The Ultimate Camping Trip

by Scaly fiend

Camping trip

It was supposed to be a normal camping trip. One that the trio and their younger sisters (and adoptive sister) took every year. A nice, relaxing hike to a luxurious Grove where a nice, clear lake stood surrounded by luscious green foliage and soft green grass. The trip would normally be half a day hiking, and 6 days camping.
It was suppose to be fun, exciting, and maybe even a bit spooky once the scary stories started after dark.

But something had changed. Something had... tainted their campground. Something they hadn't noticed at first.

Upon reaching the well-known site, all 6 ponies failed to realize anything was wrong. It had started so normal, the nice (if a bit long...) hike up to the camping area was lovely. Warm, clear skies, birds chirping and singing. Each of the ponies sighed in relief as their eyes caught the gorgeous, clear lake that signaled they had arrived.

"Ah finally! Goodness, I almost chipped a hoof!" Rarity lifted her slightly-browned hoof to her face and frowned, still not use to the dirt that she knew would cover her limbs that touched the ground.

Applejack and Rainbow rolled their eyes while the 3 fillies giggled playfully at the fashion pony's complaint.

The 6 ponies trotted down the hill to the edge of the lovely, clear lake. Rainbow Dash started setting up her tent with Scootaloos help, and applejack started setting up the tents of her and her sister while Applebloom gathered firewood.

Rarity huffed and dropped a large cube of fabric she had managed to haul along with her. Her hoof pressing against the cube and the other 5 ponies gasped in aww as a tent jumped upwards and outwards from the cube and into a full sized, beautiful tent before their eyes.
Slack jawed, they stared at Rarity and waited for a response.

The fashion pony floofed her mane and looked over to her friends stares with pride, "oh this old thing? It's just something I whipped up a few months ago! Every year I struggle to pitch my own tent, getting my hooves gross and dirty, with a laugh or two from all of you ponies. So I figured, why not use my expertise of sewing and sizing, to make a tent worthy of a princess!"

Rarity smirked at Applejack's impressed smile. "Not so much of a stuck-up priss, now am I? I think you'll find I'm much more resourceful than you all previously thought!"

There was silence for a few moments, before Sweetie Belle piped up, hopping a few hooves into the air with a wide smile on her face, "Woah Rarity! That's amazing!" Her little voice squeaked.

Applejack stroked the back of her neck and eyed Rarity with embarrassment, "Wow Rares, that's actually really impressive! I never thought you would care about camping so much to do something like this!" Applebloom nodded her head enthusiastically.

Applejack's praise made the white unicorn blush and lower her ears. "Oh it was nothing darling, I just figured; why struggle so much every year if I can make my temporary abode fabulous and easy to construct!"

Even Rainbow and Scootlaoo sat slack jawed, the latter of which's eyes glowed with respect.

The rest of the day went normal, it was a bit past mid day when the ponies had arrived and it was now near dark by the time they had each set up their tents as well as the fire thanks to Applebloom's wood gathering.

Rainbow held a rubber hammer in her jaw and hovered above the last wood pole to her tent, smashing the hammer into the firm dirt and driving the pole deep into the earth. She held a hoof to her forehead and wiped away a few drops of sweat.

"Jeez Rarity, I may need to get myself one of those tents! You could make a fortune off of those things!" The rainbow pegasus dropped to the ground tiredly.

Rarity held a hoof to her mouth and giggled, "I'd be happy to make you one Rainbow! I already have a lovely idea for the design of the nylon..."

Rainbow stopped listening after her unicorn friend started a tangent about complimentary colors and excessive shape designs...

As she zoned out on her friends speech, her ears focused on the splashing of the lake nearby. The splashing waves seemed to get louder as she focused on it and it reminded her of the beauty of the location they had chosen for their trip. Rarity was content to talk to herself about her design, so Rainbow trotted up to the shore and stared out happily at the extensive water.

Looking over it, she couldn't even see the land on the other side of the lake, not that it mattered. The water before her was more than enough. The sun dipping on the horizon cast reflective waves of light that reflected and shimmered beautifully. The light-dappled waves crashed and and rippled in beautiful harmony, yet also seemed completely random and staggered.

