A Wish Come True

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 1
Chapter 7

Chapter 2

"Now young man, I need you to tell me what happened." Police were everywhere, on the streets keeping pedestrians away, and in the area examining Joseph's body. The policeman sitting next to Jerome on the back of the open ambulance pats his back. "I know this must be hard, but I need to know."

"...He...he made a wish."

"What?"

"...He made a wish...today was his birthday...He made a wish."

"What's that kid talking about?" A policewoman stops in front of the two. "He made a wish?"

The policeman waves her off. "He just lost his friend, this is very hard for him. Now, what about this wish, what happened?"

Jerome let a case of the jitters take him for a second before talking. "...He...he wished for a new beginning...he wanted to start over. Then...he walked into traffic...got hit by a bus...but he was fine. He started yelling at everyone, at me...and then...the light post..."

"...Right," the policeman says calmly. He stands and calls his unit together. "Alright, listen. The kid's name is Joseph King. Alert any family of what's happened." He looks back at Jerome. "...And make sure this kid gets home safely."

Two policemen come to Jerome's side and escort him over to a cruiser. They put him inside and close the door. Jerome sniffs and blinks a tear away. "...Magic...I wish...I wish that Joseph was still alive..." Jerome wanted it to happen so badly, but deep down inside, he knew he would never see his friend again...

Joseph opens his eyes and shoots up in a sitting position. He looks around, but all he can see is white. He looks down at himself to make sure he's not blind, and he sees the sleeves of his red hoodie. "...Holy shit...Am I...dead?"

A sphere of yellow light appears and floats near. "...Joseph King." Joseph lets his jaw drop. "The forces of nature and the forces of magic have brought you here."

"...Holy shit..."

"Do not speak so crudely child," the sphere says.

"...M-my apologies my Lord."

"I am not your lord." The Sphere glows brighter, then settles and shrinks in size. "I am...a guardian...I keep the balance of magic in check, but you...you wanted something...you wanted change so badly, but refused to believe in the force that gives it."

Joseph looks at his feet, then at the ball of light. "...Magic...is...real?"

"It is boy, it is." The Sphere goes a dark brown, then bright blue. "I have you in my area of expertise, my place of being. You are in a gap between understanding and belief."

Joseph just nods, but then shakes his head. "...I d-don't know what's going on, but can I go home?"

"No." The sphere of light turns red and grows. "You cannot return to you're universe. To bring you here, you were killed. In order for you to return to your world, all traces of you must be erased from that universe; materials, DNA, memories, everything. That will take many millennia, far beyond your lifetime." The being of light calms to a deep green. "You may never return to that universe."

Joseph stares at the light until his eyes start to burn. He curls up into a ball and start to sob into his elbows. "...I'll never be able...to see my friend Jerome? My sister? my...family?"

"No, I am sorry."

Joseph sobs a bit longer before standing. "...If...If I can't return to my world...where do I go? Do I stay here with you? Do I just...die? Do I just disappear forever, as if I was never here?"

"No." The sphere of light turns a pristine white, which makes it hard to see in the white background. "...I shall send you to a random universe, who's inhabitants you will live with until your life is extinguished. However..." Joseph looks up at the light and wipes his eyes as the orb turns a calm blue again, "...it may be random, but I shall send you to one of the few that can teach you. The beings there may be intelligent, they may not be, but I shall send you anyhow."

"...Okay." Joseph straightens and looks around. He doesn't know what to do, so...he sticks out two fingers and puts them to his forehead in a salute.

"You will have to build yourself up from scratch," the light says bluntly, "But as a helping hand, I shall send you in your current condition, however, I must erase your memory of this place to keep myself safe from discovery."

"Yeah, sure," Joseph agrees.

"...Your wish...is granted."

A bright light makes Joseph closes his eyes, but they stay shut as he falls into the abyss of unconsciousness.

...

Joseph flutters his eyes open. He sits up and looks around. A slight breeze was blowing, making the grass of the field he was lying in sway and ripple. Joseph looks around; nothing but a big field and behind him a forest, a thick one. The treeline was separated by a row of shrubs. He then looks himself over, seeing he was still in his hoodie and pants. "...What the hell?" He stands up and looks at his hands. His fingers were numb. "Ugh...what happened? Where am I?" He puts his arms down. "...Wasn't I with Jerome?"

"Come on slowpoke!" Joseph look behind him at the source of the voice. It was a girl, that's for sure, but...where is the girl? "It sounded like it came from over here!" The bushes start to move and shuffle, and Joseph gets down in a fighting stance.

The bushes rustle a bit more before an animal steps through into the clearing. It was a horse, but it was only about three feet tall, maybe three-and-a-half...and purple. Joseph lets his guard down and stares at the creature, observing it more closely. It was three foot nine, four foot one if he counted the horn, which made it...a unicorn? Its tail and mane were stripped with varying shades of purple and pink, and it's wide eyes were a nice violet. He saw on it's thighs it had...a brand? A tattoo? A kind of imprint of a star-like shape surrounded by little sparkles. Joseph keeps staring at the creature's horn.

The horse steps forward toward Joseph and he resumes his fighting stance. The animal cocks its head to the side. "...What is that?"

Joseph lets his mouth and his arms drop. He straightens up. "...D-d-did you just talk?"

The horse looks at him. "It talks?"

Joseph looks to his left at nothing and smiles. "Dude, check it out, a talking horse. Hehehehe-" Joseph falls backwards into the grass, just knocked out from shock.

The bushes behind them both start to rustle some more. "What is it Twilight?" Twilight looks over her back into the brush to see her dragon assistant pop out. He walks over to her side and gasps at the strange creature before them. "What is that?"

"I don't know Spike, I don't know, but...it spoke."

"It talks?" The purple and green dragon steps closer. "...Is it wearing something?"

"I think so," Twilight says. "...Spike, we'll have to postpone our search for potion ingredients, I think this," she motions with her hoof to Joseph, "is more important."

Spike looks up at her. "But...what are you going to do?"

"Hold on to my leg Spike, we're going back to the library." she walks over and steps on Joseph's leg. "All of us." Twilight closes her eyes and her horn begins to glow. A bright light envelops all the of them and in an instant, they disappear.

…

Joseph opens his eyes and and lifts his head to the sound of a teapot whistling. He sits up and looks at his legs. "...Huh, what's going on?" The whistling calms. Joseph sees that he's laying down on a green couch, so he swings his legs off the end cushion and plants them on the floor. This couch was unusually low to the ground. Joseph straightens up and looks around.

He was in a large rounded room filled with bookshelves and books. There were pieces of furniture around but what Joseph found strange is that a lot of the furniture is small and there was no TV.

"...Hello? Anyone home?"

"Whoa..." Joseph freezes and looks down to his right, where he sees Spike. The top of Spike's head, not counting his green spines, came up to just above Joseph's knee, so he was just under two feet tall. The dragon looks at him in awe. "...You do talk."

"Yipe!" Joseph nearly jumps out of his skin and over the couch. He gets back up and has his hands out in front, ready to fight. "What the hell!?"

"Whoa man, calm down!" Spike says with his claws in the air. "It's okay."

"Nothing's okay!" Joseph yells back. "I was with my friend in the city and all of a sudden I'm face to face with a talking Spyro plush doll! Where am I!? What did you do!?"

"Just take it easy," Spike says taking a step closer.

"Don't come near me you freak of gaming commercial endorsement! No fucking way are you-

"What is going on in here?" Both Spike and Joseph look out to the front door and see the home owner, Twilight Sparkle. "Spike, what's going on?"

"Don't look at me!" Spike protests. "The thing you took with us woke up and started to freak out!"

"You bet your fucking tail I'm freaking out!" Joseph yells out. "Where am I!?"

"It's okay," Twilight says calmly, "we're all friends here." She takes a step closer.

Joseph jumps back. "Don't come near me!" He looks around and grabs a nearby broom from it's corner. "Back off, I've got a cleaning instrument and I'm not afraid use it!"

Twilight gets a look of uncertainty and her horn begins to glow. The handle of the broom Joseph has in his hands is enveloped in a pinkish aura and is yanked from his hands. Joseph then begins to levitate back over to the couch. "Hey! What the hell! Help! Get me down! I want to live!" He's plopped back onto the couch. When he recovers Joseph immediately throws a punch toward Twilight. His fist stops within inches of her face and is sent back to his body. Joseph's copper eyes go wide and his skin goes flour white. "...What?" He starts pushing back as far as he can get himself into the corner of the couch. "...Don't hurt me, please."

"We are not going to hurt you," Twilight says softly, "right Spike?" Her assistant quickly nods. "Good. Now just try to calm down."

Joseph is literally trembling. "...What are you?"

"Let's take it slow, okay?" Twilight asks. Joseph just nods through his long hair. "Okay...My name is Twilight Sparkle, this is my assistant Spike...do you have a name?"

"...J-J-Joseph...Joseph King."

Twilight nods, "Okay, that's good."

Joseph looks around. "...W-where am I?"

"Right now you're in the library, also our home." Twilight sees all of Joseph's trembling. "Hold on." Her horn glows and after a few seconds a small cup on a small plate hover in front of Joseph. He stares at the floating cup like it might attack him. "Go on," Twilight says softly, "it's herbal tea." Joseph hesitates but takes it after a few moments. The cup it rattling on the plate in his hands, threatening to spill. "Now," Twilight says, "are you okay?"

"...I...I shouldn't be here. I should be home, waiting for my sister to come home from work, or playing Halo with Jerome." Then it hit him like a ton of bricks, or he should say like a light post. "...I...I died. I'm dead...right?" He pinches his arm and nearly yelps, almost spilling his tea. "...No...I'm alive...but I got flattened...Where am I? And, and, and...why can-how can you talk? horses can't talk? I must be seeing things...and hearing them. Oh! What's happening!?"

Twilight looks at Spike, then back at Joseph. "Joseph, please, calm down."

"I have every reason not to be calm!" he yells back.

Twilight lowers her head like Joseph may throw something. "Please, just calm down, there's nothing here that can hurt you." Joseph stops his trembling, but only for a moment, Twilight nods. "Better?" Joseph doesn't respond. "...I guess I have a lot of explaining to do. You're in a place called Equestria."

Twenty-two minutes of large complicated words and small definitions later...

"-Which us ponies, unicorns, and pegasi have kept alive over the centuries. That covers this area of Equestria." Twilight looks back over to Joseph, who's almost completely stopped trembling and is quietly sipping on his tea. "...Anything else?"

Joseph keeps his gaze down and his voice low. "...Just one thing Twilight...I got hit by a lamppost and was killed. But instead of death I get sent here?"

Twilight comes over to the couch and jumps up with Joseph. He flinches and scoots closer to himself a bit, but otherwise lets her up. "I'm not sure what happened Joseph, but maybe you had a good heart and was given a second chance."

"...Okay...Listen, I'm sorry I tried to hit you earlier."

"It's okay..."

"Spike," Joseph says look down at the dragon, "I'm sorry for what I said before."

"We're cool," he says with a smile. Spike stands up and walks off somewhere.

"Joseph," Twilight asks, "can I ask you a few questions?"

"Uh, s-sure."

Twilight moves a bit in her spot so she's comfortably laying down next to him. "Okay...So Joseph...you are a male, right? I want to be sure."

"...Yes, I'm a boy."

"Okay, okay, just making sure." Twilight's horn glows and something upstairs clucks around. A quill, paper, and a bottle of ink float down and hover in front of Twilight. The pen dips itself in the ink and readies itself over the paper. "Okay, so what are you?"

Joseph sighs. "I'm a human." He tugs at the sleeve of his sweatshirt. He sees Twilight waiting for more. "What? You need a description of a human?"

"Hold on. Spike! Get the Descriptionary!"

"Descriptionary?"

Twilight nods. "Yes. It's a book with every recorded flora and fauna." Spike returns to her side with a rather...large book. It looks nearly a thousand pages thick. Twilight's horn glows and flips open the cover.

"How do you do that? Things move when your horn glows, how?"

"Magic, I'm a unicorn, a magic pony."

"Magic?" Twilight nods. "...Jerome was right. Magic does exist..."

After a long silence, broken only by the movement of paper, Twilight closes her book and gets her quill ready. "The book doesn't say anything about humans! You're brand new to this world! Can you start your description now?" Twilight has a huge smile on her face.

"Yeah, sure." Joseph takes a deeps breath. "Humans are in the family of the homosapian, you know, like monkeys and apes. Yeah, apparently we appeared on our planet and became the smartest creature alive, relative to logical and meaningful thought, I mean." Twilight scribbles on her paper. "...We walk upright and normally cover ourselves with clothes like this," he says motioning to himself.

"Why do you wear clothing all the time?" Twilight asks.

"It's against the law in most places not to. It's indecent."

Twilight looks up from her paper. "It's wrong to go unclothed? We ponies only wear clothes at special occasions like weddings."

"It's different for us humans. It's improper to be nude in public because others can see us, and they find that offensive, unless it's your girlfriend or something."

Twilight stops her writing. "Girlfriend? What's that?"

Joseph puts his teacup down on the coffee table in front of him and sighs. "You know, like...a female you really like, and she really likes you...just before you get married, you know?"

"Oooh, you mean marefriend."

"Marefriend? Er...right, okay, fine."

"So...why is it offensive to be seen unclothed?" Twilight asks bluntly.

"Er...well...everyone can see...well...without clothing to cover yourself, everyone can see your...private area."

Twilight scribbles a bit more. "...Huh, the males here need to be aroused to be able to see that. Are you humans always sexually active then?"

"What, no!" Josephs raised voice makes all movement in the house cease. "...Um, I mean, no. Our...privates are always exposed, so we wear clothes to cover them." Joseph catches Twilight looking him over. He brings his knees together and puts them down. "And no, I'm not taking my pants off."

"Right, sorry," Twilight says softly. "Please, continue."

"Okay...Humans are...mildly intelligent, we've been into outer space, the moon, other planets, but we were killing our own with pollution and waste. We try and save other animals that are about to go extinct as well." He pauses. "...That's...all I know about my species in general."

"...Wow..." Twilight clears he throat and rolls up the paper with her magical grasp. She sets it on the table with the other items and gets down off the couch. "Humans sound very interesting."

"Yeah, it depends on the person."

Twilight moves her head in an awkward way. "A what?"

"A person."

"...You mean a 'pony'...right?"

Joseph looks at Twilight, then covers his face with his left hand. "Oh my God, I'm arguing with a talking animal...Yes, I meant pony. It depends on the pony."

Twilight turns to the door. "We might need to work on your vocabulary in order for you to fit in around here."

"If everything you told me is correct, I'm twice everything's size, I walk on two legs, and I apparently have a style problem. I think I won't fit in even if I'm president of this place.

"What?"

"Ugh, if I'm your ruler, your king, even then I won't fit in."

"Oh nonsense." Twilight grasps the door with her magical grip. "If you're so unsure about how you'll fit in, then I'll help you. Time for a tour around town."

"Are-are you sure?" Joseph runs a hand through his long brown hair. "What if the townsfolk react differently to me?"

"I'll be with you the whole time," Twilight says reassuringly. "Spike, hold down the fort, we might be out for a while."

"Okay," Spike replies. "Oh, Joseph...don't go around and saying those things like before. There are a lot of sensitive ponies out there."

"...Okay." Joseph looks back to Twilight, who smiles. She turns the knob of the door with her powers and opens the door.

Chapter 3

Right when Twilight opens the door, it bursts open the rest of the way, flattening Twilight against the wall. From behind the door, Twilight mumbles something. "And not a Pinkie Sense to be seen." She slips out from behind the door and shakes her head, making her mane fluff. "What happened now?"

"Twilight, you gotta help me!"

Joseph steps back at the blue blur that just rushed to the door. He looks over the pony that just flew in. She was a cyan blue pegasus, and Joseph could tell it was a mare by her voice. Her eyes were red, her mane and tail were a mash of colors that looked like a rainbow, and her wings were fluttering wildly.

"What is it Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asks while smoothing out her mane.

"I don't know! That's it, I don't know! I feel hot, and my head is filled these thoughts! Get one of your books! I need help..."

"Dash, listen, we've had this conversation before. Spike, go upstairs."

Spike put his hands on his tail, which was next to his feet. "Why? I've already heard this before, and I know everything already. I'm not a baby anymore, you know. I'm...well, okay so I'm a few years old, I know this already."

"Spike..."

"Fine." Spike spins around and heads upstairs.

Joseph rubs the back of his head. "...Um, what talk?"

Rainbow Dash turns around in the air and looks at Joseph. She looks him up from head to toe. "...Twilight, who's your friend?"

"This is Joseph, Joseph King," Twilight says, finally getting her mane back to normal. "He's a human."

"...A human, huh?" She get a look in her eyes that sends chills down Joseph's spine.

Twilight grabs her friend's face with her front legs and turns her head to look her in the eye. "Dash, listen, we've had this talk before. You're in heat, you can't think straight, and when this happens you rush to my house in a panic. Just go home and stay home for a few days, and it'll be over for another season."

"But-"

Twilight pulls her down to the ground. "Dash! Just go home...get a nice drink with one of those fruity umbrellas you have in your kitchen, sit down somewhere...and try to calm down."

Dash looks down at the floor. "But...it feels...so unusual."

"I know, I know. Just...try to ignore it." She pats Rainbow's back and nudges her out the door. "Go on now. Go...watch some clouds, or feed Tank, just do something." Dash nods and flies off out of sight rather quickly. Twilight sighs and then recovers with a smile. "Sorry about that. That was one of my friends, Rainbow Dash. She's a bit of a scatterbrain when she's...ready...Okay, she's always a bit of a scatterbrain..." Twilight tries to keep her smile up, but the redness around her cheeks is starting to block it out. "Well then, shall we?"

Joseph stands there for a few seconds. He then points up at himself. "You can't tell, but my eyes are filled with embarrassment and terror."

Twilight leans to one side, but she recovers. "...Maybe we should get you a haircut."

Joseph always liked his hair long, and he did have the knowledge to cut his own hair. his sister would make him help her with trimming and such, and he practices on his own head, but...being where he was, this was a new chance for him. "...I...don't know...lead the way and I'll think about it."

Twilight nods and walks out the door. Joseph swallows the lump in his throat and follows. When he stepped outside, a blast of warm air hit him. He moves his hair out of way and looks around. The buildings were made of wooden frames, sheet windows, and straw ceilings. They were a mesh of colors, varying from eggshell white to hot pink. The straw on the roofs added a nice yellow to the town.

Twilight stamps her hoof to get his attention. "Let me be the first to show you around our happy town of Ponyville!"

"Ponyville?" Joseph slaps his hand to his face. "Holy crap, I'm in a little girl's fantasy world." He brings his hand down and looks at Twilight, who's staring at him strangely. Joseph coughs into his fist. "Sorry, please...lead on." Twilight turns back around and starts walking. Joseph starts after her. "...Maybe I should have agreed to go on vacation with Mom. I wouldn't have been killed in Las Vegas...except by the possible gambling dept."

Twilight flicks her tail. "Sorry to say, but Las Pegasus is quite far away. You'll need a train ticket to get there."

"Las Pegasus? Oh Lord..."

Twilight clears her throat. "So, over there you can see Sugarcube Corner, the bakery and home to the Cake family...Over there it the road leading to Apple Acres and my friend Applejack's farm. Don't worry Joseph, as soon as a certain pony hears a new face is in town, namely you," Twilight inhales deeply, "then you'll know everypony's names...Speaking of which, you might want to sit down."

"Sit down?" Joseph looks at his feet. "...Why?"

"So you don't get knocked down," Twilight replies while stepping back.

"What do you mea-oof!" Joseph is slammed to the dirt by a pinkish blur. He lifts his head from the ground and looks at the culprit. "Hey, what's your deal?" It was another pony, although this one was pink all over. It's mane and tail looks like they got caught in a cotton candy spinner, and it's eyes were a light blue. It too had a symbol on it's flanks, a few balloons.

"My deal?" she asks. "My deal! Who's deal? Did you make a deal with somepony? I didn't know anything about a deal. Should I have? Do I want to? Oh well. Hi! You're new here! I haven't seen you around! Wow, you have really pretty eyes!" The pink pony leans closer.

"Hey, come on! Get off me!"

"Oops, sorry!" She lets Joseph roll over onto his knees and then stands. He brushes himself off. "I saw you hanging around with Twilight, so I knew you were her friend! And all friends need more friends! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name? You don't look like a pony? What are you? Oh, it doesn't matter, all that matters is that we know what really matters! You know what really matters? Friends!"

"Holy shit, talk about a sugar rush," Joseph says, trying to understand what just happened. "...Ugh, you're Pinkie Pie?" The pink pony nods happily, getting a noise that sounds like a cat toy from her head. "...Nice to meet you...I guess. My name is Joseph King. I'm a human."

"Wow, you sound like you belong in the Canterlot Palace! King, what kind of name is that? Where did it come from? It sounds cool, like really real party material! Hey, you're new! You know what that means...a super duper special Pinkie welcoming party!" Pinkie starts bouncing around like a jackrabbit. "Oh, it'll be sooooooo much fun! I'll invite the whole town!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. No way," Joseph crosses his arms. "I don't do parties. Sorry, but no."

"Awe, don't be such a party-pooper. Everypony loves a good party!"

Joseph put his arms down and kicks at the ground. "...Not me. Sorry, but I just can't do parties."

Pinkie Pie tilts her head to the right. "Why not?"

"...Well...I just never had any friends to talk to when I went to parties, so I stopped going entirely." Joseph rubs his right arm. "Plus i always get picked on for being...a techno-nerd."

"Well, don't worry!" Pinkie says with a smile big enough for two. "You'll make friends at the party! See you there!" Pinkie rushes to Twilight's side and keeps her voice down so Joseph can't hear her. "Twilight, the party will be at your place, that okay?"

Twilight looks over at Joseph. "What's a techno-nerd?"

Joseph looks at his feet. "Its a really smart person with no time on their hands to do anything but invent technology, dismantle computers, and work with electronics."

Twilight nods slowly. "...Pinkie, that's fine. Just keep the party small so we don't overwhelm Joseph, okay? Let the others know and we'll start from there, but leave Rainbow Dash at home."

"Will do!" Pinkie dashes off faster than Joseph could see.

"...Wait, what did you just rope me into?" he asks.

Twilight walks up to him. "You're having a small welcoming party. Sorry, but it's...kinda mandatory by Pinkie's standards."

"...Eh...it's okay...I guess. Just as long as it's small."

"That's what I said. Come on, I'll show you to the barber."

Joseph shrugs. "Alright." They both start walking again and pass multiple buildings. Each one looked the same and there were more of the town's residents come out to see Joseph. Everywhere he looked, Joseph saw ponies of all shapes, kinds, sizes, and colors staring at him. He leans forward and cups his hand to the side of his mouth for a whisper. "...Twilight, why is everyone staring at me?

"You mean everypony, right?" she corrects.

"...Why is everypony staring at me?"

"You're the first human to ever be seen in Equestria. I'm surprised that I myself am not more stunned by your arrival."

Joseph looks around. "...Are all of these ponies your friends?"

Twilight flicks her tail again, and the crowds of ponies seem to resume what they were doing before. Twilight nods. "Most of them, but my best friends, the one that'll be at your party, I've got five. You've already met Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity will probably be there too, but I hope Rainbow's okay. She normally isn't this bad, but she'll be fine in a few days. If she knows what's good for her," Twilight turns into a large building, "then she'll say no to Pinkie's possibly invitation and won't show for the fiasco."

Joseph tilts his head a bit. "You're the brainy cute one of the group, aren't you?"

Twilight blushes a bit. "I guess you can say that...We're here."

"What?" Joseph looks around and observe the inside of the structure. He was surprised that the ceiling was high enough for him to stand under. There were four red reclining chairs bolted to the the floor in front of a large mirror that covered the whole wall. Under the mirror was a counter with a few sinks. The floor was red and white tile and the ceiling was a regular white.

There was a doorway in the back, through which another pony steps through. Joseph could tell it was a guy by the way his shoulders were set. The pony walks up to Twilight and nods, making his moustache bounce. He's a few inches taller than her. "G'morning to ya Miss Sparkle. Are ya 'ere for a trim?"

"No," she says politely. "But my friend here is."

