Cause, Effect, and Consequences

by Coltsguy

Power Failure

I was in deep shit. What did I do this time? Well, it was a series of unfortunate events this time around. That and a mix of negligence and unknown variables that bit me in the ass.

Pinkie and I stayed invisible as we traveled around discreetly while following Eris to where we needed to go. The place in question, after some inadvertent circling, ended up being this small, four story building surrounded by guards. It wouldn't have been too bad if only for the fact that the building had no windows and a single entrance that were just a couple of two-story tall steel doors. Damn sturdy doors from my up close invisible inspection.

Now, for the record my teleportation was pretty good. I could teleport to any place I had been to or had a visual of. I could teleport through quite a few things as well. I could go past any solid object and even past some types of shielding. I could bypass magic shields if the ground wasn't included, which most people don't think of, as long as I constructed a path around it in my head, but I can't teleport through anything warded against teleportation specifically or certain types of anti-magic wards. I had Discord run through several of these and in between he had me do some random stupid chore. Swimming through paint was especially... icky. The issue at hand was that I couldn't see inside so I just teleport in. I couldn't sneak in either since there was only the one entrance.

With no other options, I decided to just blast the door open. I was thinking of just doing that to a wall, but I wasn't sure if a sudden hole in the wall would mess with the overall integrity of the building. I didn't want to have to dig for the rift after all. I couldn't be a slouch on getting through those doors either. I doubt I could punch through the wall let alone through steel so that was out. The only option I had was to blast down the doors with appropriate force.

As I was prepared to try something, I felt a tingling sensation on my left hand. When I looked at it, I noticed that the tattoo on it had faded considerably. That was bad. My tattoo represented the amount of magical energy I had contained in my body. The more faded it was, the less I had. As faded as it was, I wasn't sure just how long I had until I ran out. Not knowing the situation inside, I did not wish to go in near empty when I could find who knows what trying to stop me.

That left me in a jam. Any entry I could currently make would be too loud and flashy. Even the lightsaber idea I had wouldn't work because of the low light. Nothing was coming to mind.

"Well? Are we going to do this or not?" Pinkie asked impatiently.

"I don't have a decent way to get in there without letting everyone know about it and I'm low on power so I'm really not sure if we could hold everyone off long enough to execute a proper search."

"Well, why not ask for some help?"

"From who, Nightmare Moon?" I said sarcastically.

"You said these are stories right? Why not get help from the protagonist? I'd bet they'd love to help!"

...She had a point. I couldn't do it, but Lelouch might. Finding him without any skills would be downright imposs- Wait. Eris can track down people. I reached down and scooped her out of my pocket.

"Eris can you search for Lelouch Lamperouge?"

There was a soft glow and for about twenty seconds nothing happened. Then, a red glow came and went from her.

"I don't think that's a good thing," Pinkie said.

"Ditto. She probably can't since she has no info on him. Can you search with just an image?"

A green glow surrounded her for a moment. She was learning how to communicate some now. That's cool.

"Alright, let's try that then."

I started making an image of him in my head to project for her, but stopped. That wouldn't actually work. He changed his appearance in order to not be recognized by anyone. I probably could have created an image of his original pony form in my head, but not his new one. I could remember the description of his new form, but creating a visual from that in my head was never a strong point for me. Besides, he might change that appearance as well.

The cover art! The cover art had a good visual of Kallen as a pony. I could use that as a base. It would be an extra step but it would be a step in the right direction.

"I've got it," I said and projected an image for Eris. The image was of a green pegasus mare with a red tail and mane. She had blue eyes and wore a red and black headband over her forehead with a pair of red and black wristbands with the symbol of the Black Knights in white on them. On her flank was a golden horseshoe with three spikes protruding from it. It took a bit longer before she glowed gold again and a new point formed on the blank side.

"Awesome. Let's get moving Pinkie."

After a nod from Pinkie, I dispelled the illusion of Kallen and set off to track the Black Knight down. It took us just over two hours to get where the pony we were looking for was at. There she was just walking down the street. It seemed my luck was up slightly since I didn't think she would be out in broad daylight, so to speak. With my luck she would be wanted by Nightmare Moon already and in hiding. Still, there were plenty of ponies in the area and talking to her wouldn't be easy. I was just glad that there was only foot traffic now as there were still many of the ponies that walked on the sidewalk as opposed to the entire street. It made it slightly easier to not bump into anyone while invisible. Kallen herself stayed to the sidewalk. Probably a measure to draw less attention to herself. Didn't really matter to me as we followed her while waiting for an opportunity to chat with her. I was hoping it wouldn't take too long. Invisibility was my least magic costing spell but I couldn't keep it going forever either.

