Friendship is Recovering

Chapter 17

I awoke this morning in a cold sweat. Another dream, but this one did not have anything other than sound. The sounds of crying, death, fighting, and it ended with the sound of something breaking. I looked around to make sure nothing was broken. I was relieved to know that I did not have anything broken around the room, so I decided that it would probably be a good idea to take a shower. Not many things scare me, except when I have these weird dreams. The dreams almost looked real, they even sounded real, and that worries me.

Before I stepped into the shower, I took a look in the mirror. A reflection of a yellow pony with brown eyes gazed back at me before it slowly faded away and turned into my face when I was a human. I shook my head and looked at the mirror again. It reverted back to what I looked like right now, but I knew that I was slowly going crazy. I need to calm down; after I finish this shower I'll figure out what I want to do. I thought to myself. I sighed and stepped into the shower and turned on the warm water.

After getting out of the shower and drying myself off, I looked into the mirror again. I would still see myself as a pony, but my mind went back to remembering the time when I was still a human. I frowned, feeling disappointed at myself. I knew I was conflicted about who I truly was, so I know the only way to cure that is to tell someone. I cannot run away from what I was forever, and I am tired of never telling anyone. I have friends again, and I know for a fact that I don't ever want to lose those again, that would include Dusk. I thought about how my life finally started to heal, but a small thing in my head hated the fact that I fell in love again. We both found each other... but why do I feel like I don't have much time now? I thought to myself. Perhaps I was indeed slowly going crazy. I need to calm down... I think I'll make due on that promise then. I thought, and remembered that there was a party today for Golden Shield. To hell with secrets, I'm never good at keeping my own. They need to know, and I will be the one to tell them. I thought to myself with pride. That plan will work, and I hoped they don't think any lower of me for it. I smiled and walked out of the door to head to Sugarcube Corner, where the party was going to be located.

I would arrive at Sugarcube Corner to a very big surprise: the party was going in full swing. I opened the door and saw that Pinkie Pie invited all of the ponies in the town to this one (Again). The first thing I noticed was Pinkie Pie trying to convince Golden Shield to dance with her.

"Nay, I do naught dance," He said to her.

"Come on, you won't know unless you try it!" She said to him in an attempt to convince him.

"I still won't do it!" He said fiercely.

"Wow, I have heard of uptight, but this just is almost sad," I said, surprising Golden Shield.

"Oh... Hey John," Golden Shield said after calming down.

"I think I would recommend that you try it, unless you know for a fact that you can't dance," I said with a small smile.

"Thou art... I mean you are crazy," He said with a bit of anger in his voice.

"I see that Luna has been teaching you how to speak in the modern world," I complemented.

"Actually, she used a spell to have lightning shoot through me if I speak too long in the old tongue," He admitted with a sheepish smile. I could only face hoof, knowing that Luna probably lied to him to get him to practice speaking in the current language.

"Right, how's the party?" I asked him, being curious about his thoughts.

"Better than the gala's at the palace," He said with a smile.

"I still think that the Gala needs to learn how to throw a proper party." Pinkie Pie chirped.

"That they do Pinkie... That they do," Golden shield said while shaking his head. He was smiling so I can't say he disagreed with her.

"Alright, now I have something I want to tell everyone here," I sound loudly. The music playing stopped with a record scratch, as every pony in the room turned to look at me. I would look around and sigh, I was prepared to tell them now and I would regret it if I told them later.

"I know you have wondered for days about who I am, where did I just come from, and why am I here, I am going to tell you the truth instead of trying to hide it any longer, it is hurting me now to try to hide it because you have all been so kind to me," I paused and looked around to try to see if Midnight Song was around. I would find her near a table with Dawn and Blitz. I smiled and closed my eyes for a moment, when I opened them; I was ready to tell them.

"I want to tell you the absolute truth about me. I am going to start with this, I am not an actual pony, I am what you would call a human, and I'm assuming that someone here told you about them," I said, hoping that Dusk really did tell them. I sighed once more before continuing on.

"I am not going to bother lying to you anymore, so I will say that I am a human, and a treasure hunter. But when I hunt treasures, I give them to the right people. Always have and always will. Since you all have been nice to me and haven't stabbed me in the back by now, I will be here to stay in this town,"

I heard some cheering from the crowd but it would fade away quickly when they saw that I had more to say.