The pony looks up at Joseph and he looks the pony over. He was actually a unicorn, his thick brown horn was basically yelling that. His coat was a light brown, and his mane and tail were both a deep oak brown, as well as the thick moustache he held on his face. His eyes were a bright yellow and he was wearing a light blue and red stripped shirt with a black comb in the front pocket. His flanks had symbols of cutting tools. He squints his eyes at Joseph. "...This one 'ere? Kinda big. Strange one too, never seen something like 'im before, what with all those clothes and that 'ieght. Boy, he's a tall one, he is!"

"Yes Rudy, this one here," Twilight says with a smile. "This is Joseph. Joseph, this is Rudy, the barber."

Rudy smiles, showing off his big white teeth. "Top o' the mornin' to ya."

"Nice to meet you," Joseph replies. "...Twilight here says I need a haircut."

"...Hmm, I'd say so, laddie. I can't see your bloomin' eyes. Ya blind under all that hair?"

Joseph rubs the back of his neck. "No, but I guess I need a trim."

Rudy nods. "Well then, take a seat and I'll be with ya in a moment. I'll be havin' for you ta remove that red coat o' yours."

"Oh, sure, yeah." Joseph reaches up and unzips his jacket. He pulls out his arms and hangs his hoodie and a nearby coat rack. Joseph scratches the chest of his gray T-shirt. He walks over and and sits down in one of the chairs, finding that is was a bit snug on his hips and the back didn't come up high enough for him to be comfortable.

Rudy comes through the back doorway again with two pairs of scissors and his black comb floating beside him in a yellow aura. His horn is glowing the same color. "So, what style did ya want?" He walks over to Joseph's side and snips his scissors.

"Um...surprise me?"

"Alrighty." A large cloth flies out from another room and settles on Joseph's chest. It ties itself around his neck. "Now, ya might wanna close your eyes, laddie. Don't want any hair fallin' into your lookin' globes."

"How much is this gonna cost?" Joseph says out of the blue.

"Don't worry," Twilight says, "it's on me."

"...Thanks Twilight." Joseph closes his eyes and the air is filled with the sound of snipping. Every once in a while his head would be pulled back slightly as Rudy ran his comb through Joseph brown hair. "...So Rudy, how long have you been cutting hair?" he asks, trying to pass the time.

"Oh, 'bout twenty seven years."

"That's a good career."

"Yeh, I suppose so. Unfortunately, I''ll be retiring in abou a mouth er so." Another tug on his scalp and a few snips later, Joseph hears water start to run. "Ya best be keepin' them peepers shut, else yeah be wantin' a washin'." Wetness sprinkles itself over his head. Rudy starts working his comb and his hooves into Joseph's head. A bit more tugging and forming and Rudy backs off. "...Eh, there."

Joseph opens his eyes as Rudy pulls the sheet from his neck. He looks himself over in the mirror. His hair was still a bit long, but it formed pyramids on his head all over, like thick spikes. "Wow, I look like the red-headed kid in Pokémon: Gale of Darkness." Joseph looks back over at Rudy. "Thanks Rudy."

"No problem." A few small red stones float in front of him, then slide into his pocket. "Thank you miss Twilight. You two 'ave a good day now."

"Thanks Rudy," Twilight says, "you too. Come on Joseph, I'll finish taking you around town."

"Alright." Joseph stands and walks toward the open door, but stops and waits for Twilight to exit first. He waves to Rudy before following her out, grabbing his hoodie on the way. Twilight turns back onto the dirt road and motions forward. They start walking again.

Twilight looks back at Joseph. "Joseph, I think you look a lot better now that I can see your eyes. They're very pretty, by the way."

Joseph looks down at her. "Uh...thanks." He looks around and zips the bottom of his hoodie halfway.

Twilight lowers her gaze to his hands. "Joseph, don't you get hot wearing that?"

"A little, but I'm used to it." Joseph stops and bends over a bit. "Oh, ouch."

Twilight hears him grunt and turns around completely. "Joseph, are you okay?"

"Chm...yeah, just a hunger pain."

Twilight walks over to his side and puts a hoof to his kneecap. "If you're hungry, there a restaurant down the road a ways. It's the best in town," she says with a smile. "...It's also the only one in town, hehe...My treat."

Joseph lets a smile grow on his face. "Okay, thanks." Twilight nods, and Joseph nods back, then they both begin to walk further down the dirt road. Occasionally they would get a stare or two, but seeing Joseph near Twilight's side, they left them be. Joseph puts a hand to his smiling face.'Let's see,' he thinks to himself, 'I was killed in my world and got sent to this one filled with magical talking ponies. It seems...ludicrous, but...I don't know. Twilight seems nice enough, maybe I'll see what happens.' Joseph nods to himself and speeds up a bit to Twilight's side.

Chapter 4

Joseph still casts his glance from side to side, observing more and more of the town. Now that a lot of the citizens have seen him walking alongside Twilight, they've seemed to accepted him. No one, er...nopony was looking at him strangely.

Joseph stumbles a bit, but regains his balance. "So Twilight, do you know the time?"

She looks up at the sky. "...Somewhere around one PM."

"Thanks."

"Yep." Twilight returns her focus to the road before her and speeds up a bit. "There it is." The building Twilight was referring to was a medium sized one floor structure with a flat roof. There was a patio out front filled with metal tables and stools, while through the large windows Joseph could see commotion and movement. Twilight heads a bit off course. "It looks busy inside. Want to eat outside in the sun?"

"Sure," Joseph agrees.

They walk up to the metal railing and go through the opening. Joseph looks at the furniture. The metal tables were low to the ground and the stools looked like they were just a few inches tall. He sees Twilight sit down on on of the stools, her front legs still on the ground. Joseph looks at the stool that was apparently his and takes his seat. He crosses his legs and tries to get comfortable. The table came up to Twilight waist, and while he was siting, it did the same to Joseph.

He picks up the menu in front of him and looks at the items. "...Hay burger, hay fries, salad, soup, tea...what kind of food do they really serve here?"

Twilight looks up from her own floating menu. "They serve everything a pony should rightfully eat here."

Joseph grimaces at the thought, and it's cut short by a pony walking up to them. He was another unicorn, and his coat was a deep gray. His mane and tail were a light blue and his eyes were the same. He was wearing a black shirt. "Good afternoon, are you two ready to order?"

"I'll just have the usual," Twilight says with a smile.

Joseph was surprised to see how easily others accepted him when he was with Twilight. "Er...um, I'll...I'll have an order of hay fries."

"Alright then." Two glasses float out from inside, followed by a pitcher of water. They pour themselves and touch down in their spots on the table. "Your food will be ready in a few moments," the waiter says politely. He leaves right afterward.

They sit in silence for a few moment longer before anything happens. Twilight shifts a bit in her seat. "...So Joseph, could you tell me a bit about yourself?"

"Hmm?" Joseph looks at her strangely.

"Like...what you did before you came here. How were you before?"

Joseph drums his fingers on the tabletop. "...Well...I didn't fit in back home. I had only two friends, no...three friends. I had my sister Tanya, my best friend Jerome, and technology. They were the closest I had to family besides my mom and dad.

"Who's Technology? I've never heard of a name like that." Twilight has on a small smile.

Joseph chuckles. "No, technology isn't a living being, like you and me. Technology is an invention." Joseph looks across the street. "...but looking around, it seems the only technology you have are the lighting fixtures in your homes...and indoor plumbing."

Twilight tilts her head. "...What kind of technology did you have?"

Joseph gets a look or sheer exitement. "Oh, there's no way I can even tell you in one day! There was so much of it! There was television that allowed you to watch movies and shows, black and white, in color, with and without sound, recordings and live from on the spot! There were rockets to launch us into space, there were satellites to survey other planets far, far away, there were...there were...oh so many things." Joseph looks at his lap and smiles. "...Oh, maybe..." He reaches into the side pocket of his hoodie and brings out his music player. "Awesome! I still have my MP3 player!" Joseph starts untangling the earphone wires.

Twilight had her head tilted. "What's an MP3 player?"

"What?" Joseph exclaims. "An MP3 player, or a music player, allows you to download and store music off the internet and regular shops. You probably don't know what the internet is, but I'll explain later."

"What do you mean 'it stores music'?"

"Um...here, listen for yourself." He reaches over the table and plugs the earphones into Twilight's head. He turns on his music player and scrolls through his albums until her hits one he thinks Twilight would like. "Here, this is 'Ravers in the UK' by Manian." He presses the screen, making the music start to play.

Twilight's eyes switch from side to side as she listens to the music. "...This sounds like something that Vinyl Scratch would play," she says a bit loudly. She begins to move her head to the beat. Twilight listens for a bit more before using her magic to pull the earphones from her head. Joseph reels them back and returns the main menu. "Wow," Twilight says softly, "how many other songs do you have?"

"Like that one, or all together?"

"All together."

He looks at his screen and presses an icon. "All together...six hundred forty eight songs." He looks up at Twilight flabbergasted expression. "...Most of them are instrumentals though, you know...without lyrics and words, just music."

The waiter returns with their food. The plates float in front of them and settle down with a soft clink. "Enjoy." He walks back inside.

Joseph looks at his food, then at Twilight. She had a sandwich...with flowers in it. Daisies, most likely. Joseph picks up one of his fries and dips it in the small paper cup of ketchup that came with it. He stuffs it in his mouth and tests it. It was different than any other kind of fry he's had, but it was still good. Really good. "...Mm...so this is a hay fry?"

"Correct. How is it?" Twilight bites into her own food.

"It's really good. They must use the good high grade potatoes to make these." He chomps another, then another.

Twilight swallows her bite. "Mm, those aren't made from potatoes, they're made from hay." Joseph looks up from his food and swallows, waiting for more info, and shoves another fry in his mouth. Twilight shrugs. "You know...straw?"

"...I'm eating...straw?"

"Yes."

Joseph looks at his half eaten plate of food. "...I know I'm a vegetarian..." he swallows, "but this is a bit extreme." He stares at the fries before him and downs the rest of them rather quickly. "...Chm...thank you very much Twilight. That was the first time I've really eaten today."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all Joseph," Twilight replies with a big grin. "I want you to feel welcome here in Ponyville." Her gin fades after a bit. "Although, since you just seemed to appeared out of nowhere, there might be a bit of trouble at first, but I'll help you get through it."

Joseph cracks his knuckles. "I'm just going to not asks what trouble that is."

"Alright, I'll explain it when it happens." A small piece of paper floats over to the table. Twilight using her own magic to conjure more stones and places them on the table. "There, a few bits should do." Joseph smiles to himself as he watches her act so kindly. She nods to him and the both stand. "Come on Joseph, I want to show you the rest of the tow

Back over at Twilight's house...

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! We don't know how long they'll be out!" Pinkie rushed from one side of the living room to the other, running up and down ladders and pulling streamers and confetti. "Come on! We gotta hurry!"

"Pinkie, dear," one of her friends say from the other room, "perhaps we have more time than you you think."

"Maybe, but we don't know! Everypony line up!" A zip here and a zip there and the other three ponies and Spike are in a straight line in front of the couch. "Okay," Pinkie continues, "Rarity!"

Rarity looks up at her friend. Rarity is a white unicorn with a very dazzling and curling purple mane and tail, and her eyes are the purest blue ever seen. The mark on her backside were three diamonds. "Yes, Pinkie dear?"

"You're in charge of floor level decoration! Fluttershy!"

The pony Pinkie just called forward looks around. She was a pale yellow pegasus with a very soft looking pink mane and tail. Her blue eyes zipped around the room. She, too, had marks on her flanks; a few butterflies. "Um...yes Pinkie?" she says in a very soft voice.

Pinkie Pie starts to jitter and vibrate across the floor. "I need you to handle the streamers and the banner! Applejack! I need you to make some sweets for the party!"

"Will do!" The pony who answered was a normal earth pony. Her mane and tail were a lovely golden blonde, and they were done up in a...ponytail. Her coat was a nice shade of orange and her green eyes fit her color scheme. The mark on her thighs were a few apples. "I know just what ta make!" She rushes into the kitchen.

Fluttershy flaps her wings a few times and grabs a banner with her mouth, flying it up to the ceiling. Rarity, however, taps her foot on the floor. "Pinkie Pie, listen. I know you love to throw these parties to welcome new ponies to town, but-"

"Oh, he's not a pony," she replies bluntly, "he's a special new friend of Twilight's! Right Spike?"

"Yeah," he yells down from upstairs. "He's not a pony. I heard them talking when Twilight shooed me upstairs." He pops his head over the edge of the upper floor. "He's a human."

"A human?" Rarity blurts out. "I've never heard of anything like that."

"Well, he'll be here soon!" Pinkie yells from her new perch on a nearby ladder. "Come on! We need to hurry!"

Rarity shacks her head and levitates a few streamers over to her side. "Ugh, will she ever slow down?"

On one of the many hills near the road to Apple Acres...

Joseph puts his arms behind his head and crosses his legs as he lays down on the grassy hill. Twilight is sitting upright next to him. "So Joseph...did you enjoy your tour of Ponyville?"

Joseph sighs and smiles. "Yeah, it's a little out of my taste for a place to live, but the whole town seems really nice. A good place to grow up in...if I were younger I mean. But still, it's a good town, much better than any of the ones in my world."

Twilight shuffles a bit. "What do you mean?"

"Well, in my town, the streets are busy, it's noisy in the afternoons, and hard work gets little recondition. But I live, er...lived in one of the better towns."

"How so?"

Joseph uncrosses his legs and sits up. He looks into Twilight's eyes and holds up an open hand. "Well, in other towns, or cities, crime is a real problem. Robbery, kidnapping, riots, murder, just a whole mess of bad things...In my old town, the worst you had to worry about is a drunk driver."

Twilight nods and looks up in the sky again. "...It looks like it's almost four. We should get back to my place."

"We?" Joseph asks.

"Yes we," Twilight says through a smile. "You have a party to go to, plus it's a roof over your head for the night."

"You're letting me stay at your house?"

"Of course! You said you just came form your world, so you're not even a citizen of this town...or any town for that matter." Twilight looks at her feet. "So I just assumed you would be staying with me...and Spike." She looks up. "Unless you want to look for your own place?"

"In due time," Joseph says, realizing that sounded completely out of character. "...Come on, like you said, we should get going."

Twilight smiles and her horn begins to glow. "Get ready," she warns. Joseph clenches his fists and sticks them as far as he could into his pockets, nearly smashing his music player. Twilight closes her eyes and a bright light flashes in the area.

Joseph blinks for a split second, and he and Twilight are back in front of the library. "...Okay, that is cool."

Twilight blushes slightly, but it faded rather quickly. "Oh, before I forget, do you have a weak heart?"

"Weak heart?" Joseph replies. "Like...do l I have heart attacks easily?" Twilight nods. "Um...no, I think I'm okay. After all I got hit by a bus and stood up."

"Alright then. Let's go inside."

Joseph stands up and reaches for the door. He turns the knob. "Why did you ask that anyway?"

As soon as Joseph pulls open the door, a loud noise fills his ears. "Surprise!" Joseph nearly looses his footing. He holds onto the doorknob tight enough to turn his knuckles white. He looks inside as Twilight slips past him.

Streamers, balloons, confetti, everything party related was inside and coating the library's walls, shelves, and ceiling. A big white banner was displayed across the room reading 'Welcome'.

A balloon falls in front of Joseph and that prompts him to enter. He looks at the small group of ponies that have gathered around Twilight. Joseph flexes his toes in his shoes and spreads his arms. "Hey! What's all this then!?" he says with fake enthusiasm.

Twilight steps forward. "Joseph, I'd like you to meet my friends. You already know Pinkie Pie." Pinkie smiles with a large grin that is way too big for her head. "Girls?"

The white unicorn of the five steps forward. She looks Joseph over. "Hm...interesting wardrobe. My name is Rarity." She bows. "A pleasure to meet such an...eccentric creature." She smiles slightly and backs up back in line.

Joseph turns his attention to the orange pony that approaches him. She tips her cowboy hat. "Mah name's Applejack." She smiles and puts her left front hoof out. "A pleasure ta make yer acquaintance!" She smiles. Joseph cocks his head to the right and crouches. He bumps her hoof with his fist and Applejack returns in line.

Joseph looks forward into the group and sees one more pony. As if on cue, Applejack and Rarity step aside to reveal a pony, a pegasus, with her head low. "Um...hi," she says in a soft voice, almost to quietly to hear. "My name is Fluttershy...nice to meet you."

Joseph nods and Stands back up. "Well...I guess I have introduced myself yet...My name is Joseph King...it very nice to meet you all." He smiles and rubs the back of his neck.

"Well," Pinkie yells out, "names have been said...Time to party!"

Author's note: i cant find out how to make 'italic', like leaning letters. the button doesn't work on my screen, so if you could tell me how to manually do it, thx. (PS: Ctrl + I doesn't do anything either)

Chapter 5

Two hours of small awkward movements and slow dancing has passed, and Joseph could not be happier for what happens next. Pinkie Pie goes over to the record player and takes the needle off. The music was way too cheerful for his tastes, but Pinkie wouldn't let him sit down, after all, it was his party.

Pinkie starts tapping the edge of the record player with her hoof. "Whew...that was fun! Hey!" Every face in the room looks over at her. "Does anypony know what happens next?"

"Ah think ah do," Applejack replies.

Pinkie disappears into another room and returns a few seconds later with a large pink suitcase. She sets it on the ground and lets it fly open. Inside were a ton of beauty products; mascara, brushes, combs, curlers, everything girly. "Time for makeovers!"

"What!?" Joseph exclaims. "...Makeovers?"

"Yeah silly!" Pinkie cries out. "Everypony find a partner!"

Pinkie walks over with a few items to Fluttershy's side, while Rarity and Applejack just sit side by side. They shake their heads, making their manes brush forth. They seemed fine with their looks. Joseph was straightening the bottom of his hoodie. "But I'm a guy! I don't get made over! I do the makeover!" He clamps his mouth with his hands.

The girls all stop and look at him, although Pinkie continues and sets the box down on the table near the couch. Twilight walks up to him, her mane and tail messy and curled from her dancing. "...You know how to work in the beauty department?"

Joseph runs his fingers along the zipper of his hoodie and blushes. "Um...well...yeah, I know a lot...for a boy...My sister made me help her whenever she had an 'off' day."

Twilight and Applejack trade glances, then they both look at Rarity. "Well," she replies, "a male with a hoof in cosmetics...very rare."

Applejack pats her hat. "Unless yer yankin' our tails."

Joseph looks around. "...I'm not lying," he says regretfully.

Twilight's horn starts to glow. A moment later a fine brush with a wide head and a white plastic handle floats in front of Joseph. He slowly reaches for it and the pink aura surrounding it dissipates. He catches it as it begins to fall. Twilight clears her throat. "If you're telling the truth, would you mind helping me out?" She pushes up her frizzled mane with her left hoof. "I seem to have gotten...carried away."

"...Um...okay, sure...I guess it's the least I could do." The rest of the girls give a 'juicy piece of info oooOOOooooo' and Joseph looks at them. "What? Twilight's been very nice to me today! She gave me a meal and paid for my haircut, plus a place to stay." Joseph walks over to the couch and Twilight follows. She jumps up and he sits to her right. "Tell me if I go too rough, 'kay?"

"Alright," Twilight answers. She turns her back to him and Joseph puts his right hand on her neck. He brings the brush in his left hand up to the top of her mane. He brings it down the length of her mane, straightening it significantly. "...So Joseph," Twilight says as he starts his second stroke, "how old is your sister?"

"She's twenty years old."

"Does she do anything?" Twilight tilts her head back a bit as Joseph hit midpoint in her mane with the brush.

He finishes the stroke and starts another. "Yeah, she's an accountant at one of my town's banks." He runs his hand through her hair to feel his job so far. "...I don't mean to sound rude Twilight, but I'd rather stay away from talking about my family. I'm still getting used to the idea that I may never see them again." He brushes her mane again.

"Oh, I'm sorry Joseph," Twilight says in a low tone.

"It's alright...I didn't say anything..." He brushes again...and again...and again...After a while of soft chattering from the other girls, Joseph puts a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "Turn, please." She complies and spins around. Joseph begins to brush the front of her mane, getting it straight and out of her eyes, being careful of her ears. "...Hm...there. You look much better, don't you think?" Joseph reaches to the coffee table and into the pink box, bringing out a mirror.

Twilight examines herself. "Wow, I look...a bit better than usual." It was true, her mane seemed finer than it was before.

"Try brushing at an angle," Joseph says in a professional tone. "But try not to angle it too much, it'll break and split hairs if you do."

"My, my, my." Rarity stands up from her seat next to Applejack. She walks over to Josephs side. "You really do know your techniques. However..." Her horn starts to glow a light blue and Joseph's hoodie starts to move, the arms starting to be tested, "...you don't seem to have much taste in clothing."

Joseph rolls his eyes. "Oh, ouch. You have just spread salt in my freshly opened wounds, ouch." He tugs his arms down out of her magical grip. "Anyway, I like this look. I'm stuck with it, these being my only clothes, but I like it."

Rarity narrows her eyes slightly and smiles. "...Hm...well Joseph, why don't you come over to my boutique later. I'll make you a new outfit and we can exchange a few beauty tips."

"Depends," Joseph says with his head lowering, "...how much am I gonna have to pay? As everyon-...as everypony here probably figured, I don't have any money."

"Oh, we can discuss a price later on." Rarity looks back into the room. "Pinkie, I'm sorry to say, but it's getting a bit late so I must return home."

"It's only seven," Twilight replies.

"Still. Au revoir!" Rarity slips out the door without a sound.

There is a bit of stirring from the back of the room, and Fluttershy starts to hover into sight. "Um...I forgot to feed the animals before I came over, I should really get back to them." She flies over to the door, but pauses and looks over at Joseph. "I'm sorry, but really did have fun. Thanks. And welcome to town Joseph." She, too, disappears outside without a sound.

Joseph rubs his chin and holds out the brush to Twilight. "Here, you can brush your tail. I'm not comfortable being that close to...you know."

"Understandable," she replies. The brush floats from his open hand and Joseph cracks his knuckles. Twilight inhales and holds it for a moment. "...Joseph, are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine...It's just a bit hard to really think about what's just happened, you know?" Joseph straightens up a bit and rests his left leg on his right knee. "I mean...it's really hard to understand. Ponies? Talking? Back in my world, that's damn fantasy...I just want to go back...but I don't know how, or even if I can." Joseph stands up and waves his hands around. "I mean, come on. My best friend watched me get flattened, how is he, how is everypony-damn, see? Now I'm talking wierd. How is everyone back home going to react to seeing a dead man walking?"

"Joseph, sit down," Twilight says softly. "You're getting upset."

"I know I'm getting upset, it happenes a lot. I can't sit down right now." Joseph tugs at the zipper handle of his coat. "I'm sorry, my emotions are kind of...powerful." Joseph winces as he uses his sister's words. He looks back into the room, directing his attention to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, I'm really grateful for what you've done; this has been the most fun I've had in years and I really appreciate it, but...I need a bit of time to think." Joseph walks over to the door and grips the handle. "Just to let you all know, I normally stay out late when this happens, so I might not come back until morning. Thanks again guys-sorry, girls." He opens the door and walks out. The door clicks shut.

Applejack coughs and puts her forelegs together. "...Wow...Twilight, yer new friend's a bit of a weird one."

"He's lost everything," she says back defensivly, "how do you expect him to be? But I suppose you're right, he does seem a bit...distant." She moves her mane with her hoof. "Maybe I should go talk to him."

"I don't know Twilight," Pinkie says as she jumps forth near the couch, "I would normally go out and try to cheer somepony up if that happened, but he's making my tail itch."

"She's right," Applejack states. "He said his emotions 'er powerful, well ah can feel his heartbreak from here. It's stronger than one o' ma knots, that's fer sure."

Twilight slides off the couch and shakes out her tail. It settles down and looks better than it did. "Then that's even more reason to go after him. Pinkie, I'm sorry, but I think you and Applejack should leave. Joseph may be a bit...hurt if he decides to come back with me."

"Y'all seem to really like this tall one." Applejack closes her eyes and smiles. "If'n you say so," Applejack replies. Pinkie hops over to the door and opens it. Applejack walks out. "Thanks again fer da good time Twilight." Pinkie closes the door behind them and Twilight turns around.

"Spike, you stay here and make some tea, okay?"

