Chapter 1 : Rough Landing
September 29th
The autumn night was cold out, complete with a chilling wind and erratic rainfall. The wind slowly gained strength along with the light drizzle pattering against the roofs of homes. Had someone been standing in it, the rain misting in their hair would have begun to dampen it. The surrounding streets were ever so slowly becoming slick, while brown and dying leaves became caught in the run-off on the sides of the road.
The interior of one home in particular was not much warmer than outside, especially when considering that its heat was turned off.
Inside a bedroom of the home on the top floor, was young woman with dark brown hair, almost black. She had a dull description and drew lackadaisically in her sketchbook. The drawing was finished as her initials were scrawled at the bottom in tiny, neat lettering: J.F.
She stretched back in the desk chair, yawning and cricking her neck while doing so. The bedroom was dark, and her eyes swept over the shadows absently. Except for the rain it was quiet. No music played and the TV was off—in the dead of night her home stirred not an inch.
Deciding to change that, she stood up to go downstairs and get a drink. On the way down the hall she passed other bedrooms, fully furnished but unused throughout the building. That made her the sole inhabitant of the huge house.
She continued downstairs, then swung around the corner, one hand hanging onto the wall. Her bare feet took her through the living room, mostly empty now except for a card table she'd erected at its center. The equally vacant dining room was also dark, but she found her way to the kitchen on memory alone with ease. It was revealed to be quite utilitarian as the lights came on, to say the least.
The old oven claimed it was two in the morning. It was a Friday night and as usual she was up late reading, drawing and thinking. She grabbed a lemonade from the comically small fridge and kicked its door shut lazily.
A bright flash lit up the dim kitchen, followed by a rolling crack of thunder.
The distant sound rumbled on the western horizon. It would be a stormy night, after all. She passed the small bar window of the kitchen on her way back to the stairs, which was kept faithfully stocked with assorted alcoholic drinks.
Climbing the stairs, she could feel the dust on its carpet which had gathered from neglect. Her bare feet protested angrily when she stepped on debris hidden in the fibers, and earned a grunt of irritation in response.
Approaching her bedroom at the end of the hall, she wasn't even sure if she would open the fruity drink at all, or simply go to sleep. She stopped briefly and looked through another doorway, the one next to her own bedroom. Her eyes stared tiredly into the old 'TV room'.
Light flashed at her through the little rectangular window on the far wall, as if beckoning the woman. At least she imagined it was beckoning her. When she was younger, she loved climbing out onto that old roof.
Especially during storms.
Never minding heights in the least, she quite contrarily enjoyed pushing her own courage as a kid. The world had always struck her as... boring. So, she felt the need to make things interesting. To make her life interesting.
These days though, time passed by with her in quiet acceptance of what the world really was.
Dull and crooked.
Once, she'd done things just for the stupid fun of it all. Now... well, the world just seemed stupid itself.
Stupid world. Her sleep addled brain made the thought angrily.
Thunder boomed outside, closer than before.
The woman's eyes blinked away the afterimage of the lightning that had preceded the crashing noise. The window and weather seemed to beckon her again, and she smirked, then spoke for them in a high-pitched voice.
"Hey Jo, come on, your ol' pal Mr. Roof is out there all alone. You should go say hi." Although speaking in a silly voice, her face was flat and unamused. "Eeeh, why not?" She shrugged, relenting to the weather's convincing argument.
The room's door clicked shut behind herself. If it wasn't shut she knew her idiot cats would try and follow her out. She left the drink on a side table and climbed through the small portal to the outside.
Jo steadied herself on the sill of the window, then using her hands, walked herself forward out onto the ledge. She inched further into the chilling wind and rain, until her legs finally joined the rest of her outside. More lightning flashed around her home in the sky. It had been deceptively quiet from inside, but now the thunder sounded more like a nearby train than the calm booming that it had been before.
She settled into a cross-legged sitting position on the tar shingles, and stared at the tumultuous sky. The air crackled as if alive, perhaps saying that she wasn't worthy or welcome there in its presence. Still, she was unphased by the light show.
The woman's eyes scanned the sky appreciatively. She watched as clouds moved by, appearing almost as if they had minds of their own. They flowed over the night sky like water, the storm itself seemed to be increasing in intensity, and quickly.
Thoughts came and went in her head, but she didn't stray much from just thinking about the storm itself; it was a very impressive one. In fact, she thought bemusedly. I don't think I've ever seen weather act this crazy before. It didn't occur to her that the thought might be a good sign that it was, in fact, dangerous outside... She instead watched on as the rain and wind continued to assault her tirelessly.
It made her feel alive, and the spark of adrenaline that flared up helped her to take in the storm to its fullest. She quickly became drenched from the downpour, and crossed her arms for warmth. The cloud cover continued to roil overhead, drinking in her captivated, wide-eyed stare, while she was determined to absorb every cumulus and detail in return.
"Wow..." Jo watched the clouds twist irregularly. I have never seen anything like this.
...The first sign that should have registered as danger to her was a lone street light on the road. Its shine brightened and intensified in its nightly purpose, until it burst and was replaced by sparks showering onto the asphalt below. It didn't catch the young woman's attention though, her eyes skyward. Over the din of the storm and amongst the flashes of lightning, the solitary light's life faded away, unseen.
Suddenly, the air crackled and rippled tenfold. A massive fork of lightning cascaded in the distance towards the ground, stabbing at the Earth as though it held a grudge.
Jo's multi-hued outfit was a pure white under the luminescent arc's presence. Her eyes widened disbelievingly at it, and a smile carved its way onto her expression. It had been so close, and she'd never seen its like before. The noise which traveled past her immediately after was deafening. Despite an undeniable fear and having nearly fallen over from surprise, she whooped into the wind, cheering. Her outcry was lost to the roaring atmosphere.
After the fork of lightning faded, the night was left at its darkest in its wake.
The young woman sat back down, still grinning maniacally, suppressing her laughter only just. Still, she was satisfied, and the Earth's impressive display had seeded some doubt within her over the intelligence of being outside in this.
"Okay, time to go back in... that's enough excitement for a while." The woman rubbed at her eyes; blinking away the image that the pearl-white light had burned into her retina.
Before she could, however, the rain stopped without warning, as if by way of a switch. Her attention caught; she stopped in the middle of climbing into the window, her eyes staring upwards once again.
Without the rain, it was suddenly and eerily quiet.
Jo, surprised, stared back up at the fickle clouds in confusion. Most moved chaotically now, without staying in one direction. Even stranger than this, others had taken to remaining perfectly still. Despite the odd weather, Jo's gaze focused on one, solitary spot, far to her left and just above her home's treeline.
Here, the dark shapes twisted and circled around a single point.
Tornado..? Jo thought worriedly.
Next, she bore witness to the third outrageous occurrence of the night.
Red, yellow and violet lights sprang into the pitch black spot circled by the clouds. In the sky was what looked to be a streamer, or long ribbon of color. It coalesced and waved around amidst the swirling cloud cover. She couldn't tell how far away it was... just that it was... well, that it was.
She rubbed her eyes again, thinking they'd been damaged or ruined, that what she was seeing wasn't real. She didn't believe it was there, but still the aurora of color hung in the sky.
The rain resumed, once more without warning. Not heeding the resumed downpour, the woman remained there, half crouched, and staring up at the bizarre sight. More thunder began to crash, and distracted as she was, she didn't notice the lack of a lightning flash.
An idea came to get her camera before it faded from the sky. With that thought in mind, and the rain coming down with renewed fervor, she hurriedly clambered back inside, shutting the window soundly behind herself.
She sighed, hands rubbing the water off of her arms, as well as wringing out the wetness permeating her top.
