//------------------------------//
// Seven around a Campfire 
// Story: Legend of Everfree: The Dysfunctional Seven 
// by The Fan Without a Face 
//------------------------------//

Coalstone followed Twilight Sparkle through the forest to Camp Everfree with the others close behind. His head throbbed painfully, a harsh reminder of all the shouting and the drama that he had endured just moments before, on the bus ride. First Autumn and Nights had a fight at the bus stop, then he and Green Sage had a fight on the way, and then they almost got lost due to Flashtruth’s inability to read a map.

“Ugh! Will this trip never end!?” he thought as he silently grumbled in frustration. “I hope that when we reach camp, I’ll finally get some peace and quiet!”  

He suddenly felt a tapping on his shoulder.

“Ugh…! Now what!?”

Growling at the interruption, he turned to find Flashtruth walking briskly next to him, wearing his trademark goofy smile on his face. The sight of him caused Coal to let out another embittered growl. Yet, he kept his hands at his sides, avoiding punching the teen, albeit, not without a great deal of effort.

“Flash…” he said, trying his best to control the anger manifesting itself through his voice. “I thought we had an understanding—namely, you stay away from me on this trip and I don’t turn your face into an abstract art project.”

Flash only laughed, completely oblivious to Coal’s dislike.

“Oh I know that, but you were only mad at me because you thought I got us lost; yet, turns out I was leading us in the right direction the whole time. Ergo…”

He then decided to take a serious risk by putting his arm around Coals shoulders, despite the height difference.

“...that means you don’t need to be angry at me anymore and we can start all over again!”

His smile was quickly retracted after his arm was pulled from Coal’s shoulder, before being pushed back several feet, with him looking considerably less than enthused.

“Here’s the thing Flash. I only came to this school a week ago and I’m not to keen on making friends anytime soon. So if you wanna annoy other people with your antics, have a ball for all I care. Just stay away from me!”

Without another word, Coalstone resumed his pace towards camp, leaving Flash standing there with a disheartened look on his face. 

Autumn glanced between the two and shook his head.

“Sheesh! Coal really needs to lighten up!” he thought to himself quietly. “We’re going to be here for a weeks so we should all at least try to tolerate each other. It’s not like we can just ignore everyone around us.”

He approached Flashtruth, who remained where Coal had left him.

“Yo Truth, you all right there? Take no notice of the golem over there, he’s more of the strong, silent type.”
Truth nodded quickly and smiled.

“Yeah, course I am! It’s ok if he doesn’t want to be friendly. It’s his loss.”

“Oy, you two!” Coal grumbled from the front of the group. “Keep up or stay out here! It’s not our problem if you get lost again!””

Autumn and Flashtruth resumed walking again.

“Say, Truth,” Autumn continued, “I don’t recall seeing you at school much. You a transfer student or something?”

“Actually, yeah,” Truth replied with a smile, his eyes glazed over. “I transferred from Moon Racer High. It was much better there. Everyone there got along together. And when I mean everyone, I mean everyone—from the jocks to the tech-heads and from the tough guys to the nerds! Then, I come here, and while most of the people are friendly, the guys around here don’t seem to like each other very much. That...disappoints me.”

“So why did you transfer? If you were happy there, then why come here?”

“Well, when my grandmother died, my mother and I came back to Canterlot from Manehatten to attend the funeral at her old farm. 

Afterwards, we decided to stay here to keep close to our remaining family, and I had to come here.”

“Wow, dude! That’s intense!” Autumn sympathized as they continued trekking through the trees.  “Your grandmother owned a farm? Hm, that’s odd. There’s only one farm around here and that’s...”

“Sweet Apple Acres,” FlashTruth finished. “Yeah, my grandmother used to run it with her sister, but after she retired, she turned ownership over to her sister and grandchildren. Big Macintosh, Applebloom and Applejack carried on the family farm with her...”

He turned and noticed that Autumn was staring at him in surprise.

“What?”

“You’re related to Applejack!?” he cried in disbelief.

“Uh, yeah. She and her siblings are my cousins and Granny Smith is related to me on my mother’s side. Why? Do you know her?”

Autumn blushed slightly and upped his pace.

“Nah, I’ve just heard of her. Come on dude or we’ll miss the group.”

Truth stared after him.

“That guy’s hiding something,” he thought to himself. “I’ll just have to find out why. But that’ll have to wait for another time, I guess.”

The rest of the group kept relatively quiet as they walked with Twilight for another ten minutes or so before they finally caught sight of Camp Everfree. Both Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna were waiting for them. 

“Thank goodness you made it!” Celestia exclaimed. “After the driver called and told us you went off on your own, we were getting a little worried.” 

Celestia quickly took a headcount of the seven boys, briefly noting the uncomfortable silence and air of hostility that was lurking among them. “Seems like that time they spent in the woods didn’t help form a connection between them. Here’s hoping some time at camp will iron things out”, she realized, disappointed

Another woman appeared alongside the two teachers with raspberry colored skin and hair, adorned with a wreath of flowers appeared in front of them. “Hello there campers, I’m Gloriosa Daisy, the director of Camp Everfree. I know you’ve had a trying day, but don’t worry, I promise you’ll turn those frowns upside down before this week is over.”

