Adventure at Canterlot High - Into the woods

Chapters

A much needed break
Welcome to camp
Strange Happenings
I'll tell you a story
Gone off the deep end
Freaky Friday
Embrace the Magic

A much needed break

In Canterlot City, there was a heist going on at the bank. A pair of thugs were running towards a getaway car, both of them hefting large sacks over their shoulders.

Once they got the loot into the truck, they both entered the vehicle.

“Cops are in their way, man.” The robber in the passenger seat said as he buckled up. “The sooner we leave the better.”

The other thug turned the key to the ignition, the car revving up its engine. But just as they were about to drive off, a thick cloud of smoke appeared around them, and the smell of burning rubber filled the air shortly afterwards.

The scent had the two in a coughing fit, holding their nose to block out the smell as they exited the vehicle.

“What the…?” The first thing looked down, his eyes widening upon seeing the tires had melted. “What happened?!”

“Sorry fellas!”

The two thugs look ahead to see the familiar solar powered crystalline alien named Sunstone. “But I'm afraid the only place you're going is downtown!”

The thugs pulled out their guns and fired. Sunstone only stared at them blandly as the bullets bounced off of him.

With a sigh, Sunstone extends his right hand towards the thugs. And moments later, their guns were superheated before melting l, taking the two thugs by surprise.

And to make it worse for the two criminals, the police had arrived. The two thugs, knowing that there was no way out, raised their hands up with looks of defeat on their faces.

Sunstone smiled victoriously at another job well done. “All yourself, officers.”

One of the officers walked to the two criminals and cuffs them, another approached Sunstone.

“Thanks again, bud.” The officer said with a thankful smile. “This town could use more people like you.”

“No need, officer.” Sunstone replied humbly. “I'm just a local Samaritan.”

And with that, Sunstone changed into the devilish speedster named Speed Demon before speeding off.

Sunset and Twilight were helping Apple bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, aka the Cutie Mark Crusaders, with a little art project.

“And… there.” Twilight said with a smile. “That should do it.”

“Thanks again, guys.” Applebloom said gratefully to the two older prodigies. “We appreciate the help.”

“Happy to help.” Sunset replied with a bashful smile.

Suddenly, Speed Demon rushed towards them before coming to a screeching halt. And in a green flash, Speed Demon had changed back to Tristen.

“Hey Tristen.” Sweetie Belle greeted him. “How'd it go?”

“Pretty good.” Tristen replied while dusting himself. “Luckily this one wasn't as rough as the last few busts.”

Cortana appeared on the Omnitrix's faceplate, casting a playful smirk towards her human partner. “Hey, you said you could handle those jobs on your own.”

“And I did.” Tristen replied. “But they weren't pretty easy.” He then looks towards Sunset and Twilight. “So, did I miss anything. We're there any magical threats?”

Sunset shakes her head in response. “Thankfully, no.” Twilight responded before looking towards Sunset. “I still can't believe stuff like that is commonplace with you guys.”

“Hey, you're talking to a pony from an alternate world and a guy with an alien watch.” Tristen replied with a chuckle. “Hopefully this camping trip will be a nice breath of fresh air.”

“Oh yeah. The trip to Camp Everfree.” Sunset added with a nod.

“I for one am looking forward to this trip.” Rarity added as she and the others had arrived.

“Got that right.” Applejack nods her head in agreement. “Two weeks in the great outdoors.”

“Been a while since I went camping.” Tristen said with a smile of nostalgia. “So many memories.”

“And the best part,” Adagio added, “We’ll be having a week away from aby magical mishaps.”

“Damn right, sister.” Tristen replied with agreement. “God knows I've been needing a breather after all the times I've been busting bad guys.”

“Some time away could help refresh yourselves." Cortana added her two cents. “Especially for you, Tristen. Considering how high your stress levels are.”

Twilight was surprised at that. “Stress levels?”

“Yeah. The Omnitrix also works as a fitness tracker.” Tristen replied. “It keeps track of my exercise, sleep schedule, weight, cholesterol levels, stress levels, so on and so on.”

The others were taken by surprise by that. "Man. Whoever made that watch,” Alex said, pointing to the Omnitrix, “must have been a health nut or something.”

Tristen shrugs. “Well, I say it's a useful feature.” Tristen responded. “Besides, I'm the kinda guy who likes to work out.”

“And luckily, we've managed to rake in enough cash for the camping trip.” Adagio spoke with a smirk. “Both from the fundraiser and the money from our jobs.”

Tristen nods, but then notices Twilight had a look of faint anxiety on her face. “Twi? You doing ok?”

Twilight snaps out of her thoughts, blinks rapidly before putting up a smile. “Oh-uh… I'm fine.”

Tristen however saw right through her ruse. “You're still beating yourself up over what happened at the Friendship Games, aren't you?”

Twilight, knowing she had been caught, sighs out in defeat and looked downwards. “Well…”

Alex, wanting to comfort his friend, placed a hand on her shoulder. “Twi, that wasn't your fault. That was Cinch's doing.”

Twilight looks at him in response. “But I still turned into some monster. I nearly had people hurt, if not worse.” Twilight looks back down in shame. “I almost killed you.”

Alex’s response to that was hugging her, taking the bespectacled girl by surprise. “Everyone messes up from time to time.” Alex responded reassuringly.

“Besides, you're not the only one.” Sunset added with a soft smile. “I kinda went through the same road you did. Transformation and all.”

“And everyone here was able to look past all of that.” Adagio added. “They did with Sunset, they did with me and Aria, and they did with you.”

“And like Alex said. Most of that is on Cinch.” Tristen added with a smirk. “And the Wicked Witch of the West is paying for her crap.”

Twilight smiled softly but genuinely, appreciating that her friends are making her feel better. “Thanks guys.”

“I'm sure this trip will help us get our mind off of all the craziness we've been going through lately.” Fluttershy said in agreement.

“Well, we better get ready.” Sunset said as she walked to her locker. “We'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning.” Sunset then grabs her things out of her locker. “Better be sure we've got everything for the trip.”

Welcome to camp

It was early morning, and Twilight was in her bed with Spike snoring beside her

Twilight tossed and turned as she spoke in her sleep. “No... It can't be...! It isn't true...!”

“Um, Twilight?” Flutteshy spoke behind her door, but Twilight was still asleep

But a knock at the door woke her up.

“Twilight! The bus for Camp Everfree leaves in ten minutes!” Rainbow called out

Twilight, upon hearing that, began to panic. “Oh, no-no-no-no-no!” She panicked as she puts on her glasses. “I can't believe I overslept!”

Twilight gets out of bed as the door opens, the other girls letting themselves in.

“Me neither.” Sunset said in agreement. “That's not like you.”

Alex and Tristen walk in as well. “You're usually up in time.” Alex added. “

“Don't you have a super-annoying alarm clock that goes AHN! AHN! AHN! AHN?!" Pinkie asked as curiously as she approached the bed before she lifted up a pillow to reveal an electronic clock that jumped about, emitting a loud buzzing again and again.

Sunset luckily shuts the alarm clock off with just a press of a button.

“I'm glad I don't own one of those things.” Tristen sighed out. “Otherwise, I'd blast it to pieces.”

“It's gonna be fine.” Sunset said reassuringly to Twilight. “We'll help you pack.”

The girls helped her pack while Spike began to pant excitedly.

As the girls packed for Twilight, Rarity fished out a dress for the prodigy.

Applejack sighs out with a roll of her eyes. “We're gonna be out in the woods.” Applejack said, gesturing to the gown. “When is she gonna need that?”

“If we were going to the moon,” Rarity began, “I'd insist she packed an evening gown. One never knows, darling.”

“Lemme just get changed.” Twilight said, walking towards her closet.

Tristen and Alex let themselves out to give Twilight some privacy to change.

But as Twilight was about to get changed, a pair of wings sprung up behind her. And sure enough, Midnight Sparkle was standing behind her.

“Midnight Sparkle?!”

Tristen and Alex looked to see Midnight as well. “Oh crap!” Tristen murmured in shock.

“How is this possible?” Twilight asked in disbelief and fear. “Aggregor absorbed you at the Friendship Games!”

“Regardless, I think Sunstone oughta give this chick a much-deserved ass whoopin'!” Tristen declared as he reached for his Omnitrix.

Midnight however was quick to intervene as she fired a laser blast at the device, making it beep profusely and sparkle with electricity.

She then began laughing maniacally, much to their surprise before they all saw the room start to fall apart into oblivion. And not too long afterwards, all of Twilight’s friends began vanishing as well.

Twilight, now all alone with Midnight, backed away out of terror, leaning up against the mirror while breathing heavily.

"Midnight Sparkle's a part of you!" Midnight declared, suddenly appearing within the mirror, trying to grasp the girl with her hand.

Twilight yelped in shock, managing to get away just in time. However, the reality around her had broken apart to the point where her bare feet were no longer touching the floor, as she floated in midair, surrounded by the space-like dimension with objects from her room strewn about.

"I'll always be there…" Midnight proclaimed as she loomed over Twilight, somehow increased in size. "Waiting in the darkest shadows of your mind! I'll be back, Twilight!”

As Twilight was fearful for her life, Midnight appeared behind her. "And this time, I won't stop 'til I have all the magic!"

And as Midnight finished, she suddenly merged with Twilight. Her wings, horn, and magic aura around her eyes appeared upon her shortly after.

No!" Twilight yelled, desperately trying to avoid turning to fight off Midnight. "STOP!"

“Twilight! Twilight! Wake up!”

Twilight opened her eyes, seeing that she was seated in a bus. She looks to her side to see Alex and Spike sitting next to her in worry, the former of which looking at her in worry.

“Are you alright?” Tristen asked from a seat across from Twilight’s. “You look like you were having one hell of a nightmare.”

Twilight laughed nervously before giving her response. "I'm fine…"

“You sure?” Tristen asked. “That didn't sound fine to me.”

“Yeah.” Twilight said dismissively. “Don't worry.”

Tristen wasn't so convinced, but he decided to not pry any further.

“We are gonna have so much fun!” Pinkie exclaimed with pure excitement. “We're gonna roast marshmallows and eat marshmallows and sleep on marshmallow pillows!”

Adagio snickered at Pinkie's enthusiasm. “I'm down for that!” Sonata added with as much excitement. “Especially that last part!”

“Probably not gonna do that.” Rainbow added.

“Maybe you're not.” Pinkie replied, holding up a large bag full of colored marshmallows before snuggling it.

Alex heard the Omnitrix beeping, making him look down at the device. And to his perplexity, he saw the faceplate flashes from green to purple while still beeping.

“The hell?” Tristen asked.

Sunset too noticed the strange occurrence with the Omnitrix. “What's up with the watch?” Twilight, Alex, and Spike look over to see the Omnitrix acting weirdly as well.

“Must be a glitch or something.” Tristen replied with a shrug.

"Attention, students.” Celestia called out, grabbing everyone's attention. "We're almost there. But before we arrive, we just wanted to say how proud we are of you for raising enough money to go on this class field trip.”

"When we were your age," Luna added, "we made some of our favorite memories in these woods, and we're sure you will, too.”

"Now who's excited for Camp Everfree?!" Celestia asked the crowd of students.

The crowd of students began to cheer out in response. However, Twilight was a little less enthusiastic as she was still recovering from her nightmare.

After a long bus ride, they had finally reached their destination. As everyone was getting off the bus and getting their bags, our group were looking around.

“Isn't Camp Everfree just beautiful?” Fluttershy asked, examining the camp in awe. “I can't wait until we have our first nature walk.”

“I'm looking forward to taking a nice dip.” Alex said with a smirk.

“I'm just lookin' forward to roughin' it.” Applejack added. “I'm gonna make my own shelter, forage for food…

“Uh, you know they provide us with food and tents, right?” Rainbow asked the country girl.

“Yup!” Applejack replied. “Still gonna forage though.”

“I'm just after some R&R.” Rarity added. “The past year has all been a bit too much for my tastes.”

“I'll say!” Pinkie added. “We fought two evil sirens who tried to hypnotize everybody with their singing, one ridiculously competitive rival school, an alien villain that can absorb the powers of others, and two demon friends!”

“Uh, heh-heh, no offense.” Pinkie chuckled nervously.

“None taken.” Sunset replied as she looked at Twilight. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Does that happen a lot?” Alex asked.

“Yeah.” Adagio replied. “Though she's not wrong.”

“Yep. Canterlot High has become a regular magic magnet.” Applejack replied. “Gonna be nice gettin' away to a place where we don't have to worry about that kinda stuff.”

“Agreeable.” Adagio replied with a nod. “Definitely looking forward to some down time.”

Twilight said nothing before glancing over to the Omnitrix, noticing that it's still acting funny. “Uh… Tristen?”

Tristen looks towards her, then looks down at the Omnitrix. “Ah. Still acting up, huh?”

Cortana manifested on the Omnitrix faceplate, looking down at the device she inhabits with a puzzled expression. “There doesn't seem to be anything wrong internally.”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.

“Well, as soon as the Omnitrix started acting up, I checked through its system and programming.” Cortana elaborated. “And from what I was able to gather, I couldn't find anything wrong. No glitches, no bugs, nothing.”

“So, what?” Applejack pondered. “There's something externally interferin’ with the watch?”

Cortana nods. “Possibly.” Cortana replied with a shrug. “What it is though, I'm not exactly sure.”

As Tristen pondered, he looked off to his right. And sure enough, deep into the forest, he sees a pair of glowing green eyes piercing through the darkness.

Tristen backed up a bit in shock upon seeing this. “Wh-Whoa!”

“What?” Sunset asked.

“There's something out-” Tristen looks back to the forest where he saw the eyes only to find nothing. “Wh-What the… but…”

“What is it, darling?” Rarity asked with confusion.

Tristen tried to explain, but the sound of microphone feedback pierced the air. “GAH! SON OF A BITCH!” Tristen yelled out in pain as he and the others immediately covered their ears.

Hey, everyone! If you could start heading to the courtyard, that'd be rad! It's time to start the best week of camp ever!

(Later)

Everyone, teachers, and students alike, had gathered at the center of the campgrounds, where at a gazebo in the area, there were two people who they looked over at.

One was a boy with short, forest green hair that was a bit messy, and brownish skin. He wore a black and grey cap over his head, a red t-shirt with the Camp Everfree logo upon it, and green cargo shorts.

The other was a girl with hot pink skin, freckled cheeks, and long maroon hair with braids and pink streaks. She wore a yellow blouse and jean shorts. She also had a crystal necklace around her neck and along with a floral crown upon her head.

"Hi, everyone!" the girl greeted, her voice boomed through the microphone. "Welcome to Camp Everfree! I'm Gloriosa Daisy, your camp director! Think of me as your friendly camp and nature guide." She then gestured to the boy next to her. "And this is my brother, Timber Spruce!"

Timber grabs the microphone from his sister. "Think of me as that awesome guy
who should always be invited to fun things."

“We aim to please." Glorious added. “So, before we hand out our tent assignments, we'd like to hear from all of you, you're free to do whatever you like here!”

As Gloriosa spoke to the crowd of students, Tristen was looking towards Gloriosa. His eyes wide as a blush graced his face. “Wow….” Tristen mumbled to himself as a soft smile formed on his lips.

“Uh, except hike near the rock quarry." Timber added. “That's off limits.”

"Yes…" Gloriosa agreed, "but otherwise, your options are wide open. So what activities will make this the very best week of your lives ever?"

"Ooh! Rock climbing!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Done!" Gloriosa responded.

"Archery!" Rainbow added.

"Of course!" Gloriosa responded yet again.

As Rainbow was asking suggestions for activities, Tristen still eyed Gloriosa, completely zoning out.

"Tristen? Psst! Tristen!”

Tristen snapped out of his thoughts and looked down to see Spike. “Y-Yes Spike?” Tristen whispered to the dog.

“You ok?” Spike asked while pointing his paw at Tristen. “Your cheeks are a little red.”

Tristen, blinking rapidly, placed a hand on his cheeks. “Oh… uh, yeah. I'm good.”

"So if there's anything you'd like to do," Gloriosa continued. "Anything you need, just ask.”

"What about the camp gift?" Celestia asked. "That was my favorite Camp Everfree tradition."

"The camp gift!" Gloriosa recalled excitedly, "Of course!" she exclaimed.

"Really?" Timber whispered to her sarcastically.

"Yes, really." Gloriosa replied, placing her hand atop the microphone to prevent anyone from hearing their conversation, forcing a small smile across her lips.

"Well, I just thought…” Timber continued.

"Then you thought wrong!" she interjected defiantly, causing him to frown deeply, while she glared at him.

Tristen noticed how strangely the two were acting towards one another, but then he heard a rustling noise. Curious, he looks over to see a bush rustling, suddenly feeling the sense that something is off. But that feeling was brushed aside when a squirrel emerged from the bushes and scurried off, making Tristen sigh in relief.

“Ah, what was I worried about?” Tristen asked himself with a faint chuckle.

"Every year, campers work together to create something useful." Gloriosa told everyone. "A gift for future campers. Working toward this common goal is key to forming the strong bonds that will last well beyond your time here at camp! Which is why it's so important…" She muttered the last bit angrily to Timber.

"This gazebo was a gift from last year's group." Gloriosa continued as she pointed upwards, looking up at the ceiling of the structure they stood upon, "Oh, oh, oh, and the totem pole and the sundial were also made by campers!"

"The sundial was our year's gift!" Celestia told her students.

"Even though 'some people' thought it was a little impractical, since the sundial can't be used at night…" Luna added with pure sarcasm.

"Uh huh." Gloriosa chuckled, "You all seem like a really amazing group. So I'm certain you'll come up with something inspiring to leave behind."

"Speaking of leaving things behind," Timber chimed in, "now's the time when we give out tent assignments. So you can leave your heavy bags behind.”

"Uh, girls will be getting their assignments from Timber." Gloriosa added. "Guys, you're with me."

And with that, the boys all gathered around near Gloriosa while the girls did the same with Timber.

Tristen heard the sound of a stick breaking, making him look off towards the woods. There, he saw a silhouette darting through the forest, but he could hardly make out any details.

“The hell?” Tristen asked himself.

“What is it?” Flash whispered to him.

“I think I saw something.” Tristen whispered back.

“Probably just an animal.” Sandalwood replied with a shrug.

“Yeah, maybe.” Tristen whispered back.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes, can I…” Tristen looked ahead, and his face immediately went red upon locking eyes with Gloriosa. And Gloriosa too has a faint redness gracing her cheeks too. Not wanting to look like an idiot, Tristen cleared his throat. “Sorry, you say something?”

Gloriosa blinked rapidly, clearing her throat as well. “Oh… uh, sorry. I kinda zoned out.” Gloriosa said before holding a sack towards him.