"Actually, I have no idea where my camera is..." She spoke aloud in response to the earlier idea. The thought to get her cellphone came... and went.
Sighing, her hands wrung out her dark hair of the invasive water until she nabbed a towel, and resigned herself to instead change and then sleep. While rubbing herself down a yawn cracked out of her. The light show's probably over already, anyway. She decided bed was too enticing after all.
Jo entered her room and scanned the area tiredly; it was tidy, to a degree. Maybe a score of clothes lay randomly on the carpeted floor, if that. The bed was unmade, but who made their bed ever, honestly? The metal posters lining the wall were the only decoration. Letting out a sigh, she nabbed a handful of clothes and padded her way toward the upstair's bathroom for a hot shower.
That, however, was when the Earth took it upon itself to shake uncontrollably. There was no noise to accompany it besides the house itself, and certainly no logic. Objects not secure enough in their placement fell to the floor from their perches and provided a cacophony of racket to join the rattling of the home. Pictures and scores of books crashed to the ground throughout the house.
When it ended, Jo picked her head up and looked around wide-eyed. "What. The hell. Was that?" she murmured, the air now shockingly quiet. She couldn't see much; the lights had been knocked out.
Jo had been thrown to her hands and knees by the force alone, and the rumble had left her insides and stomach feeling hollow. Gasping for breath out of mild panic, she stumbled into her room and felt around in the darkness for her desk. Her hand grabbed a flashlight from a drawer out of necessity, since the home was too dark to see in any longer. She scanned her bedroom quickly, and it was a mess. Her PC tower had tipped over onto the floor, which she spat a few more choice words for.
She'd felt like her house had just been picked up and shaken like a couple of dice in a cup, and it took her a moment to re-collect herself.
Eventually, Jo mumbled, "Great... I need to get the power back on." Struggling to keep her still unsteady footing in the dark, the young woman moved quickly to the basement and the circuit breaker. Her change of clothes stayed on the floor where they fell.
Jo's mind had re-awoken enough from the mysterious explosion that her more normal thoughts resumed, and in full swing. Maybe I should have moved after all, I mean why didn't I? I'm the last of my family in this state; it would have made sense... Stupid feeling of attachment to old property. Her toe stubbed on the corner of the stair's railing.
"Augh! Great, just great. Screw you storm, screw you mother earth!" The dull ringing in her head wasn't helping the ache any. "Stupid..." Her voice lowered as she paused and listened to the air again. Only the dull thud from the rain on her roof reached her ears. There had been another noise from outside, or so she thought. She shrugged and continued to the basement.
"I'm sure I don't pollute nearly as much as most people do. Why assault my house with lightning and earthquakes?" Jo grumbled on, climbing over and down the book-covered staircase; everything had fallen off the shelves here. Maybe the shake was from the lightning and it just struck really close? I've never really been close to a lightning strike come to think of it... Maybe they're just that bad.
The rest of her big empty dump of a once nice(ish) house, was in even bigger shambles than the staircase. Anything that could be knocked over, had been, and upon reaching what she called the mudroom in the back, she found that scarcely a single thing remained standing. This gave her quite the time getting the door to the basement open.
One of Jo's cats jetted under her legs through the hall and across the heap of books and refuse. Sighing, the young woman stepped down the staircase into her basement and headed for the circuit breakers. She flipped the circuits and the power returned, just like that. It was a pleasant surprise that it hadn't been knocked out entirely, just tripped.
"I suppose tonight's not all bad lu— I gotta get out more. I keep talking to myself." Jo grumbled the words, ascending back to the landfill of a room above. She resigned herself to taking care of it all in the morning, after—
Another sound caught Jo's attention, and she paused at the top of the stairs.
It sounded like screaming... or perhaps... well, she thought it had been a scream. It was loud enough to hear over the rain, at least.
Someone's outside in all of this? Jo's expression morphed from irritation to bewilderment. Who's crazy enough to be out there in this mess? She couldn't come up with an answer to the thought.
The book strewn mudroom temporarily forgotten, Jo walked to the backdoor on the other side of the family room. Everything's current state here was also, of course, horrendous. Upon crossing the minor blockade to the outside world, she sighed another one of the biggest sighs of her life in response to what she found.
The glass panel that made up ninety percent of her backdoor had all shattered, allowing wind and wet from the outside world to blow in unchallenged.
A hiss escaped through Jo's teeth, having had just about enough. She turned and walked back into the house a ways, then stuffed her feet angrily into the boots she kept by the washroom. "Great. Great! Just great," she chanted. All but ready to pull her hair out, she made her way over the shattered glass, and outside to investigate what had happened. She didn't bother to open the now glassless thing.
There didn't didn't seem to be a tree limb anywhere nearby, so how her door had shattered was a mystery.
"How the heck did my door just—" Confusion mounting, Jo noticed that her garage's side door was wide open. It hung ajar, waving in the wind at the storm's mercy. "Why is the garage open? Am I being robbed? Who the hell robs someone in a mess like this?" The words were as incredulous as they were confused and the sound of her voice's outcry angrily tried to rise above the volume of the storm.
She growled looked behind herself at her clock in order to answer her own question.
It's 2:00 AM!? The digital clock on the wall wasn't lying. Jo decided she had been hearing things. That sound earlier had to have been the wind. Looking at the garage again, she considered that maybe the storm had opened the garage as well... though it seemed unlikely. She hesitated there on the back porch, despite the gale that ripped at her.
In the end, Jo erred on the side of not caring and decided to go close the garage. Her thoughts burned, flowing like angry magma. Screw it. It's just the wind. She stomped over to the garage and went to close its side door all while wind slapped her face and fought to keep her away. Still, she made it there and grabbed the door handle roughly to end the nuisance she was forced to deal with. Before shutting it, she looked around inside the dark of her garage for any intruders, just to be safe.
Jo jumped slightly. She had heard the same sound from earlier again, something that sounded an awful lot like a voice. It was quiet, like a low wail of frustration.
Jo stopped and listened—the sound continuing—and she was certain it was coming from inside her garage.
Okay, Jo admitted to herself, the wind is definitely not making that. Focused by the thought, her eyes narrowed and began searching—she pulled the door wider to see inside, it was pitch-black. Her flashlight shone into the shadows, doing its best, not that it helped much.
This time, the girl really did err on the side of caution, and turned off her flashlight.
Jo moved in to investigate the noise, despite shaking her head in disbelief as she did. This is silly, I probably just left it open and imagined that noise... Her thoughts were interrupted, however, picking it up once again from somewhere in the small building. No, that's definitely crying. Why is someone in my garage crying? For that matter, why is someone even in my garage? She pulled soaked strands of dark hair out of her face to where they weren't in the way.
Whoever it was inside with Jo, they were outright bawling their eyes out. The voice sounded young and feminine, so she turned her flashlight back on while instinctively moving towards the sound.
"Hello?" Jo's garage wasn't big; just a two-car with a row of nonsense and junk separating either side. She shined her flashlight down the garage door, and saw something. The small circle of light landed on... a girl, less than twenty feet away.
The huddled shape held her hand up, blocking the light which now shined into her squinting eyes.
Jo quietly made one dumbfounded observation. Huh, she's naked.
The two women stared at each other a moment in silence until finally, Jo reacted. "Oh my god, oh my god! Hey? Are you okay? Jesus..." She moved in quickly towards her. "Hell-?-ooOWW!" To be rewarded with an ear wrenching scream, and also a wrench, which drilled her in the arm.
"What the hell lady? I'm not gonna hurt you—!" Jo back-peddled away from her attacker, then hid behind the work case separating each side of the building. "What was that for? This is my garage!" She stayed there at the corner a moment, then growled and turned on the lights, all the while simultaneously nursing her arm. That's it, I'm calling the cops. The sound of crying and a few strangled words reached her again.
