"Twilight Sparkle and Spike, I have a special favor to ask of you," said Princess Luna. The two approached her. She bent over and whispered a few words so only they could hear. The little librarian's eyes grew big at her words, but then she nodded once.
Luna continued aloud. "Please go advise the Elements of Harmony of our plan, and brief Miss Dash of her specific role in the energy discharge. I expect your return within a quarter hour."
"Of course, your highness," said the lavender mare. Spike nodded and jumped onto her back. The pair moved out at a trot.
"I also have a favor to ask of you, Glowball," said the Princess.
"Sure, your majesty. What do want me to do?" replied the grey unicorn.
"Only the royal carriage will be big enough to carry so many ponies to within visual range of the focal point. Could you please arrange a team of the royal guard to pull the carriage, and have the Captain request the Wonderbolts to act as scouts. You must also be back within fifteen minutes."
"Yes maam, your majesty!" Glowball departed with a grin. "I'm gonna meet the Wonderbolts!" she exclaimed in wonder on the way out.
The Princess turned back towards the apparently slumbering Sunset Hoofing.
"You may cease this charade now," she said to the pony on the cushion, who cracked one eye open.
Seeing that she could no longer maintain her subterfuge, the old mare slowly rose to all fours. She froze midway, when she happened to look down. After a moment she brought one of her forelimbs up to her eyes inspecting its hoof very closely. "Am I dreaming?" She looked up at the Princess.
"No, you are not, Madame Vice-President."
The human started when Princess Luna replied to her by name. "How do you know who I am?" she asked in a commanding voice.
Luna's nostrils flared. "A Royal Princess expects and deserves a certain degree of respect and decorum when addressed by a representative of another government, don't you think?"
"Yes, of course, your majesty. Please forgive me." The words were far more placating than was the look in her face. The Alicorn smiled cooly. The being before her was without a doubt an experienced politician. This was not a being who could be trifled with.
"If I understand your government structure correctly, you and I seem to hold a similar positions in our respective hierarchies. You may call me Luna as long as we are alone together, Mrs. Walker."
"Very well, Luna. I must admit, I had not imagined the aliens described by Mary Lachance as being fantasy horses. Nor do I understand why I am here and apparently in the body of a horse as well."
The Princess waved a hoof and a full length mirror appeared before the human. She jumped back at the sudden apparition, but quickly regained her composure and began examining her alternate self.
"By the way, that is the body of our Minister of Science, Sunset Hoofing. You are currently engaged in what we call a perceptual exchange with her. This means she is at this moment walking about in your body back in your own universe." This raised a look of alarm in the visiting dignitary. "Rest assured, Minister Hoofing is exceedingly canny and will not jeopardize you or your position in Washington. In all honesty, we need your cooperation to save both our universes."
"Your Majesty, there is much that Mary Lachance did not disclose to me in her report. I do not enjoy being given only part of the truth."
"Miss Lachance did not consult me as to how she would proceed in getting your government's cooperation. She is not our agent, and is acting entirely of her own accord. Nevertheless," the Princess finally did smile, "I can only imagine how peculiar the society we have built here might seem to beings from another universe. Tell me honestly, if she had disclosed everything would it have helped or hindered her credibility?"
Walker was pensive a moment. "I see your point. Perhaps what she did was wise. However, I am not pleased at having been brought into this situation involuntarily. Why have you engaged me in this exchange?"
"It truly was an accident, but indeed a fortuitous one. The exchange only happens between highly attuned minds, and we had no idea you and the Minister were two such. Also, the link may have been forged as a result of this afternoon's near collapse. Catastrphy for both our worlds was averted only through a herculean effort by my sister Princess Celestia. For your further edification, we effect the exchange by forcibly inducing sleep in the party in our universe, by use of that large hat yonder." The Princess pointed to the sleeping cap resting on one of the cushions.
"Now time is short, and I wish to leave no doubt in your mind as to who we are and our sincerity. I will teleport us to my sister's bedside for a quick visit. While explaining the situation at hand will show you enough of our land that you will doubt neither our existence nor the facts presented to you by Miss Lachance." There was a double pop and the room was empty.
