Joseph's Journal
-CHAPTER ONE-
..Joseph's Journal..
Ponyville, Equestria; January 19, 2017 (3:17am)
A large and glowing green 7; the foot of the seven was right in front of the purple unicorn, only about ten feet away. The head of the seven was more than one hundred feet away from the unicorn. Her confused face was illuminated by the light that the number emitted. Twilight Sparkle looked around. “What is this?” she asked, backing away. She faced the seven, squinting to see across it. She spotted the silhouette of a... pony? Yes, it was definitely a pony, standing at the far end of the seven. A clear male voice spoke from the stallion, “Accept… accept me... please?"
Twilight woke with a start, shaking her head groggily. The recurring dream was very irritating; she had been having it periodically for years. She was in her library and had fallen asleep on the floor, a few books scattered in front of her. One of her late-night studies... and she fell asleep… again. I need to drink more coffee, thought Twilight. She looked down wearily at the book she had rested her head on.
The book was unfamiliar... wait no, that’s right, she remembered now; Rainbow Dash found this book in her mail box and with no return address. She didn't feel like reading it (seems Rainbow will only read Daring Do) so she handed it over to Twilight earlier that day so she could figure out what it was about. It was old and covered in leather binding with crackling yellow pages. The book glowed purple as she closed it with her magic to put it back onto the bookshelf when the cover caught her eye again. The cover had a little green star with golden wings centered on the bottom and at the top was golden and scribbled text, reading Elements of Harmony. A single large green number covered the rest of the book’s leather cover; 7.
Joseph R. Harris JOURNAL 8 YEARS AGO (Earth)…
September 9, 2009
I grew up in a small town in Florida, and didn’t talk to people with the exception of my brother and parents. I was mute until one day when I was seven and my dad had brought me to a flight simulator at an Air Force training base. When I started the simulation, I noticed a recruiter had walked up to watch me and while I was flying, I had started talking to him. I remember landing the plane safely and turning around to see me parents’ shocked faces.
I always liked the idea of flying through the sunny Florida skies with large, feathered wings. It is a bit far-fetched now that I think about it, but I was only a little kid at the time. I grew up in a military family; my dad was in the Air Force before he transitioned to the Army. They used to call him “High-speed” and it stuck with him into the Army. He wasn’t home much but when he was, he was actually a great father.
After I joined middle school, the music teacher saw me walking through the hallway and tried to convince me to join band. I was reluctant but after continuous and thorough persuasion, he convinced me to join. The band in where I learned how to play stringed instruments, the piano and the trombone. I could only play one wind instrument; I was never good with them. I was actually better at singing and percussion based instruments, although I didn’t really plan to use singing or any other music in my career; it was only a hobby. Also, I have been trying to persuade my parents to go to Australia but they wont listen… I’ve always wanted to go.
I am in 8th grade right now and 13 years old. My brother, Mark, made me write in this thing. –Joseph H.
October 12, 2011
My name is Joseph Randy Harris and I am currently 15 years old. I am still in band and I decided to write in this journal because I got bored. I also like the television series My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic now. You see, I was on YouTube, looking up videos of planes reaching and breaking the sound barrier. When I searched the phrase ‘sonic boom’, I scrolled down and my phone accidentally selected a video captioned ‘Sonic Rainboom’ and because I've never heard of it before, I watched it. It got me curious so I looked in the related videos and saw it was a clip from the show, so I started watching from the beginning and it is a GREAT show. Apparently guys who like the show are called bronies which is a combination of the words 'bro' and 'pony'.
April 17, 2013
Wow, I forgot about this journal. I found it when my older brother Mark tipped over my dresser. I must have hidden it there. Well anyway, I was forced by him to tell my family about me being a brony. They really didn’t care much so I don’t mind. Rainbow Dash is now my favorite character… well actually she’s been my favorite from the beginning. The others are equally my second favorite which a couple of my brony friends say is odd but oh well. Something happened last night; I had a dream that I was sitting at the head of a giant seven and was asking someone to accept me. I don't know why I would ask for someone to accept me... anyway what was even weirder was the fact that I saw six people... except they weren't people. They were the mane six from My Little Pony. They were spaced evenly, spread in front of me; from left to right it was Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy... they all had the same confused expression. I’ve seen that in dreams before, when I was a small child which is odd because Friendship is Magic didn't exist at the time so It gives me an odd feeling.
Meanwhile in Ponyville (3:17pm)
Rainbow Dash was flying through the air, practicing her signature moves above a hill near the outskirts of Ponyville. While she did this, Pinkie Pie was sitting below, watching her cyan friend maneuver through the clouds. Twilight walked up the hill to watch Rainbow Dash with her.
"Hi Twilight!" Exclaimed Pinkie, greeting her friend with a bright smile.
"Hey, Pinkie.." Twilight replied, yawning and forcing a tired smile.
“You okay Twilight?” Asked the pink pony, raising a concerned brow.
“I’m fine, Pinkie. Just had a bad night.”
