//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Nine Millimeter Vorpal Sword // by totallynotabrony //------------------------------// Nancy sat slumped in Sunburst’s cluttered office, an untouched cup of coffee sitting on her side of the desk. “The possibility of there being more than one human world was always there, but I had hoped the answer was as simple as being on the other side of the portal,” Sunburst said, simultaneously sipping coffee and flipping through two books at once on his side of the desk. Nancy, too, had hoped it was that simple. She raised her head. “What do we do next?” “I’m going to be honest...I don’t know.  Without knowing how to connect to your world, or even how to find it, we have no way of knowing how long this is going to take.  Princess Twilight had set you up with the military liaison position here on the chance that something like this would happen.” “How many worlds are there?” “Uh, well...clearly at least three.” Nancy took a breath and sat up.  “Is there anything I can do to help?” “At the moment, our options are magic and more magic.  I’m open to ideas, though.” “If you’re looking for a planet, maybe I could tell you about some of the local star constellations?” “That might help.  Though I’ll warn you, based on what you told me about your planet, Earth, I don’t think it functions on the same natural laws as ours.  There’s a possibility that we won’t be able to locate it in a physical place, because it’s on a different plane of existence.” “What if we tried looking for it from Pedestria?” “It’s a possibility.  I can ask Sunset.” He gave Nancy a piece of paper and a quill.  She took a little while to get used to writing that way and used far too much ink the first time she dipped the quill in the inkwell. It would have been much easier to use - oh, wait. She pulled out her pen.  From memory, she was only able to draw Orion’s Belt, Crux, and the Dippers, and knew there was a decent chance that she hadn’t made them accurate enough to be recognizable. Sunburst looked at it, and then did a double-take.  “These constellations...those are here.” “Wait, what?” Sunburst jumped up from his desk, rummaged around the office, and came back with a chart of constellations.  “Does any of this look familiar?” Sure enough, Nancy recognized the constellations she had named, plus others like Cassiopeia and Taurus whose names she had heard before but hadn’t been able to reproduce.  “Yeah, these are at least roughly the same.” Sunburst sat back at the desk and put his hooves together.  “Okay, I’ve got a new theory.  Equestria, Pedestria, and your world are all in the same location but in different parallel universes.  We have a mirror portal to Pedestria, but are currently unaware of any connection to your world.” “Maybe I accidentally stumbled on it in the desert?” Nancy said. “Possible.  Maybe it was a localized natural phenomenon that briefly bridged the gap.  But even if this theorized bridge were a static location, and constantly open, I think it would be very difficult to locate now, yes?” He was probably right, though Nancy wanted to immediately go looking. “I think we should probably first investigate to see if this is true, and then work on building a portal or creating a spell that will send you back.”  Sunburst waved a hoof.  “Of course, this theory could be completely out the window if it turns out your planet is in a different place.” “I thought you just said the stars were the same.” “I mean, a different place in the sense that it’s far enough away that we don’t know about it, but close enough that the constellations appear similar enough.  Even a lightyear or two would fit.” Nancy wasn’t sure which possibility she personally preferred - the distance or the dimensional theory.  Neither, frankly. “I was just about to head home to Ponyville,” Sunburst said.  “We have some resources there that could help us, so you may want to come along.” Well, there was nothing keeping her in Canterlot.  Still, Nancy felt that she ought to tell someone where she was going.  She had the feeling the ponies might not react well to having her loose.  It was good manners, if nothing else. Sunburst said he would inform Princess Twilight and Nancy went back down to the barracks to tell Captain Magnus.   As before, she knocked on the doorframe and he looked up.  “Sir, the portal didn’t go to the right human world.  Now I’m on my way to Ponyville to help with additional research.” “I was going to go there myself in a few days to do a site survey prior to the princess visiting,” he said.  “If you have time, would you mind taking a look around town from a security perspective?  I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.” “No problem, sir.” Nancy headed to the front door. Sunburst wasn't there yet, so she spent a moment looking around the foyer. She was looking out a window towards an extravagant garden when she heard steps and saw Charming Cavalier approaching. “You like the garden?“ he said. “It looks nice.