My Little Universe: Season 7

by EquestrianKirin

Tall Tales

"Okay, Garnet. So that's pizza service for half an hour, picture posing for who knows how long, about two to three hours of robo-building and … five minutes of robot fighting, and we just finished our visit with Jasper. Well, got any other ideas on what to do?" Emerald asked as they continued along. They were still going at being random, and for what they've done already, this craziness was pretty good for them already, though what they will do now was anyone's guess. The group was now heading on down the boardwalk.

"It's your choice," Garnet made clear. This again. Most of these was her choice, so guess they could try and figure out something they could do.

"You know, I dunno. I think we might need an expert on this," Steven figured, his mind running on blank. He thought they were doing a pretty good job already. Emerald tried to get his own mind to work on what exactly to do next. He was pretty happy they got some battle robots now, though annoyed he still lost not to mention, though where to go from here? He had to work his inner Pinkie Pie to figure it out, and then he got it.

"Ok, if you want a random idea, how about a camping trip?"

"Camping trip?" Steven asked.

"Hey, we've just delivered pizzas, and beat eachother up as robots, you want random there you go. We can find some campsite somewhere and hang out there overnight, sound good?" Emerald suggested. Well, he was right on the idea being a random one. Not very much prompting for that idea in particular, but with the idea Garnet was exploring, this was just what they wanted to get themselves to whatever pool of improbability they were heading towards. Garnet gave Emerald two thumbs up.

"AWW YEA, I got double points," Emerald said smugly.

"Ok. And how about a trip in our world? Going to Equestria would be just what we would think," Steven suggested with a wink. Emerald liked that.

"Eh, why not? The only thing we're missing is who to bring along on our little camping trip. No way we're gonna get crazy with just the three of us … er, four of us," Emerald corrected. Garnet was technically two people in a sense.

*click*
Wouldn't you know their answer would open a Portal door right by them? It seemed like thin air when the door began to appear, looking a bit more run down like the doors in Klugetown. Steven, Emerald, and Garnet moved aside as it quickly swung open. The figures rushing through were pretty fast, and tumbled to a stop onto the boardwalk. They were a bit dizzy from the quick tumble, but were as glad to be there as Garnet, Emerald, and Steven were to see them.
Peridot, Applejack, and Lapis Lazuli.

"Howdy," said AJ.

"Howdy," replied Garnet.

"WOW what timing! Peridot, we were just ready to think of looking for ya. Think you can get up to Ponyville for a second?" Steven asked. However, Peridot started to snicker a little bit, Emerald and Steven unsure where this was going until …

"DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUN!" Peridot shouted, as she dramatically presented all of their Portal Keys! Well if they wanted surprises, they sure got it on seeing those in their presence! And they knew these were the real deal when Steven's key began to laugh and smile on seeing his owner there. The keys got themselves out of their keychain, and Steven's key happily landed right in Steven's hands, his eyes starry and bewildered. Garnet's key did the same thing, alongside AJ's key.

"Y-You three got our keys back?! How'd you even do that?!" Steven gasped.

"It must've been difficult to get passed all that security White Diamond had set up," Garnet said, adjusting her glasses.

"No, no," Lapis said, "We were in Klugetown. Some giant rat named Verko was trying to sell them to a bunch of customers. Don't know how he got them, but we got em back," Lapis explained.

"... Klugetown?"

"Some odd place in Equus full of human-animal hybrids who's main purpose seemingly is to make deals and bargains with every other creature they meet," Peridot explained.

"I think the word your looking for is Anthropomorphic. Anthro for short," Emerald said.

"W-Well, whatever. Just hope we're not going back again: those freaks kept trying to sell us. SELL US! Seriously," Peridot griped. No way will she return to that kind of place if she and Lazuli were only gonna be seen as nothing but walking price tags. Talk about your good surprises.

"Whelp, we were looking for random, we got random. But a good random," Steven said. Emerald couldn't help but agree on it. What're the odds some naked mole rat would have their own Portal Keys anyway? As weird and out of place as that would sound, at least they got them back.

"So now I wouldn't have to be everyone's personal pilot in between worlds anymore. I can finally do what I want without being on one of those leather "leashes"," Peridot said in relief. Emerald started to feel a bit more cheeky again, sliding up to Peridot.

"And here I thought you'd like jumping about back and forth. Too much for a tough Gem like you?" Emerald joked. Peridot just groaned, a sense of Deja Vu as well since she said the same thing to him before. While he wanted to continue this, Steven immediately got an answer to Emerald's previous question, snapping his fingers in realization.

"Let's get the Mane Six to come with us!" Steven decided.

"Steven, that's what we would do. We're trying for non-normality remember?" Emerald reminded.

"AH, but we'd normally go with them for a camping trip in Equestria. Eh? Eh?" Steven explained. Emerald realized he had a point, though any camping trip would be new for them to do either way.

"Oooooohhhh. K AJ, what do ya say? Wanna get the others and come with us?" Emerald offered. Might as well ask the first pony they see to get this started. Applejack wasn't sure at first, considering they were just going off back from Klugetown and avoided being sold to some anthro buyer. Well, on the bright side, her Cutie Mark was no longer glowing as of now, so perhaps it would be best to try anywhere else outside Klugetown.

"Eh, why don't y'all give us some time to calm down. We just got back, and we just got these. I'll see when we can do it," Applejack promised. Better than a straight up no.

"Oh, yea, of course. We just thought of the idea now anyway, we'll plan it out when we can head off," Emerald said. He wasn't gonna randomly pop up there no matter how much they were trying to be random.

"Alrighty then. First thing I'm gonna do is get these keys back to the others. Here Steven, get this to Amethyst would ya?" AJ asked, tossing Amethyst's key to him as she had the rest of the Mane Six's keys, which at the moment were still on the key chain. None of the ponies were in this world anyway, no point for them to jump up and bolt for it. It was good enough for them.

"Sure thing, Applejack. Camping time awaits!" Steven beamed. Soon, the group began to split up, as AJ used her Portal Key to head off back home, the others going off to find Amethyst to show her respected Portal Key. Lapis, all smiles, grabbed Peridot and Steven and took off to do just that. This left Emerald and Garnet for the moment.

"Well, who'd of thought a mole rat would have those keys? Hey G, think you can check your Future Vision to check the weather for us?" Emerald asked. But Garnet was left kinda silent about what just happened.

