Chapters Prologue: Temporary Separation
"You ready, Barb?" Dusk Shine called out from downstairs, "The carriage'll be here before long."
"Gimmie a sec!" Came the reply. Up in her room, Eleven-year-old Barbra 'Barb' Drake rushed from one end of her room to the other, muttering out a checklist as she grabbed up stuff, "Got all my clothes..." Several pairs of pants, shirts, shorts, underwear, a couple of dresses, and a swimsuit were tossed into a large suitcase, "Toothbrush, the notebooks and pens Dusk insisted I bring 'just in case'..." Other odds and ends made their way into the piece of luggage. "My last pack of gems and a couple bags of amber jerky for the trip."
The reason for all this: a scholarship offered to "Barb the Brave and Glorious, Heroine of the Crystal Empire" from the Trotstar Hill Conservatory, a somewhat-known private school located outside Las Pegasus. At first she was tempted to toss it, but Dusk, with a little help from Prince Solaris and the other boys, manged to convince her that it'd be a good experience alongside an education.
The only, and quite frankly, biggest, downside was the fact it was a year-round school so she would be gone for the full seven years. And since Las Pegasus was at least eight hours behind Ponyville and Canterlot, communication would be limited mostly to letters and the rare phone call.
Once she was done and got the case shut, the room was given one last look, "Well, looks like this is good-bye for the time being." She said to it before dragging the case out and quietly shutting the door.
"Got everything?" Dusk asked once he saw her come down.
"Yeah."
"Nervous?"
"Scared outta my mind." She responded, the uneasiness showing in her voice, "This is gonna be the first time you and I have ever really been apart, Dusk."
He knelt down to look her in the face, "I know, but you can still send messages to Prince Solaris, and you shouldn't have much trouble getting to a phone." Even though he didn't look it, Barb could tell the fifteen-year-old was feeling the same.
"Yeah,but still...seven years..."
"It'll be ok." He said, hugging her, something she quickly returned, "They'll go by in a flash, and you'll be back home." He gave a watery chuckle, though it sounded more like a sob, "Knowing Berry, he's already planning the party he's gonna throw when you get back." They held each other for a moment before he stood back up and levitated her suitcase, "Come on, the others are more than likely outside already."
True to form, the rest of the group known as the Mane Six boys were there; Applejack, Rainbow Blitz, Butterscotch, Elusive, and Berry Pie. As well as Apple Buck, Silver Bell, and Scooter .
"Hey guys." Barb said, looking around.
"I'm sure Blitz and the CMC'll be able to take up the slack." She replied, hugging him, "Bye AJ."
"Take care of yerself, Sugarcube." He rubbed her back
"Don't worry, Barbsy!" Berry half-shouted in his usual exuberant way, snatching her up in a spinning hug as he brandished a notepad, "I'll be working on a party that'll last a MONTH when you get back!"
Heh, I'll be holding you to that." She smiled once he put her back down.
"Do be careful out there, my dear." Elusive spoke up, hugging her tightly, "Who knows what sort of blackguards lurk in a place like that!"
"I'll be careful, Elusive. I promised Dusk I'd write as soon as I got there."
"And be wary of anypony wearing a dickey, yeuch!"
"I still don't know what those are."
"Pray you never learn."
Butterscotch, however, was flat out silent.
"Scotch? You alwhoa!" She yelped when he suddenly scooped her up in a bonecrushing hug. The only sound she could hear from him was whimpering.
"R-relax, Butterscotch, it's not permanent! I'll be back."
"*whimper*"
"Guys? Lil help?"
"Ok, Butter, Ah think Barb knows yer gonna miss her." Applejack said, prying her free with a little help from Elusive.
"So, looks like we're gonna have two eggheads here before long." Blitz spoke up, "Try to have SOME fun while you're there, Squirt."
Barb snorted, "I'll try..." She stopped when she saw something on the fifteen-year-old pegasus's face, "Rainbow Blitz, have you been crying??"
"No!" He blurted out, quickly rubbing the tear mark away, "Just...just had loose hair in my eye, that's all."
Barb, however, wasn't buying it, "Blitz."
"I wasn't!" He protested, his voice cracking a little "I was not crying about the fact that you're gonna be gone from us for all that time!" The sniffle he tried to hide was heard by everyone.
