//------------------------------// // New Day, New Powers // Story: Flash Sentry Chronicles: The Legend of Everfree // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// As soon as the sun was up the next morning, everyone was awake and ready to enjoy the day. Flash walked out of this tent, now seeing a bunch of campers already in the midst of a camp activity. He probably would have been the first to wake up, having always been an early bird, but last night wasn't so good due to recent events. It was here that he saw several people were on the rock climbing wall while a boat was out on the lake. There he saw Sunset and Twilight walking up to the newly built dock, Flash deciding to see what they were planning to do today. He headed over, and as he got closer, he heard Twilight tell something to Sunset before she replied. "If you could learn to control it-" "But that's just it!" Twilight turned to her, "I'll never be able to control it!" Flash blinked at these words, about to ask what she was talking about until- CRASH! Everyone turned to the dock, now seeing the boat had somehow shot halfway across the lake and slammed right into it. The riders, Sandalwood and Derpy, were in the water while Timber, Fluttershy and a student named Captain Planet were on what remained of the dock. Flash ran over as Rainbow did the same. "What happened?!" The sporty Rainboom asked as Twilight let out a yelp. "I didn't mean too!" Flash and Rainbow turned to her, only to see Sunset place a hand on her shoulder, "We didn't see anything, so we don't know what happened." Rainbow looked back at the dock at this, but Sunset saw Flash now staring at them. But before he could inquire, the girls ran to the dock as Timber and Planet pulled the drenched campers out of the lake. "Are you okay?" "Yeah," Sandalwood replied, "It was so weird. We were stuck in a 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." Timber began to lead them off so they could go get dry while Pinkie let out a gasp and turned to Trixie that was beside her. "You don't think it was the spirit, do you?!" "No," Flash heard Twilight whisper to herself, "It was me." He watched her walk off, but before he could follow, he heard Rarity gasp. "What's that?!" He turned to see Rarity, Heather and several others staring at the water. The water was filled with a strange purple liquid that glittered in the sunlight, its trail originating from the boat. "Strange," Heather commented before grabbing Snips' hand when he tried to put in it the water. "Don't touch it. It could be carcinogenic." Snips raised an eyebrow at this while First ran over to a table he had placed his bag on, reaching inside and pulling out an empty glass vial. "You brought scientific equipment to camp?" Iron asked when he returned and dipped the vial into the water, making sure to not get the stuff on his skin. "You have your hobbies and I have mine," he removed the vial, squinting his eyes as he stared into it, "A little analysis should uncover what this stuff is." As he said that, Rarity walked over to the destroyed dock as the rest of her band-mates stared at it. "Aw man!" Rainbow moaned, "All our hard work ruined!" "At least the fishies are eating well," Fluttershy added as she pointed to the creatures currently eating whatever the shiny stuff was. As they did this, Sunset turned to the others, "Let's salvage what we can out of the water. Maybe we can still fix this." "We have to try!" Rarity exclaimed, "Camp Everfree needs a runway!" "Dock," Applejack deadpanned with an exhausted frown. "Dock," Rarity looked away, "Yes. That's what I meant." They started collecting what they could, hoping to dry out the undamaged wood. Flash then turned to Twilight to ask her how hard it would be to repair what had been damaged, but she had completely vanished. "Twilight?" he whispered before seeing his best friend now walking into the woods. He looked back at the group, now seeing them start to fix the dock. Slowly backpedaling at this, he walked away and entered the forest, looking down to see if he could find a sign of a tail. And after a few minutes of looking, he found some broken twigs and pines that looked like they had fallen due to being pushed past. As he followed this trail, he heard a voice in the distance. He began to follow it, the voice getting clearer by the second as he realized it was Twilight. She was...singing. He couldn't make out the words, but he could tell it wasn't a happy song. And when he finally saw her between two trees, he managed to understand what she was singing. "They mustn't see the midnight in me," she trailed off, the words sinking through Flash's mind. "Midnight..." he whispered, his brain catching up. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the clearing the girl was at. "Twilight." The girl let out a yelp as she stood up from the log she had been sitting on, spinning around to see Flash, the sight making her lose balance. "GYAH!" She cried as she began to fall back, Flash gasping at this. But as she fell, something happened. In the blink of an eye, time stopped. Twilight remained frozen mid-fall while Flash stood there moving at normal speed, the teen's brain completely stalling at this. But then he noticed that Twilight was still falling, just very slowly, and quickly ran up. Moving at relatively normal speed compered to everything else, he managed to reach her before she fell in the pond behind her. But when he grabbed her wrist, everything around him began to speed up back to normal speed. "WHOA!" Twilight jerked as Flash held her above the water, the girl staring at him until he pulled her back up. But as he did this, he used more strength than needed, throwing her right on top of him, both losing balance. "WHOA!" They both yelled as they fell, their