"Now that's over with, I have an interesting tale to tell you, it happened to me just yesterday actually, so who wants to hear it?" I asked them. For a moment, I saw no one raise their hoof. Then I saw Pinkie Pie raise hers in excitement, followed by Pyro, then Sparx, Ditzy, Dusk, Twilight, Golden Shield, and Dawn. Pretty soon, I saw the whole room have one hoof raised. I smiled, half out of excitement, half out of relief.

"Alright, take a seat while I get ready to tell you," I said, and they cleared a path for me to walk up to the place where Vinyl set up her DJ equipment. She moved it out of the way and as I stepped onto the stage, she handed me a headset with a microphone on it. I only stepped down to pull out a stool to use as a table, and put a glass of water upon it. I looked around, and decided to stop stalling to build up tension.

"Alright then... Is this thing on?" I asked them. They nodded to me to show that they can hear me.

"Perfect, now I will say this first, this tale is true. There are no events made up, nothing sugar coated, and absolutely not made up," I then made my way to the center of the stage and began my tale.

"Alright, it all started with a letter being delivered to me in the early hours of the morning, The letter would contain a map of a land you know of well, the Badlands, now the letter requested that I meet at the base of a mountain and did not really offer me much in the way of who sent the letter, So I decided that being the retired treasure hunter, to go to the location. As I set out on my way to the Badlands I met Midnight, who also wanted to come with me as well. Who was I to refuse? I almost did refuse, except the fact that she would probably be very helpful to me," I paused for a moment to chuckled softly and take a gulp of the glass of water.

"Now you all probably know of the Badlands, and the fact that there are Changelings living there. When I went there, I was actually unaware of it, so I had no clue what to expect. We weren't attacked by anything on the journey there, and I reached the place where I was going to meet this mysterious pony that sent me the letter. Turns out it wasn't a pony, instead it was the queen of changelings, who surrounded us to be safe," I frowned at the sound of gasping coming from the crowd, but it was to be expected.

"Instead of attacking me outright, they let me be able to talk to them and I found that despite what you pony's think, they are actually not evil as you would portray them as," A female voice would then interrupt me.

"But they attacked Canterlot deliberately!" She exclaimed, I sighed and shook my head.

"You would do the same thing if you were very short on food," I said out of annoyance. Mostly out of being interrupted while I was telling my tale.

"Alright, Continue the story then," She said, before being silent.

"Thank you, now I worked out a deal with them, but before we could leave, they attempted to encase me in their weird green goo, Naturally I panicked and did the one crazy thing," I would pause for dramatic effect, and I could see every one of the ponies at the edge of their seats except that they don't have seats.

"I actually ate my way out of it, and I tell you, that goo tastes exactly like it were green jelly sitting out in the sun for a few days," I shivered at the memory of the taste.

"Never going to do that again," I said with a frown. The ponies were having a mixed array of reactions: some where actually disgusted that I did that, some would be surprised that I ate my way out, some were just confused about why I would do that, and a hoof of them were actually curious about if it actually does taste like that.

"You heard right, now Midnight was also disgusted that I did that and would ask me, why I just did that, I told her because I was a retired treasure hunter, and that I've done weirder things than that. That halted all activity around us, and get this, one of them asked me if I was like "Daring Doo", I still don't know who this "Daring Doo" was, but I figured that she may probably be a treasure hunter, so I answered yes. That resulted in every one of the Changelings squealing in delight, including the queen of them, and not in delight out of the best food, more of a fan squeal of delight," I couldn't remain composed as I chuckled at my massive stroke of luck at that time, it was unlikely to have people who are fans of a certain group. My chuckling would end at the outburst of a certain pony with a rainbow mane.

"You don't know who Daring Doo is?!" Rainbow shouted in shock.

"No, but I assume I could relate to her," I said with a small smile.

"You need to read those books to understand," She said, face hoofing as she did.

"Duly noted," I replied and then walked forward to the front of the stage.

"Now, because they were fans of treasure hunters, almost like Daring Doo, they changed their minds about trying to turn me into food, so I told them one of my favorite tales about the city of fools gold. Pft," I tried so hard to not laugh when I said fool’s gold, but I utterly failed and hit the stage laughing so hard that my sides started to hurt. The ponies were wondering why I was laughing so much, but I quickly got up and started to drink the glass of water quickly until it was empty.

"Sorry, I'll tell it to you some other time, anyways after they gave me a gift, the queen was nice enough to teleport me back to where we entered the Badlands in the first place, now she did mention a message... If you see my son, tell him his mother misses him, I don't know who her son is... but at least she said something about him, just not about who he is, or what he looks like anyways..." I said, and I muttered a few swear words to myself silently. I then calmed down to resume speaking.

