//------------------------------//
// Summer Camping Trip 
// Story: A Filly and Her Wolf 
// by Teotle 
//------------------------------//

It was a calm summer day in Ponyville. The birds were singing in the trees, the flowers were in bloom, fillies and colts played in the town square, and Twilight was taking Nyx to her first camping trip.

It has been over a year since Twilight adopted Nyx as her daughter.  A few ponies were still angry with her for what she had done as Nightmaremoon, but not as much as they were at first.

They had packed their saddle bags and were meeting Nyx's friends at Sweet Apple Acres to organize the trip, while Spike, Pewee, and Owlisious stayed to look after the library. The fillies would be supervised by Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbowdash, like the last camping trip they had, but this time Twilight, Nyx, and Twist were coming too.

They were walking down the street by Sugercube Corner when Pinkiepie burst outside from the front door. Her eyes were narrow as she scanned everypony walking by. When she saw Twilight and Nyx, she quickly galloped in front of them and yelled, "Stop right there!", holding her hoof up in a halt sign.

"Pinkiepie?" Asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

Pinkiepie squinted her eyes and looked around suspiciously for anypony who might be watching. She then looked at Twilight and said, "I don't think you guys should go camping."

Twilight was dumbfounded. Why would Pinkie not want Nyx to have her first camping trip? Was something wrong? Did she worry Nyx would be afraid to go? Sure, she was a little nervous at first, but Nyx didn't want to miss out on something her friends were going to be in. Besides, who would she hang out and play with while they were away? 

Twilight then asked, "What are you talking about? Nyx can't miss out on her first camping trip, especially not when her friends..."

But before she could finish, Pinkiepie interrupted and said, "I know it's important to her, duh, but I have a knot in my tail, which means something bad will happen and we won't know what to do to prevent a disaster."

Twilight rolled her eyes and said, "Oh Pinkie, a knot in your tail should have nothing to do with what's going to happen. It just means you slept on it funny."

Pinkiepie, who was unconvinced by Twilight's words, said, "No, Twilight, I know from my experiences that a knot in your tail is a bad sign. Eventually we'll find ourselves in a jam where there's no easy answer."

"Pinkiepie, don't worry about it.  Everything will be fine. It'll only be a two day hike to the mountains and back," said Twilight reassuringly.

They walked past Pinkiepie and continued down the road. "Fine, but you've been warned," said Pinkiepie, ignoring the other ponies who had stopped to stare.

Twilight and Nyx had made it to Sweet Apple Acres and walked to the house, where Applebloom, Sweetiebelle, Scootaloo, and Twist all waited. Nyx rested her saddlebags down and ran to her friends. "Hey girls," she said excitedly. 

"Hey Nyx," said Sweetiebelle. "Are you excited for your first camping trip?"

Nyx nodded and said, "You bet. Me and Twilight even found a book with all the things we need for the trip."

"Great." Said Twist. "This is my first time too."

Just then Applejack and Rarity came out of the house and down the porch with their saddle bags. "And let's hope it's not your last, Sugar cube." Said Applejack.  "The trail we're going on can get mighty steep."

"Oh, I hope I don't get mud on my hooves" complained Rarity. "I just got them done."

"Oh please" said Rainbowdash, laying on a cloud above them. "Don't tell me you did it right before coming here."

"For your information, Rainbowdash, I needed my appointment early to make up for the time I'll lose for not going to Fluttershy's and my weekly spa outing."

Twilight quickly interrupted and said, "So, are we ready?"

Applejack looked around and said, "Yep, Alright everypony, let's move out." And with that, they all began their trip to the mountain trail.

By the time they arrived at the start of the trail, Nyx had already started reading the first few chapters of the Camping Guide for Ponies. She read about campfire songs, how to roast marshmallows, and how to pitch a tent. There was a chapter on scary stories, but she skipped that one. Eventually Twilight told her to put the book away.

As they began their ascent up the mountain, the fillies began to play I-spy. When it was Nyx's turn, she looked around for something for her friends to guess. She eventually found her item and said, 'I spy, with my little eye, something pointy."

"Is it a pine cone?" Asked Scootaloo.

"No" Nyx replied, smiling.

"The tree stump?" Asked Applebloom, pointing at the stump of a fallen tree, with splinters and points coming from where the trunk use to be.

"Nope."

Sweetiebelle then answered, "Rainbowdash's hair?" 

"Close." Nyx said with a chuckle.

When it was Twist's turn to guess, she said, "Her Cutiemark?", pointing at the lightning bolt shaped rainbow on Rainbowdash's flank.

"Yes!" Nyx said excitedly.

They continued to play as they made it up the steep trail. At the end of the day, they had reached their first stop. They made camp at a spot just off the path where there were no inclines.

