Through the Aurora

by Starscribe

Chapter 12: Filled with Wonderful Things

Their accommodations proved to be nothing special, the same sort of housing she might’ve expected at any cheap hostel back in her own world.

She was a little intimidated when she saw that of the two rooms, hers was the one with two beds. Sharp had Emerald staying with her, without so much as asking.

But she didn’t voice her complaints. Just opening her mouth to try and explain it made her feel like an idiot. What am I supposed to say, that I shouldn’t let her stay in here because of something I’m not?

Besides, everyone was naked all the time anyway.

She didn’t actually leave any of her possessions behind though, not when they were everything she had of her human life. Sharp watched her leave the room like she was crazy. “Your… shoulders aren’t getting tired with all that weight?”

They were, infuriatingly. Though it had all easily fit in her bag when she’d been brought here, without the slightest difficulty. She still didn’t know if it was being female, being a bird, or some combination of the two. “I… don’t want them to get stolen. If I lose it… how am I going to prove I’m the person I’m supposed to be?”

Besides, she wanted to keep her radio with her at all times. There hadn’t been any transmissions since they visited the door, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be. For all she knew, Corey might figure out how to talk through it any moment now. Besides, the further away we get, the more we push the range on this thing. Had they gone further than fifty miles yet?

“Uh…” Sharp raised an eyebrow. “Hold on, I think they’ve got a safe at the front. We can lock it up for a few bits. Carrying all that into a library would made them think we’re crazy.”

As it turned out, they did have a safe up front. A few bits later, and Theo had left behind everything but the radio. She still felt nervous about it—but with Sharp carrying the key, she was about as safe as she could be.

Theo shivered as they left the hotel, as she was hit by the full force of an arctic breeze. How was Sharp not freezing?

Worse, he was looking at her as they set off down the path into town, with Emerald bouncing up and down with increasing excitement. “Why can’t we do the palace today?”

“Because we have to do the library first,” Sharp answered, finally breaking eye-contact with her. He pointed them towards a sidewalk, making way for cart traffic down the center of the road. The roads looked far safer to walk than anything on Earth, though there were still occasionally carriages and express carts with ponies galloping ahead of them as fast as they could. “We don’t know where we’re going, so it’s hard to buy the right supplies. Tomorrow we’ll try to fit it in after we know.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard, right?” Emerald still had the camera, and she looked to be taking her job as a recorder very seriously. I wonder if I’ll need to dig out my spare SD card. “All the hippogriffs ever came from one place. I heard it’s a huge mountain city. Like Canterlot, but it’s rising out of the ocean instead.”

“You’re not wrong,” Sharp said. “But oceans are vast, and ports in the south are rare. If we were off by even a few degrees at this latitude, we could end up hundreds of miles in the wrong direction. We’ll copy a chart from the right book, then it should be a straight shot.”

Theo found herself listening less and less to what Sharp said as they walked into the city, and its spectacular structures rose around them. Only her occasional shivering could distract her from the music coming from street-corners, the smell of roasted crystal berries, and the cheerful greetings of ponies as they walked.

Sharp pulled them aside into a street that had been completely blocked off, and was densely packed with little stalls and vendors. “You two wait here a minute,” he said, voice almost artificially flat. “I need to… sell a few things.” He pointed across the street, to a wide fountain splashing full of clear water. “Wait for me there.”

Theo resisted her desire to follow him into the market only by reminding herself of just how big a favor Sharp was doing for them. He basically uprooted his whole life for me. The least I can do is be cooperative.

So they crossed, and Theo found a comfortable bench to watch Emerald as she circled and splashed in the fountain, chatting with a few other children and proudly showing off her camera.

Theo let her mind drift for a few minutes. As a result, she didn’t notice the pony approaching her from behind until she had taken the seat beside her. “Hope you don’t mind. Lot of shopping.”

Theo turned, and saw the pony wasn’t lying. They had half a dozen different bags on the ground in front of them, filled with various frivolities. Apparently this was one of the rich tourists Sharp had talked about, the ones who could afford to live in the city while they visited.

They were also a totally new kind of pony, one Theo hadn’t seen before. Like a pegasus, but with slitted eyes and wings made of skin. “You’re a bat,” she said, before she could realize how stupid that made her sound.

