Chapter 6
Where we discover intriguing details of the camp life
Tale 1
A relax on the beach
Marble Pie carefully inspected the surface of the lake
"Come now, sugarcube, there is nothing to be afraid" shouted Applejack, diving in the water.
The grey mare touched the water with uncertainty and then felt a hoof on her back
"Don't push it too hard. If you don't want it now, come later" Fluttershy hugged Marble.
Pinkie Pie's younger sister smiled weakly and said
"Mmmmhm..."
Due to their shared shyness, Fluttershy and Marble Pie understood themselves better than anypony else and spent most of time together.
Fluttershy showed Marble the entire beach where all the campers were resting
"You see ? We are all here so..."
Suddenly, a hoof emerged from beneath the sand and grabbed Fluttershy's leg.
"AAAA!!!!MONSTER!!!" screamed yellow pegasus she galloped away in fear.
The mountain of sand moved and Pinkie Pie appeared from underneath. She sighed
"Uff, where is Dashie ? I cannot wait in this trap forever..." she looked around and spotted Marble "Oh hey Marby, watcha doing ?"
Marble blushed and drew a circle with a hoof .
"Ooooo, I see" Pinkie nodded " You don't know where to go, do you ? Don't you worry your cutsie little head, your big sis will help you. Surely somepony will have a place for you to join !"
Marble Pie still was unsure but Pinkie grabbed her without any hesitation.
Suddenly, they were approached by Cutie Mark Crusaders
"Howdy Pinkie, what are ya up to ?" asked Applebloom.
"I am trying to get Marble somewhere fun" answered pink earth pony.
"Why don't you go with us ? I am trying to make a seashell neckless for Scootaloo..." squeaked Sweetie Belle.
The filly in question jumped grabbing Pinkie's leg
"Please, don't let her make it. It would be super embarrassing for a pony like me to wear something like this " the pegasus cringed at the very thought.
Sweetie Belle felt herself being nudged by Marble. The timid mare gestured on a ground and back on a white unicorn filly.
"You want to show me something ?" Sweetie asked
"Mhm..." muttered Marble as she continue to knock on the shells Sweetie collected
And after a moment, one of the shells opened up, exposing a beautiful pearl hidden inside
"OOOOOH..." Sweetie whispered, her eyes lit up " How did you find it?"
"Our Marbie-Barbie here always had a talent to search and craft within refined materials. Pearls, crystals and, well, marbles" Pinkie hugged her sister tightly. Marble returned the smile.
Sweetie hugged her pleadingly
"Teach me to use pearls to make pretty things ? Pleeeeeasse!!!"
The earth pony looked unsure but slowly nodded and went to the side with Sweetie Belle.
Pinkie, Scootaloo and Applebloom resumed walking, knowing that the pair will join them soon.
Then they overheard the argument an moved closer to see Celestia and Luna, lying on their sunbeds.
"Do you even know what you're talking about ? I don't need to become more darker than I am now !"
"But sister, that's what's beach is for..."
"Oh no Tia, I am going to swim. No way I am staying here and wait till your sun leaves me dry and wrinkled"
The younger princess sprinted towards the water. Celestia shouted
"Come back here, you vampire !"
Luna summoned the purple and back surfing board and jumped into the water, manoeuvring through the waves, sustained by Discord's chaotic magic.
She jumped and swiftly drifted on the edge of the wave...
"Howdy Princess "
"What's up ?"
Luna noticed Rainbow Dash and Applejack surfing near her
"Check this out" said Rainbow, flapping her wings and rotating over the agitated water backwards.
"She is like this all mornin' princess" Applejack sighed " I am glad that at least I am past this competin' nonsense."
"Bah, you couldn't even pull that off so it is a good thing that you gave up" Rainbow tested the apple farmer from the distance.
Applejack bit her lower lip as her eye twitched.
"Ah'm mighty sorry princess but..."
Then she launched herself into the air, did a double flip and landed back on her board, drifting on the edge near Rainbow Dash
"...somepony have to understand the power of muscles here " Applejack shouted triumphantly.
Unfortunately, the wave broke, causing the earth pony to lose balance and fell directly on the cyan pegasus.
"I got you" Applejack shouted, grabbing her friend and splashing her with water and shortly after, the real storm of a fight exploded on the lake, colorized by laughs and swears.
