//------------------------------// // Chapter 3- Sun and Moon // Story: inFAMOUS: Second Storm // by FrostTheWolf //------------------------------// Chapter 3- Sun and Moon San Diego Convention Center, San Diego (Saturday morning) ‘Lulu huh?’ Shawn was thinking to himself. Thinking about the call he had received. Thinking about certain factors of it. His mystery caller named Lulu mentioned a place, who would be there, why they needed to talk, her name, but forgot one important detail. Time. Lulu had never told Shawn when to be there by. It could have been by noon, earlier than that, or even later. Assuming that lunch started around noon, his best guess was around 1:30pm. That way, he had time to eat lunch and check in on dad. Speaking of Dad, he had not gotten the chance to call him. ‘Damn it!’ Shawn cursed mentally for his memory not being as helpful as he would’ve wanted. Walking back the way he came, he pulled out his phone again and dialed his fathers number. It took about 20 seconds or so to connect, but it was soon able to go through clearly. “Hello? This is Nicholas Kingston speaking.” “Hey dad, it’s me.” “Oh hey son!” His father replied, changing his tone from formal to friendly upon hearing Shawn’s Voice. “How are you doing on your 16th birthday?” “Alright so far,” the Conduit answered his father’s question. “I’m heading into downtown and I was thinking we can meet for lunch. Would that be alright for you?” Shawn hurried across the street, avoiding the sight of an incoming DUP convoy going across a four way intersection. He breathed a sigh of relief that none of them spotted him as he was moving. Rather be still alive than getting shot at into a million pieces and cause a panic. “I’m on board with that, Shawn. Just what place did you have in mind?” “I was thinking about Panera bread. I know that they have a location not far from the Plaza Bonita mall if that works-.” “Not a good idea.” He heard the chief speak to him seriously. Before being able to protest, Shawn heard his father say the reason why. “Heard a call on the radio that the DUP have been investigating in that area since it’s nearby the Mayor’s office.” “Well great…” Shawn muttered. Then, an idea popped into his head. One that he thought could work. “Wait… Do you think that it’s a possibility that the DUP’s won’t be there later?” That caused Nicholas to worry. He did not want Shawn to do anything mischievous. Especially around the DUP. “Dude, I know what you’re thinking and no! Don’t you even think about it!” “I’m not fighting them!” The conduit protested. “It’s just… reconnaissance.” He assured to him once he passed a neighboring park. “Recon, huh?” His dad juggled the idea inside his head. The DUP never explains why they investigate everything and despite their agreement with the police, they’re never really honest. It would be good to find out what they’re looking at and what for. “Okay, just don’t do anything stupid.” “I’ll send you any pictures of what I can find.” With that, the snow conduit began to run, exercising his legs as he got closer to his destination. Sooner than expected, he arrived. Through out the five floors of the Plaza Bonita mall were multiple stores that had air conditioning systems that allowed cool air to be blown in during the hot summer. This also served as a key chance for Shawn to get up top. And he didn’t mean top floor. Moving to the fourth floor parking garage, Shawn found a huge cooler system that server as a vent and not a soul in sight. Quickly, he dashed towards it, his powers turning him into snow. Going through the fans, the conduit ended up on top of the building. Moving along the rooftop, he was now could clearly see the area the DUP were investigating. Getting out his phone, he turned on the camera feature and zoomed in on it’s location. Turns out, that location was a construction zone that was suppose to be an outdoor amphitheater that the mall was added on, but currently needed crucial repairs. Now the place was being investigated by the DUP and who knows when the builders will get back to fixing everything. Click! Photo taken. Now to send it to dad. “Hey Dad,” Shawn contacted his father over the phone again. “I found them. Here’s a shot of where their investigating. What can you make of it?” Putting his father on hold, he sent the photo to the Chief. Nicholas’s response though was one of confusion. “The construction area by the mall? How could a problem involving Bio-, I mean conduits, occur over there?” “Beats me.” Shawn replied, looking back at the site and observing it. “It looks like a lot of dust was kicked up and a lot of things were knocked over. Maybe some mad dash in order to escape the scene.” “Can you explain a little more about some of those “Things”, Shawn?” His father asked him. “Hang on, let me get them for