enjoy (or insane for that matter, as Screw Loose could testify) but Applejack wouldn’t listen. In the end, Dusk had to settle for simply turning her down flat and trotting off, leaving the earth mare looking hurt.

He met similar troubles with Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie as well, who wasted no time raising a racket and putting him on the dessert menu for pretty much everypony in Ponyville. Dusk had to glamor his appearance for his return to the library.

Which turned out to have been a wasted effort when a large banner suddenly twanged up into the air before him, streamers exploded, and music starting pumping out of a portable gramophone.

He groaned. Another Pinkie party he was going to have to clear out.

Sure enough, Pinkie bounced into his line of sight and started babbling out all her rapid-fire party welcomes and well-wishes, “Heya Duskie! I thought it would be super-duper, squiddly-diddly easy-peasy to set up a Patented Premium Pinkie Party for you to celebrate our trip to the Grand Galloping Gala in Canterlot! Isn’t it great we get to have one party ‘cos we’re going to another party – then we’ll know we have another party so we’ll have to have a party ‘cos we’re having another party later so we’ll need to have a party for that, and suddenly life is one big never-ending p-mmmph!!!”

Dusk lit his horn and transmuted her lips into a zipper, zipping it shut.

“Pinkie…” he growled, levitating her into the air until she floated practically muzzle-to-muzzle with him, “you’re making my headache worse!”

He returned her lips to their natural state and let her go. She floated back to her hooves, looking slightly confused, “What’s the matter, Dusk?! Why’re you being such a grumpy meanie-pants?”

Dusk looked around at all the disappointed, frowning faces in his home. He sighed despite himself. Although he didn’t care too much for all this company, he still didn’t like making anypony sad if he could avoid it. “I’m sorry everypony, but you’re really doing the wrong thing. If you could have been bothered to listen to me, I would’ve told you the gala is, and always has been, a slimy, boring, and unhappy waste of good ponies’ time. I don’t even want to go myself, and I have no intention of subjecting anypony else to it…” he cleared his throat, intending to seal a lid on the thing before anypony recovered enough to argue.

“…I burned my spare ticket on the way back here.”

***

Celestia closed her eyes, slowly shaking her head to herself. Disappointing.

At least having somepony with him might have made the gala a little more bearable for her poor student. She remembered the stiff smile on his face as he stood by her side welcoming the guests to the gala. To someone who knew him as well as she did, his misery was obvious, and Celestia had decided never to force him to attend the gala again. It was an awful night for every decent pony, but for him it had to have been unbearable. And the worst part was, it was her insistence that caused it…

Oh well, at least he’d had a little time to catch up with Spike afterwards at Donut Joe’s. And yes, perhaps he had simply spared one of his friends a lot of torment, since that had probably been the worst and most boring gala to date…

Then there was the issue of the weeks that followed. She had asked Dusk to write her regular friendship reports, but a lot of them were only theoretical ideas. Very few of his reports mentioned him intervening directly in his new “friends’” lives. The five other element bearers, after several failed attempts to hang out with Dusk, had seemed to take the hint that he preferred privacy, and life settled into work and study for him.

There was the issue of an Ursa Minor stampeding through Ponyville, spurred on by some foal colts and a traveling showmare magician, which Dusk had solved by lulling the beast to sleep with music and milk. Then there was the issue of a dragon that she had asked him to remove from a nearby mountain with his “friends”. When Dusk pointed out just how unlikely it was that six ponies could actually move a colossal, fire-breathing reptile, Celestia had sent him anyway, feeling it might encourage him to finally trust the five mares. Instead, Dusk had to pull them out of the line of fire – quite literally – and exhaust his energy battling the massive, magic-resistant beast until it finally got fed up with his elusiveness and pestering and flew away to find another cave.

And the parasprites. Celestia shuddered – she would never forget that. When an outbreak of parasprites had arrived in Ponyville on the eve of her state visit, the earth mare Pinkie Pie had coaxed a massive swarm of the pests away from the town after much of it had been reduced to nothing, but Dusk – realizing it was probably only a matter of time until the parasprites returned – had heated the atmosphere around Ponyville just enough to burn away the wings of every single one, leaving them to drop and feed the birds. A cruel tactic, Celestia thought, though perhaps a necessary one.

Her hopes had risen slightly when Dusk spoke of a new friend, a zebra alchemist who lived in the Everfree forest, with whom he was spending a lot of time researching and brewing potions. He spoke highly of the zebra’s wisdom and her frequent trips to the library to research new formulae, but most of what he wrote was about her work. He didn’t seem to write much about the zebra herself.

When the draconequus Discord had broken free of his stone prison, Celestia had summoned him to Canterlot, knowing the call for harmony had come again. She had persuaded him to return the links of the Elements to each of their original bearers and allow them to accompany him on his task to defeat Discord and bind him once again in stone.

