Joshua has been promoted to prepubescent girl status.

  Because for better or for worse, he has accomplished something he KNOWS his niece and millions of little girls around the world wish they could have done.

  Ride a unicorn!

  …Alicorn, technically.

  But whatever, still counts.

  (“Your mind tends to wander to the oddest pces sometimes”)

  Joshua sits atop Jophiel's back as she trots along the shoreline. It was a bit odd at first, but he actually has experience in horse riding from his grandparents ranch.

  Weird muscle memory from years ago finally getting the chance to stretch its legs.

  “Are you sure you're not uncomfortable?”

  Jophiel chuffs and lightly shakes her head.

  (“A mild weight and nothing more. You know this, Beloved”)

  He does, he can feel her feel him on her back (what a weird sentence…), but it doesn't hurt to ask.

  To his side, Joshua is… collecting sand. Shovel losing durability each time a block disappears into his inventory.

  Breakfast was a treat.

  Joshua had the usual. Apples, bread, milk. Every day he leans further into a 13th century peasant diet.

  Uriel only had milk and crushed up Oran berry, with a little bit of mutton. Really he's just trying to restore her body, and things are looking good so far. Despite her size, she's quite a glutton.

  Gabriel blew up again, and he had to repair part of the fence. Joshua got a good view of her being unched across the base because she got too close to the saplings, again.

  She got uppercutted by a tree, twice.

  She had a real good ugh about that.

  …she still scares him, sometimes.

  Jophiel was a bit… complicated?

  She's a lot rger now, and Joshua really had to wrack his brain looking for a proper nutrition pn for her.

  Wheat is obvious, he's pretty sure it takes up most of a normal horse's diet. But with the wings and the horn and the WHITENESS, he had to get creative.

  Wheat, fish, a blend of both berries and beef. With milk of course. It should give more than enough nutrients for Jophiel’s active lifestyle.

  Chat was confused why he was going at such great lengths, and he made another odd discovery.

  The Pokemon world does not know the benefits of proper nutrition.

  Berries are so unfair, man.

  …

  “Blitzle…”

  “You're looking better already, look at you! Not all skin and bones anymore”

  Joshua hopes that his eyes aren't red, he doesn't want Uriel to see that he wasn't crying a few minutes ago.

  He… has to stay strong.

  Just enough.

  Just enough to get out of here.

  Just until they get… somewhere.

  Somewhere better.

  So, he can't afford to be weak, not when his mares are depending on him.

  He can feel Jophiel's firm disagreement at his thoughts, but she doesn't try to correct him, only pushing her support for him a bit stronger through the link.

  Turning his attention back to the zebra, he decides to test her development.

  “Think you can stand?”

  Uriel's bright blue eyes stare up at him, then down at her hooves. Positioning herself, the mare's legs shake like a newborn calf before slowly pushing herself up.

  She did it.

  “Blitz… Blitzle!”

  “Good job, Uri! Can you try walking over to me? Just a few steps?”

  Uriel nods, her mane buzzing slightly through the air.

  Then, she takes a step.

  Then another.

  Then… another!

  She gets close enough to bap her head against his waist. A bit more tiny than a Ponyta, but she's still around the 2ft mark.

  Joshua ughs and reaches down, picking up the zebra and putting her in his arms.

  “Amazing. It won't be long until you're back in the game, huh?”

  Uriel's stomach rumbles, making Uriel look away in embarrassment and block her face with her hooves.

  “You just ate… are Stripe Horses just inherently gluttons?”

  His vocabury feels like it's getting worse day by day.

  “B-Blitzle!”

  At Uriel’s defensive bleat, Joshua chuckles again and scratches her head.

  “It's not a bad thing. You could be like Gabriel, she's a… certainly a character. Or like Joey, who solves problems by hitting it with a shovel until it goes away”

  (“Joshua”)

  She didn't deny it.

  (“I should not have to”)

  “Blitzle…”

  “Let's just get you something to eat”

  …

  Still around 5 in the morning, 5:45AM.

  Time seems to move much slower now, probably a reflection of his mental state. Probably not, could just be a slow day.

  Joshua is at the docks again, dropping sand… again.

  Whatever happened to the warning he got from his cross? Wasn't something supposed to happen?

  He was… out of it, when it popped up.

