A Boy's Dazzling Girls

Friday afternoon at school, classes let out for the day. As Spike was walking the hall with Featherweight, Pip, and Tender, the boys were gossiping about their day, "I actually scored a snapshot of the cheer squad, guys." Feather showed them it.

"Oh, nice." Spike said in joy.

"And in the right pose too." Pip added.

"I know, get a load of those legs." Feather said, while holding in the urge to salivate.

"So any plans for this weekend, fellas?" Tender inquired.

"I'm binge watching that new series online called Abnormal Anomalies," Pip answered, "Second season is being released in two months, so I wanna go back and make sure I have everything that's already happened memorized and in case season 2 has any specific callbacks to what happened in the first season."

"And I got to find some new juicy gossip for the paper," Featherweight answered, "Who knows maybe somebody important in school is breaking up with somebody?"

"That would be hard hitting news," Tender chuckled, before turning to Spike, "How about you, Spike?"

"Actually, I'm going camping tonight." he answered.

"Family camping trip?" Pip asked.

"No, club activity."

"You're going camping with the Cryptid Club?" Featherweight asked.

"Yeah. Another stakeout for a possible anomaly." Spike replied.

"What're you hunting for, fairies?" Tender asked.

"No. A hidebehind. Which Lyra believes is the source behind the recent disappearances in the woods."

"Lyra may be hot, but sometimes I wonder if she's alright upstairs." Pip said in worry.

"I feel the same way." Spike replied, until a voice called out.

"Hey, Spike!" it was from Twilight who was with her friends by her locker.

"I'll see you guys later," Spike told his boys, before going over to his sister and her group, "Hey, girls. What's up?"

"We were planning heading over to Sugarcube Corner for a bite," Twilight began, "You wanna join us?"

"They got a new cake recipe on the menu." Pinkie Pie temped him.

"Plus, you'll get to sit with a couple of hotties while you're at it." Rainbow flirted with him.

"Rainbow Dash, please!" Rarity pulled her away from Spike, "But what they said, it would be nice if we all got together."

"So how about it, Sugarcube?" Applejack inquired.

"If you want to at least." Fluttershy finished.

Spike remembering his plans answered, "As tempting as that is I already made plans today."

"What kind of plans?" Pinkie asked, as she leaned too close into him.

"I'm going on a camping trip with the Cryptid Club tonight."

"Wait, what?" Twilight asked in confusion, "When did you plan this?"

"Twilight, I told you three days ago. Remember?" Twilight thought back and recalled a moment where Spike was trying to talk to her about something, but she was far too deep into one of her books to even fully hear what he was saying and just answered as if it was all right. Spike gave her a dry look, "You weren't really listening, were you?"

The girls looked at Twilight with equal dry looks, as the brainy girl laughed sheepishly, "I may have drowned it out a bit."

"A bit?" Spike asked before sighing, "Honestly, what if I was telling you I was going to do something dangerous and only you could stop me, but weren't listening?"

"He has a point, Twilight," Rainbow agreed, "You've got to make sure your head isn't just in the book your reading."

"Ok, my bad," Twilight sighed, "And did mom and dad approve?"

"Of course they did." Spike assured.

"What's this camping trip even for with your club?" Applejack asked.

"Lyra wants us to find traces of some mythological creature she believes is out in the woods." Spike explained.

"Typical Lyra." Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"I assume you've packed all the essentials?" Twilight asked, going into task master mode.

"Yes, Twilight. I've been ready for the last three days." Spike assured, while sounding annoyed.

"I better do an inspection just to be sure." Twilight volunteered.

Spike cut her off, "That won't be necessary. I know you're all about making checklists and such, but could you just take my word for it once?" he pleaded.

Twilight seeing how serious Spike was about this, answered, "Alright, Spike. I'll take your word for it."

"Thanks, Twi," Spike hugged her which earned some coos and gushes out of the other girls, "I'll see you later, Twilight." he hurried off.

Twilight sighed, "Alone in the woods with the club."

