Equestria Girls, Slice of Life, Sunset Shimmer, Sci-Twi, Timber Spruce
To call this an eventful day would be an understatement.
Their trip to Camp Everfree was supposed to be relaxing, and yet, it was the complete opposite. Camp had somehow given six of the Rainbooms new magical abilities that were slightly more practical than rainbow lasers. How did this happen? None of the girls wanted to find out.
After such an interesting day, Sunset Shimmer was looking forward to turning in. She fell on her bed, sought shelter under her blankets, and closed her eyes. She was eager to get a good night’s rest.
She did not get that luxury.
Sunset awoke barely two hours after, to the sound of footsteps and ruffling blankets. She fluttered her eyes open, only to see an empty bed across the tent, where her friend was supposed to be sleeping.
Sunset sat bolt upright. “Twilight?”
She got up and peeked outside her tent, just in time to see the shadows of her friend and a little dog running towards the woods. “Twilight!” Sunset ran inside and got changed in record time, then followed her friend outside. “Where is she going?”
Sunset ran towards the woods. Honestly, what is that girl up to? She soon found Twilight and managed to stop her. “Twilight? What are you doing out here?”
Twilight Sparkle stopped. She had been caught, there was no escape now. She slowly turned around and met Sunset’s disapproving eyes. “We’re... we’re meeting a cab to take us home.” That sounded more pathetic than she intended.
Spike quickly sensed Twilight’s reluctance to answer and completed her owner’s statement. “She thought you’d talk her out of it.”
“Because I would.” Sunset looked at the dog, then locked eyes with her friend. “Twilight, you can’t leave.” She put a reassuring hand on her friend’s arm.
Instantly, images and memories flooded through Sunset’s mind. She was in a completely different reality.
The dock was broken into splinters. All the girls’ hard work was ruined in an instant. And no one knew why. Twilight looked at the scene, distraught with guilt. This was all her fault.
“You don’t think it was the spirit, do you?!” Pinkie Pie asked to no one in particular.
Twilight turned away, ashamed. “No, it was me.”
Later that day, the campers were making floating paper lanterns. Twilight sat with Spike on a bench, away from the rest of their friends. When Spike inquired, she told him the truth.
“I think it’s Midnight Sparkle.” She winced at the name. “She’s still part of me. I can feel it. And I think her magic is infecting me friends.” Twilight’s eyes were fearful and anxious. Magic is dangerous for her, that much is certain. She can’t stay here. She’ll only makes things worse for her friends.
She had to leave. Now.
The vision faded and Sunset instinctively put a hand on her forehead. She quickly regained her bearings and said, “Twilight, there’s no Midnight Sparkle. There’s only you.” She gave her friend a comforting smile.
It had the opposite effect. Instead of feeling comforted, Twilight recoiled in shock. “How did you know what I was thinking?”
How did I know what you were thinking? Sunset honestly had no idea. “When I touched your hand, I could see things. I could understand why you were leaving.” A few gears clicked into place in her mind. “My new magic! This is my new magic! This is incredible!”
Sunset had new magical abilities. Just like the rest of her friends! The power to read others’ mind and feel their feelings. Empathetic telepathy, she’ll call it. Just thinking of all the wonderful things she could do now that all the Rainbooms had this new magic, sent a jolt of excitement down her spine. She was ecstatic!
But Twilight wasn’t ecstatic. If anything, she was even more scared of this discovery. “No, it’s not! I’m infecting you now!”
Where on Earth did she get the idea that this was her fault? Sunset tried to calm her friend one more time. “Twilight, you have to stop looking at this as a bad thing.”
Twilight’s fearful eyes turned into an accusing glare. “Easy for you to say.” She faced away from Sunset. “Magic turned you into something beautiful. The last time I tried to use it, it turned me into a monster.”
Monster. Isn’t that what Sunset used to be? She could remember it vividly, as if it were yesterday. The pain, the malice, the remorse, the guilt, the attempted murder. But that wasn’t she was anymore. Perhaps she could still convince Twilight that dwelling on the past isn’t right.
“I’m just so afraid it’s gonna happen again,” Twilight concluded.
