Author's Notes:

The title of this story is inspired by "Dust: An Elysian Tail", but the story itself is mostly different, but perhaps with a few similarities. The goal of this story is to make it feel somewhat like an anime in a few ways, such as the music links and the expressions.

The green text will take you to some music that (hopefully) sets the mood of the story. Just remember to hold down the "CTRL" key before you click the links, so you don't lose your place!

As tagged, expect comedy, but at the same time, expect several serious moments, also. Most of all, though, please enjoy!

Everfree Forest

The crickets were chirping loudly in Everfree Forest. The leaves rustled at the cold fall breeze, and multiple leaves were falling in wavy patterns.

From the center of a clearing, a young adult human male with lavender skin, medium-length purple hair with pink stripes on the sides, and a blue star marked on his left cheek, slowly opened his eyes. His left eye was a dark bluish purple color, but his right eye was red. He was wearing a black cloak with a white button-up shirt, black trousers, dark purple boots, and a purple sleeveless vest over his shirt. His cloak had a hood in the back, though it was blown off of his head, and around his mouth he wore a black bandana.

He slowly sat up and groaned in pain before rubbing at the throbbing pain in the back of his head. "Oh, my head!"

After checking his hand to make sure he wasn't bleeding he stood up completely. He looked around in circles, but could only see trees surrounding him, save for the dirt road that divided the trees.

"What... what is this place? And... why don't I remember anything?" He closed his eyes, inhaled through his nose, and exhaled through his lips. "Well, there's no use in panicking. I need to find a way out of this forest."

After taking one step forward he felt something flat on the floor press against his right boot. Looking down, he spotted a dark red book on the floor without any words written on the cover. There was a feint glow coming out of the pages, however, which gave the boy a clue on what it was.

"A spell tome? What's a spell tome doing in the middle of the forest?" He gently picked it up before dusting it off. Then he opened the front cover to where he could see the name of the owner of the tome. "Dusk Shine... I guess that must be me. Otherwise, even the name wouldn't appear to me." He scratched the back of his head in confusion. "How come I still know that, but nothing else?!"

He sighed before flipping to the first page. "Hm... Fire... Water... Lightning... what, that's it? Just those three?!" He grumbled before closing the book. "Well, I'd suppose if I were an author, I didn't do too well on writing!"

After closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose out of frustration, he took a few more long breaths to calm his nerves.

His eyes shot open the moment he heard a distant feminine voice crying for help. He turned towards the source of the voice and opened his mouth to call back, but stopped and decided against it. If someone were in danger with a large beast, he would only be making himself a target as well... and considering his limited amount of spells available, he would have to play it safe.

With that in mind, he tucked the tome in his left arm, pulled his hood up over his head, and rushed towards the source of the cries, though not before leaving a small flame on a small branch to mark his current location. If he were going to need to follow the road, he wouldn't want to get lost.

Meanwhile...

A series of bestial growls filled the air. A tiny, white-coated, pony-like creature with a curly yellow mane and tail, a pair of yellow-tipped white antennas on her head, a pair of transparent white moth wings on her back, and the symbol of a trio of purple balloons on her flanks, was panicking as she tried to fly higher, but the gentle breeze in the air was weighing her down heavily, and causing her to remain on a rock that rested next to a tree. Originally her idea was to fly up to its nearest branch, but that didn't turn out so well. As a result, she was forced to remain on the rock and watch in horror as the four ominous glowing green eyes drew closer to her.

"Anyone? Please, help me!" she called as one of the shadowy creatures howled. At the sound of the howl, another pair of green eyes appeared from the distance.

The creatures finally inched close enough to where she could see what they were... timberwolves, or wolves with bodies entirely made out of wooden branches, twigs, and occasionally with leaves and flowers attached to them.

The central timberwolf growled before dashing towards the tiny creature, causing her to scream and flinch.

Suddenly a large ball of water flew from behind the tree and blasted the timberwolf back towards the other two.