***
Mary stared as Minister Hoofing enjoyed experimenting with bipedal locomotion in the Vice-President's office.
"Minister, I don't think it's such a good idea for you to do this," said Mary appalled.
"Nonsense! Nopony can see us here and I find this form of movement quite stimulating," she smiled mischievously.
"No! I mean switching places with the vice-president," said Lachance.
"Oh. I believe that was both unintentional and entirely unforeseen. Spike must have accidentally dropped the sleeping cap on my head when he bumped into me."
The younger woman thought hard for a moment. "Okay, we need to reduce your risk of interaction until you switch back. If the Vice-President is discredited there is no way we can enact the energy discharge in time." She grabbed the minister by the arm and started to lead her out.
"We'll go back to my office and hide out there as long as possible. If anyone interrupts us along the way tell them you must speak with me urgently. And stop smiling! This isn't funny, and Mrs. Walker is a serious and scary person. So act serious and scary!"
"I can do that exceedingly well, just ask any of my staff at the Ministry," said Hoofing. She then adopted a demeanor as intimidating as any Mary had seen from the VP even at her most formidable. She led the minister back to her office without incident. The only two people they crossed paths with wisely chose to keep their distance.
***
Twilight Sparkle's apartment again bustled with traffic as the various ponies came back from their assigned tasks. Last to return were Princess Luna and the Minister of Science.
"Did you get a good rest, Minister?" asked the lavender mare.
In lieu of the old unicorn, the Princess responded. "Everypony, I have an announcement to make. I would like to present her excellency Mrs. Walker, Vice-President of the United States of America." The bustle ceased abruptly.
"As you no doubt have already guessed, she is in perceptual exchange with our Minister Hoofing. I would like to demonstrate the mechanism to her by using the sleeping cap to put both Twilight and Glowball into exchange with their human counterparts. Spike, could you start with Miss Sparkle."
The dragon fetched the hat while his guardian took her position on one of the cushions, then placed it on her head. A moment later, he removed the hat and Mary Lachance woke up. She looked at Minister Hoofing. "Mrs. Walker, I presume."
The old mare nodded. "And you are Mary, I take it."
"Yes, ma'am. By the way, I convinced Minister Hoofing to come to my office in order to stay out of contact with the White House staff. So far as I can tell I am the only one who has interacted with her since the exchange began."
"Good thinking, Mary. The Princess has brought me fully into the loop here. I believe I can get you the approval for the use of the laser defense grid."
"Good," said Luna. "I have one more person to introduce to you. Spike, could you please effect the exchange for Glowball as well."
The dragon and grey mare repeated the process at another of the cushions. When Laura woke up, the Princess introduced her to the American politician.
"It's an honor, madame Vice-President." She turned back to Luna. "All is ready. I have a flying machine ready to take off with the tracking device inside. We will be transmitting the coordinates from the device directly to Ms. Lachance and her associates in Washington. They now only wait for Glowball to arrive."
"That is excellent news. I will have the Equestrian contingent ready within thirty minutes as well. Mary, madame Vice-President, do you have any further questions?"
Mary shook her head, then went to give Spike a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He blushed cutely as usual. "What was that for?" he asked.
"If Princess Luna's plan works, this might be the last time I ever see you, and I for one will miss you. Promise you'll remember me?"
"Of course I will. I'll miss you too Mary, even if it's confusing to have you living in Twilight's body.
The Vice-President approached the pair, looking intently at Spike. "You're not a pony," she said.
"No ma'am, I'm a dragon." Spike puffed out his chest and beamed up at her.
"How very interesting indeed. Now I wish I might have seen more of this world. But time is wasting." She lay down on an empty cushion. "Well, dragon, the hat please!" she commanded. "Goodby everypony, your majesty." The sleeping cap descended onto her head. Spike removed it and brought it to Mary, who lay her head down.
"Goobye, handsome!" The hat came down once again.
An instant later both Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Hoofing woke up.
"My what an interesting experience!" said the old mare.
