Eric looked up into the doorway, where Gus now stood. His roommate stumbled, then dropped two huge armfuls of groceries onto the ground. Produce went everywhere. But he didn't seem to care. After a few seconds he stopped screaming, raising both arms to protect himself. "What kind of wild animals are—"
"Gus," Eric said. He remained still, afraid that too much motion might startle his old friend into running away. If his roommate ran, the police or animal control would soon follow. He couldn't let that happen. "Please don't run."
Gus wobbled, then dropped to one knee atop his overturned groceries. He mouthed words, but his shock was too great to make anything approaching a real answer.
"This is a 'human' isn't it?" Iron Feather asked. He was still behind Eric, back in the kitchen. What a great response, his terrified friend would really feel better now.
"This is my roommate, Gus," he answered, crossing slowly towards the door. "I know how this looks. But we're not animals. I'm Eric."
Gus stumbled back to his feet, then forward through the open door, knocking groceries everywhere. "You're talking. The horse is talking. This isn't possible!"
Iron Feather looked like he might say something else unhelpful. Eric turned, glowering back in his direction. He fell silent instead.
"I didn't think it was possible either," he said. "But Gus, you have to listen to me. I'm still me. We're... gonna try and fix this."
Gus watched him, eyes lingering on that sharp horn over Eric's forehead. "If that's true... if you are who you say you are, then you'll stay right there. No sudden movements, got it?"
Eric nodded. "Sure, Gus. I'll sit right here. Iron Feather, don't get any closer either. Give him a second to process."
Gus turned back around. For one terrible instant, Eric imagined his friend fleeing into the late afternoon, only to arrive with the whole National Guard. Or maybe some shady alphabet agency would show up, thinking they were aliens. It might not be far from the truth.
Instead of running, Gus gathered up his groceries in slow, methodical fashion. He walked inside, then shut the door behind him. Finally, he continued past Iron Feather into the kitchen, and set everything down on the counter. Only then did he finally turn, looking back at Eric. "Not sure why I expected that to work. Still have weird animals looking at me. I was only gone for a weekend, what the hell happened in here?"
Eric followed him, keeping himself between Iron Feather and Gus, just in case. Not that he expected the guard to attack, given his good behavior so far. But if he was close, he might be able to stop Iron from saying anything too dumb.
"I'm still figuring it out. But I can tell you what I know."
He did. It took over an hour, explaining everything in as much detail as he remembered. Of course he didn't expect Gus to see something in this that he hadn't. But he was desperate enough to try anything. A new pair of eyes on the problem might be the one to notice what he'd missed.
It was a good thing Eric didn't live with a stranger. Gus had known him since grade school. That meant Eric had plenty of ways to prove his identity. His friend insisted on several throughout the exchange, demanding that Eric explain 'what was his first hunting trophy' and 'who went with them the time they capsized his sailboat.' Eric answered each question correctly, so that by the end his friend stopped pressing and let the two of them explain.
Iron Feather took a turn too, identifying who he was and his important mission to return his huge book to Equestria.
Gus listened to the whole thing from the old leather recliner, arms folded in front of him. He remained surprisingly stoic through it all, now that his initial shock was past. He took the book, which looked far smaller in his grip. Humans were just so much bigger. It wasn't fair! "I'm... still trying to wrap my head around all this," he began. "I love me some portal fantasy. If I was going to get swept up in some otherworldly adventure, I would've preferred science fiction. Are you sure you don't come from space?"
"I don't come from space," Iron Feather said, voice flat. "Lotus, are you sure we needed to tell him everything? I don't see what this accomplishes. He doesn't have a horn, he can't help with the spell."
"Lotus," Gus repeated, eyeing him. "And he's calling you that because—"
Panic flashed across his mind. He'd been exceptionally light on the details about that particular aspect of the transformation. He was sitting naked, so Gus could probably see all of it for himself, anyway. "That's my temporary name, so long as I look like this," he said. "It just seemed easier than explaining every time."
"Alright Lotus, my roommate, who is a girl and a... Kirin. You want me to use “she” for you too?"
Lotus's ears flattened. If it wasn't for all the fur, they would all see how difficult this was for him. Iron Feather was barely even listening—the pegasus looked bored, waiting for Gus to work out things they had already talked through together.
"It would be easier, I guess."
"Alright, well." He flipped the book open, scanning through its pages. "I see the entire conundrum is connected. The alien's arrival, your transfiguration, and any hope of reversing either. We have only a single lead, which I hold in my hands. An honest-to-god spellbook. I'm certain it must be real, given the two of you sitting here. Our solution must be inside."
"Yes," Iron said, exasperated. "That's what I've been telling her. She is a Kirin—the book was written for creatures like her. I don't expect any help from Equestria, not unless there are spells for sending messages in there. We already sent my single emergency scroll."
