//------------------------------// // Episode 94: The Start of Summer // Story: Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls // by thatguyvex //------------------------------// Episode 94: The Start of Summer “Are you sure we can trust her?” The question came from Aria, the siren watching Tempest Shadow through thin, unfriendly eyes as the unicorn came down the stairs to the inn’s common room, where most of the group had already gathered. Keeping her voice down, Twilight Sparkle simply whispered, “I’m willing to try. She’s agreed to help us with our problem if we help her with hers, so I can only hope she’s being honest with us.” Aria let out a unimpressed snort, shaking her fined head, keeping her arms crossed over her scaled chest, “If she turns on us, I reserve the right to say ‘I told you so’.” “Fair enough,” Twilight admitted, then cleared her throat and approached Tempest with a smile that she hoped wasn’t as forced as it felt. “Good morning. Glad you didn’t, you know, run off in the middle of the night, or try to attack us again.” Tempest’s eyes were about as friendly as Aria’s had been, her tone losing little of its arrogant edge, “There’s no point in fighting when I’d gained nothing from it. As much as I have a hard time swallowing everything you’ve told me, I at least buy that the Starlight Glimmer that’s with you isn’t the one I’m after. The other one was much more intimidating.” “H-hey!” Starlight Glimmer said from where she was helping Trixie carry supplies of fresh food and water out to the caravan wagon, “I’m plenty intimidating! I almost destroyed the world with temporal magic you wouldn’t believe!” Trixie elbowed Starlight lightly, “Let’s not go bringing up past acts of villainy, shall we? I’m still reading self-help books from my time with that stupid amulet.” Trixie grimaced and shot Tempest a withering look, “Although I wouldn't mind having it back for a few minutes, to teach a certain mouthy pony a lesson.” Tempest gave them a rich, dark chuckle with a challenge in her smile, “Anytime, anywhere, ladies.” There was a loud hoof stomp as Applejack stood between the three mares, shooting glares at all of them, “Alright, ground rules, and rule number one is there ain’t gonna be none o’ this bickerin’ among ourselves! Starlight, Trixie, don’t let the gal git to ya! An’ you, Miss Shadow,” “Just Tempest, if you have to call me anything.” “Fine then, Tempest, if yer gonna be travelin’ with us, I ain’t expectin’ ya to be friendly, but if ya can’t say nothin’ nice, keep yer trap shut at least, got it?” Tempest eyed Applejack up and down, and her smile turned just a tick more approving as she inclined her head, “Seems like not everypony in Equestria is spineless. Fair enough, I’ll keep to myself. I’m not interested in making friends, but I’ll stop jabbing at the... weaker elements of the team.” As Tempest strode by the group and headed outside, Starlight was still grumbling under her breath, “Weak element? I’m probably the strongest magic user here right now. Turn you into a tea cup, and then we’ll see who’s a ‘weak element’.” Trixie was patting Starlight on the head, “There there, I already know you’re amazing, and I am too, so let the grumpy mohawk head pretend. We both know we could take her.” “Wow, and I thought I had an easily bruised ego,” Rainbow Dash commented with a deadpan look, then shrugged and hefted her saddlebags, “Welp, I’m packed. We’re not forgetting anything, are we?” “Pretty sure we’ve secured all the supplies we can, and I’ve already doubled checked our own wagon,” said Rarity, who was now wearing a new cloak of a fine, long cut and ruby color that she’d picked up in the market. Sonata and Pinkie Pie simultaneously came bouncing through the door, each carrying sackfulls of what looked to be baking ingredients. “We’ve got snacks covered, so don’t anypony, or fishy, worthy about that!” chirped Pinkie Pie, and Sonata was giving Aria ane excited look. “What?” Aria inquired halfheartedly. “Eee, you’ll never guess what they had for sale out there!” Sonata said as she proudly held out a sack filled with something wrapped in paper, but the smell was pretty distinct, “Fish! It’s even fresh,  brought in by airship.” Aria blinked, and actually licked her lips, while the ponies in the room gave the pair of sirens odd looks. “You guys like fish?” asked Rainbow Dash, “Ain’t that a little... uh, weird for you two?” “What’s weird about it?” shot back Aria, “We used to eat fish all the time back when we actually lived in the ocean. What did you think we ate? Seaweed? These’s teeth ain’t for show, you know.” For emphasis, Aria barred her rather sharp teeth, and Rainbow Dash gulped, nodding. “Got it. Say no more. So, we all ready to get out of here?” Seeing that her companions were as prepared as they could be, and double checking her checklist to find it was all nicely filled out, Twilight nodded, “Yes, I think it’s time we departed. Klugetown is still several miles north of the coastline where we’ll find Mt. Aris. As long as we can ensure Tempest Shadow remains hidden with our caravan, we should be able to talk to the hippogryphs without any problems.” The plan was to explain to the hippogryphs what the situation was with Starlight Glimmer, and her counterpart from the human world. It’d be a difficult story to believe, but Twilight had to imagine that too much duplicity on her part would just lead to trouble. Queen Novo had to be made to understand the severity of the situation and why it was important for her kingdom and Equestria to work together. Hopefully once the hippogryphs help was secured, they’d figure out how to get to the Abyss and face Charybdis. However at the same time, they had to seek out information on where the human Starlight Glimmer might have taken the Storm King. They’d agreed to help Tempest find him, although she hadn’t explained exactly why she worked with him in the first place. Twilight was hesitant to help someone as potentially dangerous as this Storm King, but she had no intention of letting him just go free and be a threat to Equestria. Ideally if they ‘rescued’ him, he could be made to see reason, or failing that, become their prisoner who could be kept from harming others. Tempest might react poorly to that, but Twilight figured that was a bridge to be crossed when they came to it. Right now they needed all the extra firepower they could get, and Tempest Shadow, even with a broken horn, was strong enough to give Twilight a run for her money despite being an alicorn. As the group gathered outside the inn, she noticed Flash Sentry wasn’t around. She’d seen him go outside earlier, but now where had he gone? The question was soon answered as there was a rough yell from above and a short, stocky creature that looked like a dark gray hedgehog biped with spiky white hair was dropped unceremoniously on the ground in front of Twilight. “Found him skulking around the rooftops, watching the inn,” Flash Sentry said as he flew down and landed, his Zanpaktou out and aimed at the creature that he’d just deposited in front of Twilight, “Given the uniform, I figure he’s with our new pal.” “Grubber,” Tempest Shadow said as she trotted up, looking down at the hedgehog as he stared up at her. He grinned sheepishly and waved. “Hey Tempest. I came to rescue you.” Tempest rolled her eyes, “Consider me rescued. Get up, we’re working with these ponies now. They’re going to help us find the Storm King.” Tempest gave