//------------------------------// // We Do What We Must, Because We Can // Story: The Multiverse in a Nutshell // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// Sunset took a deep breath. The situation was still scary and everything, but having a friend standing beside her was certainly adding a comfort that hadn't been there before. It was enough to make her smile. "Do you have a plan?" "Working on it... Do you have anything?" Sunset frowned. "I don't know enough about this place, about HER, like you do. You came up with a lie that got us off the hook in just a few seconds!" Penn raised an eyebrow, looking surprised. "I had four hours to think of that, sitting in free-fall until you managed to break out, make your way across Aperture, and rescue me!" He grinned and reached over, giving Sunset's shoulder a firm clap. "I should be asking YOU for the plan!" "Well, I mean, it's not like I talked my way out of it, or something! I had help and didn't even know it! I would have been dead if it wasn't for-" She was cut off as the elevator came to a halt, the doors sliding open. "Showtime..." Penn muttered. "There you are..." Sunset didn't get the chance to see the source of the soft-spoken voice as Penn leaped from his side of the elevator, practically body-slamming her into the wall. At the same time, the air was filled with the near-deafening sound of machine gunfire. The edge of the doorway wasn't enough cover, Sunset felt three painful, stinging impacts on her side, and two more in her leg. It was nearly three seconds of gunfire before the door slammed shut and the elevator began to rapidly descend. "OwowowowowowOWOWOW!" Penn groaned, stumbling backwards and turning to face the opposite wall, planting himself face-first into the wall, where he proceeded to slam his fist against the wall multiple times while groaning in pain. "Penn, are you- OW- okay?" Sunset tried to step forward to check on him, only to feel a shooting pain run up her leg from where she'd been hit. She looked down at her leg, relieved to see a lack of bullet holes in her clothes. She lifted up the side of her jumpsuit, peering under her clothes to check herself for injury. There were large red splotches on each point she'd felt an impact, a couple places a small amount of blood had been drawn, but no serious injuries. Penn, on the other hand, had sunk down to his knees on the other side of the elevator, still pounding his fist against the wall periodically. "Oooooh man that hurts... That's gonna leave a mark..." he whispered between long, deep breaths. "I- I just... gimmie a minute to collect myself, Sunset..." "Do you... want me to take a look at it?" Sunset whispered, taking a step towards him. "A minute, SUNSET!" Sunset flinched back slightly, turning her attention to the floor, which was covered in bullet casings. As quickly as her injured leg would allow her, she bent down and picked one up. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but since when are we bulletproof?" "The- the turrets are spring-loaded..." Penn panted, finally seeming to calm down a bit as he pulled himself back up onto his feet. "They fire the whole bullet, casing and all..." "What? But that makes no sense!" "It's sixty-five percent more bullet per bullet..." "That still makes no sense!" "No... what doesn't make sense is why it stopped." Penn muttered. "They're not immediately lethal, but Aperture Turrets will still get the job done. Why would GLaDOS close the door and move us again?" Penn and Sunset's heads both snapped upwards, both coming to the realization that GLaDOS had still been listening to them the entire time. "WHAT?" Sunset was no expert on the laws of robotics, but she knew for absolute certain that was NOT how they worked. "Yeah, I saw THAT coming..." Penn muttered. There was a lurch in the elevator, and their rate of descent began to accelerate. Sunset's heart skipped a beat and her grip on the railing tightened. "Penn? This would be a great time for a plan!" "I- I don't know!" Penn replied, matching her posture on his own railing. "We could be going anywhere! Incinerator, basement, ANDROID HELL?" "PENN! FOCUS!" Sunset shouted. The hum of the elevator was beginning to become a roar, and judging by the lightness of her feet, Sunset could feel that they were almost in free-fall. Penn shook his head, clearly unable to think clearly under the pressure. "I-I-I-" he stammered. Sunset shook her head. It was clear she was going to be on her own this time. Okay, GLaDOS said that this place went down for miles, right? But every time I moved to the next test, the elevator took me DOWN! Upper management is on the top floors, the difficult testing chambers are on the lower levels, so they're less used. We're going down, so... "PENN! What's UNDER Aperture Science?" Penn snapped to attention, locking eyes with her. "The old labs! Abandoned, prior management's projects! But it's REALLY far down! The only way you could survive the fall would be-" His eyes widened, his head snapping down to look at their feet. Sunset already knew what he was about to say before he shifted his weight to only one leg. "The boot! FALL ON THE BOOT!" Sunset nodded, lifting up her bootless foot until she was standing on only one leg. After that, there was only one thing to do: brace herself. She tried to keep her jaw loose and her joints bent, she stayed ready to roll with the impact, if necessary. When the first impact came, it didn't stop them, only slowed them down for a moment. There was another impact, then two more, as if they were breaking through barricades. "HOLD ON!" And then everything went dark. