Hey there everypony! Welcome to round 2 of my story! :D

Chapter came out longer than I expected, but meh, what can I say?

...For once, I actually don't have to say in these A/N. That's a first! XD

PLEASE REVIEW :D

"What's gotten in t'him?" Asked Applejack.

"I don't know. He just looked through the wormhole, came back out, said he saw nothing, and stormed off." Twilight said.

"Well, he obviously did see something he's not telling them." Rarity said.

"I figured that much out. The point is, what?" Twilight replied.

"Well, only one way to find out!" Pinkie declared as she made a jump for the wormhole.

"No Pinkie!" Twilight said as she used her magic to grab Pinkie by the tail. "First of all, we don't know what kind of damage we'll cause if any of us go through. And secondly…what if Josh saw something embarrassing that he doesn't want us to find out about…?"

"He looked more disappointed and angry than embarrassed." Rarity said.

"Yeah, but what if there's still something over there he doesn't want us to see?" Twilight questioned.

"What's going on out here?" Called Rainbow Dash as she and Fluttershy came out into the garden. "Where's Josh? Did he go through?"

"No, he stormed off somewhere. Something he saw beyond that wormhole ticked him off." Twilight replied.

"What?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"We don't know. We made the assumption he doesn't want us to know." Twilight replied.

"Well, somepony aught 'a go talk t'him." Applejack said.

"I will." Twilight boldly volunteered. "I'll try and see what's up with him."

She slowly made her way into the house. She gathered he might have gone up the stairs, so that's where she went.

As she approached the top of the stairs, a small room was in front of her. However, she didn't know its purpose, and Josh wasn't in it, so she had little interest.

She looked to the right. She saw a bathroom at the far end, and another room. There was another door on the right hand side, but it was closed.

She looked to her left. She saw a room on the far end with its door open, and another room on the right hand side with its door closed. She decided it would be best to check out the room with the open door first, as it would be easier to maintain a low profile.

She slowly approached the open door and peaked inside. She saw Josh faced to the wall in a recliner chair. The room was a pretty typical bedroom. It had a bed, a desk at the side, next to a bookshelf and a chest of drawers. Around the walls were various posters. There was also various shapes around the room. They looked very peculiar...were they...toys...? Nah! Josh is too old to play with toys.

"…Josh…are you allright…?"

"At this moment in time, yes." He replied with anger in his voice.

Twilight pieced together what he just said and coupled it with what she saw '…at this moment in TIME…I think I get it…' she started to formulate an idea of what just happened.

She inhaled deeply. "What did you see on the other side?" she asked.

Josh sighed. He pushed off the wall with his feet and rotated the chair to face her. He also moved it into a less reclined position.

"I saw…myself…" He began.

"…Riiiiight…how much later?" Twilight asked.

"I didn't get to look at a calendar, but I'd say I looked to be about 30 years old…"

"mmhmm…sooo…what disappointed you?"

"I was in exactly the same position I was now." Josh replied. "I was doing the same thing I'm doing now each day. I'm still living with my parents and I'm stuck in a dead-end job in IT support. I looked so fat I couldn't see my feet if I looked down…that's not how I pictured my life years from now at all…"

"I see. So, your angry because your life didn't turn out how you expected it?"

"Yes…"

Twilight sighed and walked next to him. "So your life took a little detour from your planned path. So what? Josh, these kind of things are unpredictable, even when you do have a magic portal in your back yard that lets you travel to different places and times. I mean look at me, I know it's gonna be hard for you to understand because you don't know what I'm talking about, but the principle is still the same. Never in a million years did I see myself living in Ponyville, but here I am. And I love it! Josh, your life is whatever you make of what you got."

"…Yeah, I suppose your right…" He perked up a bit. "Besides, now I know what's coming up, I can just change things about myself to try and make future me's life better." He got out of his chair and smiled. "Thanks, Twilight."

"Uhh…you're welcome…" Twilight wasn't entirely convinced that messing with time was a good idea.

They both headed back downstairs. As they headed into the kitchen, everpony's eyes set upon Josh. "I'm sorry for storming off like that. I just saw myself in a crappy future and got pretty…annoyed, to say the least."

"Aw that's allright, Joshy! I'm just glad you're happy again!" Pinkie said.

"Heh. Thanks, Pinkie." Josh replied.

"So are ya still hungry?" Asked Applejack. "So'ry fo' kinda gwine through all ya stuff. ah was lookin' fo' some bowls an' spoons."

"That's fine." Josh replied. "Pour me a bowl."

"Ya got it!" Applejack had a large serving spoon in her mouth. She used it to dig into the soup and pour it into a bunch of bowls she had next to her. She put the big spoon down and put a smaller spoon in the bowl. She then handed it to Josh. "There ya go."

"Thank you, Applejack." Josh replied. He took a mouthful with the spoon. It was very hot, but that was how he liked it.

"So Josh, what's next?" Asked Twilight.

"With the wormhole?" He questioned.

Twilight nodded.

Josh sighed. "Well…there's not really much else I can do. I don't have the technology to accurately control it. Basically, I'm firing blind, so to speak." When the idea of technology came to mind, it started springing ideas into his head.

