"And I STILL think it would be a bad idea!" Penn's voice called back from the closet. "Telling you the truth might not have backfired, but I don't want to THINK about what could happen if you watched your own movies!"

Sunset rolled her eyes. Since they didn't know exactly how far or for how long they would be looking for her friends, Penn was insisting on packing for a week-long trip, at the least. She had to admit, as much as she admired his need to adhere to the motto of "Be Prepared," she couldn't see what they would need all of THIS for. So far, he'd grabbed five binders of trading cards, a collection of the written works of someone called "H.P. Lovecraft," at least three different jackets and coats, and a laptop. And that was just the most recent collection of oddities he had shoved into the trunk of his car alongside a plethora of tools for working on the car, itself. She wondered if he was even going to be able to CLOSE the trunk at this rate.

Apparently, that old jalopy breaks down every few weeks... I guess I can't fault him for keeping all his tools inside it.

"Al...right! All dressed and ready to head out!" Penn stepped out of the closet, having now changed his clothes and gathered up the last and seemingly most important item: a small stuffed black cat. He was dressed in the same red-and-white baseball cap, but now wore an accompanying bright red flower-patterned shirt and a pair of khaki cargo pants, his pockets stuffed to the brim with chargers, adapters, and portable devices.

Sunset considered telling him that the outfit most definitely would NOT be allowed to stay once they'd rescued Rarity.

Sunset glanced around the room. The only object that caught her eye was the empty handle still clipped to her belt. She had felt a tiny bit bad taking it from the store without a chance or a way to pay for it, but she still felt like it belonged in her hand.

Penn shrugged, walking his way out of the room with a sigh and a motion for her to follow.

"Well, I packed extra clothes for you. I know mine might be a bit big on you, but it's all I've got."

Sunset smiled. Awful fashion sense or not, Penn seemed to have become a lot less anxious now that the truth was out there, speaking much more freely with her. Sunset wasn't sure just how comfortable she was with how familiar he was with her all of a sudden, but it was overruled quickly by how good it felt to have a friend that had her back. She could deal with someone having a little uncanny knowledge about her.

It would be kinda hypocritical of me NOT to, considering I'm a literal mind reader... she thought to herself, her hand unconsciously grasping at her geode.

In fact, the thought occurred to her that she still wasn't sure if her geode even still WORKED after everything that had happened. Quietly, she placed one hand on her geode as she walked up behind Penn. Even if she could just brush her hand against the back of his neck, it would be enough to get a glimpse, more than enough to confirm her powers were still there.

He already knows everything about me, and he lied about it! I mean, this is only fair, right? I should get to know something about him-

Before she could get the chance, Penn turned around and caught a glimpse of her, ducking violently away and inadvertently throwing himself against the car.

"I- I just wanted to see if my memory-reading still worked. I haven't had any chance to test it."

For the first time, Penn actually looked slightly angry with her, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. He pointed a single accusatory finger at her.

"Not me. Never. Me. If we're going to be friends, I don't want you in my head." He transitioned from pointing at her to pointing at his own head. "We lucked out with YOU, you're already past everything I've seen! Imagine if we accidentally met some character-" The word "character" made Sunset's brow furrow with frustration, and Penn quickly corrected himself. "If we met someBODY who wasn't? Imagine if we accidentally told someone their own future? Then telling them that future would change it, which would change what WE knew, which would change what we TOLD them, causing a paradox!" He opened the car door, tossing the last few items into the back seat of his car.

"With time and space overlapping and tearing like it is, we CAN'T risk a paradox!"

Sunset could feel herself pouting. He had a lot of conjecture he was treating as fact, here. Penn ignored her frustration, walking around to the driver's side and opening his door.

"So it's safest if only ONE of us knows this... 'meta' stuff. At least until we can be sure that it can't blow up in our faces. So NO reading my mind!"

Sunset sighed, opening up the passenger-side door and lowering herself into the front seat.

She'd had her doubts when Penn had told her more about his car, a model called a "'97 Oldsmobile 88" that seemed to live up to its name. It was even older than HER by almost a year, and Penn had made several joking remarks about it breaking down at an unsettling rate. It was an unassuming silver sedan, and the interior didn't exactly blow her away, either. The seats and lining of the interior were all gray fabric, unassuming and standard. The brightest addition was a small plush toy hanging from the rearview mirror, a chilling depiction of a yellow creature hanging its neck at an awkward angle and a face that looked as if it had been scribbled on hastily by a child. Well, I'm DEFINITELY going to enjoy looking THAT in the eyes all day...

Still, the way Penn settled into the driver's seat with a comfy smile of contentment, even more than he had when he was in his own house, left Sunset wondering if she was missing something. He lovingly ran his hand over the top of the steering wheel before plugging his key into the ignition.

"Alright, sweetheart, I know it's the end of the world, but we've got a job to do!"

With those words of encouragement, he twisted the key and the engine chugged to life. Sunset certainly didn't like the way it seemed to have trouble catching at first, but the engine was soon idling without a problem.

Penn grinned lovingly at the steering wheel and gave it a gentle pat before putting the car in gear and turning out onto the street.

"She's picky, but always pulls through when it matters! So..." Finally, his attention turned back to Sunset as they pulled up at their first stop sign. "I guess we should drive around town and see if we can find any of your friends out and about? Maybe if we're lucky, you all wound up sent to the same general area!"

