New Worlds

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Into The Unknown
Chapter 2 - Startling Surprises
Chapter 3 - Uncomfortable Truths
Chapter 4 - Expedition
Chapter 5 - Lessons and Revelations
Chapter 6 - Changes
Chapter 7 - The Journey Begins
Chapter 8 - City Sights
Chapter 9 - New Friend, New Peril
Chapter 10 - Change of Scene
Chapter 11 - Royal Conversations

Chapter 1 - Into The Unknown

“You go there, morirás pronto!” the ancient man declared firmly in a broken mix of Spanish and English.

Cyrus and Blaise Peregrine looked at each other and smirked. This was the first time the husband-and-wife archaeologist team had something more than the rumor that had drawn them to this area of the forest in Belize. They were both lean and well-muscled from weeks of tramping through the forest, and were well suntanned. That was where their resemblance ended though. The man stood 6’ 3” (190cm) and had short black hair and a permanent five o’clock shadow. The woman was barely over 5’ 4” (163cm) and had long, light brunette hair.

Cyrus turned back to the native inhabitant of the remote village. “That implies that you know where it is,” he replied in fluent Spanish. “Please tell us where to find it. We are not afraid to take the risk.”

“El Templo del Caballo is best left lost!”

“My wife and I think otherwise. Studies are made of unique Mayan sites all the time. Why should this one be particularly dangerous?”

“People who go there no come back. Nunca!”

“Neither will we once we get directions there. We will be too busy uncovering history.”

Blaise looked around at the few curious villagers who were listening to the exchange. “Perhaps someone else can help us?”

The old man threw up his hands in defeat. “Go then! I do not care about your fate.” He then instructed the pair on how to find the temple.

“Gracias. We will be on our way. You have been most helpful.” The two climbed back into their jeep and set out, vitalized by the knowledge that months of hard work would soon pay off.

The old man watched them leave, shaking his head at their foolishness as a much younger man came up to him.

“Grandfather, why did you tell them the way to the temple?” he asked in Mopan, a local Mayan dialect.

“They would have harassed everyone in the village for the knowledge. It was the quickest way to be rid of them.”

“But did you not send them to their doom?”

The old man smiled grimly. “Perhaps another fate may befall them.”

Trails through the forest were few and far between, so it was not long before the Peregrines had to leave the relative ease of the narrow dirt road. They parked their vehicle, concealed it as best they could, and headed into the dense jungle. However, they had modern maps and GPS to aid them, and getting lost was not one of their fears. Unless a site was located by a navigable river, hiking was the only practical way to get there. Even if it was possible to locate an overgrown structure from the air, there was nowhere to land an aircraft. Nevertheless, the couple began their trek with vigor and excitement.

El Templo del Caballo was Spanish for Temple of the Horse which by itself was an anomaly. Horses were unknown to the Mayans until Europeans brought them over. Mayan languages had no word for ‘horse’. Because this temple only had a Spanish name, it suggested that the invaders had named it. Why would the natives call it by a Spanish name after an animal that did not exist there before the Spaniards arrived? The Peregrines hoped to find out and make their names famous in the archaeological community. Months of research had finally brought them here and soon their hard work would pay off.

Although there would have once been roads to the temple, the forest had long since reclaimed them. While the journey then would have taken a few hours, it took the Peregrines two days and some traveling back and forth over the area before they found the first indication that they had not been led astray.

“Cy, look!” Blaise pointed out a suspiciously regular rock ledge.

The man came over and the two removed some of the undergrowth before smiling in triumph.

“This is the ruins of a dwelling alright. And if it follows the typical layout of these sites with the doorway facing the community center, my educated guess tells me that the temple lies that away.” He pointed in an easterly direction.

“I agree. Let’s go!”

They made their way through the dense forest, spotting more evidence of human habitation long ago. Even so, they almost missed the temple as they moved almost parallel to one of its sides, only spotting a corner at the last moment. Finding a place where the stone structure was not quite so badly overgrown, they could make out the typical stepped pyramid shape.

“It’s unusually small, isn’t it?” Blaise commented.

“That would have helped hide it from the air all this time,” her husband replied.

“True. Let’s find the side with the steps. Hopefully, we can find something of interest in the chapel at the top that can give us a hint as to why it’s named after a horse.”

They struggled around the base of the pyramid in the direction they guessed the steps could be found. Instead, they were surprised to find something else.

“Is that an entranceway?” Cyrus asked.

“It sure looks like it. Help me clear these bushes.”

The two toiled to clear years of debris and plant growth. Eventually, they opened up a small gap in the vegetation into what was clearly a tunnel. Then there was another surprise.

“I can see light inside!” Blaise exclaimed.

“A skylight perhaps? That doesn’t make sense. The Mayans didn’t build temples that way.”

The woman squeezed her petite form through the gap in the vegetation, earning herself a few deep scratches. However, she ignored them after standing up and noticing something. “Actually, I’m pretty sure this tunnel goes right through to the other side.”

“The Mayans definitely didn’t do that either!” Cyrus declared.

“I know! You don’t have to tell me that. Break out the lantern. I think we’re going to make history!”

The man took out the LED lamp from his backpack and passed it to Blaise. He then set about widening the hole with his machete. His wife wasted no time turning on the light to explore, but almost immediately halted when her interest was caught by carvings in the wall.

“Cy! You have to see this!”

“Give me a minute, woman! I’m a lot bigger than you. Shit! These thorns are really out to get me!”

Blaise sighed and went back to help Cyrus. Eventually, the two managed to widen the offending vegetation sufficiently to allow the man to join his wife inside, albeit with a nasty scratch down his right arm. His cursing quickly stopped when he spied what had drawn Blaise’s interest. Carvings typically adorned Mayan temples and this one was no exception. What were different were the depictions. Humans were always the most prominent, but animals were occasionally found too, especially the sacred jaguar. Blaise pointed to one neither had ever seen previously.

“Does that look like it could be a horse?”

“Its proportions look wrong for any local animal,” he replied noncommittally. “But look at this – a human and that quadruped side-by-side. The relative sizes are way off.”

“A pony, then!”

Cyrus gave his spouse a flat look. “You really want these to be horses, don’t you? Despite that not being possible.”

“You tell me what else it could be,” she replied defiantly.

He rolled his eyes. “There are other Mayan mythological creatures, although I admit there’s no record of one that looked like this. We’ve hardly seen anything yet though. We may get our answers further in.”

She nodded. “And there’s that light to check out too.”

The two made their way further into the tunnel, stepping over an empty plinth with a broken column beside it, but soon found their route partially obstructed by a short pillar with a bowl-like indentation sitting on a second plinth. A close look with the lamp revealed a reddish-brown stain inside the bowl. The two looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

“Blood sacrifice?” Cyrus suggested what they both were thinking.

“Not untypical for Mayans,” Blaise agreed and she grinned. “Looks like you’re keeping up the tradition. That gash on your arm is still dripping. You got some on the bowl.”

“Shit!” he cursed as he grasped the cut to staunch the bleeding.

“Here – use my handkerchief. It’s already messed up from wiping the blood off my scratches.” She placed it deliberately in the bowl and smirked.

“Very funny, Blaise,” Cyrus said as he picked up the handkerchief. “I hope the Mayan gods are satisfied with your token sacrifice.” A minute later, he had tied a knot in the handkerchief and slid it up his arm to provide pressure on the wound.

The woman turned back toward the tunnel. “Come on. We need to check more carvings.”

She was immediately followed by her husband. Together, they confirmed that the carvings were a mirror image of those on the other side of the pillar. They soon found that it was indeed another opening, although not as badly covered by vegetation as the first entrance.

“Damn. Wish we had found this way in first,” Cyrus commented. “It would have been a lot easier to enter the temple.”

“Yeah. I think we should try to get out here. But why did they make the passageway?”

“I think… I… I feel weird,” the man said before collapsing to the floor.

“Cy! What’s wrong?!”

“Whole body… feels… wrong,” he gasped.

“Wrong? How? Do you need medicine?”

He just groaned and, not knowing what else to do, Blaise started digging out some painkillers from her pack. Then she gasped and collapsed next to her husband.

The two were facing each other as they lay there helplessly. They felt as if every part of their bodies was changing, shifting around, shortening, or lengthening. To their shock, they saw the other’s face pushing out into a muzzle while their eyes grew huge. Ears shifted up and grew larger as their hair lengthened and started changing color. Their clothes drew tighter in some places but much looser in others. Cyrus reached out to his wife, only to watch in horror as his fingers merged into a lump that firmed into a hoof. His arm started sprouting a layer of bright red fur.

“What’s happening to us?” wailed Blaise.

Cyrus tore his eyes from his changed appendage to see that much the same was happening to his wife. She was growing blue fur though.

“Oh, God! I think we’re turning into horses!” The man nearly choked on his words. “And why has my voice gotten higher?”

“Fuck! I hope we’re not losing the ability to speak… wait! Mine’s gotten deeper.”

Cyrus didn’t respond because a growing pressure on his back was becoming more painful by the moment. With a scream, he arched his back and, with a tearing sound, something broke free of his shirt. The pain faded to a dull ache and he panted from the effort.

“Good lord! You just sprouted wings! Is that going to happen to me toooOOW!” A horn burst from her forehead, leaving her with a migraine that quickly faded.

Cyrus stared at her before saying, “You’re a bloody unicorn! That’s impossible!”

“Says the winged horse. Should I call you Pegasus now?”

“Touché. I think the changes have stopped. Can you get up?”

Blaise started to shake her head only to stop. “I’m still a bit dizzy. I’m also extremely uncomfortable. My pants are too tight.”

“Oh? Mine aren’t, but I suppose that I started off with a much larger pair of trousers. My legs seem to have gotten a lot shorter though and I might get tangled in the pant legs.” He tried to get up, only to tumble to one side. “My balance is shot.”

Blaise tried and failed also. “Mine too. What are we going to do? Do you think we’ll be stuck here like this?”

Before Cyrus could answer, bright light burst into the passageway as the vegetation was abruptly removed from the opening.

“What’s this?” a female voice said. “Someponies have beaten me to the find? Aw, crap. Ah well… you two look like you could use a hoof right now.”

The two former humans looked up to see a mustard-yellow pony with wings and a monochrome mane smirking down at them. Strangely, she was wearing a safari outfit that suited her equine body.

“The name’s Daring Do. Always happy to meet fellow adventurers.”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

And so begins a new tale. This one is completely unrelated to any of my others, so hopefully, I will bring some entertaining surprises.

Chapter 2 - Startling Surprises

The couple stared at the newcomer for a long moment before Cyrus blurted out, “Were you transformed too?”

Daring Do tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean, you’re a winged horse like I became. What happened to you?”

Daring frowned. “First – I’m a pegasus pony, not a winged horse. Second – I was born this way. Are you telling me that you weren’t?”

“No! I’m a human!”

“Ah, I see … No, I don’t. What’s a human?”

Cyrus groaned. “Look – can you help us? Something changed my wife and I into these forms and we’re kind of in trouble.”

The pegasus grinned as she trotted into the tunnel. “Not a problem. Give me your hoof.” She held hers out.

Cyrus instinctively reached out before realizing that he had no fingers to grasp with. To his surprise, he felt his hoof gripped and he was pulled into a four-legged standing position. Unlike with his previous attempt, he found he was stable and his sense of balance was restored, albeit to a new norm.

Daring turned to Blaise and helped her up too. When the unicorn steadied, it could readily be seen that she was significantly taller and more solidly built than the pegasus who grimaced and said, “Geez, mate, you’re practically bursting out of those trousers. That can’t be comfortable.”

“Uncomfortable? Hell, it’s painful! How do I get them off like this?”

“Can’t you use that horn of yours?”

“I wasn’t a unicorn ten minutes ago – I can’t do shit!”

“Ooookay… I can help you out of them, if you don’t mind?” Daring asked with a smirk.

“I don’t know how you’re going to do that but go ahead. I can live with just panties for the moment.”

The pegasus pulled a single-edged knife from her belt and, before Blaise could object, slipped the blade under the waistband and sliced the pants open down the length of one leg with almost zero effort. A long tail matching the mane’s red coloration burst out and Blaise groaned with relief. Daring then sliced open the second leg and the ruined trousers fell to the floor.

“Oops. Looks like I got your panties then too,” Daring said as she put the knife away.

“Damn,” Blaise said. “Never mind – they were just as bad as the trousers. I’ve never felt pain like that before.” She went to rub her abused crotch, but she froze and her eyes widened as her hoof touched something unexpected, causing a novel sensation. She craned her head around to look, then screamed, “WHAT!?”

“Damn! What’s with the yelling?” the pegasus asked, rubbing her abused ears.

“Why do I have a penis and balls?!”

“Stallions usually do, mate.”

“Stallions? I’m a woman!”

“What’s a woman?” asked the bewildered pegasus.

“How do you not know what a woman is? A female human!”

“So… you used to be a mare?”

“No! I mean yes, but not a horse!”

“Not a pony,” Daring reminded her. She turned to Cyrus who had been extracting himself from his vastly oversized pants. “What about you, lady?”

Cyrus cringed. His changed voice had already started him wondering, but after he saw that his wife was now male, that turned to dread. When Daring called him ‘lady’, he felt a stab through his heart. He turned to see a luxurious beige and cream tail stopping his boxer shorts from falling off. There certainly was not anything else filling them. He was most definitely a she. Her eyes rolled up and she fainted.

Daring looked at the unconscious mare for a moment before turning back to Blaise. “I’m gonna guess Miss Dainty used to be male?”

Blaise numbly nodded.

“So, not only have you been transformed from humans, whatever they are, you both changed sex. Snrk! BWA-HA-HA-HAAA!” She fell to the floor, rolling around, howling with laughter.

“It’s not funny!” the stallion growled, shocking himself with his deep voice.

“Oh, come on! You gotta admit it’s hilarious. It sure isn’t the end of the world.”

“How are we supposed to go home like this?”

“What’s wrong with how you look? You’re a pretty hot stallion, not afraid to admit. You’re sure to turn a few heads.”

“I don’t want to turn mares’ heads! That’s not the problem!”

The pegasus was about to reply when another voice came from outside. “What’s holding you up, Daring? Trixie is getting impatient!”

Another pony partially blocked the light coming into the entrance. Blaise could see it was a blue-coated unicorn wearing trousers with a broad belt, and a white singlet. It was odd to see a quadruped dressed that way but it strangely suited the pony.

“Who are these ponies?” the newcomer asked.

“Sorry, Trix! All clear. It seems we’ve found some travelers who fell victim to some enchantment; perhaps a curse.”

The unicorn mare frowned. “A curse? Why are you still in there? It’s Trixie’s job to save you from those!”

“Good point. Can you carry out the unconscious mare? I’ll help out this handsome guy, because dibs!”

Trixie gave the stallion an appreciative look over. As a woman, Blaise was used to that, but it felt weird with the sexual roles reversed. Suddenly, he felt more naked than ever.

“Maybe Trixie can help you out of that too-tight shirt later,” the unicorn offered with a sultry smile.

“Trix! Get the pegasus first. Harass the stallion later.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie can do both at the same time,” she said with a grin as her horn lit up. A similar lilac-hued glow enveloped Cyrus and she floated up from the floor.

Blaise looked on in astonishment as his husband was levitated over and the unicorn gave him a wink. “What do you say, hot stuff?”

“How do you do that?” he asked.

“What? Basic levitation? Trixie can do far more impressive feats than that.”

Daring said, “Somehow, I think they’ve never seen anything like it before.” She picked up the couple’s backpacks and discarded clothing, tucking them under her wings before chivying Blaise out of the tunnel. “They didn’t use to be ponies. They were transformed.”

“Oh? You have Trixie’s interest.”

“Let’s get them to the campsite first and give them a chance to recover. We can ask them about what they found inside there and maybe avoid whatever curse got them.”

The unicorn gave Daring a skeptical glance. “What happened to the ‘leap-before-you-look’ pegasus I know and love?”

“I’m not that reckless! I just usually don’t know what to expect. This time, we have a chance to learn in advance.”

“Trixie thinks you don’t want to admit that the curse could have gotten you instead.”

“Nah. Just don’t want to find out what it’s like to be a stallion.”

“Say what?”

“These two used to be the opposite sexes.”

Trixie looked back at Blaise. “Really?”

The stallion nodded glumly as he trudged along next to Daring Do.

“Trixie is now really curious about that magic. She knows a few mares who wouldn’t mind playing for the other side.”

“Do you always talk about yourself in the third person?” Blaise asked.

“Trixie is a Great and Powerful personality that demands distinctiveness, significance, and panache” she replied.

“That’s a yes,” Daring added drolly.

Cyrus groaned as she recovered consciousness. The mare looked around. “Crap. Must be still in that nightmare. Now I’m floating above the ground for no reason.”

“Nope. You are in the care of my partner, Trixie,” Daring replied. “She’s carrying you to our camp. Unless you want to walk from here?”

“Sure. What else could go wrong?”

Trixie let the unicorn down and she climbed to her hooves. She looked around and frowned. “What happened to the forest? It looks different from before … well … before we entered the temple.”

Blaise nodded. “Yeah, I saw that too. Although I’ve noticed our senses seem to have been enhanced, that’s not the reason. Cy – I think we’re not the only things that have changed.”

“One disaster at a time, Blaise. I’m still coming to terms with our current predicament.”

“You wanna know what I recommend for getting through an existential crisis? Coffee,” Daring suggested. “Here’s our camp.”

Cyrus looked around, noting the fancy wagon which had pavers, a short railing with lanterns on it, and even some potted flowers. A sturdy stone fireplace sat in the middle of the cleared area and wisps of smoke showed that it had been used recently. “It looks more like a cottage in the woods with picnic facilities than a campsite,” she commented.

“Trixie has little to do while her partner spends hours poring over carvings, so she likes to make the camp homier.”

The sun abruptly plunged below the horizon and the moon rose to take its place.

“What the fuck!” Cyrus exclaimed. “What just happened to the sun?”

The blue unicorn’s horn glowed and all the lanterns burst into light. She stood up on her hind legs and leaned up against the fence. “Celestia set the sun and Luna raised the moon, of course. They did their daily duty more rapidly than usual though. They must have something special planned and didn’t have time to dawdle today.”

“How the hell can someone set the sun?!”

“Well, it takes alicorn-level magic, admittedly.”

“There’s no such thing as real magic!”

Blaise spoke up in a flat tone. “Cy – this isn’t our world. Look at the stars – this isn’t Earth! What happened to us isn’t scientifically possible. What else could it be but magic?”

“Trixie knows a mage who would object to you calling magic unscientific.”

Daring Do stoked the fire and put a pot of water on the hotplate. “We can discuss your predicament, what you found in the temple, and what’s on the other side over that coffee I promised you. Trix – can you whip up some grub? I think we’ll all feel better once we have some food and drink in us.”

Cyrus sighed. “You’re right, but can I ask a favor first? Have either of you got some pants that I can wear? I feel weird walking around butt naked.”

Blaise glared at her. “You feel weird? I now have these dangly bits which are feeling very drafty!”

Daring said, “You look like my size, umm, Sky was it? I can spare a pair of pants. As for your large spouse though, you’re out of luck. Not that it really matters. Many stallions I know prefer not to wear trousers. They say it’s more comfortable that way, but I reckon many just like showing off their goods.”

“I don’t want to show off my ‘goods’! I don’t even want to have them at all. I’m supposed to be female!” She threw up her forelegs in exasperation before flinching. “And will someone help get this shirt off me before it strangles me!”

“Trixie can do that. Hold still.”

Blaise felt a tickling sensation as the unicorn’s magic wormed its way through the clothing and carefully eased it off him. He sighed in relief that it wasn’t pinching him all the time anymore. Thank God, it had been unbuttoned partially due to the heat. The bra underneath had not been so fortunate and the strap had snapped. Cyrus snickered at the sight of the stallion with the bra half falling off him. Blaise frowned at her. “Laugh it up, feather-brain. Don’t think I can’t see your udders.”

Cyrus promptly shut up and hoped the pants Daring had offered would cover her teats.

Trixie manipulated the shirt in her hooves as she examined it. “Y’know, if I cut wing slits and tailor this a bit, Trixie reckons it will fit Sky perfectly.”

Cyrus said, “That’s Cy, actually; short for Cyrus.”

“Cirrus Sky, did you say?” Daring said as she exited the wagon with a pair of shorts held in her wing. “Good name for a pegasus.”

“No, I said… actually, forget about it. I sure don’t feel like a Cyrus at the moment. Call me Cirrus Sky if you like while I’m stuck like this. And thanks, Trixie. I appreciate it, even if these wings are useless. At least they won’t feel cramped.” She unconsciously flexed them a little.

“Why would you say they’re useless?” Daring asked as she passed the shorts to Cyrus, now Cirrus.

“It’s not as if I can fly.”

“Why not? You’re a pegasus, so it should come naturally to you. In fact, you’ll find it hard to fight the urge to leap into the sky!” She put words into action and took to the air, did a loop-the-loop, and then gently landed.

Cirrus gaped at her. “You really can fly! Like the legend of Pegasus.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “How do you think we got our wagon here? There are no roads in this jungle. Trixie put a sky-sled spell on it and Daring towed us through the air to this site.”

The transformed human was stunned by the possibility of actually flying. In a daze, she put the shorts on without thinking about it. Only as she buttoned the waistband just forward of her udders, she realized that she had no clue how she had done so without the benefit of hands. She stared at her forehooves in wonder at their ridiculous dexterity.

Meanwhile, Daring Do made the coffee as Trixie dug out the ingredients for a meal. She asked their guests how they preferred their drink and as she passed a mug to the stallion, she paused. “How rude of us – we never asked your name.”

“It’s Blaise,” he replied, nearly fumbling holding the mug and not noticing his horn glowing for a moment as his grip firmed.

“Blaze? I like it. It matches your mane and tail. A strong name for a studly stallion.” She gave him a wink before moving on.

Blaise noticed the pegasus’ subtle difference in pronunciation and shrugged. It was hardly the first time the woman had been called Blaze. Now a pony stallion, he’d settle for the nickname like his spouse had. He glanced at Cirrus as she accepted her mug, noting that somehow, she held it without effort. While biology had forced a change of pronouns, he was not ready to call her his wife yet. Hopefully, they would both be restored to normal before it became a real issue. As shocking as it had been to gain male genitals, Blaze knew it must have been even worse for Cirrus to be literally emasculated. The man had always been ruggedly male, but now the pegasus mare was not only shorter than him, she had a small and lean body suited to flying creatures. For the first time since they had met, he felt he would have no trouble wrestling her in the bedroom. That thought made him blush furiously as he felt his new appendage stir at the idea. ‘Good God! Am I changed so much that I already find our new forms sexually attractive? I can’t put aside decades of being female because I’ve been male for mere minutes! The sooner this gets fixed, the better!’

It was not long before the four were munching on a mixed salad that Trixie had prepared. Neither of the former humans recognized all the ingredients, but the taste was marvelous. So was their smell. In fact, all their senses seemed to be keener, adding to their appreciation of every novel experience.

Although Daring had only suggested a snack, Trixie had whipped up enough for a full meal. Watching her prepare it had been wondrous as she telekinetically juggled several implements and ingredients simultaneously. They all came together in a symphony of magic that left Blaze and Cirrus in awe. They expressed how impressed they were, and the unicorn mare soaked up the praise.

“Trixie’s skill at multiple manipulations is matched by few,” the unicorn proudly proclaimed.

Daring rolled her eyes and shook her head. “We didn’t bring our guests here to marvel at your cooking, dear. It’s time we found out where they came from and what brought them into this predicament. So, let’s hear it!”

Blaze said, “Before we do, can I ask you how it is that you speak English? If this is a different world, it makes no sense that you speak our language.”

Daring tilted her head and frowned. “I don’t understand what you mean. We’re talking the World Tongue, just like every sapient species.”

Cirrus said, “But it sounds exactly like English to us. Out of the hundreds of languages on Earth, why would your World Tongue match that perfectly? What if I came from the country on the other side of that temple and spoke Spanish instead?” Then her eyes opened in shock and she gaped.

Daring shook her head. “Never heard of Spanish either.”

Cirrus turned to Blaze, the stunned look still on her face. “I said that last bit in Spanish, but it still sounded like English!”

The unicorn’s eyebrows rose and then knitted into a frown. “Let me try something.” He turned to their hosts. “Do you understand me right now while I’m speaking in French?” She blinked and looked back at Cirrus who nodded in wonder.

“Ah! I recognized the Prench accent this time,” Daring replied smugly.

Blaze said, “You don’t understand – we spoke in two different languages, but they both came out sounding the same as our native tongue!”

“The Great and Knowledgeable Trixie comprehends what is happening. Centuries ago, there occurred the event that we call The Great Unification. In an act of Harmony, all sapient species were united in a common understanding of language that was named the World Tongue. Trixie learned that in the History of Magic course at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns,” she said proudly.

Daring rolled her eyes before saying to her guests, “Don’t get her started on that subject. She’ll talk endlessly about her time there.”

The unicorn turned up her nose. “Trixie has a right to be proud of her abilities and academic achievements!”

Blaze ignored the byplay and said, “So, you’re telling us that… magically… all languages sound like the listener's native tongue? That’s incredible!”

Daring nodded. “I understand what you’re getting at now. The ruins and civilizations that I discover and explore contain records in old dead languages that predate Unification and require translating. I just didn’t expect the same for someone speaking a living language, so I was confused.”

Cirrus said, “That magic has to be even more amazing than our transformations. Universal communication for an entire world, and even visitors from another.” She shook her head in wonder. “Anyway, that helps us a lot when we need it the most. So, I suppose we’d better tell you how exactly we got into this predicament.”

The newcomers related how they had chased down the legend of an impossibility which led them to finding the temple. They described their efforts to enter it, their cursory inspection of the wall carvings, and the pillar containing the bowl. When they mentioned the blood, Trixie perked up.

“Aha! Trixie has her suspicions as to what happened.” She looked at Cirrus. “You said you cut your limb badly. May I see it?”

“Sure.” She held out her foreleg, then frowned. “I can’t see it. Perhaps it healed when we transformed?”

Blaze added, “Come to think of it, I haven’t noticed the cuts and scrapes I got too. They seem to have gone as well,” he said as he examined his forelegs.

The unicorn mare smiled smugly. “Trixie believes she knows the answer and she will confirm it tomorrow when we return to the temple.”

“You’re not even going to give us a hint?” Cirrus asked.

Daring said, “My partner might be boastful, but she knows her stuff. She won’t make a pronouncement until all the evidence is in. So, what happened after that?”

“Not much,” Blaze replied. “We headed toward the light at the other end of the passage and were deciding on how to proceed when the transformations started hitting us. You found us just after they completed.”

“Well, I suppose we’ll have to do a thorough investigation tomorrow.”

“Not without Trixie checking for traps and curses! She is most irate with you for barging in without hesitation without her last time!”

“Yeah, yeah, Trix. Don’t want happening to us what happened to them,” the mustard yellow mare conceded.

“Good. We should turn in for the night soon. Trixie wishes to get off to an early start.”

Daring nodded. “I’ll clean up. You get our guests accommodated.”

Trixie faced the couple. “Our wagon is only big enough for Daring and Trixie. You will have to sleep in our tent. Do not be concerned – Trixie has enchanted it to protect the occupants from predators. You will be quite safe.”

Cirrus and Blaze wondered what unfamiliar dangers were present in this world. The stallion said, “Is it big enough to put all our stuff in there too? Including what remains of our clothes? There are things in the pockets that we don’t want to lose.”

Trixie smirked. “Don’t worry – it’s spacious enough for your belongings as well as activities other than sleeping.”

Both of the Peregrines knew exactly what the unicorn was hinting at, but while they were a married couple with a healthy sex life, neither of them could deal with the thought of sex with their current transformed and transgendered bodies. However, the idea did make them look at each other and blush.