Her beaming smile actually unnerved some of the group, her chipper demeanor seemed to be borderline creepy to some of the party, but not to Flashtruth.

“Oh wonderful, now we’ve Female thirtysomething Flashtruth. …..Then again I’d probably take happy go lucky counselor over the lazy and crazy ones you see in slasher flicks.” Coal simply kept silent save for his mind, though felt compelled to chuckle at how some of the others, Sage included, were also off-put by Gloriosa’s colorful attitude. 

Autumn meanwhile turned towards Flashtruth and nudged him.

“Say, Truth, you wouldn’t happen to be related to this lady too, would you?”

Truth merely shook his head. 

“Not at all. Why do you ask?”

“Just a thought.”

The group’s attention was redirected at the sound of Celestia clapping her hands. 

“I imagine you all must be exhausted after everything that has happened,” she said. “Everyone’s gathered at the campfire right now. “We’ll determine where you’ll be sleeping once everyone is settled. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure that there’s space for all of you.”

The group merely nodded and displayed varying expressions. Some of them, especially Coalstone, were more interested in settling in at that very moment. Still, Principal Celestia had already explained to them that their bunks were not yet assigned, so no use complaining. 

They quickly found the camp fire surrounded by several other students, one of which sent Autumn's heart a flutter. 

“Applejack!” he thought, his face glowing. “There she is!”

However, he was shaken from his daze by Coalstone tapping him on the shoulder. 

“Hey, Autumn, do the rest of us a favor and try not to drool all over the campground,” Coal sighed, rolling his eyes. 

Flashtruth stepped forward and waved with a bright smile. 

“Hey, guys! What’s going on?”

He turned to Applejack with a smile, dashed over to her and gave her a big hug. 

“Hey cousin!” he exclaimed cheerfully. Smiling brighter as AJ returned the hug in kind. 

All the other students turned and Pinkie Pie gasped.

“Hey! It’s the lost boys from the other bus!”

Green Sage rolled his eyes. 

“Lost boys, Seriously?” he muttered under his breath.

“Pity,” Coal grumbled. “Some of us couldn’t stay lost.” 

“We were just about to hear some scary stories!” Rarity added, motioning for them to come. “Come over and join us!” 

Flashtruth beamed. 

“Okay!”

He hopped to the campfire and promptly sat with the rest of the students. The others followed, except for Green Sage who huffed at the idea. 

“Scary stories?” he thought with a shake of his head. “What nonsense!”

However, he was caught off-guard by Vice-principal Luna’s voice next to him. 

“Green Sage, aren’t you going to sit with the rest of the students?”

He turned and saw Luna’s face looking back at him, her hand on his shoulder. 

“I’m sure that you would rather study, but right now is a time to have fun,” she added. 

He wanted to respond coldly but he couldn’t. There was something about her voice that sounded...genuine, as if she actually cared about him having a fun like the other students. However, he still only managed to give a cold grin. 

“Thanks, but I think I’ve outgrown ‘children’s stories’. I think I’ll just sit in my little corner and watch, if you don’t mind.”

Luna sighed. 

“All right, if that’s what you want. But if you should change your mind, I’ll save a seat for you.”

She left him and took her place with the students at the campfire circle. Sage stood in a state of surprise as he watched her go. 

“She’s...saving a seat...for me?”

He shook himself and angrily huffed as he went and took his seat in front of a large pile of logs away from the campfire. There, he laid back and looked up at the stars. 

“Why should I hang out with those kids?” he thought with a scowl. “I don’t need them anyway. I never did.”

Autumn approached Applejack and her friends, his smile growing wider with each step.

She was talking to Rainbow Dash, but Dash noticed his approach. She smirked and nudged A.J, pointing behind her, causing her to turn. When she saw Autumn, she smiled and patted the log next to her. 

“So, yeh finally made it,” she said to him as he sat down. She blushed slightly as he pecked her on the cheek. “Not now Autumn, mah friends are here!”

“It doesn’t matter,” he replied hugging her tightly. “I had to survive a 5 hour trip without you and with 6 weirdos. I’ve waited long enough.” He noticed Rainbow’s smirk. “Sorry bout it Dash.”

“No big deal Autumn, just try and keep the lovey dovey stuff about 20% quieter.” Dash chuckled. “It’s sweet, but corny!”

Those who managed to get a seat turned their eyes to a young man with dark green hair, clad in a red shirt and olive-colored shorts. He was seated near the center of the circle and like Gloriosa, offered a smile at the new arrivals. 

“Welcome to Camp Everfree boys! Since you missed orientation earlier, I’m Timber Spruce and I’m the camp co director. Hope you’re ready for an exciting week while you’re here.”

His grin turned mischievous and he glanced around at the faces staring back. 

