Unforeseen Consequences - Familiar faces, familiar problems.

>The wind was blowing behind your back, letting some snow to come into the cabin only to be turn into water mere second later. The forest trees started to creak and howl and the sun was starting to disappear in the horizon.
>Yep, time to stop fooling around and get inside the cabin! Which, to be honest, wasn’t that much of a better option than just setting a tent in the middle of the forest.
>Thorax entered the cabin right after you, closing the door and putting the padlock before quickly rushing to the right side of the cabin.
>The reason for his hurry? The guy wanted to sit on one of the three couches that were near the fireplace and warm his hooves by the fire “Aaaah! Now this is what I needed!”
>At the very least it didn’t have creepy stuff like hunting trophies hanging from the walls… but it certainly had a bunch of paintings of blizzards hanging around… cool.
>Well, at least the cabin had a bathroom located in the opposite side of the entrance… only one bathroom… for three ponies and a weird magical moose… awesome.
>Now, in any other situation, you’d have greeted Cherrywood and Royal Blood… wait, she liked to be called Pearl, right? Whatever…
>The reason why you ignored them is because those two were having a discussion, and while you have handled incredibly scary things before like Chrysalis and your mom Luna when she’s angry, you sure as heck weren’t going to deal with an angry Cherrywood… that’s stuff that was beyond your skillset.
>So yeah, you silently went to join Thorax at the fireplace as the two fillies had an argument in the other side of the cabin. You will say hi when it’s over… or use your magic when they start fighting. Whatever happens first.
>Pearl was peacefully resting on the top bed of the bunk bed. She has this super arrogant expression on her face that complimented by waving her hoof dismissively “Oh, calm down! You’re going to love being popular, trust me, I have a lot of experience with that.”

>Cherrywood on the other hoof, looked like she wanted to puke. In fact, if she hadn’t covered her mouth with her hoof, you would most surely have ended cleaning the mess.
>So, after Cherrywood swallowed whatever she ate this morning, she hit her chest and let out a small burp “*Urp* Stooooop using that word!”
>Pearl raised an eyebrow as she leaned over her bed to see Cherrywood. Then she let out a giggle as her grin widened “What? P-O-P-U-L-A-R? Puh-lease! Give me a break, Bellemare! It’s not like you can’t stop it from happening.”
>Cherrywood flew out of her bed and glared at Royal Blood, who went back to her initial comfortable position.
>Cherrywood only got angrier by that, so she immediately flew closer to Pearl while showing her fangs “*HISSSSSS* Oh, yeah?! What makes you think that I won’t stop it, huh?! For your information, I’m the best at scaring away ponies!”
>Royal Blood chuckled and booped Cherrywood, making her fall on her back. “Oh, yes, I know that you’re the Queen when it comes to being anti-social, but once everypony knows who your coltfriend is, everypony at our school will have their eyes on you. As I said, you ARE going to be popular, I just want to make sure that you don’t screw it up.”
>Cherywood’s face quickly adopted a nasty green color as she quickly placed her hoof on her mouth to prevent any accident. Of course, this time there was no angry comeback, the poor girl flew as fast as she could to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.
>Sweet science! You knew Pearl was good, but to be able to handle an angry Cherrywood with such efficiency? Now that was something else.
>Pearl laughed a little bit as she hopped off from her bed and graciously landed on the ground.

