Friendship is Recovering

Chapter 7(Part 1)

As I wandered through the town looking for one of the ponys I met at the library, I thought back to what Dusk said to me at the library. "What happened to you John? You didn't always act this way." Now why did he say that? Wait... Could he be? I thought. I didn't want to attempt to talk to him again for now, I would talk to him later though. For now, I was just focusing on walking through the town. Oddly enough, the town was strangely empty. Devoid of all activity and life. Where the hell is everypony? I asked myself. I was glad that I didn't see a dead body yet, but I hoped to never see one. Luckily for me, I saw a shadow going off in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. I decided since I had nothing better to do, to follow that strange shadow. I probably might risk myself in fighting some random pony that was supposively evil and wants to possibly kill me. Then again, I've survived worse encounters than a random shadow attacking me.

Supriseingly I was able to keep up with the shadow, I think it might have been trying to lead me somewhere actually. My assumptions were proven correct as I saw the shadow run through the open door of Sugarcube Corner. Wait... why are the lights off in the building? It was perfectly lit when I last checked I wondered to myself. I decided that it would be the bes' Idea to try to investigate this strange phenomenon. To investigate, I shall enter in the shadows myself! Or maybe I should actually step carfully in I said to myself, deflating my heroic side with a bang. Sometimes I enjoyed deflating my heroric side when I am in a dangerious temple. Mostly because it tells me exactly what NOT to do in the first place.

As I carfully walked into the darkened bakery, I looked around. I couldn't see farther than the door. I was confused, nothing can ever be this dark without a good reason. I had a very uneasy feeling as I stood in the doorway. I really hope I do not have any problems here. I thought to myself. I tried to remain calm and I took a step into the room. When nothing happened I took a few more steps into the room. Then all of the lights went on.

"SUPRISE!" Shouted a lot of ponies. And I mean a lot of them.

"HOLY SHI-" I shouted as I recoiled backwards and landed hard on my back. luckily I did not break anything in the fall (not even my wings, which opened for the first time as I fell.) and I layed there as I saw Pinkie Pie come up to me. As she helped me up, I noticed her smiling.

"I worked so hard to prepare this party to welcome you to Ponyville!" She said excitedly at me.

"How many did you invite?" I asked pinky pie, while looking around.

"Oh.. just about everypony in Ponyville," She said after thinking for a while.

"Oh, you mean the ponies I met in the library," I said in a blatant tone

"Nope... I mean everypony who lives in Ponyville!" She said with a happy tone. I looked around, and I could swear my jaw would have hit the floor by now if I wasn't already suprised once, and if by jaw was made of rubber. She really did invite the whole town...Hope she's not going around telling my story to everypony.

"Oh don't worry about it John. I'll only tell the ponys in the library." She said suddenly.

"Okay... Wait, how'd you know what I was thinking?" I asked Pinkie in a confused voice.

"I read the script!" She exclaimed.

"...What?" I asked in an extremely confused tone, "Script? You mean like an acting script?"

"Sorta... You can't break the wall, can you?"

"I could break one of these walls here... but you don't mean them right?" I said while gesturing with my hoof to the walls of the bakery.

"Nope," She said simply. Then I saw Twilight come over to me. I remembered her from the library, and worried if she was able to forgive me for attacking her husband.

"That's just just Pinkie being Pinkie." She said to me in a quiet tone, glancing worriedly at her as she bounced on her tail.

"This happens often?" I asked Twilight.

"Yeah, it does, a little too often," She answered me with a sigh.

"Best explanation I can get for her so far," I said with a half shrug (Can't do a full shrug since I don't have shoulders).

After Pinkie walked away from me with Twilight, probably to tell my story to her and the other ponies from the library, I wandered around the party room. There was games going on such as pin the tail on the pony (I thought that it was where you actually put a tail on a real pony before seeing the actual thing). I wouldn't engorge myself on cake, I didn't really want any right now. I did have myself upon a few of the muffins. A grey pegasus with a blond mane (They are horses, I think Mane is the proper term now) that would have been beautiful if not for her yellow eyes (one was staring at the ceiling, and the other at the floor), was also at the muffin table basicly scarfing down the muffins. With the speed she ate those muffins at, I swear she could actualy beat me in a muffin eatting contest. I really liked muffins to a degree, but with that pegasus eating at the table, I couldn't reach them. And I really wanted some of those muffins too I thought sadly. I shook my head and decided to walk on.

As I was walking through the party, I met a certain red pony near the punch bowl with his golden friend.

