Dusk Light's Awful, No Good, Very Bad Day!
Four-year-old Dusk Light watched as the large bookcase swayed back and forth. No, no please don’t fall, I didn’t hit you that hard! Sadly, the light purple colt’s wishes were not to be as the bookcase slammed to the floor, missing him by just a few inches. He stared at it as the books and parchment scattered all over the room. His ears pinned back against his head, and for a few brief moments, there was complete silence.
“Wahhhhh!”
He squeezed his eyes shut as he heard his Momma loudly say a word that he knew had to be what his Mommy called a curse. Oh no…
“Twilight! The baby woke up. Can you try to get her back to sleep?”
“Certainly! I mean, it’s not like I’m doing anything important, Luna!”
Dusk Light bit his lip. His Momma and Mommy had been like this since his baby sister Crystal Aurora was born. The doctor said that she had something called colic. All Dusk knew was that she cried a lot. Mommy told him it was because her tummy hurt. Dusk just wanted her to feel better so Mommy and Momma would get better too. He took a few steps backwards, only to slam into something both soft and hard. He tilted his head up to see a light blue alicorn looking down at him with an eyebrow raised.
“What in Equestria did you do this time, Duskie?” Twilight Shimmer asked as she took in the sight of the room and winced. “Oh, Duskie…was it your magic or your earth pony strength?”
Dusk Light slumped as he pressed into his big sister’s chest. “I think it might have been both this time, Sissy.”
Shimmer looked over at the clock on the wall and chewed at her lip. She knew if she left for school at that very moment and ran as fast as she could, she’d get there just in time to be late. She shook her head and lit up her horn, gathering the rolled parchment into a pile. “Come on, Duskie. Help me with the books.”
Dusk nodded and ran over to the first pile of books, lifting them up with his teeth and stacking them. With him and Shimmer working together, he knew they could get this cleaned up before Momma or Mommy noticed!
“Twilight Shimmer! What are you still doing here? Your classes started five minutes ago, young filly!”
Dusk Light looked up and swallowed hard. His Momma, Princess Luna, was standing in the doorway, her mane pulled back into a ponytail. He knew it was impossible to see the bookcase from where she stood, but if she stepped into the room proper...
Shimmer sighed and looked over to where Dusk was standing, a book still held in his teeth. “I know Momma, I’m sorry. I was just helping Duskie. I’ll get my bags and go to school now.”
“What exactly is it that you were helping Dusk Light with anyway?” Luna frowned as she stepped into the room. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. She took a deep breath. “Dusk Light, were you practicing your magic unsupervised again?”
“I-I was only trying to get a book, Momma. I just…” Dusk Light looked at the floor, tucking his tail between his hind legs.
“You were just breaking the rules your Mommy and I made for both you and your sisters! You deliberately went against us!” Luna’s horn flared as she walked over to her son and forced his chin up with her hoof.
“I’m sorry Momma! I didn’t mean too!” Tears filled Dusk’s eyes as he looked into his Momma’s eyes.
“Dusk Light, you never seem to ‘mean to!’”
“What is going on in here!”
Dusk Light’s eyes widened and he trembled as his Mommy walked in, Crystal Aurora fast asleep in a foal pouch on her chest. Twilight gazed at the destruction in the room and groaned, rubbing the bridge of her muzzle.
“Well, I suppose that tells me what woke the baby up… Dusk Light, did you do this?” Twilight walked over to where Dusk Light had sat down.
“I’m sorry Mommy! I’m sorry Momma! Please, I was only trying to use my horn to get a book…” Dusk Light missed the look that passed between his mothers as his Mommy picked up the bookcase with a flare of magic and clicked her tongue.
“No good, Luna. The third shelf has a large crack in it, and there’s a split running down the entirety of the back.” She set it back down on the ground before looking at the clock. “Dusk Light, you get yourself to preschool right now! We’ll discuss your punishment when you get home, so don’t you dare dawdle on the way home.”
Dusk Light nodded as his saddle bags were placed on his back. Twilight leaned down and gave him a nuzzle. “You know Momma and I love you, but we make these rules for a reason. Now go on.”
