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// 35 - On the Road, Hard Mode 
// Story: Perchance to Dream 
// by David Silver 
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When next I woke up in my human body, Starlight was there. She was awake, and was watching me, but hadn't tried to wriggle away or otherwise disturb me. "Are you really True Shot?"

"Why would I lie about that?" I sat up and slid back. "Did you sleep well?"

"Not particularly." She frowned a little. "Are you..." She rolled a hoof. "Twilight mentioned human mares are strangely shaped." Her eyes dropped from my own to my chest. "It must be so strange, having your, ahem, breasts on display at all times, foal or not."

I cocked a brow at her even as I threw my legs over the side and slid to my feet. "It's how we're built, so it can't be very 'strange' for us. The odder part from my side is how I can instantly tell a mare and a stallion apart, aside from size. True's body seems to fill in the rest. Stance, scent, I couldn't say where exactly, but it seems obvious before a pony ever opens their mouth."

"I'm sure Twilight would have a term for that." Starlight shook her head. "So... If you are a mare by birth, why were you so eager to court me? Is this--"

Kevin returned from the bathroom, a curious look on his face. "Excuse me?" He got to getting dressed in a fresh shirt. "What sort of adventures have you been up to, exactly."

Oh great... "Look, in the pony world, I am a pony, a male one, and I haven't done anything besides."

Starlight's eyes became half-lidded. "Not for lack of effort." She waved a hoof lightly. "Honestly, the only thing you haven't tried is one of those arrows of yours. Is that cheating?"

"One, yes. Two, it doesn't make any feelings, it just makes ponies face the ones that are already there." I noticed as I said it that Starlight was looking more and more nervous, and it hit me. "Which are already there," I repeated and she pulled the blanket over her form with a twinkle of magic. "Starlight..."

"You are my student! This is not right! You're a mare too! Double unright."

Kevin shrugged. "If two ladies want to kiss, who am I to say no?"

I rolled my eyes at that. "Not helping."

"Sorry." He came over and put a hand lightly on Starlight. "Hey, calm down. No-one here is trying to pressure you one way or the other. Let's just keep you safe and get you back home."

Starlight peeked out from under her covers. "You're just saying that," she spat with some venom. "I can hear your thoughts, judging me..."

"I am," admitted Kevin as he crouched to be on her level. "You are an adorable pony, with powerful magic, who is scared and off-balance. I want to protect you and help you, however I can."

Starlight gave a slow blink. "When did I become adorable?" Her cheeks went faintly red. "I mean, nevermind... Thank you." She suddenly scowled. "But why would you find me cute in any way? You saw what I did, did you not?! I destroyed my own world in countless different ways! You should be scared."

"I'm not," assured Kevin. "You made mistakes, and you learned your lessons. In the end, no one really got hurt, so I'm not holding that against you."

I gave Starlight a pat, since it looked like a fun thing to do and I agreed she needed comfort. "We have plenty to face in the present, so let's leave the past back where it is."

She grabbed my hand with her magic and pulled it to her chest. "It's not fair. Pretend you were hit with an arrow as well. What are your true feelings?"

I could tell Starlight was in a delicate place, with how she was wildly careening in the conversation, to say nothing of the way she held herself, the tension I could feel under her fur and even her magic felt taut.  "There are many things I can say. You're sharp as a tack." My eyes wandered over her face, must of the rest of her still hidden. "I like the way you carry your mane." The comment made Kevin snort for some reason. "You're a terrific mare and an awe-inspiring wizard."

"But you are not interested." She let go of my hand. "That may be for the best. I... Yes. Are we moving?" She threw off the blanket and hopped to her hooves. "We are on a journey, are we not?"

She had tossed the issue aside. On one hand, that couldn't be healthy, on the other, we did need to move. "Hey, Starlight, can you pretend to be a person? A human, that is."

Starlight frowned thoughtfully. "That is not a spell I've studied. Invisibility will have to do." She faded from sight. "Pick me up and carry me to where it's safe. Moving while this is going is very difficult."

Kevin reached out to where there seemed to be nothing and soon was holding... nothing in his arms. It was a very curious pose, but nothing worth calling the news about. "Alright, got her, let's head out."

So we did, piling into the van. He set her down between us carefully and she faded back into being, looking around the truck curiously. "So this is that vehicle Twilight had mentioned. We have similar devices, but they're just that, similar. Most are powered by ponies, dragging, magic, or with the magic of flight. Yours is... powered by what?"

I buckled myself in and got to turning the key. "Hear that? It's an engine, powered by ancient plants and plankton."

Starlight scowled. "Are you serious? Plants?" She turned her head to face the engine before she shook her head. "Your world has plenty of magic of its own curious design."

Kevin's hand came down on her head and pressed it lightly out of easy view of the road around us. "We don't need anyone spotting our colorful guest, even if I'm glad to see her. So, what's it like, being a pony?"

Starlight blinked up at Kevin. "What's it like, being a human?"

"Point... Well, welcome to Earth. You caught us on a long trip to move across our country, America that is."

"A-mare-ih-ca?" Starlight cocked a brow. "I thought you said ponies don't exist here."

