Embrace the Magic
The following morning, the campers were hard at work fixing the docks, with the counselors helping them. After the damage that was done the day prior after the accident, they had a lot of more work cut out for them.
Flash helped a few students carrying the wood needed to finish, while Twilight carried the tool box. Her hear turned from left to right, her bangs swiping. "Have you seen Sunset?" she asked, "She wasn't in the cabin this morning."
"Maybe she was doing her early morning firebending practice thing?" Flash said.
"I don't know, it's not like her to run off."
Rainbow Dash carried a pile of wood, carefully taking slow steps on the fixed area of the new dock. She took one step forwards, then stopped before taking another step. She proceeded this process, keeping her eyes closed shut. Once she opened them, she sighed in relief. Still moving normally.
"Phew!" she looked over at Rarity, who sat on a chair, sowing. "Uh, you gonna give us a hand here, Rarity?"
"Oh, I'd love to darling but, you see I--" she lifted up what she was sowing, "I really need to finish sowing my jacket."
"Why? It looks fine."
Rarity sighed in defeat, "Alright, fine. I don't want to risk making another one of those diamond things again. Last time it happened, I knocked Applejack over. You're lucky it was just the lake or else somebody could have gotten seriously hurt. Besides, at the pace you two are moving, I don't know that the dock will ever be finished."
"It would be, that is, if Rainbow Dash would hurry up and bring me more wood." Applejack said as she gently hammered a nail into the wood.
"Oh, I can't go any faster! I don't want to end up in the woods again."
"Don't be silly."
"Really?" Rainbow dropped the wood she was carrying and made a very slow hammering motion with her fist.
Applejack sighed, knowing her friend was right. She had been hammering the nails much softer than she normally did. And with good reason too.
"You're right. I'm glad we've got the old magic touch back, but it's not the same as it used to be. What if I hammer the board into splinters?"
The others nodded in agreement when Kuvira and Starlight walked on by. "Everything okay?" Starlight asked.
"We're just having a hard time trying to finish the dock on time." Rainbow said, "You know, before the week's over."
Applejack stood up, scratching the back of her neck. "Aw, shoot! I'm all out of nails."
"Oh, here you go!" Pinkie Pie held a box of nails and tossed it at Applejack.
"Pinkie, no!"
The others quickly reciprocated and screamed, covering themselves, ready for the massive explosion that would follow. Flash covered Twilight protectively. Applejack jumped out of the way, and Rarity's magic activated, creating not one, but three crystal shields out of nowhere, which knocked both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash down.
The box of nails landed safely onto the ground, no explosion occurred. Everyone sighed in relief at the anti climactic result.
Pinkie Pie blinked. "What? Ohhh, did you think the nails would explode like the sprinkles? Wow! Glad that didn't happen, huh?"
Rarity quickly assisted both Rainbow and Fluttershy back on their feet. "Sorry, girls. I didn't mean to. I don't know how to control this."
"It's okay." Rainbow Dash said, reassuring her friend.
"Oh, none of us do." said Fluttershy, easily forgiving her best friend.
"I know the feeling." Kuvira said, not realizing she had said it out loud. She quickly covered her mouth in response, cheeks red from embarrassment.
"Wait, you have them too?" Rainbow asked in surprise.
Kuvira didn't know if to say the truth or not. Looking over at Twilight and Starlight, who both nodded their heads, smiling in reassurance, did Kuvira take in a deep breath. She had to stop hiding and start opening up. Deep down inside, she wanted to get better, but shunning others out was not going to do it.
"Yes. It happened on the first day. It was like, the plants reacted to my thoughts."
"Oooh, nature powers?" Fluttershy awed, "That sounds amazing!"
"I wish." Kuvira lowered her head in shame, gripping her arm shamefully, "You all know about my last experience wielding magic."
Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy all muttered in agreement. "But that's all in the past, darling." Rarity said, "From what we've seen, you're not that same dictator you were."
"Yeah, you saved a camper from downing." Rainbow Dash said.
"But, what if my magic was what caused it? What if I can't control it and it goes berserk?"
"So you don't know how it works, neither do we. And you've seen what happened."
"We're on the same boat, sugarcube." Applejack said, patting Kuvira's shoulder.
Twilight smiled, "You know, when I first got magic, I didn't know how to control it. But Sunset helped me realize that rather than just brush it aside, it could be used to make things better."
Flash nodded in agreement, "Totally. I may not know much, or anything, about magic as much as you girls, but I've seen what you can do with it. You all used magic to defeat Sunset when she turned into a monster and showed her what true friendship was, blasted the sirens away with music, and brought Twilight back to her old self. If you guys could do all of that in just our sophomore year in high school, who's to say you can't do the same here to help finish a dock?"
