A DUSK IN EXILE

Celestia was sitting on a cushioned chair at her ornately decorated walnut desk, an open document before her. The words written on the document was concerning, perhaps not to Equestria-at-large, but enough to cause the elder diarch some concern. Luna’s spidery script spoke of her struggles attempting at opening up Dusk Shine’s mind, thus getting a glimpse of his memories and dreams, but ending in failure. Luna goes on to reveal that Dusk’s dreams and memories are sealed behind layers of magical barriers, not merely a single barrier which Luna could easily get around with her ancient arcane magics, but got stymied by numerous layers, each with a single key individual to every layer.

“Impossible to unlock, Dear Sister,” Luna concluded. “I would need to unlock one layer, then come up with another key to unlock the next layer, then repeat for the third layer, so on and so forth. These barriers are deeply rooted in his subconscious, and I feel that it may take months of trying to unlock his memories, and that is if each key remained the same each time that I attempt to breech his mind’s barriers. The crafting of such is something of sheer beauty! Clearly, Dusk has similar abilities to Twilight Sparkle, but I doubt even she could spin such a spell like this. It is just too devious!”

Celestia sipped her tea, considering her younger sister’s words. While it is common for some ponies to place barriers on memories, but both dreams and memories is troubling, to say the least. It indicates a mind that holds secrets, secrets that either bear an evil done to oneself, or perhaps an evil to be spawned upon the environment at a given moment,

She has been pondering such since this Dusk Shine arrived. Oh, he has shown himself to be quite a gentlecolt many times, and even made friends with her nephew Blueblood, but also one of those kinds of stallions with clear lust in their hearts. She has heard that he frequently has made attempts to seduce mares, mainly the servants and maids, which is not surprising, given that he is an alicorn stallion. A true noble stallion might have attempted such seductions in a less roguish manner. Yet it does give her concern about the safety of the mares who work in the castle.

A light tapping sounded at the door to her study, then opened slightly as a helmeted head from one of the guards peeked into the study. “Many pardons, Highness,” the young stallion said, “but you have a visitor, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Celestia smiled at the gray guard. “Send her in,” she said warmly, placing aside the document on her desk just as Twilight trotted into the room, the door closing behind her silently.

Celestia smiled at her protégé. “Welcome, my dearest student. I was not expecting you yet am so glad to see you again.”

Twilight gave Celestia a small nod. “Good morning, Celestia. I have been wondering about Dusk,” she stated. “I haven’t heard anything regarding him, from Dusk himself or you, Princess. I am curious as to what is happening with him.”

Celestia kept her smile on her face. “Please, sit, Twilight,” the elder diarch said. “Perhaps you might like a cup of tea?”

At Twilight’s nod as she sat in the chair opposite from Celestia, the diarch levitated a cup and poured some of the tea from her pot, then sent it to Twilight. Replacing the teapot, Celestia then sighed deeply as she looked to the younger alicorn.

“To be honest, Twilight, I am not sure what to make of him.”

Caught taking a sip from her cup, Twilight looked back to her teacher and mentor, “Hm?”

The gentle smile on Celestia hardened. “Dusk has been less than forthcoming about himself,” she admitted. “Despite the questions that Luna and I have asked, all we get are mumbles and nothing of any sense. Certainly, from what we have gathered, Dusk is far from being any noble pony, perhaps more of a commoner unicorn. Yet, we are left with more questions, primarily regarding his appearance here in Equestria.”

Twilight blinked. “What about his dreams?” she asked. “Has Luna tried that herself?”

Celestia smiled, pushing the document before her towards Twilight. “Read this, Twilight.”

Twilight took the paper and rapidly read the report, then looked up to Celestia. “That is rather curious,” she said.

“You see now my dilemma,” the sun princess spoke. “As much as I would gladly help him, I must surely think of my ponies first. Until I am certain that he is no threat, I must assume the worst and act accordingly.”

Twilight replaced the paper onto Celestia’s desk with a sigh. “Is there a way that I can help?” she asked in earnest. “As in, maybe I could get him to say yes or no if I am able to befriend him? We were getting to that point before you came and swept him up from me.”

