Chapters A New Face in Ponyville
Notes:
I do not own anything in this fic other than a few characters who'll be revealed a little ways in. The majority belongs to Hasbro. I will only be putting that and the next disclaimer in this chapter.
This and all the other stories I'm writing currently (yes there WILL be others) take place right after "The Best Night Ever". I'll probably add some stories to be spread into S2, but I started writing this during the break and would like to keep it true to roots if that makes sense.
I'm also going to attempt to get this on Equestria Daily... so wish me luck!
4. I'd like to give a very special dedication to my friend and fellow author, Tailslover13. He's got a lot of skill and I would HIGHLY recommend checking his stories out!
It was a crisp cool summer day as Princess Celestia sat in her library inside her ivory castle, poring over books. It was a hobby her pupil, Twilight Sparkle, had gotten her into and lately it'd seemed like it was the only thing keeping her interest from being completely distracted by the thought gnawing at her. It was only a week after the disaster at the Gala and ever since then, she'd seen both how much Twilight and her precious friends had grown... and how they had still so much to learn. Since then, she'd had the feeling there had to be a way help them learn even more... and maybe help a few of them explore more of their personal identities.
But it wasn't until she had picked up her latest tome that it had hit her... looking at that image on the cover and the title...
The guide of human studies
Seeing the image of that young girl and her mother on a swingset, laughing and playing... she knew what could help enhance their lessons...
"A human...", she whispered to herself, "Ponyville needs a human's touch."
It took her less than a minute to tell her royal stallion guards what she was planning and even less time to look through her library and find the spell that could transport her to the human world and back... but it was a very complicated spell and she knew it could only be used one go-around before it would have drained her magical energies. Even though she was the alicorn ruler, even she had her physical limits.
Reading through the pages, her horn's telekenetic powers flipping the pages, she found herself growing more and more excited.
"This is it! The perfect way to show them more kinds of friendships.", she thought to herself as she skimmed, "I know Spike, my loyal messenger, is there... but dragons are common around the mountains of Equestria and Gryffins are rare and hard to find... and not too pleasant if what Rainbow Dash and Twilight said is true..."
With a sigh, she remembered the report she'd gotten from Twilight, telling how Dash's old friend, Gilda, had stirred the pot so to speak in Ponyville with her visit.
"But a human... the right one... they can be a source of untold wisdom... but it needs to be someone special..."
Chanting a quick magical encantation, a small portal seemed to open up in the air in front of her and allowed the princess to gaze out upon the world of humans. She could see all sorts of the creature; Young people, old people, smart people, retarded people... people of every walk of life. But she had to find the perfect human to interact with them...
"It has to be someone young enough to believe, yet old enough to be streetsmart. Pure in their heart, but pure in their emotions as well. Innocent, yet flawed... someone like..."
And then she saw it... the perfect specimen.
He was a young boy, from his appearance about 15. His messy black hair lay scattered around his scalp, blowing carelessly in the wind. The smile he wore as he sat on the cold wooden bench, looking at the playground full of kids, that thick leather-looking coat, that gleam in his hazel eyes, one shone of humor and belief... he was the one.
"So it is done... this young human... he'll be the visitor into my little ponies lives... I just hope this works."
Closing the book with her powers, Celestia shut her eyes and began to chant as a white veil began to cover her. In less than a minute, she had vanished.
As Joshua James Rocket sat on the cold bench, looking at all those other kids playing and swinging and laughing, he couldn't help but smile. He was a tender-hearted boy, loving children and animals alike... but he also had a bad habit of being more than a little naive at times, being made fun of for believing in things like unicorns and ghosts and fairies.
"Look at them all..", he sighed happily, "Mikey's on the swingset, Julie's on the monkey bars, Jonny's taking his pants o- HEY HEY!". Getting up, he yelled out to one of the kids. "Jonny, don't moon the cars!".
Hearing the laughter of the other kids as the young boy pulled up his trousers, Josh sat back on the bench and blew a strand of his hair back in bemusment.
"I swear one day, those kids are gonna moon or spit on the wrong person and then they'll be in all sorts of big trouble... I swear-"
It was then a sudden breeze cut him off... which was odd since only 2 seconds ago it had been crisp and sunny out, the cold making him shudder. What was odder was no one else seemed to feel the same breeze he did, not one child shuddering or showing any signs of having felt the cold.
"What, did it suddenly get chilly here... am I catching a cold?", he thought to himself
"You're not, my dear human..."
"Well that's a rel...", he stopped in mid-sentence as he realized there was another voice in his vicinity... one with a regal, yet compassionate tone, "Who.. who was that?"
"Turn around..."
Almost as if his body was refusing to disobey, Joshua turned and found himself staring at a sight that made him topple backwards off the bench in shock, much to the delight of the onlooking kids. It was a pure white allicorn... the rarest pony of all time... Wings of a pegasus and a horn like a unicorn... there was no denying it... standing there with her flowing blue mane and that golden crown...
"This... this isn't real... this CAN'T be real...", he managed to gasp out, "It... it can't..."
"If you don't believe me...", the allicorn spoke to him, "Feel my wings."
Nodding almost obediently, Josh walked over to the creature and placed his hand on her wing, expecting it to either go through or feel paper-maiche or cardboard. But as he stroked her wing, his hand felt pure feather and membrane... and as he looked at her face, he couldn't see a trace of peanut butter or anything to stimulate her mouth's movement, just that same air of royalty.
"Do you believe me now?" She asked softly, getting a shocked nod in return. She was actually surprised at how well this boy was taking the shock, having expected him to scream or run off or even faint in a comedic manner.
"Either you're real or this is the most elaborate prank ever pulled... and I'm going with the former.", Joshua admitted
"What's your name, young one?", the allicorn asked him fondly.
"Joshua... Joshua James Rocket... but I usually go by just Josh...", he managed to stammer out, still feeling a sense of amazement at what he was beholding.
"A lovely name, Josh..", she repiled with a smile, "My name is Princess Celestia."
This actually gave Josh a pleasant surprise, expecting it to be something corny.. but Celestia actually sounded pretty cool! "Wow... a princess.." He marveled, stroking her coat again. It was then he realized how odd it may have looked with him talking to the air in case only he could see Celestia's form and he'd seen more than enough cartoons to know that if he tried to tell others he'd either get some really strange looks or be recommended a padded cell. Besides, this was, in a way, his special secret. "Um... is there a way we can go someone more private... I get the feeling you came to me for something and I can imagine-"
Celestia cut him off with a smile, understanding what Josh was getting at. "Very well... place your hand against my coat and tell me where you'd like us to go..."
"What about my house...", Josh suggested as he placed his hand back on her, "It's on 47 Ryans Lane, only a few blocks from here."
Nodding in agreement, Celestia lowered her head and started chanting again... and within a minute they'd both disappeared in a flash.
It had been only a few minutes since Josh and Celestia had arrived at his family home and the young teen had poured glasses of cold milk for the both of them in his backyard after making sure Celestia was ok with drinking the liquid. He didn't exactly know what she'd like to drink, since he had the feeling her diet was not on par with regular horses, and as he watched her using her magical powers to levitate the glass and pour the cold refreshing liquid down her throat, he began to realize more and more that this was no prank... he was looking at a living breathing Allicorn... and a beautiful talking one at that!
"So Princess Celestia... I have to ask...", Josh started to say with his hands clasped around his glass of white liquid, "Why did you come to me... there's millions of people and children in this world... why did you come to me?"
"Well...", Celestia replied after using her powers to lift a napkin to her mouth to wipe off the excess milk, "I've considered bringing a human into my land to help some of my pupils learn a few more lessons in friendship, some I imagine only a human's wisdom could help bring in."
"Ok, I think I can understand that... but why me?"
"When I looked through my portal..."
It was then Celestia and looked at the teen shyly, "I have to admit, I'd think you would have a lot more questions about me, even fainting..."
"Nah.", the teen shrugged, "I've seen a lot in my young life. The scary thing is a talking allicorn isn't the strangest... at least you're a friendly and gentle one. But go on about the portal and me."
The allicorn couldn't help but blush at the compliment before she continued, "When I looked through, I sought someone who was pure at heart, but still with their own flaws... Children are precious, but they may not be able to help with some of what I'm trying to convey to my students, and adults... well..."
Josh nodded sadly, knowing that not a lot adults would not understand such a concept and possibly try to use her for greedy purposes. "I know what you mean..."
The princess nodded before she continued. "So I wanted to find someone special... someone young, yet not too young where they can't understand complexities. Someone with natural flaws so to speak, not afraid to admit mistakes... Someone with a spark... one that shines with humor and love... When I looked at you... I felt that spark."
It was the teen's turn to have his cheeks turn red as he looked back at the Allicorn. "So you want me to come to your land for how long to teach some lessons... A day, 2?", he asked before he took a drink of milk.
"Actually, I was thinking maybe you'd consider living in my world."
This produced a giant spit-take from the human as he spat the milk all over the glass table and choked, much to Celestia's amusement. She'd expected the human to have at least THAT reaction to her offer. After pounding his chest a bit to allow himself to breathe again, Josh looked back up at Celestia with a look of shock in his eyes.
"Live there? But... how would I fit in? I mean... I'm not a pony myself!"
"Exactly!", she replied, "That would be their first lesson... accepting all sorts of species as friends. That'd be an amazing lesson to teach, wouldn't it?"
At this, Josh had to concede she had a very good point. "Good point and well made. But what would I do there otherwise? I mean I'm going to assume all the other ponies talk and act like you... somewhat... not like the horses here."
"I think you're getting the hints quite nicely already. I could set you up in a place in Ponyville, where my pupil and her friends reside and you could just hang around and be a part of them learning more of the magic of friendship."
"But what about things like food, entertainment, transportation!", Josh blurted out before covering his mouth and looking down. "I'm sorry, princess, I didn't mean-"
But the princess took it in stride. "Relax young one, this is one reason why I chose you. You're not afraid to speak your mind. Our world is just like yours, very little difference... but my pupil and her friends would be better to explain to you... if you knew all this ahead of time, it may not help them learn as much as teaching their ways to someone who's never been through them before."
Again, Josh had to admit her point was very much a valid one.
"So what do you say, my friend. Will you help me?"
Josh pursed his fingers to his lips as he thought it through. "You promise this isn't one big prank? I mean all signs now point to you being real, but I..."
"I understand your hesitance, Joshua.", Celestia sighed, "Would it help if it said you were allowed to come back here whenever you wanted?"
This made Josh look back up at the princess. This was something he hadn't even considered. "You mean I wouldn't be trapped there? I could still come back to my own world if I felt like it?"
"That is correct, my human friend. The magic to open a portal to your world is a little tricky, but it can be done. I would ask you not abuse it though, since it does drain my powers a little."
"I can imagine it would.", Josh admitted before taking a deep breath and giving his answer...
"What the heck? I've got nothin' better to do. Who knows, this could be good for a few laughs too!"
Celestia smiled at the human, knowing she'd made the right choice. "Very well. Would you like to bring anything along with you for your stay?"
"If I may. Just a few items.. plus I'd like to leave a tape for my family so they know I'm ok... of course I have to ask you one thing."
"Of course, my friend."
"Can you be in my tape... that way at least my folks will know this isn't a gag. You gotta admit this is a very extraordinary circumstance."
It was the princesses turn to concede a valid argument as she nodded. "I suppose I can say a few words."
"Thank you... just let me go in and get my things and the camera..."
It took all of a few minutes for Joshua and Celestia to set up the camera and record the message to his parents. It was nothing special, just them explaining where he'd be and Celestia opening her mouth to the camera to prove she was a real allicorn, finishing with them telling his mom and dad he loved them very much. As he set down his bags, containing some clothes and miscellaneous items, as well as a giant plushie he explained to the princess as his "security blanket", he nodded to Celestia in assent.
"Ok, so how do we do this?", he asked curiously, "Do we fly off somewhere or something?"
Celestia shook her head. "Just hold your hand against my coat again."
With a shrug, the teen walked over and placed his hand on Celestia' white coat, again marvelling at the fact this was a real allicorn being.
"Are you ready, Joshua..."
"I'm... I'm ready, Princess Celestia..."
Without wasting another second, the allicorn lowered her head and began to glow as a big white gust formed from the sky and descended upon them. As the incantation went on, the two began to merge with the beams of light descending and by the time she had finished, the two of them had transported from Josh's backyard into her castle's study, a process that only took a few minutes much to the teens amazement. As he looked around at the magnificient surroundings from the two regal stern-looking stallion guards to the vast array of books and equipment, Josh finally accepted that this was all real.
"No prank could be this thorough... this is real...", he muttered in shock before he looked back at Celestia, that same warm smile on her face, "I... I can't believe this is all real..."
"It's a shock, I will admit this my friend. Why don't you take a seat? It's going to take me a minute to write this scroll to my pupil to alert her of your arrival."
"But I thought you said it would lessen the impact if they knew I was coming?", Josh asked as he sat down in a big armchair, sinking into it and sighing at how comfy it was. "I didn't even think you all sat in chairs."
Celestia chuckled as she picked up a quill and a parchment. "If we stood on our fore and hind legs 24/7, we'd be exhausted! No, we use chairs and beds like humans. But regarding my pupil, it's wise if at least she knows about you coming, so she can introduce you around."
"Abso-fu-", Josh started to say, but then he remembered he was in the presence of a gentle princess and he didn't want to offend her, "I mean absolutely amazing. Your logic is impeccable!"
"Joshua, it's ok. We do have occassional cursing here... but I appreciate you trying to be polite in front of me.", Celestia smiled as she used the quill to write down a message. The human got up and took a glance at her writing and was impressed at how fancy it looked, a lot of his conceptions about a pony kingdom slowly being torn away to his delight. But he had one more place to see before he knew if he'd fit in at least a little, and as he watched the princess finish her letter and use her breath to turn it into vapor, he couldn't help but wonder...
Would they accept him?
As the purple-coated unicorn named Twilight Sparkle pored through her usual array of science materials, her mind was still fresh on the events of the past week. Everyone was still gathering their senses from the Grand Galloping Gala in their own way. Pinkie Pie was setting up a party to commemerate the 1-week anniversary of Gala's taking place, Applejack was working on some new recipes to help boost her sales after failing to make a profit at the event, Rarity had used her own powers to tear up every poster and every shred of evidence that suggested her ever liking Prince Blueblood, Rainbow Dash was practicing harder than ever for the Wonderbolts, determined to get their attention by the next airshow competition, and Fluttershy... well she was just being her timid graceful self, albeit a little embarrassed still about having lost her mind a little at the Gala, even though the rainbow-maned pegasus had called it quote, "The coolest thing she'd ever seen!". But at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder what other lessons her mentor would want from her... and soon her thoughts were broken by the sound of her number-one dragon assistant, Spike.
"Twilight, it's been a week since that Gala, are you still thinking about it?"
Twilight sighed before she closed her book and looked at the dragon, "I just wish I'd gotten a better chance to talk with Princess Celestia. Even after the Gala, she had to hurry back to Canterlot to help fix up the damages."
"Well what did you expect, Dash did quite a bit of work to the castle! I never even KNEW you could break a column like that!", Spike admitted with a chuckle.
"Spike, this is serious! I just... I was hoping for that chance to tell her all I've learned..."
"Relax, Twilight, you'll get it some- Oogh..."
It was then the baby dragon felt a rumble in his belly and before he knew it, his cheeks were flushed much to Twilight's shock.
"Spike? Are you o-"
With a loud belch, Spike burped up a gout of green flame that slowly formed itself into a scroll and landed at Spike's feet.
"It's a letter from Princess Celestia!", Twilight chirped happily, "Open it!"
Without wasting a second, Spike picked up the scroll and unrolled it to read to the unicorn its message.
"Hear ye! Hear ye! Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, requests the presence of one Twilight Sparkle at the outer gates of Ponyville, at the edge of the Everfree Forest for a very special matter in one hour. It is regarding another lesson for not just you, but all your friends. But do NOT tell anyone yet."
Finishing his read, Spike shook his head in disbelief at how fancy she had made her request.
"I respect Princess Celestia and all, but does EVERY message of hers have to be so fancy-schmancy?"
"Spike, shh!", Twilight shhed the dragon as used her telekenesis, almost as advanced as Celestia's herself, to unfurl the scroll and read it herself, twinges of excitement audible in her voice. She loved getting special meetings with her mentor and if it involved not just her, but her friends, it HAD to be important... although one thing gnawed at her brain.
"Why doesn't she want me to tell anyone else? What could be so important she wouldn't want even Fluttershy to know?"
"You got me.", Spike admitted with a shrug.
With a sigh, Twilight opened her library door and began to head out, much to Spike's bewilderment.
"You know you've still got an hour before her arrival, right?"
"I know Spike...", the unicorn admitted, "But I wanna get there early... and do a little thinking."
Spike sighed before he responded. "Ok, but be careful. Remember what happened with that Cockatrice!"
Twilight let out a shudder at the memory. Fluttershy had told her about being turned into stone and the thought still gave her the creeps, even if she was thankfully able to block most of it out.
"I'll be careful, Spike. Don't worry."
And with that, the magical unicorn made her way out towards the vast forest resting on the edge of Ponyville.
Meeting Josh and Eating Pie
Almost an hour had passed since Twilight Sparkle had made it to the entrance of the Everfree Forest and the unicorn could not stop pacing, her mind a jumble trying to think of what could be so special that the princess would want to see just her. Was it good, was it bad? Did it involve what happened at the Gala?
"Easy, Twilight, it's going to be okay. She didn't tell you to pack your things or anything bad, just to meet her here. But what could it be? Does she want me to help plan a surprise Gala? Does it involve the Elements of Harmony? Is Zecora ok? What could it be?"