Rainbow had never found herself finding beauty in nature. She had always just noticed things that caught her eye and that she found interesting. But she couldn't ignore the fact that these waves were so calming and peaceful.

Her ear flicked as the scene before her was broken by a break in the shimmering waves. An oval shaped splotch of dark had interrupted the reflections the shiny, crashing waves. She squinted her eyes to get a better look at the thing out in the lake, but couldn't make it out.

By this time, it had began to darken and the sky was a dark purple. The first inklings of stars were visible. Rainbow kept her maroon eyes on the shape in the water, but then quickly shrugged and turned to return to her friends. 'It's probably just a big piece of drift wood', she rationalized.

The campfire was large and hot, much larger than the ponies had managed to make on any of their previous trips. The three fillies smiled brightly at the spectacle before them, while their sisters smiled at the progress.

Scootaloo, who was desperate to prove herself as brave after being so scared by the stories the others had told in previous years, buzzed her tiny wings excitedly while sitting on the oak log next to Rainbow Dash. "So who has the first scary story? Bring it on! I'm ready!"

The 3 grown mares exchanged knowing smirks before Applejack cleared her throat. "Hmm... well I have a story... but I dunno if yall are really ready for it...."
Scootaloo squinted her eyes and leaned in, "oh I'm ready for it!" While her two friends glanced uncertainly at eachother. Weather it was because of their own fears, or because they thought their tiny pegasus friend couldn't handle it, was unsure.

The darkness around the ponies was broken only by the light of the fire and the sound of the crashing waves on the lake shore.

The bright orange fire flickered off Applejack's own orange coat, lighting it up slightly, and also very much darkening the areas it couldn't touch, as she began her twisted tale...

"I once heard a tale, from long, long ago. About a body of water, large and a-glow." The campfire light flickered awkwardly; becoming dark for a second before returning to its full glory. "Well this water sat, for so long undisturbed. Till ponies discovered it, and made it perturbed. Then the glow that it made had become dark and bleak, until this shining paradise had become something meek."

The other ponies around the one telling the story lost their smiles, feeling slightly disturbed by their friends strange story. This wasn't a sterotypical story told to frighten a friend. This felt... dark.

The orange pony continued, her eyes seemed glazed and unfocused as she stared at the forest beyond them all. "Well this shiny liquid had been forever changed. Once it had been touched, it became.... rearranged." There was an unnervingly long pause between the second-to-last and last word. About 5 seconds.

Rarity shifted uncomfortably and tucked her hooves under her. "Applejack... I dont like this story. The rhyming feels a bit uncomfortable. I know Zecora does it, but when she does it it never feels so...uneasy..."

The orange earth pony verrrrrry slowly shifted her unseeing eyes to the unicorn. The light from the fire seemed to barely reflect off of her coat the more the mare talked. Rarity shivered and tucked closer to Sweetie.

The orange pony turned her gaze slowly to the fire and continued,
"The nature of the water had been completely changed, she noticed the that the tides had rearranged."

"And once the mare had found that the mist had caught her, she realized that she... recognized the... bodies... in the... water...."

There was a thick silence among the ponies present. Each of their wide eyes were stuck on the earth pony before them. Each of them felt a cold shiver over them, even being so close to the large fire before them. Scootaloo silently gulped and shook, trying her best to be brave before her idol.

The silence had become uncomfortable. And then... the orange pony's eyes re-focused before she burst out into a fit of laughter. She stamped her hoof in the loose dirt and snorted as tears formed in her squinted eyes.

"I got yall good! Haha! I've been practicing my environmental story telling so I could spook yall real good this year! Hahaha! How'd I do? Best scary story of the year?"
There was a terrified silence, all the ponies seemed in complete disbelief at the 'story' that one of their best friends had just scared them with.

Scootaloo lost her paper-thin composure and started to sob into her hooves. Her loud crying caused her protective sister to hop to her side and put a wing around the poor filly. Rainbow gave her surrogate little sister sympathetic eyes before shooting Applejack an ice cold glare.

"What the hay Applejack! I thought we had agreed our stories wouldn't be super scary this year!" Rainbow's voice was angry and loud.

Applejack seemed to ignore her friends scalding tone and continued to giggle to herself, as if her story had been the funniest joke in Equestria. The farm pony wiped a tear from her giggling eyes. She seemed to be oblivious to Scootaloo's tears. "C'mon Rainbow, that wasnt even scary! It was just a 'poem'!" Applejack flipped her hooves in airquotes as she said the last word.

