Chaotic Harmony: Do Over

by shirotora

Chapter 46: Rest and Recovery

"Is... Is it really you?" Midnight asked, tears streaming from his face.

I couldn't blame him. I was in the same state. "Yeah, kid. It's me. Ah'm back."

We held each other for a few minutes before I heard a gasp. I looked up to see Jynx looking at me with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"H-hey, honey... Ah'm back," I said.

"Shiro? You... you're alive?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yeah, it's a long story," I replied.

She ran to me, her look of disbelief morphing one of joy... and then pure rage as she cocked back a hoof decked me square in the eye.

She didn't stop there. She continued to pummel me anywhere she could reach.

"You stupid, ignorant, thoughtless jerk! You left us! How could you let us think you were dead?!"

"Ah was dead," I replied. "Ah'm so sorry. Ah ran off without thinkin' and got killed."

"What do you mean you were dead? You're here."

"Thor... he kinda... made me his herald."

"Is that what that lightning was?" Midnight asked.

I nodded and held out my hand, letting arcs of prismatic electricity arc between my fingers.

"Awesome!" both Midnight and Jynx said.

"Are you, like, a superhero?" Midnight said, excitedly.

I chuckled and waved a paw. "Nah, not-"

"Bull shit!" Jynx said. "Do you know how many comic book heroes are heralds? Hell, the Power Ponies original name was God Force because all the founding members were heralds."

"Besides, you even have a cape," Midnight added.

I couldn't help but laugh. "It's a cloak, actually."

"So are a lot of superhero capes. They go down to the hocks," Midnight said.

"You've been hangin' out with Spike too much," I said.

"This is really real... I'm not dreaming," Jynx said, as if it only just settled in. "There's no way I would dream that after a month of being dead, you would come back to life just to discuss the difference between capes and cloaks."

I chuckled. "Yeah, it would be something more like this..." I suddenly swept her up, off her hooves, holding her bridal style. I gave her a smoldering smile, long golden locks flowing in the wind. "My love. I have conquered death to return to you."

Jynx snortled. God I missed that sound.

"Yeah, you're you." Another tear fell as she snuggled into me.

I set her down and said, "Hey, can we check on the girls? Only Twilight, AJ, and Pinkie were here when I got here. I'm worried about the others."

"Rainbow wasn't here?" Jynx asked.

"No."

Jynx looked worried. "Midnight, go to the shelter and let them know it's clear."

"Alright," Midnight said and turned to leave.

"Hold on," I interrupted. "If everyone was in the shelter, why were you out here?"

Midnight winced. "I... I, uh..."

"He left when he heard that werewolf was here," Jynx said.

"I couldn't let him get away with what he did!" Midnight said, letting a bit of his anger out.

I let out a sigh. "Come here." I pulled my son into a hug. "Ah understand, but you can't act in anger. If you do, you risk hurting yourself and others. Promise me you won’t blindly run into danger like that. Trust me, it doesn't end well."

Midnight nodded. "Okay... I promise."

"Good. Now, go on and do what your mother told you. We're going to the hospital, so make sure your fillyfriends don't come in making a racket."

Midnight rolled his eyes as he started heading to the shelter. "Hey, one of them is your fillyfriend. I only have one, still."

As I watched him leave, I said, "Ah have a lot to make up for, don't Ah?"

"Let's not worry about that right now," Jynx said. "Let's just be happy we're together again."

I tried to just be happy, but I couldn't help think about what I put everyone through. Jynx, Midnight, Fluttershy, Scootaloo, Rarity, and all the rest, they all had to get over my death only for me to show back up again.

As we entered the hospital, the nurse stared in shock.

"You... you really are alive," Redheart said.

"Where are they?" I asked.

"Most of them are just getting looked over, a few stitches here and there. Rainbow Dash is in surgery."

"What happened?" Jynx said, suddenly filled with concern and worry, same as me.

"She... lost her wings," Redheart said.

I felt as if a bucket of ice water was just dumped on me.

"Lost her... oh, gods." I couldn't even begin to imagine what that was going to be like for her.

