> Turtles of Everfree > by Wildcard25 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Ride to Camp > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the lair of the ninja turtles of New York City, Mikey was watching cartoons, Raph was hitting a mannequin, Leo was practicing with his swords, April was on her laptop, Casey was cleaning his hockey mask, while Donnie was in his lab doing who knows what. Suddenly the heroes heard a familiar voice, "Hey, guys." They looked over and saw Karai who had reformed since they removed the brain worm from her head, and accompanying her was her new partner, Shinigami. Leo spoke up, "Karai." "Well, this is a surprise." Raph said, as he ceased punching the mannequin. "Shinigami!" Mikey cheered, as he ran over to the illusionist, "Welcome to my crib, may I take your hat?" he offered. Shini giggled at Mikey's flirtatious advances, "Thanks, but I'm good." she walked right past him. "What brings you down here?" April inquired. "Yeah, I thought you were out searching for..." Leo trailed off, as Karai spoke. "I still have ninjas searching all over for Shredder, but I've been growing bored waiting around doing nothing." Shini spoke up, "So I suggested we get out and have some fun." "If it's fun you want, you've come to the right turtle." Mikey boasted, only to be hit in the back of the head by Raph. Karai looked around, "Is father in? "Master Splinter's getting in his morning meditation." Leo explained. "You know how he is about it." Mikey added. "And Donatello?" she wondered. "In his lab." April answered, until the doors to the lab opened, and Donnie stepped out looking excited. "Guys, you won't believe what I just did!" he suddenly saw their guests, "Oh, hi, Karai. Shini." "Donatello." Shini greeted him. "What'd ya do this time, D?" Casey asked. "Make Pizza that can go for days without growing old and moldy without being refrigerated?" Mikey asked hopefully. "Come and see." Donnie answered, as the group followed him into the lab. Inside the lab, Donnie walked up to the table and held up an old portable portal device, "I've been experimenting on this old portable Kraang Portal April brought here during the whole Worm thing." "Ugh, don't remind me," Casey shuddered, "It was so funky inside that worm's stomach." Donnie continued, "I've been experimenting on it, and I think I have found a way to use it to our advantage." "Advantage?" Leo inquired. "Yeah. Imagine us cornered by enemies with no way of fighting back and out of smoke bombs. But with this. I can open a portal to anywhere on earth, even for a way back to the lair." "You mean you can make that portal take us to anywhere?" Mikey asked with hope, "Even to Italy; the birth place of Pizza?" "Or Canada; the best hockey playing country in the world?" Casey asked with equal enthusiasm as Mikey. "All that and more." Donnie answered. "Sounds good and all, but does it actually work?" Raph asked with skepticism. "I'm about to field test it now." Donnie said, as he was prepared to activate it. "Ooh, let me try!" Mikey grabbed it. "Mikey!" the group cried, as Mikey clicked the portal device. It opened up projecting a portal to parts unknown, "Any idea where this portal will lead us?" April asked. "Only one way to find out!" Casey jumped in. "Casey!" the group called, until Mikey ran in. "Booyakasha!" Raph sighed, "Typical of those two." "What happened?" Came a voice, as Master Splinter entered the lab. "Father" Karai greeted. "Mikey and Casey jumped into obvious danger." Raph explained. "We better go after them." April suggested. "Agreed. We'll be back, sensei. Come on team." Leo ordered, as he, Raph, April, Donnie, Karai, and Shini went through the portal that suddenly closed. Splinter watched hoping his sons and daughter would stay safe, as would the rest of his extended family. The portal opened up in mid air, and the heroes fell out of it and landed on top of something metal, "Ugh, wipe out." Casey groaned. They lifted their heads up and looked around, "Where are we?" Leo asked, as they saw they were on top of a moving school bus. "D, where did that portal send us?" April asked in worry. "I have no idea." Donnie answered feeling just as confused. "And how do we get back?" Karai inquired. "We can't the portal device was left behind when we jumped in." the smart one answered sheepishly. Raph groaned, before turning to Mikey and Casey, "This is your fault, you two!" "Why's it always our fault?" Mikey argued. "If you hadn't jumped into the portal none of us would be in this mess." Raph explained. "You probably would've jumped in before us anyway." Casey argued, until Leo and April came between them. "Break it up, you guys." Leo stopped them. Mikey suddenly shushed them, "Guys, quiet. I hear something." "What, the sound of your own voice?" Raph asked rudely. "No! Something familiar. Coming from inside this bus." he was prepared to peek down to look through the windows, until Donnie pulled him back up. "I have a better idea," Donnie said, as a spyroach crawled up from his shell and onto the bus. It crawled downward and used it's mini spycam to see what was going on inside the bus. The footage was being shown off Donnie's T-phone. They saw many high school students on board, and among them was their old friends and allies the Rainbooms, "It's the Rainbooms." Donnie gasped. "Wow, what a coincidence." Mikey said. "The Rainbooms?" Karai asked, as she started remembering what she did to them while still under the mind control of the brain worm. Leo comforted her letting her know she's not that kind of person anymore. "So where are they all off to?" Raph asked. "Let's listen and see." April suggested, as they continued to watch the footage, as Principal Celestia spoke to the students on board the bus. "Attention, students, we're almost there. But before we arrive, we just wanted to say how proud we are of you for raising enough money to go on this class field trip." Celestia's younger sister Vice Principal Luna continued, "When we were your age, we made some of our favorite memories in these woods, and we're sure you will, too." "Now who's excited for Camp Everfree?!" Principal Celestia asked with excitement, and the students cheered with joy. Atop the bus, the group had heard everything, "Camp Everfree?" Shini asked. Leo gasped, "Of course. Remember what the girls said the night of the initiation? They were working with their school to save up enough money for a camping trip." "And this is that." Donnie added. "Dudes, we dropped in just in time." Casey said with excitement. "I suppose we can talk to them as soon as we reach our destination." April said. "Quiet, guys. Listen." Mikey said, as he listened in as the students and their adult chaperones began singing. Will you be lost by time or be part of history? Will your story be told or remain a mystery? Will they sing your song, telling all that you have done? Time to make your choice, only you can be the one Oh, oh, oh-oh-whoa As you join in the Legend of Everfree! (Hey!) Oh, oh, oh-oh-whoa As you join in the Legend of Everfree! (Hey! Hey! Hey!) Raph suddenly heard Mikey was singing along with them, "Seriously? You're singing along?" "Hey, it's a catchy tune. You should try it too." Mikey suggested, as he continued to sing along to himself. The turtles and their human allies looked at each other before shrugging and joined with Mikey in singing along. Will you do something great with the time that you have here? Will you make your mark? Will you conquer what you fear? And when you go back home, everybody there will see You were part of the Legend of Everfree! Oh, oh, oh-oh-whoa As you join in the Legend of Everfree! (Hey!) Oh, oh, oh-oh-whoa As you join in the Legend of Everfree! (Hey!) Will you find your greatest glory? Will you be a falling star? Here to learn what nature teaches Here to learn more who you are Will you be lost by time or be part of history? Will your story be told or remain a mystery? And when you go back home, everybody there will see You were part of the Legend of Everfree! Oh, oh, oh-oh-whoa As you join in the Legend of Everfree! (Hey!) Oh, oh, oh-oh-whoa As you join in the Legend of Everfree! Hey! The group looked up seeing them arrive at said camp, knowing as soon as the bus would stop the turtles would have to make themselves scarce. When the bus parked in the parking lot of the campgrounds, the turtles quickly made a break for it and hid in some nearby bushes. When the group saw the Rainbooms were the last ones off the bus, April and Casey decided to make themselves known. They jumped down from the bus landing before the girls who just got their luggage out and were startled. "Hey, girls, how's it going?" April greeted them. "April? Casey?" Sunset Shimmer asked in disbelief. "Been a while, huh?" Casey asked. "Guys!" Pinkie cheered, as she embraced the two tightly. "Pinkie!" April strained. "Too tight!" Casey groaned. Pinkie finally released them, as Applejack spoke, "Well, by golly, why didn't ya tell us you was coming to camp too?" "It really wasn't planned out, Applejack." April answered sheepishly. Rarity looked up at the bus and then to the two, "Have you been riding on top of the bus this whole time?" "Yeah, wasn't all easy to hold onto." Casey admitted. "I thought we heard something hit the top while back." Fluttershy remembered. "Is it just you guys?" Rainbow wondered. "Nope, the turtles are here too." April replied. "They are?" Twilight asked, until they saw Mikey pop his head out of a bush and wave to them, only for his brothers to pull him back down. "And it's not just us this time." Casey added. "Who else would there be?" Spike wondered, until Karai and Shini dropped in. "Hey, girls." Karai greeted casually. The Rainbooms, minus Twilight and Spike were shocked, until a frown grew on Rainbow's face, "Karai!" she was prepared to attack, only for April to block her. "Easy, Rainbow Dash. Karai's not our enemy anymore." "She's not?" Sunset asked. "No. That brain worm that's been in my head has been removed. I'm back to normal now," Karai explained, "And since this is our first meet since you defeated us I want to say I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I did see everything that I was doing, but I couldn't control my actions. I know this is asking a lot from you, but please forgive me." she said with her head down in guilt. Some of the girls like Rainbow and Applejack looked skeptical of Karai, until Fluttershy laid a comforting hand on the girls shoulder, "I forgive you, Karai." "You do?" Karai asked in surprise, as Fluttershy nodded. Sunset approached, "You weren't in your right mind, so that wasn't the real Karai we met those months ago. Maybe we can use this time to get to know the real you." she looked at the others who started agreeing with her. "Thank you all," Karai smiled with joy, before noticing Twilight and Spike, "And you two. You're not the Twilight and Spike I met months ago." "Nope. Never seen you before." Spike answered. "Wait a minute, if you're not the same Spike how come you can talk?" Karai asked in confusion. "It's a long story." Twilight explained. Rarity noticed Shini, "Oh, and who might you be, darling?" "The name is Shinigami, nice to meet you." she greeted the Rainbooms with a removal of her hat. "Well, Shinigami, I must say your attire is certainly very striking." Rarity admitted. "Why thank you." Shini replied, before scratching Spike's ear, much to the dog's enjoyment. "So how did you get here?" Fluttershy asked the four. "Donnie was experimenting with a Kraang portal device and it brought us all here." April answered. "Unfortunately we don't have the device to get us back home." Casey added. "That doesn't sound good." Fluttershy replied. "Hey, I know what to do!" Pinkie cheered. "You do?" Karai asked curiously. "Why don't you guys attend camp with us?" she offered. "Huh?" April raised a brow. "Well, since you don't know how to get back to New York, why don't you wait it out here with us. Then we can return home together." the party girl explained. "Sounds like a plan to Casey Jones." Casey admitted. "I've always wanted to attend a camp." April agreed. "What do you think, Karai?" Shini asked her friend. "Well, we were looking for some fun, " she smiled, "All right. We'll join you girls." "Oh, yeah!" Rainbow cheered. Rarity eyed the four up, "Well, you four won't be able to fool anyone into thinking your campers looking like that." "What do you mean?" Casey asked. "She means we're not dressed like actual campers." April explained. "Precisely," Rarity confirmed, "Never fear because I came prepared," she opened one of her suitcases and pulled out some clothes, "Come with me, girls. I'll help you." she dragged, April, Karai, and Shini off to a nearby outhouse and handed them some clothes to change into. When they returned, April, Karai, and Shini were now dressed like they were fellow campers of the Rainbooms. April was wearing sneakers, blue jean shorts, and a short sleeved yellow top. Karai was wearing sneakers, black shorts, and a silver top. Shini was wearing sneakers, purple shorts, a black top, while keeping her witch hat on her head. One thing in common their outfits shared was their tops like every other campers bore the Camp Everfree logo. Rarity looked them over and spoke, "Oh, yes. This is much better." "Looking good, Red." Casey said, until Rarity handed him a new set of clothes. "And here, Casey. For you." "Thanks, Rares." Casey said, as he went to find a spot to change. In the bushes, Donnie spoke to himself, "April looks so amazing in those camping clothes." "I know what ya mean, bro." Mikey said, while gazing at Shini. Casey suddenly returned wearing his sneakers, gray shorts, and a top that was black with white short sleeves and also bore the Camp Everfree logo. On his head was his bandanna tied on, and on his back was his bat and goalie stick, "Casey Jones is ready for camp!" he pumped a fist. "At least you all look the part now." Applejack noted. "Here comes Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna." Sunset Shimmer noticed. "Play it cool." Rainbow told the four as they acted casually. Principal Celestia spoke, "Do you girls have all your luggage?" "Yes, ma'am. Everything." Twilight answered. Principal Celestia suddenly noticed the four newcomers, "Oh, and who have we here?" "These are some old friends of ours, Principal Celestia." Applejack explained. "I'm April O'Neil, ma'am." "Name's Casey Jones." "I'm Karai... Hamato." "And my name's Shinigami." "Forgive us, but we didn't see you four on the bus ride here." V.P Luna noted. "They followed along from behind." Sunset explained to cover their tracks. "We told them of the camping trip and asked if they could come along." Rarity explained. "I hope that's not a problem, is it?" Fluttershy asked. Principal Celestia answered, "No problem at all. The more attending camp makes it all the more better." Suddenly a girls voice came over P.A speaker, "Hey, everyone! If you could start heading to the courtyard, that would be rad! It's time to start the best week of camp ever!" V.P Luna turned to the Rainbooms and their guests, "We all better head over there so they can begin." "We'll be right behind you." Sunset said, as the adults went on ahead. The Rainbooms went to the bushes to see the turtles, "Hey, guys." Twilight greeted them. "Good to see you all again." Leo greeted. "Sorry, we can't talk right now. So let's meet up later when no one's looking." Sunset suggested. "In the meantime stay hidden." Applejack suggested. "Way ahead of you." Raph replied, as the group left for the courtyard. "Isn't this awesome, bros. We're actually attending camp." Mikey cheered, until Raph clamped his mouth shut. "We're not attending camp, Mikey. We're staying hidden." "Oh, man," Mikey sighed, "How bad could we be if we joined in? I mean they already know about magic, so how will seeing us be so different?" "Master Splinter told us we mustn't let the humans see us." Leo reminded the youngest brother. "Fine." Mikey groaned. "Let's see if we can get to to courtyard and get a good idea about this place." Donnie suggested, and the brothers left the bushes and headed for the courtyard while making sure to stay hidden. > Welcome to Camp Everfree > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the Rainbooms, April, Casey, Karai, and Shini were heading for the courtyard, many of the other campers took notice of the four newcomers. Boys like Snips, Snails, Micro Chip, and Bulk Biceps were enamored by the beauty of Karai, April, and Shini, which the girls took notice of. April rolled her eyes having been used to it, while Karai and Shini winked flirtatiously at them, causing Snips and Snails to faint. Casey noticed some of the other girls were looking at him, and he shot them a flirtatious grin. Some girls giggled at his attempts to woo them, while Trixie looked repulsed by his lack of teeth. They arrived at the courtyard, where all the campers had gathered. As they listened for instructions, Spike was chasing squirrels like any dog would. Taking a stand on a gazebo made from wood were two teens about the campers ages. One was a girl with light green eyes, two toned moderate raspberry hair with a crown of daisies on her head, and freckles across her cheeks. The second was a boy with grayish green eyes, and his hair was two shades of dark aquamarine. The girl spoke up into a mic with a peppy voice, "Hi, everyone! Welcome to Camp Everfree! I'm Gloriosa Daisy, your camp director! Think of me as your friendly camp and nature guide. And this is my brother, Timber Spruce!" Timer took the mic, and spoke, "Think of me as that awesome guy... who should always be invited to fun things." he said while showing off. As April laughed at Timber's flirtatious words, Casey rolled his eyes. In the bushes, the turtles who had been watching the siblings introduce themselves. After hearing Timber's intro, Raph spoke, "Oh, brother." Gloriosa continued, "We aim to please. Now before we hand out tent assignments, my brother and I would like you all to join us in welcoming a special guest who volunteered to help out at camp. Let's give a big Camp Everfree welcome to Scout Master Bishop!" Everyone looked and saw stepping forward was who else but Bishop the undercover Utrom who was instead of wearing his business suit and tie, was dressed in a Scout Master's uniform colored black, with multiple camp badges on his shirt. There was a multiple split screen for each of the the turtles, Rainbooms, April, and Casey who gasped collectively, "Bishop?!" Karai recognizing the facial appearance of Bishop gasped, "A Kraang?" she looked ready to attack, only for April to block her. "Easy, Karai. Bishop's not a Kraang." she explained. "He's an Utrom." Twilight explained. "A what?" Karai asked in confusion. "It's kind of a long story." Fluttershy replied, as they listened to Bishop speak. "It is a pleasure to meet you all. I hope to have the best time here at Camp Everfree with each and every one of you," he eyed the Rainbooms, April, and Casey in the crowd, which none of the other campers noticed. He turned to the girl, "Gloriosa, continue." "Thank you, Scout Master," Gloriosa continued, "We'd like to hear from all of you. You're free to do whatever you like here." Timber suddenly spoke up, "Uh, except hike near the rock quarry. That's off-limits." many were curious about why it was off limits, as Gloriosa continued. "Y-Yes, but otherwise, your options are wide open. So what activities will make this the very best week of your lives ever?" Rainbow raised her hand, "Ooh! Rock climbing!" "Done." Rainbow spoke up again, "Archery!" "Of course!" "Tetherball!" "Naturally!" Before Rainbow could list off anymore, April stopped her, "Rainbow, I know you're excited, but maybe give somebody else a chance to make a suggestion." Casey spoke up, "Floor Hockey!" "Sure thing!" Gloriosa confirmed. Bulk Biceps spoke up, "Arts and Crafts!" he noticed some were giving him a questionable look, "My mom needs new pot holders." "I'll supply the looms!" "Cookie decorating!" Pinkie Pie licked her lips. "Ooh, I do make a mean sugar cookie." "Early morning nature walks?" Fluttershy suggested. "With walking sticks for everyone!" In the bushes, Mikey was groaning, "Oh, man. If I could make a suggestion I'd suggest design your own pizza." "Well, you can't, because we're supposed to be hiding!" Raph replied, in annoyance. Rarity spoke up to Gloriosa, "Ooh! Me! Oh, uh... a fashion show! Where I design the most fabulous camp looks inspired by today's hottest trends and have them modeled by my classmates in a gorgeous outdoor setting!" "A camp tradition!" Gloriosa cheered, until Timber whispered to her. "We have literally never done that." Gloriosa ignored her brother and continued. "I'll be taking requests the rest of the time you're here, so if there's anything you'd like to do, anything you need, just ask." Principal Celestia spoke up, "What about the camp gift? That was my favorite Camp Everfree tradition." "The camp gift! Of course!" Goriosa cheered, until her brother whispered to her. "Really?" "Yes, really." "Well, I just thought..." "Then you thought wrong!" Gloriosa whispered sounding agitated, Sunset Shimmer spoke to her friends, "Anyone else picking up on a little tension between Gloriosa and her brother?" "A little." Pinkie answered. "Don't need psychic powers to see that." April added. Gloriosa began explaining the camp gift, "Every year, campers work together to create something useful. A gift for future campers. Working toward this common goal is key to forming the strong bonds that will last well beyond your time here at camp!" she spoke in a hushed tone to Timber, "Which is why it's so important," she spoke louder, "This gazebo was a gift from last year's group. Oh, oh, oh, and the totem pole and the sundial were also made by campers!" Celestia spoke to the campers on behalf of herself and her sister, "The sundial was our year's gift!" Vice Principal Luna faked a cough, "Even though "some people" thought it was a little impractical, since the sundial can't be used at night." Bishop chuckled a bit, which Luna looked over and smiled at him. Bishop quickly looked away trying to act professional. Gloriosa continued, "You all seem like a-a really amazing group. So I'm certain you'll come up with something inspiring to leave behind." the campers cheered, as Timber spoke up. "Speaking of leaving things behind, now's the time when we give out tent assignments so you can leave your heavy bags behind." Gloriosa explained, "Uh, girls will be getting their assignments from Timber. Guys, you're with me." So the boys went to Gloriosa to get their tent assignments. Casey reached into a satchel and pulled out a card with an image of a gemstone on it, "What's this supposed to be?" "That is a garnet." Gloriosa explained. "I got it too," Flash Sentry showed him his card with the same gemstone, "Looks like you and I will be bunk mates. I'm Flash Sentry." he extended his hand. "Casey Jones." Casey shook hands with his tent partner. Karai reached into the bag held by Timber and saw what her gem was, "Jasper." "Same here." Shini showed the same card, and the two smiled. April picked her card and looked at it, "What gemstone is this one?" she asked Timber. "That is a Lapis Lazuli. Or Lapis for short." he answered. "Ah-ha! It is what I have received too!" Trixie Lulamoon declared. "Nice to meet you. I'm April." "A pleasure. For behold I am the Great and Powerful Trixie!" the girl announced. April looked at Trixie awkwardly, and spoke, "Are you always this dramatic?" "Dramatics is what being a magician is all about." Trixie explained. "If you say so." As the other campers were getting their tent assignments, Sunset Shimmer looked at hers, "Sapphire." Twilight checked hers, "Me, too! I mean, I'm assuming I am. Technically, sapphires aren't just blue. They can be pink, purple, yellow..." Timber decided to get in on Twilight analyzing, "Yeah, but they're mostly blue. That's why they're named after the Latin word sapphirus," there was an awkward pause between them, "That means "blue"." he whispered. Twilight whispered back, "I know. But did you know that sapphires are just rubies without chromium?" "No. But did you know that Sapphire Tent is the best one?" "No. Why's that?" "Because you're in it." Timber flirted. "Oh, I bet you say that to all the campers." Twilight brushed him off. "Not true," Timber turned to Bulk, "You're in the Ruby Tent? Ha! That's the worst one!" "Aw, man!" Bulk sighed, until Timber comforted him. "I'm just jokin', buddy. Ruby Tent is great. It's like a sapphire but with chromium," Bulk stared at Timber not knowing what he meant, much to Twilight's amusement, "But the Ruby and Coral Tents do look an awful lot alike to the undiscerning eye. I better show you where it is. See ya around." he told Twilight as the boys left. Twilight looked behind her seeing her friends giggling to themselves, "What?" "Nothin'." Applejack smiled. "Ooh! That was adorable!" Rarity cooed. Back in the bushes, Raph looked ready to gag before speaking to Donnie, "Ugh, and I thought you were a nerd." Donnie frowned at him. Leo rolled his eyes, "Where'd he learn to flirt like that? Beginner's guide to flirting 101?" Mikey laughed, "I know. So lame." Gloriosa blew into a whistle, "Okay, everyone, go get settled in. We'll be meeting at the docks in fifteen minutes to go over some camp safety rules. Let me know if you need anything!" "I need something!" came a new voice. Everyone looked over seeing an adult man in a business suit exiting a limo. Gloriosa spoke to the newcomer, "Filthy Rich! So nice to see you," she whispered rudely to him, "What are you doing here?! Camp is just getting started!" Filthy Rich answered smugly, "Just takin' in the scenery, Gloriosa Daisy. It's so... hmm... relaxin'." "Well, you can look around when camp is over. Now, if you don't mind..." she tried to give him the hint. "Fine." Flithy Rich left in his limo that pulled away. Gloriosa noticed everyone's concern, "Filthy Rich is, uh, an alumni of the camp. He likes to check on his old stomping grounds every now and again. But enough about him. Find your tents and put away your things. We've got the best week of camp ever to begin!" The girls were excited, until Fluttershy noticed a look of concern on Karai's face, "Everything ok, Karai?" "That man Filthy Rich. I know him." "You do?