Cause, Effect, and Consequences

by Coltsguy

The Ghost of Admiral Ackbar

Pinkie and I were bored. Shitacularly bored. The two of us were pretty much stuck in that room. Boredom is a very bad thing for either of us to have. Both of us having it is worse. When Lelouch got back he found this out firsthand. He arrived to a new paint scheme in his office. The walls, instead of a dull grey, were now a bright blue with white trim and a white ceiling. The desks were now a mix of dark green and yellow and had a tray of cookies sitting on one of them. The couches were now a velvet red color and even felt like the material despite the fact that I knew that Pinkie had simply threw paint on them and I watched it spread like magic. Hmm... Anyway, even the floor was redone with a nice new deep purple carpet. That part was really interesting because she made it just flow under every piece of furniture in the place without disturbing anything.

Yeah, I don't think he liked it too much. It did get a chuckle out of Kallen though so I consider it worth it. Man I wish I could have seen her as a human. I bet she was just as smoking hot as on t.v. Yeah, don't judge.

After getting over what happened, making sure there were no bugs, and checking to see if everything still worked properly, Lelouch talked about our target. Apparently, it would be pretty difficult to get in. From the information he gathered the guards had a long rotation shift; around a week or so. Not only that, but in the time it had been there those large doors had only been opened four times. Not really optimal conditions to get in with.

While he had someone look into some other options, I ended up fulfilling my end by giving him some general information on Equestria and Nightmare Moon. The first thing was the origin of Nightmare Moon. Essentially, the first few opening minutes of the series. Then came the part of her defeat and how she came to be on their Earth. Pinkie explained most of that one since she actually lived it. It required a short explanation on the Elements of Harmony as well. There were a few more things I added on which included some observation on the general state of things here and there amongst them. I almost brought up Kamine Island, but I wasn't sure if it would be advisable to do so considering that it may give rise to some uncomfortable questions in the present and it might not even work what with it being buried now. I guess that doesn't mean it was inoperable. I just wasn't sure what exactly Nightmare Moon did inside the thought elevator. Eh, maybe I'd bring it up as I left.

He honestly seemed less hostile to us after the info session. He didn't seem to mind us at the very least. I was thankful that he generated enough of a reaction that I obtained a minute charge of magic. Despite what I had thought, there didn't seem to be any real ambient chaos in the air to draw from in order to pick up some magical energy. Getting the reaction from Lelouch gave me maybe one percent if I could quantify the number that Eris gave me. Still, it could come in handy for an emergency.

Where we ended up was the result of some digging for information that he managed to get from some source he didn't mention. We found out that not only was the building four stories tall, but it had two stories underground as well. The lowest level ran adjacent to some old maintenance tunnels that had gone out of use even before Nightmare Moon had arrived. That would be our way in.

That's where we were. According to an old map they were given it was anyways. We were standing at the section in which the building we needed to enter was located at. The four of us as well as a dozen Black Knight ponies were looking the place over to see if there was an entrance into the building from there. It was quite preferable to the alternative.

"Hey Zero, why is nobody freaking out about how there's a human in their midst? You didn't... you know?"

"I told them all that it was an illusion that I was practicing. It's something I plan on trying now that I know it's possible."

I guess that made as much sense as anything else.

"Just be careful okay? Not knowing proper spell mechanics can be dangerous, or so Twilight told me. Despite how I act, magic is not a toy."

"I'm aware of this. However, we should focus on the task at hand."

"Speaking of which," Kallen broke in, "according to one of our people there apparently is a door in the proper location to be part of that building."

"Lead the way," Lelouch replied neutrally.

A short walk later and the entire force was standing in front of a pair of sliding double doors reminiscent of the ones on the building above. The differences were that this pair was only a single story tall nearly reaching the ceiling of the tunnel and that they looked considerably worse for wear than the above ground counterparts. Still, an entrance was an entrance.

"I'm not sure we can force this apart," one of the Black Knights said.

"I'm not sure we'll need to," another stated. "I found this when we found the door."

