//------------------------------// // Arc XXVI Episode I: Contingency Plans // Story: Family Begins With You // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// A few days later… Once the police report was filed, everyone went home to catch some rest and recover from the extreme circumstances they had found themselves in. The police were able to move in, arrest the remaining gangsters and recover the Zarin compound that was below the baseball stadium. It was henceforth turned over to the military to be disposed of and everyone had to think about what they would do next… To make things simple, Sunset had set her computer’s webcam and spoke to as many of her friends that she could at the moment. “...so to make a long story short, we need to find Starswirl, and bring him here so Tatsuya won’t cause anymore damage.” “And just how are we gonna do that?” Rainbow Dash asked, leaning lazily in her chair. “To my understanding, the portal opens at random points,” Sci-Twi spoke up, “We’ll have to get lucky to find one that can take us there and back reliably.” “And pray tell--why are we trying to reason with a foreign terrorist?” Rarity asked while filing her nails, “Doesn’t strike me as the most…intelligent of ideas.” Sunset took a deep breath and interlocked her fingers. “...it’s a tactical measure. More people are gonna die unless we bring them the guy who caused all of this magic in the first place. According to what Flash told me, was practically unbeatable…” “Look, no offense--but that was a skeleton crew,” Dash commented, “If we just pony up and waste the fools, this’ll be over faster than you could blink! We can’t just sit on our asses and hope for things to get better, Sunset.” “Don’t worry. Next time, we’ll bee prepared,” Sunset insisted, “I’m not gonna let Flash go out there on his own again.” Rarity giggled, “You do know that there was more than just him, present, correct?” She then glared at the camera with a teasing set of narrowed eyes, “Or was that your heart talking faster than your lips, darling?” “...I don’t know what you’re--” Sunset blushed, and quickly changed the subject with a hysteric grin on her face, “Uh…hey! Anyone know how Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack are doing?” “...Applejack’s taking time to process the information,” Rarity explained with a sigh and a more somber tone, “I don’t think we’ll be seeing her for a while.” “I think Pinkie’s working as usual,” Dash added. “I think the Diner’s packed today.” “Fluttershy’s working too,” Twilight added as well, “She’s busy mapping out a nature reserve near the mountains--wait a sec…” She turned her head away from the computer… Sunset tilted her head, “What’s up, Twilight?” “Everyone, turn on the news right now.” They all tuned into the news… And on TV, Starlight Glimmer was speaking… “Major upset today as Shinjiro Hishima turns himself in to Canterlot City Police Department. This young man was reportedly missing a finger when he gave himself up. All signs point this to ties to the Yakuza boss that was rumored to have been working out of the local baseball stadium. Whatever information we find, we’ll bring it to you as soon as we can.” “...I need to speak to the professor,” Sunset muttered and turned back to her computer screen. “I need all of you on standby. When I give the signal, you know what to do.” The girls all nodded in unison before the call ended. An hour later… “Professor? Professor Aidon?!” Sunset called out as she ran towards his home. “Are you there?” She could see his garage door was wide open, and went in for a look… And there she found Aidon dressed in a lab coat as he drew out multiple numerical values and math problems on a board in his garage. “No…that’s not right at all. That equation…what was that equation again?” “Professor--?” “Gjfhjf! Great Scott!” Aidon yelped and jumped backwards, “...Ah. Sunset. You nearly scared the heart right out of my chest. I was just trying to figure out a safe way to open a portal to Equestria.” “...You already know about what’s happening? Well that saves us some time, then.” “Once the police told The Mayor, The Mayor told her administration, then Luna told me,” he went on as he erased a part of his board, “I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what I should do to get us to Equestria and back safely. If we need to bring Starswirl here, then we have to be swift, but careful. Too much magical energy could cause widespread corruption in our--er, this world.” Sunset tapped her foot as she gave it some thought. “Hrm…what if we only made a one-way portal? Starswirl could just poof us all back when we got there.” “Of course! That would be far less risky. We just need to find ourselves a magical instability fissure so that we could get started. But where…?” “Lemme give Twilight a call,” Sunset suggested as she pulled out her phone, “She’ll know where these things pop up. She’s got the tech for it.” Aidon snapped his fingers. “Ah, yes. I keep forgetting those devices exist. A friend of mine who recently moved here from Europa was trying to show me how they worked and I had the most difficult time.” “Oh?” Sunset asked with an interested tone, happy at the fact that he was making more friends. “What’s their name?” “His name is Jascha. He’s a fellow mathematics professor and apparently his great-great grandfather served in The Second Great War of this world. The more you know, huh?” “Sounds like you’ve got a nice support system going even without us,” she replied, “I’m proud of you, sir.” “I appreciate the sentiment, Ms. Shimmer. But for now, we have to get back…to Equestria!”