“Since everyone’s finally here, let’s move onto the ghosts stories. I’ve got just the tale for you all you new-comers!” 

Some of the more easily frightened students already started to shudder at the prospect of any kind of terrifying tale, while others like Sage or Coal simply brushed it aside. Yan merely gave an excited grin. He loved ghost stories, always did. He was always looking for new ones to add to his archives, but lately, it seemed like they were all repeats of one another. The idea of something new gave a familiar, but not unwelcome,  shiver down his spine. 

“It’s time I told you about the legend...of Gaia Everfree,” a Timber Spruce continued with suspense in his voice. 

The others in the camp looked on with widened eyes, listening intently...well, all except for Green Sage, who was intentionally not paying any attention to what he was saying. Coalstone merely scoffed at the students’ fearful gazes.

“Clearly, they’ve never watched a scary movie or read a book by Ebon King, if a camp fire story can rattle them so badly.” 

He himself merely shot another glance at Sage, finding his continued attitude frustrating but at this point didn’t see any reason to waste the energy yelling at him. Yet he also wasn’t crazy about sitting next to a bunch of strangers. 

Rather he walked over to a tree that was near the campfire, before seating himself against it, again pulling out his notepad. Opening to a blank page he quietly began scribbling down a new project, only mildly acknowledging the incredibly weak ghost story the counselor was telling.

Meanwhile, FlashTruth noticed Nights leaning against a tree nearby, his eyes closed, with a smile breaking out across his face.

“Here’s an another opportunity to make another friend!” he realized.

He stood and approached Nights. 

"Hey, you’re the silent guy that sat up at the front of the bus right?" Truth asked. 

He repressed a shiver as Nights opened his eyes and stared at him through dark purple tinted Irises. 

"Wh-what's your name?" Truth added with a nervous laugh. 
Nights turned away slightly, silently hoping Truth would take the hint, though sadly given what he’d seen of Flash prior that was wishful thinking. 

“He’s obviously not going to leave me alone until I tell him,” Nights thought, very much annoyed. “Hopefully, if I do, then he’ll leave me in peace. 

"Nights. Now leave me alone."

Unfortunately, this didn’t have the desired effect for Nights. 

"C-cool name! I'm Flashtruth, but my friends call me Truth," Truth said with a smile as Night continued glaring at him. "So, why are you way out here? Don’t you wanna hang out with us?"

Flash flinched slightly as Nights pushed himself off the tree and stood in front of him. 

"I like being left alone," Nights growled, his tolerance rapidly fading. “Besides, the last friend I had, my family ended up being..." 
Nights trailed off and looked away. 

"Well...to me, friendship’s overrated."

"What happened to your family?" Truth asked, ignorant of Nights’ rising anger as Nights stared into the distance. "You can tell me.”

"I'd rather not." Nights said, crossing his arms. "Just to make this clear, I neither like nor trust any of you. So leave me alone."

"Just tell me," Truth said encouragingly. "Maybe it’ll help you feel better."

"Leave me alone already!" Nights growled, attempting to walk around FlashTruth. "You’re irritating me!"

"Can we at least be acquaintances?" Truth asked, unintentionally blocking Nights path. 

His face fell as he noticed the hatred in Nights eyes far too late. 

"Uh...oh."

Nights pushed his face into Truth, glaring at him viciously. 

“I asked you to LEAVE ME ALONE!” he yelled before roughly shoving past him. “Just stay away from me! Understand!?”

Truth was left staring after Nights as everyone looked over, disturbed by the shouting. 

“Woah…why am I feeling deja vu all of a sudden?” Truth wondered. 

“Man you have some serious bad luck when it comes to talking with people don’t you.”

Truth felt a tapping on his shoulder and turned to see Yan standing there, his fists on his hips. 

”Probably best to give some of the guys some space. Most of them are still pissed off at you for that little fiasco in the forest” he said as he looked squarely at him. “Just try not to stir up too much trouble and you should be fine.” 

Yan then offered a reassuring smile and a pat on the shoulder. 

“Don’t let it get you down too much, not like you don’t have any friends here. Besides, we’re here for a week. Who knows what’ll happen.” 

With one more pat, Yan returned to his seat at the camp fire.

Truth watched him go with a sigh. Then, he saw Pinkie come hopping over to him. 

“Hiya, Truth!” she exclaimed with a wave. 

Truth only sighed. 

“Hey.”

Pinkie’s facial expression changed into confusion. 

“What’s got you so down all of a sudden, normally you’re almost as happy as I am.” 

Pinkie’s eyes quickly darted from side to side, before leaning in to whisper in his ear. 

“And between us, that’s a pretty amazing thing for me to admit.”

Truth’s seemingly perpetual frown dropped even further. 

“Yeah this trip isn’t going how I hoped it would. I’d been planning to make friends with the other guys on the bus, but most of them spend more time fighting than talking.”

“Yeah, what’s with you guys always fighting?” she asked, scratching her head. “I’ve never seen anybody, let alone any group, fight as much as you guys do!”

