“Woohoo! Half way done with today’s list!” shouted Pinkie happily once she and her squad and returned to the portal room. They’d gotten in four Universes since they went to 5946, none of which had any sort of problems with them, “Which one’s next?”
“Universe 9914,” replied Shining Armor after a second of thought.
“Been a while since we had one that was over nine thousand.”
“Why does that phrase seem like its super annoying?” asked Twilight, “I mean, I’ve never even heard it before, but it seems like that.”
“What? Over nine thousand?” asked Pinkie, looking at the Unicorn, “What’s annoying about me telling the truth? It’s been a couple months since we had a Universe whose number is past that.”
“Never mind,” muttered Twilight, seeing that there was no use in continuing that line of thought, “Say, Shining Armor. Why is it every time we finish searching a Universe, Pinkie asks you what our next one is? And how do you remember it without much thought?”
“I’ve got a photographic memory,” replied the white Unicorn, “What, does your brother not have one?”
“A photographic memory? That version of you would forget his own horn if it weren’t attached!” joked Twilight, “So, when you look over the list we’re given each morning, it’s because you’re memorizing it?”
“Bingo,” replied Shining Armor, “It just takes me a second to recall it. Mainly because I can remember things that happened years ago without any sort of problem. Such as the last time we observed Universe 308 was exactly seven months, twelve days, four hours, and seventeen minutes ago.”
“You can remember how long ago things can happen as well? Amazing.”
“You do realize that I basically pulled that out of thin air, right?” asked the white Unicorn with a smile, “I might be good at remembering things, but not THAT good.”
“Universe 9914, observe,” said Pinkie while the two Unicorns in her squad conversed and Sunset Shimmer watched. The portal reactivated behind them while the Pegasus returned to them, “Let’s go, girls. We’ve got a job to do.” The four re-entered the portal and found themselves in an area similar to the first stability point that they’d visited with Twilight, except instead of pine trees, they were surrounded by trees that simply had no leaves. The ground was completely covered in what looked like fresh snow with tiny footprints from woodland creatures visible all around.
“Ruh-roh,” said Sunset Shimmer, leading to Twilight to give her a strange look, “Sorry, been watching some archived footage of Universe 5562’s challenges and that is what one of the tribes said whenever something didn’t go the way it was supposed to.”
“I’m don’t really care about the fact that you added two letters to uh-oh,” said Twilight, “I’m more focused on the fact that you said it in the first place.”
“Look around,” ordered Pinkie, “By the look of the trees and the ground, this area is currently in the middle of winter. But feel the air. It is both incredibly hot and incredibly humid. Something that you’d expect from summer.”
“Now that you mention it, I do feel like I’m about to melt,” said Twilight as she fanned herself with one of her hooves, “But, why is it like this? Global warming?”
“Pretty sure that no amount of global warming would allow snow and this kind of heat to coexist,” answered Shining Armor, “I can only think of one thing that could cause something like this. This particular stability point is starting to fail.”
“So, what do we do?” asked Twilight as she wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead.
“Fix it, of course,” replied Sunset Shimmer, “We’re supposed to maintain order in the Universes. If we let this keep going, how can we do our job?”
“No, duh,” snapped the purple Unicorn, “How exactly do we go about fixing it?”
“First, we need to determine which of the two seasons this is supposed to be,” said Pinkie, “We should visit a couple of other stability points to determine that. Twilight, Shining Armor. Stay here. Sunset Shimmer and I will go. In the meantime, you make sure nothing happens to make this get worse. I don’t think anything will, but be on the lookout. Stability Point 2, PP-073 and SS-222.” The two non-Unicorns disappeared instantly, leaving the two sort-of siblings standing by themselves.
“So…what are your plans for tonight?” asked Twilight after a minute, “Playing cards or having some ‘alone time’ in your room?”
“First of all, we’re most likely going to play cards,” answered Shining Armor, “Second of all, what you are implying does not occur. Lastly, you’re asking now instead of watching for any problems because?”
“Because I didn’t think we have that much to do while we’re waiting on Pinkie and Sunset Shimmer,” replied the purple Unicorn, “Besides, I am most definitely looking out for problems.” Just as she finished, the rest of the squad returned.
“Okay, I’ve got good news and bad news,” said Pinkie, “The good news is that we know what it’s supposed to be like here.”
“And the bad news?” asked Shining Armor, “Not that I can’t already guess it.”
“It’s supposed to be this hot,” answered Pinkie, “Meaning the fact that snow is covering the ground is the problem. First off, let’s figure out exactly where the problem is arising. Access URK, authorization PP-073.”
“URK? It sounds like you got punched in the stomach,” said Twilight just before a rather large box appeared in front of Pinkie, “Okay, what is that and where did it come from?”