"Now that our team is assembled, it is time to head out. Twilight, please fetch the Elements of Harmony and have them ready in the central courtyard in fifteen minutes. Dr. Connor, please follow me. Spike, please bring the sleeping cap in case we need some last minute communications."
Moments later the room was again empty.
***
Rock Candy was downright intrigued! Prince Blueblood had called a meeting of the Unicorn Estates General, the first one one years. As the scion of the Candy clan he received the magical invitation when it must have been refused by his father, Baron Hard Candy. His parents lived in Fillydelphia, rarely leaving their famous estate and confectionery called Candyland. Since moving to Canterlot to work at the Ministry of Science, Rock had become accustomed to periodically representing his family in governmental matters.
He arrived at the House of Unicorns, one of the oldest buildings in Canterlot, and began scanning the assembled lords and ladies for Sunset Hoofing. He was hoping to get more details on the day's events and their strange visitor. The Minister, despite being a very senior unicorn, was nowhere to be found. Neither were any of the senior staff of the Ministry of Science, many of whom were high ranking unicorns. How odd! He was considering a quick 'port back to the office when the Sergent-at-Arms called the assembly to order. He quickly made for the bench assigned to his family.
A minute later Prince Blueblood was led by the Chamberlain to the Throne of Horns, welcomed by a somewhat anemic smattering of applause. About half of the benches were empty, a not unusual turnout as the House members tended to be generally much absorbed in their own affairs. The Prince sat, and the Chamberlain officially called the assembly to order.
"Lords and Ladies of the Unicorn Tribe, our leader Prince Blueblood has called a meeting of the Unicorn Estates General in response to recent events and the possible renewed usurpation of executive authority by the Alicorn Princess Luna, with the collusion of the Ministry of Science." A buzz grew as ponies began to work through the implications of the Chamberlain's announcement.
'Oh oh,' thought Rock with a sinking feeling. 'This is not good.' He watched as the Prince stood to address the House.
***
Glowball clutched Peter's arm as they approached the huge flying machine called a helicopter. It superficially resembled the magically powered autogyros built by pony flying machine enthusiasts, but much bigger and with an enclosed cabin. Another human called 'Wind' held the door open for them and shut it with a bang after they entered the machine.
"I love these machines!" said the grey mare, moving forward to examine the cockpit with all its wonderful switches, dials and displays. "Can you get the internet in this thing?" she asked with a crooked smile.
"Yes, it has on-board WiFi," replied Peter cryptically, but at least in the positive, so Glowball was satisfied. He handed her a large tablet shaped device, of which most of one side appeared to be a screen. "Here, you can use this iPad." He showed her how the use yet another amazing human device and she sat happily on a bench to do more web surfing while she still could. He went to see the other occupant of the cabin.
"Hey Wind, how does the detector check out?"
"Everything seems to be in order," replied the technician. "From this range the device can only provide our GPS coordinates and a general direction to the focal point. When we get close enough the display will also provide distance to and calculate the coordinates of the focal point. This is all mirrored on the website in real time and accessible to our friends in Washington."
"Okay then, let's get this show on the road!" He sat next to Glowball and buckled them both in, while Etienne did the same on the other side of the cabin. Peter signaled to the pilot and the helicopter took off.
***
"They have taken off, Mrs. Walker," said Mary, rotating the screen on her desk so that the VP could see it. "They should be within range of the anomaly in two hours."
"Then we have work to do with the joint chiefs and the President." The formidable lady rose and beckoned to Mary from the door. "I'll bring you to the war room and explain that your have the President's full confidence and authority to set targets and engage the laser defense system. While you explain what to do to the nice generals, I'll go get the old man to actually agree to all this." She smiled at the younger woman, but the expression in her eyes remained cold.
"As to my visit with the Princess, that matter will remain strictly between us. Is this clear?"
"Crystal clear, madame Vice-President."
They left Mary's office to go save the world.
***
The Canterlot contingent boarded the royal carriage, with the exceptions of Princess Luna, the Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash. Inside the carriage the ponies took their seats, surrounded by various 'objects of power' including the physical elements of harmony. Spike held the sleeping cap in his paws very carefully, not wanting to be responsible for any further accidental exchanges.