It was true, she could not sleep very much, for when she finally went to sleep, a disturbingly familiar dream had entered her mind. She had a dream that there was a large green seven on the ground with her at the foot, and with a stallion at the head. She could barely make out the wings on his back as he asked her to accept him. She didn't know who it was, but the voice seemed familiar, like a childhood memory. She might have had this dream before but she was currently too tired to remember. She looked up at Rainbow Dash. Was it just her or did Rainbow look tired as well? Oh well, Twilight thought, probably just imagining it...
Journal
June 27, 2013
It’s my birthday today, turned 17. Didn’t really get anything but I’m fine with it. I’m graduating in a year and I know that my senior year is going to be easy, so I’m ready for it. I started training for the Air Force but Dad won’t tell me anything about the Air Force. I heard of an Air Force Special Operations unit, it seems interesting… I’ve also been thinking about mechanics lately. I have designed some new flying machines but I don’t know if they would work.
June 15, 2014
I graduated last night. I haven’t written in this thing for a long while, but I have been busy. I have built this little machine that can fly into the air using a propeller and after it reached a certain altitude, the propeller then falls off and the machine goes into a nose-dive and pulls up at the last minute by shooting off and reading high-frequency noises. I have even figured out this machine that can reduce Gs forced on a human’s neck and brain. I’m also joining the Air Force next week.
June 24, 2014
Joined the Air Force today and MEPS (military entrance processing station) was interesting. I can’t wait to go to Airmen Training and start flying, I wonder what my nickname will be... I’m going to see if I can make a fighter-jet version of Rainbow Dash’s tricks from the earlier seasons, with the exception of the Buccaneer Blaze of course; they didn’t really show it so yeah. The sonic rainboom would be cool to learn but I think humans can only break the sound barrier, not make colors in the process.
November 1, 2014
I got my ship-date! I just got done with the college today and I am going to BCT next month. I had the dream again last night.
Meanwhile in Ponyville (11:21pm)
Walking home from one of Pinkie's random parties, Fluttershy was deep in thought. She was glad that the party was able to get the dream out of her head; the same dream she has been having for half a year.
When she arrived at her cottage, she walked in, wished Angel a good night, walked up stairs and went to bed.
She was too tired to worry, she just closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Journal
December 23, 2014
I am in the middle of basic right now, MLP has been helping me through after a friend of mine died; it’s a long story. I’ve also been having the dream again. I have had it several times since I got here… and each time, I take a small step closer and staying there for a few more dreams, I ask for them to accept me. Anyway, I should get some sleep.
Meanwhile in Ponyville (6:39pm)
Rarity was sitting at a desk, working on an order from Lyra who had a formal concert the following night in Canterlot. Lyra had ordered a mint-green and white dress (although Rarity instead chose a shining silver, for she thought it would look better), with a gold lyre design. She wasn’t very specific about how she wanted the design.
"I want it green and white like my mane," she said, flipping her main to show Rarity with a grin, "I also want it to have a Lyre somewhere on it,” pointing her hoof to emphasize.
Rarity was glad with work here lately. Her clients never really cared about the details, but it let her use her imagination, creativity, and personal touch. It was a good opportunity for bigger and more important figures in fashion to notice her, even though not many have popped up after Hoity Toity… with the exception of Photo Finish who had been interested in her attire but in the end completely ignored her and basically forced her friend Fluttershy to become a model.
While deep in thought, she absentmindedly grabbed the wrong shade of green, choosing a slightly darker green. She hesitated and stared at the marker.
This color…, thought Rarity as she laid her tired head on her hoof, supporting her foreleg with the desk’s clean surface. She turned the marker in her hand, staring at it further. She took it and drew a seven on a separate sheet of paper. The same thing she had seen in her dreams… and that stallion she saw moving closer with every few of the same dream. His lost voice played back in her head, Accept… accept me... Please? A shiver rolled down her spine. She didn’t know what the recurring dream meant… She just wished it would go away…
Journal
March 3, 2015
I’m done with Basic and flight school as of yesterday; I got my wings. My buddies from training want to get me to join a flying group that they made which is a bit like the Blue Angels but I don’t know; don’t have the money right now for a plane, let alone a fighter-jet. The dream has been coming once a week now.
March 18, 2015
My buddies, Johnny “Hype” Ford and Fred “Streaks” Anderson are the guys who wanted me to join their flying group. They actually bought me a fighter jet; it’s green with a grey stripe running along the sides and down the wings. We’re re-painting it so it fits into the group colors so I’m excited. John and Frey started calling me Jet Stream after I was offered a job with the Special Operation Command. The commanding officer even called me “the best in my unit”. I went ahead and accepted it.
April 20, 2015
Streaks and Hype were offered the job too apparently; they joined as well. We are getting deployed later to Canada this week, although they won’t tell me what for. The dream has still been occurring once a week.
Meanwhile in Ponyville (7:24pm)
Mr. and Mrs. Cake were off in Canterlot to help Pony Joe with a very large donut order from the Gryphon lands in the north, so Pinkie was at the shop by her self, taking care of the few orders while also taking care of Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake.
After closing the bakery, Pinkie turned the 'open' sign to 'closed' and went to the babies’ room. Inside, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake were sound asleep so Pinkie went to her room and lay down in her bed.
The usually hyper pony was strung out after a long day of hyperactive babies and baking but she was a bit scared to fall asleep. She was used to weird dreams, but never recurring ones… especially ones that happened once a week. The dream started to play back in her mind but she shook her head to keep it from invading her thoughts.