Jo hesitated at the door, and reconsidered the thought; for one stupid overly sensitive reason or another. Still, she also wasn't sure if she should try and risk herself again to get closer.
"Hey, are you okay?" Jo risked a peek; the girl's head was rested on her knees, face down, and her arms hung limply to her sides, palms outstretched. The sound of her hurried, breathless whispers was clear from this close, even between her sobs. It was pretty surreal, and horror movie plots spun for a moment through Jo's head.
I think I can rule out most of those thanks to the flashlight and lack of mutilation at least. Jo hadn't received any answer from the stranger other than the one which had bruised her arm... but still, she tried speaking again.
"I want to help you, do you need...?" Jo hesitated, realizing she hadn't thought of anything helpful to suggest just yet. "Uhm."
...
"Well, should I call 9-1-1?" Jo fell back on emergency services in the end, then waited for an answer. Her eyes kept themselves glued to the girl on her garage floor. ...You know, she reminds me way too much of that monster from Left 4 Dead.
After Jo waited almost a minute, the girl finally looked up once, then twice. The first was quick, and after a double take right afterwards, she annoyingly just started again with her sobbing.
It's like I'm some kind of frightening monster. Jo grimaced and crossed her arms. I am definitely not ugly enough to warrant that kind of a reaction... She tried to move closer to hear something of what she kept saying to herself, but didn't want to risk another wrench or some such and stopped a good ten feet away.
Jo saw the girl's hand twitch and she sighed, deciding to wait again. This late at night she wasn't exactly the master of wit with ideas or brilliant plans. Her thoughts entertained her attention idly while a plan was in the works. She's gotta be a drug addict. The nearby town wasn't exactly known for them, but it did border a small city, which she knew for a fact had a huge rise in drug busts and the like recently.
With the minutes ticking by and Jo watching the weird stranger from the corner of her eye—to make sure she didn't get attacked—she noticed the stranger's hair.
Well that's interesting, indigo and purple with streaks. The girl's hair was dyed. Maybe she's a punk or a rocker. That would be cool.
Jo decided to speak up again, rather than wait for the earth to freeze over. "Hey, what's your name?" She waited a good minute—again—but didn't get an answer. Very well, you are now named Purple Head until further notice. The hair looked mostly blue, but it was a bit hard to tell in the dark. Either way Purple Head had a nice ring to it.
After that, Jo tried getting a response once more, and more flatly.
"Lovely weather we're having," Jo said in a dull tone.
The stranger choked and her arms abandoned their limp position to instead clutch around her legs. She stopped crying at least, and exchanged it for sniffling.
She's still crying. Jo sighed and suppressed a shiver of her own. We'll both catch pneumonia at this rate of progression. Her quicker than me. Where are her clothes? "Not to sound like a broken record, but, are you okay—?"
Annoyingly enough, the other girl took that moment to speak, and interrupted. The solidity of the stranger's voice took Jo by surprise.
"Where am I?" the strange girl said.
Jo blinked. That's a weird question. Was she dumped here out of a van or something? She regarded Purple Head with skepticism, while Purple Head herself was peeking up with one eye looking over her arms.
"Uhm, in my garage..." Jo replied. That sounded a little cynical, Jo. Maybe you should be more specific. "In New York..." she added, and nodded her head slowly, as if she were trying to carefully convince someone of something rather than impart some common knowledge.
An answer for Jo wasn't immediately forthcoming, but just before she could add more, the girl started crying again.
Jo sighed. Oh for... go figure. "Hey, knock it off. Crying on a garage floor never helped anyone."
The girl actually stopped, and jerked her head up, swallowing audibly.
Jo was a bit surprised and not sure what to do next. "Ahem, uhm." Jo put on a more kindly, and less irritated expression to coax something out of the stranger. She hoped it would work. "Sorry. Are you from around here?"
The stranger held her stare a short moment, but asked a question of her own.
"New... York?" The girl said dreamily, before growing quieter again. "It's gotta be a dream, a weird, bizarre nightmare... and soon it'll all be over and I'll be in my bed, and..." Her chin rested on her knee and she began to stare into space.
Making out anymore of what she said was impossible, and Jo was leaning at a forty-five-degree angle by now as it was, trying to. She was close enough to take notice of Purple Head's left side though, it was covered in mud and what she thought might be several huge bruises starting to form. She began to act rather than wait any longer for explanations.
"I'll be right back, okay? I'm going to get some help and... I'll just be right back. Don't go anywhere." Jo slowly backed up and ran out of the garage, then inside her home quickly. The rain had reduced to a drizzle outside, finally, and the wind was gone. She wasn't really sure what she was doing. After getting inside, she paused over a phone... but let it sit. Stupid stupid stupid. I am so stupid, she thought.
Instead of dialing, she scooped up a couple blankets off the couch from the first room and went back outside.
Returning, Jo was relieved to see the stranger girl hadn't moved from her fetal position on the garage floor.
Now, how do I go about trying to help a crazy person... Dammit, I should've called the cops... Nothing I'd said before seemed to calm her any, and asking her if she'd been alright certainly hadn't produced any answers. The irate and sleep deprived woman took a deep breath. Well, I'm not staying out here all night.
Jo slowly approached her once more. "I'm going to set these beside you, if that's alright, and nothing else."
Purple Head's answer was quiet and shaky. "Okay..."
Jo continued to inch forward—her heavy boots made that a little difficult—and set down a blanket in front of her. She frowned, then took a chance and draped the other across the bare-skinned girl's shoulders. Jo was thankful that she didn't respond by flipping the hell out, but instead, by pulling it around herself. Less thankfully, she began crying again.
Jo frowned as she watched the drama unfold. I'd never really believed that most of the human body was water, but this girl is making me a believer.
"Why?" The stranger girl asked abruptly. Her mud caked hands lift from the floor to hover in front of her so she could stare at them. "Why!? Why do I... have these...?"
Once Jo caught on to what Purple Head meant, she rolled her eyes tiredly. Well that's not what I was hoping to hear. Yep, deeeefinitely a crackhead then. Jo made an exasperated face at the rafters. "Uhm, do you mean... haaands?" She waggled one example in front of her uninvited guest, unsure of how to respond to that exactly.
The purple-haired stranger scrutinized it—wearing a frown of her own—and then her own digits. "Yes, I mean... hands."
Jo watched while getting a little bit more creeped out. Meanwhile, a few answers to the girl's question poured through her head. They ranged from sarcastic, to snarky, to a textbook explanation and a couple others.
Trying to be a little neighborly, Jo took a more tactful approach for her answer about the objects in question. "All humans have hands..." she ventured. Well that sounded silly out loud and probably wasn't what she'd meant...
The girl didn't take it as such though, which surprised Jo.
"Humans?" She stared at the sawdust on the cold concrete floor while casting Jo nervous glances. "You're a human, then?"
Huh? Jo tilted her head and legitimately didn't know how to respond to that. She tried to avoid putting on a face that gave away that fact. Well, here we go, onwards to Narnia.
"Should I not be, or something?" Jo answered in an amused tone. She was guiltily starting to enjoy the conversation; she'd been a geek her whole life. Weird out of the ordinary things always caught her attention and stuck out like a double Baconater at a vegan vegetable convention.
"No..." Purple Head timidly answered after a long pause and in a disappointingly boring fashion. She stayed quiet and kept her stare solidly at the floor separating them. The pauses were becoming the pattern for the dialogue.
Jo sighed in response. This isn't going anywhere.
"Well still, I am one, and you seem to be, too." She managed to keep anymore amusement out of her voice. "And most of us have a long held tradition of helping others in trouble, which you seem to be."