Sunset Hoofing stood and addressed them.
"We are now entering the final phase of our plan, with our allies at CERN and in Washington making ready their own contributions. Our role will be to unleash the magical energy we command in ourselves and stored within these objects and apply it to driving the colliding universes apart. Princess Luna will act as a focus for this discharge, so we must be ready on her signal. Are there any questions?"
Nopony raised a hoof or even a murmur. "Good!" She went to the door. "We are ready your majesty," said the old mare.
"That is most excellent, as I can feel through Glowball that they have begun moving very fast indeed. I will fly in the lead to allow us to mirror their motion in our universe. Coachpony, we fly!" She took off into the air with the blue pegasus and flying acrobatic team in formation, the carriage following immediately after.
***
"We are concerned that the severe debilitation of our rightful ruler, Princess Celestia, is being taken advantage of by a small group of power hungry ponies." Prince Blueblood looked out over the shocked and in some cases angry, faces of the assembled unicorns. "These misguided individuals have made common cause with Princess Luna, whom we feel has yet to prove her loyalty to the legitimate crown. Unfortunately, the Minister of Science seems to be chief amongst these, which is why she and her accompli... er, her associates, have not been informed of this meeting."
Seeing that the gathered unicorns were becoming more agitated, the Prince felt emboldened. That little 'accidental slip of the tongue' had been his own idea, a masterful stroke of rhetoric!
"We also believe this so-called emergency described by Princess Luna and Minister Hoofing to be the flimsiest of excuses for her to insinuate herself into the workings of the government, and to elevate those sympathetic to her cause. This is why we have seen fit to call this Unicorn Estates General. We wish to propose a tribal decree, one binding on all unicorns, to withhold any and all cooperation with Princess Luna's emergency measures until such a time as we are satisfied that the proper process has been followed and that we are acting in accordance to the will of our beloved Princess Celestia."
The Prince sat, satisfied that the assembled unicorn tribe would see the good sense of his arguments.
Rock Candy's anger grew as the Prince spoke. This was 'the old mare' he was talking about. Sure she was tough and had no patience for incompetents, but she was fair, and most of all he was sure she was loyal to Equestria.
He rose to indicate he wished to speak, something he had never done in the Unicorn or Equine Assemblies so far.
The chamberlain spoke "The house recognizes Lord Rock, Baronet of Candy."
The young scientist fairly trembled in anger. "The Prince urges caution, however there are several holes in his logic. First," he raised a hoof, "the emergency is real - I have incontrovertible proof as I am part of the team investigating the convergence. I tell you, not only is it real, but so is the risk is to our very lives. To withhold our support is to condemn our world and everypony on it to certain death."
Many ponies present recognized him as his family was quite well known all over Equestria for its confections, and amongst unicorns as one of the tribe's oldest and and noblest families. Although young, he was an 'important pony' and his words could not be ignored.
"Second," he raised his other hoof, "it is ridiculous to accuse Minister Sunset Hoofing of betraying her loyalty to Equestria or to Princess Celestia. Must I remind you that Minister Hoofing is one of the few who dared confront Nightmare Moon personally during her usurpation? A claim that nopony else in this assembly can make." He made sure everypony knew the target of this statement by glaring directly at Prince Blueblood.
"Third", he raised an ear, "I notice that none of the cabinet level members of this assembly are present. There may be an usurpation of power happening right here in this assembly. Mr. Chamberlain, why is the senior echelon of the unicorn tribe not here?"
The floor erupted into vociferous argument. Rock Candy had given voice to the misgivings of many unicorns present. Still, he could tell from the hostile glares of his closest neighbors that most of the crowd was still favoring the Prince.
"Mr. Chamberlain!" shouted a voice above the din. One of the biggest unicorn stallions Rock had ever seen entered the hall, dressed in the uniform of Celestia's Royal Unicorn Guard. It was the Captain himself, Shining Armor!
