A Long Needed Break

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"It can't be!" Twilight Sparkle was saying out loud in her sleep. She then felt her entire body being shaken before her eyes opened widely, to see rather than her evil counterpart, Midnight Sparkle, Next to her was her dog Spike, who had nudged her awake. He was safe and sound. She then looked up to see her friends, Pinkie Pie and Sunset Shimmer, looking at her from their seats, the former with a wide grin while the latter was looking at her with a concerned expression. They were fine as well. Twilight looked around to see that she still on the bus with the rest of the peers to their destination, Camp Everfree. Everything was as normal as could be.

"What can't be? That we're going to the most fun place on the entire earth or at least in the entire country?! Well, it's true!" Pinkie Pie told her happily as she got a bag of marshmallows from her hair and clutched it tightly.

"Twilight, is everything all right?" Sunset asked her, as Twilight let out a nervous laugh.

"O-of course it is! Everything is normal." She said in a fake cheery tone. In reality, it was the opposite. This was the 4th nightmare she had about Midnight Sparkle coming and erasing away all of her friends before taking over her body. She clutched herself to feel more secure.

"With that yelling, you could've have woken up Sonic." Tails told her from the seat behind. Twilight and her two friends along with Spike turned around to see Sonic was fast asleep on his seat next to Tails. He was snoring loudly.

"He's still sleeping? He's been out since we left?" Rainbow Dash said from a seat ahead as she was seated next to AppleJack.

Tails shrugged. "Sonic woke up pretty early this morning, which is something he hates to do. If he can't get his 8 hours of sleep, he won't be able to run properly." He explained as all eyes were on the napping blue-haired teen.

"I wonder what he's dreaming about?" Manic asked from the seat across as he sat next to Silver, who was enjoying the scenery as they drove past.

"Probably all the marshmallows we'll have when we get there!" Pinkie guessed happily as she rubbed her cheek against the marshmallow bag.

"That's what you'd dream about." Rainbow Dash responded

Sonic then began to stir a bit. "You know everything I'm going to do, but that's not going to help you since I know everything you're going to do, strange isn't it?" He mumbled to himself as the others laughed after hearing such a weird quote. Twilight let out a small smile. Guess she wasn't the only one who talked in their sleep.

Twilight then began to look around the bus. As she looked back, she saw Rarity, who was looking at herself in a small mirror as she was with Fluttershy, who was reading through a pamphlet which described the nature of Camp Everfree. Across from them was Knuckles, who was eating some grapes as a quick snack. Seated next to him was Shadow, with his arms folded and an expression which showed he'd rather be somewhere else as he stared into space. His eyes then met Twilights. As he did, Shadow gave her a tiny glare, which took Twilight back a little as she turned away from him and looked ahead to see Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna in the front as they were making an announcement.

"We hope you make as many memories at camp as we did." Luna was saying.

"I hope you're all ready for Camp Everfree!" Celestia as most of the bus burst into loud cheers. It was then interrupted by the loud snoring of Sonic, as the entire bus turned back to him. He was drooling now. Some students snickered as Luna frowned while Celestia just shrugged as the bus headed towards the camp. After not too long, the bus entered the camp entrance with as Fluttershy, Spike, Silver and Pinkie Pie looked out, with Pinkie being really excited. Sunset and Rarity were both checking their phones as Manic looked out with a bored expression. Rainbow Dash started to burst with excitement as Knuckles stretched his arms. Shadow just still looked disinterested as Twilight looked ahead in front of her. AppleJack had joined Sonic in his napping but she was much more discrete about it. Finally, the bus entered the campgrounds and came to a halt. The students then began to get off as Sonic woke up after making a loud yawn. He looked and saw that they were at the camp.

"Wow, what a great nap!" He said as he rose up.

"We could tell." Sunset said with a chuckle as she exited the bus.

After everyone had disembarked off, the students then began to head to the front of the bus to collect their luggage. Fluttershy looked around and was in awe at what she witnessed.

"This is amazing! It's even better than what the brochure looked like. I've never felt so in touch with nature." She gushed at the sight of the camps vast trees and crystal clear blue lake.

"You see any squirrels around?" Spike eagerly asked. "Ones that look like they need chasing?"

"Why would you chase squirrels? They're so small and cuddly." She asked.

"Which is what makes them so chasable." Spike responded as Fluttershy looked stumped.

"Dogs will be dogs." Manic said as he took out his bag.

"Gotta say, you're right, Fluttershy. Looking at this reminds me of the view on Angel Island." Knuckles said as he came next to Fluttershy and joined her in admiring the camp beauty.

"Ah'm just lookin' forward to actually being out in the wilderness. Me, putting all ma skills to test against the natural world." AppleJack excitedly said as she put her hands together at the thought of such a challenge.

"AJ, we're at a camp, not some kind of nature survival thing." Rainbow Dash informed her as AppleJack rubbed the back of her head, a little embarrassed at her eagerness.

Rarity let out a sigh as behind her, Silver was using his psychic powers to levitate all of her luggage, which she had overdone as usual.

"I'm finally glad to have a chance to relax after everything that's happened at school." Rarity stated,

"You said it! With the evil sirens, the ultra-competitive school, Sonic's evil twin, a dream world, two crazy she-demons, a gen-" Pinkie started to say before she remembered that two of the 'crazy she-demons' were right next to her as she blushed a little and covered her mouth at her mistake. Twilight looked a little uneasy as Sunset just put her arm around her reassuringly.

"Yeah, with CHS attracting all that weird stuff, it'll be nice to get away from it," AppleJack admitted.

"Well, not get away from all of it. Who doesn't like a little adventure now and then?" Sonic said as he began to do leg stretches.

"Going off on that, Sonic, do you think you and the guys could tone it down with the super powers? I mean, we're used to it, but the camp staff probably wouldn't be comfortable with seeing what you can do." Sunset requested as Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and Manic faced her and the rest of the Rainbooms.

"Tone it down? I dunno, I've never tried that, but I guess you have a point there. I'll try my best." Sonic said as Knuckles and Tails nodded.

"No promises." Manic casually said before everyone glared at him and he sighed. "Fine."

After hearing that, Silver dropped all of Rarity's luggage, making large thuds as Rarity turned around in a surprised manner.

"You heard her. Good luck with your suitcases." Silver said as he couldn't help but smile as he was relieved he didn't have to carry all her bags around. He went off to get his own things, leaving Rarity looking dismayed at how much she had to carry.

"Yo, faker. You heard that, right? So none of this 'Ultimate Lifeform' stuff, got it? In the camp activities, we'll just have to see who's naturally better." Sonic taunted to Shadow as he finished getting his bag.

"Hmph. You make it sound as if that'll be a challenge." He retorted.

"Too bad Shadow'll never tone down his Ultimate Ego." Rainbow whispered to AppleJack, who giggled a bit.

As Sonic turned away from Shadow, he looked and saw a dejected looking Flash Sentry, who had just come from an awkward talk with Twilight. He had a thing for the other Twilight and was hoping he could share it with this one. Unfortunately for him, he found out they were two very different people. Sonic saw his look and as he walked past him, Sonic patted him on the back.

"You'll get it next time, buddy." Sonic as Flash turned to him with an unsure look.

Just then, everyone heard a loud shriek coming from the speakers as they all covered their ears due to the noise.

"Hi, campers! Please head to the courtyard to start the most amazing week of camp ever!" A cheerful voice said over the speakers. Upon hearing this, the students made their way over to the courtyard.

When the crowd of students arrived, in front of them, they found waiting for them on a stage up front, was a young woman with reddish-pink skin matching her hair color as she wore sunflowers in it. Next to her was someone not much older than the campers were as he was brown skinned and had green hair on his head. He was wearing attire similar to their camp get up.

"Hi, everyone! My name is Gloriosa Daisy and I welcome you all to Camp Everfree. I'm the camp director. I'll be your guide and friendly camp instructor." The woman told them with a microphone before she handed it to the teen next to her. "This is Timber Spruce, my younger brother."

"I'll be that awesome guy who'll join you in fun things." He introduced as he showed off a little with the mike as his sister rolled his eyes.

"And they say I have an ego." Sonic whispered to Tails.

"Before camp starts, we want to hear what you all want to do to make this the best camping trip ever! Whatever you want, we'll do it!" Gloriosa proudly announced.

"Except go near the rock quarry. You can't do that." Timber interjected as Gloriosa gave him a slightly annoyed look before she returned to her cheerful smile.

"But, everything else is on the table!" She stated as she held the mike out to the crowd. Rainbow Dash was the first answer.

"Archery...no Swimming....actually Tetherball...no wait..." She said in a yearnful manner, unable to make up her mind before Sunset put her hand on her shoulder, indicating she should chill out as she stopped talking. Gloriosa continued to pass the mike around. Hearing nature walks and cookie decorating from Pinkie and Fluttershy was no surprise but arts and crafts from Bulk Biceps was quite the shocker. She then came in front of Tails.

"Model plane building?." He suggested as Sonic, Knuckles and Rainbow Dash smiled slightly at this. Everywhere he went, Tails always wanted to try out and invent new things.

"You betcha!" Gloriosa agreed as her brother gave her an odd look. That was not a usual camp activity. The mike was in front of Silver.

"Star gazing?" He answered.

"That sounds lovely. I'll get mattresses for everyone!" Gloriosa answered. She then put the mike in front of Shadow, who stood forward with his arms crossed and a very disinterested expression. It was silent for a while as Shadow didn't even answer and just looked forward with his expression. Timber formed a confused look as Gloriosa kept her smile. She then backed up a bit to her brother.

"What kind of guy is this?" Timber whispered.

"Maybe he's just shy." She whispered in response before she went back to presenting Shadow the mike with an even bigger smile. He still stood there, without a word as Timber scratched his head and the campers turned to each other. Finally, Sonic came to him.

"Say something." He said through grit teeth as Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Campfire stories." He said as he just picked something off the top of his head in a bored tone.

"Great idea!" Gloriosa said before she gave the mike to Rarity, who suggested a fashion show of all things, which Gloriosa actually agreed to, much to Timber's shock and confusion. That was going too far.

"Don't forget about the camp gift!" Celestia shouted out loud.

"How could I forget? Of course, that's involved." Gloriosa said, which made Timber take his sister aside slightly, leading to a little squabble between the two siblings which Sunset picked up on.

"The camp gift is the most crucial part of the experience here at Camp Everfree. It symbolizes the bonds and growth that is formed during your time here." Gloriosa explained as she began to mention past ones such as a sundial, which was from Celestia's generation, which Luna didn't seem to happy about.

"I can't wait to see what you come up with! Gloriosa stated as she was met with more cheers. " Now, let's assign tents!"

The campers were then divided by gender as the guys went with Gloriosa while Timber dealt with the girls, much to Manic's dismay.

"What? No co-ed tents? That's boring." He grumbled as Sonic just rolled his eyes as they followed the boys to get tents as Gloriosa walked around with a bag containing slips of paper with precious gems.Manic reached his hand in and took his out.

"Beryl?" He said as held it up.

"Manic, you're with me." Tails said as he held up the same slip of paper.

"I can deal with it. Between the others, you're probably the best roommate." Manic said as he came and put his arm around Tails. "Now, think of me as your new big bro." He added as Tails seemed a little confused at the idea.

Shadow reached in and he took out his slip. He then opened it up.

"Quartz." He just said. Hearing this made Silvers' ears perk up as he looked at his paper and saw he had received the same gem as Shadow and he seemed surprised The two looked at each other as Silver flashed a nervous smile while Shadow's face didn't change. They had never really spoken to each other, so it was a pretty awkward.

"Move it." Shadow told him as he walked ahead, with Silver trailing to go find their tent. Silver walked past Sonic, wearing a ' help me' sign on his face. He wasn't sure how this was going to turn out.

"Ok then..."Sonic began to say as he opened up his slip of paper. "I got...Topaz." He and Knuckles both said at the same time before they turned next to each in complete disbelief. They quickly looked back at their gems before again at each other. The two of them were going to have to share a tent....for the entire week. Their faces showed they both weren't really on board with the idea before Sonic let out a sly grin.

"Well...looks like you and I are in a tent together Knucklehead......you don't snore do you?" Sonic teased as pointed to Knuckles' chest as Knuckles grinned as well.

"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time for your beauty sleep. As long as you don't annoy me enough to knock you in." Knuckles shot back.

"Is that so? Don't worry, it'll be like I'm not even there."

"If only that was the case."

AppleJack and Rarity were both next to Tails as they observed Sonic and Knuckle's tiny feud.

"Hoo, boy. Is it really a good idea to have the two of them sharing a tent?" AppleJack commented.

"Those two should know better. We are on vacation after all." Rarity said with disapproval.

"Honestly, if you have Sonic and Knuckles in one place long enough, someone's going to throw a punch. This should be interesting." Tails answered.

Twilight had just received her assignment and was finished talking to Timber, who she had hit it off with immediately with some jokes on her gemstone. Her friends had noticed this but Twilight was a little shy about as she turned from them. There, she noticed Shadow, who was still looking at his stone. Honestly, Twilight had a feeling that Shadow didn't particularly like her. Sure, the others had told him he's not the nicest person, but with him, she could feel as if he had some kind of problem with her. She didn't understand why, but she wanted to change that.

"(Ok, maybe if I try talking to him, he'll warm up.)" She thought as she approached him.

"Shadow." She said as he turned around and saw her calling him. His expression hadn't softened, which made her a little uncomfortable but she still pressed on with talking.

"That's a Quartz you have there. Did you know that it's the second most abundant mineral from the planet's crust? It also has a lot of variations to it, like amethyst and or...." Twilight started to say before she saw Shadow's expression still remained as unfriendly as ever and her voice began to trail off.

"...Vermarine." She now said in a small voice, now even more unsettled.

"Why should I care?" Shadow said with a hint of hostility in his voice.

"Oh...I just thought that maybe.....you'd like....to know....some...facts....about....your.....stone." She said in a somewhat anxious tone.

"Don't waste my time." He dismissed as he walked off, leaving Twilight feeling even worse than before. So much for warming up.

Gloriosa announced that they would be getting ready for the docks in around fifteen minutes. Just as she did, a long black limousine arrived in the middle of camp and out emerged a man wearing a business suit and smug grin alongside a money decorated tie as he approached Gloriosa. The man, known as Filthy Rich seemed to have tension with the camp director, which the campers noticed. He was there for a while before he took his leave, still sporting his smug grin. As he left, he noticed Manic and frowned.

"Cut your hair, son." He said as he headed into his limousine, causing Manic to touch the tip of his hair as Gloriosa explained or rather, covered up, the situation with Filthy Rich. Hearing this made the campers head back to their tents. In their tent, Sunset started a conversation with Twilight as they were joined by Spike.

"I can't help but feel that Gloriosa wants to hide something, especially with that Filthy Rich guy. The whole thing seemed kind of weird." Sunset was saying as Twilight stared out with a disinterested look. Sunset noticed before she formed a slight grin.

"I noticed you got along well with her brother. He's cute, isn't he?" Sunset teased as Twilight blushed a little.

"He's nice." Twilight said before her look turned a little melancholic. "Just wish Shadow could be almost as nice as him." She added under her breath, which Sunset barely heard, only making out Shadow's name.

"Shadow?" She said, not expecting to hear his name. "Well, he's cute too, if only he wasn't so brooding."

"Oh, that's not what I meant!" Twilight quickly said, which left Sunset a little embarrassed now at what she said and she blushed a little.

"Oh, well, nevermind what I said." She said in a flustered tone. "Anyway, with me around, you have nothing to hide."

"Who said I'm trying to hide anything?" Twilight said in a rather defensive tone, which took Sunset back.

" I was just joking around. Twilight, are you sure you're alright?" Sunset asked.

"With that nightmare, I'd say you're a little shaken up." Spike added as Twilight sighed a little and explained a little of her baggage to Sunset about the Friendship Games incident...

Outside, most of the campers were already outside as Sonic noticed that Knuckles had placed his things in his tent before he did to avoid being in the same room and causing their little squabble to escalate.

"This should be fun. A week with a guy as stubborn as a rock." Sonic said to himself as he walked to where the others were after putting his belongings down. "Still, I can imagine Silver's not exactly having the time of his life with Shadow as his roommate. Talk about unlucky.

Twilight was running pretty fast as she nearly bumped into Sonic, who stopped her in her tracks. She seemed a panicked which Sonic could tell by the look on her face.

"Wow, Twilight, where's the fire? You feelin' ok? You seemed kinda freaked out." He asked as she faced him. Twilight remained silent. She couldn't tell him about her just suddenly lifting objects as if they were nothing. She didn't want to accept it. What if it was a sign that Midnight Sparkle was returning?

"Yep, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? Everything;s under control!" She said with a nervous smile.

"Well ok, but you know if you ever need anything, you can tell me, alright?" Sonic told her as Twilight bit her lip. If only she could actually do that.

