Chapter 15: Where Credit Is Due
When I finally awoke, my vision was blurred, unfocused. I could make out enough to know that I was no longer in the Everfree Forest…it was brighter and this wasn’t grass I was lying on…but, why had I been there in the first place? Why could I remember that and nothing else? Where I was now and why did my leg and head hurt so much?
It began to come back…slowly. I had been with Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow…all of them. And the guys. We had been in the Forest…they were in terrible danger from…something…I had been fighting…fighting…the Paraserpent! Then the Princess and Dragonis appeared…but the rest was blur. It all flooded back to me in that instant, causing me to sit straighter as my vision focused.
I was lying on a bed with violet covers and a chart at the end. The sun was streaming in through an open window, through which I could see the white snow glistening on the ground. My leg, I noticed, was tied up in a cast and there was a bandage around my head. I was in a hospital, being treated for my injuries. Everything seemed fine…how long had I been here?
Now that I remembered what was going on, my mind began to race. We had made it out of the cave, I had a fight with the Paraserpent, and I had completely blacked out. Celestia and Dragonis showed up just after my battle with it. How were the guys? Were the girls okay? I had to know, needed to see them safe…if they were.
A warm feeling spread from my chest. Against all odds, I had done it. Me, tiny, little, unimportant Dusk Noir, had saved the six most important ponies in Equestria. If anypony had told me that a few days ago, I would have shook my head in disbelief and recommend a good therapist. But now…I checked around the ward. There were no other beds…
Though I remembered I was still in a hospital and had to check to see how my tail looked. Though, once I did, I saw it was disguised as a regular pony tail. As I wondered how it got that way, I then remembered that Dragonis was there, so he, no doubt, had a hand in this. At least nopony around here freaked out or that me and the guys secret was exposed. With all this, I might as well celebrate.
I once again created my little puppets, actually feeling rather proud of them now. It depicted myself with the girls and the guys. The puppet bowed his head to them and they politely inclined their heads. As the girls left, the me avatar walked off with guys, his head held high and proud. Now, if they weren’t going to speak to him again, he was going to be going out on a high note.
The door to my private ward opened and an earth pony walked in, dressed in a white coat with a stethoscope hanging around his neck. He smiled when he saw me sitting up in my bed, where I hurriedly cancelled my spell. He didn't seemed to have noticed.
“Ah, excellent, you’re awake. I had said you would recover sometime today, though you did so much earlier.” he noted with interest.
“Really?” I didn’t know what else to say to that. “How long…have I been here?”
“Since you were brought in last night.” the doctor explained. “You’ve suffered bone fracture in your left leg and mild concussion. You were asleep for the rest of the night once we administered treatment and should make a full recovery in about three days. We’ll release you then, provided there are no complications.”
“Good, good.” I said absently. “Was anypony else brought in with me?”
“No, just you. Princess Celestia and Dragonis Maximus delivered you personally and they were accompanied by six other mares and three other colts. They looked like they’d been through the mill, but there was nothing serious. They were quite worried about your condition, if I recall.”
“They…were?” I just felt relieved that none of the girls and the team were hurt and that they were all okay. Though this bit of news was still a surprise.
“Indeed they were. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I said I would inform Princess Celestia and Dragonis Maximus when you had awoken. Get some rest, Mr. Noir.” He exited the room, leaving me with my thoughts.
I proceeded to take the doctor up on his word, relaxed in my own private ward. I kept myself nicely occupied, eating breakfast (Even if it wasn’t exactly first class), performing random puppet shows when nopony was with me or reading from the hospital’s surprisingly well stocked collection of books. They even had Daring Doo, which I immediately immersed myself in. My own adventure had turned out to be quite different.
Whilst reading, I began to wonder what would happen now. The girls had been angry at me for my behavior, that much had been clear. But they themselves need not have bothered with me, had Celestia not ordered them to. Though the guys would try to defend me, I would tell them it would be okay and that I was ready for what the girls would say to me. What would happen after I explained myself? Would they try and give me another chance or would they leave me? Either way, I would accept whatever decision they came to.
I had almost finished the book I was reading, it being now close to midday, when the doctor entered my ward again.
“Mr. Noir, you have a visitor. Several visitors, in fact.” I was informed.
“Visitors?”
