//------------------------------//
// Daydream 
// Story: Strange New World 
// by Boopy Doopy 
//------------------------------//

Lake paced nervously as he always seemed to do, back and forth in front of the black hole of a portal to Earth. He didn’t dare to step through it right now though. What if it disappeared when he did, just like it had upon arriving in Equestria? No, he wasn’t going to be stepping foot through that portal again, at least until his friends were back. And even then, still probably not until Sapphire Glow had significantly analyzed it like she wanted to do.
It didn’t stop him from poking his head through on occasion, hoping beyond hope that it led back to his apartment again. Or at least to somewhere more hospitable. To his dismay though, it continuously provided a view of the cold, night, mountaintop air of Norway. The list of places worse than here was a very short one.
Lilac Beauty couldn’t help her own curiosity, as she stuck her head through the portal and stepped through it again. She came back to Equus just a second later, thankfully. Lake didn’t want to have to explain why someone disappeared after everything that was going on.
“Are you four ponies really supposed to look like those… things?” she asked. “That mare keeps calling them humans. Is that what you’re supposed to be?”
“Uh, yeah,” he confirmed. “Ponies… aren’t what we really are,” Lake said. “It’s just as weird for us to be horses as it would be for you to be a human.” Well, maybe a little less weird for he and his friends since horses existed in the real world.
What even is the ‘real world’ anymore? he wondered to himself silently.
“But, uh, not Sapphire though,” he continued. “I don’t know how she actually knows about humans and Earth and stuff, but she somehow came across that information. But she’s a regular pony from Equus.”
She nodded, then asked, “Why did it disappear when you three showed up in my house? And when your other ‘friend’ went to look for it, she didn’t find anything. Why’s that?”
“I have no idea,” Lake shook his head and shrugged. “You’ll have to ask Sapphire about that. As far as I know, none of this should be possible. I don’t even want to be here.”
Maybe though the University of Pennsylvania’s physics department was working on it. Or someone at the New York Times read his email and didn't shoot it down as bullshit. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe nothing was happening and no one cared.
If he had even one bar of cell service, he could get somewhere with just waiting around. Check the news, upload videos—even just sending a text message and calling someone would be infinitely more helpful than having his stupid GPS available. What good was it on an island that showed no roads or cities on it?
Heck, it might have been more useful to just go back to Earth as the pegasus pony he was now. Maybe he could fly somewhere and get help, as long a trip as it would be, as anxious as just the thought alone made him.
“So then what is that world of your's like?” Lilac Beauty asked, slightly timidly. “Nothing like Equestria, right? That looked a lot more like the Crystal Empire to me.”
Lake actually laughed at that. “I don't live in Norway,” he explained. “That would be way too cold for me. I'm from a country called the United States. A city called Philadelphia.”
“Fillydelphia?” she asked. “Like, the city a few hours away from here? You have a city named Fillydelphia, too?”
Fillydelphia? Were all the cities here named after cities on Earth, except with dumb equine puns? Lake would almost believe he was having a schizophrenic break if not for the fact that it had been three weeks thus far. Someone would’ve noticed by now.
“Well, it’s Philadelphia on Earth, but yeah,” he nodded. “And it’s Manhattan, not Manehattan.” Maybe there were a few dumb human puns in cities on Earth, too.
“But anyway,” Lake continued, “it’s basically the same on Earth as it is here. Mostly. We have better technology, and you guys have magic when Earth doesn’t. Honestly, this seems like the little girl’s TV show version of Earth, but for all intents and purposes, they’re the same.”
“Well, I don’t wanna have a bunch of ponies waltzing through my house like I’m giving out free cookies,” Lilac said with a little scowl on her face. “I already messaged the Royal Guard to get out here as soon as possible though. No offense, but I wouldn’t trust that mare, Sapphire, as far as I could throw a barn full of pianos.”
Lake pranced nervously at that idea as his wings twitched—was it weird how comfortable he was becoming with being a horse? He didn’t know, but he definitely knew what he thought about not being able to find a way from Norway to Pennsylvania in time to get home.
“How long is it gonna take for them to, uh, get here?” he asked. “You can probably understand why we wouldn’t wanna be stuck here without figuring everything out, like you wouldn’t wanna be trapped on Earth.”
“It’ll probably take them a week or so to get out here,” she explained, then let out an annoyed huff of a breath. “I doubt they would move any faster if Equestria itself were in danger. They’re a bunch of good for nothing ponies who suck at their jobs and rely on the princesses to fix everything. Not that I can message the princess herself. I would if I could.”
Then Lilac Beauty let out a sigh, and settled herself onto a comfortable looking reclining chair. “I might as well be honest, I don’t really like your friends. Especially not that Sapphire character. I don’t want her tearing apart my home doing this little… ‘science experiment’. You should’ve seen the state she left it in the first time she was here. And that was after she broke in.”
