The Little Packageby T3mp3stChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1Twilight Sparkle sat in the quiet serenity that presented itself during the storm that was taking place that night. She was glad that her library home had a fireplace as she placed another log in it to keep the warmth of the fire going, making her way back to her couch levitating a book off of it to in front of her. Twilight enjoyed the peace and quiet that seemed to follow her like a shadow; more than anything she liked being alone at times, when she could catch up with her studies without interruptions from her friends when the library is closed. As the thunder roared outside and the rain pounded the glass, she made a mental note to never again challenge Rainbow Dash's weather pony capabilities. She let a grin cross her face as she remembered Spike's fear of storms. She could just see him hanging onto her hind leg as she comforted him and told him not to be afraid, but since he was spending the night at Sweet Apple Acres with Applebloom, she didn't have to worry about it. She was about to get lost in her book again when another sound came knocking on her door, one that sounded urgent. Twilight looked up at the clock to see the time as she made her way to the rapid knocking. She got to the door and stared to undo the locks that she placed at night. There were only two other ponies that stayed up as late a it was, excluding her, which was often Pinkie Pie and- "Princess Luna?" Twilight moved out of the way as the Princess of the Night made her way into the Library. The hood to the cloak she wore was covered in a dark blue aura as it lifted off her head. Her starry magic infused mane spilled out of the hood, reminding Twilight almost of the waterfalls that littered Equestria. Twilight knew something was up when she looked into the Princess's azure eyes, which told her that something was troubling the princess deep inside. Princess Luna frowned at the librarian as she started to remove her cloak, seeming to speak calmly to something inside it. Twilight stood in awe as a little colt alicorn, about the same age as the Cutie Mark Crusaders by her guess, appeared asleep on Luna's back. His coat was a fiery orange reminding Twilight of the fire that danced in her fire place. His mane seemed to hold the colors of the setting sun with a brilliant mix of reds, oranges, yellows, with a touch of violet added to it. Princess Luna seemed to be sensing what Twilight was thinking, "I... I want to introduce you to Dusk Shine." Her head lowered as if she was ashamed, "He is my son." Twilight Sparkle sat on her haunches slack jawed; it was one thing to have the princess at her house, but it was a completely different story with her own son with her. "Princess... I, I don't know what to say. Why are you telling me this?" Princess Luna let out a sigh, as if she knew how Twilight would react. Because, Twilight Sparkle, you are the only pony I can trust right now. You see, even though I love my son more than anything, I have to let him go for his own protection. Tia had explained it to me," Twilight could see tears flow down the dark blue mare's cheeks, "all I am allowed to say is that his life could be placed in jeopardy if he stayed with me at the castle." "But, you're the Princess of the Night, so hardly anypony would know that he exists in the first place." "Though you speak the truth, there are things that even I cannot control." Princess Luna levitated the little colt of off her back and placed him on the lavender mare's. She stepped in close whispering in Twilight's ears, "Take good care of him, Twilight, I have the deepest trust in you, and do not worry, I'll keep an eye on you both." With a smile and more tears flowing down her cheek, Luna turned towards the sleeping colt, "Even though this is goodbye, my dearest star, just remember that I will always love you and that you are protected." The princess took a few steps back and brought a pendant out from her cloak and handed it to Twilight, "Once he awakens, give him this," The librarian looked the pendant over with her magic, The opal background was surrounded by a light blue casing. the center of the stone contained the princess's crescent moon cutie mark made from amethyst. "Tell him that when he feels lost and uncertain that this pendant will show him the way." She gave Twilight the necklace and smiled at her, "I wish you well, Twilight Sparkle, for you are now Dusk's new mother." Without warning a bright light filled the library as the princess teleported back to Canterlot. "Mom!" a young colt's voice rang in Twilight's ears, it had been several months since she received Dusk Shine and he almost instantly started calling Twilight his mother when he woke up the next day. Again the voice rang in her ears, "Mom, come on. It's time for me to go to school." She felt something on her bed as the little colt climbed up and started bouncing, Twilight simply rolled over and hoped the colt realized what the time was. It was definitely early even by her standards, and her internal clock was screaming for her not to wake up. Dusk ended his bouncing as he noticed the time on the librarians wall, his pendant still swinging to and fro as his momentum kept it going. Instead of climbing down off the bed he made his way under the covers as slide next to his 'mother.' He felt her turn towards him and wrapped a foreleg around him, giving him a sense of security as he drifted back towards sleep. He loved the purple unicorn mare and he knew that she loved him back, but there were times where she seemed to be hiding somethings from him. He pushed those thoughts aside as he was certain it was for his own protection. As sleep started to take the young alicorn colt he could hear Twilight singing under her breath. "Then the jealous crow cried,'Cora! Why do you mock me so? You'll always be a beauty and I a jealous crow.'" As he listened to her singing he felt her hooves wrap tighter around him, humming the tune he had heard her sing many times when he couldn't fall asleep. Darkness filled his eyes as he fell back to the land of dreams, only to be woken by Twilight a couple of hours later with breakfast ready. Dusk Shine glanced around the school house as Twilight Sparkle was having a conversation with, what he guessed was, the school teacher. The walls were painted a cream color that was literally covered top to bottom with charts and fun facts essential for teaching. A large green chalk board hung on the wall behind the teachers desk, row upon rows of smaller desks filled the floor space of the school house. His quick study of the room came to an end as Twilight and the burgundy school mare stepped in front of him. Twilight gave him a smile and spoke up, "Dusk, this is your new teacher, Miss Cherilee, be sure to treat her with respect like I taught you." She got a nod from the orange colt in response, turning to Cherilee she continued, "Well, it looks like school is about to start so I'll be heading." After a smile and a hug from Dusk Twilight left the school house. To say that Dusk was nervous was a large understatement. It was his first time at the school, and for sure it was his first time meeting all of his classmates. That is, save one that he met on accident when she visited the library. After being informed of school starting by Cherilee, Dusk glanced at the herd of fillies and colts starting to fill the room and heading to their respective desks. He was aware of what he was and that he was a tad bit taller than normal foals his age, but the room full of them made him more aware of his difference. He quickly got over his discomfort when he spotted a familiar pink bow bouncing in the back of the room. He felt himself blush as his magenta eyes met Applebloom's amber ones, a small smile crossed his blushing snout as she waved at him. Cherilee gave a sharp and crisp clear of her throat to quiet the class down. "Okay students, as you can see we have a new special student in our class." She motioned with a hoof over towards Dusk, "I want you all to meet Dusk Shine. As you can see he is an alicorn just like our princesses." Several gasps and a few oohs and aahs filled the room as she paused, "Before we start our lessons I'd like for you all to welcome him into our class and to treat him as you would anypony else." She turned towards a seating roster as the class welcomed their new classmate in unison, "Okay Dusk, let's have you go sit behind Rumble. Rumble, could you raise your hand please?" A light gray pegasus with a black mane raised his hand and the burgundy mare sent Dusk to his seat. As he sat down, Dusk made a mental note that Applebloom was sitting diagonally behind him to his left. The rest of the morning of class went by without a hitch, although he thought he felt two more sets of eyes on him at some points. When lunch came around, Dusk Shine wasted no time meeting up with Applebloom and her friends; Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They sat down and compared lunches with each other, occasionally trading one item for another. Dinky joined after awhile, saying that her mother had to deliver her lunch after her mail routes. Applebloom sat right next to Dusk, the whole time he was feeling the same feeling like he was being watched. His answers on who the cause was from quickly made their presence; a pink pony with a lavender an white highlighted mane supporting a tiara on her head as well as her cutie mark. Beside her was a gray filly with a white mane done in a braid, with a spoon for her cutie mark, and wore a light blue beaded necklace and matching blue glasses. Dusk got a sick feeling inside of his gut as the pink one stared first at him and his pendant, then at the rest of the group. This was not going to be good at all, he noted the change in attitude from his friends. Applebloom was staring the pink filly down, while Sweetie and Scootaloo seemed to move towards Dinky. After a moment of awkward silence Applebloom spoke up. "What do ya want, Diamond Tiara? Can't ya see that we're eatin' here?" Diamond Tiara glanced at the gray filly behind her and started to make her way in between Dusk and Applebloom, "Why isn't it obvious?" She replied in a snoody tone, "Silver Spoon and I were just taking the new student to where he rightfully belongs." She was completely between Dusk and the farm filly. "There's no point in having him hang out with the three failures of ponyville, four if you include Dinky with her mother." Dusk winced at the low blow he had just heard about the blue gray mailmare. He had often held intelligent conversations with her when he was playing outside, but he knew better than to judge her based on her eyes to start with. Dinky started to tear up, which Scoot and Sweetie quickly started tending to. Diamond seemed to be pushing her flank against Dusk as she started another wave of insults. "You see, we don't want an alicorn like Dusk hanging out with failures like you, especially since he's a higher class than a lowly farm filly." Her eyes narrowed to slits that seemed to burn Applebloom. Dusk decided he had had enough of what was going on as he stretched his wings and hopped over Diamond and stood in front of Applebloom. "That is enough out of you." His voice sounded strong and commanding and it demanded that it be listened to, "How do you expect