Author's Note

Here it is........the chapter everyone's been waiting for..........Joey's life has finally turned to the light (No pun intended - his mom IS the one who controls the sun ) P.S. Read the spoiler alert at the bottom when you're finished. I can assure you it's not a spoiler.

An Unexpected Change

Every one looked at the princess in shock. "So.........that's why you've been acting differently?" Twilight asked Celestia. She nodded. "Not only do I want to be Joey's mother, there's a...........well, how do I put this? Spark! Yes, I felt a mother-son spark between us. Pinkie, I would like you to prepare a party." The others nodded understandingly. "First, I would like to know this boy better, before jumping to immediate conclusions. Shall we?" Celestia said, stepping out of the private room.

She summoned a guard. "Go and get Spike and Joey, then bring them back to my throne." She commanded. The guard bowed, then trotted off to complete his new task.

".............So that's how Game theory explained it. Makes so much sense, huh?" Joey asked Spike. The two were getting done with their tour, and Joey had explained the Five Nights at Freddy's series to him using Game Theory's theory. "Whoa....." said Spike. He was so into this game.

They were just chatting away when a guard trotted up to them. "Her highness requests your presence, sir." it said. Joey nodded. The guard motioned for them to follow. The two friends walked together. "So," said Spike, "What do you think about the princesses?" "They're way nicer than I thought they would be. They didn't treat me like I was different." Spike looked at him confusedly. "Which I am, but you know what I mean," Joey finished.

The guard escorted Joey and Spike into the throne room, where they found everyone smiling at Joey. Well, this is awkward, thought Joey. "Please, follow me," Celestia said to Joey. "Sister and I would like to know you better. The rest of you can stay here and make sure nothing happens to the castle." The others nodded, while Joey stuttered, "O-okay."

The two sisters led him down a back hallway until they were out of earshot of the others. "I want to start off by apologizing for what I said earlier that included your family. I didn't know that you lost them a while ago." Joey just nodded looking at the floor. How many more times would this come up today? It happened three times already!!

"You're forgiven. It's just a hard topic." "I would push it no further, young one," said Celestia. She had a motherly tone that actually helped him settle down. He brushed the thought away. There is no way that Celestia would take me in, thought Joey. It's absurd!!" Celstia then asked, "Mind telling us about yourself?"

"Well," started Joey, "I am a HUGE soccer fan. I play it and watch it. I made my high school varsity team with ease, and I scored a three goals in the state championship." Celestia and Luna were impressed. "So you are an active kind of person?" asked Celestia. "Ya," Joey replied, "I can hardly sit perfectly still, because I need to be doing something."

"So where are you from?" asked Luna. Joey replied, "I come from a country called the United States of America, or USA for short. I come from the state of Colorado, which is known for being half plains and half mountains. I like to climb mountains called 'fourteeners', which are mountains above 14,000 feet above sea level." Luna and Celestia asked in unison, "There are mountains that tall from where you come?" Joey smirked. "Yep," he replied. "I've climbed 11 of them." This boy is impressive, the sisters thought.

After a half hour of talking, they were finishing up. As the three were getting up, Celestia asked, "Joey, would you like to stay at the castle tonight? We have a spare room." Joey thought about it, then said, "Sure, if Twilight's okay with it." Celestia smiled, then said, "Just stay out of the dining room, okay, dear?" Joey snickered. "I totally forgot where that is," he said. "Then you don't have to worry," Celestia replied. Luna stepped out of the private room. "On to the spare bedroom, then!" she stated proudly.

The two princesses led him down a huge corridor with banners and stained glass windows clinging to the walls. Soon, they came up on a brass door with a silver handle. "This is where my nephew Cadence used to stay," said Celestia, "We took out all that girly wallpaper, but couldn't get the smell out." Joey opened the door, stepped in, and gagged. There smell of perfume was too strong! "Case in point," Celestia chuckled.

"Must......open........window!" Joey gasped desperately. When his hand found the latch, he swung the window open and stuck his head out. He let out an "aaaaaaahhh...." of relief. "Fresh air...." he muttered. Luna chuckled. "You might want to leave that open," she said smiling. Joey grinned sarcastically. "Yah, no kidding," he replied. Celestia cleared her throat. "Well," she said, "I'll let you get comfortable. I have big plans for tonight." Joey wanted to say something, but then decided against it. He didn't know what the outcome would be.