faces coming within inches of one another. Both of them panted as they stared at each other, Flash doing everything in his power not to blush until Twilight realized she was laying on him. "Sorry," she squeaked as she got off and sat on the log as Flash sat up. "It's fine," he replied before getting onto the log as well. "Sorry for surprising you." "That's alright," she responded, looking away. The two then sat in silence, something they had done comfortably many times growing up. But as they did this, Flash knew something was wrong. "Twilight," she glanced at him, "Do you think you caused the boat to crash into the dock?" Twilight gasped and looked away. "No," she lied, "Why would you think that?!" "Because I heard you say it," Flash instantly replied, "Something's bothering you, and I have a pretty good idea what it is." Twilight stayed silent, making Flash sigh, "Midnight Sparkle." She flinched at the name, "You think she's gonna come back." "She never left!" Twilight screamed as she turned to him. "She's a part of me, and is probably just waiting for another chance to break out and destroy the world!" But as she stared at him, she saw a determined stare coming from the teen, "Twilight...Midnight's gone." "No." She looked away again, standing up this time, "She's...she's still there. She's still part of me." "Twilight..." he stood up as well, Twilight quickly walking away, "Twilight, you know that's not gonna happen." He reached out to grab her shoulder, but she jerked away before he could touch her. "Don't." Flash let out a long sigh, "Twilight, even if she's a part of you, she's just one small part. One that only came out because you were overwhelmed by the magic." "And now it's happening again!" Twilight yelled, "You...you saw what I did with the boat." "There's no proof that was you!" Flash instantly replied, "And even if it was, it's just one small incident. Its fine." But as he saw this, she looked back, now making Flash ask, "That was the first time, right?" She glanced away again, "Yesterday, a bunch of things in our tent started floating and...and this morning, when I was having a bad dream about Midnight, I made my bed float." "Twilight...why didn't you tell me?" Flash asked. "I didn't want to you worry," she whimpered, "You're always doing so much for me that I didn't want to ruin your time at camp." "Twilight..." Flash sighed as he walked up and patted her shoulder, "Please don't shut me out. If anything, that's going to cause Midnight to return faster. Don't forget, it was being alone that caused you to become her in the first place, and it was having us helping you that allowed you to be free from her." Twilight looked down at this, "I just...I don't want to hurt you." But as she said this, Flash grabbed the girl, tightly hugging her. She let out an 'eep', only to feel a sensation of overwhelming comfort. And as she felt this, her mind told her to pull away, thinking she was about to hurt him. That is, till he spoke up, "Twilight, I know you. You're a good person, and no matter what mistakes you've made in the past, you won't make that mistake again." "How...how can you be so sure of that?!" "Because you always learn from your mistakes. You lost control last time because you were wielding the magic you took from me and the others. All that power would be too much for anyone to handle." "Sunset was able to handle it." Flash felt himself stop for a second, "Well, she's...not human. Her pony genetics probably helped." He pulled away and looked her straight in the eyes, "The point being is that you shouldn't be afraid of using magic again. If it's just a little, I know you can handle it. And if anything happens...Sunset, the girls and me will be there to help you. Because we care about you, and we don't want Midnight Sparkle to return as much as you do. So please...don't shut us out." The two stared at one another for several long seconds before Twilight showed a small smile and hugged him again. "What would I do without you?" Flash chuckled as he hugged her back, "Luckily, you'll never have to find out." They hugged for a while longer before pulling away, Flash now wiping the tears from her eyes. "Now come on, let's get back to camp." Twilight nodded as the headed back, "Just remember, you can always come to me if you feel like your magic's about to go out of control. Just stay calm and we'll get through this." "Right," Twilight nodded before taking a deep breath. "Keep it together...deep breaths. You are not a monster." Flash was about to add a quip in, only for someone to walk out from around a tree, making both yell. That is, till they saw it was Timber, making Flash scowl as Twilight said, "Oh...hi." She let out a chuckle, "What are you doing here?" "Uh..." Timber fumbled on his words for a second before giving a charming grin, "Looking for you." "Oh," Twilight replied, "Well um...we were just...on a nature walk. I got a little lost, but Flash found me." "Then let me show you the way back," Timber said as he backpedaled, "I'm kind of an expert at these woods. I've lived here my whole life." Twilight walked up beside him as Flash followed with an increasing frown. "That must have been nice," she told him. "Growing up at a camp." "Yeah...though it has its downsides." He pushed a branch up so he and Twilight could walk under it, then let it go, causing it to twang right into Flash's face. The teen staggered back, but the other two didn't even notice. "When I was younger, I wished we'd sell this place so we could live in a town like normal people." "Really?" "I was ten," Timber stopped and turned to her. "I really wanted to hang out at the mall." They both giggled before Timber moved closer, a blush appearing on both their faces. "I've never told that to anyone. You must be special." The