Earth Pony

by Basmati

Twilight and Josh

When my last class ended, I grabbed my bag, and ran out, Lydia closely following me.

"I still don't get it," she said, as we walked into our form room. "You met this guy yesterday, and now you're inviting him to your house?"

"It's complicated - he helped me yesterday, and I figured he would enjoy it. He's a brony too, you know," I quickly made up. I couldn't tell her the truth - she would think I was completely insane, or think I was lying to her, and that I thought she was stupid enough to think that was true.

"Are you going to have sex with him?"

"What?!" I exclaimed. "No. No! No! Oh my god, no! Why would you even think that?!"

Lydia just stared at me. "It's a legitimate question."

I opened my desk and shoved some books inside. "No it is not. It's a weird question!" I slammed my desk shut and went to the back of the classroom to grab my coat. Lydia again followed me.

"So there's nothing going on between you two? At all?"

I put my hands on both of Lydia's shoulders. "Lydia. You are my best friend. I would tell you ages in advance if there was a possibility of something happening between us."

"Ok..."

I turned around, picked up my coat and buttoned it up. It was July, the supposedly second hottest month of the year, and, of course, it was rainy and windy. It seemed that everyone else in the world was enjoying nice weather (except Antarctica, because, you know, it's pitch black darkness over there and probably constant snowstorms, but at least they were expecting it), and then there was us. Sometimes, the British weather really annoys me.

I picked up my bag, and turned back towards Lydia, who was standing at her desk, facing away from me. I could tell what was bothering her - she thought I was keeping secrets from her. Really, I was, just not about what she thought it was about. There was no way I could tell her about the Twilight situation - she wasn't a brony, there was no way she was going to be a brony. Luckily for me, she was accepting of my bronyness, unlike a lot of others in my year. But it was obvious that she would never be one herself. She has taken no interest in the programme at all, even when I've come in wearing a 'My Little Pony' t-shirt, all she does is sigh. But I'm not bothered - at least she isn't calling me a freak like the others.

I walked over to her, gave her a hug and said goodbye.

"If anything happens, you text me. Immediately. He is an older man after all," she said, winking.

Facepalm. Repeatedly.

***

When I got to the gates, I could see Josh standing there, waiting for me. I brushed my coat down, made sure my bag was properly on my shoulder, then walked out to greet him.

He was leaning on the railings, his headphones over his ear, his head bobbing in time with the music. The main thing I remember about how he looked was the fact that he was wearing a grey coat. I only remember this because I have a thing for guys who wear grey coats - I have no idea why, I just do. And that plus my previous conversation with Lydia meant instant-blush.

Ignoring my slightly red cheeks, I walked over to where he was, and waved.

He raised his hand up and said, "Wait."

I stood there for a few seconds, feeling quite awkward and confused, until, suddenly, he burst out in song.

"Discord! I'm howling at the moon, and sleeping in the middle of a summer afternoon. Discord! Whatever did we do to make you take our world away?"

"Discord! Are we your prey alone, or are we just a stepping stone for taking back the throne?" I joined in. "Discord! We won't take it anymore, so take your tyranny away!"

I started laughing, as he put his headphones around his neck and turned his i-Pod off.

"God, I love that song. And I take it so do you?"

"Of course. Love The Living Tombstone's remix. Pure awesome."

He raised his hand up for a High Five, which I accepted of course.

"Anyway," he said, putting a hand in one of his pockets and pointing with the other. "Onwards! To your house!"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, laughing as he began marching up the street. I ran up beside him and we began the long walk home.

"Actually," he started. "How far away is your house?"

"About 3 miles."

"Dammit."

***

The journey home was an interesting one. I had never walked home with someone before. All the times Lydia came over, we took the bus, or my mum or dad would come and pick us up. So this was a completely new experience.

Also, even though this was the day that both my parents were working late, there was still the possibility of them arriving early and finding Josh or Twilight or both here and freak out. My parents were quite cool with a lot of things, but I have a feeling that they won't like find Josh, a 17 year old male, with me in my room or in my Barn, which is pretty much my room.

