//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Friendship is Algebraic! // by Gonenowsorry //------------------------------// Chapter 1: The Exchange Loud hums and buzzing noises came from the basement of Twilight Sparkle's library. Inside the underground laboratory, Twilight was plotting points on a map of Equestria, while her loyal companion Spike recorded her notes. Inside two large steel wheels, galloping as fast as they could, were Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Between the two wheels was a cylindrical glass chamber containing Pinkie Pie, jumping up and down with excitement. “I'm going to teleport!” squeed the pink Earth Pony. “I can't believe it! Can you believe it Twilight, 'cause I can't believe it! I'm going to be like 'woosh' and then I'll be in Canterlot! And then I'll grab a doughnut from Pony Joe, because man are those things good!” “Settle down, Pinkie,” said Twilight, laughing a little bit at her friend's excitement. “I still need to send a letter to the Princess letting her know we're ready. Spike, take a letter.” “Can do, Twilight,” said the baby dragon. “Dear Princess Celestia, after months of exhaustive study, I believe I have discovered the truth behind teleportation. It is my hypothesis that unicorn magic pulls the subject into a sort of negative space while capturing the mental image of their desired destination. This dimension corresponds neither to time or space as we know it, and normal matter is completely alien to it. This causes the subject to immediately be rejected back into our reality in whichever place the subject was visualizing at the time. It is my belief that traveling through these dimensions requires an extraordinary amount of magical power, explaining why the ability has only been seen in alicorns and myself to date. However, it is my belief that if enough energy were generated and imprinted with a special signature, then Earth Ponies and Pegasi should be able to teleport as well. We will be sending our volunteer subject shortly. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” With a burst of Spike's green fire, the message was sent. “Shoot, Twilight,” said Applejack. “This sounds like the craziest thing I've ever heard. Now how is me running in this here wheel supposed to zap Pinkie Pie all the way to Canterlot?” “Simple,” explained Twilight. “The energy created by your galloping is being collected in the machine that Pinkie is in. I'm going to tag it with the spell I use to teleport, and it should be enough to pull Pinkie out of reality and then send her back to Canterlot.” “Yeah,” said Applejack, rolling her eyes. “Real simple...” “Besides,” interrupted Rainbow Dash, “Why even bother with this anyway? This is a lot running to transport one pony!” “In time we'll find more efficient solutions,” said Twilight. “Think about the implications of what this will mean if successful! Instant access to Canterlot for everypony! Not just Canterlot, anywhere in the world! No need to ever take a train again. And it won't be just for ponies. Packages, letters, anything!” “Sounds like a raw deal for the train folk,” said Applejack. “Yeah, and Derpy,” agreed Rainbow Dash. “And I send letters myself already,” chimed in Spike. “Ah,” said Twilight, annoyed. “Where's your sense of discovery? And Spike, I've got plans for studying that dragon breath of yours next week.” “Great...” brooded Spike. “Come on, come on, come on, come on, COME ON!” shouted Pinkie. “I wanna be the first Earth Pony to be sent by teleportation! And I'm hungry!” Applejack gave a concerned look towards Pinkie. “You completely sure this is safe?” “Absolutely,” said Twilight. “The only thing that could mess this up is if somepony else were attempting to do this exact same experiment at this exact moment. And I'm pretty sure there's not a mind in all of Equestria who's even considered this before.” “Canterlot!” shouted Pinkie. “DOUGHNUTS!” “Okay, I'll take that as you being ready,” said Twilight, her horn lighting up. She grabbed the throw switch with her mouth, and got ready to pull it back “WAIT A SEC!” Twilight stopped and looked at Pinkie in confusion. “Ten,nine,eight,seven,six,five,four,three,two,one,BLASTOFF!” Twilight pulled the switch. And with a blast of maroon energy, Pinkie Pie vanished without a trace... … Finn the Human and Jake the Dog were tasked with helping Princess