“Yes, indeed…” He sounded almost disapproving. “I have informed the Princess and Sir Maximus that you have woken up today and they, along with those mares and colts, are now waiting to see you. I believe they would like to see you alone first, if you feel you’re up to it.”
If the news that they had been so worried was a surprise, the fact they were all waiting to see me came as even more of a shock. I supposed they were here to make sure I kept my promise, but still…
“I’m fine…send them in, please.” I said rather weakly. The doctor nodded and left the room.
I couldn’t help but feel apprehensive and nervous to both Dragonis and Celestia’s impending visit. If they wanted to see me alone, that would mean they would want to say something important. Celestia would probably berate me for doing something as foolish as wandering into the Everfree Forest. I supposed that I would deserve it…and yet…
If she was prepared to do that, then I, surprisingly, was prepared to justify my actions, to give my reasons as to why I had done it in the first place, even if Dragonis said otherwise. Because I knew that I had done the right thing…for once.
I also felt my bitterness rise again. This would be the first time I would be seeing Celestia, after I’d heard what the girls had been saying. Princess or not, I was going to try and get some answers from her, as to why she had seen fit to effectively meddle in my life.
A few minutes later, the door opened again and the Bringer of the Day and Dragonis stepped gracefully in, along with the guys. The doctor bowed behind Celestia and shut the door, which she stood in front of for a moment. She didn’t look angry…
“Dusk Noir,” she said gently, a smile gracing her lips. “I’m glad you’re alright. I just wish we were meeting again under more healthy circumstances.”
“As…do I, Your Highness.” I respectfully replied as she crossed to the side of my bed. “The price I pay…for foolishness.”
“I would perhaps say the scars of a hero.” Dragonis said. Then I flushed heavily at that and he chuckled. “Alright, perhaps not that far then. Regardless though, it was very brave, what you did for Twilight and her friends.”
“I was just, um…acting on impulse, almost stupidity.” I replied quietly. “If anything, it was more out of luck that pulled it off in the first place.”
“Now, I definitely wouldn’t call it that.” I looked up at him when he said that, seeing he was still smiling. “You ventured out, led your team, with the goal of saving your friends. You didn’t give up, you found them and it’s thanks to your efforts that they made it home safely and you gained a new power.”
“What do you mean?” I asked him.
“We might have told him that.” Shield said to me as he and the guys gave awkward smiles. “Though it was cool how you burnt that snake’s arm off with your claw.”
“Yeah, I was wondering about that. Never had anything like that.” I said before speaking to Dragonis. “What was that anyway?”
“You might know it as ‘Thermal Touch’, a power that allows you to use the palm of your claw to give off extreme heat able to melt anything.”
“Thermal Touch? But…that power is only received by a few special Fire Dragons.”
“Yes. Which considers you, as I knew, as a very special Fire Dragon.” He said to me before smiling at Celestia. “Just like I told her.”
With that, I then realized it. Princess Celestia, the very pony who gave me this chance…she knew about the Element Gang the entire time.
“Wait, you knew?” I asked the Princess as she nodded in confirmation. “But…how?”
“Dusk, Celestia and I have been friends for quite a long time. All secrets are shared between us.” He said to me. “You might not think of it as such, but that act you performed is quite heroic…and yes, a little foolish.”
“I suppose so.” I gave out a laugh and returned their smiles. Then I remembered my bitter feelings towards Celestia and stopped. “How are they all?”
“Physically, unhurt, though they have been worried about how you are. Twilight especially.” Celestia said. Her expression saddened at this. “She mostly blames herself for the state you’re in, that she should have known that letter wasn’t genuine.”
“But…but it wasn’t her fault.” I said in an unbelieving tone.
“I know and I tried telling her that, but she is still rather distraught. You might want to try talking to her, she is your friend after all.”
“Is she?” my voice sounded so bitter, that she was caught off guard by my tone.
“Of course, why wouldn’t she be? Dusk, what’s wrong?” she asked, making me angrier at her feigned ignorance.
“What’s wrong? I’ll tell you what’s wrong, Princess.” I began, trying very hard to keep my voice level and not caring about her authority. “I heard what Twilight said, that you instructed her to become my friend. It’s not exactly genuine friendship if she has been told to do it by royal command. It was all a lie, all of it, with you and her treating me like some project and the others too. Even though I still have friends of my own, what you did just only made me feel like I didn’t have them in the first place. It’s bad not to have friends, it’s even worse when they’re just pretending to. I knew it was too good to be true…and I was right!”
