Courage is Magic

Chapter 11

I slowly opened my eyes to find that I was in a strange room, not like any strange rooms that I have awoken in recently. I was confused on where I was, since the last thing I could remember was dying in the morgue. When I looked down however, I saw I was covered in changeling ooze. I must be in the hive. I thought to myself. I wasn't too worried about them, since I figured that they were friendly towards me.

I turned my head to the right to find Morning asleep right next to me. I smiled, knowing that Morning probably saved me from certain death. I didn’t try to move, because I wasn’t sure if my wounds had healed completely quite yet. I sighed and almost immediately became bored since I couldn't really do anything. I passed the time by counting how many shapes I could make out in the ceiling (one hundred thousand three hundred and ninety four).

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When Morning finally woke up, I had a complete script of what I would say to each of his comments ready.

"Well… did you have a good sleep, Sleeping Beauty?" I said, sounding like I had been waiting for hours (which I had been).

"John! When did you wake up?" He asked in surprise that I was already wide awake.

"Earlier than you did," I said with a deadpanned tone and a soft sigh.

"Since you’re up, I got a note from someone for you," He said and pulled out a piece of paper. I gently lifted one of my legs to grasp it in my hoof and bring it to where I could read it easily.

Work with the secret service in Canterlot to prepare yourself for what is to come, you should at least get a break before joining it however, you did just nearly die anyways. We shall meet each other when the story, and my editor, will allow me the time to do it.

-Raiz

That is one of the weirdest note's I've read... I thought to myself. I then noticed a changeling fly into the room.

"Ahh, I see that you're awake now, I'll remove the healing ooze from you," The changeling says as if he (or she?) had practiced multiple times.

I think that the changeling was female because of the slightly higher pitch of her voice, compared to the slightly deeper voice of the males. I was glad that Chrysalis was allowing her hive to have feelings, but I figured that some didn’t request to get them and will probably seem emotionless. She began to remove the ooze from my body. It felt weird as it slowly peeled off my body like dead skin. It began to itch where the ooze formerly was. I didn't move to scratch it though, in fear of opening my wounds again.  As soon as the ooze was off of me, she helped me off of the thing that I was laying on.

When I was on the floor, I stretched out my wings and legs, as they had become stiff from the non-usage. I was a bit surprised that my feathers and parts of my wings grew back though. I thought they would have been useless for the rest of my life.

"I see that you are looking better than when you came in," A familiar royal voice says. I smiled as I knew who it was.

"Chrysalis! I am glad to see you again!" I exclaimed in excitement.

"And you as well John," She says with a small smile, “you are looking much better than when your friend brought you.”

"Guess I am going to have to thank you for saving my life," I said to her with a short bow. I was pushing it, but she saved my life, so I can put my biases against royalty away for a moment.

"You don't need to thank me alone; it was because of your friend, Morning, was it? That you survived, and I have to thank you for helping me to create an alliance with the Equestrians," She said with genuine gratitude.

"Really? When did you do that?" I asked in surprise.

"I think it was a week after you disappeared, so it about was two years ago that I made the alliance," She said in thought.

"I don't know if you were scared of me, or if you were honoring me with the alliance," I said in a tone that made me sound unsure.

"More of the honoring part, actually," She said. I rolled my eyes with a smile, figuring that would be why.

"I think she sent a letter to Celestia recently about you being here," Morning pointed out. I looked at him in surprise.

"Did she reply back yet?" I asked Chrysalis. I was not happy that Celestia could possibly be aware of my presence here.

"No, at least not yet anyways," She said with a small smile. I was close to hugging her for telling me that, but I decided against it.

"Okay then, so I should be headed-- hang on a moment!" I said in excitement as I remembered having something in my bag for her, “where’s my bag?”

I was pretty sure that she was confused about why I would be digging through my bag. I pulled out random items such as: an orb that I won from a poker game, a random trophy, shutter shades, a red boxing glove, a talking ball of metal, a deck of cards. Going to keep that, I thought as I put the deck in a side pocket of my bag and continued to go through my bag. A metal helmet with horns, a weird looking gun that shoots portals, a disarmed nuke, a radio, a cell phone (How'd that get there?), a green mask, three triangles that form one bigger triangle, a whip that I would never use, a banjo (How am I going to play that anyways?), and a pickaxe made from diamonds.

