A Second Chance

Joshua looked out the window at the cloudy sky, Twilight was at a meeting in Canterlot but she was on her way home. Sipping his coffee Josh wondered what the meeting was about, he knew that the Summer Sun Celebration was coming up given all the posters around Ponyville but what else? Suddenly he heard a knock on the door, getting up he opened it and pleasantly found Twilight and Spike. "Hey you guys, how did it go?" He asked as they walked past him, Twilight levitated her saddle-bag and placed it on a chair. "Is everything alright? You seem a bit sad?" Joshua asked.

Twilight sighed and sat down, "Please, take a set." Twilight scooted over. "I have to tell you something."

Joshua sat down, "What is it?"

Twilight looked away from Josh, "I don't know how to say this, so guess I'll just say it." Twilight looked at Joshua. "This is going to be hard to hear but......" Twilight hesitated.

Joshua reached out and put a hand on Twilight's shoulder, "Hey, you can tell me anything." Josh tried to reassure Twilight. "You know that......"

"I can't get you home...." Twilight interrupted Joshua, this news caused him to reel back and his face changed.

"What?" Josh said.

"Just a few days after you first woke up in the hospital, I began researching alternate realities. I couldn't find much but I did find a tale of ancient spell, but it's an old tale and I don't even know how to start looking. I asked the princess's about it during my meeting with them, but they couldn't tell me anything." Twilight said, she saw Joshua sitting back and she could she nothing but defeat in his eyes. "Even if I could find it, everything I read about it said that it was very specific."

Joshua looked up in confusion, "What do you mean by ''specific?" He asked.

"From what I can tell, if you wanted to use it to travel to a different universe you would need to know every detail or you could end up in a mirror universe with a completely different history. Even if we could find the spell, if it was real it would be too risky and dangerous to use. I'm sorry." Twilight finished with a sigh.

Joshua didn't know how to respond, he was just told he could never go home. "Twilight......I don't know how to react."

"If you need some time, I can go out and let you have the day to yourself." Twilight said.

"Maybe but, I would prefer talking to someone." Josh said looking outside, "Maybe Pinkie can throw me a "Sorry you are stuck here but at least you have friends" party?" Josh said jokingly trying to cheer himself up.

"Hey, will you be alright?" Twilight asked her friend.

"Yeah, just going to take some time to adjust." Josh said looking outside, "I mean I have been here for a while now but it has always been with the thought that I could go home one day. But now I need to try and accept my fate. Welp, guessing finding a girlfriend anytime soon is out of the question?" Josh said with a nervous laugh.

"Well a cheer up party doesn't sound like that bad of an idea, I probably could arrange something if you would like." Twilight said, now standing up.

"You know what, that wouldn't be a bad idea." Joshua said, standing up as well.

"Great, I'll go get everything prepared. You just relax, maybe you could go to the spa? Or grab some food. Or anything, I'm sure Pinkie is fine with a spur of a moment cheer up party and if you are going to stay here best to meet some more ponies." Twilight said floating a bag towards him, "You can borrow some bits, you can pay me back later."

"Thanks Twilight, I appreciate it." Joshua said as he headed towards the front door.

"Going out already?" Twilight asked.

"Well, best explore the rest of the town I just never had the chance too yet." Joshua said opening the door, "Catch you on the flip side Twilight."

Josh walked down a rather crowded street in Ponyville, he was thinking of ways to meet some new people. Or rather new ponies, going to take him awhile to get used to this new permanent home. He had some ideas but nothing much, maybe he could try joining some sort of club or go to an event. He was interrupted by his stomach who informed him that it was time for a snack. Walking towards a nearby food stand he bought something called a "chimicherrychanga" and sat down on one of the small tables set up for customers. As he ate his food he noticed a beige pony with a blue and pink mane approaching the stand , however instead of ordering food she walked towards him. "uh, hey?" Josh said to the pony who looked at him.

"Joshua hill right?" She asked.

"Yep, can I help you?" He responded.

"My name is Sweetie Drops, but my friends call me Bon Bon." She said, offering a hoof.