“Love you too, Mommy. Love you, Momma.” Dusk Light glanced over at where Luna was looking over the bookcase. She paused and looked up. “Dusk Light, you know our love for you is more powerful than what we feel for the stars in the sky. Now go on to school.”
“They really got that angry at you?”
Dusk Light took a bite of one of his graham crackers and nodded at his best friend, Quarterstaff. “Yeah, Momma even grabbed my chin with her hoof…”
The silver unicorn winced. “Yeah, Momma always does to me, but she’s an earth pony, so she has to. I wonder though…”
Dusk Light cocked his head before taking a sip from his juice box. It was a special apple flavored one that his Auntie Applejack made for him. “What are you wondering?”
“Well… I was talking to Sweetie Drops the other day, and she was saying how weird you are.” Quarterstaff indicated an earth pony sitting a few tables away, laughing with her group of friends.
“Is this about how I’m a being stupid prince again? Mommy told me not to think about that stuff ‘till I was older anyway. Not even Shimmer does much princessing, and she’s almost nine!” Dusk Light shook his head, remembering how his Mommy had almost snarled at his Uncle Blue Blood when he told her that Dusk needed to be sent to Canterlot for private tutoring.
“Nah, nothing like that. Not this time. No, um, she was saying that you were a mistake.” Quarterstaff took a bite of her carrot stick, staring wantingly at Dusk’s graham crackers.
“A-A mistake? How can a pony be a mistake? Mommy tells how much she and Momma wanted me all the time!” Dusk stared in shock, his juice box slipping from his hooves.
“I dunno, Duskie, that’s just what she said! She said that since you have two Mommies, you were a mistake, because they really wanted fillies instead of colts, and now since they have your baby sister, they’re gonna get rid of you.” Quarterstaff shook her head “But I dunno, Duskie, my Mommies told me they’d love me even if I’d been a colt! I think Sweetie Drops is just, um… jealous cause you have two Princesses for Mommies.”
Dusk stared down at the table, his ears folded back as he thought about what Quarterstaff had said. Am I really a mistake? So deep in thought was he that he didn’t even notice when Quarterstaff took the rest of his snack.
Remembering what his Mommy had told him, he ran home as fast as he could to see Shimmer laying on her belly outside, reading. “Hi Shimmy!”
Shimmer looked up and smiled. “Hey Duskie, how was school?” She opened a wing to let her little brother curl up to her, which he did with a happy sigh.
“It was...okay, I guess. Did you get into a lot of trouble with Mrs. Cheerilee?” Dusk asked, breathing in the strawberry scent of his big sister’s shampoo.
“Nah, I just explained to her that I was trying to help you, and she just smiled and told me to take my seat.” Shimmer frowned. “But I think you’d better get inside. Momma and Mommy are waiting for you in the library.”
Dusk nodded. He pulled back and walked into the palace slowly, his hooves clinking against the crystal floors until he reached the library. He lifted his hoof and knocked on the large door. A moment later it was opened by a dark blue aura.
“Come in, Dusk Light.” Luna nodded at the chair that was set in front of her and Twilight. Dusk Light dropped his bag on the floor and climbed into the chair, his ears pinned back.
“Now, Mommy and I have been talking about what occurred this morning, and we have reached the conclusion that you are not entirely to blame.” Luna sighed before smiling gently. “Upon further examination of the bookcase, Mommy and I found it was already tilting a bit to the left. We would have needed to replace it soon anyway. Also, it seems that the book you were trying to grab was one of your own from foalhood. Were you going to read to Crystal Aurora?”
Dusk Light nodded with a sniffle. “Uh huh. I thought that if she heard a good story, maybe she’d go to sleep, and you and Mommy would be able to rest too…”
Twilight smiled before walking over to Dusk Light and hugging him, nuzzling his cheek. “Oh Duskie, you are such a sweet, caring boy. How did Momma and I get so lucky to have you, hmm?”
Dusk Light felt his body relax as his Mommy’s lavender scent invaded his nostrils “I dunno, Mommy… does this mean I’m not in trouble?”
Twilight shook her head with a small snort. “Don’t push it. Well intended or not, you still broke the rules. But I think no dessert tonight will be punishment enough. So go on and play until dinner.”
