Everyone hung out in the central courtyard of Camp Everfree, most of the students taking in the scenery while some were raring to do some fun activities. Even though Gloriosa had gone over the rules pertaining the docks just moments ago, she was constantly vigilant with her fellow campers' safety and made sure they wouldn't get hurt while having fun. Sora and Kairi were the only ones who decided to start their outdoor fun with a swim, diving into the cool water as they ran across the rickety dock. Ventus looked out at the lake, wondering if fishing was an acceptable activity to try, assuming Gloriosa and Timber said it was alright. Although, with Fluttershy around, I doubt she'd want to see any aquatic life living in the lake getting snagged on a hook.
He watched Sora and Kairi teasing each other while treading water, the former trying to drag the latter underwater, or forcing her into a splash fight like little kids. "Hey, Ven! Come join us!" Sora called out. "The water's great!"
Kairi suddenly leapt up and pushed Sora's shoulders down, playfully dunking him in the water as he let out a gargled yelp and began flailing around, taking her with him as the couple began wrestling with each other underwater. "I would if I had swim trunks," he said to himself.
He left them to their fun as they started playing tag, swimming around and diving underwater to avoid the one who was "it", walking over to the girls as they looked at what nature had to show them. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Rarity asked aloud. "It looks like a diamond shining in the sun!"
"It is lovely out here," Fluttershy agreed. "The fresh air, the cool breeze,-" A bird flew down toward the animal lover, who held her hand out for it to perch on her finger, sensing the kindness in the shy teen. "-the birds that land on your finger."
"I think that only happens to you," Rainbow stated as her best friend nuzzled her little avian friend.
"Lake activities are available every day until sunset!" Gloriosa reminded her guests. "So if you want to canoe, sail, windsurf, or swim, just let me know!"
Twilight decided to try canoeing, getting herself a life vest and an oar from the boathouse before making her way to the docks. Fluttershy had sat by the edge, feeding some of the ducks that gathered around her as they floated idly and snatched the bread crumbs she tossed to them. Twilight noticed the adorable fowl and her ducklings, stepping backward as she watched. She suddenly yelped when one of the boards cracked under her foot, falling over, but was quickly caught by Timber, who was on the docks after setting the canoe up. Sora and Kairi heard the crack, stopping their little game and watched them from halfway out in the lake.
"I know I'm charming, but you don't have to fall for me," Timber said, flirting with Twilight again.
"That was so corny," Kairi said, rolling her eyes at the terribly awkward pickup line Timber gave the nerdy girl.
"Oh...Was that what you meant earlier?" Sora asked Kairi, finally understanding the lack of context with watching out for Timber's "advances" on Twilight. Kairi nodded her head, which shocked him. "...How old is Timber compared to this world's Twilight??? In fact, how old are Timber and Gloriosa!? I think Gloriosa's older, but he's got to be far older than Twilight!"
"Maybe by a couple years," Kairi guessed. "Probably already graduated from school, or maybe a year ago."
While questioning just how old the two counselors of Camp Everfree were, Gloriosa, Celestia, and Luna heard the crack in the dock Twilight made and went over to investigate the damage. "This is a safety hazard," Luna said, worried their combined weight, along with Fluttershy, Timber, and Twilight's might cause the entire dock to collapse. "I suggest we close down the dock for the remainder of camp."
The students began complaining, losing a few aquatic activities over the old and worn down dock being condemned. "Oh, I'm sure it have to be for the remainder of camp," Gloriosa reassured. "Just needs to be patched up a bit. I've got this!"
Applejack hummed in thought, getting an great idea. "Or maybe WE do!" she said. "If ya ask me, this whole dock needs to go." Applejack kicked one of the posts on the shore, knocking it over from how worn out it was. "Building a new one could be our camp gift. Sure, it would benefit us, but a nice new dock would benefit future campers, too."
Applejack's idea for the camp gift sounded like a great idea as the other students voiced their agreements. "Uhh, I don't know. It's an awful lot of work," Timber said. "I wouldn't want you guys to miss out on doing on other fun camp stuff because you're so busy building a dock for 'future campers'."
Gloriosa leered at her brother at the snide remark, the tension between the two of them practically radiating from them that even Sora and Kairi could feel it out in the water. Ventus found it odd at how pessimistic Timber was, even though he seemed just as thrilled to show new campers how to rough it in the great outdoors. Luckily, Rainbow intervened, her loyalty to her school and other future campers showing as she backed up Applejack's idea.
"I hear what you're saying, Timber, but we're Canterlot Wondercolts," Rainbow said. "We've got a reputation to uphold! And there's no way we were gonna leave this place without contributing the most awesome camp gift ever! I'm with AJ. Building a new dock is definitely it! What do you guys think!?"
She got her answer when the students all cheered in agreement. The two siblings began bickering with each other over the idea to themselves, still resenting each other's outlooks on their camp. Sora and Kairi finished their swim early, walking back to shore instead of using the dilapidated dock in case one of the planks broke on them.
"Well, there's goes trying out windsurfing," Sora groaned, Ventus walking up to the couple and handing them towels to dry off. "I wanted to try it out after seeing Kairi's glider."
"You could have borrowed her glider if you wanted to try," Ventus said matter-of-factly. "Just because it's her Keyblade doesn't mean it's gonna disappear on you when you're out in space."
"I guess it makes sense if wielders can use another's Keyblade to dual wield," Kairi said.
"We'll have a go at that when we're back in Equestria." After drying themselves off, Sora and Kairi headed back to their tents to change back in their clothes to help their Canterlot High friends rebuild the dock.
Throughout the rest of the day, the new dock was coming along quite smoothly. It wasn't exactly finished, but there was enough done today that could be finished up tomorrow, and with a lot more time for other camp activities. While waiting for the supplies, the teens planned out how it would look, reinforcing it to make it last for at least a decade, and even adding on a sign with the camp's name and lanterns for campers to see it at night. Rarity, however, was a bit too focused on it being a runway for her fashion show, but Gloriosa was allowing it as a camp activity, so everyone was at least happy they got to do something fun.
When the building materials had arrived, they took out the old boards and started placing the new posts and planks down. While everyone else was using modern tools to attach the boards, Applejack was still in the outdoorsy attitude, crafting a makeshift hammer with a thick enough branch with a good grip with a cylindrical-shaped stone tied on top. It was actually an impressive bit of ingenuity for the cowgirl, though it looked more like a hammer used for combat with both ends being flat while regular hammers nowadays have a head and a pronged end to pull out nails already placed or need replacing. At least they weren't unsupervised with Celestia making sure her students wouldn't injure themselves. And while some worked on the construction, some began setting up some creative lanterns for the new dock, Twilight and Timber being those select few, all while the latter continued flirting and trying to impress the prodigal genius.
