//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 : It's Just A Cold // Story: A Twilight Landing // by MerlosTheMad //------------------------------// Jo stared darkly at the computer screen, feeling unsure of what to do. Downstairs, Twilight was out cold and breathing shallowly, something that had Jo gripped by unease. She had checked on the strange, inexplicable curve ball that had come into her drab life a few times, once with soup, but the unicorn was resting as sure as the sun set. Dangit, why am I worrying so much? She's just tired and has a cold from being butt naked in the rain. Jo grimaced and began clicking on tabs and net pages furiously, trying to keep herself distracted. She would be gaming as a better means of doing so, but her computer had been acting wonky. The best explanation she could come up with for that was the way it had tipped over during Twilight's 'entrance'. A few notifications blipped at the bottom of the desktop, being pointedly ignored. Even when Jo didn't have a lot on her mind, she was usually hesitant and reproachful about talking to anyone, even her 'friends', even the ones she knew in person. The speakers pinged again though, garnering Jo's attention. This new sender's name read as 'BarrelofPenguins'. Jo watched the message blink for a moment, still deep in thought and staring at the screen as if not really seeing it. Then the mouse clicked on the message. Was out of things to watch on youtube anyway. Barrel-of-Penguins: Hello hello Jojo! Jo lackadaisically typed her reply to the old acquaintance she was now answering, and for no other reason than because she felt she should. CarpetBombShell: Hi Barrel-of-Penguins: Le gasp, you answered moi! What's the occasion? Sighing, Jo leaned back, trying to think of a good answer with her brain in the fuzzy state that it was. Her thoughts slammed on the breaks, deciding that maybe she could actually get some real advice for what was bothering her so much after all. She typed out the best possible way she could explain the situation she found herself in. It took a while, but by the time she was finished, the message satisfied her in its entirety. CarpetBombShell: It's complicated. Barrel-of-Penguins: Oh, of course, of course... DID YOU FINALLY GET A NEW MAN!? CarpetBombShell: What? No, shut up. This is about a girl that I don't know what to do with. Barrel-of-Penguins: Jo, you're a lezzy? Jo sighed, then groaned and made to squash what she could see was turning into a rather contrived assumption by her friend. CarpetBombShell: No... I just have someone staying at my house that I only just met. Her circumstances are kind of 'unique'. I think I might actually want you to come over and meet her for yourself if she's fine with it. Barrel-of-Penguins: Holy cow, really? I haven't been over to your place in years! CarpetBombShell: Meh. I just don't really know what I'm doing with this, and I think I might need help. Barrel-of-Penguins: What's going on? Are you taking her under your wing or something until she gets back on her feet? :P CarpetBombShell: ...Kind of, look you used to watch FiM, right? Barrel-of-Penguins: Psch, used to? Still do. CarpetBombShell: Ah huh. Alright, well, come over tomorrow and I'll explain some things, I'll buy you lunch, too. Barrel-of-Penguins: Jo, so forward! I- I don't know what to say. Jo tapped a finger patiently on her desk, a growing look of frustration appearing on her face. It wasn't something that she really openly admitted to others, but dealing with people other than just herself was difficult. Oddly enough that seemed to make other people want to talk to her and hang around her even more. It's as if they think I have buried-treasure or am just putting on an act, but actually wanted to open up and become the best of friends! Jo's look darkened more while she typed a final response to Penguin. Or maybe they think I have some huge secret to share with them, that only constant buggery will uncover. After a moment, she supposed the latter were true in a sense, she did have Twilight as her big secret now, after all. She was in fact sitting on the mystery of the century at the moment... Running both hands through her hair Jo sighed in finality and stood up, unsure of what to do. It was getting late, but she wasn't tired at all. Guess I can't blame anyone but myself when I stay up until four AM every single night. She knew she could afford to, but she also knew it wasn't the healthiest thing or the best form to do so. I gotta fix my sleep schedule somehow. Jo's feet carried her downstairs and towards the back of her house, she