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "He and Shredder did business together back in the day. Real Estate business." "What kind of real estate business?" April asked. "Shredder would buy lands off him to build Foot Ninja training camps long before we had Foot Bots." "If he's made deals with Shredder, we can be sure he's bad news." Rainbow said suspiciously. "Agreed." Karai nodded, until they all went to check into their tents. April heard her T-phone beep and saw a text from Donnie, "Donnie says let's meet by the forest once we've settled in." "Then let's go unpack." Applejack suggested, as they went to their assigned tents. Later on, out by the forest area, the turtles were waiting with Mikey moaning out of boredom, "How much longer?" "Will ya quit complaining already?" Donnie asked annoyed. "Yeah, Mikey, we're right here." Applejack said, as the group approached. "Good to see you all again." Leo greeted. "Same here." Twilight replied, while trying not to look at him awkwardly, much to Leo's confusion. "We have so much catching up to do." Mikey said. "I'll bet." Rainbow agreed. "So why don't you boys tell us what's been going on since we last saw each other?" Rarity suggested. "Take a seat, girls. There's a lot to say." Leo answered, as the Rainbooms sat down. After a brief discussion on some of the events that happened in New York, the girls were surprised, "Holy moly!" Pinkie gasped. "So Shredder used mutagen on himself and is now some Super Shredder?" Applejack asked in disbelief. "Yeah. He's totally freaky and ugly. Take a look." he showed the girls a snapshot of Super Shredder on his T-phone. One look at Rarity let out a frightened gasped, "Oh, my stars!" "Whoa." Sunset Shimmer gasped. "Oh, dear." Fluttershy covered her mouth in fright. "The mutagen made him stronger, and also more insane than he already was." Raph noted. "He almost took father down." Karai added. "And worse he's still out there." Donnie put in. "But next time he shows himself, we'll finish him off." Leo promised. The Rainbooms smiled knowing they would, until Rarity spoke to April, "And April, your Aeon crystal which was supposed to be helping you was actually corrupting you?" "Afraid so. That Aeon elder that's been living inside my fragment was slowly manipulating my mind making me dependent on it. She even took control of my body and made me use my powers to disintegrate Donnie on a molecular level." "How did it feel?" Twilight asked Donnie. "It happened so fast, it's hard to describe it. But luckily April regained control and restored me." "You know for all powerful and wise cosmic entities, those Aeon's sure make a lot of mistakes." Rainbow noted. "It was our mistake to have entrusted the first piece of the black hole generator to them. That is on our shoulders," Bishop explained, as he approached, "It is good to see you all again." "Same to you, Bishop." Sunset Shimmer greeted. "But what're you doing here?" Casey asked. "And what's with the Scout look." Raph asked. "Didn't know you were the outdoorsy type." Mikey said. "Are you even qualified to be a Scout Master?" Rainbow wondered. "I have been on earth for thousands of years, if there's one thing I've learned all those years it's survival instincts on planets not as advanced as us." Bishop explained. "Ok, so what brings you to camp?" Twilight asked. "I'm on official Utrom business by order of Queen and the rest of the council." "Is something going on here? Like Kraang related?" Leo asked. "I'm not quite sure. But we have been picking up some strange signatures coming from around here." Bishop explained, while Twilight looked a little nervous. "Anything we can do to help?" April asked. "If you see any strange occurrences please inform me," Bishop told the girls before turning to the Turtles, "And the same to you four." "Ok, now that that's out of the way. Would somebody please tell me what this is all about?" Karai asked annoyed. Leo explained, "Bishop's an Utrom, in fact all the Kraang were actually Utrom. Kraang Prime was a scientist who used mutagen to become what he is and brainwashed millions of Utrom into serving him." "Leonardo is correct, so believe me when I say I am not your enemy." Bishop explained. "Well, if Leo says you're legit then it's good enough for me." Karai answered, with a nod of agreement from Shini. "You don't think those strange signatures are a Kraang thing do you?" Donnie suggested. "Highly unlikely. If the Kraang were involved in anything around here we would be aware of them." "Well, we have noticed Gloriosa and Timber bickering like they were hiding something." April said. "They're siblings, it's what they do," Mikey answered, "We do it all the time." he held Raph close. "Maybe, but the appearance of Filthy Rich can't just be because he wanted to see his old favorite camp." Karai noted. "Karai says, Filthy Rich was a business partner of Shredder's." April told the turtles. "Anyone who does business with Shredder is no good guy." Raph stated his dislike for the man already. "We'll have to continue this conversation later. Right now we all must go to the docks." Bishop instructed. "He's right. We'll catch up later, guys." Sunset said, as the campers hurried back to the camp grounds. "What do you think really is happening at this camp?" Mikey asked his brothers. "No idea, Mikey." Donnie replied. "Whatever it is, we best be on guard. No telling what may be lurking in these woods." Leo said, as the brothers decided to follow their friends back to camp while sticking to the shadows of the trees and bushes. > Legend of Gaea Everfree > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Down by the docks of Camp Everfree, the campers and the counselors were gathering around with Rarity gazing out at the lake in amaze, "Oh, it's beautiful, isn't it? It looks like a diamond shining in the sun!" "It sure is different from what we're used to seeing in the city." April admitted. "Yeah. I guess it can be good to get away from the hustle of New York from time to time." Karai admitted, feeling peaceful in who knows how long. Fluttershy smiled and spoke, "It is lovely out here. The fresh air, the cool breeze, the birds that land on your finger." she said, as a bird landed on her finger. "I think that only happens to you." Rainbow noted, as Casey chuckled. Gloriosa was currently going over safety rules about the lake with the campers, "Lake activities are available every day until sunset, so if you want to canoe, sail, windsurf, or swim, just let me know." Bishop spoke up, "And if there is any trouble, do not be alarmed. I am trained in both first aid and CPR." "Would that include the Heimlich maneuver?" Casey asked, "Just wondering." "Of course." Bishop confirmed, while noticing V.P Luna looking at him with the thought of getting CPR from him. Down by the docks, Fluttershy was feeding bread pieces to the ducks swimming by, "Aren't they just the cutest?" As Twilight was walking on the dock, one of the boards cracked making her fall back. Leo who was watching from behind a cabin with his bros gasped, "Twilight!" he wanted to go to help her, only to see Timber catch her. "Whoa! I know I'm charming, but you don't have to fall for me." Timber flirted, while Twilight giggled. Leo rolled his eyes, "Ugh, again with the lame quips." "I know, that one's so old it's dead." Mikey agreed. "What were you thinking, Leo?" Raph asked, "Were you really gonna just run out there and help her with all those kids around?" "I acted on impulse, Raph." Leo explained. "Well, keep it together." Raph warned him. "I know." "Leo, we've noticed how you've been watching Twilight ever since we got here." Donnie noted. "What? She's my friend, and I worry about her. She's not exactly like her princess counterpart." "Are you sure you're not just jelling because Timber's getting close to her?" Mikey teased. "You don't know what you're saying." Leo turned away. "What would Karai say about this?" the youngest continued to taunt him. "Knock it off, Mikey." Leo warned him, until they overheard the counselors discussing the loose board on the dock. "This is a safety hazard," V.P Luna began, "I suggest we close down the dock for the remainder of the camp." the students groaned. "But lake activity is one of the best parts of camp." Casey complained. Gloriosa calmed them, "Oh, I'm sure it won't have to be for the remainder of camp. Just needs to be patched up a bit. I've got this!" Suddenly an idea came to Applejack, "Huh. Or maybe we do! If you ask me, this whole dock needs to go," she lightly kicked one of the stumps that fell over, "Building a new one could be our camp gift. Sure, it would benefit us, but a nice new dock would benefit future campers, too." "Great idea, Applejack." April agreed. "Sounds like a plan to me." Shini agreed. Timber voiced his opinion, "I don't know. It's an awful lot of work. I wouldn't want you guys to miss out on doing other fun camp stuff because you're so busy building a dock for future campers." Timber shot Gloriosa a look making his sister annoyed, which didn't go unnoticed by Sunset. Rainbow spoke to Timber, "I hear what you're saying, Timber, but we're Canterlot Wondercolts. We've got a reputation to uphold! And there was no way we're gonna leave this place without contributing the most awesome camp gift ever! I'm with A.J. Building a new dock is definitely it! What do you guys think?" The campers cheered, as Gloriosa shot Timber a smug look. "Looks like it's settled then." Timber replied sounding irate, "Looks like it." Sunset who was still observing the two spoke to April, "That's some tension all right." "I'll say." she agreed. "Can't you use your powers to see what's going on?" "I've been trying too, but something's been blocking my ability." April answered. "That's weird." Sunset said. And so the campers got to work on their project by tearing down the old dock and building a new one. As the turtles watched from their hiding place, Donnie spoke up, "I kinda feel bad watching them work like that, while we sit around and do nothing." "Relax, D. They look like they got it covered." Mikey replied, as they watched the campers work without looking tired. April was currently drawing up a blueprint for a new dock, with the others around her voicing their opinions, with Twilight beginning, "We can reinforce the foundation." "Make it nice and sturdy." Applejack added. "And we can add a wood-carved sign that says "Camp Everfree"." Applejack put in. "And little boxes with food so you can feed the ducks and fishies." Fluttershy smiled. "Oh, we'll add lanterns so you can see at night!" Rainbow finished. April after finishing her drawing showed the group, "Well, what do you think?" "Awesome, design, Red." Casey answered. "Perfect." Shini agreed. Rarity gasped, "It's stunning! And will make an absolutely perfect runway for my camp fashion show!" Karai rolled her eyes, as Applejack spoke up, "More importantly, it will be a great place for docking canoes and feeding the wildlife." "Oh, you say "tomato", I say "perfect place to showcase glamorous boho-chic stylings"." Rarity cheered. "You're really looking forward to this aren't you?" Karai crossed her arms. "What do you guys think?" Twilight asked the three adults. "It's going to be a lot of work, but we can do it!" Principal Celestia answered. "Then let us begin." Bishop said. "Yes! Adult supervision!" Pinkie cheered. And so everyone was getting to work in building a new dock. Rainbow Dash was hammering some nails into the planks, as Applejack watched her, "Huh, nice hammer. Where did you get it?" "Uh, duh. The toolbox." Rainbow asked feeling it was a dumb question to ask. "Hah, that's cool. I made mine." Applejack held up a handmade hammer. "Wicked, A.J." Casey admitted. "Thanks, Case." the two smiled at each other. As Timber was building a lantern for the dock, Twilight noticed it, "Making lanterns out of solar-powered garden lights! Pretty crafty there, Timber!" "You think that's crafty? You should see my macaroni art. I'm like the Picasso of noodles." Twilight giggled at his smooth talk. By the turtles, Leo stared at them feeling disturbed, "Pardon me while I go barf in the woods." he walked for the woods. Principal Celestia spoke up to the campers, "All right, now. You've made a lot of progress, but it's going to be getting dark soon. We can pick this up tomorrow between our other camp activities." Gloriosa continued, "Everyone, get cleaned up, and we'll gather by the fire pit at eight to share s'mores and scary stories!" "S'mores!" Pinkie cheered, as she held all the ingredients for s'mores in her arms. Mikey watched feeling envious, "Oh, man. They get to have s'mores?!" That night at the campfire, Rarity was telling everyone a scary story, "And that's when she looked down and realized she was wearing purple socks with a burgundy dress!" she screamed in a panic, but noticed nobody else was scared, "Purple and burgundy, darlings! The same color family!" she screamed again, only to see no one was getting it. "She's definitely not good at this, is she?" Shini asked Karai. "Obviously not." Karai replied. "Uh... that was a terrifying story." Applejack told Rainbow. "Yeah, I'm terrified she'll try to tell it again." Rainbow laughed. In the bushes, Raph was clamping Mikey's mouth shut as he was trying to scream, "Will you stop screaming, that wasn't even scary!" he whispered to him. Mikey got his mouth free, "I know. I just wanted to scream." his brothers sighed. Vice Principal Luna cleared her throat, "Anyone else have a spooky story?" Casey got up, "No prob, V.P. Casey Jones has a story that's gonna scare you right out of your socks." he smirked. "Oh, this ought to be good." April muttered to Sunset and Twilight who chuckled to themselves. "Prepare to be shocked and frightened by the story of a monster simply known as, The Creep." Casey began, much to April and the turtles surprise. "The Creep?" Twilight asked. "How original." Trixie said in sarcasm. Casey ignored Trixie and began, "It all began with six friends traveling up state to one of their friends old family farm for the weekend. Just to get away from the city. The place wasn't so bad. Sure it was old, miles away from the nearest town, and had an ugly scarecrow to boot. But the friends made the most of it. Then that night, as they were sitting out on the porch admiring the star filled sky, they started hearing a noise. At first it sounded faint, which wasn't bad at first. But when it started getting closer, they all scrambled back into the farm house and locked the doors and closed the windows. It was quiet for awhile, until suddenly the power went out. Not wanting to be left in the dark, one of them took a chance and went outside to check the fuse box. Five minutes after leaving, the others heard him scream!" the campers shook, as Casey smirked having them where he wanted them, "They ran outside to where the fuse box was, but saw no sign of their friend. All they found was the flashlight he used to see and next to him a puddle of glowing green goo. Frightened, they searched around the farm house for any leads on their missing friend. Then two of them heard something coming from the barn house. They went to investigate, but when they entered the barn the door closed on them locking them inside. They tried to find another way out, but to no avail. Suddenly they heard the same sound from earlier inside the barn and knew whatever was out there was trapped inside with them." In the bushes, Raph was speaking to his bros, "You know Casey's not doing too bad a job on this." he noticed Mikey was cowering under some leaves, "Honestly, you're such a wimp." Casey continued his story, "The other three heard the screams of their friends, and ran to the barn. After getting it opened, they saw no sign of the three. Only another puddle of glowing green goo. They ran out of the barn and tried to find their friends, only to discover that ugly scarecrow that watched over the field was missing. They went into the corn field thinking it fell over, but started hearing rustles among the corn. At first they dismissed it thinking it was squirrels or such running through it, until two of them screamed. The last one looked around the maze of corn seeing no sign of them, but the same green glowing goo. He ran out of the field frightened as could be feeling whatever took his friends was close by. Suddenly he felt someone grab his shoulders from behind. He dismissed it thinking it was one of his friends pulling a prank on him. He turned around to discover he was wrong. Standing behind him was a seven foot tall well built creature made from mud and swamp dirt with the same green glowing goo found at the scenes pouring out through his mouth, and was wearing the overalls of the scarecrow and a bag with eye holes over his face. He stared at the boy like a zombie, until roaring at him. The boy panicked and ran for it, with the creature following him. Despite the boy running for his life, the Creep as he referred to it as was a very fast runner. He quickly ran into the barn and locked the door before the Creep impaled the door with a pitchfork. The boy was scared out of his mind wondering how he was going to survive this monster's warpath, until he heard groaning coming from inside the barn. He looked behind some boxes and saw his friends who had been transformed into grass and mud creatures like the Creep. He thought his friends had enough humanity in them to recognize who he was, but they began coming right for him. He backed away to the barn door, and suddenly a big arm punched a hole through it and grabbed him..." he looked away before spinning around to reveal he was now wearing his hockey mask with grass pieces on top and the sides of his head, "AND IT WAS THE CREEP!" he bellowed. The campers screamed in a panic, with some falling off their log seats. Mikey screamed as well, but no one could hear him because of their own cries of fright. When everyone calmed down, Casey laughed hysterically, "Oh, man! You should see the look on your faces!" April despite knowing how the story really went did feel shaken up with how Casey told it. Karai whispered to April, "Did that really happen?" "Not entirely the way Casey told it." she whispered back. Vice Principal Luna spoke, "Thank you, Mr. Jones, for that thrilling tale. Any one else?" Timber spoke, "I have one. But I'm warning you, you might as well hug a friend now. That's how scary it is!" Fluttershy held Spike close, as Bulk held both Snips and Snails close to him in worry, "It's time I told you about the legend of Gaea Everfree." Timber began, as the turtles listened in close. "Many years ago, my great-grandparents came to this forest. Seeing its beauty, they decided that it would be the perfect place for a camp. But once they started building, strange things started to happen. One pitch black night, when the wind was howling, a tree branch crashed through the roof of their cabin! They screamed and ran outside, only to see the giant creature rising from the earth! She had wild hair like the roots of a tree. Her mouth had jagged rock teeth and her eyes were pools of black tar. But her aura shimmered like diamonds. Anywhere she went, she left a trail of gem dust in her wake. Trembling, my great-grandparents asked who she was and what she wanted. In a deep and hollow voice, she told them that her name was Gaea Everfree – an ancient spirit who held domain over the forest, and that my great-grandparents were trespassing on her land. They begged her to let them stay and build their camp, to share this wonderful place with others. Gaea Everfree finally agreed but warned them that they would not be able to keep it forever. Someday, she will return and reclaim the forest as her own." Timber spoke to the campers, "So if you see a trail of gem dust, you'll know that it is... Gaea Everfree!" he spoke in a loud and scary voice. Suddenly appearing behind Timber was a pair of green eyes which made the campers scream. Stepping into the light of the campfire was Gloriosa, "Hey, guys! Sorry, didn't mean to scare you!" "Then why did you come out of the bushes like that?" April asked suspiciously. "I... took the scenic route, because the forest is beautiful at night. But no one else should do it without a guide, kay? All right, everybody, time to head to your tents." As the campers were heading back to their tents, Snips spoke to Gloriosa. "Oh, hey, Gloriosa. Do you have extra toothbrushes? I forgot mine." "Sure do! I'll get one for you." Snails was shuddering, "I'm scared of the dark! Do you have flashlights?" "Of course! I got this!" She showed the boys off leaving the Rainbooms, Karai, April, Casey, and Shini to themselves. Spike struggled, as Fluttershy was holding him tight, "Fluttershy?" "Sorry, Spike. I guess that story got to me." "Why? It can't be real." Applejack replied. Rainbow spoke, "I don't know. Gaea Everfree could be some creature that got booted from Equestria and ended up in this world. That's what happened with the sirens." "You think maybe it's actually a Kraang creation?" Casey asked, "I mean Kraang Prime said they used mutagen on the primates thousands of years ago which created mankind, right?" "That could be a possibility." April admitted. Applejack answered, "Eh. Sounded more like something that Timber was makin' up just to scare us. At least I hope it was. Last thing I want is to have camp ruined by some power-crazed magical creature." Rarity added, "Oh, hear-hear. We've had to deal with more than our fair share of those. At the Fall Formal, a musical showcase, New York City, Outer Space, the Friendship Ga..." she saw Twilight was looking uncomfortable and shifted her speech, "Well, I mean, you know, everything turned out all right, of course." she chuckled nervously. "Mmm. I'm kinda tired. I'm gonna turn in." Twilight headed back to the tent. Sunset looked to everyone, "Maybe lay off bringing up what happened at the Friendship Games? I think she's still pretty sensitive about it." Pinkie Pie spoke with a full mouth, "Our lips are sealed." "Still that story was frightening." Mikey said, as the turtles came out from hiding. "So have you guys thought about where you're gonna sleep tonight?" Sunset asked the turtles. "We're doing our own camping in the woods." Leo answered. "Well, don't go too far.' April warned them. "Yeah. Gaea Everfree may be out there." Casey joked, only to get elbowed by A.J. "Here, guys I saved you some s'mores." Pinkie offered each of the turtles, who accepted them. "Thanks, Pinkie. I'm starving." Mikey ate his s'more." "Delicious." Donnie said, as he ate. "Well, we're going back to our tents, you guys be careful." Sunset said, as the group headed back. Out by the woods at the edge of the campgrounds, the turtles were sitting around until Bishop came over carrying spare pillows and blankets, "I know this may not be much, but it's all I could salvage from the storage." he offered the turtles the blankets and pillows. "Thanks, Bishop. We'll see you in the morning." Leo said. "Goodnight, my friends." Bishop took his leave. So the brothers laid on the grass with their heads on their pillows, as Mikey spoke, "You guys really think Gaea Everfree's some creature from Equestria or Kraang mutant gone wrong?" he shivered. "Mikey, you're taking that ghost story too seriously." Raph sighed. "I don't know, Raph," Donnie replied, "Given our past experiences with mutants, monsters, and aliens, anything can be possible." "The kid probably tells that story to every camp group every year." Raph continued to be skeptical. "You really shouldn't deny the possibility. I mean after what we experienced on our spiritual quest some thing's are more real than we think." Leo said, while remembering the deer spirit. "Whatever, bros," Mikey yawned, "I'm gonna catch me some winks." he fell asleep. "Night, guys." Donnie said, as he covered himself up with a blanket. Leo and Raph did the same, as they covered themselves up and fell asleep knowing tomorrow was another day. > The Midnight in Me > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the sun rose over Camp Everfree and the forest, it's warm bright glow washed over the turtles making them rise and shine, "Morning." Leo yawned. "Five more minutes," Mikey rolled over, only to get kicked by Raph, and woke up, "I'm awake!" "Well, that wasn't a bad camp out." Donnie admitted. "Yeah considering Mikey's snoring." Raph motioned to the silly turtle. "Hey! I do not snore!" "You sounded like a fog horn!" Raph shot at him. "Guy's, it's too early for this." Donnie rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Donnie's right," Leo agreed, "Come on, we should get close to camp and see how everyone's doing." After folding their blankets, the turtles put them and their pillows in a tree trunk where no one would find them. They then started their way back to the camp grounds. Meanwhile in the Sapphire Tent, Twilight was tossing and turning in her sleep, while deep in her mind was dreaming she was back at the campfire at night roasting a marshmallow, until a familiar voice spoke to her, "Here I am," Twilight looked around nervously seeing no one in sight, "Over here," Twilight up looking terrified as the flames of the bonfire turned purple and emerging from it was Twilight's dark half from the Friendship Games, Midnight Sparkle, "I'm always here!" she tried to grab Twilight. In the waking world, Twilight cried, "No!" Sunset hearing Twilight's scream, jumped out of bed and got into a ninja stance ready to attack, "What happened?" she asked having not fully woken up yet. Twilight sat up in bed, "Nothing. Sorry, Sunset." Sunset rubbed the sleep out of her eyes allowing her to see Twilight's bed and several other things surrounding her were floating in the air, "Uh, Twilight, I think something happened." Twilight seeing what she was doing yelped, as everything fell back to the ground with a thud. When Spike's bed fell to the floor, Spike woke up sounding cranky, "Is it time to get up already?" he turned around and fell back to sleep. Sunset spoke to Twilight, "Twilight, I said nothing to the turtles or the others about this yesterday, but I think we really have to talk to the others about it." "No, we don't." Twilight denied, as she looked away in worry. Sunset not wanting to push buttons so early let it slide, as they got ready for their second day at camp. Later on, as the campers were out and about engaging in various activities. The turtles kept hidden in the bushes, where only April, Casey, Karai, and Shini could see them, "How was last night, guys?" April asked the turtles. "It was all right." Donnie answered. "Didn't run into any monsters out there, did ya?" Casey teased. "Very funny." Raph scowled. "Did you sleep ok?" Leo asked Karai and Shini. "Uh-huh. Best sleep I had in a long time." Karai admitted. "For being rustic, the beds were quite comfortable." Shini admitted. "I had to wear ear plugs through the night, cause Trixie was sleep ranting about herself." April groaned. "How's your bunk mate, Casey?" Mikey asked. "Flash is an ok dude. Though like Timber he acts like such a ladies man." Casey explained with annoyance. "Better you don't mention Timber around Leo here." Raph joked, making Leo glare at him. "Raph!" "Why's Timber a touchy subject?" Casey asked. "Because Leo's..." Mikey began only for Leo to stomp on his foot, "OW!" "It's nothing." Leo replied. "Are you ok, Leo?" Karai asked. "Never been better." he answered, while trying to preserve what jealousy he had. "Uh-huh," April answered, knowing what was up but decided to say nothing, "Come on, guys. Plenty of camp stuff to do." so the four left the turtles, as Leo turned to Raph and Mikey. "What're you guys trying to do?" "Just thought if we got your jealousy out in the open you'd have nothing to hide from anyone." Mikey answered. "Just put a lid on the whole thing, all of you." Leo warned them. He went on to get closer and scope out the camp some more with his brothers following. Down by the docks where several campers were gathered, Sunset spoke to Twilight, "Hey, I know you don't want to, but I really think we need to figure out what's going on with your magic. If you could learn to control it..." Twilight cut her off, "But that's just it! I'll never be able to control it!" "Don't say that, Twilight. Maybe April can help you. After all she uses telekinesis too." Sunset reminded her. "April is psychic. My problem is magic. They're both two different things." "But they still work the same with proper control." Sunset reasoned with her. "I don't know, Sunset." Twilight sighed, until they heard a crash. Everyone looked over seeing a boat had crashed into the edge of the dock damaging