//------------------------------// // MEANWHILE // Story: The Multiverse in a Nutshell // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// It was a long and tiring road, but with Ruby and Weiss's help and a lot of clever teamwork, the three of them had fought their way through the forest and made it to the ruins they had been instructed to find. Admittedly, Ruby DID have an idea that would have gotten them there much faster, but luckily a two-to-one vote had been enough to shoot down the idea of hitching a ride on a gigantic bird monster called a "Nevermore." It seemed as if they weren't the only ones who had been slowed down, though. As they emerged into the clearing, Sunset spotted Blake and Yang picking up their relic from one of the many pedestals, which meant they had only just arrived. Nearby, another girl whooped and hollered with glee as she rode on the back of a bear-like Grimm, which collapsed soon after arriving. She was being followed by a boy dressed in green, who looked thoroughly exhausted by his partner's antics. "Looks like this is taking longer than we thought it would..." Ruby muttered. "Anybody spot a partner for Sunset, yet?" Sunset rolled her eyes. "Ruby, I told you, I'll be FINE. I'll probably pair up with some other straggler. Come on, let's get that relic." "But you're too good to wind up without a partner just as talented as you are!" Ruby whined, clearly more concerned about Sunset's future than she was. "Her form with that sword is sloppy at best and crude at worst. She's got natural talent, but she'll need a LOT of training before I'd call her skilled," Weiss countered, once again balancing out her optimistic partner. "HEY! You could afford to be a little nicer, Weiss! She saved YOUR life, too!" "Not half as many times as I saved yours! You're only slightly more finessed than she is!" Sunset rolled her eyes and strolled up to the ruins, glancing over the pedestals and discovering what exactly it was that they had been sent to retrieve. "Chess pieces?" "Affirmative. Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee will take the White Knight, as will Blake Belladona and Yang Xiao Long. Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos will take the White Rook, as will Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren." "Aw, Pyrrha and Jaune wind up being partners? That's sweet..." she whispered as a smile spread across her face. She hadn't been able to speak directly to any of her traveling friends while she was around Weiss and Ruby, and the three of them had tended to stay quiet during the fighting aside from the occasional warning of incoming danger. It felt reassuring to know they were still there. She scooped up the White Knight piece before tossing it towards her new friends. "Ruby! Catch!" Somehow, despite showing incredible battle prowess and almost-inhuman levels of agility earlier, Ruby was struck squarely in the forehead by the oversized chess piece. It bounced off of her head and back into the air while she fell to the ground. Weiss was quick enough to snatch it, examining it while Sunset made her way back. "Chess pieces?" Sunset shrugged. "I used to have a teacher who really enjoyed chess. She would always tell me it was one of the oldest games ever played. I rather enjoy it, myself. Did you know that there are more unique ways a game of chess can play out than there are electrons in the known universe? Ten to the one hundred and twentieth power!" "Well, it IS a scholar's game." Weiss smiled to herself, the kind of smile that Sunset had learned she'd managed to bring a compliment back around to herself. "Perhaps after all of this, we could sit down for a match. I could probably teach you a thing or two." Sunset smirked a smirk that quickly seemed to melt through Weiss's self-assured pride. "Well, my old teacher was VERY good. Maybe we could both learn something." Sunset felt a hand on her shoulder. When she turned around, she found herself face to face with Blake, who had a smirk of her own. "Glad to see you made it in one piece." Sunset's first instinct was to hug, but she forced it back down. Blake was cool and aloof. "Touchy-feely" wasn't her thing. Instead, she restricted herself to looking Blake straight in her gold-colored eyes and returning the smile. "You, too." "RUBY!" "YANG!" Just as the two sisters were about to embrace, the girl who had managed to ride on a giant bear popped up between them. "NORA!" Before anyone could question where "Nora" had come from, their attention was drawn by the sound of distant screaming from above them. Sunset could only watch, flabbergasted, as Jaune's distant form sailed over their heads before landing in the trees