Smiling, Sour picked up the bow and notched an arrow. She pulled the string back and closed her eyes, breathing in and out like she had practiced. Doing that ritual of sorts made her feel like she was one with the bow and had complete control. She let the arrow fly and opened her eyes when she heard it thunk into the target and smiled when she saw it was another bullseye. After making sure it was safe, she jogged to her target and pulled out her arrows. Most would argue that she didn’t need to make sure it was safe because she was the only one at the range. Her other classmates were doing other stuff Camp Everfree had to offer. Indigo and Rainbow were playing Tether ball, Sunny was helping Rarity sew, Lemon was hanging out with Watermelody and Sugarcoat was reading a book while sitting on a tree branch. She started her ritual of closing her eyes and breathing in and out while she pulled the arrow back.
“Hi Sour!” Sours eyes shot open as she let go of the arrow and watched it thunk into the dirt. She glared at the girl next to her.
“Derpy! You messed up my shot.” The other girl looked away and held her bow at her side.
“I’m sorry. You looked lonely so I figured I’d come hang out. Plus, I wanted to shoot some arrows,” Derpy mumbled and nodded at her bow.
“I’m not lonely,” Sour snapped.
“Oh,” Derpy sighed as she turned and started to walk away.
“Wait!” Sour called out. “I’m sorry. Come back, let’s shoot some arrows.”
“Are you sure?” Derpy asked unsure.
“Yes.” Derpy grinned and the two started shooting their arrows. Well, Derpy broke all but one. Grumbling she threw her bow down and wiped a tear away.
“I can’t do this,” she sighed.
“Because you’re not concentrating,” Sour said with her eyes closed as she hit the bullseye again.
“What do you mean?” Derpy asked.
“You’re just shooting. You’re not taking time to calm yourself down or be one with the bow and arrow.”
“How do I do that?” Derpy asked in awe as Sours arrow was an inch away from the center of the target. Sour set her bow down and walked over to her.
“Like this. Pick up your arrow,” Sour instructed and Derpy did so. “Notch an arrow.” Derpy once again complied. “Close your eyes and pull the arrow back. Now breath in and out repeatedly.” Nodding, Derpy did as she was told and felt herself becoming calmer and more at peace.
“Smell the nature around us,” Sour whispered in her ear. “Picture the arrow hitting the center of the target. Are you picturing it?”
“I am,” Derpy replied with her eyes still closed.
“Let the arrow go now,” Sour ordered. Derpy nodded before doing so. “Open your eyes.” Derpy slowly opened her eyes and stared in shock at her arrow in the center of the target.
“I did it!” She startled Sour by screaming and hugging her. “I’m so happy I could kiss you right here, right now!”
“Please don’t kiss me,” Sour smirked. “Not on the mouth at least.” Derpy rolled her eyes and kissed her on the cheek. “I think we should go get you more arrows, yours are broken.”
“Can you take a picture of me next to the bullseye?” Derpy asked, holding her phone out.
“Yeah sure,” Sour took the phone and Derpy ran to the target. “Hey! Make sure it’s clear next time unless you wanna get shot with an arrow!”
“Sorry!” Derpy posed next to the target and Sour took a quick picture of the grinning girl.
“Thanks!” Derpy jogged back up and took her phone. “Selfie!” She wrapped an arm around Sour and flipped her phones camera to the front. “Say arrow!” Sour rolled her eyes and sighed, deciding to amuse the girl.
“Arrow!” The two shouted and Derpy took the picture. She examined it with a grin.
“New background!” She kept grinning. The two jumped at a loud scream.
“What the hell was that?” Sour snapped as she and Derpy looked around.
“I have no idea,” Derpy admitted. “Let’s go find out. We can get me some more arrows in the process.” She scooped up her broken ones.
“Gloriosa is probably the one to go to for that, we can wander till we find her,” Sour shrugged. The two started walking to the lunch room first. They both reasoned she might be there, close to her office and all. Besides, Pinkie was baking in there and Sour assumed she would be constantly checked on.
“Do you hate me?” Derpy startled her.
“What? No! Why would I hate you?” Sour asked.
“Everytime I talk to you and your group, you seem not happy to see me.” Sour gave a sigh.
“Do you want the truth?”
“Yes,” Derpy said and stared at her.
“At first I didn’t know if you were being because you wanted something. At CPA, people were only nice if they needed something, not because they cared about you. When you came up to us our first day, I didn’t know if you were being just yourself or what,” Sour admitted.
“I’m just being my typical bubbly self. I can see why you thought I was trying to take advantage of you though,” Derpy sighed as the two stepped up the stairs to the pavilion into the open door.
“What the hell happened here?” Sour demanded as the two girls took in the messy room in. There was cookie batter everywhere and sprinkles.
“Pinkie Pie happened,” Applejack said dryly, shivering.
“I brought towels,” Gloriosa stepped past the two girls and Sandalwood.
“I kicked my bean bag into lake.”
“And I’m all out of arrows!” Derpy stepped forward, showing her snapped arrows. Gloriosa’s eye twitched for a second.