The sun started to set when Celestia decided to call it a day for the hardworking students, promising them they can finish it tomorrow after some more activities. Everyone gathered around the campfire when darkness began to settle, Pinkie already ecstatic when the promise of making s'mores was brought up by Gloriosa. The group sat around on logs and stumps around the fire, Pinkie making a bouquet of roasting marshmallows with the strangest multi-limbed branch she found to make said bouquet. While relaxing and everyone snacking down on the traditional s'mores around the fire, they began to tell some scary stories, fitting the creepy atmosphere outside of the safe light from the campfire.
"...And that's when she looked down and realized she was wearing purple socks with a burgundy dress!" Rarity screamed in terror as she finished telling her "scary" story. Everyone stared at Rarity, trying to figure out where the horror was in her story while they expected something that would scare the pants off them. "Purple and burgundy, darlings! The same color family!"
"Rarity, I think the only one who would ever get that is just you," Ventus said. "Try telling that story to a group of models. Maybe they'll freak out about 'purple socks with a burgundy dress'."
"Well, I'm kinda terrified," Rainbow said. "Terrified she'll try to tell it again."
That got a laugh out of a majority of the group, Rarity huffing in response to Rainbow's criticism. "Anyone else have a scarier story?" Sora asked. "Or if we're sticking to the subject of horrible fashion sense, imagine me wearing red shorts that got too small after a whole year in a coma."
"That's...very disturbing," Spike muttered.
"I've got a scary story," Timber said. "But I'm warning you, you might as well hug a friend now. That's how scary it is." Immediately, Fluttershy grabbed Spike and held him, while Snips and Snails held each other, only to have Bulk grab them and squeeze them in his muscular hold, just as terrified as the younger miscreants. "It's time I told you about the legend of Gaea Everfree."
"Gaea Everfree?" Kairi asked curiously.
"Alright, something good," Sora eagerly said, rubbing his hands together giddily for something decently scary, even though he's faced more terrifying things that were more horrifying than a story.
"Many years ago, my great-grandparents came to this forest," Timber began. "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. 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; Gaea Everfree!
"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." The description of the monstrous legend sounded like a creature that lived in Equestria. Then again, with Camp Everfree possibly being the equivalent of the Everfree Forest, and the sirens having been banished to this world over a millennia ago, Sora, Kairi, and Ventus had a feeling there might have been more banished creatures that could have destroyed Equestria. Since there were no legends about a Gaea Everfree back in Equestria, the trio continued listening out of curiosity while some of the campers trembled at the envisioned legend. "Trembling, my great-grandparents asked who she was and what she wanted. In a deep and hollow voice, she told them 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!!!!" Suddenly, after Timber finished his tale announcing the woodland spirit's name in scarier tone, something came up behind him, causing most of the campers to scream in terror, thinking it was Gaea Everfree coming back to take back her domain.
As the figure stepped closer in the firelight, it was only Gloriosa, coming over to check on everyone. "Hey, guys! Sorry, didn't mean to scare you!"
"Then why did you come out of the bushes?" Sunset asked, noticing how she appeared near the woods, not the path between the trees leading to the courtyard.
"I...took the scenic route, because the forest is beautiful at night," Gloriosa said, her hesitation clearly telling she was doing something else out in the woods and not within the campgrounds. "But no one else should do it without a guide, ok?" Most of the campers nodded in response, some still scared by Timber's scary story. "Alright, everyone, it's getting a bit late. Time to head back to your tents."
While Snips and Snails pestered Gloriosa over a few things they forgot to bring for the trip, the other campers began heading back to their assigned tents. Spike wheezed, still being crushed by Fluttershy's terrified grip, squirming around to try to get out.
"F-Fluttershy, too tight," Spike said, snapping her out of her fright and lightened up on her hold to let the puppy breathe.
"Sorry, Spike. I guess that story got to me," Fluttershy said.
"Why? It can't be real," Applejack said.
"Have you forgotten about the sirens?" Sora asked. "Timber's story on this Gaea Everfree might not sound as far-fetched in this world, but if Adagio, Sonata, and Aria were banished here a thousand years ago, so could several other creatures dangerous enough to harm the ponies in Equestria."
"Maybe, but Timber made it sound like he was makin' it up," Applejack argued, though she began to feel unconvinced with herself now that he brought up the sirens. "At least Ah hope he was. Last thing we need is to have camp ruined by some power-crazed magical creature."
"Hear-hear," Rarity agreed. "We've had to deal more than our fair share of those: the Fall Formal, the musical showcase, the Friendship Ga-" Rarity paused, stopping herself when she looked over at Twilight. Sadly, she was too late from mentioning it. Twilight looked down miserably, once again reminded of the trouble she caused and the destruction she made as Midnight Sparkle. "...W-Well, I mean, you know, everything turned out alright, of course! Heheheh..."
"I'm kinda tired," Twilight said, slowly walking back to the tents with her head hung low.
Sora, Kairi, Ventus, and Sunset looked at the five girls, all of them realizing at the last minute that bringing up the past wasn't always something everyone looks back on, especially for those who were greatly traumatized by their actions. "Girls, quit bringing up the Friendship Games around Twilight," Kairi scolded. "She's still sensitive about that."
"She'll get used to it when she's ready, but not now," Sunset added. "She's not me after I helped you beat the sirens; Twilight's been a shut in student, and she's still learning how to take a joke over something horrible she's done. So, can you guys lay off bringing up the past around her?"
Pinkie was about to promise, grabbing another one of her marshmallows and was about to literally seal them with the sticky, puffy treat, only for the Keyblade wielders and Sunset to leer at her, wanting her to take the promise seriously. Wincing, she stopped her silly antics, simply eating the marshmallow and nodded her head.
"Let's get to bed, guys," Ventus said. "We'll try to have fun and FORGET about what happened. That's why we're here, right?"
The other girls nodded, then split up in their groups to their tents. Hopefully, tomorrow would go smoothly, no more magic spurts from Twilight and the legend of Gaea Everfree really just a myth and a made up creature.
Twilight sat alone in front of a campfire, the other seats where other campers could sit completely barren. She found it odd, knowing she had gone to bed a while ago, but being alone felt serene to her as she roasted a marshmallow over the fire. Suddenly, there was a rustling coming from the foliage behind her, startling her as she turned around.
"Here I am!" the voice of Midnight Sparkle rang out. Twilight stood up from her seat, panicking as her darkness was back to haunt her once again. She looked around, but there was no sign of her anywhere. "Over here," Midnight said from behind Twilight. Dreading to look behind her, she saw the light of the fire turn from orange to a dark shade of purple. She turned, saw the transformed flames, then from the fire came her darkness as it lunged at her. "I'm always here!!!!"
"NOOOOOO!" Twilight screamed, panting heavily as she sat up in her bed in her tent.
Her scream woke up Sunset, tiredly jumping out of bed, still half asleep, raring to fight something that wasn't there. "Wha-What happened?" she mumbled.