you.” Putting his phone call on hold, he went back to his camera app and zoomed in back at the site. Out of all the chaos there, it seemed like the two biggest displacements were a excavator on it’s side and a tree that had fallen out of place. The tree though had burn marks along the base where the roots would be. Click! Click! Sent. The chief was definitely surprised. “Whoa! That’s definitely not normal. Never thought someone's power could knock over an construction vehicle!” “Yeah, besides that, the only thing that is not normal is the amount of men there.” Over the phone, Nicholas thought he didn’t hear that right. “The amount of men? Why?” “Well, there’s far… less troops than normal.” Shawn told him. “Normally with a DUP investigation squad, they have like ten to fifteen troops investigating the area and talking to witnesses. This time, theres only four. Three troops and some guy in black looking like Neo except that he has Elvis like hair. Doesn’t he know the matrix went out of style fourteen years ago?” That worried the Chief a little. “Get a photo of the man in black real quick and then meet me at Panera. I wanted to see something.” “O...kay then.” The teen said as the call ended. Aim, Click!, done. ‘Now to get some lunch!’ Shawn thought to himself as he made his way down by jumping off the roof onto the 5th floor of the mall. On his way down, he almost crashed into some people as he landed, including a few tourists. “My apologies…” Shawn commented as he took an escalator the rest of the way down and walked the rest of the way. With the DUP out here right now, he rather not try to draw any attention to himself. Lunch at Panera for both father and son was great for two different reasons. Shawn’s reason was because he was able to have a bread bowl tomato soup and his father’s reason was so that way he can find a way to relieve some stress from work. It was kind of family time for the two of them because they never had much of it that didn’t involve one of them getting in harms way. “Enjoying your food?” Nicholas asked his son. “Definitely! Thanks!!” “You’re welcome, son.” Shawn’s only response to that was a smile and another bite out of the bread bowl. He was enjoying his time here. But two things distracted him just as much as they confused him. The first was Lulu and her call earlier. But that was not what was bugging him. What was bugging him was the second thing on his mind because that seemed more important. “Dad… earlier when getting those pictures, why did you have me take a picture of this guy?” Shawn supported his question with bringing up the photo of a bald man with light skin, had shades, a tribal tattoo on his neck and black clothes. This man was with the DUP’s and was the “Neo” lookalike that he personally saw this guy as. His father sighed. Setting down his Coke that he had brought with him, he began to talk. “Do you remember Brook Augustine’s appearance before she went on trial?” “Who wouldn’t?” Shawn answered honestly. “It’s like she would carve a statue of herself out of her powers like she was a egotistical Roman empress.” “I don’t think their were Roman Empresses, but I get your point.” The chief said. “Anyways, the reason why I mention that is because when I’m seeing the photo and thinking about who he could possibly be, I somehow see her.” ‘He’s right,’ Shawn thought, looking at the photo again. ‘Only difference is that his clothes don’t appear to be as heavy.’ Still though, he still looked threatening by appearance. Plus, the conduit had a strange feeling that he’ll be seeing him again in the near future. “Could you be able to inquire more about him for me, Dad?” The chief himself saw this as a bit of an odd request. “Sure, but why exactly do you want to know more about him?” “I got a bad feeling that this won’t be the last time we’ll see him.” Nicholas thought about it, but then nodded his head. “I’ll see what I can do, son.” “Thank you, dad.” The teenager complied. “Now, to change the subject a little bit…” Nicholas said as he took a drink from his Coca Cola bottle. “What do you think they’re looking for? Just out of curiosity.” He wanted to hear his son’s opinion on the matter. From a conduit perspective. “Honestly… I think it’s two conduits.” “Two?” The chief of police was surprised by the hypothesis. “Why do you think two?” “Well, things got blown around like a ragdoll, like that excavator. But when I look at the tree, I see black burn marks that usually result from if something was struck by lightning. So I think a conduit that controls wind and another that controls electricity or can manipulate the weather.” “I see your point, but if a conduit has control over weather, then can’t they control both wind and electricity?” Nicholas asked his son as he finished his drink. “I say two because on the eastern wall