It was then she could hear the sound of Princess Celestia's chariot descending and she knew it would be moments before she had her answer.
"Celestia..."
She started to bow, but then she noticed something...
There was a second figure in her chariot... a figure unlike any pony she had ever seen.
"What in the name of Equestria is that?", she thought as the shadows began to dissapate from the second body in the chariot, revealing its form. As she got a better glimpse, she found herself in awe at such a spectacle.
The figure had two legs and two arms like Spike, but they were significantly longer and colored in a peachy-pink hue. Its thin-looking body was covered by a red t-shirt and a black leathery-looking jacket that would have impressed even Rarity, as well a part of black jeans ending in what looked like a pair of black sneakers. Its face bore a set of hazel-looking eyes, shining with curiousity, and a smile that immediately reminded her of Pinkie Pie, strands of its black hair hanging a bit over its eyes, giving it a bit of a reminder of Rainbow Dash's rainbow mane, the way it had a habit of hanging down over her eye at times. In it's hand was a giant red and black bag, similar to a suitcase and clearly sagging from its weight and bringing its shoulder down. It was about as tall as her, although a considerable bit more. It was altogether a sight like she'd never seen anywhere but in her books... yet the name of such a creature escaped her even though she had the nagging feeling she'd seen in one them in her exotic species tomes.
"Princess Celestia? What... what is that with you?"
The allicorn smiled and turned to the figure. "Would you care to introduce yourself?"
It was then it opened its mouth and spoke for the first time, its voice cool and youthful, again akin to Rainbow Dash's only a little deep and more masculine.
"Heh, looks like I may as well. My name is Joshua. You're Princess Celestia's star pupil, aren't you?"
Twilight Sparkle was only able to gasp, her mouth opening and closing in pure shock, much to Joshua and Celestia's amusement.
"Now I know you can speak, I just heard you! C'mon... tell me your name.", he smiled, sliding a hand calmly in his pocket.
Finally, the unicorn was able to produce the sounds needed to make words and replied to the boy. "I.. I'm Twilight Sparkle."
"Twilight Sparkle, huh?", Joshua mused, "I gotta say that's a cool name. Looks like another conception about this place has been brought to a halt."
At hearing Joshua mentioning about his thoughts about what such a place would have been like, Twilight found her voice returning to her and she spoke up. "Wait, what do you mean by your conceptions?"
"Well..", Joshua answered, grinning that the unicorn had broken out of her shock, "When Celestia first mentioned a place like this, I thought it would have been bordering on saccharine. But from all I've seen so far, it's actually pretty cool!"
This brought a smile to Twilight Sparkle's face and she felt herself immediately starting to warm up more to the teen. "I suppose it IS pretty cool, but again what did you think this place would be like?"
"Let's just say lots of flowers and cutesy stuff.", he quipped. Seeing the questioning look on Twilight's face, he added, "Not that you aren't cute, but I mean just overly unrealistically cute to the point of nausea."
"Heh heh, sounds like what Spike would say.", The unicorn thought to herself. She was actually surprised the boy was acting so calm about seeing her and Celestia, a thought which brought her back to the princess standing next to him. "Celestia, why is Joshua here?"
"You could say he's here to help with your studies in a number of ways."
"Wait, do you mean like not judging someone by their looks? But I thought we learned that with Zecora!", Twilight admitted.
"You learned a little bit of that lesson, my pupil.", Celestia spoke, "But I think if you have someone different living among you, it may help the lesson become even clearer. Zecora DOES live in the Everfree Forest, am I correct?"
At this Twilight had to concede... at least until the first part of her statement sunk in and made her jump nearly a foot in the air. "LIVING WITH US?"
"Yes, my pupil. You see, I think Joshua could help impart not just a little wisdom from his kind, but give a real demonstration in adapting to a new species being in your enviroment."
"And you're not worried about-"
"Him using Ponyville for his own selfish games?", Josh and Twilight said in unison, the latter looking at the human in surprise.
"Princess Celestia and I talked about that same thing earlier. It's why she chose someone with a pure heart... which apparently was me. Although I have no inclination of doing such a thing... This is something I'd want to keep to myself, to help keep the sanctity of Ponyville..", Josh replied before letting out a blush, "Boy I'd never have imagined myself ever saying THAT!"
The three of them shared a laugh before the Princess turned back to Joshua and nodded. "I have to get back to Canterlot and take care of a few things. Do you think you'll be okay from here?"
"I should be... that is if Twilight's ok with me being in Ponyville.", Josh answered before turning back to the unicorn, "It's up to you. If you'd like, I can go somewhere else or leave this place called Equestria."
Twilight sighed before she looked into Josh's eyes, trying to see if she could discern any deceit. But to her amazement, all she could see was sincerity... like this was an individual that could be trusted with any secret, any bit of information.
"You can come with me... but know that I'll be keeping an eye on you."
The teen nodded in agreement as he picked up his bag and let the unicorn lead him towards Ponyville, Celestia looking at the teen in amusement and wonder.
"Welcome my friend. Hopefully, you can show them a little more in the ways of friendship."
As the two of them made the trek back to Ponyville, Josh and Twilight found themselves breaking out of the silence that overtaken the unicorn at first, the teen actually having a lot of questions and the unicorn likewise.
"So when you said you had conceptions about what a pony kingdom would be like... what did you mean?", Twilight asked as she used her magic to help Josh with his bags, an act the teen was grateful for as carrying them was tough on his shoulder.
"Well for one, I kinda pictured it being cute to the point of saccahrine like I said, with flowers everywhere, constant singing, and a corny smiling sun. But from what I've gathered, it's supposedly a pretty normal town.", Josh admitted, his hands in his pockets as he looked at the unicorn beside him. By now, he'd fully accepted that it was no prank, that he had entered a literal world of ponies and that, to his relief, it was actually realistic.
"That's right, we've got a library, spa, bakery-"
"Whoa whoa whoa!", Josh stopped in his tracks at that last one, "A bakery? But... I thought you'd only eat stuff like grass and hay!". The teen looked down sheepishly at having blurted it out like that, but Twilight could see he was merely confused and smiled.
"We do eat stuff like that, but pony cannot live on hay alone... in fact, why don't I show you to our bakery so you can see what kinds of things we eat. My friend helps run the place and I bet she'll be happy to meet a new face!", Twilight replied before looking down to hide a grin, "Celestia knows she was excited to see me when I first got here!"
"Ok, THIS I have to see!", Josh gushed as they reached the entrance to Ponyville and, to the teens shock, it was nothing like what he imagined a kingdom of ponies to be. It was cute of course and there were naturally ponies, unicorns, and pegasi everywhere, but it looked like an actual town, complete with fruit carts! He could see barbers and doctors and teachers, all in pony form... and they were all gabbing and talking as they worked! There was even a mailpony pegasus, albeit with crossed eyes and a silly grin. Another thing the teen noticed was there was a marking on nearly every single flank, all unique in their own way. There were balloons and skates and letters and diamonds and all sorts of different designs. Even looking at Twilight's flank, he could see a pattern of sparkles, although considering her name WAS Twilight Sparkle it made perfect sense. The unicorn could see Josh glancing at her flank and she smiled.
"That's my cutie mark. Every pony here has one that matches their special talent."
"Fascinating...", Josh marveled as they entered Ponyville, only to bring the whole of the town to a standstill at seeing the new creature. The teen could hear some of them whispering and he began to feel a little uncomfortable.
"What is that thing?"
"I've never seen anything like it!"
"Do you think it's friendly?"
"Does it like singing?"
"Muffin!"
The last one came from the mailpony and Josh couldn't help but snicker. But that stopped as Twilight led him through the crowd to the big bakery. It looked like a big cake, complete with even a cherry on the very top, almost like something out of a fairy tale and Josh was absolutely speechless.
"I have seen the top of the mountain...", he muttered in a sotto voice, "and it is good."
"Sounds like you like this place... c'mon I'll take ya in-"
She never got to finish that sentence as a big pink blur came shooting out from the front door and collided with both Twilight and Joshua in one big heap, leaving the former gasping a bit.
"Pinkie! Do you have to do that every day?", she gasped in frustration.
It was then the pink pony started to speak and her voice came out so fast and furious it made the teen feel like she'd just eaten 5 whole bags of sugar and drank 5 cases of root beer!
"I heard you coming and I was like HUH! But then I remembered you come here every day and that you had mentioned stopping by to pick up some muffins and I just got done baking them, but then I heard you talking to someone else and it was a voice I never heard before and I knew that meant it was someone new and I thought I knew everyone in Ponyville, but now I have someone new to meet, so who is it, tellmetellmetellme!", Pinkie shot out in one single breath, leaving Josh absolutely wide-eyed and trying to catch his breath.
"Er... eh... uh..."
As Pinkie took a good look at him, she couldn't help but giggle at seeing the new face so flustered and before he could say anything, the pink earth pony had started again.
"Come on don't be so nervous, I was nervous when I first saw Twilight and I went GASP! But then I got to-"
"EASY! EASY!", Josh managed to gasp out, "Ok, this has just about shattered nearly all my ideals of what I thought this place would be like... Who are you?"
"Hee hee, silly filly! I'm Pinkie Pie, the town prankster and party pony! I LOOOOVE having parties and I LOOOVE having fun!", Pinkie spoke in a decidedly calmer tone, even though it was still very high-pitched and bubbly.
"Well Pinkie Pie..", Josh breathed as he got to where he was resting on his behind, his arms on his legs, "I'm Joshua... I'm new in town... and Twilight was gonna show me your place so I could see what kinds of things you all eat... even though I had thought it'd be mostly grass and hay and the like."
At this, Pinkie Pie laughed so hard she snorted, her laughter nearly making her fall down. "You're silly! That's only a small PART of our diets! No pony could live on just hay!"
"I kinda figured that, since Twilight said pretty much the same thing. So what kinds of things DO you like to eat?"
"Well come into Sugarcube Corner and I'll show you!", Pinkie Pie said before bouncing back into the bakery with Josh and Twilight behind her, the teens bag resting on the side of the door. Looking around, the teen was left in absolute awe at the place. It looked big enough to house full parties in itself as well as supply the baked treats! In a glass container, he could see cakes and pies and muffins and sugarcubes and sodas and they all looked delicious. He was half-expecting to see some sort of sign advising against eating such delicacies, but the only sign he could find on the counter displayed the opposite, telling prices and specials and even giving some of them pretty neat names like "Pinkie's Quadruple Chocolate Cream Pies" and "Pineapple Marshmallow Upside Down Cupcakes". There was even a notice on it saying "Grass, Flower, and Hay substitutions available on request."
"This is... this is absolutely amazing!", Josh marveled again, "This is better than most of the bakeries where I came from!"
"Hee hee, thank you!", Pinkie squealed before heading behind the counter and resting her forehooves on the top, much to the teen's amazement, "Since you're new here, I'll let your first treat be free! So what would you like?"
Josh didn't know what to be shocked at more, that he was getting free food... or that this pony was standing on two legs! Granted she had her forehooves on the countertop, providing her with balance, but still it was a sight to behold. "Um... I guess one of the Quadruple Chocolate Cream Pies..", he managed to stammer out.
"Hee hee, I love those too!", Pinkie Pie squealed, clapping her hooves as she ran into the back to whip up the delicacy, leaving the teen standing there in a state of shock.
"Twilight...", he gasped.
"Yes, Joshua?", the unicorn answered, unable to hide a big grin. It was admittedly amusing seeing how impressed the teen was by everything, even though he looked somewhat older than the stereotypical little kid.
"I... I only have a few ideals left of what a place like this would have been like... and I get the feeling those are going to be broken before this day is through."
This made Twilight let out a big chuckle. Now she KNEW the teen had to be spellbound and as she watched Pinkie Pie trot out, carrying the tray of pies in her teeth, she couldn't wait to see what Josh's reaction would be. Gently the pink pony set the tray on the counter before resting her hooves again on the top.
"Go on, Josh! Take one! They're good!", she bubbled, bringing a big goofy grin to the teen's face as he reached for one of the big pies and looked at it. He had to admit, the pie looked delicious.
"Well... here goes nothing.", he whispered as he took a tentative bite, Pinkie and Twilight looking at him in anticipation. Immediately, Josh's mouth lit up and he swallowed before taking a ravenous bite. It was quite possibly the best pie he'd ever eaten!
"My god... THIS IS SPECTACULAR!", he cried through a mouthful before swallowing and taking another big bite as Pinkie cheered and took one of the pies for herself, digging into it with as much gusto as Josh. It was only seconds before Twilight had taken one as well. The taste was heavenly, a mixture of chocolate cream, pudding, and chips, a nice flaky pie crust, and he could even detect a hint of fudge creme! It took him only a few minutes before he'd finished the pie and he could see Pinkie Pie had finished hers at well. It was as he grinned at seeing bits of pie on her snout that he began to be able to take in her appearance. She was a bright pink pony with a magenta-ish poofy mane that he swore reminded him of cotton candy. Her tail had the same color and poofiness, almost to where one could imagine using it as a pillow and right near it was her cutie mark, which appeared to be a set of blue and yellow balloons. Turning around and seeing Twilight eating hers still, a little more calmly than the two of them had, he was able to marvel at her coat as well, the dark lavender streaked mane with that pink-red stripe in the middle, a mane that signified her as a magician of high caliber.
"Hee hee, I can tell you liked that. There's pie all over your face!", Pinkie squealed.
Josh placed his hand to his cheek and, sure enough, he could feel smears and bits of the pie stuck to his flesh, making him blush. "Heh heh, I'm sorry. It was just so good!"
Pinke Pie giggled again before she patted the teen on his shoulder with her hoof. "Silly, you're not the first one to get messy from that! I do all the time!" She grinned before using her big orangey tongue to lick up all the chocolate bits on her face and smiling.
The teen merely shook his head in pure awe at seeing such a feat before the pink pony spoke up again. "I don't think your tongue may be big enough to do that, I know ponies say "Pinkie your tongue is huge! How is it so big?" I don't know it just is! But would you like to use my bathroom to wash up?"
"Whoa whoa...", Josh gasped at that last sentence, "You... you have bathrooms here?"
"Wow, your conceptions really ARE off!", Twilight grinned again, "Of course we have bathrooms! What'd you think we did?"
Josh merely swallowed before he rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know if I should say."
"No tell us! I bet it's funny!", Pinkie Pie squealed, Twilight nodding in assent.
"I'm curious to hear what you thought we did!"
Sighing in resignation, Josh motioned for Pinkie to come from behind the counter and huddled with them both, whispering into their ears. Immediately, Twilight flinched and Pinkie groaned.
"Josh, that's gross!", The unicorn yelled, "Why would we do that?"
"Ew ew ew ew! Josh are you crazy? What pony does that? I mean there was that one time, but it was an emergency, but come on! We'd never do that! Josh what were you thinking?"
The teen sighed before he spoke again. "Let's just say I think there are some BIG differences in our worlds... and all the ones here are absolutely awesome. But um... so where IS your bathroom?"
Giggling, Pinkie pointed upstairs with her hoof and watched as the teen went up before talking to Twilight Sparkle.
"Twilight, he's so interesting! Of course anyone new is interesting, but I suppose if they weren't new they would still be inter-"
"Pinkie relax!", Twilight gasped, putting her hoof in Pinkies mouth, "I know he's interesting, his reactions have been nothing short of fascinating. But after we leave here, I'm taking him back to the library so we can set his bags down. Those creatures carry some pretty big bags!"
The party pony waited until Twilight removed her hoof before she spoke again. "So why didn't he carry them?"
"He did a little bit of the way, but he had to take a seat from the exhaustion. I don't think they're used to such heat in his world."
"That makes sense, I mean it CAN get pretty hot here. But where is he going to stay?"
"That's a good question, Pinkie... a very good question indeed."
Dragons, Pegasi, and Fear
As he washed his face in Pinkie's bathroom, his mind was reeling still from all he was taking in. Even Pinkie Pie's BATHROOM looked similar to his, a pink covered toilet, sink, even a big bathtub resting inside. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he spoke to himself in a state of pure shock.
"I don't believe this... I don't fucking believe this... This place is so cool! They're just like my kind... all those thoughts and conceptions... all wrong... this is place is BETTER than my world... and Celestia... she said I can return home anytime I want... but I don't know if I want to ever leave..."
Drying his hands off on one of the pink pony's pink fluffy towel, he ran his hands through his mess of black hair before looking at himself once again.
"Well... time to see what else about my stereotypical ideal is to be destroyed... Twilight's waiting for me downstairs... but there's one thing I gotta check first..."
Sneaking out of the bathroom, Josh tiptoed his way to the bedroom next door and as soon as he looked in, he grinned and let out a big HA! There was no stable, no paddock... just a big cozy-looking pink bed and what seemed to be a candy-motif decorated around the room. It was too dark for him to see much else, but he had seen all he needed to and he walked back downstairs with a big grin on his face, rubbing his hands together eagerly as he spoke to the two equines waiting for him. "Alright, Twilight, where should we head next?"
"Well, I was thinking maybe we could head to my house, the town library.", Twilight answered calmly, "That way, we could set your bags down until we figure out where you're gonna stay. Plus you can meet my assistant, Spike."
"Sounds like a plan!", Josh nodded, "It was great meeting you, Pinkie Pie!"
"It was funtastic meeting you too!", Pinkie replied as she watched the two of them heading out, waving them goodbye and giggling. As soon as they were outside, Josh couldn't help but marvel at Twilight.
"Twilight, your friend is AWESOME! Are ALL the ponies here so energetic?"
The unicorn merely grinned. "You'll see soon enough, but come on, follow me."
