You've Got to be Foaly Kitty Me: Should Equestria Be Home?

by Josh Crapo

August 21, 2015 (Tail Flight)

I slept in late, because when I woke up, it said 10:31. Now, I really hope Josh is going to be okay. Last thing we need is an instant kill chemical to be injected into his body. After a little thinking, I hear a little tune. But I don't know where it's coming from. But now, I notice the sound of a vibration. It's Josh's phone. I quickly pick it up. I think this is Josh.

"Hello?... Josh, is that you?... What do you need?... Okay. What are they?... WHAT?!?" I slowly set down the phone in thought of not being able to see Josh again. I start sobbing at that fact. "IT'S NOT FAIR!!!" I hang up the phone and continue sobbing. Poor Joshua. Suddenly, through my loud sobbing, I hear someone going up the stairs, and then opening the door.

"Hello? Mom you alright?" That someone comes up the stairs. This is where I am right now. Looking at someone who looks quite a bit like Josh the last time I saw him. "Oh. So, it wasn't Mom who shouted that it's not fair. What's not fair?"

"The fact that I won't be able to see Josh again!" Oh now I remember this guy. It's Chaileb, Josh's oldest brother.

"What do you mean?"

"Josh's body is beyond the ability to recover even with medical assistance! It's just not fair!" I hug Chaileb almost as if it were Josh, which in return, he hugs me back. I sniffle a few times durning our hug still thinking about how Wind Rust or Wiretap might react.

A knock on the door stops us both. We let go. "Coming!" Chaileb runs down the stairs and opens the door. I have no idea what is on his mind because I have so much web vision from sobbing so much. Suddenly, I have flashbacks. I remember the first time I was sent back to Equestria, but this time, I know what's coming instead of realizing when I get to Maine. I'm going back to Equestria.

"A few of your kind would like to see you." It's not just one? I fly down the stairs to see who it is, albeit in a rather blurry sight. Celestia, Wind Rust and Wiretap. I start to realize, they're my only hope to see Josh one more time. I'm awestruck right now, which clears my vision of tears.

"May we come in?"

"You know these guys?" Chaileb looks at me.

"Uh-huh."

"Then please, come in." Chaileb walks into the bedroom while I walk back into the stairs and sit. No one moves. "Now where're you guys from?"

"That would be Equestria. I assume you're Josh's brother, right?" Chaileb nods at Celestia.

"One of two. And the oldest."

Everyone gathers around, including me.

"And now that Tail Flight, Wind Rust and Wiretap are all together with me, we must depart."

Celestia performs a spell that stings my eyes for a few seconds, but this time, I don't fall unconscious like I did returning to Equestria the first time around. Opening my eyes again, I see that we're back in Ponyville.

At the Ponyville Hospital, Nurse Redheart guides us to Josh's room. On the way there though...

"Hello? Tailly is that you?!?"

"C-caregiver?" I think a while back, then it hits me. I can't believe I'm saying this, but sweet shit! It is Caregiver! I haven't seen her since I stayed in Maine with Josh's grandfather. She looks so much like she did when she was in Maine. "Caregiver!!!" I run to hug her until I get frozen.

"Hold on there youngster. Seein' ya here in Equestria is a pretty sight for me, but it's a little unfathomable to see you here again. Ah thought you went back home." I'm landed onto the floor now.

"I did." I look to the floor in front of me and rub my front right leg.

"Ah, who'm Ah kitten!" Suddenly, I get lifted off the ground straight into Caregiver's two front legs. I finally hug Caregiver for the first time in almost two months. "Reunited at last."

"Kept in touch with Josh yet?" I look at Caregiver, who shakes her head. "Now is probably that last chance you could see him again."

"How come?"

"You'll need to find out when we get in there."

Ever so slowly, the five of us arrive at Josh's room, thanks to Caregiver, which I don't mind in the slightest.

"Josh! Since when'd ya get so thin?!?"

"Since I had a ton gum plant remedy. Wait a minute. Oh my gosh! It's Caregiver! I'm so glad everyone could make it here. With my body beyond medical assistance here to recover, and predicted to get worse overtime, I got injected with nicotine. It's the strongest common IKC found here in Equestria. I realize for you all 'to stay, we had to break away' eventually."

"Ah really hoped this day would've come so much later that Ah wouldn't have to see you like this." Caregiver runs over to Josh and hugs him.

"Thanks Caregiver. Say, do you remember any memory as Mama Kitty?"

"Of course not. Mostly to my age though." The room falls quiet on Caregiver. She looks a little confused. "What're y'all lookin' at me for?"

