Tory was confident things were moving in the right direction, in spite of the hurdles he and his friends faced. He might have been angry and frustrated before at the situation, but in the end, this was a net positive. They knew where on Earth they were and had a portal back there, and a plan for how to go about getting back to Pennsylvania from Norway. And if they were unsuccessful, they had an intelligent mare in Sapphire Glow who would figure out what to do next. He had high hopes for returning home before too long.
They left Sapphire Glow’s house with an assurance to Lake that it probably wouldn't be longer than a day or two before they got back. They made the familiar walk to Lilac Beauty’s home, one that Tory and Roxanne stayed mostly silent for as Sapphire Glow chattered away excitedly about all of the things she wanted to see. Other cities, humans, the technology they had, history books about the world—basically, all of the things that Tory and his friends had been mostly ignoring about Equus. Once they were finally back home, Tory was going to do some serious studying into the history and culture of Equestria, more than just the basic essentials he picked up so far.
“Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!” Sapphire Glow talked excitedly. “I can't wait to see it all!” She stepped a little bit closer to Tory, continuing, “And maybe you can show me what those hands can do once we're on Earth.”
He ignored the comment, but smiled politely as they trotted along, eventually finding their way back to the house with the wormhole to Earth. What was Sapphire's obsession with human hands? Was it some kind of fetish? And was she just joking around when she flirted with him, or being serious? Tory genuinely couldn't tell. He hoped he wasn't leading her on. Even if her personality was slowly rubbing off on him.
No way was he kind of into Sapphire's flirting. That would just be ridiculous. Knowing what she looked like as a human changed absolutely nothing.
It wasn't long before he saw what she looked like as a human again. They quickly stepped through Lilac's house and gathered up the stuff they planned to take with them. He let Roxanne explain to the old mare that Lake would show up here over the next couple of days to make sure the portal was still there for them to come back through while the three of them put on a few layers of clothing. Then, with Tory carrying the bulk of the supplies on his back, the trio headed through the portal.
“How come the clothes didn't stay on us when we first went to Equus?” Tory asked as he pulled the black coat he had on tighter around him. It would've been nice to have his jeans and hiking boots back. Or anything besides these stupid mitten shoes and a dress that ruffled up and chilled him and uncovered his crotch with every gust of wind. This pretty much sucked.
But it was better than being naked, at least. It was overcast tonight, but a little bit warmer, by at least twenty degrees it felt like. The snow reflected off the clouds, brightening the scene with a grayish, almost faint orange glow. The snow was crunchy beneath his feet as the three of them walked, Tory carrying most of the supplies strapped to his back as they moved at a steady pace. It was strange how light it felt, enough that he double checked it was still securely fastened to his back every few minutes. Maybe he was stronger now? Why not? If Roxanne could shape shift on Earth still, a little extra strength was the least he deserved.
Roxanne had changed to be a fluffy looking unicorn mare while Sapphire Glow walked beside Tory. The latter casually looked him up and down every so often as they walked while the former laughed at some untold joke.
“You didn’t tell us you were a femboy, Tory,” Roxanne chuckled. “I wonder if Sapphire’s into that kind of thing.”
“Yeah, a femboy with a full beard and toned muscles, you got me,” Tory shot back without missing a beat. “Lake’s way closer to being one than I am.” That made Roxanne laugh harder, although he wasn’t sure why.
“What’s a femboy?” Sapphire Glow asked curiously.
“Doesn’t matter,” Tory said quickly, shaking his head. “How far should we be going?” he asked aloud to neither of them in particular. “I don't see the light Lake said he saw yesterday. Where is it?”
“It was probably just the moon reflecting off of a frozen lake or something,” Roxanne said. “I don't know how far we should be going either,” she told him. “This is the middle of nowhere Norway. We don't know if there's anyone on this entire island, let alone camping in our general vicinity.”
“Where exactly is “Norway” on Earth?” Sapphire asked with interest. “Can I see that device you have? The one with the map?” The dark skinned girl grabbed the phone from Tory’s hands before he could even respond. “Is Google Maps the right one?” she asked casually. “Also, who is Google?”
