A Wish Come True

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?"