"... They were in Klugetown? …"

"Earth to Garnet, you in there?" Emerald asked, jumping to Garnet's level so his voice was right in her ear. Garnet snapped back.

"Eh, sorry. Weather, yes. I'll need to know where the camping trip will be first before I can do that," Garnet explained. Fair enough.

"I'll let you know then. See ya later, and thanks for the robot brawl. That was sweet!" and with that Emerald went off on his way. Garnet was left alone for a brief moment, Garnet still trying to figure out how this could even happen.

"Hmm …"

This sort of decision was a little bit harder to figure out overall: figuring out where to go and when the others would be free in particular. Emerald, being more familiar with many of Earth's places in his thousands of years of time, was in charge of picking out the location in question, and when he figured that out, Garnet got her Future Vision handled on what weather would be best to go there. Steven got the gear together and what activities they could do during this trip of theirs, and as Applejack promised, she checked in with the rest of her friends on what they could do and when they could come along. It was basic stuff really, even if the decision was completely random and out of nowhere. Then again, random and out of nowhere was what they were aiming for, so they succeeded in that regard at least.
The work eventually ended that following weekend (typically when a camping trip would be done). The group gathered up over by the Temple for the main meet-up, and plenty of the group had met up as Applejack promised. The group was a fairly large one: Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, Applejack and Apple Bloom, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer, Greg and Steven, Peridot and Lapis, Emerald, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Garnet.
Quite a big group indeed, and they all had their own bit of objects for the trip itself. It may be an overnight thing, but it was still something any camper would end up doing. Peridot and Lapis Lazuli both weren't exactly there, but Garnet assured them they didn't have to worry about waiting for them, and just needed the whole group together here.

"This is so exciting! What do you think we'll see when we get there?" asked Scootaloo, her wings beating like that of hummingbirds.

"We could end up seeing anythin'," Apple Bloom said, "Especially with those other critters that kept poppin up, right sis?"

"Let's try to avoid meeting another one of em fer now," Applejack insisted. They were interesting, sure, but they weren't going on this trip just for some monster hunt. Garnet counted out all of the campers present with them. All present and accounted for. With a nod of her head, and pulled out her own Portal Key, and with a bit of nostalgia filling in as she did, she walked to the back and used it on the temple door.

"Alright everyone, one at a time. Just step through and we'll be at the site," Garnet reassured them all. Rainbow Dash flew in first, just in case the key might've been a little rusty in opening portals, but she flew back in and waved her hoof for the rest to follow. Some were a bit hesitant, but with some encouragement, they all were off through, with Garnet being the last to step through.

Their walk through the portal was a short one, and wasn't all that bad. Pretty soon, everyone had made it through, and they all found themselves in a rather new location. With the autumn weather, it made the whole world look very colorful, even with the spare pine trees scattered about. The group found themselves over by a clearing, situated right next to a large, calm lake. Other trees, namely oak, spruce, and such, were shaded off from greens to a vibrant coloration of oranges, yellows, reds, and browns. It was a pretty nice sight to see, and a good spot to set up camp.

"What's this place?" asked Starlight.

"Welcome to Celestial Lake," said Emerald, "Found this patch of heaven a thousand years ago. Looks just as good as before too." It sure didn't look like a Gem location, but it still looked pretty good for what it was.

"Alright campers! Line up!"

Then came Peridot and Lapis. A camping trip was a pretty good opportunity for them to bring out their inner "Camp Pining Hearts", and were dressed up like a camp counselor for the part of camp advisor. The outfits were pretty standard for a camp counselor, and they even had on some camp "badges", Peridot having a pair of shades over her eyes.

"So that's what they've been up to," Emerald thought.

"What're you two doing?" Rainbow asked.

"You see, Rainbow, we thought it would be beneficial for everybody for us to escort you throughout this mission while utilizing our expertise," Peridot explained. Lapis just smiled.

"In short, we wanna come along to try out our camping skills," Lapis answered. Emerald can't help but snicker on seeing Peridot like this. They weren't going on anything elaborate, it was just some small overnight stay at the Celestial Lake, not too much to worry about. A nice gesture anyway.

"Well, thanks you two. Well, everyone, let's start setting up camp," Greg suggested. That was something they all could agree on, no doubt, and with some magic users in Twilight and Starlight, this shouldn't take very long at all. As they were beginning to do that though, Emerald began to stretch and bring out one of his hexagon pieces, stepping onto it.

"Hey! Where're you going?" Peridot yelled.

"Checking out the area. I'll be back later. Have fun with setting up camp," Emerald said. Before any of them could stop him, Emerald flew up and away. Well, guess they weren't going to get his help.

"We'll catch up with him later. come on, let's get these tents up," Twilight suggested. Still, seeing Emerald just go off didn't suit very well for Garnet. Wasn't this his idea in the first place? Why would he just bail off so soon?

"Starlight? Think you can go and keep an eye on him?" Garnet asked. Starlight was working on her own tent when Garnet asked the question, and just got it all set up when she trotted over to her.

"You say something?"

"Emerald. I want someone to watch him, think you can do that for me?" Garnet asked. Starlight found this a bit of a quick request, but this wasn't too much trouble for the unicorn to handle. So long as she could keep up with him, that is.

*grrrrr*

It had been a pretty long day after things had gotten settled down, and properly set up. They had basically all day to do whatever they wanted to do from there once the tents were all set, so it was camp activities galore for many of them. Pony, Human, and Gem alike all were having a ball in their own way, be it either relaxing over by the campsite, or exploring the world around the Celestial Lake. The ponies were mainly exploring around this part since they've never been here before, AJ, Pinkie, and RD mostly. Twilight and Starlight stuck around the campsite most of the time, but they did go off with them when encouraged to check something out. Greg and Steven spent the day doing some fishing out of the lake, and while what they did catch wasn't too much for them, they did get some father son quality time out of it. Plus what fish they did catch weren't all that bad either: a couple of bluegill, a bass or two. Of course, Lapis did give a hand in some catch-and-release too. Speaking of, Lapis and Peridot were having their own fun in this counseling game they were doing. The two mainly played out as if they were in charge of the camp, but everyone knew it was all in good fun so they didn't worry about it too much.
Much of their activities did shift around a bit thanks to Garnet's suggestions. Much of the activities mentioned on her end for them to do included them playing hide and seek in the trees, some Simon Says for a bit, cloud-watching here, some swimming there. It was a mangled mess on what Garnet wanted to do one point onward to the next, and the only one keeping up was Pinkie Pie herself. Leave it to the pink mare to keep pace with Pinkie ideas like hers.