Josh shook her hoof, "Well Sweetie Drops, what can I do for you?" He asked, still not knowing what she wanted.

"My friend Lyra has taken an interest in you but has insisted on watching from afar and not saying anything." Sweetie Drops said now pointing at a bush behind her.

Looking behind her, Joshua saw a bush with a pair of binoculars poking out of it. Once whoever was in the bush noticed the binoculars quickly retreated back into the bush. The bush then shook a bit before a Magic Mint colored unicorn stepped out and began nervously walking towards Joshua.

"Hello!" She said standing in front of Joshua, "My names Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings!"

"How long have you been following me?" Josh asked, he noticed Lyra looking around nervously.

"Well.......you see....." Lyra tried to make an excuse before Sweetie Drops moved in in front of her.

"About two weeks now." Lyra blushed in embarrassment as Sweetie Drops said this, "I tried to tell her that she could probably just talk to you but she insisted that wouldn't work."

"Well it would have, and been less creepy." Josh said, "So what you need Lyra?"

"What do you mean?" Lyra asked.

"Well lets see, you have been following me around for a week so you must want something" Josh bluntly said.

"So you're not mad?" Lyra asked, a confused look on her face.

"lucky for you, can't really be mad right now." Josh said with a sigh.

"Well why not?" Sweetie Drops asked.

"Well you see, as you know I'm not from around here." Joshua said looking down at the ground, "And sadly it seems i'm here to stay because Twilight told me she can't get me back home."

"awww, you poor thing" Sweetie Drops said.

"Save your pity for the pity party." Joshua said, "I need to try and stay positive because now I need to make some new friends and being gloomy probably won't help."

"hmmmm" Lyra thought before an idea quickly popped into her head, "I got it! You can hang out with us!"

"What?" Joshua asked.

"You know follow us, we can help you meet some new ponies." Lyra said, "Plus I can find out more about you" She mumbled under her breath.

"I heard that," Josh said before letting out a heavy sigh, "but I don't have anything better to do right now." Josh said throwing out his food wrapper.

"Great!" Sweetie Drops said, walking beside Josh. "This will be great just you see!"

"Alright, whatever you say Sweetie Drops." Josh said as they began walking.

"You can call me Bon Bon, and consider me your first new friend of today!" Bon Bon said enthusiastically.

"And I'll be number two!" Lyra chimed in.

"Oh you are a number two alright." Josh said slyly.

"So what do you do?" Bon Bon asked, as the waiter placed the trio's drinks. They had moved to a small cafe and they began discussing different things about Joshua.

"Like in my spare time?" Joshua asked, picking up his coffee, "Or more like hobbies?"

"You know like reading, writing, singing, all that kinda stuff" Bon Bon responded, taking a sip of her tea.

"Well I guess I have been reading a lot more since I have arrived here, and I do enjoy things like walking in the park." Joshua replied, he wondered why he was basically being interviewed.

"I got one!" Lyra chimed in, "How do you feel about ponies?"

"Pardon?" Joshua questioned.

"You know...." Lyra cooed with a slight giggle, "Romantically?"

Joshua nearly spat out his coffee at this, "Are you trying to find me a girlfriend or something!?" He snapped back.

"No, just curious." Lyra said sipping her french vanilla, "Plus you can't expect me to believe you haven't thought about it at all."

"How about we go back to try and meet new ponies and drop this?" Josh said rather annoyed.

"Someones getting defensive." Lyra said, as Bon Bon nudged her.

"Knock it off Lyra." Bon Bon turned to Josh, "Sorry, Lyra is just making jokes."

"It's fine, but really is this necessary? I mean is there not a place I could go to meet people?" Joshua said, finishing his coffee. "Or introduce me to some of your friends?" He said.

"Well, I could introduce you to my friend Octavia." Lyra said as levitating her empty cup into a nearby trash can, "But I don't really know what you would have in common."

"Better then nothing." Josh said now standing up, "Lead the way."

