9: Findings
The science building was not quite like the other facilities on campus. Outfitted with glass exterior walls and a multitude of antennae and other such equipment above, the science building looked highly modern and almost out of place compared to the more modest brick and mortar structures. The building itself was a multi-story crescent shape with a circular extension rising several more floors above the rest of the facility.
Inside the lobby housed many screens displaying various slideshows depicting anything from biology to meteorology to technology and then some alongside sculptures and displays of various native flora and fauna. To Zen the lobby felt more like a museum than the entry to what amounted to a laboratory.
A quick visit with the secretary was all that the trio needed to find out where Dr. Nyl’s office was located, and not long after that they found themselves in front of said office. The door lacked much distinction other than a brass nameplate that simply read “Nyl”.
Twilight took a breath and knocked on the door with her hoof. Silence followed at first but then a distinctly female voice from within called out and bade them to enter, so they did.
The office was sparsely decorated, with only a few scientific posters and a large map of Haven on one of the walls and a bookcase in a corner. Directly in front of them was a large wooden desk, adorned with pens, papers, and other miscellaneous items, and behind it a young woman working furiously on a laptop.
“Dr. Nyl!” Twilight smiled and stepped forward.
The woman glanced up from her work and smiled. “Twilight Sparkle, punctual as ever. I assume this young man here is the reason we have arranged this meeting?” She gestured at Zen.
Twilight nodded. “That’s correct. We were hoping that you would be able to give us some answers.”
Nyl stood up from her desk and walked around to greet us. Nyl was of fairly average height and build, with mid-length brown hair and small reading glasses framed her face. What struck Zen as curious, however, was her casual attire. He had expected at least business casual for a professor of a university. “I’m Dr. Sandy Nyl. You are Zen?” She held her hand out.
Zen nodded and shook her hand. “That’s my name. It’s good to be here.”
“The pleasure is mine.” Nyl replied. “And you are Rainbow Dash?”
“That’s me!” The pegasus replied.
“Good. Now let’s get down to business…”
Nyl walked over towards her desk and pulled out some papers from a drawer. “As you both know, Haven is still very largely unexplored. What we’ve colonized here is but a very small minority of this planet, therefore there’s still plenty about this place that we have yet to discover, meaning the answers we seek may not be within known boundaries. Also we have been aware that something here has caused a number of issues with both humans and Equestrians for some time, and the answers you are looking for tie into much of our research here. Understanding this, we’ve done what we can to try and ascertain the origin of this particular mystery and give you as much information as we can offer.”
“Wait a minute, what issues?” Zen asked, suddenly very concerned.
Nyl laid out the papers on the desk for Twilight and Zen to see. “Sudden mood changes, mild loss of eyesight or hearing, rashes, things that we suspect are side-effects of suddenly being placed in a totally alien world with similar but still different environments. They haven’t been affecting everyone, or everypony, but the symptoms were still widespread enough for us to consider researching them.”
Nyl gestured towards the papers. “In short, these reports are our most recent findings pertaining to the memory problem. Originally we had thought that, in addition to the original fiasco that caused us all to be here on Haven instead of Equestria to begin with, perhaps an error in the original device was causing selective memory loss upon the transferring of one’s body to this location. Testing this proved more difficult than anticipated, and our findings were inconclusive. What we did discover, however, was that Equestrians brought here were totally unaffected by any sort of memory loss.”
“Interesting.” Twilight commented. “Perhaps something back in Equestria protected us.”
“We believe that there is some kind of inherent magic in Equestria that prevented any memory loss.” Nyl explained. “Unlike Earth, however, where magic does not exist.”
“Hard to believe there’s an entire world without magic.” Twilight said.
“Hard to believe there’s an entire world where magic is the norm.” Zen quipped.
“Right…” Nyl said. “Well from there we guessed that something about the transportation process itself had caused this, but once again our findings were inconclusive. Other than some mild disorientation we were unable to link any symptom directly to the actual process of being placed here. That lead us to what seemed like the most likely hypothesis yet.”
“And what was that?” Zen asked.
“That there was something inherent about Haven itself that was causing this.” Nyl replied. “That led to several discoveries that changed our entire perception of Haven. However, we have not yet released our findings on the off-chance that we might cause mass panic across Haven.”