"I'd say hello to both of you, but you obviously know me," I said in an attempt to lighten my mood.

"How convient, we were just talking about you," Pyro said with a grin (a very forced one too, must not be very good at smiling).

"Stow the chat, what do you want?" I asked Pyro in a bored tone.

"I want you to teach me how to be awesome," He taunted at me, "-er," he added. That got a glare from Sparx, but he didn't say anything.

"Be a treasure hunter," I said in a simple but mysterious way. Pyro just looked at me in a You're kidding kind of way and I shook my head.

"Pyro, just ask him already," Sparx said. Glad somepony doesn't like having this pony taunt someone so much. I thought.

"Alright... How did you disarm that drunk in the bar?" He asked me in a serious tone.

"I've done it before... many times," I said, I had to quickly learn that as well. Some bar fights in The Hollow turn brutal, and I get threatened with many weapons, "not in the form I am in now, but somehow it came naturally."

"Can you teach me how to do it?" Pyro asked me getting more interested.

"How about... No," I said in a deadpanned voice. I still didn't like him, but I wasn't about to sour my opinion of him. He did hear my story as well.

"Why can't you teach me?" He whined at me.

"Because, Firecolt... just because you can burn ponies with whatever you have, doesn't mean that you would need to learn every single move. That and you would have to actualy touch them to disarm them," I said simply.

"I can control the fire you speak of," He boasted to me in a very cocky way.

"So? You burned my hoof," I shot at him.

"Well you didn't need to try to punch me for little things like that." He shot back at me. He has a good point... I thought.

"Well, can you at least fight?" I asked him.

"Of course I can fight!" He exclaimed in his boasting way that made me want to punch him in the first place. Bragging won't change my mind any faster. I thought to myself.

"Right... I want to at least test you to see if you can hurt someone without actualy using your fancy burny powers of whateverness," I said to him.

"So is that a yes?" he asked.

"For now..." I told him. He made a deadpanned look, but I'm pretty sure I could guess that right now he is celebrateing in his head of how he got training. Not sure if he actualy is celebrateing, but I didn't really care.

"Now Sparx, is Dusk around here?" I asked.

"He is. he wanted to talk with you actually," Sparx said to me in a worried tone.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt your friend." I said in a reasuring tone. Oddly enough, when I last heard of him in my world, he died... in the shower, no less. But if that is the same Dusk I know or knew, then perhaps I can save something from my old life. I may not ever be close friends again, but I think I can be friends with him again. I said in my head.

"He is actually my dad," he said with a blush, "the legendary Dusk Cloud. "

"Do you know where he is?" I asked Sparx.

"He should be around the table with food. If he isn't there, then try looking for Twilight, who is my mom, 'cause she will probably be talking with him," Sparx explained. Wow... So much for calling him a dragonfly. What am I supposed to use for my witty comment now? I said in my head. I kept that thought to myself as I thanked Sparx and walked away from the two of them to find Dusk. I had a Friendship I wanted to salvage. I was kind of envious of the fact that he was here longer and found love in an unexpected place. I pushed that envy away, I didn't need to cloud my judgement with silly things like that. Love is not a simple thing I would forget though, maybe I could find somepony here who would protect me as I would protect her. Never again.

After looking around the room for a bit, I found Dusk siting with Twilight. I decided to sneak up to them to hear what they are talking about. As I got close to them, I think I heard a bit of my story that I told Pinkie. I figured that Pinkie told Twilight first, and now Twilight is telling Dusk. I wonder how much Dusk has changed since I last saw him. I wondered. I decided to wait for Twilight to finish telling Dusk so then I could speak with him to try to mend the gap between us, that I made myself. I didn't regret telling him off years ago, but I most certainly regret it now.

When Twilight finished retelling my story to Dusk, I could swear that he looked as sad as Pinkie and Pyro were. "So that's why he acted that way... I had no idea that this would've happened to him after I... left," Dusk said sadly. I sighed softly before speaking up.

"Best get used to that, my life was really crap back then," When both of them turned to me, they were suprised at me actualy being there. I had to smile at the fact that my stealth skills were still effective here, even if I had hooves. I refocused on why I was there, "Excuse me Twilight, but could I talk to Dusk... alone?" I asked Twilight. She gave me a look of suspicion.

"Why do you need to talk to him alone?" She asked me in a very careful way.

"Because I am going to fix something that I should have fixed a long time ago, before he came here," I said to her in a saddened tone. I really wanted to talk to him alone, but I'm sure that Twilight is more concerned for him being around me. I think because of all of his migranes and the fact that I attacked him last time.

