The answer was no. Or, more accurately, not at the moment.
The horse admitted that she didn’t know, except that there was no way she’d be able to accomplish such a task right now. Apparently, according to her, this horse-queen was one of the best at casting magic in this world, and said that, since the group came here, there was no reason why theoretically they couldn’t return home. However, a trip back home would come down to a whole lot of science and magic mumbo jumbo that neither Howard, nor his wife or daughter, could make sense of. The point was, it couldn’t happen right then at the very least.
The purple horse, Twilight Sparkle, had many questions for the three of them, and Howard took the lead in answering most of them for the group. They answered questions about the place they were from, something this horse apparently knew about surprisingly enough. She talked about something called a ‘worldgate’ that they apparently traveled through to get here, and said that, to get back home, they would have to go back through one, although she didn’t know how to make one yet.
So then it seemed like there was an actual chance of going back home, if the scientific details Howard didn’t understand marked her as the science nerd she came off as. All they needed first was to find his kids. He hoped they were okay.
Naturally, once they went through all the scientific details that none of them but this mare understood about getting back home, Howard asked about her position as the ‘princess of friendship’. He had no idea what it meant, and although he couldn’t understand her verbally, her slight bashful smile and a hoof behind her head like a human would do with its hand let him know that she didn’t know either. Apparently it was something about helping horses, who she called ponies, make friends. It was like something out of a little girl’s show, or at least, it seemed that way until he followed up on that and she described their complex form of government.
At its head was a princess named Celesita– apparently there were no ‘queens’, only princesses– who ruled over the whole country, a place called Equestria. She was, from what Howard understood, the benevolent authoritarian dictator of these horses, and had made powerful ponies of her underlings. It sounded like there was some nepotism involved, with the other rulers being Celestia’s sister, and this purple horse’s sister in law. It was certainly interesting, even if it mostly sounded like a plot out of a little girl’s TV show.
Apparently they’d have to send information to the capital of this country so they can be officially registered as being here, even though it wasn’t their fault that they suddenly showed up. He couldn’t really complain though, since this horse was going out of her way to help him. If he and his family suddenly teleported to, say, Belarus, they might not have gotten such nice treatment. Compared to that, this was practically like the president coming to your house to interview you and help you.
After a long while of being questioned by the equine, she finally left the trio alone. She told them they should try and make themselves at home and rest while they waited, but only Barney seemed to be able to settle down and close his eyes tiredly. Howard himself still felt too wound up by everything, and took the chance to try and play through his head exactly what the heck could’ve happened that let some impossible magic turn he and his family into horses in another universe. He came up with absolutely nothing. As far as he could remember, he and the rest of his family went to bed without issue.
“There’s no way this is a dream,” the unicorn said aloud to no one in particular. “We’d know if this was a dream. I’d know. But there’s no way any of this is possible.”
“Do you think it’s just us that this happened to, Dad?” his daughter asked. “What if there’s other people here, too? Like our neighbors or the people at school? Or more?”
“I don’t know. I guess there’s no way to know for sure that didn’t happen, but we didn’t see anyone else yet. And that horse made it seem like we were the only ones except for your brothers.”
That statement made his daughter look worried, but he quickly added, “I’m sure that someone knows what’s going on though. This horse is gonna help us, and I bet some fancy scientist back home is already working on figuring out what the heck happened to us. We’ll be back home soon, I bet.”
He didn’t know if he believed what he said, but brushed that from his mind for now. Right now, he had to sit here and wait for his kids to get to him. Hopefully. Hopefully they weren’t– well, he wasn’t going to continue that thought. He might actually cry right now if he had to think about his sons potentially being hurt.
"Let's see if we can get something to do for right now though, and some food if we can," he suggested. "Do you think that horse is going to be upset if we take a look around the library again and see if there's something we can read?" He subconsciously hopped from one hoof to the other nervously, and took a breath to try and lower his anxiety.
"I can go get them!" his daughter offered. "I remember where the library is. I don't think she'll care." Before either Howard or his wife could protest, the smaller unicorn was opening the door and heading off. It seemed like Denver was already completely used to being a horse– a pony– and trotted like she'd done that every day of her life.
"I wish she wouldn't have left like that, but I guess that horse didn't seem like the type to get upset," Howard said. "It's good though that she's not as distraught as she was earlier today."