"Sure thing." She said as she walked past him to the dock as Sonic looked on. As he turned around, he saw Sunset Shimmer emerging from her tent with Spike.

"You know if something's bothering Twilight? She seemed shaken up about something." He asked her.

Sunset was going to tell Sonic about Twilights power before she suddenly remembered how she didn't want anyone else to now about it, so she kept silent about that as she and Spike exchanged glances.

"No, not really. Maybe she's feeling a little bus sick after being on the bus for so long." Sunset said as Spike nodded in agreement as Sonic just raised an eyebrow. Something about her answer seemed off. Just then, Gloriosa came past the two of them.

"Come on you two! The best thing ever is starting!" She urged as she headed to the dock, still wearing her smile.

"Sheesh, she gives Pinkie a run for her money in the happiness department." Sonic noticed

"Yeah, kind of creeps me out." Sunset said to him and Spike.

The two of them alongside Spike then headed off the dock to join their fellow campers to begin their week at camp.

Settling in

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Sonic, Sunset, and Spike joined the others as they waited around the area near the docks, giving them a perfect view of the lake while Gloriosa was explaining the activities regarding the lake. The students took the time to admire it, as it was completely clean and against the sun, it seemed as if it was sparkling, 'like a diamond' as Rarity would put it.

Well, everyone except for Sonic as he stood back as Sunset and Spike got closer for a better look. He was looking a little nervous. In fact, he was the farthest away from the dock.

"Wow, this looks incredible. I've never seen anything this beautiful." Silver said as he just stared at the lake.

"You're starting to sound like Fluttershy when she's around nature." Rainbow Dash stated with a little laugh.

Silver shrugged. "Granted, I haven't seen that many beautiful things considering where I come from, but I can still appreciate just how great this is."

"You have the right idea, Silver." Rarity agreed. "Can you imagine, the image of the moon shining as the fashion show carries on. It's going to be glorious!" She added with a squeal.

Silver rubbed the back of his head. This wasn't the image he had in mind.

As Fluttershy was feeding the ducks, she turned around and noticed that Sonic was so far away from everyone else. He looked as if he was trying not to be seen as he was slowly tiptoeing backward, but she didn't get that.

"Sonic!" She called out, as he froze and turned to see her calling out to him. He sighed out loud as now he was in the spotlight.

"What are you doing over there? Come join us at the dock." She said as Sonic forced a nervous smile.

"Oh, hehe. I'd love to Fluttershy, but the thing is...I...uh...have..to..." Sonic was saying as his eyes darted around.

"He can't swim. He's afraid of the water." Manic casually said as Sonic shot him an annoyed look while Fluttershy covered her mouth in surprise.

"Thank you, Manic." Sonic answered in a sarcastic tone.

"Come on, Sonic. You can't be afraid of a little water. Scared of getting wet?" Knuckles teased as Rainbow Dash giggled a bit as Sonic gave him a glare.

"Don't start with me Knucklehead."Sonic shot back as he grumbled a bit and kicked the sand as he put his hands in his pockets. This wasn't his best moment.

"Don't you worry!" Gloriosa called out to him. "While you're here, you can have swimming lessons."

Hearing this made some students snicker a bit as Sonic could feel his face turning red with embarrassment.

"No, thanks. I think I'll just stick with my dry land." He answered.

As he did, Twilight slipped and a piece of the dock broke. Luckily she was caught by Timber before she fell in the water.

"Point proven." Sonic added from afar.

Twilight nearly falling had led to some chemistry between her and Timber, which Flash Sentry unfortunately witnessed. Sonic turned left to see him as he was finishing up a talk regarding him and the other Twilight from Equestria. Sonic approached where he was as well and gave him another pat on the back.

"Don't feel bad, man. " He told him as Flash gave him a little dejected look. Just then, Luna began to speak.

"Right now, this dock is too dangerous for anyone to use. I think it's best if we keep it closed." She suggested, making all the students groan and Gloriosa didn't look too happy.

"Oh no, no lake activities. What a shame. I guess we'll have to focus on other stuff." Sonic said in a fake sad tone, which wasn't fooling anyone.
Tails gave him a look, which made him shrug.

"I don't mind patching it up. Anything to make your week of camp the best!" Gloriosa happily offered.

"Or better yet... we can do it! This whole dock looks pretty old anyway. I think I've just figured out our camp gift! We can fix the dock!" Applejack brought up as the campers except for Sonic cheered. So much for avoiding the lake.

"I don't know. I mean, I wouldn't want you guys to be so worried about fixing the dock, you don't get to enjoy your own week." Timber brought up with concern.

Rainbow Dash reassured him, stating it the Wondercolts had a reputation to uphold, which further fueled the student's ambition to fix the dock. Timber didn't seem too pleased, contrary to Gloriosa's attitude, which Sunset noticed.

The students then returned to their table and began to work on ways in order to improve the dock. Tails and Twilight headed to the main development regarding the design and dimensions, while the rest of the Rainbooms and the others suggested further additions. These included a sign, a box to feed the animals and lights even. It sounded like a lot of work but it was sort of exciting as well. Sonic sighed, not too keen on rebuilding it but he didn't want to ruin the mood so he just chimed in as well.

"Let's get building!" Pinkie yelled enthusiastically.

The students then started their own work on the docks as they brought wood or worked on further designs. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails headed to where Rainbow Dash and Applejack were as they patched up the dock, carrying pieces of wood.

"Okay then, we'll have this fixed in two seconds flat." Sonic said as he laid down his wood and prepared to zip around.

"Remember what Sunset said? No super-powers." Rainbow Dash reminded him as Sonic stopped and he crossed his arms, a bit.

"But then this is going to take forever!" He protested.

"It won't be so bad, Sonic. You can appreciate the value of the time spent in organizing and planning." Tails said as he got to building.

"And a hard days work!" Applejack added as Sonic still didn't seem to keen on working slow.

Knuckles walked past Sonic and set down his pieces of wood on the floor and started to hammer his nail. He then noticed that Sonic was still hesitant to get on the building dock board and he rolled his eyes.

"Sonic, you can't avoid the water forever. Get on here." He told him.

"It could still break." He insisted as he slowly approached the floor.

"Seems sturdy to me." Applejack replied.

Sonic looked and when he saw Knuckles face, he knew he wouldn't let him live it down if he didn't get on the dock. He sighed and began to get to work on it.

Silver had a piece of supplies around and some wood, but he seemed a little lost at what do. He just held the tools in mid-air, not sure which does what exactly.

"Silver, are you okay? You seem a little confused." Sunset asked him as she came next to him with her own supplies.

"Sort of. I mean, I've used my powers for a lot of things, kinda getting used to relying on my hands for once." He admitted.

"Well, there's a first for everything." She said. "I can help you out."
She added as she started to give Silver some advice on how the tools worked.

As Manic, Fluttershy, and Rarity worked on designs for the dock, Shadow was finishing patching his part of the dock before he realized he had run of out nails. He went up to go find some, walking past Twilight, who was chatting with Timber and she saw him. She remembered the last time she had tried to strike up a conversation. Maybe she had come across too strong. She decided it wouldn't hurt maybe to try again.

"Shadow." She called as he turned around, still having an unfriendly face and she started to have second thoughts. "Ummm, do you need any help?"

"I'm fine. You can mind your own business now." He answered quickly.
Twilight looked a little dejected at his cold response. Timber noticed and he frowned a bit as he put his hands on his hips.

"You didn't have too many friends growing up, did you?" He said in a somewhat snarky manner.

Shadow just have him a slight glare before he walked off. Timber then turned to Twilight.

"What's with him?" He asked her.

"I wish I knew." She said in a soft tone as she rubbed her arm.

It was beginning to get dark as the campers worked and around then, they decided it was a good place to stop. Gloriosa then announced that it was now time to tell campfire stories alongside s'mores, much to Pinkie's delight.

Later, when the moon was out, the campers alongside Timber were surrounded by a campfire as Rarity was telling a 'scary' story. Well, at least to her.

"Her dress was purple and burgundy!" She shrieked as she put her hands on her face.

She looked around to see that everyone else just seemed confused or had blank expressions on their faces.

"And then she died?" Silver asked.

"Heavens, no!" Rarity answered. "The story is already scary enough."

Everyone else just exchanged looks and murmured amongst each other, still not getting how the story was meant to be scary. Rarity noticed this and realized that her idea of scary wasn't shared by everyone and it was silent for a while.

"That was... interestin'." Applejack said finally

"Does anyone have a real scary story?" Manic asked as he looked around before his eyes landed on Shadow. "Come on Shadow, I'm pretty sure you're messed up enough to tell a good one."

Shadow responded by shooting Manic an intense glare and he quickly turned away after he noticed it, trying to avoid eye contact.

"I've got one. Fair warning, it's pretty scary, so hug a friend if you're feeling scared." Timber brought up.

Immediately after he said, Pinkie immediately zipped from her seat and wrapped her arms tightly around Shadow, as he grunted due to how tight she was. He fumed a bit as he gave Timber a 'why'd you have to say that?' look while the other campers braced themselves to hear his story.

Timber explained that his great-grandparents had arrived at the forest and decided to build a camp on the land. In doing so, they had earned
the wrath of a nature spirit known as Gaea Everfree, who did not like trespassers. His terrified great-grandparents had managed to convince the spirit to let them build their camp, but she promised that they wouldn't have it forever and she would one day reclaim. The story was doing a good job at scaring most of the campers, especially Fluttershy.

"If you come across a trail of gem dust, know that it belongs to... GAEA EVERFREE!" Timber finished as the students screamed except for Shadow just as Gloriosa emerged from the bushes behind them at that exact moment.

"Sorry, I hope you didn't scare you too much."She apologized after seeing the campers reaction.

"Don't do that!" Sonic yelled.

Sunset looked a little suspicious to Gloriosa as she raised an eyebrow.

"What were you doing out in the forest so late?" She questioned.

"Me? Oh....I was just....taking a night stroll, that's all." Gloriosa nervously and quickly explained. "Anyway, it's pretty late, you should all head to your tents!" She quickly added as Sunset still observed her with a suspicious look. The students then began to get up and head to their tents. Fluttershy was still pretty spooked as she hadn't let go of Spike yet.

"Oh... maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tell that story at night." She whimpered to the others.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy. You've got to nothing to fear if I'm around." Manic said in a confident manner as he placed his arm around her as they walked over.

Suddenly, rustling was heard in the bushes, making Manic quickly get behind Fluttershy. The rustling stopped and two little squirrels came out of it. Fluttershy then turned to Manic, clearly not impressed as she let Spike go on the floor and Manic blushed.

"My hero." She said sarcastically.

"Anyway, there's nothing to be worried about darling, it's only a legend." Rarity brought up.

"You never know. I mean it doesn't sound any crazier than the stuff we've seen." AppleJack reminded her.

"She's right. For all we know, Gaea Everfree is real. Maybe she came from Equestria." Rainbow Dash added.

"I'm hoping she's real. I don't mind a little R and R, but a guy like me needs his dose of action every now and then." Sonic said as he stretched his arms.

"You want there to be some kind of evil nature spirit lurking around?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah, sounds kind of exciting. Don't tell me you're scared too, Knucklehead?" Sonic teased.

"After today with the docks, I don't think you can rip on anyone for being scared." Knuckles said with a smirk as the others laughed a bit and Sonic became silent and he pouted slightly. Knuckles had a point there and he hated when he was right.

"I hope it's just a myth. After the Friendship Games, I've had enough of crazy out control monsters." Tails said.

Hearing this made Twilight wince as she held her head in shame. Everyone else, including Tails, realized what he had said and he regretted it. All eyes were on Twilight now.

"Oh Tails wasn't talking about you darling, he obviously meant Scourge, right?" Rarity quickly said as she turned back to Tails.

"Y-yeah! That's who I was talking about! Not you." Tails agreed, but it was too late, Twilight got the message.

"Ok. Well, see you guys tomorrow." Twilight said glumly as she headed off without the others to her tent as they watched on.

"Wow, I feel terrible. I didn't know it was still bothering her that much." Tails said with remorse as Sonic put his hand on his shoulder.

"It takes a while to get over something like that, believe me. Twilight still getting in the phase of coming to grips with what happened and is trying to put it behind her. In the meantime, we shouldn't bring it up." Sunset suggested as the others nodded their heads.

"Why not? It's the truth, isn't it? It happened, no amount of denying it won't change that." Shadow suddenly said as now he was the center of attention.

"Well, Twilight's still sensitive about it. We need to consider her feelings." Sunset said as Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Are you serious? Whether she likes it or not, Twilights going to have to deal with the consequences of her actions." Shadow replied.

"I get that. What I'm trying to say is that she needs time to." Sunset explained, but Shadow didn't seem that interested.

"Take it easy, Shadow," Sonic added. Hearing this just made Shadow walk off ahead of the others.

"You're being too lenient." He simply said as he headed to his tent.

"Someone sure is a grumpy bear." Pinkie commented as she and others saw him head out.

The next morning, Sonic yawned loudly as he woke up. He looked around in his tent to see that Knuckles had gotten up earlier than he did and had made his bed. He then rubbed his eyes a bit.

"I can't believe Knux and I actually slept in the same tent and nothing happened. Granted, we were pretty tired from last night." He said to himself before he quickly got ready for the day and then emerged from his tent.

As he was out, he saw Derpy and Sandalwood sailing on the river as Fluttershy was feeding the fishes next to Silver. Sonic frowned a bit.

"I don't care what Gloriosa says, I'm not getting anywhere near that lake." He said to himself as he continued to look around.

Shadow too came out of his tent shortly a bit after Sonic. He covered his face due to the brightness of the sun as he squinted and sighed as he looked around the camp.

"I should've just contacted Rouge and see if maybe G.U.N had some missions for me or something." He said as he crossed his arms and walked ahead.

As he did, he saw Twilight and Sunset who were walking in his direction but they didn't seem to notice. Twilight seemed a little shaken up and Sunset looked as if she was trying to convince her of something, which caught his eye.

"I wonder what could have her so worked up". Shadow thought before he and the two girls heard a loud crash coming from the dock.

They turned to see that Derpy and Sandalwood's boat had smashed itself into the newly built dock as Silver and Fluttershy stood back. Other campers headed to the sight.

"No, I didn't mean to!" Twilight exclaimed with panic, which Shadow heard as he suddenly turned around to her and Twilight with a curious expression.

"Didn't mean to do what?" He asked as he approached her and Sunset.
Twilight realized she had spoken out loud and seemed even more distressed.

"That's not important. We need to see if everyone is alright." Sunset responded

"You can answer me now. What are you talking about? Twilight, why did you say that?" Shadow demanded.

Twilight seemed too panicked to answer as she clutched her hands tightly and Sunset spoke up for her.

"Shadow, not now, okay?!" Sunset firmly insisted as she stared right back at him. Before he could speak, Sonic came and put his arm Sunset and Twilight.

"What are you guys doing over here? We need to make sure no one got hurt." Sonic said as he quickly took the two of them away as Shadow lowered his eyelids a bit and trailed behind.

"Thanks." Sunset whispered as Sonic gave her a wink as now they joined the others to examine the scene.

"What in the heck happened?" Applejack asked.

"When our boat was stuck in the lake, this sudden burst of wind just appeared and pushed us forward." Sandalwood explained.

Hearing this made Twilight form a look of guilt as the students began to chatter amongst themselves as she slowly backed out.

"Aw, man. The dock is ruined." Knuckles complained. "We just fixed it yesterday."

"Guess we'll have to patch it up again." Rainbow Dash said as Manic groaned.

"Oh great, normal people work again." He stated.

"How can you be like that? Without this runway, my fashion show is at stake!" Rarity exclaimed in an overdramatic manner.

"It's a dock and the camp experience is at stake." Silver reminded her.

"That too." Rarity answered as Applejack rolled her eyes due to this.

As the students murmured, Shadow looked in the crowd and he picked up that Twilight wasn't there. He looked around and when he turned back, he saw her heading into the woods.

"Why she's running away? Unless"... Shadow thought.

He looked to make sure everyone else was preoccupied before he discretely began to follow her.

Shadow headed into the forest, looking for signs of Twilight as he walked deeper.

"Where could she have headed to? And more importantly, why did she come here in the first place". Shadow was thinking before he suddenly heard her voice and stopped to hide behind a tree.

Shadow peeked from it to see Twilight sitting down in front of a small pond and she was talking to herself, as if she was trying to reassure herself somehow. Shadow listened further as she did.

"They mustn't see the midnight in me..." Shadow heard her say and his eyes widened a bit as he got behind the tree again.

"Midnight inside her, huh? I knew I was right to be cautious after all. If there’s a risk of her going out of control again, I need to keep an eye her, make sure that doesn’t happen".Shadow decided.

Enter the Magic

View Online

As Sunset was walking around the camp looking for Twilight she noticed her tent and began to approach it. She immediately noticed Sonic walking past in front of her and the two of them stopped in their tracks to chat.

