The Legend of Everfree

by Perdita Finn

  Twilight blushed. “How long has that been there?”

  “Not long,” answered Timber. “Just the whole time we were talking.”

  Twilight playfully hit him on the shoulder. “Why didn’t you say something?”

  He shrugged, laughing, and Twilight joined in. It was so easy for her to be with him.

  They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t hear footsteps coming toward them. They didn’t even notice Sunset Shimmer and Spike, his nose glued to the ground.

  “I guess we could help Twilight deal with the magic stuff a little later,” Sunset Shimmer whispered to Spike.

  “Don’t want to interfere with the magic that’s going on right now, am I right?” He held up his paw, and Sunset Shimmer slapped it in agreement.

  “What did I say?” barked Spike happily.

  Maybe Twilight Sparkle wasn’t in as much trouble as Sunset Shimmer thought.

  Magical Mayhem!

  Back at camp, everyone was challenging himself or herself to the climbing wall. One camper would stand at the bottom holding a safety rope called a belay while the other camper edged slowly upward, hand by hand and foot by foot. Everyone was wearing helmets and safety gear.

  Applejack was holding on to her rope tightly and keeping a close eye on her partner, Rarity, as she climbed. Rainbow Dash was waiting impatiently for her turn. She was great at climbing!

  Principal Celestia was explaining to everyone that climbing was such an important activity—not just physically but in terms of team building. “It’s all about trust and perseverance. Rarity, you can trust that Applejack will spot you.”

  “Yeah, so you can totally go faster than you’re going,” Rainbow Dash called up to her impatiently.

  “Rainbow Dash!” scolded Applejack.

  “Sorry,” Rainbow Dash apologized. “I’ve been waiting to do this since we got here!”

  “Well,” called down Rarity, hanging on to a grip by her fingertips, “you’ll have to wait a little longer, darling!”

  Twilight and Timber Spruce emerged from the woods, side by side.

  Rainbow Dash rushed over to her. “Oh good! Twilight, if you spot me, I can finally go! Be right back. I’ll go get another climbing harness.”

  “Um, I’m not sure.” Twilight hesitated.

  But Rainbow Dash zipped off. Super fast. Magically fast. But no one noticed. Least of all Twilight. She only had eyes for Timber Spruce.

  “I’d better make sure my sister doesn’t need anything,” he said to her. “See you later?”

  Twilight nodded happily.

  “Twilight,” said Sunset Shimmer. “There you are. I was looking for you.”

  But before Twilight could answer, the ground beneath their feet trembled. It rumbled and roared and shook.

  “Was that an earthquake?” worried Spike.

  “We aren’t near any fault lines,” said Twilight.

  Rarity was high up on the wall, clinging to it for dear life. The higher she got, the more scared she was. Even though the belay rope kept her perfectly safe, she didn’t feel safe. Especially with that weird rumbling thing that had just happened.

  “Hey,” said Bulk Biceps. “Who left this crystal dusty stuff here?”

  Rarity looked down at him from her perch. Bulk Biceps was bending over, examining a small glittering pile. She felt dizzy and more scared than ever. “I believe I’d like to come down now,” she said.

  Applejack pulled on the belay rope. But it was stuck. She pulled again. “Sorry.” She yanked on it just a little bit harder—and Rarity was hoisted in her harness to the very tip-top of the wall.

  Rarity screamed. Applejack screamed. Her hands came off the rope, and Rarity began falling. At the last possible second, Applejack grabbed hold of the belay, secured it, and Rarity didn’t crash to the ground. Disaster averted.

  Rarity was scared and furious. “Applejack, what are you doing?”

  Principal Celestia rushed over. “Is everything okay over here?”

  “I don’t know what happened,” said Applejack, confused. “I didn’t even pull the rope that hard. It was like she was light as a feather all of a sudden.”

  Rarity unhooked herself from the belay rope. It was good to have her feet on the ground again, but she was still mad. “I was scared half to death!”

  “It wasn’t my fault!” insisted Applejack.

  “I could have been seriously injured,” said Rarity.

  “Now, there’s no need to exaggerate. You’re fine. Let me help you get your harness off.”