Lyra led the way as Bon Bon walked next to her, Joshua followed behind them and let himself get lost in thought. He looked down every once in a while to make sure he hadn't lost the two mares. Everything was normal until he heard Bon Bon Scream.

"JOSHUA DUCK!" She yelled out, catching Josh's attention but only long enough for him to catch a glimpse of the Gray blur in front of him before it slammed into him.

Joshua let out a grunt as he fell down, landing on the ground with the thing on him he tried to feel what he presumed was thrown at him. However when he felt the mass on top of him, he found it to be softer than he was expecting. Opening his eyes which had reflexively closed he saw nothing but grey. Slowly the thing moved off him, and as he picked himself up he saw what or rather who had hit him. It was a gray coated Pegasus with yellow eyes and a blonde mane, he also noticed her cutie mark was seemingly just bubbles.

"Oh no, I'm sorry mister!" She spoke as she stood up.

Joshua rubbed the back of his head, "It's alright, i'm sure it was an accident." he looked at the pony who now looked at him. he noticed her expression change from embarrassment to shock.

"You're the human who lives with Twilight!" She blurted out, as she ran in front of him. "I'm really sorry, please don't be mad."

"It's alright, really." Josh said he was taken aback by this. "Why would I automatically be mad?"

"Well some ponies are, and I don't know you so I didn't think you would understand I'm not that good of a flyer." She said.

"Well it's alright, anyway what's your name?" Josh asked, trying to change the mood to something more friendly.

"My name is Derpy." The Pegasus said.

"Derpy huh, well my names Josh" Josh offered a hand, "Nice to meet you."

Derpy looked at Josh confused, "What? I'm just offering a han.....err "Hoof" shake." Josh said.

"Oh!" Derpy realized and shook Josh's hand.

"So what's got you in such a rush?" Josh asked.

"Well you see, I'm a mailmare and I got to pick up and deliver a huge package." Derpy said, "I think it's for a party at Golden Oaks."

"Oh, well best let you get to it then." Josh said as he moved out of Derpy's way, "It was nice to meet you, maybe I'll catch you later."

"Bye Mister!" Derpy waved goodbye to Josh as she flew off.

As she flew away, Lyra slapped Joshua on the back. "Well, well, well." She said, "Looks like someone is better at making friends then they think."

"Or they are just overthinking how hard it is to make some." Bon Bon said, "Now can we hurry up and get back to meeting Octavia?"

"Alright, let's get back on track." Josh said as he began walking, followed shortly by Lyra and Bon Bon.

"So what exactly is Octavia like?" Josh questioned as he, Lyra and Bon Bon approached a house with what seemed like a record on it, he could hear some music but it was like a mix of Classical and Techno.

"I guess I would say, Posh and quiet." Lyra said as she knocked on the door, "But I'm sure you can find something in common."

As she knocked, the music got quieter. Then the door opened, and Josh saw a white coated Unicorn with a mix of a darkish blue and cyan.

"Hey Vinyl!" Lyra said, "Is Octavia here?"

The Unicorn nodded and looked to her right, "Yo Octavia! You got some visitors!"

"Who is it?" Josh heard a female voice call out, it had a rather British like accent.

"Lyra, Bon Bon and....." Vinyl took notice of Josh and scanned him, "Octavia, you are not going to believe this."

Josh heard someone walking towards the door, "Believe what?" A pony said as they walked in front of the door. She had a darkish gray coat with black hair.

"Oh my, it's him." She said, clearing her throat. "Why hello Joshua, I am Octavia Melody."

"You know me?" Josh asked.

"Why of course I do, lots of ponies know about you ever since that brawl you had with Trixie." Octavia replied, "I hear a lot about you from a bunch of ponies."

"Really? I didn't think I would be talked about for more than a week." Joshua said.

"So what brings you here?" Octavia asked.

"That would be me." Lyra said, "How's it going Octavia?"

"Hello Lyra, things are good." Octavia replied, "Now how can I help you?"

"Well I was helping out my good friend Joshua meet some ponies, I was wondering if you would want to maybe meet him?" Lyra said, as she gestured to Josh.