“I’ll take care of it!”
“There you are!” Timber shoved Derpy aside and Sour glared at him. “Spoiled Milk is back.” He whispered. Gloriosa glared at him as well.
“Go deal with it,” she hissed. “Camp fire tonight!”
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“Burgundy darlings! The same color family!” Rarity screamed. Derpy looked at Sour with a bored expression.
“Kill me now,” Adagio grumbled.
“That was sooo scary,” Applejack snickered.
“Was scared it would never end,” Rainbow smirked.
“Fine!” Rarity snapped. “Someone else tell a scary story. If they have one.”
“I do,” Sunset raised her hand with an evil grin. “I’ve got two.”
“You’re from another world, you gotta have some scary stories,” Lemon announced.
“Oh I do. Do you wanna hear about the Windigos first or the Rainbow Factory?”
“Windigos,” Rainbow declared. “Rainbow Factory sounds childish.”
“Suit yourself,” Sunset kept up her evil grin and started her story.
“Long ago, two younger siblings, a colt and a filly were lost in a snowy mountain. They had been lost for days, surviving only by drinking melting snow and wild berries they found, but the winter was getting harsher and colder. Finding food was becoming more and more difficult. The cold and hunger angered them both. The sister kept screaming at the brother, blaming him for their situation. The brother tried his hardest to ignore her shouting. But being so hungry and cold, it was getting more difficult to not fight back.” Sunset paused to take a sip of her water.
“Each day, the cold got worse. Everyday, they had less to eat. Everyday the tension between the two got more and more intense. The sister didn’t stop her screaming and insulting to her brother, blaming him for everything, saying how cold and hungry she was and he was slowly losing his patience. One day, a strong snow storm arrived, the snow and wind attacking them furiously, making it impossible to carry on. Luckily, they found a cave and took shelter inside but their luck ran out fairly fast. Even though they had shelter, they had no matches so the cave was pitch black. That fact only made them feel colder. Every attempt to start a fire was a failure due to the wood being frozen from the cold.”
“Her brother was angry, afraid and hungry. Very hungry. His sister kept making things worse, with her screaming and complaining. Even though he tried to stay calm, he had enough. He finally told her to shut up, that he was terrified too and was starving just like her. That only angered her more. She got closer and closer to him, screaming in his face. He had enough at that point and the two started to fight. They started slamming their hooves and heads into their opponent, the wind roaring along with their screams of hatred to each other. The brother managed to get the upper hand, slamming his sisters head against the rock wall. Dazed, she stumbled back and laid on her back. Taking advantage of the moment, the brother took a rock and then....” Sunset snapped a nearby stick in half. Everyone understood immediately what it meant. She was staring at the ground and missed their shocked faces.
“Silence filled the cave. Only the wind could be heard outside; it took him a long time, before he realized what he had done. He stared at his limp sister, dejected. Terrified, he grabbed the same rock and continued his actions, fueled by hate and fear. He finally collapsed, exhausted by the effort of what he just did. He tried to not think about what he just did but his body reminded him of how hungry he was. So hungry.” Sunset tossed a few peanuts into her mouth and chewed them before continuing.
“He went days without eating. Days without walking. Just laying there, on his stomach. He had lost all strength to do anything. He needed to something, anything and looked over at his sister. He couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to eat.” Sunset looked up for the first time since she started the story and took in the expressions of her classmates as her words sunk in. Horror, shock and primarily disgust. She felt she got the point across with what she said and continued the story.
“After he ate all he could, he waited for the storm to end. And waited. And waited, but the storm never ended. He felt himself going crazy from the isolation and his murderous act. The thought of his sister made him angrier and angrier till that was all left. He tortured himself with those thoughts till he realized he was going to die in that cave from the cold. And soon enough, he did. The cold and ice overtook the cave and his body. He died, but he didn’t leave. He felt light and started to move again. He got up and didn’t feel a thing even with some of his coat ripping off. He was made completely of ice and was able to walk out of the cave. All he could remember was his hatred he held in his soul. His heart was completely made of ice now, no warm emotions to be found. The books call him the first Windigo.” Sunset finished her story and stared at her fellow campers. A cold wind breezed over them, making them all shiver. Rarity and Pinkie were holding onto her tightly, the first girls face was green. “When alone in the cold woods, always keep love in your heart. Think of warm thoughts, of your family, of your loved ones and you will be safe. If not, you will be taken over by a Windigo.”
“That was terrifying and quite frankly disgusting when he ate his sisters remains,” Fluttershy whispered.
“Absolutely,” Watermelody squeezed Lemon in fear.
“Wanna hear the next?” Sunset offered. “It’s a true story. And worse in my opinion, because of the ponies it involves.”
“Yes!” She jumped at Sonata’s excited scream.
“It’s a short one,” Sunset warned. “In Equestria, we control our weather. Nothing happens without the pegasi’ say so. They bring snow, rain, tornadoes when needed to the areas. Cloudsdale is a floating city, it’s main job is making the weather. We also make rainbows. They used to gather up fillies and colts, or girls and boys as they are called here, they would gather up the pegasi kids who failed their flight test and take them to the Rainbow Factory.” Sunset sipped her water again.
