The next morning, each of the Shadowbolts and Rainbooms woke up to the warm sunlight streaking through the trees and down onto their tents. They stretched to shake off any remaining drowsiness they might have had before they all walked out and went towards the nearby stream to refill their water for the day ahead.
"So, how did everyone sleep last night?" Indigo asked once she filled her flask and closed the cap.
"Fine, fine, Indigo. Except for the part where this Miasma woman had a gun pointed right at Rainbow Dash's face yesterday!" Rarity threw her arms out to the side.
"She was pretty awful..." Fluttershy let some of her hair droop down in front of her right eye.
"Awful? She's even worse than that!" Sunset filled her flask with stream water and closed it up before she quickly hooked it to her belt. "She nearly killed us!"
"But that does make me wonder." Twilight put a finger to her chin and began to scratch it. "Why does she want you gone especially? What makes you so special that Miasma has declared you a threat to her operation? Even when you did nothing wrong or anything to slow her down? It doesn't make any sense!"
"She said something about the Fall Formal, Battle of the Bands, and the Friendship Games when we met her, but I just thought that was a mere coincidence at the time." Applejack knelt down and brushed the stream with her hand before she took some of the water. "It wasn't until she called Rainbow Dash a 'freak of nature' that I really started to panic."
"How did she hear about that?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, yeah, they were battles to save our world, but there weren't any newspapers or anything about it on the news."
"Yeah! If there were, we'd be super-awesome celebrities, knighted by many different kings and queens, and so much more!" Pinkie Pie bounced energetically, almost stomping the dirt even further down into the earth.
"But Miasma saw us as monsters, so it's safe to say that not everyone appreciates our services." Rarity sat down on the blanket outside of her tent. "Which is a shame, really. I thought that we would at least get some recognition for saving the planet."
"What about Gloriosa?" Sunset looked up at the trees, watching the leaves slowly rustling on the calm morning breeze. "We don't know anything about her, what she's doing in the forest, or what she wants with us either..."
"Should we trust her? Or should we see her as just as much of a villain as Miasma?" Sugarcoat asked.
"I'm not sure..." Sunset stood back up and looked out into the deeper depths of the forest. "All that we know is that she's waiting for us on the other side of the lake so she can tell us more about what's going on. It's just a short walk down south from here to get a boat from the docks."
"And if Gloriosa does turn out to be a bad girl?" Lemon Zest raised an eyebrow.
"Then we call on the Magic of Friendship, just like before." Sunset nodded as she led the way towards the lake. "Come on, girls."
"Does it have to be magic for everything with you girls?" Sour Sweet grumbled before she put a smile on her face. "I'm sure that Gloriosa would like to talk more than fight."
"Well, we'll only find out for ourselves when we go there." Sunny Flare walked down the slope leading to the lake with the Rainbooms.
When the girls reached the end of their walk, they saw a captivating sight. The Everfree Forest Lake was completely clear with no trash or pollution and a few people were already taking a swim or riding in the boats. The lake was also very wide, with the opposite side being an extroadinarily long distance away from the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts, and a few inflatable climbing frames or obstacle courses to the sides.
"Can't we just walk around?" Indigo Zap asked once Sunset approached the boats.
"Sure, if you don't mind a fourty-five minute hike." Applejack quickly untied one of the knots before climbing into a blue boat for two people. "This is the fastest way we can get to the other side, and the fastest way to get to Gloriosa."
"Can't we just swim? That's what everyone else seems to be doing..." Sunny Flare looked at the crowd of boys and girls swimming in the lake and going for the inflatables.
"As warm as the water is, the middle is extremely deep, and with this distance, it'll sap our energy pretty fast." Twilight squinted as she readjusted her glasses. "And while Crystal Prep students are amazing swimmers, swimming in the middle of the lake is similar to swimming in the middle of the ocean with nothing else.
"Boats it is, then." Sugarcoat leisurely strolled to a boat with Sunny Flare. She helped Sunny into it before she climbed in herself.
Once everyone was in, they all untied the knots, loosened the sails, and started to drift out from the docks and towards the lake. Using the special oars that they had been given in case of a lack of wind, they began to row towards the opposite side of the lake.
As the wind whistled by their faces and the water splashed up the side of their watercrafts, the girls couldn't help but feel like smiling. They truly felt free to do whatever they wanted to do out on the water, with no-one to tell them otherwise. Some of the girls even challenged the others to a race to the opposite side.
After a fit of giggles, the girls finally drove their boats onto the shore. Once they had stopped, they all climbed out and ventured deeper into the forest to try and find Gloriosa.
"What if Glori doesn't even show up?" Pinkie Pie asked once they arrived at a clearing with markings lining the trees.
"She's gotta show up, Pinks." Rainbow Dash patted her back as they stopped at the middle. "Why would she tell us to be here and then just bail? Especially after she took down those Treekillers?"
"Forget about that, girls. Look at these trees..." Sunset slowly approached a tree that had what looked like a crudely cut version of her Cutie Mark on it. She looked at other trees and saw other marks just like it, ones for each of the Rainbooms. "It's like they knew we were coming..."
