Monday, August 18 - 7:45 AM Canterlot time
The next morning the girls awoke to a heavenly aroma.
Twilight smiled, opening her eyes. “Mmm. It smells like your mom’s up making breakfast. We should get down there and eat it while it’s still warm.”
Sunset smiled, eyes still closed, and snuggled her friend in a hug. “Five more minutes Sparky. Still dreaming,” she mumbled.
Twilight hugged her back then pulled away. “Nope! I hear pancakes calling. No way am I missing out on your mom’s pancakes!” She flipped her sheets back and rolled out of bed. She threw on her bathrobe and headed into the bathroom to freshen up.
“Guess I’m done dreaming,” smiled Sunset with a resigned sigh. “Time to greet the day.” She pulled back her covers, raised herself into a sitting position, transferred into her chair, then rolled into the bathroom for her morning ablutions. Hair combed, teeth brushed, and ready for a lazy morning with her mom and friend, Sunset rode the lift down the stairs, rolling into the kitchen. “Breakfast smells wonderful mom! Thanks!” she said, greeting Celestia as she entered. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Everything is ready if you want to start moving things to the table. We just need to grab some plates and silverware then serve it up,” her mom answered. “And good morning to you, my dear sleepyhead. Did you girls sleep well?” She wiped her hands on her apron and gave her daughter a hug.
“Like a rock. A very happy, grateful rock,” Sunset smiled. “Thank you again for all this Mom.” Sunset squeezed her mom back. “I love you.”
“I love you too, my little sunbeam,” smiled Celestia back. Returning to her task, she transferred the last batch of pancakes to the serving platter. Sunset took the tray from her mom and rolled into the dining room, placing the platter on the table. Celestia followed with the serving platter of eggs and tofu bacon, then returned again with the syrups and spreads.
Twilight came in asking, “Anything else you need, Ms. Celestia?”
“Just the plates and silverware, sweety,” she replied. Twilight quickly pulled three plates from the cupboard along with three sets of silverware and brought them into the dining room. She set them up on the table with Celestia at the head of the table and Sunset to one side.
“So my sunshine says she slept like a rock. How about your Twilight? I figured I would hear you two laughing and talking half the night, but you were so quiet I fell asleep myself,” Celestia asked Twilight with a smile.
Sunset blushed. “Mom! Sheesh! You were spying on us? Seriously?” she groaned while hiding her face in her hands.
“Sort of? Maybe?” her mom grinned then kissed her daughter’s forehead. “Not seriously enough to go in and see why it was so quiet, so I guess not really.”
“Mom!” groaned Sunset.
Twilight blushed and laughed before shaking her head. She put her arm around Sunset and leaned towards her friend's ear in order to say in a stage whisper, “I can really see where you get it from.”
Sunset shook her head, face in her hands, while her mom laughed.
Breakfast complete and thoroughly enjoyed, Sunset and Twilight thanked Celestia then returned to Sunset’s room in order to get ready for the day.
“So, plans for this holiday? What do you want to do?” asked Sunset as she put the finishing touches on her outfit for the day. “I have the day off from work and nothing planned, so I’m yours if you want.”
Twilight turned and grinned at her friend. “I always want, Sunny! And you're always mine! My BFF!” She cleaned her glasses then put them on. “There. Ready for the day! I really hadn’t planned anything. Maybe back to my lab in the garage and work on some of my projects, or just do more research? Nothing specific really.”
Sunset smiled. “If that’s what you want to do, happy to help out. What are you working on?” she asked while brushing out her hair.
Twilight continued. “I’ve been working on a transporter lately. I realized that the same principles we use for telekinesis could be used for transporting objects from one location to another by manipulating the object's component strings across the nine cardinal dimensions. So far, I’ve gotten to the point where I can move an object from the lab to a receiver I’ve set up in the shed in the backyard, and back. All without blowing anything up!” she added. “Yeah, the first few attempts were kind of… messy. At least until I figured out the right dimensional translations to use. No more boom,” she smiled.
“Wow, Sparky. That sounds awesome!” exclaimed Sunset. “Yeah, I’d love to see that! Want to work on that today?
“Sure!” said Twilight. “We can start on the live tests. I have some plants we can start with. We can go from there.”
“Sounds like a plan, Sparky!” smiled Sunset. “Let’s do it! To Science!” she cheered.
“To Science!” repeated Twilight with a laugh as they headed down the stairs.
“Mom! I’m going over to Twilight’s to spend the day doing some mad science! I’ll see you later!” Sunset called out as she headed into the garage.
“Have a good time, girls!” her mom called out. “It was great to see you again, Twilight! Come by anytime!” she added.