The pony looked offended for a moment, before pausing long enough to take her in. “Right, right. You’re a hippogriff… you only come in two tribes, isn’t that right? And they’re connected. I live in Canterlot, so I’ve seen several of you. You always visit your embassy before exploring the city. I didn’t know you had one this far north.”

Theo briefly considered some clever lie to give this mare, but dismissed the idea quickly enough. She sounds like she knows more about hippogriffs than I do. She didn’t need to lie to a total stranger in a park.

“I don’t know either. I just came to visit the library with my… friend.”

“Oh, I see.” The bat leaned closer to her, grinning conspiratorially with her fangs exposed. “You wouldn’t be the first one to prefer ponies. I mean… that is where you came from in the first place, obviously. Some griffon and some pony thought they would get along well together.” She nodded slightly toward her. “Clearly they have. And from the look of you, you’re even more compatible.”

Theo tucked her tail, ears flattening to her head. She probably would’ve laughed off something like that on Earth, but now… it was all she could do to nod, embarrassment making her face red. “He’s just a friend. Trying to help me understand Equestria.”

She struggled for something else to stop this pony going back to that subject, and her eyes settled on her shopping bag. One was blank white, with a single black feather in the center. You’re kidding me. “You visited the, uh… Feather store.” Seriously? “What did you think about them?”

“Oh, Feather. Yes, I suppose you would be proud of them. Hippogriffs already finding success in Equestria.” The bat bent down with her wings, lifting the bag up into her lap and removing something from inside. It was wrapped in paper and lacked any plastic parts, but there was still a familiar design in place.

“Take a guess what this is.”

Theo looked, and her eyes went wide. There was a speaker, a tuner dial, a coil antenna. “That’s a crystal radio.” They were the simplest kind, easy enough that POWs could make them from scrap material and empty toilet rolls. This had been made to a much fancier aesthetic, with a metal shell and traced wiring on a primitive circuit board. Like something she might’ve seen inside a 1950s radio, with thick metal lines on green silicon. The few resistors she saw would’ve been as thick around as bits.

But that’s way beyond anything else I’ve seen in Equestria.

“Nothing crystal about it, so far as I can see. But you’re right. Feather makes radios small enough that they’re portable—can you believe that? Listen to the EBC anywhere in the world. There’s an antenna here in the Empire, look.” The pony twisted a dial, and a light came on. A fuzzy, distorted voice came into focus.

“And we’re live at the Hoofball Semifinals, Trottingham vs. Crystal Empire.” There wasn’t much range to it, but somehow she guessed that was more the quality of the transmission than anything about the radio.

Her stunned reaction seemed to satisfy the pony, even if she hadn’t guessed correctly about the reasons why.

“It is incredible, isn’t it? You can buy more power sticks at Feather stores all over Equestria, anywhere that matters.” She turned it over, showing the back. Theo already knew what she’d see there—a little metal housing for a pair of batteries. Wrapped in paper, with metal only on the ends. But she knew a battery when she saw one.

“Does Feather have any… competitors?” she asked. “Making electronics like this.”

“Nopony can touch them,” the bat said. “I suppose eventually they will. But right now, they’re the best there is. Worth every bit.”

“Summer,” Sharp called from the street corner. “Summer, where are you?”

“That’s him.” She rose, nodding politely to the pony. “Thanks for showing me.”

“Of course, dear. Enjoy your visit to Equestria.”

Might be too rich, but at least she didn’t try to kill me. Summer waved a wing to get Emerald’s attention, then hurried back to meet Sharp near the street. His satchel looked almost empty now, though he was holding something on his shoulder. A little vest, in bright green that almost matched Theo’s mane. “I, uh… had a little extra, and you look like you’re freezing. Why not wear something that fits?”

Theo beamed at him, taking the vest and slipping it on. Emerald had to help button it up along her back, which it did with plenty of clearance for her wings. The cloth was dyed wool of some kind, thick enough to instantly warm her core. Didn’t help with her backside, but… she stopped shivering almost instantly.

“Thanks, Sharp. You didn’t have to…” She leaned forward, hugging him briefly in gratitude.

“Didn’t have to do anything. But it’s part of the adventure. Can’t change the world if you’re an icicle. Now… the library. I’m sorry to say it probably won’t be terribly interesting. But if it has the maps we need, that doesn’t matter.”

A library in an alien universe populated by quadrupeds with an entirely independent history sounded incredibly interesting to her, though there was still one persistent worry in the back of her mind. “Do you think I’ll be able to read anything there?”