"If that thing can go forward in time, couldn't you just travel to the future and get the appropriate technology?" Twilight suggested.

"Yes…that is just what I was thinking…" Josh replied.

'If I can get into a cartoon TV show universe, does that mean I can cross over into other universes aswell?' He thought and ate at the same time. 'If I start jumping around fantasy universes, they might get a bit suspicious. I guess I could always come clean with them and tell them the truth, but who knows what type of trouble that might cause…I guess I could just bluff it off as 'another universe' or an alternate reality, but how long will that last until they don't believe that excuse anymore?'

"I'll have to do some calculations before I try blindly throwing myself into the future again." Josh said. He took the last spoonful of his soup and set the bowl down on the kitchen worktop.

"Yeah, of course." Twilight replied.

"Okie dokie smoky. I'll catch up with you later!" And with what looked like no thought put into it, Pinkie Pie dashed off and away.

"Where's she off to?" Josh asked.

"Ah've got a purdy good idea. But if Ah tell ya, it might ruin th' surprise." Applejack said.

"Ohh…" Josh got a pretty good idea what she was doing. She was probably going to plan that party from him, but since she didn't mention it as she went out the door; she probably wanted it to be a surprise.

"Do you want us to leave you alone to do your calculations, Josh?" Asked twilight.

"Uh, sure." Josh replied. Actually, he could do the calculations off the top of his head. However, he wanted some thinking room, and he saw accepting their request as being much politer than asking them to leave.

The remaining ponies left Josh alone and Josh sat in the armchair in his living room to think.

He shrugged. "I guess I could just travel forward a few hundred years in advanced in my original universe and see what happens…"

With little thought required anymore, he set off to rest until he got word from the ponies. Hell, they didn't even make arrangements of who would meet who and where. He decided he should just turn up whenever.

He was gonna run a few laps on his DIY racing simulator, but then he remembered that he butchered the electronics in his house to run the wormhole.

He sighed. "I need an alternative power source. This is just too inconvenient..." He said to himself.

He went to loiter up in his bedroom. He didn't know how casual or formal this party would be, so he didn't entirely know what to wear.

He decided to go with whatever he thought looked nice and presentable. He took off the T-shirt he was wearing and replaced it with a regular shirt. It was vertically stripy with loads of different shades of blue on it. He did up every button except the top two.

He walked over to his stereo system and switched it on. He plugged in his iPod and set it to shuffle. The music automatically played at the previous volume it was set to, which was quite low because his parents did like him having loud music…but his parents weren't here. He slowly turned the volume knob up until he got a volume was too his liking.

He laid down on his bed and tried to get some sleep. He hadn't had allot of that, so he decided he should get some before his party.

He slowly made his way into a dream…

…

And it was in that dream that an idea came to him. He dreamt back to when he was…he couldn't remember how old he was, but from the memories that appeared in front of him, he looked like he just started middle school.

He remembered teaching himself about electronics. The stuff he wanted to know they didn't teach in school, so he had to learn it himself. With his Dad to help him sometimes.

"Josh! Josh, wake up!" Twilight called. She had found him lying on his bed and he had fallen asleep.

"Huh? What?" Josh blinked his eyes a few times to figure out what was going on.

"How do you turn this noise off!" She said over the sound of the music.

Josh's face brightened up as he knew what she was on about. He walked over to his iPod and switched it off. "And that's not a 'noise'. That, my Pony, is Rock 'n' Roll." He said.

"Whatever, it's a noise to me." She replied 'how can he even call that music? I think that genres been out of fashion for decades...' "I know you wanted to be left alone, but I couldn't resist, I really wanted to learn about this and some of the other stuff you know. I won't get in your way, I promise!" She said with a wide smile across her face.

"How did you get in?" Josh asked as he sat himself up on the edge of his bed.

"Oh, you left the door open. I just came in. Hope you don't mind." Twilight replied.

"…Oh yeah. So I did." Josh said. "Anyway, I think I know what to do. The idea came to me in a dream. You kinda interrupted it, but no worries; I still figured it all out."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Not a problem. Follow me and I'll try and explain it all to you."

Josh started walking down the stairs. Twilight followed him. She noticed he was wearing a different shirt the last time she saw him. "New shirt?"

"Huh?" Josh turned a corner into his garage, "oh yeah! I changed it because I thought it looked nicer for this party Pinkie's throwing me."

"Oh, never mind about that. Pinkie's parties are always very casual. Don't wear anything too fancy, otherwise it'll get ruined." Twilight joked.

Josh went to his desk in the garage and pulled one of the drawers open. It was full of electronic components all organised carefully into categories. Josh examined them to see what he could spare to cut apart and show Twilight how they work. "What's that?" He heard Twilight say from behind him.

He looked back and then looked in the direction of Twilight's hoof. She was pointing to his simulator. "Oh, that's a racing simulator I put together myself. It's like a practice tool for when I'm not actually driving. It's quite fun actually. The best part is you can do whatever you want on it, because unlike in real life, if you mess up, it doesn't do any damage."

"I see…so, you do this for fun?" She asked.