Regardless of her worries, Pinkie slowly closed her tired eyes and went to sleep.
Journal
January 20, 2016
I have been deployed for almost a year. I don’t know where I am; just somewhere in Eastern Canada, near Toronto. I woke up to a large hole in my cabin's wall and neither of my men in sight. I will have to leave this place and dispose of this book. This is my last entry, for I have to leave and I don't want anything in this book to give me away or tie me to any locations of which I will be hiding. I am Airmen First Class Joseph "Jet-Stream" Harris of the United Stated Air Force Special Operations Command, good bye.
Rainbows and Fighter Jets
-Chapter Two-
..Rainbows and Fighter Jets..
Joseph threw the book in a small fire place. He looked around the dusty room, which was missing a large portion of wall next to the door. A small bed was pushed headfirst into a corner, the length of the bed placed alongside the longest section of wall… or what was left of it.
Pieces of shale, brick and dust that littered the floor crunched as Joseph stepped out into the cool, Canadian where two other brick cabins (or at least a few remnants of what was; walls and trashed beds) were stationed on either side of his, forming a straight line that spread across the top of a tall hill. Joseph looked out to see snow covered Canadian forests layed out onto large, rolling hills. He went back into the room, grabbed a large green duffel bag, slung it over his shoulder and left the journal to burn in that cold dusty building.
Joseph didn’t remember why he was stationed in Canada, of all places; he always thought Canada was more neutral and harmless. He started to trudge down the hill as the snow crunched beneath his feet and he suddenly lost his footing, sliding down the hill. He ran his leg into a fir tree and dropped his bag. When he recovered, Joseph noticed something; a note written on the duffel bag done in black marker. It read,
“Jet,
John and I had to leave; don’t worry, we are going to Toronto. Don’t follow us and get out of the country. They will be after you. -Your Wingmen, Hype and Streaks”
Joseph put the duffle bag on the ground as he sat back on the side of the hill. John and Fred left me here with no clues of what was going on except for the word “they”. Who is they and why would they be after me?
Oh well… Joseph stood up and kept moving as the cold, crisp air bit at his flesh and seeped through his clothes. Joseph knew where to go. It was where he had wanted to go all his life but could never find an excuse… this seemed like a good excuse. Joseph searched his bag and found a compass. He put the compass away as soon as he got the feel of the directions, turned on his heel and headed west. I’m going to Australia.
One year later (present day). January 18, 2017. 1609hrs. Sydney, Australia; Warehouse 265
Joseph was currently 20 years of age and was also used to the “7” dream by now… it has been happening once a day.
Joseph Harris, wearing a white lab coat with jeans and a black shirt beneath, stood in the middle of the large, dimly lit warehouse with a bed in one corner, a white rectangular table which was parallel to the wall, and an odd suit in the middle which was on a special stand. He was staring at the suit which had no legs, but a metal board with what looked like foot holes. It had two large shining black wings, shining arm sleeves and an odd thick-necked head, but no head. It was a suit used to fly without hollow bones, therefore not having to suck any marrow out (which was a much less painful alternative). The neck’s thickness was due to a G-depressing device which would mean being able to accomplish aerial maneuvers without dying from a red-out which is like a black-out but caused by too much blood to the brain instead of not enough.
Joseph walked over to a table behind him which sat between the machine and the wall; it held a large jar of rainbow colored glowing liquid and a complex but small machine. The liquid shifted colors in constant waves. He had figured out how to do the sonic rain-boom; it can be done with a highly radioactive material that is lightly rubbed on the machine, but never on the skin. He doesn’t know what it would do, but he didn’t want to find out. Joseph never really did the sonic rainboom though, for it was only a theory. He had to construct the material his self with a machine that can re-arrange the molecular structures of different substances. It reacts to the air under the pressure that occurs during a sonic boom… or at least that’s what Joseph believed.
An odd feeling washed over Joseph so he ran to the machine as a large hole was blown through the wall behind the table and a four-man squad ran in, pointing rifles at Joseph’s head. Pieces of debris and large chunks of brick flew across the room. They were too slow, Joseph was already in his suit. He grabbed the wings’ handles and used the wings as armor as he ran through the men to the hole in the wall. Joseph jumped on the table but slipped, splashing the radioactive material on his legs where he felt a burning sensation. The liquid sprayed across the suit as he recovered and jumped off, spreading his wings and flying over the baffled men’s heads. Joseph spiraled upwards to gain air and flew off.
He climbed higher and higher until He felt the altitude getting to me. Joseph pressed a button on the left wing’s handle that activated the oxygen tank and continued to climb until he felt tingling on the back of his neck. Joseph dived just in time for a missile to miss him. He noticed it was a heat guided missile after it had turned around in mid-air. He continued into a nose dive, the air whipping his clothes. Joseph pressed another button on the handle to activate the G-depressing neck device as he plummeted down towards the earth, the missile following close behind. Joseph’s vision started to blur as he blinked tears out of his eyes. A tingling sensation pulsated over his skin as a cone formed around him, bending the air and light, caused by massive amounts of static and speed.