passed through the back hall where things were still a mess and stopped to look at the books Twilight hadn't gotten to yet. I should clean that up... There were a few things she should do though, she realized. The wind gusting in from the back of her house told her that much. "Jesus, that was one hell of an entrance, Twilight." Jo stared at the backdoor, open to the wind and the rest of the world behind it. I better go get something from the garage and nail that shut already, or wild animals are going to start getting in here. She wasn't very concerned about that, there weren't really skunks or anything like that where she lived, but you never knew. Jo slipped on her boots and walked out into the cool night air, hands secured firmly into a hoodie she'd thrown on. She scanned her backyard, just out and about with the intent to get her mind off things. I don't know how to help Twilight at all. What can I do besides just let her mope while watching her friends on a TV? The air didn't really do the trick, but after a thought her eyes caught sight of something that did. She took a few steps towards the strange purple glow from the other day, walking down and off of her porch into her uncut backyard. The alien-like radiance was just barely peeking up from behind her yard's little gulch, and was coming from the direction of the spot with the sizable crater. The same one which Twilight had shown her the day before. "I still can't believe this is happening." Jo muttered, perhaps for the hundredth time, and began casually walking out to the thing she had almost forgotten was on her property, just to see it again. "But I guess I had better start, huh?" Jo stopped at the top of the little hill overlooking the dip in her land, the violet shaded crater at the base of it. Sure enough, the entirety of the thing glowed with an otherworldly purple. I guess this was caused by the super heated atmospheric re-entry that Twilight had gone through, she surmised. That, or it has something to do with Twilight being a magical purple unicorn. You know, either or. "Just what the hell am I doing..." Jo growled irritably, watching the pulsing of the crystals. After a minute of standing there, she carefully slid down the slope and next to the crater. She felt as though she were staring at something that was truly beautiful, something mysterious, something that no one in the world could ever explain because it was greater than anything else in the world itself. She knelt besides the warm, glowing abyss and reached a hand out to one of the crystals. I totally deserve to get zapped by this thing. Despite the arrival Jo's mind made at a worst case scenario, the crystal did little else but light up a bit more from her proximity. Touching it had caused the strange sparks from the day before to pop out, then dissipate again. Her face glimmered in the brief white glow the same sparks gave off as she watched with a child-like fascination the anomaly she held in her very hand. Alice is gonna love this, she thought, in response to the wonder and strangeness of it all. It felt like she were living a movie right then. However, Jo frowned when she remembered the girl she'd invited over earlier on a whim. I really hope getting another person involved with this is the right decision. She sighed, very much conflicted and unsure of herself. Absently, her scrawny arms tugged on the crystal, testing its strength. When the formation in the crater snapped immediately with the slight pressure Jo had applied, the woman froze. Oh damn. She stared in shock at where the crystal had detached from its hexagonal brethren and left a large patch of empty dirt beneath it. Okay, nothing exploded, that's good. Sure enough, the foot and a half long stick of purple glowing crystal sat in her hand, still placidly glowing happily for all its worth. She stared at the empty patch of earth that was left behind, then at the pulsating rock in her grip. Jo formed an idea about moving the things from out in the open. Who knows, she wondered, maybe they'll be useful. The crystal hefted in her grip as she walked back towards the house. Twilight rolled over and groaned, feeling once again the ache in her head from before she had fallen asleep. Other than that, her nose felt stuffed with hay, her eyes were scratchy, her limbs felt shaky as well as weak and worst off all, she still didn't have her horn. She tried to rub her head deeper into the pillows, desperate to escape the aches somehow. This went on for a good while. How long, Twilight wasn't sure, but it must have been at least an hour or so. Despite her best