Rainbow leapt into an aggressive stance, body low and wings spread, as she stared Applejack in the eyes. Rarity gulped as she rose from her log and stood between the two friends. On either side of her stood an angry pegasus and an insensitive earth pony.

"Girls! Calm down, calm down!" Rarity demanded, then turned to Rainbow, "Rainbow, I know the story wasn't exactly... traditional, but I know Applejack didnt mean any harm to Scootaloo." She then turned to Applejack, "and Applejack, you really should listen to what we request and respect it" She leaned close to the earth pony to make sure her voice was quiet to all but the earth pony, "you know Scootaloo is very sensitive to creepy stories. You need to tone it down."

There was a thoughtful silence as the bonfire between them all flickered and crackled. Orange and yellow lit the air as the logs fell upon themselves and spit embers into the air. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle even shivered upon the log they sat on together. This whole interaction made everyone pause with discomfort.

Applejack sighed and bowed her head. "You're right. I'm sorry yall. This is a story I've been working on for sometime and I was just... so excited to share it" She turned to the orange pegasus who was still shivering upon her log, "I didn't even bother to consider how much it may effect some of yall."

Rainbow's eyes softened as she approached the orange farm pony. She turned her head to Scootaloo who shivered for a bit longer before meeting Rainbow's eyes. The little pegasus bravely hopped off the log. She met her mentor at her side and looked up at Applejack. "I-its okay, Applejack. I'm sorry my fear ruins the scary stories you all could tell and enjoy together..."

Applejack looked at the pegasus filly with sympathy. "Dont be sorry Scoot. It's my fault. I shouldn't have been so inconsiderate."

Sweetie Belle layed her hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder. "Hey, I was scared too Scootaloo, I just didn't wanna admit it... but that story really freaked me out!" She shared a small smile with her orange friend.

Applejack looked away with her ears lowered in shame. Rarity and Rainbow felt their hearts swell with sympathy. Rainbow waved at Rarity to follow her towards the apple bucking pony.

The 3 grown mares huddled together and Rainbow spoke quietly to just the 2 other grown ponies. "Hey, that story was terrifying AJ! It even had me a vit unnerved... Maybe the 3 of us should plan to have a camping trip just the 3 of us sometime. That way we can really go all out on our stories without scaring the fillies!"

Applejack smiled with shy pride and Rarity beemed in agreement. They each nodded their heads before breaking from the huddle.

Rarity quickly gained control of the situation. "Ok! Every pony ready for smores and then some much needed beauty sleep?"

The 3 fillies simultaneously cheered out as if the unnerving and uncomfortable moment had never happened and rushed to procure the smore materials.
The 3 mares sighed in relief.
***
The night had gone perfectly. They had each had a few smores, and Rarity had only complained once about the chocolate stains on her hooves.

Then all 6 ponies had retired to the tents they shared with their sisters as the campfire sputtered out weak embers as it died. All had slept well that night without a sound to disturb them or a nightmare to awaken them.
***
Apple bloom was the first to awake, yawning and stretching her tiny legs as she fought off her sleep. It was a bit of a cold morning, but it didn't bother her as her sister had set up insulating sleeping bags for the two of them.

The filly stepped out of the sleeping bag, slowly and quietly so as not to disturb her sister, and stepped out of the tent.
The groggy filly stepped out to find some breakfast, finding a hay muffin in the wagon they had packed their supplies in. She sat next to the charcoal that remained of the dead fire as she ate her muffin, the sky just barely a dark pink with the rising sun, a few stars still visible in the sky. She knew no one else would be awake for some time, she was use to being awake before all other ponies, even her hardworking farm siblings.

The yellow filly finished her muffin and decided to take a walk by the lake.
Her hooves skirted from the grass and dirt that the tents laid upon, to the sand and rocks of the shoreline. It was a lake so she knew she shouldn't get her hopes up that she may find shells, but the little filly still had a small hope in her that a conch shell or maybe even a sand dollar may wash up, despite knowing this was just a lake.

