//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Camping Trip // Story: Return to Gravity Falls: The Equestria Chronicles // by Arkansandragon //------------------------------// The next morning, Dipper and Mabel came down to breakfast and were surprised to find Ford in the kitchen. Normally, it was Stan who did the cooking. When they asked about him, Ford said that his brother was sleeping in. Dipper nodded thoughtfully, “Well, we did stay up pretty late...” “Totally!” added Mabel. “Too bad the rest of the town didn’t show up though.” “We wanted it to be just a small party this time,” said Ford, giving the kids each a plate of pancakes. “Where’s everybody else?” asked Dipper, as he started eating. The Shack wouldn’t be open for business for another two hours. “Soos, Melody, and Wendy are out fixing the car,” said Ford, sitting down to his own food. “Apparently, driving into the totem pole broke more than just a headlight. As for Abuelita...” he looked around uncertainly. “I have no idea where she disappears to.” “That’s easy,” answered Mabel, slipping Waddles one of her pancakes as he came up to the table. “She follows Soos around everywhere-- GAH! Zombie!” She pointed to the kitchen door, as the other two sprang to their feet in alarm. “Very funny,” grumbled Stan from the doorway, rubbing sleepily at the dark bags under his eyes. Ford moved to help him into a chair as he stumbled into the room. “What happened to you?” asked Dipper, getting Stan some food. “You look terrible. I didn’t think we stayed up that late.” “You didn’t,” said Stan, not noticing the pancakes until Dipper pushed the plate under his nose. “I... uh...” He quickly shoved a bite into his mouth, looking pointedly at Ford. Ford sighed, but quickly thought up an excuse. “He was helping me chase a raccoon out of the basement.” “Uh, yeah!” agreed Stan, in between mouthfuls of food. “There was a big, grumpy raccoon. Took us all night to get rid of it.” The younger twins looked skeptical for a moment, but didn’t press the issue. Professional con-man that Stan was, they usually couldn’t tell when he was lying. The last time he’d been this obvious was during that pterodactyl incident with Waddles, when he’d been plagued by guilt for putting the pig outside to be inadvertently snatched up. Something was clearly bothering him. They would wait until he was more awake before pouncing. Ford pulled him aside when breakfast was over and the kids had gone outside. “If you were planning to tip them off, that certainly did it,” he said. “It’s not my fault you’re a bad liar,” Stan said irritably. “Was it the nightmares again? Is that it?” “Ford...” Stan’s voice was a warning growl. “I can’t help you, if you won’t let me,” Ford said, not backing down this time. The stalemate lasted only a few seconds, before Stan turned away from his brother, moving down the hallway. Ford grabbed his shoulder. “Stanley...” This time his voice was almost pleading. “Look, whatever this is... I’m here. You know that. I’m not leaving you again.” Stan finally looked at him over his shoulder, giving a faint smile. “I know, Sixer. But I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” Ford let him go, and he walked away, leaving his brother alone with troubled thoughts. It took every trick Stan knew, including generous use of his stash of smoke bombs, but he somehow managed to avoid being cornered and questioned by Dipper and Mabel for the rest of that day. In response to Stan’s tactics, the younger twins resorted to asking Wendy and Soos for help, resulting in an elaborate number of ambushes and traps, all of which failed. Stan, feeling playful now due to the increasing absurdity of their attempts, responding in kind by pulling pranks on them. The end result was an all out prank war, during which everyone forgot the reason for catching Stan in the first place. Luckily business was slow that day, so none of the visiting tourists got caught in the middle of things. Ford, for his part, managed to hide his worry and enjoy the spectacle. He finally even joined in after Stan pelted him with water balloons. Melody and Abuelita, meanwhile, just contented themselves with watching the fun, and recording it on video for later. The following morning had everyone making any last minute preparations for their camping trip, so that Dipper and Mabel were once again too distracted to ask about Stan’s condition. The Shack, and Waddles, had been left in the care of Melody and Abuelita during the weekend, and after learning that her friends Candy and Grenda weren’t due back in town for a few more days, Mabel left a note in case they came back early while the family was gone. After clearing out several gnomes and a family of possums from Stan’s motorhome recreational vehicle, the two sets of Pines twins, along with Wendy and Soos, piled into the RV with their camping gear and drove off. “Thanks for letting me and Soos come on the trip, Mr. Pines,” said Wendy, pulling a magazine out of her bag and starting to read it. Soos thanked them as well, looking out the window at the passing traffic. He’d switched his work tuxedo for his casual green question mark shirt today, though he still wore