"Is that a problem, Twilight?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, no. None at all, other than the fact he'll be all alone with girls." she replied while sounding suspicious.

"And how is him being with us any different?" Pinkie asked.

"It's different because he knows us better," Twilight answered, "But with Lyra, Bonbon, Moondancer, and not to mention the three new girls I worry for him."

"Twilight, Spike's in a Cryptid club, not a Harem club." Rainbow replied.

"Besides do you honestly believe Moondancer, Bonbon, and Lyra would think about trying anything with him?" Rarity inquired.

"It's not those three I'm worried about. It's Adagio, Aria, and Sonata." Twilight said suspiciously.

"And you've gone back to your state of being too overprotective for your own good." Rainbow said.

"Even so, I doubt those three would be willing to do anything so long as Lyra and the others are around to keep an eye on them." Rarity noted.

"I hope so."

"Come on, some cake will put these thoughts out of your head." Pinkie said, as she shooed Twilight along followed by the others.

At Spike's place, he had grabbed his camping bag with the essentials, while he knew Adagio had the rest of the essentials they bought from market. Once finished he picked it up, and spoke, "All good." he left his house and started walking.

Upon reaching the park entrance to the woods, he saw the rest of the girls waiting for him were waiting for him, all carrying camping bags and the rest of the supplies. He stopped before them and spoke, "Hey, girls. See you're all packed."

"You bet." Lyra nodded.

Spike turned to the Dazzlings, "Can I assume your uncle lent us the alcohol we need just in case?"

"He came through." Aria said, while holding up a cooler.

"And we got regular drinks for ourselves," Sonata held up another cooler, "And I marked it so we know what we can drink and what we shouldn't drink." she grinned.

"Good. I'd hate to end up drinking while underage. In fact if I did and got caught I'd be in deep shit with my family." Spike shuddered at the thought.

"Which is why we labeled the coolers." Adagio replied.

"Are we going to be going in or what?" Moondancer asked, while feeling impatient.

"Yeah, we'll need to find a spot and make camp before nightfall." Bonbon reminded them.

"Agreed. Let's go, guys!" Lyra declared, as they marched into the woods.

They hiked all around while also checking out the scenery. Lyra looked at some trees closely, "No unusual scratch marks. Guess the hidebehind hasn't been this way."

"Or anything else." Moondancer said.

"What else could there be?" Lyra asked.

"Like say, regular animals like bears or wolves." she answered bluntly.

"Well, there haven't been any reported bear or wolf sightings here so I think we'll be good." Lyra replied, as they pressed on.

They came to a clearing in the woods and scoped it out seeing they were close to the river and near the trail. Bonbon spoke up, "Looks like as good a place any any to make camp."

"Agreed. All right troops let's set up here." Lyra declared.

"Righty-o!" Sonata gave a thumb's up.

And so everyone got to work with the Dazzlings setting up the pop-up tent, Lyra and Bonbon were rolling out the sleeping bags, and Spike and Moondancer were out gathering firewood. As the boy and bookworm were out picking up sticks to burn, the boy was about to walk over by a bush, until Moondancer called out, "Spike, stop!"

Spike stopped in place and looked back, "What is it?"

"Don't go any further than that."

"Why?"

"Look down." she instructed.

Spike looked down and saw a patch of poison oak, "Whoa. Missed that." he backed away from it.

"Got to be careful out here. If this 'hidebehind' doesn't get you the hazardous plants and insects will." Moondancer warned him.

"Right. Thanks for the heads up about that poison oak, Moondancer."

"It was nothing." she answered, until Spike got close to her making her nervous.

"I mean it. If it weren't for you I'd be itching up a storm. It's a relief we have someone in the club who knows so much."

Moondancer felt flustered, and stammered, "I just know basic fundamentals."

"And they helped. Come on, let's get back to camp." Spike said, as he carried his share of the firewood back.

