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Dreamland2,812 words
A Thousand Eyes6,663 words
Everything Has Its Place (INCOMPLETE)2,950 words

A Thousand Eyes

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

"So, there're other universes than our own?"

"That's right," Olivia confirmed, the sound of power tools being dampened by the office's walls. Olivia had recently gotten Tara a sandwich. "We traveled to one multiple times to solve cases that involve some sort of pseudoscience. Would you believe that I'm a redhead over there?"

"This is... well..." Tara tried to make sense of things, putting her sandwich down. "It feels absurd."

"Oh, trust me, you have no idea how it felt when I first heard of it," Olivia responded. "And right now, the concept of a third universe being linked to ours feels just plain absurd too. It was already a headache dealing with one alternate universe. Now we've got another based off of a cartoon show."

"Hello!"

The power tools stopped running, and Olivia realized who had arrived. "Oh, excuse me for a second," Olivia said, walking back out into the lab itself.

Nina had just arrived. "Hello Nina!" Walter called out, striding his way towards her and giving her a hug. "It's nice to see you again!"

"It's nice to see you too, Walter," Nina returned the hug.

Then she noticed Olivia. "Oh, Olivia, you're looking wonderful today!" she greeted, extending a hug to her surrogate daughter.

"It's nice to see you too, Nina," Olivia took it.

Olivia exited her embrace. "So, what is it that I can help with?" Nina asked.

"Um..." Olivia wasn't sure how to break it to her.

Walter did the honors. "I have something to show you," he announced, striding back to his project.

What Nina saw surprised her. "Walter!" she snapped. "Do you remember what happened last time you built that?!"

What stood before them looked like a glass pane on a tripod, connected to the same tuning box that was depicted in the new sheet Walter found. Parts of it had been clearly cannibalized from other machines in the lab. "I remember very clearly," Walter answered, becoming stern. "Before you say anything more, I have no intention to steal my son for a second time. I assume Peter told you about our most recent case?"

"Yes, he did," Nina replied, "but I don't see how that infernal device has anything to do with it!"

"It has everything to do with it!" Walter snapped back. "I believe our subject, Ms. Nimoy, has been forcibly fused with a being from a third universe!"

Nina was clearly surprised, her eyes widening. "And it is about time to test that hypothesis!" Walter announced, taking the tuning box and twisting the dial to 329.628 Hz.

The glass pane began to go cloudy, as it bent the laws of reality, attempting to vibrate at the same frequency as that universe. Eventually, an image began to come into view... "It's now in HD, by the way," Walter added with a smile.

Even Nina couldn't help but grin, despite her anger. All that anger disappeared as the window displayed Walter's lab... empty. "... Is it working?" Peter had to ask.

"Asteroid!" Walter called out, not realizing Astrid was right next to her.

"Yes, William?" Astrid responded, taking a stab back at him.

"William?" Walter couldn't help but ask.

Astrid gave him a look that said 'back at you'. "Please stand behind the window," he instructed, getting back to the subject.

"Um...sure..." Astrid agreed, walking over.

Astrid crossed behind the window... but through the window, she wasn't visible. "It works!" Walter cheered.

Astrid took a look through the window on her side... and promptly noticed something. "Walter..." she beckoned. “You might want to see this.”

Confused, Walter strode his way behind the window... and immediately jumped. "Oh my!" he almost squealed. "That's just amazing! Dear Ella would love to see this!"

"What's amazing?" Olivia had to ask, this time going around the window herself.

What she saw nearly made her jump herself, and she was a seasoned FBI agent. Behind the window, the rest of the lab was displayed. And standing in the middle, mixing various random chemicals... was a horse. It looked stunningly like Tara's horse parts, but it was a darker brown than Tara. It had a tattoo of a flask on its hip, its nose was squarer, and it had a horn like a narwhal on its forehead. What stood out most, though, was that it had a hairstyle similar to Walter's. It was even wearing what looked like his clothes, but no pants. "Walter..." Olivia had to ask. "Is that...?"

"Me?" Walter finished. "I wouldn't be surprised. In fact, I think he's making some LSD..."

"Oh god."

Peter and Nina were watching from behind them. "As if genetically manipulating a horse wasn't bad enough," he snarked. "Now we're looking into a universe where Walter's a pony."

"I may have to do some research into the franchise after all," Nina quipped.

"Is... is that where... these came from?" Tara asked, raising her hoof.

"Yes, I believe so," Walter confirmed. "But we will get no answers simply sitting here. We can't even hear them; much less they even know we exist."

"Don't tell me," Peter stopped him. "You are not going to that universe. Absolutely not. I've had enough of universe jumping and ponies, and I've had enough of them separately."

