“How are we gonna find them?” Gloriosa asked in dismay.
“You know this camp better than anyone. Can you think of any good hiding place that Zach might have put them?”
“Hm… there are many,” Gloriosa said sounding a little worried. “There’s a big cave across the lake. You could try there as a start.” Martin nodded.
“Thanks Gloriosa. I better get going.” Martin walked to his cabin and got his creature powersuit and his backpack. He figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have some creature powers to help him on this adventure. He also came across Chris’s power suit and souvenir collection. A wave of sadness came over him. He felt lonely not creature adventuring without his brother and more importantly, he had no idea what kind of danger Chris and the others might be in. But then an idea struck him. He didn’t need to be alone. Fluttershy wasn’t a Zachbot and she knew a lot about animals. She could help. And Martin was sure she was just as curious and worried about what was going on as he was.
“So Chris and my friends are… robots? And the real ones are trapped somewhere?”
“That’s what I’m guessing. I need your help to find out.”
“Well, sure, I know a lot about animals but… I wouldn’t be much use to you. I could never do what you and Chris do.”
“Sure you can. You’ve proved to me in the short time that you can. Being shy doesn’t mean that you’re weak. Chris and your friends need you just as they need me.”
“Alright. Alright, I’ll do it. I can help you find the cave Gloriosa was talking about.”
“I knew you’d come through. I brought some stuff for you,” Martin said.
“Oh, that reminds me. I should go and get something. I’ll meet you back here.”
Meanwhile…
“How has no one noticed we’re gone?” Rainbow asked.
“Maybe someone has and they just can’t find us. This is a big patch of wilderness,” Chris said.
“I’m glad this cave is so big. At least we found some clean water,” Applejack said.
“And we brought some bread and fruit in case we missed dinner. But that’s still all we’ve had in 24 hours. I’m STARVING,” Rainbow said. All the others nodded in sympathy and agreement.
“Martin has always been there to look out for me. He has to find us,” Chris said. He wanted to believe his own words, but he was losing faith, too.
Back at camp…
“The vest and gloves I’m wearing aren’t just any vest and gloves. With the disk inserted here, the DNA sensing pads of the gloves can give me animal abilities if I touch something from them. I brought Chris’s for you.”
“What animals are you thinking of?”
“Hm… Chris collected a purple martin feather!” Martin said looking through the collection.
“There’s a bird called purple martin?” Fluttershy asked.
“Indeed! I’m a lucky guy. There are two animals with ‘martin’ in them. The other one is called a pine martin because it loves to climb in pine trees. But anyway, I think with purple martin powers, we can fly across the lake. We can figure things out from there. Here’s a disk.” Fluttershy and Martin the disks and Fluttershy watched intently as Martin activated the suit. She took a deep breath she made her body move her hand to the button in the middle of the vest.
“Activate purple martin powers…” she said. Immediately, all her insecurities went away. She felt like she never had. She felt like the world belonged to her as she soared across Camp Everfree. She was a purple martin! Or rather, a green martin since she was in Chris’s suit.
“Looking good, Fluttershy! Now, lead me to the cave!”
At the cave, Fluttershy and Martin deactivated.
“Hello! Is anyone in there? It’s Martin and Fluttershy!” they called.
“Someone’s yelling outside the cave!” Chris shouted. “They found us!” Everyone got up and ran towards the boulder. “We’re in here!”
“Girls, I brought the geodes,” Fluttershy said.
“They won’t do us any good if they’re out there and we’re in here,” Rarity said.
“No… Martin, do you think that I could use creature powers to make in in the small cracks between the cave and the boulder?”
“Maybe… how about a dragonfly?” Martin said as he saw a couple fly not too far away.
“Perfect,” Fluttershy said taking the disk. She walked over carefully and managed to touch the dragonfly and activated the suit. But then she remembered something else.
“The geodes are too big for me to carry!”
Martin took the miniaturizer and threw the geodes on the surface. Fluttershy used her dragonfly legs and before she knew it, she was in the cave. She deactivated and greeted all her friends.
“I must say, green is a good color on you!” Chris said.
“I brought your geodes. Applejack, you should be able to push the boulder out with your super strength. They’re small, but they should still work.” Luckily for the girls, they did work, and Applejack was able to push the boulder easily. But just as everyone was about to greet Martin, Zach’s jet suddenly landed before them.
“Ha, you fell for my trick!” Zach said.
“What trick?” Martin asked.
“I knew you’d recognize that your brother and the others weren’t real and you’d come to save them and I’d capture you, too!”
“But we have creature powers that can stop you!” Fluttershy said. “And we have something a bit… magical in store.”
“Ugh, Zachbots, trap them,” Zach ordered. But Rainbow Dash activated her super speed and destroyed them in two seconds.
“You’ll have to do better than that, Zach,” she shouted. More Zachbots arrived, and Applejack punched them with her super strength. Twilight then noticed the cages was able to pry them open.
“Chase Zach and his Zachbots far away from here!” Fluttershy ordered the animals with the animal communication abilities. The animals did what they were told.
“I’LL GET YOU SOMEDAY WILD RATS,” Zach shouted.
“He’ll never stop using that ‘clever’ pun with our last name, will he?” Chris asked.
“Nah. But I almost am getting used to it. Zach wouldn’t be Zach without it.”
“Yeah, I guess not,” Chris admitted.
“But enough yakking. Let’s get all of you back so you can recover from being trapped in a cave for 24 hours!”
Fluttershy called some fish to help push the kayaks that were still ashore and then she and Martin used the creature power suits to help, too.
Chris and the girls had a nice meal from the camp, and good shower, got some clean clothes on, and everything in the camp went back to normal. After an eventful day, Chris and Martin decided to have a nice relaxing evening in their cabin.
“So, Martin… when did you realize it wasn’t me?” Chris wondered.
“I’d like to say it was older brother instinct, and I guess it was a little. But the difference was so staggering, I’d think anyone would notice if they spent enough time with you.”
“Well, that older brother instinct sure has helped me a lot throughout the years. Thanks, bro.”
“Don’t mention it. It’s what we do.”
“Good night, Martin.”
‘Night, Chris!”