As they approached what Anon called a major highway, Twilight was becoming increasingly distracted by the strange sights she saw out the windshield. At first, simply seeing other cars was strange enough, but then they turned onto the highway, a larger road that was packed full of cars all moving very quickly, and Twilight felt the anxiety building.
"Oh my gosh... Anon, how do you manage it?"
He furrowed his brows in confusion, "Manage what?"
"This!" She gestured all around with her hooves, "All of this! There's so much happening so quickly and yet you--along with every other human on this road--are just casually zooming around, sometimes less than a pony's length apart. How are you so calm!?"
"Oh, that." He shrugged nonchalantly, "Ninety percent of everything I'm doing has just become automatic and subconscious after so much time spent driving."
"Wait, so you aren't even thinking about what you're doing?"
He shrugged again, "I mean, a part of me is, I suppose. It just doesn't require constant attention anymore. I can focus on things that are less consistent, like the behavior of the other drivers."
Twilight nodded thoughtfully, "Oh okay, I get it now. It's sorta like flying... I don't have to concentrate on the exact position and angle of my wings anymore like when I first got them, I just do it without thinking."
"Exactly. What was that like, anyway?"
"Huh?"
Anon lightly tapped her wing with a finger.
"Getting wings after being born without them."
"Oh, it was incredible. So much freedom and open space... I never felt jealous of pegasi when I was a unicorn, but now I think they have it better."
"I mean, obviously being able to fly was wonderful and all, but I mean like... did you already know how to move them? What were the muscles like? Did you gain some bulk or bone mass to compensate? Or maybe lose bone mass to be lighter and easier to fly?"
Twilight's eyes went wide, then she let out a squee, "Omigosh, I forgot you're a scientist too! Nopony else has ever been interested like that!"
She beamed at him for a moment, then, abruptly realizing she was just gawking, shook her head and coughed awkwardly.
"Um, right. It was, uh... well, yes I gained muscle mass. My barrel grew more lean and my lower chest in particular seemed to swell significantly. This isn't just floof, you know." She poked her chest with a hoof, showing just how firm it was underneath. "I guess that's where the power for the main downstroke comes from, attached to my pkaedn."
"Uh, your what now?"
Twilight hesitated, then giggled, "Right, sorry, different names. I think your people call it a sterdom?"
"Oh, the sternum! Where your ribs connect at the front, right?"
"Thaaat's right, sternum. Ugh, hate it when I get a term wrong. But yes, that's where the bulk of my new muscle mass grew. I did gain some in the sides of my barrel, too."
She rubbed her side with a hoof, tracing a line down her side, not noticing Anon's attention on her.
"I think it attaches down here? Or maybe the, um... the tendon reaches all the way to my hips here."
The car suddenly lurched sideways again, and Twilight looked up, alarmed.
"Okay, what is that? It's happened twice now--I thought you were controlling this thing?"
Anon grinned sheepishly, "That's, uh... that's just me not paying attention when I should be watching the road."
"Oh!" Her ears folded back and she twisted to sit normally again, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be distracting you so much."
"N-No, it's alright. I just can't be looking, is all. Eyes up here."
Anon was beginning to blush but Twilight decided not to tease him about it. At least, not for now.
"Okay, well, to answer your other questions: I weigh about the same as before I got my wings, so I guess that means I lost bone mass or else I'd weigh more. Weight isn't that important for flight though.
"No? Oh, because magic?"
Twilight nodded, "Mmhmm. That's why pegasi emit magical energy like I was saying earlier. Anyway, the most difficult question.. it's hard to explain it, but when I came back from Celestia's realm or whatever, I didn't even really have to think about moving my wings, I just sorta... did."
"So you immediately learned the new neural pathways?"
Now she shook her head, "Not even that, it was as if there was nothing new to learn, as if I'd had the muscles all along and simply never used them. It was easy, natural. It only took a little practice to get used to them and fly straight and true."
Anon rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Interesting... So either the magic instantly taught you how to use your wings, or the knowledge was always there inside you, just waiting to be... I dunno, activated or something."
"I hadn't thought of it that way. Are you implying pegasi instincts are in all ponies, just waiting to be unlocked?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "Not like I know anything about your world or the magic in it. It's just an intriguing thought."
"It certainly is..."
They trailed off into silence for a bit, and Twilight turned back out toward the window. She felt a lot better now though.
Twilight jumped as Anon abruptly said, "Oh! Shit, I need to call ahead. Might just get arrested if I showed up with you without warning."
He whipped out his phone and, glancing rapidly back and forth from the road to his phone, began fiddling with an app she didn't recognize. She leaned over for a better look, but even slowed by his split attention, he went too fast for her to make out the words in time. Then he brought the phone up to the side of his head and, a few seconds later, began to speak.
"Hi, um... I'm going to need to speak to a manager, or maybe even someone above him. Yes, of course it's important. Well, you know that pony on the TV? Well... I have the other one she's looking for. No, I am not kidding. Yes, I'll hold."