Ducking into an alley finally gave us our opportunity. However, she must have felt someone watching her because she bolted right as we got to the alley ourselves. I knew immediately that I wouldn't catch her. Not when she was going at that speed. Instead, I uttered a few specific words.

"Pinkie, I think she wants to play hide and seek."

"Oooh! That sounds fun!"

"Go ahead and show her how good you are."

With that, I dropped the invisibility on her and watched her take off. It was too bad I wasn't a third party observer. It would've been funny to watch Kallen try to get away from Pinkie only to fail miserably. I wasn't even worried that she would hurt her as Pinkie's personality made her pretty amiable to be around. I guess it didn't help her too much last time, but I had faith it might work better this time around. It didn't make the waiting any easier. About fifteen minutes after they took off the two of them were trotting back down the alley.

"Seth! Are you still here?"

"Come on Pinkie," I said startling Kallen, "while I'm here it's Coltsguy. I need to stay anonymous."

"Well why didn't you say so?"

"...Because I forgot to tell you didn't I?"

"Yepperooni!"

"Will you stop hiding in the shadows and tell me why you two are bothering me? She said it was because you needed my help."

"Sorry. I can't really show myself here. I'm a bit wanted by some very important ponies. My associate Pinkie and I are in need of some assistance from you and your... allies."

At the mention of allies Kallen narrowed her eyes and for a moment it seemed she knew right where I was.

"I won't waste your time so I'll be blunt. I need the assistance of your leader for something that requires his abilities and I need you to take me to him."

"And why should I do that?"

"Because the world is at risk," I said in a no-nonsense tone of voice.

"Of course it is. As long as Nightmare Moon rules over us the world is always at risk."

"I'm not talking about the petty whims of some petulant alicorn. I'm talking about the world being ripped apart."

Her eyes widened upon hearing this new information.

"I need Zero's help. Please take us to him."

Her eyes returned to normal and it looked like she was thinking it over. It took a minute before she let out a sigh.

"Alright, I'll take you to see him, but we need to be discreet."

"Understood. Lead the way."

We started following her for a bit before I needed to say something.

"Pinkie. No hopping. Hopping isn't discreet."

"Aww, but I haven't done it all day!"

"Don't be rude to our guide. She's taking a big risk to take us to the per-, pony that is going to be helping us. Besides, after the stunts we've pulled today drawing any attention to ourselves is not a good idea right now."

"You realize I can hear you right?"

"Hey if letting you overhear our conversation leads down the road of trust building then so be it."

She let out a derisive snort, but said nothing as we followed her. Every minute I had spent since I had found out I was low on magical power was a little uneasy on my mind. It wasn't too bad at first, but the longer my side trips were taking the more concerned I grew. Still, I pushed it down because I knew it wouldn't help to be so worried. Besides, I was about to meet with Zero so I needed to be on my game. Then again what was my game now? The chaos magic was making me more confident, but just how much was I affected?

I'd need to think about it later. For now, we had arrived at a small junkyard. By small, I meant small as in maybe two small piles of metal scraps in a dirt covered compound with small metal shacks spread about. The three of us headed to the largest of them. It was about sixty feet long by twenty feet wide and made entirely of sheet metal with a single slope roof. There wasn't even any doors or windows. Just holes to get in and out of. The inside was pretty barren as well. A few tables were scattered here and there and not much else. Kallen led us over to one table in particular and reached underneath it. There was an audible click and a small hole opened up in the concrete floor nearby.

"This way," she said and descended down a flight of stairs followed by Pinkie and then myself. The stairs gave way to a tunnel that we followed for a bit before coming to a door that looked like it belonged on a battleship. Kallen knocked on the door three times deliberately before a whining sound came from the door. It soon opened to reveal a pony with grey fur and a dark blue mane and tail. His cutie mark was three concentric rings with a cartoon heart in the middle. What was most telling was the armband he was wearing on his left foreleg with the symbol of the Black Knights.

"New recruit?" he asked while appraising Pinkie a bit.

"Not exactly. Is Zero still here?"

"Yeah, he's in his quarters right now. Why?"