by the streets, there were two holes that showed that way as an escape route. One looked above six foot in height and the other was close to it. Judging by the size of that, I think one is a male and another is a female.” That was another special talent that Shawn had besides his powers. He had a keen eye for spotting things others can’t see or tell at first glance. It was demonstrated before when the robbery at Target occurred yesterday. But his skills in this were at it’s peak when looking at details by observation. “Thanks for the meal.” He complimented. “I’ll see you home later tonight.” With that, the chief’s son left and disappeared amongst the people coming in and out of the mall. All he could do was chuckle… Kids these days. Moments after though, the man in the dark attire soon entered the restaurant and took up the empty seat in front of him. “Hello. You’re Nicholas Kingston, the chief of police for the county, right?” “Yeah, who are you though?” “We haven’t had the pleasure to meet yet, but I’m the director of the Western chapter of the DUP. My name is Roman. Roman Redinov.” It took another hour by walking in order to be able to make it back to where the convention center was and another ten minutes to rest his tired legs. Upon arriving though, it was sometime after 1:30pm and Shawn was walking across the street to the parking garage that was the designated meeting place arranged with Lulu. It had two elevators, a set of stairs and a bridge from the second floor that stretched out across the road and provided access for those that were going to Petco Park, the ballpark of the San Diego Padres. Since other people could use the elevator, Shawn decided that it would be best for him to use the stairs to get to the top floor. Upon arriving, the Conduit was greeted by a very empty lot that felt like the place was abandoned. There wasn’t a car or soul in sight. The teen felt like he was tricked or got there too early. So, using his phone, he called Lulu. “Hey Lulu, I’m on top of the garage.” “Now?” She said, surprised. “You’re kind of early. I was thinking about meeting near sundown.” “Well, a time of when to meet wasn’t stated, so I thought sooner than later.” Shawn exaggerated. “My apologies. We were currently occupied with something so I thought I told you earlier. Guess I forgot.” “It’s alright. Mistakes happen.” “My sister and I will be right over. Just wait there.” She instructed the snow conduit, leaving him confused. How would they possibly be able to get there? Matter of fact… Shawn now had something to ask. “Wait, where exactly are you? You don’t need to hurry-.” “By some little tourist spot called Seaport Village. It’s not too far from where you are actually.” Shawn had an expression of confusion on his face again. As he looked at his phone again, he answered. “That’s quite a long walk from there to over here. Are you sure that-.” “There won’t be a need.” She assured him. Before long, a bright flash occur from behind him. Turning around, Shawn looked at the center of the lot to see one woman and Lulu. However, with one of her supposed powers, she dismissed her appearance and not long after arriving, turned into a woman who was just as old as her sister. Lulu now wore a colored shirt with a patch of a crescent moon on her sleeves along with slacks and dress shoes. Her sister, on the other hand, was more casual in her appearance. She wore a teal colored hoodless jacket and tan pants with a pair of Sandals, probably to prepare for beach weather. Dumbstruck by what just occurred, Shawn stared at the pair for a few second before shaking his head a little. “Okay, what just happened?” “One of our powers is Teleportation,” The now older Lulu explained. “Another one I have is Illusions. To make myself look like anyone, including my younger self.” Her voice just now… it felt familiar to the snow conduit. But how exactly? “I’m sorry for deceiving you the other day. I thank you for saving me, but I’m sorry for not being truthful of who I was. I understand if you’re mad-.” “I’m not mad.” Shawn interjected. “Wait… even after yesterday?” She asked. “Because of me, I had put you in harms-.” “It’s alright really. My father is the chief of police. He taught me to defend others, even if it means using myself as a shield to keep people from harm. I keep others out of harms way by putting myself in it instead.” “Those… are strong words.” This time, Lulu’s sister added to the conversation. Again, like with Lulu’s voice, her voice rang through Shawn’s head. The tone, melody and softness… He had definitely heard this somewhere before. All Shawn did though was nod his head before saying anything else. “Yes they are. Can I ask the two of you something?” “Sure.” “What’s on your mind young conduit?” “You two sound very familiar,” The snow conduit began