Joseph doubled in speed and heard the distinct sound of a sonic boom as he ripped through the sound barrier. shudders traveled through his suit and he heard a disturbing static sound coming from the g-depressor on his neck. The metallic black feathers shrieked in the wind as a few flew off, spiraling through the air. Joseph looked up over his shoulder to see the bright ring of fiery rainbow colors spread across the sky in a massive shockwave, causing the missile to detonate which shot hot shrapnel that whizzed past Joseph’s ear.
Car alarms sounded below and the Sydney people by the water started watching, amazed by the brilliant colors and explosion. Other passerby’s screamed, however, while windows shattered and the water below began to ripple and churn. Joseph pulled off an unnatural 90-degree turn just in time to avoid plunging into the water, and continued forward, a faint rainbow following him. The feeling was exhilarating.
Joseph looked over his shoulder again to see a jet following him above the water. He rose quickly into the air above the clouds to prepare for another rainboom, hoping that his gear wouldn't malfunction again. Joseph then darted back downwards by pulling back his wings and plummeted toward the water. Soon, he had the same feeling he had before. The cone formed around him for a second time, the electric tendrils playing around his face and wings. Joseph felt the cone condense and narrow right before he hit the water where he continued to speed up. The cone exploded but the rainboom’s colors only danced around him like fire and started to pulsate in a ball that surrounded him as the colors brightened and heated up, causing the water to churn.
There was a few moments of silence, except for the light hum of the fighter jet hovering above the water. The water started to churn and bubble, as if boiling, when the surface burst, sending Joseph flying out of the water and creating a small mushroom cloud explosion of rainbow colors and mist. Many of the citizens screamed and ran off when the colors burst through the sky and rammed into buildings by the water.
The shockwave knocked a few people down, but others continued watching intently. Any windows that were left unharmed were now shattered. Water splashed up onto the road, drenching people.
The Jet lunged to the side and flew out of control towards the squad of men who were now paralyzed by both fear and astonishment. Joseph turned around in the air, and sped to the squad of men, pushing them out of the way. The men flew like rag dolls as the jet crashed into his warehouse, causing half of the large stone building to cave in. The men were out cold so Joseph took the suit which was making more odd noises and sought out to find the jet plane in the wreckage that used to be his warehouse.
Earlier in Ponyville (January 17, 2012. 11:14am)
Rainbow Dash yawned and stretched her wings and legs as she walked out of her cloud home to check her mail, even though she never got much mail. She still checked, you know… just in case the Wonderbolts mail her about joining their team.
Excitement washed over Rainbow Dash as she saw something in the dark box. She pulled it out only to find an old book. She hung her head in disappointment and turned it to look at the cover. Her heart skipped a beat and her stomach did a flip as she saw what was on the cover.
Not even rushing inside to get her saddlebag, Rainbow Dash flew off of her cloud in the direction of Twilight’s library, holding the book in her mouth.
Alright. Gotta keep your cool, Dash, Thought Rainbow Dash as she knocked at the library’s door, careful not to seem too anticipating. Spike opened the door, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
“Oh, hey, Rainbow Dash. You here to see Twilight?” asked the small dragon, suddenly less lethargic.
“Yeah, Spike. Can you get her for me?” Rainbow accidentally dropped the book out of her mouth onto the dirt as she said this.
“Here, come on in. I’ll get her.”
Rainbow Dash picked the book back up and followed Spike into the library. He walked upstairs to get Twilight. Apparently she was still asleep. That’s odd, Thought Rainbow Dash. She’s usually awake earlier than this…
She heard Spike tell Twilight that Rainbow Dash was waiting for her downstairs, followed by incomprehensible but irritated mumbling.
Soon after, Spike walked down the stairs, followed by a weary-eyed Twilight.
“Hey, Rainbow,” said Twilight with a weary face. “What do you need?”
Rainbow Dash dropped a book in front of Twilight, face down.
“I found this book in my mail but I don’t feel like reading it. It seems too boring,” replied the cyan pegasus. Secretly, she was afraid to read it. She really did not know what was inside, the dreams were bad enough. Regardless of these feelings, she did not want Twilight or Spike to know of the dreams. Actually, she didn’t want anyone to know the dreams she has been having nearly every night… she didn’t want them to think she was actually afraid of a stupid dream… even though she was.
Twilight picked up the book and set it on a table by the wall.
“Okay Rainbow, I’ll read it later,” said Twilight, slightly irritated by her friend’s arrogance towards books.
“Kay, thanks Twi. I’ll see you later,” and with that, Rainbow Dash dashed out of the room, leaving a rainbow in her wake.
“What was that about,” asked Spike, raising an eyebrow as the rainbow faded.
“I don’t know, Spike,” said Twilight, yawning, “she’s unpredictable…” replied Twilight, walking to the kitchen to get breakfast.
Back on Earth…
The jet plane hadn’t been buried completely by the rubble of the warehouse; Joseph found it going through the back wall by the alley. The wall was collapsed and only the nose was exposed. He ran over to it to discover that it was only a drone. Irritated, Joseph went back outside to take the men’s weapons and throw them into the waters. When he was sure they had no more weapons, he started walking back into the alley to further inspect the drone. On the way there, something in the rubble caught his eye. He turned his head to see a small jar of the rainbow-tinted liquid. His legs burned as he remembered his accident inside. He picked it up and placed it in his lab coat.