But the main worry was Josh's reaction. I could still remember my reaction to seeing Twilight - I collapsed. I really didn't want Josh to do the same, or worse. The closer we got to my house, the more scared I got and the more I thought this wasn't a good idea.

Finally, we walked around the corner, and walking up the driveway, I knew it was way too late to back out now.

"Wow," Josh said, staring at my house, his eyes wide in awe. "You didn't mention you live in a mansion!"

"I don't live in a mansion," I said, rummaging through my bag, looking for my keys. "Granted, it's a big house, but not a mansion. It's a reasonably sized house for this area." I knew I was starting to bullshit, so I figured I should probably stop and shut my mouth.

I felt that the best idea was to not go straight to the Barn. I mean, if someone took you to their house and then introduced you to your favourite cartoon character, what would you do? Not just smile and say, "How do you do?" I felt that the safe option was go into the house first and gently ease him in.

As we walked through the front door, Josh gave it an approving whistle. I shut the door and turn to find him staring at me. "What?" I asked.

"Aren't your parents home? I can imagine they won't be too thrilled with me being here."

"Oh," I said, throwing my bag down, and hanging my coat up. "They're working late tonight - won't be back for ages. What about your parents - don't they care where you are?"

Josh shook his head. "Nope. It used to be annoying - I mean I did want them to care about me - but now, I love myself some freedom."

"Wow." I was genuinely impressed. I know that he was in the year above me, and most likely has more freedom than me because of that, but not that much.

I didn't know what the best time to show him Twilight was - granted, there could never be a good time to show someone an animated purple unicorn, but there must be a better time than just pushing him in as soon as he arrives.

So, we went into the kitchen and I got us each a drink, trying to delay it as much as possible. We both started talking about how we found the show and became bronies.

"My friend watched it, and then kept pressurising me into watching it. So I did - then fell in love with the community."

"I do have to say - the community is one of the best things about being a brony. Us bronies stick together!" I said, grinning.

Josh laughed. "The community is so awesome. Community is best pony," he said, winking. "What about you?"

"I actually watched it with my little cousin, because she wanted to watch it and I just watch whatever's on the TV, and it seemed interesting, so watched the rest, and...just loved it," I said, smiling to myself. It's funny that my 4 year old cousin is the reason I became a brony, because she had a tantrum because we wouldn't let her watch what she wanted to. What makes me laugh is that now, almost the age of 6, she doesn't like it anymore.

"Interesting. Most of the bronies I know watched it because of all the hype and hate around bronies, but then eventually became one themselves. The community probably had a large part to play in most people's bronification - I mean the number of meme's we've created."

"I have a couple of references on my wall." God dammit. Too soon.

Well, hopefully he won't say-

"Really? Can I see?"

Nope. He did.

"Yeah. Sure. It's in the Barn though, out in the garden," I said, hoping he might change his mind.

"Sounds awesome. Do mind if I see?"

"Absolutely not."

And with that, I grudgingly walked across the garden, Josh bouncing next to me, towards the Barn, where I knew something bad was bound to happen.

I can hear you ask now - if you thought it was such a bad idea, why did you even invite him over? Simple - I'm an idiot. I didn't think it through. I could remember my reaction - I could still feel her reaction - and I could imagine that this was not going to end well. Someone was going to freak out, and then we'll be left with either a scared teenage guy, or a scared magical pony.

We got to the Barn door, and I put one hand on the handle, then spun on the spot, and faced Josh.

"Now before we go in, I must tell you...you have to promise to not scream, or panic, or freak out in front of her."

"Her?"

"Please?"

"Err...ok. I promise. But who are you talking about?"

I put my hand on the door handle. "You'll see soon enough." I opened the door and walked in, with Josh following me closely, full of suspense.

As I walked to the middle of the room, Twilight came out. "Grace, where have you been? I've been worried that you weren't com-"

That was when she saw Josh.

"Twilight, this is Josh. Josh...I think you know Twilight." I looked over at Josh. He was standing there. Just standing there, staring at her - not moving, not saying anything, not doing anything.

"Oh shit," I thought. I walked up to Josh, waving my hand in front of his face. "Josh? Are you ok?"