"Mostly, yeah." Josh replied.

"Cool. So, what does it contribute to?"

Josh looked confused. "I don't understand what you mean…"

"What does it do for you? How does it make you better? Does it make you money? Do you get any research out of it? Do you-"

Josh gently placed his index and middle finger over her lips to make her stop talking. He knew Twilight was like this. He saw this as an opportunity to possibly change her or maybe at least get her to realise some things. "Don't you ever do anything for fun in Equestria?"

"Fun? Oh, I have plenty of fun! I enjoy reading and studying and learning new things and-"

"Any sports?" Josh interrupted.

"Sports? Why would I waste my time on that?"

"Waste your time? Twi, there's much more to life than letters and numbers. You don't always have to play life by the book. Try doing something fun for once." Josh said, exhaling the remainder of his breath as he finished talking. He began thinking about what he just said. Was he a bit harsh? Did he just offend her? Did he just accidently call her boring bookworm?

"I'm sorry, Josh, but I just don't see the point in sports. Besides, I am doing something fun. Reading is fun. Learning is fun."

"Come on, Twilight, where's your sense of adventure? What gets your adrenalin pumping?"

She shook her head. "Adrenalin will only increase your chance to make mistakes. Why would I want to increase my adrenalin levels unnecessarily?"

"Twilight, in order to advance, mistakes are needed. The more mistakes you make at the beginning, the less likely you are to make them in the future."

He noticed that her eyes had trailed off and were looking at something else behind him. "But sometimes mistakes can be far too costly, can't they?" She said, her eyes still looking at something else.

Josh looked where she was looking. She was looking at a poster he had on the wall above his simulator rig. It was a big picture of a black car with the number 3 on it, and above the picture of the car, was the picture of who she gathered was the driver. The writing along the top said 'in memory of a Legend', and along the bottom it said 'RIP Dale "The Intimidator" Earnhardt. 7-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series Champion. 1951-2001.'

"Was he a sportspony? Er, I mean human."

"In a way, yes. He's a racing driver, like me."

"RIP. Does that stand for rest in peace in your world aswell?"

"Yes…"

"That number along the bottom. Two thousand and one. Is that a measurement of time? Was that his death time?"

Josh sighed. "…Yes…that represents the year."

"And how did he die?" She asked.

"…Well…he started moving down the track, he moved too low, and another car clipped him and he hit the wall."

"Basically, he made a mistake." Twilight replied. "A mistake that cost him his life."

"It wasn't his fault, the car started moving down on its own. He had nothing to do with it! He never would've done that!"

"Oh I see. So, it's whoever put these contraptions together's fault is it? So he lost his life because of someone else mistake?"

Josh was clenching his fist and slightly grinding his teeth. He was teased for being such a huge NASCAR fan back in his world, he wasn't about to let that happen again.

"So it technically is wasting your time, since it shortens your lifespan." Twilight said.

Josh felt like he could just punch something. Or her. But he was too intelligent to let his anger get control of him. He took a big deep breath and backtracked the conversation. Did he maybe kickstart this whole thing by unintentionally calling her boring bookworm who always follows the rule and regulations and does what she's told?

He slowly let out his breath. "…Look…I'm sorry I said you weren't fun. I was just trying to get my point across that some things are more than you make them out to be." He smiled.

She smiled back at him. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to offend you. I was just trying to get my point across, like you."

"That's okay, I forgive you." Josh replied. "Anyway, what I was going to show you." He presented the small device in his hand. "It's called a capacitor." He explained. "There are two halves to it. One half hold the positive energy, the other holds the negative. However, what's unique about a capacitor is the way it delivers the energy in it. Instead of giving it out at a constant stream, like you saw earlier, it just throws it all out in one."

"…Like filling a bucket to the top and tipping it over?" she analogised.

"Yeah, exactly like that!" Josh replied. "I think that with a big enough push, I might be able to travel to push the wormhole into an alternative reality, or even, another universe."

Twilight was speechless from astonishment. "Wow" was the only thing that could come out of her mouth.

"But there is one problem." Josh said. "Even if I took all the capacitors I had and combined them all, I still wouldn't even produce a fraction of the power needed."

"Ohh…that is a problem…"

"Although, I thought of an idea." Josh said.

"What?" Twilight asked.

"You could use your magic to generate the power. If you released a big burst of energy all at once, like a capacitor, you might have the same effect."

She smiled. "I like your idea, Josh, but I don't think I'd know what to do. I don't know enough about electricity and how it works to know how to do-"

"Hold that thought!" Josh interrupted. He started rummaging through his drawers again. He knelt down on his knees and started pulling things out of the bottom draw. The bottom draw was mostly full of books and reference sheets. The bigger books he pulled out and put to the side, the smaller ones he just moved around inside the draw so he could get a better look. Eventually, he found what he was looking for, buried underneath a pile of other books at the back of the drawer.

"Here, take this." He presented a book to her labelled 'Technological Innovations from the Eighteenth Century Onwards'.

She picked it up with her magic. "That should get you up to date on everything we know about electricity. You could research that and see if it compatible with a spell of some sort."