"Sonic, I'd just like to say, thanks for helping me and Twilight back there." She began.

"Don't sweat it. What was Shadow's deal anyway?" He replied.

"I'm not sure. He just started asking the two of us what happened. He seemed pretty hostile, even for him. But I feel like this was more directed towards Twilight for some reason." Sunset explained.

"Twilight? What problem could he have with her? Man, I was hoping he'd cool it with his bad attitude. We're on a break!" Sonic stated.

Sunset put her hands to her chin. "Your guess is as good as mine. Speaking of Twilight, have you seen her around? I haven't seen her since the dock crash."

"No." Sonic answered. "Is she okay, by the way? I bumped into her earlier and she seemed pretty freaked out by something. You have any idea why?"

Sunset bit her lip. She promised Twilight she wouldn't tell anyone about her whole issue with Midnight Sparkle, even their friends. She just shrugged.

"Could be anything. If you see her, let me know." Sunset answered as she began to head into her tent.

Sonic responded with a thumbs up as he watched Sunset disappear into her tent.

Later In the forest, Sunset had managed to convince Spike to come along as they searched for Twilight. Good news was that they found out that she was okay; she was even with Timber.

Due to the chemistry they saw happening with the two of them from a nearby shrub, they decided to wait on talking to Twilight about her issues. As Sunset got up from her shrub, she didn't notice that Shadow as also accompanying her from afar, observing Twilight from a nearby tree. He was in deep thought at what he had heard earlier about Twilight.

I can't let her out my sights. For now, it's likely she was responsible for the dock incident based on what I heard. She has some power and if she can't control, then there's a problem. He thought to himself before he vanished in a blue flash.

Back at the campground, Rarity was doing rock climbing with Applejack spotting her under Celestia's vision. In line, an impatient Rainbow Dash was waiting alongside Knuckles and Silver as Rarity seemed quite nervous, even if one of her best friends was watching her back.

"Rarity, hurry up!" Rainbow Dash called from below, impatiently.

"Don't rush me! I'm getting there!" Rarity called back in an equal vocal pitch.

"By the time you're done, it'll already be night!" Rainbow Dash retorted.

"It's not hard. I do it all the time." Knuckles said to try and be supportive.

"Well, Rarity doesn't have spikes on her knuckles and isn't as strong as you are." Applejack reminded him.

Twilight had emerged out of the edge of the forest with Timber and the two of them parted ways as Timber went to check up on his sister. As Twilight began to walk forward closer to the campground, Shadow teleported in front of her, startling her a bit as she jumped back.

"Shadow?!" She called out as she managed to regain her composure. "What are you doing?! Sunset said to hold back on your powers, remember?"

"Hmph, I could say the same to you." He replied, in his usual brooding manner, making her confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just trying to make sure that everything is under control, that nothing dangerous happens again."

Now Twilight began to feel uneasy. His words were oddly specific. Was it possible? Did Shadow know about her issues with Midnight Sparkle?

"I still don't understand?" She nervously said.

"Sure you don't." He cryptically answered as he just simply walked away, leaving her not in too good of mood as she held her arm again and put her head down a little.

"Twilight!" She heard Sunset's voice say as she turned around to see her holding Spike, briefly snapping her out of it.

Before Shadow could move ahead further as he walked past Flash, Bulk and Derpy, he heard a loud rumbling noise along with the others, causing him to turn around.

"What now?" He said before he noticed a trail of crystal gems on the floor alongside the other students.

"When did that get here?!" Bulk cried out loud.

At the rock stand, Rarity squealed out in fright as she desperately hung on to her rope.

"Someone get me down!" She demanded.

"Rarity, are you okay?" Silver asked her from the bottom.

"I will be as soon as someone gets me down!" She yelled.

"I gotcha!" Applejack said as she began to pull the harness.

She felt as if she didn't use that much force, but when she tugged, her hands began to glow and Rarity suddenly was sent coming down towards the ground at high speed, much to everyone else's distress. Rarity shrieked as Applejack managed to get a hold of the harness rope before Rarity hit the ground.

"APPLEJACK, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?" Rarity screamed as she got down.

"Ah'm sorry! Didn't mean for that to happen!" Applejack replied in a defensive manner.

"Maybe the rope is a little loose or broken." Knuckles suggested.

"It seems fine to me." Celestia said as she examined the harness.

Sunset, Twilight, Spike, Shadow and the rest of the nearby students arrived at the scene.

"Ah didn' even pull that hard. It was like Rarity weighed nothing." Applejack said in a confused manner.

"Talk about my weight some other time! I don't need to be insulted after I almost fell to my doom!" Rarity told her with a glare.

"Here, let me help you with tha-" AppleJack started to say as she saw Rarity was having trouble with the harness but Rarity held her hands up in defence.

"I think you've helped enough!" She snapped as suddenly a giant white diamoned shaped projectile emerged from her hands and pushed Applejack away into a nearby stream. A splash was then heard.

Much to the surprise of everyone present as their mouths hanged open save for Shadow, whose eyes simply widened.

"And we were told to keep our powers in check." Knuckles said.

"Rarity? How are you doing that?" Silver asked her approached her.

Rarity looked down in awe at her hands and what just happened before she turned to Silver.

'I'm not sure. I-" She was saying as another projectile was created and nearly hit Silver in the head before he ducked just in time.

"Oh my! I didn't mean to-" Rarity continued as she stuck her hands out and two projectiles emerged as one began to push Knuckles away as he struggled to move against it while Silver held the other in his place with his psychic powers in a green aura before crushing it into pieces.

As Knuckles grunted as he was pushed away, he clenched his fist and shattered the diamond as he let out a sigh.

"I'm so sorry!" Rarity said as both Knuckles and Applejack walked back after being pushed away.

Applejack was soaking wet and she didn't look too happy. Rarity was now focusing on her hands, still having a hard time believing what she had just done.

Shadow kept quiet during the whole situation and as he did, he saw Twilight wearing a guilty expression, just like the one he saw before. This caught his eye.

"I think Applejack needs a towel. I'll go get her one." He heard her say as she walked off just as Sunset volunteered to go with her.

Shadow saw the two of them walk off and he could tell Sunset was trying to reassure Twilight.

This was unexpected. Her powers are getting unstable but to think it could affect the others.

In the camp kitchen room, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Manic looked on as Tails was placing the last few drops of frosting on cookies.

"Easy....easy.....done!" He said as he squeezed the last drop to finish a picture of the Canterlot mascot on the second to last cookie he decorated.

"It's about time." Manic said.

"Hey, decorating cookies requires just as much precision as mechanical repairs." Tails said in a defensive tone.

"I seriously doubt that." Manic said with skepticism as he moved to the back of the kitchen to search for some frosting.

"These cookies look amazing. I'm sure everyone's going to love them." Fluttershy stated.

"Yeah. But you know what they could use..... more sprinkles!" Pinkie said as she took out the sprinkle jar in her hand and began to pour some in her hand as she tossed them around like crazy.

"Take it easy, Pinkie. I think you're-" Tails started to say before he was caught off by the sprinkles suddenly beginning to glow, surprising him and Fluttershy.

"Uh...." He said stumped

"Wow! These must be special kinds of sprinkles!" Pinkie said in awe.

The sprinkles continued to glow and they began to shake uncontrollably as if they could burst.

"Oooooohh!!!" Pinkie said. "So pretty!!!!"

"I don't like the look of that." Fluttershy said with concern as the sprinkles grew more unstable as they glowed more aggressively.

"I think something's about to blow. We should take cover!" Tails suggested as he, Pinkie and Fluttershy came down beneath table just as Manic approached with a can of frosting.

"Okay, now let's finish the- what the?" He said in a confused manner as he came in front of the glowing sprinkles.

BOOM!

A loud explosion occurred as Fluttershy yelped and Manic was blown through the doors of the kitchen and he slid against the floor before he stopped in front of Sunset and Twilight, much to their shock. His face was covered in glitter and he was dazed.

"Manic! Are you ok?" Sunset asked as she and Twilight helped him rise to his feet.

Manic coughed out a puff of pink smoke and held his head.

"What happened?" Twilight asked.

"In there." He answered as he pointed forward. The three of them entered the kitchen to see Tails, Fluttershy and Pinkie, the latter who had large smile on her face and the whole room covered in dough.

"What's going on here?" Sunset asked.

"We- we were just decorating our cookies and then-" Fluttershy started to explain before Pinkie interjected.

"The sprinkles went boom! Like this!" Pinkie said as she took some sprinkles in her hand and it made a smaller explosion.

After the pink, glittery, dust cloud vanished, everyone's hair was sent back.

"How did you do that?" Tails asked Pinkie in a bewildered. "I mean, you've done a lot of things that aren't possible but this is just crazy."

Pinkie shrugged. "I dunno, but it's fun!" She started to reach for more sprinkles but Sunset grabbed her hands.

"Why don't we lay off the explosions for a while?" She suggested.

"I'll get cleaned up." Fluttershy said as she went to the back of the room to look for some cleaning supplies.

As she struggled to reach some and asked for help, she drew the attention of a nearby bird. As it chirped, Fluttershy found herself.... understanding it and actually engaged in a conversation. Manic noticed her talking to the bird.

"Uh, Fluttershy? Did that explosion rock your head a bit?" He asked, as she turned to him alongside the bird.

The bird suddenly chirped again.

"What? No, you can't use his hair as a nest. I don't think he'd like that." Fluttershy told the bird as Manic raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you talking to?" He asked.

Before she answered, Fluttershy found herself surrounded by an array of birds and she looked a little uncomfortable. This caught everyone else's attention as they looked on.

"Was it... the birds?" Sunset asked

"Uh... yes?" Fluttershy nervously answered.

Just then, Rarity and AppleJack entered alongside Knuckles, Silver, and Shadow.

"Did you guys hear? It was so weird. When I lifted up Rarity, I felt like I had more strength than normal. Like.." Applejack said.

"Super Strength?" Knuckles finished.

"Yeah. That perfectly describes it." Applejack agreed.

"I, on the other hand, was able to create the most magnificent diamonds out of thin air. They were gorgeous! Now, come to think of it, Knuckles, Silver, you two shouldn't have shattered them. I mean, such a waste of fine jewelry. I-" Rarity went on.

"Uh, Rarity. Can you focus on what's important?" Silver reminded her as he stopped her from getting even more off track.

"Ahem. Yes. I could make diamonds appear out of thin air." She explained.

Applejack looked around the room and then she scratched her head.

"Come to think of it, has anyone seen Rainbow Dash?" She asked.

Before she could receive an answer, a rainbow streak came through the door and zipped past everyone before crashing into the wall, revealing itself as Rainbow Dash.

"OW!" She said as she rose up from the floor with Applejack's help.

"Rainbow Dash? What happened to you?" Tails asked.

"I don't know! I ran to get a harness and then the next thing I knew, I was halfway across town!" She exclaimed.

"You were moving so fast. Like Sonic." Rarity noted.

"What's like me?" Sonic said from the door as everyone turned around to see him. "I was napping and then I heard a bunch of screaming. Anyone care to explain what's happening?"

"Well, as of now, we just learned Rainbow Dash has super speed." Twilight said, making Sonic eye's perk up with interest.

"What?! When and how?!" Sonic eagerly asked her. "This is awesome! Now we can finally race! I still expect to win of course."

"I'm not sure about either of those things. When I was town, I noticed my speed was gone until I got back into camp." Rainbow answered.

"What? That means-" Sonic said.

"Camp is giving us magic powers!" Pinkie yelled out loud.

"Wait, it's not just Rainbow?" Sonic asked as the Mane 5 nodded.

"So does that mean the whole no super power embargo is gone? Finally?! I was getting so bored without my speed." Manic said with relief.

"Hold up, Manic. I mean, I haven't gotten anything and neither has Twilight." Sunset stated.

"Are you certain?" Shadow asked as all eyes were on him now and Twilight looked uneasy.

"Seems that way." Sunset insisted.

"Maybe it's just uncontrollable." He suggested.

As he said that last word, he turned to Twilight and she tried her best to avoid eye contact.

"I think it's something at the camp." Sunset said.

"What? Gaea Everfree? That's just a story... Right?" Tails said.

Everyone else looked a little unsure. In this world, it might as well be true.

The doors opened once more, making Fluttershy scream, but it just turned out to be Gloriosa with some towels and a hat for AppleJack. When she saw the mess, she lowered them to the ground.

"Uhhhhh....What happened here?" She asked slowly.

"You're asking the wrong people." Sonic told her.

As more students arrived with camp issues and Timber informing her that Filthy Rich had returned, Gloriosa, with an upbeat smile, returned outside to deal with all the problems. As she did, an announcement regarding paper lanterns was made.

"Ya know, despite all this crazy magic stuff and the fact that being super strong is cool, I still want to try and have a normal summer." Applejack decided.

"I'm with you. I'm not sure if all this magic stuff is the best for the camp. I'm starting to like this place." Knuckles agreed.

"What Knux, you're not afraid that a girl's stronger than you, are ya?" Sonic teased as Knuckles gave him an annoyed look.

"How'd you like to take a swim, Sonic?" Knuckles shot back as the two of them gave each other cocky smiles.

"Applejack has a point, I think we can deal with this later. For now, we should try and enjoy camp. I mean, it's why we came here in the first place." Sunset said as mostly everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

There were still so many activities that they each wanted to undergo.

"What? Still no powers? Ugh... fine." Manic reluctantly said before he joined the others as they headed out, except for Shadow, who was still going over the whole situation.

Now they all have super abilities. She's getting more and more unpredictable. What would be-? Shadow was thinking before he was suddenly grabbed by Pinkie, who yanked him outside, interrupting his chain of thought.

It was now the evening and the campers were now decorating their lanterns with Gloriosa and the two chaperones overlooking. The Mane 7 were decorating their lanterns with their respective cutie mark symbols. Pinkie was an exception as she put.... marshmallows on her, hoping it would be beautiful and delicious.

Sonic decorated his with his trademark head symbol, Tails drew two fox tails, while Knuckles put the Master Emerald with Silver using the cyan symbols and his gloves and Manic depicting two drumsticks with a thunderbolt between them. The group was together at the tables, except for Twilight, who was alone with Spike.

She was worried that she was infecting her friends via Midnight Sparkle deep within her and was talking with her loyal companion to try and find a solution. Meanwhile, Timber, having made his own lantern, was going and checking the ones made by the campers.

"All right. Nice work, everyone." He praised before he stopped to look at the one Shadow made.

It was...unique. He had a drawn a red swirl of some sort with four spikes emerging from the top and one large one at the bottom. Timber was perplexed as he scratched his head.

"Uh... if you don't mind me asking, what is that?" He asked, causing Shadow to turn around and face him.

"If you must know, it's a symbol of who I am. Who I was created to be. It represents my resolve to never let my past consume me again and I choose my own destiny." Shadow explained to him as Timber just looked so lost at what he had just heard.

There was an awkward silence between them.

"Huh... neat." Timber finally said as he backed away slowly. Okay... he's weird.

Gloriosa then announced it was time to let the lanterns fly as the campers approached. As they did, Timber got to meet up with Twilight, liking her lantern and showing her his, which was of his face. Unfortunately, she didn't seem too interested, leaving him stumped as she walked off, still troubled. Shortly after, Sonic came up to him.

"Hey, you did your face. Me too!" Sonic said as he displayed his lantern.

"Oh, nice." Timber said as the two of them fist bumped. "Sonic, was it? Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Sure, shoot." Sonic replied.

"It looks like you know Twilight pretty well. Right now, it looks like she doesn't feel like herself. Do you know if anything's bothering her?" Timber questioned.

"Man, I wish I knew. Not gonna lie, I've been wondering about that myself. I hope she's okay. But if I learn anything, I'll let you know." Sonic offered.

"Cool. Thanks, man." Timber said as they fist bumped again.

The campers gathered around and all together, they released their lanterns into the air. The night sky was filled up with a variety of lights as they lanterns were like stars to accommodate the glowing moon. It was truly a sight to behold as most of the students looked on in awe. Pinkie's didn't float, but it didn't bother her too much as she still had a tasty treat. Shadow, as usual, wasn't too impressed, which Gloriosa noticed.

"You don't look like you're having fun." She said in a cheery manner behind him as he turned around and noticed.

Shadow just shrugged. "I don't have much fun."

"Well, this is supposed to be the best camp experience ever. Is there anything I can do to make it better for you. Anything at all?" Gloriosa asked eagerly as Shadow's expression was still the same.

"No."

Gloriosa eye's twitched a little with frustration but she kept on a smile.

"You'll come around! Remember, just come to me when it comes to you. I got this!" Gloriosa stated.

"So you say." Shadow replied, still in his brooding voice.

As the lanterns entered the sky, Twilight looked on. It made her a little better seeing all of the beauty, but right then, she realized what she had to do.