it. The two campers Sandalwood and Derpy were helped out of the water, "What happened?" Rainbow asked, while coming over with Bishop, April, Karai, Shini, and Casey. Twilight looked in shock at what happened, "I didn't mean too!" she was cut off by Sunset not wanting them to think it was Twilight. "We didn't see anything, so we don't know what happened." they went over to the campers, as Bishop spoke to Sandalwood. "Are you two ok?" "Yeah, Scout Master," Sandalwood began, "It was so weird. We were stuck in a middle of the lake with no wind, then all of a sudden, bam! The wind picked up, and we were pushed right into the dock." "That's weird," April said suspiciously, "Wind doesn't just pick up like that." "Especially one strong enough to make a boat cause a crash like this." Karai motioned to the damage. Pinkie Pie gasped, "You don't think it was the spirit, do you?!" Twilight hearing this said sadly to herself, "No. It was me." she walked off. Trixie taking Pinkie's words to heart announced, "Spirit, show yourself! The Great and Powerful Trixie commands it!" Many gave Trixie a dry look, as Shini spoke, "I don't think any spirit's going to show itself that easy." "What's that?" Rarity gasped. Everyone looked down into the water seeing a trail of sparkling glitter coming right form the boat, "Hmm. Interesting." Bishop said, as he looked at the glitter. The students looked at the damage dock feeling bummed, "Oh, man! All our hard work! Ruined!" Rainbow groaned. Fluttershy replied, while looking at the fish, "At least the fishies are eating well." "Let's salvage what we can out of the water. Maybe we can still fix this." Sunset ordered. Rarity answered, "We have to try! Camp Everfree needs a runway!" "Dock." April corrected her. "Dock. Yes. That's what I meant." Rarity replied. Twilight seeing all that was happening left her sad, as she ran for the forest. As the turtles saw her, Leo called out, "Twilight!" but she didn't stop, "I'm going after her." Leo said, as he followed Twilight into the woods. Twilight ran deep into the woods before stopping. She sighed feeling whatever magic inside of her was the cause of the phenomenon at the dock. She walked into a forest clearing, where the sun's light shined down through the trees. She sat on a log before a small pond,with a miniature waterfall. While the area was surrounded by beautiful plants and trees, Twilight was too sad to appreciate it. Unaware to her, Leo had been hiding among the trees and looked down seeing Twilight sad as she began to sing. It used to be so simple It was a world I understood I didn't know what I didn't know And life seemed pretty good Twilight looked at her reflection in the pond. At first at all she could see was herself, until she saw the wings of Midnight Sparkle behind her connected to her back. She looked behind her, just to be sure they weren't there, which they weren't. But now the darkness rises From somewhere deep inside of me Her power overtakes me Can I keep this midnight from getting free? Leo watched Twilight with concern, having never seen her like this at all. Even while they were out in space she didn't look like she was experiencing such problems or looked so sad. Twilight stepped into the suns light trying to be warmed by it. If I can stay with the light I know I'll be free And I can start to be whole I can start to be me But instead I am struggling With all that I see And these friends Mustn't see the midnight in me! The midnight in me! Gazing at her reflection, she saw Midnight Sparkle again. She closed her eyes tightly, but not even that helped her forget the creature she once was. She swiped the waters with her hand, completely erasing the image and she revered back to her old self again. But it changed nothing. The demon was still a part of Twilight. They mustn't see the midnight in me... Leo having had enough of watching his friend be frightened of herself, had to step in. He walked out into the open alerting her, "Twilight." "Leo? How long have you been there?" "Long enough to know you're being haunted by shadows of your past." "You heard me?" she asked. "I did. But I want to know why you're so scared?" "I can't say it, Leo." Twilight turned away from him. "Twilight." "No! The less you know the better!" Twilight cried, not wanting one of her friends to get hurt. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, and saw Leo sitting down on the log at her side, "Twilight, trust me. I'm your friend. And friends help each other." Twilight seeing the warmth of Leo's words sighed, "All right. I've been having these dreams lately about myself as Midnight Sparkle." "The same being you turned into during the Friendship Games?" Leo asked, and Twilight nodded, "But that event was months ago. How come you're experiencing it now?" "I don't know. But I keep dreaming about becoming her again and hurt all those I care about. The girls, you and the other turtles. Everyone. And lately I've been able to levitate things with my mind." "Levitate, like you're psychic?" "No. It's not psychic, it's magic. And I fear it's Midnight Sparkle trying to break free." "That's insane, Twilight." Leo replied in disbelief. "It's not insane. What happened at the dock, that was no doubt because of the magic inside me!" she cried. "You can't honestly believe that, Twilight." "What am I supposed to believe, Leo?" Twilight asked feeling at wits end. Leo sighed, "Twilight. Believe me I know where you're coming from." "You do?" "Of course. As leader I'm always responsible for what happens to my brothers. Whatever choices I make for the team good or bad will be on me. When I went out to try and take on the Triceratons by myself, that almost cost me my life because I was being stubborn and bitter about Fugitoid telling us the truth. I even went behind my brothers backs by helping Karai and Shini take down Shredder's empire from the shadows, and that got Donnie seriously hurt. But after the Kraang invasion while we were recovering at April's family farm I spent three months in a coma. And when I woke up I sustained damage to my leg which I let hold me back. I began doubting myself thinking I would never be the same again, but I realized the pain I was experiencing was all in my head. Like I was making an excuse to not get better. Once I overcame that I was able to walk again and lead my team back to New York so we could take it back from the Kraang." "Whoa." Twilight gasped. "So believe me, I know what you're going through, Twilight. But know this, you have many friends here, counting the Rainbooms, April, Casey, Master Splinter, Karai, Shinigami, my brothers, and even me. You're not alone in this." Then Twilight started getting a little teary eyed and wrapped her arms around Leo in a tight embrace, "Thank you, Leo. I'm so glad I have a friend aside from Sunset Shimmer looking out for me." Leo smiled, and returned the embrace, "You're welcome, Twilight." The two remained that way before breaking, "So you going to go back to camp now?" "Not just yet. I think I need some time out here to relax and cool off." she answered. "I understand. If you need me, I'll be watching from the shadows so you won't be alone." Leo said, as he retreated to the shadows of the forest. Twilight smiled, as she looked back at her reflection in the water seeing herself and just herself. She thought to herself with positivity, 'Maybe I can conquer my inner demons.' she walked out into the forest, as Leo shadowed her. > Magical Powers > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- While Leo and Twilight were off in the woods, Sunset Shimmer was looking around trying to find Twilight. She went into the tent seeing no sign of her. She spotted Spike on his little bed talking in his sleep, "So many squirrels..." he said to himself. Sunset tapped the dog, "Spike?" Spike woke up feeling startled, "Aw, man! I was having the best dream. Wait. That dream could be a reality!" he got off his bed and was prepared to go out, until sunset stopped him. "Before you run off to chase squirrels, do you have any idea where Twilight could be? I really need to talk to her." Spike looked curious, "What happened? Did she do that lifting things off the ground thing again?" "That's just it. I don't know if it was her. But if it was, we need to deal with it head on." "I can track her down." Spike said, as he got his sniffer ready. "Then lead the way." Sunset ordered, as Spike took off. Spike's nose led them to the forest area, only for Raph to call to them, "Hey, you two." "Hey, guys," Sunset looked around, "Where's Leo?" "He went after Twilight after she fled for the forest." Donnie explained. "Because he's so worried about her." Mikey made lovey dovey noises. "Thanks, guys. Spike and I will go look for them." Sunset said, as she and the dog took off into the forest. Back in the forest Twilight was walking along the path back to camp, while talking to herself, "Leo's right. I can overcome this. I've faced aliens in the last few months. I can totally conquer this. I am not a monster." She suddenly found herself walking into Timber, and both ended up screaming in shock. "Oh, hi," Twilight chuckled sheepishly, "What are you doing here?" "Uh... Looking for you." he answered. "Oh, I was just on a nature walk and got a little lost." "Let me show you the way. I'm kind of an expert at these woods. I've lived here my whole life." Timber offered, as the two began walking with Leo shadowing them. "It must've been nice growing up at a camp." Twilight tried to make small talk. "Yeah, though it has its downsides," Timber began sounding depressed, "When I was younger, I wished we'd sell this place so we could live in a town like normal people." "Really?" Twilight asked. "I was ten. I really wanted to hand out at the mall," Timber admitted, and the two chuckled, "I've never told that to anyone. You must be special," Twilight looked away feeling embarrassed, until Timber reached behind her head. Leo looked ready to pounce him thinking he was about to make a move on her, only to see Timber holding a little tree branch, "And not just because you have tree branch in your hair." Twilight was surprised and felt awkward, "Ugh. How long has that been in there?" "Not long. Just the whole time we were talking." Timber teased her. Twilight laughed, "Well, why didn't you say something?" From behind a bush, Sunset and Spike watched the scene play out while looking amused. Sunset spoke to the dog, "I guess we can help Twilight deal with the magic stuff a little later. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that." Leo appeared at their sides. "Leo?" Spike gasped feeling startled. "What do you mean? Did Twilight..." Leo stopped her. "I talked it out with her. I think she'll be ok." Leo assured her, as he smiled at Twilight seeing how happy she looked even if she was talking to someone else. Back at camp, several campers were standing before a rock climbing wall with such campers as Rainbow and Casey looking the most excited. Principal Celestia explained things to them, "Rock climbing is all about perseverance and trust. Rarity, you can trust that Applejack will spot you." she instructed Rarity who was strapped into the harness while Applejack was holding the end of the line. "Yeah, so you can totally go faster than you're going." Rainbow voiced her irritation. "Rainbow Dash!" A.J scolded her. "Sorry. I've been waiting to do this since we got here." Rainbow replied. "Well, you have to wait a little longer, darling." Rarity said, as she slowly went up the wall. Casey who was strapped to a harness spoke, "By the time you get up there, Rarity. Camp will be over. Cover me, April, I'm going up." Casey told April, as she held the end of his harness line. "Easy, Casey you familiar with the phrase slow and steady wins the race?" April asked, as Karai and Shini chuckle. "Why be slow and steady when you can be fast and metal!" Casey declared, as he climbed. As Twilight and Timber came over, Rainbow spoke to Twilight, "Oh, good! Twilight, if you spot me, I can finally go. I'll go get another harness." Rainbow left to grab one. "I'm not sure I..." Timber cut her off, "I better make sure my sister doesn't need anything. See you later?" she asked, and they smiled with Timber taking his leave. Sunset arrived with Spike, "Twilight, there you are! I was looking for you." By the turtles who were watching from the bushes, Leo suddenly returned, "There you are. We thought you weren't coming back." Raph said. "Is Twilight ok?" Mikey asked. "She's fine, Mikey." Leo answered, as he watched her from their hiding spot. "What about you?" Donnie asked. "I'm ok." Leo replied, making sure not to let any words get underneath his skin. Suddenly the whole ground started shaking, as Raph asked, "Earthquake?" "No, it's another Kraang worm quake!" Mikey panicked, as he grabbed onto a tree. By the campers who had felt the same shake, Spike spoke, "Was that an earthquake?" "We aren't near any fault lines." Twilight noted. "Well, whatever it was threw me off my game!" Casey called, as he stopped in the middle of the wall when the earthquake occurred. Bulk Biceps looked down at the ground, "Hey! Who left this crystaly dusty stuff here?!" Karai looked at it, "The same stuff that was by the boat when it crashed into the docks." "This can't be coincidence." Shinigami said suspiciously. Rarity who had been dangling above from the wall called, "I believe I'd like to come down now!" Applejack gave her a thumb's up and tried pulling her down, but the line was jammed, "Sorry, it's a little bit stuck." she pulled on it while unaware of her hands glowing orange. Suddenly the line jerked and Rarity was sent flying up to the top of the wall, much to Casey's shock. "Oh, come on!" Casey called. Applejack suddenly released the line, and Rarity began falling for the ground screaming, "Rarity!" April called. Applejack quickly grabbed hold of the line, and stopped it as Rarity was inches away from the ground, "Applejack, what are you doing?!" she screamed in shock. Principal Celestia and Bishop approached with the undercover Utrom speaking, "Is everything ok?" "What's going on?" Principal Celestia inquired. Applejack spoke while feeling confused, "Uh, I don't know what happened. I didn't even pull the rope that hard. It's like she was light as a feather all of a sudden." "I was scared half to death!" Rarity breathed heavily. It wasn't my fault! Let me help you get your harness out." Applejack offered, by reaching out for her. "No thank you!" Rarity held her hands out, and suddenly a glowing diamond made from a magical aura appeared and pushed Applejack away making her fall into the water. Applejack walked over completely soaked. "What in the world just happened?" Principal Celestia asked in shock. "This is certainly strange." Bishop said in surprise. "Oh, dear! I am so sorry! I think. Did I just do whatever that was?" Rarity asked her friends. Casey who climbed back down answered, "If you did, then let me say that was Metal!" "I don't think it was your fault," Twilight said, feeling guilty, "I gonna go get Applejack a towel." she took off. "Me too." Sunset went after Twilight. From the bushes, the turtles witnessed the strange phenomenon that occurred, and Mikey gasped, "Holy cheesy balls! Did you guys see that?!" "I can't deny it since I saw it with my own eyes." Donnie admitted. "This just keeps getting more insane with every passing day." Raph said in disbelief. "But why is this happening?" Leo asked, while noticing Twilight's worried expression. As Twilight and Sunset walked, the red and yellow haired girl spoke to her friend, "You're not the only one with a new kind of magic! This is great!" Twilight replied with no enthusiasm, "No, it's not! Rarity and Applejack could have really hurt each other! Why is this happening? I don't..." Twilight was cut off as Gloriosa appeared, "Hi, girls! Anything I can do for you?" Twilight quickly explained Applejack's situation, "Uh, Applejack just fell into the lake!" "Oh, no!" Gloriosa gasped, "She's gonna need warm towels, dry clothes, oh, and a hot cocoa! I've got this!" she hurried off. Karai and April approached, as the former bad ninja spoke, "Ever notice how she's always there to help fix a problem?" "She's just doing her job." Twilight reminded Karai. "Yeah, but she acts like she's too prepared to fix problem." April said suspiciously, until they heard a scream. "Fluttershy?" they gasped, as they ran to find her. They ran into the dining hall seeing baking batter all over the place like it exploded. The turtles who also heard the commotion leaped in through a window armed and ready, "All right, who're we fighting here?!" Raph demanded, until they saw no potential enemies around. "Did we miss the fight?" Mikey asked. Leo turned to Fluttershy and Pinkie, "What happened?" Fluttershy answered, "I don't know. We were just decorating cookies and..." Pinkie cut her off, "And I was all, "You need more sprinkles! And you need more sprinkles!" she pretended to sprinkle the cookies. Raph sighed, "Seriously?" "So, standard Pinkie Pie stuff." Sunset asked seeing no problem. "I was just tossing sprinkles to Fluttershy, when all of a sudden they glowed pink and exploded!" she tossed some sprinkles up and they exploded like firecrackers. The explosion caused the girls hair to blow back, while the turtles stood in shock. Pinkie shook her head making her hair return to its usual state, "Just like that only earlier." "Oookaay. Why don't you lay off touching stuff for a while?" Sunset suggested. "Yeah, before you make anything else explode." April added. "Namely us." Karai agreed. Fluttershy looked around at the big mess made, "Oh, dear. We really should clean all of this up," she went over to grab some paper towels from a shelf but couldn't reach it, "Can someone help me out?" "I got this, girl." Mikey was ready to ninja up to the shelf, only for a bird to fly in and bring it down to Fluttershy. "Thank you, Mr. Bird," Fluttershy thanked the bird, as it tweeted to her, "Why, of course I can get you a little something to..." she gasped, "Did you just... talk?" the bird tweeted, "But I don't speak chirp. I don't know if you're the only bird I can understand. Oh, no! Please don't call for your friends." the bird tweeted some more and suddenly multiple little birds and two owls flew in and perched on Fluttershy's arms, "It's nice to meet all of you too." she said. "Were you just talking to the birds?" Sunset asked in confusion. "Um, yes?" "Great. Pinkie Pie's blowing up stuff by touching them, and now Fluttershy's Dr. Dolittle?" Raph said feeling exasperated. "Fascinating." Donnie said feeling intrigued. Suddenly the door slammed open making Fluttershy scream in shock, causing the birds on her arms to fly off. Entering was Applejack, Rarity, Casey, and Shini, "Did you tell them what happened?" Applejack asked the group. "It was so wicked!" Casey cheered. "More like crazy," A.J corrected, "I hoisted Rarity up the rock climbin' wall like it was nothin'! Like I had way more strength than I usually do." Rarity spoke up, "And I made a diamondy thing appear out of nowhere, which normally I'd be excited about. I mean, the facets were just perfect, and the..." "Rarity!" Applejack interrupted her. "Oh, sorry. It knocked Applejack over and then it disappeared!" "Speaking of disappearing, has anyone seen Rainbow Dash?" Shini asked. "Wasn't she right behind us?" Casey asked. Suddenly something zoomed into the dining hall leaving a rainbow trail. It was Rainbow who ran right into the wall and fell on her butt, "Ow!" "Ooh, crash and burn!" Mikey chuckled, as he and Casey high fived. "Whoa! How'd you do that?" Applejack asked, as she and Shini helped her up. "I don't know. I started running to get the harness, and the next thing I knew, I was practically back in town!" Karai was curious, "But if you had super speed, why you were gone for so long?" "Because I lost it when I got far away. And then it came back when I got close to camp." Pinkie gasped, "Being at camp is giving us all new magical abilities!" "Well, we don't have them." Casey said on behalf of himself and his friends. "Yeah, you girls get all the cool stuff." Mikey grumbled. Sunset replied, "Not all of us have gotten new abilities. I haven't, but Twilight..." she saw Twilight motioning her to not say a word "...hasn't, either." Applejack sighed, "So much for my theory that leavin' CHS would mean leavin' any new magic business behind." Donnie spoke up, "Something at the camp must be making this happen." "Um, Gaea Everfree?" Fluttershy suggested, as Donnie replied. "Well, that's one theory, but let's try and stay open to perspective." April gasped, "Someone else is coming... Guys!" she tried to warn the turtles who had already vanished, "Never mind." The doors slammed open and everyone saw something big and scary stumble in making Fluttershy scream again. It was Gloriosa carrying fresh towels and Applejack's hat, "Applejack! I was looking for you! Here, I brought you some towels and dry clothes," she noticed the mess in the dining hall, "Uh, what happened in here?" she looked around while hanging from the ceiling were the turtles who were praying she wouldn't look up. Sunset answered her, "We're kinda trying to figure that out." "Well, don't worry about it. I got this!" Gloriosa declared. She was about to head out only for Sandalwood and Derpy to barge in with the Eco-boy speaking. "Gloriosa, I kicked my beanbag into the lake!" Gloriosa's eye twitched, "I'll get you another one!" she tried to keep up her responsibilities. "And I'm all out of arrows!" Derpy added. "Say no more! New arrows coming right up!' Gloriosa said, as she was trying to keep her act together. Timber came in and spoke to his sister, "There you are," he whispered to her, "Filthy Rich is back. Do you want me to handle it?" She answered in a hushed tone, "Absolutely not!" she spoke up, "I got this!" as she passed Sunset Shimmer the girl heard screaming, as everyone piled out. "Fluttershy, enough with the screaming." Sunset sighed. Fluttershy looked confused, "I didn't scream." "For once." Rainbow snarked. "Nobody did." Rarity said. "Yeah. If there was one we would've heard it." Mikey said, as the turtles dropped in. "That's strange." Sunset said, as the door burst open again making Fluttershy scream. "Ok, that one was me." she admitted. It was Bishop who spoke, "Are you girls ok?" "We're fine, Bishop." Sunset answered. "Something wrong?" April inquired. "After witnessing the strange phenomenon involving Applejack and Rarity I had to be sure you were all ok." "It's not just Applejack and Rarity, Bishop." Leo replied. "Pinkie Pie was able to make things explode by touching them!" Mikey cried. "And Fluttershy's talking to the birds, literally." Raph added. "Not to mention Rainbow Dash has super speed." Donnie finished. "This is all becoming very peculiar." Bishop pondered. "Don't worry, Bishop. We'll figure this out somehow." Sunset assured him. Suddenly Principal Celestia's voice came over the P.A, "Attention, campers! Anyone who's interested in making floating paper lanterns, please meet us by the picnic tables." Applejack spoke to the group, "I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I've been lookin' forward to comin' here for a month. Maybe we forget about this "new magic" for a bit and just try to focus on enjoyin' our time at camp?" Rarity smiled, and spoke in agreement, "I was oh, so excited about designs I've come up with for the camp fashion show." "And I've barely gotten to whoop anybody in tetherball." Rainbow added. "And I'm still looking forward to playing floor hockey." Casey put in. Sunset was concerned about the magic situations, but didn't want to ruin everyone's fun, "I think we should try to figure it out. But if letting it go for now is what the rest of you want..." The girls agreed, while Twilight kept to herself thinking she was causing it. "Come on, guys. Let's make us some lanterns." April said, as they started leaving. When Twilight was the last to leave, Leo spoke, "Twilight, a moment please." "What, Leo?" "I know what you're thinking right now, and I suggest you put it out of your mind." "But, Leo..." "No buts. Remember what I told you?" Leo reminded her of their pep talk. "I... Yes, Leo." "Trust me, it's going to be ok." Twilight sighed, and said softly, "I hope so." she took her leave. "What's wrong with her?" Mikey asked. "You know something, Leo?" Raph asked while getting in his face. "It's not for me to say, Raph. It's Twilight's choice." "Well, she better come clean before she forces us to make her talk." Raph replied. "Just let her be, Raph." Leo warned him, as he watched Twilight from the dining hall window. As the sun was setting the campers were by the picnic tables making their own designed lanterns. April's was yellow with a dragon design on it, Casey's made his black with white hockey puck outlines on his, Karai's was silver with the Hamato clan symbol on it, and Shini's was purple with magical symbols on it. From behind the dining hall, Bishop had supplied the turtles with the right material for them to make lanterns as well. "At least this is one camp activity we can partake in." Mikey said, as he was trying to make his. "Yeah, I was getting bored with doing nothing." Raph agreed. "Plus this helps take our minds off of what's been happening." Donnie said. "But Sunset Shimmer has a point, with all that's happening it really isn't something that should be ignored." Leo noted. "They just need some time of peace, Leo." Mikey replied. "Yeah. They just wanna have some fun without worrying so much." Donnie added, while Leo couldn't help but see their point. Back by the campers, Rarity noticed Pinkie was decorating her lantern with marshmallows, "Um, Pinkie Pie, what are you doing?" "Putting marshmallows in my lantern. Then when we light them, mine will be beautiful and delicious!" she declared. By a separate table sat Twilight with Spike at her side, "Hey, Twilight, why aren't you with everyone else?" her dog asked. "Donnie said something at camp is causing the other girls to get new magic. I think it's Midnight Sparkle. She's still part of me. I can feel it. And I think her magic is infecting my friends." she voiced her worries. "Didn't you hear what Leo told you?" "I know, but it's not as easy to think that way with all these latest disturbances." "What are we gonna do?" "I don't know what I can do." she sighed. Gloriosa called out, "Okay, everyone! It's time to watch your lanterns fly!" The campers started walking up to the dock to set their lanterns off. As Twilight walked, Timber walked close to her, "Hey, cool lantern! Mine's my face!" he showed her his lantern with his face painted on it. Twilight laughed nervously while looking dismal, which Timber noticed, "Uh, you ok?" Twilight nodded, "You don't seem like yourself tonight." Twilight said nothing, as they joined the others at the dock. After the lanterns were given a flame to fly, Gloriosa called, "Ready? And... go!" Everyone released their lanterns, as they started flying up while Pinkie's being too heavy from the marshmallows fell down, "Aw! Oh, well! Now I get to eat it!" she ate some of the marshmallows off it, "Yep, beautiful and delicious." Flash looked up, "Hey, who made those four?" Everyone looked up seeing four new lanterns joining the others. Each was colored green with distinct patterns and symbols on them. One had blue markings with a pair of katana crossing each other, the second had purple markings with atom symbols, the third had red markings with a pair of sais on it, and the fourth had orange markings with pizza slices as well. The campers were curious and shrugged, while the Rainbooms, April, Casey, Shini, and Karai glanced back seeing the turtles peeking out from hiding while giving them the thumb's up. They smiled and continued watching their lanterns float up into the starlit sky. > Embrace the Magic > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- That night in the Sapphire tent, Sunset woke up and looked over seeing Twilight wasn't in bed. Even Spike was missing, "Twilight?" she asked, before peeking her head out seeing Twilight was fully dressed with her backpack on hurrying off with Spike in tow, "Twilight!" she quickly got changed, "Where is she going?" she hurried off. As she pursued her friend the turtles were running at her side, "You saw Twilight too?" she asked. "Saw it coming a mile away." Raph replied. "Come on!" Leo ordered, as they hurried after her. As Twilight made her way down the path, the turtles landed in front of her cutting her off, "Going somewhere, Twilight?" Raph asked. "Yeah. Little late for a nature walk." Mikey added. "Guys, I..." "Twilight!" Sunset called out, before stopping, "What are you doing out here?" "We're... we're meeting a cab to take us home." she explained nervously. "And you're leaving without telling anyone, why?" Donnie asked. Spike answered, "She'd thought you'd talk her out of it." "And we would," Leo replied, "Twilight, did you not listen to a word I have said to you?" "That was then, Leo. But now thing's are worse." Twilight explained. Sunset laid a hand on her friend's arm, "Twilight, you can't leave." Sunset suddenly froze as she could hear Twilight. "You don't think it was the spirit, do you?!" Pinkie asked. "No, it was me." Twilight said to herself. "I think it's Midnight Sparkle. She's still part of me. I can feel it. And I think her magic is infecting my friends." she voiced her worries. Sunset snapped out of it and spoke, "Twilight, there's no Midnight Sparkle. There's only you." The turtles were confused, as was Twilight, "How'd you know what I was thinking?" "When I touched your hand, I could see things. I could understand why you were leaving," Sunset suddenly gasped, "My new magic...! This is my new magic! This is incredible!" "This is awesome!" Mikey cheered with her, "Do me!" she made her lay a hand on his head and Sunset could see all that was in Mikey's mind, which was exactly what the turtles saw that time they had to go into his head. When Sunset woke up, she was in shock, "You saw it, huh?" Raph asked. "I shouldn't be surprised, but I am." Sunset said in shock. "You should be. Mind reading is so awesome!" Mikey cheered. "No, it's not! I'm infecting you now!" Twilight told Sunset in worry. "Way to be a buzzkill, Twilight." Mikey sighed. "Mikey's right," Sunset agreed, "You have to stop looking at this as a bad thing." "Easy for you to say. Magic turned you into something beautiful. The last time I tried to use it, it turned me into a monster. I'm just so afraid it's gonna happen again." "It's ok to be afraid, Twilight." Leo comforted her. "Yeah, we've all dealt with fear before." Donnie added. "Especially Raph." Mikey motioned to him, only to get shoved aside by said turtle who spoke. "Point being you can't let fear hold you back." Sunset spoke "And you're right. Last time I turned into something amazing, but I've let magic turn me into a monster, too. So if anyone understands what you're going through, it's me. I can help you, Twilight. And the rest of our friends can be there for you, too. But not if you run away." "Sunset Shimmer is correct," Leo confirmed, "We're all in this together as always." Twilight reluctantly answered, "I'll stay. 