Strange New World

by Boopy Doopy

Suffer

Roxanne took in the foreign city of Manehattan as she walked around, down one block, then two, the more. This particular neighborhood might have been kind of dinky, but it was still someplace no human had ever seen before—so far as she knew. She might have even been the first one!

It was rundown houses and dying trees and brown grass she took in as she walked along the cracked pavement sidewalk, but it was still interesting nonetheless. Subtle differences made themselves known to her as she gazed from one side of the street to the next. The houses here had the same basic stylistic choice of beige wall and pinkish colored doors, although there were some colored differently. Most of the homes here had thatched roofing, like something she’d see out of a documentary on medieval times, and as far as she saw, all of them had multiple stories. Interesting.

The animals she saw here weren’t any different than she might see in her hometown. Squirrels scurried along the browning grass and through the trees, and sometimes a rabbit would hop out from behind a bush while birds flew overhead. No weird alien creatures made themselves known in this horse world, except for the horses, sort of. Was this just an alternate dimension? Did they travel through time? Or something else? Everything felt and sounded the same as far as she could tell.

But not everything was just like home, namely herself. The biggest difference she’d encountered so far was the unseen. A new sixth sense pervaded her, letting her take in the thoughts and emotions of everything around her. Most of what she felt at that particular moment was fear from the animals that scurried away as she cantered past them—how was she able to do that without tripping?—but occasionally there was curiosity as they took her in. It was only faint whiffs of emotions she got from these things, not like the powerful, complex emotions from her friends and the new company.

Sapphire Glow was mostly excited and intrigued and confident, Tory for the most part had been positive and level headed and hopeful, and Lake was an anxious, needy mess. But even Lake was doing his best, too, to relax and keep thinking of what was next and how he could be helpful. He wasn’t dead weight like he thought. She and Tory—herself especially—dragged him here. Not the other way around. And he thought to grab his phone and text people and send messages beforehand just in case, didn’t he? She and Tory didn’t even think it through.

He also thought, before she left, that he was the reason she was out here now, which wasn’t true. No, that was because of how terribly uncomfortable she was getting about… she didn’t know. Her body, maybe? Roxanne was unsure, but it was demanding something of her. A change. Or a new form to be in. Something.

The unicorn felt tense, like the air around her, her neck and shoulders rolling almost on their own as she walked along. She wasn’t sure how Sapphire Glow and her mother could call this place home for so long, but she was getting pretty fed up with it after just a few hours. She was glad for her new sixth sense, because it was keeping her head away from just how tense the air was. How were Tory and Lake able to deal with it without complaint? Well, she knew how. The former talked to Sapphire Glow and laughed with her as he asked basic questions while the latter took a nap. Whatever worked, she guessed.

But man, her body was uncomfortable as hell, almost itchy. She knew Lake and Tory didn't feel that way. Things might have been awkward, but they weren't bad like this. She stretched out her neck again and stopped to rub it with a hoof.

If she could shapeshift like Sapphire Glow said, she definitely would. Into herself again. Her muscles seemed like they were starting to tense up, this sucked so bad. Maybe a walk and being away from all those emotions wasn't what she needed. She should instead be looking for a book about the creature she apparently was, a changeling, and trying to–

Something entered her senses. Someone. She didn't know what, but probably another horse. Just one, she could tell, but they weren't friendly. They were following behind her, watching her, planning something. A mugging? Murder? Something worse? She didn't know, but it was bad.

She wasn't gonna run though. Sapphire Glow said the horses of this world were mostly timid, she remembered. Besides, this horse didn't seem like they were high out of their mind or planning to charge after her. They were uneasy, unsure, like they'd run at the first sign of danger. She laughed aloud at that. Even Lake wasn’t that pathetic.

She didn’t keep moving. Instead, she turned around to face the creature behind her. A horse, just like she thought. A stallion, one with a unicorn horn, one that was much bigger than she was. And much more afraid. His coat was different shades of gray, like he was losing the color in parts of it, and a dirty blonde mane hung over his forehead in bangs that slightly covered brown eyes. For someone so timid seeming, he had a few scars on his face and chest, a prominent one going from his upper right cheek down to his chin. If Roxanne weren’t able to feel his emotions, she might have been more nervous.

