New Way Home (18)

Lin didn't mention the date to Thomas that night—or to anypony else, for that matter. Not because she feared him telling Winston anything about her past—if he'd honored her wishes this long, she had no reason to think he would change his mind now.

Besides: it wasn't as though she intended to keep any secrets from anyone about herself. While in Equestria, that would've been impossible anyway. Going everywhere nude meant that nothing about her biology was private.

Lin kept her secret and went about her daily life as though everything was entirely normal, or at least as normal as life could be in the nation of horses. Morning there was enough to talk about anyway, with the ongoing back and forth of messages from Canterlot, followed by their own desperate replies.

The purpose of these messages was always the same: rapid consideration and a safe return for all the human refugees. So far as she thought, the situation should be easy: they wanted to leave, and ponies didn't particularly like having them around. Why not make things perfect for both groups and put them on their way?

The court kept refusing. After the fourth message they shared, it became abundantly clear that they had delegated the task to some minor functionary, judging by the change of wording and the evasiveness to commit to any specific thing. Yes, their issue was receiving the "utmost urgent consideration," and they would be "directed to the affairs of Court as soon as time permitted."

No dates, not even any promises. Some of them were upset, but not her. The ponies could be so much worse if they wanted, and instead they'd been given a home and enough money to see to their needs.

She would never have told Thomas so, but Lin would've felt disappointed to go back to Earth without learning to fly. She had absolutely no other reasons for wanting to wait a little while longer.

True to her word, Chandelle came twice a week to teach them, reviewing their progress and adding a few new principles each time. Lin still wasn't airborne after another week of practices, but she was starting to feel a change. All that time thinking about her wings was working to bring them more under her control.

Shame there was no instructor during her time captive to the diamond dogs, or she probably would've learned to fly by now.

She was somewhat less aware of what the other groups did. Some refugees wanted to work and found themselves simple roles in the city. No one wanted to hire them for mining, but there were carts to be loaded and warehouses to be stocked.

Others, like Winston and Thomas, had their own new abilities to learn, though they had different levels of focus with it. The hotel offered the refugees its ballrooms to use for those purposes, as well as a storeroom for their travel supplies and any donations the locals offered them.

A kind gesture, though Lin couldn't help but notice that the hotel's owner had removed all the furniture and even the crystal chandeliers from the ceilings before telling them they could use the space.

Thomas got real bitter about it the first night, muttering about how their presence at the hotel was paying the bills. "We're stacking their occupancy until the end of this crisis. Tout Suite is going to walk out of this with way more cash than the hotel in a remote town would ever have. He doesn't have to treat us like we're gonna break everything."

Lin had nodded along with him without offering anything much to the conversation. It might not be the most neighborly thing to do, but she didn't mind. So long as ponies didn't kick them back out into the cold, she was happy.

Winston saw her a few times that week, though nothing quite as involved as a “date.” He hinted at what he'd planned, about one of the restaurants all the locals were raving about, and how she would probably love it.

Maybe she would, but Lin wasn't thinking about food that week. When she wasn't practicing with her wings, or helping around the growing "camp," she often found herself returning to the same questions.

What is a girl supposed to do on a date? What if I like him?

Was Lin even allowed to go on a date with a man and enjoy it? Obviously not—some kind of cosmic punishment would surely arrive at any second and crush down on her with the force of her pretend life.

You're going back home. You're going to be a man. None of this is permanent. You're wasting his time.

She couldn't talk to Thomas about it, because that would mean admitting that she had agreed to date Winston of all ponies. But she had to talk to someone about it, or she would just explode.

She didn't go looking for anyone so much as the situation aligned for her to have a moment alone with someone, with her inhibitions lowered enough for her to speak.

It came the day before her date, with Lin and Ethan the last ponies left practicing in the field.

The space had been cleared since their first day, with many blocks of lumber and bags of cement carried helpfully to the edges of the lot, and all the trash removed. That meant there were far fewer hazards to trip over in the running starts they did to try and take off.

No one had yet succeeded in this effort, though Lin had seen several promising attempts. Thomas had been right after all; it did look like they were hanging in the air a little longer than they should. Not quite long enough to actually take off and fly, unfortunately.

All the pegasus ponies in their group came to the classes now, though not all were diligent enough to practice between days. Even fewer of those were dedicated enough to go and work for hours on the off days, even without Chandelle to encourage them.

But Ethan was, and Lin didn't like the idea of the teenager off by himself. So she always stayed until he was done, even if she wore out faster and exhausted a fair bit before he did.

"Hey, Ethan, something I've been meaning to ask you," she said—partly as a way to stop him from suggesting they gallop back to the dirt ramp for another takeoff. Her heart pounded in her chest, and the fluff there puffed all the way out. Her mane stuck to her body with sweat, and some of her feathers protruded at odd angles. It was time to rest for the day.

