Chapter 2: Through the Looking Glass Perhaps?
When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I immediately headed over to the kitchen. The layout of our house was different as well, but I could find the kitchen easily from the smells that was coming from it. As I arrived in the entryway, Bon Bon looked up at me. She was standing over a small pan on the stove, and mixing something around in it.
"Finally! I was only waiting forever! And look at that! It's that dress you said you would never wear again as long as you lived! Had a change of heart, I see? It doesn't look too bad on you anyway. Here, hurry and taste this." She dipped a small wooden spoon into the pan, then bought it up and held it out to me. I grabbed it slowly, and lifted it to my mouth.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You gotta blow it first, or you'll burn your tongue. We've been over this, remember, after your first little incident with tasting my flavors."
"Oh, yeah. I knew that." I said, and blushed slightly. I actually did remember that incident. Not pleasant for my poor burned taste buds. Strange how I remembered that when it happened to me when I was a pony... Maybe human Lyra and my lives were moving simultaneously with each others. Somehow... I blew on the spoon a couple of times, and then put it in my mouth. I thought about the taste for a bit. It was really good! It was...sweet, of course, and tangy. A certain kind of tangy... Citrus, perhaps?
Bon Bon's face was looking at me intensely, trying to catch signs of my reaction.
"Hm...You put orange zest in this, right?" I said and set my spoon down in the sink.
"Yes ma'am! I'm trying to make citrus flavored selections this month. This is going to be my opening flavor. I just have to figure out which candy I'm going to use this recipe with."
"Well, I like it, just tone down the citrus a bit with something. And afterwards, I think it would go good as a chewy candy of some kind."
"Got it! Tone it down, tone it down..." I watched her as she pulled certain spices down from the spice cabinet and then she poured a bit of something from a small bottle into the pot. After she mixed in her new ingredients, she got another spoon and dipped it into the pot again, and looked at me expectantly.
I stared at her, waiting for her to hand me the other spoon.
"Well, aren't you forgetting something?" She asked to me, cocking an eyebrow.
I looked at her confused for a moment, then suddenly remembered the routine that she normally made me go through when I tasted her flavors. I had to "renew my pallet", as she called it, which just meant I drink a bit of water or milk to get the old taste off my tongue, so I could judge the new flavor properly. "Oh, right." I said, and filled a glass halfway with water, swished it around for a few seconds and swallowed.
"Okay, ready." She handed me the new spoon and I blew it a few times, and then tasted it again. I was surprised! It was even better than before! And now, the citrus wasn't overpowering everything, but it was obviously still the main flavor. It was always amazing to me the things that Bon Bon could do with flavors. Though, I suppose that is what she got her cutie mark for.
"This tastes amazing Bon Bon! You did a great job!" I smiled at her.
"Really? Yes, thank you! Now, you said something chewy? Let's see... gummies? No...That would be too tedious, and I won't have as much help to do too many of those."
As she thought about it, I thought of something. "How about licorice?"
She stared at me for a bit, then looked at the pot, and tasted some with her own spoon. "Licorice...yeah. Yeah! That's an awesome idea. Citrus flavored licorice! Wow, you're just a plethora of help today, Lyra! Thank you so much!" She hugged me happily, and I laughed and hugged her back. "No problem. That's what I'm...here for?"
"Heh, well, it's one of the things you're here for." She smirked at me. "Anyway, you're free to go now, and finish your research and stuff."
I blinked at her. "My...research?" The only research I had known myself to have been doing was on humans. And if I was already a human, what else kind of research could I have possible been doing?
"Yeah, your...um, what was it again? The...inter-dimensional...no, no, that wasn't it... It was more like...um. The thing you do when you park between cars?" She was twirling her spoon between her fingers as she thought about it.
I, on the other hand, was completely dumbfounded. What the hay was a car? Did she mean cart? Like...a cart for pulling produce and supplies? Or perhaps a train car?
"Parallel!" she exclaimed, remembering suddenly, "That's what it was! Parallel Dimensions! You were researching that. That's why you came home so late, remember?"