But everything had gone wrong. Horribly wrong.

***

“You’re discorded!” Dusk exclaimed as he found the Manely Annoying Five in the center of the collapsed hedge maze. He groaned and rubbed his face, “To have been manipulated by that draconequus so easily…I can’t bucking believethis!”

“Who asked you, Horn-for-brains?!” Flutters-something-or-other said to him in a rude tone. He couldn’t remember her name exactly, not having spoken to her or thought of her in months.

“Indeed. What is the opinion of a purple pauper to a rich Rarity such as I?” the snobbish one added, her name no trouble since she just said it. She leaned against the boulder she was somehow convinced was a giant diamond named ‘Tom’.

“No time for you now! I gotta get back to Cloudsdale!” shouted Rainbow Dash, trying to dislodge herself from under said rock.

Orange Apple or whatever she was called, yawned, “Oh no! We ain’t discorded! Not at all! Not even fer a dang second!”

“Yeah, what’s it to ya?!” snorted the Cotton Candy Catastrophe, as Dusk had taken to thinking of the sugar vacuum named Pinkie Pie. He could hardly forget her name since she reminded everypony in town of her presence constantly and in numerous noisy ways. “You’re just the pampered, stuck-up, grumpy suckle-colt of the Princess!” There was a chorus of ‘yeah’s and affirmations from the other four who had lost their minds.

The unicorn snorted in annoyance, “Then I consider myself lucky that what you five think of me makes absolutely no difference whatsoever!” he shot back before lighting up his horn and once again severing the link between each of the five failed heroines in front of him and the Elements of Harmony.

Grumbling, he trotted off to go find the gems on his own, leaving them to ruin their own hopes. He was faintly aware of Discord popping into existence behind him as he went.

“Well, my dear purple prodigy, it seems it’s down to just you and I now,” he said while juggling multi-colored baby elephants in his legs, “Such wonderful chaos, isn’t it, when the scheming villain severs the powerful bond between a hero and his loyal followers!”

Dusk smirked to himself as he went on, “You really should do your homework better, Discord…”

***

“Again, mayhaps the fact that he succeeded would matter more than how he did so, sister…” Luna said in a troubled tone, “Had he not removed the Elements from the five other bearers, their power would not have bound that foul creature again.”

As much as Celestia hated to admit it, she had a point. Discord had cruelly manipulated each of those five poor mares, but from the descriptions Dusk had given her, it seemed they had been lulled into the draconequus’ clutches with almost no coaxing. Even worse, their attempts to resist his manipulation had been pathetically minimal – all except Fluttershy, who had to be discorded directly by the draconequus himself.

What really chilled her blood about that incident though, was not what had happened before, but after Dusk united the Elements of Harmony and petrified Discord once again. She had not given him any specific instructions for that, believing he would correctly assume she would have him returned to the royal gardens.

But no…Dusk had assumed something far different…

He was still blasting long after the pieces had been powdered.

With Discord and his magic gone forever, Celestia had honored Dusk as a hero, showering him with praise and thanks, all the while frowning inside.

She had decided to have him remain in Ponyville, holding to the hope that he would eventually change his mind about the five mares, who had apologized to him after the curse had been undone and he had off-hoofedly forgiven them.

And in the meantime, Celestia had been stuck with a new problem. With Discord’s demise, a new Avatar of Chaos had to be chosen from the Beyond. Discord had never been what could be called a pleasant chaos god (if such a thing could even exist) but at least he had not been actively malevolent. He reveled in chaos, but took no joy in murder or harmful torture.  There was every possibility the next spirit of chaos would not be so…generous.

Dusk’s friendship reports had grown fewer and further between since his return to Ponyville. Celestia guessed he had most likely deduced why he was told to remain there, so she visited him and asked why his letters were coming less often.

She had expected excuses of being busy, or a promise to work harder and send more, or perhaps even a complete breakdown in terror of her perceived merciless wrath. But Dusk surprised her utterly with his answer.

He told her he didn’t believe in the magic of friendship.

When she recovered and pressed him further, he elaborated. He said that any of his attempts to make his theories work had resulted in huge disappointments. All of the concepts of friendship that looked good on paper had proved weak and failing in real life. Every attempt he had made to show faith in his so-called “friends” had resulted in them disappointing him.

They were, in his words, friendly enough when it was easy or harmless to be, but when put in danger or faced with urgent need, their “friendship” had counted for nothing. And what kind of magic was that, he said.

Unable to believe what she was hearing, Celestia determined that she had probably left Dusk out in the cold for too long as she flew back to Canterlot. She began making plans to bring him back and start him out again together with Spike and another group of loyal colts she would hoof-pick from the best of Equestria’s society.