Tristen looked at the sac but then noticed there were cards inside of it. Reaching his hand I to the sac, he pulled out a card with a red oval-shaped gemstone. “Garnet, huh?” Tristen asked, looking towards Gloriosa. “What's the Garnet for?”

“It's what tent you'll be staying in, of course.” Gloriosa replied with her blush returning a little. “It's also one of my favorite stones.”

“Funny, it just so happens to be my birthstone.” Tristen replied sheepishly. “Fun fact: Garnet represents courage and positive thinking?”

Gloriosa nods in response. “It also symbolizes passion, friendship, health, love, strong feelings and emotions.”

Tristen and Gloriosa said nothing else, they didn't do anything either. They just stood and stared at each other before Gloriosa snapped out of her stupor. “S-Sorry… I've got to tend to the other campers. Just call if you need anything.”

Gloriosa walks to another one of the boys while Tristen watches her. “Y-Yeah. Will do…”

Tristen then looks to his right to see Celestia and Luna standing beside him, both of them having knowing smiles. “What?” Tristen asked.

“Oh nothing.” Celestia said while Luna lightly giggled. “Glad to know you picked the second-best tent, by the way.”

Tristen was surprised as he looked at the card he held. “For real?” Tristen examines the card he held.

“Look like you and I are bunkin’, bro.” Alex said as he held a card with a Garnet on it.

Tristen smirked in reply. “Aw yeah, man!” Tristen and Alex then shared fist bump.

The sound of a whistle blowing took the two by surprise before they looked over to see Gloriosa approaching them.

"Okay, everyone," Gloriosa began as she walked to the girls. "Go get settled in. We'll be meeting at the docks in fifteen minutes to go over some camp safety rules! Lemme know if you need anything!"

All of a sudden, the sound of a door opening caught her attention as she looked over to see a well-dressed man with combed and gelled black hair, and brown skin as he trotted over from his limousine to the camp director, who frowned deeply.

"I need somethin'," the man said, walking over to him, while the others watched on nervously.

"Filthy Rich!" Gloriosa said with feigned excitement as she put her left arm around his right one. "So nice to see you." she grumbled, walking him back to the long vehicle before shoving him towards it, much to his surprise as he gnashed his teeth together. "What are you doing here?!" She whispered angrily. "Camp is just getting started!"

"Just takin' in the scenery, Gloriosa Daisy," The man named Filthy Rich replied. "It's so... hmm... relaxin'."

"Well, you can look around when camp is over!" she stated angrily, "Now, if you don't mind…"

***

Deep in the forest, something was watching the scene between Gloriosa and Filthy Rich. Or rather, someone.

Whoever the person was, they had a blowpipe in one hand, and what looked like a needle in the other. Upon leading the needle into the pipe, the figure placed the pipe near their lips.

***

As Filthy Rich and Gloriosa stared each other down, Tristen had a bad feeling towards the former. Upon seeing a stick on the ground, he walks over to it and picks it up, then with a glare towards Filthy Rich, he snaps it in half. Both Filthy Rich and Gloriosa look towards him in response.

"Oh, don't mind me. Just picking up a few sticks for the fire." Tristen said with a smirk. "Gotta be careful though. Wouldn't want them up in certain places." Tristen glanced towards Filthy Rich while emphasizing his statement by forming his index and thumb into a ring-shape before placing it on the tip of the stick and sliding it halfway down the base. "If you know what I'm saying, bud.”

"Ooooohh.." Alex, Flash, and DJ PON-3 muttered in slight shock.

"Oh boy." Sunset uttered in concern, knowing that trouble was gonna happen.

"Beg your pardon, son?" Filthy Rich asked in mild anger. "I'm a little deaf in this ear! Care to speak up?"

"You sure it ain't a mosquito near ya?" Tristen retorted with a smirk. "I hear those disease spreading bloodsuckers are attracted to cologne.” Tristen continued as he pointed one of the broken sticks at Filthy Rich. “Or maybe it's just a fly. After all, those things know a turd when they see one.”

Filthy Rich was slowly losing his cool while Gloriosa watched on in concern. But suddenly, the affluent man felt a sharp pain on his right shoulder. “Ow! What in tarnation?!” Filthy Rich reached behind his shoulder to try and grab at what struck him.

Gloriosa noticed the needle, and with a panicked expression, quickly pulled the needle out and hid it behind her in quick succession. “Look, why don't you come back another time, hm.” Gloriosa said with a nervous smile.

Filthy Rich, with a sneer, checks a gold watch upon his right wrist, smirking before turning his attention back onto Gloriosa. "Fine."

And with that, Filthy Rich gets into the limo he arrived in before closing the door. And the limo then drives off into the distance, leaving the site.

With the affluent man gone, Tristen walked towards Gloriosa. “You know that overstuffed pig in men's clothes?”

“Tristen!” Fluttershy scolded.

"Oh him?” Gloriosa asked a bit apprehensively. “Yes, that's Filthy Rich. He's… uh, an alumni of the camp." Tristen furrowed an eyebrow at that. "He likes to check on his old stomping grounds every now and again. But enough about him." She turns her attention to the girls. "Find your tents and put away your things. We've got the best week of camp ever to begin!"

Gloriosa then looks back towards Tristen. “And you,” Gloriosa said, casting a nervous look towards him. “As much as I appreciate you stepping in, just please don't stir Filthy Rich up, ok? Trust me, he's not somebody you want to tango with.”

Tristen responds to that with a shrug. “No promises.”

Gloriosa looks ahead, spotting a silhouette perched up on a tree. "Uh… I've got something to take care of real quick!" Gloriosa darted off, making Tristen and the girls look on with confused expressions.

Deep in the forest, a figure lands in the ground after dropping from his perch.

It was a man with a fair complexion, pointed ears, short dark brown hair that was unkempt, and eyes with black sclerae with green irises. He has protrusions from his head that look like branches of a tree styled as curved horns. His attire consists of an open brown coat with a raised green collar, a pair of shoulder pauldrons that looked like they were made from alligator skin, a leaf-like pendant hanging from his pauldrons, a brown belt, a pair of green trousers, and a pair of black buckled boots.

“Don't think I didn't see that!”

The man looks over his shoulder to see someone glaring at him. The person in question resembles a woman with a pale complexion, pointed ears, emerald-green eyes, red hair that touches the ground, and dressed in a short gown made of leaves with a single strap over her left shoulder.

“Don't even start with me!” The man replied with a scoff. “I was just doing what was necessary to ward that vermin off!”

"Leshy!” Gloriosa cried out angrily as she approached him. “Care to explain what this is?!” Gloriosa demanded, holding up the cactus needle.

“It's a cactus needle.” The man replied nonchalantly.

“I know it's a cactus needle!” Gloriosa declared angrily. “You better hope that thing wasn't laced with poison, because I do not want a murder on my hands!”

“I was tempted to use a poisoned needle, but I decided to go for a tranquilizer instead.” The man named Leshy replied nonchalantly, further fueling Gloriosa’s rage. “Its effects would have kicked in by now had you not removed it.”

“A tranquilizer?!” Gloriosa repeated in rage. “Are you trying to make us lose this camp?!”

“Leshy, our purpose is to protect the camp!” The red-haired woman added, just as enraged.

“That's exactly what I was doing, Willow.” Leshy replied. “Swine like him are nothing but a threat to this sanctuary. I was just assessing the threat.”

“You just let me deal with Filthy Rich, Leshy!” Gloriosa declared. “I do not want this discussion again! I've already got enough to worry about as it is!”

With that, Gloriosa walked off while Leshy and Willow watched.

“That was too extreme.” Willow said to Leshy. “You are lucky he didn't spot you!”

“I was doing what we are tasked to do, Willow.” Leshy declared in his defense. “Protect Camp Everfree at all costs.”

“While being discreet and with humane methods!” Willow snapped back. “Only when it is necessary do we intervene! And that was not necessary!”

Leshy only glared at Willow in response. “I did not appreciate how that avaricious swine spoke down to Gloriosa!” Leshy fired back. “I'm done arguing about this, Willow!”

Leshy then walks off while Willow watches, the red-headed woman pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. “I don't know what has become of you brother.” Willow muttered to herself.

Author's Note

Here are images of Leshy and Willow, in case you guys need visuals. I own none of these images, btw.

Leshy
Art by MelissaFindley

Willow
Art by Nick Swift

Strange Happenings

Applejack and Rarity were walking over to their respective tents, engaging in a small conversation.

"I'm all for learning safety rules, but I do hope I can get started on my designs for the camp fashion show sooner rather than later." Rarity stated with a confident expression.

“I still can't believe you talked Gloriosa into havin' a fashion show." Applejack said, still baffled. "We're in the middle of the woods for cryin' out loud! We're s'posed to be roughin' it!"

“Oh I don't know, Applejack.” Adagio said as she approached the two. “I for one think it's a great idea. Besides, it's clear from Gloriosa's own wardrobe that she appreciates a well put together look. Even if we are in the middle of the woods."

"Fair enough." Applejack nods before walking off to her tent. "Just as long as you don't put me in one of your fancy pants outfits." Applejack added with narrowed eyes towards Rarity, who had a smirk "Yer gonna, aren't ya?"

"No…" Rarity said before looking towards Adagio. "Yes!" She chuckled and looked back to Applejack. "Don't worry, It'll absolutely speak to your personal sense of fashion."

Meanwhile, Sunset and Twilight were getting settled.

“That was weird back there, right?” Sunset asked Twilight. “With that guy, Filthy Rich?”

“Huh?” Twilight looks at Sunset. “Oh. Uh, I guess so.”

“I just have this feeling that Gloriosa's hiding something.” Sunset said, then flashes a teasing smirk. “Her brother is pretty cute, though, huh?”

Twilight blushes instantaneously in surprise as she turns around to face her with an embarrassed expression, still having pink-tinted cheeks. "He's okay…" she confessed.

"Ooooh…"Subset cooed, clasping her hands together, "now look who's trying to hide something!"

"No, I'm not!" Twilight declared a panicked tone, quickly going over to put her clothes away while Sunset leader looked on worriedly.

"Hey, you okay?" Sunset asked. "You seemed a little freaked out on the bus earlier."

"Probably had another one of her nightmares," Spike chimed in, only to have a pair of purple socks flown onto his head.

"I'm fine." Twilight reaffirmed defiantly. "I mean, what do I have to complain about? Ever since I transferred here, everyone from CHS has been really nice and accepting. Especially considering what happened at the Friendship Games…"

Sunset to look over at her in concern. "That wasn't your fault." Sunset replied. "Principal Cinch is the one who encouraged you to try and use all that magic to win the games for Crystal Prep. You weren't ready to have that kind of power." As Sunset said this, she sits herself beside her bespectacled friend on the bed. "But it's over now. And if there's any group that's gonna forgive you for something that happened in the past, trust me, it's this one."

Rain bow suddenly peeks her head into their tent. "You guys comin' or what?"

"Be right there! I just wanna put on some sunscreen." Sunset then began rummaging her hands through her duffel bag for it while Rainbow left. "Huh. Coulda sworn I packed it."

Twilight too looked around before finding the item in question. "Found it!" Twilight down towards the floor.

But as Sunset was about to get it, she and Twilight widened their eyes upon seeing the tube of sunscreen floating upwards with a sparkly, purple glow around it.

And to make it even more bizarre, they see multiple other objects doing the same thing.

“Did you…” Sunset asked, looking towards Twilight. “How is this possible?”

“I can't believe this.” Twilight said. “It's…”

“Amazing/Terrible!” Both Sunset and Twilight said simultaneously before everything hovering fell downwards.

“Are you kidding?" Sunset asked rhetorically. "This is great! I mean, we've all ponied up before, gotten the whole ears and wings and tail thing, shot magical rainbow lasers, but nothing like this has ever happened! How did you do it?"

"I don't know!" Twilight replied, clearly freaking out. "Maybe I didn't! Maybe it's her!"

"Her who?" Sunset asked.

“Hey guys?’ Alex chimed in as he entered the tent.

“Alex.” Twilight said in surprise.

“Everything alright?” Sunset asked.

“We've got a situation.” Alex said as he motioned for them to follow him before exiting.

Twilight and Sunset look at each other in confusion before following him.

Alex and the girls had met up near the tent he and Tristen were running in.

“Everything alright, Alex?” Applejack asked before looking around, noticing Tristen was absent. “Hey, where's Tristen?”

“Let's just say he's been cut down a size.” Alex said before outstretching his hand to the girls.

In his hand stood a humanoid arachnid that measured to be about three inches in height.
Its face was blue with red markings, six eyes, four spider-like limbs protruding from its ribs, a tuft of orange hair on its head, khaki fuzz on its legs and arms, three clawed fingers, two toes, and a jagged mouth with a fang protruding from the corners.

The girls were truly flabbergasted, but Sunset then took notice of the all-too-familiar Omnitrix symbol on its midsection. “Wait!” Sunset gasped in realization. “Tristen? Is that you?”

“Unfortunately.” Tristen replied with a nod, his voice incredibly high pitched.

Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Sonata were immediately drawn by the cuteness of Tristen’s current form.

“Oh! My! GOSH!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“You look so cute!” Fluttershy squealed out.

“Never seen that one before.” Rainbow added with perplexity. “What happened to ya?”

“Well…” Alex trailed off while scratching his chin’ “It happened like this.”

Earlier

As Tristen and Alex were getting settled in, Tristen looks to see that the Omnitrix is still wigging out.

“The hell is up with this thing?” Tristen asked. “It's been doing that since we got here.”

As the Omnitrix flashed between green and purple more profusely, a surge of electricity surged, making Tristen yelp out in pain. And moments later, the Omnitrix changed to the purple setting before beeping profusely. Then, Tristen was enveloped in a bright purple flash.

“Whoa! Tristen?” Alex asked, but then noticed Tristen was absent. “Oh crap!” He began to panic as he looked around. “Dude? Where are you?”

“Down here!”

Surprised, Alex looked down on the ground. Eventually, he found that Tristen had changed to the miniscule arachnoid alien.

“Tristen?” Alex asked, completely baffled as he kneeled down. “Dude, what just happened?”

“Hey! You're guess is as good as mine!” Tristen replied with a shrug.

Present Day

The girls were absolutely surprised upon hearing Alex's explanation.

“Ok~?” Applejack shrugs her shoulders. “So, any ideas on what this guy can do?”

Tristen didn't respond to that verbally. Instead, he jumps a great distance from the palm Alex's hand and onto Rarity’s shoulder.

“GAH!” Rarity yelled out in disbelief before Tristen jumped over onto Spike’s snout.

“For starters, he can jump incredibly good.” Tristen replied before extending his right arm to Twilight's right foot, firing a strange of green goo at her foot before jumping towards her. “He can fire webs made of green slime.”

Suddenly, a bird flies down and attempts to perch at Tristen, clearly mistaking him for a bug. Luckily, Tristen shrinks himself down before the bird could eat him. Not seeing Tristen anywhere, thinking he may have ran off, the bird flew away. And suddenly, Tristen grew back to his three-inch size.

“And even shrink himself down to smaller sizes.” Tristen explained. He then fired a green web strand on Spike’s back and hops onto the canine’s back.

“Ok then.” Adagio replied with a puzzled expression. “Though I'm not sure how useful that can be in combat.”

Sunset too was puzzled, but then she had an idea. “Maybe it's not supposed to fight.” Sunset pondered. “Maybe it's useful in intelligence-gathering or espionage.”

“You mean like a spy?” Aria asked.

“Pretty much.” Sunset replied with a nod.

Tristen examined his new form. “Perhaps you're on to something there, Sunny.” Tristen said, chuckling. “A tiny super spy. I’m… Spyder!”

“Spider?” Pinkie asked with a confused look. “You're just naming it after a web spinning, eight-legged bug.”

“No, no. Spyder! With a ‘y’.” Tristen, or Spyder, corrected.

Aria deadpanned at that explanation. “Seriously?” Aria asked. “A mix of spy and spider?”

“Hey! I think it's a clever play on words!” Spyder said as he hopped off Spike’s back. Then, in a green flash, he reverted back to human form.

“Everything alright here?”

The gang look over to see Gloriosa approach them.

Upon seeing Gloriosa, Tristen blushed profusely. “Oh, uh, just having idle chat.” Tristen replied. “Nothing to worry about, gorgeous.” Gloriosa blushed in response from hearing that, and Tristen realized his mistake. “I mean Gloriosa!” Tristen blushed even more out of embarrassment.

Gloriosa, still blushing, chuckled sheepishly. “R-Right…” Gloriosa cleared her throat. “Anyways, if there is anything I can do to make this week the best week ever, you just let me know. I've got this!”

And with that, Gloriosa walks away while Tristen smiles. “S-Sure thing. Will do.” Tristen said, still embarrassed. ‘Wow! Way to make a jackass outside of yourself!’

“Oooooh!“ Pinkie cooed while Applejack flashed a knowing smirk.

“Looks like somebody's got bitten by the love bug.” Applejack chimed in, snickering a little.

Tristen blushed even more now, if that was even possible. “W-Wh-What?” Tristen stammered out. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh come on, man.” Alex replied with a smirk. “I can smell horny from a mile away.”

Twilight winced a bit in disgust. “Ew! Really Alex?”

“Oh, don't go give me that, little miss hypocrisy.” Alex replied knowingly. “I've seen how you've been eyeing up Timber.”

Tristen was taken by surprise by that. “Wait!” Tristen looks at Twilight in surprise. “You're hitting on…” Twilight, out of reflex, punched Tristen in the gut in quick succession. “ACK!” Tristen coughed out in light agony, clutching his gut as he got into his knees. “What... the hell, Twi?!”

Twilight realized her mistake and helps him up. “I'm so sorry, Tristen.” Twilight apologized. “Don't know what came over me there.”

“Ugh… damn woman!” Tristen groaned out. “For a science nut, you've got a good punch.”

(Meanwhile)

Perched on one of the trees, Willow and Leshy were watching the campsite while staying hidden.

“Oh my Terra!” Willow beamed with a smile. “It looks like Timber and Gloriosa finally found their match!” Willow rested herself in the branch.

Leshy however didn't seem so enthused as Willow was. He eyes Tristen and his friends, his eyebrows narrowing slightly.

Willow looks at her brother. “Leshy?” Leshy said nothing as he hops towards another tree, leaving Willow alone.

Willow was surprised, but she thought nothing of it as she looked down towards Tristen and his friends. Her attention to Tristen and Twilight respective. “Oh, if only Old Spice and Dove were around to see this “

“Oh, it's beautiful, isn't it?” Rarity said in awe at the lake. “It looks like a diamond shining in the sun!”

“It reminds me of home.” Sonata said with a sigh of reminiscing.

“It is lovely out here.” Fluttershy agreed. “The fresh air, the cool breeze,” Fluttershy sees a bird flying towards her and allows it to perch on her finger, “the birds that land on your finger."