She just giggled, "I'm gonna miss you too Blitz."
"It's gonna be kind of weird around here without you, Barb." Silver finally piped up.
"Yeah, Ah mean, it ain't ferever, but seven years is still a long'un." Apple Buck added, adjusting his bandanna.
"I know, but like Dusk said, I can still write and everything." She replied, "Plus, who knows, maybe you guys'll have your Cutie Marks by the time I get back."
"Ha! You better believe it!" Scooter cackled, "We aren't the Cutie Mark Cavaliers for nothing!"
Unfortunately, before anything else could be said, the group was cut off by the sound of rattling wheels, followed by a carriage pulling up.
"Well...I guess this is it..." Barb looked at it for moment as Dusk floated her suitcase inside
"You got your train ticket?" He asked, not even bothering to hide the shaky tone in his voice. He watched as she batted her pants pocket, "All right. Remember, write as soon as you get settled in."
"I will." She looked at him briefly before wrapping her arms around him one more time, "I love you, Duskie." Her voice was muffled in his shirt, but he heard it clear as day.
"I love you too, Barbra." He said, kissing her forehead.
A somber air wafted through the group as she climbed on and they said their remaining goodbyes. The door closed and the carriage began to pull away.
"BWAHA-HAH-HAAAAA!" Blitz sobbed, unable to hold it in anymore.
"I thought I was supposed to be the one crying from this..." Dusk mused, wiping his eye as he watched the carriage until it was out of sight.
Homecoming Homina Homina!
"I just don't get what I'm doing wrong, AJ!" Rainbow Blitz groused as the farmcolt finished setting baskets up under one of Sweet Apple Acres' trees, "All I did was ask Glide1 out and she turns me down flat!" He scratched his mane in confusion, "You don't think she's more into mares, do you?"
"Ever thought it might be 'cause the first thing outta yer mouth was, and Ah quote, 'Do ya drink milk? Cause it sure did yer body good'?" Applejack responded before delivering a hard kick to the trunk, dislodging every apple on the tree.
"It was a compliment!"
"Rainbow Blitz, Ah ain't no expert on courtin' and whatnot, but even Ah know how lame that line was."
Blitz attempted to come up with an appropriate response when they both heard someone whistling a jaunty tune not far off. Both stallions looked over to see Elusive walking their way. He was dressed in surprisingly filthy coveralls, carrying a miner's pick on his shoulder and a large bag floating behind him.
"Howdy, Elusive." Applejack called out, "You seem in a good mood, considerin'...well..." He motioned to the dirt-caked clothing.
"And good reason too, dear boy!" The tailor chuckled, opening the bag to show it filled to the brim with gemstones, "I do believe I found the motherload this morning! There's enough here to work with for weeks!" The excited expression on his face faded, "Though, I do admit, while finding it was grand, it was still bittersweet, and quite boring, doing it alone." Neither Applejack nor Blitz needed to guess what he meant.
"Yeah...Barb would probably be dancing around you like a giddy schoolfilly." Blitz said, sighing a bit, "Kinda hard to believe it's been seven years already."
"You ain't kiddin', pard." Applejack adjusted his hat, "Not to mention what all's happened since then, too." He looked over to where the Crystal Palace was visible not too far off, "Ah hope she recognizes the place after what that Tirek did."
"Indeed..." Elusive nodded slightly, "I believe that's the first time I ever saw Dusk Shine well and truly furious."
"Seriously!" Blitz started. "I didn't even know you could do that with someone's horn-"
"Blitz! Ah do not like thinkin' about that!" Applejack barked, paling a little.
"But he snapped it clean off the bastard and shoved it up his-!"
"BLITZ!" Elusive yelled, turning a little green himself.
"Fine, fine, sheesh!" He sulked, "Still, who knew Dusk could be so...brutal?"
Applejack just gave a slight shrug, "Can't say he didn't have cause." He looked back at the palace, "Speakin' of reactions, how y'all think she's gonna take tah Eris bein' free again?"
Elusive glowered a little, " She may have claimed to be 'good' now, but I still find it hard to forgive that...mare? Either way, that so-called 'prank' she pulled on poor Butterscoth was completely uncalled for!"
"Yeah. But it did backfire on her. Y'all remember the look her face after that?" Applejack snickered, "Needed a winch to get her jaw off the ground!"
