> Guardians of the Multiverse
>  by Draknir
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: Buck
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Attention. Agent PP-073. Report to your immediate superior,” boomed a voice over a loudspeaker. PP-073 sighed. Having to report to her superior, Agent PC-001, meant one of two things; either she’d mucked up her last job or there was a new recruit. PP-073 sincerely hoped it was the former, because being assigned a new recruit was one of the worst jobs at the MGH, the Multiverse Guardian Hub.

PP-073 was her codename, which she’d received the day she’d arrived at the MGH. Codenames were used for everything official and often how agents who were acquaintances called each other. For those within her squad, she was known by a shortened version of her real name, Pinkie Pie. She came from the Pony Cluster of universes, which her division was assigned to maintain. Pinkie herself was a Pink Pegasus with three balloons in a triangle shape on her back thighs, her Cutie Mark. Her mane and tail were a darker pink and were extremely curly. 

In accordance with her orders, Pinkie left her quarters, which she shared with the rest of her squad, SA-132, a Unicorn named Shining Armor, and SS-222, an Earth Pony named Sunset Shimmer. They were all originally from different universes. The hallway in which the division lived was bright white and clean, with the doors to all the quarters being black. Pinkie’s room was near the entrance to the hallway, so she didn’t have far to go to get to PC-001’s office. The door, which had a plaque with her superior’s name on it, opened automatically when she reached it.

“Buck,” muttered Pinkie when she realized why she’d been summoned. It was, of course, the one thing she’d been hoping to not have. A new recruit was sitting in a chair across from her superior. Her superior was a white Alicorn with a long, pink mane and tail. She was much larger than either of the other ponies in the room and much more slender. Her Cutie Mark was an orange and yellow sun, “Reporting in, ma’am.”

“Thank you for coming, PP-073,” replied her superior with a smile, “I was just going over our mission with our newest member, TS-314.” It was then that Pinkie recognized the pony who was sitting across from PC-001. She was a violet Unicorn with an indigo mane and tail with a single pink and purple stripe down the middle. Her Cutie Mark was a pink, six-pointed star on top of a white one, with five more surrounding it.

“Wait, Twilight? Twilight Sparkle?” asked Pinkie, knowing full well this wasn’t exactly the pony she’d known before she came to the MGH. The most important rule in regards to new recruits is that there can only be one being from a Universe recruited. Any more than that would cause problems.

“Pinkie Pie? What are you doing here?” asked the Unicorn, no doubt more confused than before.

“Well, I’m not exactly the Pinkie you knew in your Universe,” replied the pink Pegasus, “Just like you’re not the Twilight I knew.”

“So you see the reason I am assigning you as her mentor, PP-073. TS-314 was close friends with the version of you from her Universe, so I figured it would be less of a problem adjusting. Plus, your squad is still one short after we lost VS-923 last year,” explained PC-001, “So, TS-314, are you clear as to what our mission is?”

“No, I’m not, Princess Celestia,” replied Twilight.

“TS-314, you are to refer to me as either PC-001 or ma’am from this point forward,” ordered the Alicorn, “I may look like the Princess Celestia you knew, but I am most certainly not. I haven’t been for several millennia.”

“Uh, yes ma’am,” said Twilight sheepishly.

“I’m sure that PP-073, here, will be happy to explain our mission to you further,” said PC-001, pointing a hoof at Pinkie, “Now, I want you to follow her lead while you are in training. She is the one who will be showing you the ropes here. Both of you are dismissed.”

“Let’s go, TS-314,” said Pinkie, using Twilight’s codename rather than her real name while beckoning her to the door. The Unicorn obliged, and the pair left PC-001’s office. Once they were outside of the room, the door shut.
> Chapter 1: Touring the MGH
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Okay, Twilight. Let me show you around the MGH here,” said Pinkie as soon as the door shut.

“So, is she always like that?” asked Twilight as she began to follow Pinkie as she began to walk down a hallway to the left of the office.

“Who, the commander? Yeah, that’s pretty much how she is to everypony,” answered Pinkie as she stopped in front of a large door, “But at the same time, we’ve probably got the best commander in the entire Hub. Our first stop on the ‘tour’ is one of the most important areas of our portion; the cafeteria. And, it is dinner time now. If the time it took for my registration is any indication, I assume you’re hungry now?”

“Starving, to be honest. I got pulled here just as I was about to dig into breakfast this morning,” answered Twilight, her stomach rumbling in agreement.

“Well, let’s get something to eat, then,” said the Pegasus happily. The dining hall, to Twilight’s surprise, was quite lavish. Sculptures of various creatures were sitting around the room and ornate chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The room was the complete opposite of the hallway behind Twilight. The left side of the room was a large buffet table with many kinds of foods that she knew and several kinds that she didn’t know. Ponies of all different kinds sat around the room, some of whom looked familiar to Twilight, “Help yourself, it’s all free.”

“All of this is free?” asked the Unicorn, referring to the buffet.

“Well, duh. It’s not like we have any sort of currency here,” mocked Pinkie, causing Twilight to growl in frustration, “Oh, relax. If you can’t have fun here, then you’re just going to be bored for the rest of eternity.”

“The rest of eternity?!” shouted Twilight, shocked. Surprisingly, the other ponies in the room were too engrossed in their own conversations to even notice.

“I’ll explain later, but for now let’s get some food,” said Pinkie as she walked over to the buffet table and grabbed a tray in her mouth. Twilight did the same, except she used magic to levitate the tray rather than grab it. Once the two had filled up the trays, Pinkie more than Twilight, the Unicorn looked around the room nervously, “Come with me. I’m fairly certain the rest of my, I mean our, squad will want to meet you.” The pair walked over to one of the tables on the wall furthest from the doorway. There sat the two mares that made up the rest of Pinkie’s, and now Twilight’s, squad.

“Ah, so this is why you had to report to PC-001’s office,” said the white Unicorn mare with a navy blue mane and tail with a couple stripes of different shades of blue in her hair. Her Cutie Mark was an indigo shield with the same pink star in Twilight’s Cutie Mark in the middle and three normal light blue stars above it, “And I can see why she’d assign her to us. Welcome to the squad, Twilight.”

“Okay, you look like my brother yet clearly you’re a mare,” blurted Twilight, receiving a laugh from her new squad mate.

“Well, that answers one question. You clearly come from a Universe where I was born a colt. I am Shining Armor,” said the white Unicorn with a smile, “I’m just from a Universe where I was born a filly like you.”

“Just looking at you tells me you’re from a Universe where you don’t become an Alicorn,” said the other pony at the table, the light amber Earth Pony with a curled mane and tail with red and yellow streaks. Her Cutie Mark was a small sun with flares around it. Half of the ‘aura’ surrounding it was an extremely light amber while the other half was red, the two colors meeting in a vertical barrier.. The middle oval was divided between red and yellow with a horizontal barrier, “I trust you know who I am, though?”

“You’re Sunset Shimmer, Princess Celestia’s prized pupil,” answered Twilight, “But…you’re a Unicorn where I’m from.”

“Funny, where I’m from you are Celestia’s prized student,” replied Sunset Shimmer, who went by her full name like Shining Armor did, “Which would explain why you’re not an Alicorn. Or a Princess, right?”

“Me? A Princess? Don’t be ridiculous!” answered Twilight, almost taken aback by the idea, “I’m not exactly anything special.”

“Twilight, don’t be so humble,” advised Pinkie as she finally sat down at the table. After she beckoned for Twilight to do the same, the Unicorn sat next to her, “Clearly you’re something special if you’ve been made into a Multiverse Guardian.”

“What does that even mean, anyway? Prin-I mean PC-001 tried to explain it to me, but she lost me quickly.”

“Are you familiar with the ‘Multiverse Theory?’” asked Shining Armor, receiving an affirmative nod from Twilight as she started to eat, “Well, it isn’t one hundred percent true. Yes, there are multiple universes in existence, but there aren’t an infinite number. Yet more come into existence as time goes on.”

“The older a Universe gets, the more likely it is to become unstable,” continued Sunset Shimmer while Shining Armor ate a bit more, “When that happens, problems occur as you would guess. Our main purpose is to ensure these universes are operating smoothly. For the most part, this just means going from Universe to Universe and looking for things that are amiss.”

“But, there are occasionally beings that upset the balance, either accidentally or intentionally,” followed Pinkie, “That’s were our ‘jobs’ come into play. We go and make sure to set everything right in order to return the Universe to balance.”

“I’m still confused,” admitted Twilight.

“Yeah, it’s easier to understand once you actually see and do it,” assured Shining Armor after taking a drink of water, “We’ll be sure to show you that in the morning.”

“So, Twilight. We know that in your Universe, Shining Armor is your brother, not your sister, and I’m a Unicorn,” said Sunset Shimmer, looking directly at the Unicorn, “What about Pinkie Pie? Is she a Pegasus in your Universe or a different race?”

“She’s an Earth Pony, actually,” answered Twilight, causing Pinkie to practically choke on her food.

“Seriously?!” shouted the Pegasus after a large drink of water, “How can she survive like that?! I’d be lost without my wings!”

“Calm down, Pinkie,” said Shining Armor, “Remember, that version of you would have been born an Earth Pony. At least, I’d hope she’d be.”

“And are you forgetting that you’re the only one in our squad that’s a Pegasus?” asked Sunset Shimmer, “Sure, Vinyl was a Pegasus, but she’s gone now.”

“Vinyl?” asked Twilight, “Who’s that?”

“Vinyl Scratch, VS-923, was our previous captain,” explained Shining Armor, “She was a Pegasus who was rather head strong.”

“What happened to her?”

“She was…dismissed for breaking one of the most important rules of our organization,” replied Sunset Shimmer, “She visited her own Universe directly.”

“What do you mean ‘directly’?”

“You see, there are a few different ways we interact with the various Universes,” answered Pinkie, “We can simply view them, which allows us to remain here while doing our tasks, observe them, which means going to the Universe and watching it from there, visiting them indirectly, which is we see the Universe through the eyes of our counterpart there, and visiting them directly, which is interacting with the Universe as ourselves. Visiting a Universe directly isn’t forbidden, but doing so to your home Universe is.”

“Home Universe?”

“The Universe that you’re from. The number is a part of your codename, TS-314,” replied Pinkie, “Your Universe is number three hundred and fourteen in our cluster. Mine is number seventy-three, Shining Armor’s is one hundred and thirty-two, and Sunset Shimmer’s is two hundred and twenty-two. The numbers help us determine the age of a Universe, since they’re numbered by the order they appeared.”