"We need to talk to him," she said stepping inside. Pinkie followed her in and I-

*slam*

-Had the door slammed in my face. A quick teleport later and I was back in line. Apparently the headquarters of the Black Knights was an underground bunker. A dimly lit one at that even though there were quite a few electrical lights strewn throughout. It was a bit of a haphazard affair as there were items strewn about all over. The stuff was mostly next to the walls, which had more battleship style doors dotted along it, with some of it leaned against the concrete pillars that were supporting the structure. As we kept walking as many ponies were busy doing some kind of work mostly consisting of messing with electrical cords of various sizes.

We soon reached the back end of the bunker and approached another of the doors. Again Kallen knocked deliberately only this time it was three sets of two knocks. A short time passed before the same whining sound came from that door. Inside this door was a grey-furred pony with a black tail. I couldn't see his cutie mark nor his face as they were covered up by a cape and a mask respectively. Still, that mask was unique no matter how it had been altered. This was the pony I was looking for.

"Was there something you needed Kallen?"

"I have someone here who says they have important information they need to share with you. They say it's a dire emergency."

"And you brought them straight here?" he said sounding annoyed.

"I wouldn't normally, but one of them is apparently invisible."

"Really?" he asked with intrigue.

"Indeed I am. I'd like the four of us to speak in private if possible please."

I couldn't see through his mask so I didn't get to see how surprised he was. When he had information he wasn't so easily rattled, but an unknown variable tended to make him act a little irrationally. This might be interesting.

"Go ahead and come in," he said opening the hatch wide.

The three of us filed in and I shut the door behind me. I looked around at the room which was pretty well occupied by stuff. A bed, two couches, a few desks, and three televisions; only one of which seemed like it was working. A pretty good setup to my surprise considering the state of things.

"Such a useful ability. I don't suppose you'd be willing to teach it to me?"

"I don't know if I would, but I can't do it anyway so there's no point in asking."

"A pity. Still, you came here for a reason. I doubt it was to bring us down as since you knew of Kallen already all you had to do was follow her long enough to discover our hideout. Instead you decided to risk yourself being discovered and let her decide for herself if you were trustworthy enough to be led here."

"I still don't trust him yet," Kallen interjected, "but she seems much too happy and carefree for this to be some trap."

"Aww, that's so nice of Kalli!"

"Please don't call me that," she grumbled.

"Let's stay on topic," Lelouch stated. "So, what information did you feel the need to give me?"

"Well, here's the deal. Pinkie and I are trying to get inside this building. The reason for this is that we need to close a rift in space that is somewhere inside. The rift puts out a lot of energy and is slowly destabilizing the very fabric of reality. The problem is that getting inside is an issue. We can't really do it without causing a ruckus. If we did, we wouldn't be able to search the building without having to deal with the guards that are covering the place. That's why I sought you out."

"So you want us to help you infiltrate this building to let you close this rift then?"

"I'd have done it myself so that you wouldn't get involved, but I'm running too low on magical power to do so. I don't know how much longer I can cast my spells at all."

"So why not stop casting your spell of invisibility now to save your magic?"

"It'd be a... bit of an issue if anyone saw me. Especially if I didn't have time to explain."

"Explain what exactly?" Kallen asked.

"That he isn't a pony," Pinkie blurted out cheerfully.

"What!?" she blurted out in complete shock.

"Fucking damn it," I muttered.

"I see. That would be quite a problem indeed," Zero said calmly. "If everyone saw a human in a world full of horses then things could get dicey.

I decided immediately not to bring up my little blunder earlier.

"But how is that possible? Everyone on Earth was changed that night!"

"Everyone on this Earth," I corrected. "Tell me, Zero, how familiar are you with multiverse theory?"

"Only general knowledge I'm afraid."

"That should be enough. For Kallen's sake I'll provide some explanation. General multiverse theory states that the world that you live in exists in many different parallels. There's one that you wake up five minutes later in the day one morning. There's one in which you became a unicorn instead of a pegasus. There's one where Nightmare Moon never came here and Zero successfully conquered Britannia and brought peace to the world at the cost of his own life. All of these worlds can exist at the same time and completely cut off from one another. Normally that is. Pinkie and I are from two worlds that aren't so quite cut off in that way. Understand so far?"

"So you're not a pony because there wasn't a Nightmare Moon in this world your are from?" Kallen asked tentatively.

"Exactly," I responded positively.