Kevin laughed at that. He seemed to be having a good time with it. "That's just good luck. It doesn't mean mares at all. We have horses, which are larger than ponies, and not very intelligent."

"Ponies never evolved in this world?" She tapped at her chin. "Curious."

I cocked a brow at that. "Ponies have evolution as a concept?"

"Certainly." She nodded. "The idea that certain species can change over time, sometimes creating whole new species or entirely abandoning an old form. Ponies are still evolving, in fact. They say we have entered the fourth great evolution. I wonder what we'll look like in the fifth... Though I suppose I won't be around to see it."

Kevin just about lost it, bursting into howls of laughter that confused both Starlight and me. I reached a hand over and gave him a nudge. "Share the joke?"

He waved it off. "Remember the museum? There were four generations of ponies."

Ah. Then I got it. That didn't help poor Starlight. "Is anypony going to fill me in?"

I let Kevin, who pulled out his phone and began showing off the generations of ponies.

"Wildly inaccurate," she declared as she watched them. "But not entirely. Our worlds are clearly related, even if distant."

"Hello?" Twilight had joined us, though she hadn't put her face into view. "Is Starlight there?"

Starlight went rigid and flopped to the ground bonelessly at the same time, somehow. "Tell her I'm not here."

I rolled my eyes and was not about to do that. "Hey Twilight. She's afraid to talk to you right now."

"Starlight, come here. Now is not the time for foalish antics." I could hear Twilight clop a hoof. "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine." Starlight peeked her head up to see the shimmer of Twilight's magic. "I don't see you."

"It is against human regulations for me to be in the way of their view of their roads while the vehicle is in motion. A very sensible law that I am trying to honor. There you are! Are you alright, Starlight?"

"I just said I'm fine." Starlight smiled a little. "Thank you for checking."

"How could I not? You're not just my student, Starlight. We're friends. I'm investigating different ways to get you home, so do as Linda says."

"Who."

I raised a hand briefly. "Yo."

"Oh..." Starlight frowned a little. "She's my student."

"And she's the one that knows you and the world you live in. I had to take some advice from Spike when I was freaking out in the human world, now's your turn. Oh, hello Kevin. I'm sorry for ignoring you. You're in good hooves. They're both good ponies and will do everything in their power to keep you safe."

I nodded faintly in the direction of the hazy glow that was Twilight. "We'll keep her intact while we move. You can reach me, so we won't be out of touch."

"That's exactly what I'm counting on." I heard her sigh. "This would have been less awkward if it was a mirror portal. Then you'd just have a new human to worry about instead of a literal alien."

Kevin reached over and put a hand on Starlight's head, earning a brief glare, but not being pushed away. "We'll do everything we can to keep her safe."

"Are you waiting for your turn?" replied Twilight in a fit of uncharacteristically keen character study.

Kevin went a cherry red at being caught so easily. "Well... I mean... It's just the right thing to do, not that I doubt either of you wouldn't help me out if I was stranded in Equestria."

Twilight's face peeked in. "You'll get your chance, but I have to finish rescuing Starlight first. Please, be safe." She faded away.

Starlight repelled Kevin's hand with her magic easily. "You really are a touchy person. So, Kevin was it? Do you have a last name?"

Kevin shrugged a little. "Davis. Kevin Davis."

Starlight raised a hoof to point at herself. "And I'm Starlight Glimmer." She looked towards me. "And you... are True Shot." She sounded quite vexed at the idea. "It seems I'm in your care for now. I will... endeavor to not be any further of a burden than I already am."

We had been driving a while, and hadn't had breakfast. It was time to fix that. "Starlight, we're going to get something to eat. What do you like? You'll wait here in the van and we'll bring you back some breakfast." I cringed faintly internally at the thought of how more awkward it would have been if I wasn't a successful professional. Just imagining some poor college student suddenly having an alien thrust upon them made me wince in sympathy. "Ponies like eggs, right?"

Starlight's ears went up. "Eggs are nice, over easy please. What else do they offer?"

Kevin could see where I was headed to and offered other options, "Well it depends on if you like meat or not."

"What kind of meat?" She frowned. "Go ahead and tell me you eat horses."

"No! No, Christ, no. They have pancakes, bacon, sausages, salads with and without meat--"

"That's a lot of meat." Starlight raised a brow. "Are you carnivores?" Her magic grabbed Kevin's lips and peeled them up and down to expose his teeth.

Kevin laughed even as he swatted at her magic. "Cut that out. We're omnivores. We'll eat anything basically."

I nodded in agreement. "Name a thing, some person's tried it before, and someone else probably likes it."

"Rocks," she challenged.

Kevin pointed at her. "Joke's on you there. I know some ponies like rocks, and, yes, there are people that like clay."

Starlight. "Did your device tell you that?" She looked doubtful. "I'll be checking with Twilight, later. Look, I'm in an alien world. I'm already on an adventure, surprise me. If I don't like it after a taste, I'll let you know, so maybe a sampler tray if they have that?"

I pulled the van in to rest and soon had the key tucked away. "Sampler tray it is. Now you be good and stay low, no matter what. If it's not too hard, be invisible."

She shook her head. "That's a quick trick, not a long-term spell." She hopped down to the floor and half hid under the seats. "Nopony will spot me down here. Go on."