“So, PC-001’s home Universe is number one, then?”

“Yeah, and that’s why she’s the head of our division,” answered Sunset Shimmer, “Since she was the very first member of our division, she’d naturally be from Universe one.”

The squad continued to have dinner while chatting and explaining things to Twilight. Once they were finished, Shining Armor and Sunset Shimmer returned to the squad’s quarters while Pinkie and Twilight continued their tour. Their next stop was a large room with a ring in the middle and a computer nearby that was currently being operated a light pink Unicorn stallion with a spiky blue mane and tail. On the sides of the room were more computers that were currently off.

“This is where our main operations take place, the Hub’s Portal room,” explained Pinkie as Twilight took the view in, “This is where we view, observe, and indirectly and directly interact with the Universes. If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you how things work here.” As the pair began to walk towards the computer, the Unicorn turned and blocked their path.

“PP-073, you know the rules,” said the Unicorn, “You’re not allowed to use the portal when your squad is off-duty.”

“Relax, FF-4763. I’m just showing our newest recruit here how this all works,” replied Pinkie, “PC-001 will confirm that, if you ask her. Besides, we’re not going to actually use the portal.”

“Well, I’ll just be here to make sure you don’t do anything against the rules,” stated FF-4763 as he walked over to a different computer. The pair went over to the computer closest to the portal.

“This is the central computer,” explained Pinkie, “You simply say a Universe number and one of the four options I told you about earlier, and voila, you’re good to go. FF-4763 is our resident geek that makes sure things run smoothly.”

“I heard that,” said the Unicorn from across the room, leading the Pegasus to smile at him.

“Anyway, when you’re just viewing a Universe, you head over to the computer whose number was stated at the time.”

“That’s actually not that complicated,” admitted Twilight, who’d feared that it would be insanely difficult to understand.

“Not at all,” said Pinkie as the two made their way to the doorway, “Oh, and we have one last place to go to.”

“Wait, seriously? Only three points of interest?”

“Well, duh. With such a simple mission, we don’t exactly need to have a lot of things,” answered Pinkie as she beckoned for Twilight to follow her. The final place that Pinkie had wanted to bring Twilight was, in fact, the squad’s quarters, “And this is where we live. Make yourself comfortable. Our home is your home…seriously.”

“Uh…thank you?” managed Twilight as the door opened. The room she found herself in was actually quite nice. There was a small kitchenette to her right and a large living area with several seats that looked quite comfortable to her left. On the far side were four separate rooms that the Unicorn assumed to be bedrooms. Sunset Shimmer and Shining Armor were currently locked what appeared to be a fierce game of cards, though the exact game was unknown to Twilight.

“So, who’s winning?” asked Pinkie as she walked over to the other two members of her squad.

“Well, I’m up by four points, but I’m afraid this hand is not going to end in my favor,” replied Sunset Shimmer, not taking her eyes off the game.

“I honestly wouldn’t count on that one,” said Shining Armor, who didn’t look away either.

“Well, when one of you loses, deal me in,” said Pinkie, “I’ve gotta get revenge for last time.”

“Hey, uh, Pinkie?” asked Twilight sheepishly, “What did you mean earlier when you said the rest of eternity?”

“Our job isn’t one we can retire or quit from,” answered Pinkie, “Since we don’t age at all, we basically get to do this until the end of time. Or until we get fired. And, trust me. You do not want to get fired.”

“What happens then?”

“I honestly don’t know,” replied the pink Pegasus sheepishly, “I’ve only heard rumors. I mean, I don’t even know exactly what happened to Vinyl Scratch. That’s kept secret for whatever reason.”

“Oh, and which of these rooms is mine?

“It’s the second from the left,” answered the Pegasus, “Shining Armor’s is the far left one, mine is the second from the right, and Sunset Shimmer’s is the one on the far right. Going to bed, then?”

“Yeah, it has been a long and crazy day. I’m wiped,” replied the Unicorn, “Night, I guess.”

“Hope you sleep well. Tomorrow we’ll get your hooves wet,” said Pinkie while Twilight walked into her room. Sunset Shimmer and Shining Armor waved good night, but neither said anything or diverted their attention from their game. To Twilight’s surprise, the room somewhat resembled her own back in her Universe. It would have been an exact copy if it weren’t for the fact there were no windows and no floors below. The floor was wood, as were the nightstands and bed frame. Even the blanket she had with stars and other celestial bodies was present. She was too exhausted to think too much about. Twilight crawled into her bed and quickly fell asleep.

> Chapter 2: Getting Twilight's Hooves Wet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Good morning, Twilight!” shouted Pinkie happily as she opened the door to Twilight’s room. She was met by the Unicorn lying half way off the bed with her mane and tail a complete mess, “Um. Wow, rough night?”

“What was your first clue?” snapped Twilight as she pulled herself up, “I could not get comfortable. This is just too weird. How in Equestria did they get my room so exact?”

“Don’t worry, we all felt the same way when we first got here,” answered Pinkie with a smile, “Anyway, I suggest you get ready. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”

“Great,” muttered Twilight sarcastically as she rubbed the side of her head. Before she could react, a hairbrush smacked her in the face, “Ow, what was that for?”

“Sorry, I was expecting you to catch that,” answered the Pegasus sheepishly, “And, trust me. You need it.”

“Gee, thanks,” stated Twilight as she picked up the hairbrush with magic and began to brush her mane, “So, exactly what are we going to do today?”

“Well, we’ve got a full list of Universes to check on,” answered Pinkie, “We’re going to check as many as we can until we can go off duty.”

“Which is when, exactly?” asked Twilight, setting the brush down once she was satisfied with her mane.

“Let’s see, it’s just past 0600 now,” started Pinkie as she apparently began to calculate data, “About twelve hours from now. And we start in two. ”

“Twelve hours? Seriously?” asked Twilight, almost shocked at the number, “That doesn’t exactly seem long.”

“How little you know, Twilight,” said Shining Armor from outside the room, “The hours tend to drag on the longer you work.”

“Each squad takes a ten hour shift with fourteen hours to relax to minimize mistakes,” explained Pinkie as she led Twilight into the main room, “In our line of work, mistakes can be costly. Like, wiping an entire universe out costly.”

“Sure, that’s a vote of confidence,” muttered the Unicorn with a sigh.

“Don’t worry, mistakes like that are almost nonexistent,” stated Sunset Shimmer, who was lying on her back on a couch while reading a book, “And the last time that happened was well over fifteen centuries ago.”

“Hey, Shining Armor, what’s our list looking like today?” asked Pinkie as she sat down next to the Unicorn, who was looking at a computer to the right of the couch.

“Same old, same old. I’d say today’s Universes of interest include one where Discord defeated Celestia and Luna, one where Ponies never developed societies past hunting and gathering, and one where Ponies live in space without any planets in it,” answered the white Unicorn, not taking her eyes off the screen, “Oh, and sorry. There aren’t any of your favorites on the list today.”

“What do you mean by ‘favorites’?” asked Twilight, sneering at Pinkie, who seemed rather uncomfortable.

“Pinkie here is especially fond of Universes where Ponies she knows well are the opposite sex,” answered Shining Armor, looking at the other Unicorn, “Which, of course, means that she’s a fan of my home universe.”

“Uh, ehehe,” managed Pinkie, blushing, “What can I say? I’m into that sorta thing.”

“And we never let her hear the end of it,” added Sunset Shimmer, garnering a laugh from her Unicorn squad mates and a glare from Pinkie, “But it’s all in good fun. Besides, we’ve all got our quirks that we harass each other about.”

“Anyway, we should get something to eat before we get to work,” said Shining Armor, pushing the computer to the side before standing up, “Shall we get going?”

With affirmative nods from the other three mares, the squad made their way to the mess hall. Twilight seemed surprised that the food was different than the night before, but nonetheless had her fill. Once they were finished and Pinkie checked the time, they made their way to the Portal room. FF-4763 was the only one in the room, much to Twilight’s surprise.

“Aren’t there any other squads here?” asked the Unicorn, looking to the rest of her squad.

“Three squads are assigned to each room and, for the most part, we usually observe or interact with the Universes rather than just view them,” answered Sunset Shimmer, “Did Pinkie not tell you that?”

“No, she didn’t,” replied Twilight, glaring at the Pegasus, “Wait, are there multiple rooms?”

“I only showed you this one because this is the room we’re assigned to,” admitted Pinkie, “We would be in trouble had we gone into any other ones.”

“And you implied that this was the only such room, why?” asked Twilight, more confused than annoyed.

“For the same reason, of course,” answered Pinkie, “And, I’m sorry if this is literally the first time I have personally trained a new recruit. I mean, yeah I saw Vinyl train both Sunset Shimmer and Shining Armor, in addition to four others, but I’ve not personally done it.”

“No need to be defensive, Pinkie,” advised Shining Armor, “We were just asking questions, not criticizing you.”

“I guess I did overreact a bit,” admitted the Pegasus, “Anyway, it’s time to get rolling. Follow me, Twilight.” She led the Unicorn over to the computer she’d shown the previous night, “Remember what I told you about this?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Good! The first Universe on our list is number one thousand six hundred and forty-two,” explained Pinkie, “We’re just going to view this one. Want to do the honors?”

“Uh…I guess,” Answered Twilight cautiously, “Uh…Universe 1642, view.” The computer made a small ring when she’d finished.

“Proceed to Monitor 1,” said a metallic voice from within the computer.

“Let’s go, then!” shouted Pinkie happily a she walked over to the computer to the side with a one on it. The monitor on it was showing what appeared to be a black circle with smaller red circles on it, “This is a map of Universe 1642. Each of those red circles are points that we need to check out. Go ahead, tap one of them.”

“All right,” obliged Twilight, cautiously raising her hoof to tap the screen. The screen momentarily turned white as the image changed. When it returned, the screen was partitioned between nine different images showing various different things, “Uh, now what?”

“Well, looking at the images here, there isn’t anything amiss within this Galaxy,” answered Sunset Shimmer, “Meaning we can check that one off the list.”

“How can you tell that? They’re just pictures.”

“Not exactly. These pictures are actually video recordings,” answered Shining Armor, “The only reason it seems like nothing is happening is that clearly nothing is going on.”

“Ah, I get it,” said Twilight, “Wait, does that mean we have to check out all of those red circles?”

“Yes, we do. It gets boring because nothing ever goes on,” replied Sunset Shimmer, “At least, nothing’s happened on our squad’s shift since I got here. All the cool stuff happens on a different squad’s shift.”