Later that night as Sunset was still asleep, Twilight had managed to pack all of her things alongside Spike. She was careful enough to not wake Sunset as she and Spike quietly left the tent.

"I'm sorry, Sunset." She said softly before she left .

Twilight and Spike walked out. It looked like all the other campers were asleep.

"Twilight, are you sure this a good idea?" Spike asked her.

"It's the best way. I can't risk ruining my friends' summer." Twilight insisted. "I-

Twilight was cut off as she saw the lights on in a nearby tent. She and Spike quickly went behind it to wait out for a while. As they did, they heard voices.

"Who would've thought the girls would get powers here of all places?" Silver was saying before he yawned out loud and climbed into his bed.

"You could say being around that Twilight girl is full of surprises." Shadow answered from his mattress as he sat straight up.

When Twilight heard her name, she listened even more.

"What does that mean? What does Twilight have to do with this?" Silver said quizzically as he turned to face Shadow.

"You remember that event at the Friendship Games where she went out of control and turned into that monster. What I'm saying is, what if she still can't control all that darkness inside her? We need to keep an eye on her." Shadow replied.

"Shadow, I don't think you're being fair. Come on, what happened back there wasn't her fault." Silver said.

"Whether it was her fault or not, it was still her who transformed. She had access to all that magical power, there's a good chance it's still lingering deep within her. It could be the cause of everything here." Shadow went on. "We have to be cautious of her and monitor her activities, so that doesn't happen again. She's a potential threat to everyone here."

Twilight had heard enough. Shadow was right. She was a danger to everyone. She had to leave now.

"You see?" She told Spike. "We should leave as quickly as possible."

Twilight stood up and continued onward throughout the forest.

"Knuckles, Knuckles, Knuckles...Wake up, Knucklehead!"

Knuckles slowly opened his eyes and before him, he saw Sonic, fully dressed and up and ready.

"Good, now that you're up. Let's go." Sonic told him

"Go do what?" Knuckles asked in a tired tone.

"What do you think? We're going to find Gaea Everfree."Sonic informed him.

"Why do you want to do that? It's just a story anyway." Knuckles said.

"Yeah, right. You've seen all the things that are happening. It's no coincidence. Anyway, let's go." Sonic insisted.

"I'm tired." Knuckles said as he pulled the sheets over him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Man, I didn't figure you to be the cowardly type. Guess you really were spooked by that story." Sonic said with a sigh.

Hearing this made Knuckles shoot straight out of bed as gave Sonic a glare.

"I'm not scared anything, especially not some dumb nature spirit. If it'll shut you up, I'll come with you." Knuckles snapped.

"Cool. I'll be waiting outside of our tent." Sonic said as he left to allow Knuckles to get ready. As he stood outside, he chuckled. "Heh, works like a charm."

Knuckles came out after a few minutes, which seemed like forever to Sonic.

"What took you so long?" Sonic asked impatiently.

"Gimme a break. Now what?" Knuckles asked

"We head to Tails. He should be up by now. I sent him a text a while back." Sonic answered.

The two of them headed to Tails tent and sure enough, they found him already outside.

"Nice. Hey, is Manic getting ready or what?" Sonic asked.

"He said he's not interested.He said he's too tired to deal with this." Tails explained.

"He's not the only one." Knuckles replied in a groggy tone.

"Oh well, his loss. All right guys, let's head out." Sonic declared.

The three of them headed towards the forest and began to march out deeper inside of it.

"So, what do you plan to do after we find Gaea Everfree?" Knuckles asked.

"If we find her. I still doubt that she exist." Tails said.

"Be open-minded, man. Anyway, I dunno. I figured I'd just go with the flow." Sonic said with a shrug.

"I'd like to avoid a fight if we can, but I'm ready to knock some heads." Knuckles said as he cracked his fist.

Tails suddenly stopped, which both of his friends noticed as they turned around to see why.

"What's up, bro?" Sonic asked.

"Hey, do you guys hear that? I hear voices, from this side." Tails said as he began to go left through some trees with Sonic and Knuckles following.

"-And the rest of our friends can be there for you, too. But not if you run away." The three of them heard Sunset say.

They looked and saw she was talking to Twilight. It turns out, Sunset had received a power. She could read others thoughts and emotions as long as she was in physical contact with them.

"Sunset, Twilight?" Sonic said out loud, making the two girls turn to see him with Knuckles and Tails.

"Sonic, Knuckles, Tails? What are you guys doing out here? At this hour?" Sunset asked.

"We're supposed to be looking for Gaea Everfree. What are you doing out here?" Tails asked.

"Who's running away?" Knuckles added.

Twilight looked uneasy, not sure if she was ready to explain but Sunset put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and gave her a nod. Twilight returned it.

"Like I said, our friends can help." Sunset said in a reassuring manner.

Twilight then turned to three of them. "I was."

"Why would you do that?" Knuckles asked.

Twilight sighed.

"I'm afraid. Of Midnight Sparkle. I'm afraid that I'm losing control over her power and she's infecting all of my friends. Causing all this stuff to happen." Twilight explained to the three of them.

"So that's what bothering you." Sonic realized.

"Twilight, that's ridiculous. You don't know that for sure." Tails told her.

"It's what I said. Twilight, don't blame yourself for something you're not entirely sure of." Sunset told her.

"But it could be. It's why Shadow doesn't trust me. I overheard him telling Silver that he thinks I could go out of control again and I'm afraid he might be right." Twilight confessed.

"Ah, that faker. That explains his attitude." Sonic said as he rolled his eyes.

"Twilight, you've got to stop beating yourself up over this. No one holds it against you." Knuckles told her.

"Shadow does." She said softly.

"Well, that's just him. Listen Twilight, we're your friends, so if you're in trouble, you should let us know instead of being all secretive about it.
All that angst might turn you into a female Shadow. And speaking of which, I'll talk to him. But right now, it's important that you stay." Sonic reassured her with his hand on her shoulder.

Twilight looked up and she looked around to see Knuckles, Tails and Sunset smile at her alongside Spike. Seeing all of her friends support, made her feel better.

"Okay, I will. But, I don't want the others to know about this just yet. And I don't think I should be too close until we know for sure what's going on." Twilight said.

"That's okay." Sunset said.

Suddenly, the 6 of them heard rustling in the bushes, startling them a bit.

"What was that?" Tails said.

Suddenly, out of the bushes, Timber emerged, holding a giant ax, scaring the living daylight out of everyone as they all screamed and he did too.

"Wait, Twilight? What are all of you doing out of your tents?" Timber asked.

"The better question is, why are you out here with an ax? You look like some psycho!" Sonic exclaimed.

"I was chopping firewood for tomorrow." Timber explained. "Anyway, why are you guys out so late?"

"I was sleepwalking and Sunset helped me find my way." Twilight said. Timber then turned to Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails to hear their explanation.

"Oh, we were looking for Gaea Everfree." Knuckles said as Timber gave them a strange look.

"You actually want to find the spirit that's terrorizing everyone?" Timber asked.

"What can I say, I like a little danger." Sonic answered.

"It's just a story anyway." Sunset said.

"I dunno. How else do you explain everything that's happening? Come on, I know a shortcut." Timber said as he took Twilights hand and walked her back.

"Yeah, sounds good to me. So much for our little adventure." Knuckles said.

"Another night." Sonic replied as he and Knuckles walked ahead. "Looks like you're safe for now, Knucklehead."

"Oh, Ha ha." Knuckles simply replied in a dry manner.

Tails walked after them shortly and just as Sunset was going to join them, she and Spike spotted a familiar crystal dust... that was coming out of Timber's pocket. She stopped and formed a suspicious look on her face.

"Tails!" She said in a loud whisper which he heard as he turned back to face her. "Come look at this."

After he came to their location, Tails crouched down and he noticed the crystal dust .

"Look familiar?" Sunset asked.

"Yeah, it looks like the crystal stuff that's been around every time Gaea Everfree allegedly shows up." Tails said.

"It was coming out of Timber's pocket." Sunset said as they looked back to see. It was true. His pocket was leaving a tiny trail.

"Looks like we've found our Gaea Everfree." Sunset said.

"Wow, this wasn't what was I expecting when I wanted to find 'her'." Tails said.

"Why? He seems like a nice guy." Spike asked.

"You heard him in the forest. He's always wanted to sell the camp. An evil nature spirit causing havoc seems to work for him." Sunset answered.

"Ooooh, we're solving a mystery. I've always wanted to do that. Anyway, what do we do now?" Tails asked.

"We should do some more digging so we can be sure." Sunset said as Tails and Spike agreed.

Embrace the Magic

View Online

Embrace the magic

The next day after that night, as promised, Sunset and the others kept Twilight's struggle with Midnight Sparkle under wraps. It was decided that the campers would take a break from building the dock in order for them have more focus on the camp activities.

Applejack took to the canoes alongside Knuckles, wanting to catch some fish so she could actually get her own food.

Tails was in the arts crafts room, working on sculpting different kinds of pottery. He even managed to help Bulk with his pots for his 'mom' while Rarity worked hard on her designs for the camp.

They were looking to be 'fantastic' as she would say.

Fluttershy and Silver embarked on a nature walk alongside a few other campers as Rainbow Dash went up against others in tether ball. Much to her delight, she had finally managed to 'whoop a few butts.' After a while, no one was really too eager to play with her.

Manic headed for a quick dip in the water alongside Sunset. It was the one place where he had the edge over Sonic, who still refused to enter it despite Gloriosa's insistence on teaching him how to swim.

Shadow wasn't one to take part in the activities, still much to Gloriosa's dismay. She had suggested at least ten different things he could try, but still he refused. He was also on the lookout in case anything strange happened due to his suspicion Twilight.

Speaking of which, she tried to keep some distance from her friends in case anything happened and for the most part, was observing from a bit of a distance.

However, Timber had gotten her into archery and with him, she couldn't really say no. She'd impressed with him her skills, which had gotten better since the Friendship Games. She even helped him with his form. For the most part, nothing really eventful happened during the day.

Later, the night sky started to appear and Gloriosa announced that the students would be doing star gazing. The campers headed towards the center of the camp with Luna and Celestia overlooking. Despite her worries, Twilight was still somewhat excited. She loved the constellations.

"What kind of constellations normally come out?" She asked Timber. "Ursa Minor? Pegasus? Andromeda? Draco?"

"Ha, you know you're stuff. We tend to see Perseus, Orion, or Scorpio if we're lucky. Keep your fingers crossed." He told her.

As he was heading to join the others, Sonic spotted Shadow in the back who was more or less taking his time. He decided now and then it would be a good time to talk, so he approached him.

"Yo, Shadow." Sonic said, making Shadow turn to him. "We need to talk."

"About what?" Shadow asked.

He really didn't feel like talking to Sonic. Sonic took Shadow a bit farther from everyone else near the tents for some privacy.

"We need to talk about the way you've been treating Twilight." Sonic began, making Shadow raise an eyebrow. "You need to give her a break. Stop blaming her for that whole Midnight Sparkle stuff."

"Are you serious? I'm tired of repeating myself. She's dangerous with her uncontrollable power. You've seen everything that's been happening. We have to be cautious." Shadow told him firmly.

"She's not a monster. We don't even know if it's her. Listen, you've got to stop acting this way around her. You're just making her feel worse. " Sonic defended.

"Honestly, that doesn't concern me. I do what needs to be done, regardless of how people feel. Twilight needs to earn my trust." Shadow said harshly.

"For the last time, she's our friend. That should be enough. Shadow, I'm serious. Knock off all this hostility." Sonic said, his tone become more serious.

"I don't take orders from you." Shadow replied, his voice also growing a bit aggressive.

The two of them started to glare at each other with tension growing between them. Before it could escalate, they heard Gloriosa calling over to them, causing them to turn to her.

"Boys! We're just about to start! Come on, over!" She called.

Sonic sighed. "We're going to deal with this properly, later." He said as Shadow just growled and the two of them walked over to Gloriosa to join the others in a circle.

"Oh, this is so exciting. There are so many constellations out in the sky! Which are you the most excited to see?" Gloriosa asked with a smile.

"None. Because I'm not doing this." Shadow said, making everyone else in the crowd murmur at what he just said.

Gloriosa's smile faded.

"What?" She asked as if she didn't hear right.

"You heard me. I'm not interested in looking at a few lights in the sky." Shadow said. "I'm heading out for a walk."

The students exchanged looks as Gloriosa had a small look of panic on her face. She then rushed in front of Shadow.

"Wait, you can't go. This is one of the highlights at the camp. This is supposed to be your best time at camp ever!" Gloriosa said in a desperate tone.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Way." Shadow said firmly as he moved past Gloriosa. She then grabbed his arm.

"There has to be something you like here! Anything! Just tell me! Please!" Gloriosa said in an almost a pleading tone.

Shadow removed his arm from her hand.

"You want to know what I would like? For you to leave me alone." He answered as he continued head onward to the forest as Gloriosa looked extremely displeased by this. Now everyone looked on as Shadow left with Sonic having a frown.

"You can't go alone at night! It's dangerous!" Celestia called out to him.

"Hmph. I'm the Ultimate Life Form. I'll be fine." Shadow said, leaving Timber confused at his words.

He then turned to Twilight.

"Is this guy for real?" He asked.

“Shadow, get back here!” Luna ordered but Shadow just ignored her and continued to walk into the forest until he was out of sight.

Gloriosa was still looking quite upset but she managed to force herself to remain chipper as she stood up.

"Oh, well. I'm sure once he realizes how much fun we're having he'll be back. Anyway, you can start off without me. I just need....to take care of a few things." Gloriosa said with a huge smile before she trotted off, leaving everyone else to the sightseeing.

Deep in the forest, Shadow walked through. It was quite dark and he couldn't see. As a result, he wasn't sure how far he had traveled or where he was headed, but he knew he had quite a bit of distance from the main camp center.

"Maybe I should've brought a flashlight or something. So many trees. At least I can finally have some time to myself. Sonic's too soft." He muttered to himself as he traversed his path.

Suddenly, he heard some branches rustling and he stopped.

"Sonic, if this you, get ready for the beating of your life." He threatened out loud. Shadow turned around, expecting to see Sonic, but there was nothing.

"Just come out already." He called out. Still nothing. He waited for a while before he turned to continue his walk.

"Guess it was nothing." He said.

As he took a step, Shadow heard a creaking sound, as if many branches were moving. He quickly turned around and much to his surprise, he saw that the branches of the trees were beginning to move and extend.

"Are the trees...coming alive?" Shadow asked before two branches reached out to grab him.

Using his superior speed, Shadow managed to evade them as he ducked. After that, more branches extend out, but Shadow was able to dodge every single one of them as he jumped back.

"What is this?!" He yelled before he heard branches coming out to grab him from the back.

He turned around to punch two of them away, but some newly emerged vines reached out to his feet and grabbed him. Shadow was now hanging upside as more of the branches turned to grab him and he was turned right side up again. Their grip tightened and he grunted.

"Whatever this is.....you think a few trees...can take me down!?"

Shadow managed to break free from the branches using his incredible strength, reducing them to pieces as he landed on his feet. After this, he noticed that an increasing number of vines and branches started to reach out towards him.

Shadow pressed forward, either dodging them or forcing his way past them with brute force. As he continued on, a few branches from upwards tried to grab him, but he leaped over them at great heights and slid against the ground. Shadow was now near the campgrounds once more.

He was expecting the trees there to move, but it was nothing. Now, it seemed as if everything had turned back to normal. Shadow lowered down his guard. He squinted before he turned around to see the other campers, Twilight included, from a distance as they continued with the star gazing. Shadow could see that Twilight hadn't moved at all.

"Strange. It looks like she's been here the entire time, nowhere near where I was in the forest out there. And all those branches and vines, judging from the way they moved, it seemed as if they were being controlled, not just some random movement. This doesn't add up." He said to himself before he walked off to where the others were.

His presence was noticed by everyone else as they all turned to him.

"Shadow? What, did you finally change your mind?" Sonic asked.

"No. Something strange just happened. As I was on my walk, the trees suddenly came to life and tried to attack me." He casually explained, gathering everyone's attention.

"What?! That's crazy! Are you sure you didn't eat too many marshmallows?" Pinkie asked.

"Believe me. I know what I saw." Shadow said.

Twilight put her hand to her mouth. Could she have done that as well? But she wasn't anywhere near the forest......

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine." Shadow quickly dismissed.

But this time, he didn't give Twilight his usual hostile glare. Timbers eyes darted back and forth and he looked a little nervous, which Shadow took note, making him somewhat suspicious.

"That seems rather out of the ordinary, even for everything else that's been happening here." Sunset said. " So much for a magic free day."

"Heh, guess even nature doesn't like you, faker." Sonic quipped, as Shadow just folded his arms.

Just then, Gloriosa emerged from the bushes. She seemed as if she was a bit worn out as she wiped her brow, which Shadow noticed.