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset was getting awfully tired of waking up with everything hurting. This time, there was darkness to accentuate the pain, forcing her to focus on it. Sunset tried to sit up, only to find herself unable. She tried again, only to find herself locked in place. She was stuck, pinned down. "Wh-what's going on? HELLO?" "Sunset! Oh, thank heavens you're alive! Hold on!" Penn's voice was muffled, but it sounded close. Relief washed over her as she realized she wasn't alone. "Penn! I-I can't move, I'm stuck!" "Please remain calm, Sunset Shimmer. A portion of the elevator wrapped around your upper torso in the impact. You will be free shortly." "ISIS? Isis, is that you?" Sunset winced slightly as the echo from her own cry of delight. Whatever piece of the elevator was on top of her, it was close enough for her to nearly deafen herself. "Affirmative. Please remain still and close your eyes. I will be making an incision in the debris." Sunset nodded and did as she was told. Moments later, an ear-splitting buzzing filled her ears, a piercing sound that felt like it could drill its way through her eardrums after a few seconds. She gritted her teeth and bore with it until it stopped. When she opened her eyes again, there hadn't been a visible change. "Okay, we're gonna try to pry it off!" "Well, no rush... It's not like I'm going anywhere." Sunset chuckled. There was a loud squeak to her left, the sound of creaking metal, and light began to flood in from her left. Soon, the entire panel had been lifted off from on top of her. Penn was standing over her, a look of relief on his face. "You feeling okay, Sunset?" He leaned down and offered her a hand, which she gladly took. "Better now that I've got a little fresh air!" Sunset smiled, feeling slightly giddy at her newfound freedom. She reached around and grabbed him in a tight hug, pulling him close. "Thank you!" To her surprise, Penn didn't return the hug, instead stiffening at her touch and letting out a small whimper. Sunset pulled away trying to see what's wrong. Penn's face was twisted into a grimace while his mouth was clamped shut, his left eye twitching violently. "Penn? Penn, what's wrong?" "I believe your embrace may have placed pressure on the contusions in his back caused by taking turret fire, causing him significant pain." "Oh... OH! Oh, Penn, I'm so SORRY!" Sunset cried, overwhelmed by the realization of how much pain he must have been in. Penn kept his mouth clamped shut, but shook his dead dismissively. "Wait a minute..." Sunset spun on her heel, turning towards Isis's voice. At first glance, she could hardly believe her eyes. Standing on top of the piece she had just been pulled out of was a small, silver dragon. It was small, much smaller than any dragon she'd seen in or outside of Equestria, not even the size of a housecat. Its body looked smooth at first glance, but closer inspection revealed that rather than scales, it was covered in small panels, one of which had opened on the tail to reveal a circular saw. The head was wide and flat, shield-shaped with narrow pink eyes angled towards the front, and the source of the earlier light was finally revealed: a large diamond-shaped stone mounted in the center of its chest, glowing with pink light. Sunset could only hazard a guess without handling it personally, but it looked to be a cut and polished piece of rose quartz. There was a soft clicking as the saw retreated back into the tail and one of the panels moved to cover it, and the dragon bowed down to her. Oh no... that is ADORABLE! "It is a relief to find you relatively unharmed, Sunset Shimmer. There were approximately eight thousand, three hundred and sixty ways the debris could have fallen, eighty seven percent of which could have crushed or eviscerated you mid-flight or on impact. I was quite concerned for your safety." Sunset felt her smile lessen slightly. Okaaay, maybe not as adorable as at first glance... Sunset smiled and reached down, scooping up the clockwork dragon in her hands and holding it up to eye level. "And it's very nice to finally meet you face-to-face, Isis." "Indeed, though perhaps it could have occurred under more desirable circumstances? My apologies, I hesitated to override the elevator controls out of fear of exposing myself and compromising my ability to aid you both in the future. As such, both of you were injured before I took action." "Isis, you saved our lives! You don't have to apologize for-" Sunset was cut off as the dragon began to squirm and contort in her hands, wrapping around her arm and swiftly climbing up to her shoulder, where it took a firm and watchful perch just in the corner of her vision. "While that may be true, I exposed my location on top of the elevator compartment, and the three of us appear to have been expunged from the main laboratory. I miscalculated and did not reach an ideal outcome. For this I apologize, and assure you I will not repeat such a failure." That was so cute, Sunset had to physically cover her mouth to repress an involuntary "Awwwww!" Penn sighed, his internal battle