Blitz, however, just pouted, "Still can't believe Scotch is beefier than me...!"
"Yes, I was surprised too." Elusive responded, he never expected the shy stallion to be second only to Applejack in being muscular, "Though being nearly molested by almost a dozen mares isn't quite what I'd wish on somepony."
Blitz scoffed, "Lucky bastard..."
"Say, have you guys noticed that Eris spends a lot more time with Butter since then?" Berry Pie spoke up over Blitz's shoulder
This caused a moment of silent contemplation among the other three, "...you don't think...?" Elusive started.
"Not very much, no." Berry responded over the triple shriek of their realizing he was there, "Cupcake?"
"Berry, where the hell did you come from!?" Blitz yelled, trying to stop his wings from twitching.
"Ah hate it when he does that..." Applejack grumbled, catching his breath.
Berry just shrugged, "I've asked my mom that same question, but all she does is turn red and mumble something about buttercream frosting and roller skates."
"I...I don't think I wish to know." Elusive said, in a rather small voice,
Blitz and Applejack's heads just slowly tilted to one side.
After a somewhat awkward few seconds, Elusive coughed to recompose himself, "Along that line; how well do you think our little dragoness will take to Dusk's new...accouterments?"
Blitz looked at him "He's got more than two now!? I thought he just got wings when he changed!"
"I meant his wings, Rainbow Blitz..." He sighed.
"Oh. Well, He's still Dusk, isn't he? She probably won't even notice."
"Like how it took you ten minutes to realize Triple Strike2 was ooglin' him durin' his first flight lesson?" Applejack commented, getting a rude gesture from Blitz in return.
"Guys! Guys!" A fifth voice called out, causing them to look over at Butterscotch, who was flying towards them at full speed, wings flapping like mad.
"Whoa there, partner!" Applejack called out once the regularly shy pegasus landed in a skid, trying to catch his breath.
"Butter, what's wrong?" Elusive asked, helping Blitz steady their friend, "You were moving like a Windigo was after you!"
"No, I'm all right." He replied, panting a little, "Dusk got a message from Prince Solaris."
"What is it, dear boy? Is that lout, Lord Chrysalid, attacking again!?"
"One of Eris' pranks get out of control?"
"Prince Artemis eat all the cheddar-barbecue corn chips again!?"
"Huh?" Butterscotch blinked, "N-no, it's Barb! She's on her way back!"
"Truly?/For real?/No foolin'?/WOOT!"
"She graduated yesterday morning, and the train left Las Pegasus a couple of hours ago. She'll be home this evening!"
"Woo-hoo!" Berry whooped again, before stopping mid-hop, "Holy crap! I gotta get started on the party!" He bounded off before any of them could respond.
"Um...Dusk is trying to clean up the palace...maybe we should go help him with that?" Butterscotch offered, watching the partyholic stallion's dwindling dust cloud.
"Ah'm game."
"Yeah, let's go with that."
"I concur..."
"Um, somethin' tells me he's got things under control." Applejack said as the four watched the scene that greeted them on arrival at the palace.
It was almost a tempest of magic as Dusk Shine commanded a small army of cleaning utensils. Hands, horn, and eyes were alight with his aura as he spun and weaved his arms like he was conducting an otherworldly orchestra.
"Dusk? Do..do you need a hand?" Butterscotch called out while Blitz tried to avoid a squadron of feather dusters.
"Huh? Oh hey, guys!" Dusk responded, looking over at the them briefly, "If you want, the main hall could use a sweep. I got the kitchen and almost finished in the map room. And can one of you get those trash bags out..." he pointed to a stack of at least nine bags sitting near the door, "...and maybe break out the air freshener?"
"Oh, by Solaris' mane, Dusk!" Elusive frowned disapprovingly when he caught a whiff of stale chow mien, "You're a prince! This is scarcely the way to live as one!"
"I'm a prince that can't cook, Elusive!" Came the retort, "You guys remember the last time I tried."
"Ohhh yeah." Blitz made a 'blech' noise, "I don't think 'Cthulhu F'tagn' is something you ever wanna hear your lasagna say."
"Ah'd rather it not say anything." Applejack shuddered a little.