"I'm afraid you caught me at a bad time, I'm practicing for a performance at the Summer Sun Celebration and I do not have the time." Octavia said, "Maybe another time."

Octavia waved them off and the trio went on their way.

"Well now what?" Josh asked, as they walked aimlessly down the road.

"I don't know, that was kinda my whole plan" Lyra said, turning to Bon Bon. "You got any idea?" she asked.

"hmmm, have you met the cakes?" Bon Bon asked Josh.

"I don't think so, they own Sugar Cube Corner right?" Josh said.

"Yeah, why don't we introduce you to them?" Bon Bon said, "Maybe we could even get you a job." she jokingly added.

"You know, that doesn't seem like a terrible idea." Josh said, "But let's make it quick, I should be heading back home soon."

"Then let's hurry." Lyra said, as she broke out into a sprint.

"So it's a race huh?" Josh said as he soon joined.

"Hey wait up!" Bon Bon yelled as she also picked up the pace.

Joshua was managing to keep up with the two mares, but boy they could run. As they ran through the street Josh was reminded of back home when he and Nathan had decided to run from the Train station to home. Then he remembered other times he raced his friends when they were just walking around. Then more time with his friends, then his family, then......

"Hey!" Lyra shouted out snapping Josh back to reality.

"You okay?" Bon Bon asked, "You sorta, blanked out." She said, as they continued running.

"Yeah, I'm good." Josh answered.

"Well I hope so cause were here." Lyra said coming to a stop.

"Guys, I don't know about this." Josh said, "I think I'm going to head back to Golden Oaks."

"Aww common, we just go here" Lyra said.

"Yeah, is something up?" Bon Bon asked.

"I'm just feeling a little tired today, and besides I'm sure Twilight is worrying about me." Josh said has he turned and waved goodbye, "Catch you two later."

"Now you hold it right there." Lyra said using her magic to stop Josh, "We aren't stupid, we know when someone is lying."

Josh waved her magic off, "It's nothing." He began walking away. "I'm heading to Golden Oaks, you can follow me but I'm not stopping."

"Joshua, what's wrong?" Bon Bon asked trotting up next to him, "You seemed to be having such a good time, why are you heading home?"

"No I'm not." Josh said as he continued to walk.

Bon Bon was confused by this, "What do you mean? Golden Oaks is your home."

"No, it's not." Josh said.

"What do you mean? Please just tell us what's wrong." Bon Bon said running behind Josh and grabbing his arm."

"This is not my home, that is what's wrong!" Josh yelled at Bon Bon as he turned and pulled his arm away, catching the attention of some nearby ponies.

Bon Bon moved back shocked before regaining her composer, "Well excuse me, for being a concerned friend." She walked towards Lyra. Josh looked at her and Lyra who now looked a bit angry and shocked.

"Maybe it is best if you go." Lyra said, rather angry.

Josh turned and angrily walked off, it was only as he got further away as the impact at what he done reached his head. Face palming, he began cursing under his breath as he reached Golden Oaks. Opening the Door he was met by confetti.

"SURPRISE!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she ran in front of him, "And Just in time, we were about to send Rainbow out to get you!"

Oh right, the party, Josh put on a fake smile. "Thanks...." He said, Looking around the room he saw it was just the mane six, scanning the room he noticed the cake in the middle. It read "Welcome to your new home!" in blue frosting.

"I hope you like it!" Twilight said, "I know it may be much considering I just told you the news but...." Twilight was interrupted by Joshua storming past her, marching past everyone and ignoring everything he headed upstairs and with a loud slam he closed himself off in his room.

"You know, I'm starting to think he doesn't like parties." Pinkie said.

"uhhh....Twilight, what was that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I have no idea." Twilight said, she didn't know why Josh just ignored them but she knew it wasn't good. "I'll go check on him, you girls stay down here." Twilight began walking upstairs, approaching Josh's room she knocked. She didn't get a response so she slowly opened the door, "Joshua? Is everything alright?" Twilight walked in, she saw Joshua laying face down on the bed. Slowly walking towards him she sat herself next to him, "Hey, it's alright if something wrong you can tell me." She put a hoof on his back causing him to look up.