There was a pause. "...Yeah! Okay!" Spike replies finally.

Twilight nods to the staircase and walks toward the door.

Near the road to Apple Acres...

Joseph walked rather quickly, bordering on the speed levels of speed walking and jogging. The sun was just about to hit the horizon and set for the night, giving Joseph some light to walk in. He looks around, seeing that no on-seeing that nopony was around outside at the moment. He looks forward and sees the area where he and Twilight sat before the party. Joseph slows down when he reaches the spot and sits down.

Joseph brings his knees up, wraps his arms around them, and rests his chin on his kneecaps. "...What am I going to do?" he says to himself, making his head move with every word. "...Twilight has a lot of books...Maybe there's a pony around who knows a little about...what kind of travel is this? Time?" He shakes his head. "No, not time travel...inter-dimensional travel?...Maybe."

He looks up to see the sun in the corner of his field of vision. It was setting rather fast. "...At least the laws of nature still apply here." Joseph unwraps his arms and cracks his knuckles again. This time the sounds were weaker, but all in all, it relaxed him a bit.

Something falls from his pocket, making Joseph look down at the grass. It was his music player. "...Maybe something on this," he says while picking it up, "could help a bit." he plugs in his earphones and turns on his device. After a few seconds Joseph finds a song. "...Green Bay's 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'...that always helps..." He presses play and lets his eyes drift close as his mind and ears were filled with music.

Joseph soon starts to hum the melody along with his player. "... … ...I walk alone...My shadow's only one that walks besides me...My shadow heart's the only thing that's beating..." He shakes his head. "Man, why can't i ever get these lyrics right?" He listens quietly for another verse, rocking back and forth as he does. "...Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me...Too bad I walk alone..."

"That's not true." Joseph opens his eyes and looks to his right, seeing Twilight starting to sit down. He takes out his earphones and presses pause. Twilight has her gaze forward. "...You don't have to walk alone."

"Sometimes I do."

"But most of the time, you have friends." Twilight reaches out to him and sets her hoof on his shoulder.

Joseph reaches up and pats her hoof. "...I just don't know how many friends I can make here...It's all so different...it's all so...hard." He moves her hoof back to the grass.

Twilight scoots a bit in the grass, turning. "Joseph...I know it's difficult adjusting to a new place. I wasn't the same pony you see now a few years ago." Joseph looks up at her. Twilight nods. "Yeah, I used to be a shut in, thinking my only friends were books. But then...my apprenticeship under the princess changed a bit."

"...You're an apprentice? To royalty?"

Twilight nods. "Yes, I am. Princess Celestia, and her sister Princess Luna, rule over this part of Equestria. I'm Princess Celestia's student." Joseph nods slightly. "...But yes, my apprenticeship changed as the princess noticed my neglectful behavior toward other ponies. so...she had me move here...and look! I have great friends, I live in a wonderful community, and I might even find that one stallion out there." Twilight shakes her head and looks Joseph in the eye. "Do you know what I'm trying to say? A little change...goes a very long way, in happiness, and in well-being."

Joseph takes a breath and looks forward to think. "...It's a scooby oobie dooby scooby dooby melody..."

Twilight tilts her head. "What?"

"It's part of a song. I think it means 'it always changes'."

"Change is a part of life Joseph." He looks back at her, and Twilight reaches up again and rests her hoof on his shoulder once more. "We all have to go through it, no matter how hard it may be." She puts her other hoof on his other shoulder and pulls him forward, making Joseph shift his body and go to his knees. He sits back down on his heels. Twilight still has her hooves on his shoulders. "...I can help you...but only if you let me."

"...Why are you doing this? No...nobody's ever done anything for me besides my family."

"I'm doing this Joseph...because you are my friend."

Joseph stares into Twilight's violet eyes for the longest time. The sun sets behind the horizon and the moon begins to rise, making Twilight's eyes sparkle. Joseph reaches forward and pulls Twilight to his chest, holding her head past his with one hand, while the other is on her back. Twilight waits a moment, then returns his hug. Joseph shudders and lets out a ragged breath. "...Thank you."

"...Joseph...let's go back to my house...Spike should be making some tea."

"...Yeah...alright." He releases Twilight from his embraces and stands. Twilight gets to her feet as well and begins walking. Joseph steps after her. "...Twilight, I'm sorry if I ruined anything."

"You didn't ruin anything Joseph," she replies, "not a thing." She keeps walking, as does Joseph, letting their slight shadows mimic their actions on the dirt below.

Chapter 6

"Twilight, can I ask you something?" Joseph asks in a soft voice.

Twilight keeps her gaze forward but perks up her ears. "Of course Joseph." She then looks back and smiles.

Joseph rubs his hands together and sticks them in the front pockets of his jacket. "Looking around, I've seen talking ponies, magic, a dragon, houses made of straw and wood...and...and...a lot really." Joseph fiddles with his own fingers, still inside their pockets. "And to tell you the truth...it's kinda...kinda..."

"Hard?" Twilight finishes.

"That," Joseph says as he nods to her, "but it's also...very...stressful to accept. Do you know what I'm saying?" Twilight nods in a way that says 'go on'. Joseph looks up a bit. "It's so...different from where I came from. I mean, the closest thing to a talking animal in my world was a parrot, or a video game, or...pfft, even a funny sounding dog." Joseph looks around the area, seeing windows going dark. "...And am I the only one, or does it seem that almost every pony here is a chick?"

"What?" Twilight asks.

"Oop, uh, I mean...There are a lot more mares here than stallions.

Twilight bobs her head. "Oh, that's because there are," Twilight says bluntly. "Approximately eighty two percent of the residents here in Ponyville are female."

"Anyway," Joseph continues, "like I said, it's very stressful...Is there any way you know of that could help me relax?" Twilight opens her mouth to say something, but Joseph cuts her off. "But!...before you say anything, lemme get this outta the way." Joseph takes a deep breath and Twilight stops, them having made it back to the library. She opens the door and Joseph continues. "...No needles...okay? No needles, can't stand 'em, no way."

"No needles," Twilight says softly, "got it." She enters the tree house, Joseph following right behind. "I'll get a book or two and look. In the meantime," Twilight says while motioning toward the couch with her hoof, "why don't you have a seat. Spike!"

"Yeah Twilight!" he calls back from the kitchen. "I know! I'll be right there!"

Twilight nods and begins to turn. She scans her field of vision over the many bookcases in the house, and after a few seconds, grabs one with her magic and pulls it forward. It was a small, but thick book, almost like a dictionary. It was blue and the bottom of the spine was curling. The text of the front was gold, faded, but still legible. It read 'Three Hundred and Thirty-Three Ways for Relaxation'. Twilight flips it open and brings it to her face.

Spike comes over to the couch with a platter in his claws. On it were three cups and a teapot, all of them white with pink decals and rims. Spike pours himself a cup, then Twilight, then Joseph. He offers Joseph the cup, to which he gratefully accepts. "Thanks Spike."

"It's nothing." He hops up onto the couch with Joseph and grabs his cup from the tray.

"...No needles..." Twilight keeps saying to herself. "...Hm...Joseph, how are you with...mud treatment?"

"Not a chance Twilight," He says quickly. "I do not like the idea of taking a bath after a mud bath."

"Okay then." She digs her head back into the small book. "...No mud, no needles...Seaweed? No, that's pretty much like mud...Huh..." Twilight flicks her head back to get her mane out of her view. "Oh, here. Number thirty four: aromatherapy. With the help of incense, the user...can..." Twilight sighs. "We're out. I used the rest when I brought you here this morning." She looks over at him. "You were thrashing in your sleep pretty bad."

Joseph smiles slightly and shrugs. He digs in his pocket and brings out his music player, sets it on the coffee table, and sips on his tea. "Yeah, I don't want to smash this then."

"Lemme keep looking." Twilight fiddles with a few pages. "...This should have been the very first. Number fifty: a nice hot shower."

Joseph puts his cup down. "What was number one?"

"Sitting in the sand of the river, letting the water come up to your shoulders."

Joseph nods. "...I'll take hot water over cold almost any day."

"I'll go and run the water," Twilight says. "I'll be back in a minute." She puts the book back in its respectable place and heads upstairs. She disappears with a flick of her tail, and after a few moment, Spike and Joseph both here water begin to run.

"...You know Joseph," Spike says as he puts his cup down, "Twilight's really showing you her heart."

"I know," he replies, "it's almost weird how trusting she is." Joseph looks up at the stairs where Twilight went up. "...She reminds me of my mother when I was young." They both hear the water change tone, and the pitter-patter of water. Joseph puts his hands on his knees and stands up. "I guess that's my cue." Joseph takes a step forward, but stops and puts his right hand to his head. His vision narrows and flashes black.

"You okay?" Spike asks.

"Yeah, just stood up too fast. Dizzy spell, you know? Sometimes it sucks being tall." Joseph takes another step forward, takes his hand down, then heads for the stairs. Climbing them rather slowly, Joseph takes a bit of time to observe the home. Everything seemed so neat and tidy. Reaching the top of the stairs, he sees Twilight's bed all done up to look brand new. Joseph look a bit to the left and sees what looks like a...pet's bed. A basket with a padded bottom and a quilt. He shakes his head and looks around. "Twilight?"

"Yes?" Joseph turns to the left even more and sees Twilight stepping out of a doorway. The left half of her head was dripping wet. Joseph points, but keeps his mouth closed. Twilight shakes her head, making the wet part of her mane frizz and curl. "Yeah, I must have moved the shower head. Anyway, your shower is running. There's a fresh towel on the counter next to the sink, and feel free to use some of my shampoo if you want." She smiles and holds her ground for a moment, then moves aside and heads back towards the stairs.

"...Twilight, thank you."

"It's no trouble at all."

Joseph smiles back, then heads into the bathroom. He closes the door and looks around through the quickly forming steam. The room was...tidy. A sink to his left, a bathtub slash shower to his right, and a four foot wide walkway between them, and a white rug in front of the tub. There was a sliding glass door on top of the tub's wall, giving modest privacy, and a small window was at the very end of the room, allowing ventilation. The floor, walls, and ceiling were wooden planks, and through the blurry glass of the shower, Joseph could see the ceiling and walls in there were white tile. He looks at the sink finding the towel. It was pink...and small.

Joseph shakes his head slowly. "Had to be pink. Just had to be." He reaches to his chest and unzips his hoodie.

*Meanwhile, downstairs*

Spike picks up Joseph's music player like a kid would a snake, not sure if it would bite him or not. "What is this?"

"Spike, put that down, that's not yours," Twilight commands.

"Geez Twilight," Spike exclaims and her returns the plastic to the tabletop. "I didn't know, I was curious."

Twilight nods and rings out the yellow rag her magical grip had retrieved from the kitchen. She then returns it to her head. "Joseph said that was his MP3 player, a music device."

"How does it work?" Spike says carefully. "What's with the wires?"

"You put those in your ears and they emit music." Twilight points at the screen. "Joseph tapped this before, but it was different. It had symbols and letters before...and it was lit up. It wasn't so bleak then."

"Maybe...maybe it's out of power?" Spike suggests.

"I don't know Spike," Twilight replies, "but I'm not content to messing around with others' possessions." Twilight returns the yellow rag back to the kitchen and grabs a brush from upstairs. It floats down and carefully sets itself on top of Twilight's head. "Anyway Spike, don't touch it. I'm not entirely sure if something will happen."

"Okay." Spike closes his eyes and listens to Joseph's shower. The water tone has changed again, meaning he had entered. "...Twilight, Joseph and I talked while you were upstairs, even though it was really, really, really short." He opens his eyes and looks into Twilight's. "Twilight, he said that it was almost weird how trusting you are around him, how easily you let him in to our lives."

"Spike?"

"Twilight...why have you done everything you have for Joseph?"

Twilight looks up at the stairs. "...Maybe...I sensed good in him. Like when I saw you for the first time Spike. When you hatched, I could feel good radiating from you."

"Well," Spike says, trying to cover his blush, "when I hatched, you were the first thing I saw. Every animal has a first imprint..."

"Oh..." Twilight pulls him into a hug. "...I love you Spike."

"I love you too Twilight." The two begin to rock back and forth in their embrace. Spike snuggles closer into Twilight's hug. "...Remember when you used to do this when I had nightmares?"

"Yeah, you were so cute." They continue to rock in their spot for a while longer. "...Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you getting tired?"

"A little. Why?"

Twilight breaks their embrace. "Just wondering, we haven't done this in a very long while, so..."

"...Yeah...I'm gonna hit the hay," Spike says slowly.

"Alright Spike." Twilight leans down and kisses his forehead. "Goodnight." Spike slides down from the couch and heads over to the stairs. Twilight smiles and closes her eyes. She must have nodded off just for a while, but Twilight opens her eyes and looks at her tail, noticing she had turned herself around on the couch.

The water upstairs turns off. Twilight looks toward the stairs.

*Back in the bathroom*

"Awe damn it," Joseph complains to himself. He rubs his head and he backs away and straightens. "Why do I have to crouch when I shower?" Joseph had just banged his head on the shower head, sending him into one of his hissy fits. "No, no, no...calm down..." Joseph takes a deep breath, and slowly lets it out. "...Okay...let's get out."

Joseph reaches for the sliding glass door and pushes it aside. He steps onto the rug below, but it slips out from under him. Joseph falls forward, bringing his right hand down the edge of the metal rim of the glass door, cutting him. He falls forward, bashing his forehead on the counter as well, then falls to the floor. "Son of a bitch!" He reaches up and tries to grab the counter, but all he gets is his towel. He uses it to cover himself and he looks at his hand. Going from the bend of his thumb to the edge of his palm was a deep cut. Blood was already running down his wrist.

The door opens and Twilight pops her head in. "Joseph? Are you okay?"

"Twilight!" Joseph yells back. "Uhp! No, Twilight! Go!"

"Oh, sorry!" She closes the door, leaving Joseph to himself.

"...Awe shit." He looks at his hand again. "...Shit, shit, shit..." He stands up, very carefully this time, and secures his towel to his waist. It barely comes down to his knees. Joseph looks at his hand again. "...Great, just fucking great. So much for a relaxing shower."

Somepony knocks on the door and it creaks open. "Joseph?" It was Twilight again. "Are you okay? I heard a crash and rushed up."

"I slipped on your bathmat and cut myself."

"Oh my. How bad is it?"

Joseph shakes his head. "I can't tell, too much blood." He hears the door creak a bit. "Don't come in!" The door closes with a click.

Joseph could still hear Twilight on the other side. "Joseph, when you come out, I'll have a few things to help."

"Okay." Joseph turns on the water in the sink with his good hand and sticks his hand under the cool liquid. "Ssss...damn." Joseph clenches his teeth as he runs his hand through the stream. He looks down at the pile of his clothes and crouches to them. He grabs his briefs and quickly returns his hand to the water. "...For all that is violent, gory, and awesome about Dead Space, why the fuck does shit fall on my head right after I take off my hat?" Joseph turns off the water, tears the towel from his waist, wraps his hand, throws on his underwear, and opens the door. "Twilight?"

"Right here," she answers. Twilight was laying on her bed with a first aid kit open next to her. "Come, sit down so I can look at your injury." Joseph nods and rushes over to her bedside, his hair still wet and dripping. He sits to Twilight's left so she can easily look at his hand. Twilight uses her power and the towel unwraps itself form Joseph's hand. "...Okay, this isn't too bad."

"Good to know," Joseph says.

"Neither is the cut on your forehead."

Joseph reaches up with his left hand and feels the left side of his forehead. It was swollen, and he could feel the cut, but no blood. "I thought that was just a bump."

"Just...do what you can do to distract yourself. This might hurt a bit." A bottle of sterilizing alcohol rises from the kit, followed by a wad of cotton.

Joseph's eyes widen, then close halfway. 'Of course,' he thinks to himself. He looks away and closes his eyes. "Um...Um... … ...Dream~ Dream, dream, dream. Dream~ Dream, dream, dream, when I want you...in my arms, and I want you...and all your char-Hynnnn...Oooo-whenever I want you, all I have to do...is dream~ Dream, dream, drea-Oh, hoah, oh..." Joseph struggles to keep himself under control while Twilight dabs his wound.

"That's right Joseph, just keep singing."

"...When I feel blue...in the light, and I need you-Ow! Ssss...oh, oh...I need you...to hold me tight. Whenever I want you all I have to do...is dream~ Not-Geez!...Mmhmm...-Tasting lips of wine, anytime: night or day. The only trouble is...G wiz, I'm dreaming my life away~ I need you so...that I can die a-Ouch! Why do they have to make this stuff sting!?"

Twilight pats his back. "Almost over, just keep singing."

Joseph takes a deep breath. "...I need you so...that I can die a lovely soul, and that is why, whenever I want you all I have to do...is dream~ Dream, dream, dream. Dream~ Dream, drea-Ooookay! I can't keep this up..."

"That's alright," Twilight says softly, "because I'm done cleaning the wound." Twilight presses a wad of clean cotton to his hand, and medical gauze begins to fly around his hand. It wraps itself up and seals, making a soft cast. Joseph looks at his hand and wiggles his fingers. "...Ouch."

"You okay now?" Twilight asks.

"...Yeah."

"Good, now hold still as I fix your head." Joseph closes his eyes and Twilight uses her magic to grab a few items. She dabs the alcohol-covered cotton on his forehead, applies a fresh wad, and then wraps the gauze around his head, pushing his hair up and out of the way. "...Oh Joseph, you look like you just came from the hospital."

Joseph opens his eyes and reaches up, touching his bandages. "...Eh, thanks Twilight."

"Joseph, I'm sorry this happened."

"Don't start." His sudden tone of voice grabs Twilight's attention. "It was my fault. I grabbed the wrong place, I took too wide of a step. This was not your fault, it was mine." Joseph stands and straightens the waistband of his briefs. "I think I'm just gonna crash on the couch, you know, try to sleep this off."

Twilight nods and her horn begins to glow. "Alright Joseph. Here." A pale green blanket hovers over to him in a folded square. "This should be big enough." A pillow floats next to it, and Joseph grabs the two items. "Goodnight Joseph."

"Goodnight Twilight." Joseph hefts the two items under his left arm and slowly reaches the stairs. He takes his time going down, not wanting to add to his total of injuries. Reaching the bottom, the house goes dark, but enough moonlight was seeping through the windows to give moderate illumination.

Joseph creeps over to the couch, minding the coffee table, and sits himself down. Placing the pillow on the end closest to the door, Joseph lays himself down and throws the blanket over his near-naked body. He was able to stretch out completely on the sofa, and the blanket was long enough to cover his feet and come up to his neck. Joseph shifts to settle in, then closes his eyes. "...Goodnight...Tanya..."

Chapter 8

"Day two, time...uh...nearly eight am." Joseph nods to himself from inside the machine. He twists two wires together and clears his throat. "Time is slipping through my hands as I continue to work. The copper supply has been drained and if I need anymore, I'll need to return to the junkyard. Progress is slow, but is gradually climbing. Estimated completion: seventy four percent. Life here in Ponyville is, indeed, liveable, but there are a few setbacks, such as-"

"Joseph, what are you doing?" Joseph jumps and bangs his head on the low ceiling he was under. He looks over at the opening and peers outside. On the ground was Spike, waiting for him. "...Were you talking to somepony?"

"Uh...no, just myself." Joseph takes his time before anything else. "...Spike, do you need something?"

"Yeah," he replies. "Twilight wants you inside...now."

"Ugh, fine." Joseph slides the rest of his torso out of the back opening of his computer and puts his hands on the dirt below. He pulls his legs out of the machine and stands up. His clothes are covered in dirt and oil. "I'm going. Spike, you coming?"

"...Uh, I kinda want to check this thing out."

"Alright," Joseph says, "but don't go inside that thing. I don't have electricity flowing at the moment, but it's still dangerous." Joseph walks over to the door and opens it.

Joseph nearly yanks the door open, but he hears voices. Twilight must have a guest. "So Joseph is a real hooves-on worker?"

"As far as I can tell," Twilight replies. "Anyways Rarity, I'll make sure to send him over as soon as I'm done with him, okay?"

"That's fine Darling. Till then." A bright flash fills the room and escapes though the slim crack of the door. Joseph opens the door the rest of the way and slides inside. He could see the remnants of glitter falling to the floor and from Twilight's horn from the teleportation.

Twilight looks over at him from the coffee table. There were two cups on the table, both empty. "Oh Joseph, you just missed her." Joseph comes over to Twilight's side and sits down. "Rarity was just here."

Joseph places his bandaged hand under his chin. "Rarity...Is she the white unicorn with the purple mane?"

"Yes, that's her. Remember yesterday?" Twilight grabs her teacup with her magic, along with the other one, and leads them over to the kitchen. "Rarity wanted you to come over to her boutique so she could make you a new set of clothes."

"...Yeah...I remember."

"Well, she had rushed over here because she had just gotten a new shipment of materials, so she wanted me to send you over. You know, first dibs?"

"Alright." Joseph begins to stand, but Twilight's magic grips his shoulders and makes him sit down again. "...Twilight?"

"One thing first," she says. "you made a deal with me to pause in your work and let me deal with your hand." Joseph nods. Twilight nods back and her horn glows again. A bottle of pale orange liquid floats over and sets itself on the table. The bottle had a narrow neck, but it ballooned out at the bottom, making a triangle. "Drink this," Twilight says firmly.

"What is it?" Joseph asks casually.

"It's a potion Spike and I made while you were outside." Twilight motions toward the potion. "It's a healing potion. This should help with your hand...and head." Joseph reaches up and touches the bandages on his forehead. Twilight slides the potion closer to him with her hoof.

Joseph picks it up and pulls the cork out of the top. He sniffs the potion and turns his head in disgust. "Geez...I'm surprised I'm still awake."

"Yeah, there are two things with that potion," Twilight says. "One: it's going to taste horrible, and two: your injuries are going to feel like molten rock fore a split second. But...then it will be all over and you'll be back to perfect health. You need to drink it all though."

"This is a pretty big dose Twilight." Joseph swills the liquid in the bottle and looks at it. "I'm not going to get potion poisoning and fall over dead like in Minecraft, am I? Cause if I am, I'd rather go out fighting a Creeper."

Twilight gains a strange look, but then shakes her head. "No, you are not going to die from drinking that. A little pain, yes, but death is far away."

Joseph stares at the mixture. "...Okay." He puts the bottle to his lips and drains it. He holds his tongue between his teeth and squeezes his eyes shut as the vile liquid slithers down his throat. "...Damn...that was nasty." He opens his eyes and looks down at himself. "...Twilight, I thought you said when I drank this, my injuries would feel like-Oh there it is." Joseph shudders a but as a flash of warms surges through his neck and down his arm. it splits off and hits his head. "Molten rock?" Joseph laughs a bit. "More like a bee sting."

"Well, I said a split second," Twilight answers. "Now I want you to be careful, this potion might have a side effect."

"What is it?" Joseph asks.

"This potion was made with a lot of wild ingredients, therefore, some of them were untreated." Twilight looks at her feet. "You may feel a little...lightheaded later, and your judgment may cloud." Her horn glows and the bandages around Joseph's head and hand fall to the ground. Joseph looks at his hand, seeing there wasn't so much as a scar. "There you go Joseph."

"Thanks Twilight. Now I can get back to work."

Twilight shakes her head. "No, you can't. You need to go over to Rarity's. That way, if something does happen, you'll be with her instead of a wrench."

Joseph shoves his hands into his pockets."Ugh, I hate hacks."

Twilight leans forward. "What was that?"

"Nothing." Joseph straightens up and stands. He wipes his left cheek with the back of his left hand, smearing more of his skin black. "Rarity wants me over there as soon as possible?" Twilight nods. "...So where is the place? The boutique?"

Twilight stands up as well, but stumbles a bit and puts her head in the bottom of Joseph's ribs. She re-steadies herself and looks up at Joseph, really noticing the two feet height advantage he has over her. "I could send you over in a flash."

Joseph looks towards the door, then reaches down and undoes his hoodie from his waist. It, too, was covered in stains. Joseph throws the hood over his head and lets the rest of it, arms and all, hang behind him like a cape. "Alright, send me over."

"Okay Joseph." Twilight's horn begins to glow and from the feet up, Joseph is encased in her violet aura. "Close your eyes, or prepare to be blinded."

