Second Chances II: Love and Courage

Second Chances II: Love and Courage
By Hero541
Chapter 20: Frustration and Friends

Josh was in his cell, a book in is hands as he continued to read more of the Daring Do series. His day had been pretty good so far, especially after seeing Sweetie Belle that morning. She never failed to make him happier, even now when he was sitting behind the iron bars of a small jail cell with almost nothing to do all day. Another smile crossed his face as he thought of her once more, seeing her little face light up after he promised to take her to the park after he got out. Whenever that may be…

Suddenly, he heard frantic voices from outside the nearby door and put his book down so he could investigate a little. Listening intently, he recognized the voices as Twilight and Pinkie, both of whom he knew had said they were going to visit him at some point that day. However, they sounded winded, even a little panicked. Both were talking extremely fast, most likely asking the guard if he could open the door so they could see their friend. Eventually, the voices stopped, being replaced with the sound of hoofsteps on the hard concrete floor. Soon, the door opened and both Pinkie and Twilight rushed in as fast as they could, stopping right in front of Josh’s cell, peering up at the human with eyes full of concern and fear.

“You two look awful.” said Josh, taking a seat back on the cot once more, “What’s wrong?”

Almost immediately, Twilight began to describe to Josh what she and Pinkie had just seen. She told how Filthy was already beginning to recruit ponies against the human using not only his previous statements, but also the moment in which Josh attacked him after insulting Vinyl. Pinkie told how they tried to turn the tide against the hateful stallion by pointing that out, only to have him brush it off and continue his rant. All through their frantic explanation, Josh just sat there, knowing in his mind that this would have to happen sooner or later.

“He’s out of control, Josh!” shouted Twilight upon finishing the final part of the story, “All he’s doing is spreading hate now!”

Josh looked up at Twilight and Pinkie, both of whom were watching him with fear and sadness in their eyes.

“So what?” asked Josh unenthusiastically, dropping his gaze back to the ground.

Pinkie’s jaw fell and Twilight’s eyes grew wide with surprise.

“What do you mean ‘so what’?!” she yelled, throwing her hooves into the air at his words, “Aren’t you gonna try and do something about this?!”

“Like what, Twi?” asked Josh, standing and peering down at the lavender unicorn with a blank stare, “I’m sitting in a jail cell. Even if I wanted to do something right now, there’s no way I could. I’ll just have to wait till the trial starts and I have the chance to speak.”

Twilight’s mouth was agape as she stared back at Josh, unable to believe he could be so lax about this horrible situation. She pounded the bars of his cell and stared at the ground, tears falling to the floor from the force of her movements.

“It’s just not fair!” she shouted.

Josh, who had turned away before she spoke, now turned back to look at her weeping form. He felt anger fill his body at those words, the only words he ever heard anymore, the ones that made him feel worse every time they were said.

“For fucks sake!” he shouted, causing Twilight to jump and stumble backwards, “I already know it’s not fair!”

Both Twilight and Pinkie looked up at the now enraged human, their ears pressed against their heads as he continued to yell. Neither one could have expected such an outburst from somepony who seemed so calm all the time, even being imprisoned like this.

“I don’t need to hear anymore that it’s not fair!” he continued, beginning to pace as his anger rose, “I didn’t ask for this, Twi! I didn’t ask to go to bed lonely and sad every night, only to wake up in the morning and continue to be that way! If I wanted that, I’d just go home and live there again!”

Pinkie and Twilight sat still stunned, watching as Josh’s pacing slowed and his shoulders began to slump.

“Every time I turn around, it just seems like things are getting worse and worse… I… I feel so helpless…”
Josh felt tears of frustration and loneliness from the last few days fill his eyes, “I-I just wish I could see her again… just once…”

He trailed off, his mind filling with sadness and a feeling of emptiness. His marefriend, who he loved more than words could say, who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, still hadn’t come to see him. He knelt down as tears began to flow from his blue eyes, falling to the concrete floor. In that moment, Josh truly began to wonder if everything truly would be alright.

“Josh… I d-didn’t mean to…” said Twilight, finally able to find her tongue as she looked to her grief stricken friend in his cell.

“I l-love her so much… ” he said, sobbing hard as he thought about Vinyl, out there, alone and scared, not knowing what the next day will bring for her and the love of her life, “I’m so s-scared I’ll lose her because of all this… I c-can’t live without her…”

Josh leaned forward and placed his head against the bars of his cell, continuing to cry, his eyes shut tight as tears flowed freely and his body heaved. As he knelt there, he heard hoofsteps, and soon felt someone rubbing his back gently. Opening his eyes, he saw Twilight’s hooves in front of his cell. Glancing up, he stared into her face, her own eyes leaking heavily as she smiled at him. Pinkie stood next to her, also smiling wide at Josh as he looked to them both.

“I’m sorry, Josh…” said Twilight, wiping a tear from her eye with a lavender hoof, “I know this has to be unbelievably hard on you. You’re unbelievably brave to be here right now though.”

“How’d you figure that?”