We looked at where he was pointing and noticed a dimly glowing keypad next to the door. Zero and I walked up to it to take a closer look. The only reason I walked up to it was because they wouldn't be able to use it with the size of their hooves. Yeah I guess he could do it with telekinesis, but I doubt he could do it as fast as I was able to. He did take his sweet time looking it over.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"This feels too convenient. Out of place."

"True, though it could be that it's hardwired into the power system of the building."

"Perhaps."

"Hope for the best and prepare for the worst then?"

"Indeed. I have some options for that instance."

"If you do, can you make a loud, flashy diversion?"

"That isn't an optimal choice for the current situation."

"Perhaps, but it can give me a chance to use an ace in the hole that I couldn't use otherwise."

"What kind of ace?"

"One that could probably save us all or at least get us out of there."

"I'll consider it then. For now, I believe I have figured out the code to this door. Would you care to punch it in?"

I gave him a chuckle and complied despite wondering how he was able to discern the door code by just staring at it. Maybe his Geass worked on inanimate objects now thanks to being a unicorn? Yeah, like I could figure it out anyway. Stick to outside context knowledge Seth.

There were a few tense moments after inputting the code where nothing happened. However, the doors opened up soon after. When they stopped moving our group slowly entered. I decided to use the small charge I had to turn invisible again. Better to limit the damage of having seen a human to as few ponies now as possible. Kind of dumb in the grand scheme of things, but hey.

"I'll be sticking to your left Zero fyi."

"Thanks for informing me you would do that," he said sarcastically. At least I think it was. "It would have been better to know that beforehand."

"Spur of the moment. Besides it'll only last maybe ten to fifteen minutes. Less if I turn anyone or anything else invisible."

That was really just a guess on my part. I had nothing concrete to base it on. My invisibility was the least costly so I just figured that it could run for quite a bit. More surface area required more magic though anything other than me required a little bit more juice than normal I think. Or something, I'm not really too good at judging too well with my limited interaction time. I was just feeling it out and going off of Eris. Maybe we could try that later?

Right then we were entering a dimly lit room. It was mostly empty with only steel shipping crates placed here and there. After we all were inside the doors slowly closed back up. We checked to make sure there was a keypad on this side of the doors before looking for another door. This time there was one on each wall. Normal lever-knobbed doors to everyone's relief.

"Which way should we go?" Kallen asked.

"Hang on," I spoke and pulled Eris out of my pocket. A quick look and we headed off to the left door.

Our group kept going down the better lit, yet bland hallways while I guided us through. Every room we passed was filled with computer servers lined up along the walls. We passed eight of those before climbing up two flights of stairs and going into another hallway. This one only contained one door about halfway down the corridor. This door was the one Eris led me to.

"Hang back. This is the door. Let me make sure there's nothing wrong."

I received a nod before pushing the lever down and opening the door enough to peer inside. What was inside was quite interesting. Ponies were bustling about in lab coats going from instrument to computer to instrument. Some were flying up to other tiers as the room went up the entire four stories of the building. There were three extended areas that went around all the room with the exception of the far side of the room where I could see what was most likely the doors I spotted from the outside of the building. Those areas were like terraces that contained wall mounted screens and some other smaller devices. In the middle of all of this was the rift hanging about ten feet in the air and dancing wildly in between two fixed horizontal points.

"That's the rift," I commented while pointing Eris at it to confirm such. "They're ponies all over the place working on things. I'm a little concerned about what though."

"It doesn't matter much right now," Zero commented. "We'll take control of the room, let you two seal the rift, and then leave. We have to be quick. If we spot anything we need to do something with, we'll postpone momentarily to check it out, but it isn't our priority."

"In and out! Easy peasy!" Pinkie exclaimed.

I fought off the urge to facepalm.

"On three," I said as Kallen began counting.

"One... two... three!"

On cue, I threw open the door and ran inside followed by Kallen, then Pinkie, and then the rest of the group. Our entrance didn't go unnoticed as the majority of the ponies there scattered. Zero yelled out to the crowd to get their attention.

