Blank Flank!by Dusty SunriseChaptersCutie Mark Crusaders! Yay?There is a Mare Who’s Mine Just kidding!No More Games!An Anonymous VisitWorld of DecisionsOutfitted for his New LifeCanterlot, Here We Come!Rushing ThingsLuna's LightCutie Mark Crusaders! Yay?Dusty trotted through the streets of Ponyville, smelling the fresh morning air, “Such a beautiful day…” he beamed. It has been a few years since Twilight and Dusty first got together, and now, he was going to ask her the question, Dusty nearly squealed with delight, he had it all planned through, he was going to take her out to dinner, come home afterwards, and as soon as she was about to leave, propose. Dusty almost passed Sugarcube Corner when… “DUSTY!” Pinkie shouted, tackling Dusty and proceeding to bounce up and down on top of him, Grunting all the while, Dusty choked, “Off! Please!” “Okay!” Pinkie replied cheerfully, she looked as though she was hiding something, “Alright, Pinkie, what are you hiding?” Dusty approached, “My feelings for you!” she giggled as she knocked him down and dragged him inside, “Wait what?” Dusty shouted, Pinkie leaped into Dusty’s arms as he struggled to keep from dropping her, “Pinkie, you know I’m in love with Twilight!” he retorted, setting her down, “What are you talking about, silly?” Pinkie giggled, Dusty sighed, Something’s not right here… he thought as Pinkie kept trying to smooch him, “Quit fussing, you moron!” Pinkie chortled as she pushed him to the ground, Well, look who’s talking… Dusty thought, trying fiercely to push her off him, that was when Twilight came through the door and froze, Dusty gasped in fear, “It’s not what it looks like!” Dusty explained, still trying to push Pinkie off him, “Yes it is!” Pinkie giggled, Shut up, Pinkie! Dusty thought, Twilight ran out the door slamming it, “Pinkie!” Dusty shouted, “PINKIE!” screamed. “PINKIE!” Dusty shouted again as he flung out of bed, hitting the ground head first, “Well, not exactly.” A voice replied, he recognized it as Spike, Dusty poked his head up and chuckled, giving a nervous smile, “How’s it going Spike?” he asked as though nothing happened, he held out a hoof for a hoof bump, which Spike returned kindly. “Not much, Twilight wanted me to let you know that she left today.” Spike said, "Thanks for letting me stay over, by the way." Spike blurted all of the sudden, “Don’t mention it,” Dusky smiled, “Now that I’m awake, I’m going to do some shopping.” He said, “Alright, hurry back.” Spike called as Dusty left his room and out into the fresh morning air, everything was peaceful, until… “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS DAREDEVILS, YAY!” he heard a trio of fillies shout, “Daredevils?” Dusty asked aloud, he heard the rumble of an engine become audible, Oh no… “Look out!” a filly shouted, Dusty looked in the direction of where the voice was coming from and saw a scooter speeding towards him at an alarming rate, sending him flying, "WHOA!" Dusty grunted as he hit the ground and groaned, “Sorry mister,” he saw an orange filly appear in his vision as well as two more, two of which bore resemblance to his friends, all except the orange one. “That’s…alright.” Dusty grunted as he got up, then the filly’s all gasped in unison, “You’re a blank flank?” the white one squeaked, “Yes, so are you three.” He replied, annoyed at their comment, The three fillies looked at each other and huddled up, Dusty pretended he couldn’t hear them, “Do you think he would be interested in joining the CMC?” the white one asked, CMC? Dusty thought, “He’s a stallion, Sweetie Belle!” The orange one replied to the white one, That’s her name… Dusty thought as he continued to listen, “Still, he’d be a good edition to our team, ‘The more the merrier’ they say.” The third with a country accent replied, “Fine, but don’t expect me to go easy on him.” The orange one spoke bitterly, that statement sent a shiver down Dusty’s spine, the three fillies turned to face them and introduced their selves as Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, and followed it with, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS! YAY!” making Dusty want to clamp his ears shut, “And we want you to join!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, “Me?” Dusty’s eyes widened, “I’m honored, really, but…” he began, but was cut off by the saddest look Applebloom gave her, trying to find words, Dusty sighed and gave a smirk, “Fine, I’ll join your little group.” He gave in, and after a brief moment, Scootaloo approached him and said, “Follow me.” And began to walk away, What have I gotten myself into? Dusty shuddered, After the scariest initiation involving strange tribal drum beats and a few questions to which Dusty had to answer, “I do.” The three fillies cleaned everything up in what seemed like a few seconds and Applebloom asked, “So what’re we goin’ to do to get our cutie marks today girls, and boy?” She winked at Dusty getting him to smile, after a few whispers, the trio gave a shout, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER ROLLER-SKATERS, YAY!” and Dusty chuckled, This is going to go off without a hitch, he thought as the trio dragged him towards Sugarcube Corner, “Hi girls, hi Dusty!” Pinkie cheered, Dusty smiled and waved, and Scootaloo began explaining the plan, “We’re going to go roller-skating, and we need some roller-skates.” She demanded, “No problem!” Pinkie cheered, “Four pairs of roller-skates coming up!” she shouted as she ran upstairs, Pinkie soon returned with a few pairs of Roller-skates, three small ones for the fillies and a large pair for Dusty, as they exited the building, Dusty felt compelled to ask, “Where are we going?” he asked, Scootaloo gave him a seriously? Look, “The skate park.” Scootaloo said bitterly, and Dusty raised an eyebrow, What did I do to you? He wondered as the skate park came into distance. The skate park was huge, with ramps and walls and rails and other assorted dainties, “Do you know how to roller-skate?” Sweetie Belle asked, suddenly wearing a helmet and pads, “Oh yeah, my sister taught me a lot, I still practice!” he grinned happily as Sweetie Belle’s face brightened, “C’mon girls!” Scootaloo shouted, as she slowly slid down the ramp, “C’mon, Dusty!” Applebloom called, but Dusty wasn’t paying attention, he was paying attention to Sweetie Belle watching her struggle to stay balanced, then to Scootaloo who had just as much trouble, You should stick to scooters kid… Dusty thought to himself, all three fillies managed to make it to another ramp, “Your turn Dusty!” Applebloom called again, Scootaloo said something to Applebloom that seemed to make her angry, then Scootaloo turned to Dusty and called, “Are you sure you know how to roller-skate?” she called, Watch and learn… Dusty smirked as he slid down the ramp, Up and over he went as he grinded against rails and even pulled off a backflip as he made it to another ramp, but he didn’t stop there, he managed to pick up enough speed to ride on a wall for a second, and as he came up to the ramp with the three fillies, he flipped and landed gracefully on his feet, “Does that answer your question?” Dusty answered proudly, he chuckled as the fillies all stared wide-eyed, “Wow! that must be your special talent!” Sweetie Belle commented, Dusty felt flattered, “Nah, I just practiced all the time.” Dusty responded, “You fillies might be able to get as good as me in a year, if you practiced hard enough.” He threw out, “I didn’t practice as hard as my sister had liked, but I got good anyway.” He chuckled, “Shall we go again?” he asked, “YES!” the three shouted simultaneously, then immediately they flew down the ramp, attempting to keep their balance, Dusty slid down the ramp and just calmly swept up and down shouting encouraging words at the fillies, keeping watch as each filly got slowly better at keeping their balance, laughing and screaming with joy, everything went perfectly, until… “Whoa!” Sweetie Belle shouted just as he was going her direction, she went flying as her forearm hit a rail hard, sending her flying over, Time slowed as Dusty turned and speeded toward Sweetie Belle. “Look out!” he shouted as he caught her as she was flying, he tried to carry her as gentle as he could with the large burst of speed he had, He flew up a ramp, threw off his roller-skates and set Sweetie Belle down, “Are you okay?” he asked, laying down in front of her, she shook her head as she lifted up her hoof which hung limp, “Oh, you poor thing.” He held the hoof in place, “You sprang your hoof.” His horn began to glow with magic, as her hoof sprang back to life, one by one the two fillies flew up the ramp and watched as Sweetie Belle moved her hoof around with excitement, “Wow!” she said again, That must be word of the day. Dusty chuckled, “You are the best, Dusty!” she wrapped her forearms around Dusty, “Don’t mention it.” He rubbed her mane, “Aww…” he cooed as Sweetie Belle nuzzled him, and went back to roller-skating, with the two following. He sat and stared at the sky, his mind slowly drifted to Twilight, Let’s just hope she doesn’t see what I’m doing… he shivered at the thought of Twilight getting angry at him, “Dusty, look at me!” Scootaloo shouted, Dusty looked up to see the orange filly sliding across a rail, her face beaming with pride, Dusty opened his mouth to speak when all of the sudden, “Good job, squirt!” a voice rang out, “Rainbow Dash?” both Scootaloo and Dusty looked up to see the pegasus floating above them, Rainbow Dash descended next to Dusty, “You showing these kids the ins-and-outs of roller-skating?” Rainbow asked, Dusty noticed she had a saddlebag on, “You bet, you want to join us?” Dusty asked, hoping for some more company, “Well, it just so happens that I saw you four and decided that I wanted in on some of the fun.” Rainbow replied, slipping on roller-skates she slid down the ramp, Dusty laughed as he joined her, as she slid up a ramp, she went way high up, and Dusty followed suite, “Dusty, up high!” Rainbow shouted, holding out a hoof, Dusty held up a hoof and slowly, their hooves met with a Clack! “All right!” Rainbow Dash cheered, the fillies stared in awe as the two attempted to best the other, and finally after what seemed like ages, Dusty and Rainbow dropped, gasping for breath, “Who do you think won?” Rainbow asked, “I think we tied…” Dusty replied, they got up and high-fived each other before getting ready to leave, as did the other fillies, “Hey, kids.” Dusty said as he approached them, “Any cutie marks?” he asked with a chuckle, and the three looked and frowned as they saw…nothing. “Well, keep trying, you’ll find your special talents eventually.” He smiled, “Now I got to go, before the market closes.” Dusty turned to Rainbow Dash and chuckled, “Glad you could be here, Dashy.” He held out a hoof bump. Rainbow smiled as she hoof bumped Dusty, “Same time next week?” Rainbow asked, “You bet.” Dusty asked as he trotted towards the market, “You’re pretty good at roller-skating, Dusty.” Dusty gasped, turning to see Twilight, Oh, buck. There is a Mare Who’s Mine There is a Mare Who’s Mine “So, you decided to go roller-skating with the fillies?” Twilight asked, frowning at Dusty, he was just about to respond when the Crusaders appeared out of nowhere, “Yeah!” Applebloom laughed, “It was so much fun!” Scootaloo replied, “And none of us got hurt…much.” Sweetie Belle giggled, “Well, I’m glad you three had Dusty to watch you.” Twilight said all of the sudden, I’m saved! Dusty thought, Twilight gave Dusty a kiss, “Thanks for watching them.” She said warmly, “It was my pleasure.” Dusty blushed, “Ew…” the three fillies wailed, leaving Dusty and Twilight giggling, “Oh, girls,” Twilight began, “One day, you’ll understand.” Dusty chimed in, “I would love to stay, but I need to pick up some things from the market.” “That’s alright, may I join you?” Twilight offered, Yes! Dusty silently cheered, “Of course!” Dusty beamed, the two turned and slowly walked toward the market, “So, how was your day?” Twilight asked as they were walking, “It was pretty good,” Dusty replied, “At first, it was me and the fillies, then Rainbow decided to join us.” “Oh, she did, did she?” Twilight replied, Dusty looked at her and noticed that she looked a bit unconvinced, “Oh, come on, Twilight.” Dusty chuckled, “Nothing happened between us.” And he gave her a peck on the cheek, “It’s not that, it’s just…” Twilight sighed, “We never spend as much time together as we used to.” Dusty suddenly realized something, She’s right, we barely see each other much anymore, “Well, in that case, that will change.” He nuzzled her playfully, Twilight giggled as she gave him a shove, Dusty shoved back a bit harder, Twilight shoved him so hard he went flying and she galloped off laughing, “Come back here, you!” Dusty laughed galloping after her, Twilight slowed to a walk again as Dusty made his way back to her side again, “Anyway, how was your day?” Dusty asked, “Well, I helped Applejack with her harvesting of the orchard, Rainbow Dash was there too but said that she wanted some fun and took off.” Twilight gave a slight chuckle, “And that’s when I found you here with Rainbow and the fillies, you two looked like a mother and father on vacation with their kids.” She joked; Dusty blushed slightly and chuckled, “If it were me and you, then that would make sense.” Dusty replied, making Twilight’s face turn red, “You aren’t talking about…” Twilight stared at him, “Oh, look, here’s the market!” Twilight suddenly said, “Thanks for coming to help, Twilight.” Dusty nuzzled her as they went inside, he expected ponies acting surprised, but surprisingly some went on with their business and some waved, “It’s good not having to keep our relationship a secret.” Dusty commented, giving Twilight a smooch on her cheek, “Yeah, but let’s not get dirty if you know what I mean.” Twilight gave a dirty look at Dusty, causing his face to glow bright red, “O—of course not!” he stuttered, “That just isn’t…appropriate since we’ve only been going out for…” “A year.” Twilight finished for him, “Right.” Dusty wiped is forehead, he stopped in some places to grab something, but each time, Twilight would carry it with her magic. After they finished their shopping, Dusty looked a bit depressed, “I guess this is goodbye?” Dusty asked, “Not if I can’t come over.” Twilight giggled, Dusty’s face lit up, and he nearly jumped with joy, “Well, of course you can!” he laughed, “It’s a date.” Twilight responded, followed by short laughter, “Spike?” Dusty called as he opened the door, noticing that he was gone, “Spike came home a few hours before I left.” Twilight explained, “Ah, I see.” Dusty replied, and sat on the couch, Twilight sat next to him, both staying quiet with nothing to say, finally, Dusty started to speak, “Twilight?” “Yes, Dusty?” Twilight looked at him with hopeful eyes, Dusty looked down embarrassed, “I…” Dusty began to talk but he stopped mid-sentence, I’m rushing things here, I can’t just – out of the blue – ask her to marry me… he thought glumly, he was about to move in for a kiss when Twilight knocked him on his back, “Twilight? Are you okay--” he was interrupted when Twilight laid on top of him and pressed her lips against his for a kiss, she pulled back and tears were streaming down her face, “Dusty,” Twilight blinked, “What’s wrong?” Dusty asked, hopelessly confused, “Will you marry me?” Twilight asked out of the blue, Dusty’s eyes shrank; the question had really stumped him, his body screamed yes, but his mind couldn’t decide, Twilight was just about to get off from on top of him, but Dusty pulled her back in and quietly whispered, “Of course I will, my dear unicorn…” Twilight seemed to cry tears of joy as she collapsed on top of him, and they stayed like that all through the night, not wanting to leave each others' arms. Dusty found himself standing in the middle of the orchard at Sweet Apple Acres, thinking about the night before and nearly giggled with glee, until he heard a filly’s voice, “Dusty!” Applebloom and the other two came up to him, and at the same time… “Dusty?” Twilight came from the other side, “It’s time to continue our quest to find out cutie marks!” Scootaloo cheered, “Let’s go!” “Dusty, you promised we would spend more time together…” Twilight looked at him glumly, Dusty just stared at them, the three fillies looked upset, “Fine, have it your way…” Sweetie Belle hissed as the three began to walk away from sight, “Wait!” Dusty shouted, but the three didn't even acknowledge him. “I guess the wedding is off then.” Dusty turned to Twilight when she said that, tears streaming down her face, as she began to run away, “Twilight, wait!” he shouted, before they both ran out of sight, “What have I done?” he muttered to himself as he sat on the ground alone, he closed his eyes and let his head hang down. When Dusty finally opened his eyes, he found himself on the couch again with Twilight asleep on top of him, Dusty smiled as he rubbed her mane, Twilight slowly brought her head up, and gave a lazy smile as she stared down at him, “Good morning, my husband-to-be…” she muttered as she sneaked a kiss on his lips, Knock knock, came from the door, but no one moved, Knock knock, came again, and a knock came again but this time in the tune of “Shave and a haircut, 2 bits.” Which scared Dusty, Uh oh… he thought to himself as the door slammed open, revealing the five other ponies, Spike, and the CMC, Pinkie began to giggle, “Aww…” the CMC cooed in unison, “What in the hay?” Applejack went red, “Should I come back later?” Rainbow Dash looked like she was turning green, “Explanation, please?” Rarity sneered, “How could you, in front of the children!” Dusty stared at Twilight, then back at the door, “It’s not what it looks like?” Dusty gave a nervous chuckle, “I suppose we’ll just come back later…” Applejack closed the door, Twilight giggled and gave Dusty another kiss, “Well, that went well, didn’t it?” Twilight snuggled against him, “I love you, Dusty.” She said as she slid off him, “I’d better get home…” Twilight forced out, “Twilight, wait!” Dusty said as he felt a memory come back into his mind… A bell chimed as Dusty stepped inside the store, it was the day after Hearts and Hooves day, Twilight asked Dusty to be his special somepony already, and he wanted to give her a gift, but he didn’t know when to, that was the problem. So he decided to pick one out for when the moment ever called for it, “Dusty!” the clerk greeted, “How may I help you?” he asked, “A gift for a special pony no doubt?” Dusty nodded and the clerk nearly bounced with joy, “I knew you had it in you, what’s her name?” he asked, Dusty paused and smiled, “Twilight Sparkle.” He said, the clerk froze and stared at him, “Hoho!” the clerk laughed and gave Dusty a friendly hug, “Good job my friend, and at a perfect time too, we just received a new shipment and I think she will love this.” The clerk pulled out a display case holding a heart shaped amulet with a purple gem in the middle, “Normally, this would cost some pony a fortune, but for you, Dusty,” The clerk held it out, “It’s on the house.” Dusty was caught by surprise, “I can’t just take it, there has to be a catch, anything!” Dusty blurted, the clerk laughed, “Fine then, when you recognize your true feelings, I’d like to be there at your wedding day.” Dusty blushed, he never thought about marriage, “Thanks, bud!” Dusty called as he exited the store, “Bye, Dusty!” the clerk called as the door shut. Dusty went to a small drawer by his couch and opened it up, exposing the purple necklace inside a display case; he pulled it out and showed it to Twilight, “For you.” Twilight stared at it in awe, then slowly tears began to fall from her eyes, “It’s beautiful…” she sobbed, Dusty set it aside as Twilight wrapped her forearms around him, “Why are you so good to me?” she asked quietly, “I love you.” Dusty said, Twilight pulled away, “Can I stay the night?” she asked, Dusty held her hoof in his, “Of course.” Dusty replied, Twilight and Dusty talked the entire day through and as the sun was setting, they laid on the bed together, snuggling the whole night through. Just kidding!The air felt cool and smelled of nature, Dusty found that scent familiar, he opened his eyes to see Fluttershy’s cottage, with Fluttershy approaching him slowly, “Dusty, we need to talk.” Fluttershy padded the ground softly, “I don’t think this relationship is going to work, I think we should break up, She looked up at Dusty who was frozen in place, feeling