But what happened several weeks afterwards completely derailed that plan, as Cadance slowly cleared her throat to remind her.

“Forgive me, your majesty, but I must agree with Princess Luna. If it were not for his willingness to take action…we may all have been dead by now, as you well remember…”

Celestia grimaced at that. Her single greatest - and most costly - failure.

Dusk Shine had an older brother, the Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor.

And the two of them shared blood, but nothing else.

As Celestia and Luna both knew and personally experienced, sibling rivalry was always a problem for siblings born so close in age. In most cases, it only lasted until both were old enough to know better. In others, the rivalry blew up to life-long enemies who wanted nothing more than to see the other dead in an alleyway with a barb-wired poker shoved up his nethers...

Dusk Shine and Shining Armor were in the latter category. They practically loathed each other.

There were the usual reasons: Dusk hated Shining Armor because he thought he was an arrogant, self-important older brother whose shadow he had to get out from under and prove himself superior to, and Shining Armor hated Dusk because he considered him a spoiled annoyance who would take any excuse to be a pain. Dusk being chosen as the princess’ personal student hadn’t sat well with him either.

But the worst friction between them had always been - and always would be…

…Cadance.

She had been Dusk Shine’s foalsitter in his colthood. As Dusk was a loner and a studious colt by nature, he had – predictably – developed a massive crush on her, spending a lot of time unsuccessfully trying to please Cadance, attempting to coax kisses out of her and making adorable predictions of their future together, complete with foalish crayon wedding day pictures.

Amused by her new suitor, Cadance had at first blown off Dusk’s infatuation for what it was - a simple foalish crush. Still, she wasn’t inconsiderate enough to start seeing his handsome brother, Shining Armor, who also seemed interested in her, at that time. She knew Dusk had rivalry issues with him and would be crushed if she acted.

After several months of foalsitting, she began seeing Shining Armor in secret. He seemed like the perfect gentlecolt to her, and she fell for him hard, fantasizing being with him forever and openly standing beside her when she went to claim her kingdom.

Predictably however, the whole thing went horribly wrong in the end.

After a shouting argument and an insult war between Dusk and Shining over some petty little food-related matter – by which point their father was holding them back from beating the tar out of each other, Shining Armor, completely enraged and searching for the worst, most hurtful thing he could possibly say to his little brother, spilled the beans on their secret relationship to Dusk Shine.

Devastated, Dusk Shine had run to his room, wailing he never wanted to see either Shining Armor or Cadance ever again. Furious, their father had sent Shining Armor off to the military academy, warning him not to return until Dusk Shine had left home. Naturally, Shining Armor didn’t take that apparent favoritism well, yelling through his brother’s door that their unfair, biased father couldn’t protect Dusk forever and he’d better not be home by the time he returned.

Cadance was unhappy about it too. While she didn’t like Shining Armor using their love to hurt Dusk, he was the stallion she wanted. They had kept in touch over the years, their relationship growing by mail, until he returned to Canterlot.  She had not seen Dusk Shine since the day Shining Armor had revealed their secret to hurt him. She had tried to visit him once, but the young unicorn had stubbornly stayed put behind his locked door until she left.

Now, years later, she had been less than impressed when Shining Armor had wanted to invite Dusk Shine to be his best stallion at their wedding…

***

“Shining, are you out of your mind?!”

“No, Cadance. That’s not it!”

“What is this?! Some kind of sick scheme to-“

“No, no, no! It’s not what you’re thinking! I left all that behind a long time ago!”

“Then why in all Tartarus would you-?!”

“Because this whole thing is the only reason Dusk and I can’t reconcile, Cadance! D’ya think I likebeing estranged from my colt brother? I don’t!”

“But how will asking him to be your best stallion at our wedding make things better, Shining?! I think that’ll just make things worse!”

“Cadance, think about it…if you’re going to be my wife, do ya want to spend the rest our lives with my brother pretending we don’t exist? I don’t expect this to be easy for him, Cadance, and I feel like a real mule for it – but it still might be the only way for him to get some closure…”

“Closure?!”

“Yep – closure – as in, ‘this is the way things are going to be, Dusk Shine, so ya might as well get used to it!’”

“And you actually think he’ll thankus for that?!”

