Love Is A Miracle

Love Is A Miracle

Chapter 4: A Tale of Two Cities

The train ride to Canterlot was tense. Four ponies sat in a passenger car staring at the floor, out the window, and each other. Each attempt to start a conversation fizzled out quickly. Even Pinkie Pie was having a hard time starting anything up. Everyone was too worried.

“How long have we been riding?” asked Pinkie.

“About ten minutes,” replied Applejack.

“Are we there yet?” Pinkie followed up.

A collective groan was made by the other three ponies.

“That’s the third time you asked, darling,” Rarity muttered.

“Look Pinkie, we’re all concerned about what happened to Twilight an’ the princess’s letter, but havin’ ya askin’ that every couple a’ minutes ain’t helping’ none,” Applejack said.

“I-I can understand why she’s asking. I’m so worried I want to ask a million questions,” Fluttershy whispered.

“Ah know girls, an’ ahm worried too. But we ain’t gonna get anywhere drivin’ ourselves crazy with worry. Ah guess ah know now how ya’ll felt when ah sent ya a letter tellin’ ya ah wasn’t comin’ back. But ya managed ta find me an’ ah betcha we’ll manage ta find Twilight too,” Applejack said.

“You’re right dear. We really shouldn’t be so negative. After all, we don’t even know what happened in Canterlot,” Rarity said trying to be positive. “We just need to stay strong and hurry along to provide whatever assistance the Princess wants. For Twilight‘s sake.”

All four ponies nodded their heads and resumed the tense journey, impatiently counting down the miles to Canterlot. The ride was quiet for several moments when Pinkie’s voice interrupted it.

“Are we there yet?”

Twilight Sparkle stared at the human and began studying her more closely then before. She mentally reviewed Tiffany’s mannerisms and speech pattern for comparison. The pony smacked herself in the face for not realizing it sooner. ‘How did I not see this sooner? Parallel dimensions, a scientist, Tiffany Sparks; How obvious can it get?’ Twilight mentally berated herself.

“So this is a weird dimension where ponies are humans and you’re me. This place just got a lot stranger!” Twilight exclaimed.

“No weirder then a world full of adorable talking ponies with a pony version of myself. I just wonder how many similarities between our worlds there are,” Tiffany pondered.

“There has to be something we can study that allows us to see the parallel situations of each other’s worlds. Maybe it would help if we learned more about each other’s lives. We could see if there are any patterns to determine how our dimensions interact,” the pony theorized.

“That sounds like a good start! But how do we test our thesis?” Tiffany replied. She placed her hand to her chin just as Twilight placed a hoof to her own. They continued thinking for a few moments until they were interrupted by one of the staff scientists.

“Excuse me, Doctor Sparks, President Canterbury is on the video phone and wants to speak to you.”

Tiffany’s eyes lit up. “Oh, she must want me to give her a status update. Come on Twilight, I can’t wait for you to see her!” she said excitedly and began leading the unicorn out.

Twilight cantered next to Tiffany as she followed, still deep in thought. They were walking down the hall and into another office when the pony had an inspiration. “Wait, this ‘President Canterbury’ is no coincidence. This must be another comparison to our dimensions.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your story about how you two met, how you report to her, what her position is; it all sounds vaguely similar to how I met Princess Celestia. Minus the magical properties, it could be possible the people in your life are the dimensional anchors for the ponies in my life,” Twilight theorized.

“That makes sense. I haven’t had a chance to prove my theory aside from today and I don’t want to just go teleporting random beings without further evidence,” Tiffany replied.

“Well, I’m quite familiar with my friends so if yours are anything like mine I think I’ll be able to notice. And if this ‘President‘ Canterbury is anything like Princess Celestia I should know right away. Who knows, maybe our lives even have recordable events similar to each other,” Twilight remarked.

“An exciting proposition! I think I can present this notion to Miss Canterbury and see if she will go along with it. I may even be able to prove more theories about dimensional travel then we thought!” Tiffany giddily replied.

‘Wow, a human version of Princess Celestia. I wonder what she would be like,’ Twilight thought to herself as they approached the video teleconference room. The room was set up like a standard office meeting room with a long wooden table and eight chairs around it, six on the sides with one at each end. A television screen was fitted to the wall behind the head of the table. Cameras were mounted around the ceiling to provide multiple angles for transmission. On the screen there was a view of their approach being broadcast. Two of the technical staff members went over the cables to check the connection when everyone heard a tone from the speaker. The view on the screen split in the middle; the left side displayed Twilight and Tiffany while the other half went black.

“Hello? Doctor Sparks, are you there?” came a female voice from the speaker.

“Hello. This is Doctor Sparks, I can hear you. Is Miss Canterbury there?” Tiffany asked.

“Oh good she’s there. Yes, one second. We’re having trouble with the visual uplink,” the voice replied. A few seconds passed before she spoke again. “There we go. We can see and hear you. Are we coming through?”

Tiffany looked at the screen and frowned. She looked at one of the technicians. The tech staff started checking the cables again and tapping on the keypad of a computer. “It looks like we’re sending but not receiving. Is there a loose cable perhaps?”