above them with a grunt followed by a long groan. "Did he just fall out of the sky?" Blake asked. Before anyone could answer THAT question, the other side of the clearing exploded as Pyrrha came sprinting into the clearing. Behind her was a massive armored scorpion-like Grimm with a glowing stinger. She was only barely keeping ahead of it, dodging through snapping claws and around strikes from its tail. "Did she run all the way here with a deathstalker on her tail?" Blake asked. Once again, any hope of an answer for Blake was cut off as a pair of gigantic flying Grimm came into sight. One was a super-sized version of the wasp-like monsters called "Lancers" that they had fought earlier, and the other was- "HA! I TOLD you the nevermore was headed this way! I was RIGHT!" Ruby gloated, seeming to have forgotten that the assembled monsters were almost certainly here to kill them. There was the sound of a distant impact, and Pyrrha came crashing to a rough landing in front of the group. I guess even she can't dodge forever... Sunset thought to herself as she bent down and offered a hand. "You okay, Pyrrha?" "I'll be fine..." she groaned as she staggered back to a standing position. "Where's Jaune?" "Up here..." Jaune whined as he dropped down from the branches. "Great, the gang's all here! Now we can all die together!" Yang cheered sarcastically. Ruby's grip on her scythe tightened, and for a moment it looked as if she was going to do something reckless. A particularly loud buzz from the lancer's wings, however, seemed to put a bit more sense into her. "We're NOT going to die, but we're not getting out of here without a fight, either. I have a plan." Sunset grabbed her lightsaber and switched it on. The crimson blade certainly inspired more confidence in her than it had at the start of the day. "We're all ears, Ruby." "Our mission isn't to fight every single Grimm we can find, it's to retrieve the relics and get back in one piece. Me, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Sunset already have ours. We can run interference to distract them while everyone else gets in and out quickly, then we can make our way back to the school as a group." She cast a grateful glance back at Sunset and Weiss. "There's safety in numbers." The rest of the group all looked around at each other, trying to spot any signs of opposition to the plan. Blake seemed uncomfortable, but she didn't speak any complaints. Yang was practically beaming with pride for her younger sister. Weiss had her arms crossed over her chest, but couldn't seem to muster up any ire, for once. "Okay. The moment we have our relics, we'll come back to this point." Jaune nodded before turning to the girl who had surprised them. "Nora, you can use your grenade launcher to signal when we're ready, right?" "You betcha!" "Alright, it appears we have a plan. Stay safe, everyone." Pyrrha added. With a nod and a point of her finger, Ruby led her team in a charge towards the scorpion-like deathstalker, instantly drawing the gaze of the two flying monsters towards them. As Sunset ran straight into danger, she forced down the feeling of her heart wanting to leap into her throat. This was the moment of truth. Do or die. MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE CAMPSITE "Hey, Isis, can you grab the 17 millimeter socket for me?" "Affirmative." "I think... we're just about finished!" "Affirmative!" "In that case... let's hit the road before Mercury and Emerald come back and most likely kill me!" MEANWHILE, AT EVERNIGHT CASTLE "I'm sorry, did you say 'Quantum Tunneling Device?'" Doctor Arthur Watts was a smart man. Clever, even. Salem would never call him "brilliant," his ego was near-unbearable already. But he was smart enough to know when to and when not to speak. So when he purposefully interrupted Cinder's report, Salem simply gave him a warning in the form of an angry glance. "Forgive me, your grace, but this could prove quite intriguing. If such a device were to exist, we may be capable of harnessing it for our own purposes." He gestured with his hand, as if asking for permission. Salem rolled her eyes, but nodded, giving her blessing for him to continue talking. "Such a device would, in theory, be capable of manipulating sub-atomic particles in a way that could, for all intentions, alter physical space and matter, itself! Properly utilized, it could prove invaluable in aiding our infiltration of key locations, making it exponentially easier to do so!" Salem knew he was right, it was rare that he ever said anything out loud without thinking it through well enough to know he was. However, Arthur was also a little too quick to jump onto new subjects of study