two stared at one another, Flash now feeling a rush of anger surging through him. But as he saw this, Timber reached out and pulled something out of Twilight's hair. "And not just because you have a tree branch in your hair." "Ugh," Twilight moaned, "How long has that been in there?" "Not long," Timber threw it away. "Just the whole time we were talking." Twilight laughed before playfully elbowing him. "Well, why didn't you say something?!" The two then walked off as Flash followed, now giving a slight death glare at Timber's back as a certain girl and dog were silently moving behind them. "Poor Flash," Sunset whispered. "What do you mean?" Spike asked. "Is something wrong with Flash?" She ignored his question, instead commenting, "He does so much and yet..." She let out a long sigh before staring at the dog, the canine just staring at her, "Here. Let me explain..." Back at camp... Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity were now about to start rock climbing. Currently, Rarity was wearing a helmet and harness as she started climbing while Applejack held the line, Rainbow grumbling at the sight with crossed arms. Celestia was also there, telling them what they needed to focus on. "Rock climbing is all about perseverance and trust. Rarity, you can trust that Applejack will spot you." "Yeah," Rainbow added as the principal moved over to help another camper, "So you can totally go faster than you're going." "Rainbow Dash!" Applejack scolded her. "Sorry," Rainbow shrugged, "I've been waiting to do this since we got here." "Well, you'll have to wait a little longer, darling." Rarity replied as she started climbing, doing pretty well for a first timer. As she climbed, Flash, Twilight and Timber arrived back at the camp, Rainbow seeing them. "Oh, good!" She waved them over. "Twilight, Flash, if one of you spots me, I can finally go. I'll go get another harness." The athlete sprinted off, Twilight trying to respond, "Wait Rainbow! I'm sure Flash can-" she then felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to see a smiling Flash. The grin made her feel a wave of calmness, only for another hand to tap her other shoulder, making her spin around to see Timber. "I better make sure my sister doesn't need anything. He then walked off before shooting Twilight a smile and a gun, "See you later?" "Um...yeah." Twilight responded, feeling a small blush on her face. But despite feeling this, she feel no calmness, making her blink until she heard Sunset's voice. "Twilight," she turned to her, also seeing Spike as they ran up, "There you are! I was looking for you!" But before they could say anything else, the entire camp suddenly started shaking. "WHOA!" Flash yelped as he began to stumble, the others doing the same before the shaking came to a stop. "Was that an earthquake?" Spike asked as Twilight corrected her glasses. "We aren't near any fault lines." "Hey!" They heard Bulk call out, the muscular teen pointing to the ground. "Who left this crystaly dusty stuff here?!" They all stared at the dirt, now seeing a large trail of pink glittery dust. Flash was about to comment, only to hear a scream. They all looked up to see Rarity, now clutching her rope tightly. "I-I believe I'd like to come down now!" Applejack nodded and went to let out the rope, only to find it was stuck in place. She let out several grunts, finding it wouldn't give, "Sorry," she yelled up to Rarity, "It's a little bit stuck." It was here Flash noticed something: A faint green light beginning to radiate off of her hands. And when she yanked on the rope, Rarity suddenly shot all the way to the top of the rock climbing wall. She screamed as she flew up, closing her eyes in absolute terror. Applejack gasped at this, causing her to accidently let go of the rope. This caused Rarity to fall, still screaming as Applejack barely managed to grab the rope seconds before Rarity hit the ground. "APPLEJACK!" The fashionista screeched at the cowgirl, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" "Is everything okay over there?" Celestia asked, the group now staring at Applejack. "Uh..." she rubbed the back of her neck, "Ah don't know what happened. Ah didn't even pull dah rope that hard. It's like she was light as a feather all of a sudden." "Did you girls see that?" Flash asked Twilight and Sunset, "Applejack's hands started glowing." This made both go wide-eyed as they turned back to Applejack. "Applejack, I was scared half to death!" Rarity screamed while trying to remove her harness. "It wasn't mah fault!" Applejack replied, "Here, let me help yah get yer harness off." Rarity glared at her and put her hands up. "No, thank you!" But as she said that, something appeared between them. It was a large flat hexagon that appeared to be made of pure white energy, the object looking very similar to a diamond. The shield hit Applejack, making her cry out before being pushed through some bushes. Seconds later, a splashing sound was heard. "Applejack," Flash called out, "You okay!?" They didn't get an answer at first, but then Applejack walked through the bushes completely soaked and spitting out water. "What in the world just happened?!" Celestia asked as she ran over, Rarity now staring at her hands. "Oh, dear!" She looked up at Applejack, "I am so sorry! I uh...I think." She turned to the others, "Did I just do whatever that was?" "I...don't think it was your fault," Twilight replied, Flash could tell what she was thinking, the girl quickly walking away. "I'm, gonna go get Applejack a towel." Sunset turned to her, "Um...me too." "Me three," Flash added as he ran over to the girls. As they began to walk side by side, Flash whispered, "Hey, I know about Twilight's little magic mishaps Sunset." "You do?" "Yeah. So what was that?" Flash