Alright, once more, because I’m horrible at coming up with names for chapters and stories and such, from now on, each chapter has a 99% of it being named off of a song (Classic Rock most likely), and will be provided a link said song (Where you live and whether or not link still works will attribute to if you can listen to song). Now back to the story!

“Twilight Sparkle! We have come for thee!” Luna bellowed in her Royal Canterlot Voice.

“F-for what reason Princess Luna?” Twilight startled by Luna’s sudden change from normal to loud volume control.

“We…” Luna began, but noticed how she was frightening Twilight, and remembered that she should not have used her Royal Voice. “Ahem, excuse me… I, Twilight Sparkle, require your assistance in a royal mission.” Twilight, intrigued by what the princess meant, listened on. “I need your help to watch the new pony who has come to Ponyville. My sister wishes to observe him but cannot do it herself, so she sent me and asked me to have you come along.”

Twilight, now angered by what happened last night, reluctantly agreed, knowing she couldn’t refuse the princess’s order. “Very well Princess Luna, I will help you.”

“Very good! Now, we need to pick up one more pony before we are to proceed with the mission.”

“Princess? Who would that pony be?”

“Why, the one called Fluttershy of course.”

“Fluttershy!? Excuse me Princess Luna, but I think that’s a bad idea, she’s pretty much terrified of the new pony in town! I don’t think that would be a very wise idea. And besides, even if we are to follow this new pony, wouldn’t he recognize you as one of the princesses?”

“Hmm, I suppose you are right about my form. As for Fluttershy, she might be frightened now, but I need her kindness if we wish for this pony to open up.”

“I suppose… B-“

“Then it’s agreed! I will change my form with magic and we will then get Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness!”

Twilight knew she couldn’t budge the princess from not taking Fluttershy along, but still agreed nevertheless. That was when her stomach had begun to rumble as it was still early in the morning and she hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. “Ehehe, oops. “ Twilight said in embarrassment. “It seems I haven’t eaten breakfast yet… do you mind if-“ Twilight began to say before Princess Luna cut her off.

“Not at all young Twilight.” It was there that the princess’s stomach began to growl as well. Clearly embarrassed as well, she thought of an idea. “It seems I have not eaten as well. Perhaps we should eat breakfast before we are to get the yellow one?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea Princess. Spike?”

“Already on it Twilight.” Spike called from the kitchen, where he had been the entire time Twilight and Luna had been talking.

“He seems to be a very competent servant.” Luna commented about Spike.

“He’s more like a little brother to me than a servant… Oh! We almost forgot. Shouldn’t you change forms Princess? I mean, I know everypony in town knows I’m Celestia’s student and all, but I still think that it would be a bad idea if somepony saw you coming out of my house in your current form.”

“I suppose you are right Twilight, I should change forms now before we do forget. Very well, stand back.” Twilight stepped a few steps back as a dark blue aura surrounded Princess Luna. In mere moments, the entire aura engulfed the Princess and when it faded away, it revealed a younger looking, lighter blue Unicorn with a just the crescent moon for a Cutie Mark and the same light blue mane that Luna had when the Elements first freed her from the Nightmare.

“You look good Princess, I doubt anypony will be able to recognize you.”

“Thank you Twilight Sparkle, I am grateful for your compliment. Now… shall we eat breakfast?” And if on cue, Spike came out with a stack full of waffles and set it on the table.

“Breakfast, is served.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Joseph, or Fiery as he was going by now because the author of this story doesn’t want to keep switching between the two names to confuse the readers, had just turned around the corner of the living room to see a long hallway, doors on the right-hand side going to all sorts of different rooms, and on the left, the pool. Fiery looked back from where he came to see if either of the mares were following him, before laying his eyes on the pool once more and smiling. “They wouldn’t mind if I took a little detour, now would they?”

He walked over to the door leading out to the pool, unlocked it with his hoof using his invisible fingers, and opened it, stepping out into the cool, late spring morning air. He took in a deep breath, savoring the fresh air and the small amount of chlorine that was mixed in, before walking over to the pool and dipped his hoof into the water. He quickly retracted it as the cold water touched him, and looked back over his should one last time for the mares, before he turned back to the pool before doing something he would regret moments later. “Cannonball!”