  Rarity pulled away from Applejack, holding up her hands defensively. “No thank you!”

  Applejack was about to help her anyway when a shimmering shield wrapped itself around Rarity. It was like crystal armor. Applejack pushed against it and fell backward into the lake. She spluttered, her mouth full of water. The strange shield disappeared.

  “What in the world is going on?” Principal Celestia wanted to know.

  Rarity had no idea. She looked down at her hands, shocked. “I’m so sorry. I think. Did I just do… whatever that was?”

  “I don’t think it was your fault.” Twilight had been watching everything. She excused herself to go get Applejack a towel. Sunset and Spike hurried after her.

  But Sunset Shimmer didn’t think Twilight was responsible for this particular event. “You’re not the only one with a new kind of magic! This is great.”

  Twilight stared at her. “No, it’s not. Rarity and Applejack could have really hurt each other. Why is this happening? I don’t…” Her voice trailed off as Gloriosa approached them.

  “Hi, girls,” she said, ever cheerful. “Anything I can do for you?”

  “Applejack just fell into the lake,” Twilight explained.

  “Oh no!” cried Gloriosa. “She’s gonna need warm towels, dry clothes, and a hot cocoa.”

  “She’s more of a cider girl,” Sunset Shimmer corrected. Something about Gloriosa rubbed her the wrong way. What was it? Could someone really be too helpful and too nice?

  “I’ve got this,” said Gloriosa, heading off.

  A second later, there was an enormous explosion from the mess hall. Bang! Bang! Bang! Someone screamed. It was Fluttershy.

  “Fluttershy!” gasped Twilight.

  The girls raced over to the mess hall. It was a mess. A real mess. There was cookie batter on the floor, sprinkles on the tables, frosting on the walls, and Fluttershy and Pinkie were covered in cookie bits.

  “What happened?” wondered Sunset Shimmer.

  Fluttershy was baffled. “I don’t know. We were just decorating cookies—”

  “And I was all,” interrupted Pinkie Pie, “‘You need more sprinkles and you need more sprinkles.’”

  Sunset Shimmer nodded. “Standard Pinkie Pie stuff.”

  “I was just tossing sprinkles to Fluttershy when all of a sudden they glowed pink and exploded!” Pinkie Pie grabbed another can of sprinkles to demonstrate. The moment it was in her hand, it began to glow hot pink. Boom! It exploded. Cookie bits covered the ceiling—and Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer.

  “Just like that!” Pinkie Pie giggled.

  “Okay,” said Sunset Shimmer, trying to think. “Why don’t we lay off touching stuff for a while?”

  Fluttershy wanted to get the mess cleaned up. She went over to the janitor’s closet, where there were paper towels. But they were on a shelf too high for her to reach. “Can someone help me out?” she asked.

  Before anyone could respond, a bird flew into the hall, fetched the paper towels in his beak, and dropped the roll right into Fluttershy’s hand.

  “Thank you, Mr. Bird,” said Fluttershy in surprise.

  The bird chirped.

  “Why, of course I can get you a little something to eat,” she answered. She paused. Her mouth dropped open. “Did you just talk?”

  The bird chirped again.

  “But I don’t speak chirp,” said Fluttershy. “Or at least I’ve never been able to before.”

>   Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

  The other girls watched in amazement.

  “I don’t know if you’re the only bird I can understand,” wondered Fluttershy.

  Chirp.

  “Oh no,” Fluttershy begged. “Please don’t call your friends.”

  But it was too late. A whole flock of birds flew into the hall, chirping and chattering.

  “It’s nice to meet all of you, too!” exclaimed Fluttershy.

  Sunset Shimmer was stunned. “Were you just talking to the birds?”

  “Yes?” Fluttershy wasn’t really sure what was going on.

  A door slammed. The birds flew out the window. Fluttershy screamed. But it was just Applejack and Rarity.

  “Did you tell ’em what happened?” Applejack asked Sunset Shimmer.

  “Haven’t had the chance,” answered Sunset.

  Applejack sat down on a bench. “So crazy. I hoisted Rarity up the rock-climbing wall like it was nothin’. Like I had way more strength than I normally do.”