like he just got shot in the heart, “Why?” Dusty managed to force out, It was going so well! Dusty couldn’t even cry, “I just…need some space.” Fluttershy turned and entered her cottage, leaving him alone in the morning sun. Knock knock, Twilight looked up, I’m not expecting anyone, she thought as she trotted to the door, opening it to reveal Dusty, “Oh…hi.” Twilight greeted, “Hey…we…we broke up.” Dusty sniffled, “I-I’m so sorry…” Twilight replied sadly, “That’s okay; it was a long time coming…” Dusty looked up at Twilight’s face, their eyes meeting, “Can I stay here tonight?” “Of course!” Twilight smiled, Dusty slowly stepped inside, stopping when he saw a book that looked all too familiar, Twilight saw the book, it was the story about Nightmare Moon, a book he and Fluttershy would read during the evenings, she picked it up and held it out to him, “Would you like to read it with me?” Twilight asked, “Sure…” Dusty muttered, A few minutes of reading passed, Twilight looked at Dusty and smiled sadly, Poor guy, Twilight thought, Dusty looked up at her, his expression made Twilight blush slightly, he looked content, “ Thanks for letting me stay the night.” Dusty said, Twilight smiled and patted him on the back, “Of course, we are friends right?” Twilight chuckled, as did Dusty, he looked out the window and noticed Fluttershy in the distance, I must move on… he thought to himself as he turned towards Twilight, and nearly fell over when she kissed him warmly, when she pulled back, she was wearing a necklace with a purple gem in the middle, Then a rooster crowed in the distance, waking Dusty from his loving dreams, he turned over to see a snoozing Twilight next to him, he attempted to slip out of bed when he noticed that Twilight was tugging on his arm in her sleep, She has a strong grip! Dusty thought as he attempted to pull his arm out, “Dusty needs his arm back…” Dusty whispered, Twilight mumbled something and turned over, Dusty walked toward his bedroom door and heard giggling, the giggling of a certain pink pony he knew, Please tell me I’m having a nightmare… he thought as he opened the door to his bedroom only to find that no one was there, but Dusty wasn’t convinced, he looked back and noticed movement coming from the bottom of his bed, followed by giggling, Dusty noticed that Twilight wasn’t in the bed anymore, “Very funny Twilight,” Dusty said as he looked under the bed, nothing. “BOO!” someone behind him shouted, screaming, Dusty jumped on top of the bed and attempted to climb under when a pink pony came out blowing a horn in his face, causing him to jump several feet in the air, and hitting the ground, Play dead…You got a plan… he said to himself as he went limp, and held his breath, “Dusty?” Twilight gasped, “Oh no, I think we scared the life out of him!” Pinkie yelled, as they both got near Dusty’s face, “BOO!” he shouted, causing them both to jump, “That’s for scaring me!” he laughed, and pretty soon the other two were laughing, Dusty felt the air go static around him, and he heard the last thing he wanted to hear, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER PRANKSTERS! YAY!” came from behind him, HONK! A horn blared out behind him and the other ponies, they all screamed and clutched each other, breathing heavily, Twilight looked angry but Dusty and Pinkie laughed heartily, “Good one!” Dusty commented, “With that stunt, I wouldn’t be surprised of you get a cutie mark as pranksters.” All three fillies gasped and looked at their flanks, nothing. “You’ll get there,” Pinkie giggled, “C’mon girls, let’s see if we can’t get you a cutie mark in being actors!” Pinkie and the three fillies cheered as they ran out of his house, “I was having a pleasant dream.” Twilight groaned, Dusty laughed and patted her on the back, “So was I, but now we have most of the day to spend together,” Dusty replied, sending a wave of excitement down his spine, Twilight chuckled, “You’re so handsome when you’re in the mood…” she flirted as she nuzzled his cheek, causing them to flare up, glowing red, “Just kidding!” Twilight pushed him back knocking him on the ground, landing with a grunt, he rubbed the back of his head and looked up at her, grabbed her by the hoof, and yanked her down laughing all the while, The scene reminded him of when he was a filly. “Come on, dude!” a filly shouted, little Dusty following closely behind, “We have to hurry before my parents get worried!” she shouted, “Wait up, Blueshield!” Dusty called, Soaring Blueshield was the filly’s name, as they neared Blueshield’s house, she stopped making Dusty nearly ram into her, “You okay, Blueshield?” Dusty asked, approaching his friend, “I’m fine,” Blueshield replied, “It’s just…my parents are mean when they disagree about something.” She sniffled, “Hey, It’s alright,” Dusty chuckled, “I’ll be right behind you one hundred percent of the way!” Dusty wrapped a forearm around Blueshield, “Just like friends do.” “Thanks, Bud…” Blueshield leaned against Dusty as a sort of hug, “You’re a good friend.” “We look out for each other, it’s what friends do.” Dusty responded with a grin, “Now c’mon, before your parents get worried.” He dragged Blueshield to the door, and she went inside, after a while she threw the door open, accidentally pushing Dusty off his feet, “Oh, snap, I’m sorry!” Blueshield squeaked, Dusty held out a hoof, and Blueshield took it just about to help him up when he pulled her down and they laid their laughing, “Get inside!” A gruff voice called, “Sorry, Dad!” Blueshield called back, she looked at Dusty, and Dusty at her, and they broke out laughing. I miss you, Blueshield. Dusty thought to himself as he stared into his fiancé's eyes, You and Twilight would've gotten along very well. Author's Note This chapter is inspired by the song Cycle of Love No More Games!Twilight sat at the foot of her bed, studying as usual, allowing her mind to drift and every now and then, she would think of Dusty and sigh, We haven’t spent much time together… Twilight thought, it seemed as though every time a month passed, their time they would spend together dropped by about five percent, but Twilight was grateful they still actually saw each other, and that was enough for her, Mrs. Cake assured her that this was going to happen and the best thing to do would be to either wait for him to confront her, or for her to confront him which was the more risky option, and Twilight wasn’t willing to risk jeopardizing their relationship, but today was different, she has waited too long and has long since gave up waiting, she just couldn’t find the time to confront Dusty as she had already made plans for the entire week, and today, Twilight had to go down to Sweet Apple Acres to help Applejack out with the harvesting of the orchard. After what seemed like an eternity, a knock came from the door, Twilight went downstairs expecting to see Spike answering the door for her, then she remembered that he said he was doing a “special task” given to him by a friend, and she wouldn’t lie, she missed her little dragon, partly because she would ask him for guy advice, which half the time was successful but Dusty didn’t need to know that, Twilight opened the door and saw Applejack, “Ready to go Twilight?” she asked, “Yeah,” Twilight answered blindly, not really paying attention, “Somethin’ on your mind, sugar cube?” Applejack asked suspiciously, “It’s just…” Twilight took a deep breath, “It’s about Dusty and me…” “Did he cheat on you?” Applejack growled, “Tell me where he is, I’ll take care of him personally!” “It’s not that!” Twilight shouted, at least, she hoped it wasn’t, “Well then, what’s the matter?” Applejack eased up slightly, “I feel like Dusty’s avoiding me about something,” Twilight admitted Applejack froze and began snickering about something, “I think he plans on asking you to marry him.” Twilight was just about to slap Applejack when she thought of the possibilities, and Twilight began to freak out with excitement, “Now hold on there, sugar cube.” Applejack commanded, “There may be a chance that he’s tryin’ to take advantage of you.” She leaned her head toward Twilight’s ear and whispered, “Do it before he does, see if he’s the real thing.” Applejack whispered, The real thing? Twilight wanted nothing more than to lecture Applejack saying that no pony could fool her, but she thought about it, and the more she did, the more pleasant the idea seemed, “Alright, Applejack, I think I will.” Twilight smiled, “Good, now come on, it’s time to harvest the orchard.” Applejack practically pulled Twilight out the door, and lead Twilight to the orchard, as they neared the orchard, Twilight noticed a blue streak across the sky, “Rainbow came to help, too.” Applejack explained when she noticed Twilight staring at the sky, “Doubt she’s going to stay long.” Applejack spat, those two always seemed to be at each other’s throats when it came to seeing who’s better, but whenever Rainbow and Dusty would compete, they would be laughing and having a good time, “C’mon now, let’s get buckin’ pronto.” Applejack fetched buckets from the barn and all three of them began bucking apples until Rainbow finally said, “I’m bored, I’m out of here.” And flew away, which only made Applejack scoff and start muttering to herself about how lazy Rainbow was, finally, the sun was just about to set and the two finally finished harvesting the orchard, “Thanks for your help, Twilight.” Applejack trotted off leaving Twilight to go and find Rainbow, as she kept walking, the sound of laughing children and adults became apparent, Twilight noticed a skate park and saw Dusty and Rainbow as well as the Cutie Mark Crusaders on roller-skates, she sat and watched a while smiling, it reminded her of those rare childish parents taking their kids to a park or something, finally after a while, the two friends collapsed and decided that they all should head home, Dusty didn’t seem to notice her as he passed her, Is this what it has come to? She thought sadly, “You’re pretty good at roller-skating, Dusty.” she commented, Dusty turned to face her, gasping, “So, you decided to go roller-skating with the fillies?” Twilight asked, frowning at Dusty, he was just about to respond when the Crusaders appeared out of nowhere, “Yeah!” Applebloom laughed, “It was so much fun!” Scootaloo replied, “And none of us got hurt…much.” Sweetie Belle giggled, “Well, I’m glad you three had Dusty to watch you.” Twilight chuckled, Oh, Dusty, you are so childish, she thought as she gave Dusty a kiss, “Thanks for watching them.” She said warmly, “It was my pleasure.” Dusty blushed, “Ew…” the three fillies wailed, leaving Dusty and Twilight giggling, “Oh, girls,” Twilight began, “One day, you’ll understand.” Dusty chimed in, “I would love to stay, but I need to pick up some things from the market.” Oh no you don’t… Twilight thought, “That’s alright, may I join you?” Twilight offered, “Of course!” Dusty replied, That went well… Twilight thought, “So, how was your day?” Twilight asked as they were walking, “It was pretty good,” Dusty replied, “At first, it was me and the fillies, then Rainbow decided to join us.” “Oh, she did, did she?” Twilight replied, You better not have tried anything, Rainbow… Twilight thought, He’s my stallion… “Oh, come on, Twilight.” Dusty chuckled, “Nothing happened between us.” And he gave her a peck on the cheek, “It’s not that, it’s just…” Twilight sighed, “We never spend as much time together as we used to.” How could you not see that?She thought, “Well, in that case, that will change.” He nuzzled her playfully, Twilight giggled as she gave him a shove, Dusty shoved back a bit harder, Twilight shoved him so hard he went flying and she galloped off laughing, “Come back here, you!” Twilight heard from behind her, Twilight slowed to a walk again as Dusty made his way back to her side again, “Anyway, how was your day?” Dusty asked, “Well, I helped Applejack with her harvesting of the orchard, Rainbow Dash was there too but said that she wanted some fun and took off.” Twilight gave a slight chuckle, “And that’s when I found you here with Rainbow and the fillies, you two looked like a mother and father on vacation with their kids.” She joked; Dusty blushed slightly and chuckled, “If it were me and you, then that would make sense.” Dusty replied, making Twilight’s face turn red, “You aren’t talking about…” Twilight stared at him, Don’t fall for it! She shouted in her mind, “Oh, look, here’s the market!” Twilight suddenly said, “Thanks for coming to help, Twilight.” Dusty nuzzled her as they went inside, Twilight waved back at a few ponies as they waved at them, “It’s good not having to keep our relationship a secret.” Dusty commented, giving Twilight a smooch on her cheek, “Yeah, but let’s not get dirty if you know what I mean.” Twilight gave a dirty look at Dusty, causing his face to glow bright red, “O—of course not!” he stuttered, “That just isn’t…appropriate since we’ve only been going out for…” “A year.” Twilight finished for him, “Right.” Dusty wiped is forehead, he stopped in some places to grab something, but each time, Twilight would carry it with her magic. After they finished their shopping, Dusty looked a bit depressed, “I guess this is goodbye?” Dusty asked, “Not if I can’t come over.” Twilight giggled, Dusty’s face lit up, and he nearly jumped with joy, “Well, of course you can!” he laughed, “It’s a date.” Twilight responded, followed by short laughter, Perfect, I can ask him when we get there. She thought, “Spike?” Dusty called as he opened the door, Twilight came up behind him looking back toward the library noticing the lights were on, Spike’s home, “Spike came home a few hours after I left.” Twilight explained, “Ah, I see.” Dusty replied, and sat on the couch, Twilight sat next to him, both staying quiet with nothing to say I have to ask him! She kept opening her mouth to speak but nothing came out, finally, Dusty started to speak, “Twilight?” “Yes, Dusty?” Twilight looked at him with hopeful eyes, Is he going to ask? Dusty looked down embarrassed, “I…” Dusty began to talk but he stopped mid-sentence, Oh, forget it! Twilight thought, as she knocked him on his back, “Twilight? Are you okay--” Oh, quiet, Dusty! She shouted mentally as she jumped on top of him and kissed him, No more games! she felt the tears stream down her face as she pulled away, “Dusty,” Twilight forced out, You can do it… “What’s wrong?” Dusty asked, obviously confused, Just four words… “Will you marry me?” Twilight asked, Dusty’s eyes shrank; I knew it was a lost cause… Twilight thought as she began to pull away, she felt Dusty pull her back down, “Of course I will my dear unicorn…” YES! Twilight cheered internally, she let herself collapse on top of him and slowly drifted off into sleep, You’ve made me the happiest mare alive… she thought, then chuckled, How cliché of me… An Anonymous VisitDusty trotted down the road, the streets suspiciously empty, everything was nice and quiet until… “Hey, Dusty!” Applebloom shouted as she and the two others rushed up to him, they all began talking at once, “Alright, one at a time!” Dusty shouted above the other three, he pointed to Applebloom, “We came up with this cool idea!” she said, Dusty pointed at Sweetie Belle, “We know you’re going to like it!” she squeaked, then at Scootaloo, “We’re going to explore the Everfree Forest!” Scootaloo said, all three of them took a deep breath and shouted in unison, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER EXPLORERS! YAY!” Yay? Dusty cringed, “Come on, Dusty!” Scootaloo shouted as the three ran off, Well, I can’t stop them now, Dusty thought as he galloped after them, the least he could do was make sure they got out unscathed, the ponies passed Fluttershy’s cottage, sadly, she wasn’t home to give them the stare, It’s probably for the best… Dusty thought, Fluttershy wouldn’t really be happy to see me after she found out about me and Twilight. To Dusty’s understanding Fluttershy does not want to see him at all, and he could understand that, they once loved each other, and it’s just hard to see your ex fawning after another, it just didn’t seem cricket, Dusty completely understood that, but sometimes she seemed to take it too far, to barely talking to him to giving him the stare when he would try to apologize, Dusty knew Fluttershy didn’t like to use the stare, it seemed pretty outlandish but a lot of outlandish things happen in Equestria, it didn’t strike him as anything unusual, now if only he could… “Dusty!” Sweetie Belle tugged at his mane, “Ow, hey!” he looked down at her finally paying attention, “Are you going to come?” she asked, Dusty looked at the other two fillies who looked as though they were waiting for hours, “Oh, yeah, sure.” Dusty responded, finally every pony ventured forth, Scootaloo in front, Applebloom behind, and Dusty with Sweetie Belle following close behind, Scootaloo was having a conversation with Applebloom about something but Dusty didn’t pay attention, Why am I letting them go through with this? He began to think, his train of thought was cut off as Scootaloo tripped over what looked like a curved thorn, “Are you alright, Scootaloo?” Dusty rushed to help the little pegasus, an ear piercing shriek rang out, as well as a beastly roar, Dusty turned to see a beast looming over them A manticore… he thought fascinated, the thought hit him, I got to get the fillies out of here… so he scooped them up, had them hold on to his back as he galloped as fast as he could, Where is the way out? He thought to himself, he heard heavy breathing behind him, and realized that the manticore was faster than he had thought, every few seconds he would hear the fillies scream or gasp at random intervals, it didn’t impair his running, just annoyed him, and that impaired his running, “If you’re about to scream, cover your mouth!” he ordered, and that had helped as he noticed the distance between him and the manticore, and finally, Fluttershy’s cottage came in sight, as the adrenaline started pumping, he wasn’t paying attention, he didn’t see the log and when he did, it was too late, out of instinct he threw the fillies toward Fluttershy’s cottage, “Run!” he ordered, and they did, leaving him and the manticore to fate. “Look out, here comes Scoots!” a voice rang out, suddenly Dusty was on a scooter, and riding towards Ponyville, “Oh, hi Scootaloo.” He said nonchalantly, “Good timing.” “Thanks, want me to drop you by your house?” Scootaloo asked as if she were the adult, and he the foal, “Sure, that would be nice, thanks.” Dusty smiled, Scootaloo gave a little kid grin and suddenly stopped, “We’re here!” Scootaloo shouted like a train conductor, “Thanks, Scoots.” Dusty hopped off, “I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” “You bet!” And with that, Scootaloo rode off, Dusty turned and when into his room, and saw a note on his bedroom door, it was a list, to put it into detail, it was a list of things to get ready for the wedding, and Twilight had emphasized the fact that she wanted it done in order. “Oh, Twilight…” Dusty chuckled, “You and your neatness.” Dusty took the list and read over it, finally, he heard rustling, followed by a small whimper, sounding similar to Spike when he runs out of gems, “Spike?” Dusty asked as he drew bag the leaves of a plant in the corner, “Oh, thank Celestia, it’s only you…” Spike wiped his forehead, “I need some help here,” he said in distress, Dusty nodded in acknowledgement, “Twilight has been asking me for advice on guys, and she won’t leave me alone and each time she asks me for advice, it always leads up to her having fantasies about you and it just makes me want to vomit!” Spike started retching; Dusty panicked and brought him a plastic bag, which Spike began throwing up in, “Wait a second, You’re in love with Rarity and Twilight complains about you talking in your sleep about her,” Dusty glared at him, Spike eyes widened but he looked down ashamed, “I know, I can’t help it though!” He hugged Dusty’s forearm and pleaded, “Please, please get her to stop! I’ll do anything!” Dusty thought about it for a second then looked up at his list, “Anything?” Dusty chuckled, he held out the list, “Get my wedding ready for me.” Spike took it with enthusiasm, “Oh, thank you, Dusty!” Spike hugged Dusty and ran off, “What a crazy dragon…” Dusty said aloud as he watched Spike prance down the street like the time when he got a ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala, he sat on his chair for a short while