7 - Lonely is As Lonely Does
Joey had barely gotten any sleep. He had completely given up at about eight in the morning, managing only two hours of sleep. This only meant one thing - coffee consumption would be out of this world today. He pulled himself out of bed and trudged towards the stairs.
He was going to avoid ponies and humans alike if he could help it, starting today - or at least until he could get the ball rolling in terms of a career. He wasn't even sure if he could manage that.
He set some milk to boil and grabbed some oats from the counter. As the coffee machine bubbled and sighed, he stared blankly into the pan. He had no idea what he was doing. Usually he would just cook oats with water, but he kind of didn't give a shit today. Who was going to stop him from cooking raw oats in milk today? If he did this right, or at least the way he thought of it in his sleep deprived brain, he would have some good ass oatmeal to munch on.
A knock came at the door. Damn. Must be the Milk Police. Didn't think they'd be making welfare checks this early in the morning.
Smirking at his own stupid joke, he peeked out the front window to see a long, flowing mane of many colors. Wow, she actually showed up in person.
He opened the door to find a smiling Princess Celestia standing there accompanied by that other pink princess he had seen at the Gala. He stood there, unsure of how he should address them at the current moment. He had vaguely assumed that the others stayed the night up in Canterlot, but of course just disappearing like he did would have made things... difficult.
"Hello, Joey." Celestia said warmly. "Did you sleep well -?" Looking him up and down, her smile faded. "No, I suppose not."
"Erm - either of you want coffee?" Joey asked, feeling awkward as hell. "Just brewed a new pot..."
"That sounds lovely." Celestia beamed. "Oh! I would also like you to meet Princess Cadance of the Crystal Empire. I meant to introduce you last night."
Joey began to bow his head, but Cadance quickly interrupted "Please don't!! Just Cadance is fine. Nice to meet you!"
Joey raised his eyebrows and shrugged. Turning back to go inside, he said "Make yourselves at home." The least he could do was be a good host for the princesses.
Once the two were seated at the table with their drinks Celestia took a deep breath. "I'm going to address the elephant in the room. Joey, I did not say your name last night. I fully intended to, but... I got distracted."
She waited for a response, but Joey said nothing. His polite facade was already beginning to crack.
"I've been worried about you. Ever since the first meeting." Celestia continued. "You are no less important than the others. You know that, don't you?"
Joey turned to face them, expressionless. It was hard for Celestia to get a read on him. He seemed to ponder his words for a moment before letting out a small raspberry. "Sure, I know that. But do you?"
Celestia closed her eyes. That stung. "I don't blame you for feeling that way. I'm sorry I slipped up in your moment of fragility. Whether you want to admit it or not, all of you are cracking at the seams. I can see it."
Joey clenched his jaw before dumping the oats into the now boiling milk. As he fiddled with the dial he said, "Listen pri- Celestia. My opinion of you hasn't changed. You worked so hard just for everything to fail in the end. Then you hosted a whole Gala. To me, that's insane. Bonkers. I don't blame you, but... thanks. That was nice to hear. Sorry for being rude."
Cadance was impressed by his response. Celestia smiled slightly before putting on a concerned look again. "I heard about your arguments with Clara. While I don't condone swearing, I don't think I blame you in that situation. Especially with all the confusion where your older sister is concerned."
Joey froze. "Yeah."
Cadance exchanged a nervous glance with Celestia. "We had a talk last night and she - she mentioned that your sister... is dead. We're sorry for your loss...."
Joey frowned. "What?? She told you that? Of course she would. She didn't tell you anything else, did she?"
"No, but I must confess that when she told us, all of us were there." Celestia continued solemnly. "She didn't say anything beyond that, I thought it would be inappropriate to discuss is in front of so many."
Joey felt livid. He wanted to strangle that dumb bitch so hard right now. "I'll bet she didn't really seem to care, either. Am I right?"
Celestia bit her lip, which pretty much confirmed it for Joey. He leaned over the counter with outstretched arms and sighed. "I don't even remember any of that happening. My big sis was no angel, but... I dunno, I never thought she would have bullied someone. My parents probably took care of the issue, knowing them. There's no way they would have let a bully live under our roof."
"Often times bullies are simply bullies to cope with a struggle of their own." Cadance assured him, sipping her coffee. "Obviously that doesn't make it okay, but no one would know your own sister better than you."
"I guess..." Joey replied skeptically. "Not like it matters anymore."
"It does matter." Celestia said sternly. "It is a great weight to carry. You don't have to hide it from us, we want to help you. Twilight and her friends are also worried about you."
"Only because they were forced to remember I exist." Joey said bitterly. "I bet that's why anyone even noticed that I left."