Then the two sisters walked way, leaving Joey to himself. He took a moment to take in the sights of the room. It was spacious, and had a blue silk bed in one corner. There was a small fountain in the center of the room, with a small statue of a majestic alicorn with long, wavy hair..........probably Celestia. There was a glossy wooden wardrobe in another corner, and a glossy semi-wooden table with a glass surface. There was also a big dresser off to his left, and another wardrobe.

Damn, this "Cadence" person...................

He found another door on the opposite side of the room as the entrance. It led to a spacious bathroom, with a large bathtub and toilet. Okay, thought Joey. Nothing more to see here. He plopped his backpack down on the bed. He then sat down on the bed. He sank in to the soft mattress.

He forgot suddenly that he left his door open. He got up and went out to close it. When he peeked his head out the door, he saw a stallion with a blond mane staring back at him in disgust. "Can I help you?" Joey asked, trying to be friendly.

The stallion's eyes went wide. He turned around and ran out of the room, screaming "Auntie! Auntie!". Joey thought it was sad, but at the same time a little bit amusing. "Hmm," he said to himself as he returned to his room.

Celestia was very excited, but very nervous at the same time. What if the child said no?

She pushed thought out of her head. After his reaction about the whole "family" thing earlier, why would he say no? It wouldn't make sense. She looked out to all the surprise party decorations. Celestia smiled. She would just hope for the best.

"Pinkie, this is perfect!" Celestia exclaimed, admiring Pinkie's handiwork (or hoofiwork ). Pinkie bounced over. "Thanks!" she squeaked. "Only the best for you!" Celestia chuckled at this. Ooh, I hope he says yes, Celestia thought.

Then Blueblood came running into the room. "Auntie!" he said, out of breath. "There's a wild ape in Cadence's old room!!!" Celestia's eyes grew with rage. He's a human, and he's our friend! You will never say stuff like that if you think you can be ruler some day. Go to your room!" Blueblood scampered off, fearing that he would be hurt if he didn't.

Joey was in his room, thinking about the dream from the train. What did it mean?? The words flashed in his mind. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, I WILL BE HERE FOR YOU. ALWAYS. Funny, now that he thought about it, the voice sounded just like Celestia's. What a coincidence. Did this dream have any significance? Was he going crazy?

Definitely the latter, he thought. He was in a magical world with magical talking ponies, of course he was going crazy. It would make his dreams crazy.

"Princess, the party is ready!!!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Good work, Pinkie!" Celestia replied. "Luna, did you send out the invitations to Cadence and Shining Armour?" Luna beamed and nodded. "How close are they to getting here?" asked Celestia. "Only a couple minutes," said Twilight proudly.

Then in walked Cadence and her husband. She and Twilight immediately ran to each other, chanting:

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!!" They finished with a hug.

"So, why are we here again?" Cadence asked, looking confused. "Is something wrong?" Pinkie floated by tied to a balloon. "Didn't Luna tell you! PARTY! ADOPTION PARTY!!!!" She said this with so much excitement that she actually fell to the floor with a thud. Everyone stared for a couple of moments, and then laughed a little.

"So you're finally getting a child, huh, Tia?" asked Cadence. "Girl or boy?" "Boy," Celestia said. "But he's a human." Cadence looked a little shocked t first, but then smiled again. "As long as your happy," Cadence chirped.

"Alright everyone. Places! I'll go get Joey," said Luna. "Joey?" asked Cadence, "Is that his name?" "Yes," replied Celestia. "Now hide!" she said with a big, happy smile.

Joey rubbed his temple. All that thinking earlier gave him a headache. Maybe he needed a drink of water. That was his mom's old way of curing headaches. Then again, she could diagnose anything and it would be correct. She was a family doctor. Of course she would know. Tears came to Joey's eyes. Now she's gone, he thought, and I couldn't do anything to save her. I am such a lousy-

Just then a knock came at the bedroom door. Joey quickly wiped away his tears and walked over to the door. He opened it, revealing Luna. "Come on," she said, smiling a little weirdly. "Tia and I have a surprise for you." Joey looked at her, considering what might happen, but just nodded. "Do I need my bag?" he asked inquisitively. "Nope," Luna responded. "Now come." She kneeled down. Joey just stood there confused. Luna just chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Hop on!" she said with a smile. Joey climbed on reluctantly. He looked out one of the small actual windows on the wall of the chamber. There were snowflakes!!!!

"Is it winter here?" asked Joey. Luna nodded. "In two days we will have our most popular holiday: Hearth's Warming Eve," she explained. She looked back at him, and he looked more confused than ever. "You don't celebrate Hearth's Warming?" asked Luna. The human shook his head. "The only winter holiday we have is Christmas. I come from a religion called Christianity, and we believe that a man named Jesus Christ came to save us from all the bad things we have done. Christmas celebrates his birth."