Doubly so if she noticed him when he was closer. He was a good forty yards away, and held a knife in his magic next to him. A ballsy move while the sun was still up. Not that anyone was around watching them. But still.

“G-give me your money,” he told her, his voice more shaky than it was threatening. “All of it. Take me to your house and give me all your bits.” Desperation was in his voice, almost a pleading tone was what Roxanne felt. Yeah, he wasn’t gonna be doing anything to her.

“Get the fuck out of here,” she demanded threateningly. This wasn’t her first rodeo. She’d been on the north side of Philadelphia more than once. Normally, all she had to do was show confidence and demand whoever was following to leave her alone before they got too close. Although she’d never been harassed in the daytime. She made a mental note to not come out here at night.

She thought the horse was gonna turn and run, and it looked like he almost did. He glanced behind him, and then stole himself and took a nervous step forward. Then another, and another. Roxanne was about to yell at him again when all of a sudden, without a word or any emotional indication, he screamed loudly and started to charge at her. Roxanne gasped in shock at the unexpected move. The tension in the air, Roxanne silently remembered.

She didn’t keep standing there. She turned and galloped away as fast as she could, farther down the street through the neighborhood. She didn't even think about how fluidly her body moved, no stumble or trip of her hooves coming as she galloped off like it was second nature. She didn't want to either, for fear that she would trip if she started to.

His emotions changed quickly. Gone was the unease and fear and in its place was anger and determination. He wasn't gonna stop until he got her. And he was slowly catching up. Roxanne's legs weren't as long as his.

“Stop!” she yelled frantically, changing her direction and turning down random streets and alleys to try and lose him. “I don't have any money!” She wasn’t able to shake him off, the stallion still following right behind her.

“You won’t get away from me!” he yelled angrily. “You think you can talk to me however you want?”

She was breathing hard, and so was he, but slowly, he was still gaining on her. Forty yards of distance turned into thirty, then twenty, and then fifteen, ten. He was gonna get her, and then she would be killed when it turned out she really didn't have any cash. Couldn’t he see that from her lack of a bag, or any clothes to hold money with?

Of course he could. Her confidence and comment in telling him to get lost was apparently the wrong move. He was angry. She'd make a note to herself that emotions couldn't predict the future if she got out of this. At least not with the air so heavy and full of tenseness.

Left through an alley, then a right, then another right. The stallion was still on top of her, and ten yards was dwindling into five. She needed to know faster. At least as fast as him. Whatever endurance she had, adrenaline would give her an edge if she could just move faster. Just until he started to tire. Hopefully he wasn't a distance runner in his spare time.

Need to move faster… come on! It might have taken four days, but Roxanne could say she was definitely afraid for the first time since coming here. Just a little faster, she pushed herself. At least as fast as he is…

She moved faster. Roxanne didn't immediately notice herself changing, but realized it by the time it was complete. She was larger, her galloping hooves now gray instead of the pastel pink they were before. A dirty blonde mane hung from her head as her snout became more pointed and squarish. More importantly, Roxanne was just as fast as the stallion giving chase! She'd turned into him!

She didn’t stop moving, but the unicorn behind her did. Roxanne turned to glance back at him and saw him drop the knife and take off in the opposite direction. He was deeply afraid of her shapeshifting, she knew, and wanted no part in whatever she might do next. Good. She smiled in victory as she finally began to slow down. What a perfect time to learn that new skill.

That… she thought to herself as she breathed hard. That could’ve… been bad… man… How lucky had she gotten?

Roxanne's breathing was heavy as she came to a firm stop, her heart being hard now against her chest. That? That was terrifying. The most terrifying experience of her life. She had gotten very lucky, and she knew it. If she didn't change, it would have ended much differently. Thankfully Sapphire Glow had told her about it before she went walking around. That was scary.

She settled her hooves under her and lay on the sidewalk to try and catch her breath. How did she even do that? She knew she was thinking about it, at least partly consciously as she ran. But to bring a power she'd never used before to the surface in the heat of the moment, when her life was on the line? That was improbably lucky.

Going off and finding… that old mare's house on our own… not a good idea, Roxanne thought as she breathed. They were gonna have to stick with Sapphire.

At least the itching was gone now, that terribly uncomfortable feeling. She didn't know it before, but instantly realized it now what was going on—her body was itching to transform. Like those stories about how shapeshifters got uncomfortable if they held one form for too long? This must have been like that. But could she do it again?