  Rarity nodded. “And I made a diamond-y thing appear out of nowhere. Which I’d normally be excited about. I mean, the facets were just perfect, and the clarity—”

  “Rarity!” shouted Applejack.

  “Sorry,” Rarity apologized. “It knocked Applejack over and then it disappeared.”

  “Speaking of disappearing, has anybody seen Rainbow Dash? She went to get a harness and never came back.” Applejack looked around the mess hall, noticing for the first time the hot-pink mess that seemed to be everywhere.

  Boom! The mess hall door flew open. Fluttershy screamed. Again. Her nerves were just destroyed.

  A blur raced past the girls and slammed smack into the wall.

  “Owww!” Suddenly, Rainbow Dash collapsed on the floor.

  “Whoa!” said Applejack. “How did you do that?”

  Rainbow Dash rubbed her head, stunned. “I don’t know. I started running to get the harness, and the next thing I knew, I was practically back in town!”

  “But if you have some kind of super speed, why were you gone for so long?” asked Rarity.

  “Because I lost it when I got far away,” Rainbow Dash explained. “And then it came back when I got close to camp.”

  Pinkie Pie’s mouth opened wide. Her eyes sparkled. “Being at camp is giving us all new magical abilities!” she realized.

  “I would have been perfectly happy with a souvenir T-shirt.” Fluttershy sighed.

  But Sunset Shimmer was thinking. “Not all of us have gotten new abilities. I haven’t. But Twilight…” She paused.

  Twilight was shaking her head, pleading with her not to say anything.

  “But Twilight hasn’t, either,” she finished.

  “So much for my theory that leavin’ Canterlot High would mean leavin’ any new magic business behind.” Applejack did not look happy.

  “Something at the camp must be making this happen,” concluded Sunset Shimmer.

  Fluttershy giggled nervously. “Gaea Everfree?”

  The door creaked. It opened. A giant shadow loomed. Fluttershy screamed.

  It was Gloriosa. She was holding a pile of fluffy towels.

  “Applejack,” she said, smiling. “I was looking for you! Here, I brought you some towels and dry clothes.” Her face fell. “Oh dear. I forgot the cider.”

  As she was handing Applejack the towels and clothes, she noticed the mess. It was hard not to. “What happened in here?”

  Sunset Shimmer plastered a smile on her face and played dumb. “We’re kind of trying to figure that out.”

  “Well, don’t you worry about it,” said Gloriosa. “I’ll clean it all up in just a bit. I got this!”

  Some campers ran into the mess hall. They were upset. “Gloriosa,” said Sandalwood. “I kicked my beanbag into the lake.”

  “I’ll get you another one!” she promised.

  Another held up a sling filled with broken arrows. Gloriosa held up her hand. “Say no more. New arrows, coming right up!”

  “There you are!” It was Timber Spruce. He’d been looking for his sister. “Filthy Rich is back. You want me to handle it?”

  Suddenly, Gloriosa was all business. Her eyes narrowed. “Absolutely not.” In an instant her smile was back on her face again. “I’ve got this!”

  As she hurried out, she brushed past Sunset Shimmer.

  “Fluttershy, enough with the screaming,” Sunset snapped.

  “I didn’t scream,” said Fluttershy, sounding confused.

  “For once,” Rainbow Dash added under her breath.

  Rarity looked puzzled. “Nobody did.”

  The loudspeaker was crackling. Principal Celestia was announcing the next activity. “Attention, campers. Anyone who’s interested in making floating paper lanterns, please meet us by the picnic tables!”

  Applejack looked relieved. “I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but I’ve been looking forward to comin’ here for a month. Maybe we forget about this new magic for a bit and just try to focus on enjoying our time at camp.”

  “I was oh-so-excited about the designs I’ve come up with for the camp fashion show,” added Rarity.

  Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. “And I’ve barely gotten to whup anybody in tetherball.”

  Sunset Shimmer was struggling. She loved nothing more than a magical problem—but she knew that her friends needed a break, too. “I think we should try to figure it out, but if letting it go for now is what the rest of you want…”

  It was. They dashed around picking up the worst of the cookie mess and headed out to go work on paper lanterns. Twilight hung back, a worried expression on her face. She couldn’t let go of the certainty that this was, somehow, all her fault.

