Among the Unturned

by Natkomet

I Went Camping Once... It was Awful.

Chapter 1

“It’ll be just like old times, no need to be nervous”.

But Moondancer was nervous. In fact, since receiving the letter from Twilight the day before, Moondancer had been somewhere between apprehensive and hysterical.

“I’ve never even been out of Canterlot before!” She said to herself.

Despite her muttering, the ponies of Canterlot paid no heed to the disheveled unicorn mare as she trotted up the steps of Canterlot’s public library.

“I mean, a whole weekend in the Whitetail Woods, what if it rains?”

“My books and papers will be soaked”!

“How will I study”!?

All these questions and more tumbled through Moondancer’s head as she made her way past ponies reading quietly at desks or looking among the shelves for books.

Being the frequent visitor that she was though, Moondancer knew exactly which isle to search.

“Let’s see”. She mused.

Gardening…

Wildlife…

Outdoors…

“Here we go”… Camping.

After using her magic to levitate every book in the section, Moondancer trotted over to an empty desk with her prize.

When Twilight Sparkle had returned to Canterlot to make amends for her sudden departure and for blowing off her friends, Moondancer couldn’t have cared less.

While the others had brushed it of like it was nothing, Moondancer had been determined to give Twilight the cold shoulder.

In the end though, Twilight brought together all the ponies who cared for Moondancer and with the help of Ponyville’s local party pony re-created the party which Twilight had missed.

It was then that Moondancer finally accepted Twilight’s apology and learned to believe in friendship again.

Afterwards, Twilight always made time to stop by whenever she was in Canterlot.

Even if was just for a doughnut and a quick chat, Twilight Sparkle made sure there was time for all her Canterlot friends.

“Even the Princess of Friendship can learn new things on the subject”. Moondancer thought with a smile.

The smile quickly vanished though as she turned to the situation at hoof.

For some time, Twilight had been talking about having all her Canterlot friends come down to Ponyville and now it seemed she had found the time.

“But why can’t we just go to Twilight’s castle library and read or something”? Moondancer though in frustration.

The way Twilight had put it in her letter, camping was supposed to be a fun filled team-building experience for all involved that would bring them all closer together as friends.

The way Moondancer saw it however, was much less optimistic.

A whole weekend that could be spent studying would be wasted out in the boonies. She’d be facing two days’ worth of sweltering heat and cold bug-bitten nights with only a flimsy canvas tent between her and the elements.

Just the thought of it made her shudder.

Suddenly, a high pitched mare’s voice cut though the gloom of Moondancer’s thoughts.

“Hey, Moondancer”! See, I told you we’d find her here”!

Moondancer’s smile returned as she looked up to see her three friends approaching her table and fought the instinctual urge to shush Minuette.

The library’s other patrons however had no such reservations and a resounding chorus of shushes was enough to reduce Minuette’s massive grin to a sheepish smile.

-

The three mares where Moondancer’s best friends. After Moondancer had accepted Twilight’s apology at the party, Twilight had assured her that even though she couldn’t always be around when needed, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemonhearts would.

After a round of whispered greetings, Minuette spoke first.

“When we got Twilight’s letter, we went by your place to see if you’d got it too”.

“But you weren’t there”. Twinkleshine said. “So we”. Minuette cut her off

“But I was like, girls, we know our Moondancer, and where is the one place we can be guaranteed to find her eventually if she’s not home”?

“The li”. Lemonhearts started but got no farther.

“The library”! Minuette practically shouted, earning her another round of shushing from the patrons and her friends.

Moondancer just smiled, shook her head, and using a spell that Twilight had taught her, cast a bubble of silence around her friends and the table she was at.

“Well I’m glad to see you three here, but what else brings you in search of me besides Twilight’s letter”? She asked.

“That’s just it” Minuette exclaimed as she caught sight of the pile of books on Moondancer’s table. "We wanted to see if you knew anything more about camping than we did since you read a ton, though by the looks of it, I guess that’s not the case".

“I’ve never been camping in my life” Moondancer said with a bit of a blush as she adjusted her glasses with her magic. “I’m hoping one of these books will tell me how to survive this coming weekend”!

“Well I went camping once, it was awful”! Twinkleshine said.

“It was just a one night stay on the other side of Canterlot Mountain for a school astronomy trip".

"But the weather teams must have forgot to post their report in the paper because a huge storm rolled in and we all got soaked, much less saw any stars".

“That sure boosted my morale” Moondancer rolled her eyes and gave a sarcastic smile.

“That just sounds like bad luck Twinkleshine, I mean, that was just one time.” Lemonhearts retorted.

"I’ve been on a couple of camping trips with Lyra and Sweet-err-I mean Bonbon in the past and we’ve had like the best time ever".

“I’ve personally never been camping”. Minuette said with a grin. “But Twilight makes it sound like so much fun!

“Tell ya what Moondancer, we’ve all had different experiences”! Twinkleshine said. “Let’s see what those books of yours have to say before you make up your mind”.

"Really"? Moondancer gaped, you’d do that?