He ran up to the edge of the pool and jumped upwards, ready to get in a fetal position for the cannonball, but before he could do so, his body fell at a much quicker pace than he imagined. He fell straight down, hitting the water with his stomach, hard. He began to sink as the pain radiated and traveled throughout his body, but he was able to quickly come to his senses and began to swim back to the top, his body moving just like it would as if he was back in his human form.

As he reached the surface, he came face to face with a large smile, a white outline around it. “Having fun Fiery?”

Fiery’s face, along with his stomach that hadn’t exactly recovered yet, became red. “W-Well, I-I mean, I was looking around and I just happened to stumble across the pool and-“

Vinyl giggled some, interrupting Fiery, and continued to smile at him. “It’s alright Fifi. Anyways, I just came here to tell you that we’re about to get ready to eat breakfast, and wanted to know if you could come to the table.”

“S-Sure, I’ll be right there.”

“Cool, maybe then you can tell us more about Earth. Seems ‘Tavi doesn’t exactly believe you and all and maybe if you tell us more, she’ll finally accept it.”

“Right… Earth…” Fiery quietly said to himself, looking away from Vinyl before looking up at the sky, letting himself float in the pool as he got on his back. Multiple thoughts began to run through his mind. ‘How will I get back? Will anyone even miss me? Why… Why do I feel so at peace here?’

Vinyl stood there, looking curiously at him, wondering what he was thinking about. “Fiery?”

Fiery snapped out of his thoughts, shaking his head and looking back at Vinyl. “Oh, uh, right. Sorry about that Vinyl, I’m coming.”

As the three ponies ate breakfast together, they all were silent, unsure what to say to one another. Finally, after being annoyed enough, Vinyl broke the silence. “So Fiery, what’s Earth like?”

Octavia stopped herself from taking her next bite, setting down the fork and looking at Vinyl with an annoyed look. “Honestly Vinyl, you should know better than to fuel crazy illusions.”

“But didn’t you agree that he came from another planet not too long ago ‘Tavi?” Vinyl asked with her usual grin. Octavia rolled her eyes.

She turned to Fiery. “I must apologize Fiery, but you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t believe such nonsense. The only reason why I agreed earlier is because we are desperate and needed another pony to help us make money for the house before we ended up losing it. Because, let’s be perfectly honest, there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in Tartarus that we were going to find a replacement in time, and I mean honestly, who’s ever heard of an alien actually existing?” She said before going back to her bagels.

“Well, it’s possible.” Fiery said, making the mares stop eating once more and turn to him. “What? I’m just saying, the likely-hood of other species and races and such existing on other planets is highly probable, considering how large the universe is and such. Not to mention the fact of possibly having endless amounts of parallel universes as well to fit into the factor. In fact, back on Earth and a couple of years ago, the government branch responsible for space travel and such ended up finding 1,235 planets, 54 of which were in goldilock zones, and five of them being the same size as the planet I lived on with something called the Kepler telescope… What?”

Both Octavia and Vinyl were stunned; mouth agape at Fiery’s ‘comeback’ as Octavia called it in her mind. Octavia tried saying something back at him, but couldn’t think of anything. “So anyways, what’s Earth like Fiery?” Vinyl asked, breaking Octavia’s train of thought. She sighed and went back to her breakfast, completely ignoring the two ponies.

“To be honest, it has its ups and downs.”

“Oh yeah, like what?”

Before answering that, Fiery had plopped in another spoonful of the cereal he had chosen. He paused for a second to think of not only the bad things, but also good things of Earth. “Well, what does Equestria have?”

“You mean the country we’re currently living in? Or Terra? The world we live on?”

“Both I suppose.”

Vinyl shrugged. “I don’t know, I don’t really read, listen to, or watch the news. I mean, sure, there were a couple bad things here in Equestria that were really well known, but those got resolved real quickly thanks to the Elements of Harmony.”