The couple was soon distracted by their hosts’ activities. Daring’s ability to utilize her wings like feathered hands was remarkable, and Trixie’s magical versatility was demonstrated once more as she cleared an area for the tent which she erected under a minute.

Meanwhile, Cirrus took out the GPS from her shirt and turned it on. To neither of her nor Blaze’s surprise, it said it could not find any satellites. Their smartphones still worked for everything that did not need a cell or internet connection, so she took a couple of photographs without their hosts noticing. Explaining the technology would be too much for the exhausted pair right then.

Trixie supplied them with blankets to lie on and pillows. She showed them the camp toilet facility before she and Daring bid them goodnight. Using the toilet in their new forms was a strange experience for both of them, but they were able to settle down for the night with relief.

Typically, the couple spooned in bed, the larger man with his arms around his much smaller wife. That quickly proved impractical and uncomfortable in their new pony forms. They both rolled over and tried again, this time with the mare cradled in the stallion’s legs.

“I can tell why you always liked this,” murmured Cirrus. Their embrace was very comforting.

“Yeah, even when it’s a bit warm for cuddling, like right now.”

They lay there, enjoying the calm after the stress of the day before hearing unmistakable noises from the nearby wagon.

“Sounds like there were other considerations besides space that required us to use this tent,” Blaze said with a snicker.

Cirrus giggled. “Yeah. Daring did say Trixie was her partner, just not how close that partnership was.” They fell silent for a long moment before Cirrus continued, “Is what I’m feeling down there what I think it is?”

“Shut up, Sky.”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Whatever the Peregrines expected to find, I'm sure it wasn't anything like this.

EDIT: Made some changes to make it clear that the World Tongue is a magical effect that allows every species to understand the other's language as if it's their own. It has not given the world a single language for all.

Chapter 3 - Uncomfortable Truths

The abrupt transition to morning light stirred the sleeping couple, but barely.

‘That’s the best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages,’ Cirrus thought before opening her eyes and stretching. The unfamiliar sensations of a new body abruptly reminded her of the events of the previous day. She sighed. ‘So much for hoping it was all a dream. Still, this is soooo cozy.’ She snuggled deeper into her spouse’s embrace.

“Just five more minutes, Cy,” the unicorn stallion murmured sleepily.

Cirrus chuckled. “I’m not the one with his legs around me.”

Blaze opened his eyes blearily. “What are you talking… oh… right. Not a dream, was it?”

“That’s exactly what I thought too.”

“So, I suppose we’d better—”

“Hey, you two!” came another voice from outside the tent. “Time to stir your stumps! We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”

“Give us a moment, Daring!” Cirrus called back before extricating herself from Blaze’s hug. She then picked up her shorts with her wings and put them on as the stallion watched.

“How do you do that?” he asked as she fastened the last button.

“What do you mean? I pull them on one leg at a time and button them up. What’s to know?”

“No, I mean how? You do that as if you’ve done it all your life with wings and hooves no less.”

Cirrus frowned and tilted her head. “I… I’m not sure. It just seems to come naturally to me.” She picked up her shirt and tucked it under her wing. “Hopefully, Trixie can modify this like she said she could. Then I’ll give you another demonstration.”

“I don’t know – I kind of like the looks of you in just shorts.” As Blaze got up and stretched, his forelegs pushed out in front of him and his backside rose. Then he blushed. “Hell, what am I thinking?! Oh, shit. No, this can’t be happening!”

Cirrus turned to look at the stallion, then saw what was causing him such consternation. She didn’t want to watch but couldn’t tear her eyes away.

“Stop staring!” Blaze demanded as his forelegs sought to cover himself up.

The pegasus burst out laughing. “How many times did you tease me about that? Word of advice – what you’re doing will only make it worse.”

“How do you stop it?”

“Just relax and ignore it,” she said as she turned and pushed the tent flap open. She paused halfway out and grinned. “But I gotta say that you have the old me beat!”

Blaze’s eyes widened and he gaped. “What?! How am I supposed to relax when you say things like that, Cy?”

The mare just chuckled and smugly thought, ‘Revenge at last!’ She spotted Daring Do working over at the fireplace and joined her there. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Sure! Stir the oatmeal and add a bit more water if it gets too thick. I’ll get some scrambled eggs started. Trixie’s making sandwiches for later.”

“No problem.” She took the ladle and began stirring before pausing. “What’s that in the oatmeal?”

“Raisins,” the pegasus replied. “Trix and I like it that way.”

Cirrus did not but figured her tastes might have changed. She shrugged and carried on.

Trixie climbed out of the wagon with a saddlebag floating in her magic. She placed it next to a pile of other equipment before greeting Cirrus. “Good morning. Trixie hopes you slept well. Where is your husband?”

The red mare grinned. “He has a little problem with morning wood.” She wasn’t sure if they would understand the euphemism, but their broad grins promptly dispelled her doubts.

“Perhaps Trixie should see if she can help Blaze,” the unicorn mare said, her eyes straying toward the tent.

Daring extended a wing to block her view. “Not in front of his wife, Trix.”

Cirrus was torn between being miffed at the mare’s obvious sexual interest in her spouse and encouraging Trixie to embarrass Blaze even more. She shook her head. Being a pony mare was confusing her thinking. A lot. She settled for holding out the shirt to the unicorn. “You said you might be able to tailor this for me.”

Trixie went straight into boastful mode. “The Great and Talented Trixie has had to repair Daring’s outfits on many occasions, so adjusting this to suit you will be foal’s play. Hold still while Trixie measures you.”

The red pegasus was startled by the glow that surrounded her torso and prodded her gently. Then it swapped to the shirt and Cirrus gaped as she watched it partially unravel and reshape.

Trixie reached into her saddlebags while saying, “Thread: White.” She pulled out a spool that spun in her magic until two lengths of white thread separated and drifted toward the shirt.

Slits appeared on the back and the edges folded over and were hemmed by a thread without a needle. As far as Cirrus could see, the end was stiffened into a rigid point that penetrated the cloth with ease. She was so mesmerized by the process that she forgot to stir the oatmeal. Daring nudged her to get her attention back on the job while Trixie was working.

“Trixie is finished!” the unicorn declared.

Cirrus reached out a hoof and took the offered garment. “Thank you, Trixie. Thank you very much. That was a … uh … truly great and powerful display of your skill.”

Daring rolled her eyes. “Now you’ve done it.”

The blue mare’s smile grew larger. “Please ignore my sidekick’s impertinence.”

“SIDEKICK!?”

“Trixie would be glad to answer any questions you might have.”

After placing the shirt on her back, Cirrus found she could fold her wings and push the joints up through the wing slits without the feathers catching. From there, a simple twist and spreading of her wings secured the garment into place. While doing so, several questions came to mind, but only one that seemed appropriate to ask without her spouse also hearing the answer. “Are those bottomless saddlebags?”

The unicorn’s ears perked up. “Indeed, they are!” After Daring loudly cleared her throat, Trixie amended her statement. “As I was saying, indeed they are practically bottomless. While they do have an item capacity limit in the hundreds and likewise a corresponding volume capacity, there is no greater set of pan-dimensional saddlebags in all of Equestria.”

Daring gave her partner a knowing look. “Except for Twilight Sparkle’s personal—”

“… that … you … can … buy!” concluded Trixie with a pointed stare at the tan pegasus.

Cirrus giggled as she fastened the last button. As promised, the shirt fit great. “Being around you two is going to be a blast, I can tell right now.”

Several minutes later, Blaze emerged from the forest from the direction of the camp toilet. The stallion had managed to slip out of the tent unnoticed and he appeared to be completely nonchalant about his earlier troubles.

“Morning, ladies!” he said cheerfully. “That smell is making me hungry.”

The blue unicorn mare raised an eyebrow. “Indeed. Trixie understands the scent of three healthy mares can have that effect on a virile stallion.”

Blaze gaped, his eyes bugging out.

Daring said, “I heard you had a hard time getting started this morning.”

Trixie held up the coffee pot. “You could probably use a stiff drink. Strong and irresistible.”

Blaze gave Cirrus a flat look. “You blabbed, didn’t you?”

A moment later, all three mares collapsed in a fit of giggles. The former human female sighed and shook her head. “After all the times I did that to Cirrus, I suppose that’s fair. The shoe is … the horseshoe really is on the other hoof now, isn’t it?”

As a man, Cirrus might have been embarrassed, but as the mare she was now, she was beginning to understand how females thought. She walked over to her spouse and kissed him on the cheek. “Get used to it, love,” she murmured. “I think these ladies have the hots for this big, handsome stallion, especially Trixie.”

“Sky!” he hissed. “Are you trying to get me aroused again?!”

“Nope. Just telling you how it is for guys.”

Blaze groaned. “I really hope I can get some pants.”

The pegasus nodded in agreement but wondered if she truly wanted that. Seeing him standing there in the morning light had aroused feelings that had shocked her. Cyrus the man had never been into males, but Cirrus the mare apparently had other ideas. She changed the subject to get her mind off them. “As you can see, Trixie has modified your shirt for me,” she said as they walked over to join the others. “You could ask her to have a go at getting my trousers to fit you.”

“Trixie heard that,” the unicorn said as she passed over a mug of steaming coffee to Blaze. “She has not had much experience fitting out stallions, but she has no doubt her skills are up to the challenge.”

“Food first!” Daring declared as she served up the scrambled eggs onto plates.

“I’ll dish out the oatmeal,” Cirrus said and began ladling it into nearby bowls.

Blaze fumbled the bowl that Daring passed to him, nearly spilling the contents. The pink glow of magic rescued it and placed it firmly back into his hooves. Trixie’s horn stopped shining and she frowned. “Trixie sees your problem. You are trying to use hoof magic and horn magic at the same time and doing neither properly.”

“I am?” the stallion said with a frown.

“Trixie will have to rectify your lack of training with your horn, but that must wait until later. You must focus your magic into your hooves for now. Trixie realizes that it is instinctual to use your horn but, without understanding what you are doing, your efforts may be counterproductive.”

“Okay. How do I do that?”

Cirrus said, “Take it from someone without a horn – just treat the bowl as if it’s a slippery object and concentrate on holding it firmly in your hooves. You’ll get the feel of it that way and then your magic focus will shift entirely to your hooves. Forget about the lack of fingers and act as if they’re still there.”

Trixie nodded. “Your wife has described the process reasonably well for a beginner.”

Blaze looked at his spouse. “How do you know that?”

Cirrus shrugged. “Figured it out while putting on the shirt.”

“Trixie thinks it’s a shame that Cirrus Sky did not become a unicorn. She shows some potential talent with magic theory.”

The red mare shrugged. “I’ll get to fly instead. Seems like a pretty good deal to me.”

Daring said, “That’s what I’ve said to Trixie many times. Anyway, magic and flying lessons later – food now. We need to get started on our jobs.”

The four got stuck into their meal. While Daring and Cirrus cleaned up afterward, Trixie measured Blaze for his pants. The stallion swore she deliberately groped his crotch while doing so but decided not to say anything in case he was wrong.

Blaze found the remodeling process as fascinating as Cirrus had. It was not long before Trixie passed him the completed trousers. After stepping into the legs, he took Cirrus’ advice to fasten the flap over his tail first as Trixie directed, finding it fairly easy despite it being behind his back. Then he fastened the fly. At least he had a simple zipper, unlike Cirrus who had to contend with more buttons. He briefly wondered if ponies even had zippers. He twisted his torso and flexed his hind legs to check for fit.

“This feels great, Trixie. Thanks heaps! But isn’t it a bit too loose in the crotch?”

The mare smiled knowingly. “Trixie believes you will need the extra room.”

Blaze’s eyes widened when he realized what she was talking about and he blushed. That morning had been quite an education in stallion endowment.

The four packed for the job ahead of them. Trixie lent her skills once more to make adjustments to the Peregrines’ backpacks to better suit their equine bodies. Then they headed out.

Because Blaze had been unconscious for most of the trip to the campsite, he had not seen much of the route to the pyramid. However, he quickly forgot about that novelty when they arrived.

“It looks just like a Mayan pyramid here too. With the exception of that passageway, of course.”

Daring said, “While there are other ancient temples and such with some resemblance to this one, there were several unique differences that made this one an exciting find.”

“Perhaps too exciting. Trixie will take point and scan for traps.”

The husband-and-wife couple were quite happy to let her do so. They did not want anything else to happen to them.

Trixie lit her horn with a detection spell and stepped inside with Daring Do close behind. Cirrus and Blaze followed but soon were brought to a halt. Trixie had stopped short of the pillar with the bowl and had her eyes closed, frowning in concentration. Then her horn ceased glowing and she turned to face the others.

“Trixie senses an ancient enchantment upon this bowl. We will proceed no further until Trixie identifies its nature. Go look at your wall pictures while she’s busy.” The mare then turned back to the bowl and lit up her horn.

Daring rolled her eyes. “You heard the G and P T – let’s go look at ‘wall pictures’.” The former humans grinned at how adept hooves could be at expressing the sarcastic ‘air quotes’ gesture. The tan pegasus leaned closer and lowered her voice to a mutter. “Sometimes I think she forgets that those are the kind of reasons why we’re out here and she has a job.”

Cirrus nodded. “Blaze and I have dealt with people like that many times. But she’s right – we’re archaeologists, so let’s get to work. Blaze and I didn’t get a chance to do much in here before we were transformed.”

Daring smirked. “I suppose we should. I’ve always been the adventurous type though rather than the patient scholar. I discover things for others to do the tedious stuff.”

“I think you’ll find these carvings different enough to be interesting,” the red pegasus replied before noticing that her spouse had not shifted. “Are you joining us, Blaze?”

“What are those glowing symbols in the air?” he replied.

“What glowing symbols?” Cirrus replied.

Daring frowned before pulling a large clear gem from her pocket. She closed one eye and peered through it with the other before nodding. “I thought so. Trixie is attempting to deconstruct the enchantment. Blaze can see it because he’s a unicorn with an apparent affinity for such things.”

“I see. Is that a diamond?”

“Yep. Enchanted gem. It’s what I used to look for magic traps before partnering with Trixie. Anyway, she might take some time working on that, so let’s do our thing.”

“I think I’ll study what Trixie is doing,” Blaze replied.

“But—” Cirrus started to say before Daring interrupted.

“Take my advice, Sky – go where Harmony guides you. This may be important to both of you later. Let’s check out those interesting carvings of yours.”

After replacing the gem and pulling out a lamp, the two began studying the walls. While the carvings in the stone were of the Mayan style, the subjects varied considerably from the typical. Ponies featured heavily in them, but almost always with humans with them.

“So, those are your kind,” Daring said. “I sense a theme here if I’m interpreting them correctly. It seems to me that there was quite a lot of cooperation between our species. I’m guessing that they built this temple to formalize the gateway between our worlds.”

“Gateway?”

“A worldgate. A stable connection between universes. They’re very rare. I’ve only ever read about them.”

“And these worldgates can change people into ponies?”

“Heck, no! They’re basically tunnels through realities, that’s all.”

“That’s all? That’s amazing! They’ve been postulated but nobody on Earth has ever proven them to exist.”

“When you get back home, you can show them this one. You’ll be almost as famous as me,” Daring said with a grin.

Cirrus gave her a flat look. “Now who’s the boastful one?”

Daring chuckled before facing the carvings once more. “What puzzles me is why it all came to an end. If their cooperation was so successful, what caused it to fail?”

Cirrus thought of the Spanish conquistadors that had invaded Central America. “I’ve got my suspicions and they aren’t pretty.”

Daring was about to ask for details when Trixie spoke up.

“Trixie has finished analyzing the enchantment. It poses no threat to us, but has given Trixie many answers.”

“It’s what transformed us, wasn’t it?” Blaze asked.

“Indeed. It was designed to change … humans, was it? … Change humans into ponies. Trixie is impressed by its sophistication.”

“Then, you know how to change us back?” Cirrus asked eagerly.

“No.”

Both Peregrines blinked at the blunt denial. “But you said you’ve analyzed it! Doesn’t that mean that you know how to undo it?” Cirrus demanded.

Trixie sighed. “You both saw the dried blood in the bowl?” When they nodded, she continued. “This is a category of magic known as Blood Magic. Blood activates it, powers it, controls it. By its nature, it is very powerful but also very literal. A Blood Magic enchantment will do one thing and do it very well, but it is not constructed to be reversed or neutralized. Think of it like using a mallet to hammer a stake into the ground. No amount of wishful thinking will enable that mallet to un-hammer the stake back out of the ground.”

Blaze frowned. “But if humans and ponies interacted a lot, couldn’t there be another of these bowls set up to change ponies into humans?”

“That is quite possible. Trixie does not know why they would want to change back to humans, but it would make sense that they would provide for that. Did you see another of these pillars at the other end of the passageway?”

Blaze looked at Cirrus. “That plinth we stepped over, and the broken column next to it!”

Cirrus’ eyes widened. “Yes, that must be it! Let’s check it out.”

Both of the Peregrines began moving down the corridor but were brought to a halt by Trixie’s magic.

“The Great and Cautious Trixie has yet to scan for other dangers. Let Trixie go first.” She lit up her horn once more, squeezed past the pillar, and slowly walked down the passageway. She very quickly came to a halt again as the air in front of her shimmered, brightening as it drew closer to the walls so that it looked like a ring of light. Trixie looked left and right, up and down, then declared, “Trixie shall illuminate in every meaning of the word. This is the worldgate. The very fabric of space and time has been stretched to open into another universe. Note the recesses in the walls, ceiling, and floor. The builders of the temple ensured that the edges of the portal were out of the way and the passage would pass through the middle of the worldgate.”

Cirrus asked, “What would happen if we were able to walk into an edge? Would it slice us as one part continued in this world while the second part tried to go into the other?”

Trixie chuckled. “Nothing so drastic. The warping of space grows exponentially as it nears the edge. You would encounter ever-increasing resistance before you reached it. It’s safe to proceed.” The shimmering ceased and Trixie stepped through the portal.

The others followed the unicorn mare’s lead until she paused at the plinth on the floor. Daring brought her lamp closer to illuminate the column lying to one side.

“This looks just like the other pillar, but the bowl is missing,” the mustard-yellow pegasus declared.

“Trixie can sense barely any magic residue. If this once held the spell to transform ponies to humans, then the enchantment is broken.”

Blaze said, “Perhaps the bowl can be found somewhere nearby? There has to be a way of changing us back!”

Cirrus shook her head. “If what Daring and I saw in the carvings is what we believe to be true, there was a thriving relationship between our species which ended very abruptly. What would cause that? I’m guessing that it was the Conquistadors. To protect themselves, ponies shut off contact from the human world. They probably took that bowl away and hid it. Why? Because any invading human who passed through here who got blood on the pony bowl would be transformed into a nearly helpless pony with no way to return! That would be terrifying to their comrades.”

“What would be the chances of that happening though?”

“We both did. I’m thinking that the ridiculous number of thorn bushes in front of the entrance that we had to clear away were no coincidence.”

Blaze frowned. “Good point. But why not just block the passage? It’s not as if the invaders could go around the worldgate.”

“Possibly because there were ponies in human form or otherwise still on the Earth side that needed the chance to return when it was safe to do so. Or maybe there were human friends whom the ponies wanted to give the opportunity to escape the invaders and join them as ponies. Otherwise, that would have been simpler. As it is, even if none fell victim to the change, the invaders would be bottlenecked by this narrow passage which would allow the ponies to easily defend the exit.”

The stallion thought for a long moment before replying. “If communication between our worlds was that important to them, there’s a real possibility that the ponies would have kept the missing bowl stashed away until it was safe to travel again. Only that doesn’t seem to have happened.”

Cirrus nodded. “That makes sense. So, there’s still a possibility that we can be changed back to our old selves.”

Trixie cleared her throat. When the Peregrines’ attention returned to her, she said, “No, even with the other bowl, you will never return to your previous forms.”

“WHAT?! Why not?” Cirrus demanded.

Trixie narrowed her eyes. “Do you think magic is as simple as waving your horn and saying ‘change into a pony’? Of course not! It requires structure, power, and parameters, but most of all, it needs a pattern! By itself, a spell does not know what a pony is. And the amount of data it would take to transform one creature into another would be overwhelming. Instead, the spell is directed toward stored patterns.” Trixie pointed back down the passageway. “You saw the amount of dried blood in that bowl? Trixie estimates that it would have required a donation from every member of a pony village to produce that much. But there are your patterns – hundreds of them! The humans would have done the same for theirs. Trixie found broken linking spells that would have connected the two. Anypony who wished to travel to your world as a human would have put a drop of blood into your bowl to activate the spell and be transformed into a human from one of their patterns. But because the bowls were linked, upon the human’s return, putting a drop into the pony bowl would have matched that human to the pony and returned them to their former selves. However, you did not put blood into the human bowl, so even if we do find and use it, the spell will not know who you used to be.”

“So, it would select at random, wouldn’t it?” Cirrus guessed. “That’s why we ended up like we are. The pony bowl’s spell chose a pattern at random, but why did it change our sexes?”

Trixie replied, “There was no need to specify sex in the spell because that was part of the patterns. And as there are about four mares to every stallion, the odds were four to one that you would become a mare.”

“And with the same odds, I got ‘lucky’ and became a stallion,” Blaze said with a groan.

“Exactly. Trixie is glad you comprehend now.”

“But I didn’t put a drop of blood into the pony bowl!” Blaze protested.

“Are you forgetting your bloody handkerchief offering, honey?” Cirrus said.

Blaze’s eyes opened wide and then he face-hoofed, wincing as the hard object connected. “I did this to myself. What an idiot!”

“You couldn’t have known. I certainly hadn’t intended to bleed on the damn thing.”

“So, you were both bleeding from those thorn bushes you mentioned?” Daring asked after being silent for all this time.

“Yeah, they choked the entry,” Blaze replied. “It was impossible to clear it without incurring at least a few scratches.”

The pegasus nodded. “Sounds like the work of earth ponies. They could have added a rapid-growth enchantment.”

“They can do that?” the stallion replied. “I’m beginning to think nothing is impossible, which is why I won’t give up completely yet on changing back. And we still have the handkerchief with our human blood on it. Anyway, standing around isn’t getting us anywhere, so let’s carry on.”

“Agreed,” Daring said. “If Trixie confirms that the rest of the way through is clear, I want to see for myself what lies outside this temple on the human side!”

“Trixie detects no other enchantments in the tunnel…” She paused. “… nor any traps, although our friends should have triggered them already if there were any.”

The pegasus adventurer broke into a trot but quickly was brought to a halt at the entrance.

“I thought you said that you cleared it of thorns? This looks untouched.”

The Peregrines came up to have a good look for themselves.

“These look as if they’ve regrown in less than a day. Trixie, does that mean that earth pony enchantment is still working?”

“Trixie doesn’t care – she hates thorns. Stand aside.” The unicorn mare lit up her horn and let out a blast of magic that ripped away all the offending plants.

The Peregrines gaped at that show of power. As Daring trotted out the now-clear doorway she grinned.

“Unsubtle but effective, as always, dear.”

“Trixie aims to please,” she replied smugly as she followed.

Cirrus and Blaze looked at each other. The stallion said, “Never annoy Trixie, right?”

“Good advice,” the mare agreed.

Daring had taken to the air by the time the Peregrines emerged. She surveyed the forest briefly before setting down again. “Yep, this is very different from where we just came from. I also spotted smoke a long distance to the west.”

“Umm… I think that would be the village we visited before coming here, but that’s a very long way from here. How could you see that?” Cirrus asked.

“Pegasus distance vision,” Daring replied. “You’ll find out for yourself once we get you flying.” She looked back at the temple. “Other than being more badly overgrown, it looks just the same from this side, but that’s no surprise if ponies and humans cooperated in building it.”

Meanwhile, Blaze dug out a satellite phone from his backpack. After starting it up, he attempted to make a call.

“What’s that, and what’s he doing?” Trixie asked.

Cirrus replied, “That’s… a way of communicating all over the world. He’s going to check in with friends who might be able to help us. Since he’s male, he’s going to imitate my human voice… hopefully.”

“Trixie thought you said you don’t have magic?”

“It’s based on science, not magic.” She frowned as she noticed that the stallion was looking concerned. “What’s wrong, Blaze?”

“I can’t connect. I’m getting an ‘account deactivated’ message.”

“What the hell? It should be good for a couple of months! I made sure we were paid up.”

“What can I say? It’s not working!”

Cirrus sighed in frustration. “What are we going to do now?”

Daring said, “Well, I want to meet some humans one way or the other, so why don’t we head to that village?”

Neither of the Peregrines thought that was a particularly good idea but could not think of a better one right then. Cirrus took out their GPS unit and said, “Since most of us can’t fly, including me yet, we’re going to have to hike there. This device will guide us to where we left our car and we can drive the rest of the way.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Daring said with a grin. “I don’t know what kind of contraption a ‘car’ might be, but I call dibs on the first round of ‘driving’.” Before the Peregrines could protest, the pegasus had already shot into the air, spiraling towards the west and waving her hoof. “Let’s go! We’re burning daylight!”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Thanks go out to Airy Words for his feedback and suggestions.

Chapter 4 - Expedition

Despite Daring’s urge to set forth immediately, both of the couples’ GPS units took several minutes to acquire a signal and confirm their known location.

“That’s odd,” said Blaze. “Did they factory reset? Satellite visibility shouldn’t be a problem in this clearing.”

Cirrus shook her head. “They are acting like they did when we first bought them, but that’s a mystery for another day. Both are good now, so let’s head out.”

“Finally!” Daring said with some asperity.

Because the forest was so dense, the four ponies set off in single file with Cirrus in the lead, using the GPS to keep them on course. With a definite goal in mind, it was easier to choose the optimum path through the trees and bushes. Daring Do and Trixie were intrigued by the differences between their worlds and silently observed everything as they traveled. Eventually, Daring landed and spoke up.

“Normally, I’m only interested in ancient buildings and artifacts, but this is so different from the jungles that I’m used to traversing.”

Cirrus stopped and turned around, blinking in confusion. “What did you just say?”

Daring frowned and tilted her head. “What? I didn’t understand a word of that.”

Blaze said, “You sound weird, and your language is different.” He looked at Trixie. “What’s she talking about?”

The unicorn mare looked stunned. “Trixie has no idea what you’re saying.” Then her eyes widened, and she face-hoofed. “Of course. We are out of range of the World Tongue Enchantment.”

Cirrus guessed what was happening. “Blaze, I think the magic universal language thing doesn’t work here. Once we left the vicinity of the temple, we lost the ability to understand each other.”

The stallion groaned. “Great! Just what we need – another problem. That’s going to complicate things. Do you think we should turn back?”

“Let’s find out what Daring prefers.” Before Blaze could ask how she could do that, Cirrus turned to the pegasus and mimed as she spoke, touching her ears, mouth, and pointing as needed. “Since we can’t understand … each other … do you … want to go back?”

Both the Equestrians understood what Cirrus was trying to ask. Daring looked at her companion and said, “What do you think, Trix? Keep going?”

“Trixie thinks you will want to no matter what she says, so let’s go on.” The blue mare lifted a small stick with her magical aura. “Trixie feels no reduction in her unicorn magic reserves and you can still fly. Trixie trusts our friends to handle any talking to the natives, but stay alert.”

“I always do, don’t I?” Daring replied with a grin.

“And you keep walking into it anyway,” the unicorn replied with a sigh.

Daring looked back to Cirrus and pointed in the direction they had been going, then took to the air again.

“It seems we’re continuing,” the pegasus said.

“Fine by me. We’ll deal with any communication problems as they come,” Blaze replied.

Speaking of which, “¿Cómo se dice en español ‘blockhead’?”

“Yep. Both Spanish and English are separate now. And to answer your question – ‘Se dice en inglés: Cyrus Peregrine’.”

Cirrus answered her spouse’s chuckle with a wing-slap on his rump.

Their unicorn guest laughed out loud. “Trixie thought she recognized that tone of voice.” She angled her rear toward the couple, daring them with her grin. They both rolled their eyes and went back to the task at hoof.