Sunset gave her friend a sad smile. “Yes, last time, it turned me into something amazing, but I’ve let magic turned me into a monster, too.” How come I’ve never told you this before? “So, if anyone understands what you’re going through, it’s me. I can help you, Twilight.” But not just me. “And the rest of our friends can be there for you, too. But not if you run away.”
Twilight let out a deep sigh, one that signified defeat and giving in. “I’ll stay.” She was still uncertain, though. “But I still don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be near the rest of our friends right now. Not until we know why this happening.”
Good enough for me. “Understood.”
The two friends shared a look of agreement. Silence reigned for a while, but was broken by the sound of rustling leaves nearby.
Sunset’s heart was racing. “What was that?!”
A dark, shadowy figure came out of the woods. It was carrying an axe. An axe, of all things! Both girls let out a bloodcurdling scream and hugged each other. The figure also screamed in response, and then stopped.
“Wait. Twilight?”
The girls let go of each other. Twilight was the first to regain her voice. “Timber?”
Timber Spruce? Sunset crossed her arms.
Twilight let out a relieved sigh and smiled. “I’m so glad it’s just you!” Her smiled faded after a few seconds. “Wait, what are you doing out here?”
Sunset interjected, “With an axe?”
Timber was taken aback by the sudden interrogation, not that he wasn’t prepared. He pulled out a trolley from the behind the trees. “I was chopping down firewood.”
Sunset was still skeptical. “In the middle of the night?”
“We needed more for tomorrow night’s campfire. And if I didn’t take care of it of tonight-” Timber dumped his axe in the trolley, cutting a piece of wood “-it would be one more thing Glorosia would add to her list.” He got into character, and tried his best to imitate his sister. “I’ve got this!”
Twilight gave a light chuckle at the display of humor.
It made Sunset happy. Timber’s making her laugh. Maybe he isn’t that bad after all.
The moment ended, though, and Timber put on a serious face. “What about you two? Why are hanging out in the woods in the middle of the night?”
Shoot! “Oh, I was sleepwalking,” Sunset lied. “Twilight found me and was bringing me back to camp.”
Twilight caught the please-go-along-with-this glance coming from her friend and quickly nodded. “Mm-hmm.”
Timber didn’t catch the lie and instead gestured with his hand. “Come on. I’ll walk you guys back.” He turned around and made ‘spooky’ movements with his hands. “I’ll protect you from... Gaea Everfree! Everfree! Everfree!”
Sunset wasn’t even slightly impressed. “Come on. That’s obviously just a spooky story you made up to tell around the campfire.”
Timber shook his head. “Oh, no. It’s legit. How else would you explain what happened at the docks? And that weird thing where the earth shook?” He held his hand out to Twilight. “Come on. I know a shortcut back to the tents.”
Twilight took his hand and they slowly walked into the woods. Just as they were about to disappear into the dark, something glittery dropped from Timber’s pant pocket. It left a trail of ‘crystaly dusty stuff’, as Bulk Biceps had put it.
Sunset bent down to take a closer look. She took the powder in between her fingers and rubbed it. “Legit, huh? I think we just found our ‘Gaea Everfree’”. I take back everything nice I said about him.
Spike walked up beside her and looked at her with disbelieving eyes. “But why would he work so hard to make us think she was real?”
“You heard what he said about wishing his sister would sell his camp. If nobody wants to come here because it’s home to some angry ancient nature spirit, it sure would help his cause.”
Spike was determined to not let his owner be friends with a liar. “We should tell Twilight.”
Sunset shook her head. Now’s probably not the time. “Not yet. She’s obviously going through a lot right now.” She suddenly remembered Twilight’s memories and inwardly winced at how much guilt and pain her friend was feeling. “We should be a hundred percent sure before we tell her the guy she likes is a jerk who’s trying to run everybody out of camp.”
Spike agreed. “Uh-huh!”
Sunset got up and followed the path Twilight and Timber had taken, Spike walking alongside her. She could say goodbye to a good night’s rest. There was too much on her mind right now.
Seriously, though. Why are my friends so reluctant to use their new magic? And most importantly, how are we going to help Twilight?