//------------------------------//
// Episode 100: Best Laid Plans 
// Story: Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls 
// by thatguyvex 
//------------------------------//


Episode 100: Best Laid Plans 


“And as a final note, let me just say that I’m absolutely thrilled to have all of you here at Camp Everfree!” Gloriosa said with no false cheer in her beaming tone. The unusual, and even dangerous nature of present circumstances aside, she was truly happy to see so many young folk here at the camp. Canterlot High had certainly arrived with quite the turnout, and seeing some excited, youthful faces out in the crowd as she’d delivered her welcoming speech had put a warm buzz alight inside her. It helped ease some of the tension from everything else that was going on.

“Now, my brother Timber Spruce will be working with our volunteer counselors to hand out tent assignments and arrange our first set of activities for today! Timber, if you please?”

“Got it, sis,” Timber said, stepping up from the other size of the small gazebo where the Canterlot High students were gathered. Among the various teenagers, Gloriosa spotted the six students that Twilight Sparkle had told her about. They rather stood out from the crowd a bit, and it helped that by coincidence, or perhaps not-so-much-coincidence, that they were the six ‘volunteer camp counselors’ that Principal Celestia had suggested.

As Timber Spruce called the six girls’ names, and started helping them sort the rest of the students into groups for each of the rather large tents set up on the north end of the campgrounds, Gloriosa considered them each in turn.

Sunset Shimmer... a Substitute Soul Reaper? A pony from another world? I’d call that ridiculous if I haven’t already seen so many other things. And the world she’s from, it’s the same world my magic comes from?

The energetic looking young woman certainly had a warm air about her, and Gloriosa found she immediately liked the girl as she enthusiastically went about helping the other campers. The other five all seemed like good kids as well. Rainbow Dash had an explosive amount of energy for sports, and would likely readily organize any athletic activities. The quiet, soft spoken Fluttershy clearly had an unmitigated love for nature that’d make her ideal for leading nature hikes. If the faint smell of pastries coming off of Pinkie Pie was any indication, all cooking activities would be in good hands. Applejack had already expressed interest in helping rebuild the rundown camp dock, which Gloriosa certainly didn’t object to. The only one who made Gloriosa raise a small eyebrow was the one named Rarity, who certainly didn’t seem like the outdoors type, and also had an unusual air about her.

Admittedly all of them did, and Gloriosa figured it was because of what Twilight had told her, that these poor girls were just as much stuck being involved with supernatural issues as she was. They all had a faint air of being on edge.

Twilight hadn’t gone into any excessive detail about the girls’ experiences, but did ask Gloriossa to treat them like any other campers. Easy enough. It wasn’t like she didn’t have plenty of other concerns on her plate, but she did have something she wanted to talk to Twilight about as soon as she knew the campers were situated.

She and Twilight had been working on and off with Gloriosa’s geodes, but Gloriosa hadn’t yet told Twilight about the network of observing flowers she’d planted around the Everfree Forest in a perimeter around camp. The flowers had been reporting back some... unusual things that had Gloriosa worried. She’d already told Twilight about the odd people with holes in their chest, and Twilight had explained that they were advanced versions of Hollows known as ‘Arrancar’. But even more recently, in fact just that morning, Gloriosa had been received images from the flowers that showed some unusual wildlife wandering the forest. 

It worried Gloriosa, given they now had all these campers present, but she’d seen no sign that the creatures out in the forest were hostile. If anything they seemed to be keeping their distance from the camp. What they were, Gloriosia wasn’t sure. The images she got from the sentry flowers hadn’t given her any clear views. She only knew they were out there. She intended to inform Twilight as soon as she could. As for the Arrancar, Twilight had told Gloriosa that the particular group she’d seen wasn’t a threat, although she hadn’t elaborated further. 

With Timber taking care of things with the students, Gloriosa saw the tall, stateresuqe form of Principal Celestia approaching, with Vice Principal Luna following right behind. 