"See you whenever I get back." Joseph closes his eyes and waits. He sees the bright flash through his eyelids and waits for the green spots in his closed vision to fade. He opens his eyes and sees that he is outside, on somepony's porch.

Joseph looks around the area. It was right on the edge of town, as he could tell by the few trees growing nearby and the massive land expansion past them. The field flowed for a good distance before a wall of trees cut the land, forming a barrier. Joseph turns around and sees the large round building behind him. The windows were big, and the structure was two stories. Joseph braces himself and knocks on the door.

He waits a few seconds, then knocks again. "Coming! Coming." Joseph rolls his eyes as the door begins to open.

Joseph turns his head back to the door. "Hey Rarity, Twilight wanted me to..." Joseph has to look down a ways to see the pony who answered the door. She was small, maybe two feet tall, and her horn was short as well. Her coat was white like Rarity's, but her mane and tail were a mix of pale violet and normal purple. "...Did Twilight send me to the wrong place?" Joseph bends over and takes a breath. "Hey, I'm looking for Rarity."

"Do you have business with my sister?" the small Unicorn asks.

"Sweetie Belle, Darling." Both Joseph and the smaller unicorn look back into the building. Rarity trots over and gently nudges her sister aside. "Joseph, you're here." Joseph straightens up, again noticing that he was two feet taller than the four foot unicorn. Rarity nudges Sweetie Belle again. "Sweetie Belle, why don't you go and see if your friends are up and about."

"...Uh, okay Sis." She trots down towards the dirt road, gives one last look to Joseph, then resumes her walking.

Rarity turns away and begins to walk into the building. "Come in Joseph."

Joseph takes a step inside and the door closes behind him. He looks around. The whole place looks like it could be a snazzy dance studio if there wasn't the small catwalk in the back. To the right was a small step up, then a large clearing with a few small tables littered with scissors, measuring tools, trimming and crimping tools, and numerous other items. Up against the wall near the tables were rolls of black, white, red, and yellow fabric, most likely the new materials Twilight was talking about before. To the left were a few pony manikins, five to be exact, and two of them had the underlining of dresses around the barrels of the chests. The dual stairways at the edges of the room led up to the upper floor.

Joseph steps forward again and closes his slightly opened mouth. "...Nice digs." Joseph brings his hands together and cracks his knuckles. Only four of them popped. Joseph looks around the room again, this time searching for Rarity. She had disappeared. "Rarity? Are you here?" Joseph takes a deep breath and holds it while he crouches. He sits on his heels and exhales, breathing in new air. The air smelled like air freshener and hair products, and something...else...almost like oregano. "Rarity?"

"Yes Darling, I'm here." Rarity pops into sight at the top of the stairs and casually makes her way down.

"Rarity, I'd rather not have you call me 'darling'. It sounds a bit to...fancy for me."

"Ah, but of course." Rarity comes to a stop in front of Joseph and puts up her left hoof, as if to defend herself. "Oh...you really are a hooves-on worker." She sounds offended.

Joseph looks down at himself, seeing he looks like a regular grease jockey. His white shoes were brown with mud and dirt, his shirt covered in black and brown stains, and his pants were not doing any better. Joseph takes his hoodie off his head and holds it in his hands like somepony would their hat at a funeral. "...I was...working this morning."

Rarity runs an eye up his figure. "...You have a job?"

"No, I was just doing a little...home improvement for myself."

"It looks more like you were fighting in a tar pit." Rarity puts down her hoof and turns toward the back. "Come." She begins walking. Joseph follows right behind her. Rarity gets to the middle of the wall that held the staircase, showing Joseph a door. She opens it and walks in. Joseph, again, follows.

The door closes behind him and he looks around. He had nearly six feet of white linoleum left before he would hit the gray glass wall of the walk-in shower. This was a bathroom, and a very large one at that. The shower had to be at least seven feet across, as the glass wall told, and to the right was an extra three feet with a toilet. A sink sat in the wall to the left, and a pink floor mat covered the floor near the door of the shower.

Joseph scratches his arm. "Uh...Rarity?"

"I would like to get you measured for your new outfit, but I can't possibly touch you right now." She shivers. "You're covered in muck and grim, oil and sweat." Joseph rolls his eyes. Rarity taps on the glass wall of the shower with he left leg. "I would like you to disrobe and wash yourself before we begin. In the meantime, maybe my washing machine could help your current garments."

"Rarity, you could have said 'take a shower, and wash your clothes'. The 'la-dee-da' fancy talk doesn't agree with me."

Rarity has a shocked look on her face, but it melts into a more subtle and...lubricious look. "...Well, well. Okay Joseph." Rarity heads towards the door. "Go ahead and make yourself at home. When the water starts, I'll wait a minute, then sneak in and put your clothes in the wash."

Joseph raises an eyebrow from the sudden change in attitude. "...Sounds good to me. Thank you." Rarity nods as she exits the room. Before she leaves, Joseph makes a noise. "Wait." She stops and backs up a bit. "When you come in and take my clothes," Joseph says, aware of the way it sounds, "make sure to leave the gray shorts."

"Why?"

"I'm not working with you naked."

"...Okay Joseph." Rarity closes the door, catching her tail in it. She opens the door again, retrieves her tail, the promptly closes the door once more.

Joseph nods to himself and her lets his hoodie drop from his hands onto the floor. He peels off his shirt, finding it trying to stick to his skin. He kicks off his shoes, pulls off his socks, and reaches for the zipper of his jeans when the door opens again. Joseph retracts his hands and puts them on the sides of his stomach. "Yes?"

Rarity pops her head in. "I forgot to mention. There are a variety of washing products for you to use. Make sure you stay away from the one in the white round bottle. That may be a bit too strong for your hair." Rarity looks Joseph over again, gazing over his body. She slips out quickly and closes the door.

Joseph shakes his head slightly and undoes his zipper. His stained jeans fall to his ankles and he kicks them into the pile with his shirt. He drops his briefs, kicks them over towards the shower, away from his other clothes, then enters the shower. Inside was a small shelf built into the wall filled with body and hair products. Like Rarity said, there was a white bottle in the very middle of the shelf. Joseph shrugs and reaches for the shower's handles.

*Meanwhile, in the other room*

Rarity paces through the room, stopping just shy of the beginning of the staircase then turning. Rarity perks up her ears as she hears water beginning to run. Using her magic, she opens the bathroom door just enough, and pulls Joseph's clothes out. They dirty garments float in front of her. Rarity grimaces and sends them into the laundry. A moment later, the washing machine is turned on, with Joseph's clothes in it.

Rarity walks over to her work station, passing the large mirror she uses to examine herself in the morning. She stops and stares at her reflection. "...My..." Rarity shakes her head and goes over to her station. Using her magic, she grabs a few measuring tapes and a pair of scissors. "...I wonder..."

Chapter 9

Rarity fumbles with her equipment for a while longer before putting her hoof down. "Maybe I'll wait a while longer...I can help Joseph, then begin my newer ideas." Rarity walks back over to the large mirror. "Yes...I can wait a while." Rarity hears the water stop. "Ah, Joseph must be done." Rarity returns to her station and undoes a roll of measuring tape. "Anyway, I'll pick his brain, see what he likes."

*In the bathroom*

Joseph opens the glass door and grabs the clean white towel Rarity had on her towel rack. He quickly dries his legs and feet, then slips on his briefs again. Joseph sits down on the toilet's seat, really noticing how low it was, and lets his head droop. "...I can't go one day...without taking a shower..." Joseph shakes his head out, trying to fling loose water from his hair. He then drapes the towel over his head and puts his hands on his knees.

Joseph waits a minute or two before bringing his hands up and rubbing the towel into his hair. "...Okay...that's the second time I've been nude in somepony's house...and I should not be talking like this." Joseph closes his eyes. "It's someone, not somepony..."

He looks up and peels the towel from his head, standing up. Joseph shakes the towel out to straighten it, then wraps it around his damp hair again. He walks towards the door, grabs the knob, and opens it.

Joseph peers outside before completely leaving the bathroom. He looks around and sees Rarity by the small tables with multiple tools floating beside her. She appears to be reading something, or looking over a past design, but regardless, she was occupied. Joseph waits a moment before exiting the bathroom. He closes the door, puts his heels together, and coughs into his fist to get her attention.

Rarity looks up at him, her curly purple mane bouncing as she does. "Ah, Joseph. You look much better."

"Thanks Rarity." Joseph walks over to Rarity's side, sitting down next to her with his knees together. "I do believe there was a reason you wanted me over here."

"Ah yes." Rarity looks over at the many rolls of fabric. "Like I have said before not even twenty minutes ago," Rarity says while giving Joseph a stern look, "I have gotten a brand new shipment of materials."

"Oh yeah..." Joseph rubs the back of his head with his right arm.

Rarity leans forward and looks Joseph over again. "...Hm...not much fur on you, is there?"

"No, only on my head," Joseph answers. He walks over to her side and takes a seat on a small stool next to her.

Rarity returns to her tools. "Anyways, if you could stand so I may take your measurements..."

Joseph rolls his eyes, partly because he had just sat down. "Of course m'lady," Joseph says, sarcasm hanging on his words like icicles. He looks at Rarity and sees the face she's giving him. "Sorry, that was uncalled for."

"Quite," Rarity agrees. "Stand, please." Joseph does as he's asked. "Arms out," Rarity instructs. Joseph complies, straightening his arms out as if he was flying. Rarity's measuring tape floats up to his shoulder and stretches out to his wrist. "When I'm done, feel free to return to your clothing, I've taken the liberty to clean the mud from your shoes as well." She makes a note of Joseph's measurement. "...So Joseph," Rarity says in a voice almost too quiet to hear. She strengthens her voice. "Joseph, sorry...May I ask where you learned about hair?"

"...Uh, sure." The measuring tape runs down his wrist, as if to measure for a cuff to a sleeve. "...When I was a bit younger, my sister would have me comb and brush her hair in the morning. She needed her hair straight for her job, or done in a bun, which she hated." Joseph lets out a ragged breath. "So...over the months she taught me how to work with hair...and later, I got into products like volumizer and junk like that."

"Interesting," Rarity say casually. "Go on."

"That's it."

"Oh."

Joseph spreads his legs a bit as Rarity moved the measuring tape down to his ankle from his hip. She gets the measurement and moves up to his inseam. "...Rarity, mind if I ask you why you're doing this for me?"

"...I don't understand the question," She replies as her magic jots down another number on a piece of paper nearby.

"I mean you don't–didn't know me until yesterday, and now you have me almost nude in your house, taking measurements so you can make me clothes. Why?"

Rarity chuckles. "Oh-ho-ho, is that all? Well, there are two reasons why. One was because I was being courteous, and two was because...well..." she shrugs, "I don't like seeing mismatching garments, and yours were...egh." She shudders. "No offense Joseph."

"None taken." Rarity moves down to his waist and takes another note. "As a guy, I don't really care about how I look. As long as I don't look girly or gay."

"Any preferences on what you'd like then?" Rarity asks.

Joseph Moves his hand to his chin, making Rarity lose her current measurement. She shrugs it off. "Um...Nothing flashy, I don't want to look royal or regal or anything like that." He closes his eyes. "Nothing poofy, nothing old-fashioned, and...Ugh, no leather."

"Leather!" Rarity flinches back like she had been struck. "You actually wear that!? That's the skin of other animals!"

"I know what leather is, and that's why I don't like it." Joseph reaches out and puts his hand on Rarity's shoulder. "It inhuman, but humans do it anyway. I don't eat meat like most of them, and I don't wear it either."

Rarity frowns. "Humans eat meat? Disgusting." She shudders.

Joseph curls the side of his mouth back, then relaxes. "Well . . . anyway, something . . . oh my gosh, I know! Can I borrow a mirror real quick?" Joseph asks quickly. Rarity nods and a blue backed hand mirror floats over to him. Joseph grabs it and smiles, running his hand through spiky hair. "Yes. Yes! That'll be perfect!"

. . .

After a large portion of time standing around the shop, nearly three hours of talking, Joseph was thrilled when Rarity told him his outfit was ready. Joseph immediately regrets his excitement; only women were supposed to get giddy over clothes, but then again, he had spent three hours, alone, in a mare's house, in nothing more than his briefs.

Joseph was in the changing room towards the back, slipping on his new threads, while Rarity was out waiting near her station, toying with a thread and needle. " . . . Joseph, I don't mean to rush, but the wait is killing me." Rarity puts down her needle. "I would love to see how that outfit looks on you."

Joseph obliges by opening the door and stepping out, flaring his wrists outward like a rapper. "What do you think?" Joseph is wearing a pair of dark blue jeans that looked like they were built for someone with overly large legs, almost twice as thick around the calves. The pant legs ended, however, in normal width, so the extra material around the legs drooped and wrapped in a mushroom-like form at the edges of his shoes. He is also wearing a black shirt with long sleeves. The sleeves have a red stripe going down the seams down to the wrist. Over that, he is wearing a yellow vest. A black headband with a dark blue-green stripe wraps itself around his forehead. He strikes a pose, one hand on his hip, the other pointing to the door.

Rarity forces a smile. "...It's...not my best work, I'll admit. It looks...better," she says, stressing her words.

"What are you talking about? It's great!" Joseph comes down from his spot and rushes over to Rarity. He throws his arms around her and lifts her up off the ground in a hug. "Thank you so much Rarity! Really, this means a lot. I look just like I always pictured myself!" He sets her back on the ground.

Rarity shakes her head and straightens out her mane. "Mm, yes, well, you're quite welcome."

Joseph smiles. "So...how much do I owe ya?"

Rarity smiles back, genuinely this time. "Call it a friendly gesture." She closes her eyes in a smug look. "I only had to use a bit of the new material for the vest, the rest was spare material around the shop."

"You are very skilled with your stitches Rarity," Joseph says. "Very...skilled indeed." Joseph put his hand to his head. "Oh geez. Rarity, I need to sit down." Rarity gains a look of slight worry, but guides Joseph over to a padded stool. "Thanks."

"Is something wrong?" Rarity asks.

"No, no. I'm fine. My head, that's all...it's swimming." He opens his eyes. "Twilight's potion." Lightheadedness, that's what came to Joseph's mind. He looks at his hand. "...At least I don't have something sharp." He flexes his fingers a few times.

Rarity sits next to him, unaided by a stool, and looks straight forward. At that moment, the door opens and Sweetie Belle walks through. She closes the door and smiles at her sister. "Hi Rarity, I'm home again. Scootaloo is home sick, and Applebloom is back helping her sister, so I came back." She switches her gaze to Joseph, still leaned forward with headband pushed up a bit and his forehead in his right palm. "New clientele?" Sweetie Belle asks.

"You could say that," Rarity replies.

"The name's Joseph King," Joseph says, his eyes still on the floor. He sticks his free hand out toward Sweetie Belle, then puts it back down. "I'm new in town." He shuffles on the small stool making his new yellow vest flare a bit.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Sweetie Belle, Rarity's sister." Sweetie Belle smiles and walks over to the stairs. "Rarity, I'll be in my room if you need me."

"Alright Sweetie Belle. Thank you." She trots up the stairs, leaving Rarity and Joseph alone.

Joseph stands up and tilts his head, his neck cracking loudly. "Thank you so much Rarity, really." He fixes his headband, then takes it off and looks at it. "...I don't want to seem eager to leave, but would you mind if I got my old clothes and returned to my hobby? I was just about to fix the cooling fans in my computer."

Rarity tilts her head a bit at the last part of his sentence. "...Of course Joseph. Their over there," she says pointing near the door leading to the bathroom. They were laying neatly in a folded pile on a chair.

Joseph walks over to them, grabs them, then slips into the bathroom. A moment later, he emerges wearing his old jeans and his hoodie wrapped around his waist by the sleeves. His shirt and his new outfit are under his left arm. The lighting in the room seemed to accentuate the slight bulk of his chest. "Rarity, feel free to pop by Twilight's anytime. I'll be there until I find my own place." He smiles. "Maybe we can share some more hair-care secrets."

"That sounds lovely," she replies. Rarity opens the door for him, and he nods to her. Closing the door behind him, Rarity looks around the shop. It was relatively clean for just being used. No scraps on the floor, no pins scattered across the tables, pretty much clean. Rarity sighs. "...Now what will I do for the day?"

Chapter 10

"When I get back to work, it'll have been too long." Joseph sighs to himself as his legs wobble in his walk. "Twilight, your potion has a bit more of a side effect than a cloudy head." Joseph switches his clothes from his left arm to his right. "Ugh, I need some water."

The town seemed to be asleep at this time. It was past noon, but it was eerily quiet. Only a few ponies were out and walking, but that was it. Joseph counted four so far. The library was coming into view, and so was his computer, large, shining, and looming to the left. Joseph smiles as he nears it, and reaches out for it, even though he's far too distant from the object.

Joseph stumbles on his own feet a bit. "Geez Twilight, just give me some damn whiskey and call me shitfaced." After a few more curses, Joseph reaches his computer. He pats it with his free hand and head for the door to the library. Joseph opens it and calls inside. "Twilight, I'm back." He slips inside and puts his clothes on the coffee table. "Twilight?" Joseph goes over to the stairs and slowly makes his way up them. "Twilight?" he asks again, starting to worry. His face softens and he smiles at the sight.

Twilight was asleep halfway in her bed. She was lying on her right side with the blanket down to her waist. In the small basket at the foot of her bed slept Spike. "...Guess I must have woken them up a bit too early today," Joseph says quietly. He walks over to Twilight's bed and sits on its edge, surprised that it didn't heave when he did. Joseph brushes a stray strand of hair from Twilight's face. Smiling, he grabs the edge of her blanket and brings it up to her shoulders. She smiles in her sleep.

Joseph carefully removes himself from the edge of her bed and slips downstairs after checking on Spike, who was fully covered and snuggling his pillow. Joseph quietly goes to the kitchen and grabs a glass, proceeding to fill it at the sink. After emptying it, he sets it on the counter and head back outside. Closing the door as quietly as he could, Joseph returns to his computer, this time kicking off his shoes and rolling up the pant legs of his jeans to keep them from tangling with his toes. Joseph surveys the ground; seeing many things; wrenches, screwdrivers and screws, rags, oils cans, a safety harness. "A safety harness? Where's this come from?" He picks it up. It was made of light brown material, and it was brand new. A note was beside it.

Joseph picks up the piece of paper and unfolds it. "Let's see here...'Dear Joseph, this might come in handy. I noticed how tall your sculpture was and decided I should let you use this. Twilight has no use for it anymore now that she can levitate. Your friend; Spike." Joseph looks at the harness again. "..Huh." He claps his hands together, dropping the harness. "Let's do this."

…

Twilight's eyes open to their own accord, slow and heavily. She lifts her head up, her mane flowing behind her, not messy from her sleep in the slightest. "Oh...must have nodded off." A loud belch from the bottom of her bed wakes her up the rest of the way. A small scroll, still smoking, floats onto her blanket.

Spike groans out of sight. "Can't it wait until I wake up for you to reply?"

Twilight opens the note, ignoring Spike's remark. "To my faithful student. It has come to my knowledge that you have made a new acquaintanceship with a very unusual creature. Words spread faster than one can fly, I suppose. Those words, incidentally, have revealed that this creature is not one of the known species, and its description from your assistant Spike is raising questions among the palace. I would appreciate if you could provide me of a photo of said creature so I may quell the insecurity of my peers. My apologies for this, but the Council can be a bit...fainthearted. Yours Truly: Princess Celestia."

Twilight yawns and puts the letter down on the edge of her bed as she slides out of it. "Spike? You wrote to the Princess without letting me know?" Spike grunts in responce and turns over in his bed. "Well," Twilight continues, "I guess one little photo wouldn't hurt." Twilight walks over to the stairs, gazing down them. "Joseph? Are you awake?"

"I would say so," Spike moans from under his blanket. He moves a bit to completely cover his head. "It's almost three pm."

Twilight looks at the clock over the far bookshelf. "…I suppose. It's unlike me to nap like this. What happened?"

"Joseph went to the junkyard in the middle of the night and you didn't sleep very well," Spike answers.

Twilight rolls her eyes at the short memory and heads down the stairs. She sees the neat pile of clothes on the coffee table. "Looks like Joseph is back from Rarity's." Twilight looks over at the door. "I bet…" She walks over and opens it, stepping outside. The afternoon light is a soothing sight, casting long shadows over anything that stands.

Twilight sees Joseph's contraption that was one her module and turns her head. Joseph was nowhere to be seen. Then she smiles, knowing why. Twilight catches sight of a hand sticking out of a small fan hole. It pats the ground a few times before picking up a small wrench. The arm yanks it inside, and a few moments later, the small piece of metal is chucked back out, then is replaced by a bigger one. "Stupid lug nuts," Joseph mutters from inside the machine. "Where's the Phillips screwdriver? I know I just had it."

Twilight sits down in the dirt beside the computer. It was more like a tower now; Joseph had added so much to the casing that it now stood ten feet tall, looming to the left a bit like a powder horn. After a few loud noises, a panel on the top of the contraption opens up and Joseph pokes his head out. His face is smeared with black oil above his left eye and his cheeks are red from work. He smiles down at the Unicorn. "Hey Twilight, what's up?" He pulls out his left arm and begins tightening loose screws on the exterior.

Twilight chuckles. "You are apparently." She moves a bit to the left to get a better view. "It's a bit late and dinnertime will be here before we know it, have you eaten today?"

"Does a glass of water count?" Joseph says with a serious face. He breaks it with a smile.

Twilight shakes her head. "Why don't you come down and have a snack or something."

"Twilight, I'm not like most humans." He disappears within the computer again. A moment later he opens another side panel and begins tightening nuts with a wrench. "I used to be a gamer. I didn't need to eat three times a day like other humans, I could stay up for hours on end in front of a television or a computer without eating a thing." He closes the panel and re-emerges from the one closet to the ground. "My current record is forty-one hours."

"Joseph, that's not healthy."

"And would you believe I've only been sick in my life only once?"

"Hardly," Twilight replies.

"Chicken Pox, it sucks."

"Just promise me you'll eat something soon."

Joseph stops his work and looks at Twilight, not with just a simple look, but one of those looks that normally has a valuable meaning behind it. He slowly brings his arm out of the computer and sets it on the ground, propping himself up. "...Twilight?" She nods. "...You are sounding a lot like my sister."

Twilight's face begins to go crimson. "Is...is that good?"

Joseph chuckles. "Heh, I'll be in for dinner." Joseph disappears within the machine once again before Twilight could say otherwise. Sounds that resemble a hammer banging inside the large computer, also shrinking the chance that Twilight could say something to change Joseph's mind. Twilight shrugs and turns, but stops in her tracks as a vivid and horrid curse echoes through the interior of the computer.

"Joseph?" Twilight half yells at the machine.

A moment later the top hatch atop the ten foot structure is kicked open again, revealing Joseph's bare foot. A flurry of curses and swears escape the hull while he climbs out and sits on the edge of the machine's exterior. Joseph quells his voice to an angry mumble, holding his wrist like it might explode.

Twilight walks closer to the side he's facing. "Joseph? What happened?"

Joseph looks down at her, and the angry scowl he has on his face melts into a small smile. "...Heh, just hit my thumb with the hammer." He holds out his hand, but Twilight can't see anything from her distance. "Sometimes having fingers sucks, ya know?"

"Why would you need a hammer for a computer?" Twilight asks.

Joseph snickers and lets go of his hand, then proceeds to shake it. "Well, I had a bolt that got stuck in its hole and the wrench couldn't pull it out. We humans do this thing, this way of fixing it. We bang on things until they work again, like televisions or computers or even stoves. I call it 'hitting stuff'." He smiles wider. His smile quickly fades and he continues to shake his hand. "Maybe you should give me a horn or something Twilight. That sure would make things easier."

"I'm not sure about that." Twilight turns around and begins walking back to the library. "Just come inside in about an hour, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, I got it." Joseph stops shaking his hand and drops back inside the machine, closing the hatch as he does. After a few seconds sounds of strain and metal on metal softly emanate from within.

"I wonder how he sees in there…" Twilight shakes her head and heads inside the large tree, happy thoughts bouncing in her head.