The group made good time through the forest. Cirrus’ small form proved adept at pushing through the denser parts that would have obstructed her human form. Trixie used her horn to push aside branches with ease, but Blaze did not know how to do that yet. Being the largest pony, he had more trouble than the others, but he found his greater strength compensated a lot.

‘Nice to be the big strong one for a change,’ the stallion mused as he effortlessly pushed aside a branch, remembering how Cyrus sometimes had to help the formerly petite woman. ‘Might as well enjoy it while I’m stuck like this.’

Ironically, Cirrus was thinking about the flip side of their situation. ‘It’s so much easier to navigate through this jungle as a small pony. Of course, Daring has it best as she can fly over the worst parts. That must be a lot of fun as well as practical. I almost wish I could get some flying lessons before we find a way to change back to our human selves.’

They continued mostly in silence for over an hour until they emerged onto a dirt road cut through the forest.

“Almost there now,” Cirrus announced. “The car should be just over there.” She pointed in the direction and Daring nodded in comprehension.

Although the pegasus did not know what exactly she was looking for, she figured that anything that did not belong in a jungle was likely to be it. Still, the vehicle wasn’t easy to spot as it was very well camouflaged.

“What the hell?!” Blaze exclaimed. “It looks as if this thing’s been here for months, not a couple of days!”

Cirrus looked at the accumulated debris that had been added to the branches that they had used to hide the vehicle and had to agree. “At least it’s still here and intact, so count our blessings. Let’s clear it and get on our way.”

The Peregrines started to manually remove the concealing material but Trixie huffed impatiently. Her horn lit up and hurled the branches, leaves, and other offending material to the side.

“Trixie wishes to see how your strange cart works,” she pronounced.

Her frown and hoof-stomp needed no translation. Cirrus opened the passenger door and indicated that she and Daring should get in. The two squatted on the bench seat while the Peregrines got in the front. Blaze had the key and was designated as the driver for the simple reason that he was the only one who had any hope of reaching the pedals. Even so, it was going to be a stretch. He put the key into the ignition and turned it.

Click! Click! Click! Click!

Blaze examined a dial on the dashboard and then looked at Cirrus with frustration. “The battery’s dead!”

“Shit! I had the car serviced thoroughly before we left. The battery should be perfectly fine. It’s not that old!”

The stallion’s eyes widened and a look of dread crossed his face. “It could have gone dead from sitting around for too long.”

“In two days?!” Cirrus retorted.

“Did you check the date when you turned on the satellite phone?”

“No. Why would I do that?”

“Do me a favor and do so.”

The mare frowned but pulled out the phone and carefully pressed the power button with the tip of a hoof. As the display lit up, her jaw dropped. “What the fuck?! It says it’s September! What’s going on? How can it be five months later?”

“Remember what Trixie said? The worldgate bends space and time. There’s no reason why time should flow at the same rate here as well as in the pony world. Think about all that extra stuff that accumulated on the car. The thorns over the entrance to the temple grew over the same time. Our satphone account was deactivated because the bill hasn’t been paid. Face it, Sky, we’ve been gone for too long.”

The mare did not want to agree but she could not see an alternative in the face of all the evidence. She groaned. “This is turning out to be a disaster. I suppose we’ll just have to hoof it to the village and see if we can contact our friends some other way.”

“Agreed,” Blaze said with a sigh. He turned to their passengers and said as he mimed, “The car (he pointed at the dashboard) is dead (he slid his hoof across his throat) and we have to walk (he pointed out to the road and made walking motions).”

Trixie frowned and grumbled, “Trixie is not impressed with human magic so far.”

Daring shrugged. “When have any of our adventures gone as planned? Our friends obviously weren’t expecting whatever went wrong. It’s not as if we can’t walk a bit further.”

They all emerged from the car and Blaze and Cirrus started concealing it once more, reasoning that they could salvage it later. The peeved and impatient Trixie helped once it became obvious that they were not going to proceed until the car was hidden. Thus, it was not long before the four plodded up the road.

“What do you want to do if a vehicle comes along?” Blaze asked.

After thinking for a while, Cirrus replied, “I don’t like the thought of confronting the locals in such an isolated area. I’d rather have a large group temper the possible extreme reactions of individuals. While our friends might be able to hold their own, we barely know these pony bodies.”

Blaze nodded. “Yeah. That makes sense. I’m not keen on how the locals might react at the village let alone here. If things do go wrong, let me do the fighting. I’m bigger and stronger than you now, and I’m sure I can give someone a mean buck.”

Cirrus’ ears wilted at that reminder. She was easily the smallest of the four ponies and that was a huge comedown from her previous stature. ‘I really need to learn to fly. Anything so I’m not completely useless.’

The group did encounter one truck traveling along the road, but even if they had been prepared to risk contact, it turned in from a side road and went in the opposite direction. Although the dirt track was not conducive to high speeds for vehicles, the same distance covered by the car in about half an hour took the ponies about two at an easy trot. The Peregrines heard some grumbling from Daring that they guessed was her complaining about how slow it was compared to flying there. Nevertheless, she was firmly on the ground when they reached the outskirts of the village. They cautiously entered and they were very quickly spotted by a couple of children whose shouts drew the attention of the adults.

At first, the colorful equines just drew amazed stares, then one older man began chivvying the youngsters away, saying, “¡No te acerques a los caballos demoníacos!”

“Oh, great – we’re demon horses now,” Cirrus said quietly to Blaze.

Daring Do, however, chose to put a confident face on the situation and strode forward. She took off her pith helmet and did a sweeping bow. “Greetings, humans! We come from the world of Equis and wish to learn about yours. We seek knowledge in Friendship and Harmony.”

The villagers looked at her with incomprehension. However, one shouted, “¡El animal habla! ¡Realmente es un demonio!”

Cirrus grimaced. “Shit! That guy is convinced that we’re demons because animals can’t talk.” She stepped forward and raised her voice. “Please! ¡No somos animales ni demonios! ¡Somos personas! We are people! We need your help. Necesitamos tu ayuda.” She fervently hoped that the dual-language plea would reassure the villagers.

At first, it seemed that it might have worked as the more curious crowded closer. However, that hope was quickly shattered as two men pushed through from one side, carrying ropes. Before the ponies realized their intentions, they expertly lassoed Blaze and Daring.

“Demonio o monstruo: ¡nos harás ganar mucho dinero!” one said with a nasty grin.

“¡Nosotras no somos monstruos del circo!” Blaze shouted and surprised his captor by charging with his head lowered, his horn aimed at the man’s belly.

While a unicorn’s horn was not meant to be used that way, the man was in no doubt that it would cause him grave injury and barely managed to dodge. However, Blaze anticipated that and immediately stopped, spun around, and lashed out with his hind legs. One hoof connected just below a knee, bone snapped, and the man collapsed with a scream of agony.

Meanwhile, Daring glared at her would-be captor for a moment before smirking and taking to the air. The villager yelped as the rope was nearly wrenched from his grasp, then hung on for dear life as he was effortlessly lifted high above the ground. Then Daring began flying in tight circles and centripetal force added to the man’s problems. He very quickly lost his grip and went flying into the side of one of the buildings. He slid down the wall and ended up in an unmoving heap.

Trixie rolled her eyes and moved up beside Cirrus who was nervously eyeing the other villagers. “Trixie has dealt with unruly mobs many times. Don’t worry about our companions.” Her horn glowed and a shimmering wall appeared between the ponies and the humans.

The people were startled by how the insubstantial glow held them back. Blaze was momentarily concerned about being able to join them but quickly found he was unimpeded. Once safe, he took the time to remove the lasso from his neck.

“I know I said I’d buck them if necessary, but damn, that came much easier than I expected,” he said with a pleased grin. “That prick isn’t going to try anything again soon.”

Daring soon joined them too. “This has turned into a complete shit storm. Time for a tactical retreat.”

“If you said we need to get out of here, I’m all for it,” Cirrus said over her withers while facing the way they had come. She took a step forward, only pausing to look meaningfully at Trixie who was still maintaining the barrier.

“Trixie agrees with you both,” she said, moving up to join the mare.

Cirrus glared at the cowering villagers and couldn’t stop from getting in the last word. “¡Llegamos en paz y nos atacasteis! ¡Vuestros hijos podrían haber sido los primeros en montar un caballo alado! ¡En cambio, nunca sabréis todo lo que habéis perdido este día!”
{ We came in peace and you attacked us! Your children could have been the first to ride a winged horse! Instead, you will never know all that you lost this day! }

She saw the eyes of children go wide and they started pulling on the sleeves of nearby grown-ups. For their part, the adults’ faces changed from expressions of fear to anger.

Daring and Blaze fell in behind Trixie and Cirrus. Together, they headed out of town.

Blaze said, “I don’t think your speech won you any friends among the adults.”

Cirrus shrugged while trotting. “Don’t care.”

When Cirrus saw some of the villagers following, she broke into a gallop, immediately joined by the others. The humans could not match their speed and the ponies rapidly drew ahead. The sound of gunshots only spurred them on to greater effort. Almost as soon as they turned a bend in the road and were out of sight of the villagers, Cirrus dived into the forest, barely slowing down. Daring took to the air once more while Blaze was right on Cirrus’ tail. Trixie took up the rear, still maintaining a defensive shield just in case. They kept up the fast pace until the pegasus mare stopped to hover just above the three.

Cirrus looked up at Daring. “Are we safe?”

While the adventurer did not understand the words, she comprehended their meaning. She rose higher, looking and listening for signs of pursuit. Satisfied that there weren’t any, she landed by the others.

“We’re clear.” She sat down and drew out her water bottle before asking, “So, what do we do now?”

Daring’s calm demeanor reassured the Peregrines and they followed suit, taking a few moments to rest and rehydrate.

Blaze said to Cirrus, “Well, it’s pretty clear we’re not going to get any help from those villagers, and if they’re any indication, we won’t do any better at any other town. This approach isn’t going to work.”

The mare sighed. “Yeah. Our only hope is to get our human forms back, and that means returning to the pony world.”

“The biggest problem with that plan is the time difference between our worlds. If it remains consistent, and that’s a big if, we’re going to lose many months, if not years.”

“What choice do we have? Even if we’re thought to be dead, we still have our passports to prove who we are if we get back to being humans.”

The stallion nodded. “First things first. We find that missing bowl and then arrange a better-prepared expedition. If the ponies are accompanied by us two humans, then we shouldn’t have the problems that we encountered back there.”

Cirrus grimaced. “I think we’ll have to aim for another town though. I don’t think we’ll be very welcome in that village anymore.”

Blaze chuckled. “No, I don’t suppose we will. Not that I regret breaking that bastard’s leg.”

“So – head straight back to the temple?”

“Hmmm… no. Let’s see what we can salvage from the car. I especially want to get the battery. If it only went dead due to lack of use, maybe we can charge it up and use the voltage converter to charge our devices.”

“Good idea. You get to carry it though. You big strong stallion, you.”

Blaze groaned. “Me and my big stallion mouth. Do you reckon the ponies know much about electricity?”

“If not, they’re smart enough to figure it out. Actually, let’s take the alternator too. If nothing else, we can rig up a way to run it.”

“I can just imagine it now – you on a pony bicycle and pedaling hard to charge up the battery.”

Cirrus stuck out her tongue at him.

While the couple talked, Daring pulled sandwiches from Trixie’s saddlebags. She stuck two of them under the Peregrines’ noses. “Time to eat!”

A spell kept them as fresh as when they were made and their delicious smell reminded Cirrus and Blaze how hungry they were. The four munched away in silence for a while and took the time to have a short rest. When Cirrus stood up and indicated that they should continue, they began the trek back to the car, guided once again by their GPS.

They had only been traveling for about forty minutes before Cirrus noticed they were losing the light despite traveling for only about half the day. She checked the time and groaned.

“It’s nearly sunset. We should have realized that we only arrived during the daytime by coincidence. The time difference could have dumped us on Earth in the middle of the night.”

“We’re going to have to make camp,” Blaze replied. The next suitable spot we see, we’ll stop.” He looked at Daring and Trixie. “We have to camp for the night,” he said, pointing to the tent on his back then rested his head on his forehooves and pretended to sleep.

Daring frowned and then shot up above the trees. Noting the sunset, she came down again and said to Trixie, “Whoever sets the sun on this world does it very slowly. I noticed that it was getting dimmer but I didn’t figure in that the time was different here and just thought it was getting very cloudy. There’s no weather control out here.”

“So, we have to stop for the night? It’s a good thing that the Amazing Trixie had the forethought to prepare for such an eventuality.”

Daring rolled her eyes. “You’ve always overpacked everything ever since leaving behind your favorite blanket that one time.”

“And this occasion has proved the Great and Wise Trixie correct to do so,” she replied smugly.

They found a flat clearing near a stream to provide them with water just before it got dark. Trixie conjured a glowing orb above their heads to supply enough light to set up their tents and build a small fire. They boiled water to make hot chocolate before heading to bed. Cirrus gave Blaze a goodnight kiss before snuggling into his embrace once more. Despite it being a very short day for everyone, the activity had tired them out enough to quickly find sleep.

After breakfast the next day, the four set off with the Peregrine’s car as their goal. They soon encountered the meandering road and decided to follow it as the risk of being discovered was now very low. They heard approaching vehicles long before they came into sight and they took cover until they passed.

Trixie and Daring were a little surprised to find that they were stopping at the car once more, but when the Peregrines started stripping out parts, they soon realized what they were doing and assisted in any way they could. When it came time to pack up, much could be fitted into the saddlebags and backpacks, but a couple of items, especially the battery and alternator would not fit and proved more problematic. A bag that had been left in the car was used to pack them, but carrying it was a whole different question. Blaze lifted the handles as he had seen Daring do previously, but while that worked, he could tell that carting it that way would very quickly get tiresome on the long walk back to the temple.

“Oh, for Celestia’s sake! It’s about time you used your magic!” Trixie said with exasperation. She lifted the bag out of his grasp and cast a featherweight enchantment on it before placing it on Blaze’s back. Her magic held it in place as she put her hoof over his mouth to stop his objections. “You are going to maintain the featherweight spell and telekinetic hold by yourself,” she told him firmly, not caring that he did not understand the words, only the intentions. She leaned forward, touched his horn with hers, and closed her eyes.

Blaze’s eyes shot open wide and began glowing. In his mind, he saw patterns and he watched as they linked up with a flow of energy that he had barely noticed before. He could feel the bag on his back with his mind, and the matrix that held it comfortably. His vision cleared and he saw Trixie smiling smugly at him before nodding in satisfaction.

“Trixie will have to teach him how to cast those spells, but for now at least, he can maintain them until we get back to our camp,” she said to Daring.

“Good job, Trix.”

“Hey, look, Sky! I’m doing magic!” the stallion said with a grin.

“Good for you,” she replied a little enviously. “Now, let’s stop wasting time and get moving.”

They set off once more, plunging straight into the forest on a heading that would take them back to the temple. A little over an hour later, Trixie asked, “Are we there yet?”

Cirrus replied, “We should be seeing the temple any moment. Wait! I can understand you again. We must be within range of the magic translation.”

Daring swooped down from her aerial path and confirmed it. “I’ve spotted the pyramid. That Gee Pee Ess thing of yours is pretty amazing. Way better than just a compass.”

They quickly found the entrance which was still clear of thorns, thankfully. They passed through the temple and headed straight for the campsite. Once there, everyone began unloading themselves.

Blaze looked puzzled. “Umm, Trixie – how do I get this bag off my back without just turning off my magic and letting it fall?”

The unicorn mare sighed in exasperation and took the bag from his magical grasp and into her own before setting it on the ground beside him.

“Trixie will teach you how to levitate objects as a priority, but first, Trixie decrees that we will have lunch and rest before discussing our next course of action.”

“Is it even lunchtime here?” Cirrus asked. “Considering the time distortion that we went through, I’m not sure.”

Blaze replied, “Taking into account how many months passed on Earth in the single day we spent in your world, I’m betting that only minutes have passed here.”

Daring looked at the position of the sun and nodded. “That looks about right to me. Besides, the fireplace is still warm from when we made breakfast yesterday… or should I say today? Time shifting is confusing.”

“Less talking and more meal preparation!” Trixie commanded.

With Cirrus’ help, Daring and Trixie set to work. Cirrus was already getting quite adept at using her wings almost like hands, which meant that she was far more useful to their hosts. Blaze felt ineffectual in comparison and decided he would spend the time stashing away the salvaged equipment in their tent. Trixie’s lessons could not come soon enough for him.

The four reviewed their adventure during the meal, and the Peregrines answered the many questions that their hosts wanted to ask earlier but were stymied by the language barrier. Afterward, they relaxed in the shade for a while before Daring broached the subject.

“So, what’s our next course of action?”

Cirrus said, “We have to find the other bowl, or else Blaze and I might never get our human forms back.”

“Trixie is compelled to remind you both that it’s virtually impossible that you will ever become the same human you once were.”

“Why not?” Cirrus demanded. “We have our blood samples that we can add to the bowl once we find it.”

“But there’s no link to the ponies you became,” the unicorn mare pointed out.

“Can you say with absolute certainty that it can’t be done?” the pegasus asked with a glare.

Trixie was silent for a long moment before sighing. “No, Trixie cannot. Too much knowledge about blood magic has been lost for Trixie to say that there is no hope.”

“Then, that’s what Blaze and I will be doing, with or without your or Daring’s help.”

Daring said, “Oh, I’d be looking for it anyway. After all, rumors of a powerful artifact are why the Princesses sent us here on this quest in the first place. If not for needing the bowl’s partner, we would be heading back to Canterlot immediately.”

Blaze frowned at the pegasus. “What about all the other archaeological work? There’s an enormous amount that we can learn from this site, perhaps for both worlds.”

“Yeah, maybe, but that’s not our specialty. We find the unfindable, rescue relics, and bring them back to Canterlot for safekeeping. The Princesses then send out a large team to follow up on our report and do all the tedious stuff.”

“We have a very different approach to archaeology,” the stallion concluded.

“Trixie understands your position but feels you underestimate how much work Daring does before we even get to a site. She has to chase down rumors, dig up obscure knowledge, and then spend weeks finding where it all leads, frequently into considerable danger. That is her skill and it has led to her being commissioned by the Crown for all such endeavors.”

“I didn’t mean to demean you, Daring,” Blaze said contritely.

The pegasus waved it off. “You aren’t the first to say such things. I prefer to shove results in their faces than make a fuss about it.”

The stallion chuckled. “Yeah – results do make or break a reputation. This expedition was going to be my and Cirrus’s big break. We got more than we bargained for.”

Daring nodded. “Now that I’ve seen humans for myself, I have some idea of how big a shock it had to be for you to transform into ponies. I can’t say that I’m in a hurry to find out what it’s like to be a human. So, do you want to start searching the ruins immediately?”

“Actually, no. Right now, I can’t do much because I don’t know how to use my unicorn body or magic. Trixie – you said you’d teach me. Do you want to start right away?”

“The Great and Knowledgeable Trixie is willing to take you on as her student beginning immediately.”

Daring looked at Cirrus. “What about you?”

Cirrus was torn between her desire to find the bowl as soon as possible and one other thing that she had never dreamed she could do. Conceding that tracking down the artifact was likely to take weeks rather than hours, she made up her mind. “Can you give me lessons? I want to fly!”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Before anyone starts pointing out problems with the time differential, please wait for the next chapter.

Chapter 5 - Lessons and Revelations

Cirrus was dismayed to find out that there was a lot of theory to be taught before Daring was willing to let her try to get into the air.

“Pegasus foals learn this stuff long before they go to flight school. Don’t worry – I’ll give you the cram course so that you can have a go at gliding this afternoon.”

Blaze was immediately curious, but he was quickly dragged away by his mentor.

“Trixie requires your undivided attention. Until you grow wings, flight lessons can wait. Rest assured that after Trixie earns hers, you will have the privilege of rounding off the rough edges of Trixie’s flight lessons.”

Trixie started with the basics – how to find his core and sense the magic stored there, and how to draw that magic to where it was needed. Blaze was surprised to learn that his horn was not the only destination.

“How else do you think hooves can manipulate objects? And just because you require a horn to cast complex spells, that does not mean that you can’t use other limbs to enhance and refine the results. The Great and Powerful Trixie has confounded other unicorns for that reason. Few unicorns learn more than how to cast a light spell and levitate more than one or two objects. Trixie expects much more of her student. Are you up to the challenge?”

Blaze grinned. “Try me!”

The stallion later regretted his cocky reply because the mare certainly took it to heart. However, he found that once he got the hang of the basics, moving on to the next level was not as hard as he feared. He even managed to startle his teacher by casting the featherweight enchantment without prompting.

“How, precisely, did you do that?” Trixie asked the smug unicorn with a frown.

“I’ve always had a very good memory for things that I’ve seen, and you kind of burned the spell pattern into my mind in flaming symbols thirty feet high.”

“Hmmm… in light of this, Trixie will alter her approach to your education. In fact, pattern-based spells may very well be your forte.”

“There are different kinds of magic?”

“Certainly! Besides pattern spells, there’s simple casting, enchantment, alchemical, runic, sympathetic, and more. However, at this stage, I want you to practice the essentials until you can do them in your sleep. Right now, Trixie would not trust you to carry anything for fear of you hurling them into the jungle or smashing them into other objects.”

Blaze’s ego was quickly deflated by that, even if he had only lost one of the rocks he was being trained with. Hopefully, it hadn’t landed anywhere near where Cirrus was training.

Both the pegasi had been startled by the sound of something crashing through the forest canopy nearby but, after pausing for a long moment and hearing nothing further, they put it down to some random animal.

Daring turned her attention back to Cirrus who was currently perched on one of the upper steps of the pyramid. “Okay, hold that wing position. Don’t try flapping this time. You just want lift, not propulsion. Feel your flight magic as it flows into your wings. Now… jump!”

Cirrus thrust herself off the temple, endeavoring to stay level to maintain an even glide. Unlike her first try, she did not tumble and crash to the ground… at first. She managed to travel a fair distance down the clear path between the trees before a twitch in one wing made her overcorrect and spin into a nearby bush.

“Damn! At least this bush is a lot softer than the earth,” she muttered as she extricated herself.

Daring trotted up with a grin on her face. “Not bad, but you keep jerking your wings. Low-speed flying requires smoothness. Stop worrying about minor adjustments. Once you build up confidence in your new wings, you’ll be able to use them as easily as you button your shorts. Your body remembers how to fly even if you don’t.”

Cirrus thought about how she had almost unconsciously put on her shirt and pants, but that was a slightly different situation. She had done the same thing as a human and the pony had let habit take over. She did not, however, have any experience with flying under her own power and was having difficulty just going with the flow. She figured that would take a bit more practice. “Let’s try that again,” she said with determination.

She made several more attempts, each more successful than the previous. Because the path through the forest to the camp was not straight, she had to steer her glide, and that brought more mistakes. Cirrus was at first shocked then surprised when Daring pointed out that the new flyer rarely repeated the same mistake. However, when she managed to make it all the way to the campsite without making an error, she realized that she had forgotten how to land properly. She angled her wings up into a stall, came to a halt mid-air, and then crashed down to the ground with a thud.

“Ow! My aching tail!”

Daring laughed. “That’s not the recommended way to land, but I’m sure you’ll remember that lesson.”

Cirrus rubbed her sore backside. “Yeah, you got that right. But at least I made it here.”

“Yep, and that’s good enough for today. You’re tiring and it’s just about dinner time. We’ll get into take-offs and propulsion in our next session. Then you can do far more impressive collisions.”

Cirrus groaned.

“Don’t worry – pegasi can shake off crashes that can rattle an earth pony,” Daring said with a confident grin.

That did not reassure the former human as much as the adventurer thought it would.

Trixie dismissed Blaze who trotted over to his spouse. “Looking good, Sky. Landing could use a bit of work though,” he added with a grin.

“Oh, ha, ha,” she replied, poking her tongue out at him. “Master of the mystic arts yet?”

“You two can tease each other later. Trixie requires your help in preparing the evening meal since somepony kept her busy until now.”

The four ponies busied themselves with food preparation, fire building, and coffee brewing. Conversation did not resume until they sat down to eat.

Daring said, “While it’s been an interesting day, none of us are here for magic or flying lessons. I intend to survey the human side of the temple tomorrow. May as well take advantage of the time differential. I’ll be able to spend all day over there while next to no time passes here.”

Cirrus frowned. “Speaking of time, I’ve been thinking about that. We spent roughly fifteen hours here before we returned to our side of the temple where we found five months had passed. That’s approximately 150 days, which works out to be about ten Earth days to an hour here. You can’t build an interspecies relationship on that basis, but the evidence shows that is exactly what did happen. So, what does that suggest to you?”

“Something’s wrong with the worldgate,” Daring replied.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Blaze said with a grimace.

“Trixie will examine it in the morning. We will make measurements of the time differential to determine if there is indeed a problem.”

Blaze nodded. “Good idea. Sky, since you pointed it out, would you like to help Trixie? I think I’ll work with Daring tomorrow, and you could start surveying this side once you and Trixie are done.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Cirrus agreed. “Trixie, would you back me up?”

The unicorn mare pondered for a moment. “Hmm… Trixie usually works with Daring to protect her from curses and traps. Are those risks the same on the human side?”

Cirrus shook her head. “Curses are myths, at least on our world. Traps have never been an issue with the Mayan ruins.”

“Then Trixie will be happy to lend you her expertise.”

“Thanks. Speaking of traps and temples though, I think you’d be amused by a movie… Wait – do you have movies here?”

“Yes, we do,” Daring replied.

“Oh, good. Give me a minute to fire up my laptop. This film is about the adventures of the patron saint of all Earth archaeologists – a man named Indiana Jones. It’s called Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

Daring and Trixie rolled on the ground laughing at the absurdly entertaining first scene from the movie. Cirrus paused the video player app and shared a grin with her spouse. Both waited until the two ponies recovered the ability to speak.

“Dozens and dozens of deadly traps!”

“A giant rolling boulder?”

“Running through spider webs!”

“Only to fall into the clutches of a rival archaeologist and the deadly natives?”

“Not believable? No! This is utterly brilliant! If only Indiana Jones would – ha, ha – show a little backbone! Ha, ha, ha, ha!”

After the Equestrians sat up and wiped the tears from their eyes, Cirrus said, “Sorry to dash any hopes about exploring ruins on Earth, but this movie doesn’t have any basis in fact. Real-life archaeology is pretty dry and boring most of the time.”

The unicorn mare rolled her eyes. “Tell Trixie about it! She longs for adventures like Indy’s to make Daring’s quests more interesting. Trixie has the side gig of writing up her partner’s adventures under Trixie’s nom-de-plume A.K. Yearling, only slightly fictionalized.”

Daring chuckled. “Yeah, even I’m amazed at all the things that have happened to me that I can’t seem to recall for some reason.”

Trixie smiled at her smugly. “Perhaps it was the boulder that rolled over you when you entered the temple that caused you to forget.”

Blaze grinned. “And then we two rival archaeologists from another world snatched away the powerful artifact that you came searching for!”

Cirrus said, “I can see that your next book will be quite the thrill ride.”

Daring replied, “It can be occasionally. Trixie’s saved my butt a few times, I gotta admit.”

“How did you two hook up?” Blaze asked. “You seem to be an unlikely pair.”

Daring said, “Actually, I needed a competent mage to deal with some tricky problems that had stymied me at a site. Trixie was available and agreed to help. Turned out that we worked well together and we’ve been partners ever since.”

In contrast to Daring’s beaming smile, Trixie looked at the ground and her ears sagged. “There isn’t a reason to sugar-coat it, Daring. The Great and Powerful Trixie was once a famous traveling magician, wowing audiences from Van Hoover to Manehattan. Then Trixie got careless one day. Bad weather delayed her arrival at her next venue and she rushed the setup and forgot to secure her pyrotechnics. A curious foal got into them and was badly injured. Thankfully, the foal survived, but Trixie’s name was mud from then on. Word spread fast and no town would host her anymore. It was not long before Trixie was broke and starving. Daring encountered Trixie by accident when she was at her lowest and offered her a job. In time, Trixie found new purpose, regained her pride, and has someone whom she wishes to protect with all her heart.”