Applebloom didn't dare wander too far from the campsite as she remembered the scolding her sister had given her when she had done so years before; but the filly still wandered a fair bit away while keeping the tents within her line of site (even if they were just barely in site). The early morning waves lapped at her hooves, tiny bits of eroded rock swept in from the lake, being just enough to be exciting for the filly.

She siphoned through the thick sand hopefully. The thick beads of yellow and white sticking to her hooves. She gazed out into the lake, hoping to see some fish rising from the surface to snack on some bugs on the waters surface before it got to hot for them to retreat further down.
Her eyebrows furrowed as she saw something further in the lake. It was much farther than most geese or ducks went, and so it appeared small to her. It looked oval in appearance with small protrusions sticking out of it. She figured it was probably a trick of the early-morning light and so she paid it little mind. But her mind had stuck to it. She played in the sand a bit longer as the sun rose and cast away the stars.

After about fifteen minutes, her mind had drifted back to the sight in the lake and she saw it had drifted closer. She paused her playing as the figure was nearer the shore. It was pure black, and very unusual as it cut a hole in the perfectly shimmering waves. It seemed to have about 5 protrusions. Each stretching out from the oval in even intervals. Applebloom's stomach dropped as she realized it resembled the body of a pony if it's limbs were stretched in each direction.

The yellow filly's attention was caught as her older sister yelled out to her, asking where she was. The filly abandoned her sand adventure to trot back up to the campsite where her sister and friends had settled, competing forgetting her previous uncertainty.
***
Every pony had a nice breakfast of hay Muffins, and Rainbow had even packed a mobile grill to make hash browns and toast for everyone, much to Rarity's delight.

"Breakfast musn't consist of just one food-type darling!" The fashionsita had stated. Rainbow only rolled her eyes, though she seemed to agree.

The mares and fillies spent the day by the lake shore, playing in the sand making castles, figures, and objects. Sand always seemed like a great median of expressing oneself to each of the mares. And the fillies didn't seems to disagree at all.

Rainbow and Scootaloo had constructed a perfect recreation of Cloudsdale out of sand sculptures, while Applejack and Applebloom had competed on making the largest sand-apple. Meanwhile, Rarity drew dress designs in the sand and her little sister tried to copy her older sisters designs the best she could.

All of them had a great day of fun, excentuated by the peaceful crashes of the waves nearby. The tides would push water into the land, giving each of the mares and fillies damp sand to mold their creations with, then the water would retreat leaving behind more damp sand that quickly dried out.

Once the sun once again started to retreat behind the hills, the mares and fillies would abandon their creations and retire to their campsite and light a fire to cook their dinner and desert.

Tonight was canned beans and rice. The cooking pot they had packed was big enough for 6 ponies to feast on the contents. The sizzling of their food was a calming sound at the crickets started their chirping and the sun retreated behind the rolling hills.

The horizon was nearly black, but a bit of dark blue remained from the beautiful day Celestia had provided them. They sat beside their glowing fire munching on their delicious dinner.

Once again, the night had enveloped their campsite and it was time for some 'spooky' stories. Rainbow felt wary of what the others would say and therefore had spoken up to give the story.

"I've got a good one!" The Rainbow mare lifted her hooves to say. All eyes laid expectantly on her now. She smiled slyly as she raised her hooves as if to resemble a ghoul. The fire reflected off of her spookily.

"Once upon a time... there was a group of ponies. They had traveled far and wide to find the most beautiful spot in equestria, and their travels had paid off..."

Her eyes very slowly grayed out, as if she was being lost in her own story.

"They had found a beautiful body of water surrounded by a bountiful beach and luscious forest. It had seemed like heaven, all the food they could need and no other ponies to spoil their fun..."
The fire flickered and crackled loudly, causing everyone to jump except Rainbow. "But everything that seems like heaven, is never what it seems... see, the ponies had built a wonderful paradise for themselves. Comfortable beach huts, more coconuts and hay than they could ever eat, and clear, delicious water for them to drink for the rest of the time they stayed on the shore."

Rainbow's body seemed to slump a little, it was just barely noticeable to her greatest admirer: Scootaloo.
"But... something was wrong. This wasnt the paradise they thought it was..."
All the filly's eyes went from wide and interested to confused and little concerned.

"While they thought they had everything they could need, something did bother them. The water seemed to blot out at random points. Patches of black would appear in the middle of the lake they had called home."

