Unforeseen Consequences - From the darkness they came

>The visibility wasn’t much better either. The only things that could be seen on the distance were the road lamps being violently shaken by the wind.
>It was a good thing that your magic was a good source of light, because otherwise, the darkness of the night would’ve made any traversal impossible.
>Mobility wasn’t much of an issue thankfully. Your magic was strong enough to resist anything that the blizzard threw at you… except for the cold, dang it, you could feel your limbs freezing with each step taken.
>That said, you got an eerie feeling every time that the group arrived at a new cabin. Part of it was because you couldn’t shake the feeling that all of you were being watched.
>But it was extra creepy because the light produced by your shield made the cabins to feel as if they were being pulled out from a dark abyss.
>Of course, you had to cast an extra shield for every group of ponies and sometimes teacher who would enter their respective cabin.
>While nothing of this was enough to cause you to have a magical shot-circuit, the whole task did leave you a bit tired.
>Luckily, once everyone was at their cabins, and smoke started to come off from the chimneys, Sunny Hill, Thorax, Pearl, Cherrywood and you quickly rushed towards the old cabin that you were staying in.
>Of course, the moment Thorax closed the door, you used a heating spell to light up the chimney so this freezer of a cabin could have some warm.

>“Brrrr! My mind can’t work with this stupid cold!” Pearl said as she went to the right couch to warm her hooves by the fire “Aaaah! Much better! I can already think on all the bad things I’m going to tell my dad about this place!”
>“Seriously, I don’t even know what happened!” Cherrywood trembled a little before flying to the left couch to do the same as Pearl “One moment we were talking about the shadows, and the other, BOOOM! Everything became a dummies festival!”
>You and Thorax looked at each other with worry in your faces, but didn’t say a thing. You then sat by Cherrywood’s side and Thorax by Pearl’s.
>Pearl giggled as she rubbed her hooves “I know, right? It was almost as if…”
>“As if it was intentionally provoked by somepony” Sunny Hill said with a somber tone as she slowly walked to the chimney and sat at the middle couch. “Yes, I noticed that too, as well as the strange lights at the other side of the lake.”
>Everyone was looking at Sunny Hill with some caution. She didn’t care though, the old mare was just staring at the fire, lost in her own thoughts.
>You took a deep breath as you hugged Cherrywood… because honestly you were very cold, and she was just the best source of warmth in this camp.
“So, I don’t need to ask if you saw the weird lights at the other side of the lake, righ?”
>Sunny Hill was staring deeply at the fire when she replied with an annoyed tone “Mr. Anon that IS the exact reason as to why I’m here right now. So please tell me how you plan to do your job and guide everypony to safety”
>“Hey! Nopony talks to my Anonny like that except for me!” Cherrywood barked at Sunny Hill as she flew to her before you could say a thing. Your bat was glaring at Sunny Hill as she poked the old mare’s chest with her hoof “Why the hay are you putting all the responsibility on Anon?! Why don’t you and your wrinkles take some of it?”

>Sunny Hill gave a quick, disgusted glance to Cherrywood before slapping her hoof away “Because, you little scoundrel, I’m a mere teacher with not experience in this sort of situations. Mr. Anon on the other hoof has dealt with villains like Chrysalis in the past. Besides, he’s THE Prince! It IS his duty to deal with this!”
>Cherrywood was beyond angry at this point, she bumped heads with Sunny Hill and hissed “YOU ONLY SAY THAT BECAUSE YOU’RE THE WORST TEACHER IN EQUESTRIA!”
>“Excuse me?!” Sunny Hill narrowed her eyes as she pushed back “I will have you know that I have taught magic to some of the best wizards in Equestria, which includes Princess Twilight Sparkle!”
>Your bat pushed again, more angry than ever “*HISSSS* YOU LAZY OLD COW! IF YOU TEACH MAGIC, THEN WHAT DO YOU NEED MY ANNONY FOR? JUST CAST A SPELL TO MAKE THE SHADOWS GO AWAY!”
>Sunny Hill pushed Cherrywood away as she waved her hoof dismissively “I teach to little foals for a reason! I can’t cast any advanced spell on my own! That little ruffian of Anon on the other hoof has enough magic to raze this entire camp in the blink of an eye! I’m sure he can fight off whatever comes at us”
“Eeeeh… Sunny Hill, I dunno if you know this, but I don’t usually win by fighting. I kinda, sorta suck at that, heck, the last time I shot a magical blast at an actual living thing, it was when Chrysalis kidnapped me, and she dodged the blast easily.”
>“You did blow up like, half of my house though” Pearl said “There was a huge smoking crater where my dad’s trophy room was supposed to be… It was cool.”
>Sunny Hill narrowed her eyes at you and said with an angry tone “Don’t you play humble with me, Mr. Anon. We both know that you are anything but! So stop fooling around and tell what those lights were and what your plan is already, before that disgusting scoundrel makes me lose my head!”