until a knock came from the door, he opened the door revealing a yellow coated pony with a black and red mane, he stood there like a teenage pony would do, he pushed up his sunglasses and Dusty finally yelped, “Steam Gadget!” Dusty exclaimed, “What’s happenin’ my bud?” Steam Gadget responded giving Dusty a high five, “Heard you were gettin’ married, and you didn’t send me an invitation?” Dusty chuckled nervously, “I just got it processed through my head, sorry about that.” “Don’t worry ‘bout it,” Steam Gadget chuckled and took off his sunglasses, revealing his amethyst eyes, “Am I gonna be your best stallion?” he chuckled, Dusty thought of it, his buddy standing next to him banging his head to wedding dubstep music, “You’ve helped me out with Twilight for so long, you figure that out,” Dusty chuckled, “So, that’s a no?” Steam Gadget responded sarcastically, Dusty looked at him bitterly, “I'm kidding, bro, I’m kidding.” “Honestly, I got to thank you for giving me that amulet, Twilight absolutely died over it.” Dusty laughed, “She died?” Steam Gadget chuckled, “That’s not good.” “Gadget…” Dusty looked at him annoyed, “C’mon bro, cut me some slack, I ain’t seen you in forever.” Steam Gadget gave Dusty a bro-hug, “Shouldn’t you be plannin’ the wedding?” Steam Gadget asked, “I got someone helping me, in exchange that I stop Twilight from asking him for guy advice.” Dusty chuckled, as did Steam Gadget, “Is that the dragon who begged me for a certain necklace for a pony named Rarity?” he asked, “That’s him.” Dusty responded, “Never seen a dragon cry before, it was awesome.” Steam Gadget began to laugh, and Dusty laughed as well, “Man, it’s been so long.” Dusty blurted, “Yeah, man.” Gadget and Dusty stayed up all night playing on a game system that Gadget pulled out of some random place, Dusty never understood how he did that but he paid it no attention, since Dusty had the consistency of appearing in places where he really shouldn’t, We’re all a bunch of misfits. Dusty thought, suddenly a noise came out of the television, “You killed me again! We’re on the same team!” Dusty shouted, “I know that, it’s just hilarious to see you rage at the game.” Steam Gadget responded, Dusty grumbled, You’re going to get it… he thought. Author's Note Thanks to my good friend I am Steam Gadget for letting me give him a special appearance in my story. World of DecisionsDusty waved Steam Gadget off as he left to go back to the jewelry shop, somehow Steam Gadget was able to get a job there but he wouldn’t tell Dusty where he lived, so he just guessed that Gadget still lived in that old apartment at Manehattan, but that kind of seemed ridiculous, I doubt he would continually get on a train to Ponyville every morning, he doesn’t have the money or the mental capacity to do that, Dusty thought, but this would have to be an adventure for later, for now, Dusty had to see if Spike held his end of the bargain, Dusty stepped outside and was nearly blinded by the sun as he forgot what time it was, with a groan of pain, he covered his eyes and collapsed, I hate Mondays!, “Dusty!” A voice rang out, and he felt someone pick him up, How is it that when I hurt myself, someone is always right there to help me? He thought, Must be some sort of conspiracy, “Can’t see…can’t see…” he kept muttering, his eyes hurt a lot, he couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or not, either way, everything was a contingent of random colors, “How do you always get caught in these situations?” the voice asked, “Who’s there?” Dusty shouted in a random direction, “It’s me, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow Dash responded, Dusty saw a bright splotch of light blue in his vision, “Oh, hey Rainbow, how’s it going?” he asked nonchalantly, Absolutely nothing is going on, he thought to himself, “You promised we’d go roller-skating today, and I find you covering your eyes cowering on the ground, and we are on our way to Twilight to see if she can’t help at all,” she explained, and he realized they were in the air, finally, Rainbow Dash presumably finally landed because he heard the knocking of a door, “Oh, hey Rainbow—DUSTY!” Twilight shouted, Rainbow quickly explained what happened, and Dusty heard a door slam shut and after a few minutes, open up again, “Stand still,” Twilight commanded, not that Dusty had a choice, if he moved, it would hurt his eyes, the twinkling of magic was heard, and after a few minutes, his vision slowly returned to behold the purple unicorn, with librarian glasses on, “Can you see?” she asked, Dusty didn’t know if he was hallucinating or not so just in case, he asked, “Are you wearing glasses right now?” and Twilight looked at him in relief, “Yes, I am wearing glasses.” She pushed them up slightly, as if to show them off, “You look pretty good—WHOA!” Dusty shouted as Rainbow dropped him on the ground, “Dusty?” Rainbow motioned towards the skate park, “Remember?” “Oh, right, roller-skating.” Dusty gave Twilight a kiss, “Thanks Twilight, I’ll see you around.” He stopped midway as the CMC came up to him, asking them to join them on yet another life risking quest, “Dusty?” Twilight called, “Can we talk?” she asked, Dusty felt time freeze as his mind wandered from each choice he had, Twilight is my fiancé, she deserves my respect, he thought, his mind drifted to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Now’s my chance to prove my meddle, and find my cutie mark, plus, these kids need a bodyguard, then his mind drifted to Rainbow, Friends are important, and I should treat Rainbow as such. They continued to wander in his mind, and then he looked toward his home, Home is where the heart is…and mine needs rest. “Well, Dusty?” Rainbow said, “Come on, Dusty, let’s get our cutie marks!” Scootaloo commanded, “Dusty, this is really important…” Twilight’s voice became bitter, Dusty stood helpless in the middle of the ponies surrounding him, whatever choice he would make would affect his life in a certain way, each one held a purpose, Dusty turned to Twilight, then to the fillies, then to Rainbow Dash, he just couldn’t decide on what to choose, and he wasn’t going to just run to his home and cower in the corner, he had to choose,. Though the choice was hard, he finally made up his mind, he looked at Rainbow, “I’ll stop by your place when I’m done here.” Rainbow nodded, and actually gave a smile, Dusty felt his heart ease, and he looked at the Crusaders, “I am sorry, I can’t join you on your quest today, but if I have time, I’ll meet up with you.” Dusty said, the Crusaders all smiled and ran off, Dusty finally turned to Twilight, “What do you need to talk about?” Dusty asked, Twilight motioned for Dusty to come inside, he turned around and pushed the door shut, as he turned back around, Twilight was a few centimeters from his face, and when she did that, he knew something would happen, he looked over her shoulder and saw a foal, but the young’un looked similar to Dusty, “You’re a father, Dusty.” Twilight said, Dusty didn’t understand, he shot a questioning glance at Twilight, “She’s your daughter.” She smiled, “Papa!” the toddler clapped and waddled towards Dusty, his eyes began watering as he laughed at the goofy little kid, he lifted the foal up and nuzzled her, “She’s beautiful…” Dusty nearly cried, “I knew you would approve, but now you need to wake up…” Twilight began to tear up, and with a flash of light, Dusty woke up on his couch, the game system that Gadget brought over was stacked sloppily in front of the television, the word that the foal spoke rang in his mind, and a longing for a family forced his way into his mind, In due time… he thought to himself, he got up and ate a hearty breakfast, until some pony knocked on the door, Dusty got up lazily and opened the door and saw Rainbow, “Hey, Dusty, you ready?” Rainbow asked, handing Dusty a pair of roller-skates, Dusty slipped them on and gave Rainbow a challenging look, “First one to the skate park wins!” Dusty shouted as he bounded off, with Rainbow right next to him as they raced toward the skate park, his mind would wander at the thought of a family and pictured the foal from his dreams, Eclipse… he thought, Yes, that sounds like a good name… Dusty and Rainbow eventually arrived at the skate park, and Dusty tried to force the image of the foal out of his mind, In due time, Dusty! He told himself. Author's Note Almost didn't get this published in time! What a relief! Outfitted for his New Life“So, Dusty,” Rainbow Dash shifted in her seat on the park bench, it was about half an hour after they went roller-skating, and Rainbow wanted to talk with him about a personal topic, “I know it may seem awkward to ask this, but…” Rainbow cleared her throat, “What’s it like being in love?” she asked, Dusty raised an eyebrow at her, “I know what you’re going to say,” Rainbow tried to imitate Dusty’s voice, “You keep talking about your weird fantasies about the Wonderbolts.” Dusty had to be honest, it was a good impression, Rainbow turned towards him in her seat, “That is different, I don’t know what love feels like and even I know that isn’t what it is.” Dusty had never seen Rainbow like this, Dusty tried to find a way to explain it, “I guess love feels like the longing of wanting to be with another, you know, kissing, hugging, and at one point, marriage.” Dusty explained, Rainbow scooted back a bit, “Do you think any pony might be in love with me?” she asked, “Be honest.” She suddenly added, Dusty began thinking, there was a pegasus who Rainbow would hang out with, and Dusty would sometimes notice him just staring at her mane at times, he noticed this because he usually was there with them, “Well, I know this one pony, what was his name again…” Dusty began thinking, “He has a winged lightning bolt as a cutie mark,” he described, Rainbow seemed to scoot back a bit more, “And if I recall, you had…saved his pie during the Grand Galloping Gala” Dusty snickered, Rainbow’s expression went from horrified, to absolute glee, “Soarin’?” Rainbow chirped, “That’s it,” Dusty nodded, that was the name, “Do you really think he likes me?” she asked, her wings jutting out in excitement, “Well, it may just so happen that one morning he had told me that he was in love with you and wanted to tell you himself but he just couldn’t find the courage to do so.” Dusty recalled that day, Soarin’ burst through the front door of Dusty’s home, breathing heavily as if he ran a marathon, Dusty stared at him confusedly, “I need to talk to you, Dusty, it’s very important!” he exclaimed, Dusty raised an eyebrow, “Alright, sit down,” Dusty replied, and when Soarin’ sat down Dusty took a seat next to him, “What do you need?” he asked, “I have to tell you a secret, and whatever you do, do not tell any pony, especially Rainbow Dash!” he looked around the room frantically, “Relax, no one else is here.” Dusty reassured, Soarin’ finally calmed down a little and sighed, “I think I’m in love with Rainbow Dash.” Soarin’ cringed; Dusty stared at him with surprised expression, and smiled, “Well, that’s great news!” Dusty responded, “But why come to me?” he asked, “I mean, I barely know you, you barely know me,” Dusty continued, “Another question is, how did you know where I live?” Dusty blurted out, “Pinkie Pie,” Soarin’ responded, “Right…” Dusty shrugged, “I barely know you, that’s true, but you are closer to Rainbow Dash then even Applejack!” he exclaimed, “Information given by Rainbow Dash.” He added as if he was a commercial, Dusty had to admit, Rainbow and Dusty hung out together a lot, sometimes with Applejack, sometimes without, though he never considered Rainbow a friend, more of a play pal, “Fine, but on one condition,” Dusty gave Soarin’ a devious look, “And that is?” Soarin’ responded grumpily, “If you don’t tell her within the month, I will tell her myself, possibly followed by an insult.” Dusty chuckled, “Fine, whatever, it’s a deal.” Soarin’ opened the door and slammed it shut, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it!” Rainbow hovered with excitement; Dusty looked up in the air and saw Soarin’ flying towards them, Oh, so now you show up. Dusty thought, “Rainbow Dash, I have to tell you something!” Soarin’ quavered; Rainbow tackled him before he could say anything and squealed, “I love you too, Soarin’!” she gave Soarin’ a kiss and flew off him, Soarin’ gave Dusty a look, and all Dusty did was shrug, but other than that, Soarin’ looked happy, Ah, love… Dusty thought, his mind drifted towards Twilight, suddenly his train of thought was broken when Rainbow hugged Dusty, “Thank you so much, Dusty!” Rainbow finally let him go of her choking embrace, Dusty finally remembered, “The wedding!” he shouted out loud, Soarin’ stared at him, “Isn’t it a bit early for that?” Soarin’ asked, Dusty nearly slapped himself, “I’m talking about my wedding, I have to go, bye you two!” he waved as he ran off, hoping to find Spike, he ran to the first place that came to mind, the Carousel Boutique, opening the door, Rarity came out with her same usual greeting but stopped mid-sentence, “Oh, hello, Dusty…” Rarity glared at him, “Come to apologize for what you did?” she presumed, Oh Celestia, can’t she let that go? Dusty remembered when they barged in on him and Twilight at the worst of times, “Yes, I’m sorry about that, anyway, have you seen—“ Dusty was interrupted by Spike’s voice, “I found it Rarity, where do you want me to put it?” he called as he came downstairs, “Over there on the table, darling.” Rarity responded, Spike placed a bundle of fabric on a table and waved at Dusty, “Hi, Dusty.” Spike greeted, Dusty gave a small wave and immediately began to ask, “Did you get the wedding all sorted out?” he forgot that Rarity was right next to him, “A wedding?” Rarity chirped, “How come you didn’t tell me sooner?” she asked, shaking Dusty to the point where everything was spinning, “I have to get a dress ready for Twilight!” after she said that, Twilight came through the door, Speak of the devil and she doth appear, Dusty thought to himself, Rarity already began speaking, “Congratulations on your wedding, Twilight!” Rarity hugged Twilight, “I will start working on a dress for you, and a suit for the loving groom!” Rarity squealed with delight, Dusty shivered slightly, “You told Rarity about our wedding?” Twilight asked, “Well, actually, I was asking Spike if he got the wedding sorted out and I forgot Rarity was standing right next to me…” Dusty admitted, Twilight chuckled and put an arm around him, “Don’t worry about it; your timing couldn’t have been better.” Twilight chatted, Dusty was relieved, after about a few minutes Rarity found Twilight’s gala dress, “Would this not be perfect for a wedding?” Rarity asked, holding out the dress, Dusty nodded slowly out of instinct, Twilight chuckled, “It’s perfect, Rarity, but what about Dusty?” she patted him on the back, “Can’t have him waltzing down the aisle without a suit on.” Dusty nodded in agreement, Rarity actually seemed stumped, suddenly she pushed Dusty on some sort of modeling stand and began taking measurements, cutting out fabrics and sewing them together, and on occasion, combing and cutting bangs off his hair, and repeating that process for about a few minutes when she squished a tuxedo on him and pushed a mirror in front of him, “What do you think, darling?” Rarity asked, Dusty was completely dumbfounded when he looked in the mirror, he was wearing a white suit with a yellow bow tie, his hair was cut neat and no longer had the wild spiky look, Dusty blindly put a hoof to his mane, feeling a bit depressed about his new hairstyle, he enjoyed the wild spiky look that he had, now he looked…formal, but still, he couldn’t help but smile in the mirror, “I have to be honest, I kinda like it!” Dusty made different poses in the mirror, he looked at Twilight, “What do you think?” he asked happily, Twilight stared at him and ran a hoof through his mane, “I love it, thank you so much Rarity!” Twilight turned to Rarity, “It’s quite alright, darling; after all, we are friends.” Rarity chuckled, as they both hugged, “Thanks for the makeover, Rarity.” Dusty smiled, Rarity gave a sort of half-smile, It’s going to take some time for her to get over what she saw… he chuckled, Spike poked Dusty on the shoulder and showed him the list, “Everything is ready, when do we start?” Spike asked, Dusty thought about it and started whispering in Twilight’s ear, “How about a week from today?” he whispered, “Sounds good, gives us some time to round up some guests.” She whispered back, Dusty nodded and turned towards Spike again, “I want you to tell Pinkie to send out invitations to the others; the wedding will start a week from today, at noon.” Dusty ordered, “But where will it take place?” Spike asked, Darn, didn’t think about that… he thought, he turned to Twilight for help, “I will take care of that.” Twilight said, Spike began scribbling down on the list that was given to Dusty, “All right!” Spike bounded off, nearly slamming the door shut behind him, “I am sorry to cut things short but I should return home, and invite my parents, perhaps they’d be happy to see me after all these years.” Dusty began walking out the door, when Twilight grabbed him by the tail, Dusty nodded, already knowing what she was going to ask and opened the door for Twilight, it was a long walk home and once they got home, the moon was starting to come out, “Let’s get some shuteye.” Dusty said, normally he would ask if she wanted the bed but since they were engaged, he didn’t really care, they both slipped into the bed, and Twilight draped an arm over Dusty, “I love you…” she muttered, “And I you…” Dusty managed to say before drifting off into sleep. Canterlot, Here We Come!Dusty sat on his desk with a quill sliding over the parchment, every now and then he would dip the quill in the ink and continue writing a few more lines, Twilight looked over his shoulder, fascinated by his handwriting, it was not too casual, not too elegant, “I spent most of my years writing.” Dusty said as he wrote on the parchment, writing in long strides as if it were a painting of words, each one laid out in orderly fashion like piecing a puzzle together, he took the parchment, wrapped it in an envelope and glued stamps on each letter he made, and sent the letters to his parents, hoping they still live in the same place, “Do you think my parents will receive the letter?” Dusty asked Twilight, “I’m sure.” Twilight responded, Dusty nodded and a sudden thought struck him, “Hey, Twilight, you said that you’d take care of where we are having the wedding,” Dusty began, “Yes, I did say that.” Twilight replied, raising a questioning eyebrow at him, “Well, where is the wedding going to be?” Dusty asked, Twilight smiled making Dusty even more curious, “Ever been to Canterlot?” she asked, Dusty stared at her as if she were lying, “You didn’t.” He gasped, Twilight slowly nodded, “We’re going to Canterlot?” “We sure are.” Twilight replied, “I have already notified Princess Celestia, everything will be in order in time for the ceremony.” Dusty couldn’t believe his ears, he was going to Canterlot, a place he had dreamed of going for years, and on top of all that, he would meet Princess Celestia! “I can’t believe it, thank you!” Dusty hugged Twilight, after Dusty let go, Twilight began padding the ground, “Let’s head home.” Dusty said as he trotted off back to his house, he looked behind him and Twilight hadn’t moved from her spot, “Twilight?” Dusty approached her, she seemed to be mumbling to herself, “Twilight,” he gave her a slight push, “Twilight!” he raised his voice, Twilight finally looked up at him as if nothing happened, “What?” she asked, Dusty raised an eyebrow, “You were kind of mumbling to yourself about something.” He said, Twilight looked away, her cheeks going red, Dusty chuckled, “What were you mumbling about, anyway?” he asked out of curiosity, “Nothing important, really.” Twilight responded, Dusty took her word for it and trotted back toward his house, he looked behind him and saw Twilight walking towards the library, Oh, she’s leaving… he thought as he shut the door, he turned around and saw Gadget sitting on his couch, “Oh, hey Gadget.” Dusty greeted, Gadget took off his sunglasses and stared at him straight in the eyes, it was uncomfortable since Gadget rarely ever took off his sunglasses, “Remember when we got stuck on that island?” he asked, “FORESHADOWING!” Pinkie's shouts were heard, “Was that Pinkie Pie?” Gadget asked, “I