"Uhh, John? Why is all of that stuff in your bag?" Morning asks in confusion, “and how?”

"To be honest... I have no clue... Oh here it is!" I said pulling out a picture that Chrysalis would recognize.

"Is that a picture of Daring Doo?" She asks me with interest.

"Yep, I met her recently and I think that she would be fun to work with sometime," I said with confidence.

"So why did you need that picture?" Morning asks.

"Because I am going to give it to her," I said with a half smile as I held it out carefully for Chrysalis to take. She would take it in her hooves as carefully as if it were a very delicate artifact.

"Th-th-thank you," She says in an attempt to prevent herself from squealing in delight.

"You’re welcome,” I said, “now we can go Morning.”

"Right," He said and followed me out of the room.

Right before I reached the entrance to the room, I was wrapped in a very odd hug. I shuffled around to see that the black mass of insect-like body hugging me was Chrysalis. Okay then... I thought and shot Morning a dirty look for giggling.

When she released me, she apologized and went off somewhere else. I glared at Morning who had burst out laughing and said, “this is kept between the two of us. Or I’ll tell Scoots about that changeling who was watching you in your sleep.”

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After I had to ask a changeling for directions after I got lost in the tunnels of their hive, we finally found the entrance. We stepped outside into the sunlight.

"You really need a better sense of direction," Morning said to me in a teasing tone.

"Shut up," I said to him in annoyance.

"So do you know the way-" he started to ask me in a teasing way, but I hit him lightly on the back of the head before pulling out a map.

"Yes, this time just follow me there, and I know the way," I said in a pretty angry tone.

"Alright..." He said while rubbing the back of his head. I sighed and planned my path back home, and took off into the sky.

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I flew with Morning the whole way through the badlands and over the other lands until Ponyville came into sight. I smiled at the prospect that I returned home. It vanished when I saw a group of ponies wearing masks talking to what looked like a noble. I silently pointed it out to Morning. He nodded as we turned towards the group. I could hear them long before I was halfway there to them.

"I don't care what they say, I just want Dusk dead!" The noble shouted at the masked group.

"But he did nothing wrong to us!" One of the masked ponies exclaimed.

"His wretched family ruined my plans for Celestial Bell!" He said in pure anger. I had to chuckle softly; I married them in the first place, so I was going to stop someone from ruining that marriage now.

"Why does Dusk need to die though? Can't we just hurt him to give them a message?" Another one of the masked ponies asks.

"I want to give them a message. One that is easy enough for their primitive minds to decipher," He replied. I snickered silently in my head as I landed. Better time than any to rudely interrupt his plans. I thought when I landed silently behind the noble. He didn't notice so I decided to make myself known.

"Hey, rich and snobbish!" I shouted loudly in his ear. I know I didn't need to, but the surprise on the noble's face when he heard me was priceless as he turned to me.

"Who-?" He started to ask, but I quickly pulled out a knife and nicked him on the leg lightly.

"That’s my friend you’re threatening to kill," I said in a low tone.

"Argh! Kill that pony!" He shouted at the masked ponies. I smiled and brandished my knife to fight again, but none of them moved.

"Are you crazy? That’s John you are trying to have us kill, are you trying to kill us instead?" One of them asked. I was sad that they were smart enough to not fight me. The noble however widened his eyes in surprise.

"You’re lucky I only meant to lightly wound you, otherwise you would have died before you could even shout that," I said with confidence. Morning then landed next to me and the noble looked incredibly mad and pulled out a knife. He dropped it when he felt a pistol pointed at the side of his head.

"Thank you John, but I'll take it from here," A brown unicorn wearing a fedora that matched his coat said. I knew it was my brother, but I was surprised to see that he was wearing a brown trench coat that fit him in his form. I figured that he had that made for his detective look to be complete.

"Well thank you for the welcome back brother..." I said sarcastically.

