Chapter 9: Blocked Off
Once again, the sun rose for another glorious day at Camp Everfree. Everyone was up and moving, going to use the bathroom, getting dressed, whatever morning their morning routine entailed, they got straight to it. And after that, it was time to head to the mess hall for breakfast of their choosings.
"You sleep better last night, Twilight?" Applejack asked.
"I did, thank you for asking," Twilight smiled.
"Mmm, pancakes," Pinkie hummed, not even paying attention to what was going on around her.
"So what's the plan for today, darlings?" Rarity asked, trying to fix the little strands of her mohawk which were sticking up on end.
"Well I dunno about you girls, but I'm eager to get those picnic tables done. I reckon we're nearly done with them, and we just have a few more left to go," Applejack said.
"What about our powers? Shouldn't we practice with them?" Fluttershy asked.
"I'm on board with that!" Rainbow agreed.
A student came back through the doors of the mess hall with a stressed face. "Um, guys?" Thunderbass said, stepping into the mess hall. "I don't want to raise any alarms, but you might want to see this..."
Gloriosa and the others followed Thunderbass around the back of the mess hall cabin, finding the spot. And when they got there, it was a sight that was not welcoming to their eyes. The main tower that provided any amount of wifi service had been chewed up. Pieces of metal ripped from the tower, steel practically bent, tons of wiring that was fizzing out from being hacked up.
"What the..."
"Holy..."
"What happened?"
Timber Spruce, Gloriosa Daisy, and Autumn Blaze pushed through the group to step up front and they all got a good long look at the destruction.
"I don't suppose you have any wild animals out in the woods that we don't know about?" Autumn asked.
"And what kind of animal could be strong enough to do that?" Timber asked with a deadpan in his voice.
"Um... a wild bear?"
"Are you kidding? Not even a bear isn't big enough to bend steel like that!" Gloriosa exclaimed.
"But if a bear didn't break it, then what did?" Principal Luna said with concern.
"I don't know, and I don't care. We need to get it fixed," Timber Spruce declared, getting an agreeing nod from his sister.
"I... I'll go get my tools. I'll see what I can do," Gloriosa sighed, going to the tool shed.
"I'll lend a hand," Thunderbass offered.
"Me too," Micro Chips called out.
"Oh, well aren't you sweet? Come on, I'll show you what I could use help with," she said, leading them to grab the toolboxes.
The two principals shared a glance. Something was definitely wrong here, but what could have caused this? Was there something out there that shouldn't be, or was it someone behind this incident?
"Okay Pinkie, I have the perfect test for you!"
"Tests? Aww, do I have to study for it?"
Twilight giggled. "No, Pinkie. I mean with your powers, I have a test for your powers."
"Ohhhhh... that makes more sense!"
"Yes, indeed. Okay, try grabbing that book," Twilight suggested, pointing at the book set up in front of Pinkie.
Pinkie put her hands down, eyes squinting intensely as she glared at the book. Her teeth were clenched in the most over the top way possible and she made all sorts of uncomfortable noises. "I will grab that book without hands!!!"
She focused hard and long, waiting for something, anything. But alas, nothing happened.
"Aww, candy-corn! I thought I could--", And then a strand of her hair slapped itself against the book and picked it up. "Oh, wait! I got it!"
Twilight chuckled a bit. This was gonna take a bit more work than she thought, but she was okay with trying to help her friend. She could do it, she knew she could. After all, if she could help her Crystal Prep friends with simple tasks...
--
May 10th
"Ma'am, I am waiting for the punchline," Twilight said, reading off a book.
And in the room with her was Sunny Flare, acting in shock and terror. "There is no punchline. It's not a joke," She said, speaking in a a rather scary yet surprisingly calm tone.
"You're telling me the Man of Shadows is now trapped in eternal limbo?" Twilight said, reading from the page, still.
"He is. The Pillars fought hard, but they eventually put him away in limbo where he can do no more harm to anyone. But legend says that one day he would return... " Sunny Flare tried to keep it together but she was suddenly smiling and snickering in between. "and wipe us all--" and Sunny just stopped talking all together and started laughing her butt off.
And Twilight had to admit, she giggled herself. "Sunny, I thought you were a professional!"