“Thank you for the lovely welcoming speech, Miss Daisy,” said Celestia with a warming smile, “I’m certain my students will enjoy their time here just as much as my sister and I did when we came here ourselves.”

“Oh, you’re both previous campers here at Everfree?” Gloriosa said, thinking that that must have happened as far back as when her parents were running things. Before that one, tragic night. She took the memory that wanted to rise and crammed it right back into her mental lockbox, with a few extra chains wrapped around for good measure. “Well I can only hope you’ll have a great time here again alongside your students.”

“I’m sure we will,” said Luna, her tone somehow more distant than her sister’s as she gazed around the camp, “I see the sundial my sister insisted we make back in the day is still here.”

The object in question was an old, stone sundial sitting not far from the camp center, slightly overgrown with moss. Gloriosa hadn’t even known who’d made it, but she did vaguely recall playing around it as a little kid.

Wait... I had to have been no more than four or five back then.

“Just how long ago were you two here, again?” she asked, and Celestia smiled pleasantly at her, while also shooting a quick, almost admonishing glance at Luna.

“Oh I don’t quite recall. Luna and I were quite young back then, not even to middle school yet.”

Gloriosa supposed that made sense. It was somewhat hard to tell just how old Celestia and Luna were anyway, so she supposed it wasn’t that unusual. She tossed the thought aside and said, “At any rate, while my brother is helping get your students situated I need to check on a few things to make sure our first day of activities goes smoothly. I’ve been doing some renovating around here, and still have a bit of maintenance to do on the trails, so unless there’s something specific you need...?”

“Oh, nothing at all,” replied Celestia with utmost civility, still beaming that warm smile all the while, “Luna and I will be taking a walk around ourselves, getting reacquainted with the camp. By all means, let us know if there’s anything we can do to help, Miss Daisy. I understand the number of students here is probably a bit more than what you’re used to handling, so we’re more than happy to help.”

“Of course, but don’t you worry, Timber and I got this.”

With that, the two heads of Canterlot High walked off towards the dock area, while Gloriosa turned to walk over to where Timber was helping the six volunteer counselors hand out tent assignments.

“Everything going okay over here?”

Timber turned to her after a pair of younger students, one with pink skin and another with light gray skin, drew colored cards from a bag he was holding.

“Aww,” said one, holding up a mauve card and comparing it to the other’s ochre colored card, “We’re not going to be in the same tent?”

The pink girl huffed and held her ochre card to Timber, “Unacceptable. Silver Spoon and I always stick together. Provide me with a card that matches hers.”

Affecting a polite cough, Timber forced a smile and said, “The random tent assignments are meant to help build up trust and friendship among the campers. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to have plenty of fun with your friend, but think of it like this, you get to make new friends with whoever you share a tent with.”

“Perhaps you didn’t hear me,” the pink girl said, her eyes flashing like diamonds, “I and Silver Spoon-”

“Silver Spoon and I,” said the gray girl.

“Not the time for grammar corrections! Ahem, as I was saying, we are an inseparable pair. Like tuna and mustard. You do not have one without the other.”

“For the record, I prefer mayonnaise with my tuna,” said Silver Spoon, “Diamond Tiara has very particular tastes.”

“And some of us are culinary heathens, but I care for you as my bestest friend, regardless. That being said, you, tall and vaguely attractive young man of indeterminate age, fix this issue with my card color at once!”

Timber looked at a total loss and gave Gloriosa a helpless look. Stepping in, Gloriosa knelt down a bit to get to eye level with the two younger girls, “How’s this for an idea? The tents we have here at Camp Everfree are pretty neat in that they’re designed to link up to form even bigger tents with each other. So you girls can find whoever has your matching cards, then link your tents into a shared one.”

“Hmm, very well, I shall accept this compromise. I’m Diamond Tiara, by the way. I heard you’re acquainted with my father, Filthy Rich?”

Gloriosa wasn’t able to entirely keep her eye from twitching a bit, but her voice remained polite, “Why yes, as it happens I’ve met your father a few times. He’s been very... interested in Camp Everfree.”