asked as he pointed behind him. "New magic." Sunset then patted Twilight's shoulder, "See? You're not the only one with a new kind of magic! Isn't that great?!" Twilight came to a stop and turned to her. "No, it's not! Rarity and Applejack could have really hurt each other!" She began to hyperventilate, "Why is this happening?! I don't-" "Hi, girls!" said another voice, turning to see Gloriosa, "And boy. Anything I can do for you?" "Uh..." Twilight pointed to the rock climbing wall, "Applejack just fell into the lake!" "Oh no!" She gasped, "She's gonna need warm towels, dry clothes, oh! And a hot cocoa!" Her eyes shined before running away, "I've got this!" With that, Flash crossed his arms at the sight, "Is there anything that woman doesn't think she has?" He didn't get an answer as a loud scream rang out from the mess hall, Flash also hearing what sounded like an explosion. The three all recognized the scream instantly. "FLUTTERSHY!" They yelled before running inside, quickly throwing the doors open and seeing the place was a mess. Large piles of cookie dough splattered all over the place, Fluttershy and Pinkie standing at a table while covered in the dough. "Yikes," Flash grimaced, "Maybe a little less baking powder next time." Sunset rolled her eyes at this as she then asked, "What happened?!" "I don't know," Fluttershy whimpered, "We were just decorating cookies and-" "And I was all, you need more sprinkles! And you need more sprinkles!" Pinkie threw her arms around as she yelled this, Sunset smirking and crossing her arms. "So, standard Pinkie Pie stuff." Pinkie nodded. "I was just tossing sprinkles to Fluttershy," she reached into the can and took out some, "When all of a sudden they glowed pink and exploded!" She threw them into the air, all of them glowing pink and exploding. The entire room was filled with a pink puff of smoke, Flash accidently breathing some in and coughing up a storm until it faded away. "Just like that," Pinkie chuckled as Twilight patted Flash on the back. "Only earlier!" Flash then turned to see all their hairdos had been blasted straight up due to this. "Oookaay." Sunset added as the others tried to fix their hair. She grabbed Pinkie's arms and moved them away, "Why don't you lay off touching stuff for a while?" "Oh dear." Fluttershy gulped, "We really should clean all of this up." She moved over to a shelf that had the paper towels on the top, trying to reach up and grab it. However, she was just shy of the height requirement to reach it. "Can someone help me out?" Flash was about too, but then a red bird flew into the room. It flew up and grabbed the paper towels, Flash's mouth dropping to the floor at the sight as the bird gives it to Fluttershy. It then landed on her finger, Fluttershy smiling at it. "Thank you, Mr. Bird." "Alright...now I've seen everything." Flash sighed as the bird began tweeting at Fluttershy. "Why, of course I can get you a little something to-" She stopped with a gasp, now staring at the bird, "Did you just...talk?" The bird chirped again, Fluttershy letting out another gasp, "But I don't speak chirp." Again, the bird tweeted back to her. "I don't know if you're the only bird I can understand." The bird chirped at Fluttershy, making her grimace, "Oh, no! Please don't call for your friends." But it was too late. The sound of flapping made Flash turn to see a flock of different birds fly into the room. "WHOA!" He yelped as he matrix dodged an owl that flew over him. When he pulled himself back upright, he spun around to see Fluttershy now covered in birds on her arms and head. "Fluttershy, you okay?" Fluttershy nodded as the birds chirped in her ear, the girl nervously smiling back. "It's nice to meet all of you too." "Were you just talking to the birds?" Sunset asked, Fluttershy trying to nod. "Um...yes?" But before they could say anything else, the doors slammed open and she screamed in surprise. Her new friends all flew into the rafters, allowing them to see Rarity along with a still soaked Applejack. "Did yah tell them what happened?" Applejack asked, "So crazy! Ah hoisted Rarity up dah rock climbin' wall like it was nothin'! Like ah had way more strength than ah usually do." Rarity nodded at this, "And I made a diamondy thing appear out of nowhere, which normally I'd be excited about. I mean, the facets were just perfect, and the-" "Rarity!" Applejack interrupted. "Oh," Rarity giggled, "Sorry. It knocked Applejack over, and then it disappeared!" As she said that, Applejack showed a small frown, "Speaking of disappearing, has anybody seen Rainbow Dash?" The second she said that, the door behind her shot open as a rainbow colored blur zoomed past them and then hit a wall. A scream came out next, Rainbow appearing as she fell over. "Ow..." she moaned as Flash ran over to help her. "Whoa!" Applejack grimaced, "How'd yah do that?" "I don't know," Rainbow groaned as she got up, "I started running to get the harness, and the next thing I knew, I was practically back in town!" "Ooookay," Flash commented, "Now I've really seen everything." Rarity then turned to Rainbow. "But if you have some sort of super speed, why you were gone for so long?" "Because I lost it when I got far away," Rainbow pointed to her legs. "And then it came back when I got close to camp." This caused Pinkie to gasp before giving them all her typical hyper happy grin. "Being at camp is giving us all new magical abilities!" She jumped on the spot as Sunset frowned at her words, "Not all of us have gotten new abilities," she pointed to herself. "I haven't, but Twilight-" she stopped when she saw Twilight carefully shake her head, mentally begging her not to tell them. "Hasn't...either." Everyone turned to Flash, making him slightly flinch. "I don't-" but then he stopped, letting