When he approached the drone, he noticed the symbol for the Air Force Special Operations Control on the nose. It was the same unit he was in. “That’s odd…” said Joseph, rubbing the insignia with his hand. He shook his head in dismay. “Oh well.”
Joseph, with the jar still in his pocket, walked out of the alley towards the men who were still unconscious, looked over them to find that they weren’t waking up any time soon, and went to strap on the suit. Before he put it on, however, he noticed a red liquid shining off of the black metal near the arm socket joint. A sick feeling washed over him as he stared at the fresh blood. After mustering up the courage, he looked at the back of his right arm to find a gash. He noticed something dull gray in the wound.
Oh God, thought Joseph. I’m going to gave to dig that out, aren’t I… Joseph pulled out a pair of larger tweezers from a large pocked on the front of his white coat and carefully positioned it over the wound. Suddenly he lurched into the wound with his left hand, pulled the foreign object out, and threw it on the ground, along with the tweezers. Regardless of the accuracy of which he did the procedure, it still sent a few jolts of pain through his arm, shoulder, and side. After a bit of cursing, he bent over and picked up the gray object. It looked like a piece of shrapnel from the missile earlier.
“Damn shrapnel…” Joseph thought out loud. As he picked up the metal and placed it in his pocket. Might as well keep a souvenir from his first (and second) sonic rainboom… and his first missile injury. Joseph tore a piece of the white lab coat off and wrapped it around his wound. That should hold…
Joseph put on the mechanical suit, cringing in pain as he slipped his arm through the small metal sleeve, and turned it on by pressing a button which was hidden in a panel on the side of his neck. Thankfully, the machine had stopped making the odd noises. Joseph knew where he was to go, now that they had found him. He made sure the jar and the piece of metal was safe inside his pockets before running, flapping his metallic wings and taking off. He was going to Italy.
END OF CHAPTER TWO
-Chapter 3-
..Transformation..
The next day – Ponyville (2:42pm)
*knock* *knock*
“Can you get that, Spike?”
“Fine… Hey, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow Dash walked through the door into the library in which her close friend, Twilight Sparkle, lived and worked. Earlier that day, Pinkie Pie had told her that Twilight needed her in the library.
“Twilight’s looking for me?” asked Rainbow Dash as she walked in.
“Yeah, one sec.” Spike walked into another room and soon returned, followed by Twilight Sparkle who looked even more tired than the day before. They both sat down in the middle of the library as Spike walked into the kitchen after Twilight shot him a look.
“Rainbow, that book you gave me yesterday, are you positive that you don’t know who sent it to you?”
Rainbow’s heart skipped a beat.
“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash replied. Her mouth suddenly got dry.
Twilight sighed and got the book from the nearby shelf with her magic, setting it face-up between them
“Alright, if I can trust anyone with this, its you, Rainbow. I have been having this recurring dream for a couple of years. In this dream, this,” she pointed at the green seven with her hoof, “keeps popping up. The weird thing is, there is also a pony who asks for me to accept him. I don’t know what it means but this book has something to do with it.”
Rainbow Dash’s heart was beating furiously in her chest. Twilight was having the dream too? Maybe the others…
“Rainbow? Are you feeling okay?” inquired Twilight who had noticed the look of dread upon Rainbow Dash’s face. Rainbow hung her head.
“Twi, I have had that same dream… and I was afraid to read the book because of it.”
Twilight let out a giggle. Rainbow stared at her, confused and just a bit angry.
“Rainbow, look,” she opened to book to reveal a blank page. She kept turning the pages but they were all blank. Rainbow Dash stared, baffled.
“All of the pages are blank. Except this one…” Twilight flipped to a page placed directly in the middle which had an ellipse with seven different shapes in it. It was an atlas. Thin red lines connected some of the shapes.
“It looks like our planet but the continents are shaped differently and its apparently called Earth… and instead of names of places it just has the letters JRH. I don‘t know what it means, I stayed up all night trying to figure it out.” She flipped through the rest of the pages with her magic and noticed something on the inside of the back cover. A star with wings, much like the one on the front, was etched lightly against the hard leather.
“Hmm…”
“What is it?” inquired Rainbow Dash.
“Nothing…” Twilight stared at the winged star.
Rainbow Dash followed her friend’s gaze and stared at the star.
“What’s that?”
“I don’t really know. I have a hypothesis but…” Twilight trailed off in thought as Rainbow raised a brow.
“A hypo-what?”
“A hypothesis is a reasonable conclusion or an idea, Rainbow,” Twilight stated matter-of-factly.
“Okay? So what’s your idea?”
“It could represent an event, or an object but it also resembles… a cutie mark.”
Rainbow looked back to the star. Her eyes went wide.
“It does! But who’s?”
“I don’t know, Rainbow, but he has something to do with this book and the dreams. I need to send a letter to the princess about this; she might know something. Spike, take a letter.”
Earth (A week later)
Damn it! Stupid weather!
Joseph flew under the clouds and through the strong wind. It was typical storm-at-seas weather as he dodged a random bird.