"Mhm, it's good," Carey agreed. "Well, good for the circumstances." Then the dragon turned to look at the unicorn– Howard was not going to be able to get used to his wife being tall enough to look slightly down at him– and asked, "Are you feeling okay, Howie? About… whatever the heck this all is, I mean."
"Mhm," he nodded, but didn't say more than that. He silently stared at his wife for a long moment, then turned away. Maybe right now, while his daughter was away, it was finally his turn to let out how afraid and distraught he was about all of this. His wife put a wing on his back, and he started to feel tears welling up as he let out another breath.
“I’m just stressing out is all,” he said as his voice cracked, one that was still sounding strange and unfamiliar to him. “Worried about Reece and Thorn and getting home and about what the heck is even going on.”
And himself, of course, but he didn't say that. Right now, ignoring the sex change no one else was given seemed like the best idea. It wasn't like it felt disgusting or horrible anyway. In fact, it might have been the opposite if he took time to examine his feelings. But the mare did wonder why it was he exclusively that was changed that way. It didn't seem like it was just completely random since no one else became the opposite sex.
But of course, he remembered that this was something to worry about later, a thought that made him start to sob as his mind pointed itself back to his kids. He was terribly worried about them.
"I just hope they're safe," he sniffled as he sat on his haunches on the ground, covering his face with his hooves. "If they're hurt, it's gonna be my fault for thinking splitting up was a good idea. We should've stayed together and tried to get away as a group."
"I'm sure they're okay, honey," his wife said comfortingly, sitting next to the unicorn and wrapping her wing tightly around him. Barney, too, made his way to his side, laying down in front of him and licking at his hind legs, holding what had to be an expression of sympathy. Howard used a hoof to rub his fur as tears dripped down his cheeks.
"That horse said a zebra found them, remember?” Carey continued. “That means they're definitely safe. They're gonna be here before we know it."
"Yeah…" he nodded, wiping his eyes and gathering himself again. "I'm just stressing out is all," he told her again. "Can't say I woke up this morning expecting to be turned into a mare like off my grandparents' farm."
"I know." Another pause came, then his wife smiled at him. "I can't say I expected my husband to turn into a girl," Carey said lightly. "Does that make me a lesbian now?"
"Guess so," Howard replied lightly, letting out a sniffle before he leaned in for a kiss. "Not for long though. If magic exists here, I bet it won't be long before they get us back home. Or at least turn me into a stallion."
“I hope so. I can’t really be with a girl, can I?” she said, only half serious. Then she changed the topic, continuing, “If Denver doesn’t get back here in the next five minutes, should we go look for her?”
"Yeah, I'll take a look around for her," he said. "I'm getting hungry anyway, and wanna see if there's anything to eat around here. Something that’s not grass, anyway. It tastes fine, but I don’t wanna eat it.”
"That yellow horse had tea, so it's probably not gonna be something like that. Although I wonder what the heck I'm supposed to eat. Dragons don't exist in real life."
"I bet that purple horse would know. She seems like the kind to spend all day in a library after all."
The two both laughed at the thought of the horse reading books for fun, and then shared another kiss. “I’m sure everything’s going to be fine,” Carey said again. “Denver said it before, right? Before we know it, Reece and Thorny will be here, and we’ll be at home laughing at the absurdity of all of this.”
“Or be interviewed by the CIA so they can try and figure out what wormhole we went through that turned us into animals in horse world,” Howard finished. “I’m sure this whole thing is gonna make us famous if other people know about it.”
His wife nodded in agreement, and then both closed their eyes for a while as he settled into the dragon’s wing and pet the dog’s fur. Howard still felt a little bit shaky, but their comfort helped settle his nerves more. Everything was going to be fine– as fine as being ripped from Earth and dumped into another universe could be. His kids would be here soon, and the ruler of this place was kind enough to offer them a place to stay. It would all be fine, and then they’d go home once they figured out how to.
Yes, they would be fine, except for dealing with how confused the unicorn now felt. It brought back a little bit of the anxiety his wife just helped him push down, but he did his best to manage it silently. The strangeness of it all and the confusion he felt combined with the little thought in his head made him nervous, but he once again reminded himself that everything would be fine. It would be his concern after his kids were safely with him again.
His wife was right, after all. They’d all be home soon and this would just be a funny story.