"Yeah. Anyway, it's been seven years of ordering out, eating at your places, or at Sugar Cube Corner. But-wait. Waitwaitwait!" He waved his hands in a wild stop gesture, "That's all beside the point; Barb's coming home and I gotta get this place cleaned up!"
"Yes, there is that." Elusive conceded, "Well, with us here it should cut down on the time somewhat." He started levitating the bags out the door while Blitz, Butterscotch, and Applejack snagged some of the brooms.
A few hours later and the palace was spotless, or the areas that really mattered did, at least.
"Dusk, did the letter say when she'd be here." An exhausted Butterscotch asked as he flopped over the side of a couch
Tossing the mop he was holding away, Dusk glanced over to the nearest clock, "Didn't say exactly when, just that, barring any trouble the train encounters, she should be able to make the Evening carriage back home. "
"If that's the case, then Ah'm gonna head home and get me a shower." Applejack wiped off his forehead, "Ain't no sense in smellin' like a timberwolf when she gets here."
"You and me both." Blitz muttered, doing a pit check.
"I think we all could." Dusk added, "Let's do that; and since Berry's not here, I'm guessing he's working on that party he vowed." He got a few noises of confirmation from them, "Well, let's get cleaned up and then we can led him a hand."
With that, the four headed back to their respective homes while Dusk made a beeline to the bathroom.
A couple of hours later, and the Mane Six plus the CMC were at Sugar Cube Corner getting the finishing touches on the Welcome Home party. By then the sun was starting to set and Berry was getting hyper from excitement and junk food.
"Berry, don't you think you've had enough sugar for today?" Silver Bell asked, watching him nearly vibrate.
"I don't know the meaning of the word!" He shouted defiantly, "Seriously no one's ever told me; kinda like when I asked what Scooter meant that time he called Twilight Velvet a 'Milf'."
Said young stallion wilted slightly from the mass stare he received, especially from Dusk. "What...?? She's hot." He scratched his arm shyly.
"Scooter!"
"He's got a point, Dusk, she's a mare that's pretty easy on the eyes."
"She's my MOM, AJ!"
"Still hot." Blitz threw his two bits in, "I'll do her in a heartbeat."
"Guys?" Apple Buck spoke up from the doorway while the others tried to dissuade Dusk from feeding the overconfident pegasus a coffee mug, "Ah see a carriage comin' this way. An' it don't look like any from Canterlot."
The group rushed out side; sure enough, a standard-looking travel carriage came rolling up, coming to a full stop in front of them. The door opened a few seconds later.
Dusk stepped over to take a look in, "Um, hello...?"
"DUSK!" A familiar voice squealed happily as a figure bounded out of the carriage and collided with him with a tight hug. He staggered briefly but held his ground. Getting a good look revealed it to be a VERY female dragon, standing just half a head shorter than him. The purple scales and green spike's however, were unmistakable.
"Barb??" He asked, surprised at how tall she'd gotten in the last seven year
"Of course it's me." She responded, a little cheekily, "Unless you've been hugged by other dragons lately!"
What was once a short, slightly pudgy little dragon girl now stood a rather attractive dragoness with a slender and fit-looking figure. The midriff-baring t-shirt and skintight pants she had on showed off a surprisingly curvy bust and rear that her swishing tail and the way she stood as she hugged him seemed to accentuate even more.
"W-wow..." was all he could really think of saying once he got a better look at her, "You...you've got...grown up." The others just stared with varying degrees of slacked jaws.
Berry, on the other hand, suddenly appeared between the two, hoisting up Dusk in the process of hugging her as well, "Woo-hoo! Barbsy, you're back! I can't believe you've been gone seven years!" He cheered, swinging them both around, "It feels more eight and a half!"
Meanwhile the others had finally regained their voice.
"Gr-grown up? Indeed,...she's certainly...matured" Elusive spoke up, staring.
"Yeah....m-matured..." Applejack gulped.
"I/Ah'll say..." Silver, Buck, and Scooter said in unison.
Butterscotch just whimpered in agreement, "Mm-hmm." Before his wings popped open.
Blitz, however, glared at them a little, "Am I the only one who noticed Barb is now a babe!?"
Author's Note
1: Soarin's R63 name
"So, let me get this straight; you've become a prince..." Barb glanced at Dusk's new wings, which he flapped a little in response.