Daring blushed a little but smiled at her partner. “Like I said, we work well together.”

Blaze and Cirrus had heard late into the evening how well the two worked together but refrained from saying anything. The stallion sought to fill the awkward silence.

“Our story is quite mundane. Cirrus and I met as junior staff on an archeological team. We started dating and eventually got hitched. After a while, we decided to strike out on our own. It was following up an enigma that led us here. I have to admit, there hasn’t been a dull moment since then.”

Cirrus chuckled. “Yeah. As a result, you’ll get to write about the two-legged monsters that tried to capture you in your next book! Oh, is that why you use the pseudonym?”

Trixie nodded. “Trixie had no wish to drag Daring’s name into the mud.”

Blaze asked, “Do your books pay enough to bankroll your expeditions? God knows we had enough trouble raising the funds for ours.”

Daring shook her head. “As Trixie said, it’s her side gig. We get funding by Royal Charter. We track down magical items that may prove a threat to Equestria. Now that we’ve found one of the items we were looking for – or more specifically, one of the pair – I don’t believe they qualify as a threat, even if that one has caused you problems. Nevertheless, they should be taken to Canterlot where they can be secured and not accidentally triggered like you did.”

“And it’s in our best interests to help you find the other bowl,” Cirrus said.

“Which is our cue for calling it a night,” Trixie declared. “We need to get off to an early start tomorrow to make up for lost time.”

As the sun had been set and the moon risen, the rest agreed. Blaze set up the small solar panel to charge their portable power pack when the sun rose in the morning and then headed to bed with Cirrus.

“Is this going to happen to me every morning?” Blaze whined.

“If you were human, I’d say not, but I haven’t a clue what it’s like for pony stallions. Want to ask the ladies?” Cirrus said with a grin.

“Hell, no! It’s bad enough that you find it amusing.”

“The horseshoe is on the other hoof, so to speak. I’m making up for all the times you ragged me for it.”

Blaze sighed. “I suppose it’s better than the alternative.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“It was almost that time of the month. Believe me, an unwanted erection is preferable to having a period.”

Cirrus blanched. “Oh, shit! Does that mean that I’m going to go through that?”

“Calm down, Sky. I don’t think ponies have periods. Or at least ones on Earth don’t.”

“That’s a relief. I hope we get changed back to humans before something else does come up though.”

“I suppose so,” Blaze agreed.

Cirrus frowned at him. “You don’t sound very enthusiastic.”

The unicorn winced. “Well… umm… it’s just that I really enjoyed learning magic yesterday. I’m kind of looking forward to more lessons before I go back to being human.”

“Have you forgotten that we’re up against a temporal problem? We can’t afford to delay too much. Most of a year on Earth has already passed in the short time we’ve been here.”

Blaze gave her a flat look. “And who wanted flying lessons rather than starting the search for the second bowl yesterday?”

It was not possible to show her blush through her red fur, but the way Cirrus looked askance spoke volumes. “Maybe if I’d been turned into a pegasus stallion, it wouldn’t bother me so much,” she murmured.

Blaze gave his spouse a reassuring hug. “Look, Sky, I just want us to make the most of a suboptimal situation. Today, we’ll do some real work with our friends. With a bit of luck, we’ll find the bowl, and our options will be a lot greater.”

“Do you think we’ll find it that quickly?” she replied.

“I’ve been thinking about that. I can’t really see the ponies hiding it – they would have been in a pretty secure position and besides, the Conquistadors would not know to look for it even if they managed to get through. My educated guess is that it was put somewhere safe but readily accessible.”

“That sounds reasonable to me. Hopefully, centuries of decay haven’t changed that.”

Blaze grinned. “Let’s be optimistic. Today, we’re going to have a great day.” He got up and stretched. “So, let’s get started!”

Cirrus stared for a moment before saying, “Do you intend going without your trousers?”

The unicorn paused, then smirked. “Screw it! The mares said that stallions often prefer going nude.”

“And you believe them?”

“If they were fibbing, then they’re going to get a heck of an eyeful, won’t they?” He then parted the tent flaps and exited, leaving a stunned partner wondering if she had ever been that blasé as a man.

Blaze did garner some admiring looks at breakfast, but the lack of sniggers or lewd comments seemed to confirm the clothing situation. Cirrus had not been so bold and chose to wear her pants although she skipped the shirt for now. After all, it covered nothing but her coat.

Daring did recommend Blaze put on his trousers before they went out into the field. “Your undercarriage will thank you for it, believe me. Scratched and scraped teats aren’t fun either, which is why I always wear my shorts while in the field.”

The stallion nodded. “Humans always need protection. We… they don’t have a thick coat. Clothing is so necessary that not wearing it has become socially taboo.”

“No wonder you were both so obsessed about pants when you were first transformed,” Trixie commented.

“Shame and embarrassment are great motivators.”

“You’ve got nothing to be ashamed about,” Daring said with a wink.

Blaze decided to drop the subject before anything happened to prove her wrong. “I had an idea about measuring the time differential a bit more accurately.”

“What did you have in mind?” Cirrus asked.

“We’ll use our smartphones. The lock screen displays the time, even if it and the date are completely wrong, but that won’t matter. I’ll place mine on the human side of the worldgate so you can see it on this side. You can then measure how long an hour passes while I’m working with Daring to survey the Mayan ruins.”

“Makes sense, but just leave it there until you come back for lunch.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Think about it. If it’s going as fast as we think it is there compared to here, it’ll only take about fifteen seconds for an hour to pass. A longer period will let me get a more accurate reading.”

“Good point. Okay, I’ll leave it there for as long as we’re on that side. You won’t have to wait more than a minute or so. I’ll go fetch the phones.”

As Blaze headed for the tent, Trixie asked, “What are these phones you mentioned? More human magic?”

“Human technology, not magic. They’re multifunctional devices first designed for communications but, with the use of the internet and various applications, can do many useful things that I’ll explain later. We keep them turned off while out in the field to conserve their power because much of their usefulness requires connection to data sources accessed through the internet which isn’t available out here.”

“Trixie has no idea what half of what you said means. She is still amazed that you have a device just to show movies.”

Cirrus chuckled. “Oh, it can do a lot more than that! We’ll explain it all better tonight when we’ve finished work for the day.”

“And give lessons. Trixie looks forward to learning your mysterious human magic.”

Cirrus sighed and decided not to correct her for the umpteenth time.

As the foursome entered the temple, Blaze said, “It just occurred to me that I never noticed any of us moving slower or faster when walking through the passage.”

Trixie replied, “That would be because there is a transitional phase between our worlds. Otherwise, passing through would be like slamming into a wall going one way, and being yanked forward going the other direction. We have traveled in a group so far and probably did not notice the much lesser effects while close together.”

“How long is that transition?” Cirrus asked.

“Trixie is not sure due to the distortions of the worldgate, but she is fairly confident that the bowls were placed outside of it, so that would be a safe location from which to make your observations.”

“Works for me,” Blaze said. “I’ll prop up my phone at the broken pillar while you two stay next to this one. Do you think you’ll be able to see the display clearly from that far away, dear?”

Cirrus nodded. “My eyesight is really good as a pony. No problem.”

“OK, sounds good. Let’s go, Daring.”

“Way ahead of you, slowpoke!” she replied as she trotted down the passage.

Trixie and Cirrus watched as the two suddenly sped up so fast that they became a blur. Moments later, there was only the trivial amount of light coming from the time display of the smartphone placed as the stallion had said. Cirrus clicked the lap timer button on her stopwatch app as soon as she was sure of the time she read on the distant device. That was not easy because the minutes were turning over so quickly. And even though she tried to be alert for when Cirrus returned, it was still a surprise when the phone disappeared and the two explorers trotted back down the passage toward her only a little over a minute after they had left.

“Well, how did it go?” Blaze asked as Daring continued out of the temple.

“Give me a moment.” Ignoring the blue unicorn practically draped over her withers, Cirrus switched to the calculator, pasted in the total elapsed time from the fourth lap, and did a quick calculation. “Bearing in mind the very rough way we measured it, I still find that Earth is moving 245 times as fast as here.”

“That bears out our earlier estimate. If we’re still stuck here tomorrow, we can take another measurement. Meanwhile, Daring and I are going to have lunch.”

“That’s right – you’ve been working for over four hours already. What have you found so far?”

“Nothing atypical or noteworthy for Mayan ruins, although Daring finds it more interesting for obvious reasons. I’m just very glad that I can now use my horn to clear away debris. It sped up the process considerably compared to non-magical means.”

“I’ll have a look at your notes and any samples you brought back later. Trixie and I need to get started on this side soon.” She turned to the mare. “You wanted to check something first?”

The unicorn nodded. “Trixie will attempt to discern the condition of the worldgate.”

Blaze said, “Let me know how it goes. I’m hungry. Seeya!” He followed in Daring’s hoofsteps.

Trixie lit up her horn and moved toward the portal until she was confident of being in the optimum position. She closed her eyes and Cirrus could see nothing happening at all for a long moment before a web of magic suddenly built up over the boundary of the worldgate. She watched in fascination as it seemed it was being tugged from the other side. Then it disappeared and Trixie opened her eyes. She frowned and then turned around and headed out of the temple.

Cirrus quickly followed. “What’s going on, Trixie?”

“Trixie will tell all of you at once,” was her short reply.

They found their companions preparing sandwiches, but they halted when they saw the unicorn’s expression.

“What’s up, Trix?” Daring asked.

“The worldgate is degrading quickly. It is barely hanging on due to a huge intake of magic from Equis. That is why there’s such large time differential. No two universes will have the same time rate, so the worldgates adjust to keep them in sync. However, the older the gate, the more strain there is on it, and the synch starts to slip. It then requires more energy to compensate. This need keeps increasing over time until the gate can no longer hold it and the times get out of phase. The gate keeps trying to bring it back in line but that takes even more energy and creates even more strain that causes further slippage. It’s a positive feedback loop that will inevitably end in the worldgate’s failure.”

“Oh, shit,” Cirrus cursed. “How long before it goes?”

Trixie shook her head. “Trixie cannot tell. Worldgates are so rare that little is known about them, and no pony has ever studied one this near to collapse. Trixie bases her conclusions on her observations alone, and they aren’t enough to give a firm answer.”

“How about an educated guess?” Blaze pleaded.

Trixie scowled. “An hour? A day? A month? A year? Trixie can’t tell.”

“You mean to say that it could collapse any moment?” Cirrus gasped.

“That is what Trixie said, yes.”

Cirrus turned to Blaze. “We have to find that bowl now! We can’t go back as ponies.”

The stallion nodded. “I’ll spend the rest of the day on this side helping you explore the ruins here.”

Daring said, “I want to finish the survey of the human ruins—”

She was cut off as Trixie’s magic dragged the pegasus to be nose to nose with the unicorn. “No, you will not! Trixie will not risk losing her partner. Got that?!”

Daring blinked in shock before replying. “Umm… aren’t you overreacting a little, Trix?”

“Trixie is not. Did you not understand the implications of what Trixie just said?”

“I did. I also know that we got half a day’s work done in a minute here. That time until the gate collapses – is it measured in time here or there? Because, if it is the latter, the worldgate probably would be gone by now. I’m prepared to risk another couple of minutes here to finish my job.”

Trixie glared at Daring for a long moment before dropping her. She turned away, saying, “If you are wrong, Trixie will never forgive you.”

Daring smirked. “With you to look out for me, I’m not worried.”

Cirrus and Blaze were in no doubt as to how the pegasus got her name. Cirrus put a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s get started on our search and let Blaze and Daring have their lunch.”

Trixie reluctantly nodded, and the two headed out.

Blaze joined them after he had eaten as promised, and surprisingly, Daring did too a few minutes later.

“Turns out it was only a couple of hours before the sun set,” she explained. “No luck, I’m afraid. So, how’s it going so far?”

Cirrus and Trixie had already laid out a search pattern that revealed that the pony settlement had been quite large. The buildings and dwellings had varied in the degree of decomposition, but the stone structures had faired well in comparison to the ones made of less sturdy materials. No effort was placed into exploring the latter yet. Everyone agreed that the missing bowl would far more likely be found in one of the stone buildings near the temple. However, there were several of them, and the jungle had done them few favors. The four had not found the object of their search before night fell.

Both Daring and Blaze were exhausted. They had been working a day and a half due to time shenanigans. Cirrus and Trixie prepared dinner while those two recuperated. Blaze spent the time explaining the workings of human technology while Daring enthused about how his tablet had been such a boon to documenting their finds. Trixie was impressed by the photographs that they had taken but wondered where they put the film.

After the meal and clean-up, they watched the remainder of Raiders of the Lost Ark, by which time Trixie was utterly convinced that humans had magic too but would not admit it. The Peregrines stopped trying to convince her otherwise, reminded of the old adage – ‘Any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic.’

Despite the failure to find the bowl, Cirrus and Blaze went to bed that night with a feeling of accomplishment. They were doing what they loved and in the company of like-minded people, even if they were ponies. Tomorrow was another day and hope still remained.

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Art by Scheadar.

Editing and suggestions by Airy Words.

If you are enjoying the story, please consider leaving a tip on Ko-Fi.

Chapter 6 - Changes

The next day, everyone continued where they had left off. Daring completed her survey of the human ruins, satisfied that the Peregrines could help her identify and analyze her findings. She also had the benefit of Blaze’s smartphone. Her feathered appendages had proved quite adept at manipulating the device. Daring took lots of pictures, although half were selfies next to some ruins. She stepped through the worldgate where a very worried unicorn had waited for her. It had been the longest minute of Trixie’s life!

Daring stopped the stopwatch function and gave the phone to her partner. Trixie compared the time elapsed on the phone borrowed from Cirrus, then switched apps and made a calculation using a stylus held in her magic. She frowned and then glared at her companion. “You are not going back!”

Daring Do was always willing to push the boundaries of safety, but even she knew where to stop, especially when the unicorn was so deadly serious. “No problem, Trix. Let’s go join our friends. I gather you have bad news for them?” She headed for the exit with Trixie hot on her hooves.

“This time, Trixie measured the time differential at 253. Before you ask, the uncertainties for both yesterday’s and today’s measurements are around one percent.”

Daring gave a long whistle. “That’s quite a jump in so little time. We’d better find that missing bowl soon or else the Peregrines might no longer have the option of returning.”

However, despite some other interesting discoveries, the bowl was not found that day. The four returned to camp well before sunset to wash in the nearby stream and prepare dinner before it got dark. After the meal and clean-up, Blaze fetched the laptop which had been attached to the solar charger all day. They watched another movie – The Princess Bride this time. As the Peregrines suspected, their hosts found it to be just as hilarious and entertaining as the former humans did. It also lifted their spirits after Trixie’s depressing news.

Nevertheless, when Blaze and Cirrus went to bed, the mare found further comfort in the stallion’s embrace.

Daring offered Cirrus another flying lesson the next morning. The mare was torn once again between searching for the bowl and learning about the new skill that she found thrilling.

Daring said, “Let the two unicorns do some of the heavy excavation. We’ll join them for the more delicate work soon enough.”

That pushed her over the tipping point and she took up Daring’s offer. Blaze was glad that she did so – anything to get her mind off their troubles was a good thing. He was happy to work with Trixie in the meantime.

The two pegasi joined them in about an hour and a half, and the pace of work accelerated. In fact, Blaze was a little upset at how fast they were proceeding as he was sure that they were causing unnecessary damage to the ruins. This was counter to a true archaeologist’s spirit, but the looming deadline made him bite his tongue and pushed him on nonetheless.

Another day was nearly done when an excited shout came from Cirrus’ ruin. “I need a unicorn here, stat!”

Everyone hastened over and they soon saw the problem. A huge branch had fallen on the structure, collapsing the roof and a couple of the walls. Although they had cleared the worst of the debris earlier, it had still taken a few hours to work through the remainder more carefully. The big limb had been left in place due to it holding up one remaining wall, but one of its smaller branches could now be seen blocking access to the uppermost of a series of stone shelves that had remained untouched. Cirrus’ flashlight was illuminating an object on one of the shelves, and Blaze grinned when he recognized its shape.

Trixie quickly assessed the situation. “Pegasi – get out. Trixie will move the limb enough to access the bowl. Blaze – be prepared to pull the bowl out as soon as you can. The wall may collapse at any moment once its support has gone, so move out of the way as soon as you have it.”

Cirrus objected. “Wait! First, levitate out anything that you can easily access on the lower shelves.”

Daring nodded. “Good point. This may be our only chance to get them out safely.”

Less than a minute later, the two pegasi exited the structure holding a few flat stones, several wooden tools, and a small tooled leather scabbard.

In response to Trixie’s raised eyebrow, Blaze nodded. “I’m ready.”

The stallion was glad that he had been getting plenty of levitation practice over the past couple of days. Grabbing the bowl in that confined area was tricky for an amateur like him. However, although he had found he possessed at least as much lifting power as his teacher, he definitely did not have the delicate control needed to move the limb carefully and minimally.

Trixie’s magic enveloped the branch and slowly moved it both up and sideways. Her field expanded to also lift sections of the wall when they began to shift. Blaze took a magic grip on the bowl and began pulling it out. He forced himself to focus on only this task and not offer assistance when he heard Trixie grunt from the strain of her efforts. Blaze felt resistance at first because the gap was not yet big enough, but the moment it was, the bowl popped out and flew into his waiting hooves. Despite Trixie’s efforts, the wall began crumbling almost immediately and both unicorns beat a hasty retreat, allowing the structure to collapse harmlessly.

Cirrus joined Blaze in an instant and he held out the bowl so that they could both get a good look at it. Although it had suffered more weathering than the one in the temple, the unmistakable shape and dark residue inside made clear to both that this was definitely the object they had been searching for.

Cirrus said, “Let’s get back to camp and try this out.” She turned and headed back.

Blaze trotted after her, the bowl floating in his magic beside him. “I’m surprised you don’t want to do it right here.”

“If it works, we’re grabbing our stuff and heading to the temple as soon as possible. Besides, I left the handkerchief with our blood on it safely stowed in our tent.”

“Oh. Good point.”

Once at the campsite, Cirrus wasted no time in fetching the handkerchief. However, Trixie stopped her from immediately dumping it into the bowl.

“Let Trixie scan the bowl first.” The unicorn cast an analysis spell over it and, after a few seconds, nodded. Without canceling the spell, she said, “Its magic is still active. Put the hoofkerchief in now.” Cirrus did so and the unicorn concentrated again for a moment. Then her magic winked out. “Trixie felt a magical exchange occur. In her highly educated opinion, the bowl now possesses your human patterns. You may now proceed.”

Cirrus held up her pocket knife with a wing. “Cut me, Blaze.”

“Sure, but I suggest you take off your clothes first. No way they’re going to fit on an adult human.”

“Oops. You’re right.” She took off her shirt, then the shorts followed. Although it was embarrassing, it was nowhere near as bad as when she had just been transformed. She then held up a foreleg. “Do it.”

Blaze hoped he had sufficient control to make the cut minor. He considered passing the knife over to Trixie, but he could see that his spouse wanted him to do the job. He succeeded in making a small cut and blood welled out. Cirrus held her leg over the bowl and watched as first one drop then another fell into it. She then stood back.

After a few seconds, the pegasus collapsed to the ground. The other three watched in fascination as her body transmogrified. Wings, tail, and fur shriveled and disappeared, her muzzle retreated into her face, ears moved down, limbs shifted and changed in length, hooves were absorbed, and fingers and toes sprouted. The exposed skin turned dark and the pale mane turned into black hair. Then the changes came to a halt and the human groaned.

“That was no more pleasant the second time around. Oh, shit.” Cirrus got up and looked over her new form. “I’m still female.”

It was obvious to Blaze that Cirrus was not only female, she was also now a Mayan. “If it’s any consolation, you’re a gorgeous young woman.”

Cirrus glared at him. “No, it’s not a consolation. Are you going to try your luck or not?” she challenged.

Trixie spoke up. “It is as Trixie warned you – there is no link between your human blood and your pony forms. You only added to the pattern pool. One of two things has happened. Either you again received a random human form, or else your pony form was already linked to that human. Trixie’s opinion favors the latter, but even if the former, that female body is now permanently linked.”

Cirrus closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she frowned and said, “No! I refuse to accept that. Blaze – your turn!”

Blaze shook his head. “Sky – you know it’s not going to work.”

“DO. IT!”

The stallion sighed. “Okay. If nothing else, this will remove all doubt.” He took off his trousers, then nicked himself and dropped some blood into the bowl.

A few minutes later, a Mayan man groaned, stood up, and looked himself over before turning his gaze to Cirrus. “Well? Satisfied?”

The woman brought her hands to her face and collapsed to the ground, weeping. Blaze moved over to Cirrus and put his arm around her without saying anything. Trixie left them alone and busied herself with starting a meal. Daring watched the two for a long moment before coming to a decision and flying off. Eventually, Cirrus stopped crying and tried to wipe away the tears.

“What the fuck are we going to do, Blaze? There’s literally zero possibility of anyone believing that two Mayans are Cyrus and Blaise Peregrine. They would believe we stole our passports and belongings and lock us up as thieves. Worse, they’d think we were insane. Hell, we’d stand a better chance of convincing them of who we are as ponies. Of course, we’d never get the chance because some fucking local will inevitably capture us and parade us as circus freaks.”

“I wish I could say you’re wrong, Sky, but that’s exactly what I was thinking too. At least we’re humans again.”

Cirrus shook off the man’s arm, stood up, and glared at him. “Do you think I want to be a woman? Look at me! Is this stranger your husband? No! This isn’t me! This is some person who died centuries ago. This is a female who I know nothing about and don’t know how to be. And what about you? How are you not screaming at how unfair all of this is?”

Blaze got up and took her into his arms again. Cirrus resisted for a moment before giving up and laying her head against his chest. He stroked her hair and leaned down to kiss her before saying, “One of us has to be strong, and if that’s my role now, then so be it. Sky, we may have to put our previous lives aside now, but we’re alive, we have friends, and we can make new lives here. Trixie told me that as ponies, we were physically young adults, and it appears these human forms are pretty much the same. So, we have plenty of time to reinvent ourselves.”

Cirrus snorted. “Yeah, as two weird aliens in a world of ponies. Blaze… I don’t think I can deal with that.”

Something was dropped at their feet. Daring gave the startled humans a serious look. “Then don’t. Become ponies again. You were both adapting to that already. Sky – you’re a great bucking mare and nopony can say otherwise. And don’t tell me that you weren’t loving learning to fly.”

The Peregrines looked at the object on the ground and recognized the bowl from the temple.

“She’s right,” Blaze said. “I think you and I would be better off as ponies.” He smirked. “You might want to do it soon. I think this male human is starting to get turned on by the sexy nude female in his arms.”

Cirrus gaped at him for a moment before her expression firmed and she punched him in the chest to make him let her go. “Men!” she exclaimed. “It pisses me off to be on the other side of the sexual equation and understanding women’s reactions now.”

Blaze grinned. “But it got you out of your funk, didn’t it? Now, are you going pony or not?”

Cirrus considered for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

“Oh! Wait a moment. I want to take a couple of photos of us as humans for the record.”

Cirrus rolled her eyes. “OK, but if you start treating it like a photo shoot for Penthouse, I’ll knee you in those very visible balls.”

Blaze chuckled. “Consider me warned,” he said as he fetched his phone from his trouser pocket. He took several shots of Cirrus who then returned the favor. She then passed the phone to Daring.

“Take a video of us during the transformation process. Might as well document that too. I’m sure as hell not going to do this again.”

“After you,” Blaze said, handing Cirrus the knife.

“Wait!” yelled Daring. “The phone just went dark.”

Cirrus raised her arms in exasperation. “Seriously? Both phones were fully charged this morning. How did it run out of battery?”

“Welllll…” The tan pegasus rustled her wings at her sides while gently clopping her forehooves together. “I did take that phone to the Earth side, so it’s been hours and hours, right? And I took a l-o-o-o-o-t of photos!”

Trixie smirked. “Oh? What was so interesting that it required that many photos?”

Daring waved a hoof. “There will be time for all that later. Maybe much later. There’s no rush. What there is a rush for is getting the transformations properly documented.” She rummaged through Cirrus’ pants and soon had the second phone pointed at the couple. “Camera … Video … No, not pano, whatever that is … red button … a-a-a-a-n-n-n-d ready!”

Cirrus nodded and jabbed a finger. She squeezed a couple of drops into the pony bowl and passed the knife back to Blaze before sitting on the ground in preparation for the change. Blaze followed suit while Daring recorded the process. Minutes later, two ponies got onto their hooves and Daring stopped recording.

Cirrus stood and stretched her wings. “Thank God, we’re the same ponies. Unless I became a stallion, I wouldn’t want to start learning another new body.” She did not notice that Blaze was freshly appreciating his four-legged spouse before their attention was drawn away.

“As Trixie said earlier, your pony forms are now linked to those human forms, so you were always going to return to them. Now, if you’re over your existential crisis, Trixie has prepared refreshments, and the food will be ready soon. Trixie hopes that you’ll provide some more after-dinner entertainment on par with the two previous nights.”

Cirrus surprised herself by giggling. “I think we have the perfect movie for tonight.”

Spirited Away was a huge success. Daring was intrigued by the different culture and myths presented in the story. Trixie was also fascinated by the animation that brought pictures to life. Both ponies were aware of the allusion to their new companions having been spirited away from their own world. Also, both Blaze and Cirrus found one of Daring’s unconscious habits adorable. She would puff her wings out and tilt her head when trying to puzzle out something completely foreign to her sensibilities.

That night as Cirrus and Blaze settled down to sleep, the stallion said, “Sky – you know I still love you, don’t you?”

The question surprised the mare, but she quickly responded, “Yes, and I still love you too. It… it’s just been a bit hard to adjust to our changed dynamic.”

“Would you hate me if I said I like what I am now?”

Cirrus sighed. “I think I already realized that. You took to being a stallion very quickly. How long have you known?”

“I think from that first night together when you snuggled in my embrace. It felt so right. You weren’t imagining my physical reaction. It surprised me a lot, and I thought it was just a passing thing, but it isn’t. Each day, I have been feeling more and more confident as a male. I like being a big strong stallion. I like the admiring looks our friends give me.” He kissed Cirrus. “And I adore holding the mare that I love in my embrace.”

The pegasus was quiet for a long moment before responding. “Blaze – I admit that I have been getting more comfortable as a pony, but being female is still too strange for me. I don’t know how soon that may change, if ever, but damned if I want you to stop holding me and loving me.”

“I can promise you that, my Sky.”

# # # # # # #

Chapter 7 - The Journey Begins

Blaze disconnected his phone that he had left charging overnight and started it up. “Hmmm… let’s see what Daring photographed so much that she killed the battery.” He opened up the Gallery and paused momentarily to look at the pictures taken of him and Cirrus while they were in human form. Then he scrolled down further. First, one eyebrow lifted, then the other as his smile grew. “Snrrkk!”

His strangled laugh attracted the attention of Cirrus who had just finished dressing. “What’s so funny?”

Blaze wordlessly passed the phone to the mare who very quickly started giggling. Picture after picture featured Daring Do in selfies with various artifacts. Every possible playful and pouty facial expression was displayed in photo after photo. She had even figured out the timer to do some poses on top of various ruins.

Cirrus smirked. “We will have to commend Daring on her dedication and professionalism… after showing Trixie.”

The stallion grinned as he took back his phone. “I hope I can keep a straight face for long enough.”

They waited until they had eaten breakfast before bringing up the subject. When Blaze asked Trixie to review her partner’s photographs for the record, the pegasus mare looked alarmed.

“No, no! I’ll handle that,” Daring protested.