“I think that only happens to you.” Rainbow replied.

Leshy snuck his way to the main building of the campsite. He walks over to the computer desk and types furiously on the keyboard.

Willow snuck in through the window and climbed on, noticing Leshy at the computer. “Leshy? What are you doing?”

“There is something about that particular boy.” Leshy said to himself as he grabbed a remote. “He and those who follow him.”

“Whatever do you mean?” Willow asked in confusion.

“Do you not mind anything out of the ordinary about them?” Leshy asked as he did some web surfing. “Something is peculiar about them, and I fear that it could mean trouble.”

“I'm sure you're just overthinking it.” Willow replied as she walks to the mini fridge. “And even if there is something strange about them, I'm sure they mean no ill intent.” Willow opens it and grabs a bottle of water.

“I know there is something going on with them?” Leshy looks towards Willow. “And I want to know what!”

Willow rolls her eyes. “Whatever you say.” Willow walks her way back to the window. “Just be sure to eliminate your search history this time.” Willow advised. “You know how Gloriosa and Timber get when you use the computer without their knowledge.”

With that said, Willow exits the window and closes it.

As Leshy did his research, he ultimately stumbled upon a news article about a bank heist being stopped by some strange creature. With piqued curiosity, he clicks into the news site to gain some information. Sure enough, the news article was about the same bank heist that Tristen busted a few days ago as Sunstone. He then looked at an image of Sunstone looking over the criminals, noticing something on the crystal alien’s chest. That being the Omnitrix symbol.

But sure enough, Leshy stumbled upon other news articles about various other strange criminals. Each article he found told of them performing acts of heroism, ranging from fighting crime to rescuing people from disasters. But one thing he noticed is that despite the differences the strange heroes had in terms of appearance, they all shared the same exact hourglass shape insignia that was the Omnitrix symbol.

“That sigil!” Leshy murmured as he examined the hourglass symbol. “It looks like the one on the watch that one boy holds.”

“Alright, alright. I'll be sure to do that Gloriosa.”

Leshy looks over to the door, realizing he had little time to make an escape.

Eventually, Timber made his way in. Luckily, Leshy was hidden to avoid detection. Timber looks around before grabbing a soccer ball. And once Timber lets himself out, Leshy comes out of hiding and makes his way out through the window.

(Later)

Everyone had gathered near the docks as Gloriosa began explaining the camp guidelines.

“Lake activities are available every day until sunset, so if you want to canoe, sail, windsurf, or swim, just let me know.” Gloriosa said.

Tristen looked at the Omnitrix, which was still flashing between green and purple while beeping.

“The watch is still malfunctioning?” Twilight asked as she examined the Omnitrix. “Is Cortana sure that there aren't any glitches?”

“She ran the system check multiple times.” Tristen replied. “And still, no hiccups.”

Twilight then had a puzzled look. “Hey Tristen?” Tristen said nothing as he gave her his attention. “You said those transformations are hybrids, right?” Twilight pondered. “As in, genetic mixtures?”

Tristen nods. “Pretty much. Though their DNA combinations are so complex that they are essentially their own unique alien.” Tristen then brought up a sketchbook and opened it. “Take Thunderclap for example.”

Twilight looksto see a rough sketch of Thunderclap, along with the sketches of two other aliens. The first depicts a humanoid ape-like creature with electric bolts on its neck and the backs of its hand. The other depicted a short stocky humanoid with enormous hands.

Tristen points to the ape-like sketch. “He's basically a mix of a Gimlinopithecus, a race of electrically charged Sasquatches,” he then points to the big handed figure, “and an alien named Slapstrike, whose species info I do not know, who is capable of sonic clapping.”

Twilight nods as she looks to another sketch of Big Bang on the adjacent page. “What about this one?”

“Big Bang?” Tristen replied. “Well, for one, he's comprised one third To’kustar," Tristen points to a sketch of a man with fins on his forearms and head, “a race of cosmic giants born from cosmic storms.” He then pints to the image of a humanoid dinosaur. “As well as one third Vaxasaurian, basically alien dinosaurs with immense physical strength that can increase their size,” He then points to a bulky robot with forearms that resemble canisters, “and one third of an unidentifiable species with nuclear powers. Basically, living nuclear warheads.”

Twilight was further intrigued. “What about your newest one?” Twilight asked. “Spyder, was it?”

“From what I was able to gather, he is the combination of four aliens.” Tristen flips through the pages before finding the rough sketch of Spyder and his components. “One-fourth human/nanochip hybrid, one-forth arachnochinp, basically alien monkey/spider hybrids, one-fourth Galvan, hyper intelligent miniscule space frogs, and one-fourth of an unarmed insectoid species capable of firing green plasma balls that can explode.”

Twilight was truly baffled by how well her male friend was capable of knowing such information. “How do you even know all of that?”

“Whenever I get a new transformation, all the information about it is dumped into my head. From what aliens its mad of, what its powers are, even its weaknesses.” Tristen replied, pointing his head to emphasize his point. “It's quite an information overload, but it works in handy when I get a new alien.”

Unbeknownst to them, Leshy was listening in on the whole conversation. His hardened gaze was directly towards Twilight.

“This fool could be trouble in the long run.” Leshy murmured to himself before looking towards the lake, an idea suddenly popping up in his head.

Fluttershy was on the docks, overlooking a bunch of ducks. "Aren't they just the cutest?"

Suddenly, one of the boards beneath Twilight splintered, causing her to stumble back, falling while letting go of the paddle in her hands. Luckily for her, Timber was able to catch her.

"Whoa!” Timber uttered in surprise as Twilight smiled bashfully. "I know I'm charming, but you don't have to fall for me." Timber said jokingly.

Flash saw this and sighs out sadly. “Guess I can't get too jealous, right?” Flash murmured. “After all, she isn't my Twilight. Not that the other Twilight was mine! But we were... you know.”

Sunset, feeling sympathy towards Flash, walks to him. “Yeah. I get it.” Sunset added. “But your Twilight is a princess in Equestria. Hate to break it to you, but that's where she's gonna spend most of her time.”

“So, you're saying I just need to get over her?” Flash asked.

Sunset nods in response. “Kinda, yeah.”

Perched on one of the trees, Willow was watching the blossoming romance between Twilight and Timber, a genuine smile gracing her face.

“This is a safety hazard.” Luna said as she motioned towards the dock. “I suggest we close down the dock for the remainder of the camp.”

The students however were not very pleased about that

“Oh, I'm sure it won't have to be for the remainder of camp.” Gloriosa replied. “Just needs to be patched up a bit. I've got this!”

“Or maybe we do!” Applejack suggested. “If you ask me, this whole dock needs to go. Building a new one could be our camp gift. Sure, it would benefit us, but a nice new dock would benefit future campers, too.

The other students cheered in response, showing that they were on board.

“I don't know. It's an awful lot of work.” Timber chimed in. “I wouldn't want you guys to miss out on doing other fun camp stuff because you're so busy building a dock for future campers.”

“I hear what you're saying, Timber, but we're Canterlot Wondercolts.” Rainbow replied. “We've got a reputation to uphold! And there was no way we were gonna leave this place without contributing the most awesome camp gift ever! I'm with AJ.”

Aria and Adagio were also on board. “Building a new dock is definitely it!” Aria agreed while looking towards the others. “What do you guys think?”

They responded to that by cheering again.

Tristen was working with Flash, Microsoft Chips, and Bulk Biceps on dismantling the old dock.

Meanwhile, Sunset and the other girls were going over designs, which were drawn by a student who provided the design layouts.

"We can reinforce the foundation." Twilight pointed out to the drawer.

"Make it nice and sturdy." Applejack continued.

"And we can add a wood-carved sign that says "Camp Everfree"." Sunset added.

"Oh!" Rainbow yelped in realization, "We'll add lanterns so you can see at night!" she suggested excitedly with outstretched arms.

With a few more adjustments, the artistic student working on the blueprints holds up her notepad to show the group.

Rarity gasps in awe. "It's stunning! And will make an absolutely perfect runway for my camp fashion show!"

"More importantly," Applejack retorted with a deadpan expression to Rarity, "it will be a great place for docking canoes and feeding the wildlife.”

"Oh, you say "tomato", I say "perfect place to showcase glamorous boho-chic stylings". Rarity said with a dismissive wave.

"Really?" Aria deadpanned.

"Don't dampen her enthusiasm, Aria." Adagio replied with a jab to Aria’s side.

"What do you guys think?" Twilight asked the three faculty members.

"It's going to be a lot of work, but we can do it!" Celestia said with a smile.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the lake, Leshy was well hidden while glancing at Tristen.

“It’s now or never.” Leshy said before extending his hand towards the lake, his eyes glowing green, and a magic seal appeared in his hand.

Deep beneath the lake, a green magic seal formed in the lakebed, and a large lump of sediment began to form. A bunch of materials like wood planks, stones, whatever was available began to gravitate towards the mound as it grew in size.

Tristen was about to unload the next set of boards, but he accidentally steps over the edge and falls over into the water in a big splash

“You ok, dude?” Flash asked as Tristen surfaced.

“I'm good, man.” Tristen replied as he shook his head to dry his hair. “Man, this river feels really nice.” But suddenly, Tristen felt something grab at him. “Whoa! What the-” Suddenly, he gets sucked under the surface.

“Tristen?” Flash asked out in worry.

Under the water, Tristen was struggling to break free from whatever it was that grabbed him. But when looks down, he only saw a pair of green glowing eyes looking at him. Whatever it was, it was enormous.

Eventually, Tristen managed to break free and began swimming his way to the surface. When Tristen breached the surface, Sunset and Adagio grabbed onto him and pulled him to the shore.

"Are you alright?" Sunset asked in concern.

Moments later, something else breached the surface. It was a large mass of mud with two tentacle-like arms and massive eyes that glowed bright green.

“Oh crap!” Tristen muttered out in disbelief.

Willow gasped in shock at seeing what was happening.

The mud monster had its sights on Tristen as it sent its right arm at him. Tristen evaded the attack, only to get struck by the other, being enveloped in mud in the process.

Willow, realizing who was responsible for this, decided to intervene. With a glare, she extends her hand towards the mud monster. “Disperse!”

Before the mud beast could deliver another attack, the monster lost its glowing eyes as it began to collapse back into the water. Leshy, realizing that Willow stepped in, growled angrily before receding into the woods.

“Tristen!” Sunset and her friends walk up to Tristen, who pokes his head out of the mud. “Are you ok?”

Tristen had a look of disgust. “Ugh! This mud stinks like dammit!” Tristen groaned as Applejack pulled him out of the mud pile.

“EW!” Pinkie plugs her nose as Rarity backs up a bit. “That does stink!”

Gloriosa was still surprised at what happened, but she then had a good idea who was responsible for it.

Deep in the forest, Gloriosa was wading through the underbrush with a scowl on her face.

"Leshy!" Gloriosa called out. "I know you're out here!"

Not too long afterwards, Leshy appeared from a nearby tree.

“What was that?!” Gloriosa demanded.

Leshy, rather than denying or coming up with excuses, gave her the straightest face he could muster. "I was doing my task!”

"BY ATTACKING ONE OF MY CAMPERS?!" Gloriosa barked furiously. "Just what are you trying to pull?!”

“What were you thinking, brother?!” Willow chimed in as she approached her brother.

"That boy is nothing but trouble!" Leshy declared.

"How is Tristen trouble?!” Gloriosa shot back. “He's not harming anybody! You don't even know him!"

"Know him?!” Leshy repeated in anger. “KNOW HIM?! I don't have to know him!” Leshy yelled back. “And don't go pretending that you know him as well!"

“Don't turn this around, Leshy!” Willow fired back. “What you just did was unnecessary!”

“Our goal is close at hand!” Leshy protested. “That boy is going to ruin it all if left alone!”

“I'm done talking about this, Leshy!" Gloriosa declared with a scowl. "If you ever pull a stunt like this, we're going to have a problem!”

And with that, Gloriosa stormed out, leaving an angry Leshy glare at her direction.

“Seriously, Leshy! What has gotten into you?!” Willow demanded as she got in front of him. “You've never acted this way before!”

“I'm just doing whatever it takes to protect this sanctuary!” Leshy declared in his defense. “It's bad enough that Filthy Rich is hounding this place, and now we have those heathens to worry about!”

“Those ‘heathens’ are not hurting anybody!” Willow shot back. “You are just lucky that I was there to diffuse the situation!”

“I did not ask you to, Willow!” Leshy barked back. “I am the one who gives orders! Not you!” Leshy looks at Willow’s chest. “I am tasked with fending off any threats that come here while you are responsible for tending to the defenseless!”

Willow was truly furious by now. “I’m not going to argue with you anymore!” Willow declared. “Not anymore! I don't even know who you are!” Willow then storms off, leaving Leshy alone.

I'll tell you a story

Once the old dock was completely gone, everyone was already building the new one.

“Huh, nice hammer.” Applejack said to Rainbow, who was hammering some nails into the boards. “Where did you get it?”

“Uh, duh. The toolbox?” Rainbow replied.

“Hah, that's cool.” Applejack replied. “I made mine.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes with a bland look.

“Now you're just showing off.” Aria chimed in with a roll of her eyes while Sonata giggled.

Timber was working on the lanterns while Twilight stood back and observed.

“Making lanterns out of solar-powered garden lights!” Twilight said, clearly impressed. “Pretty crafty there, Timber!”

“You think that's crafty? You should see my macaroni art.” Timber boasted. “I'm like the Picasso of noodles.” Twilight giggled in response.

At a nearby picnic table, Tristen, dressed in some fresh clothes, was doodling in his sketchbook.

"Is this seat taken?"

Tristen looks ahead and began blushing upon seeing Gloriosa standing in front of him.

“O-Oh… no.” Tristen replied sheepishly. “Be my guest.”

Gloriosa sits in front of Tristen and examines the sketch he was currently working on. "Oh? You draw?"

"Y-Yeah..." Tristen replied bashfully. "Ever since I was little, I was skilled with a pencil and a sheet of paper.”

"I see." Gloriosa chuckled, blushing a bit. "The only thing I can ever draw are stick figures."

Tristen chuckled. “Hey, I'm not one to judge." Tristen replied casually.

Timber watched the interaction between his sister and Tristen, both smiling in a knowing manner.

“All right, now.” Celestia called out to everyone. “You've made a lot of progress, but it's going to be getting dark soon. We can pick this up tomorrow between our other camp activities.”

“Everyone, get cleaned up,” Gloriosa chimed in, “and we'll gather by the fire pit at eight to share s'mores and scary stories!”

Behind a nearby tree, Leshy gazed at Tristen with a scowl. His eyes emit a faint green glow as he watches.

"And that's when she looked down and realized she was wearing purple socks with a burgundy dress!" Rarity said, replied in terror. "Purple and burgundy, darlings! The same color family!" Rarity screamed while the others weren't as spooked.

“Uh... that was a terrifying story.” Applejack said sarcastically.

Rainbow chuckles in response. “Yeah, I'm terrified she'll try to tell it again.”

“I'd rather not hear it again.” Aria muttered out.

“Anyone else have a spooky story?” Luna suggested.

"I have one," Timber chimed in. "But I'm warning you, you might as well hug a friend now." Timber advised in a smug manner, "That's how scary it is!"

"Oh dear…" Fluttershy uttered after a quick gasp, allowing Spike to jump into her arms.

Snips and Snails immediately embraced each other while shivering, followed by Bulk taking them into his arms tightly as his teeth clattered out of fright.

"It's time I told you about the legend… of Gaea Everfree…" Timber said to the campers in a spooky tone. "Many years ago, my great-grandparents came to this forest. Seeing its beauty, they decided that it would be the perfect place for a camp. But once they started building, strange things started to happen.

Tristen listened on with intrigue rather than fear as he listened. “One pitch black night, when the wind was howling, a tree branch crashed through the roof of their cabin!" Timber continued. "They screamed and ran outside, only to see the giant creature rising from the earth! She had wild hair like the roots of a tree. Her mouth had jagged rock teeth, and her eyes were pools of black tar. But her aura shimmered like diamonds. Anywhere she went, she left a trail of gem dust in her wake. Trembling, my great-grandparents asked who she was and what she wanted. In a deep and hollow voice, she told them that her name was Gaea Everfree – an ancient spirit who held domain over the forest, and that my great-grandparents were trespassing on her land."

'Ooh, this just got good.' Tristen thought to himself with excitement.

"They begged her to let them stay and build their camp, to share this wonderful place with others. Gaea Everfree finally agreed but warned them that they would not be able to keep it forever. Someday, she will return and reclaim the forest as her own." Timber Spruce finished his tale. "So if you see a trail of gem dust, you'll know that it is… GAEA EVERFREE!"

All of a sudden, a pair of green eyes appeared from behind him, causing everyone to scream out of shock.

But luckily the figure revealed itself to be Gloriosa. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you!" she apologized, walking towards them.

"Then… why'd you come out of the bushes?" Sunset asked.

"I took the scenic route," Gloriosa replied. "Because the forest is beautiful at night! But no one else should do it without a guide, 'kay?"

“Gotta admit, Timber.” Tristen began. “That certainly got me jumping.” He then had a smirk. “But the one I've got in store will make your blood run cold.”

“Oh?” Timber smirked, taking that as a challenge. “Then go right ahead, man."

"Ooh, now I'm interested." Adagio said with intrigue. "What do you have in mind?”

Tristen chuckled in response. “Well, listen and I'll tell you.” Tristen cleared his throat and began telling his tale. “Many years ago, there lived a spiteful man who was not a very pleasant guy to say the least. He would cause fights, vandalize buildings, he had quite a nasty reputation.”

As Tristen told his story, the others listened carefully. “One night however, he was about to know that karma comes to those who do bad deeds. After vandalizing a local church, the pastor confronted him and said: “The wrath of God will strike you down one day! And sooner thank you think!” To which he responded with: “Yeah! Only if a demon comes to drag me to hell first!”

“Oh my.” Rarity muttered.

“Have you ever heard of the phrase be careful what you wish for?” Tristen asked with a grin. “Well, that's a lesson our guy was about to learn. The hard way. When he got home, he heard the phone ring. But upon answering, all he heard was a sinister voice saying,” Tristen clears his throat before speaking in the best demonic voice he could muster, “Once you've been to Hell, you never come back.”

That last line really unsettled the others. “I… I already don't like where this is heading.” Fluttershy whisperer in terror.

“Soon after he hung up, he heard a sharp knock at the door." Tristen knocked against the log he sat on, making three loud knocks for emphasis. "He grabs a knife, nutted up, and slowly made his way towards the door. But upon opening it… there was nobody there.” Tristen continued as the others listened carefully. “Relieved, he closed the door, thinking it was probably some sort of prank.” Tristen then chuckled. “Oh, if only that were the case. Because the moment he turned around, he saw it.”