…

After Twilight had to almost literally drag Joseph inside, he boasted a bit at his new advancements in a way that Twilight could partially understand, but sent Spike's head spinning. They all are seated at the dining table, listening to both Joseph and his music player, which he had set on speaker and was tuning out a soothing instrumental melody. The meal of the night; fresh iceberg lettuce, tomato, and cucumber salads with blue cheese and croutons, and a side bowl of biscuits.

Joseph is finishing his story of the time when he had lost his headphones and the trouble he caused trying to find them, focusing a large portion of attention when he raided his sister underwear drawer and found them on top of her dresser. "I'll tell ya," he continues, "my sister was never angrier in her entire life!"

Twilight and Spike snicker, imagining what Joseph's face might have looked like as his sister scolded him. "Wow Joseph," Twilight says, calming down, "you seem to be quite the troublemaker."

"Let's just say," Joseph replies," that I have a way of rustling other people's jimmies."

"What?" both Spike and Twilight ask.

"I have a tendency to upset people." Joseph picks up a slice or cucumber and holds it out in front of his face. "So Twilight, tell me. Out of all the places to live, why Ponyville?"

Twilight looks up from her plate. "…Well, it honestly wasn't my choice. You see, when I was little, I took a magic exam. I was to make a dragon egg hatch." She smiles at Spike. "I tried and failed, then tried again. But…something happened and I lost control. I don't know what happened, all I remember was the Princess placing her hoof on my shoulder. I had passed the magical exam, and was apprenticed by Princess Celestia." She smiles. "At first, it was fun! Learning, reading, talking to my tutors about my magical prowess, raising Spike," she says smiling again. "It was all very fun, but I was negligent to other ponies. I communicated better with books than I did with other ponies."

Joseph nods his head, remembering when she told him the same story last night.

"Anyway, the Princess decided that I should go and try to make some friends, friends that I couldn't pick up and read. So…she had us move here, and I'm happy it all happened."

Joseph nods. "Spike, you have anything to add?"

"Nope." he quietly munches on his salad, which is riddled with small gemstones.

Joseph returns to his salad, as does Twilight. They eat in the sounds of Joseph's MP3 player for a while longer. The song ends abruptly.

Twilight pushes her plate forward. "Joseph, would you mind if I could get a photo of you?"

Joseph smiles. "You gonna put me in your holiday scrapbook Twilight?" He puckers his lips in a kissy face to add top the effect. He laughs soon afterward.

"I was going to send it to the Princess. Spike apparently wrote her about you, and she requested a photograph."

Joseph puts his hand to his chin, the one he apparently hit with a hammer. His thumb is swollen around his nail. "I didn't know you had cameras here. Sure, it doesn't matter to me."

"Alright, thank you." Twilight leans in a bit and closes one eye. "Don't move and say cheese."

"Heh, cheese." Joseph smiles in a normal and calm way, one eye closed in a wink, and Twilight closes her other eye. Just as she does, her horn flashes white for a moment and a white piece of paper settles on the tabletop. Joseph reaches for it and turns it over. His face is captured to the last image. "Hey, who's this handsome guy?" The bottom of the photo ends at his waist, with some of the table showing. "Huh, guess I should have worn a shirt." He smiles. "How did you do that anyway? Molecular and particle transference from the surround objects following the momentum conservation theory? Taking protons, electrons, and positrons from other atoms could make them highly unstable, creating a very dangerous situation and-"

"Magic," Twilight says quickly.

Joseph nods. "Yeah, okay."

"How do you know all this stuff?" Twilight asks as she slides the photo to Spike.

"Science class. My school may be boring, but it does work." Joseph chuckles. "You know, I would love to see the look on my science teacher's face if she saw you guys. I'm sure she would flip."

"I'll have to take your word for it," Twilight replies with a smile.

Chapter 11

The night was cool and calm. Spike had gone to bed after dinner, just after he burned the picture of Joseph and sent it to the Princess, and Joseph had returned to the couch. Twilight joined him, and by candlelight, they sat on the couch reading. They shared the blanket Joseph had been using and were nearly cuddling, Twilight lying down and up against Joseph's stomach and chest, completely ignoring the open book on the table. As Twilight pushes her head closer to Joseph's own, he moves his chin back to avoid being poked by her horn. She giggles. "It's been so long since I've felt like this," she says calmly.

"Felt like what?" Joseph asks.

"Like this," she repeats. Twilight brings her head up and nuzzles Joseph's chin. "I feel so calm, so at home, so comfortable." She rests her head against Joseph's neck. "Because of you."

"What about Spike?"

"I feel comfortable with him, but he's like a brother to me. With you, I feel...so..."

"Shh..." Joseph presses a finger to her mouth. "Another good side to having fingers Twilight...is that you can do little things."

"Like what?"

"Like this," Joseph says, imitating her tone from before. He cups his hand around her chin and brings her head forward. He then playfully grabs the edge of her nose.

Twilight laughs softly and brushes his hand away. She looks at him, and he looks back, back into her deep, shining eyes. They stare into the gateway of each other's souls, and find themselves adrift in a trance. Twilight leans forward...and so does Joseph. He can feel the heat from her body, the warm caress of her breath. She closes her eyes just as her lips are about to meet his...

...And his eyes spring open. Joseph immediately looks around, then lifts his head off his pillow. He was on the couch, a book open and an unlit candle on the table next to him. But Twilight was nowhere to be seen.

Joseph sits up and rubs the front of his chest. He had broken out in a cold sweat again, his skin cold to the touch. His neck and his face, however, were pulsing with heat. His pulse raced. Joseph puts a hand to his forehead, hoping to feel a fever. He couldn't have truly dreamed that, could he? Maybe a sickness induced dream, or maybe just luck of the draw? But no, no fever was present.

Joseph sighs. "...Where did that come from?" He leans forward onto his knees, still covered by his blanket and his boxers underneath, and cups his face in his hands. His thumb ached. "It was just a dream." For some reason, Joseph felt bad for saying that. "...Just a dream." The same pang hit him again.

Joseph slowly shakes his head, not removing it from his hands. He moans into his palms. "...This is my third day here...I have a hobby...I've made friends..." Joseph brings his head up. "Just friends." Joseph lays his head back down on his pillow and places his hands on his exposed chest. He closes his eyes, trying to fall asleep again.

…

A soft, muted crunching noise rouses Joseph from his sleep. He lazily wills his eyes open, and sees the grain of the wooden floor. Brings his arms down, he pushes himself up. Joseph's upper body had fallen to the floor last night, but his lower body had remained on the couch. Joseph snorts and coughs, then brushes his chest off as if there was something there.

Joseph pokes his head head above the couch's back and sees Spike at the dinner table, a large pale green and silver gem in his hand. He casually takes a bite out of it. Joseph opens his mouth, finding it dry and sticky. He had slept with his mouth open last night. "...How do you do that?"

Spike looks over in Joseph's direction, smiling in a slight way of his own. "Good afternoon Joseph." His absent smile makes itself completely invisible. "And make what happen?" He returns to his gem.

Joseph slings his left arm over the back of the couch. "That. You're eating a rock...without breaking any teeth."

"It's actually a Greenguard Gemerald. Pretty common gem, but still delicious."

"Doesn't answer my question," Joseph says quietly.

Spike takes another bite out of the Gemerald. "I'm...I'm a dragon." He swallows. "Its part of our diet."

Joseph straightens up. "Spike...is something wrong? You sound down."

"No, no...I'm alright." Spike puts up a smile, though it looks forceful. "...Are you hungry? I can cook something up or get you a salad or something."

Joseph shakes his head. "No, thank you. I can't eat right now."

"Rough night?" Spike asks, finishing off his meal.

Joseph turns his back against the couch. "I guess you could say that. I had a pretty gnarly dream last night, kinda messing with my head right now." His thought reverberate around the image of last night. Twilight's soft fur against his skin, her sparkling eyes, her lips just about to– "Agh." Joseph shakes his head and stands up, then grabs his blanket and wraps it around his waist. "Where are my pants?"

"In the wash, along with your shirt and jacket," Spike answers as he slides from the table. "Your new clothes, however, are right over there." He points over to a small bookshelf that partway serves as a counter. His new shirt and pants are sitting on it, nice and folded.

"Thanks Spike." Joseph makes his way over to them and jumps into his pants. As he struggles with his pants, and a– "Spike..." Joseph looks down at the dragon. "Where'd this come from?" He hold out a black nylon belt with a dark silver front.

Spike begins walking to the stairs. "Rarity dropped it off while you were back inside your metal thing. She said it might be a good 'extension' to your outfit."

"I'll make sure to thank her later." As he zips up the front of his pants, Joseph starts with his new belt, and all the while his mind keeps returning to his dream. Twilight...just, but just wow. Joseph tightens his belt a bit too tight as his breath quickens. He tries to slip on his new shirt, but his hands are trembling. He tosses it back on the counter and pulls on the yellow vest instead. Since it has no zipper, it just hangs on his body, showing the middle of his chest and stomach. Joseph grabs his headband and snaps it on. "I need some air."

Joseph heads to the front door. "Spike, if Twilight asks, I went out for a walk." He opens the door and steps outside. "Just a walk." He closes the door and swivels around, already walking. Joseph passes his computer and steps on a bolt. He notices he isn't wearing his shoes. Joseph shrugs it off and hurries into the grass.

Being sometime in the mid-morning, the sun was burning brightly and providing sweat-inducing heat. Joseph continues his brisk walk, even though he has no idea where he's headed. "God, why? Why!?" Joseph raises his arms and clamps them over his ears, shaking his head as he does. "One, she's just a friend, and two, she's a four-foot talking horse with a damn horn! And yet my mind has the gall to put that shit into my subconscious? God damn it!" Joseph closes his eyes, still walking. "Why, why, why, why? I'm only seventeen! I'm not supposed to worry about actual girls until next year! I should be in front of my computer, at home, alone, with a bottle of lotion next to me!"

Joseph clenching his hands, gripping his hair. "And I didn't even have anything like Twilight on my hard drive! Sure I enjoy a lot of other artists work, a little fur here and there, but come on! Twilight is an actual animal! If anything I should be thinking of her as–Oh shit!" Joseph catches his foot on something in his blind speed walk and falls forward. Instead of hitting ground, like he braced himself for, Joseph falls into a large pond and lightly hits the sandy floor. The water where he falls is only knee deep, but Joseph stays under the surface with a look of dissatisfaction on his face.

Joseph slowly begins to raise his head out of the water, his hair falling out of their spiky figures and lying flat against his scalp. Joseph blows his breath, creating a flurry of bubbles. He looks around. Nothing much, just more water, a grass shore, and a lone tree with a rope swing attached to the single outstretching branch.

Joseph blows more bubbles and sits up, the water coming up to the bottom of his chest. "I'm growing to hate my old habits more and more." He looks down at himself and digs his toes into the sand. "At least I didn't ruin my shoes." Joseph stands up and begins t wade through the shallow water over to the grassy shore. He takes a seat, up and out of the water, and brings his legs up close to his body and rests his chin on his knees. "...Why?"

A shallow whistling sound hits Joseph's eardrums. He looks up, hoping for a plane, but instead just finds an airstream...a rainbow airstream. Going straight across the sky, it looked pretty. Joseph smiles, but as it gets directly above him, it takes a sharp turn directly down. Joseph's smile fades, and the image comes into focus a bit. Leading the rainbow was a blue pony. "Is that?" Joseph then looks at the middle of the pond, lake maybe, and then back up at the pony. "...No...No, no, you better not." The pony gets even closer to the lake's surface, going even faster. "You are..." Joseph groans.

The pony hits the water with such force a massive wave nearly eight feet tall goes out in all directions. Joseph closes his eyes and grabs a breath, and braces for impact. The wave hits him, though with not as much force as he thought, and he's blown back a bit, still clutching his legs. The water returns to the lake, showing it to be a bit more shallow from the splash, and Joseph is still sitting on the shore. He opens hit eyes. "Oh...my...God."

A pony shoots out of the lake, a Pegasus. It hovers above the water throwing its forelegs up in the air. "Whoo! Best cannonball ever!"

Joseph looks up at the mare, knowing so from her voice. "...Hey!" The cyan Pegasus looks over at him. "Next time give some warning! I wanna keep the color of my hair, not have it blasted off by a power wash!"

The pony flies over to Joseph, just hovering a few feet in front of him. "Sorry, but you gotta admit, that was awesome!"

"To a point," Joseph replies.

The pony looks him over. "...Hey...You're the one that was with Twilight a few days ago."

"And you're the one who just drenched me again. Glad to see you again." Joseph runs a hand through his hair, and his headband falls over his face and settles on his neck. He extends a hand. "I guess we should be properly introduced. My name is Joseph King."

"Mine's Rainbow Dash." Dash reaches out and takes his hand, rather he takes her hoof and shakes. "So you know Twilight. Have you met the rest of our little group?"

Joseph makes an expression, trying to resemble one of thought. "...Let's see. There's you, right?" Dash nods. "And then there is Applejack...Rarity...uh, Pinkie something."

"Pinkie Pie," Rainbow Dash corrects.

Joseph nods. "Yeah, the spastic pink blur. And then there's Fluttershy. Any more?"

Rainbow Dash shakes her head. "Not 'less you count Spike. When did you meet them?"

"At my welcoming party."

Rainbow Dash flutters over to Joseph's right side and sits on the wet grass. "Any reason you're wearing those clothes? There ain't nothing going on, no carnival or something...is there?"

Joseph frowns. "...No. I just like to be like any other human being and cover myself.

"What's a human?" Dash asks.

Joseph buries his face in his left palm. "...Shit, that's right. I'm now in a world where humans apparently don't exist."

Rainbow Dash leans forward and tries to copy Joseph's position. "...I'm guessing you're a human?"

Joseph spreads his fingers and glares at her through the openings. He then takes his hand away and smiles, big, bright, and creepy. "Why, yes. How kind of you to notice." Joseph drops the expression and stares out into the lake. "...You lowered the water level a bit."

Rainbow Dash falls back onto the grass. "Eh, that'll go back to normal when the next rain comes in. I'll make sure of it."

Joseph rolls his eyes. "Wow, weather control. You a captain in the cloud punching brigade?"

"Almost," Dash replies with her chest puffed out. "Tomorrow's gonna be sunny, but the next day is our off day, so its all chance."

Joseph looks over at her. "Are you shitting me? You can control the weather?"

"To a point." Dash point up in the sky. "Somewhere up there, somewhere in Cloudsdale is one of our many factories. All together, we got wind cannons, storm cloud dispensers, lightning chargers, we got it all." She smiles. "We Pegasi dominate the weather."

Joseph looks up as well. "...Just better hope G.I. Joe doesn't come in and blast everything."

"What?"

"Nothing." Joseph lays back on the grass as well. "...Maybe this view will clear my head."

Rainbow Dash looks over. "Got something on your mind?"

Joseph looks over at her, and their eyes meet. "...You're a female, I need a guy to talk to...no offense."

Dash makes a face. "Try me. I'm a bit of a tomboy."

Joseph looks bask into the blue vastness above him. "...Sorry, but I need a real guy my age to talk to."

"And what age is that?"

"Seventeen."

Rainbow Dash grunts. "...Need a real guy...Ya know what?" She jumps into the air and begins to float in front of Joseph. "If you need a guy to talk to, then I'll drop by around eight o'clock and take ya. Where do you live?"

Joseph closes his eyes and sighs. "Twilight Sparkle's house...at the moment."

"Alright. See you tonight."

Joseph sits up, ready to protest. "Wait!" Joseph cries out, but Dash is already gone. She's just a blue dot in a lighter blue background now. Joseph scratches his head. "...Da fuck did I just get myself into?"

Chapter 12

Joseph fiddles with his thumbs as he sits on the couch, staring straight ahead at one of the many bookcases. He taps his foot impatiently as he stares. "...Probably one of the many thing I miss right now...is television." Joseph stares a bit more before reaching out with both of his arms and forming a box with his fingers. "...Now all I need is a script, an acting crew, a camera, some film, a lot of stuff I don't have, a can of nuts, a fancy chair, etcetera..."

Twilight starts down the stairs and sees Joseph in his 'picturing' pose. She walks over to the couch and sits down next to him on the floor, staring at the bookcase with him. "...Hey."

"Hey."

"Whatcha doing?"

Joseph puts his arms down. "Finding a way, a safe way mind you, to keep myself occupied."

Twilight doesn't take her gaze off the bookshelf, and neither does Joseph. She flaps her left ear. "...So no more working on that...thing outside?"

"Not for today," Joseph answers.

Twilight finally looks at him. "Joseph, you've been in that same spot staring at the same wall in the same position for hours now. It's almost eight o'clock and I haven't seen you eat anything. Are you alright?"

Joseph keeps his gaze on the shelf for a moment longer before glancing at her. "...I'm okay–wait...did you say eight o'clock?"

Twilight nods. "Yes. Why?"

Joseph looks up at the ceiling, a smile creeping across his face. "I wonder...it always works on TV." He looks over at the door. "Twilight, watch this." He points to the door with his fingers in the shape of a gun. "Three...Two...One..." Joseph 'fires' and a knock on the door is heard. "Oh my God, it worked...Unbelievable." Joseph stands up and goes over to the door.

He opens it and behind it sits a calm-looking Rainbow Dash. "Hey Joseph, you ready?"

Joseph flaps the sides of his yellow vest against his bare chest. "Yeah, I guess."

"Wait, wait, wait," Twilight says in quick succession. "You are taking Joseph out?" she asks in Rainbow's direction.

Rainbow rubs the back of her neck. "Well, yeah, I am. It was kinda my idea, but..." Rainbow Dash raises a single eyebrow, or at least the outline of one. "...That doesn't bother you, does it Twilight?"

Twilight looks as if she's taken aback; wide-eyed, blushing, and her mouth small. "...N-no." She looks at Joseph, but keeps her gaze a bit more on his chin. "You go out and have fun Joseph. Rainbow, don't do anything drastic, or overcomplicated, or...or whatever you call it.

"Extra spectacularific," Dash answers. "And don't worry, this is nothing romantic," she says with a taunting look in her eyes. "Come on Joseph, let's go."

"Uh, sure." He waves as he turns. "Bye Twilight, be back soon." He closes the door behind him and bends over, hands on his knees. "Oh shit."

"What?" Dash asks, fluttering right in front of him.

Joseph slowly raises his head to look at her. "...Nothing. Lets just get this over with."

…

Joseph has his head slouched between his shoulders and his hands in the pockets of his new pants, trying to walk fast. Rainbow has her pace set in a semi-trot, and even with her legs being shorter than Joseph's she makes him work to keep up.

Dash flushes her wings and slowly returns them to her sides. "We're here."

Joseph scans the building they've stops at. It is a low-roofed structure with neon lights in the front reading 'OPEN'. The door isn't even a door really, its a pair of swinging saloon doors. "...You brought me to a bar? I didn't even know a town this nice had a bar."

Dash nods. "Yeah, a bar. I come here all the time."

"So why did you bring me here?"

She smiles. "Oh, you know. Get a few drinks, sing some karaoke, hook you up with a nice mare for the night..." Dash sees the expression on Joseph's face. "I'm kidding. The pony you can relate to, as I said earlier, is inside. He's pretty cool." She walks into the establishment, the doors swinging on their hinges after she pushes through them.

Joseph spits off to one side and walks in after her. The interior of the bar is almost exactly how Joseph pictured one as a kid. A nice spruce wood counter with a matching barkeep polishing beer mugs, stools, tables and chairs, some bench tables in the corners, music playing from some unknown source, and a door leading to some other room, and by the sound of it, that room had a pool table in it.

Joseph looks around and sees Rainbow Dash sitting in on a stool at the far end of the counter. He walks over to her just in time to hear her order. "Hey Carrot Top, shot of whiskey, two hooves." The mare behind the counter dunks her head under the counter, returns with a bottle and glass, then turns her back to them.

Joseph sits down on the stood next to her, his knees almost hitting the counter's edge. "I hate being tall here." He looks around. "So, who am I supposed to talk to about my girl trouble?"

Rainbow looks up at him as her drink slides to her hoof. "Girl trouble? I thought you said it was something el–" She cuts herself off. "...Girl trouble?"

Joseph plants his face in his palm.

Rainbow Dash stays quiet for a while longer. Someone changes the music in the room to something slow and slightly sad. She taps her hoof on the counter thinking, and then her eyes go wide. "...No."

Joseph looks from his palm. "What?"

"No!" she repeats. "No, really!" She leans in real close, almost touching her chest to his. "You're here to get another male's opinion on what to do if you like a mare, aren't you?"

"I'm here because you brought me here...But yes," he says, agreeing with her, "that too...I guess."

Rainbow narrows her eyes. "It's Twilight, isn't it?" Dash flies back onto her stool and swivels around. "Oh it all makes sense now! That way she looked at you! Her face from before! You...you had that look too!"

"Rainbow Dash, keep your voice down!" Joseph whispers sternly. "I don't want the whole town to know about this."

Rainbow Dash calms herself. "Well, good thing you didn't listen to me before."

Joseph cocks his head. "Why?"

Dash closes one eye in a wink. "Because I don't know nothing 'bout true love. I just go around, pick up a stallion or two, and bring him back to my place if I feel like it. I'd just be teaching you about mindless, meaningless sex."

Joseph stands up. "Alright, that's it, I'm leaving." He turns to the door.

Dash downs her drink in a fast gulp and hurries after him after paying. He is almost five yards from the building when she catches him. "Hold on there Big Ben, where are you going?"

"Home." He shakes his head. "No, Twilight's house. I have a wonderfully comfortable couch dent the size of me waiting."

She pushes him back in a challenging manner to get him to stop walking. "What about Soarin? He's in there, you can talk to him about Twilight."

"I don't care anymore. I don't care about meeting this Soarin, and I don't care about hearing about anything about the subject." Joseph huffs. "...Just had to say it, didn't you?"

"Say what?" Dash asks.

"Sex..." Joseph begins walking, but very slowly now. Dash doesn't try to stop him. "That is something you never...ever say to a person in my predicament. I just had my family ripped away from me, and now Twilight is gaining land in both my mind and my heart, and...forget it." He sticks his hands in his pockets. "I just pretty much needed to know the genuine thought of another male of if I should wait or act." He stalks off.

Rainbow Dash calls out. "Joseph!" He turns to face her again. Rainbow sighs. "...I'm not a male, but I know this...Don't act...Don't wait...Just Act when you heart tells you you're ready." Rainbow Dash turns around to enter the bar again, but stops. "...I won't tell Twilight about any of this."

Joseph smiles. "...Thanks...I guess." He looks around the darkened land. "I guess I got what I needed, so I'm going back to the library to catch some Zzz's. What about you?"

Rainbow Dash smiles as well. "I know well what I'm going to do. Since my heat cycle is over, I'm going to get myself laid." She disappears into the bar once again, leaving Joseph with a shuddering thought.

Joseph turns and begins walking, but then stops. "...Which way did I come from?"

Chapter 13

Breakfast was fast; just a couple of bowls of cereal and some idle chatting. Joseph is outside laying in the grass with his hands behind his head. Fully dressed in his new clothes, he lets the sun warm him through and through. Twilight had not asked of what happened last night, nor did she seem to notice him return to her home.

Joseph coughs into his fist, then returns his hand to the back of his head. He hears the door open and close behind him a number of yards away, followed by the familiar trotting. Moments later Twilight sits in the grass beside him. She doesn't say anything.

Joseph cracks an eye to look at her. Her mane, in the light that she's in, seems glossy. However, her eyes have slight indication of bagging. Joseph props himself up on his elbows. “Hey, are you alright?”

Twilight doesn't look at him, but gives a forced smile that disappears as quickly as she gave it. “Fine, fine...just didn't sleep very well.”

“That wasn't because of me, was it?” Joseph asks. Sure, he had wandered Ponyville late at night, lost, and finally returned to the library after two hours of searching, but he was very, very, very quiet upon entering...sort of...okay, he fell over the coffee table and crashed into a shelf, knocking the whole thing over and causing a chain reaction of smaller items to fall...

Twilight shakes her head. “No, it wasn't you.”

Joseph sits up completely. “...Something's bothering you. I can see it.”

Twilight looks at him. “How do you know something's bothering me?”

“One; because I lived with a girl for the past six years, and two; because you just said it right there.” Twilight lowers her head and inch or so to momentarily sulk. Joseph flattens his palm in the air. “Talk to me. What's on your mind?”