Moondancer watched him leave and thought to himself, 'Wow. I didn't realize how cute Spike really was. Did I just say he was cute? I've never felt... Am I really just seeing that about him now?'

"Hey, Moondancer, you coming?" Spike called out.

Moondancer snapped out of her thoughts, and saw Spike far ahead, "Yeah! I'm coming!" she followed Spike back to camp.

When nighttime rolled in, the club crew was sitting around the campfire keeping warm while toasting marshmallows. As Spike roasted his marshmallow he enjoyed the soothing sound of nature from the crickets chirping to the gentle wisp of the trees, "I tell ya, girls, this was a great idea."

"Yeah. Even if there isn't a hidebehind, this was a great night for camping." Sonata agreed, opening a can of soda.

"While I wish we'd see some sign of a hidebehind, I won't deny this is good." Lyra admitted, as she relaxed.

"Just like when we were relaxing on the beach that night while looking for mermaids." Bonbon reminded her.

Upon hearing that, Spike and the Dazzlings kept their cool not wanting the girls to know the truth. Spike spoke up, "Pardon me, girls. Call of nature." he got up.

"Grab a bottle of beer to use for repellent just in case." Lyra instructed.

"And take a pack of blue cheese with you." Aria added.

"All right." Spike grabbed a bottle of beer and put it in one pocket, and then a pack of blue cheese for his other pocket. He then walked away from camp.

Moondancer spoke to Adagio, "I fail to see how blue cheese is poison to a hidebehind."

"Have you tasted the stuff?" Aria asked.

"Yeah. Gross." Sonata agreed. The girls said nothing more, as they continued to enjoy camp.

Meanwhile out in the woods, Spike was relieving himself by a tree while sighing in relief, "Sweet relief," he zipped up his shorts and was ready to head back, until he stopped and stood still. He started hearing a rattling noise that didn't sound like any forest animal noise. He slowly reached for the bottle in his pants and pulled it out. He uncapped it, and stood ready should anything happen. Suddenly on impulse, he jumped to the side before something could pounce him. He looked to see a spectre-like beast that was a bit gangly.

"Mother of God." Spike gasped upon seeing the very creature they were looking for. The creature growled at Spike and was ready to pounce again, only for Spike to hold the bottle out to him, "Care for a swig?!" he called.

When the fumes of the alcohol entered the hidebehind's nostrils, it backed off while making a panicked sound. Taking advantage of the monster's weakness, he ran away from it and back to camp. As he got closer he called out, "Guys! Guys!"

Hearing the cries of their friend, the girls looked and saw Spike returning and looking scared, "Easy, Spike. What is it?" Bonbon asked.

"I saw it! I saw it! I saw it!" he explained frantically.

"Saw what?" Moondancer asked.

"The hidebehind!"

"What?!" the girls gasped, as Lyra shot up, "Where?"

"Back there. I used the alcohol to escape."

"We got to do something." Aria suggested.

"Agreed. Now that it knows we're here it won't stop until it eats us." Adagio added.

"Correct. We have to destroy it," Lyra said, before sighing, "Though I wish we could take it back as a captive."

"And how would we?" Moondancer asked rhetorically.

"Guys, that thing will eventually follow me back here." Spike reminded them.

"He's right. Lead the way, Spike." Lyra instructed, as the boy led them back the way he came.

As they walked, while using flashlights to see all around, Spike spoke, "Be careful if what the legends say it could be hiding behind anything."

"How will we know where it is then?" Bonbon asked.

"Before it attacked, I heard a rattling sound almost like a maraca. We hear something like that we'll know it's coming." the boy explained.

They suddenly started hearing the sound Spike told them to listen for, "A sound like that?" Sonata asked.

"Bottles out." Lyra instructed, as they each pulled out a beer bottle and popped the caps off.

They held their bottles out hoping the stench would drive it off, until an arm swatted at them knocking them to the ground. In the process the Dazzlings, Moondancer, and Bonbon dropped their bottles and the contents poured out. They looked up seeing not one but two hidebehinds next to each other, "There's two of these things?!" Spike gasped.