She didn't test it yet. She just closed her eyes and focused on breathing. She could test out her new powers later. Right now, she needed to rest.

Oh, shit… I gotta find my way back…

She took a good twenty minutes to rest first before she finally got back up. Man, was she exhausted. And her heart was still beating almost out of her chest, not to mention the acid reflux she felt from the forced workout she just did. This was how Lake felt all the time, wasn’t it? Whatever. The first thing she was gonna do was steal a move of his and take a nap once she got back. Or maybe chat up Sapphire with Tory. Something that didn’t require much mental exertion. Positive feelings around her were much better than negative ones. Like all this tension in the air.

Roxanne didn’t exactly know where she was, but it wasn’t too difficult for her to figure out how to get back. All she had to do was walk back generally opposite of the direction she ran in until she saw something familiar. Plus, she still had her new sixth sense. She was sure if she got close enough, she'd be able to pick out Tory and Lake’s—

“You are not a normal changeling, are you?” someone said from behind her.

Roxanne screamed as she jumped in surprise, and then screamed again at what she saw. Could she be blamed? Her nerves were still raw after the last encounter with some creature. But what the heck was this thing doing sneaking up on her?

It was, from the best the newly turned stallion could tell, a black bug. One the size of a horse and legs that seemed like they were made out of swiss cheese. It had wings like that of a dragonfly and a jagged horn sticking out of its head, where it sat above two large, buggish eyes. No pupils either. It looked pretty hideous.

And she couldn't feel its emotions, the first creature’s she had failed to find. It wasn't bored, or flat, or uncaring—there was nothing at all drifting off of it. Not even emotionlessness. She'd felt emotionlessness from Tory a few times so far. This was a creature that gave off nothing.

It was the second time Roxanne felt afraid so far on this little adventure. She took a step back, waiting to see if it revealed anything. It only stared ahead at her, unmoving, barely even letting itself blink.

“What do you want from me?” she asked aggressively, probably more aggressively than she should have. Her voice was rough, and deep, deeper than either of her friends. She hoped it sounded menacing. If not, she'd be testing out her shapeshifting powers right here.

“You've shared the love in your heart,” the creature said, its nasally voice hitting her ears. “However, you have tenacity and confidence about you as though you are the Queen's personal advisor. It is strange.”

What the heck did that mean? “I don’t know what on Earth… err, on Equus, either, you’re talking about,” she said slowly, forcefully. “But please leave me alone. I don’t have any money, and don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I can tell,” was the flat reply. At least she heard some sort of emotion in this creature’s voice. “Why? I do not know, but you lack knowledge. I will leave now. Have my scent, strange changeling. Maybe we will speak again.”

“Have your scent?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, a hint of exasperation starting to leak into her voice. As she said it though, she immediately understood what the creature meant. He meant his emotions. For a second, he emitted something confused, curious, tired, and protective. Protective of her? No, protective of people like the two of them… changelings. He was sympathetic to her, but only because of the fright she gave the pony who chased her, not because her life was in danger. Interesting. She wasn’t sure what she needed protection from, but she closed her eyes and took it in.

A moment later, the feelings vanished, and the creature lifted his wings and took off to… somewhere. It left Roxanne standing there feeling nothing but completely confused about what that was about. She wasn't sure if she was particularly curious though, but she was intrigued. She'd look into changelings more if she and her friends were gonna be here longer than expected.

She wasn't tired anymore though, or fearful or anxious. Her heart wasn't beating against her chest, and her lungs didn't hurt. It was like she was completely rejuvenated after that terrifying experience with the stallion she changed into. Rejuvenated from the feelings the changeling sent her way. Strange.

And she could shapeshift! This opened up a whole world full of possibilities. Or maybe even a whole universe full, since this meant she could get into that house again without being caught! It was perfect! Tory and Lake and Sapphire Glow were gonna love this! And if they could eventually pass back and forth between Equus and Earth whenever they wanted, oh boy was this gonna be fun!

All that was left was finding her way back to Sapphire Glow’s house. Roxanne didn’t bother changing back as she wandered around, looking for something familiar. Maybe if she looked like a stallion while she was out here, she’d be given less trouble. It wasn’t like it felt weird or strange or anything. It was just different. Maybe a little uneasy since this was a stallion who just tried to kill her, but so what? He ran away with fright like she thought he would in the end. Eventually.