When the tiny creature turned around to see the source of the water blast, all she could notice was the shadow of a tall hooded biped, perhaps as tall as a minotaur, though not quite as muscular. The biped, however, wasn't a pony, though, as its hooves had protrusions in the front. That fact alone made her question where the water blast came from, but considering the fact that it was used to save her, she didn't care at the time. What did have her concerned, however, was the glowing eyes that the shadowy figure had... one red, and one purple.

The figure quickly rushed past the tree and stopped in front of the rock, revealing himself in the moonlight... it was Dusk Shine.

"Oh, thank Celestia you've made it! Now quick, do something about these timberwolves!" the girl screamed out.

Dusk raised an eyebrow before turning around towards the source of the noise... but he couldn't see anyone, though. "Um... who is that?"

"No time! Look out behind you!"

Dusk quickly opened up his tome with his left hand and raised his right hand in the air. His red eye started to glow brighter. Then his right hand was quickly engulfed in a ball of water that materialized out of thin air. Finally he opened his hand and aimed his palm at the incoming timberwolf. Then, as quickly and forcefully as the last one, a blast of water shot out, striking the timberwolf back several meters where its comrades were.

The third timberwolf growled before dashing towards him, but by then he had another water blast prepared. He shot it at the timberwolf and sent it flying backwards as well.

The timberwolves snarled as their wooden bodies dripped in the chilly water. This caused the tiny girl to shake before looking up at Dusk. "Um... s-sir, you do realize that you're just ticking them off, don't you?!"

Dusk, in return, grinned wickedly as the timberwolves began charging at him at once. "Oh, that wasn't my attack," he raised his right hand again. This time, however, several sparks of purple lightning started to travel around his hand, while his red eye continued to glow, "THIS is!" With that, he pointed his right palm at the central timberwolf and sent a large ball of lightning at it. As soon as the lightning hit the timberwolf, the timberwolves all yelped in agony as the lightning traveled between the three, and caused them to explode into pieces.

Dusk sighed in relief before closing his tome and turning towards the female. "Alright, now... you can come out from hiding!"

The girl groaned before shouting, "I haven't left yet, dude! Can you look down, please?!"

Dusk raised an eyebrow out of confusion before doing as instructed. When he saw her, he smiled and knelt down. "Oh... well hello there! Sorry I didn't notice where you were."

She shrugged her shoulders before replying, "Eh, no worries... it happens to me all the time!" Then she attempted to fly up again, only for the wind to cause her wings to lock up and fall back down to the rock. "Darn it, though! I can't seem to fly in this breeze!"

Dusk tilted his head before reaching his right hand towards her. "Need a hand?"

She quickly leaped onto his hand and nodded her head. "Yeah... thanks!" She then tilted her head confusedly at him after seeing his face for the first time. "Hey, wait a second... I don't think I've seen any of your kind before! What are you?!"

Dusk looked up and hummed. "I... think the term would be 'human'..."

She deadpanned at him. "You think, or you know?"

Dusk shrugged his shoulders before replying, "I don't know. I can't remember anything at all... well, aside from my own name, which I figured out by my spell tome here!" He motioned his head towards the book still wedged between his left arm and his left rib.

The girl raised her eyebrows alarmingly. "Wait, you have amnesia?!"

He nodded his head and replied, "Yeah."

She frowned at him before commenting, "That's awful!" Then she weakly smiled and patted the palm of his hand. "Well, tell you what! How about we go to the nearest town, and see if somepony there might know you!"

Dusk nodded his head and smiled. "Sounds like a plan... oh, and my name's Dusk Shine, by the way. It's nice to meet you, um..."

The girl waved bowed her head politely and said, "Oh, silly me! My name is Surprise! I'm what you call a breezie... though technically that's only halfway true!"

Dusk bowed his head in response before standing back up with her still in his hand. At that time the breeze stopped blowing and gave her a chance to fly up again, though only by a couple feet. Dusk then cleared his throat and asked, "So, what's the other half of the truth, exactly?"

