"No... please... no..."
"Stop... no... stop... stop..."
"Twilight..."
"you... wait..."
"Twilight...! TWILIGHT!"
"STOP!!!" Twilight woke up with a shout. It took her a moment before she noticed she was on the bus, having fallen asleep, to avoid motion sickness. Aiko, who was sitting right next to her, was looking at her in concern.
"Stop? What do you mean, silly? We haven't arrived at camp Everfree yet," Pinkie said from the seat across.
"Twilight, you okay?" Sunset asked from behind them with Fluttershy listening to music on her shoulder.
"What? Oh yes, of course," Twilight said, dismissing her and looking out the window. Sunset looked at Aiko, who shook her head with the same look.
"We are gonna have so much fun. We are gonna roast marshmallows, eat marshmallows and sleep on marshmallow pillows," Pinkie said, hugging a marshmallow bag.
"Probably not that last one," Rainbow said.
"Maybe you're not."
"Bite me. I'm so not a fan of sticky. Do you know how long it took to get my hair this awesome? No way am I regrowing it because someone wants to bath in marshmallows."
"Don't be silly, Dash. I don't want to bathe in marshmallows that ridiculous. Everyone knows chocolate syrup and cotton candy bubbles is the way to go," She said before licking a mysterious brown spot on the back of her hand, making Rainbow Dash gag. Their friendly banter then got interrupted by Principal Celestia, joined by her sister Vice Principal Luna.
"Attention, students. We are almost there. So before we arrive, I just wanted to say how proud we of you for raising enough money for the class field trip."
"When we were your age, we had some of our best memories here in these woods. And I believe you will too," Vice-Principal Luna said fondly.
"Now, who's excited for Camp Everfree?!" Principal Celestia said to which everyone shouted in to agree.
It took them another couple of minutes to get to the campground. They passed through the lush evergreen forest far away from the city, looking at various sceneries. As they got deeper into the forest, Sunset was struck by the sense of familiarity despite never stepping foot in the forest before. It felt almost like they had crossed over to Equestria, causing Sunset to grow quiet as she basked in the feeling. It was nice to know that it would only take a forty-five-minute drive if she ever wanted to feel like this without leaving to Equestria. Once they got to the campground, everyone got off of the bus and took their bags.
"Haaa... feel that pure air?" Sunset asked after taking a big breath. "Reminds me of grandpa's."
"I'd really like to visit there once," Fluttershy said.
"Let's do it soon," Sunset agreed.
"Yeah, it's really nice here, away from the city," Twilight agreed.
"Are you looking forward to anything?" Aiko asked.
"Nothing specific. I just want some relaxing time."
"I couldn't agree more, Twilight. Thing's been so dreadfully busy since the fall formal we haven't had a moment's rest, other than Sunset's coronation. But then it was ruined by Discord," Rarity said.
"Yeah, you are right. Fighting Sirens, two demons all the while competing in a sports event and solving mysteries? That's a lot," Pinkie said before seeing Twilight's face. "Oh... I mean... sorry, Twilight."
"I-It's okay," Twilight said, looking away.
"Don't worry about it, Twi. Remember what I told you?" Aiko asked, placing a hand on Twilight's shoulder.
"Y-yeah. You're right."
"Here you go, Twilight," They heard Flash Sentry say as he handed over Twilight her bag.
"Oh, t-thanks, Flash, right?" Twilight said, taking the bag.
"Yeah, that's me... and you are you... and we don't know each other... huh, cool story, bro," Flash said before leaving with a crestfallen look.
"Is he okay? He is kind of nervous around me," Twilight asked Sunset.
"Oh well... he had a thing for the princess, who may or may not reciprocate those feelings so..." Sunset said, grimacing awkwardly.
"Oh... I see."
"Hey, everyone! If you could start heading to the courtyard, that would be rad! It's time to start the best week of camp ever!" They then heard a woman calling from a microphone.
After the students gathered at the courtyard, the woman, now identified as Gloriosa Daisy, started explaining the camp and camp activities. Many students suggested some, most of them coming from Rainbow Dash. Meanwhile, Aiko looked at the boy standing next to Gloriosa, who she introduced as Timber Spruce. Just a few minutes ago, he was speaking privately with his sister and looked rather annoyed at the time. But now he was looking at Twilight. Looking back at Twilight, Aiko saw that she was looking towards the woods like she was thinking something. Releasing the breath she didn't even know she was holding, she placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder.
"Hey, let's just enjoy the week, okay?" She said. Instead of answering, Twilight simply nodded.
After a little friendly argument between Celestia and Luna about their old camp gift, Gloriosa and Timber brought out a couple of pouches with a bunch of cards to decide who's going to be paired with whom.