Zen and Twilight shared a quick look, while Rainbow was still busy reading the reports. “Were your findings that significant?” Zen asked.
“They certainly weren’t what we were expecting.” Nyl replied. “Tell me Zen, have you noticed anything odd about this place compared to Earth?”
Zen thought for a few moments. “Well I’ve noticed that the days are a bit longer here than compared to back home. There are also no seasons…just a perpetual summer-like state.”
“Correct.” Nyl said. “Now Twilight, Rainbow, how about you two?”
“Well the weather here can’t be controlled by pegasi.” Rainbow said.
Twilight thought for a moment. “Most things happen naturally here, but Equestria must be an exception to that rule. So many things are different here compared to Equestria, it’s hard to say. Though I have noticed that gravity is stronger here.”
“Understandable.” Nyl conceded. “As I said before, there’s much about Haven that we do not know, and this fact is strongly reinforced by some of these discoveries. First I must point out that the inherent magic of Equestria still lingers on in the ponies here. Whether or not it will eventually wear off and dissipate is still unclear.
“Now Zen, you mentioned that days are longer here, and Twilight, you mentioned that gravity feels stronger here. This is an accurate observation, and we believe we know why. This planet rotates at about the same rate as Earth, but is slightly larger. We haven’t quite determined how big the world Equestria resides is, but we guess it to be smaller than Haven. This allows for the longer days and for the difference in gravity.
“As for the weather, while running tests on the residual magic from Equestria, we discovered that Haven appears to have its own ‘magic’ that interferes with certain innate abilities. Unicorns are almost completely immune to this because their magic is of a different kind, but pegasi are unable to manipulate weather here, and whatever benefits earth ponies get are surely negated as well. This discovery led us to run some tests to find out how humans are affected.”
“I’m going to wager a guess that it’s this discovery that best supports an explanation to this.” Zen commented.
“Precisely.” Nyl replied. “This magic permeates this world, but in a subtle way. We suspect this magic is responsible for the lack of any noticeable seasons. While we are still unsure of what the long term affects will be for us, we believe that more immediate symptoms of this exposure include memory loss. What we cannot figure out is why this memory loss is so specific. We spent days trying to figure this out, and then we found something…interesting.”
“What was it?” Rainbow asked.
“We found an unusual concentration of this innate Haven magic radiating from somewhere within the city of Lethean.” Nyl said. “We cannot determine just what it means, or even where exactly it’s coming from, but we dispatched two field researchers to Lethean yesterday to find out what they can. Memory loss as a result of some innate property of this world carries some disturbing implications.”
Twilight nodded. “Right. If living here is putting us all in danger, we need to find out a way to get us all back to where we belong.”
“Exactly.” Nyl said. “Until we determine the source and the effects of this local magic, utmost caution must be taken at all times. Now if you three wouldn’t mind going on a little errand for me…”
“What is it?” Rainbow asked.
“I want you three to go to Lethean and contact our researchers.” Nyl replied, pulling out a separate folder from her desk and offering it to Twilight. “Lethean is a big place, and they’re going to need all the assistance they can get.”
Twilight took the folder using telekinesis and stuffed it away in her saddle bag. “You can count on us.”
“Good.” Nyl replied. “Everything you’ll need to know is in that folder. Contact me as soon as you get there.”
“Will do.” Zen said and the trio left the building.
“Lethean, huh?” Rainbow stated. “How far of a trip is that from here?”
“A few hours.” Zen replied.
“Nice place too.” A voice said.
“Hey Vinyl.” Rainbow said. “What’s up?”
Vinyl shrugged. “Eh. Buddies cancelled on me so I don’t have much else to do. Why’re you talking about Lethean? Headed that way for some reason?”
“Actually yes.” Twilight responded. “We’re headed that way to do some research.”
“Sounds…fun.” Vinyl said, and then tapped a hoof on her chin for a second. “Can I come with?”
Zen, Twilight, and Rainbow else exchanged a look. “Might I ask why?” Zen asked.
“I actually have to go talk with my buddies back at my recording studio about a new project I wanna start.” Vinyl said. “But unfortunately I have no ride.”
“No other means to contact them?” Twilight asked.
Vinyl shook her head. “Nope. Only way I can talk with them is in person. Besides, I know Lethean, so I can help you guys find what you’re looking for.”