Bubblegum test her latest experiment. This brought them to her laboratory, the same place Finn had seen two zombie apocalypses resolved. He hoped this experiment would go better. “What's up with this glass tubey thing, Peebles?” asked Finn. “That's the teleportation chamber, Finn. I'm pretty sure the science behind it is sound, but I want to check it out so I can observe the process as an outsider before trying it myself.” “Rhombus!” said Finn. “So I'm going to get into this thing and you'll zap me somewhere?” “No,” said the princess. “This chamber is where you'll end up. I want you to wear this ankle bracelet.” She handed him a pink, gem-filled bracelet. “What?” asked Finn, surprised. “This has got to be the girliest thing I've ever seen. Couldn't you have at least made it blue, boy-style?” “Come on, wear it man!” said Jake. “It's kinda awesome, actually. Like it's so obviously un-macho that it becomes super macho again. It just doesn't care, dude! I'll take it if you don't.” “No way, dude,” said Finn, attaching the bracelet. “The princess gave it to me!” “Sorry Jake,” said Princess Bubblegum. “Finn's the better subject for this, since his human DNA should be closer to my bubblegum-human hybrid DNA. Wait, is radiation harmful to human DNA?” “I dunno,” shrugged Finn. “How does this work, anyways?” “Simple” said the princess. “The inside of this chamber is filled with quantum zanoids which are entangled to a pair on your bracelet. When you hit the three red gems on the side, it'll distress the zanoids in the bracelet, and they'll jump through non-space to be reunited with the ones in the chamber, pulling you along for the ride. I thought it would be an easy way to escape from the Ice King whenever he tries to kidnap me.” “But that means, you wouldn't need me to come rescue you any more,” said Finn, trying not to show any emotion, but really flipping out on the inside. Some stupid girly macho bracelet's going to replace me? Sheesh! “That's right, Finn! Think of all the afternoons you'll have off now!” It bothered Finn how cheery she was about that. “Alright, guess I'll go into the other room and test this out...” “Good luck, bro!” said Jake as Finn left the room. Then he turned to Princess Bubblegum. “So tell me straight, this isn't going to, like, turn Finn into a fly monster or blow up the universe or anything, will it?” “No, silly!” said the princess. “Complete protonic reversal was worked out in the beta stages. Everything should go perfectly. Outside, Finn got ready to hit the buttons that would bring him back into the lab. Stupid girly bracelet. Probably going to take me to the land of unicorns and rainbows or something. But at least that would mean it's a flop, and I can keep rescuing Peebee. Well, here goes nothing. Inside the laboratory, there was an electric buzzing and a cloud of smoke filled the transportation chamber. “Here he comes now!” said the princess. “I don't know about that,” said Jake as the smoke cleared. The transportation chamber opened, and out jumped a pink pony. Princess Bubblegum and Jake were stunned. And then the pony spoke. “Oh my gosh, am I in Canterlot!?! Yippee! I'm the first Earth Pony to teleport in history! Now where's that doughnut, and what the heck are you guys!?!” “PRINCESS!” shouted Jake. “I know, I know, I know, maybe I forgot to carry the four...” … Finn felt himself drop into a glass chamber. Welp, he thought, Looks like it works. Better congratulate the princess... Then the chamber opened. Staring at him from outside were three ponies, one of which was a purple unicorn, another one was wearing a cowboy hat, and the third had wings and a rainbow colored main. “Uh...Twi?” said the cowboy pony. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH” screamed Finn. … “How do you think the girls are doing back at Twilight's?” asked Fluttershy, deeply relaxed in a soak tub at the spa. “Who cares?” said Rarity, equally relaxed. I really hope you guys like it so far! Please comment and review, it will keep me motivated to press on! Art used: http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/073/b/4/for_science_by_luna_sedata-d3bo36d.png http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/077/e/d/Science_Help_Us_by_BurnItUp.jpg http://th08.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2011/136/a/b/rarity_in_a_seaweed_wrap_by_takua770-d3gh25k.png