//------------------------------// // Theories, Plans, and Secrets // Story: Consequences // by shallow15 //------------------------------// “Wow,” said Rainbow Dash. “You guys weren’t kidding.” School was out for the weekend. Twilight and Fluttershy had rounded up their friends and brought them to the clearing in the woods to show them what they had found. Applejack whistled and pushed her hat back off her forehead. “I ain’t never seen something wreck trees this bad, and that includes the time Granny accidentally reversed her truck backward through the orchard.” Twilight blinked and looked at the cowgirl. “How did that happen?” Applejack smirked. “Let’s just say it was a cider-related incident and leave it at that.” Twilight rolled her eyes and took out her magic detector. She tapped the center of the device, which activated and the LEDs flashed. After a moment, the one that had lit up during lunch began pulsing again, although with less frequency than before. “Whatever it is, it looks like it’s moved on. I’m only getting some residual readings,” she reported. “What I want to know is, how could somethin’ big enough to do this not have been spotted before?” Applejack asked. She looked over at Fluttershy, who shrugged. “I don’t know,” she answered. “None of the animals in this part of the woods have ever seen this… thing before. Most of them aren’t even sure how to describe it other than ‘wrong.’” “Is it possible it came through the portal from Equestria and we never noticed?” Rarity asked, sitting on a log to one side, her canes resting next to her. The girls all looked at Sunset, who was surveying the damage with her arms folded, her expression dark. She didn’t answer. After a moment, Rarity cleared her throat. “Sunset, darling, did you hear me?” Sunset blinked. “Huh? Oh, sorry. I was thinking. What did you say?” “Is it possible whatever did this came through from Equestria?” Rarity repeated. Sunset shook her head. “Not likely. The other side of the portal is a magic mirror that Princess Twilight keeps in her castle. If something this large came through, I’m pretty sure she would have notified us.” “Didn’t you say she was missing?” Rarity asked. “WHAT?!” Pinkie shrieked. “Princess Twilight’s missing?” Fluttershy asked. “When were you going to tell us?” Rainbow Dash demanded. Sunset sighed. “I was still trying to decide if I should, because there’s nothing any of us can do. Yesterday, Starlight Glimmer messaged me through the journal. Equestria’s been invaded. Three of the princesses have been captured, and Princess Twilight and her friends are missing. Starlight’s been keeping ahead of the invaders and she took both journals to make sure the portal stays closed until the invaders are repelled.” “Sunset.” Twilight put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. Sunset gave her a sad smile then gently brushed Twilight’s hand off. “I only told Rarity because I had to tell someone, so I could figure out what I was going to do. And right now, that’s figure out what’s happening here so we can deal with it before it attracts more attention from Agent Shadow. “As for it coming through from the portal, I don’t think so. Someone would have noticed something on either side by now. Starlight didn’t mention anything and I’m pretty sure she would have if something that big went through the portal.” “Could it have been banished here, like the Dazzlings?” Rarity asked. Sunset shook her head. “If that was the case, we probably would have run into it by now. At the very least the news would have reported on it. No, I’m willing to bet that whatever it is, it was on this side of the portal already and whatever’s enabling it to do all this is something recent.” “Okay,” Rainbow said. “So we break the geodes back out and go find this thing and do whatever we need to do to get it under control! Easy!” “No,” Sunset said. Rainbow frowned. “Huh? What do you mean ‘no?’” she asked. “I mean just that,” Sunset said. “Until we’re sure we need it, the no magic rule stays in effect. I don’t want anything we do while we’re looking for this thing to attract Agent Shadow’s attention.” “Sunset, darling,” Rarity began, gesturing to the destruction. “Just look around us. It’s clear that when we do find whatever this is, we’re going to have to use our magic to deal with it. If it can cause this much destruction, we’d be out of our minds not to use it.” “I’m not saying we be stupid about this,” Sunset replied. “Once we know where and what it is, then yes, we’ll break out the geodes. But we need to find it first.” “We don’t even know what it is we’re looking for!” Rainbow complained. “How do you expect us to find it without magic? “Watch the news, keep our ears open around town,” Sunset answered. She stopped for a moment then let out a groan. “And… I just thought of someone else we can talk to who might know what’s going on and where we might be able to find it.” “‘Someone?’” Applejack asked, suspicion in her voice. Sunset sighed. “I know… a guy. He kinda helped me out when I first came through the portal. He taught me how to survive over here, at least until I got a chance to bring over some bits and gems from Equestria to sell. He usually knows everything that’s happening in town, especially stuff the public doesn’t.” “Why haven’t we heard about this person before now?” Rarity asked. Sunset blushed. “Because I left him behind when I got myself set up and he’s part of the old me’s life. A part I really hoped I wouldn’t need to visit again.” Sunset rubbed her arm and looked at her feet for a moment before looking back up at her friends. “But, short of talking to the police ourselves, he’s probably our best bet at getting any sort of leads on this thing.” She sighed. “But it won’t be cheap. I’m gonna have to dig into my stash. Can somebody give me a ride later tonight. Around eight?” Fluttershy slowly raised a hand but Sunset shook her head. “Not you, Flutters. It’s nothing personal, but I don’t think you should go where I need to go.” Applejack quirked an eyebrow and held up a hand. “Reckon I can give you a lift then, Sunset. But where in tarnation are we goin’ that you think Fluttershy couldn’t handle?” Sunset sighed again and bit her lip before answering. “Klugetown.”