"Oh, there you are, Shadow. Have you decided to join us?" She said as she forced a smile.

"No. I was just explaining how the forest branches suddenly came alive and tried to grab me." Shadow said, making Gloriosa become alert as she formed a nervous look like her brother.

"Oh-oh no. That sounds terrible. You....You should remain here to keep safe from all those branches and vines." Gloriosa said.

Shadow sensed some hesitation in her voice, making him more suspicious.

"Oddly specific. I didn't mention vines." Shadow said, making Gloriosa freeze up a bit as her face became even more nervous.

"Oh, well. I mean... I just figured... seeing as they're part of the forest... and all." Gloriosa quickly added.

"Actually, I think I'll just call it a night. See you all tomorrow." Shadow said as he headed back to his tent.

As he did, he began to ponder over what happened.

She emerged just so conveniently after I came back. The looks on both her and her brothers face after I mentioned the incident suggest that they're hiding something. Maybe I've been suspecting the wrong person. This requires some investigation.

The next day, the Canterlot Wondercolts got to working on the dock once more with Sonic and Rainbow Dash carrying extra pieces wood while Tails was measuring the dimensions needed while Fluttershy, Manic, Silver and Knuckles were using the rope to hold up the larger wooden planks on the side. Manic was hammering alongside Applejack and Silver, leaving Rarity, who was too busy sewing her dress to lend a hand. Things were going.... slowly, even slower than before.

"This is taking forever. The cat's out of the bag anyway, can't we just use our powers to fix this up?" Manic suggested.

"Or make things worse. What if I end losing all the wood if I take off?" Rainbow Dash pointed out. "Or Applejack breaks the dock." She had a point.

"After yesterday, ah was hopin' we could forget about these powers, but it's been pretty hard not to think about 'em in a situation like this." Applejack said with a sigh.

"Anyone need nails?" Pinkie said as she tossed the box up in the air, much to everyone's horror as they reached the bottom.

They were all expecting an explosion but nothing happened, causing them to calm down.

"Nothing happened." Tails said as picked up the box of nails. It was normal as he studied it.

"What a relief." Rarity said as she wiped her brow.

As she did, she released another giant diamond which knocked Silver over into the dock, making a splash. Rarity gasped at what she did as her hands covered her mouth. "Oh goodness, I'm so sorry, Silver!"

"It's not your fault. You can't control these powers." He replied as he picked himself out of the water.

"None of us can. What can we do? We can't keep going on like this. At this rate, the dock will never be finished." Fluttershy brought up.

"Which is why we need to deal with it now." Everyone heard Sunset say as they turned to see her approaching. "I've got powers too. When I touch people, I know what's inside their mind. Like feelings and memories."

"That's it? I feel like you got the short end of the stick." Manic said before Sonic elbowed him,

"Do me!"Pinkie said as she put Sunset's hand to her head, causing her to see inside.

It was... unique. Sunset was just left with a bewildered expression as she stood frozen for a bit.

"I can't imagine what's it like in there." Knuckles whispered to Applejack.

'Anyway, I think instead of hiding the magic, I think we should all embrace it." Sunset continued.

"How are we supposed to do that if we can't control our powers?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

Sonic put his hand to his chin before his face lit up. He had an idea.

"Hey, why don't me and the guys just teach you how?" Sonic said, causing all eyes to be on him.

"I mean, the powers you have kind of are similar to ours. Besides, we've had tons of experience with them. We can show you the ropes." Sonic finished.

"Sonic, that's a brilliant idea. Everyone?" Sunset said as she turned to others.

They all turned to each other and seemed on board with the idea as they nodded.

"Great, then let's get started!" Sonic said as he raised his fist in the air.

Silver was with Rarity as the two of them walked towards the edge of the lake in front of the cafeteria. As they did, Rarity was looking at her nails and noticed a little bit of paint was coming off of one and looked down to focus on it.

"Oh, did I chip this one?" She asked out loud before she heard a loud thud which stopped her in her tracks.

She looked up and saw she had formed another diamond... which had collided with Silver's face as he stood there. Rarity gasped again as the diamond vanished while Silver rubbed his nose and squinted.

"Silver! I'm so sorry!" Rarity said as she checked to make sure he wasn't too hurt.

"Okay. Let's deal with this now." Silver stated as he backed up a bit from Rarity to have more room in order to teach her.

He then put his hand to his chin.

"What would my master do?" He said out loud he thought to himself how to get started.

He was silent before an idea came to him as he smiled.

"Rarity. The one thing I noticed that both our powers have in common as they are focused on our mind." He started. "Observe."

Silver's hand glowed green as he turned to a piece of wood nearby. It did the same and levitated itself between him and Rarity.

"Our mind determines how we use our powers. By focusing on it, we can control and decide what we want them to do. For instance, you can see I’m only lifting up just one object with my powers. That's because I focused my abilities on doing that. With focus, I can change that." Silver continued as he dropped the piece of wood and turned his attention to many other planks.

He lifted them up and brought them in front of Rarity's feet to demonstrate.

"It's the same for you. Give it a try." He urged

"Alright then." Rarity said as she closed her eyes with her hands out to try and focus. Silver backed up, not wanting to get hit again.

"Think of how many diamonds you want to appear. Think of its size and shape. When you want it to appear and how far as well." Silver coached as Rarity concentrated further.

Suddenly, she felt something appear and heard a noise. She opened her eyes to see a body-sized diamond a few inches front of her. Just as she had imagined with all the right dimensions.

"It worked." She said happily as Silver looked on proudly.

In the corner of her eye, Rarity noticed that Derpy was about to fall out of her canoe as she lost her balance. She acted quickly and tossed the diamond in her direction, catching Derpy safely before she fell in the water.

"All right! Way to go, Rarity!" Silver praised as Rarity turned to him with an even bigger smile.

"I actually did it! Silver, thank you, thank you!" Rarity squealed as she ran up to him and gave him a big hug, making him blush slightly as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

Knuckles took Applejack with him aside on the dock where the other students were still working on it. Applejack and Knuckles both sat down in front of each other.

"So, whaddya got planned fer me, Knux? Applejack asked.

"I have to admit, I've never really had to think or worry about how my strength works." Knuckles said. "Through my whole life, I was just a natural with it."

After he just said that, a thought came to Knuckles as his eyes widened. He had hit a realization.

"I think I can explain to you how your powers work. You just have to treat your strength just like any normal person does with their own." Knuckles said.

"What do you mean?" Applejack questioned.

"You got anything in your pocket I can hold?"

Applejack took out a red apple from her pocket and placed it in Knuckles palm. He then held it up for her to see.

"Now, knowing how strong I am, I can crush this pretty easily, right?" Knuckles said as AJ nodded.

"But I choose not to. That's the thing. No matter how strong you are, you just have to be conscious of how much strength you're using." Knuckles said as he applied a bit of pressure to the apple, but not enough to make it break. "It's all about restraint. That's how I've been doing it all this time. You can decide how much force you apply to something."

He then handed her back the apple.

"Now. Try to put pressure on the apple without crushing it." Knuckles instructed. "Use both of your hands. Remember, it's all about awareness. "

Applejack cupped the apple with both of her hands and did as she was told. She decided how much strength to use for it and with the little pressure she added slowly, she managed not to break it. She formed a smile as she displayed it to Knuckles.

"Good going. Let's try something a little bigger." Knuckles said as he turned to a large wooden piece of the dock lying on the ground. "Lift that up and place it on the ground, but be mindful of your strength."

Applejack rose up and headed towards the large piece that Knuckles was pointing towards. Using one hand, Applejack managed to grab the piece with relative ease, much to the shock of the other campers working on the dock. With the apple she was now snacking on in one hand and the piece in the other, she walked over to set it down, but not with enough force to shake the ground. Knuckles looked on and gave her the thumbs up, which she gladly returned.

Tails and Pinkie were on the rest of the dock with the other students still working. Pinkie was staring off into space, daydreaming as Tails was trying to make sense of how her powers work.

"Pinkie, I remember earlier, when you touched that box of nails, they didn't explode. Do you have any idea why?" He asked her.

"Beats me." She cheerfully said.

"Hmmm. Did you try to make it explode?"

"Nope."

Hearing that, Tails picked up a piece of wood. He then tossed it to her, which she then caught. Nothing happened as the wood remained normal and did not start to glow as she just set it down. Tails then took the box of nails from before and walked up to her and placed it in her hands.

"Here. Try to make this blow-up." Tails said.

Pinkie clutched the box really hard but nothing happened. It stayed the same. She tried again but still nothing, which made Tails curious.

"Nada." She said as she handed the box back to Tails.

"Wait here." Tails told her as he ran from the pier into the cafeteria. When he came out, he was holding a can of sprinkles, much to Pinkies delight.

"Sprinkles! Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme!" Pinkie said as she reached for them eagerly as Tails held her back.

"Hang on. I'll give you some." Tails said as he placed a tiny bit in his hands and then dropped them into Pinkies. As soon as he did, a few sparks emerged from her hands.

"Just as I thought. It appears you can only make sugary things explode. That's really fitting for you. As well, the size of your explosion depends on how much you touch." Tails explained.

As he reached for the can, he noticed it was gone, much to his confusion. He then looked up to see Pinkie holding it.

"When did you? How did you?' Tails said in a exasperated tone as he quickly looked back and forth between his hand and Pinkie's

Pinkie stood in front of a few wooden planks.Using the canister, she dumped a few sprinkles in her hand and then quickly dropped them on the planks, making holes which would be perfect for hammering. Tails noticed this and looked relieved.

"Well, at least you're using it in a productive manner." He commented.

Fluttershy was sitting on a wooden log on the outskirts of camp in front of the sign with Manic in front of her. He was just standing there, trying to figure out exactly what he was meant to do to help her.

"So... what problems are you having?" Manic asked.

"Well... I wouldn't say it's a problem." Fluttershy answered.

Manic looked stumped. All she could just do was talk to animals, there really wasn't much he could work with. He literally couldn't teach her anything. He placed his hands on his hips.

"Well... I guess you have everything under control here..." Manic said.

A small red bird then landed on Fluttershy's shoulder. It chirped as Fluttershy listened in on it and then she smiled. It lifted up a wreath full of flowers and placed it on the camp entrance, much to Fluttershy's delight as the bird flew next to her as Manic just looked on.

"Oh, thank you, very much." She said.

"As I said. You've got everything under control her." Manic said. Suddenly, he felt his nose itch as he twitched and released a loud sneeze. As he did, he sneezed on the little bird, blowing it away and drenching it as it landed on the floor with a little force.

"Oh, my!" Fluttershy said as she checked on the bird with Manic.

"Oh man. I'm so sorry. Is it okay? Manic said with concern.

The bird flew up and shook itself to become dry. It then gave Manic an intense glare as it chirped angrily at him. As it did, Fluttershy’s eyes widened and she put her hand to her mouth and the bird flew away as the two watched it take off.

"What did it say? Manic questioned.

"You really don't want to know." Fluttershy simply said.

Sonic and Rainbow Dash stood in the center of the camp as Rainbow Dash noticed the other teachings that were going on. She then turned to Sonic.

Okay, Sonic, what's the plan? How are you going to teach me?" She said quizzically.

"It's simple. You're going to catch me." He stated.

"What?" She said in a confused manner.

"You're going to catch me." Sonic repeated.

"How am I supposed to do that?" She said in an exasperated tone.

"Yeah, you are right. I'm too fast for you anyway, super speed or not. You're too slow." Sonic teased, making her give him a glare.

"I'm not slow!" She insisted.

"Prove it." Sonic challenged as he dashed away as a blue streak, making the wind and Rainbows hair blow so much that it covered her face. Suddenly he came back having a confident smirk on his face. "Slow poke." He then sped off once again. Rainbow removed her hair and she fumed a bit before she turned into a rainbow-colored streak as she chased Sonic.

The two streaks pursued each other as they ran across Camp Everfree in a straight line. Rainbow was fast, but Sonic was still able to avoid her. He then decided to kick it up a notch as he approached the forest. Instead of moving past it, Sonic turned in order to go inside its entrance.

Rainbow Dash noticed this and she began determined as she did the same thing and followed him. It was tough and she almost lost her balance, but she managed to perform the turn. In the forest, Rainbow Dash was gaining, but Sonic wasn't going to give up so easily.

He did many turns, forcing her to do the same. Each time she did, Rainbow found it easier to do so. Inside the forest, Rainbow Dash noticed that it was becoming more crowded with trees and branches and Sonic had slowed down a bit due to that.

In order to avoid them, Rainbow found herself slowing down as well. She was very close to Sonic and reached her arm out to grab him, but as they approached the forest's exit, Sonic bolted and sped ahead. Rainbow Dash put her hand in her fist as she did the same.

Sonic led her to the docks where Rainbow Dash was almost catching up to him. At the front of it, Sonic suddenly stopped and turned around to see Rainbow Dash charging at full speed. Rainbow's eyes widened and in order to avoid crashing into him, she forced herself to stop. She almost fell but Sonic grabbed her arm and she kept her balance.

"What was that? Why'd you just stop?" She asked.

"Because we’re done." Sonic answered.

"Huh?"

"When I went in the forest, it was teaching you about turning and momentum. Inside it, it was pretty packed with all those trees, right? That was to teach you about slowing down. And I just stopped in front of here to teach you how to stop." Sonic explained. "You're a fast learner."

"You did all that to teach me? I gotta say, you're a pretty cool teacher." She said as she slugged his arm before she suddenly grew excited. "But I actually almost caught you!"

"Not really. I was holding back." Sonic said, dashing her hopes and killing her excitement. "But.... you might get there."

"Hey, Rainbow, a little help?" Rainbow Dash and Sonic heard as they turned to see Pinkie holding her wooden planks up with Tails behind her.

"On it!" Rainbow said as she took a hammer and zipped around the planks.

As she did, Pinkie held out a red paintbrush. In no time, there was a red chair with two yellow curls on the front. Sonic and Tails looked quite impressed as they walked over to the girls and the four of them high fives.

Sunset looked on at the girls learning how to control their powers and was pleased with what she saw. As she headed to inspect the dock along with the others following shortly, they all saw it was now complete and admired their hard work as they stood near the edge. It looked good as new and even better than the last one.

"This looks amazing. Everyone, we should really be proud of ourselves!" Sunset congratulated.

"It was awesome! And we had some pretty good teachers." Rainbow Dash said as Sonic rubbed his nose.

"And now...we can start the most important thing... THE FASHION SHOW!!!" Rarity said with excitement as everyone else sighed. That was still on her mind?

"Get started without me. I need to find Twilight." Sunset said as she took off, leaving everyone else behind. As she did, she passed by the main cabin and heard arguing. It sounded like Timber and Gloriosa. Sunset listened in....

Back in the forest, Shadow was looking through, trying to retrace his steps from when the trees went out of control due to last night.

"It's hard to remember where I was since everything was so dark. I might be here for a while." He muttered under his breath.

He then saw something familiar on the ground among the leaves which caught his eye. Shadow then crouched down and he picked it up in his palm, which he then closed as he squinted.

Back at the camp, as Rarity headed out to get her outfits for the fashion show contestants, Tails heard a ding on his phone. He took out and saw it was a message from Sunset. It read:

Come meet me at the Rock Quarry. I already told Twilight to do the same. Bring Sonic and Knuckles with you. It's time we exposed the whole story of 'Gaea Everfree.

Tails then texted back:

Got it. Coming soon.

Tails put his phone back in his pocket and turned to Sonic and Knuckles behind him.

"Guys. Follow me. We're heading to the Rock Quarry." Tails told them.

The two of them looked confused.

"What for?" Knuckles asked.

"We're going to solve the mystery of Gaea Everfree."

The Mystery Solved

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The Mystery Solved

Sonic and Knuckles followed Tails as he led them on a trail into the forest. As they walked deeper into it, Sonic spoke up.

"So Tails, how exactly do you know we're going to solve this whole Gaea Everfree thing?" Sonic asked him.

"You'll see what I'm talking about." Tails told him.

"Aren't we not allowed near the rock quarry anyway?" Knuckles brought up.

"Come on, Knux. Since when do we follow the rules?" Sonic said as he elbowed him.

He had a point. Suddenly, from a distance, the three of them noticed a giant purple flash from above them, stopping them in their tracks as they gazed up in awe.

"What was that?" Knuckles asked.

"Was that Gaea Everfree?" Sonic added.

"Guess we're about to find out." Tails said.

Before they could walk any further, they heard the sound of a girl screaming and turned left. There, they saw Sunset covering Twilight's mouth; Spike was beside her.

"Sunset!" Tails called, catching her attention as she saw the three of them.

"You guys are here, perfect. Come on over." Sunset motioned as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles followed her, Twilight and Spike into some nearby bushes.