Twilight a pointed look as if to say ‘And they’d better keep that promise’. Twilight’s eye twitched a bit as she smiled and nodded, “That’s right. We’ll help you find your, um... employer, while we’re working on our own quest.” “Riiiight, I got it,” said Grubber, rolling over and standing up, dusting his squat form off, “Little bit of mutual back scratching. Smart thinking Tempest. Knew you’re the boss for a reason. Never doubted you for a second. So, hello friendly pony type people. I’m Grubber. Third in command of the Storm King’s army. Which I guess just consists of me and Tempest right now, so does that make me second in command? Hey Tempest, do I get a battlefield promotion, now that almost everyone else is either dead or deserted?” Tempest’s only answer was a long suffering, tired sigh as she turned around and trotted towards the front of the group. Grubber waddled after, still babbling about ‘promotions’ and ‘pay raises’ and ‘vacation time’. Flash Sentry, watching this, glanced at Twilight with a questioning look. She just shook her head and smiled helplessly, and Flash shared the smile briefly as he sheathed his weapon. “Going to be a long journey still, isn’t it?” he said. ---------- Starlight Glimmer looked around at the town, filled now with the barely contained chaos of a mix between a riot and a drunken bender the entire town’s population was in on, and shot Chrysalis a frank stare. “Does the term ‘low profile’ mean nothing to you?” Chrysalis, who was wearing the form of what Starlight could only assume was the unicorn equivalent of a hot supermodel, tall and slim, with black fur, a long and full mane and tail of neon green hair, and a cutie mark of a red heart with fang marks in it, just grinned at Starlight as she sat on an overturned cart and drank out of a mug filled to the brim with ale. “Not really, no. What are you complaining about? My children and I are having a good time, ensuring the locals are having a good time, and not breaking your precious rules about not killing anypony or draining them of their souls. Or love. Did you know I can eat love, now? It’s wonderful!” Starlight growled under her breath, observing the town once more. It was larger than many of the tiny villages that dotted the Equestrian landscape, but not by much. What was its name again? Hoofington? The streets were filled with partying ponies, most of them either drunk or close enough to it. It was difficult to tell which among the crowd were Chrysalis’ Arrancar ‘children’, since the group of a dozen that’d followed their Espada on this little trip had all taken on pony forms. At first the excursion had been pretty straightforward and boring. Equestria was a unbelievably peaceful place. Bandits were seemingly non existent. There were a few random monstrous creatures roaming the deeper forest wilds, none of which posed much threat to Chrysalis and her children. Starlight had watched with some disgust as they’d picked apart and devoured a multi-headed creature she imagined was a hydra, or something close to it. She didn’t really care about local wildlife, but Chrysalis had grown bored with that quickly, even when they’d run across some strange wolf-constructs made out of animated wood that Chrysalis’ children discovered had souls that could be devoured. Starlight had put a stop to that. Even animal souls she didn’t want to watch get eaten. If the Hollows wanted that kind of food, they could go back to Hueco Mundo. With the speed they could move, covering hundreds of miles of territory was easy, and soon enough they were exploring more of the Equestrian heartland. Starlight had used the Pearl of Changing to take on the form of a pegasus, both as partial disguise, and to make traveling easier. The Pearl changed her body in a very real sense, so she couldn’t use magic, but the flight sure was a fascinating experience. She kept her Zanpaktou on her, but had it hidden beneath her coat, which fortunately adapted with her new form so she could use wings without trouble. It kept questions to a minimum when they arrived in this town and Chrysalis hit upon the idea of getting the locals into a ‘partying mood’. Starlight wasn’t sure how it happened. She was certain Chrysalis had done something to affect the minds of the local ponies, because what started as a simple drinking binge at a local tavern very rapidly escalated to the town-wide equivalent of Mardi Gras. Starlight was certain Chrysalis had used some manner of Hollow power to pull this off, but she couldn’t tell what, and was mostly just annoyed at the Espada’s antics, even if it wasn’t technically hurting anyone. The town might get a bit trashed, but so far she hadn’t seen any real injuries among the revelers. But the ponies clearly weren’t acting normal. They were far too rowdy, damaging homes and storefronts, and in more than a few cases were being entirely to... amorous with each other. Starlight had needed to look away from a few alleyways or bushes to avoid seeing too much. “This may be your idea of a good time, but I’m fairly certain none of these people would get this into it normally,” Starlight said, dodging a group of hollering ponies riding a wagon down the street that was being pulled by an enthusiastic earth pony far too fast for safety’s sake, “Somepony is going to get hurt.” Chrysalis stuck her tongue out and went ‘Pffft’, before hopping off her own overturned wagon, draining her mug of ale and throwing it haphazardly away to crash through a window somewhere, “Oh for the love of the Soul Queen will you pull the ram rod out of your rectal cavity? A few bruises or broken bones won’t hurt these poor defenseless little creatures you’re so worried about. This is tame compared to what I’d normally be doing, but I have to enjoy myself somehow, and this... this is the closest I can get to showing these poor creatures something beautiful for a change.” “Beautiful? This chaos? It’s just wanton indulgence with no inhibition,” Starlight said, trying to find a spot on the sidewalk that wasn’t already covered in detritus, or vomit. “Wanton, yes. That’s precisely what I enjoy,” Chrysalis replied with a purr, following Starlight as she gazed upon the destructive revelry with eyes that shined like emerald torches, “Strip away all the niceties and restraints, and underneath the skin everyone wants to let go. To feed, to play, to feel, to screw, to destroy, to create, to just do without worrying about petty things like consequences or who you’re going to hurt.” Chrysalis laughed with husky amusement, continuing to follow Starlight’s agitated trot through town. She snatched a drink from a passed out reveler’s hoof and waved it in front of Starlight’s face, “Why not join in for a change, instead of shorting yourself on fun?” “This is not my idea of fun,” Starlight said, nose wrinkling at the foam coated mug in front of her, “And I don’t drink.” Chrysalis made a disgusted roll of her eyes and upended the drink herself, knocking it out in one go without breaking stride with Starlight, “You might actually enjoy yourself if you did.” Something in Chrysalis’ teasing tone caused Starlight to give her a sidelong look of searching suspicion. “What did you do to the alcohol?” “Why, whatever do you mean?” Chrysalis said, batting her eyes innocently, and Starlight stopped in place, turned to find the nearest mug of alcohol, which was laying half spilled on the ground from a passed out pony. She went up to it and picked it up with