"How else do you expect us to get answers concerning Ms. Nimoy?" Walter retorted. "If they forcibly merged one of their own with one of our own, they may know how to reverse the process!"

"It also means that they're hostile!" Peter fought back, steadily growing angrier. "Remember when the other side kept sending shapeshifters to give us a hard time? Or when Olivia got replaced by Fauxlivia?"

"I remember Fauxlivia, we all do!” Walter answered. “I seriously doubt we’d fall for that again!”

"You don't get it, do you?" Peter asked.

"Apparently, he doesn't," Nina sighed. "Even if we could go, we would probably cause even more damage to the universe than before. And Olivia here has lost nearly all of her cortexiphan; we can't possibly cross over safely."

"I want to go."

All eyes turned to Tara in surprise. "I... I don't want to be like this," she began to sob. "Dr. Bishop?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Please, help me get there," she begged. "I don't care how dangerous it is for me. I just want to be normal again. I just want to see my family again..."

Tara nearly burst into tears. Olivia glanced at Walter and Nina. "... Any ideas?" she asked.

"... I'm afraid not," Nina admitted.

"Apart from the obvious, which involves using the most dangerous possible way to cross over," Walter began, "I'm not sure what we can do, apart from doing more drug trials with cortexiphan-"

He was met with angry glares from everyone except Tara. "I was not intending to!" he continued. "Such a thing is not even a possibility, given how long those drug trials can take!"

"On the subject of cortexiphan..." Olivia suddenly got an idea. "I've lost nearly all of my cortexiphan, right?"

"That is correct," Walter confirmed. "The levels of cortexiphan in your body should be almost negligible..."

"But I still saw Tara glimmer."

The lab suddenly fell silent. "What?" Peter gasped.

"Tara glimmered," Olivia repeated. "So whatever cortexiphan I have left should still have some use."

Olivia suddenly grabbed the window, and twisted it, as if looking for something. "Olivia..." Astrid had to ask. "What're you thinking?"

"When I was trapped on the other side, I used a sensory deprivation tank to get back to this side," Olivia began to explain. "So I'm thinking I can do it to go there."

"Preposterous!"

All eyes turned back to Walter, this time in surprise. "Cortexiphan was only designed with the Other Side in mind!" he stammered. "I am highly doubtful that it will permit you to travel to that universe. What if you end up back on the Other Side instead?"

"Worth a shot, right?" Olivia crossed her arms. "You suggested cortexiphan yourself."

"I was going to suggest modifying the formula!" Walter clarified.

"Wait a second..."

This time it was Astrid who spoke up. "I think I have an idea..."

"Coming from you?" Walter had to ask. "Why, that's a first!"

"Working with a mad scientist tends to rub off on you," Astrid dismissed. "Remember when you demonstrated that both sides need to be properly balanced, using a balance?"

"Why, yes, I do!"

"And Peter?" Astrid continued. "Remember when you said that the only reason we can cross over is because our universes are linked?"

"Yeah," Peter confirmed. "What're you thinking?"

"What if you added a third arm to that balance?"

Again, the lab fell deathly silent, as if Astrid's suggestion was a shotgun blast. "No, no, no, it shouldn't be that simple..." Walter muttered, in thought. "Surely we would be dealing with a lot worse if a third universe connected itself to ours, especially one that deviated on an evolutionary level and in their laws of nature..."

"But it doesn't explain why Olivia saw Tara glimmer," Nina argued. "We're looking at proof of another universe, and what's left of Olivia's cortexiphan reacted to her."

Nina put a hand on Walter's shoulder. "Besides, just because something is designed for a specific purpose doesn't mean it can't be used for something else."

Walter froze. "Are you saying...?”

"Who says cortexiphan can't be used to go to the third universe?" Peter finished.

Olivia lay in the sensory deprivation tank, floating in the water with her jacket on, gun in her holster. This was the second time she had gotten into such a tank fully dressed. "Olivia, can you hear me?" Walter's voice came from speakers embedded in the tank.

"Yes."

"This procedure has not been performed before in a true laboratory setting, but I will attempt to assist you as best as I can. We are going to follow the same procedures as the synaptic transfer you performed with John Scott, as both require simultaneous relaxation and concentration."

There was a short pause. "Nina would like to speak with you first," Walter suddenly announced.

"Olivia?" Nina's voice came over the speakers.

"Yes?"

"Be careful," she warned. "It was worrying enough when Walter first went to the Other Side."

"I will."

"It is time to begin the procedure," Walter announced. "Now, imagine yourself at the top of a staircase."

