Consequences

by shallow15

Nightfall, Orders, and Messages

Tempest got back to her hotel around 11 PM. She tossed her jacket on the chair and stormed into the bathroom to take a shower. She emerged twenty minutes later, changed into her sleepwear and snapped off the lights, fuming as she climbed into bed.

She lay on her back, staring at the ceiling. Another delay. Another problem. Two flat tires on the passenger side of her car. It had taken an hour and a half to get the car towed to a local garage, and even then, the agent's expense account had taken a hit she was sure the bean counters were going to bitch about.

And not a god damn thing to show for it, she thought.

Her fist clenched and she pounded the mattress in frustration. The constant blocking and setbacks were getting ridiculous. Something had to be done. She needed to make progress.

She needed answers. Answers only the Director had. Answers he had refused to give her unless she brought him results. She was so close. This case could possibly be big enough for him to finally give her the answers she had been trying to get for years.

She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes, focusing on making her breathing steady. After a moment she began to relax and sleep started to overtake her. Thoughts of her plans for the next day floated through her mind as she drifted off.

I'll look into Firecracker Burst tomorrow, then get prepped for Monday at Canterlot High. I'll crack this. And then I can finally find out what happened to you, Dropsy...

---

Capper was sitting in his office, looking out the window at the lights of the city. He had just gotten off the phone with one of his contacts in the police department. He didn't like what he heard.

“You wanted to see me?” Caelano asked, entering the room. Capper swiveled his chair slightly.

“Sunnybun was right,” he said. “There is something out there in the woods. The Gas-N-Go out on Hadley had its dumpster wrecked. A couple of the farms on the outskirts had fences broken and livestock go missing.”

Caelano folded her arms. “So she was right. It isn't our problem.”

“I think it might be.” Capper folded his hands together, pressing the tips of his index fingers to his lips. “We have that shipment coming in.”

“That's not for a couple of days,” said Caelano. “Lix called and said the cops are watching the main roads, so she has to take the long way around the mountains.”

“Right through the woods,” the crime boss retorted. “I think it might be in our best interest to find this thing so Sunnybun and her friends can deal with it... before Lix makes it around the mountain.”

Capper swiveled around so he was facing his lieutenant. “Take Mullet and Boyle out tomorrow night. CCPD's latest report puts it on the east side of town, out by that apple farm. See what you can find.”

“Oh come on,” Caelano complained. “You're really going to waste me and the boys on this wild goose chase?”

Capper stood up and leaned over the desk, his eyes glittering. “Yes, I am. And you, Caelano, are going to put that grudge of yours away and do it because I told you to do it. I'm still running this gang, and as much as I know you'd rather be in this chair --”

“What?” Caelano's eyes widened. “That's ridiculous, Cap.”

“Save us both the lie,” Capper snapped. “You're not as subtle as you think. I know what you've been doing. I just haven't done anything because, that aside, you're still my best employee. So, here's the deal. You continue doing what I need you to do, and once we're sure this thing in the woods has been dealt with and that fed has left town, then we'll talk about increasing your influence.”

Caelano blinked. “Seriously?”

Capper nodded, his usual grin returning. “I've been thinking about stepping back from active leadership for a while. I'm gonna need someone to run the day-to-day around here. Someone I can trust.”

He gave her a serious look. “So, the question then, Caelano, is can I trust you... or not?”

Caelano and Capper stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, the lieutenant took a step back. “I'll check out the woods at sundown tomorrow. From everything that she said, it sounds like this thing is usually active only at night.”

Capper sank back into his chair and grinned again. “Sounds good. Glad to know I can depend on you.”

---

The girls had all gone home and Sunset was sitting on her couch, lost in thought. Well, not exactly lost in thought. Her thoughts were focused on their current predicaments formulating ideas and plans in order to... to...

… okay, she was brooding.

She flopped onto her back on the couch, letting out a sigh of frustration. It was the waiting that was killing her. Those slow periods where there wasn't anything that could be done about the situation except wait for morning to come.

Once the Dazzlings had left, Rarity revealed the rest of the message she had gotten from Vice-Principal Luna. The girls had all been invited to tea at Principal Celestia's home the next morning. Presumably so they could talk about whatever it was the two sisters had wanted to discuss before they discovered Tempest was watching the apartment.

Sunset frowned. That was the other thing. Tempest now knew where she lived. Her home was no longer safe if the agent came after her. For all Sunset knew, she may have tried to get into the building already.

Tomorrow, I need to talk to Miss Bookbinder and see if anybody was snooping around the building.

She sat up, another thought crossing her mind. If Tempest knew where she lived, then it was probably going to be a good idea to hide anything not from this world somewhere other than the apartment. Fortunately, her last few bits and gems had stayed with Capper as payment and she had returned a few books she borrowed from Princess Twilight a few days before all the mess with Firecracker Burst had happened. That only left one particular item that needed to be hidden.

As if in response to her thinking about it, the journal began glowing and vibrating on the kitchen table where she had left it. Sunset stared at it in surprise for a moment before realizing what it meant.

“Starlight!” she said aloud. She dashed across the room and snatched up the journal and a pen before returing to the couch and opening the book.

Sunset? Are you there?

I'm here, Starlight. Is everything okay?