“Google is a technology company,” Tory told her as he snatched the device back from her. “And don't take things without asking,” he reprimanded, like she was a small child. He clicked into the app and then scrolled out, holding the screen out to Sapphire to show her. “It’s in the northern hemisphere,” he explained. “Far north. We're almost eighty degrees north, I think.”
“Definitely past the arctic circle,” Roxanne commented.
“What’s the ‘arctic circle’?” Sapphire asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” Tory shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. What matters right now is seeing if we can find that light again, and looking for towns and stuff around here. I don’t know how far I want to wander in the middle of nowhere.”
Zooming in and out on Lake’s phone in the app, Tory saw nothing. No towns, no roads, nowhere where civilization might be. If they at least had access to wikipedia, they could find out more about this island they were on, Nordaustlandet.
Tory made sure the three of them made deep footprints in the snow so they could find their way back to the cave when they had to return. Sapphire Glow fiddled with her fingers and occasionally stopped them to get out one of her instruments, taking measurements of whatever grabbed at her interest. It was mostly silent while they traveled, with Roxanne walking far in the lead by several dozen yards. Tory stayed near Sapphire Glow, who walked in front of him by a few steps. He didn’t mind, although it was strange how a horse was able to walk like a human without any issue. Maybe it was the same way he could trot and gallop and canter around without tripping over himself.
She had brown hair that the same color as his, although hers went down to her shoulders while Tory’s stopped at his ears. Her darker skin was covered up by a royal blue coat that matched her fur color as a pony, and she wore a ski cap that was the same purple and green her mane and tail were. He didn’t know if it would be considered fashionable necessarily, but it looked good on her, just like the long, red dress she wore below it did. If he didn’t know her and they were at a bar, he might try to pick her up.
And if she wasn’t a horse, of course.
It took a minute for Tory to realize that he was staring at her. He shook his head clear and looked away, putting his eyes on the scenery ahead. He didn’t need Roxanne thinking something that wasn’t going to happen might happen.
Despite the circumstances, the scenery was picturesque for a barren, mountainous, snow covered wasteland. It was slightly light outside from the reflective snow, with colorful rocks sticking out of the ice and mountains showing themselves as they traveled along, gradually changing into hills and a rocky plain littered by frozen lakes. There were no trees, but there were some animals, like birds flying overhead and reindeer running by in front of them every so often. If not for the situation, Tory would’ve said this was a great place to go camping. They were gonna do that either way anyway.
“If it looks like it’s gonna start snowing, we’ll need to turn around and book it back to the cave,” Roxanne said. “We don’t want our trail to disappear. That would be very bad. And make sure to mark down our latitude and longitude coordinates, Tory, just in case.”
“I'd normally be leaving a trail of magic behind me to make sure we don't get lost,” Sapphire said, “but just like I thought, humans can't do magic. Not that there's any out here anyway. I'm picking up about point four particles per centimeter max in spots. It's a wonder a portal to Earth was able to appear at all, honestly.”
Yeah, it was a wonder it appeared at all. Or maybe not, if he assumed that physics was different from how humans thought it worked. She was measuring magic, after all. Magic was fictional, and yet Sapphire was able to measure it.
They walked for a good five or six hours before Tory suggested they stop and set up camp for the night. He had a feeling that walking farther, regardless of the direction, wasn’t going to yield them anything good outside of time wasted making their legs sore. This island was probably uninhabited. At least in Alaska they might have had cell service to call someone.
“We should probably just turn around tomorrow,” Tory said after their tent was set up and dinner was cooking in a pot on the camp stove. “I doubt there’s anything out here. There’s no point in continuing in a place without any people unless we can find somewhere with cell service.”
“A satellite phone would be pretty nice right about now,” Roxanne commented. “You’re probably right on the no one being out here thing.” She turned to Sapphire Glow and asked, “You said your friend went to Earth through some other portal. Where exactly did he go?”
“He said it was some place called… das moneys, I think?” Sapphire scratched her scalp as she took off her hat, and continued, “It was spelled weirdly. D-e-s-m-o-i-n-e-s, he said it was.”
“Wait, you mean Des Moines?” Tory asked. “Like, the city in Iowa?” How was she able to remember such a thing? Impressive.
“I don’t think there’s very many other cities named Des Moines, Tory,” Roxanne said lightly.
