Pinkie instantly burst through the door, nearly knocking down Twilight in her race to get inside the room. She gave a joy filled gasp as she saw Joseph, who reared his head back in surprise.
"Wow..." He said, barely above a whisper. There was amazement in his voice, and it was clear he couldn't believe his eyes. He gave a short chuckle and looked back to the doorway, and saw Twilight. She gave a light smile and nodded. She felt her stomach ache slightly, and her forehead grow hotter. She was anxious, and with good reason. This was the first time she had ever seen a creature like this so close up.
"Hi! My name's Pinkie Pie! I'm really excited to meet you! What's your home like? Are there more of you? Do you have ponies like us at your world?" Pinkie shot off. Twilight chuckled nervously and went forward to grab her friend. She took her friend's foreleg and pulled back slightly.
"Pinkie, give him some space." She says as she pulls her down to her eye level. Joseph gave a short chuckle.
"It's fine. I'll answer any questions that you have." He said. Twilight stepped back, releasing Pinkie. Pinkie smiles and leaps up to the bed, standing right next to Joseph. He backs his head away and smiles nervously.
"I would like a small amount of personal space though." He says with a nervous tone. Pinkie shrugs and backs away. Joseph sighs in relief and places his hands in his lap. Twilight smiles and walks forward.
"Hi Joseph, I'm Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn you were talking to." She says as she places her hoof on her chest, pointing to herself. Joseph nodded, and inspected her.
"Amazing, I guess they really do exist." He said. Twilight was taken aback by this statement. There were no ponies where he lived? But... How did he know what she was? This didn't make any sense. If there wasn't any on his world, why would he know what a unicorn was? She shook her head, trying to get this out of her mind.
"Uh, what do you mean? Are there no unicorns in your world?" She asked. Joseph shook his head.
"Nope. The closest thing we have are horses, but those are a lot bigger than you are. And they aren't sentient, much less able to talk." He said as he threw off his covers. He observed his legs, which were covered in bandages. He sighed and rubbed them, as Twilight tried to process what she had just heard. Looking up to him, she noticed that he didn't seem upset about the injuries to his legs. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the one on the left was larger than the other, as though inflated. She was about to speak again, but he spoke first.
"Now, answering Pinkie's questions, yes, there are more of my kind. Where I come from, humans are the dominant life forms. How they act however, is completely based on their personality. Like you guys." He said. Pinkie nodded as she wrote this down, having grabbed a pencil and paper from nowhere. Twilight chuckled and looked to the door, seeing Fluttershy sticking her head barely out of the doorway. She motioned for her to come in, but she hesitated. Twilight smiled and walked over. She looked into her eyes, and asked what was wrong.
"Well... I... I'm scared..." She said as her mane covered one of her eyes. twilight smiled and placed a hoof on her shoulder.
"There's nothing to be scared of Fluttershy. We're right there with you. And he seems really nice." She said. Fluttershy still seemed unsure, but Rainbow told her she wouldn't leave her side. She smiled and nodded. Twilight looked over to Applejack, who was now taking her turn in evaluating the strange book. She asked if she was going to come in, and Applejack nodded. Rarity, on the other hoof, seemed hesitant.
"I just know that every other encounter I've had with two legged creatures have gone horridly. I for one, am not going to allow myself to add yet another experience to that list." She said as she crossed her forelegs. Twilight just squinted and looked at her. She couldn't blame her for being suspicious, after all, both her encounters with Diamond Dogs and a Minotaur went badly. Still, she couldn't just brand him like that without actually knowing him, right? She sighed.
"Well... Suit yourself." She said as she walked back over to the others. Fluttershy stood by the door, waiting for Twilight to step in. Twilight walked back in the room, finding Pinkie talking to a now sitting up Joseph. He turned, and was about to wave when he saw Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. His mouth dropped slightly, and his eyes grew large.
"Pegasi..." He said with fascination. Fluttershy backed down slightly, her mane covering one of her eyes again. She looked from Rainbow to Joseph several times before saying hello. Joseph smiled and grunted as he used his hands to lift his left leg. Sweat slightly came from his brow, and he appeared to be in a little pain. Regardless, he changed his direction and faced the group that had just entered.
"I'm guessing you're Fluttershy?" Joseph asked as he looked at her. She nodded, and looked over to Twilight. Twilight smiled and gave a reassuring nod, as Rainbow stepped forward, taking a look at Joseph. She frowned and pointed at him accusingly.
"Aright buster, spill it. How did you know what we were?" She said with a harsh tone. Applejack glared at her, and Rainbow looked at her questioningly.
