//------------------------------// // An Unexpected Visitor // Story: Angels and Demons // by lunabrony //------------------------------// Had his message not gone through? He pictured her crying her heart out, and not noticing. Or having had a sudden emergency call and was unable to answer. Though there was another possibility, she couldn't respond because she wasn't hearing him this time. Put on magical ignore? No, but something must be different. Had her mother already cracked down with spells to block the passage way from this world to the other? The startling fact fell on him like a ton of bricks. He was non-human, and he was standing in the middle of his old living room. He quickly moved away from any windows retreating to his room. Had the cleaning lady come and gone for today? The house was overly clean, she had come and gone. He was alone for now, unless he had an unexpected visitor. But how long would that last? He'd be discovered eventually. Poor Angel was likely absolutely heartbroken, he couldn't blame her if she didn't want to talk to him right now. Novaria was a more likely cause, preventing him from contacting her daughter. Incompetence assumed before malice, it was always possible that Angel had simple bungled the spell, forgetting to include a transformation spell turning him human. If that was the case she'd find out, and then either her, or Novaria, or some high-level unicorn would be sent here to fix the problem and come back. Unease settled in his stomach when he realized that there was a chance that this wasn't going to happen. It seemed to be the only option, but he had lost the short magical intuitive insight that Angel had given him, he couldn't really even speculate anymore what could have gone wrong. Alone, no danger for now. He simply had to wait it out. Should he take some painkillers? Technically he was a non-Earth pony right now, so he didn't know what the painkillers might do to him. He tried finding his phone, or computer, keep himself occupied with finding out what his father and brother had been up to. His phone was on the desk where he'd left it, next to the computer. Both were off, which was not unusual when he went on vacation, in order to distance himself from social media. His father likely would be unconcerned either way, but Thomas would drive out in a heartbeat if something was the matter. Okay now the challenge of turning them on. The novelty of hoofs had worn off, he didn't mind them, but right now he really wish he had fingers. There would probably still be a good charge on the battery. Steadying the base with his left hoof, he tried to get a tip of the right hoof to press down on the power on button, getting life into it. The computer was the second best bet, e-mail when all else fails. He was still a unicorn, he still had magic. He was just terrible at it, that was the only catch. If all else failed, he could use his horn to hit the keys. After a few fumbling tries, his computer turned out. At the same time, he heard the most wonderful voice that he'd ever heard in his life. A call from the President at that moment would not be anywhere near as satisfying. <"Silver?.....Its..... can't get.... you okay?"> He was relieved, they could get it fixed eventually. <"Yes Angel, its Silver, something has gone wrong. I'm still a pony!> He repeated the message at least three times to make sure that enough of it came through that she'd get it. What was going on? He hadn't expected her mother to crack down so quickly. Something was wrong, Angel wasn't getting through, and he doubted he was getting through either. But at least she knew something was wrong. Her voice was getting even more distant. <"Will help....... can't....... find.....Library!"> Her voice faded, and he couldn't get anything more than that. Well that didn't help at all. It was more than before, something could be done. He wasn't sure Novaria would rush to help him. Even if he had returned a pony. Though he could hope against that. There wasn't anything he could do. Remain hidden until he couldn't and then what? One step at a time Silver, he thought to himself. He navigated through his mail. Hopefully his brother hadn't gone nuts. Spending some time reassuring his brother that he was home was worth it. His mail was mostly junk and a few outrageous hospital bills. He realized his saddle bag had fallen off, and a note he hadn't seen before was sticking out of one of the pockets. He wasn't supposed to bring anything. They'd missed that. This alarmed him. Angel had expressed in no uncertain terms that this was dangerous. Was is it this that had caused him to remain a pony? He looked to see what was in there. The note turned out to be from Angel, and was rather short. "I know I forbade you from bringing anything, but I so wanted you to have something to remember me. If anyone asks, just make something up. Be safe." -Angel . Taped to the bottom of the note, was a single bit. [SEVERAL HOURS LATER] The long night was almost over, Silver hadn't hardly gotten any sleep. His horn was reacting to the darkness, glowing dimly like a light left on down the hallway, and he hadn't quite managed to figure out how to turn it off yet. To add to his anticipation, he felt like he was being watched, and the feeling had persisted for several hours. He had checked his room several times, but found nothing, and it was beginning to annoy him. There were no spells that he knew, beyond levitation. He'd have to hide the old fashioned way, and that was going to be a huge problem. How on earth would he hid here. He wasn't as gigantic as Earth earth ponies… horses, were. Needing to think straighter, he doused his head by levitating a sphere of cold water onto his head, wiping it off against the towel. Clop, clop, his hooves were noise, there were no hiding them. Had he left any marks, he started pacing the hallway, looking to see if any prints had been left. Looking for unstraightened corners, and misalignments in anything. His urges were back, the urge to straighten, to correct, to put everything in its place. They'd been gone the last few days.Did it simply not exist in Equestria? If it did, he hadn't had it. Another point for Canterlot. As he paced, a rather unsettling thing happened. The lights flickered, and a large, fanged smile appeared in the center of the room. It wasn't attached to anything, it was just.... there. He knew magic when he saw it, which was a relief, perhaps this entity could help him. Then again, perhaps this entity wanted to kill him. The disembodied jaws circled him, reciting. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the JubJub bird, and shun, the frumious Bandersnatch!" It spoke in a voice indicating it was having far too much toying with him. This, was just confusing. He had anticipated a grumpy unicorn, who'd flash here diagnose the problem and unceremoniously return him to mundane humanity. This was unexpected on multiple levels. Silver was heartbroken for having to leave Angel, he was scared and he was tired, he had a headache and he hadn't had his pain killers and he'd just found out that for a couple days he'd been free of a mental compulsion he'd had since childhood. Eyes following the jaw that circled him in the dark, he took aim, turned on instinct, and bucked as hard as he could.