“Daddy has informed me that he’s already concluded a deal concerning this camp, so consider me pleased with the service thus far. Continue to impress me and I shall endeavour to tell my father you’ve done well.”

I have so many places in the forest where they’d never find the body... Gloriosa thought jokingly to herself, irritated but not that concerned with one spoiled child. She had far more on her plate at the moment. Besides, snooty or not, she did want everyone to enjoy their stay at Camp Everfree.

“Just try to have fun with your fellow campers is all I ask.”

After the two rich kids were on their way, Timber let out a sight, “Man, talk about being born in a gilded crib. Hope those two don’t cause too much trouble. They don’t seem exactly cut out for the outdoors.”

“Well it's not as if any of these kids were raised out here like we were, Timber. But seriously, everything going smoothly?”

“Smooth as smooth can be, sis. Those counselors we’ve got already have most everyone organized.”

Gloriosa could see as much. What had started as one big cluster of nearly a hundred students was now a rather well sorted set of several dozen clusters. The color cards were meant to do exactly has Timber said, provide a simple and fun way for campers to get matched up randomly to help foster bonds during the camp experience. Usually a tent could easily sleep four to six comfortably. The colors were numbered, which let them use more than one for when they had this many people to take care of. The tent grounds themselves was a spacious clearing just north of the main camp, with more than enough room to fit enough tents for everyone.

From the now organized crowd, the girl Gloriosa recognized as Sunset Shimmer came walking up. She had on a fairly simple outfit suited to the outdoors, with tight fitting jeans, black ankle boots, a red t-shirt, and black vest over the shirt. 

“We’ve got everyone ready to go,” Sunset said, extending a hand towards Glorisa, “Sunset Shimmer, by the way. Pleased to meet you.”

“Gloriosa Daisy,” she said, taking hold of Sunset’s offered hand.

When her fingers brushed Sunset’s and their hands gripped, she felt an almost immediate sensation of rising warmth and the feeling of a tremor inside her that reminded her of the moment she’d first found the magical geodes. The sensation ran through her very bones, making her hand feel scalding hot, yet somehow not painful, but rather amazingly at ease. Even if Gloriosa’s mind wanted to be shocked and startled, it was like her very soul was being relaxed.

“Are... you okay?” Sunset asked, looking at her strangely, and Gloriosa almost too quickly pulled her hand back.

“Oh, I’m fine. Totally fine. It was good to meet you too, Sunset Shimmer. I want to thank you and your friends for volunteering to help out at camp  this week.”

It was fairly obvious from the less than convinced look on Sunset’s face that she thought something was wrong, but the girl didn’t say anything about Gloriosa’s strange reaction and just said, “We’re happy to do it. From the sound of things you got a lot planned, so makes sense you’d need some help if it’s just you and your brother running the show here. If you don’t mind me asking, is it really just you two who’ve run this whole camp in the past?”

The sore spot still hurt, even when asked by such an open and friendly girl, but Gloriosa tried hard not to show that, maintaining her polite smile. She was, however, suddenly very self conscious of all the small things that were in need of touching up around the camp, from the faded and chipped paint on the buildings, to the run down and weather beaten dock, to the conspicuous lack of actual cabin space which necessitated the use of so many tents in the first place. 

“It’s been just us for a number of years, yes. Before that my parents ran the camp and had a staff of assistants, but... well, you know what they say, you can’t have sun without a little rain. No worries, though, this will still be a great camp experience, I guarantee it. And before long we’ll be giving the place a fresh coat of paint.”

Among other things, if the Quincy keep their end of the bargain.

Sunset had a sympathetic look in her eyes as she nodded, and gestured back behind her, “Well I’d better get back to my friends and make sure everyone gets to their right tents. My friends also sort of elected me to be in charge of coordinating things with you, so how soon are we starting up activities?”