An uncomfortable silence followed my rant.
As my anger abated, now I realized how I must have sounded…to the Princess! She was staring at me, looking confused and perhaps a little pityingly. Again, she didn’t appear angry…had I gone too far? Though it wasn’t long until the guys came and surrounded me, giving out rants of their own to the Princess.
“And Dusk told us all about it.” Dog said as he and the guys glared at the Princess, surprising me as I saw them do it. “Y’all made us go through all that when ya been forcin’ the girls to be nice to him?”
“Dog is right.” Leon said before he then pointed at the Princess. “You did not need to order anypony be his friend. he’s already got the three of us. That should be enough to show his a great friend to have.”
“Yeah, Dusk isn’t like anypony else.” Shield said. “Dusk might be shy and can’t talk straight at times, but he’s smart, kind, brave, and is always there for others when they need it.” I smiled after I heard those last words he used to describe me. “So basically he’s an awesome friend to have and there’s no way you had any right to treat him like homework for your student. Right, guys?”
“Hm!” Dog and Leon said as they nodded.
Though I was worried that what they said might have upset the Princess, but I was really touched as they stood up for me. Then the Princess gasped in realization and smiled again.
“I think I know what you mean…and you four have the completely wrong idea.” she pointed out.
“What?!” me and the guys said in shock of this.
“What…what do you mean?” I said, now I beginning to feel ashamed…stupid…
“Dusk, I didn’t instruct Twilight to become your friend as you put it. I merely…suggested that she should.” She laughed again. “You should probably get your facts straight next time, young Dusk.”
“You…suggested?” I asked.
“Yes.” Her smile radiated warmth and understanding. “I didn’t exactly order her to become your friend on threat of banishment. I knew, besides those colts, you had no friends and that you wanted to be friends with Twilight. So, I set you up your job in Ponyville to give you both chances, suggesting to Twilight that she become friends with you. She could just as easily have not followed up on it, but I knew that she would. I knew that she would want to, without any kind of instruction. That’s how she is now.”
“So it wasn’t an order?” Shield asked. “It was just a choice?”
“No wonderin’ the girls didn’t tell us.” Dog said, realizing it now.
“So…what your saying is…she became my friend…because she wanted to?” I asked the Princess.
“Exactly.” She answered. “Apart from my suggestion, I had no other part in it.”
“Oh, I feel terrible.” Leon groaned as he looked down at the floor in shame.
“This whole time I thought AJ was lyin’ to me when she wasn’t.” Dog said, hanging his head in the same mood.
“We’re sorry, Princess Celestia.” Shield said as he
I felt rather conflicted at that moment. I didn’t know whether to be joyous that, all this time, Twilight Sparkle had been my friend or mortified that I had got it so wrong. In the end, the latter won out better. I just wanted to bang my head against a wall for being so stupid, just jumping to the worst case scenario like that. Wasn’t that just like me?
I didn’t know what to say now, what I could say. After hearing what they guys said, all I could think of was:
“You guys don’t have to apologize. It was me jumping to conclusions that made you three act like that.” I said to the guys before speaking to the Princess. “I’m sorry, your Highness. I shouldn’t have lost my temper, I just…it just…” I sighed, giving up.
“It’s quite alright, Dusk.” she assured. “I think I would feel the same, if I had the same thoughts you did. But, next time, make sure you know all of the facts.”
“I will. Thank you.” I said it with as much sincerity as I could muster to say how much gratitude I felt. “I’ll try and talk to Twilight. Least I can do, really.”
She smiled warmly at me again. “You may not think so, Dusk, but you are quite a remarkable pony. The friends you have made so far have proven that.” She stood up in a dignified sort of way. “I think we’ve kept them waiting long enough. If you’d like to see them…”
Celestia gave me one last smile as I nodded eagerly, feeling a lot better than I had before…and more happy.
“Shall we, Dragonis?” she said to the guardian.
“Yes. I believe it is time to take our leave.” Dragonis said to her.
“Until we meet again, Dusk Noir.” The Princess said to me.