“Well, let’s finish this one up, then,” said Pinkie, tapping the screen to return to the main image. The process took almost an hour, with what Sunset Shimmer saying being the truth; absolutely nothing was going on in that Universe. Once all of the red circles had been selected, the monitor powered down automatically and the squad went back to the central computer. Before they could do anything else, the portal, which had previously been turned off, suddenly activated, with a pink light taking up the middle. Four ponies stepped out, “Hey, girls. Find anything interesting there?”

“Nah,” answered one of the ponies, a light cerulean Pegasus mare with a well-kept rainbow colored mane and tail, the former of which was kept in a, well, ponytail. Her Cutie Mark was a white cloud with a rainbow colored lightning bolt coming out, “So, this is the new recruit, eh? RD-5748, at your service. I already know your name, Twilight, but what’s your codename?”

“Uh…TS-314,” answered Twilight, “You certainly look like the Rainbow Dash I knew, but there’s something different I can’t place my hoof on.”

“Well, compared to Universe 001, she’s much less of a tomboy,” explained Pinkie, “Maybe that’s it?”

“Probably,” answered the Unicorn, “So, who else is in your squad?”

“I’m L-754,” said a bluish-purple Unicorn with a lighter blue-purple mane and tail. Her Cuite Mark was a white crescent moon with a black background, “You probably know me as Princess Luna, though the idea of me being royalty is quite foreign to me. And based on what Rainbow has told me, it’s no wonder you wouldn’t recognize me. I’m apparently quite different.”

“Name’s Bulk Biceps, or BB-2309 if you prefer,” said the white, somewhat muscular Earth Pony mare who was standing next to Luna. Her mane and tail where blonde and her Cutie Mark was a black weight, for whatever reason, “Twilight, is it? Nice to meet you.”

“I think I’ve seen your counterpart in my Universe on occasion,” stated Twilight, “But…let’s just say there are enough differences that I wouldn’t have recognized you.”

“No problem,” replied the Earth Pony with a smile, “The same is true for you.”

“Anyway, I’m FS-7383,” said the orange Pegasus mare with a spiky blue mane, but a shorter straight tail. Her Cutie Mark was a blue shield with a lightning bolt in the middle, “Flash Sentry is my name. I’m afraid that I’ve almost certainly never seen your counterpart in my Universe.”

“Well, to be fair, I don’t think I’ve seen yours,” replied Twilight.

“You getting ready to finish up your shift, Rainbow?” asked Sunset Shimmer once the introductions had finished, “You’ve got an hour to go, so you’ll probably get one more Universe in.”

“Yeah, and then it’s time to relax,” replied the Pegasus, “You gonna be heading out soon?”

“Yes, just as soon as we set up the portal,” replied Shining Armor as she walked over to the central computer, “You don’t mind if we go first, do you?”

“Not at all,” answered Luna, “After all, it means less time to work for us.”

“Okay, let’s see which one we’re supposed to go to next,” said Shining Armor as she began to think, “Oh, right. Universe 5562, Observe.” The computer made the same small ring as before, but this time the portal activated with a blue light taking up the middle.

“Let’s get to this, then!” shouted Pinkie happily as she flew through the portal, flying for the first time since Twilight had arrived. The rest of her squad followed suit, and the portal shut off.
> Chapter 3: Continuing Day One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So, where are we?” asked Twilight as soon as she was able to see the rest of her squad. Going through the portal had forced her eyes to readjust, blinding the Unicorn for a minute or two. She found herself and the rest of her squad in what looked like an endless room of white. Nothing was visible, not even the floor Twilight assumed she was standing on yet couldn’t feel.

“Universe 5562,” answered Pinkie without skipping a beat.

“No, really?” asked her new squad mate, very clearly unamused by the joke.

“We are currently in the core of the Universe, which is the main source of stability,” replied Sunset Shimmer, actually answering Twilight’s question, “We can go to various points of interest within the Universe from here in an instant.”

“Wait, why didn’t we look at the core of that other Universe?” inquired the purple Unicorn, “I mean, I would have thought we’d look at that first.”

“Not every Universe has one,” explained Shining Armor, “In those Universes, there are more places that bear the burden of keeping the Universe stable than in ones with cores.”

“That makes no sense!” exclaimed Twilight, tossing her front legs into the air while standing on her back ones, “How can some Universes have cores while others don’t?!”

“Twilight, can I ask you a question?” asked Pinkie, her voice flat.

“Yeah, what?”

“Does anything involving the MGH make sense?”

“Um…I’m sorry?”

“Think about it,” replied Pinkie, “We work for an organization that takes beings from the ever-growing number of Universes, often times against their will, mind you, and makes them ensure the Universes are stable. Universes that come into existence through mysterious forces and somehow end up at the same point in time as their base Universe in a fluctuating amount of time through other mysterious forces. Those beings are then outside of time with regards to aging, diseases, and death, with us being immune to those three, while still needing to eat, drink, and use the, uh, facilities. We also work for a boss that no one, not even the superiors of our superior, has ever seen and could very well not even have a physical form. WHAT ABOUT THIS MAKES SENSE?!”

“Feeling a little stressed out there, Pinkie?” asked Sunset Shimmer, taken aback by the sudden outburst from the Pegasus.

“What…was…your…first…clue?” replied Pinkie, panting because of the amount of air she’d put forth from her short monologue.

“Feeling better now?” asked Shining Armor, which was followed by a large sigh from the Pegasus, “Pretty sure you freaked Twilight out.”

“Huh? Oh, sorry Twilight,” said Pinkie sheepishly, seeing that the purple Unicorn looked uncomfortable, “I’ve been under a lot of stress, having to adjust from being the member of a squad to the captain of one. I did mention that, right?”

“No, you didn’t,” answered Twilight, feeling a bit less unnerved once she’d had a chance to process what Pinkie had said, “But I’d more or less assumed that, since you were the one who was selected to train me.”

“Speaking of which, we should get on with our observations,” advised Shining Armor, “You know how some ponies get when you take too long.”

“So, exactly how do we observe the Universe here?”

“Well, basically we go to the points of stability, or interest as Sunset Shimmer put it, and make sure everything’s in order,” answered Pinkie, “If, and almost certainly when, we find out nothing is amiss, we return here.”

“And that’s it?”

“Yep, simple job,” replied Pinkie, her voice laced with disappointment.

“But isn’t that the point? If our job is simple, that means nothing is wrong, right?”

“It’s boring that way. I mean, yeah, that’s a good thing and all. But still, it’s not exactly a fun job.”

“But, we’ve got to do it,” advised Sunset Shimmer, “No matter how bored we get.”

“So, what exactly are these ‘points of stability’ anyway?” asked Twilight, changing the subject.

“Exactly what it sounds like; they’re points in the Universes where the stability is held,” explained Shining Armor, “While the core here is the main source, there simply have to be more places that govern the stability. Otherwise, when the Universes expand enough, they’d collapse on themselves. And, as I hinted at, that means Universes without cores have many more points than those that do. Like nearly five times as many.”

“And who sets up these points?”

“To be perfectly honest? None of us know,” answered Pinkie, “As time flows on, the Universes simply gain new points of stability. Which means our job is always getting larger.”

“Shall we get started?” asked Sunset Shimmer, who couldn’t help but notice how easily they’d gotten side-tracked.

“Let’s,” replied Pinkie with a smile, “Point of stability 1.”

“Why’d you say tha-?” asked Twilight before she was cut off by her surroundings changing. Within just a few seconds, the ponies found themselves in what looked like a lush pine forest that nearly blocked out the sky, “Where are we now?!”

“Point of stability 1,” repeated Pinkie, “It’s here that this Universe has a portion of its stability. Can you not feel how stable it is?”

“I’m sorry?” asked Twilight, confused.

“It’s a joke, Twilight,” explained Shining Armor, “Nopony can feel stability in this sense.”

“So…how large is this point?”

“Not large, considering the size of this particular Universe,” answered Pinkie, “You see, this Universe is one of the smallest in our cluster. It only consists of five or six planets at the most, and this point is on the main one.”

“Why so few?”

“Universe 5562 is one where there are like eight or nine tribes of Ponies at the max, and they can all transfer between the worlds at will,” explained Shining Armor, “This is one of the stranger Universes, but each one has something different about it so it isn’t that bad.”

“So, what exactly is the strange part of this? Aside, of course, from so few planets and ponies.”

“Every week, the tribes gather for a competition to take a symbol of victory. Usually only five of the tribes compete while the others help construct the arenas of combat,” answered Sunset Shimmer, “However, there are some weeks where the tribes band together for a common goal, such as slaying a common enemy or exploring a new land.”

“Dare I ask what this ‘symbol of victory’ is?”

“Some kind of tower consisting of four solid gold blocks sitting on a block of pure obsidian,” replied Pinkie, “Yeah, we don’t understand the appeal either. And yet, the competitions are broadcast to the MGH because of how much we enjoy viewing them for some reason.”

“Anyway, this point checks out okay,” stated Shining Armor as she viewed the surroundings, “Okay, let’s head back.”

“Core,” said Pinkie once she confirmed for herself what her squad mate had deduced. As soon as she said that, the world around Twilight shifted again. The group now found themselves back where they’d been a moment prior, “Okay, let’s finish this up. Stability point 2.”

The squad continued to inspect the points of stability for Universe 5562 for almost an hour before reaching the final one. Once Pinkie was satisfied that the Universe was completely stable, the group returned to the core.

“Now that this one’s fine, let’s get back to the MGH,” said the Pegasus, “Return, authorization PP-073.” A flash blinded Twilight, causing her to gasp from surprise. Once she recovered, she found herself alongside her squad back in the portal room.

“And we can check that one off our list,” said Shining Armor, apparently keeping a mental one.

“So, why’d you need to authorize our return here?” asked Twilight, looking at the Pegasus, “Shouldn’t we be able to just do so as we please?”

“The main reason I have to authorize it is that I’m the squad’s captain and I needed to verify that our job was finished,” answered Pinkie, returning the look, “The secondary and tertiary reasons are so we don’t have any ponies returning to the MGH prematurely and so we don’t have any unauthorized visitors respectively.”

“Since Rainbow’s team is off-duty by now,” said Shining Armor as she looked at the central computer, “We’ve got the room all to ourselves. Let’s continue on. Pinkie, shall we indirectly visit our next Universe?”

“Depends. What’s the next number?”

“100, actually,” answered the white Unicorn without pausing, “Figured that would be one of the better ones to do so with. Especially since the other Universes we have on our list are easier to check than this one.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s okay,” stated the Pegasus, “Let’s get to it then.”