Joseph was flying to Italy when he got side-tracked, and stopped at a few places in Australia and along Indonesia because he got either too hungry or too tired. Or both. Of course, this was because it took a lot of energy to fly (who knew). Anyway, Joseph had just left from some place in southern India called Madurai the previous morning. He was over the Arabian Sea right now about to touch down on an island called Socotra.
Joseph flew over a sailboat in which a fisherman was skillfully maneuvering his vessel through the churning waters. Joseph waved at him, catching the man off guard and almost plummeting into the water, trying to fly one-winged. A fish jumped out of the water, slapping The fisherman in the face just to land inside the boat and jump right back out. The dazed but again stable fisherman stared wearily at Joseph’s departing form as he continued to work the sails. When Joseph waved, he winced. Although mostly healed, the wound he got from the shrapnel of the missile still stung when he stressed the skin or muscle.
Anyway, this storm was horrible. The metallic feathers (which Joseph now regretted installing) were shrieking right in his ears as he flew through the shifting wind. It was perfect weather for hurricanes. Great, Joseph thought, just what I needed.
Joseph had gone through a few flight simulations before in which he had to maneuver a jet through shifting wind which was very difficult… but this, this was a challenge.
Suddenly, Joseph spotted a dark mass in the distance. There is was, Socotra; an island about the size of Puerto Rico which was off the coast of the Arabian peninsula and was actually part of Yemen. I was not very big, but that was actually a good, for larger islands are easier to track. He was only going to stay there for a few days, but its better to be safe than sorry.
The feathers screeched louder as Joseph beat his wings faster, trying to get to the island that was slowly approaching. Suddenly Joseph was pulled back by the wind, sending him off balance just for a gale force wind to burst into his back. The wind caught his wings and he flew forward, the wind propelling him full force. The island was approaching quickly. Suddenly, he was pushed up by another gust of wind, and then pushed down at a near forty-five degree angle.
When Joseph leveled out, he was right above the island, barely skimming the tree tops. Another gale force wind pushed propelled him straight toward black figure. Is that a barn?!
He pulled his wings up over his face to shield him as he collided. He heard splintering wood and bending metal followed by a scream. The last thing he saw was a worried and confused woman looking over him.
Ponyville
It was a surprisingly sunny day in Ponyville. The weather team had scheduled complete sunshine today, so there was not a cloud in the sky. Five ponies sat on a sheet which in turn lay on top of a small hill. Not far off in the distance, they could spot Ponyville.
On the quilt, Rainbow was putting on sunscreen just in case the sunlight was to seep through her cyan coat, Rarity was talking to Fluttershy, Applejack was chewing on a piece of hay, and Twilight was looking through her saddlebag.
“Where is that pony?” mumbled Twilight, her head still in her saddle bag.
As if on cue, Pinkie Pie trotted happily up the hill.
“Hey guysh! I vrot duh shnacks!” Pinkie shouted, her words muffled and distorted by a basket she carried in her mouth. The other five ponies, with the exception of Twilight, who was still searching her saddlebag, greeted her.
Pinkie sat down, placing the picnic basked in the middle of the quilt with a smile and tried again,
“I brought the snacks!”
“Yes, I found it!” Shouted Twilight, her head still in the bag. She pulled her head out, along with a leather book which she spat out onto the ground.
“Okay, I feel like I can trust you all with this,” said Twilight as she sat down. “After a long time of thinking it out, I figured it would be best to tell you,” Twilight said. Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack all gave her a worried look.
“What is it, Sugahcube?” asked Applejack. Twilight hesitated but after a moment she spoke,
“I have been having a recurring dream for a long time. I even went as far as talking to the Princess about it,” she hesitated again. “In the dream, there’s a large and green seven and another pony. A stallion. Now I know it sounds crazy but I think its important. I wanted to know if any of you have experienced anything similar.”
The other ponies exchanged looks except for Rainbow Dash who was now laying back with sunglasses on, sunbathing.
“Twi, I’ve been having that dream too,” said Applejack reluctantly.
“Me too,” said Pinkie gloomily.
Fluttershy kind of squeaked so Twilight assumed that was a ’me too’.
“I’m afraid I have been having that dream as well,” said Rarity.
Rainbow Dash just nodded, not really caring considering Twilight already knew she had the dream and vice versa.
“Wow… I didn’t think it was possible for six ponies to all have the same dream more than once,” remarked Twilight in wonder. “Well anyway, I wrote to Princess Celestia, and she replied almost instantly.”
Twilight levitated a scroll out of her bag and set it on the book. She opened the scroll and read,
“Dear Twilight, my faithful student,” Twilight began, “I understand why you would worry about this. I want you to go to your friends, see if they have had any similar dreams. If not, then reply when you can. If they have, however, then I want you to come to my castle so we can talk in person. Bring the others and book too. Your mentor, Princess Celestia of Equestria.”
Regardless of the darkness of the situation, Rarity brightened up at the realization that she had found an excuse to go to Canterlot. There was a long silence until Pinkie spoke up,
“Um… Book?”
“Oh sorry, this is the book the princess wanted me to bring,” Twilight levitated and showed them the cover.
“This book only has a one thing in it; one single picture,” she flipped it open to the atlas.
“it’s a map!” said Pinkie, beaming.