Anyway, day slowly began to turn to night off in the nearby forest, and the autumn brisk air started to loom around the area. The night was very dim in light, the moon not providing enough to give everyone very much to see in this mess of dark blue sky and shadows of the trees. This would be the perfect night for bats to start fluttering, and for owls to begin their routines. As these creatures were starting to come about, another kind of creature was moving about through the underbrush. And this creature had been in position off nearby the campsite all day, watching them all go about all over the place doing who knows what. It was out of sight for a good while, as none of them suspected any sort of danger anywhere in the area.
With it now night time, the group got themselves handled over by a warm fire, courtesy of some magical tricks from Starlight Glimmer. A fire spell wasn't at all complicated.

"What a day. I feel exhausted," sighed Steven, but he was still happy either way.

"I feel tired too!" Pinkie said, as she cart-wheeled passed the set up fire. It'd been a while since they got a full fun day like this. With the quiet world now starting to come about, the sounds of crickets and owl hoots began to fill the air. It all sounded pretty soothing for some of them, though some of the sounds did begin to unnerve a few. In particular, Scootaloo started to get slightly antsy, as some of the sounds didn't sound too pleasing. That became especially apparent when an owl screeched off in the woods somewhere.

"So what's left to do to wrap up a camping night?" Emerald asked, though by the look on his face, he probably knew the answer.

"That's fairly easy: stories," Greg said. Rainbow Dash perked up on it.

"You want stories? I've got a ton of stories! Spoiler alert – they're all about me and how awesome I am!"

"I was thinkin' more like campfire stories?" Greg corrected.

"Sounds dandy! I'll get us started up," AJ said. Scootaloo then heard another screeching owl again, Fluttershy wrapping a wing around her.

"Y-you're not gonna tell us any scary stories, are you?" Fluttershy asked.

"Don't you worry. I was just gonna tell y'all about mine and Apple Bloom's favorite legend," Applejack answered. Apple Bloom immediately got excited on hearing that.

"You mean Rockhoof? I love that one! He was so strong, and when he -"

"Apple Bloom! We haven't heard of it yet," Steven quickly said. He didn't want to be spoiled of it, same as anyone else.

"Sorry. But it's so good," Apple Bloom squeaked. Applejack turned to the others.

"Well it's true: Rockhoof was known far and wide for his incredible strength. But he didn't start out that way. You see, Rockhoof was a tiny, little fella. The son of a farmer."

"Just like us!" Apple Bloom chimed in. Applejack didn't want any interruptions, so Apple Bloom hunkered down, and waited for her sister to continue. Applejack knew how excited Apple Bloom was so she didn't hit her down for it. So Applejack began to tell her story.

"He lived in a village that sat at the foot of a GIGANTIC volcano …"

And the village was protected by an elite group of guard ponies, called the Mighty Helm.

The time of the renaissance. Like Applejack stated, a lone village was settled next to such a mountainous volcano was placed. Although plenty older than many towns today, much of the buildings were built up of hay and wood, much like the buildings back in Ponyville, if not a little less extravagant in color. Mares, stallions, fillies and colts were all dressed and outfitted with ye olde' cloth and leather, much like how one would dress for the medieval times. The skies were clear, and today the villagers were in sight of a dueling match between two large, muscular stallions in a middle of a sparring match, going at eachother with spears. It was a pretty exciting thing to see, though those days it was a more commonplace to see it. Many a knight would do this to pass the time. The larger pony finally managed to knock his opponent's spear aside, aiming his own right at his opponent's chest. Scary, maybe, but in the end both sides just laughed at the fun. A mare pony of the Mighty Helm nearby threw an axe right to a nearby target, hitting a bullseye.
Off nearby was Rockhoof himself. and much like what Applejack had said, the young pony sure didn't appear like a pony of pure strength. In fact, he looked kinda scrawny. A pale, light cyan blue coat, his mane and tail a sort of gamboge color with a golden stripe through it, and his eyes a greyish blue. He went right over to the axe in question, and tried to pull it out. But with every yank, and tug, and pull, Rockhoof just couldn't dislodge it from its place. In the end, Rockhoof stumbled off back to the Mighty Helm, who all simply laughed at him. One of the mighty Helm did give him something to do. … In the form of a shovel.

Rockhoof wanted nothing more than to be in the Mighty Helm, but he was told he was too scrawny and weak to protect the village. But Rockhoof wouldn't take no fer an answer!

So Rockhoof began to get busy with it. Sure, it wasn't anything like what he had in mind, but the determined pony was not going to give this up so easily. His main role in shoveling the latrines for the village he took with some bitter determination. As he kept doing this though, he began to feel the ground shake up. And what did he find?

Then one day … the volcano erupted!

Rockhoof screamed in shock on seeing the menacing beast of mother nature start to bellow and roar, black smoke roaring up from its heated core, and lava starting to come down in a slow slide, right towards the village! Rockhoof's scream summed up the fear that everypony felt when they began to see the volcano start to erupt and threaten the lives of everypony there. The Mighty Helm was quick to notice this as well, with pressure all on their heads to try and figure out what to do.
There was little to no time to actually figure something out, so the mighty Helm had only one option in their fight-or-flight response. And their only option was the latter. It took little time for them to get a boat up and ready for the villagers to get out of there. The Mighty Helm waited for them all to get themselves on, but their answer was as sad as it was troubling for the Helm.

Their only option was to evacuate the village. But the villagers had spent their whole lives there - they had nowhere else to go! None of them would leave their homes … and neither did Rockhoof. For he was about to do somethin crazy!

Seeing the mighty Helm leave the village to their fate was not good enough for this pony. Seeing the danger that was advancing down, Rockhoof charged directly at the flow, shovel locked in his teeth. None of the villagers even realized what was going on with him, and Rockhoof had gotten himself in a cliffside, in between the village and the volcano. His plan?
Dig. Shovel spearing the dirt, and in quick turns of the head, Rockhoof quickly began to dig down hard into the earth, but this wasn't just some simple hole he was digging into. He began moving as fast as he could ever manage, stabbing the ground and throwing the dirt off aside. His main goal was in his sights, and the only place where the lava can go where nopony would ever be harmed: the ocean. He just had to get it there. And get there he was going to do, even if it kills him. Which at this point, looked very much likely. One of the Mighty Helm, who was trying to get the ponies to a safe location finally saw Rockhoof up on the cliffside, looking completely shocked that somepony would fight such impossible odds like this. This same expression was shared by the villagers, as Rockhoof continued, feeling the growing heat of the lava coming closer to him.