someone to go with you after you drop yourself to being a petty bully? I would rather be seen with Applebloom and her friends than be with the likes of you." He could almost feel the heat from Applebloom's face, guessing that she was blushing behind him. Diamond seemed to be taken aback by the alicorn's defense of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Dinky, of course that didn't mean that she was not prepared for it. After a few huffs she and Silver Spoon decided to walk away to plan their next attack. After the brief scuffle the little group sat down and finished up their lunches. Dusk swore that Applebloom was sitting closer to him. Shortly the bell rang for classes to start again, Duck felt a tug on his tail as he headed towards the school. He turned around to see Applebloom behind him, she seemed to be blushing a bit more than what she normally did. "Um, Dusk?" Her head was slighlty bowed as if she was trying to avoid eye contact, "Do ya think it'd be alright if ya... um.. that is if ya'll want to... possibly, walk with me to the farm today?" Dusk blushed a bit and turned to his friend, "Sure thing, Applebloom," His voice was calmer and it reminded the farm filly of how Princess Celestia talks, "I'd be delighted." Applebloom raised her head a smiled at the orange alicorn, her amber eyes reminding him of the morning sunrise. She then took his hoof and took off towards the school. The rest of the school day seemed to go by quick as Cherilee went over a few tests and some basic information that Twilight had already taught him during the past two months. Unfortunately, he still felt Diamond Tiara's eyes locked on him the rest of the school day. He didn't care though, Applebloom had asked him to walk her to her house. All he could think of was just the time he would be spending with her. 'Yep,' he thought to himself, 'This is the best day ever.' Chapter 2Dusk and Applebloom made their way towards Sweet Apple Acres after school, not knowing that their walk was being monitored by a pair of violet eyes watched their every move. Inside the bush that he was hiding in a dark red hoof swept through the unicorn stallions black mane as he watched his prey walk along the dirt road. The orange alicorn stopped and turned towards the direction of the forest, a golden glow formed around his horn and the pendant that he was wearing. The stallion was unsure of what the colt was doing, but he did not like it. Whatever that pendant was doing was putting a kink in his plans. Then he saw it, the crescent symbol of Princess Luna on the opal stone. 'Damn that bitch.' he stomped his hoof to the ground in frustration as he thought, 'She's given him a defense pendant. That pushes plans back a few more months to study the damn thing, but once I have that figured out...' an evil grin slowly crawled on his face as he slowly backed out from the bush and out of site of the magenta eyes of the alicorn colt. Time was on his side and he had all the time in the world to bring his plans to life. "Dusk? Is something wrong?" Applebloom's voice had a mix of curiosity and fear inside it. She had heard her sister talk about the dark creatures that lurked in the forest, but she never paid much mind to it as she made the all to familiar walk to and from the farm. The gold glow from Dusk's pendant and horn faded away, but Dusk kept staring towards the forest. A few seconds later he looked down at the pendant. As him and Applebloom where walking towards Sweet Apple Acres the pendant started to react to something. From what he heard Twilight say when she gave him the opal and amethyst pendant was that this particular one will act as both a shield and a weapon when it senses danger nearby, by using his magic to create a protective barrier and alert him to the threat. Fortunately, though the pendant acted otherwise, Dusk could not see any threat to him or Applebloom, even though he did feel something staring him down as he searched. Slowly he began to relax as Applebloom glanced in the direction the alicorn colt was looking. "Remind me to talk to your sister when we get to the farm." Dusk's voice was back to sounding like a ruler of Equestria, sending chills down the young fillies spine. Not because of the little crush she had on him. No, it was from pure awe at how he can be calm and relaxed on minute, and then almost be like an exact copy of Princess Luna the next. She nodded in agreement and followed behind him as they started on there way again. She knew Dusk pretty well, she thought, he seemed to have all of the spirits of the Elements of Harmony inside him. As he walked through Ponyville, he would often be mistaken as royalty and would often be either showered with gifts or praises as he walked. That's when the trait that Applebloom liked about him the most shown, like his mother, Twilight, he was humble. Always returning the gifts, and clearing up the crowds that seemed to follow him, he never boasted about being an alicorn, and the fact that he was Twilight's son never seemed to cross his mind when he would talk to other ponies. Everypony new that Twilight Sparkle was the most famous pony, along with the rest of her five friends, in Ponyville. Being Princess Celestia's own protege, not to mention that she basically saved the town and Equestria more than her fair share of times. However, Twilight never let that get to her head. Applebloom loved that about her, and she was glad that Twilight's humility had been passed on to Dusk. Her thoughts switched from admiration to remembering the first time he saw the young alicorn colt. "C'mon Applejack," Applebloom was in a huge hurry to get to the library, "Ah want to see if Twilight's got that book." The somewhat cream colored filly was bouncing circles around her older sister. Applejack gave her a smile and adjusted the stetson that was placed on her head. Earlier that month she, and the rest of her friends were called to Twilight's house. To their surprise it wasn't because Equestria wasn't in danger, to Fluttershy's relief, instead she was sitting on the couch with an orange colt alicorn. After releasing the colt to play outside, sh explained to her friends about what Princess Luna made her promise. All of her friends supported her the whole way, but but Twilight had made them promise one thing. Never say where he came from other than that he was her's and not to mention the princess as well. So far Applejack had kept her friends promise, in fact she only gave her family the bare minimum of information. She glanced back down and caught the bouncing fillies red tail in her mouth. "Simmer down there, Applebloom, Ah know that yer not that excited about goin' ta Twi's library." Her little little sister gave her tail a tug out of Applejack's mouth and swished it around to get it back to how she liked it, casting her older sister an unimpressed look. "Well, maybe Ah ain't looking forward to goin' to Twilight's library, but Ah am lookin' forward ta meeting her kid." "Ah thought so, just make sure ya'll don't do anything without my or Twi's permission. Alright, Sugarcube?" Applebloom felt a smile grow as she heard her sister's nickname for her friends. She never understood why Applejack called everypony sugarcube, but it definitely gave her a warm feeling inside. Not to mention it let the filly know that the orange mare was in a good mood. As the two neared the library turned house, Applebloom could already see some obvious changes. First of all was the large red ball sitting in the middle of the stone path that lead up to the entry way. Applebloom was then shocked to see an orange alicorn jumping this way and that around the ball. His multicolored mane reminded her of the sunset just before the moon was fully risen and the sun was fully set. As Applebloom and her big sister stepped onto the stone path she saw a pair of magenta eyes look up expectantly, forgetting all about his ball for a moment. Applejack smiled at the alicorn as he came trotting up to them, "Howdy, Dusk Shine. Is your mother home?" The colt nodded to Applejack, his smile never leaving him, "Yes she is. I was getting ready to head back inside myself, would you like me to get her for you?" Applebloom was shocked and surprised at the same time. Dusk stood a good foot above her, but he was supposed to be her age, for some unknown reason she felt safe around him. He smiled at her and turned to lead them into the library. Dusk Shine could see Sweet Apple Acres getting closer in the distance, he was glad. Not because it meant that he was halfway from getting home, but because it meant that Applebloom would be safe. A shiver went down his spine as his mind conjured up different things that could have been a threat. Then another thought crept into his mind Who was the threat supposedly targeting? Was it him or Applebloom, possibly both? He shook his head in order to get rid of these thoughts as he made his way with Applebloom towards the farmhouse doors. Applejack was sitting on a porch swing next to the door into the house, she raised her head and adjusted her stetson as the sound of hooves hitting the steps onto the porch reached her ears. "Why, Dusk Shine! What bring ya to this neck of the woods?" Dusk turned towards Applebloom's older sister, his magenta eyes telling her that he was serious as he replied to her question. "We need to talk." After a good ten minutes of explaining the event that had transpired on the way to the farm, Applejack sat back in her chair and looked down at the colt. "So ya'll are sayin' that ya want me and Big Mac to chaperon Applebloom because yer pendant said that something is wrong?" The alicorn colt nodded, even though he felt that he already knew what the orange mare was about to say, "I know it sounds silly, Applejack, but I have this feeling that something bad will happen if she's not looked after." Her response was something that he honestly didn't expect. "Alright, Sugarcube, Big Mac and Ah will talk about splitting days. Thanks for the bit of information." Applejack glanced torwards a window and noticed how late it was. Shortly after Dusk was on his way back towards the library where he was expecting a certain mother's lecture. Not that he necessarily cared or anything, he actually welcomed these lectures sometime. Taking a life lesson and learning from it gave him something to look forward to. After walking down the dark road for a few minutes the amethyst crescent glowed a brilliant gold again and almost automatically the shield went up. As Dusk searched the surrounding area he was in a small whimper came from.... inside the shield? All it took was to follow the sounds of whimpers and moans to it's source, which was coming from behind a rock. He glanced at the rock and readied himself with his horn. "Whose there? Show yourself." All that Dusk got in reply was another whimper followed by a sniff, whoever was behind the rock must have been upset or something. He slowly circled the rock to find a sight that he would never had expected in his short alicorn life. A changeling lay in front of him in a manner that reminded Dusk of what happens when a predator toys with it's prey. To say that what lay before him was messy was vast beyond comprehension. The changeling's wings were torn and tattered throughout the membrane, most of the membrane was missing in some areas. Cuts and scrapes