Flash:
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?
Twilight, Flash and Starlight led the others to help fix the dock. "Come one, everybody!" Twilight said, optimistically, "Let's do this Rainboom style!"
Kuvira was taken by the hand, curtesy of Starlight, showing her just what the others girls did to use their new abilities to fix the dock. Pinkie Pie used her exploding sprinkles to create holes in the wood and Rainbow Dash used her supper speed to build a bench, while Pinkie spun a paintbrush around the rainbow stream Rainbow left behind as she ran. Once she was finished, in literally five seconds, the bench was already finished, perfectly painted and constructed. The two high fiver. Now that was the Rainboom teamwork!
Starlight:
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
Kuvira smiled as she watched the progress. Their magic, though new and strange to them, when they used it for something useful, it wasn't scary anymore. They didn't feel terrified of hurting anyone. It was like fitting ones foot into a shoe that was just your size after being hesitant to try it on. It was the perfect fit.
Twilight used her levitation magic to rise up the boards and place them into their rightful place, allowing for Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Tender Taps and Flash to nail the pieces together much faster.
Twilight:
I say embrace the magic
No more holding back, just let it out
Both her and Starlight took Kuvira by both arms, overlooking the lake, the wind blowing in their hair, encouraging Kuvira that the magic was not something to be scared of, even if it was hard to understand at times.
Twilight and Starlight:
If you can take the magic
And learn a little more what it can do
Once the magic is part of you
The showed Kuvira just how Applejack was able to place, not one, but two poles in their rightful spot, all while casually chewing on an apple. Rarity spotted one of the campers about to fall into the lake while on a boat. With one swipe, she created a diamond shield which caught the girl before she fell into the lake.
A smile grew on Kuvira's face. Seeing them all use their powers for such good was truly inspiring.
Twilight, Starlight and Flash:
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
No need to shield yourself
From the magic that can help
Protect from any harm that might come
Kuvira sat down on a log, beside Fluttershy, who happily placed a flower in her hair. Kuvira took the flower, and to her amazement, it changed color, growing several more petals, making it look almost like something out of a painting. Enchanted by its beauty, she instead gave it to Fluttershy, placing it in her long pink hair. Fluttershy responded by hugging the earthbender, much to her surprise and delight.
Starlight:
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.
All together:
I say embrace the magic
No more holding back, just let it out
Pinkie Pie placed the last lantern onto the pole, when Flash playfully ruffled her puffy hair. Twilight, Starlight, Kuvira and the others all gathered together, with their arms around each other, proudly looking at their final work.
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
"Okay, that was pretty awesome!" Rainbow said proudly.
"And look what we managed to accomplish!" Twilight said, smiling proudly, "I wish Sunset could see this. She'll be so proud."
"Hey, where is Sunset?" Starlight asked, "Come to think of it, I haven't seen her this morning."
"I thought she was with the other campers." Kuvira said, suddenly growing worried. "We should go and look for her."
(~)
The group had dispersed to cover more ground. Kuvira took the left and walked beside Gloriosa's office. She heard the camp director yelling angrily, no doubt at her brother.
"I just wish you didn't have to do that to her!"
Curious, Kuvira leaned her back against the side of the door, making sure not to be seen as she eavesdropped in on the conversation.
"I did it for you!" she heard Timber yell back, "I've done everything you asked for, what more do you want?"
"More! I need more of it!"
"Then so be it. Go get more and I'll take care of things from here."
Kuvira gasped and quickly jumped out of the way once the door opened and Gloriosa and Timber both exited at the same time Gloriosa walked off in the opposite direction, while Timber walked towards the rest of the campers. Thankfully, he didn't pay her any attention, but Kuvira's eyes were on Gloriosa.
"Where is she going?"
(~)
"Gah! Where could she be?" Twilight exclaimed in exasperation.
Flash's eyes suddenly widened in shock, his body tensing up. "Uhhhh…."
"What?" Twilight asked. Flash remained silent and, while keeping his eyes forward, not moving an inch, he spun Twilight around, and his girlfriend too gasped.
Not too far away, they saw Sunset Shimmer in apparently a deep conversation…with Timber Spruce!
"What is she doing?" Twilight asked.
"Maybe she's getting some information?" Flash suggested.
"Without telling anyone? I don't think so."
After having finished her conversation, she walked up towards both Twilight and Flash. "Hey, guys." she greeted casually. "What's up?"
"We should be asking you that." Twilight said, "What were you talking about with Timber."
"Nothing. I was just out for a walk and bumped into him."