“And they would help them fly better?” Octavia asked hopefully.
“Sorry Tavi but nope. They hooked them up to a machine killed them, draining them of their blood and using it to make different colors in a rainbow. They burned the bodies and told their parents they were missing and would look for them.” Fluttershy leaned over the back of her log and vomited.
“And you guys called us evil,” Adagio grumbled. “We never wanted to kill anyone.”
“Is that the story?” Lightning asked, hiding her nervousness.
“Pretty much. I have no idea who ran it but it’s so bad because kids were murdered for weather. Of course, we found a nonviolent way to make rainbows after the truth came out and there was a justified outrage over the killings.”
“That’s awful,” Lyra shuddered. “Hey! There’s a Rainbow Factory in town that used to be an amusement park in the eighties. It got shut down due to a few gruesome murders. We should go, Bon Bon!” The cream girl was clinging to Lyra’s arm and glared at her.
“Absolutely not!” Bon Bon shouted.
“Wanna hear one of the songs about the Rainbow Factory?” Sunset suddenly asked.
“I’m gonna regret this but sure,” Sour grunted.
“Deep in the pages of history lies a shadow hiding in a mystery. A late night story buried far away until it once again sees the light of day. And when the little colts and fillies turn out all lights and tell a story of a factory as black as night. The luxury of rainbows comes at a price, just ignore the screams, and don’t think twice. You’ve proven to yourself and to all of us that you’re not fit to fly like a pegasus. You don’t even deserve those wings you bear. When you stand beside a legend, you don’t even compare. All of the failures help to fuel success in the bloody and visceral weather game of chess. Just because you disappointed you’ll pay the price. Now accept your fate and die in the pegasus device,” Sunset sang softly and people shivered at the words. “Phantom screams echo through the ruined a facility. A horrible silence builds an eerie tranquility. The souls of many innocent fill the air and the hope that they all died were scattered here and there. A mighty machine built within the wake of a long dead dream little demon awake. The citizens sleep never quite knowing when the machine will awaken, hungry again.”
“Hey guys!” Gloriosa appeared behind Watermelody. She screamed and covered her mouth with her gloved hands, turning a bright shade of red and her eyes widened as she almost fell off the log. Lemon grabbed her and pulled her back up.
“Thanks Lemon,” Watermelody smiled.
“You’re welcome.”
“Time to retire to bed, everyone!” Timber announced after he had some words with Gloriosa.
“Did you tell them that stupid story?” Gloriosa hissed quietly.
“I had to cover for you! So yes I did,” he snapped back.
“That’s some tension alright,” Sunset whispered to Pinkie as the two walked to their different tents. Pinkie gave her a quick kiss that she happily returned.
“It is,” Pinkie agreed. “Goodnight, I love you.”
“Love you too.”
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Octavia slammed her hand down on the table as she sat down. Lyra and Bon Bon gave her nervous looks as they kept eating their breakfast.
“Are you okay?” Lyra hesitantly asked.
“No!’ Octavia whimpered as she slumped down. “Ever since Rainbow Dash introduced Vinyl to that accursed Lemon Zest, all Vinyl has been doing is either talking about her, talking to her on the phone or hanging out with her. It’s like she likes her more than me. Hell, she’s probably cheating on me with her.”
“I highly doubt that,” Bon Bon scoffed as she stirred her oatmeal. “Vinyl loves you. She wouldn’t cheat. Besides, she and Lemon are most likely just friends.”
“I caught her hugging Lemon,” Octavia sighed.
“And?” Lyra pointed out. “That could just be a friendly hug. I hug you all the time and Bon Bon doesn’t think I’m cheating on her. I hug Sunset all the time, same with Derpy, Diamond, Silverspoon. Need I go on?”
“That’s because you love hugs just as much as Derpy loves hugs.”
“Besides, someone else likes Lemon currently,” Lyra smirked.
“Spill,” Lightning elbowed her.
“Can’t. I signed a NDA.” Bon Bon stared at her incredulously.
“Lyra, do you even know what an NDA is?” Bon Bon demanded.
“Of course I do,” Lyra scoffed. “Non discussable agreement.” Bon Bon facepalmed.
“Non disclosure agreement, Lyra. But you were close and technically right in a way so I can’t be that upset.”
“Now who likes Lemon?” Octavia snapped. “This way I can keep Vinyl to myself and not break up with me.”
“Doesn’t that sound manipulative?” Lyra asked as she pointed a spoon at her.
“Big word for you,” Lightning grumbled and Lyra gave her a dirty look.
“It is a bit now that you mention it,” Octavia admitted. “But seriously, out of curiosity. Who likes Lemon?”
“Let’s just say it’s the person you would expect the least,” Lyra grinned and gave a quick glance at a certain girl sitting on the other side of the camps lunchroom. “You wouldn’t expect her at all.”