Twilight felt the same moment of discomfort she had become accustomed to as she crossed the world boundary, feeling the otherworldly forces fade around her until her hooves settled on solid ground. For a few seconds she remained still, catching her breath. Then she turned to look over her shoulder and see how her friends had fared.
She saw more of what she'd come to expect, though their discomfort didn't reach the levels it had with Spike. She wondered briefly if there was something about dragon physiology that was particularly vulnerable to the transition.
Rarity wobbled on her hooves. She didn't fall over, though she did look a little green. "I can't say I'm excited about the return trip," she said. "Do you ever get used to this?”
Applejack only swallowed, too proud to show any of her discomfort. Though with her ears pressed flat and her tail motionless, she could make safe assumptions about it.
Twilight adjusted the saddlebags on her shoulders. One thing she hadn't brought along was a lethal weapon. Of course she still had her magic if she needed it. But at her insistence, none of them were armed. Whoever was waiting for them, Twilight intended to make sure they saw the arrival of visitors from another world as entirely peaceful.
While Twilight's friends recovered, she advanced past them, inspecting their surroundings for danger. It was certainly a different environment as she had guessed, with spectacularly tall evergreens broken in the far distance with a rising mountain range. The trees did not continue for long. Unlike in Ponyville, this area wasn't unsettled wilderness.
She advanced slowly, keeping her head tucked low in case others might be watching. She heard the telltale snapping of twigs and rustling of leaves behind her as her friends followed.
"Don't you think we should test to see if we're going the right direction?" Rarity asked. "Unless you recognize the area, Twilight."
"In a moment. I'd like to look at this." She slowed as she approached the edge of the trees, peeking out from between the densest brush she could find. Through the shrubbery was a gentle grassy slope, leading to a metal fence. On the other side was a massive black street, with mansion-sized houses rising irregularly from the countryside.
Twilight was not wondering at what their purpose might be, as she had already crossed through the mirror portal once before. She knew what to expect from the gigantic metal vehicles that came roaring down the road.
Twilight didn't catch what Applejack's specific profanity was, but at Rarity's gasp she could guess it must've been quite colorful. Finally the farmpony recovered, clutching at her chest with one hoof.
"What in tarnation was that?" Applejack asked, retreating as far from the treeline as she could. "I've seen a horseless carriage before, but never anything so darn huge. How do they get metal moving so fast?"
Rarity shook her head. "It does seem quite inconsiderate to be traveling at such a speed. What if someone were to be wandering across the street or pulling the cart on their own? They could be trampled!"
Twilight shrugged, guiding them back to the treeline. Though she anticipated they would soon be meeting the natives of this place, she did not think it would be wise to accelerate that timetable. She hesitated a moment, fiddling around with her saddlebags until she could recover the tracking spell from inside.
She held it in her magic, then waited as it pivoted. Given that they traveled directly to the corresponding point in this other universe, she expected only a slight deviation, a gentle tug towards their destination. The stronger the pull, the greater the distance. Yet the tracking spell tilted violently to one side, pointing in the same direction she'd expected, but far more harshly. For a few seconds she stared, then pushed the tracking spell manually aside and watched with growing horror as it returned to its original configuration.
"Judging from your expression, that ain't what you were expecting," Applejack muttered. "Is there something wrong with that spell?”
Before she answered, Twilight closed both eyes and concentrated a moment, verifying the integrity of the spell. Sure enough, it was as perfect as the moment she'd cast it. "No, it's nothing wrong with the spell," she admitted. "It appears to be something wrong with our preconceptions. Flurry Heart was supposed to be here, but she's moved." Then again, the young princes could've been killed. The fact that the tracking spell worked at all was enough that she wouldn't complain.
"Does it seem like that individual you mentioned earlier might have moved her once he realized we were coming?" Rarity asked. "Not that I would make an accusation like that without evidence, but if you thought we were already going the right way..." She trailed off, looking grim.
Twilight nodded. "It's possible. But at the distance we were originally measuring, I wouldn't know for sure whether she had been moved. It's possible she was sent north months ago, but because I held the tracking spell we couldn't verify it."
Twilight had prepared for this eventuality. There was a remote chance that Flurry Heart would have been killed. In that case, her role would be to investigate the circumstances of her death and if possible, to extract justice.
"Now we have a choice before us," Twilight said, turning to face her friends. "We can either return to the Equestrian side and make further measurements, possibly traveling much further north. Or we could travel to the marked point of Flurry’s last known location, not far from here." She hesitated a moment, then pulled a map from her saddlebags and held it out in her magic.
After referencing the mountains and making another few measurements with her compass in the sun, she pointed to a place not far away, just up a nearby street.