Rarity squeaked in terror as she held onto Applejack, shaking like a leaf.

“It was nothing like he had ever seen before. It resembled a human, but it was anything but.” Tristen explained with a grin. “Its skin was deathly pale like a corpse, its eyes were bloodshot, its hands were stained in blood and armed with talons, its clothes were tattered and worn, and on its forehead was an upside down cross.”

Snips and Snails were quaking in fear upon hearing the description, even Timber and Gloriosa were fear stricken as they held each other.

“The demon stared blankly at him before flashing a wicked smile, showing off its shark-like teeth.” Tristen continued as the others listened on with their terror increasing. “The man was so terrified that he ultimately passed out from the shock. But even then, his ears were filled with what sounded like a heavily distorted scream of terror mixed with a deep voice speaking in a foreign tongue. When he regained consciousness, he found himself in his bedroom.” The others said nothing, didn't move, they just listened to Tristen's horrific story. “And for a moment he felt a wave of relief wash upon him, realizing what he saw was only a nightmare.” Tristen then had a creepy smile. “Or at least, that's what he had hoped.”

“Uh-oh…” Pinkie murmured in horror while Luna and Celestia both held to each other.

“What he saw on the ceiling above him made him reconsider. Written in blood were the words, “Once you've been to Hell, you never come back”. The very same phrase he heard on the phone. With terror gripping him, he slowly looks ahead. And standing across the room was the demon. Smiling at him in a wicked manner. No. It was no nightmare. It was real. And the last thing he saw was the demon lunging at him.”

Tristen then lurched forward, emitting a demonic noise with his hands outstretched, making the others scream out in horror. And moments later, Tristen laughed out in amusement upon seeing their reactions.

“That was not funny!” Rarity scoffed angrily. “I swear, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“I think I need to change my pants.” Snips muttered out, making Snails look at him in shock and shove him away.

“You should have seen your faces!” Tristen said in between laughs, rolling off the log he sat on.

Gloriosa cleared her throat after a brief moment of silence. "All right, everybody, time to head to your tents."

“Yeah, I'm definitely going to have trouble sleeping tonight after hearing a story like that.” Pinkie said, a bit creeped out.

“Ditto.” Alex replied in agreement.

(Later)

It was now midnight, and Tristen had woken up. With a yawn he gets out of bed and walks into the woods, but once he was a foot away, he stops at a nearby tree before pulling the hem of his pants down to... "empty the tank" let's just say.

What he failed to notice was Leshy watching him from behind.

Wasting no time, Leahy pulled up an acorn before it emits a faint green aura. “Dispose of him.” Leshy whispered to the acorn before planting it into the ground. And moments later, the acorn began to sprout into a series of brambles.

When Tristen was finished, he heard loud stomps behind him. He looks behind him with a tired expression, his eyes wide upon seeing a large humanoid tree-like creature before staring at him.

"What in the…" Tristen uttered in shock as the humanoid tree grabs at him. "Hey! Put me down, you walking piece of firewood!”

The tree responded to that by tossing Tristen onto the ground, making him land in a thud.

Tristen groaned in pain as he got back up. “Alright, that's it!” Tristen reached for the Omnitrix, only to be enveloped in a purple flash.

“Spyder!” The familiar tiny arachnoid declared before examining himself. “Oh, come on!”

The tree monster raised its right foot in an attempt to stomp Spyder like a bug. With quick reaction time, Spyder presses into the symbol and changes into Saw Horse. Then with quick succession, he sliced the tree monster’s leg off.

“Talk about walking the razor’s edge, am I right?” Saw Horse said jokingly before reverting back to Tristen.

“What the…?” Tristen asked out in disbelief, looking at the Omnitrix. “What the hell happened?!”

To make it worse, the tree monster regrew a new leg to replace its old one and growled angrily. The tree monster then grabs Tristen and tossed him, making him crash against a nearby tree. As Tristen was recovering, the tree monster rushed at him. But out of nowhere, Timber swooped in with an axe in hand.

Tristen watches on in shock as Timber swing his axe at the monstrous tree. The tree monster was about to swing its claws in retaliation, but Timber tossed the axe, the edge of the axe wedged right into its forehead.

Shortly afterwards, the tree monster fell to its knees and collapsed onto the ground. Tristen was shocked at the sight, but he's suddenly pelted by a purple cloud.

“Gah! What… what wasss thaaaaa….” Tristen trails off as he feels delirium take hold before falling asleep.

Once Tristen was completely out cold, Willow walks over and picks him up.

“What the hell was that?!” Timber asked angrily towards Leshy. “Have you lost your mind?!”

"That boy is nothing but trouble, Timber!" Leshy shot back.

"So you're just going to have him killed?!" Timber replied, still furious. "Leshy, we're running a camp! Not a slaughterhouse!”

Willow walked besides Timber, equally as upset with her brother. “He's right, brother!”

"There is something you should know about him!" Leshy fired back.

"I don't care!" Timber shot back.

"Leshy, I don't want to lose our home too!” Willow retorted. “And I know Timber and Gloriosa don't want to either, but killing a camper out of paranoia is not going to help!"

"I am not taking any chances!" Leshy shot back. "That boy will only get in the way, and I am certain those witches accompanying him will as well."

“You mean Twilight and her friends?” Timber asked, clearly angry at the insult towards Twilight.

“What involvement do they have in this?!” Willow asked, her patience wearing thin.

"I've sensed something from them!" Leshy responded, casting a glare towards Timber. "And don't think I haven't noticed your infatuation with the one in spectacles!"

"Hey!" Timber growled in anger. "You leave Twilight out if this you judgmental jackass!" Willow looks at Timber in shock upon hearing that Leshy was even angrier now.

"I’ll tell you one thing, Timber Spruce!” Leshy said warningly, poking at Timber’s chest. "If you were my son, I would have you over my knee for speaking to me in such a fashion!"

“Enough!” Willow got in-between the two, wanting to defuse the fight. "Timber, head back to camp! I'll handle this!”

Timber scoffed in response before storming his way out. With Timber finally gone, Willow glared towards Leshy. “Leshy, this madness must stop!”

“You are in no position to give me orders!” Leshy fired back.

“I am when it involves the wellbeing of campers!” Willow countered angrily.

Leshy, dangerously near his breaking, conjured a sword composed of plant matter and crystals before aiming it at Willow. “I am warning you right now, Willow!”

Willow was taken back by her brother's actions. “You'd dare point your weapon at your own flesh and blood?!”

“If you continue to question my authority, then I will have no other choice!” Leshy warned his sister. “Consider this my one and only warning. Because you and I both know that I’m not as merciful compared to you!”

And with all of that said, Leshy dissipated his sword before storming off. Willow watches her brother walk away, still upset by how her brother has been acting as of late.

Gone off the deep end

Dawn came by early the next day, with everyone sleeping in their tents as the sun was starting to rise. In the Sapphire tent where Sunset and Twilight bunked in Twilight was tossing and turning with a look of discomfort on her face.

In Twilight’s dream, she was alone at the fire pit, roasting a marshmallow while in her camp uniform.

"Here I am!"

Twilight perked up, glancing around the area to find the source.

“Over here."

Twilight stood up while looking around with a fearful expression.

The flames beside her suddenly turned a dark purple, and from the sprung Midnight Sparkle, dashing out towards her counterpart, surprising her. "I'm always here!”

"No!" Twilight screamed out in terror while waking from her nightmare.

Sunset immediately leapt out of her bed, muttering with drool hanging from her mouth as she got into a fighting stance. "What happened?" she asked deliriously.

"Nothing!" Twilight responded as she sat up, a pinkish aura sparkling around her form and her divan. "Sorry, Sunset."

Sunset rubbed her eyes before finally opening them, noticing what was going on. "Uh, Twilight…" she said nervously, pointing upwards. "I think something happened…"

Twilight looks to see that almost everything on her side of the tent was levitating above the ground in a sparkling energy that appeared to emanate from her. Realizing this, she yelped loudly before everything fell downwards onto the floor with a loud thud.

"Twilight, we really have to talk about this." Sunset said, clearly worried for her purple friend.

"No, we don't!" Twilight responded.

Before her pal could say anything, Alex and Tristen entered the tent with worried looks.

“Everything alright?!” Alex asked in concern. “We heard screaming!”

"Nothing!" Twilight replied much to their surprise as they saw her glance away.

“You sure?” Tristen asked in concern

But then the Omnitrix then started beeping again, making Tristen and Alex glance towards the device. Suddenly, in a flash of purple light, Tristen changed into Amboeblot.

“Ok, what is the deal with this thing?!” Amboeblot groaned out in frustration.

“That thing has been wigging out more than usual.” Alex said in concern.

“Wait! For real?” Sunset asked, looking towards Amoeblot. “When has that started happening?”

“Yesterday evening.” Amoeblot said before he suddenly changed into Speed Demon. “Every moment or so, I shift to a different alien!”

Speed Demon then shifts to Thunderclap. “I'm telling ya, it's really pressing the crap out of me!” Thunderclap said before shifting into Carbon Copy. “I don't even know what to do about it!”

“Can't Cortana figure something out?” Twilight asked.

“I don't think I have a remedy for this.” Cortana spoke through the Omnitrix symbol as Thunderclap changed to Saw Horse. “I'm not sure how to fix this.”

“Well great!” Saw Horse said in exasperation before pressing the Omnitrix symbol, changing back into Tristen.

At the lake, Muffins and Sandalwood were out on one of the sailboats, sitting still in the center of the body of water as no wind was blowing.

Applejack, Fluttershy, Aria, Adagio, Rarity, and Pinkie were gathering wooden boards to complete the last section of the structure.

Sunset and Twilight trailed behind them, taking quick glances at each other before the former decided to speak up.

"Hey, I know you don't want to," Sunset began with concern, "but I really think we need to figure out what's going on with your magic. "If you could learn to control it-”

"But that's just it!" Twilight interrupted. "I'll never be able to control it!"

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard nearby, making them gasp to see that the sailboat on the water had crashed into the dock and tipped over, smashing about half of it into splinters as some of the people upon it lied down in shock.

“What the hell was that?!” Tristen called out as he ran to the scene, noticing the damages. “Holy crap! Is everyone alright?!”

“Yeah.” Sandalwood replied as he and Muffins got on the dock. "It was so weird… we were stuck in the middle of the lake with no wind, then all of a sudden, bam! The wind picked up, and we were pushed right into the dock.”

Timber walks with Sandalwood off the dock, and Tristen and Alex both walk on the dock to assess the damage.

“Man. That sucks.” Alex said, wincing upon seeing the splintered runway.

Suddenly, the Omnitrix beeped profusely again. And in a purple flash, Tristen had become another new alien. This one resembling a humanoid shadow with the only facial features being glowing indigo eyes and a mouth.

“Oh, what the hell?!” Tristen groaned out in frustration as he looked at the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. “How often is this going to happen?!”

As if whatever higher power heard that question, he was enveloped in another purple flash, becoming another new alien.

This one being a frail humanoid with a blush gray body white Tufts of fur in its head, legs and arms. His eyes were sunken and cyan in color, he had four cases on his hands, digitigrade legs with two claws toes, and had a loincloth as his only form of attire. And the Omnitrix symbol was on his right shoulder.

“Yikes!” Rarity winced in response to seeing the new alien. “That's truly a sight for sore eyes.”

A growling sound filled the air, the sound of which coming from Tristen’s stomach. “Man, I'm suddenly famished.” Tristen said before looking ahead into the woods to see a deer. Upon seeing the deer, his mouth began to water.

Fluttershy gasped in shock, knowing what Tristen was thinking. “Tristen, don't you dare!”

But Tristen’s hunger got the better for him as he sprints to the deer in a great burst of speed. The deer notices him and sprints off, resulting in a chance.

“Of for God’s sake!” Alex facepalms in response. “I'll go get him.”

And with that, Alex ran after him.

Rarity suddenly noticed something in the water. "What's that?!"

Everyone rushed over and saw a purple trail sparkling upon the water beside the destroyed dock. Everyone began chattering in concern over the situation.

"Let's salvage what we can out of the water." Sunset advised, catching everyone's attention, "Maybe we can still fix this." she suggested confidently.

"Hopefully.” Adagio chimed in.

"We have to try!" Rarity added desperately. "Camp Everfree needs a runway!"

"Dock." Applejack corrected.

(Meanwhile)

Twilight had wandered into the woods, a depressed expression visible on her face as she reached a small river with a waterfall.

♪It used to be so simple
It was a world I understood
I didn't know what I didn't know
And life seemed pretty good♪

As Twilight sang to herself, Willow was resting in a tree notch above. She was truly puzzled as to why Twilight sounded so distressed.

♪But now the darkness rises
From somewhere deep inside of me
Her power overtakes me
Can I keep this midnight from getting free?♪

Twilight was starting to see parts of Midnight Sparkle in her reflection, having to look back at herself to make sure she wasn't changing, standing back up.

♪If I can stay with the light
I know I'll be free
And I can start to be whole
I can start to be me
But instead I am struggling
With all that I see♪

Willow had a look of sympathy as she listened to Twilight’s Melody.

♪And these friends
Mustn't see the midnight in me
The midnight in me♪

She saw her evil counterpart within her reflection once again, shutting her eyes before placing her hand into the water and rippling it, making it go back to normal.

♪They mustn't see the midnight in me♪

Willow watched Twilight, truly surprised upon hearing Twilight's inner plight.

Back at camp, Alex is walking with Tristen, who is back to human form.

“Thanks for stopping me, dude.” Tristen said shamefully in embarrassment. “I dunno what came over me there.”

“Don't mention it.” Alex replied with a shrug. “Besides, that's a mess I would not want to clean up. And I doubt Fluttershy would want to get near you if she saw deer blood and entrails on you.”

“I don't doubt that.”

Tristen and Alex look ahead to see Sunset walk towards them. “Have you guys seen Twilight?” Sunset asked the two.

Tristen and Alex looked at each other in surprise. “She's not with you?” Alex asked her.

“Did you see where she went?” Tristen asked.

“No." Sunset shrugs in response. “Maybe she's in her tent.”

The three entered Sunset and Twilight's tent but didn't seem to find Twilight anywhere.

Tristen then noticed Spike was still asleep.

"So many squirrels…" Spike said in his sleep, making Tristen chuckle softly.

“Ok, that's cute.” Tristen said before approaching Spike, lightly scratching his ear. “Hey buddy. Wake up.”

Spike yelped out in surprise, now fully awake as he noticed Tristen. "Oh…Aw, man!" Spike yanked out, rubbing his eyes groggily. "I was having the best dream." Spike then widened his eyes as he remembered something before smiling deviously. "Wait… That dream could be a reality!"

"Before you run off to chase squirrels," Sunset began, stopping Spike "do you have any idea where Twilight could be?"

"What happened?" Spike questioned. "Did she do that lifting things off the ground thing again?"

“Wait! What?” Tristen asked, looking to Sunset. “What's he talking about?”

“I'll explain later.” Sunset replied. “I don't know if it was her. "But if it was, we need to deal with it head on.”

“What did he mean by that?” Alex asked with a furrowed eyebrow. “Is there something we should know about?”

Sunset, looking a little nervous, decides to fess up. “Look, just between us, Twilight has access to her magic.”

Alex and Tristen were flabbergasted by the reveal. “WHA-” Alex yelled out, but Sunset covered his mouth.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell us?!” Tristen asked.

“Because she's still beating herself up about what happened at the Friendship Games.” Sunset replied. “Look, we can argue about this later. Right now, we need to find Twilight.

"Lucky for us, I can track her down." Spike responded, ready to embark on the search.

(Meanwhile)

In the forest, Twilight was walking along a pathway, evidently stressed by the events that had taken place earlier.

"Keep it together… deep breaths." Twilight said to herself. "You are not a monster.”

All of a sudden, and out of nowhere, Timber came out from the tree she was passing, much to her surprise. Both screamed out simultaneously.

"Oh, hi." Twilight said sheepishly while recovering from the shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh..." Timber stuttered, looking around nervously before coming up with an answer. "Looking for you…" Timber replied flirtatiously, pointing at her with his index fingers, stunning her a little.

Twilight blushes a little bit in response. "Oh…” Twilight said, rubbing the back of her neck. “I just went on a nature walk and got a little lost."

"Let me show you the way." Timber suggested, "I'm kind of an expert at these woods. I've lived here my whole life.”

Unbeknownst to the two of them, Leshy was sitting on the top of a nearby tree, watching them.

"That must have been nice.” Twilight pointed out as she walked him. "Growing up at a camp."

"Yeah, though it has its downsides." Timber responds. "When I was younger, I wished we'd sell this place so we could live in a town like normal people."

Leshy was shocked by what he had heard, his eyes narrowing as his fists clenched angrily. “What?” Leshy whispered out, truly furious by the reveal.

"Really?" Twilight asked in surprise.

"I was ten, I really wanted to hang out at the mall.” Timber explained while putting his hands back in his pockets. "I've never told that to anyone." Timber confessed as he walked up to her. "You must be special."

Leshy, truly outraged, decided to act on his own accord as he tossed some seeds into the ground.

Twilight and Timber smiled at one another, blushing a bit. But suddenly, Twilight gets lifted by a plant-like tentacle, much to Timber’s shock

“Twilight!” Timber called out in worry but gets picked off as well. “Hey! What the…” Timber pulls out a pocketknife, but another vine tentacle grabs at it and yanks it from him.

“HELP!!!” Twilight Cried out.

“Let…go!” Timber growled as he tried to free himself from the vine.

Luckily, Alex arrived and conjured a machete. Then with one swing, he cuts down the vine that held Twilight. Twilight falls to the ground, but Sunset manages to catch her.

Alex cuts the vine tentacle that held Timber hostage, freeing him as well.

Leshy, smearing at this, extended his right hand before chanting.

A green magic seal then appeared on the ground, catching them by surprise. And from the seal emerged a large golem made out of what appeared to wood, stone, and crystal.

“Oh crap!” Tristen declared as the Omnitrix started beeping. And in a purple flash, he changed into the familiar shadow-like alien.

“Nightshade!” The newly named nightshade exclaimed in a rather haunting voice.

Timber was surprised by what he had just seen. “Whoa…”

Nightshade raised his right hand up, conjuring two shadowy tendrils from either side of him before sending them at the golem. Leshy, growling in frustration, tossed more seeds at Nightshade’s direction. The moment the seeds landed, a series of thick vines emerged and encased him in a cocoon.

“Tristen!” Twilight cried out in concern.

Luckily though, Nightshade simply phased through the vine cocoon before changing into the white furred humanoid.

