The Multi-Bread Theory

by Nudels

The Black Market Messenger

Author's Note:

Been a while since I wrote chapter one, hasn't it? You'd have thought since it was received so well I would have written another chapter sooner. Well it turns out (much to my displeasure) that I have a life to lead. Ideas have been... Lacking, too. I've been spending a lot of time on trying to get my qualifications and, like many people my age, bumming around with my mates on Battlefield 3. Actually as I'm typing this it dawns on me that I only have about 10 minutes to write this entire chapter.

Anyway I have a lot of plans for this, and hopefully it'll make you think and laugh at the same time.
But not this chapter.
This is still the beginning.

The day was bright and warm, as if the sun were beaming pure happiness and joy in a concentrated laser of photons towards Ponyville. I bet Shakespeare never thought of that line. Twilight had decided to show her friends her great discovery, with the exception of the final page. It was still a bit damp. She was actually making her way over to FlutterShy's cottage, satchel and book in tow. Every five feet or so a random stranger would wish Twilight good morning, and she would do likewise. It was like watching an episode of Sesame Street, if I'm honest. Pinkie would have to be the Cookie Monster. And hey wait, I just realised. That big yellow bird looks suspiciously similar to the one in Five Night's At Freddy's...

Anyway that's not what I was talking about. Twilight eventually made her way to a muddy, trodden track on the outskirts of town, leading towards the woods. FlutterShy's cottage was just in view, and so Twilight quickened her pace, a big stupid grin plastered over her face. She knocked on the round wooden door and awaited a response. A feeble voice. muffled by the wood, seemed to say something about being busy, when a loud crash sounded from inside. At a guess, it was a result of the resident bunny's refusal to do as it's owner asked. It's owner's persistence must be driving his short temper into a tantrum. Twilight was not to be deterred. If anything in this world was malleable, it was FlutterShy's will. Twilight knocked again. A meek and feeble voice seemed to float through the strong atomic wall that was the door.
"Y-yes... Alright..."
The door opened on it's hinges and a yellow pony stood rather shyly in the small crack. She was clearly in a state of stress, but any resentful feelings she had were quickly bottled up and thrown away as soon as she recognised who had interrupted Angel's bath time.
"Oh...! Twilight... I-I didn't expect to see you here...!"
Twilight smiled, and nodded.
"Yep! Well, here I am! I found something fascinating that I just had to share with you!" The look she got from FlutterShy was something slightly less than tolerant.
"Couldn't it wait...? I'm busy with Angel's-"
Twilight hadn't heard her.
"May I come in?"
"O-oh... I suppose..." mumbled the yellow mare, stepping aside for Twilight.

It had to be said that a lot of ponies in the neighbourhood didn't have a lot of patience for FlutterShy. She was quiet, took a long time to speak, and sometimes her willingness to help dragged on the soul. Plus, she smelled. Twilight didn't care for social norms anyway, so that was lucky, but she really liked FlutterShy because she was someone quiet and peaceful to whom Twilight could vocalise her thoughts. Many of Twilight's visits ended without FlutterShy having said a word, and Twilight would rush off having figured out some obscure secret of the universe, leaving FlutterShy dazed, confused, and with a rather neglected-feeling Angel to deal with. This time would be no different.

Twilight set her satchel on the living room table and proceeded to retrieve the book from it. Some more of the delicate gold leaf had worn from the surface because of friction in the bag, but it didn't faze her much.
"This book," she started, "has a revolutionary concept behind it."
"O-offensive title..." mumbled the ignored FlutterShy.
"Essentially it proposes the theory that there may well be more than one universe. In fact the theory kind of confirms itself. There are an infinite amount of universes that follow their own set of physics. Each universe is different. Some are duplicates, but that's besides the point at the moment. In these universes anything is possible. For example, there might be a universe out there in which the humans didn't suddenly disappear. Or a universe created entirely out of candy floss. Etcetera, etcetera. Don't you see what this means?"
FlutterShy wearily shook her head. It didn't really affect her if there were ten universes or a thousand. But she could see that Twilight was working up to something, and didn't want to steal her thunder. Twilight shook her head in hysterical and whimsical clarity of the situation.
"It poses so many questions! What if we could travel to these different universes? We could get an unlimited amount of resources! We could advance our technology even further! We could-"
"Wh-What if everything we know about our universe is wrong?"

