In Ponyville, Dusk Shine'll have more to deal with than just friendship
Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fan fiction series written by the bigsnusnu and serves as a sort of Spiritual Successor to The Unexpected Love Life of Dusk Shine, though it features much less NSFW content. Like the aforementioned fan fiction, the story focuses on a a Rule 63 version of Twilight Sparkle named Dusk Shine, who is sent by Princess Celestia to Ponyville to make friends. There, he befriends the Mane Five and unknowingly garners their romantic interest, setting off a Harem Comedy adventure that is largely based on the canon series and focuses on the Mane 5's efforts to earn Dusk Shine's feelings.The series has finished its first season, in which the author plans to continue the story with a second season
It can be read here
on Fimfiction or here on Deviantart.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Accidental Kiss:
- Dusk Shine and Applejack's first kiss was this, where Dusk Shine fell out of an apple tree and planted a kiss on her when he landed.
- When Fluttershy successfully intimidates a dragon into leaving and stopping the smoke problem, she plants a Smooch of Victory on Dusk Shine out of adrenaline. Once said adrenaline wears off, she realizes what she's done and promptly faints, with Dusk Shine not realizing the romantic implications with the kiss.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- Dusk Shine was even more antisocial than Twilight Sparkle in the beginning of the series because he he was relentlessly bullied at magic school for being a "commoner". His supposed Only Friend, Sunset Shimmer, befriended him because Celestia asked her to, where she became a Toxic Friend Influence and torched her friendship with Dusk when he becomes Celestia's personal student over her.
- Pinkie Pie regards her Pinkie Sense as a curse because it can predict when someone close to her is about to die.
- The death of Applejack's parents is far more impactful here, as Applejack blames herself for the death of her father when she wandered into the Everfree Forest and led him into being attacked by Timberwolves, while her mother's death by childbirth only compounded her grief.
- Adaptational Badass: Nightmare Moon is much more powerful in this series, putting up more of a fight against the Mane Six.
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- Zig-Zagged. While Flutter-bat doesn't actually appear, it does take the place as Fluttershy's shoulder devil, far before it canonically appears in "Bats!"
- Shining Armor appears at the end of the Gala from season 1, much earlier than his debut at the end of season 2.
- Fancy Pants makes an appearance at the Gala, despite first appearing in season 2.
- Sunset Shimmer didn't appear until My Little Pony: Equestria Girls after season 3. In this series, she appears at the end of season 1.
- Princess Cadance first appears during the interim between seasons 1 and 2 instead of in the finale of the latter.
- Adaptational Jerkass:
- Bon Bon is a direct antagonist to Dusk Shine, distrusting him after he yelled at Princess Celestia during the Summer Sun Celebration and blaming him for many of the town's problems, including the Ursa Minor attack that wasn't even related to him. This changes after the Ursa Minor incident when she realizes how many times he's saved Ponyville and genuinely apologizes for her antagonistic behavior.
- Braeburn is far more confrontational and mocking to Dusk Shine here.
- Downplayed with Chief Thunderhooves. In canon, he was reluctant to go to war with Appleloose and even considered calling off the attack at the last minute. Here, he has absolutely no qualms with razing the settlement, though he still agrees to the compromise proposed by Applejack.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Prince Blueblood is still haughty and elitist towards ponies who aren't nobles like Dusk Shine. However, he genuinely falls in love with Rarity and doesn't abuse her like he did in canon.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- In canon, Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor had an extremely close relationship and "never had a single fight." Here, Dusk Shine and Shining Armor are more distant because most Canterlot ponies believed that Dusk Shine cheated on his exam to hatch Spike's egg and this perception was projected onto Shining Armor, draining much of the goodwill he earned in the military academy.
- Twilight Sparkle and Big Mac have no animosity towards each other, but Dusk Shine already made a terrible first impression with Big Mac when he was caught stealing from Sweet Apple Acres and he continues to face distrust from him, though Big Mac softens his stance on him as time passes.
- Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer were initilaly enemies who later became platonic friends. Here, Sunset was supposedly Dusk's friend growing up and first crush.
- All-Loving Heroine: Princess Cadance is patient and nice with everyone she meets. About the only exception to this is Sunset Shimmer, which is understandable because she's done nothing but show disrespect to Cadance.
- Arc Villain: Nightmare Moon serves as this for chapters 15-20.
- Arch-Enemy: Spike and Angel Bunny have a very hostile relationship, often getting into clashes with each other.
- Audience Surrogate:
- An In-Universe example. Fluttershy identifies herself with Rusty Sword, a character from a book she enjoys reading, and wishes to be as brave as him. When she successfully resolves the dragon problem in Ponyville, she even calls herself Rusty Sword.
- The Cutie Mark Crusaders ship Dusk with the other members of the Mane Five collectively, clearly mirroring those who want Dusk to have a harem.
- Balanced Harem: Each of the Mane Five receive roughly equal screentime and time spent with Dusk Shine.
- Berserk Button: Being called effeminate or gay is a huge one for Dusk Shine, who used to be bullied for having feminine features.
- Blatant Lies: Rainbow Dash is in complete denial that she has feelings for Dusk Shine, but she still leaps at every opportunity to get closer to him.
- Butt-Monkey: Dusk Shine suffers through even more comedic abuse than Twilight Sparkle.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: All of Dusk's harem act as this whenever they see him hanging out with another mare.
- Clueless Chick-Magnet: Initially, Dusk Shine is completely unaware of the Mane Five, Princess Luna, and Trixie's affection for him. Most of this is due to his own lack of self-confidence and whenever they kiss him, he comes up with excuses to explain why, such as simply wanting to experiment. He grows out of this after "Internal Changes," though he's still unsure what to do with this. Later, the Mane Six confess their love for him, but this leaves Dusk even more indecisive than ever.
- Cool Big Bro:
- Even if they occasionally come into conflict (usually because Spike gets jealous of Rarity's interest in his brother instead of him), Dusk Shine still deeply cares for Spike and, before going to Ponyville, had the closest relationship to him alongside Princess Celestia.
- Despite not being blood relatives, the Cutie Mark Crusaders still admire Dusk Shine like an older sibling.
- Covert Pervert: Despite wanting to be a "gentlecolt," Dusk Shine does have his own perverted thoughts, much to his displeasure.
- Darker and Edgier: Downplayed. While it largely matches the tone of the show, it also features more adult jokes and even scarier moments. The latter is best showcased in "A Wild Beast Awakens," where an old dragon has consumed multiple Diamond Dogs and left their bones strewn across its home, while also trying to eat Fluttershy when she gets fooled into trying to help.
- First Kiss:
- Applejack's very first kiss is with Dusk Shine when he fell from an apple tree and gave her an Accidental Kiss.
- When she was younger and attending a birthday party, Rarity noticed another colt who played the Spin the Bottle game there and all of the mares refused to kiss him. To raise his spirits, Rarity kissed him, albeit without any romantic feelings.
- Surprisingly enough, Dusk Shine's first kiss wasn't his accidental one with Applejack, but with another mare in Canterlot. However, he doesn't remember much of it, likely because there was some tragedy behind his relationship with the mare and thus wants to forget about it. It's heavily implied to be Sunset Shimmer.
- Foe Romance Subtext: Braeburn and Little Strongheart bicker a lot, much like an old married couple. It becomes official when the two confront each other on the day the buffalo are about to attack Appleloose, where they kiss each other in the heat of the moment.
- Foreshadowing: During Zecora's farewell to Dusk Shine, she warns him that he'll face many threats in the future, in which the accompanying comic panel show the silhouettes of Tirek, Discord, and Chrysalis.
