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