Zen passed another glance at Twilight and Rainbow before turning back to Vinyl. “Sure, you can come with us.”
“Sweet!” Vinyl exclaimed. “When were you leaving?”
“As soon as possible.” Twilight said.
“Okay. How are you getting there?”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you think that was something you should have asked first?”
Zen rolled his eyes. “We’ve got a van back at the hotel we’ve been staying at.”
“Works for me.” Vinyl said, ignoring Rainbow’s remark. “Let’s go!”
Once the group had gathered their belongings and checked out of the hotel, they piled into the van and took off for Lethean. Zen followed the freeway through the eastern portion of the city, and the further they drove the city increasingly gave way to a mixture of forested areas and open fields. Neighborhoods became ranches and farms, roads became paths until they were completely clear of Harmony’s Point.
Zen had some tunes playing through the vehicle’s sound system while making note of each directional sign they passed, Twilight had taken shotgun and was studying a map of Haven, and Rainbow and Vinyl had each claimed a row of seats for themselves and were casually making conversation.
Zen glanced over at Twilight. “Looking for something?” He asked.
Twilight shook her head but didn’t take her eyes off the map. “For all the books and articles I’ve read, I haven’t really taken the time to look at a map of Haven. There’s a lot more here than I gave our joined society credit for.”
“Yeah…and there’s still an entire planet out there for us to explore.” Zen replied. “In any case, there aren’t any established towns between the turnoff and Lethean, so as long as we don’t run into any issues along the way we shouldn’t have to stop.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow at Zen. “Why would we?”
“That particular freeway runs through a swampy area before following a river through a canyon. It’s known for having somewhat hazardous road conditions as a result, either from fallen rock and other debris on the road or from swamp overgrowth mucking up the highway.”
“Can’t somepony maintain it better?” Twilight asked, returning her attention to the map.
“Despite being the only real road between Lethean and Harmony’s Point, people tend to use the coastal highways into Lethean more often than not. As such this highway has become not much more than a commercial delivery route. That being said, the highway is still maintained to a degree, though it certainly could be better.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle though.” Rainbow chimed in.
“The most common issues are things like flat tires and other minor annoyances, so it’s nothing that I’m particularly worried about.” Zen replied. “It’s just annoying that should something go wrong there’s nowhere to go.”
“There aren’t even any fueling stations?” Twilight asked, skeptical.
“Well there is one large fuel and rest stop between the swamp and the canyon, and that’s about three-fourths of the way to Lethean.” Zen moved a lane over to give a stopped vehicle on the shoulder some extra room.
“I see.” Twilight seemed thoughtful for a moment. “Well I suppose if we do run into any problems we’ll just have to deal with them as they happen.”
“Exactly.” Zen smiled and returned his focus to the road.
The scenery remained a constant wall of trees on either side of the highway with only the occasional river, pond, or open field to add variety. Before long they passed a sign that indicated that their turnoff was approaching.
“We’re making good time.” Vinyl remarked. “If we keep this up we should be there before the afternoon is over.”
“Good to hear.” Zen said and, after making an inquiry about needing to take a pit stop and finding that it was not necessary, prepared to merge onto the upcoming highway.
The junction for the two highways wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, and after turning off the previous highway and onto the off ramp, the group was now headed in a northeastward direction along the new highway. A few miles later they passed a small community known as Fieldville, and in the blink of an eye they had left it behind.
The thick, full trees they had been passing since leaving Harmony’s Point slowly gave way to empty, moss-laden, gnarly-shaped trees, and the grass and shrubbery gave way to mud and murky pools. Whereas before the foliage had been maintained at a certain distance from the road, now nature encroached closer to the pavement, and at some points it was mere inches away. The shoulders of the highway were often caked in dry dirt and vegetation.
“Yuk.” Twilight remarked, looking down at the edges of the highway. “You weren’t kidding when you said that this road was hardly maintained.”
“This is about what we’re going to see for the next hour or so.” Vinyl said.
Rainbow laughed. “Rarity would be having a fit if she saw any of this.” Her laughter subsided quickly as she and Twilight were both reminded of how neither had seen their friends since arriving on Haven.
