A Wish Come True

"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."