Truth sighed again as he facepalmed, a part of him fearing the likely fights that would come given all that had just transpired. 

“Yeah...tell me about it.”

***

Pinkie wasn’t the only one of the early arrivals to notice the discourse among those who’d just arrived on the scene.

“Anyone else getting a bit of a hostile vibe from some of those guys that just arrived?” Flash Sentry muttered to the small collection of students surrounding the fire.

Lyra nodded, “They certainly don’t seem to share our schools more team favored mindset.”

“While I admit those boys are a bit...obtuse,” Rarity commented, while adjusting her eyeliner. “Most of them are transfers. Give them a few days of being surrounded by the ‘wondercolt’ vibe and I’m sure they’ll brighten up.”

“I do hope your right, Rarity,” Fluttershy’s quiet voice replied. “Those boys seem really unfriendly!” a collective nod was shared by some of the other students, some making passing glances at the isolated students.

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle had noticed Green Sage out of the corner of her eye sitting by himself while the others were gathered around the campfire. She turned to Sunset Shimmer. 

“You recognize that boy over there?” she asked quietly, motioning with her head. 

Sunset turned slightly to see. Then, she turned back to her. 

“No, I don’t think so. Do you?”

Twilight put a finger to her chin. 

“It’s strange...I feel like I’ve seen him before, but I just don’t know where exactly.”

Sunset smiled. 

“Well, why don’t you go and ask him?”

Twilight hesitated. 

“I...I don’t know.”

“Part of friendship is learning to come out of your shell and talking with people,” Sunset explained, motioning towards Fluttershy. 

“Fluttershy’s been learning the same thing and she’s grown a lot.”

Twilight shifted. 

“I...I don’t think he wants to be bothered. I mean…”

Sunset shrugged. 

“You’ll never know unless you try. Go on. Ask him. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Twilight gulped as she stood and slowly walked over to Green Sage, trying her best not to look at him directly. 

However, as she made her way, she didn’t notice Coalstone sitting a few yards away, busy sketching his latest project. However, he quickly caught sight of Twilight making her way over to Sage. 

Realizing what she was doing he offered a cough that got her attention, “I wouldn’t recommend talking with him if I were you. Dude’s got a stick up his butt taller than the trees in this forest. Wasting your time on Captain Angst over there.”

Twilight didn’t offer a reply, being intimidated by the unfamiliar face, simply walking ahead anyway while Coal watched. 

“And with that another bomb is about to go off at Camp Everfree...”

“Um...excuse me?” Twilight asked as she reached Green Sage. 

Green Sage shifted his gaze from the stars to Twilight, a look of underlying irritation in his expression which made her even more nervous. 

“So sorry to bother you like this, but...you’re kinda...familiar somehow. Might I ask your name?”

Sage only blinked at her for a long moment.

“Who wants to know?” he finally responded. 

Twilight shifted nervously. 

“Um...Twilight Sparkle?” 

Again, Sage only glared at her for a long moment. Then, he sighed. 

“Green Sage,” he muttered as he turned away. 

Twilight leaned a little closer. 

“Uh, what was that?”

She thought she heard a low growl as he replied slowly and precisely, “My name is Green Sage.” 

He turned back to her and added in a low voice, “Why do you want to know?”

Twilight was caught off-guard. Why did she want to know his name? 

“B-because...I just want to get to know you, that’s all,” she stammered. 

He gave a slight grin. 

“Well, I don’t think so. People don’t just want to be friends with people without a solid reason. I’ve learned by experience that people usually want to be your friend when they want something from you. No more, no less. So, Twilight Sparkle...what do you want from me?”

His cold, icy glare seemed to pierce into her very soul. She fought to stand her ground. 

“That’s not true! I mean, I just want to know who you are, that’s all!”

Sage huffed. 

“Okay then, if that’s what you say.” 

He stood up, brushing the dirt from his pants. 

“You want to get to know me? Well, what is it that you want to know?”

His tone of voice was clearly sarcastic, but Twilight proceeded regardless. 

“You a student in Canterlot High?”

Sage scowled. 

“Well, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t,” he replied dryly. 

Twilight bit her lip. 

“What is this guy’s problem!?” she exclaimed in her head. “He’s treating a very normal conversation like an interrogation or something! And I didn’t even do anything!”

She took a calming breath and continued. 

“So...have you always been in Canterlot High?” Twilight asked. 

Green Sage snorted. 

“Certainly not! I transferred from Griffinstone Academy about a week ago.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. 

“Griffinstone Academy? That’s one of the best schools in the country! How did you end up there?”

Sage huffed. 

“Well, unlike most students who fooled around, I put forth the effort and earned the right to be there.”

“Yeah by being a big elitist prick, like all the other stuck up jerks that attended that school!” Coalstone briefly cut Sage off, deciding to eavesdrop on the conversation. “So, I can see how you got in.” 

Green Sage glared at Coalstone, his eyes flashing. Then, he turned away, shook his head and uttered a long sigh.