“Not right away, honey, not right away. But maybe in a few years he will, when he’s happily married with mare of his own…”

That brought Cadance up short. She guessed, somewhere, somehow along the way, a tiny pearl of Dusk’s old crush on her still remained inside him. Probably the pain too. Maybe that was the reason why he was always having so much trouble making friends or finding lasting relationships the way Celestia was always talking about. Maybe…closure wasexactly what he needed…

“Well…I don’t like it, Shining, but…”

He smiled warmly, rubbing his nose against hers, “Don’t worry, Cadance. I’m going to try to break this to him as gently as I can. I’m not going to laugh or gloat and rub his muzzle in it or anything like that…”

She chuckled finally, “You’d better not! Ponies aren’t meant to sleep in doghouses…”

***

Except Shining Armor had underestimated Dusk Shine’s anger and stubbornness. His only reply to Shining Armor’s invitation letter had been to send it back unopened after leaving a request at the post office to return any more mail from that name.

Shining Armor had wanted to leave to go find Dusk in Ponyville himself, but Celestia, sensing the inevitable disaster that would cause, told him she would go.

It went about as well as expected. Dusk’s face had darkened when he heard the news about his brother and old foalsitter. He insisted he wanted nothing to do with either of the engaged couple, was happy where he was, and wanted to forget ever hearing about the whole business. In the end, Celestia had to command him to go, agreeing with Shining Armor’s theory it was the only way to bring the matter to an end.

It had been the one and only time in their long student-mentor relationship that Dusk Shine had scowled at her…

But he wouldn’t disobey a royal command. He was back in Canterlot the next morning. And this time, Celestia meant for him to stay. However, she had to divert her attention when Luna informed her the border guard had detected a new threat to Equestria.

The first odd occurrence was when Dusk came face-to-face with Cadance, pretending not to know her and remaining silent.

To everypony’s surprise, Cadance had pretended, or so they thought at the time, to not recognize him either - which was so far removed from her personality that Celestia began to wonder if perhaps her long estrangement from Dusk Shine bothered Cadance more than she would admit.

But that wasn’t the only thing. While Shining Armor was busy maintaining the protective magic field over Canterlot, she attempted to embrace him in the throne room before them - resulting in Dusk storming out - with Cadance not appearing to have realized the problem.

Even Shining Armor was stunned, and Celestia had never in a thousand years thought Cadance would be so insensitive.

Apparently, Dusk didn’t either. He stormed into the throne room during the rehearsal, gesticulating wildly and accusing Cadance of being an impostor. Nopony believed him of course, and turned their backs on him – with the enraged Shining Armor trying to comfort a tearful Cadance while simultaneously spitting insults at his brother and saying he regretted ever trying to fix things with him.

When Dusk vanished afterwards, everyone assumed he had got on the train back to Ponyville to sulk. Princess Celestia decided to let him remain there until the wedding was over and the couple left on honeymoon.

They went ahead with the wedding preparations, until…

*

“WAIT!” somepony roared as the doors swung inwards.

Celestia could hardly believe her eyes. Dusk Shine stood there, covered in soot and dirt, looking worse for wear, with a deep, smoldering fury in his purple eyes.

By that point, Shining Armor looked furious and on the verge of yelling at his guards to drag him away. Cadance looked shocked and afraid, and not just because of his outburst either – she had gone chalk-white and was looking around in every direction.

…and just as Celestia opened her mouth to admonish her rude and irresponsible student, she saw why.

Next to Dusk Shine stood…Cadance?!

“…How…?”

The deep, choking cackle that resounded throughout the throne room afterwards would haunt her dreams for years to come…

***

It had turned out Dusk was right all along. The pony they all thought to be Cadance was in fact Chrysalis, queen of the changelings, in disguise. She had ensorcelled Shining Armor to her limited mind-control abilities and managed to mimic Cadance well enough to fool everypony for the last few days up to the wedding. Her plan had been to feed off enough of Shining Armor’s feelings for Cadance to permit her minions to invade Canterlot with overwhelming strength. Again, it had been Dusk who saved the day - (now there was an ironic choice of words) – and unmasked Chrysalis.

Crossing her horn with Shining Armor’s, Cadance had unleashed a massive magic beam, empowered by her unique ability to tap into the Magic of Love. The massive influx of emotion overloaded Chrysalis’ senses and destroyed her, incinerating her and her changeling minions battering on the Canterlot shield, before their eyes.

Shocked and bemused over what had almost occurred, Celestia and Shining Armor had immediately descended on the two of them - Celestia to make sure Dusk was alright, and Shining Armor to wrap his bedraggled fiancée in his hooves.

Canterlot had immediately been put under lockdown, nopony entering or leaving as they checked every inch of the city for changelings in hiding. However, it became apparent the purging spell, with Cadance and Shining’s raw power behind it, had exterminated the parasites completely. The city had been only minimally damaged and nopony had been seriously hurt, since Shining Armor’s shield had held for the last few moments they needed to complete Chrysalis’ destruction…

Shortly afterwards, they had lifted the lockdown and prepared for the true wedding. However, shortly before the ceremony, Dusk Shine utterly surprised Celestia and Cadance when he said his farewells and left before the ceremony could start…

Shining Armor had stunned them all when he spoke up.