Jo paused for a reaction, eventually receiving the strange girl's bleary stare again, so she continued. "Uh. Anyway, you're welcome inside my home, meaning you can come in if you want. Then we can call the hospital or your family, or whoever you need to for help." Mention of the police she left out on purpose, in case Purple Head actually was a drug addict. You can never be too sure, she decided to herself.
Purple Head put her head back down and answered gravely. "No, it's fine. I'll wake up soon at home. In my warm bed... far away from wherever this is..."
Jo readjusted her arms and legs; it was freezing out and even though she'd started drying off from the rain already, it was unbearable. She has to be way worse off than me though... she thought.
Rather than call the strange girl out about how she was deluding herself, Jo asked her another question. "Your home, huh. And where would that be?" Her patience was starting to run out a little. Probably somewhere in town, I imagine. Maybe she's—
"Equestria."
There was a long pause again between the two women after the name had been muttered.
Jo stared blankly at the other girl. She couldn't tell, but she thought her mouth opened and closed at some point, unable to make a response.
Eventually, Purple Head looked up at her again, searching for the answer to what she'd said.
The two made eye contact for the first time. After that, Jo's brain finally started thinking again. So she's crazy. Or if she isn't, then on some serious drugs. She blinked again and shook her head. The word had tickled and stirred an old memory though.
"I'm sorry, what?" Jo girl asked her in return. She began to massage her temples hard, too.
The girl spoke again, louder this time. "I said Equestria, do you know of it?" She sat up straighter. "It's important you tell me."
Jo had no words, really, but she managed a few. "Well, I mean... sure I do, yeah. I watched My Little Pony back i-" The nude girl cut Jo off—without letting her finish—by shouting excitedly.
"Then there's hope! I can—!" After making a pained sound while trying to stand, she stopped before reaching the balls of her feet. Instead, she stayed on her knees, and offered her hand to Jo from there.
Without waiting, the timid creature Jo had found, cold, shaking, and afraid in her garage, somehow began ranting as if she had found the most exciting discovery of the century. The flood gates had been opened.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and-sorry-about-attacking-you! I-was-in-shock-and-you-kind-of-caught-me-by-surprise-you-see." She made a nervous, manic laugh. "You have to understand, I've never seen something, uhm, as strange as you before—or as me, for that matter I guess," she glanced down at her chest for effect before going on. "And-that's not even mentioning—"
Jo watched in awe while trying to follow the other girl's tirade, but mostly just tried to interrupt her long enough to tell her the blanket had fallen off. Between trying to catch a word out of her sudden, jumbled onslaught—her stately lecture-like tone not ceasing to so much as give herself a breath—and pulling that blanket back around the girl with her own eyes closed, Jo felt beyond stunned. That wasn't even mentioning trying to free her own hand from being shaken, which the stranger had wrapped up in a death grip.
Purple head finally paused and caught her breath, looking down at their ongoing handshake as she did. "Gosh, even a simple hoofshake feels strange."
Suffice to say, Jo felt overwhelmed. Once it was all over though, she managed to speak up to introduce herself, too.
"Right," her voice answered dully, eyes resting in disbelief on the stranger. "Sure, anyway I'm Josephine, just call me Jo. Er, nice to meet you." Kinda. Jo skipped the name Purple Head had used to introduce herself with. That tidbit had almost collapsed her into a fit of laughter. She didn't know how to handle crazy people, but decided staying off the topic should help. At least, she hoped it would.
"Can we head in now then? It's really cold out here." Jo managed to put on a weak smile and gesture to the door. She just wanted to get inside at this point.
Purple Head sniffed, still smiling, and nodded. Her nose was running.
Yeesh, she's a train wreck. Jo picked up the blanket on the ground; the girl had her hands full clutching the other around herself for warmth.
Jo started for the door, but... turning around she saw the other girl was crawling behind her on her knees, one hand holding the covering closed. "Oh geez, I'm really sorry, are you hurt? Do you need help walking? Here, let me help you up."
The girl scooted back when Jo leaned over to her.
Jo furrowed her brow. Why did she move away? I thought we were past screaming and fear.
Purple Head's answer was tinged with worry. "Noo, no I... I'm fine, I'm also not hurt. Thank you for asking, though. It's just, I'm very used to walking with four legs."
Jo blinked. "Huh?"
"I mean to say..." Purple Head cleared her throat, and put on an uncomfortable look as she began to explain. "Just moments ago I was a pony, from Equestria. I... don't think I could stand like a, uhm, human stands on two legs. So I'll just walk like this for now, since I'm not so sure I could copy you."
Copy? Jo thought, it dawned on her that the girl meant simple 'walking'. Yeeeeeah, definitely crazy. So, she actually thinks she's a pony? Wow. She rolled her eyes, confident the relative darkness kept the crazy woman unawares of the gesture. "You sure?" She asked her again.
Purple Head nodded in response.
Fine, whatever, she isn't gibbering or chewing on my leg yet, so she can be as weird as she wants to be. Jo realized now that she would have to keep an eye glued to the stranger if she was coming into the house. Forbid she does more than imagine she's an old cartoon character and start eating my cats or trashing my home. She put on a resolute expression in response to the thought. I'm inviting a strange person I don't know into my fortress of solitude... Actually, when was the last time I even had a guest? The thought caused her to scratch her damp head.
Stepping outside, Jo waited for Twilight to exit behind her, then closed and locked the garage door. Twilight had crawled out and sat in that weird dog-like position, or pony-like position I guess, before rising again to follow her once more. She led the girl up the back stairs and inside the house. Well, she hasn't jumped on my back or anything yet—
A surprised yelp from behind Jo caused her to jump, and then whirl around. She hadn't moved as fast as she did then since her sporty days.
"You okay? Oh crap—" Jo had forgotten the glass, and it was pitch black out. Her boots crunching on the stuff hadn't made her remember it either. Her hands reached around the wall and found the light switch, after which she threw the blanket she had been carrying over the shards and knelt down, solidly in a sleep deprived panic. "Are you hurt?"
"Yes, I think so..." The girl claiming to be Twilight Sparkle, slowly crawled around and over the cover Jo had hastily put down.
"I'm sorry, the storm shattered my door... are you okay? Uhm, still okay, that is?" The lights to the room were dim, but Jo could make out the stranger's face. She was looking at her palms. Jo breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't see any blood on them. I guess it's possible you shattered it, but I'll get to that...
"Yes, I'm fine..." Purple Head scrubbed an arm under her nose while answering.
Great job Jo, you're the best hero of all time. Still, she exhaled in relief a second time.
"Right, uh, this way, please."
Jo kept an eye on Purple Head as she followed her into the house. It was obvious to her that the stranger was having a difficult time moving, but she didn't know what to do about it. She doubted asking the woman anything more questions would help at this point, either. The sound of sniffling behind her was unmistakable, and guessed that burst of energy back there in the garage hadn't lasted, or perhaps the stranger really was getting sick.
I haven't been sick in like three years come to think of it... I hope she doesn't get me sick. Jo frowned. Uggh, I'm walking through incredibly unfamiliar territory dealing with her, and on no sleep to boot.
Jo turned on more lights as she went into the entry room, at which point she heard an absolutely horrific gasp behind herself. "What, what is it!?" Her head spun around and her eyes settled on Purple Head, who was staring at the room/landfill's floor.
"What happened here!?" The young woman's jaw practically dragged on the ground. The books that littered the entire floor must have been quite the sight to see or something.
Jo followed her gaze, then answered her dispassionately. "Oh, the storm did that, or whatever that earthquake was, heh." Had she been out there in that? Maybe she struck her head and... stripped? Okay, crazy unproductive thoughts aren't helping determine the crackhead's origins...
