//------------------------------// // Chapter 0 // Story: Beginning Anew // by Goldfur //------------------------------// “I’m just stepping out for a breath of fresh air,” Caleb said as he pushed himself upright off the sofa with a grunt. It had been a good evening capping off a great day with his friends, but he might have had one beer too many. It did not stop him from bringing along the can he’d been drinking. He made his way unsteadily to the back door of the cabin he and his workmates had rented for their Las Vegas getaway. Opening the door, he was greeted by the evening air that had cooled to a pleasantly mild temperature after the heat of the day. There was no sign of the wild electrical storm that had forced him and his buddies inside earlier, leaving the sky clear. Although there was still some light pollution from nearby Sin City, the cabin was located far enough away from the town to allow some stars to shine brightly. A nearly full moon spoiled that view to the east but it gave some illumination to the desert that backed onto the property. Drunkenly confident in his ability to navigate under those conditions, the man stepped off the porch and wandered away from the cabin. Only then did he notice that he had no shoes on. He stopped, considered that for a moment, then shrugged. “Screw it. I’m not going far.” Caleb needed this holiday. The pressure to finish a project on time had been relentless and he was worn out. His workmates were too, so they had decided to take a trip together to Las Vegas to celebrate the project's successful completion and, more importantly, to unwind. He wandered over the rough ground in bare feet, his tough soles oblivious to the small stones. He dodged the occasional hardy bush and took a drink from his can of beer. Despite his drunkenness, the fresh air helped clear his head and he became aware of a weird thrumming in the air. He turned around to see the light streaming from the windows of the cabin clearly showing the way back. The strange sensation was not coming from there though. Curious, he swiveled his head to localize it. He took a few steps in that direction, still not seeing a source for the odd vibration. Then his foot failed to find the ground and he fell forward. Light and heat burst around him as he crashed to the dirt, his T-shirt and shorts catching and ripping on something along the way. Groaning, the man shaded his eyes from the glare, trying to see what had happened to him. Through his watery vision, he could make out a rough cliff face with rubble at its base which he had fallen upon. Caleb was confused – there wasn’t any cliff near the cabin, only flat desert. And why was it daytime? He was certain that he hadn’t passed out despite his inebriation. And even if he had, his buddies would have come looking for him, wouldn’t they? Then again, they were pretty smashed too. Caleb struggled to his feet, wincing at the aches and pains that he had accrued, swaying from dizziness. He squinted to block out the brilliant sunshine that was already heating him to an uncomfortable degree. He was still in a desert but one that looked a lot different from where he was supposed to be. Instead of stony ground with low scrub, this one was sandy with the occasional cactus plant. He took a few steps away from the cliff, grimacing as pain shot through his left ankle. It wasn’t overwhelming, so he figured he had avoided getting a bad sprain. Pain on his right hip made Caleb check there. Something had torn through his shorts and underwear and scraped his skin but, fortunately, the bleeding was trivial. He trudged up a nearby dune to get a better view but, when he got to the top, all he saw was more desert and cacti. Of civilization, there was nothing to be seen. “Where the fuck am I?!” he yelled. Had he imagined falling over in Nevada and ending up somewhere else? Had someone clobbered him and carted him off here? Nothing in his experience explained his present predicament. However, even in his drunken (but rapidly sobering) state, he knew he had to find shelter from the scorching sun. He wasn’t prone to sunburn, but even he wouldn’t last long wearing only a torn T-shirt to protect his upper body. Looking around, there wasn’t anywhere likely to find shade. The cliff was also angled wrong to provide a shadow. That left Caleb only one alternative – start walking and pray he would find something. Without an obvious choice of direction, he settled for heading the way he was facing. About an hour later, Caleb collapsed into the shadow of a stand of cacti – the first real shade he had found. He was sober by now but getting nauseous from incipient heatstroke. He had no intention of budging from this spot until the sun lowered. He was desperately thirsty though and he knew he would have to try to find water before he lost the light. In the meantime, he would keep as cool as he could. After a while, he fell into a restless sleep. Caleb woke up, his breath rasping in his throat, his mouth completely dry. He had survived the heat but he might not survive dehydration. He had to find water at all costs. He stood up, cursing his habit of walking around in bare feet. His soles were plenty tough enough for wandering around a yard for a few minutes but traveling so far across this terrain had been much harsher. Both feet were cut and abraded, and he dreaded adding to those problems, but he could not remain where he was. However, he finally had some good luck. The lowering sun had passed behind a tall mesa and spared him the direct rays that had burned him earlier. However, it also meant that night would not be too long away, and he had to find water before he lost the light. Figuring that he might be more likely to find the precious fluid near the cliffs than in the middle of the barren plain, Caleb set off in that direction. Forty minutes later, he spotted a patch of green, and he altered course for it. Another quarter-hour later, he stumbled upon a spring that was keeping a small pocket of vegetation verdant. It was little more than a large puddle, but it was clean. He threw himself down to the ground at the edge and greedily slurped up the cool refreshing liquid. With his belly full of water, Caleb pushed himself away and sprawled on his back, exhausted from his efforts. ‘What now?’ Caleb wondered. For the moment, he could think of something other than his greatest need. ‘I still have no idea where I am and haven’t seen a soul. This tiny oasis can’t feed me, and I have nothing to carry water. Face it – I’m in deep shit. I just wish I knew why.’ Just to add to his problems, the sunlight faded with terrifying rapidity. Moments later, he saw the full moon rise like it was shot out of a cannon, but then inexplicably slow down to a normal pace. ‘That’s it – the heat has fried my brain. Anyway, nighttime solves one problem. I’ve got to find my way out of this desert and it’s better to do that while it’s cooler. The full moon will give me enough light to see my way. I hope. I’ll just rest for a few minutes while the desert cools a bit.’ Despite his intentions, he did not leave for a long while due to falling into an exhausted sleep. Hours later, he woke up, shivering. ‘I forgot how cold deserts get at night. Better start walking to warm myself up again.’ His stomach growled, reminding him of how long it had been since he’d had a proper meal. There was no food here except for a few berries on one of the bushes that might be poisonous. With a sigh, he took a few more mouthfuls of water before setting out once more. Caleb hoped that he was making progress as he trudged through the moonlit desert. So far, he had mashed both sets of toes on rocks and fallen down a gully. Despite cursing his present circumstances, he knew it was still better than enduring the sun. Therefore, when the moon set with indecent haste to be replaced on the other horizon with an equally speedy sunrise, he dreaded what the next few hours would bring. At least, with the better illumination, he could look for shelter. That was the way he found the rocky overhang that offered welcome shade. He was not so addled to fail to check for snakes or other nasties before rolling under it. Then he fell into an exhausted sleep. Hunger and thirst woke him up once more. He was contemplating whether it would be worth braving the sun when he noticed what looked like a column of smoke on the horizon rising from between two faraway hills. “Hopefully, that’s a sign of civilization,” he croaked. With a specific goal, at last, he ventured out once more. Clouds were gathering though, bringing relief from the solar rays. Something about the way they accumulated seemed odd to him, but he was just grateful for the reprieve from the worst of the heat. Three hours later, however, he collapsed, well short of the desert township that had sent up the smoky beacon. “What is it?” “How should I know? It’s not like any creature I’ve seen before.” “Maybe it’s one of those new races the Triarchs have been contacting?” “Maybe, but what’s it doing here in the San Palomino Desert?” “Dying, I reckon.” “Should we help it? It might be some weird monster.” “What monsters wear clothes?” “Call those clothes?” “Well, I wouldn’t wear them to the Grand Galloping Gala, but they certainly are clothes, even if they’re torn and filthy.” The words slowly penetrated Caleb’s mind and he looked up through bleary eyes. Two… creatures… stood in front of him. One of them seemed to be fanning itself with… its wings? He couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing, but unless he was hallucinating everything, he had been found. “Help… please,” he managed to say before slipping into unconsciousness. The blue pegasus mare said to the yellow pegasus stallion, “Well, that settles that. We’ve got to get it to town to the doc.” “Do you have any idea how heavy that creature is?” “You should have thought of that before sightseeing instead of cloud-pushing. You grab its forelegs and I’ll take the hind.” The stallion grumbled but complied. Moments later, they were airborne and on their way to Horseshoe Gulch. Caleb’s first thought was, “This isn’t the desert.” He struggled to prop himself up on one arm to look around and a moist towel fell off his forehead. He was inside some sparsely furnished room with wooden walls. It was hot and stuffy but a vast improvement over the baking sand and rock. He was lying on a bed and his feet had been bandaged. There was some kind of small yellow horse watching him, and were those wings folded along its… no, his side? “Good, you’re awake,” the stallion said. Caleb gaped in shock. “You… you talked!” “Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction to you too. Listen, the local doc ain’t in town, so we just patched up the worst of your scrapes. Corporal Slipstream has sanitized you so we can take you to Canterlot where a doctor can attend to you properly.” “Canterlot? What about Las Vegas? That’s gotta be closer. And why am I talking to what has to be a product of my fevered mind?” “Las… Vegas? Do you mean Los Pegasus?” Then the stallion shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll take a portal back to the city, so we’ll be there in no time. Are you able to stand?” “I think so,” Caleb replied hoarsely. He had no idea what was going on with this impossible creature, but he had no better plan. He rose, wincing at the pain in his feet which he saw had been bandaged. He swayed dizzily before sitting down on the bed again. “I need a drink.” “Told you he was a biped,” said someone entering the room. It was another of those creatures – a blue one this time dressed in some kind of golden armor. And she was carrying a glass of water with a wing! “Here – you need this,” the newcomer said. “My name is Slipstream, by the way.” Caleb grabbed the glass and drank thirstily. He noted a slightly salty taste to it. “Better?” The human’s mind was clearing and he nodded. “Great! We’re under instruction to take you to EUP headquarters in Canterlot. That drink contained a painkiller, but the sooner we get you to HQ, the sooner we can get a proper doctor to look you over as opposed to our field medic. You’re lucky that Zipline here spotted you when he should have been paying attention to building our cloud camp.” “I’ve got no idea what a cloud camp is, but I’m grateful you found me before I died. A pity it was too late to save my brain from being fried. I swear it seems I’m talking to miniature horses with wings!” The man chuckled weakly. “Watch it with that word!” Zipline said with a scowl. “We’re ponies – pegasi to be specific, not whorses. Sounds like we need to get you more help than we first thought. Try standing again.” Caleb managed it this time. “I’m ready,” he croaked. Slipstream said, “Come with me, please.” The man gingerly followed, trying not to aggravate his abused feet. Once outside, he saw that they were in a stereotypical western-style township. He’d call it a one-horse town, but there was yet another of these ponies waiting for them, this one with a horn instead of wings. ‘Great! Now I’m seeing unicorns!’ The new pony was standing by a stake driven into the ground. At a nod from the corporal, she touched her horn to something mounted on the top. Caleb’s eyes widened as a hole opened in midair, through which he could see a room that looked nothing like the rustic edifices here. “Go on through the portal, “the orange stallion instructed him. The man shrugged. What was one more crazy thing? He stepped through the strange gateway and was instantly enveloped by deliciously cool air which helped clear his head. “This is amazing!” he said hoarsely. “Yeah,” agreed the blue mare who had followed him. “Modern magic tools save a lot of time and effort. Now, let’s get you to the doctor so he can patch you up properly before we get to the bottom of why you were in the desert with no protection.” They led Caleb out of the room and down some corridors, garnering curious or nervous looks from the staff and what appeared to be armored guards. Gold segmented plates covered their necks, backs, and sides. Gold helmets complete with Roman centurion-style brushes protected their heads. This time, some of them were not ponies, or at least not like those he had met so far. They had shiny insect-like carapaces and weird eyes. Then they came upon a tall, dark red pony with neither wings nor a horn in the company of a creature that looked like it was half eagle and half leopard. Both wore the now familiar gold armor, although it had been heavily customized for the catbird. The man couldn’t help but stare at the strange being and hardly noticed when the pony halted his pegasi minders. “Soldiers – where did you find this human?” the pony asked. That grabbed Caleb’s attention. This pony knew what he was! Slipstream answered. “This… hue-man… was discovered in the Los Palomino Desert. We found him just after he collapsed from heat and thirst. Our field medic treated him but now we’re taking him to be attended to properly by the company doctor.” The pony frowned. “That’s extremely strange. If he’s fit enough, Prince Mark will want to see him immediately.” The mare frowned. “On whose authority are you asking us to do that?” “I am Lieutenant Crimson Boulder, one of Prince Mark’s bodyguards and confidante. That is why I recognized this man’s species and why I know the Prince will want to see him straight away.” “Very well, sir. Where can we find His Highness?” “Follow me,” Crimson replied before turning to his griffon companion. “I’ll join you later.” The catbird nodded. “I’ll let the others know that you’ll be delayed, sir.” He spread his wings and jumped into the air. With a few noisy flaps of his wings, the soldier was gone. Crimson Boulder led Caleb and his two pegasus minders upstairs and down a hall to a doorway flanked by two armored guards who just nodded in acknowledgment of the pony’s right to be there. Crimson knocked on the door and it was quickly answered. Caleb saw that it was another mare but this one had bat-like wings. How many different types of ponies were there in this strange land? The two exchanged a few brief hushed words, the mare glancing at the man and nodding before stepping back and fully opening the door. The earth pony urged the EUP soldiers inside with their charge but remained out in the hall. Caleb caught sight of the multitude of different creatures, stopped, and gaped. The soldiers saluted two ponies in particular – both possessing wings and a horn. Slipstream said, “Your Highnesses – we found this creature stumbling around the edge of the San Palomino Desert not far from Los Pegasus. It appears to be dehydrated and disoriented. It keeps asking what happened to something called Las Vegas. Because we did not recognize the species, I applied the sanitizing crystal as per Princess Sparkle’s standard procedure. We then used a daggerscale portal to bring it here and we were going to have it treated and interrogated. However, Lieutenant Crimson Boulder saw us and told us that you would want to see it immediately.” The blue alicorn silently scrutinized the man while the green one frowned and beckoned Crimson to come in before saying to the soldier, “Find Doctor Bellows and have him come here to evaluate this human. Then I want extra patrols sent out to check the desert in case there are more of them. If so, approach them cautiously but do not treat them as hostile unless they are clearly a danger. Have them brought here too. Oh, and provide them with water and food.” “Yes, sir!” The soldiers saluted again and departed. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on!” Caleb croaked, his mouth dry once more. The green alicorn got up and gently steered the man to a lounge chair. The man towered over the pony and probably most of the others in the room, so it was not surprising that the furniture was lower than normal for humans. “Sit down and make yourself comfortable while we sort this out.” Caleb gratefully sank onto the chair despite its low height. A yellow earth pony stallion with a simple crown said, “He looks like he could use a drink.” The pony sat next to the largest creature in the room. For that matter, the largest equine Caleb had yet seen. The white alicorn mare had a multi-color pastel mane and tail that seemed to move on its own. “Agreed,” the green stallion said. His horn glowed and a glass and a jug of some kind of beverage floated over to the man. “What the fuck?!” Caleb said, staring at the objects suspended in the same glow as the