In Olivia's mind, she was at the top of a really long staircase. Looking down, she couldn't see the end. "Slowly descend," Walter ordered. "As you descend, you will become progressively more and more relaxed."

She began to walk down the stairs, slowly. Every step felt heavier and heavier, and she could feel herself getting sleepy. "Now you are about to reach the bottom," Walter continued. "The last five steps... four... three... two... one."

Outside, on the monitor, Olivia began to shimmer. Then, suddenly, she vanished. "There she goes," Walter said, leaning back. "She's in the new universe."

"Then it's time we got on our part of the plan," Peter tried to rally everyone.

Olivia opened her eyes. She was still in the sensory deprivation tank. Trying to make as little noise as possible, she flipped around in the water so that she was on her arms and knees, and drew her gun. She waited for Walter's voice, just in case. She also knew that if she was on the Other Side, she wouldn't be able to get out of the tank; the other Broyles had chained it, ensuring her escape. She pressed her hand against the heavy doors, and softly pushed. It made a creaking sound, but opened. There was no chain on it. Olivia slowly opened it further, but it suddenly fell open by itself, making a loud 'clang!’ Olivia cringed a little; she wasn't hoping to make so much noise.

She stepped out gently, dripping wet and gun in hand. Looking around, everything looked the same. The only difference was that nobody was there. No Walter, no Peter, no Astrid, no Nina, not even Tara. She didn't even see that horned horse that they saw earlier, through the window. Olivia took a couple of cautious steps forward, when she heard a gasp. She quickly whipped around, raising her gun, only to see the same pony, his head poking out from behind a table. "... Am I dreaming?" he asked quietly, in Walter's unmistakable voice.

Realizing that this pony was truly Walter's counterpart, Olivia lowered her gun. "Don't worry," she tried to reassure him, despite the fact that she was probably twice as tall as him. "My name is Olivia Dunham. I'm from another universe, and I need your help."

"Olivia... Dunham..." the Walter-pony said to himself, scratching behind his ear pensively. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"You've heard of me?" Olivia asked.

"No, no, no, I must be imagining things, must have taken some PEA..." he muttered to himself. “Maybe Knight was right, I should stop being so crazy about humans...”

This immediately alerted Olivia. She raised her gun again, thinking he was hostile. "Were you the one that sent that pony over?!" she accused, ready to blow this pony's horn off with the slightest twitch.

Walter-pony looked absolutely surprised. "Is that where she went?" he asked. "Is she alright?"

"She got fused with a human!" Olivia nearly shouted. "Did you send her over intentionally?

"No, absolutely not!" Walter-pony attempted to defend himself, cowering behind the lab bench again. "We had just opened a new case, trying to find out where she went!"

There was no reason for her not to trust this pony, especially as he seemed sincere. Olivia lowered her gun again, carefully. "Can you show me those files?" she asked a little more gently.

Walter-pony stuck his head up. "W-whatever it is that you're pointing at me... can you put it away?" he asked, with Walter's trademark stammer.

A quick pause and Olivia holstered her gun. "My-My name's Dr. Rootbeer Float, by the way," he introduced himself, slowly emerging from behind the desk. "What's yours again?"

"Olivia Dunham," Olivia reintroduced herself.

"Olivia... Olivia... olive... olive oil..." Rootbeer was muttering to himself as he trotted over to what looked like a phone. However, it was completely different; instead of a headset, it simply had a speaker and a microphone. A wire leading from it led down to a mat with numbers. "Now what was his number again...?” Rootbeer muttered to himself, as he began to carefully step on each number. "6... 1... 7... 5... 5... 5... 7... 0... 7... 1..."

"That's Peter's cell phone number..." Olivia muttered to herself.

The speaker began to ring once... twice... thrice... "Yeah, Rootbeer?" Peter's unmistakable voice came through the speaker.

"Knight, it's me, your father, Rootbeer Float..." Rootbeer replied into the microphone.

"I know who you are, Rootbeer," Knight replied. "Did you find something?"

"This is something you're going to want to see immediately, son," Rootbeer answered. "And bring Agent Savior with you too."

"What is it?"

"You won't believe me unless you see it yourself."

"Alright... I'll be there soon."

"Thank you, son."

Rootbeer tapped on a red microphone icon on the mat. "That was my son, Black Knight," he proudly said. "He's going to be so happy to see you! Oh, and Secretary Sparkle too!"

Olivia suddenly became wary. She had some pretty bad memories with the previous Secretary she dealt with. "Who's Secretary Sparkle?" Olivia had to ask.