- Friendly Rivalry: All of the Mane Five are competing for Dusk Shine's feelings, but all of them still maintain their friendship with each other.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Downplayed with Princess Luna. When she discovers that Dusk Shine doesn't have romantic feelings for her, she becomes noticeably upset when she wakes up, though this really only motivates her to earn Dusk Shine's feelings instead of "eliminating" the competition.
- Groin Attack: Dusk Shine tries to help Applejack pick apples on her farm,but she's too tired to even notice him, so she accidentally bucks him straight in the groin. Of course, Dusk Shine screams in agony and he still feels discomfort from it, where he is reminded of the event when Spike cracks eggs for breakfast the next day and promptly loses his appetite.
- Harem Comedy: The Mane Five and even Princess Luna compete for the affections of Dusk Shine, who is far too blunt too notice their efforts, at least until after "Internal Changes."
- Hate Sink: Rarity's abusive former coltfriend initially acted sweet with her, but started taking advantage of her by stealing her money for his own use. Then, he began cheating on her with other mares and each time Rarity tries to confront him, he either sweet talks to manipulate her into forgiving him or verbally abusing her. When Rarity finally has enough and firmly breaks up with him, he destroys most of her belongings and pushes her against a chair, before leaving and spiting her one last time by spreading lies that SHE was the toxic one in their relationship. His actions end up emotionally scarring Rarity and leaving her incapable of starting another romantic relationship, until she meets Dusk Shine.
- Hopeless Suitor: As in canon, Spike has a crush on Rarity, but unfortunately for him, she's already attracted to Dusk Shine and has no interest in pursuing a romantic relationship with him. However, she still humors him about it like kissing him during their Spin the Bottle game.
- Hypocritical Heartwarming: Deconstrusted with Dusk Shine and Sunset Shimmer's childhood friendship. While the latter always defended the former from bullies, she still regularly berates Dusk for being weak, but Dusk is too grateful to mind and wants to be Sunset's friend anyway. Instead of coming off as heartwarming, this dynamic creates a very shallow and emotionally abusive relationship that Sunset has no care to maintain and soon dissuades Dusk from future friendships.
- It's All My Fault: Dusk Shine has a tendency to blame himself for problems, even if it was out of his control or knowledge.
- Jerkass Realization: Dusk Shine's desire to learn about his nightmares begins to frustrate him, which culminates in an outburst against Pinkie Pie when she feels lonely after all of her other friends seem to ignore her. Dusk Shine, remembering his promise that he would always be there for her, tries to apologize, but it's too late, as Pinkie Pie sadly runs away.
- Kissing Discretion Shot: When Princess Luna kisses Dusk Shine right as his dream is ending, the comic panel depicting the moment has a bright white shine covering their lips, preventing the kiss from being seen.
- Loser Protagonist: Dusk Shine is a clumsy, naive dork, but this doesn't dissuade the romantic attraction of multiple mares, including his friends.
- Like a Son to Me: How Princess Celestia feels about Dusk.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Big Mac is definitely not a fan of Dusk Shine, much less happy to see that he may be a suitor for Applejack.
- Nice Guy: Dusk Shine, which is a major reason why his friends have developed romantic feelings for him.
- Near-Death Experience: Fluttershy nearly got eaten by an old dragon that tried to lure her into its home by pretending to need help. This traumatic experience made her deathly afraid of adult dragons in general.
- Oblivious to Love: Dusk Shine's denseness to love would put Ash Ketchum to shame. Although all of the Mane Five and Princess Luna have blushed at him and even kissed him at some point, he still doesn't get the message. He wisens up on this after "Internal Changes."
- Parental Substitute: Downplayed. While Princess Celestia doesn't have any intention of replacing Dusk Shine's mother, it's hard to deny that she and Dusk share an intimate relationship that goes beyond mentor and student.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: During the Summer Sun Celebration, Spike accidentally reveals to the Mane Five that Dusk Shine was sent to Ponyville to make friends. This causes them to believe that Dusk only befriended them out of obligation and that he really doesn't care about them, straining their relationship. In turn, this causes Dusk to lash out at both Spike and Celestia, emotionally hurting them as well.