Timber answered that one, as he’d written up most of the activity plans for the week, “In about an hour, at one o’clock, we’re serving up a welcome lunch via a barbecue that’ll be cooked up by yours truly. After lunch the plan is to split the campers between those who want to hit the trails and get a feel for the forest with a nice, breezy hike, or those that want to check out the lake with some swimming or boating. We’ll split you consoulers between the two groups to supervise and Glorisoa and me will oversee one group each. Then come evening we’ll switch it up with a forest survival seminar, complete with campfire building, and some old fashioned s’more cooking and ghost stories. You girls can always check the full schedule in the camp center so you know what’s coming up for the rest of the week, too, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me or Gloriosa.”

“Sounds like it's going to be a fun week,” Sunset said, and there was something odd in the girls’ tone that made Glorisoa wonder if she meant something else entirely. “I’ll be sure to let my friends know, and we’ll figure out who’s going on the hike and who’s sticking around the camp. Catch you at lunch.”

As the girl left, Gloriosa watched her with an intent gaze, until she felt Timber touch her shoulder gently.

“You sure you’re alright, sis? You looked kinda glaze eyed for a second there when you shook hands with that Sunset girl.”

“It’s... probably nothing,” she said, “I’ll talk to Twilight about it. Don’t worry, and just focus on the campers for now. You get started on the barbeque, I’m going to go see Twilight. I’ll be back soon.”

----------

“Oh my gosh, this place is amazing!” Applebloom said with excitement bursting in her voice as the girl all but skipped among the tent grounds. She took in a deep breath of air and let it out with a satisfied sigh, “Smell that nature, gals? Pristine!”

Sweetie Belle, sweating as she lugged a heavy bag behind her, said, “It’s literally the same air we were breathing a few days ago, and you weren’t freaking out over it then. We’ve been to the forest before.”

“I know that, but this is camp air. Totally different.”

“I swear, that bump to your head must have scrambled something...” 

Applebloom just flashed a confident grin and tapped her head, “Nah, I’m fit as a’ fiddle now! Scoots vampire aunts fixed me up right as rain!”

“H-hey!” Scootaloo brought up the rear of the trio, but swiftly caught up and said in a scandalized whisper, “Let’s not use the V word, okay!? First of all...” She glanced around to make sure the other campers weren’t in hearing range, “The proper term is ‘Bount’, and we’re not actually vampires. Just a lot of legends about them got started because of us. Just, y’know, try to keep it down about that. It’s supposed to be a secret!”

“Eheh, sorry,” said Applebloom, grinning all the while. She then held up her ochre colored card and looked around, “Still ain’t seen nobody with my card color. Least you two both got mauve. Wonder who I’m stuck roomin’ with?”

“It’s supposed to be four people per tent, so we still need to find who we’re with too,” said Sweetie Belle, “And Rarity just said it’d be easiest for us to go to our correct tent and find out who shows up.”

“Makes sense,” said Scootaloo, hefting her scooter over her shoulder, “I don’t really care who we’re with. I’m just glad they let me keep my scooter.”

“Still don’t know why, of all things, you put the crest thingie that summons your crazy stone bird on your scooter,” said Sweetie Belle, keeping her own voice low, “Isn’t that really impractical? Your aunts put their crests on way more portable items.”

Scootalloo rubbed at her face with one hand, her camping pack nearly slipping from her shoulders as she did so, “Look, my aunts gave me a bunch of guff over that too, but I was really young at the time, and it seemed smart back then because I always had my scooter with me! I can’t change where the crest is, so I just deal with it.”

“But you’re older and wiser now, ain’t ya?” Applebloom said with a smirk, and Scootaloo blanched.

“You two are never gonna get over the age thing, are you?”

“Well it ain’t everyday ya find out one o’ yer best friends is near twice as old as you are,” Applebloom said, still sounding flabbergasted by the concept while also clearly taking a great deal of amusement in Scootaloo’s embarrassment over the fact.

Scootaloo did blush rather fiercely red, half hiding her face behind her scooter, “Argh, for the last time, I’m only twenty three years old, which in Bount years still makes me no older than you guys. We age weird, okay!?”