Realizing it was only yet another nightmare, Twilight shuddered, unable to get away from them when Midnight Sparkle always came back. "Nothing. Sorry, Sunset," she apologized, rubbing her eyes while trying to wipe the growing tears beginning to well up.
Sunset began to wake up, then looked at Twilight, only to gawk when she saw her bed, along with Spike's and a few other things in their tent were floating in the air, held up by Twilight's magical aura. "Uhh, Twilight, I think something did happen."
Looking down, Twilight yelped, her magic subconsciously activated against her control again. Once she was fully awake, the aura disappeared, dropping everything, waking Spike up as he grunted and groaned in confusion.
"Is it time to get up already?" he asked.
"Twilight, we have to talk about this," Sunset said, knowing Twilight really needed some emotional support and reassurance.
"No, we don't!" Twilight exclaimed, burying herself under the covers as she turned away from Sunset.
Sunset wanted to nip this issue in the bud, but seeing just how distraught Twilight was right now after her nightmare and her magic acting up again, she stopped pressing her and left her alone. Since she was up now, Sunset got herself dressed and headed outside to give Twilight some space. Kairi was already up and dressed, walking over to Sunset with a worried gaze.
"I heard Twilight screaming," Kairi said. "Everything ok?"
"I think it was another nightmare...and a bit of magic happened, too," Sunset said. "Yesterday, I was only joking saying she was hiding something, but now, I think she knows something she doesn't want us to know."
"She just needs time, but hopefully not too much," Kairi said. "Sora did the same thing, hiding stuff from us so we wouldn't resent him, lose him, anything to keep us from thinking he wasn't a great friend and a valiant hero. He had his own darkness he had to face, and before he managed to finally control it, it controlled him, if only temporarily."
"So, best thing to do for Twilight is steer her away from the Friendship Games and mentioning anything about magic." Kairi nodded, making Sunset sigh as she rubbed the back of her neck, staring back at the Sapphire Tent. "Easier said than done..."
After the sun rose a bit more, the rest of the students got up and motivated themselves for day two of Camp Everfree. After breakfast, they finished up the rest of the dock in no time, finishing their gift on time with teamwork, as their school is best known by. Once that was done, it was back to the numerous activities everyone wanted to do. Canoeing, fishing, and boating were back after the dock was rebuilt, and there was also archery, a rock climbing wall, and plenty of other activities for the day. Out on the lake, Derpy was out on a small boat with the eco teen with the green dreadlocks, though there wasn't much wind picking up their sail as they were stuck in the middle of the water.
On the dock, Twilight stood minding her own business, not feeling up to doing anything fun today after the last nightmare. Sunset knew Kairi warned her not to pressure her, but sometimes, time was not always a good thing for someone to get better, just like she had explained briefly about Sora's troubles. She approached Twilight, looking around to make sure Kairi wasn't around so she doesn't get chewed out.
"Hey, Twilight, I know you don't want to, but I really think we need to figure out what's going on with your magic." Twilight flinched, thankful that no one else on the dock overheard Sunset. "If you could learn to control it-"
"But that's just it! I'll never be able to control it!" Twilight exclaimed.
On the lake, Derpy and her boating buddy screamed as their boat suddenly got pushed by something that wasn't the wind. They rammed right into the newly built dock, destroying part of the end farther out in the water, startling everyone and almost hitting a couple of students and Timber as he taught them how to fish. Ventus ran over after hearing the crash, along with others who had either seen or heard the accident, thankful to see no one was hurt.
"What just happened?" he asked.
"I didn't mean to!" Twilight said.
Ventus raised a brow in confusion, but shrugged off Twilight's claim and ran over to help the unfortunate victims in the boat accident. "You guys alright?" he asked.
"Yeah, but it was so weird," the eco teen said. "We were stuck in the middle of the lake with no wind, then all of a sudden, BAM! The wind picked up, and we were pushed right into the dock."
Ventus looked around, barely feeling any gusts of wind that could have made the boat ram into the dock to break it this badly. "You don't think it was the spirit, do you!?" Pinkie asked.
Twilight believed that it was her fault, leaving the scene as she went off into the woods to mull over her darkness and its eventual release from within her heart and take over her body. Rainbow groaned and whined over their hard work gone to waste, Ventus noticed something in the water behind the boat after helping Derpy out of it and back on what remained of the dock. Peering closer, there was some sort of purple trail over the surface of the water that shimmered in the sunlight. Dipping his hand in the water, he scooped some of the mysterious substance out, glittering his hand with some kind of dust.
"Shimmering dust in the water?" he said to himself. "There's no way..." Looking down to where the trail lead from the boat, it ended on the shoreline, where some of the other teens saw the shimmering purple surface. "Why did the trail stop there? If Gaea Everfree really does exist, it should be following after her every move she makes..."
"Something wrong, Ven?" Sunset asked as she inspected the damage.
Ventus shook his hand, drying it off while getting rid of the glowing dust. "Hoping that 'Gaea Everfree' isn't going to haunt us."
"Well, let's see if we can try to salvage what's left," she said. "Maybe we can still fix this."
"We have to try!" Rarity said. "Camp Everfree needs a runway!"
"Dock," Applejack corrected.
"Dock, yes. That's what I meant..." Applejack and Rainbow shook their heads in exasperation as Rarity pretended like she knew what she was talking about.
While looking back at the camp, Sunset noticed Twilight was no longer there. "Where's Twilight?" Ventus shrugged his shoulders, seeing no sign of her. "Oh no...Ven, I'll be right back. I'm gonna try to find her."
"Is she alright?" Ventus asked with concern.
"Just a bit down after last night, but I've got this handled." Sunset hurried off to find Spike, needing his keen senses to help find his owner.
Twilight wandered off the trail, walking into a little section of the woods with a pond teeming with serene wilderness, even including a waterfall nearby. Just like before at Crystal Prep when her old classmates didn't even appreciate her smarts before the Friendship Games, she had the overwhelming urge to sing her distress, a somber tune playing in her head as she sat down on a nearby log.
[Sci-Twi]
It used to be so simple
It was a world I understood
I didn't know what I didn't know
And life seemed pretty good
But now the darkness rises
From somewhere deep inside of me
When she opened her eyes and looked down at her reflection in the pond's gently rippling surface, she saw a pair of dark wings sprout from her back. Twilight winced and looked behind herself, thankfully finding no sign of those dark purple wings physically on her. It still didn't lessen her fears, only making it worse when her magic has been running wild, and Sunset's idea of learning to control it wouldn't help if she loses herself and Midnight takes over.
Her power overtakes me
Can I keep this midnight from getting free?
If I can stay with the light
I know I'll be free
And I can start to be whole
I can start to be me
But instead I am struggling
With all that I see
And these friends
Mustn't see the midnight in me!
