Chapter 10 – Visit and Delivery
Trixie had happily (and quite gushingly, Josh remembered) agreed to be the co-manager. Now, Josh was getting ready to go outside for the first time in days. He put on his original Long Fall Boots, stripped of their canisters of gel, and his labcoat. The Portal Gun had needed some quick repairs, so it was in the shop, and Trixie herself was watching the orientation video to being manager of your very own Enrichment Center. It was mandatory for all employees to watch this, but Josh had never thought it was really needed up until now. As he stepped out the front door, he noticed something a bit odd. There was no ponies curiously staring at the Enrichment Center, or griffins, or any of the other races that wanted to get in on the fun. "Where is everybody?" Josh asked to nobody in particular. He shrugged, and set off for the nearby village of Ponyville, his backpack securely attached.
When Josh arrived, the reaction was different than before: Instead of being a curiosity, he was now a wonder. I have had a status upgrade, he thought jokingly to himself. He noticed a pegasus pony with an extremely sad face, grayish skin, and bubbles on her flank, holding what appeared to be a box of muffins. Josh walked over. "Hey, what's the matter?" he asked. The pony looked up at him, and Josh noticed her eyes were askew, one looking up and the other down. "I'm Ditzy Doo, but I guess you can call me Derpy. I need to get this package to my grandpa in Cloudsdale, but I can't fly fast enough." Josh whipped out his backpack, and deployed an Aerial Faith Plate. "What direction is Cloudsdale?" he asked. The pony brightened. "Can you take it?" Josh nodded. "It's that way. Thank you so much!" Josh smiled at the gratitude, and took the package. He stepped back a few feet, then took a running jump right onto the plate. He had calibrated it at the touch of a button to launch him directly to Cloudsdale, and that's exactly what it accomplished.
Pegasi flying were nearly ran over when a 50,000 pound force of human sped by, faster than their eyes could see. While he was flying (which felt exhilarating), he had recalibrated his boots with yet another option, the Low Gravity Option. At the touch of a button, he would essentially 'land' on air, thus allowing him to walk on clouds. Whenever he jumped, he would rise a bit. Speaking of which, Josh was about to land. Right as his feet touched the cloud, Josh pressed the button, and all of his motion immediately stopped. Josh took his first steps on cloud, and was surprised by how warm it was. Clouds in his world were frigid. Many of the pegasi were frightened by the infamous Enrichment Center employee, but this was old hat to Josh. He came to a building (made of cloud, of course) that said "Doo Postal Service" on the front. He walked over, and couldn't figure out how to open the door. It seemed to be a knob, but it was made of cloud, which meant he couldn't use it. Fortunately, the door opened and a pegasus walked out, and looked at him.
"May I ask what you are doing at my store?" Josh sized him up. He was gray-skinned, with the same color eyes as Derpy, though without the same expression. "Are you the grandfather of Ditzy Doo?" he politely asked. The pony slowly nodded. "Package for you, from her," Josh explained. The pegasus' expression brightened immediately. "Ah, thank you! She bakes the best muffins in Equestria," he delightedly said. "Now, what can I get you? You must deserve some kind of reward for helping her, after all," he exclaimed. Josh shook his head. "No offense, but I don't need one. Although, there is a favor you could do for me," he thoughtfully mentioned. "Sure, no problem," Ditzy's grandfather smiled. "Just spread the word that the Aperture Science Enrichment Center is opening for business tomorrow," Josh grinned. Nearby ponies gasped, and dropped what they were doing, rushing to tell their friends. "Wow – really? That's great!" the pegasus gasped. "I'll tell everyone I know!" Josh nodded. "Thanks." With that, he neatly deactivated the boots and fell through the clouds.
A team of highly trained rescue pegasi were nearby, and they treated this as any other situation of something falling out of the sky. Rushing down, they were more than surprised when the victim was completely calm, and unaware of the imminent danger. "Hello there! How are you?" Was the first thing the human said. "Aren't you supposed to be screaming? You're about to fall to your death!" exclaimed one. "Nope, I have Long Fall Boots on," Josh mentioned. "You may want to pull up before you crash into the ground, though. Just a word of advice, up to you," he said. Now the team was confused. This human was giving them advice on falling? Josh laughed. "I'm sorry, you're clearly not used to this. See ya!" With that, he kept falling as the team stopped, unsure of what to do.
Josh landed on the ground, startling many ponies. He saw Derpy nearby, worry on her face. Josh walked over and tapped her on the shoulder. "Done!" He exclaimed cheerily. Derpy hugged him. "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou! I was so worried I'd be late again!" she said, nearly crying with joy. "You're welcome," Josh smiled. He then continued on to the library. After all, it was time to learn some pony history and science, and their apparent "magic".
When he walked in, Twilight was manning the checkout stand, and was delighted to see him stop by. Another being was delighted to see him too: "Hello, master! How was your day?" the turret asked. Josh grinned, embarrassed. "Great, and can you just call me Josh?" Twilight came walking over, and looked up at him, grinning. "Now, you're sure there's no one inside your super-secret, super-deadly facility?" Josh grinned wider than Twilight. "Well, if there is, I'm sure Trixie can handle it. She's quite the charmer, after all," he offhandedly mentioned. Twilight was momentarily stunned. "Trixie? As in, the former magician Trixie? Blue cape, magic wand for a Cutie Mark?" Josh nodded. "Yep. Anyway, got any books on pony history, science and magic?" Twilight excitedly nodded, running over to the nonfiction section.
She quickly handed him several heavy volumes, which he balanced with some difficulty. "Is that enough? That should cover everything you asked for," she asked him. Josh found it somewhat hard to answer behind the mountain of volumes he had been handed. "Er, yes, this should do fine," he managed to get out. "Is this a paying library or a check-out library?" Twilight was confused. "Check-out, of course! You shouldn't pay to learn!" Josh smiled, chastising himself. "Of course. I'll just carry these over there…" He dumped the whole stack on the counter, and Twilight checked them out with lightning speed. "Now, what, if anything, can I do for you?" Josh asked. Twilight considered, then looked up at him. "Do you have any books in the Enrichment Center on your history?" Josh grimaced. "Well, I do have one, but it's rather bloody and full of wars. You sure you want it?" Twilight nodded so fast her head seemed to be a blur.
Josh shrugged. "As you wish. By the way, tell your friends and that princess that the Enrichment Center is opening tomorrow. I just finished reconfiguring all the turrets, and convincing them that making friends was the way to go. They're still a little unhappy, though, but I think they can handle it." Twilight smiled. "Thank Celestia, I don't want everypony to get shot to bits," she said. Josh put the books in his backpack, which baffled Twilight as the volumes she had just given him couldn't fit in that tiny thing. Josh followed her gaze and smiled. "Extradimensional space," he explained. "One of our many innovations."