"Why, she's the Secretary of Magic and Science!" Rootbeer explained cheerfully. "She's been coordinating her own effort when it came to the disappearance of that poor mare, Chocolate Bar. Which reminds me, how is she doing?"

"Hell if I know if she's alive," Olivia shook her head. "Frankly, we only found out about the fusion this morning. The woman she fused with is okay, though. Very badly shaken up, but she's okay."

"So... is Chocolate Bar...?" Rootbeer asked, not bothering to finish his sentence.

"... I don't know," Olivia admitted after a pause. "But when I go back, I'll be sure to tell Wal... err, my version of you to find out."

"I cannot help but worry about her... in spite of the fact that I have never met her," Rootbeer said, trotting over to a stack of files. "In fact, I have not left this lab for almost 20 years..."

Rootbeer's horn began to glow a light brown, and suddenly the files began to float up, covered in the same light brown aura. Olivia was taken aback a little. She felt herself reach for her gun. "Here are the few files we have on dear Chocolate Bar," Rootbeer explained, the box floating over to Olivia. "Medical records, mainly. A-are you a doctor?"

"Nope," Olivia admitted, smirking slightly. "But I know one."

Suddenly, the door opened, and a two more ponies came trotting through. One was a lighter brown than Rootbeer, and had Peter's hairstyle along with an angular jaw. He was wearing a leather jacket. The other one, though, was the one depicted in the sheet Walter found. It had a tiny little snout, wide green eyes, and blonde hair tied up in a ponytail... Olivia's ponytail. She had wings, too, which only added to Olivia's curiosity, and was wearing some kind of blazer. Both of them froze upon seeing Olivia. "... Rootbeer?" Peter-pony asked. "Is this what you wanted us to see?"

Olivia and Olivia-pony locked eyes, neither of them even blinking. "Of course, Knight!" Rootbeer explained. "Meet Ms. Olivia Dunham! She's from a third universe."

"A third universe?!" Olivia-pony gasped.

She quickly reached behind her... and somehow pulled out a cannon as large as her, pointed right at Olivia. Olivia quickly drew her gun again, pointing it right between Olivia-pony's eyes. "I'm not here to cause trouble!" she declared. "I'm here looking for help!"

"Agent Savior!" Rootbeer balked. "Put your party cannon away! She means no harm to us!"

Savior simply continued to stare at Olivia, maintaining their Mexican standoff. "Listen to me," Olivia pleaded, desperate not to get a cannonball to the face. "I'm not here to cause any trouble. There's a pony that disappeared from here. She ended up in my universe."

Savior's eyes lit up. "What do you know?" she demanded.

"Very little," Olivia answered. "I came here to find out more."

Savior slowly took her hooves off her cannon. Olivia lowered her gun too. "Sorry, I've been jumpy recently..." she admitted. “I was impersonated by some mule from another universe a few weeks ago.”

Olivia was about to open her mouth, when she remembered what Walter said; that there were an infinite amount of universes. "Yeah... I was too," Olivia added.

Rootbeer cleared his throat. "May I let go of these now?" he asked, nudging Olivia with the box.

"Oh, um, sorry..." Olivia opened it.

The first thing that she noticed was that instead of the FBI logo on the files like she was used to, instead, there were three logos. One of them looked suspiciously like the FBI's, but had "Royal Bureau of Investigation" on it. The second was... Massive Dynamic's? What are they doing there? Olivia wondered to herself.

The last logo surprised her even more. "Fringe Division?" Olivia lifted her head.

"Oh, yeah," Savior said. "We're just a bunch of people in coats going around taking care of the weird stuff. You look surprised."

"Kind of..." Olivia responded, opening the file.

Inside was the usual stuff; information on who Chocolate Bar was. She immediately recognized parts of her face; they were part of Tara's face now. She also spotted an image of the same computer tattooed on Tara's hip. "I'm a member of Fringe Division, in my universe too," Olivia explained, closing the file. "But we don't have our own logo. We're just a small part of the FBI."

"FBI?" Knight asked. "What's that?"

"Federal Bureau of Investigation," Olivia continued. "We're an interstate police force. I think you call it the Royal Bureau of Investigation?"

"Yeah," Savior confirmed. "Fringe Division split from them some time ago, but we still work with them."

"Oh! And Massive Dynamic too!" Rootbeer suddenly added.

"So that's why their logo is here..." Olivia muttered.

Then she got back to the subject. "So you honestly have no idea how this happened?" Olivia asked.

"Nope," Knight added. "All we know is that she began to shimmer, and then... disappear."

"Well, that doesn't help..." Olivia snarked. "So what, am I just leaving empty-handed?"