for her liking. She had tried taking shortcuts many times over the many, many years she had been alive, and more often than not they were either ineffective or too costly to be worth using. What was more intriguing to her was the appearance of another strange individual with unfamiliar technology in a key position for her plans. From what Cinder's subordinates had reported, it appeared that he commanded at least one other intelligent creature, which meant he was in a position of some authority. There was no way that this was a coincidence with the appearance of "Sunset Shimmer." "Bring the boy to me. Alive. And bring Arthur the device you spoke of. I want to know what he knows and where he came from." On the other side of the seer, Cinder smiled. "Consider it done." MEANWHILE, IN A TREE SOMEWHERE "Zzzzzzz..." Missy snored. MEANWHILE, IN THE EVIL MIRROR UNIVERSE "Well? I'm not a fan of teamwork, so this is a limited time offer." He considered his options. He had to admit, this she-demon made a convincing offer, and the world DID appear to be going mad, if the screams outside were anything to go by. Not that he cared, all of the people out there could burn, they deserved it. Plus, she was hot, in every sense of the word. He held out his hand to her, ready to strike the deal. "Alright, I'm in. Partners." He winced in pain as she reached down and took hold, her skin hissing and letting off steam as it made contact with his. She didn't appear to feel a thing, her smile growing wider as the shape of her claws was burned into the back of his hand. "First things first, you're going to need some power to go with that knowledge of yours." She raised her hands over her head, the purple gem in her crown beginning to glow with power. He quickly held up his hands, motioning for her to stop. "THAT won't be necessary." He reached into his bag, retrieving a thick notebook. "If universes really ARE bleeding over, I already know a few that I would be HAPPY to bleed dry." Outside, the sounds of roaring and fire grew louder, but he knew what was most important: He was in control. "After all, I MADE them." MEANWHILE, IN THE UNIVERSE WHERE PENN AND MISSY ARE ITALIAN "Ay, Penn?" Penn rolled his eyes as he picked up his phone. "Dimmi tutto." "Ho bisogno di te posso evocarti?" Penn shook his head as he peered into the darkness. "Oh... Non adesso, Missy. Sto cercando il sole." "Benne allora trovalo e metti il simbolo di evocazione," Missy stated dismissively. "Oh mi piacerebbe ma non riesco a trovarlo..." Penn muttered. There was a slight pause. "Che significa 'non riesci a trovarlo'?" "Non riesci a trovarlo, è tutto buio." Penn squinted his eyes, trying to see any sign of light in the murky blackness. "Che significa 'tutto buio'?" Missy asked, beginning to sound irritated at Penn's usual antics. "Significa che è tutto buio!" Penn repeated, emphasizing the important point. "ALLORA VAI VERSO LA LUCE!" Missy shouted, her voice sounding nearly deafening as it came out the other side. "Ok! Ok! Non c'è bisogno di ulare!" From Missy's side of the conversation she could hear hasty footsteps. After about a minute, the footsteps came to a stop. "É ancora buio!" Penn declared. "CHE SIGNIFICA 'ANCORA BUIO'?" In a rare moment of waning patience, Missy's voice was becoming a shrill screech. "Ancora tutto buio!" "ALLORA VAI NELLA PROSSIMA AREA!" There was another pause and the sound of more footsteps. "É ANCORA BUIO!" Penn shouted, now every bit as frustrated as Missy was becoming. Sunset reached up and switched off her earpiece. Seriously, with how much those two tended to shout, it was a wonder she hadn't gone deaf by now. MEANWHILE, IN THE UNIVERSE WHERE THE ROLES ARE REVERSED "So, uh... what are we gonna do with him?" Applejack asked. It was a good question, considering the person in question was currently curled up on Sunset's bed, rocking back and forth with his knees pressed to his chest. "I'm in a cartoon, I'm in a cartoon, I'm in a cartoon..." "Well, according to my calculations-" Princess Twilight started, only to be cut off moments later by her doppelganger. "OUR calculations- or is that the same thing in this instance?" Sci-Twi mused. "Anyway, it looks like two derivative instances of the Elements of Harmony firing off on either side of a dimensional barrier caused a resonance cascade! One that resulted in a complete pan-dimensional breakdown of the barriers between worlds!" "And, APPARENTLY, he was forcefully sucked through those dimensional barriers until he wound up here." Applejack blinked in surprise as she tried to process what she was being told. "Are you tellin' me that he's from another whole WORLD?" "Like an ALIEN?" Rainbow Dash asked