"The storm... oh, of course." Purple Head crawled over them while wincing and followed after Jo who navigated the obstacle with ease.
She must be cut up worse than I thought, or those bruises are excruciating, Jo decided, judging by the girl's pained looks.
"You have a lot of books..." Purple Head's voice somehow sounded appreciative, remorseful and wondering all at once.
"Mmm yeah, I couldn't bring myself to part with them. They were my mom's." Jo grimaced while looking over the jumbled pile of everything from encyclopedias to fiction and fantasy. I should throw away or donate all these old things.
The dining room wasn't so bad off, it had nothing in it except... Her breath caught as she came to a realization. My booze! Her eyes settled painfully on the murder scene. Well, there goes a fortune in alcohol. She wept a silent tear for the collection, then breathed an actual sigh of relief. Most of the bottles seemed to have miraculously stayed on the bar.
The crazy girl looked around the lit dining room, then up at Jo, who was still trying to decide on what to do. Okay, so let's do a recap, she thinks she was a pony. Fffine...? Who am I to judge her, anyway. Uggh, I almost wish she was acting crazy, then I wouldn't feel bad about calling someone else. A clear course of action failed to present itself to her and the strange girl had begun to look uneasy in the returning silence between them. Purple Head didn't respond about the phone, so bringing it up again seems like a bad idea. Jo mentally sighed. I guess just try and help her then? Not my forte at all. The self-reminder was bitter.
"Well, let's, uhm," Jo spotted all the dirt covering the stranger. She quirked an eyebrow at noticing that Purple Head had been looking around the entire house with a slightly stunned look on her face. It isn't that bad is it? She continued talking. "Let's get you cleaned up I guess, you're probably freezing too. Do you want a hot shower? That should help, maybe get you in the right state of mind, too..." She winced after slipping out the perhaps too blunt statement.
"A shower? That... might be good." Purple nodded pitifully though, her mood blatantly weighing her down.
I hope she's not in shock after all or something. Jo scratched her arm in thought. What is shock anyway? Note to self, Wikipedia what shock is later... She led the floor bound girl over to the bathroom. "It's right here," Not for the first time, a questioning thought occurred to Jo. Why does my dining room have an attached bathroom with a shower in it, anyway? Ah, whatever.
The stranger just crawled through the door, barely looking up. Heyzeus, this girl is absolutely heartbreaking. Jo watched with a pained expression.
"Hey, Twilight." Jo said the name out of pity.
The young woman stopped, and looked up from her three limbed crawl into the bathroom.
"We're going to get you through this, 'kay?" Jo grinned and tried looking happy. Is this a mistake? No, apparently not. The girl smiled back up at her. Maybe she isn't nuts... Or as bad off as she had seemed earlier.
Jo got the bathroom lights for her. "I think Equestria has showers so... can you manage?" She tried and failed to keep all of the sarcasm out of her voice as she said the make-believe country's name. Luckily, Purple Head didn't respond to that.
The girl glanced around the bathroom with a confused expression, and clearly mouthed the word shower, to which Jo nearly face palmed, again. She didn't wait around though, then looked in the tub briefly and nodded.
Jo smirked in response. "Alright, well, I'll be out here." The strange purple-haired girl remained quiet, so Jo shut the door. "I'm uh, gonna go find you some clothes alright?" She called into the room through the crack as the sound of running water began, besides a slightly surprised yelp.
Purple Head yelled over the bathwater hurriedly, Jo guessed she hadn't gone mute then. "Clothes? Oh no no no! I couldn't impose on you like that Miss, I'm fine as is!" She called out from the other side of the door. "Uhm, at least I assume you're a Miss? I couldn't tell from your name, or anatomy, as I'm unfamiliar with humans!"
Jo had been about to answer, but the words died in her mouth. She couldn't tell that I'm a woman? She had to face-palm this time, and let out a groan of frustration to boot. "You're lucky I think you're crazy..."
Jo walked away and up the stairs to her room without answering back, not capable of coming up with a good reply to a refusal to wear clothing or gender uncertainties. She reached her room and pulled out some clothes which she didn't use much anymore. They included a baggy red t-shirt that had never fit her, and a pair of black cargo pants. The crazy girl might not fit into these...
Jo frowned over the pants; her own waist was small, after all, given how short she was. And it was hard to tell because 'Twilight' had been crawling, but Jo was certain that the other girl would be taller than her standing up. The shirt shouldn't matter, at least, Jo decided.
On her trip back downstairs she almost tripped over the pile of books that was still on the stairwell. "Gah! I swear to—" Most of them had fallen from the ledge and littered the staircase with their horrid mass-produced pages.
Even being around the books for years, Jo hadn't read a hundredth of what she considered to be the useless paperweights that cluttered her home. Why do I keep them around!? She huffed the thought out and ran a hand through her tangled hair. It had, what she considered, an irrationally large number of knots in it from the rain and wind.
Jo's ears caught a noise while navigating over the book-alanche; the sound of the shower turning on, as well as what might have been a scared gasp. Hm, I hope the hot water isn't out. When she reached the door, steam leaked out from under it, putting the fear to rest. She set down the clothes right there and went to the kitchen.
I need a drink. The thought was as high-strung as she herself felt. Oh, that's right, they'd crashed off my bar. The alcohol connoisseur stared angrily at a broken bottle on the ground, contents well soaked into the hard wood floor already. Most of them are still intact, at least...
Jo wasn't a heavy drinker, not exactly, she simply loved the taste. But I definitely need a drink, her brain decided for her.
The clock read three-fourteen AM.
It seemed to Jo it had been longer then that since she last looked at the time. She opened a soft drink and poured some rum. It isn't the smartest thing to do 'round a crazy person... But hey, maybe she'll want one too and snap out of crazy-mode. She mixed her drink without regret.
Jo sat at the dining table, waiting. Ten minutes and another drink later, she laughed to herself abruptly. Thoughts had been crossing her mind, about the storm, those weird lights, the mess in her house, and not surprisingly, the uninvited guest.
She's nuts. Has to be, right? Jo caressed the thought and swirled her drink... Magic... She suppressed another laugh, then made a raspy hacking noise as a result of failing to do so completely.
Magic's faker and less real than televised wrestling, Jo smirked again, a rosey quality entering her cheeks as she did so. Even with the thought, she did begin to think about what it would be like for it all to be real. The wan musings turned back to skepticism quickly though.
Glancing at the time, Jo realized it had now been twenty minutes. I better check on my resident nutter. Hesitantly, she left her drink on the table.
"Twilight? You... okay in there?" Jo decided she needed to get a bigger "helping others with a life crisis" vocabulary. I've used the word "okay" like, fifteen times now. An answer came through the door just as the water cut off.
"Ye-Yes! I'm fine, uhm, Josephine?" Purple Head said Jo's name as though it were something bizarre.
Jo made an indignant face. I'll admit it's an original sounding name, but it isn't that out of the ordinary. "Please, call me Jo." The young woman called back, trying to keep irritation out of her voice. "Is it alright if I leave the clothes inside the door?" She stared up at the ceiling while waiting for a reply.
"Uh-uhm, yes, but you really don't need to, I'm fine with going without any." Jo cracked the door and tossed the clothes in, then started another crazy sentence she would never have guessed in all her life she would have had to say in earnest. She also got the feeling that was going to happen a lot...
"Twilight, I know in..." Jo sighed quietly on her side of the door. "Equestria, ponies don't wear clothes much, but on Earth, humans are considered indecent or rude if they don't wear the stuff, so I insist." She didn't get an answer, which was probably a good thing, so she just waited. Some muttering came from in the bathroom, then Purple Head called out again.