Zen noticed how quickly the general mood had completely turned around and made an attempt to lighten things some. “Yes, well I dunno about you two but I’m excited to be seeing some fresh scenery. Thick forests are fun for only so long.”
“I suppose.” Twilight said, and all Zen was able to get out of Rainbow was a dismissive grunt.
They continued onwards without much conversation. At one point they passed a grassy field and a road that
connected with the highway, but the sign that went with it was hardly legible due to rust and dirt. Something that Zen noticed was the distinct lack of traffic of any kind along the highway for both directions. He pondered whether or not this was normal, as he hadn’t personally been along this highway before and had been relying on what he had gleaned from other accounts, but wasn’t given much time to think about it as his thoughts were rudely interrupted by a sudden shudder and a loud bang.
A chorus of exclamations erupted from the three equines. Zen cursed and, activating his hazard lights, pulled the van off the highway and onto a relatively clear patch of dirt.
“What the hay was that?” Rainbow asked, peering out the rear windows.
Zen mumbled something as he unbuckled himself and exited the vehicle. He glanced along the left side of the vehicle as he walked around it and cursed again as he saw the cause of the trouble: an exploded rear tire on the right side. Zen unlocked the rear doors and started digging for tools.
“So, what happened?” Vinyl asked.
“Blown tire.” Zen stated rather shortly as he pulled a jack and a wrench from a compartment.
“How long will it take to fix?” Twilight inquired.
“Hopefully not too long.” Zen replied, placing the tools on the highway shoulder and opening a floor panel to get to the spare tire.
“Do you need any help?” Twilight asked, putting away the map.
“Nah. I’ve got this.” Zen grunted as he yanked the spare tire from its place. “Just sit tight and we’ll be back on our way in no time.”
The midday heat and high humidity conspired to make Zen drenched in sweat before long, but he didn’t complain. Carefully placing the jack between hard ground and a solid part, he lifted the van high enough to get the tire several inches off the ground. Playing it safe he also added a secondary support jack just in case the first one failed. Zen took his time to assess the damage to the tire and the surrounding area and was pleased to see that only the tire had been affected. Within a few moments he had removed the lug nuts and then the damaged tire, and then replaced it with the spare.
As he was putting the lug nuts back on the fresh tire, Zen noticed a pair of shadows approaching him. He looked up from his work and saw two somewhat bulky men standing in front of an SUV. Somehow he hadn’t noticed them drive up behind him.
“We noticed you had broken down, and offer our assistance.” The first one stated without giving Zen a chance to speak. Something about this man’s tone of voice didn’t sit well with Zen, and he immediately went on the defensive, though he tried not to show it.
“Oh no, I think I’ve about got things squared away here.” Zen put on a smile and wiped the sweat from his brow. “Thanks anyways.”
“But we insist.” The second man said. “Certainly there must be something you still need help with.” He began to walk towards the van.
Zen worked fast to tighten the remaining lug nuts and then dropped the van back to the ground. “But I insist, I’ve completed with my repairs and will be on my way.”
“But clearly it’s unsafe to travel through here.” The first man said, also now walking towards the van. “Our vehicle can withstand the conditions of this road, and if I’m not mistaken you have other passengers in your van. We’d be…delighted to offer them a ride.”
Any doubts about the intentions of these two men were vanquished with that pause. Zen slowly reached for his wrench. “I think I can handle things from here on out.” He said, letting his tone drop to a more serious one.
“Well that’s too bad, because we say that you can’t.” The second man said, now peering inside the van from behind Zen.
Without warning, Zen lifted the wrench and swung around, catching the second man square in the gut with the end of the wrench. The second man fell to his knees, winded. The first man rushed Zen, who backpedaled a few steps before lunging with the wrench. His attempt was blocked, but his assailant had miss-stepped and tumbled forward, off-balance. Zen took the opportunity to push the man off his feet and into the muck. By now the second man had recovered, and just as Zen readied himself a purple blast hit the man square in the chest and he collapsed.
Confused, Zen turned around and saw Twilight leaning out of the passenger side window. “We have to get out of here!” She exclaimed, levitating the various tools and the blown tire into the back of the van.
Zen nodded, rushing around to the driver’s seat and, buckling himself in, gunned it back onto the highway and sped away from the two assailants. As he had rushed around the side of the van, Zen had taken a good glance at the SUV behind them. The vehicle itself was black, windows were all blacked out and the front end lacked any sort of identification or tags.
