Strange New World

by Boopy Doopy

Bury Me

Tory was relieved about the way things were going, if only because a few days in jail was better than being locked up in prison for months. Or years.

In general though, he still had to hide a lot of his anxiety. Being in a strange new world was almost a secondary concern, second to not being at home. He had missed at least four days of work. His family probably already filed a missing person's report for him. The only saving grace was Lake's saying he texted people before they left. Why hadn't Tory done that?

He wondered how Roxanne could be so casual about all of this, but maybe she was just better at hiding her emotions than even Tory was. At least Lake showed his anxiety. In a weird way, it made him feel a little better.

"It's weird being naked in public like this," his friend said with a frown as the trio carefully stepped out of the building. Lake carried their papers in the wing opposite of the one he had his phone in as he continued, "It feels indecent, even though none of these horses have any concern for modesty anyway. It's like a nudist colony. Even just shirts were better than nothing." Tory watched him glance behind him and scowl as he ruffled his wings and adjusted his tail.

"Well, hopefully it won't be a problem for us soon because we're back home. Speaking of which, you should turn your camera back on and record some of this…where the heck did Sapphire go?"

"Over here!" she called, raising a hoof in the air to wave before trotting over to them. "I'm glad you guys didn't have any trouble!" she told them. "Judge Standing wasn't yelling at you like he did me, was he?"

"Nah, he was pretty reasonable," Roxanne told her. Was it really a lie? It was pretty reasonable advice that he gave to them. They had no choice on whether or not to follow it though.

“But anyway,” she continued while Lake fiddled with turning on his phone. “You’re gonna help us with getting back to Earth, right?” she asked. “You said you had some notes in your house to look over first.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” she nodded. “It’ll probably take longer than a day though, but like I said, my mom won’t mind if you stay with us for a little while." She grinned, and with a slightly seductive voice, said, "Lake and Tory and stay in my room if they want."

"I'm not into horses," was Lake's immediate, toneless reply. Tory half expected him to laugh and be embarrassed, but there was none of that. He didn't even glance up as he struggled with getting the phone's camera turned on. "These dang hooves are good for nothing, seriously."

“Let me try,” Sapphire offered before lighting up her horn and snatching the device from out of his grasp. “What do I do?”

Lake let out a defeated sigh and explained. “You have to tap the camera icon with a finger on the screen, but none of us have those. And pony noses are too big to try and use like a finger, and wing feathers don’t work like that.”

“I can make human fingers with my magic,” Sapphire said, already lighting her horn up brighter to do so. “I assume the ‘camera icon’ is the one on here that looks like a shutter, right?”

“Yeah, but… how the heck are you able to do that?” Lake asked, surprised. “What do you mean by magic, too?”

Sapphire Glow shrugged as a ghostly looking see through finger touched the phone screen. “I just mean magic. Like, thaumatology? And every unicorn I know can do magic. Technically, every pony in Equestria has magic, but only unicorns have active magic.”

“Do you think I could do magic then, too?” Roxanne asked. “Because magic doesn’t exist on Earth, as far as I know. Then again, magical portals that turn you into horses shouldn’t exist either, yet here we are.”

“I don’t see why not,” the mare answered. “I can try teaching you if you want. That was an easy spell I learned in the Humans in Equestria club. I think it’s doing what you want it to now, Lake.” She floated the device back over to him, and then smiled slyly at Tory. “And I didn’t hear a ‘no’ from you, handsome.”

Tory chuckled at that, and sent a smile her way. “I think you should focus on getting us home, Sapphire.” The statement was followed by a sideways look thrown his way by Lake. He wasn’t sure why he was giving it to him. Roxanne thought it was kind of funny at least.

“Still not a no,” Sapphire replied, wearing the same sly grin. Then she said, “We should probably get going to my place now though," she told them. "I would totally wanna go and investigate Lilac Beauty's house right now, but I'm pretty sure she's gonna be on guard now that you three showed up there."

"Uh, if we can get home without having to risk being thrown in prison, that would be ideal," Lake told her.

"Aww, come on," Roxanne said lightly as she touched his shoulder. "Committing felonies in a strange world is part of the fun of being warped across the universe, right?"

"I'd certainly say so," Tory joined in.

"I'm pretty sure it's not," Lake replied, "but I guess I'm being outvoted since we're the only three to ever have traveled across the universe like this. Democracy sucks.”

If Tory had to be trapped in a strange world as a horse with any two people he knew, he would pick Lake and Roxanne every time. Both of them, even Lake as anxious and unadventurous as he could be, were still able to joke around in the face of adverse circumstances. It was part of why they were friends.

