Max stood in the middle of a dark empty space in confusion, his senses nulled. He felt completely blind to everything except for himself. In absolute silence, his heartbeat sounded like the pistons in an engine. It’s as if he was standing in a lifeless void.
Stars began to flicker into being all around him. After a little while, he appeared to be standing in a spiral galaxy.
The silence was disturbed by an ominous voice. “You must put your mind at ease, my child.”
“Where am I?” Max asked, looking for the source of the speaker.
The voice ignored his question. “Your soul has been set free… You must free your mind as well.”
“What are you talking about? What the fuck is going on?”
“Tsk tsk”
The stars began to rearrange themselves into the shape of a tall woman in front of him. Her pale skin assembled from the specks of light and the nebulas whisped together into strands of long red hair. Her brown eyes sparkled, even without a direct light source to reflect off them. She wore a white sheet that covered her like a dress, making her look like an angel. The woman looked at Max with a stern look. “Is that any way to talk to your mother?”
Max dropped down on the invisible ground and looked up at the image of his mother standing in front of his pony self. “Momma?” Max asked with his eyes welling with tears.
The woman knelt and pet his fur. “Yes, Maxie, it’s me.”
Max rose to speak, but before he could do so his mother put a finger on his muzzle.
“I know there is so much you want to say. I understand, because there’s so much I want to tell you. I know you’re lost, Max. I was very lost, too.” She ran her hand through the stars in the galaxy. The stars wisped around her fingers like they were sand. “Mother’s intuition brought me to you,” she said.
She paused, leaving time for Max to study her face, fearing it would be the last time he would ever see her again.
The pale woman put her hand on the side of her equine son’s face. Her touch was warm and soothing, and he leaned into her palm while their eyes met. “The spell has freed your soul to explore the wonders of magic. Something you would’ve never been able to do if you had stayed human. You will learn to do excellent things, but in its current state, your mind will not allow it. Locked away in the past. But you have the key, Max.” She took her hand off of his face and rose, towering over the pony.
“As much as it pains me to say this…” She looked away from him. “I need you to let go.”
Max shook his head slowly and reached forward to embrace his mother “No… No. I’m not going to let you go.” He tried to touch the figment of his mother, but the attempted hug went right through it. Instead, he landed on his belly.
“You need to let go of me and your sisters. You mustn't let us hold you back,” his mother said, looking down on him in sorrow.
Max looked back at his mother and tried reaching out to her while his body grew weaker by the second. “No! I can’t go on without you or Kelly, or Amber!”
Max’s mother sighed and took one of his hooves in her hands. “We need you to go on Max…” She began to disintegrate, her body whisping away back into the cosmos.
“No! Mom! Please, no!” Max clung to her hand with both hooves, trying desperately to tug her back towards him. Her body slowly vanished, until only her hand remained.
“Let go, Maxie. Just don’t forget us,” whispered her voice in the darkness. Her hand turned to dust in his hooves.
-----------------
Max jolted awake in a cold sweat and leapt out of his bed in panic.
“Mom!? Mom!”
His gaze locked on the broken, alien horse in the mirror. He screamed and tossed a stool at his reflection, shattering it. He began to hyperventilate, the remaining shards in the frame multiplying the image. Mocking him.
He ripped the mirror off the wall. He took a breath and put his head through the broken frame, the shards prodding at his neck. Max’s heart beat through his chest. Just one simple downwards motion and he could be with his family again. He brushed his neck along one of the shards, giving himself a small cut along his throat.
The door to Max’s room was flung open. Max looked up with wet eyes and saw Rose standing in the doorway. In her shocked expression, he saw the mother in her surfacing. The strong, levelheaded composure of the counselor was gone. She looked as if she’d caught one of her own boys trying to end themselves.
The young stallion lifted his head and dropped the mirror. Rose rushed over to him and held him tight.
“Max! Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I never should’ve left you alone after the crash!”