horn. “It’s magical levitation,” the alicorn said. “Don’t question it for now. Take these and pour yourself a glass.” Caleb gingerly grasped them and did so, then draining the lemon drink like someone dying of thirst. The stallion stopped him from pouring another glass. “Too much too quickly isn’t good for you,” he told the man. “Let your body absorb that first. Meanwhile, tell us your name.” “My name is Caleb Awad. Who and what are you?” “I am Prince Mark Wells and I am an alicorn, as is my wife, Princess Beatrix Lulamoon.” He then indicated a couple on the sofa. “These are Princess Celestia and Prince Bean, guests from another world. Yes, you heard me right. They aren’t from this dimension, just as you aren’t either. This world is called Equus and you are now in the Equestrian Empire.” “But… you’re all horses!” Princess Trixie clucked her tongue disapprovingly. “Ponies,” the Prince corrected. “Magical colorful talking ponies. Some are pegasi like the Royal Guards that brought you in. Some are unicorns. Some are batponies or earth ponies like my bodyguards.” Mark gestured in their direction. “But all of them are sapient citizens of this country and just one of the many races that fill this world. I know that this is all hard to take in quickly, but you have to accept the situation that you’re in while we figure out how you got here.” “Easy for you to say. You don’t have what looks like animals telling me to be calm. It’s all a bit too surreal.” “Believe me – I do understand. I was once a human too.” Caleb’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re shitting me?!” “Nope. You’re looking at a North Carolina native, believe it or not.” “What happened to you?” “An accident with a portal.” “And that made you a prince?” Caleb asked doubtfully. Mark laughed. “Hell, no! However, that’s a very long story. What we need to know is how you ended up here in Equestria and why you were not transformed like I was. Then we will have to see if we can get you back home. The soldier mentioned something about Las Vegas – is that where you’re from?” “No, I was just visiting. A bunch of my work buddies and I went there for a weekend. We all got a bit drunk and I stepped outside for some fresh air. Not sure how, but next thing I know, I’m waking up in the desert with civilization nowhere in sight. I wandered around for a day and cooked in the heat, then froze that night. Those winged ponies found me the next day. I thought I was hallucinating. Still not sure I’m not.” “You stumbled into a portal in the middle of Sin City?” the alicorn asked dubiously. “Nah. We had rented a cabin on the outskirts of town to save money for other stuff. The desert was on our doorstep. I walked into it for a minute or so to get away from the stuffy guesthouse. The lights of the city still drowned out the night sky though. And then… they didn’t.” “You poor creature,” Prince Bean said, getting up from the sofa. He grabbed a tray of chocolate treats and brought them over. “You must be starving. Help yourself to some of these. We’ll get you a proper meal later.” “How in blazes are you holding that?” Caleb asked even as he reached for the food. He hungrily ate one and his eyes widened. “Oh, wow! These are amazing!” That earned a smile from Prince Bean. Caleb continued. “Did you earn your crown in a cooking competition?” Trixie and Celestia laughed so hard they had to hold onto each other to keep from falling over. For his part, Prince Bean sighed. “If only it had been that easy.” “He’s holding the tray with magic,” Mark told Caleb. “It’s pretty much everywhere. Anyway, it sounds like you ran into a random natural portal between our worlds.” “Does that happen a lot?” he asked between bites. “Not really, and not necessarily to Earth.” “What about the way you got here?” Caleb asked. “Magic mirror that was created with a spell,” Mark informed him. “Can I get back that way?” “Maybe. We’ll definitely try that but there’s one problem and it’s a doozy.” Caleb frowned. “And what’s that?” “The world I came from might not be the Earth that you know.” Mark waved his hoof towards Celestia and Bean. “Our guests here are also from Equus, but an entirely different one. I have personally been to several other Equuses and they all differ from this one – some by a little and others by a lot. We might get to my Earth and find that there’s already a Caleb Awad there, or that Caleb never existed. The multiverse is enormous.” The human slumped in his chair. “Sounds like I’m screwed unless I can get to that portal again.” Celestia spoke up. “I’m afraid that we have more bad news. Natural portals tend to be temporary, according to our dimension’s research on the subject. That’s why we affix ours to a permanent object such as a mirror. The portal that brought you here may or may not still exist.” Caleb bolted up out of his chair. “Crap! I gotta go find that portal!” “Calm down,” Mark said. “While what Celestia said is true, natural portals tend to last as long as there’s mana to power them. Out in the desert, there’s little else using mana so it should stay around for a while. On the other hoof, I admit I don’t know when it opened, but if the other end was in such close proximity to the place you were staying and hadn’t been encountered before, I’d guess that it was fairly new. Was there some sort of major storm that had recently passed through the area?” “Yeah. There was a helluva lightning storm while we were in town. It had cleared away by the time we got home that night though.” “That sounds plausible as the cause.” There was a knock at the door and Crimson admitted a unicorn clad in a classic white lab coat, presumably the doctor who had been summoned. “First, we get you checked out. Then we get you cleaned up and given a proper meal while we search for the portal.” Mark turned to the physician. “Doc, we have a visitor that has suffered from exposure in a desert, and lack of food and water. His species is called a human and you’ll find that he’s very similar in many ways to anthro ponies, physiologically speaking, so he should be safe to treat. However, he doesn’t possess any form of magic ability.” Bellows nodded, unfazed. He addressed