Celestia smiled in a regrettable manner. “And I apologize for that,” she said. “It was my instinct to quickly assume the worst and take care to prevent any kind of mischief that this Dusk might have caused. I was not sure how to deal with both a stallion alicorn, and also one with your exact looks and cutie mark. I mean, if I hadn’t taken responsibility of your education, who knows where you might have ended up with your talents? I shudder to think what you might have become without my guidance. And with that thought, I can only assume that Dusk is you without any such guidance. This hiding of memories is an indication where he may have done things himself to cause harm, if not some trauma, yet still has the ability to make such a barrier.”

Twilight’s eyes sparkled. “Let me help, Celestia!” she eagerly said. “If I can use my talents of friendship, then perhaps he just might open up to me! And I would be safe with my friends, being elements of harmony should Dusk prove to be a danger to us here in Equestria!”

Celestia frowned. “I thought of that option, and honestly, I am unsure to expose you, of all ponies, to any potential danger. Sure, you and your friends have done many remarkable feats staving off threats to Equestria, but they have been easily identified. Dusk represents a true conundrum in this case.”

“If you let me try, I assure you that I will be safe and take every precautionary measure with Dusk. It may be better in a neutral place instead of here in Canterlot—”

Celestia grinned again. “Like your castle in Ponyville?” she asked and snorted. “Without any of the Royal Guards for protection? That is surely asking for disaster.”

“The guards would be useless if he is as powerful as myself,” Twilight countered, “At least, in my care, I can put up wards so he can be boxed in and kept from causing any potential harm with the powers I and my friends can summon from the Tree. I can use Discord if need be.”

Celestia leaned back in her chair with a thoughtful look. “There is that, I suppose,” she admitted slowly. Taking a further sip of her cooling tea, she sighed. “Let me consider that for a few days, Twilight. I do not want to take any chances with this Dusk until I am positive that he is no true threat to Equestria, being that he is an alicorn, but you do represent an opportunity to discover what it is he is capable of. Say, an option, quite frankly.”

“At least, can I go visit him now?” Twilight asked. “To get a feel if he might be interested in spending some time with me where we could become friends before I try to uncover his intentions.”

“I can allow that, Twilight,” Celestia replied. “But only if you permit me some of my guards to accompany you and stand by while you are with Dusk, just for precautionary measures.”

Twilight nodded. “I feel that such a show of force would be unnecessary, but if it makes you comfortable, then fine, Princess.”

Celestia nodded. “Good,” she said. “Now, what else is there that you have come to me for?”

And for the next hour or so, they talked about things other than Dusk.

* * *

Dusk was very much in bliss, as the mare he was mounted on often moaned or gave small squeals of delight while he pounded himself into her. The pecan-colored young mare with her dark, curly mane had been too easy to seduce, eagerly agreeing to being mounted and mated.

Just another young mare willing to have sex with an alicorn stallion, he thought to himself.

Lily was, by her own admission, from a minor noble unicorn house, and therefore very eager to become friendly with Dusk after she heard about him from some of the servants in the castle. Sure, he may have been from a different world not Equestria (a notion that still left her confused how), yet he was a male alicorn, and clearly available. She quickly introduced herself to him and readily agreed to accompany this prince to his rooms, allowing herself to be seduced by him. She hoped that she might snag him into marrying her, thus aligning her family into royalty as they had been once before millennia ago. Her sire even encouraged Lily to become friendly with this new prince, and her family was certainly hoping to meet him.

Dusk quickened, approaching his climax. This mare was quite a fine mare, so quick to please him physically. He decided to let her play out what her intentions were before he moved on to another mare and rut her.

Ah, to be a playcolt stallion without worries! Such fun.

With a grunt, he hilted himself and began to spill his seed. While waiting to finish, a light tapping at his bedroom door sounded, followed by:

“Sir Dusk? You have another visitor. Princess Twilight wishes to speak with you.”

Dusk frowned, wondering why she was here, and at this very moment when he had Lily with him. Sighing loudly and attempting to ignore Lily’s questioning look, he replied, “Show her to the sitting room, dear Ruby. Tell her that I will be out to meet with her in a few minutes. And see that she is comfortable and has something to drink, if she wishes.”