Looking back down at the water, she saw herself as Midnight Sparkle. It was odd envisioning herself as her own darkness, but instead of being power hungry and maniacal, her reflection showed the same fear and timidness as she was feeling now.
The midnight in me!
Twilight ran her hand through the water, rippling the surface and ridding the illusion she was staring at.
They mustn't see the midnight in me...
After spending some time alone with her thoughts, she headed back to camp before Gloriosa, Timber, Celestia, or Luna found out she was missing. She tried to believe she wasn't a monster, she really wasn't Midnight Sparkle, but her anxiety kept reminding her of the strange magic she now suddenly has random control of, and she's scared of using it. She found the trail, but while passing by a few trees and arriving at a split in the path, Timber was walking in the same direction, startling them both as they screamed.
"Oh, hi," Twilight greeted nervously. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh...Looking for you?" Timber answered.
"Oh...I just...went on a little nature walk and got a little lost," Twilight lied.
"Let me show you the way," Timber offered. "I'm kind of an expert at these woods. I've lived here my whole life."
"That must have been nice," Twilight complimented. "Growing up at a camp sounds...thrilling."
"Yeah, but it has its downsides," Timber said morosely. "When I was younger, I wished we'd sell this place so we could live in a town like normal people." Twilight gasped in shock. For someone who seemed fond of living in the outdoors, she never thought Timber would ever want to live anywhere else. "I was ten at the time. I really wanted to hang out at the mall." They both laughed at the irony of how Timber's selfish endeavors as a kid were when he had the perfect place to live in: no crowded roads, no loud noises, and no huge crowds of people to bump into just getting by a busy store just to pick up a few groceries. "You know, I've never told that to anyone...You must be pretty special." Twilight blushed at the compliment, Timber as well, getting a bit flustered as the two stared at each other. Timber snapped out of his lovestruck daze when he noticed something in Twilight's hair, reaching his hand out and pulling out a twig that got caught in her ponytail. "And not just because you have a tree branch stuck in your hair."
Twilight winced, feeling around her hair for anymore souvenirs she must have caught while going on her "nature walk". "Gah! How long has THAT been in there?"
"Not long. Just the whole time we were talking," Timber teased, smirking in amusement as he laid out more of his charm on the smart girl.
"Well, why didn't you say something?" Twilight asked, unable to help herself from giggling as she continued following Timber down the path back to camp as they continued chatting.
Sunset watched the couple from behind some bushes after she and Spike found Twilight. She grinned, glad to see she's a little bit chipper now, especially around Timber Spruce.
"I guess we can help Twilight deal with the magic stuff a little later," she said to Spike.
Back at camp, the campers were once again disappointed to know that their aquatic activities were on hold yet again with the new dock getting busted by that sudden boat crash from a mysterious invisible wind. Ventus managed to take apart the broken section, salvaging whatever boards were still intact. Sora and Kairi offered to help, but he insisted on the two of them enjoying what was supposed to be a vacation for them. So, letting Ventus do the hard work, they continued their vacation, interested in practicing a little bit with archery.
Over at the rock climbing wall, Rarity was already geared up and started climbing, Applejack supporting her rope in case she slipped. Celestia kept an eye on this activity, making sure her students follow proper safety procedures and wore helmets and elbow and knee pads in case they fell.
"Rock climbing is all about perseverance and trust," Celestia lectured, giving the teens helpful advice and a lesson while also having fun. "Rarity, you can trust Applejack to spot you."
"Yeah, so you can totally go faster than you're going!" Rainbow whined, getting impatient as she waited for her turn.
"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack scolded.
"Sorry. I've been waiting to do this since we got here," Rainbow said.
"Well, you'll have to wait a little while, darling," Rarity said, taking her time making it to the top of the 25-foot wall.
Rainbow huffed, crossing her arms with a pout. While waiting, she spotted Twilight and Timber walking over, immediately finding her spotter so she didn't have to wait for Rarity to finish climbing.
"Oh good! Twilight, if you spot me, I can finally go!" Rainbow quickly said, not giving Twilight a chance to respond before running off to get herself a harness and suit up.
Twilight was about to point out she wasn't physically capable of being an anchor, but was too late when the athlete was already halfway gone. Sighing, she shook her head, having no choice but to be Rainbow's rock climbing spotter.
"I better make sure my sister doesn't need anything," Timber said to Twilight. "See ya later?"
Twilight silently nodded, waving good bye to Timber as he wandered off to help out with some other activities. Sunset came back to the camp a while later, not wanting to arouse suspicion to Twilight that she was spying on her earlier.
"Twilight, there you are!" she called out. "I was looking for you."
Suddenly, the camp was hit by an earthquake. Everyone stumbled, completely startled by the mysterious quake out of nowhere.
"Was that an earthquake?" Spike asked.
"We aren't near any fault lines," Twilight said.
"Hey, who left this crystaly dusty stuff here!?" Bulk said, pointing at a small trail of the similar glimmering purple dust in the middle of the camp like near the dock.
As other students gathered around to investigate, Rarity had her fun, clinging onto the fake stone ledges for dear life when the earthquake hit. "O-Ok, I would like to come back down now!"
Applejack tugged on the rope, which got stuck in the pulley Rarity was tethered to. "Sorry, it's a little stuck."
While pulling on the rope, Applejack didn't notice her hands beginning to glow an orange aura. Another hard tug later, she nearly fell over as she suddenly had the strength of one hundred men, making Rarity shriek when she rose up near the top, then scream as she was dropped when Applejack let go from the shock. She quickly grabbed the rope and pulled, stopping the nearly traumatized fashionista from hitting the ground with a serious injury. Hearing Rarity's screaming, Celestia ran over to investigate.
"Is everything ok over here?" the Principal asked.
"Ah don't know what happened!" Applejack said as Rarity fumbled with her harness, wanting to get out before she was lifted that harshly like she was on a horror ride at an amusement park. "Ah didn't even pull the rope that hard. It's like she was light as a feather all of a sudden."
"I was scared half to death!" Rarity exclaimed, hyperventilating with her heart racing, still struggling to get out of the harness.
"It wasn't mah fault!" Applejack insisted nervously. "H-Here, let me help you get out of that."
"No, thank you!" Rarity moved her arms out to keep Applejack away, only to have a white diamond shield of white aura appear, then push the farm girl hard across the camp.
While Sora was taking his aim at a target with his bow, Kairi looked over at the rock climbing wall when she heard Applejack screaming. "Sora, look out!" she warned.
"Not gonna fall for your distractions, Kai-" Sora grunted, not heeding his fiancee and getting struck by a shoved Applejack as they went sailing toward the lake with a splash.
Thankfully, Sora's misfired arrow didn't hit anyone as he lost his grip on his bow, though everyone was quite shocked at what Rarity just did. Sora and Applejack swam out, the former flabbergasted while the latter had it coming, despite her sudden newfound strength coming out of nowhere.