"I'm sure that's not true." Celestia disagreed in a soft tone. "It has been a stressful season for everypony -"
"You can't tell me that it's not true!" Joey barked, shocking the other two. "I hate exaggerating real problems, yet I'm pretty much positive that I'm a nobody to everyone else. I could lock myself in this house and I guarantee that I would hardly come up in conversation as long as the other four are around!"
"You aren't a nobody..." Cadance said with a hurt expression. "Please don't say that."
"I'm not a nobody to myself." Joey grunted, calming down. "I think I'm just fine on my own. If you aren't going to understand then I don't see a point in explaining myself."
"You are very reserved." Celestia observed. "You seem to be bottling up a lot of things inside. I've known very few throughout my lifetime who have done it as well as you have."
"What do you suggest then, your highness?" Joey asked warily. "Just - spill the beans to you? Every last secret I have?"
"I will not force you to open up to me, nor anypony else." Celestia said sadly. "I've seen it on one other occasion, and it ended up costing the both of us so, so much. You don't need to tell the world your secrets and struggles. Actually, it's best if you don't. All I'm saying is that I am willing to listen to what your heart is screaming to say."
"I know you just met me today, so I can leave if it makes you more comfortable." Cadance added kindly.
Joey looked up at the two of them. They were both smiling at him, but it wasn't a strange, forced smile - he could tell that Celestia was being genuine. Somehow he could tell Cadance really cared about him as well, despite only knowing her for the past fifteen minutes. It was a really weird feeling, but now he felt torn.
Should he just tell them as if they hadn't pretty much just forgotten his existence at a life-changing speech? No, that wasn't fair to Celestia. She was clearly burdened with an incredible amount at the moment, and the fact that she was here, urging him with sincere care...
Joey sighed. "Fine. Just... don't start flinging around this story to everyone in your circles. Alright? Don't expect me to tell you everything, either."
"Your timeline is your own." Celestia answered with a small smile that had hints of - what was it, relief? "Please don't feel pressured to tell us more than you're comfortable with. Just know that holding too much in can destroy you."
Damn, she wasn't wrong. Respect.
"Well... okay. Katy - my sister - wasn't the only one in the wreck." Joey began, closing his eyes.
Celestia's eyes widened, as did Cadance's, but neither of them said a word.
"My mother was in there, so was my younger brother." Joey continued with a stony expression. "My mom died right away with my sister, but my younger brother - Caleb - was taken to the hospital. He died shortly after that."
Without a word, Celestia rose to her hooves and wrapped Joey up in a tight but gentle hug. It honestly felt really nice.
Cadance sat there in shock. That was far more brutal than what she had been expecting to hear. How did he keep such a strong face? She would have been in a mess if Twilight or Shining died in some freak accident...
Celestia felt overwhelmed. Like Cadance, she couldn't believe Joey had kept that all in while staying functional. Of course she herself did it all the time. As princess, she had to. He had to have been very strong to keep it in... which probably meant (she thought with a sinking feeling) that this wasn't the extent of his troubles.
"I am so, so sorry." she said shakily. To have that to deal with, on top of everything else that has happened..."
Joey felt awkward. This had been the first real time he had been comforted since his father's funeral, so he wasn't sure about how he should respond.
Celestia released him and knelt slightly to be at his eye level. "I'm sure you're worried about your father, then?" she asked gently. "I can only imagine."
"He's in a better place, don't worry." Joey replied stiffly, avoiding her eye contact.
Celestia paused, studying his suddenly rigid look. She looked to Cadance, who seemed to be momentarily confused by this reply as well. Then, simultaneously, it dawned on them.
This time Cadance was the one to rush over and give him a hug. "How in Equestria are you keeping this to yourself?? This isn't healthy, Joey!" Her voice was a lot more shaky then Celestia's had been, and her eyes were slightly welling up as well.
"Don't make a big deal about it." Joey said roughly. "I'm serious. I'm fine, I promise."
He said it with such a strong tone that anyone or pony would have believed it. The princesses weren't fools, however, and were having none of it.
"We promise to keep this among us." Celestia assured him. "Do you mind if I tell Luna about what you have said? Nopony else will hear unless you say so." she added as Joey looked at her with slight alarm.
He thought about it for a moment, pulling away from Cadance politely. "What is your sister like?"
"She's more similar to you than anypony I could think of." Celestia replied confidently. It was true, Luna had a history of bottling things up to a massive degree. She had indeed grown wiser since her return, and she could be a great help to the young man.
Joey took a deep breath. "I'm trusting you with this."
Celestia smiled. "That means a great deal. Thank you, Joey."
"I will also stay quiet about this unless you asked for me not to." Cadance said, regaining her composure.
Joey couldn't help but smile. "I really appreciate that, guys. Can we talk about something less... sad?"