With that, she departed, the sunlight twinkling in her wake. I looked to see that the guys were smiling as well for.
Now the Princess and Dragonis had gone, I felt both a little nervous and excited about seeing the girls again. They might still be angry at me, but now I didn’t feel nervous about explaining myself to them. I just felt…confident. I didn’t have to wait long.
“Dusk, you know we’re here for you in case the girls lash out on you.” Shield said as he, Dog, and Leon looked at me with concern.
“Guys, don’t worry.” I said to them with confidence. “Whatever they have to say to me, I’m ready for it.
“Dusk!” I heard the girls say as the four of us looked to see them coming over.
Mere seconds after the Princess and Dragonis left, they all dashed through the door, livening up my ward even more than the sun streaming through the window. They all rushed to clamor around my bed, offering bright smiles, greetings and thanks, even saying how worried they were for me and how glad they were I was okay, all while knocking the guys to the floor.
“Hey, first friends here!” Shield said to the girls as he managed to get in their huddle around me. “We’re a part of this too.”
“Girls, settle down.” Dog said, talking to the girls and doing the same. “Let the fella speak.”
“Yeah, he’s already been though enough.” Leon said, repeating the same actions as Shield and Dog.
After they quieted down, I couldn’t really think of what to say, apart from:
“Hello, everypony. I hope I…didn’t worry you all too much.” I said, sheepishly.
“Eh, I knew you’d be okay.” Rainbow said nonchalantly, wiping a bead of sweat from her fore-head as Shield gave her a little smug. “How are you feeling?”
“Not brilliant, I could definitely be better.” I admitted, gesturing to my leg and head.
“Aw, it doesn’t look that bad, Dusky.” Pinkie voiced confidently. “You’re strong enough to pull the ears off a gundark!”
Her comment caught me off guard. “Um…Pinkie…what’s a gundark?”
“I dunno.” she shrugged, still grinning brightly as everypony laughed.
“I think what Pinkie means,” Applejack said, “is that we’re glad to see ya in one piece. Ya had us real scared for a bit there.”
“Thanks, Applejack.” I said sincerely. “I’m sorry you had to fret so much…”
“Oh, Dusk…this is all my fault.” Twilight was closest on my right and looked utterly ashamed of herself. “I should have known that letter from the Princess wasn’t genuine. If I had known, this wouldn’t have happened to you…and I call myself her student…” She hung her head.
“Twilight, it’s okay.” I leaned close, smiling as best I could. “The Paraserpents were creatures of deception, masters of it. Once it had the ability to do so, creating a perfect imitation would have been foal’s play. They trick and backstab, it’s what they’re good at. I don’t blame you and you have nothing to be ashamed of. It’s fine, trust me.”
“But I…”
“Twilight, please. I don’t want you blaming yourself for this…because I don’t.”
She dared to lift her head back up to look at me. “R-really? You don’t blame me?” I nodded slowly and she returned my smile. “Thank you, Dusk. It was stupid of me, thinking like that…”
“Stupid, you? You’re the cleverest unicorn I’ve ever met, you’re not stupid.” I’d never really payed compliments like that before, I hoped I’d done alright.
“Thank you.” she said, a slight blush to her cheeks. “You’re pretty clever too.”
She actually thought I was smart? “Not as clever as you.”
“But still very intelligent.”
“If I’m intelligent, then you’re a genius.”
“I wouldn’t go that far…”
“I would…”
“Are you two eggheads done?” Shield asked, impatiently. We both blushed at this, but still managed a laugh.
“I think we are. Now then,” I continued, feeing more confident, “I promised you all an explanation and seeing as how I’m…not going anywhere, I think now’s as good a time as any.”
“Ya sure? Ya don’t have to tell us right now.” Applejack assured.
“No, but I want to. Besides, I made a Pinkie promise. As I understand, you can’t go back on that.”
Pinkie returned my bright smile as I picked a point and began to tell them.
I told them everything, how I was in the past, what I thought about myself, my views towards others and friendships, how I had spent most of my life friendless and alone. How I was given hope and made friends with Shield and the guys and how I had been given the chance to make friends with Twilight Sparkle, the only pony I thought I could relate to, how I thought that I had succeeded. I told them how I thought I unfairly shared my time with them and tried to even it up to an equal share with all of them and not disappoint them. I even told them how I had heard them talking, realized the supposed truth only to be told I’d got it wrong.