"What in the world just happened!?" Celestia exclaimed.
"Uhh, that's what I'd like to know," Sora said.
"Oh my! I'm so sorry!...I think." Rarity looked down at her hands, confused at what she had done, no longer faulting Applejack for the incredibly overwhelming strength she spontaneously acquired. "Did I just do whatever that was?"
"I don't think it was your fault," Twilight said. "I'm gonna get you two towels."
"Me, too," Sunset added, following after Twilight to get Sora and Applejack dried off.
Kairi walked over to Sora, Applejack, and Rarity, giving her fiance a look that told him she did warn him, and it was his fault for not paying attention. Ventus came over after the quake ended, making sure the dock didn't get even more destroyed from the tremors, only to snort in laughter seeing Sora and Applejack soaking wet.
"You two have a nice swim?" Ventus teased.
"Ha ha ha. That was so funny, I forgot how to laugh," Sora sarcastically said. "But seriously, what happened?"
"I don't even know what happened," Rarity said. "After Applejack nearly pulled my harness hard enough to launch me in the sky, I was going to gently shove her back when she tried to help me get out when I was back on the ground."
"If ya call creatin' some magical diamond shield and pushing me and Sora into the lake 'gentle', Ah think ya need to look in a dictionary," Applejack grumbled. "And Ah didn't mean to do that. It's like ya suddenly weighed as much as a feather. So take that as a compliment for almost droppin' ya."
"Wait, you guys are using magic?" Ventus asked. "And...you're not transformed or playing music?"
"Exactly!" Rarity and Applejack both exclaimed, still very confused as to how it was possible.
They soon heard a scream come from the mess hall, which definitely came from Fluttershy. Worrying about their animal loving friend, they ran over to the building, Rarity finally getting herself out of the rock climbing harness, meeting up with Twilight, Sunset, and Spike, then barged through the doors.
"Fluttershy, are you-!?" Kairi paused, everyone gawking at the mess in the large dining room. Cookie dough was splattered all over the table Fluttershy and Pinkie were at, where it looked like an explosion of unbaked batter also hit the ceiling, the entrance they stood by, even on the two girls where one was terrified and the other was grinning her usual Pinkie Pie grin in obliviousness. "...Uhh...what happened in here?"
"I don't know," Fluttershy answered. "We were just decorating cookies and-"
"And I was all, 'You need more sprinkles! And YOU need more sprinkles!'" Pinkie interrupted, pantomiming her idea of spreading sprinkles on the cookie batter.
"...So, just the usual Pinkie Pie antics?" Ventus asked with a blank stare.
"I was just tossing sprinkles to Fluttershy, when all of a sudden they glowed pink and exploded!" Pinkie said excitedly.
"Wait, what do you mean by 'glowed pink and exploded'?" Sora asked nervously. Pinkie gave an example, grabbing a handful of sprinkles, which began to glow a pink aura in her hand. When she tossed them forward, the aura began to glow brighter, then began to explode in a myriad of colorful fireworks and smoke, shocking everyone with the powerful blast that nearly knocked them back while blowing their hair back. Even though Pinkie was giddy, the others were shocked, jaws hitting the floor as Pinkie and magic exploding sprinkles waved red flags. "...Oh. Oh! Ok! That's definitely NOT a good thing! That's several times more Pinkie than she could ever be!"
"I know! It's amazing! Wanna see more!?" Pinkie was about to reach her hand out to the small jar of sprinkles, but Sora, as quickly as he was able, lunged toward the table, snatching the sprinkles away from her.
"No! Bad Pinkie!" Sora chided. "No more magical exploding sprinkles! In fact, keep your hands in your pockets if you're able to do that with anything else other than sprinkles!"
"Awww, but it was cool," Pinkie whined, her pout not as powerful on Sora's heartstrings unless it was from her pony counterpart.
"Pockets, Miss Pie!" Sora ordered, which the pink-haired girl obeyed with a frown.
"Oh dear. We should really clean all this up." Fluttershy walked over to the nearby storage shelf, standing on her toes as she tried to reach a roll of paper towels on a high shelf. She was about to ask one of her friends to help, but help came in the form of a little orange bird that found its way in the mess hall, grabbing the roll and dropping it down in her arms. "Oh, thank you, Mr. Bird." The friendly avian tweeted, landing on Fluttershy's outstretched finger, his chirps sounding like he was asking for something. "Why of course I can get you a little something to-" Fluttershy gasped, shocked at the fact she was able to understand what the little bird said. "...Did you just...talk?" The bird tweeted again. "But I don't speak 'chirp'." A few more tweets. "I don't know if you're the only bird I can understand." While Fluttershy spoke with her little animal friend, that caught the others' attention, surprising Kairi when it seemed like all the girls seemed to be discovering some strange latent magic power unique to them that are just now coming to light. "Oh, no! Please don't call your friends."
"Fluttershy, are you talking to that-?" Sunset began to ask, but the little bird on Fluttershy's finger tweeted loudly, which brought along several other bird friends of his that flew in through the opened door.
Everyone ducked with a yelp as a couple robins, a blue jay, a woodpecker, even a couple owls flew toward Fluttershy, perching on her outstretched arms as she dropped the paper towels. "...It's nice to meet all of you, too," Fluttershy said.
"Yup. She was talking to the birds," Ventus confirmed.
"Say, Sora, why are you and Applejack all wet?" Pinkie asked curiously, keeping her hands in her pockets. "Did you go for a swim without changing into your bathing suit?"
"Rarity made a magic shield when she pushed Applejack after she got some kind of magical super strength," Sora said. "Kairi tried to warn me about the incoming farm girl while I was aiming for a bulls-eye, but I ignored her, thinking she was trying to distract me, and I paid for it by getting hit, sending us both in the lake." He looked at his future wife, giving him that look of disappointment in his trust in her. "Sorry, Kairi."
"You're going to have to make it up to me for not listening to me," Kairi said. "When we go on a peaceful hike around the forest, you're carrying our hiking gear, and me, until it's over." With no need to bargain lest he face his beloved's ire, Sora nodded silently, earning a playful pat on the head from Kairi. "Good boy."
"Ok, ignoring Sora getting whipped-" Sora gave Ventus a dirty look at his comment on Kairi running their relationship. "-this is a very strange occurrence with the girls."
"Hey, speaking of, where'd Rainbow Dash run off to?" Sora asked. As if fate wanted to give him an answer he didn't want, a rainbow blur suddenly zoomed into the mess hall. Aside from startling Fluttershy, her scream scaring her bird friends as they flew away, Sora was slammed by that same blur, both of them hitting the wall while the Keyblade wielder took most of the impact. That blur happened to have been Rainbow Dash, both her and Sora falling to the ground, the latter letting out a painful groan, cursing his bad timing. "Ow...Darn it, Rainbow, how many times do we have to go through this?"
