Chapter 1: Twilight's Nightmare

E.Q.U.E.S.T.R.I.A Spies: Lightning's Version of Legend of Everfree (#9)

~The dawn was breaking in the city of Canterlot. The early morning sun hung low on the horizon, and shone through the round window of Twilight Sparkle's bedroom. The said girl was still sleeping in her bed, along with her pet dog, Spike, who was curled up on the chest at the end of it. He was sleeping like a log, Twilight however, wasn't. She began tossing and turning abruptly and mumbling to herself in her sleep. Deep within her mind, she was dreaming.~

"No, it can't be…!" She continued to mumble while thrashing in her bed sheets. "It isn't true!"

"Um, Twilight?" A shy voice suddenly called from outside the door.

"Twilight! The bus for Camp Everfree leaves in 10 minutes!" Another voice yelled, this one sounded raspy.

~The voices were two of her school friends, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Spike lifted up an ear as he heard them calling and awoke immediately. He rushed the door happily. Twilight then awoke at the sound of their voices. She sat up, rubbing her tired eyes before realising with shock that today is the day they go on a field trip to Camp Everfree, the campsite just beyond the outskirts of their city. She put on her glasses and hurried out of bed.~

"Oh, no no no no no! I can't believe I overslept!" She exclaimed.

~Spike jumped and pressed down on the door handle to let the girls in. Fluttershy and Rainbow entered, and Fluttershy instantly kneeled down to pet Spike while Rainbow bolted for Twilight. Six other girls then entered behind them. Lightning Star, Karly Crystal, Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity. The Rainbooms they are called altogether. They were all wearing camping-like outfits with the same logo on all the shirts, except Lightning and Karly, they were still in their regular outfits. They came wandering into the room all confused.~

"Me neither. That's not like you." Sunset Shimmer responded.

"I know!" Twilight replied.

Pinkie Pie walked over to the bed. "Don't you have a super annoying alarm clock that goes: Aeh! Aeh! Aeh! Aeh!?" Her eyes derped and she did some crazy movements.

~Vibrations were suddenly heard from underneath the pillows. Pinkie lifted up the first one to find the alarm clock, beeping. It read the time 6:04am. Sunset clicked on the button at the top and shut it off.~

"It's gonna be fine. We'll help you pack."

~She dragged a suitcase up upon the bed. The friends threw a couple of camping supplies inside for her, such a torch. Spike climbed up on the bed and dug his nose into the case. He shuffled the things inside before looking up, then happily, he panted his tongue out and wagged his tail. He watched as Rarity picked up a beautiful sparkling magenta dress and presented it to Applejack and himself, Applejack didn't look impressed in the slightest, however.~

She let out a groaning sigh. "We're gonna be out in the woods. When's she gonna need that?"

"If we were going to the moon, I'd insist she packed an evening gown. One never knows, darling." Rarity smiled, waving her finger.

"Isn't it night time all the time at the moon though?" asked Lightning.

"It is, yes. The moon doesn't have a sun or nitrogen, so daytime doesn't exist." Karly said smartly.

"Thought so. We have to pack her things she needs, Rarity. Like this." Lightning held up a water-proof coat and tossed it in the case.

"Hmph! Alright then." Rarity shrugged.

Applejack rolled her eyes smugly. She then turned to Lightning and Karly sadly. "It's a shame ya can't come with us to the camp, you two."

Lightning sighed. "I know. My dad states that you need to work and protect. So, I gotta follow his rules."

"Me too. In secret, that is." added Karly.

"We'll be fine. Keep us updated though. If mobile phones are allowed."

"I'm sure they are." Applejack nodded.

"Then yeah! Give us a call." Lightning winked.

~As Lightning continued her conversation with Applejack, Rainbow had just finished collecting a bundle of clothes for Twilight. The smart girl smiled and thanked her with a nod. Rainbow smiled back then raced off to throw the clothes into the case.~

"Let me just get changed." Twilight then said, picking up a shirt with the camping logo on it.

Lightning felt flustered. "Uh. Should we step outside?" She asked nervously.

"We're girls, Lightning. It's fine." Karly assured while rolling her eyes.

Lightning settled back to normal. "Alright, fine."

~Twilight gazed at herself in the nearby mirror, but before she could do anything, she saw wings appear on her back. A tall dark figure suddenly lurred over behind Twilight, she immediately knew who it was and looked at her reflection in horror. So did the others. They could also see what Twilight was seeing.~

"Midnight Sparkle!?" Everyone exclaimed.

"How's this possible?!" Twilight gasped. "Sunset Shimmer helped me defeat you at the Friendship Games!"

"You and your friends can never truly defeat me!" Midnight grinned.

~Her maniacal laughter echoed in the room. Then it began to tear open. The walls fell apart digitally and ever so easily. The girls were terrified. Their horror began to rise even more as they saw themselves fade away. Only Twilight remained normal. White squares and specks replaced where they stood, then too faded away. Their screams were the last thing Twilight heard. Sunset tried to reach out for her, but it was fruitless. Spike too disappeared along with them. Only Twilight was left standing. She pressed her back against the mirror in fright, only for Midnight to appear in her reflection and reach her arm out and try and grab her.~

"Midnight Sparkle's a part of you!" She reminded her.