"I have been waiting for someone to confess to trying to kill Dusk. There have been a few attempts on him lately. You’ve been gone for about a week. One moment," He said and forced the noble to the floor as he cuffed him.

"Right, you are under arrest for the attempt to murder Dusk Cloud. May whatever deity you worship have mercy on your soul," He said in a serious tone that proved that he was an authority.

"You know they worship Celestia right?" I said.

"Who cares, he still is headed towards jail for it anyways," He responded and he picked up the noble and started towards a building.

"I didn't know that Ponyville had a police station..." Morning said, “Oh, wait, I remember. That was the last place I was in Ponyville,” he said this last part quietly.

"If you’re looking for Dusk Cloud, he's at the library with Scootaloo and her friends," Chris said.

"Thank you," I told him as he walked off with the noble in front of him. I sighed and turned to the library. The moment I turned to look at Morning, he was gone. I looked around and saw him running in the direction of the library. I sighed and followed him.

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Morning stopped just as he reached the front door of the library, but he made no move to knock.

"How will they react to me once they find out I am alive again..." He asked himself in worry. I snorted once and walked up to him.

"You'll never know until you do it," I said to him and kicked the door open. When I turned back to look in the room, there were four surprised ponies sitting in what I believe was supposed to be circle. One of them then looked annoyed when he recognized me.

"You do know that it is polite to knock on the door?" Dusk says in annoyance, “you know I live here right?”

"I do, but I didn't really care much for being polite since I have just returned alive with a guest," I said.

"Wait, what do you mean guest?" A white unicorn with a two colored mane asks me. I remembered her name vaguely as Sweetie Bell.

"I mean, I just brought someone back that you might know," I told her.

"Who is it?" A yellow mare with a pink bowtie on her head asks me in an excited tone. That would be Apple Bloom.

"I'll let you guess," I said; stepping aside to reveal Morning who was right behind me. All four of them gasped in surprise at Morning being behind me. I looked at Dusk and gave him a sly grin.

"Um... hi," Morning says breaking up the awkward tension in the air. He was promptly tackled by Scootaloo in a hug/kiss. Ahh, it’s so funny when it isn't happening to me. I thought with a chuckle. As Scootaloo and Morning had their reunion, I looked at Dusk again with that same sly grin.

"I told you that I would bring him back," I boasted.

"This normally shouldn’t be possible, but yet here he is! Good as new! I saw the body, or whatever was left of him. He pretty much disintegrated," He said with shock.

"Yeah, but I did give you a fair warning earlier about that, just don't try to think too hard on how to explain it as it will hurt your head," I said. Dusk would sigh in response.

"Hey, do any of you have-" I heard someone say from the direction of the door. I turned to see that Twilight just walked into the library and is looking at Morning in shock. I looked at the scene of Scootaloo and Morning still on the floor hugging; only Scootaloo looked to be close to crying.

"Hey Twilight, I'm back with a friend," I said. Twilight would still be frozen in surprise and I walked up to her. "Hello?" I asked, waving a hoof in front of her face. I was then levitated away in a purple aura as Twilight would storm up to them in anger.

"How dare you mimic Morning!?" She shouted, mainly directed at me.

"That‘s not a fake, just look through his memories and prove that he is the actual one!" I shouted while being levitated in the air. I was more worried about her trying to kill Morning than my own safety, but I put my own safety as a close second. Twilight looked at me with the same suspicion as she did when I first confronted her, but her horn glowed brighter as she uses the memory spell-thingy to go through Morning's memories. He looked as uncomfortable as I was when she did it to me for the first time.

Her horn's glow faded, resulting in me crashing to the floor and a whole shelf of books falling onto me.

"You really are him..." She said in a mix of shock and happiness.

"I wasn’t lying... so could you not do that to me again?" I asked her from within the pile of books. The books glowed purple as they floated off me, and I could see that Twilight was blushing as she shelved the books back on the proper shelf. I got up and brushed myself off with my hooves. Dusk glanced at me and noticed a certain detail.

"Did you fight a wolf or something? ‘Cause that scar looks recent," Dusk pointed out. I looked at the healing claw mark on my side and then looked back at Dusk.

