//------------------------------//
// Chapter 53: Ryan 
// Story: Forbidden Places 
// by Starscribe 
//------------------------------//

Ryan emptied everything he could onto an ancient bench, arranging the relics of Earth that had survived passage through Equestria. He hadn't brought much, considering the length of the trip so far. At least the whole thing had been wrapped firmly in a dry sack, so his passport and stuff had survived. More important than that, of course, was the phone, his voice recorder, and its spare batteries. That machine took so little power that he could probably keep his journal for months more without needing to swap them out. If he stole a few micro-SD cards, then his habits could continue without interruption until their triumphant return to civilization. 

Maybe right now. With the others gathering around him, Ryan fumbled with the phone, switching it back on. The doubt was not over whether it had survived the trip—but would they have any power?

He sighed in relief as the screen kicked on, and he could hear several of the others do so too. 

"Not sure if we'll get a signal down here," Blake said absently. "Dunno how thick that stone is."

Ryan took the phone in one hand, scanning the status indicator. Only 5% power remained. Less than he might've hoped for, but it might be all they needed. They only needed to make a single call.

"ROAMING" replaced the name of his network. Then a few seconds later, the phone vibrated several times. First for incoming text messages, then to let him know that they had several new voicemails.

All that excitement probably wasn’t good for the poor thing's struggling battery. "I'll be damned," Janet said from just behind him. Ryan still hadn't fully adjusted to the differences with the two avian members of their crew. On this side, Janet was so small, and Galena... might be an underwear model, or maybe an undercover agent with the special forces. He wasn't sure about which quite yet.

"We'll go through the backlog later," Blake said. "Most recent stuff should be a response to the call we made. Check it out."

Indeed, there was a whole flurry of messages from far earlier. Most of that was probably people wondering if they were dead, or maybe even trying to use their phones to reach the team. He ignored that for now, going straight to the most recent voicemails.

There was one from Jolie near the end, though it wasn't the only one. There was at least one message here from his family, sent after Jolie's message. News must've spread of their survival.

By the time he started playback, every one of the crew was crowded close to listen.

"Bloody hell, Blake," Jolie's voice said. “You're fucking right the world thought you were dead. What were we supposed to think, with you vanished down under Paris without a word? There was an investigation and everything—police went over the videos in the hotel, crawled over the city for you. But they never found a body.

"Whatever this is better be fucking worth it. You won't get everybody—dragging the whole team out into the middle of nowhere after you died isn't going to get a lot of enthusiasm. But send the word, and I'll be there. Might be a few other crazy bastards brave enough to make a trip out. But if you don't have an amazing explanation for everything we went through these last two months, I'll talk to the feds. Wherever the hell you ran to, get back as quick as you can. We deserve an explanation." 

The phone beeped, then went silent.

"Do we have a signal?" Blake asked, the first to break the silence. 

Ryan fiddled with the phone for a few seconds. "Weak, but yes. I'll burn through the data I put on that international sim way fast if we do anything besides calling."

"Open the map," Janet suggested. "We can't call for rescue if we don't know where we're calling from."

It was a good enough point that Ryan opened it without thinking, then waited with bated breath while a loading bar spun around and around. This time, without success. "GPS signal not found," it declared.

"Outside. We need a clear path to the sky for this to work." Blake gestured, and they made their way out. Ryan resisted the urge to dig into the months’ worth of messages and figure out what had happened in their absence. He could still make a pretty good guess, even without the influx of new data. They'd already inferred most of it from what was left of the voicemail.

He didn't exactly move quickly through the tunnel. It wasn't long, but still he caught himself going through a half-dozen different shapes he could imitate to make this walk easier. Really, anything with hooves would have an easy time here. It wasn't like they had to walk on obsidian or anything, it was just that humans were a little too weak to make the process comfortable.

He didn't actually try to change, though. The entire point of returning through the Worldgate was being human again. Losing his body with no way to return wouldn't serve that end.

Could I make myself human when in Equestria? He wasn't even sure where the thought came from. But given all the exotic things he'd copied so far, humans couldn't be that much harder, could they?

Janet and Galena were the first ones out, despite beginning at the back of the group. Somehow, Galena didn't seem nearly as bothered by being careful. She did seem a little resentful of her thoroughly damp clothes.

"Are you alright?" Ryan asked, as they neared the tunnel's exit. "Is being human stranger than you thought it would be?"

"Anything would be strange," Galena said flatly. "I was not born a changeling. Going from one form to another is not part of my nature. Yet..." She opened one hand, flexing her fingers, before clenching it into a fist. "I feel weaker while wearing this skin. But I am still myself."

Ryan followed her out into the open air, shivering at the cold. At least it didn't look like winter—there was no snow on the ground, and it didn’t feel that cold.

"I didn't recognize the name on our map of Worldgates," Ryan said, pulling out the phone again and trying the maps for the second time. He got the same frustratingly long loading screen, but only for a few moments. 

A map appeared before him. Mostly he was standing in a patch of green nothing, but there was a city nearby, and plenty of streets. Its name was completely unpronounceable to him, but he tried anyway. "Looks like we're in... Bydska," he said. "Anyone know that place?"

