//------------------------------// // Chapter 32: The Ark of Knowledge - The Final Message // Story: Through the Looking Glass // by Electuroo //------------------------------// Through the Looking Glass Chapter 32: Ark of Knowledge – The Final Message Dust Airbase on Earth, since General Ricks returned to the UN at New York he managed to get everything he needed to help break the seals on the Ark of Knowledge that they had gotten from the temple of the Black Phoenix, Daring Do walking along the runway watch a few jets take off into the sky. She opened her wings and laughed a little seeing how humans do their flying, noisy, polluting and hot metal birds in her view but still she was impressed with the way humans lived. Daring Do walked up to the what now called Central Labs for magical research in Dust Airbase with two men in army outfits wearing MP wristbands saluted. “Boys now… how many times have this pony ask you two to not do that?” she tap her hat up looking both with her ruby purple eyes. Both men put their arms down “Sorry Ma’am force of habit with a superior” “I’m not part of the brits or the US, I might be the pegasi with the charms, adventure and skill for dodging the most insane traps a temple can throw, at the end I am no army pony” Daring Do walks up to the door and they opened it letting her in. “Thank you boys” “Your welcome ma’am.” He was about to salute but kept his arm down this time. “See that wasn’t so hard.” Daring Do disappears into the building leaving the other guard laughing a little. “Shut it…” He muttered Daring walking through came to the cross way of the corridor turning to her right then to her left, she walked on forwards making sure not to walk into anyone else that was busy. The sound of her hooves on the hard surface was easily noticeable but every human had gotten use to it and carried on working, some calling out to Daring Do saying their mornings or hello to her. Maxine standing in the centre of the lab looking at the Orb before her as the computers still hard at work trying to break the locks in place on it, the sound of hooves made her turn a little “Morning Daring Do…” she yawned a little. “Another all-nighter for the egghead I see” Daring Do chuckled a little seeing the sleepiness in Maxine’s eyes She yawned again “Yes sadly… I been trying to figure out why it so hard to access this bloody thing! I need a cup of tea… not this coffee crap that the Americans have” Daring Do lifts her hat off. “You mean this? PG Tips from Britain?” Maxine saw the box of pyramid teabags “Oh you’re a life saver!” she took the box instantly and hugged Daring Do “Not sure how you pulled it off but I am happy with this” she walks off to make herself a cupper. One of the scientist standing with his glasses taken off turn to Daring Do “Let me guess a signed autograph to the leading production manager in the factory back in the UK?” “Pretty much, it has those high points being well known” she said jumping up on her hind hooves resting her fronts on the railing looking at the screens. “So Mr. Egghead any luck?” He sighed “Please stop calling me that, the name is Stevenson not Egghead… you make me sound like being smart is a crime” Daring Do laughing a little. “Alright Stevenson I won’t promise” Stevenson tap a few keys. “We solved more or less over 50% of the code but we believe that the other parts are in the Pony World.” Stevenson explained. “So we running through every known episode of My Little Ponies to get any clues from that” Daring Do had seen all of them as well and started to laugh. “That one with the multiple Pinkie Pies was a real killer for sure, it my fav of them all” Stevenson shuddered a little. “One bad enough but seeing that gave me nightmares… I fun was hunting me down in my dreams from that” Daring Do thought of something. “What if we contact Twilight Sparkle? Didn’t Ricks say that she got that ex-human phone at her home still?” Stevenson blinked. “Oh you got to be kidding me… we been at the second part for over a week and you…” He slap his head a little. “Ok come with me Daring Do we got a phone call to make” Maxine came back with two cups of tea to see both Stevenson and Daring Do was gone. “Now where did those two get to?” she looking around and sighs. “Well more tea for me” she grinned looking at the two cups. “After 3 months without tea this be a life saver for sure.” Taking a deep inhaul she sighs with the fresh smell of tea and drinks a little. “Much better, now to crack on with this puzzle” General Ricks Office… General Ricks stood in front of a screen talking to some of the UN officials about the artefact that they found from the temple. “We’ve sort of hit a dead end at the moment, the system seem to have forms of text we can not make out, I believe that the Ponies from the world we dubbed as Equus” The person in a black suit look through the papers. “I believe this Twilight Sparkle maybe able to help you. So we will give you all you need access to talk to her in Equestria. We need all the intel on this Black Phoenix” “Thank you” General Ricks said back. “I will report our finds as soon as we get answers, Ricks out” he ends the commutation when Daring Do enters pushing the door open with a hind legs boot. “Do you ever knock?” Daring Do smirked tapping her hat back. “Well I just did didn’t I? Ricks.” Stevenson behind her with his hand on his face shaking his head side to side. General Ricks just sat down at his desk laughing a little. “Indeed you did Daring Do.” He then put his hands on his desk with both closed together. “So