“I don’t expect idiots like Coalstone to understand. No offense, but I wouldn’t expect you to understand either.” 

Twilight glared at Sage. 

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Sage glared back at her. 

“You didn’t study at an academy like I did. You wouldn’t understand how much work it takes to get good grades.”

He turned and added, “I’m in school to gain an education, not to fool around with other peers. I have better things to do after all.”

Twilight huffed as she placed her hands on her hips. 

“Well, for your information, I transferred from Crystal Prep Academy before I came to Canterlot High! I never felt like I belonged there! I’m glad I left that school!”

Sage’s eyes widened in shock.

“C-Crystal Prep Academy?” he thought. “T-that school placed third in the top five schools in the country!”

“C-Crystal Prep Academy, huh?” he adjusted his glasses nervously. “Y-you don’t say. Then, tell me, what made you switch?”

Twilight adjusted her glasses in return with a confident smirk appearing on her face, having knocked his ego down a peg. 

“Because I made great friends in Canterlot High. I feel like I belong there, unlike Crystal Prep where all they thought about was winning and being the best.”

Sage gritted his teeth. 

“A-and what’s wrong with being the best?” 

He stepped closer to her, his eyes narrowed like a hawk’s. 

“What’s so special about ‘making friends’ that makes earning your education now second-rate anyway?”

Twilight backed away. 

“I--I didn’t mean it like that...”

At that moment, he heard Rusty’s sharp voice from behind him. 

“Hey!”

Green Sage spun around to glare at Rusty.

“And just what do you think you’re doing, kid?”

Sage snarled as he shoved Rusty to the side.

An intense shoving match burst between the two, creating a ring of onlooking students around them. Eventually, however, the shoving degenerated into mindless shouting.

Coal could only listen on as Sage got into something of a shouting match with Rusty. The argument became so heated that Rusty pulled out his taser and threatened to use it on Sage. Sage seemed unfazed by it, though, and he simply folded his arms and dryly taunted Rusty to go ahead and use his taser on him. Rusty appeared hesitant. Coal finally thought that he should take over. He grabbed the taser from Rusty and uses it on Sage, causing Sage to convulsed with electricity. 

FlashTruth froze in shock what was happening, with some of the other students following suit. 

“That’ll shut you up!” Coal said with a grin. 

To his surprise, Sage grinned back as he replied, “Oh h-hey, look! Y-y-you can s-s-smile a-a-after all! G-g-good f-f-for y-y-you!”

Coal’s smirk quickly plummeted off his face, replaced by a nasty snarl. 

“Yeah...and knocking your teeth out is gonna make me positively jubilant!” 

He threw the taser down on the ground and reeled back his fist to lay Sage out flat. Just then, a dodge ball flew at Coalstone’s face. He barely knocked it to the side and saw Yan with an open bag at his feet and an annoyed look on his face. 

“Okay, princesses...let's put on our ‘big-boy pants’ and stop arguing!” 

He pointed at Green Sage.

“Don't talk trash about people's girlfriends!” 

Then, he pointed at Coalstone. 

“Use words, not fists!” 

Finally, he pointed at Rusty. 

“You tried to do good by protecting your girl’s honor. However, it’d probably be better to use a few tricks or pranks to get even instead of relying on a taser of all things. You could seriously hurt someone if you’re not careful.” 

Sage surprisingly was able to still stand up despite the prior tazing. 

“We good here!?” 

“Hey, guys, come on. Yan’s right. Didn’t we have enough of all this in the woods?” Rusty said, trying to mediate between the two but with limited success. Twilight’s eyes shifted fearfully from boy to boy. 

“These guys are crazy!” she thought as she took a step back away from the group. “If I stand around here, I might get hurt!”

Coal, meanwhile, wasn’t hearing any of it. He grabbed Sage by the collar of his shirt and aimed his fist right for him. 

“‘No, we aren’t good. After all the grief you’ve given me, I think it’s about time I knocked you and your big attitude down a peg.”

Sage grinned back widely. 

“Bring it on, Macho Man!” he taunted with a chuckle. “I’ve been waiting for this all day!”

Just then, he felt something stop his arm from moving as a voice exclaimed, “Hey! Knock it off, you guys!”

He turned to see a girl with flowing rainbow-colored hair tied into a ponytail right next to him, her hands wrapped tightly around his arm. 

“Ugh!” he thought as he tried to move his arm with limited success. “For a girl, she’s pretty strong!”

“Let my arm go right now,” he warned with emphasis in each word he spoke. 

In response, the girl only grinned and tightened her hold. 

“Not a chance, buddy! If you wanna stop me, you’re gonna have’ta make me!”

FlashTruth watched the argument from where he was sat with Pinkie, A.J and Autumn. 

“Here we go again,” he sighed. “It’s as if they are determined to not get along.” 

Autumn merely grimaced as the voices grew louder. Pinkie meanwhile attempted to try and alleviate the situation by pulling out a king-sized bag of marshmallows. 