"Nah, no way," Sapphire told them as she started to walk ahead. "The first ponies to travel across the universe?" she asked. "If by 'travel the universe', you mean 'visit other worlds', you're definitely not the first. Maybe the first humans in Equestria though. Or even the first humans to travel across the universe, I don't know. But you're definitely not the first creatures ever to do so."

"What do you mean?" Tory asked, trotting to catch up enough to walk beside her. It was so strange how natural being a horse felt. It was like he was made for it.

"I'm pretty sure Princess Celestia has been to other worlds," she replied. "Through mirrors, I think, if I remember right. Princess Twilight might have been, too. Oh, and one of my friends told me he's been to Earth. I don't remember when, but apparently it was only for a few seconds."

"Is he one of those ponies that was in your humans club?" Tory asked. This was good news. That meant what happened wasn't a fluke and the three of them could indeed get back home somehow.

"Yup!" Sapphire confirmed. "Record Keeper is his name. He doesn't live in Manhattan anymore though, but I bet he'll wanna come visit me once I send him a message about you guys. None of my friends will be able to resist meeting you guys. We're gonna have to hold an emergency session with you three there."

The conversation died down after that. Most of the walk to Sapphire's home was done in silence. It gave Tory a chance to appreciate the scenery of his new surroundings. It wasn't terribly different from what New York City looked like today, with skyscrapers and large colorful posters and more paved roads as they passed through. There was even a horse version of the Statue of Liberty they were able to see as they walked. What they saw, however, made the eighteen hundreds-esque technology stand out.

There were things like classic yellow taxi-carriages being pulled by horses with other horses seated in them, and what had to be electrical light poles lining the sidewalk, unilluminated right now during the late morning. There was a train station they passed by, and shops that sold things like typewriters and quill pens and groceries in small markets. There were nineteen forties styled theaters they passed by, and bright green parks that people—ponies—walked through to pass libraries and museums. Nothing like arcades or theme parks or big corporate stores seemed to exist here yet, at least from what Tory could see. He made sure to point out particularly interesting looking things, directing Lake where to film on his camera at times.

Of course, the United States, whether in the nineteenth century or the twenty-first century, didn’t have magic shops. Some stores advertised spell books and charms and potions, others declared themselves as institutes for the education of thaumotological studies. No wands or rings or magic capes though, nothing like out of Harry Potter. These stores seemed to present themselves in the same way that a local computer store would. Tory had to ask about it.

“That basically confirms you guys don’t have magic on Earth,” Sapphire Glow said as she continued forward through the city. “At least, there are no magic users there. There must be some if you’re here. Maybe one of you was hanging around a magic polluted area and it built up until it created a portal?”

“I’m not sure how I would know if I was,” Lake told her. “What the heck is magic pollution?”

"Exactly what it sounds like," Sapphire told him. "If there's too much magic, it starts to pollute the air and environment surrounding it. It doesn't happen often here, but if one of the princesses is trying to save Equestria, it's possible. Or if there were, like, thousands of unicorns all casting complex spells all day for weeks. I think it’s what happened to the Everfree Forest, if I recall correctly."

Lake glanced between Tory and Roxanne, unsure, then replied, "There's no way anything like that happened on Earth.'

"I figured," the mare shrugged. "But if it was happening, there could be a lot of weird things. In theory, it's not very likely, but it could potentially force the creation of a portal from another world to Equestria. There'd have to be a lot of it though… or maybe that could happen in reverse? I need to look at my notes and get back to the Canterlot Archives when I have a chance. Lilac Beauty's house didn't seem polluted though."

"Has anything like that happened anywhere else in this world?" Tory asked.

"Not that I know of. For opening portals anyway. Magic pollution happens all the time though if you let it build up without doing anything about it. Most cities have specialized unicorns though who go through and soak up all the magic every few months to stop that from happening. They don't go into people's homes, but it dilutes it enough that it doesn't really matter."

And they didn't have anything to clean 'magic' out of everything on Earth. Why would they? Sapphire's explanation made sense… from a storybook perspective. Nothing based in reality though. But then was any of this based in reality so far?

The quartet walked along, Tory once again paying attention to their surroundings and taking in everything, just in case. It turned out that, here in horse world, just like on Earth, there were bad neighborhoods to be in. Sapphire was leading them into one of them, evidenced by the more rundown looking buildings and cracked, jaggedly paved sidewalks. There was more trash on the street, like paper and broken bottles, and there was some kind of feeling in the air that Tory didn't have quite the right words to describe. Maybe tense? Almost physically so, it seemed.

"Don't worry about that," Sapphire told them before anyone could ask. "That's just the magic pollution from some of the factories we have out here. The cleaners will get to it in a few weeks. You just came at a bad time."