“On it,” said Sunset Shimmer as she walked over to the computer Shining Armor was looking at, “Universe 100, visit indirectly.” The portal behind the rest of the squad activated, this time with a light green color.

“I take it this lights up differently depending on what option we chose?”

“Yes, indeedy!” answered Pinkie before diving head first into the portal. With a sigh, each of the others walked through the portal.

Wait, where am I? Thought Twilight as she regained her bearings. She couldn’t feel anything for some reason, nor could she move a muscle. She wasn’t even able to see anything except total darkness. What’s going on?

No sooner had she thought that did her sight return. Twilight found herself in the room that had been replicated in her quarters, although this time it had windows. She heard a yawn, only to realize it seemed exceptionally close.

“!ekipS, gninrom dooG,” said a voice that sounded exactly like her, only to jog the Unicorn’s memory.

That’s right, I’m seeing this Universe through my counterpart. Thought Twilight as she saw the other version of herself get out of her bed. No sooner had she gotten her bearings did the Unicorn’s vision suddenly go dark. Within an instant, she found herself back in the portal room alongside of her squad mates.

“What in the world?” asked Sunset Shimmer as she shook her head, “Well, that’s certainly never happened to me before.”

“Well, looks like our day just got a whole lot more interesting,” said Pinkie as she motioned for her squad mates to take a look at the central computer. The screen was flashing red with an exclamation mark in the middle, “Something is up somewhere in Universe 100. We need to alert PC-001 immediately.” The Pegasus bolted off towards the door, leaving her squad behind. After looking at each other worried, they all ran after their captain.
> Chapter 4: elbuorT
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Move it!” shouted Pinkie as she nearly crashed into a group of ponies in the hallway, her squad following as quickly as possible behind. She slid past the door to PC-001’s office while attempting to stop herself. The door opened once Pinkie was stood in front of it, “Commander, we’ve got a problem!”

“Yes, I was alerted the moment you used your emergency override,” replied PC-001, who was sitting at her desk, “A quick scan shows me this isn’t anything your squad can’t handle alone. PP-073, you’re hereby tasked with eliminating this disruption through all means possible.”

“Yes, ma’am!” answered Pinkie just as the rest of her squad arrived, “Okay, let’s get back to the portal room!” The door to PC-001’s office shut once Pinkie had begun to run back to the room in question, allowing for Twilight to groan without fear of repercussions. Nevertheless, the Unicorn and her two other squad mates made their way back to the portal room, where Pinkie was waiting in front of the central computer, “Universe 100, visit directly.” The portal turned on, this time to a bright yellow.

“Let’s move,” said Shining Armor, even though she was catching her breath like Twilight and Sunset Shimmer. The four ponies quickly ran into the portal, and found themselves in a place similar to where they’d been in Universe 5562, which the purple Unicorn deduced as Universe 100’s core.

“So…where’s this problem?” asked Twilight once she was able to see her squad.

“The computer told me it was at stability point seven,” answered her captain, “Stability point 7.” The world around the four ponies shifted suddenly to a barren landscape. The clouds overhead were black, but no rain fell. Cracks littered the land around them and the occasional dead tree shot out of the ground.

“Well, we know we’re on the right track,” said Sunset Shimmer, “Now we need to find the source of the disturbance.”

“Oh, are you perhaps referring to me?” asked a voice that seemed to come out of nowhere.

“That voice…” said Twilight, “Why am I not surprised that you’re the one causing this, Discord?”

“Discord? Who is Discord?” replied the voice, seemingly changing positions with each word, “My name is drocsiD. I know not any Discords.”

“Remember Twilight; in this Universe things like names and sentences are reversed,” cautioned Shining Armor, “So, basically this IS Discord, yet he goes by drocsiD as a result.”

“So, then how are we able to understand him as though he’s speaking like we do?” asked Twilight, looking to the other Unicorn in confusion.

“We’ll explain it later,” said Pinkie, “But, for now, we have bigger things to worry about. Show yourself, drocsiD!”

“Oh, fine,” answered the voice begrudgingly. With an extremely short flash of light, a rather tall and slender creature appeared before the squad. drocsiD’s brownish-gray head was shaped like that of a pony with a light blue goat horn on the right side and a tan deer antler on the left. His eyes were yellow with red irises, the one for his left eye being slightly larger. drocsiD’s white eyebrows mimicked his eyes in that the left was larger than the right. His neck of the same color as his face gave way to a darker brown just before his shoulders, which then gave way to a reddish dragon tail not far after his thighs. drocsiD’s left arm was that of a lion while his right was that of an eagle, and his left leg was that of a lizard while his right leg was that of a goat, “eiP eikniP, I presume? Or might you be somepony else, considering eikniP is an Earth Pony and yet you are clearly a Pegasus?”

“drocsiD, you are in violation of the laws set forth by the Guardians of the Multiverse,” stated Pinkie furiously, “You are hereby ordered to cease all of your activities involving the destabilization of this area and are to be subjected to a memory wipe of this encounter aside, of course, knowledge you are to do nothing else in this place.”

“The…Guardians of the Multiverse?” asked drocsiD cautiously, “I’m afraid I have no idea what that is, so I cannot exactly follow your orders.”

“Listen, we have ways of making you cooperate,” said Shining Armor as her horn began to glow a light rose color, “You have ten seconds to comply before I blast you into oblivion.”

“All right, all right. I’ll stop,” said drocsiD rather suddenly, causing all four of the ponies to look at him with raised eyebrows, “Honest. Clearly I don’t want to see myself blasted into oblivion, as fun as that may sound. Look, I’ll even fix what I’ve done!” With a snap of his fingers and a momentary flash, the landscape changed. The cracks in the ground disappeared while the trees regained life and flourished. Grass and flowers covered all parts of the land now, “And, I’ll even await my memory wipe.”

“O…kay?” stated Shining Armor once the land had changed. A thin beam shot forth from her horn and hit drocsiD straight in the forehead. After a second, he shook his head and disappeared with a flash, “That seemed too easy. But, our works done I guess. Unless there’s anything else we need to do.”

“Nope, that’s it. The computer didn’t alert me to any sort of problems elsewhere,” said Pinkie, turning towards the white mare, “Core.” Within a second, the squad found themselves back in the core of the Universe, “Return, authorization PP-073. Send report 100-SP-07.” With barely enough time to recover, the four ponies now found themselves in the portal room where they’d started.

“This is going to sound a bit stupid, but do we have to report back to PC-001?” asked Twilight once her disorientation passed, “Seems obvious that we do.”

“Actually, no. The extra thing I said before we returned was for the central computer here to send a report to her,” answered Pinkie, “Saves us the trouble of drafting and filing a report, plus it’s a lot less that needs to be archived. Oh, and I wouldn’t take that as a real example of our jobs.”

“Why’s that?”

“That was surprisingly easy compared to the other ones we’ve done,” explained Sunset Shimmer, “Too easy, if you ask me.”

“Yeah, it was kinda boring,” said Pinkie, “Anyway, no use dwelling on it now. We’ve got our main job to take care of. Let’s get going!”

“Wait, you said you’d explain how we could understand drocsiD as though he were talking like us?” asked Twilight, still wanting an answer.

“You see, when we visit a Universe directly and interact with its inhabitants, we hear everything except names in our natural language while they hear everything except names in there’s.”

“Interesting. Does that also apply here at the MGH?”

“It does, actually,” replied Pinkie, “While all four of us hail from Universes that are similar, there are many members here that come from Universes where the main languages of ponies are much different. Anyway, we’ve got a job to do so let’s get to it!”

Several hours passed as the squad alternated between observing Universes, such as in the case with the one’s that Shining Armor had noted were interesting, and directly visiting the Universes. Absolutely nothing was amiss in any of those Universes, which made the time seem to move slowly. The squad was just leaving their second to last Universe for the day when Twilight saw a group of four ponies she’d not seen before.

“Well, the fact that you’re still here tells me that your job went okay,” said one of the ponies, a light aquamarine Unicorn mare with a light cyan mane and tail and a white streak in both. Her Cutie Mark was a lyre, strangely enough, “And this must be the new recruit. LH-7413, or Lyra Heartstrings, as well as captain of this squad at your service. But you can just call me Lyra. Twilight, right? I’ve talked to a version of you on occasion.”

“Same here,” replied Twilight, “And, uh, I guess my codename is TS-314. And…you wouldn’t happen to be Fluttershy, would you?”

“Yes, I am, Twilight,” replied a light yellow Earth Pony mare with a long pink mane and tail, the former of which seemed to make a heart shape, “I only barely recognized you because in the Universe I came from, eight hundred and ninety, you’re a Pegasus.”

“Funny. In the Universe I’m from, you’re a Pegasus. And…seemingly a bit shyer.”

“Well, here at the MGH, one can’t exactly be shy,” replied the yellow Unicorn with a smile.

“By the way, I’m B-6982, Berryshine. Trust me, you have no idea how happy I am that my name is one word,” said a Pegasus of almost the same color as Twilight with a shorter, fluffier reddish-purple mane. Her cutie mark was, strangely, a bushel of grapes and a strawberry, “Believe me, it would be too much of temptation for some ponies.”

“What, are you talking about me?” asked an orange Pegasus mare with a brown mane that was shorter, but very similar, to Pinkie’s. Her Cutie Mark was a grilled cheese sandwich spread out like an accordion, “Oh, and name’s Cheese Sandwich, or CS-074. I believe I met your counterpart in my Universe when I helped plan Rainbow Dash’s birthiversary. Seem familiar to you?”

“Actually, yes,” answered Twilight with a smile as she recalled the event in question, “It wasn’t that long ago as far as I’m concerned. Not sure about you, though.”

“Anyway, now that all of THESE introductions are done,” said Pinkie, recalling the exchange from only a few hours ago, “We’ve probably got one last Universe left before we call it quits. Have fun while we’re off, okay girls?” After activating the portal for their next destination, Twilight’s squad entered into it for what ended up being the last one for that shift. They then ate dinner before retiring to their quarters for the night.


***


“Excuse me, my lord. drocsiD has returned from his mission successfully. We are now able to confirm that the average response time from members of the MGH is around two minutes.”

“Excellent. Begin preparing for phase two.”

“As you wish, my lord.”

> Chapter 5: Explanations of the MGH
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So, you enjoy your first day on the job?” asked Pinkie once she, alongside the rest of her squad, had begun to relax. She was sitting on the couch alongside Twilight while her other two squad mates were sitting in the chairs across from it.