"Well, this is unexpected." Lyra said feeling surprised.

The two monsters growled, as they moved in further ready to pounce. One of them got closer to the group than the other. Aria quickly grabbed one of the blue cheeses she had on her, "Hey, gangly, how about some calcium?!" She threw the blue cheese at the one hidebehind who had its mouth opened and ready to bite, only for it to swallow the blue cheese..

Spike prayed it would work, and suddenly to everyone's surprise the hidebehind started making gagging and spazzing sounds. As it did it moved around strangely and making odd gestures like in an old cartoon short, before falling on its back while holding a flower up, "It got him!" Spike cheered, while Bonbon, Lyra, and Moondancer felt relieved and surprised it worked.

"One down and one to go." Adagio said, as they saw the second one looked ready to attack.

"Blue cheese." Lyra said, as they tried to throw the food into the hidebehind's mouth. Unfortunately the monster swatted it all away.

"Now what?" Moondancer asked.

Adagio looked down seeing a stone by Spike's foot, "Spike throw that stone at it."

"What? That'll only make it mad." Spike replied.

"I have a plan. So do it." she said.

Spike sighed, but trusted the mermaid and picked it up, "Hey, freak!" he threw the stone at the hidebehind's head. The creature turned to see Spike and Adagio and growled at them, "Now what?" Spike asked Adagio.

"Now we run!" Adagio shouted, as she grabbed Spike's hand and dragged him off into the woods.

The hidebehind took chase, and the girls watched in shock. "Adagio! Spike!" they cried.

"We have to go after them!" Lyra ordered.

"Then come on!" Bonbon called, as they tried to catch up, but the hidebehind was so fast they couldn't keep up.

As Spike and Adagio continued to run through the woods, Spike looked back seeing no sign of the beast, "Adagio, it's gone."

The two stopped as Adagio spoke, "Not gone, just hiding." They watched until a shape creeped out from behind a tree. The hidebehind had an odd shape with tree branches sticking out from odd angles.

"Now what? We're out of ammo." Spike reminded her.

"Just get behind me." Adagio instructed.

"What're you planning?"

"Trust me." Adagio assured him. So Spike got behind her as the hidebehind approached. As it got closer, Adagio took a deep breath and began vocalizing. Spike listened while feeling moved, but saw the hidebehind looked as if it was in a trance. Adagio stopped singing and spoke to Spike, "This way come on!" They ran away.

As they ran, Spike asked, "What did you do back there?"

"The Siren's lure," Adagio explained, "Known to merfolk and siren folk. A special singing spell that can entrance victims."

"Now that's handy." Spike admitted.

"Problem is it's not as effective on other creatures as it is on mortals."

"Meaning?"

"That hidebehind won't be hypnotized for much longer." Adagio explained.

"Oh, that's comforting." Spike replied in sarcasm.

They ran until they bumped into something. The creature turned around to reveal it looked like a fat bear in shape but completely hairless except for its prominent eyebrows and bristly hairs on its chin. It had dark, smooth, and extremely tough leather-like skin. The creature growled at them, and the two screamed and ran from it.

"Now what the hells that thing?!" Spike asked in fright.

"A Gumberoo, a creature that's always hungry and devours anything that looks like it could be food!" Adagio explained, as they ran.

"Now we got two monsters after us! What do we do?" Spike asked.

Adagio answered sounding less worried, "We get them to fight each other."

"Huh?" Spike wondered.

"Hidebehinds and Gumberoos have a snake & mongoose relationship." the mermaid explained.

"They do?"

"Yes. Can't stand one another."

"So if we get them to see each other they'll forget about us?" Spike inquired.

"Let's hope." Adagio replied, as they ran from the second monster.

As they ran, they could hear the familiar rattling sound, "Right on time." Spike said, as the hidebehind jumped out from behind a boulder and blocked their path.