I honestly had no idea what she was talking about, but if that was what I had told her then that must have been what I was doing. Right? I would just have to figure out what that was exactly.
"Yeeeah. That's totally what it was! Yeah, I should definitely get back to that thing, you're right." I said, and backed out of the kitchen slowly. I stopped and thought about something. "Um, do you by any chance know where exactly I went to do my...research on that?"
Bon Bon had already turned back to her pot and was measuring it out in some kind of container. "Yeah, you went to one of the libraries in Canterbury. Or, perhaps it was Canterlot...? It was something like that."
"Oh, okay then. Thanks. See ya later..." I said and backed out of the kitchen then turned around. Okay, so...Canterlot was hopefully still around and as I remembered, and I would be able to go there and get some information on what was happening! Hm...Canterbury? Why on earth would she mix Canterlot up with something like that? Weird... I found the front door, and took a deep breath. Okay, it was time for me to face whatever was out here in this human world. Just take it slow, and ask non-conspicuous questions, and hopefully nopony will think I'm insane. I grabbed the door handle and twisted the door open.
As I stepped outside, I had to stop and stare for a while. It was amazing! There were all kinds of new things I had never seen before! Everypony...er, they weren't ponies, so what exactly was I supposed to call them? Everypeople? Every... what? Well, whatever! I'd figure it out eventually! For now, I have got to see what all this new stuff is. There were smaller train carriages that were pulling the people inside of them, and even bigger train carriages, and even two-wheeled metal frames that people were pedaling on! And, oh, wow! Every... Allpeople were here! I could see all kinds of humans that resembled some of my pony friends such as Amethyst, and Minuette! I thought about waving to human Twinkleshine as I saw her walking from a distance, but I wasn't sure if she actually knew me in this world, or even liked me. But Bon Bon had known me, so...who knows? But, the only difference there is that I've been closer to Bon Bon than anypony since I came to Ponyville, so maybe that bond just carried over when I was put here...
I shook my head. This was no time to be thinking of these things by myself. I needed help, and if I was going to get it, I had to figure out how to get to the Canterlot libraries! But how? Things looked different here... It seemed like everything was strangely bigger... and everything looked busier. Not to mention, even though it was plainly still Ponyville, the changes here were much too foreign to me. How would I get all the way to Canterlot? I knew my best chance was to somehow get to the train, but...where was the train here? I didn't see any signs or any indication of what direction it would be in.
Well, my only chance was to ask around. Maybe there was a person who would be able to tell me. I looked around, and I spotted someone who was known to be a pretty helpful pony, Applejack. She was talking to a young human filly, who had red hair, with a pink bow tied in it, who I figured was her little sister Apple Bloom. They were both standing behind a booth of some kind on the side of the street, and trying to sell some apples by the looks of it. I walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder.
She turned around, and smiled at me kindly. "Well, howdy there. You interested in buying some apples? We're trying to earn some extra money for our family reunion that's coming up soon." She motioned to a bushel of apples they had in a barrel on the ground.
"Um, no, sorry. I just wanted to ask a question, if it's not too much trouble." I explained.
"Oh, no trouble. Ask away."
"Well, um...where is the train here?" I asked nervously.
She looked confused for a bit. "Um, a train? I don't believe we have a train in these parts. Or, at least, I haven't ridden one around here. Apple Bloom, there's not a train around here, is there?"
Apple Bloom turned around from the booth. "Nope, I haven't heard of a train being here. It would be amazing if there was one though! Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and I could catch one and become an awesome group of Train Hoppers! We could stow away on different trains, and travel the country side, looking for adventures and new ways to save everyone from all kinds of terrible trouble!"
'Everyone!' I though to myself, glad I found the right word to use.
"Right." Applejack said as she smirked and rolled her eyes at her sister's imagination.
She then turned back to me. "Well, sorry. I do believe there's not a train. But if you need to go somewhere far away, you could catch the bus."
"The...bus?" I asked, hoping it wasn't a stupid question. If it was, she didn't give any signs of it being one. "Mhm. There's bus number 7, which normally comes around this time on weekends, over there at the bus stop." She pointed across the road, on the other side of the fountain, where a bench was sitting underneath a glass covering. "And if you want to catch one later on, there's 10, and it usually comes in the evening time, right after 5:30 or so."
