//------------------------------// // Reactions, Explanations, and Frustrations // Story: Guardians of the Multiverse // by Draknir //------------------------------// “So, what do you want to do now that we’re done early?” asked Pinkie once the door to PC-001’s office closed behind the ponies, “I vote we get dinner and then play cards like we always do.” “Don’t forget that the weekly challenge from Universe 5562 will be viewable soon,” noted Sunset Shimmer, “Don’t really know how they’re going to top last weeks, what with that whole hundredth competition celebration thing.” “Not sure, but if I had to guess it is either that giant ice cube thing or the next of their little ‘Simon Says’ type competitions,” added Shining Armor, “Or they could throw us for a loop and do something completely different.” “So, are none of you at all curious about what happened today, or is it just me?” asked Twilight, having been confused by the fact that her squad seemed oblivious to it. “Ixnay onway ethay eculationspay inway ontfray ofway isthay oorday,” said Pinkie, motioning for them to move somewhere else, “Ovemay ownay!” “Pinkie, you do realize you could have just said that last bit normally right?” asked Shining Armor as she began to walk away from the door, “No need to use Pig Latin for that.” “Andway ouryay ointpay isway?” asked the Pegasus, “C’mon, let’s go to our quarters before continuing this conversation.” “Fine,” said Twilight, feeling defeated that she wasn’t going to get her answer. She sighed as her squad mates began to walk in the direction of their quarters before following closely behind. Once they were inside, the Unicorn sighed again, “So, why did we have to ‘ovemay ownay?’” “Because PC-001 told us not to worry about what happened today and if she overheard us talking about it, we’d all be in a lot of trouble,” explained Pinkie, “So, we couldn’t answer your question there since, obviously, we were outside of her freaking office!” “Of course we’re all wondering about what happened today,” said Shining Armor as she moved towards the couch she normally sat on, “Who wouldn’t be?” “Clearly something big is going to happen,” said Sunset Shimmer as she too walked over to the couch, “Both Discord and Eris in the same Universe? And making mention of being from two different Universes? That has to mean something.” “Is it not possible that they are simply able to travel across the Multiverse like we can?” offered Twilight, moving to a chair as she did, “That would make sense, right?” “It would, barring the fact that the only beings who can travel to different Universes are the Guardians,” answered the Earth Pony, “We’ve made sure of that, or so I’m told. Of course, there are evidently a few exceptions.” “Are you referring to the mirrors that lead to the Universe where good is bad and vise-versa and that one where we’re all those weird bipedal creatures?” asked Twilight, “I take it every Universe has them?” “Not every Universe. Not even one percent of them,” answered Shining Armor, “The fact that your Universe has almost the exact same cross-Universal portals as Universe 001 is less than one billionth of a percent chance of happening.” “Anyway, isn’t there something you’re forgetting about, Sunset Shimmer?” asked Pinkie, looking at the mare in question, “Something that is a rather big exception?” “Oh, right. Him,” replied the Earth Pony. Twilight looked at her expectantly, “What?” “Are you going to explain or am I going to have to ask?” asked the Unicorn. “Wait, you don’t know about that? I figured you’d have read about at some point this past week,” said Shining Armor, “The being in question is now known to us as Alpha Tirek, though at the time he was just known as Tirek. Do you have any knowledge of Tirek from your Universe?” “No, I don’t,” replied Twilight sheepishly, “Not even the Canterlot Archives in my Universe had anything on him. Or her, since I guess that’s a possibility.” “Tirek is a centaur with the ability to absorb the magic from any being. Alpha Tirek came from Universe 001, hence the Alpha in his name although this is supposedly not the main reason,” explained Shining Armor, “Alpha Tirek managed to absorb all of the magic from that Universe. Normally, this would be the end of it. But, evidently instability within the Universe went unnoticed for quite a while. Said instability eventually influenced Alpha Tirek, granting him immense power, which he eventually used to breach the barrier that separates the Universes.” “With that power, he traveled to many other Universes and absorbed the magic there as well. The Guardians at the time were very small in numbers and our technology was almost primitive compared to what we have now,” continued Pinkie, “As a result, it was a bit before they became aware of the situation. Details of how they defeated him are classified, but we know they did so. ‘Cause otherwise we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation. Since, you know, the Universes would have been destroyed. Like, all of them.” “Wait, destroyed? I thought Alpha Tirek only absorbed the magic from Universes.” “Whenever the barrier of a Universe is breached, it quickly destabilizes to the point of destruction. Ergo, any Universe Alpha Tirek stole the magic from was destroyed unless the Guardians managed to save them,” explained the Pegasus, “And because our division at the time only had like nine agents, you can plainly see that didn’t happen often.” “Seriously? Only nine Guardians?” asked Twilight, “And as of right now we have how many?” “We have 162 fully operational squads of four and one squad that isn’t full,” replied Shining Armor, “So, yeah. We’ve gained a few more since then.” “No kidding. So, I guess if Alpha Tirek were to show up again, we’ll be ready.” “If all goes well, yes we will be,” answered the Unicorn, “Although, with only 651 Guardians and nearly twenty thousand Universes in our cluster, things going well could be up for debate.” “Hey, there’s something I’ve been wondering about for a few days now,” said Twilight after a minute of silence from the squad, “You’ve mentioned divisions and branches of the MGH. What exactly is the difference?” “A branch of the MGH contains many different divisions that watch over Universe Clusters with similar origins, even if they don’t always reach the same point. Branches are made up of many different species that come from the Clusters,” explained Sunset Shimmer, “A division, on the other hoof, is made up of one species and watches over the cluster with that species as the dominant one.” “Our branch contains the Pony division, the Zebra division, the Dragon division, and a few other divisions of creatures that I’m sure