“That’s where he said he went,” Sapphire shrugged. “Like I said, the portal is in the mysterious south, but I don’t have the book I got from the Canterlot Archives anymore. Record Keeper might remember where it's at though. That’s why I’ve been trying to talk to him about you guys!”
“Is there any way we could, like, go to his house and talk to him or something?” Tory asked, taking the beans he heated up off the stove and stirring them to cool it down. “It’d be better than waiting for them to get back to us, I think.”
“It’s not as simple as all that,” Sapphire smiled, like it wasn’t that big of a deal. “I don’t really know where he lives necessarily. But he should show up to the Humans in Equestria club meeting in a few days! He never misses a session!”
Tory shot her a questioning look, then glanced to Roxanne for confirmation on the explanation. She nodded her head and said, “She’s telling the truth.”
He sighed at that, and served himself and his companions dinner before lying down on his stomach. Coming out here was just a big waste of time then, it seemed. What was the point of this? Walking miles in the middle of nowhere just to get no closer to being at home than they would’ve been had they just stayed on Equus?
“Does anyone mind if I take this stuff off?” Tory asked as he pulled off the clothes he was wearing. “No? Cause I'm not wearing a dress for longer than I have to”
“Oh my, how risque,” Roxanne joked sarcastically. “I don't know what we'd do if we saw you naked again after almost a month of seeing you naked already.” It didn't even earn a smile from him, his frown a far cry from the laugh he usually gave. His mood was sour once again.
“Come on, there's no reason to be pouty like that,” Sapphire told him as she used a hand to rub his back from where he lay. “Think about all the cool stuff you're seeing being away from home! And once I talk to princess Twilight Sparkle–”
“I somehow have high doubts that the monarch of Equestria is gonna take an interest in our case.”
“She will,” Sapphire assured him as she used her hands to massage his shoulders, too. “I was her student in her school for gifted unicorns, after all! She probably hasn't gotten back to me because she's been busy.”
“And what good does her being busy do us, exactly?”
“Not much,” Sapphire admitted, “but if need be, we can always raise some money for a train trip to Canterlot to see her.”
Tory turned his head to eye her carefully. “Is that something we can actually do, or are you just saying that?” he asked. “Seeing the ruler of a country doesn't sound as simple as all that, even if you do know her personally.”
“She visits anypony who walks into her court,” Sapphire Glow explained. “And she's the best magician I know. I'm sure if we explain the situation to her, she'll help us.” The girl rubbed a hand behind her head, then smiled sheepishly. “She, uh, might say I have an ‘obsession with humans’ that she doesn't like, though. But she'll help us, trust me!”
Of course, Sapphire Glow was predictably unreliable. He couldn't help but smile though as he joked, “Yeah? She might say that? I didn't notice.”
“What can I say? Humans are cool!” she smiled brightly. “Especially their hands, see?” Sapphire massaged her fingers farther into his back, working into his shoulder blades. He let out a small grunt of pleasure as she asked, “That feels good, doesn't it?”
“Yeah, it does,” he smiled, turning to look at her again as he did. “But I've been a human all my life, so I already knew that.”
“Oh yeah?” Sapphire Glow raised an eyebrow, a little bit seductively. “What else do you know about being a human, Tory? Mind telling me?”
“There's a third person in here,” Roxanne suddenly cut in. “Don't forget that.”
It wasn't a surprise when Sapphire Glow didn't back down at that statement, not that Tory was interested in going farther right then. “We can turn this into a threesome if you want,” she said slyly. “I'm not into mares, but I'll let you have fun with him, too. You two and Lake are basically a herd already anyway.” It was a statement that might have embarrassed the friend back in Equestria, but not Tory.
“No thank you,” Roxanne said seriously, just as seriously as Lake did when Sapphire tried to flirt with him. Apparently casual flirting was over the line for both of his friends. Interesting.
“It's not that interesting,” Roxanne said, reading his mind. “I just don't wanna set expectations of a hookup.” She shrugged, and finished, “You can if you want. I'm just not gonna.”
Tory's face went just a little bit red at that comment, and Sapphire Glow stuck her tongue out at her. “Killjoy,” she said only half seriously.
“Not usually,” Roxanne responded without missing a beat before sticking her tongue out at Sapphire, too.