efforts she couldn't seem to fall back asleep. Her eyes opened for the first time since finally waking up and peered at the ceiling. How long have I been asleep? Light poked through the window drapes and gave the room some visibility, marking the hour as daytime. Despite having had what seemed like such a long restful sleep, however, she still felt terrible. Twilight smacked her lips and felt a horrible dryness in her mouth. Looking over and thinking of getting up from the bed to get a drink, she spotted a tray on the side table. It was laden with an assortment of things, ranging from a glass of water to what looked like a bowl of soup that had likely long gone cold. She closed her hand around the water and drank greedily from it right away. Gasping and now slightly refreshed, Twilight pushed herself up entirely from laying down. She silently gave thanks to her human friend for being so kind and generous to her. This was thoughtful of Jo... I wonder what I can do to repay her? Normally, such thanks may not be more than formality in Ponyville, but Twilight was beginning to understand now that Earth was much more akin perhaps to the rest of her world; to certain places outside of Equestria. She tried not to think of Tartarus as one such comparison... Her finger dipped into the soup while battling the thoughts; sure enough, it was cold. Twilight's tummy rumbled up at her all the same, and she looked back at it with a frown in turn. "Well fine, as long as you aren't picky." She sighed and put the tray in her lap, very carefully. "Hm." After placing some of the morsel in her mouth, she took her time swallowing it. "Why does everything here taste so odd?" Still, despite being cold it was more than edible. A couple more spoonfuls were had, until a thought occurred to her. Twilight looked over at the little box she vaguely recalled Jo pointing at the night before. Curious, her hand reached out towards it. When a loud, squelching sort of noise suddenly pierced the relative silence of the room she shrieked, jumped, and spilled the tray in her lap all in one fell swoop. She stared in disbelief at the aftermath, which covered her from hoof to flank. "...Grrreat, just great." Twilight grimaced at the half empty bowl of soup while she moved it and the tray back to the table. "That was terribly brilliant of you, Twilight, just absolutely genius." A bit of her misery was forgotten and replaced by the new obstacles in front of her. Thankfully, it seemed all of the soup had gotten onto Twilight herself, not the bedspread. Settling back on the idea to ask for assistance, she once again pressed the button that had caused the mess in first place. After wincing briefly from the noise, she pressed her face down at the box and asked loudly, "Jo, are you there? Uhm, is this thing on?" No reply came. There was only the one button, so there wasn't much room for error on how to operate the device. Twilight sighed aloud and slid off of the bed, determined to at least get the mess clean. She sniffed loudly, the gross sensation of a runny nose still plaguing her. Seriously, human colds are a thousand times worse... The thought trailed off while she unsteadily made her way through the house towards the shower. She had noticed a lot of differences between humans and ponies—being the first ever creature she guessed to experience being both, ever. Those changes went far beyond the obvious—such as different bodies or tendencies—and all the way towards things like smell. For Twilight, they were decidedly less pleasant to be around after getting a little stale, though she only had herself as a reference thus far. Maybe I just smell really bad for a human? Her stuffy nose wrinkled in distaste at the thought. It was either that, or Earth was just a smellier plane of existence than Equestria. Jo normally had a pleasant, herbal scent, but sometimes had a very strange one that wasn't nearly as nice. Still, even with the change Twilight's own five senses had undergone, she could always pick out her friend's interesting perfumes in the house. It seemed that humans had a far more powerful aroma, or possibly sense of smell. And after living in Ponyville around the likes of Applejack and the other hardworking denizens in her town, Twilight was well aware of just what ponies were capable of in that area. Twilight sighed in finality and stripped the now soup soaked clothes she had slept in off of herself. They slapped to the bathroom floor, which she realized also needed to be cleaned now. Pony feathers, I should've looked for a hamper. She rarely wore clothes, or pajamas, and