“Yeah, I haven’t known her for very long, but that sounds like her,” Lake admitted. He hated hearing about this, knowing her opinion was already formed by things outside of his or his friends’ control. One of his forehooves bounced nervously where he stood. Man, could he use some Zoloft right now. Or Valium.
“Honestly, I don’t think I trust your other friends very much either,” Lilac continued. “Neither of them seemed to really care when the police showed up for you three, or even worried at all. Only you were. Those other friends of yours seem like the type to break into my house first before asking me to come in.”
Hah. Roxanne thought she was a mind reader? The old mare seemed like her match. She definitely wasn’t an idiot.
“I’ll make sure they don’t do anything like that,” he told her. And Tory could probably keep Sapphire in line if need be, with how close he’s getting to her, Lake silently added.
“Good. I’m trusting you,” she told him, like a stern parent, before getting up again and heading to the portal. “I’m gonna close this thing,” she said as she took one last look around through to Earth and used her magic to firmly shut the door. “Staring at that… thing, it’s giving me the creeps.”
“Wait, can you keep it open, please?” Lake asked. “I don’t want something like—”
“What the hell!”
“Wh.. wha?” Lake got out, wide eyed at what he saw once Lilac Beauty opened the closet again. “W-w-what the heck happened to it?” he stuttered as his heart quickly started to race. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything!” Lilac shot back defensively. “It’s just gone now!”
“Why!”
Lake was up and fumbling against the wall with his hooves before he even knew what he was doing. What in the world was going on? Twice now, it disappeared! Was closing the door enough to send the portal away? Why?
Don’t have an anxiety attack, he told himself as he closed his eyes, working to slow his fast, shallow breathing. You’re fine. It disappeared before, and it came back before. There’s no reason it won’t come back again. This isn’t the end of the world.
Maybe this could even be a good thing, or at least, he tried to convince himself it might be. Maybe it would send them to his apartment next time if it reappeared again. Or hopefully it would at least put them somewhere workable. Europe—well, mainland Europe—or Oceania would be the best options. Anywhere with or near a US embassy or consulate would be fine. Russia was the largest country. Maybe they’d end up there. Or Asia, the largest continent. Somewhere without mountains and oceans blocking any path to civilization. And somewhere that had cell service. Maybe this could be a good thing.
It didn’t feel like a good thing at all. It was hard to get his breathing under control.
He managed to avoid panicking though. Panicking wouldn’t help anything. Instead, he tried to think. Why the heck would it disappear twice when the door was shut? Was it something to do with the door itself? Or maybe Lilac Beauty, who opened the thing both times? Lake was the one who opened the door both times to find the portal in the first place. Maybe he had something to do with it?
“Let… let me try something,” he told her breathlessly as he backed out of the closet, closing his eyes and putting a hoof on a chest that was hurting. “Close the door again, please? I wanna see something.”
The old mare didn’t waste any time in obliging his request, then stepped back from the closet door, too. “What are you trying to do? Make it reappear again?”
He didn’t answer, instead keeping his breathing under control. What had being an anxious mess ever accomplish for anyone? Other than stopping his friends from breaking into a horse’s home on the other side of the universe?
He ignored the intense stare of confusion Lilac gave to him, and closed his eyes to count to ten in his head. For more reasons than one. When he was finished, he went up to the door again, and opened it.
“Oh my god! Oh, fuck…” Lake practically collapsed to the ground in relief.
“What in Celestia’s name is going on?” Lilac Beauty demanded. “Why is this thing disappearing when I close the door but coming back when you open it? Are you doing this?” she asked suspiciously.
Lake ignored her for now as he breathed out deep exhales of relief. He focused back on the portal. The one that disappeared when she closed the closet door and reappeared when he opened it, twice. Should he risk trying it for a third time, to make sure?
No, not yet. First, the human-turned-pegasus had to see what was through it this time. Would it be his apartment again, or Norway? The most likely option was somewhere else entirely. Where would it be? Philadelphia would be great. Hawaii or Thailand would be pretty cool. North Korea, or the inside of a volcano, or under the ocean—none of those options would do much good for him. Where would he go?
He couldn’t say how surprised he was when he stuck his head through and felt the same blistering wind against his ears and saw the same clear sky hanging over the mountains.
He quickly pulled himself back through the portal. There was no reason to not test out his theory then, if it was still Norway, even as nervous as it made him. “I want you to close the door, and then open it again,” he told Lilac Beauty. “And then, if the portal disappears, close the door again, and I’ll open it after you.”
The old mare didn’t argue, and did what he instructed. Once again, after she closed and opened her closet again, the portal was gone, and once again, it reappeared when he opened the door. Once again, it led to the same spot, the mountainous Norwegian island the GPS said they were at. They tried the pattern two or three more times before Lake was satisfied. Nothing changed.