~Twilight began to breathe heavily. The floor suddenly suffered the same fate as the wall and was ripped apart by Midnight. Twilight was now floating in mid-air in this pink sparkly void, and staring at her demon face to face. Midnight towered over the frightened girl. She scratched the void with her bare hands to show her dominance.~

"I'll always be there...waiting in the darkest shadows of your mind!" She haunted. "I'll be back, Twilight! And this time, I won't stop until I have all the magic!"

~The demon appeared behind her, with a grasp of her shoulders, she thrust inside of her. Twilight's eyes glowed the same as Midnight's, and her wings sprouted from her back, as well as a long pointed horn on her forehead. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, and wanted this nightmare to end.~

"No! STOOOOOOPPPPP!" She screamed.

"Twilight! Wake up!" She heard her faithful dog Spike say.

"We can't stop, silly! We're not there yet!" She then heard her bubbly friend, Pinkie Pie speak.

~Twilight awoke with a start. The piercing shriek of Midnight echoed away in her brain. She glanced around and saw that she was safely on a bus along with her friends, and several other students, all wearing their camp outfits. Pinkie and Sunset were sitting behind her, while Rainbow and Applejack were forwards. Pinkie was peeking on her seat, smiling. However Sunset looked concerned.~

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked.

Twilight pulled a weak smile. "Heh. I'm fine." She said.

~Sunset was about to protest, but was cut short when Pinkie Pie jumped in her seat.~

"We are gonna have so much fun! We're gonna roast marshmallows and eat marshmallows and sleep on marshmallow pillows!"

"Yeah, probably not gonna do that." Rainbow shook her head and chuckled.

"Maybe you're not…" Pinkie held up a bag of colourful marshmallows and smushed her head against it.

"Attention students," Principal Celestia suddenly called from the front of the bus. "We're almost there. But before we arrive, we just wanted to say how proud we are of you for raising enough money to go on this class field trip."

"When we were your age, we made some of our favorite memories in these woods, and we're sure you will, too." Vice Principal Luna smiled.

"Now, who's excited for Camp Everfree?!"

~All the students began cheering and waving their hands in the air. As did Twilight, but she felt her nervousness build up. She did eventually pull a small smile though before gazing wistfully through the bus window. Sudden knocking shockingly occurred from up above. Every person looked up at the sound.~

"What was that knocking?" A student asked.

"Oh, It was probably just a squirrel." The bus driver assured. "Must've dropped his nuts on the roof, the nutter!" He laughed.

"Yeah, nuts that sound like boulders?" Rainbow questioned.

~The knocking stopped, so everyone settled and continued on. Then, after a few seconds, the knocking came back, louder than ever. It sounded a little angry almost to the girls. Rainbow pulled an uneasy face.~

"Ok, that's definitely not a squirrel."

"We better go and check it out." Sunset decided.

~The driver halted the bus at the nearby curb. The principals and the seven girls strode off the bus, looked up above, and gasped. Two familiar girls were clutching onto the roof firmly. They smiled once they saw the Rainbooms.~

"WHAT THE!?" Rainbow screamed.

"HEY, GIRLS! IT'S US! LIGHTNING STAR AND KARLY CRYSTAL!" Lightning shouted to double her voice over the strong wind.

"What are ya two doin' out 'nd up there?!" Applejack asked profoundly.

"Well, After you left, Karly and I got bored immediately. Not a single call happened in the last 5 minutes, and I know that if nothing happens after 5 minutes, it'll be like that for the rest of the day! And I feared, it'll be like that for the whole week! So, Karly and I made the decision to come along to Camp Everfree with you! Don't worry, we packed clothes and everything. It only took a couple minutes! We secretly threw our luggage in with the rest and hopped on this very roof. We thought we'd make it up here 'til we arrived, but there are alot of tree branches that are scratching my face! And I can't cope with it anymore! So...can we come in?" Lightning finished breathlessly, as well as grinning.

~Everyone was completely speechless. Principal Celestia eventually looked down at the clipboard she was holding and found her tongue again.~

"Well, luckily, we do have 2 spots left open." She stated.

"And...I'm sure the counsel will be prepared." Vice Principal Luna added.

"Alright! That's good enough for me!" Lightning said, turning to Karly.

"Uh-huh. Thank you." Karly called to the principals.

"How long is it until we get to the camp from here?"

The principal looked about. "About 10 minutes- "

"Cool! That's enough time to listen to a couple songs." She pulled out her phone and earphones. "I couldn't get it up on the roof. Crazy Squirrels…" She mumbled in her teeth.

~With no issue whatsoever, Lightning hopped down from the roof of the bus and hobbled inside. Karly made it down with some help from Applejack. Lightning flopped down in a spare seat, and almost immediately plugged the earphones in her ears. Before she played a song though, Rarity approached her.~

"Um, does your father know you're here?"

"Nope!" Lightning responded with a smile.

~Rarity looked confounded, but took her seat back down. So did the others. Once everyone was ready again, they were on the move. Lightning was scrolling through her music playlist, then clicked on a song and listening to it happily.~

~Song: Opening Titles- (My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree)~

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