“Bye, Ms. Celestia! Thanks for having me over!” Twilight called out as she waved and followed Sunset into the garage.
Sunset unplugged the Roadster and transferred into the passenger seat. “Care to take the wheel, Sparky?” She offered her friend, placing her chair into the back seat.
“Like you have to ask!” grinned Twilight as she sat in the driver's seat.
Seatbelts fastened, Twilight started up the car and keyed open the garage door. “Destination please?” asked Nicholi.
“My house. I mean, Twilight’s house!” Twilight corrected.
“Destination set, Sparkle residence. Travel time: about 5 minutes,” answered the roadster while displaying a map of the route to her house. Twilight put the car in gear and pulled out into the street, keying the garage shut behind them. Turning towards her home, she drove out of the track and merged into the traffic on the main streets. Smiling the entire time, she drove to her house and parked the car in front of her garage.
“Sorry Sunny. No charging station here,” she said as Sunset set up her chair and transferred out of the car.
“No worries Sparky. It takes more than a drive across town to put a dent in this thing's batteries,” replied Sunset as she rolled over to her friend. “So where do we start?”
“Coffee first! Caffeine powers creativity!” called out Twilight as she led the way into the house. “Then lab coats, and Science!”
“Lead on, McDuff!” laughed Sunset, following her friend in.
Warm coffee in hand and white lab coats in place, the two friends looked over Twilight’s set up in the garage.
“So this is the base station?” asked Sunset while peering into a standing booth the size of a very large refrigerator box. “Wow Sparky, I could easily fit myself and my chair in there no problem, with room to spare! Way to dream big!” She smiled at her friend.
“Yeah, not just yet. Don’t get any crazy ideas! But yes, that is the plan. Eventually, I want it to be able to transport not just things, but people from place to place. That, of course, includes you!” She smiled at her friend. “But first, let’s make sure it doesn’t suck the life, magic, or anything else lame out of whatever we put in it.”
“That sounds prudent,” agreed Sunset as she opened the transporter’s door and rolled partway into it.
“Sunset!” glared Twilight. “Seriously, I’m not kidding! Don’t mess around with it. If something bad happened to you I would never forgive myself.” She pulled her friend back out of the base.
“Yes, mom!” snarked Sunset. “I was only messing around.”
“Seriously though, if we get that far, I promise I will let you be the first to use it. But not until we are 100% certain nothing bizarre will happen when you go through,” promised Twilight.
“Awesome!” Sunset fist pumped. “Okay, let’s get this started!”
Twilight picked up a potted daisy. “Okay, here’s our first subject. Can you place it on the platform? Once you do we‘ll get started,” requested Twilight as she handed the plant to Sunset, then turned to power on several devices. She carefully adjusted several settings and checked her notebook repeatedly.
Sunset placed the potted flower in the center of the booth, then shut the booth’s door. “All set!” she called out. Both girls pulled their goggles down over their eyes.
Twilight called out. “Commencing test in ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six, five, four, three, two, one, ignition.” She flipped a switch. In response, a magenta flash filled the inside of the booth before fading away. “We have transmission,” she called with a triumphant smile.
“I love it when you talk Science!” snarked Sunset as she lifted her goggles and smiled at her friend.
Twilight stuck her tongue out at her friend. “Oh neener neener! You’re just as much of a nerd as I am!” Sunset laughed. “Okay, let’s go check it out!” Twilight grinned before heading out of the garage and into the backyard. Sunset followed her out to the shed.
Opening the doors to the shed, they could see an identical booth lit up in the back corner. Sunset rolled over to it and peeked inside. “Looks like the plant made it!” she called out.
Twilight came over with a scanner in hand. She took some readings of the device, but found nothing amiss so far. Next, she opened the door and scanned the plant.
“Basic phylum biology working as expected,” Twilight reported after she completed her scan. “Respiratory processes are active. Water uptake and off-gassing as expected. Cellular processes appear intact.” She adjusted a few settings and continued. “Magical readings appear unchanged. Basic life magic is detected and in expected ranges. No stray anomalous readings or energies detected.”
Twilight smiled as she stood up proudly and announced, “Okay. Subject appears to be prepared for the return trip.”
Twilight shut the door. After that, the girls quickly returned to the garage lab.
Taking their places before the base, they lowered their goggles again. Twilight called out. “Return transfer in ten seconds. Ten, nine, eight, seven, ah fudge it! Ignition!” She flipped the switch again. As before, a magenta glow filled the booth.