enthusiastically. "Well, his DNA is definitely human, although there are some key differences. It seems that the diversity of traits this subspecies can express is much narrower than the dominant species of our world, mostly determined by the concentration of a handful of pigments." "I'm in a cartoon, I'm in a cartoon, I'm in a cartoon!" "I mean, it was clearly something he should NOT have been conscious for, he's in extreme shock. Also, apparently, where he's from, our universe is seen as some kind of cartoon..." Princess Twilight added. "It makes sense that, in an infinite multiverse, there would be some world where a cartoon matches our world. It actually validates an old thought experiment involving an infinite number of monkeys and typewriters!" "Forget thought experiments! We've got conclusive proof of the existence of the multiverse! Just wait until Princess Celestia hears about THIS!" "PFFFT, I coulda toldya THAT!" Pinkie scoffed. Sunset raised her hand, grabbing both Twilights' attention. "Wait... so does that mean it's OUR FAULT he's here?" Silence dropped like a stone as the Rainbooms all looked at one another. "I guess that means it's up to us to get him back home, huh?" Applejack declared. "Well, it would certainly be the responsible thing to do..." Rarity mused. "Though if he's from another dimension, that's a tall order, even for us!" "What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash added. "Don't you remember the friendship games? Equestrian magic can open portals to other worlds all the time!" "Unfortunately, that's the PROBLEM!" Princess Twilight exclaimed, rubbing at her head. "Our magic didn't just open a way into one other universe, it opened them ALL! As in INFINITY!" she pointed to their unwilling guest. "And a sample of his hair showed dimensional signatures from at least twenty different worlds!" Sci-Twi shook her head. "He was sent on QUITE the journey! Honestly, the odds of him winding up here, or even of HIM specifically being drawn here, are, well, INFINITE! He has to have some kind of connection to us, somewhere in the infinite multiverse..." The rest of the Rainbooms all glanced at one another, then at the young man still rocking back and forth on Sunset's bed. "Well, we DID have the tour bus all set up for a long trip, didn't we?" Rainbow asked. "Come on! Road trip across the multiverse, this is gonna be AWESOME!" MEANWHILE, IN THE UNIVERSE WHERE EVERYTHING IS REVERSED "!EMOSEWA eb annog si siht ,esrevitlum eht ssorca pirt daoR !no emoC" .deksa wobniaR "?ew t'ndid ,pirt gnol a rof pu tes lla sub ruot eht evah DID ew ,lleW" .deb s'tesnuS no htrof dna kcab gnikcor llits nam gnuoy eht ta neht ,rehtona eno ta decnalg lla smoobniaR eht fo tser ehT "...esrevitlum etinifni eht ni erehwemos ,su ot noitcennoc fo dnik emos evah ot sah eH !ETINIFNI ,llew ,era ,ereh nward gnieb yllacificeps MIH fo neve ro ,ereh pu gnidniw mih fo sddo eht ,yltsenoH !yenruoj eht ETIUQ no tnes saw eH" .daeh reh koohs iwT-icS "!sdlrow tnereffid ytnewt tsael ta morf serutangis lanoisnemid dewohs riah sih fo elpmas a dnA" .tseug gnilliwnu rieht ot detniop ehs "!YTINIFNI ni sA !LLA meht denepo ti ,esrevinu rehto eno otni yaw a nepo tsuj t'ndid cigam ruO" .daeh reh ta gnibbur ,demialcxe thgiliwT ssecnirP "!MELBORP eht s'taht ,yletanutrofnU" "!emit eht lla sdlrow rehto ot slatrop nepo nac cigam nairtseuqE ?semag pihsdneirf eht rebmemer uoy t'noD" .dedda hsaD wobniaR "?naem uoy od tahW" "!su rof neve ,redro llat a s'taht ,noisnemid rehtona morf s'eh fi hguohT" .desum ytiraR "...od ot gniht elbisnopser eht eb ylniatrec dluow ti ,lleW" .deralced kcajelppA "?huh ,emoh kcab mih teg ot su ot pu s'ti snaem taht sseug I" .rehtona eno ta dekool lla smoobniaR eht sa enots a ekil deppord ecneliS "?ereh s'eh TLUAF RUO s'ti naem taht seod os ...tiaW" .noitnetta 'sthgiliwT htob gnibbarg ,dnah reh desiar tesnuS .deffocs eikniP "!TAHT aydlot adluoc I ,TFFFP" "!SIHT tuoba sraeh aitseleC ssecnirP litnu tiaw tsuJ !esrevitlum eht fo ecnetsixe eht fo foorp evisulcnoc tog ev'eW !stnemirepxe thguoht tegroF" "!sretirwepyt dna syeknom fo rebmun etinifni na gnivlovni tnemirepxe thguoht dlo na setadilav yllautca tI .dlrow ruo sehctam nootrac a erehw dlrow emos eb dluow ereht ,esrevitlum etinifni na ni ,taht esnes sekam tI" .dedda thgiliwT ssecnirP "...nootrac fo dnik emos sa nees si esrevinu ruo ,morf s'eh erehw ,yltnerappa ,oslA .kcohs emertxe ni s'eh ,rof suoicsnoc neeb evah TON dluohs eh gnihtemos ylraelc saw ti ,naem I" "!nootrac a ni m'I ,nootrac a ni m'I ,nootrac a ni m'I" ".stnemgip fo lufdnah a fo noitartnecnoc eht yb denimreted yltsom ,dlrow ruo fo seiceps tnanimod eht naht reworran hcum si sserpxe nac seicepsbus siht stiart fo