"I'm pretty sure Luna said that a pony who's gained otherworldly memories will lose them after fifteen straight days of their presence in Equestria."

"Exactly. I prevented that from happening by bringing them back to my world."

"Well, all Ah remember is wakin' up in Equestria before any of you three did."

"Yeah, I can't pinpoint it exactly, but she's been conscious in Equestria, even before August started."

"Well, Wiretap, I actually don't find that surprising seeing how elders don't usually need nearly as much sleep as people, or in your case, ponies our ages. I just would've hoped to've seen everypony I've met again."

"Oh you will on our watch..." I turn around to look behind me, as does everypony else, and we see the six ponies and Spike.

"Spike? Twilight? Pinkie? Rarity? Applejack? Fluttershy? RAINBOW DASH?!? You're back?!?"

"Yep. But not just us." Rainbow Dash kicks the door open to reveal a full crowd of ponies.

"Josh! You know all of these ponies? Who do you see?" Wind Rust looks at Josh, who looks at the crowd of ponies just to correctly state their names.

"Let's see... The Cutie Mark Crusaders, who I see have their cutie marks (very proud of you), Babs Seed, who I also see has her cutie mark (again, very proud), Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Pipsqueak, Featherweight, Rumble, Moon Dancer, Twinkle Shine, Lemon Hearts, Lyra Heartstrings, Isolate Mercy, Thunder Lane, Bulk Biceps, Sassy Saddles, Stormy Flare, Spitfire, Soarin', Fleet Foot, Surprise, Lightning Streak, Misty Fly, Blaze, Cheerilee, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, Zecora, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and last, but certainly not least, Lightning Rider."

Pinkie Pie nearly drops her jaw. "Wow! That's impressive! How'd you know all of those names?"

"Either I met them in the flesh, I saw them in the crowd at the derby, or I've heard about them."

"All but one, though, Joshua. You haven't said my name." Discord appears above Josh and teleports him in between both arms and hugs him. Josh does not look happy.

"You know Discord, if I had to choose between having a 'stiff jaw' and having a double arrhythmia, I'd choose having a 'stiff jaw'."

"Why, whatever do you mean?"

"Don't "what do you mean" me! It's clear to me that you've heard about me through the fact that I had mouth cancer. If that's the case, then you should've also heard that i had pegasus wings. Because no one realized I had pegasus wings, including me, everyone thought that ton gum plants were safe because I was just a human with wings."

"Well, excuse me for not noticing your wings when I first saw you."

"But you should've known at the very least that I had wings. You'd better be the pope of my reception that'll come in a few hours. You're not going to help me only to hurt me like you did with the ton gum plants if i'm already with Sydney and Sugar!"

"Well, I think I've already done that three times for you. First time, I gave you the ability to walk on clouds. Second time, I gave you the Wonderbolts outfit. Third time, I gave you your money."

"Yeah. Because you noticed that I didn't have my Wonderbolt attire and that I didn't have my bag of bits before i could say anything to you. What happened to that about the wings?!? You're master of chaos after all."

"I may be the master of chaos, but even a master at chaos isn't always limitless. I didn't notice your wings even when I saw you for the first time."

"Discord! Do I-"

"Josh, just stop it." Twilight levitates Josh back to his bed. "Discord has a point. Everypony has their limits. And Discord has them too. Just because he can make Ponyville into the chaos capitol of the world doesn't mean that he can sense non-magical events." Josh looks at Twilight rather oddly.

"But how're you siding with Discord?"

"I said he had a point. I never said I'm siding with him. I understand you're upset that he knew that ton gum plants were toxic to ponies. But I also understand that he didn't realize you didn't have pegasus wings."

"Oh. Well, Discord. I apologize for my misunderstanding."

"Apology accepted. And I'm sorry about my reckless understanding of your circumstance."

"I understand." Discord relocates Josh again and hugs him to which Josh hugs back. "Wiretap?" Wiretap looks at Josh. "Do you think you can run the reception?"

"Don't worry about a thing. I got you covered."

"So, I see you've met my cousin Josh." Rainbow Dash flies up to Josh, which he nods in response.

"Isolate Mercy, thanks again for saving what little life I have in me." An all white pegasus wipes a tear out of her eyes that'd come up in response to Josh's thanks. "I know it won't completely save my life. But I at least give you credit." Now that white pegasus rushes over to Josh and hug him tight.

"Anytime my friend."

Wind Rust wipes a tear off his eyes now as he walks over to the crowd. "Everypony, Me, Tail Flight, Wiretap and Caregiver are all the first four to've ever met Joshua. None of us came to Josh's world purely by accident. It was because of a senior prank that occurred. That senior prank has caused all of this to happen. If the prank was any different, none of us would've known about him, much less meet and see him in the flesh."