Sunny giggled as well. "I am! But every time I try to rehearse a line, my brain always thinks about something funny I had seen earlier that day, and then that becomes the thing stuck in my head."
"Do you need to take a break?"
"Yes, yes, let us take a break," Sunny Flare agreed, walking to her desk and taking a quick swig of her coffee. "Ah, that's a good cup of joe."
"So when is the play supposed to go on?"
"By the end of the month," Sunny Flare said. "I just hope I can remember all of my lines, this is a big part after all."
"I'm sure you'll remember them, Sunny. You're Crystal Prep's best actor after all."
"Oh stop it, you," Sunny playfully batted Twilight's shoulder. "You're such a flatterer, Twilight. Twilight?"
--
"Twilight? Twilight!"
Twilight finally snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, what were we talking about?"
"Do you have any other tests for me?" Pinkie asked with a grin.
"Um... I don't think so," Twilight said, unsure. "Rainbow Dash, you want to try flying again?"
"You bet! Ready when you are!"
Rainbow sat up in the tree where she was told to be, and the others all stood nearby ready to catch her just in case.
"You know, I have to admit, a tree is a bigger step then using a pulley system in the mess hall," Applejack chuckled.
"Just jump," Twilight called out.
"Okay, let's try it again!"
Rainbow stood up straight, and she dropped out from the tree ready to dive down. She waited for her feet to touch the ground, but they never even touched the grass. Looking down, she found herself hovering just like she had done before.
"Alright Rainbow, you're doing it!"
"Yeah, but I don't know how! Every time I try to fly, I keep falling," Rainbow pouted.
"Maybe this magic requires some kind of concentration method? Perhaps it doesn't work if you don't concentrate hard enough or feel a certain emotion."
"So you're saying some superpowers can occur depending on someone's emotional stability? Never heard that before," Rainbow said sarcastically.
"My point is that I think if you just focus on only that, do not worry about anything else, maybe that can help with you flying," Twilight suggested.
"Alright, I'll give that a try."
Rainbow climbed back up the tree, ignoring her friends pleas about jumping from the tree again. However, she completely ignored them and simply put her mind to focus on the flying once again. She made the jump, and actually started to fly. She was soaring and swooping over the girls like a superhero, wowing them as she showed off her flying prowess.
"She's really doing it," Fluttershy gasped.
"Go Rainbow Dash, you've got--wait, wait, watch out for the--"
"OW!"
"--Oh boy, right through the tree," Pinkie cringed.
"You think we should give her the Captain Dork costume?" Fluttershy snickered.
And then all of her confidence started to fade as her body started flailing like a rag-doll in the air.
"We may need to practice that some more," Twilight winced.
And she heard the sound of Rainbow Dash falling and darting right into a bush.
"... And there goes Rainbow Dash, she has the power to rear-project cities!"
"That makes no sense."
Later that day, after some much more practicing and testing, Rarity spotted Rara nearby, chatting up a storm with Flash Sentry and Derpy. The fact that a celebrity, one of the most famous pop singers ever was attending their school was still something she hadn't come to grips with. It was just so exciting!
"Rarity, are you alright?"
"Oh, Applejack, darling, um, I um, I'm just... I mean... okay, I'm a bit nervous to be around Countess Coloratura herself!" Rarity admitted with a squeak.
"Rarity, you shouldn't be nervous. Rara may be a big-time popsingin' celebrity, but she's still one of my best friends, and she's still a regular person," Applejack pointed out. "In fact, why don't you join us out on the boat? We planned to do a little rowin' around the lake."
"Oh, well, I don't see how I could--I'm in!" Rarity squeaked, disappearing in a flash and coming back with a life-jacket. "Come along darling!"
Applejack playfully rolled her eyes and grabbed hers, sitting down into the boat with Rara and Rarity.
The nice warm air blew through their hair as Applejack rowed on the lake, hearing the sounds of the water splashing around them. Birds were singing from the trees, and they could even hear the cute sounds of some nearby critters, unsure of they were bunnies, ducks, or maybe little deer. Thankfully no scary bears to come out there to try and attack them.
"So Rarity, I've been meaning to ask, how are you doing?" Rara asked. "Applejack told me that you made over four hundred dollars with your newest line, is that right?"
