The train came to a squealing halt back at Ponyville Station, causing Joey to awaken with a start. He looked around wildly for a moment before a very heavy feeling settled onto his chest. The Gala. The speech.
Being forgotten once again. The panic attack he nearly had in front of dozens of ponies...
He strode back to the borrowed home. Checking the clock on his phone, it was 3AM local time. Despite only having slept three hours, he didn't feel tired at all. It was a bit nice walking this late, since the streets were completely empty and a peaceful, sleepy silence hung over the town. It was so serene he almost forgot about his situation for a moment.
Once he got home he paused, grasping the doorknob. He didn't really plan on coming back outside after this. Not until he had a plan going forward. He had done his research on the pony's entertainment industry and in his opinion, it was lacking. There was only one plan he had in mind, but it wasn't exactly the most creative. Potentially dishonorable, if he didn't do it a certain way.
Looking back out at the peaceful surroundings, he sighed and headed inside. No point. If he fell asleep under a tree he would inevitably be found. Right now he just wanted to be left alone. No doubt the princesses might try to get in touch with him about legal citizenship or something. Honestly, that was the only thing keeping him from disappearing to Las Pegasus.
Las Pegasus. The biggest and most renowned entertainment hub of all of Equestria. Home of one of the largest growing industries to date: film. Movies were seemingly on the rise here, which fortunately played right into Joey's strengths. If he could somehow bring some of his own favorite stories to life from back home... he would be able to have a career that would make all the pain worth it. Probably.
He walked upstairs to where he kept his personal bag. He withdrew a large paperback from it, laying it on the bed. He stared at it a moment, and took a deep breath. There were no stories in this world that even paralleled with this series. Or The Hobbit. As he gazed down at his copy of The Fellowship of the Ring, he felt a strange excitement bubble up in him. If he could somehow recreate these for the ponies...
They would have a story that would shape the world of cinematography. At least he hoped so.
Canterlot.
Celestia felt exhausted as the last guests departed from the castle as the Gala had come to an end. Something about that speech had definitely gone wrong, she knew it. She couldn't exactly think of what that problem would even be, she was so emotional at that moment it was hard to do any thinking at all.
She readied herself with official documents that she would be presenting the five humans with as a formal means of granting them citizenship. Those poor humans... she wanted nothing more than to bawl and wrap them up in the tightest hug and assure them everything was going to be alright.
Especially that one she had hardly gotten the chance to speak with. Joey. He was putting on one hell of a strong face, she could tell. After all, she had been doing it for thousands of years. There was just something about him that made her heart bleed.
She entered the royal sitting room where everypony else was sitting. They were all quietly seated around the main table; Twilight and her friends were around the other humans consoling them and showing their support. This made her smile, she had taught her student well.
Luna and Cadance were there too, Cadance in particular seemed to be having a hard time holding it together. It was understandable, she had only just been filled in as of today about the catastrophe.
"Thank you all for coming tonight." she said softly as they all turned to look at her. "Even if it is only a formality, I have official documents for each of you that will offer personal proof of your citizenship. What you do with them is up to you."
She handed the stack of papers to Twilight, who began passing them around.
"You are all most welcome to stay here at the castle tonight, or as long as you need. You each have been given permanent ownership of the homes you have stayed in up until now." Celestia continued. "We will have advisors and therapists here tomorrow to help assist you in your future careers here in Equestria, or wherever you choose to end up. I would do this myself, as would Luna, but we both unfortunately have to run a kingdom.
"You are always welcome to the castle as dear friends. I can't imagine how hard this is for any of you, so please let myself and any of my fellow princesses know if we can -"
"Um, hold on...?" Twilight hummed nervously, looking down at the last few papers. "Only four of you are here? Where's the last one of you? Joey? Has anyone seen him?"
The other humans looked around in bewilderment. The other ponies were startled, they hadn't even realized they were one human short. Celestia's pupils shrank to the size of blueberries. Indeed, the very human she had thought of earlier wasn't even here. Then she remembered why her speech felt wrong.
She had forgotten to mention him. How did she manage to do that? Joey wasn't too much taller than the average pony, but he still shouldn't have been hard to miss. He must have taken that very hard... it was as if someone had shoved an ice cold dagger into her chest.
"Maybe he's still here in the castle." she said, keeping calm, and turned to the nearest guard. "Can you please bring the staff that attended the Gala? If anyone saw a human that wasn't in this room please bring them here."
The guard saluted and galloped off. She let out a long, shaky breath. The others in the room began to discuss among themselves looking nervous. Luna still looked surprised, continuing to look at the other humans as if she could have sworn they were all there.
"Celestia - have I met Joey yet?" Cadance asked in a worried voice.
"No... I forgot to introduce you to him." she replied wearily. "I haven't spoken with the young one as much as I had hoped either."
"He was the one caught in the explosion?" Cadance asked softly, and Celestia nodded. The pink princess sighed. "How has he been holding up so far?"
"I'm afraid I don't have an answer for that." Celestia answered. "That's what scares me the most, I think. I've heard plenty about the others - both from their own selves as well as what I've been told by Twilight and her friends. The only time I spoke with him was after the first meeting. He disappeared before the second meeting even ended."