his unusual patient. “Please remove your clothing so I may examine you properly.” Caleb’s eyes shot wide open. “What?!” Mark chuckled. “No nudity taboo here, Caleb. Just take off your shirt if you don’t have anything wrong elsewhere.” The doctor glared at him but proceeded with the examination when the man removed his T-shirt. After a thorough check-up, he pronounced that Caleb was dehydrated and sunburnt but otherwise in good physical condition under the circumstances. Bellows patched up his scrapes, gave him some salt tablets, and cast a spell to accelerate the healing of his feet and hip. The man was also allowed another glass of lemon drink. The doctor promised to send a salve for his skin before departing. While the doctor was busy, Mark arranged to assign more squads to search the location of the portal. Given that Caleb had been wandering for so long, the area to be checked was quite extensive and there was a chance that the portal might be gone anyway. Nevertheless, it had to be tried for the man’s sake. Trixie sent a servant to bring a decent meal for their guest and a maid turned up with a hearty vegetable stew. Not unexpectedly, a full stomach quickly made the exhausted man drowsy. Two Guards were summoned to take the human to a guest room to get some sleep. Mark instructed the stallions to keep watch at the suite’s door and let them know when Caleb woke up or if anything else needed their attention. The human barely made it under the sheets before plunging into a deep and dreamless sleep. Caleb did not wake up until the following morning. He discovered that the fancy suite had an attached bathroom which he gratefully used. When he walked out of it with a towel wrapped around his waist, he was surprised to see a unicorn mare in a maid outfit placing a folded garment on the bed. Upon noticing him, she bowed her head briefly. “Good morning, sir. My name is Silky Sheets. I have been assigned to assist you to get ready to have breakfast with their Highnesses this morning. Your garments have been taken to be cleaned but, as I was informed that you insist on being clothed, I have brought you a minotaur robe to wear instead.” Considering the decrepit condition that his clothes had been in, he wasn’t surprised that the maid had taken them to be cleaned. He was just grateful that some form of clothing had been provided in its stead. “Thank you,” he told the mare. “Does sir require anything else?” “I don’t think so. I only need directions to wherever breakfast is being served.” “There are guards posted outside your door. Ask one of them to accompany you there when you’re ready.” “Okay, thanks.” The maid smiled, bowed once more, then left the room. Caleb heaved a sigh of relief. For a moment there, he wondered if she was going to try to help him dress. He had no idea what was expected of him in a palace. He dropped the towel and tried on the robe. Despite his height, it was a little large for him which made him wonder how big minotaurs were. Still, it didn’t look too bad on him. Pity there wasn’t any underwear to go with it, but he could deal with that for the moment. He was as ready as he would ever be, so he headed out of the suite. The Royal Guards outside were politely respectful and one led the way to the dining room where Caleb found Prince Mark already eating his breakfast. The alicorn stallion smiled upon seeing the man arrive. “Good morning, Caleb. Pull up a chair and help yourself. I trust that you’re feeling better today?” “Much better, thanks,” the man replied as he took the indicated seat which he noticed was suited to someone his size. “That stuff the doctor used worked miracles. Even my feet are completely healed. Good thing because I don’t have shoes. Heck! I don’t even have my own clothes at the moment.” “While that robe looks good on you, we’ll get you some more clothes if necessary,” Mark promised. Caleb raised an eyebrow. “Ponies make clothes? For humans?” “Yes to the first, and the second as well if you ask the right pony.” “Any word on finding the portal?” “No luck yet, I’m afraid,” the alicorn replied as he poured syrup on his waffles. “So I might be stuck here if your mirror isn’t the way home?” Caleb sighed. “I suppose I should be grateful that I’m still alive and not a pastel pony. What was it like turning into a green four-legger with wings and horn?” “For starters, I didn’t have the horn then. I was only a pegasus when I arrived and I had no idea how to use these wings. I barely managed to walk. I crashed a lot but I learned. Now, I wouldn’t give up being able to fly for anything. There are worse fates than becoming a pony.” “So, how did you get the horn?” “Got a few weeks for me to tell you the whole story?” “I might,” Caleb replied glumly. “For now, though, give me the highlights.” So he did. The man scoffed about the effect of poison joke so Mark demonstrated. Caleb’s eyes bulged out, scarcely believing what he was seeing. After that demonstration though, the rest of the alicorn’s tale, no matter how outlandish, had a lot more credibility. After breakfast, Mark asked Caleb to follow him, and the prince took the man down to the room that had the portal mirror to Mark’s friend’s home. That Earth was the obvious first possibility to eliminate. Despite the implication that the alicorn would take human form there, Caleb was still surprised to see both Mark and Penumbra standing on two legs and fully clothed while he just had the robe. Mark was a small dark-skinned man while his wife was a towering amazon. Nobody seeing them would ever believe that both were normally ponies. Mark opened a drawer in a cupboard in that room and pulled out a cell phone. He turned it on and waited for it to start up. When the home screen appeared, he turned to Caleb. “Okay – simple first test. What’s your number?” Caleb told him and he dialed it, putting the phone on speaker so both could hear. The phone rang for five seconds before it was answered. “Caleb Awad speaking,” came a very familiar voice. Caleb’s face fell as Mark replied to the man at the other end. “Oops! My apologies. Wrong number!” He ended the call and looked at the distraught man. “Sorry, my friend. Wrong