“You didn’t run away from what you did.” said Twilight, her smile widening as she addressed her friend, “You were more than willing to face the consequences for your own actions. I can’t think of many others who would have done the same as you if they were in this situation.”

“Even in here, you manage to make us happy and as hopeful as you are.” interjected Pinkie, her own eyes beginning to well up with tears as she looked to her human friend, “Every day we come in, you always at least pretend to be happy, and that fills everypony up with more hope than you can possibly know. Just ask Sweetie Belle, I’m sure.”

Josh thought about earlier that day, holding the sweet little filly and making her smile, making her feel good again. It warmed his heart to see her then, just as loving towards him as always.

“You know, Vinyl’s not the only one out here who misses you.” Twilight said, breaking Josh from his reverie, “We all do too. It’s not the same without you running around Ponyville, visiting us all.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie exclaimed, throwing her hooves in the air, a smile in her face, “And, when you get out, I’m gonna throw you the biggest party you’ve ever seen! There’ll be cake and ice cream and punch and dancing and games and…”

Josh smiled as Pinkie rambled on and on about her plans for this grand party. He glanced between the two ponies before him, unbelievably happy to have them in his life. Just like when he was getting over his drug addiction, he knew that this situation wouldn’t be easy to overcome, and there would be much more misery along the way. However, he knew that as long as he had his friends by his side, helping and guiding him through it all, everything really would be alright, no matter the outcome.

Without warning, Josh reached his arms through the bars of his cell and gently grabbed the two mares, pulling them into an awkward, but still comforting hug. Together, the three of them sat there for several seconds, relishing in the feeling of the sudden embrace.

“Am I interrupting anything?” asked a voice from nearby.

Josh released the two ponies and looked to the door, watching as Mayor Mare walked in, her eyes watery. She smiled wide at the three of them as she entered, the door closing slowly behind her.

“Hello, Mayor.” said Josh, rising back up to take his seat on the cot in his cell, “We were just… talking is all.”

The mayor’s smile widened as she peered at the other two mares in there with her. They returned her look happily.

“I just came to talk to you about your preliminary hearing.” she said, turning her gaze back towards the human, “It’s set for tomorrow.”

“Will Filthy Rich be there?” asked Josh, praying that he wouldn’t be.

“Unfortunately, yes. He will be.” said the mayor, her expression souring a little, “However, I’ll do my best to get him to keep his tongue in check. Just because he’s wealthy and provides a lot for this town doesn’t mean he can say whatever he wants in my courtroom.”

Josh felt little relief from that statement. If only you could make him stop recruiting this entire town against me he thought Maybe then we can be getting somewere.

“I came to ask you something very important…” the mayor continued, trailing off a little as she spoke.

“What would that be?”

“Well, I’m not sure how it works where you’re from, but here, it may be wise for you to have an attorney of some kind.” she said apprehensively.

“To be honest with you, getting a lawyer wasn’t exactly the first thing I thought about doing when I came here.” replied Josh, not taking his eyes off the tan mare.

Her ears flattened against her skull at his words, “Well, we can always appoint somepony to you, if you’d like…”

“There’ll be no need for that, Mayor.” said Twilight suddenly, sticking her chest out in pride.

Everypony in the room looked at her.

“Why’s that, Twi?” asked Josh, raising his eyebrow at her a little.

“Because, I spent all night studying the law in cases like this.” she said proudly, beaming at her friend, “I can’t guarantee that we’d win, but I think I know enough to give us a fighting chance!”

Josh thought about this for a minute. He knew how intelligent Twilight was and how quickly he could learn complicated things, like law. However, he still felt a little uneasy about taking her on as his attorney, no matter how much she thought she had learned.

“I don’t know, Twilight…” he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, “I trust that you know what you’re doing, but I somehow doubt that you can learn something like that in a night.”

“I don’t think I need to remind you that there are probably few lawyers right now who would be willing to represent you.” she said flatly.

Josh let her words sink in. She had a point. Any other lawyer now may not want to represent him, believing it would most likely be a lost cause. And it’s not like Josh could just represent himself in a court of law, let alone having to deal with a jury that was most likely very biased towards him…

“Well, I suppose I don’t have any choice, do I?” he finally said, smiling a little at Twilight.

She beamed back at him, “I guess not.”

“I guess it’s settled then.” said Mayor, glancing between Josh and Twilight, “Twilight here will represent you in your hearing tomorrow.”

Josh nodded to the mayor before looking back towards Twilight who was still beaming with pride and happiness.

“Well,” said Mayor, turning and making for the door, “I guess I’ll head out now. Undoubtedly, you two may want to meet for a while so you can plan out what you’ll do next. Pinkie, come along.”

The pink pony nodded, before turning to Josh and peering at him through the bars.

“Good luck, Joshie.” she said, smiling wide at him, “No matter what happens, know that we’ll always love you.”

“Thanks, Pinks.” he said, kneeling in front of the bars again and reaching through to hug the pink party pony, “I love you too.”

She tried her best to squeeze him tightly before releasing and making her way out the door. Josh and Twilight watched them leave before turning to look at one another once more.

“So,” said Josh, sitting on the ground in front of the bars, “What’re we gonna do first?”