Twilight looks away from him, back to the tree out yonder as she was before. “...I'm worried.” Joseph waits for the pause

to be over. “...About you,” she continues. “Rainbow Dash is very...impulsive. And I’m worried that she may have–“

“Nothing happened last night.” Joseph lays back down. “After she took me to the bar, she sat down for a drink and I walked out.”

“Bar? Walked out?” Twilight asks.

“Yes. As soon as I heard a peculiar word, I walked out of the bar, and apparently, I learned what I needed to.” Joseph lays back down. “She took me out so I could learn something, and she ended up being the one to teach me.”

“What did you learn?” Twilight asks quietly.

Joseph closes his eyes. “Something along the terms of personal. Sorry Twilight, I’m not ready to tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“Hey! Hey guys! Guys!” Joseph and Twilight both turn around to see Spike running from the library, a piece of paper flapping in his small claw. He trips and falls, but quickly recovers and rushes to their side. He's panting a bit. “...Sorry. Look what the Princess just sent!”

Twilight takes the paper in her magical grasp. She removers the photograph that's attached to it and stares at it. It is the one that she sent to the Princess a while back; the photo of Joseph. She reads the letter out loud. “Dear Twilight Sparkle, the photograph you sent me is a creature most peculiar, none that we have seen before. However, the fear and rumors of monsters have dissolved at the sight of it. I thank you for that. However, I do have a bit of news you should hear in person. Please, come to the palace whenever convenient. Yours truly, Princess Celestia. P.S. I would like you to bring along Spike and your new 'friend'.”

Joseph runs his hand down the edge of his vest. “...So...Seeing royalty. Is that bad around here? Or is it a good thing?”

Twilight frowns at the letter. “Well, it could be both.”

“Whatever it is,” Spike interrupts, “it's important.” As Spike is talking, smoke escapes from the corners of his mouth.

Joseph points. “Hey buddy, you're smoking.”

Spike rolls his eyes. “I know, it’s been going on all morning.”

“Did you eat something?”

Spike shrugs and redirects his attention to the letter. “So...Now what do we do?” He coughs into his claw, and a plume of unhealthy-looking black smoke follows.

Twilight looks at her assistant, then at Joseph, and then at the letter floating in front of her. “...I guess we're all headed to Canterlot.”

…

Joseph looks out of the small window of the train car, cupping his hands around his face to get a better look. “Wow, I never knew ponies could create something as complicated as a running train.” Joseph returns to his seat and looks at Twilight and Spike in the opposite booth of the car. “It takes quite a while to make one back in my world, but some of them can hit supersonic speeds.”

"Well," Twilight says, "we ponies aren't in the dark ages. We do know our way in the art of creation." Spike bellows out another plume of black smoke, and Twilight cracks the window before they're all suffocated. “Spike, are you feeling well? That is not normal smoke.”

“I feel fine,” Spike replies. “I just have this dry feeling in my throat.”

“Come here,” Twilight commands in a gentle demeanor. Spike leans towards her and Twilight brings her hoof to his forehead. “You don’t feel warm. I don’t know.”

Spike shrugs slightly. “I’ll just get something to drink at the train station.”

Joseph goes back to looking out the window; watching the mountains and plains below vanish. He sighs. "...Sometimes...Guys, can I ask you something?"

Twilight and Spike look at each other. Spike raises a fist to his mouth as he coughs again, a small cloud of black smoke passing between his fingers. Twilight nods. "Of course Joseph, you can ask us anything."

Joseph looks back out the window. "Back at home, my home, I lived in a big city. Buildings of concrete, not straw and wood, you know?"

Twilight nods. "Yes, we have those too. And skyscrapers too. We ponies aren't completely in the dark compared to the world you keep decribing."

"Huh?"

Twilight laughs softly. "And you know, I still want to meet you friend Technology." She winks at him.

Joseph scratches his chin, feeling stubble. "Tech...Oh! Oh, you were-ha!" Joseph laughs for a moment, then recomposes himself. "You were joking at the diner, huh?"

"Joseph," Twilight interupts, "you wanted to ask us something?"

Joseph strightens up and presses his back against his seat. "Right...I lived in a big city, a concrete jungle. I'm so used to having the noise of the city around me, the smell of motor oil and cheap perfume, the flashing lights...And then here, Equestria..." Joseph looks at his hands, still smiling. "It's all so much better in some ways. I can breath without worry of second-hand smoke all the time, I can see beautiful sights here without a computer screen, I can listen to the breeze clearly without all the buildings getting in the way. I don't have to worry about my reputation, about the pressure of school, the...the...everything!" Joseph leans forward. "So I ask of you...have I been in the wrong environment all this time?"

Twilight stares at him for a few seconds. She rubs the back of her neck. "Well Joseph, it all...is really about what type of person you are. I mean...from the way you talk about yourself and about other humans..." She holds her hoof out. "You sound like you were pretty different. But here, in Equestria, you don't have to worry about that. So...I don't know Joseph."

Joseph goes back to looking out the window, then jumps back as the train enters a tunnel. "Gah!" He falls back in his seat, his bench. Twilight snickers. Spike keeps his mouth shut, afraid of producing more smoke, but smiles. Joseph sits up in the dim lighting and crosses his arms. "Haha, very funny."

Twilight pretends to wipe the front of her face. "I'm sorry Joseph. It's just that the way you jump, it's funny!"

The tunnel ends and normal light is returned to the cabin. Joseph begins to chuckle, which sends all three of them into a laughing fit. They all calm down after a few second. Joseph scoots around in his seat. "...So Twilight, tell me about this...Princess Celestia."

Twilight starts off on a very long description of the Princess. How Twilight first met her, how kind she is, the stories from the previous years, and much more. Joseph sits on the edge of his seat the whole time, absorbing the knowledge, as the train continues its pace, continues its route, continues its duty...

Chapter 14

"Princess Celestia sounds..." Joseph rubs his chin as he tries to find the right word. "...She sounds...upright."

"Very," Twilight says quickly. "Princess Celestia is, in my view, the best ruler Equestria has ever had."

Joseph smiles and nods. "I'll take you word on it." he leans closer to the window, which is now fully opened.

Spike is also sitting as close to the open window as he can, his arm on his knee and his chin in his hand. Spike gave up trying to constantly cough into his claw, so he just sits there with his mouth slightly open, a full fledged stream of smoke continuously flowing from the side of his mouth and out the window. He rolls his eyes. "...Soon I'll rival the train's own smoke stack." He looks at Twilight. "Are we there yet? All I taste now is charcoal."

"We'll get you something to drink at the station." Twilight looks out the window. "...We're here." Twilight beckons Joseph closer to look out the window. "Joseph," she says, "welcome to Canterlot."

Joseph holds his breathe as his eyes take in the beauty of the cliff-side city. The yellow and blue spiraling towers, the white castles and buildings, the gorgeous fields and waterfalls all seem to add to one another. "Wow..."

"Yes," Twilight says in a hushed voice, "it is beautiful..."

Joseph scans the approaching area over and over. "...Its raining sunshine, that's for damn sure."

"What?" Both Spike and Twilight ask.

Joseph peels his face from the window, but still looks at it. "It's another song. It's just way easier for me to say songs than to think of the right words, ya know?"

Spike looks over at Twilight, and she matches his gaze. "...No," they both reply.

The train lurched forward, then back, then forward again. The scenery outside begines to slow its pace and Building spring into view quite abruptly. Faces zip by, baggage carts peels away from the hailing strip, and birds fly level to the train. The train stops and a loud hiss of steam is heard from outside.

Twilight removes herself from her seat and stands up. Spike slides off his seat onto her haunches and rubs his chest. Twilight looks over her shoulder and past Spike. "We're here Joseph, lets go."

Joseph stands and follows Twilight out of the train car. He slowly steps from the car onto the stone platform and looks around. The train station looks like it has a bit of an age, but well kept at the same time. The paint is even and new-looking, the stone pillars holding the ceiling are barely cracked, and the ponies here look cheerful. "Nice. Way better than the subway."

"Come on Joseph." Joseph looks to his right, where he sees Twilight, alone. Spike then returns with a paper cup in his claw and sips from it casually. The smoke leaking from the corners of his mouth faded to a light gray, but is still as abundent as before. Joseph jogs to catch up with them as they begin walking toward the city of Canterlot. Well, further into, more like it.

The buildings in Canterlot grab Josephs attention as they walk down the street. Beauty salons, various shops, eating establishments, the occassional sales cart, all bloom in the city. The ponies also look like factions; some belonging to the richer population, then the cheery locals, and then hasty and rushed individuals. Even though he walks on two legs, barely has any hair, and is a completely unseen species, in Twilight's presence the other ponies barely give Joseph a second look. Joseph slows his pace to look in the window of a shop, seeing many capes of different colors and designs. "...Talk about regal."

"Joseph." He snaps his head to the side to look at Twilight. "We need to hurry. The Princess wants to see us as soon as possible."

"Of course." He rushes to her side once again. Spike coughs again and sips from his cup, then tosses it in a trash bin nearby. "Hey little man, how's the smoke?" he asks.

Spike shrugs. "It doesn't burn like before, but it's still coming."

Joseph looks around again, his eyes setting on a large green Earth stallion pulling a cart filled with square-cut bricks. "...This place must have taken such a long time to build." He looks arounf the rooftops again. "Even in Minecraft, I would lose interest fairly quickly and start a real survival mode. Too much wool and stone to make." Joseph looks back down at Twilight, who's eyebrows have elevated. Joseph rubs the back of his neck with one hand and fiddles with the rim of his vest ith the other. "Sorry, more gamer talk."

They continue to walk in silence for nearly twenty minutes or so. Spike is back on Twilight's behind and Joseph is busy hopping after them on one leg as he pulls up the sock on his left foot. He gets it set and nearly walks into Twilight. "Look," she says happily. "There it is, the Canterlot Palace."

Joseph looks where she is looking and whisles. "Damn, nice digs." The castle seemed to be built right into the cliff partway, and in that case, it probably was, and it is huge. Stone pillars and columns, painted glass windows, and guards, lots of guards.

Twilight walks toward the palace and busies herself by talking to a white Earth stallion in golden armor. Joseph walks back to her side and sees that the stallion is almost half a foot taller than the four foot unicorn. "And so we came as quickly as we could," Twilight finishes.

The guard looks up at Joseph and runs his eyes over him. "...Well, it's true that it's something I've never seen. Looks kinda like an ape." He turns and begins walking. "This way."

Joseph shrugs and walks forward, Twilight and Spike just barely behind him. They past numerous guards, Unicorns, Earth and Pegasi, and enter the palace following the guard in front of them. Joseph slows down a bit to talk with twilight as he stares at the red carpet that stretches down the hall for what looked like a mile. "Pretty big place," he says quietly.

"Very big," Twilight agrees. She looks ahead, and Spike slides down from her backside to walk beside her. Joseph looks as she does and sees the great doors coming closer. Red stone trimmed with gold, and they had to be at least twenty feet high.

Joseph lets his jaw open slightly when the large doors begin to open. The room beyond the doors is larger than life it seems. The wide windows, the long carpet, and throne. And seated in said throne is a large white pony with both wings and a horn. They all stop walking and Twilight, Spike, and the Guard behind Joseph bow their heads. Joseph just stands, looking all over the room.

"Oh Good, you came." The Unicorn-Pegasus hybrid pony, the Alicorn, stands from her throne and walks down the slope. She stops when she is just in front of Joseph, though off to his right a bit. "Hmm."

Twilight looks up and reaches forward, just barely nudging Joseph's leg and getting his attention. "Bow your head."

"There will be no need for such formal acts Twilight Sparkle," the great Alicorn says. "Please, stand." They all do, but Josep just keeps his eyes on the Alicorn in front of him. She is much taller than any other ponies he's seen; in fact, she's taller than he is. She has to be at least seven feet tall, not counting that large horn of hers. Her mane and tail looks like a flowing river, constantly moving even though there was no wind current in the room. Atop her head is a gold crown, and across her neck is a gold neclace with a large ruby. Even her hooves were clad in gold. The Alicorn smiles. "This is very new to me. Please, tell me, do you have a name?"

Joseph looks around the palace room, and even though Twilight is right behind him, it feel like she's miles away. Joseph points to his chest. "Me?"

"Yes, you." The alicorn's smile doesn't fade. "I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria."

Joseph nods. "My name is Joseph King. It's a pleasure to meet you, your highness."

Celestia backs up a step, then glances at Twilight and Spike. "I suppose this meeting can be determined a dual purpose." She walks around Joseph, eying him from head to toe. "Interesting body structure. Well, I'm sure you are all wondering why I requested that all three of you were to appear before me, correct?" Every head in the room nods, even the guards'. Celestia gives them a quick smile, then returns to Joseph. "The first reason is that I would like you friend here to stay here at the palace for a while to be examined."

Joseph swallows. "Eg-examined?"

Celestia chuckles. "Oh, nothing too serious. Just a few things; physical inspection, a few questions, nothing more." Joseph sighs and relaxes in his stance. Princess Celestia steps aside to speak to Twilight. "Now, the second reason. Twilight, Spike has been with you for many year, has he not?"

"He has Princess." Twilight looks to her assistant, who smiles. A faint stream of smoke escapes Spikes mouth when he does.

Celestia smiles again, but it fades. "Yes. Spike has seen many of my suns and Luna's moons. That is why I requested for you to bring Spike." Princess Celestia gathers herself. "...It is time to further his apprenticeship."

Spike looks at Twilight. "What do you mean?" he asks.

Celestia leans down and Joseph jumps back to avoid being hit by her large wings. "Spike. When you were born, you began your apprenticeship with Twilight. Now is the time when your magical abilities should soon make their appearence."

Twilight scoots closer to Spike. "But Spike isn't a magical dragon."

"Ah, but he is." Celestia closes her eyes. "His egg was enchanted and gave off various magical auras. Now that he has matured a bit, he is to stay here at the palace until he can learn to control his soon-to-be-blossoming powers."

Joseph looks at Twilight, who has twisted her face trying to hide what might be sadness or anger, possibly both. "But," she protests, "Can't we wait until Spike begins to show signs?"

Joseph raises a finger. "Uh, not to point fingers, but isn't Spike's untimely smoke problem considered a sign?"

Twilight shoots him a look, but Celestia shakes her head. "No, that is just indegestion, completely unrelated. I know, the dragons of long ago suffered from that constantly. But 'tis better to be safe than sorry. Blossoming dragon magic is very dangerous. It can destroy cities if unsupervized."

"Hey! Don't I get a say in this!?" All heads turn to the small dragon. Spike has his arms crossed and a flow of light gray smoke is streaming from the corner of his mouth. "It's my life, my apprenticeship we're all talking about. Shouldn't I get a say in whether I want to stay with Twilight or not?"

Celestia glances at Joseph, then over the heads of her piers to the three gaurds, the leader and the two who opened the throne room doors. "Guards, please escort Joseph to the med labs. This seems to be turning into a family affair."

Joseph looks at Twilight. She nods, just barely, and he begins to walk toward the door again. The gaurds form a triangle around him and lead him back down the hall, this time turning left. The large doors close, leaving Spike, Celestia, and Twilight to talk.

Joseph glances the hall. It's just like the one before; large walls and windows, a long red carpet, and various other halls connecting to it by giant doorways. Joseph looks down at the gaurd in front of him, the one that escorted Twilight, Spike, and himself to the throne room. He leans forward. "Do you guys ever get lost in here?"

The guard looks back at Joseph...and smiles. "All the damn time."

Chapter 15

Joseph lets his gaze wander to the various windows in the tall hallway, each one depicting a different scene. One was mostly blues and dark greens with the moon at its center and another blue Alicorn near it. Another depicted six symbols in a rainbow of color. And another one was of four sections of land coming together in a circle; a maze of stone, a large jungle, a thick marsh, and then a flat plain with a single tree.

Joseph looks back at the two gaurds behind him, then at the one leading him in front. "Hay," he asks the leader, "do all of these windows tell a story? Or are they all just for show."

The guard doesn't move his head much, but regards his question. "Every image you see in these halls are tales of greatness, whether they are good or bad, that Princess Celestia has acomplished over the many millenia she has ruled." The guard turns left at another intersection and walks ahead with Joseph and the other two guards at his heels, er-hooves. The leader stops at a large pink double door, which is open. "Here you are, the med lab."

"Med lab," Joseph repeats.

The guard in front of him stands aside. "Go on then, in ya go."

Joseph nods and slowly takes a step forward, but not quickly enough. The two guards behind him brace the tops of their helms against the seat of his dark blue pants and push him into the room. Joseph swivels on his heels. "Hey! I am not some animal to be herded into a pen. I am a young, intellegent individual." Joseph turns again and steps forward, but his shoe catches the wide pantleg of his jeans and he fall forward, landing flat on his face on the hard, cold, unforgiving white tile.

The guards behind him burst into laughter, the leader resting against the doorframe. "Intellegent he says! Ha!" The door slams shut with a loud bang, but their laughter can still be heard from behind it. It fades as they walk away.

Joseph lays on the cool tile, his nose bent against his cheek and his feet in the air. He drums his fingers on the floor for a few moments. The sound of hooves coming closer doesn't affect his rythym. "Are you hurt?"

Joseph keeps his fingers moving, but doesn't raise his head. "Ih'm fihne, just leht me lahy here fer a minute..." Joseph continues messing with his digits. After a few seconds, he pushes himself up and reverts to a cross-legged sitting position. He rubs his nose with his left hand, feeling it and pushing it from side to side. He sniffs twice, then looks up at the pony who asked him if he was okay.

She tilts her head to the left, making her bright pink mane follow in suit over her long red horn. Her fur is a light red, and her eyes match. She's also wearing a pair of deep red rimmed glasses attached to her white coat by a pink chain. The collar of her white coat is pressed down, like she had just ironed it, and in the left breast pocket rests two pens; one red, one black. Joseph leans to the side to look at her flanks, and normally he would have slapped himself for checking out a girl's ass, but this was...sort of different. On her flanks were matching tattoos, Twilight called them cutie marks, of a pink heart with a white medical cross right behind it.

The Unicorn mare offers a hoof forward to help Joseph up, but then retracks it once she realizes how tall he is. Joseph stands up and looks down at the pony, him towering the normal two feet or so over her, like he does so many. "My, you're an odd one," she says.

Joseph forces a smile. "Yeah, hearing that a lot lately."

The mare clears her throat. "Well, I'm Doctor Love Hurtz, but you can just call me Love."

Joseph raises an eyebrow. "...Your name is Love Hurtz?"

Love giggles a bit. "Yes, I know. Ironic that I actually make the hurt go away." She steps aside and let's Joseph look around the room. It actually looks like the nurse's office in a school. There is a small bed-like bench against the back wall with a strip of wax paper sitting on top of it's light green fabric, a desk with a matching chair, a table on the opposite side of the room covered in empty beakers and bottles, and then there are multiple translucent plastic drawers all over the room, filled with items that Joseph can't quite make out. Doctor Love walks back to her chair, hops up into it, and then motions towards the bed.

Joseph walks over to it in four strides and sits down, the wax paper making that familiar crusty crumpling like at the nurse's offace at his old school. Joseph not only got a lot of crap at school, he took it to. Sucker-punches and hidden kicks sent him to the nurse's often. Joseph smiles as he rubs the paper with his open palm. "My name is Joseph King."

"All right Joseph," Love says in a happy, yet calm tone, "the Princess wants a full evaluation of you." She spins around in her chair as a large notepad and pen float to her side in a pink aura. "Tell me what you already know about your species."

Joseph begins at what he knows, basically reciting what he had told Twilight when he first met her a half-week ago. However, Joseph began to add more information such as, well, basically the whole semester of human development he had taken the year before in school. As he explains, time slips by. Love already has filled out multiple notepads and placed them in a neat stack on her desk. Joseph stops talking when she is about half-way through the fourth notepad.

Doctor Love looks from her notes up at Joseph. He shrugs. "That's all I know about the human anatomy. And behavioral patterns are a whole 'nother story."

"Interesting," Love says quietly. Then louder, "Very interesting." She puts her notes aside and rolls her chair close to Joseph. "The Princess wants as much information as she can get. If you are done speaking, let's move onto the physical examination." Love straightens her glasses. "If I could have you stand and remove your garments."

Joseph looks around the room, half expecting someone else to be around. "...Uh...okay." Joseph stands and peels off his shirt, taking his vest off as well. Love returns to her desk as Joseph kicks off his shoes and pulls off his socks. "Just put these anywhere?"

"That's fine," she replies.

Joseph piles his clothes into a neat bundle and pushes them aside with his bare foot. He then undoes his belt and unbuttons his jeans, letting them fall to the floor. Joseph sits back down on the bed and pushes his pants out of the way.

Doctor Love gets out of her chair and walks in front of Joseph. With the bed at such a low level, her forehead and horn are level with his own. She looks down questionably at his waist. "Joseph, if you would."

Joseph shakes his head. "This is the best you're gonna get. Sorry Love."

She smiles. "It's okay, I'm a doctor and a head reseacher."

"Doctor Love," Joseph begins, "as a self-respecting human, I insist I keep my undergarments on. We just met, and I don't plan on exposing myself at every corner I take in this kooky world."

Doctor Love's smile doesn't move. "Joseph, it's perfectly fine. I'm a doctor, and, even though you are a new species here in Equestria, you probably have nothing I haven't seen before."

Joseph stares into her red eyes though her glasses. After a few seconds, he sighs. "Fine. But you I catch you staring, I'm getting dressed again."

Love puts a hoof on his bare shoulder. It's warm. "Joseph, If it makes you feel better, you don't have to right now. I'll preform a few vital tests, and then we can continue."

"Thanks...I guess"

Love's horn glows breifly and a gray stethoscope floats over to her. It's just like those back on Earth; two prongs for hearing, a long tube connecting to a plastic circle, and a metal disk for the underside of the circle. She plugs it into her ears and magically places the circle against Joseph's chest. He shivers and goosebumps form on his skin.

Love moves the scope around his chest, listening to different areas. "Now just relax," she says calmly. She tests a few more times, then her pen begins to write something on its own. Love takes off her scope and sets it down next to her notepad, which tears a new page. "Okay, hold on for a moment Joseph."

"Whatever you say Doc." Joseph rubs the front of his chest with his hand to warm up his skin.

Doctor Love hops onto the bed along with Joseph with a wooden popcicle stick floating near her head. "Open please."

"Alright." Joseph opens his mouth and lets Love press down on his tongue with the stick.

She moves it around a bit and peers into Joseph's mouth. She taps his back teeth and retracks the stick. Joseph hears the audible scratching of her pen writing by itself. "Alright Joseph," Love begins, "you're teeth are very different from ours. Do you mainly eat plant-life, or are you a carnivore?"

Joseph closes his mouth. "Most humans eat both meat and plants. Fruits and vegetables, really. But I'm strickly vegetarian."

"Very peculiar." Love returns to the floor and watches her notepad and pen work. She rereads what it, what her magic, has written. "...Well, here comes the part of the job that you might not like." She walks oer to one of her drawers and puls it open. She closes it and goes to it's neighbor and open that one. Love's horn begins to glow and a small plastic bag containing a pen floats out.

"What do you mean I won't like it?"

Love walks back over to the bed and unwraps the pen. Joseph looks closer and sees that it's not a pen, but a freshly sterilized scalpel. He swallows as Love brings it closer. "I need to retrieve a few samples. If you could hold out your hand..."

Joseph instinctivly crosses his arms. "You're not gonna cut me with that, are you?"

Love smiles. "Of course not. I'm just going to collect a small skin sample." Joseph hesitates, but extends his right hand, palm up. Love brings the scalpel to his skin and presses down slightly. She then drags it across his palm, not cutting him because the blade is positioned to scrape. "...There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Love's horn stops glowing and the scalpel rests on the desk. A small glass disk float over by it and sits down.

Joseph rubs his hand. "No, I guess not."

Doctor Love writes a few things down herself and takes the skin sample over to the other side of the room. She places it carefully out of the way and begins rummaging through her drawers again. "Oh dear. I really do need to organize these." She closes the drawer and opens another. "Ah, here they are."

"Here what are?" Joseph asks.

Doctor Love comes back with a thin strip of metal that has a plastic base with a gauge. "Here, slip this in the crease of your arm. It'll take you temperature."