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 is happening." "Understood." Sunset replied. "We won't force you." Leo promised, until they heard rustling around them. "What was that?!" Sunset gasped, as the turtles jumped to the bushes for safety precautions while ready to draw their weapons. When they saw an ax come up, the girls screamed. The turtles were about to jump out and attack only to hear a third scream come from Timber who was carrying the ax. When the group calmed down, Timber spoke to the two, "Wait, Twilight?" "Timber? I'm so glad it's just you!" she said in relief, before becoming curious, "Wait, what are you doing out here?" "With an ax?" Sunset asked curiously. "I was chopping down firewood." "In the middle of the night?" Sunset asked, as the turtles were suspicious. "We needed more for tomorrow night's campfire. And if I didn't take care of it tonight, it would be one more thing Gloriosa would add to her list," she mimicked her sister, "I've got this!" Twilight chuckled, "What about you two? Why are you hanging out in the woods in the middle of the night?" Sunset quickly explained, "Oh! I was sleepwalking. Twilight found me and was bringing me back to camp." Twilight nodded. "Come on. I'll walk you guys back. I'll protect you from..." he spoke spookily, "Gaea Everfree! Everfree! Everfree!" in the bushes Mikey clung to Donnie in fright. "Come on. That's obviously just a spooky story you made up to tell around the campfire." Sunset called it. "Oh, no. It's legit. How else would you explain what happened at the docks? And that weird thing where the earth shook? Come on. I know a shortcut back to the tents." he escorted Twilight while pushing a cart of firewood. Sunset looked down in shock seeing glitter drop out of Timber's pocket, "Legit, huh?" she asked, before speaking to Spike and the turtles who came out of hiding when all was clear, "I think we just found our "Gaea Everfree"." "I knew that guy was suspicious." Leo frowned. "Like zoinks, looks like this mystery is solved." Mikey said while quoting an old cartoon character. "But why would he work so hard to make us think she was real?" Spike asked, until Donnie gasped. "He said something about wishing his sister would sell this camp." Sunset caught on, "If nobody wants to come here because it's home to some angry ancient nature spirit, it sure would help his cause." "You think he's conspiring with Filthy Rich in all this?" Raph wondered. "Yeah, it's obvious he wants this land as well given he deals in real estate." Mikey added. "I don't know, but right now Timber's our main suspect." Leo said. "Unless you count Gloriosa," Raph noted, "You see the way her eyes twitch when something comes up?" "Probably just stressed, Raph. I mean even her brother was busting her chops about everything she wanted the kids to do at camp." Donnie replied. "We should tell Twilight." Spike suggested. Sunset answered, "Not yet. She's obviously going through a lot right now. We should probably 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." "Agreed. For now let's just keep a close eye on thing." Leo suggested, and they agreed before heading back. The next morning, the five Rainbooms, April, Casey, Shini, and Karai were busy repairing the dock, or rather the ninja team was doing it, while the Rainbooms were taking baby steps with their work, and Rarity was busy knitting. Rainbow was taking slow steps before speaking to Rarity, "Uh, you gonna give us a hand here, Rarity?" "Oh, I'd love to, but I really need to get the stitching on this poncho done if it's going to make it into the camp fashion show. Though at the pace you two are moving, I don't know that the runway will ever be finished." Applejack replied, "The dock is our gift to the camp, and it's gonna get finished. That is, if Rainbow Dash would hurry up and bring me more wood." "Yeah, you're suppose to be the fast one on the soccer field from what I heard." Karai added. "Oh, I can't go any faster! I don't want to end up in the woods again." Rainbow voiced her worry. "Don't be silly." Applejack replied. "Really?" Rainbow eyed her friend while miming Applejack hammering the nail slowly. Applejack sighed knowing Rainbow was right, "I know I said we should try to forget all about this new magic business, but I can't. What if I hammer the board into splinters?" "Then we'd really have to start from scratch." Casey replied. "And we're already at a slow pace as it is." April noted. "This is so frustrating." Shini sighed. "Aw, shoot! I'm all out of nails." Applejack said. "Oh, here you go!" Pinkie tossed a box of nails. "Pinkie, no!" the group cried. The box of nails almost hit Rarity who projected a diamond aura shield which was so big it knocked Rainbow, Casey, Fluttershy, and Karai over. The box bounced off the shield and landed on the dock. To everyone's relief the nails didn't explode. April spoke to the party girl, "Not the best thing to do, Pinkie." "What? Ohhh, did you think the nails would explode like the sprinkles? Wow! Glad that didn't happen, huh?" "Yeah, except Rarity's diamond shield." Karai noticed. Rarity looked down at them, "Sorry, girls. I didn't mean to. I don't know how to control this." she helped them up "It's ok." Rainbow answered. "Oh, none of us do." Fluttershy sighed. Sunset came by, "Which is why we shouldn't pretend this is happening." "Do you have them now, too?" April asked. "It started last night. When I touch people, it's like I can feel what they're feeling and see their memories." "Wow, wicked." Casey replied. "Oooh, fancy! Try me, try me!" Pinkie made Sunset touch her forehead and could see exactly what was going on in the girl's mind. What she was was almost as dysfunctional as Mikey's. Pinkie was skipping down a path surrounded by little creatures made of taffy and other and living candies, "La-la-la-la. Ooh, taffy!" she took a bite out of one of the taffy creatures. Susnet spoke up looking more disturbed than when she looked into Mikey's mind, "That explains so much." "Yep." Pinkie nodded. "Girls, we can't just brush these powers aside because it doesn't seem like the ideal time to get them. What if it turns out that they could actually make things better?" Sunset asked. "Sunset's right," April agreed, "Look at me. My psychic powers Aeon crystal powered or not has made me do things with my fighting abilities I never could've done before." "Same for me and the snake DNA I now carry." Karai added. "Come on, girls. Let's not hide it." Sunset said, and she began to sing to them. So you have magic And it's not that great But when it found you You know it was fate And it might seem scary now But it can be wonderful, too So how about we embrace the magic And make the magic part of you? The group feeling influenced by her song felt calmer and confident to use their new abilities to their fullest, and soon more campers were helping them rebuild the dock. Pinkie was channeling magic into some sprinkles which she dropped on parts of the wood which exploded small holes into the pieces for nails, Rainbow used her super speed to build a bench for the dock. You take a little dash of magic And you let it ignite Mix things up a little bit And it might start to go right In just five seconds flat How the story has changed All 'cause now you've embraced the magic And it just got better in every way The turtles watched from their hiding spot smiling at how the girls were starting to use their powers for good, while Leo wished Twilight would be more positive about using hers. I say embrace the magic No more holding back, just let it out If you can take the magic And learn a little more what it can do Once the magic is part of you As the boys were pulling a post up, they watched Applejack carry the other big post on her shoulder and set it up while she ate an apple. The boys were lost for words, especially Casey while April giggled at his reaction. Applejack walked up to Shinigami who was impressed with her strength, and they fist bumped. What's standing in your way That you can't move today? You've got the strength in you To make your dreams come true Rarity was painting a crumb box for the fish, until she looked out into the water seeing Derpy losing her balance and looked ready to fall into the water. Rarity quickly sent a diamond disk across the water providing a safe landing for Derpy. Sunset sat down next to Karai and Fluttershy, as the two Rainbooms embrace Karai from the sides making her smile. No need to shield yourself From the magic that can help Protect from any harm that might come So you have magic And it's not that great But when it found you You know it was fate So if you listen close You might make a new friend And together we can make it! A bird chirped in Fluttershy's ear and she nodded, allowing it to take a trail of flowers she was making and wrap it around the tall sign above the dock, which read the camp's name. The Rainbooms and their New York friends started singing along with Sunset, as they walked along with dock after Pinkie Pie placed the last lantern onto the pole. I say embrace the magic No more holding back, just let it out If you can take the magic And learn a little more what it can do Once the magic is part of you Once the magic is part of you Once the magic is part of you Once the magic is part of you Everyone looked at their fixed dock that looked good as new, "Okay, that was pretty awesome!" Rainbow cheered. "Awesome? It was metal!" Casey cheered. "And look what you managed to accomplish!" Sunset added. Rarity spoke up, "Please, please, please can we do a run-through for the fashion show on it right this minute? "Thought you weren't finished with the stitching on your poncho." Applejack reminded her. Rarity did one last stitching, "I am now." "Well, you've all earned it." April admitted, and they decided to get the run through done. That night by the fire pit, the Rainbooms, their friends, Bishop, and the turtles minus Twilight were gathered around still in high spirits from a job well done, "I am pleased to hear you girls have got your new powers under control." their Utrom ally said. "Thanks, Bishop." Rainbow replied. "But I still wish to know what is causing it." "One thing at a time, Bishop." Applejack said. "I just wish Twilight was here with us." Leo sighed. "I know, you'd think she'd have power by now, right?" Pinkie asked, while the turtles and Sunset remained silent. They continued to stay warm by the fire until the flames started turning blue, and it started erupting freaking everyone out, except for the turtles. Appearing within the flames was an astral form of Master Splinter, "Master Splinter?" Sunset Shimmer gasped. "Sensei?" Fluttershy asked. "What happened to you?" Casey asked. "Are you a ghost?" Pinkie gasped. "I have allowed my spirit to detach from my body so I can speak with you all. I am glad to know my sons, daughter, and family are safe." "It's good to see you again, Master." Applejack said. "It is good to see all of you, as well," Splinter replied, "But I'm afraid the happy reunion must wait. I have seen a vision of all of you at this camp and dangers as well." "A vision of dangers?" Leo asked. "Could it have something to do with our new powers?" Sunset wondered. "Yes indeed." Splinter confirmed. "But we already have our powers down, sensei." Rainbow replied. "Maybe, but there is much you must overcome. If you cannot find your inner, spiritual strength, you will not stand a chance against the dangers that lie ahead. Each of you girls must journey out alone to face your spiritual adversary." "Our own spiritual adversary?" Rarity raised a brow. Splinter nodded, as he spoke to each of the Rainbooms, "Pinkie Pie, your mind is overrun with distractions. Learn to be strong and calm, like the forest." "Oki doki, sensei." Pinkie saluted. "Rarity, you are lean and quick, and yet afraid to get down and dirty. Learn to not let petty problems stop you from doing what must be done." "As you wish, sensei." Rarity sighed knowing it was true about her. "Rainbow Dash, you are confident in your abilities. But you are also cocky. Always be perceptive on what may come." "Cocky, me?" Rainbow asked in disbelief, until Splinter gave her a look, "Ok, Master." "Applejack, you rely too much on the strength of the body, but not of the mind. Be smart with your tactics." "You got it, Master Splinter." Applejack gave him a thumb's up. "Fluttershy, you must learn to face your fears of the world around you. Be brave like the lion." "I'll do my very best, sensei." Fluttershy promised. "And Sunset Shimmer, you must be the leader in body and spirit. Be like the wind. Let nothing weigh you down." "Hai, sensei." Sunset Shimmer nodded. "What about, Twilight. Shouldn't she be part of this too?" Fluttershy asked. "Even if she's not technically a ninja." Rainbow added. "Twilight has her own trial to overcome. That will happen when she is ready," Splinter explained, "Sleep now, girls. For your greatest trial awaits on the spiritual plane. For the challenges you face there will be just as deadly as those you face in the real world. Be warned." his astral form vanished, as the fire returned to normal. The group looked at each other in shock, as Pinkie spoke, "Looks like we got a big job to do." "Luckily tomorrow's free day." Applejack said. "Think you guys can cover for us while we're out there?" Rainbow asked. "I shall do my best." Bishop answered. "But it's dangerous to go out there unarmed." April reminded them. "Actually, April. I sort of packed my ninja weapons on the trip." Rarity admitted. "You actually packed your sickles?" A.J asked. "I always come prepared, darling." "Well, I actually brought my weapons too. Just to be safe." Applejack said. "Me too." Rainbow added. "So did I." Fluttershy nodded. "And me." Pinkie smiled. "Guess we all had the same idea." Sunset said. "What a coincidence." Mikey noted. "I'm glad you girls did. The stuff you'll see out there will indeed be challenging," Leo warned them, "Take it from us." "Then can you guys make sure to tell Twilight what we'll be doing tomorrow?" Sunset asked. "Sure thing." Shini confirmed. "In the meantime, we better get some sleep." Sunset said, as the girls agreed and headed back to their tents. As the turtles went back to their camp, Mikey spoke, "You think master Splinter saw Gaea Everfree in that vision?" "Mikey, you saw Timber carrying that glitter with him. Gaea Everfree is just a story." Raph reminded him. "But he sounded so serious about it." Mikey shivered. "Because he's that good at telling that story." Donnie noted. "Regardless of that spirit being real or not, we still have to be on the look out," Leo reminded them, "Something is happening at this camp. And I got a feeling the siblings know what it is." "So why don't we just go spy on them when they're not helping the campers?" Raph suggested. "They barely have time to not be helping campers." Donnie replied. "Got that right, D." Mikey yawned. "Let's get some sleep. We need to see the girls off tomorrow morning." Leo said, as they all fell asleep. > Spirit Quest pt 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The very next morning, Sunset, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie stood outside the forest with their ninja weapons in holsters or strapped to their backs, as the turtles, April, Karai, Casey, Shini, Bishop, and Twilight stood before them. "Well, this is it." Sunset began. "You all be very careful out there." Leo warned them. "And come back safely." Bishop instructed. "We will, ya'll." Applejack promised. "And make sure nobody knows where we are." Rainbow instructed. "You can count on us." Casey promised. Sunset looked over at Twilight, "And, Twilight. Please don't stress yourself." Their human allies looked over at Twilight curiously, while Twilight covered her secret and answered, "I won't." The Rainbooms faced each other, "Good luck to all of you." Rarity said. "I sure hope we're ready for this." Fluttershy said with concern. "Master Splinter has faith in us, we must also have faith in ourselves." Sunset reminded her. "And even if we're apart out there, we're still together in spirit." Pinkie added. "Right." Applejack agreed. "So let's go." Rainbow Dash said, as the girls broke and took off into the forest following different directions. "There they go." Raph said. "Nothing we can do for them right now." Donnie added. "Except cover for them." April put in. "Bummer that Rainbow Dash won't be here," Casey sighed, "She was gonna be my first pick for floor hockey teams." "We better return to camp, before everyone starts questioning where we are." Bishop suggested, as they all headed back with Leo and Twilight trailing behind. "Sunset Shimmer is right, Twilight. Try not to think of what's been happening and have fun." he suggested. Twilight smiled a bit, "Sure thing, Leo." the two followed the others. Meanwhile out in the forest which had led the girls each into the spirit world, Pinkie Pie was skipping along through the foggy forest happily. She stopped before looking around, "Who can see anything in this heavy fog?" she suddenly heard something and spun around arming herself, "Who's there?!" she saw and heard nothing before lowering her weapon a bit, "I know I'm not alone here." She continued to hear something moving around here. She suddenly saw part of the fog lifting, and up in the tree tops were multiple foot ninja, "The Foot?!" she gasped. The ninja jumped down and armed themselves. Pinkie got ready, "Hello, boys? Shall we tango?" The Foot ninja went at it with Pinkie, as the girl used her sickle and weight chain weapon to parry them or strike them. As two tried to attack her, Pinkie grabbed them by the hands and spun them around before throwing them into the trees making them go poof, "You guys are good dancers," she grinned. The rest of the Foot went at her, but Pinkie managed to over power them, "That was fun. This spirit training thing is easy," Suddenly she heard something else moving around through the fog, "More Foot?" she was suddenly tackled by something sending her rolling across the grassy ground. Emerging from the fog was the Space Shark hunter himself, Armaggon, "Been a long time, cutie." Armaggon licked his lips. "Armaggon?!" Pinkie gasped, "But we watched you get eaten by the Scorpinoid!" "And you think some oversized bug can stop old Armaggon?" he asked, while stomping towards her. "Kinda." she winced, as Armaggon readied his blasters. "Let's see how ya do one on one." he blasted Pinkie, while she dodged his shots before attacking him with her weapon and ninja moves. Armaggon shifted into his space suit shark mode and started flying around through the foggy forest. Pinkie was looking around only to get tackled from behind by Armaggon. Before Pinkie could attack, the hunter retreated back into the fog for cover. Pinkie tried keeping an eye on her surroundings, but no matter what direction she thought he was going to come at her, Armaggon always ended up attacking from behind. As he retreated back into the fog, Pinkie could hear his voice from all around, "Not so tough without your own space gear, are ya?" he laughed. Pinkie was getting tired and exhausted from so many hits, before speaking to herself, "He's even faster than a regular shark under water. Ok, calm down. Remember what Master Splinter said. Be calm like the Forest." Pinkie shut her eyes and calmed her nerves. She stood in the clearing of the fog waiting for the right moment. Suddenly as Armaggon was about to attack her from the side, Pinkie's eyes flew open and she spun to face Armaggon striking him with the sickle of her weapon. Armaggon converted back to his normal mode, "How did you find me?" "Once I calmed my self, I could hear you coming a mile away." she smiled. "Can ya see this coming?" Armaggon blasted at her again, but Pinkie dodged, and reached into her bag pulling out some sprinkles. "Here's some fireworks for ya!" she tossed them at Armaggon, and started exploding around him distorting his vision. He was so disoriented he didn't realize Pinkie had wrapped the chain and weight end of her weapon around him in a binding hold. "Time to go for a spin, Sharky," she tugged hard on the chain causing Armaggon to spin around while bumping into trees like it was a game of pinball. He eventually spun all the way to a pit and fell down it screaming. Pinkie grinned, "Yay me!" she clapped with joy. Elsewhere, Applejack had found herself in a rock quarry, "Boy, this spirit world sure is some place. But it's sure deserted," she walked around with her ninja claw weapons out. After seeing nothing she sighed, "I ain't found nothing here but a buncha rocks," suddenly the rocks from above the quarry started rolling down the hills of the quarry right at her, "Whoa nelly!" she started running and dodging the rocks before looking up to see Foot soldiers were rolling the rocks down, "You varmints messed with the wrong cowgirl." she warned them. The Foot Ninja slid down the rocky hills armed and ready. They engaged Applejack who used her own ninja skill and hook hands to defeat them, "After spending a few months fighting Kraang, alien bugs, and dinosaurs, this doesn't seem so bad," she said to herself, before making the ninja go poof, "I expected something harder." she was startled, as a wall of rock exploded. Walking out from the hole in the wall was Rocksteady, "We's just getting the started!" he punched his fists. "Whoa! Rocksteady?" Applejack gasped. "You were expecting someone else?" the rhino asked rhetorically. "Not really, but still a shock." A.J admitted. "Well, Rocksteady has come to put the hurt on country girl!" "Try me, horn head." A.J got ready. Rocksteady charged like the rhino he is, while Applejack kept dodging, while using her claw hooks to strike at the mutant rhino. Rocksteady however used his hook to lock with Applejack's right hook claw and toss her aside, "Country girl, not looking so hot right now." Rocksteady laughed. "I'm just getting warmed up." Applejack retorted. Rocksteady rushed Applejack, as the two pitted each others strength against one another, "Country girl strong. But Rocksteady is stronger most!" he knocked Applejack aside, as she rolled across the rocky terrain. "Master Splinter was right, the dangers here are even worse than real," Applejack groaned, as she got up. She put on a brave face, "But my friends are countin' on me, and I won't let them down. Sensei said somethin' about using my head and not just my body. Time to follow his advice," she surveyed the scene and started using her head to strategize. She saw multiple big boulders lying around from what the Foot Ninja rolled down the hill to squash her, "That'll work." she smirked. Rocksteady watched as he was ready to attack again, until Applejack started running around, "Hey, Rocksteady. Let's see how fast ya really are." "I going to pop your head like blueberry!" Rocksteady got on all fours and started charging for Applejack. The country girl was running while jumping the boulders making her opponent charge right through them shattering into pebbles. As she ran A.J thought to herself, 'That's right partner, just follow me lead.' she had Rocksteady run through so many boulders he didn't realize he was being led right into the wall. Applejack ran up the wall as Rocksteady rammed his horn right into it. A.J landed on the rhino's back and jumped off. Rocksteady pulled his horn out and snorted, "Big mistake! Very big mistake!" "What say we finish this, partner?" Applejack challenged. "I will smash you!" Both Rocksteady and Applejack ran at each other, and upon colliding they reached a stalemate with A.J gripping Rocksteady's horn holding him in place. The rhino mutant tried overpowering her grip, but A.J kept holding on. A.J smirked, "Thanks for the work out, Rocksteady, but I gotta send ya packin'!" she