Sunset Shimmer slapped at another mosquito that had decided to land on her left calf and she had already lost count to how many she had already dealt with. Being summer, it was as though a whole army of them had come to feast on them and the forest was the absolute worst place to be without proper preparation.
“I think I swallowed another one. Gross!” Pinkie stuck her tongue out, then she giggled. “If it bites me and then I swallow it, does that mean I get my blood back?”
“Um, sure. I guess so.” Sunset shrugged. It sort of did make sense.
“So where in the forest are we looking?” Rainbow spread her arms out. “This place is huge!”
“How about the campsite?” Applejack suggested. “Ah mean, we’re supposed to be here in a few weeks anyway. And we’re familiar with the area, year after year.”
“I suppose that’ll be a place to start.” Sunset had never been to the campsite herself, because she had never wanted to join in on social events before.
The trek through the forest grounds led over bumpy terrain, past trees and plants of all shapes and sizes, and a whole lot of bugs.
The only one to look like she was having a good time was Fluttershy, who ran her hand along leaves and even held out a finger for butterflies to land on, which they did. It was as though she had an affinity for nature.
They soon came across a pathway once they were out of a thicker section of woods and Jojo quickly ran for it, dropping to his knees and rubbing his hands across the dirt road.
“Finally, flatter ground,” he said. “I can be back on wheels. White Buffalo!”
Jojo’s Stand appeared in a flash of sparks next to him and he swiftly got on it. “I’ll scout out ahead on the paths.”
He revved White Buffalo and he was off down the path, kicking up dust into the air as he left. The rest of them continued on, with everyone except Sunset knowing the way to camp from here, especially once they started seeing the road signs to Camp Everfree.
Eventually, they came across a big wooden sign, with the words on it carved out from the sign to read out ‘Camp Everfree’. It was an elegant sign, bright and colorful, and in Sunset’s opinion, a hazard. If a reckless kid ran into it, it might just fall down on top of them, or worse, their friends as well.
“Nothing out of the ordinary here.” Rainbow shrugged as she looked around the area. “I don’t see Jojo as well. He must’ve gone past the camp.”
“It was worth a start,” Sunset said, then looked out at the camp’s surroundings. The cabins were all arranged in a circular pattern near the center. There was a lake to its west that had a pier, and she could also make out a few sheds out there as well. “Hey, what do you girls know about the surrounding area? Maybe there’s something else worth looking into.”
“We’re looking for a geode.” Pinkie rubbed at her chin exaggeratedly and stuck her jaw out. “What if… it’s buried in some cave and we need to dig it out like miners!”
“That… again, makes sense.” Sunset folded her arms and nodded contently. “We’re looking for a cave then.”
“Sick! We know a good one, then.” Rainbow nudged Applejack. “One year, we tried out being spelunkers. Ended up in a huge cave quite a walk from here. You can’t miss it. It’s quite like someone took a chunk out of the ground with a bite.”
“Oh yeah, the big ‘un.” Applejack whistled. “Big cave, that was. Thought we heard some kind monsters in there as well, though now Ah reckon it was just the wind.”
“If it’s big, it might just be deep. That’s where we might be able to find some crystals, or better… geodes.”
“Can’t find any fault with that logic!” Pinkie cheered. “Let’s go! Lead the way, Dashieee!”
“It’s west of the lake I think.” Rainbow scratched her head. “We’ll just have to keep going till we see another slope leading down. It’s flat all the way until that point. Well, flat enough.”
“Are there more caves in the area?” Sunset asked as they made their way around the edge of the lake. Seeing the water, she felt like dunking herself in it to cool herself off and to ward off the insects, but she eventually decided against it. “We might have a better chance if we split up.”
“I-I don’t think we should…” Fluttershy mumbled. “It’ll be hard to find each other again in the woods.”
Without warning, the ground shook, followed by squawks as a flock of birds flew up from the trees.
“Did you girls hear that?” Fluttershy gulped.
“More like did we feel that?” Rainbow spun around until she narrowed down on a direction. “I think it came from this way. Cinch might already be in the cave.”
“Then there’s no time to waste.” Sunset broke off into a run and urged the others to follow.
She wondered where Jojo was, but he would’ve likely heard the sound as well. If they were lucky, he was already on his way.
They jumped over rocks and roots, her shoes crunching against dirt and pebbles as they ran, doing what they could to avoid running into a tree. It wasn’t that hard, but Sunset almost tripped on a root and would’ve run face first into the tree if Pegasus Fantasy hadn’t appeared and yanked her away before she could knock herself out.
There was another resounding boom on the way, and then after another ten minutes or so of running, they began to feel a constant rumble beneath their feet. It was as though the ground itself was alive, breathing in and out.