It was impossible to say from this distance, but it looked as if it perfectly matched the location of one of the large houses along this road. "Flurry Heart was last measured at that position, likely inside that house. We could travel and ask the owners what may have happened to her.”
Applejack considered a moment. "Didn't you say something about traveling to other worlds being dangerous?" she asked. "Maybe it would be best to lay low."
Rarity shook her head, indignant. "Nonsense, darling! We're retrieving a lost child. No one with any heart would refuse a request for assistance. I say we march straight up to them and ask for directions to wherever Flurry has gone."
Twilight nodded her agreement. “If only because our arranged return to Equestria isn't for another hour. It's either hide in these bushes, waste my emergency return crystal, or investigate and see what we can find. Given who's waiting for us on the other side, I'd vote that we retrieve as much information as we can.”
"All right, sugarcube. You keep that magic of yours ready just in case."
Together they set off, breaking the treeline and skirting the edge of the hill. Twilight hesitated as they arrived at the fence, which easily reached the height of either of her friends.
Her horn glowed for a moment, and a ramp appeared in the air, just strong enough to walk on. Applejack took one sidelong glance at Twilight's projection, then jumped the fence in a single running leap. She cleared to the other side without so much as a hoof scraping the edge of the fence.
Rarity and Twilight made it across with more dignity, though less flair.
The locals, by contrast, were far less graceful. As Twilight landed on the other side, she heard a terrifying squeal, so loud and high pitched that Twilight jumped by reflex, hanging in the air in a low hover. Her horn glowed with reflexive power, but she didn’t let it out yet.
One of the gigantic metal vehicles slid to a stop right beside the pavement, choking vapor rising from its tires. Rarity and Applejack retreated from the vehicle, with Applejack spun on her heels, ready to buck the thing back.
The windows slid down, and Twilight got her first glimpse inside. Again she was reminded of her own trips through the mirror portal, though there were some differences in proportion. The legs weren’t quite so long, and she saw no sign of cutie marks.
They did have some of the same habits, though. The person at the wheel, an older male, removed his phone from a pocket and held it up. There were several others in the vehicle with them—an older female, and several foals, all with similar shades of skin. “That’s a horsie,” proclaimed a foal, nowhere near old enough for her cutie mark. “How is she flying, Mommy?”
We crossed without the mirror. We must look very strange to them.
Twilight landed on the pavement, looking up into the open vehicle just as another squealed to a stop behind it, horn blaring. “Hello there!” Twilight said, waving an energetic hoof. “I was hoping you might be able to direct me to another Alicorn like myself… a foal about one month old now? I think she may’ve been here until recently.”
She raised one hoof, taking a few steps towards the open window. “Please, her mother is very worried about her. Your directions would be extremely helpful.”
The driver answered with a roar of acceleration, and the motorcar zoomed away down the road. It bangedloudly up onto the sidewalk for a second, then back onto the road with a metallic grinding. Twilight watched it spray sparks from underneath before getting under control and roaring away.
“Twilight, dear, I don’t believe they’re going to be terribly cooperative with us. Perhaps we should make a change of plans?”
Twilight backed away. The horseless carriages were piling up, a few bumping into each other. She could see flashing lights from the end of the road, still far off. She could take an educated guess about what those were for.
“She’s right,” Applejack added, turning and darting back over the fence. She raised her voice, calling over her shoulder. “These folks don’t seem like they’ll be friendly with strangers. Seems like they ain’t seen ponies before.”
Of course they haven’t. Star Swirl’s mirror forced visitors to look like the locals. Maybe he had good reasons for that. Together they retreated from the road. A few of the locals were climbing from their cars, pointing in Twilight’s direction. More phones, and a few even flashed bright enough for her to see through the overcast sky. Cameras?
“Look, over there!” someone yelled, pointing. “Petting zoo animals, maybe?”
“Those look like wings!”
“Someone call animal control.”
By the time they reached the treeline, Twilight was already adjusting her necklace around her neck. “Get close!” she yelled, urgent. “I’m using my emergency return!”
Applejack and Rarity obeyed without question—they knew Twilight well enough to know that she wouldn’t make silly demands for no reason. “What do you reckon we’ll do?” Applejack asked, head swiveling as oversized footsteps began climbing the hill. The locals didn’t intend to just let them leave, apparently.
They didn’t threaten us, they just seem curious and afraid. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Not just walk back across and expect them to help us next time. I think I need to call Thorax.”
There was a loud crack, and the emergency-crystal shattered. Light rose around them, hot enough that the leaves beneath them were scorched and the trees went blasting backward. Within moments, the forest was empty again.