used her enhanced strength to throw Rocksteady over her shoulder sending the screaming rhino crashing into the wall exploding into dust. Applejack removed her hat and wiped her forehead, "Now that was one hell of a rodeo." After splitting up, Rarity found herself trekking through a damp swamp, "Oh, why did I have to end up in a swamp? This heat's going to do disasters for my hair. Come now, Rarity. Remember you're on a spiritual quest to get stronger." she walked across a log above a pond She pressed on while moving aside from tree branches that were hanging in her way. Rarity suddenly stopped as she heard a buzzing sound, "What is that?" she looked around cautiously, while ready to grab her twin sickle weapons. She heard the buzzing get closer, and looked over seeing a swarm of Vreen coming right for her, "Vreen!" she shrieked, as the robo-bugs were closing in. Rarity ran around avoiding the laser shots, while using her sickles to deflect some blasts, "Figures I'd run into bugs while in a swamp!" The Vreen touched down and used their pincers to attack Rarity who was using her weapons to swat them away, "Get back, you disgusting freaks!" she sliced the robo-bugs one after another. When one Vreen slammed at her, she dropped her weapons into the swamp water, "Oh, my stars!" she gasped, as more of the Vreen were flying at her. Rarity frowned and concentrated before firing a diamond disk at them like a boomerang slicing their tops halves from their bottom halves making them poof into dust, "Never mess with a lady!" she ran a hand through her hair, only to get kicked from behind. She fell into the pond looking repulsed, "Who was that?" she demanded before her eyes widened in shock. Landing onto the ground was Lord Dregg himself, "At last, I have finally caught up with you, fleshling!" "Dregg?" Rarity backed away in shock. "That's Lord Dregg to you!" he declared, "And now that I have you where I want you, I shall feast on you flesh and all!" "We're not in space this time, Dregg," Rarity got into a stance, "Now you're on my planet!" she engaged Dregg, as the bug alien blocked her punches before knocking her against a dead tree. "Your home planet, but my ideal playing field." Dregg replied, as Rarity tried sending diamond disks at Dregg, but the alien flew around them. Dregg and Rarity fought with the girl hoping not to land in the pond or the mud. "Ew! Ew!" she said trying to avoid falling in, until she was knocked away and landed onto another patch of ground surrounded by the mud, "Oh, no!" "Your vanity and cleanliness is what holds you back!" Dregg called, "That is why you will fail!" Rarity jerked back, but realized he was right, "If I keep playing it clean like this then I'll never overcome my adversary. As much as it pains me to do this, but I must disregard my usual ways and get down and dirty!" she ran through the mud not caring if her shoes got ruined or got any on her skin. She punched Dregg knocking him into a tree. Dregg shook it off, "So you're finally going to give me a real fight despite how messy it'll get?" "I am! Because not even the dirtiest of stains or mud will hold me back!" she grabbed her sickles form the pond and attacked Dregg once again without holding back for fear of getting dirty. Rarity suddenly looked up seeing a huge dead tree branch above Dregg. Getting an idea, she used her diamond disk on the branch above severing it from the tree. It fell from above, as Dregg looked up and screamed as it landed right on top of him destroying him. Rarity stuck her chin up proudly, before looking at her state of dirtiness, "When I get back I'm really going to need to wash up." Meanwhile back at camp, Casey was getting in some floor hockey on a makeshift floor set up thanks to Bishop. The vigilante was busy speaking to his team composed of Snips, Snails, Micro Chips, and Bulk Biceps, "Come on, team! We can show these chumps that we're number one!" he declared. "Yeah!" Bulk pumped his arms up. "I'd feel a lot better if we had Rainbow Dash with us." Snips sighed. "Where is she and the others anyway?" Snails wondered. "I'm sure they're around somewhere," Casey answered, promising to keep it a secret, "Now let's get in there!' he declared, as his team faced off against Karai, Flash Sentry, Vinyl Scratch, Sandalwood, and Trixie. Many of the other campers including Twilight, April, and Shini watched from the side. When Karai and Bulk went for the puck, the big guy knocked it too hard it bounced off the net and into the bushes, "Out of bound!" Bishop declared. "I'll go get it!" Snips called, as he went into the bush to grab the puck. As he went into the bush he laid a hand on it only to have another hand be placed on his. Snips saw it was green that didn't have the same fingers as a human hand. He looked up and came face to face with Mikey. The comedic turtle looked nervous before speaking. "What up, dog?" Snips who had a look of shock on his face burst out screaming, forcing Mikey to scream as well. The rest of the turtles grabbed Mikey and pulled him back into the forest. Snips quickly grabbed his phone and took a picture. The pudgy boy ran back to the others, "Snips, we heard screaming." Snails said in worry. "Where's the puck?" Casey asked. "Guys, there's monsters in the camp!" Snips cried. "Monsters?" Karai and April asked. "Yes, big green slimy ones. See!" he showed them his phone. They all looked seeing four blury figures in the picture, but April and her friends saw the mix of red, blue, orange, and purple in the picture and knew it was their friends. But Trixie spoke up, "Snips, you can't see anything because it's out of focus." "What'd they even look like?" Flash asked, as everyone was unaware of Timber and Gloriosa listening in. "Turtles? Big walking turtles!" Snips panicked. Timber laughed, "I'm sure you were just imagining it, Snips. I think all these incidents at camp are making you see things." "But it felt so real." Snips looked at his hand. "Like my brother said," Gloriosa replied, "You're obviously seeing things." "But if it makes you feel any better, we'll look into it." Timber offered. "Yes. I got this!" Gloriosa declared, as the two started walking away. "If they're going to investigate it, then why are they walking away from where Snips saw them?" Shini asked April and Karai who also looked suspicious. Hiding in the trees in the forest were the turtles who were chewing out their younger brother, "Mikey, have you lost your shell?!" Raph snapped. "You exposed us to that kid!" Leo called. "Not like I did it on purpose!" Mikey argued. "You better hope they all think it's related to Gaea Everfee." Donnie warned him. "Relax, guys, you're in the clear." Casey said as he called from below. The turtles came down to see April, Karai, and Shini were there too, "You're lucky everyone thinks it's all Snips' imagination." April said. "Yeah. If father were here he would not be happy." Karai noted. "We know how that feels already." Leo replied, remembering the incident with Muckman. "You guys may want to stay up here and further away from the camp for awhile until the heat cools down." Casey suggested. "Oh, man." Mikey complained, only to get smacked in the back of his head by Raph. "You shouldn't have even gotten that close." "Any idea how the girls are doing?" Twilight asked. "No idea," Leo replied, "But I have this feeling they're all right." "Hope they get back soon, we can't cover for them forever." Casey said. "Yeah. Even Bishop is doing all he can to keep Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna from trying to go looking for them." April put in. "They'll be totally fine. In the words of Gloriosa, 'They got this!'." he laughed, only to get smacked by Raph again. "That's becoming really annoying to hear!" "We'll catch you later, guys." Casey said, as the group went back to camp, while the turtles stayed behind making sure to keep a good distance from camp should anyone go looking around for them. > Spirit Quest pt 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the spirit world, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack had conquered their spiritual adversaries while the others were about ready to face their own. Rainbow Dash had wandered into an underground cavern. She walked through a puddle of water while noticing there were torches on the walls to give her light. Rainbow looked around suspiciously, "Someone must be down here if these torches are lit," she shouted, "All right, whoever's out there! I'm ready for ya!" she did not receive an answer, only an echo. She rolled her eyes, "Yeah like they're actually going to answer me so casu-" she was cut off as blaster shots were being fired at her, "Whoa!" she jumped to the side by a boulder with her naginata armed. The ones that were firing on her were multiple Kraang droids armed and ready to fight, "It is the Rainboom known as Rainbow Dash!" one spoke. "Kraang, eliminate for Kraang!" the droids started shooting again. Rainbow spoke to herself, "What luck, trapped in a cavern with a bunch of Kraang... Awesome!" she cheered. She jumped out of hiding and twirled her naginata to deflect some laser shots. She ran at the Kraang and started striking them with her weapon, and even tricking the Kraang into shooting at one another, "Let's see if you Kraang can keep up!" Rainbow Dash used her speed power and snatched the blasters from every Kraang droid leaving them confused. "Where are Kraang's weapons?" one asked. "Hey, boys!" the Kraang looked over seeing Rainbow Dash standing by a pile of Kraang blasters, "Looking for these?" she kicked them off a ledge and into the water sinking, "Whoops. Now to finish this!" she used her speed and cut down the droids making them poof away, "Oh, yeah!" she pumped a fist, "Master Splinter underestimated me. I'm not cocky, I'm just that good." she said smugly. She was cut off as a blaster shot almost got her from behind. She quickly jumped to the side to look and see Subprime stomping onto the scene laughing, "Maybe against few incompetent Kraang, but against me... Well, you're out of your league." "Oh, not you..." Rainbow groaned. "That's right, rainbow girl! Kraang Subprime returns!" he started flexing his small tentacle muscles, "You like that, don't ya? Do you like this? Huh! Yeah, you like that. Now come quietly or I vaporize ya." "How about no!" Rainbow attacked Subprime head on, while avoiding the buzz saws of his exoskeleton hands She continued to attack the Kraang feeling over confident. Subprime started blasting at Rainbow Dash who was using her ninja skills to dodge. She was so caught up in feeling proud of herself, she didn't react quick enough when Subprime grabbed her by the throat. "Can't breathe!" she wheezed. Subprime aimed his left hand blaster at her, "Now to eliminate you, and all other filth like you!" he laughed. Rainbow Dash groaned, as she was starting to lose her air supply, 'Master Splinter was right, I can get cocky,' she thought, 'Well, not anymore!' she swung her legs to Subprime's blaster arm wrapping her legs around it. Doing so made the blaster shoot at Subprime's right arm which held Rainbow Dash. She was freed from Subprime's grip and grabbed her spear again, "You know Subprime you and I are a lot alike." "What?" he asked. "Both of us are confident in what we do, but we're also cocky," she began, "But the difference between us is this... I learn to not be cocky!" she used her speed and ninja skills to bash at Subprime and ended up knocking him off his exoskeleton and onto the cavern floor. "Kraang Subprime will not be outdone by a stupid rainbow haired girl!" he declared. Rainbow frowned, "Don't call me stupid!" she threw her spear at a stalactite from the cavern ceiling. The strike made the pointed rock come falling down right on the Kraang. Subprime screamed in a panic as the rock crushed him. Rainbow smirked seeing she was triumphant, "Cockiness conquered... I'm so awesome!" she cheered. Elsewhere, Fluttershy had been walking through the forest hearing all sorts of animal noises which didn't sound so friendly. She kept turning from one direction to another, "Oh, dear. This place certainly is scary. In sure wish one of the others was here with me," she said, before seeing some silhouette's reflecting off a wall. She looked and saw the silhouette's looked like her friends, "Girls! It's you!" she cheered, as she ran to find them, "Oh, I'm so glad to see... you?" she stopped when she came around a corner and saw it wasn't her friends, but rather Foot soldiers. The Foot ninja armed themselves while Fluttershy was frightened, "Uh, sorry I thought you were someone else." she made a run for it, only for three to block off her retreat, "Eep!" she shrieked. The ninja started attacking Fluttershy who shook off her fear enough to fight back against her opponents, "Oh if only I had a better way to fight them." she said, before hearing the chirping of birds, "Really?" she asked before ducking a punch from one Foot Ninja, "Thank you." she said, as the birds continued to be eyes in the sky telling her when one was going to attack her from behind or in another blind spot. Fluttershy whipped out her blowpipe and started blowing darts hitting all Foot Ninja making them go poof. Fluttershy sighed in relief, "Thank you my little bird friends," she thanked them only to suddenly jerk to the right as if she was bumped, "What was that?" she suddenly jerked again once again feeling like she was bump, "What's going on?" Suddenly appearing out of thin air before her was Bebop, "Ha-ha-ha! What up-what up-what up, girl?" he combed his mohawk back. "Oh, my goodness! Bebop?" she gasped. "I gots a score to settle with you looking at me with those death eyes, girl," Bebop began, "Because this time they ain't helping ya!" he started sliding and dancing around while fire lasers from his belt. Fluttershy was dodging the shots, while trying to fire some more darts from her blow pipe. Bebop however was using his dance moves to dodge around, much to Fluttershy's worry, "Here's a little something else for ya!" Bebop fired an energy mohawk at her. The attack missed but the explosion from it knocked Fluttershy off her feet. "Come on, Fluttershy, you can't give up!" she picked herself up and stared Bebop down, "I'm not afraid of you!" "Oh, really?" Bebop asked, "Well, are ya afraid of what ya can't see?" he quickly went invisible putting Fluttershy on the defense Much like before Bebop was knocking her around, while she was incapable of seeing him. "I can't fight him without knowing where he is," she said to herself, before remembering what Splinter told her, "No. I can't be afraid. Master Splinter said I need to be brave like the Lion. And I know some friends who can help, "Animals of the forest, find my opponent!" suddenly coming to Fluttershy's aid were many squirrels, birds, bunnies, and raccoons who were using their animal senses to find Bebop. Fluttershy watched as the land animals were crawling around on something, while the birds looked like they were pecking at something, "Hey! Get off me! Beat it! Don't touch the hair!" Bebop's voice came. Fluttershy seeing Bebop was right in front of her took the chance and ran straight before delivering a kick into thin air. This made Bebop reappear looking like he was nailed in the stomach making him back up, "Dang, for a girl as light as a feather, you hit hard!" "I will not be afraid! I will be brave!" she declared, as she felt braver than a Lion, while Bebop felt he could see said animal right behind her. Fluttershy ran at Bebop fighting like she never fought before. She jumped backwards gaining distance and fired one more dart at her enemy. The dart nailed Bebop right on his snout making him go poof. Fluttershy took a breath of relief, as the animals who assisted her gathered around, "Thank you so much, all of you." she patted some of their heads and smiled. Sunset Shimmer after parting ways with the girls found herself wandering about another section of the forest, "Ok, I've been on this trail for awhile now, I just wish I knew what I was looking for," she looked around seeing everything appeared to be calm, "Hmm. Forest is too still. Something has to be close," she started hearing rustling among the trees making her look up at them. When she saw them calming she pressed on, only to suddenly get knocked to the ground from behind, "What, the?" she looked and to her surprise saw Snips and Snails in their demon forms during the Fall Formal, "Snips? Snails?" "We used to respect you because you did whatever it took to get what you wanted." Snips began. "Even if it meant lying and cheating your way." Snails added. "Now look at you, a shadow of your former self!" Snips mocked. Sunset got up, "You two don't scare me any more than you normal selves do." she grabbed two kunai. "Then we shall teach you to fear us!" Snails declared, as the two demon boys flew in to attack Sunset. Sunset Shimmer blocked their aerial attacks much like how she fought the corrupted Aeons in outer space. As she fought she started formulating a plan and started climbing up a tree for higher ground. She grabbed onto a vine and tried to swing to another tree while Tarzan yelling. Unfortunately she didn't swing far enough and ended up dangling from the vine she grabbed onto, "Uh-oh." Snips and Snails smirked, as they began flying right at her from opposite sides. Sunset looked back and forth between the two who were getting closer. Just as they were right on top of Sunset, she smirked and let go of the vine and landed onto a bottom branch that was right below her. Because of this, Snips and Snails were on a direct path with each other. They were coming in so fast it was impossible for them to pull up. The two could only scream as the collided into each other and went poof. Sunset smiled before climbing back down to the ground, and looked around as if expecting something, "You may as well show yourself now. I'd rather we get it over with." she called out. Suddenly appearing from behind her was Sunset's evil self She-Demon, as she was known as, "Wanting to cut to the chase? How delightful," she chuckled, before noticing Sunset bearing a firm look at her, "You don't seem at all surprised to see me. Could it be you actually saw this coming?" "Only you would be my greatest adversary," Sunset began, "Plus after facing those two jokers it was a dead give away." "No matter, because now's the time for you to face your true inner self," She-Demon began as she floated around Sunset taunting her, "You had the magic and power to bend anyone to your will. You had the power to rule everyone, and you gave it up for friends!" Sunset looked down with guilt, "I admit, I wanted all the power to myself and make everyone worship me because I thought I deserved it all," she looked back up with courage, "But that was then and this is now. I'm a new person, completely opposite from you!" "You say that about yourself, but have you forgotten how everyone treated you in the aftermath? They just looked at you with loathing hate." She-Demon continued to mock her. "As I said before, that was then and this is now. But perhaps you need it spelled out for you another way." Sunset stated, as she armed herself and began to sing. Power Was all I desired (I desired, all I desired) But all that grew inside me Was the darkness I acquired When I began to fall And I lost the path ahead That's when your friendship found me And it lifted me instead Sunset jumped at She-Demon, and the two fought it out with Sunset striking with her kunai daggers and ninjitsu. She-Demon was flying around to dodge, while blasting Sunset with magic blasts. Sunset however used her ninja skills to dodge the shots. Like a phoenix burning bright In the sky I'll show there's another side to me You can't deny I may not know what the future holds But hear me when I say That my past does not define me 'Cause my past is not today She-Demon dove down to strike Sunset, but the girl grabbed her by the arm and threw her back. She-Demon almost crashed into a tree, but pulled up before collision. She continued to fly at Sunset, but the girl kept dodging. With every time She-Demon past Sunset, she touched the demon's arm and was able to read her mind and tell how she was going to strike next. Ambition Is what I believed Would be the only way To set me free But when it disappeared And I found myself alone That's when you came and got me And it felt like I was home Sunset looked past She-Demon while remembering how it was Princess Twilight who taught her the importance of Friendship, while Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack were the first ones to give her a chance at redemption. She recalled at the Battle of the Bands how it was her that reunited the girls during their falling out and added her own power to defeat the Dazzlings. She then remembered how at the Friendship Games despite how she wasn't able to keep the magic under control, she was able to teach the Twilight Sparkle of this world the importance of Friendship She then recalled the adventures she had with the turtles, April, and Casey in New York City and Outer Space. She even remembered the friends she made while doing so, from Master Splinter, the Mighty Mutanimals, Sal Commander, Mona Lisa, Bishop, Traximus, and even Fugitoid whom she could see reaching out for her to give her the final bit of courage she needed. Like a phoenix burning bright In the sky I'll show there's another side to me You can't deny I may not know what the future holds But hear me when I say That my past does not define me 'Cause my past is not today She-Demon could see a fiery aura surrounding Sunset Shimmer which made the villain worry. As the sun shined through onto Sunset through the trees, the girl had gained a phoenix like form and her intense glow illuminated onto She-Demon. The villain screamed, as the darkness was extinguished from her and in her place was Sunset's last form Daydream Shimmer. Daydream smiled as Sunset Shimmer landed before her and spoke. "Well, done, Sunset Shimmer. You have truly conquered the ghosts of your past, and now you are ready to face the true enemy that lies ahead for you." Sunset and Daydream bowed their heads to each other in respect, before Daydream Shimmer dissolved into light particles that entered into Sunset who smiled feeling victorious. Back at Camp Everfree, the turtles were talking with their friends while close to the forest, "Any words on them yet?" Twilight asked. "Still nothing." Donnie answered. "I sure hope they're all right." April replied. Karai looked into the distance of the forest and gasped, "Whoa!" "What is it, Karai?" Shini asked, as everyone looked in the direction Karai was facing and became shocked as well. Coming towards them were the Rainbooms, who bore a look of seriousness on their faces, with some of them particularly Rarity who looked dirty and filthy from the fighting they endured while in the spirit world, "Holy chalupa." Mikey gasped. The Rainbooms stopped before the group, as Twilight spoke, "What happened out there, girls?" "Are you all ok?" Casey asked. "We're fine, Casey." Applejack answered. "Better than we've ever felt." Fluttershy added. "We're finally ready to face whatever is going on here at camp." Sunset declared, as the Rainbooms stood proudly, as the scene shifted to a black and white comic panel look. > The Revelation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Later on behind the mess hall cabin, the girls were telling their friends what happened to them out in the Spirit world. After explaining everything, their friends were surprised at what they were told, "Whoa, sounded intense out there." Karai gasped. "Yeah, and it felt so real." Applejack added. "I can't believe you guys faced opponents like Armaggon, Dregg, and Subprime." Raph said in disbelief. "And you, Rarity, were actually willing to get covered in filth?" Mikey joked. "Laugh if you will, Michelangelo, but just because I'm a lady doesn't mean I can't fight dirty." Rarity said with her head held high. "Sounds like you all did great out there." Twilight smiled. "We did, and who knows maybe you'll conquer your own spiritual adversary too." Sunset added, while Twilight hoped the others didn't think it was Midnight Sparkle she was referring to. "Well, I certainly need a wash after fighting in the mud," Rarity said, "Then afterward we can finally do a run through of the fashion show on the runway." "Dock." Applejack reminded her. "Sounds like a plan." April admitted. "I'll be right with you, just need to get something." Sunset Shimmer said, as she left to head back to the Sapphire tent. As she walked past the boat house she could hear the voices of Gloriosa and Timber arguing from inside. "I just wished you didn't tell them that ridiculous story!" Gloriosa began, as Sunset Shimmer listened in and heard Timber respond. "Ah, this is all too much for you! You have to let it go!" Sunset looked suspicious, "I knew it! He wants her to get rid of the camp!" The door flung open luckily not slamming into Sunset, as Gloriosa stormed out followed by her brother. She spotted Timber sneaking off into the woods, and spoke to herself, "I better warn the turtles." she pulled out her phone and called Leo. As the turtles were hanging out in the forest, Leo heard his T-Phone ring and answered it, "Hello? Sunset Shimmer, what's up? What?! Don't worry, we'll be right there." he hung up. "What's the latest?" Raph asked. "Sunset found Timber sneaking off into the woods after overhearing an argument between him and Gloriosa. Now she's certain he's behind these Gaea Everfree related incidents." Leo explained. "So let's get the drop on the dude and expose him." Mikey said feeling hyped. "First we meet up with Sunset Shimmer, come on!" Leo ordered, and they took off. In the woods, Timber was sneaking around making sure no one was watching him, while unaware of Sunset Shimmer trailing him from behind. Sunset saw the turtles drop in, "Where is he?" Donnie asked. "That way." Sunset said, as they followed the path before feeling the earth shake a bit. They pulled back some tree branches seeing someone enter a cave in the rock quarry. They could see a magenta glow coming from inside it. The cave itself was practically blocked by huge boulders with only a small enough crevice for someone to squeeze into. "Whoa." Mikey gasped. "That must be where the magic at camp is radiating from." Donnie said. "Now we know why he didn't want anyone going around the rock quarry." Raph realized it. "I better call Twilight." Sunset pulled her phone out. "Twilight?" Leo asked. "I know it'll be painful, Leo, but if Timber Spruce is behind these incidents then Twilight has to know." she dialed up. "Yeah, otherwise she'll be falling for a psycho." Mikey joked, only to get smacked on his head by Leo. After receiving the text, Twilight and Spike wandered through the woods on their way to the rock quarry. She could see the same magenta glow from over the treetop, "What is that?" she asked, before walking right into a spider web, making her shriek as she pulled it off. Sunset clasped her mouth shut and shushed her, "This way." she said, as Twilight and Spike followed Sunset and the turtles. They showed the two the cave where the glow continued pulsing, "What is going on?" Twilight asked. Sunset explained, "I think it's Gaea Everfree. Or rather, someone who wants us to think she's back. C'mon!" they went to the cave entrance, until Sunset turned to the turtles, "I think you guys better stay out here." "What?" Raph asked in