"Basically I returned home with Midnight, safe and sound, and I am sure that Midnight is not a Changeling, I checked myself. Now, any questions?" I said, finally finishing my tale. One pony would raise his hoof.

"Who sent you the letter in the first place?" He asked me.

"If you would believe it, it was the queen herself, little miss Chrysalis, the royal queen of her hive," I said, and I saw some of them look at me in surprise.

"Also, she's a fan of the Daring Doo series." I said using my wings to show that I shrugged.

"Really?" I heard a voice from behind me ask. I turned around and saw Rainbow Dash on the stage behind me.

"Yes, now get the hell off the stage!" I said out of annoyance.

"Make me," She challenged. Bad Idea I thought with a happy glee, and I quickly charged her and before she could move, grabbed her in my hooves and threw her off of the stage. Before she hit the ground, she was surrounded in a purple aura.

"Next time, don't try to challenge my strength and speed," I said, trying hard to not boast about it.

"Next time, you shouldn't throw me off the stage," She said in a retort. I glared at her for a moment, before we both started to laugh.

"You are really one piece of work, you know that?" I complemented.

"You are not so bad yourself," She said in return. I smiled and turned back to the stage.

"Any other questions for me?" I asked the crowd. A grey hoof would shoot to the air.

"Did they give you a recipe for any muffins?" Ditzy asks me.

"Sadly they did not, but I could tell you one that I use myself," I said with a smile.

"Derpy!" I heard a brown pony shout.

"Sorry Time Turner," She said, sounding sad. Time Turner? Out of all the names I heard, that is not an actual name. I thought to myself, but I decided it may be wise to not ask.

"Alright, I'll take one more question before we can resume this party," I said, and I saw a mint green hoof.

"Do you even know how many times you hunted for treasures?" The owner of the hoof would ask.

"To be exact, I would say around fifty times, only thirty of those times I've walked out of it with a treasure, the other twenty I left it there." I said, sounding pretty proud about it. Not many of the ponies looked even remotely impressed.

"Well... to be fair most of those had deadly traps and I can't do those often," I admitted.

"Alright, I've wasted enough time that should be spent partying-" I started to say, before being interrupted by Pinkie Pie appearing out of nowhere next to me.

"EVERY DAY WE'RE PARTYING!" She shouted, and then some music started to play. I held out a hoof to show that I wanted it to stop.

"If you wanted to sing that, why didn't you say so?" I said, and tossed her a headset. The music would start from beginning as I started to sing with Pinkie Pie.

PONY ROCK!

(It's optional to listen to it, but you don't have to in order to enjoy the story)

When the song ended, I heard every one of the ponies stamp the ground very loudly. That's one way to kick off a party. I thought, as I made my way off the stage. I would hand my headset to Vinyl as I walked off, and she would take her place with her trusty DJ booth on the stage.

"That was some pretty good singing there John," I heard someone say to my right. I turned my head to see that it was Golden Shield.

"Yeah, can't really follow my hobby of being a DJ if I can't sing with some of my music," I replied.

"You are right about that, so what will you do now?" He asks me.

"I'll enjoy the party, what about you?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"I may leave early... it's starting to get loud for me," He said with a small scowl.

"Come on, you'll get used to it," I said in an attempt to get him to stay.

"I would much prefer the quiet peace," He said flatly. I was trying hard to get him to actually enjoy the party, but then I came up with an idea.

"How about you help me with something, a bit of a joke on a certain pony," I said with a smile.

"I'm listening..." He responded with interest. My smile turned mischievous.

"Perfect... now what I need you to do is..." I whispered my plan into his ear, and he slowly started to smile too.

"Alright, I'll do it," He said with a smile.

"Good, this is going to be fun!" I said, rubbing my hooves together in glee.

I was in position above Pinkie Pie, ready to do my prank upon her. It took me a while to climb there, but I managed to do so, despite having hooves. I have agreed with Golden Shield about a certain word phrase to say before I would let go of the support and hit the ground like if I were dead. I thought about their reaction to that, and started to regret coming up with it.

"There can't be a falling pony, there's a roof above us," I heard Pinkie say from below.

"That may be true, but does that mean that a ghost can't fall down by now?" He said, and I then let go.

"Ghosts don't exist silly!" Pinkie said, before I hit the ground in front of her. She shrieked loudly, and then stared at me. The music stopped again to look at the event that just happened.

