Chapter 4: Show and TellSecond Chances II: Love and CourageBy Hero541Chapter 4: Show and TellJosh passed through Ponyville on his way to the schoolhouse and Sweetie Belle, being greeted by all kinds of ponies as he walked. Almost all the ponies in Ponyville knew him by now, and they were consistently friendly to him. Much like Vinyl, the fact he was a completely different species than all of them didn't seem to be an issue in the slightest. They always would wave to him, or stop and chat, always asking about how he and Vinyl were doing or about where their next tour stop was. Another plus was that they almost never asked for autographs, most of them already having one anyway.Josh passed by Sugarcube Corner and smelled the sweet scent of Pinkie Pie's breakfast cookies. Maybe she made a batch without coffee in them he thought, remembering back to when he first tried one of them. Caffeine didn't agree with his body at all, and his friends all learned that when he made the mistake of eating one of her cookies containing coffee. Pinkie had felt awful about giving him something that would hurt him like that, so she developed a special recipe that tasted the same, but it didn't have any coffee in it. Josh loved those cookies, and would stock up on them whenever he could.This was one of the reasons he'd left as early as he did. He made his way towards the confectionary shop and stepped inside, the bell ringing as he did so. Almost immediately, Pinkie Pie rushed out from the kitchen and stood at the counter, awaiting her first customer."Hello and welcome to… Oh. Hey Joshie!" she said, abandoning her usual shop greeting as soon as she saw the human."Morning, Pinks." he said, smiling at the ever exuberant pony behind the counter, "How're you doing?""I'm fantastic!" she began, bouncing in place, "When I got up this morning, I couldn't find Gummy, so I got really worried. Then, I remembered he likes to crawl under my bed, but when I checked he wasn't there…"Josh simply smiled down at Pinkie as she continued her rant about her toothless baby alligator. Occasionally, he'd throw in a nod of the head or a, "that's interesting" to at least keep up the illusion that he was still following what the pink pony was saying."… so, I ended up finding him in the kitchen, hidden in a mixing bowl behind a tin of oatmeal. Isn't that crazy?" she finished after about ten minutes."That's incredible, Pinkie." Josh said, trying to feign interest in the story."Oopsie. I got so into my story, I forgot to take your order!" she realized, taking out her pencil and notepad, "What can I get you, Joshie?""I'll have two of your breakfast cookies and a glass of milk." he said, pulling out his bag of bits, "And, could I get a box of those sent home as well? Vinyl's taken a liking to them too, and I wanna surprise her a little.""I can do that!" said Pinkie, opening up the cash register, "That'll be 14 bits please!"Josh handed over 14 little gold coins from his bag and watched as Pinkie ran into the back and returned with two cookies and a glass of milk on a platter. She laid it on the counter and smiled back at Josh, who thanked her and picked up the plate so he could go sit elsewhere and eat his breakfast."My, those look good." said a familiar voice next to the human as he took a seat at a nearby table in the shop.Josh looked and saw the Ponyville schoolteacher, Miss Cheerilee."Fancy meeting you here this morning." he said, standing back up before kneeling to give her a quick hug, "I was headed on my way to the schoolhouse today anyway.""Oh really? Why's that?" asked the mulberry mare."Sweets wants to show me off to all her friends for show and tell today." he replied, smiling at the thought of Sweetie Belle hopping up and down around him yesterday."Oh. I remember her mentioning that at some point." said Cheerilee, putting a hoof to her chin, "I'll bet she's very excited.""Like you wouldn't believe.""Well, I'm just here to grab my morning coffee." said Cheerilee, pointing towards the counter, "How about after I'm done here, you join me and we go to the schoolhouse together?""Works for me."With that, Cheerilee headed for the counter, paid for her coffee, and came back to sit with Josh. Together, the two sat and talked for awhile, Cheerilee about her coltfriend, Big Macintosh, and Josh about Vinyl."Have you and Vinyl thought about having a foal together?" asked Cheerilee, making Josh put his half-eaten cookie down and think."Well, it's crossed our minds before…" he trailed off, thinking about that conversation.Indeed, he and Vinyl had talked about maybe having a child together. Vinyl was all for it, and Josh was as well, so, they said together, what was stopping them? The answer to that question was simple and readily apparent: their jobs. They didn't want to have their child raised by a foalsitter while they were off to all corners of Equestria performing. However, they also couldn't have the foal travel with them everywhere, in case an emergency came up and they needed to be in Ponyville. Maybe some other time he thought."Well, Celestia knows I've tried to convince Big Mac." said Cheerilee, rolling her eyes."Really?" asked Josh through a mouthful of cookie, "What's holdin' you back?""He says that with our jobs, we'd have to get