-------------
The morning light was dull, grey; unlike the usual bright yellow. Small patters of rain hit the window while Max sat alongside his bed, Rose sleeping next to him. She wouldn’t leave his side until she knew he was okay. The ceiling fan turned rapidly, sending cool air wisping through his mane. Max hadn’t been able to sleep after his dream. Instead, he’d spent the whole night thinking about finding a way to keep moving forward. Something to get his mind off of everything. Well, he’d have time to think about it, now that he probably was on suicide watch.
But what could he do? The only applicable skills he had was the little knowledge of architectural engineering from his freshman year at university. He did know how to weld, but how could he handle a tungsten rod now?
The more he thought his situation over, the more he wondered. They said he was one of the calmer refugees. If that was the case, what did the others go through within their first couple of days? Marion had said his peers had needed at least four days after their arrival to mentally adjust.
It seemed like there were a million ways someone could flash back into time, and it looked like he’d been given a very cushy one. He crashed his car into a bunch of dry shrubs.
Imagine what it would be like driving in the mountains or through a forested area. What about tunnels? He imagined the drivers in New York’s Holland Tunnel returning, only to be greeted with the bottom of the Hudson River.
What about trains rolling through the Canadian Rockies? A convoy of ancient goods the length of the Empire State Building travelling from Vancouver to Kamloops, suddenly crumpling and rolling in the Coquihalla Pass. Airplanes… He had already witnessed himself.
But what about other ways? He never really thought about returnees not in any vehicles. That griffin, Teresa, she’d been studying for finals. The pegasus mare and the unicorn that sat next to him had been at Caesar’s Palace.
Nadia was from New York, though: a tourist. Las Vegas was one of the biggest tourist destinations on the planet. How many people found themselves trapped in an alien body in a foreign country, and some with only a basic understanding of English?
He could imagine tourists from Moscow taking in the sights and suddenly finding themselves transformed and trapped in a place where nobody understood Russian. Australians gambling their hearts out that now had no way of going home and attempt to find their family.
Even people like himself, with his family across the country, would most likely not endure a trip home on hoof. It was bad enough that they were thrown into the future without any regards to their safety and without their loved ones, but now they wouldn't even be able to see home again.
He’d been lucky to be greeted by a friendly welcoming party. In fact, most people who returned in Southern Nevada were greeted by the same winged rescuers, the Dust Devils. They were dedicated to softening the jolt into the future refugees didn’t expect nor want. They really were, in a way, angels. Even the ones without wings, medical personnel, heavy rescuers, a teleporting unicorn. All of them, even the ones that weren’t refugees dedicated their lives to make sure that the refugees had a chance at their own.
That’s it. That’s what he should do. This world needed more people like Rose, Winter, Marion, and Jack. If they hadn’t been there for him to begin with, he might have killed himself before the sun set on the first day. Imagine how many suicides he could prevent. How many car crash victims he could save. Or even how many disoriented wanderers he could help.
But how on earth could he join a group like that? It didn’t seem like they needed any mediocre building designers or a guy who’s CPR certification had expired in 2013.
His musing was interrupted by Rose’s melodious voice. “For a silent thinker, you make a lot of damn noise.”
He looked to his side, watching Rose sit up.
“Do you want to talk about what happened last night?”
Max looked around his messy room and nodded. “Yeah. I think I’m ready.”
Rose looked at Max, ears perked.
“It wasn’t because of the plane crash like you said. It may have triggered it, but that’s another thing,” Max said solemnly. “I… I had such a surreal dream. My mom was there telling me to let go. She said my soul was free but I was trapping it. Then… she just vanished.”
Rose nodded while she searched for words. “Most likely, your subconscious is rejecting your reality. It happens quite often, but not usually so delayed. It may also be returnee’s guilt. It's like survivor's guilt, blaming yourself for getting off much easier than others.”
