The Little Package

Dusk 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.