A Wish Come True

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...