Unforeseen Consequences - Enter the King Sombra's cult

>It was now more than ever when you wished that this trip actually turned out to be just a boring and lame camp. That you were wrong about the shadows and that everything was alright… that you were wrong as usual.
>The Pegasus mare flapped her wings, creating a strong enough gust to knock all of you back, which gave her enough time to drag Sunny Hill with her into the cold darkness.
>At the same time, the unicorn stallion pushed the frozen pompous mate away and jumped inside the cabin. His horn glowing with a strange aura that you had never seen before. It was this bizarre, pulsating mix of black and green that made your skin crawl.
>His eyes also made you feel more scared than ever before, even more than your time with Chrysalis. Despite his face being hidden by the black crystal robe… you could clearly see two green lights glowing behind it.
>They were scanning the cabin, scheming… and you sure as Tartarus weren’t just gonna contemplate that creepy schmuck all night.
>You really didn’t know what took over you, but before you realized what was going on, you had already jumped over the couch and found yourself galloping towards the creepy unicorn.
>Everything happened in less than a second, but for you, it felt as if the world was moving in slow motion.
>Cherrywood was on the other side of the cabin, looking for something in his luggage. Pearl was behind Thorax, who was transforming into something.
>You could see the stallion’s creepy eyes staring at you. His hoof was raised, ready to deliver a blow that would surely knock you out.
>That was a good thing, though. He didn’t expect you to teleport away from him and back to the couch. He didn’t even think of the possibility of you shooting a magical blast at him with enough force to disintegrate a good chunk of the cabin.

>It was after the explosion, and when your ears stopped ringing that time went back to its normal flow, at least for you.
>The stallion lied on the snowy road, unconscious and at least a good 50 meters away from where he was originally standing.
>Thorax, who had transformed into a grizzly bear, went back to his moose form, looking at what you did with awe.
>Despite being covered in dust and snow, Pearl was jumping in glee, hugging you tightly and proclaiming “THAT WAS THE BEST THING EVER!”
>You let out a sigh and after noticing adopted a heroic pose and said.
“That’s what these schmucks get for messing… with… oh, no”
>From the corner of your eye, you saw another of those cloaked ponies jumping at you. There was no time to react, the only thing you could do was to embrace for the impact…
>Except that the attack never came, because Cherrywood came from seemingly out of frickin’ nowhere, wearing those mechanical hands that you once made for her and delivered an uppercut with so much force that you swear that a tooth flew out of the cloaked pony’s mouth.
>“My mom always tells me that only a dummy celebrates before all the bad guys are beaten!” Cherrywood said as she slammed the pony’s head in the ground, effectively knocking all lights out of him “And I can bet all my monsters masks that there’s still a whole lotta of these idiots left!”
>Cherrywood then flew at you and gave you a quick peck on the lips “That explosion was pretty cool” She said with a smile on her face “But don’t be a dummy and think this is gonna be THAT easy.”
>You rested your forehead against hers, and smiled back.
“Seems like we’re in for a ride, huh? I wish that was the last guy so I could tell you how awesome that jab was, but since we’re in a pretty rough spot…”

>Pearl quickly interrupted “We need a change of wardrobe!”
>“WHAT?!” Everyone said in unison. But before any of you could say anything else, she had already locked herself in the bathroom… at least this time it only took her like two minutes to come out wearing a pretty thick winter coat and ski goggles.
>Of course, the first one to express her annoyance was of course Cherrywood “Can’t you stop thinking about lame fashion for two seconds?! Why did you even do that?!”
>Pearl rolled her eyes and replied with a sarcastic tone “Duh! Use your brain, Bellemare! We’re clearly going outside, and with this blizzard, we will need to wear warm clothes if we don’t want to become a bunch of pony popsicles”
>Cherrywood raised her hoof but she didn’t reply. Instead, Cherrywood turned to you and shrugged “Guess the fake princess is right”
>You let out a tired sigh and teleported to the bathroom, where you quickly changed back to the winter coat that your mom Celestia gifted you and put your goggles on.
>Once everyone was dressed more appropriately for the occasion, you clapped your hooves together and continued with what you originally wanted to say.
“Alright, let’s go back to business! Thorax! You’re the guy who has traveled the most here, so please tell me that you know who these psychos are!”
>“I wish that I didn’t, but I do…” Thorax slowly nodded as he took a glance at the unconscious cloaked ponies “These baddies are part of the King Sombra’s cult. I’m 100% sure of that.”
>“Who?” Pearl immediately asked.
>“A bunch of jerks” Cherrywood said “But they are the kind of jerks that always mean danger… or that’s what my mom has told me”
>Pearl rolled her eyes and said with annoyance “Wow! What a super in-depth explanation you gave there, Bellemare.”

