A Wish Come True

"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.