"Nope," Rootbeer shook his head. "Not yet, at least. Don't you want to speak with Secretary Sparkle? She might be able to help out."

"Um..." Olivia was about to answer, but Savior cut her off.

"I'm going to arrange transport!" she suddenly declared, jumping up and flying out the doors.

Olivia only stared blankly for a couple of seconds. "Just like her," Knight sighed. "So what's Fringe Division over there doing with whoever Chocolate Bar fused with?"

NEARBY MASSIVE DYNAMIC

Indian music was playing, predictably, in an Indian restaurant a couple of blocks down from Massive Dynamic's headquarters. Sitting at a table near the back were a couple of men, dressed in suits and ties. Both of them were bald, and their hats were on the table next to their meals, the spiciest things on the menu. Both of them were spreading as much hot sauce as they could upon their slabs of meat. They stopped, when a third bald man in a suit and tie, with a briefcase, joined them wordlessly. "We have a situation," he reported, his voice monotone. "I have recently received a communication from the rogue September."

One of the bald men eating, the one that looked the oldest, looked up. "What did he say, July?" he asked, with an equally monotone voice.

“It has begun,” July responded. “I believe he was referring to the event he foresaw involving Tara Nimoy.”

“So he was right,” the oldest admitted.

“What action do you propose we take, December?” the other diner asked.

December closed his eyes, appearing to think for a second. “Tara Nimoy is an irregularity,” he finally judged. “We will have to correct it.”

He turned towards the other diner. “March, contact Michael.”

“Michael will not be able to reach Tara Nimoy,” March responded. “Their security is too advanced for any of our men to correct her. If we are to correct her, we will have to do it ourselves.”

“It is a shame August died, protecting Christine Hollace,” July admitted. “His cunning would have been useful in this operation.”

“Indeed,” December agreed. “Yet we do not wish to move too early.”

“But if we do not correct Tara Nimoy, our mission will be a failure,” March responded.

December nodded, and then widened his eyes, as if he was seeing something. “… I suggest it may be a good idea to wait,” he finished. “She is still an irregularity we will need to fix, but we do not have to fix her immediately. In the meantime, July, would you like to order something? The curry here is perhaps the best I have ever tasted.”

MASSIVE DYNAMIC RESIDENCES

“You… bought this all for me?”

Tara, Nina, and Peter were all in the recently-purchased Massive Dynamic Residences, originally a condominium that was financially failing. “Well, not exactly,” Nina admitted. “We expect there to be more incidences of merging than just you.”

They finally reached Tara’s condo. “This is your haven,” Nina explained, pulling out a key. “For security reasons, we cannot allow you to leave the building, and for a few weeks we cannot let you go below the third floor.”

“Why not?” she asked, curious.

“We’ve hired construction workers to drastically alter the first and second floors into communal areas,” Nina answered. “After all, we want your stay to be as comfortable as possible.”

With that, Nina turned the key, letting Tara in. Inside were the usual amenities; living room, kitchen, and bedroom. “We’ve also arranged for your luggage to be brought here,” Nina added.

Tara was nearly tearing up. “T-thank you…” she began to stammer.

“You’re welcome, dear,” Nina answered, handing over the key. “Please, make yourself comfortable. If you need anything, we’ve provided a phone in your room with my office number.”

Nina closed the door behind her. “Not that this sounds crazy, but do you really think there will be that many victims?” Peter asked. “You bought at least sixty condos on a whim.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Nina replied, batting her hand. “I didn’t even have to budget this expense.”

Peter, grinning, shook his head as they walked back down the hallway. “No wonder they call me a conspiracy theorist.”

Then, Walter came almost running down the hall with another man, who was plain impossible not to recognize; William Bell, CEO of Massive Dynamic. “Walter, William!” Nina greeted. “What brings you two here?”

“Oh, nothing much, just doing some more testing on young Tara, that’s all,” William Bell responded. “And Peter! It’s so good to see you again!”

Bell attempted to hug Peter, but Peter stopped him with a handshake. “It’s nice to see you too, Mr. Bell,” he greeted.

Peter then took a blind sniff at the air. “Smoking again?”

“Small amounts of Chronic Supernova,” Walter responded. “Don’t worry, we’re still lucid!”

Peter and Nina exchanged glances. “Just don’t try to throw her in any machinery that will rip her atom from atom, okay?” Peter warned.

“Oh, no, wouldn’t dream of it!” Walter refused.

“We might put her in a sensory deprivation tank, though,” Bell admitted.

Peter pointed a finger at Bell. “I know how the process works, and you are not going to give her cubes of enhanced LSD. Honestly, you should have seen Broyles on that stuff after he accidentally took some from Walter’s stash.”