Grinning, Josh merely nodded and followed the unicorn through town, the human taking ahold of the bags this time. It took them all of a minute to reach the giant treehouse known as both the library and Twilight Sparkles home and again, the teen couldn't help but let out a whistle of impression at the sheer size of it. It looked big enough to house a second story and, from where some of the windows rested, he had the feeling it did. But one thing that caught his eye in particular was the empty birds nest resting near one of the windows. Twilight noticed him looking at it and smiled.
"That used to be a bee's nest, but Derpy Hooves crashed into it one day and I didn't bother to get a new one. The birds nest looks cuter anyways and the chirping of birds helps me think."
"I'm guessing this Derpy Hooves is that same mailpony from earlier?", Josh quipped as he remembered that gray pegasus with the crossed eyes.
Twilight nodded as she pushed open the door and let Josh inside. To the boy's amazement, the library looked huge! Rows and rows of books could be seen, upwards of thousands, and he had a strong feeling very few of them were merely about eating hay or galloping. As he looked to the side of the bookcases, he could see a big stairway leading upwards, confirming his theory about a second story being inside. There was even an alcove on the other side of the stairwell, leading to from what the teen could see appeared to be a kitchen, complete with fridge and stove.
"Will this place NEVER cease to amaze me with its complexity?", Josh whispered without a hint of sarcasm as he set his bag down and rubbed his shoulder, groaning a bit. The unicorn merely smiled again before she called out to the second floor.
"Spike! Would you come down here?"
Almost instantly a voice with a little bit of a whine in it replied. "Aw come on! I just got comfy in my bed with one of your funny books!"
"Come on, there's someone I want you to meet!"
Soon a sigh rang out and, to Josh's shock, a small dragon made his way down the stairs, muttering to himself... at least until he turned the corner and saw the teen in front of him.
"Whoa... Twilight, who or what is that?"
With a grin, Twilight nodded towards the human, who spoke up. "I'm Josh, the human. I'm new around here, and I'm guessing you're Spike? Celestia told me quite a bit about you!"
At this, the dragon couldn't help but blush as Josh got a better look at him. His purple scales, green spines, and lime underbelly just made the dragon look really intriguing. Even though they didn't really have dragons where he came from, at this point he'd just decided to accept everything as seen with all the doubt having been erased from his mind.
"Really?", Spike said as he rubbed his claw behind his head, a sense of pride in his voice, "What'd she say about me?"
"Not much, just that you were one of her most prized assistants and she was so proud of how you've helped Twilight Sparkle."
The smile on Spike's face could have put Pinkie Pies to shame as he ran to the teen and hugged him happily.
"Thank you! Thank you... I never knew Celestia cared about me that much... Thank you!", he cooed. Josh merely smiled and returned the hug gently before looking back at Twilight.
"She told me about some other friends of yours... that you like to call yourselves "the Mane six?"
At this, Twilight could barely hide her grin. "I never knew she called us that too... But yes. If you'd like I'd be glad to introduce you to them."
"That would actually be quite nice. Maybe you ponies can help this human find a place to stay while he's here?"
"We'll do our best.", Twilight nodded before beginning to head out the door, "Spike, you want to join us?"
"Do I ever!", Spike gleamed and quickly went out after Josh and Twilight, eager to show their new friend around.
As they exited the library, the teen's bags now safely inside, Josh could still not believe how magnificent the place looked. It was NOTHING like he'd imagined a pony town to be like... instead of being all cutie and sweet to the point of rotting teeth, it was actually an intricate and delightful place! Yes, it was cute of course, that much Josh had expected, but it was in a way even he could admire.
"Wow...", he marveled as he looked again at all the buildings as the three of them walked around, "No matter how much I gaze upon this town... I just can't get over how it looks... amazing doesn't even begin to describe it..."
Spike couldn't help but whisper to the unicorn walking beside him. "Geez, you'd think he'd never seen a place like this back in his world!"
"Well, he IS the first human we've ever really had come here.", Twilight replied, getting a nod from the dragon, "For him, this all has to be mind-bending."
"Beautiful... simply beautiful...", Josh cooed, as he looked up at several pegasi moving the clouds and getting the sun in prime shining position, "Any minute now I almost expect something to come crashing down and wake me from this dream..."
"LOOK OUT BELOW!"
Hearing the scream, Josh was barely able to look up before a blue blur collided with him, knocking him down into a nearby mud puddle and dousing him and the blur in a fine brown coat. Laying on his back, Josh felt the wind having been knocked out of him and as he tried to wipe his eyes clean of the muck, he could hear the sound of another pony getting to their feet and letting out a sheepish laugh before they spoke in a tough, yet fun-loving voice.
"Sorry about that.. I was trying a new trick, kinda backfired..."
He didn't know what to be shocked at more, that the pony wasn't puzzled by him, or that she was actually apologizing, and as he managed to turn himself onto his stomach to get to his feet, he got a good look at what had crashed into him and he felt part of his heart skip a beat. It was a beautiful cyan pegasus, a rainbow colored mane covering her head and hanging a small bit over her eye and a cutie mark of a cloud with a rainbow coming out of it. Even covered in mud, she still looked amazing and he found himself at a loss for words.
"It's.. it's ok. But how.. how are you so calm? I didn't think you'd have seen a creature like me.", he sputtered, the words coming out in a choke.
"Nah, I saw ya coming in earlier, but I was on cloud duty so I couldn't say hi. The name's Rainbow Dash, best flyer in all of Ponyville!", the pegasus replied with a flashy grin, making Twilight and Spike roll their eyes.
"Oh brother...", the dragon murmured as he looked at the mud dripping off Josh's face and clothes and couldn't help but snicker. Rainbow Dash knew why he was laughing and she rubbed her forehoof behind her head sheepishly.
"Heh heh... lemme help you with th-", she started to say, but a loud shrill voice cut her off.
"EVIL! EVIL HUMAN BEGONE!"
Looking to their side, the four them could see a group of ponies and unicorns standing in a crowd, glaring at the human, led by a grey unicorn with a cutie mark of a cross on his flank. Immediately, Rainbow Dash let out a groan and rolled her eyes, an action matched by Twilight Sparkle.
"Not him again..."
"Who?", Spike asked curious. He'd never seen these ponies before and none of them looked friendly.
"That's Thoroughbred Phelps, leader of Equestria Pony Alliance...", Twilight groaned in disgust. "He and his CULT believe only pure-bred ponies should be in Equestria..."
"CELESTIA HATES HUMANS! CELESTIA HATES HUMANS!", Thoroughbred cried out, pointing a hoof at the muddy human looking at them in utter shock, "GO BACK TO THE MUD WHERE YOU BELONG!"
"Yeah! Humans are not welcome here! Go home!", a red pony by his side cried.
"CELESTIA HATES MORONS!", Rainbow Dash shot back, "You know you guys are the ones not welcome here!"
Almost on cue, several passerby ponies started to boo Thoroughbred, some of them even catcalling and jeering.
"GO BACK TO THE DARK AGES WHERE YOU BELONG.", a white unicorn with an indigo and pink mane called out.
"YOU'RE AN EMBARRASMENT TO PONIES EVERYWHERE!" another pegasi called out.
"BOO, YOU STINK!", Spike blurted out, getting a round of laughter as, seeing that they were outnumbered, the group of ponies ran off, but not before Thoroughbred called back for Josh to "WATCH HIS BACK AND GET OUT OF EQUESTRIA IF HE KNEW WHAT WAS GOOD FOR HIM!". As soon as they were gone, several of the ponies that had seen what happened called out sheepish apologies to the human before they went back to their business. The whole spectacle had left the teen in a state of utter shock and it wasn't until Rainbow Dash tapped his arm gently that he was able to speak.
"Would someone tell me what the heck that was about? I thought this was a friendly place!", he gasped as he wiped some of the dried mud from his shirt.
"It is...", Rainbow Dash replied, "They're just the local nutjob group... they hate anyone who's not a pure-bred pony and anyone who tolerates others."
"The only reason they didn't bother Zecora was they were protesting in Manehattan... thank Celestia...", Twilight added. Josh just let out a shudder before he talked to Rainbow Dash again.
"You were saying before about helping me?"
"Oh yeah, heh heh.", The pegasus remembered as she flew up and quickly returned with a big raincloud. Setting it up above the muddy teen, she began to bounce on in over and over, producing a nice summer rain and helping wash the mud off the human, but leaving him soaking wet. "Now now, no need to thank me!"
It was then she saw the teen's sopping wet face, his clothes drenched to the bone and making him look like a drowned rat. She tried desperately not to laugh, covering her mouth with her hooves, but her body failed her and before she knew it...
"Bwah hah hah hah!", Rainbow Dash roared in laughter, falling back and holding her midsection from the quivers of laughter running through her body. Before Spike knew it, he found himself on his knees pounding his fist in laughter as well at the sight of the teen, the pegasus's chuckles contagious, while Twilight just looked at the whole scene in wonder.
"Deja Vu...", she thought, remembering how nearly the exact same thing had happened to her when SHE had met the pegasus.
"I'm g-g-glad y-you find this f-funny...", Josh managed to chatter out, freezing from the rain soaking his body. He wasn't as mad as he was just annoyed, since he didn't know if his jacket would be ok getting dried... although he had a strong feeling that Twilight's magic could help him out with that... but he didn't want to bother the unicorn for something like that. Twilight could see the poor boy was shivering and she called out to him.
"I know someone who can help get you into a new set of clothes!", she yelled, "Follow me!" But as she and Josh began to leave, they found themselves being followed by both Spike AND Rainbow Dash, both of whom still were barely able to contain the last shakes of laughter. "Rainbow Dash? Don't you have work still to do?"
"Nah, hee hee, Derpy and Kyna can cover for me. I just wanna see what happens when the others meet up with Josh... It's gonna be awesome seeing them meet a human!"
At this, Josh couldn't help but grin at how Rainbow Dash had been so calm and cavalier to his appearance and he nodded to Twilight in assent. "Let her come. I like her.. and she did defend me against those ponies."
Twilight sighed before she turned back and continued her journey, leading the three of them through Ponyville once again as the teen was left again in awe at all he'd just seen... although now he also had a small twinge of fear...
It took all of a minute for the 4 of them to arrive at the Carousel Boutique and by now, the teen was completely awestruck. From it's majestic pointed purple roof to the golden framed windows, he knew the pony inside had to be beyond fancy... which made him even more nervous to go inside covered in traces of mud and water.
"I... I don't know... this seems like a really fancy building..", Josh murmured, his voice faintly audible to the others.
"C'mon, don't be shy!", Rainbow Dash said, nudging his elbow, "I've gone in a lot messier... heck, you should see how Applejack goes in at times!"
"Applejack?", Josh quiried, turning back towards Twilight and Spike, "Is she another of your friends?"
"That's correct.", Twilight replied with a nod, "I was gonna take you to meet her after we got done here."
With a shrug, Josh raised his fist and give the closed boutique door a few knocks. Almost instantly, an elegant and posh voice gave them all a reply.
"Come in! The door's unlocked!"
With a smile of relief, Josh opened the door and found himself looking inside at a beautiful studio. Majestic gowns and outfits hung on mannequins, plans and designs for other outfits were pinned up on the wall in a straight line, there was even a set of full-length mirror in one section of the studio.
"With that, the last ideal of my conception of a pony kingdom is torn to shreds...", Josh whispered as he found himself spellbound by the beauty of all the clothing surrounding him. He never imagined they'd actually WEAR clothing here, but by now all his stereotyped images of a land of ponies had been torn away and replaced with images that were far better. It was then he heard a lovestruck sigh and, turning towards Spike, he found the dragon looking ahead at the unicorn working calmly at the sewing and crafting table with hearts in his eyes. It was a pure white unicorn, her coat as shiny as Celestia's, her mane and tail purple, velvety, and styled, her cutie mark of a set of diamonds almost glistening in the rays of the sun shining through the open window nearby. As she worked, Josh swore he could hear her humming... But the teen was almost scared to interrupt her work and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but groan as she nudged his arm again, trying to get him to find his voice and speak up.
"Hello?", Josh quivered, "Are.. are you the unicorn in charge here?"
Using her magic to set down the pair of dress scissors she had been using, the unicorn turned around softly. "Why yes I aAAAH!", she screamed in shock at seeing the creature before her soaking wet and with splotches of mud on his clothes. If it were any one of her friends, she'd have been annoyed for them not knowing better than to try and keep the boutique clean.. but she could tell this creature was different and definitely new. "Darling, what happened to you?"
Blowing a wet strand of hair out of his eyes and letting it fall back down limply, Josh finally spoke up. "Your friend, Rainbow Dash, and I had a bad encounter with a mud puddle... and Twilight said you could help me get clean?"
The unicorn gave a big grin and, to the teens shock, stood up on her hindhooves and placed her forehooves on her sides, looking at him in bemusement. "Oh sweetie, Rarity can do MORE than that! Come on, lets get you out of those wet clothes!"
It took all of a few minutes for Josh to get out of his wet shirt and jeans, the sight of him just in his wet pair of blue boxers making Rainbow Dash and Spike start laughing with even Rarity hiding a snicker, and now he was sitting on a cushion near the mirrors watching Rarity rummaging through her closet looking for an outfit for the teen to wear.
"How do you even have an outfit that would fit me?", Josh couldn't help but ask through his cold shivers, 'I didn't think any creature like me had ever been here before!"
"Ha ha, darling you don't become the number one fashionestria in Equestria without practicing making clothes for all sorts of species! I may have to do a little altering to get something in your size, but it shouldn't take too long!"
Josh gave a smile, but shivered from the coldness enveloping him from the mix of the water in his flesh and the fact he now only had on his blue boxers. Twilight could see the teen was freezing and she turned towards the searching designer. "Rarity, isn't there something he could wear while you're finding something for him?"
Rarity put her hoof to her chin, thinking for a moment, before she lit up. "As a matter of fact, there is!". Using her magic, she made one of her spa bathrobes float over to the teen. It was one she had designed that ended up being too big for her, but she had a feeling it would fit the human snugly. "Go ahead, try it on! If you like it, you can keep it!"
"Really?", Josh asked, holding the white terricloth robe in his hands, "I can keep this beautiful robe?"
"It's too big for me anyways and I have a dozen more in my size, including 3 in that same color!", Rarity replied with a grin, "Go on, try it!"
Looking to Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike for approval and getting a set of nods, Josh slipped the plush white robe on over his wet body. It fit perfectly and sent a warm cuddly feeling through his body as he moaned in pleasure.
"If this is a hand-me-down, I cannot WAIT to see how beautiful new fashions are here... this is magnificent!"
Blushing, Rarity turned back to the closet and rummaged around before pulling out a big white t-shirt, a pair of velvet sweatpants, and a set of fingerless black gloves, all items that left the four of them in shock.
"Rarity, where'd you GET that stuff?", Rainbow Dash blurted out.
"I had a Griffyn place an order for casual clothes, but he ended up changing his order after I made these, the rude thing!", Rarity huffed.
"I'm.. I'm sorry.", Josh said remorsefully. He knew he had nothing to do with it, but to see someone pull a switcheroo on such a kind designer hurt him.
"Darling, it's not your fault. There's just some species out there with no appreciation for good clothing."
"Actually, my name's not Darling...", Josh murmured softly, gaining a chuckle from the unicorn, "but I know all too well what you mean... in my world, people spent oodles of money on outfits and then throw them away after one wearing." It was then he had a faint feeling they didn't know what money was here and he began to open his mouth to explain, but Rarity beat him to it.
"It's sad that your kind is so frivolious with money. Here, we RARELY spend bits and coins on things we never plan to use. But what IS your name, sweetie?"
"Ok, NOW all my preconceptions are gone!", Josh thought to himself before he answered Rarity, "Joshua, but I prefer to go by Josh."
Rarity let out another giggle at Josh's unique name before she levitated the clothes onto the table and began to work her magic. "It may take a little time before I'm done with the altering.", she mentioned, "If you want, you can get in a quick nap in my bedroom. I'm sure you must be EXHAUSTED from your travels!". The way she said it made Josh almost think she WANTED him to rest in her bed as if to be able to say she had housed a foreign species, but in all honesty the teen WAS a bit drained from all he was processing so far and he turned to the others.
"Is that alright with you, Twilight? Rainbow? Spike?"
"Sure! Go ahead!", Twilight smiled, "It'll give me a chance to talk to Pinkie Pie about your party! You can just meet us at Sugarcube corner when you're all rested."
"Wait, WHAT party?", the teen asked puzzled.
"Knowing Pinkie Pie, she's probably already got one set in motion for you. She's given EVERYPONY here a party or two!", Spike replied as he and Twilight Sparkle began to head out of the boutique before he turned back to Rainbow Dash. He'd noticed the pegasus was looking at Josh fondly and hadn't made her move to leave. "Rainbow Dash? Ya coming?"
"Actually... I may stay here with Josh if that's alright with Rarity... somehow I get the feeling when he wakes up, he may want proof it's not all a dream."
"You know, that's something I'd have expected myself to say!", Twilight admitted before looking at Rarity.
"If she wants, she can stay. Just don't knock over the mannequins into the window again!"
This got a big laugh out of Twilight, Spike, and Josh, the dragon having to brace himself against Twilight's side he was laughing so hard. All the while, Rainbow Dash just looked away to hide the blush in her cheeks, still trying to forget when she'd broken the window 2 days ago when she'd gone to pick up an outfit for Fluttershy and had tripped on a bobbin, causing a hilarious domino reaction that ended with the window having a mannequin through it.
"Oh ha ha.", she laughed sarcastically as Twilight and Spike bade them farewell and headed out, leaving Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Josh standing there before the teen spoke up again.
"Um... miss Rarity, where is your bedroom?"
"It's that door right next to the full-length mirrors. That leads to the living area of my studio.", she answered hard at work on the alterations. With a nod, Josh and Rainbow Dash went over to the big door and opened it to reveal the stylish getup of Rarity's home. There was a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and even a couple bedrooms.