“Well, it certainly was interesting,” answered the Unicorn, “I mean, I guess it was okay?”

“Like we’ve said before, you’d best get used to it,” stated Sunset Shimmer, “Anyway, you want us to teach you this game?”

“Uh…I guess?” replied Twilight, noticing that the Earth Pony had a deck of cards sitting next to her, “I take it that’s the game you were playing last night?”

“Yep. We don’t actually have a name for it,” replied Sunset Shimmer, “We’ve never really needed a name for it. Basically, each player starts with eight cards. Each turn we draw a card and try to play at least one pair, trio, or set. If a player can’t do that, they must either steal one from another player or draw until they can play or steal one. A pair is one point, a trio is two, and a set is four. If a person runs out of cards in their hands, the round is over and any player with cards left loses points equal to the number they have. Ten rounds and the game is done, and whoever has the most points wins. Understand?”

“I think so,” answered Twilight as she made a mental note of the rules.

“All righty, then! Let’s get this game going!” said Pinkie happily as she got up off the couch and walked over to one side of the room. She quickly dragged a table to where it sat between the four ponies, “Shining Armor, care to do the honors?”

“Sure, why not?” answered the white Unicorn as she lifted the deck of cards next to Sunset Shimmer with her magic and began to shuffle them. After a second or two, she proceeded to deal out the hands to each of the players.

“You know, this seems like a great time to do something that should have been done last night,” said Pinkie, “I mean, I would have done it last night but you went to bed before I had a chance, Twilight. One of the most important things you need to know about the MGH are the rules and regulations.”

“Naturally,” said Twilight as she looked at the cards she’d been dealt, “I assume there’s a book containing them, right?”

“Oh, Twilight, you’re just like the pony I knew from my Universe. Always concerned about whether or not there’s a book on a subject,” laughed Pinkie, receiving a glare from the Unicorn, “Nah, we don’t have any books like that. These are things that we’ve all come to memorize, seeing as how important they are.”

“So, what kind of things do I need to do or not do?”

“Well, first off when we’re scanning Universes, we can only ever indirectly visit a Universe once per shift,” replied Shining Armor as she took her turn, “If we indirectly visited every Universe, we’d literally have no job other than to fix disturbances.”

“Why’s that?”

“Whenever we choose to indirectly visit a Universe, we obviously can’t search many stability points, if any,” explained Sunset Shimmer as she drew a card, “So, the computer that controls the portal does the work for us and alerts a squad’s captain to any sort of problem, as you heard about today. Not only would this mean we’d have an easy job, it would also divert resources to maintaining the constant scanning of Universes that we simply cannot afford.”

“Wait, we have to worry about resources?” asked Twilight, “Doesn’t the MGH encompass all of existence?”

“In order to maintain the scanning mechanisms of the computers, more beings would be needed than we can even possibly bring here,” replied Shining Armor, “Even when we use the scans three times at most in a day, we still constantly need a pony there to make sure things are running. Multiply that by the number of Universes in existence and the number of computers needed to scan those, and we end up with a shortage of ponies.”

“How? Wouldn’t the number of computers be less than or equal to the number of Universes, meaning we’d actually have a surplus or at least break even?”

“No, since each computer can only handle a single Universe under constant surveillance and two ponies to switch shifts,” replied Pinkie, “The only reason you’ve seen FF-4763 is that our shifts always coincide. He’s always on from 0700 to 1900, and we’re always on from 0800 to 1800. You know, I myself am not even sure who the other pony that monitors our portal is.”

“Okay, moving on, anything else I need to be aware of?” asked Twilight once she felt satisfied she knew enough of that subject.

“Well, obviously bringing any unauthorized being to the MGH is against the rules,” started Pinkie as she waited for Twilight to take her turn, “However, bringing an unauthorized being from a Universe that a member of the MGH also hails from is, like, a super humongous taboo.”

“Why is that any worse than the former?”

“Because then there would be two beings that were taken from a Universe,” replied Shining Armor, “While having one doesn’t cause any sort of strain on a Universe, taking even one more would increase the natural rate of instability exponentially. Plus there’s the whole deal of having to keep the MGH a secret.”

“If we have to keep it a secret, why’d we blurt that little bit out when we dealt with drocsiD?” asked Twilight, watching for what she might do next.

“The way the squads are set up is that there is always at least one Earth Pony, one Pegasus, and one Unicorn, with the fourth being a wild card of sorts. The Unicorn, or in our case Unicorns, always learns a spell to wipe a being's short term memory aside from knowing not to do anything in that area,” explained Sunset Shimmer, “Which reminds me, Shining Armor will have to teach you that spell when she gets the chance. It’ll be invaluable to our work in the future, especially if one of you gets incapacitated somehow.”

“Anyway, bringing an unauthorized being in general causes a huge mess and bringing one from a Universe a member of the MGH is from makes an even bigger mess,” summarized Pinkie, “So, don’t do either of those things under any circumstances. Moving on, something important to remember is that you aren’t, under any circumstances, to use the portal room without me present.”

“Why’s that?” asked Twilight as she stole a trio of cards from Sunset Shimmer to make a set, “Is it that you’re the captain of the squad?”

“You got it,” answered the Pegasus, “If we let ponies do as they please with the portal rooms, there’d be no order. And that would look pretty bad considering the fact that our whole organization is meant to keep order.”

“I take it that’s the same reason we can’t use the portal room when our squad is off?”

“That’s right,” replied Sunset Shimmer as she laid down her last card, “Oh, and that’s game.”

“Drat,” muttered Pinkie as she began to count how many points she had, “Oh, and you remember that super important rule that I told you about yesterday?”

“Uh…which one was that, again?” asked Twilight as she looked at the cards in front of her.

“You can’t visit your home Universe directly,” replied Pinkie, “That would cause even more problems than anything else that could possibly go wrong here.”

“How so?” asked Twilight, “Oh, and I guess I’ve got…seventeen points.”

“That coupled with how the MGH handles taking beings from a Universe would mean there would be too many of the same being in said Universe,” replied Shining Armor, “Shoot, I’ve got fifteen.”

“How would there be too many?” asked Twilight, “How does the MGH handle that sort of thing?”

“Well, whenever we get a new recruit, that would naturally leave a void in the Universe from which they came,” explained Sunset Shimmer, “So, in order to rectify that, an almost exact copy of that being with all of their memories takes their place, meaning it’s like nothing happened. None of the other beings in that Universe ever suspect a thing.”

“Wait, there’s another me living my life right now?” asked Twilight, almost speechless, “So, while I had to leave my life behind, this copy of me is living it for me?!”

“It’s something that all of us have to deal with,” said Shining Armor, “We all know how you feel hearing that, since we’ve all been there.”

“I’m…gonna go to bed,” said Twilight, her voice cracking slightly as she got up off the couch. None of her squad mates said a word as she walked to her room and shut the door. Her thoughts were all over the place as she climbed into bed, trying to hold back some tears.
> Chapter 6: The Next Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Twilight, c’mon!” shouted Pinkie as she stood outside of the purple Unicorn’s room, the door to which was currently shut, “We’re going to be late for our shift!” No response came from the room.

“Did she take it that hard?” asked Sunset Shimmer, who was standing close to the door their quarters, tapping her left front hoof as she did, “I mean, yeah. None of us took learning that we’ve got a clone living our life well, but at least we kept going.”

“Yeah, and everypony deals with shocking news differently,” noted Shining Armor, who was standing next to the Earth Pony, “But, of course, the fact that she’s ignoring us tells me that Twilight took it a lot harder than all of us.”

“Okay, Twilight. If you don’t want to do your job today, that’s fine,” said Pinkie calmly, “But, if you do not get your flank out here right now, I will come in there and personally drag you out and force you to come with us!”

“Uh, Pinkie?” asked Sunset Shimmer, looking at the Pegasus, “How are you going to do that if the door’s locked?”

“Details,” answered Pinkie before sighing, “Twilight, you have until I reach five to open this door, otherwise I will break it down.”

“Jeez, Pinkie,” said Shining Armor, “You sound like you’re her mother!”

“Well, when you think about it, being a leader isn’t all that different than being a parent,” replied the Pegasus, “Both try to bring out the best in those they’re supposed to protect and try to get them to do what they’re supposed to do. Plus, well, you know.”

“Oh, right,” said the white Unicorn mare, getting the implied message.

“Anyway, one!” shouted Pinkie, returning her attention to the door, “Two!” A faint click from the door was followed by Twilight emerging from it. To the surprise of her teammates, she seemed like she was holding up well.

“What were you referring to just now?” asked the Unicorn, “When Shining Armor said you were just like a mom.”

“That? Well, you see when I was recruited, I left behind my friends and family, naturally,” replied Pinkie, “My parents, my sisters, all of the friends I’d made, but, most importantly, my niece and adopted daughter.”

“Your…adopted daughter?!” asked Twilight, taken aback by the revelation, “But, the Pinkie I knew didn’t have any nieces or nephews, let alone a foal of her own!”

“Yes, I had a daughter back in my home Universe,” said Pinkie, clearly upset by the memories that were being brought back, “My sister, Limestone, and her husband were caught in an accident, and I was the first to volunteer to raise their infant daughter, Coquina. While I loved her when she was just my niece, she became the center of my world when she became my daughter.”

“How did you handle being here so well, then?”

“To be honest? I didn’t. But, I was told something that has kept me going since then,” replied the Pegasus, “Even if you’re worlds apart, your friends and family will always be with you. And our job ensures that they can continue on with their lives, even if we are no longer a part of them.”

“Sorry I for the way I was acting this morning,” apologized Twilight, “But, you’re right. Thanks for the encouragement, Pinkie. Shall we get to work for the day?”

“That was a surprisingly fast turnaround,” commented Shining Armor, “But, we actually can’t start working today yet. It’s only 0630.”

“What,” said Twilight before glaring at Pinkie, “Why’d you tell me we were going to be late?!”

“You saw yesterday! We barely got to the portal room on time!” defended Pinkie.

“Yeah, and whose fault is that?” asked Sunset Shimmer, sneering at her captain, “Whose fault is it every day?”

“Well, considering the fact that you never want to leave your stuffed animals at a good time tells me otherwise,” retorted Pinkie, “I mean, the past two days have been a treat for us.”

“Hey, you leave them out of this!” yelled the Earth Pony, blushing profusely, “At least I’m not as bad about them as Shining Armor is with all her posters! I mean, she won’t even let us in her room because she doesn’t want us to see them!”