"We... should probably listen to that. It might have some information we don't." Sunset suggested, reaching for the radio knob.

"-from the Emergency Broadcast System. There have been reports across the country of unknown phenomena in the skies. All citizens are urged to stay indoors. There have been numerous sightings of dangerous entities, and those who cannot return to their homes must NOT engage with these entities, as many have already proven themselves to be highly dangerous. Please return to your homes and do NOT leave them until it is confirmed safe to do so. More details will be broadcast as facts are confirmed. For your own safety, citizens everywhere are advised to stay indoors-

"Usually specify these broadcasts by the county or by the state it applies to, I guess this confirms this is happening all over the country. Aside from that, I think the two of us have figured out more on our own."

Sunset sunk lower into her seat, staring out the window dejectedly. Catching sight of one of her friends sounded like just about the only thing that could make her feel even slightly better right now.

When Sunset turned back to Penn, he was holding up a trio of CDs: ELV1S: 30 Number 1 Hits, Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2, and Queen: Greatest Hits.

She had no idea what any of those were. Well, if the galaxy ever needed guardians, now's the time... She tapped her finger halfheartedly on the case in the middle. "This one." To her surprise, Penn tossed all three cases into the back seat and pressed a pair of buttons on the radio.

"Awesome! That one's already in there, I listen to it when I'm doing deliveries!"

An upbeat piano began to pound out of the speakers as Penn hopped up and down to the beat.

"Heh, yeah..." Penn chuckled, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "I'm a pizza delivery guy. But that works for you! I know every back road of this town like the back of my hand!" He gave her a playful punch on the shoulder. "If your friends are here in town, we'll find them!"

Sunset smiled. Maybe it was the upbeat music, maybe it was his excited attitude, but something about it just put a smile on her face.

Yeah. We'll find my friends and fix all of this! It'll all be over in less than a day...

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"Okay, maybe if we go down Main Street towards the high school, then circle around down 22nd street again, we can check-"

Sunset sighed, staring at her namesake on the horizon. They had been essentially driving in circles for four hours, and there had been no sign of her friends. They'd been up every alley and down every lane, driven laps through every roundabout until she was dizzy. Sunset was absolutely certain she could draw a map of the town from memory, now. Worst of all, the fuel needle had dropped dangerously close to empty. They were on the last of the three CDs, the collection of songs by an older artist called "Elvis." Somehow, she wasn't surprised Penn had known the words to every single song on the album. Somehow, the song they were on seemed to be mocking their complete lack of results from the search.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm the night driver! I can see really well just by my headli-"

"They're not here. We're wasting gas. YOUR gas." Sunset grumbled grumpily. "I don't mean to be ungrateful, but I'm pretty sure we're wasting our time. We should fill up the tank and turn in for the night."

After a few moments, Penn sighed and his excited outer shell finally seemed to cave.

"You're... right. And if they're not in Seminole, then we need to figure out a real plan. Texas is BIG, and there's a LOT of empty space between towns."

Sunset breathed a sigh of relief as they turned away from their current route towards Main Street. After a short pause at a stop sign, however, Penn turned back away from the obvious direction and hit the gas with unnecessary force.

"Humor me for a few blocks..." Penn muttered. Sunset noticed that his smile was gone, and his eyes were fixated on the rearview mirror. Looking behind them, Sunset saw a pair of huge headlights on a pickup truck that looked like it could EAT Penn's Oldsmobile whole. At the next three intersections, Penn turned left, then right, then left again, then circled around the block. For every move he made, the pickup truck mirrored him, staying right behind them on the completely illogical route.

"We're definitely being followed..." Penn muttered, grimacing as he glanced down at the fuel gauge. "I might be able to lose them, but I can't risk getting us out onto the highway to try and put some distance between us." He slowly pulled up to a stop sign, coming to a stop and idling there as he pondered the situation. The song they were listening to finally ended and a new one began.

"How do you know they don't need help, or something? It DOES seem to be the end of the world. Maybe it could even be one of my friends!"

"If they were trying to send us a message, they would have honked or flickered their lights..." Penn muttered. "One thing people don't realize is that delivery drivers do get a little training in how to respond to these things, we strap signs on top of our cars that basically shout 'Always carrying cash!' At best, this guy is a bully just messing with us. At worst..." He sighed, shaking his head. As Sunset turned to look behind them, she spotted that the two rear doors had opened, and from inside came two tough-looking men. One was holding a crowbar while the other held a baseball bat.

"Well, it DOES seem to be the end of the world..." Penn muttered, running his hand over the steering wheel one more time before tightening his grip. "Sunset, hold on to something."

Sunset took a deep breath as the two men strolled up alongside either side of the car, the one with the crowbar on her side. She reached up and took a tight hold on the handle attached to the roof of the car, which Rainbow Dash condescendingly called "chicken handles."

Just as one of them was about to knock on the window, Penn slammed his foot on the gas pedal, making the car lurch forward in a squeal of disapproval at the sudden strain. The road robbers seemed just as angry with the development, but by the time they had jumped back into their truck and begun moving, Penn had already put nearly three blocks between them. The truck was only beginning to give a squeal of its own as Penn rounded the first corner at breakneck speed, skidding across the asphalt and just barely pressing the boundaries of spinning out.

The Multiverse in a Nutshell

by Pennington Inkwell

Moving Right Along