“Maybe the data link not getting through?” the other technician asked while pushing cable connectors.

“Please, don’t bother fussing over it so much. It just gives me more reason for my proposal,” said the voice of Stella Canterbury. “Congratulations again Doctor Sparks for your success. I bid you welcome to our dimension Miss Twilight Sparkle,” she said in greeting to the unicorn.

Twilight was briefly puzzled. “She already knows my name?”

“Of course, dear visitor. While I could not divert certain matters from today’s course of events, I have been remaining fully aware of the situation via updates from Doctor Sparks’ staff. As such I have come to the conclusion that, if it is possible, I would like to invite you to my personal office where we can meet face to face. What is your verdict, Doctor Sparks?” Canterbury said.

It was Tiffany’s turn to look surprised now as she had not expected this proposition. She looked at Twilight and then back to the black screen. “I believe it should be safe. We cleared the atmospheric test to verify human virus and germs were not compatible with pony and vice versa. Atmospheric components were also a good match. Uh, I just didn’t expect something like this so soon and I hadn’t planned for it from a security aspect.” Tiffany nervously replied.

“No need to, Doctor. I had already run this past Mr. Knight and he is clearing your means of transportation. You should be ready to get picked up from the garage and arrive here at Canterbury Tower. We have arranged a means for Miss Sparkle to visit us discreetly.” Canterbury reassured.

“Oh, if you want, I could turn myself invisible,” Twilight offered.

“You can turn invisible?” Canterbury asked.

“I know a spell that can. Doesn’t this dimension have invisibility magi-er, technology?” she asked.

“Not quite yet,” Tiffany sighed.

“Then it is settled. Please, come by my office. I will be expecting you. See you soon,” Canterbury stated before the connection was cut.

Tiffany and Twilight looked at each other again and smiled. “It looks like we’ll get to propose our idea in person and pony,” Tiffany said.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see your city. I wonder if it’s as grand as Canterlot?” Twilight wondered aloud.

A blue and rainbow blur was seen bursting forth from the skies above Canterlot. In a display of aerodynamic speed and endurance Rainbow Dash swooped in with dramatic flare and landed near the gates to the Canterlot Castle. Several guards watching her arrival grew tense and held their spears tightly to challenge the unannounced visitor.

“Hah, betcha that’s a new speed record. Too bad the others had to take the train but time waits for no mare. Especially when I‘m on the job!” Rainbow Dash proudly stated and puffed up with pride. She paused when a cough caught her attention. She turned around to see three guard stallions staring at her.

“Excuse me, but do you have permission to enter the castle?” the lead sentry sternly asked while advancing to confront her.

The mare was not about to be intimidated and adjusted her stance to square off against the leader. “You bet I do! Me and my friends were summoned here by the Princess herself! We got an emergency to attend to!” Rainbow Dash replied.

“We were not informed of any special visitors or an emergency. Do you have any proof?” the stallion then asked.

“Of course I have ‘proof.’ We got a letter from the Princess summoning us!”

“Then can we see this letter?” the sentry flatly asked.

“Yeah it’s-” she began to say and reached behind her only to realize she didn’t have any satchels, bags or anything to reach for. Her face blanked as she retraced her steps and recalled who was last holding the letter. “Applejack!”

“I’m sorry, did you just call me something?”

Rainbow Dash’s face grew tense as she realized she had no letter which meant she had no proof of being summoned which meant she had no means to enter the castle. She nervously laughed and grinned half heartedly. “Ah, I mean, my friend, Applejack, has the letter. But you know what, you don’t need that letter. I-I’m sure somepony can vouch for me-!” she said and desperately began looking around for a familiar face happening to walk by; a Princess, Shining Armor, anybody? No one could be seen. She hung her head down and grumbled.

“If you do not have any proof then I cannot let you through,” the sentry said in a rehearsed tone.

The pegasus shook her head and faced the stallion again. “B-but, but, it’s on it’s way! I mean, Applejack and the others are on the train now and will bring it so you don’t have to worry about it! You can just let me in and I’ll be cleared after they arrive,” she said and waved a dismissive hoof at them.

“Without authorization I cannot allow you to enter nor can I allow you to loiter by the gate. I suggest you go to the train station and wait for your friends to arrive,” the lead sentry stated, emphasizing it was a command rather than suggestion. He stomped his front hooves in finality.

Rainbow Dash began to puff up and challenge the lead stallion when the other two guards pointed their spears at her and snorted. Rainbow’s face scrunched in frustration and she glared at the three guards while letting out her own snort. Her wings fluttered in anger for a tense second before she turned around to trot over to the train station and wait for her friends to arrive.

Tiffany escorted her honored guest to a secluded corner of the garage where a deluxe limousine waited for them. Tiffany had left behind her lab coat and was carrying a box under her arm containing Twilight‘s possessions. “Welcome aboard, ladies,” greeted Sean. He opened the two doors which extended outward and revealed a luxurious passenger area. Twilight had no trouble climbing in and settling on the large couch shaped seat. Tiffany sat next to Twilight on the same row while Sean sat at the other end, closing the doors behind him. The chauffer then shifted into gear and began driving.