"Emerald," Pinkie said.
"Oh, me too," Rarity said, joining Pinkie.
"Aquamarine," Rainbow said.
"Oh, I got Aquamarine too," Sunset said, calling out to Rainbow.
"Aww... I wanted to be with you," Fluttershy said, saddened.
"Well... sorry, my little butterfly. We'll still be together during the day. Who did you get anyways?"
"I'm amethyst."
"Oh, then you are with me," Applejack said.
"Uh... who got Sapphire?" Aiko asked.
"I did. I mean, I assume it is." Twilight said. "S-sapphires come in other colors too, and they can be yellow, pink, purple..."
"Yeah, but they are mostly blue. That's why they are named after the Latin word sapphirus." Timber said from nowhere, interrupting Twilight. "That means blue."
"I-I know, yeah. D-did you know that sapphires are actually rubies without c-chromium?" Twilight asked awkwardly, not knowing how to respond.
"No, but do you know that it is the best tent?"
"N-no, why?"
"Because you-"
"SO, Timber, was it?" Aiko smiled brightly, almost to the point that her eyes were no longer visible, interrupting Timber. "Do you work here or..."
"Oh yeah, actually. Our parents owned this place, and my sister and I took over after they retired. Last I heard, they're in Paris," Timber said, causing Rarity to swoon at the mention of Paris before she started to gush about fashion at the person who caught her, who was unfortunately Dash.
"I see. It must be great to spend time in nature, and I know I enjoy it."
"Yeah. It's really calm here in the woods," Timber said. Anything else Aiko was about to say got interrupted by the sound of a car. They turned their heads to see a very expensive-looking car parking at the grounds and Gloriosa walking up to it. From the looks of it, she was none too happy about the car's presence in her camp. And the girls knew exactly why after seeing who got off of the car.
"What is he doing here?" Sunset asked.
"You know him?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah. Everyone knows. He's Diamond Tiara's dad Filthy Rich," Rainbow said. "If he's here, it's not going to be for anything good."
"Eeyup," Applejack said, imitating her brother. "At least it ain't those cheats the Flim Flam brothers."
"He's been bothering us for days. He wanted to buy this place, and if we can't raise enough money, we might actually lose it to some luxury resort or condos," Timber said.
"Can't your m- I mean Principal Celestia do anything about this?" Rainbow asked.
"Where's the fun in that?" Celestia said from behind them.
“O-Oh Principal Celestia.”
"Why don't you find a way to help them? It could be part of your gift." She said sagely before leaving.
"Was the princess like that too?" Rainbow whispered to Sunset, looking at the retreating form of Celestia.
"Yup. Except far more cryptic and dramatic. She loved to appear from nowhere before saying her piece and slowly exit hidden by a convenient shadow. Though sometimes it didn't work like she wanted it to due to her white coat making her stick out, and she always got mopey when that happened."
After the little encounter with Filthy Rich, everyone went to their respective tents to settle in for the day. Aiko and Twilight entered their tent and started unpacking.
"Oohhh, this is so exciting. My first camping experience and we get to save the camp? And it has nothing to do with magic, talk about the best day ever. I mean, it will be more interesting with magic, but maybe no magic is great too," Aiko said happily.
"Yeah, of course. We just need to think of a way to help. Maybe a fundraiser?"
"That... that sounds great... ugh, where's my sunscreen?" Aiko asked, diving into her bag.
"There it is," Twilight said, pointing at the sunscreen dropped on the ground. However, it was forgotten when suddenly Aiko's bundle of clothes and other smaller items started to levitate with a purple glow. "W-what the...!?"
"Twilight? Are you doing this?" Aiko asked.
"Kore wa subarashidesu (this is awesome)!"
"This is terrible!!"
Aiko and Twilight said simultaneously.
"Wait, what?"
"This is bad, real bad," Twilight said, panicking.
"Hey, hey Twilight, it's okay calm down," Aiko said, holding Twilight.
"I-it's not okay, it's-"
"Sh sh take a deep breath, with me," Aiko said, taking a deep breath while Twilight imitated with her eyes closed. "Release," As they released their breath, the magic faded away, and everything fell back to the ground.
"Are you okay? It's gone now."
Twilight slowly opened her eyes. She looked around the tent, and the belongings were now strewn across the ground. "Oh... this is bad," Twilight said.
"What? How is it bad? Sunset did tell us this was possible."
"What? She did?"
"Mhm, at the club, remember? She told us that we'll be able to do other magic that is inherent to our pony selves."
"O-oh yeah... I remember now."
"See? It's okay. Though I don't know how you can do levitation. It can only be cast by Unicorns and Alicorns if I remember right. And you are a Pegasus. Plus, you did it without even trying." Aiko said, rubbing her chin. "Maybe we should talk to Sunset, and she's the magic expert here."