Joseph lifts his arm ans Love magically places the meter aganst his side. Joseph lowers his arm to hold the meter in place. He'd only been sick a number of times at home, and an armpit thermometer was always what his mother would use, so this was nothing. Joseph past his knees with his hands. "...So...Doctor Love, how's it here...in Equestria?"

Love goes back to her desk and jumps into her seat. "Equestria has many regions Joseph."

Joseph rethinks his question. "...How's it here in Canterlot?"

"Fair," she replies shortly. "...I mean, not a lot happens here, but I'm almost always busy."

"With what?" Joseph asks.

Love chuckles to herself. "Even though the guards here are just guards, they often find themselves here with me. Though I do see a lot more training accidents then regular carelessness. Twisted ankles, broken ribs, torn ligements, sword wounds, the occasional spear injury...Oh, and a lot of magical burns."

Joseph reaches up and rubs the back of his head, whih causes the thermometer to fall to the bedside. "Oops."

Love grabs it in a field of magic and brings it to her face. She looks over and Joseph with a puzzled, more curious, look. "Ninety-nine degrees. Is that normal?"

Joseph points a finger to the ceiling. "If you want to get specific, the average human's internal temperatue is supposed to be ninety-eight point six. So yeah, I'm pretty normal."

"Alright." Love writes down a few more things and they both sit quietly as she does. Her pen falls. "I'll just preform one more thing before we continue your physical."

Joseph smiles, but it disappears once he realizes he's that closer to stripping. "...Alright, I guess. So what is it? An eye test?" Love gets down from her desk and returns to the multiple drawers. Joseph clears his throat. "Maybe it would be easier if you got everything out all at once so you don't have to keep going back and forth. A lot of the doctors at my home do it, but then again, its not very efficent. Kinda cluttered." Joseph crosses his arms, but brings one up to rest his chin on. "Anyway, this last test...What is it exactly? We've kinda covered...every...thing..." Joseph straightens up, his back arching. His pulse begins to race and his skin becomes damp. His skin loses its color and his eyes go wide as he sees Doctor Love bring out a fresh needle.

Chapter 16

The lanterns flicker as Princess Celestia speaks. As the minutes drag on with her words, Twilight's hopes of keeping Spike at home dwindle more and more. Since the guards had left to escort Joseph to the medical area, it seemed eerily quiet when nopony spoke. But now Somepony was speaking, and her voice booms into Twilight's ears.

"-And such damage would take months to recover from," Princess Celestia continues. "Spike's developing powers must be contained exactly when they appear. Do you understand Twilight Sparkle?"

Spike, who has moved over to Princess Celestia's left side, looks at Twilight. He has his arms crossed, trying to contain himself. Twilight bites her bottom lip. "...I...I understand. I've understood from the very beginning."

"Good." Celestia looks down at Spike. "Now Spike, it is still your decision whether or not you wish to remain with Twilight, or wait here to encounter your soon-to-be-appearing powers."

The little dragon turns away from the two mares and sits on the carpet. He drags a finger along the red carpet’s rim. "Is it really? It's really sounding one-sided. If I stay with Twilight, I'll cause trouble, if I stay here, I won't." He sighs. “…I don't want to leave home, but I guess-“

“Princess Celestia.” A single guard slips into the throne, grabbing the attention of all the occupants. “We have a bit of a problem.”

“No! No, no, no, we don't!” A pony in a white nurse's shirt pops out from behind the guard. “Everything's fine, just a few complications.”

Princess Celestia's left eyebrow begins to escalate. “Problem? Complications?” She steps forward. “Explain, if you would, Doctor Hurtz.”

Hurtz straitens and regains herself. “Ahem, yes. It seems that the tests you asked me to preform have hit boundaries that Joseph wishes not to cross.” Taken by the Princess' expression, she continues further. “The blood sample you asked me to retrieve won't be coming soon.”

“And why not?” Celestia asks.

Hurts fixes her glasses. “Well, he appears to be deathly afraid-”

“Of needles,” Twilight finishes.

Hurts nods. “He passed out at the sight of it. Joseph is currently sleeping in my office.”

Celestia smiles. “Well now, if I wasn't royalty, I would say that seems a bit...cute. If you would, since he is unconscious, please, Doctor Hurtz, take the sample.” Celestia looks down at Twilight. “Let's continue out discussion later Twilight. Right now, you're friend may need you.”

…

Spike and Princess Celestia had retreated to another section of the castle to further discuss the problem at hand. Doctor Love Hurtz and Twilight both made their way back to the med lab in return. With Doctor Hurtz at her desk re-reading the notes she had taken earlier and magically placing the three vials of Joseph's blood away, Twilight focuses her attention on Joseph's sleeping form.

He is covered in a pale green blanket from the mid-section of his chest down, although the blanket stops short just above his ankles and leaves his feet exposed. His toes twitch every-so-often, and his hands move in a fluent pattern on his stomach. Every now-and-again, Joseph mumbles something in a dialect that Twilight can't quite catch.

“...Ehh...Crouch. Wait fer... Ten seconds... ...Headshot.” Joseph moves his head a bit in his sleep.

Twilight shuffles a bit and looks back at Love. “Is something wrong with him?”

Love looks over her notes at Joseph. “Well, he's been doing that ever since I covered him. He seems to be reliving some sort of event from his recent past. See how his hands are moving?” Love reclines back in her chair and tosses her notes back on the table. “He's doing something in there.”

Joseph moves and bit. “Ehh...Mission begins in...thirty seconds.”

Twilight rubs her chin with a hoof. “...This could be a good time to learn more about him,” she says quietly.

“Mission begins...ten seconds.”

Twilight scoots closer to Joseph, watching him talk.

“...Five...”

She moves his left hand away from his stomach with her nose.

“...Four...”

She lets his hand close around her horn.

“...Three...”

She closes her eyes.

“...Two...”

Her horn glows.

“...One...”

Twilight opens her eyes, but they’re not her eyes. She's looking through someone else's body, Joseph's body. His feet her move forward as the large gate in front of her slides open in a quick fashion. Then the real sound begins.

Gunshots, explosions, metal crashing against metal, and many other destructive sounds bombard Twilight as Joseph's body moves across the barren wasteland, the battlefield, following a railroad of some sort. His blue coat and darker blue gloves outstretched in front of him. On his left arm sits a watch, in his right is a large butterfly knife.

Twilight's fear begins to grow as Joseph turns invisible and sneaks around into an old-looking building. He turns visible again and stalks up the stairs in a crouch to the second floor. His head pops up and spots another man near the window with an elongated gun in his hands. His shirt is red under his gray vest. Joseph watches in horror as Joseph rushes forward and plunges his knife into the man's back, and he screams as he reaches back, trying to grab his wound. He falls dead a moment later.

Tears well up in Twilight's eyes as she sees Joseph bring out a black gun with a white handle. He takes aim at a man in a long white trench coat. A medical personal. He fires and the man drops, his unusual backpack sliding to the ground as well.

A booming female voice filled the area. “The bomb is approaching the checkpoint!”

Joseph switches back to his knife and sneaks down out an open doorway. He jumps the railing and runs toward a large bald man carrying an equally large weapon. “Medic!” he calls. “Charge me now Doctor!” Joseph goes up behind him as the large man's gun pumps out bullets. Joseph brings up his knife...

...And Twilight pulls herself from his dream. She falls backwards into the leg of the other table of the room. Doctor Hurtz hears the commotion and turns around, seeing Twilight almost in tears. “Miss Sparkle, what happened?” She leaves her seat and goes to her side. “What did you do?”

Twilight closes her eyes and lowers her head. “...I saw him kill people.”

Hurtz jaw nearly hits the floor. “What?

“I looked inside his dream, his memory.” Twilight shakes her head.

Doctor Hurtz leaves her side and walks over to Joseph, letting him subconsciously grab her horn as well. Her expression

changes to horror, then it softens. “...Twilight, you may want to take another look.”

She shakes her head.

“Come now Twilight, it's something that will make you feel better.”

Finally Twilight stands back up and walks over to Love's side. She lets Twilight put her horn on Joseph's hand and allows herself to be sucked into his dream again. Music is playing, a victory theme, and Joseph is randomly stabbing at the air. Then her vision goes gray. A small box appears saying “The server is changing levels.”

The view begins to widen back out to a large piece of plastic with dozens of buttons. Two hands fumble on the buttons, then give up and rub Twilight's face, no, Joseph's face. He turns and stares at his door behind him. “Well, good game,” he says to himself. “Sis! I’m done, you can use the computer!”

Twilight pulls herself back to her own mind. “...What?”

“It was a game,” Love says quietly. “He was playing an electronic board game or something like that.”

Twilight blinks. “It wasn't real?”

“No, not at all.” Love pats her on the back and returns to her desk. “You know, that was a huge invasion of his privacy. He probably won't like it once he hears we were inside his head.” She returns to her notes. “This also says that you should never jump to conclusions.”

Twilight rights herself. “Of course. Right. Joseph wouldn’t do those kinds of things. Not after the type of behavior I’ve seen him display.” She wipes her face and gives a shaky laugh. “I should have known better.” Twilight sits down and watches Joseph sleep, watch his face twitch, his hands moving, his feet trying to walk on nothing.

Many minutes of silence pass. Love rewrites some of her notes. Twilight preoccupies herself by tracing figures in the air with her hoof. After a few moments, she glances over at Love. “Those notes…They’re all on Joseph, correct?”

The doctor turns to face Twilight, her tail swiveling behind her as she spins in her chair. “Yes. Though they are mainly about how humans eat, how they arrived and evolved, for Joseph’s understanding at least. I also have details about the human body.”

Twilight’s eyes catch. “…They don’t have tails, do they? Humans I mean.”

Love tosses Twilight her notepad. “Read for yourself, everypony will sooner or later.”

Twilight looks at the cover. The whole first page is labeled “The Human Male: Bio-labels and such”. Twilight flips open the first page and folds it over the back, reading. “The Human species apparently have evolved… …not to mention the Human share similarities with… … …And… … …” Twilight flips through almost half of the notepad, absorbing the information.

She reads in solitude for nearly another fifteen minutes, completely ignorant to the others in the room. Joseph’s unconscious laughing go unnoticed, Love’s organizing as well. Twilight turns another page, this time finding details drawings of various parts of the human, no, of Joseph’s body. The first page held a picture of his hand splayed wide to see every finger, and little lines pointing to certain places connected notes of very little writing.

Twilight turns the page, this time finding a drawing of Joseph’s entire arm up to his shoulder. Dotted lines fix the boundaries of his muscles, and more little lines and tiny writing. Twilight glances over at Joseph’s bare arm and compares the two. She hadn’t really looked, but he was muscular to a certain point.

Twilight turns to the next page and sees a detailed drawing of both Joseph’s chest and back. Twilight could see the bends of his back, where his shoulder blades rested, how toned his stomach really was. She is learning more from a piece of paper about Joseph that she really noted from living with him. But a piece of paper wouldn’t tell you how smart he is, or how kind and well-mannered Joseph acts when around others. It wouldn’t tell you his eating habits, it wouldn’t tell you that he has a very slight limp on his left side that is so unnoticeable you need to stare for minutes to see it, it wouldn’t tell you that he’s a dedicated worker, or a great friend.

Twilight catches herself and flusters. She turns to the next page, seeing a picture of Joseph’s foot and leg. The diagram cuts off just about halfway above the knee, but still gives a lot of insight. She could see each toe, each tendon, everything. She turns to the next page and blushes a deep shade of red. “…Um, Doctor Hurtz?” The doctor looks down at the purple Unicorn. “Um, is this…?”

Love takes the notepad back and closes it, then places it on the upper corner of her desk. “Yes, it is. I needed to know every detail about his body, as Princess Celestia requested.” Love puts her hooves together. “However, he was asleep when I…observed him. It’s just biology, nothing to be ashamed about.” She returns to organizing her desktop items for the thirtieth time.

The door opens before anything else can be said. Both Love and Twilight redirect their attention to the door to see Princess Celestia's mane flow into the room just seconds before her own head. "Twilight, Spike has come to a conclusion."

Chapter 17

Joseph instinctively covers his eyes with his forearm before he opens them. Memories come flooding back. "..Ah...mahm...Sis, can you turn off the lights? I..." Joseph sits up, the green blanket sliding from his chest and piling at his waist. He looks down at himself. "...Fool me that many times...there's too much shame for me to carry."

"Oh good, you're awake." Joseph brings his eyes to his left. Sitting a few feet away with a small notepad floating beside her is Princess Celestia. She pushes her long, flowing mane out of the way so she can talk. "You've been sleeping for a while."

Joseph grabs the blanket piled at his waist and pulls it up to the bottom of his ribs. "Princess Celestia, what, uh...what are you doing here?" Joseph looks up at the ceiling. "Uh, I don't mean here, as in the palace. You're royalty, that's obvious. I mean here, in the nurse's office, yeah." Joseph rubs the back of his neck with his other hand. "Uh..."

Celestia chuckles. "You are confused. That is quite alright." Celestia places the notepad back on the desk in the room. "I have been meaning to speak with you..."

"Doohhh-kay," Joseph drools out.

Princess Celestia shakes her head. "No, not here." She stands up, making Joseph crane his neck to see her face. "Rise. We shall walk to a more private part of the palace."

Joseph nods and swings his feet off the small bed. He stands and stretches, but stops himself when he notices the Princess's eyebrow rising. "What?" he asks dumbly. He looks down. "Do I have somethi-" Joseph yelps midsentence and grabs the green blanket off the bed and holds it in front of him. "Where is my underwear!?" Joseph scans the floor. "Where are all my clothes!?"

Princess Celestia just warmly smiles. "Making such a big deal for something so small."

"I know when Doctor Hurts was-" Joseph stops himself. He closes his eyes down to slits and slowly turns his head to face the Princess. "...Did you just call me small?"

"No, I am not referring to you," Celestia corrects. "I mean, you fuss so much about clothing, something we only use for formal or special occasions."

Joseph rolls his eyes and he begins wrapping the blanket around his waist like a towel. "I would rather not go nude."

Celestia turns and head towards the door, which opens by itself. "If you haven't noticed young one, many ponies here are 'nude'."

Joseph walks after her, taking a left as she did. "Yeah, well, you ponies don't always have your genitalia exposed like my species."

Celestia chuckles again. "Do not worry. They are down in the lower quarters being washed."

"Then why did you take my shoes?" He grumbles to himself for a small amount of time. Joseph's mood fades after he looks out a nearby window, giving him a beautiful image of the landscape. He brings himself back to reality and hurries back to Celestia's side. "...So, can you tell me why we're headed so far into the palace?"

"In due time young one." Celestia takes another turn and begins walking down a long, curved hall.

Joseph follows. Looking around, this hallway seems more homely than the others. Small tables with placemats of sorts are places every thirty feet or so. Every once-in-a-while, one table would hold a candelabra. More and more paintings cover the walls in between the spaces where large royal flags hang. One painting is in oil and depicts Princess Celestia standing in a large wheat field. Another, all blues and purples, shows a silhouette looking at the moon. And another shows a happy town cheering for a pony, one who's features are painted so small he's just another in the crowd. They begin walking up red-carpeted stairs.

"Wow," Joseph says aloud. "...Pretty regal here."

After a minute or two, they reach the top of the staircase. Joseph doesn't notice that Princess Celestia has stopped in front of him and he bumps into her flanks. He jumps back a step and grabs the blanket around his waist. Celestia doesn't look phased. "Please, go in. We shall talk once we're inside."

Joseph looks ahead and sees a large red door in the wall. He creeps past the Princess and pushes it open. "Holy crap." Fine white carpet lines the floor, and red rugs with gold silk trimmings sit in various places. A large bed with four elongated posts that cast a red silk ceiling sit in the back of the room, right next to the glass doors leading to a patio overlooking the whole world. Large pale curtains line every window. Large comfort pillows sit together on the floor in front of a blazing fireplace.

Joseph takes a step and feels his feet sink into the carpet. "Where are we?"

Celestia walks past him and the door shuts with an audible boom. "My bedchamber." She heads towards the fireplace and turns on her feet. Slowly, she lowers herself onto her belly, but keeps her head up. "Please, sit." Celestia motions toward the pile of pillows next to her.

Joseph tightens the blanket around his waist and walk forward. He slowly descends and crosses his legs, then moves the blanket over them so his entire lower body is covered. "...Okay, what did you need to speak with me about?"

Celestia lowers her head a bit; she does so because, even when laying down and with him sitting, she is still taller than Joseph. "Joseph," she starts, "I have a very big favor to ask of you." The Princess waits a while before continuing. "Twilight Sparkle has already left for home after I assured her that you would be fine here. However, not all is well in her household. Feelings are being thrown, and many of them are negative."

Joseph raises an eyebrow, then reaches up and pulls at it absentmindedly with his left hand. "Twilight's depressed?"

Celestia nods. "Very. And seeing as how you are currently staying with her-, you are, correct?" Joseph nods, and Celestia continues. "Yes, seeing as how you are staying with Twilight, I ask of you this." Celestia leans forward so close that their faces are nearly touching. "Please do everything you can to comfort her. My pupil is going through a very tough time in her life and will need your help."

Joseph stares at the large Alicorn in front of him, and she returns his stare with one of her own. True sincerity flows behind her eyes. Joseph wets his lips. "O-of course. Twilight's my friend, and I've always been there for the few friends I had before, so it won't change here."

Celestia smiles and backs off. "Thank you Joseph King." She stands up, completely shadowing Joseph as she walks past him. "There is one more thing I wish for you to do. Come here." Joseph gingerly stands and follows the Princess to the far end of the room. She stops in front of a large dresser, from which a bright flash shines for a split second. Celestia turns to Joseph. "Here," is what she says as a red book floats forward. Joseph reaches for it and takes it from the air, looking it over. He notices the small details, like the gold corner guards and small impressions on the velvet cover.

"What is this?" Joseph asks.

"It is your assignment," Celestia explains. "While you stay with Twilight Sparkle, I wish for you to record every event of the day. In one year I will summon you to analyze the progress you have made." Princess Celestia leans forward, bringing her head down so once again, she can look Joseph in the eye. "I want you to record everything, rational and personal thoughts alike. Write honestly. Think of this as...a diary of some sorts...If you choose to accept."

Joseph opens his mouth to say something, but his voice squeaks and his obedient nature acquired from years of school and living with an older sibling kicks in. He simply nods. Joseph stands there, one hand holding the new book, one hand around the blanket wrapped around his waist, waiting.

Celestia has her horn glow and returns to her spot near the fire, horn still glowing. Joseph follows and resumes his sitting next to the pile of pillows. He watches the fire crackle and snap, the flames dancing, the shadows jumping.

Minutes later, the door creaks open and a pile of clothes float over to Joseph. Not just clothes, his clothes. "Oh, hey, thanks."

"It is no trouble," Princess Celestia says calmly. "I must say this, however, you will need to accept the fact the, as you put it, 'complete nudity' is a natural part of our society, but whatever makes you feel comfortable."

Joseph is already standing and dressed, save for the right sock he is pulling on now and slipping his shoe over it. "Thank you Princess Celestia. I guess I'll be returning to Twilight then."

"Oh! Before you go Joseph..." He stops in his tracks to look back at the white Alicorn. She continues, "I have something I wanted to present to you along with your assignment." Once again, her horn begins to glow. A blue box the size of a brick flies from under her bed and flings itself to Joseph. He catches it with his free hand, then sets the box on top of his book and shakes his hand. Celestia's smile fades a bit, but is still there. "In that box is a very special type of plant. If Twilight, or yourself, are feeling down, take a small piece of that plant and burn it. Take heed that you will only need a small amount at a time, no bigger than a small marble. That plant has been enchanted to last longer as well, so a small piece will burn for nearly an hour." Celestia closes her eyes. "I wish you good fortune in your endeavors Joseph King."

Joseph smiles and bows, though he's uncertain if she had seen. "Thank you Princess Celestia." He turns and exits the room, the door closing with a boom.

...

The train ride home, or at least to Ponyville, seemed to take forever. The ticket, courtesy of Princess Celestia, was for first class, and though it was a pleasant ride, Joseph could not stop thinking about Twilight. Depression, a very serious thing. It was a long ride of curiosity and worry.

The train jars to a stop and shakes Joseph back to reality. He stands, collects his things, and exits the train. The platform was relatively deserted seeing as how it was nearly nine pm, as told by the station's large clock. Joseph started towards the library's direction.

With no one, nopony, whatever... With no other living creature outside at the moment, Ponyville had lost its livelihood. Joseph begins to count his steps from the train station, but losses track around four-hundred. By then, he's in front of the library. The lights are off. Twilight must be asleep. Joseph opens the door and ducks through.

The tree house looks practically the same as when he left, which didn't surprise him. Joseph deposits his book on the coffee table in front of the couch and peels off his shirt. A creak from upstairs grabs his attention. "Twilight?" Joseph inches towards the stairs, the blue box still in his hands, and quietly takes the first step. Joseph reaches the top floor and looks around. Spike's little basket bed is empty, and Twilight is sitting on the edge of her bed looking out the window. The gloom of the moon is all that illuminates the upper floor. "Twilight?"

Twilight's ears flinch and she reaches up to her face with a hoof, keeping her back turned. "Oh, Joseph. Welcome back." Something was in her voice, a wavering of a sorts.

Joseph walks closer and rounds the end of the bed. "Twilight, are you okay?"

Twilight messes with her eyes again. "I'm okay, I'm...okay."

Joseph puts the blue box on the windowsill and sits down with Twilight. He notices the fur around her eyes and muzzle is messed. "You've been crying," he says.

Twilight just closes her eyes and tries to recompose herself. She fails. Another tear streams down the side of her face. "...I miss him so much." Joseph looks down at the foot of her bed, where he can see Spike's basket. Twilight grasps a shaky breath. "I've been away from him before, left him to house-sit, let him run errands, but...I've never m-m-missed him this much."

"Twilight..." Joseph tightens the grip he has on his own hands. "...Spike is...gone...isn't he?"

She nods. "A whole year without seeing him...It sounds..." Twilight stops her talking and suppresses a sob.

Joseph grimaces. He never did like to hear other people cry, least of all girls. "Twilight..." Joseph lets his hands separate. 'Please do everything you can to comfort her.' Joseph looks down at Twilight and put his arm around her, resting his hand on her shoulder. He pulls her close. "It's okay, just let it out."

Twilight presses her face into his bare chest and resumes her sobbing. Joseph brings his other arm protectively around her and begins to rock back and forth in a slight motion. With one hand on her back, and the other gently stroking her neck as he did when comforting his sister, Joseph closes his eyes and lets Twilight unload. "It's okay...it's okay..." he whispers. Twilight's back heaves as she sobs, but her crying stays relatively silent. Joseph leans forward and rests his chin on top of her head, being careful of her horn. "...If there is anything, anything you need from me Twilight, I'll be there for you."

Twilight's crying ceases after another half hour when sleep finally takes her. Joseph doesn't leave his perch on her bed. He's still sitting where he was, Twilight asleep, her head in his lap. He carefully rubs her neck, brushing strands of her mane back into place. "...Anything at all," he says softly.

Chapter 1

The sun is shining brightly outside and the breeze begins to pick up. The air outside is fairly warm and pleasant. All is well in Seattle Washington, all is peaceful, all is quiet...except in the room of a boy...a boy named Joseph King. An alarm is buzzing in the room so loud the windows are vibrating. It is just another typical day for Joseph. He opens his eyes and sits up in bed. Yes, just another day, well, most would call it a special day...a birthday. Joseph shuts off his alarm and stands up, letting the blue covers of his bed slide off of him to the floor, leaving him in his black briefs.

Joseph is an average American teen. He is seventeen years old at the moment, five foot ten, and a bit ornery in the morning. His hair is a nice shade of maple wood brown and is long enough to cover his eyes completely and come down to the bridge of his nose. His hidden eyes were a nice copper-like color and shined in the light...whenever his hair parted and let the light through. Joseph is also a prime example of the typical 'not-too-white' kind of white skinned male, you know, the 'perfect' skin tone for a regular guy? Yeah, that white.

Joseph runs a hand through his hair and smooths it out, making it cover his eyes like normal. Whenever his mother would come to visit she would always nag him on having it trimmed. Nobody could understand how Joseph could see through his hair. That was his secret; he could see through his hair just like glass because his eyes were a perfect 20 – 20. Joseph starts mumbling and walks through his open doorway.