The girl continued massaging his back and whispered something into his ear. “Maybe when we're back in Equestria, you can come spend the night in my room,” she said. “I won't make you sleep on the floor.”
No way was the thought much more appealing now, seeing her as a human instead of a pony. That would've been silly.
“Are you being serious?” he asked back quietly, voice casual. “Or are you just being a flirt?”
She smirked at him again, and shrugged. “Maybe I am, maybe I'm not,” she told him. “I guess you'll have to find that out for yourself.”
“Yeah? Will I? I might just investigate in that case.” Why should he not flirt back? It wasn't necessarily doing any harm, and didn't imply anything.
“But I'll have you know that one night stands aren't really my thing,” he continued, a little more seriously.
“Wouldn't be a one night stand if it was more than one night,” she whispered back.
“Even though you've only known me for a few weeks?” Tory asked her. She shrugged, and ran her fingers along his spine, working them in deep and releasing any tension they might have had. “Do you have a fetish for humans or something?”
In a rare sight, the pony-turned-human actually blushed, and wasn't able to send back a quick reply. It made Tory laugh loudly to see. “You actually do? Oh my fucking god!” It was the most hilarious thing he'd heard thus far.
“I– no! I don't!” she stammered quickly. “It's not a fetish! I– I just have an interest in humans!”
“Oh, yeah, just an interest,” Tory laughed. “Of course.”
“I'm gonna go outside,” she got out quickly, thoroughly embarrassed now. “I'll be back soon. I'm gonna do some experiments.” The dark skin on her face was bright red as she left, like she put makeup on. Tory got another good laugh out of it.
It was interesting how quiet Roxanne stayed, but then she could read his mind and didn't really need to ask any questions. She knew he didn't really like her, even if they were more friendly to each other than Lake and Roxanne were to her. He was obviously just playing alone with her flirting.
“Yeah, obviously,” Roxanne teased from her spot. “I'm sure you don't really like her.”
“Okay, I have a genuine question,” Tory started. “Can you please not do that? The whole ‘reading my mind' thing?”
That made her sigh for some reason. He wasn't sure why. “I'm not really reading your mind,” she said. “I can read your emotions, and that helps me guess at what you're thinking. It's not like you're speaking your thoughts to me or something.” She sighed again, and continued to speak before he could respond. “I know it's creepy though, probably,” she said, her energy deflating. “Lake said the same thing. I'll try to stop doing that.” Then she shapeshifted herself into the weird buggish creature she seemed fond of being now and pulled herself under her sleeping bag to sleep.
“Try to set an alarm for three or four hours,” she said before she drifted off completely. “I wanna see how far up this island we can get before we turn around and head back.”
He wasn't sure why she wanted to. There was nothing here for them to see. Why wouldn't they just go back immediately? Still, he did as she requested and set the alarm.
It felt like about five minutes before Lake’s phone was blaring the chorus to Chasing Cars at full volume, forcing Tory’s eyes open. Roxanne, who had shapeshifted into a human by the time the alarm went off, wasted no time in standing up, but Sapphire Glow groaned from her spot next to him. He couldn’t blame her, although he half expected her to crawl into his sleeping bag while he was out. Then again, that would be a huge step over the line compared to just flirting.
“Sweet Celestia, turn that music off already!” she demanded, turning over and putting her fingers in her ears. “Buck, it’s too early for us to get up! I just fell asleep!”
“It’s time to get up anyway,” Roxanne said. “We need to get a move on. I wanna see what else is out there.”
“We can see what else is out there when Celestia raises the sun at least,” Sapphire shot back. “It’s still dark outside.”
“We left in the middle of the day,” Roxanne continued as she rubbed her eyes. “And no one raises the sun on Earth. The Earth revolves around it.” Then she asked, “What time is it, Tory?”
“Three twenty three in the morning,” he replied, just as tiredly as Sapphire Glow did. “The sun might take a long while to come up, if it comes up at all,” he explained. “It’s late October and we’re above the arctic circle. Chances are it doesn’t come up.”
“You never told me what that is,” Sapphire Glow said groggily as she finally started to climb out of the sleeping back. She apparently copied Tory’s idea and stripped off her clothes before bed, too. He might have seen her naked as a human before, and all the time as a pony, but he still couldn’t help but blush right then. He wasn’t entirely sure why he did.