"Will this place ever cease to amaze me?", Josh wondered as he walked into the open bedroom, the other one with the novelty plaque reading SWEETIE BELLE, an item that he immediately noticed and turned to Rainbow Dash as if looking for an explanation.
"Sweetie Belle's her sister.", the pegasus replied as they entered the unicorn's giant bedroom with the teen falling backwards onto her big plush bed and basking in its comfort. Rainbow Dash noticed the teen fall and she couldn't help but look at him in worry. "You ok, dude?"
"Yeah, Dash, I'm cool... Just tired... and wondering what other surprises await me here... you know when I wake up from my nap, I half-expect this all to have been a beautiful dream... That's why I didn't object to you staying with me... it'll be nice to have a cool reminder that I'm in a genuine Ponyville...
The compliment earned him a grin from the pegasus who took a seat on one of the nearby chairs as she watched the teen crawl under the covers of Rarity's bed and bundle himself up beneath her plush sheets and in a matter of seconds, he'd fallen into a deep sleep. In spite of her tomboyish demeanor, she felt her heart starting to melt a little at seeing Josh resting under the sheet, his head laying back in Rarity's giant pillow, his hands resting onto his belly. Looking around to her sides to make sure no one was watching, she went to the bed and leaned down, whispering something into his ear. She didn't know if the teen could hear her, but from the small smile that went onto his face, she had a feeling it did. With a smile, she went back to the chair and sat back before closing her eyes and drifting off into sleep herself.
"Josh! Rainbow Dash! Wake up!"
Opening the door to her bedroom, Rarity saw the pegasus and human both fast asleep and with a smile, she called out to them, watching as they both woke up. Josh looked around after rubbing his eyes and, after seeing Rainbow Dash and Rarity, he grinned.
"Heh, looks like this isn't a dream.", he muttered as he climbed out of the big plush bed, yawning and stretching out his arms before turning to the unicorn, "From that grin, I'd say-"
Rarity cut him off with a nod. "They just got finished, darling! Come and see for yourself!". With that, she turned and went back into the boutique. Shrugging, Josh and Rainbow Dash followed her into the giant studio. What they saw made their hearts pound.
"Oh... my... god...", was all Josh could get out. Resting on a big mannequin of a pony were two sets of clothes. One was his old set, now dry and ready to be worn again... but it was the second that took their breath away. The white T now was a thick golden color, streams of gems running down both arms, the sweatpants now with red stripes and emeralds in the kneecaps embroidered amidst the black velvet, the fingerless gloves sporting a small diamond on each back, and as a bonus, a pair of jet black flip-flops with a line of sapphire along the straps. Altogether, it could have easily fetched half a cool million back in his world, yet selling them was the LAST thing on his mind.
"What do you think? I thought since you're the first human to ever come here, I could whip you up something special."
"You mean you WHIPPED this up?", Rainbow Dash gasped, "Rarity, this is one of your best works yet! Even I'M wanting to try it on!"
Josh could only open and close his mouth similar to Twilight had when she first saw him and Celestia. "Rarity... miss Rarity... they look amazing! No, forget amazing... THEY LOOK MAJESTIC!"
At this, Rarity couldn't help but blush. "Aw, you're just saying that..."
"Let me put it this way... where I'm from, there's over 1,000 different designer wardrobes... and that one outfit alone puts them ALL to shame!"
The white unicorn had never been so flattered. This new species was absolutely fawning over her work... this was what she loved most about her profession. "Josh, you're too kind! Come on, try them!"
Eagerly, Josh went over to the mannequin and slipped on the shirt. It fit perfectly, like they were meant to be together. The same went for the pants, gloves, and flip-flops, they all slipped on as if they were made exactly for his size. Walking over to the giant mirrors, Josh admired his sparkling reflection, a look of pride in his face. "I... I look awesome!"
"There's just one more touch it needs!", Rarity smiled, "Hold out your arms."
Without wasting a second, the teen held his arms out at length as the unicorn used her magic to pick up the jacket, float it over to him, and slip it onto his back before she nodded to the teen to lower them again. As he lowered his arms, Josh had never felt so... so fancy.
"How... how much do I owe you?", Josh managed to sputter out, "This HAS to be expensive!"
"Yeah!", Rainbow Dash agreed, "This looks like one of your most star-studded outfits yet, even counting the Gala clothes!"
"Well I figure you don't really have any bits on you, right?"
Josh nodded, having figured out that bits were their equivalent to money. "Not a one..."
"This one's on me. Consider it a welcoming present to Ponyville and Equestria!"
Josh couldn't help but let out a big blush at this. "This is a WAY better present than what that EPA gave me!"
Those three letters made Rarity's blood run cold. "EPA... You don't mean the Equestria Pony Alliance... do you?"
"The one and the same...", Rainbow Dash groaned, "They were calling him some pretty bad names, telling him to get out of Equestria!"
Rarity sat on her haunches and rested her head on her hoof. "I know those pains all too well. They tried to recruit me because I come from a pure-bred bloodline... but I wanted nothing to do with them!"
"Really?", Josh replied in shock. He kinda expected someone like Rarity to be IN with them.
"Josh, darling, I know I look and act posh and fancy. But I'm certainly not bigoted! Anyone who wants to stay in Equestria should be allowed to... as long as-"
"They have good intentions!", Rainbow Dash and Josh chimed in unison with her, gaining a smirk from the unicorn.
"Celestia and Twilight Sparkle were talking to me about that same thing!", Josh admitted, "But I told her what I'll tell you. I prefer this my special secret and want to keep this place in its natural state... well as best as a human can."
Rarity nodded in agreement. "Yes, I'm figuring you may be teaching some of us a few things, including my Sweetie Belle."
"Speaking of Sweetie Belle, where is she anyways?", Rainbow Dash had to ask.
"She's out with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo seeing if they're not Cutie Mark Crusader Tire Swingers!", she replied, getting a chuckle from the teen. Immediately, she had a feeling she knew why he was giggling. "Scootaloo, right?"
Still snickering, Josh nodded. "I'm sorry, but that's just a really funny name! No offense to you guys."
"Nah, it's cool!", Rainbow Dash said before she turned to Rarity, "I think maybe me and Josh should head to Sugarcube Corner. We were gonna meet up with Twilight and Spike so he could meet the rest of the group."
"Very well. Feel free to come back anytime, you two!"
"Oh you SO know I will!", Josh answered as he fetched his old dried clothes and headed out the door with Rainbow Dash, waving to Rarity happily. But as she waved back, she couldn't help but shudder not at the teen, but at the EPA coming after him. He seemed like a nice guy...
Apples to Apples, Dust to Hatred
It took less than 5 minutes for Rainbow Dash and Joshua to meet back up with Twilight Sparkle and Spike and now, after Josh had dazzled Spike and Twilight with his new outfit and left his other clothes with Pinkie Pie for the time being, the 4 of them were on their way to a place called Sweet Apple Acres, which from what Josh was gathering, was some kind of farm.
"Heh, looks like there ARE some things that would be expected in a pony town.", Josh muttered, earning a small glare from Twilight Sparkle.
"You know, you really need to stop calling this a pony town. I know you're the first human we've had come here, but it tends to get a little annoying!", she scolded.
Seeing the nods of agreement from Rainbow Dash and Spike, Josh chuckled sheepishly. "Ok, I'll try to stop that habit. It's just a lot to take in, ya know?"
"He's got a point, you know.", Spike admitted, gaining a groan from the unicorn. It was then she noticed they were at the threshold of Sweet Apple Acres, their discussion having passed the time of their trek to get there and as he looked around, again Josh felt his breath taken away by the beauty that surrounded them. There were glorious apple trees as far as the eye could see, a dirt path leading from the brown ranch arch reading "WELCOME!" all the way to what Josh could make out as a big red farmhouse and a well-sized barn. It had a warm, country feeling to the landscape.
"All that's needed is someone saying yeehaw!", Josh quipped.
"YEEHAW! 100 APPLES IN 100 SECONDS!"
Hearing the loud southern-sounding voice echo out, Josh turned towards the others. "That wasn't one of you guys, was it?"
Shaking her head, Twilight took the forefront and led the others down the path towards what appeared to be a big clearing of apple trees and plowed fields and in the middle, holding a lasso in her mouth, was yet another pony whose appearance pretty much blew the teen away. She was an orange-coated pony with a long blonde mane ending in a set of short pigtails and a wave of her hair hanging out underneath the cowgirl hat that donned her head. On her flank, by her bundled blonde tail, was a cutie mark depicting a set of delicious looking apples. Just the sight of them made the teen rub his tummy in hunger... yet at the same time, similar to Rarity, he was a little unsure about disrupting her during her hard work. But this time Rainbow Dash beat him to the punch at the same time he'd looked up and noticed something in a nearby tree.
"HEY AJ!", she called out, "We got someone for ya to meet!"
Setting the lasso down, the pony turned and gave them all a friendly look before she spoke, the southern accent more pronounced. "Well howdy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Spike... What brings ya'll down ta Sweet Apple Acres?"
"Well...", Twilight said calmly, "We've got someone we'd like you to meet, like Rainbow Dash said.". It was then she looked around and realized Josh was nowhere in sight. "Josh? Where are you?"
"I'M UP HERE!"
Looking up, the 4 of them could see Josh waving from a branch of a nearby tree, an apple in his hand. "Josh? What are you doing up there?"
"I saw one of the apples had been left up here, so I thought I'd give your friend a hand... only it's a lot farther down than I thought... Can someone lend me a hoof?"
This got a big laugh out of them as the pony picked up her lasso and used it to whisk Josh off the branch and onto one of the full baskets of apples, making the laughter grow hysterical from the others and leaving the teen dazed.
"Ugh... thanks..", He groaned as he boosted himself to his feet, dusting himself off and placing the apple he had been holding amidst the others before walking over to the laughing crew and giving a sarcastic chuckle. "Yeah, ha ha."
"I... I'm sorry...", Spike managed to wheeze out between bales of laughter, "But that was hilarious!"
Even Twilight Sparkle, one of the calmest and coolheaded ponies in Ponyville, was laughing. "I got to admit, you looked pretty funny!"
Josh sighed and blew a small gust of air upwards before he turned to the orange equine, "From the way Rainbow Dash called you AJ... you must be-"
That was all he was able to get out before the pony had grasped his hand and started shaking his enthusiastically. "That's right! The name's Applejack, one of the proprietors of Sweet Apple Acres!"
"N-n-n-n-n-n-nice t-t-t-t-to m-m-m-m-m-meet y-y-y-y-you!", Josh managed to gasp out as he was lifted upwards from the force of her shaking his hand before she finally released him and sent him crashing back to the ground for the second time in a row, landing on his knees and palms. "My god, all you ponies are full of more energy than bottles of coke!"
Applejack giggled at the comparision before she spoke again. "Well ain't that truer than the sun in July! I see you've met Pinkie Pie already... and from the looks of that there jacket, Rarity as well?"
Josh nodded as he dusted himself off. By now, nothing really fazed him about Ponyville and he'd just given up trying to deny its existence as nothing more than a big gag. "That's right, I have... although I came with the black jacket beforehand."
"Josh is here to help us learn about some more lessons in friendship, as well as maybe give us some wisdom from his world."
At this, a worried look ebbed onto Applejacks face as she rubbed her hoof against another in nervousness. "Yeah, uh Twilight... you know what humans like him usually eat, don't ya?"
"Yeah.", Josh piped in, "Sweets and cheeses!"
"Well not just that, Sugar... I mean don't your kind usually eat... well...". The cowpony's voice trailed off as if she was afraid to offend him, being the Element of Honesty after all.
"You can tell me, Applejack. I won't get mad... heck, Twilight and Pinkie didn't after we talked about bathrooms."
Applejack, Spike, and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but give an odd look to Twilight Sparkle, who merely shook her head. "You don't wanna know.", she whispered.
"C'mon. Just tell me."
Sighing in defeat, Applejack motioned for Josh to come over and as soon as he did and knelt down, she whispered into his ear. Immediately a look of disgust came onto his face and he backed away.
"EW NO!", he sputtered out in horror, "My god, NO human eats THAT!"
"But aren't your kind carnivores?", she asked.
"No, we're omnivores... and we don't eat THAT! What made you think we ate..."
Not wanting to startle the others, Josh leaned in towards Applejacks ear and whispered. "What made you think we ate horsemeat?"
Applejack sighed again and looked down. "Let's just say I've got some books I need to get rid of now... Please don't be mad..."
"I'm not. But for the sake of Celestia and sanctity, it's probably wise you don't say that out loud..."
"You mean you really don't eat-"
"No, I eat SOME meats, but special made ones... and NEVER ponies... in fact NO human does!"
After their conversation, Applejack felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she gave the teen a big hug, one that was happily returned much to the amusement of the others looking at them with grins.
"What are you two whispering and hugging about?", Rainbow Dash called out to them as they broke up the hug.
"It's nothing, Rainbow Dash!", Josh replied, giving a wink to Applejack, which she returned.
"I was just on my way to take some of these here apples down ta Granny Smith to get made into pies and juices. Y'all wanna come along?", she chirped kindly.
The 2 equines, dragon, and human eagerly nodded, the former 3 knowing she usually treated them to a couple pies afterwards and the human eager to see how this farm worked.
"That's fantastic! But um.. could you gals maybe help me.."
Twilight chuckled before she nodded. "I think we can give you some help!"
"Yeah, count me in!", Rainbow Dash added.
Applejack turned to Josh and opened her mouth to ask him, but the teen beat her to it.
"AJ, it'd be my pleasure.", he smiled as he bent down and picked up a couple of baskets before following her to the farmhouse with the others trailing behind him. It took them all of a few minutes before that'd made it into the giant red building Applejack and her family called home and gotten the apples put away and sure enough, to Twilight Sparkles delight, she immediately got out the fixings to make a couple giant pies.
"I can't let ya'll go out without a reward for helping me!", Applejack chirped as she started using her forehooves to roll out the sheets of dough for the pie tins.
"As always, you're much too kind!", Twilight gushed. But the teen next to her was just in absolute amazement.
"Applejack, this place... it's amazing!", he marveled, looking around at the fancy kitchen and breakfast nook, admiring not only the knickknacks, but the picture of her with a wise-looking old greenish pony and a young yellow philly with a red mane.
"Well thank you kindly, stranger!", she grinned as she cut up the apples, using her hooves to hold them steady and the knife in her teeth to slice them. As she got done cutting them and spat out the knife, she noticed Josh looking at the picture and chuckled as she put the apple slices into the pies, "That's Granny Smith and my little filly sister, Apple Bloom!"
"Apple Bloom... She's out with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle right now, isn't she?", he couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah.. how'd you'd know?", Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Rarity told him.", Rainbow Dash piped in, "She said they were trying to become Cutie Mark Crusader Tire Swingers."
The orange equine couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. "Those silly fillys... last time they tried that, Scootaloo got sick all over Apple Bloom and I had to spend half a day cleaning her off!"
"Wait wait...", Josh sputtered, putting his hands out, "You guys... you get sick too?"
"Are you kidding?", Rainbow Dash answered, "Thanks to Applejack's exhaustion and a set of bad muffins, there were ponies losing their cookies everywhere!"
"I still don't see what made them sick!", Spike murmured, crossing his arms, "Those muffins were great!"
"Well if they tried it once, why are they trying it again?", Twilight couldn't help but ask.
"Maybe they figured they didn't do it long enough last time?", Josh shrugged as they watched the nearly-complete pies, now filled with apple slices and cream and covered by flaky dough, being set into the oven to bake. Trotting from behind the baking table, Applejack looked at the teen and grinned.
"While the pies are baking, why don't I show ya around the farm?", the cowpony suggested, to which the teen smiled.
"I would love that very much.", he nodded.
"Fantastic!", Applejack smiled herself before leading him out of the kitchen towards the main part of the farm, Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Twilight Sparkle following behind them. Applejack had made so many pies she had a built-in clock into her head so she knew when to take them out to cool.
The first them she showed them was the groves of apple trees, a shining look in her eyes. "This here is the pride of the Apple family... our ochard of apples! We got everything from Golden Delicious to MacIntosh to Ridington!"
"Well they look amazing!", Twilight spoke up, "It looks like a great crop is headed for Ponyville!"
"What do you expect?", Rainbow Dash added, "Applejack's one of the best bakers and growers in all of Equestria!". This remark brought a deep blush to the orange ponys cheeks.
"Who knew a pony t-", Josh started to say, but then he remembered what Twilight had told him and he cleared his throat before starting again. "I mean, who knew such delicious treats existed!". Turning to Twilight Sparkle, he was given a nod of approval and breathed a sigh of relief as Applejack laughed.
"Now, Sugar, I wouldn't say they're THAT delicious yet..."
"Oh! Can we try some, please?", Spike pleaded. Applejack merely grinned and nodded.
"Go on, all of yas. Take yourselves nice big ones! That's what they're there for!"
Eagerly, all 5 of them, including Applejack, plucked a couple big juicy red ones from the tree, Josh using his hands, Applejack her lasso, Rainbow Dash flying up to one, and Twilight Sparkle using her magic to bring the apple to her mouth and in near unison they all took a big juicy bite. Josh seemed to enjoy his the most!
"Oh good gracious, this is juicy!" he said through a big mouthful, making Applejack grin.
"I told ya!", she said before taking another big bite and speaking through her own mouthful, "The Apple family's apples are second to none! Come on! I gots more ta show ya'll!"
With that, the cowpony continued leading the 4 of them through her giant farm, all of them munching happily away on the big red fruits. What they didn't notice was a figure watching from the trees surrounding it...
A figure who was NOT happy that a human was there.