“Hey, I see something purple ahead.” Rainbow called out, having gone much further ahead during their run thanks to her athletic skill. “Out in the clearing, you see it?”
“Everyone careful now.” Applejack slowed her pace and held up a fist. “It might just be another pesky enemy Stand.”
They poked their heads out from behind the trees when they got to the edge of the woods. Past the trees was a clearing, along with a path leading into it. There was a single purple car parked at the end of the dirt, its engine shut off. By the looks of it, it had already been here some time and there wasn’t anyone in it.
“This must be Cinch’s car,” Applejack whispered. “But Ah don’t see no one out there. She must’a already left for the caves.”
“Then we gotta get there quick. Before she gets the geode!” Rainbow called forth Running on Ice and got to skating in the air.
“Yeah, come on!” Pinkie skedaddled after her, her legs looking like windmills as she went.
They had only just passed into the next tree line when Sunset felt a buzz in the air. It felt as though it suddenly got harder to breathe and there was a weight on her shoulders. Her first thought was Trixie and Gravity Kills, but all of a sudden, the forest turned dark around them and disappeared, fading into a black landscape with nothing visible for miles. And then almost as soon as that had happened, a new terrain opened around them, springing into existence from the corners around them.
“What in tarnation?” Applejack yelled and stepped aside as a velvety red floor appeared under them.
The floor continued ahead and a short flight of steps materialized from nothing, going up to a big podium where a girl walked out of the darkness and stood behind it, her arms outstretched and her chin held high.
“Sunny Flare…” Applejack frowned as smaller podiums appeared in front of each of them.
She tried to send her Stand out, but Highwayman leapt out of her and crashed into something invisible in front of it, knocking both of them back into another invisible surface.
“We’re trapped!” Applejack yelled, then fumbled back to her feet.
“That’s right!” Sunny Flare began laughing. There was no longer any wind blowing, but her long red cape fluttered in some unseen gust. “Welcome to the new age. The Age of Sunny Flare, where your will against hers will be tested!”
There was a mechanical whirring sound and Sunset looked down at her podium to see a device with four buttons flip out from underneath its surface.
Fluttershy had Florence come out to try and hack it, but nothing happened.
“Uh uh uh.” Sunny waggled a finger. “There will be no Stand usage during the show.”
“Let us outta here! We’ll kick your butt back to Crystal Prep!” Rainbow bashed on her invisible wall with her fists.
“What are you trying to do here?” Sunset asked their captor.
Sunny shook her head. “That’s not how this gameshow works. I’ll be asking the questions here, and you’ll be answering.”
“Just let us out of here. We’ll fight ya and teach ya who’s boss, this whole gameshow you want is a waste a’ time!” Applejack grumbled at her podium.
“Your only way out is to win this game. Otherwise, tough luck.”
“Yaaay, a game! I love games!” Pinkie whooped and jumped.
“Pinkie was always one of the brighter ones.” Sunny hopped onto her podium and crossed one leg over the other. “The great principal has tasked me with dealing with your little motley crew. And so I shall. With my Stand, you are now forced to participate in Sunny’s New Age, the game show with a lot of questions and tougher choices. I’m Sunny Flare, and today, our contestants are Sushi and the gang of Canterlot High lackeys!”
“Hey, I’m no lackey!” Rainbow knocked on her wall.
Sunset groaned, but there was no way through this but to play. Brute force wasn’t getting them anywhere, nor could Florence get them out the other way.
“Excellent. So let the games commence…” Sunny smirked and did a pirouette. Confetti flew out from behind her, and the floor opened up, spewing mist around her. A giant scoreboard rose up from the floor, clad in a dark grey frame. “Pick the right answer and you’ll proceed. Pick the wrong one, and you’ll see…”
“This is messed up…” Applejack spat, but her wad of saliva hit the invisible air and began sliding down. “That’s even more messed up. What kind of Stand is this?”
“I don’t know, but I’m sure we’ve dealt with worse.” Sunset kept her eyes on Sunny. She didn’t think it was as simple as getting questions right.
“The first question goes to… Sushi!” Sunny laughed to the air as options popped up on Sunset’s podium. Behind her, a screen four times the size of a cinema screen blinked to life and a single sentence popped up on it, reading ‘How do you spell _______?’. “Ha, did you think I would be dumb enough to provide the spelling for you? Fat chance, CHS losers. Well… let’s start with a warm up, shall we? Here’s something to try. Spell… Rhombus.”
The four options on Sunset’s podium blinked and words appeared on each one. Her four choices were ‘A - Rombus’, ‘B - Rhombos’, ‘C - Rhombus’, and ‘D - Rahmbes’.