Surprise rubbed the back of her head and replied, "You see... technically I'm not even from this time period! I've been reincarnated to be what's known as a 'Spirit Guardian'. What that is, I'd have to explain as we go to Ponyville... the nearest town from where we are."

That statement caused Dusk to tilt his head in confusion. "Guardian? No offense, but... you seem a little small for that kind of thing."

Surprise deadpanned at him. "Oh, ha-ha! Listen, don't judge a book by its cover, alright?! I'll explain my capabilities as soon as we start moving! Deal?"

Dusk nodded his head and rubbed his chin in thought. "Seems fair enough. At least that way we won't have to worry about the trip being dull and quiet."

Surprise nodded her head and smiled. "So, you ready to go yet?"

Dusk nodded his head again and replied, "Ready when you are."

Surprise began flying closer to him, but gasped the second she saw behind his back. She then backed into the tree branch she was having trouble getting into before and shrieked, "Oh, crud! Dusk, look out!"

Dusk quickly turned around and gasped at what he saw. The wet branches and vines from the fallen timberwolves began to move on their own into a pile that somehow gathered while they weren't paying attention. As they gathered, however, they began to slowly shape into one huge timberwolf.

Surprise started to breathe heavily before turning to Dusk. "SWEET CELESTIA! DUSK, WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO RUN AWAY, LIKE, NOW PERHAPS?!"

Dusk thought for a moment before shaking his head and turning towards Surprise. "If we run, it'll only follow us... we have to fight it!"

Surprise gulped before nodding her head. "Y-yeah, well... I'll just, y'know, study its moves... from up here in this tree... w-where it's safe!"

Dusk raised an eyebrow at her. "Didn't you say you're a Spirit Guardian, though? Aren't guardians supposed to protect someone?"

"Well I did not sign up for fighting big, bad meanies, alright?! Now, if you're done chatting with me, I think you should start paying attention to the battle! And for the record, I am protecting someone... myself!"

Dusk shrugged his shoulders before turning to the giant timberwolf as its final pieces latched into place. The ominous green glow in its eyes quickly returned, and its attention was focused on Dusk, who was now one third its size.

It snarled at him while a few drips of water continued to fall from a few parts of its body. This made Dusk smile wickedly at it before opening his tome again, which made his red eye glow brightly once more.

"Oh, good! You're wet, so you're no longer a big fire hazard." Dusk raised his right hand again and balled it into a fist. Fire began to form around it as he crouched into a battle position.

The timberwolf let out a loud howl before charging towards him. Dusk, in turn, dashed to the side to draw its attention away from Surprise, much to her relief.

The timberwolf was a lot faster than when it was three separate timberwolves, so Dusk had to move extra quick. He stopped when he was a safe enough distance away from Summer and opened his right hand up, pointed his palm at the giant timberwolf, and shot a blast of fire towards it.

Surprisingly, however, the timberwolf anticipated the attack and stepped around it before leaping into the air, ready to pounce onto Dusk.

Luckily Dusk was prepared and managed to shoot another fire blast at the giant timberwolf, sending it flying back a single meter before falling back down to the ground.

When it stood back up a black smoke started to emit from its chest, but by the looks of it, it wasn't on fire yet.

Dusk grinned again before starting to charge a water spell.

The timberwolf didn't give him enough time, however, and began dashing towards him once more. This time, it was fast enough to distract him from his spell, and forced him to roll to the side to avoid getting hit.

He glared at the timberwolf before kicking himself back onto his feet. Then he resumed his charging, which only motivated the timberwolf to lunge again.

Dusk leaped backwards as the timberwolf landed, then shot it with an extra powerful water blast, sending it backwards a couple more meters, which wasn't that much to work with, considering its size.

The timberwolf snarled again before leaping towards Dusk head-on. This time, however, there wasn't any room for him to dodge.

He fell backwards while the timberwolf started scratching at him. Luckily, however, he had his right leg in the air and on its chest, so he was able to hold its slashing claws away from most of his body. Its snapping teeth, however, were uncomfortably close to his face.

