Though the Carousel Boutique seems to have been abandoned, the fact that the door is slightly ajar might very well suggest that another of the Elements of Harmony has taken it upon herself to look after the once-pristine business. A brief flare of light from inside proves this, just before Twilight Sparkle pushes her way out of the decrepit building.

Truce steadily passed by as a knight walked slowly through, as if he had been lost in a desert for days. While he has been walking since dusk of last night, the true source for this condition stems from other circumstances. He had only one thing on his mind as he approached the boutique: he needed to see someone one last time. He saw a figure exiting the building similar to the one he was looking for, but wasn't her. "Pardon me, my lady..but I am looking for someone here."

As she turns to straighten the door with her magic, the unicorbrarian glances sidelong at her unexpected company, without seeming to miss a beat. "I would imagine you're looking for Rarity? I'm sorry, but she no longer lives here. If there's anything I can help you with, though, feel free to let me know. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I'm one of her friends."

"She..doesn't?" asked the knight with a hint if sorrow in his voice. He had come through great lengths to see her. "Lady Twilight, I am called Dusk. I am one who has contracted a wish, much like she. I had hoped to see Lady Rarity one last time, before.." the knight cut himself off, unsure of whether or not he should share too many details. "..before it is time for me to go with St. Ajora." Surely the lady librarian knew nothing of the gods of Ivalice and could infer what he meant by that.

"Even if I'm not familiar with who this Saint Ajora is, I'll do my best, as Princess Celestia's personal student, to get anything you might need in your final moments, Dusk." Simultaneously, Twilight Sparkle summons her Element of Harmony into existence above and behind her horn, channeling her magic into it. "You have my word, as the bearer of the Element of Magic."

Dusk grimaced a little in response, he clearly had underestimated the lady librarian's scholarly prowess. "..Perhaps we should take a seat. My association with Lady Rarity is somewhat complicated." said the knight as he began to sit on the ground, resting his back on the building's wall. "Until recently, an evil spirit had taken control of my body. I witnessed everything he made me do. The evils he bathed in were sickening. I went insane myself, deep inside of my own body."

Dusk then rose his right hand and removed his left shoulder pauldron to look at a scar, "For a time, I even turned by back on St. Ajora's teachings and accepted my fate. But then I was dragged back to the light from that darkness." Dusk then puts the pauldron down and turns to look at Twilight once more, "It was when he fought Lady Rarity the first time. I fought and I fought his control. She was capable enough on her own, but I refused to let that monster hurt so majestic of a lady."

"I am curious as to how you got to thinking so highly of Rarity, so that seems best." With a nod, Twilight Sparkle sits down, horn glimmering faintly as her magic remains active.

"I'm not really sure. Perhaps it was because she was the first wish maker I had seen in some time. Light seemed to follow her in her every step, as if screaming to me not to give up. In my world, it is a knight's duty to treat a lady with the upmost respect. But she was more than that.." said Dusk somewhat longingly.

"A-anyways. It was after that fight that I began to see tiny ways I could fight back against that monster. He had his eyes on her soul gem and planned to use it for some sick experiment." said Dusk with disgust.

"She does embody - or DID embody - Generosity, and was a fitting choice to bear the Element of Generosity. Unfortunately... I should've acted on my suspicions about her choice to become a Wishborn..." As her expression turns serious, upon hearing this, Twilight Sparkle moves closer, conducting a quick scan for dark magic with her own, turning her horn a soft but bright white in the process. "I've got more power than she does, though, and more spells to use. While I may not be Rarity... I won't just let you die, without fighting to help you."

Twilight's use of past tense tugs on Dusk's curiousity, but he also felt the need to explain his condition. He proceeded to remove his left gauntlet with his right hand to look at it, "I appreciate that gesture, Lady Twilight. But I've accepted my fate. Even if I could be saved, upon my hand is a calamity waiting to occur. One of the individuals who extracted the monster will ensure that this rune shall no longer reap unrestrained sorrow."

Dusk then looks back towards Twilight, "You said that Lady Rarity no longer embodies generosity, whatever that meant. Is she well?"

"I hadn't checked with Sweetie Belle, Rarity's younger sister, but I've got my suspicions that she's got the Element of Generosity now..." With a solemn sigh, as she listens, Twilight Sparkle shakes her head. "I honestly wish Rarity was alright, but... Well, in my world, we unicorns all can use magic, and it links each one of us - including the bearers of Generosity and Magic - together. But, for some strange reason, I can't 'feel' Rarity's magic, ever since what I feared ended up happening to her..."

Twilight says 'And I wish I could do something to help you, but if you've already accepted your death as inevitable, then... Not even the Princesses could do anything to stop that.'