you’ve encountered across Equestria and beyond,” continued Pinkie, “The reason we’re in one branch is because every being present in these Universes are not in any other Cluster. There’s a Zebra Twilight, a Dragon Pinkie, a Cat Shining Armor, and a Dog Sunset Shimmer in various clusters, but no versions of ourselves appear in the clusters governed by other branches.” “Which, if you’re wondering, is how the clusters were determined. Way back when the MGH was first forming, each Universe was looked at and classified based on the beings that existed in them,” said Shining Armor, “There’s no way any of us could ever imagine how hard that must have been because we’ve never had to do it. All Universes since then spawn through what is effectively mitosis. One Universe splits and creates two, one that is exactly as the same as the old and one that is different.” “All right, we’re getting way off topic,” stated Pinkie suddenly, “We went from talking about what we encountered today to a history lesson and then a lesson on how the Universes are formed and classified. Let’s get back to the first thing.” “Quick question before we continue, though,” said Twilight, “You said that Discord and Eris cannot coexist, but I’ve read about Universes that have both. So, were you just wrong, or…?” “Okay, maybe she wasn’t technically correct,” answered Shining Armor, causing Pinkie to roll her eyes and sigh heavily, “What she meant was that Discord and Eris cannot exist in the same Universe when they are counterparts. Yes, there are some in which Discord and Eris do exist, but in those ones they’re either father and daughter or mother and son. She should have specifically said that they cannot exist in Universe 4810 because in that Universe Eris, in this case, is the only Draconequus.” “Excuse me while I go barf at the thought of Discord having children.” “OKAY, FOR THE LAST BUCKING TIME, CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TODAY?!” shouted Pinkie, almost at the top of her lungs. The others stared at the Pegasus as she, very clearly exaggerating, breathed heavily. “Jeez, calm down,” said Sunset Shimmer after a few seconds, “She was just asking a question that may or may not legitimately relate to what happened today. Which, by the way, I personally feel means we’re building up to something big.” “Well, duh,” stated Pinkie, doing a complete 180 from how she was just acting, “I mean, you have two versions of the same being in one Universe AND they make mention of being from different ones. My only hope is that it’s something like Alpha Tirek, ‘cause that would be so exciting to deal with.” “You seriously hope we’re dealing with at least one being who is powerful enough to destroy Universes and feel it would be exciting?!” asked Twilight incredulously, “How is that exciting?!” “Because it would have us do more than what we have in I don’t even know how long,” answered Pinkie with a smile, “Seriously, at best we have to deal with a being who might become an Alpha if given, like, a really really REALLY long time. And those only happen once in a long while.” “I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who wants something like that, Pinkie,” said Shining Armor, “I mean, sure things can get boring from time to time but the idea of having something destroying Universes? Nope, do not want.” “That must be because you three have never had to deal with a pre-Alpha being,” stated Pinkie adamantly, “I was lucky enough to have to fight one when I was just a rookie. The three squads, mine included, sent to dispatch them took them down easily with minor difficulties.” “You’re referring to your squad before I became a part of the MGH, correct?” asked Sunset Shimmer. “Eeyup, VS-923, M-1736, S-748, and myself. You know what happened to VS-923, but M-1736, otherwise known as Minuette, is currently a squad leader herself while S-748, Solaris, now works maintaining a portal for some squads.” “I know a Minuette from my Universe, so I’m pretty sure that they’re the same being just from different Universes, but I’m not familiar with Solaris. Who is that?” asked Twilight, leading to a very loud groan from Pinkie. “Oh my god, you’re killing me!” muttered Pinkie, “There are four versions of each being that can appear within a Universe, though the species can vary greatly. For simplicity’s sake, we call them either masculine or feminine, which have different names and a small difference in coloration. There is a masculine male, masculine female, feminine male, and feminine female. Solaris is the masculine version of Celestia, in this case Solaris is the masculine female version.” “Keep in mind, though, that the masculine and feminine are solely for classification. I myself am considered as the masculine female version,” said Shining Armor, “The feminine version for me would be ‘Gleaming Shield.’” “For me, the masculine version would be Berry Blast, for whatever reason,” said Pinkie, “For you, the masculine version is Dusk Shine.” “And for me, the masculine version is Sunset Blaze,” said Sunset Shimmer, “I realize that Pinkie has been extremely impatient, so I’d like to hear what you two think about what happened today.” “I have absolutely no idea what to think about today,” admitted Twilight, “I certainly hope that we aren’t building up for something big, as you put it.” “If it is something like an Alpha coordinating an attack, I only hope that we can stop it in time. We know nothing of how they stopped it last time, and look at how big it got then,” said Shining Armor, “Hundreds of Universes were destroyed before Alpha Tirek was stopped. I don’t know about you girls, but I personally get scared just thinking about it.” “Especially when I think of it happening to my Universe,” agreed Sunset Shimmer, “As I’m sure you all feel.” “Okay, so it feels like we’ve been talking about this for almost two years,” said Pinkie, leaving her seat and moving towards the door to their quarters, “I am absolutely starving! Let’s go get something to eat!” “We do need to remember that we can’t let any of this slip on accident,” cautioned Shining Armor, also getting up and walking towards the door, “Who knows what PC-001 would do if she finds out we said something?” “Yeah, yeah, we know,” assured Sunset Shimmer, “For once, I agree with Pinkie, though. My stomach is running on empty.” After eating their fill in the dining hall, during which none of them accidentally said something that she shouldn’t have, the squad returned to their quarters. Pinkie and Shining Armor retired to their rooms early, while Sunset Shimmer and Twilight stayed up talking about some of the differences between their Universes that they hadn’t told each other yet.