"Did you figure out anything?" Flash asked, getting straight to the point.
"About what?" Sunset asked, confusing her former boyfriend.
"About the magic." Flash clarified, arching an eyebrow, "Or about the camp closing down."
"What? Oh, that?" Sunset scoffed, "That was just a misunderstanding. The camp's not closing down."
"What are you talking about? Starlight saw the bills, you were there."
Sunset blinked several times before answering, "Look, I talked about it with Timber and he cleared everything out. There's nothing to worry about."
Both Twilight and Flash gave a skeptical look. "What's wrong with you?" Flash asked.
"Nothing is wrong with me." Sunset stated, placing her hands on her hips.
"Come on, Sunset. We've been friends for years, and we used to date. You're not acting like yourself."
"Since when are you the one to tell me how I should act?" Sunset replied, spitefully.
Twilight blinked in surprise, "What's gotten into you?"
"Ask your boyfriend. He seems to be the expert around here."
Flash was especially shocked by this. Unlike Twilight, he knew Sunset long before her redemption, and now, it seemed as if that old self was surfacing once again. Which really didn't make any sense at all. Why would Sunset suddenly start acting like that insensitive bully again?
"If this is some kind of joke, it's not funny!" Flash exclaimed.
Sunset waved her hands sarcastically, "Oooh, what you gonna do, send me to my room? Just because we're friends doesn't mean it's your job to look out for me."
"Protecting my friends is my job!"
"Well, maybe you should resign." Sunset said, flicking Flash's forehead, which only shocked the two even more.
Spike, who had been with them, sniffed Sunset's sneakers and, for the first time ever, he started to growl angrily at Sunset, who scoffed in disgust.
"Twilight, control that dog of yours!" she exclaimed.
"I don't know what's gotten into you, but I don't like it!" Twilight exclaimed, narrowing her eyes.
"Like I care what you think. You're just a pathetic little nobody who we only allowed into the group because we felt bad for you."
Twilight gasped, "Sunset, how can you say that? I thought we were friends!"
A whistle called out to Sunset, and she saw Timber waving for her to come. "Sorry, but I've found better friends." Sunset flipped her hair and walked away towards Timber. Once she arrived, he took her by the and the two walked away into the forest, hand in hand.
Flash and Twilight shared the same look of determination. Whatever had happened to Timber, was happening to Sunset. And whatever it was, they were going to find out what it was.
(~)
Kuvira followed Gloriosa deeper into the woods, surprised to see they have hiked out this far. When she made a turn, Kuvira ran right into a spider web. The sticky material clouded her vision and she immediately wiped it off. Once she did, she saw that Gloriosa was gone.
"Shoot!" she muttered to herself, trying to find any trace left of her. Suddenly, a hand reached out and covered her mouth. Her shrieks muffled against the two palms, only to come to ease when she saw who it was.
"Flash? Twilight? What are you doing out here?"
"We were following Timber and Sunset." Twilight explained, "She's not herself. What are you doing here?"
"I was following Gloriosa. I overheard her and Timber talking but I lost her."
The three nearly fell over at the sound of rock sliding which shook the earth. They followed the sound and, moving a few branches aside, they saw the rock quarry, with the opening of a cave, partly covered by boulders. Just as expected, they saw Timber and Sunset and walked right inside.
"I knew he was up to something!" Flash concluded, narrowing his eyes, feeling deeply betrayed by his so called friend.
"What's going on down there?" Kuvira asked.
"I think it's Gaea Everfree." Twilight concluded and walked on ahead with fierce determination, "C'mon!"
The group managed to enter via a thin opening in between the boulders which was easy to miss from afar. Their footsteps giving faint echoes as they walked deeper into it. Twilight gripped Flash's hand, the darkness surrounding them.
The darkness began to fade and a radiant white light began to brighten up the cave. On the walls, they saw sparkling stones that emitted a faint heavenly glow. Kuvira recognized these stones as geodes, but she had never seen any like this before.
The group gasped in awe once they saw the source of the light. A hole in the cave rested just above a dazzling display of stalagmites that rose upwards from the ground. On the surface were various geode stones, each one changing into various colors. Several holes adorned the rocks, almost as if the gems themselves had been removed.
"Whoa…"
"This place is beautiful." Twilight said.
Kuvira felt a strange tingling sensation inside of her. This place, it felt…familiar somehow. Her bright was taken back to Harmonic Convergence, when both her world and Equestria merged together as one. That feeling of warmth and happiness, as well as an indescribable energy that coursed through her, and many others, that day returned as quickly as a speeding car.
"There's…there's Equestrian magic here." she said, "I can feel it."