to speak. “Is there some sort of power you have that can affect my hearing?” Lulu raised an eyebrow as she looked at her sister before facing Shawn again. “No, we don’t have any powers related to that.” “Then it’s either me or you two sound just like Princess Celestia and Luna.” Shawn said, adjusting his neck and shoulders. Lulu and her sister both stared at the snow conduit. It took a few moments, but both of them were as equally surprised… as they were impressed. This conduit was just full of surprises. He really did have Talent along with Valor and Knowledge. “Well done, young Conduit. You figured it out.” The Older sister said. Shawn though, just looked at the pair in disbelief. “Wait… what?” Before he could get any clarification, both sisters nodded and a flash of bright light followed suite. Shawn really did not see this coming as this blinded him. Within a heartbeat, they disappeared, leaving the parking lot empty and without a trace of anyone being there. ??? (Saturday, Afternoon) His head began to feel like the San Andreas Fault line when Shawn began to open his eyes again. When he did, he found himself in what looked like a night sky. Twinkling with stars and galaxies, the scene looked beautiful. Like it was from one of Galileo’s paintings or a picture from NASA. Beneath his feet was a bright glowing energy that seemed to resemble a scene that was familiar to him. Shawn felt like he saw it before, but where? “You seem lost, young conduit.” Hearing the voice once again, he began to look around. Nothing to his right, nothing to his left. Nothing up top or below his feet. Nothing in front of him… But what about behind? That’s when he turned around and his jaw dropped ajar. He was facing two beings that he thought were fictional or just fantasy. 'This can’t be happening right now,' he thought to himself. At first, he thought it was an illusion. Something that Lulu conjured like how she was able to do one of her younger self the day before. But when he saw them move their eyes to face him as well as unfold their wings, he knew that this was real. Shawn was looking at both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Alicorns, Royal sisters and rulers of Day and Night in Equestria. They were sitting right in front of him! “Oh… my… god.” This was definitely something that he did not expect. “You seem to have some questions,” Celestia said to the shocked conduit, pointing at a spot with her left hoof to offer him a place to sit. “Go ahead. Take your time and ask.” Shawn obliged and sat down right in front of him. Many questions bounced through his Cranium like a tennis ball during a match. He couldn’t narrow down what he wanted to say. Matter of fact, he didn’t want to say anything to where he would screw up the conversation. Sooner than expected though, he got it. “H-how is this happening right now?” The conduit asked. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s an honor to meet both of you. But I’m surprised by a lot of things.” Luna sighed, taking initiative to answer his question. “You see Shawn, we know that there are other worlds besides our own and there are ways in which travel to those worlds are possible. The two of us personally have done research about your world and it’s inhabitants. However, we are here now because we need your help.” “M-my help?” Shawn asked, still partially speechless. “Yes,” Celestia said. “Only the two of us have known about this secret for years. It was to make sure not to endanger the safety of millions of inhabitants in Equestria. This includes my Student and Fellow Princess, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends too. However, it wasn’t until recently that something horrible happened.” Shawn cringed a little upon hearing this. Something did not feel right. “A few days ago, we had received reports about some civilians disappearing. We were trying our best to resolve the issue since the Grand Galloping Gala was only a few weeks away and preparations had to be made. But it wasn’t until we saw firsthoof how they disappeared that really shocked the both of us.” Luna continued from where her sister left off. “In all cases, somepony saw something in the reflection of a mirror, only to be pulled inside that mirror moments later and disappear. At first, we thought it was a spell to replicate the Magic Mirror of the Crystal Empire. But the moment we saw it unfold before us, when a few of the event coordinators were taken, that’s when we saw who it was. It was for a moment, but we saw a image of what appeared to be a female from your world with a hood covering her face and with clear transparent energy around what you would call her “hands.” It was a Conduit.” “Holy crap…” Shawn cursed, “I’ve never heard of anyone with a power like that before.” “Indeed.” “Do you know… who