a wing, examining the contents. She probed it with her spiritual senses, gaining a faint trace of Chrysalis’ Hollow reiatsu. Eyes narrowing dangerously, she turned to Chrysalis, holding up the mug, “Care to explain this?” The Espada smiled like the proverbial cat with the cannery, and held up her hooves, “Oh don’t give me that look. All I did was let a few drops of my blood get into some of the barrels on tap. Doesn’t take much to circulate around, and soon everyone who’s taken a sip starts to feel less restrained. It’s no different than what alcohol already does, just faster, and more delightfully intense. Bigger hangover afterward, but what can you do?” Her statement was punctuated by the speeding wagon from earlier tearing around the street, overcompensating and hitting a fence post, then overturning until it crashed into the side of a house. The drunken ponies, durable as they were, managed to crawl away with some bruises and continued to drink and party as if nothing had happened. It still made Starlight’s eye twitch as she glared at Chrysalis. “We’re leaving,” Starlight declared, and Chrysalis groaned. “You are the utter definition of a killjoy. No wonder you’re still a virgin.” The eye twitching intensified as Starlight glanced over her shoulder at Chrysalis, “How would even know that? In fact, what has that got to do with literally anything!?” “Please, I had virgins sacrificed in my name by civilizations that aren’t even in the historical record. I can smell them miles away. As for why it matters, it’s only so blatantly obvious that part of your problem is that you’ve never once in your life let yourself enjoy anything. It’s truly sad, and I’m only trying to help you.” “No, you’re trying to toy with me, because it amuses you.” “That too.” It was Starlight’s turn to eye roll and groan, “Amuse yourself however you like, just don’t cross the line. We’ve wasted enough time in this town, disrupting these ponies lives. Call your children and let’s leave, before somepony notices just how unusual this kind of chaos is.” Chrysalis pouted, but then shrugged and let out a shrill whistle that didn’t sound like it could be made by normal lips. Within mere moments the ponies that were her Arrancar children in disguise appeared before them, and Chrysalis said, “Alright my darlings, Starlight has decided we’ve partied enough for one day. I want all of you to return to the hideout. Use different routes, just in case you end up being followed. Starlight and I will be staying out a time longer.” “We are?” asked Starlight, while Chrysalis’ children bowed their heads and swiftly vanished from sight. “Why, we’re so close to Canterlot I imagined you at least wanted to take a look at the place. Don’t you want to recover your wayward Bount?” Chrysalis asked. “I do, but I’m not crazy enough to try and bust out Trixie unless I know the heavy hitters aren’t around. We don’t even know for certain if that train is a trap, and if so, how many of Equestria’s Princesses might be defending it.” “Seems like now would be the perfect time to peek in on the capital then. We don’t have to enter the city, we can just observe it from a safe distance. Come on, Starlight, don’t get cold feet, heh, I mean ‘hooves’.” Starlight glowered, but nodded, “Fine. We’ll take a look, but only from a distance. The last thing we need is a fight near a population center. Even if we win, the risk of collateral damage would be too high.” “Gee, wouldn’t want that, would we?” “Stuff it, Chryssy.” “Aww, you’re using pet names now. See, I knew we’d become friends, eventually.” “...Ugh...” They were about to leave, but at that moment Starlight noticed the sky change. It had been night, but now the sky was changing rapidly to brighten to pre-dawn. She knew that day and night changed quickly in this world due to the Princesses, but this was different. Once the sky turned a dusky purple, she could see that the sun was hanging close to the distant east horizon, but wasn’t rising higher. And strangely, if she looked west, the moon was hanging at an equally distance just above the horizon in that direction. “What in the world...?” she asked. “Ah, it seems the Princesses are out there doing something with their celestia toys,” Chrysalis said, rubbing her chin, “This is around the time that Platinum and Firefly would be hitting that train, isn’t it?” Starlight nodded, then her eyes went a bit wider as she saw two beams, one of silver light from the moon, and one of fiery gold from the sun, shoot across the sky. The two beams met someplace off to the northeast, many scores of miles at least, if not further by Starlight’s guess. She didn’t know what was happening, but it couldn’t mean anything good for her companions she’d sent to investigate the rumored artifact on that train. They watched for a minute or so. The drunken, partying ponies even halted their revelry a moment to watch the light show in a dazed stupor. Then there was a flash of light to the northeast, bright as a nuclear explosion. Starlight frowned, hearing the distant detonation nearly a minute later. “Well, want to take a bet on whether or not your allies survived that?” Chrysalis said, wagging her eyebrows, “I’ll put good money on Firefly biting the dust.” Starlight growled, “Enough. We’re not going to Canterlot. We’re going back to Hitsuyo-Aku. Now.” “Aw, but I want to see the pony playset city,” Chrysalis complained, but Starlight just shot her a glare and the Espada relented with a smirk, “Oh fine, be that way. We’ll go make sure your little friends are alright. You really don’t have a stomach for this business, do you? Send them off into what you knew is likely a trap, and get all antsy when they spring it upon themselves.” “Criticize later, leaving now!” Starlight said, and both she and Chrysalis vanished from sight. The citizens of Hoofington remained staring at the distant light show a moment longer, but Chrysalis’ blood was potent and soon they went back to their drunken partying. In that chaotic plethora of drunken ponies who weren’t likely to appreciate the way their town was being wrecked, but were too far intoxicated by the tainted alcohol to care, there was one sober pony who’d been watching Starlight and Chrysalis as they’d walked around town. This pony was a demure and seemingly plain mare, but now that the pair that’d gained her attention were gone, the mare slide into an alleyway, then carefully and quietly departed Hoofington as well. It wasn’t until this inconspicuous mare was into the woods and out of sight that she let her body be engulfed in emerald flames, revealing her true form. The tall equine of onyx chitin, shot through with holes in her long legs, and gossamer, jade wings, trotted further into the forest. Her teal mane and tail were haggard from living on her own in the wilds, with no hive to tend her every need, but she retained a regal bearing, regardless. “Impossible. Who could impersonate me? Me!?” Queen (former; new title pending) Chrysalis spat, trying to wrap her mind around what she’d just seen. She’d been skulking around various towns in Equestria, gathering information for her eventual revenge scheme against the cursed Starlight Glimmer, and who should show up in Hoofington but a mare that looked and sounded exactly like Chrysalis’ hated foe, save for being a pegasus of course. A twin sister, perhaps? Yet even stranger was the other mare. Chrysalis knew herself when she saw herself! The voice alone would