“Wendighoul!” The newly named Wendighoul erupted before taking a deep breath and breathing out a gust of wind. As this happened, the golem was encased in thick layers of ice while the others watched on in awe.

“Man.” Alex muttered. “Talk about giving the cold shoulder.”

The golem was able to break from the ice, clearly showing no signs of surrendering.

“Haven't had enough, eh?” Wendighoul taunted with a confident smirk. But suddenly, in another purple flash, he had changed to Spyder.

“Oh, come on!” Spyder groaned out in frustration. “Make up your mind!”

The golem raises its foot and slams it onto Spyder, much to the horror of the others.

“NOOO!” Sunset cried out while Twilight covered her mouth in shock.

Leshy smirked wickedly but then gasped in shock when he saw a puddle of light blue slime seed beneath the golems foot. Timber was also shocked as he watched the blue slime slither up the golem until it reached its head. And moments later, the slime revealed itself to be Amboeblot.

“Surprise!” Amboeblot declared before hopping off the golem’s head.

In another purple flash, Amoeblot had shifted to Thunderclap.

“Aw yeah, bitch!” Thunderclap smirked as his hands sparked with electricity. “Better get ready to feel thunder! Because I'm about to bring in the storm!”

As this was happening, Willow was watching the scene unfold with shock and disbelief. Not wanting anyone to get hurt, she extends her hand at it while her eyes glowed green. “Disassemble!”

The golem emits a green aura momentarily before it begins to fall apart. Leaving a pile of stone, wood, and crystal shards. Leshy, growling furiously upon realizing what had occurred, retreats before he could get spotted.

“What even was that?!” Twilight asked in disbelief.

Timber said nothing, knowing exactly who was responsible. “You guys head back.”

“Huh?” Tristen asked in confusion. “Why?”

“I've got something to take care of.” Timber walked off while the others watched on with perplexity.

In the deepest part of the forest, Leshy was seething mad. So much so that he was standing at a nearby boulder, and with clenched fists, he delivered a punch powerful enough to leave a cracked dent in the boulder’s stoney surface.

“Hey!”

Leshy said nothing, nor did he turn around, as Timber walked up to him with an enraged look.

“What was all that about back there?!” Timber demanded, but Leshy didn't give him any answer. “I know you can hear me, Leshy!” Leshy still didn't answer as he walked off, further adding the fuel to Timber’s fire. “Hey! I'm talking to you man!” Timber followed after Leshy. “What? Don't feel like talking?!”

Willow walked in front of Leshy, her arms crossed as she glared at him. “Brother, you have gone too far!”

Leshy said nothing as he and Willow stared each other down.

“Don't make me ask again, Leshy!” Timber declared angrily. “Care to explain yourself?”

Leshy looks over to Timber, still angry. “Why do you care, boy?” Leshy asked. “Shouldn't you be shacking up with your beloved witch in spectacles?”

Timber raised an eyebrow at that claim. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, I think you know!” Leshy responded angrily. “I've heard everything during your little prattle with the purple one!”

Timber glared more intensely in response. “You were spying on us?!”

“I just had to know what had oh you so interested in that temptress!” Leshy shot back. “Then I hear you wanting to live a life in the city while wanting to sell this place!”

“Oh, well I'm so sorry you had to find out this way!” Timber fired back.

“When exactly were you planning on telling us this?!” Leshy demanded.

“I wasn't, actually!” Timber declared while motioning towards Leshy. “The reason why is because I knew you would get like this!”

If Leshy wasn't furious before, he certainly is known after hearing the confession from Timber. “This is the place your great-grandparents built! It's been passed down in your family the last two generations!” Leshy barked back furiously. “Do you not find any value in that?!”

“That is Timber’s decision to make, Leshy!” Willow butts in, getting between the two. “If it's what he wants, then so be it!”

Leshy was truly shocked and infuriated by what he had heard escape his sister's lips. “What?!” Leshy asked. “You're defending him?!” Leshy’s eyes began to glow the angrier he got. “We're dangerously close to losing this camp! The sanctuary we've lived in for centuries! Does that not matter to you in any way?!”

“I'm sure we'll come up with a solution!” Willow snapped back. “It just takes time!”

“Time that we do not have!” Leshy fired back in rage “It's bad enough that we have that wealth obsessed vermin hounding our homeland! But now we have the shapeshifter and his gaggle of witches, and now I learn that Timber wants to desert us during our most dire moment! And to make it much worse, you, my own sister is supporting his decision!”

“Leshy, we've done the best we can!” Timber replied. “Nothing lasts forever!”

Leshy had officially reached his breaking point after hearing that. With a low growl of fury, conjured a large vine and sends it towards Timber. Timber was too shocked to react as the vine knocked him off his feet.

“Timber!” Willow cried out in concern.

Leshy materialized his sword and rushed towards Timber.

“Brother! Stop!” Willow declared, conjuring vines to bind Leshy down. While her brother was blind, she rushed over to help Timber. Timber hissed in pain as he held his arm, which had a large cut. Willow, gasping in shock, held onto his arm. She then closed her eyes, a small tear falling down her face and onto the wound. And moments later, the wound on Timber's arm had quickly healed.

Leshy managed to break free from his binds before rushing towards them. Willow however was quick to react as she grabs Timber and jumps away to evade. With a glare, Willow whistled. And shortly afterwards, a wild ram rushed in and headbutted Leshy.

Leshy, still enraged, glared at Willow and Timber before scoffing. “Fine!” Timber barked disgruntled as he got back up. “Go! Do whatever you please, Timber!” Willow kept her glare as Leshy turned his back. “I thought you were our companion.” Leshy spat out bitterly. “But I guess my judgement was woefully misplaced.”

“Leshy!” Willow reprimanded while Timber grimaced at Leshy’s harsh words.

“I could care less what you decide, boy!” Leshy continued spitefully. “As of now, you are no longer my concern!”

Timber, truly hurt by what Leshy said, gets up and walks off while Willow watches on in concern.

“Timber, wait!” Willow called out. “He didn't mean any-” But Timber was already out of sight. Willow, enraged by her brother’s harsh words, looks at him in disappointment. “How could you?!”

“You said so yourself, Willow!” Leshy replied unabashedly. “It's his life to live!”

“I cannot believe you!” Willow barked angrily. “How can you even say that?!”

“You heard it from him!” Leshy protested. “If he wants to abandon us and live a life in the wasteland of concrete and steel, then let him!”

Willow, too furious to even speak to him, storms off angrily. When Leshy was alone, he clenched his eyes shut as tears began to form in his eyes.

Freaky Friday

“Rock climbing is all about perseverance and trust.” Celestia explained while looking towards Rarity. "Rarity, you can trust that Applejack will spot you."

"Yeah, so you can totally go faster than you're going." Rainbow declared with little patience.

“Ease up there, RD.” Tristen reprimanded with a roll of her eyes. “Patience is a virtue.”

“Thank you, Tristen.” Rarity responded with a smirk. "I need to take my mind off of some things, too…"

“You gonna be ok up there, Rares?” Alex asked as he walked up, concerned for Rarity.

“I'll be alright, darling.” Rarity responded with reassurance.

Rainbow turns her head to see Twilight and Timber approaching, much to her delight as she smiled. "Oh, good! Twilight, if you spot me, I can finally go. I'll go get another harness.”

"I'm not sure-” Twilight muttered, but Rainbow already ran off to get the harness.

Alex, noticing Twilight's uncertainty, flashed a soft smile. “How about I cover for you.” Twilight smiled back at Alex in response.

Triste looks over at Timber, noticing he looked pretty bummed. “You ok, Timber?” Tristen asked, earning his attention.

“Y-Yeah…” Timber responded a little apprehensively. “I'm good.” Timber the looks at towards the Omnitrix. “Hey dude?”

“You're probably gonna ask about my watch, huh?” Tristen asked sheepishly. “Well, it's kind of a long and wild story.”

"Actually, I'll ask later, man.” Timber replied with a smile. “I… better make sure my sister doesn't need anything." Twilight gives him her attention as he put his right hand onto her shoulder. “See you later?"

Twilight looked at him in a romantic manner, completely infatuated by his charm. Tristen and Alex shared a knowing smile, knowing Twilight was smitten for Timber.

But then suddenly, the ground started shaking, much to everyone's surprise as some of the students screamed.

“The hell?!” Tristen exclaimed in shock, glancing around with the others.

"Was than an earthquake?" Spike asked.

"We aren't near any fault lines…" Twilight responded.

"Hey!"

"Who left this crystaly dusty stuff here?!" he asked loudly, scratching his head.

"What the-?!!"Alex asked in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Rarity suddenly lost her grip on the rock-climbing wall, yelling out as she flailed her arms wildly before grasping the rope that was holding her, tucking her legs in.

"I-I believe I'd like to come down now!" Rarity stammered to her Applejack.

Applejack grunted as she had trouble trying to move the cable. "Sorry, it's a little bit stuck."

All of a sudden, Applejack’s hands were enveloped in an orange aura, allowing her to finally pull the rope with great strength.

However, she apparently pulled too hard as the Rarity shot up to the top of the wall with a shriek.

“Oh crap!” Tristen muttered in shock, but he was then suddenly enveloped in another purple flash. Just like the last three times, he had turned it on an entirely new alien.

This one was a tall and skinny humanoid dressed in a suit and was black and white in color. Its head was round and devoid of any facial features, his arms were disproportionately long with four claw-like fingers.

“Slender Bender!” The new alien declared before examining himself. “Man, what is with the new aliens lately?!”

The cowgirl then let go of the rope in surprise, causing her to plummet down towards the ground quickly.

Applejack immediately grasped the rope near its end as it was undoing itself rapidly, and Rarity screamed out as she began to plummet.

Fortunately, Slender Bender stretched his arm towards the fashionista and grabbed her before she could even suffer from a nasty fall.

"Thank God almighty.” Slender Bender sighed out in relief as he gently placed Rarity down. “You alright, Rares?”

"Fortunately!” Rarity replied before looking at Applejack. “Applejack! What are you doing?!" She exclaimed angrily.

"Is everything okay over there?" Celestia asked in concern.

"Uh, I don't know what happened." Applejack replied, still puzzled at what had just happened. “I didn't even pull the rope that hard. It's like she was light as a feather all of a sudden.” She then gestured towards Slender Bender. “Thankfully, Tristen managed to avert disaster.”

Celestia looks to see Tristen had access to a new alien and was a bit unsettled. “Uh… I see.”

“How were you able to do that?” Sunset asked while waving a hand in front of Slender Bender’s face. “You don't even have eyes. Or… anything for that matter.”

“This guy has sightless sense.” Slender Bender said before turning back to Tristen.

"I was scared half to death!" Rarity snapped at Applejack angrily as she attempted to undo her harness.

"It wasn't my fault!" Applejack responded apologetically. "Let me help you get your harness off-" she offered, about to walk up to her as she glared at her.

"No thank…” Rarity interjected while sticking her hands out, suddenly creating a diamond-shaped shield that shoved her Applejack away. “You?”

Applejack was shoved all the way into the bushes, followed by the sound of a splash.

“Ok, what in God’s name is happening?” Alex asked in disbelief at what he just saw.

Applejack walked out moments later, looking quite annoyed as she sopping wet and without her hat.

"What in the world just happened?!" Celestia asked while walking over to Applejack while everyone else had widened eyes in surprise.

“This crap is getting weirder by the freaking second!” Tristen proclaimed, trying to process what he had just seen.

Meanwhile, Leshy too was baffled at what he had witnessed.

“I knew I felt something peculiar about those maidens!” Leshy muttered to himself.

"Oh, dear! I am so sorry!" Rarity apologized to her country friend. "Did I just do… whatever that was?"

“I guess.” Alex replied with a shrug, just as puzzled.

Leshy's eyes glowed as he glared at the scene.

“This is getting out of hand!” Leshy said to himself, holding up a handful of seed. “The sooner they are disposed of, the better!”

With that, Leshy tossed the seeds towards them. Once they've landed in the ground, they begin to glow a bright green as they started to sprout.

Alex conjured a towel before handing it to Applejack. “Here.”

Applejack, smiling softly, takes the towels.

"Hi, everyone!" Gloriosa greeted, walking towards them. "Anything I can do for you?"

"I think we're good, ma'am." Alex said politely.

Suddenly, a booming noise occurred, followed by a familiar scream.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake! now what?” Tristen mumbled in exasperation.

Tristen, Alex, Twilight, Spike, and Sunset burst through the building where Pinkie and Fluttershy were at.

“Mary mother of God, what happened here?!” Alex asked in surprise upon seeing the mess. “Looks like the Muffin Man puked after having one too many!”

“I don’t know. We were just decorating cookies.” Fluttershy replied with confusion.

"And I was all 'You need more sprinkles!'" Pinkie added while waving her arms towards the cookie dough splattered on the table, "'And you need more sprinkles!'" she added cheerily.

"So, standard Pinkie Pie stuff." Sunset noted bluntly with a smirk and crossed arms.

“And the loud boom and screaming we heard?” Alex asked.

“I was just tossing sprinkles to Fluttershy," Pinkie explained as she grabbed a container of sprinkles. "When all of a sudden they glowed pink and exploded!" As soon as Pinkie said that the sprinkles she held in her hand glowed pink, and upon tossing them, they exploded like miniature explosives. Fluttershy shielded herself while Tristen was knocked off his feet. "Just like that, only earlier!"

“Remind me to never go near you when handling sprinkles, Pinkie.” Alex said as he helps Tristen up.

"Oookaay…" Sunset apprehensively walks over to Pinkie. "Why don't you lay off touching stuff for a while?" She suggested, taking her hand away from the table she had it on.

"Oh, dear," Flutteshy murmured out as she examined the mess. "We really should clean all of this up."

Tristen had a smirk upon having an idea on how to do so. “Got ya covered.” Tristen said before reaching over for the Omnitrix. And in a green glass, he became Wendighoul.

And with a lick of his lips, Wendighoul began to eat away at the mess of cookie dough while the others watch on in pure disgust.

“Eeww!” Pinkie muttered with a grimace. Alex threw up in his mouth a little before running to a nearby trash can to puke.

Rarity and Applejack arrived shortly afterwards. “Is everything alright on…” Rarity stops upon seeing Wendighoul pigging out on the mess of cookie dough. “My word!”

In less than a minute, there was not a single dollop of cookie dough visible thanks to Wendighoul eating it up. And with a belch, the frail icy alien changed back into Tristen.

“Did you seriously have to do… that?!” Sunset asked Tristen, still a bit grossed out at what she had just seen. “You could have just gone Speed Demon, grabbed a few cleaning supplies, and just cleaned it up in less than a few seconds.”

“Yeah.” Tristen said, wiping his lips of any excess cookie dough. “But that'd be a waste of some good dough.”

“I should get some disinfecting wipes.” Fluttershy said as she walks over to the rack where the disinfecting wipes were. Unfortunately, they were too high up for her to grab them. "Can someone help me out?"

As soon as she said that a little orange bird flew by, going up to the disinfecting wipes and grasping one with its feet, flapping its wings before dropping it into Fluttershy’s hands before perching itself onto her right index finger.

"Thank you, mister Bird." Fluttershy said to the little avian, who treats back at her. tweet back, "Why of course I can get you a little something to-" She suddenly stops herself mid-sentence, gasping in realization before looking at the bird. "Did you just... talk?"

The bird chirped back in reply as if it could understand her. "But I don't speak 'chirp'." Fluttershy responded.

Tristen and Alex looked at each other, perplexed on what was going on.

"I don't know if you're the only bird I can understand." Fluttershy said to the bird, slicing a series of chirps in response. "Oh, no! Please don't call for your friends,

All of a sudden, a plethora of songbirds and even two owls flew in, perching themselves upon her arms as she was left stunned.

"It's… nice to meet all of you, too," Fluttershy greeted the birds.

“What is happening?” Rarity asked.

"Can this get any weirder?” Alex asked himself.

“Hey, where's Rainbow Dash?” Tristen asked.

His question was suddenly answered when a rainbow blur suddenly burst through the doors, zooming by the group. Tristen yelled out as he quickly dodged the blur slamming into the wall. And sure enough, the blur turned out to be Rainbow Dash who landed on the floor in a thud.

“I guess it can.” Alex muttered out while punching the bridging as Applejack walked over to help Rainbow up.

"How'd you do that?" Applejack asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I dunno!" Rainbow responded. "I started running to get the harness, and the next thing I knew, I was practically back in town!"

"But if you had some sort of super speed, why were you gone for so long?" Rarity added.

"Because I lost it when I got far away, and then it came back when I got close to camp.” Rainbow replied.

"Being at camp is giving us all new magical abilities!" Pinkie exclaimed in realization, hopping up and down excitedly.

"Not all of us have gotten new abilities." Sunset mentioned. "I haven't."

“Neither have us.” Adagio said as she, Sonata, and Aria walked in. “We still have ours.”

Suddenly, a scream filled the air, making them jump in surprise.

“Oh my God! Now what?!” Tristen asked with pure frustration in his voice.

(Outside)

Campers were running around, screaming in terror as our gang arrived.

“What's going on here?” Sunset asked.

“Take a guess!” Trixie declared while pointing.

The gang looks over to see a bunch of tree monsters stomping their way through the camp. Hidden behind the office building, Leshy glanced over at the young heroes. “I believe this will be your last day here at camp!”

“Are you freaking kidding?!” Tristen growled in rage while teaching for the Omnitrix “No matter. Looks like a control burn from Sunstone is-”

Before Tristen could finish, he was enveloped in a purple flash. And once again, he became an entirely new alien.

This one was a humanoid alien with reddish colored skin with purple eyes and spiked up black hair with two white side bangs. He was dressed in a jumpsuit that was yellow on the top and blue on the bottom, white elbow length gloves that were green from the wrist up, green boots with white soles, a red open vest, and a white belt with the Omnitrix symbol in the center where a buckle would be.

“Ugh!” Tristen examined himself in frustration while he examined himself. “Of course!”

“Another new one?” Aria asked in surprise.

“What can this one do?” Sonata asked

“Wait! It's coming to me….” Tristen said to himself before having a smirk. “Oooh.”

As the tree monsters advanced in his direction, he reached a deck box before opening it. He then pulls out a deck of card before selecting one.

“Alright, root for brains!” Tristen declared before showing the card. “Hope you freaks you like animals. Because Vul’Lupis the Beast going to make you his new chew toys!”

The card he held suddenly flashed, and moments later, a large canine black and orange wolf-like monster with rope-like tentacles on its back emerged. The others watched in absolute shock as the beast Tristen summoned lunged at one of the tree monsters. As Vul’Lupis was gnawing one of the tree monsters, it used its tentacles to grab at another.

Leshy was baffled by what he saw, but he was not going to give up easily. “Alright boy! Try to worm your way out of this!”