He continued to work, knowin' the odds were against him, but determined to push through it. Then, somethin' magical happened.

Rockhoof continued getting his shovel into the ground as fast as he could, but for many a pony observing him, it was a losing battle. But then, when he stabbed his shovel down once more, he suddenly found himself in sights of a flash of light, which moved up the shovel and right onto him! Rockhoof didn't know what'll happen, but in a flash, he found that something happened to him that changed everything. From such a scrawny pony, he blossomed into the mightiest horse one could ever see: his body no longer just skin and bone, and now packed strong with muscle to rival any pony.
As amazing as this transformation was, he had little time to celebrate or comprehend what even happened to him, as the lava was practically on top of him! Grabbing his shovel, with seconds to spare, his digging turned into a full on gallop, with his shovel digging a trench at lightning speed. The lava chased after him like a killer predator, and Rockhoof knew if he slowed down now, not only will he lose his life, but all the village as well. Even if he were to survive, he could never live knowing his home would be destroyed, not in the name of Equestria! Almost before he even realized it, Rockhoof slammed through the cliff leading right to the sea. And without a second to spare, he jumped out of the trench and all the flowing lava finally got to the sea.
The village was saved. The Mighty Helm had seen everything: this once scrawny and weak pony had did the impossible, and something none of the Mighty Helm would even dare to do. Rockhoof jumped across his ravine, and met with the Mighty Helm, as everypony cheered and praised their village hero.

Through his extraordinary determination and sheer force o' will, Rockhoof more than earned his place in the Mighty Helm.

"Good story, Applejack! Even if it wasn't about me," Rainbow Dash said, very impressed with Rockhoof's ability. Not everyday can somepony go and dig a trench seconds before lava could touch them.
Just before anypony could continue though, another, louder owl screech echoed around them, making Scootaloo freak out a little bit.

"W-What was that?"

"It's just an owl," stated Garnet.

"In particular a northern screech owl," added in expert counselor Peridot. Scootaloo was still a bit worried, as they couldn't see too much beyond their own campfire. Rainbow Dash went on over to Scootaloo.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, chill out Scootaloo. You're thinking about the wrong thing. Here, try me," Rainbow insisted.

"You? You know what it is?" Scootaloo asked, glancing around to try and find the noise.

"Close. I have a story."

"Let me guess. It's about you?" Applejack questioned.

"Practically," Rainbow said smugly, as she sat over by the fire. "It's about my favorite legend: Flash Magnus!" Rainbow said his name with her chest puffed out and wings spread to show her own idea of strength.

"Isn't he the one that fought the dragons?" asked Apple Bloom.

"D-DRAGONS?! You mean big mean ones, or like Spike?" Scootaloo asked nervously. Rainbow got into the zone with this.

"Oh, these were definitely the BIG SCARY KIND!" Rainbow's response just got Scootaloo curled up into a ball.

"Eh, Rainbow? Starlight stated.

"Uh, but not too scary," Rainbow humbly corrected. "You can sit next to me if you want. I promise you'll like the ending." Scootaloo needed no further prompting, and she bolted right next to Rainbow Dash. They were already intrigued with Applejack's story, so they were more than ready to hear what Rainbow Dash's legend was all about. Rainbow was more than ready to begin hers, and with a confident smile, she began.

"A long time ago, before the Wonderbolts were even founded …"

Up in the skies above ancient Equestria, the clouds were in the presence of a group of Pegesi flying through. Each one of these pegasi were armed up in Romanian knight armory, the leading commander flying along ahead of the herd, with multiple pegasi flying behind in V formation. Equestria below saw the squadron fly on by, and some stopped to give them a salute, with some of the pegasi responding with their own salute below. Amongst these ponies flying through the skies was a particular Pegasus. A Pegasus of amber fur, dark red mane and tail, and turquoise eyes. Flash Magnus was in his prime, and appeared a flawless warrior apart from a few notable cuts on his feathers. This pony was no stranger to conflict, giving a "wing-five" to his fellow soldiers as he went along.

Flash Magnus was a lowly cadet of the Royal Legion. And one day, the legion under his following had to fly through the Dragon Lands to reach their comrades on the otherside.

Their flight through these lands in particular was not any simple fly through. The skies began to thicken, and full of smoke, making it hard for any of them to breathe, let alone see. The ground below was as rugged as the dragons and Slingtails that lived there, some looking up and growling in anticipation for them to fly down close enough. Anypony could easily be a good snack for any of them, or some good target practice in the case of the Slingtails. So, the ponies had to keep up good and high to stay out of their range.
The squadron thought they would be fine, but turned out it wasn't the dragons on the ground they had to worry about. Especially when they started to see a set of glowing eye cut through the thick mist and smoke. The legion had to get through, surely, but there were just some things they couldn't plan for. And now, a gigantic dragon stared the legion down, large enough to swallow them all whole! And even worse, a secondary dragon showed up. Two large, hungry, and angry dragons had the entire group cornered! Fight-or-flight began to kick in on the legion, and try as they might, their attempts were met with open jaws and blasts of fire. There was only one option to take.

"Everypony! Retreat!" called the commander. The legion did try to do that, but three of the members were suddenly split off of the group with a swing of a dragon tail. Flash Magnus stumbled in the air for a bit, but got himself straight just enough to grab a fellow commander and put him straight right. The situation had turned critical, and even more so with a draconic claw reached out and grabbed his friend, pulling him back into the darkness of the smoke!

"NO!" he shouted, trying to fly to get him, but he was cut short when the first dragon swung his mighty tail at Flash, cutting him short. Flash bolted skyward, but could no longer see any of his missing comrades anywhere. That was, until both dragons met up, two of his friends gripped tight in the second dragon's claws. They struggled, screamed, but try as they might, they weren't escaping. Flash was ready to bolt in, but suddenly his commander burst out of the cover of smoke, grabbing him and pulling him downward. His friends were caught.

He managed to get away, but the dragons captured his friends and took them back to their lair!

The squadron had managed to move down to a more secure location, albeit close to the draconic pair's lair. No other dragons or Slingtails would even dare get close to their dragon lords, so the pegasi had found a place to stop and gather their nerves together. The commander tried to calm down his other comrades, who were very shaken up. All but one.

