A DUSK IN EXILE

Dusk had been sure that when he entered the portal, he’d be surely lost within the anti-universe.

That didn’t happen. Much to his surprise, the transition only lasted barely a heartbeat or two before he tumbled out from the end, landing on a solid floor and a damp carpet that smelled of mildew and animal waste.

The brightness of his new surroundings was too much, and he instinctively closed his eyes to let them adjust to this universe. At least it was warm, the air fresh besides those nasty smells his nose scented upon landing. It was only a moment, and Dusk slowly let his eyes open, although he wasn’t sure if he wanted to, afraid of being again tortured and caged like some feral animal.

His initial reaction to what he saw left him in awe, yet that wasn’t what surprised him the most: he felt and sensed his magic returning slowly, filling him with joy as the purity of such power returned. He wanted to leap up in orgasmic laughter as his spirit became excited to have again the magic he had been drained of and prevented from using these past weeks of incarceration and daily physical abuse.

The suppression ring lay before him on the blood red carpet, its power now useless, the ring itself a dull black. He put a tentative hoof to the edge of the ring and felt it give, as if it could easily shatter.

He looked about his current surroundings then, and his eyes widened with shock. It was a throne hall, just like the one he had fled from only moments ago, yet eerily silent and empty, appearing to have been deserted for a very long time. His gaze took in quite a lot of destruction, the kind of which gave the distinct impression of a battle with wild magic. Scorch marks on walls where old tapestries hung, some soiled and torn, others fading forlornly. All through the hall lay a clear scent of decay and neglect. And another thing pierced his mind: the total absence of sound. Back in his world, the palace had been surrounded by a busy city. Yet here, there was no sound of pony activity, but then he heard a few trills of birds lurking nearby.

Still, that wasn’t the only thing. Behind the pair of empty thrones which bore stains of decay, hung a large banner showing a distinctive scene, one that took him a few moments to absorb: a pair of winged unicorn ponies, one white, the other near black, both at the sides of the banner. The white one was leaping upward, the nose pointing to a many-rayed sun, white the darker one was looking down, its nose pointing to a bright and silvery moon.

His jaw hung with surprise, as it was his world’s standard for Equineland, save that the orientation was offset by ninety degrees. The standard he knew display Solaria over the sun, with Selene under a full, silvery moon on her backside.

A throat clearing behind him was a further shock. Dusk turned away for the banner tapestry, only to see himself peering back at himself. Or rather, what he thought to be himself. The image reflection was certainly off, as it clearly displayed himself as a…mare?

“Who are you, and where did you come from?” the image spoke.

Dusk’s instant reaction was to cower away from the other pony and drop to his chest, then cover her face with his wings. Quivering with fear, he replied, “P-p-please d-don’t hurt me! I-I-I am just a librarian!”

He heard a feminine chuckle, then, “So am I.”

He stopped his shaking calming only slightly, then peeked out from behind his feathers to look at the other with trepidation. “You are?”

His likeness now was much closer and mildly looking down at him with a warm and reassuring grin. The mare nodded.

“I have a big library in my castle,” she said. “Would you like to see it?”

He again closed his eyes and hid behind his wings. Why is she being so nice to me? I’m a male alicorn! Shouldn’t she be hurting me and saying that I am wrong to be an alicorn?

In his silence, she moved and circled about him. “You are a stallion!” she cried. “A male alicorn! How did that happen?”

It took him a few moments to reply uneasily. “I-I, um, finished a spell in an old tome that had been left incomplete. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting this to happen. Honest!”

“So did I!” she cried excitedly. “Oh, you must tell me about it! How did it feel when you ascended? Did your princess come to guide you through the process? Or sing a song? This is just so crazy, to meet another like myself and having gone through it just as I did!”

Very cautiously, Dusk peeked out at the other pony like himself. Her appearance was one of sheer elation by her smile and nervousness as she sat close, a parchment hanging in the air before her with a quill ready to take down notes.

Frowning, Dusk folded his wings and sat up facing his curious doppelganger. “Why are you taking notes?” he asked her. “Are you preparing to turn me in for being a male alicorn?”

She matched his frown. “Why would I do that?” she asked back. “I am so excited to find another just like me, an element of magic from, where exactly?”

Dusk looked away at the carpeted floor for a brief moment, then turned back to her. “Who are you, mare that resembles myself?” he asked her, his forehead furrowing deeper.

She chuckled, then lowered the parchment. “I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship,” she replied studiously, then gave him a significant look, inviting him to introduce himself to her.

“I, um, I am Dusk Shine from Equineland,” he responded hesitantly. “You’re a princess? Not a goddess?”

“What?” she asked, taking a double look at him. “Is that what you call an alicorn mare?”

“I—” he began. “Alicorn? Are there more? And why aren’t you sitting on a throne?”

Twilight peered at him, perplexed by this Dusk Shine. He seems to know about alicorns, as he is one himself. And yet, he also appears to be cautious. Even confused.