It took a half hour for Applejack to show them all the workings of her farm and get back into her house and all 4 of them were fascinated by the workings, even Twilight. They'd been to her farm lots of times, but the tour had shown them parts of the workings and lodgings they'd never seen! As Applejack opened the oven, she couldn't stop beaming from all the questions they'd asked. It showed they were actually interested in what she was saying and it made her happy.
"So what do ya'll think of Sweet Apple Acres?", she asked as she took the pie out, wearing potholders on her hooves.
"It's amazing!", Twilight marveled, "I never knew how much work went into getting everything ready for the market!"
"It's awesome!", Rainbow Dash added, "I mean some of those lasso tricks to get down more apples... those were so cool!"
"I gotta admit," Spike piped in, "The whole thing WAS pretty cool!"
Applejack blushed before she spoke to the one being who hadn't said anything. "Josh, sweetie, what do you think of my place?"
"It's... it's unbelieveable...", The teen was barely able to stammer out, "It was just un-be-lieveable!"
The cowpony smiled and set down the pie just as she heard arguing outside and a knock at the door.
"I told ya Tire Swinging was a bad idea!"
"Well if you hadn't spun it so fast, I wouldn't have thrown up!"
"Do you have idea how long it'll take to get cleaned up again?"
"Please don't fight... please..."
With a sigh, Applejack opened the door and immediately a foul smell entered her snout. Looking down, she saw her sister Apple Bloom covered in a thick pink liquid, bits of colored chunks ebbing out, her filly friends and a yellow pegasus beside her. The smell made her gag and she had to cover her nose before she could open the door fully, the odor of the liquid reaching the others and making them gasp for breath.
"What on blue blazes happened?", Applejack managed to gasp out, "Did Scootaloo get sick on you again?"
"No.. it was Sweetie Belle this time...", the young filly replied sadly as she and the others walked in, giving Josh a good look at them. The one covered in vomit was a young yellow filly with a reddish mane and a curiously blank flank. The two fillies by her, one an orange pegasus and the other a white unicorn similar to Rarity only with a lighter purple mane, also were missing their cutie marks as well. But the yellow pegasus's flank bore a set of pink butterlies, almost as if symbolizing a caring and kind nature, her rosy mane hanging nearly over her eye and her tail hanging behind her smoothly. They were so preoccupied with Apple Bloom that none of them noticed the others at the table.
"I told you this would happen if you tried being Cutie Mark Tire Swingers again!", Applejack scolded.
"It wasn't my fault! Scootaloo insisted we try making it spin three times the normal!"
"Well how was I to know Sweetie Belle had a big breakfast?", the pegasus shot back, "It's not like she told us!"
"But I did tell you!", The unicorn replied, "I was telling you "STOP I'M GONNA BE SICK!""
Applejack just placed a hoof to her head in frustration before she went and fetched a washcloth to try and clean her off. "Sweetie Belle told ya she was getting nauseous and you still spun her?"
"I thought she was joking!", Scootaloo admitted, rubbing her hoof behind her head.
"Even when you saw her cheeks bulge?", Apple Bloom complained as Applejack used the cloth to wipe as much as she could off her sister.
"I... I don't think you should play on that swing anymore...", the yellow pegasus said timidly, "Both times you tried being Cutie Mark Tire Swingers... Apple Bloom ended up covered in someone's lunch... Why can't you be something simple like Cutie Mark Knitters?"
Spike and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but snicker a bit at that, bringing him to the attention of the 3 fillies and the pegasus and it was then that they all saw Twilight Sparkle and the human sitting down and looking at them, the latter fascinated and clearing his throat.
"May.. may I make a suggestion?", he offered.
"Uh... sure, I guess." Applejack replied as Josh got up and walked over to Apple Bloom, examining how messy she was. The filly was more puzzled than scared of the human checking her out, but he did seem friendly.
"Well, it does look like your friend threw up quite a bit on you.."
This brought out an embarrassed laugh from Sweetie Belle, who Josh had by now figured out was the unicorn, leaving Scootaloo as the pegasus by proccess of elimination. "Yeah, I guess I shouldn't have had that extra serving of pancakes..."
Not even batting an eye anymore that they had pancakes here, Josh continued to look over the filly. "I'd say just a nice bath and scrubbing should do the trick, although some extra shampoo couldn't hurt. I'll even help!"
"Well that's plum nice of ya!", Applejack remarked.
"Your friend.. he sure does seem friendly...". the yellow pegasus said shyly, making the teen look up at her.
"I could say the same about you... but why so shy?"
"That's just how Fluttershy is." Twilight Sparkle answered.
"Well I guess it's better than... well.."
"The Equestria Pony Alliance?"
Hearing Fluttershy mention them made everyone turn towards her in shock.
"Fluttershy... you know about them? What do you know?", Twilight asked.
"I'd... I'd rather not say..."
"C'mon tell us!", Applejack added.
"No.. please..."
"Please, Fluttershy?", Josh piped in, "They made fun of me... I'd like to know why..."
"Well... if you really want to know...", Fluttershy relented before taking a deep breath and answering, "They're a group of uneducated bigots who think that just because they come from pure-bred equines that they're better than everyone else. They think that anyone who's different shouldn't be in Equestria and they're determined to do whatever they can to keep Ponyville "pure" in their eyes. They think humans are the lowest of the low and were born from mud, believing only in violence and hate, when in reality THEY'RE the ones filled with such atrocious feelings. They'd have gone after Zecora if they'd known about her, which is PROBABLY why she's stayed in the Everfree Forest so much. The worst part is they keep saying that Celestia hates humans when, from the human being here and your calmness around him, it's apparent that he's been brought here WITH Celestia's help!"
After she got done with her rant, her voice unusually strong for such a timid pegasus, she found herself staring at 8 shocked faces. It was rare for nearly any of them to hear her so confident in her speech.
"But... you know... it's just what I think...", she admitted as she reverted back to her soft voice.
"I see...", Josh replied, noticeably a little crestfallen at hearing what the EPA thought of him, "So I'm born from mud and filled with violence and hate?"
"What did I tell you?", Rainbow Dash reassured him, "They're just a bunch of nutjobs!"
"Yeah, I've told my kin and her friends to stay far away from them! They don't even let their children go to school, teaching them their warped lessons at home!", Applejack added with a growl, "They're brainwashing them and it makes me sick!"
"Please...", Sweetie Belle spoke up, "Don't mention being sick..."
This got a bit of a laugh out of Josh, one that made the others besides Apple Bloom laugh as well, before Twilight turned to Applejack. "Well, AJ, if it's ok with you, me and Josh need to head back to my place. It's nearly dinnertime and I thought maybe I'd treat him to a bite to eat."
"Actually, before that, I'd like to help Apple Bloom get cleaned up with Applejack." Josh said before turning back to the cowpony, "That is if it's ok with you."
"Why... why of course it is!", Applejack stammered before turning to Apple Bloom, "C'mon lets get ya in the tub!"
As the two of them headed upstairs, Josh turned to the others. "I'll meet you all back at the library, ok?"
Twilight nodded, hiding an inner grin at realizing what this would give her a chance to do, before she led the others out of the farmhouse, bidding goodbye to the teen for the time being as he joined them upstairs...
It would be the last time any of them saw the teen in such good shape for awhile...
As the gathering at Sweet Apple Acres was happening, another was taking place in the Ponyville Lodge, where a meeting was taking place... one that was not remotely happy.
"MY FELLOW EQUINES! A FOUL BEING HAS COME UPON OUR HOLY LAND!", Thoroughbred Phelps called from the pulpit at the back of the lodge, the rows ahead of him filled with ponies, unicorns, and pegasi, as well as their children, "A HUMAN HAS DARED STICK HIS GREEDY HANDS IN OUR PURE COMMUNITY!"
A chorus of boos and jeers rang out as the gray pony lapped it all in, "WHEN CELESTIA, NEIGH WHEN GOD ITSELF ALLOWS SUCH A TRAGEDY, IT IS OUR SACRED DUTY TO PONYVILLE AND TO ALL OF EQUESTRIA TO RID IT OF SUCH A PARASITE!"
Almost all at once, a chorus of fevered ideas rang out, all of them vile and ugly.
"Kill him!"
"String him up!"
"Rip him to pieces!"
"Hang him!"
Thoroughbred sighed in sick glee at knowing his clan was on the same wavelength as him just as the doors opened and a red pony with a cutie mark shaped like a black X rushed in. "Yes, Elrad?"
"I heard talk of a possible gathering at the bakery! They're gonna celebrate the human's arrival and I even saw them at Sweet Apple Acres just afterwards!"
"Thank you, brother Elrad...", Thoroughbred nodded before turning back to his clan, "EQUINES! WE KNOW WHAT WE MUST DO! WE CANNOT LET HIM BE CELEBRATED, NEIGH HE MUST BE CAST AWAY BACK TO THE HELL HE HAS SPAWNED FROM! IT IS TIME TO MAKE PONYVILLE PURE AGAIN!"
The cheers and laughter that echoed from Ponyville Lodge would have turned even Pinkie Pie's stomach and if she'd known what was going to happen... she'd have cancelled the party and gone straight to Celestia herself...
Note:
The song lyrics in this chapter are based from "Chop Suey" by System of a Down.
I know this chapter is pretty graphic, but trust me, it's ONLY this one chapter that truly causes the T rating.
Back in Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and Josh were both busy helping scrub off Apple Bloom and the whole time, they'd be talking and gabbing.
"So how'd you come by Ponyville anyways?", Apple Bloom asked as Applejack was at work getting some of the liquid off of her mane, a couple of the chunks nice and stuck.
"Well it's actually pretty funny.", Josh replied, "I was just at the local playground watching a bunch of kids having fun when Celestia came up behind me! I thought it was all a big gag at first!"
"I can understand that, honey.", Applejack admitted, "But go on."
"Well...", Josh continued as he wrung out a sponge and wiped down Apple Blooms belly gently, "It took some convincing, but enventually accepted that she was for real and when we got back to my place, she told me she wanted me to come by and help Twilight out in learning more lessons. Although I can't see why since she's already extremely intelligent!"
"That she is...", the cowpony admitted again, "But if I can ask... what was that about bathrooms that Twilight hinted at before?"
"Urm... uh... maybe that's something I should tell ya in private...", Josh admitted as they looked at Apple Bloom, who by now looked a lot less vomity, "Looks like you're all cleaned up! Care ta get out of the tub?"
"YES, PLEASE!", Apple Bloom replied, eager to get back to having fun and allowing Applejack to lift her out and Josh to wrap her in a towel.
"There we go, all nice and shiny clean!", Applejack grinned, earning a glare from Apple Bloom.
"You know when you say things like that, you sound like miss Rarity."
This remark made Josh fall back against the tub, laughing hysterically. He'd seen how fancy Rarity was and the comparision just cracked him up.
"Yeah, ha ha..", Applejack said sarcastically before she heard the phone ring, "Hold on one sec, I gotta take this. Can you dry off Apple Bloom for me, Josh?"
In between peals of laughter, Josh nodded and, after opening the drain to the tub, got to work drying down the filly and making her giggle.
"That tickles, Mr. Josh!", Apple Bloom giggled as Josh rubbed beneath her arms.
"Oh ya like being tickled?", Josh grinned as he rubbed under her arms again, making the filly squeal in laughter before finishing drying her off, "All done, kiddo!"
"Hee hee, you're funny Mr. Josh!", Apple Bloom cooed, making the human blush as Applejack came back in.
"Hey Josh? Pinkie Pie needs me and Apple Bloom to meet her at the bakery to bring down some pies. Think you'll be ok getting back to the library on your own? I have the feeling you may wanna snack on your pie before heading out."
Josh nodded and got up. "Yeah, I think I know the town pretty well. Besides I may get in a quick soak myself if that's cool."
Applejack nodded as she led Apple Bloom out of the bathroom, the both of them wishing the teen goodbye before shutting the door to allow the teen to undress and draw himself a bath too before climbing in and leaning back.
"Aaahhhh... that feels nice..." he sighed before he shut his eyes and rested.
It took a half-hour for the teen to finish his bath and get redressed, having snuck in a mini-nap before climbing out and heading down to the kitchen and sitting down at the table with the pie, marvelling at how delicious it looked. He raised a fork to start to dig in, when he realized that eating it... just didn't feel the same without getting to enjoy his first pie with his new friends.
"Applejack made this delicacy, I'd like to be able to enjoy it with her..."
Getting up from the table and picking up the pie with one hand, Josh used the other to open the door and venture out into the plains of Sweet Apple Acres. By now, the sky had faded into an orange hue and the teen knew nighttime was approaching. With a small yawn, he walked onwards down the pathway through the trees. But as he walked, he couldn't help but shiver not just at the cold wind starting to form from the night air, but at the rustling sounds echoing out from the groves.
"H-hello?", he called out, "Is anyone there? Anypony?"
At getting no answer, Josh shrugged it off as being his nerves just a little on edge and continued his walk. It took him only a few minutes to get out of Sweet Apple Acres and another few to get to Twilight's house. But as he approached the door, he noticed laying on the bottom of the door was a note. Setting the pie down, he knelt and picked it up, unfolding it.
"Dear Josh..."
That was as far as he got before a sharp thud cracked the back of his skull, crushing it against the door and leaving the teen to slide down unconscious as a group of ponies dragged him off... leaving the pie, now speckled with droplets of blood from where his skull had been cracked, sitting at the door.
"Burn him... BURN HIM!"
"The flames are starting to take light... praise the lord!"
Hearing the garbled voices, Josh slowly began to regain his sense and was able to look around... but what he saw quickly made him wish he hadn't...
"What... WHAT THE HELL?"
He was splayed out against a big tree in what he could only guess was the Everfree Forest, he hands outstretched and his legs bound together, making him look like he was being crucified. His hands were held fast by nails going through not just his palms, but his wrists as well, allowing lines of crimson liquid to stream out. Jagged cuts and wounds were opened all over his body, blood saturating what had once been beautiful garments and ravaging them forever. Looking down, he could see a group of ponies starting a fire beneath his feet and through the flames... he could see one of them clearly.
"You... YOU'RE THAT PONY FROM EARLIER! THOROUGHBRED PHELPS!"
"I'm surprised a selfish human like YOU would remember that! You don't belong here, heathen!"
"WHY! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?"
"Hell itself has spawned you to our land and we must eradicate all of the demons! Praise Celestia!"
"Celestia was the one who brought me he-"
A jab to his cheek cut him short and, looking by his side, he could see a yellow pegasus, this one with a gray mane, holding a knife now covered in blood and immediately he knew he'd just been stabbed.
"Guh... wha... It's true!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH OF YOUR LIES! EZEKA, SHUT HIM UP!"
Rearing back, the pegasus shot it's forehoof forward and connected with his jaw, nearly knocking the teen back out. The blow had made him bite down on his tongue, nearly severing it in two and filling his mouth with blood, quickly flowing out of his mouth and dripping onto the growing fire.
"Celestia would never have brought a mudbleeder to our home!", Thoroughbred roared, "Not unless you did something to warp her mind!"
"Gkkkk... Gah...", Josh tried to speak, but the combination of his full mouth and his tongue nearly severed left him only able to gargle out incoherent syllables.
"Don't worry... our fire will soon cleanse our town of your evil, by returning your blood to the foul earth that hast spawned you!"
"Gd... no...", he gasped, spitting out a huge mouthful of blood and allowing him mild speech again, but the teen was too terrified and weak to say anything as he began to feel the flames licking his feet.
"But what about that pink one's sense?", Elrad asked Thoroughbred, "Won't that alert them here?"
"Don't worry, Daughter Zela has used her magic to make his presence vanish... but since she's a young child, it may not last long... but hopefully long enough for the fire to return him to the ashes he came from...", Thoroughbred replied before looking up and spitting vehemently at the teen, "Now it's time to leave this place and let the flames of Celestia do the rest... PRAISE CELESTIA!"
"PRAISE CELESTIA!", his clan echoed before leaving the fire and the teen behind. As he watched them leave, Josh had never felt such terror. He could feel his conciousness slipping away, but he had to stay awake... he had to force himself to stay awake... otherwise he felt like he would be never able to wake up... so he did the only thing he could...
He screamed. His song of screams rang out... words from a song pouring from his mouth and voicing his disbelief and despair.
[TWILIGHT!
DASHIE!
FATHER!
RARITY!
Father into your hands... I commend my spirit!
Father into your hands, why have you forsaken me?
In your eyes, forsaken me?
In your thoughts, forsaken me...
And as he felt his voice give out and his energy starting to diminish, he croaked out one last line in the hopes that someone... anyone... would hear him...
In your heart... forsaken... me... It had been over an hour since Applejack and Apple Bloom had arrived at Sugarcube Corner as per Twilight's instructions, the welcoming party for Josh all set up. Everypony was there, eagerly awaiting to greet their new friend.
"This is gonna be my best party yet!", Pinkie Pie clapped happily.
"I gotta admit, you've really outdone yourself.", Twilight added as she looked around at the lavish getup. There were games, presents, oodles of food, and just a general feeling of warmth and excitement..
"Hey, he's the first human we've ever had here! We need it to be something hugeriffic!"
"This is gonna be so awesome!", Rainbow Dash squealed, eyeing the outside trampoline eagerly. She was longing to do some flips and kicks on that bouncy mat.
"I just can't wait for everyone to see him in all those nice clothes I designed for him!", Rarity grinned, proud of her work.
"Um... but hasn't it it been awhile for him to have been gone?", Fluttershy couldn't help but mutter to Applejack. Ever since she'd gotten there, a feeling of unease had overtaken the pegasus, like something was wrong.
"Nah, he's just having a nice bath at my place. He should be here soon!", Applejack replied with a smile...
But after 2 more hours had passed with no sign of him, the mood began to change from one of excitement to one of worry. They all knew the teen was in town, they'd seen him earlier... but where was he?