was taken?” The Snow conduit knew that the most important piece of information when trying to find someone, or in this case somepony, was who they were. “Many ponies were said to be taken, but before coming here, the captain of the guard was still trying to figure out how many have went missing.” Celestia answered. “We do know that some ponies like Applejack and Fluttershy had been busy this week and weren’t able to come to Canterlot this week to help plan because of their occupations. Due to the time of the season, they required their full attention.” “Well okay, but are their any names you do remember?” Shawn followed up with another question. “Since I meet a lot of ponies regularly, I can’t remember everypony by name. I do remember though, for a fact, that Twilight was taken when she and Spike were at the Carousel Boutique with Rarity. Her younger sister witnessed the disappearance right in front of her.” “Aye,” Luna replied. “I also remember one incident being where they took Rainbow Dash and Soarin right from Spitfire’s office in the Wonderbolt Academy using a Mirror that was on the wall. Normally, Spitfire’s not scared, but when she told us what happened, I can tell the incident frightened her. Besides that, those are the only ones I can remember.” “I see. Well, sorry for mentioning this abruptly, but since it sounds like you two came to Earth on your own, can’t you just as easily go back?” Celestia shook her head. “No, it’s not as simple as that. The spell we used requires a massive amount of magic and we can’t use it again for about ten days afterwards. We had only arrived yesterday morning.” “Hmm…” Shawn thought. He began to process what he already knew with what the two sisters told him. Something began to synch. It had to do with the photo’s he took earlier. Relieved that he still had his phone, he continued to speak. “It might not be much, but I believe every bit helps.” Shawn stated, going into his photos. He noticed both Princesses looking at each other, confused. They were not sure by what the conduit meant. “How does this exactly help, Shawn?” All the conduit did was grin a little and showed a few of the photo’s he had. “Earlier, the Department of Unified Protection or DUP for short was investing a construction site because of a suspected pair of Conduits possibly being in that area.” Shawn paused for a minute, then went on. “You know what the DUP is, right?” “For the most part, however, we don’t know the purpose or origins of the group.” Celestia replied. “All we know is that they capture Conduits.” “Well, there’s a lot more to that then you might think.” He told them. “They’re suppose to be a military based organization in order to protect the U.S. from another “Empire Event” by locking up Conduits and labeling them “Bio-Terrorists” as a way of propaganda. They’re suppose to control the panic, but were really causing panic than controlling it. They’re the prime authority when it came to all conduit based matters.” Shawn continued to explain for another ten minutes about the DUP from their tactics and funding, to their leader Augustine. Celestia and Luna were both shocked to hear that she was a Conduit and the “Choices” she made as well as her defeat. “My word… there was a lot more to them than we actually thought.” Celestia was still amazed by everything that was just explained by the snow conduit. But she was still confused by two things. “How would they still be active though?” “After Seattle, the DUP’s funding took a big cut, but made some major changes to how they operated. Also, with Augustine on Trial for her actions, the Government appointed a new leader. I don’t know though who it is, but I heard that it was a male.” “And how does this relate to the original topic?” Luna interjected, apologizing for interrupting. “Well earlier, when watching them from a rooftop, I could tell that two Conduits were there. They both left a hole in the nearby wooden wall and did a bit of accidental property damage.” Shawn then showed them the pictures of the toppled excavator and the burnt tree. The Night Alicorn was beyond confused at this point. She tried to understand and follow along, but couldn’t do so. “From what you told me Luna, Soarin and Rainbow Dash we’re taken from the Wonderbolt Academy, right?” “Yes. that is correct.” “And what are Pegasi known for?” Shawn asked. “Speed, flying and weather-.” Then, both sisters realized it. The shock of it all felt like getting hit in the back of the head with a brick. Upon knowing though, they got some idea of what the Snow Conduit meant. “Wait… are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Shawn nodded his head, confirming Celestia’s thought. The Snow conduit had a strong feeling that somehow, he might be right. “I think Rainbow and Soarin are inside the city.” End Chapter 3