It took longer than she would’ve liked to finally find a familiar place to lead her back to Sapphire’s house. The sun set impossibly fast, like it was being physically moved through the sky, but that didn’t bother her much. It only took fifteen or twenty minutes to get back to the house once she found the road she was on before. And she had a shapeshifting power to protect her if someone else came up to her.

She recognized her friends’ emotions as she stepped up and inside the home, then tasted Lake and Tory’s curiosity as Sapphire Glow sent surprise her way. The three of them were still playing poker while Sapphire’s mother cooked dinner. Beans and rice and oats like she said, but it smelled good anyway. Roxanne’s stomach rumbled.

“Who the heck are you?” Sapphire Glow asked. “I’ve never seen you before. You can’t just walk into somepony’s house unannounced like you know them.” Roxanne laughed at that. Like Sapphire wasn’t in trouble before for doing exactly that.

Then she closed her eyes and changed again. It was a remarkably easy power to use. Her body did exactly what she wanted it to, and she felt herself melt and morph until she was herself again. Well, the unicorn she’d been so far anyway. She didn’t need to see Tory and Lake’s mouths hanging open to know they were impressed.

“I figured out how to shapeshift,” she grinned superiorly.

“Whoa! That’s great! Amazing!” They all showered her with praise, and her superior grin became a little more happy and proud. The moods of all three of them rose significantly, especially Lake and Tory’s. They both knew how this could be used.

“That’s perfect, Roxie!” Lake said, excitement and hope in his voice for the first time in days. “There’s a million options for us with a power like that! How did you learn to do that?”

“That doesn’t matter,” she said quickly, waving a hoof in dismissal. Thankfully, that itching had stopped. Mare versus stallion didn’t feel very different to her, strangely enough. But being able to change felt good. There might have been tension in the air, but it felt like a lot of it had left her body.

“It was just something I figured out how to do while I was out there. But yeah! It’s pretty epic. Let’s see if I can… here!”

She changed again—this was already starting to become second nature to her—this time into the human version of herself. Light skin with short, spiky black hair and freckles just like always, although she wore no clothes right now. She didn’t particularly care; four days was more than long enough to get over embarrassment about modesty. Sapphire Glow didn’t care either, and actually clapped her hooves excitedly while both Tory and Lake glanced away immediately. She laughed at that.

“That’s a real life human!” Sapphire chattered excitedly. “Right in front of me! Not that I had doubts you were, but you actually are a homosapien! You know what they look like! Is that supposed to be what you looked like on Earth? You’re taller than I expected. Can I take some measurements of you? Can you show me what Lake and Tory are supposed to look like, too?”

Roxanne laughed again. Yes, this was already fun. “Sure, I can show you them and you can measure me if you want. I wouldn’t say five foot five is very tall though. Both of them are an even six feet, I think.”

“I wanna see!” Sapphire Glow practically begged. “Show me!”

Roxanne wasted no time in obliging her request and changed to look like both of them. No surprise came to her when both were less embarrassed about seeing a human male, although it was kind of funny the way Lake radiated shy attraction at the sight of Tory. Tory didn’t seem to notice though as he spoke again while Sapphire Glow found a ruler and notepad to measure Roxanne’s new appearance.

“We can use this,” the stallion said as Sapphire Glow marked things down and asked the occasional question. “Especially if Lake can learn how to fly, too. It opens up a lot of possibilities. Like potentially getting back into Lilac Beauty’s house to investigate if need be. This could work.”

“I think so, too,” Sapphire Glow commented as she measured legs and feet and arms and hands and other things, too. “Somehow I don’t think Judge Standing was joking about sending me to prison if I get arrested again.”

“You’re gonna end up in prison if you keep doing shit like that, Saph,” a sudden voice called from the kitchen. Sapphire’s mother, Shimmering Diamond, peeked her head through the doorway with slight bags under her eyes and a stern expression on her face. “And you three humoring this ‘humans’ obsession she has when I’m letting you stay here and encouraging her behavior isn’t what I want to see.”

Roxanne could feel the hope the group had quickly evaporate again, and for good reason. Even without her new senses, she could tell by the look on the older mare’s face what she was about to say.