There was a pause before the reply came. Oh, sure. My mentor and her friends are missing. Giant brutes are stalking through Ponyville as we speak, using the ponies they encounter as slaves or just caging them outright if they cause too much trouble. Trixie and I are stuck sleeping in the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters with all the horrors of the Everfree Forest lurking in the shadows. The sky is constantly filled with smoke and gunk because something happened up in Cloudsdale and nopony knows what. So yeah, everything's just peachy keen over here!

Sunset rolled her eyes. Okay, it was a badly phrased question. I'm sorry. But you know what I'm asking.

Yeah, I do. Sorry. Trixie and I are okay. Like I said, we managed to make camp at the Castle of the Two Sisters. So far, it looks like the invaders are staying out of the forest, but if what we saw in Canterlot and Ponyville are any indication of what's going on, things are probably going to get worse as they move outward.

Any news from Twilight?

Nothing. She might be trying to keep a low profile, since they probably don't know exactly who they can contact. For all she knows, all her other friends, including me, have been captured by the invaders.

Do you know who they are? Where they come from?

No idea. There was one that made some kind of announcement when their airships arrived at the festival plaza in Canterlot. He said they served someone calling themselves “The Storm King.” The unicorn leading the forces didn't say much before she managed to take down the princesses.

Sunset leaned back and considered. “A unicorn?” she said out loud. She flipped back to Starlight's first message to her, noting that she had mentioned the unicorn leading the invaders before. She supposed it was possible. While most ponies got along, there were always a few who drifted to crime or other unsavory activities. And Equestria was a fairly big land. But a unicorn taking down three of the princesses by themselves?

How did they do that?

You got me. I was at the back of the crowd before all Tartarus broke loose. Then Trixie and I bolted like everypony else before I could calm down enough to teleport us out of the city. I wish I had more to tell you. I just realized we hadn't talked since the invasion and I wanted you to know I was all right.

Thanks, Starlight. I'm sorry I haven't written either. Things are... hectic over here as well.

What's been going on?

Sunset sighed and provided a brief summary of everything that had been going on, culminating in the meeting that had just ended.

So now the only thing I can do is wait until morning and hope that we can figure out what to do next when we meet with the Principal and Vice-Principal tomorrow.

Starlight's reply took a long time to come. That's really strange.

What is? I mean, yeah, the fact that the government is involved and the magic seems to have affected an animal this time is kind of odd, but it's not that different from when you came over and we dealt with Juniper Montage.

No, not that. You said this agent's name is Tempest?

Yeah.

… That's the name of the unicorn that was leading the invasion.

Sunset stared at the page in disbelief as a nasty thought crossed her mind.“No... it couldn't be.”

This unicorn... she isn't a dark purple with a bright red mane and a scar over one eye?

And a broken horn! How did you... oh... OH NO.

Yeah.

How is this possible? I mean, we know there's duplicates of some ponies over there, but the fact you're dealing with that and we're dealing with this... the odds of it happening at the same time must be astronomical!

I don't know. I don't know if it's significant or if this is just the multiverse playing a truly sick cosmic joke on us.

Either way, be careful, Sunset. If she's anything like her pony counterpart, she's probably a lot more dangerous than she's let on so far.

We're trying, but I get the feeling that, sooner or later, we're going to have some kind of confrontation. I just hope we can avoid getting arrested in the process. Or worse.

I wish I could help. Right now, all Trixie and I can do is sneak into Ponyville every so often, free a couple of ponies or find ones who haven't been captured yet and bring them back into the Everfree to hide.

And that's a lot. Even if you only get a small group together, you're resisting. Who knows? You might raise an army.

It's a nice thought, but right now there's only six of us. Not much of an army.

Sunset smiled as a thought occurred to her. And six ponies took down Nightmare Moon, Discord and Tirek. Oh yeah, and one of them came through the mirror and helped five ordinary girls take down a raging she-demon. Don't underestimate what you can do with six ponies, Starlight. Six ponies can change the world.

Thanks, Sunset. I'll try not to lose hope. And don't you lose hope either. You might get lucky and this agent will leave town soon.

We'll see.

Sunset let out a yawn and stretched. It's late. I need to get to bed. I wish I could be more help to you, Starlight.

It's okay. I think we're both doing exactly what Twilight would want us to do.

Stay safe. If you need to talk, I'm always here. Although, I might have to hide the journal if the worst happens. So if you don't hear from me...

If I don't hear from you, I'll find a way to get the portal open and come rescue you myself. And if Twilight's back if that happens, she'll probably beat me there. Hope, remember?

Right. Hope.

Good night, Sunset.

Good night, Starlight.

Comments

[CapNTilfy]

Tension's on.

[Wysteria]

Wow. Didn't expect that!

[Cynical_Optimist]

Starlight is going to reveal Tempest's real name to Sunset and that will be a deciding factor in ... something, I don't know what but something huge. Probably convince tempest to oin the good guys.

[DragonxFlutter]

I've caught up! Things are getting interesting! Though, I will state something I've been feeling for a while: I honestly feel as though a few of the chapters could have been condensed into one (prime example: Dazzling Flashback). Outside of that and some spelling/grammar hiccups that weren't caught in editing, I'm still excited for what's to come!

[shallow15]

9645022
Yes, but then people would be waiting a lot longer for updates.

[DragonxFlutter]

9645171
That's true. I guess maybe, when all is said and done, such chapter blocks can be compressed at a later date.

[SilverDiamond]

Finally they made the connection. Been waiting for that.