The view was amazing. You could see Ponyville on the left and Canterlot on the far right. In the middle was the sunset. The ponies pitched their tents in a big circle and made a campfire in the center.

Rainbowdash and Scootaloo collected extra firewood and put it aside for later.

Rarity and Sweetiebelle like last time, had a small mansion-sized tent. Everyone thought it was overkill for a two day trip, but they didn't protest.

Twilight, Nyx, and Twist were reading the book they brought to see if there was anything missing from the campsite. Everything looked to be in order, but they double-checked to be sure.

Applejack and Applebloom inspected their saddle bags to make sure they had packed enough food for everypony. They packed water, sandwiches, soup in Tupperware, vegetables, and fresh apples from the orchard. It all set perfectly on a small wagon that they pulled together.

Later that night, everypony sat around the campfire. Rarity was teaching the fillies how to roast marshmallows, giving them precise instructions as they hung their sticks over the fire.

Once they were cooked just right, they pulled them out and put them on Graham Crackers with chocolate to make Smores. Nyx cheated at it and held her Smore over the fire with her magic to melt the chocolate. Twilight laughed and gave her daughter an approving wink. Nyx winked back,  blew air onto her Smore and began to eat.

After they all ate their food, Twilight began to look for the next step in her Camping Guide for Ponies. She flipped through the pages with Rainbowdash hovering over her shoulder.

She eventually found the page she and Nyx left off on. It was Chapter 4, (Scary Story Telling). Twilight thought of how much Nyx hated scary stories and tried to skip the chapter, but Rainbowdash put her hoof on the page.

"OK everypony" said Rainbowdash. "It's time for scary stories."

Nyx's eyes widened and her ears pointed down, she looked at Twilight for support but she only smiled and shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what to do.

Everypony else thought it was a good idea, so Rainbowdash began by saying, "It was a dark night just like tonight. A group of ponies were out camping just like we are. While they were hanging out and roasting marshmallows, laughing at their jokes and having fun, something was watching them."

Almost everypony was listening intently to the story, while Nyx had huddled next to Twilight for comfort.

Rainbowdash continued "One of the ponies went out to get firewood, while the other three stayed put. As he was picking up sticks and twigs for the fire, he heard a noise, whimpering and whining. Something was in trouble."

"The pony dropped his sticks and rushed to find the source of the noise, and when he did, he saw a cult of wolves all gathered in a circle.
In the middle of circle was a big bonfire, but it wasn't a normal fire, it was a dark black fire."

"The wolves didn't see the pony watching, yet, so he quickly hid behind a nearby bush."

"He watched one of the wolves begin to walk forward with something wrapped in a cloth. As the wolf unwrapped the cloth, a little baby cub was inside."

Everypony gasped.

"The cub was placed in a circle carved into the dirt. As the cub sat there, the black flames began to twist and turn. The pony watching looked in awe at what was happening. The fire was alive."

'The flames then engulfed the cub, and dragged it deeper into the pit, but the fire didn't burn him. When the cub was in the center of the fire, the air became cold around the circle of wolves."

Just then a chill in the air appeared around the campfire group. The fillies jumped, but then everypony just laughed.

Rainbowdash went on with the story, determined to finish. "The wolf cub began to change, his skin began to peel off and turn to dust, along with his muscles and organs. His bones became black like ashes, but hard as steel.  While the pony was watching, He noticed breathing coming from behind him. He turned to see a lone wolf standing behind him in the shadows."

Scootaloo shouted out, "Oh no!"

"Oh yeah." Rainbowdash replied. 

"The pony tried to yell for help, but it was too late. The wolf put a paw over the pony's mouth, restrained him with rope, and dragged him out of hiding and into the circle. The once little cub turned to face the pony, and when he did, he stuck out his forked tongue and licked his razor-shark teeth."

"Before the pony could even think, everything went black. He woke up the next morning in his camp site. He was covered in blood, flesh was in his teeth, the camp was a bloody mess, and his friends were long gone. Nopony knew for sure what happened. No bodies were found; only the remaining pony survived."

"What happened next?" asked Nyx, shivering like a leaf.

"Doctors say he was crazy, but rumors say that he was possessed by the wolf cub. Ponies even gave the cub a name, Shadowflame, AKA the shadow of fire."

Nyx looked at Twlight, too scared to even blink. Twilight gave Nyx a kiss on the forehead and said, "It's ok, Nyx. It's just a story."

Rainbowdash went on with the story and said, "Some ponies say that on this very mountain side, you can still hear the howls of Shadowflame." With that, she howled as loud as she could.

However, in the distance, a second howl came from the forest, and it wasn't Rainbowdash.