***

“I asked him to leave…”

“What?! Shining, how couldyou?!”

“I agree, Shining Armor. Need I remind you your brother just saved us all from an invasion of mind-flaying changelings! How dareyou place the blame for this on him?!”

Shining Armor shook his head frantically, “No! That’s not it!”

“What’s ‘not it’?” Cadance asked, unimpressed.

“It’s nothing to do with the changelings! I don’tblame him, Cadance!” He took a deep breath, “It’s just…him. Dusk Shine…I haven’t seen him for years... and…I’m sorry but I don’t like what he’s become…”

Celestia could feel her stoic expression starting to slip, the heat creeping into her voice for the first time in years, “What?”

Shining Armor gulped. Celestia did not like to think of herself as imposing, but she was fairly certain the notion of seeing her displeasure as the ruler of Equestria had to be unnerving for him.

“W-what I said about closure…I was wrong…I could see it from the first time I set eyes on him. He’s never going to like this! Trust me, I know him! The way he looked at us…the way he acted…”

As the two mares’ incredulous stares grew wider, he coughed uncomfortably and looked away, “I know, I know. It was mewho insisted on this. Only now I realize...I mean of course I’m glad he was here to save us all, of courseI am! But…it was a mistake to think this would fix things between us…”

He finally turned to look them in the eyes again, “I’m sorry, Cadance, I was wrong. That crush…he never let it go. He’s never going to like this no matter what, and keeping him here would just hurt him. I…I’m sorry, but…this is for the best…we can’t hold out any hope for him…”

***

That was when Cadance realized she had made the wrong choice...

She turned and ran after Dusk Shine, abandoning Shining Armor at the altar…

***

“Dusk!”

He paused, hearing the sound of galloping hooves approaching from beind.

He sighed. I hoped beyond hope she wouldn’t follow me… he thought.

He turned around as she ran up to him, screeching to a halt.

“Dusk, I…”

Cadance opened and closed her mouth several times, as though she had no idea what to say.

So he spoke for her.

“I know what you’re trying to do, Cadance…” he said, narrowing his eyes, “…and forget it! I’m not going back there!”

“Dusk, no, you’ve got to-!”

“What? *Pretend to be happy for you?!” the unicorn said, his voice rising. “Pretend it doesn’t bother me that the one mare I ever thought I loved decided to run around with my jackass brother?! **Pretend it doesn’t bother me that you’re marrying him?! Pretend I want to stand there next to him while he takes you away forever, probably screaming with laughter inside when he does?!”*

Dusk drew back from her, “Not – a – damned – chance!”

Cadance, stunned from the outset, was now completely speechless. This was a side of him she had never seen. When he had rescued her from the caverns, he had been soft-spoken, gentle and beside himself with concern for her safety. She remembered how the colt she once knew, now full-grown, had carried her on his back out of the caves when she became too weak to walk.

And now that same colt was glaring at her with such contempt in his eyes.

After a few moments of trying to collect herself, Cadance finally blurted out, “I didn’t want you to come!”

She mentally screamed at herself afterwards when Dusk promptly turned his head and began trotting off again.

She quickly seized his shoulder, “No, Dusk!! Not like that! I m-m-mean I d-d-d-didn’t want you to get hurt!

Great Celestia, was she *stammering* again? She hadn’t done that since she was a filly…

He halted however, so she went on.

“I-I kn-kn-knew you w-wouldn’t like it! I know you h-h-h-“ she took a breath, “I know you don’t like your brother. And I knew h-how you felt about me! I told Shining Armor it would hurt you!”

Dusk snorted, not even turning to look at her, “And that would matter to you, why?”

That startled her so badly she dropped her hoof from his back.

“Of course it m-matters to m-m-me!”

At that, Dusk turned to look at her again, only vaguely noticing Princess Celestia’s outline in the shadows behind them.

“I am not a colt anymore, Cadance…and I most definitely am not naïve…” he said coldly, “You saw only a colt with a silly little crush back then. Should it really have mattered to you much? You probably thought I would ‘get over it’ eventually or some other *horseapples** like that. Even the time when you tried to see me was probably more for* yoursake than mine, wasn’t it?! So you could ease your conscience about what happened when Shining Armor told me about you two?”

**That* really stung, “Dusk, please don’t! It wasn’t easy for me, and it wasn’t just some little thing! I felt terrible about it. Really!”*

“And yet you avoided me at the Academy, and especially when I became the Princess’ student!”

“B-b-but…Shining Armor and I were still-“ she caught herself just in time. But it proved to be a futile hope…

“Still keeping your little love tale going, I know!” Dusk growled, “Do you really think I’d believe you just fell out of the blue to get engaged to him the second he returned to Canterlot?! It’s been years, Cadance! I know you were still seeing him all that time!”