were spread out along the black body, deep gashes were spilling blood into a small pool that she laid in. one of her legs was obviously broken, due to the fact that it was going and facing a completely different direction. Her horn seemed to be in pretty bad shape as well, with a fraction of it cracked or chipped. Blood was trickling from her mouth and nose, her half open eyes were full of tears as she lay down in front of orange alicorn colt. This was the threat that his pendant saw? The opal and amethyst necklace seemed to have been reading his mind as its golden glow faded and its protective shield dropped. Dusk placed down his saddlebags and immediately started to search for the first aid kit that Twilight had placed inside it. After finding what he was looking for, he turned his attention towards the shaking changeling. Her whimpers increased as he neared her. She tried to stand to either flee or fight, only to collapse back down onto the ground. Dusk placed a gentle hoof on her and started to rub her back in a calming and soothing nature. "Shh... you're okay, I need to relax for me. Can you do that?" He spoke to her in as calm a voice he could muster. To his relief she started to calm down as he comforted her and started to administer first aid, thanking Princess Celestia he had a mother like Twilight, who made him study not only his magic, but other courses like medical sciences and the like. As Dusk continued to work on the injured changeling, he noticed that she sounded like she was trying to talk. “P-please... I... I don't want to die. P-please help me.” Tears started to flow from her dark blue eyes, an orange hoof met her lips as Dusk finished stopping the bleeding from he serious gashes for the time being. “Save your strength,” he said as he started working on splinting the broken foreleg, “You're going to need it if you wish to survive this.” He finished splinting the limb and then helped her lift her head so he can get a good look at her horn. “I'll be taking you home with me, from there we shall find out what to do with you.” Her horn looked to be beyond repair, but Twilight may be the greatest means of survival for this changeling. Another lucky break for him was that, thanks to his alicorn traits, he was strong for average colts his age. As he carried the changeling on his back and levitated his saddlebags in front of him, Dusk slowly made his way towards the library, a very weak 'thank you' coming from the half conscience changeling. Chapter 3In the dimly lit room of the library's basement, a lone, single changeling body could be found laying on an improvised bed composed of old hay. Rhythm slowly woke up, and tried to raise her head, much to her own bodies disagreement. Her body was healing quickly, there was no doubt about it, but the lack of food she's had these past few weeks have left her body weaker than normal. She fell back down onto the makeshift bed, feeling some kind of blanket cover her up. A crescent moon covered blanket covered her body, providing a little warmth in the chilly air of the basement. The smell of food entered her nostrils, a soup created out of noodles and a mix of vegetables sat in a bowl just in front of her. Slowly and painfully she brought the bowl to her lips, testing it to make sure there were no drugs and how warm it was. She winced as the hot liquid touched her tongue, in the background she heard a familiar voice as it giggled, more than likely at her burning her tongue. An alicorn stepped out of the shadows and lay down next to the injured changeling. She couldn't place her hoof on it, but there was something about the alicorn that seemed familiar. “P-princess Luna?” The alicorn let out a little chuckle. It took Rhythm a few seconds before she realised that the alicorn laying next to her was actually a colt. His orange coat reminded the changeling of burning embers in a fire. He moved his sunset mane out of his magenta eyes and smiled at her. “Be careful, it's still hot. Freshly made in fact.” Dusk smiled at the changeling, showing her an unexpected kindness that she knew she'd never deserve. All because she's a changeling. She had heard of the failed attack on Canterlot, but she was already an outcast before that happened. A hoof on her shoulder brought her out of thought, the alicorn seemed to be... petting her? Not that she didn't mind, in fact, she liked the feeling of being loved. Even if its for a different reason. She felt a purr build up inside her, but a sudden light shining from atop a stair way ceased the hoof's motion. “Dusk Shine, we need to have a talk.” So that's his name. A purple unicorn stepped down into the basement, turning the lights on in the process. The look on her face reminded the changeling of an upset mother when their foal did something wrong. Dusk lowered his head as Twilight came down the stairs. He could tell from the tone of her voice he was in trouble, that he understood, but he also thought he heard a bit of conflict in her voice as well. He felt the changeling under his hoof start shaking as his mother got closer to him. Giving her a reassuring pat he turned towards the librarian, ready to face what she was going to say. A long disappointed sigh came out of her mouth, not helping Dusk feel anymore comfortable. “First you're getting stalked, now you bring home a wounded changeling.” She let out another sigh, her lavender eyes showing a bit of sadness inside them, “You're lucky your moth-” she quickly cut her self off, shaking her head furiously. “T-that is... Why did you bring a changeling home in the first place?” Dusk took a minute to ponder on what Twilight had said. Wasn't she his mother? With a quick shake of his head he turned to Twilight to give her his explanation. “Well, I-I was just trying to follow Aunt Fluttershy's example.” It wasn't the best reason he came up with, but it seemed to lighten Twilight's mood. “Sweety, I know you try to follow my friends examples as the Spirits of the Elements, but didn't I tell you about changelings? They tried to take over Equestria, and they feed on the love of others and destroy lives.” Dusk felt the changeling quiver and wince as Twilight went on with her lecture. “I know you were trying to show a great example of kindness and compassion, but we have to turn her in to-” A sniff and the quiet sounds of the changeling sobbing into her makeshift bed, tears rolled from hear crystal blue eyes and started to make a small puddle on the floor. “Why is everypony mean to Rhythm? Rhythm has done nothing wrong. Rhythm just wants to be friends, but either gets beat up or chased. First hive throws Rhythm out because she's worthless, then she is always alone.” She rolled onto her side facing away from Dusk and Twilight, shrugging off Dusk's hoof in the process. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the sobbing changeling. “Excuse me, but what do you mean by your hive throwing you out?” Dusk recognized the change in her voice, she sounded like she was actually willing to hear the changeling named Rhythm's story. Rhythm kept facing away from the two ponies, her sobbing calming down a little, and took in a deep breath. “I have always been worthless to the hive. Being the only one out of thousands of changelings that didn't require love to survive placed me very low on the social structure. In fact, most of my life I was held in a jail cell, all alone and half starved. Then, one day, I was told that I was to go with a group of guards to scout out an area of the forest for a secondary hold.” She shook her head at her last statement. “I was a fool. I was to excited to finally be able to do something for my hive; to prove to myself and the other changelings that I was not worthless, to see it was obvious that I had just been sentenced to banishment.” She rolled back over and faced Twilight and Dusk, “They beat me and left me for dead in the middle of the forest. Ever since, I've been alone. Since I can't feed on love, I can't change forms.” She sighed as she continued on, feeling Dusk's hoof running up and down her back. “I had to resort to petty theft at night, to keep from being seen, just to stay alive. More than plenty of times I would hear about these six ponies who lived in Ponyville that were known as the Elements of Harmony Users. “I knew that they were my only ticket to a normal life, even if I was a changeling. I had to give it a shot. Unfortunately, I was attacked by a timberwolf before I got there. Then, well the rest you know.” She looked up at her audience, taking note that the purple unicorn was looking at her with a different attitude. It was Dusk, however, who spoke after Rhythm, “You see, Mom? Remember how the pendant is supposed to raise a shield when it senses danger? It must have sensed the remnants of the timberwolves scent. The shield lowered as soon as I saw her laying on the ground, also, do you see the pendant acting like she's a threat now?” Twilight's head lowered as she realised what the colt was aiming at, she was judging a book by its cover... again. She raised her head after a few moments of thinking, “Okay, I guess there is no harm in having her stay awhile. But...” Her eyes narrowed at the changeling, who was nuzzling Dusk's side, causing the colt to giggle. Feeling the gaze, Rhythm stopped her assault on the colt's ticklish sides and looked into Twilight's burning violet eyes. “If I catch or sense you doing anything suspicious.” She let her words sink into Rhythm's mind, which caused the changeling to also sink into the bed. Twilight turned her head to Dusk, her eyes switching to looking almost saddened, “Come with me, Dusk. We still need to have a talk.” Dusk followed Twilight into her room, unsure of what he was about to receive. He knew something was bothering her, the look on her face and in her eyes told him so. She climbed up on the bed and motioned for Dusk to follow. Once he was on and laying down next to her, Twilight used her magic to levitate a book that she used to hold pictures from the past and present. She opened it to a marked page that read Sunny Day. On the page stood a unicorn with a golden coat, his red eyes looking at what Dusk assumed to be the camera. His silver mane was done up in a ponytail that reached the middle of his neck. He was wearing a Royal Guard dress uniform, which was a white dress shirt underneath a large black service jacket, gold streaks went down the middle of the sleeves. A dark blue bar with golden stripes going down its length gave Dusk the feeling he was a high ranking official. He was giving the camera a confident grin as he sat on his haunches. “Who's this, Mom?” Dusk looked up at Twilight, who gave him a comforting smile before answering. “This is Sunny Day. Your father.” The colt's eyes widened as he looked down at the picture of his father, but he quickly turned back to Twilight. “Then why is he not here? If he is my dad and is in the Royal Guard, then he should still be able to visit us.” Twilight nuzzled Dusk behind his ear. She had to give Dusk credit, he was definitely smart than most kids his age. More than anything due to his alicorn genes. Not to mention he is Luna's son for ponies sake! “Dusk, the reason why you don't see him is because... well...” Twilight bit her bottom lip as she struggled to find the right way to tell him. “He... He died when the changelings invaded