"Uhm, Jo?" Purple Head called out.
"What's up?" Jo responded curtly, while in her head she thought, what now?
"The uhm, pants don't fit. I believe their flank portion is too... small." The girl's voice had become a bit annoyed to Jo's ears, which she decided was understandable. What she concluded was a quip about her butt, however...
Jo looked at the door darkly as she listened to the reply, then sighed. She called over her shoulder as she trudged back up her stairs, eyes narrowing. "Hold on, one second." After getting to her room, she hurriedly grabbed a pair of gym shorts. They weren't as modest, but she guessed the rest of her clothes probably wouldn't work either if the baggy cargo pants hadn't.
After yet another harrowing trip over the fallen jumble of books and Jo nudged the clothing through the bathroom door. A minute later and it opened to admit—Jo sighed again at the sight—Twilight, on all fours. She had the shirt on backwards too, but whatever.
"Feeling better?" Jo managed to ask curtly and with a weak smile.
Twilight nodded weakly, wearing a ghost of a smile. "...Yes, not having my coat made it miserable out there. Even more than it should have been, I mean... That rain felt unnaturally frigid."
Jo's eyes widened when she realized that the girl had meant fur coat, not an actual coat. She had caught on a little bit too late to laugh, assuming the stranger had meant it as a joke, and settled for an awkward smile.
"Ah, yeah well, you're inside, at least. Let's have a seat now that you're warmed up and we can make some sense of this situation, 'kay?" Jo gestured to the dining table.
"Oh, yes of course, and thank you again for the hospitality, by the way." Purple Head's voice was noticeably perkier than before.
Jo was surprised at her improved state of mind and demeanor. The strange girl seemed pretty friendly and outgoing now. Hot showers are totally the best medicine ever, she thought appreciatively. Still, she felt at a total loss as to how Purple Head could be so nuts, yet so coherent.
The situation was surreal for Jo; though the time of day and the drink she'd had likely contributed themselves to that.
Jo took a seat at the dining table and waited for Purple to crawl to one across from her. Well, at least buying into her delusion looked like it had helped her mood. I hope that doesn't come back to bite me. She fought to keep the frown trying to show itself off her face.
Oddly enough, the strange girl sat in it awkwardly and fidgeted.
Purple Head leaned over the table towards Jo suddenly, who in response thought, What the heck? She tried to follow the other girl's stare. "Sooo, what's up?"
"Oh, sorry. Uhm, nothing." Purple Head sat back, adjusting herself awkwardly through several sitting positions in the chair.
Was she trying to see how I'm sitting? Jo quirked an eye brow down at herself. That's redicu— She's really trying to sell this pony thing. She sat back more and nursed her drink, watching. Eventually Purple Head seemed to finally figure it out, or got tired of putting on a fake act; the latter seemed more likely.
Jo addressed the girl calmly, breaking the silence. "Everything alright?"
Purple looked over in a double take; she had started staring around the room like earlier. "Yes, uhm, it's just really weird having your body completely shift on you and change, you know? And not even at your own behest, either. Because I've actually performed transmorphic shape-shifting magic in the past, but this time... Eheh, well, it wasn't intentional." Her eyes seemed to flicker over Jo's features while she spoke, perhaps nervously, until finally she coughed into her hand and looked away. "Ahem."
Jo's mouth thinned into an almost-frown; she still wanted to try and be nice, but that was proving to be difficult. This girl's vocabulary is starting to make me feel stupid. Her thoughts further wondered if the other girl was trying to do that on purpose as part of a prank or something.
Purple Head continued after a minute, and in an increasingly nervous voice. "W-Well, if I'd been attempting a shape-change spell, such as an amniomorphic enchantment or... well, never mind all that." After seeing the look Jo was giving her, she cleared her throat again and moved on. "Anyway, this might not be so jarring if it was planned, but it wasn't, so... heh..." Her laugh was bitter as she trailed off.
Yeah, I'm not getting any sleep tonight. Jo all but collapsed to lean on one hand and heaved a very noticeable sigh. This is going nowhere. She decided to take a leap of faith, mostly due in part by the drink, on top of it being so late.
"Do you really think you're..." Jo took in a deep breath while tugging on her loose hair, her concentration strained over saying the name seriously. "Twilight Sparkle?" As she said the name she leaned forward, elbows on the table and fingers interlocked.
Twilight gave Jo a deadpan stare, her mouth working.
She really hadn't expected that at all? Jo kept her face straight.
"Ye-Yes! Of course I am. That's my name. I know who I am, Miss Josephine." Twilight leaned forward over the table, what was easily a frightened look on her face.
Jo formed a thought that maybe it really was her real name, but shot it down. The odds of someone changing their name to that seems a bit out there, and it wouldn't really explain the crawling anyway, so she has to be at least a little obsessed or nuts to explain either of those things.
The growing-steadily-stranger-by-the-minute girl wilted in her chair, then continued, "I'm not really sure of a lot right now... But that's my name, certainly. Twilight Sparkle, student of Celestia and the Element of—"
"Magic?" Jo asked, trying really hard not to make any rude faces or anything, she just pressed the conversation.
Purple Head opened her mouth happily to speak again, shock clear on her expression, but Jo went on instead. "Yeah, the Element of Magic. Well, why come here then? Or how did this happen?"
The stranger tried asking about Jo's interruption, but couldn't talk around her. Instead of answering the questions she'd been given though, she frowned at the table and looked away from her host.
Jo waited patiently, while Purple wore a sour expression. She unhelpfully settled into staring at her hands, flexing them slightly. After a minute, she did finally speak, her voice a mere whisper. "I... don't really remember... I don't have a clue why I'm like this either..." One of her hands rubbed at her forehead absently.
Jo sighed again and leaned back in the chair, barely restraining herself from outright face palming. Oooof course you don't remember anything, how classic. This is really getting to be too much to take in.
"Alright, well, I'm not going to lie to you, Twilight, but I think you're crazy, no offense. Maybe you've just hit your head, I don't know, but this is what I'm gonna do." Jo sobered her tone and looked at the table grimly. "I'll let you stay here for a while, I don't know how long, no questions asked. If you come clean on anything I promise, no matter what it's about I won't freak out or something. Just keep me in the loop while you're in my home. Sound okay to you?" Coming clean with her own conscience, she admitted to herself that she was only doing this because the girl wasn't a scary old bum. If she were, this conversation probably wouldn't be happening. "I won't ask for proof of who you're claiming to be either just... don't... well, make yourself at home, anyway. Sorry, it's really late, I've been awake awhile now too, so..."
Jo massaged the bridge of her nose with her eyes shut. She looked up when Twilight said nothing, who nodded distantly when she did so. "Alright, let's—"
Suddenly, Purple Head's head jerked up so fast Jo thought she was seeing things. "Wait, you said you've heard of Equestria! How is that? Have you been there!? Can you get me back there?" Her voice became increasingly erratic and panicked towards the end of that plea.
Jo tried not to look scared, but she could feel adrenaline building despite her own weariness. Her brain tried to remember if nine-one-one was how to get police to show up...
"Please, please I need to know." Purple slid a hand across the table, as if trying to reach out to Jo.
"Whoa, easy, just... I'll answer every question you got..." Jo paused again, hesitating over the all too familiar name. "Twilight, but tomorrow, okay?"
"Please... just please, tell me..." Twilight, shifted between looking at the table and her acquaintance, then settled on a puppy-dog-eyed stare that could have left a brick wall feeling sorry for itself.
Well, crazy or not, I can't ignore that. Jo winced back from the stranger's shameless beggaring, doubting that any living force could. That, and, she just seemed so sincere.