"Oh, thank you! I will!" She replied with a big smile on her face.

"Great! Not right now, obviously, but I'm ready whenever you're ready." Josh said. "Now, when's this party?"

"Oh yeah, that's why I came here. Pinkie is gonna be starting your party soon. You might wanna get there. It's a short walk away."

Josh smiled. "Who said anything about walking?" He said.

"…Well, how else are we gonna get there?" She asked.

"Follow me." Josh replied.

He went into the living room and picked up a set of keys. He then waved his arm in the direction of the front door. Twilight followed him out of the door. Josh closed the door behind her and locked it.

He then turned around and pressed a button on the key. The car on the right beeped and yellow lights flashed on it. It was his Dads car. A 2009 Skoda Octavia VRS.

Twilight's eyes widened. "No."

"Oh yeah." Josh replied.

"Can we?" She asked.

"Of course. I don't see any reason why not."

He went down to the passenger side door and opened it. "Please take a seat, Miss Sparkle." Josh said in a gentlemanly voice.

Twilight slowly walked down and peeked into the car. She slowly climbed in, examining the centre console as she did.

Josh closed the door behind her and walked around to the other side. He opened the door and sat down on the chair. He pulled the seat forward slightly and adjusted the mirror to his liking. He placed the key in the ignition and fired up the engine. Twilight jumped slightly.

He pulled his seatbelt down from above his right shoulder and down into the socket just next to the seat. He looked at Twilight. She had watched him do the manoeuvre. "Now you do it." He said.

She looked up at the seatbelt. She merely used her magic to pull it out and put it in the socket. "Ready to go." She said nervously.

He depressed the clutch and took his left hand to the gearstick. He pushed it down and into reverse gear. He had to push it down to get it into reverse. It was a safety feature in the car, so you didn't accidently put it into reverse. He then took his left hand and took the handbrake off.

He looked over his shoulder and out the back window. He ever so slightly laid his foot on the gas and gently bought the clutch up. Once he felt it biting, he held his foot in place. The car slowly started moving backwards, slowly increasing in speed.

Once he felt like he had reversed an adequate distance to turn the car in the right direction, Josh depressed the clutch, took his foot off the gas and onto the brake, shifted to 1st gear and revved it a few times.

He looked over to Twilight and smiled. "Welcome to my world." He said with a large amount of mischief in his voice.

He dropped the clutch and slammed the gas down, causing the front wheels to spin and leave a bald patch on the grass. He turned the wheel to the left 2 times around to point it towards the right direction.

Once he got to about 20 miles per hour, he shifted to 2nd gear. Once he got to 50, he shifted straight to 4th. "So, where about are we going?" Asked Josh.

"A place called Sugarcube Corner." Twilight replied. She was still a bit uneasy about Josh driving. He seemed to know what he was doing, but she was still a little…scared maybe? She'd never been in a car before. "Keep driving towards Ponyville. I'll show you when we get close."

"Okay," Josh replied as he was tapping a few buttons on the centre console. He was cycling through the CD auto changer. His Dad had a few bands and albums that he didn't recognise, but the one he did recognise was Guns 'n' Roses album called Greatest Hits.

He clicked it on and set it to shuffle, by pressing the arrows crossing over in the middle right of the screen.

Twilight's ears pricked up. "What's that? Is it broken?" She spoke quickly.

Josh laughed. "Nah, that's just the speakers playing music. You do have Rock 'n' Roll here don't you."

"…Yeah, I think we do…I just didn't realise it was so…strange sounding."

Josh rolled his eyes. 'Is Rock 'n' Roll out of fashion here aswell!' He thought

.

To his right, Josh saw a line of trees. He recognised them as the trees Rainbow Dash used to practice on in the episode Sonic Rainboom.

He smiled. He dropped it into 3rd and made the turn for the trees. "We've got plenty of time, how about I give you a little demonstration?"

"Huh?" Twilight went wide eyed.

Josh put his foot all the way to the floor and headed towards the tree. "JOSH! TREES!" Twilight screamed.

Josh lined up for braking using as little time and distance as possible. He knew he had a lack of grip on the grass instead of tarmac, but he could easily compensate for it. He precisely applied the brakes as they approached the tree. Twilight gagged as the belt gripped her from the force of slowing down.

Josh performed a manoeuvre known as threshold braking. That meant he applied the brakes to the point of the wheels locking. When he sensed them locking, he gently lifted until they weren't locking, then he pushed them down again. He didn't need to do this in a road car, but it was just natural for him, being a racing driver and all.

Once he got to a certain point, he whipped the wheel to the right. Since the front wheels had the majority of the weight and grip transferred to them from slowing down, the car turned with ease. Once he got a fender in front of the tree, Josh whipped the wheel to the left, causing the car to follow suit. Twilight yelped at the sudden direction change.

Josh weaved between the first few trees normally. Then, coming out of one of the others, he mashed the gas for a little burst of speed. He knew that now he was going faster, he would have to slow down to make the next gap in the trees.

He used a technique called trail braking. This was where he slightly grazed the brakes to make the car slide. Twilight screamed as the car went sideways. "OH CELESTIA! THAT MAKES ME FEEL WEIGHTLESS AND SICK!"