Spike's ears perked up when he heard the sound of muffled screams. He pointed his paw upwards, "Guys, look!"
Just above their heads, they spotted a person wrapped up in vines, dangling from her ceiling, her mouth covered as to prevent her from calling out for help, but her muffled cries were loud enough for Spike's dog ears.
"Sunset Shimmer!"
Kuvira broke off one of the stalagmites from the ceiling and using her earthbending, she levitated it to cut Sunset down. Flash quickly caught her before she could fall to the ground. Together, they helped her break free of her bindings. Sunset sighed in relief and hugged them all tightly.
"I'm so happy to see you!"
Twilight, on the other hand, wiggled away, crossing her arms in anger. "Oh, so now you're being nice again?"
"What are you talking about?" Sunset asked in confusion.
"Don't play dumb! How could you say those horrible things to me?"
Sunset was still a tad confused, only to slap her face in realization. "No! That wasn't me, that was a copy. I've been stuck inside this cave sine this morning when Timber knocked me out."
To prove her story, Spike jumped up and started licking Sunset's face. "It's the real Sunset, aright."
"Twilight, I would never say anything to hurt your feelings." she said sincerely, "Wait, how did you find me?"
"We followed Timber and, well, I guess the other you into the cave." Flash said, "Wait, how are there two of you?"
"Not just another pretty face, I see." Sunset's voice was heard, abnormally, from behind them.
From the shadows, the Sunset copy emerged, smiling smugly with Timber standing beside her, sharing the same confident grin on his face.
"Timber? What's going on?" Flash asked, taking a fighting stance ready to face him if he needed to. "Why are you doing all of this? More importantly, how are you doing all of this?"
"Don't blame him." another voice said softly, right before a third party made her presence known. Her left eye twitching while giving a somewhat insane looking smile. "It's all me."
"Gloriosa?" The other exclaimed in both shock and confusion. They knew Gloriosa was hiding something, but that she knew about the magic? How and why?
"I-I don't understand!" Twilight said.
"It's it wonderful?" Gloriosa placed her hand over her geode necklace, which emitted a sickly green glow. The group huddled together as several brown looking vines began to grow all around the cave. The exact same vines they saw every time something happened around camp.
"I'm magic now. Just like you girls."
Seeing these vines, Kuvira placed all the pieces together. "The boat crash…the earthquake….It was all you!"
"Why are you doing this?" Twilight asked, "Why are you trying to scare everyone away?
"I would never try to scare anyone away from Camp Everfree." Gloriosa replied, her voice suddenly soft and mellow, almost as if she was now drained of all of her false joy and enthusiasm. It was as if the mask was finally taken off and they were seeing the real Gloriosa for the first time.
Sunset was the only one who didn't seem surprised, "Gloriosa, you have to stop this! You don't know what you're doing!"
"How did you find this place?" Kuvira asked, suddenly growing very protective of the Equestrian energy that surrounded this cave. "And why did you kidnap Sunset Shimmer?"
"I couldn't let her scarring everyone with the misunderstanding."
"What are you talking about?"
"She's talking about the geodes." Sunset said, pointing at the said stones around her neck, "This morning, when I went to her office, I saw her memories. Because of her behind payments, Gladmane plans on building a spa resort here at camp. Gloriosa found the cave and has been using magic to try and make this the best week ever. But every time she used magic to do it, she caused another problem somewhere else. And Timber was covering for her by straying others away from the cave with the old Gaea Everfree story by leaving gem dust behind!"
Timber smugly leaned against a pillar, inspecting his nails. "An oldy, but a goody, if I do say so myself."
Flash looked even more devastated than before, "Timber, why are you doing this? Why are you putting innocent lives in danger?"
"I will do whatever it takes to save my camp!" Timber stated defensively.
"What's happened to you? What have you done to my friend?!"
"Nothing." Sunset said, a flame appearing in her palm, "Because that's not Timber!" without hesitation, she hurled the fire directly at the green haired boy. Timber shielded himself from the blast, the flames reaching his bare skin.
Everyone but Sunset gasped in horror, expecting to see a horrible burn…instead, they saw that Timber's skin had shed off like that of a lizard, and instead of a burn, or even skeleton bones, what they saw was the surface of oak tree wood. Flash and Twilight were horrified at the sight, especially when the skin suddenly grew back, covering the wooden surface.
Realizing there was no need to hide anymore, Timber's eyes glowed a sickly green, his irises turning completely black, his teeth now sharp like that of a wild beast and claws grew from his fingernails.
Flash and Twilight were practically trembling as they held each other close. "You're….what are you?" Twilight asked with a shaking voice.
