Courage is Magic

Chapter 3

I still find it intresting that they are named after the evening times.

I took longer than I planned to exit the radio station because of how long I spent in that empty room kissing Midnight. I was almost as happy as Pinkie Pie throwing a party when I started walking to the library. I didn't know how long I was in there, so I was not surprised to find that it was around the evening times. I walked up to the tree to make one last visit before I went to Sugar Cube Corner to celebrate my return all night. The big tree that was the library hadn’t changed at all, and I was pretty sure that I knew who still lived there. I walked up to the door and knocked three times and waited. The door was then answered by a sizable lizard.

"Do you need something?" The lizard asks me. I was confused about why a lizard was living in the library.

"Yes, two things actually, who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Spike; Twilight's number one assistant," He boasted as proudly as I remembered him saying before, “well... her only assistant”

"I see... is Twilight here?" I said in an attempt to hide my surprise.

"Yes she is, but why do you need to see her?" He asks me with curiosity.

"Can you blame me for wanting to see an old friend?" I asked with a smile. His eyes glinted in recognition.

"I'll go and get her right away John!" he said quickly and ran into the library. I decided to let myself in as well since I didn't want to wait outside. As I closed the door, my only thought was: I wonder if she has any of those Daring Do books that Rainbow eagerly talked about two years ago...

As I waited, I looked over the shelves of books. I was impressed by the fact that most of the books are things that she would read. I then heard a soft clop over to my left.

"This had better not be one of Pinkie's pranks again..." I heard a female voice say in annoyance. I figured that Pinkie Pie may have done too many pranks since my disappearance.

"Trust me, this one is not even related to her," Spike said in response. I turned to the stairs to see a purple horse with lavender highlight in her purple mane.

"Then who is?" She said. I cleared my throat loudly enough for her to hear, and she turned her head to the source. As soon as she noticed me, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Hi there," I said raising a hoof in greetings.

"John?" She asks, not entirely believing what she is seeing.

"The one and only, unless you met another pony that happened to be named John," I said jokingly. She teleported right in front of me and surprised me greatly.

"If you are him, would you mind if I go through your memories?" She asks me.

"Sure, just don't go through any memories from a year ago," I said with a bit of unease at her question. Her horn suddenly glowed with a purple light and I felt like something was going through my head. I was not very fond of the sensation, but it faded along with her horn's glow.

"I am very sorry I doubted you John," She said in a strange mix of shock and sadness.

"You looked through the memories I told you not too..." I said in annoyance. I wasn't too happy about the possibility of it happening.

"Yes, but I didn't mean to however, I only have just recently learned that spell," she said with a worried look on her face.

"He deserved what I just did to him," I told her darkly.

"Who did?" I heard a familiar male voice say. I turned to see a blue pony with a light blue mane going down the steps.

"I will say that he said Shadow Blade..." I told him. I took a bit to remember the name of the blue pony but I found it eventually. His name was Dusk, another human turned into a pony.

"What? Why, he’s back at Canterlot! Although he prefers the name Dusk Relic," He exclaimed in surprise.

"Well whoever he is... Was, I turned him into a pile of fresh darkened hamburger meat," I said with a dark smile forming on my face. Dusk slapped me with his hoof to snap me out of it quickly.

"Thanks, needed that," I told him.

"You’re welcome, now what took you so long to return?" He asks me jokingly.

"Well excuse me for not having a magically convenient item that would return me home!" I said while giving him a look that told him that I was not amused.

"Welcome back though," He said, holding his hoof out.

"It is good to be back again," I said in response, giving him a hoof bump. Then Pinkie randomly appeared behind him.

"What the..." I said in surprise. I did a double take to make sure that I wasn't seeing things.

"Can I get the party set up now?" She asks, startling Dusk a bit.

"Sure, it would be a better way for me to meet the rest of them anyways," I said. Pinkie would rocket out of the window like an actual rocket. I looked confused at the Pink trail that she left as she rocketed (Literally) out of the window.

"Only one day passes and you want to have a party?" He asks me.

"Yep, because I need to celebrate my return somehow, that and it's for a new guest that came with me.

"You brought someone with you?" Twilight asks me out of curiosity.

"Yeah, you'll meet him at the party though, now do you have one of those Daring Doo books that Dash told me about?" I asked, completely changing the subject.

"Rainbow actually checked all of those books out, but I did get a letter from Daring Do," She said and held out the letter in her magic.

"Really? From Daring Do herself?" I asked.

"No, Celestia sent it to me," She told me.

"Figured as much," I said and took the letter from her magic. I opened it up and read it to myself.

Dear John,

First of all, welcome back, this world needs to have more ponies that can hunt for ancient treasures that the archaeologists cannot hope to get to. I have heard some rumors about what you did so I would like to meet you myself to see if the rumors are actually true. Perhaps I could work with you in some of my hunts if you don't mind doing so. If you want to send a letter back to me, just send it to Celestia, she knows how to get it to me.

-Daring Doo.

"Interesting, if I meet her I should bring Rainbow Dash with me," I thought out loud to myself.

"I'm sure that she would love that," Twilight would say in response.

"Okay, do you mind if you give me a paper and something to write with?" I asked.

"I figured that you would say that, so I got the paper and quill all set up on the table," She said with a gesture to the exact table with the paper.

"Not bad," I complemented and walked to the table. I used my hoof and pulled the quill out of the ink well and started to write, snickering once at the start of it.

Dear Daring Doo,

Thank you for the welcome back, I'm glad to be back after all this time away. I actually would like to meet you as well, but could we meet in Ponyville? I live there and I would like to stay there for a while. As for working with you, as long as it is worth the pain of getting the item, whatever that may be.

John.

P.S. I am going to be having a celebration in Ponyvile so Celestia, could you bring your sister to the party?

As soon as I finished the letter Twilight look at me with a very impressed looked, Dusk would have the same look as well.

"That is really nice hoof writing there," Twilight complemented.

"Thank you, I've been practicing," I said in response. In reality, I've been actually writing so much that I've gotten used to how it felt to write so I could easily do it with hooves.

"I see… do you want me to send this to Celestia?" She asks me.

"That would be great," I responded with a nod.

"Okay then, Spike!" She said and spike would walk up to her.

"Alright, I'll get it to her right now," He said, taking the scroll from her. He burped pretty loudly and a bit of fire burned the scroll. A hardly visible pink smoke exited out of the nearby window.

"There we go, so what now?" I asked.

"We could catch up on the times," Dusk offers.

"Nah, I think I'll head to Sugar cube Corner to bake a cake for the party," I said with a mischievous smile. Before they could say anything to stop me, I walked out of the door. I had a plan to get back at Celestia and Luna for dropping me down a dark hole two years ago. In fact, it would be one of my best cakes that I have ever made. It would be so great, that the cake tastes like a pie.