"Of course! Why don't we discuss your future here?" Celestia suggested, taking a seat at the table once again. "Now from what I understand regarding the roles you and your fellow humans had for your project, you were their videographer."
"Yeah, I was thinking about stuff like that." Joey said evasively. "Not quite sure yet. I've been reading up on options for a little while now."
"You're on top of this already? I must say, that attitude will get you far." Celestia responded, looking impressed. "Not knowing exactly what you want to do is completely okay. There is no rush, but don't be afraid to reach out if you need help."
Joey shrugged. "I should be okay, but thanks anyway."
The conversation continued onto less complicated matters. Celestia and Cadance were both quite pleased with how easy it was to talk with Joey. He didn't seem to hold them in any sort of contempt for what happened, nor did he complicate the way he addressed them. It was like talking with a real friend. He also asked them questions themselves which impressed them more; they could tell it was out of genuine curiosity rather than forced politeness.
"Oh my word! I'm going to miss the train!!" Cadance yelped suddenly, hopping up from her seat. She gave Joey a quick departing hug and smiled. "Thanks for being open with us today. I know it isn't much, but I do hope you'll write to us."
"What a wonderful idea!" Celestia agreed, beaming. "It is important to stay in touch."
"No promises." Joey sighed.
"Ahem. Of course." Celestia giggled. "The offer still stands. I have duties of my own that I need to return to, so unfortunately I will be leaving as well. I do hope we can speak like this again."
"Yeah, that would be cool. Thanks for taking the time to see me." Joey said with a small grin. He really meant it.
After Celestia initiated a goodbye hug in herself, the two alicorns teleported away. Joey stood there in silence, trying to process the wacky morning he had just experienced. Finally he sighed and grabbed the citizenship papers that had lay on the table nearly forgotten. He walked over to his armchair and plopped down.
For seemingly the first time since arriving here, he was in genuinely decent spirits. To know that there were at least a few in this world who wouldn't forget about his existence was a huge consolation. He didn't know how much he should trust them, but they gave him a really good gut feeling.
Too bad they had to be some of the most busy ponies on the planet. Still, no complaints.
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I get the feeling that Celestia and Cadance will accidentally break their promise to Joey.
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Oh, almost guaranteed. The real question is to whom that promise will be broken. They plan to tell Luna and this was accepted by Joey. So will it be to Twilight and/or her friends or to the other humans? If it's Twilight and the others, they'll at least be sworn to secrecy easily but they'll certainly act on it. The other humans... Who knows. We only know they all are aware of Katy's death but we don't know if Clara is aware of the others. It's going to explode regardless at some point.
Nice chapter. Looking forward for more.
I hope this doesn't turn into a tragedy where they just forget him once they leave, But I can see it happening for some reason.
I really love how you're portraying this. Keep it up!!
Thanks for the chapter!
I know something is gonna go wrong with this situation, but I really wanna hope he finally catches a break.
Stray / here
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Nice catch, thanks
Onwards to Las pegasus, and the lord of the horseshoes.
Nooooo I need more chapters not enough hie include multiple humans
*Murphy law has entered the chat*
Oh hello Murphy good to see you
Sate Sate Sate.
First of all, I must clarify something, my English is not very good, maybe I have grammatical errors when writing, so I'm sorry if my English is a little bad.
Very well, I think it is only fair that I leave a comment after having read these seven chapters.
As my friend Jack the Ripper says; Let's do this in parts.
First of all I must congratulate you for such a good idea you had. (Well, as far as a Humans In Equestria story allows)
I have read many stories of Humans in Equestria, mostly stories in Spanish, very few stories in English have been the ones that have caught my attention and I have finished, either due to the lack of following the story, or because the author left the forgotten story, or because the plot and the story itself that I had been reading took a silly, cliched, predictable and, above all, boring turn. I must say that as such HIE stories have this problem and it is difficult to make one that maintains that "surprise" especially when the fandom has been around for more than 10 years and surprisingly many of us are still hooked on these beautiful, curious and interesting HIE stories.
Now, the story, the plot that you handle according to our protagonist, looks great, not to mention it is something that I had never really read, not to mention that here you not only give a context of how the other humans arrive, but that you even passed from including only one, to integrating four other humans, who, looking closely, have chemistry between them, at least all of them with the exception of the protagonist for obvious reasons.
Now, another important point that you bring up and what hooked me first, was the "problem" about feeling isolated, ignored or left out, for all kinds of things when it comes to our protagonist. and I must say that it is something exciting, I have read HIE stories that are psychological, and they have really been the best, I will name one in case you are interested in reading it and it was "A Psychopath in Equestria" is a story in Spanish. As such, this story is great because it allows us to see something that many ignore and that I must say, it made me feel too identified with our protagonist.
