Team Fifteen
Twilight fidgeted as she sat and looked around the dimly-lit conference room, trying her best to not call attention to herself. The other occupants, a dirty red earth pony stallion, and the soot-covered pink mare she had had a... speedy introduction to earlier sat adjacent to her.
"So, you new here?" The pink mare asked, a shred of irritation showing through in her voice.
"Yeah." Twilight hesitated, not sure how to respond. "Got here a few hours ago."
"Thought so, you look new. Ops come and get you or you get here yourself?"
"I... I ran into a duplicate of myself and followed along with her."
"Really?" She sat up, curious. "That must have been weird. Not many Outsiders get here that way."
"I'm... I'm not..."
"Anyway, I'm a Pinkie Pie. Just Pinkie. I'm the normal one, so don't get me confused with the endless different copies of me that just bounce around and yell 'FUN!' all the time.”
"I see..."
"And this," Pinkie gestured to the stallion. "Is a Macintosh. He's called 'The Machinist' since that's all he seems to do. Everypony knows who he is."
"Eeeyup."
"He's responsible for most of the armour and equipment we wear, along with some more... hare-brained ideas. Like that jet engine."
"Eeeyup."
"Which almost killed me."
"Nope."
"Mac, I broke the sound barrier. Indoors. Even Rainboom herself isn't that crazy."
"Somepony talking about me?"
Twilight turned as three new ponies entered the room, Celestia following behind them.
"This the newbie we're getting saddled with?" added a grey pegasus mare, fixing Twilight with a critical glare. "A Sparkle. Well at least you should be an alright replacement for Lunatic."
Twilight shrunk back, trying to sink as far into the chair as she could manage.
"Please be seated, my little ponies, so that we can begin." Celestia walked to the head of the table, taking the oversized chair for herself.
The remaining three mares took their seats, a mint-green unicorn with an overly enthusiastic grin taking the chair next to Twilight.
Celestia sat forward, her expression shifting to one of seriousness. "What you are about to hear is not to leave this room, is that understood?"
The six ponies nodded.
"As some of you know, earlier this morning, Team Fifteen was involved in an incident during an otherwise routine operation to retrieve a rogue Outsider hiding in the Interior. While the operation was a partial success, it came at the cost of team member Luna Juliet, alias 'Lunatic'. Derpy, could you elaborate further, please?"
The grey mare nodded, leaning around to address the group. "We were assigned to bring back Theta, a rogue Pie. Our plan was to grab her during an evening when it was raining, to mask our arrival in that cell and our approach to where she was bunkered up. Somehow, she knew we were coming and almost killed the three of us. Lunatic sacrificed herself to send them both to the Falls."
Twilight tilted her head in confusion. There was that word again, 'Falls'. The rest of the group had varying looks of shock and dismay.
"Thank you, Derpy," Celestia continued, "It is quite clear at this point that somepony on the Exterior is feeding secrets to Rogues, and this is not something we can permit. Team Fifteen will be tasked with hunting down and plugging this leak with all due haste, while simultaneously determining Lunatic’s current location for search and rescue."
Celestia paused for a moment, before continuing. "To this end, I will be assigning three extra ponies to Fifteen for the duration of this operation, in order to fill the requisite experience gap."
It took a moment for the implication to sink in before one of them, the rainbow-maned pegasus, stood up with indignation. "Six ponies? Fifteen was always a three-pony team!"
"And we never took rookies, either!" Derpy griped, pointing at Twilight.
"Five, actually. Mac will be serving as your quartermaster and equipment specialist, not a field member," Celestia clarified, waving her hoof for silence. "And I understand your hesitation, but I believe that this team configuration will be the best for your future operations."
Derpy huffed, sinking back into her seat.
"Now, I understand that many of you are meeting directly for the first time, especially Twilight here," Celestia gestured towards her, only to stop mid-movement as she noticed Twilight’s utterly bewildered expression. “Who seems to be a bit out of her depth at this point.”
“You could say that,” Twilight mumbled, still trying to make sense of anything that had been said.
“Newbies,” Walleye muttered under her breath. “How long have you been here? Surely Alpha has given you the run-down by now if you’re going to be working in Operations?”
