Joey and his father rushed down the hospital corridor. When they had heard the news about the car wreck involving his mother, brother, and sister, his world seemed to have come to an absolute stop. Some stupid idiot decided to start driving while intoxicated, and now...
His older sister was pronounced dead on the scene. His mother had died earlier that day in the ambulance. His kid brother was the only survivor left, and in critical condition.
The two entered a room, and once his brother came into view Joey almost cried. His poor brother lay there hooked up to all sorts of various machines. He looked past the breathing tubes at them.
"Mr. Belfort, I'm sorry." the doctor said solemnly. "We did everything we could, but... now is the time to say anything you wanted to say before he passes."
Joey couldn't believe his ears. No. No. This couldn't be happening. Not little Caleb. How could this even happen?? In the blink of an eye he had lost nearly half of his family. Seeing Caleb like this was beyond him entirely, Joey just couldn't believe any of it. As he knelt down next to the bed, Caleb stretched out a hand.
"Oh, Caleb..." his father choked up as he too joined Joey at the bedside. "Look at me. Look at me - everything is going to be okay. Okay?"
Caleb looked blearily from his father back to his brother. Behind the pain in his eyes, there was a look of fear. Joey grabbed his hand and held it tightly.
"I'm so sorry, buddy..." their father continued to say, as a single tear escaped down his cheek. "Tell mom and your sister Katy that we love you guys, okay? Okay, Caleb?"
"Don't go..." was all Joey could manage to weakly say. He felt Caleb's hand go limp in his own as those pained eyes glossed over. That was it. He began to bawl, placing his forehead to Caleb's lifeless palm.
His father slung an arm over Joey's back to comfort him, but he could feel the poor man's chest heave as he cried with him. It was so unfair. They hardly even got the chance to say goodbye. This was cruel. So cruel.
Life... was cruel.
Joey sat up in his bed gasping for air. The memory rang in his head, sharp and clear. It had happened when he was a junior in high school - almost four years ago - but the memories still plagued his nightmares on a nearly nightly basis.
Something felt off about it, however. This time it felt a bit different than usual, almost as if someone else was with him in the room with his father when Caleb died. Other than the doctor, that is. Maybe it was just him, or the effects of the alcohol.
Caleb... Joey missed him. A lot. The kid had the most optimistic attitude out of anyone he had ever known. Often times he found himself admiring that about him and striven to be more like that himself.
Joey had always tended to be more of a cynical person. One of the reasons he decided to come to Equestria was to learn from them, to practice mindsets that weren't as negative.
He took a deep, shuddering breath. His head began to pound, definitely because of a hangover. Maybe he could sleep it off.
The headache did not get any better, nor did the social situation in Joey's eyes. For the first few days he joined the other four in attempts to get some project planning in, but they were all too anxious about whether or not it would matter. Because of this they hardly got any work done.
From Joey's point of view the others seemed to confide in one another quite often. They had known one another for much longer then he had, so it was understandable that in such a stressful situation he would be the odd one out. This didn't make it any less demeaning, though. Sometimes he could have sworn he may not have been noticed if he hadn't said anything.
The days dragged on. It also seemed that the issues he had been having socializing at Pinkie's party carried through to every day life. Other ponies seemed to overlook him while he was in the presence of the others. He could tell it wasn't intentional, but that almost made it worse. Even Fluttershy, whom he had grown a bit fond of after that talk over coffee, seemed to overlook him just like the others.
The ponies had taken notice of the humans' change in demeanor. They had been extra friendly in public, waving hello and taking care to chat with them when possible. Joey definitely had his fair share of waves, but none of them seemed to bother talking to him. He had never felt more insignificant.
The afternoon before they would have the final meeting to discuss their fates with the princesses, Joey sat in a field with the others as they tried their best to concentrate on the project. Things were moving along, they had a very good layout of all the topics they wanted to cover. Then they were interrupted as a couple mares approached them with a picnic basket.
"Hey guys!" one of them said cheerily as she plopped the basket down next to them. She had a pale coat and a mane that was a deep claret. "Thought you might be hungry, so Lyra and I thought we'd bring you some lunch!"
The mint green unicorn next to her gave an enthusiastic nod. "What Roseluck said!"
The other four voiced their tired appreciation of this random act of kindness, all diving into the goodies they had been brought. Joey saw them pulling sandwiches from the basket and made his way over to grab one himself. Taking a discreet look inside, he noticed that there was nothing left. Looking at the others, they all had a sandwich of their own.
The mares had only brought four. He sat down awkwardly, feeling miserable. It happened again. Why hadn't he started to expect this by now? For some reason, this one moment particularly stung.
Andre noticed. "Oh - did you not get one?"
"Nah, there weren't enough." Joey replied, masking his mood. "It isn't a big deal."
"Oh - I forgot there were five!" Roseluck moaned. She really looked sorry about it, but Joey waved at her dismissively.
"Don't sweat it." he said simply.
Andre held out a piece of his own to Joey. "Here, I can share!"
"It's only a sandwich, chill out." Clara said coldly. "Quit making it a big deal."
"Clara's right." Joey pretended to agree. He was fighting with every fiber of his being to not shoot her a nasty look.
The mares gave him hurried apologies and left, clearly to embarrassed to stick around. Five was not a hard number to remember. Did missing out on eight days here really have this big of an impact?
"Aahh, screw this." Andre growled, stuffing his papers angrily into his backpack. "I can't focus. Anyone want to go bowling with me?"
"I will!" Bill gasped, hopping to his feet.
"Sure, why not?" Ginger sighed. "Clara, want to join us? We'd have a full lane!"