"Wasn't the name of the town on the map," Blake said. "But who cares? What country is this?"

He zoomed out, then answered that too. "Poland."

"Still in Europe," Janet said, grinning. "Not that I know how a dead person can get a passport when they're in another country. One problem at a time. You said we had someone to talk to, Blake?"

He nodded. "Do it, Ryan. Let's see if she still remembers us."

It took only a few seconds. A few swipes, and the phone started ringing again. It rang, and rang, and... then Jolie's voice. "Ryan, is that you?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Jolie, listen to me! I don't know how much power we have. We're in Bydska, Poland. Everything we talked about before, get it here as quick as possible. We're on a... small mountain cave to the east of the city. No roads go this way, but it looks like there might be hiking trails. We'll set up a flag or something. Got all that?"

There was silence on the other end. Ryan tensed, preparing for his screen to go black unexpectedly. Considering all the other stupid things that had gone wrong so far, they were overdue. What would stop them from escaping this time?

"All of its down. Hell of a flight out there. Do you plan on sharing how you ended up all the way in Poland from Paris? Did you find some hidden dwarves to take you there on a mining train? Dwarves none of the search-parties or police could find..."

Jordan chuckled, but no one else reacted. 

"We'll tell you everything when you get here," Blake said. "Given what happened to us, I'm not sure this number isn't monitored."

This time Jolie laughed, equally bitter. "Better fucking hope not, or I might not be the first one you see." She hesitated. "Will we be implicated by helping you?"

"No," Blake said. "Maybe a little petty trespassing. But the police already know about that."

"The laws of physics," Jordan said. "Conservation of mass seems pretty shot."

That only confused Jolie, judging by the sudden silence on the other end. "Three days enough for you to get here?" Blake asked. "Conditions here aren’t great. We might need to..."

"The settlement seems comfortable," Galena interrupted, with no regard for the call. She did keep one eye on the phone at all times, apparently aware that it was responsible for their ability to hold a conversation. She probably thought it was magic. "Could we wait for your friends there?"

"Who's that?" 

Blake didn't answer. "You could try the usual suspects in town before going for us. But it's small. Not even sure we'll find someone who speaks something we do. Don't exactly see a Marriot down there."

"One thing," Jolie said. "Before you hang up, I want a promise. Promise me I'm not the one you're fucking with here. If this is a joke, it isn't at my expense."

"We promise," Jordan said. "Jolie, whoever comes here is going to see things that will make you question everything you know about the world, even your own identity. With your help to document it, we'll change the world. We do more than any video of an empty school or an abandoned mansion ever could."

"Blake?" came the voice. "You agree with him? Not that I don't trust you, Jordan, but I don't trust you."

"Yes. Don't skimp. Fly out here expecting an extended visit. There won't be any way to leave early, so make sure everyone you bring with you is damn sure they want to see this."

"Three days isn't long enough. Give us a week, plus time for travel. Call it nine days just to be sure. I tell them they're seeing... what, precisely?"

"LOW BATTERY: POWERING OFF." The screen flashed the Samsung logo one final time, then went black.

That left the five of them all gathered around a black screen, with only their shivering and the breeze to keep them company.

"You think your friend will help?" Janet asked. She removed her heavy jacket, shaking out a little more moisture. It probably wouldn't do much for the water. "She didn't sound convinced."

Ryan tucked the phone away into a pocket. Damp as he was, it was still waterproof. 

"Jolie is good people," Blake said, without skipping a beat. "She runs the production, backend, merchandizing... she's never let me down. And she’s based in Paris, so she has the EU citizenship to come out here."

"Good." Janet took a tentative step down the rocky slope before them. It wasn't steep, exactly, though there was no trail anywhere nearby. There were no trees either, at least not until much further down.

That wouldn't be a short walk down to the bottom, particularly without shoes. "We've still got some euros between us, right?" Blake asked. "We should send a group down there, scout out the town. Buy some shoes and clothes for everybody—maybe a room if they've got an inn or a hostel or something." 

He turned towards Jordan. "You're the best with languages. Maybe someone down there speaks French."

Jordan chuckled. "English is more likely. We could go together."

"I'm going," Janet exclaimed, without a second's hesitation. "I know I don't have money of my own—but I'm out of time. I have to stay on this side, and that means finding a place. Please tell me I've earned that."

"And I am going also," Galena announced. "I could speak to many tribes in their tongue. I will do the same in this land."

Jordan made a dissatisfied sound that wasn't quite anything Ryan recognized. Was that what a bat squeak translated to on Earth? "I change my mind. Blake, stay here—you need a break. The birds and I will take care of this."

Maybe I should've stayed with you, Kaelynn. This is already painful, and we've only been here half an hour.

"Sounds good." He glanced back towards the opening. "We've got some spare shirts and stuff. We should be able to wrap something around your feet for the way down. Wait here."

"I need no 'wrap'," Galena said. "I am a proud griffon, strong enough of myself."

"You're not a griffon anymore. Just wait another few minutes. We'll get you down with plenty of daylight to go."