"Is there any way to save them?" Jynx asked.

Redheart shook her head. "I'm sorry. We've already sent a request to Canterlot for a psychiatrist to come down for her. Hopefully they'll be here by the time she wakes up."

The door opened and Fluttershy and Jetaga entered.

I looked back at them. "How'd things go on your end?"

"I retrieved what was mine and dispatched the lycan," Jet replied.

I sighed in relief. "Hey, Flutters. Are you hurt?"

She shook her head as she looked at me with longing, tear filled eyes.

Jynx rolled her eyes. "Then why are you just standing here? Come give your boyfriend a welcome home hug."

"Are you sure? I don't want to get in the way. You're his wife. You should get priority," Fluttershy replied.

"Get over here. He has two sides, one for each of us."

Jet came up to stand in front of me like a soldier reporting. "Is there anything else you would have me do?"

"Yeah, relax. It's over, for now," I said.

"So, are you going to introduce us to your new friend?" Jynx asked.

I chuckled. "New? He lived with us for over a year."

Jynx cocked an eyebrow.

"Of course, he is a little bigger... and featherless."

Jynx's eyes widened. "Wait... Poe?!"

"My true name is Jetaga," he said. "I apologize for deceiving you. It was necessary for my task. Were it not the gods that requested I observe your husband, I would have denied it."

"Oh... I'm not sure how I feel about that. I guess you can't really say no to the gods."

"I shall leave you to your reunions. I need to procure lodgings," Jetaga said.

"Hold up. You can stay with us," I said.

Jet shook his head. "No. Fluttershy mentioned that Celestia's daughter lost her home in the battle, and will be asking to stay with you. I will not intrude upon that."

Both of us looked at him, curiously, as he left the building.

"What did he mean?" I asked Fluttershy.

Fluttershy giggled, giving me a peck on the cheek and getting up. "I'll tell you later. Right now, I need to make sure my animals are okay."

As soon as she was gone, the waiting room doors opened and Twilight came out, pursued by a nurse. "I told you, I'm fine."

"You were stabbed," the nurse said. "I don't care if you're a demigod, you need to have it looked at."

Twilight groaned. "Fine. In a minute, though."

The nurse looked at us, then Twilight. "No, now. They can come, too, I don't care, but you're getting looked at."

"You aren't gonna win, Twi," I said. "Tenderheart will examine you, one way or another. She's very good at stun spells."

Twilight scoffed. "Oh, come on. She wouldn't-"

The hum of magic cut her off.

"Uh... okay then. I guess I'm getting that exam, after all."

Satisfied, the nurse turned her gaze to me. "And I'll be examining you, too, so get your striped butt back here."

"Shit," I grumbled.

"Can we do this in the thaumic examination room?" Jynx asked. "I need to do a deeper scan on Shiro."

Redheart, at the desk, answered. "Go ahead. If anyone asks, I gave you permission."

"Thanks, Red," I said. "Also, it's good to see you again."

"Not too often, I hope."

We made our way back to the thaumic exam room.

"Okay, first off, I need to know," Twilight began as Tenderheart got to work on her. "Are you a herald?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Thor's."

Twilight took a deep breath. "So, it's not over. I need to get a letter to m... the princess."

Tenderheart cocked an eyebrow. "You realize everyone at this hospital knows she's your mother, right?"

Twilight blinked, dumbly. "Oh... right. Anyway, she needs to know. The real question is, what else does she need to know?"

I took a seat. "More than I can tell her, to be honest. All we know is this was inevitable. If they didn't do it here, they would have gone to a different anchor-point, and now that it's started, it can't be stopped."

Twilight hissed as Tenderheart sewed in two stitches. "That's not needed, you know?"

"Sure, if you want a nasty scar. Demigods aren't gods. You can get scars the same way a mortal can, even if the wound isn't as severe for you. Considering a mortal would have likely died, be glad this is all I'm doing."

Twilight turned back to us. "Anyway, do you know if the gods are going to take any other steps?"

"They said they'll help how they can. A couple are even considering pulling out some old elements. Though, there's no promise there. Those elements were taken back for good reasons."