A flash of light came from the window and thunder rumbled from outside. “I had returnee’s guilt myself, but I didn’t have anypony to coach me through it. That’s why I’m here. To make sure I can help others not to go through what I did.”
Max took a breath. “You know. Before you interrupted me, I was tossing the idea of joining those Dust Devil guys. For the exact same reason you told me you became a counselor.”
Rose’s face lit up. “That’s great, Max! There are never enough team members.”
“Well… problem is, I don’t exactly have any marketable skills. I can put coolant in an engine and tighten a bolt. But how the hell would I be able to do any of that without hands?”
“That's what everyone who joins up with them says at first.” She chuckled. “Trust me, they’ll teach you everything. But first, we’ll teach you how to use your body and live in society.” She stood up and extended her hoof to Max. “But I need to know if this is definitely something you want to do.”
Without hesitation, Max took her hoof and rose. “I have literally nothing left to lose.”
Rose sighed and gestured to the door. “You good to go the group session? You don’t have to if you do-”
Max cut her off. “I want to go to the group session. I need to learn how to deal with this, even if it hurts.” Max moved around the shattered mirror on the ground and opened his dresser drawer, taking out some fresh clothes. “Now… I hope I can get this on without slipping on glass.”
“Take your time.” She took a towel out of the dresser and swept the glass to the side of the room. “Unfortunately, I’m gonna have to stay in here. It’s protocol after… well…”
Max sighed. “I get it. Just… please turn around or something?”
Rose rolled her eyes and turned around. “F-i-n-e.”
-------------------------
The atrium of the rehabilitation center was just as dull as the weather outside the massive windows. The air was still and the usual chatter from the many groups was quiet and subdued. The storm outside was unusual, it usually never rained this hard in mid-April.
Perhaps the weather teams had brought in a storm from up north to put out the fire and wash away the jet fuel from the soil. Beyond the haze of the unseasonal downpour, the rear stabiliser of the downed airplane was visible in the distance. Emblazoned with the charred star spangled banner, it looked like a patriotic tombstone.
There weren’t as many ponies in the room as the day before. Some had to have taken the airliner crash much worse than Max had imagined. Bad timing to have a plane crash happen right as mentally unstable refugees began their healing process. Some sitting areas were completely empty. The only groups that looked like they had all their members present were the youth groups.
Max was sitting beside the unicorn stallion Jacob, just like yesterday but with an empty seat to his right. Everyone was in attendance except for Katie, the sunlight yellow unicorn mare. The group stayed quiet while Marion stood just out of hearing range, talking with Rose. Max tried not to pay attention to the two talking, even when Marion looked at him over his shoulder.
Rose finally parted with Marion, leaving the thestral stallion to return to the gathering. He stood in front of the group and said, “Well uh… buenos dias everypony,” in an attempt to lighten the mood. “I’m glad you could come back and join us, especially after yesterday. Believe it or not, that’s not the first time something exploded outside during the first session.”
The thestral fell back onto his haunches and took a breath. “I know how it is the first time. The second month of my new life, I saw a jumbo jet take a nosedive into the side of the mountains. Immediately, I thought of the September eleventh attacks when I was in middle school. I know what you guys are going through, and just know that I’m here if you guys need to talk.”
As soon as the counselor stopped talking, Katie walked into the sitting area and took her seat next to Max without so much as a peep. Katie looked like she’d just taken a ride in a tornado. Her long violet mane was frayed and her clothes looked like they’d been thrown on. In fact, she looked a lot like Max did. Did she have a similar breakdown last night? Katie took a breath and fixed her eyes on the thestral.
Marion cracked a smile and nodded at Katie. “Well, now that you’re all here, I think we can pick up where we left off. I’ll just speed up the history lesson and get right to anatomy. After the lesson, y’all will head out to physical therapy. It seems most of you’ve got the hang of walking already, but our goal is to make sure you can do it without thinking about it.” He stopped for a moment. “Where did we leave off?”
“The Stratosphere,” Teresa spoke up.
