The next morning came. As per the norm, Twilight was woken up by Spike leaping onto her bed and waking her up with morning licks to her face.
"Okay, okay, I'm up, I'm up," Twilight giggled, pulling herself up and giving Spike a morning hug. "Morning Fluttershy."
No reply. And when she looked over to her bed, she saw something small move around under the blankets. And slowly pushing out was a little kitten which glanced over at Twilight.
Mew.
"Fluttershy?"
And the cat morphed in front of her, changing back to Fluttershy. "It's me, silly."
"You have the animal transformations under control?"
"Uhhh--"
And in a second she went from a human to a flopping fish bouncing up on and down on the bed. Twilight was about to panic until the fish went into the form of a bird which just started flapping its wings like a normal bird. And then without warning, Fluttershy came crashing back onto the bed as a husky looking dog.
"I'll take that as a no," Twilight said for her.
The husky pulled itself up, and then morphed back into Fluttershy. "I can't control it. Whenever I just think about some kind of animal, I just automatically change into one, I can't stop it."
"We'll talk about it over breakfast. I had an idea for something we could talk about, after I explain what's going on," Twilight said, slipping her feet into her slippers.
When they arrived in the mess hall, the smell of fresh pancakes, bacon, eggs, toast, and other related foods hit their noses. Already, students were eating their breakfast. Forgetting her worries for the time, she just grabbed a plate of pancakes, and sat with her friends with nothing but a smile on her face and a happy dog in her lap trying to sneak some bites of her food.
After breakfast, most of everyone went back outside for some more fun outdoorsy activities. Everyone except for the Rainbooms. And since no one else was around...
"Good, we're all here," Applejack said, watching Twilight come back over to the table.
"So, you had something you wanted to tell us?" Rainbow Dash asked, sitting on the chair backwards, leaning her arms against the backrest.
"Yes, I do." Twilight took a moment to try and compose herself. If she was going to talk to them, she had to keep herself together. "I haven't been honest with all of you. I tried to leave camp last night," Twilight began.
"What?" Pinkie yelped.
"Why?" Applejack asked.
Twilight sighed, holding her face, scrunching at her temples. "I've been having nightmares. Nightmares about... her."
"Her? Her who?" Rarity asked.
"Midnight Sparkle."
Everyone hissed at that explanation.
"Oof."
"Dang," Rainbow said.
"I mean, the past few weeks after the Friendship Games, I had some nightmares, but they eventually went away. But now, they're just suddenly coming back and I have no means of stopping them, I don't even understand why they're coming back."
"Why didn't you tell us any of this in the past few months?"
"Because they were few and far between, and I thought after a certain point that they were finally gone. But then they just started coming back. The only conclusion I have is Midnight Sparkle really is resurfacing and is probably coming for revenge," Twilight whimpered, tugging at her own hair.
"As I've told Twilight, I don't think Midnight Sparkle is coming back," Fluttershy said, patting her.
"But if she does, we'll be ready for her! I mean come on, we have superpowers now!"
"Powers that we don't know how to control," Applejack emphasized, trying to pull an axe out of a piece of lumber, only to fling that and the lumber high into the air and right into the lake. "Dang it."
"Girls, you're forgetting something, Twilight..." Fluttershy looked at Twilight who shook her head nervously. "... hasn't gotten any powers yet."
"Well, it'll only be a matter of time, and when she does, we'll be right there to help her," Rarity declared with a positive attitude.
"Along with everything else, we'll totally have your back! We're friends now!" Rainbow said, hugging Twilight with a smile.
Twilight hugged her back, and then was given a massive group hug from the rest of the girls.
"Well, as long as we're talking about having powers, I know I don't exactly have any, but if none of you would mind, maybe I could help you all keep your powers under control?"
"Ooh! Like a wise sensei? Or a mystic god from the universe? Oh! Oh! Or maybe some really old uncle who teaches us about having great power and great responsibility?" Pinkie said, jumping up like a little kid.
"Pinkie, we don't need practice, come on, I mean look at me!"
Everyone stared at Rainbow, who finally was able to get her flight powers moving again to the point where she could hover normally. Except for one problem; she was hovering upside down.
"What?"
"You're upside down, Rainbow Dash," Rarity pointed, teasing her.
"Well--bu--I'm still flying!"
"Yes, we can see that. Just not right," Applejack snickered.
Rainbow let out an exhausted groan, and everyone else just shared a collective laugh.
It was approaching the middle of the afternoon now, and while the sun shone down brightly on the grounds of Camp Everfree work on the new picnic tables was still going ahead full swing. Overseen by Gloriosa Daisy and the principals of Canterlot High, groups of students were taking it in shifts to construct the new tables: the first group would measure and cut wood, the second would sand and smooth the cut pieces to ensure that they would look nice and fit together well.
The final, and most important step was assembling the pieces, of course. This too was being taken in shifts: at the moment the students were going to be putting together what would be the supports for the tables. The current group of students – Sandalwood, Micro Chips and Thunderbass – were finding this to be more complicated than they’d imagined it being.
“Whoa,” Sandalwood scratched his head as he looked at the sections of carefully-cut lumber that he and his group were to be transforming into the legs, batten and support for a table, “This looks pretty in-depth, dudes!”
“I never really thought about it before, but I guess that carpenter stuff is kinda hard,” Thunderbass admitted.