“D-D-D-D-Dusk, I-“ she couldn’t hold back the tears anymore, but they did nothing to soften his merciless gaze.

“You decided I could suffer so you could be happy, Cadance!” Dusk said, “That may not be the way you thought of it, and yes, maybe you were right to think I might get over it. I could forgive you for that…one day!* I could forgive you for loving my brother and not I…one day! I could even forgive you for avoiding me for all those years…one day! But I* can’tforgive you for pretending it didn’t matter to me! For pretending none of it was your fault!”

“B-b-but Dusk…“ she was crying openly now, “I didn’t do a-a-anything!”

He leaned in close to her.

“Exactly!” he whispered.

There was nothing more Cadance could say, and his words shamed her deeply. She had never thought of it that way.

Then he turned and started walking away.

“Dusk, wait! I w-w-want to be with you!” Cadance called after him.

He didn’t stop. He didn’t even break stride.

She took a single step, raising a forehoof, “Wait! I’m not going back there, Dusk! I’m not going to marry him! I can be with you now!”

No response.

She began to canter after him, “Dusk, please! I know I did the wrong thing! I know I chose the wrong brother! I’ll be with you! Yours, Dusk Shine! All yours! Pleasecome back!”

There was a loud *snap!* as a telekinetic barrier materialized behind the departing unicorn. Cadance crashed hooves-first into it and sank to the floor in tears, clawing impotently at the solid purple glow.

“DUSK! Trust me again! Just please t-t-TRUST me!”

When he vanished around the corner, Cadance tearfully raised a single hoof, “S-Sunshine, sunshine…ladybugs a-a-awake…clap your hooves a-a-and…”

Unable to go on, she dissolved into a shivering, sobbing mess on the floor.

Celestia, meanwhile, was aware of Shining Armor standing beside her, his teeth gritted and eyes tightly shut as he shook his head from side to side.

***

Celestia sighed, “I have never been more ashamed of him than I was in that moment. Are you still hoping that he will forgive you if you keep defending his honor like this, Cadance?”

She flinched visibly, and then hardened herself, “I will get him back! Dusk is the greatest, most powerful, worthy stallion in all of Equestria! Even if it takes me all the days of my life, he will love me again!”

“YEAH! You said it, lady!” Spike exclaimed, pumping a claw in the air, “Dusk is the best! Everypony wants him! Even me! …uh…not that way…I mean I want him together with…no, not like that! I…”

Luna came to his rescue, “We are well aware you yearn for his company, Spike…” she said, sighing, “and so do we…”

“Yes…” Celestia sighed, “but does he yearn for ours?”

A completely rhetorical question, since every mare/hatchling there knew the answer.

The latest incident in Ponyville had made that clear enough.

***

Dusk groaned to himself as he noticed the Elements of Harmony in the glass case he kept sealed. They had reassumed the signature cutie mark of their original bearers – meaning they had broken free of his will.

Well, it was bound to have happened sooner or later. Dusk knew those five irresponsible mares couldn’t be trusted with them though. He had just gotten up and was too grouchy and groggy to deal with it right now, but soon he would have to go looking for them – which was bound to be a difficult task since he could hardly even remember what they looked like – and sever the Elements from them yet again. It was a pity he couldn’t do it here and now – he needed to be close to the bearers, not the gems themselves, to perform the severing spell. And dealing with those five troublemakers was bound to be more of a headache than anything else…

Although…when he squinted closely, he could see something was still…off. It might have been his imagination…but somehow the Elements didn’t look quite the same.

Shrugging, he stepped out to do his daily shopping trip before he went off to find them…to be greeted by a bucketful of rainwater crashing on his head.

Completely surprised, he looked up for whatever idiot pegasus had pulled that prank, but…

His eyes widened slightly. “Oh no…”

***

It turned out that some mishap during Dusk’s magical experiments (or so he thought) had reassigned the Elements’ power to the wrong bearers, and had, in turn, switched their cutie marks and sense of identity as well.

Little did Dusk Shine know, nor would he ever know, that the “mishap” had actually been the Princess’ final test – a test of patience and faith to see if he could manage to restore the identities of his fellow bearers and the Elements of Harmony – and, Celestia went out on a limb, in so doing, finally learn to trust them. Her idea had been to only allow the curse to be undone by having their personal values and faith in Dusk Shine override their false identities in the hope that her student would learn to value these traits at last.

But did he do that?

No.

Not by a long shot.

Instead, he had gone discreetly to each bearer - taking care to spend as little time and as few words as he could with each of them – before casting powerful spells to restore their identities and, immediately afterwards, to sever their link to the Elements again.