When Josh passed the last tree, he yanked the handbrake up and the car spun around 180 degrees. He depressed the clutch as the car started spinning so the engine wouldn't stall.

He looked over at Twilight and smiled. Twilight was still shaking. "How was that?"

"Y-you're crazy…that was so scary…I think I just…had an accident…"

Josh laughed. "Nah! Heated seats. They do make it feel like that though." He replied. He took his left hand turned the knob on the centre console to turn off Twilight's heated seat. "You should see me in my actual race cars."

"Yeah, the key word there is SEE. That means using my eyes. Meaning I don't want another ride like that."

Josh sighed. He was about to say something, but he didn't want to start another argument with Twilight before a party. "So, I'll just keep heading in this direction."

He released the handbrake and started moving back towards Ponyville. Once he reached the town, he reduced his speed to 20 miles per hour. That was the speed limit around his town, so he thought that this should be the same for safety reasons.

Ponyville wasn't so much a town. The way Josh saw it; it was small enough to be classified as a village. Or maybe the classifications were different here in Equestria. Whatever the reason, the town was smaller than he expected it.

"Go left here. We go past the windmill and we should be there. It's, well, on the corner."

"You don't say?" Josh replied.

Josh drove on down and past the windmill. He saw a small crowd of ponies gathering outside the house on the corner. "There it is." Twilight said. "Looks like a big turnout. Not surprising, since this is technically first contact."

Josh smiled. "Hopefully this first contact will go well…"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean."

"Oh, nothing. Mentioning first contact just bought a movie or 2 into my head." Josh replied.

Josh pulled over to the right as much as he could to try and use up as little room as he could. Then he came to a stop and flicked the engine off. He pulled up the handbrake and put the keys in his pocket. "Well, here we go." He said as he opened the door.

Twilight used her magic to pull the handle and open the door. She climbed out in sync with Josh. Josh closed the door then waited to hear a second thud for Twilight's door closing. He could hear ponies calling to him already. Once he heard Twilight's door shut, he pressed the button on the key in his pocket to lock the car.

He saw mixed expressions from the ponies that had gathered to see him. But why should they not have their own reactions? He was the first human they'd ever seen after all.

When Josh got close to them, he said "Hey. I'm Josh. Nice to meet all you ponies."

Before anyone had a chance to react, Pinkie Pie jumped over the entire crowd and grabbed Josh around the neck. However, she only held on for a second then let go. Josh was glad, because she was heavy enough to break his neck if she held on any longer.

"Oh goodie! You're here!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Everypony has been waiting to meet you! Their all super-duper excited about seeing you!"

"I can tell by the huge crowd." Josh replied.

Pinkie turned around and wrapped her tail around Josh's left hand. She then started pulling him through the crowd into Sugarcube Corner.

'I think she forgot that I'm a tad bigger than her...' Josh thought. "Excuse me! Sorry! Coming through! Pardon me! Sorry!" He said as he got dragged through the crowd of ponies.

When they got inside, there were still lots of ponies, but not as many. Pinkie let go of his hand. Josh recognized some of the ponies he had already met. "C'mon, I want you to meet mister and misses Cake! They run this shop!"

Josh followed Pinkie to 2 ponies standing by a table with food and drinks on it. They where organizing it. "Mister and Misses Cake, this is the human I was talking to you about."

Josh waved his right hand slightly. "Hey. I'm Josh."

"How nice to meet you, Dearie." Mrs. Cake replied. "It must have taken you ages to get to here. You must be starving. Please have something to eat. Take anything you want. I would recommend these cupcakes made by our very own Pinkie Pie."

"Believe me, it's a shorter journey than you think…" Josh said. "And thank you." He added as he picked up a cupcake. "I must say you have my utmost appreciation for being able to put this together on very short notice."

"Oh no need to thank us. Pinkie Pie here is the one behind the party." Mr. Cake replied.

"Yep! That's me! Party thrower extraordinaire!" Pinkie added.

Josh took a bite into the cupcake he picked up. There was a sudden rush of flavor all over his tongue. Like each of his individual taste buds was picking up its own flavor.

"These are brilliant, Pinkie!" Josh exclaimed with a slight mouthful. When he swallowed, he felt like he'd swallowed more than he could taste. Like something else was there, but his taste buds didn't pick it up.

Before he could say anything else, He saw a cyan colored blur coming at him from out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey! Josh, Josh, Josh!" He heard in Rainbow Dash's voice.

She skidded to a stop just inches away from Josh. "That thing outside you arrived in? Can it fly? Can you take me for a ride in it? Can you teach me how to use it? Can I show it to the Wonderbolts? Can I-"

Josh placed his index finger on her lips to silence her. "I'll show you later. For now, enjoy the party." Josh replied and smiled.

He looked at Pinkie Pie. "Have you got anything to drink?"

"Right over here!" Rainbow Dash called as she was up the other end of the table. There was lots of bottles and a mix of glasses and plastic cups and mugs. "What's your poison?" She asked. Her hoof hovering over the drinks ready to strike at Josh's command.