>After stretching a bit, she walked to the fireplace and leaned against a wall before finally addressing you with a super smug grin “Hello dear cousin, it’s such a great surprise that we got the same cabin, right?
>You raised an eyebrow and let out a long and tired sigh.
“I frickin’ hate these camps and even I know that mixed cabins ain’t a thing that happens, so pray tell, how many guys did your dad bribe so you could get your way?”
>Royal Blood rolled her eyes and sighed in disappointment “Anon, you underestimate me and big time. My dad had nothing to do with this, I just had to “convince” a couple teachers to rig the cabin assignments, that’s all. Good thing that I know all of their dirty secrets, huh?”
“Geez, you’re such an example of honesty and righteousness…”
>Royal Blood giggled for a couple seconds and shrugged “Do I look like the kind of girl who likes to play boring? Don’t make me laugh! That’s why I wanted to be with you in the first place. You’re like a magnet of fun.”
>You rolled your eyes, crossed your hooves and huffed in annoyance.
“Sucks to be you then, ‘cause I’m only here to chillax.”
>Hmmm… Thorax was absorbed with warming his hooves… to the point where it started to look creepy. Gotta stop that before Pearl notices something weird about him.
“Hey, Tho- Crystal Hoof, you mind if I take the top bed?”
>Pearl quickly caught on your mistake, but didn’t say a thing, instead she just pretended that she didn’t hear a thing…. Aw, dang! You just screwed it up.
>Thorax quickly snapped back to reality, just… not in the most elegant way possible “Wha-? Who? OH! Nah! They’re all the same to me, besides, sleeping on high places makes my indigestion worse”
>When Thorax finally noticed that Pearl existed, he gave her a big smile and waved his hoof at her “Hello there! My name is Crystal Hoof, and is very nice to meet you!”

>Pearl didn’t reply, instead, she turned to you and raised an eyebrow and motioned you with her hoof to speak for her
>You let out another long and tired sigh and shook her head.
“That gal’s name is Royal Blood, but she likes to be called Pearl for some weird reason, what else? Oh, yeah! She’s also the daughter Blueblood”
>Thorax gasped in shock as he looked at Pearl and then at you with a similar expression “B-blueblood?! Isn’t that the guy who tried to hit you once?” He then tapped his chin and looked down, thinking on something before turning to you again “But wait a minute… Blueblood is the Princesses’ nephew, so does that mean… you two are relatives?”
“He tried to hit me twice actually, as for the other question. Yup! Pearl here is technically my niece, buuuut…!”
>With some annoyance in her voice, Pearl quickly continued where you left off “But since that sucks a bit too much, I decided that we were going to be cousins instead. Trust me, it’s better this way”
>Thorax was a bit confused by what he just heard, so he again turned to you to clarify things “Is that a thing she can do?”
>You shook your head and shrugged before making yourself more comfortable on the crappy couch.
“Nope! But it’s not like I don’t agree with her either… oh, and here’s some advice, don’t get too comfortable around her, Pearl can be… a little shady.”
>Pearl let out a malicious chuckle that very well could’ve come from Discord and sat right by Thorax’s side “I prefer the term “chaotic” myself, and now that we’re done with my introduction, why don’t you tell me what’s the deal with this cute guy?”
>Okay, now all the alarms were setting off. Time to pull the handbrake on this before she gets too close to the truth.
“For Pete’s sake! Do you think I’m so dumb that I wouldn’t know why you are asking that?! Pearl, there’s nothing crazy or chaotic going on.”

>Pearl grinned widely as she rested her head on her hooves and gave you a playful look “So those creepy shadows that are stalking the camp aren’t chaotic. Good, that means they must have a different origin.”
>Your eyes went wide open and your heart started to race at a thousand miles per hour. This revelation was just… AWESOME!
“Holy blazes! I’m not crazy! HAH! In your face Tho- Crystal Hoof! But wait… where and when did you see them?!”
>Pearl rolled on her back and responded with a giggle “Seems like I got your curiosity. Great! But I’m afraid that my cute lips are going to be sealed, until YOU, my dear cousin, tell me everything about your new friend.” She rolled back on her belly and grinned at you “What’s his REAL name? Because I’m sure it’s not Crystal Hood. Where does he come from? Is he Discord in disguise? And don’t lie to me, I will know if you do.”
>Thorax quickly jumped away from Pearl, looking at the filly with as much fear as if she was Chrysalis “Anon? I think this weird girl is onto us!”
>Well… Thorax just gave her more ammunition… fantastic. Okay, she wanted to play the smart game? You can do that too… only better.
“Hmmm… “the shadows must have a different origin”? You can’t fool me, Pearl.”
>She quickly interrupted you “Oh, but I have played you like a little fiddle a bunch of times already!”
>You let out a groan in annoyance and rolled your eyes.
“It was once and it was because your riddles suck… but going back on topic, I know this is just a bluff. So, even if there was something weird going on with my friend, you have nothing to offer since just like me, you only saw the shadows and that’s it, you don’t know anything about them.”
>“The fake princess didn’t see a thing, I did” You by Cherrywood who once again slammed the bathroom door behind her.
>When she noticed where you were, Cherrywood sniffled and flew to the couch where she sat by your side…. Needless to say, she didn’t exactly look like a million bits.