Celestia and Applebloom, lying on the sunbeds with sunglasses on, sighed simultaneously and with enormous amount of will, managed to turn their bodies on the other side.
Scootaloo started wandering on her own, till she suddenly bumped her head into...
Pegasus filly looked up and her eyes widened in shock.
She was standing near the wall of the enormous sand fortress.
"Look out !"
Suddenly, she was pulled back as the sand in front of her exploded and ignited.
"Hi Scootaloo. What are you doing here ?" asked Spike, waving the long stick with a crystal attached to it.
"Just passing by... but what are you doing ?" Scootaloo asked with a shocked expression
Spike lustrated the walls of the gigantic wall of sand, looking for something.
"We are playing an awesome game" he pointed at the wall " our mission is to somehow reclaim this fort. We have flags that had to be put on the top. However, if we let the flags fall into the hands of the defenders, we lose."
"S-S-Spike, i-isn't that dangerous ? I mean, I love adventure and risks, but this..." Scootaloo looked at the crater left after some dark rock hit the ground.
Spike noticed the worry in filly's eyes and smiled, trying to comfort her.
"Not at all. Twilight and Discord came up with a perfect solution how to preserve safety even in this...hm, risky game. And I can prove it. Scootaloo, punch me !"
Scootaloo blinked in surprise
"Spike, what did you..."
"Come on, I just want to show you how this works. Punch me with all that you got."
"But Spike, I really like you, you are my friend, I can't just..."
"Punch me or else I'll tell Rainbow about that time you came over to Rarity to try this pink dress..."
BAM!!!!
Spike fell on the sand, while Scootaloo stared at him with fury
"WE.DISSCUSED.TO.NEVER.BRING.THAT.UP.AGAIN" she hissed slowly
Spike slowly rose up, clenching his face
"And I won't. But I needed something for you to go over the edge. Now watch..."
Scootaloo watched as Spike's swollen eye glowed with green light and emerald mist evaporated from his scales. After a few seconds, Spike's face returned to normal. Scootaloo also smelled a weird scent. It was as if somepony grilled a toothpaste. Minty, but also smelling like smoke.
"According to Twilight, each alive being possesses something called "aura"" he raised his claws and a tiny emerald flames enveloped them" .It is our life energy. Powerful unicorns and alicorns can use aura for their own needs, even as a weapon. So Twilight got an idea that we can play "storm and defend the castle" using our auras as a weapon and defence. As you've seen, they can also heal almost any injury. But normally aura can ran out, so Discord enchanted the area around this fortress to amplify the potential of our energy, so it will never burn out. So it safe to say that near the castle we are almost immortal."
Scootaloo's jaw dropped and then jumped into the air.
"This is so fricking amazing. Myself as a living weapon ?"
Spike smirked, pointing at his wand.
"Yeah, once you control your aura, you can conjure up your one of a kind weapon. So, do you want to play ?"
"You need to ask ?" Scootaloo laughed.
Spike grabbed her by the hoof and they started running around the fortress.
"Discord and Twilight are the ones capable of awakening auras. Since Discord is with my team along with Big Mac, and Twilight is up there with Limestone and Maud, we will go to Discord."
Finally, they reached some kind of a trench and noticed Discord sitting behind it.
"Spike, we need reinforcements. Big Mac is trying to buck through wall. But it's too strong. And I hate to say this..."
Around his claws formed a halo of dark red energy and the air was filled with the unpleasant smell of gasoline and sulphur. Energy shifted into a bow with arrow. Discord let the arrow fly high and after a while a voice of Limestone Pie shouted with anger and the ray of yellow and green light descended, exploding and causing them to fell to the ground.
"...But I am a bit out of breath here too" draconequus finished
"Well, I think I have your backup. Scootaloo wants to join us " Spike said to Discord.
"Little squirt ? Come on let's be serious..." Discord begin, but stopped, noticing look on Scootaloo's face.
After a moment, Discord facepalmed and sighed
"All right, considering our immortality field..."
SNAP!
Scootaloo gasped as the vast amount knowledge about the aura was implanted in her brain. Her entire silhouette was enveloped in magenta light and the smell of hot chocolate appeared in the air.
"You know, every creature's aura is different in colour and smell. Mine smells like smoked emeralds, one of my favourite meals. Now, think about your weapon" instructed Spike
Magenta smoke formed into a bracelets around Scootaloo's legs. Following her instincts, she hit a rock that crushed underneath her hooves.