And that was when he started laughing.

It was really quiet at first - really it just sounded like his breathing was a bit weird. Then, it just burst out. Both Twilight and I jumped back in fright at his manic laughing, and I felt so helpless as I stood there and watched him, bent over, clutching his stomach, laughing his head off. "This is it - he's lost it," I thought, as I watched.

After what seemed like ages, he finally stood up straight, and wiping his eyes, said, "Oh, that was a good one, Grace. How long have you been planning that?"

"Planning?"

"I mean, what a prank. With the mystery, and the suspense, and - where did you get this amazing robot?"

"Prank? No, Josh, this isn't-"

"I'm not a robot," Twilight said, not looking too happy.

Josh started laughing again. "She even responds! This is classic! You, my dear girl, are such a joker!"

"Josh, I am not kidding - this isn't a joke."

I was starting to get worried. Either he really believed that Twilight was just a practical joke I played on him, or the shock had gotten to him and he'd cracked.

In the end, it was Twilight who proved herself. She walked right up to Josh, stood on her hind legs with her front legs on his shoulders and said, "If I were a robot, could I do this?"

Twilight closed her eyes, and the look of complete concentration was etched on her face. Her horn began to glow, more and more furiously, and more and more Josh's smile began to fade.

Suddenly, all the items around us were surrounded by what I assume was Twilight's magic, and began...levitating slowly. I could feel my own jaw drop - I couldn't imagine what Josh was feeling right now. I looked over to find him froze on the spot, staring at Twilight in part awe, part fear.

Suddenly, Twilight opened her eyes, and the items all fell back to the ground, as she went back onto all fours. Everyone was silent for a while, until Josh turned me, pointed to Twilight, and said, quietly, almost a whisper, "That's Twilight Sparkle."

I nodded.

"This is...fucking awesome!"

Twilight still did not look happy. "Please, don't use that kind of-"

"How the fuck did you get the Twilight Sparkle here?" he exclaimed, running up to me and grabbing my shoulders, his face gleaming with happiness.

"You're taking this a lot better than I did. I collapsed."

Josh spun on the spot to face Twilight again. "Miss Sparkle, it is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Josh. Josh Campbell," he said, extending his hand for her to shake.

"It is lovely to meet you too. Especially now that you believe I'm real. Although, it's still better than when Grace and I met. I kind of hit her...with a rock. Then she collapsed from fright."

"Really?" he looked over at me, holding back his laugh.

"Well, what would you do if a pony knocked you out, then just appeared?"

"True..." He turned back to Twilight, with his face full of such awe, and amazement. He was genuinely happy. Watching him really made me think. I could do this. I could look after Twilight, with Josh's help, until she could go back to Ponyville. We could do it.

We hung out with Twi for about an hour, at which point, Josh figured he should probably head off home, considering that we both still had school the next day, and it would probably take him an hour or so to get home on the bus.

I walked him to the bus stop, and as we waited there, we began chatting again.

"How long has she been here?" he asked.

"About a week. She's lovely - we've really hit it off. You wouldn't have guessed it from the programme, but she actually really friendly."

"I can imagine."

Suddenly, the bus came hurtling down the road, and Josh started rummaging through his bag, getting the right change out.

Just before he got on the bus, I shouted, "Would you like to help?"

"Help?"

"With Twilight? She's great, but I really need someone to help with food and to help cover for me - stuff like that."

Josh look shocked. "Oh God. I've frightened him. He hates me," I thought.

"I'd love to," was the reply.

I threw myself on him, wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug, saying, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Are you getting on, mate?" We both turned to find the bus driver staring at us, quite angrily.

"Oh yes," he said, jumping on. He waved me goodbye, got his ticket and then sat down. I waved him off, until I could no longer see the bus, then turned and walked back home.

"Mission accomplished, " I said to myself, grinning.

Comments

[Lolsternater]

This guy... Who is he based off?

Also, GREAT MUSIC CHOICE! You are the best, sorry, second best author ever!

[Basmati]

1660468
He's based on a mixture of all the bronies I know.
They're all awesome