Trixie raised her eyebrow and tilted her head. “Why? It’s Trixie’s job, even if we usually must wait until we return to Canterlot to develop and print the film rolls.”

“I… uh… need to umm… make notes—”

“You can still do that later. Trixie shall see the photographs now.”

Blaze opened the Gallery once more and passed his stylus to Trixie to let the mare scroll at her own rate. It did not take long for the unicorn to start casting looks at Daring whose face was already turning red. Blaze kept up a stern expression while looking at the pegasus which just made her blush more. He caught Trixie’s eye and the two silently agreed to keep up the suspense. They hmphed and shook their heads in disappointment. Daring finally sank to the ground and covered her face with her wings to hide her embarrassment. That was the final straw and both unicorns burst into laughter, followed only a moment later by Cirrus who had been playing dumb until then.

Daring peeked out from under her wing. “What the heck?”

Cirrus said, “Don’t stress over it. You didn’t do anything that young human females haven’t been doing for years back home. It caught us by surprise, but we knew we had to tease you.”

Daring sighed and got up, still blushing. “Sorry – I know I got carried away.”

Blaze replied, “No harm done and, if anything, it makes you feel more alike to us. I’m just sorry I can’t print out a few of the best glamor shots.”

Daring’s blush renewed, but Trixie looked disappointed. “Have you no way of printing them? It seems strange to me that you cannot.”

“Yes, we can, but with a device that we don’t bring along on expeditions. It’s not needed out in the field.”

“Hmm… Trixie will have to ask Sparkle if she can come up with a solution.”

“Who is this Sparkle?” Cirrus asked.

“She is a former classmate of Trixie. As Great and Knowledgeable as Trixie is, she must admit that Twilight Sparkle is more so. It is said that she has learned everything there is to know about magic and spends her days researching new spells. If there’s a way of reproducing images on your phones onto paper, she will know it… or create a method.”

Cirrus leaned forward with a frown. “Then, could she figure out how to get us back in our proper human bodies?”

Trixie gave her a long look before sighing. “Trixie will not bother trying to convince you that it is impossible anymore. You have already decided to pursue that infinitesimal hope.”

“Hardly infinitesimal. It may be just a simple matter of cycling through all the recorded human patterns until the correct one is found.”

“Now you are sounding just like Twilight Sparkle”

Blaze said, “Well, we pretty much knew we’d be going back with you, so we’ll deal with convincing her when we get there. What are our plans for today though?”

Daring replied, “Now that we’ve found the relics and completed work in your world, our primary task is done. We’ll finish the preliminary survey of the ruins next. We’ll split into two teams so we can wrap up everything today. That way, we can pack up and head back to Equestria early tomorrow.”

“What?! There’s so much more to be done here!” Blaze objected. “Just going by the typical Mayan temple and township, there’s weeks or months of archaeological work to be done.”

Daring nodded. “Yeah, there is, but that’s not our job. Trix and I were sent specifically to find and retrieve potentially dangerous magical artifacts. That’s always been our main objective. The preliminary survey is for the follow-up team that will do the rest of the work.” The pegasus paused as she gathered the equipment that she would need and smirked. “Besides, we only brought enough supplies for Trix and me. Feeding the two of you cut our available time here in half.”

The Peregrines were both embarrassed to have overlooked that point. Even though they had packed some food, they had always intended to resupply themselves for an extended stay after locating the Temple of the Horse.

Daring regained her trademark grin. “We’ll go out in unicorn-pegasus pairs. Blaze – you’re with me. We’ll take the east side while Trixie and Cirrus can handle the rest.”

The survey was completed with time left over for the Peregrines to get more lessons in flying and magic. After dinner was finished and cleaned up, the movie of the night was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Trixie and Daring went to bed with some peculiar ideas about humans after that.

After breakfast the next morning, the Peregrines packed up their tent and stowed it and their backpacks in the storage area under the floor of the wagon. These were accessed by doors between the wheels on either side. Although they had their doubts about available space, they were shocked to see more go into them than they thought physically possible.

“Trixie enchanted them with expansion spells. How do you think Trixie managed to cart all her props and equipment in one small wagon? Have a look inside.” The unicorn gestured to the door at one end.

Neither of the Peregrines had seen inside the wagon yet simply because there had not been a need. Cirrus mounted the steps and pushed the door open. She froze, her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. After a long moment, she turned to look at Blaze.

“It’s a bloody TARDIS!”

“You’re shitting me,” he replied, making his way up the steps and practically pushing Cirrus aside.

His eyes were greeted by what looked like a cozy apartment with a small lounging area, a kitchenette, and a partially open door through which he spotted a bed. Considering the proportions of what he could see, he would not be surprised if there was a small en suite bathroom too.

Blaze looked at Cirrus. “I have to say it – it’s bigger on the inside than on the outside!”

“That’s what Trixie said, but what is a… tardis? That word makes no sense.”

“It’s an acronym standing for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space,” Cirrus explained.

“Oh, so humans do have expansion spells?”

Cirrus shook her head. “No, it’s just fiction, but a very popular one.”

“Ah, Trixie sees. It’s a good thing that it’s a real thing here because otherwise, it would be very crowded in there for us three while Daring flies us back.”

Blaze said, “That’s right – you said that you had flown in the wagon. Considering how much mass all this has, it’s still hard to believe that Daring is going to lug this by herself.”

“It isn’t easy,” the pegasus admitted, “but not as hard as you might think. Even Cirrus could manage it. Not that I would trust you yet, Sky – you have much to learn still.”

Cirrus shuddered. “Which is a gentle way of saying my landings suck. Yeah, I’m not taking on that responsibility yet. But I’m intrigued about how you’ll do it.”

“Once we have everything packed, you’ll see.”

Blaze said, “Cirrus and I are done, but there’s something I’d like to do before we leave. Could we do one final measurement of the time differential? I’d like to get one more data point for your experts.”

The unicorn mare frowned. “Trixie does not recommend tempting fate.”

“I’ll just dash over and back to set up the phone. We’ll only need a minute on this side before I go back to fetch it.”

Trixie hesitated for a long moment. “You’re going to do this whether Trixie helps or not, aren’t you?”

“Yep. It’ll be quicker with you along though.”

Daring said, “Might as well do as he asks, Trix. I’ll have the last things packed and ready to go by the time you get back.”

“Can’t save damn fool stallions from themselves,” Trixie muttered before she set off toward the temple. “It is possible to love science too much, you know?”

“Thanks,” Blaze said as he followed, two phones carried in his magic.

Once inside the passage, Blaze passed one phone to Trixie and then trotted over to the other side of the worldgate. He propped up the phone and immediately returned.

“How’s it looking?”

“Trixie is already sure that the difference is much larger.” She waited sixty seconds before saying, “Enough! Go fetch the phone.”

Blaze quickly did so and found the mare calculating the differential upon returning. When he saw her eyes widen, he asked, “Is it bad?”

“Trixie calculates it to be 337.”

“Oh, wow! That’s a big jump from the last meas—”

The whole world seemed to shudder for a moment, and the light at the far end of the tunnel winked out. Their lamp showed nothing but a stone wall instead.

Both ponies stared in shock before Trixie scanned the area with her magic and announced the obvious. “The worldgate just collapsed.”

Blaze made a choking noise before saying, “Oh, God! Oh, God! I nearly got trapped over there. Oh, fuck!” He stumbled out of the passageway.

Trixie found him puking up his breakfast just outside the temple. She was also shaken but she felt it was a mare’s duty to console the stallion. She rubbed his back and hugged him until he stopped trembling.

“Harmony has been kind to you and left you in the care of friends. Let’s rejoin them now and be on our way home.”

Blaze nodded. “Don’t tell Cirrus what happened. I don’t want to upset her. She’s dealing with enough as it is.”

“We will say that we found it closed already. Trixie will inform Daring in private. She has a big ‘told-you-so’ to tell her.”

Blaze managed to pull himself mostly together by the time they got to the campsite. Daring was standing next to the wagon harness, giving Cirrus some more advice on take-offs while waiting for the two to return.

“How did it go?” Cirrus asked as soon as she spotted them.

“The worldgate is closed and the passage now dead-ends,” Trixie announced.

Cirrus’ face fell. “I suppose that’s it then. There’s no possibility of getting back to our world anymore.”

“Sorry, but no, there isn’t. Even if we had a way to open a new worldgate, and Trixie assures you she knows of none, we have no means of targeting your world if we could.”

Cirrus nodded. “I pretty much had come to the same conclusion, but it took until now for it to become hard reality.” She sighed.

Daring smiled encouragingly. “Cheer up, Sky! Of all the places to get stranded, I don’t think you could do better than Equestria. And you have us to help you fit in. But for now, let’s get this show on the road. We’re burning daylight here!”

Trixie said, “That’s right. Cirrus and Blaze – get into the wagon. Trixie must cast the sky carriage spell, and you need to be inside to become part of it.”

Blaze was glad for a distraction. “How does that work?” he asked as he mounted the steps behind Cirrus.

“It’s a complex spell that greatly reduces the inertia of the wagon and its contents, which is why we need to be inside to be included,” Trixie replied as she followed Blaze and closed the wagon door. “It also nullifies gravity’s pull and keeps the wagon level. As long as the pegasus pulling keeps on an even flight, the ponies inside should have no more sensation than that of being in a train carriage. One moment…” Her horn blazed for several seconds and the Peregrines felt a tingle. Trixie then went to the window and opened it. She leaned out and said, “We’re good to go!”

Daring nodded. “OK!” She then moved into place, touched a gem on the drawbars which activated a spell, and the harness moved into place, cinching itself securely. She then spread her wings. “Ready for takeoff!” she yelled.

Trixie’s magic released the brakes. “Go!” she yelled back.

Daring beat her wings in a powerful thrust that started the wagon rolling forward. They did not stay on the ground for long though as the pegasus changed the angle of her wings and the front wheels left the earth, quickly followed by the rear wheels. There was only a short stretch of clearing ahead, but Daring judged her ascent well enough to comfortably pass over the tops of the first trees. She continued climbing until she reached the desired altitude and leveled out, adjusting her direction toward the south. Then she settled into an economical flight mode that maximized her endurance.

“Wow! I felt almost nothing during that climb,” Blaze commented. “Wait – if you’ve nullified gravity, how are we still standing on the floor?”

“It’s an effect of the spell – it attracts everything inside the wagon towards the floor,” Trixie replied. “By the way, be cautious with your movements. It does affect how you move within it.”

“Why didn’t Daring get included in the spell?” asked Cirrus.

“Because it would negatively affect how she flies. Mainly, she needs her inertia to pull the wagon, but being able to sense gravity also plays a role.”

“I see. You’ve really added a great deal of flexibility to Daring’s excursions, haven’t you? She can bring so much more equipment and supplies. No wonder she recruited you to help.”

Trixie gave her a wistful smile. “She gave Trixie much in return.”

Blaze turned away from the window through which he had been watching the scenery pass. “Do you think I could learn that spell?”

The unicorn mare chuckled. “Trixie is not saying that you don’t have the necessary ability, but it takes years of study to reach the level of proficiency to master that spell.”

The stallion grinned. “Then I’d better get started right away. Want to give me some more lessons?”

The mare smirked. “Trixie supposes she trotted into that one. Normally, Trixie would begin work on her next novel, but she thinks that there’s a lot more to this tale yet to come. It would be best to see how events pan out before settling on the narrative. Or in other words, Trixie sees no reason why she can’t start you on the way to magehood right now.”

“Awesome! Oh… Sky – are you going to be okay while we’re busy?”

Cirrus nodded. “Frankly, I can scarcely keep my eyes off the scenery. My wings feel twitchy as if I should be out there flying alongside Daring instead of being cooped up here. I’ll just have to settle for watching out the window. Have fun!”

Trixie and Blaze spent a couple of hours on his lessons and Cirrus did not move from the window. Then she noticed that Daring had angled their flight in the direction of a cloudbank. Since she had been avoiding them until then, Cirrus got curious as the pegasus slowed down over a particularly thick patch. She was genuinely shocked though when it appeared that Daring was landing on it.

“Hey, Trixie – what’s Daring doing?”

The unicorn mare glanced out the window and then to the clock on the wall. “Trixie assumes that Daring is taking a rest break.” She got up and stepped into the kitchenette. “I have some refreshments prepared for her.”

Cirrus scarcely heard her as she was riveted to the sight of the wagon coming to a halt on top of the cloud. Then her jaw dropped as Daring disengaged the harness and walked back to the wagon. “How the fuck?”

“What’s wrong, Sky?” Blaze asked.

Cirrus turned to face him and pointed to the pegasus. “Daring is walking on the clouds! Walking, as in not using her wings at all!”

Blaze hastened over to the window but was too late to see it because Daring had already reached the rear of the wagon and, moments later, she opened the door and entered it. However, since the pegasus was there and the wagon was apparently sitting on the cloud without support, he could hardly deny Cirrus’ observation.

Cirrus blurted out, “How did you do that?”

Daring blinked and tilted her head. “Do what?”

“Walk on the clouds!”

“Oh. All pegasi can do that. Go on out there and try it.”

Cirrus looked through the still open door and all she could see was the insubstantial vapor that was the top of the cloud. The rational human she had once been quailed at the thought of stepping out there. “No bloody way! I can’t even fly well yet and you want me to do that?”

“It comes naturally – you don’t have to learn anything to cloud-walk. Go ahead – see for yourself.”

“N-n-n-nope!” Cirrus replied, backing away from the door her wings raised in alarm.

Daring rolled her eyes before spreading her wings and bracing herself. She flapped hard and a big gust of wind caught Cirrus’ wings and carried her through the doorway before she could react. The mare screamed in panic for the short moment before she fell face-first into cottony softness and came to a halt. Cirrus froze in place for several seconds as she convinced herself that she was not plummeting toward the ground. Then she cautiously got up onto her hooves and gingerly tested the surface. It gave way a little but held firm. She jumped up a little and came back down to a soft halt. Then she grinned and started bouncing on it like a trampoline.

Blaze watched as his wife quickly turned into a foal with a new toy, laughing and gamboling on the cloud.

Daring said, “Don’t you try that. Unicorns can’t do what pegasi can do. Not without a cloud-walking spell anyway.”

The stallion looked at her and grinned. “If I ever want to walk on a cloud, I intend to do so under my own power someday.”

Daring grinned in return before looking toward her partner. “Got my snacks, Trix?”

“Coming right up!”

Daring relaxed on the couch while Blaze watched Cirrus enjoying herself. He smiled in satisfaction to see her cares swept away, at least for a while.

After they continued their journey, Cirrus decided to spend the time working on their findings and starting a report. There was another stop for lunch and a nap for Daring. Then they resumed traveling until midafternoon when Daring brought them in for a landing in a meadow beside a river. Trixie set the brakes and canceled the spell on the wagon.

“Why bother?” Cirrus asked. “You’ll just have to cast it again tomorrow.”

“Because a small gust of wind would easily blow the wagon over otherwise,” Trixie replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Oh. Right.”

Blaze stepped out of the wagon, intending to get a campfire built. He grinned as the tired pegasus passed him to head inside. “Too exhausted to fly more?”

Daring shook her head. “Nah, I could go on longer, but there’s no point. We won’t get to our destination today anyway.”

“Is Canterlot that far away?”

Daring snorted and chuckled. “That’s many days away! We’re headed to a city by the coast called Foaledo. There, we’ll catch a train which will take us west, skirting the Forbidden Jungle before heading north for a few days.”

“Oh. I gather it would not have been simpler just to travel north from our campsite?”

“Nope. Even more jungle before it turns into the Badlands. No towns or trains for days. I’ll show you on a map later. Right now, I’m going to rest while you three set up camp. Call me for dinner!” she added with a grin as she stepped into the wagon.

The map was illustrative rather than accurately showing geographical details, but it nevertheless gave Blaze a good idea of the distances involved. Even after traveling for much of the day, they had yet to clear the forest. Daring assured him that they should arrive in Foaledo about this time tomorrow, giving them plenty of time to buy tickets on the Cross-Continental Express. Trixie’s wagon would be shipped on a freight carriage that was part of the train.

What bemused him and Cirrus though, were some of the cities marked on the map. Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, Van Hoover, Las Pegasus – there were too many similarities to North American city names to be a coincidence, but their hosts had no explanation for why.

“Perhaps there’s been influences through other worldgates,” Cirrus suggested. “And if that’s true, then perhaps they might still be open.”

Blaze nodded. “We’ll definitely have to look into that later. First, we need to see if getting your human body back is feasible.”

It did not escape Cirrus that Blaze had not included himself in that goal, but she let it slide for now.

The movie of the night was Despicable Me. Daring informed Trixie that she now wanted a minion or three. Trixie responded that Daring was already playing the role of her personal minion, now joined by the Peregrines, and that would have to do for now. Blaze and Cirrus burst out laughing when Daring wildly gesticulated both forelegs and wings while arguing that wasn’t what she meant at all!

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

In the show, distances were traveled at the speed of plot. In this story, I intend to show that Equestria is really big and it takes a very long time to travel from one side of the country to the other.

Daring Do's selfies were Airy Words' idea.

The map is cropped from this one - https://chakatsden.com/Pony/map_of_Equus.jpg

Chapter 8 - City Sights

“You’re going to get in some flying practice today,” Daring Do declared as the four ate breakfast.

Cirrus paused lifting her spoon and blinked. “I am? I thought you intended to keep heading for Foaledo first thing?”

“We’re still going to do that, but once I get us up above the cloud deck, I’ll stop and you can come out and fly with me for a while.”

Cirrus’ eyes were as big as saucers by then. “But… but I’ve barely got the hang of staying up! I haven’t even mastered take-offs yet!”

“Which is why you’ll be starting up there. I’ll park on one of the higher clouds and you can dive off to get started. Then it’s just a matter of getting into the flying rhythm.”

“Squeak!” was all that Cirrus managed to say in response.

Blaze almost choked on his coffee from laughter and Trixie chuckled too.

Daring sipped her hot brew until things calmed down a bit before continuing. “Look, I know it seems drastic, but pegasi have been teaching their foals to fly in similar ways for all of history. The big difference here isn’t your age though. In just days, you’ve gone from knowing nothing about flying to actually doing it, if barely. Pegasi simply don’t learn that fast. We go to flight school for a reason. Yet here you are doing something that normally takes weeks to learn and months to be competent.”

Cirrus lifted an eyebrow. “Really? I thought it just came naturally?”

“Oh? Do you strange two-legged humans learn to walk upright in a couple of days?”

Cirrus shook her head.

“I thought not. Minotaur calves sure don’t, and I figured it would be the same for you. Anyway, the point is that you have gotten this far ridiculously quickly. Trix and I were discussing this and we have a hypothesis. We think your Equestrian bodies, including the brain by the way, know how to work. It’s just a matter of your human minds making the connections – you for your wings and Blaze for his horn.”

Blaze frowned. “If that’s true, why was Sky able to deal with her clothing immediately after the transformation while I struggled?”

Trixie replied, “Actually, Trixie believes that supports our theory. Humans are accustomed to using their hands while pegasi use their hooves in a similar manner. Relearning this was simple for your mate, whereas unicorns normally fall out of the habit once they master their horn’s telekinetic ability. You tried to do something unfamiliar to your new body. It took you longer to make that connection than your mate. However, once Trixie began teaching you to use your horn, you caught onto telekinesis quickly. And as with pegasi foals, unicorn foals take months to reach the level of competence that you have already achieved.”

Daring said, “Short version – you already know what to do, you just have to kind of remember it. So, that’s why you’ll be doing some flying. Besides, you need to exercise your wings more.”

Cirrus gulped. “I suppose so. You’ll be watching out for me, I hope?”

“Of course. Besides, we’ll stay above the clouds. Anything goes wrong, you can make a soft emergency landing.”

“I’ll be your cheer squad,” Blaze said with a grin.

“No, you won’t. Trixie intends to use the time to train you in more spells,” the unicorn mare declared.

Blaze blinked, then frowned. “What if the pony whose body this was never learned those spells? There’s nothing to reconnect to then.”

“The Great and Talented Trixie will not have an incompetent student! You will learn those spells! It’s not as if Trixie expects you to go to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns afterward.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Blaze replied with a grin.

Breakfast concluded soon after, and then they packed up to resume their journey. After a repeat of the previous day’s procedures, they were soon heading up into the sky. Blaze spent the time setting up the solar panels as best he could with Cirrus’ help in front of one of the wagon’s windows. It was not very efficient but it was the best they could do under the circumstances.

“Does that really give you enough power for all your needs?” Trixie asked curiously.

“Sadly, no,” Blaze replied. “It’s only big enough to either recharge our phones or top up the portable power pack. And that’s nearly dead from how much we’ve been using it to recharge the laptop. We probably don’t have enough power for a movie tonight.”

“That’s too bad. Trixie was looking forward to seeing the third and final Indiana Jones movie. Still, Trixie is impressed that your devices run on just sunlight.”

Blaze chuckled. “They don’t, or at least not directly. They run on electricity which these panels convert from light.”

“Electricity? Like what they run street lamps on?”

The stallion frowned. “You ponies have electricity?”

“Trixie just said that, didn’t she?”

“Lighting was the first widespread commercial usage of electricity on Earth,” Cirrus pointed out.

“Do you know what voltage and cycles your electricity uses?” Blaze asked eagerly. “We might be able to recharge our power pack and devices.”

“Trixie has no idea what that means.”

“I suppose we’ll just have to figure it out,” the stallion said with disappointment.

“Better be absolutely sure about those before you try,” Cirrus warned. “We don’t want to blow our stuff up. It’s all irreplaceable.”

“Yeah, I know.”

There was a soft bump that everyone recognized as the wagon coming to a halt on a cloud. A glance out the free window confirmed it.

Cirrus took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay – wish me luck.” She headed through the door and stepped out onto the cloud. She walked up to where Daring was waiting by the edge. Looking down, she shivered. Yes, there were more clouds below, but they were a long way down and entirely too far apart for her liking.

“Go on,” Daring said with a grin. “There’s virtually no difference between flying up here and doing it down near the ground. Air’s a bit thinner but that shouldn’t be a problem. Just breathe as I’ve taught you and you’ll be fine.”

“Right. Yeah. Doing it.” Cirrus spread her wings and raised them for the initial thrust, then froze.

“Don’t make me push you over the edge,” Daring warned.

“Eep!” Cirrus flapped, and then it was too late to change her mind. She was over the edge and starting to fall. “Okay – you know what to do, Sky,” she told herself. “You know the wingbeat. You know the angle of attack. Now fly!”

Like all her take-offs so far, this was as graceful as a moose on skates, but she managed to get into the right rhythm and her flight steadied. Then she gasped as she had indeed forgotten to breathe. Daring soon pulled up alongside her, effortlessly matching her speed and trajectory.

“Looking good, Sky. Now, alter your course about ten degrees to the left and keep that up.”

Cirrus shot Daring a quick smile of confidence that she was just beginning to feel. The mare was right – she was reborn to do this!

Blaze turned away from the window with a smile. “She’s doing great.”

“Of course, she is. Daring said as much and Trixie had full confidence in her. Now sit down and we will review what you learned yesterday.” The mare placed several practice objects on the floor between them.

“Yes, teacher,” Blaze replied.

“Now – orthogonal transposition spell. Begin!”

After a couple of hours, Daring declared it was time for a break. The forest below had begun thinning out as it transitioned into prairie. The clouds had also started clearing and she knew that Cirrus would want to use one for landing, not to mention parking the wagon. Daring watched as her student made her best touchdown yet, crediting it to the mare getting more in tune with her body. Cirrus was panting a bit but she had a huge smile on her face.

“That was amazing! I felt I could fly forever!” Cirrus enthused.

Daring chuckled as she disengaged the harness. “I know that feeling well, but it’s time to rest and have refreshments. You can fly with me again afterward if you wish. Fair warning though – you’ll have to land on the ground next time.”

“I think I’ll be ready for it. Or at least, I won’t botch it too badly.”

“Don’t worry. Like I’ve said before, we pegasi can laugh off a crash landing that would put other ponies in the hospital.”

“Because we’re smaller and lighter?”

“And we have the right kind of magic. Now, let’s see what those ground-pounders have prepared for us.”

The prairie gradually transitioned into farmlands and then the suburbs preceding the city of Foaledo. Before they reached the central business district, Daring brought the wagon down into the staging area of a large railway station very close to the coast. While the tracks continued into the city, it was obvious that freight was handled here as well as passengers.

Cirrus landed beside Daring, nearly face-planting as she failed to kill enough momentum. Nevertheless, she recovered and was pleased to not crash for once. “So, this is where we catch the train? It’s bigger than I expected.”

“This is Foaledo Nexus,” Daring explained as she pulled the wagon into a parking bay. “Ships from places like Ornithia, Shire Lanka, and Abyssinia use Foaledo’s port to move freight all over Equestria. That’s why there are tracks going right into the port. It’s also the departure point for the Cross-Continental Express, not to mention the junction for many of the suburban passenger lines.” She came to a halt. “Tell Trixie to apply the parking brake.”

Cirrus trotted to the rear of the wagon and saw Blaze looking curiously out of the top half of the two-part door. “We’ve arrived. Tell Trixie to put on the brake, please.”

Blaze nodded and disappeared inside. Shortly, he returned and stepped down from the wagon, followed by the unicorn mare who locked the door with a spell. Daring joined them moments later.

Trixie said, “We made good time and arrived sooner than expected.”

“We had a fairly strong tailwind,” Daring explained.

“Trixie suggests that we make our arrangements with the train service immediately and then head into the city for lunch.”

Blaze said, “I like that idea. It’ll give Sky and me a chance to have a look around a pony city. Even here, I can see so much that’s both familiar and strange. So many colorful ponies and facilities made to suit us.” His eyes widened. “What the heck is that creature?”

They all looked at where the stallion was pointing.

Trixie replied, “That’s a hippogriff. They have a city much further south called Mount Aris. Naturally, they trade up the coast a lot. You’re likely to see many other races here because it’s a major shipping hub.”

Daring said, “Let’s get going. You can gawk along the way.”

They trotted off in the direction of the station while the Peregrines’ heads swiveled around, taking in the novel sights.

“Hey, I just realized something,” Cirrus said. “Those locomotives all look like steam engines, aren’t they?”

“Yep,” Daring confirmed.

“How come I can’t see or smell smoke?”

Daring raised an eyebrow. “Why would you?”

“Steam engines burn wood or coal to heat the water to make the steam, of course!”

Trixie wrinkled her snout in distaste. “Bleah! That sounds awful. Trixie can just imagine everything around here coated in smelly soot!”

Daring chuckled. “They may do that in the human world, but here, they use fire crystals.”

“How does that work?” Cirrus asked.

Daring looked at Trixie. “Have we time for a detour?”

“A quick one. Trixie is very hungry.”

“OK. Come this way.”

The pegasus mare led everypony toward the train yards where various freight carriages were being shunted around. The locomotives pushing or pulling them were belching steam but nothing else. They eventually reached a series of sheds where some of the steam engines were being serviced.

“Look there,” Daring said, pointing at one of them.

A crew was in the process of using a lifting device to remove a long and deep tray from underneath the boiler of the locomotive. An earth pony pulled the contraption and its load to one side where it was placed into a rack. The Peregrines could just see some dull red crystals inside the tray. The earth pony then went over to another rack and pulled out an identical tray. This one had crystals too, but they were glowing bright red. They watched as the tray was pushed under the boiler and locked into place. The whole process was very efficient, barely taking three minutes.

Trixie spoke up. “Those are enchanted fire crystals – special mana-charged gemstones that are designed to release heat when activated by the engineer. Depending on the size of the train and its usage, those crystals are enough to last up to eight hours before they will need to be recharged. Trixie can’t imagine trying to keep a roaring fire going that long!”

“Yeah, that’s really hard work,” Blaze agreed. “Humans have progressed beyond steam engines now, although diesel locomotives can be smelly still. The trains that run on electricity are clean and quiet though.”