“… The whosawhatsa now?”

“The ponies you insulted last night.” Octavia answered. “My sister, along with her friends, have things called the Elements of Harmony, and are more or less world heroes.”

“…”

“Fiery?” Vinyl called out, wondering why he was silent, but it was soon revealed why.

“Well, that’s just fucking terrific now, isn’t it? Insulting and puking all over ‘World Heroes’.”

“Fiery!”

“What?”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t use such language! I don’t care if you are an alien or not, nopony should be using such language on a whim! Yes, the first time I let it go, but that’s because you really did seem distressed about something, but I can’t let you say such things whenever you want!” Octavia scolded.

Fiery opened his mouth, ready to ‘bitch’ her out over this minor inconvenience, when he realized that it would be against his best interest to have his new roommate against him, especially when he was already on thin ice. Reluctantly, he nodded. “Yeah, alright. Sorry, it’s just an old human habit.”

“Well, I don’t care if it’s a ‘human’ habit or a pony one. I’m upset enough at you for insulting my sister and her friends last night because of that ‘habit’, and because of it now that’s all everypony is going to be talking about today and quite possibly the next few days!”

“Hang on you two, no fighting now.” Vinyl said as she spread her hooves in front of both ponies, acting as if she was holding them back. “Now Fiery, apologize for saying naughty words.”

“But I already did!”

“Fiery…”

Fiery sighed and rolled his eyes. Not wanting to make his new roommates anymore upset at him, he agreed and began apologizing. “Alright, fine… Octavia, I’m sorry I said a bad word.”

“And?”

“And I promise to try to hold my tongue when I get upset and tend to curse.”

“Good.” Vinyl then turned to Octavia. “Now you ‘Tavi.”

“What? Why should I apologize?” Octavia asked, acting as if she was insulted.

“’Tavi…”

Octavia sighed. “Alright, fine… Fiery… No, Joseph. Joseph, I’m very sorry for not believing your stories.”

“Not what I had in mind, but good start ‘Tavi.”

Octavia looked at her friend, eyebrow raised. “What did you mean then?”

“I meant more along the lines of being stuck-up and not letting Fiery having any fun.” Vinyl answered, grinning widely.

“Vinyl!”

Ignoring her friend completely, Vinyl turned to Fiery. “So Fiery, about Earth-“

“Oh, uh, right. Well, I guess I should start with the downs, save the best for last, right?” Vinyl nodded. “Right, so, anyways, Earth has many problems I suppose. First off, the economy, although it has been getting better, crashed about five years ago, making a lot of people homeless and losing their jobs. Not to mention the massive debt the country I lived in owes due to starting two wars that can’t be won, all because of the people in charge and their greed/raging hard-on for violence.”

“That’s awful! Why would you want to live in such a place?” Octavia asked, astonished, although doubting herself as to why should have even bothered to listen in first place.

“Well, because, I have hope.” Fiery answered simply as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Hope?”

“Yeah, hope. I mean, granted, the people in charge right now are greedy a-holes that continue to destroy our country from the inside-out, but I’m hoping that, because the way things are turning out, people will finally realize what’s happening and in a sense ‘rise up’ against the machine, not violently of course though. It might turn to a point where it might end up that way though.”

“Again, that doesn’t sound very good Fiery.” Octavia told him.

“Well, because I’ve only told you the problems. The truth is, the civilization of mankind has existed around for almost 10,000 years, many empires and kingdoms have fallen over the course of those years, so whether the ‘empire’ I live in right now falls or not depends on the people. But enough about that; Mankind has done many wonderful things over the years.”

“Like what?” Vinyl asked.

“Well, have you guys ever gone to outer space and have reached the heavens above?” Vinyl and Octavia shook her heads, making Fiery smile. “Mankind has. For over 60 years now, mankind has been able to reach the stars, exploring the vast emptiness of space and its wonders, even landing on the moon orbiting our planet! We’ve done other miraculous things on Earth as well though, things like creating cures for various diseases-“

“We can do that too.” Octavia interrupted. “Although I must admit, if what you’re saying is true, and if you are an alien from another world… Well, I’ll be honest Fiery, I’d like to hear more about outer space.”