think it was,” Dusty chuckled, “And yes, it’s hard not to remember that day.” “It’s hard to believe we used to be bitter enemies.” Gadget sighed, “And now look at us, we seem practically inseparable.” Dusty chuckled, remembering the ridiculous fights they would have, “Yeah, those were the days…” he sighed, “So, let’s get down to business, where’s the wedding taking place?” Gadget asked, “I know that is what you two were talking about.” “You were spying on us?” Dusty inquired, Gadget nodded, You are way too honest, brother. Dusty thought, “We’re going to Canterlot.” He said, “Canterlot?” Gadget cocked his head, “Cool, fancy pants city.” He chuckled, Dusty rolled his eyes and sat next him, “Want to play video games?” Gadget asked, “Sure,” Dusty grabbed a controller, Is Twilight hiding something from me? Dusty thought as he tapped on the controller, “Dude!” Gadget shouted, “You said we were on the same team!” “That was for yesterday.” Dusty chuckled, Don’t mess with Dusty. Dusty looked at himself in the mirror, he had on his outfit for his wedding and was amazed by how good it matched him, “Hey, Dusty!” Gadget called from the door as he walked in, “Hi, Gadget.” Dusty greeted, it was the two days before the wedding and Dusty was meant to get on the train to Canterlot after his parents show up, “I just met with your parents; they just got off the train.” Gadget informed, “How did you—“ Dusty stopped mid-sentence, “Oh right, wings.” Dusty chuckled, he turned and noticed Gadget was all dressed up as well, “Wow, nice outfit.” Gadget chuckled, “This used to be my grandfather’s, passed down from generation to generation.” Gadget boasted, “Yeah, well…” Dusty chuckled, Gadget went next to Dusty, faced the mirror and pulled out a cellphone, “Selfie!” he shouted as he took a picture, Dusty stared at the phone, “Where did you even get that?” Dusty inquired, “Magic.” Gadget responded, Dusty felt irritated, but before he could say anything, he heard a knock on the door, he opened the door revealing an older mare with an orange coat and yellow mane, similar to Dusty, and a stallion who had a yellow mane as well and a grey coat, it reminded Dusty of the mail pony who usually accidentally crashes through his window, “Mom…Dad…” Dusty nearly collapsed in tears, “Son…” his father muttered, already beginning to cry, after a while of the two staring at each other Dusty let loose a laugh and wrapped his arms around his parents, “We missed you, Dusty…” his mother said between sobs, pretty soon Dusty felt tears streaming down his face, “I am so glad you could make it…” Dusty’s voice cracked, “We wouldn’t miss it for the world…” his father replied, finally the three pulled back and Dusty’s mother finally realized he was wearing his suit, “Oh my, Dusty!” his mother exclaimed, “You look absolutely sharp!” Dusty’s father nodded in agreement, causing Dusty to blush a bit, “Uh, guys?” Gadget chimed in, “We should probably head out,” Dusty looked at the clock in the corner and nodded, “Let’s go pick up Twilight.” Dusty said as he began to leave, “That wouldn’t be necessary,” Twilight said as his parents moved aside for her, she was dressed in her gala dress, and Dusty couldn’t help but stare, “We met your fiancé on the way here.” His mother explained, “And I must say she is beautiful.” She gave a smile to Twilight, who blushed slightly, “Well, let’s hurry before the train leaves.” Dusty’s father chuckled, every pony walked out in an orderly fashion and boarded the train just as it was about to leave, “Canterlot, here we come!” Dusty cheered as the train started moving. Rushing ThingsDusty dropped every ones luggage in the baggage car humming happily to himself, starting from lightest to heaviest as to save his energy for the bigger ones, but there was one he couldn't lift up at all, "Let me try, sugar cube." Applejack appeared behind him nearly scaring Dusty half to death. With no effort at all, Applejack was able to lift up the rest of the luggage into random spots, the most heaviest bags were Pinkie's bags and Dusty didn't even want to know what was in them, "Thanks, AJ." Dusty grinned, watching her muscles strain was...pleasant, he felt his face go hot as he turned away, Here I go again... Gadget, please save me before I do something stupid! he pleaded, but no one answered his prayers as he kept watching, and the worst part is he was right behind her, AJ finally found a bag she couldn't lift up and bent over to try and get a better grip on it, Can't move. Dusty kept repeating in his mind as she kept swinging her tail left and right in concentration, "Need some help?" Dusty asked while trying to avoid staring in the wrong places, "Nah, I got it..." she grunted, it was obvious she didn't but Dusty didn't do anything, "Uh, sugar cube?" Applejack faced him, "Could you please not stand behind me while I'm doing this?" Dusty regained control to his body, "You're making me a bit uncomfortable." "Sorry about that, just wanted to give you some space." Dusty lied, hoping that Applejack actually bought the story as he stepped aside a bit, she continued to struggle and Dusty sighed, "Alright, let me help—" Applejack snarled at him, "I don't need any help!" she snapped, after AJ yelled she sighed and gave an annoyed look at Dusty, "I'm sorry." She jeered, as she moved aside a bit to let Dusty help, he smiled and they were able to lift it off the ground together, "That wasn't so bad now, was it?" Dusty teased, AJ chuckled and shoved him, "Take it easy, sugar cube, I may be single but you..." she pointed a hoof at him, "You're getting married." Dusty stared at her in disbelief, "Oh, come on." AJ shrugged, "You didn't think I didn't know what you were staring at?" Dusty stared at the ground, "Alright, cut the sad act." AJ chuckled and gave Dusty a pat on the back nearly knocking the air out of him with all the muscle she has, "It's normal for a stallion in your position to do somethin' like that, it's natural." Dusty sighed in relief at the remark, at least it was normal for him to do that, "Now, I want you to try something." AJ got close up to Dusty's face, "Now this may seem obvious, but try and not do what you were just doing before, or else I will bust your flank." she flicked her head towards the other compartment door, and Dusty knew what she meant, No! he shouted mentally, Please don't tell Twilight! he pleaded as he pictured himself at AJ's feet begging for dear life, "You understand me?" Applejack gave him a stern look and Dusty nodded frightfully, returning to the compartment with everyone else, he sat on a berth shaking in fear of what would happen if Twilight knew what he did, suddenly he heard someone whisper in his ear, "I saw what you were doing..." and just like that, Dusty fainted. Dusty sat in the dining car with a paper bag next to him as he was feeling a little sick, most likely because he nearly had a heart attack, and maybe the fact that it was AJ who had done it made him feel even worse, "Are you in need of another bag, sir?" a mare asked as she approached him, "Nah, I'm fi—" Dusty almost finished his sentence when he blew chunks into the brown bag, "Alright...I need another bag," The mare nodded and came back with another paper bag, even though Dusty felt better, he grabbed it just in case, "You know, you look quite handsome, are you single?" she asked, Dusty gave her a 'what the hay?' look, "I'm getting married." He glared at the mare, who began chuckling, "Good, then you wouldn't mind if I gave you some advice?" the mare gave a devious smirk when Dusty realized he fell for her trick, "Alright, hit me." Dusty took a drink of water and listened intently, "Treat her good, don't question her motives, and do not insult her unless you want to end up getting bucked hard in the forehead." The mare poked him on the forehead, causing a chill to go down his spine, "Got that, sir?" she asked keeping the respect in her voice, which scared Dusty, "I got it, I got it." Dusty replied, starting to feel sick again. Twilight laid on her berth and stared out the window, the wild nature was beautiful in itself, but still, she had her mind glued on the wedding in Canterlot, she was thinking about Dusty's reaction when she told him the news and was surprised when she found out that Dusty has never even set foot in Canterlot, though she did tell him about Rainbow and Soarin's pie, but that wasn't enough. He deserved more, and she will give him more, a lot more. She felt embarrassed when Dusty almost found out what she had wanted for so long, and what Mrs. Cake has boated about for such a long time, a family. Twilight knew it was wrong to think such things at such an early date, but that feeling still lingered within her, gnawing at her like Pinkie and cotton candy. The thought alone of a little filly calling her "Mama" was almost enough to make her... "Twilight!" Rainbow gave Twilight a shove, she looked at the rainbow maned pony who was pointing at a window on the compartment door and saw Dusty behind Applejack as she tried lifting a heavy bag that was pink and covered in a bunch of stickers, which she immediately assumed belonged to Pinkie, Twilight chuckled as she saw what Dusty was doing, He always seemed to have a thing for country ponies... She thought, Dusty approached Applejack and she snapped at him which made Twilight shoot up, Rainbow held her back, "Let me go!" she quietly grunted at Rainbow, "Just watch..." Rainbow winked, Applejack was poking Dusty on the forehead and he went through the compartment door not even noticing Twilight, she couldn't blame him, he looked like he just saw a ghost. He climbed up on the berth and sat there rocking slightly, Twilight had a funny idea and leaned closer and closer to Dusty's ear, she looked at Applejack who came through and pointed at Dusty while winking, she stifled a laugh as Twilight whispered in his ear, "I saw what you were doing..." and he went green as he fainted, Applejack laughed hard which got the attention of his parents, who noticed he had fainted and began laughing too. Twilight laid down next to him and whispered in his ear, "I can't wait until we start our own family..." She whispered, knowing that he wouldn’t hear him, Dusty mumbled something hilarious, "Oh, that's cool, can't wait..." he mumbled, Oh, Dusty... Twilight blindly stroked his mane, but she began wondering, did he mean that? Dusty held the paper bag in front of him, waiting for another wave of nausea to crush him, but it didn't happen, which made him happy. Dusty looked at the plate of food in front of him, something was bugging him; he swore that AJ wasn't the one who said that as a harmless prank like she said she did, no, Dusty new it was someone else, and that someone was Twilight, he was sure of it, since AJ is stuck with a country accent and that isn't what he heard before he fainted. "Sir?" that same mare dropped a bill in front of him for the small amount of food he ordered to help clear his stomach, the mare dropped a pen in front of him and he lifted it with his magic and after he took care of the bill, he left a hefty tip for the mare who gave him a friendly pat on the back, "Thank you, sir." She smiled, though Dusty ignored it and was about to open the door when he heard muffled speaking, he took a small glass cup from one of the tables and put it against the door and pushed his ear against it, "Are you sure, Twilight?" Dusty heard from Applejack, "I agree, you two haven't even been wed yet." His mother said, Okay, now this is weird... Dusty listened closer, "I know it looks like I am rushing things, but I love him, and the thought of a little filly calling me "Mother" just makes me want to..." Twilight's voice began to break, "It would make me the happiest mare in Equestria to know that he feels the same way..." "I understand, Twilight Sparkle..." Dusty's father reassured, "But if he doesn't, then what will you do?" No response came. Dusty opened the compartment door and looked at Twilight, then at the others, then gave a fake grin, "What did I miss?" he asked, Pinkie hopped up, "Oh, Twilight wants—" Rainbow covered Pinkie's mouth, Dusty stared at her and Rainbow gave a fake grin, "Twilight wants to tell you she loves you!" Rainbow lied, Dusty looked at Twilight, "She has a sore throat!" Dusty's mother lied, his father quickly nodded, an idea popped into Dusty's head, "Well in that case, I suppose I should get her some tea." Dusty grabbed Twilight by her hoof and almost dragged her into the dining car and sat her down on a table, "Twilight, I heard what you said." Dusty explained, Twilight stared down at the table blushing, "I'm sorry, I just don't know what got into me..." Twilight's voice cracked, "Don't be," Twilight looked up at Dusty, he paused for a moment, "I feel the same way." "What can I get you two?" the same mare from last time asked, "I'm not hungry, obviously." Dusty joked, "I just left." The mare gave a small chuckle, "How about the misses?" she asked, "Some tea would be nice." Twilight smiled and pointed a hoof at her throat, as if to point out that she had a sore throat which she didn't, the mare smiled and left, she returned a few seconds later with a tea set, and filled a small cup with tea and pushed it toward Twilight, "Enjoy." The mare winked at Dusty and mouthed, "Doing good, kid." The moon began to rise as the two laid on the same berth, it felt like they were still in Ponyville, in his home on the couch, Twilight giggled and Dusty grinned at her, "Just like old times, eh?" "Well, not that old." Twilight replied, Dusty chuckled, attempting not to wake any pony else, "Oh, and promise me something." Twilight stared into his eyes, it felt like she was piercing her way into his soul, "Sure, what is it?" Dusty peeped, trying not to look away from her piercing eyes, "Next time you stare at another pony like that, make sure it's me so I don't have to teleport you to the moon." Twilight smiled, Dusty went pale and nodded slowly, "Now, where were we?" she asked as she threw the covers on top of them, "Oh, I remember." She giggled, Help. Dusty mentally whimpered, but any noise he made was drowned out by Twilight's giggling. Luna's LightDusty didn’t dream that night, what was there to dream? He didn’t feel like dreaming nightmares, so he didn’t. It was like pure blackness for what lasted about a few minutes, then finally, a dark blue mare with the stride of a goddess sauntered her way toward him, as she got closer, her appearance was more definite, her mane was like the beautiful night sky after a long day of hard work, she wore the classic royal attire that was expected of a mare of her stature, with footwear that gave off a radiant blue glow and a choker with a half-moon shape carefully sculpted on the front, indeed, her beauty was apparent as her full form was exposed as she stood in front of Dusty. The mare towered over him as if he was just a colt, which normally would scare Dusty but he knew who he was staring at, “Your highness!” Dusty immediately gave a bow, causing the princess to chuckle softly, “How many times are you going to do that, Dusty?” The mare’s voice was soothing and warm like classical music, “Until you tell me to stop, your highness.” Dusty put emphasis on highness to pinch her nerves a bit, Luna gave Dusty a playful jab with her horn, “I’ve already asked you to call me Luna.” She chuckled, she stood with grace as she cleared her throat, “I wish to personally congratulate you on your wedding, and with Twilight Sparkle, no less!” she said without emotion as if she were reading off of a script, Dusty smiled and felt compelled to give his heroine a hug, Luna inspired Dusty in so many ways, thanks to her, Dusty pursued many different cultures of literature, to one day make a gift for Luna. Dusty searched through his memories and recalled that one special day… Dusty took his quill out of the ink pot and blindly wrote on the journal he had purchased a month before, for years Luna has saved Dusty from his more horrifying nightmares and laughed with him on the more comedic ones, Dusty dipped the quill in the ink pot once again and cursed under his breath as his ink pot had finally ran out, he pondered for a moment since that was his last pot of ink, he would’ve asked Fluttershy since they were going out at the time, but she probably didn’t have any. His mind wandered towards the librarian of their little group, Twilight Sparkle. Dusty regretted having to borrow anything from Twilight, though she would always insist with great enthusiasm, there were very little times when he had to borrow something from Twilight and he loathed doing it every second of the way, and any attempts that Twilight made to reassure him resulted in failure, Twilight was a great friend, a bit too great at times to make Dusty start questioning the way she treats him, stopping mid-thought as he approached the library, he faced Twilight’s front door and knocked. Twilight answered the door after a few seconds, “Oh, Dusty!” Twilight greeted him with a friendly hug, “Nice to see you!” she smiled, Dusty noticed she was wearing the round glasses you would find on a librarian, “Those glasses match you.” Dusty grinned; Twilight blushed slightly and giggled, “You think so?” Twilight gave a shy look that reminded him of Fluttershy, “Of course I do!” Dusty laughed, Twilight looked away from him, still smiling, “Anyway, I need a favor…” Dusty rubbed the back of his head trying to force the words out, “Of course, what do you need?” Twilight looked up at him and pushed up the glasses on her face that began drooping down to the edge of her snout, “I just ran out of my last batch of ink, do you have any I could use?” Dusty gave a pained smile, a fine example of how much he hated asking favors of her unless he did not like the situation whatsoever, “That’s all?” Twilight laughed, “Would you like to come inside?” she asked, Dusty would normally say no, but he actually brought the journal so he shrugged, “Why not?” Dusty replied, Twilight made some sort of noise as she stood aside for him, Dusty stepped inside and noticed a picture of him and Twilight during one of the sleepovers they had by their selves, she had pictures of the other ponies and her in the same situation, but something stood out about the picture with him and Twilight, he trotted up to it and held it in one of his hooves, he smiled as he looked at the smile on her face, and the one on his, they were the greatest of friends in his opinion as they never fought before, and any hint of tension that would rise between them would result in them laughing. Twilight suddenly appeared behind him with a quill kit, ink pots included, “Twilight, I can’t accept this…” he gaped, that particular quill kit was one he saw on the newspaper and wanted it for a long time but he never had enough money to get it, “I got it for you since I knew how much you wanted it.” Twilight held it out, Dusty stood with his mouth agape, “I…” Dusty couldn’t speak; it was the greatest gift he received in a long time, “I suppose there isn’t any talking you out of this?” Dusty smirked when Twilight shook her head slowly, Dusty hugged Twilight a bit longer than comfortable and ran home with the quill kit in tow. Dusty opened his brand new quill kit and took out an ink pot and began finishing his writings, after a long but comfortable hour of writing, Dusty closed the journal and sighed, “Luna is going to love It”, Dusty thought. Dusty pulled the journal from the saddlebags that he noticed hung over him, he kept that journal wherever he went, especially in his dreams, he held it out towards Luna, “I wrote a story for you.” He said as he held out the journal, Luna levitated it with her magic and skimmed through the pages, giggling at random intervals, “This is a lovely gift, Dusty.” Luna nuzzled Dusty like she would do to comfort him as a colt during his bad dreams, “I suppose I should wake up now, will you be at the wedding?” He asked with hope in his voice, “Of course I will, I’ll even introduce you to Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence who came all the way from the Crystal Empire.” Luna tousled Dusty’s mane, “Wow, thanks!” Dusty chirped, finally his dreams were interrupted by the slow rumble of the train engine, Canterlot looked a lot closer now than it did the other day, judging from the distance, they would probably arrive by noon, Dusty yawned and faced his bride who was still asleep. He was the first to wake up, no pony awake to prank him. It was a nice change.