what can I do for you and Dr Stevenson?” Stevenson came up to him. “We was wondering if you could get hold of Twilight Sparkle for us, we believe she may have the answers we need for the Art of Knowledge” “Didn’t take you long to give it a name Stevenson.” Ricks said then turn to Daring Do “I already have talked with the UN and they gave me the go ahead to call Twilight” Daring turn to Stevenson with a smirk. “You own me twenty bucks” Stevenson sighs and pull out a 20 dollar note and she takes it with her hoof and puts it under her hat. “Now the other thing is that you Daring Do will have to sit out of sight and keep quiet till I say so, since you may know how she may react” “You mean me being a book character in Equestria and she may going to twenty questions topic on how I can be real? Right Ricks?” she crossed over both of her front and back right leg over her left ones leaning against the wall “I’ll just chill here” Ricks rubbed his bold head a little. “Thank you…” he turns to the screen and type in the phone number. “Hope she does still have the kids mobile phone” “Cellar” “No Mobile and shut it Doc.” Ricks turn to Stevenson. “Is it a size of the cell?” “No sir but…” “Then it not cellar, you talk into it when mobile so mobile phone is the correct term. End of story” General Ricks turn back to the screen seeing if the call connects and it does appearing on the screen was Twilight Sparkle whom was holding the phone up with her levitation magic. “Hello Twilight, it been a while since we last spoke” She smiled “It sure has been, how are you?” Ricks sighs a little. “Better for the most part.” He stated. “We recently met with ponies from your world that live on an island in fact, it called New Isle Island” Twilight gasped. “What really!? That is amazing! I never thought ponies went to Earth much less stay there” Twilight was excited now “haha now you’ve got her going Ricks, nicely done” Daring Do laughing a little and Ricks turning to her “Miss Do please…” Then he turn to the screen. “As I was saying, yes really and they was the ponies that join the humans in leaving Isle Kingdom. The twin royals Prince Bounce Bolt and Princess Rainbow Bolt. Both Alicorns that serve as leading bodies of the island and protectors, they cast a magical barrier that sealed them off from the outside world but due to the rift exploding the way it did the island became visible and relations between the UN and New Isle Island been good and peaceful so far.” Ricks explained to Twilight. “But that not why I called you.” Twilight was writing down everything she heard finding this information to be very important. “Why did you then?” “It about this.” He turn to a screen touching a button on his control pad it displayed a livestream of the orb that have. “This is been dubbed the Ark of Knowledge by our team leaders. This came from a temple which was called the Temple of the Black Phoenix on a uncharted island that is now destroyed.” Twilight saw the orb and scanning her eyes on it was amazed again. “That not possible, that orb has characters on it that only I and the Princesses of Equestria can understand… Celestia taught me that in pony. How can that Ark of Knowledge have that? Where did it come from?” Ricks sighed “We believe it from the last two worlds that the Black Phoenix was in before our worlds.” “What do you mean before?” “Twilight please… we need to be focused at the moment, this is locked up pretty good and tight and your knowledge of these characters, can you crack the code?” Ricks shows the code in more detail showing the highlighted areas that wasn’t figured out. Twilight looking at the characters. “Wow this is a tough one, it will take me a little time to work this out but I believe I can get it done in no time flat.” Twilight then frown a little. “Is that a pony I see just off the screen? It can just see the hooves. Is that one of the New Isle Island Ponies?” Ricks faceplant himself and turn to her. “Might as well step into view… or we won’t hear the end of this” Daring Do stepped into view and took her hat off bowing a little. “Hello I’m Daring Do” “Wh-wha-what!?” Twilight gasped in shock seeing Daring Do right before her own eyes. “Bu-but you’re a fictional!” Stevenson slap his head. “Here you go…” he hands over another note to Daring Do. “How much more money am I going to lose… Daring Do laughing a little “Who know Stevenson” Twilight was trying to get her head around it still. “This is not possible…” Daring Do sighs. “It is and I am…” She clears her throat, “I have a good sense of direction and can navigate almost in any weather hence the cutie mark. And yep I do have a love for ruins visited all the ruins in the jungle at New Isle Island a dozen or so times each. I basically live on the outskirts of New Atlantis City next to the jungle with the best view of the city.” Daring Do continued to talk. “And I never knew about these books until I met Ricks and the other humans, Maxine and Jackson” Twilight thinking about it turning her eyes away then back. “Let me get this straight, your about 19 to about 21 years old?” Daring Do moving her head a little then nods. “You was born on New Isle Island which make you a Earth Pegasus Pony?” “Yep born on this very world which the humans live in, if it wasn’t for Ricks crazy rift machine we would have been still stuck behind that barrier around our island and never got to see this amazing world. It a heck lot bigger than I thought it would be.” Daring Do walking up to the desk and leaning against it. “So… do you have twenty questions?” “What?” Twilight