"Oh, um, y-yes, yes I did!" Rarity stuttered. "The finest line I've ever made, if I do say so myself. I only wish Applejack could have been one of my models."
"Rarity, I'm not like you. I'm not one to go lookin' for the shiniest outfits," Applejack shook her head. "I'm a bit more practical. I see something, if it works, then it works."
Rarity just playfully shrugged it off. "Anyways... Miss Coloratura, if you don't mind me asking, if you don't perform, what do you like doing?"
Rara just shrugged. "I like hanging out with my friends, going to movies, interacting with my fans, you know, like everyone else."
"Oh. R-Really? I would have thought, um... well, I didn't want to assume, but I guess I--"
Rara giggled. "You thought I like doing a lot of fancy things that most of the rich and elite do?"
"Um... yes?" Rarity blushed.
"Rarity, I'm not like them. Yeah, I may be famous, and I may have a lot of fans, and a mansion (somehow I don't know how I even found one here) but I'm not like them. I'm just like you, and Applejack, and everyone else here at camp," the celebrity smiled.
Rarity couldn't help but squee in joy at that statement. Countess Coloratura was sweeter than she had ever imagined.
"You should all come by my house sometime, I would love to invite you all for a sleepover. I used to have them all the time, well, before I became a pop-singer. I think it's time I have some good sleepovers again," Rara declared.
"Agree with you right there," Applejack said.
"C-Can I please come? I would love to be a part of your sleepover, it would be such an honor!"
"Rarity, I was going to invite you anyway," Rara grinned. "Besides, Applejack told me you were a great friend, I thought that was good enough for me to say yes."
"Yes, I'm so excited darling! I cannot wait to come over!" Rarity was so excited she was practically shaking the boat, even as Rara stood up momentarily to gaze back over to the land.
"Rarity, careful, don't rock the boat too much or--whoa, whoa!" And Rara went right overboard the boat, splashing into the water.
"Oh my gosh, Rara, I am so sorry!" Rarity panicked. "I will--"
And Rarity was interrupted by the sound of Applejack laughing, and then the rising Rara laughing as she pulled back up to the surface; wet, but perfectly okay.
"Rarity, it's alright. It's not the first time I've fallen into a lake before. You should have seen me and AJ back at the girl scouts," Rara laughed, splashing some water at Rarity.
Rarity was a bit shocked from seeing this star splashing her back. However an evil smirk slowly grew on her face. "You want to get wet?"
And she splashed some water right back at Rara, who just laughed it off. "I think you missed a spot," she said, splashing some water at Rarity's mohawk.
Twilight sat on the dock, Spike resting in her lap, watching the fun her friends are having on the water. She giggled at the splash fight between Applejack, Rarity and Coloratura – who could have guessed that the fashionista would be able to hold her own in roughhousing?
And speaking of…
“Oh, you want to play to win, dear? Well then, taste this!”
A particularly big splash of water hit Applejack, soaking her good and making her sputter, and Twilight can’t help but giggle. Spike yipped cheerfully from his resting place, and she smiled down at him fondly. It was hard to believe, but her worries from before had almost faded away completely. All thanks to the wonderful people she could now call friend--
“Twilight?”
She turns her head in surprise, and then smiles to see Timber Spruce walking by. The young man gives her a friendly smile and walks down the pier to her.
“Hello, Timber Spruce. How are you doing?”
Timber answered, “Fine… I actually was going to ask you that, Twilight. How are you today? Feeling better?” He said, giving her an encouraging look.
Twilight smiled back, and nodded readily. “Yes. Yes I am! I, well, I talked to my friends about… how I was feeling, and they were all supportive and understanding.” She looks down at Spike fondly, recalling how Fluttershy had gotten through to her with that question: “Does Spike think you’re dangerous?” She gives the little dog a gentle squeeze and looks up at Timber with a comforting smile. “I think… no, I know I’m doing better than before.”
Timber grins at her, relief and happiness in equal measure on his face. “Hey, that’s great. I’m really glad you’re doing better.”
Twilight was beaming. “Me too.”
Spike yipped softly from his place in Twilight’s arms. She looked down at him in surprise, suddenly worried the poor little guy seems a bit agitated about something.