“Ah, right! Thanks! We’re on the subject of the creation of the city. So I’ll just sum up the history from here. In 2680 AE, the city was built in the canyon between Mead and Henderson to safeguard it from bandits. Farms sprouted up all around Lake Mead and all the way up through Arizona and down along the Colorado. Around 3100, they fixed the Hoover generating stations, the city blossomed, blah, blah, blah.”
Max raised his hoof. “So I get the ‘bla, bla, bla’ parts, but what about other places? I assume we’re not the only city left in America.”
The group gave a small chuckle while Marion nodded and reached up to the top of his chalkboard. He pulled down a map of the old American Southwest. Cities were clearly marked and dotted across the map.
“Yep. There's a confederate government ruling the Americas and they're broken up into self governing states and territories. We're in the Colorado Territories: one of the most unpopulated in the Americas. We're the territory that covers all of the southwest's unwanted land. But at the turn of the century, the mining industry really started to boom, so we're one of the wealthiest as well. But not as wealthy as Nuevo California."
“Uh… why are they important? Is it because they have large populations?” Vance asked while his wings twitched at his sides.
Marion smiled, glad that his group was finally joining the conversation. “Well, Nuevo Angeles, or more commonly known as New Angeles, is the home of sailing and steam-powered ships on the Pacific. Not long after they set their ships into the dangerous, monster-infested sea, they returned with luxuries thought lost forever: precious stones, silk, oriental tapestries, palm oil, and some other neat stuff.”
“Monster infested?” Jacob, Katie, and Teresa asked in unison.
“You heard me right. Long story. All you need to know is don’t be a small settlement on the coast unless you want a bunch of rotting fishmen burning you at a stake or even stealing your soul. Again, no, I am not kidding.”
Max put his hoof to his face and sighed. “I am gonna get so sick of this magic fairytale horse shit eventually.”
Katie couldn’t help but chuckle. Marion on the other hoof, grunted. “You’ll be surprised what kind of bullshit is commonplace in this world. But! Now on to everypony’s favorite subject: anatomy.”
“So like I said yesterday, you guys’ age group is in a biologically pretty tight spot. Unfortunately, I gotta give a speech about the birds and the bees”
“You all are lucky enough to still be in your development phase when the event happened. Which means your new bodies now have to pick up where your old ones left off. But your minds are still technically human. In all likelihood you can't imagine this right now. Eventually though, you'll start finding your fellow ponies, or griffins, as attractive as the humans you used to find attractive. It happens to everyone, sooner or later, but you’re all younger and more… energized than those a bit older than you. So it’ll happen to you guys sooner.”
The young ponies (and griffon) all looked at the bat pony in silence.
Marion stood as still as a statue, waiting for a question that would never come. “Well, I had to give that brief lesson. I thought it would be best to get that out of the way first.” The thestral sighed, “Okay… let’s get on to eating habits and self-hygiene. Ponies are herbivores. So sad to say the age of sirloin steaks and fried chicken is over.”
The group let out a collective “Aww.”
“But for you, Teresa, you can still eat meat,” he said to the griffon. “But you aren't allowed to eat ponies or other smart, civilized creatures. Even if they look tasty.”
“Anyway, don’t be sad, ponies. There are vegetarian substitutes that taste almost identical!”
“You’re crazy if you think I’m touching a veggie burger,” Jacob blurted out.
Marion gave his toothy grin and shrugged his wings. “Well actually, it’s made of hay and-”
A sudden flash and bang outside the window. Max jolted in his seat and whinnied once again. “Oh god, damnit!”
Katie burst into a fit of laughter at Max’s frightened pony noise. Her laughing ended with a loud equine snort, that made Max and other members of the group laugh as well. Max and Katie looked at each other, slowly calming down.
Marion was also amused. He shook his head and spoke under his breath, “Ugh, ustedes me estan volviendome loco."
"Escuché eso chico murcielago!" Katie snapped.
