Something–or someone–was poking me in the side. “Ow. Ow. Ow!. Stop it!”
“Teresa says it’s time to wake up. Breakfast will be ready soon,” a male voice said while its owner poked my leg.
“Sam, for the love of Celestia, stop poking me!!” I yelled while turning around and grabbing his hand.
“Who’s Celestia?”
“Our ruler. Now, if I let your hand go, will you stop poking me? I am awake now.”
“Sure, but you better come down for breakfast. We’re having pancakes!”
The moment I let go of his hand, he yelled, “Poke!” and poked me one more time before running away.
“You little brat!” I jumped out of the bed only to land face-first on the ground, tangled in bed sheets. “I’m not up enough for this.”
After what seemed like an eternity of wrestling with the sheets, I freed myself. Carefully I walked down the stairs. Entering the kitchen, I saw the other three already eating. “Coffee.”
“Over on the counter,” Teresa said, pointing to the half-full pot of coffee. “There are still plenty of pancakes left too.”
“Thanks,” I said, lifting up the pot of coffee and pouring it into a mug. Moving over to the stove, I grabbed five pancakes, put them on a plate, and brought the plate and mug to the table.
“Well, you sure are getting the hang of hands quickly,” Bonnie said.
“Eh, they make up for not having magic,” I replied, looking at these weird little "hands.” “Although, I wouldn’t have had to walk to each thing.” I took a sip of the coffee.
“One, black coffee, really? Two, I was thinking about the hypnosis session I did with Lauren. During a memory of her childhood, she mentioned that her mother had a teal glow coming from her hand. Would that mean anything to you?” Teresa asked.
“One, it’s the only real way to drink it. Two, when a unicorn is using magic, there is a glow around their horn and around anything they are interacting with. The glow is generally the color of their coat or mane, like mine would be mint-green in color. Hmm, teal… My mom’s coat was te–” I trailed off. “Of course! It makes sense now.”
Sam raised an eyebrow. “I’m not following.”
“My mom could only ever do levitation. She couldn’t even do some of the simpler things taught to kids. My dad always said it was something genetic, something that made her horn weak, but what if she swapped places with this world’s version of my mom too?”
“Is body-swapping something common?” Teresa asked.
“Never heard of it happening before.”
“You know how unlikely this sounds, right?”
“I don’t care. I need to find out. Maybe she knows a way back.” I got up and started to leave the room. Turning back I asked, “Bonnie, do you know where Lauren’s parents live?”
“Yes, but they live across the country. Why not just call them?”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“You have your phone on you, don’t you?”
“Is that square glass-and-plastic thing I found in my pocket?”
“You really don’t know what a phone is? Here, give it to me. I’ll call them.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the device. “I just thought it was some really crappy mirror.” I handed it over to Bonnie, and she held down a button on the top of the phone for a few seconds before the front of it lit up. “Why is there a picture of a bitten apple?”
“Oh boy, this is going to be great,” Sam said while laughing. Teresa smacked him in the back of the head. “Ow, what was that for?” Teresa just rolled her eyes.
The screen changed again to a picture of Lauren and Bonnie. “How are a bunch of changing pictures going to help me talk to Lauren’s mom?”
“Just watch.” Bonnie slid her finger across the front of the device, and it changed again. This time, there were a lot of little
boxes marked with words. She tapped one, changing the front of the device once again.
“This is so magic! Like, how could you do this without magic? I knew you had it here!”
“It's technology. It's actually working off a bunch of circuit boards and sensors that al…” Teresa started explainining before seeing I wasn’t understanding. “You know what, let’s just call it human magic.”
Bonnie slid her finger up the device, making a list follow her finger. She stopped at one and tapped it. “Lauren, I’m going to put it on speaker, so we can all hear.” She looked up at Sam and glared at him. “You, don’t say a single word. Got it?” He gulped. “Good, also, Teresa, it might help for you to not say anything either. Her parents like me, and if there is something going on here, they might not be as inclined to say something with others listening.” Teresa just nodded. “Now, Lyra, let me start.” She tapped a green symbol and the front changed again. Tapping another symbol made noise come out of the device. “It’s ringing.” There was a small noise.
A voice came from the device. “Hello?”
“Oh hello, Mr. Hammonds. Is Mrs. Hammonds there? Lauren wants to ask her a question,” Bonnie said.
“Yes, she is,” the voice responded. In a more muffled volume, it said, “Honey, phone for you. It’s Lauren.” Returning to a normal volume, he continued ,“Why didn’t Lauren call herself?”
“Oh, she’s right here. Her hands are just a little preoccupied with making breakfast. I have it on speaker.” Bonnie tapped me in the stomach with her elbow.
“Hey, Dad,” I said, still not understanding how I was talking to somebody who wasn’t in the room.
“Hi, Sweetie! What’ch ya making for breakfast?” he asked.
Bonnie pointed to the pancakes on the table.
“Just pancakes.”
“That’s cool. Well, here’s your mother.” There was a shuffling noise, and a new voice came out of the device.
“Hey there, sweetheart. Is everything alright? It’s only seven here, and you never call this early.”
“Mom, I need to ask you something.”
“What is it, Lauren?”
“Mom… does the name Alma Maredie Heartstrings mean anythi–”
A click cut me off.