ytisrevid eht taht smees tI .secnereffid yek emos era ereht hguohtla ,namuh yletinifed si AND sih ,lleW" .yllacitsaisuhtne deksa hsaD wobniaR "?NEILA na ekiL" "?DLROW elohw rehtona morf s'eh taht em 'nillet uoy erA" .dlot gnieb saw ehs tahw ssecorp ot deirt ehs sa esirprus ni deknilb kcajelppA ".ereh pu dnuow eh litnu sreirrab lanoisnemid esoht hguorht dekcus yllufecrof saw eh ,YLTNERAPPA ,dnA" "!sdlrow neewteb sreirrab eht fo nwodkaerb lanoisnemid-nap etelpmoc a ni detluser taht enO !edacsac ecnanoser a desuac reirrab lanoisnemid a fo edis rehtie no ffo gnirif ynomraH fo stnemelE eht fo secnatsni evitavired owt ekil skool ti ,yawynA" .desum iwT-icS "?ecnatsni siht ni gniht emas eht taht si ro -snoitaluclac RUO" .regnagleppod reh yb retal stnemom ffo tuc eb ot ylno ,detrats thgiliwT ssecnirP "-snoitaluclac ym ot gnidrocca ,lleW" "...nootrac a ni m'I ,nootrac a ni m'I ,nootrac a ni m'I" .tsehc sih ot desserp seenk sih htiw htrof dna kcab gnikcor ,deb s'tesnuS no pu delruc yltnerruc saw noitseuq ni nosrep eht gniredisnoc ,noitseuq doog a saw tI .deksa kcajelppA "?mih htiw od annog ew era tahw ...hu ,oS" MEANWHILE, IN OUR UNIVERSE Penn puffed out his cheeks, letting out a long sigh as he stared at his laptop. Word count: 3419. Yeah, that meets my requirements and then some. "Let's see... We saw Sunset, Penn, Missy, Salem, a couple joke universes, some ominous foreshadowing, a what-if timeline... Anything else I could add?" He took a peek at his messages in Discord, noting no change from the last ten times he looked. "I REALLY hope this running gag is as funny on paper as it was in my head..." MEANWHILE, WITH SUNSET Blake and Yang threw Blake's ribbon across the gap between the two pillars just in time for Ruby to land on it, stretching the elastic out farther than ever before and anchoring it with one of Weiss's glyphs. Just as per the plan, Sunset took her cue and jumped in beside her, crossing her saber with Ruby's scythe. "You've got the piercing power, I've got the wide cutting edge. You ready?" "You bet..." Sunset smiled. Even sitting inside a giant slingshot, she wasn't worried about being flung into the air this time. As long as had her teammates with her, she knew she was safe. Ruby turned back to Weiss. "Think you can make the shot?" Weiss rolled her eyes. "Pfft. Can I?" "... Can you?" "OF COURSE I CAN!" Ruby's eyes narrowed, carefully watching their opponents. "NOW!" With a sweep of her rapier, Weiss reversed the glyph, launching them forward. The two of them soared through the air, sweeping through their first target with ease and slicing through the Queen Lancer right where the thorax met the abdomen. Sunset's saber pierced the armored hide with ease, and Ruby's scythe was just wide enough to completely sever it in one blow. That wasn't all, however, as their momentum carried them all the way through and past it... Straight into the Nevermore. Ruby's scythe caught it just under the chin, carrying it with them and pinning it to the cliff face. Sunset planted her feet against the rock, feeling another of Weiss's glyphs anchor her down. She and Ruby glanced at one another, then nodded. Together, the two of them used Weiss's gravity-altering glyphs to run straight up the cliff, dragging the giant bird along with them by the throat. Ruby's sniper rifle fired over and over, each burst of recoil sending them higher and higher as their blades dug deeper and deeper into the creature's flesh. Just as they reached the top of the cliff, the entire head finally severed from the body, and they both flew into the air. Ruby continued to fly upwards, finally landing on the top of the cliff, her scythe expertly planting itself in the ground behind her back. Sunset flew up... then down again. Then past the top of the cliff. The last she saw of the top was Ruby turning around, fear in her eyes as Sunset dropped out of sight. "SUNSET!" Ruby ran to the edge, staring down in horror. "H-hey, Ruby..." Sunset stuttered, gripping on her lightsaber with both hands to keep it embedded in the rock. "Could you lend me a hand?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Well.... That was a thing..." Yang mused as she watched her sister help Sunset up to the top of the cliff. "It was pretty intense..." Blake replied. "Tell me about it!" Weiss whined. "I feel ready to collapse! I knew Beacon was going to be a step up, but today's trial was nearly beyond my skills!" "Feels like the kind of epic battle they would write books about, right, Blake?" Blake looked to her new partner, her smile pointing out that her attempt to connect was appreciated. "Well, it would certainly have made an exciting chapter. I don't know about an entire book."