Rarity was the only pony she knew personally that regularly indulged in their use. It stood to reason that humans, however, nearly always wore clothes. Twilight mulled over Jo's insistence on the subject while stepping into the shower. I still don't understand why Jo always gets so uppity about it though. She could at least cut me a little slack... The mare had already formed a few theories about why humans were so particular about clothing, and it seemed tied towards their nature as well as cultural development. A twist of a knob, and blessed hot water poured out of the human's decidedly superior shower, then ran over Twilight's aching limbs as a soothing river of steam and absolution. "Aaaaaaaaaaaah," Twilight carried the breath of relief and melted under the stream that began to ever so slowly make her feel like a million bits again. Jo hefted the piece of plywood over her head, grunting, then called out to her friend. "Alice! For- Would you pay attention and help?" She teetered until the other girl bounced over and steadied the temporary fix intended to be used to patch up Jo's backdoor. The girl which Jo had spoken to over the internet the night before, and was currently being helped by, looked over at Jo. The new girl was blonde, with her hair tied back in a pony tail, and wore jeans and long sleeve shirt. She was only a little taller than Jo. "Yeah yeah, I still can't believe you invited me over just for us to leave again. I should have known you'd only wanted me for my body!" Alice let go of the plywood and rested a hand on her forehead mockingly, while the shorter girl began to secure the plywood to the top of the car. Jo raised and eyebrow at the drama queen. "Ah huh, you didn't have to help or stay, you know." She heaved a sigh and got in her friend's vehicle. Alice frowned, rolled her eyes at the difficulty Jo insisted on offering, then climbed in too. "Yes I did, that dumb thing you drive around doesn't even have room to carry something like this." She pointed a thumb up to her roof and the plywood. "Anyway come on, are you going to beat around the bush all day, or tell me why you really wanted me to come over? You didn't really just need my car, did you?" Jo grimaced over at the only friend she arguably had. Except for Twilight anyway, she thought, and followed it up with, Great, a magical talking unicorn princess is one of my two remaining friends in the world. "Like I said, Alice, she's sleeping and sick. You can't meet her just yet." Satisfied with having repeated the same answer she had said twice already, she shifted and looked out the window of the car. The buildings began to drift by with increasing speed while they drove back towards her own house from the store. "Mmmhmm," Alice hummed without looking over. "And yah still haven't said anything else about her, like I dunno, her name?" The cheerful girl rapped her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. Odd behavior aside, she was still getting more and more curious over what was going on the longer Jo stalled. "You could at least tell me why you're helping her. Is she a relative? An illegal immigrant? An old friend?" She quickly glanced over at Jo. "Oops, sorry about that last one, that probably isn't likely, hm?" Jo grimly frowned at the other girl. "Funny." Alice laughed obnoxiously before turning the wheel over to pull back into Jo's driveway. "Really!? That's what everypony else says I am too, funny!" She giggled again and crossed her eyes over at Jo, while the car simultaneously ground to a halt jerkily. "Where did you learn to drive- Wait, did you just say 'everypony'?" Jo raised an eyebrow, and paused from getting out immediately. Alice smiled over coolly. "Yeah, I did, you mentioned FiM last night and it got me curious how that was relevant." She hopped out of the car deftly and slammed the door behind herself. "So I watched some episodes for fun, and got to figuring that mystery girl might like the show, too. But why, I wondered, is it important? Hmmmmm." Stepping carefully around the car she stopped and leaned over at Jo with a scrutinizing expression. "I wonder...." "Stop that," Jo growled, then turned and began getting the board down. "Look, I fed you already, and I appreciate the help with the car, but I've changed my mind about... this. I shouldn't have spoken to you last night, I'm sorry." Her breath caught as a hand laid on her shoulder just before she could heft the plywood. "Come on Jo, we used to be awesome good friends..." Alice sounded like she wanted to say more. "I don't really want friends, no offense," Jo muttered in reply. She