“We weren't trying to—”

“You know what?” Sapphire's mother interrupted her, speaking to her daughter now. “We're not gonna keep playing this game. Your new ‘friends’ have to leave tomorrow. No more inviting people over without asking, and no more of this human business. You just got out of court this morning and are already trying to get yourself locked up again. I’m sick of it.”

“Mom, they’re not—”

“I don’t want to hear it, and that’s final!” The mare stomped back into the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab another drink, then headed back to the bedroom, saying along the way, “Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.” Then she left them in silence.

“That… that’s not good,” Roxanne said lamely.

“Oh, god, what are we gonna do?” Lake anxiety was already popping back up after a few minutes of hopefulness, but she couldn't blame him this time. It was a pretty shit situation to be in.

“We can't live on the street,” he continued anxiously. “I don't wanna be homeless in this world!” He was on the verge of another panic attack until Tory put a hoof on his shoulder to help him breathe. Roxanne wondered if he genuinely had an anxiety disorder that he'd been treating before they got here. He wasn't this bad as a human. But then again, their situation on Earth wasn't one where they had to face potential homelessness.

“This place is like Earth,” Tory said. “If it comes to it, I'm sure a city as big as this one has a shelter for us somewhere. And we can get jobs, too, if need be.”

“Yeah… yeah, sorry,” Lake apologized, breathing deeply. “And we're not even planning to stay here for very long anyway. There's other options.” He said it mostly to himself.

“Yeah,” Roxanne nodded, then put on a smile. “We’ll figure it out, trust me. And once we're back home, and we're rich and famous and able to pass through to Equus whenever we want, there won't be anything to worry about.” It was a statement that got Lake to smile and chill out a little bit more.

“What are we gonna do in the meantime though?” he asked a second later.

“Just relax and do what we’ve been doing,” Tory said. “There's not really much we can do at this exact moment except relax and rest and talk. We'll figure it out though. Sapphire's helping us, after all.” Roxanne knew Tory said it in a kind of playful teasing way, but the mare still didn’t pick up on it and smiled proudly. She chuckled at that.

There wasn’t much said for the next few minutes as Roxanne settled back into the couch, changing back into the pastel colored unicorn she’d been for days now. It was impressive how easy it was to change into different things already, how such a thing was even allowed by the laws of nature. She didn’t question it though. Instead, she closed her eyes and settled herself onto her back until Shimmering Diamond came back out and announced that supper was finished cooking.

The older mare invited them into the dining room to eat, and all three of Roxanne, Tory, and Lake followed behind Sapphire Glow to the table. All three stayed mostly quiet while Sapphire chatted to her mother about how she really should let them stay and how humans were real.

“I’ll show you once we finally are able to live on Earth,” she said, mixing her oats, rice, and beans all together. “You’ll see.”

“Yeah, I'm sure I will,” was her mother's sarcastic reply as she rolled her eyes and sipped her drink. “Just like all the other times.” Her behavior wasn't a surprise. What would Roxanne say if she had an almost twenty year old kid who was telling her to let strangers stay at her house because they were from some alien planet?

She could feel Lake debating something as he picked at his food and took a bite. He glanced between his plate and the floor, then said, “I know we're intruding, but thank you for cooking dinner for us and letting us stay the night. It's a nice thing to do for a group of strangers.”

“Yeah, thank you,” Tory added. “We appreciate it.”

“Same feeling here, too,” Roxanne finished. Was Lake just being polite, or intentionally working this mare? He didn’t give off a feeling that would give her a clue.

It didn't matter either way, Shimmering Diamond softened up. “Thanks, guys,” she said, less harshness in her voice now. She took another sip of her drink, and added, “I guess you can stay for a while if you need. Might as well give you the same treatment I've given everypony else so far.” It was news that got smiles all around and a cheer from Sapphire Glow, but before the emotion could last, her mother spoke up again.

“I don't wanna hear you talking about breaking into houses or sneaking around or stealing anything or any of that nonsense though,” she instructed. “Sapphire is bad enough as it is—”

“Hey!”

“—and I don't need three ponies enabling her and making her legal record longer than it is. Seriously.”

“We won't,” Roxanne assured her. “We promise.”

Probably, she thought silently as Shimmering Diamond nodded, satisfied. Maybe Judge Standing was wrong, and Sapphire Glow would do better to stay away from them.