Now, that was hardly as simple as it might sound to anypony who wasn't particularly well-versed in magic. Celestia had fixed her test for the spells to be firmly affixed to the five bearers, and it would have taken a lot of power to shatter them. Because of this, Dusk Shine had to expend a lot of energy to break them and could only restore one of the five every day – leaving the ones as yet unrestored lost and miserable until he could finally gather enough power to free every single one of them.

And short of focusing her own magic to reinforce her curse (which Dusk Shine would have been able to sense and deduce to be her doing immediately), Celestia had been unable to prevent it. It was difficult enough to curse my little ponies once, she thought with a shiver.

Although Dusk had passed the test in the end and restored Harmony, he had – as he had every step of the way – refused to show any empathy or faith in others in favor of the solitary route of raw magical power.

Celestia spent a while looking up at Luna’s moon, silent, before she finally came to a decision…

She turned around to look at her fellow royalty and the little scribe.

“I know what must be done.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed. She could guess from her sister’s tone and stiff posture what she was thinking.

“Sister…he did not fail thee.”

Celestia shook her head, “No, he did not.”

Cadance protested next, as Celestia knew she would. “You do him no justice by this, Your Highness! How can you ever expect him to learn to show any faith in others if you show no faith in him?!”

“I do have faith in him, my dear Cadance. More than you know,” she replied, maintaining an unruffled demeanor while feeling miserable inside. “Faith in him to know what is best for himself, faith in him to be able to take care of himself, faith in him to perform great deeds…even if not in the way I hoped he would…”

“He hath proven himself worthy…” Luna put in again.

Celestia nodded, “Indeed, he has. But more is at stake than just himself. His destiny will determine the fates of many others, which he has also proven he does not love…”

Seeing Cadance stiffen, the princess clarified, “…well, that he loves at least enough to keep them out of harm’s way. But his destiny requires more than that. So much more…”

“I suppose I see thine reasoning, sister…” Luna reluctantly concluded at that, looking away, “Yet I still do consider it slightly unfair to him.”

“And I do not agree at all!” Cadance said, looking furious. “Just because he isn’t so good at trusting ponies doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about them, you know!”

Celestia wisely chose to ignore her tone as the grievances of a spurned admirer, “I am quite certain he does care for them in his own way, Cadance. Yet it is hardly as simple as that.”

She narrowed her eyes, “Then why don’t you enlighten me, please?”

Celestia looked up at the moon again, “To care for his ponies, but never to trust them. To accept them at a distance, but never close. To protect them from danger, but never from themselves. To accept the all the good of them, but none of the bad…”

She paused, “Imagine a being other than Dusk Shine who would fit such a description, Cadance…who would be the first you could think of?”

Cadance opened her mouth – then abruptly shut it again as she realized the older princess’ meaning.

Her muzzle tightened, “Don’t you dare compare my Dusk Shine to him!”

Celestia shook her head for what she intended to be the last time, “I do not. Not as of yet anyway. But in the future…who is to say? Even Luna and I could not foresee that…”

Luna slowly nodded her head as well, “As much as I loathe to admit it, dear Cadance…” She left her sentence unfinished, but her tone made it clear.

Celestia looked up at Spike, still perched on Cadance’s back. He looked disgruntled at being so far removed from the adult conversation, which had likely outgrown his attention span a while ago…

“Spike…” Celestia said slowly, “Take a letter.”

Waking up, the little dragon’s face brightened at the sound of his oldest and most beloved task. He neatly hopped off Cadance’s back, running for the tiny writing desk Celestia had left in her apartments for her Junior Royal Scribe.

As he eagerly snatched up a quill and parchment, Celestia looked up again at the brisk clang of disgruntled golden horseshoes. Cadance was striding for the doors.

“I don’t think I want to be hearing this…” she said before leaving, closing the doors - none too gently - behind her.

Celestia let her go, sighing. Cadance couldn’t hate her any more for this than she hated herself…

Spike, looking faintly confused, peered up at her before asking “Is there something wrong, Your Highness? You are going to give Dusk a reward, right?”

Celestia slowly nodded. “Yes, Spike…” she said, smiling, though a little sadly, “Yes, I am going to give him his reward…”

She straightened and began dictating as Spike and Luna listened in.

“To my faithful student Dusk Shine…”

“I, Princess Celestia, Light of the Day and Co-Ruler of Equestria, and your mentor, wish to congratulate you on your success.”

“By realigning the Elements of Harmony and bringing peace to Ponyville, you have passed my final test. All of your history and all of the lessons you have learned have led up to this one moment…”

Celestia paused for a moment to get herself under control. The emotion of the sickening thing she was doing was threatening to break through.