Josh chuckled. "Rainbow Dash, you don't have to suck up to me to get me to take you for a drive. I will take you for a drive, I promise."

"I know, I know. I just wanted to be polite that's all." She said with a large smile on her face.

"Yo' bein' polite? Thet'll be th' day…" Applejack replied as she came onto the scene. Along with Twilight and Fluttershy.

"Why hey there, Applejack." Josh said to her. He noticed her hat was on her head at a different angle now. It was sort of tilted across her right ear.

She bought her hoof up and straightened it out a bit. "Was mah hat a li'l funny? Yo' were lookin' at me wif all th' raised eyebrows an' sech is all…"

"Oh no, it was just a bit wonky, but you straightened it out." Josh replied. "Nice hat, if I may add. People pay allot of money for good quality Stetsons back where I come from."

She smiled and blushed a tiny bit at Josh's compliment. No one had ever complimented her on her hat before. Well, maybe a few little times, but not ones that would stick in her memory for too long. "Aw shucks, this hyar ol' thin'?" She took it off and spun it around her right hoof a few times. "Ah've had this thin' fo' a long as Ah can remember…"

She then threw it into the air and it landed perfectly on her head. Without even looking.

"Wow. How did you do that without even looking?"

"Jest practice. Yo' git it eventually."

Before the conversation could move any further, some commotion and the front door caught Josh's eye. A marshmallow colored pony wearing a sort of crimson velvet dress slowly walked through the door. It was Rarity.

"Hey Rarity!" He called.

She flinched. "Get back! Stay away!" She said.

Josh scratched his head. "What's up with her?"

"She's very obsessive over her dresses." Twilight replied.

She was waving her arms to try and get everypony away from her. Eventually, she made it over to them. Behind her, other ponies started to gather around Josh.

"Here you go, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie said presenting a glass with a translucent white liquid in it. She flinched. "Vanilla scotch! Your favorite!"

Rarity's horn glowed with her blue aurora. A semicircular object came out of the front of her dress and she held it against her chest. Josh recognized it. "Is that a…protractor…?"

"Don't even ask…" Twilight replied.

She lined herself up with Pinkie and slowly took the drink offered to her with her magic. "Thank you." She said softly.

"So what did you want to drink again Josh?" Rainbow Dash asked.

'Has she been standing there the entire time?' Josh thought. He didn't know what kind of drinks the ponies had, but seeing how they have scotch, he decided that will do. "I'll have a scotch please." He said.

"Sure…uhhh…which one?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

Josh honestly had no idea of any of the brands in Equestria, so he simply said "surprise me." He held his hand out and looked away in the opposite direction, closing his eyes.

…

"…Okay…here it comes." Rainbow Dash said. Josh felt a glass land in his hands.

"Thank you." He said as he looked at his drink. He bought it to his lips and took a small sip. "Mmm, that's good." He said after he swallowed. He used his other hand to finish off the cupcake he got offered by the Cakes.

'Scotch and cupcakes. Not the weirdest combination I've ever had, I suppose…'

"Do you have alcohol back where you come from Josh?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"Ohh yes…" He replied. He'd never been drunk himself, but he'd seen plenty of pictures on Facebook of people's evenings that they'd forgotten. To be honest, the idea of being drunk didn't really appeal to him.

He saw a pony approaching him. She had dark pink fur and 2 different shades of light pink on her mane and tail.

She stood next to Josh and smiled. "Hello Josh. My name is Cheerilee." She spoke in a nice calm, welcoming voice that anyone could love.

"Hello Miss Cheerilee." He replied and smiled, taking a sip from his drink.

"Oh, only colts and fillies call me that. Please. Just Cheerilee is fine."

"Very well." Josh replied. "What can I do for you?"

"I teach at the local school in Ponyville. I was wondering if you would be willing to pay us a visit at some point."

"Of course! I'd be happy to." He replied with a smile.

"Oh thank you. The kids are only a few years old so don't be too…detailed with whatever you talk about please."

He smiled. "Oh don't worry. I've got plenty of experience with kids."

She looked slightly surprised. "You've got kids? That's great! When I first saw you, I never would've thought because you look so young and-"

"Oh, no! I don't have kids! I meant I've got experience talking to them." Josh interrupted. 'Me with children. That'll be the day…'

"Oh. Right. Sorry, I misunderstood you a little there."

"No worries. So, what time is good for me to talk to your class?"

"Well, if tomorrow is no bother, then can it be tomorrow?"

"I see no problem with that. Tomorrow it is!" Josh replied.

"But Josh, weren't we gonna do some more work on the wormhole tomorrow?" Asked Twilight.

"We've got plenty of time, Twilight. As far as I know, that wormhole isn't going anywhere."

"Oh I wouldn't want to intrude. Please, I'm happy to reschedule." Cheerilee said.

"No, no, tomorrow's fine." Josh said, reassuring her with a smile.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to get in the way of your work."

"Well, it's not like I've got a deadline or anything, so there's always time for interruptions. Trust me." Josh replied.

"If you say so…" Cheerilee replied.

