"I can't believe I almost missed it!" Iron Feather exclaimed. He took the book from Lotus, turning it over in his hooves.
She let him have it without much resistance, backing towards the door. She felt much better after cleaning up, but some part of her would feel strange until she got dressed. "You expected to realize I could... puke books?" she asked. She still had a towel wrapped around her lower body, but in practice it didn't cover much. She couldn't get tight without restricting her legs, which trapped her uselessly in place.
"Not just books. Emergency scrolls use dragon fire. You're a Kirin, which means you're part dragon! Luna wouldn't miss that... the princess is smart."
"Whatever. Go ahead and look at... that thing. Hopefully she doesn't make that happen again. If I hadn't been expecting it, we could've lit the building on fire."
She hurried back into her bedroom, and shut the door behind her. She could barely make out Iron's excited muttering through the door—whatever he'd found in that book was obviously interesting to him.
If the “princess” had found a way to reply, maybe that meant she would be able to help her too!
She restrained her excitement, focusing her attention on the more practical concerns before her. What clothes could she wear that made a difference? Shirts were obviously useless, she had nothing to cover on the front of her body. Dresses would've been perfect, but she didn't own any. That left... shorts?
She emptied several out onto the floor, until she found one that looked most promising: a pair of stretchy gym shorts. Stepping into them took a bit of doing, but she managed.
She stared back into the mirror, eyeing her reflection. The result was pathetic, even by her own standards. They sagged off her body in a rough bag of cloth, threatening to slip under her hooves and trip her. Worse, they caught on her tail, preventing them from going up any higher. She'd need something with a hole for that, probably with Velcro to hold it in place.
Mom could sew me something. She dismissed the thought almost as quickly as it came. Her mother and father were salt of the earth, the kind of folk who could live on their farm for months without stepping away once, and never needing to purchase anything.
But they would also be exceptionally unfriendly to a horse-dragon girl who claimed to be their son—she thought. It wasn't a risk she would take unless she had no other choice.
Lotus grunted, then tore the shorts back down again. Wearing nothing at all was better than looking so absurd. Iron Feather was naked, and he didn't care. Maybe she could get a dress or something from goodwill.
She emerged without the towel a few minutes later. Gus was in the kitchen cooking dinner, while Iron scribbled into the new book with a pen. That was strange...
"What was in that?" Lotus asked, making her way over to the sofa. More than anything she just wanted to sleep. The damage to her life was already done, and couldn't easily get much worse. "What did she send?"
Iron held up his good wing, and kept scribbling. Somehow he could do that with only a hoof. How was he holding the pen? Eventually he finished, and he snapped the book closed, and pushed it towards her. "You should read it for yourself. This message is mostly for you."
For me? She took it, settling down in front of the couch. So long as she always faced Iron, she wouldn't feel embarrassed. Maybe she should get into the habit of backing up from everything. She rested one hoof on the new book, inspecting it.
It was made of leather, or some very clever substitute, with golden tabs on the corners and a fancy horseshoe mark on the center. No title or other identifying marks. She didn't open it yet. "Iron, I don't know how to ask this, so I'm just gonna say it. Do ponies wear clothes? Is it... normal, for you to be like that?"
He met her eyes, without hesitation or apparent embarrassment. "We wear them when we have a good reason. Parties, bad weather, armor—practical reasons. Not usually in our own homes." He eyed Gus from across the room, lowering his voice. "Ponies wearing that much are usually pretentious types. There are some in Canterlot like that, who think they're better than the rest of us. When the weather is good, you might find somepony with a nice hat, or maybe a scarf, or a tie. Enough to show their own sense of style without getting in the way."
He sat up, eyeing her from across the table. "That wasn't the answer you were expecting? Something's bothering you?"
She shook her head hastily, opening the book in front of her. "Don't worry about it! I'm just trying to learn a little more about your culture. I was curious about... fashion. Yeah. Let's go with that."
The first page of the book was an immensely complex diagram, which glowed faintly to her eyes. She turned past that, past a few blank pages to a page filled with dense, neat text.
"Iron Feather and Kirin named Eric,
This is Princess Luna. Thank your companion for her foresight in including her own writing on that scroll—in doing so, she left a thread of sympathy I could follow with dragon fire. But repeating such magic is not advisable for you, as it generates tremendous energy that can be easily traced. Do not send further scrolls.
Princess Twilight suggested this spell instead. Our enemy invokes dangerous books against the free creatures of Equestria, it is only fitting that we create our own pair of volumes to serve the good. Anything you write in this book will be written in my own. Anything I write in mine will appear in yours. There should be no trouble with range so long as nearby magical creatures can keep the book supplied with power.
Listen carefully. Searing Gale escaped last night, taking her phylactery with her and fleeing into the wilds of Equestria. Where she went, I know not. Her powers are greatly diminished at present—so long as she holds only one phylactery, the risk she poses is greatly mitigated.
I believe she will do everything in her power to retake the Kirin tome you hold, restoring her to full strength. Equestria is stronger than it was in her day, but still I shudder at the suffering she might inflict. Thousands may burn in her avenging flames.