The two heard the gumberoo closing in, and Adagio grabbed Spike and jumped to the side. As they did the gumberoo had leaped forward hoping to get the two, but ended up tackling the hidebehind instead. Adagio and Spike got up and watched the two monsters go at it like a pack of beasts. The gumberoo kept tackling the hidebehind while sinking it's teeth into it's arm. The hidebehind cried in pain, but tried ringing the gumberoo's neck in response.

"An epic fight between two rivaling creatures." Adagio told Spike.

"Amazing." Spike said, as he used his phone to film the fight.

As the two monsters fought they ended up rolling and backing away from where they started their brawl. Spike and Adagio followed them only to see the creatures were nearing the edge of a cliff, "Come on just a bit further." Adagio pleaded.

The two monsters were so caught up in their squabbling they didn't realize they were reaching the cliff, and by the time they figured it out it was too late and they were both sent plunging to their doom. The teens looked over the edge seeing it had to be a thousand feet drop to the bottom of the canyon below, "Think they survived?" Spike asked.

"Not likely," Adagio answered, "And even if they did I doubt they'd try to escape until one or the other was dead."

"Well, at least we won't be seeing them again," Spike said in relief, "Come on, we need to get back to the others." Adagio nodded, as they headed back to find their friends.

As they walked, Spike called out, "Lyra! Moondancer! Bonbon!"

"Aria! Sonata!" Adagio called out.

"Spike! Adagio!" came the others voices.

"Come on." Spike told Adagio, as they followed their voices.

When they saw flashlights shine in their direction, they followed it and found their friends, "There you are. We were worried about you." Lyra told the two.

"What happened?" Bonbon asked in equal worry.

"We took care of the second hidebehind." Adagio explained.

"How?" Moondancer inquired.

"He found someone new to play with." Spike answered.

"I don't understand." Sonata said in confusion.

"Maybe this will shed some light." Spike showed them the footage on his phone

They watched it, as Bonbon asked, "What's that thing?"

Lyra gasped in shock, "It's a gumberoo!"

"Look at them go." Sonata said, while enjoying the show.

They watched the footage up to where the two creatures fell off the cliff, "Those two won't have a comfortable landing." Adagio assured them.

"This is great!" Lyra cheered, "We saw not one but two hidebehinds and a gumberoo! And we got it on tape here!" she pulled Spike into an embrace, "Thank you, Spike! Thank you!" she started kissing his cheek multiple times making him blush, while Moondancer and Bonbon were surprised. The Dazzlings on the other hand watched with frowns on their faces, while Aria had her hands clenched. Lyra finally pulled herself off Spike and held his phone while marveling at the footage, "You have any idea how famous we'll be once we show this footage to the school if not the news media?"

Spike and the Dazzlings got nervous at the idea, until Spike spoke up, "I think we should hold off on that, Lyra."

"But why? We have the proof."

"It still dark out, and they might think it's staged footage. What say we gather more evidence of the existence of other creatures before publicly announcing anything?" he suggested.

Lyra pondered on Spike's idea, before answering, "Good point. If we want to be taken seriously we'll need proof of the existence of more creatures. Hey! Maybe we can get some hair samples of the other hidebehind. That'll add to some evidence."

"It's a start." Adagio replied.

"Then come on!" Lyra cheered, as they hurried back to the sight where the other hidebehind was to get some sample of its fur.

Afterward they returned to their camp and laid down to watch the night sky, "Wow look at all those stars." Aria said in wonder.

"Despite how we could've died here tonight, seeing all this afterward was worth it." Moondancer admitted.

"I'll say. Though if Twilight or my folks knew what happened here, they'd never let me leave the house again." Spike joked, and the girls laughed.

"Well, everyone, I declare the case of the hidebehind to be closed," Lyra began, "Don't know what we may find, or if we find anything next, but one thing's for sure. We'll face it as a real team."

"Took the words out of my mouth, Lyra." Adagio replied.

The group continued to gaze up at the stars before linking hands knowing they were not just club members but friends and comrades as well who would do anything for the other.