"Yeah?" He brushed his wing against his face, wiping away the sweat. "You want to know how I've been mixing my fake Gatorade? It's not as interesting as it sounds."

"Not that." She took a few seconds to get the strength to continue, holding out one wing to silence him. She glanced once around them, but of course there was no one there. An audience of local ponies still appeared to watch their practices, but only when Chandelle was instructing. They didn't show up for ordinary practice. Likewise, the non-pegasi didn't come out to cheer them on when they were just doing PT for two hours in the wind and cold.

"It's about the other thing." She sat down on her haunches, a little self-conscious. This was a kid, probably a decade younger than she was. But if anyone had thought about these questions, it would be him. "We talked about it once. Lots of the others don't know."

He winced, and a little of the confidence vanished from his face. Both wings tucked in firmly against his side. "What about it?"

"Well, it's..." If she didn't press forward now, she was going to give up. Maybe it was the workout, but the intensity of that activity brought its own little wave of confidence to her. "Two parts. First one: what if the princesses come and help us tomorrow, but when you ask about your transformation, they tell you that you would go back to exactly how you were when you went back to Earth. Would you stay here, or go home?"

Whatever fear Ethan had been feeling vanished from the colt's face, and a grin returned. Apparently that question wasn't what he was afraid of. "Well, that's easy. I'd stay. No question."

"What about your parents? And... I think you said you had a younger brother?"

He nodded. "Yeah. But if there's a portal, maybe they could come and visit? Someone could carry a letter back for me, make sure my family gets it. I think they'd understand."

If that's true, you have the most understanding parents in two worlds. Lin nodded with him. "If I go back, I'd be happy to. But I'm not saying I know it works that way. You know where I've been the last week, and it wasn't locked in the library trying to learn how magic works."

He nudged her shoulder with his hoof, forceful enough that she nearly fell over. "Was that it?"

Between his flight practice and his time in the mine, Ethan was getting strong. He looked happy about it, too—no wonder he wanted to practice for such long hours.

She straightened, meeting his eyes. "That was the first part. And stop me if you don't know what you'd do. It's okay not to know. I don't really know either. But I thought maybe you would have thought about it."

He gestured with his wings, waving her forward.

No more finding excuses to put off asking, even if it meant he might have more information than he did a few minutes before.

"Winston asked me out," she said. "I said yes, and we're going somewhere tomorrow. He's so excited, and he seems like he enjoys spending time with me. But..."

"You're asking me about guys?" Ethan asked. He beamed, wrapping his foreleg around Lin's shoulder and leaning close to her. Strange how similar that gesture could be, despite the radically different bodies they had. "How to make sure the date goes well? Or if he's really serious about you? I know—" Then he hesitated, tilting his head sideways. "Why didn't you ask Thomas? You sleep with him every night, right?"

Technically. "Not like you're thinking! We're not dating." She was not getting more detailed with a teenager. "I'm not worried about the date. I think I'll know if I like him or not. But what happens after? No, stop making that face. I mean after we're back on Earth?"

She tucked her wings in close, and her ears folded flat against her head. "What if we had this perfect relationship? Fairytale. Then a year from now, Princess Celestia comes in and says what she said before. If we go back, it's to how we used to be? What do I do?"

"What do you..." Ethan repeated, tilting his head sideways again. "Why would it matter if—" His face froze, and a sudden, smug smile spread so wide it probably hurt. "Hold on. I think I know what you're saying."

Fur concealed Lin's blush, no matter how hot on her face. But there was no retreating now—she'd already told him. "Maybe you might. So what should I do?"

He nodded sagely. "Telling me sooner would've been nice. Even if you're passing me going the other direction. It's nice not to guess. And Winston..." He stuck out his tongue. "Boys. No thanks. But if you're into him, then maybe if that happens you just tell him that you're staying? He can choose you, or choose going back through the portal."

Except he's already talking about what to do when we get back home. I can't just lie to him for the next year like it's really gonna happen? What if there was a kid?

Not questions she was going to burden a teenager with, even if this one had thought about these questions a lot more than she had. Maybe when he was older, he would have more sage advice about what it all meant.

"Don't tell anyone," she said, looking nervously away from him. "Like, I know I didn't make you promise before or anything. But I'm not even sure of this stuff myself. Part of me feels like it's all pretending, or something that will just go away on its own."

Ethan looked like he was going to say something—but he trailed off abruptly, turning to stare off at something coming down the street. Lin followed his gaze, and soon saw what had attracted his attention. A large group of ponies was making their way to the hotel, under protective guard escort.

Lin knew them well, because she had lived with them for months in the mine. The Equestrian captives had arrived in Salt Lick City.