universe.” Caleb winced. “Can’t say you didn’t warn me. What now?” “While this world is possibly very alike to yours, I don’t recommend that you stay here. I won’t force your choice but you’re alien to this world and you can’t replace the other Caleb. With modern identification systems, you’d be a non-person at best. We’ll have to move on to plan B.” He turned off the phone and put it away. “Let’s go back now.” Caleb nodded and turned toward the portal mirror, but Mark stopped him. “Give me a moment to disable the adaptation spell. If you step through now, you’ll be transformed into a pony or other sapient species.” “Wait. If I ended up like you, would I still become a human again if I came back here?” Caleb asked. “Yes – the adaptation spell is designed to give you the physical form best suited to you in the destination world. Naturally, that means that you’d revert to your normal human self on this side of the portal.” Caleb’s curiosity was fully aroused by now. “In that case, can I at least see what I could have become?” Mark shrugged. “Can’t hurt if that’s what you truly want. If it freaks you out, normality is just a couple of steps away.” “YOLO,” Caleb replied and stepped through before he chickened out. He found himself on four legs and the robe was so big that it was getting underfoot… or hoof, more accurately now. He was getting tangled until he felt it lift off him, lit up in the glow of the alicorn’s magic. Now free of the encumbrance, he turned to the mirror to use its reflective properties to study himself. What he saw was a well-muscled stallion with a golden-brown coat and a maroon mane and tail. He nodded approvingly and Mark reckoned that he made a handsome specimen. “Feel like staying that way?” Mark asked. Caleb chuckled and shook his head. “Nope. I was kind of hoping I’d get wings so I could try flying. No such luck. I gotta admit though that I don’t look half bad. Still, I don’t plan on staying, so I’d rather be human again.” “Better take this with you then,” the alicorn said as he levitated the robe onto the new stallion’s back. “The adaptation spell is placed on the departure gate, so let Captain Penumbra know what you want to do.” “Thanks.” Caleb stepped through the mirror. “Back so soon, handsome?” Penumbra asked with a grin, looking the man up and down. The man blushed and hastily wrapped the robe around himself again. “Being a pony is not for me. Could you turn off the adaptation spell, please?” The batpony nodded and pressed a jeweled stud on the frame. “You’re good to go now.” “Okay.” Caleb then stepped back into Equestria. “Man, that felt weird. I don’t think I could ever get used to that.” He flexed his fingers, happy to have their mobility back. “What’s our next move?” “We consult with this world’s expert on portals. Twilight Sparkle should be awake by now. She’s not a morning pony,” Mark explained. Caleb continued to be awed by the ridiculous ease of traveling long distances in this world. Going from one city to another was as simple as walking through a portal – a hole in space. He stepped out into a crystalline structure which Mark explained was Friendship Castle in Ponyville. He led the way to the dining room where they found a purple alicorn at the breakfast table. Her eyes were still half-closed as she drank her coffee – black, of course. She barely raised an eyebrow at the sight of the human. “Morning, Sparkles,” Mark said cheerfully. “I’ve got a problem.” Twilight brightened. “A Friendship Problem?” “If you’d prefer to look at it that way, yes. This is Caleb Awad and it appears he has fallen through a wild portal into our world. He wants to rejoin his friends on his Earth.” “Not the same Earth as yours, I take it?” “Nope. Already checked that out.” “And you haven’t found the wild portal yet?” “We’ve got squads searching for it but no luck so far.” “How long has he been here?” “A couple of days but we only knew about him since yesterday afternoon. He was in fairly bad shape and we had the doctor patch him up and let him rest. I figured we could tell you this morning and here we are.” Just then, a dragon arrived with a plate of waffles dripping with syrup. The young adult placed it in front of Twilight before noticing Caleb. “Hey! I haven’t seen a human in a while. Where are you from?” he asked with a smile. Caleb looked gobsmacked as he stared at Spike who was nearly as tall as him. “Are… are you a dragon?” “Sure am. Spike’s the name. I’m Twilight’s Number One assistant and Ponyville’s Librarian.” Caleb’s eyebrows rose. “Seriously? I didn’t think that’s what a dragon would do.” Spike put his hands on his hips and fixed the man with a frown. “What do you think I should be doing? Menacing ponies and hoarding gold?” The man was flustered and tried to respond to the accusation. “Umm… well… you see…” The dragon grinned and laughed. “Just messing with you. My family and friends are my treasure, so this is where I belong.” In the short time that the conversation had taken place, Twilight had wolfed down her breakfast. Wiping her lips with a napkin, she said, “It shouldn’t be a problem setting up a portal tuned to his home universe. All I need is some inanimate object from there to get a fix on the thaumatic and quantum frequencies. Seeing as Caleb has only been here a couple of days, that’s well within the usable parameters before it becomes hopelessly contaminated. What can you give me?” It had slipped Mark’s mind that Twilight could do that. It had been many years since it had been necessary. “He arrived with only the clothes he had been wearing.” “Those will do. It’s obviously not that minotaur robe he’s wearing though. Where are his clothes?” “A maid took them away to be cleaned. Will that be a problem?” The purple alicorn looked thoughtful. “Hmm… no, although it does reduce the window of opportunity. We’d better get on it straight away. Let’s go to Canterlot now.” She got up from her chair and started heading for the door before pausing and looking back to her brother. “Thanks, Spike. That was a great breakfast.” “You’re welcome, Twilight.” Caleb shook his head. “I still can’t get over a dragon serving waffles to a pony.” Mark chuckled. “My