"At first, they thought it to be a trick of the light, or a shadow of a cloud. But it soon became apparent these patches were really IN the water...."

Applebloom felt a pit in her stomach as she thought back to her morning; the splotch of black with the protrusions seemed much more important now.
Rainbow's eyes never moved, never reverted to their same light, as if she seemed entranced by her own story, "it started as one, on the horizon. But soon the patch moved closer, and then in the next few days more came forth. 2. Then 4. Then 8. They seemed to multiply exponentially..."

Rainbow paused. It was silent around them, even the fire seemed to die to a sizzle, as if waiting for the pegasus to continue.

Applejack cleared her throat expectantly, impatiently.

Rainbow blinked half a dozen times and the color returned to her eyes as she lifted her head to meet the gaze of her friends.

Rainbow's eyes widened as if she had just realized all eyes were on her, and she stuttered. "And uh... it uh... turned out that the splotches were just... algae! Haha how silly the ponies had been! They had even more food than they had thought!"
Every pony stared at her as if expecting more, confused by the abrupt change in behavior.

When they realized that that was the end, the filly's each laughed hesitantly.
Sweetie Belle was the first to speak, "haha, algae? How could those ponies be afraid of a plant!"

Applebloom chimed in less enthusiastically. "Ya! How silly... they must have been so... nervous!" She giggled very uncomfortably.

Scootaloo held a very unbelievable smile, as if trying to agree to her friends belief at the obserdity. She even giggled a little as if trying to write it off in her own mind.
Rarity and Applejack were less impressed. They gave their prismatic friend a raised eyebrow. Applejack squinted her eyes accusingly, as this was the same mare that had just last night scolded her about her story being 'too scary'.

Rainbow shot to her hooves. "Well! I'm sleepy as hay, why don't we all hit the sack?" She finished the sentence with a very dramatized yawn to accentuate her words.

Everyone mumbled in quiet agreement and all slowly retired to their tents after quenching the fire in water.
***
The next morning, everypony seemed to awake at the same time. It was mid morning, no stars shone in the sky and the sun was only 1/6 the way across the sky.

Each pony seemed to step out of their tents and stretch tentatively. Almost unnoticeable were the bags under each ponies eyes. Rarity's eyes seemed the least affected due to her perfect makeup.
Each other them smiled and sat together in the center of their campsite. Once again, Dash cooked some hash browns and toast, while Applejack wipped out a surprising treat of apple-cinnamon buns she had been hiding.

They eat ate together in near silence. Everypony could tell the others were a bit tired but dared not say a word, as they didn't want to admit they were tired as well.

Once breakfast was over they all decided a nice hike would do be nice (and maybe wake them up a bit). So they each packed a few things for a hike (a waterskin, some energy bars, and ponchos incase it rained).

They set off from their campsite, with Applejack carrying a compass to lead them back incase they got lost. This campsite was more or less their secret area afterall.

The mares and fillies walked together, each keeping up with their respective sisters. Though the fillies would eventually fall back to talk amongst themselves about a funny looking tree or cool looking flower. They especially loved the odd squirrel or bird that scampered by.
Applejack being the protective sister she was, kept the rear up and made sure none of the fillies fell behind her, while Rainbow kept the front up to scout ahead for any dangers or obstacles.

Rarity sat in the comfortable middle, admiring the natural arrangement of the flora, and the beauty of the sunlight reflecting off of different leaves and grass patches.

The groups had become a bit further apart than Applejack was comfortable with, with Rainbow completely disappearing from sight around a bend in the path.

Applejack felt a pit form in her stomach and so she rushed up to the fillies and ushered then forward. "Alright gals let's catch up with Rarity and Rainbow. We are fallin a bit behind."

The fillies groaned as they were herded, but listened and followed nonetheless. Their tiny hooves fell into a gallop to keep up with the orange pony as she tried to catch up with the other two mares.

Applejack was panting as she caught up with Rarity, who was busy studying a patch of hybrid clovers.

"Rarity did you see where Rainbow went? She rushed ahead real quick."

Rarity smiled at the shifting colors of the clovers then turned her attention to the farm pony. "Huh? Oh, sorry darling I was just admiring these colors. They could be a great addition to the summer collection this year!"