Cutie Mark Crusaders! Yay?Dusty trotted through the streets of Ponyville, smelling the fresh morning air, “Such a beautiful day…” he beamed. It has been a few years since Twilight and Dusty first got together, and now, he was going to ask her the question, Dusty nearly squealed with delight, he had it all planned through, he was going to take her out to dinner, come home afterwards, and as soon as she was about to leave, propose. Dusty almost passed Sugarcube Corner when… “DUSTY!” Pinkie shouted, tackling Dusty and proceeding to bounce up and down on top of him, Grunting all the while, Dusty choked, “Off! Please!” “Okay!” Pinkie replied cheerfully, she looked as though she was hiding something, “Alright, Pinkie, what are you hiding?” Dusty approached, “My feelings for you!” she giggled as she knocked him down and dragged him inside, “Wait what?” Dusty shouted, Pinkie leaped into Dusty’s arms as he struggled to keep from dropping her, “Pinkie, you know I’m in love with Twilight!” he retorted, setting her down, “What are you talking about, silly?” Pinkie giggled, Dusty sighed, Something’s not right here… he thought as Pinkie kept trying to smooch him, “Quit fussing, you moron!” Pinkie chortled as she pushed him to the ground, Well, look who’s talking… Dusty thought, trying fiercely to push her off him, that was when Twilight came through the door and froze, Dusty gasped in fear, “It’s not what it looks like!” Dusty explained, still trying to push Pinkie off him, “Yes it is!” Pinkie giggled, Shut up, Pinkie! Dusty thought, Twilight ran out the door slamming it, “Pinkie!” Dusty shouted, “PINKIE!” screamed. “PINKIE!” Dusty shouted again as he flung out of bed, hitting the ground head first, “Well, not exactly.” A voice replied, he recognized it as Spike, Dusty poked his head up and chuckled, giving a nervous smile, “How’s it going Spike?” he asked as though nothing happened, he held out a hoof for a hoof bump, which Spike returned kindly. “Not much, Twilight wanted me to let you know that she left today.” Spike said, "Thanks for letting me stay over, by the way." Spike blurted all of the sudden, “Don’t mention it,” Dusky smiled, “Now that I’m awake, I’m going to do some shopping.” He said, “Alright, hurry back.” Spike called as Dusty left his room and out into the fresh morning air, everything was peaceful, until… “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS DAREDEVILS, YAY!” he heard a trio of fillies shout, “Daredevils?” Dusty asked aloud, he heard the rumble of an engine become audible, Oh no… “Look out!” a filly shouted, Dusty looked in the direction of where the voice was coming from and saw a scooter speeding towards him at an alarming rate, sending him flying, "WHOA!" Dusty grunted as he hit the ground and groaned, “Sorry mister,” he saw an orange filly appear in his vision as well as two more, two of which bore resemblance to his friends, all except the orange one. “That’s…alright.” Dusty grunted as he got up, then the filly’s all gasped in unison, “You’re a blank flank?” the white one squeaked, “Yes, so are you three.” He replied, annoyed at their comment, The three fillies looked at each other and huddled up, Dusty pretended he couldn’t hear them, “Do you think he would be interested in joining the CMC?” the white one asked, CMC? Dusty thought, “He’s a stallion, Sweetie Belle!” The orange one replied to the white one, That’s her name… Dusty thought as he continued to listen, “Still, he’d be a good edition to our team, ‘The more the merrier’ they say.” The third with a country accent replied, “Fine, but don’t expect me to go easy on him.” The orange one spoke bitterly, that statement sent a shiver down Dusty’s spine, the three fillies turned to face them and introduced their selves as Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, and followed it with, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS! YAY!” making Dusty want to clamp his ears shut, “And we want you to join!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, “Me?” Dusty’s eyes widened, “I’m honored, really, but…” he began, but was cut off by the saddest look Applebloom gave her, trying to find words, Dusty sighed and gave a smirk, “Fine, I’ll join your little group.” He gave in, and after a brief moment, Scootaloo approached him and said, “Follow me.” And began to walk away, What have I gotten myself into? Dusty shuddered, After the scariest initiation involving strange tribal drum beats and a few questions to which Dusty had to answer, “I do.” The three fillies cleaned everything up in what seemed like a few seconds and Applebloom asked, “So what’re we goin’ to do to get our cutie marks today girls, and boy?” She winked at Dusty getting him to smile, after a few whispers, the trio gave a shout, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER ROLLER-SKATERS, YAY!” and Dusty chuckled, This is going to go off without a hitch, he thought as the trio dragged him towards Sugarcube Corner, “Hi girls, hi Dusty!” Pinkie cheered, Dusty smiled and waved, and Scootaloo began explaining the plan, “We’re going to go roller-skating, and we need some roller-skates.” She demanded, “No problem!” Pinkie cheered, “Four pairs of roller-skates coming up!” she shouted as she ran upstairs, Pinkie soon returned with a few pairs of Roller-skates, three small ones for the fillies and a large pair for Dusty, as they exited the building, Dusty felt compelled to ask, “Where are we going?” he asked, Scootaloo gave him a seriously? Look, “The skate park.” Scootaloo said bitterly, and Dusty raised an eyebrow, What did I do to you? He wondered as the skate park came into distance. The skate park was huge, with ramps and walls and rails and other assorted dainties, “Do you know how to roller-skate?” Sweetie Belle asked, suddenly wearing a helmet and pads, “Oh yeah, my sister taught me a lot, I still practice!” he grinned happily as Sweetie Belle’s face brightened, “C’mon girls!” Scootaloo shouted, as she slowly slid down the ramp, “C’mon, Dusty!” Applebloom called, but Dusty wasn’t paying attention, he was paying attention to Sweetie Belle watching her struggle to stay balanced, then to Scootaloo who had just as much trouble, You should stick to scooters kid… Dusty thought to himself, all three fillies managed to make it to another ramp, “Your turn Dusty!” Applebloom called again, Scootaloo said something to Applebloom that seemed to make her angry, then Scootaloo turned to Dusty and called, “Are you sure you know how to roller-skate?” she called, Watch and learn… Dusty smirked as he slid down the ramp, Up and over he went as he grinded against rails and even pulled off a backflip as he made it to another ramp, but he didn’t stop there, he managed to pick up enough speed to ride on a wall for a second, and as he came up to the ramp with the three fillies, he flipped and landed gracefully on his feet, “Does that answer your question?” Dusty answered proudly, he chuckled as the fillies all stared wide-eyed, “Wow! that must be your special talent!” Sweetie Belle commented, Dusty felt flattered, “Nah, I just practiced all the time.” Dusty responded, “You fillies might be able to get as good as me in a year, if you practiced hard enough.” He threw out, “I didn’t practice as hard as my sister had liked, but I got good anyway.” He chuckled, “Shall we go again?” he asked, “YES!” the three shouted simultaneously, then immediately they flew down the ramp, attempting to keep their balance, Dusty slid down the ramp and just calmly swept up and down shouting encouraging words at the fillies, keeping watch as each filly got slowly better at keeping their balance, laughing and screaming with joy, everything went perfectly, until… “Whoa!” Sweetie Belle shouted just as he was going her direction, she went flying as her forearm hit a rail hard, sending her flying over, Time slowed as Dusty turned and speeded toward Sweetie Belle. “Look out!” he shouted as he caught her as she was flying, he tried to carry her as gentle as he could with the large burst of speed he had, He flew up a ramp, threw off his roller-skates and set Sweetie Belle down, “Are you okay?” he asked, laying down in front of her, she shook her head as she lifted up her hoof which hung limp, “Oh, you poor thing.” He held the hoof in place, “You sprang your hoof.” His horn began to glow with magic, as her hoof sprang back to life, one by one the two fillies flew up the ramp and watched as Sweetie Belle moved her hoof around with excitement, “Wow!” she said again, That must be word of the day. Dusty chuckled, “You are the best, Dusty!” she wrapped her forearms around Dusty, “Don’t mention it.” He rubbed her mane, “Aww…” he cooed as Sweetie Belle nuzzled him, and went back to roller-skating, with the two following. He sat and stared at the sky, his mind slowly drifted to Twilight, Let’s just hope she doesn’t see what I’m doing… he shivered at the thought of Twilight getting angry at him, “Dusty, look at me!” Scootaloo shouted, Dusty looked up to see the orange filly sliding across a rail, her face beaming with pride, Dusty opened his mouth to speak when all of the sudden, “Good job, squirt!” a voice rang out, “Rainbow Dash?” both Scootaloo and Dusty looked up to see the pegasus floating above them, Rainbow Dash descended next to Dusty, “You showing these kids the ins-and-outs of roller-skating?” Rainbow asked, Dusty noticed she had a saddlebag on, “You bet, you want to join us?” Dusty asked, hoping for some more company, “Well, it just so happens that I saw you four and decided that I wanted in on some of the fun.” Rainbow replied, slipping on roller-skates she slid down the ramp, Dusty laughed as he joined her, as she slid up a ramp, she went way high up, and Dusty followed suite, “Dusty, up high!” Rainbow shouted, holding out a hoof, Dusty held up a hoof and slowly, their hooves met with a Clack! “All right!” Rainbow Dash cheered, the fillies stared in awe as the two attempted to best the other, and finally after what seemed like ages, Dusty and Rainbow dropped, gasping for breath, “Who do you think won?” Rainbow asked, “I think we tied…” Dusty replied, they got up and high-fived each other before getting ready to leave, as did the other fillies, “Hey, kids.” Dusty said as he approached them, “Any cutie marks?” he asked with a chuckle, and the three looked and frowned as they saw…nothing. “Well, keep trying, you’ll find your special talents eventually.” He smiled, “Now I got to go, before the market closes.” Dusty turned to Rainbow Dash and chuckled, “Glad you could be here, Dashy.” He held out a hoof bump. Rainbow smiled as she hoof bumped Dusty, “Same time next week?” Rainbow asked, “You bet.” Dusty asked as he trotted towards the market, “You’re pretty good at roller-skating, Dusty.” Dusty gasped, turning to see Twilight, Oh, buck.
There is a Mare Who’s Mine There is a Mare Who’s Mine “So, you decided to go roller-skating with the fillies?” Twilight asked, frowning at Dusty, he was just about to respond when the Crusaders appeared out of nowhere, “Yeah!” Applebloom laughed, “It was so much fun!” Scootaloo replied, “And none of us got hurt…much.” Sweetie Belle giggled, “Well, I’m glad you three had Dusty to watch you.” Twilight said all of the sudden, I’m saved! Dusty thought, Twilight gave Dusty a kiss, “Thanks for watching them.” She said warmly, “It was my pleasure.” Dusty blushed, “Ew…” the three fillies wailed, leaving Dusty and Twilight giggling, “Oh, girls,” Twilight began, “One day, you’ll understand.” Dusty chimed in, “I would love to stay, but I need to pick up some things from the market.” “That’s alright, may I join you?” Twilight offered, Yes! Dusty silently cheered, “Of course!” Dusty beamed, the two turned and slowly walked toward the market, “So, how was your day?” Twilight asked as they were walking, “It was pretty good,” Dusty replied, “At first, it was me and the fillies, then Rainbow decided to join us.” “Oh, she did, did she?” Twilight replied, Dusty looked at her and noticed that she looked a bit unconvinced, “Oh, come on, Twilight.” Dusty chuckled, “Nothing happened between us.” And he gave her a peck on the cheek, “It’s not that, it’s just…” Twilight sighed, “We never spend as much time together as we used to.” Dusty suddenly realized something, She’s right, we barely see each other much anymore, “Well, in that case, that will change.” He nuzzled her playfully, Twilight giggled as she gave him a shove, Dusty shoved back a bit harder, Twilight shoved him so hard he went flying and she galloped off laughing, “Come back here, you!” Dusty laughed galloping after her, Twilight slowed to a walk again as Dusty made his way back to her side again, “Anyway, how was your day?” Dusty asked, “Well, I helped Applejack with her harvesting of the orchard, Rainbow Dash was there too but said that she wanted some fun and took off.” Twilight gave a slight chuckle, “And that’s when I found you here with Rainbow and the fillies, you two looked like a mother and father on vacation with their kids.” She joked; Dusty blushed slightly and chuckled, “If it were me and you, then that would make sense.” Dusty replied, making Twilight’s face turn red, “You aren’t talking about…” Twilight stared at him, “Oh, look, here’s the market!” Twilight suddenly said, “Thanks for coming to help, Twilight.” Dusty nuzzled her as they went inside, he expected ponies acting surprised, but surprisingly some went on with their business and some waved, “It’s good not having to keep our relationship a secret.” Dusty commented, giving Twilight a smooch on her cheek, “Yeah, but let’s not get dirty if you know what I mean.” Twilight gave a dirty look at Dusty, causing his face to glow bright red, “O—of course not!” he stuttered, “That just isn’t…appropriate since we’ve only been going out for…” “A year.” Twilight finished for him, “Right.” Dusty wiped is forehead, he stopped in some places to grab something, but each time, Twilight would carry it with her magic. After they finished their shopping, Dusty looked a bit depressed, “I guess this is goodbye?” Dusty asked, “Not if I can’t come over.” Twilight giggled, Dusty’s face lit up, and he nearly jumped with joy, “Well, of course you can!” he laughed, “It’s a date.” Twilight responded, followed by short laughter, “Spike?” Dusty called as he opened the door, noticing that he was gone, “Spike came home a few hours before I left.” Twilight explained, “Ah, I see.” Dusty replied, and sat on the couch, Twilight sat next to him, both staying quiet with nothing to say, finally, Dusty started to speak, “Twilight?” “Yes, Dusty?” Twilight looked at him with hopeful eyes, Dusty looked down embarrassed, “I…” Dusty began to talk but he stopped mid-sentence, I’m rushing things here, I can’t just – out of the blue – ask her to marry me… he thought glumly, he was about to move in for a kiss when Twilight knocked him on his back, “Twilight? Are you okay--” he was interrupted when Twilight laid on top of him and pressed her lips against his for a kiss, she pulled back and tears were streaming down her face, “Dusty,” Twilight blinked, “What’s wrong?” Dusty asked, hopelessly confused, “Will you marry me?” Twilight asked out of the blue, Dusty’s eyes shrank; the question had really stumped him, his body screamed yes, but his mind couldn’t decide, Twilight was just about to get off from on top of him, but Dusty pulled her back in and quietly whispered, “Of course I will, my dear unicorn…” Twilight seemed to cry tears of joy as she collapsed on top of him, and they stayed like that all through the night, not wanting to leave each others' arms. Dusty found himself standing in the middle of the orchard at Sweet Apple Acres, thinking about the night before and nearly giggled with glee, until he heard a filly’s voice, “Dusty!” Applebloom and the other two came up to him, and at the same time… “Dusty?” Twilight came from the other side, “It’s time to continue our quest to find out cutie marks!” Scootaloo cheered, “Let’s go!” “Dusty, you promised we would spend more time together…” Twilight looked at him glumly, Dusty just stared at them, the three fillies looked upset, “Fine, have it your way…” Sweetie Belle hissed as the three began to walk away from sight, “Wait!” Dusty shouted, but the three didn't even acknowledge him. “I guess the wedding is off then.” Dusty turned to Twilight when she said that, tears streaming down her face, as she began to run away, “Twilight, wait!” he shouted, before they both ran out of sight, “What have I done?” he muttered to himself as he sat on the ground alone, he closed his eyes and let his head hang down. When Dusty finally opened his eyes, he found himself on the couch again with Twilight asleep on top of him, Dusty smiled as he rubbed her mane, Twilight slowly brought her head up, and gave a lazy smile as she stared down at him, “Good morning, my husband-to-be…” she muttered as she sneaked a kiss on his lips, Knock knock, came from the door, but no one moved, Knock knock, came again, and a knock came again but this time in the tune of “Shave and a haircut, 2 bits.” Which scared Dusty, Uh oh… he thought to himself as the door slammed open, revealing the five other ponies, Spike, and the CMC, Pinkie began to giggle, “Aww…” the CMC cooed in unison, “What in the hay?” Applejack went red, “Should I come back later?” Rainbow Dash looked like she was turning green, “Explanation, please?” Rarity sneered, “How could you, in front of the children!” Dusty stared at Twilight, then back at the door, “It’s not what it looks like?” Dusty gave a nervous chuckle, “I suppose we’ll just come back later…” Applejack closed the door, Twilight giggled and gave Dusty another kiss, “Well, that went well, didn’t it?” Twilight snuggled against him, “I love you, Dusty.” She said as she slid off him, “I’d better get home…” Twilight forced out, “Twilight, wait!” Dusty said as he felt a memory come back into his mind… A bell chimed as Dusty stepped inside the store, it was the day after Hearts and Hooves day, Twilight asked Dusty to be his special somepony already, and he wanted to give her a gift, but he didn’t know when to, that was the problem. So he decided to pick one out for when the moment ever called for it, “Dusty!” the clerk greeted, “How may I help you?” he asked, “A gift for a special pony no doubt?” Dusty nodded and the clerk nearly bounced with joy, “I knew you had it in you, what’s her name?” he asked, Dusty paused and smiled, “Twilight Sparkle.” He said, the clerk froze and stared at him, “Hoho!” the clerk laughed and gave Dusty a friendly hug, “Good job my friend, and at a perfect time too, we just received a new shipment and I think she will love this.” The clerk pulled out a display case holding a heart shaped amulet with a purple gem in the middle, “Normally, this would cost some pony a fortune, but for you, Dusty,” The clerk held it out, “It’s on the house.” Dusty was caught by surprise, “I can’t just take it, there has to be a catch, anything!” Dusty blurted, the clerk laughed, “Fine then, when you recognize your true feelings, I’d like to be there at your wedding day.” Dusty blushed, he never thought about marriage, “Thanks, bud!” Dusty called as he exited the store, “Bye, Dusty!” the clerk called as the door shut. Dusty went to a small drawer by his couch and opened it up, exposing the purple necklace inside a display case; he pulled it out and showed it to Twilight, “For you.” Twilight stared at it in awe, then slowly tears began to fall from her eyes, “It’s beautiful…” she sobbed, Dusty set it aside as Twilight wrapped her forearms around him, “Why are you so good to me?” she asked quietly, “I love you.” Dusty said, Twilight pulled away, “Can I stay the night?” she asked, Dusty held her hoof in his, “Of course.” Dusty replied, Twilight and Dusty talked the entire day through and as the sun was setting, they laid on the bed together, snuggling the whole night through.