“You can run a train on electricity? Trixie would like to know how, but not now. Tickets and food are more important! No more dallying!”

Daring grinned. “You heard the mare. Quick trot!”

They hastened toward the station where they booked two sleeper compartments for that evening’s service. They also arranged to have the wagon loaded onto a vehicle carriage that was also part of the Cross-Continental Express.

“I thought you would still sleep in your wagon,” Cirrus said.

“Not allowed,” Trixie replied. “Besides, who wants to be confined to the wagon for days?”

“Thanks for paying for a sleeping compartment for us,” Blaze said. “It would have been awkward for Sky and me to have to use economy seating.”

“Not a problem,” Daring replied. “Besides, we’ll claim it as a business expense.”

“You can do that?”

The Pegasus grinned. “You two are going to be such a hit, the Crown will be happy to pay up.”

Cirrus grimaced. “Nice to know we’re not complete dead weight.”

Trixie said, “Hurry up! The next train into the city is due to depart in two minutes. Trixie will not wait any longer for a good sit-down meal!”

They hastened to Platform 3 where they boarded the service that took them into the heart of the city. Daring informed the Peregrines that it ran in a loop with several stops along the way. They got off at a station opposite the waterfront and headed for a restaurant that Daring knew and liked.

“They serve great seafood there,” she told the Peregrines.

“Ponies eat fish?” Cirrus asked in surprise. “You’ve only served us vegetarian meals so far.”

Trixie replied, “Pegasi are inordinately fond of them. Trixie is not a fan. Fortunately, there are much more palatable alternatives available.”

Daring grinned at the look on her companion’s face. “You never gave it much a chance. Your loss.” She back turned to Cirrus. “Do humans eat fish?”

“Fish, shellfish, calamari – if it’s edible, humans have probably eaten it. I don’t know how my pony taste buds will experience it, but I’m willing to try anything once.”

Blaze said, “I’m not a pegasus like Sky, but I wouldn’t mind trying it too. I used to love salmon.”

“We’ll see if it’s on the menu,” Daring said.

As the group walked down the street to their destination, the Peregrines looked about with great interest. They noticed that clothing seemed to be a matter of preference because just as many walked around nude as those who dressed fashionably. One other thing stood out – there were no automobiles. Everything was pulled by ponies, usually earth ponies on the streets, and pegasi above them. They noticed mana-powered steam-operated equipment being used on the wharves, but there were also unicorns levitating stuff into position there and on a building under construction. Magic obviously played a big part in a lot of the operations that kept a city running. One thing that amused Blaze was spotting a taxi. A pony pulling ponies in a cart seemed quite silly to him. Then he saw two bipedal cats in one.

“What are they?” he asked.

“Abyssinians,” Trixie replied. “Probably from one of the ships in port.”

“Cool!”

They soon arrived at the restaurant. The sign proclaimed it to be the Seapony Seafood Sensation.

“With a name like that, it better be good,” Cirrus said as they entered. “Are seaponies what you call sailors here?”

“Nope,” Daring replied. “They’re exactly what they sound like.”

Cirrus looked at Blaze with both eyebrows raised. “They have mermaids here!”

The stallion shrugged. “I’m beginning to think every mythical creature is real in this world.”

The restaurant was about three-quarters full and, as Trixie had predicted, most of the customers were pegasi. They did spot another Abyssinian dining there though. Other than the clientele, the place was not unlike many other sit-down restaurants that the Peregrines had dined at, right down to the perky waitress. The unicorn mare held her notepad and pencil in her magic as she took their orders. Daring ordered the seafood platter and Cirrus decided to follow her example. Blaze was not sure if unicorn taste buds were well suited to seafood, so he was more conservative and ordered battered fish and chips with a side salad. Trixie decided to get her protein with a deluxe egg salad.

Blaze decided that the fish was okay, but he enjoyed the salad and chips more. Cirrus convinced the waitress to “borrow” a bit of malt vinegar from the cooks and proceeded to devour her meal with gusto. Daring liked the addition so much that she talked some other patrons into giving it a try. Cirrus complimented Daring on her choice of restaurant while fielding compliments sent her way from the other diners. When not being social, the four discussed what to do with the rest of the afternoon before returning to the city Nexus.

Trixie said, “Foaledo is sometimes called Glass City because it’s famous for its glass products. Perhaps Trixie could take you to visit the glass museum? It would seem to Trixie that kind of thing would be of interest to you.”

Cirrus looked at Blaze with an arched eyebrow. He nodded. “Sounds good,” he said.

The four took their time to enjoy their meals with drinks to wash them all down. They got directions to the glass museum from the waitress when they paid the bill, then took a leisurely stroll to the venue. It turned out to be part of the larger museum, but with the difference that it had a full-time crew of artisans demonstrating their glassmaking skills. The finished products were available for sale later, but the Peregrines were more interested in the historical aspects of the oldest exhibited items. Objects both of beauty and practicality filled display cases with plaques describing where and when they were made, and by whom. Not every glass item was made by ponies, apparently.

After they had their fill of glass, they spent an hour checking out the rest of the museum. They still had not seen everything before they had to head back to the Nexus. Not only did everyone need to take a bag of personal items that they would need on the trip, but Trixie also had to be present for the loading of the wagon. She turned off the anti-theft spells and released the brakes long enough for the train yard workers to load it onto the freight carriage.

As the group headed to the station platform, Cirrus grumbled, “I have to get myself some proper saddlebags if I remain stuck as a pony. Carrying this backpack doesn’t sit right.”

Blaze just grinned at her as he levitated his own backpack in the glow of his magic.

“Showoff,” Cirrus snarked.

Unfortunately, there was still over an hour before the Cross-Continental Express was scheduled to depart. Its timing was for the benefit of anyone who worked in the city during the day but needed to travel afterward. They had plenty of time to get to the platform for their pre-booked journey. However, there was little to do until boarding started. Daring and Trixie were engrossed in their own conversation, but the Peregrines spent the time watching the activities of the ponies preparing the train for its journey. Loaded freight cars were shunted into place and connected to the final passenger section. Carts of supplies were moved up to the entrances of each passenger car and several to the dining car in the middle. Curiously, no one went to load them inside yet. Cirrus asked Trixie if she knew why.

The unicorn mare pointed to a group of unicorns in station uniform spreading out to cover all the carriages. “Watch them,” she instructed.

At a signal from the last unicorn to get into place at the far end of the train, each of them lit up their horns simultaneously, and a glow enveloped the train for several seconds. Then, their work completed, the unicorns began walking back to the station office.

Trixie said, “Remember the spell Trixie cast on the wagon to dampen its inertia? Those unicorns just performed a similar enchantment. Note that the locomotive hasn’t been attached. It needed to remain unaffected by the spell. The same thing for the goods that they’ve started loading onto the train. You don’t want things such as food to be in that state. It’s why Trixie had to dispel the enchantment on our in-flight meals. Anyway, by reducing the train’s inertia, a single locomotive is all that’s needed to haul it.”

Blaze asked, “But doesn’t reducing inertia mean that the passengers could topple over a carriage with injudicious movements or… ah … a gust of wind?”

“This specific spell prevents the imparting of momentum from undesired forces. Trixie understands the earliest versions of the spell yielded quite… comical results.”

Cirrus noticed the steam engine that was now backing up to the lead carriage. With a clunk, it coupled to the train. She recalled seeing many freight trains of similar size requiring at least two big locomotives, while this train was obviously fine with just the one. Magic was truly remarkable.

There was more waiting as preparations were completed on the train. After a while, Blaze’s attention was grabbed by a fellow passenger who came onto the platform and squatted down to wait for the boarding call. Eventually the being noticed his gaze and frowned at him.

“Who do you think you’re staring at?” she demanded.

“Sorry,” Blaze replied. “It’s just that I’ve never seen a griffon before. You look awesome!”

The griffoness blinked, taken aback by the enthusiastic compliment. “Oh. Uh… thanks… I guess. You’ve really never seen a griffon before? We’re not that uncommon in Equestria.”

“I’m not from Equestria. In fact, I only came here a few days ago.”

“Where in the world did you come from then?”

The stallion figured there was no point in telling the full truth. “I’m from America.”

“A-mare-eek-ah? Never heard of it. Oh well, welcome to Equestria, I guess.”

“Thanks. The name’s Blaze Peregrine, by the way.” He smiled and held out a hoof.

The griffoness took it in her talons and shook it. “Gizelle Goldwing. So, what brings you to this part of the country?”

“We’re headed to Canterlot to consult with… some magic experts about a problem my wife and I have.” He indicated Cirrus who rolled her eyes at the gross understatement.

Gizelle did not notice because she suddenly realized who was also there. “Hey, you’re Daring Do, aren’t you?”

The pegasus mare grinned. “Yep, that’s me.”

“Shards! I fucking love your adventures! I have all your books. When’s your next one coming out?”

“Well, since we just came back from the field, it’ll be a while yet. But at least you’ll be able to say you met a couple of the protagonists.” Her eyes looked toward the Peregrines.

Gizelle’s beak dropped as her gaze shifted back to Blaze and Cirrus. “Really? Oh, wow! Do you mind if we talk about it on the train? It’s a very long trip and I’d love to hear about your adventures to pass the time.”

Blaze looked at Daring with a raised eyebrow. The pegasus shrugged. “It’s your business. Tell as much or as little as you like.”

Blaze turned back to the griffoness, but before he could speak, an announcement blared out over the loudspeakers.

“Boarding for the Cross-Continental Express has now started. Present your tickets to the station attendant at each carriage entrance. Please remain in your designated carriage until after commencement of the journey. The diner car will not open until the train is underway. Please board promptly for an on-time departure.”

The message started to repeat and Blaze turned his attention back to Gizelle. “I’m cool with having a chat. I’d like to find out a little about you and other griffon stuff in return, if you don’t mind?”

“Sure! We could do that tomorrow. I gotta turn in early tonight, but we’ll have plenty of other opportunities to talk, I’m sure. Anyway, if we don’t run into each other in the diner, you can find me in compartment B7. Gotta go now – I have a mountain of luggage to see safely on board.”

The griffoness dashed off and Daring smirked at Blaze. “You just got your first fanfilly. How does it feel?”

“Weird. I just wanted to have a little chat with her while we were waiting.”

Cirrus said, “I don’t know if I want to laugh or be jealous.”

“Neither,” Trixie interjected. “We have to board the train now. Move your plots!”

“Yes, boss!” Blaze said, levitating his backpack up from the platform.

They joined the queue at the doorway to their carriage and, after their tickets were checked, they proceeded inside and found their sleeper compartments. Daring and Trixie’s room was adjacent to the Peregrine’s. Each was sized for a couple and was fairly luxurious. They even had a compact toilet and shower, although a sign warned that the amount of water available for bathing was strictly limited.

“This is pretty nice,” Cirrus commented as she packed away the last of their belongings.

“Considering how long we’ll be living out of this room, it really needs to be,” Blaze replied.

There was a knock on the compartment’s door and Blaze let Trixie inside.

“Daring is taking a nap. She hasn’t had a proper rest since arriving here.”

Cirrus said, “I flew with her all the way today, but I wasn’t towing a wagon at the same time, so I’m not as tired. I was wondering when we’ll have dinner though.”

“Trixie recommends waiting until an hour after departure. The initial rush to the diner car will be over by then and the service will be better.”

“Sounds good. We can work on our site report meanwhile.”

“Are you certain we can’t watch a movie tonight?”

Cirrus shook her head. “I reckon the laptop will die halfway through. We’ll set up the solar panel tomorrow and that will charge it up enough, hopefully. Oh, wait. Which side of the train faces the sun?”

Trixie thought about it for a moment, then smiled. “We’re in luck – you should get plenty of sunlight tomorrow. Later in the journey when the tracks turn north, you’ll have to make sure to have the panel in place to catch the morning sun.”

Blaze said, “I’d set it up now but the train is in the shadow of the platform’s roof, and I think sunset won’t be too much later after departure. I’d rather watch the view before then.”

“You two can join us in our compartment on most days. You’ll get to see a lot more than in here.”

“Thanks, Trixie,” Cirrus said. “I’d better get to work since I spent the day either flying or playing tourist.”

“Trixie will call you when Daring is ready to go to dinner.” The unicorn mare then let herself out.

Blaze and Cirrus set to work until they heard the departure warning. Then, when the train pulled out of the station, they watched in silence as the sights of their first pony city passed by. Eventually, as the train moved out of the suburbs and into farmland, the stallion spoke up.

“So – what do you think of our journey so far?”

Cirrus took a deep breath and let it out. “Different. Strange. But definitely not boring.”

“Amen, Love. You can say that again.”

# # # # # # #

Chapter 9 - New Friend, New Peril

The Peregrines were starting to get used to the abrupt shifts from day to night, even if they still could not quite wrap their heads around the avowed explanation for them. Their compartment was not plunged into darkness, however. Softly glowing lamps automatically illuminated it and presumably everywhere else on the train. Blaze took a close look at theirs and determined that it was a large crystal rather than anything of an electrical nature. When he inquired later, he was informed that they were enchanted gemstones that were designed to accumulate ambient mana during daylight, and then use it to create light at night. Thankfully, there was a way to turn them off.

It was shortly after sunset that Trixie and Daring came to collect them and head to the dining car. As expected, the initial rush was well past and they had no trouble finding a table for four. With nothing better to do that evening, they enjoyed a leisurely dinner with a surprisingly wide selection of food to choose from.

Daring said, “The train service has to cater to other species as well as ponies, but aside from meat, there’s a lot of overlap in tastes. Some griffon recipes are quite good, actually. And while you may find it hard to believe, many top-class pastry chefs are griffons.”

“That does stretch the imagination,” Cirrus admitted with a giggle, picturing an eagle stalking a donut.

Eventually, conversation wound down and they headed back to their compartments. With little power left in the laptop’s battery, there was not much point in trying to do work, let alone provide entertainment, so they all decided to call it a night. Cirrus had a shower first due to having exerted herself so much that day. She emerged from the cramped bathroom feeling much cleaner and found Blaze already fast asleep. She chuckled, climbed onto the bed, and snuggled into her normal spooning position. The stallion stirred just enough to bring a foreleg over her to draw her close, and then sleep claimed the tired mare.

Light flooding the compartment quickly woke the Peregrines. Neither had thought to pull the window blind down before hitting the mattress. Blaze let Cirrus use the toilet before he had a shower. He heard a knock on the door while toweling off, and when he came out, he found Daring and Trixie waiting for him. Both mares looked and smelled freshly showered, so it was obvious that they had both risen earlier than the Peregrines. He wondered why but Trixie soon explained.

“Most passengers prefer to sleep in late either because they have nothing better to do, or they took the opportunity to stay up late drinking and… celebrating, so the dining car won’t be crowded yet. Trixie figured that you would want to make the most of the opportunity.”

Cirrus said, “I’ve got the solar panels connected to the power pack. If someone… somepony would like to hold it against the window, I’ll tape it in place. Then we can head off to the diner.”

Trixie levitated the panel into position and Cirrus did her best to ensure it stayed there with liberal use of adhesive tape, also provided by the unicorn mare. Satisfied that it was secure, the four then headed off to breakfast.

The Peregrines had not paid much attention to the landscape until then, but while waiting for their meals, they saw desert surrounded by sharp mountain ridges, and the train occasionally dived through narrow passes. It reminded Blaze of the time they had been traveling through Utah. This area lay on the northern edge of the Bone-Dry Desert as he recalled from the map, so it was not surprising that the scenery was similar.

A thought occurred to Cirrus as the rocky ground zoomed past at an incredible speed for a steam-powered train. “Trixie, you said that the locomotives need to have their fire crystals renewed after about eight hours at most, but it’s been more like twelve so far.”

It was Daring who answered though. “We stopped at a refueling station in the middle of the night. You were too fast asleep to notice.”

“I didn’t see anything on the map before the junction,” Blaze commented.

“It’s little more than a whistle-stop platform. It was only built to service the trains and sits next to one of the very few rivers in this region. That supplies the water for the boilers while a special freight train brings fresh fire crystals and takes expended ones away to be recharged. There’s another refueling stop due later this morning.”

Blaze nodded. “That makes sense. I suppose we’ll refuel again at the junction?”

“Correct,” Daring affirmed. “We should get there around five o’clock. There’s a layover there while they drop off and pick up freight and passengers, so we can get out and stretch our legs and wings.”

“Sounds good. Hey, there’s Gizelle.” The stallion waved to catch the attention of the griffon. “Mind if she joins us?”

There was no objection, although Cirrus had to move to the other side of the table with Daring and Trixie to enable the larger griffon to accept the invitation to join them, seating herself beside Blaze.

“Good morning,” Gizelle said cheerfully. “I hope I’m not disturbing your breakfast?”

“We just placed our orders a few minutes ago. I suggest you do the same,” Blaze said.

They caught the attention of the waiter and the griffoness ordered a cheese and bacon omelet. She was surprised at the lack of reaction by any of the ponies to the mention of a meat product.

“Tried it,” Daring said with a shrug. “Can’t say I’m a fan.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Daring will try anything once. Trixie is used to her foibles.”

Blaze said, “Cirrus and I have eaten bacon often, but not since we got to Equestria.”

Gizelle grinned. “I’ve never heard of a pony that liked bacon so much, let alone two.”

“That’s because we weren’t ponies back then.”

The griffon’s eyebrows rose. She looked first at Daring Do, then back to Blaze. “Will that be the inspiration for your next novel? Sweet! I’ve got to hear the tale behind that!”

Their food arrived while Blaze and Cirrus told their recent life story. When they finished, the griffoness looked up to the ceiling of the dining car while drumming her claws on the tabletop. “Absolutely fascinating! But it needs work.”

Daring looked at Trixie and blinked before bringing her gaze back to Gizelle. “Excuse me?”

“It needs more excitement! It needs more danger! You won’t be able to reach the bestseller list with Daring Do and the Lost Archeologists with the unvarnished truth. Where are the bad guys? Who tried to kidnap your charges to get them to spill the dangerous secrets of their home world where a single misstep leads to certain death?”

Cirrus smirked. “Well, I’m glad to have sparked your imagination. Are you proposing a dashing griffoness play the role of the kidnapper?”

Gizelle cawed with laughter. “As if! I got kicked out of our school play because I couldn’t remember the one line I was supposed to say: ‘I am the Prince of Chichester!’” She deflated a bit. “Still no idea if that place actually exists. Anyway, I figure any portrayal of me would go just as poorly.”

She waved a clawed hand to make her point. “What you’ve described sounds like about as exciting as it gets… for an archaeological dig. That won’t bring in any bits with a book nor get you a retainer for a theater production. What about the collapsing worldgate? Now that could ramp up the tension. Trixie yells a warning to Blaze on the other side, but the time differential makes it impossible for him to hear. All the while, the seconds tick off on Trixie’s side while minutes and hours pass on the adjacent world.”

Blaze shivered, his eyes wide and looking anywhere except at his mate. For her part, Cirrus slowly turned to regard Blaze, her eyes narrowing. “You seem awfully nervous, dear.”

“Well, of course! That was … uh … would have been terrifying.”

The pegasus mare narrowed her eyes further. “You neglected to tell Gizelle the final time differential calculation. Daring, what was it again?” When Trixie opened her mouth and took a breath, Cirrus cut her off. “I’m asking Daring Do.”

The tan pegasus said, “Ahhh… three hundred something.”

“I knew it!” Cirrus stood up and put her muzzle right next to Blaze’s. “You two did get one more measurement. And the worldgate collapsed right afterward.” She pointed a hoof. “And you chose to ignore Trixie’s attempt to talk you out of doing something so dangerous, didn’t you?”

Blaze’s eyes went wide and he stammered, lost for words.

Seeing his face, the other three at the table laughed up a storm with Trixie pounding the table. After several seconds, the unicorn wiped her eyes. “This is going directly into Trixie’s research notes.”

“Oh, how so?” asked Gizelle.

“The fastest recorded time of developing Mare’s Intuition!” This set off another round of laughter.

Blaze folded his ears back on his head. “I’m … uh … I’m sorry, dear. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Do so by not hiding the truth from me. We’re in this together, a hundred percent.” Cirrus followed this up with a kiss that lingered.

Once the audience had calmed down, Cirrus looked at Gizelle. “Well then. Now that you’ve heard all of our story…” Blaze flinched. “… let’s hear yours. How did you end up in Foaledo?”

Gizelle unconsciously extended her wings a bit. “I’ve got restless-wing syndrome. It disturbs my sleep and tires me out. I heard that ponies have a cure for that and I could get treated in Canterlot.”

Trixie asked, “Are you from Griffonstone? It seems to Trixie that you have taken the long way to Canterlot, if so.”

“Yeah, I am, but I’ve been working on the shipping routes to earn money for both traveling and for the treatment. Foaledo just happened to be the port where I ended up after my last trip to Abyssinia. That’s also why I had so much stuff to load onto the train. I’m kind of bringing all my possessions with me.”

“Does that mean that you’re planning to keep on the move after you’ve been treated, or are you planning to settle down in Equestria?” Blaze asked.

“That’s a good question. I really haven’t decided yet, although there’s nothing that is drawing me back to Griffonstone. Traveling for a living has been fine with me so far, but finding a place to settle down has its attractions too.”

“Trixie understands exactly what you mean,” the unicorn replied with a nod. “Thankfully, Daring and Trixie have our wagon which allows us the best of both worlds.”

“Sounds like a heck of a wagon. Dimensionally transcendental, I bet. Not that I could afford one at the moment. I have only a talon-full of bits to spare.”

The dining car was getting crowded by that time, so the five finished their coffee and headed back to their rooms. Blaze accompanied Gizelle to her compartment to have the in-depth discussion that she had promised. After checking that the solar setup was still in place and functioning properly, Cirrus went to Daring and Trixie’s compartment where Daring taught Cirrus some more flight theory and basic weather magic instruction. Both pegasi preferred the openness of the unobstructed view through the window there rather than the claustrophobic feel of the Peregrine’s room with the solar panel blocking most of the light. That was fine with Trixie, and she borrowed their room to begin work on the next novel.

That only lasted until about midday when they all stopped for refreshments. Afterward, Daring reluctantly set to work on her official report, the part of her job she least enjoyed. Blaze resumed his magic lessons with Trixie, while Cirrus began reading a book that Trixie had loaned to her – “Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone”.

“Now arriving at Four Ways Junction! Change here for trains to Mount Aris, Klugetown, Irwind, and New Haven. This train will continue to Appleloosa, Ponyville, and Canterlot. Continuing passengers may leave the train but are reminded that it will depart again in two hours whether you are back onboard or not. Welcome to Four Ways Junction.”

The Peregrines and their friends were not the only ponies making the most of the opportunity to take a break from the confinement of the carriages and stretch their limbs. While the train had stopped for refueling earlier that day, the passengers were not allowed to disembark. Considering that it took the depot’s crew only minutes to swap the crystals and refill the water tanker, it was not surprising that the conductor did not want passengers wandering off.

Four Ways Junction township was at the crossroads of two major train routes, not to mention spur lines to mines and farms. It had grown up catering to the needs of travelers and businesses requiring the transport of goods. As such, there were numerous restaurants and hotels near the station, and there was even a recreation park directly abutting the passenger platform. Numerous ponies used it to trot or gallop around it for exercise, while pegasi and other winged species took to the air.

Cirrus brought her phone to take lots of photographs both on the ground and from the air, finding the railway town just as interesting as the more cosmopolitan Foaledo city. Blaze observed the crew of the locomotive changing with fresh ponies. There were eight of them who worked in shifts to tend to the steam engine over the lengthy haul. The stallion knew that running the complex machines was an intensive job, even after eliminating the need to stoke a fire, so it took a large crew to keep on top of it without exhausting the individuals on the twenty-two-hour journey.

None of their group took advantage of the restaurants, preferring instead to get as much exercise as possible before they had to depart on the next leg of their journey. The train left on schedule, turning north on its route up the heart of Equestria. They repeated their strategy of waiting for the dinner rush to ease before heading to the diner for their meal. They found Gizelle waiting for a small single table to free up and invited her to join them at an already available large table. As they had at breakfast, the ponies and griffoness found each other’s company enjoyable.

After the meal, Gizelle retired for the night, explaining that her condition meant that she needed to get more sleep when she could, to make up for the times she could not. Daring and Trixie piled into the Peregrine’s compartment to finally watch the last Indiana Jones movie after Cirrus had declared that the laptop was fully charged. When Trixie asked why no more sequels were made, Blaze explained with a straight face that no audience wanted to see an old actor try to recapture the antics of their youth.

Trixie and Daring returned to their compartment after that, and Blaze went straight to bed. The stallion was exhausted after spending so much time working on his magic with Trixie, and then galloping like a madpony in the park later. Cirrus elected to read another chapter of the novel before turning in for the night.

Breakfast was a near repeat of the previous day with Gizelle joining them once again. The only major difference was the scenery. The desert had been left behind and its place were two different landscapes. To the right, facing the locomotive, were towering cliffs topped with greenery. Daring informed the Peregrines that this was the western limit of the Forbidden Jungle. To the left was a different kind of low-lying forest interspersed with swamps. The rail line followed a narrow strip of land elevated above it that varied from a couple of miles wide to around a hundred yards. As it passed through one of the wider areas, a small mining town appeared along with a whistle-stop platform that served it. The train did not pause there and it was quickly left behind.

The group was just finishing their coffee when the carriage abruptly lurched, throwing anything unsecured onto the passengers on the forward side of the tables. Anyone standing in the aisles either fell over or struggled to maintain their stance. The train continued to decelerate hard as everyone grabbed onto something to secure themselves. Trixie’s horn lit up and caught an elderly mare as she nearly faceplanted into the floor. Cries of pain came from those who had either hit something or were struck by flying objects. Then the braking turned into shuddering jerks accompanied by crashing noises as the train finally came to a halt.

Daring Do jumped off her seat like a shot, closely followed by Trixie. “Something’s seriously wrong. I’m going to check it out,” the pegasus stated, heading for the exit.

“Wait for us!” Blaze declared, following suit.

Cirrus looked at Gizelle and they silently nodded in agreement. All five moved into the next carriage and piled out of the exit. Cirrus noticed that none of the other ponies followed, although a couple were rendering aid.

The dining car was several carriages back from the locomotive, but they quickly saw what caused the commotion. A number of trees lay across the tracks and, despite the best efforts of the engineers, the locomotive had crashed into them and derailed. Because this had happened on a strong bend around boulders that blocked the view, there had not been sufficient warning to brake in time. With trees rigorously cleared away from the tracks, it couldn’t be an accident.

“This is an ambush!” Blaze yelled, now very worried.

“You got that right,” Daring replied, pointing toward the rear of the train.

Several swarthy bipedal figures swarmed onto the freight cars, the contents of which were their obvious target.

“What are they?” Cirrus asked.

“Diamond dogs,” Trixie replied. “Uncouth creatures who would rather steal than trade. They’re a constant nuisance to the mining townships in this area. However, Trixie has never heard of them holding up a train before.”

“Let’s show them why that’s a bad idea, Trix.” Daring shot off towards the thieves.

The unicorn mare turned toward the others. “If you are going to help, don’t stay on the ground. Diamond dogs can dig through dirt as fast as you can swim through water. Their favorite trick is to ambush you from below. Watch out for their forepaws – they are hideously strong. They are helpless off the ground, however, and deathly afraid of heights.”

“I’m in,” Blaze declared. He then yelped as Trixie levitated him on top of a carriage.

Trixie said as she joined him, “Be prepared to show Trixie how much you’ve learned.” She then galloped down the line of carriages with Blaze on her heels.

Above the unicorns, Cirrus flew after Daring without a word.

Gizelle grinned. “I’ll show ‘em how we dealt with pirates.” She followed the pegasi, flexing her talons in anticipation.

Daring was already taking on the diamond dogs. She hurtled into one hoof first, knocking it unconscious. Ignoring it for the moment, she came up behind another and hooked her forelegs under the dog’s armpits. She then flew straight up, causing the dog to freeze in fear. Daring took her captive over to the nearby swamp and dropped him before returning to the fray. The dog could sink or swim, but it was out of the picture for now.