“There are five alicorns in this world,” she explained, still frowning. “Each of us are mares. Well, four of us actually, the fifth is still very young, not even out of her diapers.”

He sighed heavily. A world of five alicorn mares. Shit, I’m doomed! Looking back again to this Twilight, taking note of her cutie mark being exactly like his, Dust said, “You said something interesting, Lady Twilight. What did you mean by saying ‘element of magic’? Like a mage kind of thing?”

She stared at him for a few minutes before replying. “It seems that you must be from some wildly different universe. Afraid of a mare alicorn, not knowing about the elements. Don’t you have friends, Dusk? And also, I’ve never heard of where you say you’re from! What did you call it, Equineland?”

Nodding slowly, Dusk sighed. “Yeah. My world. I think that somehow, I have found myself in some sort of mirror-verse, but perhaps fractured in a weird way. Yes, I had five close friends Each of us were from the same community and grew up together. Myself and another unicorn, two pegasi, and two norms, one of them absolutely insane and crazy, the other an apple farmer. Each were stallions just like me. I have never heard that term before, though. What about this ‘element of magic’ shit, huh?”

“Ever heard of a thing called the 'Tree of Harmony'?" she asked him, now fully curious. When he shook his head, she continued. “The Tree of Harmony is a crystal tree which supplies the magic of this world, which is fueled by friendship and love. The Tree keeps us ponies safe, but also gives us hope and friendship, yet also keeps the magic flowing.”

“Is that why I sense a flow of magic close?” he asked quickly. “Like a pure vein of a Ley line?”

Her eyes darted to his sharply. “You understand what Ley lines are, huh? Interesting. You are certainly a studied mage, and one who knows much of how magic works.” She took a breath to gather her thoughts. “The Tree has six gems to it. Each gem is a representation of the elements of harmony: generosity, honesty, kindness, laughter and loyalty, each which when combined, becomes the element of magic. By your cutie mark, as mine, we are both the Element of Magic because of our friends as they are elements themselves. It is because of our friendship together that we are strong enough to defeat all enemies that seek to destroy what we have.”

Another deep breath. “Isn’t that what you were?” she asked with a tilt to her head.

Dusk let his head droop, as well as his ears. “No,” he simply replied in a depressed tone. “I’m merely a simple mage who worked for a powerful patron. I have never heard about these six ‘elements’ you are talking about. That entire tale you just spoke about sounds rather wild, like some fairy tale.”

Twilight paused and regarded this stallion in silence. He positively couldn’t be joking, right? With a heavy sigh, she made the parchment rise, then began to write upon it hurriedly. Once she finished her note, she rolled it up in a scroll, then yelled loudly, “Spike!”

“Coming!” replied a weary voice from elsewhere in this quiet and forlorn castle. Soon a small figure, a young juvenile dragon, appeared at the entrance, then stared at both alicorns with uncertainty. “Um, which one are you Twi?” the dragon asked, clawed hands on his hips.

If the dragon was unsure at first, he was totally perplexed when both lavender alicorns looked at him simultaneously. “I am, Spike,” as the other pointed to her. “This is Dusk, from a parallel universe. I need you to send this to Celestia immediately for me.”

The small dragon took the scroll, then breathed green flames on it, causing the document to disappear as smoke.

Dusk shook his head, “Strange,” he remarked, then looked at his counterpart, finding her rather lovely in her manner. How I would love and enjoy mounting her! Again, he shook his head and sighed.

Twilight meantime made the feather quill disappear. “Come along, Dusk,” she said as she stood up. “We should make our way to my castle now. My research here can wait for another time. I am so excited to have you see my world, Dusk.”

“Wait!” Spike cried, hurrying away as he scurried up the staircase.

Twilight meantime had teleported her saddlebags to herself and calmly donned then. Each bags seemed to be heavy with books in them,

Dusk peered back to his bags he still wore. “I can help carry some of those, if you like,” he ventured,

She chuckled, looking at him with a grin. “Oh, I’m used to it,” she airily dismissed. “But thanks anyway, Dusk.”

“Suit yourself, Lady Twilight,” he said, then turned away, ready to depart with her. “I hope that where we are going has some food.”

She giggled. “Just like a stallion to be thinking of his stomach. My brother is like that also.”

Dusk peered at her. “You have a brother?” he asked. “I don’t, nor a sister. It was just me and my mother.”

She gave him a sorrowful glance. “I’m sorry,” she said. He had revealed a little tidbit of himself without asking, and that gave her hope that he might talk more of himself.

Spike returned with a backpack that he wore now, and they stepped out from the ruined castle into the sunlight. Dusk paused to lift his muzzle and bask in the light.

Twilight smiled at this simple gesture, wondering why he seemed so absorbed in reveling in the sunlight. “Do you not have sunlight in your world?” she asked.

Dusk opened an eye to look at her. “Yes,” he replied. “However, it is often paled from the dirty air. I lived in a huge city of fifteen million ponies, which can create a very dirty atmosphere.