Dusk Light pulled back from his Mommy and looked over to see his Momma smiling at him as well. His chest felt warm. Sweetie Drops has to be wrong! He grinned and jumped down, running out of the room. Suddenly, he slipped on the crystal floor, and the next thing he heard was the crash and shattering of something being broken. His eyes widened as he looked at what had been his Momma’s large ceramic jug.
Luna raced out of the room as she heard the loud crash and stared wordlessly at the destroyed jug. A single whimper escaped her lips.
“Dusk Light Sparkle! What did you do? Do you have any idea how old that was! Little colt, you are in such—”
Dusk Light pinned his ears back, trying to block out his Mommy’s very angry voice and his Momma’s whimper. He just stood up and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him.
“Dusk! Hey, wait! Where are you going?”
Dusk Light just kept running, even as his big sister tried to see what was going on. He kept running and running, not looking where he was going, even as ponies yelled at him as they jumped out of his way. He didn’t care that tears were flowing down his cheeks. He just needed to get away. I am a mistake!
Twilight Shimmer walked into the hallway to see her Mommy fuming as she tried to put something broken back together as her Momma just sat on the floor, wiping a tear away now and then. “Um, what’s going on?”
Twilight looked up, her eyebrows furrowed and her mane stuck up in places “Shimmer? Would you please go get your brother? It seems we need to have another talk about household rules. This time about running…”
Shimmer nodded and turned to leave before hesitating for a moment. “Um, Mommy, what are you trying to fix?”
“This jug was your Momma’s and Auntie Celestia’s when they were fillies. They used it to collect water for their mother,” Twilight explained with a frown. “It’s very old Shimmy… and very special.”
“I… I’m sorry Momma, b-but I’m sure Mommy can fix it!” Shimmer nuzzled against her Momma’s chest before racing off to find her little brother.
Twilight stirred the soup and glanced over at the clock for what must have been the twelfth time in the last five minutes. Her ears pinned back as she looked over at where Luna was rocking Crystal, feeding her from a bottle. “I think I’ll be able to fix the jug without any sign of it being broken.”
Luna nodded as she looked to the table, where her children should be sitting, Shimmer reading to Dusk. “We should go after them…”
Twilight looked down and shook her head “Applejack said we should stay here for when they find him… I want this soup to be warm and ready as soon as he gets home.”
“Then I should be out there! I can cover more ground!” Luna stated, setting Crystal down in her bassinet. “You know I’ll find him!”
“Celestia is already out there helping the others. I just… how did this happen, Luna? How did we scare our son this badly… our sweet, loving son…” Twilight stopped stirring and wiped her eyes. When Dusk had run out she had been furious and planned to ground him until he was a grandfather. When an hour passed, and Shimmer returned without him, her temper had cooled, and she had called her friends, hoping he had gone to one of them. Now, though… “It’s been three hours Luna… the whole town is looking for him! Celestia, guards! Even Cadance is on her way, but we’re just stuck here in this house. I… I can’t take it anymore. I have to go out and help!”
Luna nodded “Go, I’ll stay here with the baby. Find our son, Twilight.”
“Dusk Light! Dusk Light!” Dusk Light shivered as he woke up, hearing several ponies calling his name. He went to answer before stopping himself, his mouth open, and shook his head. If I answer, they’ll just take me home, and Mommy will get rid of me. He put his hooves over his eyes as he backed further into the large roots he was hidden under.
“No sign of the young Prince, Princess Celestia. We are expanding the search further into the Everfree now!”
“Very well. Unicorns in front, horns lit, then earth ponies, pegasi in the air! Walk in a single, horizontal line. Don’t let a single tree or bush go unchecked. It’s getting later and colder. Let’s find my nephew!”
“Let me help! Please, I can’t take it anymore!” Dusk Light’s eyes widened as he heard the very panicked voice of his Mommy. “Please Celestia, I can’t just wait in the palace any more! Duskie is my son! And he’s all alone and cold somewhere!”
“Alright, Twilight, alright. Unicorns, make room for Princess Twilight Sparkle to join you. If you find anything, stop and call out. Am I understood?”
