Fluttershy walked along the dirt path of downtown Ponyville, red and gold leaves crunching under her butter yellow hooves. Birds sung as the sun setted on the horizon. Several more bright leaves fell from the trees as she steadily trotted towards the Everfree Forest. Her insides squirmed with anxiety.
She shouldn't have been walking down this path. She should've been at her cottage, watching over Angel and setting out candy for trick-or-treaters. She should not be on her way to go camping with her friends on Nightmare Night. She barely even remembered how she'd been convinced to go along; it had been a late night, she was sleepy, and in that state Fluttershy agreed to almost anything. Only when she'd waken up would she realize how she cornered herself.
Fluttershy reached the edge of the forest. Her friends stood there, all with a bag or two of their essentials, the exception being Rarity and her usual dozen. Fluttershy winced. She'd forgotten her things.
"Ready tah go, Sugarcube?" asked Applejack, pulling her knapsack onto her back.
"Yes," squeaked Fluttershy. She really wasn't, but she didn't want to hold everything up.
"Okay then!" Twilight Sparkle quipped cheerily, pulling a map from the depths of her bag and magically levitating it. "If I'm correct, we head straight down this path and make a right..."
Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, was bouncing around, yelling merrily, "We're going on a Meese hunt! We're going on a Meese hunt!" (Whatever a "meese" was, Fluttershy didn't know) while Rarity complained how hot it was and how she missed Opalesence while Applejack told her to suck it up. Rainbow Dash was gliding along nonchalantly, not having a care in the world.
All in all, her friends were being exactly themselves. They weren't scared of monsters, or getting lost. And they certainly weren't scared of the dark. But she was, and the mere thought made her feel sick. She didn't want to feel different, feeling scared while her friends were the opposites. Trying to take her mind off things, she looked around at the trees of the forest and remembered her first visit here. Everything's changed so much, she thought. Her musings carried her to their campsite, a small copse of birch trees on a large hill. The sun had set fully now and the moon was the biggest it was going to be this entire year. Rarity set down her bags with some difficulty (Even Twilight had refused to carry them) and said, "Well then! Pinkie, did you bring the matches?"
"What matches?" questioned Pinkie Pie, scratching her head with her hoof.
"Duh! The ones for the fire!" Rainbow Dash butted in, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, those?" Pinkie Pie giggled. "I needed them because the stove broke, so I used them all. Every single one."
(Meanwhile, at Sugarcube Corner, Mrs. Cake was yelling about somebody leaving the stove on.)
Twilight Sparkle groaned and flopped down on the ground. "Now what? According to The Large Book of Camping Must-Haves and Needless Facts a campfire is necessary for maximum enjoyment."
"Well," Fluttershy whispered, "I-i'm sure Applejack knows-"
"Don't tell me you don't know how to light a fire!" Applejack said loudly. A long, awkward pause filled the campsite. "Fine then. Rarity, you get two of them big ol' sticks. Rainbow, make a circle with them there stones. Twi, mind hollowin' those sticks with your magic then rubbing those sticks together really fast-like? Fluttershy, you start blowing if you see sparks. Pinkie and ah'll set up the tents."
Everyone soon started on their tasks, then went over to help Applejack. Around thirty minutes later a fire had finally started and Twilight had pulled out the marshmallows and hot dogs (Fluttershy politely declined the latter) to roast. Rarity invited Fluttershy over to sit with her. Once she'd sat down, Rainbow Dash asked thickly (she'd just started on a marshmallow) "How's Princess life treating ya', Twilight?"
"Well," replied Twilight Sparkle, spearing a hot dog, "It feels odd, not being here most of the time. And all the meetings with officials and writing all these letters - Spike and I can barely keep up!"
"Where is Spike, anyway?" asked Rarity.
"At the library, sleeping," smiled Twilight. "Honestly, he'd sleep through a Changeling attack." She'd finished her hot dog in record time and now had a marshmallow over the fire.
"Speaking of them Changelings," Applejack said, "How're Cadence and Shinin' Armor doing?"
"Oh, that reminds me!" Twilight exclaimed happily. "Cadence is pregnant!"
Rainbow Dash swallowed another marshmallow and said, "Wow! That's gr- FLAMING MARSHMALLOW!!" She danced around wildly, pointing at Twilight Sparkle's marshmallow. It'd caught fire.
"AAH!" yelled Twilight, shaking the stick which the sweet thing rested on. The marshmallow went flying and landed in Rarity's mane, which caused even more yelling and dancing around.
"MY HAIR!" Rarity exclaimed frantically, searching for a pond or river.
"Ah got it!" said Applejack, pulling out a canteen and dumping the contents onto Rarity's mane.
"You're very helpful, Applejack," said Rarity sarcastically.
"Well, since you're apparently not a Unicorn-"
"Oh. Right." Rarity's cheeks flamed. She dried her mane magically. "I think that's enough marshmallows for now, what about you?"
"MMFRO!" yelled Pinkie Pie, previously unnoticed in a corner. She'd managed to stuff the entire bag into her cheeks. Everypony stared and she swallowed and said, "What? It's good!"
Fluttershy yawned. "W-well, I think its about time for bed."
A chorus of yawns met her. "I couldn't agree more!" said Rainbow Dash, eagerly flying into her tent and zipping up the entrance.
Pinkie Pie followed suit. "GOOD NIGHT TWILIGHT, GOOD NIGHT APPLEJACK, GOOD NIGHT RARITY, GOOD NIGHT FLUTTERSHY, GOOD NIGHT RAINBOW DASH, GOOD NIGHT TREES, GOOD NIGHT-"
"SHUT UP!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
Fluttershy stayed behind her friends to put out the fire. As she waved a hoof above to see if it was still hot, she heard an odd rustling noise from behind her. As she quickly turned around, a list of Equestria's Most Wanted flitted through her head. A few moments passed before she turned around. There was the noise again. She stood up and followed the noise, leading her out of the campsite and deep into the forest. Shadows seemed to creep out at her, grabbing her with their dark black hands. She heard the noise once more, saw the giant shadow, braced herself for the pain that was sure to come and closed her eyes-
And was amazed when nothing happened. She opened her eyes reluctantly. It was a little squirrel. She smiled, headed back to camp, got into her tent, and slept well.
Author's Note
Meese referenced from Pump It Up's Call of the Meese, one of the funniest stories I've ever read.