"Never... ask about that again... ever," I said with a low growl, “and... um... don’t tell Fluttershy.”

"Okay I won't," He said with a bit of worry. I really didn’t want to talk about my fight at the morgue. I almost died there and no one would have known. I liked looking brave until I have no other choice but to be scared. But I was never going to say that I was invincible because of that event.

"I think I should get the girls!" Twilight said excitedly and ran out of the library. I remembered that no one actually closed the door yet, so she just ran out through the open doorway.

"I'll just go and get everyone else, they need to see him with their own eyes," Dusk says, following Twilight out the door. I figured that I should close the door before the wind blows through the library. After closing the door, I looked back at the center of the room and noticed that Scootaloo finally let Morning up.

"Hey Morning?" I asked, getting his attention.

"Yeah?" He asks me with a goofy smile spread across his face.

"I have a feeling this week might be one of the best weeks to celebrate being alive again," I said with excitement.

"Same here, now who is that who is behind you?" He asks me. I was going to turn around to see who entered when I got hug tackled from behind. I sighed as I knew who it probably was.

"Hi... Urk" I said when someone hit my back, “Midnight.”

"I am so glad that you’re okay! Celestia just sent me a letter that made me worried about you!" She said. Well... crap. I thought.

"Well, I did almost get killed back a small pack of wolves... but I think I am fine," I said in annoyance. I was not about to tell Fluttershy that in the near future. She would probably give me the stare for killing those wolves in self defense... or worse. Or at least that's what I hoped that she would do if she found out.

"Almost?" She asked me in worry.

"Yeah, but I am alive now; that's all that matters," I said in an attempt to keep the mood happy again.

"Yes you are, and I am glad you are back again," She says and kisses me on the cheek. As she got off of me, I was paralyzed to the floor and couldn't move because of how much I was blushing. Morning started to chuckle, but Scootaloo also kissed him on the lips and he did almost the same thing. The only difference is that he was paralyzed while standing up. I would have chuckled, but I couldn't even work my vocal chords due to how embarrassed I was.

________________________________________

We were frozen in place by our loved one's kisses until Dusk walks in with a small crowd of ponies. I shook my head and looked over the crowd. I saw Sparx, Bell, Pyro, Dawn, and Blitz; but there were a few others that I don't recall meeting.

"Hey John, welcome back!" Sparx says. I sighed and turned to him.

"Hey Sparx," I replied in a bored tone.

"I heard you just brought back my uncle," He says with a smile and almost no other emotion.

"I did," I simply said, two ponies would carefully walk up to Morning. I looked at them in confusion, but they were looking at him in surprise.

"Dad?" I heard one of them ask. She was smaller than those that I guess were around her age; she had very bright blue sparkling eyes that matched her mane and tail; her coat was a light magenta. Morning nodded, holding back tears and they would suddenly start hugging and crying. Morning is a father?! I thought in wide eyed surprise.

The other one, a tall, muscular colt had similar features as Morning. He had a grey mane with a neon yellow streak (which was obviously dyed in) running through it in the shape of a lightning bolt. His coat was the same color as his mane, only darker. His eyes were bright yellow. I saw his pupils and was instantly shot back in surprise. Amazingly, they were in the shape of thunder bolts. New nickname, Thunderhead... unless that’s already his name.

"I still cannot believe that you brought him back," Pyro said in surprise.

"And I can't believe that a noble would want to kill Dusk, but I can't answer that," A voice says from the doorway. I saw my brother enter in through the door.

"Someone tried to kill me?" Dusk asks, obviously oblivious to the fact that there have been assassination attempts on him.

"Yep, key word being tried since he never got his mercenary's to think about killing you," Chris said with a chuckle.

"So what was the situation with him?" I asked my brother.

"He was one of the rare wanted nobles, so he's not going to see daylight outside in a long time," He says with a smirk. Come up with the category yourself? I asked in my thoughts, half expecting Morning or someone else to answer.

"Great to hear that, so have you got any cases yet?" I asked.