“What was THAT all about?” Twilight half asked and half exclaimed once the men and their vehicle had vanished from sight.
“I haven’t got a clue.” Zen replied, attempting to calm his still racing heart. “Whoever they were they didn’t seem to be acting on their own…”
“Implying that they are part of some kind of crime syndicate?” Twilight replied.
“Exactly.” Zen said. “Though organized crime in Haven has been mostly nonexistent.”
“What do you think they were after?” Rainbow asked.
“Well they seemed mostly interested in getting you three into their car.” Zen replied. “I don’t know if they were after any of you specifically but they were sure insistent in getting their hands on you for some reason.”
“We should report this right away.” Twilight stated.
“There’s usually a patrolman stationed at the fuel depot up ahead.” Vinyl said. “That’s about the only chance you’ll get to talk to anypony about it until Lethean.”
“Right.” Zen said. “Then we’ll stop there and talk to the patrolman.”
They continued onwards in relative silence. Only the road noise and stereo could be heard. This lasted the remaining distance until they broke free from the swampy lands and entered a vast open field. In the distance one could spot some tall hills that filled the horizon.
The freeway parted ways for the fuel station, and Zen pulled off the highway and parked the van at one of the fuel pumps. “Might as well fuel up while we’re here.” He commented.
He left Rainbow to get the van fueled up as he and Twilight began to search for the patrolman. Vinyl headed inside the station, which was home to both a convenience store and a restaurant.
“Over there.” Twilight pointed to a black-maned grey pegasus sporting a navy blue outfit and a bright gold badge over one shoulder. Zen and Twilight approached the pegasus, and were greeted by the officer.
“Hello, do you need assistance?” The pegasus asked.
“We ran into some trouble not too far back into the swamps.” Zen replied.
He was cut off by a raised hoof from the officer. “Lemme guess, two burly human males driving a black SUV.” The officer stated.
Zen and Twilight stared at the officer for a moment before nodding, and the officer sighed. “I’m going to assume that we aren’t the first?” Zen ventured.
“Hardly.” The officer replied with a frown. “For the past few months we’ve received reports of attempted kidnappings by these two within the swamps. Sometimes they are accompanied by ponies, or only the pony associates attempt the kidnapping, but we haven’t been able to catch them or even figure out who they are or why they’re doing this. There’s also no telling whether or not they’ve actually succeeded in kidnapping somepony. The only common denominator is that they target vehicles that have broken down. I can only assume that yours did?”
“We had a blown tire.” Twilight responded.
“Not uncommon, but still unfortunate.” The officer said. “Do you folks need anything?”
“I think we have everything covered.” Zen replied.
“Good.” The officer smiled. “Now then, how did you manage to escape them?”
“I was able to fend them off with a large wrench and luck.” Zen admitted. “Twilight here used some magic to keep them off me long enough to get back into our van.”
“You’re among the fortunate then.” The officer stated. “Usually when they fail to kidnap somepony it’s because somepony else happened upon the scene and scared those thugs off.”
“I see.” Zen said.
“Yes.” The officer replied, and then reached into a pocket for a notepad. “Now if you wouldn’t mind I’d like your information for the report.”
Zen and Twilight both wrote down their information for the officer. “Well then I think we’ve finished our business here.” Zen said.
Twilight nodded. “Thank you, officer.”
The officer smiled and nodded. “I’ll make a report back to the local department. Drive safely now.”
Zen and Twilight headed back to the van. Rainbow had just finished fueling up and Vinyl was already in the back row of seats. “Did you find out what was going on?” Rainbow asked.
“Apparently what happened to us has been happening to others as well.” Twilight said.
Rainbow frowned. “But why?”
“Nobody knows.” Zen said. “Anyways, we’d best be going. We’ve wasted enough time.”
Before long the group was all back in the van and they were on the highway once more. Ahead of them were the hills that separated them from their destination, and they were going to drive right through them. A river approached them from the west and snaked its way through the prairie alongside the ride, and as the terrain turned from flat fields to rolling hills the river cut through the elevation undeterred. Zen and company watched as they cut through the hills into a canyon, flanked on one side by cliffs and on the other side by the river.
They had reached the final stretch.