a full time foalsitter for the baby, and we'd hardly ever see it." she said, taking a sip of her coffee."That can be a bit of a problem." said Josh, Vinyl crossing his mind."Yes, it can." continued Cheerilee, her voice becoming stern, "However, that doesn't mean it has to be a constant roadblock."Josh simply nodded in agreement, finishing his cookie and milk as he did so."You all ready to go?" asked Cheerilee, taking one final swig of her coffee."Sure."Together, Josh and Cheerilee gave their empty containers to Pinkie and thanked the pink pony for the treats."No problem, guys!" she said, waving them off, "I'll deliver those cookies to your house right now, Joshie."Josh thanked her once more, then followed Cheerilee back out the door as Pinkie disappeared into the back. Together, Josh and Cheerilee made their way through town, talking about the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Cheerilee told Josh all about their talent show performance the year before, a story which, by the end of it, Josh could hardly breathe for laughing so hard."S-so they s-smashed the entire stage?" he asked, a mirthful tear falling from his eye."Yes. They did." Cheerilee said, frowning at the memory, "I thought they were going to kill themselves. Thank Celestia they didn't get hurt in all that. They certainly could have used you just then to help them with that.""I can only do so much, Cheery." he said, regaining his composure enough to talk once more, "You've gotta have the potential for me to be able to work with. I can tell you for a fact that the only one of them capable of performing onstage like that would be Sweets.""Oh well…" sighed Cheerilee.They talked for a little while longer till the schoolhouse came into view. A few foals were standing outside, awaiting Cheerilee. Josh saw Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom among the group and made his way towards them while Cheerilee opened up the school."Joshie!" they all squealed in excitement, running up and jumping on Josh, who had knelt down to greet them.He felt all three of them wrap their tiny hooves around his body, embracing him tightly. Josh smiled and returned their gesture."I'm so excited for my turn now!" said Sweetie Belle, jumping down from Josh and peering up at him with her beautiful, jade colored eyes."You're gonna do great, Sweets." he said, patting her head, "Now, I think you girls had better get inside so you're not late for class."All three nodded at him and made their way inside the schoolhouse. Josh jumped up, wiping some dust off his pants as he did so. Turning, he saw Cheerilee standing in the doorway smiling at him."There's a nice seat in the back for you to wait." she said, watching as he made his way towards the schoolhouse door."Thanks, Cheery." he said, making his way into the schoolhouse.As he walked in, he saw foals all around, playing, chatting, and just being kids in general. A few of them noticed him and waved to him or ran up to talk to him. They would always comment on how big he was compared to them, or how their parents always talked about he and Vinyl and how cute they were together. All the while, Josh would just smile down at them and respond if they ever asked him any questions. Even when he was back home, he always had a fondness for kids, a trait which paid off here in Equestria."Alright, class," said Cheerilee, taking her spot at the front of the room, "it's time to get started with show and tell. If you'll all take your seats, we can begin."Every foal rushed to their seat while Josh took a place at the back of the room. They all listened to Cheerilee explain how show and tell was going to work, a few of the kids occasionally looking back to Josh, who would smile and wave at them. After her explanation, Cheerilee chose the first student, and show and tell was underway.Josh sat in the back patiently, watching each foal come up and present whatever they had brought to show. Scootaloo had brought in her scooter, and explained how she did some tricks. Apple Bloom brought in a small Stetson hat she had been given by Applejack and talked about how she always wore it when she helped outside. Dinky Hooves, Derpy's ever-adorable unicorn daughter, brought in a mail badge she had gotten from her mother and talked about how her mom delivered the mail to everypony in Ponyville. After about an hour, Cheerilee called on Sweetie Belle, who hopped up from her chair excitedly."Come on, Joshie." she said, taking her place at the head of the room.Josh got up and made his way forward, all eyes following him as he approached the front. He stood next to his favorite little filly, smiling down at her as he did so."Okay, Sweetie Belle. Tell us about who you've brought in today." said Cheerilee, sitting behind her desk and smiling at the excited little unicorn."Everypony," she began, "this is my friend Josh."Every foal simply stared at Josh, who waved to the little crowd before him."Josh came here last year and lived with my sister, Rarity, for a little while." she continued.As she did so, a little pink pegasus filly in the back raised her hoof high in the air."Cotton Cloudy," said Cheerilee, taking notice of the foal, "we're supposed to save our questions for after the presentation."Cotton Cloudy lowered