“Of course”. Lemonhearts replied with a smile. “What are friends for”?

-

The mares divided the books into four stacks and each took her respected stack to one of the nearby tables for evaluation.

Over the next hour, one of them would call out some fact or interesting tidbit they had gleamed from the pages before them which would then be added the growing list of study notes on Moondancer’s desk.

At one point, Minuette piped up from her seat while pointing excitedly at the page before her with a hoof.

“Hey guys look, it’s just like Twilight said”! “According to The Filly Scouts Handbook: (Camping is a fun filled teambuilding experience for all involved that brings ponies closer together as friends.)”

“Well if a book as official sounding as that says so”, Minuette continued. “Then Twilight must know what she’s talking about!”

“Or she could have just done some research of her own”. Moondancer snickered.

The mares shared a giggle before returning to the task at hoof.

As the day wore on, one after the other, the friends exhausted their stack of literature until only Moondancer who had taken the largest stack had anything left.

Moondancer picked up the last book on her desk with her magic and immediately felt an odd aura surrounding it.

This in itself wasn’t odd seeing as many of the older books and scrolls in the Canterlot Library had a wear and tear spell on them.

The book was small and rather thin, your typical looking guidebook with a drab green cover and a title that read “The Unturned Survival Guide” in block-y, stencil like script.

Unturned?

Unturned into what exactly? Moondancer frowned at the odd little book.

A cursory inspection of the cover and first page quickly revealed that there was no author, instead a frowning pixelated face the same color as the cover adorned the first page.

The second page contained a map of what appeared to be an island with little yellow and orange lines, "roads"? She wondered; snaking across it and what Moondancer assumed where towns and buildings along its length.

The third page was a table of contents which looked much more promising.

As Moondancer skimmed down the list her eyes lit up. She’d hit the jackpot!

There was everything from how to make a fire and cook on it, to how to build a shelter.

There was even a chapter on how to build makeshift weapons though Celestia knows why a pony would need one unless they planned on camping in the Everfree or the Badlands.

Moondancer settled back on her chair with her new-found treasure trove of outdoor survival knowledge and flipped to the first page under the subtitle: Crafting

She was going to need a bigger note taking page.

But just as she was about to reach into her saddlebags for more paper, she remembered something Twilight had taught her during one of her latest visits.

Haycart’s studying method.

It was a spell that actually allowed a pony to enter a book and absorb massive amounts of information in a matter of minutes.

Moondancer’s optimism deflated somewhat when she remembered that even though Twilight was a princess, she could only hold the spell for a matter of minutes.

“What chance does a normal unicorn like me have of even casting the spell”? Moondancer mused.

A burst of giggles caused her to look up.

Minuette and Twinkleshine where on the verge of hysterics as Lemonhearts recounted a story from the latest Grand Galloping Gala which she had helped plan.

“And then Pinkie’s sister was like, you’re the most basic of jokes”!

Minuette and Twinkleshine lost it and burst into laughter while Lemonhearts grinned at the memory.
Moondancer waited till their giggles subsided before calling her friends over.

So we use this spell you learned from Twilight to go into the book and memorize all the juicy info it has? Minuette summarized. “Count me in”!

“I’m game” was Lemonheart’s reply.

Twinkleshine hesitated for a moment as she flipped through The Unturned Survival Guide.

“I have to agree with you Moondancer, it is an odd little book”. She said. “But the amount of useful information it has would be more than worth the effort, let’s do it”!

Moondancer placed the book in the middle of the desk then arranged her three friends around the table so there was one mare to each side.

“In order for this spell to work for all of us, we need to combine our magic so I can channel it into the book”.

“If any of you feel you can’t take the strain”, Moondancer cautioned. “Say so immediately so I can cut the spell and avoid an overload”.

Each mare nodded in agreement before Moondancer cast the spell.

The pale yellow magic aura of Minuette mixed with the sky blue of Twinkleshine and the deep pink of Lemonhearts before all three auras merged in one swirling ribbon of light and color around the book on the table.

Then Moondancer’s own pale pink magic entered the fray and joined the magic into one thick band of pure energy which spiraled up from the table before turning and plunging straight down into the center of the open book.

-

For a moment, everything went dark.

Then like an unfolding parchment, the inside of the book opened up before their eyes.

Moondancer looked around and found her friends looking back, or rather, she saw their images penned in living ink.

“This is so cool”! Minuette squealed as she examined a hoof.

The other mares paid her no heed though as their attention was all drawn upwards.

Like clouds floating across a parchment colored sky, lines of text drifted above the four mares while images and diagrams hung in between them like massive kites.

Beyond the literary skyscape, the friends could see the inside of the library. Nearby shelves, and even the tops of other ponies heads who were reading at nearby tables.

Just then, Moondancer spotted a piece of text and its corresponding image above her.

Though just as she began to wonder how in Equestria she was going to reach it, the text suddenly it came swooping down to her.

In a 3D image so realistic she felt like it was there, the image of a campfire and the directions of how to make one hovered before Moondancer’s eyes.