“I…” His eyes lingered on her necklace for a second. ”Honestly Summer, I have no idea. Can you read the writing around the Empire?”

She nodded. “Looks like English to me, even though I know it isn’t. It’s… freaky when I think about it too much. But it’s not hard to just pretend it is and not look too close.”

“Then maybe some of them,” Sharp answered. He pointed down the street, to a particularly impressive crystal facade. “Lots of the books here will be useless to both of us. They come from the Empire’s past, and they aren’t even written in Ponish. Only a few of the locals can read it, the ones who came from back then.”

It sounded like there was an interesting story there, but Theo let it go. This world had too much of its own history for her to try and understand it in one day. She followed Sharp up to the library.

“Wait you two!” Emerald shouted from behind her, annoyed. “Stand next to each other. I want to take one of you together!”

“We can’t… right, it’s instant. Alright.” They stood close together, and Summer felt his leg wrap around her shoulder. She didn’t push him off.

Then it was up the steps and into the Crystal Library. I’m still coming home. This is just a little detour along the way, that’s all. Corey knows I’m alive. He’ll keep the rescue team working on it until I get back.

Comments

[Alfaridwan Setiabudi]

More please

[Goldfur]

“Summer,” Theo called from the street corner. “Summer, where are you?”

Shouldn't that be Sharp calling?

[FanOfMostEverything]

Only a few of the locals can read it, the ones who came from back then.

Now that's interesting. How much of it is immigration overwhelming the natives, and how much is time since the return?

Of course, the Feather store raises all kinds of other questions. I knew the rabbit hole would get deeper, but I wasn't expecting the floor to fall out from under me.

[TheArchive]

“We can’t… right, it’s instant. Alright.” They stood close together, and Summer felt his leg wrap around her shoulder. She didn’t push him off.

And now Theo is starting to go by his new name in his thoughts. I'm not really sure how to feel about this; This isn't someone voluntarily going through the transition, so it's kind of off-putting seeing how little it seems to be bothering him.

[Theocatic]

Their accommodations proved to be nothing special, the same sort of housing she might’ve expected at any cheap hostel back in her own world.

I think you mean hotel, instead of hostle.

[Osiris Prime]

9631106
Probably not, Hostels are definitely a thing.

[Nitro Indigo]

So I guess I was wrong about the hippogriffs being seaponies at this time, but what about them having two tribes? Is that entirely your headcanon, or is it vaguely based on something you’ve noticed in canon?

[ChiefKitsune]

Love this story.

[Workable Goblin]

9631106
I'm pretty sure Starscribe means hostel, indeed.

[Starscribe]

9631066
Yeah, fixed that. X.x

[Mortefleur]

heh, it just hit me that Theo looks like a Leafeon in the cover art

[Lucky Ray]

9633699
Now I need to get that drawn.. but you are absolutely right, it wasn't on purpose I sweear..

[Circut Breaker]

(Me at an undetermined point in the past)
You have my curiosity. *adds to back burner bookshelf*
(Me, moments ago, looking up “barrow observatory” expecting a Fandom page for His Dark Materials)
Now you have my attention.

I shall start reading now, methinks.

[djthomp]

A crystal radio, and enough of an existing installed radio base that they're transmitting Hoofball games. That says something.

[Skittlebug]

9645709
I have an arbitrary tech scale for a story I'm writing, and this would nudge them into type 3. Barely.
We're type 6, and my civilisation is type 11. Type 20 is the highest you can go. Until we think of crazier tech.

[Theocatic]

9631149
Huh learn something new every day

[EverfreeSparkle]

This 'Feather' company is suspicious. Another human-turned-hypogryph founded the company, perhaps?

[KvAT]

9796238
I will be utterly surprised if that's not the case, tbh.
If I were him... her... I would try and contact whoever owned the darn thing. Judging by how Theo Summer entered Equestria, the other who had entered before him must've been a radio technician or similar, since they must also be working on something like that tower Theo first worked on.

1950s PoW radio with replaceable batteries... That sounds like something reverse engineered from a walkie-talkie, tuned to FM wave.

[Ether Echoes]

“We can’t… right, it’s instant. Alright.” They stood close together, and Summer felt his leg wrap around her shoulder. She didn’t push him off.

So freaking cute