Dead By Daylight: The New Blood

Luna's moon shined high above Equestria as ponies all around began to turn in for the night. Lights began to go out all over the town of Ponyville, nestled in the large stretch of land between the Everfree Forest and Canterlot, all except for one little building on the towns largest farm, Sweet Apple Acres.

This little building, hoof built by the ponies who lived there, contained three mares, laughing and talking all about events happening that week, like they were little fillies again.

The mares inside, one earth pony, one Pegasus, and one Unicorn, were laying on the floor, on top of sleeping bags, looking at a large list that the Earth Pony had made to prepare for their little celebration to mark the end of the latest school year at the School of Friendship.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were gathered at the clubhouse they had spent much of their time in as fillies to plan out the camping trip they usual embarked on after a year of teaching. They had been teaching at the School of Friendship for many years, initially starting as tutors, but eventually climbing the ladder to reach the positions of teachers.

Every year they took a camping trip during the first week of summer, and in the beginning their sisters went with them, but as time went on and they grew older, they began to camp alone, but this year would be different, as they were inviting some other ponies with.

"Did you remember to write down sunblock?" Sweetie Belle asked. Apple Bloom looked back at the list and shook her head, quickly writing in what Sweetie had said. "Oh! And let's not forget Bug Spray! Button's allergic to some bugs!" Sweetie then added. Scootaloo snickered.

"What kind of bugs?" Scootaloo asked. Sweetie rolled her eyes.

"Too many to count." Sweetie Belle said before turning back to Apple Bloom.

"Ah think that's everythin, unless we think of anything else before tomorrow morning." Apple Bloom said, rolling up the list and stuffing it into her bag. Scootaloo wiggled restlessly in excitement.

"Oh, this is gonna be so awesome! Having the guys come camping with us will be the best!" Scootaloo said.

"Are you sure our sisters are okay with us doing this, they probably don't trust them." Sweetie then said with a hint of doubt. Apple Bloom shook her head.

"I already talked with Applejack about this earlier. She thinks that we are responsible enough to make our own decisions. She trusts that I trust Tender Taps, and hopefully, your sisters trust you as well." Apple Bloom said in hopes of calming the other two down.

This camping trip would be an interesting one, since they were bringing along their coltfriends, plus two others. Apple Bloom had been dating Tender Taps for a few months now, though she had known him since they helped him get his cutie mark when they were younger. Tender had recently become the School of Friendship's dance instructor.

Sweetie suddenly let out a giggle. "I remember when Button met Rarity and my parents for the first time as my Coltfriend. He was shaking so much my dad thought there was an earthquake." Sweetie Belle said, smiling at the funny memory.

Sweetie Belle had been dating Button Mash for over a year now, with them being childhood sweethearts, and it was always a very amusing, and somewhat baffling, sight for ponies who didn't know them very well. Seeing the pretty and beautifully voiced Sweetie Belle with the socially awkward gamer Button Mash was certainly odd, but they didn't care in the slightest what anypony else thought, they were in love, and nothing could change that.

Before any of them could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. It slightly startled them, but they calmed down when the voice spoke.

"Girls, you in there?" Applejack's voice spoke from the other side. Apple Bloom stood up and opened the door, letting her older sister in. Balancing on Applejack's back was a small tray, consisting of apples, as well as a pie and some fritters.

"I brought you some snacks." Applejack said as she took the tray and placed it on the floor in the center of where they had placed their sleeping bags.

"Thanks Applejack!" the three said in unison. Applejack smiled as the three dug in and ate the apples.

"Ya sure ya don't want to sleep back at the house? We've got plenty of room." Applejack asked, looking at how cramped it really was with fully grown mares in it. It worked perfectly well when they were fillies, but now they were a bit bigger.

"No thanks Applejack, we always spend the first night of summer break in here, it's a yearly tradition." Apple Bloom said before taking another bite of an apple. Applejack nodded and went back out the door with her lantern.

"Well then, don't stay up too late, you got a long trek ahead of ya tomorrow, if you three really wanna do this alone this year." Applejack said as she turned back to the door.

"We will Applejack. Goodnight!" Applebloom said as she and her friends began to dig into the snacks.

"I'll see ya in the mornin!" Applejack said with a wave. The other three waved goodnight as Applejack closed the door and walked away towards the farmhouse.