  Did the ward drive it off?

  He doesn't like not knowing.

  Hopefully it just smmed itself into the ward and died.

  A thought goes through him.

  “Do I have enough for the Expansion Suit…?”

  He was missing some more specific components, but after he dismantled some of the computers at the school, he figured it should be enough… right?

  Scrolling back up to Steven's message, he reads out the list of components and runs his eyes over his inventory.

  His inventory is a mess, which seems to be a trend both in game and in real life for him.

  “I… should be good”

  He plops down a crafting table, taking a small break away from pcing sand (seriously how fucking deep is this water?).

  The Expansion Suit would cost a noticeable chunk of his electronics and other materials such as string and leather. Not too much, but enough to make him reconsider if it's worth it.

  Other specific materials would need to be made separately before combining it into the suit. It's annoying, but not hard. He imagines that without the crafting system this would be a nightmare to make.

  It's surprising he doesn't need a specific crafting bench like the Workshop, but who is he to question Mojang.

  Wait. Is Mojang a god-like entity?

  He gets scared for a moment, but then rexes when he remembers that Mojang barely does anything, so he's fine.

  (“I never knew you had such grievances towards them”)

  Joshua doesn't, he hasn't pyed the game in years, he just likes making fun of them out of habit.

  What does he need next… ah, right.

  The Expansion Suit can be put over a piece of armor, and it will add its benefits on top of it. So he needs a full set of armor.

  How many diamonds does he have?

  …diamond armor it is then!

  Maybe not as much as he should, but Joshua is excited. His mood is still… awful, but he admits the idea of having power armor is… kinda cool.

  Joshua heads hoke and gets to work.

  …

  [EXPANSION SUIT (PROTECTION V) (UNBREAKING V)]

  Joshua looks upon his work.

  “It's… beautiful”

  Much like in the game, it's a sleek bck body suit that looks more like one of those diving suits than power armor. But there's a noticeable thickness in it that offers a surprising amount of defense. The chest, back, and jointed areas have a bit more pronounced gray bits of padded armor.

  Looks pretty cool.

  The helmet is more of a visor, a sleek tinted screen that goes over his face, and the rest is a thicker bck iron.

  He wishes he could add Mending on it, but he doesn't know the letters yet. Protection and Unbreaking is all he can do right now, as he had seen those enchants directly and could just copy it.

  But what's most interesting is when he tried adding Faith to it. He thought about carving a cross into it, or painting it on, but that feels… disingenuous, in a way.

  His yard already looks like a cemetery.

  So instead, he tried something a little different.

  Before enchanting it, he took a knife and carved into the backpte of the suit, not a cross, but an entire verse.

  Ephesians 6:11-13

  He whispered it to himself as he carves each word.

  “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high pces.

  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand”

  Joshua smirked, something telling that this wasn't a useless endeavor.

  “Amen”

  There's a shine.

  And then it was complete. For a moment there was a light sheen of glowing light going over it, first the usual enchantment colors of purple and pink, then a much more pale gold. It envelopes the entire suit, then disappears.

  His wrist hurts, carving such tiny letters into a hard material, but it works. And just for looks, he arranged the words to form into a cross that will sit on his back.

  The symbolism isn't lost to him.

  …

  6AM

  The suit fits perfectly.

  And now, he is mining, mindlessly digging in a straight line as his strip mine ever so slowly expands into a network of chaotic organization.

  He feels like an ant.

  A mole, perhaps.

  Everyone is with him this time. Why they felt the need to watch him dig a hole is completely lost to him.

  “You can do it, Mr. Joshua!” Gabriel cheers him on.

  “Thanks Gabe”

  Joshua says that, but internally he's wondering why shes trying to hype him up to dig a hole.

  “B-Blitzle!” Uriel cries out from atop Jophiel's back.

  Her too?!

  “Thanks Uri” He sighs out.

  He hears Jophiel chortle.

  (“I have faith in you, Beloved”)

  They HAVE to be fucking with him.

  No. No…

  Gabriel is just being Pink.

  Uriel is just being a sweetheart

  But Jophiel is ABSOLUTELY fucking with him, though, he can FEEL her amusement behind that calm smile.

  “The power of friendship isn't going to make finding amethyst any easier, guys. But thanks”

  He found amethyst not even twenty minutes ter.