out a hum, "Wait, earlier...something weird did happen. Twilight was about to fall into a pond and suddenly, everything around me slowed to a crawl. It was only for a second, but it was like someone had hit a slowmo button." Sunset tilted her head at this, "Maybe things weren't going slow." She smiled at him, "Maybe you were just moving really fast." "So he's got super speed like me?" Rainbow asked until Twilight spoke up. "Wait..." they turned to her, "It's not just speed." She turned to Flash. "Remember yesterday, when you broke that board into splinters?" "Yah think he's got super strength too?" Applejack added. "What?! He has super strength too?! Why does he get more than one power?!" Rainbow pouted as Flash rolled his eyes at this. "Hang on," they turned to him. "There's something else. Last night, I was using a flashlight when it suddenly exploded, like the bulb was overloaded with power." "Power?" Sunset gasped before snapping her fingers, "Maybe that's it. Flash's power isn't strength or speed, it's energy." "Energy?" Sunset nodded, "Yeah. Maybe your magic's some kind of supercharger, which you can use the power up your body in different ways. I'm betting if you focus, you can use both speed and strength at the same time. Though it probably won't be as powerful as when you use it for one thing." Twilight hummed at this, "I guess that makes sense. And he probably sent the energy into the flashlight by accident, causing it to overload." Flash stared down at his hands, closing his eyes. He clinched them, grunting in response, "Come on...work!" The girls grimaced at the face he was making. "Power up!" He yelled, but still got nothing. "I guess it doesn't just work at the flick of a switch," Sunset responded, "But I get the feeling it'll eventually come back and appear when you least expect it." Flash sighed at this, Applejack doing the same, "So much for mah theory that leavin' CHS would mean leavin' any new magic business behind." "Something at the camp must be making this happen," Sunset added, Twilight grimacing at this, only for Fluttershy to chime in. "Um...Gaia Everfree?" As soon as she said that, the door opened and they turned to see a large figure hidden in the shadows that had an outline that looked exactly as Timber had described the creature. This caused Fluttershy to scream, only for the figure to step into the light. "Applejack!" Gloriosa called out from behind a large stack of towels, Applejack's hat on the top. "I was looking for you!Here," She handed the towels to the drenched girl, "I brought you some towels and dry clothes." She put the hat on her head before seeing the mess in the hall. "Uh...what happened in here?" "We're kinda trying to figure that out," Sunset replied, only to see a big grin force its way onto Gloriosa's face. "Well don't worry about it, I got this!" But as she said that, Sandalwood and Derpy appeared at the door. "Gloriosa," he called out, "I kicked my beanbag into the lake!" They all saw her eye visibly twitch, "I'll get you another one!" "And I'm all out of arrows!" Derpy held up a bunch of broken arrows, Flash wondering if she should really be allowed to do archery. "Say no more!" Gloriosa gasped, "New arrows coming right up!" But in that moment, Timber appeared at the door. "There you are!" He ran over and spoke in a hushed voice, "Filthy Rich is back. Do you want me to handle it?" "Absolutely not!" Gloriosa whisper yelled back before smiling, "I've got this!" She stated running to the door, her elbow scraping against Sunset's as she did this. Sunset then heard a scream, causing her to sigh. "Fluttershy, enough with the screaming!" But when she turned to Fluttershy, the girl just showed a frown. "I didn't scream," she replied, Rainbow giggling. "For once." "Nobody did," Rarity added. "Huh?" Sunset scratched her head, "But I thought I-" "Attention, campers!" Celestia's voice suddenly called out through the P.A system. "Anyone who's interested in making floating paper lanterns, please meet us by the picnic tables." After hearing this, Applejack turned to the others, "Ah don't know about dah rest of y'all, but ah've been lookin' forward to comin' here for a month. Maybe we forget about this new magic for a bit and just try to focus on enjoyin' our time at camp?" Rarity nodded at this, "I was oh, so excited about designs I've come up with for the camp fashion show." "And I've barely gotten to whoop anybody in tetherball," Rainbow added. Sunset crossed her arms at this, "I still think we should try to figure it out." Flash nodded in agreement, "I'm with Sunset. I don't want our powers to suddenly go off and make a disaster. What if Rainbow accidently goes super speed and runs off the edge of a cliff?" Rainbow went pale at that thought. "And I can't even access my powers right now." He glanced down at this hands, "Who knows what else I might accidentally blow up." "Well it's not like we even know where to start looking," Rarity chimed in, "For all we know, the answers might just appear when we're not expecting it." The others nodded as Sunset sighed, "Girls..." They all stared at her, showing big frowns, "Don't tell me you want to let this go." "Sunset...we all wannna relax." Applejack replied, the girls nodding again. Sunset and Flash shared a glance before Sunset shook her head, "Fine. If letting it go for now is what the rest of you want..." The girls all nodded as they headed outside, leaving Flash, Twilight and Sunset on their own. Flash turned to Twilight, seeing her shaking as he put a hand on her shoulder, "Twilight," she looked up at him, "It's gonna be alright. We'll figure this out." "I know," Twilight whimpered before walking out the door, shrugging his hand away. And when she was gone, Sunset and Spike turned to smirk at Flash. "What?" "Nothing," they replied in unison before following Twilight, Flash raising an eyebrow at the sight. A few hours later... As the sun began to set on the camp, Flash and the others were sitting at different tables working on their lanterns. Most of the day had again been spent fixing up the dock, replacing the damaged planks and nailing in some extra supports so it couldn't be smashed up again. Eventually, they managed to get it back to it's pre-smashed condition, ready to have the extras they had discussed added the following day. The only ones who hadn't helped were Twilight and First, First trying to figure out what to glittery stuff was that kept showing up. Now the Rainbooms, minus Twilight, were all at one table while the Royal Knights sat at another working on their lanterns. Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike sat alone. Flash glanced back at Twilight, upset she chose not to sit beside him, but he knew that trying to sit with her would just make her leave. That and he knew that if his powers started up beside her, she would be convinced it was all her fault. As for Twilight, she was halfheartedly decorating her lantern. Spike glanced over at Flash, then at the girls before turning back to his owner. "Hey Twilight, why aren't you with everyone else?" Twilight put her paintbrush down before looking over at her friends. "Sunset said something at camp is causing the other girls to get new magic." She then lowered her voice to a whisper, "I think it's Midnight Sparkle. She's...she's still part of me. I can feel it. And I think her magic is infecting my friends." "What are we gonna do?" Spike asked next, making Twilight look down at him. His face was showing the biggest frown, making her grimace. Despite this, he played along, knowing trying to dissuade her wouldn't do a thing. "I...I don't know what I can do," Twilight sighed. As she said this, Gloriosa called out, "Okay everyone! It's time to watch your lanterns fly!" The students all gathered the lanterns and headed for the dock, Twilight being the last one to stand up. As she did this, Timber walked up to her with his own lantern in hand. "Hey, cool lantern!" He then held up his lantern, showing it had a goofy version of his face on it. "Mine's my face!" Twilight stared at him for a moment, a weird sensation now going through her. It wasn't the same one she had felt earlier, nor the one she had felt when she first met Timber. She had expected herself to find this little joke funny, even if her current mental state would have only allowed a force nervous laugh, but she didn't. She just stared at him. Timber soon noticed her lack of response, the teen raising an eyebrow. "Uh...you okay?" Twilight did a slow nod, just robotically moving to the dock as Timber added, "You don't seem like yourself tonight." Twilight didn't respond as they reached the principals, who lit both their lanterns. When Twilight looked into them, something about it made her smile. "Ready?" Gloriosa asked before throwing her arms wide. "And...go!" The students all released their lanterns, the laws of thermodynamics causing them to raise high into the air. The sight was truly one to behold. Unfortunately, when Pinkie threw hers into the air, the weight of the marshmallows she had stuck to the side caused it to fall back to earth, crashing at her feet. "Awww!" Pinkie moaned before a smile appeared on her face. "Oh well! Now I get to eat it!" She reached down and grab hers, pulling the marshmallows off before throwing them in her mouth. "Yep...beautiful and delicious!" Flash watched the lanterns fly, smiling when he saw Twilight's floating over to his and their friends. Maybe it was trying to tell her not to try and go solo. Alas, before it could reach the others, Timber's lantern flew over and hit it. The two bounced against one another and pushed each other apart, Twilight's lantern now floating in a different direction away from the others. He shot Timber a glare, the camp administrator clearly not noticing. They continued to watch as the lanterns disappeared into the night, eventually merging with the sky to look indistinguishable from the stars. And when that happened, Gloriosa and the principals announced it was time to hit the hay. A little later... The moon was high in the sky as the campers were fast asleep. Sunset was enjoying a rather nice dream about defeating all her high scores, only to be awakened by the sound of the flapping of her tent's doors. She flickered her eyes open, now seeing that Twilight's bed was now completely empty. "Twilight?" She muttered out, getting out of the bed and heading for the door. She popped out her head outside and saw her friend running into the darkness along with Spike. "Twilight!" She cried just quiet enough to not be heard, then retreating back into her tent. A moment later, she jumped out in her camp clothes and was trying to tie her boots. "Where is she going?!" She quickly ran into the woods, going off the beaten trail so she could cut Twilight off. And as she got in front of her, she jumped onto the main trail, making Twilight gasp. "Twilight...what are you doing out here?" "We're..." Twilight muttered out, "We're meeting a cab to take us home." Sunset raised an eyebrow, now noticing Twilight had her backpack on before glancing down at Spike. "She thought you'd talk her out of it." "Because I would," Sunset added before focusing on her friend. "Twilight," She placed a hand on her arm, "You can't leave." But as she said that, her eyes suddenly glowed white, only to see something strange. It was Pinkie and Trixie, standing next to the destroyed dock. "You don't think it was the spirit, do you?!" Pinkie asked before whatever was looking at her panned away. "No," Twilight's voice called out, "It was me." The view then