From outside, somepony watched as the orange farm mare walked away and quickly scurried up to the treehouse. They looked around, making sure that there was nopony else around before knocking on the door and diving into the nearby bushes. The door opened and the three mares inside poked their heads out.

"Applejack?" Apple Bloom called out in confusion. The three looked around a bit longer as the hidden pony smiled at their mischievous deed. The door closed and they quickly rushed up and did it again. The door opened again and this time, the three stepped out onto the ramp leading up to the house.

"Hello? Whose there?" Apple Bloom called out as she walked down the ramp and onto the grass. Scootaloo followed with Sweetie Belle staying on the ramp.

"Maybe it's your nephew playing pranks again." Scootaloo said in annoyance.

"Sweet Mac? If that's you, I'm gonna have to tell your parents that your out of bed again!" Applebloom threatened, hoping it would be enough to draw out her young nephew.

Suddenly, a grey blur rushed out of a nearby bush and tackled Scootaloo. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both let out startled screams before looking at what just attacked Scootaloo.

On top of Scootaloo, kissing her, was her colt friend Rumble. He finished kissing her and gave her a smug look.

"Evening babe." He said with a grin. Scootaloo quickly shoved him off of her and gave him a pout.

"Not funny Rumble." Scootaloo said angrily as she went back to the clubhouse.

"Aw come on! It was just a joke, to get us in the spirit of things! Schools out for the summer!" Rumble tried to convince her as they all entered the clubhouse. Scootaloo sat down on her sleeping bag again and Rumble sat next to her, she still had an angry look. Rumble sighed.

"Ok, I'm sorry." Rumble said. Scootaloo smiled and patted his black mane with a hoof.

"Good colt." Scootaloo said while petting him.

Rumble was known for quite a few things at the school. He was one of the sports coaches there, mainly teaching Pegasus sports like the aerial relay. He was also a cook, and a very good one at that, so good that his cutie mark was a whisk and a spoon crossing under a chef's hat. Though his special talent was cooking, he was no lazy colt, and was still incredibly athletic. With his older brother a Wonderbolt, he hoped to one day get there as well.

"Did you submit your application to the Academy yet?" Scootaloo asked him. Rumble nodded.

"Yeah, now I just gotta wait. I hope I don't get rejected again." Rumble said. He had tried once in the past to get into the Wonderbolt Academy, but failed the first entrance exam.

"I'm sure you'll get in this time." Scootaloo said while resting her head on his shoulder. Rumble placed his chin on her head and rested it, happy to have a supportive filly friend like Scoots. He always felt guilty, going on and on about the Wonderbolts, always having to remind himself that Scootaloo.....couldn't fly, so she would likely never get a chance, and Rumble felt so lucky that she was sticking by him through this process.

"So Rumble, are you excited for this week?" Apple Bloom asked. Rumble nodded.

"You bet, who else is coming?" Rumble asked.

"Tender Taps, Button Mash, Chip Cutter, and Dinky." Apple Bloom explained. Rumble nodded.

Chip Cutter was the School of Friendship's sculpting teacher, partially responsible for the epic carving of the Elements of Harmony found in the Canterlot Gardens. He was an impressive artist, one that found his potential thanks to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. His filly friend, Dinky was also joining them. She was a magic instructor in the school. Her mother was Derpy Hooves, the towns mail mare. Both were a little clumsy and didn't always understand things, but were so sweet and caring that it was impossible to dislike them.

"And uh, where are we going? The Everfree forest again? Winsome Falls?" Rumble asked. Apple Bloom shot him a grin and reached into her bag and pulled out a map. She unrolled it and pointed to a spot that had been circled in red ink to the West of Ponyville.

"This place. It's called the Red Forest. It's just on the other side of the Everfree, and we sometimes pass by it on the way to Winsome Falls. But we've never stayed in there until now." Apple Bloom explained before rolling the map back up.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning as soon as everypony else gets here, so for now, let's get some shuteye." Apple Bloom said as she moved her bag over and got into her sleeping bag. She reached for the lantern and turned it off, covering the clubhouse in darkness. "Goodnight Guys." Apple Blooms said.

"Goodnight." The others responded. Then there was silence for about 20 seconds, and some shuffling was heard.

"Don't even think about it Rumble!" Scootaloo said sternly.

"Yes Ma'am." Rumble quickly said and the shuffling stopped.