“Yes Princess!”
Dusk Light covered his ears at the loud shout. His bottom lip trembled. Mommy… Mommy is looking for me. Mommy wants me… a-and I want Mommy! He moved to get out from the roots and stopped. His hind leg was stuck…
“Mommy! Mommy, help!”
Twilight’s ear flicked as they came closer to the Palace of the Two Sisters. “Stop!” At once, every pony stopped in place, and Twilight closed her eyes to focus on listening.
“Mommy! Mommy, help, I’m stuck! Mommy!”
“Duskie? Duskie! I hear him! He’s stuck someplace close. Check the roots and bushes!” She raced forward to stop at a chasm where she heard his voice the loudest. She took a deep breath and leaped into it, her wings spread to land in front of the Tree of Harmony “Duskie! Duskie, can you hear Mommy?”
“Mommy! Mommy, I’m here! I’m stuck, Mommy, and I’m cold!”
Twilight’s head whipped over to stare at the tree. She raced over. Laying on her stomach, she looked into the roots and sighed in relief. There was her boy, scraped up and dirty but alive… “Mommy sees you, Duskie, but I can’t reach you. Hang on, okay?”
“O-Okay Mommy… I’m sorry Mommy…” Dusk Light reached his forehoof as far as he could and Twilight did the same, gripping her son’s hoof. She stood up and concentrated, launching a magical flare into the air from her horn. A few moments later, she was surrounded by guards, medics, and even Princess Celestia, who got down on her belly next to Twilight.
“It’s alright, Duskie, we’re going to get you out of there. Okay?” Celestia reached her hoof in and lightly stroked her nephew’s hoof.
“O-Okay Auntie Tia…”
“Alright, we’re here!” Dusk Light perked up at the sound of a very cultured voice. “And we brought Quarterstaff.”
“Thank you so much, Octavia. Duskie is stuck in the roots and none of us are small enough to get in there and free him. We dare not use magic on the tree…” Twilight stroked her son’s hoof as she swallowed hard. “Quarterstaff, would you please climb in there and help Dusk Light get unstuck… please, he’s cold, and probably hungry.”
“Okay… how’d he get in there though?”
“I… he ran away after I got angry with him.” Twilight admitted, her voice cracking.
“Oh Duskie… You aren’t supposed to run away from your Mommy, even when she's mad.”
“I know… I just… I thought she was going to get rid of me!” Dusk Light cried out, his eyes squeezed shut.
“Get rid of you? I would never! Not ever, Duskie! You are my son and I love you so much! Yes, I may get angry and stressed… but no… we are stuck together, little colt, you and me and Momma and Shimmy and Crystal. Forever and ever.”
“Promise Mommy?”
“I super pinkie promise!”
Quarterstaff quickly climbed into the roots and pulled Dusk Light’s hoof free a moment later. Soon, both children were being held and nuzzled by their Mommy before the medics began tending to Dusk’s cuts and bruises.
Celestia frowned and shook her head. “Twilight, if I understand correctly, Cadance is on her way. Is that right?”
Twilight nodded. “That’s right. She wanted to help us find her nephew.” She nuzzled her son’s messy mane “She’ll be relieved to learn she doesn’t need to.”
“And Crystal is taking a bottle now?”
“Yes, it’s easier for both Luna and I, especially with her colic. Why?” Twilight looked up after wrapping Dusk in a blanket.
“Because I am suggesting that you leave Crystal with Cadance tomorrow, and that you and Luna take the day to spend with Shimmer and Dusk. I’m sure their teachers will be fine with dismissing them for one day.” Celestia lifted an eyebrow.
“A suggestion?”
“Don’t force me to make it a decree, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia smiled, showing her teeth.
“I wouldn’t dream of it. I think you’re right. Luna and I need to spend some time with our very understanding son and our older daughter. What do you say, Duskie? How about we spend the day at the beach?” Twilight smiled, nuzzling her son’s cheek.
“As long as I’m with you and Momma and Shimmy!” Dusk Light beamed as he laid down on his Mommy’s back, curling up with a final thought as her walking lulled him to sleep. Sweetie Drops was wrong. I’m not a mistake!