>“Oh, that won’t be a problem!” Cherrywood growled and flew at Sunny Hill with the clear intention to attack “BECAUSE I WILL MAKE YOU LOSE YOUR HEAD NOW!”
>Of course, you used your magic to stop her in mid-air and bring Cherrywood back to your side.
“Calm down, Cherry…”
>While she didn’t say anything, the anger in Cherrywood’s face was pretty obvious… that and the fact she punched you in the shoulder quite hard. So after rubbing your poor leg, you turned to Sunny Hill and said.
“Alright, I dunno what my moms told you about me, but maybe you’re getting the wrong idea. The only thing that I know about those lights is that they MAY be related to some weird creepy shadows that me and Cherrywood saw, that communications to the exterior are cut off, that they are POSSIBLY responsible for what happened at the hall and… well, that’s pretty much it.”
>“So we’re stranded in this frozen wasteland and you don’t have any plan of sorts” Sunny Hill sighed in disappointment and dropped her head “Wonderful”
>You rolled your eyes and chuckled.
“The information that we have is pretty barebones, but I never said that I didn’t have a plan though. Sunny Hill, how long would it take to prepare those gaudy carriages and get everyone in there?”
>The old mare raised her head and laid back on the couch “On a regular day? A couple hours at best, four at worst, but with this blizzard going on? It would take the whole night, not to say how bad the state of the roads will be thanks to all the snow.”

“Yeah, I figured that. I still want you to do it though, we need to evacuate this place as soon as possible. I also want you to go back to that mansion and see the way to keep all the lights running as bright as possible, that will help the guards to know where we are in the remote case my necklace actually worked.”
>Sunny Hill nodded and got off from the couch “Very well, Mr. Anon, I’ll do as you say, but…” She turned to you with a curious face “I’m curious as to what you are going to do”
>You shook your head and let out a chuckle before giving the old mare a smug grin.
“If I told you what I’m planning to do, we would be here all night discussing how dangerous it is and how I shouldn’t do it. So let me save us the trouble by saying this. I’m the Prince, which means that as long as everyone’s safety is in danger, I will be the one in charge. You do what I told you and leave the rest to me and my fellas.”
>Sunny Hill let out a heavy sigh and shook her head “I know, and trust me, Mr. Anon. I don’t like it one single bit, but what can this old mare do? Those are the protocols. I do want to argue something, though…” She gave a quick disgusted glance at your friends “I’m not so sure about how these foals will be of help.”
“Aw don’t worry! Cherrywood also has experience with this sort of thing, Pearl is a very quick thinker, and that colt I brought with me? He is actually the king of the changelings! Thorax, please say hi to Sunny Hill!”
>In less than the blink of an eye, Thorax swapped back to his real psychedelic moose form. He then chuckled nervously and waved at the old mare.

>Much to your surprise, Sunny Hill didn’t freak out or anything like that, she simply sighed and said with a tired voice “I can now see why Princess Celestia did tell me to expect the unexpected when it came to you, Mr. Anon. Your point is clear, and it is obvious that no matter what argument I bring, you already have a way to refute it.”
>The old mare then walked to the door and placed her hoof on the doorknob “We all have very important work to do, so you excuse me, I will-“
>When she opened the door, Sunny Hill went pale, heck, everyone did. Because at the other side of the door, was the pompous stallion, king of the boring speeches, completely frozen in place and covered with these bizarre dark crystals.
>His face had a look of absolute terror, and the reason was quickly revealed…
>There was a couple of ponies standing behind him. While you couldn’t see their features because they were wearing robes that were seemingly made out of the same crystals that covered the pompous stallion, you could tell that they were a unicorn stallion and a Pegasus mare.
“EVERYONE! GET BEHIND ME! NOW!”