finished pulling the board down and balanced it beside herself as best she could. "Or I didn't, anyway, I dunno." The board got decidedly lighter, and she glanced back at Alice, who had hefted the other end. "Riiiight. Jo, you're a terrible big bad quiet type, you know that?" Alice laughed and reached up with a free hand to muss the other girl's brown hair. "You're much too short!" Jo began to grumble, but was surprised when a little smile crept up onto her face. She frowned deeper and did away with the thing quickly. Luckily, she had been facing away from Alice while carrying the board. "You're short too, you know." Her defensive reply wasn't quite as scathing as she'd wished it, and all she got in return was more laughter from behind herself. This is going to be one of those days. This bed is gigantic. Twilight mulled over the observation while climbing back onto the thing. She recalled how much shorter Jo was than her, which seemed odd now that she thought about it. Perhaps humans deviate in size the way diamond dogs do? The comparison was a bit rude, she thought, and decided a better one may be between the princesses and other ponies. Briefly, she surmised that Jo would have an even harder time getting into the large bed than she herself did. Maybe there are indeed even bigger humans out there? With the mess Twilight had made completely cleaned up, she resettled underneath the covers again. She sighed with relief and let her head fall back on the pillow. Annoyingly, her mane was still pretty wet, despite the vigorous drying she had given it. Without a spell all she could do was relegate herself to using a towel. I'll need a brush eventually, my hair's getting to the point that would make Rarity attack me on sight. Twilight smiled and began to shut her eyes, when suddenly she found herself staring into the strange, dim gaze of a cat. Hello kitty. She stroked the cat's fur once with one her of hands. The thoughts about what differences lay between Equestrian felines, and those from Earth arose, as well as those between ponies on Earth and herself. Well, maybe not myself right this second, but at least back home... and the others. Anyway- While rolling over in the too large bed, Twilight supposed it was just one of those things that you never considered to yourself most of the time. Sure, she knew that there was a striking resemblance between herself and Earth's creatures, but that didn't necessarily make her an animal like them. But then, she supposed that technically they were all animals. The word animal here is used rather generously. Humans seem to use it to describe anything besides themselves, while we use it to describe things of a feral nature. It might be nothing, but so far she had inferred that Jo at least really did consider herself completely apart from the rest of her world's creatures. So strange, but that isn't bad, really. We can't all be as in touch with nature as say... Fluttershy. Twilight's eyes began to drift shut again, her body warmed and refreshed by the shower... when abruptly voices and a good deal of shouting jerked her back awake. She leaned up, curious about what was going on. Is that Jo? Her feet slid over the side of the bed, deciding to investigate. Earlier, Twilight had briefly searched for Jo while cleaning the mess, but hadn't found her anywhere. "Well, I guess she was-" the sound of what was definitely hammering interrupted her as she rounded the corner towards the back of the house. Sure enough, the sunlight was being obscured by a piece of wood held over the backdoor. -"outside..." she finished saying during a moment of quiet. Two seconds later the hammering began again. "Jo!? Are you out there?" Twilight called out, walking up to the door. Her headache had been vanquished by the shower earlier, but it seemed to want to return as she got closer to the pounding. "Twilight?" Jo's voice answered back "You're awake?" "I sure am, and I feel a lot better thanks to you-" Twilight stopped talking when she picked out another voice coming from the other side of the door. She listened while the new speaker excitedly seemed to begin talking at Jo. "Hah, I bet she feels a lot better thanks to you- Wait, Twilight!?" the new voice exclaimed. "Oh my God, what is going on, are you guys role-playing?" A hysterical laugh followed, and suddenly the giant board of wood covering the hole on the door shifted and fell at one side to thunk on the ground. Curses and yelling came from Jo, next. "Would you hold the stupid thing!? And don't you dare take this out of context." Twilight stared in sheer confusion at her side