Anon went silent and she gave him a questioning look, but he just shook his head and looked back at the road, so she waited in silence.
Suddenly, he spoke again, "Hi, my name is Doctor Anon Y. Mous. I am currently headed your way with the other pony in my car. Yes, really. No, I am not. I'll text you a picture if you want, just give me your cell phone number. What? No. No no, I've been taking care of her, she was injured."
Twilight smirked at him leaving out he was the one who injured her.
"Obviously, that's why I'm calling. Yes, as soon as possible, of course. Yes. Uh, thirty or forty-five minutes? I'm on twenty-six coming up on Weaverville right now. A silver Honda Accord hybrid. Yessir. I understand. Oh, don't worry about that, you'll see when I arrive. Thank you, sir."
Then he lowered the phone and let out a deep breath. "Phew. I wasn't sure how well that was gonna go, but he seemed open minded at least. He'll be waiting with armed guards when we arrive. Said if I'm lying I'll be arrested on the spot, but if I'm telling the truth--which obviously I am--we'll be escorted straight onto a private jet leaving for the UK shortly."
"Um, yay? I think?"
Anon chuckled, "Yes, it's good. Private jets are, well, private, so nobody to freak out about you, and jet planes are some of the fastest we've build, so we should get there with plenty of time to spare."
"Okay. Wow, this is getting serious."
"Well," Anon said with a wry grin, "She did threaten to blow up Big Ben."
"I... don't think she really would. Starlight can be manipulative but she isn't cruel or evil." Then she added under her breath, "Not anymore, at least."
She fell silent and Anon gave her a sidelong glance, "Wanna talk about it?"
Twilight hesitated, then shrugged, "I mean, she only brainwashed an entire town then, after I freed them, escaped and went back in time to undo all my friendships as revenge and nearly destroyed all of Equestria. No biggie. We're good friends now."
Anon chuckled, "Alright, fine, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
"Huh? But I just did."
Anon rolled his eyes, "Come on, Twi. I may not know magic, but you really expect me to believe in time travel?"
Twilight felt confused and even a little hurt, now.
"But... it's true." Her voice seemed very small, "When she... she showed me these other timelines. Horrible, terrible places. My friends and I have saved Equestria several times, and without us...
She shuddered, then wiped a tear from her face and took a quick breath.
"But no matter. It didn't really happen, that was all an alternate timeline. We're here now, and here is what counts."
Anon just sat there quietly for a long while.
"Um... Anon? Are you okay?"
He let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry, Twilight, I just cannot believe you. Not without proof. Time travel is... it's too much."
She tried to keep herself from sounding too bitter. "Well, I can't prove it. I already used the spell--wasted it on something stupid. It only works once for each pony. I don't know why."
"How about you send me back, then?"
She let out an exasperated sigh, "That's not how it works. The spell sends the caster back, not something the caster targets."
"Ah."
There was a brief pause, then Anon continued, "I'm... sorry. About what happened."
"I thought you said you didn't believe me."
He bobbled his head in a sort of uncertain gesture, "I mean, obviously you believe it happened, and it seemed to be traumatic. So you have my sympathy."
Twilight looked at him curiously.
"Well... thank you. But it's okay now. Starlight and I have long since made up. I think she was just lonely."
"Seems a bit of an overreaction to being lonely."
"Well she's also quite possibly the most powerful unicorn in Equestria today."
Anon nodded his head, "I suppose it makes sense that she'd be the one to send after you."
"She still isn't a match for an alicorn. That's probably why she was wearing all those artifacts."
"Artifacts?"
"Yeah, like the saddle that's letting her fly, and the horn ring which, if I had to guess, is there to dampen out a power-boosting spell so she can still control herself with ease." Twilight smiled sheepishly, "It, uh... took some adjusting to get used to all the power of an alicorn."
Abruptly she realized she hadn't looked out the window for a while, and saw that the density and size of the buildings had increased dramatically.
"Oh... is this the city?"
Anon nodded, "Asheville. The airport is on the opposite end of town, so we still have a ways to go, and we're not stopping to visit anything, but feel free to enjoy the sights as we travel through downtown."
"Okay."
She fell silent and, after a moment, Anon touched her hoof again.
"You alright?"
Twilight hesitated, then turned back to look at him.
"Promise me we'll be okay?"
Anon furrowed his brows and Twilight clarified, "I just... everything's happening so fast all of the sudden, and this is a strange world where I don't understand anything. I'm not used to not knowing what's going on."
She looked down at his hand and placed her other hoof over top of it.
"But I trust you. If you say everything will be okay, I'll believe you."
Anon took a deep breath.
"I'm in unfamiliar territory too, Twi. I can't promise everything will go perfectly smoothly."
He glanced at her again, and she wished he could just stay there and look into her eyes instead of turning back to the road.
"But I will do everything within my power to get you home safely. That I can promise."
Twilight nodded slowly, then, realizing he couldn't see her, said in a small voice, "Okay, Anon."