"What?" She asked with a shrug. Joseph smiled and shook his head. Applejack looked to him and smiled, introducing herself, as well as Rainbow. She then apologized for Rainbow's attitude, to which she scoffed and looked to the side. Joseph looked over to Rainbow and smiled.
"It's alright. I can understand why you aren't rushing forward to welcome me. Meeting something new that knows a lot about you can be scary." He said. Rainbow gave an insulted look.
"Me? Scared? Who do you think you are buster?" She said, nearly shouting and flying into his face.
"Rainbow! That's enough!" Applejack shouted angrily, but Joseph actually told Applejack that it was fine. He looked back at Rainbow and raised his hand, moving it down a few times, indicating he wanted her to relax. Rainbow glared at him and lowered herself to the floor, where she continued to stare at him with a hateful expression.
"I didn't mean to offend you, so if I did, I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me." He said calmly. Rainbow stepped back, somewhat surprised by his reaction. Most would be angry and start arguing with her, but he just said he was sorry. She sighed and said that it was alright, which was right about when Rarity came in.
"I thought ya said ya din't wanna take any chances." Applejack said with a slight grin. Rarity rolled her eyes and walked into the room.
"I just figured I could give him the benefit of the doubt." She said calmly. She rose her head in the air and stepped defiantly up to Joseph. She closed her eyes, smiled, and introduced herself. Joseph shook his head and placed his hands on his knees.
"I'm guessing you don't trust me?" He asked calmly. Rarity looked to the side nervously.
"Well... I wouldn't say that I... well... No, sorry." She said. Joseph shrugged.
"That makes sense. I can't say I'd be thrilled to meet a new creature that randomly showed up either." He said as he massaged his left leg.
"Why do you do that?" Twilight asked. Joseph looked up to her and rose an eyebrow, as did Rainbow. He asked what she meant, and she pointed at his left leg. He looked down, observing his leg for a moment. With a sigh, he looked up. The smile on his face had almost vanished, although there was still a thin trace of it.
"I have multiple sclerosis in my left leg. It hurts if I move it too much, and I massage it to try to make it feel better." He said. Fluttershy gasped and waked closer, lifting a the bottom part of his leg.
"You poor thing..." She said. Joseph smiled and took her hoof, gently removing it from his leg. She looked up to him with concern, and asked if he could walk. He gave a short chuckle, then looked to the ground. He shook his head, and said no. The ponies in the room gasped, and Pinkie almost instantly shot off questions about how it made him feel. Joseph tried to answer, but Pinkie didn't give him enough time. He patiently listened as she continued to rant about how she would be devastated if she couldn't walk.
"Pinkie! Give the man a chance ta' talk!" Applejack said. Pinkie stopped in mid sentence and backed away, moving her hooves over her mouth, and swiping it sideways. Joseph mouthed the words 'thank you' to Applejack, and looked at the group.
"I try not to let it bother me so much. If I ever feel down about it, I just think about all my blessings." He says.
"Blessings?" Rarity asks. Joseph looks to the ponies and nods, and smiles.
"Yeah. I have a family that loves me, friends that understand me, a home, enough to eat..."
"Wait, wait... Enough to eat? What in the hay does that mean?" Rainbow asked. Applejack glared at her again, and Rainbow shrugged again.
"Well, some places in my world are really poor, and the people there are really hungry. They don't get enough food, and constantly are starving throughout the day." He said. Twilight frowned. His world didn't sound that great. If people were starving, that had to mean something was wrong, right? Joseph smiled.
"I know what you're thinking, and it's not that bad. My family runs a charity that sends food and water to those places. And we're not the only ones, a lot of governments also have programs set up to help them too." He said. Fluttershy smiled slightly.
"Wow... Your kind sounds really nice."
"Most are. Some are... well... for lack of a better word, evil. They hurt others for fun, and thrive on making their lives miserable. Some even kill." He said. Twilight understood completely. Queen Chrysalis, Discord, Trixie, and several other names came to mind. Killing was manticores, so she understood from that perspective as well. A nurse walked in, and Joseph greeted her. The nurse gave a slight wave, and looked down at a clipboard.
"Well Mr. Carson, you seem to be stable, and in good health, excluding your legs there. But we want to keep you here overnight just to be safe." She said. Joseph nodded and thanked her. The nurse informed the ponies that visiting hours were over, and Pinkie groaned in disappointment. She started to ask if they could stay, but Fluttershy spoke up.
"I... I think we should go. I mean... If that's okay with you... I mean... He does need sleep... Right?" She said nervously. Twilight chuckled and nodded, telling the girls to leave him be. Before she left, Twilight asked Joseph if he could tell them more about his home. He shifted himself back into a laying down position and smiled.
"If I ever get back, I'll just show it to you."