"Yeah, I kinda figured out the rest of a spell Starswirl the Bearded was working on while we were dealing with everyone's cutie marks being swapped around, and got zapped into a pocket dimension of sorts."
"And believe me when I say I will never gripe about how the weather is handled after that." Elusive commented, grimacing a little.
"Also, Prince Solaris freed, of all ponies, Eris , so you guys could try and reform her...still trying to wrap my head around the logic in that. And now Butterscotch is basically her parole officer?"
"She's not so bad now..." Butterscotch piped up. "Though her sense of humor is..." He promptly turned bright red.
"Well, 'humor' in that regard is a matter of opinion." Dusk Shine replied, muttering something about 'cola ice cream'.
"Right." Barb finished off her cake slice. "And the Elements are back on the Tree of Harmony."
"Yep." Dusk sighed. "Turns out the Tree was weakening and without it, some of Eris' old toys were running amok through Ponyville."
"If'n ya can call a bunch of trouble-makin' vines 'toys'" Applejack said, punching Blitz's hand for trying to steal his drink.
"And...Tirek ..." the tone in Barb's voice left no mistake that she would've liked a piece of the centaur. "He steals everyone's magic, gets Eris to help him...and blows up our home ."
"Yeah, Dusk wasn't a happy colt when that happened." Blitz shuddered. "He's scary when he's pissed!"
The newest Alicorn shrugged a little. "What Tirek pulled before that was bad enough."
Berry shifted a little in his seat, his voice getting squeaky. "I still pucker up remembering where he shoved Tirek's horn..."
"I could've gone the rest of my life NOT remembering that, Bartholomew." Elusive put the carrot he was holding back on the plate.
"Wait...Bart? But..." She looked at Berry.
"'Berry' Pie just sounds a lot better than 'Barry'. Makes it sound like I made myself into dessert!"
"Right." Barb replied. "Last, but not least...Star...?"
"Starlight Glimmer. The former leader of a town she talked into giving up their cutie marks."
"Give up their...?" Barb looked at Dusk incredulously. "Why would a pony do that!? And for that matter, how is 'giving up' a mark even possible??"
"At first she claimed it was a rod she'd discovered called the 'Staff of Sameness'." Dusk replied. "She said Cutie Marks only separated ponies and made 'blank flanks' feel inferior. Turns out she'd found a spell that let her put all the marks into a vault in a nearby cave."
"She was kind of a hypocrite too; talked everypony into it, but Butterscotch found out she'd kept hers, hiding it with makeup." Blitz added. "Dusk tried reasoning with her, but it didn't turn out so well."
Dusk downed his mug before continuing. "Ran into her again, but this time she intent on payback; mainly by using a scroll she'd found that let her time travel. She found out about Blitz's Rainboom having a hand in all of us getting our Cutie Marks, so decided that stopping him in the past was a good idea."
"Well, you're all still here, it didn't work." She replied.
"Actually, it did, multiple times. And each time it led to a future worse than the one before it; Umbra ruling the Crystal Empire and at war with Equestria, Chrysalid taking over in one, another with Flim and Flam bulldozing everything around them, an unchanged Eris, Tirek, and finally, a wasteland." He flicked a chocolate chip off his plate that Berry quickly snagged. "It was then that she finally showed just why she hated Cutie Marks. Needless to say, I wasn't too impressed."
"You see now why Cutie Marks need to be gotten rid of!?" Starlight demanded.
Dusk just looked at her, but underneath, he was seething. "That's...it? You tricked a town full of ponies, and now you want to ruin the lives of countless more...all because this Sunburst got his mark BEFORE YOU DID!?"
"You don't get it! That Cutie Mark is what broke us up in the-"
"BULLSHIT!" Dusk bellowed, getting in her face as he did. "YOU, Starlight Glimmer! YOU are the reason you two stopped being friends! You could gone up to him asked 'where does that put us?' But did you? No! You just sat there with wallowed in self-pity instead of mareing up and getting on with your life!" By this time, his horn and eyes were glowing from his magic.
"He abandoned me!" She yelled. "Going off to that fancy school, acting high and mighty..."
"Did you try writing a letter...CALLING him??"
Starlight faltered for a moment. "It..it doesn't matter! What about the abuse that's heaped on 'blank flanks'...!?
