//------------------------------// // Conflicts // Story: Shadows Among Everfree // by RedPegasus //------------------------------// A little later in the morning, our usual group and a couple of other campers are seen working and making good progress on the construction of the new dock. Indigo Zap watches the work from the center of the group. “Oh yeah! Second day of work and we have already done half of the job. If sports don’t help me, I’ll have a future as an- Wait, what am I talking about? Of course sports work for me! I am a born athlete.” Her smug, and a somewhat arrogant smile, fades when a hammer and a jar of nails are placed in her hands. “If you have time to talk, you have time to hammer.” Sugarcoat comments. “It was your idea about the dock, so less talk and more work. Time is valuable.” Without saying anything else, the platinum-haired girl leaves and with a notebook she seems to be taking notes on the pier. Indigo looks at her with disdain. Despite this, the athlete does as she is told and heads off to set up a couple more boards. On the side of the pier, Sunny shows Lemon and Sonata a curious box with an opening at the top and some kind of net underneath. “What’s that Sunny?” The rocker asks. “A fish feeder, I saw one in the aquarium a long time ago.” Explains the elegant young woman. “The food is placed up here and the net underneath prevents it from falling out. The fish comes to the surface and take bites.” The curious box has what appear to be lugs, which hold it to the dock when Sunny places it in the water. After that she takes the bag of fish food and pours it into the box, then closes the lid. “Hey, it works! I see some fish coming to eat.” The rocker girl exclaims again. Sonata takes a deep breath and puts her head underwater, thus being able to meet the colorful fish of the lake. The fish themselves seem intrigued by the girl’s presence in their aquatic domain. “Helbllowww!!” Her greeting is somewhat distorted by the water. Sonata sticks her head out of the water, splashing a bit on her companions and giggles to herself. Lemon smiles with amusement, and although Sunny wants to be mad at the Dazzling for getting her wet, she can’t. She smiles too. Sunset and Twilight arrive and see the construction. “Everything looks great.” “A strong and well-positioned structure. It will serve for boats and fishing.” The girl with glasses comments contemplating the site. One of the campers raises his hand calling to Sunset. “Hey Sunset, can you help us out here with this rope?” Sunset rushes over to the young men whom she helps with a rope to hold down the foundations of the pier. Twilight stands in her place, smiling as she watches her classmates work together. She barely notices the moment Timber pulls up next to her. “Your school is very good. Your classmates seem very close, that’s a good thing.” Twilight smiles at her comment. “Yes, it was thanks to Sunset. I guess.” “Mh? Why do you say that?” “Heh, for nothing in particular. Don’t mind me.” Timber looks intrigued, but brushes it aside and smiles again as he looks at her. “Heh, fine. Hey Twilight, I’ll organize a walk in the forest, would you like to come?” “Of course!” The one with glasses speaks up, though she calms down when notices her quick response. “I mean, sure. Sounds like fun.” “Super fun!” Our blue-haired Siren girl exclaims suddenly appearing between Twilight and Timber, which scares them. “Sonata!! Don’t do that!” Sonata doesn’t listen or ignore the violet-haired girl, instead she yells at her other friends. “Girls! Who wants to go for a walk in the woods?!” The group on the dock hear this and turn to the Siren. “That sound good. We can explore to see what is interesting out there.” Lemon says with an animated smile. Sunny looks fascinated. “Oh, a ride. It sounds splendid.” “I can take the opportunity to find the best route for a triathlon race.” Indigo says after she stops hammering. “I’m in!” The three approach, some more excited than others. Timber smiles a little awkwardly, but quickly regains his enthusiasm and smiles at everyone. “Heh, sure! The more, the merrier!” Indigo turns around and calls the missing party member to him. “Come Sunset! Let’s have some fun!” Sunset finishes helping the other campers and answers her. “I’ll catch up with you right away!” Timber takes the floor looking at everyone. “Cool. What do you say if you prepare everything you need and see you in ten minutes?” Said and done, each one goes to their own store to pick up some things. ~Shadows Among Everfree~ The trip through the forest is quiet. Walking along a path, the guide’s camp constantly talking about the plants of the place. Twilight was interested, and constantly interrupting