“How in the world is this happening?” Lake wondered aloud. “Is it me, or is it you?” he asked as he looked around the closet curiously, shuffling his wings and wiggling his neck. “Unicorns are supposed to be the ones with magical powers in this world. Are you doing something to make the portal disappear?”
“The portal disappeared?” Sapphire Glow suddenly asked from behind them, strutting in without warning with an entire store of things in her grasp. Quill pens and paper, markers and folders and books, rulers and apparatuses and a whole collection of other things Lake had no name for. They all floated in her magic in one big pile, a pile she casually dropped on the floor in front of the closet. Lilac let out a huff of a breath and rolled her eyes as she stomped a hoof. Sapphire either didn't understand social cues, or just didn't care, because she ignored her as she moved past them to the closet. Lake was betting on the latter.
“It looks like it's still here to me,” she said as she grabbed a device that looked like a thermometer and pressed it against her lit up horn. Then she headed through the portal again. Lake followed after her, with Tory and Roxanne joining a second later.
“We figured out that when she closes her closet door, the portal disappears,” he told her as the now human Sapphire fiddled with her device. She didn’t seem particularly concerned about the cold as he continued, “When I open it after it disappears, it shows up again.”
“That’s interesting,” she said politely, waving the thermometer looking thing around, placing it near the portal for a second before moving further away. How was she not shivering? Lake’s teeth were chattering after just a few seconds being out here!
“Hmmm,” she hummed aloud. “Looks like the magic thins out once you get about four feet from the portal. Point zero six magic particles per cubic centimeter is what seems to be about average, as far as I can tell. Obviously I’d need to measure more than just this spot, but I wouldn't expect it to be higher anywhere else.”
“Okay, what does that mean?” Tory asked for the group. He glanced at her for a moment, then looked away a few seconds later, crossing his arms over his chest. Was he checking her out? Roxanne sent a look his way, then looked at Lake to roll her eyes before heading back inside, deciding that it was too cold.
“It means there's not much magic here,” she told the two that remained. “For reference, Equestria has around two hundred or so particles per cubic centimeter, and Equus in general averages about ninety five. It's not nothing, but it's very close to nothing here on Earth. Nothing you could gather and store up for yourself, unless there were pockets of magic around Earth. You're gonna wanna tell that friend of yours not to use very much shapeshifting while she's on Earth. Oh, by the way! Do you think I could measure you both while you're here? I know it's cold, but I wanna make sure my human measurements are accurate!”
“Hold on, what are you talking about?” Lake stopped her. “Roxie’s not a changeling pony on this side.” He paused, and asked, “And can we not have this conversation out here, at least not without some clothes? It's too cold to stand around out here!”
“Sure,” Sapphire nodded, heading back for the portal. “I'll have to measure you guys once it's warmer. Although I'm curious to learn how hairless creatures like humans can brave such frigid conditions! But about your friend—”
Sapphire Glow and Roxanne explained what she meant about shapeshifting on Earth. It required once more for Lake to go through the portal to Norway to get a demonstration before he finally was able to lay down in the warmth of Lilac Beauty's house. Roxanne offered no explanation as to why she was still changed on the Earth side when Tory and Lake were both fully humans again. Sapphire Glow spoke in vague theories about somepony named Gaia the Great and magical residue and how staying too long might permanently alter them. It wasn't anything he wanted to hear, but Lake shoved his anxiety down anyway. It helped knowing they had a way to Earth right here, as well as hearing Sapphire say that normally it took years, explaining that her change to human on Earth proved that.
It helped more when Tory put his hoof on his shoulder and Roxanne changed into a pegasus to rub his back with a wing. What could he say? He needed to be carried a little bit more than his friends. He couldn't help it.
He only felt a little bit insecure about how much attention he seemed to need lately. He wasn't anywhere near this bad on Earth. He hoped Roxanne and Tory didn't mind.
“We don't mind, Lake,” Roxanne answered, reading his mind. “It's all good. We're all here for each other.”
And they needed Lake in some ways, he found out. One of them presented itself when they learned that it wasn't Lilac Beauty making the portal disappear, but instead, Lake making it reappear. No amount of opening or closing the closet door by anyone else did anything but reveal a normal closet. Every time Lake opened and closed it though, the portal showed itself once again. What was up with that?
“I'm not sure,” Sapphire Glow said thoughtfully as she looked between him and the door. “It could be anything. Maybe you just have an unnaturally large amount of friendship magic inside of you. It is the most powerful force in the universe, after all.”
Of course. Like a kids’ TV show, friendship was the reason that magical portals existed, ones that only he could call up without knowing what he was doing.
“You guys are gonna have to show me some more respect, in that case,” he joked. “You're not friendly enough.”
“I bet Tory knows a way he could be more friendly,” Roxanne teased. “At least, more friendly with Sapphire.”
