Adventure at Canterlot High - Into the woods

“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.