“Still, does that mean when we hit our mid-twenties you’ll still technically look like a teenager?” Sweetie Belle mused, and Scootaloo sighed heavily.

“Probably. Like I said, Bount aging is weird. Has to do with how much we.... uh... eat, and other stuff...” she got suddenly very quiet, which caused Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to exchanged concerned looks, but they were distracted when a new but painfully familiar voice spoke from ahead of them.

“Oh no, don’t even tell me you three are taking this tent?”

It was Diamond Tiara, looking less like she was going to camp and more like she was going on a Sunday picnic with an impractical pink and black striped dress under her yellow jacket, pink shoes that did not look suited to forest hiking, and a white sun-hat. Next to her Silver Spoon was more dressed for the situation, albeit only in that she had shoe-boots on and was wearing a less frilly dress in soft blues and gray colors. The pair were standing in front of an ochre colored tent... and Applebloom’s heart sank to ground level.

“Yer kiddin’ me! Which o’ you got an ochre card!?”

Diamond Tiara’s lips pursed like she’d swallowed a sour grape and held up her ochre card, eyes broiling. “This is just... utterly unconscionable!”

Silver Spoon glanced at her, “I don’t think that word means what yo-”

“Silver, please don’t finish that reference.”

After a brief roll of her eyes, Silver Spoon turned her attention to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and specifically to the mauve cards held by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Her face pinching into a frown, she held up her own mauve card, “It seems we’re stuck together.”

“Ugh, this is the worst...” Sweetie Belle said.

“Oh it gets better,” Silver Spoon said with a sarcastic smirk, “The ever understanding and kind camp owner decided we get to share tents, since me and Diamond Tiara wanted to still be in the same  tent.”

“Maybe we can just sleep outside, or light ourselves on fire? Either option sounds more pleasant,” said Scootaloo, and Diamond Tiara sniffed.

“As if we like this any more than you do! But if you’re going to be little whining babies about it-”

“...you were whining your butt off about this earlier...” Silver Spoon muttered, but Diamond Tiara didn’t appear to hear her.

“-then it falls to moi to be the adult here and extend the first olive branch. You have my permission to share tent space with me for the duration of this ‘camp’ venture. Feel honored.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at each other.

“Some olive branch,” grumbled Applebloom, then looked at her card, and the cards of the other girls, “So we’re still missin’ three more folk. Guess we oughta start gettin’ our two tents hooked together, an’ see if the rest turn up.”

The assembly of the two tents didn’t take long at all, especially when Applejack swung by to give the girls a hand. The tents were rather brilliantly designed to be so user friendly that even partially trained monkeys ought to have been able to assemble them; or in this case take down a side per tent and link the pair up via specially designed zippers. The interior of the tents were exceedingly roomy for what they were, and before long the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their long-time rivals had sleeping bags set out along with their various knick-knacks and camping gear they’d brought.

Around that time they’d also gained their missing members.

“I don’t see what your problem is,” said Snips with a huff as the pudgy, short boy with light blue/green skin frowned at Diamond Tiara, “What do you think me and Snails are going to see?”

“Anything! Everything!” Diamond Tiara shouted, using tape to put up a blanket between the girls side of the tent and sequestering off the two boys, “Ladies need their space! Privacy!”

“Hate to agree with Diamond Tiara, but, uh, yeah, sorry Snips, sorry Snails, but we do need at least a blanket up between our part of the tent and yours,” said Sweetie Belle, helping Diamond Tiara with holding the blanket up as it was taped.

“Eh, it’s alright,” said Snails, looking completely unconcerned with the proceedings, his eyes looking ever sleepy under his mop top of teal hair.

Snips still looked flummoxed, “Whatever.”

A gray hand patted him on the shoulder as a happy looking older teenage girl with bright blonde hair and gold eyes that didn’t quite line up right smiled at him, “Don’t feel bad. I don’t always understand what’s going on around me either.”