“About… Two hours?” Twilight guessed. It was impossible to tell time without any windows. “I really don’t know what’s going on.”
“Seriously?” Walleye moaned, dragging a hoof down her face. “Two hours? You’re saddling us with a newcomer thats only been here for two hours?”
“I have my reasons,” Celestia replied.
“I’m sure you do,” Walleye said. “But we don’t have time to waste bringing an untrained, uneducated newbie up to speed when we have urgent work to get done!”
“Uneducated?” Twilight exclaimed. “Uneducated? You’re accusing me of being uneducated? ME?”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of book-smarts, Sparkle,” Walleye shot back. “But this is the Exterior. Unless the world you came from has some forbidden, impossible repository of Outsider-related knowledge, all your education is useless to us.”
“I learn quickly,” Twilight growled, narrowing her eyes at Walleye.
“Alright,” Walleye smirked. “You’ve got one minute to get yourself up to speed before we move along with the briefing.”
“Fine!” Twilight shouted, before looking around the room. “Where are the books?”
“I daresay you don’t need books with her here,” Celestia said, gesturing at Pinkie.
Twilight looked between Celestia and Pinkie, confused. “Why her?”
“I remember things,” Pinkie cheerily explained. “That’s why I was in Analysis, best memory ever! Quiz me! Quiz me! Quiz me!”
“Okay,” Twilight smiled, sorting through the pertinent questions in her head. “Who is Theta, and why were you trying to capture her?”
“Theta’s a Rogue,” Pinkie began. “‘Rogue’ is what we used to refer to an Outsider who, well, goes rogue. Usually they hide somewhere in the Interior and use their knowledge to either subjugate the local population or just cause outright destruction. Alicorn Rogues like Theta are especially dangerous, since they have enough raw magic to wreak destruction on a massive scale.”
“I can imagine,” Twilight said.
“Oh, I don’t think you can,” Pinkie countered. “Rogues like Theta know tricks that let them throw around huge amounts of magical energy. Levels of magic that allow her to fling something like a moon around like a hammer. And that level of power is dangerous.”
“Dangerous how?”
“You can only cram so much magic into an area before the world itself can't take it any more. Force it enough, and you run the risk of tearing an entire universe free from its moorings and flinging it into the Void.”
“The Void?”
“The space between universes. A place that is neither Inside nor Outside. We don’t know much about it, since once a universe detaches and falls into the Void, it’s impossible to reach it any more.”
“So… Why is that an issue? Sounds like a self-resolving problem…”
“Because whenever a world detaches like that, it causes damage to the worlds around them.”
“Oh.”
“It’s possible to detach a world cleanly and with a minimum of collateral damage, but it’s rare. Most of the time when a world detaches, it pulls other worlds long with it. If enough nearby worlds fall into the Void, it creates a fissure like the Ruins, and makes interworld transport very difficult for us.”
“I see…”
“That, and Rogues carry an unacceptable risk of exposing us whenever they go around flaunting their power. We can’t exactly let that happen.”
“I suppose there’s also a bit of an ethical issue,” Twilight surmised. “You’re technically responsible for these Rogues, so you have an obligation to minimise the damage they cause…”
“I never thought about it like that…” Pinkie mumbled, trailing off.
“Okay, time’s up,” Walleye barked. “Pinkie, get to the next part of the briefing.”
“Eh?” Pinkie jerked forwards, snapped out of her contemplation.
“Briefing. Introduce everyone.”
"Say no more!" Pinkie shouted, bouncing onto the table. She spun in place, before pointing a hoof at Derpy.
"Derpy Hooves. Foxtrot. Leader of Team Fifteen, specialising in recon and sharpshooting. Got the name 'Walleye' after managing to bullseye a shot at five miles range back when she was on Team Eleven. She's the best sniper on the Exterior, bar none."
Derpy grinned with pride.
"Next, we have Rainbow Dash." Pinkie pointed at the rainbow-maned pegasus. "Yankee. She's Fifteen's aerial support specialist. She's also the only Rainbow Dash on the Exterior who's managed to pull off a Sonic Rainboom. She's fast, she's brash, she's the legendary Rainboom Dash!"
Rainbow blushed, giving a slightly nervous grin.