"Yeah, okay."
"You guys mind if I tag along?" Joey asked. Maybe some physical activity would be good for him right now.
"I'm pretty sure there are only four to a group." Clara answered quickly.
Joey raised an eyebrow. He could tell that she did not like him, but he had no clue why. "What? Since when? You can have as many as you want in a lane last I checked."
"She's actually right, Joey." Bill said, stepping in. "It's really stupid. Just a random dumb rule they have at the alleyway."
"Hold up, since when have you gone bowling here?" Joey asked suspiciously. The others (minus Clara) exchanged looks of guilt.
"We went while you were... you know. In the hospital." Andre said quietly.
Ouch. He watched in silence as the group began to leave. Surprisingly, Ginger lingered behind with an apologetic look. "You can come hang out with us. You don't have to be by yourself."
"I don't think Clara would like it very much if I did." Joey spat, catching the poor girl off guard. "Forget it. You guys have fun. I'll study camera angles or something stupid like that."
"Joey..."
He ignored her and picked up his satchel. This had gotten old. Same story every time, each one having the same ending. It couldn't have been more obvious. He was a nobody to everyone else. He kept walking until he found a good tree, then sat down against the trunk. He pulled out his copy of The Fellowship of the Ring and began reading, trying to put all of these stupid people and ponies out of mind.
The time had come. The princesses had called the meeting at last. The past week had been a blur for the humans with all of their anxiety. Once more they were seated in that crystal tree-castle (which apparently belonged to Twilight) and sat around the large table. Tension was at an all time high. It was deadly quiet, as none of the princesses seemed to have anything to say.
That wasn't a good sign. Joey gulped.
Celestia looked at each one of them in turn, her gaze never lingering on just one person for too long. The silence was deafening; even Pinkie sat completely still. "I'm going to get right to the point with you all... it is impossible to send you home. Even if we had more time, the Machine is magically beyond repair. The materials within are one of a kind and irreparable. We will never be able to send you back."
Andre groaned, placing his hand to his mouth. Bill and Clara sat there expressionlessly. Ginger began to cry. Joey... felt empty. Deep down he knew this was coming. He feared it, but some part of him had a strong feeling they would be stuck. He looked up at Celestia, who seemed ready to cry herself. For somepony who seemed to wear one hell of a mask, it was clear she was barely holding it together.
"We are here for all of you." Twilight said shakily as she began to cry as well. "Please know we didn't want any of this to happen. We can't imagine how hard this will be for you all, so please come to us if you need anything. Anything!!"
These words made Joey's spirit sink even lower for some reason. He hardly believed them. He hardly even registered the encouraging words from the others. He wondered if they even considered him as they offered them.
"My sister and I plan on announcing the news to the public at a formal event happening a couple days from now." Celestia continued, causing the other voices to cease. "We would love to have you there as personal guests."
"Formal event?" Bill asked weakly.
"The Grand Galloping Gala." Luna replied. "An annual ball reserved for special guests. We understand if you do not wish to attend, and if not we can announce the news another time. My sister and I thought it may be a welcome distraction, however. Whether or not you attend is up to you."
"So wait... you pretty much confirm that we're never going to see any of our friends and family back home again, and you invite us to a party right after??" Andre said shakily. He looked furious. "Does any of this even matter to you!?"
"Didn't you hear what she just said??" Joey snapped back, catching many of them by surprise. "She literally just told us that we are welcome to if wanted and that it MIGHT be a distraction!"
"Thanks for the input, but Andre has a point!" Clara said scathingly, standing to her feet.
"Alright then, what would you do in her shoes then???" Joey retorted, standing up himself. "Go on and let us know, since you wanna act like a genius!!"
Clara scowled at him, but before she could open up her mouth Celestia screamed "ENOUGH!!" Joey sat back down, fuming. Clara did the same. Celestia regarded them both strictly and with pity. "Now, more than ever, is not the time to be divided. I can only imagine how this will affect your relationships with one another, but I implore you all to stick together."
Andre looked down at the table. Bill seemed like his head was about to explode with how much he seemed to be holding in. Ginger had put her head down on the table, sobbing. Joey's mind just went blank. Another thing to add to his list of misery, apparently.
His hands began to tremble. He wouldn't be going back - he would never be around the landmarks he had known since a young age. No way to visit the graves of his family. No chance of him making a new family...
The others continued their conversation, but Joey could hardly acknowledge it. Intelligible warbles filled his ears as well as the sound of pounding blood growing steadily louder. He chanced a glance up, and no one in the room seemed to be acknowledging him. He couldn't stay here, just the sight of ponies made it hard to even breathe right now.
"Bathroom." he quietly murmured and quickly got out of his chair, hurrying from the room. Either no one paid him any mind or he didn't hear anything that was said
As he walked down the hall he ran into Spike, who was carrying a very tall stack of books. "Oh - hey Joey! Aren't you supposed to be at the meeting?" His voice was far and distant, barely understandable.
Joey walked past the young dragon, simply managing a nod at him. The door... where was the door? With every step it seemed like he was losing control of himself. Fortunately, this wasn't his first panic attack. He had been having them for a while now, ever since the passing of his siblings and mother (it only worsened after his father's death).
Eventually he did find the door, squinting for a brief moment because of the sunlight. He just needed to find a tree. Or something he could sit under by himself to calm down. That's how he always handled this. With a bit more looking, he found a nice small collection of trees on the outskirts of the town.
Leaning against it he closed his eyes, waiting for this nightmare to pass.
Hoping it would pass.