Twilight looked at him with awe. “That’s even larger than all of Manehattan!” she cried.

“Your largest city, I presume?” Dusk asked. “Anyway, the entire city surrounded Castle Equus, which I think that this castle must be the counterpart of. I see a forest about this castle, where in my world a vast city was beyond the castle proper.”

Twilight gave a look of total surprise. “That,” she began to say, shocked by what he had just described, being rather incredible. “—That is very interesting. I mean, I cannot imagine that many ponies all dwelling in the same city! You must have come from a vastly different world!”

Dusk was going to say something else but got distracted by Twilight levitating her dragon companion onto her back. Of course, Dusk had to again ogle his mare counterpart, especially the curves of her flank, which he imagines to be so soft and pillowy. Unlike his flanks, which were trim and somewhat bony, even if the flanks of a stallion. He sighed deeply with regret, then looked away.

Just then, the dragon burped loudly, and when Dusk peered at the dragon, Twilight had already opened a scroll, rapidly reading while holding it in her magic. “Celestia wants to meet with you, Dusk Shine,” she eventually announced, folding the scroll up and placing it in her saddlebag. “She said to meet her at my castle in Ponyville, so we should go quickly to reach my castle before she arrives from Canterlot.”

Dusk peered at her with a curious look. “Is it far?” he asked mildly.

Twilight shook her head. “Not if we hurry.”

She began to trot away towards a wood bridge spanning a chasm. Initially, Dusk followed her for a bit, then teleported himself beside her.

“I think that I should probably walk with you, not behind,” he casually remarked. “Even if a wonderful sight.”

Twilight stopped to peer at him for a moment, then blushed and looked away with a small giggle. “Yeah,” she agreed. “I see your point, Dusk,” giggling again. “I did forget that you are a stallion.”

Dusk let it pass, but by the time they reached the suspension bridge, he was distracted by something off to the side of his sight. Curious, he asked with a nod to down in the chasm, “What’s down there?”

“What?” she had stopped to look down where he indicated. “Oh. That’s where the Tree sits. The Tree of Harmony. Why?”

He appeared to be uncomforted, nervously shaking his head. “I spied a white line briefly, like a line of pure magic. Inside this line were many pulses of, well, like bits of a rainbow in it. Now it makes sense, as that is where the magic comes from, as you said before. That Ley line is of course directed to the ruined castle, and I am guessing that the magic is what is keeping the castle from falling apart, although I have no idea why the Tree would keep such a ruined structure secure, yet in such a sad state of repair.”

She looked down into the chasm, but also back to the castle. “The princesses used to rule Equestria from there, over a thousand years in the past,” she explained. “After Celestia and her sister fought when Luna became Nightmare Moon, Celestia abandoned this castle and had Canterlot built, so she could be closer to her banished sister, who was now exiled to the moon.”

Dusk goggled at Twilight as she related the story of long ago. “How strange,” he remarked. “In my world, and I am assuming that your princesses are analogues of my goddesses, they never fought each other. Plus, I need you to explain this ‘Nightmare Moon’ thing, and why was it important enough for one princess to abandon this castle. Where is the other princess then? I am quite confused by your tale.”

“I’ll explain it better while we walk, Dusk,” she said, and teleported across the bridge, then stepped aside, inviting Dusk over to her. Dusk looked at her, then took a step toward the bridge, but instead copied her by teleporting himself across, reappearing beside his counterpart with a smile and a quick twitch of his tail.

She chuckled at him, then turned away and they started to trot down the clear path into the forest beyond. Eventually, she began to reveal the battle of the two sisters to him, and when she finished relating the events of a millennium ago, Dusk shook his head with disbelief.

“With their powers as alicorns, or should I say from my world’s parlance as ‘pegacorns’, your world should have been totally destroyed and lifeless. In my world, as I said before, the goddesses never fought each other. So, your moon goddess turned against her sister, huh? Not surprising. I have often wondered why Solaria continues to permit her sister Selene’s playful and salacious behavior at times. Your princesses seem to have little tolerance for each other.”

“Not really, Dusk. Celestia does love her sister very much. To me, that your princesses continue to rule together and never did fight is remarkable.”

“Perhaps,” he said. “But then again, you must realize that both Solaria and Selene have been ruling my world for about three thousand years or so. That was what motivated Solaria to up and exile me, as she felt I threatened her and her sister by becoming an alicorn.”

“That is so sad, Dusk,” Twilight commented with some regret. “An alicorn’s ascent should be celebrated, not to be discarded like some bit of trash.”

Eventually, both Dusk and his mare counterpart soon reached the edge of the forest, and Dusk saw a lovely little town nearby, with a tall castle standing amidst the town. The surrounding land was empty save a few stands of trees and an odd farm here or there. Not including the castle far off in the distance clinging to a mountainside.

Dusk sighed, the remarked, “Well, I am clearly not in Equineland anymore.”

“This is Equestria,” Twilight announced in a proud tone.