Josh looked at Rarity. "Rarity…if I may ask…what's with the dress? It's very nice, but don't you think it's a little too…posh for a casual party?"

"I appreciated your concern, Josh, but as long as I take the necessary precautions, it won't get ruined." She replied.

"Uhh…very well…" He didn't have the heart to tell her how out of place she looked in the dress.

Suddenly, Spike came charging through the front door with a letter in his hand. "The Princess…replied…" He said through breaths to Twilight.

Twilight picked up the letter with her magic. She didn't read it aloud; she just read it in her mind. But as the expression on her face changed, everypony and Josh got a good idea of what she was reading.

"Josh, this letter is from Princess Celestia, the Monarch of this land. She wants to meet you up in Canterlot. Tomorrow!"

A smile formed across Josh's face. Going to the fanciest place in Equestria and meeting the Princess.

"So do we get to go too!" Asked Rarity before Josh could even reply.

Twilight put a 'well, DUH!' expression on her face. "I guess we should." She replied.

"Oh yes! A day out in Canterlot!" She exclaimed.

"So what time tomorrow?" Asked Josh.

"It doesn't say…" Twilight replied. "Through the way she words it, it kinda gives the expression that she doesn't mind what time. She ends with 'I'll be waiting for you'…"

"All the more reason to get there early!" Rarity said.

"But what are you gonna tell her Josh?" Asked Twilight.

He smiled. "The truth." He said simply. "Problem?"

"Oh, no, no…" Twilight replied. She was thinking about Princess Celestia's Birthday party. She didn't know the date, so she thought that she could use Josh to get the date from here, since she knows that he doesn't know, so she might tell him whilst they are all in earshot. 'I think I'll just keep quiet and hope for the best. He seems like the kind of character that presses matters until they snap, so he might make a big deal out of it. I don't want him to do that.' She thought.

Josh downed the remainder of his drink and set the glass down on the side. "I shouldn't drink anymore if I've got to meet a Monarch tomorrow." He said. He turned to Cheerilee. "I'm sorry, but we might have to reschedule the little class visit to some other time. How about the day after tomorrow?"

Cheerilee shrugged. "That's fine by me if it's good for you." She replied.

"Perfect." He said and smiled.

He suddenly saw a grey Pony with a blond mane skid to a stop in front of him. She bounced off the table to slow herself down. "I came as soon as I could." She said. She had a really bad lisp in her voice.

Josh looked at her yellow eyes. They were…slightly off. He couldn't tell which eye was the lazy one.

"Uh, can I help you?" He asked, already knowing who the Pony was, but didn't want to reveal.

"Well I came to see you, actually. But I got the time messed up and so I'm a bit late." She looked at her watch. "I could've sworn I was told 3PM...Darn useless watch I got for my birthday."

Josh looked at her watch from where he was sitting. The time was right, her watch was right; she was just wearing it the wrong way round.

She suddenly started shaking Josh's right hand. "Names Derpy Hooves. I've been wanting to meet you Mr. Josh. You're very strange."

"Oh. Thanks, Derpy…" He replied. "I'll try not to take that offensively." He mumbled.

"Can I get you a drink?" She asked.

"Oh no, I've already had something to drink. I've got to go to Canterlot tomorrow, so I don't wanna be too boozed up." He said with a smile.

"Can I get you a soft drink then?" She asked.

Rainbow Dash tapped Applejack on the shoulder. "Five bits that she drops it." She whispered into her ear.

Applejack smiled. "Yer on!" She whispered back.

Josh overheard their little bet. He decided that he should probably go through with what Derpy was offering them for their sake. "I'll have a glass of water." He told her.

"Okay. Comin' right up!" She said and smiled. She took Josh's already used glass and then went over to the drinks table. She picked up a glass jug of water and then lined up Josh's glass with it. She poured it, but the glass fell over. She yelped a bit in surprise and got a few napkins off the side to dry it up. She then tried pouring again, but when she poured it, the glass kept moving forwards away from the water. She stopped and moved it back, but when she started pouring again, the same thing happened.

She was getting more and more frustrated as she poured more, not seeing that she needed to hold the glass and pour at the same time. Josh snickered at little grey pony. When she had finally finished, she held it up and smiled at Josh. "One glass of water coming right up!" She said.

She started walking over to Josh, balancing it on her muzzle. It tipped from left to right, causing small bits of water to drop simultaneously.

When she finally got to Josh, she lowered her head to let him take it from her. "Thank you." Josh said as he extended his hand forward to take the glass.

Then all of a sudden, she sneezed! Sending her flying backwards and dropping the glass. Small droplets of the contents splashed Josh on the right trouser leg, but other than that, the rest of it went on the floor. Along with bits of smashed glass.

Rainbow Dash elbowed Applejack with a smug grin on her face. Applejack rolled her eyes and paid up to Rainbow Dash.

Derpy quickly got up. "Oh my! What happened there?"

"I think you sneezed."

"…Oh yeah." She replied. "I better get this cleaned up. Be right back."

She dashed off. Presumably to get things to clean with.

Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. "She's so stupid!"

Josh laughed to himself softly. "I think she's cute." He said.

Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped laughing and glared at Josh. "Cute? She can't tell right from left. How can you call that cute?"

Josh shrugged. "She's just cute and kinda funny."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "I thought you were cool. But now you're saying stuff like 'aww! She's cute!'" Rainbow Dash put on a really girly cutsie-wootsie voice

Josh sighed. "Rainbow Dash, it doesn't affect your 'coolness' when you say things like that. Some people find it sort of…well…attractive."

Rainbow Dash perked up. "Really?"

"Well…yeah…" Josh replied.

"…Do you find it attractive?"

He shrugged. "I guess I do in a way, yeah." He replied.

He stood from his chair. "If you excuse me, I would like to meet some other ponies."

He quietly mingled with other ponies for the rest of the night. Most of them eager to hear stories from his world. They were quite surprised that there were no humans with wings or that used magic. Josh didn't like magic anyway. He was a very logical kind of person. He didn't believe that things just happened, like with magic. He believed for there to be a push that sets everything in motion. A cause and effect.

He was offered a fair amount of drinks throughout the evening, but he turned them all down. He stuck to soft drinks. He didn't want to be under the influence of alcohol before meeting the Princess. Some of the drinks he consumed had very…interesting names. 'Dandelion Surprise? Sounds like the name of a crappy Valentine's Day bouquet.'

The height of the ponies was also quite a shock to him. He was roughly 6 foot tall, possibly a bit more. All the ponies were around 4 foot. He expected them to be allot bigger.

Towards the end of the night, the ponies started to leave. Josh looked at the time. It was 9:30 PM. He decided it was probably time for him to get going too.

As he made his way to his car (or rather, his Dad's car), a few ponies that were leaving at the same time as him waved to him. He waved back as he opened the door. He put his seatbelt on and put the key in the ignition. He pulled it out of gear into neutral. He always left it in neutral when he parked, so that the car didn't roll back.

He flicked the engine over and took the handbrake off. He got ready to go, but then all of a sudden, he heard banging on his window. He looked over. It was Rainbow Dash.

"Can you take me for a spin!" She said through the glass.

Josh sighed. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to, but she had asked before, and he did promise her. "Come on in!" He said.

Rainbow Dash searched the door before she found the thing that stuck out from it. She pulled it, and the door opened. Once there was enough room for her to get in, she climbed onto the seat. She observed how Josh was sitting. She tried to copy his posture the best she could.

Josh leant across and grabbed her seatbelt. He pulled it down in front of her face. "This is called a seatbelt." He told her. He then pulled it across and plugged it into the socket.

He shifted to first gear and pulled away. He built up a bit of speed, and then shifted to second. He then started turning in the direction of his house. Maintaining a steady pace. Once he was more or less in a straight line, Josh short shifted to fifth.

Rainbow Dash sighed as they continued on in a straight line. "Borrrrinnggg!" she blurted out. "Doesn't this thing go any faster?"

Josh smiled. "With pleasure." He said in a cheeky tone. He dropped it into third and mashed the gas. Rainbow Dash jumped a bit at the acceleration.

He came across the same set of trees he demonstrated his skills with to Twilight. He headed for them and performed the same routine. Weaving in and out of them and sliding the car around towards the end.

"Wow. That was actually quite fun for not flying." She said. She looked down between her legs. "Although…I've got this weird warm feeling between my legs…"

Josh laughed. "Heated seats." He said as he flicked them off. "Twilight thought she pee'd 'erself too."

"…Ohh…" Rainbow Dash's laughter slowly bought up as she began to understand the prank.

"So anyway, can I drop you off at your house?" Josh asked.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Not unless this thing can fly. My house is above ground." She replied.

"Oh, okay. Can I drop you off near it?"

"Nah, I'm okay! I've been wanting to give my wings a stretch anyway." She replied.

"Okay then. Good evening, Rainbow Dash." Josh said with a smile.

Rainbow Dash unbelted herself and opened the door. "G'night Josh." She said as she climbed out and closed the door. She then shot off into the sky.

Josh parked the car outside his house and locked it. He the unlocked the front door and went inside. He had a few things on his mind, but he couldn't be bothered to do them. He looked at the clock in the living room. It was 9PM. "I've been at that party for six hours?" He said to himself.

He went up into his room and switched his laptop on. Once it had booted up, he plugged a flash drive into it. He transferred all of his My Little Pony stuff onto it. All the videos. All the pictures. All the fanfiction's he'd been writing. The lot. 'If they find this then I'm screwed. But I don't want to lose all those gigabytes of data forever. I've got to hide this flash drive somewhere…'

He looked around, but nowhere immediately obvious presented itself. He sighed. "I'll figure something out later." He said as he started to yawn. "Too tired. Can't be arsed…" He said as he yawned. He then went to get ready for bed.

He switched everything off and then laid down in bed. His eyes were heavy, but his brain was still running flatout. Though there wasn't really a time when his brain wasn't running flatout. He wanted to sleep, but he still had allot of thoughts going through his mind…

Well there you go! Hope you enjoyed it! 'Cause I feel I could've done better...oh well...

PLEASE REVIEW :D