Camp Everfree. A beautiful summer camp where the Mane 7 lived their most interesting adventure to date. Though, Sci-Twi and Sunset Shimmer were mostly involved.
The girls acquired new powers such as Rarity’s shield, Sunset Shimmer telepathy, Rainbow Dash’s ultrasonic speed, Pinkie Pie explosive sprinkles, Fluttershy talking to the animals, Applejack’s super strenght and Twilight’s telekinesis. Thanks to these, their pony powers escalated to a whole new level and defeated the wicked abomination of Gloriosa Daisy for good.
After that, all the campers managed to raise sufficient funds and save Camp Everfree from Filthy Rich.
Two months later, Sci-Twi and Sunset Shimmer decided to return to the Camp on Saturday very early with the mission to make some new investigations related to the crystals’ origins.
“Here we are. Once again in this wonderful place.” Sunset smiled and took a deep breath of fresh air.
“And we can come here whenever we want. Read a book, enjoy the camping activities, swim in the lake, and have a nice picnic with our friends.” Sci-Twi listened to the birds chirping.
“Yeah. It’s lovely.”
“Shall we have a picnic before we go back to the cave and study it more?”
“Sure. Why not. After all, we woke up very early to come here.”
Twilight extended the mantle over the soft green grass. Sunset Shimmer puts the basket and opened it. It contained delicious sandwiches and sweet apple juiceboxes, plus two cupcakes from SugarCube Corner.
“Bon apetit!” Sunset chuckles, so does Twilight and eat.
The day was specially sunny today. There were a few small puffy clouds and the air was nice and fresh. A small flock of parrots flew above their head at certain altitude, singing altogether a fantastic melody.
The girls shared a pretty nice conversation related about different subjects like how Sunset Shimmer tried her best to gain everyone's trust, why Sci-Twi is always doing a wide variety of research, the battle against the Dazzlings and their best moments at the Friendship Games.
"Speaking of which, it still makes me curious why a cave would contain 7 magical geodes." Sunset Shimmer thought for a second after eating the sandwich.
"That's a good question. We are unsure of its origins. There's so many answers we need. What about if these crystals come from a different era?" Twilight wondered.
"Or were guarded inside an ancient temple or sanctuary."
"Whatever the theories comes to our minds, we have to get back in there and investigate even further."
"Are you sure about this, Twilight? We don't want our friends worry about us more than we already did."
"I appreciate your counsil, my best friend. But is a risk we have to take. Will you cooperate with me, Sunset Shimmer? Friends to the end?"
Sunset didn't have another choice. She let out a small sigh and nod.
"Friends to the end. Let's do this together."
"That's the spirit." Twilight let out a wide smile and stood up. "There's no more time to waste. Let's pick this up and proceed towards the cave."
"Right!"
Both cleaned up the area and threw the trash in the nearby bin. Sunset told Twilight that she is leaving the mantle and basket in the cabin nearby.
After that, they walked to the Crystal Cave and entered.
"Ok, here goes nothing." Twilight was anxious but with determination to achieve her goals. She kneeled in front of the crystal spire and with her fingers checked the entire base but with no results.
"Found anything yet?"
"No. Usually the altars have some sort of secret entrance when you sense a soft air breeze."
"Right. You do that with the rest of the cave walls while I try for look for a description or something like that."
"Good idea. Keep me informed."
"Will do."
Both searched relentlessly through the entire cave but with no good results at all.
"Jeez! There was nothing! What kind of investigating we are doing, seriously?" Sci-Twi was so upset upon find nothing.
"Hey! Calm down, please. We have to be patient. We have to be... WHOA!" Sunset's left leg sank abruptly into the cave's dirt. Sci-Twi quickly notice that.
"Sunset! Hold on, I'm coming for you!" Twilight grabbed both of her arms with force and pulled her to safety. "Golly! That was a close call for sure. Are you hurt?"
"I will be ok. Thanks for worrying."
"Don't mention it."
Both girls noticed that the dirt was slowly pouring into the not-so-clear hole.
"Looks like we found ourselves a secret!" Sunset Shimmer chants happily. "I'll be back with a shovel. It won't take long."
"Oky doky. I'll be waiting for you." Sunset Shimmer leaves the cave trotting back to the main area of the camp.
Twilight tried to dig with her bare hand, but the dirt cakes under her fingernails.
"Ugh! I shall better wait for a shovel."
She walks away from the sinking dirt to clean herself. It doesn't take too long when everything begins to shake violently. Twilight gasps horrified and tries to flee but the quake was way too strong that she couldn't hold her balance and falls face first. The small hole suddenly starts to grow at an alarming rate, slowly revealing what appears to be an underground chamber. Sunset Shimmer came back quickly to witness the event and this time pulled back Twilight to save her from a very high fall.
Finally, the quake starts to cease slowly and a staircase begins to form downwards step by step.