As the fight went down, five green magical circles appeared, and each one of them materialized a golem much like the one from deep in the forest

One of the golems grabbed Vul’Lupis and slammed him onto the ground, making the canine beast vanish in a green flash in the process.

“Oh, come on!” Aria declared angrily as Alex manifested two laser blasters in each hand.

“Alright, how about we raise the stakes!” Tristen said as he drew out two new cards. “Because Wild Card has plenty of trick up his sleeve.”

And upon revealing his two new cards, Tristen, or Wild Card in this case, summoned two new beings. One was what appeared to be a knight clad in crystal armor, while the other was a man that appeared to be made of fire. The crystal Knight charged at one of the tree monsters while the fiery man shot flames at one of the golems.

Nearby, Willow saw what was going on, and she was at her wits end at this point. “That does it!” Willow declared as her eyes glowed green.

Suddenly, a veil of fog enveloped the entire area. The fog was so thick that hardly anyone could see past their noses. Deep with in the mist, a magic seal appeared underneath each of the tree monsters and golems before they vanished into thin air. Once they were all gone, the fog dissipates, leaving our heroes truly baffled.

“Huh?” Applejack asked, looking around. “Where'd they go?”

“Who cares?” Aria replied rhetorically. “They're gone.”

“For now.” Sunset added as Wild Card reverted back to Tristen.

“Dude! That was awesome!” Rainbow declared in awe, running towards Tristen. “Weaponized trading cards?! Totally cool!”

“That's Wild Card for ya.” Tristen replied casually with a shrug.

“Is everyone ok?” Gloriosa asked in concern as she approached them.

“We're good, Gloriosa.” Adagio replied with a smile and a nod. “Hopefully nobody got caught in the crossfire.”

"Gloriosa!" Sandalwood called out. "I kicked my beanbag into the lake earlier!" she told her, gesturing towards the body of water.

Gloriosa’s girl's left eye twitched a bit before she smiled. "I'll get you another one!"

"And I'm all out of arrows!" Muffins added.

“Alright, alright! Give her some space!” Tristen butted in. “AJ,” Tristen looks to Applejack, “see if you can get Sandalwood a new beanbag.” He then looks to Rainbow. “Dash, get Muffins some new arrows.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash nod in response before they walk off.

Timber arrived at the scene, approaching his sister "Filthy Rich is back,” Timber whispered to her. “Do you want me to handle it?" he asked.”

"Absolutely not!" Gloriosa responded angrily while shushing her voice. "I've got this!"

“Actually, I think Timber should.” Tristen said to Gloriosa, making her and Timber. “Look, I don't mean to tell you how to run things around here, but you really should take it easy for a little.”

Gloriosa was surprised at hearing this. “Oh, I appreciate it, but…” Gloriosa is cut off by Timber placing a hand on her shoulder.

“He’s right. You sit back and relax.” Timber replied as he walked off while Gloriosa sighed out in response.

“You look like you're about to snap at any moment.” Alex said worriedly to Gloriosa.

Tristen then had an idea. “If you're interested, I know a good place to relax.” Tristen suggested, earning Gloriosa’s attention. “There's a clearing in the forest I found yesterday.”

Gloriosa smiled bashfully. “Well… I, uh…” Gloriosa blushed a little as she looks away. “I dunno. I-I…” She's cut off when Tristen placed a hand on her shoulder, and she clears her throat. “I… I suppose I could use a quick breather.”

“Excellent.” Tristen smiled in reply. “I'll be with you in a bit.” Gloriosa blushed a little more and walked out.

Tristen’s goofy smile lingered as a blush graced his cheeks. But he's snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Rarity giggle.

“Nice work there, Casanova.” Alex said with a smirk and a wave of his eyebrows.

Tristen rolled his eyebrows in response. “Shut up.”

“Come on! It's obvious you've got the hots for her.” Aria added with a sly grin.

“And judging by the looks of it,” Sunset chimed in, “It looks like she's into you too.”

Tristen blushed a bit while looking away. “Yeah, whatever.” Tristen said sheepishly before walking out. “Catch ya later.”

“Attention, campers! Anyone who's interested in making floating paper lanterns, please meet us by the picnic tables."

"I don't know about the rest of y'all," Applejack began, "but I've been lookin' forward to comin' here for a month. Maybe we forget about this 'new magic' for a bit and just try to focus on enjoyin' our time at camp?"

“That's easier said than done, Applejack.” Adagio responded with a puzzled look. “Plus, we still don't know where those things from earlier came from.”

“I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually.” Sunset replied.

Deep in the woods, Tristen and Gloriosa were walking through the thick brush.

“Again, thanks for this.” Gloriosa said graciously. “I hardly have any time for myself.

“Don't worry about it.” Tristen said before stopping. “Well. Here we are.”

Gloriosa was stunned by what she saw before her. It was a large clearing with a stream nearby, a large tree was visible right in the middle, and there were bushes with beautiful flowers in them.

“Oh… my.” Gloriosa said, truly in awe. “This…this place is gorgeous. I've lived here my whole life, and I've never found this place.”

“Really?” Tristen asked as he sat a guitar case he carried with him. “You've been here that long?”

“Of course.” Gloriosa nods her head. “My great-grandparents founded this place. It was passed down to my grandparents, then to my parents, and now to me and Timber.”

Tristen smiled as he opens his guitar case. “Where are you parents now, if you don't mind me asking.”

“They've retired since me and Timber graduated from high school.” Gloriosa replied. “They're currently on a world tour.”

“And they've left you and your brother here ever since?” Tristen asked in surprise. “You guys haven't been able to hire any help?”

“We get occasional volunteers then and there.” Gloriosa said as she sits next to him. “But given our current circumstances, we haven't been able to hire any help.”

Tristen nods his head as he brings out a base guitar and strums it for a bit while tuning it. Gloriosa smirked as Tristen tweaked up his instrument. “You play guitar?”

“Occasionally.” Tristen said as he strummed his guitar, nodding as he knows he tuned it just right. “I get lessons from Rainbow and Flash.”

“Think you can play?” Gloriosa asked. “It's the least I can do to thank you for a little down time.”

Tristen nods before pulling out a guitar pick. And moments later, he began to play a song. One that he remembers as a kid from his world.

https://wwe.

♪Don't worry 'bout me, it's all over now
Though I may be blue, I'II manage somehow♪

Gloriosa was surprised by the talent Tristen displayed, but she smiled softly as she listened.

♪Love can't be explained, can't be controlled
One day it's warm, next day it's cold
Don't pity me 'cause I'm feelin' blue
Don't be ashamed, it might have been you♪

Hidden in the tree above them, Willow watched the scene with a big smile.

♪Oh-oh-oh, oh, love
Kiss me one time, then go, love
I understand, don't worry 'bout me♪

Hidden in the bushes, Leshy sneered at Tristen, detesting at his close he was getting to Gloriosa. He brought out a cactus needle and a small purple bottle before dipping the needle in the contents.

♪Sweet, sweet, sweet love, I want you to be
As happy as I when you loved me♪

Gloriosa’s blush intensified as she stared at Tristen longingly.

♪I'll never forget you, your sweet memory
It's all over now, don't worry 'bout me♪

Leshy climbs up a nearby tree with a blowpipe in hand.

♪When one heart tells one heart, one heart good-bye♪

As Tristen performed, he and Gloriosa stared at one another. Their faces flushed as they inch their faces slowly together. Willow gasped out in joy.

♪One heart is free, one heart will cry
Oh-oh-oh, oh, sweet, sweet baby, sweet baby, sweet♪

Leshy loads into the pipe and aims at Tristen. Willow however noticed and calls upon a bird.

♪It's all right, don't worry 'bout me♪

The two were just mere inches from sharing a kiss, and Leshy blew into the blow pipe to fire the dart. But the bird Willow called on was quick enough to catch the needle before it could hit its target.

Gloriosa and Tristen stopped to see the bird perch on a nearby bush. But Gloriosa noticed the needle it held in its beak and looked up to see Leshy.

Realizing he had been caught, Leshy leapt away while Gloriosa glared at his direction.

Tristen noticed Gloriosa’s expression. “You ok?” Tristen asked while looking at where Gloriosa was looking. “What is it?”

“I'm sorry, but I better get back to my duties.” Gloriosa said apologetically. “Thanks again.” And with that, Gloriosa walked off while Tristen watched on with an arched eyebrow.

Deeper into the forest, Leshy drops from a tree and lands onto the ground, seething in rage.

“Dammit, Willow!” Leshy hissed angrily. “Once again, you have interfered!”

“And it's a good thing I did!”

Leshy turns his head to face Willow, who was clearly upset.

“I was close to getting rid of that nuisance!” Leshy declared angrily. “Had you not gotten in the way, he would be food for the vultures by now!”

“Leshy!” Gloriosa called out angrily as she stormed her way towards Leshy's direction. “What did I tell you about attacking the campers?!

“Gloriosa, that boy is a threat to put plans!” Leshy declared. “As long as he still draws breath, our chances of ensuring Camp Everfree’s perseverance are in grave jeopardy!”

“So, you're just going to kill him?!” Gloriosa declared angrily. “Like how you nearly did earlier on campgrounds?!”

“I'm doing this for Camp Everfree!” Leshy fired back. “We cannot afford any obstacles!”

Gloriosa glanced towards. “Willow, allow me and Leshy a moment alone!”

Willow nods. “Great idea.” Willow replied in agreement, casting a glare towards Leshy. “I for one rather not look at him right now after what he did!”

And with that, Willow walks away to leave Gloriosa and Leshy alone.

“Gloriosa, there is something about that boy you should know abou-” Leshy began.

“If it's about that watch of his, I already know!” Gloriosa interrupted, surprising Leshy.

“Pardon?” Leshy asked, taken by surprise. “You know?!”

“You didn't erase your search history!” Gloriosa said before fishing out her phone. “It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out!” She then flips her phone towards Leshy, showing images of the Omnitrix symbol shown on many of Tristen's alien forms.

Leshy could not believe what he was hearing. “Let me get this straight!” Leshy began, his right eye twitching angrily. “This whole time, you were aware about what that device on his wrist was capable of!” As Leshy spoke, his eyes began to glow while large vines began to erupt from the ground due to Leshy's increasing anger. “For the past three days, his power has been increasing exponentially while his allies have just recently acquired magical abilities not five minutes ago, and somehow you decided it might not have been a good idea to INFORM ME SOONER?!”

“DON"T TURN THIS AROUND!” Gloriosa yelled back angrily, not backing down. “You better leave him alone! I meant it, Leshy!”

“I cannot do that, Gloriosa!” Leshy shot back in defiance. “That boy and those he's affiliated with will only…”

“I don't care, dammit!” Gloriosa yelled back again. “I am warning you right now, Leshy! This harassment stops now! If it doesn't, there will be hell to pay!”

With that, Gloriosa storms off, leaving an enraged Leshy alone. Leshy said nothing as he watched Gloriosa walk away, so angry that he snapped the blow pipe he held in half.

Embrace the Magic

Evening had graced Camp Everfree and everyone was building paper lanterns.

Rarity continued to paint hers, but she then noticed a marshmallow drop. "Um, Pinkie Pie…" Rarity said nervously to Pinkie, “what are you doing?"

"Putting marshmallows in my lantern!" Pinkie responded while she decorated her lantern with the soft delectable treats. "Then when we light them, mine will be beautiful and delicious!”

Sonata giggled at Pinkie's quirkiness while Aria rolled her eyes.

On an adjacent table, Tristen was the only one who didn't work on a lantern. Instead, he was doodling on his sketchbook.

“Hey dude.” Timber said as he approached him. “You're not making a lantern?”

“Nah. Crafts ain't one of my strong suit.” Tristen replied casually. “Aren't you making yours?”

“Already made mine.” Timber responded while showing his lantern, which had a cartoony picture of his face on it.

Tristen snickered upon seeing the image. “Looks like we have a modern-day Narcissus.” Tristen and Timber shared a laugh as the latter decided to sit with him.

“By the way, you never told me about that weird watch of yours.” Timber points at the Omnitrix.

Tristen, looking at the Omnitrix, remembered that he knew about his aliens by now. “Oh right.” Tristen looks at Timber. “You wouldn't believe me if I told you.”

Timber shrugs his shoulders. “Try me.”

Tristen, knowing Timber can be trusted, decided to tell him. “Let me ask you.” Tristen looks up at the sky. “Have you ever looked up in the stars and think to yourself "are we the only ones in the universe?”

Timber arched an eyebrow. “Not really.” Suddenly, Timber then widened his eyes. “Wait! Are you saying that… those things you've turned into…”

“Bingo.” Tristen replied with a smirk. “Well, alien hybrids to be more exact?”

Timber was more perplexed “Hybrids?” He asked. “You mean, like fusions?”

“Pretty much.” Tristen nods in response.

Timber, truly baffled by what he heard, just nods his head in an absentminded manner. “Wow.”

Tristen chuckled around. “Told you you'd have a hard time believing me.”

Timber rubbed the back of his neck. “On a different topic,” Timber flashed a teasing grin, “I hear my sister has her eyes on a… certain somebody.”

Tristen blushed madly at that. “Who told you?”

Timber laughed out in response to Tristen’s reaction. “Nobody.” Timber wiped a tear away. “You just confirmed it for me.”

Tristen looked away in embarrassment. ‘DAMMIT!’

“In all seriousness,” Timber continued with a genuine smile, “It's nice to see Gloriosa finally settling down with somebody.”

Tristen turns his attention back to Timber, surprised by what he told him. “Really?” Tristen asked. “You… you're taking this quite well.”

Timber shrugged with an arched eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I be?”

“I'd thought you'd be the overprotective type.” Tristen responded. “You… you don't have a problem with that?”

“I could care who my sister dates.” Timber replied casually. “As long as she's happy, I’m happy too.”

Not too far off, Gloriosa was listening in on the conversation with a soft smile.

Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike remained alone at their table, as the latter looked back at the other groups working together.

"Hey, Twilight, why aren't you with everyone else?" Spike asked.

Twilight glanced over nervously at her friends. "Sunset said something at camp is causing the other girls to get new magic." Twilight responded before glancing over at Tristen. “And its probably also affecting Tristen’s Omnitrix.” She then leans over to Spike. "I think it's Midnight Sparkle.”

While Twilight and Spike conversed, Alex looks over at Twilight with a concerned expression.

"She's still part of me. I can feel it," Twilight continued her explanation as Alex listened in. "And I think her magic is infecting my friends and messing with the Omnitrix."

"What are we gonna do about it?" Spike asked.

"I don't know what I can do." Twilight answered honestly, evidently worried. Alex was starting to get concerned for her as well.

"Okay, everyone!" Gloriosa called out as she was with Luna and Celestia. "It's time to watch your lanterns fly!"

Everyone walked over with their decorated light sources, heading onto the wooden structure.

Once everyone made it into the dock, Celestia and Luna, who lit the lanterns with lighters they had at the ready.

"Ready?" Gloriosa inquired to the group after all of the lanterns had been lit, "And... go!"

And with that, everyone released their lanterns into the air. Pinkie tossed hers up with a bright smile, but it suddenly plopped down with thud and a splat onto the dock.

"Aw!" Pinkie whined in disappointment.

“Looks like you added too much marshmallows on it.” Adagio replied with a smirk.

Pinkie then lit up with a smile once again. "Oh, well! Now I get to eat it!" She then squatting down and taking the delectable treats off of her lantern while Adagio was surprised.

"Yep. Beautiful and delicious.”

Later that night, everyone was fast asleep in their tents. Well, all except for one.

Twilight peeked out of her tent, fully dressed and with her bags packed. After checking that the cost was clear, she and Spike snuck out of the tent.

She and Spike went into the woods, but suddenly…

“Twilight?”

Twilight froze in shock, slowly turning her head to see Alex.

“Alex?” Twilight asked in surprise. “What are you doing up?”

“I should be asking you the same thing.” Alex responded with a narrowed eyebrow. “Twilight, I know you're beating yourself about what's been happening as of late, but you can't just leave.”

Twilight was wise eyed upon hearing that. “Wha-how did…”.

“Spike kinda told me and Tristen.” Tristen points at Spike.

Twilight looked at Spike with a glare while the dog looked away sheepishly.

“Twilight!” Sunset called out before walking near them. “What are you doing out here.”

“Twilight and Spike decided to leave.” Alex responded.

“What?” Sunset asked out in disbelief. “Twilight, you can't leave.” She then grasped her left arm. All of a sudden, her eyes shot open and shined a bright white, as images and memories instantly entered her mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You don't think it was the spirit, do you?!" Pinkie inquired.

"No…" Twilight murmured in shame. "It was me…" she said, trotting off.

———

"She's still part of me. I can feel it," Twilight continued her explanation as Alex listened in. "And I think her magic is infecting my friends and messing with the Omnitrix."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunset's eyes then flashed back to normal as she blinked and clenched her teeth, letting go of her pal's arm.

"Twilight, there's no Midnight Sparkle." Sunset told her afterwards, much to Twilight's surprise. "There's only you."

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Twilight asked.

"When I touched your hand," Sunset explained. “I could see things. I understand why you were leaving.” Sunset then had a look of realization. "My new magic...! This is my new magic! This is incredible!" she exclaimed.

"No, it's not!" Twilight interjected. "I'm infecting you now!" she said to the red and yellow haired girl.

"Twilight, you have to stop looking at this as a bad thing.” Sunset said reassuringly.

"Easy for you to say!” Twilight fired back. retorted with clenched fists, "Magic turned you into something beautiful. The last time I tried to use it, it turned me into a monster!”

Alex, concerned for his friend, grabs Twilight by the shoulders and has her look at him. “Twilight, that was not your fault.” Alex said reassuringly. “I will admit that I don't know what it is you're going through, but I’m willing to help.” He then looks over towards Sunset. “And I know Sunset and the others will too.”

Sunset nods in agreement. “You're right, Twilight. Last time I turned into something amazing.” Sunset admits. “But I've let magic turn me into a monster, too. So if anyone understands what you're going through, it's me.” Sunset reassured with a smile of sympathy. "I can help you, Twilight. Alex can help you. The rest of our friends can be there for you, too.”

“But not if you run away.” Alex added strongly. “I get that you're afraid you'll turn into Midnight Sparkle again.” Tristen added with a soft smile. “But when I was able to knock you back to your senses somehow, right?”

Twilight looked back at that memory.

During the Friendship Games

Midnight was showing no mercy as she kicked him across the face. “It was bad enough when you sabotaged us during the Tricross Relay!” Midnight said, still venting on Alex. “And now you're standing up against me!” Sunset, Tristen, and everyone else watched on in worry as Midnight picked Alex up by the collar. “I trusted you! I actually considered you as my friend!” Midnight declared in rage. “But I guess I was stupid to trust a selfish jerk like you!’