“Very good, sir!” he heard his maid walk away, then dismounted from Lily with an apologetic grin. “Sorry, sweets,” he said. “I hate to end this fun with you so soon, but I must meet with the princess now. Come back later, say after dinner, where we may pick up at this point. I might even be willing to have you stay the night with me.”

She turned about and kissed Dusk. “I am open to remain with you and sleep in your bed, Prince Dusk,” she said as she straightened her mane and tail before reaching the door. “Anything to please you, Highness.”

Lily stalked out of his bedroom, intent on showing her displeasure to the young princess for interrupting her time with the handsome prince. Indeed, as she swept past Twilight, Lily gave her a scathing glare, only to point her nose up imperiously and depart Dusk’s suite with a scoff of displeasure.

Twilight ignored the mare, giving her not a single thought. She sat on the short divan by the coffee table and peered at the book there. Her grin broadened, instantly recognizing the book bound in a hard cover of purple and having the pink six-sided star on it.

So, he’s been reading up on me and my friends. A few tabs stuck out from the pages, obviously to her that Dusk was marking places in the copy of her diary. Her mind wandered, wondering if he had written a diary himself, if indeed he was her analogue.

Minutes slid by while she waited. In time, the maid came out with a tray bearing a teapot and cup, plus a sugar bowl. “I hope that this will be satisfactory, Princess,” the maid said. “If I recall, you do like chamomile.”

Twilight smiled at the maid. “Perfect,” she said. “By the way, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your opinion of Dusk?”

The maid Ruby paused, considering her words. “Prince Dusk is a wonderful pony, Princess,” she soon replied. “He has been nothing but kind and thoughtful to me.”

Twilight stirred her tea silently for a moment, then asked further, “Has he tried to mount you, or at least seduce you? I understand that he has already quite a notoriety, being a stallion alicorn.”

The maid only chuckled. “I do know of what you mean, Highness,” she said, “But to me, Prince Dusk has been very kind and has never tried anything like that. The mare who just left? She is the one he has been seeing lately.”

“Which explains that look she gave me moments ago,” Twilight added with a nod. “Do you know her name?”

“The mare you are referring to is named Lily Greenmount, of the family Nightshade,” spoke a male voice.

Dusk came out of his bedroom, shaking his head and tossing his newly washed mane before flopping down on the sofa opposite from Twilight onto his side with a sigh, then lit his horn briefly, summoning a glass of wine,

“I wasn’t aware that you were interested in my sex life, Princess,” he remarked after taking a sip of his wine. “Are you jealous that you are not the first to bed me, perhaps?”

Twilight blushed furiously. “NO!” she cried defensively, only to settle back in her place and regain her composure. “It was just idle curiosity is all.”

Dusk smirked. “Are you sure?” he needled her, only to wave the question off with a hoof. “I don’t really care what you or that old nag on the throne thinks. Personally, I still feel betrayed by you, Princess. Now, what is the purpose of your visit?”

Twilight peered sharply at Dusk. “Princess Celestia is not an old nag,” she noted. “She may have lived a long life—”

“Don’t fucking care, Princess,” Dusk snorted, interrupting her. “Monarchs are all the same, regardless of what title they take. They will shit on you the moment you let them. I have little regard for any monarch, and what has happened here to me is that I exchanged one prison for another, save this one has satin sheets and no bars. At least, I don’t get daily tortures as I did before. Not yet anyway.”

Twilight glowered for a few minutes, then sighed, releasing her anger and taking another sip of her tea. He’s angry, she thought to herself then. I need to be careful of what I say. Reflecting of what she had gleaned from that time she first met Dusk, she might have guessed that of him.

“I am sorry, Prince Dusk,” she said. “I truly am. I want us to be friends, and I wish to help you any way I can. I wasn’t expecting Celestia to grab you and take you away before we could start becoming friends.”

“Water under the bridge now,” Dusk said dismissively. “Not to hurry you along, Princess, but it is getting close to dinner. I mean, I’d love to lay here and talk with you all evening. You are quite the feast for my eyes. Yet I do get the feeling that you are a bit of a tight-tail, so what is the purpose of your visit?”

Twilight glared briefly at him, her cheeks blushing furiously. Yet she had to push aside his crude remark. Another sigh, she then asked directly, “Are you any threat to Equestria?”