"I-I don't know. W-we came here to have some time away from all the magic. M-maybe it will be fine. As you said, this is supposed to be a normal week, right?"
"No, she literally said it's not normal just now," Spike said from his sleeping spot.
"Spike!" Aiko said, glaring at Spike.
"What?"
"Though he's right. We have to tell them."
"No, I can't. N-not yet."
"Twilight-"
"Please promise me you wouldn't tell them. Please," Twilight begged.
"Twilight... I... fine. But if this happens again, which it will, you have to tell them, okay?" Aiko said.
To which Twilight nodded.
"Good, now let's clean this up quickly and go join the others," Aiko said, picking up their belonging from the ground.
After that magic incident, Twilight and Aiko joined the others at the docks. They are open for lake activities for the day. At least they thought it was. Everyone was getting ready to enjoy the day at the lake. Aiko and Twilight decided to ride some boats. Aiko promised Twilight she would teach her as she did it before with her family. However, as fate would have it, they would have to hold on to that for a moment.
"Aren't they the cutest?" Fluttershy asked the girls while feeding the ducks as they walked past her. They turned to their friends to see the ducks she was feeding.
"Aww, they are so-" *crack*
"AAhhh!" Aiko got interrupted by Twilight screaming and turned just in time to catch her hand. But she was beaten to it by Timber, who caught Twilight before she fell down. Much to the annoyance of Aiko at his sudden appearance and him blocking her from catching Twilight.
"Whoa, I know I'm charming, but you don't have to fall for me," Timber said, helping Twilight up.
"O-oh... uh... thanks," Twilight said with her cheeks dusted red from embarrassment, rather than being flustered. Not that Aiko knew that.
"We should get out of here. This looks dangerous." Aiko said, taking Twilight with her back to the land and sending a small glare at Timber, who completely missed the look.
Apparently, the docks made a little after the opening of the camp, and they only got weaker in recent years. Which means they had to stop all the lake activities. However, this opened up the door for their camp gift. And as such, they decided to make the camp a new dock so future campers could enjoy the lake. They worked on the docks well into the day before stopping for the day. After washing up, they gathered around a campfire for the night.
In usual campfire fashion, they took turns sharing scary stories. It is now, after a... very scary story by Rarity, they heard about the history of the camp. And about Gaia Everfree.
"So if you see a trail of gem dust, you'll know that it is... Gaia Everfree!!" Timber said dramatically when all of a sudden, someone jumped out of the bushes. While Aiko just stared emotionlessly at Timber, all his random appearances to just help Twilight. It was only Twilight, though from what Aiko could see. Which made her chest tighten whenever she saw Twilight blush at Timber.
"AAhhhhhh!!" Everyone screamed in terror as the shadow reviled herself to be just Gloriosa.
"Hey guys, sorry, didn't mean to scare you."
"It's okay. Your timing was great," Rainbow said.
"Yeah, that was really scary," Aiko said as she and Twilight let go of each other.
"Well, it's getting late; I think it's best if we call it a night. Come on now, back to your tents."
Everyone got up from the campfire and made their way back to the tents. The girls stayed behind to put out the campfire.
"Uh... Fluttershy? You can let go of me now," Sunset said.
"N-No, no. This... this is much b-better," Fluttershy said, gripping Sunset's arm harder.
"Okay... looks like she's staying with me."
"It's okay, I'll go with AJ," Rainbow said.
"By the way, do you think that Gaia Everfree could be real?" Applejack asked.
"I don't know. I've never heard of anything like her back in Equestria." Sunset said.
"Maybe that wizard booted her to this world too like the sirens?" Rainbow asked.
"No. I asked Princess Twilight about that a while ago just to be sure, but the idiot never banished any more creatures, thankfully."
"Idiot?" Twilight asked.
"I respect his knowledge, but banishing creatures and artifacts into another world is not a very bright idea whether that world has magic or not," Sunset said.
"Well, whether she is real or not, we could definitely kick her butt. How many demons have we fought now?" Rainbow said, not noticing the Twilight flinched.
"uh... I think I'll be going. I'm really tired." Twilight said before leaving, Aiko soon following behind.
"Maybe lay off about all the demon talk. She is still pretty sensitive about it. You forget that she wasn't like me. I bullied everyone at the school, and I had it coming. Twilight? She didn't deserve it like I did," Sunset said resolutely. She messed up back then, and denying that wasn't going to help her move forward. It was better that she own up to it now and accept it.
"Really, she never looked like she was bothered by it," Applejack said.
"She's hiding it. I'm pretty sure the reason she joined the club is that she feels guilty and that the forum is her fault," The girls looked at each other in concern.