"You were saying something about ghosts?" Golden Shield said, trying hard not to laugh.

"Where did it come from?" I heard Twilight ask in confusion.

"I don't know..." He said, trying to act innocent.

"I do," I said, slowly getting up like a zombie.

"AHHH Zompony!" I heard Twilight shout.

"Close, but it's just John," I said with a huge smile on my face. Pinkie looked at me once, before she started laughing hard and I joined with her. The music would resume playing once again, since the event turned out to be a prank.

"You should have seen the look on... on your faces!" I said, trying to stop laughing long enough to say something.

"That was a good one John!" Pinkie complemented to me, not even angry or breathing heavily (like Twilight) as if nothing had happened.

"Thanks, now I'm a bit tired by now so I'll head home for an early sleep," I said, and waved to them as I walked out.

When I was outside, I saw Dusk and Midnight talking to each other. I couldn't hear them, so I decided to walk up to them.

"So what do you think?" Dusk asked Midnight.

"I think that he has his charms, odd ones, but charming anyways," She said to him. I decided to listen into this conversation just a little while longer.

"At least Blitz is happy about it though," He said with a small smile.

"Yeah, but I really hope she will stop trying to tease me about how she was right," She said with a frown. I then cleared my throat to let them know I was present.

"Oh, hello John," Dusk said.

"Hey Dusk, what are you both talking about?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Oh nothing much, just about each other's days," Midnight replied quickly and blushing impossibly over her fur.

"I see..." I said with a small frown.

"So when's the wedding John?" Dusk asks me suddenly.

"Wait... what?" I asked him, doing a double take of what he just said.

"The wedding, aren't you going to propose to any certain pony around the town?" He asked me with a grin.

"W-w-what the hell are you talking about?" I asked, stuttering just a little bit.

"I'm asking you if you have a ring for any pony," He said with a grin.

"Who- I don't even- when- w- what- AGH!" I said, my brain just fizzling out on trying to give him a snarky reply because his question was so sudden.

"You don't have a ring yet?" Dusk asks me with an even wider grin on his face.

"Stop taunting me! I'll make one myself!" I shouted at him.

"I'll hold you to that promise," He said, and walked off. I then realized what he just did.

"Damn it Dusk..." I muttered softly. I heard Midnight chuckle next to me.

"Remind me to dump a bucket of water on Dusk," I told Midnight, trying to hide how embarrassed I was, "or Pyro when he is next to him."

"I suppose you're serious?" She asked me with another small chuckle.

"Yes, I was serious on both accounts," I said with a small scowl.

"So when can I expect it?" She asked me.

"Why would I tell you?" I said, with a small grin.

"Touché," She said with a frown.

"Yeah, anyways I'll be going now, enjoy the rest of the party," I said, and walked off.

Before I headed home, I decided to make a quick stop at a store that sold plain gold rings. I convinced the owner to sell me one for two bits. I was lucky that I did, because the next place I went to was Rarity's house. She wasn't there, so I entered into the building. I would almost immediately regret that decision when I heard something nearby. I decided to not take any chances and slowly walk out of the building. I will wait for tomorrow for getting that gem. I thought to myself, and made my way home.

When I got home, I would open the door and enter into the house. I sighed softly, and started to walk up the stairs. I paused on the final steps when I heard something coming from the bedroom. Because this was my house, I was actually curious about what was in my bedroom. And opened the door to a rather interesting sight. Apparently, I don't know how, I saw Dawn and Blitz just making out on my bed. What the hell... Was my only thought as I watched. I decided to end it by knocking on the door. The result was Dawn becoming scared and falling off of the bed with Blitz ending out on top of her.

"As much as I enjoy your company, could you please not do it in my Bedroom?" I asked them, being a bit annoyed about what they were doing.

"Sorry, we got a bit bored waiting for you." Blitz admitted with a small smile. I gave them some time to get up from their placement on the floor.

"Yeah... What do you want?" I asked her, trying hard to keep myself from getting angry at her.

"I have a favor to ask of you," She said to me in a serious way.

"If it is to ask me to join you in whatever your doing, I'll pass," I said with a frown, "I'm like... twice your age."

"No no, not that, Dawn's more into mares anyways," She said. Wow, why am I actually not surprised... I thought to myself.

"You’re a mare?" Dawn said jokingly, obviously still in the moment.

"Alright... what is this favor then?" I asked curiously. I really did not like the way she was smiling, along with how Dawn was smiling.

"I'll tell you," She said, and then whispered what she wanted me to do in my ear.