Tristen, despite being wracked in pain from Midnight’s assault, looked at her defiantly. “You're right.” Tristen declared. Midnight appeared to be mildly taken aback by this while everyone was surprised to hear that. “Yeah, it was a dick move on my part to sabotage you and the others,” Tristen continued, “and yeah, I probably hurt your chances in getting into Everton. But I had a good reason.”

Midnight was skeptical at that. “Oh, do you now?” Midnight scoffed. “This oughta be good.”

Alex nods his head. “Twilight, you remember the day we first met?” Alex asked, surprising Midnight. “That day, when I fended off those douchebags Dumbbell, Hoops and Score, I made sure to ward off anyone who got off their rocks by giving you a hard time.”

As Midnight listened, slowly growing less agitated as she listened to Alex's explanation. “Yes, I got into trouble a lot, but I did it for you.” Alex explained as Daydream, Tristen, and Spike have heartfelt smiles. “Learning in Crystal Prep was practically hell for you Twi. Being pushed around, knocked in the dirt, I know you were hurting during all of that.”

The Shadowbolts, and all other Crystal Prep students seemed to have guilty expressions as Alex spoke. “But what if Everton is much worse?” Alex continued his explanation while Midnight had lost all anger she had by this point. “You had me to help you in Crystal Prep. But if folks at Everton are just as bad as the people at Crystal Prep, or even more so, you won't have me there to help you through it. You won't have Cadence. You probably won't even have Spike with you.”

Alex looks down with a sorrowful sigh. “But despite how noble my reasons are, I still screwed you over!” Tristen then looks back at Midnight. “I almost had people hurt, I definitely ruined your chances of getting into Everton, and I've lost my only friend.” Alex began shedding tears now. “So yeah. In a sense, I was selfish.”

By the time Alex finished his explanation, Midnight was no longer angry. Instead, tears were forming in her eyes while her bottom lip quivered. And it seemed that Twilight was finally getting back to her senses. “Alex…”

Present Day

"I managed to do that back at the Friendship Games.” Alex said reassuringly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “And I'm sure I'll do it again if you ever do end up turning into Midnight Sparkle again.”

Twilight said nothing, but she had a genuine smile as she stared at Alex. She then let out a sigh, turning to face her Sunset.

"I'll stay.” Twilight said, earning a smile from Sunset. "But I still don't think it's a good idea for me to be near the rest of our friends right now. Not until we know why this is happening.”

“We understand, Twi.” Tristen said in agreement before gaining a serious expression. “And please, don't you ever pull a stunt like this again. Next time something is in your mind, just talk to us. Ok?”

Twilight nods before hugging Alex while Sunset smiles at the wholesome scene.

Suddenly, the trio heard rustling, making them all perk up in surprise.

"Crap!” Alex glared as he feared another one of the monsters from earlier had found them. Suddenly, an axe rose up from the underbrush, much to the shock of the girls. “MOTHER OF GOD!” Alex cried out in shock while Twilight and Sunset screamed simultaneously.

But eventually, it turned out that the blade was in the hands of Timber, who promptly screamed upon hearing the voices of the others.

“Timber Spruce?!” Alex asked in shock while calming down. “What in the actual hell, man?!”

"Timber?" Twilight asked in surprise before smiling. "I'm so glad it's just you! Wait!” Twilight looked on in perplexity. “What are you doing out here?" she asked him with an arched eyebrow.

"With an axe?" Sunset added, gesturing towards the axe.

"I was chopping down firewood…" he claimed, pulling out a cart of logs from the bushes.

“At this hour?” Alex asked with suspicion. “

"We needed more for tomorrow night's campfire.” Timber responded with a shrug. "And if I didn't take care of it tonight, it would be one more thing Gloriosa would add to her list."

Alex arched an eyebrow at that claim. “Uh… I guess that makes sense.”

"What about you guys?" Timber asked the trio. "Why are you hanging out in the woods in the middle of the night?"

“Had to pee and I kinda got lost.” Alex replied casually while earning a look of disgust from Sunset and Twilight.

"Come on. I'll walk you guys back." Timber said, smiling cheekily. "I'll protect you from… Gaea Everfree!" He then glanced towards Alex. “Also, you do know we have latrines.”

“Yeah.” Alex replied with a nod. “But given that the outhouse is like a good ten feet away from mine and Tristen’s tent, and how close I was to springing’ a leak, I'd rather piss on a nearby tree.”

“Ew! Tristen!” Twilight reprimanded with a grossed-out expression.

“Did not need to hear that.” Sunset said, just as disgusted at Twilight. She suddenly gasped quietly upon noticing sparkling dust falling out of Timber’s pocket. ‘I think we just found our 'Gaea Everfree'.’

Later that morning, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow, Adagio, and Aria, were working on the dock.

As Rainbow loaded the next set of boards, she glanced over at Rarity, who was busy sitting upon a beach chair stitching an indigo poncho together. "Uh, you gonna give us a hand here, Rarity?"

"Oh, I'd love to, but I really need to get the stitching on this poncho done before it's going to make it into the camp fashion show.” Rarity replied. "Though at the pace you two are moving, I don't know that the runway will ever be finished."

"The dock is our gift to the camp!” Applejack corrected while rolling her eyes. “And it's gonna get finished”

"That's if Skittles over there would hurry up and bring me more wood." Aria responded nonchalantly.

“Adagio, perhaps you've forgotten something?” Adagio said to Aria, gesturing to Rainbow. “Super seed? Remember?

“Yeah! I can't go any faster!" Rainbow added "I don't want to end up in the woods again."

"Can't Tristen help us out?” Pinkie asked. “He can get this done faster than we can!”

“Maybe! But that thing that attacked him a few days ago is still down there.” Aria responded while pointing at the lake.

“But it hasn't shown itself ever since.” Rainbow added with a puzzled look. "I still don't know what that thing even was.”

“Me neither.” Fluttershy agreed.

“But it hasn't shown itself again, right?” Pinkie responded.

“What if it's waiting for the right time?” Adagio theorized.

Applejack then sighs deeply, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. "I know I said we should try to forget all about this new magic business, but I can't!” Applejack confessed while holding her hammer. "What if I hammer the board into splinters?"

“I’m sure you'll find a way to hone your new skills.” Adagio said, trying to ease her friends’ worries. “It took me, Aria, and Sonata time to practice out singing.”

“Yeah, but singing is easy to master.” Applejack replied. “We're talkin’ super strength, super speed, diamond shields, even explosive sprinkles for Pete’s sake!”

“I know it's scary now but just give it some time.” Adagio said comfortingly. “After all, I'm sure you'll actually get used to them. They're maybe some hiccups now and then, but I'm sure you girls will get the hang of your new powers.” Adagio walks over to Applejack and placed a hand on her head. “It just takes time.”

Applejack and the other girls were surprised upon hearing such sagely advice coming from Adagio.

“I guess you're right, Adagio.” Applejack said, smiling softly. "Thanks guys.” Applejack said before looking done on the board she was hammering. “Aw, shoot! We're all out of nails!"

"Oh, here you go!" Pinkie cried out, holding a small box of them in her right hand.

"Pinkie, no!" The others shrieked out, but it was too late as she tossed the container of sharp objects towards them. On instinct, Applejack immediately jumped away and ducked while Rarity created three diamond shields in the process to act as her barrier, all the while accidentally knocking Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash over. In a panic, Adagio rushed over and grabbed the nail box. But to everyone’s surprise, the nails didn't explode.

“Thank Celestia.” Adagio sighed out in relief while Applejack glared over at Pinkie.

"What? Ohhh, did you think the nails would explode like the sprinkles?" Lonnie guessed. "Wow! Glad that didn't happen, huh?"

“Thankfully.” Aria said with a sigh of relief.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, girls," Rarity apologized sincerely as she helped Rainbow and Fluttershy back onto their feet. "I didn't mean to. I don't know how to control this…"

"It's okay." Rainbow reassured.

"Oh, none of us know how. " Fluttershy added.

“Wow." Aria walks towards them. “You guys are really shaken up from your new powers, aren't you?”

“You think?” Rainbow asked.

"Which is why we shouldn't pretend this isn't happening."

They look over to see Sunset and Alex all reach them.

"Do you have them now, too?" Rainbow asked.

"It started last night.” Sunset admitted. “When I touch people, it's like I can feel what they're feeling and see their memories."

“You mean like telepathy?” Aria asked in surprise.

“More like memory reading.” Adagio pondered. “And this happened last night?”

“Yep.” Alex nodded.

"Oooh, fancy!" Pinkie exclaimed as she instantly zipped up to Sunset. "Try me, try me!" She then grabs Sunset's hand and placed it upon her head, causing her eyes to suddenly shine a bright white.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Pinkie's mins, she was happily skipping along a path with several bizarre creatures walking around her, all of them were colorful as an upbeat tune was playing in the background from a radio being held by a walking star with sunglasses.

"Ooh, taffy!" Pinkie said, yanking off of an appendage from one of the creatures' appendages and chomping down on it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pinkie released Sunset, the latter blinking as she was apparently freaked out.

"That explained so much," Sunset said bluntly.

“What's you see?” Alex asked.

“You don't wanna know." Sunset responded. l before getting back to the topic at hand. “Girls, we can't just brush these powers aside because it doesn't seem like the ideal time to get them." Sunset advised, walking off to the end of the dock, "What if it turns out that they could actually make things better?"

♪So you have magic
And it's not that great
But when it found you
You know it was fate♪

Sunset went up to each of her friends in a a reassuring manner, much to their surprise as they blinked.

♪And it might seem scary now
But it can be wonderful, too
So how about we embrace the magic
And make the magic part of you?♪

Moments later, Alex and the girls were hard at work building the dock with the other students.

Having a handful of sprinkles in her hands, Pinkie dropped them onto a few wooden boards, separating them evenly before they glowed a bright pink and exploded, creating holes in them.

Rainbow dashes out at her with a hammer in her hands. In almost an instant, she grabbed each of the boards and sped around. Sonata and Pinkie both took a paintbrush and made a quick swipe at it. Once she stopped, it revealed a newly-built bench that was painted beautifully, making both girls smile as they high-fived.

♪You take a little dash of magic
And you let it ignite
Mix things up a little bit,
And it might start to go right…
In just five seconds flat,
How the story has changed
All 'cause now you've embraced the magic,
And it just got better in every way!♪

Some campers seemed upset as the handsaw they were using was ineffective for cutting the boards up. Tristen, wanting to help, transformed into Saw Horse before trotting towards them. And with a swing of using his blade arms, he managed to chop the board cleanly, much to the shock of the others.

Perched on a nearby tree, Willow was watching the campers work with a look of amazement.

♪I say embrace the magic
No more holding back, just let it out
If you can take the magic
And learn a little more what it can do
Once the magic is part of you♪

Flash, Bulk, and Sandalwood helped to put up one of the dock's gateway posts together. Sandalwood pushed it up, while Flash pulled on a rope it was attached from the platform.

They smiled upon completing their work but were suddenly in shock open upon seeing Applejack leisurely trotting over, chowing down on an apple while hoisting an entire pole over her shoulder with ease.

♪What's standing in your way
That you can't move today
You've got the strength in you
To make your dreams come true
No need to shield yourself
From the magic that can help
Protect from any harm that might come♪

While working on one of the food boxes alongside Adagio, Rarity widened her eyes in surprise as she saw Muffins about to fall into the lake from the sailboat she was upon.

On instinct, she stood and swung out her right hand, sending a diamond-shaped energy disk skipping across the water like a stone, having it catch her before she could hit the water. A black tentacle then grabs Muffins before gently placing her back on the boat. She and the other girl that accompanied her lol over to see Tristen as Slender Bender was the one who helped out.

♪So you have magic
And it's not that great
But when it found you
You know it was fate
So if you listen close
You might make a new friend
And together we can make it♪

Fluttershy was by herself, somewhat disheartened, sitting upon a log as she looked out at her friends while holding a string of flowers in her hands. Sunset then came over and sat beside her, placing her hand around her shoulder before nuzzling her head against hers, making her smile as she let go.

A red bird flew down onto the Flutteshy's shoulder, chirping into her ear before she nodded with a smile. The bird takes the decoration Fluttershy made flew up onto the wood carved sign that hung before the dock.

♪I say embrace the magic
No more holding back, just let it out
If you can take the magic
And learn a little more what it can do
Once the magic is part of you
Once the magic is part of you
Once the magic is part of you
Once the magic is part of you♪

After gathering with her friends and as they finished setting up the food boxes and lanterns on the dock, Sunset and the others all walked to the end of it with wide smiles, letting the wind rush through their hair before taking a look back at what they had completed.

"Okay, that was pretty awesome!" Rainbow stated with pride.

“Now that's what I call a dock!” Alex added with a smirk.

"Please, please, please can we do a run-through for the fashion show on it right this minute?" Rarity pleaded.

"Thought you weren't finished with the stitchin' on yer poncho." Aria replied.

Upon hearing her remark, the fashionista immediately reached over and grabbed the article of clothing, taking the needle and making another stitch. "I am now."

“Get started without me.” Sunset replied. “I've gotta go find Twilight. Seeing what we've been able to do here might make her embrace the new magic, too!”

Tristen, knowing that Sunset accidentally gave Twilight away, cuts in. “Uh… not that she has any.” Tristen looks over at Sunset. “How about I join you, Sunny?”

Tristen and Sunset then both took off, but then stopped near the edifice upon hearing something inside the building.

“I just wish you didn't tell them that ridiculous story!” Gloriosa's voice declared from within.

Curious, Sunset and Tristen snaked over to the door of the edifice.

“Ah, this is all too much for you!” Timber shot back. “You have to let it go!”

“I knew it!” Sunset murmured. “He wants her to get rid of the camp!”

“Wait! What?” Tristen asked in surprise. “Why?”

“Willow, back me up here!” Gloriosa spoke.

“Willow?” Sunset asked, sharing a perplexed look with Tristen.

“Gloriosa, I think you just need to just sit down and think for a second!” Another voice, which was Willow, spoke.

“Are you kidding me?!” Gloriosa shot back angrily. “I cannot believe what I'm hearing!”

“If you will please just-”

All of a sudden, the door was swiftly swung open by the director, hitting Tristen directly in the face.

“GAH!” Tristen gasped out in slight pain while holding his nose, making Gloriosa glanced over to him in shock. “Mother of God!”

“Oh my goodness!” Gloriosa gasped out in concern as she rushed over to him. “I'm so sorry. Are you ok?”

“I'm fine, I'm fine.” Tristen dismissed with a soft chuckle. “I've taken worse.”

“Are you sure?” Gloriosa asked as Timber peaked through the door.

Timber suddenly widened his eyes as he saw a trickle of blood near Tristen’s nose. “Oh man! Your nose is bleeding!”

“Relax, it's not the first time my nose got bloodied up.” Tristen said as he pinched his nose and held his head up. “I can tough it out.”

“You sure?” Sunset asked in concern.

“I'm not five, guys.” Tristen said dismissively with a wave. “I just need some paper towels pulled up my nose and I'll be good to go.”

Timber peeks his head through the window. “Well, alright.” Timber said before handing two paper towels sheets to Tristen. “But if you're still bleeding, I'm taking you to the infirmary.”

“Sure thing.” Tristen replied as he stuffed the paper towels up his nose. And with that, Gloriosa and Timber walked off.

Once Gloriosa and Timber were gone, Sunset and Tristen jumped down from the porch. And moments later, Sunset had accidentally bumped into Flash.

"Sunset? Tristen?" Flash asked in surprise. "What were you guys doing behind that door?"

“Uh… we were just looking for Twilight.” Tristen replied with a smile while coming up with his alibi.

Flash then noticed Tristen’s banged up nose. “Whoa. What happened to you?”

“Oh, just tripped on a rock.” Tristen replied with a chuckle.

Flash was a little skeptical, but thankfully he bought the lie. "Hey, listen." Flash said, looking towards Tristen. “You think you can give us a minute, dude?”

Tristen was perplexed, but then he looked between him and Sunset, a knowing smile forming in his face. “Oooh. Sure thing my guy.” Tristen winks at Flash before walking off.

"I'm glad I ran into you." Flash admitted while Tristen hid near the edifice to listen in.

"I really wanted to thank you," Flash said to Sunset, much to her confusion as she arched an eyebrow,

"For what?" Sunset asked.

"For the tough love." Flash answered with a chuckle. "Telling me I should get over Twilight. I needed to hear that,"

Tristen was surprised by hearing that, but he had a genuine smile.

"Sure, no problem. " Sunset said before looking around, much to the confusion of Flash.

"Is… something wrong?" Flash asked.

"What? No…" Sunset asked while still searching. "Why?"

"Come on, Sunset. We used to date.” Flash replied in exasperation. "I know when something's bothering you.”

Sunset sighed, realizing that she needed to tell him before he could get any more suspicious. "Okay, here's the deal." Sunset replied. "My friend really likes someone, but I don't think that someone is who she thinks they are. I don't wanna upset my friend by telling her what I think, because I also want to protect her, because if what I think is happening is really happening, then she deserves to know. You know?"

Flash was just utterly confused by what Sunset had told him. "Nnnno…" Flash responded while rubbing the back of his neck, "But what I do know is that your friend is lucky to have someone like you to look out for them.”

Tristen smiled even wider upon hearing such genuine words coming from Flash while
Sunset pivots her foot out of embarrassment.

"Really?" Sunset responded

"Yeah. You know, you've changed a lot since we went out." Flash admitted. "You're so much... nicer…"

"Thanks," Sunset replied bashfully. "I'm glad you noticed."

Tristen crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, nodding in agreement with Flash. “Yeah.” Tristen said to himself. “She has come a long way.”

He then heard a rustling sound and looked ahead into the woods where he saw a silhouette darting through the trees. “What the hell?” He then noticed Timber was heading towards the woods.

"Uh, look," Flash began. "Maybe you and me, we could start over as... friends."

Sunset looks ahead to see Tristen pointing at a direction. And her attention shifts to see Timber walking into the woods.

"Uh, uh, sounds great." Sunset replied before patting him on the shoulder as she passed him by. “Gotta go!"

"Cool, yeah!" Flash shouted back excitedly as he watched her go. "I want to start over later, too!" With Sunset gone, he kicked a rock aside out of frustration. Muffins then approached and patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

(Meanwhile)

Meanwhile, Timber was carefully navigating through the woods, looking around to make sure no one was following him before jogging off into the depths of the trees.

But little did he know, a pair of violet eyes appeared in the darkness before Nightshade emerged from shadows while Sunset emerged from behind a nearby tree.

“Well, somebody is in a hurry.” Nightshade said in skepticism.

They both followed after Timber while staying hidden.

“Cortana!” Nightshade said, tapping a finger onto the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. “Can you get a reading on his location?”