“it’s the world?” asked Fluttershy
“No, Its not our world, it another. Its called Earth.”
Earth; Same Day (6:23am)
Joseph opened his blue eyes and jumped up.
He had been laying on a makeshift straw bed. He looked around. He was in a barn, no doubt. The smell of hay and earth was strong. The barn had a hole on the right long wall where rain was blowing in through. Oops. He noticed the storm was still going and soon his memories came flooding back. He looked around for the girl. He looked down at his makeshift bed and saw the girl had fallen asleep beside it. Great. Just great. I probably scared the shit out of her. Ok time to leave before she wakes up.
Joseph grabbed for his wings but felt nothing. He face-palmed and looked around.
“This is just my luck,” he mumbled as he lifted a wheel barrel which was propped upside-down against the wall. He went to the darker end of the barn, farthest from the door, and saw something gleam.
“Ha!” he exclaimed triumphantly as he lifted the wings. A few missing feathers here and there and… a bad dent in the right wing. That’s going to take time to fix. The wings are still wet.
Wait… if the wings are wet, then why am I dry…
He felt his clothes and noticed they were not his. He searched around his wings and found a wet bundle. Joseph sighed, turned around to make sure she was asleep, undressed and put his clothes back on. Instantly he felt a stinging sensation all over his body.
“Shit!” Joseph yelled as he threw his clothes back off. The container of the radioactive material had broken and had seeped through all of his clothes. His skin was shimmering with rainbow colors. Great. Like the Twilight vampire except with rainbows…
Just when he thought things couldn’t possible go worse, he turned around to see the girl had woken up and was staring wide-eyed at his rather nude body. SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! OH FUCK!
Joseph quickly picked up the clothes he woke up in and covered his body. When he had his clothes on and was composed again, he turned to the girl. She was about his age, give or take two years. She looked like she worked on a farm (which would make sense considering she was in a barn) and was wearing overalls. She looked at him with curiosity.
“Um… Hello?” Joseph wasn’t sure if she spoke English. “My name is Joseph Harris from America. Do you speak English?”
She nodded.
“What is your name?” he asked.
“Jessica…” she spoke it in a southern American accent. That’s odd, she’s in Arabia. She shouldn’t have that accent… or that name for that matter.
“Where am I?” Joseph asked.
“Oh, you’re in Socotra.”
She glanced to his chest.
“What are you looking at?” Joseph asked, looking down at his chest.
“Nothing…”
Joseph raised a brow. This was going to be a long day.
Three days later
Okay so apparently Jessica Garner was American but had moved to Socotra to see her grandparents. Garner wasn’t an Arabic name. Her mother’s maiden name was Yaseen.
Jessica was in a barn on her grandparents land -which was oddly about twenty miles from their house- because the storm had prohibited her from going back to her hotel.
They were now back at the barn so Joseph could take off and leave. It was weird when Joseph caught Jessica looking at him with a fascinated expression plastered on her face. Anyway, the storm had moved north-west into Yemen of the Arabian Peninsula which was where Joseph was planning on going so he hadn’t seen the last of the storm. It was sunny here in Socotra, but It was time to leave. He put on the wings and felt a sharp pain in his shoulders.
“Gah!” he rubbed his back with his hand and felt something he shouldn‘t have felt. Joseph went pale.
“Jessica?” Joseph called. She was in the barn. She came out to see what he wanted.
“Yeah?”
“I need two mirrors,” Joseph was getting a bit hysterical now, tremors traveling through his body and his voice reflecting his state of mind.
“Um… one second.” She went back into the barn. Soon after she disappeared into the barn, Joseph heard a smash. She returned with two pieces of broken mirror about the size of larger pizza slices.
“Will these be ok?”
“Yeah, just come here,” replied Joseph. She walked up to him. “Hold it here” he helped her position one mirror with shaky hands. He took the other mirror and positioned it so he could look at his shoulders.
Sure enough, through the shaking reflection there sat were two gray feathery appendages about a foot long each. He moved them once in a slow flapping motion.
“Okay… I’m growing wings…” Joseph sat down on the now dry grass. “I’m growing wings…”
Joseph felt three things; fear, shock, and happiness. He was growing wings! He could fly now… like a bird. Or a pegasus… huh.
“Why didn’t you tell me about these?” Joseph tried to keep a calm voice.
“I thought you already knew..” She sounded genuinely sorry for him. Joseph took a deep breath to steady his voice.
“Oh well… Don’t worry about it…”
Jessica crouched down and put her arm around him to calm him, although he was actually composed now.
“Thanks Jess. Can I stay a bit longer? I need these things to grow.”
“Sure, you can stay as long as you need.” She was certainly kind.
During the next few days, Joseph went through some odd changes. First he noticed that these small soft grey hairs were sprouting all over his body. His whole body itched constantly; both the bones and the skin. His back really itched a lot, considering the wings‘ growth. In addition to this, he was constantly hungry and tired so he was in bed, lying on his side. He took some of the rainbow colored liquid and rubbed it on his body to speed up the process. It was relatively fine until one day later that week.
“Hey Joseph, how was your-” her words were cut off from her scream. What she saw disturbed her.