When the glare receded, both girls lifted the goggles and peered into the booth. The daisy was sitting in the middle of the booth, apparently none the worse for its brief journey. Twilight took out her scanner, once again checking for any stray or unexpected radiation. Finding none, she nodded to Sunset in satisfaction. She opened the door and lifted the potted flower back onto the lab counter. From there Twilight ran her remaining scans.
“Woohoo! We did it!” Twilight called out in triumph. “All the scans check out. Biological functions unchanged, magical signatures unchanged, and we didn’t kill anything!” She danced in place with a repressed squee.
Sunset grinned at her friend. “Let it out Sparky! You earned it!” Twilight shook and squeed with joy. “Besides, you are so irresistibly adorkable when you do!” snarked her friend.
“I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care! I’m so happy that you could tease me all day and I don’t care!” grinned Twilight.
“Face it Sparky! You love it when I tease you!” grinned Sunset.
Twilight punched her arm with a grin of her own. “You will never get me to admit that. Not in a thousand years! But yeah, I kind of do.”
Sunset reached over and pulled her friend into a hug. “Me too, Sparky. Me too! And well done! This is just awesome!”
Twilight beamed. “I know, right?! Let’s continue!”
“Okay, Sparky! What’s next?”
Three more plants, six grasshoppers, and a very live frog who had volunteered by hopping into Twilight’s back yard earlier, the girls were ecstatic.
“So my turn next?” asked Sunset, smiling up at her friend.
“Yup. I think we’re ready for that if you're up for it?” smiled Twilight back.
“Oh, you so know it!” grinned Sunset. “First girl to successfully travel using Sparkle-vision!”
Twilight facepalmed and laughed. “Okay. Just no. That is so dorky. Not happening. We need a better name than that. How about Transversing Shimmer-space?”
“Oh, Sweet Celestia, no!” laughed Sunset. “This is your baby! You are not putting my name in there! All you, girl!”
“Ugh. Okay, how about Time and Relative Dimensions In Space?” asked Twilight.
“Uh, no. You know that one is kind of taken,” smiled Sunset. “And Dr. Turner would not take too kindly to us using it. How about Time and Continuum Interdimensional Transporter - TACIT?”
“Umm…” Twilight thought for a moment. “Wow, you know what? That kind of has a nice ring to it. Yeah, I like it. Going with that!” She jotted it down into the notebook.
“So, what are the limits on this? Have you really measured if there are any informational losses depending on the relative distance between the base and the receiver?” asked Sunset.
“None detected or expected,” answered Twilight as she continued jotting down notes. “Because of the nature of the quantum entanglement between the base and the receiver, it shouldn’t matter where in the universe the receiver is located. It should still work without any issues.”
“Really?! Hmm... “ smiled Sunset. “Okay, I am going to move the receiver then before I try it. Might as well test that out too.” She ponied up. A glowing magical horn and angelic wings spread out from her back.
Twilight gawked. “That really is going to take getting used to. I always thought we would only ever be able to pony up with our music.” She stared at her friend incredulously.
“It kind of helps to have princess-level magic…” She smiled at her friend. “Anyways, I just need to pony up so I can use my magic to move the receiver somewhere else for a bit. One second.”
Sunset rolled out to the shed, entered it, and rolled up to the base. After closing her eyes and concentrating a bit, the base disappeared within a teal flash. She grinned then returned to Twilight.
“Okay. I’ve relocated the receiver. Ready for the next phase of the test!” She opened the base door and rolled back onto the platform. “Ready when you are Sparky!” She pulled the goggles down over her eyes.
Rolling her eyes, Twilight did the same. Goggles in place, she turned to her friend. “So where did you move the receiver to? Your garage? Your bedroom?” she asked as she set up, preparing to start the transmission.
“It’ll be a surprise! You’ll love it, I’m sure!” grinned Sunset as she shut the base door.
Twilight smiled. “Okay, fine! Be that way. Commencing transfer in ten seconds, then I’ll wait two minutes, and initiate the return. Ready?”
“Ready!” called out Sunset with a thumbs up.
“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, ignition!” called out Twilight as she flipped the switch.
Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Sunset disappeared in a flash of magenta light. Twilight watched the countdown timer. When the two minutes were up, she flipped the return switch. Upon doing so, a magenta light filled the booth again. When the glare receded, Sunset was seated in her chair. She was still ponied up and with a large rock bathed in a teal glow gathered up on her lap.
“Welcome back, traveler!” greeted Twilight as she opened the door. “And you brought me a rock. How nice!” she snarked as she stood aside while Sunset rolled out of the booth.
“Not just any rock! This one is special!” Sunset grinned as she placed the rock on the bench.
“So where did you go!?” asked Twilight, examining the rock.
“Check it out! I took a selfie while I was there!” laughed Sunset as she pulled out her phone.