"This facility is now under the control of the Black Knights! If you surrender now you will not be harmed!"

Again, the same majority of ponies that scattered simply did what he asked and surrendered. Only a half dozen chose to resist and were easily quelled. I chose that moment to hand Pinkie the coin as I took a bit more magic in from the commotion.

That was when things turned bad.

The large doors began to slowly open on the far wall. Outside, like I figured it led to, was a group of forty bat ponies led by a pegasus pony with a light yellow coat and a black mane with slit eyes. Worst of all, standing behind all of them was a smirking Nightmare Moon.

"It seems that my little pony was correct," she said mirthfully. "I'll need to reward her properly later."

"Pinkie, head for the rift now!" I harshly whispered.

As she took off, that prompted everyone else to get moving. I ran to the wall as I knew that I wouldn't be of any help until I was set up the way I needed. I was only glad that Nightmare Moon didn't enter herself. It didn't really matter as the number advantage was too much and ten of the bat ponies flew past us to block off our escape. Zero tried his best to rally everyone and even managed to hold them off for long enough to let Pinkie get to the rift. Sadly, it was not enough to win and most everyone was caught except Zero, Pinkie, and two random Black Knights. Thankfully, Pinkie still managed to close the rift before she was tackled out of the air by a bat pony. I gestured towards Eris and she skidded along the ground until she came to a rest in my hand.

"So," Nightmare Moon said loudly, "you were able to close the tear. It matters not. The ponies here tell me that they have had enough time to study it and replicate its effects. Now that the last great thorn in my side is taken care of, I will use the power learned of here and open a portal to Equestria where I will bring an army down upon them and rule both worlds like I was always meant to! Hahahahahahahaha!!!"

Ooh! She even got the lightning effect with that laugh. But she had really gone cliche there. She had violated the List big time. I didn't know if Zero could do anything, but he did speak up.

"You brought nothing but misery when you came to our world and now you want to spread this cancer even further? Do you have any sense of decency?"

"How DARE you!? I am Empress Nightmare Moon! I will not be talked down to by someone who doesn't understand what it means to truly be a pony!"

Odd choice of words, but the exchange was enough for me to mentally finish what I needed to do so I decided to speak up. I needed to hurry up too because I was on a timer now that the rift was closed.

"Oh shut up you old nag!"

That got stunned silence.

"Celestia is doing just fine there," I said while walking up in front of her as she was still standing outside. "She doesn't need the cast-off of Luna coming there and causing strife."

Wow, I hit the right button as not only were her eyes white, but as I got up close they looked like white flames were coming out of them.

"You again! I will make you suffer like the foolish foal you are!"

Despite the ringing in my ears I was undeterred by her comment. Instead, I reached up and grabbed her by the horn and brought my face right into hers as I made my head visible.

"You have no idea who the fuck you're dealing with," I said staring straight into her eyes.

"It seems I haven't quite rid the world of you filthy apes yet."

I watched her horn light up-

-and instantly I was hit with a flood of images. I jerked back as I held my head. I also vaguely remembered that my invisibility faded away.

"You foolish little thing! You cannot challenge me!"

I looked down and saw to my horror that my feet had been turned to stone. I had to act fast.

"Fuck this shit! We're out of here!"

A snap of my fingers and the building was now short one group of freedom fighters. I had charged my magic up from the small skirmish and had just enough power to teleport all of us back to the hideout. The only hard part was keeping everyone in my head to take them with me. Very much to my relief, the stone faded away from my feet and they went back to normal.

"Nailed it!" Pinkie yelled.

A collective groan was let out as I looked at Eris. I was really glad that I hadn't dropped it when whatever that was with Nightmare Moon happened. I took note that we had just over thirty seconds left. Enough for a quick goodbye I supposed.

"Time to head home Pinkie."

"You're leaving? Just like that?" Kallen asked clearly miffed.