Canterlot.” She felt the colt shake a little bit next to her, wrapping a hoof around him for comfort. Before Dusk could ask any more questions about his father she turned the pages and stopped at a page with a dark blue alicorn, her mane resembling a dark and starry night. Her crescent moon cutie mark caused Dusk to look down at his pendant. One of his hooves lifted the pendant while the other traced around the amethyst crescent moon engraved in the opal stone. He had an idea what Twilight was wanting to talk about, and it was making him sick to his stomach. He glanced down at the azure eyes looking straight back at him, filling him with the same warm feeling he feels when Twilight looks at him. As he studied the picture, he noticed that Princess Luna was showing signs of carrying a foal. Dusk Shine's mind was racing as his brain started clicking and putting together the pieces of the puzzle. It was starting to make sense; the pendant, his infatuation for the night and the moon, how the Elements of Harmony Users act around him... the strange feelings that he's being watched. His stomach was taking it just as bad as he was, because all he could feel was a giant knot inside. He looked up at the purple unicorn mare he had called mother, who was avoiding eye contact now, then back at the pendant he was holding in a trembling hoof. In a surge of hot anger he tore the pendant of and threw it across the room. He had been lied to. His entire life he had been lied to. He stood there, shaking, tears flowing down his cheeks. He was angry and yet he was sad at the same time, more than anything, he was confused. Why did Luna leave him? If she was his real mother, then why can't he remember her? He felt a hoof from Twilight rubbing his mane, little did he know that she was doing that the whole time. He tore away from her, looking angrily into her own velvet eyes. As she said his name, Dusk ran out of the room, knocking Spike over as he carried a tray with three cups full of tea. Dusk didn't care, he kept running. He ran out of the door and started running to the only place, to the only pony that he could trust. Followed by a dark red figure in his wake. Twilight sat on her bed looking at the open doorway that Dusk had just ran out. Spike, covered in tea, came walking in with a not to thrilled look on his face. “You had to tell him when I had tea, didn't you.” He winked at her and went back to clean the mess on him and the floor. Twilight knew he was just trying to help calm her down, but it wasn't helping. She was heartbroken, knowing that she might have just lost the trust of the alicorn colt she had learned to love as if he was her own. Oh, what's the use. I completely ruined what we had together. She felt tears run down her cheeks and then the feeling of a hoof wiping them away. Lifting her head and wiping her eyes, she caught a glimpse of a changeling hoof slowly going around her neck. Rhythm leaned into Twilight as the purple unicorn tackled her into a hug. Rhythm didn't need to know what had happened, she heard and saw the whole thing happen from the doorway. After a few minutes, Twilight's sobbing and self apologies, Rhythm went and grabbed the pendant that Dusk had hurled across the room. Luckily it wasn't damaged seriously. She handed it to Twilight, who, after a few moments looked back at Rhythm, determination in her eyes and voice. “We have to find him.” Chapter 4Dusk ran as fast as he could in the night. His wings burned with pain due to him flying furiously as soon as he was outside. He could feel his legs start to burn as well, his brain was telling him to stop, but he didn't want to. He just wanted to see the one pony that he knew he could trust fully. The one pony that wasn't lying or hiding things from him. He could see the lights from Sweet Apple Acres slowly coming into view as he started to slow down to a walk, to the relief of his tired and sore muscles. As he walked on the dark dirt road towards the farm, he found out just how much he had been running when his own legs gave out and the alicorn colt face planted in the dirt. Tears filled his vision again, not because he was angry anymore... he was sad, cold and scared. He wanted his mother. Not Twilight Sparkle either. He wanted his real mother, the one in the picture... he wanted Princess Luna. As he picked himself up from the dirt after sobbing for a few minutes. A glow coming from the full moon above, starting first as a twinkle, and growing till it was so bright that Dusk had to cover his eyes. After the flash, Dusk blinked his eyes to see the site of a dark blue alicorn mare standing in front of him. Her magnificent wings were fully extended as she made her way closer to him. Her azure eyes were glazed over in a brilliant white light that slowly faded back to normal. She gave him a gentle smile as Dusk, unknowingly, started to move towards the Princess of The Night. He stopped just shy of her and cowered down as he felt a hoof rubbing through his mane, and bringing him in for a hug. Dusk made a note of tears swelling in Princess Luna's eyes, and, hesitantly, returned her hug. They didn't say anything; they didn't have to say anything, they just stood there and held each other. Dusk basked in the warmth of his mother. She was different than how it felt when Twilight held him. Dusk broke off the hug after a few moments and stared into his mother's azure eyes. Sure she was his mother, but she had some questions to answer before he could accept it completely. “Why?” That's all he asked, it was all he needed to ask. He felt tears swelling up in his eyes again as he stared up at the princess. “Why did you leave me?” Princess Luna lay down next to the orange colt and brought him in close to her, using her wing to offer a type of blanket against the chilly night air. “My dearest son. I’m sorry for doing this to you. But you must understand when I say this to you. I brought you here, and had Twilight Sparkle take my place as your mother because of how much I loved you. For you see... there is a certain pony out there who is out for both you, me, and my sister. “His name is Heatwave, he is mine and Clestia's uncle.” Dusk felt his mother shake at his name, “Long ago, after our victory over Discord, Heatwave sought control over the rule of Equestria. Claiming that he was the rightful heir to the throne, he raised a rebellion and led an assault on the Royal City. Needless to say, the rebellion as a complete disaster. Having lost both his wings in the attack, both me and my sister tried to show him mercy and compassion.” Princess Luna shook her head in frustration, “He wouldn't hear of it, instead he chose banishment. This stripped him of his royal status, and everything he had. He was sent to the Badlands, where we had hoped he would've met his end. Shortly after you were born, we received word that he was seen prowling the streets of Canterlot. We knew his first plan of action would be to get rid of you if he got the chance. So, in the secrecy of a stormy night I brought you here. To remain safe until we dealt with him.” Luna nuzzled her son affectionately on the cheek, “You see my dearest son, I never wanted to abandon you. It tore me up to leave you with somepony else.” Dusk nuzzled into his mother's neck, then another question popped into his head. “Twilight mentioned something about a Sunny Day. Was he my father?” Princess Luna's pupils shrank when the name reached her ears. A small quiver reached her bottom lip as she fought back tears in front of Dusk. “He was, and he loved you dearly. I had never been so in love with a stallion as I was with your father. And he loved me just the same. We met shortly after my return, he would always find ways to try to brighten my day.” The princess laughed. Dusk noticed the tears flowing from her eyes, and got closer to her. “Anyway, after a few months of seeing each other, we had you. And then... we lost him.” Princess Luna couldn't hid her sobs from Dusk anymore as she held onto her son tightly, Dusk closed his eyes and just nuzzled deeper into his mother's chest. He already knew, and he didn't want to see her anymore hurt. His mother took hold of his shoulders and held him in front of her, “You remind me some much of him. You have so much of him inside of you.” With a large grin she gave Dusk another large hug. Dusk wished it could have continued forever, but a call in the night broke their embrace. “Applebloom! Where are you?!” An orange mare was frantically walking down the dirt road. She didn't have her stetson on, and her blonde mane and tail was a mess. She noticed where Princess Luna and Dusk were laying down at and galloped to them. Princess Luna stood up at the approaching mare. “Applejack, is something wrong?” Applejack was breathing hard, her eyes were full of fear and terror, she shook her head at the princess and spoke, “It's Applebloom, Princess, she's nowhere to be found. She's gone.” Dusk felt his legs go limp with the news that Applejack had just given. He couldn't believe what Applejack was saying, yet he had to believe it. She wasn't the Element of Honesty for nothing and he knew it. He felt the princess wrap a wing around him as she continued talking to the frightened mare. “Applejack, are you sure she's not just staying at a friends house or anything of that matter?” Applejack shook her head, wiping away any tears she had in her eyes. “No, she'd normally tell me or Big Mac if she was gonna do somethin'. Least Ah seen her was when Dusk brought her home a few days ago, after that Ah was off with Rainbow Dash till today.” Dusk made his way out of his mother's wing and went to hug Applejack, who graciously accepted his gesture. Dusk looked up at Applejack and gave her a confident smile, his magenta eyes seemed to burn with passion as he spoke to the farmer. “Don't you worry, Applejack, we'll find her. Even if it takes us all week.” Dusk suddenly felt insecure and threatened as he slowly started to turn around. Applejack and Princess Luna followed his gaze as a figure stepped out of the shadows and into the full moons light. He was dark red, scars went up his sides where his wings used to be. His black mane was slicked back against his head. His fiery red eyes burned through Dusk as he looked at him. Judging by how his mother was shaking, this was Heatwave. “I believe zat a search party von't be necessary.” His voice sounded like somepony placed marbles inside a metal drum and started to swish it around. “You see, I found zis beautiful young filly on her vay from school, and I decided zat she vas perfect for my plan.” Dusk felt his anger start to swell inside of him, “Where is she!?” he lowered his stance and shot blades at Heatwave through his eyes. The dark red stallion let out a menacing chuckle. “Ah, young Dusk Shine, I have heard of you. You see, I have kept a very close eye one you vile you ver in Ponyville. Of course, I’m sure zat you don't vant to challenge me,” His eyes became red slits as he stared down the alicorn colt, “zat is unless you vish to see your filly friend hurt?” an orange aura shone from his horn as he started to drag something from behind him. Slowly the form of Applebloom appeared, around her neck was a collar and a leash that was being held by Heatwave's magic. Heatwave turned towards the shocked group with an evil grin stretching across his face. “Now, my dear Luna, give me your son.”