"Ok, even I don't bathe THIS long!", Rarity remarked.
"Yeah, he should have been here by now!", Twilight added.
"Where do you suppose he- Oohh!"
It was then a feeling went through the pink party pony and immediately everyone knew her Pinkie Sense was kicking in. First her body shivered, then her eyes fluttered, and finally her mane shot straight up before falling flat down on her face. But when the mane had regained it's poofy form, the look on Pinkie Pie's face was one of sheer horror.
"Pinkie? Pinkie what's wrong?"
"That... that sense... I only get that when someone's close to... OH MY GOD! HE'S IN THE FOREST!", Pinkie screamed before rushing out the door, the others quickly rushing out after her and leaving Spike and the other ponies looking on in shock.
"Um... could someone tell me what's going on?", the unicorn with the purple, pink, and dark blue mane spoke again.
"Bonbon... I don't know... I really don't...", Spike replied, traces of fear in his voice. NONE of them had ever heard Pinkie Pie swear before, not even when she'd snapped during her surprise party.
It took the 6 ponies just a few minutes, led by the speeding Pinkie Pie, to get to the Everfree forest and immediately a feeling of coldness filled them... a feeling like a life had been taken.
"Guys... I don't like this...", Fluttershy quivered in fear.
"He's probably just lost or something...", Rarity comforted the pegasus, although it was apparent she was terrified too.
"Yeah.. I'm hoping that...", Rainbow Dash started to say before a smell reached her. Raising her snout in the air, a putrid smell entered her nostrils and made her gag... soon the smell had reached the others and made them nearly retch, Twilight having to cover her mouth to keep from losing her meal.
"What's that smell?", She managed to gag out
"It.. it smells like...", Pinkie Pie started to say before she looked up and saw the faint traces of smoke rising from near the middle of the forest. Without wasting a second, the pony dashed into the forest as fast as her legs could take her, the others following behind. Within a minute they, enhanced by fear and a determination to find their new friend, could see a fire burning and the smell growing stronger.
"Josh! Josh we're here!", Twilight called out as she approached the fire, "We're he-"
And then she looked up and what she saw would haunt her forever.
Josh's body was fastened to the tree, his sweats and shoes nearly burnt to cinders. Blood spatters had turned the ground into a red puddle. His face, barely visible through the flames, looked bruised and shattered, blood pouring down his mouth and dripping from his chin. His eyes were closed, streaks of tears and blood dried on his cheeks and a few shards of teeth laid on the ground below. His legs were covered in burns and blisters and his feet had nearly been burned to the bone, the steel rope not only having allowed the bottom part of his pants to be reduced to ashes, but digging a grotesque indentation into his kneecaps, allowing part of the bone to be exposed to the elements. Noticing a lumpy mess in the blood puddle among the white bits of his teeth, Twilight gagged and looked closer... only to realize she was looking at the sloughed off bubbling flesh of Josh's legs. Immediately, she had the feeling that the body above her was nothing more than a corpse and the fact that there were lines of blood dripping into the fire with a sizzle almost seemed to cement that... she was looking at a dead body... and her mind nearly shut off in horror.
"...oh... oh dear god...", Twilight was barely able to gasp out before the sound of violent vomiting filled her ears. Turning around she saw Fluttershy retching and throwing up what had once been her lunch, pieces of apple and celery coming out in a thick orange wave. Applejack looked ready to throw up as well, but her mind had just blacked out at seeing Josh hanging there. Rarity was looking in horror at the scraps of what had once been beautiful garments, now laying on the ground in pieces. Pinkie Pie just started to cry, a cry like she'd never cried before, one of terror and grief. Rainbow Dash just stared up, looking almost catatonic at the horrible sight.
"Horrible... it's horrible!", Fluttershy managed to choke out before throwing up another wave, her stomach completely turning over at the haunting image.
Without a word, Twilight just sat back and buried her head in her hooves, sobbing. There was no lesson, no happiness that could have come from this... It was like a living nightmare...
"No.. no!", she kept repeating to herself as if trying to convince her shattered mind it was all a dream and trying desperately to wake up. But it was then a sound entered their ears, one that shocked them to their core...
"...me... hlp... me..."
Looking up, Rainbow Dash could faintly see Josh's lips trying to move and immediately she flew up towards his head faster than she'd ever flown before. Twilight was in pure terror at seeing the teen struggling to speak... knowing despite his injuries the teen was alive... and in likely an unbearable amount of pain. Although from his subdued reaction, it was likely he'd already gone into severe shock.
"Josh.. JOSH! Are you there!", she screamed, wrapping her forehooves around him as Applejack struggled to put the fire out by filling her cowpony hat with water and dumping it on the flame.
"R...r...Rainbow...", Josh barely was able to get out.
"Josh, stay awake! Please!", Rainbow Dash pleaded. She'd never begged before in her life, but she needed to now! She needed to do whatever she could to help Josh, "Please! Listen to me! We're here! Who did this?"
"T...t...th...", Josh barely managed to gasp. Determined to help Josh think, she did the only thing she could think of, something she'd seen done in countless movies and tv shows...
She placed her lips upon the teen's bloodied ones and gave him a kiss. She pushed into the kiss as hard as she could, her snout rubbing against his bloodied nose. She didn't stop until she saw her energy begin to flow into Josh and his eyes opened wide.
"Rainbow... did... did you...", he whispered weakly.
"I'll kiss you and hug you as much as you want! Just stay awake! Tell me everything!"
"GOT IT! THE FIRE'S OUT!", Applejack called out as she managed to douse the rest of the flames and looked up, "Josh! Can you hear me?"
"Apple.. Applejack... you... you all... you came back?", he managed to call back.
"Of course we did, sugar! Why wouldn't we?", the cowpony called out as she got to work untying his legs and Twilight used her magiic, tears still in her eyes, to fashion together makeshift bandages.
"Please... get... get me down...", Josh whimpered, "I... I hurt... I hurt so bad..."
Rainbow Dash nodded before she looked down at Fluttershy, who by now was just exhausted and drained after spilling out her stomach's contents, "Fluttershy! I need your help!"
She didn't know HOW she was able to, but Fluttershy slowly managed to fly up towards Josh and Rainbow Dash... but as she saw Josh's ravaged face, her cheeks bulged out and she tried to cover her mouth to keep in more of her meal, but failed and ended up hurling onto Josh's chest, covering it in a big brown mess.
"Nice, Fluttershy...", Rainbow Dash muttered before pointing to the nails in his left arm and turning to the ones in his right, the two pegasi prying each nail out, "Applejack? Are the legs free?"
"Just about!", she called back before undoing the last knot and allowing the rope to fall free, releasing his legs, "GOT IT!"
Gritting her teeth, Rainbow Dash resumed pulling out the nails, not stopping until the last one had been extracted and allowed her to wrap Josh's arm onto her back at the same time Fluttershy managed to take out her last few and drape his other across her own before the two of them slowly flew the teen down and rested him on the ground, allowing the teen a chance to finally rest.
"Josh... my god...", Rarity barely managed to gasp out as she looked at his scorched and charred lower body. To her amazement, his jacket and t-shirt had been nearly untouched by the fire, only covered in jagged holes. But for the first time in her life, she couldn't care less about how fancy the clothes were. She didn't even know if the teen would survive!
"Who did this... tell me!", Rainbow Dash yelled as Twilight got to work using her makeshift wraps to cover up Josh's burns and cuts. Rarity could see the lavender unicorn was shaking from her tears and she quickly began to use her own magic to assist her.
"Him... he... that... that gray pony...", Josh managed to sputter out before letting a quivered sob come out as the pain began to hit him, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie doing their best to calm him down.
"It's ok, shhhh.", Fluttershy cooed, "Just let it out. We're here... you're safe now." The pegasus was still very nauseous from what she'd seen, but right now her heart hurt more than her stomach and she was determined to help him calm down. "Pinkie, why don't you sing him something silly? I bet he'd love that!"
"Fluttershy...", Pinkie replied in an unusually somber tone, "There isn't a song in the world that I could sing to ease him right now... we just need to be here for him."
The fact that even Pinkie Pie, the pony who RARELY was seen without a smile, couldn't bring herself to laugh at this situation spooked Twilight Sparkle to her core as they finished wrapping Josh up. She knew if she tried to use her magic to heal all of Josh's injuries and failed, she could end up doing more damage... especially since she wasn't sure the extent of his wounds. All she could do right now was hope...
"Guys we need to get him to Ponyville Urgent Care... now!", she said, "Can one of you help carry him there?"
"No.. no... I... I can walk...", Josh quivered as he got to his feet and tried painfully to limp out of the forest before falling to his knees and dry-heaving at the pain now coarsing through him, "Celestia, help me!"
"Put him on my back...", Applejack spoke up, "He ain't gonna be able to walk in his condition..."
"No... I can do it..."
"Josh listen! I know all about being stubborn... but if you try walking out of here yourself you'll end up making yourself hurt more!"
"But... I... I don't want to hurt... you..."
"Josh trust me... I won't be hurt. Just get onto my back. I may be a young pony, but I can handle heavy loads..."
Josh was in so much pain he didn't even have the strength to argue and he managed barely to place an arm on the cowpony's back, her shifting her weight to allow him to take a better hold. To Applejack's surprise, he was lighter than she expected, although it could have been from the adrenaline now coarsing through her and immediately she took off towards the edge of the forest back towards Ponyville, nearly all the other ponies following behind her. But Rainbow Dash stayed behind, sitting against a tree. Her mind was blown by what Josh had told her and she knew what gray pony had done this to the kind human. The thought made her feel an anger she'd never felt before, not even when Trixie had nearly made her lose her lunch by wrapping her up in that rainbow.
"That... that bastard... he... he hurt him... I... I will make SURE you pay, Thoroughbred... you will not get away with this..." she thought to herself before she got up and flew off after the others.
Between Dreams and Nightmares
Note: The song lyrics in this chapter are from "Monsoon" by Tokio Hotel
Fueled by a mix of adrenaline and determination, the mane 6 blazed out of the Everfree Forest and, within minutes, had gotten Josh to Ponyville Urgent Care Hospital, the teen behind put into a bed instantly. Pinkie Pie had gone back to the bakery to tell everyone the party was cancelled and spread the word why. Rarity had helped take off Josh's clothes to allow his injuries to be seen better for healing and was now back at her boutique doing what she could to repair them. But the others refused to leave his side, even as he was hooked up to machines and monitors. The white pony in the nurses uniform and the brown-coated pony with the dark brown mane were busy looking over his wounds and trying to see how badly he was injured.
"Is... is he gonna be ok, Dr. Whooves?", Twilight asked fearfully.
"I ain't never seen anyone hurt as bad as him.", Applejack added.
"I have to confess, I'm just horrified.", Dr. Whooves said gravely, "I can't believe Thoroughbred would stoop this low... lucky for your friend, he doesn't appear to have any internal damage since the fire was put out quickly. But his legs did suffer massive burns. I CAN heal them back to normal, but it's gonna take a day or three."
"You can heal him, just like that?", Rainbow Dash asked.
"Of course, I AM the great Dr. Whooves. But what I can't figure out is why there was vomit on his stomach when I couldn't see any on his lips."
"Uh... um... that was me...", Fluttershy admitted sheepishly, "I lost my lunch on him..."
"Fluttershy, you were shocked. We all were...", Twilight reassured the pegasus, patting her back, "No ones blaming you, not even Josh..."
This made Fluttershy feel a little better, but she was still worried about Josh's condition. She was scared to leave the teen alone in case... he took a turn for the worse. Applejack could see the fear in her face and immediately she voiced what they were all thinking
"Dr. Whooves, we want to stay with Josh. He needs to have some kind ponies around to comfort him when he wakes up." She said, looking at the sedated human in the hospital bed.
"Considering his condition, I do not blame any of you. I'll get you some cots and blankets." The doctor nodded before heading out of the room with the nurse. But before she left, the nurse turned back towards the 4 ponies and gave them a grateful smile.
"You all should be proud of yourselves. You may have helped save this boy's life."
Twilight blushed before she spoke. "It wasn't just us, Pinkie Pie and Rarity helped too, Nurse Neighbourne!"
The white nurse smiled and left the ponies in the room with their friend. The four of them couldn't believe what had just happened. Joshua, a teen that had been sent there by Celestia to help them learn more lessons in friendship, was now laying in a hospital bed hooked up to machines and under heavy sedation to allow him to rest.
"I just can't believe it...", Twilight whispered, "How could they do something so horrible..."
"They're monsters...", Fluttershy whispered, "Monsters!"
"When Josh gets better, I swear I'm gonna make sure all of Equestria knows about this..." Applejack growled.
"That's if I don't get to Thoroughbred first and string him up by his rotten neck!", Rainbow Dash seethed, a fire nearly buring in her eyes, "How could anyone do something so horrible! Hell, GILDA wasn't this cold!"
"That's sayin' somethin'!", Applejack admitted as she remembered the ill-tempered griffin.
"So what do we do?", Fluttershy had to ask, "Are we all gonna stay with him at once?"
"We can't do that.", Applejack said sadly, "We do have to do our natural duties to Ponyville... although when Pinkie Pie tells them what happened, I bet business will be at a standstill..."
Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. "I don't think they'd blame me for taking some days off cloud duty... in fact, I don't think any of the pegasi will be doing cloud duty for a little bit..."
"I think it's safe to say all of Ponyville's gonna be at a stop for a little while... at least until Josh is better and Equestria Pony Alliance is reported. This... this is unforgiveable!", Twilight seethed as she trotted over to Josh and placed a hoof on his head, brushing his bloodied hair off his face.
"Those... those... those horrible ponies...", Fluttershy murmured, trotting by Twilight and looking tearfully at the teen in the bed, his chest rising with each ragged breath.
"Guys...", Applejack called out, "We need ta make a promise... ta not just Josh.. but to all of ponyville... That Thoroughbred and his clan will be revealed for the horrors they've caused!"
With a nod, Twilight and Fluttershy walked over to Applejack and Rainbow Dash and the four of them placed thier hooves on one another, as if making a pact to expose them for their awful deed. But as they looked over at the sleeping boy, they couldn't but wonder...
Was he at least having peaceful dreams?
All he could see was grass. Just an endless grass valley. The feeling of it between his fingers and toes almost indescribable. A sigh escaped his lips as he laid back. Up in the sky he could see pegasi circling around, pushing clouds into place...
I'm staring at a broken door
There's nothing left here anymore
My room is cold, it's making me insane
Suddenly the sky above turned dark and, as if someone had flicked a switch, all the grass transformed into a thick blanket of white snow, the clouds about showering him with even more of the frozen liquid as the pegasi seemed to disappear. He sat up and huddled himself for warmth, feeling abnormally cold even for a snowy day and looked around for any sign of life...
I've been waitin' here so long
Another moment seems to have come
I see the dark clouds comin' up again
"Hello? Is... anyone there?"
Looking ahead and squinting his eyes, he swore he could see a group of ponies up ahead. Forcing himself to his feet, he began to sprint as fast as he could towards the ponies, almost as if they were beckoning to him. But the more he ran, the farther away they seemed to go.
Running through the monsoon
Beyond the world 'til the end of time
Where the rain won't hurt
Fighting the storm into the blue
And when I lose myself I think of you
Together we'll be running somewhere new
Through the monsoon just me and you
Even when he picked up the speed, the snow chilling him to his bones, the ponies continued to grow farther and farther away until he found himself face down in the snow, exhaustion having felled him. Bracing himself up on his hands, he found himself looking at pictures... pictures of him with his new friends... with his parents... with his friends in his own world... But in every single picture, all the other faces were missing, burnt out as if hot embers had been placed into them.
A half moon fading from my sight
I see your vision in it's light
But now it's gone and left me so alone
Gathering up the pictures, he tried to make out who those were in the pictures, but the ember holes just seemed to keep growing bigger and bigger until they'd disentegrated the majority of the photos, leaving only his figure intact. Looking at the scraps, he tried to cry, only to feel his tears frozen on his cheeks, the cold preventing him from being able to let out his sadness.
I'll know I have to find you now
Can hear your name and don't know how
Why can't we make this darkness feel like home?
But as he tried to cry, he swore he could hear a faint voice calling out to him...
"Josh... Josh where are you..."
"I'm here... Can you see me?"
"Josh... speak to me, hun."
"Josh! We're worried about you!"
He could hear the voices growing louder and he just had to get to them. Getting back to his feet and even with his ribs aching from running, the teen had to keep running.
Running through the monsoon
Beyond the world 'til the end of time
Where the rain won't hurt
Fighting the storm into the blue
And when I lose myself I think of you
Together we'll be running somewhere new
And nothing can hold me back from you
Through the monsoon...
He could see them getting clearer, the figures calling out to him... they were getting closer...
"I'm coming... I'm COMING!"
Then a sharp crack to his head sent him toppling face first into the snow. Shaking himself back to his senses he rubbed the back of his skull and brought forward his hand to discover it saturated in blood and slowly decaying. Gasping in horror as he heard the cruel laughter, he turned onto his back and found himself looking at the shadowy figures... those same ones that had tried to burn him alive...
"Get out... get out... get out... get out... get out..."
They kept chanting the same 2 words over and over, the pitch increasing until they were practically shouting it... and it was then his mind began to crack as he started to laugh hysterically and looked around at the shadows surrounding him before he noticed at his feet was a pegasus's wing, lined with blades... He didn't know where it came from, but he could easily see it was a combination of the coat colors of Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash... almost as if... their energies were embued inside...
"If you wanted me gone...", he whispered reaching down and taking the wing in his hands, "You should have killed me the first time!'
Hey!
Hey!
I'm fighting all this power coming in my way
Let it take me straight to you
I've been running night and day!