“Never took you as a science geek ‘Tavi.”

“She doesn’t need to be a science geek to have an interest in space, Vinyl. That’s one of the beautiful things about human ingenuity, and from what I’ve seen here in Equestria so far, pony ingenuity as well. We have this… thirst for knowledge, that the only way it can be quenched is by trying to do the impossible. For the longest time man could never learn to fly, sure it had been tried over the centuries, sometimes even almost being done, but they weren’t able to succeed in the end, no matter how hard they tried. It wasn’t until a little over 100 years ago did two men by the names of Orville and Wilbur Wright, did they find a way to make a flying machine. Now, thanks to human ingenuity, humans have been able to make machines nowadays that are capable of breaking the sound barrier!”

For almost three hours afterwards, Fiery continued to make them astounded by what humans had been able to accomplish over the years.

“Well Fiery, I must admit, as astonished as I am… I just can’t see way how you could possibly make this all up. I… I guess you really are an alien. I mean, you’ve told us of both good and bad things that you humans have been able to do over the years, and now, I almost wish that my calling wasn’t being a cellist.” Octavia said as she got up from her seat, finally being able to put away the dirty dishes of breakfast.

“Thanks I guess?”

“Welp-“ Vinyl took the attention as she began to stretch her arms and crack her neck. “I better get back to bed.”

“Already? It’s only noon though.” Fiery commented as he looked over to the clock on the wall.

“True, but I work at night, so it would be bad if I was tired, right?” Fiery seemed to understand and nodded. “Alright then, goodnight Fiery!” She then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, grinning afterwards. “That’s how we say goodnight to one another here.”

“Vinyl! That’s an absolute lie and you know it!”

As Vinyl left the room and began to go up the stairs, giggling all the way, Octavia sighed and sat across the confused Fiery. “I have to apologize Fiery, Vinyl can be a little…“

“Playful?”

“That’s one way of putting it, yes.” She then turned her frown into a smile and looked at Fiery. “How are you taking this world so far?”

Fiery shrugged his shoulders. “It’s peaceful, you know? I mean, sure, I want to go back home and all because it’s only natural, but there’s something… homely about this place, you know?” Octavia could only shrug. “I guess it’s only me then.”

“What was your life like back on your world?”

“I was studying to become a lawyer, as forced by my mom.” He answered. “Instead, I would constantly goof off and not focus on my studies at all. In fact, I’m more than certain I’ve probably failed a couple of my classes this semester, without the help of me getting abducted and all.”

“Now when you say forced…”

Fiery looked up and nodded. “Yeah, haven’t your parents ever made you do anything you absolutely hated?”

“Well of course! I mean, I always hated eating broccoli, but my parents always made me eat it because they knew it was good for me and-“

Fiery shook his head. “That’s not what I mean. What I mean is that my mom, she didn’t care what I wanted to do with my life. Everything I cared about or wanted to do, she’d shut me off from it someway and make me do something she’d want in return. Example: becoming a lawyer. I hate law, I hate studying law, I hate everything that has anything to do with law, but because my mom wanted me to become a lawyer and threatened to cut me off financially and other things like taking away my guitar and all, I was forced into it.”

“And your father just let it happen?” Octavia asked, not realizing what she had done. Fiery became quiet instantly, not going off on another rant of his, but rather becoming completely silent. “Fiery?” Still, no response. “Fiery? Did I say something wrong?”

Finally, Fiery looked up and responded. “Hmm? Oh, uh, sorry Octavia, I just… My dad left my mom and me when I was only four. He, uh, he was cheating on her.”

