Epilogue: Trans-Universal Crisis Team

The plan. I'd devised a plan, and I'd have to explain it. No big deal, not at all. It's only the fate of the universe, no pressure. It wasn't my universe, but a universe of colorful ponies, of fun, friendship and rainbows. These ponies would be thrust into situations unlike those they'd ever find, technology and concepts that they'd never dreamed of. Dangers unimaginable to a pony's mind. I'd have to explain that, and send them willingly into this danger. No pressure.

Twilight approached me from the other side of the room. As she neared, I saw her expression to be one of worry. "Hey, Twilight," I said.

"Zach, I've been thinking. What if this plan doesn't work? What if one of the teams goes missing? What if somepony doesn't make it back? What if you don't make it back? If you don't come back, no one else will either."

"As terrible as it sounds, team members will be replaced if something terrible happens to them, but we won't give up on them until we're sure they did not make it. And if they don't... I feel it's an inevitability, Twilight. Not all of us are likely to survive all of this, unless Discord's rules about no killing are in effect. Though, I think we've pushed him a bit too far to play fair. We can only be careful."

"Zach, wouldn't it be safer if you stayed behind and coordinated the rest of the teams from here?"

"Maybe so, but that would mean that one team will have four missions, and all the rest will have three. I don't think it's reasonable to send Spike's or Fluttershy's teams on the last set, and they wouldn't think so either. Your brother is part of my team, and if I know anything, he'll be able to keep me safe, as you have over the past few days." Twilight brought a hoof to her chin.

"Me? Keeping you safe?"

"Well, your magic, you, and your friends are the only reason I'm still alive today. If anything, I owe you for saving my life more than once."

"You saved our entire universe, that's enough for me."

"No, Twilight. I didn't save the universe last time, Discord did, remember? He set himself up as a target so we could reinforce the magical barrier. I was merely a pawn in his plans, but he didn't anticipate the Elements' intervention, or Blitzle's thunderbolt last night, and his plan was foiled. So he's devised a final plan, another game, of great scale and stakes, for us to complete before he calls it quits. So I've done nothing to deserve such praise. If anything, I owe you and your friends for coming with me to those universes we've gone to. That was unnecessary and very kind of you to help me track down those strangers."

"I suppose you're right, but you're our friend, Zach. Friends help each other, no matter what they might need."

"You have no idea how corny that sounded, but I guess you're right. Have any other ponies joined your team so far?"

"Pinkie Pie wants to come with me. Rarity's going with Fluttershy and Blitzle, and Rainbow Dash wants the Wonderbolts Soarin' and Spitfire to join her and Shimmer. I don't know what Applejack is thinking of doing."

I nodded. "Okay then. I've got to prepare a little speech for the volunteers soon. I'd advise looking over the materials about the universe you've chosen some more."

"Good idea." Twilight trotted off.

I walked back over to the stacks of piles concerning set one. The other leaders had dispersed, talking amongst themselves and those that had joined their teams. One universe remained, and I smiled as I flipped through it quickly myself. This one would be fun.

"Howdy," I heard Applejack say, rather jovially. It was a good thing that, in general, everyone seemed undaunted by the immensity and danger of this task. I looked up from my pile, at the orange pony.

"Hey Applejack, what's up? Are you going to join one of your friends' teams?"

"Actually, I'd like to go with you."

"Why might the reason for that be?"

"To be honest, I've heard of what these universes can be like, and I think I could help you out. And besides, somepony's got to make sure you get home in one piece. Just in case, I mean."

"Shining Armor is part of my team, he said the same thing. And I'll say the same thing I said to him, Applejack. I'd be glad to have you on my team."

She smiled and nodded. "So, where're we goin'?"

I pointed to the main page of the stack. Applejack nodded again, and we continued reading through it together.

Shining Armor returned several minutes later, coming up to us. I looked up at the unicorn stallion.

"What've you got for us?" I asked. Shining pulled a list, and levitated it to me. It was a manifest of sorts, what each team would have for equipment. Two healing potions, paper, ink, quills, dragonfire, a medical kit, and some apples.

"Only two healing potions?"

"The castle's supply isn't large enough to equip eight teams three times with any more. These potions are very powerful, you don't have to use an entire potion to heal a wound. They take a very long time to make, and should be used wisely." Shining had a very formal air about him, as though he was speaking to someone of a higher rank. I wasn't even ranked at all.

