After the campers all agreed to repair and improve the dock for their camp gift, they began to either take apart the damaged dock after Terracotta dealt most of it or plan out the new design. The Rainbooms all gave suggestions for the new dock such as stronger foundation, a sign with the camp's name, and a few other things for Watermelody to sketch out. When the plan for the new dock design was drawn up, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna agreed to keep watch over the progress. Through the rest of the day, Fragment Hunter and the CHS students worked to get the repairs finished between each of their activities. As they were all working, Rebecca Haze looked around as she believed to sense something around the camp. "What's up, Rebecca," Silver asked as he finished cutting some planks for the dock.
"Something... feels wrong," Rebecca remarked as she looked out into the distant forest.
"What do you mean," Slate questioned as he placed a container of nails on the ground.
"I don't know," the purple-haired ninja replied.
"We should be on guard, just in case," Sunset Blaze said as she approached her teammate and friends. "The last few times we were here in this world, things got out of hand."
"Alright, now. You've made a lot of progress, but it's going to get dark soon," Principal Celestia told everyone as she and Gloriosa caught everyone's attention. "We can pick this up tomorrow between our other camp activities."
"Everyone, get cleaned up, and we'll gather by the fire pit at eight to share s'mores and scary stories," Gloriosa added. Upon hearing what Gloriosa said, Pinkie Pie and Momo immediately popped into view and exclaimed 'S'mores' as they both held up bags of ingredients for the sugary treats.
Slate only rolled his eyes at his sister's excitement before putting his hand on her head as well as Pinkie's. "Calm down, Cotton Candy Clones," he remarked with a playful grin. "Save some for the rest of us."
Everyone was gathered by the fire pit, roasting marshmallows or paying attention to the scary story Rarity was telling. However, Rarity's version of a scary story wasn't all that terrifying to teenagers that have watched dimensions begin to fall apart and battled soulless demonic monsters. "...And that's when she looked down and realized she was wearing purple socks with a burgundy dress," Rarity exclaimed before she began screaming in horror. When she finished, she noticed that nobody was exactly afraid of her tale. "Purple and burgundy, darlings! The same color family," she clarified before screaming once more. When she stopped, she realized that nobody else was scared.
"I'm shivering in my boots," Cereza remarked sarcastically as she ate a marshmallow.
"Uh... that was a terrifying story," Applejack whispered to Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, I'm terrified she'll try to tell it again," Rainbow chuckled.
"Lame," Rua bluntly told Rarity.
"Any else have a spooky story," Vice Principal Luna asked after clearing her throat in order to move away from the awkwardness of Rarity's not-so-scary story.
Everyone looked around before Pinkie turned to Fragment Hunter after eating another marshmallow out of the huge bundle she had in her hands. "Ooh, do you guys have any stories," she asked.
"Oh, we have plenty," Vixen answered with a smirk on her face. "Bounty Hunting in Vale..."
"The Leviathan of Port Mako and Hope Island. The scars on my dad's throat," Azalea listed as she suggested more stories to choose from.
"The Scykiri in Forever Fall," Vinyl Aurum added.
"Smoke Shadow's gang of thieves," Sunset Blaze said.
"The Velgeroc Incident," Terracotta muttered to himself.
As Fragment Hunter, Ventus, and Terracotta started figuring out what story to share with everyone, Ivy's eyes widened as she remembered a particular tale of interest back in Remnant. "Wait. What about... Kuroyuri," Ivy suggested with a gulp before she said the last word. Everyone from CHS whispered about what Ivy meant while Sunset Blaze looked out into the distance with a thousand-yard stare as she knew what Azalea's mother meant.
"That would be the most appropriate option," Terracotta remarked before looking around the campfire. "I'll must warn you, this story isn't for the faint of heart. It is 100% real and I couldn't make it up if I wanted to." Everyone began shaking in anticipation before Terracotta began to tell his tale. "Long ago, back when most of you were only children, there was a village in Remnant called 'Kuroyuri'. It was a peaceful place that you would see in your travels through the continent of Anima. However, like all of Remnant, there was the threat of Grimm that lingered over the village at times. Luckily, a Huntsman by the name of Li Ren made sure to protect the village where his family lived," Terracotta said.