seemingly over for the moment. "You were in a no-win scenario, Isis. We all were. The fact that we made it out alive at all means that you made the right call. Your presence was probably the only thing that stopped GLaDOS from just gassing us, she knew you'd still be there and functional to cause her more trouble." "Yeah!" Sunset agreed. "I mean, we're not in the best situation, but we're all here together! That's all we need!" "Very well. Our first step should be to determine our location and how to return to the higher levels. This area was expunged from the blueprint files, I'll scan the area to generate a map of the immediate location." With a whirring of mechanical engines, Isis crouched, then leapt from Sunset's shoulder, wings fully extended as engines fully revved to life and propelled her into the sky. For the first time, Sunset took a good look at their location. It looked like a nightmarish, half-destroyed version of Aperture Science, covered in mildew and rubble. All the walkways were constructed from rusted steel, while what wall panels were left had become an aged brown. There was no enclosed space around them other than the towering walls of a subterranean cavern. Fog clouded any attempt to peer into the distance, while what lights did exist were all the same aged yellow color as the paneling. The only thing Sunset felt she could give credit to was the electrical wiring and the light bulb manufacturers, still keeping the entire place lit well enough to navigate. "Where... is this?" she half-whispered. "Aperture Science Innovators." Penn sighed, giving a melancholy look over the facility. "The life's work of a... well, I suppose it would be best to call him a visionary man. This was Aperture before GLaDOS took over." "What happened to it?" Penn shrugged, finding a comfortable-looking piece of rubble and carefully sitting himself on top of it. "Same thing everyone is afraid of every time they hear the words 'artificial intelligence.' They created a computer smarter than them and it deemed them obsolete, along with these old testing chambers and reception areas." Sunset limped her way around behind him, taking a seat on the same piece of rubble. "Why didn't they just... switch her off, or something?" "Oh, they did! They'd turn her on, she'd try to kill them all, they'd turn her off again, attach a few smaller AI to the same system to try and reign her in, it was a cycle for a while! Then, one day, they slipped up, as humans do. I can't remember the exact details, maybe she tricked them into thinking she'd behave, maybe the intelligence-dampening spheres failed after a certain amount of time, maybe they were just too slow to hit the button before she locked them out? She flooded the facility with deadly neurotoxin and killed pretty much every employee in the building. From then on, the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System ran Aperture Science..." he chuckled softly to himself. He turned his attention to his hands, and Sunset could see that he had begun silently wringing them in anxiety. "Creating one of the best video games of all time. One of my absolute favorites. Perfect atmosphere, clever writing, perfect command of 'show, don't tell,' narrative... Portal had it all." His gaze turned upwards, peering into the dark towards the inevitable roof of the cavern. "And now it's got us, too." "I guess that explains how you knew so quickly that thing was about to open fire on us, doesn't it?" Sunset muttered. "You don't really forget the turrets. A merciless killing machine with the sweetest little voice." "And you just threw yourself at me when you heard it." Penn's eyes widened and he quickly raised his hands in defense. "Sorry! Sorry, personal space and all that-" "I MEANT that you put yourself in harm's way for me. Again!" Sunset sighed, rubbing at her temples. Penn responded with a confused expression. "Are you saying you don't want me to protect you?" "First the dalek ship, now this? I'm getting awfully tired of getting shoved out of the way just to watch you get hurt in my place!" "Sunset, I'm a big boy, I think I can handle some oversized airsoft guUUUUUUUUUUUUHNS!" His word escalated to a strained cry as Sunset reached over and placed her hand on his back. Even with as gentle as she was being, there was no way for him to hide his pain. She quickly removed her hand, her point clearly made. "Sorry, but I'm not going to allow any machismo on this road trip. You're hurt, and you need to admit it." For a moment, it looked like Penn was going to argue with her, but quickly backed down. "Fine... I'm hurt, and I admit it. Happy? At least you're not!" "But it's not WORTH it if you-" "HEY!" Sunset was cut off as Penn raised his voice, sending echoes through the cavern. The two of them sat in silence for a moment, each one sizing the other up while they waited for the echo to dissipate. Slowly, Penn reached up with one hand, prodding her just below her geode. "Don't you EVER. Say. That you're not worth saving! Got that?" Sunset narrowed her eyes and returned the motion, jabbing her own finger right back into him. "Not at the cost you've been paying! If I screw up and wind up in danger, let ME get out of it without putting your own well-being on the line! I can HANDLE it!" "Oh, NOW who's the one with all the machismo, huh?" Penn snapped. "You know why I put myself