  Hiking After Sundown

  The girls were busy making paper lanterns and decorating them. Pinkie Pie’s was covered in marshmallows.

  Rarity laughed. “Um, Pinkie Pie, what are you doing?”

  “Putting marshmallows in my lantern!” she answered with enthusiasm. “Then when we light them, mine’ll be beautiful and delicious!”

  Rainbow Dash stared at her friend for a moment in concern. “You do realize that there’s more to camp than just eating lots of marshmallows, right?”

  Twilight was off by herself, working at a different table. Spike padded over to her, concerned. He cocked his head. He whimpered a little. “Hey, why aren’t you with everyone else?” he asked.

  A tear spilled out of Twilight’s eye. “Sunset said something at camp is causing the other girls to get new magic.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I think it’s Midnight Sparkle. She’s still a part of me, I can feel it. And I think her magic is infecting my friends.”

  “What are we gonna do?” Spike wondered.

  “I don’t know what I can do.” Twilight felt overwhelmed.

  Gloriosa was walking from table to table—getting glue, offering compliments, lending a hand. “Okay, everyone,” she said at last. “It’s time to watch your lanterns fly.”

  The campers headed down to the lake. Twilight’s friends called out to her to join them. Twilight walked reluctantly over to the girls. But she tried to keep far enough away so no magic would happen.

  Timber Spruce appeared. “Hey, cool lantern,” he complimented her. “Mine’s my face.” He held it up. On one side he’d painted a silly face. Twilight smiled, but she was still distracted and upset.

  “You okay?” asked Timber Spruce. “You don’t seem like yourself tonight.”

  Twilight shrugged, but she didn’t offer any explanation.

  Gloriosa was ready for the big lantern send-off. “Ready?” she called. “And go!”

  All the campers let go of their lanterns and they floated up into the sky. All except for Pinkie Pie’s. Hers didn’t go anywhere. It was too heavy.

  Pinkie Pie grinned. “Oh well, now I get to eat it!” She took a big bite. “Yep. Beautiful and delicious.”

  Everyone laughed. That was Pinkie Pie’s great gift. She lifted everyone’s s
pirits. But not Twilight Sparkle’s. She was just too miserable.

  Much later that night, after all the campers were in bed, Sunset Shimmer woke up and discovered that Twilight Sparkle wasn’t in her cot.

  “Twilight?” she called.

  There was no answer.

  Sunset Shimmer peered out of the tent window. The moon was rising. Sunset Shimmer saw a shadowy figure running toward the woods.

  “Twilight?” she called again.

  But there was no answer.

  Sunset Shimmer headed out into the night. She raced after the figure. It turned off the forest path. She followed it. It disappeared through the trees. She followed it. It jumped out right in front of her!

  Sunset Shimmer screamed. The dark figure screamed.

  It was Twilight.

  “What are you doing out here?” Sunset Shimmer wanted to know.

  Twilight had Spike in her arms. “We’re meeting a cab to take us home.”

  Sunset Shimmer couldn’t believe it. She looked at Spike. Why hadn’t he told her?

  Spike shrugged. “She thought you’d talk her out of it.”

  “Because I would,” said Sunset Shimmer. “Twilight, you can’t leave.” She reached out to take her friend’s hand. But the moment she touched it, something strange happened. Her eyes flashed with sudden knowledge.

  She remembered the trail of gem dust by the broken docks. She remembered Twilight disappearing. She saw in her mind’s eye Twilight at the picnic table, worried about turning into Midnight Sparkle. That was it, wasn’t it? Twilight was terrified of turning into a monster again.

  “Twilight,” she said sternly. “There is no Midnight Sparkle. There’s only you.”

  “How did you know that was what I was thinking?” Twilight asked.

  Sunset Shimmer thought for a moment. “When I touched your hand, I could see things. I could understand why you were leaving.” Then it hit her. She got it. “My new magic! This is my new magic! This is incredible!”

  “No!” shouted Twilight, even more upset. “It’s not. I’m infecting you now!”