"Commander! We have to rescue our comrades!" stated Flash. The commander however shook his head.

"I appreciate your loyalty, but getting passed Torch and his mate will be impossible! Nothing will work," the commander stated. Torch was the dragon lord of the time, and the toughest dragon in the entirety of the Dragon Lands. He didn't earn his status as dragon lord for nothing, and they all knew that. Flash Magnus looked on towards Torch's lair, knowing well that both of his comrades were trapped in there. Flash could only imagine what sort of danger they could be in, unless they do something. The cadet got his mind to work, and then he got an idea.

"Commander Ironhead," Flash said, getting the commander's attention. "I think I can outfly Torch and his mate: if I can lure those two into chasing me, you can sneak into his lair and rescue our comrades."

"Are you willing to take that chance, soldier?" Ironhead asked. Flash Magnus gave his commander a salute with his wing.

"I am. Sir." Flash was not showing an inch of fear, not an ounce. The words of a true warrior.

"... you need all the help you can get," said Commander Ironhead. It was then that Flash Magnus was presented something that even he didn't prepare for. Pulling it out of his own armor, Ironhead presented a shield to Flash Magnus. A gleaming copper shield, with the emblem of the Pegasi engraved on it. Flash Magnus was stunned.

"Is this … Netitus? The fireproof shield?!" he gasped.

"It has protected ancient heros for generations. And now, I can't think of a worthier flank for Netitus to protect. Good luck, soldier," Ironhead said, giving his salute to the cadet.
It's now or never. As the rest of the squad waited, Flash Magnus flew up right to the mouth of Torch's cave. He was about to come face-to-face with the dragon lord of all dragons of the lands, armed with only the shield. And even then the odds were stacked hard. He knew just as well that his friends were counting on him. Time to go.

"HEY, FIREBREATH! You want a snack, well I'm right here! Come and get me if you can! Hey! Come on!" Flash shouted, banging the shield to be sure they heard him. Dragon lord Torch's eyes pierced through the darkness of his home, seeing the pony getting his attention. No one mocks the dragon lord and lives to tell it. Torch responded with a huge blast of fire directly at the Pegasus, and Flash curled up just enough for the shield to cover him. As the legends of the shield say, it was enough to block off the fire, the heat and blaze missing him by a few strands of his own mane. Flash had to go.

As Flash Magnus flew for his life, his fellow pegasi swooped in to get his friends. Both the dragons were on top of him! He flew fast as the wind, faster than the dragons! But he knew he couldn't do this forever.

Up in the smoke-filled skies, Flash darted here there and everywhere, as torch and his mate were right on his back hooves. They were large, strong, and gave him little to maneuver, Flash Magnus made sure to keep just enough distance between himself and their deadly jaws. The shield was doing its job for him, and keeping the fire from scorching him. Just as fast, he was armed just enough to give the dragons a worthy adversary. Even if the shield protected him, the force of the blast made it a challenge just to keep the shield up and not have it fall off of him. In a combined blast of fire by both dragons, Flash glanced to ground level, and saw that all of his troops were out, but the dragons would get a shared snack if they didn't do anything.
Luckily they got pre-planned for this: the squadron, rushing up as fast as they could, gathering whatever clouds were amongst the smoke, they gathered them into a deadlier threat than even the dragons themselves. A storm. And a big one! Once the last clouds were set in place, Commander Ironhead whistled good and strong for Flash Magnus to hear. The Pegasus heard them just enough, and flew as fast as his wings could carry him, straight into the storm! Torch and his mate rushed right into the storm after Flash, and the action from the squadron's view could only be seen through flashes of lightning. A small Pegasus against two giant dragons, each flash showing all three in a horrifying rough-house of lightning and thunder.
Soon, the action began to quiet down after a screech could be heard within the cloud. Torch and his mate, singed severely and grudgingly, had to retreat. One small Pegasus just wasn't worth it. The battalion stayed quiet and waited a bit for Flash Magnus, who didn't come out from the fight yet. …

*cough*cough*

Flash Magnus, his fur tingling and burnt from the lightning and fire, emerged from the storm a hero.

Flash Magnus' plan worked! He arrived in the Dragon Lands a lowly cadet, and left the Dragon Lands as the bravest Pegasus in all of Cloudsdale!

"Wow! I did like that ending," Scootaloo said.

"Told ya!" Rainbow Dash said, lifting up Scootaloo, "He always inspired me to be my brave and awesome self."

"Yeah, I guess he kinda reminds me of you," said Lapis Lazuli.

"Tch! You guess? Come on, I'm just like him!" Rainbow insisted. That just made the others giggle a bit. Starlight Glimmer was enjoying these stories quite a bit, but then Garnet decided to try a little something.

"Why don't you tell a story, Starlight?" Garnet asked. Starlight was a little taken aback.

"A story? Ok, let's see …" Starlight tried to think up of something. As a pony who had been going on a walkabout for quite a long time since leaving her village, odds were that she would've known at least one story she picked up in her travels. It wasn't too pleasing to remember herself as that equalist like before, but eventually she started to think up a story.

"I got one! I picked it up while going through southern Equestria. There was a Pegasus who lived there named Somnambula. I found a village under her name, and the townsfolk REALLY hold a lot of value in her," Starlight explained.

"Somnambula. Somnambula … I've heard of the place, but not the pony. What's that story about?" Twilight said, trying to think of it. Starlight began to notice that they were waiting for the story. Starlight cleared her throat.

"Long ago, there was a village who befell to a predator, known simply as the Sphinx …"

The dry season. A time for famine, and with barely much water around anywhere in the desert landscape, life everywhere here was in a test. For the ponies of the desert village, much of this famine wasn't caused by the lack of the nourishing rains, nor the beating of the sun. No, this village in fact had a fairly good amount of crops, grown from the reservoirs of their labor. Wheat, sugarcane, grains and the sort were grown in fair abundance, enough for a village of its size to be fairly well nourished for a good year or two. However, this village and its pony residents were not having much of it.
One farming group was about to pay the toll to a large creature, as it landed down over by the family group. A tall animal, head of a pony, body of a prime lion, and wings of a mighty eagle. She had fur of dark cerise, and mane of dark indigo, and her eyes of amber stared them all down with warning. If these ponies didn't pay her toll, then she would take them away, and nopony wanted to become apart of her prison. All the Sphinx had to do was stare and glare them down for the point to get across to them, and they quickly gave the Sphinx the crops they've worked O so hard to plant. The Sphinx got about five bags of wheat from them before she felt satisfied, and with a grin, she grabbed them with her front paws and flew off. The blowback from her wings knocked some of the ponies off of their own hooves, as the Sphinx moved off back to her pyramid temple home, off just outside of the village in question. Those within the market cowered as she flew passed, but the Sphinx was pretty good for the day.
Except for one. A young Pegasus, light scarlet in fur and feathers and mane of arctic blue, and after seeing the Sphinx fly by, young Somnambula went on back to her own work.