between you and that hail of bullets? Because you have the physical build of a stick figure! I was afraid you'd be torn to shreds right before my eyes! Can you imagine how I would live with myself if you got hurt knowing I could have DONE something? I'm the big brother in my family, you know that? I've had little siblings all my life, and the first duty I ever put on myself was to PROTECT them! I pounded it into my skull at an early age, and I am not about to give up on protecting YOU just because you don't LIKE IT!" Once again, silence fell between the two of them, filled only by the unintelligible echoes of their argument bouncing and reflecting off of the walls. Soon, however, even that noise faded, leaving them with only the tension in the air. After a long beat, Penn turned his back to her and finally let out a sigh, one that hissed long enough to feel more like a pressure valve releasing than a human being breathing. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to lash out like that... I'm hurting, it's put me on edge. I'll... try not to put myself in danger again, okay?" "I think we both lashed out." Sunset whispered. "I shouldn't have touched your back on purpose like that just to get a point across. I'm on edge, too. I'm scared. Right now, it feels like you're the only friend I have in the world, and the thought of losing you is... a nightmare! I don't want to be alone again! I'm so far from home, I feel like I don't understand things going around me, and... Well, I guess that even if it's CREEPY how much you know about me and my friends, the way you act is... a friend. A real friend, the type of friendship I UNDERSTAND! I just... can't bear the thought of losing that friend. I don't want to lose you because you thought you needed to throw yourself in front of me because you saw me on TV, or something! I'm not a movie star, I'm not some precious fictional character you need to shield from the rest of the 'real' world, I'm just ME!" Sunset took a deep breath, swallowing the rapidly-forming lump in her throat. "I'd rather get hurt than lose the only friend I have right now, understand?" There was another pause of silence, and Sunset heard a loud sniffle coming from behind her. "Are... are you crying?" "N-no!" Penn protested, his voice clearly on the brink of cracking. Sunset smiled, choosing to let him have the moment to himself. "So... are we good, Penn?" "Fine... but I'm not going to NOT protect you, okay?" "I feel safer already, as long as you don't go throwing your life away." "I wasn't planning on it, but... okay, deal!" Sunset finally let herself giggle as relief washed over her, the tense moment finally over. "Hey, Sunny?" "Yeah?" "When we get out of this place, wanna have a movie night and watch that first Equestria Girls movie?" Sunset raised an eyebrow and turned back toward him, surprised at the offer. "What about all that 'paradox' business you were talking about? Do you think the fabric of space-time can handle it?" Penn chuckled and turned to face her, as well, leaving them once again sitting side by side. He had his cards in his hands, unconsciously shuffling them without looking at what he was doing. "It's all in the past anyway, right? It's not like you could get some secret knowledge that would change established events!" Sunset chuckled and shook her head. "No... No, I don't think so. Sure! Movie night, soon as we're out of this place! I'm gonna want popcorn, though!" Both of them broke out into another fit of giggles, one that seemed to finally get the last of the nervous energy out of her system, the "jitters," as Pinkie would call them. After a few seconds, an obvious question she had missed sprung to mind. "Hey, where did you get your cards? I didn't have any of MY stuff when I woke up!" "Oh, neither did I! I was really worried about... my..." Penn trailed off, slowly looking down at his hands as if for the first time. "Sunset?" "Yeah?" "I didn't have these in my hands five minutes ago, did I?" "No, I figured they were just in your pocket, or something?" "No, they weren't." "Then..." Sunset felt a chill run down her spine as she stared at the blue-sleeved cards clutched in Penn's hands. "Where did those come from?" Slowly, Penn turned over the top card of the deck, revealing the card he had so proudly displayed before they had flown to the Dalek ship: The Ghostrick Angel of Mischief. Somehow though not a single piece of the card had changed, Sunset couldn't help but feel the illustration's playful wink was aimed towards them in a much more... personal manner. The two of them exchanged an unsure glance, then both began to slowly reach for the card... "The area has been scouted, scanned, and mapped, and the most efficient route upwards calculated! "GAAH!" Penn and Sunset both jumped in unison at Isis's sudden return, nearly falling off their makeshift chair. Isis looked carefully over both of them, her head tilted in a curious manner. "My apologies, it appears I have startled you. I am ready to lead the way at your earliest convenience, please take all the time you need to recover." "It-it's okay, Isis. We were just... talking. Didn't hear you fly in." Penn quickly stuffed his cards into the breast pocket of his jumpsuit. With a soft groan, he rose back to his feet. "Ready, Sunny?" Sunset nodded, standing up to join him. "Lead the way, Isis!" "Affirmative!"