To do this, she will attempt to recover the spellbook you were sent to guard, Iron Feather. You absolutely cannot allow this to happen, and not just for Equestria's sake.
Searing was a powerful sorceress, who explored realms beyond Equestria's furthermost edge. She wrote the same spells that Clover later used to construct his mirror. In that book you will find the tools to return here. It is also possible the same power of transformation that warped Eric could also restore her.
There are an infinity of other realms, each one infinitesimally different from each other. If that book is taken from you, we will be unable to mount a rescue. You will be trapped in that realm forever, Iron.
Eric, search for a spell called "The Plumbing of Worldlines". Cast it, and it will lead you to a place the barrier around your realm is weakest. From there, cast another spell. "To Trod the Ancestral Path." This will open a portal that will lead you to Equestria. Where in Equestria—we don't know. But once you're in our world, I could perhaps locate you through your dreams, or a dozen other methods.
Until then, this volume is our only line of communication. Be judicious with its pages, as sending another would again highlight your location to the enemy. Remember that while I cannot find you, Searing can feel the call of her other half at all times. I do not doubt she will follow it back to its source.
I'm sorry to put this weight on you, Eric. We are strangers, I know. But Equestria must beg for your help—to return one of our royal guards, and also to protect us from a dangerous enemy.
If she ever recovers the phylactery you hold in your possession, thousands of my subjects could die, and our nation may fall. I cannot meaningfully offer you anything in return across the boundaries of worlds. But please, let compassion stir within your breast.
Princess Luna"
She turned slowly through to the next page, where Iron was writing his response. It was far shorter, at least he hadn't wasted space.
"Princess,
We are relieved to receive your reply. I will inform Lotus. I'm optimistic she will be willing to help, given what she's already done for me. Thank you for the warning about the danger. I will guard the phylactery with my life until we are able to return it to Equestria.
If I am killed, please tell my father that I died defending Equestria on his behalf.
Iron Feather"
“Your name doesn’t look how it sounds,” Iron said, interrupting her thoughts. “I think it may be a translation issue. I wrote ‘Lotus,’ the way I think it should be transcribed. Hopefully that doesn’t cause her any confusion.”
Lotus sat up again, glaring at Iron. It wasn't that he'd said anything wrong exactly. She was in no hurry to explain why she had chosen a new name, and the festering sea of confusing feelings that the word ‘Lotus’ kept at bay. Iron Feather had kept his body, he wouldn’t understand that. Hopefully Gus would never understand it either.
She didn’t like the idea of people suffering, even if those people were horse-shaped strangers from another world. But that didn’t mean she was ready to commit to doing anything for them, particularly with her own life unraveling.
"Give me that pen," she demanded. "There's something important you didn't say."
He hesitated. "Before you write anything—you should know that this is one of the diarchs of Equestria. She rules the whole kingdom, over millions of ponies. What happened to you is not her fault. Blame me if you must, but not her. She deserves only respect."
Of course Lotus hadn't been about to piss off the person who had gone straight to providing useful information, even if she didn't fully understand how to make use of it yet. But now she almost wanted to, out of spite. "I'm depending on her," she said flatly. "I'm not an idiot. If she doesn't help me, I can't ever be human again. Please."
She took the pen, then started writing just below what Iron had already sent.
"This is Lotus. I want to help, but I have no idea how to do magic. This isn't a beginner's guide. Every page of this book looks the same to me—complex symbols and shapes without any purpose. Can you send a crash course? Or if that's not safe, maybe walk me through how to cast these?
My world does not have magic, only trickery and slight-of-hand. There is no local source to turn to for help. I will be helpless without more information."
She offered the book back as soon as she was finished. Mostly because Gus was already on his way over, with a pair of plates. He'd made some inoffensive pasta dish for the two of them. Probably for the best, since he'd never been a good cook. Gus struggled with anything that couldn't go into the microwave. But this didn't sound like it would kill her, so she accepted it gratefully.
"I got your stuff from the car too. Looks like there was a message waiting for you. Didn't, uh—doesn't look too great."
She already knew what to expect. Even so, seeing it for herself was still painful. Seven missed calls, and a few texts, all from the same person. Her boss.
The last one in the chain summed them all up, so she didn't have to read the rest. "I don't know what happened today, and I don't care to find out. You ran out on your shift, scared the factory shitless. Don't come back. Your last check is already in the mail. Gave you hours for the rest of the day, hopefully that covers some counseling for you. You need it."
I'm fired. She set the phone down, tossing it to the couch beside her. It shouldn't bother her as much as it did—it was only a job, she could find another. She had far bigger problems right now than her paycheck.
"What kind of pasta is this?" Iron Feather asked, from the sofa just beside her. He was eating too, though he actually knew how to use the fork. Maybe she could learn from that. "I've never tasted anything quite like it. A local delicacy?"
Gus laughed. "Guess you could say that. Ragu classic meat sauce. Even now that I've got the money to buy anything I want for groceries I can't give it up." Gus froze, staring at the pegasus. "Something wrong?"
"M-meat?" Iron repeated. Lotus could see his face turn green in real time. "From what?"
Gus shrugged. "I dunno. Beef probably?"
Iron Feather threw up all over the table.