"Oh Twilight..." Josh shifted to sit up, he rubbed his eye a bit. "Sorry I didn't notice you....."

Twilight hushed him, "Something is wrong, I can tell." Twilight put a hoof on his hand, "And I want to know what it is."

Josh looked away, he knew he couldn't get out of talking. That's when Twilight noticed Josh's eyes were red, looking at the pillow she noticed it seemed wet.

"Why were you crying?" She asked, "If it's the party I'm sorry if you didn't actually want it, I can tell everyone to leave."

Josh turned to Twilight and sighed, "It's not that, it something else." He said his voice was shaky, looking outside a nearby window he paused for a moment as he stared blankly into the clouds. "I just miss them so much."

Twilight realized what had gotten him so upset, "So that's it, you miss your friends and family."

"Missed em since I first got here, but I always had that hope to get back to fuel me." Josh looked down at the floor, "But now I don't have any chance, and I have to admit to myself that I lost my home, my friends....." Josh began tearing up, "But most of all, my family." Just then another knock was heard.

"uhhhh, Twilight?" He heard Applejack call out, "You two okay in there?" She said as everypony entered.

"Oh my goodness darling!" Rarity said as she entered and walked towards Josh, "Whatever has gotten you so upset?"

"Yeah, is everything okay? If it's because of what I put on the cake then I'm sorry." Pinkie Pie said.

"No it's not that Pinkie, I just miss my family." Josh stood up, "You all should go, I don't want you guys to have to listen to me complaining all night while you try and cheer me up."

"But that's what we are here for!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah, and if you seem so down then maybe we could help cheer you up." Fluttershy joined in.

"Plus if you're feeling down, it's always good to have people who care for you around." Applejack said.

"I know that AJ, but my family." Josh said, once more looking outside. "And without my family, what do I have?" He asked.

Just then he felt Twilight hug him, "Well....." Twilight said. "You have us." Twilight looked at him, she smiled the brightest she could to try and cheer Josh up.

Josh looked at Twilight, then at everyone in the room. He thought about all the good things they had done for him in such a short time, then oddly enough he began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Twilight asked, letting go of him."

"Nothing it's just...." Josh wiped his eyes, "Maybe I haven't lost all my family." He said with a teary eyed smile.

"Does this mean we can go back to the welcome party?" Rainbow asked.

"You guys go ahead, I got an apology to make." Josh said, standing up.

Josh stood in front of the address Twilight had given him, with a deep breath he knocked on the door. He heard someone walking towards the door, before it opened to reveal Lyra.

"Oh, it's you." Lyra said standing in the doorway, "What do you want?"

"To apologize, to both you and Sweetie Drops for how I acted." Josh said, "Just because I'm having a bad time, I don't get a free pass to act like a complete jerk and snap at anyone I please."

Lyra looked at Josh like she was about to say something, however she instead sighed. "You know," Lyra began, "if you're having a bad day just say so. I'm not mad at you, but I'm also not the one you should be apologizing to am I?"

Josh sighed, "Where is Sweetie Drops?" He asked.

"You know, you can call me Bon Bon." Bon Bon said as she walked up from behind Josh.

"Oh Bon Bon, how much did you hear?" Josh asked.

"Everything, you big old softie." Bon Bon said with a snicker

"Does this mean we can still be friends?" Josh asked.

"Of course, what kind of friends don't fight every once in a while?" Bon Bon said.

"Well, this was kinda his first day as our friend so..." Lyra said with a joking tone in her voice.

"So you don't want to be my friend and come to my "Super cool Welcome to my new home" party?" Josh said to Lyra.

Lyra then walked past Josh, "Oh Josh, you know I'm joker." She said laughing, "Now did someone say party?"

"Yeah just follow me." Josh said as he began walking back in the direction of Golden Oaks. He was soon followed by the two mares as they walked towards a pleasant sunset.