“The name should be more than enough to tell you everything, they are a buncha idiots who idolize King Sombra for some weird reason, and they are dangerous enough for my moms to handle them personally”
>“Yeah… they are nothing but bad news” Thorax said “Even Queen Chrysalis stayed away from them as far as possible.”
“Too bad we can’t do that right now. Okay, first plan of action is to find that frozen mate, we’re gonna need to bring him back to the world of the un-frozen… I-I just hope that my blast didn’t turn him into dust. *AHEM* then… then we see if those jerks haven’t kidnapped anyone like they did with Sunny Hill.”
>“Mr. Anon… that… won’t be…” Sunny Hill came from the darkness carrying the pompous stallion with her “A little help… would be appreciated…”
“I DIDN’T DESTROY THE GUY! HORRAY! I-I mean, everyone, help Sunny Hill!”
>Everyone rushed to help the old mare. You levitated the frozen mate and placed him near the fire. Thorax carried Sunny Hill to the couch closest to the fire, while Pearl and Cherrywood brought her blankets.
>Once Sunny Hill and that other guy were safe. The old mare turned to you, and said while breathing heavily “Mr. Anon…they took everypony away… we have to save them!”
“So it was a coordinated assault… Dang it!”
>You held Sunny Hill’s hoof and leaned closer to her
“Sunny Hill, I know everyone’s safety is the top priority but you’re in a really bad shape. We’re gonna take you to somewhere safe, then…”
>Despite her weakened state, the old mare had enough strength to grab and gave you a good shake “THERE’S NO TIME FOR THAT YOU FOOL!” She yelled “THOSE RUFFIANS ARE ALREADY ON THEY WAY HERE! YOU HAVE TO RUN AS FAR AND QUICK AS POSSIBLE FROM HERE!”
“And how the heck do you expect us to do that?! We can’t go far with this blizzard and all communications are down! Sunny Hill, running away is simply not possible, we will barricade this cabin to do our last stance.”

“That’s absolutely out of the question! I ain’t using Sunny Hill as bait!”
>Pearl giggled and booped your muzzle “Of course not, silly! Your teacher can’t do a thing in the state she’s in. That’s why you will be using ME as the bait!”
“WHAT?! Pearl! That’s all kinds of stu-”
>Pearl raised her hoof to cut you off “Listen, I know this is incredibly dangerous, but let me finish first before you start whining, my dear cousin.”
“… Alright, speak.”
>“YAY!” Pearl clapped her hooves in glee “Okay! So we know who are the guys attacking us, whoopee-dee! That still doesn’t tell us the most important things: Where is the place that they’re using as their hideout and WHY. Without that, we don’t know where they took everypony or how much time we have to save them. We DO know that they are coming back here though. So, when they take me and your teacher, we will leave a trail for you to follow”
>Cherrywood shook her head and groaned “And tell me, how you and your air-head are going to do that?”
>“With these, of course!” Pearl triumphantly held a bunch of your magical crystals above her head “Anon said that they work with magic and that means they glow with light. Perfect for the job!”
>“Uhmm… I don’t know about that” Thorax said “Wouldn’t the cultist notice that you are throwing a bunch of glowing rocks?”
“They are crystals my friend, and not really. I can infuse them with a spell that will make the crystals glow until they resonate with my magic, that’s really not the problem here...”
>You let out sigh and looked at Pearl right in the eye

“I… I know this sounds more or less logical, or rather… this is the best shot we have right now, but… Pearl…”
>“Calm down! We’re going to be fine!” Pearl gave you a reassuring smile and patted your shoulder “I’m not going to do anything stupid, and you just said it, this is the best shot we’ve got!”
>“Mr. Anon, if this old mare’s opinion is of any value for your” Sunny Hill said “I realize how conflicted you must feel, but if there’s something that I’ve learned throughout the years, is that in order to win, you often have to risk”
>You stayed silent for a few seconds and contemplating any other, less risky option, but as hard as you tried, there really wasn’t anything you could come up to shot Pearl’s plan down.
>So with another heavy sigh, you nodded and said.
“Very well, I hate doing this but… Pearl, stuff all the crystals that you can inside your winter coat. You and Sunny Hill will remain here and when the cultist arrive, do your best to make them believe you’re scared. Cherrywood, you will be in charge of the radio. Thorax, use your moose powers to hide the three of us. We will follow their trail approximately 30 minutes after the cultist have left the cabin”
>Thorax took you and Cherrywood outside the cabin, where, he transformed into a bush small enough to not cast any suspicion, but lush enough to see everything that was happening inside the cabin while also providing a perfect cover.
>The waiting was… tense to say the least. Seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours, but after a good time of waiting, at least five cloaked ponies appeared. The first thing they did was to take their unconscious friends away while the others…

>Well, while two others took Sunny Hill without much complication other than her constant yelling, the final cloaked pony had a more trouble trying to catch Pearl since she was throwing everything that she could find at them.
>Of course, the cloaked pony did manage to capture her, by basically throwing himself at Pear. You could hear the screaming of your cousin while she disappeared in the cold darkness, and that was more than enough to make you feel like garbage.
>As much as it pained you, waiting was a must, the risk of getting into an ambush was real and you sure as heck didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes you did at the hive.
>But once the time was up, your group began the arduous trek through the Crystal Lake, to rescue everyone from some of the most dangerous ponies that Equestria has ever seen… or so your moms have told you.