of the door, imagining what must be going on over on the other side. The board lifted up again, and the laughter filled voice was as difficult to understand as Pinkie Pie with a mouthful of cake. She easily made out Jo's shouts at the new voice to hold still and 'knock it off', though. "Jo? Is there someone else here?" Twilight winced as hammering began again after the board seemed to be righted. Jo's voice answered back over the racket. "Yeah! Just give... just give me a minute." The sounds of the hammering halted after a moment, and a sigh of relief made its way into the house. Twilight blinked, and listened intently to the sound of hushed and harsh whispers that then came from the other side of the door. Huh, well now that I'm here I may as well meet whoever Jo's brought over, I don't want to be rude, after all... Hopefully they understand I'm still not feeling well though, and I wouldn't want them to get sick, either. Goodness, if human illnesses are this much worse than the kind we have, I'd hate to think about how contagious they could be. She stood and waited patiently, until she caught the end of a few whispers and the door creaked open finally. "Now remember, she's kind of weird, and there's a reason for that which I'll get to, but for now- TWILIGHT!" Jo immediately flung her hand over her eyes and used her other to cover up her friend's, as well. "CLOTHES!" The sound of uproarious laughter from her friend nearly drowned her out entirely. Twilight blinked in confusion again, then looked down at herself and clued in. "Ooh, that again. I'm sorry Jo, I'm just not used to it, you know? I mean I guess how cold it gets without fur should remind me, but-" Jo interrupted and waved her hand while simultaneously shoving her giggling companion back out the door. "It's fine, just please go and- Oh nevermind." She sighed and instead began pulling her friend in after herself. "Twilight this is Alice, Alice this is Twilight. Twilight, come on let's get you something to wear." Twilight looked from one mare to the other and was surprised when the newcomer took her hand and shook it. "Charmed to meet yah, that is some wicked awesome hair color by the way. oh, huh, you don't have any piercings, I expected piercings!" The new girl had a blonde mane, much brighter than Jo's, but otherwise had no other really identifying aspects to her. She seemed to be barely containing more snickering. "Uhm, same," Twilight laughed nervously in return at the hyperactive girl, not catching half of what she said, then watched Jo storm out of the room, likely to get clothes. Perhaps humans identify themselves by clothing? No that doesn't make sense... Oh well they aren't terribly similar to one another, I guess I'm just used to a wider color spectrum and cutie marks. She re-faced Jo's friend; at least, she assumed they were friends. "Well, Jo did our introductions for us..." Twilight hesitated while Alice continued to fight back laughing uncontrollably. "Uhm, is not wearing clothes really that funny? Heh." She smirked a little, thinking of how uneasy she might feel around someone laughing at her this much. That is, if she hadn't gained Pinkie Pie as a friend in the last couple years. The pink earth pony had done a lot to broaden her horizons and social skills since her Canterlot days. Alice grinned up at Twilight. "I'm sorry I'm not laughing at you at all, just a little joke between me and Jo." She reached up and patted the taller girl's shoulder friendlily. "TWILIGHT!" Jo's shout came from down the hall. "Well that would be queen bee herself." Alice laughed again then skipped away further into the house. Twilight stood there for a moment, then followed, sighing. I can't decide if Equestria is weirder, or Earth. "Shut up, just shut up. No way, get out." Alice had her hands balled up into fists, and glued over her mouth, fighting back what looked to be sheer ecstasy. Her eyes were nearly as wide as a pony's, Twilight observed. "You guys really, really think that she's the real Twilight?" She laughed again and bounced up and down from where she sat on Jo's couch. "I am though," Twilight shot back confidently. "And we can prove it, sort of." She paused long enough to cough, then cleared her throat. Altogether her voice was starting to get scratchy from the coughing, at least she thought it was from the coughing. "...You should get back to resting, Twilight." Jo frowned over at the purple haired girl seated beside her. "I'm alright, this sweater helps." Twilight hugged the thick cloth she'd worn the day before around herself, smiling weakly. "I don't want to be rude