From the leaves, the six of them peered forward and saw the entrance of the rock quarry. It was covered by two boulders with some vines coming out of them, but there was a crack small enough for a person to fit into. It emitted a purple glow from it.

"Why'd you call us out here?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, you mind explaining just what's going on?" Sonic questioned.

"We'll find all our answers in there. Come on." Sunset said as she emerged from the bushes and headed to the rock quarry.

The others followed her shortly into the entrance.

Inside the rock quarry was a dark cave with stalagmites emerging from it everywhere. However, it had numerous reddish-purple crystals that shined brightly. What stood out in the center, was the only source of light. It was a large white crystal formation of rocks.

Everyone looked on in wonder at the cave as they walked through it. It was truly a beautiful sight. Sonic whistled in an impressed manner.

"Wow. This place is just..." Twilight said, at a loss for words.

"Reminds me of the Hidden Palace." Knuckles commented

"I can feel it... There's Equestrian Magic here." Sunset realized as she clenched her fist.

"Wait up. Wasn't Timber faking all the magic stuff?" Spike asked.

"Spike is right. Earlier, we deduced that Timber made up that whole Gaea Everfree stuff. If you say there's magic... then doesn't that mean it's real?" Tails pointed out.

"Timber?" Sonic said in a confused manner as he, Twilight and Knuckles stopped to ask the others.

"What does he have to do with this?" Twilight questioned.

"Timber has nothing to do with anything." They all heard Gloriosa's voice say from behind them.

Sunset and the others turned around to see her emerging from a nearby stalagmite. She had a tranquil look on her face.

"It's all me." Gloriosa confessed in an ominous tone, much to everyone's surprise.

"Gloriosa? You're trying to scare everyone away?" Sunset said in a perplexed manner.

"You have me all wrong, Sunset. That's the opposite of my intentions." Gloriosa said as she approached the group.

"Okay, now I'm just confused. Who is Gaea Everfree? Is she even real or not?" Sonic stated as scratched the back of his head.

Gloriosa ignored him and continued to walk walk past by. As she did, Sunset managed to grab a hold of her arm. Doing so allowed her to see Gloriosa's thoughts and memories.

Sunset saw Gloriosa desperately begging Filthy Rich to keep the camp as she had fallen on her payments in her office. He had agreed to give her until the end of the month, but it still wasn't a real solution as Gloriosa put her head down on her desk. Later, Gloriosa was crying near a stream in the forest, wondering what she could do to keep the camp.

As her tears fell in the water as she looked at her reflection, she noticed a glowing purple mist. She looked up and saw the mist flying above her from somewhere. Gloriosa wiped her tears and followed the source. It had led her to the rock quarry, which she entered.

She then found herself in the cave and discovered the crystalline structure in the center. As she approached it, she noticed seven small geodes colored red, blue, yellow, white, orange, purple and pink. In amazement, she placed her hand over them and a surge of red electricity was sent through her body, sending her back.

Before she hit the ground, a series of vines formed a cushion for her. Gloriosa looked on, not sure at what happened.

"What is this place?" She asked out loud.

"Ah, it appears I have a visitor." She heard a voice say.

Gloriosa looked forward and from the darkness of the cave emerged a figure. He had brown skin, a rhinoceros horn from his head, large bat ears and even a tail with deep red eyes as his mouth contained spiky teeth.His chin was covered by a long spiked white beard.

He wore a black wizard hat with a red stripe alongside a purple tunic with purple pants. He had gray gloves and boots covered with gold bands. Gloriosa saw he had a clawed lobster hand as well. She backed away a little, not sure what to make of this stranger.

"Wh-who are you?" She asked in a somewhat frightened tone.

"No need to be frightened, child. My name is Ixis Naugus. This might be hard to believe, but I am a wizard and this is my current domain." The figure introduced as he did a bow.

"A wizard? Your domain?" Gloriosa said as she opened her palm to reveal she had taken five geodes except for the orange and purple one. "So, these geodes are yours?"

"Yes, my dear. I am a magician who specializes in crystal magic. Observe." Naugus said as he clawed hand glowed and he fired a small beam in front of Gloriosa.

The result was a small emergence of white crystals from the ground. Gloriosa was astonished.

"See? As a magician, I've lived here for a while, but I've been venturing in other parts of the world, offering my services to those in need. I've just recently returned home." Naugus explained.

He studied Gloriosa's face and he could tell she had been crying.

"What is wrong, my child? Why were you crying?" He asked with 'concern'.

"Oh, well it's just terrible. This greedy man named Filthy Rich is threatening to take away my family's camp from here and I can't bring up enough money to pay him. I can't lose this camp! My family's been here for generations! I just don't know what to do!" Gloriosa explained in a frustrated manner.

Naugus stroked his long beard, deep in thought.

"Well, my dear. I think you've found the solution. Use the geodes you've found. I take it you've already realized they have some magic on them. I'll lend them to you so you can figure out your problem." Naugus offered as Gloriosa looked stunned.

"Really? You mean that? I'm not sure. I mean-" Gloriosa said before Naugus' horn glowed green and so did Gloriosa's eyes.

"I insist." He said.

"I will." Gloriosa said as all the hesitation left her voice and she placed the geodes near her heat. "Oh, thank you so much!"

"My pleasure. But, can I ask you a favor? Right now, only you are aware of my existence here and I'd like to keep it that way. I fear what may happen if the wrong kind of people stumbled upon this place. Such as that Filthy Rich person you mentioned." Naugus requested.

"I promise! Anything for helping me!" Gloriosa quickly agreed.

"Splendid." Naugus said with a sly smile.

Later on back in her office, Gloriosa was arguing with her brother about her usage of magic, Timber claiming it was too dangerous to use, but Gloriosa thought she could control their power with practice as she demonstrated it to him.

Sunset saw that Gloriosa was responsible for all the magical occurrences, using her powers to move the boat from earlier, cause a rumbling sound by moving the rocks to allow to pass. She had even taken control of the vines and trees to try and take Shadow back to camp but was met with resistance.

As she fled the scene, she dropped a dandelion from her hair on the ground. Earlier from today, Sunset saw another heated argument between her and Timber as he urged her to give up the geodes, but she flat out refused.

Sunset let go of Gloriosa's hand and stumbled back as she held her head.

"The one behind all the magic was you! You were trying to use magic to make everything better and Timber was trying to get you to give it up! When he couldn't... he covered for you." Sunset realized.

"Wait, so does that mean she's Gaea Everfree?" Knuckles asked as he pointed to Gloriosa.

"I just wish he hadn't made up that ridiculous story! But how do you know all that?" Gloriosa said in a quizzical tone.

"Because... I have magic too. And so do my friends." Sunset explained.

'Well, not us." Tails pointed out.

"But, who is this Naugus?" Sunset asked

The moment Sunset uttered the word 'Naugus', Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails froze as their eyes widened.

"Did you say Naugus?!" Sonic yelled in an exasperated manner.

"Gloriosa, my dear, what is going on here? I heard some noises coming from the back, so I decided to come investigate."

Everyone heard Naugus say as they turned to see him emerge from the depths of the cave again. When they saw him, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails gasped while the color drained from Naugus' face as his eyes landed on the three of them as he grit his teeth.

"Ixis Naugus!" The three of them said, much to the confusion of Sunset, Spike, Twilight, and Gloriosa.

"You know him?" Twilight asked.

"Naugus, how do they know your name?" Gloriosa asked as she turned to Naugus and started to approach him.

"Gloriosa, get back!" Tails yelled, stopping Gloriosa. "Don't trust a word he says!"

"Huh?" Gloriosa uttered as she turned back.

Naugus' face looked extremely nervous.

"Gloriosa, what-what is the meaning of this? I told you that I didn't want you to tell anyone about me." Naugus started.

"I didn't! But, how do they know you?" Gloriosa asked as she faced Naugus once more.

"I-" Naugus started before Knuckles cut him off.

"Get away from her, you creep!" He barked.

"Gloriosa, this is Ixis Naugus. He's an evil magician whose tried to take over the world plenty of times! We've run into him a lot and managed to stop him each time!" Sonic explained as he pointed an accusing finger at Naugus, who growled as Gloriosa turned to him with an unsure look.

"Silence!" Naugus roared. "Gloriosa, surely you don't believe these lies? I've done nothing but help you remember? I allowed you to use my geodes."

"These aren't yours! This is Equestrian Magic, from the land of Equestria!" Sunset interrupted as Naugus scowled.

"Gloriosa, he's been lying to you the entire time. He doesn't own anything here." Tails added.

"But he told me..." Gloriosa said in a soft tone.

"Forget everything he said! It's all crap." Sonic insisted.

"Shut your mouth, Quickster!" Naugus screamed.

His usage of that term indicated a sense of familiarity with Sonic, which Gloriosa noticed. She turned back to Sunset and the others and then back at Naugus. She was totally lost now and didn't know who to believe.

"Naugus. Tell me the truth, what's going on?" Gloriosa asked.

"Gloriosa, I can explain. Listen I-" Naugus began as he tried to think of a good lie but he knew his cover was blown as he noticed the angry looks of Sonic and the others.

"Bah!" Naugus yelled as he raised his hand in the air. "I won't let anyone interfere with my plans any longer!"

Naugus' horn glowed and Gloriosa's eyes instantly flashed a stronger green glow as they widened. Her arms lowered and it seemed as if though she was in a trance-like state as she just stood in front of Naugus.

"Hey, what did you do to her?!" Sunset demanded.

"Nothing that concerns you! Now, Gloriosa, you just need more magic. Why not help yourself?" Naugus suggested to the blank Gloriosa.

"I don't think so, ugly!" Knuckles yelled as he and Sonic began to charge to Naugus.

However, a series of vines emerged from the floor and wrapped around them, catching them mid air. Gloriosa had one hand stuck out as she controlled the vines, still in a trance as her hand was surrounded by green energy.

"Hey!" Sonic said as he and Knuckles struggled before the vines tightened their grip and smashed the two of them on the ground.

"Sonic! Knuckles!" Twilight yelled as she, Spike, Sunset, and Tails went to check on them.

However, they had vines wrapped around them as well as they grunted.

"Thank you, Gloriosa." Naugus said before she turned to him. "Now, take more!"

Gloriosa placed her hand to grab the last two geodes, which she added to the necklace on her neck. As she did, the geodes glowed white and crackled with green lightning.

"Allow me! Naugus said as he placed his lobster hand which was now glowing green near the necklace, tapping into the geodes power while he also infused them with some of his own. As he did, the geodes began to glow green.

"Nooo!!!" Sonic, Sunset, Twilight, Tails, Knuckles, and Spike yelled as Naugus began to laugh maniacally.

"Yes! I can feel these geodes power!" Naugus stated.

A giant green flash emerged, blowing everyone back and releasing them from the vine's grip as they landed on the floor. When they rose up, they saw that Gloriosa had changed completely. Her hair was now a turquoise color and very wild and long with light green stripes through it.

She wore a green top alongside a green skirt decorated with purple flowers. Her arms were covered in brown wood and she had green leggings with brown wrapped around them. Her skin was now a purple color and on her face, she had purple mascara.

Her sclera was black with small green glowing eyes. Naugus stood there triumphantly with green lighting around him and his eyes flashing as Twilight and the others looked mortified.

"What did you do?!" Twilight asked

"I simply infused the power of those geodes with some of my own magic, turning her into my loyal minion. As well, during the process, I was able to augment my own abilities with those stones! You can't defeat me!" Naugus boasted.

"Oh, we'll see about that, freak!" Sonic challenged. "Come on guys, let's rush him!"

Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails began to charge towards Naugus again, but he simply smirked.

"Allow me to demonstrate, Quickster!" Naugus said as both of his hands glowed and he released a white crystal energy wave in front of him, engulfing not only Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails, but Sunset, Spike and Twilight as well.

When the wave was gone, the 6 of them were now trapped and frozen inside giant white crystals. Naugus formed an evil grin.

"Ha! Victory is mine!" He cheered as he raised his hands in the air. "Come, my minion. We have work to do."

Naugus began to exit the cave with Gloriosa floating behind him. When he was outside, Naugus 's hand glowed once more and he fired another wave of crystals in front of the entrance, forming a thick crystalline wall.

"You can never be too careful." He said as he continued on his path.

Back at the camp, Rarity was getting ready for her fashion show on the dock as she was checking on the dresses she made for the female students as other students just went about on their business. She had already dressed up the rest of the Rainbooms and even had music playing. Manic was sitting on the newly built chair as he observed.

"Hey, nice look ladies." Manic said. "Lyra." He added as he gave her a wink.

Lyra's response was to just give him a glare as she turned away from him.

"That was a compliment." He complained as he stood up.

"Hey, has anyone seen where Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails went?" Silver said as he approached the dock.

"Last time I saw them, they were heading for their tents." Fluttershy said.

"Where are Sunset and Twilight? They're missing dress rehearsal!" Rarity said with an annoyed tone as she looked around. "I guess we'll have to start without them. Places everyone!"

Timber was heading towards the main cabin after he had come back from the forest. When he came to the door, he saw Shadow leaning against it with his arms folded as if he was expecting someone. Timber was surprised to see him.

"Oh. What are you doing here?" He asked Shadow.

"Where's your sister?" Shadow immediately questioned.

"Beats me. I was looking for her as well." Timber answered as he reached for the door knob but Shadow came in front of him.

"Then I guess you'll have to give me answers." Shadow stated as Timber looked stumped.

"What?" Timber replied.

"Don't play dumb. First things first, I've noticed that every time these magical events happen, you're barely around, always seem to be disappearing. " Shadow began as Timber started to look a little uneasy.

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Just what is this anyway?" Timber replied in a defensive tone.

"I'm asking the questions." Shadow firmly said. "Second, I decided to head back where the vines attacked me yesterday. When I was searching the area, I found this."

Shadow opened his hand to reveal a dandelion, just like the one Gloriosa wore in her hair. Now Timber's expression changed to an extremely worried one as he looked back at Shadow.

"This isn't native to the flora where the trees came to life. And it's identical to the one your sister has in her hair. No stem at all." Shadow continued as he crossed his arms again. "Now, talk. Tell me exactly what's going on."

Timber eyes darted around back and forth. He was in a tough position. Shadow had gotten him good and he really couldn't think of a better explanation. He let out a sigh.

"I can explain. I-" Timber explained before he was cut off by a high-pitched scream, making him and Shadow both turn around.

Bulk Biceps was the one who screamed and this was due to what he and the other campers saw. Coming forward was Naugus, with Gloriosa floating behind him. Rarity gasped as her fashion show stopped while all the campers looked in fear at the arrival of the two monsters.

"Gaea Everfree! She's real!" Trixie screamed.

"What do we do?" Flash Sentry asked as the campers all backed away.

Luna and Celestia came forward and were taken back at what they saw.

Timber and Shadow looked on Naugus and Gloriosa continued forward, the former being horrified to see his sister in such a state as Shadow glared.

"Gloriosa!!" He cried out to her, but he received no response. He then turned to Naugus.

"You! What did you do to my sister?!" Timber demanded.

"Silence! I have simply transformed her into my loyal servant. Her powers will serve me greatly." Naugus said.

He then raised his glowing claw hand.

"That's Gloriosa?" Applejack said in disbelief.

"Freaky deaky!" Pinkie said.

"Who's that awful person with her?" Fluttershy said in a frightened tone.

"Ixis Naugus?!" Manic almost yelled as the rest of the Rainbooms and Silver turned to him.

"Who?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That's Ixis Naugus. He's an evil wizard whose always trying to take over the world and make it his kingdom. But what's he doing here?!" Manic quickly explained.

"Attention all of you! My name is Ixis Naugus and from now on, you will all serve me, your future king!" Naugus announced "Soon, the entire world will be under my control, but first, I'll start here! Gloriosa, my dear."

Naugus then snapped his fingers, causing Gloriosa to raise her hands and glow green as a series of gigantic vines emerged everywhere, trapping the entire camp and surrounding it in a forest of vines completely as Naugus rose in the air using the wind and oversaw everything.

The students panicked as the vines extended everywhere. Some of them tried to hide in the cafeteria under Celestia's protection but it was no use as the vines grew. The vines destroyed the dock, sending Manic, Silver and the Rainbooms away on the ground as they watched the pieces fall.

"Arrrrgh!!!" Manic said as pounded his fist on the ground as Rainbow Dash face-palmed.

Timber and Shadow managed to move through the various vines as they extended, with Shadow hitting them with brute force as Timber took a a nearby axe to hack through them, but they were numerous. They were even stronger than the ones that tried to get Shadow earlier as he struggled a bit with them.

Timber's axe was snatched from him as he looked up to see Gloriosa.

"Gloriosa, please! Listen to me! You have to stop this! I know you're in there somewhere!" Timber pleaded, but his pleas were on deaf ears.

She didn't notice him at all. However, Naugus did from above and he scowled.

"Annoying pest!" He shouted as he launched a giant stream of flames towards Timber, who gasped out loud as they got in closer.