looked a little lost. “Maybe but I just can’t get my head around all this, you not only look exactly alike to the book but you really look a lot like my friend Rainbow Dash if you change the greyscale rainbow colour to rainbow and your fur to cyan than you would be identical to Rainbow Dash save for the cutie mark” Daring Do sighs “Stevenson here your cash back” she gives it to him. “What with the paper being given around?” Twilight looking a little lost again. “Oh we had a bet that you would talk about my alike appearance to Rainbow Dash and he won the bet.” Daring Do chuckled a little. “In a strange way you remind me of a good friend of mine that always got her head in books from the look of all those books of yours.” Twilight looked behind her and blushed a little. “Dusklight Twinkle, she has a cutie mark of a large star with a closed book with a reddish brown coat and horn with a sharp orange slash red mane and tail” Twilight was amazed again. “How many close friends do you have?” “Hmm… I have Breezy whom had so many pet birds you wouldn’t know what to do with them, the other I just said… that about it. Us girls tend to not hang out much but we still good friends and meet once week at the Café during dinner to talk about our week.” Daring Do telling Twilight about her friends a little then smirked. “You already solved that code haven’t you?” Twilight came with a smile of her own. “Yeah your right, while we been talking I been working it out and figured it” she shows the paper to them through the screen. Ricks inputs it into the system. “Maxine report?” “Sir it activating” Maxine saw it open up and a huge burst of energy all the screens started to show data. “Holy molly… we got data… no more than that, we got history, stories and so much more but this you should see…” They turn to the screen to see the list appears. “What is this?” Ricks asked Daring Do face lose it colour when reading the names. “It the list of all those that died when Black Phoenix hit it prim…” Twilight was feeling rather sick now with tears welling up. “Oh…” Stevenson staring at the names one caught his eyes and push on the keyboard at the desk to show a cyan pony with rainbow mane and tail this looked like a stallion. “Speedy Rainbow age 19… weather stallion… Residences… Ponyville, last survivor” he spoke out than saw a message comes up. “Hi I am Speedy Rainbow if your reading this it means that the last defence from the black flames of the Black phoenix has destroyed all our last hopes at Canterlot the last stand capital… I usually not one for leaving such boring stuff like this, but sometimes a change in paste is what happens when you lose everything you ever knew... well be 20% cooler and take care… Speedy over and out.” The message goes back into the name as they stared at what they saw. Stardust was behind Twilight when she saw this and spoke out making everyone and everypony turn “Twilight… I need Spike to write a letter for me in private…” “Why?” Twilight asked “I can’t say…” Stardust stared at her. “Please get Spike to meet me in the basement… and Ricks get your prototype ready” she walks off down to the basement. Twilight was rather confused “I better do so… it seems important” she turn to the screen “I hope you find what you need to defeat that phoenix… we have to focus on the evil in the mirrors…” “It fine, thank you Twilight. I am sorry for putting this onto you…” Ricks said feeling a bit sick after seeing that many names still going down. “How did she know of the prototype…” Twilight was about to ask “Sorry we can’t say” Daring Do spoke and Twilight grumbled “I wish I could but I made a promise and keeping to it.” “Ok thanks.” Twilight sighed. “I got a lot to think about now…” “As do we” Ricks replied and the call ends. Stevenson didn’t like the look he got from General Ricks. “Is it really happening?” “Yes… the time for sitting back is over…” General Ricks picked up the phone “Sir it time… Start the evacuation” BBC News… “We sorry to interrupt normal broadcast there has been urgent announcement from the Prime Minster that just been made.” The female report spoke out and then said. “All homes and businesses are to be evacuated to one of the camps that had been set up outside the fifty mile safe zone of all magical mirrors. This is not a drill…”she pause looking at the words. “Repeat this is not a drill, all homes and businesses are to be evacuated to one of the safe zone camps, we have a week to do so, any that are still within the zones maybe putting their own lives at risk.” She turn look right at the screen. “We are also evacuating the BBC News building as well, next broadcast will be at one of the areas not effected by these mirrors… Do not panic and calmly leave the zones, the danger is yet to arrive and will do so when the twenty-first mirror appears next week” The world map shows all effected areas that needed to be evacuated and those that heeding the warning given out already packing and getting ready to leave the zones for one of the safe zone camps. “There will be emergency services and army personnel will be available to assist all those that need assistance...” Ricks… He stood with Daring Do hearing the news all over the globe going crazy as people quickly leaving and making their way out of the cities. “Ricks do you think it going to help?” “I have no idea… It our only option to get people out of harms way…” Ricks said staring at all the news coverage. “Now let get the prototype finished” he held up the box looking at it. “It time to use some pony magic”