As I spoke, voicing my views, they just sat and listened. If any of them had hard expressions, they slowly began to soften as I went on, beginning to understand, pity that I felt I didn’t deserve shining in their eyes. I made it clear that my behavior to them wasn’t rudeness, it was just so they didn’t have to waste their time on me and they grew even more sympathetic.
I found it surprisingly easy to say all of this. Maybe it was because I’d kept it inside myself for so long, that I wanted nothing more than to just tell somepony about how I felt. Now I had the chance, it came as easily to me as recalling a fact from a book.
“…So you see,” I finished. “I didn’t want to offend you all, I just didn’t want you to have to go through the trouble of wasting your time on a little nopony like me. I’ve been a fool, an idiot, and a coward. If you can at least forgive me for my transgressions, before you girls leave me…I’ll be happy with that.”
They all stood in silence, struck dumbfounded by what I had said. Fluttershy, I could see, was almost on the verge of tears. After a while, Twilight was the first to speak up.
“Dusk…of course we forgive you. We do, don’t we?” She looked at the others for confirmation and they all nodded. “There, see? But we’re not going to leave you alone.”
“W-w-what?” Had I heard that right? “But…I offended you all. Why would you want to waste time with me? Like I said, I’m nothing special…what could I possibly bring to your friendship? I’m not one of the Elements of Harmony, talented in magic, or anything like that…”
“Dusk, we were friends way before we discovered we were the fabled Elements.” Rarity pointed out. “Even if we weren’t, we’d all still be friends. It’s not what you are that matters, it’s who you are. You may not think you’re special, but I’d say you are.”
“Oh, yes.” Fluttershy said, finally speaking up. “You can be kind, helpful, good-natured…at least, I think so.” She returned to a shy silence.
“Exactly.” Twilight took over. “You’re also intelligent, well-read, a hard worker, dependable, reliable. You've also shown you can be brave, willing to put yourself in danger for your friends. Anypony would agree that makes you pretty special.”
I had never even considered that I had those kinds of qualities before. All of my life when I’d never thought positively about myself in any way and the girls had said all of those things about me in one afternoon. Even Rainbow gave me a knowing wink for my other…talent…the one that had saved them all, the one they thought was beautiful magic.
Had I been wrong all of this time?
“And, Dusk? I think we should also say that the Princess’ suggestion ta Twilight didn’t extend to us.” That made my eyes widen like dinner plates.
“E-e-excuse me?” I said.
“What do ya mean?” Dog asked her, just as confused as I was.
“Twilight told us about that you were coming and the Princess’ suggestion, but she didn’t say it involved us.” Pinkie informed me. “But we figured that it had to involve us. We even thought of the same for Shield, Dog, and Leon. It’s always bad being the new pony in town without any friends, so we thought we would be your friends too!”
“Indeed. It only seemed sensible that, if you were going to become friends with our best friend, we should try and integrate you into our little group as well. I, for one, thought it would be nice to have a little male diversity, especially if it is a cousin of mine.” Rarity explained, winking at me.
“So…so what you’re saying is…you all wanted to be my friends…simply because…you wanted to?” I asked the girls.
“Exactly.” Applejack gave me that same smile she did when I first arrived. “We’d still be willin’ to let ya be a part of our friendship…if ya’d like to.”
I couldn’t quite believe the information my ears were telling my brain. Despite all I thought, all I had done…they still wanted me to be their friend, they still wanted to give me another chance…because that was the kind of ponies they all were: kind, generous, honest, loyal, laughable…magical. As the tears began to form, there was only one thing I could say:
“Yes.” I sniffed as a smile grew wider on my face. “Thank you…thank you all…so much…”
“Awwwww. Come on, everypony, group hug for our new friend!” Pinkie threw her forelegs around me as the others all clamored around, closing me in a warm embrace.
I happily returned it, still quite unable to comprehend what was happening. Suddenly…it just didn’t matter. My leg still twinged a bit, but the pain infelt there was nothing compared to the warmth in my heart.
“Welcome to friendship, Dusk Noir.” Twilight Sparkle whispered in my ear. I could honestly and proudly say:
“Glad to be here…Twilight Sparkle…my friends…”