"Did you feel anything like that before that portal appeared?" Tory asked Lake. "Or did you see it show up at all in your closet?"

"I didn't see it show up, but it might have felt like this?" he replied, unsure. "I don't know. I don't really remember. Probably not I would think. But maybe?"

"We're safe out here though, right?" Roxanne asked, looking around at the scene. "This place looks and feels sketchy. Like someone's just waiting for an opportunity to pounce on us." She didn't look nervous—when did Roxanne ever? But she did have a serious expression on her face and in her tone. Her guard was up.

And just as seemed normal, Sapphire Glow remained casual. "I just told you the pollution makes things feel worse than they are. Ponies don't really fight with other ponies. Or any creature for that matter. Most of them are too afraid to try. If we were in a griffon or a dragon neighborhood though, it might be a different story." She paused, and finished, "You never know though. I wouldn't go outside alone at night if you don't know what you're doing. Like me! Anyway, here we are!"

Where they were was a house at the end of a dead end street, one that looked about like what they expected from a neighborhood like this one. It was in slightly better condition than the homes near it, but it still wasn't well off. A pine tree that looked like it was starting to die grew in the uneven patchwork grass that was the front yard. There was no pathway up to the house, a two-story building that seemed like it would come tumbling down with the next storm. It was only partly surrounded by a metal fence, one that was filled with holes, and had Christmas lights with numerous dead bulbs hung up on the front porch in the middle of what was presumably summer, based on the temperature. The only good thing about it was that it was the best looking home on the street. It wasn't much of a compliment.

Lake fiddled with his phone to turn the camera off again while Sapphire trotted up and into the home. "I say we try and break into that other horse's house again," Roxanne quipped. "This place looks bad."

"For once, I think I might agree with Roxie," Lake said. "I don't really wanna spend another night in horse world, and this part of town especially. It doesn't feel great." He looked like he was a bit on edge, too.

"And do what before we get arrested? Come on," Tory instructed his two friends, quickly following after Sapphire Glow.

The inside was better than the outside. There was a staircase immediately to their left against a wall, and a living room in front of them that led to a kitchen, with a bedroom on the right. The space looked a bit cramped, with a coffee table, book shelf, and two couches stuffed into a smaller than normal living room. It was lit with a nice orange glow though that made it seem more cozy than claustrophobic. Tory hadn't noticed outside or in the prison, but being in this house smelled a bit like horses. It made him realize he hadn't showered in over four days. He was sure he and his friends smelled.

Sapphire plopped herself down on one of the couches, flopping onto her back with as little concern for her modesty as ever. Her horn glowed as she levitated a book over to her, saying, "Make yourselves at home. I don't mind. My mom doesn't get back for a few hours, by the way."

"Uhh, okay… are you gonna get your notes to read?" Tory asked. "You kept telling us how you needed to read them to try and figure out how to get us home. The longer we take, the more people will think we’re missing."

"These are my notes, see?" She held up the book she was reading, one titled Advanced Physics and Their Interactions With Thaumatic Principles. "If you can believe it, even practiced magicians like me need a review course on physics. If we can though, talking to Lilac Beauty soon would be a good idea, but I somehow have a feeling that's not gonna be possible with a restraining order."

"Why would you need to talk to her?" Lake asked the obvious question. "What would that do?"

"Help figure out what might have happened and what kind of event this might be. Did the magic build up there all at once? Or was it seeping day after day for months or years? Or did she even notice anything at all? A portal created from the human side might explain why you changed when you stepped through. Or maybe that's just a property of most worldgates. Oh hey!" She suddenly jumped up from her spot on the couch and went to a desk against the wall in the dining room.

"I still need to send a message to my friends about this! Especially Record Keeper! He's gonna wanna get a load of this." Her horn was glowing as a candle lit up and paper levitated itself out of a drawer, along with a pencil. "You guys can make yourselves at home if you want. Mom won't mind. There's a shower through the first door on the left upstairs. And trust me, you guys kind of need it."

"I'm going first," Lake quickly decided, wasting no time in heading upstairs. Roxanne kind of made an uncomfortable face at that, then helped herself to sitting in one of the couches. Tory moved next to her, but remained standing for now.

"Glad to be out of prison, I can tell," she said, bringing back her usual smile. "It would be kind of awkward if we had to spend months here for something we didn't do."

"Well, we might still have to spend months here, honestly," Tory said, letting out a breath he'd been holding in. "I hope not. Lake's probably gonna be mad at us for a while if we do have to stay here. He might stay mad anyway."