have given it away. How sloppy to make a disguise that looked like simply an attractive, pony version of herself. She didn’t even change the voice! What a incompetent impostor. Yet also powerful. Chrysalis had eavesdropped in on the conversation, and while she hadn’t heard all of it, she’d heard enough to know the impostor her had used her own blood to somehow intoxicate the whole town. How pointlessly frivolous. Chrysalis would never waste her time on such meaningless pursuits. But who was this impostor, and the one who looked so much like Starlight Glimmer? The only thing she knew for sure was that something very strange was happening in Equestria. She’d seen the Princess using their power, just like everyone else in Equestria had likely seen it. Unlike the other Chrysalis and Starlight, she knew what that power was. It was one of the reasons she’d attacked Canterlot during the day, when Princess Luna would be asleep. Only a fool challenged both Princesses at once, without subterfuge or sabotage and the element of surprise. If she hadn’t consumed Shining Armor’s love, she wasn’t certain she’d have been an equal to even just Celestia alone. Who were these foolhardy impostors? Well, she wouldn’t find out by just standing around. One of them had mentioned returning to a place called ‘Hitsuyo-Aku’, whatever that meant. They’d departed with such speed that following would be impossible under normal circumstances. Good thing Chrysalis had taken a mug of the tainted ale for herself, and now that she knew some of it contained her impostor's blood, she knew more than a few spells she could use to track the fake... among other things. ----------     “Cutie Mark Crusaders Summer Vacationers!” The three young girls all pulled off a mutual high-five as they left Canterlot High for the last time of that year. Freshman year; complete! It’d be tough, to be sure, surviving finals, heck surviving the whole year. High School classes were a whole different level of hard, compared to middle school. To make things worse, they’d had Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to contend with at seemingly ever turn. Not to mention the excessive weirdness that had begun with some of their big sisters getting involved first with all that magic stuff, then with all the weird spirit world stuff. Yet somehow the Cutie Mark Crusaders had weathered it all, and were now set to enjoy a nice, blessed three months of summer downtime. Which meant summer playtime, and the pursuit of future life goals. A lot of other kids at school didn’t get the whole ‘Cutie Mark Crusader’ thing, but it was something that had brought the three together. Granted, it was kind of a childish thing to start a friendship over, but it’d happened. After all, ‘Cutie Marks’ were just a rather popular brand of washable tattoos, usually used to express what a person's passion or goal in life was. They’d been all the rage a few years back, although their popularity was slowly dying off. Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo had all been new in school and lacked friends, but had met because when Cutie Mark tattoos had been popular, they hadn’t known and hadn’t gotten any, which Diamond Tiara and her pal Silver Spoon had teased them about relentlessly for that first month of school. So the girls, in a sort of rebellious retaliation, had decided to form a club at school all about finding their natural talents. To find their ‘real’ Cutie Marks, rather than some stupid tattoo. The result had been a fast strong friendship formed between the three, and countless sessions of trying out different things to figure out what they were good at, often getting into trouble when their enthusiasm took them too far. None of them had really discovered their best skills, yet, although Sweetie Belle figured out she had quite the singing voice. She wasn’t sure singing was what she wanted to do, but it certainly was fun. Applebloom wasn’t half bad at building things, and Scootaloo, well... if her idol Rainbow Dash was anything to go by, Scootaloo was going to find one sport or another she loved. Normally their afternoons were spent hanging out at their clubhouse, planning their next hobby try-out session. However, things had changed rather recently, in a big way. A way so big, none of them had told anyone about it yet, not even their families. “Okay girls, the clubhouse is still no go,” Applebloom said, “AJ is gonna be workin’ around the farm today, an’ its too close fer us ta practice without riskin’ her seein’ what we’re doin’.” Sweetie Belle wore a thoughtful look, slinging her backpack over her shoulder, “That’s no good. Maybe we could try Whitetail Park?” “That place is way too crowded,” Scootaloo said as they reached the spot where the girls had their bikes tied up to a set of metal bike racks. Well, two bikes, and one scooter, which Scootaloo gave an almost loving pat as she unlocked it, “Why don’t we try Everfree?” “That’s kinda outta the way, ain’t it?” asked Applebloom. “Sure, we’d have to take the bus, but it’s like, a super short trip, and I got fare covered,” Scootaloo insisted, which caused the other two to look at her questioningly. “Part time job?” Sweetie Belle asked, trying not to look too probing. Scootaloo coughed, scratching the back of her head as she looked away. “Yeah, part time job.” The exact nature of Scootaloo's ‘part time job’ had always eluded Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. It was made a further mystery by the fact that while the girls had played at Applebloom’s family farm, where their clubhouse was, and at Sweetie Belle’s house as well, they’d never been to Scootaloo’s home. Whenever the subject of playing at her house came up, Scootaloo invariably changed the topic to something else, often citing that her ‘parents were busy’ or something along those lines. The other two girls had been too polite to question their friend too hard, but it was extremely odd. “Oh look, Silver Spoon, is that a pack of losers I see?” All three girls bristled as the familiar, haughty tone reached their ears, followed by another unfortunately familiar voice. “Sure looks like it, Diamond Tiara. Look at them, stuck using dirty old bicycles to get home with. What’s wrong, Cutie Mark Crusaders, parents too cheap to give you a ride home?” Scootaloo closed her eyes, muttering, “And to think, we were just minutes away from not having to hear either of those voices again for months.” “I got this,” Applebloom said, clearing her throat and putting on a fake smile as she turned around to face the two girls watching them from the parking lot. Diamond Tiara was about as stuck up looking as ever, somehow managing to gaze down her pink nose at the trio despite not being any taller than the rest of them. She was wearing a yellow jacket that, in Applebloom’s opinion, horribly clashed with her pale pink skin tone, and she didn’t think much of the rest of the girl’s frilly taste in clothing. Silver Spoon was the opposite of her flamboyant counterpart, wearing subdued tones that matched her gray skin and silver hair, although that did little to soften the smugness she wore on her face. “Well howdy there, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, what a mighty fine coinkydink ya’ll happen ta come by an’ say hello.” Diamond Tiara’s face screwed up in momentary confusion, not used to being talked back at, nor making much sense of Applebloom’s accent, “Coinky..what?” “Coinkydink. Coincidence. A matter o’ happenstance. Ya see, I was just thinkin’ ‘bout both of ya when ya’ll just showed up, ya see?” “You were?” Diamond Tiara blinked. “You were?” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both echoed. Applebloom’s smile stayed in place, but gained a hard edge to it as she walked towards Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, both of whom gained wary looks at the farm girl’s approach. “Sure was. I was thinkin’, the two o’ you been callin’ us losers fer a whole year straight, an’ yet what’ve ya’ll done ta prove yer better than us, huh?” Diamond Tiara’s face gained a look as if she’d just smelled a compost heap, “Prove? I don’t have to prove anything! We’re clearly superior to a bunch of rag-tag, talentless first years like you.” “Technically they’re not first years anymore,” Silver Spoon pointed out, and Diamond Tiara shot her a stern look. “Who’s side are you on?” Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, adjusting her glasses, “Yours, obviously, but I am curious where the yokel is going with this. So spit it out, Appledumb, what are you suggesting?” “Wow, what a witty nickname...” Sweetie Belle groaned sarcastically, but Applebloom held up a hand to forestall her, her eyes gleaming. “I’m suggestin’ that before summer’s over n’ done with, we settle the score between us, once and fer all. I mean, c’mon, do ya’ll wanna just come back next year an’ do this bullyin’ routine all over again? Why not shut us up fer good, eh? Show how ‘superior’ ya’ll think you are. That way you don’t even need ta bother with us next year. ‘Course on the other hand, maybe it’ll be us that shut you up an’ you can go cryin’ home ta yer fancy schmancy houses and dumb families ‘bout how ya couldn’t beat three ‘talentless’ freshmen.” A dark look entered Diamond Tiara’s eye, “I can tolerate your foul mouth about anything you say about me, but if you bring my family up again, I’ll do worse than just tease you a bit, next year.” “I’m shakin’ in my boots.” “You’re not wearing boots.” “Not now, Scootaloo!” Applebloom returned her gaze to Diamond Tiara, who glared back, until it almost seemed like sparks of invisible electricity were clashing between them as their respective friends looked on. After a tense moment, Diamond Tiara said, “What exactly did you have in mind? I’m not saying yes, mind you, just curious how stupid this idea of yours is going to be.” “Ah, don’t worry, it’ll be so simple even you could follow it,” Applebloom assured Diamond Tiara, much to the other girl’s annoyance, but Applebloom didn’t give Diamond Tiara a chance to spit a retort before laying things out, “Ya remember we’re goin’ to that Camp Everfree place next week, right? Been readin’ up on the place, an’ it’s got some interestin’ legends ‘bout it. Legends like the forest is supposed ta be haunted by spirits n’ such.” “Oh please, nobody with an ounce of brain matter would believe in spirits and ghosts,” Diamond Tiara said, rolling her eyes and crossing her dainty arms over her chest as she smirked, “But then again, you believe it, apparently.” “Well if that’s how ya feel then ya oughtn’ have any problem acceptin’ my challenge. ‘Cause what we’re gonna do is, durin’ camp, we’ll find out who’s got the courage ta go deepest into the forest at night. We go as a group, an’ whoever chickens out first an’ decides ta turn back, loses.” “Tch, how childish, but what could I expect coming from you?” Diamond Tiara shook her head, “Why would I even agree to this? What’s in it for the winner, hmm?” “The losers would have to do whatever the winner says for the first whole month of the next school year,” Applebloom offered, but Diamond Tiara snorted at the words. “As if. I have competent servants to do things for me, I don’t need a bunch of losers following me around. How about something more tangible? Like, say, if I win-” “You mean if we win,” Silver Spoon said. “That’s what I meant, if, ahem, ‘we’ win then you have to dismantle that stupid clubhouse you keep playing your silly games in.” Applebloom’s eyes widened a tad as Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stepped forward. “What!?” Sweetie Belle cried, “That’s outrageous! Why could you even want us to do that? How does that benefit you!?” Diamond Tiara’s lips turned upward in a impish smile, “It doesn’t, other than the warm, fuzzy feeling I’ll have knowing you won’t have it anymore.” “I’m trying to determine where you are on the 1 to 10 Evil Scale, and thinking there isn’t a number that fits,” Scootaloo said. “Oh please, you started this little challenge, don’t go calling me ‘evil’ just because you don’t like something of real value to you being at risk. You could always back out, you know?” Diamond Tiara replied with a smirk that said she thought the Cutie Mark Crusaders would back down. Applebloom suspected the reason Diamond Tiara targeted the clubhouse was to get them to drop this challenge, because beneath her haughty exterior, Applebloom saw a hint of fear in the other girl’s eyes. Could it be Diamond Tiara actually did believe in ghosts and was afraid of going into the forest? Applebloom smiled wickedly, and Diamond Tiara gained a bead of sweat on her forehead. “You’re on. But if we win then you have to give us something equally tangible.” “L-like what?” Diamond Tiara asked, clearly trying to play it off like she didn’t care. “Well... how big is your allowance?” Applebloom asked, and Diamond Tiara blanched. “Not that big, just a thousand dollars or so.” “A THOUSAND!?” all three Cutie Mark Crusaders blurted at once. “Ugh, you don’t need to shout. Yes, just a mere thousand. Barely enough to play with, really.” “Like, a thousand a year?” asked Scootaloo. “A month,” Diamond Tiara replied, and the other girls all stared at her for several seconds with their jaws open. Even Silver Spoon seemed a bit surprised. “I only get a hundred a month...” Silver Spoon muttered. “Yes, well, that’s the difference between your stingy father and my super generous one,” Diamond Tiara said, “I keep telling you you need to put your foot down with your daddy, Silver Spoon, and demand what you’re worth! Accept nothing less than at least five hundred a month!” It was hard for Applebloom to decide if it was a glimmer of goodness in Diamond Tiara that she was sticking up for her friend, or a backhanded insult that what Silver spoon ‘was worth’ was still technically half of what Diamond Tiara got. Regardless, once she got over her shock at the economic unfairness of nepotism, she said, “Alright then, so if we win, then fer the whole school year ya gotta give us half o’ yer allowance. Five hundred. Got it?” “But... but... but I need that money!” Diamond Tiara protested. “For what!?” Sweetie Belle cried, “A gold plated stick to shove up your a-” “Absolutely!” Applebloom interrupted before Sweetie Belle’s comment could derail the conversation, “I mean, it ain’t gonna kill ya, an’ seriously, how you spendin’ that much scratch each month?” “I invest it, obviously,” Diamond Tiara said, sounding rather proud of herself, “Daddy says it’s important to learn business while I’m still young, and to recognize the difference between good and bad investments. My family didn’t get rich by accident, every Rich has business in their blood. I’m a Rich, and I plan to stay that way thank you very much. Which won’t happen with bad investments like this stupid little challenge.” “Oh, so the second somethin’ ya value’s on the line, ya chicken out? Guess