"He's my brother." Gloriosa said, placing a hand over his shoulder.
"No he's not!" Sunset said, "He's just a cheep imitation of your real brother! No matter how much you wish it, you can't bring him back!"
"Shut up!" Gloriosa shouted in anger, her irises shrinking at her increasing insanity. "You don't get to say anything! I thought you and Twilight would understand once I told you, but I guess I was wrong. Nobody will understand anything but me and my brother!"
Kuvira stepped forward, trying to get through to the woman, "Gloriosa, we know about the camp closing, and we're sorry. But using magic like this isn't the way. The more you use it the more it will hurt you, and everyone around you."
"She's right." Twilight said, "Too much of it can be dangerous if you can't control it. I know first hand. Please, Gloriosa, let us help you."
But rather than listen, Gloriosa simply smiled, "Oh, I got this. And I'm going to use it to save my camp." she reached out her hand to grab two more geodes from the stones, a menacing smile grew on her face, the last bit of the once kind-hearted Gloriosa disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"I just need more power!"
"No!"
Just as the others were about to reach out and stop her, Gloriosa's hand touched the surface of the stones, and outstretching her hand, she manipulated the plants from the ground to rise up and trap the group in place, all the while Timber watched with malicious enjoyment and the fake Sunset Shimmer dissolved into leafs onto the floor.
With two more magical geodes at her disposal, Gloriosa could feel the energy around her. It was so strong, so intoxicating she accepted it without hesitation. She smiled in satisfaction as the geodes formed a new S shaped necklace around her neck.
Her body rose from the ground and vines wrapped around her legs and upper torso. Her sunshine shirt and navy shorts 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 her sweetheart 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 ceriseish gray, her eyes became pools of black tar, 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 that reminded Kuvira of the Zenix stone from her past as a siren.
Timber's body also began to shift and change, his skin shedding away like a snake's revealing his true wooden form underneath. His shirt ripped apart, his upper body becoming more muscular and monstrous in design. His shorts remained and a long vine-like tail grew, along with new sharp claws, sharp pointed ears and his face was no longer that of a human's but resembled more of a wild wolf, ready to attack and devour its pray. His eyes were now identical to his sister's. Once his transformation was complete, he let out a blood curling howl, unlike the previous one they had heard before, this howl sounded so frightening it would send even the bravest of soldiers or the most fearless of predators running for their lives.
They didn't think it was possible, but they were looking at a werewolf made entirely out of plants and tree bark.
Gloriosa smiled wickedly at her new transformation, her body glowing green as she hovered over the ground. "Sorry, guys. I know what I need to do. But I feel like we're not on the same page. So…"
Both Gloriosa and Timber exited the cave, ignoring the others struggling to desperately to break free, while calling out to their friend.
"Gloriosa!"
Once outside, she used her newly increased power to command the vines to move the two large boulders further, completely sealing off the entrance to the cave. She heard their cried for help, but completely ignored them and the two siblings made their way back to camp.
The others grunted, no matter how tight the vines were, they needed to break free.
"I can't believe Gloriosa would do this!" Twilight said, struggling in the vine's grip.
Flash looked over at Sunset, "Sunset, what did you mean by Gloriosa couldn't bring him back?"
Sunset looked down in sadness. "I'm sorry, Flash. When I saw Gloriosa's past, I…I also saw Timber." she hesitated to speak, but found he needed to know the truth. "She was really mad that he left, so much that she swore never to speak to him. But, he was on his way to the airport to visit…it was raining really hard, the cab driver could barely see and…." he voice caught in her throat upon seeing the horrified looks on both Twilight and Flash. Sunset gulped before she finished.
"Timber…Timber didn't make it."
And just like that, the entire cave fell into silence.
"When Gloriosa found out, she was so angry and hurt that she tried to brush it off. She hid the pictures and everything away so she'd never have to relive it. When the camp was going under and she found the geodes, they created that copy of Timber so Gloriosa wouldn't feel alone. She's lost her dad, her brother, this Camp is all she has left of her family. I can understand why she did this, but that still doesn't make it right."
Flash was beyond speechless. "That's why he didn't write back for so long." he concluded, "We….we never knew."
Twilight was already shedding tears. Not only had their old friend Gloriosa completely lost herself due to the magic, but their good friend Timber…had been gone for a while and they were completely left in the dark.
Kuvira felt her own heart break. Throughout this entire trip, she had found tree girls who could relate to her past trauma, only now, for the very first time…
She could relate to somehow more than herself than she realized. And if they didn't act fast, she would make the same mistake Kuvira did.
(~)