Just kidding!The air felt cool and smelled of nature, Dusty found that scent familiar, he opened his eyes to see Fluttershy’s cottage, with Fluttershy approaching him slowly, “Dusty, we need to talk.” Fluttershy padded the ground softly, “I don’t think this relationship is going to work, I think we should break up, She looked up at Dusty who was frozen in place, feeling like he just got shot in the heart, “Why?” Dusty managed to force out, It was going so well! Dusty couldn’t even cry, “I just…need some space.” Fluttershy turned and entered her cottage, leaving him alone in the morning sun. Knock knock, Twilight looked up, I’m not expecting anyone, she thought as she trotted to the door, opening it to reveal Dusty, “Oh…hi.” Twilight greeted, “Hey…we…we broke up.” Dusty sniffled, “I-I’m so sorry…” Twilight replied sadly, “That’s okay; it was a long time coming…” Dusty looked up at Twilight’s face, their eyes meeting, “Can I stay here tonight?” “Of course!” Twilight smiled, Dusty slowly stepped inside, stopping when he saw a book that looked all too familiar, Twilight saw the book, it was the story about Nightmare Moon, a book he and Fluttershy would read during the evenings, she picked it up and held it out to him, “Would you like to read it with me?” Twilight asked, “Sure…” Dusty muttered, A few minutes of reading passed, Twilight looked at Dusty and smiled sadly, Poor guy, Twilight thought, Dusty looked up at her, his expression made Twilight blush slightly, he looked content, “ Thanks for letting me stay the night.” Dusty said, Twilight smiled and patted him on the back, “Of course, we are friends right?” Twilight chuckled, as did Dusty, he looked out the window and noticed Fluttershy in the distance, I must move on… he thought to himself as he turned towards Twilight, and nearly fell over when she kissed him warmly, when she pulled back, she was wearing a necklace with a purple gem in the middle, Then a rooster crowed in the distance, waking Dusty from his loving dreams, he turned over to see a snoozing Twilight next to him, he attempted to slip out of bed when he noticed that Twilight was tugging on his arm in her sleep, She has a strong grip! Dusty thought as he attempted to pull his arm out, “Dusty needs his arm back…” Dusty whispered, Twilight mumbled something and turned over, Dusty walked toward his bedroom door and heard giggling, the giggling of a certain pink pony he knew, Please tell me I’m having a nightmare… he thought as he opened the door to his bedroom only to find that no one was there, but Dusty wasn’t convinced, he looked back and noticed movement coming from the bottom of his bed, followed by giggling, Dusty noticed that Twilight wasn’t in the bed anymore, “Very funny Twilight,” Dusty said as he looked under the bed, nothing. “BOO!” someone behind him shouted, screaming, Dusty jumped on top of the bed and attempted to climb under when a pink pony came out blowing a horn in his face, causing him to jump several feet in the air, and hitting the ground, Play dead…You got a plan… he said to himself as he went limp, and held his breath, “Dusty?” Twilight gasped, “Oh no, I think we scared the life out of him!” Pinkie yelled, as they both got near Dusty’s face, “BOO!” he shouted, causing them both to jump, “That’s for scaring me!” he laughed, and pretty soon the other two were laughing, Dusty felt the air go static around him, and he heard the last thing he wanted to hear, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER PRANKSTERS! YAY!” came from behind him, HONK! A horn blared out behind him and the other ponies, they all screamed and clutched each other, breathing heavily, Twilight looked angry but Dusty and Pinkie laughed heartily, “Good one!” Dusty commented, “With that stunt, I wouldn’t be surprised of you get a cutie mark as pranksters.” All three fillies gasped and looked at their flanks, nothing. “You’ll get there,” Pinkie giggled, “C’mon girls, let’s see if we can’t get you a cutie mark in being actors!” Pinkie and the three fillies cheered as they ran out of his house, “I was having a pleasant dream.” Twilight groaned, Dusty laughed and patted her on the back, “So was I, but now we have most of the day to spend together,” Dusty replied, sending a wave of excitement down his spine, Twilight chuckled, “You’re so handsome when you’re in the mood…” she flirted as she nuzzled his cheek, causing them to flare up, glowing red, “Just kidding!” Twilight pushed him back knocking him on the ground, landing with a grunt, he rubbed the back of his head and looked up at her, grabbed her by the hoof, and yanked her down laughing all the while, The scene reminded him of when he was a filly. “Come on, dude!” a filly shouted, little Dusty following closely behind, “We have to hurry before my parents get worried!” she shouted, “Wait up, Blueshield!” Dusty called, Soaring Blueshield was the filly’s name, as they neared Blueshield’s house, she stopped making Dusty nearly ram into her, “You okay, Blueshield?” Dusty asked, approaching his friend, “I’m fine,” Blueshield replied, “It’s just…my parents are mean when they disagree about something.” She sniffled, “Hey, It’s alright,” Dusty chuckled, “I’ll be right behind you one hundred percent of the way!” Dusty wrapped a forearm around Blueshield, “Just like friends do.” “Thanks, Bud…” Blueshield leaned against Dusty as a sort of hug, “You’re a good friend.” “We look out for each other, it’s what friends do.” Dusty responded with a grin, “Now c’mon, before your parents get worried.” He dragged Blueshield to the door, and she went inside, after a while she threw the door open, accidentally pushing Dusty off his feet, “Oh, snap, I’m sorry!” Blueshield squeaked, Dusty held out a hoof, and Blueshield took it just about to help him up when he pulled her down and they laid their laughing, “Get inside!” A gruff voice called, “Sorry, Dad!” Blueshield called back, she looked at Dusty, and Dusty at her, and they broke out laughing. I miss you, Blueshield. Dusty thought to himself as he stared into his fiancé's eyes, You and Twilight would've gotten along very well. Author's Note This chapter is inspired by the song Cycle of Love
No More Games!Twilight sat at the foot of her bed, studying as usual, allowing her mind to drift and every now and then, she would think of Dusty and sigh, We haven’t spent much time together… Twilight thought, it seemed as though every time a month passed, their time they would spend together dropped by about five percent, but Twilight was grateful they still actually saw each other, and that was enough for her, Mrs. Cake assured her that this was going to happen and the best thing to do would be to either wait for him to confront her, or for her to confront him which was the more risky option, and Twilight wasn’t willing to risk jeopardizing their relationship, but today was different, she has waited too long and has long since gave up waiting, she just couldn’t find the time to confront Dusty as she had already made plans for the entire week, and today, Twilight had to go down to Sweet Apple Acres to help Applejack out with the harvesting of the orchard. After what seemed like an eternity, a knock came from the door, Twilight went downstairs expecting to see Spike answering the door for her, then she remembered that he said he was doing a “special task” given to him by a friend, and she wouldn’t lie, she missed her little dragon, partly because she would ask him for guy advice, which half the time was successful but Dusty didn’t need to know that, Twilight opened the door and saw Applejack, “Ready to go Twilight?” she asked, “Yeah,” Twilight answered blindly, not really paying attention, “Somethin’ on your mind, sugar cube?” Applejack asked suspiciously, “It’s just…” Twilight took a deep breath, “It’s about Dusty and me…” “Did he cheat on you?” Applejack growled, “Tell me where he is, I’ll take care of him personally!” “It’s not that!” Twilight shouted, at least, she hoped it wasn’t, “Well then, what’s the matter?” Applejack eased up slightly, “I feel like Dusty’s avoiding me about something,” Twilight admitted Applejack froze and began snickering about something, “I think he plans on asking you to marry him.” Twilight was just about to slap Applejack when she thought of the possibilities, and Twilight began to freak out with excitement, “Now hold on there, sugar cube.” Applejack commanded, “There may be a chance that he’s tryin’ to take advantage of you.” She leaned her head toward Twilight’s ear and whispered, “Do it before he does, see if he’s the real thing.” Applejack whispered, The real thing? Twilight wanted nothing more than to lecture Applejack saying that no pony could fool her, but she thought about it, and the more she did, the more pleasant the idea seemed, “Alright, Applejack, I think I will.” Twilight smiled, “Good, now come on, it’s time to harvest the orchard.” Applejack practically pulled Twilight out the door, and lead Twilight to the orchard, as they neared the orchard, Twilight noticed a blue streak across the sky, “Rainbow came to help, too.” Applejack explained when she noticed Twilight staring at the sky, “Doubt she’s going to stay long.” Applejack spat, those two always seemed to be at each other’s throats when it came to seeing who’s better, but whenever Rainbow and Dusty would compete, they would be laughing and having a good time, “C’mon now, let’s get buckin’ pronto.” Applejack fetched buckets from the barn and all three of them began bucking apples until Rainbow finally said, “I’m bored, I’m out of here.” And flew away, which only made Applejack scoff and start muttering to herself about how lazy Rainbow was, finally, the sun was just about to set and the two finally finished harvesting the orchard, “Thanks for your help, Twilight.” Applejack trotted off leaving Twilight to go and find Rainbow, as she kept walking, the sound of laughing children and adults became apparent, Twilight noticed a skate park and saw Dusty and Rainbow as well as the Cutie Mark Crusaders on roller-skates, she sat and watched a while smiling, it reminded her of those rare childish parents taking their kids to a park or something, finally after a while, the two friends collapsed and decided that they all should head home, Dusty didn’t seem to notice her as he passed her, Is this what it has come to? She thought sadly, “You’re pretty good at roller-skating, Dusty.” she commented, Dusty turned to face her, gasping, “So, you decided to go roller-skating with the fillies?” Twilight asked, frowning at Dusty, he was just about to respond when the Crusaders appeared out of nowhere, “Yeah!” Applebloom laughed, “It was so much fun!” Scootaloo replied, “And none of us got hurt…much.” Sweetie Belle giggled, “Well, I’m glad you three had Dusty to watch you.” Twilight chuckled, Oh, Dusty, you are so childish, she thought as she gave Dusty a kiss, “Thanks for watching them.” She said warmly, “It was my pleasure.” Dusty blushed, “Ew…” the three fillies wailed, leaving Dusty and Twilight giggling, “Oh, girls,” Twilight began, “One day, you’ll understand.” Dusty chimed in, “I would love to stay, but I need to pick up some things from the market.” Oh no you don’t… Twilight thought, “That’s alright, may I join you?” Twilight offered, “Of course!” Dusty replied, That went well… Twilight thought, “So, how was your day?” Twilight asked as they were walking, “It was pretty good,” Dusty replied, “At first, it was me and the fillies, then Rainbow decided to join us.” “Oh, she did, did she?” Twilight replied, You better not have tried anything, Rainbow… Twilight thought, He’s my stallion… “Oh, come on, Twilight.” Dusty chuckled, “Nothing happened between us.” And he gave her a peck on the cheek, “It’s not that, it’s just…” Twilight sighed, “We never spend as much time together as we used to.” How could you not see that?She thought, “Well, in that case, that will change.” He nuzzled her playfully, Twilight giggled as she gave him a shove, Dusty shoved back a bit harder, Twilight shoved him so hard he went flying and she galloped off laughing, “Come back here, you!” Twilight heard from behind her, Twilight slowed to a walk again as Dusty made his way back to her side again, “Anyway, how was your day?” Dusty asked, “Well, I helped Applejack with her harvesting of the orchard, Rainbow Dash was there too but said that she wanted some fun and took off.” Twilight gave a slight chuckle, “And that’s when I found you here with Rainbow and the fillies, you two looked like a mother and father on vacation with their kids.” She joked; Dusty blushed slightly and chuckled, “If it were me and you, then that would make sense.” Dusty replied, making Twilight’s face turn red, “You aren’t talking about…” Twilight stared at him, Don’t fall for it! She shouted in her mind, “Oh, look, here’s the market!” Twilight suddenly said, “Thanks for coming to help, Twilight.” Dusty nuzzled her as they went inside, Twilight waved back at a few ponies as they waved at them, “It’s good not having to keep our relationship a secret.” Dusty commented, giving Twilight a smooch on her cheek, “Yeah, but let’s not get dirty if you know what I mean.” Twilight gave a dirty look at Dusty, causing his face to glow bright red, “O—of course not!” he stuttered, “That just isn’t…appropriate since we’ve only been going out for…” “A year.” Twilight finished for him, “Right.” Dusty wiped is forehead, he stopped in some places to grab something, but each time, Twilight would carry it with her magic. After they finished their shopping, Dusty looked a bit depressed, “I guess this is goodbye?” Dusty asked, “Not if I can’t come over.” Twilight giggled, Dusty’s face lit up, and he nearly jumped with joy, “Well, of course you can!” he laughed, “It’s a date.” Twilight responded, followed by short laughter, Perfect, I can ask him when we get there. She thought, “Spike?” Dusty called as he opened the door, Twilight came up behind him looking back toward the library noticing the lights were on, Spike’s home, “Spike came home a few hours after I left.” Twilight explained, “Ah, I see.” Dusty replied, and sat on the couch, Twilight sat next to him, both staying quiet with nothing to say I have to ask him! She kept opening her mouth to speak but nothing came out, finally, Dusty started to speak, “Twilight?” “Yes, Dusty?” Twilight looked at him with hopeful eyes, Is he going to ask? Dusty looked down embarrassed, “I…” Dusty began to talk but he stopped mid-sentence, Oh, forget it! Twilight thought, as she knocked him on his back, “Twilight? Are you okay--” Oh, quiet, Dusty! She shouted mentally as she jumped on top of him and kissed him, No more games! she felt the tears stream down her face as she pulled away, “Dusty,” Twilight forced out, You can do it… “What’s wrong?” Dusty asked, obviously confused, Just four words… “Will you marry me?” Twilight asked, Dusty’s eyes shrank; I knew it was a lost cause… Twilight thought as she began to pull away, she felt Dusty pull her back down, “Of course I will my dear unicorn…” YES! Twilight cheered internally, she let herself collapse on top of him and slowly drifted off into sleep, You’ve made me the happiest mare alive… she thought, then chuckled, How cliché of me…
An Anonymous VisitDusty trotted down the road, the streets suspiciously empty, everything was nice and quiet until… “Hey, Dusty!” Applebloom shouted as she and the two others rushed up to him, they all began talking at once, “Alright, one at a time!” Dusty shouted above the other three, he pointed to Applebloom, “We came up with this cool idea!” she said, Dusty pointed at Sweetie Belle, “We know you’re going to like it!” she squeaked, then at Scootaloo, “We’re going to explore the Everfree Forest!” Scootaloo said, all three of them took a deep breath and shouted in unison, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER EXPLORERS! YAY!” Yay? Dusty cringed, “Come on, Dusty!” Scootaloo shouted as the three ran off, Well, I can’t stop them now, Dusty thought as he galloped after them, the least he could do was make sure they got out unscathed, the ponies passed Fluttershy’s cottage, sadly, she wasn’t home to give them the stare, It’s probably for the best… Dusty thought, Fluttershy wouldn’t really be happy to see me after she found out about me and Twilight. To Dusty’s understanding Fluttershy does not want to see him at all, and he could understand that, they once loved each other, and it’s just hard to see your ex fawning after another, it just didn’t seem cricket, Dusty completely understood that, but sometimes she seemed to take it too far, to barely talking to him to giving him the stare when he would try to apologize, Dusty knew Fluttershy didn’t like to use the stare, it seemed pretty outlandish but a lot of outlandish things happen in Equestria, it didn’t strike him as anything unusual, now if only he could… “Dusty!” Sweetie Belle tugged at his mane, “Ow, hey!” he looked down at her finally paying attention, “Are you going to come?” she asked, Dusty looked at the other two fillies who looked as though they were waiting for hours, “Oh, yeah, sure.” Dusty responded, finally every pony ventured forth, Scootaloo in front, Applebloom behind, and Dusty with Sweetie Belle following close behind, Scootaloo was having a conversation with Applebloom about something but Dusty didn’t pay attention, Why am I letting them go through with this? He began to think, his train of thought was cut off as Scootaloo tripped over what looked like a curved thorn, “Are you alright, Scootaloo?” Dusty rushed to help the little pegasus, an ear piercing shriek rang out, as well as a beastly roar, Dusty turned to see a beast looming over them A manticore… he thought fascinated, the thought hit him, I got to get the fillies out of here… so he scooped them up, had them hold on to his back as he galloped as fast as he could, Where is the way out? He thought to himself, he heard heavy breathing behind him, and realized that the manticore was faster than he had thought, every few seconds he would hear the fillies scream or gasp at random intervals, it didn’t impair his running, just annoyed him, and that impaired his running, “If you’re about to scream, cover your mouth!” he ordered, and that had helped as he noticed the distance between him and the manticore, and finally, Fluttershy’s cottage came in sight, as the adrenaline started pumping, he wasn’t paying attention, he didn’t see the log and when he did, it was too late, out of instinct he threw the fillies toward Fluttershy’s cottage, “Run!” he ordered, and they did, leaving him and the manticore to fate. “Look out, here comes Scoots!” a voice rang out, suddenly Dusty was on a scooter, and riding towards Ponyville, “Oh, hi Scootaloo.” He said nonchalantly, “Good timing.” “Thanks, want me to drop you by your house?” Scootaloo asked as if she were the adult, and he the foal, “Sure, that would be nice, thanks.” Dusty smiled, Scootaloo gave a little kid grin and suddenly stopped, “We’re here!” Scootaloo shouted like a train conductor, “Thanks, Scoots.” Dusty hopped off, “I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” “You bet!” And with that, Scootaloo rode off, Dusty turned and when into his room, and saw a note on his bedroom door, it was a list, to put it into detail, it was a list of things to get ready for the wedding, and Twilight had emphasized the fact that she wanted it done in order. “Oh, Twilight…” Dusty chuckled, “You and your neatness.” Dusty took the list and read over it, finally, he heard rustling, followed by a small whimper, sounding similar to Spike when he runs out of gems, “Spike?” Dusty asked as he drew bag the leaves of a plant in the corner, “Oh, thank Celestia, it’s only you…” Spike wiped his forehead, “I need some help here,” he said in distress, Dusty nodded in acknowledgement, “Twilight has been asking me for advice on guys, and she won’t leave me alone and each time she asks me for advice, it always leads up to her having fantasies about you and it just makes me want to vomit!” Spike started retching; Dusty panicked and brought him a plastic bag, which Spike began throwing up in, “Wait a second, You’re in love with Rarity and Twilight complains about you talking in your sleep about her,” Dusty glared at him, Spike eyes widened but he looked down ashamed, “I know, I can’t help it though!” He hugged Dusty’s forearm and pleaded, “Please, please get her to stop! I’ll do anything!” Dusty thought about it for a second then looked up at his list, “Anything?” Dusty chuckled, he held out the list, “Get my wedding ready for me.” Spike took it with enthusiasm, “Oh, thank you, Dusty!” Spike hugged Dusty and ran off, “What a crazy dragon…” Dusty said aloud as he watched Spike prance down the street like the time when he got a ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala, he sat on his chair for a short while until a knock came from the door, he opened the door revealing a yellow coated pony with a black and red mane, he stood there like a teenage pony would do, he pushed up his sunglasses and Dusty finally yelped, “Steam Gadget!” Dusty exclaimed, “What’s happenin’ my bud?” Steam Gadget responded giving Dusty a high five, “Heard you were gettin’ married, and you didn’t send me an invitation?” Dusty chuckled nervously, “I just got it processed through my head, sorry about that.” “Don’t worry ‘bout it,” Steam Gadget chuckled and took off his sunglasses, revealing his amethyst eyes, “Am I gonna be your best stallion?” he chuckled, Dusty thought of it, his buddy standing next to him banging his head to wedding dubstep music, “You’ve helped me out with Twilight for so long, you figure that out,” Dusty chuckled, “So, that’s a no?” Steam Gadget responded sarcastically, Dusty looked at him bitterly, “I'm kidding, bro, I’m kidding.” “Honestly, I got to thank you for giving me that amulet, Twilight absolutely died over it.” Dusty laughed, “She died?” Steam Gadget chuckled, “That’s not good.” “Gadget…” Dusty looked at him annoyed, “C’mon bro, cut me some slack, I ain’t seen you in forever.” Steam Gadget gave Dusty a bro-hug, “Shouldn’t you be plannin’ the wedding?” Steam Gadget asked, “I got someone helping me, in exchange that I stop Twilight from asking him for guy advice.” Dusty chuckled, as did Steam Gadget, “Is that the dragon who begged me for a certain necklace for a pony named Rarity?” he asked, “That’s him.” Dusty responded, “Never seen a dragon cry before, it was awesome.” Steam Gadget began to laugh, and Dusty laughed as well, “Man, it’s been so long.” Dusty blurted, “Yeah, man.” Gadget and Dusty stayed up all night playing on a game system that Gadget pulled out of some random place, Dusty never understood how he did that but he paid it no attention, since Dusty had the consistency of appearing in places where he really shouldn’t, We’re all a bunch of misfits. Dusty thought, suddenly a noise came out of the television, “You killed me again! We’re on the same team!” Dusty shouted, “I know that, it’s just hilarious to see you rage at the game.” Steam Gadget responded, Dusty grumbled, You’re going to get it… he thought. Author's Note Thanks to my good friend I am Steam Gadget for letting me give him a special appearance in my story.