Roxanne had a look on her face like she was about to ask why he would be mad, but figured it out a second later. "I'm glad you said 'us' at least," she smiled. "Even though you were the one who had to follow after me." Before he could even respond with anything, or think it, she finished, "Nah, I'm cool with taking the blame. Although I wouldn't have gone through if I knew it was gonna disappear like that." Then she wiggled around where she sat. She seemed more uncomfortable now, and worked her neck around in a circle before lying on her back on the couch. She apparently had as little concern for modesty as Sapphire Glow had. Tory wasn’t at that point quite yet, but he wasn’t anxious about it.

“Something wrong?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m fine,” she told him, waving a hoof as she spoke with a relaxed tone. “Probably just need a shower or something. I don’t normally go multiple days without one.”

Tory chuckled at that. “Are you implying Lake and I do?”

“Lake? Definitely not. He’d be too self conscious. You? I wouldn’t be surprised. That's meant to be a joke, by the way.”

"I know," Tory laughed as he settled onto his haunches, placing his back against the couch. He let out another breath as he looked across the room to see Sapphire Glow distractedly writing something and burning it in the candle that was lit up. Then she blew the flame out and floated over the book from her old spot on the couch to the desk with magic. He had to wonder if she was trustworthy. Could that mare actually help them? She seemed reckless.

"Trustworthy?" his companion interrupted, almost making him jump at the suddenness. "I'm pretty sure. Is she reliable? That remains to be seen. My guess is probably not."

"How are you doing that, Roxie?" Tory had to ask now, turning around to look over the arm of the couch at her. "Are you reading my mind or doing some kind of magic or something? Because it's starting to feel creepy."

"Well that basically confirms you can’t do it, too. And Lake probably can’t either."

"Do what exactly?"

"Read everyone's emotions," she replied, staying on her back. "I've been doing it since we showed up. It's some kind of sixth sense, if that makes sense. Being able to tell what everyone's feeling without them needing to do or say anything." She closed her eyes for a moment and breathed a deep breath. "Like, for example, Sapphire’s pouring over her book with interest and curiosity and excitement, and thinking about how we’re gonna meet all her friends. Lake is doing… well, what you probably do in the shower, too.”

“I didn’t need to hear that.”

"Oh, get over it. Everyone does it, and we're all naked anyway," she said, waving a hoof again. There was a pinch of annoyance in her voice as she said it, an uncommon characteristic for her. She swiped part of her mane from in front of her face and stared ahead at nothing.

"And you feel unimpressed by me because you could've probably guessed those things on your own. But you also trust what I'm saying because I'm not a liar and I was able to read your mind already. And you're still unimpressed because those are still things I could guess."

"Okay, yeah, that's very, very creepy. If you could not do that, please don't."

It could definitely be a useful skill though. Things weren't hairy right now, but it could get that way at any moment in a strange world like this. Who knew what could happen?

He wondered if there were any special powers he might have. With Lake's wings, he imagined that he could probably fly, and Sapphire told Roxanne she could teach her magic. Could Tory potentially do anything cool? Things were getting more and more interesting.

The first priority wasn't gonna change though, no matter how interesting things were.

It was a little while before Lake came down dripping wet and Roxanne headed up. Tory took her spot on the couch while Lake asked Sapphire Glow if she had any books they could read or something they could do, whether it be helping her or just playing a game. She said that they could read or use anything they saw in any of the rooms, and so it wasn't long before he came back with a deck of cards and some poker chips. It would have been better though if they could have helped her help them in some way.

“You guys just sit tight,” she instructed them when they asked. “If I need your help, I’ll ask for it. In the meantime, just let me work.” Work for her just meant reading in this case. Tory could tell it made Lake antsy, even if he tried not to show it. He wasn’t very good at hiding his feelings.

“It’s gonna be fine, man,” Tory told him, forcing his own nerves to remain steady as he touched Lake’s shoulder. “It could be worse. We could have not found her and be floundering trying to figure out what to do. Or staying on the street, or still being in prisoned. Four days isn’t that long by comparison.”

“I know,” Lake said with an exhale. “Four days is a long time to be gone though. Like, I’m probably fired, and so are you, and we’re all definitely listed in a missing persons reports, and we could be trapped here forever…”

“Or we could go home an hour from now and it’ll seem like only a minute passed on Earth,” Tory replied. “That’s possible, too.”

“Do you actually believe that’s what’s gonna happen though?” his friend shot back skeptically. Tory had to close his eyes and let out a breath of his own. Of course he didn’t believe that.

“Try not to sweat it anyway,” Tory told him. “It’s not gonna help anything.” Lake scowled and crossed his hooves, and Tory continued, “Think about it like this: would you rather be here or be on a roller coaster?”

His scowl deepened, but a few seconds later, he relented and turned his lips up in a small smirk. “Fine. You got me.”

“I know I do. Now let’s play some poker for a little while and try not to think about this.”