Applejack grunted and ignored her friend's fashion ramblings and ran ahead, leaving the fillies at the side if Rarity.
Rarity and the fillies watched Applejack race off in a hurry, each with a brow raised.

"What's got her mane in a twist?" Applebloom asked.

Rarity shrugged and started to trot off towards where her orange friend had headed. "I'm not sure, but we should probably follow her"

The 4 ponies trotted in the same direction they had seen the farm pony go for a few minutes before growing concerned. Their causal trot turned to a run, which then turned to a sprint.

The mare and the fillies panted as they tried to follow where they thought the two other mares had gone. They twisted and turned, following what they thought to be hoof steps in the mud, and calling out to the two who they hadn't seen in a while.

They snapped their heads every which way to try and find some clue as to where either of the mares had gone. It had began to set into evening at this point. The sun was still up, but the purple and blues of night were shining on the horizon.

Rarity grunted in frustration at her two ruffian friends. The nerve! Leaving their sisters alone! Rarity would never do such a thing!

The white unicorn lit her horn up even though the sky was still light enough to see, and led the fillies back the way they had come.

"I'm so sorry girls, I don't know what has gotten into those two! Them are their competitions...." she grumbled the last sentence to herself under her breath, though the fillies had still heard it. Hearing the grown pony speak of the situation so lightly eased their young minds slightly.

Rarity had hoped the two mares would meet her and the children back at the campsite. She lead the fillies back the way she had thought had been the way they came. As far as she remembered, she had taken all the correct turns. She even recognized some landmarks; a tree with a burn mark on the trunk, two rocks in the shape of ponies head; but as they continued walking, camp didn't seem to come closer.

She cursed herself for not bringing her own compass, but quickly drowned the thought out as a splotch of yellow came into sight. Rairty gasped in relief as she galloped towards the tents that had been set up for for campsite. The fillies galloped after her.
***
The 4 ponies waited a while for the other two mares to return...

First 15 minutes last without a sound... the half an hour... then 2 hours...

Scootaloo had started to shake with fear wondering what had become of her big sister and mentor. Rarity has reminded her 5 times now that going out to find the ponies would just get them lost, and that the two mares knew how to get back with Applejack's compass.

Rarity reassured Applebloom and Scootaloo that Rainbow and Applejack were probably just doing some silly race or other competition.

For a little bit, the fillies bought it. But as the light of Luna's moon descended on them and turned the sky from pink to black, the fillies began to panic.

Sweetie clung tight to her big sister, and Rarity encouraged the other two to embrace her too to keep them from panicking. Even Rarity was shaking a big from worry at this point.

The 4 ponies sat together crying and talking, all postulating what could have happened to tbeir beloved sisters. None of them brought up a worst case scenario, opting instead to suggest that the two wanted to see who would last the night in the woods without 'chickening out' and heading back to the campsite.

At one point as the fillies talked amongst themselves, Rarity's ear flicked up at a noise. For a second she thought thought heard the yell of Rainbow Dash. Rarity sat up and walked a few paces from the campsite, causing the girls to quiet. Rarity's ears were pointed towards where the sound came from. And a few moments later, she heard Rainbow's voice once again

"Scootaloo! Rarity!" It was so, so quiet. If she hadn't been looking out and listening for her friends she would have neve heard it.

"Scoots! Where are you!" Rarity snapped her head to the girls who stared at her in fearful concern. Scootaloo didn't move, keeping the same expression as the others.

"S-Scootaloo... did you... hear that?" Rarity asked tentatively.

Scoootaloos eyes grew wide as she shook her head 'no' slowly.

Rarity gulped. "Listen very very closely."
They waited once again, the silence near deafening. Not a breath could be heard from any of them.

"Rarity! Help me!" Rainbow's voice once again, just as quiet.

Rarity snapped her head to the foals, who just looked at her expectantly, as if waiting for a command.

"You didn't hear that?" Her voice cracked as she tried to keep it quiet amongst the pitch black around them.

The foals shakily shook their heads no, tears forming in their confused eyes.
Rarity stared back into the forest, her breath shaking and quick. She retreated to the side of the foals and ushered them all into her tent with her. She zipped it up as far as it was go, threatening to snap the zipper when it wouldn't go past fully closed.