He swung and cut the closest shadow straight down the middle before rearing back and cutting off anothers head. One by one, he used the bladed wing to cut to pieces the shadowed figures all around him, silencing their chants and allowing the quiet to soothe him, until all that was left was him standing among a grey mist. The wing slowly raised itself up into the air and shone a bright light, blinding the teen and making him fall back shielding his eyes. To his shock, the snow all around him started to melt away, the pegasi in the sky reappearing and tearing away the clouds. It was then he saw them, clear as crystal...
All 6 of the ponies he'd met... waving to him and calling out to him...
"Josh! Come here!" Rainbow Dash called out waving her hoof.
"Come on! Let's have fun!", Pinkie Pie shouted gleefully
"We want you here... Please stay...", Fluttershy added shyly
"C'mon sugar... we miss you...", Applejack pitched in
"Darling, come on! I want to show you more of my designs...", Rarity added.
"Josh please stay... You're gonna help us so much... please...", Twilight Sparkle finished
I'll be with you soon
just me and you
We'll be there soon
So soon
As fast as his legs could take him, Josh ran over to where the ponies were and watched as a sparkling doorway seemed to rise up before them... its light calling out to him and drawing the teen in...
"Josh... please come back... please..."
Watching in shock, the ponies all ran into the doorway and vanished. It took him less than a second to rush in after them...
Running through the monsoon
Beyond the world 'til the end of time
Where the rain won't hurt
Fighting the storm into the blue
And when I lose myself I think of you
Together we'll be running somewhere new
And nothing can hold me back from you
Through the monsoon
"He's waking up!"
"Josh, honey, can you hear us?"
He could hear their voices right next to him, one of their hooves resting on his shoulder. His energy was slowly returning... and as he opened his hazel eyes, he found himself looking into the faces of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle. Looking down, he realized it was Applejack who had a hoof on him.
"I... I can hear you... I can see you..."
Immediately, the four equines cheered and hugged him, squishing him into a mix between their warmth and his hospital bed. It felt better than any embrace he'd had back home.
Through the monsoon
Just me and you
Through the monsoon
Just me and you
Note: The song towards the end of this chapter is called "Gaeta's Lament" from the Battlestar Galactica soundtrack.
It took nearly two hours for Rarity, Spike, and Pinkie Pie to come back into the hospital room and for them all to tell the teen what had happened. Twilight was in the other room now with her dragon assistant writing a letter to Celestia, probably one of the most horrifying ones she'd ever had to write. She knew she needed to dictate it in private, otherwise somepony would either puke again from the description or just start weeping.
Dear Princess Celestia.
It is with grave sadness I write to you now. This is not a scroll telling of a lesson of friendship, rather of a lesson of hate. Joshua, the human you had sent to help us learn more in the ways of friendship and wisdom from his world, is now resting in a hospital bed barely awake from a savage beating. Thoroughbred Phelps and the Equestria Pony Alliance were the ones responsible. They burned his legs nearly to ashes and cut him so bad he lost over 2 pints of blood. Dr. Whooves said it was a miracle he wasn't dead when we rescued him. It's gonna take a few days for the doctor to be able to conjure up enough magic to repair his injuries and none of us are going to leave his side until he's better. We need you to come here... Thoroughbred... all of them... they need to be punished. This is beyond unforgivable... Luna herself would have been sick at what they did. Fluttershy already DID get sick... and I don't blame her. I fear if they're not dealt with, they may go after Josh again... and possibly us. Please... help.
Fearfully,
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle
As she finished using her magic to write the letter, she couldn't help but swallow a lump in her throat, hoping that the princess got there quick. She had never been so scared, not when Luna had threatened eternal night, not when the parasprites had almost eaten Ponyville, not even when Fluttershy had taken Celestia's pet bird in a misguided attempt to heal it. Rolling it up, she gave it to the dragon, who took a deep breath and blew it into a green flame, watching it dissolve as it was sent to the princess. It was then Spike turned to Twilight Sparkle and looked at her in fear.
"Twilight... do you really think they could come after us? Just because we're friends with a human?"
The unicorn lowered her head, trying to hide the fear in her face. "I don't know, Spike... but I wouldn't put it past them now... to do this to any living thing... I fear that they-"
"SEND HIM AWAY! SEND HIM AWAY!"
Hearing the loud chanting outside the hospital windows, Twilight looked at Spike in horror.
"It can't be...", she whispered before the two of them ran to the window, her friends quickly running in after her. It was too quick that her suspicions were confirmed as they all saw a group of ponies standing outside the building and chanting, some of them waving signs.
"Twilight, they... they ain't...", Applejack started to ask in disgust, only to get a sickened nod from her.
"They're... they're insane!", Fluttershy whimpered, holding onto Twilight in fear.
"HUMANS GO TO HELL! HUMANS GO TO HELL!"
"What in the name of Celestia is...", the calm voice of Dr. Whooves started to say as he walked over to where the others were standing. But when he saw the crowd below, his eyes widened and he found himself in absolute dismay. "Oh dear lord..."
"They really want him gone... don't they.", Rarity asked Twilight, concern in her voice. But the unicorn didn't even have a chance to answer before Rainbow Dash screamed.
"OK, THAT'S IT!"
Puffing a gust of smoke from her nostrils, she turned and dashed out of the room towards the main entrance. Quickly, the others followed after her, sans Fluttershy who stuck behind to watch over the weakened teen, and found themselves looking at the same group of ponies that had been protesting before, only now it appeared it'd gathered its entire community. Some of them even had signs in their hooves that made Rarity turn pale, the messages with words that she would never let Sweetie Belle say. Rainbow Dash though was by far the angriest and she did not make any attempt to hide her rage.
"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU ALL?", she screamed, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"
"We want you to send that demon away.. and for you all to go with him!", Thoroughbred sneered, the sign in his hoof reading a vile hateful message.
"What?", Twilight gasped, unsure she'd heard that right.
"You all accept this... CREATURE... into Ponyville... you're no better than him!"
"You DARE talk that way to us?", Rarity growled, her eyes blazing, "Do you know who we are?"
"Yer outta yer apple-pickin' MINDS if ya think ya can talk ta us like that!", Applejack added, gritting her teeth.
"Yeah! Whatever happened to friendship and kindne-", Pinkie Pie started to say, but a shout from Thoroughbred cut her off.
"ENOUGH! CELESTIA WOULD NEVER ALLOW A VILE HUMAN IN OUR SACRED LAND! IF YOU WERE ALL LOYAL CITIZENS OF EQUESTRIA, YOU WOULD HAVE TURNED HIM AWAY! INSTEAD YOU WELCOMED HIS DISEASED FLESH INTO OUR PURITY! FOR THAT, YOU ALL MUST BE SENT AWAY, NEVER TO RETURN!"
At this, Spike whimpered and hid behind Twilight Sparkle scared half to death. "Make them stop! Make them stop!", he cried.
"ONLY THE PURE ARE ALLOWED IN EQUESTRIA! PONIES, UNICORNS, PESAGI! THEY ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO BELONG... HELL EVEN THAT FILTHY DRAGON OF YOURS DOESN'T DESERVE TO BE HERE! IF IT WEREN'T FOR CELESTIA, HE'D HAVE BEEN TAKEN AWAY LONG AGO!"
"If it hadn't been for me... none of you would be here..."
The calm voice echoed into their ears and as Thoroughbred turned, he found himself looking straight at the faces of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, all the other ponies on their forehooves in respect. But Thoroughbred merely laughed in delight.
"Finally! You can dispell this filthy human from our beautiful land! Return it to the purity it righ-"
"Enough, Thoroughbred...", Celestia whispered in a voice that Twilight, nor any of her friends, had ever heard before. Gone were all the tones of compassion and kindness, replaced only with disbelief and anger. It was almost like Nightmare Moon had taken over her too, "Twilight has told me all you did..."
"Wonderful! We have served you well by nearly dispatching that filthy beast! All we need is for you to cast him and those blasphemous pon-"
"YOU WILL HOLD YOUR TONGUE!", Luna yelled, making Thoroughbred back away in fright, before she nodded at her older sister to continue.
"I will be casting someone away... but it won't be Joshua or any of his new friends... no..."
Celestia leaned her head down to where her snout was touching Thoroughbred's before she said the next part.
"It will be you and your clan... get out of my kingdom..."
At overhearing this, Twilight and her friends let out a cheer as Thoroughbred gasped for air.
"Surely... you can't be serious! I'm one of the chosen! I'm pure!"
"I brought Joshua here to help Twilight and all of Ponyville learn more about friendship and even take in his wisdom.", she growled loud enough to where all Thoroughbred's followers, Twilight Sparkle, and all her friends could hear, "and you all... you nearly killed him. I don't even know if he'll want to stay here after what you and your group did. I have never heard of such abhorrent behavior, not even from Luna. On top of this... you have your own filly daughter use her magic to trap him and leave him for dead... I will make sure she and all your other fillies are taken into better homes where I can only hope they will be able to have all you've taught them about hate and prejudice washed away... and you and all your elder followers... you have 1 hour to get out of Equestria before I have my guards throw you into Luna's dungeon... and believe me... she would love to have prisoners down there..."
The cheers from Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were uproarious. Thoroughbred was being cast away by the same one he claimed to defend!
"How's it feel to be cast away?", Rainbow Dash mocked.
"Yeah, you big mean meanie pants!", Pinkie Pie added, sticking her tongue out at them.
"But... but... this can't be...", the gray pony struggled to speak, unable to accept all this was happening.
"Ya heard her, Phelps!", Applejack grinned, "Now get yer group and get the heck outta here!"
"No... NO!", Thoroughbred screamed, his mind finally snapping, "NO! CELESTIA'S GONE MAD! IF SHE WON'T CAST HIM AWAY... I'LL DO IT MYSELF!"
This horrified even some of his own followers, having never seen Thoroughbred talk back like that to the one he claimed to protect, and a couple of them shirked away in disgust.
"I'm out...", a black pegasus murmured as he took his young colt out of the group.
"He's going against orders from Celestia... he's not trying to defend her at all..." a green unicorn added, breaking away from the mob.
"This is just shameful... he probably just wanted to kill that human to make Equestria in his own image...", Elrad muttered, "I'm done with this... I'm not letting him take me away from my home!"
Thoroughbred could hear some of his followers voicing their dismay and it was all that was needed for the last few strands of his sanity to be severed. "So... so you all dare shun the purity of Equestria? Well me and my few loyal followers will gladly be watching you all from heaven while you all burn in the flames of armaggeddon... STARTING WITH YOUR PRECIOUS HUMAN MESSIAH!" and before anyone could stop him, Thoroughbred dashed into the hospital and started searching for the teen, taking a scalpel from one of the nearby trays and holding it in his teeth in anticipation to plunge it into the human. But he never even got into the corridor before a yellow hoof made contact with the side of his head, knocking him out and standing up by him, with an angered look on her face... was a normally timid yellow pegasus who now bore an expression of almost motherly protection.
"You will not hurt him... ever again!", Fluttershy growled before she looked back towards the room where her new friend was. She had heard everything and wasn't about to let the boy be hurt anymore...
"Even the Element of Kindness has a breaking point after all..", she thought to herself proudly as she listened to the hoofsteps of the other ponies rushing in...
Only 10 minutes had passed since Thoroughbred and his followers had been carted off to Celestia's palace to await judgement, Luna openly promising to make sure their punishment was severe. The mane 6, Spike, and Dr. Whooves were all crowded around the teen, telling him what had happened.
"So now Thoroughbred's being taken away to Celestia's palace, hopefully getting the book thrown at 'em!", Applejack finished as she got done explaining to him what happened.
"We understand if you want to go home...", Fluttershy said sadly, "You've been through a lot..."
"You were brought here for a noble purpose... and you nearly died instead...", Twilight sighed as she bowed her head. Josh hadn't said a word through the whole thing and it had made her realize he couldn't even bear to talk to them anymore... and she didn't blame him. "Come on, girls... Let's go... I'll get Celestia to send him back home."
But as they turned and got halfway to the door, they heard a voice croak behind them.
"There is no home for me to go to..."
Turning around, they could see the teen struggling to sit up in his bed, the bandages on his chest preventing him from doing so smoothly.
"What do you mean, sugar?", Applejack asked.
"I have no home to go to...", Josh repeated, "My parents were in an accident 5 years ago... I don't know whether they're alive or dead anymore... The rest of my immediate family blames me for their disappearance and I don't know why... This... this was the first real home I had in 5 years since I lost everything... If it wasn't for Celestia visiting me, I'd be still in a dark empty lonely house... But maybe... maybe the darkness is what I deserve... maybe Thoroughbred was right... I don't belong here..."
"No! Please don't say that!", Fluttershy spoke up, her voice louder than even Pinkie Pie's and surprising everyone around her, "Josh you didn't deserve what they did!"
"Fluttershy...", Rarity whispered in amazement. She had never seen the timid pegasus so fired up, not even at the gala.
"Joshua, you said you were brought here for a reason... to help US! But I know now why she brought you here... she could see the sadness you were hiding!"
"Fluttershy, calm down!", Twilight tried to say, but the pegasus was steaming and she wasn't about to let her words go unsaid.
"She could see the purity in you! She could see a good heart! Thoroughbred's heart is empty and he wanted to make everyone else as empty as him!"
"Yeah!", Rainbow Dash added, her own spirit getting raised, "You have been awesome to get to know! You can't let those... those... those ASSHOLES let you think otherwise! You are beyond awesome and they will never be able to take that away from you!"
"YEAH! Those mean meanie pants shouldn't be allowed to make you sad!", Pinkie Pie added as well.
"You're a wonderful person!", Rarity piped in, "Those creeps wouldn't know that since they can't see through the darkness not just in their hearts... but in their very souls!"
"Sugar, I wouldn't trust those EPA creeps as far as I could throw 'em! You helped me wit' Applebloom and you helped me at the farm! No one selfish would ever do that!", Applejack chirped in.
"Josh, in only the short time you've been here you've already made friends with nearly the whole town!", Twilight finished, "I don't think even I was able to do that so quick!"
"Yeah...", Josh croaked coldly, "And I bet you haven't gotten the living hell beaten out of you either, leaving you tied to trees and left to die..."
"Josh... please don't say that...", Fluttershy whimpered, her voice returning to its normal softness.
"Josh, please stay...", Rainbow Dash cried, "We want you to stay... I... I..."
Before Josh could do anything, Rainbow Dash had leaned in and hugged the teen, the tears streaming down her face. She rarely let the others see her cry, but right now she didn't care... she didn't want to lose him...
"I... I love you...", she whispered.
Josh found himself at a sheer loss for words... he hadn't heard those words in so long. He had long forgotten they even existed. But here was a pegasus he had only known all of a few hours telling him just that... and it felt amazing... but yet at the same time he didn't know... he didn't know if he could feel safe there...
"I... I just need some rest... a chance to think... Rainbow Dash.. if you want to stay you can... But I just... I just want to sleep..."
Without another word, the teen shut his eyes and sank back into the pillow, leaving 7 ponies and a dragon looking at him as he drifted off. But as he began to dream, they could see something that gave them all hope...
The faint traces of a smile were forming on his battered face. Rainbow Dash knew then her words had sunk into the teen and she gave him a tearful smile.
"C'mon girls.", Twilight Sparkle quivered, her voice choked up in spite of her normal demeanor, "Let's let him get some rest..."
And with that, they all left the teen to slumber, hopefully having sweet dreams free of the trauma that had been haunting him for so long...
As he watched them leave, Josh could see Doctor Whooves approaching with the knife... it was time for all the dead flesh to be removed and for the shards of metal to finally be extracted since not even their magic would be skilled enough to heal his injuries without them cutting into him. Because of the extent of his wounds, the pony needed the teen to stay awake to make sure he didn't cause brain damage from the piece of the knife that had gotten wedged in his head.
"Are you ready, Josh...", the brown-maned pony asked as the other surgeon ponies approached.
Josh nodded and he shut his eyes tight, bracing himself for the first cut...
It hurt worse than anything that had ever hurt before, feeling them starting to gently cut a hole in his skull. The tubes in his nose allowed him the oxygen to stay conscious through the procedure and as he listened to the beeping of the monitor next to his bed... he began to sing, as if to distract himself from his pain...
Alone she sleeps in the shirt of man...
With my three wishes clutched in her hand...
The first that she be spared the pain...
That comes from a dark and laughing rain...
When she finds love may it always stay true...
This I beg for the second wish I made too..
But wish no more...
My life you can take...
To have her please just one day wake...
It was then the pain grew too immense and he groaned, gasping violently, before he passed out. He could hear their voices echoing out as he faded into the darkness...
"Doctor Colton, stabilize him!"
"Saddler, get his heart rate stable!"
"Josh, can you hear me? Can you hear me?"
5 hours later, Josh woke back up... the darkness vanishing instantly and leaving him looking around at an empty hospital room. Weakly raising a hand to his skull, he could feel the tight wrapping of a bandage covering his scalp and even the slight indentation where they'd made the incisions. Looking down, he could see his legs were bandaged up and covered in dried blood and he knew his chest was in the same shape...
As a tear slowly fell down his cheek, the teen sang once more, his voice now choked up and mixed with the pain he could still feel.
To have her please just one day wake...
To have her please just one... day... wake...
Dreams of what may come...
A few days had passed since Thoroughbred and all his older followers, bar the few that had left the group at his outburst and been merely scattered all around, had been banished from Equestria, the children having been put into other homes with hopefully more caring ponies and colts. Josh's injuries had finally been healed and he was leaving the hospital set to come to Sugarcube Corner for a welcome-home meal. But inside the massive bakery, Pinkie Pie and nearly every pony in town had gathered for a surprise party. This time the pink pony knew Josh would get there safely, Celestia and Luna themselves escorting him and she and her friends were all ready to try again to give him a welcoming party. As she heard the steps of the 3 figures approaching the door, her ear plasted firmly against the wood to be able to detect when they were close by, she shhed for everyone to get down and shut off the lights.