"Get down!" Shadow yelled as he became a yellow streak and took Timber to the ground out of harm's way.

The two of them sprawled on the floor and Shadow rose up. He extended his hand to Timber and helped him on his feet as the two of them looked on at all the damage done.

"Thanks." Timber told Shadow.

"I'm going to eliminate them both." Shadow said as he tightened his wrist but Timber put his hand on his shoulder.

"Wait! That's my sister! You can't hurt her." Timber begged.

Shadow grumbled a bit, but he had a point. He couldn't risk seriously hurting Gloriosa.

Meanwhile, Silver, Manic and the rest of the Rainbooms observed all the chaos that was going around them in the center. Fluttershy sighed and sank to her knees.

"Can't we just go somewhere without any crazy things happening?" She said.

"We just can't sit around. We have to do something." Rarity brought up.

"Of course. And that's to save the day." Rainbow Dash stated as she rose up and stuck her hand out.

The others nodded in agreement and placed their hands together.

"Rainbow's right. We have to stop Naugus. But first, we should make sure Gloriosa doesn't trap anyone else." Manic said as they released their hands. "Everyone, move out!"

The team then began to spread out to save their fellow campers as the number of vines increased greatly, endangering the campers as they ran and panicked. Rarity used her power to shield Lyra and Bon Bon from a falling totem, ponying up in the process.

The two girls were then whisked to safety by Manic and Rainbow Dash, who got her ears and wings doing so. As they set the girls down, Lyra just simply turned away from Manic in a haughty manner.

"Come on." He groaned as Fluttershy noticed a hole in the ground and got the attention of some moles.

She then began to speak to them, generating her wings and ears and requested they attempt to dig a hole, which they started to do. Manic face palmed at the sight.

"You've got to be kidding me." He stated.

Pinkie Pie was throwing explosives everywhere with her sprinkles, making her pony up as Applejack attempted to break through the vines using a large boulder, making her pony up as well, but the vines simply grew back.The same happened as the rest of the girls tried to find an exit. Naugus noticed their attempts and growled.

"Pest." He said as his hand glowed. Before he could fire anything, Shadow teleported with a flaring kick from his skates in front of him but Naugus conjured a crystal shield just in time, blowing him on the ground.

"Bow to your new ruler!" Naugus declared as he fired a stream of flames towards Shadow, who used his speed to dodge it.

"The Ultimate Life Form bows to no one!" Shadow declared as he began an assault of various punches and kicks using his teleportation skills on Naugus.

However, Naugus blocked each one using a crystalline structure.

"You will to me!" Naugus stated as Shadow teleported once more.

Naugus smirked and he turned around to see Shadow appear in front of him with a clenched fist. Naugus fired a stream of ice, encasing Shadow inside it and he fell to the ground. Before he hit the ground, Shadow managed to break himself out of it as he landed.

Naugus then summoned a shower of raining ice spikes to Shadow but before they hit him, they stopped and glowed green.

"Not happening!" Silver called out as he turned the spikes to Naugus, who simply made them disappear as he waved his hand.

Silver then levitated two giant rocks and hurled them to Naugus who stopped them easily and sent them back to Silver, who also halted them. However, Naugus was still in control and struggled with Silver as the rocks began to close in on him. He was overpowering Silver, but Shadow noticed an opening and dashed to Naugus as a streak.

However, Naugus evaded his attack by turning his body into air as Shadow simply passed through him. He then made a pillar of rocks emerge from the ground, blowing Silver back. Naugus then turned to Shadow and blast his body, trapping everything except his head in crystals that kept forming as Shadow kept struggling to break out.

He then turned and saw Manic rushing to him.

"Don't know why you're here Naugus, but I'm always down to beat you up!" Manic said as he twirled his escrima sticks at high speed, making them buzz saws as Naugus shot a series of stalagmites at Manic, who cut through them with ease.

When he approached Naugus, he stopped spinning his sticks and tried to hit him using his speed, but Naugus made a crystal shield as Manic made a small sound wave, blowing him back and slightly cracking the crystals. Naugus responded by firing a crystal blast at Manic, but Rarity defended him with a shield.

"I must say, while your crystals are quite beautiful, it's unfitting for someone like you!" She called out.

Pinkie then came to the battle and she tossed a series of explosions towards Naugus, who encased himself crystals before she was joined by Silver, who released a series of psychic blast as well, but they weren't doing much damage. Applejack came towards Shadow and she grabbed him by his arms to break him out of his crystal prison.

Naugus then lowered his crystal to reveal his eyes.

"Feeble children! Try this!" He screamed as he made the air combust around Silver and Pinkie, trapping them in flames.

The two of them cried out as they were engulfed in flames. Luckily, Shadow teleported in and whisked them out as he brought them to a safe location as Silver coughed as Shadow dashed back to Naugus, with Manic joining him as well.

Rainbow Dash was still trying to save many people, but they were now being engulfed entirely by vines as she was too late to save them. The vines then tried to grab her as she managed to evade them. Naugus noticed her, Shadow, and Manic and he used his air magic to whisk the three of them off the ground.

"Your speed is meaningless if you can't move!" He taunted.

"That's where you're wrong!" Rainbow Dash said as she used her wings to fly and she charged towards Naugus as Manic became a green streak.

However, Naugus used a gust of wind to slam them back on the ground. Shadow then fired a Chaos Spear towards Naugus, who encased his clawed hands in crystals as he absorbed it. His hand glowed with even more power as he fired another crystal beam at Shadow, who used his inhibitor rings to block it, but he was still set back as his hands were encased in crystals now.

He smashed them on the floor to free them.

"There is quite a number of you. Gloriosa, assist me!" Naugus commanded.

Gloriosa then turned to see everyone on the floor as she raised one hand. As she did, she summoned a giant stream of water to the center, covering all of the team in a giant tidal wave as they were slammed against the vines. They all came to as they rose up.

"We aren't getting anywhere. He's too strong." Applejack stated.

"I'll admit, Naugus is tough, but he's not this powerful." Manic said.

"Anyone have a plan?" Silver asked.

"I could use my Chaos Blast. But it could risk damaging the camp and all of you would get caught in it, not to mention it would hurt Gloriosa severely." Shadow said as he clenched his fist.

"Now what?" Fluttershy said with uncertainty.

"We'll just have to keep trying harder!" Rainbow Dash as she pounded her fist into her hand.

Shadow then came up to her, showing that he agreed and the others did as well. Naugus noticed the group coming to approach him as well and he grit his teeth.

"Imbeciles! You still try to defy me!" He roared.

Naugus then released a giant stream of flames from his eyes and mouth up in the air, which then formed a gigantic fire version of himself as the group watched in shock at its size as it let out a loud roar. It then came crashing down towards them.

"Everyone, out of the way!" Shadow instructed.

They all attempted to leap out of the fire giant's reach as it came crashing down, making a fiery explosion which blew all of them back as they were sent scattered everywhere. Timber meanwhile, was getting wrapped in vines and almost completely covered as his hand reached out for his still mind controlled sister.

Back in the cave, the rest of the group was still trapped in the crystals. Suddenly, Twilight's began to glow a purplish color before the crystals shattered, releasing her as she fell to the ground and gasped for air. She then held her head in pain.

"Ohhhhhh." She moaned as she regained her senses.

She then saw her remaining trapped friends and let out a tiny gasp.

"I have to help them." She said.

With a bit of hesitation, Twilight used a little magic power on Knuckle's, cracking away slowly the crystals covering his arm. His arms were now free and they flexed as Knuckles managed to free himself from his prison. He then huffed for a while before he noticed Twilight.

"Twilight?" He said.

"We have to get the others out." She told him.

"On it." Knuckles replied.

He first walked over to where Spike was encased and punched the crystals, freeing him as Twilight checked to make sure he was okay. Knuckles then freed Sunset and Tails before he finally released Sonic. The three of them were slightly dazed with Sonic gripping his head before he saw Knuckles in front of him.

"Oh, great. Knuckles saved me. I'm never going to hear the end of this." He said with a sigh as Knuckles smirked.

"Yeah, you won't." He agreed.

"Is everyone okay?" Sunset asked as the others nodded.

"We have to stop Naugus. Right away." Tails said.

"No need to tell me. Let's do it to it." Sonic said as he and the others ran to the exit of the cave.

When they came in front of it, they stopped in their tracks as they saw the thick crystalline wall in front.

"Oh, perfect," Sonic said in a sarcastic tone.

"Can you two break through that?" Sunset asked him and Knuckles.

"Yeah. But seeing how thick it is, it could be a while." Knuckles admitted.

"We don't have a while." Sunset said before she turned to Twilight.

"Twilight you have to use your magic." She urged.

"I'm not sure I can break through that." She slowly said.

"You have to try. It's our only way." Tails said.

Twilight looked a little uneasy as she held her arm but Sonic placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her the thumbs up with a confident smile. Twilight's hesitation vanished and then took a deep breath as she came in front of the wall. She placed her hands out as her hands glowed and so did the barricade.

As she used her powers, a small green glow emerged from her forehead as Twilight struggled to move through the layer of crystals. Using all her force, Twilight released a giant telekinetic push, breaking through all the crystals and releasing the exit.

"Aw sweet!" Sonic praised.

Doing that had taken a lot out of Twilight and she began to fall back but Knuckles caught her and helped her stand.

"You did great, Twilight. Now, we have to go help our friends!" Sunset stated as the 6 of them headed out into the forest towards the the camp center.

Saving the Day

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Saving the Day

The 6 of them arrived near the campground, surrounded by a large, thick layer of brambles, stopping them in their tracks.

"Ok. Knuckles and I got this. Ready, Knux?" Sonic said as he turned to Knuckles who gave him a nod.

Sonic then began to turn his legs into a figure 8 motion as he ran in place. As he did, he began to generate glowing blue energy spheres around him which he quickly absorbed. Knuckles put his two fists together as he charged himself inside a red aura with purple spheres surrounding him. As Sonic and Knuckles charged their attacks, Sunset turned to Twilight.

"Twilight, are you willing to use your magic more?" She asked as Twilight looked uneasy.

"'I-I'm not sure. If I use too much, Midnight Sparkle could return." She confessed.

"Twilight, our friends need us." Sunset pleaded as she grabbed her friend's hands, causing her to pony up.

Before Twilight could answer, the two of them were interrupted by Tails.

"Sonic and Knuckles are almost ready. We should move in." Tails informed them as the two girls turned around.

"Ready....go!" Sonic said as he began a lightning fast cyan energy streak as Knuckles charged forward in an almost as fast red aura. The two of them easily cleared through the brambles, making a pathway for the rest of their friends as they followed them quickly.

Sonic and Knuckles arrived to see Shadow, Manic, Silver and the rest of the Rainbooms recovering from Naugus's latest attack as they rose from the floor. They were noticed by the group.

"Sonic!" Manic yelled.

"Knuckles!" Fluttershy stated.

"Sunset, Twilight, Tails, Spike! Yer all Ok!" AppleJack added as she noticed the other four coming from behind.

"Oh yeah and we-, wow, looking good AJ." Sonic said as he noticed AppleJack's outfit and gave her the thumbs up, making her cheeks turn slightly pink.

"Ya think so?" She answered in a soft voice.

"I think you look great. What do you think, Knuckles?" Sonic said as he elbowed Knuckles, causing him to turn a shade of red alongside AppleJack as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I-uh, well, Uhhh...we have more important things to worry about!" Knuckles quickly said in a flustered tone as he pointed Gloriosa and Naugus, who noticed their arrival and he scowled heavily.

"Quickster?! Why must you always get in my way?!" Naugus shouted as he saw his hated foe as Sonic gave him a smug look.

"What can I say? It's part of my job! Get ready for a beatdown!" Sonic said as he rushed to Naugus alongside Knuckles and Tails.

Timber was getting more engulfed by the vines as he looked on at the event. He struggled to remain free as only his head was uncovered.

"Please, you have to save my sister!" He begged as tears formed in his eyes.

"We will, I promise." Sunset reassured as she came near to him. She and Twilight tried to help him move from the vines that were around him but it was struggle.

Naugus launched a series of floating boulders towards Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails. Knuckles smashed through them as Tails got his arm cannon to destroy them. Sonic blitz past the boulders as a blue streak as he closed in on Naugus for a good hit. Before Sonic could touch him, Naugus combusted into flames, forcing Sonic to go over him to avoid being burnt. Knuckles then came to Naugus with a fist, who released a giant crystal pillar which collided with Knuckles punch as he was set back and regrouped with Sonic next to Tails. Tails charged a shot and fired it at the evil wizard, who caught it in his hand and transformed it into a crystalline ball. He then launched it back as it crackled with electricity as the trio moved out of the way as the ball released a giant energy wave, which blew them on the ground due to its force as they approached the others.

"Don't take him lightly. He's more powerful." Shadow cautioned.

Sonic wiped his nose and grinned.

"No biggie." Sonic said. "All right everyone, we just have to rush him! Charge!"

The entire team, save for Sunset and Twilight who were still trying to help Timber and Fluttershy, who was still talking with animals to try and find a way out, headed towards Naugus. He glared at them with intensity.

"Gloriosa, I require your assistance!" He commanded.

Gloriosa raised her hands in the air and she formed a dark cloud in the sky. The cloud began to rumble before it started to fire green lighting strikes everywhere rapidly. Rarity made a shield to protect herself, AppleJack and Tails. Sonic and the other speedsters managed to evade the lightning but it was quite tricky due to how quick it was. Silver used his powers to levitate a chunk of the ground to form a barrier for him, Knuckles and Pinkie. At the same time, the vines started to grow wilder and managed to swoop Timber away as Twilight and Sunset tried their hardest to hold on to him. Naugus realized the lighting wasn't enough so he first snapped his fingers and Gloriosa made the cloud vanish. He then pointed his clawed glove to the ground, causing an earthquake to form, catching everyone else off balance as tumbled around due to the shaking ground.

"Everyone! He's not invincible! Hit him all at once! He's bound to have a weak spot!" Sunset instructed as she approached the battle closer, leaving a still reluctant Twilight.

Knuckles jumped in the air and began to glide towards Naugus. As he did, Knuckles then turned himself into a spiral drill, which Naugus countered by releasing a blast of water which kept Knuckles at bay. Silver and Rarity then floated above, which Naugus noticed as he blast them with a small tornado. Rarity generated a shield to block it as Silver held it with his powers as he struggled to take control. Naugus growled and released a stream of fire from his mouth, but it was intercepted by Tails and Pinkie, the former using his dummy rings bombs alongside Pinkie's explosions. Naugus grunted slightly as he raised many sharp stalagmites and launched them towards the team, but AppleJack caught one and used it to hack away the others while Manic used his speed to vibrate his body as he hit his sticks together, making mini sound waves repeatedly. Naugus then released a giant wave of crystals on the ground but Sonic crashed into them using his boost. Rainbow Dash backed up in the sky before she also came crashing towards the crystals, forming a mini-Sonic Rainboom around her as she helped Sonic. Naugus began to sweat due to all the pressure. Suddenly, a swarm of birds came near him and began to fly around and peck at him as he tried to swat them away with a free hand. They were being coached by Fluttershy.

"Accursed creatures!" He stated before they flew away. Just as they did, Shadow teleported right in front of Naugus, much to his shock. He then generated a Chaos Spear and launched it directly as his chest.

"GAAAH!" Naugus cried out as he was blown back and all his elemental attacks ceased to be.

"All right, we got him!" Rainbow Dash said as she pumped her fist in the air.

Naugus backed away as he clutched his chest in his pain. He then turned towards his enemies as he began to seethe with rage as his eyes began to glow alongside his horn.

"YOU CAN'T STOP ME!" He roared as he lifted himself up in the air and began to glow with green energy. As he did, Gloriosa's eyes turned green as well as her vines started to multiply and they soon started to gain small green crystal bits on them. Everyone looked on in worry at the events as they were now being surrounded.

"That's not good." Sonic said as Naugus rose up higher in the air.

Naugus, with a maniacal look on his face, then put his hands together as created a giant tornado that was a combination of fire, water, earth and crystalline magic around him as the group retreated back from it due to its destructive force. Rarity covered everyone inside a giant diamond, with Silver adding an extra layer of rocks using his powers.

"We can't reach him if he's covered by that!" Tails cried.

Sunset then turned to Twilight, who still looked uneasy.

"Twilight, we need you to use your magic." She told her as Twilight gripped her shoulders.

"I-I can't. I might use too much magic. I could turn into Midnight Sparkle!" Twilight protested.

"Twilight, that won't happen!" Sunset promised.

"She's right. You have to embrace your powers. We helped the others and we're going to help you!" Sonic said.

Rarity and Silver struggled to keep their barrier up as the rocks began to chip away and the diamonds formed cracks in them.

"We....can't....hold this for long!" Silver grunted.

"Please, Twilight." Sunset said as she gripped Twilight's shoulders.