“IT’S TIME TO MELLOW!” She yelled. “Anyone wanna compete?”

Coal however, ignored Pinkie’s loud declaration and instead focused on Rainbow, cocking his eyebrow at the teens claim. 

“Is that supposed to be a challenge?”

The girl’s grin turned into a disapproving frown. 

“Yeah? What of it?”

Coal’s eyes narrowed. 

“I can shake you off easily.”

The girl’s eyes also narrowed challengingly. 

“Oh yeah? I’d like to see you try--!”

Before she could even blink, she was sent flying backward a few feet away to the ground as Coal simply swung his arm. 

“Okay…” the girl growled as she got up, dusted herself off and shook her fist in the air at Coalstone. “I demand a rematch! I wasn’t ready that time!” 

Coal in turn seemed ready to give her the chance, cracking his neck as he started to advance toward her.. 

“CEASE THIS FIGHTING IMMEDIATELY!”

Coal’s movement quickly halted at the loud shout, turning around to spot Vice Principal Luna looking rather livid at the pair, though Coal could tell her glare was focused more on him than Sage or Rainbow. 

“WE WILL NOT HAVE THE MERRIMENT OF THIS EXCURSION BE RUINED BY YOUR PETTY DEBACLES!”

Luna’s loud voice seemed to create a sonic boom that made many of the nearby birds fly away in terror. Sage looked back at her and shook his head. 

“‘Petty debacles’?” he thought with a huff. “How funny.”

It would have continued if Celestia hadn’t tapped her younger sister on the shoulder.

“Uh, Luna, you’re falling back into your Drama Club voice again.” 

Luna’s face quickly shifted to shock. 

“Tis not true. Our speech therapist promised us that we were…..oh. It would appear I might need a few more lessons to iron things out a bit.”

Celestia quickly turned her own burning glare at the students who quickly developed the urge to turn microscopic under its gaze. 

“The entire purpose of this trip is to both reinvigorate and form bonds of friendship between you and your fellow students. I will not tolerate any kind of violence from any of you. Is that clear?” 

The three participants in the struggle all offered half hearted nods, Sage and Coal not missing a beat to both threaten and insult each other with a few passing glances, while Rainbow was more embarrassed by being targeted by Celestia’s ire. 

Meanwhile, away from the fighting Nights found himself rethinking his prior interaction with Truth.

"Why couldn't he just leave me alone." Nights said to himself as he walked off. "I didn't mean to snap at him."

"Maybe you should tell Truth that." a posh voice said from behind him. 

He jumped and spun around to see a sophisticated-looking girl with long brown hair. The girl stepped towards him. 

"Oh, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to startle you. I'm Octavia."

"I know." Night ssaid, slightly irritated. "We're in music class together."

"We are?" Octavia asked, puzzled.

Then, her eyes brightened. 

"Are you that quiet kid who always sits in the back?"

"Yep." Nights said, leaning up against a tree. "So, why are you talking to me exactly?"

"Well, Principal Celestia and Principal Luna want us all to sit by the fire and get to know each other," Octavia said, "and I saw you walking over here. I came over to ask if you'd like to join us."

Nights frowned at the order, while he didn’t have a huge problem with his fellow students, he also wasn’t in any rush to start exchanging phone numbers or joking around with them. However, he also knew there was no way to get out of it, since both Celestia and Luna were adamant in their pursuits and arguing with them would be a wasted effort.

"On one condition..." Nights said with a sigh, walking over to her, "that FlashTruth doesn't ask me a thing."

"Can't make any promises." Octavia said smiling nervously. 

She motioned to the students gathered around the campfire. 

"Well?"

Nights shrugged. 

"Might as well. Just don't blame me if someone ticks me off."

"We'll see." Octavia said as they approached. 

"Plus, I have nothing better to do right now," Nights added as he received a few glares and a nervous look from FlashTruth. "This won't end well."

“Mind if I sit here?" Truth anxiously asked Nights.

"Not at all." Nights said not even making eye contact." Just don't bug me."

"S.s.s.Sure thing." Truth stuttered as they began their contest, which pinkie one after a little bit." So, nights, why are you so angry all the time?"

"Don't want to talk about it." Nights said, resting his chin in the palm of his hand." Let's just say, I have trust issues."

"What kind of trust issues?" Truth asked as the fire snapped, causing nights to jump." Dude, it's just fire."

"Is mister I-hate-everyone scared of a little fire." Someone around the campfire jeered, causing a few to laugh, and Nights to grow in anger." what are you going to do?"

"Nothing." Nights said calming down." Just didn't expect it."

"Hello students." Principal Celestia said, walking over. “It won't be long until you'll be given your assigned tents, until then, why not get to know each other a little."

"Hear that Nights, I guess you have to tell us about yourself." Truth said elbowing nights, who just glared at him." Sorry."

"Just don't do it again." Nights said." So who goes first?"

"You probably heard a lot about me at C.H.S." Truth said smiling." I want to get to know you more Nights."

"Why me?" Nights asked.