you wouldn’t have ever won the challenge in the first place then. An’ here I thought at least ya had some backbone, but guess next year I can go ‘round tellin’ everyone that Diamond Tiara was scared o’ a teensy little forest an’ some ghost stories.” Diamond Tiara looked ready to grind steel beams with her teeth, but she took a slow breath and smiled thinly at Applebloom, “You know, I can see right through what you’re doing here, but it doesn’t matter. Another aspect of the business daddy’s taught me is that when a rival gives you a chance to crush them, don’t waste the opportunity. So have it your way, Applebloom. Challenge accepted. I hope you don’t cry too much about it later... oh, wait, I’ll happily record it for you!” “Should I have this all put into writing?” asked Silver Spoon. “No need,” said Sweetie Belle, holding up a cell phone, “It crossed my mind Diamond Tiara might try to renege on her deal when we win, so I started recording video of the conversation.” She played back the part of Diamond Tiara accepting the challenge as proof, and Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. “As if I’d back out. A deal is a deal.” “That another thing your ‘daddy’ taught you?” Scootaloo asked sarcastically, and Diamond Tiara blushed fiercely while glaring at her. “We’ll see how much of a mouth you three have after Camp Everfree. Come, Silver Spoon, that’s Randolph pulling up now. We have better things to do than shoot the breeze with these losers.” The two well-to-do girls got into a white limousine that had pulled up, driven by a balding old man in a butler uniform who politely greeted the children upon their entering the vehicle. Diamond Tiara paid the old man little mind, instead sticking out her tongue at the Cutie Mark Crusaders before the door closed and the limo pulled away. “Well, that happened,” said Scootaloo, turning a sidelong look at Applebloom, “What got into you all of a sudden? We’ve been avoiding that crazy girl all school year, and suddenly now you want a make a fight of it?” “Just got tired o’ her attitude,” Applebloom said firmly, “I ain’t toleratin’ it fer a whole ‘nother school year. We’re puttin’ her in her place, come heck or high water!” “What does that even mean?” asked Sweetie Belle. “I dunno, I just hear Granny say it sometimes. Anyhows, we still got practice ta take care of today! Since we’re goin’ ta Everfree anyways, this is the perfect chance ta get the lay o’ land before we trash Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in that challenge!” Sweetie Belle’s eyes lit up, “Ooooh, that’s clever. We can check out paths and stuff, and figure out the best way to go before we even get to the camp!” “We could totally set up spooky traps, too,” Scootaloo said, grinning mischievously, “Scare those two right out of their wits, heh.” “And ta top it off, we’ll have an’ advantage once we get better at usin’ our new pow-” “Hey girls, what’s going on over here? Figured you three would already be gone for the day,” said Sunset Shimmer, who came around the corner of the bike racks, carrying a colorful red and orange colored sports bag. Applebloom clamped her mouth shut and whipped around to face Sunset, while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both jumped in shock, although they quickly recovered. As Sunset gave the three girls an odd look, Sweetie Belle elbowed Applebloom, who coughed said, “H-hey there Sunset! Hello! Hi! Howdy!” “Uh... hi?” Sunset said, tilting her head in momentary bafflement. “Was I interrupting something?” “NO! I mean, naaaaaah, we’re just, ya know, hangin’ out, doin’ kid stuff. Nothin’ ya need to inquire about. In fact, we’re just ‘bout ta head out an’ do extremely borin’ stuff that wouldn’t interest ya at all.” “Knitting!” Sweetie Belle said suddenly, gulping, “Excessive knitting.” “Followed by a yawn inducing round of Scrabble. Trust us, it's not even worth paying attention to us for, like, the next week at least,” said Scootaloo, smiling entirely too wide and forced. “I see...” Sunset said, not remotely fooled by the girl’s, but not entirely sure what to make of their antics, either. She’d come over this way from helping Rainbow Dash finish cleaning up the gym and setting up some things for the summer sports clubs, but she’d sensed a momentary spike in spiritual pressure form somewhere over here. She didn’t sense it now. She certainly didn’t see any Hollows, Soul Reapers, or Quincy around either. Maybe she’d imagined it? Frowning, Sunset looked to the three girls and said, “Look, I’m not going to pry into whatever you girls are up to this summer. I’m not that nosy. Just remember,” she lowered her voice a bit, genuine concern filling her tone, “You three know how dangerous things can get around town these days, so please be careful and if you see anything out of the ordinary, call one of us immediately.” Ever since the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been brought up to speed on the weird spiritual happenings around town, Sunset and the other girls had made sure the three knew to call them if they even suspected they were in danger from a Hollow or something similar. Sunset wasn’t sure what she’d sensed a moment ago, but whatever it was, if she hadn’t imagined it, she didn’t want these kids in danger. “We know,” said Applebloom, nodding her head, her pink bow bobbing, “An’ we’ll be super careful, ya can count on it.” “Okay then. Well, I need to get going. Me and the others are hitting the beach today, so we’ll be out of town until evening. Try not to get into trouble while we’re out,” said Sunset, and walked away, still frowning a bit and trying to figure out what she’d sensed before. When Sunset was out of sight, the three girls let out a collective sigh of relief. “Yeash, I thought you were about to spill the beans all over the place,” Sweetie Belle said. “Hey, I ain’t gonna crack that easily,” said Applebloom. “You guys sure we shouldn’t tell them?” asked Scootaloo with a uneasy shadow on her features, “I mean, it’s not like we can’t trust them.” “I know that, but that ain’t the reason,” Applebloom said, touching the bow ribbon tied into her hair, “I just don’t wan ‘em takin’ it away from us, an’ ya know they probably would. Or at least forbid us from doin’ nothin’ with it.” “Rarity  nearly caught me last night,” Sweetie Belle murmured, “It scared me stiff. I was lucky I convinced her I was just stealing her makeup.” Scootaloo sighed, “Still worries me, but then again, I’m not the one with powers now.” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other, then went and both gave Scootaloo a hug. “I’m sure you’ll get something soon. I mean, if we did, why wouldn’t you?” “Well, you’re sisters have it, so it makes sense you two would,” Scootaloo said, her expression turning downcast, “Best I’ve got is a fangirl complex towards somebody that barely knows I’m there.” “C’mon girls,” said Applebloom, “Let’s hit up someplace for grub and shake the frowns off! Scootaloo, yer critical ta me n’ Sweetie Belle’s trainin’, ain’t ya? Yer our coach!” Scootaloo laughed half-heartedly, “Beats just sitting around watching you two stumble around trying to figure things out. And I do got some new training ideas we can test out today. Was making test dummies for it the other day.” “Awesome, so what are we waiting for?” said Sweetie Belle, and the three girls shared another trio of high-fives. “Cutie Mark Crusader Supernatural Superheroes!” Somewhere in the distance, Sunset Shimmer got a cold shiver down her spine, and wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t think it was a good sign. ---------- The car might not have been a limousine, but its polished, steel blue surface and elegant curves just screamed money. Twilight Sparkle rather wished her family had more modest vehicles for the purpose of getting around town, or that the Rich family did as well, for that matter. Surprisingly, Filthy Rich drove the car himself, foregoing the use of a chauffeur. When she’d asked why, he’d simply grinned and said, “No point owning an expensive toy if I don’t play with myself, right?” She supposed she couldn’t fault that logic. Soarin was following them in another car, a larger SUV that carried Twilight’s friends and now research associates. Yet another vehicle, this one more a shiny, black van filled to the brim with laboratory equipment, was following at the back of the group and was driven by her own family’s butler, Robert. The quaint wooden sign declaring the entrance to Camp Everfree loomed overhead, and Twilight looked around with growing appreciation for the beauty of nature that was seeping in from all sides. Camp Everfree was a tiny dot of civilization in a tapestry of well preserved, overflowing wilds. From the glistening lake to the mighty standing fields of pine trees, to the white caped distant mountains, there was an energy to this place that, for lack of a better word, Twilight could only describe as primal. Camp Everfree itself looked like a modest affair to her, little more than half a dozen buildings and cabins situated along the western shore of the lake. It was easy to tell that while old and a tad worn, the Camp was lovingly cared for. Gloriosa and Timber Spruce had much to be proud of, having taken care of this place all by themselves. And we’re taking it from them... she thought morosely, but then shook her head, No, we made a fair offer, and Gloriosa has accepted it. This is still their home. It will just serve a different purpose now. She tried to reassure herself that she was doing the right thing, or at least the best she could under the circumstances. It’d taken Gloriosa some time to consider Twilight’s offer, but not as long as Twilight had feared it might. It was only the next day, but Gloriosa had called at the number Twilight had given her, and said she’d agreed to the proposal. Timber Spruce had been transferred back to Camp Everfree, as Twilight had given him one final check to ensure he was in healthy condition. Now she was bringing Filthy Rich to the camp so they could both inspect it and work on deciding how to set it up for future training of Quincy cadets. Meanwhile Twilight and her research team would be setting up an auxiliary laboratory deeper in the forest. She knew Captain Celestia at least would be present at the camp for the initial part of summer, and she didn’t doubt plenty of Soul Reapers would be around. However she was confident she could keep her team’s lab hidden. She wanted to be nearby the camp, for when Adagio and Sunset made their move to rescue Ember. Twilight needed to be there to do her part for the plan as well, and an auxiliary lab for field testing away from a population center was as good an excuse as any. Still, she was starting to feel like a juggler who was tossing around one too many knives. One slip up, and things could get bloody.   They parked in the grassy area just beyond the camp entrance, between two modest cabins with red roofs. Across a wider grass area there was a gazebo situated in front of the largest building in the area, a longhouse with a slanted green roof. Filthy Rich and Twilight got out of the car while her friends clambered out of the SUV. They all looked around with varying expressions of interest at the grand scene of nature around them. Even Indigo Zap seemed somewhat cheered as Sour Sweet helped her out of the SUV and into her wheelchair. “This place is rather picturesque,” Sugarcoat said, “Which is what i would say if I was seeing it with actual eyes. Still, even just the spirit particles seem brighter than the ones in the city.” “It is pretty, no doubting that,” commented Sunny Flare, her nose twitching before she let out a sneeze, “Ugh, way more plants around to mess with my allergies. The forest back at the Academy wasn’t this... pungent.” “This land is perfect for our needs, young ladies,” said Filthy Rich, looking pleased with himself, but he also gave Twilight an appreciative smile as he gestured to her, “And you have my most sincere thanks for helping smooth over this acquisition, Miss Sparkle. Rest assured I’ll not soon forget the help, and I’m sure your father will be proud of how much initiative you’re taking.” “I appreciate the thanks, Mr. Rich, but your gratitude should go to the owners of the camp. Gloriosa Daisy is the one who’s decided to accept my offer, and this remains her and her brother’s home,” she replied, and Filthy Rich nodded. “Of course. Of course. I’m quite looking forward to meeting these siblings,” Filthy Rich replied as Soarin walked up. “Say, don’t suppose you two object to me taking a bit of a walk about?” Soarin said, “I’d like to do a little recon of the perimeter. Get a feel for the area.” Filthy Rich chuckled, waving a hand, “You don’t need to ask permission, Soarin. You’re a fellow Sternritter, so do as you feel is best. Speaking of which, Miss Sparkle, just how much about us do Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce know?” Twilight kept her face neutral as she said, “The basics, but not much else. They know you and I have a certain high status among the Quincy, but I haven't explained exactly what that status is or what it entails. I imagined once things were settled and I had a chance to speak with Sombra about it, we’d work out just what is or isn’t important for them to know.” Filthy Rich gave her an odd look, “You do make a habit of speaking of His Majesty in familiar terms, but I’ve heard that he seems to prefer that, so I’ll say no more. At any rate, I suppose I’ll keep things simple with our new Academy caretakers. Spitfire is still mistress of the Academy, so once the transfer of cadets occurs it’ll be her that Gloriosa and Timber will be working closest with.” “You guys have fun with that,” Soarin said, giving a mock salute, “I’ll let you know if I discover anything interesting out there.” He vanished, a high speed Hirenkyaku taking him well out of view in a moment. Twilight trusted Soarin would be able to take care of himself out there. She was curious what he might find. Discord had said the Soul Reapers would be keeping their lab well hidden, but Soarin was Sternritter E, the Echo. If he’d been assigned to her due to the perceptiveness of his Schrift’s power, perhaps he’d discover the Soul Reaper lab and spare her and Adagio the trouble of searching? It’d be nice to have something to their way. She was fairly sure the Soul Reapers wouldn’t be set up in Camp Everfree itself. The place seemed too small to house any kind of proper lab, although she didn’t know anything about what kind of equipment Soul Reapers used for their studies. If possible, once they found the place and busted Ember out, she wouldn’t mind taking some of the Soul Reaper’s equipment, just to pick at how it worked. “Hey Twilight,” said Lemon Zest, jabbing a thumb at the van of lab gear that Robert had parked nearby and was opening up the back, “You want us to unload all this stuff here or