Chapter 3:

Dusk Goes To The Outland

A little bit later, Dusk was running in the tall grass when he saw a blue and gold butterfly and playfully chased after it.

"Hey, wait, come back! I just want to play!" Dusk giggled as he continued chasing the small animal but then stopped when the butterfly landed on a rock, absently minding its own business.

"The Powerful Alicorn has cornered his target." Dusk whispered quietly while crouching down, staring at the butterfly that is about two steps away from him. Like his mother before him he liked to practice his techniques. And when family wasn't available to practice on, he found other ways to do it.

Then Dusk let out a quiet playful growl and then jumped at it, like a lion cub trying to catch a butterfly, but the butterfly however flew out of the way quickly and the young colt missed, landing on a rock. That's when Dusk saw something else that caught his attention as he looked ahead over the rock…

About a mile or so ahead of him, was a land that is cut off from the rest by a river between it. It had no grass and the trees there are dying. This place is known by many as the Outlands, a place where enemies were kept away from Equestria.

"Whoa, cool. The Outlands. I wonder what's out there?" Dusk said, climbing onto the rock to get a better view of the Outlands.

While Dusk was busy looking at the Outlands, behind him something was coming through the grass towards him. However, Dusk didn't notice it until it was at a foot away from him. So when Dusk heard the snap of a twig, he turned around to see who was behind him and screamed.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Dusk screamed in fright.

In the grass behind him, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy screamed as well with their manes and tails standing on end in reply. Soon they find themselves doing a screaming contest as Dusk tries to jump back but ended up falling backward off the rock and into a small pond with a splash.

The Mane 5 stopped screaming and looked over the ledge.

"Oh, hang on, Dusk! Auntie Pinkie Pie's Coming!" Pinkie yelled, backing up, and then jumped off the rock and she landed in the pond, splashing some water on the other four ponies.

"Oh, man!" Rainbow Dash said in shock.

"Oh no!" Rarity said next, looking around nervously, trying to think of what they should say to Twilight when they get back. Because Pinkie Pie failed to look before she leapt.

"Well, Twilight, dear. The good news is we found your son," Rarity said, turning to Rainbow Dash.

"Eeyup, but the bad news is…We dropped Pinkie Pie on him." Applejack said next.

"You aren't angry at us are you?" Fluttershy asked, shaking fearfully in fear.

Playing along, Rainbow Dash shaped her mane into Twilight's mane style and did an impersonation of Twilight, "Why no girls, I'm actually fine that you've found my son. But considering the fact that you dropped Pinkie on him, I'm gonna zap you five with my magic and leave nothing behind!" Rainbow said in a mock tone of authority.

"Very funny, Rainbow…" Applejack said, deadpanned.

Meanwhile, Pinkie was sitting in the water with a confused look on her face. Several small bubbles of air were erupting from below her.

"Dusk? Dusk? Where are you?" Pinkie asked worriedly, looking around for her nephew.

"Pinkie! Please, allow me to define the term, 'FOALSITTING'!" Rarity called out to the pink Earth Pony.

Pinkie just gave her an inquisitive look, causing Rainbow Dash to yell, "Oh for crying out loud! You're Sitting On Him!"

Realizing what they mean and what she was doing, Pinkie jumped up and backed away as Dusk came up coughing and sputtering. When he stopped, Dusk looked at Pinkie Pie with a cloudy look on his face. Sometimes he didn't understand the party pony.

"Sorry." Pinkie nervously chuckled as she and Dusk got out of the pond.

"Are you okay, Dusk?" Fluttershy asked, checking to make sure Dusk isn't hurt.

"Yeah, I'm good." Dusk replied, assuring that he's alright and nothing's broken.

"Now, Prince Dusk. As Queen Twilight's son, you know better not to go out there all alone. You could've been hurt." Pinkie stated to her nephew.

"HURT?! Oh, Twilight would kill us if you got hurt! You didn't break a wing, did you? Catch a fever? Get a hang hoof?" Rarity said, examining Dusk's body from back to forehead to his hoof.

"Aunt Rarity." Dusk tried to say, pulling his hoof away. While he appreciated the concern his Aunts have for him, especially Rarity and Fluttershy, they could be overbearing with their concerns.