Luna nodded in understanding. "How do you celebrate?" she asked. "We cut down pine trees, put them in our house, and decorate them before the day comes. Then, on Christmas morning, we open gifts that are previously placed under the tree," Joey explained. "That is almost exactly a lot like our holiday. When you see the Hearth's Warming play, you will understand why we celebrate this holiday." Joey nodded.

Luna kneeled down, letting him off. She motioned toward the big golden doors leading into the common's room. Joey gripped the handle, then looked back at Luna with a confused look. She nodded for him to open the door. He slowly opened the door, peeking inside. It was very dark, and he couldn't see a thing.

Hmmm. Was it just him, or did Luna look......excited? Whatever. He took a couple of steps into the room, looking around. What was going on?

SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!

Joey fell backward as the lights were suddenly flicked on. He was startled and confused. He tried to say something, but all that came out was "Huh?"

Pinkie bounced over to him. "It's a PARTY, silly!!" she squeaked, bouncing around him. Joey was even more confused. "What for?" he asked. He saw Celestia walking over to him with a hopeful smile. Wow, this was fucking weird.

She put a hoof on his shoulder. "I was wondering...." she started. "If for now on, you would like to call me......mom."

Joey put a hand over his mouth as tears came to his eyes. He nodded, and ran up to Celestia, hugging her. Tears came to Celestia's eyes as well as she hugged him back. "Thank you," she whispered into Joey ear. Everyone cheered at what had just happened. Pinkie jumped up. "Now let's PAR-TAY!!" Everyone agreed, and Celestia and her new son released each other. As soon as Joey released her, he heard someone squeal in joy behind him.

"NEW COUSIN!" Cadence shouted as she tackled Joey in a crippling bear hug. "This is my nephew, Cadence," Celestia said with a smile. Joey couldn't respond because he couldn't breath. "K-k-kay..." he sputtered. Cadence released him. "He's adorable!!!!" she squealed. "In the pet way," Joey responded, "or the baby kind of way?" "In the COUSIN kind of way!!" she said, giving him another hug, although not as hard.

Celestia came over and nuzzled her new son, who still hadn't wrapped his mind around what just happened. "You ready to have some fun?" she asked. Joey shook all the dizziness out of his head. "Let's do it!" he said enthusiastically. Joey was in the best mood of his life.

First came pin the tail on the mare. "Do ya know how tah play?" asked Applejack. Joey nodded with a smile. "It's been a long time. In my world, we play pin the tail on the donkey." he said. He went first. Joey got two tries. The first time, he got the thigh of the mare. When he peeked out, he saw where he pinned the tail and started making suffering sounds, like he was stabbed in the leg himself. This made the others laugh.

On his second try, he didn't even try. He shouted "Rage!" in a joking manner, spinned around ten times, then THREW the tail. He fell over, making Celestia stop laughing. She rushed over. "Are you okay?" she asked nervously. Joey just smiled goofily. "Can you stop the room?" he said. "Cause I'd like to get off." she just chuckled and helped him to his feet.

After all the others went, they all had a massive pillow fight (which Joey started by whapping Spike in the face at random). Soon, they were all tired. It was time for dinner too. What a convenience.

The table was filled with all sorts of food (which a lot contained hay - it wasn't actually half bad). Pinkie would NOT stop talking. It was a blast. Joey had never expected this. Then he realized that his dream from the train kind of matched! Oy, more thinking. Just enjoy yourself for once, thought Joey. This was fun. Obviously.

Then Celestia and Luna led Joey to the throne room. There were a couple of guards that smiled at him. He smiled back. One of them held a paper and marched up to Celestia, who was now at her throne. "Come here," she said to Joey as she levetated him off the floor and over to her. She showed him what the paper said.

I, Princess Celestia,

Assume responsibility and care of this human child and promise to treat with the love and care a good family. Through good times and bad, calamities and peacefulness, I will love him forever and ever. I now decree myself mother of this new Prince,

Joey took a quill signed under 'Prince': Joseph. Celestia then signed her name and added 'Sol' at the end of 'Joseph'. That was it. They were officially mother and son. Luna and Celstia grabbed Joey, then sat in front of the camera. "Say 'family'!"exclaimed the cameraman. After the picture was taken, she wrapped Joey in her arms, kissing him on the forehead, and whispered these words into his hear:

"Welcome home, Joseph Sol. Welcome home."

But wait! That's not all!! There's more to come in the future! Merry Christmas everyone (or whstever you celebrate)