Twilight stopped like a deer in front of headlights, and realisation hit her like the bus that was connected to them.
"Pardon?"
FlutterShy squirmed, and seemed to turn into herself. She thought she had been unforgivably stupid.
"Wh-what... If... Everything we knew a-about this universe... Was wrong...?"
Twilight could now confirm that that was what she had just said. FlutterShy was right. In Multiverse Theory this was entirely possible. The concept put her at unease. FlutterShy saw her friend physically sag, and watched her eyes stared off through her, through her house, and into space.
"... Sorry..."
Twilight snapped out of her trance, coming to understand the adverse effects that would come with this theory.
"I have to go."
"... Sorry..."
"I'll see you later FlutterShy!" Twilight said with forced mirth.
"... Sorry..."

If there was something, anything, Twilight had learned from her life, it was: 'When in doubt, ask your teacher.' She scrambled together as many bits as she could, and made a beeline for the train station. She would propose the idea to Celestia. She was terribly wise, she would know what to do. The platform was quite empty when she approached it, which was hardly unusual. They lived in a small town, and it was the last stop for the trains. Sure, tourism had increased with her efforts in saving the world from domination over and over, but honestly, it turns out people get bored of that after a while. Whoop-dee-doo, six girls saved the universe from increasingly unfavourable odds. It was just becoming common news. Besides, the Power Puff Girls could do it with half the infantry. Twilight, for one, was glad that the attention was shrinking. RainbowDash, however...

"I said," came a gruff voice from the side of Twilight, "excuse me."
Twilight turned her head to the side but saw nothing except an empty platform, some empty cola cans, a bench, the track that the train would soon be riding down, some weeds, gravel, assorted graffiti, a pigeon and a lack of a fence keeping ponies from walking on the track. But that was just the sort of town this was. They had resident superheroes who, according to the Mayor, don't have lives of their own and spend their free time patrolling up and down the train tracks looking for cats or rebellious teens who might be playing where they shouldn't be. Essentially the Mayor was now using the town's budget for her own indulgences and blaming Twilight and her friends every time the town janitor had to be dispatched to scrape a pet dog-turned pancake from the front of a freight train. All this resentment passed through Twilight in the split second it took for the voice to say, with apparent routine,
"Down here."

Twilight adjusted her vision 45°. There stood a shrimp of a stallion, bearded, dressed warmly and with the burden of experience in his doleful pale blue eyes. He looked exactly as you might expect a homeless person to look; like a sad Scottish fisherman. He had the blue beanie hat and everything.
"Oh," started Twilight. I say started because there was a brief pause wherein she had to search her very soul for something to say to this poor stranger, and all she could come up with was "Hullo."
The fisherman stroke homeless guy grunted.
"Yer Twilight Spurkle, ain't ya?"
"Actually it's pronounced-"
"Got a letter fer ya. If ya wannit."
Twilight sized up and judged what kind of horrible diseases she could pick up from this poor stallion. Even before she began to realise how odd it was to be offered a letter from a complete stranger. But then she was famous now, perhaps she ought to get used to it.
"Alright then."
The stallion reached into his pocket, and with some exhaustion, pulled out a sealed yellowish envelope. Careful not to touch this person, Twilight gingerly took the letter from him and looked down. It was simply addressed 'Twilight Sparkle' in the most wonderful handwriting she had ever seen. Twilight looked back up to thank this stallion but he had already left. Odd. He was utterly silent in the way he moved. Perhaps he was a messenger from a secret organisation. But something told her it was about the book. Perhaps some black market broker wanted her to sell it. Fat chance. Not if the broker smelled anything like that beggar just did. It was hard to describe just how bad he had smelled, because she only got a few seconds of it before her nose had decided to shut down altogether. From what she had gathered, he slept somewhere unsanitary and uncivilised. In those clothes. Ew.

Just before she could resist the temptation no more, the train arrived. Which is unfortunate for you because that letter is incredibly important in this storyline. It's the catalyst that starts all the weird stuff off. And I'm going to leave it at a cliff-hanger.

Comments

[Ikra]

We'll, okay then

~Exodia

[Toschka]

These cliffhangers nowadays....

[Twilight978]

Well now we have to wait another ten years.

[hollowsbest]

Just before she could resist the temptation no more, the train arrived. Which is unfortunate for you because that letter is incredibly important in this storyline. It's the catalyst that starts all the weird stuff off. And I'm going to leave it at a cliffhanger.

Hurry up with a new chap, I can't wait for more ^^ how many universes will she traverse? *whispers* Please be some sort of Superwholock.