Twilight started looking out the windows in expectation as the car navigated out of the underground garage level. Tiffany fussed over her hair and straightened out her clothes which had become slightly wrinkled from the lab coat.

“Is it secure to be traveling in a car with so many windows?” Twilight asked.

“The glass is a one way mirror so we can see out but no one can see in. President Canterbury authorized the use of it since she wanted to give you the ability to see outside. It was either use this or one of the company vans that doesn’t have windows,” Sean replied.

“I’m surprised you actually let us travel outside of the facility. I was afraid I would have to find someway to ‘charm’ you into letting me take Twilight out to see the world,” Tiffany said and winked at him. Sean just shrugged.

“You can thank Miss Canterbury for this. She wanted to see Twilight and, well, she’s the boss. We just applied some risk management and mitigated what we could. There’s always going to be a danger Twilight could be discovered but we can work within certain thresholds,” the security chief replied.

“Wow, I feel like I’m riding in Princess Celestia’s royal chariot. Can this vehicle fly too?” Twilight asked.

“No, its land based only. We still haven’t invented a ‘flying car’ just yet but we’re working on it,” Tiffany said.

“Back home we have chariots or carriages that we pull. When a cart is pulled by a pegasus they can use their wings to make it fly into the air. We also have a train that runs to the major cities of Equestria and as well as several of the outlying settlements,” Twilight informed them.

“You have pegasus in your world?” Sean asked.

“Why yes, we do. Most of the pegasi live in Cloudsdale, which is a city in the sky made of clouds. From there the pegasus ponies control and maintain the weather for all of Equestria. Some pegasus live on the ground, like my friend Fluttershy. She loves animals and prefers to stay nearby so she can take care of them,” Twilight explained.

“How do they live in the clouds and control the weather?” Sean asked in fascination.

“You mean you can’t control your weather?” Twilight asked in surprise. The two humans shook their heads.

“Predict it, somewhat, but we’re nowhere near being able to control it,” Tiffany said.

“So your weather is just like the Everfree Forest back home. That’s the only place in Equestria where everything runs on it’s own without any pony to guide it. Back home, magic is used to raise the sun and the moon, change the seasons, even guide the animals that hibernate or migrate. The pegasi of Cloudsdale schedule the weather pattern to make sure nature stays balanced. In Ponyville, we have a tradition of clearing up the weather by earth pony means. The pegasus ponies still clear the clouds and bring the migrating birds back but everything else is handled without magic. I started helping with the tradition by organizing Winter Wrap Up and helped Ponyville complete it on time,” Twilight said with a hint of pride at the end.

“But how do pegasi live in the clouds?” Sean reiterated.

“Oh, they can walk on clouds and mold them into permanent shapes. So when I say Cloudsdale is made of clouds it actually is made of clouds. Pegasi can sculpt or manipulate any cloud they want as if it were solid. It really is amazing to watch the pegasi in action. My friend Rainbow Dash loves taking naps on the clouds over Ponyville. You wouldn‘t believe it at first but she‘s the fastest pegasus in Equestria and she‘ll prove it too.”

The limousine pulled out of the garage and onto a street. There were several plain three story buildings lined up along the streets with various industrial facilities and reservoirs. They soon reached a chain link fence line that extended as far out as the eye could see. The fence joined near the street where a checkpoint controlled traffic flow. The guard nodded to the driver and the chain link fence barrier retracted to the side to allow passage. As the limousine pulled away it drove onto a single road that led out. The terrain alongside the road was a yellowed plain which stretched all around the perimeter of the facility they departed.

“The place we just left is the PNVL facility. This is where President Canterbury funds all sorts of science experiments,” Tiffany explained. “There’s actually all kinds of places like this one around the country. Some places are as large as a city and are rented out so all experiments can be performed under city simulated conditions. Right now, we’re heading to Canterbury Tower which is just outside of Oklahoma City.”

“Oh, in the state of Oklahoma! I remember this from all those maps I was looking at. And we’re in the United States of America bordered by Canada and Mexico,” Twilight quickly added.

“Yes. First we’ll be passing through the PNVL facility commons, or PoNi-ville to some of us. It’s a small suburb that was built mainly to support the employees of the facility. It’s closer than the city and more convenient when having to commute,” Tiffany explained.

“It’s also a safe distance from the facility should there be any accidents. There are many people’s families living there, along with a school, some shops, and small businesses. It grew up just like most towns do around a military base,” Sean added.

“PoNi-ville?” Twilight asked incredulously. “That’s just like the name of the town that I live in.”

“More parallels it seems. I guess we shouldn’t let ourselves be too surprised as we do our research,” Tiffany said with a smile.

Twilight nodded and looked out the window again. She could see in the distance the edges of what appeared to be the sprawl of a large city. Her eyes squinted as she tried to get a better look at what appeared to be a very impressive sight.