The newly arrived stallion spoke. "I am here on behalf of Princess Celestia and at the request of my sister, Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Friendship, who was instrumental in defeating Nightmare Moon and restoring our Princess Celestia. I was with Princess Celestia shortly after the event today, and can confirm that it is her express wish for all Equestrians and especially the unicorn tribe to cooperate fully with the emergency committee as directed by her sister and Minister Sunset Hoofing. Does anypony here doubt my loyalty?"
The Prince could tell that his view was fast losing favor with the assembly. If another influential pony expressed a contrary opinion he might not prevail! He quickly signaled to the Chamberlain to call the vote.
"We call all unicorns in this assembly to vote." Using telekinesis, he raised a large black and white ball into the air above his head. "I will now release the ballot. Vote now."
The ball rose and trembled as opposing wills tried to push the ball towards the basket that indicated 'Yea' at on end of the hall, or towards the other basket labelled 'Neigh' at the other end. As this was a close vote the ball seemed to vibrate first going slightly towards 'Yea' and then towards 'Neigh' and then back again. Finally, the momentum of the vote began to favor 'Neigh' and the ball travelled tentatively, and then with greater speed to land definitively in that basket.
Ponies cheered the result of the vote, Rock Candy and Shining Armor among them. The Prince scowled, as the Chamberlain stood and made the result official. "The 'Neigh's have it. The Prince's motion is defeated. All unicorns are to cooperate fully with the requirements of the Emergency Committee led by Princess Luna and Minister Hoofing. This assembly is hereby dismissed."
The unicorns stood as the Chamberlain led an angry looking Prince back out the door.
Rock Candy heaved a sigh of relief. He went to see Shining Armor to thank him for his timely intervention.
***
The helicopter circled as the scientists huddled around the screen of Etienne's laptop computer.
"There! We have it!" Peter clapped Wind on the back. He went to the pilot. "Please go forward half a kilometer and maintain a constant speed on this heading." He gave the pilot a piece of paper with the coordinates. The chopper banked and then slowed to assume the speed and heading indicated.
He called Mary Lachance on his cellphone. It connected on the first ring.
"Hello Peter. We can see you have the focal point in sight. Excellent work! Our guys are working out a targeting solution. Please keep your position relative to the target constant. We don't want to accidentally fry all of you in the process!"
"Gee, now that's reassuring," said Peter somewhat caustically. "We really hadn't thought there was any risk in this. But we can get a bit further if necessary without losing target lock."
"Eh, Peter, I am not so sure about that," said Etienne. Peter moved closer to see the screen and saw that the estimate on the position of the focal point had started to fluctuate by several meters.
"Hold on," he said to Mary on the phone. He turned back to Etienne. "Okay, so why are we seeing these fluctuations?"
"I think it might the same issue that was causing all those glitches in the morning. Proximity to the focal point must have an effect on electronics."
Peter thought fast. "Okay, then how far do we need to be to avoid this effect?"
"We're at a half kilometer now. So we can go back a bit." The technician looked up at Peter. "But we'll have to act fast," he added, looking a bit scared.
"Why's that?" Peter felt a cold wash of fear in his belly.
"The effect seems to be amplifying. I estimate we have maybe fifteen minutes before the detector becomes useless."
Peter looked grim as a realization hit him. "Wind, this is very important. Will the helicopter's electronics be effected by the focal point."
The young technician's face paled visibly. "That is a very real possibility. I suggest we take some distance just to be sure."
Peter turned back to the cockpit and asked the pilot to drop back a further 200 meters behind the focal point. He picked up his phone again.
"Mary, we have a problem."
***
Princess Luna approached the collision focal point by tracking the energy leakage of Glowball in the human universe. She began to feel something familiar at the edge of her perception. She allowed herself to spare a short moment of attention to the feeling. It was the focal point. She was close enough to feel it directly!
A quick surge of triumph was followed by another strange feeling, this time of sudden movement. Glowball. She felt the presence of the scientist begin to recede downwards rapidly. However, she had to stay with the focal point now or risk losing it. She wondered what was going on in the human universe.