"Now, You!" She pointed to Mac. "Big Macintosh. Lima. Also known as 'The Machinist' considering that's all he ever does. I'm sure you all know who he is. He also almost blew up the Machine Shop this morning with a jet engine."
"Eeeyup" Mac said simply, the barest hint of a satisfied smirk curling at the edge of his mouth.
"And over here we have Lyra Heartstrings, Sierra." Pinkie shouted as she pointed at the mint-green unicorn next to Twilight. "Largely considered to be entirely pants-on-head insane by most of the Exterior since she has spent the last five years living in the Ruins. If you need something found, she's the mare for you. She was also thought to be dead by a few ponies, too."
"Rumours of my demise were greatly exaggerated." Lyra scoffed. "And I'm not that insane"
She looked at Twilight with a grin that could only be described as 'psychotically exuberant'.
"And myself" Pinkie concluded. "I'm Pinkie Pie, Tango, but not tangy. Until this morning, I worked for Analysis. And you've probably noticed, I know everything about everypony."
Everyone slunk back into their seats, except for Twilight, who leant forward.
"I thought you said you didn't like having fun? You certainly look like you're enjoying yourself!"
"I said I didn't like having fun all the time." Pinkie corrected. "The occasional fun moment, or party even, is fine. Just not all the time."
Twilight cocked her head in confusion.
"Anyway, enough about me, we need to hear about you, newbie!"
"Ah! Um..." Twilight trailed off, thinking of what to say.
"I'll field this one." Celestia interrupted. "If you don't mind, Twilight."
"By all means, go ahead."
"I have elected to add Twilight to Team Fifteen due to a myriad of circumstances, chief of which is the need for Fifteen to have an adept magic-user since Lunatic has been lost. Though she may be a relative newcomer to the Exterior, I have no doubt she will be an invaluable asset as any Sparkle would be."
"And?" Lyra prompted, waving her hoof. "Why this Sparkle? What's going on that you're assigning her to this team?"
"Lyra, what are you going on about?" Rainbow asked, irritated. "She's just a newbie. Nothing weird about that. Annoying, sure, but not weird."
"Oh, that's not all, is it, Celestia?" Lyra said, grinning mischievously. "This Sparkle isn't like us, is she?"
"No." Celestia admitted. "She isn't."
"Well?" Lyra prompted. "Do share with the group."
"Twilight here is an Insider."
The room was silent for a moment as everyone turned to stare at Twilight.
"What?!?"
"She's an Insider?"
"Are you insane?"
"QUIET!" Celestia slammed her hoof into the table, irritation etched into her features. "Yes, she is an Insider. She's the first Insider to ever escape the Interior. Given the auspicious nature of her arrival, and the requirement for secrecy preventing her from returning home, I elected to give her something to do rather than keeping her here like a prisoner."
"Forgive my bluntness, Celestia, but why?" Derpy asked, a hint of disgust edging its way into her words. "She's an Insider. We don't concern ourselves with the wellbeing of Insiders. Lock her up and forget about her."
"We are not barbarians, Derpy. Insider or not, she's still a pony."
"We may not be barbarians, but I've seen Insiders who are." Derpy shot back. "You're not going to convince me to have her on my team."
"I don't need to convince you," Celestia said, narrowing her eyes threateningly. "It's an order. She's an official member of Team Fifteen. She's your assigned Magic Specialist. Like it or not, she's working with you."
"Horseapples! I do not work with Insiders. And there is nothing you can say that will make me!"
"Continue with this, and I will have you restrained, Hooves," Celestia warned. "The decision has been made. That is the end of it."
"Oh, you're going to pull rank on me then? You going to send me to my quarters as well?"
"Oh for Celestia's sake, Walleye," Lyra groaned, head in her hooves. "I get that you don't like Insiders. But she's valuable. Do you have any idea how much easier my work would be if I was an Insider?"
"You want to be one of them?"
"Well, I wouldn't really expect you to understand, since you're in Operations and you don't have to deal with the practical issues of being an Outsider when you spend so much time in the Interior and the Falls."
"What issues?" Rainbow cut in, interested.