Nina glanced over at Peter. “He was on LSD?” she gasped.

“Long story,” Peter dismissed.

“T-there’s a reason why we want to put her in there, though…” Walter stammered as usual, nearly tripping over his own tongue.

“We think she’s got two consciousnesses,” Bell finished.

It was like something exploded nearby. Peter raised his finger again, this time pensive. “… That actually makes sense,” he admitted. “But seriously? You’re going to do it?”

“Not now,” Bell continued. “We’re just going to hook her up to an EEG, that’s all.”

“Alright,” Peter let up. “Just don’t try anything funny.”

“Of course not, son,” Walter reassured him. “If anything, I brought her some blueberry pancakes, the Bishop specialty!”

Peter grinned. “When don’t you think of blueberry pancakes?”

“When I think of apple fritters!” Walter rushed by them.

Bell only laughed as he followed his lab partner. “Should we watch?” Peter asked.

“No, let them have their fun,” Nina replied. “They’ll find out something useful.”

“Oh, that I know very well.”

UNKNOWN LOCATION

Olivia sat in the back of a rattling carriage, closely guarded by Savior and curled up so that she would fit in it; it was tiny compared to her. The carriage was being pulled by two other ponies, with wings like Savior’s. “Oh, by the way…” Savior suddenly realized, “I never really told you who I am.”

She held out her hoof. “I’m Agent Star Savior. What’s your name?” she introduced.

“Agent Olivia Dunham,” Olivia introduced herself, shaking her hoof.

“Um… what the hay is an Olivia? Or a Dunham for that matter?” Savior asked, scratching her ear.

“Olivia’s just a name,” Olivia answered, realizing Savior’s confusion. “We humans normally don’t name ourselves after things like that. You won’t ever find a human named Rootbeer Float, which brings me to ask… Why the hell do you have wings?”

“Never seen a pegasus before?” Savior seemed insulted, raising an eyebrow.

Olivia’s mind quickly flashed back to her grade school history classes, when she studied the Greek myths. “Oh, right…” she realized.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped rattling, but Olivia could clearly feel it moving… in fact, it felt like it was rising. She couldn’t resist the urge to get up, back bent, and look out the tinted glass window. “Eeek!” she screamed, toppling back.

They were suspended, midair, over what looked like a river. “What’s going on?!” she suddenly demanded.

Savior seemed unfazed. “Oh, we’re flying,” she explained. “We pegasi can normally take carriages with us when we fly, thanks to our magic.”

“Three years in Fringe Division isn’t helping me get over this crazy stuff…” she breathed.

“Now I’m not sure if I want to see your universe,” Savior sighed.

They eventually came to land. Olivia stepped out, still in shock, but glad to feel concrete under her feet. She looked up, towards the sky. Above her, a multitude of pegasi were flying above them, most taking with them some sort of carriage. None of them paid attention to her; they were too high up. Olivia then turned around… and saw the Statue of Liberty. But it wasn’t the one she was used to; instead, it was clearly a pony, but with both wings and a horn. It had a large smile plastered on its face, unlike the Statue of Liberty’s serious look. The famous Liberty Torch was simply suspended in midair, as if gravity wasn’t affecting it. “Impressed?” Savior asked.

“Kind of…” Olivia breathed. “Why does she have both wings and a horn? I haven’t seen anything like that so far…”

“You’re about to find out why. Come on, this way!” Savior answered, trotting towards the statue.

Olivia looked back at their version of the Statue of Liberty. It seemed… oddly welcoming. “Well?” Savior called, getting Olivia’s attention back.

“Oh, sorry!” Olivia responded, jogging after her.

The base of the statue was quite different from the Statue of Liberty’s. It was more like a building styled to be a pedestal. Savior let herself in through the unusually large doors; earlier, Olivia had problems getting out of Harvard, simply because the doors were a lot smaller. These were large enough for a horse, literally.

Olivia stopped the door before it slammed in her face, slowly walking forward. Inside was a dark room, which felt strangely like an auditorium. “Go on ahead, I’ve got stuff to do,” Savior ordered, pointing a wing down into the darkness as she slipped into a side passage.

As Olivia stepped forward, she did everything she could to resist pulling out her gun, which three years of fringe cases and who knows how many more doing sting operations taught her to do. Suddenly, with a loud clunk, a spotlight turned on above her, shining down on her and making her jump. It felt like a cartoon… which, frankly, this was, in a sense. “Your name is Olivia Dunham, is that correct?” a clearly female, but authoritative, voice suddenly boomed.

“Um…” Olivia gasped a little. “Yes?”