"..You don't think..?" started Dusk as he stopped to think that thought through. Of course. She was all alone, like him. Fighting those monsters without help was not an easy task. "Have you some thought on the last place she'd be? Perhaps my soul gem will have better luck finding her. If..if the worst truly did come to pass..I've got to find her. I am ready to go with St. Ajora, but..if she has lost her way..I must show her the same light that she showed me."

Despite the tears threatening to fall from her eyes, Twilight Sparkle smiles with mixed sadness and reassurance. "I really do hope you can bring my best friend back, Dusk, without killing her. But if that's not possible... I'll be sad, of course, to lose Rarity, but I'll still hold out hope that she returns, one way or another... Perhaps she's somewhere in Truce, I would imagine...?"

"I had felt some presences through my soul gem on my way here, but I am in no condition to investigate such things. Even now, I can feel a handful of them here in this town..'twould be sickening to know that she could be so close yet so far." muttered Dusk as he began to clip his gauntlet and his pauldron back on.

"..the second time I saw her, she was alone in this building. That monster came for her..and to our surprise, she agreed to come quietly with her soul gem. That alone is a testament to the kindness I saw in her. I screamed, Lady Twilight..louder than I could ever possibly have. I screamed for her not to go with him, and I felt as if she may have even heard me for a moment." (Dusk)

"Yet still she went into that ruined world with him and placed herself in danger to save him. To save me." said Dusk, fighting his own tears. He now found himself in a troubling situation. If Rarity had turned, he wanted to give her peace. Yet if she were to kill him, the cycle of sorrow wraught by the Rune of Punishment would begin anew. Yet no one could help him, as this was something he had to do alone. "I have a question for you, Lady Twilight.."

Shaking her head to clear the tears falling to the ground, Twilight Sparkle once again moves closer. "Though being so kind is something I'd expect more of Fluttershy, I'm touched that Rarity was being kind to you, despite everything... And go ahead. I'm listening."

"Would you risk the lives of others to save one, even if they had no knowledge or desire to become potential casualties?" asked Dusk as he turned his eyes away from Twilight. A Knight should not watch a lady's tears.

"I... Maybe you see me as weak, in that regard, but I'd do everything in my power to ensure that Rarity remained alive, while trying to protect innocent lives at the same time." Twilight Sparkle looks down solemnly, drying her tears with one forehoof and sighing. "There's no way I could trade the lives of many just to have one of my best friends back. Every life is sacred to me, Dusk."

"I see..." said Dusk, somehow satisfied with her answer. He knew what he had to do. And he wouldn't let the fear of losing make his decision. He now found that he had another power in his heart, one that alone would be enough to give him the strength to do what he had to do. And it was at times like this when lies were better told than the truth. "Fear not, Lady Twilight. I promise I will..save Lady Rarity. In my world, a Knight's word is a powerful thing."

"Please, Dusk... I couldn't stand to lose her, or watch innocent people die because of her poor choice..." Twilight Sparkle smiles wanly, rising to her hooves and raising one for a handshake. "I'm grateful that you want her back as much as I do, and it means a lot..."

Twilight says 'Friendship is more than simply magic... Rarity and the others have taught me that, and I should thank Princess Celestia for giving me the chance to experience it firsthoof... And thank you, Dusk, for giving me hope...'

Deceit wasn't something Dusk was used to weaving, and perhaps at some scale, Twilight even knew what he was trying to accomplish. He rose to his feet slowly, glancing at his soul gem on the way up. It wasn't particularly dark, but each time he used it to buy himself more time, it grew gradually darker. He then extended his hand to shake Twilight's hoof, a gesture he never would have expected to perform in Ivalice.

"It was my pleasure, Lady Twilight." said Dusk as his eyes averted towards the direction of the Truce plaza, the home of the ever-so-popular fountain. "I haven't been able to see it much, but that fountain..it is most beautiful during the sunset. I think..the next time we meet, you will see Lady Rarity and I there."

Dusk gripped his soul gem once again, using it to feel the presences of others who have formed contracts. Surely one of these belonged to her. As much as he wished to speak with Twilight longer, he didn't have much time left. He started off towards the south before turning back to look at the unicorn librarian one last time, "You should watch the sunset with us when that time comes!"

Twilight says 'I will, and thank you again...'

Dusk nodded once more before continuing on. Hope would be needed in the obstacle that was coming his way. Were only the happy story he told her would occur. He knew that there would only be sorrow ahead for them. The situation could almost be related to the setting sun, in that the light of day was quickly transcending into darkness. But even at night, the stars and the moon can guide the lost.

With one final glance to the sky, Twilight Sparkle closes her eyes, before heading back into the abandoned Boutique. "I'll wait for you to come back, good friend... Rarity, whereever you may be, come back safe..."