Chapter 1Twilight Sparkle sat in the quiet serenity that presented itself during the storm that was taking place that night. She was glad that her library home had a fireplace as she placed another log in it to keep the warmth of the fire going, making her way back to her couch levitating a book off of it to in front of her. Twilight enjoyed the peace and quiet that seemed to follow her like a shadow; more than anything she liked being alone at times, when she could catch up with her studies without interruptions from her friends when the library is closed. As the thunder roared outside and the rain pounded the glass, she made a mental note to never again challenge Rainbow Dash's weather pony capabilities. She let a grin cross her face as she remembered Spike's fear of storms. She could just see him hanging onto her hind leg as she comforted him and told him not to be afraid, but since he was spending the night at Sweet Apple Acres with Applebloom, she didn't have to worry about it. She was about to get lost in her book again when another sound came knocking on her door, one that sounded urgent. Twilight looked up at the clock to see the time as she made her way to the rapid knocking. She got to the door and stared to undo the locks that she placed at night. There were only two other ponies that stayed up as late a it was, excluding her, which was often Pinkie Pie and- "Princess Luna?" Twilight moved out of the way as the Princess of the Night made her way into the Library. The hood to the cloak she wore was covered in a dark blue aura as it lifted off her head. Her starry magic infused mane spilled out of the hood, reminding Twilight almost of the waterfalls that littered Equestria. Twilight knew something was up when she looked into the Princess's azure eyes, which told her that something was troubling the princess deep inside. Princess Luna frowned at the librarian as she started to remove her cloak, seeming to speak calmly to something inside it. Twilight stood in awe as a little colt alicorn, about the same age as the Cutie Mark Crusaders by her guess, appeared asleep on Luna's back. His coat was a fiery orange reminding Twilight of the fire that danced in her fire place. His mane seemed to hold the colors of the setting sun with a brilliant mix of reds, oranges, yellows, with a touch of violet added to it. Princess Luna seemed to be sensing what Twilight was thinking, "I... I want to introduce you to Dusk Shine." Her head lowered as if she was ashamed, "He is my son." Twilight Sparkle sat on her haunches slack jawed; it was one thing to have the princess at her house, but it was a completely different story with her own son with her. "Princess... I, I don't know what to say. Why are you telling me this?" Princess Luna let out a sigh, as if she knew how Twilight would react. Because, Twilight Sparkle, you are the only pony I can trust right now. You see, even though I love my son more than anything, I have to let him go for his own protection. Tia had explained it to me," Twilight could see tears flow down the dark blue mare's cheeks, "all I am allowed to say is that his life could be placed in jeopardy if he stayed with me at the castle." "But, you're the Princess of the Night, so hardly anypony would know that he exists in the first place." "Though you speak the truth, there are things that even I cannot control." Princess Luna levitated the little colt of off her back and placed him on the lavender mare's. She stepped in close whispering in Twilight's ears, "Take good care of him, Twilight, I have the deepest trust in you, and do not worry, I'll keep an eye on you both." With a smile and more tears flowing down her cheek, Luna turned towards the sleeping colt, "Even though this is goodbye, my dearest star, just remember that I will always love you and that you are protected." The princess took a few steps back and brought a pendant out from her cloak and handed it to Twilight, "Once he awakens, give him this," The librarian looked the pendant over with her magic, The opal background was surrounded by a light blue casing. the center of the stone contained the princess's crescent moon cutie mark made from amethyst. "Tell him that when he feels lost and uncertain that this pendant will show him the way." She gave Twilight the necklace and smiled at her, "I wish you well, Twilight Sparkle, for you are now Dusk's new mother." Without warning a bright light filled the library as the princess teleported back to Canterlot. "Mom!" a young colt's voice rang in Twilight's ears, it had been several months since she received Dusk Shine and he almost instantly started calling Twilight his mother when he woke up the next day. Again the voice rang in her ears, "Mom, come on. It's time for me to go to school." She felt something on her bed as the little colt climbed up and started bouncing, Twilight simply rolled over and hoped the colt realized what the time was. It was definitely early even by her standards, and her internal clock was screaming for her not to wake up. Dusk ended his bouncing as he noticed the time on the librarians wall, his pendant still swinging to and fro as his momentum kept it going. Instead of climbing down off the bed he made his way under the covers as slide next to his 'mother.' He felt her turn towards him and wrapped a foreleg around him, giving him a sense of security as he drifted back towards sleep. He loved the purple unicorn mare and he knew that she loved him back, but there were times where she seemed to be hiding somethings from him. He pushed those thoughts aside as he was certain it was for his own protection. As sleep started to take the young alicorn colt he could hear Twilight singing under her breath. "Then the jealous crow cried,'Cora! Why do you mock me so? You'll always be a beauty and I a jealous crow.'" As he listened to her singing he felt her hooves wrap tighter around him, humming the tune he had heard her sing many times when he couldn't fall asleep. Darkness filled his eyes as he fell back to the land of dreams, only to be woken by Twilight a couple of hours later with breakfast ready. Dusk Shine glanced around the school house as Twilight Sparkle was having a conversation with, what he guessed was, the school teacher. The walls were painted a cream color that was literally covered top to bottom with charts and fun facts essential for teaching. A large green chalk board hung on the wall behind the teachers desk, row upon rows of smaller desks filled the floor space of the school house. His quick study of the room came to an end as Twilight and the burgundy school mare stepped in front of him. Twilight gave him a smile and spoke up, "Dusk, this is your new teacher, Miss Cherilee, be sure to treat her with respect like I taught you." She got a nod from the orange colt in response, turning to Cherilee she continued, "Well, it looks like school is about to start so I'll be heading." After a smile and a hug from Dusk Twilight left the school house. To say that Dusk was nervous was a large understatement. It was his first time at the school, and for sure it was his first time meeting all of his classmates. That is, save one that he met on accident when she visited the library. After being informed of school starting by Cherilee, Dusk glanced at the herd of fillies and colts starting to fill the room and heading to their respective desks. He was aware of what he was and that he was a tad bit taller than normal foals his age, but the room full of them made him more aware of his difference. He quickly got over his discomfort when he spotted a familiar pink bow bouncing in the back of the room. He felt himself blush as his magenta eyes met Applebloom's amber ones, a small smile crossed his blushing snout as she waved at him. Cherilee gave a sharp and crisp clear of her throat to quiet the class down. "Okay students, as you can see we have a new special student in our class." She motioned with a hoof over towards Dusk, "I want you all to meet Dusk Shine. As you can see he is an alicorn just like our princesses." Several gasps and a few oohs and aahs filled the room as she paused, "Before we start our lessons I'd like for you all to welcome him into our class and to treat him as you would anypony else." She turned towards a seating roster as the class welcomed their new classmate in unison, "Okay Dusk, let's have you go sit behind Rumble. Rumble, could you raise your hand please?" A light gray pegasus with a black mane raised his hand and the burgundy mare sent Dusk to his seat. As he sat down, Dusk made a mental note that Applebloom was sitting diagonally behind him to his left. The rest of the morning of class went by without a hitch, although he thought he felt two more sets of eyes on him at some points. When lunch came around, Dusk Shine wasted no time meeting up with Applebloom and her friends; Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They sat down and compared lunches with each other, occasionally trading one item for another. Dinky joined after awhile, saying that her mother had to deliver her lunch after her mail routes. Applebloom sat right next to Dusk, the whole time he was feeling the same feeling like he was being watched. His answers on who the cause was from quickly made their presence; a pink pony with a lavender an white highlighted mane supporting a tiara on her head as well as her cutie mark. Beside her was a gray filly with a white mane done in a braid, with a spoon for her cutie mark, and wore a light blue beaded necklace and matching blue glasses. Dusk got a sick feeling inside of his gut as the pink one stared first at him and his pendant, then at the rest of the group. This was not going to be good at all, he noted the change in attitude from his friends. Applebloom was staring the pink filly down, while Sweetie and Scootaloo seemed to move towards Dinky. After a moment of awkward silence Applebloom spoke up. "What do ya want, Diamond Tiara? Can't ya see that we're eatin' here?" Diamond Tiara glanced at the gray filly behind her and started to make her way in between Dusk and Applebloom, "Why isn't it obvious?" She replied in a snoody tone, "Silver Spoon and I were just taking the new student to where he rightfully belongs." She was completely between Dusk and the farm filly. "There's no point in having him hang out with the three failures of ponyville, four if you include Dinky with her mother." Dusk winced at the low blow he had just heard about the blue gray mailmare. He had often held intelligent conversations with her when he was playing outside, but he knew better than to judge her based on her eyes to start with. Dinky started to tear up, which Scoot and Sweetie quickly started tending to. Diamond seemed to be pushing her flank against Dusk as she started another wave of insults. "You see, we don't want an alicorn like Dusk hanging out with failures like you, especially since he's a higher class than a lowly farm filly." Her eyes narrowed to slits that seemed to burn Applebloom. Dusk decided he had had enough of what was going on as he stretched his wings and hopped over Diamond and stood in front of Applebloom. "That is enough out of you." His voice sounded strong and commanding and it demanded that it be listened to, "How do you expect someone to go with you after you drop