“Wait, why am I being dragged into this?!” said the white Unicorn, now also blushing, “The reason I don’t let you into my room is that it’s the one place I can have some alone time!”

“And what do you do during your alone time?” asked Twilight jokingly, receiving a glare from the other Unicorn, “Relax, I’m just messing with you. Should we get going, then?”

“Yes, and let’s just forget this small little argument happened, all right?” replied Pinkie, receiving affirmative nods from her squad. They made their way to the mess hall, where they ate and conversed about what they had to do during their next shift and other things. The first Universe they chose to visit was 6737, which is one where everything is a different color, and they ended up using their daily indirect visit on it. The search was over after just a short time, yielding no problems unlike the day before. The squad returned to the MGH for their next task.

“Universe 5946, visit directly,” said Shining Armor as she stood in front of the central computer. Once the portal was active, the four ponies stepped into it. This Universe lacked a core, apparent in the place that the squad found themselves. It was a place with buildings that went well past the clouds in the sky as a norm, including the platform that they found themselves on. Twilight could see Pegasi flying around in the sky, something that she’d come to expect.

“Greetings, Guardians. Here for the weekly report, I presume?” asked a voice from behind the squad. Twilight turned and was met by an exact copy of PC-001, “Ah, a new member!”

“Yep, it’s her second day on the job, actually,” said Pinkie as she and the rest of the squad turned to speak with the PC-001 lookalike, “Twilight, this is the Princess Celestia of Universe 5946. Princess Celestia, I’m certainly you know who this is, right?”

“Twilight Sparkle, it is a pleasure to meet you,” replied the white Alicorn, bowing to the Unicorn, making the latter a bit uncomfortable, “I see you’re from a Universe where you remain a Unicorn, rather than become an Alicorn like this one.”

“What exactly did your Twilight do that made her become a Princess?” asked Twilight, seeing a perfect opportunity to ask something she’d been curious about for the past couple days.

“The last thing that I did before I became a Princess was to finish the final spell of Starswirl the Bearded,” answered a voice from above the group. Twilight looked up and saw, to her surprise, herself flying down using wings she lacked. The other Twilight landed next to Celestia and folded her wings, “I must admit, this is the first time I’ve met one of my cross-universal counterparts. This is too weird.”

“You said it,” replied Twilight, “Just seeing a version of myself with wings is strange enough, but the fact that I’m also hearing myself speak is worse.”

“Anyway, you’ll be pleased to know that everything is in order at every stability point in this Universe,” said Celestia, “In fact, they appear to be decaying just under the natural rate. I estimate they can last the next decade without repairs at the very least, longer if the decay rate continues to fall.”

“PC-001 will be glad to hear this,” said Shining Armor, “And, thank you for your continued assistance, Princesses”

“We’re happy to help in any way we can,” said Princess Twilight, “The gravity of your mission is too great for us to ignore.”

“Princess Celestia? Would you have a problem if we showed our Twilight around this version of Canterlot?” asked Pinkie, showing as much respect as possible.

“Not at all, Guardian PP-073,” answered the white Alicorn with a smile, “Like Princess Twilight said, we’re always happy to accommodate Guardians.”

“Thank you,” said Pinkie before bowing to the Princesses, who followed suit, “Let’s go, then.” All members of the squad except Twilight began to walk towards a nearby door. After a second, the purple Unicorn followed. The door disappeared instantly as the ponies approached and reappeared once they were through it. Twilight found herself standing in a rather long room with a single throne at the far end. Windows with stained glass depicting various scenes were visible along the hallway. All but two were familiar to the Unicorn, because they were depictions of the exploits of herself and her friends. There was one that depicted her, or rather her counterpart, as an Alicorn wearing a crown with a burst of light coming out. The other was what looked like two Celestias meeting with various other beings, not just ponies, surrounding them.

“I take it this is the Canterlot throne room?” asked Twilight after taking in her surroundings, “Why are we here?”

“Number 1, because we’ve got time to kill,” answered Pinkie, looking at the Unicorn, “Number 2, because you need to learn a bit about what is basically a sub-division of the MGH’s Pony division.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see, the key difference between this and Universe 1 is that technology is much more advanced,” answered Sunset Shimmer, “Like, it would take several thousand years at the very least for a majority of Universes.”

“That doesn’t explain why this Universe is aware of our existence,” said Twilight, “I was under the assumption that no Universe had any knowledge of us.”

“Under normal circumstances, that’s true,” explained Shining Armor, “However, the technology of this Universe as well about a dozen others is advanced to the point where they were able to detect our existence.”

“Rather than, say, knock them back technologically to where they can’t detect us, it was decided that we should enlist their help,” continued Pinkie, “In exchange for not taking any beings from these Universes as members, they monitored the stability points of their own Universes as well as grant us access to certain technologies.”

“Technologies like what?”

“The portals, the self-reproducing food supply, our whole database system,” replied the Pegasus, “You’d be surprised how many things we didn’t have before these agreements.”

“What was it like before then?”

“I don’t know from experience. It was incredibly early on in the MGH’s existence that we got all that, for obvious reasons,” answered Pinkie a she shrugged, “I’d imagine PC-001 and her former squad would know. Anyway, when we came to our agreement, this Universe basically became a sub-division.”

“So, why would I need to know all this?” asked Twilight rather bluntly.

“Because that is what PC-001 wants for every member of the MGH whenever they first have receive a report from one of these Universes,” answered Pinkie, “I don’t get it either, but I’m not the one in charge. I don’t get to make the rules. Okay, since we’ve covered everything that we’re supposed to, I guess we should get back to the MGH.”

“Pardon my intrusion, Guardians,” said a voice behind the squad. They turned to see this Universe’s Princess Celestia standing there, “Before you return, I have a message I need you to deliver to PC-001.”

“Of course we’ll deliver it, but what is it about?” asked Shining Armor, “Is there something you suspect might be wrong?”

“No, it isn’t anything like that,” assured the Princess with a smile, “I merely need her to know something. Tell her that the cub, though frail, grows stronger as each moon passes. She’ll know what it means.”

“We’ll relay that to her when we get the chance,” said Sunset Shimmer, “Even if we have no idea what it means.”

“Thank you,” said Celestia, “Farewell, Guardians. Until next we meet. And I hope that will not be in dire circumstances.”

“Same here, Princess,” replied Pinkie, “Return, authorization PP-073.” When they were back in the portal room, the squad found themselves in front of their commander, “Ma’am? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for two reasons. One, I want to be sure you’ve followed regulations with TS-314. Two, I always hear reports on Universes like 5946 in person. Or did you forget that because of how long it’s been since your squad has been assigned one, PP-073?”

“Ma’am, we’ve followed regulations and explained our agreements with Universes like and including 5946 to TS-314,” said Pinkie, standing rather stiff to Twilight’s surprise, “And, yes, ma’am, I had forgotten that. I apologize greatly.”

“No need to apologize, PP-073. I understand fully that you would forget after not having to worry about that sort of thing for close to six centuries,” assured PC-001, surprising the entirety of the squad, though they didn’t let their faces show it, “I am pleased to hear you’ve followed regulations with TS-314, considering, of course, this is your first time training a new recruit. Now, your report?”

“All stability points are good and actually decaying just below the natural rate, ma’am,” answered the Pegasus, not letting her squad add anything they may have wanted to, “Also, Celestia of 5946 had a message to pass along to you, ma’am. She said ‘the cub, though frail, grows stronger as each moon passes.’ She also said you’d know what that meant, ma’am.”

“I do indeed,” replied PC-001 with a smile, “Thank you to your report, PP-073. You may return to your duties now.” The squad remained motionless and almost breathless until their commander left the room.
> Chapter 7: The Other Part of the Job
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“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.
> Chapter 8: A Chance Encounter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A week has passed since Twilight was first recruited into the MGH and made a part of her current squad. Her first real mission had been underwhelming, and the following days were largely uneventful. She had gotten some enjoyment out of observing or visiting certain Universes, such as one where every noise involving an object colliding with something was that of a squeaky toy and one where every being spoke with high-pitched voices that sounded absolutely ridiculous. Her sixth full day on the job was just coming to close, with their final Universe being 4810. They had chosen to observe it and were in the core of the Universe.

“Stability point 19,” said Pinkie with a heavy sigh. With nothing even remotely standing out in any of the Universes aside from a minor repair to one earlier that took, at most, a minute to complete, she and her squad were getting quite bored.

“How many more do we have?” asked Twilight as their surroundings changed. They now found themselves in a deserted town with buildings crumbling even as they stood there. The ground was cracked from a lack of water, and dust blew as a small breeze went across it. The sky was absolutely clear with the sun hanging high above the squad.

“After this? Thirteen,” answered the Pegasus as she began to search the surrounding area for signs of trouble. As Twilight had learned, finding any problems in an area where civilization either was or used to be was far more difficult than if the stability point was in a forest.

“I just don’t see why we aren’t doing anything directly!” said a female voice from a short distance away, the being from which it originated being masked by buildings, “If we want to take them out of the picture, why are we drawing them to us and then letting them leave?”

“Because that is our orders,” replied an obviously male voice from the same area, “You would do well to remember that. Otherwise you won’t have to worry about remembering anything in the future.”

“I know full well what our orders are!” retorted the female voice, “I just don’t understand them! Plus, we’re supposed to be partners, aren’t we? What kind of partners don’t let each other voice their complaints in private?”

“I wonder what that’s all about,” said Twilight finally, “Sounds like some kind of argument.”

“Don’t forget that this Universe is one where all civilizations live like the ponies in Appleloosa do,” said Shining Armor, referring to the town they all knew that resembled one out of a film set in the western United States during the nineteenth century, “If anything, they’re just a couple of robbers who are arguing about how to deal with the authorities.”

“Perhaps,” muttered Twilight, her gaze fixated in the direction the voices had come from, “But, I can’t help but think I know one of those voices. Anypony else thinking that same thing?”

“Twilight, we’re observing a Universe that is very similar to each of the ones we hail from,” noted Pinkie, “If we don’t think we recognize at least one voice while we’re here, I would be absolutely flabbergasted. So, to answer your question, of course we’re all thinking the same thing.”

“So, should we begin our little bit of fun, or should we await our lord’s command?” asked the female voice after a minute of silence, “I’m itching to start spreading our ‘influence’ across this land again.”

“Soon, my dear. Soon,” replied the male voice, “Our lord gave me specific instructions. I am not surprised you were not given them, seeing as how you are a rather new addition to our little family.”