"The bystander syndrome"
That's what I like to call this. Joey is ignored at many points in the story, and perhaps not ignored but not taken into account or simply goes unnoticed. It is that person who is there, but his environment swallows him up because each person is in their respective things and this happens a lot in people who do not tend to have many friends, since they are the group of friends that make you really feel part of the group. group, and this must be taken into account, because Joey is not part of the group, he does not even really know them well enough for him to say "They are my friends"
From that point something is made clear to the reader, he is alone. and as we read about his story and everything he has lost, he is not only alone physically but psychologically, he loses his family completely which already leaves an effect of loneliness that makes him a lonely person, and that also does not make him very sociable due to because he does not want to feel the pain of loss again, which works in his favor and against him, because he can make very significant fraternal and loving bonds in the long term, but he will have a gigantic pain if these ties end up breaking. for the loss of death or a breakup of a girlfriend or boyfriend.
Now. This is great, because the story itself is responsible for showing that loneliness and isolation that Joey feels when he sees how everyone leaves him aside, and that unfortunately, Joey is forced to keep himself at bay, either because of his attitude, or because Not feeling like a burden to others is a feeling that we can all feel and that, for the better, makes the story feel so unfairly beautiful.
The part where everyone goes bowling except him hits hard, especially when everyone agrees to go to the Apple party, but it turns out that he can't go, now... That's understandable that the party is by default something "private" for friends and family. but even Joey himself knows that he can go. and that due to the insistence of others to refuse, he cannot go.
The important point is also to see how even the ponies themselves and the protagonists of MLP leave it aside.
This is surprising, because again you can say that "Bystander Syndrome" affects them too, forgetting him, and even not being able to remember the name, because again, Joey goes unnoticed and almost no one notices him. Such is the point that even Princess Celestia herself forgets to present it at the enormous and gigantic gallop gala. To the point where she blames herself so much for personally going to talk to Joey.
Now, Joey's attitude... I must say that she is very mature for her age, and above all she does not act like someone her age, many people I know would have exploded, yelled, harassed and even hit someone for the things that they said. They have passed on Joey (And this makes me feel even more identified with him)
Joey tries to give an "excuse" even to those who forget or leave him aside, and that's very good of him, he doesn't just think about himself, he analyzes the situation and his surroundings, thinking about what could have happened or excuse the actions of those around you. And even he tries not to be a "nuisance" to others, leaving there, which also makes other people ignore him and forget him easily.
In short, it is a great story (for the moment) that has caught my attention, and I will look forward to each chapter you release in the future. I really hope that you don't leave this story aside and forget to update it, I have seen and read many unfinished stories, which in truth had a good story, but due to the circumstances of life, they were not finished.
The story is concise, great, very emotional, striking and above all it hooks you in the first chapter, because you want to know what else happens, and at the same time, as you read, you want the story not to continue because you don't know what else could happen to the protagonist, but that is the charm of the story.
Now, the reason why I feel identified with the protagonist. I've been through a similarity that's almost horrendously and eerily similar to Joey. It's sad to be that "friend" who is there at some party, but when others talk about it, they treat you as if you weren't there.
It's sad to be the friend who is only there when they really need something from you because you are a specialist in something, or you know or have something to care about. And you are only useful for something. The same as Joey, because they use him because he has experience in cinematography, and because they used him for the meetings with Celestia and the presentation of the gala. (In my case he was for being too good at school)
It's sad to be that friend who is there for everyone, to help them, support them monetarily, but when you need help emotionally, or even for something as insignificant as getting you on your feet in a difficult situation. No one who calls themselves "friends" comes to give you a hand.
It's sad that everyone forgets about you to invite you to a meeting, a party, a wedding, a birthday or an important event.
It's sad that everyone ignores you like I did.
Although I can get good things out of this... Once after we went to a party and they planted drugs on one of the tables where we sat, I was able to go unnoticed, to the point that my friends saw me walk in front of them, but Nobody told me anything.
Another moment was when my "friends" and I had gone to do destruction in my town, mainly breaking windows, and when the police came to identify the culprits at school, my friends were so unfortunate that they didn't even bother to point me out, well They even doubted that I had gone with them (Even though I was the one who broke the most windows that time)
My latest story is the following... Everyone in my classroom forgot about my birthday, even though I had organized 10th birthday parties for some of my classmates, and they didn't even remember to give me a happy birthday on my day.
Excellent story my friend. really a great story, I wish you the best to continue with this story, and believe me that the next time I write a comment again, it will be to congratulate you for finishing it, because really these chapters have been much better than other stories I have " tried" to read, and I say try to read because they really were stories... Not bad. Very bad.
GG WP BRO.
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ngl I read this whole comment, that means a lot man!
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Can you redirect me to the spanish HIE stories i havent been capable of finding them