A Wish Come True

"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.

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..."