"There's no one doing that to you, Starlight." He cut her off, gesturing to the crying filly. "No pony calling you names, saying you're worthless, or anything. I mean....look!" He pointed to an older mare asking the filly what's wrong. "The ones who do are idiots, and assholes."
"I..I..." Starlight stammered.
"Did you at least try and make friends with the other kids?"
"They...they would've abandoned me the moment they got their marks, too!" She shot back, only for Dusk to sigh.
"At first, Starlight, I was really pissed off at you for doing all this for such a petty reason..."
"IT IS NOT PETTY!"
"Yes it is. I had originally thought you were taking marks for some ritual that'd let you have world-dominating power, but this? You took what you saw as your problem, and let it rule your life, then tried to force it on everypony else. So, yeah, it's petty...and kind spitefull, too. Like a little foal screaming 'if I can't have it, no one can'."
"SHUT UP!" She screamed, her eyes welling up. "You don't know what it feels like to lose a friend to those things!"
"Not personally, no." He replied, calming down a little himself. "But I know a pony who has. And experienced the abuse as well. Back home there are three young stallions; Apple Buck, Silver Bell, and Scooter. Before he met the other two. Apple Buck was friends with a colt named Twister. But, when Twister got his mark before Buck, the two did end up drifting apart. To this day, Buck admits they don't talk much due to Twister's work after he learned his talent."
"S-see?" She blurted out, trying her hardest not to cry. Key word, 'trying'. "That's what Cutie marks do..."
He cut her off. "Unlike you, though, Buck didn't let it eat at him. Instead of gnawing at it and try to blame everything on his not having one, he dealt with it like an adult and went on with his life. Not long after that, he met Scooter and Silver. Ever since then the three of them worked almost non-stop to figure out what they're good at. Even with a pair of bullies who heckled, hassled, even tried to humiliate them multiple times for not having their marks, they dusted themselves off - more often than not after giving those two their just desserts - and went back to figuring out what their marks were."
Starlight quickly wiped her eyes, an audible sob coming from her. It seemed to be sinking in for her as to how bad her plan was, but Dusk decided to make sure. "Look, I know losing a close friend sucks, but it's not the tragedy you're claiming it is. And all the results you've seen...Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, wiping every pony from Equestria, turning the whole place in a dead wasteland...is your revenge...your so-called 'justice'..." He gestured to the wasteland around them. "Is it really worth this?"
She shook her head. "N-no...it's not."
"Good. Now, I believe the first thing to do is get back to our own time. Then you, young filly, are going back to that town and apologizing to each and every pony there. After that, we're finding this Sunburst so you two can clear things up, understand?"
Starlight simply nodded. "I..I didn't really think this out, did I?"
"No you didn't."
"Well...one good thing came out of it, though." Her tone took a little more cheerful turn. "I proved I can hold my own against an alicorn."
Dusk tried not to smirk. "Actually, Gilm Glam, I was holding back to keep necessary collateral damage to a minimum." Before she could respond, Dusk was enveloped in a corona of magic, the force making her stumble back onto her butt. " If I had wanted to go all out..." His voice was distorted by the oscillating hum of arcane energy whirling around him. "You wouldn't be here anymore."
"Oh..." She pouted a little. "Horseapples..."
Dusk laughed a little. "Turns out Sunburst hadn't said anything to Starlight because HE was too embarrassed to tell her he was just a researcher instead of a powerful mage like he told her he'd become. Needless to say they both felt silly." He polished off his drink. "And now she's my student so she can actually learn about friendship."
"Speaking of Glimmer, where is she? I thought she'd be here." Butterscotch asked.
"Oh, she's grounded." Dusk replied. "I found out she and Trixie were goofing around and teleported the map table somewhere. They got it back, but it was off where it was supposed to be by a foot."
"Trixie...?" Barb looked up. "Dusk, isn't she the stage magician that got a weird ladyboner for you after you got the alicorn amulet away from her?"
"Well...I wouldn't quite say that." Dusk grinned nervously. "She just seemed a little enamored. A bit more than I'm comfortable with, though." He added under his breath.
If he'd been paying attention, he would've noticed Barb had heard him. And see the brief flash of animosity on her face.
Author's Note
Yeah..this one's not one of my better chapters...but the next should be better. no flashbacks at least.