the red fez. “It’s the least we could do,” said Ford, and Dipper and Mabel nodded in agreement. All four of the Pines were wearing Mabel’s “Mystery Twins” sweaters. It seemed fitting, since they planned to spend at least part of the trip looking for any unknown creatures in the woods surrounding Gravity Falls. “Absolutely,” said Stan, who was driving. “With the way you two helped the kids during Weirdmageddon, consider yourselves honorary Pines!” “Yes!” said Soos, pumping his fist. “Another dream come true!” “Awesome,” said Wendy, smiling, but not looking up from her magazine. “Mabel’s even making you both ‘honorary family’ sweaters,” said Dipper, pointing to his sister who was currently tangled in multiple colors of yarn. “Can’t talk now. I’m in the zone,” she muttered, her knitting needles a blur of motion. “I think she’s going for a world record,” Dipper whispered. They made it to the wooded campsite by sundown, and although Stan suffered another sleepwalking episode, Ford was able to keep him from the leaving the vehicle. The rest of the family slept outside in tents, and too deeply to notice anything amiss. The next day, Stan awoke sometime in the late afternoon to the sound of people screaming. He rushed out of the RV armed with Ford’s crossbow-- to find Dipper, Ford, and Mabel stuck in the top of a nearby pine tree. “What the heck are you all doing up there?” “Ford and I were studying some jackalopes,” said Dipper, holding up a notepad and pen while glaring at his sister. “Then Mabel tried to milk one.” “Yeaaah, probably not my best idea,” she admitted. “But I got some!” She grinned, holding up a mason jar with the milk in it. “Believe it or not,” Dipper said to Ford, “this isn’t the craziest thing she’s done.” “I’ll take your word for it,” said Ford, unsure of how he felt about that. “Ok...” said Stan, very confused. “But what’s Ford doing up there?” “Look.” Ford simply said, pointing to the base of the tree. Stan looked, and saw a drove of the horned hares trying to climb the trunk and gouging it with their antlers. He slapped a hand to his face in annoyance, went back inside and came out with an air horn. One blast from the thing was enough to scatter the jackalopes, then Ford used Mabel’s grappling hook to lower himself and the kids out of the tree. While Mabel went to put her jackalope milk into the RV’s refrigerator, Stan turned his attention to the other two. “Are you hurt? Also, have either of you goobers seen Soos and Wendy?” “We’re all fine,” Ford said reassuringly. “Thanks to Dipper’s quick thinking.” Dipper smiled at the praise, then thought for a moment before answering Stan. “As for the others... I think Soos went bird watching, and Wendy went with him so he wouldn’t walk into any bear traps.” “There’s Wendy!” pointed Mabel, coming back outside. “But... where’s Soos?” Wendy ran up them, stopping only a moment to gather her thoughts before saying, “Guys! Bring Mabel’s grappling hook and any other rope we’ve got! Soos and I found this new Bottomless Pit and Soos fell into it!” “WHAT?!” “Wait- There’s another Bottomless Pit?” “I’ll explain when we get there! Now come on!” It took them several minutes to reach the pit, where they found Soos perched on a narrow ledge a good distance below the rim of the hole. “Dudes!” cried Soos. “You don’t know how glad I am to see you! I thought I was a goner! I was trying to see how deep this pit was and the ledge broke under me.” “You’re not gonna die, Soos. Now just stay calm and don’t move,” ordered Stan. He took one end of the rope they’d brought, tying it around his waist. Handing the other end to Ford, he said, “I’ll go down and grab him. You all hold this end and pull us back up.” “Have you ever repelled down a cliff before?” asked Dipper. “No,” said Stan, “but it can’t be much different from climbing down the side of a building with a bag full of loot.” Seeing their blank stares, Stan rolled his eyes. “What? You all knew I have a criminal record. Did you think that didn’t include cat burgling?” Ignoring their looks, Stan carefully moved down the side of the hole until he was right next to Soos. Soos hugged him in gratitude, and so they could both be pulled up. “Stan’s got him,” said Ford, peeking into the hole. He noticed a dead tree at the edge of the pit and directed the others to set the rope against it for leverage while they pulled. The plan seemed to be going perfectly, with Stan and Soos inching their way up the side of the pit while the others tugged on the rope, until-- “Uh, guys?...” said Dipper, hearing a faint cracking sound and looking around Ford at the tree. “I think that tree might be about to break.” They stopped pulling. “What?” SNAP! Soos yelled as they suddenly dropped, making Stan’s ears ring. Ford, at the front of the line and closest to the pit, was jerked forward so violently that he just barely regained his balance at the edge of the hole. Then the ground crumbled under his feet. Unfortunately, his weight combined with the other two adults was too much for Wendy and the kids to counterbalance. Thrown off by this second sharp jerk, all three tumbled into the pit, plunging the whole group screaming into the darkness below.