Olivia heard someone else whispering in the room, again with a female voice, but less authoritative… the kind a stuntwoman would have. “What the hay is an Olivia?”

“What do you know about the pony disappearance?” the voice boomed again.

“Well, from where I come from, it looked like a spontaneous transformation,” Olivia explained, slowly becoming irked. “On our side, the pony that disappeared is known as Tara Nimoy. She transformed in the middle of an airport, but we were able to suppress information about it from the public, to avoid mass panic.”

“Do you know how this happened?” the authoritative voice continued.

“No,” Olivia said, her annoyance beginning to bubble over. “I don’t know how it happened. That’s why I came to this universe, to get some insight into this incident.”

She then crossed her arms. “And I don’t feel like answering any more questions until mine are. First, why the hell am I being treated like a criminal? And second, who the hell are you people? I’m sick of talking to people through dark rooms.”

There was no response, though in Olivia’s mind, the ponies around her were exchanging glances. Another loud clunk and the whole room lit up. She was in the middle of a forum, like the one Congress has, and she was in the middle of it. There were hundreds of ponies, sitting on the benches around her, each one clearly different from the other. But the ones directly in front of her caught her attention the strongest. There were eight in a special stand in front of her; two normal, two pegasi, two that had a horn, and two that had both wings and a horn, like the statue they were inside right now. The ones with both wings and a horn were the largest. One of them was white, the other a dark blue. Olivia also quickly recognized the six flanking them; they had lookalikes in Walter’s collection. “I suppose that you deserve to have answers, after you traveled this far,” the white horse admitted; she was the one whose voice boomed with authority. “You are no criminal. We were simply using the best interrogation technique we know.”

Olivia was about to give a snappy reply, but the feeling of a thousand eyes on her made her bite her tongue. “As for whom we are…” the horse continued, “We are the Council of Equestria, the rulers of this world.”

That made Olivia flinch. She knew that she was still in some form of America, but America having taken over the world? The idea scared her a little. “I am Princess Celestia,” the white horse introduced herself. “This is my little sister, Princess Luna.”

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” the dark blue horse greeted.

“It’s… an honor, Princess…” Olivia managed to say, a little dumbstruck. America’s a monarchy in this world? That scared her too.

“So you have absolutely no idea what’s going on?” the lighter blue pegasus demanded to know, slamming her hooves on the bench.

“Secretary Dash!” Princess Celestia snapped.

“Geez, sorry…”

“Wait… Dash?” Olivia blurted out. “As in Rainbow Dash?”

Everyone froze, except for Dash, who grew a giddy smile on her face. “You’ve heard of me?” she gasped.

Olivia could have sworn she saw stars in her eyes. No… they were actually there. There were stars in Rainbow Dash’s eyes. “… Yeah, actually,” Olivia admitted, furrowing her brow.

“I’m interdimensionally famous!” Rainbow Dash cheered, leaping into the air. “Woohoo!”

The whole room was silent. Now those thousand eyes were on Rainbow Dash. “… So how do you know Secretary Dash?” Princess Celestia had to ask.

“… A friend of mine is crazy about a specific cartoon. To us humans, all of you are characters in that cartoon,” Olivia dropped the bomb.

Everyone quickly began exchanging glances and murmuring; all save for the pink pony flanking Princess Celestia, though. “Oh, yeah, I know,” she dismissed, with an unusually large grin on her face. “To us, you’re cartoon characters!”

“Right now the only reason I’m not surprised is because I’ve been surprised enough today,” was Olivia’s response. Even the seasoned FBI agent was losing her composure.

Princess Celestia cleared her throat, silencing the room. “Back to the topic at hand…” she began. “It appears neither of us have any information whatsoever on this incident.”

“Nope,” Olivia admitted. “I mean, there’s someone in my world that I know could help us… The only problem is that he can’t get here, not without wrecking the universe.”

“Then how did you get here?” Princess Luna asked.

“… There’s a chemical in my brain,” Olivia began to explain. “It lets me cross between universes, though I don’t have much left in me anymore. I’ve got enough to move back and forth, though.”

“Can you take one of us with you?” the purple unicorn asked.

“I’ve done it once, but I don’t think I can do it again.”

“I’ll go.”

All eyes turned to behind Olivia, where Savior stood. “I’ve done it too,” she reminded everyone. “I can cross over as a liaison, if that helps.”

“… Go,” Princess Celestia commanded. “You and Olivia Dunham are our best hopes.”

Spreading her wings, she then declared, “Council is dismissed!”

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Rootbeer was humming to himself when Olivia and Savior came back through the door. “Ah!” he said as they came in. “How did the meeting with the Council go?”