“It’s a place on Earth where, because of its tilt, the sun doesn’t rise at all in the winter and it doesn’t set at all in the summer,” Roxanne told her. “Now get dressed so we can get moving. I wanna see what’s at the end of this island before too long has passed.”
It’s gonna be a bunch of nothing, Tory couldn’t help but think. He didn’t voice that thought though. It wouldn’t be helpful in the slightest.
He and Sapphire got dressed while Roxanne watched before she shapeshifted back into a fluffy pony, a pegasus stallion this time. Despite her insistence at wanting to get a move on, she looked just as tired as Sapphire did, and probably as tired as he thought he looked to them. Maybe more so. He didn't mention it though as she spoke up.
“I think I'm getting better at changing,” she yawned. “I can kind of choose what I want to look like instead of copying the things I see. I wonder though if I could change into inanimate objects. I've been trying, but haven't been able to. I don't see why I couldn't though.” She looked at Sapphire expectantly, waiting for an answer.
The dark skin girl shrugged and let out a yawn of her own. “You'd have to ask a changeling about that one,” she said. “I have no idea. Did we bring any coffee with us?”
Coffee and a breakfast of cereal and peanut butter sandwiches was had, Tory remaining silent for most of the meal. It would probably be another half a day of walking from what he could tell before they reached the end of the island. Another campout after that, and then they'd have to book it home so they could meet the two day deadline Lake had for them. It was going to be exhausting, traveling across this cold, mountainous Norwegian island, all for nothing most likely. No people, no cell service, no sign of civilization at all. What a waste of time.
“I know you said it's creepy when I comment on what you're thinking,” Roxanne started as she scarfed down another sandwich, “but it's not a waste of time. We're ruling out the possibility of this island being useful. What if the map is wrong and we find a town with a port? Or what if we can't get to whatever portal Sapphire's friend went to and we have to build a boat from here to the island below it? There was a city farther into that one, wasn't there?”
“Yeah, miles and miles from us, across mountains and through water, in the winter, with no sun and presumably wild animals,” Tory complained. “Traveling through all that is gonna be useless if Lake’s phone’s battery runs out, and dangerous if there’s a blizzard or a polar bear or even a walrus that attacks us. We basically won’t be able to get anywhere from this island until the summer, and that’s almost a year away! And that’s not even getting started on all the issues trying to use a boat brings!”
He wasn’t yelling, but his voice was on the edge of it by the time he finished, his fists on his forehead as he closed his eyes and seethed. Why did he have to be an idiot and go through that portal in Lake’s closet? Why didn’t he just listen to his friend and wait for someone else to investigate it? He wasn't usually that impulsive, and it wasn't really impulsive even then! He was genuinely planning on just getting a look around and heading back out. And because of that, he was stuck in this useless situation.
“It'll be fine, Tory,” Sapphire Glow said kindly, softly, with more comfort in her voice than she ever displayed before. He didn't even know she had it in her as she rested a hand on his back. “We'll get you back home. Like Roxie said! This is just in case Princess Twilight Sparkle can't help us, and if we can't find the portal Record Keeper used when he visited Earth. It's just a contingency that you probably won't even need! Look at it like an adventure. An adventure of science and exploration for all ponykind!”
“Yeah. That,” Roxanne nodded. They were both right, of course. There were plenty of other options. This island in Norway was just gonna be a last resort, one they should be prepared for before they might have to use it. If they ever even did need it. Tory closed his eyes and breathed out a long sigh like he saw Lake do many times to get back to calm.
“Yeah,” he said as his frustration faded to the back burner. “Of course,” he nodded. “Why don't we set off out of here now then, so we're there and back before Lake dies of an anxiety attack?” With no disagreements, Tory unzipped the flap of the tent to step outside, and gasped at what he saw.
It was snowing.
It wasn't heavy snow; in fact, it was pretty light. But light or heavy wasn't the issue. The real problem was that their footprints they left as a trail back to their cave were quickly being covered up and obscured. In a few minutes, or less, their path back would vanish completely and they would be lost. Then Lake really would have a panic attack. Why didn't any of them think to bring something else to mark the trail?
“Fucking shit,” was all Tory could think to say.