“ Nancy pointed out the window. “What's that statue?“ “A few years ago, three villains named Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow tried to take over Equestria.“ “And you...made a statue of them?“ “Oh no, that is them.“ “They're stone?“ Nancy looked out the window again. She couldn't identify two of the creatures, but the third appeared to be just a small pegasus. “Is that a kid?“ “I understand that filly was very conniving.“ “So you just petrified a kid and put her in the garden?“ Nancy was suddenly very glad Princess Twilight had taken her side. Sunburst appeared just then. Nancy said a quick goodbye to Cav and followed Sunburst out the door. “I met Raven on the way out,” Sunburst said.  “She told me there was a line of accounting set up for you at the Equestrian National Bank.  Why don’t we stop there on the way so you can get it sorted out?” “A bank?  How are they going to know it’s me?” Sunburst just gestured at her. Nancy rolled her eyes.  “The only alien coming to open an account, of course.” There was a carriage waiting.  If they were going to a bank, Nancy figured she should leave her weapons inside, as long as they were out of sight and the doors would lock.  She was supposed to be responsible for the two firearms that she'd checked out of the ship's armory for duty, and they'd already been separate from her too often. They rode down the mountains and out into the streets of Canterlot.  Nancy had gotten a brief look at the city before, but was now free to sightsee, aided somewhat by the context she had learned in the last few days. At the bank, there wasn’t much to do.  Everything already seemed to be in order. “Here is your balance,” said the teller, pushing a piece of paper across the counter. “How much is this?” Nancy asked, showing Sunburst. “That’s…”  he tilted his head back and forth ‘...call it a month’s pay.  Actually yeah, I think they set you up with a monthly stipend.” “How much should I take?” “Well, you’ll need money for the train ticket.  Not too much, though, bits are heavy.  Plus, there’s a branch of the bank in Ponyville.” Nancy asked the teller for one tenth of the money.  It was given to her in a canvas bag filled with what were apparently gold coins.  Surely they weren’t, though, or things would be really expensive. The two of them rode the carriage to the train station and got tickets for Ponyville.  Nancy examined the board, reading some of the other destinations.  “This sounds a lot like the United States.” “How so?” “Baltimare, Manehattan, Las Pegasus...they all sound like horse puns on cities that exist back home.” “Hmm, maybe that lends weight to the parallel universe theory.” They boarded the train and got seats.  Sunburst remarked, “I mostly research from Ponyville, where I live, but come into Canterlot once a week or so.  You can stay with my wife and me tonight.” Nancy wasn’t sure why she was surprised that he was married.  Maybe because he seemed kind of geeky, or perhaps that while she’d been talking with ponies for days she still hadn’t really internalized them as being people with a society. The train ride took a couple of hours.  Nancy still hadn’t gotten around to setting her watch, but if the sun was controlled manually she wasn’t sure if the days here were all twenty four hours.  She passed the time looking out the window.  Everything seemed so green.  Definitely better scenery than the Dragon Lands. Based on the map of Equestria at the train station, Nancy had thought the trip would be longer.  Either the map wasn’t to scale, or the Equestrian continent was smaller than she thought.  Maybe, being a sailor, her sense of distance was off. Ponyville was much different than Canterlot.  Smaller, for one thing.  The train station had just a single platform.  The tallest building in town seemed to be a sparkling, purple castle, and Sunburst led Nancy that way. “Wait, this is your house?” she said. He laughed.  “Well, it’s part public library, part museum, part research lab, and yes, part residence.“ As they approached the front door, Nancy realized the building appeared to be one solid, uninterrupted crystal.  “How did you build this?” “It was a side effect of Princess Twilight’s ascension to alicornhood a few years ago.” “So...magic?” “Yes.” Sunburst opened the door.  A female voice called out, “Honey, is that you?” There came the sound of hooves and a pink unicorn appeared, wearing tall, stripey socks made from some kind of fluffy material.  She immediately froze at the sight of Nancy, face flushing. “Uh...uh, honey, this is a guest I brought with me,” Sunburst stammered.  He, too, looked a little pink in the cheeks.   Nancy couldn’t figure out the sudden shift in attitude.  She introduced herself.  “Hi, I'm Nancy.” “Starlight Glimmer.”  The mare shifted her hooves.  “I’ll...just be back in a moment.”  She hurried away. “Let me show you to the lab,” said Sunburst, quickly gesturing for Nancy to follow him. “What was that all about?” she asked.  “Also, do they sell those socks here?”