yourself to being a petty bully? I would rather be seen with Applebloom and her friends than be with the likes of you." He could almost feel the heat from Applebloom's face, guessing that she was blushing behind him. Diamond seemed to be taken aback by the alicorn's defense of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Dinky, of course that didn't mean that she was not prepared for it. After a few huffs she and Silver Spoon decided to walk away to plan their next attack. After the brief scuffle the little group sat down and finished up their lunches. Dusk swore that Applebloom was sitting closer to him. Shortly the bell rang for classes to start again, Duck felt a tug on his tail as he headed towards the school. He turned around to see Applebloom behind him, she seemed to be blushing a bit more than what she normally did. "Um, Dusk?" Her head was slighlty bowed as if she was trying to avoid eye contact, "Do ya think it'd be alright if ya... um.. that is if ya'll want to... possibly, walk with me to the farm today?" Dusk blushed a bit and turned to his friend, "Sure thing, Applebloom," His voice was calmer and it reminded the farm filly of how Princess Celestia talks, "I'd be delighted." Applebloom raised her head a smiled at the orange alicorn, her amber eyes reminding him of the morning sunrise. She then took his hoof and took off towards the school. The rest of the school day seemed to go by quick as Cherilee went over a few tests and some basic information that Twilight had already taught him during the past two months. Unfortunately, he still felt Diamond Tiara's eyes locked on him the rest of the school day. He didn't care though, Applebloom had asked him to walk her to her house. All he could think of was just the time he would be spending with her. 'Yep,' he thought to himself, 'This is the best day ever.'
Chapter 2Dusk and Applebloom made their way towards Sweet Apple Acres after school, not knowing that their walk was being monitored by a pair of violet eyes watched their every move. Inside the bush that he was hiding in a dark red hoof swept through the unicorn stallions black mane as he watched his prey walk along the dirt road. The orange alicorn stopped and turned towards the direction of the forest, a golden glow formed around his horn and the pendant that he was wearing. The stallion was unsure of what the colt was doing, but he did not like it. Whatever that pendant was doing was putting a kink in his plans. Then he saw it, the crescent symbol of Princess Luna on the opal stone. 'Damn that bitch.' he stomped his hoof to the ground in frustration as he thought, 'She's given him a defense pendant. That pushes plans back a few more months to study the damn thing, but once I have that figured out...' an evil grin slowly crawled on his face as he slowly backed out from the bush and out of site of the magenta eyes of the alicorn colt. Time was on his side and he had all the time in the world to bring his plans to life. "Dusk? Is something wrong?" Applebloom's voice had a mix of curiosity and fear inside it. She had heard her sister talk about the dark creatures that lurked in the forest, but she never paid much mind to it as she made the all to familiar walk to and from the farm. The gold glow from Dusk's pendant and horn faded away, but Dusk kept staring towards the forest. A few seconds later he looked down at the pendant. As him and Applebloom where walking towards Sweet Apple Acres the pendant started to react to something. From what he heard Twilight say when she gave him the opal and amethyst pendant was that this particular one will act as both a shield and a weapon when it senses danger nearby, by using his magic to create a protective barrier and alert him to the threat. Fortunately, though the pendant acted otherwise, Dusk could not see any threat to him or Applebloom, even though he did feel something staring him down as he searched. Slowly he began to relax as Applebloom glanced in the direction the alicorn colt was looking. "Remind me to talk to your sister when we get to the farm." Dusk's voice was back to sounding like a ruler of Equestria, sending chills down the young fillies spine. Not because of the little crush she had on him. No, it was from pure awe at how he can be calm and relaxed on minute, and then almost be like an exact copy of Princess Luna the next. She nodded in agreement and followed behind him as they started on there way again. She knew Dusk pretty well, she thought, he seemed to have all of the spirits of the Elements of Harmony inside him. As he walked through Ponyville, he would often be mistaken as royalty and would often be either showered with gifts or praises as he walked. That's when the trait that Applebloom liked about him the most shown, like his mother, Twilight, he was humble. Always returning the gifts, and clearing up the crowds that seemed to follow him, he never boasted about being an alicorn, and the fact that he was Twilight's son never seemed to cross his mind when he would talk to other ponies. Everypony new that Twilight Sparkle was the most famous pony, along with the rest of her five friends, in Ponyville. Being Princess Celestia's own protege, not to mention that she basically saved the town and Equestria more than her fair share of times. However, Twilight never let that get to her head. Applebloom loved that about her, and she was glad that Twilight's humility had been passed on to Dusk. Her thoughts switched from admiration to remembering the first time he saw the young alicorn colt. "C'mon Applejack," Applebloom was in a huge hurry to get to the library, "Ah want to see if Twilight's got that book." The somewhat cream colored filly was bouncing circles around her older sister. Applejack gave her a smile and adjusted the stetson that was placed on her head. Earlier that month she, and the rest of her friends were called to Twilight's house. To their surprise it wasn't because Equestria wasn't in danger, to Fluttershy's relief, instead she was sitting on the couch with an orange colt alicorn. After releasing the colt to play outside, sh explained to her friends about what Princess Luna made her promise. All of her friends supported her the whole way, but but Twilight had made them promise one thing. Never say where he came from other than that he was her's and not to mention the princess as well. So far Applejack had kept her friends promise, in fact she only gave her family the bare minimum of information. She glanced back down and caught the bouncing fillies red tail in her mouth. "Simmer down there, Applebloom, Ah know that yer not that excited about goin' ta Twi's library." Her little little sister gave her tail a tug out of Applejack's mouth and swished it around to get it back to how she liked it, casting her older sister an unimpressed look. "Well, maybe Ah ain't looking forward to goin' to Twilight's library, but Ah am lookin' forward ta meeting her kid." "Ah thought so, just make sure ya'll don't do anything without my or Twi's permission. Alright, Sugarcube?" Applebloom felt a smile grow as she heard her sister's nickname for her friends. She never understood why Applejack called everypony sugarcube, but it definitely gave her a warm feeling inside. Not to mention it let the filly know that the orange mare was in a good mood. As the two neared the library turned house, Applebloom could already see some obvious changes. First of all was the large red ball sitting in the middle of the stone path that lead up to the entry way. Applebloom was then shocked to see an orange alicorn jumping this way and that around the ball. His multicolored mane reminded her of the sunset just before the moon was fully risen and the sun was fully set. As Applebloom and her big sister stepped onto the stone path she saw a pair of magenta eyes look up expectantly, forgetting all about his ball for a moment. Applejack smiled at the alicorn as he came trotting up to them, "Howdy, Dusk Shine. Is your mother home?" The colt nodded to Applejack, his smile never leaving him, "Yes she is. I was getting ready to head back inside myself, would you like me to get her for you?" Applebloom was shocked and surprised at the same time. Dusk stood a good foot above her, but he was supposed to be her age, for some unknown reason she felt safe around him. He smiled at her and turned to lead them into the library. Dusk Shine could see Sweet Apple Acres getting closer in the distance, he was glad. Not because it meant that he was halfway from getting home, but because it meant that Applebloom would be safe. A shiver went down his spine as his mind conjured up different things that could have been a threat. Then another thought crept into his mind Who was the threat supposedly targeting? Was it him or Applebloom, possibly both? He shook his head in order to get rid of these thoughts as he made his way with Applebloom towards the farmhouse doors. Applejack was sitting on a porch swing next to the door into the house, she raised her head and adjusted her stetson as the sound of hooves hitting the steps onto the porch reached her ears. "Why, Dusk Shine! What bring ya to this neck of the woods?" Dusk turned towards Applebloom's older sister, his magenta eyes telling her that he was serious as he replied to her question. "We need to talk." After a good ten minutes of explaining the event that had transpired on the way to the farm, Applejack sat back in her chair and looked down at the colt. "So ya'll are sayin' that ya want me and Big Mac to chaperon Applebloom because yer pendant said that something is wrong?" The alicorn colt nodded, even though he felt that he already knew what the orange mare was about to say, "I know it sounds silly, Applejack, but I have this feeling that something bad will happen if she's not looked after." Her response was something that he honestly didn't expect. "Alright, Sugarcube, Big Mac and Ah will talk about splitting days. Thanks for the bit of information." Applejack glanced torwards a window and noticed how late it was. Shortly after Dusk was on his way back towards the library where he was expecting a certain mother's lecture. Not that he necessarily cared or anything, he actually welcomed these lectures sometime. Taking a life lesson and learning from it gave him something to look forward to. After walking down the dark road for a few minutes the amethyst crescent glowed a brilliant gold again and almost automatically the shield went up. As Dusk searched the surrounding area he was in a small whimper came from.... inside the shield? All it took was to follow the sounds of whimpers and moans to it's source, which was coming from behind a rock. He glanced at the rock and readied himself with his horn. "Whose there? Show yourself." All that Dusk got in reply was another whimper followed by a sniff, whoever was behind the rock must have been upset or something. He slowly circled the rock to find a sight that he would never had expected in his short alicorn life. A changeling lay in front of him in a manner that reminded Dusk of what happens when a predator toys with it's prey. To say that what lay before him was messy was vast beyond comprehension. The changeling's wings were torn and tattered throughout the membrane, most of the membrane was missing in some areas. Cuts and scrapes were spread out along the black