"Your majesty, I have found a maid who saw the fifth human!" the guard said, returning to the room.
"Wonderful! Bring her in. Did you find Joey? The last human." she had to clarify the last bit after the guard looked a bit confused. He dropped to a knee.
"I'm sorry, your highness. I didn't know you wanted me to search for him as well." he apologized.
"Not yet - let's hear what the maid has to say first." she ordered, and the guard gave another salute. He left the room only to return moments later with a very nervous looking maid behind him.
Celestia knelt down to her eye level and smiled softly. "Thank you for answering my call. Did you see the human?"
"Yes, he left the castle shortly after the speech ended." she replied nervously. "He looked awful. Almost sick. I offered to call an ambulance, but he left before I could do anything else. I-I'm sorry..." she added meekly, bowing her head.
Celestia's suspicions had been confirmed. Her heart sank swiftly. "Rise, my little pony. You have done what you could. Thank you, you are free to go." The maid bowed and left the room. She turned once more to the same guard and ordered, "Do a very gentle sweep of the town. If you find him, please do not detain him. I'm sure he's under a lot of stress like his fellows. Please let us know of his whereabouts."
The guard nodded respectfully and once again galloped away. Celestia turned back to the group, feeling absolutely awful. She would sacrifice day court tomorrow in order to visit Joey if he was found. It was not only her duty, but she was extremely worried about him now.
"I think he left after I talked to him..." Bill announced quietly, looking absolutely morose. Everypony in the room turned attentively to him. "He didn't seem to want to be around me at all. I'm pretty sure he's still mad at me..."
"Why would he be upset with you?" Cadance asked, concerned.
Clara looked very uncomfortable, although a bit stoic all the same. Bill seemed to have a hard time talking about it. Celestia frowned slightly; what in the name of her mother had happened?
"If you don't mind me sayin', Princess, Bill and Clara got into a bit of an argument with him." Applejack explained.
"What was this squabble about, pray tell?" Luna chimed in, looking sternly interested herself.
Applejack looked to Bill, who nodded. She then looked at Clara who seemed to want to say something, then thought the better of it and stayed quiet. She sighed. "Ah was there, yer highnesses. Clara and Joey seem to have been fightin' over the fact that she was once bullied by his, um - older sis, right?"
"Yeah." Clara said with a frown.
"Right, his older sis. Now she's holdin' it over his head even though it sounds like the feller has done nuthin wrong himself. I will admit, he seemed to get mighty bitter when Clara here mentioned his sister."
"Is this true?" Celestia asked.
"Well yes, but -!" Clara began, but she went quiet under Bill's stern glare. "Yeah. It's true."
"I'm sorry that his kin would do such a thing." Luna acknowledged. "Has Joey ever done anything to wrong you himself?"
"Well... no." she admitted in a strained voice.
"Was Joey trying to defend his sister's actions?" Celestia pressed.
"Probably..." Clara grunted. "He's -"
"No, he wasn't!" Bill said angrily. "Look Clara, you have every right to be upset about his sister. I don't know Joey that well, but I was his roommate. If he was here he would have been the LAST person to bully anyone!"
"So why did he get his apples in a knot when she mentioned his sis?" Applejack asked suspiciously. "That doesn't make a lick of sense to me."
Bill seemed lost for an answer. Surprisingly, Clara spoke up.
"I dunno. Maybe because she died."
There was a heavy, heavy silence in the room. Most there couldn't tell if she was joking or not.
"Are - are you serious about that, darling?" Rarity asked quietly.
Clara looked super uncomfortable now. "Well... yeah. It happened years ago. Car crash, I think. That's all I know."
"This changes everything about your fight, I hope you understand." Celestia said sternly, trying to fight back the emotion pouring over her in that instant. "If this is true, than Joey is not in the wrong. Not in the slightest. I'm not asking you to like him if you don't want to, but all of you are in this together. I'm very disappointed."
Clara looked completely humiliated under the shocked stares she had been receiving. She still had a slightly stubborn look on her face, but she didn't argue.
Celestia walked over to her and knelt down. "Clara... I am very sorry that you had to endure everything Joey's sister has put you through. Blaming him for what she did won't solve anything. You will find that siblings are often unalike... I should know." she added smiling up at Luna, who smiled back.
"My sister and I have had our grand differences, but we still love each other and do our best to get along." Luna said. "Don't be too discouraged, young one. Trauma is not an easy thing to deal with. Just remember you are never alone here."
Clara smiled weakly, and Applejack gave her a big hug.
As Celestia stood to her hooves, the guard she had sent bolted back into the room. "Your highness! The staff at Canterlot Station confirm that they had seen the human leave on the last train to Ponyville!" He panted, leaning on his spear a bit.
"Well done. You are dismissed for the night, we are wrapping up here." Celestia said with a forced smile. So he had gone back to Ponyville...
"Are you going to see him, Auntie?" Cadance asked.
"I will visit him tomorrow." Celestia answered tiredly. "I fear tonight has taken a harder toll on him than the rest."
"May I come as well?" Cadance said pushily with an optimistic look. "I still have some time before I go back to the Crystal Empire."
"You are most welcome." Celestia replied with a small smile. As the room began to clear out, she dearly hoped that the visit would go well.