"This is gonna be great!", Applejack whispered to the unicorn next to her.
"I know! It's gonna be so exciting, yee hee hee!", Twilight giggled. Even she, the normally level-headed unicorn scholar, was filled with excitement. When the teen had heard he was all better and being allowed to leave the hospital, the smile on his face had lit up the room almost as bright as one of Pinkie Pie's.
"I just hope he gets here safe...", Fluttershy couldn't help but mutter. She was still a little unnerved by all that had happened, even after she had helped apprehend Thoroughbred and allowed his excommunication from Equestria. "You said Celestia and Luna were leading him here?"
"That's right, Fluttershy.", Twilight replied, "They're even in on the plan! All Josh knows is that Mr. and Mrs. Cake are treating him to a welcome-back cake, hee hee!"
As Fluttershy hid a giggle herself, a loud knock echoed through the bakery and immediately Pinkie Pie backed away from the door in anticipation as she heard the familiar youthful voice.
"Hello? Pinkie Pie? Mr. Cake? Mrs. Cake?"
"We're inside!", Pinkie Pie replied back, "The cake's all ready for you! Just come in!"
As she and all the other equines watched through the darkened bakery, the door slowly opened to reveal the shadowy form of the teen in the sunlight. As he stepped inside, using the cane Dr. Whooves had given him while his legs recovered from the repairs, Josh looked around and squinted in the darkness.
"Could someone turn on a light?", he asked and as if on cue, the interior lit up as dozens of ponies shouted one thing in particular.
"SURPRISE! WELCOME BACK, JOSHUA!"
The shock of the shouting made him topple backwards into the hooves of Luna, who'd been waiting behind him almost knowing he'd have some sort of reaction. He found himself at a loss for words as he tried to proccess all that was going on and looked around at the gathering. There were streamers and balloons and confetti and a dessert table and even a mile-high stack of presents resting on a table in the center.
"Holy...", he managed to gasp out as Luna and Celestia led him into the room, the latter using her magic to give him back his walking stick, "Is this all for me?"
"Of course, silly! Who else would it be for? Gummy? Of course it has been a while since Gummy's had a party! Ohh! Maybe after this party we should do one for him!"
"Simmer down, Sally...", Applejack chuckled as she and her mane friends approached him, "We just wanted ta try ta give ya'll the party we'd planned back on that day... we'd even left the note for you..."
"If only we knew what that would have caused...", Fluttershy sniffled, still feeling ashamed at their note having had a hand in his attack. Josh could see the sadness in her voice and he placed a palm shakily on her head, rubbing through her rosa-colored hair.
"You didn't know... none of you did... but that's in the past...", he smiled, "Your Dr. Whooves is a miracle worker!"
"HE SHOULD BE! HE MANAGED TO DO A LOBOTOMY ON DERPY HOOVES!", one of the other ponies shouted, causing a roar of laughter to echo through the bakery.
"I did NOT have a lobotomy!", the cross-eyed mailpony shouted back angrily, "My eyes just get weird!"
"THEN EXPLAIN THE DUMB WAY YOU SAY MUFFINS!".
This made the laughter almost hysterical. Derpy knew they were saying it in jest, but it still got under her coat at times. "I just like muffins! Is that so wrong?"
"Calm down everyone! Calm down!", Twilight said as she tried to regain control of the room before she turned to Josh, "Listen... after everything that's happened, we all understand if you want to return home."
"You've been through a horrible ordeal and I know nothing we can do or say can take that away...", Rarity admitted sadly, "You were brought here for a noble purpose..."
"And those... those... those BASTARDS hurt ya. If I'd know what'd happen, I'd never have left ya alone!", Applejack seethed. Out of anyone, she felt the brunt of the attack the worst, since she'd been the one who'd left the teen alone to help plan for that surprise party for him. She hadn't slept a wink the first two nights he was in the hospital and had to be sedated to finally be given a chance to rest.
"Applejack, sweetie...", Celestia remarked, "It wasn't your fault. No pony could have predicted what would happen."
"Yeah but...", she sniffled through her mental anger, "If I hadn't left..."
"Applejack..", Josh sighed as he made his way to the cowpony and knelt down resting his hands on his bandaged knee, a pair of ragged shorts revealing his wounds, "I don't blame you... I don't blame any of you. You all were trying to do something really sweet for me and I am grateful that you were all there with me during my recovery. It was EPA's doing entirely that led to my attack and they've all been punished thanks to you and your friends."
"Does that mean you'd consider staying?", Fluttershy asked, Twilight nodding in agreement to the question.
"Fluttershy... whoever said I'd be leaving? I know I had a bad experience, but this is still a beautiful kingdom and I want to be able to share my wisdom with you all... and help Twilight and all of you learn more about friendship and the ways of the world."
"Does that mean...", Rainbow Dash squealed in hope, getting a nod from the teen.
"I ain't goin' ANYWHERE... not just yet!"
This brought about a big cheer from the room, Applejack hugging the teen tight and getting a hug in return.
"You realize this means you'll have to choose a place to stay, don't you Josh?", Celestia reminded him.
"Oh yeah, that's right... and I don't suppose anyone here would want me to stay with them..."
Almost instantaneously, the entire bakery echoed with ponies clamoring for Josh to choose their places to crash at.
"ME! I'VE GOT CABLE!"
"Choose me! I've got lots of flowers!"
"My place has endless amounts of pie!"
"I can make great muffins!"
"I'll do your taxes!"
It seemed like every pony wanted the teen to stay with them and for a moment, he was overwhelmed by the kindness... but then he remembered what he'd heard Rainbow Dash whisper to him back in Rarity's bedroom... right before he dozed off...
I wish you could stay here forever...
To have anyone, anyPONY, show that kind of sincerity and kindness... it warmed his heart. He knew who he wanted to stay with... but he had to ask Celestia for a very special favor...
"Princess Celestia... may I ask one favor since I'm staying here?"
The alicorn nodded with a smile. "After your horrible ordeal, you can ask anything of me. You deserve it."
Hearing those words, Josh took a deep breath before he gave his answer.
"I'd like to be able to fly like a pegasus... so I can stay... with Rainbow Dash."
The gasp that echoed throughout the bakery was like a giant wave as all eyes turned to Rainbow Dash, who could only repeat the same three words over and over... although the way she said them made it sound like one long word...
"Omigosh Omigosh Omigosh!", she repeated over and over, squealing as if she had just been offered a weeks training with the Wonderbolts. With hope in her eyes, she turned towards Princess Celestia, awaiting her answer. A kind smile on the alicorn's face was all the answer she and Josh needed.
"There IS one spell that can grant you pegasus wings... It is a spell that is so advanced not even Twilight Sparkle has mastered it yet..."
"It's true...", Twilight admitted, "Doing Rarity's wings alone took a lot out of me and we all know how THAT turned out!"
Rarity couldn't help but look down with an embarrassed blush, knowing how out of hoof that had gotten.
"I must warn you though...", Celestia cautioned him, "This is a very tricky spell... if it goes wrong, you could end up paralyzed or worse... are you sure about this?"
"Yes, princess...", Josh nodded, looking over at Rainbow Dash with a smile, "I'm sure..."
"Then please gather your belongings and put them by your feet."
"Huh? What for?", Applejack asked in bewilderment.
"This will allow not just Josh, but all of his possessions to be able to live on the clouds, although only Josh will be able to fly."
Nodding, Josh gathered the suitcases and plushie and laid them by his feet before bowing his head.
"Princess Celestia of Equestria...", he whispered, "I'm ready..."
Turning to her sister, Celestia gave the signal for Luna to begin, since she was better suited for this kind of magic. Yet she seemed hesitant.
"Fluttershy, I heard you got sick when you saw Josh's injuries... this spell could be graphic. Can you handle it?", the younger alicorn asked.
The timid pegasus nodded. "I'll try. I haven't eaten anything today, so my tummy's pretty empty."
With that, Luna turned towards the teen and motioned for him to take off his jacket and shirt. The teen started to do so before he turned to all the other ponies looking at him.
"Any of you who get squeamish easily... I'd suggest looking away now.
Hearing several ponies, including Fluttershy, saying they could handle it, Josh sighed and took off his upper clothes. The sight was not pretty... even though Dr. Whooves had done a lot of work on him, even he couldn't make a lot of his stitches go away instantly, saying he had to wait at least a week before all traces of his scars had vanished. The effect left him with an ugly set of bloodied and jagged scars crisscrossing all over his back, as if Opal had used him as a scratching post with a set of knives. His chest fared even worse, his breast area covered in scars and leaving a deep slit from under his right pec to his belly button from where he had to be cut open to remove part of a knife that had gotten stuck inside him, dangerously close to his heart. Immediately, Josh could hear the sounds of ponies groaning and retching, some of them having to rush out of the bakery, and sighed.
"I warned them..."
Without any reaction, Luna lowered her head and began to chant. None of the other ponies but Celestia could make out what she was reciting and even she had a little trouble getting the words in her mind picture perfect. Suddenly a sharp pain began to flow through the teen and before he knew it, he was on all fours screaming as he felt a pain so intense his muscles wouldn't allow him movement. It felt like his spine was tearing itself apart!
"Oh good lord!", Celestia gasped before turning to Luna, "Stop this!"
"Trust me, big sister... I know what I'm doing...", Luna replied before resuming her chant. As Celestia and all the remaining ponies watched in a mix of horror and amazement, a set of bubbling bulges seemed to ebb from beneath his shoulder blades, slowly morphing and melding into the unmistakeable shape of a pair of feathery fleshy wings. The morphing took less than a minute, but to Josh, it felt like hours. The pain was unbearable and when it finally stopped, he looked up at Luna and Celestia with tears in his eyes.
"What... the hell... was that?", Josh whimpered.
"Feel your back, human.", Luna replied calmly and the teen did just so. When he felt the feathery membrane coming from behind his shoulder and ran his fingertips along the bottoms, his eyes grew as big as dinner plates as the crowd around him marveled in delight.
"Oh my... oh my god... They're wings! Actual wings!", he cried.
"Would you like to try them out?", Celestia asked, "Try a little flying here!"
"Ooh! Fly! Fly!", Pinkie Pie said happily.
"This... is gonna be so AWESOME!", Rainbow Dash squeaked.
Without wasting a second, Josh leapt into the air and tried using his wings to hover. It took less than a second for their magic to kick in and before the human knew it, he was looking down at the sea of happy ponies, all cheering for him. Looking towards Luna, he saw her lowering her head and reciting a different incantation before a silvery mist seemed to envelop his cases and plushie and immediately he had the feeling Luna had just made them suitable for living with Rainbow Dash. The grin on his face would have rivaled that of Pinkie Pie's.
"Omigosh Omigosh Omigosh Omigosh Omigosh Omigosh!" Rainbow Dash found herself squeaking as she realized he was now flying. Instantly, she flew up and sped over towards where the teen was reclining in the air and looked at him with longing in her eyes. "Josh, you really want to stay with me?"
A simple nod was all the answer she needed and she let out a wild cheer as the party began to pick up speed as they now knew the teen was staying in Ponyville... at least for a while!
The party had gone for hours and even Pinkie Pie had needed to rest. But everyone had had a great time, althought probably not as much as Joshua since it was his very first Pinkie Pie party. Every present he'd gotten was beautiful, every piece of cake delicious, every game a pile of fun! But as he flew up behind Rainbow Dash after saying his goodbyes to everyone in the late of the night, he realized he was getting his best present yet... a place to sleep with a pegasus that was at least 20% cooler than he'd ever imagined!
"Well! Here we are!", she called out as they approached the giant cloud castle she called home. To Josh's amusement, it looked relatively big and as they landed on the clouds surrounding it, the teen's belongings and presents being brought up the next day sans his plushie tucked safety into his tight shirt, he couldn't help but whistle as the pegasus walked over to the door and pushed it open.
"Why am I not surprised you live in such a nice place?", Josh quipped as they stepped inside. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was still definitely impressive, a large staircase leading up to a giant second floor and the doorways on the first leading to what Josh could make out to be a big kitchen, living room, and even a training gym.
"So what do ya think?", Rainbow Dash asked, a wide grin on her face.
"It's.. it's amazing!"
With a smile and a yawn, Rainbow Dash led the teen up the stairs and into her bedroom. A big plush bed rested amidst an array of posters of a group called the Wonderbolts. A nice-sized TV, phone, computer, even a mini-fridge were resting in a nice row near the bedside, as well as a vanity mirror and even a small dresser. If it had been earlier in the day, the teen would have been spellbound by how modern it all looked, but by now all his preconceptions had been shredded into dust.
"I didn't even know you HAD TV and computers here!", Josh couldn't help but admit, walking over and running a hand over the smooth surface of the black monitor. This made Rainbow Dash unable to hide a chortle.
"What'd you think we did, worked and played all day?", she chuckled, "Even WE like to kick back with some movies or surf the Equestria Wide Web!"
Josh smiled but couldn't help but yawn himself, feeling incredibly drained from all that had happened and looking forward to actually getting to sleep in a warm bed again after having to spend nearly a week in a cold hospital bed. Rainbow Dash could see the teen was tired and calmly climbed into the bed, patting the space next to her. She was feeling a little drowsy herself and as she watched Josh climb into the bed, she felt her magenta-colored eyes grow heavy and rested her head into her pillow, watching as the teen did the same. She was barely able to give him a goodnight hug before she'd fallen asleep. But as the teen laid there, he couldn't help but look at the plushie laying on the floor next to the bed, Celestia's words ringing in his head.
"If you need anything, just let me know..."
He couldn't help but wonder if that meant ANYTHING... but for now... he knew he had to get some rest and, turning over and looking at the pegasus' slumbering face, he felt his eyelids grow heavy and before he knew it, he was off in dreamland as well...
Resting in his new home of Ponyville... and for the first time in a long while... he wasn't sleeping alone.
Yet... the teen's dreams weren't peaceful... almost as if something was still weighing on his mind. A half hour later, the teen found himself sitting on the edge of the bed and rubbing his head in frustration.
"Why can't I fall asleep?" he thought to himself, "I should be in dreamland by now.. I've got a new home... Rainbow Dash... my plushie..."
It was then it clicked into his head... he was thinking about the plushie... and about Spike and Twilight... how they had each other.
True he had Rainbow Dash by his side, but he'd had the plushie for years and had dreams of it being alive... a way to help his loneliness...
And now he had a chance to make that dream come true... he had to ask them...
"You want the plushie to be fur and blood, don't you?"
The teen nearly yelped at hearing Luna's calm voice nearby and, looking around, he spotted the dark blue alicorn flying outside the window to Rainbow Dash's bedroom.
"How.. how the hell did you know?", he whispered, almost blurting it out. Luna merely grinned.
"Joshua, me and Celestia are over a thousand years old... we're in control of the sun and the moon... haven't you figured out by now we have some very powerful magics? What makes you think we can't see your thoughts?"
"You mean you've been able to read everyone's minds?"
At this, Luna shook her head. "Not exactly. We choose to only use that power with each other as not to invade our subjects private moments. But we could both see how much you were caressing that plushie at the party and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash told me about you holding it close back in the hospital."
Josh couldn't help but look down in resignation. Luna had read him like a book. "Yes... I'd like him to be alive..."
"Reanimation... I think I can do that. Can you bring the plushie here?"
Curious what she was getting at, Josh fetched the fat cat plush toy and brought it to Luna.
"Now set it on the window.", she commanded, the teen doing so without hesitation. As Josh looked on, Luna's eyes scrunched tight and her horn began to glow, as if she was trying to summon up a very powerful magic. It took a few minutes for the horn to become illuminated and before Josh knew it, Luna had opened her eyes to reveal only empty irises and a white light had shot from her horn, shrouding Josh and the plushie in a blinding light. Almost instantly, Josh began to feel part of his memories almost seeming to rearrange and alter... all the images of him playing with his plushie now replaced with him playing with a living breathing being... and as he looked at the plushie, he saw a shine spread from its feet to the tips of its ears.
"What the...", Josh whispered, saying the last word in the sentence so softly even Luna couldn't hear, as he looked at the plushie begin to transform. Its cream-white plump body began to rise and fall, its arms and legs stretched out, and soon the cat had gotten to its feet, much to Josh's shock. But it wasn't as much a shock as it was to the cat when he looked down and saw himself looking down at the ground from the clouds and yelped, falling back into Josh's arms.
"Wha... WHERE AM I?", it cried in a brooklyn-accented tone before it looked up at the teen, allowing Josh to see his midnight blue cat-like pupils gazing at him in bliss. It was almost as if he'd just woken from a long sleep. Everything about the teen seemed to rush into his head; his name, his past, his loves and hates... it was as if he'd known him forever. "Josh? What are we doing here?"
Tears began to well up in Josh's eyes as he hugged his friend close, unashamedly weeping. "We're home, Meowth... we're home... in Equestria...", he cried to the cat-pokemon, leaving Meowth to wonder what the hell was going on...
And where was this... Equestria?
But all Josh could think about was how his life had changed in the span of 7 short days... a change that started just with a visit from a pure white Alicorn
He'd gone from having a life that meant almost nothing... a family that loathed him, parents who'd vanished off the face of the earth, just a drab empty house and long-forgotten memories. But now... now he had new friends, a new home in a strange new land, a second chance to have a happier life. One that would start with the help of a rainbow-maned cyan pegasus named Rainbow Dash...
He wasn't alone... not anymore...
Despite the limp in his leg, the scars on his body, the horrible memories of nearly being burned alive....
He never felt happier in his whole life than he did right then....
All because he had his own special Dashie...