body, deep gashes were spilling blood into a small pool that she laid in. one of her legs was obviously broken, due to the fact that it was going and facing a completely different direction. Her horn seemed to be in pretty bad shape as well, with a fraction of it cracked or chipped. Blood was trickling from her mouth and nose, her half open eyes were full of tears as she lay down in front of orange alicorn colt. This was the threat that his pendant saw? The opal and amethyst necklace seemed to have been reading his mind as its golden glow faded and its protective shield dropped. Dusk placed down his saddlebags and immediately started to search for the first aid kit that Twilight had placed inside it. After finding what he was looking for, he turned his attention towards the shaking changeling. Her whimpers increased as he neared her. She tried to stand to either flee or fight, only to collapse back down onto the ground. Dusk placed a gentle hoof on her and started to rub her back in a calming and soothing nature. "Shh... you're okay, I need to relax for me. Can you do that?" He spoke to her in as calm a voice he could muster. To his relief she started to calm down as he comforted her and started to administer first aid, thanking Princess Celestia he had a mother like Twilight, who made him study not only his magic, but other courses like medical sciences and the like. As Dusk continued to work on the injured changeling, he noticed that she sounded like she was trying to talk. “P-please... I... I don't want to die. P-please help me.” Tears started to flow from her dark blue eyes, an orange hoof met her lips as Dusk finished stopping the bleeding from he serious gashes for the time being. “Save your strength,” he said as he started working on splinting the broken foreleg, “You're going to need it if you wish to survive this.” He finished splinting the limb and then helped her lift her head so he can get a good look at her horn. “I'll be taking you home with me, from there we shall find out what to do with you.” Her horn looked to be beyond repair, but Twilight may be the greatest means of survival for this changeling. Another lucky break for him was that, thanks to his alicorn traits, he was strong for average colts his age. As he carried the changeling on his back and levitated his saddlebags in front of him, Dusk slowly made his way towards the library, a very weak 'thank you' coming from the half conscience changeling.
Chapter 3In the dimly lit room of the library's basement, a lone, single changeling body could be found laying on an improvised bed composed of old hay. Rhythm slowly woke up, and tried to raise her head, much to her own bodies disagreement. Her body was healing quickly, there was no doubt about it, but the lack of food she's had these past few weeks have left her body weaker than normal. She fell back down onto the makeshift bed, feeling some kind of blanket cover her up. A crescent moon covered blanket covered her body, providing a little warmth in the chilly air of the basement. The smell of food entered her nostrils, a soup created out of noodles and a mix of vegetables sat in a bowl just in front of her. Slowly and painfully she brought the bowl to her lips, testing it to make sure there were no drugs and how warm it was. She winced as the hot liquid touched her tongue, in the background she heard a familiar voice as it giggled, more than likely at her burning her tongue. An alicorn stepped out of the shadows and lay down next to the injured changeling. She couldn't place her hoof on it, but there was something about the alicorn that seemed familiar. “P-princess Luna?” The alicorn let out a little chuckle. It took Rhythm a few seconds before she realised that the alicorn laying next to her was actually a colt. His orange coat reminded the changeling of burning embers in a fire. He moved his sunset mane out of his magenta eyes and smiled at her. “Be careful, it's still hot. Freshly made in fact.” Dusk smiled at the changeling, showing her an unexpected kindness that she knew she'd never deserve. All because she's a changeling. She had heard of the failed attack on Canterlot, but she was already an outcast before that happened. A hoof on her shoulder brought her out of thought, the alicorn seemed to be... petting her? Not that she didn't mind, in fact, she liked the feeling of being loved. Even if its for a different reason. She felt a purr build up inside her, but a sudden light shining from atop a stair way ceased the hoof's motion. “Dusk Shine, we need to have a talk.” So that's his name. A purple unicorn stepped down into the basement, turning the lights on in the process. The look on her face reminded the changeling of an upset mother when their foal did something wrong. Dusk lowered his head as Twilight came down the stairs. He could tell from the tone of her voice he was in trouble, that he understood, but he also thought he heard a bit of conflict in her voice as well. He felt the changeling under his hoof start shaking as his mother got closer to him. Giving her a reassuring pat he turned towards the librarian, ready to face what she was going to say. A long disappointed sigh came out of her mouth, not helping Dusk feel anymore comfortable. “First you're getting stalked, now you bring home a wounded changeling.” She let out another sigh, her lavender eyes showing a bit of sadness inside them, “You're lucky your moth-” she quickly cut her self off, shaking her head furiously. “T-that is... Why did you bring a changeling home in the first place?” Dusk took a minute to ponder on what Twilight had said. Wasn't she his mother? With a quick shake of his head he turned to Twilight to give her his explanation. “Well, I-I was just trying to follow Aunt Fluttershy's example.” It wasn't the best reason he came up with, but it seemed to lighten Twilight's mood. “Sweety, I know you try to follow my friends examples as the Spirits of the Elements, but didn't I tell you about changelings? They tried to take over Equestria, and they feed on the love of others and destroy lives.” Dusk felt the changeling quiver and wince as Twilight went on with her lecture. “I know you were trying to show a great example of kindness and compassion, but we have to turn her in to-” A sniff and the quiet sounds of the changeling sobbing into her makeshift bed, tears rolled from hear crystal blue eyes and started to make a small puddle on the floor. “Why is everypony mean to Rhythm? Rhythm has done nothing wrong. Rhythm just wants to be friends, but either gets beat up or chased. First hive throws Rhythm out because she's worthless, then she is always alone.” She rolled onto her side facing away from Dusk and Twilight, shrugging off Dusk's hoof in the process. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the sobbing changeling. “Excuse me, but what do you mean by your hive throwing you out?” Dusk recognized the change in her voice, she sounded like she was actually willing to hear the changeling named Rhythm's story. Rhythm kept facing away from the two ponies, her sobbing calming down a little, and took in a deep breath. “I have always been worthless to the hive. Being the only one out of thousands of changelings that didn't require love to survive placed me very low on the social structure. In fact, most of my life I was held in a jail cell, all alone and half starved. Then, one day, I was told that I was to go with a group of guards to scout out an area of the forest for a secondary hold.” She shook her head at her last statement. “I was a fool. I was to excited to finally be able to do something for my hive; to prove to myself and the other changelings that I was not worthless, to see it was obvious that I had just been sentenced to banishment.” She rolled back over and faced Twilight and Dusk, “They beat me and left me for dead in the middle of the forest. Ever since, I've been alone. Since I can't feed on love, I can't change forms.” She sighed as she continued on, feeling Dusk's hoof running up and down her back. “I had to resort to petty theft at night, to keep from being seen, just to stay alive. More than plenty of times I would hear about these six ponies who lived in Ponyville that were known as the Elements of Harmony Users. “I knew that they were my only ticket to a normal life, even if I was a changeling. I had to give it a shot. Unfortunately, I was attacked by a timberwolf before I got there. Then, well the rest you know.” She looked up at her audience, taking note that the purple unicorn was looking at her with a different attitude. It was Dusk, however, who spoke after Rhythm, “You see, Mom? Remember how the pendant is supposed to raise a shield when it senses danger? It must have sensed the remnants of the timberwolves scent. The shield lowered as soon as I saw her laying on the ground, also, do you see the pendant acting like she's a threat now?” Twilight's head lowered as she realised what the colt was aiming at, she was judging a book by its cover... again. She raised her head after a few moments of thinking, “Okay, I guess there is no harm in having her stay awhile. But...” Her eyes narrowed at the changeling, who was nuzzling Dusk's side, causing the colt to giggle. Feeling the gaze, Rhythm stopped her assault on the colt's ticklish sides and looked into Twilight's burning violet eyes. “If I catch or sense you doing anything suspicious.” She let her words sink into Rhythm's mind, which caused the changeling to also sink into the bed. Twilight turned her head to Dusk, her eyes switching to looking almost saddened, “Come with me, Dusk. We still need to have a talk.” Dusk followed Twilight into her room, unsure of what he was about to receive. He knew something was bothering her, the look on her face and in her eyes told him so. She climbed up on the bed and motioned for Dusk to follow. Once he was on and laying down next to her, Twilight used her magic to levitate a book that she used to hold pictures from the past and present. She opened it to a marked page that read Sunny Day. On the page stood a unicorn with a golden coat, his red eyes looking at what Dusk assumed to be the camera. His silver mane was done up in a ponytail that reached the middle of his neck. He was wearing a Royal Guard dress uniform, which was a white dress shirt underneath a large black service jacket, gold streaks went down the middle of the sleeves. A dark blue bar with golden stripes going down its length gave Dusk the feeling he was a high ranking official. He was giving the camera a confident grin as he sat on his haunches. “Who's this, Mom?” Dusk looked up at Twilight, who gave him a comforting smile before answering. “This is Sunny Day. Your father.” The colt's eyes widened as he looked down at the picture of his father, but he quickly turned back to Twilight. “Then why is he not here? If he is my dad and is in the Royal Guard, then he should still be able to visit us.” Twilight nuzzled Dusk behind his ear. She had to give Dusk credit, he was definitely smart than most kids his age. More than anything due to his alicorn genes. Not to mention he is Luna's son for ponies sake! “Dusk, the reason why you don't see him is because... well...” Twilight bit her bottom lip as she struggled to find the right way to tell him. “He... He died when the changelings invaded Canterlot.” She felt the colt shake