Micro Chips had fished out his phone and was typing into a search engine, hoping to find advice or blueprints on building a table. He hit “enter” on the search, and then frowned as the screen lagged. “Again?” he said to himself, “What is it with the reception around here?”
A soft laugh made the three boys look up in surprise; Vice-Principal Celestia, who had just been checking up on Flash Sentry and Applejack’s work sawing lumber, walked over with a rare and sunny smile on her face. “Carpentry is hard work, Thunderbass, but that’s why it’s so important. And there’s no better teacher than an actual person, and not the Internet, Micro Chips.” The bespectacled boy put his phone away with a slightly abashed smile, as the elder of the two principals clapped her hands smartly and said, “Now, let’s get started! I’ll walk you through the basic steps of putting together a table base.”
“You know how to build stuff, Miss Celestia?” Sandalwood asked, an awestruck look on his face as she set them down and began to explain how they would drill holes for screws, and from there use countersinks to reinforce the table’s legs and keep them in place.
“Yes, I do,” the vice-principal answered him, “Before I got my teaching degree I went to a trade school and studied carpentry.” She smirked and added, “That was part of how I put myself through college, since Luna was the more bookish of us and so she got the big, fancy scholarship.”
Principal Luna let them know she’d overheard her older sister by letting out a sarcastic laugh.
“Whoa…” Sandalwood said almost reverently. Thunderbass and Micro Chips exchanged looks.
“Now then,” Vice-Principal Celestia concluded, “Let’s get on with the lesson, shall we?”
“Yes ma’am!” Sandalwood whooped, and he and the other boys settled in to watch and learn from their teacher as she explained how a “washer” would help secure a screw or bolt in place and add support to the table legs.
While this was going on, far across the campground, Timber Spruce was enjoying a break before the next round of camp activities. The young man was taking a walk along one of the trails outside the main campground, just to enjoy being alone and not having to oversee any campers. Not that he minded his job, really… this year’s bunch were a great group of teens. (Certainly loads better than that one from Cloudsdale…)
The very thought made Timber shudder despite himself, and he let out a faint huff. It had been a while ago, he knew that, and he didn’t like to dwell on it, but sometimes the memory of past camp groups could really, just get under his skin…
Timber slowed down in his walking, and stopped to look out over the forest landscape. Idly, he kicked a rock on the ground, hard, and watched it whiz through the air and then bounce off a distant tree root. The thump it made as it bounced to the ground made him feel a little bit better.
The young man smiled, feeling a bit wistful. The woods around the camp really were beautiful… and he did like it here. Gloriosa was the best big sister that he could have asked for!
But all the same, there were still moments where he wondered if he was missing out on stuff. The kids who came and went had their own lives, back in the city, and he’d barely ever been to Canterlot or even Griffonstone. The camp was his family’s means of living, and there were plenty of happy memories he held with the place…
But he didn’t think – no, strike that, he knew that he wanted to do more. More than just take care of the camp, for sure--
Snap.
The sudden, sharp noise of a stick cracking made him nearly jump out of his skin, and Timber whipped around to see what had made it. But he couldn’t see anything, no camper along the trail, no animal scurrying out of the bushes, not a living thing in sight.
“Huh.” Timber said out loud, and the soft exclamation seemed oddly loud in the quiet of the woods just then. “Thought I heard something…”
He turned around and continued on his way. A quick glance at his watch made him pick up the pace, it wouldn’t be too long before he’d have to get back to camp for the next leg of the day’s events…
Timber suddenly shivered, and glanced back behind him.
He could have sworn that it felt like someone had been watching him, just then…
Maybe it was Gaea Everfree, a quiet little voice whispered in the back of his mind.
… No, that was silly. That was just the little kid who’d heard Grandpa’s campfire story talking. Nothing more, nothing less. He knew what was real and what wasn’t, and Gaea Everfree and her timberwolves were very much NOT real.
Another evening was set, and the moon shone over the crystal clear lake. The sailboat swayed against the dock, staying tied against it. The sounds of critters in the woods, echoed through the night. But this time a new noise erupted, one that didn't sound normal. Several pieces of wood were creaking in the forest, more than unusual. And the rustling of trees sending an entire flock of birds into the skies, fleeing their perches and places in the night.
The moaning of metal scraped outside the camp grounds, accompanied by violent tearing. But there was no trail as to what the source of the noise was. Then one more broke out, the sound of sizzling sparks and electricity surging. It was audible for a few seconds, but then it stopped.
The metal scraping sounds ruptured again, and this time, someone actually responded.
"AAHALALA! I got a rake and I'm not afraid to use it!" Thunderbass yelled as he burst out of the tent, holding a rake up like a bat.
Flash yawned and stumbled out of the tent. "Thunder, it's late, come on..."
"Flash, I heard something, don't tell me you didn't hear that sound," Thunderbass glared, keeping his stance.
"If by sound, you mean the sound of a guy who looks like he's ready to commit a murder with a rake, then yes, I heard it," Flash deadpanned. "Just go back to bed, I'm sure it's nothing."
"Flash--"
"If something happened, we'll check it out in the morning," Flash said, faceplanting back into the bed. Thunderbass looked around for a few more seconds, noting no visible intruders. Nothing as far as the eye could see. And looking down at the rake he rolled his eyes.
"A rake? What was I thinking, I need something more lethal," Thunderbass groaned, slamming it to the ground and stomping back to bed.