panned down, Sunset now seeing Twilight's body from her perspective. Sunset was looking through Twilight's eyes. The scene then changed, still showing Twilight perspective. This time she was looking at her lantern and then turned to Spike. "I think it's Midnight Sparkle. She's...she's still part of me. I can feel it. And I think her magic is infecting my friends." It was at this moment Twilight pulled her hand free of Sunset's grip, causing Sunset's vision to come to an end. She remained frozen for a moment, shaking her head next as she blinked her eyes. Seeing she was back to normal, she saw Twilight frowning at her, "Twilight..." she placed a hand on her shoulder, "There's no Midnight Sparkle. There's only you." This made Twilight jerk away, her mouth trembling as she asked, "H-h-how did you know what I was thinking?!" "When I touched your hand, I could see things. I could understand why you were leaving." It was here Sunset went wide-eyed, now seeing what was going on. She was telepathic, and slightly empathic. "This is my new magic!" She gasped before staring at her hands, "Incredible!" "No, it's not!" Twilight yelped as she began to backpedal, "I'm infecting you right now!" "Twilight..." Sunset slowly said, "You need to stop looking at this as a bad thing." "Easy for you to say," Twilight snapped back, "Magic turned you into something beautiful. The last time I tried to use it, it turned me into a monster." She turned away, shivering on the spot, "I'm just...I'm so afraid it's gonna happen again." Those words made Sunset remember back to the Friendship Games. To the beast that Twilight had become and the angelic form she had taken to combat it. But then her mind went further back, to the first time she used magic and turned into that demonic form. "Yes, last time I turned into something amazing, but I've let magic turn me into a monster too." Twilight glanced back at her for a second, "Twilight...if anyone understands what you're going through, it's me." She moved up as she kept talking, "I can help you Twilight." She placed a hand on her shoulder, "And the rest of our friends can be there for you, too. But not if you run away." Twilight wanted to shrug the hand away, but just stood there. Her eyes slowly went back to Sunset, seeing a calm smile on her face. The sight made her let out a sigh, "Alright. I'll stay," She then fixed her glasses. "But I still don't think it's a good idea for me to be near the rest of our friends right now. Not until we know why this is happening." "Understood." Sunset chuckled, only for both to hear something. A loud rustling noise. "What was that?!" They turned to the noise, only to see a figure in the darkness in the woods, the being slowly moving toward them. Sunset wanted to scream and run, but knew Flash would kill her if she let anything happen to Twilight. So she grabbed both her and Spike and pulled them behind one of the larger trees, the three glancing around until the figure finally came into view. It was Timber, walking through the woods while carrying an axe and pulling a wagon of chopped wood. Twilight and Spike both sighed in relief, but Sunset just squinted at the sight as she thought, 'Why is he collecting firewood right now? Its the middle of the night!' Her mental question caused her to accidently step on a twig, causing a snapping sound that caught Timber's attention. The three quickly zipped behind the tree again, the teen glancing around, "Hello?!" He called out, "Anyone there?!" They kept silent, now hearing Timber get louder, "Whoever's out there, come out!" They exchanged glances, both mentally telling the other they should reveal themselves, only for another to voice to speak up, "Over here." Everyone turned to the voice, all seeing Flash walk into the clearing, a giant frown on his face. The four stared at him, all wondering why he was out here. "Hey," Timber muttered out, "Flash...right?" "Yeah," the teen nodded. "What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be in bed." Flash crossed his arms at this. "I came to see you. We need to talk about Twilight." Both Timber and the girl in question raised an eyebrow, Sunset's eyes shrinking at this. "What about her?" Flash marched up to him at this, "I wanna know what your intentions are towards her. It's clear she likes you, so I wanna know if you really like her back, or are you just playing her around." Timber and Twilight went wide-eyed at this while Sunset and Spike looked at each other, knowing what this might mean. "What's it to you?!" Timber asked, "What's your relationship to her anyway? You don't act like siblings." "She's my best friend," Flash instantly replied, "She saved me from a life of being alone for who knows how long. That's why I wanna make sure your intentions towards her are perfectly pure. Because if they're not, and you do this with every pretty girl that comes to this camp, you'll be in serious trouble." Twilight put a hand over her mouth, Flash's words going through her head as her mind went over what was happening. However, Timber just smirked at the sight, "Oh, I get it. You like her." This statement made Sunset and Spike turn to Twilight, her eyes going even wider. The bespectacled girl expected Flash to deny it, but he said nothing. "I'm right," Timber chuckled, "You're trying to scare me away because you're jealous." Flash looked away, taking a deep breath. But as Twilight looked around the tree to stare at him, he glanced back at Timber. "Yes, I do like her. More than that, I really like her. I care about her more than anything in this world, even myself." Twilight's jaw began to drop at this, her entire world turning upside-down as he continued, "That's why I'm willing to let her go if she'd be happy with you." Timber's smile got even bigger, "Well, you're