"What about yours? Did you learn more about it?"

I felt my stomach turn a bit as I felt at Gaea's Thorn around my neck. "Yeah. It's... a last resort."

Twilight sighed. "One last question." Her stern look turned pleading. "Can I stay with you? My house blew up."

---

Over the course of the next hour, my pony friends and I slowly trickled into the waiting room.

Rarity was surprised to see me. "I thought it was Pinkie's concussion talking." She said as she cried into my fur. Then, she slapped me. "Now my mourning collection is ruined!"

Needless to say, I was kind of confused.

Not long after that, Midnight and the Crusaders came in. Scootaloo, unsurprisingly, had the strongest reaction.

"You jerk!" She said, angrily as she pummeled my chest. "You stupid, lying, jerk! You said you'd go out with me, but then went and got killed! You can't date a pony if you're dead!"

"Ah'm here, now, and Ah'm still plannin' on takin' you out on an awesome date."

"Yeah, but you didn't know you'd come back to life, did you?!"

I held her close. "No, Ah didn't, and Ah'm sorry. Come Monday, when Jynx is on her date with what's-his-name, Ah'm makin' good on mah promise."

Scootaloo looked me in the eye. "Really? But, I thought you wanted to wait until my birthday."

I shrugged. "Yeah, well, that almost made a liar out of me. Ah'm done tryin' to apply human ideals on you ponies. You aren't human, and it's wrong to act like you are. You aren't a filly, you're a young mare."

Scootaloo grumbled. "I mean, I still kinda look like a filly."

I chuckled. "Not really. I mean, sure you're... petite, but your proportions are certainly those of a mare. Besides, you didn't think I'd miss this!" I gave her flank a light slap, right on the new-to-me mark. "I freakin' missed this? All three of you?! Tell me everything! When? How? Why are they similar?"

Scootaloo chuckled. "Well, it all started when a colt in our class asked us to help him run for student president..."

---

After a while, I wasn't sure how long, everyone but Rainbow was given the okay to leave. Rainbow would be kept sedated until the next day when we came back.

And so, we all went home. Pinkie promised to hold off on a party for a couple days to let everyone heal and adjust, much to everyone's relief.

As we walked, Applebloom asked. "Hey, Shiro, is it alright if Ah stay over? Ah wanna spend more time with Midnight, but Ah know he wants to be with you. We won't do no hanky-panky, Ah swear."

"If it's alright with Applejack."

AJ gave a nod.

"Can I, too?" Scootaloo asked. "I wanna hear all about the gods you met... and I wouldn't mind just hanging out."

I laughed. "You just can't wait, huh? You aren't gonna try to jump me in the middle of the night, are you?"

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not gonna ruin it before we even have our first date."

So, one by one the others split off from the group, giving their well wishes and hugs, and promises to hang out tomorrow.

Eventually, home came into view, and tears threatened to be shed. I had honestly wondered if I would ever come home again. There were times I found myself crying between training sessions from thoughts of losing everything for the second time.

"So, who's hungry?" I asked.

I received a chorus of cheers and affirmations as we went inside.

"Alright. Let’s see what we have to work with."

"Shiro, I don't think we're going to have anything usable in there," Jynx said. "We haven't been back here in a month. We're going to have to clean it out."

I chuckled as I opened the door. "Ah'm sure it's fine."

"Zuuuul"

I slammed the door.

"Who wants take-out?"

Author's Note:

I wonder who they should call?

Comments

[Fireeaters]

It's still pretty creepy, my guy

[ShadowSpectrumSwordtails]

You just couldn’t help making a ghostbusters reference could you? Also, are we going to have to expect a mature scene with Scootaloo and Shiro, and Applebloom and Big Mac?

[shirotora]

11530191
I'm not sure, yet. If it does happen, it won't be for some time.

[Seeking Dusk]

I mean, they need a new pet so.... xD

[RandomCommentor]

"Oh... I'm not sure how I feel about that. I guess you can't really say no to the gods."

Well, you can. Its just not a good idea.