Flashing a V for victory, grinning like a loon, Sunset sat holding a large magically glowing rock. Behind her, the sky was pitch black with bright shining stars everywhere. Surrounding her was a white desolate crater, and in the distance, Twilight could see what looked like the base of a lander. Realizing what she was looking at, Twilight fainted.
“Whoa! Careful Sparky!” said Sunset, catching her friend as she fell. “Not the reaction I expected. So I take it you’re thrilled with your new moon rock?”
You can only go places you’ve never been by doing things you’ve never done - The Celestial Teachings
Misaka Mikoto awoke with a start, sitting up quickly. “Crap! I wasn’t supposed to fall asleep! What time is it?” She looked over at the clock by the bedside. “Oh thank heaven! I only fell asleep for a few hours. Okay, I should head back to the dorm, check in with Kuroko, then get ready for the next batch.”
She pulled back the drapes, noticing it was daylight outside. “What?” she wondered. She looked back at the clock by the bedside, then pulled out her phone, checking the date.
“Oh crap! I slept for sixteen hours! No no no no!” she panicked. Racing over to the desk, she pulled out her pocket terminal and jacked it into the data port, scanning her feeds. No alerts or alarms listed the sites she had disabled yesterday, and a quick scan of the Academy databases indicated that the institutes she had attacked had gone bankrupt. “Whew!” Mikoto breathed in relief.
“Okay, change of plans, not going back to the dorm. Straight on to the next set!” she promised.
Pulling the map out of her backpack, she crossed off the targets she eliminated yesterday with red Xs, and looked over the remaining targets. “Four left. Time to end this. This one is closest, so they’re next.”
She jacked her terminal into the data port again, hacking into their security systems and monitoring the video feeds. Staff was present in both the data center and the laboratories. “Guess I’ll need to give them a reason to leave. Timing is going to be everything here. A bomb scare then, but that means I’ll have to work quickly, especially given how fast they responded last time. Can’t get caught now, not done yet.”
She hacked into an emergency exchange, leaving a highly distorted recoded message with a bomb threat to the labs on the floor below where she would be working, keying it for delivery to the emergency dispatch in 20 minutes. Taking one last look through the video surveillance feeds, she unjacked her terminal, slipped it into her fanny pack, then left the room, closing the door behind her.
Mikoto ran from roof to roof, using her magnetism to sail between the buildings in a blur of movement. Her goal was to avoid the automated facial recognition tracking tied into the street surveillance systems, and to move enough like an air vehicle between the buildings that she didn’t trigger any automated alerts or warnings. So far it had paid off, but she kept alert, just in case that was no longer the case.
Arriving at her destination, she hung in her spider-man pose just under the lip of the neighboring building. She checked her watch, noting that the call should have been placed a minute ago. As expected, alert vehicles pulled up and surround the building as people came pouring out of the exits, evacuated as per protocol for bomb threats.
“The dogs have shown, time for the ponies,” breathed Mikoto, watching the officers leading people away from the building. Focusing, she aimed an EMP pulse at the transformer on the floor below the labs, causing it to overload and explode spectacularly. The windows on that floor on that side of the building blew out with an explosive bang, showering shrapnel and broken glass on the street below and sending the people on the street into panicked screaming and running. She followed her first shot with a second wider EMP pulse that shut down all electronic circuits on it and the floor above, immediately followed by a hypersonic token from her railgun through the window on the opposite side, shattering it completely. With everyone looking at the mayhem from the damaged transformer, she launched herself quickly through the air, sailing through the shattered window and into the abandoned office without being noticed.
Rolling to a stop, she stood and ran through the office doors and down the halls to the data center. “Seconds count, seconds count!” she called out to herself, pulling her mask on as she ran then unscrambling the security lock on the data centar vault door as she reached the door. The vault door popped open and she ran through the datacenter, lightning flaring from her outstretched arms, destroying everything in the racks as she passed.
As before, the fire suppression systems kicked in, flooding the data center with halon gas, which being fully masked she completely ignored. A final bend and electrified sprint and she had fried all the servers, leaping out of the doorway and sprinting down the hall towards the laboratories.
Arriving, she ripped the metallic door aside, racing down the aisles, outstretched arms again overcharging each lab pod and piece of equipment, fires and molten wiring left in her wake. Finished, she raced back to the shattered window, mask still in place, then shot up the side of the building to the roof. There she sprinted across the roof and off the other side, magnetically gliding through the air like a missile to a building a half mile away.
All around the building, the wind turbines were spinning in the wrong direction. As she faded into the distance, they slowly came to a stop, then resumed their normal rotations.