"Urgh. What are you talking about?" Rainbow asked, confused by Sora's meaning while rubbing her sore chest.
"Ramming into me while you're flying!" Sora shouted. He got up on his knees and leered at the athletic girl, only to realize this was human Rainbow Dash, not the pegasus who used to use him as a landing mat during her flight stunts. "Oh. Sorry. Wrong Rainbow Dash. Been a while since that pegasus crashed into me, actually..."
"Rainbow, where in the world have you been?" Applejack asked. "And...how were ya movin' that fast?"
"I did run off to get myself a harness, but the next thing I knew, I was practically back in town!" Rainbow exclaimed, standing back up along with Sora.
"But if you had super speed, why were you gone for so long?" Rarity questioned, finding Rainbow's reason for not coming back earlier odd if she could move at ridiculous speeds.
"Because I lost it when I got far away," Rainbow said. "And then it came back when I got close to camp."
"Oh my gosh! Being at camp is giving us all new magical abilities!" Pinkie cheered, waving her arms around excitedly.
"It's not exactly great news when whatever you throw from your hand can result in a dangerous explosion that could hurt someone," Sora reminded Pinkie, his leer making her quickly stuff her hands back in her short shorts's pockets and grin sheepishly.
"Not all of us have gotten new abilities," Sunset said. "I haven't...but Twilight-" She looked back at Twilight, who stared at Sunset nervously, subtly shaking her head no. "-...hasn't either..."
"Well, so much for mah theory that leavin' CHS would mean leavin' any new magic business behind," Applejack said.
"The strange thing is that all this is starting to happen here at camp," Ventus pondered. "No music, and neither of you are expressing your elements to transform...Something must be the cause of this new magic."
"Um...Gaea Everfree?" Fluttershy suggested.
"I don't really think there is a Gaea Everfree," Kairi said. "Even if she does exist, I doubt she would radiate a magical energy and give others unique abilities like yours."
The front doors to the mess hall slammed open, startling Fluttershy yet again with another scream. Gloriosa walked in with an armful of towels, Applejack's missing hat sitting on top of the pile, the camp director looking around for Sora and Applejack.
"Applejack, Sora, there you are!" she said, walking over to them and handing them each half the pile of towels and placing Applejack's hat back on her head. "Here's some towels and-" Now free from her sight slightly blocked by the towels, Gloriosa gawked at the mess in the dining room. "...Uh, what happened in here?"
"We're kinda trying to figure it out," Sunset lied, though it was half true since the group was still wondering about how their magic began to appear.
"Well, don't you worry about it. I got this!" Sora and Ventus felt a bit unnerved when she kept spouting her catchphrase, clearly unable to do everything by herself.
The doors opened again, this time being Derpy and the eco-teen again. "Gloriosa, I kicked my beanbag into the lake!" the dreadlocks teen said.
Gloriosa was about to lose her nerve, her eye twitching as her grin was more like clenching her teeth in frustration, but she kept her composure to keep herself from blowing up. "I'll get you another one!"
"And I'm all out of arrows!" Derpy added, holding out a couple broken arrows she held in her hand.
"I would have offered mine, but I think I lost my quiver in the lake," Sora said, chuckling sheepishly, only agitating Gloriosa more with the constant requests she's having trouble promising and keeping up with.
"...Say no more!" Gloriosa said. "New arrows coming right up!"
"Gloriosa, there you are!" Timber said, looking worried as he walked into the mess hall and to his sister. "Filthy Rich is back. Do you want me to handle it?"
"Absolutely not!" Gloriosa hissed at Timber. "I've got this!"
Gloriosa left to handle Filthy Rich's return, brushing past Sunset accidentally, Timber leaving as well with Derpy and her former boating buddy. Sunset heard another scream, letting out a groan and rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Fluttershy, enough with the screaming!" Sunset exclaimed.
The others stared at Sunset, confused as they looked at Fluttershy, who hadn't uttered a peep. "I didn't scream," Fluttershy said.
"Yeah, no one did," Kairi said.
"Huh?" Confused, Sunset rubbed her head, swearing she heard someone scream.
"Attention, campers!" Celestia said over the P.A. system. "Anyone who's interested in making floating paper lanterns, please meet us by the picnic tables."
"Ah don't know about the rest of y'all, but Ah've been lookin' forward to comin' here for a month," Applejack said. "Maybe we forget about this 'new magic' for a bit and just try to focus on enjoyin' our time at camp?"
"I was oh, so excited about designs I've come up with for the camp fashion show," Rarity said.
"And I've barely gotten to whoop anybody in tetherball!" Rainbow added.
"I really think we should try and figure this out," Sunset said. "But if letting it go for now is what the rest of you want..." She got unanimous answers from the girls who discovered their new powers, all of them wanting to enjoy camp than get involved in another magical mishap. After cleaning up the mess Pinkie made with her new magical exploding sprinkles, the group left to partake in crafting their paper lanterns. While Sunset kept thinking about the new magic showing up, and getting disappointed she hadn't found out hers, she spotted Flash sitting at one of the picnic tables, already starting on his lantern as he designed a musical theme for his. "Hey, Flash."
"Too busy having fun at camp to do anything with me?" Flash asked teasingly.
"Sorry," Sunset apologized, sitting next to her boyfriend, fiddling with the supplies for the paper lanterns. "Kinda got a little caught up with a few things...Magic, specifically."
"I thought we were supposed to stay away from magic stuff," Flash pointed out. "Even though it is kinda cool to see you jam out and pony up." Sunset snickered, nudging his shoulder, almost messing him up and ruin the musical notes he was outlining. "So, what happened? I heard something blow up in the mess hall. Cooking creation gone awry?"
"More like Pinkie Pie making sprinkles explode with a simple toss." Flash blanched, stopping himself from designing before he drew a harsh black line over his lantern. "Yeah. It's scary. Not to mention Applejack getting super strength, Rainbow's super speed, Rarity with a magic diamond shield, and Fluttershy talking to animals. Although, Fluttershy could have possibly done that before this magic suddenly appeared when we got here."
"You have any idea where it's coming from?" Flash asked, earning a shake of Sunset's head as his answer. "...You don't think Sora, Ven, or Kairi might be doing this to tease us, are they?"
"They're here on a vacation just as much as we are, and they're just as surprised by this as we are." Sunset grumbled to herself, wanting to figure out where their magic is coming from, and maybe have them master it to their advantages. But, they were here to enjoy being in the great outdoors, away from magic and the misadventures at school, so she dropped the subject, to her chagrin, and started to work on her lantern. "Maybe I should start mine, too..."
Day began to turn to dusk, campers finishing up their lanterns to light and set free as night gets closer. Even Kairi, Sora, and Ventus made their own for the fun of it. Sora and Kairi created a unique lantern, connecting them together after designing their sides: Sora's with a smaller scale of Destiny Islands with stars lining a night sky, Kairi's with seven white hearts surrounding a bigger golden one, something only they and Ventus would understand in this world, and where the lanterns were connected, they recreated their childhood cave drawing back home, though Sora's portrait of Kairi on his side was far better than his six-year-old self made.