friend, you’ve seen nothing yet.” “You WHAT?!” Caleb screamed. Silky Sheets took a nervous step backward. “Burned them, sir,” she repeated. “Why would you do that?!” the man wailed. “They needed to be sanitized but, since they were judged to be irreparable, it was simpler just to burn them.” Mark facehoofed. It was completely logical and the worst thing she could have done. “Thank you, Silky. You’re dismissed.” The maid shot him a grateful look and hastily departed. Caleb turned to Mark and asked, “Why would anyone burn someone’s clothing? Especially since I don’t have anything else to wear besides this silly robe!” “Calm down. You have to realize that clothes are unusual here. Aside from uniforms, protective wear, and fancy outfits made for special occasions, most ponies simply don’t wear clothes. The same goes for griffons, hippogriffs, kirin, and other species. There’s no nudity taboo here, remember? It’s usually simpler to buy new items to replace seriously damaged ones. Silky didn’t know that you would need them for non-wearing purposes.” The man sank onto a chair. “Can’t you just tune the portal to me instead?” Twilight shook her head. “No, a living creature won’t do as it’s easily molded by the new dimension and your body has already been too contaminated by Equestrian oxygen and food.” “Is there any chance that you had something else with you when you passed through the portal and then left it behind? A cell phone? A flashlight?” Mark asked, grasping at straws. Caleb shook his head. “I… don’t think so. I just went outside to get some fresh air. I was pretty drunk at the time still.” “Then it’s even more imperative that we find that wild portal because we’ve run out of alternatives,” the alicorn prince said. “We’ll go personally and have a look around the region where you arrived. There are already several squads combing the vicinity but, if you recognize any landmarks, it could help us narrow down the search area.” “Haven’t you got the morning session of Day Court today?” Twilight asked. Mark grimaced. “Can you handle it? I’ll take the afternoon session instead.” The alicorn mare nodded. “I have a few audiences scheduled but I’ll see if they can come in early. Caleb’s needs are more urgent.” “Thanks, Sparkles. Come on, Caleb – we’ve got a portal to find.” “Lieutenant Aerial Ace is in charge of the search,” Mark explained as they reached the daggerscale portal room. “He and about two-thirds of the EUP squads assigned to the search are pegasi. Their keen eyes and ability to cover large areas quickly make them the ideal ponies for the job, although there are a few griffons too. The ground crews are a mix of earth ponies and unicorns. The latter are using their talents to try to detect the magic of the wild portal. However, considering how much mana those holes in the universe leaked, it doesn’t bode well for the search if it hasn’t been found yet. Nevertheless, the ground squads will continue checking out the ravines and other places that are awkward for the pegasi to check from the air.” The alicorn activated the daggerscale portal and he, Caleb, and Penumbra stepped through to immediately encounter a golden-brown pegasus stallion in army uniform. “Any luck, Lieutenant?” Mark asked. Aerial Ace saluted. “No, Your Highness. No tracks were found because of a sandstorm last night. The area that the human could have traversed has already been swept at altitude without any sign. I have ordered the squads to tighten their sweeps but this will take at least four times as long as the initial search. We are about a third through it so far.” The prince grimaced. “We may be running out of time. I’ve brought Caleb here to join the search in the hope that he might recognize any landmarks.” The pegasus nodded. “That could be useful. Seeing as an aerial perspective would probably be of no help in his case, I will assign a ground team to him. Please follow me.” The visitors fell in behind Aerial Ace and he took them to a nearby tent where they found about twenty ponies taking a break. While it was still fairly early in the day, this was a desert and it heated up fast. The searchers had to cool down and re-hydrate frequently. Several of them looked nervously at Caleb. As a prey species, it was an unfortunate trait of ponies that the unfamiliar was often regarded with fear, and that was true of these soldiers as much as civilians. Familiarity would cure that but they didn’t have time for socializing. Lieutenant Aerial Ace narrowed his eyes as he scanned the soldiers. “I need a three-pony squad – one earth, one unicorn, and one pegasus to accompany the human, Caleb. He will be attempting to retrace his steps. Any volunteers?” The alicorn prince nodded in approval. The lieutenant knew better than to force a human onto a nervous soldier. A silvery-grey-coated earth pony mare with a blue mane with purple streaks promptly stepped forward. “I’ll do it, sir.” “Very good, Sergeant Willow Branch. You can lead the squad.” A yellow unicorn stallion named Exact Point was next but no pegasus volunteered. After it became apparent that none of the winged ponies wanted the job, Aerial Ace ‘volunteered’ one. “Private Hawkeye – you’re up.” “Yes, sir,” the mare replied after a pause. “Take a cart with supplies,” Ace ordered the sergeant. “You have full autonomy and may continue the search as long as needed, subject only to my recall. You have my authority to call upon pegasus scouts to check potential sites.” Willow saluted. “Understood, Lieutenant.” She turned to Caleb. “Please follow me, sir.” Mark spoke up. “I will be accompanying you for a few hours. I wish to learn more about our visitor while I have the opportunity.” “Of course, Your Highness,” the mare replied. “Please let me know if you think you can be of assistance.” The prince nodded, aware that he had just been very tactfully told to stay out of their way while they got on with business. Willow Branch was very efficient, and she had the cart organized and ready to depart within minutes. Meanwhile, Caleb had been scanning the surroundings, trying to find any familiar landmarks. The base camp had been set up at the spot where the human had been