"However, one night there was a loud and disturbing cry from a Grimm that sounded out in the village. Li Ren told his wife, An, to take their son, Lie Ren and escape while he fought the Grimm. Just as he told them to get to safety, the roof of their home collapsed from the Grimm attacking it and other buildings. An died and Lie Ren was knocked out, forcing Li to carry the boy as the villagers ran away," Terra continued as the tone of the story started to change. "Lie Ren woke up as his father was running, but he saw that his village was burning down, Grimm were attacking, and everyone was fleeing. Li tripped and soon saw the largest Grimm approach the village, forcing him to stay and hold it off. He gave his son a dagger to defend himself and told him to run before he tried to kill the Grimm with his bow and arrow. Little Lie Ren ran away and soon encountered a homeless girl he had met earlier, who was scared and crying from the Grimm attacking the village. Lie was terrified himself, having a panic attack from watching his home be destroyed and witnessing the death of his parents," the Huntsman said, seeing everyone leaning in to hear more of the story and find out what happened next.
"However, the stress unlocked his Semblance and allowed him to mask his negative emotions so that he could sneak past a large Grimm raven called a 'Nevermore' and make sure the girl was safe. Just as he shielded their fear and presence, they saw the Grimm that killed Li Ren walking by. A Grimm so terrifying that it seemed like a monster among other monsters," Terracotta stated before he began to describe the Creature of Grimm. "It resembled a giant horse that had an imp growing out of its spine. Burning eyes and red marks on both of the mask-like faces it had. It didn't have skin, showing that it was mostly black muscle with exposed ribs and bone plating. The horse had claws on its front legs while the back ones were hooves that left a distinct print when it appeared. The imp had long curved horns, a mouth that looked like it was sewn shut, long arms with two claws at the end of them, and its back was filled with weapons that have attempted to kill the creature and failed. This Grimm... was the Nuckelavee."
Everyone began to shake in fear at the way Terracotta spoke of the Grimm, but urged for him to continue. "Because of Lie Ren's Semblance hiding their fear of the creature, he and the girl were left alone before the Grimm all wandered away from the ruins of the fallen village. While the children left the remains of Kuroyuri, the Nuckelavee stayed within the area and continued to terrorize villages nearby. Rumors say that it keeps weapons that have failed to kill it and flags from the villages it destroyed as trophies. It's such a horrifying and dangerously threatening creature that the Kingdom of Mistral and their patrol airships refuse to go in the direction of Kuroyuri, in case it's still around. Everyone around Mistral's controlled territories knows that if you hear the unnatural scream of the Nuckelavee, you better run for your remaining life."
"There's something even worse about it," Sunset Blaze added. "Unlike other Grimm, this one actually sounds like it's attempting to speak. It tries to scream 'Die' before it attacks and it can be heard for miles."
The CHS campers were all shaking in fear and several started clinging to each other for security. When the story was finished, Timber clapped. "That was a good one, but I've got a story of my own that takes place right here at this camp," he said. "Good thing that you're all holding onto each other now, because it's time I told you about the legend of Gaea Everfree." With everyone's attention on Timber, they listened to his story about 'Gaea Everfree'. "Many years ago, my great-grandparents came to this forest. Seeing its beauty, they decided that it would be the perfect place for a camp. But once they started building, strange things started to happen," he told everyone.
"One pitch black night, when the wind was howling, a tree branch crashed through the roof of their cabin! They screamed and ran outside, only to see the giant creature rising from the earth! She had wild hair like the roots of a tree. Her mouth had jagged rock teeth and her eyes were pools of black tar. But her aura shimmered like diamonds. Anywhere she went, she left a trail of gem dust in her wake," Timber said as he described the creature in his story. "Trembling, my great-grandparents asked who she was and what she wanted. In a deep and hollow voice, she told them that her name was Gaea Everfree – an ancient spirit who held domain over the forest, and that my great-grandparents were trespassing on her land. They begged her to let them stay and build their camp, to share this wonderful place with others. Gaea Everfree finally agreed but warned them that they would not be able to keep it forever. Someday, she will return and reclaim the forest as her own. So if you see a trail of gem dust, you'll know that it is... GAEA EVERFREE," Timber finished his story and said the name of the spirit in a loud scarier voice.
Just as he did, a pair of green eyes appeared in the shadows startling everyone. As the CHS campers screamed in fear, the human members of Fragment Hunter responded differently as they started to ready their weapons. "Wait! Guys, stop," Azalea called out just as Rua threw her shield at the bushes. The shield transformed into a giant shuriken as it flew through the air, but narrowly missed the target who stepped out of the bushes to reveal herself as Gloriosa.