Then the bracelets shoot out a long cable, that stick itself to the wall. Scootaloo was pulled up and then she shoot the cable once more and detached the second one. She was gliding and swinging around the wall.
"This is just like flying !!!" the young filly shouted in ecstasy.
Discord and Spike watched the filly, until Discord suddenly gasped and rubbed his hands.
"You know, extra players may not be such a bad idea..."
*******************
"So let me get this straight... Ya want us to fight each other ?" Appleajck asked
Twenty minutes later Discord gathered all the campers in front of the castle and explained the game to them.
"Darling, this is positively horrible. Do I look like a warrior to you ?" Rarity huffed, irritated.
"That's exactly why some of you will be in the defence. You need to protect your flags and take the flags of the attackers" Spike explained.
After a moment of convincing the group, especially Rarity, Princess Celestia and Fluttershy, friends split in two groups. Discord, Spike, Big Mac, Pinkie Pie, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Princess Luna and Rainbow Dash were the attackers while Rarity, Twilight, Appleajck, Applebloom, Marble, Maud, Limestone and Princess Celestia defended the citadel. Fluttershy volunteered to be a non aligned and everypony made a silent agreement not to attack her.
The captains, Twilight and Discord, shook hand and hoof.
"Well, good luck. We will go to activate the auras !"
The defenders disappeared as Twilight teleported them away.
"Spike, Big Mac, go ahead. I will awake their energy" Discord said.
The pair saluted and ran to the wall of the castle
"How in tarnation they did it so solid" Big Mac wondered
"Maud and Discord built it, Twilight reinforced it. But it is not solid enough to stop us. Each of us tried alone. But if we do this together..."
Big Mac understood instantly
"Yep"
Two friends grabbed each other as their auras, Spike's emerald and Big Mac's black with red stripes merged. Spike felt stronger and noticed that his weapon, long katana sword, becomes flooded in black glow.
He screamed and hit the wall. A crack appeared.
Another hit. And another. And another.
And then...
BAM!!!
The wall partially collapsed and they saw a small corridor.
They were in
*******************
Scootaloo didn't follow the others as they went into the corridor and spilt up.
She summoned her cable bracelets and with a flag in her mouth, she started to swing higher and ascend till she went to the top.
She landed on a small patio. The designated place to put the flag was so close.
Something was off.
Then she noticed some kind of a blur at the edge of her vision and before she could react, she was hit in head.
"OUCH!" Scootaloo hissed, falling down and letting the flag out of her mouth.
"I'll be takin' that, sugarcube"
When Scootaloo opened her eyes, she noticed a familiar Stetson hat, running away along with its owner.
"Oh no, get back here !" the pegasus shouted
With a fizz, the tentacles of magenta light shot through the patio and wrapped itself around Applejack's hind leg.
Scootaloo started to pull Applejack closer.
Then, the strong scent of hot chocolate was covered by even stronger aroma of freshly harvested apples.
Applejack was covered in an armour in colour of dark, jade green.
She smiled apologetically to Scootaloo
"Sorry Scootaloo, but I can't let ya beat me"
With this she hit the ground with her leg. The floor trembled, the cracks of dark green energy appeared and two ponies fell into the room below.
***************************
A fresh smell of ozone filled the air as Rainbow Dash's rainbow coloured aura focused at her hooves, as she stared carefully at the another end of the corridor from where she came from.
Then, a golden spear swung out from the shadows and Rainbow had to quickly dodge it.
"Shurrrenderrr yfself. Yufff ahr okhtclashed" said Princess Luna, holding the flag in her mouth.
"Please, do something with that flag. You sound incredibly funny instead of intimidating" muttered Rainbow
Luna carefully pulled the flag out and wrapped her wing around it
"Sorry" she rolled her eyes.
Her silver aura was flowing down, congesting in mercury-like droplets. Luna's indicator, lavender, was making Rainbow feel sleepy.
But now she was at high alert when Princess Celestia threw the spear once again and this time Rainbow was bruised, only to regenerate it in a split second.
Luna summoned a silver scythe and her weapon clashed with Celestia's. The older Princess's golden energy was so strong that her cerise eyes became gold as well.