"Twilight! Look!"
Both took a glance at the newly formed underground chamber. The first thing they saw was pure cristaline and a cobblestone bridge leading to some mysterious place.
"I. Can't. Believe. This." Twilight seemingly can't believe what she is seeing. "Sunset Shimmer. I want to ask you a favor"
"For my best friend, I'll do anything for you."
"Promise me that you will not tell anything about this to our friends. I want to keep this moment as a sacred life record."
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Sunset Shimmer does the Pinkie Pie Swear in a cute and funny way. Twilight couldn't stop laughing at it, ending it with a nice smile.
"Thank you so much. Now, let's proceed to our discovery"
"Let's do this, Twilight!"
The girls walked down the stairs carefully.
"It's getting cold down here. Although, is not that bad." Said Sci-Twi calm.
"You may be right. But keep in mind that we are going below the surface, so it's not the same, my friend."
"Thanks for the tip." Sci-Twi chuckles and smiles at Sunset after descending the stairs.
"You're welcome. Now, let's see what's in store for..."
Both gazed at something very unique.
"Us." Twilight finished the sentence.
In front of them lies a very large sanctuary made of ivory with mystic paintings and symbols shown in the outer walls. There's also numerous stained glasses that has images of humans, ponies, even griffins.
"Is this place... for real?" Sunset Shimmer couldn't believe it. She feels like all it was just a dream, but it's not. "It's... beautiful. So... ancient."
"It appears to. But, how they built this underground?"
"I have no idea, Twilight. No idea at all."
The girls crossed the long ornate bridge. The cristaline water emitted a dim diamond-color light across the cave walls, making the girls feel very calm.
"This is nice. It feels like I'm in heaven." Sunset sighed with a sweet smile. "You know, I always dreamed of being in a place like this. No distractions, isolated from the world, no worries."
"The perfect place to bring your body and soul in a deep state of calm." Sci-Twi took a deep breath and exhaled. "Ahh. That felt so good." Sunset giggles. "Go on. Give it a try."
"Sure!" Sunset Shimmer deeply inhales and holds her breath for a few seconds. Then, she let it all out. "That was amazing! It feels like you forget about your issues in no time."
"I agree with you, my friend."
"Speaking of which. Seeing the structure, the long bridge and the water reminds me of Equestria in a good way. Well... before I became a troublemaker during my studies."
"You must really miss it, I believe."
"Yeah. I wonder if Princess Celestia would be glad to hear more about my goals and progress. But, I will go back to my home world someday. For now, we have an investigation in progress."
"Gotta love that enthusiasm. She will be proud of you. Trust me." Twilight comforts her.
"Thank you, Twi."
"You're welcome." smiles.
After a small conversation, they reach the sanctuary entrance. It's a very large ivory round door with the Equestrian Insignia carved in it. Oddly, it looked like another plain wall but it's surrounded by a threshold.
"Strange. If I'm in the human world, why am I staring at the Equestrian Insignia?" Sunset Shimmer doubts for a moment.
"I don't know. But the other good question is... What's on the other side? There has to be like a mechanism we can use to open the door. Let's look for it."
"Ok." The girls begin their search.
They inspect all over the door, the threshold, the surrounding walls, including the bridge. They tried to avoid to miss the slightest detail.
"Found anything yet, Twilight?"
"No! There's no mechanism! This may be an amazing structure but there is not a single way to enter."
"What? How there's going to be a sanctuary that can't be accessed at all. Makes no sense!" Sunset Shimmer gets upset.
"It may make no sense at first but think about something logical." Sci-Twi reunites with her friend.
"What's logical?"
"What if inside this place hides a very powerful artifact or worse... a portal."
"How come?"
"It's easy. Just think about it. If it would be a powerful artifact and gets in the wrong hands, what can happen?"
"He or she will be unstoppable and cause nothing but death and destruction."
"Correct! Now, if it was a portal, then the answer is?"
"A war between dimensions."
"That's right, Sunset Shimmer! You get and A+!"
Out of the blue, a deep male voice echoes.
"Impressive. Two valiant women found the Sanctuary."
"Huh? Is someone there?" Sci-Twi gasped, sticking with Sunset Shimmer in fear.
"There's no need to be scared. I'm not your enemy. Allow me to introduce myself."
A very large shadow creature emerges from a giant blue fireball in the middle of the bridge. The girls, not trusting him yet, prepare for a possible battle. The fire slowly vanishes as he extends his long wings and magically draws from his left hand a giant cinquedea and leaps way up in the air towards the girls and swoops in at very high speed.
"LOOK OUT!" Twilight pushes Sunset aside and raises her hands for a magical counterattack.
The creature instead, stabs through the bridge milimeters away from Twilight. She pants in horror, still standing on guard. Behind the cinquedea, the shadow creature reveals his true self.