Jo tried to gather her last remaining wits of the day about herself. "You probably won't like what I have to tell you about that." Her voice was little more than a sarcastic drone as she tiredly warned the stranger.
"Please, I have to know. I have to know everything." Purple's eyes stared back at Jo's pleadingly.
"You... Fine," Jo rested her head on a hand and kept her voice serious for this. "Equestria is a work of Fiction, simple as that. Whether that means you're crazy like I said, or not," —fat chance of that— "I don't know, but, it is not real." I do know, however, that you didn't want to hear that, crazy or not.
Jo's thoughts muddled together in a blur, bracing herself for Purple Head's reaction. Please don't lose it and eat my cats, please don't lose it and eat my cats...
The girl that had named herself as Twilight seemed to be getting ready to dispute that, then sank back in her chair. The color and life drained away visibly from her face. Her body went limp, as well, and after a moment she scrunched her face up to fight back tears which had begun to form.
"That... that's impossible," Purple Head muttered darkly. "That doesn't make sense..." More muttering and what sounded like explanations came from under her breath.
Jo's own face struggled to stay neutral. She could imagine what Purple Head was thinking, despite being crazy. She seemed to be for real about this. She's thinking, "I'm trapped, I'm not a real pony, I've been deluding myself." Hm. She may also be thinking "I'm on another plane of existence without my magic, my friends or my real body." But in either case she's going to... Yep, that.
Jo watched Purple Head fall into her arms again, crying waterfalls. Her choked sobs were unbearable to watch, whether she was really nuts or not. Watching and knowing what she was actually going through, made her own emotions twist and do somersaults. Now Jo, don't cry, that's lame and depressing... Still, it must be horrible being torn from everything you know and lo—
Jo blinked several times and shook her head, catching herself. Waaait, I still think she's crazy, bonkers, high as a kite... Either way, I have no idea what I'm doing here anyway, or do I? She waited a second, watching the girl worriedly.
Jo swallowed, the purple-haired girl before her still in tears. I should say something. "Twilight..." Think booze-ridden brain, think... "Let's get you some sleep huh? I have a spare room, you can use it." Excellent, problem postponed! Good job Jo, that deserves a drink. "We'll work this out in the morning... I'm sorry I can't do more for you. I—"
Twilight sniffed and interrupted Jo once again. She scrubbed the front of one hand over her nose while shaky words came out. "Why-y are you sorry? It's my own stupid fault anyway. I'm a failure as a student and even as a unicorn..." Her breath exhaled raggedly. "Why did the Princess ever bother with me, she must have seen this coming. Whatever that experiment was it— Why can't I—" She cut off and replaced her head in her arms, crying even more.
Jo winced, but quickly got up to find some paper towels—she didn't think tissues would cut it—and a waste basket. If she keeps this up, I will definitely be joining her... She pulled out a chair next to her. Must. Stop. Sad.
"Twilight, if it will help any... If you still say you're Twilight in the morning... I'll try to believe you, and do my best to help you get home." Jo took note of getting her attention, which was nice, but she felt guilty over lying.
Still, Purple Head took the paper towels that were offered to her and put them to good use, scrubbing her eyes with a generous wad. Minutes and a few sniffles later, she nodded back to Jo. "I- thanks, thank you, I mean. I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused."
Jo scrubbed a hand behind her head and looked up at the ceiling nonchalantly. "Meh, I'd never turn someone in need away, human tradition remember?" That is to say, I might not let everyone into my house lest they eat my cats or something, but I really would help anyone, I guess. Except maybe Justin Beiber, that guy is beyond help. The woman suppressed a shudder at the mere thought of the washed up pop star.
"So yeah, uhm, welcome to Earth! More specifically, New York." Jo stood up and flourished her hands a bit. She reassured herself that the action wasn't the booze, she was just trying to cheer up the stranger. "I'm sorry you couldn't visit under better circumstances." A nervous laugh escaped her, then she cleared her throat. "Anyway, let me show you to the guest room, okay?"
Jo's attempt to shift the mood produced a weak smile.
"Uhm, thanks, heh," Purple Head replied wistfully, then got out of the chair too, again on all fours.
Jo motioned her after herself, then frowned back at her a little bit, twice, having done a double take over the crawling. They made their way past the stairs, then the living room, and lastly through the office her father had once practically lived in. Finally, they got back towards an old, currently unused spare bedroom which lay beyond all of that.
"Tomorrow, I'll see if I can't teach you how to walk upright..." Jo mutter tiredly, half jokingly, while fighting off another yawn.
The girl's grimace at herself faded as they walked into the unlit part of the house. "Walking normally... uh, for a pony I mean, doesn't feel right. It hurts my... legs. They are still legs, right? I guess nopony walks like this here either, huh? It's easy to tell just by looking that human physiology isn't suited to four legged movement..."
Jo's eyebrows raised at the grammar her guest used. The lights in the bedroom clicked on. "Hm, just people too young to have learned how to walk yet." The question about whether humans could walk on all fours certainly seemed rhetorical, but she decided not to assume.
After that, it looked like Purple Head had another idea.
"Are there ponies on Earth? Maybe another unicorn I could get some help from?" The room was mostly boxes, but the bed itself still had sheets and covers.
What did she just say, ponies? Oh right... I really need to sleep. "Err... no unicorns Twilight, and our ponies aren't, uh, intelligent... Not like us or, uhm Equestrians, anyway... They can't speak, for instance."
Purple Head didn't respond to Jo's information.
The bed was tall, maybe four feet off the ground. Jo glared at the hateful furniture. I never understood that, maybe I should let her have the couch? She had to help Purple some to get her onto it, who sat on the edge once up.
The two stayed there staring at each other in the dim light from the other room, until Jo spoke. "I'll uh... be upstairs. Yell if you need anything." Should I try explaining the intercom system? Eh... maybe never, I mean tomorrow.
"I... Yes, upstairs, right. Thank you again." Twilight made a sincere smile.
"Ohhh, you're welcome." Jo was exhausted, and her arm still burned from the wrench that she had been hit with. Psch, Twilight was never that violent on the show. I think? It's been years since I watched it with my nieces, hell if I know... Turning to face the door, she started to leave. "Well, goodnight, Purple— Uhm, I mean Twilight."
The stranger coughed, or cleared her throat, which brought an immediate response from Jo's thoughts. Hopefully she won't get sick...
"Goodnight." Purple Head replied, smiling over at Jo, who mustered up a weak smile—that she hoped looked comforting—and shut the door a bit.
The nearly comatose woman trudged upstairs, but not before turning off the house's million light switches. As she did so, her thoughts wandered aimlessly as a result of her current state.
I wonder what she thinks of the lights? What technology did they have in the show? I honestly can't remember. I remember Flim and Flams' magic cider-car thing... I can vaguely remember fireflies being used, but flashlights? I think I remember gas lights being on the trains... Well, I at least recall that light was definitely never an issue. Not to mention the light-switch-like transitions on screen, but did they have electricity or magic or... ah bed, there you are.
Jo was finally able to remove her now nearly dry clothes, and laid on her couch. After having locked her bedroom door, of course. Better safe than sorry after all. Likely as not she'll just rob me blind though. Assuming she's a crook or con artist. She stared up at her dark, black light lit ceiling in thought. I... believe her though, I think, at least the part that she believes she is who she says she is. But who knows, maybe she's just a great actor.
Jo rolled over and shut her eyes tiredly, sleep fast approaching. ...Or maybe, it was all true? She drifted off into a fitful sleep, the odd thought was her last for the night.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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Gah you crazy wizards and your mad ways! Imma have to take a look now... there better be bunniez*leaves grumbling bout bunniez*
I like this take on PoE. It's a lot more down to earth than most of the ones I've read.