“Spike?” She gently puts him down and lets him onto the dock – and to her surprise Spike darts behind her legs, his tail down like something’s frightened him. Timber Spruce frowned in concern and stoops down to try and reassure the puppy.
“Hey little guy. What’s wrong?”
Spike whines softly. Twilight also kneels down and pats him, whispering comfortingly as she does so. Timber looks over at her in concern. “What’s got him spooked?”
“I don’t know, he’s never been like this before!”
Timber puts out a hand and gently pets the top of Spike’s head. “Shh, good boy, good boy…” The little dog trembles softly at first, but gradually starts to relax a little. He still seems nervous of something, however, worrying Twilight.
A minute or two later, a voice calls out to them from further up the camp.
“Timber Spruce!” It was Gloriosa Daisy, fully in business mode as camp director. “Have you gotten those extra tools yet?”
Timber straightens up, heaving a sigh of frustration, to Twilight’s surprise. “No, Gloriosa, I haven’t!”
Gloriosa spoke back a bit sternly. “Well could you! We’ve got a lot of work to get done today!”
Timber rolls his eyes. “I know!” Twilight looks at him, concerned by the sudden burst of frustration… and, after letting out a deep breath, Timber cools down, looking contrite.
Timber looked at her apologetically, “Sorry, about that… it’s been a bit of a day.”
Twilight frowned sympathetically, thinking of the destruction of the cell tower from that morning. “I’m sure of that…” A bit cautious, she reaches out and patted him on the shoulder. “I’m sure it’ll work out.”
“Thanks, Twilight…”
Twilight brightening a little, tried to make a joke. “And hey, if it doesn’t, there’s always lumber you could chop up, right?”
Timber half-laughed at that. “Yeah… I think it’d take a lot more lumber than what we’ve got…”, he managed a smile, seeing her expression fall. “Thanks, though. I am glad you’re feeling better, alright?”
Twilight nodded, watching him start to walk away.
“Gotta go. Talk to you later,” and then he runs off to procure those tools Gloriosa had called for. Twilight watched him go, as Spike – calmed down now but still at her feet – woofs softly in concern. The bespectacled girl can only think--
What was that all about?
It was twenty minutes past midnight and Gloriosa still couldn’t sleep. The camp director huffed, and tossed and turned in her bed, shooting a dirty look to her alarm clock. Much as she wanted to, she just couldn’t go to sleep; there was too much going on in her head. Thoughts about the camp, about the cell tower, thoughts about whatever had damaged the cell tower…
She froze for a moment, as she heard her brother’s soft snores from across the hall. Gloriosa listened at first, and then sat up, frowning slightly.
Thoughts about Timber, as well… more like worries, really. Lots of worries.
Gloriosa sighed and climbed out of bed. Something told her that she wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight. She was too full of nervous energy. Sleep would have to wait. At least until she could put at least one of her worries to rest…
She carefully changed out of her pajamas and into a simple t-shirt and shorts, and carefully eased open her bedroom door and stole down the hall of the cabin, over to the door. She put on a pair of sandals, grabbed a flashlight, and gently stepped out into the cool night air.
Gloriosa flicked on the flashlight, keeping the beam of light angled towards the ground in the distance, careful not to shine it somewhere that might alert someone.
She set out for the woods – insane as that sounded, and she knew it. She moved quickly and quietly as her feet could take her, not down the main hiking trails that were for the campers, but along a smaller, nearly invisible path that you would only know about if you’d lived your whole life at Camp Everfree.
Gloriosa felt almost like a ghost in some ways, creeping through the dark like this. The thought spurred an unwanted memory of Gaea Everfree and that old campfire story, and it felt all too horribly real at this moment. She could imagine, vividly, the angry spirit of the woods watching her right now, timberwolves slavering for the chance to sink their teeth into her…
Stop that. She scolded herself. You’re a grown woman, you’re not afraid of the dark or of a ghost story!
No, just afraid of what’s in the dark…
“Ugh…” she groaned to herself, suppressing a shudder. She had reached the end of the trail and was at her destination.
The path through the woods opened into a clearing, surprisingly close to the quarry, that was ringed by a circle of old dark trees. They were spindly old things, with short thick trunks that branched out into long, crooked branches that forked regularly; under the pale light of the moon, they almost made her think of twisted, clutching hands, and she grimaced at the thought.