Ventus was carefully working on his, recreating what the Land of Departure was like before it was lost to darkness and transformed into Castle Oblivion. Even though it wasn't his true home, having no memories prior to being trained under Xehanort, but it felt like home to him when he woke up there after Vanitas was pulled from his heart. Among the castle and mountain range where he, Terra, and Aqua trained, circling at the top were their old Wayfinders, the upper arms connected together as a symbol of his long-term friendships with the two wielders who were like a brother and sister to him.
"Pretty snazzy artwork, Venny!" Pinkie complimented. "But feast your eyes on my lantern!"
Ventus looked up from his work, staring at Pinkie's idea of artwork. Her green lantern had flower pattern, but instead of being drawn on or glued strips of colored paper, Pinkie glued different colored marshmallows to make her design.
"...Marshmallows???" Ventus questioned. "...Dare I ask why you did that?"
"When I light it and let it fly, it'll look beautiful AND delicious!" Pinkie said, licking her lips as she eyed her creation.
Ventus looked at the others, shaking their heads as they all found it hard to believe Pinkie's lantern would fly with several marshmallows weighing it down. "...Right. I'd rather eat the marshmallows instead of using them as decorations."
While the others were grouped up with their lantern making, Twilight sat by herself while making hers. Spike noticed as he wandered around the other campers before scampering over to her, leaping up onto the table and got a glimpse of her star-themed lantern.
"Hey, Twilight, why aren't you with everyone else?" Spike asked.
"Sunset said something at camp is causing the other girls to get new magic," she said. "...I think it's Midnight Sparkle. She's still a part of me...I think I feel her power growing inside me, and her magic must be infecting my friends."
"Doesn't seem like it's bad in that dark, evil way," Spike said, though that didn't help assuage Twilight's worries. "So, what are we gonna do if it does get bad?"
"I don't know," Twilight mumbled.
"Ok, everyone! It's time to watch your lanterns fly!" Gloriosa announced, everyone finishing their last touches before getting up and heading over toward the lake with her, Celestia, and Luna.
Twilight lagged behind, deep in thought over the magical occurrences that had happened this afternoon. Timber walked over to her, having made his own lantern to join the others campers, mostly just to impress Twilight again.
"Hey, cool lantern!" he complimented. "Mine's my face." Holding his lantern up over his face, he turned it and showed his terrible self-portrait he made to Twilight. He expected her to laugh, though not nervously and just to make him seem funny. Timber could see she was feeling down about something, but with what, he was clueless when she seemed fine when they interacted with each other. "Hey, you ok?"
"Mhmm," Twilight uttered with a small nod.
"You don't seem like yourself tonight. You sure you're alright?" Timber asked.
"I'm fine. Just...something personal that came up is all," Twilight said, ending the subject before she got more upset in front of him.
Once everyone was gathered, they lit the small candle inside their lanterns, letting the glowing lights brighten the area around the dock and show off their designs in the night. They soon let their lanterns fly on Gloriosa's signal, everyone watching them float off by the small flames as they're carried over the lake. Pinkie tossed hers, but just like the others had guessed, her lantern was too heavily weighed down by her marshmallows and crashed to the ground.
"Aww! Oh well! Now I get to eat it!" Pinkie lunged for her "creative" lantern and began eating the marshmallows off of it. Everyone stared at her awkwardly while she ate every single puffy delight on it before she stood back up, her lips coated in sticky sugar. "Yup, beautiful and delicious."
"Pinkie, what is wrong with you?" Ventus groaned in exasperation with a shake of his head. "...Actually, I don't think we'll find an answer..."
As everyone watched the lanterns fly, none of them noticing Twilight and Timber's lanterns gently nudging into each other's way, Sora and Kairi were focused on their connected lanterns floating together. Kairi began to have a flashback to a similar moment like this, only it was when Sora had first stopped Ansem. That day when he won and he, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Mickey sealed the Door to Darkness, Kairi had somehow wound up on a floating patch of beach sand in the End of the World where the door was located. They were reunited for but a brief moment, the last thing Sora promised her was that he'll always be with her and come back to her before their hold on each other's hands forcibly separated before either of them fell over into the abyss as her small floating island floated away. As they lost sight of each other, orbs of lights began to gently fall like snowflakes around her, the lights bringing back the island and the other worlds that were lost to darkness.
It was a slightly sad memory, knowing Sora was going to be gone for a longer while than she thought, but she knew he would return one day and they would be together again. She had even discovered Sora's addition to their childhood drawing in their Special Place the next morning, showing her just how much she meant to him and the sacrifices he's made trying to find her. Even still, seeing that picture they drew of each other giving them half of a paopu fruit brought a tear to her eye, their destinies and hearts forever intertwined.
"It's really beautiful," Kairi uttered.
Sora looked at her, wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. "Not as beautiful as you are," he said, making her blush as she looked at him.
Kairi wrapped her arms around Sora, leaning her head against his shoulder as she looked out at the lake, watching the lights from the lanterns on the water's reflection. She snuggled up to him, tracing her fingers around the diamond heart on her ring. Now that they were no longer under so much stress from their wedding planning, she felt bad for what she said out of frustration before they heard about Canterlot High's trip to Camp Everfree.
"Sora, you remember what we argued about back at the castle before our vacation here?" Kairi asked. "...You know I didn't mean what I said, right? About proposing to me?"
"I know," Sora assured. "We weren't having much progress and kept getting more flustered the more invites we had to make." He chuckled sheepishly, scratching his cheek as he looked down at his feet. "I'm not really great at coming up with ideas that end well, huh?"
"No. No you don't," Kairi said. "But you make up for it with your bravery, your silliness..." She lifted a hand to Sora's cheek, gently turning his head to face her, then leaned closer to give him a soft, passionate kiss. "And most importantly of all about you: your heart."
Sora grinned, holding Kairi tighter as they cuddled, continuing watching the paper lanterns as they disappeared over the forest canopy across the lake.
Hours after setting the lanterns free, everyone headed for bed to rest up for another day of camp activities. In Sunset and Twilight's tent, Sunset stirred when she heard the entrance flutter open. Waking up, she looked over at Twilight's bed, only to find no sign of her or any of her belongings on her side.
"Twilight?" she called out. Quickly getting out of bed and dressing back into her camping clothes, she looked outside, spotting Twilight running away with Spike in tow. Sunset chased after her, wondering why she was trying to leave, though she had a big hunch as to what it really was. Sunset managed to catch up to them as they ran into the forest to take a shortcut. "Twilight, where are you going?"
Twilight winced, both her and Spike stopping. "...We're...meeting a cab to take us home," she said timidly, keeping her gaze away from Sunset, rubbing her arms nervously.