“I was born much earlier than you were, you dolt,” retorted the female voice, “After all, at least I’m from one of triple digits unlike you.”

“It isn’t a matter of what number you’re from,” said the male, “It’s a matter of when our lord saved you from your pitiful existence. And he saved me long before you.”

“Yeah, I get it,” replied the female voice sarcastically, “And I’m still certain my Universe was far worse than yours.”

“Did she just say…Universe?” asked Sunset Shimmer, whose attention had been elsewhere until she heard that word, “Unless I’m going crazy, they might not just be run-of-the-mill bandits.”

“To be fair, we were just speculating,” noted Pinkie, “Let’s go check it out.”

“At least we don’t have to sneak up on them,” said Twilight as the ponies started out in the direction of the voices, “We don’t, right?”

“Not unless they’re members of the Dkaowin of Dkaowinai 4,” answered the Pegasus.

“The who-what of where?”

“Can you not tell when someone’s messing with you?” asked Sunset Shimmer, “I’m surprised you weren’t already aware of the fact that Pinkie is fluent in gibberish and a master at BS.”

“On a serious note, no, we don’t have to sneak up on them,” said Shining Armor, “Remember that we’re observing this Universe.” Pinkie stopped for a second before turning around a corner, the rest of the squad following suit. Another corner, and they found the sources of the voices, who were very familiar. The one who was obviously male looked exactly like drocsiD except everything was flipped. The other, however, resembled the male but was shorter and had a few more obviously feminine features, such as a full head of long, white hair.

“So, we have Discord and…Girl Discord?” asked Twilight, “The idea seemed odd that there were versions of Discord of the opposite gender, but seeing one is just…uck.”

“Most of Discord’s female counterparts go by the name Eris,” explained Sunset Shimmer, “Whenever there’s a being causing problems, more often than not it’s one of them. But to see both Discord AND Eris here? That’s worrisome.”

“Perhaps this Universe has both of them?” offered Twilight, which was met by Pinkie shaking her head.

“Not possible. Discord and Eris are different versions of the same being. No Universe has two of them,” said the Pegasus, “Just like there aren’t any Universes with male and female versions of me or you. It just isn’t possible.”

“Then how do you explain these two?”

“We can’t, and that’s bad,” answered Shining Armor, “It just doesn’t make sense.”

“To be fair, if it involves Discord it usually doesn’t,” noted Twilight, remembering her own encounters with her Universe’s Discord.

“So, how long until we act?” asked Eris, looking to her counterpart, “Seeing as how you seem to know and all.” Discord sighed and snapped his fingers, causing a small clock to appear with a small flash.

“Not long now, my dear. What has you so anxious?”

“Two things. Number one, I’m bored to tears,” replied Eris, “Number two, I want to know that my Universe is gone. Every night I am reminded of it thanks to nightmares. I’m truly surprised I didn’t go insane.”

“Now, let’s not kid ourselves here. We’re not only draconequi, but also creations of our lord,” noted Discord with a smile, “We’re the very definition of insanity no matter how much we enjoy every single minute of it.”

“I suppose that’s true,” admitted Eris, “As much as I hate to admit that you’re right.” A sudden ringing from the clock caught the ponies who were watching off guard.

“Ah, time to get to work,” said Discord before snapping his fingers to make the clock, and the ringing emanating from it, disappear, “Remember the plan: do everything to destabilize this point until the Guardians show up. Then, I will disappear and you act as though you were working alone.”

“Got it,” replied the female draconequus before snapping her fingers. The sky became covered in pink clouds that soon let loose with a torrential downpour of, strangely, chocolate milk.

“Emergency Protocol 636, switch to Direct Visit!” shouted Pinkie once the chocolate milk rain began. Discord, true to his word, disappeared when the Pegasus had finished. Eris was obviously caught off guard by their sudden appearance and stared at them with wide eyes, “Your little plan is over, Eris and Discord!”

“D-Discord? Who’s that?” asked the female draconequus after a second, “I-I don’t know any Discords!”

“Listen, you aren’t fooling anypony, Eris,” said Shining Armor, glaring at her, “The fact that you’re aware of our existence would lead me to believe you know of our methods for maintaining the Universes. Things like being able to observe while being undetectable by anything.” Eris muttered something that was none of the squad could make out.

“What do we do now?” asked Eris looking around, “They heard what we’re planning to do here!” Discord reappeared standing next to his counterpart.

“Are you really that dumb, Eris?” demanded the male draconequus, “We retreat!” With a snap of his fingers, he was gone again.

“Call me dumb, will he? I’ll show him,” said Eris before disappearing herself. The sky returned to normal once she was gone.

“So, they’re obviously still here, right?” asked Sunset Shimmer, “They’re just waiting for us to leave before continuing on with their plan.”

“Definitely,” said Twilight as she began to look around.

“Care to confirm our suspicions, Shining Armor?” asked the Earth Pony, looking at the white Unicorn. She nodded in agreement before her horn began to glow. An energy pulse erupted from the base of Shining Armor’s horn and quickly overtook everything that was visible.

“Wait, what?!” shouted Shining Armor in surprise, “They’re actually gone! That doesn’t make sense!”

“See my comment from a minute or two ago,” remarked Twilight sarcastically, “Seriously though, if they had a plan, why would us hearing it cause them to not follow through?”

“Dunno,” answered Pinkie, “What I do know is that we need to get back to the MGH and send a report to PC-001 immediately. Return, authorization PP-073. Send report 4810-SP-19.” As they were all, including Twilight, accustomed to, the squad found themselves back in the portal room to which they were assigned. “Let’s go report to PC-001.”

“Wait, didn’t you just send her a report?” asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow in confusion, “I assume that’s what you did when you said ‘send report,’ right?”

“I did, but basically all the report said was that we encountered a problem at a stability point and that we fixed it,” explained the Pegasus, “It did not, however, include anything that we heard before the problem occurred.” Without any further words, the squad made their way to the office of PC-001 and gave her the other report.

“This is troublesome,” said the Commander once the ponies had finished, “However, for the time being it is not your concern. While I am going to issue an order to search Universe 4810 for signs of damage, until I get further information about this, you are to continue with your primary mission. Am I clear?”

“Yes, ma’am!” replied the squad simultaneously.

“Good,” said the Alicorn, “The rest of the stability points for Universe 4810 shall be covered by LH-7413 and her squad. Your shift is over for today. Dismissed!” The four ponies quietly exited the room, leaving PC-001 alone. After a moment, she tapped a hidden button on her side of the desk. A hologram appeared in front of her. It looked exactly like L-754 except as an Alicorn rather than a Unicorn.

“Yes, PC-001?” asked the Alicorn Luna.

“PL-002, we have a problem,” replied the Commander, “Take the others and search for signs of something or someone who might be trying to act against the Guardians.”

“Do you think it’s our old friend, or a new force?” asked the hologram Alicorn, “You’d think after what happened to him, he wouldn’t try anything.”

“Which is exactly why I think it’s the latter,” said PC-001, “Good luck. Report to me anything you find. PC-001, out.”
> Reactions, Explanations, and Frustrations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“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.
> Chapter 10: Speak of the Devil...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Attention. PP-073 and SG-948. Report to your immediate supervisor,” boomed the same voice that had previously summoned Pinkie. It shook Twilight out of a sound sleep, startling her enough that she fell out of bed, although she had been quite close to the edge beforehand. As she rubbed her head, Twilight couldn’t help but think that the voice sounded familiar, although she couldn’t quite place it in her groggy state. She did, however, hear some colorful words coming the next room over. After getting off the floor and crawling in bed, Twilight glanced over at the clock that was one of the few things that had been added since she got to the MGH.

“Not even one in the morning?” groaned Twilight, before beginning to doze. She had just fallen back to sleep when the door to her room suddenly burst open.

“Rise and shine, Twilight. We’ve got work to do,” shouted Pinkie, or at least to Twilight it was shouting, eliciting a very prolonged groan.

“Did I sleep that poorly?” yawned Twilight before glancing at the clock again. Fewer than twenty minutes had passed since she last looked, “What?! Why did you get me up this early?!”

“Uh, I just said that we have work to do,” replied Pinkie, resulting in Twilight slapping her hoof to her forehead, “I’m sure you woke up to me getting called to PC-001’s office, right?”

“I’m fairly certain the dead were awoken,” growled Twilight, glaring at the Pegasus in her doorway, “But, yes. I was.”

“Well, aren’t you a salty one this morning? Anyway, you know that thing I was telling you about last night? The Pre-Alphas? Turns out I was kinda tempting fate with that.”

“You what?”

“Yeah, guess what our job is? Shining Armor and Sunset Shimmer are both waiting for us out there. C’mon,” urged Pinkie before shutting the door again. Twilight grumbled before getting out of her bed and stretching. She yawned as she left her room, her eyes almost half-closed.

“Mornin’ sleepyhead,” said Shining Armor as she levitated a glass over to the other Unicorn, “Drink this. You’ll need it.” Twilight obliged, chugging it before her eyes popped open before being squeezed shut and she started gagging.

“Ugh, this tastes awful!” sputtered Twilight between gags, “Why did you give me that?”

“Basically, that gives you enough energy to make it through our job here,” answered Shining Armor, “Sure, it tastes awful, but it works. Although one of us actually likes the taste of it, somehow.”

“I’m sorry that I actually like this stuff,” retorted Sunset Shimmer, “I mean, sure we barely ever have to use it.”

“Focus,” said Pinkie, “Here’s the deal, it seems that C-1835’s squad has discovered the presence of a Pre-Alpha in Universe 2784. PC-001 has seen fit to assigns us and SG-948’s squad to assist them in taking it down. PC-001 did not give me exact details. First, we are to go to the armory and suit up and then we need to report to our portal room.”

“Armory? We have an armory?” asked Sunset Shimmer, “Why have I never heard of this before?”

“The armory is reserved solely for use when dealing with either a Pre-Alpha or, I assume, an Alpha,” explained Pinkie sternly, “This has never come up for the three of you because have never had to deal with a Pre-Alpha. Unless your squad is assigned to deal with one, you cannot even set foot inside to show a new member. Now, let’s move out!”

“Wow, Pinkie. I’ve never seen you act this way,” commented Shining Armor, “Have you been taking lessons from PC-001 when we’re asleep or something?”

“Serious Pinkie is only reserved for serious situations,” replied Pinkie, “And this is a very serious situation. Now, move out!”