“I’m… not sure what to think,” Olivia admitted. “Honestly, I’m still reeling a little from how they operate.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Savior tried to dismiss. “Anyway, the Council wants us to act as liaisons for our worlds.”

“There’s a problem, though,” Olivia admitted. “We can’t possibly keep going back and forth. We need some way to communicate between the two universes.”

“Well… any bright ideas?” Rootbeer asked.

“Yeah, actually,” Olivia answered. “There were a pair of typewriters that were quantum entangled; one of them is in our world, the other was in another universe. They were being used to communicate between the two universes, but we captured one while they were hostile to us. We’ve stopped using it ever since we’ve made peace with them, although we had to close our connections with them.”

Rootbeer’s eyes widened. “Quantum entanglement… that would work! Definitely!”

He quickly turned towards the office. “Astral!”

“Astrid?” Olivia gasped. “How’d she get here?”

A pegasus came trotting out of the office, instead, but with Astrid’s famous afro, wearing a blouse. “What is it, Rootbeer?” she asked, in Astrid’s voice.

“We’re going to need a…” Rootbeer began, but he stopped before finishing his sentence.

He quickly turned back to Olivia. “What’s a typewriter, Olivia?”

That was when Astrid-pony noticed Olivia, and promptly jumped, gasping. “I thought Rootbeer was just high again…” she squeaked.

“Oh, no, I’m real,” Olivia shook her head.

“A-anyway!” Rootbeer broke the silence. “We need some sort of machine that we can quantum entangle so we can communicate with Olivia’s universe… I’m not too sure what, though…”

“Want me to go speak with Walter about this?” Olivia suggested. “He might be able to come up with something. He’s probably watching us right now.”

“He’s watching us?” Rootbeer asked. “How?”

“We rebuilt a transuniversal window,” Olivia explained. “That’s how we found you guys to begin with.”

“That’s going to make me paranoid…” Astrid-pony muttered to herself.

Rootbeer’s eyes lit up. “Of course!” he suddenly shouted, and scampered off.

Everyone watched as he pulled up a hidden hatch in the floor, diving right in as it closed behind him. He came back up a few seconds later, carrying something with him. “Is this it?” he asked.

“Yes,” Olivia answered matter-of-factly.

Indeed it was, but with one difference; the screen was cracked, as if someone shot it. “What happened to it?” Olivia had to ask, though she already knew the answer.

“Oh, I, um…” Rootbeer stuttered. “I threw a block of salt at it… So do you think this can work for communication?”

“If we can get it working.”

“Fantastic!” Rootbeer proclaimed. “Astral! Knight! We’re going to need some new quarter-inch glass and my power tools!”

As Rootbeer scurried off, Olivia proclaimed, “I’m heading home, I’ve already sat through that thing being rebuilt once.”

A small splash and the loud clang of heavy metal doors opening filled the lab as Olivia reemerged from the sensory deprivation tank. “Olivia!” Peter shouted as he rushed over, helping the mentally exhausted Olivia out of the tank. “Are you alright?!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine…” Olivia replied over a headache that felt like a tequila hangover. Peter wasn’t the only one who had one of those. “Glad to see another pair of hands…”

“I know you just got back, Olivia, but…” Astrid began, “this universe is one hand less now.”

Olivia looked up, still in her awkward position. “What do you mean?”

Astrid sighed. “There’s another.”

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Regidar

Regidar #1 · Nov 25th, 2012 · · ·

1681064 Nothing, it was a Pink Floyd Reference.

Raze

Raze #2 · Nov 26th, 2012 · · ·

1681064 Ok, thanks but I'm still gonna try for that OC spot.

The game is still afoot.

Raze

Raze #3 · Nov 26th, 2012 · · ·

Then, Walter came almost running down the hall with another man, who was plain impossible not to recognize; William Bell, CEO of Massive Dynamic. “Walter, William!” Nina greeted. “What brings you two here?”

I thought William Bell died or was at least unable to cross universes due to the large amount of times that he had crossed universes causing atomic instability. (or something like that)

Peter pointed a finger at Bell. “I know how the process works, and you are not going to give her cubes of enhanced LSD. Honestly, you should have seen Broyles on that stuff after he accidentally took some from Walter’s stash.”

I had to rewatch that scene like, 10 time and still I Lol !

Pleiades

Pleiades #4 · Nov 26th, 2012 · · ·

1681175 Ah, I see.
1683374 Congratulations, you have just earned that OC spot. That was a Cyan truth; something that did not occur in either the Blue or Amber universes. Go ahead, send me your pony's profile.

Raze