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."
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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."