Eventually, everyone awoke, and the situation was fully explained.
My heart nearly stopped when I realized that had been the easy part.
"So, what do we do now?" Rainbow Dash eventually asked.
"Normally, Ah'd be all about bein' straight-forward an' honest," Applejack admitted, "but this's a delicate sit-i-ation, an' we need a plan a'fore we do anythin'."
"I'll say," Mazarine agreed. "The revelation that there's an alien dimension in some random basement, even with the events of the last few days, would be pretty big news. If we handle this incorrectly, it could go horribly wrong."
Mr. Adler then pointed out, "But planning something like that takes time. What do we do in the meantime?"
"You guys shouldn't have to be stuck in the basement the whole time," Lily voiced.
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "We could just go back to Equestria..."
Pinkie then whined, "Aww, but I wanted to explore!"
Lily smirked a little at the country pony, who was gazing questioningly at the pink mare. "You were saying?"
"I, too, am quite curious about this new world," Rarity corroborated. "If for nothing else, then just to get a sense of what these 'humans' look like."
Rainbow eyed her teasingly. "You just wanna see their fashion, don't you?"
Rarity huffed indignantly for a moment, stood stock still for a few seconds, then finally sighed and nodded. Rainbow chuckled a bit at her guess being true.
Twilight thought for a moment. "I'm curious, too... Well, if we just pretend that we've been affected by the leak, then we could head out for a bit. If that's alright with you folks?" She asked us.
I shrugged approval, and everyone else also apprehensively nodded. Even Applejack, who seemed the most against it, eventually agreed once Twilight assured her that they wouldn't actively tell any lies about it; they'd just opt to not say anything.
Bea, having zoned out during the conversation, finally perked up at it being over. "Alright, now that that's settled, I have so many questions!"
Fluttershy chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Well, I suppose I've got some time, since I'm not very good at all of this planning stuff..."
Bea flitted over excitedly. "Alright, first off, is your Stare magical?"
Fluttershy looked concerned. "Oh, I sure hope not! I wouldn't want to be doing anything to my animal friends against their will!"
Bea looked to Twilight expectantly, who chuckled at her enthusiasm. "As far as I can tell, there's no magical component to it."
"Woah!" My little sister was absolutely enamored. "And what about Applejack's lie-detecting ability? Does it have anything to do with her Element?"
AJ smirked. "If it did, then mah brother'd have it, too."
Bea gasped "Big Mac can sense lies, too?!"
"You don't know the half of it."
As Applejack began telling Bea (and Fluttershy, too) of one time that Big Mac caught somepony deep in a lie, the rest of the group began to discuss what to do about them revealing themselves.
Well, everyone except for me.
"In other news, President Nova has announced 'Project Hoof', where several top scientists from across the country have been called in to help determine the cause of the recent epidemic. More on that at nine."
At that point, I decided to turn off the radio; it wasn't really helping. I was trying to tune everyone else out, as thinking about this whole predicament for too long was stressing me out. With the radio not being nearly as distracting as I'd hoped, I tried to think of something else to do.
Os looked over and noticed me, leaving the conversation to approach. "Hey Rove, you gonna join in on this?"
I shook my head, "This is all just too much for me to handle right now. I mean, we're spearheading first contact with aliens; I don't really think my input would be very helpful."
She looked like she wanted to argue, but she didn't. "Well, when you put it like that, I understand. But still, I'm not gonna let you sit over here by yourself; let's go do something."
I smiled, "Thanks, Os."
She responded by giving me a peck on the cheek, before heading out back.
I, meanwhile, was momentarily stunned. Sure, we'd had that make-out session last night, but that was in the heat of the moment; this time, she was treating it as perfectly normal!
Not that I was complaining.
I shook my head, a small grin spreading across my face, and followed her outside.
When I caught back up to Os, I found her practicing her flying. She was certainly better than the last time I'd seen her try, but she still had a ways to go before she could comfortably fly for any length of time.
I thought about what I could do for a while. My wall-walking skills had improved significantly; I wasn't really up for flying at the moment; and, while I could always practice my magic, there wasn't anything out here light enough for me to try levitating.
Then I recalled something Pinkie had said earlier:
"A Changeling not being able to shape-shift is like... It's like Applejack not being able to harvest apples!"
Shape-shifting... That sounded like a fun challenge.
Focusing energy into my horn, I began picturing my body in my mind. The mental image of my changeling self formed, before I began making slight modifications to it. I imagined my mane as a different color, then let the energy in my horn out.
POW!
I reeled as the energy was released incorrectly, causing a blast of feedback that literally knocked me off my hooves. Os noticed and immediately rushed to my side, checking me over for any injuries.
"I'm okay," I insisted. "I didn't expect to get it on my first attempt, anyway."
"What were you trying to do?" she asked, concerned.
"Shape-shift," I stated simply. "I don't know what I did wrong; I just pictured myself with differently-colored hair..."
"You need to let the magic wash over you," a third voice said, catching both of our attentions. We turned to see Twilight poking her head out through the sliding door.
She continued, "A changeling I know, Thorax, has told me a lot about their magical technique. Don't try and force it all out at once, because that'll just lead to a burst of feedback. Instead, let it wash over you, as if you're slowly pouring a pitcher of water onto yourself."
I nodded, deciding not to question the expert. Focusing on my mental image once again, I lit up my horn. But this time, I took Twilight's advice, and simply let my magic flow over me. A warm sensation cascaded around my body, taking the form of flames, and a few strands of my mane became blonde.
Os grinned, "You kinda did it!"
I returned the gesture, then turned back to Twilight. "Thanks for the advice!"
She simply smiled, before pulling herself back inside and closing the door.
The next while passed while I continued to hone my skill. I managed to make about half my hair change before Os piped up, looking at her phone in her hoof. "Hey, uh, Rove?"
"Yeah?" I responded absently, still focusing on my magic.
"I know it's been pretty hectic today, and it's already well past noon, but, uh, you still up for that meal?"
I blinked, then remembered that we'd agreed to go out for lunch earlier. "Right, of course! We were going to the Luigi's on Main, right?"
Os nodded, heading over to the gate. I opened it with my magic, closed it behind us, and we headed towards the restaurant.
As we walked, I took a moment to straighten my mane, fixing the discolored patches left over from my practice. I then looked at Os, taking in her aura (at some point, I'd gotten so used to seeing them around everyone that I'd started ignoring them). She had a lot of tangerine yellow (which was new to me), mixed with ribbons of indigo (the color I'd come to associate with nervousness or anxiety) and some faint splotches of pink.
"Nervous?" I decided to ask, breaking the silence between us.
She jumped slightly, but nodded. "I'm going on my first date ever; of course I'm nervous."
I blinked. This was a date?
Damnit, now I was getting nervous, too.