the guide giving her own explanation or details about certain plants. Sunny Flare enjoys the landscape, and certain aromas of some flowers of the place. Lemon and Sonata don’t pay much attention to the explanations, they spend a good part of the trip going into the trees and playing in the bushes. Indigo for her part is drawing in a notebook the route they are traveling, whispering to herself about a run through the woods. Sunset laughs seeing everyone so entertained in their own way. “There’s a little creek around here,” Timber announces, pointing in one direction. “We can rest there for a bit and then we’ll do one more lap before heading back.” The plan has no complaints, and minutes later they arrive at the aforementioned creek. A couple of local rocks and a fallen log serve for everyone to sit down and rest a bit. Sunny in particular dares to take off her slippers and dip her feet in the water, a relaxed sigh can be heard from her mouth. Sonata and Lemon each take out a small blanket that they use to sit on the floor, then they both take out a container with sandwiches. “Who wants to eat?” The green-haired girl asks animatedly, offering the snacks. Indigo doesn’t hesitate to take one of them and give a good bite. Timber, by his own side pulls out a thermos. The lid of this one works as a cup and pours out the content, a light brown liquid. “I brought an iced tea, made with wild herbs. Someone wants?” While the others rest and eat, Sunset walks over to the creek, dipping her hand into the water. She almost tickled her due to the slightly low temperature. Curious, she decides to take some in her palm and drinks it. The water was cool, she somehow felt very soft as the crystaline liquid ran down her throat. Sunset Shimmer smiles and closes her eyes, relaxing in the good atmosphere of that forest. So calm it reminded her a lot of Equestria, bringing back several memories. Thoughts of her world fill her mind, as do images of herself in her original body, galloping through trees and plants, bathing in rivers and lakes on top of a hill with the wind playing with her mane. “Sunset, honey?” Sunny puts a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, the result of this is an overexcitement of the fire-haired girl that makes lose her own balance and with a scream she ends up falling into the water. “Sunset!” Everyone is surprised and rushes closer. Sunset is left with her face under the water and her butt up. When she gets up, spits up water and coughs a little. “Eww… I think I swallowed a tadpole…” Sunny and Lemon get into the water and come over to help her. “Are you okay, honey?” “Yeah, I already needed a bath anyway, hehe.” The former equine responds jokingly. They both help Sunset out of the water. After seeing that Sunset is okay and Timber giving her a towel he had stored, they all decide to continue eating lunch before continuing their walk. ~Shadows Among Everfree~ When the group returns to camp, they are shocked by what they see. The work they had done on the dock is almost completely destroyed, a sailboat from the camp is seen embedded in it. There was definitely a clash. Although none paid much attention to that, because what really surprises them is all the young people around were arguing with each other. Campers were yelling, hurling insults and even shoving each other. Cadence, and also Gloriosa, can be seen trying to break up the bickering but none of the campers pay any attention to them. “Guys please! Stop arguing in this moment!” “Guys! Everyone! Come on, this is not the time to argue. Camp is for fun…” Gloriosa makes an effort to stop the dispute, but to no avail. Two students get to the point where one lunges at the other about to start punching him, but Indigo comes up behind and holding him in a semi-wrestling hold pushes the boy away. “Woah, woah! Hang in just right there, Neon Lights! What the hell is going on?!” The entire group gathers together and Sunset decides to slam her palms together. This manages to attract the attention of some, who seeing Sunset, stop fighting. They eventually call each other’s attention and the arguing ceases, allowing Sunset to speak out loud. “Alright! Who tells me what’s going on here?!” Neon Lights, still being held by Indigo, is the one who answers by pointing accusingly at the guy who is still on the ground after he lunged at him. “That idiot ruined our work!” “Who are you calling an idiot?!” The other responds and stands up. He appears to be about to face Neon, but Sunset steps between them and spreads her hands apart. “Stop! You two!” Cadence decides to imitate Sunset’s action and clapping her hands draws everyone’s attention. “Enough! I don’t want any more fights. Did