"Oh, um, thank you then. I'll be sure to look into that." I said, gratefully.
She smiled at me, "You're very welcome. Have a nice day, and come back if you get a taste for some good ol' Red Delicious. We have plenty to sell."
"All right then, I will." I said and waved as I walked away. Okay, so...a bus. If it could take me to Canterlot, then that would be amazing. There was something I needed to check while I here first though. Just to make sure I would be going on the right track. And that was at the library here in Ponyville. I think the pony Twilight Sparkle took up residence there. Maybe she wouldn't mind me looking at a book or two if I asked her nicely. I was already in the middle of town, so, if I remember correctly, then the library should be over in...that direction. I looked toward the outskirts of town, and I saw a big two storied building. It didn't quite look like the Golden Oak Library that I was used to... It wasn't even a tree anymore, it was a building made out of bricks. There was a big tree on the outside of it though, in the courtyard. "Well, it doesn't matter what it looks like, I just need the information that's inside." I said and started to walk toward the building. After I got there, and went inside, I stopped and looked around. Wow, it was certainly bigger on the inside than I'd remembered. I saw a human mare with long purple hair and a pink highlight going through it around my own age behind a desk and reading a book quite intensely. There was another young human colt...er,boy with green hair, rushing around, putting books up. I figured the human mare was Twilight Sparkle, and the young human boy was her assistant, Spike. I had seen the baby dragon out and about sometimes, doing errands and such with her. I went over to the desk she was sitting behind. "Um, excuse me?"
She didn't look up from her book. 'Must not have heard me...' I thought to myself.
"Um, hello there? I think I need your help with something." She still did not look up from her book. The young human boy came up beside me. "Sorry about that. Sometimes, she really gets into her reading. I'll get her for you." He went around the desk and stood beside her.
"Twilight! You have someone who needs your help! Snap out of it!" I jumped slightly when he yelled. Didn't see that coming...
"Hm?" Twilight finally looked up from her book, saw me standing there, and smiled. "Oh, hello there. Sorry, I was just reading up about a few ancient ideologies. Can you believe that people used to think that there was-?"
She got cut off as Spike interrupted her. "Oh, no you don't. I'm pretty sure she has questions of her own to ask you. We don't need to hear you say a speech on...ancient ideologies." He said, and went back to picking up books, and putting them on shelves.
"Well, it could still never hurt to learn, Spike!' she yelled after him, then turned back toward me, "Anyway, what can I do for you today miss...?"
"Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings." I informed her.
"All right then. What can I do for you miss Heartstrings?"
"Um, I was wondering if you had anything in here that deals with um... parallel dimensions?" I asked, trying to sound sure of the words.
"Parallel universes? That's quite an interesting topic. Let me check for you." She turned to square that was on the side of her, and started pressing things onto a clicky board that was in front of the square. "Um, there are two books here on parallel dimensions. Do you think that would be fine?"
Well, I figured dimensions couldn't be that different than universes, so why not? "Sure, that sounds okay." I replied.
"Alright then. Just a moment." She got up and went over to a certain area of the library, grabbed a ladder, then slid it down the wall to another area. Then, she climbed up on it and slid her finger down a row of books, then grabbed one of them out and bought it down. She walked back over behind desk. "Did you want to check it out or just read it here?"
I thought about it. I know I probably wouldn't have time to read all of it, even if I took it with me, so I might as well just skim over it. "I don't need it for long, so I'll read it here." I decided, and she nodded.
She nodded, then clicked something onto the board again, then handed it to me. "Here you go Miss Heartstrings. I hope you enjoy it. Honestly, it seems like something I would like to read myself. Tell me how you like it when you finish, okay?"
"Sure thing." I said and smiled as I grabbed the book from her hands and went over to a table that was by itself in a corner across the room.