Silver soon fell to his knees as his barrier faded and Rarity fell back as she was caught by AppleJack, with her diamonds crackings. Twilight looked on. Her friends were in danger and she was their last hope. She then took a deep breath as she closed her eyes as she began to glow in a purple aura. As she did, a green energy horn formed on her forehead as she cried out in pain.

Twilight was now in her subconscious, a light purple galaxy covered in many stars as she floated still. She looked lost until from behind her, a giant projection of Midnight Sparkle appeared, frightening her as her evil counterpart laughed.

"You're mine!" Midnight said as she entered Twilight's body, causing her to form black wings, eyes glow green and a horn appeared as Twilight resisted. She was being consumed as she cried out in pain.

"Twilight, you are not Midnight Sparkle!" She heard Sunset's voice say as she turned around to see a reddish-orange energy projection of her.

"You are a shining diamond!" Rarity praised in a white aura.

"You're stronger than she is. Don't back down!" Sonic urged in a dark blue one.

"You got this, Twilight!" Manic encouraged as he glowed green.

"Show her who's in charge!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she shone cyan.

"You're not alone, Twilight!" Pinkie called out in a dark pink glimmer.

"You can do this!" Tails added as he radiated orange

"Focus your power!"Silver instructed as he was covered in light green energy.

"You've got the power, Twilight." AppleJack cheered in yellow luminescence.

"We'll always believe in you!" Fluttershy reassured as in light pink glowing color.

"Come on, Twilight. Take the darkness down!" Knuckles said with support in a deep red aura.

Twilight looked to see all of her friends there for her. It gave her some hope, but Midnight Sparkle struggled.

"Their words have no meaning! They all don't trust you, remember?" Midnight taunted.

"Wrong." Shadow's voice declared as he came down in black energy. Twilight turned to see him, not expecting to see him of all people.

"I trust you, Twilight." Shadow promised as he gave her a nod.

Those last words were enough to give Twilight strength as she managed to expel Midnight Sparkle from her body as she closed her eyes and released a light purple wave. The wings and horns vanished.

"I am not Midnight Sparkle!" She declared with confidence. "And I...have the magic of friendship!"

In the real world, Twilight gained her wings as she glowed purple, much to everyone's pleasure as she opened her eyes to see them all.

"Ah sweet!" Sonic said as everyone crowded around Twilight.

"Guys, I remembered how Naugus's power is being augmented by the Geodes Gloriosa is wearing. I think in order to beat him, instead of trying to take him head on, we need to take the Geodes from Gloriosa. It should affect his power." Twilight explained. "I'll head to them, but I need some cover. Sonic, can you do something about that tornado?"

"I'll need some help, but you got it!" Sonic answered as he gave the thumbs up. Twilight then stood in front of the group as they looked on at the destruction.

"Let's do this everyone!" Twilight said as they all spread out.

Sonic dashed to the cyclone alongside Manic and Rainbow Dash. The three of them increased their speed as they left blue, green and rainbow coloured dashes behind them as they began to circle the tornado, creating mini vortexes of their own as they managed to slow it down for a while. Naugus took note of this and let out a raspy roar.

"You still dare to oppose me, Quickster!?" Naugus hissed.

"You still dare to be that ugly?" Sonic mocked as Naugus grit his teeth.

"Go ahead, you're attempts are useless!" Naugus shot back.

As the tornado was being dealt with, Twilight flew towards Gloriosa, who was covered in a series of branches. A she headed towards her, A wave of brambles came after Twilight, but Knuckles stopped it using a flaming spiral uppercut. Despite being weakened, Rarity threw some diamond shards in order to cut down some of the brambles as Silver crouched on the grown as he managed to stop some of them as they glowed green. Fluttershy managed to speak a flock of birds as they began to peck at the vines as AppleJack tackled a few of them towards the ground and pinned them there. In her hand, Pinkie held the entire container of sprinkles, causing it to glow uncontrollably as she threw it in the air. Tails then fired a charged shot from his cannon towards it, generating a large explosion that destroyed many of the branches. Twilight was closer to Gloriosa but she felt her leg being wrapped around by more brambles as they pulled her down. Twilight struggled before they were cut down by Shadow using his hands. He then grabbed Twilight's arm and teleported in a blue flash. The two of them reappeared right front of the brambles that covered Gloriosa. Using a Chaos Spear, Shadow managed to carve up a small opening before he fell to the ground. Thanks to Shadow, Twilight was able to use her powers to reveal Gloriosa inside of the branches as she saw the Geodes around her neck. Twilight focused hard as she used her powers to get a hold of the Geodes and she yanked them off Gloriosa neck as they crackled with purple electricity, which blew Twilight back

"Ahhhhh!" Gloriosa yelled as the vines around her disappeared.

Meanwhile, Naugus's body suddenly stopped glowing as the energy faded from his body and he began to sink to the ground, which he was not expecting as he frantically looked around.

"What the?!" He stated as his tornado began to vanish as Sonic, Manic and Rainbow Dash skidded on the floor.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Naugus demanded before he looked up in horror to see the Geodes floating on their own.

"It means you lose!" Sonic declared.

"NOOOO!!" Naugus yelled as the Geodes spread out and each of them went to the mane 7 who had their respective color. With the power of stones, the girls were transformed as their attire became more majestic and royal, resembling combat outfits somewhat. Those with wings gained crystal ones as the 7 of them rose up in the air as Sonic and the others watched. The Mane 7 each emitted a light of their personal color before they combined to form a giant white flash which engulfed everything.

"This can't beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Naugus said as he blown back by the energy wave, which turned all the brambles into white crystals before imploding, releasing the camp through a giant purple shockwave.

When Sonic and the rest looked around, they all saw that the branches were gone and it was raining like green spores. The students and their principals were now released from their prisons as they all looked around in awe and celebrated. Timber came to as he got up from the ground and noticed his sister on the floor, who was knocked out as brambles retreated from her. He rushed to her side as a green spore came to her, waking her up as her eyes opened slightly.

"Timber?" She said weakly as her brother held her in his arms and gave her a gigantic hug.

"Gloriosa, you're back to normal!" He said with joy as he held her tight.

The Mane 7 looked on as they descended, holding hands and proudly displaying their new outfits. They were then approached by Sonic and co alongside Spike, who jumped into Twilights arms.

"Wow, I have to say that's pretty cool." Sonic said with an impressed tone.

"And the jewelry is a nice touch," Spike added as he started at Twilights new necklace, which the other girls had as well. They examined them.

"What are these?" AppleJack asked as she gripped hers.

"Wait a second, 7 gems with enormous power and grant a new transformation? Sounds like discount Chaos Emeralds."Manic said with slight distaste as he folded his arms.

On the ground, Naugus began to stir as he got up and noticed the campers in the camp center. Everything was now back to normal. His eyes then landed on the 7 girls, who he saw were now wearing the Geodes. He then focused on the unsuspecting Sonic, whose back was turned.

"(No! All that power, stolen from me! I won't forgive you for this Quickster!)" Naugus thought as he generated a crystal dagger on his lobster hand. Using air magic, he propelled himself towards Sonic in a surprising manner, much to everyone's astonishment as they turned to see him with a deranged look.

"Die, Quickster!" Naugus screamed before he felt that he couldn't move as he was trapped mid-air. "I-...can't....move."

Naugus was now trapped in a purple aura as Twilight's hands were glowing. She then lifted him higher above the ground for everyone to see.

"Maybe yelling out your attack wasn't the best idea." She said with a slight smile.

On the ground, Sonic wound up his fist using his speed while Knuckles cracked his fist as the two of them grinned. Naugus's face broke out into one of fear as he realized what was going to happen next

"Drop him." They both said as Twilight released Naugus as he fell to the ground. He was then was knocked out away with colossal strength by Sonic and Knuckles as he crashed onto the ground near the forest. He was barely conscious as he slightly rose.

"I'll remember this!" Naugus swore before his body turned pitch black as he began to melt into shadows generated by a nearby tree. As he did, Shadow dashed towards him, but he was too late as Naugus had already vanished. Shadow then came to a stop and bashed his fist against the tree.

" He's gone. But look at the bright side, at least we won. Silver pointed out as he came up to Shadow, who just folded his arms.

"I'll say! We even go these beautiful crystals as prizes!"Rarity gushed. "They'll go perfectly for my fashion show! It's still on.....right?"

"Everyone, I'm sorry. I wanted this to be the best experience for Camp Everfree. Instead, I've just ruined it for everyone. Looks like Camp Everfree's final time wasn't the best after all." Gloriosa said in an apologetic tone as she marched to the center of the camp and had everyones attention. She then hung her head in shame

"Gloriosa, I'm sure our students loved it here." Celestia said in a reassuring tone, making Gloriosa look up.

"We did. " Luna chimed in.

"We can't let the camp get closed. There has to be something we can do?" Twilight said as she looked around at her friends.

Suddenly, Tails had an idea as he snapped his fingers.

"I've got just the thing!" Tails announced as all eyes were on him now. "If our principals loved it here, then I'm sure there are others who did as well. We can reach out to them for help. Like....as a fundraiser!"

"We can make it a ball!" Rarity suggested with glee.

"That sounds awesome! Our band can play, with a new song just for the occasion." Rainbow Dash said.

"And we can host it in the crystal cave," Sunset said. Everyone murmured as they all liked the ideas that were being passed around. They all seemed like great ones.

"That sounds lovely," Fluttershy softly said.

"I admit, it does. But how are we going to pull of this off by tomorrow?" Gloriosa asked.

"Lady, just leave it to us. We got this one" Knuckles said with confidence.

"Yeah!" The rest of the group agreed as they all put their hands together.

And so, everyone started getting prepared for the Crystal Ball. Tails typed up all the information presented on the gift cards as Twilight and Timber prepared them for delivery in envelopes, Twilight hanging them up with her powers. In the Crystal Cave, Sunset was in charge of directing the students as they made the preparations with things such as music set up and even a large cake. Pinkie was preparing a large batch of blue cupcakes as Shadow came in holding some red ones. Pinkie took out her sprinkles and sprayed them everywhere, causing them to explode while Shadow's face remained blank as she laughed out loud. Fluttershy held Spike as she enlisted the help of her animal friends such as birds to aid with the lighting decoration while Manic used his speed to help. When they were done, some birds then came and nested in Manic's hair as he looked a little uncomfortable while Fluttershy and Spike giggled. Meanwhile, Sonic and Rainbow Dash were out sending invitations in the nearby city. The two of them made it a competition to see who could hand out the most as they dashed forward. Back at camp, some of the male students lifted some rocks in order to get rid of the blockade to the entrance. However, this was nothing compared to Knuckles and Applejack, who used their strength to remove the giant two boulders blocking the path, much to the amazement of their classmates. The two of them fist bumped before they tossed the rocks away. Rarity used her diamonds to generate a series of chandeliers, which Silver hung up using his psychic powers as they glowed a beautiful mixture of green and blue.

At the same time, during the preparations, they had some time to enjoy themselves at camp. The group took a photo with them on the bridge during a hike. Later, in the waters, Sonic was in the shallow water as he freaked out and splashed everywhere, much to Knuckles laughter in the background as Fluttershy and Rarity looked concerned in boats, the latter who didn't notice she caught a fish. At the campfire during the night, Silver, Pinkie, Tails, and Rainbow Dash roasted marshmallows as Pinkie had created a gigantic array of them, much to everyone else's amusement. Twilight, Sunset, and AppleJack had a midday pillow fight before Manic accidentally dropped in. The girls responded by throwing their pillows at him as he bolted out for dear life as Shadow held his head due to Manic's actions. They took another photo with all of them relaxing out on the ground and even got another group picture as they took one in front of the Camp Entrance, everyone smiling save for Shadow of course.

By the time the Crystal Ball happened, it was a huge success as a large number of people who attended. The students and guest dressed up very formally for the occasion as they all danced and enjoyed the music provided by the Rainbooms on stage, with their new song 'Legend You Were Meant To Be.' When Gloriosa got up on stage to thank everyone for coming and announced how successful the fundraiser was, she was met with a series of cheers. Except for Filthy Rich, who looked pretty unhappy, not pleased at losing his chance for a profit. Sonic turned around and noticed this and gave him his signature finger wave. Filthy Rich then scowled and adjusted his tie as exited the event.

After the band performance, the students just enjoyed themselves at the ball for the remainder of it. Twilight managed to see Timber again and it seemed that the two of them had really taken a liking to each other and even discussed dating options. Before they could make it official with a kiss, Timber was interrupted by his sister, who wanted him to meet some friends of their parents. This was noticed by the most of the group, with the Rainbooms expressing approval. He managed to secure a dance from Twilight and as he walked away, he came in front of Shadow and stopped briefly.

"You know, Shadow, at first, you and I got off on the wrong foot, but in the end, you're an ok guy." Timber said as he stuck his hand out for a fist bump.

Shadow just stared at him wth an emotionless expression for a while, before he let out a smirk and returned his fist bump. As Timber walked away, Shadow approached Twilight as the others looked on. Twilight wasn't sure where this was going. She didn't know if Shadow's opinion of her changed and gripped her arm. It was silent between them for a while.

"You know, apologies start with words." Silver said as Shadow shot him a glare.

"I'm getting there." He said as he turned back to Twilight. "Twilight, I know I've given you a hard time while we were here. I felt that you couldn't be trusted after what happened at the Friendship Games. But, after all these events, I see that I was wrong. I want to apologize for the way I treated you. I was unfair and out of line."

Everyone else was astonished that Shadow of all people was apologizing. Twilight was honestly touched as she put her hands together. First, he encouraged her to vanquish Midnight Sparkle and now this. Twilight broke out into a smile.

"Thanks, Shadow. That means a lot coming from you." She said as she gave him a hug, which he wasn't expecting as his eyes widened slightly before she let go.

"Hoho. Careful Shadow, she's taken." Manic teased as Shadow lowered his eyelids.

"Do you want your head through one of the speakers?" Shadow threatened.

"I'd say, this whole thing turned out pretty well." AppleJack said.

"Yeah it did! We got super powers! How awesome is that!" Rainbow Dash as she zipped around the cave and even managed to get a pizza from afar. "Look how fast I am!"

"But not as fast as me." Sonic joked.

"We'll see about that." Rainbow Dash challenged.

"Speaking of powers, we got them thanks to these crystals. I don't know about you guys, but I think we found them for a reason." Sunset said.

"I think so too." Fluttershy agreed.

"Works for us anyway. Now we have some extra hands in taking down Eggman." Knuckles brought up as the rest of the group was in agreement.

Later, Sunset was in front of the entrance of the Crystal Ball, before she was joined by Twilight, who had just danced with Timber and then Sonic and Knuckles. The four of them sipped glasses of punch together as they enjoyed the scenery.

"I'd say overall, Camp Everfree was a great experience." Sunset said.

"Totally. We had some fun times and even saved the world, a bonus to punching Naugus." Sonic commented. He then turned to Knuckles. "Gotta to admit, you were pretty cool, Rad Red."

"Same to you, True Blue." Knuckles replied as the two of them bumped fist. They then heard snickering to see it was coming from Twilight and Sunset.

"Rad Red?" Twilight said with laughter.

"True Blue?" Sunset said with a smile.

Sonic and Knuckles then just shrugged. Sure it was a little silly, but it showed they were good friends despite all the arguing.

"Though, I do wonder, what do you think the source of the magic was?" Sunset pondered as she looked up in the sky.

"Hey, one magical problem at a time. For now, let's just kick back and relax." Sonic said as Sunset nodded with compliance. The four of them raised their glasses together.

Meanwhile, back at Canterlot High where the Wondercolt statue used to be, the pillar began to glow different colors before it released a surge of magical energy.

The next day, the Rainbooms with Sonic and co looked around at the dock. It had been rebuilt once more and looked even better than ever. They all seemed pretty proud of their latest work.

"Finally, we completed the dock......again." Rainbow commented

"This runways never looked better." Rarity said as AppleJack lowered her eyelids.

"Dock." Silver corrected.

"Isn't that what I said?" Rarity replied with dismissal.

"With no more magical threats, I think we can safely say this is the last time we need to fix it. What could go wrong now?" Tails said with optimism.

"Yeah!" Pinkie said as she excitedly threw up some confetti and marshmallows in the air. However, the marshmallows landed on the dock and due to Pinkies powers.....

*BOOM!*

The dock was now destroyed once more as pieces floated in the wood after the pink cloud cleared. Everyones hair was blown back and they all had dismayed and astounded looks except for Shadow, who kept his usual expression. Rarity even fainted. All their hard work...gone....again.

"All right, that's it, I'm out of here." Manic said in a fed up tone as threw his arms up in the air and walked off, leaving the others behind.

Sonic and Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree

by SonicAKG

A Long Needed Break

Settling in

Enter the Magic

Embrace the Magic

The Mystery Solved

Saving the Day