“Ugh, you should be more concerned with sharing a tent with boys! You’re older than us,” groused Diamond Tiara, “Aren’t you worried they’ll peek at you!?”

The blonde girl giggled, “Peek at me doing what? We’re just sleeping here, not taking a shower.”

“But you’ll be changing clothes here!”

“Sure, but not while they’re around. Heheh, you’re funny.”

“And you’re... you’re... uh, what was your name again?” Diamond Tiara said after blinking several times.

“Derpy! Derpy Doo! Pleased to meet you.”

“Right... can’t imagine where your parents got that name from,” Diamind Tiara muttered, finishing up taping up the blanket. There were two of them, allowing for a partition that one could get through.

“There, done. Now then, with that out of the way we can move on to more important matters,” Diamond Tiara looked at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, “I trust you haven’t forgotten our wager?”

“Like we’d forget,” said Scootaloo. 

Snips’ head appeared through the blanket wall, “Wager?”

Diamond Tiara put a hand on his face and shoved him back through the blankets, then turned to the Crusaders, “Tonight then?”

Applebloom stood up from where she’d been unpacking her bag and gave Diamond Tiara a flashing look, “Tonight.”

“Uhh... guys?” Sweetie Belle said, ”Can we confer outside for a sec?”

Diamond Tiara gave them a suspicious look, but Silver Spoon chimed in, “Do what you want.”

The Crusaders piled out of the tent and got into a huddle.

“What’s the problem Sweetie Belle?” Appelboom asked.

Sweetie, wearing a remarkably serious look, tapped Applebloom on the head, “Did you forget what happened!? We got attacked by actual monsters in the woods! These woods.”

“Not exactly these woods. That happened way to the south.”

“Still, isn’t it possibly very dangerous to go hiking out there in the middle of the night?”

“Nah,” said Applebloom, “Scootaloo’s giant bird wiped those plant wolves out.”

“But what if there’s more?”

“Did ya ferget we got superpowers?”

“Did you forget how much those superpowers didn’t help and we needed to be bailed out by Scootaloo?”

“Who’s right here, so she could just do it again.”

“Only after you got really badly hurt and might’ve died if her aunts didn’t heal you.”

“Geeze, yer such a worrywart! This is our chance to finally show up Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Don’t ya wanna stick it to them jerks?”

Sweetie Belle was about to answer, but a fourth girl leaned in.

“What are we whispering about?” asked Derpy, and the three Crusaders all blinked at her. None of them knew how long the oddly airheaded seeming girl had been there.

“N-Nothin’ important,” said Applebloom, “We’re talkin’ about a, umm... video game we all play. Ya’ know, all online an’ stuff.”

“Oooh, I’ve seen those on the internet,” said Depry, “Heheh, they’re funny to watch. Do you girls do let’s plays?”

“No, but honestly we should,” said Sweetie Belle musingly, “I bet we could really get a channel off the ground.”

“We can do ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Let’s Players’ another day,” said Scootaloo, “For now let’s stay focused. Um, Derpy, if you don’t mind, this kind of a private conversation.”

The girl blinked, Scootaloo almost hypnotized by the way one eye stared at her with laser focus while the other wandered off in a completely different direction. Then Depry smiled bright as the morning sky, “Sure thing! Since I’m the biggest girl in the bunch, if you guys need anything, just let me know, ‘kay?”

“We sure will,” Sweetie Belle said, then after Depry went back into the tent she sighed and looked at her friends, “Okay, so just for the record, nobody saw her come out of the tent, right?”

“Nope, and Bount’s have really good senses,” Scootaloo said, “So... I have no idea. Anyway, Sweetie Belle, I get that you’re worried. We’ll be extra careful tonight, but we’ve already made a deal with Diamond Tiara. We can’t back out now.”

“Okay, okay fine, I just really got a bad feeling about this.”

“If it makes you feel any better I’ll make sure to have Alerion already summoned to tail us from the sky and swoop in if things go wrong,” assured Scootaloo. 