World of DecisionsDusty waved Steam Gadget off as he left to go back to the jewelry shop, somehow Steam Gadget was able to get a job there but he wouldn’t tell Dusty where he lived, so he just guessed that Gadget still lived in that old apartment at Manehattan, but that kind of seemed ridiculous, I doubt he would continually get on a train to Ponyville every morning, he doesn’t have the money or the mental capacity to do that, Dusty thought, but this would have to be an adventure for later, for now, Dusty had to see if Spike held his end of the bargain, Dusty stepped outside and was nearly blinded by the sun as he forgot what time it was, with a groan of pain, he covered his eyes and collapsed, I hate Mondays!, “Dusty!” A voice rang out, and he felt someone pick him up, How is it that when I hurt myself, someone is always right there to help me? He thought, Must be some sort of conspiracy, “Can’t see…can’t see…” he kept muttering, his eyes hurt a lot, he couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or not, either way, everything was a contingent of random colors, “How do you always get caught in these situations?” the voice asked, “Who’s there?” Dusty shouted in a random direction, “It’s me, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow Dash responded, Dusty saw a bright splotch of light blue in his vision, “Oh, hey Rainbow, how’s it going?” he asked nonchalantly, Absolutely nothing is going on, he thought to himself, “You promised we’d go roller-skating today, and I find you covering your eyes cowering on the ground, and we are on our way to Twilight to see if she can’t help at all,” she explained, and he realized they were in the air, finally, Rainbow Dash presumably finally landed because he heard the knocking of a door, “Oh, hey Rainbow—DUSTY!” Twilight shouted, Rainbow quickly explained what happened, and Dusty heard a door slam shut and after a few minutes, open up again, “Stand still,” Twilight commanded, not that Dusty had a choice, if he moved, it would hurt his eyes, the twinkling of magic was heard, and after a few minutes, his vision slowly returned to behold the purple unicorn, with librarian glasses on, “Can you see?” she asked, Dusty didn’t know if he was hallucinating or not so just in case, he asked, “Are you wearing glasses right now?” and Twilight looked at him in relief, “Yes, I am wearing glasses.” She pushed them up slightly, as if to show them off, “You look pretty good—WHOA!” Dusty shouted as Rainbow dropped him on the ground, “Dusty?” Rainbow motioned towards the skate park, “Remember?” “Oh, right, roller-skating.” Dusty gave Twilight a kiss, “Thanks Twilight, I’ll see you around.” He stopped midway as the CMC came up to him, asking them to join them on yet another life risking quest, “Dusty?” Twilight called, “Can we talk?” she asked, Dusty felt time freeze as his mind wandered from each choice he had, Twilight is my fiancé, she deserves my respect, he thought, his mind drifted to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Now’s my chance to prove my meddle, and find my cutie mark, plus, these kids need a bodyguard, then his mind drifted to Rainbow, Friends are important, and I should treat Rainbow as such. They continued to wander in his mind, and then he looked toward his home, Home is where the heart is…and mine needs rest. “Well, Dusty?” Rainbow said, “Come on, Dusty, let’s get our cutie marks!” Scootaloo commanded, “Dusty, this is really important…” Twilight’s voice became bitter, Dusty stood helpless in the middle of the ponies surrounding him, whatever choice he would make would affect his life in a certain way, each one held a purpose, Dusty turned to Twilight, then to the fillies, then to Rainbow Dash, he just couldn’t decide on what to choose, and he wasn’t going to just run to his home and cower in the corner, he had to choose,. Though the choice was hard, he finally made up his mind, he looked at Rainbow, “I’ll stop by your place when I’m done here.” Rainbow nodded, and actually gave a smile, Dusty felt his heart ease, and he looked at the Crusaders, “I am sorry, I can’t join you on your quest today, but if I have time, I’ll meet up with you.” Dusty said, the Crusaders all smiled and ran off, Dusty finally turned to Twilight, “What do you need to talk about?” Dusty asked, Twilight motioned for Dusty to come inside, he turned around and pushed the door shut, as he turned back around, Twilight was a few centimeters from his face, and when she did that, he knew something would happen, he looked over her shoulder and saw a foal, but the young’un looked similar to Dusty, “You’re a father, Dusty.” Twilight said, Dusty didn’t understand, he shot a questioning glance at Twilight, “She’s your daughter.” She smiled, “Papa!” the toddler clapped and waddled towards Dusty, his eyes began watering as he laughed at the goofy little kid, he lifted the foal up and nuzzled her, “She’s beautiful…” Dusty nearly cried, “I knew you would approve, but now you need to wake up…” Twilight began to tear up, and with a flash of light, Dusty woke up on his couch, the game system that Gadget brought over was stacked sloppily in front of the television, the word that the foal spoke rang in his mind, and a longing for a family forced his way into his mind, In due time… he thought to himself, he got up and ate a hearty breakfast, until some pony knocked on the door, Dusty got up lazily and opened the door and saw Rainbow, “Hey, Dusty, you ready?” Rainbow asked, handing Dusty a pair of roller-skates, Dusty slipped them on and gave Rainbow a challenging look, “First one to the skate park wins!” Dusty shouted as he bounded off, with Rainbow right next to him as they raced toward the skate park, his mind would wander at the thought of a family and pictured the foal from his dreams, Eclipse… he thought, Yes, that sounds like a good name… Dusty and Rainbow eventually arrived at the skate park, and Dusty tried to force the image of the foal out of his mind, In due time, Dusty! He told himself. Author's Note Almost didn't get this published in time! What a relief!
Outfitted for his New Life“So, Dusty,” Rainbow Dash shifted in her seat on the park bench, it was about half an hour after they went roller-skating, and Rainbow wanted to talk with him about a personal topic, “I know it may seem awkward to ask this, but…” Rainbow cleared her throat, “What’s it like being in love?” she asked, Dusty raised an eyebrow at her, “I know what you’re going to say,” Rainbow tried to imitate Dusty’s voice, “You keep talking about your weird fantasies about the Wonderbolts.” Dusty had to be honest, it was a good impression, Rainbow turned towards him in her seat, “That is different, I don’t know what love feels like and even I know that isn’t what it is.” Dusty had never seen Rainbow like this, Dusty tried to find a way to explain it, “I guess love feels like the longing of wanting to be with another, you know, kissing, hugging, and at one point, marriage.” Dusty explained, Rainbow scooted back a bit, “Do you think any pony might be in love with me?” she asked, “Be honest.” She suddenly added, Dusty began thinking, there was a pegasus who Rainbow would hang out with, and Dusty would sometimes notice him just staring at her mane at times, he noticed this because he usually was there with them, “Well, I know this one pony, what was his name again…” Dusty began thinking, “He has a winged lightning bolt as a cutie mark,” he described, Rainbow seemed to scoot back a bit more, “And if I recall, you had…saved his pie during the Grand Galloping Gala” Dusty snickered, Rainbow’s expression went from horrified, to absolute glee, “Soarin’?” Rainbow chirped, “That’s it,” Dusty nodded, that was the name, “Do you really think he likes me?” she asked, her wings jutting out in excitement, “Well, it may just so happen that one morning he had told me that he was in love with you and wanted to tell you himself but he just couldn’t find the courage to do so.” Dusty recalled that day, Soarin’ burst through the front door of Dusty’s home, breathing heavily as if he ran a marathon, Dusty stared at him confusedly, “I need to talk to you, Dusty, it’s very important!” he exclaimed, Dusty raised an eyebrow, “Alright, sit down,” Dusty replied, and when Soarin’ sat down Dusty took a seat next to him, “What do you need?” he asked, “I have to tell you a secret, and whatever you do, do not tell any pony, especially Rainbow Dash!” he looked around the room frantically, “Relax, no one else is here.” Dusty reassured, Soarin’ finally calmed down a little and sighed, “I think I’m in love with Rainbow Dash.” Soarin’ cringed; Dusty stared at him with surprised expression, and smiled, “Well, that’s great news!” Dusty responded, “But why come to me?” he asked, “I mean, I barely know you, you barely know me,” Dusty continued, “Another question is, how did you know where I live?” Dusty blurted out, “Pinkie Pie,” Soarin’ responded, “Right…” Dusty shrugged, “I barely know you, that’s true, but you are closer to Rainbow Dash then even Applejack!” he exclaimed, “Information given by Rainbow Dash.” He added as if he was a commercial, Dusty had to admit, Rainbow and Dusty hung out together a lot, sometimes with Applejack, sometimes without, though he never considered Rainbow a friend, more of a play pal, “Fine, but on one condition,” Dusty gave Soarin’ a devious look, “And that is?” Soarin’ responded grumpily, “If you don’t tell her within the month, I will tell her myself, possibly followed by an insult.” Dusty chuckled, “Fine, whatever, it’s a deal.” Soarin’ opened the door and slammed it shut, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it!” Rainbow hovered with excitement; Dusty looked up in the air and saw Soarin’ flying towards them, Oh, so now you show up. Dusty thought, “Rainbow Dash, I have to tell you something!” Soarin’ quavered; Rainbow tackled him before he could say anything and squealed, “I love you too, Soarin’!” she gave Soarin’ a kiss and flew off him, Soarin’ gave Dusty a look, and all Dusty did was shrug, but other than that, Soarin’ looked happy, Ah, love… Dusty thought, his mind drifted towards Twilight, suddenly his train of thought was broken when Rainbow hugged Dusty, “Thank you so much, Dusty!” Rainbow finally let him go of her choking embrace, Dusty finally remembered, “The wedding!” he shouted out loud, Soarin’ stared at him, “Isn’t it a bit early for that?” Soarin’ asked, Dusty nearly slapped himself, “I’m talking about my wedding, I have to go, bye you two!” he waved as he ran off, hoping to find Spike, he ran to the first place that came to mind, the Carousel Boutique, opening the door, Rarity came out with her same usual greeting but stopped mid-sentence, “Oh, hello, Dusty…” Rarity glared at him, “Come to apologize for what you did?” she presumed, Oh Celestia, can’t she let that go? Dusty remembered when they barged in on him and Twilight at the worst of times, “Yes, I’m sorry about that, anyway, have you seen—“ Dusty was interrupted by Spike’s voice, “I found it Rarity, where do you want me to put it?” he called as he came downstairs, “Over there on the table, darling.” Rarity responded, Spike placed a bundle of fabric on a table and waved at Dusty, “Hi, Dusty.” Spike greeted, Dusty gave a small wave and immediately began to ask, “Did you get the wedding all sorted out?” he forgot that Rarity was right next to him, “A wedding?” Rarity chirped, “How come you didn’t tell me sooner?” she asked, shaking Dusty to the point where everything was spinning, “I have to get a dress ready for Twilight!” after she said that, Twilight came through the door, Speak of the devil and she doth appear, Dusty thought to himself, Rarity already began speaking, “Congratulations on your wedding, Twilight!” Rarity hugged Twilight, “I will start working on a dress for you, and a suit for the loving groom!” Rarity squealed with delight, Dusty shivered slightly, “You told Rarity about our wedding?” Twilight asked, “Well, actually, I was asking Spike if he got the wedding sorted out and I forgot Rarity was standing right next to me…” Dusty admitted, Twilight chuckled and put an arm around him, “Don’t worry about it; your timing couldn’t have been better.” Twilight chatted, Dusty was relieved, after about a few minutes Rarity found Twilight’s gala dress, “Would this not be perfect for a wedding?” Rarity asked, holding out the dress, Dusty nodded slowly out of instinct, Twilight chuckled, “It’s perfect, Rarity, but what about Dusty?” she patted him on the back, “Can’t have him waltzing down the aisle without a suit on.” Dusty nodded in agreement, Rarity actually seemed stumped, suddenly she pushed Dusty on some sort of modeling stand and began taking measurements, cutting out fabrics and sewing them together, and on occasion, combing and cutting bangs off his hair, and repeating that process for about a few minutes when she squished a tuxedo on him and pushed a mirror in front of him, “What do you think, darling?” Rarity asked, Dusty was completely dumbfounded when he looked in the mirror, he was wearing a white suit with a yellow bow tie, his hair was cut neat and no longer had the wild spiky look, Dusty blindly put a hoof to his mane, feeling a bit depressed about his new hairstyle, he enjoyed the wild spiky look that he had, now he looked…formal, but still, he couldn’t help but smile in the mirror, “I have to be honest, I kinda like it!” Dusty made different poses in the mirror, he looked at Twilight, “What do you think?” he asked happily, Twilight stared at him and ran a hoof through his mane, “I love it, thank you so much Rarity!” Twilight turned to Rarity, “It’s quite alright, darling; after all, we are friends.” Rarity chuckled, as they both hugged, “Thanks for the makeover, Rarity.” Dusty smiled, Rarity gave a sort of half-smile, It’s going to take some time for her to get over what she saw… he chuckled, Spike poked Dusty on the shoulder and showed him the list, “Everything is ready, when do we start?” Spike asked, Dusty thought about it and started whispering in Twilight’s ear, “How about a week from today?” he whispered, “Sounds good, gives us some time to round up some guests.” She whispered back, Dusty nodded and turned towards Spike again, “I want you to tell Pinkie to send out invitations to the others; the wedding will start a week from today, at noon.” Dusty ordered, “But where will it take place?” Spike asked, Darn, didn’t think about that… he thought, he turned to Twilight for help, “I will take care of that.” Twilight said, Spike began scribbling down on the list that was given to Dusty, “All right!” Spike bounded off, nearly slamming the door shut behind him, “I am sorry to cut things short but I should return home, and invite my parents, perhaps they’d be happy to see me after all these years.” Dusty began walking out the door, when Twilight grabbed him by the tail, Dusty nodded, already knowing what she was going to ask and opened the door for Twilight, it was a long walk home and once they got home, the moon was starting to come out, “Let’s get some shuteye.” Dusty said, normally he would ask if she wanted the bed but since they were engaged, he didn’t really care, they both slipped into the bed, and Twilight draped an arm over Dusty, “I love you…” she muttered, “And I you…” Dusty managed to say before drifting off into sleep.