"Because silly." Pinke said randomly appearing next to nights." You’re always keeping your distance for everyone, and when someone tries to become your friend you push them way."

"I've been wondering that myself." Sunset said overhearing their conversation." Why do you do that Nights?"

"You really want to know?" Nights asked as most of the group nodded" It's because I'm an orphan.” As Night began speaking, the whole campground went quiet, listening to his deep and sorrowful tone. “Before I moved to Canterlot, I lived in New York, I had a happy family, a mom, a dad, and a brother," he sighed wearily. " When we moved here, I made a new friend, he was going to a high school at the time, but what I didn't know at that time was that he was part of a gang. He tried to get me to join eventually, but I said no."

He trailed off, and eventually someone had to ask a question, trying to get him to continue
"What happened next?" Rusty asked curiously,  knowing that there was more to the tale.

“Let’s just say he didn’t the rejection very well and leave it at that.” While he didn’t actually say anything, given both his tone and what they could piece at least a vague idea of his story. It certainly brought down the mood of the other campers, Pinkie even stopped eating her smores. 

Sage didn’t seem as moved and offered his own thoughts, “Wow that was such touching story, really helps put me in the camping mood. Who's up for holding hands and singing Kumbaya?” Everyone could hear the sarcasm dripping from every word he spoke, meriting a glare from Nights. 

Yan just glared at Sage.

“You’re a jerk. You know that, right?”

Sage only smirked. 

“Hey I’m just trying to lighten the mood since Captain Angst over here apparently forgot to take his anti-depressants.” 

Yan stood up, and slapped Green Sage in the face. “ You deserved that.” He then started to walk away. He heard Green Sage yell at him from behind, but decided to just keep on walking.

“Nice one Yan,” Autumn commented as he passed. “If it hadn’t been you, woulda been me.”

Timber Spruce meanwhile had been sitting through the little exchange and felt it was necessary to lighten the mood, “Okay, well how about we jump back into some more ghost stories, what'd you guys say?”

He didn’t get any real responses with most of the group being more than a little brought down by all that had transpired in the last few minutes. They did manage to get through a few more tales, but by the time it was finished, the entire class seemed completely drained, emotionally for the early arrivals and physically for the late ones. 

Celestia quickly clapped her hands together to get their attention, “Alright students I believe that’s enough for one day, those of you who’ve already been assigned to tents please go there, while the remaining students will be given their room assignments.”

As the campers clawed their way to bunk and bed, Celestia shook her head and wondered “If this is what it is like on not even the first day, i wonder how the rest of the week shall go?”

“So Principal Celestia what exactly do we do now?”

Shaken from her brief pause, she found the late 7 students standing before her, all looking more than a little out of sorts with all that had happened. “Ah right, we need to get all of you settled as well. Luckily the camp has plenty of tents left.”

She quickly guided the seven to the tent ground, watching as the many pairs of students readied for bed, with a little noise here and there. 

Coal didn’t seem especially happy, “So wait, we’re sharing tents with someone, for the whole week.” 

“I already know who I’m rooming with.” Autumn remarked, a dopey grin stretching over his face.

That in turn got him a smack to the back of the head. 

“Like they’re gonna stick you in the same tent with a girl!” Coal exclaimed with a huff. “Besides, don’t you watch the movies? Terrible stuff always happens to the two lovestruck idiots that hang out in the woods.” 

Coal paused for a moment. 

“You know what? On second thought, I vote for sticking Autumn with whoever his girlfriend is for the remainder of this trip.”
Autumn glared at Coal suspiciously. 

“Why are you suddenly agreeing with me? What’s the catch?”

“He’s secretly hoping you and little Ms. Southern Belle have karma handed to you,” Sage chimed in with a wink. “If you ask me, I’m with him on that one.”

Autumn growled.

“You know what Sage, I’m sick and tired of your pessimism! How come you always have something bad to say!? Maybe one day you’ll say the wrong thing to the wrong person and they’ll lay you flat. Believe me, I like everyone...just not you, that’s for sure!”

Sage huffed as he folded his arms defiantly. 

“Well, go ahead and hate me for all I care! And do you really think I care if someone ‘lays me flat’? I am not afraid of you or Coalstone. Ask him! I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to back me up.”

Celestia, however, again quickly put their conflict to an end. 

“That is quite enough from all of you! I made it very clear that there will be no fighting at anytime while at camp, and I expect all of you to adhere to that rule. Am I clear on that Mr. Sage, Mr. Glow, Mr. Stone?”

Coal only muttered to himself, but offered a small nod signifying his agreement. Sage turned away with a sour smirk. 

Quite Irritated, Autumn folded his arms. 

“So who exactly are we rooming with, Principal Celestia?”

She pointed to Timber Spruce and said, “He will assign you to your tents.” 

Timber Spruce stepped forward with a welcoming smile. 

“That’s right! Here in Camp Everfree, we have you guys draw from this bag. Each card inside has a gem and whichever pair has the same gemstone, end up as bunkmates.” 