a little bit next to her, wrapping a hoof around him for comfort. Before Dusk could ask any more questions about his father she turned the pages and stopped at a page with a dark blue alicorn, her mane resembling a dark and starry night. Her crescent moon cutie mark caused Dusk to look down at his pendant. One of his hooves lifted the pendant while the other traced around the amethyst crescent moon engraved in the opal stone. He had an idea what Twilight was wanting to talk about, and it was making him sick to his stomach. He glanced down at the azure eyes looking straight back at him, filling him with the same warm feeling he feels when Twilight looks at him. As he studied the picture, he noticed that Princess Luna was showing signs of carrying a foal. Dusk Shine's mind was racing as his brain started clicking and putting together the pieces of the puzzle. It was starting to make sense; the pendant, his infatuation for the night and the moon, how the Elements of Harmony Users act around him... the strange feelings that he's being watched. His stomach was taking it just as bad as he was, because all he could feel was a giant knot inside. He looked up at the purple unicorn mare he had called mother, who was avoiding eye contact now, then back at the pendant he was holding in a trembling hoof. In a surge of hot anger he tore the pendant of and threw it across the room. He had been lied to. His entire life he had been lied to. He stood there, shaking, tears flowing down his cheeks. He was angry and yet he was sad at the same time, more than anything, he was confused. Why did Luna leave him? If she was his real mother, then why can't he remember her? He felt a hoof from Twilight rubbing his mane, little did he know that she was doing that the whole time. He tore away from her, looking angrily into her own velvet eyes. As she said his name, Dusk ran out of the room, knocking Spike over as he carried a tray with three cups full of tea. Dusk didn't care, he kept running. He ran out of the door and started running to the only place, to the only pony that he could trust. Followed by a dark red figure in his wake. Twilight sat on her bed looking at the open doorway that Dusk had just ran out. Spike, covered in tea, came walking in with a not to thrilled look on his face. “You had to tell him when I had tea, didn't you.” He winked at her and went back to clean the mess on him and the floor. Twilight knew he was just trying to help calm her down, but it wasn't helping. She was heartbroken, knowing that she might have just lost the trust of the alicorn colt she had learned to love as if he was her own. Oh, what's the use. I completely ruined what we had together. She felt tears run down her cheeks and then the feeling of a hoof wiping them away. Lifting her head and wiping her eyes, she caught a glimpse of a changeling hoof slowly going around her neck. Rhythm leaned into Twilight as the purple unicorn tackled her into a hug. Rhythm didn't need to know what had happened, she heard and saw the whole thing happen from the doorway. After a few minutes, Twilight's sobbing and self apologies, Rhythm went and grabbed the pendant that Dusk had hurled across the room. Luckily it wasn't damaged seriously. She handed it to Twilight, who, after a few moments looked back at Rhythm, determination in her eyes and voice. “We have to find him.”
Chapter 4Dusk ran as fast as he could in the night. His wings burned with pain due to him flying furiously as soon as he was outside. He could feel his legs start to burn as well, his brain was telling him to stop, but he didn't want to. He just wanted to see the one pony that he knew he could trust fully. The one pony that wasn't lying or hiding things from him. He could see the lights from Sweet Apple Acres slowly coming into view as he started to slow down to a walk, to the relief of his tired and sore muscles. As he walked on the dark dirt road towards the farm, he found out just how much he had been running when his own legs gave out and the alicorn colt face planted in the dirt. Tears filled his vision again, not because he was angry anymore... he was sad, cold and scared. He wanted his mother. Not Twilight Sparkle either. He wanted his real mother, the one in the picture... he wanted Princess Luna. As he picked himself up from the dirt after sobbing for a few minutes. A glow coming from the full moon above, starting first as a twinkle, and growing till it was so bright that Dusk had to cover his eyes. After the flash, Dusk blinked his eyes to see the site of a dark blue alicorn mare standing in front of him. Her magnificent wings were fully extended as she made her way closer to him. Her azure eyes were glazed over in a brilliant white light that slowly faded back to normal. She gave him a gentle smile as Dusk, unknowingly, started to move towards the Princess of The Night. He stopped just shy of her and cowered down as he felt a hoof rubbing through his mane, and bringing him in for a hug. Dusk made a note of tears swelling in Princess Luna's eyes, and, hesitantly, returned her hug. They didn't say anything; they didn't have to say anything, they just stood there and held each other. Dusk basked in the warmth of his mother. She was different than how it felt when Twilight held him. Dusk broke off the hug after a few moments and stared into his mother's azure eyes. Sure she was his mother, but she had some questions to answer before he could accept it completely. “Why?” That's all he asked, it was all he needed to ask. He felt tears swelling up in his eyes again as he stared up at the princess. “Why did you leave me?” Princess Luna lay down next to the orange colt and brought him in close to her, using her wing to offer a type of blanket against the chilly night air. “My dearest son. I’m sorry for doing this to you. But you must understand when I say this to you. I brought you here, and had Twilight Sparkle take my place as your mother because of how much I loved you. For you see... there is a certain pony out there who is out for both you, me, and my sister. “His name is Heatwave, he is mine and Clestia's uncle.” Dusk felt his mother shake at his name, “Long ago, after our victory over Discord, Heatwave sought control over the rule of Equestria. Claiming that he was the rightful heir to the throne, he raised a rebellion and led an assault on the Royal City. Needless to say, the rebellion as a complete disaster. Having lost both his wings in the attack, both me and my sister tried to show him mercy and compassion.” Princess Luna shook her head in frustration, “He wouldn't hear of it, instead he chose banishment. This stripped him of his royal status, and everything he had. He was sent to the Badlands, where we had hoped he would've met his end. Shortly after you were born, we received word that he was seen prowling the streets of Canterlot. We knew his first plan of action would be to get rid of you if he got the chance. So, in the secrecy of a stormy night I brought you here. To remain safe until we dealt with him.” Luna nuzzled her son affectionately on the cheek, “You see my dearest son, I never wanted to abandon you. It tore me up to leave you with somepony else.” Dusk nuzzled into his mother's neck, then another question popped into his head. “Twilight mentioned something about a Sunny Day. Was he my father?” Princess Luna's pupils shrank when the name reached her ears. A small quiver reached her bottom lip as she fought back tears in front of Dusk. “He was, and he loved you dearly. I had never been so in love with a stallion as I was with your father. And he loved me just the same. We met shortly after my return, he would always find ways to try to brighten my day.” The princess laughed. Dusk noticed the tears flowing from her eyes, and got closer to her. “Anyway, after a few months of seeing each other, we had you. And then... we lost him.” Princess Luna couldn't hid her sobs from Dusk anymore as she held onto her son tightly, Dusk closed his eyes and just nuzzled deeper into his mother's chest. He already knew, and he didn't want to see her anymore hurt. His mother took hold of his shoulders and held him in front of her, “You remind me some much of him. You have so much of him inside of you.” With a large grin she gave Dusk another large hug. Dusk wished it could have continued forever, but a call in the night broke their embrace. “Applebloom! Where are you?!” An orange mare was frantically walking down the dirt road. She didn't have her stetson on, and her blonde mane and tail was a mess. She noticed where Princess Luna and Dusk were laying down at and galloped to them. Princess Luna stood up at the approaching mare. “Applejack, is something wrong?” Applejack was breathing hard, her eyes were full of fear and terror, she shook her head at the princess and spoke, “It's Applebloom, Princess, she's nowhere to be found. She's gone.” Dusk felt his legs go limp with the news that Applejack had just given. He couldn't believe what Applejack was saying, yet he had to believe it. She wasn't the Element of Honesty for nothing and he knew it. He felt the princess wrap a wing around him as she continued talking to the frightened mare. “Applejack, are you sure she's not just staying at a friends house or anything of that matter?” Applejack shook her head, wiping away any tears she had in her eyes. “No, she'd normally tell me or Big Mac if she was gonna do somethin'. Least Ah seen her was when Dusk brought her home a few days ago, after that Ah was off with Rainbow Dash till today.” Dusk made his way out of his mother's wing and went to hug Applejack, who graciously accepted his gesture. Dusk looked up at Applejack and gave her a confident smile, his magenta eyes seemed to burn with passion as he spoke to the farmer. “Don't you worry, Applejack, we'll find her. Even if it takes us all week.” Dusk suddenly felt insecure and threatened as he slowly started to turn around. Applejack and Princess Luna followed his gaze as a figure stepped out of the shadows and into the full moons light. He was dark red, scars went up his sides where his wings used to be. His black mane was slicked back against his head. His fiery red eyes burned through Dusk as he looked at him. Judging by how his mother was shaking, this was Heatwave. “I believe zat a search party von't be necessary.” His voice sounded like somepony placed marbles inside a metal drum and started to swish it around. “You see, I found zis beautiful young filly on her vay from school, and I decided zat she vas perfect for my plan.” Dusk felt his anger start to swell inside of him, “Where is she!?” he lowered his stance and shot blades at Heatwave through his eyes. The dark red stallion let out a menacing chuckle. “Ah, young Dusk Shine, I have heard of you. You see, I have kept a very close eye one you vile you ver in Ponyville. Of course, I’m sure zat you don't vant to challenge me,” His eyes became red slits as he stared down the alicorn colt, “zat is unless you vish to see your filly friend hurt?” an orange aura shone from his horn as he started to drag something from behind him. Slowly the form of Applebloom appeared, around her neck was a collar and a leash that was being held by Heatwave's magic. Heatwave turned towards the shocked group with an evil grin stretching across his face. “Now, my dear Luna, give me your son.”