The squad left their quarters and went down the hall going in the opposite direction that they normally go, Pinkie leading the way. The hallway curved after a minute, leading to a large room with many doors on each wall. The Pegasus led them to a door directly to the left of the hall, previously unseen until they actually got in the room and turned around.

“Open. Authorization PP-073-2784-931,” stated Pinkie, facing directly at the door as she did. The door dissolved instantly, unlike the other doors at the MGH, to reveal a room with hundreds of small lockers. Inside was a pony who looked almost exactly like Shining Armor except for being a stallion and having a lighter shade to his mane and tail, “Hey, GS-4579. Long time, no see.”

“Not since you took down, who was it, a Pre-Alpha Nightmare Star?” replied GS-4579, “I see you’ve got your own squad now. Congrats.”

“Sorry, but we’ve got an important job, as you can tell. Which ones are ours?”

“Give me a second and I’ll highlight them for you,” answered the stallion before his horn began to glow a light blue, and four of the lockers resonated in return, “There you go. Good luck, not that you’ll probably need it.”

“You’re that confident in our abilities?” asked Twilight, looking at the Unicorn.

“Nah. These suits you’ll be using basically make something like this a cakewalk.”

“Let’s gear up. Each of us has a locker with our Universe number on it,” informed Pinkie, “Take what’s inside and press the button. I’m remembering that correctly, right?”

“More or less. I’m surprised you actually remember that. I mean, it’s been quite some time since you were last here,” answered GS-4579, “PP-073, yours is here. SA
-132, here. SS-222, right here, and TS-314, yours would be right here.” The four glowing lockers lit up brighter as the Unicorn said each one. Each of the four went to the lockers that they were assigned. Pinkie’s was the highest up, though this was not a problem because she could just fly up there. Inside each of these was a small device, able to fit on a hoof with room to spare, that consisted of a single button. Pinkie pressed the button on hers, and in a short burst of light, a suit appeared around her body. This suit was tight fitting, covered her wings, and was the same color as her coat, meaning the only way to tell something had happened was that she was shinier. A helmet the same color as her mane also appeared over her head and a clear visor covered her eyes. The rest of the squad followed suit, the colorations varying for each of them and the helmets being the primary color of their manes. For Twilight and Shining Armor, the helmets covered their horns, basically extending them

“What do these even do?” asked Twilight, inspecting the suit that now enveloped her body. It moved with her and she was unable to tug at it physically.

“Basically, these suits improve our natural abilities,” explained Pinkie, “We can run faster, hit harder, and, in the case of you and Shining Armor, increases the potency of spells.”

“You are also more resistant to damage, both physical and magical,” continued GS-4579, “Setting you on fire would only result in you feeling overheated. Kicking you in the ribs would only feel like a tickle. Of course, if you did it to each other, it’d go as you’d expect. A Pre-Alpha can still do a number on you if you’re not careful. The HUD that will kick in when you go to Universe 2784 will show you how much more your suit can take. Among other things.”

“We’ve spent enough time here. C-1835’s and SG-948’s squads are waiting on us. Not to mention the fact that, the longer we take, the more likely it is the Pre-Alpha becomes an Alpha. And that means PC-001 will have our heads if we actually defeat it then,” stated Pinkie, “Let’s go to the portal. Decuple time!” She ran out of the room at a speed greater than any of the other three had seen a pony move at. After a quick glance at each other, they followed suit, though not nearly as fast as their leader had. They reached the portal room in a fraction of the time it took them to get to the armory, “Well, it’s about time!”

“You were probably here before we could even react,” retorted Sunset Shimmer, “Do not get on us for being slow.”

“Everypony ready?” asked Pinkie, receiving affirmative nods, “Good. Universe 2784, direct visit.”

“Error: A squad is already visiting Universe 2784,” said the metallic voice of the computer.

“Override. Authorization PP-073-931,” replied Pinkie, now staring directly at the computer.

“Override accepted,” stated the computer, “Error: Invalid privileges.”

“Commander override. Authorization 978371842,” stated Pinkie, her voice heavy with frustration.

“Override accepted. Re-randomizing PP-073 Commander override. Opening portal.”

“Why did you need to do two overrides?” asked Shining Armor, voicing the same question that Twilight and Sunset Shimmer were wondering, “And what was that about re-randomizing?”

“Explain later. Work now,” grunted Pinkie, “We’ve wasted more than enough time, as I’ve said so many times I’ve lost count. Let’s get going.” Without any further words, the squad entered the portal, which had begun to glow a bright red rather than the normal yellow used for direct visits. They were met with the familiar surroundings of a Universe Core. Four other ponies were standing there and all turned to look at them.

“Well, it’s about time our backup showed up,” said a pink mare that looked like a Pegasus, but had many features of bats, such as wings and ears. Her mane and tail were a very light purple and quite long, but were extremely messy. Her Cutie Mark was a light blue heart that looked like it was made of crystal, “It’s been a while, hasn’t it Pinkie? You too, Sunset Shimmer.”

“Good to see you again, Cadence,” answered Pinkie, leaving Twilight dumbfounded.

“Wait, your name is Cadence?” asked Twilight, “You look almost nothing like the one of my Universe!” The mare let out a laugh.

“I should say the same of you. Judging by your voice, you’re a counterpart of Twilight,” replied Cadence with a smile, “There are a lot of differences between my Universe and a majority of others. Such as most ponies being Bat Ponies. And, I guess me being quite different than in many others, hence why you wouldn’t have recognized me. So, Pinkie, this is the pony who replaced Vinyl?”

“Eeyup,” affirmed the Pegasus, “And Shining Armor here replaced you after your promotion. Specifically, they are SA-132 and TS-314. So, who’s in your squad?”

“Girls, step forward as I say your names,” ordered Cadence, looking at her squad, “First, AJ-997, Applejack.” An orange Unicorn stepped forward. Her mane and tail were a very light tan and both curled at the ends. A golden necklace hung around her neck, though it was quite thin. Her Cutie Mark consisted of three red apples in a triangle shape.

“Next, SR-2238, Spoiled Rich,” continued the Bat Pony. An Earth Pony stepped forward as she said her name. She was a grayish-pink with a dark magenta mane that was quite simply styled. Her tail was similar to her mane, except it was braided. Her Cuite Mark was a gold ring with a moderately large diamond on it.

“Finally, WF-4413, Wild Fire,” finished Cadence. A light-tan Pegasus stepped forward. Her dark brown mane and tail were short and straight, and her Cutie Mark was a tire that was on fire.

“Sorry we’re late!” shouted a voice from behind the eight ponies, “We’d have been here sooner, but some pony had to make a pit stop.” A light pink Earth Pony appeared behind them. Her Cutie Mark consisted of two plumes of dust that were each half one shade of bluish green, and half another, a dark purple diamond with a white x-shape underneath. Her mane was also a dark purple with a very light bluish green stripe that became a pony tail shape after her bangs, though no hair tie was visible. Her tail shared the same coloration and curved slightly at the end.

“’Bout time, Starlight,” said Cadence, “Great seeing you again.”

“I feel the same way,” said Pinkie, “About both of those things.”

“So, did PC-001 plan this or something?” asked Starlight, her full name being Starlight Glimmer, “I mean, you two used to be in the same squad and I used to be in a squad that used the same portal as you.”

“Dunno. Maybe?” answered Cadence, “I mean, does any pony understand why PC-001 does what she does?”

“Are you here by yourself?” asked Twilight, looking at the Earth Pony, who in turn looked around before sighing.

“Would you excuse me for a moment?” She stated the return command and disappeared. Despite no longer being there, what she said came across loud and clear, “WHAT DO YOU IDIOTS THINK YOU’RE DOING?! GET IN THERE NOW!” Silence followed for a few seconds, “SO, YOU JUST ASSUMED THAT I WAS BACK IN THE ROOM WHEN YOU DIDN’T SEE ME HERE?! THAT’S NOT AN EXCUSE! NOW, GET YOUR BUTTS IN THERE BEFORE I DO IT FOR YOU!”

Starlight reappeared, this time with three other ponies with her. The one directly to her left was a purple Unicorn, only a few shades darker than Twilight. Her mane was a dark lime green and spiked all over the place, but her tail was a light lime green and straight. The mare’s Cutie Mark was a small green ember.

Directly behind Starlight was a snow white Pegasus with what a few scars on her face. Her mane and tail were both cut short and had no hint of styling. The Unicorns Cutie Mark consisted of three light blue diamonds in a triangle shape. She looked rather angry, or at the very least annoyed.

To Starlight’s right stood another Earth Pony, this one a bright yellow. Her curly mane and tail were half pink and half indigo. The mare’s Cutie Mark consisted of three wrapped candies in a line with yellow and blue stripes going diagonally.

“You’ll have to excuse these three. Evidently, they lack common sense,” said Starlight, receiving an angry grunt from the Pegasus behind her, “To my left, we have B-1073, Barb, behind me, E-9775, Elusive, and to my right we have BB-8000, Bon Bon.” Pinkie then went on to introduce Twilight, Shining Armor, and Sunset Shimmer while Cadence repeated her team’s names so the new squad could learn their names. The three squad captains lined up in one line and the rest of the squad members lined up together directly in front of them.

“All right, listen up,” said Cadence, stepping forward slightly, “My squad already knows this, but PP-073’s and SG-948’s squads do not. The Pre-Alpha being we have to deal with is known as Rainbow Blitz, who in this Universe is a Unicorn Prince. He rules alongside of his wife over a portion of Equestria, which in this Universe has split into several different kingdoms. Even before instability within Universe 2784 caused him to become a Pre-Alpha, he was a very skilled wielder of magic. Since becoming a Pre-Alpha, he’s become extremely powerful.”

“Before we go to the closest stability point to Rainbow Blitz’s current position, this is how we will act,” stated Pinkie, “The Unicorns will use their magic to help ward off any attacks he may throw at us while also dishing out their own. The Pegasi, Bat or otherwise, shall attack from the sky while the Earth Ponies shall create a pincer maneuver in order to attack him from the sides.”

“Once we get him sufficiently weakened, which shall be represented on your HUD once we get near him, PP-073, C-1835, and myself shall use our tools to return him to normal,” continued Starlight, “Now, you may be wondering why it is that we need to weaken Rainbow Blitz before we use these tools. It is simple. So long as he is above a certain point strength-wise, our tools cannot do anything to fix him. Any questions?” Silence followed.

“Good. Now, let’s move out!” said Pinkie, “Locate being Rainbow Blitz. Travel to nearest Stability Point.” Starlight and Cadence repeated the last part of what Pinkie had said, and all three squads disappeared.