"How on earth did they make these without even seeing us?" Rarity examined the tree with the three gem mark—her Cutie Mark. "They must've grown for over hundreds of years, and it must've taken them months to cut them like that so they could carve symbols, and even then, getting our logos almost flawlessly can't be a coincidence, can it?"
"It was once said that six girls would come to the Everfree Forest after facing three great trials," Gloriosa's voice boomed, echoing across the trees. "First, would be the Trial of Purity, in which a demon would be felled, and a new hero would be born; The second, the Trial of Reason, in which the reformed girl would smack some sense into her bickering friends to defeat a new threat; And finally, the Trial of Parallel, where the events of the first trial would be repeated, but for a different girl from another side..."
"What do you mean? They were just accidents, nothing more." Sunset looked up into the treetops to try and find Gloriosa.
"Accidents? Does a supernova just happen out of a pure accident? Or does someone write a quality story purely out of an accident?" Gloriosa swiftly leapt from tree to tree. "This wasn't an accident, Sunset. This was destiny—the one that the forest itself echoes each and every day."
"Destiny? How can you say that?" Twilight asked as she checked each tree, only to find a silhouette moving through at speeds not possible for a human.
"There are many things that define us, Rainbooms." Gloriosa continued to jump through the trees. "Be it the happiness we feel from good things, or the fear we feel when we almost ruin everything for everyone, and even the way that we are passionate about stuff, we are all unique. In that sense, you girls are something special.
"Not everyone has had the power to save the world—let alone three times in a row." Gloriosa did a somersault before she landed on her feet in the middle of the group. "You are all special, but not just in mere mortal ways. It's almost as if you are completely different beings..."
"Who are you?" Sugarcoat turned to Gloriosa crossed her arms. "And don't even think about trying to lie to us. I've read Shadow Spade's novel on how to find a liar, and I will know if you make any mistakes."
"This forest is older than any of us, even me. Even when your grandparents were still babies, the Everfree Forest stood tall and proud, and with a power that no-one else would ever believe." Gloriosa reached into a bag that was slung around her shoulder and pulled out a scroll. She opened it up, revealing a series of pictures of her and her life. "I am a guardian of the forest, birthed by humans, but raised by nature. My mother and father took me here when I was a newborn, but in a tragic accident involving a forest fire, they decided to send me down the river, in the hopes that I would survive the blaze.
"I never saw them again, but I was met with someone else," she said. "A voice called out to me when I crawled out of that basket and into the woods. And when I found the voice, a magical being known as Ecoloris raised me as his own. And who is he you might ask? He is the Spirit of the Everfree, and the keeper of the Gatekey." She put the scroll away.
"Spirit of the Everfree? Gatekey? What kinda lies you trying to pull on us?" Applejack stood next to Sugarcoat and lowered her brows.
"Tell me, girls. Have you ever heard of a place called 'Equestria?" Gloriosa's voice deepened.
At that sentence, Sunset stumbled backwards into the tree with her mark. "H-how do you know about that?"
"The Gatekey has shown me hundreds of different worlds, all accessible with the magic of the forest." Gloriosa pulled out a smooth sphere with glowing markings that were exactly identical to the Cutie Marks of the Rainbooms. "But now it is beginning to fade, crying out in anguish as the life force is being stripped away from it. The trees are the lifeblood of the Gatekey and the portal it opens up, and the more that that witch Miasma destroys the trees, the weaker and less stable this thing becomes."
"You're giving us more questions than answers, Gloriosa," said Sugarcoat in a deadpan voice. "We're starting to lose our trust in you."
"This forest is magic, just like the Rainbooms that were seeded by Princess Twilight of Equestria," Gloriosa replied. "However, the magic in this forest only really calls out to the worthy, and it's with your presence that it's finally starting to show up more often. Trees are growing faster, the plant spores are actually doing stuff now, and even the Housetree is getting better.
"But that's not enough to sustain this place." Gloriosa cradled the Gatekey, feeling it vibrate softly in her hands. "When the six Spirits of Harmony succeed in the three trials, the magic would return. But in order for it to truly be resurrected, one of you will have to call upon the power of the Everfree."
"The power of the Everfree?" the girls all chorused.
"For eleven of you, you will only see your greatest fears, and will not be able to act in trying to use the power," Gloriosa leapt back up into the trees graciously. "But for one of you, you will be able to use a power unlike any other, and be able to not only stop Miasma and the Treekillers, but also ensure that the Everfree Forest, the Gatekey, and the portal it opens, flourish for all time. Follow me." And she slowly went deeper into the forest.
"The question is, should we?" Sunny Flare called, causing Gloriosa to stop.
"This is destiny, Sunny Flare. Everyone has their roles to play." Gloriosa continued to walk through the branches. "Even you and your Crystal Prep friends are part of this performance, and you should really learn to stick to the script..."
"Come on, girls. We're getting to the bottom of this." Sunset followed Gloriosa into the forest with the rest of the Rainbooms close behind her.
"Alright, but I don't really have a good feeling about this..." Lemon Zest took her headphones off and put them in a little case in her pocket.
"Tell me about it." Indigo Zap wrapped her arm around Lemon's shoulders as the two of them trailed behind the rest of the group.