5 logs = 1 Campfire

“It’s like you just… think about what you want and it comes to you”. She breathed in amazement.

The other mares quickly began pulling down string of text and images of their own to analyze.

Twinkleshine and Minuette where sifting through a whole paragraph on how to build a shelter with various images of what appeared to be construction blueprints hovering around them.

Lemonhearts had also pulled down a lengthy paragraph with the title: Weapons, and was giving one of the blueprints an odd look.

“Hey Moondancer”. She called. “Have you ever heard of a rifle”?

Turning away from her campfire blurb, Moondancer consulted the blueprint which Lemonhearts had sent her way.

It looked like a combination of an strangely shaped wooden staff that was thicker at one end and a metal tube held together with tape and rope. Its description blurb stated that it was a makeshift rife that fired rifle clips.

As soon as she read rifle clips, another section of text shot down from above along with directions on how to make rifle clips and refilling them with something called civilian ammo.

“Fired, as in a projectile”?

Moondancer had never heard of a weapon like this before, why would anypony need such a thing?

Even if they were in the most untamed parts of Equestria, it might be useful, but the only ponies who went there were royal guards on patrol with magic to complement their swords, spears, and bows.

Even though she was still apprehensive about camping, she knew the Whitetail Woods where not dangerous and she certainly wouldn’t need anything like this.

It didn’t even look like something anypony besides a unicorn could use when she looked at it in more detail. The small lever on the underside of the odd weapon which Moondancer assumed was how it was fired looked too small for a hoof.

“Maybe it’s a gryphon weapon”. She said as she sent the blueprint back to Lemonhearts.

It bothered Moondancer immensely that she couldn’t identify the weapon seeing as she had studied the very limited defensive and even the almost nonexistent offensive history of Equestria and had never come across a mention of anything like it. She mentally marked it down as review material for when they left the book.

Moondancer turned back to her campfire blurb only to find that it had drifted away on the light breeze that was tugging at her mane.

“Wait, since when was there a breeze in a book”?

“Uh, guys”!? Minuette sounded scared.

The other mares looked up from their reading material and followed her gaze upwards.

The lines of text and their corresponding images were now scrolling across the page and onto the next one before disappearing over the edge.

“What’s happening”? Twinkleshine shouted.

“Shouted”? Thought Moondancer. “When did the breeze become a gale”?!

“I don’t know”! Moondancer yelled back while trying to keep the panic out of her voice with little success. She noticed that since the text was being pulled to the right across the pages from their point of view, whatever was the cause of change was at the front of the book.

The text was now racing by so fast the words had become a blur and the wind was shrieking across the page, the mares where struggling just to stay upright.

“We should go”! One of them yelled, Moondancer couldn’t tell who but couldn’t have agreed more.

Just as she made ready to cast the return spell, the gale became a hurricane and the four mares where swept of their hooves and sent tumbling across the page.

Everything became a blur as they were swept head over hooves from page to page. Moondancer watched an inky blur she assumed was one of her friends go careening past with a trailing scream that was barely audible over the howl of the storm that carried them.

Suddenly they were on page two and the blues, browns, and greens of the map went spinning past in a kaleidoscope of colors. Colors that seemed the get more vibrant to Moondancer even in her panicked and disoriented state.

Then they were on page one.

Moondancer had been screaming since her hooves had left a solid surface but she only became aware of the fact at that moment.

She screamed louder.

The strange pixelated face on the first page had become a nightmare. Its eyes now glowed a fierce, hellish red and the vacant frown it had before was now a raging whirlpool of blinding red and white light. The odd aura she had felt before was stronger than ever.

And they were being pulled towards it.

Moondancer’s mind reeled, this couldn’t be happening. She had done exactly as Twilight showed her, and if she had messed up, then she deserved to face the consequences alone.

She caught sight of Twinkleshine trying to reach for Lemonhearts outstretched hoof only to tumble out of sight as the force of the gale increased again, drawing them ever closer to the demon maw.

Using her magic, Moondancer groped about the maelstrom trying to pull her friends closer, but each time she found one of them, the gale tore them away in a new direction.

Moondancer began to sob as the impending reality of their doom landed on her chest.

They were all going to die thanks to her.

Lemonhearts words hung over Moondancer like an anvil.

“What are friends for”?

“I don’t know”! Moondancer screamed at the face from Tartarus that was drawing them in. “I can’t even help the ones I’m about to lose”!

“Some friend I am”.

Then the hellish light consumed her.

Author's Note:

What fate awaits Moondancer and her friends?
And why did Lemonhearts almost call Bonbon by her real name?
All these questions and more will be answered in chapters to come, stay tuned!

Comments

[zsewqthewolf]

yup it was only a metter of time when i see a crossover of this game

[SomeBloke]

Nice, I love this game:D

[Natkomet]

6307683 Don't eat the berries! Oh, too late.

[SomeBloke]

6308001 Oops

[Natkomet]

6308338 Same here for the gold edition . As you said, the 3.0 preview is awesome and I will be including new updates to the preview in my story based on their relevance.