>You raised an eyebrow and extended your hoof at her
“Hey, Cherrywood… uh… maybe it would be better if you took a quick-“
>She quickly slapped your hoof away and shook her head “Can it. I don’t need any rest.” Cherrywood sniffled again and gave Pearl a stoic look “Hey, fake princess, you want to know who that wimp is? Well, guess what, he’s actually Thorax, king of the changelings or whatever…”
>To make things even worse, Thorax immediately changed back to his original form. His only reaction was a big blush and a “Heh, Heh… seems like we’ve been got, eh Anon?”
“OH, C’MON! I HAD JUST BEATEN PEARL AT HER OWN FRICKIN’ GAME!”
>Cherrywood didn’t turn to you, she just sniffled and rested her head on your shoulder, all while keeping her stoic face “Sucks to be you then”
>Pearl was completely frozen, her mouth was open so widely that a plane could’ve landed in it… she could make a very cool haunted house prop.
>You let out a sigh and nuzzled your cheek against Cherrywood’s mane.
“Are you sure this was a good idea? Because so far, this looks exactly like the kind of stupid things I would do.”
>Cherrywood cuddled a bit more before gently chuckling “Nope, the kind of dummy things YOU would do is to bring Thorax to a camp filled with a bunch of dumb foals. ME on the other hoof, did what YOU were supposed to do and be honest with the fake princess so she wouldn’t annoy us all weekend! Besides, I wanted to get back at her for annoying me all day, KeKeKe~!”
“More like you just got me on more trouble…”
>You slapped your face and groaned pretty hard
“Pearl, please tell me that we won’t have to call an asylum. I don’t think I have the bits to pay for that… err, wait, I think that I should ask, are you okay?”

>Pearl quickly slapped herself pretty hard and shook her head pretty vigorously. When she returned back to reality, she looked at you, with this super crazed expression “ARE YOU KIDDING?! The king of the changelings is sitting right in front of me! HAH, HAH! I knew there was something fun going on with you!”
>Thorax changed back to his crystal hoof form, tapped his chin as he looked at Pearl with the same curiosity that a zoologist would have at discovering some alien form “You know, at first it didn’t look like it, but now, I can totally believe that you’re Anon’s relative… both of you are super weird”
“If I have to be honest, and I do. I’m more surprised that Pearl here didn’t freak out, well, not in the way I thought. That said, Pearl, you realize you can’t anyone about this, right? ”
>Pearl rolled her eyes so hard that they almost popped out of her head “Duh! Liking fun is different than being stupid, you know?” She turned to Thorax and gave him a super big smile “And don’t worry, Thorax! I’m totally fine with you. I mean, everypony knows that the changelings are totally good now!
>Thorax was more confused than ever, the only thing he could do was to try and shrug it off “Thanks, I guess? Uh… I suppose everything is fine now?”
“Did you forget about the creepy shadows? Because those are still out there, y’know? Cherrywood, you’re our expert in supernatural and monster stuff, do you have any idea what we’re dealing with?”
>Cherrywood stopped her cuddles and laid her back against the couch before crossing her hooves “Nope! I’ve never read, heard or seen anything like that. Which is why they are so amazing! Just imagine, Annony?! Me discovering a creature that nopony has ever seen! That has always been my dream!”
>Pearl shook her head, leaned forward and gave Cherrywood a teasing smile “Sorry to crash your party, Bellemare, but you mean us, because if you think that I’m going to miss some monster hunting, you’re super wrong!”