"Outsiders get noticed. It's part of who we are. Some innate fact of our nature means we just stand out to other ponies in the Interior. It makes covert operations very difficult. It's the reason no Outsider stays there for long, eventually somepony is going to question them."
"So?" Derpy challenged. "What's this got to do with her?"
"She's an Insider, you dolt. Those rules don't apply to her."
"She won't be noticed like we would." Rainbow surmised after a moment, gasping. "She'd be practically invisible compared to us!"
"Exactly!" Lyra tapped her nose. "Free to move wherever she pleased, and she can hang around as long as she needs to. Not to mention that she can convincingly masquerade as a Sparkle on any cell we visit. That is a massive asset to us. I can't even begin to imagine the places we could get with her help!"
"Seems like everypony is against me on this." Derpy muttered, rising from the table and heading for the door. "Fine, she can come play with the real ponies. Just don't be surprised when something goes wrong and it's her fault!"
She stormed from the room, loud hoofsteps echoing through the halls.
"Did I do something wrong?" Twilight asked, completely confused.
"No." Celestia glared down the hallway, voice laced with annoyance. "You did nothing wrong, my dear Twilight."
"Yea, don't worry about Walleye." Lyra slapped her hoof down on Twilight's withers, smiling. "She's always been a bit high-strung."
"Says the mare who doesn't even work with her." Rainbow remarked.
"Okay, fine, you work with her, am I wrong?"
"Of course not! She's a nightmare when she gets in one of her moods!" Rainbow said, flopping back into her seat. "Though I think at the moment she's just worked up about Lunatic and she's taking it out on the newbie."
"Be that as it may," Celestia interrupted. "She is the leader of Team Fifteen, and I need her mind to be on the mission ahead."
"She'll be fine," Rainbow reassured her. "Give her a bit to come to terms with it and she'll be right back wearing the saddle before you know it."
"I hope so." Celestia sighed, raising from her seat. "Lunatic is still out there in the Falls, and we need to find out how Theta got information about our operations."
"Um... I was meaning to ask this before Walleye cut me off..." Twilight spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. "What are the Falls?"
“Perhaps it would be best for you to get that answer from somewhere more suited to answering questions,” Celestia said, draping a wing over Twilight. “Come. It’s time I finally made good on my promise.”
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4386621
Me too
moar wait.
I like this verse dang it. please keep writing.
also why is walleye so uptight about insiders. my guess is near death brush with one.
see you next time you post.
~Akira
So... still unclear on what the difference between the Interior and Exterior are!
But still really digging the story!
i take it you've, either read the book or, watched the movie 'the outsiders' before... havent you...
Noooo surgery?
Get well!
4387243
From what I understand, the Interior is a set of universes in which the Outsiders can explore. These worlds have variable histories and they seem to have the same individuals but in different roles. I'm not too sure where the Outsiders come from, but they inhabit the Exterior, a single world consisting of connected rooms which seem to be infinite, partially furnished, and equipped with unbreakable walls. Nobody knows what lies between the rooms or outside the walls, nor does there seem to be a boundary to the Exterior. Outsiders can jump into Interior worlds and move between them as well through the use of beacon systems, but are restricted by void areas where some universes have been destroyed entirely and cannot be traveled across, such as the ruins.
4386737
4386621
Me three.
4387563
They are still referred to as coming from "a" world, and we haven't gotten a definitive answer on what makes those worlds different from the Interior.
Interesting … Insider Twilight's got a superpower, more or less. I'm reminded of how the dream invaders in Inception drew the attention of dream constructs. If she gets to skip that she could be their best asset in a long while.
Best thoughts with the medical issue. I recently went through my own, so I know the stress involved. I hope it doesn't come to surgery, or if it does, that it's quick and complication-free.
Whoa! I can tell just from the title that...
img0.etsystatic.com/022/0/5437590/il_340x270.479853850_8ikz.jpg
Pun VERY much intended.
Archive binge!
(Intelligent multiverse fics. Love 'em.)
I am kind of intrigued by the Exterior being unable to be tunneled out of. If the interior walls aren't themselves made of Indestructium or quantum-locked against change, presumably they can be damaged and/or drilled into for a certain maximum depth (or corners could be rounded off). What changes at that depth - can matter/energy simply not pass that point, and is it a precise plane or a gradually increasing effect?