Oh, she hated this place!
But even so... she had to see this through.
She cautiously approached the nearest of the trees, focusing her light at the base of the trunk. Resting there, hanging off a branch, was a simple necklace, with a set of geodes strung along it.
For a second, Gloriosa thought the stones glinted at her, of their own accord almost…
Gloriosa's eyes closed as her fingers wrapped around the stone, thinking intensely. But a vibrant glow of energy erupted from the geode which made her pupils shoot wide open, as she felt the ground tremor around her. And then, it happened. Several vines erupted from the ground, wriggling and writhing like sentient tentacles. They grew bigger and bigger as they pushed their way out.
She freaked out and dropped the geode, not even hesitating as she ran as fast as she could. And when she did, the vines that were moving, suddenly stopped and laid limp on the ground like they had just been dropped from the sky. No longer did they possess the energy that had been harnessed to them, and now they were deceased. The counselor had no idea how to handle this, nor did she know if she should approach them again or just stay far away from them as possible. Gloriosa ran back to look, taking note that they had stopped.
And without much thought, she turned around and started to walk back to the cabin to get some rest. Completely unaware of what was happening, some of the wood from the dead trees started to bend all on its own...
Saturday came, and just like before, everyone got up, had breakfast, and got ready for another fun day of activities. However, before they could go wander off, Principal Luna had something important to say, hence why they were now all gathered in the courtyard.
"Good morning, everyone," Principal Luna declared to the students who were waiting to start their fun activities. "Next week, the rest of the campers should be here, and I know we're all still feeling a little anxious about the situation, but you must stay calm. Until we find out the source, I would still recommend you stay on camp and do not go hiking on your own without a guide or without more than four people with you. Until then, you all just keep having fun and try to relax."
The principal walked off to let them do their own thing, while Twilight continued to talk with her friends. "At least the Dazzlings and the rest of the girls will be here next week. Maybe they might stand a chance against whatever is out here," Twilight said with some hope.
"We don't even know if there even is anything out here," Applejack said, setting some lumber down for another batch of tables. "Flash freaked out, but we don't know if that even was a real Timberwolf he saw."
"How else do you explain his freakout? And considering everything else we've seen so far, I'm honestly inclined to believe him," Rainbow folded her arms.
"As much as I don't like the idea of another monster, Rainbow has a point. If there is something out here, then we should be ready and prepared for it. But if it's nothing, then we're all just freaking out over nothing," Twilight said. "I'm sure we can--dah, Spike, come on!" Twilight giggled, feeling Spike jump up and lick her face. "Okay, okay, I'm listening bud." Spike looked up at Twilight, tail wagging and panting happily, and Twilight just replied by petting him some more. "You want to play, Spike?"
And Spike answered with a simple woof.
"Okay, I'm coming, give me a second," Twilight got up. "Catch you girls later?"
"Of course, darling," Rarity nodded, smiling to see Spike so happy.
A soft electrical spark was heard zapping someone from the cell tower, which made everyone turn their heads over to Thunderbass who was less than happy. "Has the whole world gone CRAZY!?" Thunderbass yelled, slamming the wrench down on the ground. "Am I the only one who gives a flying feather about getting some help around here!?"
Everyone glared at him with very disturbed and petrified faces.
"... Dude. You have no chill."
"I can't help it, man! There's something out here, and I am not staying here to be eaten alive!"
"The chances of you being eaten alive are 0.000056% to 1," Micro Chips said.
"Never tell me the odds!" And a wrench went flying over their heads, even the girls.
"I hope Adagio and the others get here sooner than Monday, cause I don't think all of us can keep it together," Rainbow said, disturbed.
"That's one way of putting it."
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I'm glad to have been of service, Four.
This was a good chapter to work on, I think, and I really enjoyed a lot of the scenes here - in particular it was really fun and sweet to see that bit with Rarity, AJ and Coloratura 
And on a more serious note... I'm definitely invested in the story as we go further along. There's some spooky stuff going on at Camp Everfree, for sure! Wonder what it all entails, hmm...
I definitely like the bonding moment between Applejack, Rarity and Coloratura. It was sweet!
And yikes! What caused the tower to be destroyed? And Gloriosa did not take the geodes? Interesting...