anyone see what exactly happened?" One of the campers approaches the dean. “I saw it.” “Sunshower, please tell us what happened.” Asks the woman. This Sunshower girl looks towards the ‘accused’ subject as she speaks. “Well, I was checking the dock boards, and I could see him who was in the sailboat on the lake without paying attention to anything; and he suddenly crashed into the pier at high speed. Some inches and he hits me too.” The subject receives looks from many, so he defends himself. “It wasn’t my fault!” The ‘accused’ defends himself. “I was looking for Clear Skies.” “But the sky is clear.” Advertise Sunshower by looking at the bright blue sky of the day. There is some confusion as a girl approaches with an animated smile. “Hello! Clear Skies is here!” “But the clear sky is also there.” Sunshower tries to point to the sky, but the girl seems to think it’s the boy. And Clear Skies replies, still smiling. “He is Open Skies!” “The open sky is everywhere!” “I am not everywhere, I’m here.” Sunshower looks frustrated. “Aurgh!! Okay, you are Open Skies, and you are Clear Skies, but then… what is that?!” Sunshower asks this time pointing directly to the sky. “'Clear open skies'!” They both reply smiling. “…I hate you both.” Open Skies looks around confused. “Hey, where’s the fluffy cloud?” “Fluffy Clouds is over there!” Clear Skies smiles at another camper, with a really fluffy hairdo. Fluffy Clouds happily greets those who look at him. “No, no, I’m talking about that fluffy cloud I saw on the lake while I was boating.” Neon Lights flails at Indigo as he looks at Clear Skies. “Stop making- Could you let go off me now?!” “Fine, but you better behave or next time I’ll give you the Indigo Suplex.” Indigo lets go of Neon and keeps looking at Open Skies. “The point is that you crashed your sailboat into the dock! You ruined our work!” “It wasn’t my fault! Suddenly the wind blew too hard! It literally threw the sailboat into the dock and I couldn’t control it.” Twilight reflects for a second on what she heard. “There is no way a wind current could have dragged the sailboat with enough force to do that. Not without it being felt everywhere.” Sunset turns to look at Gloriosa. “Was there a strong wind?” “Um, not really,” the camp manager replies. “The day is too beautiful, there isn’t even wind.” “But there was!” The accused youth defends himself. “And it came from that cloud. It was a very dark cloud, it seemed like it was going to rain at any moment , right below it.” They look at each other, all very confused by that explanation. Sunset rubs her forehead before continuing to speak. “Well, whatever. That explains the dock, but why was everyone fighting like that? “Well, because the asshole ruined our work!” Exclaims Neon still angry. “That would be you, asshole!” They look at each other to the point of almost wanting to launch themselves at each other again. “ENOUGH!! BOTH OF YOU!!” Sunset delivers the boys a cold stare, causing them to take a step back and instantly calm their anger. Sugarcoat decides to come over to explain the event. “After the incident, Neon Lights and Open Skies started a dispute, which spread among other students who were working on the dock, starting accusations about defects in the joints that caused the rupture after the crash. In the same way, Sunshower argued several complaints due to the initial scare produced towards her person, which Upper Crust countered by accusing her of exaggerating. More arguments raged through the camp, ending in a general conflict.” Sunset was a little lost, not because of the explanation, but because of how the situation had ended. Cadence looks at the campers quite frustrated. “You should be ashamed to start arguing like this over a simple accident.” “But it ruined our work.” “Enough!” Sunset yells. “I don’t want any more fights. Open Skies didn’t crash into the pier on purpose.” “Of course not! That would be stupid!” “You didn’t get hurt, did you?” Sunset asks, looking worried now. “Um… no. Well, I hit my wrist, but I’m fine.” Sunset nods in understanding. “What Dean Cadence says is true, fighting like this just because the spring broke is ridiculous! We started building it, we can do it again. Instead of fighting, you should be worrying about your teammates, who could very well get hurt because of this.” Sunset’s voice has a scolding tone that makes everyone present look down quite embarrassed. “Well said Sunset,” the dean congratulates her. “That’s just what I wanted to say. We came to this camp to have a good time and have fun with friends, not to start ridiculous fights.” The dean’s scolding makes everyone mourn more. After that, everyone present begins to apologize to each