Octavia gasped and covered her mouth with her hooves, shocked. “Oh my goodness! Fiery, I’m so sorry, I-I didn’t know, I-“

Fiery shook his head and smiled at Octavia. “It’s alright, its ancient history; what’s done is done. Actually, in a kind of funny way, my dad leaving is sort of the reason why my mom wanted me to become a lawyer.” He said, chuckling. “They had both gone to college together and both became lawyers. I don’t know what was going through her mind the entire time, but for whatever reason, I guess that if I became successful, maybe my dad would come back to her or something.” He ended on that with shrugging his shoulders. He looked down at where his phone and cigarettes were on the table, then back at Octavia. “Do you mind if I take my things back? You know, they sort of help me relax and all.”

Octavia looked over to the items he was pointing at, then back at him and sighed. “Well, I suppose I can, but I wish to know something Fiery.”

“Um… yes?”

“Just what was it that was making that awful smoke?”

“Oh… you, uh, smelled it I guess?”

“Smelled it? I nearly choked on it when I tried going onto the balcony yesterday for some fresh air, and it doesn’t smell like typical smoke.”

Fiery looked down a bit, slightly guilty. “That’s because it isn’t. There’s drugs in there that help me to calm down, which in return, cause the smoke to smell bad.”

“Drugs? It’s nothing bad is it?” She asked with sincere worry.

Fiery raised his eyebrows and tilted his head while shrugging. “Well… It’s not exactly illegal, but it’s not exactly good for you either…”

“If it isn’t good for you, then what does it exactly do?”

Fiery shrugged again. “I don’t know what’s in it exactly, but all I can tell you is that in exchange for feeling relieved of stress, somewhere down the line in life… you sorta, uh, tend to get sick…”

“How sick exactly?” Octavia asked, raising an eyebrow and asking in a more forceful tone.

Fiery hesitated for a moment, knowing what would come if he told her the truth, so he did the only thing he thought he could do. “You get a minor cold.”

“… You get a cold?” She repeated, not believing it for a minute.

“Yep.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I took one and, what was it? ‘Smoked’ it?” She asked as she put her hooves together and placed them in front of her face as she raised her eyebrow.

“Oh… uh, I think it’d be better if you didn’t do that.”

“Why not? After all, the worst thing that would happen is getting a cold, right?” She asked, pressuring him more for information.

Fiery could see right through her ‘interrogation’, and sighed, feeling defeated. “Fine, fine! You got me Octavia, they’re not good for you! In fact, they’re terrible!” He yelled, startling the cello-playing pony. After realizing he had startled her, he sighed once more and calmed down enough to continue talking in a reasonable voice, apologizing as well. “Sorry, it’s just… yes, they do calm me down, but in return, they have a high chance of… giving you cancer… The reason why I didn’t tell you before, is, well, let’s just say I’ve already gotten the same treatment from my mom.”

Both ponies stayed silent for several seconds, before Octavia turned to the smokes, then back to Fiery. “So they give you cancer?” She asked, and Fiery nodded silently as he looked away from her, feeling defeated. She turned back to the smokes, and asked him another question. “Is there any way to help you stop getting cancer?”

Fiery looked back up and at Octavia with a raised eyebrow. “You mean like if there’s a way to stop from getting it altogether?” Octavia nodded. “Well… I mean, the only way that I know of right now I guess is to stop smoking it altogether and let your lungs heal.”

“I see…” She reached out for the box and took a closer look at it, turning it around and seeing a warning label that she hadn’t seen before, seeing that what was on it was a list of various diseases cigarettes could cause, before looking back at Fiery and sighing, handing the cigarettes to him. “Here.”

Fiery continued to keep his eyebrow raised, surprised at the turn of events. “Really? Even after everything I told you? You’re still going to give me them?” He asked, and she nodded. “But… why?”

“Because Fiery, I have no right telling what you have to do with your life. You have to make the right choice to stop, or run out as it seems in the box, as I’m not you. Now take them before I do change my mind and take them once and for all.”

Fiery smirked a bit, surprised at her and how accepting she was about his problem, before taking the tiny box from her. “Thanks Octavia, I appreciate it.” He reached out for his phone as well and began to go upstairs, leaving Octavia to herself in the dining room.

Earlier in the day on the other side of town, two unicorn mares, one purple and the other light blue, were going to a certain yellow pegasus’s house.