"I had one once." Rarity interrupted, remembering how she had a hang hoof.

"Yeah, and it was pretty painful too." Pinkie said, recalling how painful Rarity's hang hoof was.

"Excruciating." Rainbow said as a shadow was looming over Dusk, and Dusk looked up to see Rainbow Dash placing a cloud above him.

"Darling, with your fair complexion, you should stay out of the sun." Rarity said.

Dusk then zapped the cloud out of existence with his magic.

"Hey, come on. Do you want to get wrinkles?" Rainbow asked, rhetorically.

"Would somepony please just listen to me?" Dusk asked, getting very annoyed by their antics.

"Sorry, we weren't listening. Did you say something your majesty?" Applejack asked, thinking she might have heard Dusk said something.

"I'm not just a prince, you know? That's only half of who I am." Dusk explained to them. While he understood he was born royalty, he wanted ponies to see there was more to him than just being a prince.

"Wait, if being a prince is half what you are. Then who's the other half?" Pinkie asked, raising a brow.

Dusk was about to answer but then he paused. He never thought of it before.

"Listen, while you're figuring out, let's get a snack. AJ, care to do the honors?" Rainbow said as they all headed to a tree and Applejack smirked as she cracked her neck, before turning her back legs to the tree before she reared back and gave a strong, sturdy buck, and from the branches brightly colored fruit rained down from it and landed in the basket.

"Fruit." Rarity said, producing a basket of colorful fruit.

"A very tasty and healthy treat." Pinkie said next with a smile.

"And so high in protein." Rainbow said, bring the basket up to Dusk.

"No, thanks. I already ate breakfast." Dusk said, declining the offer kindly.

"Oh, well then how about you, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked, offering some fruit to Pinkie.

Pinkie took a big sniff, taking in the aroma of the sweetness of fruit.

"*Sighing Pleasantly* I love fruits" Pinkie said with a smile, being happy to eat some fruit.

"Love, darling…" Rarity said with a smile.

"That's right. Not like…" Applejack said next.

"Love!" The Mane 5 said in unison as Pinkie took a pear and popped it into her mouth.

But just as Pinkie was about to swallow, she suddenly spat it back out of her mouth.

"Oh, Pinkie, you always do that!" Rarity said, feeling greatly disgusted.

"Yeah, you take a bite out of every fruit and then spit it back out. It's driving us crazy!" Rainbow Dash said in agreement.

"But you can't tell from the outside which are the real juicy ones." Pinkie explained and stated to her friends.

"I hate to differ, Pinkie. But I think it's the nice sweet apples that make a healthy meal." Applejack disagreed as she popped an apple into her mouth.

"Absolutely not, darling. It's most definitely the fancy ones." Rarity huffed in disagreement.

"No way, Fast Fruits made the meal!" Rainbow argued.

While they were arguing, Dusk rolled his eyes until he heard someone whispering to him.

"Psst, Dusk…" Fluttershy whispered to him, catching the colt's attention.

Dusk turned to see Fluttershy motioning him to come over to her. Smirking, Dusk quietly sneaked over to Fluttershy as the other four mares continued arguing with each other about which fruit is better.

"Juicy!" Pinkie argued.

"Sweet!" Applejack argued back.

"Fancy!" Rarity argued.

"Fast!" Rainbow argued.

"More Liquid!" Pinkie argued.

"Taste Good!" Applejack argued.

"Less Dirty!" Rarity argued.

"Makes You Faster!" Rainbow argued.

As they continued arguing, Dusk made it over to Fluttershy on a nearby hill. The young prince of Equestria looked back at his four aunts still arguing before turning to Fluttershy, who gestured her head to where Dusk is heading, telling him to go on ahead to where he was heading.

Dusk couldn't believe his Aunt Fluttershy was encouraging him in his endeavor, that seemed like something Aunt Rainbow would have done. But he didn't question it. He gave Fluttershy a quick hug before heading off.

Dusk saw the trail his mother marked for him but instead he decided to head to the outlands, where he is about to meet somepony…somepony who will change his life forever.

And so, Dusk's journey begins.

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