Cirrus saw that tactic and chose a dog climbing up to the roof of a freight car as her target. While she managed to grab him, his struggles almost made her lose her grip before her flight magic kicked in and they gained altitude, fortunately making him lock up. She released the dog at the top of her arc, sending him sailing deeper into the swamp. As Cirrus angled back to the train, she decided to choose a smaller target next time. She had to remind herself that she was no longer the big, strong fighter she once was.

Gizelle’s targets weren’t so fortunate. The griffon’s victims had talon wounds, one from disabling slashes and another from deep punctures from being roughly picked up before being lifted high in the air and dropped onto the hard ground.

Among Trixie’s repertoire were several offensive spells. While she limited herself to non-fatal ones, several dogs were quickly put out of action by blasts from her horn. She had not taught those to Blaze yet, so the stallion resorted to other means. He had proven adept at levitation and its various nuances, so he concentrated on those. One dog found itself hurtling through the air, yelping in fear as it accelerated toward the swamp. Two that tried to climb up onto the carriage behind them failed to account for the pony’s keen hearing, and Blaze slammed them telekinetically together over and over again until both were unconscious. He then pushed them over the side and turned to find his next target.

Daring and Cirrus were rapidly dealing with any solitary diamond dogs that were in the open. When the thieves had grown cautious about the pegasi, the duo had changed tactics. Cirrus acted as a decoy, distracting the dog from Daring’s hoof attack from the rear. If the dog anticipated the attack and turned, Cirrus would scoop it up and carry it away. She was glad that the dogs did not use ranged weapons, although she had seen a few clubs among them. The unicorns were picking those off though.

It was soon clear that the band of diamond dogs were no match for the concerted efforts of the five defenders. The remaining ones abandoned their raid, diving into the ground and rapidly disappearing. The fight seemed to be over before a scream came from the nearest passenger carriage. Blaze’s ears swiveled toward the sound and he growled. He jumped off the roof, levitating himself to the door of the carriage.

Trixie’s eyebrows rose. “Trixie has not taught him self-levitation yet.” She quickly followed.

Inside the carriage, Blaze found a smaller diamond dog struggling to remove an ostentatious diamond necklace from an earth pony mare. While the pony was terrified, her earth pony strength was countering the dog’s enough to thwart his efforts to steal the jewelry.

“Leave that mare alone!” Blaze commanded.

The dog responded by showing his claws and snarling, “Stay away, pony, or this one dies.”

“I don’t think so.” A glow enveloped the dog’s arm and it snapped. The dog howled in agony even as he let go of the mare. As soon as the mare stumbled away a step, Blaze hurled the would-be thief out the nearest window. Fortunately for the dog, it was open for ventilation because air conditioning was not a thing in Equestria.

Trixie had been prepared to intervene, but instead, she watched with her jaw dropped as Blaze dispatched the dog with ruthless efficiency. This stallion was not only handsome but also very much not a helpless colt as so many males were when faced with danger. If the mare had found him attractive before, she was now hopelessly smitten. If only he wasn’t already married to a mare who struggled with her own nature and was not ready to deal with potential herdmates.

Daring came inside with a grin on her face. “I saw the dog you defenestrated, Trix. He struggled to get away, so I helped him into the swamp.”

“It wasn’t Trixie,” the mare replied, her eyes pointing toward Blaze who was checking the dog’s victim.

Daring’s eyes widened before nodding approvingly. “We’ve found a good one,” she said.

Trixie nodded. “Let’s hope we get to keep him,” she replied with a meaningful waggle of her eyebrows. Then she took a deep breath. “But now, we have a bigger problem to deal with.”

“Yeah, getting the locomotive back on the tracks won’t be easy.”

Trixie chuckled. “It might be easier than you think. The bigger problem may be any damage caused by the crash.”

“Time to check it out. Hey, Blaze! Come on – we’ve got more work to do.”

The stallion nodded, satisfied that the earth pony was okay. “Coming!”

They joined Cirrus and Gizelle who were already heading toward the steam engine. The griffoness looked smugly satisfied and licked the blood off her talons. Trixie and Daring were both impressed that neither of the Peregrines were bothered by the sight as most ponies would be. They put it down to their human heritage.

As they walked toward the derailed locomotive, Blaze said, “Dealing with those diamond dogs wasn’t too hard, so why is it that we five were the only ones to take them on?”

Daring replied, “You don’t understand the common pony. Since you’ve only dealt with Trixie and me in dangerous situations, you’ve based your assumptions on us. However, we’re outliers. My name says it all, and Trix has become inured to danger while traveling with me, not to mention spending a week in Ponyville. Most ponies are timid and fearful in the face of physical threats. They opt to run away or hide if running is not an option. Royal Guards need to have that reflex trained out of them. Even among soldiers, few would take action as you did without hesitation, instead dithering and trying to appease their opponent. And then there’s the mindset to actually deal with the threat. The average unicorn knows a light spell, how to levitate something, and perhaps a skill associated with their special talent. Trixie knows dozens of ways to combat enemies, or shield herself if preferable. You’ve already far surpassed the common unicorn.”

“In more ways than Trixie suspected,” the mare murmured, causing Daring to flick an ear in her direction.

The pegasus continued. “Cirrus showed far more fighting spirit than most pegasi. Give her some serious training and she might be as good in a scrap as me someday.”

Blaze chuckled. “Sky was never one to back down from a fight. Thankfully, she had the muscle to back up her words.”

Gizelle said, “No need to ask why I joined in. My secondary job on the ships I sailed with was to provide muscle and talons for fighting off pirates. Not the first rumble I’ve been in.”

Cirrus looked glumly at the locomotive that was canted to the left as it was partially off the rail bedding. A stretch of the ballast and ties had been torn up, and one rail was twisted aside. “This looks like a much bigger problem.”

One of the engineers approached the group – a grizzled earth pony stallion with orange fur and a jet-black mane. “You can say that again, lass. We’re going to have to get a work gang sent down from Appleloosa to fix this mess. We’ll send off a magic missive as soon as my buddies have finished assessing the damage. Thanks for dealing with those diamond dogs, by the way. They’ve been troublemakers before, but they’ve never resorted to derailing the train until now.”

“You’re welcome, but Trixie thinks we can do more for you. First, let us get your steam engine back on an undamaged section of track.”

The engineer frowned. “Begging your pardon, ma’am, but lifting a locomotive is hard work for a team of trained ponies. What do you think you could accomplish?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is a graduate of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and her apprentice is very gifted. Trixie guarantees you’ll be surprised at what we can accomplish.”

The stallion chuckled. “Knock yourself out, ma’am. It will be amusing watching you. I could do with a laugh after this morning’s events.”

Trixie smiled confidently and said, “Come, Blaze. We have a job to do.”

Blaze looked surprised but followed the mare. “Umm, are you sure about this?”

“Trixie has seen and assessed what you can do when motivated. You will not prove Trixie incorrect in her judgment. Now, while this locomotive may indeed surpass Trixie’s abilities alone, between us, we will be able to lift the train. First, however, we need to simplify the problem.” She turned around and called back, “Engineer – would you uncouple the carriages from the locomotive, please?”

The pony nodded. “Since you asked so politely, and because we need to do so anyway, I’ll do that.”

The carriage immediately behind the locomotive was also derailed, but only its first bogie. The engineer directed a colleague to stand by the manual brake just in case, then decoupled the carriage. Trixie’s horn lit up and the derailed section rose into the air.

“Would you big strong earth ponies please push the carriages back so Trixie can put this one down on an undamaged section?”

The surprised crew hastened to do as she asked, and it was not long before Trixie set it on the tracks once more. The engineer oversaw the earth pony applying the manual brake and then returned.

“That was impressive, lass. I’m beginning to believe that you might be right about the locomotive. Steady Steam at your service, ma’am. What do you need done next?”

“Have you finished clearing the tracks ahead of debris?”

Steady Steam looked in that direction, then nodded. “Yep. They’ve just finished.”

“Then stand clear, please.” Trixie nudged Blaze forward and they moved up beside the locomotive. “Blaze, you will concentrate on just lifting. Trixie will do all the guiding as well as her share of the lifting.”

Blaze gulped. “That’s many more tons than I’ve ever tried to lift before.”

“Let Trixie tell you a little secret about magic. Half the trick to accomplishing a spell is knowing that you can do it. Trixie knows that you are capable, so now it is up to you to believe in yourself.”

Blaze blinked, then smiled. “If you say so, O Great and Powerful Trixie.”

The mare smirked. “On three, we lift. One.” They lit their horns and drew on their magic. “Two.” They focused their levitation spells. “Three!” They cast the spells, and before the engineers’ disbelieving eyes, the multi-ton steam engine rose slowly up, lifted by the dual glows of magic. It moved forward until it was safely placed on the rails. The fierce shine of the unicorns’ horns extinguished and both heaved a sigh of relief.

“Thanks for having faith in me, Trixie,” Blaze said.

“Like Trixie said, it was faith in yourself that mattered. Next time, pay more attention to your professor.”

The stallion grinned. “You bet, Teach!”

Steady Steam approached once more. “Now I’ve seen it all. You two have saved us an immense amount of time and effort.”

“Do you need help with the rail as well?” Trixie asked.

“Nay, lass. We’ve got that covered. We’re equipped to make emergency repairs. Let the experts do their job this time.” The engineers were already pulling tools and parts from the first carriage which was not only the crew quarters but also a mobile workshop.

“Good. Now, Trixie needs a strong drink and a nap,” she said as Daring, Cirrus, and Gizelle joined them.

“I’ll pass the word that you and your companions get anything you want comped for the rest of the trip. You’ve earned it.”

“Music to Trixie’s ears,” she replied with a grin.

Daring said, “Nice timing too. We hadn’t paid the breakfast bill yet!”

There were chuckles all around as the group headed back to their carriage.

“Hey, will this get into the next book too?” Gizelle asked.

Daring replied, “Of course, and this time it will feature a griffoness guest star.”

“Awesome!” she crowed.

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Thanks once more to Airy Words for ~~reducing me to a sobbing mess~~ editing my story and ~~shamelessly adding his own words~~ suggesting meaningful additions. :pinkiehappy:

Chapter 10 - Change of Scene

The four ponies and one griffon returned to the dining car and took advantage of their free ride. The diner staff gratefully and enthusiastically served drinks and snacks to their heroes while waiting for the train to continue on its way. Fortunately, damage to the locomotive was minimal and it was good to go after a few minor fixes. Repairing the large section of track that had been torn up by the derailment took longer. However, about an hour and a half later, the train resumed its journey. The Peregrines were very impressed by the efficiency of the train’s crew. Trixie pointed out the remoteness of the line necessitated their preparedness.

A line of tall mountains crossing their northbound route came into view in the early afternoon when the train stopped for refueling. Although they were called the Macintosh Hills, they must have been named by somepony with a serious talent for understatement. After they resumed travel, the Peregrines surmised there was no way that the railway line could cross that mountain range. And it did not.

“This is an announcement to all passengers – we are about to enter the Trans-Macintosh Tunnel. Please turn on your cabin lamps if you require light.”

“Long tunnel?” Cirrus asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Longest continuous one in Equestria,” Daring replied. “Even Mount Canterhorn’s tunnels are way shorter. But by traveling through the mountain range instead of going around, it cuts at least eight hours off the trip, and avoids going through hostile territory.”

Blaze smirked. “It seems that there are a lot of dangerous places in this country of yours.”

Daring grinned. “Yeah. Makes it a great deal more interesting, don’t you think?”

They spent over half an hour traversing that tunnel, and the Peregrines were very happy that the locomotive was not powered by coal or wood. The tunnel had little to no ventilation – the trapped steam alone made it and the train quite damp. Eventually, the train burst out into bright sunlight once more. The railway went through the foothills before opening up onto a prairie. They continued on for a few hours as grass gradually gave way to shrubs and low forest. The first cultivated fields and orchards showed that they were coming close to their next stop – Appleloosa. They pulled into the station over an hour late, but due to the engineers pushing the locomotive’s limits, they had made up some of the lost time.

“Welcome to Appleloosa. Alight here for the annual Appleloosa Rodeo being held this weekend. Ongoing passengers are advised that scheduled layover has been reduced to one hour so that the service may make up for lost time. Again, this train will continue to Canterlot in one hour. Thank you.”

Blaze wondered how a pony rodeo worked. “It’s an earth pony thing,” Trixie told him as they got off the train, which explained exactly nothing. He decided he would have to see one if he ever got the chance.

Looking around, Cirrus noticed the preponderous number of earth ponies within view. It had been much the same back at Four Ways. “So, is Appleloosa an earth pony only township?”

Trixie shook her head. “Once, it may have been. Nowadays, most towns have a mixture of all the pony tribes. However, since earth ponies outnumber all the other types, you’ll find far more towns established by them originally. Of course, some places have populations dominated by unicorns, pegasi, or thestrals. Cloudsdale is a very obvious example. Unless you have wings or a cloud-walking spell, you aren’t going to visit that city, let alone live there.”

“They built a city in the clouds?” Blaze asked, his eyes like saucers at the very idea.

“Yep,” Daring replied. “Pretty place, but not my kind of thing.”

“But how?”

“With construction-grade clouds, of course.”

Blaze glared at the grinning pegasus mare whose reply was probably completely accurate and yet answered nothing at all. He decided not to give Daring another chance to laugh at his expense and concentrated on sightseeing.

As the four ponies trotted through the main street, the Peregrines noted with amusement how many of the locals dressed in fashions reminiscent of early Twentieth Century Midwest fashion. The general architecture also reflected that esthetic. Suddenly, rodeos did not seem so outlandish an idea after all.

At Cirrus’ insistence, they stopped at a saloon for a mug of the local brew. Both she and Blaze were quite pleased with its taste but refrained from drinking more.

“Good move,” Daring said with a chuckle. “Their beer is made with earth pony constitution in mind. A couple of those and you’d be on the floor.”

Considering the buzz she had gotten from just one, Cirrus had to agree, but Blaze was a little disappointed. He settled for buying a bottle for the road… or the track, as it were.

The group spent the rest of the time window shopping, although they did catch a glimpse of the rodeo grounds being prepared. Blaze would have bought a souvenir or two if he had any money, but he had no intention of asking Daring or Trixie for a loan, especially with the two already paying for the couple’s trip and meals. Eventually, a long blast from the train’s whistle alerted them to make their way back to the station. The conductors were doing a head count to try to ensure that stragglers were not left behind. A huffing unicorn couple loaded with too many boxes were the last to board and the train departed immediately afterward.

Gizelle rejoined the group. She had elected to stretch her wings and spent the layover doing a flying sightseeing tour of Appleloosa. Everyone was feeling hungry by then and decided to try their luck with the dining car. Perhaps because there had been a large turnover of passengers at the town and many of the new ones had already had their meal, the diner was not crowded yet. As they made their way to a large table, one of the new passengers caught Cirrus’ eyes. She could not help but stare at the ponylike being with a glossy black coat that appeared hard but still flexible. It had large softly-glowing blue eyes without a discernible pupil, a small curved horn, insectile wings, and a frill rather than a mane. It was chatting with its pony companions at the table, not looking in Cirrus’ direction at all, but it suddenly turned its head and looked directly at her, cocking its head quizzically.

“Can I help you?” it asked in a clearly masculine voice.

Cirrus blinked, then blushed, wondering how it had known she had been staring at him. “I’m sorry, but I’ve never met anypony like you before. May I ask what you are?”

The being blinked, then grinned. “You’ve never even heard of changelings? You really must be from some land far away.”

“Further than you’d believe,” she replied fervently.

“Then I’m pleased to be your first. The name’s Buzz, and these are my herdmares, Petunia, Dreamy, and Glitter.”

The mares, one each of earth, pegasus, and unicorn types, smiled and waved.

Buzz continued. “Drop by for a chat if you see me in the lounge later. Always happy to swap stories with folks.”

Cirrus smiled, liking this odd being. “I’d like that.”

Daring said, “I’ll fill our friends in on your kind. Right now, I’m hungry.”

Buzz’s attention turned to the pegasus for the first time, and he blinked in surprise. “You’re Daring Do!”

“Yep. Got it in one.”

“Oh, now I really have to have a chat with your friend if you’re involved.”

“That’s practically what I said!” Gizelle said with a chuckle.

“Catch you later!” Cirrus said as she was chivvied toward the empty table.

As the five settled into their places, Blaze said, “I’m just as curious as Sky. What exactly are changelings, and why did he say that those ponies were his herdmares?”

Trixie replied, “Changelings are a sub-species of pony… we think. Their origin is somewhat mysterious but we believe that they came about as a result of a curse on regular ponies. They are emotivores. That means that they eat emotions.”

“What? That’s ridiculous!” Blaze interrupted. “How can they eat something insubstantial like that? Besides, there was a plate of food in front of him.”

“Changelings enjoy solid food too, and they need it to build and maintain their bodies. However, they can’t get energy from it. They get it entirely by absorbing positive emotions and magically converting them to physical energy.”

“That sounds crazy. How could such a species even evolve?”

“Like Trixie said, it’s believed that they did not evolve but were created. Their needs made them dependent on other species for survival, but the way they went about it caused them to be shunned back in the old days.”

“Why? It seems to me that all they would need to do is make a lot of friends to get those emotions.”

“Yeah, but the strongest of all positive emotions is love, and the changelings would snatch ponies in love and replace them. The one they took was brought back to the hive where they were kept in a never-ending dream of being with their beloved, providing a constant source of nourishment. The replacement would feed on their partner.”

“Oh, come on! How could they do that? Magic?”

“Changelings are shapeshifters. They can look identical to the pony they replaced, and emulate them very well too. And before you say that wouldn’t be enough, they also have a subtle magic that makes ponies overlook inconsistencies.”

Cirrus asked, “Why would anyone curse a species to be like that?”

Daring replied, “Control. What better way could a powerful unicorn mage control society than to replace all opposition with your minions? However, it seems that plan did not work out. The changelings had other ideas, probably because of something unplanned – a Queen appeared and she had other intentions. It’s theorized that she killed or podded the mage. No one knows for sure because the first Queen purged the hive memory of the race’s origins. Doubtless colored by her traumatic past, she tried to subjugate every pony in Equestria, and for a while, it seemed she would achieve her goal.”

The explanation was interrupted briefly as a waiter took their orders.

Daring resumed her explanation. “Anyway, ponies caught onto what was happening and created defenses against the changelings. Doppelgangers were exposed and were either executed or driven out. Changelings then had to eke out an existence in constant fear of being discovered. For centuries, it was an unending cycle of changelings making inroads into pony society and then getting pushed out again. However, as Equestria grew and communications improved, it got harder and harder for the changelings. Even if they tried to co-exist with ponies, they were shunned and reviled. It took a brave changeling Queen to take the step to turn things around for her species.”

“What could they possibly offer that could change ponies’ perceptions of them?” Blaze asked.

“Something that ponies desperately needed. You saw it back at the other table. In a word - stallions. You see, ponykind has a growing problem. Mares have always outnumbered stallions, but that situation has been slowly getting worse. You’re going to find out for yourself the consequences of this. Anyway, the thing about changeling drones is that they are sexually undifferentiated and interfertile with all pony subspecies and both genders. They can be whichever sex they want to be when they shape-change. That meant that they could supply stallions for any unmated mares who wanted one. The catch was that it could not be done the old way or else the changelings risked being worse off than ever. Queen Chrysalis chose to approach Princess Luna with a proposal to provide male partners in a regulated manner approved by the Crown.”

“Luna is one of the three ruling alicorns, right?”

“Correct, and due to her own chequered past, she was empathetic to Chrysalis’ petition. She and Chrysalis worked out a deal. Believe it or not, it was kind of a dating service. Get the stallion of your dreams who would go the extra mile for your love. Everything was put in full public view, no holds barred. Mares who used the service were informed of what they were getting, but with guarantees backed by the Crown. It started off slowly, but as success stories began coming in, the service became more popular.”

Blaze said, “As a former female, I still find it hard to comprehend the willingness of the mares to take that option.”

“You seriously underestimate the desperation of many mares. If they wanted foals and they hadn’t been able to join a herd, most had to either pay for a stud service or ask an already mated stallion to impregnate them. Neither option gave them a mate of their own, and ponies are an extremely social species.”

“You’ve mentioned herds before, so that lot back there is a herd with a changeling stallion? Three mares sharing the one male?”

“Yep, and that’s the way they like it. The changeling can tell what emotions they are feeling, and is able to maintain harmony with and between all three. An incompatible mare would never even have gotten the chance to join the herd.”

“You say that they are shapeshifters, but that changeling is obviously not disguised,” Cirrus pointed out.

“Oh, that’s probably because those mares like him just the way he is. Or he might take a pony form to suit the occasion. It’s very possible that you’ve already seen a changeling before this but they prefer to stay in their pony guise. Anyway, you have to realize that this all happened quite a long while ago. Taking a changeling mate has become normalized now, and the bias and revulsion of the past is fading into history. As you can see, none of the ponies in this carriage are bothered by the presence of an undisguised changeling.”

“So, if mares mate with changeling stallions to have foals, what are their children like? Hybrids?”

“Nope. Ponies, all of them. That kind of reinforces the cursed race theory. If they were once ponies, that would explain why we can interbreed with them and produce pony offspring.”

Cirrus frowned. “No inherited traits from them? Not even something minor? I find that hard to believe.”

Daring pursed her lips and bobbed her head back and forth. “W-e-l-l, I’m not exactly an expert on that matter, and anything is possible when magic is involved, so you might be right.”

Trixie added, “If a changeling trait did manifest, it would most likely be in the form of the pony’s special talent. As such, it might not be obvious where it came from. Trixie agrees that there are no generally known physical traits in foals with changeling sires.”

The food arrived just then, which brought that discussion to a close. However, both Blaze and Cirrus intended to talk to that changeling before their journey ended.

Buzz came by their table later with his mares in tow.

“Hi! We’re going to the lounge for a drink or two. If you’d like to have a chat, feel free to join us.”

The Peregrines decided to take them up on that offer, and along with Daring, Trixie, and Gizelle, they headed to the lounge car after they finished dinner.

The one thing that Blaze and Cirrus learned that struck them the most was how normal the herd relationship was in comparison to human couples. Aside from their being three females, it was not significantly different. Each loved and supported each other, while they filled different roles within the family. The pegasus mare was pregnant, and the two others planned to have a foal also once this one was born. Blaze was amused by the friendly rivalry the unicorn and earth pony had for the right to be the next one to add to the herd.

Buzz confirmed that he did indeed eat emotions, and that his mares kept him so well-fed with love, he was able to regularly send the excess back to his hive.

“Gotta feed the next generation of bugponies,” he pointed out. “There will still be lots of mares looking for mates in the future.”

Considering that they only sired pony foals with their wives, Blaze assumed that there had to be some changelings breeding with others of their kind.

“Nope,” Buzz denied. “Queen Chrysalis lays all our eggs. Once Her Majesty found a lover, she was able to produce many more, and stronger ones too.”

“You were hatched from an egg?!” Cirrus exclaimed.

Buzz’s wives all giggled at that. He grinned and replied, “Is that any stranger than being born from within a mare?”

When he put it like that, the Peregrines had to admit that he had a point.

They continued talking about changeling relationships, and Buzz demonstrated his ability to shape-shift. When Blaze suggested that Buzz copy him, the changeling shook his head.

“Can’t do that. It’s against the law to impersonate anypony. We’re only allowed to copy a person under very strict circumstances. That was part of the treaty made between Queen Chrysalis and the Equestrian Crown.”

Blaze could see the sense in that rule and apologized for asking.

“Not a problem,” Buzz replied, “but now it’s your turn to tell me about yourselves and how you ended up with Daring Do.”

So, over drinks of both alcoholic and caffeinated kinds, the Peregrines regaled them with their story, while Daring and Trixie added their parts at the appropriate moments. Almost two hours later, they were interrupted by an announcement that came over the train speakers.

“Now arriving at Dodge Junction. Change here for the service to Dodge City. Passengers with transfers to Dodge City, please alight promptly. Your train has been held in light of our delay and will depart immediately when all passengers have boarded. I repeat, arriving at Dodge Junction. Change here for the train to Dodge City.”

Considering that it was well into the evening, it didn’t surprise anyone that some passengers might need to be woken from a nap, hence the repeated message. One dozing mare in the corner startled awake, hastily gathered her baggage, and headed out of the lounge. When their train pulled into the station, they saw the Dodge City locomotive steaming steadily on the other side of the double platform. It was obviously ready to take off the moment it could. Blaze and Cirrus watched as the conductors chivvied the transferees over to their train, assisting the more burdened ones move their belongings to speed up the process. Neither service wasted time resuming their journey.

Gizelle announced that she was turning in early for the night as she had done previously. Buzz and his mares decided to head back to their room, although the Peregrines doubted it would be for sleep just yet. Trixie pronounced that it was time for a new movie, so they went to the Peregrines' cabin to watch another of their favorites – Pirates of the Caribbean.

The next morning at breakfast, they found the train skirting a dense forest to the east and lush fields to the west. Daring informed them that the Everfree Forest was a place to avoid as it was home to monsters and wild magic.

“If somepony like you recommends not going there, I’ll be sure to take that advice,” Cirrus said.

“Trixie is glad that you are still with us, Cirrus.”

The pegasus froze with her mouth open and a spoonful of grits halfway to it. “Wait. What? What do you mean?”

Daring lifted an eyebrow. “I mean, I’ve seen changeling stallions be that aggressive before, but not often. A pony stallion would have backed off believing Blaze was showing off his own herd, but our emotions told him louder than words that that wasn’t the case.”

Blaze tilted his head and blinked. “I don’t get it.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “An attractive and assertive pegasus mare stares at a changeling, finding him interesting and not at all scary despite revealing her ignorance of his species. The mares in his herd chat her up for hours, finding her just as oblivious to ‘mare drama’ and unoffended by any questions shot her way. Add to that your fascinating background and obvious intelligence. Can you see where this is going yet?”

Cirrus dropped her spoon. “He was… they were evaluating me to join their herd? But I was just being friendly!”

Daring nodded toward Blaze while continuing to look at Cirrus. “Buzz could taste your love for your chosen mate and lack of any romantic interest in their group. Otherwise, you would have been invited to… get to know them better.”

Blaze chuckled and turned to his spouse. Eventually, he bumped her flank with his, breaking her catatonia. “Eat up while you can, dear. It looks like you’ll be needing your strength.”

“I guess I will.” Cirrus once again froze with the spoon halfway to her mouth. She frowned at Blaze. “Wait. What exactly did you mean by that crack?”

This time, Daring and Trixie joined in Blaze’s laughter.

They had barely completed their meal when the now-familiar conductor’s voice came over the speakers.

“Approaching Ponyville Station. Change here for the Las Pegasus, Smokey Mountains, and Sire’s Hollow lines. Ponyville next stop.”

The outskirts of the township came into view and both Peregrines found it very picturesque, an impression that grew stronger as the train drew close to the city. It prompted a memory though, and Blaze frowned.

“Hey, Daring – didn’t you imply that Ponyville was a dangerous place? This place looks as threatening as Disneyland.”

The pegasus had no idea what Diz Knee Land was, but she got the gist. “For starters, it’s right next to the Everfree, and monsters occasionally make their way out and cause havoc. Also, the place seems to be a magnet for troublemakers. And you won’t believe how many times the town has had to be rebuilt.” Daring smirked. “Only some of those disasters caused by my partner!” The pegasus cheekily returned Trixie’s glare. “What? Do you want me to share all the details?”

Blaze decided not to upset the blue mare and get the conversation back on topic. “And yet, ponies still like living here?” The stallion could see a vast number of ponies and even a few other species making their way on their daily business.

Daring grinned. “It’s a great place to live. Hardly a dull moment. Besides, it has some strong protectors.”