"Equestria," Gus repeated. "There's so much to this. I should be writing these things down, see what I can search online."
"You decided to... you're gonna help?" she asked. She was shocked, overwhelmed, and getting delirious with exhaustion now. "Not going to... call animal control, or—"
He snapped the book closed. "Of course not, uh—Lotus. Of course not. We're friends—and better or worse, I live here too." He passed the book back towards her. "You can't honestly expect me to turn down a chance to be part of it. What else would I be doing, reading and watching Robinhood all day? Frankly you'd have to fight to keep me out at this point. But I'm going to document everything."
He whipped out his phone, then snapped a quick photo of Lotus. He turned it towards Iron Feather, and the phone clicked again. No flash, thankfully. That might've startled the pony.
"So long as you don't show anything off," Lotus demanded. "I don't want to see imageboard posts with my face. I don't want WikiLeaks to run a story. This is totally secret until I'm on two legs again and our new friend is back home."
Gus nodded, then put his phone over his heart. "I solemnly swear. Nothing goes up online. But I'm still preserving the evidence until then. It's my duty. You may not have realized, but this changed everything. Our whole conception of reality must be fundamentally flawed. Other inhabited worlds exist, either in this universe or another. Travel between them is possible, and we use similar enough fundamental laws that we can interact."
Gus was a good friend, but even Lotus had trouble dealing with so much highly concentrated nerd in one sitting. She wobbled, then retreated from the table. "I think I'm going to... take a shower, then try to find some clothes that fit. Could you grab my phone and wallet out of my truck for me, Gus? And Iron—don't leave the house."
"I realize that." The pegasus flared his good wing, defensive. "I know I'm not going to find my way back to Equestria on my own hooves. If I could fly, I would be tempted to scout around... but I might not be able to fly again for some time."
"Oh, that's no problem. I'll grab my laptop, you can poke around with Google Maps. You can look all over our planet with it," Gus said.
Lotus—Eric—didn't stay to listen. She left the two of them to talk in the living room, and made her slow way into the bathroom. She had nothing to take off, so just stepped over the ledge into the water, and let it blast up against her.
The shower wasn't meant for someone on four legs. Even at her reduced size, she had to shuffle awkwardly around, rather than turning easily. Maybe she'd feel better with a bath? Soon enough the tub was filling, drain plugged by the damp clothing she'd left there.
It was much longer than Eric would've spent in the bath before. But as the water filled, the heat brought some relaxation to aching muscles. The shouts of panic in her mind quieted into dull murmurs, then went entirely silent.
She dumped a little soap into the awful mess, and that seemed to help.
I'm still alive, and I'm not alone, she thought. Gus will help, and Iron Feather too. An alien horse, a nerd, and a loser.
That was the good. There was bad too—she already knew things were screwed with work, one way or another. She'd already missed the better part of a night's sleep. After the day she had, there was no way she was spending all night studying the strange book. That meant she would soon be out of money.
But spoiled credit and missing rent could wait for when she had her proper body back.
Despite her initial shock, this one wasn't... awful, just confusing. Every time she reached for something, she just knocked into it uselessly with a hoof, instead of picking it up. She was so low to the ground now, everything was out of reach. It was the first time in twenty years she'd ever been smaller than everyone else, and it wasn't something she particularly enjoyed.
The she part was strange, sure—but not as much as the rest of her transformation. Compared to a total reconfiguration of her body plan and being too small for her world, pissing while sitting down she could get used to. The voice wasn't worse than having anyone else's voice, really. It fit the reflection.
Just don't think about it more than you have to, she told herself. I'll be back to normal soon, and this can become a distant nightmare. Gus and I will laugh about it over a beer.
Even so, she decided she wouldn't call her parents. The family farm was away from prying eyes, but her parents wouldn't accept her story as readily as Gus. Dad would probably have the shotgun off the mantlepiece before she finished begging for help.
She was in no hurry to leave the bath. She could probably fall asleep in that water, it was so amazingly comfortable. But something interrupted her, and it didn't come from outside.
Suddenly, Lotus had an overpowering urge to vomit. She turned over the side of the tub, hacking and coughing in pain. Instead of bile, something else rose from her throat—a flash of bright blue flames. It blinded her briefly, though that was all. The fire didn't burn, though it did turn the moisture on her face to steam.
Something dropped to the ground in front of her—a book. She didn't actually feel anything in her throat, and the book wasn't covered in anything gross. She stared in silence, utterly baffled by the object in front of her.
"Is everything alright?" Gus asked, rapping his knuckles on the door. "Are you good Eri—I mean, Lotus?"
"I'm... not sure," she admitted. "Hold on, I'll be right out."