Like her fellow villagers, Somnambula didn't have much, but she used what she had to keep others from giving up hope.

And this was well demonstrated as she went to give her payment to some bread. she used the only item of value she had left on her own person: a string of pearls around her neck. Anypony today wouldn't do such, but Somnambula didn't want to see anypony in her village go hopeless, or hungry. In fact, for an elder pony nearby a market stand (who by the way, didn't have a bit on her to pay), the generous Pegasus used her pearls to buy a loaf of bread, and to the elder mare's own hope, the Pegasus gave it to her. Somnambula may be hungry herself, but the others in her village came first.

"Oh. Thank you. You're very kind, dear," the elder mare said with a weak smile. Somnambula nodded and watched her go off on her way. She felt pretty good herself for seeing the baker with the pearls too, which could be worth plenty. The Pegasus began to head off on her way, but the villager didn't notice that somepony else observed her act of generosity and hope, and he became very intrigued and touched by this. He was just passing by on his way to the palace, but seeing Somnambula do this in such bleak times was a rarity in of itself. Somnambula moved along a bit more until she began to hear somepony walk towards her.

"P-Prince Hisan," Somnambula realized, turning around and bowing to the prince. Hisan though wasn't there to trouble her like that, and brought her gaze to meet his own.

"Somnambula, is it? We're in such harsh times with the Sphinx. Yet, you don't appear to have lost your faith," Hisan noted. Somnambula straightened up and nodded.

"The last thing I would ever want is to see everypony give in to the Sphinx like this," Somnambula replied, looking back to the elder mare from earlier. Hisan looked back to the villagers in question, seeing everypony try to go about their day with some form of spirit. Typically Hisan didn't consider it much, but with one villager trying to keep their faith alive, he knew something had to be done.

"Don't worry. You won't ever see that."

The son of the Pharaoh, Prince Hisan, was so moved by her compassion that he decreed nopony would go hungry again. But then came the day of reckoning ...

One day, the Sphinx had exited her home and went over to the village again. This time, her sights were set over towards the market, which was a bigger hit on the village than one of the crop fields. As if times weren't bad enough for the villagers, the Sphinx was targeting the center of their core now. She aimed her eyes to those of the marketplace, a instinctual sense of fear washing over most of them. Invasions on the village itself weren't as common as invasions on the fields themselves, but the Sphinx took a higher toll when attacking the markets. Somnambula, who was amongst the crowds, tried to remain hopeful, and tried not to have any of the other villagers turn tail and run, even having a young filly under her wing to comfort her. But for one market pony though, he was in the Sphinx's sight, and the creature stood tall, dwarfing the pony.

"Well? Where's the crop?" the Sphinx questioned, noting the lack of response from the pony. The Sphinx leaned in, but before she could do much, her cat ears started to hear the sound of numerous hooves coming at her.

"You're not taking anypony's crops, Sphinx!" decreed a voice. The Sphinx turned and found that the prince and even pharaoh had come out with a number of their guards, all armed with spears and aimed at the ready. The Sphinx knew retaliation when she saw it, and barred her feline teeth in a growl.

"Is that so? Pony?" the Sphinx inquired.

"I've watched you tear this village apart day by day. I won't stand by any longer and watch you destroy it of all its worth! CEASE HER!" Hisan ordered. On instruction, the guards went in to attack, throwing spear sky high right to the animal. She glared, but all she had to do, much to their trouble, was prepare her wing and in one swing of her wing, knocked all the spears out of sight like twigs. None of them even punctured her! The Sphinx roared at them, and suddenly rushed forward. Hisan tried to run, but the Sphinx got him right by the back of the neck, as if she grabbed her own cub. Hisan struggled, but everypony couldn't do much before the Sphinx flew off with him!

the beast told the Pharaoh the only way to get Hisan back was to solve her riddle. Nopony would volunteer to save the prince. Nopony except Somnambula.

Walking out to the open to see the distraught king, Somnambula was more than ready to get to the task at hoof. The Pharaoh was left in wonder for the Pegasus coming forward where none of his disarmed guards would go off for him.

"You're Somnambula. My son told me about you. You've been trying to keep this village from surrendering to that monster," the pharaoh noted. Somnambula bowed in respect, and nodded her head.

"Please. Save my son," the pharaoh said, almost a hint of pleading in his voice. Somnambula was ready to head off after the prince and Sphinx well before the pharaoh would give her the green light to do so. Her village had suffered so much, losing the prince just wasn't an option.

"I swear on my own wings. I will return him safe and sound. Don't lose your faith yet," Somnambula promised. And a promise the Pegasus was going to keep, no matter what the case may be.
The village all knew where the Sphinx lived, and Somnambula was no exception, so after making the promise, the Pegasus galloped straight to the pyramid. Somnambula opened her wings in her gallop and soon took off into the air, the world of desert turning dark and cold as she found the entrance to the pyramid. The hallway she flew through lead her straight to the main chamber. She could see the prince trapped on a lone pedestal above a deep pit. Even if she was nowhere near the edge, she could tell the bottom of the pit was full of acid. One slip and one touch and you were dead. In between her and the prince was the Sphinx itself, staring daggers down at her. Somnambula didn't waver, something the Sphinx found interesting.

"I've come for the prince, Sphinx," Somnambula made clear. The Sphinx looked down like an alpha to her subjects.

"So I see. Remember: you must solve my riddle. Be warned, I've used this riddle many times before your village. And none of them could figure it out," the Sphinx warned. Somnambula was not going to turn tail now.

"I'm ready."

The sphinx gave her riddle.