“On it.” Cortana responded as Nightshade and Sunset continued to follow.

But the further they got, the Omnitrix began to beep more profusely as it rapidly changed from green to purple again.

“Oh, son of a bitch!” Nightshade groaned in annoyance. “Now you're doing this, you piece of crap?” In a purple flash, Nightshade changed Carbon Copy. Seconds later, he changed to Sunstone, then to Wild Card, and then shifted to Spyder.

“Dammit!” Spyder hissed out in anger. “I swear, sometimes I think whatever higher power is out there is just screwing with me!”

Sunset picks Spyder up and puts him on her shoulder before continuing her trek.

All of a sudden, the ground began to shake, making Sunset gasp while Spyder held on to avoid falling.

Sunset looks over and pushed a few pines aside to see the Timber walk into the cave, followed by seeing an ominous pink light emanating from it.

“That don't look good.” Tristen said.

"He's definitely up to something." Sunset realized before pulling out her phone. The Omnitrix symbol flashing purple once again. In response, he jumps off of Sunset's shoulder before changing into Thunderclap.

“I've got to get this freaking thing fixed when we get back!” Thunderclap muttered out in frustration.

(Meanwhile)

Back at the Sapphire Tent, Twilight was sitting cross-legged upon her bed, reading a book as Spike was resting beside her.

The then heard her phone ringing caught, making her break her attention from her book. Curious, she grabs the phone while Spike looked at her.

"It's Sunset.” Twilight looks to her canine companion. "She says to meet her by the rock quarry."

"I thought we weren't supposed to hike out that far…" Spike responded, arching an eyebrow out of confusion.

"She says it's important." Twilight replied before getting up.

getting off the bed with them and standing up.

Sunset and Tristen, the latter was back to human form, were waiting for Twilight while Tristen was puzzled about something.

“I just don't get it though.” Tristen said in confusion. “Gloriosa and Timber run this place, right?” Tristen asked. “So why would he want to get rid of the camp? Especially considering his great-grandfolks made this place.”

“I'm not sure.” Sunset replied with a shrug. “But I'm sure we'll find out.”

“Find out what?”

The two look over to see Twilight and Spike approach.

"Come on!" Sunset beckoned quietly, Twilight and Spike as they followed Sunset and Tristen into the underbrush of the forest.

They then arrived at the quarry, peeking out from behind the trees as they saw the somewhat ominous glow emanating from the cave.

"What's going on down there?" Twilight asked in perplexity.

"I think it's Gaea Everfree." Sunset responded. "Or rather, someone who wants us to think she's back."

Tristen was suddenly enveloped in a purple flash again, instantly turning into Slender Bender.

“Oh come on!” Slender Bender groaned out.

In yet another purple flash, Slender Bender changed into Deus-X-Machina. Not wanting to waste any time, they headed into the cavern. Once inside, they were absolutely awe-inspired upon seeing the interior.

"Whoa..." Sunset muttered out in awe.

"This place is beautiful," Twilight commented while glancing around.

Deus-X-Machina was enveloped in another purple flash, changing into Saw Horse.

“This is really getting on my freaking nerves!” Saw Horse groaned out before he shifted into Sunstone in another purple flash.

"There's… Equestrian magic here…" Sunset pointed out as she, Sunstone, and Twilight stopped before the large, white stalagmite before them. "I can... I can feel it…"

“Wait. I thought Timber was just faking there was a magical nature creature.” Spike chimed in. “Are you saying it's real?”

“She is, actually.”

The gang froze in shock as Willow appeared from behind the stalagmite.

“The hell?!” Sunstone muttered.

“Wait! You're Gaea Everfree?” Sunset asked in confusion. “But… you don't look like what Timber described.”

“I'm not, actually.” Willow replied. “I'm one of her two children.” Willow bowed. “Willow, at your service.”

“Children?!” Twilight asked, truly baffled. “So, you're the one behind all of this?”

Willow shakes her head. “No. Actually-”

"It's all me!”

The gang perked up and glance over to see Gloriosa coming out from the shadows of the cavern.

“Gloriosa?!” Sunstone asked in disbelief before he changed back to Tristen. “Hold up! I'm confused here!”

"But... Timber…" Sunset uttered, just as confused as Tristen. "I was sure he was the one trying to make it seem like Gaea Everfree was back. It was you who was trying to scare everyone away?"

"I would never try to scare anyone away from Camp Everfree." Gloriosa responded, sounding like she was in hypnotized as she walked past Sunset and Twilight.

Tristen was still trying to wrap his head around what he was seeing. “What… what is going on here?”

Willow looks at Sunset. “Sunset Shimmer, was it?” Willow grabs her by the hand. “If you wish to know…” Willow drags Sunset to Gloriosa, then grabs Gloriosa’s hand and made them touch each other.

As soon as that happened, Sunset’s eyes flashed bright white before peering into Gloriosa’s memories.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My, oh, my, You fell behind on your payments, Gloriosa." Filthy Rich said with a smug grin. "I own the land now."

"Please!" Gloriosa begged. "My great grandparents founded this place. It's been in our family for generations! You have to let the camp stay!"

"Instead of turning it into a spa resort that will line my pockets with more money than this camp ever could?" Filthy Rich inquired. "I don't think so.”

"Please! "I-I-I-I just need a little more time!" Gloriosa begged as she was on the verge of tears.

Filthy Rich, despite not wanting to, decided to oblige to Gloriosa’s request. "Fine. I'll give you 'til the end of the month."

And with that, Filthy Rich walked away in a huff while Gloriosa broke down into tears.

———

“What troubles you, dear friend?”

Gloriosa looks up to see Willow and Leshy standing before her, both having worried looks.

"What'll I do?" Gloriosa asked, wiping her tears away. “I don't want to lose this place! I just don't!”

Willow sat down near Gloriosa, rubbing her back to soother her. “I'm sure will think of something.”

“Oh, I hope so.” Gloriosa replied. But in the reflection viewed on the water’s surface, she spotted something streak by like a shooting star. "Huh?"

She looks upwards to see a sparkling beam of pink light zoom overhead. And Willow and Leshy both saw this as well

“What do you suppose-?” Leshy asks in perplexity but is cut off when Gloriosa after it.

“Gloriosa?” Willow asked as she and Leshy followed her.

(Later)

Gloriosa, Leshy, and Willow arrived at a nearby mountainside, the latter of the three looked back to see if anyone else was around before jumping out and making her way towards the fissure between the large boulders.

“Gloriosa, wait!” Willow called out as she and Leshy followed her. “Gloriosa!”

Gloriosa tried to squeeze her way in, but Leshy was able to help out as he used his magic to move the rocks slightly.

Once she, Leshy, and Willow entered, they were amazed by at the scenery before her,

“Holy mother Terra.” Willow muttered out, truly in awe by seeing the crystalline beauty.

Gloriosa walked towards the crystalized stalagmite before her, which was shining in blue and green lights momentarily as she walked up to it. Leshy too seemed to be drawn to the stalagmite.

Leshy and Gloriosa saw that upon the structure were seven small gemstones in red, violet, blue, yellow, orange, pink, and white.

Out of curiosity, Gloriosa placed her hand upon them.

Willow was feeling a bit unsettled the closer Gloriosa got to the stones. “Gloriosa, wait!”

Suddenly, an unknown energy surged in Gloriosa’s arm, making her gasp out In shock as she tried to to pry her arm free.

“Gloriosa!” Willow cried out in concern as manage to pull herself free, falling backwards as a result

As Gloriosa was about to land, some brambles grew beneath her and catch her to break the fall.

Gloriosa noticed the brambles and sighed out in relief. “Thanks guys.”

Willow and Leshy were a bit confused in response. “For what?” Willow asked.

“For catching me.” Gloriosa replied with a shrug. “What do you think?”

Willow and Leshy, still perplexed, looked at each other before looking back at Gloriosa. “That… was not us child.”

Gloriosa was confused, then she looked in her left extremity to see that she had pulled out the later five of the crystals, staring at them in wonder as they floated above her hand.

Leshy eyed the crystals that Gloriosa held, and he too was in awe of them. “I sense… a form of magic from them.” Leshy muttered as he approached, examining the crystals closet. “Truly curious. This magic… it's unlike any I've ever seen.”

Willow too examined the crystals, not as curious as her brother and Gloriosa were. She looked at the two remaining crystals, concerned that there may be something off about them.

———

Gloriosa, Leshy, and Willow confronted Timber to show him their discovery.

"You don't know what those things are!" Timber argued as Gloriosa fashioned the crystals she had found into a necklace.

"But I know what they can do!" Gloriosa countered as her right hand emits a greenish glow. "I've been practicing!"

As soon as she said that various vines began growing rapidly from the plants hanging on the ceiling, grabbing her laptop and pencil cup off of the desk and hoisting them up slightly. "I can control their power now!" Gloriosa continued.

“Gloriosa, I'm not so sure about this.” Willow said, truly concerned for her friend. “What if the magic in those crystals overwhelms you?”

“I'm sure she's got a grasp over it.” Leshy responded, placing a hand on Gloriosa’s shoulder.

“What?!” Timber asked in disbelief. “You're saying you're ok with this?!”

“If things do go awry, I'll handle it.” Leshy replied dismissively. “I've faced skilled sorcerers in the past.”

“Brother, this isn't any magic we've encountered before!” Willow declared while gesturing to the crystals around Gloriosa neck.

"You don't know that for sure, Leshy!" Timber shouted back at her defiantly, waving her off as he was about to leave.

"This is our camp!” Gloriosa pointed out, getting Timber’s attention. "And it's being taken away! If this has to be our last week here, I'm going to use whatever it takes to make it count!" Gloriosa declared fiercelt as the vines grew more twisted as a byproduct in her anger.

———

Gloriosa was watching Muffins and Sandalwood stuck out on the lakeside in one of the sailboats, stuck in the water without wind.

Wanting to help, Gloriosa extends her left hand forward while it grows a bright green. Moments later, a pair of brambles then emerged from the water behind the vessel and smacked the stern of the vessel. This caused the sailboat to zoom across the lake.

However, the sailboat was sent crashing into dock, making Gloriosa since as she had accidentally made it worse.

She however felt a hand on her shoulder, making her look up to see Leshy. The nature elemental smiling softly at her

“Fret not, dear friend.” Leshy said encouragingly. “You'll get used to your newfound power.”

Gloriosa smiled softly in response.

———

At another time, Trixie and Microchips were walking through the forest with fishing poles in their hands but stopped in shock to discover that the river water had suddenly dried up.

Gloriosa, noticing their reactions while hiding behind trees, glanced over towards the mountainside and sees that several boulders were blocking the water's path.

She extended her right arm, which again had the green glow, causing brambles to rise up from the ground and knocked the giant rocks away. This sent the two stones tumbling towards the ravine while causing the ground to shake as a result.

Trixie and Microchips gasped in response to the quaking before they noticed the water rushing through.

Leshy walked beside Gloriosa, patting her back in a congratulatory manner. Meanwhile, Willow was perched on a branch and wasn't as enthused as her brother was. If anything, she was concerned as she glanced at Gloriosa.

———

The next day, Gloriosa was arguing with Timber while Leshy and Willow watched.

"You were using magic all over the place!" Timber declared angrily. "I had to tell them something to cover for you!"

“And you chose to demonize our mother?!” Leshy snapped back angrily. “As if your defiance wasn't already bad enough!”

"What did you want me to do?!" Timber replied.

"I just wish you didn't tell them that ridiculous story!" Gloriosa declared out of rage.

"Ah, this is all too much for you!" Timber pointed out. "You have to let it go!"

“At least Leshy believes I can do it!” Gloriosa said while gesturing to the aforementioned forest elemental.

“He's just as clueless to those rocks as you are Gloriosa!” Timber argued.

“And you're saying you know their secrets, boy?!” Leshy asked rhetorically.

Gloriosa glanced towards Willow. “Willow, back me up here!”

Willow, looking away with trepidation, twiddles her thumbs nervously. “Gloriosa, I think you just need to just sit down and think for a second!” Another voice, which was Willow, spoke.

Gloriosa was flabbergasted while Leshy was enraged.

“Are you kidding me?!” Gloriosa shot back in betrayal. “I cannot believe what I'm hearing!”

“If you will please just-” Willow said, but Leshy gets in front of her.

“Our sanctuary is on the verge of being claimed by that greedy vermin, and we have the necessary means of preventing it!” Leshy protested.

“Leshy, those stones are only going to be her downfall!” Willow said, trying to get her brother to see reason. “You have not seen what they are truly capable of!”

“I could care less!” Leshy barked back. “I am not going to stand by and watch the one thing to remember our mother, Old Spice, and Dove by go away!” Leshy conjured his sword and aimed it at her and Timber. “Whether you are with us or not, Gloriosa and I will do everything in our power to ensure Camp Everfree stays! Those who oppose us will be dealt with! Harshly!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunset gasped out in disbelief as Sunset released herself from Willow’s hold.

"Timber wasn't talking about letting go of the camp…" Sunset muttered out in realization, “He was talking about you letting go of the magical gemstones! All those things you were doing to make this week the best week ever…" As Sunset explained, Gloriosa backed up nervously towards the white stalagmite.

"Every time you used magic to do them," Sunset continued, "you caused another problem somewhere else! Timber was... covering for you!" she realized as she looked at Willow. “And you were aware of this?”

Willow nodded her head. “Yes. I should have intervened sooner.” Willow looks over at Gloriosa. “Gloriosa, those crystals are proving too much for you. You have to return them.”

Gloriosa was stunned after hearing what Willow had said to her. “But… Willow, this is your home! Our home!” Gloriosa protested with a look of betrayal.

"Gloriosa, Timber wasn't wrong," Twilight chimed in as she walked up to Sunset’s side. "Maybe you should stop using magic. Too much of it can be dangerous if you can't control it.”

Tristen walked over to Gloriosa, looking at her in the eye with a serious expression. “Gloriosa, I know you don't want to lose this place. Hell, I don't want to see this place go as well.”

Gloriosa smiled in reply. “Tristen, maybe you can help me out with-” She stops herself as she sees Tristen extend his hand towards her.

“Gloriosa, give me those stones.” Tristen said, taking Gloriosa by surprise.

“W-What…?” Gloriosa asked. “But-”

“I've seen this go down before.” Tristen looked towards Sunset and Twilight. “It happened to Sunset, it happened to Twilight,” he then looks back at Gloriosa, “And I'm worried that the same is going to happen to you too. Just give me the stones, and we can talk this out.”

Gloriosa was truly devastated by what she had heard. “But… I- No!” Gloriosa denied, her eyes narrowed at him. “No, I will not! I'm not going to lose this place!”

“Gloriosa, there's another way we can keep this place around!” Tristen shot back, hoping to make Gloriosa see reason.

“No, there isn't!” Gloriosa protested. "And here I thought I could talk you into helping me!”

“What?” Tristen asked.

“I know about that watch of yours!” Gloriosa pointed at the Omnitrix. “I know about those things you turn into!”

Sunset and Twilight gasped in shock. “You know?!”

“I hoped that I could convince you, Tristen!” Gloriosa said with tears streaming down her face. “But I guess my hopes were just too high! I'm saving this camp, regardless of what you think!” Gloriosa began to reach for the remaining gems.

“Gloriosa, no!” Tristen called out.

Luckily, Willow managed to snatch the two gems before Gloriosa could get them.

“Willow!” Gloriosa glared at Willow. “Give them to me!”

“I'm afraid I can't do that!” Willow defied. “This madness has gone on long enough!”

Suddenly, a bunch of vines restrains Willow's writs while another one wraps around her neck, making her drop the stones in the process. Tristen was about to grab them, but Leshy appeared and kicked him away. Gloriosa grabbed at the two stones the final, and she sparked with green energy.

"No!" Willow cried out as the red and violet gemstones float over her hand before having them gather with others she already has.

Moments later, she was enveloped in green flash of light as an aura shaped like vines appeared behind her. Brambles began to grow up her body, transforming her clothes into a somewhat greenish floral dress with pointed feet, leaf-like ornaments, arms that appeared to be made out of wood, wild unkempt blue hair with a decorated with a hair band covered in thorns, and eyes had black sclerae with green pupils.

“Oh crap!” Tristen murmured in shock upon seeing Gloriosa’s new form

Willow was horrified by what had happened to Gloriosa. Leshy though, he had a triumphantly smirk as he genuflects before Gloriosa. “At last.” Leshy spoke with a smirk. “Camp Everfree's perseverance is assured.”

Tristen, growling angrily, broke free from the brambles as he transformed into the first alien that appeared on his roster. Unfortunately, though, the alien he went with was none other than…

“Spyder?!” Spyder asked with a groan. “Oh my GOD! This piece of crap does not want to work with me, does it!”

Gloriosa chuckled at the sight of the tiny arachnoid. “My, aren't you just the cutest?” Gloriosa said tauntingly. “To bad I have to squish you!” Before Spyder could blink, he was instantly stomped by Gloriosa. Willow gasped in horror while Sunset covered her mouth in shock.

But before Gloriosa could gloat, a mass of darkness appeared beneath her foot, taking her by surprise. And moments later, the, the dark mass slithered away before rising up as Nightshade. And in a green flash, Nightshade changed to Thunderclap.

“I guess I'll have to give you some shock therapy to snap you out of it." Thunderclap’s hands sparked with yellow electricity.

Leshy got back up, glaring hatefully towards Thunderclap. “Don't! You! DARE!” He then ran to Thunderclap, swinging his sword at the thunderous tank.

Thunderclap was sent crashing against the cavern wall, groaning in pain as he reverted back to human form. Leshy then extends his hand forward, making a bramble appear and wrap around Tristen’s neck. Tristen choked out as he clutched at the bramble, struggling to break free.

“Tristen!” Sunset and Twilight were about to help, but Gloriosa trapped them in brambles. Willow was about to help, but Leshy levitates a nearby to rock and tossed it at her, knocking her out in the process.

Tristen tried to free himself from the bramble that was choking him, but he ultimately fell limp and collapsed.

Twilight gasped out in horror as Sunset felt her heart sink. “Tristen?” Sunset asked but got no response. “Tristen?!” Again, Tristen said nothing.

Twilight’s eyes welled up in tears, knowing that she had lost a friend. “No! NO!” Twilight broke down while Sunset held onto her, the latter crying as well.

"So sorry girls,” Gloriosa said with a smirk as she and Leshy made their exit. “But I feel like we're not on the same page…”

Once Gloriosa and Leshy made it outside, Gloriosa turned around and lit her hands up in a greenish aura. As this happened, a bunch of brambles emerged from the ground and pushed some large boulders in front of the entrance towards each other, sealing it off.

“And now,” Leshy said with a smirk. “We deal with the rest.”

Gloriosa nods in agreement as she and Leshy set off to put their plan into action.