Marion’s mouth dropped at the quiet unicorn’s snapback in his own language. “Okay, okay. Let’s all simmer down now. God forbid any of you start making dirty jokes in Spanish like my last group.”
Max turned to Katie and she looked back at him with a smile. “My grandma was from Columbia. I know my stuff.”
The two ponies grinned at each other and returned their attention back to the lesson.
---------------------------
When the session ended, their minds full of strange new information, the group trudged after Marion to a large open courtyard. Walking paths with stairs, inclines and other small obstacles snaked through the area, surrounded by various shrubs and trees. Several other groups of ponies were already walking around and talking with each other on the wet patches of grass.
At the very middle of the yard, there was a picnic pavilion where a unicorn was cooking some food on a grill for a few hungry looking ponies. The cool mist of the post rain atmosphere and the smell of steamed vegetables wafted through the air. Max looked around the beautifully landscaped yard while Marion stopped in front of the group.
“Here we are, kids. All we really ask of you is to walk the course a few times, get your bearings, then you can do what you want. I know some of you only had a muffin for breakfast if you had anything at all. At the top of that little hill over there you can go ahead and grab some lunch.” Marion hopped off the ground and hovered in the air. “I’ll be eating, if you wanna talk with an old, lazy Mexican horse.”
Lance, Jacob and Nadia walked off down one of the paths, starting up a conversation as they went. Teresa looked around before she reached into her sweatshirt pocket and took out an old iPhone. She tried to go through it, but her hard talons didn’t have the same effect on the touchscreen as soft human fingers. She walked off and started playing with different methods to try and get into her phone.
That left Katie and Max standing next to each other. The stallion turned to her and extended a hoof. “I’m Max, by the way.”
Katie blinked as Max shook her out of her thoughts. She returned the gesture, putting her hoof on his and awkwardly moved it up and down. “Uh, Katie. It’s nice to meet you Max. That was a pretty funny little scene in the class.”
His face turned a faint shade of red and he shyly nodded. “Yeah. I’m not used to whinnying yet. But that snort was pretty funny too.”
The unicorn giggled and shook her head. “Yeah, yeah,” she stated as she started walking toward a path. “You coming with? I’m pretty hungry and, well…”
“And?” Max asked while he caught up to her.
“I don’t want to be alone,” Katie said quietly.
Max closed his eyes. “I know how you feel. I’ve only had my counselor to talk to, and she’s still got other patients to take care of.”
The unicorn waited for her earth pony acquaintance to catch up with her before walking again. “Yeah. I was told there was a tour bus of refugees and the staff had to split up their time to handle them all.”
Imagine how stretched they would be if that plane had landed…
“Any idea what to do after they let us out?” Max asked, switching topics.
“I don’t know,” Katie mumbled. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since I got here. I thought about going to see if my dad was still in Yuma, but with the timestream stuff, he’s probably not there.”
The two reached a flight of stairs going up a small hill. Max put his front left hoof on the first step and slowly began to climb, struggling to keep his balance. “That’s not really what- oh crap- not really what I meant.” He made it to the top of the stairs and waited for Katie. “Be careful, you kinda gotta lean forward to keep your balance.”
Katie started her ascent up the flight. “Oh, you mean what I want to do with life.” She neared the top of the stairs and almost fell over. Max reached out and grabbed her hoof, pulling her back up. The unicorn fixed her wavy, violet mane and gave a smile. “Thanks, Max. But yeah, I haven't really thought about that. All I know is I’m not leaving this place for a while. I want to learn how to use this stupid head spike first before I even look at the exit.” She pointed to the horn on her forehead.
Max chuckled. “Yeah. I want to get my ducks in a line before I leave here too.”
“Psh. That is such a stupid statement.”
“Yes, but it works!”
Katie rolled her eyes. “Okay, magical orange horse. Whatever you say. Let’s get some food.”
Max followed right behind her. “You read my mind, talking gray unicorn.”