too nice for your own good. I doubt I could do that." Flash growled at him, making Timber wave his hand, "Well don't worry kid, I have nothing but good intentions for our dear Twilight." Flash gave him a long glare, his eyes narrowing as he saw Timber just calmly smile at him. "Good. I won't do anything to get between the two of you. But be warned that if you do anything to hurt Twilight in any way." He held his right hand up. "If you break her heart, I'll be on you like that!" He snapped his fingers...and that's when it happened. A sudden bolt of light blue electricity exploded from between his fingers, firing right at Timber. The bolt then shifted just past him, striking the tree behind him. He, Spike and the girls all gasped at this, but didn't have the time to process it as a cracking sound caught their attention. They turned to see that the tree Flash had struck had been blown half off, the rest now about to topple over...right on Timber. "AAAH!" He screamed, unable to move as the tree began to fall. And as the girls saw this, something else suddenly caught their attention. Looking back at Flash, his entire body was surrounded by the same lightning he had shot at Timber, but they were only able to see him for a second before he shot up at blinding speed. In the blink of an eye, he reached Timber and shoved him out of the way before reaching out to grab the tree. With a sudden surge of strength, he managed to hold the tree in place above him...only to start struggling. He turned back to Timber, the teen now on the ground with wide eyes, now seeing the lightning sparking teen holding up a twenty thousand pound tree with relative ease. "W-w-what...are you?" Flash didn't answer, instead feeling the weight of the tree starting to push him down. "Augh!" he yelped, falling to his knees as the tree kept falling. Timber screamed as he hopped to his feet and ran off, the girls watching him before looking back at their friend. "FLASH!" Twilight yelled as she ran out from behind the tree, Sunset and Spike behind her. Her hands suddenly started glowing as she got closer, and before she knew what was happening, the tree glowed the same purple color and Flash suddenly felt the weight lift off his shoulders. He turned to Twilight as she stared at him in shock, but then the light around her hands and the tree vanished. "WHOA!" He leapt to the side, clearing a good fifteen feet with barely any effort before landing on the ground as the tree crashed onto the forest floor. He panted as he sat up, lightning still sparking around him. He looked down at his hands before glancing over at Twilight, who was still staring at him with a mix of shock and worry. "Twilight..." he muttered out, his words slightly distorted, "How...how long were you here?" "The whole time," Twilight answered almost instantly. "Flash...is it true?" She slowly asked as she began to move up to him, "Do you...like me?" Flash looked away, biting his lip as his brain began to process what was happening. But as he did this, the lightning around him began to surge. The bolts shot off his body, hitting the ground around him, one bolt even hitting just inches away from Twilight. "AHH!" She cried, staggering back as Flash's eyes went wide. "Twilight!" He shot up and looked down at his hands, "No...stop!" But as he yelled this, another bolt shot out of him. "No!" "FLASH!" Twilight yelped as she tried to move closer, but Flash leapt back. "NO!" He yelled, "Stay away!" They locked eyes at this, Twilight now seeing pure fear in his. "I don't wanna hurt you." And as those words hit Twilight's ears, memories of their earlier conversation now struck her. The memory hit her brain like a truck, making her gasp as she knew what Flash was feeling at the time. But before she could say anything, Flash turned and with a great jump, managed to leap onto a branch of a nearby tree. "FLASH!" Twilight yelled, but Flash jumped away. Leaping from branch to branch, he disappeared into the forest, the lightning disappearing into the night. "Flash, come back!" Sunset added, both now yelling for him. But as Sunset called out his name again, she noticed Twilight had stopped. She turned to the girl, who was just standing still, vibrating in place. "Twilight?" As she said that name, the girl suddenly ran off, heading for the camp. Sunset tried to say something, only to let out a long sigh, "Oh...what a mess." "Yeah." Spike added. "What do we do Sunset?" "I...I don't know." Sunset replied while rubbing her face, "I just-" her words came to a stop as she suddenly saw something in the corner of her eye. On the ground was a pile of glittering dust, Sunset picking it up and realizing it was the same stuff she had seen after the boat crash and earthquake. She blinked at the substance, only to realize the pile was where Timber had fallen over when Flash pushed him. "I think I just found our Gaia Everfree." "What do you mean?" Spike asked, Sunset then telling him what she meant. "But why would he work so hard to make us think she was real?" "You heard what he said about wishing his sister would sell this camp. If nobody wants to come here because it's home to some angry ancient nature spirit, it sure would help his cause." Spike nodded back before saying, "We should tell Twilight." He began to run for camp, but Sunset's next words made him stop. "Not yet. She's obviously going through a lot with her magic, the Midnight stuff, and now finding out her best friend's been secretly in love with her." She let out a long sigh, "She's probably not in the best mind right now. Telling her the guy she likes might be a jerk who's trying to run everybody out of camp might be a bit too much." Spike nodded again while Sunset turned back to where Flash had vanished off too, "Flash...please be okay.