what?” “Wait until we’ve talked with Gloriosa,” Twilight replied, “I wanted to ask her about the forest and if there were any good clearings in the area we could use. Until then why don’t you girls just... hang around and enjoy the fresh air?” “Can do!” said Lemon Zest, and immediately put her headphones back on. With that Twilight and Filthy Rich started walking for the main building with the green roof while Twilight’s friends started wandering around, Indigo and Sugarcoat going to look at the small boathouse by the lake and it’s adjoining dock, while Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare wandered towards one of the cabins. Sour Sweet seemed content to stay with the vehicles, keeping an eye on things. Before Twilight and Filthy Rich reached the entrance to the central building the doors opened and Gloriosa Daisy came out to meet them. “Hello, Gloriosa,” said Twilight, nodding formally, then glanced around, “Where’s Timber?” “Resting,” Gloriosa replied, “I know you gave him a clean bill of healthy, but I’d like him to stay down for another day or two, just in case. Now...” her eyes slide towards Filthy Rich with an unfriendly light in her eyes, “I suppose I should welcome you to Camp Everfree.” Filthy Rich smiled with a flash of winning charm, approaching and offering Gloriosa a hand, “Thank you, thank you. I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’ve agreed to Miss Sparkle’s proposal. I assure you, Miss Daisy, that you won’t regret this decision. You may have your doubts, I understand. This is your home and you treasure this camp greatly. Let me give you my promise that although the purpose of the camp might change somewhat, you won’t ever have to worry about losing it ever again. On my honor as a Quincy, I swear to you, Camp Everfree will forever be your home, and as long as Quincy still stand to guard it, we will defend it to our last breath.” Gloriosa raised her eyebrow at him, clearly not sure whether to take him seriously or not, but she gingerly took his hand and shook it, “I hope you’re right. I hope I don’t regret this, but if there’s anything that caused me to take this offer, it was the simple fact that if just one encounter with a Hollow nearly cost my brother his life... I can’t afford to do this all on my own.” “Everything will be okay, Gloriosa,” said Twilight, “Trust us, the last thing any of us want is to see you or Timber Spruce harmed. If everything goes well, you won’t even notice we’re here...” ---------- “Well well well, this could be... problematic,” Meadowbrook said, sitting at his monitor. It was connected to a very delicate and sensitive spirit sensory array. It had a very short range, because it was designed for stealth operations to avoid detection. So all he could really scan was the area immediately around Camp Everfree, and even then, barely. Still, it was impossible to miss the Quincy spirit signatures in the area, an the small cameras they had placed on the boathouse, little more than a spider-sized box talisman with a spirit forged lens, showed a fuzzy picture of the Quincy in question. “They look pretty young,” commented a Twelfth Division research at Meadowbrooks’ right shoulder, a woman with thick glasses, purple skin, and a head of curled orange hair, “Are they cadets, do you think?” “Possibly. We’ll have to cross check their faces with our database, see what turns up,” Meadowbrook said, tapping various wooden keys on his terminal, “Still, better go inform the Captain. I’ll keep watch here.” “Yes, Lieutenant,” the female researcher said, and quickly turned to scurry away from the monitoring room. It was little more than a bubble shaped tent sitting on a dry bed of sand. Outside it was a collection of similar tents, all field research tents arranged in a rough circle around a central research tent that was three times the size of the others. Everything was lit by glowing spirit lamps, and several other researchers in white lab coats worn over their black robes went hurrying about. Today was an experiment day, but Captain Starswirl might postpone it until they had a better handle on what the Quincy were doing here. Within the main research tent, Captain Starswirl stood amid an arrangement of test equipment, pacing around a central platform that was hooked up to dozens of tubes and power cables. The elderly Captain was stroking his beard as he looked over a notebook, scribbling in it as he observed what was on the platform. Up on the platform was the broken statue from Canterlot High School that contained the portal to Equestria. The Soul Reapers had moved it here recently, replacing it in the night with a fake statue that now sat outside the high school. The other thing on the platform was a large, circular containment ring, suspending within which was their ‘specimen’. Ward fields, glowing pale yellow, kept the female Arrancar in place, with further binding Kido keeping her arms and legs pinned in place with bands of crackling gold light. She’d been divested of her Zanpaktou, which was kept in a containment chamber in one of the other tents. The girl couldn’t speak, given another binding spell was placed on her that consisted of a kanji symbol traced on her throat. “Captain Starswirl,” the researcher said, “Lieutenant Meadowbrook wanted me to report to you that we’ve detected Quincy in the human summer camp.” “Hmm?” Starswirl looked up from his notes, frowning, “Quincy, you say? How odd. How very odd. I suppose I’ll come take a look. We’re well safe behind our stealth wards, but I suppose this could be troublesome.” He followed the researcher out of the central tent and back to the monitoring room where Meadowbrook waited. The Twelfth Division Lieutenant turned with a relieved look as his Captain entered. “I hear we have some Quincy hereabouts?” said Starswirl, and Meadowbrook nodded. “Looks that way, here,” he said, pointing at the monitor, “Eight of them. One has already gone off, probably to scout the area. Looks like two others are meeting with the camp owners, while the rest are just sort of wandering around the camp itself. I can’t get any readings on their reiatsu without making the sensor’s probing too obvious.” “That’s fine, my boy, it’s not an issue,” said Starswirl, eyes keenly watching the monitors and cameras, “Captain Celestia told me something like this might happen. It was too much to hope that Camp Everfree would remain innocuous, although we were expecting Arrancar to show up, not Quincy.” “We still haven’t picked up any Hollow readings, but these sensors are limited, Captain. They could be hiding out in the forest for all we know,” Meadowbrook pointed out. “Quite true, Lieutenant. However, as long as we’re down here, and they’re up there, I suspect we’ll be relatively safe. And if they do discover us, well, we have myself, Captain Celestia, and Captain Luna present to deal with matters.” “That is true sir, but what are the odds that they’ll find us here, of all places?” Meadowbrook asked, looking up at the tent’s roof, where a small opening acted as ventilation and window. Up there was little more than deep blue darkness, barely punctuated by the barest hint of light. That was because, beyond the wards and barriers not only hiding the labs spirit energy and physical presence, there was also the thousands upon thousands of tons of water the barrier was keeping out as well... After all, how else would they have hidden their lab at the bottom of Camp Everfree’s lake?