Dusk burst out laughing, turning onto his back and kicking his hind legs for several minutes. Soon, however, he did calm down again and lay on his side to peer at his female counterpart. Still chuckling, he admitted, “That is the stupidest, silliest thing I have ever heard asked of me! Did she ask you to pose that question to me? Your Ancient One must be desperate for answers, if she sends her prize student to make such an accusation!”

Dusk then drank down his wine in a single gulp, then summoned a whole decanter to refill the glass, only to drink that glass entirely. After a second refill, he relaxed again. “What do you think, Princess?” he countered.

“I have no opinions, Dusk,” she replied evenly. “I came here to ask that, only because you have not spoken much to the princesses, nor has Luna learned anything for your dreams. In fact, Luna was worried because she cannot get a look at your dreams.”

Dusk nodded slowly. “And that is on purpose, Princess,” he replied soberly. “I hate any Faust-damned dreamwalker fucking around in my mind. Your princesses have no right to bugger and search through my mind. Be that as it may, I keep my mind and dreams locked away so as not to let any of such shit-faced dreamwalker come in and find things there she doesn’t need to know. Yeah, I’ve done things I am not proud of, but only to survive the nightmare that is the slums I grew up in. Luna, or my Selene, really does not need to know what I have done at the orders of the boss I worked for. Nor do you, in fact. Just accept my word that I have no intention to harm any pony here in your Equestria. I merely wish to live out my life now. And I certainly have no intention of taking that fucking throne she sits her fat ass on, either. Or even taking it away from you, dear cute tight-tail. Might I ask if you have ever had a stallion yet?”

For the third time, Twilight blushed so damn hard from him. “I care not to reply to that, Dusk,” she replied in an even tone.

Dusk again burst with derisive laughter. “Yeah, I kind of figured you to be not only a tight-tail, but a vir-gee also. Damn, the money you could have demanded from any stallion if you were in my world! Although, I kind of see you as the romance type. You know, flowers and dates on end until you wear down the stallion into signing that marriage contract and then, only then, after the ceremony, you just might let him sniff your behind.”

“Look, I get it, okay?” Dusk went on after taking another long drink of wine. “You’re a mare, and you are the type of mare to not any stallion take you unless you are married to him. Such proper upbringing! Is your family also some old noble house? After all, getting into this ‘School for Gifted Unicorns’ cannot be open to just any unicorn in Equestria, but only those whose family could afford such a thing. And to have this sun monarch as a private tutor? That is certainly rich indeed!”

“Celestia only took me as her student after my magic went wild!” Twilight stated stiffly. “And my love life isn’t your concern, Dusk!”

Dusk smiled wanly. “Yeah, I get it,” he said in a crestfallen voice. “We can be friends and all, but only that.” He sighed and shrugged. “Okay, so now what? Any other thing your princesses want from me, like my soiled soul? My bloodied hoofs? I am but a trained mage that has been paid to eliminate any pony who upset my former boss, a stallion who ran and operated a criminal organization where I grew up, I’ll tell you that much. Just so you understand, Princess, I am not some savior of my world, but rather a pony who did what I must to survive. I am not hero, but just a bad pony who got caught and exiled for my deeds. And these fucked-up wings that I never wanted in the first place. I don’t want anything from anypony save a quiet life now.”

Twilight stared at Dusk for several silent moments. Oddly, despite his crude behavior, she felt that he could be guided into a life better for him. Certainly, it was more because he did have her looks and cutie mark, but also beyond that was a stallion who never had a good life from the little he has admitted. “Do you wish me to help, Dusk?”

“How?” he snorted back.

“We can start by becoming friends, of course,” she replied with a smile. “Perhaps if I were to take you out of this castle and help you from where I now reside in a quieter and less divisive place, you might learn that life isn’t just having to survive, but actually is quite nice if you let it be so.”

“In other words, you wish to teach me to find friends, much like this Starlight Glimmer bit—, um, mare?” he asked her. “From what you wrote, I feel that this Starlight is one I probably won’t like, if I read your actions correctly. She sounds a lot like one bitch I knew. She tried to kill me once, because I interfered into her plans for revenge on my boss.” He fell silent for a moment, reflecting on that time. “I had to kill her.”