“This is the URK, or Universal Repair Kit,” answered Pinkie, causing the purple Unicorn to roll her eyes at the obvious wordplay, “It is something that remains in a special plane of existence and is only accessible if a squad’s captain authorizes it.” The Pegasus tapped the side of the box in front of her, causing the top of it to open on a hinge. She took out a pair of goggles and tossed to them to Twilight, “Here, put these on.”
“What are these?” asked Twilight as she nonetheless did as she was told. Her vision changed where everything was a different color ranging from green to red, shades of the former being the vast majority, “What am I looking at?”
“These goggles show us the stability rating for the area that this stability point encompasses,” said Pinkie after handing out goggles to the other two members of her squad and putting on her own, “Shades of green indicate that the level of stability for that is at or above the regular levels. Shades of red indicate that it is below those levels. Looks like we don’t have too much to worry about, which would explain why only the weather has been affected.”
“Okay, so now that we know what’s causing the problem, how do we fix it?”
“With this,” said Pinkie as she returned her attention to the box in front of her. Twilight was taken by surprise when the Pegasus lifted out a large gun, “This is our repair gun. I like to call it the BFRG.”
“BFRG?”
“Big Freaking Repair Gun,” answered the Pegasus as she began to do things with the gun she was holding, “I mean, seriously. Why can’t we have a smaller tool than this? Oh, and I’d cover my eyes if I were you. Things are about to get bright around here.” Twilight did as she was instructed and let out a short shout when a large noise very nearly blew out her eardrums. After a minute, she felt a poke at her side. She opened her eyes and saw that the red she’d seen before was now a very dark shade of green. Twilight could hear a muffled voice to her right.
“What?!” shouted the Unicorn, unable to hear even herself speak. She turned to see Shining Armor at her side. Her horn glowed for a second and Twilight immediately found herself able to hear clearly again, “Thanks. That was loud.”
“I admittedly didn’t get my protection spell on your ears in time,” said the white Unicorn with a smile, “Namely because somepony didn’t give me enough of a warning.”
“Sorry about that,” said Pinkie, “I’m so used to only having three members in our squad I sorta forgot how much time I needed to give before using the BFRG. Luckily Shining Armor knows a spell to fix hearing problems.”
“Always best to be prepared,” said the white Unicorn, “I haven’t had to use that spell often, but it’s a good thing I know it. Now, shall we make sure none of the other stability points are having trouble?”
“We’re good to go to stability point 5, since 2 through 4 are all good,” said Pinkie, “Stability point 5.” Their observation of Universe 9914 went easy, the squad finding no further problems with any of the stability points. The rest of their day was just as uneventful. After their evening meal, the squad retired to their quarters and, as Shining Armor had hinted at earlier, began to play cards. Twilight was currently in the lead as far as points went.
“I’m not sure if this is a touchy subject for you,” said the purple Unicorn as she took her turn, “I had a couple questions about your daughter, Pinkie.”
“Shoot,” answered the Pegasus, not taking her eyes off her hand.
“Um, well, exactly how old was she when you left to come here?” asked Twilight, trying to pick her words carefully because she was still afraid it was something that the Pegasus had bad feelings about.
“When I was dragged here,” answered Pinkie, her word choice surprising Twilight, “Coquina was a week shy of her first birthday. I’d planned so many parties in the past, but this one was perhaps the most important one that I would ever throw.”
“She wasn’t even a year old when she lost her second mother?” asked Twilight, “Uh, sorry, that was a bad way to put it.”
“Don’t worry,” said Pinkie, “That’s how I feel about it.”
“Right, so how many months has it been since you were last with her?”
“Let’s see,” said Pinkie, acting as though she were counting in the air, “At least 24….”
“Oh, that’s not ba-.”
“…thousand,” finished the Pegasus, causing Twilight’s jaw to almost drop to the floor.
“That would mean you’ve been here at least two millennia!” shouted the purple Unicorn.
“Eeyup,” said Pinkie, “But, remember Twilight. We exist in our own little pocket of time. Here at the MGH, time moves much faster than it does in any of the Universes thanks to the various beings that govern it.”
“Various beings that govern time?”
“While the branch of the MGH our division is part of doesn’t have one, there are several branches that include beings that have complete control of time,” explained Pinkie as she took her own turn finally, “Since we don’t have any beings like that, our branch as well as several others have time for us governed by one of those beings. I think its name is Dialga. But, we can’t exactly interact with it in any way.”
“Why’s that?” asked Twilight, drawing a card because the Pegasus had finished.
“The various branches of the MGH don’t interact with each other in anyway. Divisions within a branch interacting with each other, definitely. Branches interacting with each other, not a chance.”
“You know, I like how easy it is for you to get off track in a conversation, Pinkie,” commented Shining Armor before laying down a card to steal a set from Pinkie, “First you’re talking about your daughter, now you’re talking about how time flows here. Oh, and this round is over.” The rest of the squad let out a collective grunt as they began to count up their points. After close to an hour, Pinkie, who had been in last place for most of the game, ended up being the winner. They each bid each other a good night before retiring to their respective rooms.