Right from his room he walks into the kitchen, where his sister is already eating a plate of bacon. His sister's name is Tanya King. She is twenty years old, her hair is long and red, her skin's the same shade as Joesph's, and right now she's dressed in a simple white nightshirt and long pink bottoms. Her shirt was baggy, but it didn't matter, for she didn't have very big bumps to look at, mostly it was her pretty face that got attention.

Tanya and Joseph were a few years apart, but still. They were the only ones in their apartment as well. They both moved out of their parent house for some unknown reason, but Tanya still watched after her brother as if he was her own kid.

She looks up at her brother. "Hey bro," she says through a mouth full of food. She swallows. "How's your morning."

"The..." he paused for a yawn, "...The same."

"Here," Tanya said bluntly, tossing him a blue robe. "Just because I'm your sister doesn't mean I like seeing you in your underwear."

Joseph grumbles as he puts on the clothing. He ties the waist strap and sits down. "I can't see how you can stomach that kind of food."

"I'm not a vegetarian, unlike some people," she teases.

"I can't stand meat, so what? It a healthy lifestyle." He shakes his head. "I'm sorry, let's not start the morning off like this."

"Yeah, I don't wanna get you upset, you know how your emotions can get the better of you."

She was right, after all. Joseph was born an odd baby, and his childhood was the same. Something in his head didn't get wired correctly and his emotions are acutely connected, and he's easy to anger. Anger turns to sadness, to fury, then back to nothing in a matter of moments.

After a moment of silence Tanya taps the table to get his attention. "Hey, I know it's not much, but..." She reaches under the table, probably in her lap, and grabs something. She returns and puts a small paper plate with a chocolate cupcake with a small candle on the table. She takes a lighter from somewhere in the kitchen and lights the candle. "Happy birthday Joseph."

Joseph smiles. "...Thanks sis."

"No problem Joe. Your seventeen now, right?"

"Yep."

She smiles. "Blow out your candle and make a wish."

Joseph puts a hand to his chin and think. All his life he's been a screw up. He doesn't have any friend besides his sister, at school he's the main target for bullying , and he's only good at technology. He remembers how he was able to make a computer from a broken keyboard, a television, and various car parts and chips. Then his thoughts go back to school. Nobody likes him. He's an outcast. He doesn't even fit in with the geeks, nerds, techies, or weaklings. Everyone picks on him...

Joseph sniffs and inhales. He blows out the candle. "...I wish...that I could start over. I wish that I could wipe my slate clean, to begin all anew. Yeah." Joseph stands and puts his fits on the upper part of his hips. "I wish that I could kill my power, reboot and start all over!"

"Joseph, calm down." Joseph looks at his sister and sits down. She reaches over the table and pokes him in the chest. "You don't have to start over, just try to...be nice." Tanya looks over at the clock. "Damn, it's already eight. I gotta get to work." She stands and walks off into her room.

Joseph looks back at his cupcake and picks it up. He picks out the candle and flicks it back on the plate. "...Happy birthday." He tosses the pastry in his mouth in one bite, paper wrapping and all. After a few chews, he reaches inside his mouth and pulls out the wrapping. It's crumpled and has traces of chocolate, and Joseph places it back on the paper plate with the candle.

Tanya comes back out of her room wearing a black dress with black high heels and her dark red purse. Her hair is straight and down flat. "...Now, I'm off to work."

"Since when do you work on a Saturday?" Joseph asks.

"I traded Brittany a shift. I have her Saturday, she has my Monday." Tanya goes over to the door, which was right next to the table. "What are you going to do while I'm gone? I need to know just in case."

"I'm gonna do what I always do on Saturday."

"Loiter around legal areas and walk the town?"

"Yep. Probably going to the park."

Tanya nods. "Okay, stay out of trouble and stay safe."

"Yeah, whatever."

Tanya closes the door behind her and Joseph stands from the table. With his appetite ruined by the delicious sweet his sister made him, he decided to skip breakfast and get dressed. Joseph returns to his room and goes to his closet. "...Let's see here," he says while opening the sliding wooden doors. Inside was a ton of clothing on hangers and knobs. Joseph reaches in and picks out a good attire. He pulls out a gray T-shirt, a red hoodie, and bluejeans. He grabs a pair of socks and his white tennis shoes and slips everything on.

After that, Joseph grabs his MP3 player and earphones, the walks out of his room and out the unlocked front door. He locks the door before he closes it and heads out on his weekly...stroll. He lives on the ground floor in apartment B4. There is another floor above him, the A's, but they're all empty. Joseph sticks his music player into the side pocket of his hoodie and walks onto the sidewalk, where he can see his sister turn the corner. He nods and turns the other way and starts walking.

The weather was a bit warm for a hoodie, but Joseph throws up his hood and tucks his hands in the front pockets of his zip-up sweatshirt anyway. He heads uphill and turns the corner as soon as he can.

He turned onto one of the busier streets, though the sign that held the name of the street was being replaced by a few workers nearby. A drunk driver had crashed into it late last night. Joseph kept going past the workers and further up the streets.

Left, left, right, straight, right again, and then another left. A few intersections later Joseph was near his destination; the park. One of the parks was near his home, and it was just a simple grassy clearing with a few trees, paths, and benches. He had one more street to cross, and it was flowing with traffic. "Great..." He leans on the streetlight and punches the walk button, then waits for the light to change. After about a minute, it does and Joseph starts to cross.

About midway into his crossing, Joseph hears a car honk it's horn. He ignores it and continues his crossing and steps up onto the sidewalk. Joseph walks on the grass of the park and goes over to his favorite bench. It was partially painted red and the rest was worn off. He swings himself over the back of it and sits down, looking at the view before him.

The trees were spread apart, but offered large amounts of shade from the morning sun. There were already elderly people in the park walking the paths that spiral through the property, and a couple looked like they were setting up a picnic on one of the wooden tables. "...Breakfast in beauty...a nice idea," Joseph said to himself.

"Hey man," someone says from behind. Joseph looks over his shoulder and sees his only friend, Jerome. Okay, he was exaggerating at his house, his only friends were his sister and Jerome. Jerome is another outcast, but he has a lot of friends, besides the point.

Jerome is a kid of African American descent, as his brown skin tells. His black hair is done in a natural Afro and his eyes are a light brown. Today Jerome is wearing a green T-shirt and black running pants with a white stripe going down the sides, along with black shoes.

Jerome hops the back of the bench as Joseph did and sits next to him. "What's up?"

"...Eh, nothing much," Joseph replies.

"Hey, today's your birthday, right?" Jerome asks.

"Yeah, celebrated this morning I guess, cupcake and good morning."

"...Did you get a candle?"

"Yep, I made a wish and really hope it comes true, but...pfft, magic just a bunch of bull crap."

"...Maybe, but I believe if you want it bad enough, and your will is strong, forces outside your control can help...like magic."

"Jerome, what the hell you talkin' 'bout?"

Jerome straightens and puts out his arms. "Last month was my birthday, remember?" Joseph nods. "And I wished that I would finally get something awesome and time-consuming so I'm not bored all the time. Well, the next day I woke up and found my X box 360 all set up to my TV in my room."

"Dude, your parents did that."

"Well, it wasn't in the house the day before."

Joseph laughs. "Dude, you're so full of shit. Your parents...are you listening? Your-par-ents-hid-your-gif-ta! They did it while you were sleeping!"

Jerome crosses his arms. "Believe what you will. I know a magical force had something to do with it."

"Yeah, whatever."

Jerome and Joseph sat together for a bit longer watching this young lady walk her dog. It was a french bulldog. Jerome made a noise. "...So dude, what did you wish for?"

"...I wished that I could kill my power, reboot, and start over. I'm tired of the shit I get at school, and I want...to, you know, start over."

"Kill your power?" Jerome straightens. "You need to watch what you wish for, sometimes...you just might get it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, come on." Joseph stands and pulls Jerome up with him. "It's okay if I come over to your place, right?"

"Sure."

"Then let's go."

The start walking to the street, to the right side of them, and head towards Jerome's place. Jerome seems a bit antsy though. "...So dude, you really said you wished to 'kill your power and reboot'?"

"Yeah?"

"Then I think you should be careful for a while."

"Pfft, or what? I'll get killed and have to be...reses...res...resuscitated at the hospital? I'm okay man."

"Joseph! Watch out!"

Joseph turns and sees himself in the middle of traffic. Joseph gasps and jumps to the right to avoid being hit by a Prius. He starts running back Jerome, who's yelling at him. Joseph stops just in time to dodge a Chevrolet and then lurches forward to evade an incoming Camry.

He makes it back to Jerome's side and hits the walk button on the streetlight by accident. He's panting, and one hand's on his knee, but he's okay. "Huh...huh...see, I'm...I'm fine..."

"Dude! You could have been killed!"

"...Coulda, shoulda, woulda...But I'm still standing." The light turns and the path is clear to walk. Joseph starts down the crosswalk. "You see, no mumbo jumbo horse crap force is going to kill me just because I said 'kill' in my wish." He starts laughing and Jerome yells at him again. Joseph looks at his friend, then to his right, where his scream is cut short by the front of a red city bus.

But it was a simple bump, enough to throw him back onto the pavement. He rolls and slides a few feet before stopping in a siting position. Joseph is holding his head and turns around and stands. He starts yelling at the bus driver, who's vehicle has smashed into an overhead light post. "Hey man! What the hell! You could have killed me!"

The driver gets out of his vehicle and rushes over to Josephs side. Jerome is already standing by a few feet away, and traffic is piling up. Drivers are getting out of their cars to see what happened. The bus driver is in a panic. "Oh kid, are you okay!? I'm sorry, I didn't see the light change!"

"Keep your damn eye on the road then! Jesus Christ man!" Joseph looks himself over, testing his arms and his legs. "...You're lucky I'm not hurt, otherwise, I'd sue your fat ass!"

"Dude," Jerome says from his spot, "Maybe we should get somewhere safe before something else happens."

"Dude! There is no fucking force out there trying to get me! It's my birthday, I made a wish, I worded it poorly! So what!? This is all coincidence!"

"Joseph, come on."

"Dude! Listen to yourself!" Joseph yells. People are gathering around the area. "There is no magic! That shit's not real! I just dodged traffic, got hit by a bus, probably cheated death, and I'd probably call that nothing short than a fucking miracle, but it's not magic!"

A loud metallic groan fills the air, but Joseph doesn't hear it. "I'm fine! I'm okay! No broken bones! No pain! Now get my a fucking phone so I can let my sister know I'm okay!"

Jerome digs in his pocket and brings out his cellphone. He hands it to Joseph. "Here, but seriously man, we need-"

Joseph snatches the phone from his friends hand and flicks it open. "No, we don't have to do anything right now! For the last time, I'm going to be fine! There is no fucking force that's going to kill m-" His rant is cut short by the light post falling right on his skull, crushing it. The rest of his body crumples underneath the metal pole, and loose skin, blood, and brain matter cover the area. Jerome's phone flies through the air and lands on the pavement, shattering.

People scream, including Jerome. Multiple people start dialing 911, and Jerome staggers forward. "...Joseph!"

Chapter 7

"Come on dude, you can't let these noobs dominate you like this!" Joseph looks around, then turns his head to his right, seeing Jerome. Jerome has a serious look on his face, and his hair was done up in a ponytail, still braided though. "Dude, seriously, change to Pyro and burn this guy!"

"What's going on?" Joseph asks.

"What?" Jerome returns his character, Scout, to spawn. "Oh, the doctor's said you might suffer random memory loss. Don't you remember? You got hit by a bus a few weeks ago, now you're forgetting everything."

"...Oh...okay then." Joseph looks around again, and then notices the desktop in front of him. On it's screen was an active game of Team Fortress 2, though he was in the RED spawn point, waiting. "...What's happening?"

"You just got dominated by some kid named Garfunkel. Come on, get back into the game, and change to Heavy or Engineer so we can get team BLU."

Joseph scratches his head, though not really feeling it. "Er, right...what map is this?"

"Right now we're playing Hoodoo, the payload map. The server's gonna change to Gorge: control points after this match."

"...Okay." Joseph smiles as he gets his hands on the desk. He puts one hand on the keyboard and one of the mouse. "...Um...let's go Engineer."

"Put a sentry up in that stairwell. BLU will walk right into it. Be careful though," Jerome warns, "some pro named Raccoonhunter237 is a Spy, so keep your ears open."

"Okay, I'll build my sentry near spawn then." Joseph begins hitting the machine he placed near the starting gate with his wrench. He returns to the resupply station and grabs more metal, then upgrades his sentry to level two. "Good enough."

Jerome shifts at his own desktop. "Hey, put down a teleporter near spawn. Set the exit over in that building, we can flank 'em there."

"Good idea," Joseph agrees. He sets down a teleporter entrance, resupplies his metal, and carries his sentry over. He backs his character up into a small gap in between buildings. "Careful, I just saw a Medic with his Ubercharge ready. There might be a Heavy around, but it's a Kritzkrieg."

"The critical charge?"

"Yeah."

Jerome snorts. "Okay, I'll go Sniper and take them out. Set up your teleporter."

"Kay." He sets his sentry down and builds a dispenser next to it. "Here comes the cart." he moves his character to get a look, but what was riding on the rails wasn't a blue bomb, it was a red bus. "...Jerome? Is there some kind of cart skin in this server?...Jerome?" Joseph looks to his right, seeing Jerome was gone. His screen depicted his Sniper being back-stabbed by a Spy. Joseph looks at his own screen, seeing the red bus flying toward his character. The bus derails and heads straight for the screen.

Joseph scoots away from the chair he was sitting on and falls backward onto the floor. The screen of the computer bursts and sends glass through the air. Joseph looks up at the computer in horror as a large tire erupts from the shattered computer front and falls toward him. Joseph closes his eyes and throws up his arms. "No! Not again!"

"No!" Joseph nearly throws himself upward in a sitting position. His heart was pounding in his chest and sweat was running down his face. He looks around, seeing the full bookshelves and wooden walls of the library. The coffee table still had his MP3 player on its surface. He was still in Twilight's house.

Joseph swings his legs out from under the blanket and puts them on the floor. He turns and rests his elbows on his knees, then puts his pace in his hands, being careful of the bandages on his right palm. Joseph hears a click, and somepony taking a few steps. "Joseph?" He looks up from his hands and up at the stairs, seeing Twilight slowly coming down. Her mane was a mess, and her tail wasn't doing any better. Her violet eyes were filled with worry. "What happened? I thought I heard you yell."

"...Ih-ih-it was just...a nightmare." Joseph returns his face to his hands. "...Sorry if I woke you up."

"It's okay." Joseph hears Twilight walking closer, then feels her get up onto the couch with him. "You know, when Spike had nightmares, I would hold him close and stay up with him until he would fall asleep again in my legs."

"...I...don't think I can fall asleep again tonight."

"Well, it's only three am," Twilight says softly. "...Joseph, do you want to talk about it?"

"Nothing to talk about," he says crudely. "I got run over again." Joseph shakes his head in his hands. "...I miss my world."

Twilight leans over and rests the side of her head on Joseph's bare shoulder. He welcomes her. Twilight sighs. "Joseph, is there anything I can do to help?"

"...Well...there is one thing...When I get upset," Joseph looks up from his hands and lets them fall between his knees, "I build. Models, 3-D puzzles, everything." He looks down at her. "Does Ponyville have a dump? Or a trash heap somewhere?"

"Um..." Twilight sits up and stares at the ceiling. "...Normally...we have an area to deposit leftovers such as scrap metal and such, but it's emptied out by sanitation workers every Friday."

"What day is it?" Joseph asks happily.

"Wednesday."

"Awesome, where are my clothes?"

Twilight looks at Joseph strangely. "...They're in the basement, waiting with the others to be folded." Joseph gets up from the couch and starts toward the door under the stair. Twilight follows. "Joseph, you aren't considering going out this late at night, are you?"

"Technically it's morning now, and yes I am." He opens the door and slips inside. Twilight follows him down more stairs and sees Joseph at the bottom step. He points forward. "Twilight...what is that?"

"Oh that silly thing?" Joseph is pointing at the large metallic contraption in the middle of the room. Paper was piled near the base in long strips, and paper was still hanging from the intake slot. Measuring needles, dials, wires, light bulbs, and many other items contributed to the structure's form, including a large glass screen. Twilight walks forward and taps the object. "I used this way back when Pinkie Pie and I had a bit of a disagreement. The way she could 'feel' what was going to happen got my tail in knots, so I thought I would try this." Twilight shakes her head with a smile. "It didn't work."

Joseph steps closer and looks the tool up and down, observing it. "...Internal hard drive may be intact...exhaust fan looks good...wiring is a bit screwy...no keyboard? Huh...external factors seem efficient..."

Twilight cocks her head to the left. "Joseph, what are you doing?"

"Looks like I may be able to...if only I had...Twilight!" He rushes to her side with a big grin on his face. "Do you use this at all?"

"Not anymore, no. I have touched this thing in years."

"Would you be willing to hand over the ownership so that I may...redesign it?"

Twilight backs up a step. "Uh, sure."

"Awesome!" Joseph looks around and sees his clothes on top of an upturned wooden basket. He jumps over and slips everything on except for his hoodie, which he ties around his waist by the sleeves. He's careful around his hand, but he rushes through anyway and back to the machine. Joseph grabs the side panel and opens it. "...Missing a few components...needs another fan...disc drive...flash memory storage...Size of the machine may be able to hold...six gigabytes of memory...and a whole lotta ram..."

"Joseph," Twilight says sternly, "you're creeping me out with all this talk."

"Now you know why I didn't fit in back in my school. This is how I talk, how we techies talk." He closes the panel. "Where is this dump site?"

"We're on the north end of town, so..." Twilight looks at her hooves, "...it's on the west side of town, the very edge."

"Okay, thanks. Twilight, when I get back, I'm going to need a screwdriver, possible a wrench or two, and anything else you used when you made this."

"But-"

"I'm sorry Twilight, I'm losing moonlight. Be back soon!" Joseph rushes up the stairs and into the living room. He then bolts out the front door.

Twilight slowly makes her way back into the living room. "...A techie?

*Alongside the edge of town*

"Gotta get there! Gotta get there! Just gotta!" Joseph speeds his way across the empty side roads, watching buildings zip by in messy blocks of color. Joseph stumbles when he puts his foot down wrong, and only then did he notice he didn't have his shoes on. He was running around barefoot, but he was too determined to get to the disposal site to turn back.

"...Come on, where is it?" Joseph looks from side to side, switching his focus from the field on his left to the buildings on his right. "Dump, dump, dump, dump...Dump!" He slows a bit as he sees piles of debris starting to form. Little piles of plastic pipes, lug nuts, screws, wires, but Joseph was after a bigger score. "Okay..." Joseph slows down to a walk, dashing his field of vision from pile to pile, seeing they were gradually growing in size.

"...Better be safe and take some spare parts." He reaches down and digs through a mound with his left hand, so's to not agitate the injury on his right, and frowns. "...Nothin' but scrap metal...Hey, maybe I can get enough and craft a new hat, then go prancing around the servers of Team Fortress 2 like a jackass." Joseph puts his hands on his ears and flaps his wrists. "Oh hey, I'm Scout! You'll never hit me! You'll never hit my tiny head! But this new hat should help you aim! Oh? Is it the Bonk Helm? The Batter's Helmet? Bill's Hat?" Joseph turns around. "I don't know, it's on my head, but I bet it looks good! Ha!" Joseph laughs to himself, but it slowly fades. "...Okay, okay...focus."

Joseph moves on and begins searching in a pile that's about waist high. "...No...no, no good...oh, this could be of use." Joseph pulls out a solid bar of copper. "Huh, who would throw this out anyway? Actually, who even has a bar of copper just laying around the house?" Joseph shakes his head and stands. He looks around and sees a worn out purse. It had a hole near the top and the straps were rugged. "...Good enough." Joseph walks over, kicks it open, drops his find into it, and picks it up. "...Okay, next up...okay, now I'm really asking." He walks over to a small tank with a hose connected to the top. The hose ended in a welding torch. "...Who the fuck throws out a home welder?"

He reaches down and takes the torch. Joseph squeezes the handle, but nothing happens. "Ah, that's why...Anyway, might as well take the nozzle." Joseph disconnects the hose and moves along.

*Three hours later, Twilight's house*

"Hey Twilight, where's Joseph?" Spike asks as he heads down the stairs from his bed. He slowly makes his way over to the couch, where Twilight is sitting with her head drooped. "...Twilight?" Spike inches closer and reaches out. He taps her hoof and she rises her head. "Twilight?"

"Wah, I'm...I'm awake." She looks around and smiles. He vision sets on Spike's face. "Good morning Spike...Is Joseph back yet?"

"That's what I wanted to ask," he replies. "He's still gone and I wanted to know where he is."

"Oh." Twilight pauses for a yawn. "...Joseph...left last night to search through the town's disposal site."

Spike tilts his head. "...Why?"

"I have no idea," Twilight answers. Her ears perk up. "...Wait...Spike, do you hear something?"

"...No." He looks around. "Why, do you?"

"Yes, I do Spike." Twilight shakes her head softly and stands from the couch. She walks over to the front door and opens it, letting the morning sunlight in. "...What the? Joseph?"

Joseph was siting cross-legged in the dirt with his back to the library. He was stationed nearly fifteen feet from the door and off to the side a bit to be out of the way. In front of him was Twilight's computer system she had shown him in the basement, and parts of metal, plastic, nuts and bolts, wires and oil littered the ground around him, as well as a number of rusty tools. Joseph looks over his shoulder and smiles. His face is smeared with black oil and other liquids. "Good morning Twilight, Spike." He returns to his contraption. It would be taller than Joseph if he stood.

Twilight steps out into the dim morning light and walks over to Joseph. She sees him working on a small green plastic disk with numerous golden stripes on it. Joseph has a small broken screwdriver in his right hand, and the bandages are black and red with oil and blood. "Joseph, what are you doing? The sun's barely up."

"I'm creating a working computer. After I'm done with the circuitry, I'll move onto the sound system, then reinstall the ram capacity module. After I get the lighting back into the screen, I should be able to connect to the internet."

"Internet?"

"Yeah, internet." Joseph nods to himself. "The internet is a vast expansion of technology and data, accessible via computer or any compatible device. Luckily for me, I've already dismantled and reassembled a ton of portable internet access plug-ins..." Joseph sighs. "...You guys, ponies I mean, haven't invented the internet...Oh well, I'll get around it."

Twilight's eyes were spinning. "Wow, you know more about this than I do, that's for sure."

"Yeah, I used to get that a lot." Joseph finishes with the piece of plastic in his hand and shoves it into the back panel of the large metal structure. He reaches further into the creation and sticks his head inside, leaning forward onto his knees. "...Just...a bit more...There, the sound's online. Now for the lighting and the rest of the internal circuitry..." He clucks around a bit more. "...Ugh, Twilight, can you hand me the smallest wrench near the pile of oil cans? It should be the only one without rust."

"...Um...sure." Twilight uses her magic to grab the metal tool. It was nearly five inches long, and like Joseph said, it was free of any orange residue. She levitates the item into the hole Joseph was working in. "Here you go."

"Thank you Twilight." He tinkers a bit more, then tosses the wrench over his back. It lands in the dirt beside his white sneaker, which was brown from moving in the dirt. "...Almost..."

"Joseph," Twilight says as she moves over beside him. "I saw your bandages. We need to get your injury cleaned up or you'll risk infection."

"A little bloated skin and peeling is something I can deal with Twilight. Right now this computer is my top priority."

"Joseph, please."

Joseph shifts his weight as he squeezes into the machine further. He squirms and lurches forward, completely entering the machine. He moves around in the dark innards of the metal structure for a moment more before popping his head out the back panel he fell through. "Twilight, this is very important to me. Please let me work for a while longer?"

Twilight bites her bottom lip and looks over at the small hills that formed the fields. "...Okay...but in one hour I'm coming back out here, and whether or not you want to, I'm bringing you inside to redress your hand."

"Deal." Joseph disappears from sight back into the large computer and Twilight turns back toward her house.

Twilight sighs to herself, but pulls her feet forward back into her home. Spike was waiting for her on the couch. "Spike," she says sternly, "go and take inventory of our potion stock. I want to know if we have the right ingredients for a special potion."