shock, "You're not serious." "Sunset, if there is something in there you'll need our help." Donnie warned her. "But if there isn't you'll only risk exposing yourselves," Sunset countered, "Besides only Twilight and I can fit through this crevice." Raph looked and it and spoke, "True, I mean if Mikey tried squeezing in he'd get stuck." "Hey!" Mikey growled. "All, right, but be careful in there. Both of you." Leo warned them, especially Twilight. The girls nodded and squeezed into the save with Spike following. They walked through the cave that was giving off a white glow somewhere, along with sparkling geodes embedded into the walls, "This place is beautiful." Twilight marveled. Sunset looked around feeling tense, "There's Equestrian magic here. I can... I can feel it." Spike suddenly looked confused, "Wait. I thought Timber was just faking there was a magical nature creature. Are you saying it's real?" Twilight was suddenly taken aback, "Timber? What does he have to do with any of this?" Before Sunset could try and explain, a soft voice answered, "Nothing," they looked at a dark spot in the cave to see Gloriosa coming into the light, "It's all me." she bore an insane grin while her eye twitched. The girls and Spike were left in shock and confusion at thie revelation, as Sunset spoke, "Gloriosa? But... Timber. I was sure he was the one trying to make it seem like Gaea Everfree was back. It was you who was trying to scare everyone away?" Gloriosa walked around them, "I would never try to scare anyone away from Camp Everfree." Sunset Shimmer grabbed onto her arm and her magic enabled her to see what was going on with her. She saw Gloriosa in the camp's office with Filthy Rich standing before her and speaking, "My, oh, my. You fell behind on your payments, Gloriosa. I own the land now." Gloriosa pleaded desperately with him, "Please. My great grandparents founded this place. It's been in our family for generations! You have to let the camp stay!" "Instead of turning it into a spa resort that will line my pockets with more money than this camp ever could?" he chuckled greedily, "I don't think so." Gloriosa continued to try and reason with him, "Please! I-I-I-I just need a little more time!" Filthy Rich rolled his eyes deciding to show mercy, "Fine. I'll give you 'til the end of the month. Hmph." he left the office, while Gloriosa could only cry. Sunset could see another flashback of Gloriosa sitting on the same log Twilight did in the forest still crying, "What'll I do?" her tears trickled onto the pond water, and she saw a magenta magical wisp fly by. She followed it leading her to the same cave they were in, "Wow." she saw a white stalagmite rock formation, and seven colorful geodes embedded in it. Gloriosa touched them and gasped as magic was surrounding her. She pulled herself off and landed on the ground seeing she pulled five of the geodes out. There was a purple one, an orange one, a yellow one, a blue one, and a white one. Another flashback showed Gloriosa and Timber in the office, with Gloriosa wearing the geodes around her neck like a necklace. Timber tried talking to her, "You don't know what those things are!" "But I know what they can do!" Gloriosa extended her arm out to two plants hanging in the office, and vines started growing from them and were picking up stuff from atop the desk, "I've been practicing! I can control their power now!" Timber was still skeptical about this, "You don't know that for sure!" When he saw his sister wasn't going to listen, he just stormed off only for Gloriosa to stop him, "This is our camp, and it's being taken away! If this has to be our last week here, I'm going to use whatever it takes to make it count!" she growled. "Just take it easy, we're supposed to meet Scout Master Bishop soon, so don't lose it." Timber warned her. "Don't worry about me." Gloriosa said firmly. Suddenly Sunset could see it was Gloriosa who was the one responsible for causing Sandalwood and Derpy's boat to crash into the dock by making vines rise up form the water below to give them a push to shore, but the push was a lot stronger than what she planned for. Another flashback involved Micro Chip and Trixie going to try fishing in the stream, but saw the water was all dried up. She looked around and saw a bunch of boulders were blocking the water. She used her magic to make vines move the rocks to unblock the water giving the two campers something to fish in. The next flashback was once again of Timber and Gloriosa arguing, but this time was the whole argument Sunset listened in on moments ago, "You were using magic all over the place! I had to tell them something to cover for you! What did you want me to do?!" Timber argued. "I just wish you didn't tell them that ridiculous story!" Gloriosa shouted. "Ah, this is all too much for you! You have to let it go!" Sunset snapped out of it and spoke, "Timber wasn't talking about letting go of the camp. He was talking about you letting go of the magical geodes!" Gloriosa shirked back wondering how Sunset found her out, "All those things you were doing to make this week the best week ever. Every time you used magic to do them, you caused another problem somewhere else! Timber was... covering for you!" Gloriosa looked suspicious, "How do you know what I was doing with the geodes? How do you know about the magic?" Sunset Shimmer answered, "I can see things. Feel things. Because I have magic, too," she motioned to Twilight, "And so does she. And so do our friends." Twilight tried giving her own two cents to dissuade Gloriosa from her dark path, "Gloriosa, Timber wasn't wrong. Maybe you should stop using magic. Too much of it can be dangerous if you can't control it." Gloriosa continued to bare a look of insanity, as she spoke, "Oh, I got this. And I'm going to use it to save my camp," she looked back at the remaining two geodes, "I just need more power!" she reached for them. "No!" the two girls cried, as Gloriosa used her magic to ensnare the two in vines from the ground. When Gloriosa added the last two geodes to the others, she could feel all of the magic coursing through her veins. Her body rose from the ground and vines wrapped around her legs and upper torso. Her clothing disappeared, replaced by a multi-green colored full body dress with vine-like designs, purple forest leafs and long brown wooden colored gloves that reached just bellow her shoulders. The necklace connecting top, which also had purple leafs on the outlines. Her shoes were replaced with long stockings, brown vines wrapped around her legs and two daisies placed at her angles. Her hair became longer, moving in an intangible wind, turning into a glowing cyan color with light aquamarine streaks. Her skin became a sickly cerise gray, her eyes became as black as night, her pupils now light brilliant green and a mask of moderate raspberry surrounded the outline of her eyes. A brown headband rested on her head, decorated with glowing green stones. The new Gloriosa smirked at her new appearance and spoke to the girls, "Sorry, girls. I know what I need to do. But I feel like we're not on the same page. So..." She levitated to the cave exit. "Gloriosa!" the two struggled, "No!" Outside the cave the turtles who had been watching from the sides saw Gloriosa levitating out, much to their shock, "Holy pepperoni!" Mikey gasped. They saw her use her magic to make vines seal off the entrance of the cave with boulders, before levitating off. They went back to the entrance, as Raph spoke, "That did not look like Timber at all." "That was Gaea Everfree!" Mikey cried. "Then you think Timber was working for Gaea Everfree?" Donnie asked developing a new theory. "It doesn't matter. Twilight and Sunset are trapped in there!" Leo reminded them, as they tried moving the boulders. They tried their hardest, but the boulders weren't budging, "There's no way we can move these things, Leo." Raph said. "Yeah, even the four of us combined couldn't move them." Donnie agreed. "But how're we going to get Twilight and Sunset out of there?" Leo asked, until they saw a magical aura surrounding the boulders and they were suddenly moving aside to reveal the cave entrance. They saw Twilight, Sunset, and Spike come out, "Twilight!" Leo ran over and embraced the girl, who returned the embrace. The two realizing how close they were parted while looking embarassed. "You all ok?" Raph asked Sunset. "We're fine, Raph. Thanks to Twilight" Sunset motioned to Twilight who smiled sheepishly. "So what happened in there?" Donnie asked. "Is Timber working for Gaea Everfree?" Mikey wondered. Sunset shook her head, "We were wrong, guys. It wasn't Timber. It was Gloriosa." "Gloriosa?" the turtles gasped, as Raph spoke, "Well, we were suspicious of her too. She was too peppy to be normal." "Not to mention the eye twitching." Mikey added. Twilight spoke, "She's been using these magical geodes from inside this cave to help try fix any problems happening at camp, but that in turn only made more problems. Timber was only trying to cover for her." "Why would she need to use magic rocks?" Mikey asked. Sunset answered, "Well, Filthy Rich had a part in it. Gloriosa and Timber couldn't pay the rent on the camp, and Filthy Rich owning the land planned to tear it down and put in a spa resort." "So his appearances have only been pressuring Gloriosa." Leo realized. "Now she's taken too much of the magic and became what you saw her as." Spike finished. "We got to stop her." Leo said. "Then perhaps you require assistance?" came a familiar voice. The turtles, Sunset, Twilight, and Spike looked over and coming out from the trees was Master Splinter with Bishop. "Master Splinter!" The turtles cheered, as they ran over and embraced their father. "My sons." he held them close. "What're you doing here?" Donnie asked. "Bishop contacted me and informed me of the trouble happening here," Splinter began, "He sent a portal bringing me right away." Bishop smiled and nodded in confirmation. "Sensei." Sunset greeted him. "Sunset Shimmer, I can see it in your eyes your journey into the Spirit World was successful." Splinter smiled. "Thank you, Master," she answered, before turning to Bishop, "Bishop, Gloriosa, she's the one-" Bishop cut her of. "Yes. I'm aware of the situation, Sunset Shimmer. I had my suspicions Gloriosa was behind these certain occurrences at the camp, but I had to make sure. Now my suspicions have been confirmed." "What is the trouble here?" Splinter inquired. "Long story short," Spike began, "Gloriosa's been using magical geodes to try and make time at camp perfect, but she's only been causing problems." "She's determined to protect this camp from being sold, sensei." Leo explained. "Even willing to go all plant crazy." Mikey trembled. "Then she must be quelled before she hurts someone." Splinter said. "Well, it's a good thing we came too." came another familiar voice. The group saw coming from the same direction and Splinter and Bishop was the Mighty Mutanimals. "Slash!" Raph cheered, as he fist bumped with his former pet. "Good to see you, Raphael." Slash greeted, and climbing out from his shell was Chompy who growled happily. "Chompy, what're you doing here?" Raph asked, as he picked him up. "When Bishop came to get us, Chompy cried to come." Slash explained. "Oh, I love you too, little guy." Raph nuzzled Chompy. Donnie saw Pigeon Pete was alongside the Mutanimals, "Pete, where have you been?" Pete was suddenly confused, "What?" he turned to his fellow mutants, "Didn't you tell the guys I was going South to see some relatives?" Slash and Rockwell looked a tad sheepish, "We may have forgotten to tell them." Rockwell admitted. Pete sighed in exasperation, "And you all call me a bird brain." "With the Mighty Mutanimals, we really stand a chance now." Mikey cheered, as he and Mondo Gecko high fived. "And it is not just the Mutanimals," Bishop answered, "I have brought additional support, some you already know of." Walking out from the forest and into the clearing was who else but the Dazzlings armed with their ninja weapons,"Ta-dah!" they presented themselves. "The Dazzlings?" Sunset gasped. "Aren't those the sirens you defeated at the battle of the bands?" Twilight asked. "And fought in New York?" Spike asked. "One and the same." Leo confirmed. "What're you three doing here?" Raph asked suspiciously. "Keep your shell on, Raphael, we're here to help." Aria replied. "That's right." Sonata grinned. "We understand if you're hesitant to accept our help, but we're finally ready to do something real good instead of evil." Adagio promised. Sunset spoke up, "Well, good. Because we need all the help we can get." "So what's the situation?" Sonata asked. "A girl's gone crazy with magic and is heading towards camp." Mikey explained. "We have to stop her before she hurts someone." Donnie added. "Then let us hurry!" Splinter ordered, as the group charged through the forest to get back to camp, while hoping Gloriosa hasn't done too much damage yet. > Stand for Everfree > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back at Camp Everfree, several of the girls were on the dock modeling some of the outfits Rarity had design. Rarity looked around seeing they were two members short, "Where are Twilight and Sunset?" she sighed, "They're missing our dress rehearsal." "No idea." April answered. "I'm sure they'll turn up." Karai replied confidently. "I suppose we can get started without them," Rarity called to Vinyl Scratch, "Whenever you're ready!" Vinyl grabbed a record and began playing some techno beats on a turntable, as the girls got ready. Rarity nudged Applejack smugly about the outfit she was wearing, "Hmm. Told you you'd like it." "It's alright... I guess," Applejack looked sheepish, and asked, "I do get to keep it after camp though, right?" Rarity could only smile and nod. Meanwhile out by one of the water pumps, Casey, Snips, and Snails were filling up water balloons, "Oh, this is gonna be so awesome!" Snips chuckled. "A little water balloon prank after the fashion show demo is perfect for a laugh," Casey said, until the three suddenly saw Gloriosa in her new form floating by with a trail of vines following her. Casey was in shock, while Snips and Snails hid the bucket of water balloons behind them. As Gloriosa passed, Casey spoke up, "Oh, my gosh! Did you guys see that?" "She looks... different." Snails began. "Ya think?" Casey asked in sarcasm. "Yeah. She looks... taller." Snips added, as Snails agreed. Casey face faulted before bashing their heads together, "You dorks, come on!" he dragged them along to follow her. Back by the dock, Rarity spoke up to the present campers, "This is only a preview. I've got another entire line I'll debut at the real thing," she turned to April, Karai, and Shini, "I even have outfits for you three to model." "Us?" Shini asked. "Really?" April inquired. "I'm not exactly the model type." Karai answered. "But I know you three will love it," Rarity insisted, "And who knows maybe some certain boys will be watching you three," she teased, making the three blush. Suddenly the music stopped playing, confusing Rarity, "Why did you stop the... Oh my Goodness!" she gasped, as everyone saw Gloriosa floating over with Casey following wearing his hockey mask and carrying his goalie stick. "Everyone, get back!" Casey called, as he ran to strike Gloriosa, only for vines to pop up and ensnare him. "Casey!" April cried. "Let me go!" Casey struggled. "Attention, campers!" Gloriosa declared. "It's Gaea Everfree!" Trixie cried. "No way!" Karai gasped. "She is real?" Shini asked in confusion. "Oh, no!" Flash gasped. "We're doomed!" Bulk cried in a panic. From the crowd of campers emerged Timber who after losing sight of his sister in the woods just headed back to camp, "Gloriosa?! What are you doing?!" The girls looked in shock, as Applejack spoke, "That's Gloriosa? Am I goin' crazy, or are her feet not touchin' the ground?" "Freaky-deaky!" Pinkie said, while she was also defying gravity. "I'm too shocked to say anything about that." Karai said dryly. Gloriosa announced to everyone, "I have an announcement to make! Filthy Rich wants this to be the last session of Camp Everfree. But don't worry, I've got this!" she clutched her claws to the ground creating a huge wall of vines to cover the entire camp, which in the process destroyed the dock. "Oh, come on! We literally just finished building that!" Rainbow complained. "We gotta stop her," Karai turned to Shini, "Shini, my weapon." Shini took off her hat and reached in pulling out Karai's sword, April's tessen and tanto, and her own kusarigami, "Here." "Thanks," April caught her two weapons and spoke to Karai and Shini, "You two stop Gloriosa, I'm gonna help Casey." "All right." Karai answered, as she and Shini went to fight Gloriosa using their weapons while Glriosa used her magic and control over vines to repel them. April made it to Casey and used her tanto to cut the vines to free Casey, "Thanks, April. You rule." "No problem. Come on, we have to stop Gloriosa!" the two joined their comrades in fighting the corrupted girl, much to the campers surprise. "Enough of this!" Gloriosa swatted the four aside, "I will not let you stand in my way of preserving my home!" With the Gloriosa began to sing. I have waited for the day To send this greedy wolf away Now the magic is my salvation Gather close in my protection We... will... stand for Everfree! The vines got taller and thicker, while the campers were in a panic. April, Casey, Shini, and Karai continued to attack Gloriosa, but still kept getting swatted away while Gloriosa didn't appear to even be trying. Behold the beauty of nature in all its glory No need to fear the vultures at the door Right here you have me to protect you Within these walls of thorns Forever free, forevermore! Glriosa ended upbacking the four humans, as well as several campers, Principal Celestia, and Vice Principal Luna inside the dining hall, leaving the Rainbooms and other students to themselves. Timber seeing his sister was out of control had to do something. He grabbed a nearby axe and tried to chop the vine wall, only for it to keep growing back. Gloriosa grabbed the axe and looked at her brother. They have come into our domain Here to seal our camp in chains But we have held it for generations This is just a complication We... will... stand for Everfree! Trust in me, this is for your own good Don't be afraid, nature is our friend All of this beauty that surrounds us Every lovely bloom designed to defend Let them come, just let them try! I'm not about to say goodbye! This camp will be here throughout the ages Written into the history pages We... will... stand for Everfree! The Rainbooms were ducking behind a boat by the destroyed dock, with Fluttershy sighing, "Oh, why do these kinds of things always happen to us?" "What are we going to do?" Rarity asked. Rainbow stood up, "What we always do! Save the day!" The girls agreed, as Pinkie cheered, "Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy! This is gonna be so much fun! I only wish we had time to make superhero capes!" "Oh, me too!" Rarity agreed. Rainbow sighed, "Enough about our wardrobe! We've got to stop Gloriosa from trapping everybody in here!" "Then let's do it ninja style!" Applejack declared, as they grabbed their weapons, and took off. "Gloriosa, you're not going to get away with this!" Rainbow called. "If you do not stand with me, then you're against me!" Gloriosa concentrated her magic and rising up form the ground were more vines. These vines however started molding together and standing before Gloriosa were bulky vine creatures. "Well, this is unexpected." Rarity said in surprise. "Attack!" Gloriosa shouted, as her minions attacked. The Rainbooms took off and fought their enemies using their ninjitsu and ninja weapons. Every time they sliced a vine monster they regenerated, but that wasn't stopping them. Rarity ponied up and used her diamond disk like a boomerang slicing the top halves off five vine monsters. Applejack ponies up and used her super strength to pick one monster up and throw it at a few more. When Fluttershy ponied up, she spoke to some gophers telling them to make big tunnels for the other campers to escape through. Pinkie ponied up and grabbed some sprinkles from a shaker and threw them at the creatures who exploded. Rainbow ponied up and was running circles around the creatures confusing them. Inside the mess hall, everyone looked out the windows seeing their friends fight Gloriosa's plant creatures, "Oh, man. The girls are risking their necks out there." Casey said. "What can we do?" Trixie asked. "Yeah. We're stuck in here." Micro Chip added. "Maybe so, but we still have friends out there who can help us." April said, as she started texting an S.O.S to the turtles. Outside the camp, Twilight, Sunset, the turtles, and their allies raced for Camp Everfree, as Leo heard his T-phone beep. He checked the message and spoke, "It's April. Gloriosa's already there, and she's holding everyone captive." "Oh, no." Mikey gasped. "What about the girls?" Raph asked. "April said, they're fighting Gloriosa now, and she's got these vine minions working for her." Leo explained after texting April back. "I see the camp!" Mondo called, as they approached it and saw the camp was surrounded by vines. "Anybody have a giant chainsaw on them?" Mikey asked. "Allow me!" Slash tried striking at the wall of vines with his mace, but the vines kept regenerating, "No way!" "How're we going to get in?" Donnie asked. "We could try tunneling under." Sonata suggested. Rockwell looked over the wall and smirked, "Or maybe, we go over." "Think you can levitate all of us, Doc?" Sunset asked. "I can sure try." Rockwell began focusing and levitated everyone up. "Wow!" Mondo cheered. "Ugh!" Rockwell strained. "What's wrong, Doc?" Pete asked. "I've never lifted this much weight before!" Rockwell strained, as the group started coming down. "Twilight, you have to help, Rockwell." Leo told her. "I don't want to use too much. Midnight Sparkle could take over." "Twilight, our friends are in there!" Sunset reminded her. Twilight seeing the gravity of the situation had to risk it, "Ok." she used her magic to help Rockwell levitate everyone up and over the vine wall before landing safely behind the dining hall. "Come on, we must go through the back." Bishop ordered. "Wait, but if we set foot in there then we..." Leo and his fellow mutants knew they'd risk exposing themselves, until Splinter spoke. "Sometimes rules are meant to be broken." The group nodded, and snuck inside. Inside the dining hall, everyone trapped inside waited for April's so called friends to come and help. Celestia spoke to the girl, "Are you sure they're coming, April?" "And how do we know we can trust them?" Luna inquired. "They're coming and they always keep their word." April assured them. Suddenly from out of the shadow parts of the dining hall, the turtles emerged making the captured campers worry. The turtles held their hands up showing they meant no harm. Celestia spoke to her students, "Don't panic," she and Luna approached, and spoke to them, "Who... are... you?" "More like, what are you?" Luna inquired. Mikey answered, "Not very into labels." Raph continued to explain, "Some call us strangers, freaks, monsters." Donnie took it, "Just say we're four brothers from New York who hate bullies, love our city, this camp, and our friends." Leo finally spoke, "And right now, our friends that are fighting with magic need our help." Luna appeared skeptical, "Give us a reason why should we believe you?" "Luna!" Celestia scolded her. Leo held a hand up telling her Luna was allowed an opinion, "You don't have to take our word for it. Take it from them." He poitned to April, Casey, Karai and Shini. April spoke up to give the turtles support, "Yes, the news about the Kraang Invasion and the Tricereton Invasion in New York City, these four are the ones that stopped them and saved our world. We were helping them as well." she motioned to Casey who nodded. Karai went next, "It's true. These four have also taken down Oroku Saki, The Shredder, my fraud father and saved us all from destruction. They even helped me in seeing that he lied to me about everything and reunited me with my true father, Hamato Yoshi, Splinter." She motioned Splinter over, which then he steps out of the shadows as well with the Mighty Mutanimals and Dazzlings. "Yes, these wonderful four, my sons have done more for the city and anywhere else on Earth." Splinter motioned to Bishop, who opened up the bottom of his shirt to reveal his true Utrom form, much to everyone's shock. Utrom Bishop spoke, "They are correct. They too saved the whole Universe from extinction for the sake of my kind and the humans." Luna whispered to Celestia, "And I was going to ask him out to dinner when we got home." Celestia playfully rolled her eyes. Leo spoke, "We've all been doing our part to protect our city and the ones we love most, our friends. And we think we may have something to offer. We're gonna need..." Raph held out his hand and said, "Strategic Leadership!" Leo placed his hand on top of Raphs and said, "Strong Instincts!" Mikey placed his hand on top of Leos and Raphs and then looked at Donnie, "Logical Wisdom!" Donnie finally placed his hand on top of Mikeys, Leo's and Raph's and said, "And Boat Loads Of Heart." They break and pulled out they're ninja weapons with confidence and determination. Thereby earning an impressed look from both Celestia and Luna and looked at each other, both with the same idea in mind, letting the Turtles through to help the girls outside. "Come on, team let's help out!" Leo said, as the Turtles and Mutanimals barged the door down allowing them to escape. Outside, Gloriosa watched in anger, as the Rainbooms were destroying her minions, "Why are you fighting me?! I'm doing this to save our camp! I'm doing this for you!" "No you're not!" shouted Leo, as everyone looked to see their friends and allies emerging from the cabin, "You're doing this for yourself, and yourself alone!" Leo pointed a sword at her. "What are you?!" Gloriosa demanded. "We're the dudes, that's gonna mow you over." Mikey joked, and Mondo laughed with him. Bishop spoke up, "All right, my friends, let's fight!" he armed himself with an Utrom blaster and began blasting at the vine creatures. "Ninjas, take 'em down!" Leo ordered. "Mutanimals, go!" Slash ordered. "Come on, girls!" Adagio called to her two friends. And so all three groups followed by Karai, April, Casey, and Shini joined in the fight in taking down the vine monsters. Pete and Bishop were shooting at the vine monsters, Rockwell was using his psychic waves to push them off their feet, Slash was slamming his mace into them, Mondo was skateboarding around dodging their attempts to grab him, and the turtles were slicing down and stabbing at the monsters. Karai shifted into her snake form and used her snake hands to bit and rip the monsters to pieces. As the campers watched this, Micro Chip spoke to Sandalwood and Flash, "Is it wrong if I still find her hot as a snake creature?" the two didn't know how to answer, while Sandalwood shrugged. "I wish we could do something to help them." Flash said. "But how?" Octavia asked. "Yeah, what can we do?" Trixie asked. "Well, this is our camp too, right?" Flash asked. "Yeah!" Bulk agreed. "So I say we get in there and help them any way we can!" Flash called. "Yeah!" they agreed. "Going out there unarmed would be a poor move, my young friend," Splinter