Letting out a loud grunt, Dusk began charging another fire spell. During his charging period, however, the timberwolf shifted its target from his chest, and started scratching at his leg, which forced him to kick it in the jaw with his left leg when he had an opening.

The timberwolf fumbled a little, causing it to briefly pause from its scratching. The brief delay was enough for Dusk to fully charge his spell.

He quickly leaned up, hovered his flaming hand directly in front of the timberwolf's snout, and blasted its head off. Then he managed to roll out from underneath it while its body started rushing around, trying to find its head.

As soon as Dusk stood back up he felt a strange power course through his veins. His heart was beating quickly due to the adrenaline, and in an instant, he remembered what it was... adrenaline gives him a power boost.

Unknown to him, his left eye briefly turned red and a dark purple aura started to flow from all over his body, causing Surprise to stare wide-eyed at him from the distance. Being a breezy, she was able to feel the wind moving towards Dusk, though the reason she could not say.

The timberwolf, however, disregarded what was going on and dashed towards him again. Dusk, however, instantly shot a water blast at the timberwolf without even needing to charge it.

This time, however, the water expanded once it hit the timberwolf, forming into a large sphere around it, and caused it to stop in place. Then Dusk shot a lightning ball into the watery sphere, causing the electricity to rapidly shock the timberwolf to the point where it exploded again. The water, however, caught the pieces and held them all together.

Dusk grinned wickedly at it again before raising his right hand upwards in the air, with his middle finger and his thumb pressed together. "And now, you get to learn what being charcoal feels like!"

With the snap of a finger, the water transformed into fire, causing the timberwolf to yelp loudly as it tried to escape. The power of the fire, however, was too much, and the timberwolf almost instantly turned gray before turning into dust.

As quickly as it appeared, Dusk's sudden adrenaline surge vanished, and the wind started to blow normally again. His left eye also turned purple again, much to Surprise's relief. She flew up to him with an impressed smile on her face while he, in turn, put any fires he saw out with water magic.

"Wow... s-so hey, Dusk?" she stuttered hesitantly.

Dusk turned back towards her with a friendly smile on his face. "Yes, Surprise?"

Surprise cleared her throat before motioning towards his tome. "Y-you cast your magic through that book, right?" He nodded his head. "W-what kinds of spells are even in that thing?!"

Dusk tilted his head confusedly as he began flipping through the numerous empty pages. "That's just it. It only has Fire, Water, and Lightning!"

Surprise raised an eyebrow at him before pointing at the last two sections of the page. "Then what about these two right here?"

Dusk raised an eyebrow at her before looking at the page she was pointing at. Then his eyes widened at the sudden appearance of two new spells written in the tome. "Whoa! These weren't even there before!"

Inside the tome were five spells total: Fire Blast, Water Blast, Lightning Blast, Elemental Barrier, and Transmogrify.

"The Elemental Barrier spell allows the user to entomb any given target into a barrier made up of the element that the user knows how to create, and Transmogrify allows the user to change a spell's element after it's been cast," Dusk read out loud. "Huh... that could come in handy!"

Surprise nodded her head and shifted on her hooves nervously as she stared off into the creaking dark forest. "Y-yeah... that's cool and all, b-but we should really be getting out of Everfree Forest now, before more of those things get here!"

Dusk nodded his head and replied, "Very well, then. Please, lead the way. I don't know where to go, and I'm pretty sure the small flame that I left at the road has died out by now."

Surprise nodded her head and smiled. "Lucky for you, then, I happen to know this place like the back of my hoof... wait, when did this get on my hoof?!"

"What was that?" Dusk asked.

Surprise placed her hooves behind her back before smiling sheepishly at him. "N-nothing! Let's get going, then!"

And with that, the two of them started on the path towards Ponyville. Whatever adventures lie before them, only time may tell. One hopeful thought, however, filled both of their minds during their trip to Ponyville...