Joseph was an odd misshapen form. His jaw was protruding from his scull, his nose was starting to widen, his ears had shifted further up, his hair had grown more, and his eyes were slightly larger. His shoulders were narrower, his arms and legs were shorter and his hands were bunched into odd stumpy forms. Most of the fur had grown and he was even forming a tail which bunched up in a lump located at the back of his pants. It was a horrible sight. The only thing good was that his wings were slightly bigger, granted only having four feathers each. She tried to call an ambulance.
“No wait don’t!”
She looked at him dumbfounded.
“Trust me.”
The rest of that day, he was in agony. His body ached and his skin burned. Jessica stayed at his side and got him all the food and water he needed, which was a lot. His odd form and her normal form fell asleep together that night; Joseph on his side on the bed and her in a chair at his side.
The next morning
The dream for Joseph last night was different. He was now right in front of the mane six.
Joseph woke up the next morning with his sheets soaking wet from his sweat. Other then that, he felt really good. He decided to go get foot. He sat up, stretched, and rolled off the bed, the wooden floor thudding under his four hooves.
Wait...
HOOVES?!?!
“AGH!” Joseph yelled, staring down at his hooves. Jessica woke up and looked around. When she noticed him her eyes went large.
“YOU‘RE A CARTOON!!”
“I KNOW!!”
“YOU’RE A PONY!!”
“I KNOW!! I’M A PEGASUS!”
“I KNOW!!”
“OKAY WAIT! Wait! Just calm down. Deep breaths...” Joseph tried to calm down Jessica and of course himself.
When they were both calm, he looked up at her. He was about four feet tall, with a gray coat and blond hair. He had brilliant blue eyes.
“Okay… I got to go, Jess, and I need to go now. I really enjoyed your hospitality.”
All she did was nod as he ran out of the room. He came back in and asked her to pour the remainder of the rainbow liquid onto him. As soon as it had seeped into his coat, he ran out of the room.
When he left the hotel room, he ran down the hallway, bucked the glass door which shattered, and flew outside into the morning sky. His wings beating against the wind felt great. He turned around to go northwest.
Ponyville. Same day, same time. 12:23pm
Twilight, her friends, and Princess Celestia all sat in the same room that held stain glass windows depicting the mane six, as well as discord and the two princess sisters.
“Do you think you could fall asleep for me so I can see what it is you‘ve been dreaming?” asked the white alicorn.
The six mares nodded their heads.
It did not take long for them to fall asleep and as soon as they did, Princess Celestia cast a dream-peering spell. Twilight was right.
Celestia floated above the seven ponies and the seven. She flew over and tapped the mane six on the shoulders. They looked at the Princess then at each other.
They shifted their attention to the stallion who was standing only ten feet away. He walked up to them and sat down, looking at them, one at a time. Celestia watched intently.
“Hey my name is Pinkie!“
The other five followed Pinkie‘s example. Celestia, still watching from above, said nothing.
“What’s yours?” Pinkie was cheerful.
The stallion smiled.
“I am Jos-” he hesitated before speaking up again. “My name is Jet Stream.”
Celestia saw something she remembered Twilight mention; his cutie mark. It was a green star with golden wings.
Earth; One day later
Joseph flew through the air, happy as can be, over Saudi Arabia. Just yesterday it was sunny, but he was approaching a rain curtain. There it is… the hurricane. He flew toward it, not letting it worry him. He plunged into the rain and sped up, bursting through the shifting winds. He changed directing and flew up to the clouds. Joseph burst through the cloud layer and looked up at the sun which beamed back at him.
I wonder…
He lowered himself onto a cloud which did not give way. It felt nice, actually; soft and damp. He bucked it which in turn shot lightning.
“Ha!” Joseph was ecstatic at this phenomenon.
He burst down through the cloud layer to the earth’s surface. Not soon after he left the cloud, he felt the cone form around him as static electricity played through the air. He flew faster and faster as the cone narrowed, and exploded. The lightning from the clouds was attracted to the rainboom’s premature electricity which had previously danced around the pegasus, and a large bolt arched into the sonic rainboom, causing a shockwave so large that the hurricane was whipped into nothingness and the heat from the sudden sun and the rainboom dried up the rain before it could hit the earth. The shockwave picked up sand from the ground which rolled into a massive sandstorm, blowing towards Mecca. The rainboom spread across the sky, carrying some birds with it.
As soon as everything was done and over with, there was no sign of Joseph.
Ponyville. Same Time. Sky above Ponyville (east of Cloudsdale)
Joseph had his eyes squeezed shut as flew through the rest of the sky and almost hit the ground. He pulled up into a 90 degree angle and flew head-first into a tree. He slumped to the ground with a moan and looked around.
“This isn’t Saudi Arabia," Joseph said, still looking around.
He was in a familiar looking bog. A toad jumped out of the water and onto his forehead. He caught it with his hooves and looked at it. It looked like out of a cartoon.
“What the hell?”
He looked around further as the toad jumped back into the water, plashing away. It was all cartoons; the trees, the ferns.
Joseph tried to stand up but his legs gave out. He landed with a slap as his underbelly collided with the muddy ground of the swamp. The style of cartoon… then it hit him.
Okay… only one explanation. I am in the Everfree Forest.
END OF CHAPTER 3