began, before smiling, 'I find it best to always come prepared." Splinter had tossed many of the campers a ninja weapon to use. Vinyl was given a pair of shuriken star wheels, Trixie had a bisento axe, Flash held a pair of Mamba Duo Swords, Lyra and Bonbon each held a ninja flute, Bulk dawned a pair of Ninjitsu Boxing Gloves, Snips and Snails each held two Eskrima Sparring Sticks, Octavia was given two Jitte Daggers, Derpy wore two Tegaki Hand Spikes and two Ashiko Shoe Straps, Micro Chip twirled a ninjitsu scythe, Sandalwood held up a ninjitsu shield with the yin yang symbol on it and in the center was the Hamato clan symbol, Thunderbass carried two samurai katana swords, Valhallan had two scissor pincers on his arms, Cherry Crash held two three bladed scythes connected by a long cable, Mystery Mint held two katanas like Leo, Crimson Napalm held a pair of sais like Raph, and Blueberry Cake held a bamboo bo-staff. "Now, are you all ready to fight for your friends and this camp?!" Splinter asked seriously. "Yeah!" the campers cheered. "Then go!" Snips called to his fellow, "Yeah, come on, let's get in there!" he and Snails locked fists and pumped it up before leading the charge against the vine monsters. The campers used their weapons to strike the monsters in any way. The dazzling joined the Rainbooms, as Adagio spoke, "So you got new powers now? I'm impressed." "You three are here helping us?" Applejack asked in confusion. "Yeah. Surprised us too." Aria admitted. Splinter watched seeing without ninja training their drive alone was enough to help them fight for what they believed in. He turned to Celestia and Luna, "I would advise you two to join them." "But we don't know how to fight like that." Celestia answered. "Indeed, wouldn't we be a burden?" Luna inquired. Splinter spoke to them, "It is a father's job to protect his children, just as a sensei to his students. It is also a Principal and Vice Principal's job to protect their students." Celestia moved by his words turned to Luna, "He's right, Luna. We can't let them do this alone. We have to do it." "Yes, sister." Luna agreed. Splinter tossed Celestia a Hanwei Scimitar Sword and to Luna two Daburu sword/staff weapons, "Then come. Let us join our students!" the three joined the fight. All throughout camp, the campers and mutants were fighting the monsters. Timber made his way through the fights before calling out to his sister, "Gloriosa, this isn't the way!" Gloriosa looked down at her brother still looking insane, "I appreciate your concern, Timber, but I got this!" more vines started emerging and covering the ground. "No you don't!" Timber tried reasoning with her. Leo ran to Gloriosa and called from below, "Gloriosa, listen to your brother! You have to listen to reason. At this rate you'll destroy the camp and all of us with it!" Suddenly to Leo's shock, Gloriosa used vines to ensnare Leo lifting him up to her level. "Leo!" his brothers shouted. Gloriosa spoke to Leo with her voice sounding crazier, "Then so be it!" she used her vines to strangle Leo who started losing air. "Let him go!" Raph screamed. "Leo!" Twilight cried. April used her tessen and psychic powers to cut Leo free and he landed back on the ground safely, "Thanks, April." he caught his breath. "Please, Gloriosa! What you're doing is crazy! You have to listen to me!" Timber pleaded. Sunset spoke up, "That isn't Gloriosa. It's someone who's been consumed by Equestrian magic." Timber spoke back to his sister, "Whoever you are, you have to let my sister go! Please, Gloriosa, come back! I need you! Gloriosa!" But it was too late, Gloriosa encased herself in a vine cocoon and more vines started growing. The campers and mutants started getting entangled making them incapable of breaking free. Twilight and Sunset met back up with their fellow Rainbooms and stood together as Rarity projected a diamond barrier around them. Rarity grunted while keeping her shield as stable as possible, "I can't keep this up forever!" Sunset turned to Twilight, "It's up to you. You can use your magic to pull the brambles apart!" "No. There's too many of them. It would take too much magic. I can't!" Twilight doubted herself. "It's the only way! You have to embrace the magic inside you!" Sunset pleaded. "What if she takes over? What if instead of saving everyone, I turn into Midnight Sparkle and only make things worse?" "That won't happen!" Sunset answered, "We won't let it." the shield started cracking. Twilight tried concentrating her magic, but was holding back out of fear. Rarity fainted into Applejack's arms, as Sunset tried to help Twilight, "Come on, Twilight! You have to be stronger than she is!" Deep in Twilight's mind, Midnight Sparkle appeared before her mocking her, "You will never control me! I will always be a part of you!" she laughed. Midnight Sparkle merged herself into Twilight who slowly sprouted her old wings, horn, and aura glasses. "NO!" Twilight cried. Suddenly an astral form of Sunset appeared, "Twilight, listen to me! You are in charge!" Astral forms of the other girls appeared, as Rarity spoke, "You are a light, darling! A force for good!" "Yeah! You can kick the darkness's butt!" Rainbow encouraged her. "We're here for you, Twilight!" Pinkie cheered. "And we'll be here, no matter what!" Applejack promised. "We believe in you!" Fluttershy encouraged her. Suddenly Leo appeared, "Just as we always have!" appearing behind Leo was astral forms of his brothers, and all the friends Twilight made having since been with the turtles. "The time is now, Twilight. Show them what is truly in your heart!" Splinter ordered. "You... are not... Midnight Sparkle!" Sunset declared. Twilight hearing all their words of encouragement spoke up, "No! I... am... Twilight Sparkle! And the magic I carry inside me is... the Magic of Friendship!" she declared, as her Midnight Sparkle wings shattered and her horn disappeared. Twilight ponied up and flew out of the shattered dome. She used her magic to open up Gloriosa's cocoon. Gloriosa was in shock at this surprise, "No! Stop!" Suddenly the geodes form her necklace left her, and each one went to a specific Rainboom. The yellow one went to Fluttershy, the orange one to Applejack, the blue one to Rainbow Dash, the pink one to Pinkie Pie, the white one to Rarity, the red one to Sunset Shimmer, while Twilight held the purple one. All the Rainbooms ponies up once again in newer forms, complete with new clothing and new hairstyles. They flew up together with magic with their new magic circling them, "And now, as our friends the Turtles always say," Twilight began, as the Seven Rainbooms shouted, "BOOYAKASHA!" their combined magics shattered the vine dome, destroyed the monsters, and freed everyone from their restraints. > Legend You Were Meant To Be > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the vine dome was shattered and the monsters destroyed, all the campers and mutants looked around in joy seeing they were victorious, "We did it! I can't believe we did it!" Trixie cheered. "All right!" Lyra and Bonbon cheered. "That's what I'm talking about!" Flash cheered. "Cowabunga!" Mondo cheered as he and Snips and Snails high fived. "Victory!" Leatherhead announced. Timber got up before looking over and saw his sister who had returned to normal. He raced and got down to check on her, "Gloriosa?" Gloriosa awoke and looked around in confusion, "What... What happened?" Timber helped her sister up, "It's okay. It's gonna be okay." he looked over at Twilight who smiled, before looking over at Leo seeing the Turtle was giving him a thumb's up. The Rainbooms touched down to the ground and received applause from their fellow campers and their mutant friends, "We did it!" Fluttershy cheered. "As always." Rainbow added. Splinter approached, "I am proud of each and every one of you." he smiled with pride. "Thank you, Master." the girls answered. From the crowd came Spike who jumped into Twilight's arms, "You did it! Whoa," he suddenly saw a purple necklace hanging around her neck bearing the symbol of her star mark, "Nice bling." The rest of the Rainbooms looked at their necklaces which bore their individual marks, "What are these?" Applejack wondered. Sunset answered, "I'm not sure. But clearly we have some kind of connection to them." Donnie began theorizing, "They used to be the geodes until you unlocked their full magical powers." Rarity spoke, "I almost don't care what they are. They are gorgeous!" she gasped as an idea came to mind, "And will totally go with the other collection I was working on for the camp fashion show!" she giggled before realizing the mess all around camp, "That's probably canceled, isn't it?" "Looks like we got some cleaning up to do." Rainbow said. "And you won't do it alone," Leo assured, "We'll all pitch in and help clean up, won't we?" Leo asked his friends. The mutants agreed, "Then let's get to work. And so all the campers and mutants were cleaning up the camp removing the vines and brambles. Slash and Leatherhead were carrying bigger pieces, while looking shocked at Applejack carrying bigger ones like it was nothing. While cleaning up, all the campers got to know more about their new mutant friends forming new friendships. Micro Chip was particularly enjoying talking science with Donnie and Rockwell, Raph was showing off Chompy to several girls who were awed by the little alien's cute charm, Mikey was having fun with Snips and Snails by pranking some with the water balloons they filled up earlier. Even Leo was getting to know such boys and Flash and Timber better seeing they weren't just smooth talking pretty boys as they appeared to be. Gloriosa walked up to Celestia, Luna, Bishop, and Splinter prepared to confess her wrongdoings, "I am so sorry. I only wanted this to be the best week Camp Everfree has ever had, and instead I've made it the worst." she looked down, until Splinter laid a hand on her shoulder surprising her. "While you had good intentions to protect a place you hold close to you, Gloriosa, you chose to face this problem alone instead of reaching out for someone." "I know. My mistake and I paid the price," she sighed, "Maybe it's for the best that I'm losing the camp to Filthy Rich." "No. It's not," Celestia voiced protest, "This camp has meant so much to so many people, my sister and me included." Luna continued, "Why do you think we wanted our students to come here?" "We can't let Filthy Rich take this place away!" Twilight said. "But what can we do?" Adagio wondered. Mikey gasped, "Why don't make him think this place is haunted? We'll scare him into not wanting this place at all." he got smacked by Raph. "And risk him telling others not to come to this place because of that?" Raph asked. "We're gonna need to be less drastic than that, Mikey." Donnie added. Twilight gasped, as she looked to Celestia and Luna, "If camp meant so much to you two, maybe it meant as much to the other campers who came here in years past." "And maybe we can get them to help save it!" Sunset Shimmer said. "Oh! Like a fundraiser?" Applejack suggested. "Or a ball?!" Rarity gasped with joy. "Our band could play!" Rainbow cheered. "I could help write a new song just for the occasion!" Fluttershy offered. "And we can sing back up." Adagio suggested, as the Rainbooms and turtles looked at them skeptically. Aria spoke, "We've taken vocal lessons and we can sing like we used to back then." "Minus the whole power stealing." Sonata finished. The campers cheered with excitement, as Gloriosa spoke, "Those are all good ideas, but where would we hold it?" "Why not in the Crystal Cave?" Leo suggested. Rarity gasped, "A Crystal Ball! I love it!" "I admire everyone's enthusiasm. Really, I do. But I-I just don't know how we're going to plan a ball by tomorrow and invite everyone." Gloriosa said in concern. The Rainbooms answered, "We got this!" "Ugh, enough with saying that!" Raph snapped, and the girls chuckled. "Well, campers, mutants, everyone. We got work to do!" Leo declared, and everyone got to work in preparing for their Crystal Ball. Twilight had gotten addresses and names from past campers from Gloriosa and began mailing out invites with Timber and Leo helping her. Rainbow Dash used her super speed to deliver all the invites to the guests. Inside the cave everyone was decorating the place for the Crystal Ball with Rockwell and April using their psychic powers to hang decorations and lights, while Twilight used her own magic to help them. Even Fluttershy was using her ability to speak to birds to hang some decorations as well. Mikey and Pinkie were setting up the snack tables with treats, while trying hard not to sneak any for themselves, while Raph and Sunset were supervising them. On one table Derpy was placing a tray of muffins down at the same time Pigeon Pete was putting a tray of bread rolls down. The two looked at each other curiously, before they smiled at each other. Outside Flash, Bulk, Slash, and Leatherhead were clearing the entrance by lifting up the boulders, and as before were shocked to see Applejack lifting the bigger rocks like it was nothing and chucking it across the forest. Rarity used her diamond powers to create a shining diamond chandelier on the cave ceiling, while Donnie was using his genius to create makeshift disco lights. Then the night of the Crystal Ball came and guests were piling in. As the turtles, Celestia, Luna, and Splinter were showing them in, the brothers saw approaching was their old friend Jack Kurtzman, "Kurtzman?" they gasped. "Hey, there, boys. Good to see you." he greeted them. "You attended Camp Everfree too?" Mikey asked. "Oh, yes. I was in the same year as these two lovely ladies." Jack flirted at Celestia and Luna who looked embarrassed. "Oh, Jack, you haven't changed." Celestia blushed. "Well, come on in, Jack." Leo welcomed him inside. After all the guests entered, the Turtles joined in the Crystal Ball. All the mutants were wearing bow ties for the occasion, while Casey, April, Karai, and Shini were all dressed up with designer outfits courtesy of Rarity. Casey was in a black tuxedo while having his hair slicked back, April was in a sparkling yellow gown while having her hair down, Karai was wearing Japanese dress robes colored black and gray, and Shinigami wore a purple and black sparkling gown with star designs on it. They all watched as the Rainbooms began playing and singing a new song Fluttershy wrote, with the Dazzlings providing back up vocals. Twilight Sparkle: I used to think that stories were just that Set in stone, concrete as a fact It didn't dawn on me That I could change history Sunset Shimmer: Now I know I'm writing my own song Fight my way to the ending that I want I'll turn a tragedy Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle: Into an epic fantasy The Rainbooms: Hey, hey, hey You can be a hero (hero) too Oh-oh-oh Take my hand, I'm here for you Come away with me Be the legend you were meant to be You'll always be Everfree Oh, oo-wah, ah-oh, oo-wah, ah-oh, oo-wah To be the legend you were meant to be Oh, oo-wah, ah-oh, oo-wah, ah-oh, oo-wah To be the legend you were meant to be Clips of pictures were taken of everyone having the best last week of camp ever, especially now that the turtles and their fellow mutants didn't have to hide anymore. Raph was fishing with the Rainbooms and caught a whopper. Karai, Shini, and April were having a pillow fight in one of the tents with the girls, with April using her powers to pummel everyone with pillows. Casey and the members of his Floor Hockey Team stood together for a picture. Mikey and Mondo were goofing off with Snips and Snails. Slash and Bulk were arm wrestling with the big turtle defeating the strong boy. Lyra and Bonbon were surfing atop Leatherhead out on the lake, as the gator mutant swam. Fluttershy and Pigeon Pete were meeting all the bird life in the forest with many of them sitting on Pete's arms. Even the Dazzlings were being accepted by everyone once they saw they weren't so bad despite their past mistakes. Fluttershy: There was a time when fear would hold me down 'Cause I let it chain me to the ground Rainbow Dash: Look at me now, I'm soaring high It's never boring in the sky Applejack: When I know I've got friends on my side Whatever trials, I'll take them all in stride Rarity: Together we will shine so bright A radiant brilliance in the night The Rainbooms: Hey, hey, hey You can be a hero (hero) too Oh-oh-oh Take my hand, I'm here for you Come away with me Be the legend you were meant to be You'll always be Everfree Oh, oo-wah, ah-oh, oo-wah, ah-oh, oo-wah To be the legend you were meant to be Oh, oo-wah, ah-oh, oo-wah, ah-oh, oo-wah To be the legend you were meant to be! The group cheered and applauded, as Gloriosa took the stage and addressed everyone, "Thank you all so much for coming! And for helping us raise enough money to... save Camp Everfree!" she declared with happiness. The campers cheered upon their success, and the guests were equally glad. The only one not happy was Filthy Rich who was truly looking forward to tearing down the camp. With nothing else to do he turned around and headed for the exit. As he passed the turtles, they knew he was T.O'd about losing with Mikey laughing, "Later, Filthy dude!" Filthy Rich didn't even both to look back at the turtles. As he walked to the exit, water poured down on him courtesy of a bucket hanging from above. He walked away drenched and humiliated. The turtles turned to their younger brother who laughed, "Dr. Prankenstein strikes again! Booyakasha!" Gloriosa spoke to the Rainbooms, "Thank you. For everything. Oh, if I'd just asked for help in the first place..." Rainbow spoke up, "Hey, don't sweat it, it's kinda what we do." Afterward, the Rainbooms joined in the party as Vinyl Scratch started mixing some slow music for the guests to dance to. Twilight walked up to Leo and offered her hand, "Care to dance, Leo?" "Sure!" Leo answered, as he got up and walked with Twilight to the dance floor. Mikey seeing this got confident enough to walk up to Shinigami, "Hey, Shinigami, how about moving it with me on the dance floor?" Shini chuckled, "If you insist." the two went to join them. April grabbed Donnie's hand, "Come on, D. Let's join them." "Sure thing." Donnie blushed, as they followed. Casey sighed, until Applejack took his hand, "Come on, sugarcube. Let's have some fun." Casey smiled deciding it's better than being miserable. Raph looked around wishing Mona Lisa could be here with him, until Sunset spoke, "Come on, big guy. Let's not waste the night away." "Ok." Raph smiled. As Spike was playing with a party streamer, Rarity picked him up, "Come on, Spikey-Wikey. I could use a dance partner." "Sure." Spike barked happily. Slash walked up to Fluttershy, "Say, Fluttershy, would you like to dance?" he asked nervously. Fluttershy smiled, "Sure." she took Slash's hand and went to the dance floor. Pinkie went over to Leatherhead, "Come on, Leatherhead, let's join them!" "But I don't dance." the gator answered sheepishly. "Come on, it's easy! I'll show you." Pinkie took Leatherhead to the dance floor. Rockwell hovered over to Rainbow, "Care for a dance, Rainbow?" "Can you even..." Rainbow asked. "Why I'll have you know I was a real hoot at college parties." Rockwell boasted. "Prove it." Rainbow answered. "Well, then let's go!" Rockwell smirked, as he dragged Rainbow along, "If you swoon, let me know, I'll catch you!" Mondo watched as Pete was dancing with Derpy while sighing, until Lyra and Bonbon approached, "Hey, there. Mondo Gecko, right?" Lyra asked. "Yeah. And let me see... Lyra... And Bonbon." he guessed. "That's right." Bonbon confirmed. "You got someone to dance with?" Lyra asked. "Actually, no. But it's all good." Mondo lied. "Right," Bonbon called his bluff, "So listen, Lyra and I were wondering if you'd like to dance?" "What, really?" Mondo gasped. "Uh-huh." Lyra confirmed. "With both of you?" "Is that a problem?" Bonbon wondered. "No way, dudette. Let's do this!" Mondo cheered, as he followed the two friends to the dance floor. Splinter who was wearing traditional Japanese dress robes offered his hand to Celestia, "Shall we dance?" Celestia blushed, as Luna nudged her to accept, "Sure, Master Splinter." "Call me Yoshi." Splinter answered, as they joined the teenagers. Bishop approached Luna, "I know I'm probably not your type, but would you care to dance?" Luna smiled, "Of course," she took Bishop's hand and danced, "You know if you're not too busy still think we could have dinner some time? If you can eat at all?" "That would be complicated, but how about a movie instead?" Bishop offered. Luna smiled at the offer, "Works for me." As Leo and Twilight danced, the girl spoke up, "Thanks for all you've done for me, Leo. I really appreciate it." "That's what being a friend is all about, Twilight." Leo answered, and suddenly received a peck on the cheek by Twilight leaving him in a state of stupor. "Yeah. It sure is." Twilight confirmed while blushing. Walking up to the two was Timber who spoke up, "Mind if I cut in, Leo?" Leo looked at Twilight before turning back to Timber and smiled, "Go ahead." he passed Twilight off to Timber and watched them dance. Karai patted his shoulder, "That was very big of you, Leo." "He's a good guy. Better than I gave him credit for." Leo admitted. "Yeah-yeah. Come on, let's dance." Karai took his hand and they started dancing. As Twilight and Timber danced, the boy spoke, "Not to brag or anything, but it's pretty cool how I saved all those campers from those Rubus fruticosus," there was an awkward pause, "Blackberry brambles." Twilight answered, "I'm familiar with the genus. It's just a little weird you say you saved the campers. I thought I saved them." "Yeah. But I saved you from falling on the docks so that you could save the campers. So technically, it was all me." Timber countered. Twilight rolled her eyes and giggled, "I'm really glad I met you." "Uh-oh." Timber said in worry. "What?" "That sounds like a goodbye. And here I was hoping we'd still be able to hang out. Maybe get dinner and catch a movie?" "Yeah. I'd really like that." Twilight admitted. "Oh, good! I was hoping that's what this meant." Timber said. The two gazed into each others eyes, and looked ready to make a move, until Gloriosa came between them, "Oh, uh..." she chuckled nervously, "Sorry. I need to borrow Timber. There are some donors I really want him to meet. They were good friends with Mom and Dad." "Save me another dance ok?" he asked Twilight. "Sure." she answered. She looked back and saw her friends and the Turtles smiling at her, "Adorable." Rarity cooed. "Good thing Gloriosa came in when she did otherwise..." Leo smacked the back of Mikey's head shutting him up. "He does seem like a pretty cool guy." Sunset admitted. "He has his good points." Leo added. Rainbow zipped in, "You know what else is cool? Our awesome new superpowers!" she continued running all around, "I handed out, like, four hundred fliers, set up the stage, and still had time to pick up pizza! I love my super-speed!" "Pizza!" Mikey grabbed the pizza box from Rainbow to snack on. "About that. I think the crystals are the source of the superpowers." Sunset said. "Makes sense since they came from the geodes Gloriosa took." Donnie added. Fluttershy gasped, "You're not gonna ask us to give them up, are you?" "That'd be a bummer." Mikey said with a slice of pizza on his head from pigging out. "No. In fact, I think maybe we were meant to have them all along." Sunset answered. "Me too." Twilight agreed followed by the others. "With those dope powers imagine all the good you can do. Like be super heroes!" Casey cheered. "Let's not encourage them, Casey." April replied. "April is correct," Splinter said, "Power like that must not be used carelessly otherwise it could be your own downfall." "We'll use them well, Master Splinter." Sunset promised. "Just as we learned in the Spirit World." Applejack added. Splinter smiled, and turned to Twilight, "And Twilight. I have a gift for you." "A gift?" she asked. Splinter presented to her a Kamayari Sickle Spear, "Hey, that's the same weapon Princess Twilight uses." Pinkie remembered. "And you're giving this to me?" Twilight asked. "Though you are different from your Equestrian counterpart, you both are still so very similar. And no better weapon is best suited for Twilight Sparkle, than this." The rat explained. Twilight smiled, "Thank you, sensei." she accepted it. "Way to go, dudette!" Mikey cheered. "Now you're really one of us." Raph added. And so they all returned to the Crystal Ball to have fun. Afterward, Sunset, Twilight, and Leo snuck away and relaxed outside the cave. Leo gazed up at the stars as Twilight stood close to him. Sunset was enjoying the sight as well, until she looked curious, "There is one thing I'm still wondering about, though." "What's that?" Twilight asked. "Where did the magic that hit this cave come from?" she wondered. "Who knows." Twilight answered. "It's certainly a mystery." Leo admitted. Unknown to them, all the way back at CHS, the portal statue that connected both Equestria and their world stood with the horse statue still broken from when Midnight Sparkle blasted it at the Friendship Games. There was a crevice on the platform where magical energy was leaking out from. This truly did mean more adventure and mysteries awaited the Rainbooms in the future. The next morning, the Rainbooms, the Turtles, and their mutant friends had finished repairing the dock again, "Third time is a charm. Or is it fifth? I've lost track." "All that matters is that the runway is finished." Rarity replied. "I think you mean the "dock"?" Applejack corrected her. "Oh, to-mah-to, tomato." she brushed it off. "Still it looks good." April admitted. "And hopefully it stays this way." Casey added. "Uh-huh." they agreed. Karai turned to the Dazzlings, "Say, girls. You don't have anyplace to be after this, do you?" "Why do you ask?" Aria inquired. "Well, Shini and I were talking and we've decided..." Karai began, as Shini finished. "We would like you to join us in restoring order to the Foot Clan." The trio's eyes lit up, as Sonata asked, "You mean it?!" "Sure. It'll be like old times, except we'll be fighting the good fight and not for power." Karai answered. Adagio answered, "We'd be honored to help you, Karai." she and Karai shook on it. "This is such a touching moment." Mikey wiped a tear from his eye. "Let's celebrate!" Pinkie tossed, streamers into the air along with a few marshmallows and sprinkles. The confections landed on the dock and being infused with her exploding magic caused them to self destruct destroying the dock... again. The whole group stood in shock while bearing shocked expressions, as the girls hairs were blown back and frazzled. Rarity gasped in shock before fainting. Mikey spoke up, "I'm not cleaning that up!" he was prepared to leave. "Yeah, me neither." Raph walked away with his bro only to bump into Splinter who had tools prepared. "It is not noble to walk away when our friends require assistance, isn't it?" he asked. The two sighed, "No, sensei." "Good. Then we will all pitch in and rebuilt it." Splinter offered, making the Rainbooms feel relieved. "Fine," Raph replied, "But once we're finished, we're keeping Pinkie Pie as far away from it as possible!" the group laughed as the got to work once again. But it didn't matter how long they'd have to work. As long as they were with their friends, it was all worth it. > BONUS: Snacktime/Storytime > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few hours later, the turtles were all nice and comfy in their spot in the woods, except for Mikey, who upon hearing his stomach growling, figured he must fill his stomach up. So he got up and walked through he woods and headed for camp. Not long after that, his brothers woke up, wondering where Mikey went to. But then Leo remembered that every once in a while Mikey gets up for a midnight snack or making something in the kitchen which at times might be something good or bad. Needless to say, the three brothers headed for the Mess Hall at camp, figuring that where Mikey be while having the fear of waking everybody up and have them see them. With everyone still asleep in their tents, Mikey decided to sneak into the Mess Hall and into the Kitchen to whip up a midnight snack and what better way than making his own kind of Pizza. “Man I should’ve done this, on the first night we came to this camp,” Mikey said to himself while fixing up the dough, “Too bad the dudes and dudettes are still sleeping. They would’ve loved doing this with me.” he added much to his sadness. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and was about to scream but his mouth got covered by Raph. Mikey turned around and saw his three brothers behind him and spoke, “Dudes!! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” “Sorry. Just couldn’t help messing with you.” said Raph. “Mikey, I know that its your midnight snacking time, but I don’t think doing this in the Mess Hall at camp is a good time for that,” informed Leo, “You know we can’t get caught by the other campers.” “Which is why while they're still sleeping, why do another activity here at camp?” asked Mikey, “I mean, making the lanterns was fun and all, but I kinda want to do more that just one. Which is why I’m making my own pizza!!” “Need I remind you, little brother, that the last time you tried that, it ended up making all of us sick to the stomach, not by taste alone, but by the sight and smell of it.” informed Donnie. “Hey, I’ll have you know that this time will be different.” said Mikey. “Yeah? How?” asked Raph. “Cause you guys are gonna help a brotha out.” said Mikey. “Us?” the three brothers asked. “Yeah, I mean when was the last time we did cook together as a family?” asked Mikey. “Much as I hate to admit it, but Mikey’s got a point,” said Donnie, “I can’t even remember the last time we cooked something up as a family.” “Eh, why not, better than just making lanterns.” added Raph. “Alright Mikey, we’ll help, but remember, we got to keep it quiet,” stated Leo, “We don’t want to alert anyone.” “AW YEAH!!!” shouted Mikey, then his brothers shushed him, with Mikey looking sheepish. The four brothers then got to work on making the pizza together. With Donnie checking the oven temperature, Raph continued on beating down and rollin' the dough, Leo using his Katana to slice and dice the cheese, pepperoni, olives, onions and other ingredients needed, and Mikey putting together and stirred up the pizza sauce. Once all had come together, they then put their delicious pizza in oven for it to cook. “Aw yeah, its gonna be tasty!!” said Mikey feeling proud of himself and his brothers. “I have to admit, that was kinda fun,” said Raph, as he gave Mikey a noogie to the head, much to their enjoyment. “Too bad the girls are not awake to do this with us.” said Leo. He then heard the door creak open, much to the alertness to the four brothers. The one who was walking in was none other than Twilight and Spike who saw the turtles in the kitchen while rubbing their sleepy eyes. “Hey, guys, what you doing up?” said Twilight, as the turtles were sighing in relief. “Yeah aren’t you worried you’ll get caught?” asked Spike. “Hey, we're ninjas, dog,” said Mikey, “There’s always any shadows to blend in.” “I guess that's somewhat true.” said Twilight. “Anyway what are you two doing up in the middle of the night?” asked Raph. “Oh, I just couldn’t sleep, upon thinking of all that’s been happening in camp. That is until Spike and I caught a scent coming from the Mess Hall and went to investigate. Figures it had to be you guys.” explained Twilight. “Well well well, you two are just in time,” said Mikey, “We were just making our own pizza to snack on. Care for a slice?” “I guess we could have a few slices,” said Twilight, “Might help calm my nerves.” “It ought to help.” said Donnie. They then heard the oven beeping, saying the pizza’s ready and soon everyone was chowing down on the pizza they all made. Twilight then asked, “I’ve been meaning to ask you four, how exactly did you meet the girls?” 
“Well, how they met us was not by coincidence,” said Leo, “Call it fate.” And so the Turtles explained their story that intertwined with Princess Twilight having a vision back in Equestria. Which brought both her and Dragon Spike back to the human world and the whole New York trip that they and the Rainbooms went to. They met April and Casey at Antonio’s Pizza and secretly followed them into the sewers where they met the turtles in their lair. Other events took place such as them training the Rainbooms to be Kunoichi’s, Rarity kidnapped by the Purple Dragons, Dragon Spike becoming a mutant, the encounter with mutant enemies like Snakeweed and SpiderBytez being led by Newtralizer, even Shredder and his goons, in addition with the Dazzlings (Sirens), and finally the epic clash that turned things around with the Dazzlings fighting along side the Turtles and Rainbooms against the Foot. Leo then explained how he got seriously hurt, trying to protect Princess Twilight from Rahzar, Tigerclaw and the Dazzlings, much to the Princess' worry and doubting that her vision came true, but later recovered back in the lair and was ready to fight again. Once they finished, Twilight and her dog were shocked and astonished with all that happened before the space incident, “Whoa,” gasped Twilight, “That is quite a tale! There was absolutely no way that it all happened by coincidence.” “Like I said before,” Leo began, “It was only fate that brought Princess Twilight and the others to us.” “Yeah, and since that time, we formed special bonds with the girls. Seeing that all of us are alike in our own unique ways.” explained Donnie. “We’re more than just friends,” said Raph, “Far as I know, I think we are a big family. Even you and your pup.” Twilight and Spike smiled, “That really means a lot that, you guys. Other than the girls, accepting me as part of your family.” “Hey come on, Twi, what kind of friends would we be if we don’t include ya?” asked Mikey, “Especially if one of us would have a secret crush......” his foot was then stomped again Leo, causing him to shout in pain. “A secret crush on who?” asked asked Twilight out of curiousity. “It's nothing really important right now, Twi.” said Leo while keeping his cool, with Twilight having ponder on that subject, but then accepted his word. “Well, anyway, Spike and I are gonna head back to the tent. However it's kinda gonna be hard to walk in the dark,” said Twilight. She turned to Leo and spoke, “Leo, would you escort us back to our tent?” “Oh, sure,” said Leo, much to their brothers concern about this, “I’ll right back, guys, to help you clean up.” “Oh, sure you will.” said Raph sarcastically with a sly grin on his face, much to Leo giving him a scolded look to Raph. While the rest of the brothers started cleaning up, Leo escorted both Twilight and Spike back to their tent while keeping it quiet in not waking the others. By the time they got to their tent, Twilight spoke in a whisper. “Spike, why don’t you go ahead and get some shut eye, I'll be right in a few.” she said to Spike. “Ok,” responded Spike, who scampered off into the Sapphire tent. Twilight then turned to Leo and spoke, “Mind if we chit chat in the back?” “Of course,” said Leo. The two went to the back of the tent and little further in woods till they stopped, “So what is it you want to talk about?” asked Leo. Twilight paused for moment and took a deep breath, “I didn’t want to say anything to embarrass you guys but, back when Mikey said about one of you having a “secret crush,” he wouldn’t be referring to you, would he?” the girl asked. Leo stood with a frozen look, realizing the secret would be out soon then spoke, “Oh....um....well..thats is....actually....Mikey was just....” his mouth was then cover by Twilight’s hand. “Its ok, I know.” said Twilight with a smile. “You do?” asked Leo, as the girl nodded her head. “How long have you known?” asked Leo. “Either before we stopped the Triceraton invasion, or that day when you came to talk with me in the woods about that “Midnight In Me” routine,” Twilight explained, “Plus Sunset told me about it to confirm my thoughts, the other night when you guys stopped me from going home.” “Oh...I see,” said Leo, feeling a little embarrassed and his face turning red. Twilight then put her hand on Leo’s shoulder and said, “No need to be ashamed. You're not really the first one to be all kind to me the most.” while more like she be referring to Flash Sentry and Timber Spruce. “Well...I uh....” said Leo, then he sigh and decided to come clean, “Ok, you figured me out. I really do like you a lot and at least your Princess counterpart as well. I mean ever since the day Princess Twilight and the Rainbooms came into our lives, the Princess wouldn’t stop looking at me oddly, due to the fact of that whole vision she had to begin with. Then Mikey predicted that she really liked me. I kept on denying that fact, but kept that thought in my head for a while. But then when her vision came true, having her care so much for me confirmed that thought. Then the time when you and the others came along in our space travels, before heading down to earth and when you guys got me from that little mistake I’ve made, you have seen Princess Twilight crying on my shoulder and saying that I am her close, best friend and that you girls will always love me no matter what. I knew that somehow, it really did confirm that thought and feeling I had inside. And then when we were coming to camp and whenever I see you, you somehow remind me much of Princess Twilight. So...” Twilight stopped him for a moment and then spoke, “All of that really sounded so sweet. And I think it's wonderful and cute that you kept that feeling of me and my counterpart inside you for so long. I’m really glad and flattered that I bring you joy and comfort to you.” she then went over to Leo and wrapped her arms in a tight embrace, much to Leo’s face turning red and then returned the favor. The two remained for a little while until they broke away. “Well, I really don’t want that feeling to get in the way of what's going on between you and Timber. I mean he seems like a great guy for you to be with.” said Leo. “Oh, I don't think your feelings won't get in anyone's way. I even have to admit Timber is all right to be with.” said Twilight with a smile. “Especially with all that Gaia Everfree that's been going on.” said Leo. “What do you mean?” asked Twilight. “Oh, its really not very important right now, it was just a silly random thought,” said Leo, feeling relieved that he stopped himself from almost spilling the beans, “Come on now, lets get you back to your tent.” The two went back to the Sapphire Tent and the two whispered to each other, “Get some rest now, Twilight,” said Leo with his face turning red again, “And thank you for understanding how I really feel.” “Hey what are friends for?” said Twilight whose face also turned red. “Listen, if you start having nightmares about Midnight Sparkle, you know where to find us.” informed Leo. “Thank you. Goodnight, Leo.” said Twilight, as she embraced Leo. “Goodnight, Twi.” said Leo, returning the favor as Twilight went inside and Leo heading back to Mess Hall. By the time he got to Mess Hall, he looked back at the tent area and smiled before going back inside with his brothers, whom were almost done with the clean up and waiting for him. “Well there you are,” said Raph, “What took you so long?” “Yeah we just got done with the clean up.” said Donnie, as he put the clean bowls back in the cupboard. “Oh, sorry, dudes, just had a little chat with Twilight when we got to her tent.” said Leo. “Well? What was the chit chat about?” asked Mikey with brows raising like Groucho Marx. “That's really not for me to say.” said Leo. “Aw, come on, can’t you just tell us? Please Please Please Please?” asked Mikey, being a little annoying. “Better say yes, bro, cause I can’t take Mikey’s annoying rambled!” said Raph while covering his ears. Leo sighed, “Alright alright, I’ll tell you guys on the way back to our spot.” And so Leo filled them in about that talk as they were heading back to their campaign spot in the woods. When they reached over, Mikey bursted out with joy and excitement. “WOO HOO HOO, see I told ya!! I told ya!!!” said Mikey, as he was doing his usual dance routine and chanting, “Leo likes Twilight! Leo likes Twilight!! Leo likes Twilight!!” Leo then shut him up, “Ok, Mikey, we get it. But none of you must ever tell the other girls or anyone else about it. This is only between us four, Twilight and Sunset.” “Don’t worry, Leo. You guys did a good job in keeping my secret feelings towards April,” said Donnie, “So now I’m doing the same for you.” “Ditto.” agreed Raph. “Don’t sweat it dog,” said Mikey, before the three glared at him, “What?” “The last time you kept a secret, you blurted it out a few seconds later.” informed Leo. “Couple times for that matter.” added Donnie. “Hey, we were kids back then. We’re sixteen, becoming young adults here!!” said Mikey. “An adult that still acts like a kid.” said Raph with a smirk on his face. “HEY!!! Wipe that silly grin off you're face!!” exclaimed Mikey. “Alright, guys, enough. Let’s get some shut eye,” said Leo, “We still need to see the girls off on their Spirit Quest.” And so the brothers went to their bed spots and went to sleep. Leo was the last to fall asleep, till after he looked up the starry night sky, thinking he felt relieved for no longer hiding his feelings towards Twilight, both Princess and Human alike. > Epilogue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Saturday morning, the Rainbooms were kicking back outside CHS by the statue/portal, as Rainbow spoke, "I tell ya, having these new powers has been so awesome for us." Rainbow said, while drinking from a juice box. "I'm just glad you're not using them to cheat at soccer." Sunset replied. "I'd never do a thing like that. But rushing to grab a quick snack or beverage is another." Rainbow said. "Even if you've forgotten your textbook at home?" Pinkie nudged Rainbow, who felt embarrassed. "Well, it's certainly made my work at the farm easier," Applejack noted, "I've been able to carry more bushels of apples than even Big Mac." "And I can levitate all my essentials over to me without having to get up." Twilight added. "The diamonds I've been able to create make my new designers outfits more stunning." Rarity put in. "And being able to talk to the animals at the Rescue Center makes working easier." Fluttershy said. "Thanks to my new magic I've been able to make a new delicious type of cupcake," Pinkie began, "Pop Cake! It'll leaving a popping feeling in your mouth." she giggled. "And to think this all happened a week ago." Spike reminded them. "Yeah, when we saved Camp Everfree from being destroyed." Rainbow added. "All thanks to us and our friends." Sunset smiled, as they thought of the turtles. Twilight's phone started ringing, and she checked the I.D, "Girls, it's Leo," she answered it, "Leo, hi. We were just talking about you guys. Wait calm down, and tell me what's wrong? What?!" the girls looked surprised at Twilight's reaction, as she spoke to Leo in concern, "Oh, my gosh. Are you all right? That's good. What? Oh, no. Yes, of course we'll come right away. We'll see you then. And, Leo... I'm so sorry." she hung up and looked at her friends in sorrow. "Twilight, what's wrong?" Spike asked. "Are the turtles ok, darling?" Rarity asked in concern. "They're fine, Rarity. But they ran into Super Shredder." Twilight explained. "Super Shredder?!" the girls gasped. "Yes." "Are they all right?" Applejack asked. "They're fine, but..." Twilight looked away. "But what?" Sunset wondered. "Master Splinter." Twilight answered. "What?" Pinkie asked in concern. Twilight shed a tear and answered sadly, "Shredder got him." The girls gasped, as Fluttershy spoke in shock, "Oh, no!" "Sensei." Applejack gasped. "Shredder." Spike growled. "No! He can't be," Pinkie began, "He can't be gone! We just got him back!" she cried, as Rarity held her to keep her calm. "They say they're having a memorial for him at April's family farm in Upstate New York," Twilight explained, "I told Leo we'd come." "Of course we are." Sunset agreed. "We can't miss this." Applejack added. "We owe it to sensei to attend." Rainbow said. "I'll contact Princess Twilight, she has to know about this." Sunset pulled out her journal and began writing a message to Twilight's Princess counterpart. "Let's hope she's available this time." Rarity said with hope. As if answering her question, Princess Twilight and her Spike emerged from the portal, "We got here as soon as we heard." Princess Twilight said. "So Splinter really is gone?" Spike asked with a whimper, as Fluttershy rubbed his head while trying to smile to keep Spike in good spirits. "I'm afraid so, Spike." she answered. "And the turtles?" Princess Twilight asked. "They're ok, but they're also grieving for Splinter." Twilight answered. "We better get to April's Farm right away." Sunset suggested. "Though how can we find it?" Fluttershy asked. "Leo gave us directions." Twilight replied, as she looked at the directions on her phone. "But how're we going to get there?" Dog Spike asked. "Don't worry, we can all pile in my family's pick up truck." Applejack offered. "Then let's go!" Rainbow called, as they all hurried. Later on Applejack was driving her family's pick up truck, with Rainbow Dash in the passenger seat. In the back were the rest of the girls sitting with their heads down mentally mourning for the loss of Master Splinter. As Applejack drove she recalled a one on one training session with Splinter during her beginners days as a kunoichi in training. Applejack was doing some basic training exercises with Splinter by punching his palms with all her might, "Harder, Applejack! Punch like you mean it!" he ordered, as Applejack began punching harder and harder until she wore herself out. "My knuckles have never been so bruised before in my life." she panted. Splinter spoke, "That is the result of hard work and determination. I can see you have both those qualities." "I sure do, sensei." Applejack nodded. "Always remember to get where you are going you must make an effort to help yourself and anyone else." Splinter explained. "Hai, Master Splinter." Applejack bowed her head to him. Applejack's flashback ended, as the country girl smiled to herself knowing how Splinter's words truly stuck with her. Next to her Rainbow Dash was recalling her own one on one moment with Splinter. In the turtles lair, Rainbow had just defeated Applejack in one of the turtles arcade games, and began boasting, "Oh, yeah! Who's awesome? I'm Awesome! Who's awesome? I'm Awesome!" she did a dance before bumping into Splinter, "Oh, sorry, sensei." "Rainbow Dash, I'd like a moment with you in the dojo." he said. "Ooh, someone's in trouble." Raph laughed, only to receive a glare from Rainbow. She followed sensei into the dojo and took a seat next to him, "I notice you have a competitive spirit, Rainbow Dash." he began. "Yeah. I like to be the best of the best. To show how awesome I really am." Rainbow answered. "While I commend you for always rising up to challenges against opponents, you must not let your competitive nature get the better of you," Splinter began lecturing, "For that is one thing that led to me and the Shredder into our rivalry." "But, sensei, Shredder was already not so right in the head, right?" "Not so. Like you, Saki also desired to be the best, but his desire pushed him far from the point of a friendly rivalry. And when Tang Shen came into our lives, he no longer wanted to become better just to outdo me, but to win her heart, as well." "And see where that got him." Rainbow replied. "Precisely. Never let your competitive spirit become your only focus, for it can blind you and increase your ego." Rainbow was moved by Splinter's words and spoke, "All right, Sensei. I'll hold back on being too competitive. Especially with my friends." Splinter smiled seeing his words get through to her. Rainbow Dash smiled knowing not to be like Shredder and become so caught up in being the best it meant forsaking everything. In the back of the truck, Pinkie sighed while remembering Splinter and all of his wise wisdom. In the kitchen of the lair, Pinkie was enjoying some candies, while Splinter was licking a cheesesicle from the freezer. Splinter took glances at Pinkie, as the girl noticed, "Is something wrong, sensei?" "No, Pinkie. It's just looking at you reminds me of how happy Tang Shen was when we were together." he answered. "You really loved her, huh?" Pinkie asked. "She was my whole world. She and my daughter. When we first met, I knew it was love from the start. She was always there to pick me up whenever I was down and keep me going in the right direction. And I admit I had been stubborn when holding her back from wanting to see more of the world just so she could stay with me and run my family's dojo when father was reaching his final moments." Splinter sighed. Pinkie saw how hurt Splinter looked, and recalled Mikey telling her about the time he and his bros went to the past and saw Tang Shen herself. She spoke to Splinter, "I'm sure despite that she still loved you. And she still would. I mean look at you, you raised four turtle boys as your own children. Teaching them the rights and wrongs. Even if they're still a bit dysfunctional, but that's what makes them who they are." Splinter looked at Pinkie and spoke, "Continue to bring laughter and smiles to everyone you know, Pinkie Pie. For you are a true beacon of happiness to your friends." "Oki-doki, sensei." Pinkie saluted. Next to Pinkie was Fluttershy who remembered that Splinter was practically just as kind as she was when it came to those he cared for. She flashed back to one time she was offering her last slice of pizza to Mikey who was whining about still being hungry. Despite the others telling her not too, she still decided to be nice to the wild turtle. Fluttershy got up and walked to grab a drink, only to see Splinter, "Oh, sensei." "Your kindness is truly very rare, Fluttershy." Splinter began. "I just couldn't watch Mikey go on still being hungry." she answered. "That may be, but it's kindness like yours shows you have a big heart." "Thank you, Master Splinter." she blushed. "And a big heart is what truly connects you to those close to you, family and friends." "And I love being close to them." she answered. Splinter put his hands on the girls shoulders, "Never lose hope in your kindness, Fluttershy. For as long as you show kindness, it can be inspired and passed onto others who will also share that kindness." "I'll remember that, Splinter." Fluttershy smiled, and hugged the rat man who hugged her back. Fluttershy shed a tear at the memory, knowing her sensei's words would remain with her forever. Rarity who was too deep in sadness to think about her appearance also thought about Splinter and what a loving and kind man he was even for a mutant. And was very respectable to those he considered close to him. She recalled one day in the turtles lair, she was in the dojo waiting for something, until Splinter stepped out of his room to reveal he was in a new Japanese robe designed by Rarity that was colored purple with the Hamato symbol decorated on it with small traces of gem pieces in it. Rarity spoke, "Well, sensei, what do you think?" Splinter looked himself over, "While I have never been one for looks, I admit this robe looks truly remarkable. You truly have a creative mind, Rarity." "Thank you, sensei." she smiled. "And your generosity is most appreciated. I have never met anyone who would go out of their way and do something purely out of the goodness in their heart." "Doing things for others is what makes me happy. Especially seeing their happy looks." Rarity explained. "Keep on being generous, Rarity. And one day you shall receive it in return when you need it the most." "Thank you, Master. And I promise to never stop being generous." The two bowed their heads to one another. Rarity while thinking about Splinter also shed a tear, wishing that such tragedy didn't have to happen to such a good person. Sunset was thinking about Splinter, and remembered a time when she explained to him what she did in the past. Sunset was sitting before Splinter, and spoke, "I've been trying so hard to make amends for what I've done. Even though I've finally been accepted at school, I feel like there's still more I have to do." "The road to a fresh start isn't always easy, Sunset Shimmer. It is noble that you have come so far since turning over a new leaf," Splinter began, "But you mustn't keep this veil of grief over yourself as a reminder of who you once was, or you will never feel truly accepted among your students no matter how much they tell you." "Thanks, Master Splinter. Talking to you has really helped calm my nerves," Sunset smiled, before sighing, "I just wished I heeded the words of my first teacher better." Splinter laid a hand on her shoulder and spoke, "I know Princess Celestia would be very proud to see how much you have grown." Sunset smiled again feeling better, "Yeah. She sure would be." Sunset Shimmer smiled to herself knowing how much of a better impression she made with Splinter, than how she did with Celestia in the past. But still felt sad over the loss of her mentor, 'First Fugitoid and now sensei. Well, I won't let Splinter's death be in vain, just as the Professor's wasn't.' Princess Twilight thought about Splinter knowing he was also like a second mentor to her, and felt sad knowing Leo would be taking his death the hardest out of all the turtles. She flashed back to a time she was having tea with Splinter in the dojo, "Sometimes I do worry about my position as Princess. Like what if I'm faced with having to make an important decision and the fate of everything could be on me." Princess Twilight explained. Splinter answered, "Ah, Twilight. You must not let your fears cloud your judgment. For a leader must have a clear mind and be confident in oneself. I have told this many times to Leonardo when he had doubts about himself. Trust in your instincts and judgment and you too will be an effective leader." he sipped some of his tea. Princess Twilight smiled, before sipping her own tea, "Yes, Master Splinter." Finally Twilight Sparkle of planet Earth though not knowing Splinter for that long, or on the same level as the rest of the girls still felt dismal about hearing his passing. She remembered how it was his words that helped her see that it wasn't the darkness of Midnight Sparkle in her heart, but the light of a true friend who would do anything to help those she cared about. She thought to herself, 'With Master Splinter gone, and Super Shredder still out there, I fear a storm is coming.' The Rainbooms continued their way to Upstate New York to rendezvous with their friends not even knowing the half of what was bound to come.