"I can be found in all the universe, but can be seen by none. I shine brighter than the brightest star. I'm stronger than a dragon, but as fragile as a flower. I'm your ally, but can be your enemy. To have me costs you nothing. But to lose me costs you everything."
Somnambula began to think and wonder on it. It sure was a complicated one. She could be found anywhere, but never seen, can be her friend or foe, strong as a dragon but fragile as a flower, and to lose her would cost her everything. Somnambula was puzzled. But as she tried to think, she then started to put the clues together through her own village. All those ponies going through so much hardship because of this Sphinx, and what she had been trying to do. She had it. And the Sphinx had it too for the longest time.

"Hope!" she shouted. The Sphinx paused, but her face grew into anger. This Sphinx was NOT pleased with the right answer.

The Sphinx was so enraged, it seemed she might still refuse to release the prince! So Somnambula decided a compromise.

"Sphinx! You can give me one more challenge, whatever you want it to be! But if I succeed, then you are to leave this place forever!" Somnambula proposed. The roars from the Sphinx began to die down a bit, the animal starting to see the deal. The Sphinx smiled, showing her teeth.

"You're on. So here's my challenge. All you have to do … is walk to the prince."

A surprisingly simple task, of course, but the Sphinx was NOT going to make it that easy. For a start, the Sphinx summoned a blindfold, wrapped tightly around Somnambula's eyes so she couldn't see anything. Another flash, and suddenly Somnambula's wings were locked down, and she couldn't budge them. They were like rocks attached to her sides now. Somnambula remembered that a bridge straight in front of her lead right to the prince, but the Sphinx then started to do some mind games: slamming the wall nearby, and snapping what sounded like rope, Somnambula thought that the Sphinx had cut the bridge! How was she supposed to cross now? The Sphinx, confident that it won't work, pushed Somnambula up to the starting platform. One more extra trick, just to be sure nopony cheated, she summoned a gag over Hisan's mouth to keep him quiet. Hisan can't help, and as far Somnambula knew, there was no method to just walk to him.

But Somnambula never lost hope! She knew she'd need to make a leap of faith to save the prince.

Somnambula backed up, counting out the exact steps she did to get a good running start. The Sphinx sat aside and thought that Somnambula was too scared to go. The Pegasus gave a slow breath, and then she started to gallop forward. At the very edge of the cliff, she made her jump as far as her legs could allow her. It was then Somnambula hit down onto what felt like the bridge, but now feeling half way, she couldn't give up now. She was still blind folded, and still one false step away from falling to her death. Hisan was scared for her, and he tried to speak as best he could do to make sure the Pegasus didn't step off. Somnambula was as quiet as a mouse, and with one hoof in front of the other, she began to listen in to the muffled voice of Hisan, and started moving in closer to him. Somnambula didn't stop moving until her hoof felt what almost felt like the hooves of Hisan. That was only confirmed when Hisan himself grabbed her blindfold and tossed it aside.
The Sphinx was defeated. But as angry as the animal was, she knew a deal was a deal, and in grudging defeat, the Sphinx ran right out of the pyramid. Once she got outside, her wings spread and she flew away, this time away from the village as everypony watched. Silence hung in the air, and when the pharaoh looked back to the pyramid, out stepped both Hisan and Somnambula. Her promise was kept, and succeeded.

The Pharaoh asked how Somnambula prevailed, and she explained that she had always hoped she could make things better for her people and that hope had carried her through. The Prince replaced the pearls Somnambula gave up with a string of glowpaz. And around her neck, they glowed bright enough to light the entire kingdom.

"WOWIE! She stood up to that meanie Sphinx all by herself!" Pinkie gasped. Well at least they all were liking the story, and Starlight was glad she didn't embarrass herself during the story.

"Well, it's getting late everyone. how's about we all head in for the night?" Greg suggested. They had been telling some good stories for a while, but none of them were ready to head off to sleep just yet.

"Come on, dad, one more story?" Steven asked.

"Pleeease?" added Pinkie Pie.

"Now now, it's really getting late. Don't think if we have anymore time for any stories," Greg insisted, a yawn escaping his lips.

"I think we have time for one more," Garnet stated. Now it was intriguing: Garnet should know plenty of interesting stories from her experience.

"OOOOO, Garnet's gonna tell us a story?"

"Hey, Garnet. You've been wanting to do stuff random, right? How about you randomize this?" Steven asked.

"We've been doing that."

"He mean make a story up on the fly. Improvise, make it up as you go along," Emerald corrected.

"Alright, I can do that," Garnet said. Saying stories on the fly was a bit different than saying stories from experience, but any source of creativity would have to come from free-thinking. Besides, it could be fun. And so, the group sat down and lended their ears for what kind of creature story she could come up with. Garnet needed little time to make up something for the sake of story telling, as she cleared her throat. Here goes nothing.

"A long time ago. There were two different realities …"

In one reality, there lived a young maiden. A magical maiden by the name of Sophie.

The home in this story appeared in a more gloomy town than the ones described by the others. A home out in the middle of a pine forest, worn out, gloomy, and similar appearance to that of times of ye olde England. A pretty old and run down place it was, many a buildings within this village made up of gray stone. The villagers all looked tired too, all human this time for the sake of Garnet's story.
Within this crowd of humans going about their day was another, young maiden in question. Much of her outfit was rags and old cloth, much like the other villagers in her town. Her hair was well-kept though, brown and stretched down her back in a smooth wave, with the front covering her eyes. Much of her looked very much like a particular Sapphire. And at the moment, she was starting to head off towards home, namely a lone cottage. On her way though, she saw one of the kids nearby, who looked like he had seen better days. Not much of the people around her was doing all that much, but Sophie did stop to see the child by her cottage. A soft smile to the child, and a gentle hand rubbing his head got the boy to look up to her.

The town where Sophie lived was very withdrawn. not much excitement. not much love. But Sophie was one who made sure to show someone at least one act of kindness. To show that someone in her town still cared.

And for the moment, Sophie had just the thing. Her method was to help the boy smile, and Sophie decided to play a game with him. She brought one hand around to the back of the boy's head, the boy unsure what she was doing, and when she brought her hand around front, she was then holding a pretty red buttercup. The boy was surprised, but found the little gift rather beautiful. Sophie just smiled and went into her cottage, as the boy, now smiling, walked off on his way.

But as she did like helping her villagers, she too felt alone in her cottage. So, with her magic, she attempted to find a true friend. … But one faithful winter day. ...