He quickly held out the bag for the group. 

“So let’s get picking.” 

FlashTruth was the first to reach into the bag. 

“Ooh boy! What am I gonna pick!?”

He pulled out the card. 

“Yes! Citrine! Don’t know what that is but YES!”

Green Sage rolled his eyes. 

“Typical.”

Timber Spruce turned to him with the bag. 

“You’re turn, Green Sage! Reach in and draw!”

Sage sighed as he reached inside the bag and pulled out the first card that he touched. 

“Seriously, I don’t even care anymore!” he thought. “So long as it’s not with that bumbling buffoon who likes to make friends with everyone. That guy is--!”

His eyes instantly widened as he stared at the card. Citrine. 

FlashTruth looked at the card that Sage was holding and let out a whoop. 

“All right! We’re both in the same tent!” 

He put his arm around him. 

“I know we’re gonna be best friends.”

Sage only stared off into space, his eye twitching. 

“Why…? Why does this always happen to me…?”

Coalstone could only chuckle at Sage’s misfortune at being stuck with pretty much the worst possible option. 

“If Sage doesn’t kill him before the week’s up, Flash will drive Sage crazy by then…..Though now, I’m a bit worried that Sage might actually kill him….just a little.”

Coal promptly placed his hand into the bag before pulling out a card with a black stone on it. 

“Huh, Onyx. Figures.”

Coal took a step back from the bag and waited to see who he’d end up getting paired with. 

“With Sage and Truth already taken, least I’ll get stuck with someone who’s relatively normal, for the most part…..assuming I’m not put in the same tent as Nights...”

“Looks like you got the Onyx card too. Guess we’re roommates.” 

Coal found Yan of all people standing in front of him, who seemed a tad uneasy by who he’d gotten matched with. 

“I don’t suppose there is any chance of us being able to room together and not have a confrontation break out?” Yan added. 

Coal only placed his hand on Yan’s shoulder, who felt himself being pushed down slightly under the weight of his palm. 

“As long as you don’t do anything to annoy me, then we should get along fine. Sound fair?”

Yan offered a small nod and the pair made their way over to their tent. 

The remaining three students,now looked at who was left for them to be paired with. With Timber holding out the box, “Alright boys, last round, let’s see who gets paired with who.”

Nights, wanting to get this done as soon as he could silently walked up and picked out a piece of paper from the box. Quickly taking it out, a single glance revealed a yellow stone, “Topaz, wasn’t expecting that.”

Of the remaining two, Autumn, still somewhat under the illusion he could be paired with AJ allowed Rusty to go next, to which the tech savy teen quickly reached in and pulled out a similar looking paper.

“Huh, Topaz, guess this means I’m rooming with Nights.” Rusty’s voice shook with uncertainty, as next to Sage and Coal, Nights was easily the least friendly guy he’d met so far and if his story at camp was anything to go by, he had his fair share of issues.

Timber however, seemed content with this decision, “Alright then boys, the Topaz tent is right over by the Ruby tent, just go in and get settled.” 

Both tents silently gathered their things and approached the tent, Rusty pulling back the flaps and entering, with Nights following suit. 

Rusty glanced about the cramped tent.

“So, I guess that we’re roommates?”

“Yep.”

Rusty dropped his pack by the entrance, creating a small cloud of dust.

“Hey Nights, are ya fine with my stuff here?”

Nights nodded.

“Thanks. See ya later!”

Nights sat in the tent as he watched Rusty make his way towards Twilight’s tent.

As the other boys headed to their respective tents, Autumn was left behind, feeling foolish. 

“Yo, Sprucewood?” he said, shuffling his feet awkwardly. “What about me? I’m still here.”

Timbre opened the bag again, looking puzzled. 

“Oh, uh, sorry Autumn. I’m afraid there aren’t any more cards left.”

Autumn threw his hands in the air in frustration. 

“Well then, what the heck am I supposed to do now? Camp out in a tree or somethin’!?”

“HEY AUTUMN!” A thundering tone roared a few yards away. “I HAVE A SPARE BUNK! YOU SHOULD TOTALLY ROOM WITH ME!”

Autumn’s heart sank as the voice approached, revealing none other than Bulk Biceps.

“Oh great...another big tough guy.”

Autumn was familiar with Canterlot’s resident muscleman and knew that despite his seemingly inhuman physique, the guy was basically an oversized, veiny puppy. Still that didn’t mean he was crazy about rooming with the guy, especially with how enthusiastic he could be vocally.   

“Gee thanks Bulk, but maybe next time.” Autumn shakily replied, shooting a look at Timber.

“Actually, Bulk is the only one in camp without a bunkmate, so it’s your lucky day!”

“YEAH. ROOM BUDDIES! I HOPE YOU DON’T MIND AUTUMN, BUT I SLEEP WITH A LIGHT AT NIGHT!”

Autumn groaned and smacked his forehead. "This is gonna be one hell of a camp!" He thought to himself.

Little did he know how prophetic his words were to turn out.