Click.
Jo once again stood in the center of the camera's view. Gone was the look of fatigue and worry from before, now he only wore one of such extreme excitement that it could rival Pinkie's on one of her good days.
"Okay!" Jo said into the camera, clasping his hands together. "So, I'm not batshit crazy! The ponies really are here! I mean, I'm not sure how or why, but they are! So...from now on, expect videos frequently from this channel. I'll be uploading vlogs like this for a while~!" He finished in a sing-song voice.
"Actually..." Jo pondered, stroking the light stubble that adorned his chin. "I can't believe it but I never did ask them how they got here...I suppose I should go ask."
With that, Jo picked up the camera and headed out the door. Luckily, everypony was downstairs already, and Pinkie was taking...a cake out of the violently-shining oven?
"Oh, the cake looks marvelous, darling!" Rarity said with a gleam in her eyes. She'd always loved Pinkie's baking.
The cake looked like your normal round cake, except it was carefully crafted with each of the 6 colors that the ponies were closest to, as the camera close-up showed.
"Yeah, the cake does look rather delicious...but can all of you come into the living room real quick? We do need to wait for the cake to cool off anyways, and I have some important news for you all." Jo said, pulling a chair from the kitchen and dragging it to the middle of the living room, plopping himself down onto it. Slowly, the six ponies appeared on-camera and sat down on the couches across from the TV.
"Whas' this about, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. She, as well as all the other ponies, noticed the large grin on his face.
"Well, I've just gotten confirmation that you guys really exist and aren't just figments of my broken mind!' Jo said, blissfully. Pinkie and Rainbow giggled a bit at the out-of-place tone.
"Of course we're real, darling! Why wouldn't we be?"
Jo's breath caught in his throat. As if on cue, Twilight broke the akward silence. "Nevermind that, Rarity. What else did you want to talk about? It couldn't have been just that."
Jo breathed out in relief, and continued.
"Well, that time I recorded you a few hours ago? I put the video up on Youtube to see if others saw me too, and they did...albeit they think you're all just camera effects, but I have a way to convince them otherwise...nevertheless, that's not what I wanted to ask. I never did ask...how did you all get here?" Jo said, moving his hands about as he spoke. He tended to do that.
Almost instantaneously, all the ponies in the room looked at Twilight. Jo groaned a bit.
"Wait, let me guess...Twilight was practicing a new spell and flubbed it up?" Jo said, snark practically dripping from every word.
"Hey! The spell worked! I just didn't expect it to, and didn't really know how to get back." Twilight rebutted, frustrated.
"How'd you even get yer hooves on a spell like that, Twilight?" Applejack asked, flabbergasted.
"I thought that such high-grade spells were only in Celestia's library! I mean, you are her apprentice, darling, so it only makes sense, but how did we come with you? If my memory serves me correctly, none of us were even close to each other when the spell was cast..." Rarity said, sounding confused and looking pensive.
"Wait, weren't we at one o' yer parties, sugarcube?" Applejack asked Pinkie, looking just as confused.
"I hadn't started the party yet, Applejack! How did you know I was planning one?" Pinkie gasped with a surprised look on her face. Applejack rolled her eyes.
"I, um...was...tending to the animals when...it happened..." Fluttershy said, looking down.
"...Well now, this is worrying. We all remember what happened before we came here differently..." Twilight said, making an observation. Many possibilities crossed through Jo's own mind, but in the end he wanted to push onward.
"Well...we can figure it out later, but right now, it's time for the other thing I was going to tell you all. Remember how said everyone thinks you're just camera effects?" Jo asked, getting a few nods.
"Well, uh...Fluttershy, could you let my dog back in the house?" Jo asked. Fluttershy agreed and walked off towards the back door.
"Keep in mind." Jo said to the camera. "If these really were editing effects, my dog would just ignore them."
As if on cue, a bulky pit-bull dashed into the living room, hopping on top of the couch and sniffing Rainbow Dash.
"Hey, down boy! Down!" Rainbow said as she used her wings to gain some leverage from the 10-month old dog. He started barking at Rainbow as she stayed in the air.
"Blue!" Jo called. The dog stopped barking and looked towards the camera, dashing to it and sniffing it. Jo let him sniff for a while, but pulled it away when he started licking the side of it.
"No Blue, you can't eat this. Hold on...Twilight, can you hold the camera for a sec? I'm gonna fill Blue's food bowl." Jo said, holding out the camera. It floated over to Twilight as she looked into the lens.
"Got it! So uh...Hello, 'Youtube'. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and as you can see I'm definitely real. However, I'm sure you'll need more proof than this, so uh..." Twilight said, beginning to ponder.
"Ooh! I know! I could throw the biggest, greatest, partiest party ever! They'd know we're real when they come to it!" Pinkie blurted out, suddenly close to the camera.
"Pinkie, these people are thousands of miles away. That wouldn't work." Twilight said as if stating an obvious fact.
"I could open up a clothing store here, darling! I remember Jo saying that all 'humans' wear clothes, and with my great fashion sense, I would become famous in mere weeks, I just know it!" Rarity swooned with stars in her eyes, but Twilight chuckled.
"As I'm sure that would be a boon to your business, Jo said we shouldn't attract too much attention to ourselves and I agree." Twilight spoke.
"...Wait, if ya don't want no attention, why're you puttin' these videos up on the internet?" Applejack asked, confused.
"I...er...you've, eheh, got a point there Applejack..." Twilight said, chuckling nervously. Just then, Blue trotted into the room, a bit more calm, and starts licking Pinkie Pie, who starts giggling. Jo isn't too far behind Blue, walking back into the room and sitting on the chair again.
"Thanks Twilight. And you know, Applejack has a point...I don't necessarily need to prove you guys exist just yet...eh, it'll be fun to try though. I'll be sure to get in an attempt at least once a video." Jo said, stroking his stubblechin in intrigue.
"Hey, Jo? Can I turn the radio on?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Sure, Rainbow, just lemme finish this recording up." Jo said, then turned back to the camera. "So yeah, there you have it. Twilight, can you come upstairs with me for a sec? Bring the camera too."
"Hm? Alright." Twilight said, trotting up the stairs behind Jo. When they got to the top of the stairs and Rainbow turned the radio on, playing some hard rock, Jo began to speak.
"As you might have guessed when we talked about them being real downstairs, Twilight does know about where the ponies are really from. I told her because...well, despite one little slip up which I'm sure you all remember, I was sure she could be the most level-headed about it." Jo said, Twilight nodding.
"I have to admit, I was a bit sad at first. But if we weren't real before, we are now. And that's all that matters to me. The others though...I'm sure they wouldn't take it well." Twilight said, sounding somewhat somber.
"...You do know that we're going to have to tell them about it soon, right Twi?" Jo said, looking a bit worried.
"Yeah, I do. I just hope I can think of a way to say it that won't make any of them feel too bad." Twilight said, grimacing.
"...Well, I think that's a good cutoff point. Before I end the video though..." Jo said, taking the camera from Twilight's magic grasp. "...think hard, where were you before this all happened?"
"Hm...well, I do definitely remember casting the spell inside the library...but before I fell unconscious, I could have sworn that I'd seen Princess Celestia..." Twilight said, recalling the events of two weeks ago.
"Huh...well viewers, this is getting intriguing..." Jo said as Twilight opened the door to head into the computer room. Jo giggled, and remembered seeing a certain open window a few hours ago when he checked the room. "Oh, and Twi? I had no idea you liked the Princess Molestia story~."
The door slammed shut.
Sounds of Jo's laughter could be heard rather loudly.
Click.
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...is it odd that I listened to this throughout the making of this chapter?