“What? That’s her question?” Rainbow scoffed. “That’s so easy! You’re done for, Sunny!”
Sunset also couldn’t believe how easy this was, but after dealing with so many Stand masters in the recent days, she knew there would be a catch somewhere. She reluctantly hovered her finger over option C for ‘Rhombus’, and when it didn’t seem like anything could go wrong, she pressed her finger down on the button and it turned green.
“Your answer is option C and that’s…” Sunny ducked her head down and stretched an arm out. “Correct! Well done, Sushi. Perhaps I underestimated you.”
“I think at this point, I’d rather be underestimated…” Sunset sighed and leaned back on her invisible wall.
“Pinkie Pie, you will be next.” Sunny pointed a finger at her. The question behind her appeared and she read it out. “What year did Canterlot become its own city?”
Sunset looked at the options on her podium, but she hadn’t been around long enough to know the answer to this. That, or she didn’t pay attention during history class.
“Easy!” Pinkie grinned and thumbed option A. “Nineteen sixty-six!”
“Hmm, correct again.” Sunny smiled, which worried Sunset. This was going all too well compared to the other Shadowbolts.
“That’s easy! Come on, me next! I’ll take you down, Sunny!” Rainbow pumped her arms up.
“I like your attitude, Rainbow. Let’s go.” Sunny cut an arm to the side and another sentence appeared on the huge screen. “Who… was the founder of Maryland?”
“Wait, what?” Rainbow was taken aback as her options appeared on her podium. “That’s not even related to Canterlot!”
“I never said the questions would be about Canterlot.” Sunny giggled. “Now, make your choice.”
“How am I supposed to know who founded Maryland?” Rainbow demanded. “I don’t even know where Maryland is!”
“Tsk tsk…” Sunny Flare wagged her index finger at Rainbow. “If you’d undertaken education at Crystal Prep under Principal Cinch, you would know. This only serves to highlight the difference between CHS and CPA in terms of education quality.”
“Rainbow, the answer’s gjsivkenckskfehdjnacht.” Fluttershy covered her mouth. When she had tried giving the answer, a garbled mess came out instead. “Umm, it’s gjdkdncneldkrystwlaxnacht. I-I can’t say it.”
“To prevent cheating, you will not be allowed to share answers, be it conversation or gestures.” Sunny kicked one leg back and forth. The back of her foot hit into her podium rhythmically like a clock counting down. “Ten seconds, Rainbow Dash.”
“Uhhhh…” She looked like she was struggling, but then she pressed down option A, then stepped back.
“Your answer, option A, Bolt E. Moore…” Sunny turned her thumb upside down. “Is wrong!”
A loud buzzer sounded all around them to signal Rainbow’s incorrect answer. They hadn’t noticed it earlier, but there was a vertical bar on the scoreboard and its lowest segment was now glowing a bright green.
“Oh, yes. I failed to mention earlier.” Sunny waved a hand. “Every question wrong is one step towards filling this bar. Once it’s filled… would you like to see what you’re up against? Radioactive!”
Sunny clapped her hands and the ground in the center of the room split open. From beneath it rose a large grey and green spherical object with two segments on its top left and right, resembling wings, along with a whole bunch of what looked to be canisters. In its center, a large green light burst to life, looking like it was watching them.
“Behold my glorious Stand, Radioactive!” Sunny got off her podium and walked up to it, running one hand along its sleek surface. “Radioactive holds the power of thermonuclear proliferation, and you’re the ones with the countdown key. For every question you get wrong in my trivia game, it’s one step closer to total annihilation! Isn’t that just magnificent?”
“What? No, that’s terrible!” Rainbow stomped her foot and bashed on her invisible wall. “Let us out!”
“Sorry, but you won’t be leaving. Principal Cinch will soon have her prized Stand Geode and you’ll be nothing more than ash and dust.” Sunny grinned and wiped at her brow. “Oh, but you’ll be going, Rainbow. You answered a question incorrectly, so away with you.”
“Wait, what? What do you meeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaan?!?!” Rainbow was suddenly launched into the air, her invisible wall clearly gone as she flailed around.
A hole in the ground appeared beside Sunny and Rainbow fell right into it as she arced back down, which then closed behind her.
“Rainbow!” Applejack called out.
“So, are you girls ready to take this game more seriously?” Sunny skipped, then hopped back on her podium. “Answer incorrectly, and you’ll be joining Rainbow Dash, and keep it up, and you all… go… boom.”
There were only four of them left and there were only four more segments on the scoreboard’s bar. They didn’t have much room for mistakes and Sunset knew they couldn’t afford to die here, not when they were so close to stopping Cinch. They would have to think their way out of this one, and they had to do it soon.