Applebloom gained a twinkle in her eyes at that, rubbing her chin with a wicked grin forming, “Ya know, if we’re lookin’ ta scare them two, then I think there’s even more we could have yer Doll do...”

----------

Lines of suspicion creased Applejack’s brow as she finished helping lug some of the heavier bags of camping gear out among the tents, and she saw her sister and two friends huddled together outside their own tent across the way.

“Now what’d ya suppose them three are planin’ over there?” she asked, and beside her Rarity turned to look over her shoulder at the farm girl, having just finished showing some errant campers where their tent was.

“Come again?”

“Just seein’ our sisters an’ their third amigo are lookin’ awfully... schemey over yonder,” Applejack said, pointing the trio out. Rarity looked, her lips quirked in an amused smile, and she came over to Applejack and crossed her arms.

“Oh really now, Applejack, they’re just being their usual rambunctious selves. Why one would think we’d be used to this from them by now. Quite frankly seeing those three getting up to their usual Crusader related mischief would be a relief compared to what else we have on our plates.”

“That’s just it,” Applejack insisted, her frown not diminishing at all, “I just got this nasty feelin’ that it ain’t ‘usual’. Can’t put my finger on why, but my gut’s tellin’ me somethin’ is off.”

Rarity’s crystal blue eyes maintained a skeptical air, but they weren't dismissive either as she regarded the Cutie Mark Crusaders more carefully. The three young girls didn’t seem to notice they were being watched as they all nodded as a group, their discussion apparently finished, and went back into their tent. Rarity made a slight ‘hmm’ noise, tapping a finger to her lips thoughtfully.

“I suppose Sweetie Belle did seem a tad... reserved when she came back home after visiting Scootaloo’s house. Do you suppose something happened that they haven’t told us about?”

“Can’t prove it, but my sister’s intuition is ringin’ somethin’ fierce,” Applejack said, sighing heavily as she put a hand on her hat and shook her head, “Not like I can just go interrogatin’ my sis, through.”

“I suppose it would be rather goash to strap them to a chair, flash a lamp in their face, and start demanding answers,” Rarity said, chuckling dryly, “Why don’t we put a pin in the matter for now. They can’t possibly get into too much trouble in just one-”

“Rarity, fer the love o’ whatever or whoever’s actually in charge upstairs, don’t finish that sentence.”

Rarity smiled ruefully at Applejack, making a ‘zipping the lips’ gesture. “Perish the thought, darling.” 

Not long after that the vast majority of the Canterlot High students were situated in their proper tents, and given the state of the early afternoon, many of them were rapidly becoming hungry in the endless way teenagers tended to. Fortunately the sweet, rich scent of char-broiled meat was already wafting in alongside a cool breeze from the main camp, and it was an army of salivating teenagers that soon descended upon Camp Everfree for their first lunch of the camping trip.

Timber Spruce and Gloriosa Daisy certainly didn’t skimp on the food. The first deposit of funds to the camp’s accounts from their new Quincy partners had allowed the brother and sister to get an entirely new set of large, modern grills to replace the aging ones they’d had. They’d also ensured the camp pantries were overflowed with fresh food, and that day’s barbeque was not about to leave anyone high and dry on having seconds, or even thirds. 

For a good while Camp Everfree was lively with the sound of chatting, laughing teenagers enjoying a hearty meal amid the splendour of nature, underneath a clear sky and warm summer winds. 

Sunset Shimmer and her group of friends were situated at their own table, located just to the side of the camp center building. For a few minutes talking had been minimal as the girls enjoyed eating, Applejack and Rainbow Dash digging in with gusto alongside Pinkie Pie, who would sneak bits of hot dog or burger underneath the table to allow Pinkamena to briefly manifest a mouth to take a few bites herself. Rarity ate far more daintily, and favored the spread of fruits and salad over heavy meats, while Fluttershy and Sunset both kept to the veggie burgers. Sunset didn’t actually... object, per se, to eating meat. She’d tried it, out of pure curiosity. After all, she was technically an omnivore now. Why not take advantage? But it didn’t really do anything for her. Smelled good, but just didn’t taste right on her palette. 