Twilight stared back at Dusk with surprise and sadness. “Ponies don’t go killing!” she stated uncertainly. “It is not in our nature—”

“Yours, maybe,” Dusk interrupted carelessly. “I was paid to eliminate her.”

“At least give Starlight a chance, Dusk,” she said after a brief pause to regain herself. “She won’t attempt anything like that now, nor did she ever really try to harm me, merely attempted to stop me from gaining my cutie mark.”

“Meaning that she is one Tartarus-powerful mage,” he noted. “Fuck, I probably could learn more spells just by her alone, let alone what you could teach me.”

“But friends first, Dusk,” Twilight reminded him. “And a bit of language lessons.”

Dusk sneered at her. “This is how I grew up, Princess,” he snorted. “Don’t like, don’t listen. Just another difference between us. Sure, I can try to keep my language decent, but only if I don’t get excited and choose my words before talking. Otherwise, fuck it.”

Twilight blanched, yet said nothing, knowing how he really did need some refinement in his manners and speech.

“Oh, if it will make you happy, Princess, I suppose that we can make an effort to find some neutral ground,” he said. “I won’t promise to turn entirely goody-goody overnight, so you will have to bear with me. I may end up hating it, as I will no doubt be without any rumps to nut while with you and your friends, but perhaps I may get a show out of it. Plus, it gets me away from Sun-butt’s prison.”

“I know that you will get better as a stallion, Dusk,” she said, a slight grin forming on her mouth. “I truly hope that you can become a decent pony. Your old life is gone, and if I can help you find a better life here in my world, then all will be to the good, where you may live out your life without oversight from either Celestia or Luna. In the end, Dusk, you are an alicorn, so you will not have any trouble finding companionship, if the letters I get from my many admirers is any indication. I’d say that you may find more attentions from mares than you may even want in time, once the papers here discover about you and publish your face all over Equestria.”

“So, when will you do this?” he asked her. “I have to know before-hoof, so I can prepare for the move.”

She looked away, thought for a time, then looked back to Dusk. “How about a week from today? That will give both myself and Celestia time to prepare for this transfer.”

“In other words, setting up a Royal Guard encampment there,” he remarked, only to carelessly shrug it off. “Fine by me, I suppose.”

Twilight stood up, but then moved to Dusk. “Listen, Dusk. It probably sounds worse than it will be for you, but I assure you that this will change your outlook on life in general. I understand what you must have gone through before in your life, but I do feel that you are no villain to conquer Equestria and enslave the population, just misguided. If you have the same level of magical powers as me, then you would have already exposed your intentions by now. I am betting that you are not at my level, despite our similarities. You have yet to talk about anything related to the Elements, and I take it that you did not know about such, if I recall our initial talk that day you appeared.”

“And you are going to explain them to me, no doubt,” he said. But his mind was working on how to seduce Twilight while attempting to keep himself from getting an erection with her so close.

She giggled, then backed away, unaware of his thoughts then. “First things first, Dusk. Get you settled in my castle, introduce my friends, then start to make you over as I learn of your magic level. Okay?”

He stood up then. “Go, Princess,” he said. “Before my bladder overflows.”

After Twilight had gone, Ruby appeared again. “Are you ready for dinner?” she asked.

Dusk lit a cigarette. “In a few minutes, Ruby,” he replied and quickly returned back to his bedroom. After a short visit to the little colt’s room, Dusk sat down on his bed and removed a certain book from his saddlebags. It was an illustrated guide to various plants and flowers. Dusk sighed, again thanking Selene for packing this particular book, as it contained something quite dear and special to him. Something he needed now.

Opening the book to its back cover, his horn sparked as it lit, which caused an envelope to appear, pasted to the back cover. Dusk opened the secretive envelope, then extracted a single sheet of paper, which he set aside for now. Digging into the envelope again, he grinned when he found his stash, which he quickly brought out. A one-inch square packet was it, the packet containing a sickly-yellow powder, which he tapped out onto the dresser top. After some swift few strokes, expertly done by him, Dusk then sniffed both lines into his nostrils and sighed with sheer ecstasy from the drug’s effect.

Placing everything back then, Dusk grinned to himself. He was ready for Lily now when she came back. This would be one long night, and he hoped that she was going to enjoy their fun later. He would, certainly. And perhaps he may just impregnate her for the giggles of it.