The weather outside may be a letdown for some, but for Sophie, she had just returned from some notable item collecting, and now was working these items into what appeared to be some sort of magic. She had a book opened up nearby, which listed off the numerous items to be put together. It was something Sophie would do to pass some of her alone time. With her checking the book time and again, she started to work out the spell.
Though even magical beings don't always know what they're doing. She was focusing much of her attention on her own hands, but she didn't realize what this magic was actually doing. By the time she seemingly finished, so did the effect of this magic over on one of the walls of her home. Sophie turned to the odd sound and found that apart of the corners of her home looked a lot more like rippling water. What did she do?
In front of the maiden, moving out from the very corner of her own home, stood a ferocious creature. It looked canid in nature, but she knew better, for this monster was of no origin from her kind. Tall as the tallest horse, as dark as the shadows it appeared from. Its eyes glowed a stagnated hue of blue aura, every matter of its being sharp and edged. Its teeth were barred with primal warning, the fare maiden frozen in place in presence of the extradimensional wolf.
Sophie was dwarfed by the creature, as she tried to give it some space. Her home though held no room for a horse to roam in, so this wolf had some trouble going around the home. In a loud snarl, it found its exit through the same corner Sophie seemingly opened up, but rather than going back home, it just got itself outside, and raced off. Sophie got to the window, trying to find this creature, but it was long gone. And in witnesses regards, Sophie was not alone.

The creature became known under one name. Tindalos. And ever since its release, everyone began to fear for their lives as to what such a monster could do. The attention was brought to the queen herself, and it took little time to figure out the creature's origin.

The ruler of the kingdom was in torment. Sitting down on her throne, awaiting for what she was sure would be the culprit of this monster's release. Sophie was brought forward by a pair of the imperial guard, Sophie herself humble and quiet in front of the queen herself. The queen's face was covered in robes, leaving her eyes covered, which was probably for the better for Sophie's sake.

"My lord. We have brought you the condemned," said one of the guards. the queen simply instructed them to leave, and soon it was just her and Sophie.

"Sophie. You've been such a generous and kind person. And yet, it's you who confessed to releasing this … Tindalos. Into my kingdom?" the queen said, in a soft, yet firm voice. Sophie kept her gaze down.

"I'm very sorry, my lord. I never intended to have this happen," Sophie replied gravely.

"I know you are. But that doesn't change the fact that this Tindalos of yours, is still roaming. If such a creature is left unchecked …" the queen didn't need to finish her sentence to get the point across for poor Sophie. The queen lifted Sophie's gaze with a gentle touch of her hand.

"Sophie. You were the one who brought this creature onto us. You can also send it back."

Under the queen's instruction, Sophie was sent outside of her village, in order to put the Tindalos back. It was up to her to decide the fate of the beast.

Sophie was quiet on her walk. With soft snow underneath her shoes, and small snowflakes gently floating down from the clouds above, she went through the nearby forest to find the beast she had sent out. None of the guards were with her, and none of the villagers were willing to help either. She was alone.

*arooooo*

Sophie stopped on the ominous sound. Wolves weren't rare in the area, but this didn't sound like any normal wolf. She was worried, but the queen's instruction, and her own worry to her own village pushed her onward to follow the noise. It took her a bit to figure out where this sound came from, after passed some bushes, and admittedly it was what she expected it to be. Sort of.
Over by a old pine tree, she began to notice a creature in agony. A very large creature. Sophie wondered if a horse had become prey to some wolves, but she didn't see anything else around that could be making that noise outside of the fallen creature. Sophie slowly, and cautiously moved around to the front of the animal, and it turned out to be the Tindalos! However, the Tindalos now sure didn't look as threatening as it had before. It looked tired, cold, and its back leg was caught within what looked like a beartrap. Sophie felt conflicted: on one hand, the village would be safer without the Tindalos around, and with it stuck inside the beartrap it wouldn't be long until that would be achieved. But on the other hand …
Sophie chose the latter. And released the Tindalos's foot from the beartrap. The Tindalos needed a minute to realize its foot was no longer stuck in the trap. The Tindalos got up onto its front paws, but it howled in pain when trying to balance itself onto its back foot, falling back into the snow. Any creature would be in pain after getting caught in a beartrap. It was difficult to say how long it had been trapped, but Sophie went over to the foot, seeing the beartrap's horrifying work thanks to its killer bite. The creature growled a little when it saw Sophie move closer to the animal's hurt leg.

"Sshh. I promise I won't hurt you. Everything's going to be okay," Sophie promised. The Tindalos wasn't able to get away anyway, so all it could do was lay there as Sophie tried to work her own magic. Her hands rested on the leg, the creature cringing a little bit, but as soon as the pain shot through, it was soon gone. Sophie had healed the creature of its wound, and while its leg was still a little bit weaker, it no longer stun as bad as it did before. Sophie and the Tindalos met eye to eye, and Sophie brought a gentle hand up to the animal's face. She rubbed the animal's cheeks gently, and the Tindalos began to whimper a little bit, before it closed its eyes and nudged Sophie.
Sophie smiled, but there was one more surprise left in store. The dark body started to fade a little bit, the darkness removed much like smoke to a fire, and the canid-like shape started to morph and change into a much small, more human-like one. By the time it was finished, Sophie found herself in front of a small human, about her height. The new form didn't look threatening at all, but still had some edges on it: fingers ending in points and hair in a square. Sophie gasped in surprise, but she wasn't afraid of the Tindalos anymore than she was earlier.

"T-Thank you." it was all the Tindalos could say for what Sophie did. Sophie gave the Tindalos another surprise, and she had the Tindalos in a hug.

"Thank goodness. Are you alright?" Sophie asked, looking her eye-to-eye. Such kindness and care, the Tindalos began to cry.

"Who cares?" the Tindalos asked, smiling.

"I do," Sophie replied. The Tindalos was more than happy to return the hug, tears of joy down her face at what seemed to be the first person ever nice to her.

It was Sophie's care who had saved both her home, and the Tindalos.

"So. Beautiful," said Steven. For a story made up on the spot, Garnet did a very good job on it. It got some good applause from the others.

"Well, I owe ya, I didn't think you could do it," Emerald said. All Garnet did was smile.

"That's the last story. Time for good campers to get off to bed," Garnet instructed, playfully fluffing Steven's hair. Steven wanted to stay up, but he was getting a bit tired from the long day, and for everyone there, that was a good story to end it on. Greg helped the chap up and brought him over into the tent, and bit by bit, everyone else did the same thing. This camping trip went pretty well. Garnet was the last to turn in, looking up to the stars for a moment.

And for the creature in the nearby woods, all it did was move away. It got more than enough information today ...