"She thought you'd talk her out of it," Spike said.
"Because I would. Twilight, you can't just leave." Sunset reached her hand out and grabbed Twilight's to turn her around and try convincing her to stay.
As soon as she held Twilight's hand, something strange began happening to Sunset, letting out a gasp while her eyes glowed white. As soon as the whiteness faded, she seemed to be having some kind of flashback to earlier today, seeing herself from Twilight's point of view before turning to the lake, where they saw the boat crash into the dock.
"You don't think it was the spirit, do you!?" Pinkie exclaimed.
Twilight had turned away at the point, but Sunset heard Twilight utter to herself as she walked away. "No...it was me..." The vision flashed white, sending her a bit more forward to the point where they were making their lanterns. Twilight was by herself and looked down at Spike. "...I think it's Midnight Sparkle. She's still a part of me...I think I feel her power growing inside me, and her magic must be infecting my friends."
Sunset soon found herself back in the present, letting go of Twilight's hand after finding her hunch was right. "Twilight, there is no Midnight Sparkle. There's only you."
"H-How did you know what I was thinking?" Twilight asked, startled and getting worried hearing Sunset guessing exactly what was on her mind.
"When I touched your hand, I could see things. I could understand why you were leaving." Sunset looked down at her hand, a giddy grin growing on her face as she discovered her magical ability. "...My new magic...This is my new magic! This is incredible!"
"No, it's not!" Twilight argued. "I'm infecting you now!"
"Twilight, you have to stop looking at this as a bad thing," Sunset said.
"Easy for you to say. Magic turned you into something beautiful. The last time I tried to use it, it turned me into a monster." Twilight turned away, holding herself as she struggled not to break down from her mistakes. "I-I'm afraid...it's going to happen again..."
Sunset mentally berated herself, forgetting about how sensitive Twilight was about the magical mishap during the Friendship Games. "Yes, I know; last time I turned into something amazing, but I've let magic turn me into a monster, too. The only difference between what we turned into was I actually let darkness into my heart. Yours came out of nowhere from the magic you stole." Twilight flinched, reminded of the pain she felt from her transformation as her darkness took control. Sunset gently laid her hand over her shoulder, thankfully not delving back into her friend's thoughts as she walked around to look at her. "I understand what you're going through. I can help you, Twilight. And the rest of our friends can be there for you, too, but not if you run away."
Twilight still felt unsure if she should be anywhere near anyone with all this magic appearing out of thin air. She looked at the reassuring gaze in Sunset's eyes, worried about the magic getting worse and possibly losing herself to Midnight Sparkle again, but she gave into the peer pressure, letting out a sigh and rubbing her eyes from any tears that began to form.
"...I'll stay," Twilight said. Sunset surprised her with a grateful hug, though Twilight wasn't all that happy to stick around longer and eventually have her magic run completely out of her control. "But I still don't think it's a good idea for me to be near the others right now. Not until we know why this is happening."
"Understood," Sunset agreed. Just as they were about to head back to their tent, they heard rustling coming from the bushes around them. "What was that?"
Through the brush, the two girls saw the blade of an ax poking out from the woods. They screamed as they thought the wielder was going to chop them, where the owner of said ax screamed in surprise from their screaming, that owner ironically being Timber Spruce.
"Wait, Twilight? Is that you?" Timber asked, walking out into view.
Twilight and Sunset sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness it's just you, Timber," Twilight said. "Wait, what are you doing out here?"
"With an ax?" Sunset added, pointing at the woodcutting tool skeptically.
"I was chopping down firewood," Timber said, pulling out a wagon filled with evenly cut logs.
"In the middle of the night?" Sunset asked questioningly.
"We needed more for tomorrow night's campfire," he answered. "And if I didn't take care of it tonight, it would be one more thing Gloriosa would add to her never-ending list. 'I've got this!'" Twilight laughed at Timber's impersonation of his sister, even though Sunset was already getting sick of the phrase being overused despite it not being used by Gloriosa. "So, what about you two? Why are you hanging out in the woods in the middle of the night?"
"Oh! I was sleepwalking," Sunset lied, hoping it would be a good enough excuse to hide the fact that Twilight was about to leave, which would have disappointed Timber if he knew. "Twilight found me and was just about to bring me back to camp."
Twilight nodded quickly, going along with Sunset's lie. "Alright. I'll walk you guys back," Timber said. "I'll protect you from Gaea Everfree! Eeeeverfreeeee! Eeeeeverfreeeeeeeee!"
Sunset rolled her eyes at the camp counselor's attempt to sound spooky. "Come on. That's obviously just a spooky story you made up to tell around the campfire," Sunset said.
"Oh, no. It's legit," Timber stated. "How else would you explain what happened at the docks? And that weird thing where the earth shook?" Sunset and Twilight looked at each other, still not believing Gaea Everfree does exist. Even Spike was a bit skeptical. "Come on, I know a shortcut back to the tents."
Placing his ax on the wood pile, Timber took Twilight's hand, escorting her back to the camp area. Sunset smirked and shook her head in amusement, but as she was about to follow Timber and Twilight, she noticed something spilling out from Timber's pocket. There was some crystal-like dust sprinkling out and trailing behind him, the same exact dust that they found at the lake near the dock and on the ground when the mysterious earthquake hit. Sunset knelt down and picked up some of the dust, leering at Timber suspiciously.
"'Legit', huh? I think Ven was right," she said. "We found our Gaea Everfree."
"But why would he work so hard to make us think it was real?" Spike asked curiously.
"You heard what he said about wishing his sister would sell this camp," Sunset said. "If nobody wants to come here because it's home to some angry ancient nature spirit, it sure would help his case."
"Then we should tell Twilight." Spike began to run after Twilight, but Sunset grabbed him and picked him up.
"No, not yet," Sunset quickly said. "She's obviously going through a lot right now. We should probably be one hundred percent sure before we tell her the guy she likes is a jerk who's trying to run everybody out of camp."
"...I guess we have no choice," Spike uttered. "But he doesn't seem like a bad person. Weird and awkwardly goofy, but not bad. I'm actually scared of Gloriosa. She's more overworked than Twilight on one of her study binges. On winter break."
Sunset hummed in thought, looking back at the odd things she thought she heard while at camp. Hearing Gloriosa "muttering" to herself after Filthy Rich left and the scream she heard in the mess hall did sound a bit echoed, like they were from someone's thoughts. She mentally slapped herself, having had her new magic all this time and didn't realize it until she saw Twilight's thoughts and recent memories. It was too late in the evening to dwell over the subtle clues and figure out what everyone else thinks, so she hurried after Timber and Twilight to get some sleep. She'll test her new magic tomorrow after they fix up the dock again, making sure to keep an eye on Timber Spruce if he really planned on selling Camp Everfree by scaring everyone off.