other. Neon and Open Skies shake hands as an apology. The tension in the place decreases. “That’s better.” Sunset says, then puts on a determined look and smiles. “Now that we’re past that, come on folks! There is still a lot of dock to rebuild and a lot of camping to enjoy!” She exclaims with a breath that doesn’t take two seconds in spread to everyone around her. Chrysalis walks over to her friend as they both watch as the teens return to work. “So, she is the one you told me so much about, right? The famous Sunset Shimmer.” Cadence turns to meet the person who accompanied her on this journey. “Yes. Since she arrived, the preparatory has changed a lot.” “I can see that.” Coments Chrysalis to see how the camp calms down. “It’s intriguing. Does that girl have some kind of magic power?” Cadence laughs a little at her. “Magic? Heh, you could say that.” Cadence goes with a group of campers, apparently they want to untangle the ropes of the sailboat stuck in the dock. Chrysalis stays in her place. When she takes a step to leave feels like she stepped on something. Looking down, she sees something that looks like dust on the ground. She leans down, and takes a bit between her fingers, examines it. “Frost?” ~Shadows Among Everfree~ There were no more incidents in the camp, the day passed between activities and games. Once Sunset comes, all the campers gathered to make floating paper lanterns. Gloriosa calls everyone to the dock, much of it newly rebuilt, to light their lanterns. The campers draw closer and with the help of Cadence and Chrysalis they begin to turn on the lanterns. Twilight also advances, although on the way she meets Timber who greets her. “Hey, nice lantern.” “Thank you, I tried to form some constellations. Sure, the constellations aren’t that close to each other, but it’s fun. Here is the Ursa Minor, the Pegasus, and Orion; he musn’t be confused because he has THREE stars in his belt, not four.” Timber smiles somewhat lost but maintains his composure. “Yeah, heh heh. Um, mine is my face!” He announces in an almost joking tone as he places the lantern in front of his head showing, in effect, a not-so-good yet cartoonishly funny painting of himself. After being shocked for a moment, Twilight lets out a laugh. “Haha! Oh Timber, you are so eloquent.” “Haha, yes! I am quite eloquent… um, and eloquent is good?” “Ha ha, well, I like you. I MEAN!! I… you are a good guy.” They both look at each other smiling, Twilight can’t help but blush and look away. Timber seems about to say something, but is interrupted when Sunny Flare appears and with a friendly smile grabs Twilight by her wrist. “Come on Twilight, they’re waiting for us.” “Ah, Sunny Flare wait!” The scientist says in semi complaint as the purple haired girl pulls her towards the rest of the group, leaving Timber alone and bewildered. When all the campers finish lighting their lanterns they gather on the shore and smile at each other, just before releasing their lanterns, letting them float over the lake lighting up the night with their brightness and colors. Sunset, in particular, sighs relaxedly at the sight of the lanterns, almost as if they were stars slowly drifting away to join her sisters in the endless night sky. Her eyes can’t help but stare at her own lantern, taking interest in her own painting. And as if turning gently, it achieves what she expected: the image of a steed galloping through the sky. Sunset is entranced by that image. The lanterns gradually fade into the night, soon merging with the stars themselves. ~Shadows Among Everfree~ A distinctive sound gently shakes Twilight from her dream. Opening her eyes, her tired look, the darkness of the night and her lack of glasses makes it impossible for her to distinguish more than a few blurs. She still makes out that sound, a soft puppy cry. From her puppy. Turning slightly, she notices the blur sitting on her bed. Twilight doesn’t need her glasses, she knows is her little dog, so getting up and guessing his location a bit, she pats him with both hands. “Spike? What’s happening?” The girl asks as she reaches over to grab her glasses from the nightstand. When she puts them on, Twilight can see her puppy looking at her with concern. The dog points to the other bed in the tent and she notices that it is empty. ~Shadows Among Everfree~ Soon after, the five friends are awake and walking through the woods, relying on the little pup’s sense of smell as he tracks down Sunset’s scent. “I still think we should have told Gloriosa about this.” Twilight comments as she holds a Sunset t-shirt in her arm. Indigo turns slightly to answer her. “We would have wasted a lot of time if everyone woke up and made a search plan and that