- Polar Opposite Twins: Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel may be identical sisters, but the former likes Celestia over Luna, while the latter prefers Luna.
- The Prankster: Princess Celestia and Dusk Shine enjoy pulling pranks on each other. In fact, Dusk Shine and Spike were sent to Ponyville via bag on train by Celestia when she catches them mocking her with the nickname "Princess Trollestia."
- Precocious Crush:
- A younger Dusk Shine used to have a crush on his foalsitter, Princess Cadance.
- Sweetie Belle also harbors a crush on Dusk Shine, but when she proposes to him, Dusk declines due to how young she is.
- Pretty Boy: Dusk Shine is a total Chick Magnet and described to have feminine features, much to his dismay.
- Relative Error: Dusk Shine becomes jealous of Braeburn when it appears that he's a closer friend to Applejack and thus more likely to be her coltfriend. As a result, it's an incredibly awkward situation when he finds out that they're cousins and were only close due to being family.
- Rule 63:
- Dusk Shine is a genderbent version of Twilight Sparkle. This gets Doubly Subverted when Dusk makes contact with Poison Joke and turns into Twilight Sparkle, but later reverts back to his male form after being cured by Zecora.
- The rest of the Mane Six turn to their male genderbent versions in "External changes" and "Internal changes" after also making contact with Poison Joke, turning into Rainbow Blitz, Applejack, Elusive, Butterscotch, and Bubble Berry (Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie respectively). They revert back to their original female selves when Dusk/Twilight and Zecora cure them.
- Secret Relationship: Shining Armor and Princess Cadance wanted to keep their relationship a secret because they were worried that journalists would harass them over this.
- Shipper on Deck: Sweetie Belle briefly becomes this towards Dusk and Rarity before developing a crush on him herself. After he gently turns her down, she becomes this as well along with her fellow Crusaders who decides to ship Dusk with the rest of the Mane Six.
- "Shut Up" Kiss: When Dusk is about to wake up from his dream and finally realizes the blue alicorn that has been visiting him is Princess Luna, she leans forward and kisses him, cutting him off as he is asking if it is her.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Virtually all of Dusk Shine's harem are attracted to him because he showed kindness and care to them.
- Spin the Bottle: This game is played during Dusk Shine's slumber party with Rarity, Applejack, and Spike.
- Took a Level in Idealism: Zecora is initially introduced to be quite cynical and distrusting of Celestia's decision to give the Elements of Harmony to normal ponies, but after Dusk Shine shows her how kind his friends can be to even a different race like Zecora, she becomes more idealistic and trusting of Dusk Shine's ability to defend Equestria.
- Tsundere:
- Rainbow Dash fulfills this role in Dusk's harem, usually denying her feelings for him and maintaining a rough exterior, but she later becomes more accepting of her crush towards Dusk.
- Trixie also fulfills this role, starting as an antagonist to Dusk Shine, but later softens her stance on him and even develops feelings for him as well.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Dusk Shine would never even think of hitting a mare, which is why he becomes so enraged with Rarity's former coltfriend and hits Hoity Toity in the face when he mistakes him for the coltfriend.
- Wham Line: From both the season 1 finale and the interlude:
- As the Mane Six and Celestia at Donut Joe's, Dusk is left to decide which of his friends he truly loves. Before Dusk can give an answer, Sunset Shimmer enters and hugs Dusk before revealing how she would know him.
Sunset Shimmer: And I... am Dusk Shine's fiancé.
- After Nosey News' interview with Shining Armor ends, an old sweeper pony was revealed to have eavesdropped on their conversation and even stolen photographs of the Mane Six. He muses that journalists don't publish every news piece they found out of fear of punishment from the princesses, just as his eyes glow an intense and unnatural green.
Sweeper Pony: Well, I don't have that problem. Because I don't serve a princess. I serve a queen!