THE NEXT MORNING! Twilight has read every book in the house.
An interesting read. Some tense errors here and there, especially near the middle (but then again, you did mention it was late when you wrote this?). I'll definitely keep an eye on this one to see what develops.
2486423
Lol.
Just be ready for something completely different.
Cant wait for the next chapter.
You have my Favorite^^
2486372
Or maybe midgets...
Thumbs up for creepy crawling Twilight.
Oh, I like Joe. She's so... human
And the descriptions, and her thoughts(especially the ones about someone trying to eat her cats)! I love it all
I hope that tomorrow she can explain the sun to Twilight like Celestia can...
Great
I'm following this!
2486576
Thank you for the compliments.
I'm a fan of cynical characters certainly, Joe has some unique spins on her from the ones you typically find on fimfic though so don't fret over her being cliched.
Can't tell you how tired I am of the OCs 'sticking' it to the mane six and Celestia, you know?
WITCH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Brilliant! Lock her in a wardrobe and tell her it's a portal to Equestria :D. Or give her the red slippers...
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhysi20D2e1qbgvgt.bmp
2487335
Joe's a snarky little fire cat.
Oh this is gonna rap up to be an interesting story!!!
MOAR!
2487611
Second chapter should be up on sunday.
Mlm updates tonight, hopefully.
Mlm? 2487633
2487664
My Little Marriage, my bread winner.
I'm definitely not coping
2487335
lol?
I really want to to just be crazy. I think it would be a great twist compared to every other story like this.
Is she talking about FiM or one of the earlier generations here? I don't think the earlier gens had an 'Equestria'.
Isn't Joe still calling her 'Purple Head' at this point? This happens later too, the narrator keeps switching back and forth between calling her 'Twilight Sparkle' and 'Purple Head'.
Whoops, slipped into first person here.
Oh, she was talking about FiM. I guess this is set in the future, then? It doesn't feel very future-y. You don't need to have nano-whatsits or make it all science fiction, you can just mention that her brother's degree is from 2019 or whatever.
2488700
I actually took out all of the year mentions! My proofers all said it was too blunt. It'll come up soon though.
Sorry about the slip.
And as for switching between the names... it made sense at the time?
You know, I just realized something. Every time a pony (or ponies) shows up here and is taken in, their host is always someone like Joe-- someone who lives alone. I don't think anyone has written a story about them being taken in by a family.
2488792
Aaah, what was the name of that fic... American Girl? A foal is taken in by a family in that one. My other story, My Little Marriage is also very akin to taking in a pony by a family, although in that fic the mother turns into a pony...
But yes sire, you have a point, it's just easier to manage with fewer characters I suppose.
2488724
Fair enough!
noteing the word number on the first chapter reminds me i still need to finish reading Fallout EQ and It's a Dangerous Business, Going Out Your Door
2488802 I can't believe I didn't think of those. Both are stories I follow, too. I never noticed you were the same author who wrote My Little Marriage. That happens a lot, actually- I find a story I like, and only later do I notice it shares its author with other stories I like.
But what I had in mind was one of the main characters. Both of the stories you mentioned involve OCs. Oh well. Maybe it'll get written someday.
2489265
Ah, well now your delving into all of the my little dashie fics to a degree if you're ruling out OCs. A fair number of those deal with the pony being brought in by a group of friends. Although I will profess to not being familiar with one where one of the mane six is raised by a family... Or even given shelter by a family... hm
2486576
Equestria's sun seems to be one of the few details about the show that every brony gets wrong. Equestria's sun is not Giant and far away like Earth's, it is small and close up. It should be no surprise that the sun orbits the world if it is no bigger than the moon. There are 2 details in the show that make it beyond clear that the sun is small and close: 1- At the summer sun celebration in Twilight's cutie mark flashback, the sun appears to rise just as the princess does. If the sun were really as far from Equestria as our sun is from Earth, it would take 8 minutes for anyone to see the sun go up after the spell was cast, because that's how long it takes for light from our sun to reach Earth. 2-At the very beginning of the series, it is stated that the moon needs to make way for the sun for there to be a new day. On Earth, the moon is always out, weather or not the sun is up. It's just too bright to see the moon. So come on guys, try to keep at least some of the science of Equestria straight. It's what Twilight would do.
2489950
Your opinion on Equestria's sun is exactly mine, too.
It would be astonishing for Twilight to hear that the sun-moon-earth relation could be so different from what's normal in Equestria. So I think she would have Joe tell her everything about our sun and how it all works around here.
And the "like Celestia can..."-part was a nod to the PMV/song, not Equestrian reality. I should have made that clearer...
To think that Celestia controls a sun like ours... It would be kinda ridiculous. Celestia shoving around a thing wheighting hundreds of thousands of times more than the earth...
But at least that would explain why Luna went Nightmare Moon:
Everypony would get some inferiority complex when you control only a pebble of a moon compared to the thing your sister controls...
(that's assuming Luna doesn't control the stars too, but then celestia would go bonkers)
And I use "would" much too often. I'm going to learn some new vocables now ...
2488792
I did write one -- a MLD spinoff story -- in which Twilight was taken in by a couple, and at least a few other people knew about her (although I didn't go into detail about that). It was just a short piece, but I think it came out okay... My Little Twilight
I hate tuning in. But I like the story.
2487738 My god that meme is still active?
What an oddly specific fear.
You have my attention.
2490300
Hmm. Quite...
2486423
And dismantled the Fridge
Seriously your stories rocks. I feel that this is going to be fun. Though I wouldn't want to be Joe if Twilight goes Lesson Zero
.
2490707
As long as she's kept clear from the internet, most notably Wikipedia, it's all okay.
After that, though...
Oh, wait, she's gonna show her the show? I do hope she has some DVD's, not going to youtube...
2490230
Apparently
Here's a comment.
Did I please you yet, Merlos?
2490869
Abandon Hope all ye who lets Twilight on Wikipedia
Not a bad start.
2489950
Playing Devil's Advocate for a minute, I'll just point out that 1) assumes the speed of light is the same as in our universe, and as for 2), the story as told is a thousand years old and clearly not very accurate. Or it could be something about the magic that raises and lowers the celestial bodies that means one has to go down before the other can rise. We don't even know if they really do raise the sun and moon, it could be completely untrue and the Eternal Night was actually the result of illusion magic bending the sun's light.
In short, people don't 'get it wrong'. There's simply so little information in the actual show itself that a writer can come up with all sorts of setups for the system and still be within canon because there's nothing to really contradict it.
I get the feeling that Twilight will enjoy then hate alcohol in this story...
Either way, I still have to follow this.
PoE, very few of those catch my attention. This one, just so happens to do so.
Hehehe, Twilight and Joe will be having a field-day omehow in some overzealous way.
Good chapter. I hope the next one comes swift and quite as the night.
Fun premise and I want to see where it goes, but the writing is very iffy all the way through. I had actually started compiling a list but it got too long so I stopped.
Before I even touch this story, I need to ask - do you already know how this story is going to end? It seems that so many stories like this (and then some) begin as more of a personal fantasy put to paper than as a comprehensive story, and so the authors don't know where they're actually going with the stories and they amble about aimlessly, any actual plot seeming to be shoddily thrown together long after the story began (assuming they don't amble aimlessly either A: forever, or B: until the author gets bored of the fantasy and stops writing).
Of course, there's no rule saying that stories that begin with no clear direction can't turn out awesome, but I'm still hoping you have some sort of plot outline planned, lol.
2489950 You're trying to bring science to a show about magical talking cartoon horses that can fly. Your argument is invalid.
i.imgur.com/dCKlg29.jpg
i.imgur.com/tfCBGWp.jpg
i.imgur.com/XC66BC3.jpg