"Okay, now, let's just see what human me had been researching." I opened the book. I don't know why I was surprised to see that it was actually in my language, but I was. To me it was Equestrian Common... but maybe here in the human world, it was called something else. I'd have to figure out what it was called. As I flipped open to the prologue and introduction pages, I skimmed down a bit, until I read something that caught my attention:
'A parallel universe, or alternative reality, as it can sometimes be referred to, is a separate universe, or reality that can coexist with one's own. Although these two titles are often seen as the same, there are factors which can separate them. Most of the time, it deals with certain facts or laws of nature that may exist in one reality, but it will not exist in the other.'
Oh, wow, this sounded interesting. At least now I knew what human Lyra had been researching. It was almost like what Bon Bon had suggested as to why we couldn't find humans anywhere in out world. But...that doesn't explain why I was here. How I even got here... 'I'll read some more. Maybe I'll find some answers.'
I started to read down the pages quickly, trying to catch a glimpse of something. Finally, I found a passage that was related to what I wanted to know:
'In terms of traveling between parallel universes, there are a few different tropes which are applied. A lot of fantasy and science fiction stories hold the key in which many of these themes are applied. The most common ways are through a portal, or through the use of an artifact that connects these two universes together. Examples of these types of travel would be the use of the wardrobe in C.S. Lewis' 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or the sigil in The Cream of the Jest by James Branch Cabell. However, in other theories, it is acknowledged that only certain people can be able to access these other worlds at certain times, after the use of an artifact, or after following certain rituals. An example of this would be Chihiro's experience after crossing the stream with her parents into the spirit world in Hayao Miyazki's Spirited Away. In other situations, physical travel is not needed, it can be achieved through dreams, or other altered states of consciousness.'
"Wow, this is getting really intense." I thought as I looked at the paragraphs I was reading. I didn't understand any of the references, but it didn't matter as long as I was able to understand the concepts, and so far, they seemed detailed enough. I breathed out slowly and then continued reading:
'With these kinds of tropes, the object that was used to pass into the other world is left behind and forgotten in the beginning of the story, and later found, as a way of reconciliation. The mirror in Lewis Carroll's 'Through the Looking Glass' is applied to that factor, in which Alice is immediately put in another world through it, and not until the very end of the tale, is able to return. The entire theory of this trope is that the main character should inevitably learn a life lesson in which they can afterward apply to their selves. This is the reason that throughout the tale, most of the obstacles the protagonist faces directly correlate to some aspect of their lives, which are not consciously thought upon.'
It trailed away into another topic, and I looked up from the book. So...what this was saying is that somehow I had passed through some type of portal perhaps. And that maybe there was a way back but I would have to find an artifact of some kind or find the portal I came through in the first place. Well, if that wasn't vague enough, I don't know what is... How in the world am I supposed to find something like that if I was sleeping and woke up in this world?
'Oh this is so confusing...' I thought and sighed. This was going to be difficult. Maybe I could find someone who could knew something about this kind of thing. I'm not sure where I would find someone like that though. Something then dawned on me. There was a certain pony, (well not quite) who knew about these things. Maybe not to this kind of scientific level, but I know she would be able to help me somehow. She used to be thought of as an outcast to everypony in Ponyville until we found out she wasn't evil or trying to put curses on us all: the zebra, Zecora.
'Alright then', I thought and stretched. "Time to go on to the next act in this tale."
I shut the book softly.
[Author's Note: Okay, I had so much fun writing this chapter! I loved Lyra becoming confused on words and all that. I especially loved writing the kitchen scene with Bon Bon! And I figured that in the human world, people would catch buses more than they would trains, which is why a bus was suggested instead (unless, it's a bigger city, where they catch subways and things, which Ponyville is not.) It suddenly got more "science fictiony" than I though it was going to get, but I think that's fun. I'm interested in things like that (thanks Doctor Who) anyway. And I hope at least one person will understand that Canterbury part lol. And I hope this one is slightly longer than the last chapter. It's hard to tell how long it'll be because I write them out in word and have to transfer them. This one was like 10 pages there... ^^' Honestly, I have no idea where this is going; it's just sprouting out of my head as I type. I hope I can keep up this pace, that's for sure.]