Canterlot, Here We Come!Dusty sat on his desk with a quill sliding over the parchment, every now and then he would dip the quill in the ink and continue writing a few more lines, Twilight looked over his shoulder, fascinated by his handwriting, it was not too casual, not too elegant, “I spent most of my years writing.” Dusty said as he wrote on the parchment, writing in long strides as if it were a painting of words, each one laid out in orderly fashion like piecing a puzzle together, he took the parchment, wrapped it in an envelope and glued stamps on each letter he made, and sent the letters to his parents, hoping they still live in the same place, “Do you think my parents will receive the letter?” Dusty asked Twilight, “I’m sure.” Twilight responded, Dusty nodded and a sudden thought struck him, “Hey, Twilight, you said that you’d take care of where we are having the wedding,” Dusty began, “Yes, I did say that.” Twilight replied, raising a questioning eyebrow at him, “Well, where is the wedding going to be?” Dusty asked, Twilight smiled making Dusty even more curious, “Ever been to Canterlot?” she asked, Dusty stared at her as if she were lying, “You didn’t.” He gasped, Twilight slowly nodded, “We’re going to Canterlot?” “We sure are.” Twilight replied, “I have already notified Princess Celestia, everything will be in order in time for the ceremony.” Dusty couldn’t believe his ears, he was going to Canterlot, a place he had dreamed of going for years, and on top of all that, he would meet Princess Celestia! “I can’t believe it, thank you!” Dusty hugged Twilight, after Dusty let go, Twilight began padding the ground, “Let’s head home.” Dusty said as he trotted off back to his house, he looked behind him and Twilight hadn’t moved from her spot, “Twilight?” Dusty approached her, she seemed to be mumbling to herself, “Twilight,” he gave her a slight push, “Twilight!” he raised his voice, Twilight finally looked up at him as if nothing happened, “What?” she asked, Dusty raised an eyebrow, “You were kind of mumbling to yourself about something.” He said, Twilight looked away, her cheeks going red, Dusty chuckled, “What were you mumbling about, anyway?” he asked out of curiosity, “Nothing important, really.” Twilight responded, Dusty took her word for it and trotted back toward his house, he looked behind him and saw Twilight walking towards the library, Oh, she’s leaving… he thought as he shut the door, he turned around and saw Gadget sitting on his couch, “Oh, hey Gadget.” Dusty greeted, Gadget took off his sunglasses and stared at him straight in the eyes, it was uncomfortable since Gadget rarely ever took off his sunglasses, “Remember when we got stuck on that island?” he asked, “FORESHADOWING!” Pinkie's shouts were heard, “Was that Pinkie Pie?” Gadget asked, “I think it was,” Dusty chuckled, “And yes, it’s hard not to remember that day.” “It’s hard to believe we used to be bitter enemies.” Gadget sighed, “And now look at us, we seem practically inseparable.” Dusty chuckled, remembering the ridiculous fights they would have, “Yeah, those were the days…” he sighed, “So, let’s get down to business, where’s the wedding taking place?” Gadget asked, “I know that is what you two were talking about.” “You were spying on us?” Dusty inquired, Gadget nodded, You are way too honest, brother. Dusty thought, “We’re going to Canterlot.” He said, “Canterlot?” Gadget cocked his head, “Cool, fancy pants city.” He chuckled, Dusty rolled his eyes and sat next him, “Want to play video games?” Gadget asked, “Sure,” Dusty grabbed a controller, Is Twilight hiding something from me? Dusty thought as he tapped on the controller, “Dude!” Gadget shouted, “You said we were on the same team!” “That was for yesterday.” Dusty chuckled, Don’t mess with Dusty. Dusty looked at himself in the mirror, he had on his outfit for his wedding and was amazed by how good it matched him, “Hey, Dusty!” Gadget called from the door as he walked in, “Hi, Gadget.” Dusty greeted, it was the two days before the wedding and Dusty was meant to get on the train to Canterlot after his parents show up, “I just met with your parents; they just got off the train.” Gadget informed, “How did you—“ Dusty stopped mid-sentence, “Oh right, wings.” Dusty chuckled, he turned and noticed Gadget was all dressed up as well, “Wow, nice outfit.” Gadget chuckled, “This used to be my grandfather’s, passed down from generation to generation.” Gadget boasted, “Yeah, well…” Dusty chuckled, Gadget went next to Dusty, faced the mirror and pulled out a cellphone, “Selfie!” he shouted as he took a picture, Dusty stared at the phone, “Where did you even get that?” Dusty inquired, “Magic.” Gadget responded, Dusty felt irritated, but before he could say anything, he heard a knock on the door, he opened the door revealing an older mare with an orange coat and yellow mane, similar to Dusty, and a stallion who had a yellow mane as well and a grey coat, it reminded Dusty of the mail pony who usually accidentally crashes through his window, “Mom…Dad…” Dusty nearly collapsed in tears, “Son…” his father muttered, already beginning to cry, after a while of the two staring at each other Dusty let loose a laugh and wrapped his arms around his parents, “We missed you, Dusty…” his mother said between sobs, pretty soon Dusty felt tears streaming down his face, “I am so glad you could make it…” Dusty’s voice cracked, “We wouldn’t miss it for the world…” his father replied, finally the three pulled back and Dusty’s mother finally realized he was wearing his suit, “Oh my, Dusty!” his mother exclaimed, “You look absolutely sharp!” Dusty’s father nodded in agreement, causing Dusty to blush a bit, “Uh, guys?” Gadget chimed in, “We should probably head out,” Dusty looked at the clock in the corner and nodded, “Let’s go pick up Twilight.” Dusty said as he began to leave, “That wouldn’t be necessary,” Twilight said as his parents moved aside for her, she was dressed in her gala dress, and Dusty couldn’t help but stare, “We met your fiancé on the way here.” His mother explained, “And I must say she is beautiful.” She gave a smile to Twilight, who blushed slightly, “Well, let’s hurry before the train leaves.” Dusty’s father chuckled, every pony walked out in an orderly fashion and boarded the train just as it was about to leave, “Canterlot, here we come!” Dusty cheered as the train started moving.
Rushing ThingsDusty dropped every ones luggage in the baggage car humming happily to himself, starting from lightest to heaviest as to save his energy for the bigger ones, but there was one he couldn't lift up at all, "Let me try, sugar cube." Applejack appeared behind him nearly scaring Dusty half to death. With no effort at all, Applejack was able to lift up the rest of the luggage into random spots, the most heaviest bags were Pinkie's bags and Dusty didn't even want to know what was in them, "Thanks, AJ." Dusty grinned, watching her muscles strain was...pleasant, he felt his face go hot as he turned away, Here I go again... Gadget, please save me before I do something stupid! he pleaded, but no one answered his prayers as he kept watching, and the worst part is he was right behind her, AJ finally found a bag she couldn't lift up and bent over to try and get a better grip on it, Can't move. Dusty kept repeating in his mind as she kept swinging her tail left and right in concentration, "Need some help?" Dusty asked while trying to avoid staring in the wrong places, "Nah, I got it..." she grunted, it was obvious she didn't but Dusty didn't do anything, "Uh, sugar cube?" Applejack faced him, "Could you please not stand behind me while I'm doing this?" Dusty regained control to his body, "You're making me a bit uncomfortable." "Sorry about that, just wanted to give you some space." Dusty lied, hoping that Applejack actually bought the story as he stepped aside a bit, she continued to struggle and Dusty sighed, "Alright, let me help—" Applejack snarled at him, "I don't need any help!" she snapped, after AJ yelled she sighed and gave an annoyed look at Dusty, "I'm sorry." She jeered, as she moved aside a bit to let Dusty help, he smiled and they were able to lift it off the ground together, "That wasn't so bad now, was it?" Dusty teased, AJ chuckled and shoved him, "Take it easy, sugar cube, I may be single but you..." she pointed a hoof at him, "You're getting married." Dusty stared at her in disbelief, "Oh, come on." AJ shrugged, "You didn't think I didn't know what you were staring at?" Dusty stared at the ground, "Alright, cut the sad act." AJ chuckled and gave Dusty a pat on the back nearly knocking the air out of him with all the muscle she has, "It's normal for a stallion in your position to do somethin' like that, it's natural." Dusty sighed in relief at the remark, at least it was normal for him to do that, "Now, I want you to try something." AJ got close up to Dusty's face, "Now this may seem obvious, but try and not do what you were just doing before, or else I will bust your flank." she flicked her head towards the other compartment door, and Dusty knew what she meant, No! he shouted mentally, Please don't tell Twilight! he pleaded as he pictured himself at AJ's feet begging for dear life, "You understand me?" Applejack gave him a stern look and Dusty nodded frightfully, returning to the compartment with everyone else, he sat on a berth shaking in fear of what would happen if Twilight knew what he did, suddenly he heard someone whisper in his ear, "I saw what you were doing..." and just like that, Dusty fainted. Dusty sat in the dining car with a paper bag next to him as he was feeling a little sick, most likely because he nearly had a heart attack, and maybe the fact that it was AJ who had done it made him feel even worse, "Are you in need of another bag, sir?" a mare asked as she approached him, "Nah, I'm fi—" Dusty almost finished his sentence when he blew chunks into the brown bag, "Alright...I need another bag," The mare nodded and came back with another paper bag, even though Dusty felt better, he grabbed it just in case, "You know, you look quite handsome, are you single?" she asked, Dusty gave her a 'what the hay?' look, "I'm getting married." He glared at the mare, who began chuckling, "Good, then you wouldn't mind if I gave you some advice?" the mare gave a devious smirk when Dusty realized he fell for her trick, "Alright, hit me." Dusty took a drink of water and listened intently, "Treat her good, don't question her motives, and do not insult her unless you want to end up getting bucked hard in the forehead." The mare poked him on the forehead, causing a chill to go down his spine, "Got that, sir?" she asked keeping the respect in her voice, which scared Dusty, "I got it, I got it." Dusty replied, starting to feel sick again. Twilight laid on her berth and stared out the window, the wild nature was beautiful in itself, but still, she had her mind glued on the wedding in Canterlot, she was thinking about Dusty's reaction when she told him the news and was surprised when she found out that Dusty has never even set foot in Canterlot, though she did tell him about Rainbow and Soarin's pie, but that wasn't enough. He deserved more, and she will give him more, a lot more. She felt embarrassed when Dusty almost found out what she had wanted for so long, and what Mrs. Cake has boated about for such a long time, a family. Twilight knew it was wrong to think such things at such an early date, but that feeling still lingered within her, gnawing at her like Pinkie and cotton candy. The thought alone of a little filly calling her "Mama" was almost enough to make her... "Twilight!" Rainbow gave Twilight a shove, she looked at the rainbow maned pony who was pointing at a window on the compartment door and saw Dusty behind Applejack as she tried lifting a heavy bag that was pink and covered in a bunch of stickers, which she immediately assumed belonged to Pinkie, Twilight chuckled as she saw what Dusty was doing, He always seemed to have a thing for country ponies... She thought, Dusty approached Applejack and she snapped at him which made Twilight shoot up, Rainbow held her back, "Let me go!" she quietly grunted at Rainbow, "Just watch..." Rainbow winked, Applejack was poking Dusty on the forehead and he went through the compartment door not even noticing Twilight, she couldn't blame him, he looked like he just saw a ghost. He climbed up on the berth and sat there rocking slightly, Twilight had a funny idea and leaned closer and closer to Dusty's ear, she looked at Applejack who came through and pointed at Dusty while winking, she stifled a laugh as Twilight whispered in his ear, "I saw what you were doing..." and he went green as he fainted, Applejack laughed hard which got the attention of his parents, who noticed he had fainted and began laughing too. Twilight laid down next to him and whispered in his ear, "I can't wait until we start our own family..." She whispered, knowing that he wouldn’t hear him, Dusty mumbled something hilarious, "Oh, that's cool, can't wait..." he mumbled, Oh, Dusty... Twilight blindly stroked his mane, but she began wondering, did he mean that? Dusty held the paper bag in front of him, waiting for another wave of nausea to crush him, but it didn't happen, which made him happy. Dusty looked at the plate of food in front of him, something was bugging him; he swore that AJ wasn't the one who said that as a harmless prank like she said she did, no, Dusty new it was someone else, and that someone was Twilight, he was sure of it, since AJ is stuck with a country accent and that isn't what he heard before he fainted. "Sir?" that same mare dropped a bill in front of him for the small amount of food he ordered to help clear his stomach, the mare dropped a pen in front of him and he lifted it with his magic and after he took care of the bill, he left a hefty tip for the mare who gave him a friendly pat on the back, "Thank you, sir." She smiled, though Dusty ignored it and was about to open the door when he heard muffled speaking, he took a small glass cup from one of the tables and put it against the door and pushed his ear against it, "Are you sure, Twilight?" Dusty heard from Applejack, "I agree, you two haven't even been wed yet." His mother said, Okay, now this is weird... Dusty listened closer, "I know it looks like I am rushing things, but I love him, and the thought of a little filly calling me "Mother" just makes me want to..." Twilight's voice began to break, "It would make me the happiest mare in Equestria to know that he feels the same way..." "I understand, Twilight Sparkle..." Dusty's father reassured, "But if he doesn't, then what will you do?" No response came. Dusty opened the compartment door and looked at Twilight, then at the others, then gave a fake grin, "What did I miss?" he asked, Pinkie hopped up, "Oh, Twilight wants—" Rainbow covered Pinkie's mouth, Dusty stared at her and Rainbow gave a fake grin, "Twilight wants to tell you she loves you!" Rainbow lied, Dusty looked at Twilight, "She has a sore throat!" Dusty's mother lied, his father quickly nodded, an idea popped into Dusty's head, "Well in that case, I suppose I should get her some tea." Dusty grabbed Twilight by her hoof and almost dragged her into the dining car and sat her down on a table, "Twilight, I heard what you said." Dusty explained, Twilight stared down at the table blushing, "I'm sorry, I just don't know what got into me..." Twilight's voice cracked, "Don't be," Twilight looked up at Dusty, he paused for a moment, "I feel the same way." "What can I get you two?" the same mare from last time asked, "I'm not hungry, obviously." Dusty joked, "I just left." The mare gave a small chuckle, "How about the misses?" she asked, "Some tea would be nice." Twilight smiled and pointed a hoof at her throat, as if to point out that she had a sore throat which she didn't, the mare smiled and left, she returned a few seconds later with a tea set, and filled a small cup with tea and pushed it toward Twilight, "Enjoy." The mare winked at Dusty and mouthed, "Doing good, kid." The moon began to rise as the two laid on the same berth, it felt like they were still in Ponyville, in his home on the couch, Twilight giggled and Dusty grinned at her, "Just like old times, eh?" "Well, not that old." Twilight replied, Dusty chuckled, attempting not to wake any pony else, "Oh, and promise me something." Twilight stared into his eyes, it felt like she was piercing her way into his soul, "Sure, what is it?" Dusty peeped, trying not to look away from her piercing eyes, "Next time you stare at another pony like that, make sure it's me so I don't have to teleport you to the moon." Twilight smiled, Dusty went pale and nodded slowly, "Now, where were we?" she asked as she threw the covers on top of them, "Oh, I remember." She giggled, Help. Dusty mentally whimpered, but any noise he made was drowned out by Twilight's giggling.
Luna's LightDusty didn’t dream that night, what was there to dream? He didn’t feel like dreaming nightmares, so he didn’t. It was like pure blackness for what lasted about a few minutes, then finally, a dark blue mare with the stride of a goddess sauntered her way toward him, as she got closer, her appearance was more definite, her mane was like the beautiful night sky after a long day of hard work, she wore the classic royal attire that was expected of a mare of her stature, with footwear that gave off a radiant blue glow and a choker with a half-moon shape carefully sculpted on the front, indeed, her beauty was apparent as her full form was exposed as she stood in front of Dusty. The mare towered over him as if he was just a colt, which normally would scare Dusty but he knew who he was staring at, “Your highness!” Dusty immediately gave a bow, causing the princess to chuckle softly, “How many times are you going to do that, Dusty?” The mare’s voice was soothing and warm like classical music, “Until you tell me to stop, your highness.” Dusty put emphasis on highness to pinch her nerves a bit, Luna gave Dusty a playful jab with her horn, “I’ve already asked you to call me Luna.” She chuckled, she stood with grace as she cleared her throat, “I wish to personally congratulate you on your wedding, and with Twilight Sparkle, no less!” she said without emotion as if she were reading off of a script, Dusty smiled and felt compelled to give his heroine a hug, Luna inspired Dusty in so many ways, thanks to her, Dusty pursued many different cultures of literature, to one day make a gift for Luna. Dusty searched through his memories and recalled that one special day… Dusty took his quill out of the ink pot and blindly wrote on the journal he had purchased a month before, for years Luna has saved Dusty from his more horrifying nightmares and laughed with him on the more comedic ones, Dusty dipped the quill in the ink pot once again and cursed under his breath as his ink pot had finally ran out, he pondered for a moment since that was his last pot of ink, he would’ve asked Fluttershy since they were going out at the time, but she probably didn’t have any. His mind wandered towards the librarian of their little group, Twilight Sparkle. Dusty regretted having to borrow anything from Twilight, though she would always insist with great enthusiasm, there were very little times when he had to borrow something from Twilight and he loathed doing it every second of the way, and any attempts that Twilight made to reassure him resulted in failure, Twilight was a great friend, a bit too great at times to make Dusty start questioning the way she treats him, stopping mid-thought as he approached the library, he faced Twilight’s front door and knocked. Twilight answered the door after a few seconds, “Oh, Dusty!” Twilight greeted him with a friendly hug, “Nice to see you!” she smiled, Dusty noticed she was wearing the round glasses you would find on a librarian, “Those glasses match you.” Dusty grinned; Twilight blushed slightly and giggled, “You think so?” Twilight gave a shy look that reminded him of Fluttershy, “Of course I do!” Dusty laughed, Twilight looked away from him, still smiling, “Anyway, I need a favor…” Dusty rubbed the back of his head trying to force the words out, “Of course, what do you need?” Twilight looked up at him and pushed up the glasses on her face that began drooping down to the edge of her snout, “I just ran out of my last batch of ink, do you have any I could use?” Dusty gave a pained smile, a fine example of how much he hated asking favors of her unless he did not like the situation whatsoever, “That’s all?” Twilight laughed, “Would you like to come inside?” she asked, Dusty would normally say no, but he actually brought the journal so he shrugged, “Why not?” Dusty replied, Twilight made some sort of noise as she stood aside for him, Dusty stepped inside and noticed a picture of him and Twilight during one of the sleepovers they had by their selves, she had pictures of the other ponies and her in the same situation, but something stood out about the picture with him and Twilight, he trotted up to it and held it in one of his hooves, he smiled as he looked at the smile on her face, and the one on his, they were the greatest of friends in his opinion as they never fought before, and any hint of tension that would rise between them would result in them laughing. Twilight suddenly appeared behind him with a quill kit, ink pots included, “Twilight, I can’t accept this…” he gaped, that particular quill kit was one he saw on the newspaper and wanted it for a long time but he never had enough money to get it, “I got it for you since I knew how much you wanted it.” Twilight held it out, Dusty stood with his mouth agape, “I…” Dusty couldn’t speak; it was the greatest gift he received in a long time, “I suppose there isn’t any talking you out of this?” Dusty smirked when Twilight shook her head slowly, Dusty hugged Twilight a bit longer than comfortable and ran home with the quill kit in tow. Dusty opened his brand new quill kit and took out an ink pot and began finishing his writings, after a long but comfortable hour of writing, Dusty closed the journal and sighed, “Luna is going to love It”, Dusty thought. Dusty pulled the journal from the saddlebags that he noticed hung over him, he kept that journal wherever he went, especially in his dreams, he held it out towards Luna, “I wrote a story for you.” He said as he held out the journal, Luna levitated it with her magic and skimmed through the pages, giggling at random intervals, “This is a lovely gift, Dusty.” Luna nuzzled Dusty like she would do to comfort him as a colt during his bad dreams, “I suppose I should wake up now, will you be at the wedding?” He asked with hope in his voice, “Of course I will, I’ll even introduce you to Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence who came all the way from the Crystal Empire.” Luna tousled Dusty’s mane, “Wow, thanks!” Dusty chirped, finally his dreams were interrupted by the slow rumble of the train engine, Canterlot looked a lot closer now than it did the other day, judging from the distance, they would probably arrive by noon, Dusty yawned and faced his bride who was still asleep. He was the first to wake up, no pony awake to prank him. It was a nice change.