I nodded. "What about specialized equipment, like armor, weapons, and tools?"

"Those will be distributed on a case-by-case basis. According to your threat assessment, I don't think we'll need much in the way of armor or weapons. If that's not to your liking..."

"No, no, that's fine. That's a good list. Now, Applejack and I have determined what universe we're going to. Read this over." I gestured to our stack.

"Certainly."

I sat in the corner of the room, planning my speech for the volunteers. Celestia would explain the primary details, then I'd explain the plan. It wasn't a hard thing to do.

*****

The team leaders, including myself, stood in front of the large crowd of volunteers, those that had answered Celestia's address, had gathered in front of the castle. It was not an easy call to dismiss, a universe was kind of important, especially to those residing within it, no matter how one sliced it. I was nervous, quite nervous. Not only had I never spoken to a large audience, but I was quite a shy person, and the ponies, with their cartoonishly large eyes, were all staring at me, some in awe, others in excitement. My reputation was quite interesting. In their eyes, I'd saved their world once, and I'd save it again, but this time I'd need a little help from some sidekicks. This was not entirely accurate. I was Zach, a fourteen-year-old male human with no training, few skills, and dependancy on my teammates for survival. Regardless, I knew the most about these universes, and I was the main planner of the operation. It was almost time for me to make my speech.

"Citizens of Equestria," Celestia began, her voice surprisingly loud, yet still fluid. "You are here because you have been asked to save our universe from destruction. As you are all aware, Discord was defeated again last night by the Elements of Harmony. He was not confined to stone as before, and has split himself into twenty-two different manifestations, each one moving into a different universe from human fiction, and endangering the universal barriers between this universe and those, which means that these eight individuals will lead teams of four to go into these universes to defeat them. Since Zach is the only human here, he will explain further."

That was my cue. I retrieved a hastily-written piece of paper full of notes, looked around for a moment, and swallowed before delivering what I was slated to say. "Hello. I'm Zach. You might know me as the human that saved Equestria last month. Regardless of how true that might be, I'm here to help save it again. These universes are those that are from fiction in my home universe. Human society produces a lot of dark and violent pieces of fiction compared to this universe, and some of these fictions are those that some of us will have to travel to in order to stop Discord. There might be evil, there will probably be danger, and there will be risk. I cannot promise that we will all come back, and this is one of the reasons that this is a volunteer mission. This is how it will happen: I, along with the other team leaders, will assemble their teams from those present here, then they will look into which universe they are going to, and make preparations. We will depart tomorrow, at which point I will open portals to each of these universes for you to travel through."

I flipped over my page and cleared my throat again. "Each team will have two days to defeat Discord and return to where the portal took you in the first place, at which point I will open a portal for you to take back here, to Equestria. If a mission fails for whatever reason, attempts will be made to find the team and complete the mission. There will be no way to opt out of the mission while you are in these other universes, but after each mission, team members can choose if they want to continue to the next one, and those that might happen to fall will be replaced, not that we plan on losing anyone. In order to maximize versatility and safety, each team will contain at least one unicorn and at least one pegasus, and a unicorn in each group will need to know shield spells well enough that they can protect the entire group. As for the other two spaces in each group, other ponies will be picked for individual skills and talents. Now, the teams will be picked and those that don't want to go should leave. Thank you all for coming, this is a dark time for Equestria, and we all appreciate what you are offering to do."

I stepped backward. A few from the crowd began to leave, while the rest stood and talked amongst themselves. I only had one slot left for my team, so I looked around for a pegasus, one of which we'd need according to my own guidelines. The rest of the team leaders were joined by their already-established members and some of the ponies began to slowly approach us. It occurred to me that nobody knew how to pick and whatnot. This was getting nowhere, and I decided I'd do something about it.

"Everyone into groups. Unicorns on the left, pegasi on the right, and all others in the middle," I called. Slowly, the groups began to form.

"That's better. Now, team leaders, go talk to the volunteers, please. They want to help us, so let them help us." They all complied, and soon the leaders were at least partially surrounded by potential allies, talking to them all. I headed off to the pegasus group. Operation: Trans-Universal Crisis Team was go.

End of part IV

To be continued...