her hoof and blushed, a little pouty that she didn't get her question answered. Josh simply smiled at her and all the other foals, who were obviously holding back on asking their own questions."I'll answer any questions you might have after Sweetie Belle's done talking, okay?" he announced to the room, "Does that sound good?"Every foal nodded in agreement, to which Josh smiled down at Sweetie Belle and nodded, allowing her to continue. She talked all about how he'd taught Vinyl how to make music like him and how they'd put on a big concert last year. A huge smile spread across her face when she talked about how Josh had taken her up on the stage and let her dance around and have fun with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo while Josh and Vinyl performed. She finished by telling about how he'd left Equestria to return home, but had come back because he missed everypony."And that's everything about my friend, Joshie." she finished.Every foal cheered and clapped their hooves. Josh bent down and picked up Sweetie Belle, placing her on his back so her hind legs rested on his shoulders and her rump sat on his neck. She wrapped her forelegs around his head to stabilize herself, a wide smile on her face."Any questions?" she asked from her perch.Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, a torrent of questions burst from every foal. Everything from, "Can you play some music for us?" to, "Are you and Vinyl gonna get married?" was asked, and Josh stood there patiently, answering every question.After a few minutes, the questions began to die down, and Josh placed Sweetie Belle back on the ground."One more, then we'll have to move on." said Cheerilee, looking all around for any more raised hooves, "Diamond Tiara, what's your question for Josh?""Why are you here?" asked a little pink filly in front, who had a tiny diamond encrusted tiara perched on her purple and white mane."Well…" said Josh, thinking about how to answer that, "I'm here because I wanted to stay here.""My father says you don't belong here." said the little filly, glaring at Josh, "He says that Equestria is only supposed to be for ponies and other creatures that were here before."Josh was taken aback by the comments Diamond Tiara made. Nopony had ever had a problem with him before. At least, not any he could think of."Well, your father is entitled to his own opinions," he began, trying to quell the sudden anger he felt rising in his chest, "but I've never even met him. He doesn't really know me, so I hardly think he has the right to judge me outright.""He says he doesn't have to know you to know you don't belong here." she continued, pointing an emphatic hoof at Josh, "Your relationship with Vinyl Scratch is wrong! Only ponies should be together.""Diamond Tiara!" said Cheerilee, speaking up before Josh had the chance to, "That's quite enough! Josh is our guest, and you must…"Josh raised a hand, stopping Cheerilee mid-sentence."Perhaps, Diamond Tiara," he began, somehow managing to keep his voice level with the anger flooding him, "your father should be a big boy and come to me with these issues rather than spouting his hate speech for his own kid to repeat. That would be a nice alternative to what we're doing right now, wouldn't you agree?""How dare you!" shouted the filly, standing up and glaring daggers at Josh, "My father is one of the most respected ponies in this pathetic town! He's three times the stallion you'll ever be!"Josh was about to respond when Cheerilee spoke up once more."Diamond Tiara! That's enough." she said, rising from her desk and glaring at the filly, "For this, you will stay in for lunch and recess. I'll also be telling your father about your behavior and we'll have a conference to discuss this little issue."She looked to Josh, concern etched across her face."I-I'm so sorry about this, Josh." she began, "I'm sorry you have to deal with this. And here, of all places."Josh said nothing, instead looking down to Sweetie Belle. She stared back up at him, her little eyes beginning to water as he looked to her, a saddened expression painting her face at Diamond Tiara's words towards her friend. Josh's heart broke at her sad expression, and he bent down and hugged her. Every foal in the room was completely silent, save for Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who had jumped up from their own seats and joined Josh and Sweetie Belle in the hug."Say whatever you want, Diamond Tiara." said Josh after awhile, releasing the three fillies and sending them back to their seats, "But, don't go around and spew your father's hate speech. Or, at least have the decency to not say it in front of my friends."Diamond Tiara looked as if she wanted to continue her tirade, but stopped herself. Josh turned to Cheerilee."That conference you're gonna have with her father. When are you gonna do that?""Probably some time later today." replied the teacher, "Why?""I think I have a few things I need to say to him myself." said Josh simply.Cheerilee nodded, then thanked Josh for coming in. Josh made his way out of the schoolhouse, still unable to believe that somepony here was bigoted towards him. Well he thought as he made his way back across town towards his home I guess it's not perfect anywhere.