Screaming as the shield missed her, Gloriosa turned her attention to the others as she calmed herself down. "Hey, guys! Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," she greeted.
"Then, why'd you come out of the bushes," Sunset Shimmer asked. "I'm pretty Rua would've taken off your head if you were an inch to the left."
"I... took the scenic route, because the forest is beautiful at night," Gloriosa said, but several members of Fragment Hunter thought that it was an excuse. "But no one else should do it without a guide, kay? All right, everybody, time to head to your tents."
As everyone started to leave and ask Gloriosa for a few things, the Rainbooms, Fragment Hunter, and the guests of the latter were all staying around the campfire. "Um, Fluttershy," Spike asked with a strained voice as the girl was hugging the dog too tightly.
"Sorry, Spike," Fluttershy apologized as she loosened her hold on the talking dog. "I guess those stories got to me."
"Why? They can't be real," Applejack dismissed. "Well, that 'Knucklevee' could be, but it's back in Remnant."
"I know," Fluttershy replied. "But... even the mere thought of what Mr. Gaia described the monster as scares me."
"Can't blame you," Spike said. "Even I'm scared of the 'Knucklevee' and I'd hate to see it for real," the dog admitted as Dante stood next to Fluttershy and Spike, as if to protect them.
"Even if it's real, we got Terra and our Remnant friends to protect us from it... I mean... right," Rainbow Dash said as she remembered what Fragment Hunter was capable of, but also the part of the story where an entire Kingdom wouldn't go near the last known locations of the Grimm. "Still, that 'Gaea Everfree' spirit thing does sound like something that came from Equestria. Booted from there and ended up here in this world like the Sirens."
"Who we beat the crap out of," Rua remarked as she came back with her shield on her back.
"That story of Gaea Everfree sounded more like something that Timber was makin' up just to scare us," Applejack stated. "At least I hope it was. Last thing I want is to have camp ruined by some power-crazed magical creature or any kind of Grimm."
"Oh, hear-hear," Rarity agreed. "We've had to deal with more than our fair share of those. At the Fall Formal, a musical showcase, the Friendship Ga—" Realizing what she was saying in front of Twilight and seeing Layla, Azalea, Sunset Blaze, Slate, and even Momo (who could tell from the look on Twilight's face that the girl was upset) frantically signal for her to avoid the topic, Rarity laughed nervously. "Well, I mean, you know, everything turned out all right, of course," she said with a nervous grin.
Twilight looked down at the ground as she turned away from everyone else. "I'm kinda tired. I'm gonna turn in," she told everyone as she started heading off to the Sapphire Tent.
"Maybe lay off bringing up what happened at the Friendship Games? I think she's still pretty sensitive about it," Sunset Shimmer asked her friends in order to make sure Twilight wasn't reminded of when she was overwhelmed by magic she couldn't control or understand.
"I would be too if I suddenly turned into this dimension shattering dark angel," Bianca remarked as she recalled what Fragment Hunter told her on the ride to the campgrounds.
Pinkie and Momo, who were eating plenty of roasted marshmallows, both took one and moved them across their lips as if closing a zipper, leaving a sticky trail of marshmallow on their mouths. "Our lips are sealed," the two girls said as the agreed to stay quiet about the event.
"Come on, kids. We have a big day tomorrow if we want to finish that dock in time for any of our activities," Ivy told Fragment Hunter and the Rainbooms.
Meanwhile, after everyone went to sleep for the night, something was moving through the woods nearby the camp. The local wildlife watched as the thing in question stalked through the woods as if it had suddenly arrived in the area. It resembled a large black horse, but it was almost as big as the trees in the forest it walked through and had some sort of horned humanoid riding on its back. The horse stomped through the woods and it soon stopped in its tracks, allowing the rider to slowly turn its head and look back in the direction of Camp Everfree. Looking out where the sleeping campers and chaperones rested with burning red eyes, it chose not to go near the camp just yet. It could sense the fear from numerous people, but chose to avoid the campgrounds until the time was right. The horse snorted and blew black smoke from its nostrils before stomping its way through the forest again, leaving a distinct hoofprint behind as it walked away to explore the strange new world around it.
