New Life in Equestria

by jkreader

Chapter 16 - Promises Made

At the end of school, Miss Cheerilee gave us a math assignment. I noticed Joshua seemed happy at this. Math must’ve been his favorite subject in school. Soon we all left the schoolhouse, and Joshua, the other crusaders, and I went over to the clubhouse.

“Okay everypony,” I said after we all sat down, “what Joshua is about to tell you all cannot leave these walls. You all promise?”

“I promise,” Twist said.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” the others said, reciting and performing the Pinkie Pie Promise. Joshua looked confused at that.

“What was that?” he asked.

“It’s a Pinkie Pie Promise,” Apple Bloom said, “Whenever somepony makes a Pinkie Pie Promise, they have to keep it no matter what. We don’t want to lose your trust buddy, because losing a friend’s trust is the fastest way to lose a friend forever.”

“FOREVER!!!”

We all jumped at the sudden shout. There was Pinkie Pie staring at us sternly through the window.

“Pinkie Pie?” Joshua asked confused.

“Hi there Joshie!” she said returning to her happy attitude.

“You heard us?”

“I always know whenever somepony makes a Pinkie Promise,” she said, “And you can trust me that I’ll keep it too if you tell me what you’re about to say.”

“You promise?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she said reciting her promise.

“Okay,” Joshua said standing up, “Last night, while taking my shirt off, there was this bright light that appeared on my forehead. When it went away, I took off my shirt all the way, looked in the mirror, and there was a unicorn horn on my forehead.”

“There was?” Sweetie Belle said.

“Where is it now?” Scootaloo asked.

“Twilight made it invisible with her magic,” I explained, “It’s still there, it’s just invisible. Show them Joshua.”

Joshua then placed a hand on top of his invisible horn, and everypony there went wide-eyed.

“Sweet Applesauce!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.

“Did it hurt when it appeared?” Twist asked.

“No,” Joshua said shaking his head, “Princess Celestia came in last night to look at it, but she said she didn’t know why it appeared, and that I was turning into a pony, but I don’t want to be a pony.”

“Don’t worry buddy,” Scootaloo said placing a hoof on Joshua’s hand, “We’ll all be here for you. We promise not to let this conversation leave the clubhouse.”

“My lips are sealed,” Pinkie said, “See you all later Crusaders! Hope you feel better Joshie.” She then bounced away from the window, humming to herself.

“How does she do that?” Joshua asked.

“It’s just Pinkie Pie,” Apple Bloom responded flatly, “You’ll get used to it.”

“We need to get going and see if Twilight has found anything,” I said.

“Plus we’ve got that math assignment to do as well,” Sweetie Belle added. So we all went our separate ways back home. Joshua and I entered the library to see Twilight and Spike still looking through the books. Twilight noticed us coming in.

“Oh I’m sorry you two,” she said, “I must’ve lost track of time.”

“It’s okay Mom,” Joshua said, “I understand.”

“Did you tell your friends about you know what?” I asked.

“Yes, except for Pinkie Pie, and they promised they wouldn’t tell anypony else. I couldn’t find Pinkie Pie though.”

“She found me, Joshua, and the other Crusaders actually,” I explained, “We told them and they promised not to tell either.”

“Good, good,” Twilight said, “Well, so far we still haven’t found anything about why Joshua’s horn appeared.”

Just then, the spell that made Joshua’s horn invisible wore off and it reappeared. Joshua let out a sad sigh.

“Don’t worry Joshua. We’ll figure out how to fix it,” Twilight said rubbing his cheek with a hoof. Just then Spike started making a gagging sound. He then burped and a rolled up scroll appeared. Twilight caught it with her magic and unrolled it.

“What does it say?” Joshua asked. Twilight cleared her throat and read:

Dear Twilight Sparkle,
We looked through the Canterlot Archives and we think we have a lead on to why Joshua is going through his transformation. It might be something we can use to reverse the transformation, but we will have to look into it further until we are certain. For now, just do your best to help Joshua any way you can, and keep me updated on any further incidents Joshua has with becoming a pony.

Your fellow princess and mentor,

Princess Celestia

“Well Joshua, Princess Celestia thinks she may have found something, but wants to make sure it’ll work before trying it on you,” Twilight said.

“Okay,” he said showing a small smile.

“At least we’re getting somewhere,” Twilight added, “Now why don’t you and Nyx go do your homework?”

I nodded my head and led Joshua upstairs. There we worked on the math assignment Miss Cheerilee gave us. Soon after finishing his assignment, Joshua went to sit on our bed.

“Are you gonna be okay?” I asked him. He looked up at me and had a sad frown.

“I don’t know Nyx,” he said to me, “I just really hope Princess Celestia fixes me.” He then laid down on his chest looking at the clock in the room. I then finished up my assignment, trotted over to him, laid down next to him, and placed a hoof on his back. He turned to look at me and I gave him a sad smile.

“It’ll be okay little brother,” I said, “You know we’re all here for you right?”

He nodded at me and sat up. I did the same, and we hugged each other.

“Thank you Nyx,” he said. We held our hug for what felt like hours, and I could feel Joshua relaxing in my embrace. “I hope what Princess Celestia found works,” he added after we finished our hug.

“Me too,” I said, “You wanna get a snack from the kitchen?”

“Sure,” he said nodding.