found, so hopefully, something would strike a chord. “Any luck?” Mark asked when the man came over to rejoin the others. “I think so. I seem to recall those twin sandstone peaks,” Caleb said as he pointed out the feature. “I think I was using them as a goal, but I was pretty much a wreck by that point. And is there a town in that direction? I was following some smoke.” “Yes, sir. There is a small hamlet that way. We’ll start in the opposite direction,” Willow said. “Get aboard the cart, please.” She proceeded to strap herself into the drawbars. “Is she going to pull this entire load by herself?” Caleb asked skeptically. Mark chuckled and urged the man onto the cart to sit by his side. “You’re grossly underestimating her. Earth ponies are very strong.” Considering how diminutive the mare looked in comparison to the cart and its contents, Caleb still felt doubtful but climbed inside anyway. Those doubts were quickly allayed when the mare started pulling the load without visible effort. Hawkeye elected to fly alongside as Willow trotted out of the camp. Penumbra flew on the other side, her aviator sunglasses firmly in place against the desert glare. Now that they were on their way, Mark took the opportunity to learn more about the man. “So, what do you do for a living?” “I’m a boilermaker by trade.” Mark’s eyebrow rose. “Oh? You’re good at welding then?” “Not to brag, but I can weld any material you care to name with the right equipment. Not that I can see that being much use here with everything I see being done either manually or with magic. Still can’t quite wrap my head around the latter.” “What makes you think we can’t use your equipment?” Caleb gave the stallion a keen look. “So, you do use electricity here?” “Yes,” Mark replied, “although we are still rolling out the infrastructure. Our two biggest hurdles are environmentally clean methods of power generation and enough expertise in the field to build networks that are efficient and safe. Is a robust power source important to you?” he asked asked with a sparkle in his eye. “MIG and TIG welding kind of need it.” Mark chuckled. “Yeah, I know. Actually, you’d come in handy to teach some of our tradesponies modern techniques.” “Not that I plan on hanging around, but where would you get the welding machines?” “From Phil’s Earth that you visited briefly. We’re doing some contract work for his company with our revolutionary ‘special technology’.” “Magic, you mean,” Caleb said with a smirk. “Of course, but that’s a closely guarded secret. Anyway, the money we earn from those contracts allows us to buy equipment that we can’t produce here yet.” “Sounds good. What about the expertise problem?” “We’re exploring the possibility of recruiting some humans, but our first choice is finding the technology in an alternate Equestria. That’s one of the reasons why we’ve been using our portal generator to explore the parallel worlds. So far, though, we haven’t found any Equestria that has a better knowledge of electricity and electronics although some worlds have some superior magitek , which is a combination of magic and technology. It’s our expertise with portals that has enabled us to bring advances to our world that might have taken decades or centuries to otherwise come about. And it’s also your one real hope of getting home.” Caleb’s face fell. “Tell me straight – do you think we’re going to find the portal?” The alicorn took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. “My friend, if it’s there, we’ll find it. But considering that it has eluded us thus far is not a good sign.” “Yeah, I thought so,” the man said despondently. Conversation lapsed for a short while before Mark started it up again with what he hoped were safer subjects. “So, how old are you? You look like you’re in your thirties.” “Good guess – I’m thirty-four.” “And judging by how you went to Las Vegas with just your buddies, you’re single.” “Right again.” “Fair game for the mares, then,” Mark declared with a grin. Caleb blinked. “Say what?” Willow Branch brought them to a halt. Despite pulling the cart around for over two hours, the only sign of strain on the pony was some sweat staining her coat. Caleb had become a believer in her durability long before then. “We’ve reached the gully that Hawkeye spotted,” she declared as she unstrapped herself. “It doesn’t ring a bell with me,” Caleb said. “Nevertheless, we’ll check it out and eliminate that possibility,” Mark said. “Let me levitate you down.” Just as he had done at various other places, the alicorn used his magic to move the human to a position where he could walk safely. Exact Point was able to levitate himself to the bottom of the depression before using a spell to scan for a portal signature. Willow declined help because she didn’t need it. She was quite adept at reshaping rock to give her secure footing – a process that Caleb found endlessly fascinating. It certainly helped keep his mind off his predicament! The site was yet another bust. When they returned to the top, Penny pointed out that it was time for the prince to head back. “Caleb, I have to attend Day Court. You’re welcome to continue the search. If you don’t find the portal, I’d like you to join my family for dinner.” The man scratched his head uncertainly. “Maybe I should stay out here and camp overnight if we don’t find anything this afternoon. That way, we can get off to an early start.” Willow Branch spoke up. “That’s not necessary, sir. We have daggerscales to take us back to base and we would leave one where we finished so that we could resume the search first thing in the morning.” “That’s right,” Mark said. “So, unless you find the portal, I’ll see you again tonight. For your sake, though, I hope to miss the opportunity to chat more.” He spread his wings to take off but paused. “If you do get to Las Vegas, try chucking something back through the portal that we can tune into with one of ours.” “I’ll do that,” the man promised. The alicorn and his bodyguard flew off. Willow said, “We’ll take a ten-minute break in the shade. Have a drink and a snack – we’ve still got a lot of the desert to search and we’re running out of time.” # # # # # # # # #