"It's on a timer. We leave automatically."

That seemed to quell her well enough.

"I wish you could stay here," Lelouch said. "You would make a valuable ally."

"I'll tell you what. If I am capable of coming back, though I doubt I ever will, I will definitely help you out," I said while reaching out my hand to him.

"I'll take it," he said reciprocating in kind with a handshake.

There was a flash of light and I knew we were headed back to Equestria. Sure enough, when the vision came back to my eyes we were back in the plains of Appleloosa with everyone else. A group hug later and everything was peaches.

"Halftime people!"

"Halftime? What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"That last trip drained my magic completely. I've got to recharge before heading to the next one. It frightens me more than any of the others."

"Why would it do that?" Rarity asked. "Is it because of that strange pony that we talked with?"

"In part, yes. But that isn't the only reason. Come on, I need to head to the Everfree Forest."

I started heading off on what was going to be a long trip.

"The train is that way," Rainbow Dash commented.

And now it was a few feet longer.

Comments

[D48]

Well, that was fun even if Seth seriously fumbled things. It would have been much smarter to turn Pinkie and himself invisible, sneak in, and close the rift before the know what is going on. It also might have resulted in things working out better in the long run because Nightmare Moon would have gotten absolutely wrecked if she came back and got blindsided by Celestia, Luna, Discord, the Elements, and possibly Seth as well.

[Coltsguy]

6672953 Not enough of a charge to reliably make himself and Pinkie invisible for long enough to inspect the area. For canon reference, I go through about one percent charge of personal energy for only my invisibility in about two hours. That's about 12 minutes for .01% of personal energy. I had about .03% of personal energy when I arrived at those doors. That meant that I could have gone for about half an hour as invisible. Now then, for everything else I turn invisible the power requirement goes up. Roughly 2.5 times the personal energy it takes to cover the same surface area as on me. In other words, making myself and Pinkie both invisible would take more personal energy than it would for just myself. I would be using an extra 2.5 times the energy at the same time. In other words, I would have run out of energy to make both of us invisible at under eight minutes if my math is correct. The other parts are my canon numbers anyway. The point is that it took longer than that for our group to make it there and I would have cut the same pace either way so we would have been caught visible before we made it to the room itself. I state personal energy as it is separate from the coin which has three times the capacity and doesn't give me any magic energy when her own reserves are under five percent unless I draw it out intentionally. It also isn't stated, but she requires a minimum of .1% power to function like she normally does.

I think that covers things.

[D48]

6673225 I meant after you got to the door and saw all the activity. Just make Pinkie invisible, run in, tag the rift, and run back out. They will not realize what is going on until it is too late and the whole thing will take less than 30 seconds to complete so power will not be a concern.

[Coltsguy]

6674738 At that point, we're all following the plan laid out by Zero. I'm not about to outright subvert his authority in front of his troops. He's going in regardless so even if it's a better idea, it just isn't going to matter.

[D48]

6674825 It would still have been worth suggesting. Granted he might still have said no, but it would have been a much safer way to handle the situation and he should see that when you point it out.

[Coltsguy]

6674862 Eh, if we didn't spring the trap then Zero wouldn't have been made aware of Nightmare Moon's plans either.

[D48]

6675621 True, although her plans are going to backfire in a spectacular way if she manages to open that portal so it is really not that big a deal if she catches him off guard. She would just disappear one day and then Seth would show up a little while later to let them know that she came over and got curbstomped by a vastly superior force. Granted it would make the ending of the other story a little anticlimactic, but it would still be funny.

[Coltsguy]

6675971 It's highly doubtful that it's going to open up to the world I came from, but it's possible. Especially if you read all the way to the end of my story. I'd say more but...SPOILERS.

[D48]

6678904 Fair enough, although I would expect the portal they make to be like the one they were studying which would lead them to the world you came from. Hell, there is a very real chance they don't even realize it is not back to the Equestria Nightmare Moon came from because they really don't have the experience or knowledge to really tell exactly what is going on.