stuff.” “What I don’t get is what Sunset is doing awake.” Sunny Flare comments looking very intrigued. “And where did she go?” “Sun-Shim has been acting weird.” Lemon Zest comments. “I mean, more than usual. Duskie, you who know her best, do you have any ideas?” Sonata looks at the lime-haired girl when she names her, but just shakes her head in response. Contrary to her lively demeanor, she now seems quite serious and worried. Spike’s guide leads them through the forest, always staying close together and vigilant using a pair of flashlights to light the way, following the canine as he follows his nose. Finally, the little dog gives a couple of barks and rushes forward. His owner calls out to him as he follows, and the rest of the girls follow as well. Spike runs to a place with a couple of large rocks surrounding the entrance. The five friends enter, following the little dog, and are amazed at what they see inside. A huge cave, created naturally. Every curve and detail on the walls and ceiling is left to shine, but what is really amazing is that the whole place is dotted with tiny crystals that sparkle in a very eye-catching way. “This place is…” Twilight begins to speak. “Beautiful!” Sunny exclaims, almost finishing the first sentence. Sonata smiles upon seeing the site. “Look at all the pretty lights!” Slightly, the sight helped calm any nerves they may have had, and in silence admire the shape and brilliance of the cave. It’s Spike’s bark that brings them back, and looking in the direction the pup is looking they see Sunset standing in the middle of the cave. “Sunset!” “Sunsite!” “Sun Shim!” The Sunset's friends all exclaim in unison and run towards the fire-haired girl. When they arrive the girls try to talk to her, but there is no response from Sunset. When they see her from the front notices that her gaze is lost, her eyes don’t have that characteristic emerald shine, her face doesn’t reflect any emotion. “Sunset?... ” Twilight touches Sunset’s shoulder but she doesn’t react. “Honey? You hear us? Please say something.” Sunny Flare asks worriedly. “Hello, sunset!” Indigo snaps her fingers at her. “Are you dead again?” “Sun-Shim, Sun-Shim, this is Lemon. Do you read me?” Lemon says imitating with her hand the pose of using a communicator. Sonata looks worriedly at Sunset, though her gaze soon shifts to the cave. Suddenly, the blue Siren begins to feel a warmth in her body. Sonata takes a couple of steps, her eyes focuses on the crystals and she shines. For some reason, her mind fills with distant memories… memories of her past life. She can see the waters, the bottom of the sea, the currents in which she swam with her sisters. “DUSKIE!” “WHAT?!” Lemon Zest’s scream snaps Sonata out of her thoughts. Her friends look at her puzzled and Sonata is just as confused as they are. “Are you okay Sonata?” Twilight asks with concern. “Yeah. What happened?” Our Dazzling girl asks. “You just stared blankly with a goofy face… you were really scary.” Lemon responds without much tact. Sunny walks over and puts her hand on the blue-haired girl’s shoulder. “Are you okay, honey?” Sonata still seems lost. “I’m fine, I just… for some reason, I kept thinking about when I was a Siren…” Indigo decides to get serious. “Alright, as beautiful as the place is, this is already scaring me. Let’s wake up Sunset and get out of here.” They all seem to agree. Turning to their redheaded friend, the SunSix try to make her react. They call out to her, shake her, try to get her attention, but that vacant lost look remains no matter what they do. Spike, seeing this, decides to follow his animal instinct and bites the girl’s leg. “YEOW!” Sunset exclaims in pain lifting her leg to grab it, she loses her balance and almost falls; luckily the five girls supports her. Sunset reacts and looking up she sees her friends. “Girls? What happened?!” Everyone smiles at her reaction, a group hug soon ensues, Spike perks up too and joins in the hug. The action only baffles the former equine more. “Sunsite, you’re back!” “…um, yeah…I came back…where did I go?” Sunset notices the cave everyone is in. She sits up with the help of her friends, and then she was just as confused as the others. “Girls… where are we?” “You tell us.” Indigo replies somewhat serious. “You weren’t in your bed, we went looking for you and we found you here with a zombie face.” Sunset is puzzled. Twilight walks over to her concerned. “Sunset, what happened?” Sunset watches the cave in silence. She takes a moment to figure out what to answer. “I don’t know. I just remember… that I was dreaming.” The memory of her dream comes to Sunset’s mind. She sees herself as a pony, galloping through the forest in complete freedom.