Celestia was slowly going forward and forward, the scent of bananas becoming overwhelmingly sweet, until she cornered Luna near the wall.
"Oh, please, please, nooooo, noooo, have mercy..." Luna howled.
After a few moments of silence, Luna raised her head, smiling widely
"Good acting ?"
Celestia was taken aback
"What ?"
A silver portal appeared under solar princess. Falling through it she landed in a far away end of the corridor.
"Now , Rainbow Dash !!!" Luna shouted.
"Right !!!"
A blast of concentrated energy shot from both legs of the pegasus and crushed the ceiling, separating Luna and Rainbow from Celestia.
The attackers ran away when the pile of sand exploded and Celestia started to chase again.
******************
Sweetie Belle marched quietly through the hallway. She needed to come to the roof for the operation to fool the opponents.
It was suspiciously quiet. Again.
"That game is really getting into me. I am like a ninja" unicorn giggled to herself.
She trotted quietly, when she heard an explosion and noticed a multiple flashes of light in the corridor beside her.
Yep, her time was passing smoothly.
She spotted the stairs leading up and the light at the edge of her vision. Thank Celestia, she found the way out.
Not that she didn't like being inside. This game was awesome. But Sweetie preferred to rather be outside, when she could actually see what was causing the explosions above her head. Not to mention that in all of the sand fortress was now flooded with sharp and contrasting aromas. They were tickling young unicorn's nose quite badly and Sweetie felt like she needed to sneeze.
And then, just before she got out...
"And where are ya goin' ?"
Oh, of course. Dumb luck
Applebloom's orange aura smelled like...
"Why does it smell like wine ?" Sweetie eyed her best friend suspiciously.
Applebloom blushed
"Not wine, ethanol. It is a component of many alchemical potions. Speaking of alchemy..."
The stairs under Sweetie's hooves glowed with orange light and simply melted down, much to the terror of the unicorn.
"What ? How do you ?"
"A simple application of the law of equivalent exchange" Applebloom yawned, watching as Sweetie slowly sinks in the liquid.
Sweetie started to drown in melted liquid when suddenly, she felt a pair of claws puling her out. She opened her eyes to met a pair of reptilian emerald irises.
Sweetie felt a rush of joy and relief when she saw Spike. Then she felt a wave of irritation. Through it all, she felt the strong, irrational need to kiss him, which made her even more mad.
"Where in Tartarus have you been ?" she said, standing side by side with him.
"Oh, you know. Trying to survive this crazy game."
"Well, don't lose your head over it" Sweetie huffed.
"Are ya two done ?" the bolt of orange light interrupted their conversation.
"Not quite" Sweetie Belle smiled, as her own aura of the colour of pale green stretched out from her body, sparkling and glimmering. The gust of wind brought the flavour of vanilla, that sent Sweetie's mind off the track.
Vanilla...Nothing to be surprised about, she loved vanilla. But now that was also bringing back some sad memories.
Vanilla milkshakes...
"Come on, run !!!"
Suddenly, Spike grabbed her and threw up to the hole in the ceiling.
She landed on her hooves and managed to compose herself
Oh no, I am not leaving that easily
Applebloom shrieked when she was levitated above the ground and up to the roof.
Sweetie Belle was stunned. She wasn't so powerful to levitate a pony but that was possible with her magic being amplified.
"Sweetie Belle ! Wait up"
And then he crashed with a sapphire wall.
Honeysuckle...
"Oh Spikey-wikey, with all the pleasant time we had recently, you simply shouldn't bump into a lady like that" Rarity raised her eyebrows, smiled playing on her lips.
Spike blushed and when he got up he noticed that Rarity's aura stretched into a big sapphire sphere, with them inside.
Spike tried to slice the walls, but it was no use
"You won't let me out, will you ?"
"No-pe" said Rarity, accenting the "p" with a pop.
"You rather don't want to play and would rather be locked here with me ?"
Rarity rolled her eyes
"Spike, precious scales, with all the respect, I chose to contain myself with you. I am not locked up with you, you are locked up with me. I just wanted to talk you."
"Now ? In the middle of the battle ? "
Rarity sat down and shrugged
"Well, there is no time like the present"
Spike smiled
"Sure"
****************
Sweetie Belle screamed and her weapon, amplified voice, threw Applebloom at the other side of the patio.