"You can talk to him, but I want to make sure you don't try-" She started to say before Dusk and I softly groaned.

"Understandable. I know what I did was wrong, yet I at least want to be more friendlier towards the ones who have seen me like that," I responded to her, and she looked annoyed at me for interupting her. Dusk chuckled a bit but not loudly, I'm sure she may have done this before.

"Two things, first off, I came here to appologize for what I did at the library. I was not really happy about someone controling my life and changing it before I ever get a chance to get my own word in," I said to him.

"I can understand why you would act that way," He responded to me.

"Yeah... you understand why I can't be close friends with any...pony, but I can at least be friends," I said in a somewhat uneasy tone.

"That's alright," Dusk responded in a very knowing tone. Yep, He is now the walking genius, just how I remember him when I was still human. Well, except then, he was in a wheelchair. I thought to myself with a smile. Oh! That reminds me, I'll ask after he is done talking

"By the way, since you are married with Twilight here, Do you have children?" I asked with a curious tone, even though I already knew the answer.

"I actualy have two foals and one filly." He said with a smile.

"What's a foal and filly?" I asked, being confused with those terms.

"In human terms, foal is a boy, and a Filly is a girl. Although I call them all fillies because that is what I grew up calling them," Dusk responded to my question.

"Ahh, so what are their names then?" I asked him once more.

"Pyro, Dawn, and Sparx, you met Sparx in the bar and Pyro was the one you saved from that drunk" He said. Wait a minute... Fireboy, I mean Pyro, is his child?! I thought suprised. Perhaps I should try to not taunt his child in front of his father.

"Ahh, funny thing about Pyro. Did you know he asked me to train him?" I said in a somewhat intrested tone.

"I wouldn't be suprised that he would. When did he ask you?" He asked me in an intrested tone.

"He asked me very recently actualy. Would you mind if I trained him?" I asked in a straightforward way.

"I wouldn't have any problems with it," Dusk said, "just don't get him killed."

"Why would you want to train him anyways John?" Twilight asks me.

"Because, if he doesn't know basic close combact to disarm a pony with a weapon, he could get severly hurt in the future if I am not there, even with his fire power thingy," I responded to Twilight in a almost arrogant fashion. At least Twilight cares about him. I thought to myself. I could see her think about what I said for a moment.

"Alright, but could you also teach Sparx?" She said, "They are both very capable. they did save the world, after all."

"I could if he asks me to." I said with a smile. Wait, WHAT!!! they saved the WORLD?! From What?

"Alright, so long as you do not make me regret this decision." She replied with a sigh.

"I'm pretty sure you won't have me train Dawn?" I asked Dusk.

"No, she's actualy blind, but she can still handle herself." Dusk said in a happy tone.

"Wow... that's... cool" I said in an awstruck tone. I actualy was fond of the blind who could still fight and take care of themselves, like Daredevil from Marvel Comics. Mostly because of them being my allies in some of my treasure hunting jobs. They really could put up a fight and still be standing after all of the chaos has passed by. I was pulled out of my memories by Dusk waveing his hoof in front of my face.

"Are you Okay?" He asked me in a worried tone.

"I'm fine... just remembering stuff from my past," I said

"Oh good, I was worried that you zoned out on us," he said releived. I had to smile and laugh. I did feel like this party was missing something though. So I turned around and saw a weird sight. A DJ's turntable left completely open.

"Is there a DJ here?" I asked out loud. I got a series of questioned looks. Even from Pinkie Pie.

"She should have been here by now," Pinkie said in a worried tone. Pinkie is worried, time to suprise the hell out of everypony here I thought to myself.

"While we wait for her, why don't you let me be your DJ for now?" I said with an eager tone.

"Do you even know how to DJ?" Twilight asked me doubtfuly. I simply turned and smiled.

"Yep... I've had to be a DJ at one of my treasure hunting jobs, I picked up a few tricks of the trade," I said in a very confident boast.

"Oh yeah, I remember that!" Dusk said loudly, "You were pretty good at Midnight's first birthday."

"Then get up there!" I heard a pony shout. I grinned and made my way towards the DJ turntable. All I was missing was a pair of shades. I was lucky that there was a pair of purple shades laying on the underneath the turn table, so I picked those up and put them on.

"ALRIGHT EVERYPONY, YOU READY TO ROCK!" I shouted,I could hear the ponys cheering so I picked out a song and put it down on the turntable and cranked up the volume for the ponys in the building to hear.

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To be Continued in Part 2