"Yet you seem quite knowledgeable about Nightmare Moon from what I saw."

"...What you saw?"

"Kallen was busy so she didn't see the broadcast, but I did. I didn't recognize your companion at first, but after a moment it dawned on me. You must be the other one that was with here there."

"So why feign ignorance? It doesn't seem helpful."

"Part of it was because you didn't bring it up yourself as a bargaining chip. It would've been fairly useful to you if you were trying to gain favor with me. The rest was to see what information you were willing to give up. I may have tipped my hand a bit early, but seeing how forthcoming you are I doubt it would be an issue. I'm willing to bet that the two of you have quite a bit of info that I could use."

"And I'm willing to share that. I just want help with my problem."

"And why not share it with us now?"

"Pinkie. Eyes closed."

"Yes sir!" she shouted as she complied.

"For the record, I'm a wellspring of information. Not just on pony related topics, but on many things here... Lelouch."

I wasn't sure where she got it from, but at my declaration Kallen suddenly was holding a combat knife in her mouth. What threw me off a bit was that it looked almost like an identical scene to that picture I used earlier. Pretty cool.

"I don't want the Black Knights or anyone else privy to that information."

"I'm not going to tell them. I was just probing the situation. I doubt you've shared everything with Kallen either. I just don't want you compelling me, rather us, into telling you things."

"Ou main Gaus?" Kallen muttered to us with the knife still in her mouth.

"Ou... Gaus..." I muttered, "...Oh! Geass! I didn't know you knew about that. Yes, that's what I mean. You need direct eye contact for it to work. Her eyes are closed, you've already used it on Kallen, and you can't see me."

A quick sideways glare from Kallen to Lelouch came and went.

"Now how would you know that?" he asked calmer than I was expecting, but with a little agitation still in there. "No one was there until Shirley arrived."

"It's part of how I know things. Like how I know that all you did was have her answer some questions and that you haven't subverted her will. I think she deserves to know that she isn't being controlled after all."

Kallen's stance visibly loosened upon hearing me say that.

"I have a form of hypnotism too, though I haven't figured out how to make it work right. But that's a different matter. I need to close that rift and then head back to close three more and if I need to give you some information in exchange for your help then that's what I'll do."

There was a bit of a tense standoff between the three of us. Not Pinkie because Pinkie to verb my noun, but I was most certainly tense. Eventually, I heard a sigh come from Lelouch.

"I suppose I can help you with your problem. However, I still require the information on the building in question. Also I'd like to know everything about Nightmare Moon that you can tell me as soon as possible."

Kallen let the knife she was holding in her mouth go and placed it in the desk she was next to.

"Fair enough. I'll show you the place I mean."

I projected an illusion of the building despite the cost since I didn't think I should leave just yet. They barely had more than a handful of seconds before the image dimmed. Not long after that it disappeared completely as I realized that my magic had run out. As such, my invisibility also faded out and my full human form was no longer hidden.

"Damn it. I'm out of magic."

"Indeed. Though it is good to finally see you," Lelouch jibed.

"Glad I got you to agree before this happened," I countered.

"I suppose as long as you tell me what I want to know then there shouldn't be any problems. Kallen and I will check this place out. We'll talk when we get back. Neither of you are to leave this room under any circumstances. Am I clear?"

"Not a problem. Right Pinkie?"

"That's right! You don't have to worry about us! We'll be just fine!"

"Pinkie, you can open your eyes now."

Her eyes fluttered for a bit before opening up and surveying the room.

"Again, just stay here. Let's go Kallen," Lelouch said before leaving the room with Kallen in tow.

A minute passed before Pinkie broke the silence.

"Hey, uh, Coltsguy?"

I giggled a little. "Yes?"

"I was wondering about something."

"And what would that be?"

"Why didn't you use your x-ray eyes on the building?"

"..."

"..."

"...Because I'm dumb Pinkie. Really, really, dumb."

Author's Note:

Hey there! Want a little insight as to what I normally use to base this story on, a.k.a. the storyboard? Well click here. It shows the original storyboard for this part of the arc. No obligation to click.

Comments

[D48]

Well, there's the power failure two different ways.

Also, am I the only one who thinks trying to keep Pinkie cooped up in a little room for an extended period of time is a bad idea?

[Foxfax]

6647141 "Got any twos?" *gets hit with a trout*

[Lucien Chance]

I clicked there.