“…when I might call you my greatest success and pride. I congratulate you on completing your studies. There is nothing more for me to teach you. You have surpassed…all…of my hopes and expectations. It is time for your apprenticeship under me to end, and for you go out into the world to learn on your own.”

“My dear student, you are totally free. You are no longer required to send me reports on your studies or on the magic of friendship. From here on, you will make your own destiny. If you choose to return to Canterlot, it will be my privilege to offer you a seat on my royal council and the position of Archmage in the Academy for Gifted Unicorns. Or if you would prefer to remain in Ponyville as the town librarian or whatever other role you would prefer, this I would also be pleased to grant. Know that whatever path you choose, you will always have my faith and the royal blessing…”

By this point, she was looking down, slumped sadly in her seat, as Spike kept happily scribbling away.

“Know that I am very proud of you, my loyal student, for completing your studies, and that the freedom and peace you desire will be yours forever. It is the least I can do.”

“Your once and forevermore teacher,”

“Princess Celestia”

She levitated a glass of water from her bedside table, gulping it all down at once.

It is done.

“Please send it now, Spike.”

“Now? But it’s the middle of the night, Your Highness,” Spike said in surprise, “Dusk must be asleep by now…”

She looked up in surprise. Had that much time really passed? “Please, Spike…send it anyway. He can read it in the morning.”

He stared at her for a moment before shrugging and belching flame over the letter, making it vanish in the blink of an eye.

Luna looked at her in concern, “And what will you do now, sister?”

Celestia stood, “Now, I must sleep. It has been a very long day…and a difficult one…”

Luna nodded slowly.

*

Dusk Shine, personal student of Princess Celestia and Ponyville librarian, had been planning to sleep late that morning after his troubled and exhausting week recapturing the Elements of Harmony. He had closed down the library for a day or three to recover, and was looking forward to not moving from his bed for a good long while.

So when the first rays of Celestia’s rising sun peeked through his window and shone through his eyelids, his only response at first was to groan and roll over before it could wake him up entirely…

…to be greeted by the sight of a royal scroll sitting on his bedside table.

His eyes snapped fully open and he scrambled up into a sitting position, levitating the scroll into the air and unrolling it.

A letter from the princess? In the middle of the night? I know that wasn’t there when I went to bed. It must be important!

He slowly ran his eyes over the parchment.

Halfway through, his jaw fell open.

And when he finished, he went back and reread it twice to make sure he wasn’t insane.

I-I don’t believe it…

He promptly leapt out of bed with a triumphant hoot, stamping his hooves repeatedly on the wooden floor in elation.

I can’t believe it! I did it! I passed everything! My studies are all done!!

He suddenly stopped for a moment as something occurred to him.

I did it. Huh, I would’ve thought the princess would’ve summoned me to Canterlot for this…and held a party or a parade or something…

Oh well, I guess that would be a bit of a waste though if it was all just for me. I guess I should be glad I even passed at all with all the crazy stuff going on these last few months distracting me from my studies…

Oh, who cares?! I’ve finally done it! That’s all that matters!

All thoughts of lounging in bed promptly vanishing into thin air, Dusk practically pranced out the front door of the library, raising his hooves to the shining morning.

Smiling, he took it the sight of the deep blue sky as though were seeing it for the first time. He had read about moments like this in books – and in the past he had dismissed it as simple drama – but now, he realized the feeling was all too real.

For the first time in his life, he was totally free.

As a colt, it had been his parents, then it had been school, and then it had been the princess. At every single stage of his life, there had always been some overhanging presence he had to please, had to work for and follow the whims of…

…but not now. Now he was, completely and without any doubt…

…free.

And the world had never looked so real. So full of promise…

*Growl!*

Although, he thought with a chuckle while holding his stomach, there were still some things he had to do to survive there…

Grinning, he turned and trotted off to find the local hayburger joint through the town square where ponies were just coming out to start their daily errands.

I guess a nice breakfast haybacon muffin sounds like a good start to my celebrating my newfound freedom…

And he broke into an eager gallop…

Never knowing what he had lost.

*

“You sure got an appetite, pal,” the waiter said amusedly, watching Dusk plow into his breakfast on an outdoor table.

Dusk smiled slightly, though he did not look at the waiter, fixated on his food, “What can I say? I’m in a good mood…”

The waiter grinned, “Sure seems like it. You look happy enough the morning seemed to brighten up the second you arrived…” He looked up at the shining sun, “Looks like Princess Celestia might be showing you a little Magic of Friendship today, sonny…”

Dusk smiled politely, but did not reply. After the waiter left, Dusk hummed to himself and looked briefly up at the sky before turning back to his food.

“The Magic of Friendship…” he mused with a chuckle, “I don’t believe in the Magic of Friendship…”

“…I believe in the Power of the One.”