"No, but then again, they don't know my reputation about solving cases yet," he says in disappointment.

"How many did you solve back then?" I asked in curiosity.

"Around twenty, but that's only a rough estimate," He says.

"I see, you should have an office here if you want to try to get cases," I told him.

"I already got one, free of charge thanks to Celestia, it even looks similar to my old one," He says in surprise.

"Huh, how does she know what-" I started to say, but I remembered two years ago when I was told by Celestia that she knew about my life. "Never mind..." I said, interrupting my own sentence.

"You look like you know the reason of how she knows us," He told me flatly.

"I do, but I still regret for not punching her back then..." I said with a small frown.

"Really? How come?" He asks me with a confused look.

"Because she happened to know me back then, and she was the reason I got here two years ago," I said while looking at his eyes.

"Ahh, so you assume that she was spying on both of us," He deduced.

"Pretty much, or so I believe," I told him darkly.

"We have all been spied upon at least once, so you shouldn't be too worried about that," Sparx tells me in a simple tone. He moved away from the window and I saw the quick movement of a head. From the details I did see, it was not Bell. Mainly because she was standing right next to him.

"Alright..." I told him and turned back to the reunion that was happening in the library.

________________________________________

The door opened again a few minutes later to reveal the six girls who represent the elements of harmony. I was surprised when Rainbow Dash ran up to Morning and hugged him very tightly, before letting go in embarrassment.

"Can I ask why she did that?" I asked Twilight in confusion.

"Morning is her son," She explained, “well adopted. You should have seen Dusk when he first saw Morning,” she chuckled, “priceless.”

"Ahh...” I said in understanding. I was very happy because I have reunited a family again from an event that tore them apart in the first place. It almost made me jealous about it as well.

"John?" I heard Chris ask.

"What do you need?" I asked him in response.

"You look like you envy the fact that Morning has a family," He says in a knowing way.

"No... I don't envy-" I started to say, but Chris gave me a glare that tells me that told me I shouldn't even try to lie to him.

"Okay, yes I envy them," I admitted sadly.

"Why don't you make your own?" He asks me.

"Once I marry Midnight," I say in response.

"Good point," He says. We jumped in surprise when a cannon goes off loudly. Immediately after the loud bang, the whole room is covered in banners that read: Welcome back from the grave, Morning, So glad that you are alive again!

I chuckled at how she fit all of that onto a banner, but I was more surprised at how quickly she got a party going. I looked at my brother, and he shrugged in response. I shook my head and decided to join the party because I wasn't going to do anything else. Out of the corner of my eye, I think I saw an orange pony. But when I turned to look there, it was gone. I simply thought that I was seeing things and rejoined the party.

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As I lay on the floor in pain; stuffed from eating so much cake at once, I started to think about how I really missed this place when I was back on Earth. I knew that I would probably never leave this place again if it was in my power, but I would gladly do it again if it means to protect those who cannot get help from anyone. I noticed that the only pony who was moving around a lot was my brother. He was walking around and picking up the scraps of confetti that have settled on the floor with his hooves.

"You do know that you could use magic, right?" Twilight asks him.

"You do know that I never learned how to use it, right?" He replies, in an attempt to mimic her like a little kid filly.

"You never learned how to do magic?" She asks in surprise.

"You know that I came here with John, I used to be human. So forgive me if I find if magic is a bit too farfetched for me," He explains.

"If you want, I can teach you," She says.

"You would teach a detective on how to use magic? That would be interesting," He says and turns towards Twilight.

"I would, I am the element of magic and friendship after all," She replies.

"Good point... let’s start tomorrow, everyone looks to be pretty dead tired from this," He says with a small chuckle.

"Yeah, I was surprised at how John could keep up with Pinkie Pie in that cake eating contest," She said in surprise.

"I don't think that was a good idea on my part..." I groaned as I expertly suppressed the urge to vomit.

"Probably not, but at least you won and got Midnight to hug you again," He said with a smile.

"Shut up and don't wake me until morning..." I said in annoyance and closed my eyes. I was probably never going to do that again because of the stomach ache that will undoubtedly manifest in the morning when I wake up.