She kept her horn out, not daring to make a beacon to their location. They 4 ponies huddled close together and shivered, not with cold, but with fear.
***
Eventually the 3 fillies had fallen asleep and Rarity stayed wide awake to guard the tent. She wondered if her friends were ok. They had camped so many times in this same forest... how had this trip gone so wrong?

She knew in the morning she would lead the fillies to safety and then return with a search party.

But for now, she didn't dare close her eyes. She was use to staying up for days on end to finish a dress or two for new clients and shows. She could do so for these precious fillies. Especially her dear sister.

Her ears snapped to every sound around the tent. A squirrel leaping from tree to tree. A deer breaking a branch. Leaves rustling the side of the tent....

Wait...

That isn't leaves....

Rarity shakily turned her head to face the sound of something on the tent. It definitely wasn't leaves, unless a dozen leaves decides to fall all from one tree onto the specific spot on her tent...
Rarity's face went pale as she saw the shadow reflected on her tent from the moon.

A dozen tiny hooves very carefully rubbed the edge of the tent. Not enough to scratch or damage it, but enough to be undeniably noticeable as hooves rubbing the nylon. Rarity clenched her jaw and tensed her body.

This can't be happening. I'm dreaming. This is a nightmare. Please Luna please... make it stop...

Tears silently fell from her eyes as her pin-prick pupils kept locked on the shadowy hooves. She wanted so so badly to cry out, but some instinct in her kept her throat from uttering a noise. She didnt even dare blink as tiny hoof after tiny hoof grazed her tent. Almost like a short, 10 hooved monster was gently pawing at the tent.

Her vision went blurry and time seemed to dilute. Nothing seemed to exist for a time. Not her, nor the fillies, nor the tent, nor her missing friends. Just multiple shades of gray confetti like a gray-scale of one of Pinkie's party canons.
***
She wasn't sure how long she had been out, but the sun had just began its ascent as Rarity's mind seemed to return to reality. As she snapped back to the present, she was sweating and panting. Her mane was a disheveled mess, but for once, that didn't matter. Her eyes scrambled over the environment, and she sighed in relief as all three fillies lay asleep at her hooves.

She looked each one over as if they were the most precious fillies in all of Equestria. Her panting breath slowed as she realized they had survived the night, but her heart ached as she thought of her two friends.
Alone, out there with that... multihooved nightmare.... or maybe it was multiple small creatures with a normal amount of hooves...

She shook her head. She didn't want to think about either possibility.

The white mare shook each of the fillies awake, making sure to put a hoof to their lips to signal to keep quiet. Applebloom was the last awake and she seemed to be instinctually quiet, not uttering a peep even as she arrose from slumber.

Rarity verrrrrry slowly unzipped the zipper on the tent. So slowly it was completely silent and took about 5 minutes to fully open. She peaked one eye out into her surroundings, seeing only the long-dead fire and the shoreline and trees ahead.

Shakily, she stepped out, snapping her head every direction as if daring some creature to come into her line of sight.
The fillies followed behind her, for once actually being silent and careful. They shaky hooves keeping them from moving to quick.

Rarity soon seemed to believe the immediate vicinity to be safe and she ushered the girls silently to her side. They followed her.

As she scanned the area, her eyes rested on the lake, where 2 distinctly dark shapes rested near the shore. Rarity squinted her eyes, then quickly widened them.

She turned to the fillies and with wide eyes, ushered them to follow her.
They quickly trotted to the lake, trying to stay as quiet as possible. The early morning light made the lake a light pink, but it contrasted deeply with the shapes that had seemed to wash up near the shore.

The girls stayed further back in the sand as Rarity trotted into the shallow depths of the water. As she approached, color seemed to be return to the two shapes floating before her. They seemed to match her size as well.... and they had 5 appendages....

Rarity gasped as tears flooded her eyes and she leapt into the murky depths to grab her pegasus and earth pony friends.
...
The fillies gasped as Rarity flung herself into the pink lake. They stood slack jawed. Was she trying to drown herself?

They waited a few moments, their hearts pounding so loud they were sure Celestia could hear them.

After a few moments the fillies screamed in unison as they each saw their greatest fear: 3 bodies floating on the shore of the lake. Each of which.... they recognized