I stop Wind Rust. "Try and let Wiretap do that."

"I don't care whether or not you let it out when I'm alive. Even if I weren't, that the most beautiful speech I've ever heard. Come over here you three." Wiretap, Wind Rust and I all get on the bed and rest by him. All of us get misty eyed as we hug him. Josh looks at me and pats his non existing gut. I get up on Josh's belly and start to feel that same rhythm I'd once felt when I slept with Josh for the first time on the night of June 5th. It feels so comfortable that I could completely concentrate on my wings, which I spread out to preen. I look at Josh again. His smile has never been so wide even with little energy keeping it up.

I clean myself a little bit and start to feel drowsy. But I keep moving to another direction and looking at Josh, who is still smiling.

I stop focusing on Josh and just focus on getting to sleep. But then, at one spot, something feels off. That is not good. There's no rhythmic motion on Josh's belly that I had just felt. Did I seriously take that long just to get a comfortable position? Has it really been hours of me tossing and turning? When I realize that his belly was not moving, my cheeks get flooded with tears.

Two fillies, one pink and one grey, come up to the bed. "Tail Flight. I know Josh was important to you. So why don't you stay there during the service?" I look at the two and nod with tears ready to drip on them.

"Thank you." I uncover a little part of the blanket to see Josh's wing. I snuggle under it, still very misty eyed, and cover my eyes, listening for when the service starts.

From the sound of it, everypony gets into the room and takes a seat. That's when I hear Wiretap.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts, in the past few hours we've witnessed the last of Josh's life. He has predicted that he'd be with some of his childhood figures throughout his time. Nobody here from Equestria never knew him until the day of June first of this year. It was the day after a senior prank came underway. Those somebodies were Tail Flight and Wind Rust.

"We've known Josh for much longer than that because of having memories of three cats that may no longer be physically with Josh's family, but we will keep their memories safe. The feline memories Wind Rust, Tail Flight and I all have are respectively from Rusty, Eve and Dexter. We will honor them as we will honor Josh.

"Josh was the best companion anyone could ever ask for. Josh had many things going for him unlike any other, human or pony. He came from another world. He met what were thought in Josh's world to be fictional characters in the flesh. He grew pegasus wings. He became a Wonderbolt. He even obtained magic equivalent to a unicorn somewhat advanced at magic.

"It may've been a dream come true, but the reason why things ended up the way they did was because of that one day. On the night of Wednesday, August twelfth, Josh was given a potion, a potion that contained a plant known as the ton gum plant. While it near instantly helped the ball rolling, he'd grown from a thick gut to near underweight and having severe sweating fits.

"His condition left him with a double arrhythmia, one from the rapid loss of his fat cells causing the heart to pump unusually fast activating the other that was obtained from his father, the lead singer of a christian band named An Audience of One. The condition came as a surprise to him because he'd never been in the condition before. Is there anyone who'd like to comment on what being with Josh was like, sharing it with the rest of the audience?"

The room is now filling with sniffles throughout the speech. As I listen in on it, the question arises, getting me to look at Wiretap, who points at me as he saw me hear the question.

"If the senior prank were to take place on any other day, it should've been the day I was taken in. I really wished I could've talked with him longer. I've known him for about seven months now. He was the best friend I've ever had."

"Exactly, Josh was someone we wish we'd met longer. He kept a smile on his face even when it was hard. Josh, we will remember you You've care about us in our time of need. Tonight, when we sleep, you will be the shadow cast on every single one of our walls. What little time we've had with you was never in vain. And because of your status as a Wonderbolt, I request that we hold, a moment of silence."

I stop sniffling when I hear that phrase. The room is now completely empty of sound as everyone stops sniffling. Instead it fills with Josh’s symbolic presence. Suddenly, I feel like I’m in these settings from before I was even born. A-am I gaining Josh’s memory?!? I have images of Holiday Manor, a little church in Cortland with a mess hall next to it, LeMoyne, and even Court Street Apartments. It's such memories I've never had before.

"Thank you." I look up for the first time and see Wiretap smiling as I have been since I've gained Josh's memory. He walks over to me. "You going to be alright?"

"Yeah. I just had these flashbacks from before I was born, and I think I know who they were of."

"I had them too, and I know who it is as well."

I think a little bit. With Josh gone, I guess I have to get used to sleeping without any of the cozy motion or warmth that Josh once had. I'd have to supply to myself. "Does this mean that I'd have to sleep by myself again?!?"

"Absolutely not. You can sleep over with me whenever you'd like."

"Thanks, Wiretap." Wiretap and I hug each other.