Lake almost didn't realize the subtlety of what Roxanne was implying, and blushed when she sent a little wink his way. Thankfully, Tory didn't seem to notice, since he was preoccupied with pretending to brush off Sapphire Glow. His face had a little bit of a red tint to it, too.
No surprise. He doesn't like men… and stop reading my mind, Roxie!
“I can't help it,” Roxanne replied in response, shapeshifting to be a colorful, buggish looking creature with a wide grin. “You're the one putting the feelings out there. It's like asking me to stop breathing.”
Of course.
“What are you two going on about?” Tory asked curiously.
“Nothing,” Lake replied, waving a dismissive hoof. “Anyway, how exactly does that work?” he asked. “Do I just… have more friends than Tory and Roxie?” Because Lake would find that hard to believe.
“It's way more complicated than just that,” Sapphire Glow told him. “If that was it, I'd be the most powerful unicorn in the world.”
“Oh, I'm sure,” Tory replied with a teasing smile. It was one of the few times Sapphire didn't flirt in response to his light teasing, her voice serious.
“I don't really have the patience to teach it to you guys right now,” she said, “but I told you before that friendship is the most powerful force in the universe. Just a little bit of it can go a very long way, toward good or evil.” Ominous.
It was a long, boring day that they worked, watching Sapphire take all of the measurements she could want on both Equus and Earth. He avoided thinking about the awkwardness of Sapphire looking over his shivering, naked body so intently, and spent most of the time discussing what their next move should be while she did. Lilac Beauty interjected every so often with her thoughts, and said she understood their plight. She didn't want the four of them here every day though, and gave them a time limit of one week to do all they wanted in her home. That was when the Royal Guard would be here. They promised they would come up with something by then.
It seemed like the main idea being presented and agreed upon was taking some tents and winter gear and exploring the region. It wasn't a bad plan; all things considered, it was probably the best plan available. But Lake had serious doubts about the viability of such an operation. He assumed Tory and Roxanne did, too, but neither spoke up about any concerns. It was settled.
They weren’t able to put the plan into motion immediately the following day; that day was spent gathering the supplies they would need. Sapphire Glow would be fronting all of the money, of course, since the three of them still didn’t have jobs. They assured her that if they weren’t able to get anything out of the portal in Lilac’s house, they would find a way to pay her back. For someone so invested in humans, Sapphire didn’t seem like she wanted to do it for free, not even in ‘the name of science’.
Roxanne declared that she wouldn’t need any winter clothes since she could still shapeshift as a human again, but he, Tory, and Sapphire Glow would all need them. Things like coats and shirts and hats and mittens were easy to find, but still there were no pants anywhere they went to shop. They would have to settle for long, heavy dresses. Great.
Camping supplies was much easier to come across. They were able to get a large tent and some sleeping bags, as well as a camp stove, fire starter, compass, and some non-perishable food. Lilac Beauty didn’t mind them setting all the stuff at her house for the night, while they rested for however many days were to come.
Finally, the day after that, they were ready to go. Sapphire Glow briefly mentioned the idea of waiting a couple of more days to see if she could get in touch with the mysterious Record Keeper so he could go with them, as well as Princess Twilight Sparkle, however, that suggestion was quickly shot down. They had only a week—about five or six days now—before the Royal Guard was supposed to get to Lilac’s house to investigate the portal, and they wanted to maximize their time before whatever they were going to do with it happened.
There was one more thing brought up before they set off onto the cold Norwegian island they found access to.
“I think you should stay here for now, Lake,” Tory told him. “If you’re the only one who can get that portal to appear when the closet door closes, it’ll be safer for all of us to have you on this side. At least until we find out whether where on Earth we are is useful or not.”
Lake didn’t know if he minded that idea or not, but he didn’t argue. It made sense. If he was the only one that could make the thing appear, it’d be too risky for him to travel the unknown with them.
“Take my phone with you then,” he replied, handing the device over to Tory. “If you can find somewhere with cell service and call someone, come back and get me. But don't take too long out there? If it doesn't seem like it's getting anywhere, just come back, and we'll figure something else out.”
“I'm sure this will work,” Roxanne replied confidently. “How could it not? It's Earth already. Sure, there's not a lot of people in Norway, but I bet someone will be around.”
Yeah. Someone. Hopefully.
“Don’t stay out there longer than a day?” Lake told them. “Two, max? If you guys got hurt while I was here—”
“Oh, we’ll be fine,” Sapphire said, waving a hoof, just as confident as Roxanne but way more annoyingly nonchalant. “It’s Earth! And we’ll be humans, with hands! How could anything go wrong under those conditions?”
Lake had to force himself to not roll his eyes. Yeah, how could anything go wrong? he thought to himself doubtfully. Because it’s been nothing but sunny skies and smooth sailing so far.