"Stay still for a minute !" Appleboom transferred a current of orange lightning at her but this time the unicorn was prepared for it.
Suddenly, a few things happened at once.
The door on the left exploded and Discord emerged with the bunch of flags in his paw. Behind him was Rainbow Dash and even more behind, Princess Celestia trying to pull Luna's mane while the night princess was repeatedly stepping on her hooves.
On the other side appeared Twilight, shielded by Maud and Limestone. She too was carrying a bunch of flags.
Both groups groups were closing their distance.
Discord reached out with his claw covered in dark red glove.
Twilight did the same with her hoof, glowing purple.
The smells of gasoline, sulphur and old books intensified as the pony and draconequus realized a simple, physical fact.
At this rate, they won't be able to slow down.
They crashed with each other, creating a shockwave.
The entire fortress trembled as the purple and red cracks appeared in the floor.
And then the entire construction gave up and decomposed into a loose sand.
Everypony fell into nothingness.
SNAP!
Everyone found themselves standing on a beach as if nothing happened.
And everyone fell on the sand, looking at the sky
"Maybe we overdid it just a little bit" Twilight muttered.
"Meh, it was cool to me" said Scootaloo.
"Me too" added Spike
"I told Twilight that loosely bonded silicon isn't a very good material but..." Maud said with her usual apathy.
"It would work if Discord didn't overload it with magic" Twilight muttered.
"Hey now, Princess Smartie Pants, I am not the only one to blame. You collided with me as well" Discord called back.
"Hey, stop this. I don't know what yer thinkin' but I had a rather good time. Though, it could be a little hasty and dangerous" Applejack bit her lip
"Yeah, there is nothing so self-satisfying as kicking somepony's butt!!!" yelled Limestone.
"This is not exactly..." Appleajck began, but was interrupted by Scootaloo
"That was amazing ! Rainbow Dash, did you see what I was doing with those cables ?"
"Yeah kiddo, that was really neat. I would like to this myself" Rainbow Dash gently ruffed Scootaloo's mane.
"I think I know someone who can teach you swing rather well... What was his name ? Ah, Levi. It was Levi" Discord whispered.
After a few moments of silence, then got up from the ground Rarity spoke up
"You know, I am not a warrior in the slightest, but this aura smells were better than perfumes. It was simply divine !"
"Duh !!!" Pinkie bounced up " I was keep trying to eat up my glowy thingy cause it smelled like cotton candy. aaaaahh..." she started salivating.
"Well, old banana here had to chase us throughout the entire fortress and then when she got there, she excused herself to the toilet" Luna glared at her sister.
"You are one to talk. You were the one who caused a ceiling to fall on yourself" Celestia giggled.
Soon everypony was laughing and telling each other stories from their crazy moments in the fort. Sweetie Belle noticed Spike talking casually with Applebloom and took a deep breath.
Well, now or never
She trotted closer and then
"THANK YOU FOR THIS AMAZING DAY!!!! I PLANNED A MOVIE NIGHT SO IT WOULD BE RECOMMENDED FOR YOU TO REFRESH YOURSELVES OR TAKE A NAP, IF YOU NEED IT!!!!" boomed Discord, his voice echoing through the beach.
"Discord, we are standing right next to you" Twilight massaged her head.
"Oh, I know. But what is a message without the dramatic echo ?" asked Discord.
"A voice contents without amplified sounds" Maud gave an answer.
Discord facepalmed and sighed
"Anyway, at 10 o'clock we will have a dinner by the fire and a movie night. Right ? Right !"
And with this he disappeared.
Everyone started to go in the direction of the camp, located few hundred meters west.
Sweetie Belle missed her opportunity and she let the group go without her.
She looked on a spot where the sand construction was, the wind playing with her curly locks in two shades of purple.
She still felt the smell of vanilla and the memories were still spinning inside of her.
Half drunk vanilla milkshake...
The tear. Her tear, still smelling and tasting like vanilla.
That was over. She did move on. It wasn't anypony's fault, but it was still better this way. She didn't need to convince herself that she chose the right one.
Rarity thought that she was too inexperienced in dating. But she wasn't a little foal anymore.
Don't you worry Spike, by the end of this trip, I will tell you how I feel. And it will be something new for you and me. I will be happy. But most importantly, you will be happier too
Rarity's sister smiled and galloped to the rest of the group.