“I suppose we’ll have to check it out for ourselves sometime if we get the chance.”

There were plenty of passengers waiting on the station platform, but none boarded their train.

“This is not a commuter service,” Trixie explained. “While some may get off here, Appleloosa was the last place passengers could get on.”

“Judging by the number of ponies on the platform, many must work in Canterlot,” Cirrus commented.

“Yes, but not everypony here will be going to the capital. While Ponyville is the largest township in the region, we will soon reach the suburbs, and there will be several stations between here, Mount Canterhorn Central Station, and beyond.

Blaze noticed that the train had not departed yet despite many minutes passing. “How come we’re not going yet?”

Trixie replied, “A lot of the freight that the train has been hauling will be offloaded here. They’re disconnecting and shunting those freight cars as we speak. There’s a marshalling yard nearby where the freight will be collected and taken to various destinations if not unloaded here. Besides, it’s a steep climb up from Central Station to Canterlot city. They need to reduce weight.”

“How high up is it?”

“Look for yourself,” Trixie replied, pointing outside.

Blaze peered out the window and frowned. “I’m not seeing it.”

“No, look up. Much further up.”

The stallion craned his neck up and gasped. “How the hell did they build a city on the side of a steep mountain and that far up?! And why?!”

Daring chuckled. “Probably because they could. A buttload of magic was used in its construction, you better believe! It certainly stands out as Equestria’s capital and the home of the ruling alicorns.”

“And that’s where we’re headed? Wow! I can’t wait to see it up close.”

While they were waiting at the station, another train pulled up on the other side of the platform. This one was obviously the commuter train that Trixie had mentioned because it had no freight cars nor sleeping compartments. The waiting passengers quickly boarded and the train soon left.

Their train departed not long after and the Peregrines headed back to their compartment to pack up the solar charger and their few other belongings. They spent the rest of the trip watching the scenery, spotting ponies and others at work in fields, or hauling goods on the roads. Small factories were located near stations that the train expressed past. They passed two commuter trains going the other way on the second track that had ended at Ponyville. Then the rail line reached the base of the mountain and dived into a tunnel. The darkness was only momentary as they quickly emerged into a large well-lit open area. The Peregrines realized that this was a natural cave that had been repurposed as an underground station. Tunnels had been bored for tracks that led to three double platforms.

“Mount Canterhorn Central Station. Change here for the Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, Vanhoover, Seaward Shoals, and Crystal Kingdom lines. Now stopping at Mount Canterhorn Central Station.”

The station was certainly bustling, and many passengers from their train added to the crowd. They were not taking passengers on here either, so once everyone whose destination this was had gotten off, the train departed on its final leg.

The locomotive immediately began a steep climb on tracks that wound in and out of the mountainside. Cirrus was pretty sure it had made at least two complete loops within the mountain to gain altitude before continuing up the southern side of the mountain range. A sharp bend at one point let her see the city ahead, and the way it overhung the sheer drop to the valley below took her breath away. After half an hour of arduous climbing, the track leveled out onto a plateau and the train pulled up to the station placed right next to the city walls.

“Canterlot Station. This is our final stop. All passengers must alight here. Welcome to Canterlot City.”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

This chapter was a bit of worldbuilding and some hints that this is not the Equestria you're familiar with.

Kudos to Airy Words once more. Be sure to send him long missives written in passive voice. :scootangel:

Chapter 11 - Royal Conversations

Because Cirrus and Blaze had already packed their meager belongings, they were ready to disembark with their baggage immediately. The couple followed Daring and Trixie out onto the platform and let the duo herd them in the appropriate direction.

“Aren’t we going to collect your wagon, Trixie?” Cirrus asked, noticing that they were headed away from the remaining freight cars at the rear of the train.

“We will have no need of it for the moment. It will be unloaded and parked in the yard to await Trixie.”

Daring added, “She doesn’t like hauling it up the side of the mountain, so she’s quite used to how the train service deals with her wagon.”

Cirrus frowned. “What? Why didn’t she have you just fly it up here like you did back in the jungle?”

“Trixie had a solo career before partnering with Daring,” the unicorn answered. “Canterlot was one of her regular stops.”

The group exited the station and headed for the city gate. Blaze noticed that Daring and Trixie had taken up flanking positions about him and Cirrus. He frowned when he realized that they had been doing that in Foaledo and Appleloosa too. “You two look like you’re escorting us rather than just walking with us. What’s with that?”

Trixie replied, “Daring warned you about mares aggressively pursuing eligible stallions. By accompanying you like this, we are telling them that you’re a part of our herd and not available.”

Blaze’s eyes widened. “Wait! We’re not… But, we haven’t…”

Daring laughed. “It’s just for appearance’s sake. I don’t think you want to be hassled by random mares at this stage.”

“Phew! Yeah, you’re right,” the stallion admitted. He found it ironic that when he had been a woman, she had to cope with sexual harassment regularly, but now as a stallion in Equestria, he still had to deal with it.

“Besides, Trixie and I have first dibs on you,” the pegasus added with a smirk.

Blaze came to an abrupt halt and his jaw dropped.

Cirrus rolled her eyes and gave him a shove to get him walking again. “She’s just teasing you,” she told him. ‘At least, for now,’ she added in her head. ‘So, why am I not more bothered by that?’

The group made its way up the main road, taking the ramp up to the next level. The Peregrines noted how many of the buildings were made with gleaming marble and ornate golden metalwork. The street was immaculately clean and practically devoid of vehicles. Only an occasional cart pulled by a pony passed by. Even more than Ponyville, this city reminded the Peregrines of a Disney theme park. Undoubtedly, the back streets had to be a lot more utilitarian, but this being the main route into the heart of the city and to the castle that dominated the skyline, it was intended to impress visitors. Whether seen from afar or close up like now, this city proclaimed its importance to the nation and its inhabitants.

“Can we have a look in some of those stores?” Cirrus asked after an apparel shop caught her eye.

“Not now,” Daring replied. “We need to go straight to the castle. It’s Thursday which means public Royal Court is being held today and the afternoon session will be coming to a close soon. We need to get there before then.”

True to her word, the Peregrines inexorably made their way through the crowd, going up yet another level before approaching the walls around the castle. They headed toward an arched entrance with heavy steel gates which was flanked by four guards decked out in gleaming armor. However, there was no effort made to prevent them from passing through. Blaze noticed a strange tingle as they entered, guessing that they had been scanned magically. More Royal Guards inside suggested that these would deal with any hidden threats so detected.

Because this was a public session, there were several ponies and other creatures on the path, although mostly headed in the opposite direction due to the lateness of the day. The route through the castle was obvious – all side corridors were roped off with a Guard stationed at each. The Peregrines hardly noticed them as they gazed in awe at the sumptuous surroundings. They stopped outside a pair of doors which were once again flanked by more Guards.

“Sorry, citizens,” one of them said. “No more entry into the throne room until the evening session.”

Daring said, “We are an exception. Please advise the Sergeant-at-Arms that Daring Do and company are here to report to the Princess.”

The earth pony raised an eyebrow, then nodded. He turned, opened the door enough to pass through, and closed it behind him. After a minute, he returned and held the door open. “You may enter. Wait by the Sergeant-at-Arms.”

Daring grinned. “Thanks! C’mon guys.” She trotted in, closely followed by Trixie and then the Peregrines.

A crusty old unicorn met them, scowling at the pegasus adventurer. “Are you ever going to follow procedure and make an appointment, Daring Do?” he asked in a low growl.

“We only just arrived in Canterlot. The Princesses aren’t going to want to wait for what we have to tell them,” she replied unrepentantly.

He just shook his head and told them to wait until the last petitioner was done.

The Peregrines hardly noticed as they took in the magnificent surroundings. The Throne Room was huge, at least three stories high, illuminated by a series of tall windows, some with stained glass scenes depicted upon them. There was an area set aside as a public gallery which left a large space between it and a raised dais upon which were three thrones. Only the central one was currently occupied by a pony with both wings and a horn decked out in silver regalia and a crown – the alicorn princess that they were about to meet. She still had her attention on the petitioner standing at the base of the dais and had not noticed the new arrivals. It was only a couple of minutes before their business was concluded and the pegasus stallion bowed to the Princess and made his way out. The alicorn saw the group then and raised an eyebrow.

The Sergeant-at-Arms took the cue and bellowed, “Announcing Lady Daring Do, Lady Beatrix Lulamoon, and company!”

“Step forward, My Little Ponies,” the Princess said with a knowing smile.

The four made their way to the dais, and when Daring and Trixie bowed, the Peregrines followed suit immediately.

The alicorn leaned her elbow on the arm of the throne and rested her head on her hoof, smirking at the pegasus. “What tall tales do you bring to the Royal Court today, Daring Do?”

“Your Highness, may I introduce you to Cirrus Sky and Blaze Peregrine, two beings from another world who were transformed into ponies by the very artifacts we were sent to find. Cirrus, Blaze, may I introduce you to Her Royal Highness, Sunset Shimmer, Princess of Friendship.”

Ignoring the exclamations of shock and whispers emanating from the public gallery, the golden-coated alicorn mare with a bright red and yellow striped mane sat up and gazed keenly at the two. Her horn glowed briefly before she grinned. “Okay, you and Trixie have really outdone yourselves this time. I can’t wait to hear the whole story. I’ll talk with you after we close Court for the day.” She turned to the unicorn Royal Guard dressed in extravagantly ornate armor standing at attention at the base of the dais. “Captain Armor, please escort our guests to the Royal Lounge and await my arrival.”

The Royal Guard snapped a salute. “Yes, Your Highness.” He approached the group and said, “Please follow me.”

The four bowed to the Princess once more and followed the captain out of the Throne Room. Instead of heading the way they had come, they turned in the opposite direction. They approached a magical barrier and the Royal Guard posted there saluted the captain, allowing him and the rest of the group to pass through.

Once they had left the public area, Daring surprised the Peregrines by nudging the Guard with her shoulder and saying, “How’s it hanging, Shiny?”

The formerly impassive stallion grinned and replied, “Not bad, Double-D. Is it true? These ponies are from another world?”

“Yep. And before you ask, we know for certain because we visited it briefly too.”

“Umm… should we be talking about this before the Princess gets to hear it?” Cirrus asked.

“Nah, it’s cool,” Daring said. “Shiny and I go way back.”

Shining Armor smirked. “Yeah. I used to have to get her out of jams a lot.”

Trixie said, “Now, she has a far superior partner to prevent her from ever getting into jams in the first place!”

The stallion just laughed. “Don’t worry, Trixie – she’s all yours! I’m not trying to add her to my herd.” He looked over at Blaze. “Although maybe it’s a moot point anyway?”

Blaze realized what Shining was getting at and blushed. He felt a bit out of his depth with both mares and stallions seeming to have one-track minds. He looked at Cirrus for support only to notice the mare trying to stifle laughter at his discomfort. He rolled his eyes and decided the wisest course of action would be to keep his mouth shut.

The group continued on for a while before they arrived at a large double door with Royal Guards posted on either side. The Guards saluted Shining Armor and one opened the door for him. Blaze and Cirrus followed the others inside to find themselves in a roomy parlor lacking the usual fancy ornate decorations that they had seen in the rest of the castle. Instead, it oozed comfort rather than opulence. Sofas and coffee tables were the main furniture, while warm lighting was easy on the eyes. Clearly, this was a place where the royals went to relax and unwind.

There were a few ponies in there, but the one that immediately drew the Peregrines’ attention was a mare with fur so dark, it was almost black. However, highlights showed that it was an extremely dark blue. She was an alicorn like Sunset, but unlike her, this one was much larger and her mane waved like a shimmering nebula. Her rump bore the image of a crescent moon against a purple background and she gazed at them with bright blue eyes whose pupils were vertical slits. Despite her imposing appearance, she gave the visitors a warm smile.

“Greetings, Daring Do, Trixie Lulamoon, and guests. To what do we owe this visit?”

“Yes, why are these strangers here in our private retreat?” asked the other occupant of the room.

This one was every bit as big as the alicorn, but despite having wings and a horn like her, it was clear from the shiny dark carapace and insectile wings, she was a changeling. Unlike the one the Peregrines had met on the train, this mare had a luxurious blue mane and tail. Her horn was also very long and crooked, and her fangs clearly showed as she frowned at the newcomers.

“Now, dear, there’s no need to be rude,” the dark alicorn said. “I am sure Daring has a good reason for being here.”

Shining spoke up, “Sunset told me to bring them here, and after hearing what they told her, I think you’ll be interested in it too. Your Highnesses, let me introduce you to Cirrus Sky and Blaze Peregrine, visitors from another world. Blaze, Cirrus, these are Princess Luna, Alicorn of the Moon and Stars, and Princess Chrysalis, Queen of the Canterlot Hive.”

Blaze and Cirrus bowed and the stallion said, “It’s an honor to meet you both. We never expected anything like this when we stumbled into your world. But if I may ask, Princess Chrysalis, why do you have two titles?”

The changeling regarded them with less annoyance and more curiosity. “Intriguing. From your mix of emotions, I can taste that you truly don’t recognize either of us. I am a Princess by dint of having married my lovemate, Luna. And as the head of my hive, I am its Queen. Because I am not one of Equestria’s rulers, I cannot have status outside of the hive that is greater than theirs. Despite my urgings, they refuse to take on greater titles. With my Luna as Empress, of course.”

The alicorn rolled her eyes and smiled at the changeling queen. “We three alicorn rulers will always be equals – that is a lesson that I learned the hard way.” She turned her attention back to the visitors. “Please make yourselves comfortable. Would you like some refreshments? The maid would be happy to take your requests.”

Daring and Trixie immediately climbed onto a large lounge chair and cuddled at complete ease. Cirrus and Blaze chose a sofa and sat on it a little awkwardly, uncomfortable at being in the presence of two of Equestria’s most powerful beings. A light blue unicorn mare with a pink mane dressed in a classic mid outfit approached them and waited expectantly.

“Umm… Could I have a coffee?” Cirrus asked.

“Certainly, ma’am. Would you like an espresso?”

Cirrus blinked. “Oh! You have that? I’d like a café latte, please.”

“Of course. And you, sir?”

“A long black, please,” Blaze replied.

“Cappuccinos for Trixie and me,” Daring said.

“Make that three,” Shining added as he took a seat on another large armchair.

“Bring an assortment of cakes too,” Luna said.

“Yes, ma’am,” the maid replied. She turned and exited the room.

Blaze noted the empty mugs next to the princesses which is why he assumed that they did not order drinks. He shifted nervously under their curious gaze until Luna spoke up.

“Thy claim to be from another world is fascinating if true. While I have no reason to doubt Daring Do, thy lack of a cutie mark lends credence.”

The stallion shrugged. “Humans don’t have that kind of thing, so we didn’t have one in the first place.”

“So, you both were not ponies before? That explains much, but your lack may yet change. The magic of Harmony awaits your discovery of what makes you both special.”

Blaze frowned. “Trixie told me that you get one when you find your special talent.”

“While true, 'tis an incomplete answer. Very often, the two are the same, but 'tis not unusual for a pony to have a great talent for something but be more passionate in another.”

Cirrus said, “So, there’s no predestination in them? You’re not locked into one course forever?”

“Dost thou fear that, child? Nay, Harmony merely shows thee the easiest option. Thy destiny is thine to choose.”

The pegasus mare frowned thoughtfully. “I’ve always been interested in archaeology, but I had to work hard at being good at it, so maybe that’s why I haven’t gotten one for it yet?”

“'Tis a possibility,” Luna conceded. “Or thou hast yet to find thy place in this world and realize that which makes thee special here.”

“In other words – wait and see,” Cirrus concluded.

“Indeed,” the Moon Princess said with a smile.

Just then, the door opened to admit Sunset Shimmer who promptly doffed her fancy horseshoes, climbed up next to Shining Armor, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, love,” she said.

“Not a problem, dear,” Shining replied. “We’re barely past introductions anyway.”

“Oh! I thought Captain Armor was a Royal Guard,” Cirrus blurted out.

“He is,” Sunset replied with a grin. “He’s also my husband.”

Cirrus blushed. “Sorry. It’s just that you were so formal back in the Court. I was wondering why he stayed around after showing us here.”

“We keep everything formal while on duty,” the alicorn explained. “That’s why I wanted you to join us here so we could have a nice relaxed chat. I always look forward to hearing about Daring and Trixie’s adventures, and this sounds like a doozy.” Sunset looked around. “Where’s Mom, by the way?”

“Celestia is dining with her coltfriend this evening,” Chrysalis reminded her.

“Oops! I forgot about her date. Oh well, her loss. She can hear about this later.” Sunset’s attention was drawn to the side door where the maid was entering, pushing a tea trolley with her magic. “Oh good! I hope you brought some coffee for me, Cerulean?”

“I anticipated your desire, Princess,” the maid replied with a proud smile.

After passing out the coffee, Cerulean offered a plate of cakes to everyone before retreating to a corner and awaiting further need.

Blaze sipped his drink and nodded in satisfaction. “Excellent coffee!” he said to the maid who smiled and bobbed her head in thanks. The stallion took a bite out of the tart he had chosen and was again impressed. After swallowing, he said, “Trixie told us that you and Princess Celestia were rulers of Equestria along with Princess Luna, but she did not mention that Celestia was your mother.”

“Adopted mom, to be precise. I was a very young orphan filly when I had the exceedingly good fortune to attract her attention. She said she recognized my potential, so she took me as her own foal, raised me, taught me everything she knew, and enabled me to become the mare I am today,” Sunset replied proudly.

“I suppose it wouldn’t be hard to see potential in an alicorn foal, but she seems to have been just as good as a mother.”

Luna burst out laughing. “Nay, young stallion, alicorns are not born; they doth ascend. Sunset Shimmer was a mere unicorn back then.”

Blaze frowned. “Ascend?”

“When a pony achieves some great accomplishment that hath world-changing consequences, Harmony elevates them to a greater level. I achieved mine by controlling the heavens, my sister – the sun, but Sunset became an alicorn by freeing me from the Nightmare. Whilst I have been left forever physically changed by my folly, I am nevertheless glad that I played a part in Sunset’s ascension.”

Sunset blushed and waved it off with one hoof. “Enough about me. We want to hear about you ponies from another world. Spit it out!”

Blaze looked at Cirrus. “Do you want to start? I’ll get the laptop booted up.”

The mare nodded. “We come from a world called Earth and a—”

She was interrupted by the door bursting open and a teenage mare with dark coat and purple mane and tail came flying through it. She had both wings and horn, and she wore a headband and a large pair of spectacles. She trotted up to Luna and said, “Mom! I heard that there are strangers from another world here!”

Chrysalis scowled and said, “Nyx! How many times have we told you to act with the decorum expected of a princess?”

Nyx’s ears sagged. “Sorry, Dad.”

Cirrus looked askance at Trixie. “Dad?” she whispered.

“Did I not say that changelings can become stallions if they choose?” was the quiet reply.

“Oh. Right.”

Luna said, “It’s true, daughter. Look behind thee. The unicorn and pegasus who are not Daring Do and Trixie Lulamoon are our visitors.”

Nyx turned and blinked and her ears sagged. “But they’re just ponies.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “Cirrus Sky, please continue.”

Cirrus nodded. “As I started to say, we come from a world called Earth and a country called America. Our species are a bipedal ape-descended species and we are the only true sapient beings there. Our kind have colonized virtually every habitable place on the planet, but there are still mysteries to be found. Blaze and I set out a couple of weeks ago to investigate one of them…”

Cirrus and Blaze continued their lecture with only the occasional interruption for clarification by one of their listeners until dinner was announced to be ready. The princesses invited their visitors to join them for the meal and conversation recommenced at the dining table. Luna excused herself eventually as she had to attend Night Court, and Chrysalis accompanied her. Nyx tried one excuse after another to escape her ‘princessly duty’ to watch and learn from her parents. The one that finally stuck had to do with gathering first-hoof knowledge of the travelers and second-hoof knowledge of their world that the filly would later retell to her parents. A skipping teenage alicorn with a beaming smile led the rest to the lounge once more.

“So, your goals are to find your way back to your world and regain your human forms,” Sunset summed up. “I know of some artificial worldgates that we call portals that go to other worlds, but judging by the images you have shown us on your remarkable device, none of them lead to yours. However, there are rumors of other natural worldgates that you can look into. Getting your human bodies back is a bigger problem though. I can’t say that I know of an answer to that one.”

Shining Armor said, “However, there’s somepony who may be able to help.”

“You’re talking about your sister, right?” Trixie said with a grimace.

“Yep!” he replied with a proud smile. “If anypony can figure that one out, she can.”

“Trixie thought as much. Trixie has prepared a preliminary report of our expedition to send to her in anticipation.”

Shining’s grin widened. “The Great and Powerful Trixie concedes that she has met her match?”

The mare gave him a sour look. “Twilight Sparkle is the only pony besides Princess Celestia that she acknowledges as her superior in the magic arts.”

Blaze was startled. “Your sister is a greater magician than an alicorn?”

“Twilight is an alicorn and the Princess of Magic,” Shining replied smugly.

Nyx chimed in. “Auntie Twilight is the best!” Her expression then turned serious. “Did you bring any sweets from the other universe? For … uh … academic reasons, of course.”

Blaze blinked. “Wait! I thought there were only three princesses – Sunset, Luna, and Celestia. Now you’re saying there are four?”

“Five, actually, but Twilight refused the Crown, preferring to put her talent to work in other ways. By law, she’s still a princess though. And Nyx is not an alicorn, only a pegacorn, so she is a princess by birth only, just as I am a prince by marriage. The other princess is Mi Amore Cadenza. She’s the adopted daughter of Queen Amore and King Sombra who rule the Crystal Kingdom. But that’s not important right now. It’s my sister who learned everything that Celestia had to teach, all the accumulated knowledge of the Council of Mages, and read every book on the subject of magic in Royal Canterlot Library. She now spends her time researching old forgotten styles of magic or creating new ones. There’s no greater mage in all of Equestria.”

Cirrus could feel the palpable pride the unicorn had in his sibling. “So – if anyone knows how blood magic works, it will be her? How soon can we see her?”

“You’re in luck. She splits her time between her research laboratory here and her home in Ponyville. She will be in her office tomorrow, so you can see her first thing.”

Trixie added drily. “Better make it after breakfast. Miss Sparkle is not an early riser.”

“No problem. How come she commutes so much though?”

Sunset replied, “To get her out of the lab and spend more time with her friends, I convinced her to open a school in Ponyville to teach the Magic of Friendship. It’s an interspecies school where culturally diverse beings can learn about each other as well as the regular subjects. And magic too, of course. You’d be surprised what other species can do with magic. If there’s one thing that Twilight Sparkle loves almost as much as magic, it’s teaching it. So, some days are spent here and some at the school where her friends also do lectures. They’re under orders to make sure Twilight spends a little time enjoying life rather than nonstop work.”

“Are they truly her friends if they have to be ordered to do that?” Blaze asked.

Sunset chuckled. “It was more like a strong request, but they use it as an excuse whenever Twilight is reluctant to put aside her studies.”

Shining said, “Yeah, my little sister gets too obsessed sometimes. Don’t be surprised if she gets that way when she learns about your origins.”

Sunset said, “You can all stay at the castle for now. Daring and Trixie – for now, I’m making the Peregrines your next assignment. I can see that we will learn a lot from them and from the research that will ensue. Blaze and Cirrus – the Crown will pay you a stipend until further notice, retroactive to when you first arrived in recognition of the help you gave Daring and Trixie, and for your part in dealing with the attack on the train by the diamond dogs.” The alicorn grimaced. “I really have to figure out a way to deal with them. As the Princess of Friendship, it wouldn’t be on brand for me to mobilize the army to rout them out.”

“Thank you,” Blaze said. “We were kind of wondering what we were going to do to pay for things if we got stuck here for a while.”

The alicorn grinned. “Hey, it’s not all altruistic. I want to be part of this. Daring and Trixie are my proxies most of the time, but I reckon you have a lot you can do for me right now. Can you show us more of what your device can do?”

“Show her a movie!” Daring declared.

Cirrus smirked. “Let me guess —”

“Indiana Jones!” four voices chorused.

“I’ll get the popcorn!” called out Nyx in a sing-song voice before scampering out of the room.

Shining blinked and then turned to his wife. “Something tells me that this is something we really have to watch.”

“I couldn’t agree more, love. But a whole movie on that? That’s something I really have to see.”

A couple of hours later, one alicorn, one pegacorn, one unicorn stallion, and one unicorn maid allowed to hang around after her shift were all both entertained and amazed.

“I hope we get to watch more of these movies,” Sunset said.

“We have only a few because they take up so much storage space, but you’re welcome to watch them.”

“I’m astounded that you can even get one in there, let alone all the other things that lap-top can do.”

“We do have a bit of a power problem though,” Cirrus said. “The solar panels we use can charge the laptop, but it takes a long time. All day, in fact. On an overcast day, it might not get a full charge. We were hoping to make a faster charger with a generator.”

Shining replied, “Speak to Twi about that. She’s as much a mad scientist as she’s a mage.”

“That too? Is there anything your sister can’t do?”

“Run a nation, apparently,” he replied with a chuckle.

The others laughed along with him.

Nyx wrinkled her muzzle. “She’s also terrible at making pancakes. No matter how many recipes Auntie Twilight has memorized, she keeps trying to invent shortcuts!”

Sunset got up from her chair. “Well, I’m afraid I need to call it a night. I have duties first thing tomorrow and I need to get to bed. I suggest that you do the same.” She paused for a moment before looking directly at Cirrus. “By the way, do you want to get pregnant?”

Cirrus blinked several times before saying, “What? I’ve lived as a male until very recently, so sex is the last thing on my mind!”

Sunset shook her head. “That’s not what I’m asking. Do. You. Want. To. Get. Pregnant?”

“Uh, no. No, I don’t.”

“Makes sense to me.” The alicorn’s horn glowed briefly. “I’ve applied the standard contraception spell. Now you have one less thing to worry about. And you’re welcome.” She then turned to the maid. “Cerulean, since you’ve decided to hang around past the time you normally go off duty, I’m assigning you the task of providing rooms for our guests. Let the Head Maid know before you retire for the night.”

Cerulean blushed. “Yes, Your Highness.”

Sunset grinned and headed to the door with Shining in tow. “Goodnight everypony!”

The maid said, “Would you please follow me, madams and sir?” She then followed after the royals.

As the four were guided to their rooms, Cirrus asked Trixie, “What was that all about? Do you really have a contraception spell?”

“Of course, it’s standard for mares to get it cast on them once they reach puberty. Be warned that it needs to be refreshed regularly though.”

“But as I told Sunset, I have no intention of having sex.”

Trixie chuckled. “You have not experienced going into heat yet. Be grateful.”

Cirrus shuddered. Was it going to be that bad?

Cerulean took them to the guest quarters where Daring and Trixie took the first room.

“We know the ropes – no need to hang about,” the pegasus told the maid. See you at breakfast,” she said to the Peregrines. They got the suite next door.

Cerulean pointed out the features and then indicated a bell rope. “Ring for assistance at any time if you need help. Somepony is always on call.”

“Thank you,” Blaze replied.

“Goodnight, sir and ma’am.” The maid then left and closed the door behind her.

Cirrus looked at Blaze. “Well, I never expected to get the royal treatment. I’ve got to admit though, I’m looking forward to sleeping in a proper bed tonight. And this one looks positively decadent.”

“Just sleeping?” he replied with a smirk. “We can practice safe sex now.”

Cirrus glared at him. “For that crack, I’m using the shower first!”

“Before or after?” Blaze broke out in laughter at his spouse’s frown.

“Just one more and you’ll be sleeping on the floor!”

‘Worth it,’ he said to himself as she stalked away in a huff.

Later as they spooned in bed, little did the stallion realize how much that teasing suggestion had affected his wife who was very aware of the virile male embracing her. It took longer than usual for her to fall asleep that night.

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

If you would like to leave me a tip, send me a Ko-Fi!