either and just take off. Now, anyhoof," she jumped when more eccentric laughing bubbled up out of Alice. "Uhm, as I was saying," she pressed on over it. "Perhaps we should all cut to the chase and show your friend our proof?" Jo watched her strange guest from another world smile at her reassuringly, then looked over at the person she had decided to bring into all of this. She stood up resolutely and strode towards the basement. "Yeah, alright, follow me." Twilight was surprised when instead of leaving through Jo's newly repaired backdoor, they instead went underground through another door. "Uhm, Jo? Where are we going?" She watched as the two humans entered the darkened cellar, the blonde one wearing a look of equal parts skepticism and excitement. "You'll see." Jo called back to her. "While you were asleep..." A deep, purple glow was coming from the bottom of the long staircase, captivating Twilight's attention. Oh, she moved them, wow that could have been incredibly dangerous! "-and then I just put them all in here, it seemed like a good decision at the time, I dunno." Jo crossed her arms and stood confidently beside the other two girls. She looked over at Alice first, a smirk of triumph on her face. It shrank a bit when the other girl let out a disappointed aw sound. "What?" Alice looked from the strange props she'd been brought to and over at Jo. "Well, I was sort of expecting more ponies hiding out down here, actually." She grinned and rubbed a hand sheepishly against her arm. "Anyway, 'forgive me if I withhold my enthusiasm.'" Jo watched as Alice brightened and leaned over at Twilight, bouncing her eyebrows and smiling ear to ear. "Uhm, Jo?" Twilight leaned back from Alice. "Does she not believe us?" The unicorn looked from one girl to the other, and was relieved when Alice sighed, then backed away. Jo harrumphed and picked up a large example of the glowing crystals piled in the corner. The thing lit up in her hand and sparks bounced in every direction as she did so. Twilight watched wearily, unsure of what exactly the thing was or what it was capable of. "Alice, do you remember an earth shattering kaboom a few days ago?" Jo hefted the crystals in her hands and prodded it at her friend. The other girl's mesmerized look melted and became as weary as Twilight's as she nodded quickly. "Well, that was Twilight impacting Earth. I have a gigantic crater in my backyard that she made, as a result. My shattered backdoor? Her landing did that. I don't know what's going on, or why, and maybe I'm a little crazy for believing her in the first place..." She looked over and smirked at Twilight. "But, I've got nothing to lose by helping her, I figure, and this stuff is definitely too unexplainable for it to be fake." To finalize her point, Jo tapped the crystal against the floor, and another shower of magical motes danced out and flittered into the air around them. The sound of Alice falling back on her butt and gasping was the only thing that accompanied a melodic ring—like that of a tuning fork—springing out of the crystal. Jo smirked triumphantly over at Twilight again. "Sorry, I hit one last night and found out they do that." She resettled her gaze on Alice and grabbed her hand, hoisting the shocked girl back to her feet. "So, in light of things, no pun intended, do you think you would be alright with helping us out?" Alice timidly reached out a hand and poked the crystal Jo held, eyes growing wider when it reacted with a few bouncing sparks. "Yeah," she answered breathily, then looked over with her still widened eyes at Twilight. "Sounds good to me." Twilight smiled, coughed, then hugged the blonde maned girl, wanting to calm her down. "Great! Any friend of Jo's is a friend of mine, she's been so nice to me and-" "Whoa whoa whoa," Alice began stepping out of Twilight's grasp and pushed her back, a stern, hard look on her face all of a sudden. Jo and Twilight both looked to one another, then back at Alice in surprise. "What's wrong?" Twilight asked worriedly. Oh no, maybe she's like the humans Jo warned me about the other day... She swallowed hard. "I'm totally alright with accepting that Twilight is a pony princess from another world," Alice straightened up and pointed a finger at Jo. "But if you expect me to believe that Jo was being 'nice' to somepony, you got another thing coming, missy." Jo growled and swung the crystal at Alice's head. All at once, giggling, shouting, stomping feet and a scuffle for control of the crystal broke out between them; with Twilight in the middle of it trying to restore order amongst the flailing humans.