Has the Exterior been measured precisely enough to determine whether it's apparently on a flat plane or the surface of a sphere? Does it only have one level? What's its gravity map look like (although I'd lay odds it's featureless)? Have explorers used mapping spells? Does its apparently infinite topology have any notable patterns? Was it completely unfurnished when initially discovered?
...and what fics are the two-letter cell designations in Lunatic's spell referring to? :)
After reading this chapter, I thought of a great name for a sequel for this story. The Insiders
Just an idea.
4387393
4387821
I'm having a... *checks* Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (And people say Star Trek is bad for technobabble...
). Gallbladder removal via keyhole surgery, in order to treat gallstones, in layman's terms.
I'm more annoyed than concerned at this point, since it means I can't eat pizza until after it's removed (well, I can, but It's extremely painful).
Ah well. I suppose I'll be more pony-like afterward (Horses don't have gallbladders, apparently).
4394086
Hopefully you have a good surgeon. Mine screwed up and I had to go back a year later to get a hernia repaired where he failed to stitch me up properly.
I really like your multiverse. Definitely a constructed 'verse, especially with the Exterior. The idea that this multiverse is damaged and seemingly abandoned by whomever was running it is kind of creepy. I really love world building stories so I'll be hanging around.
4400200
...I already said that it wasn't.
4400759
My apologies. I must've missed that.
Odd coincidence.
On Friday, I told a friend of mine that one of the things that may be causing his pain may either require medicine or surgery.
Intriguing...
Completely unrelated, from what I've gathered, I assure you.
This is... not great. While the premise is interesting, I don't feel that the military aesthetic you have going for the Outsiders meshes very well with the rest of the 'verse. What's more, the pacing here is extremely quick, so nothing every really gets time to develop into something interesting. Were we supposed to feel sad when alternate!Luna was sucked into the black hole? Why is alternate!Celestia trusting Twilight, somepony she's only known for two hours, with what basically amount to black ops missions? If she were to have started with something small, like helping maintain the hydroponics system or something, and worked her way up, then yeah, I could see that working. As it is, the story comes off as way too reminiscent of modern military games for my taste.
4411193
Sorry you feel that way.
Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure what to take away from your comment, since a lot of the other comments people have made on this story gave me the impression that the pacing was a bit slow, and now you're saying it's extremely quick...
As always, helpful criticism is appreciated, I'm just not quite sure what to take away from it in this case...
4413047
Slow things down. Give them time to develop more naturally.
4413051
I think you misunderstood quite what I meant.
I realise you think it's paced too quickly and that I should slow it down, however, the impression I got from most of the other people commenting was the opposite, and that I was developing/exploring the world and the characters a bit too slowly.
4413123
Ah. My bad.
Good luck on your surgery.
Just like you it seems.
Also for me it does seem rather quick, I mean the characterizations were slow, but the plot is being pushed rather quickly.
I'm going to continue reading this if only because it seems you have a very thoroughly fleshed-out (uni/multi)verse and I really want to know what the buck is going on. That and it's very well written.
I thought she was a Celestia? You know, alicorn, princess, all that?
5076402
Look back for the mentioned of a pink poofie mane and such. She's alicorn pinkie pie.
4387243 Interior crocodile alligator
>We don't concern ourselves with the wellbeing of Insiders
Then what the heil are they doing?
?????????????
Then what are you doing??
7067785
I know right? It just seemed so racist of Derpy.
I hope to find out why the heck Outsiders are so against Insiders.
5076402
5105914
Also, faux gingerbread house. That was used in the chapter she was introduced.
"And myself" Pinkie concluded. "I'm Pinkie Pie, Tango, but not tangy.
If you only knew the joke you've just made.
7112372
So, I can't help envisioning PP-Tango hanging out with PP-Foxtrot and PP-Whiskey.
Please tell me I'm right?
insane."
myself,"
(switched computers)
here." (Not a speech tag.)
“Alright.” (Not a speech tag.)
"Eeeyup," Mac said
Sierra,"
this one," Celestia interrupted, "If
"No," Celestia admitted, "She
are,"
would,"
this,"
her,"