Chips, however, were universal, and she enjoyed her fair share of those, alongside some very fine bean dip.

Once food was settling in their stomachs, it was time to get down to business. Applejack and Rarity had already brought up the idea of Clover watching the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and Sunset didn’t think that was a bad idea at all. The original plan was to have Clover with them when they lured in the Kraken, but given they’d also have Celestia and Luna there to battle the beast, truth be told Clover would be better used keeping an eye on things at the camp anyway.

“It might put her in the line of fire, though, depending on how Adagio and Twilight’s rescue attempt pans out,” Sunset said. She and the girls were all keeping their tone’s down, not that there was much of anyone nearby to hear. Gloriosa had gone off somewhere, and Timber Spruce was still cooking up extra food for the hungry campers eager for second helpings. Nobody else was nearby. 

Sunset knew Clover would be arriving later that day to keep in touch with them, and that Celestia wanted to meet with them that evening. Until then, they were to act as camp counselors and just go about the day like normal. However, plans needed to be laid out and confirmed, so it was time to talk. They'd already hashed most of this out, but laying it all out so everyone was on the same page was important.

“We can’t really control how things go where Adagio and Twilight are concerned,” Rarity said, poking at the remnants of her salad with a black plastic fork, “Once we’re dealing with that dreadful Kraken, we’ll be too far away to do much about what happens here.”

“Not totally true, Rares,” said Rainbow Dash, “I’m fast enough that if need be I could zip across from the beach to here in like, a few minutes, tops.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Rarity said musingly, “However, fast as some of us have become, I know it’d take me a bit of time to get back even to just the city from the beach.”

Sunset nodded, “With my Flash Step I could probably come close to matching Rainbow’s time, but she’s still the fastest out of all of us. Which means if an emergency happens, if something does go wrong, it’ll fall to me and her to get back here pronto, and the rest of you need to keep things locked down with the Kraken.”

“What do we think might go wrong?” asked Fluttershy, “I mean, um, hypothetically speaking?”

Applejack grimaced, leaning her elbows on the table while casting a look across the wide, green campgrounds, where dozens and dozens of students sat around various picnic tables, eating and chatting away.

“What couldn’t go wrong?” she asked, “I know we ain’t got a lotta choice but ta move forward with this plan, but with that damned Grogar bastard out there, not ta mention this Gilda gal who took a’ shot at Sunset... well nothin’ personal against Adagio, but I ain’t sure I trust her ta keep them two under control.”

“Trusting Adagio...” Rarity shook her head, “Let’s be frank, we were never particularly friendly with her to begin with, and it wasn’t that long ago that she and her sisters tried to magically dominate our school.”

“Rarity, that’s water under the bridge at this point,” Sunset said, and Rarity nodded.

“I understand that, but I just want us to have proper caution here. Adagio may have her own goals, seperate from the other Espada, but that is not the same as being our bosom ally. We’re convenient to her at the moment, as a distraction, so she can rescue a ‘friend’ of hers. She has little reason beyond that to care what happens to us, any of our friends, or our fellow students.”

“Look, Adagio understands that any unneeded damage or casualties here is going to cause her more problems, and the plan doesn’t involve attacking the camp or harming any students. She’s even assured me she’s given her own people instructions to not kill any Soul Reapers they have to fight, if they can avoid it.”

“That is a very large ‘if’,” Rarity pointed out.

“C’mon Rarity, lighten up a bit,” Pinkie Pie said, “We managed alright so far, and if we burn our brainboxes thinking so hard about all the ‘what ifs’ then we’re just gonna hurt our heads. Let’s trust Adagio and Twilight to know what they’re doing.”

“That’s shockingly level headed, coming from you.”

“I know, right? I must be getting better at this whole planning thing.”

Pinkamena’s voice spoke from beneath the table, “No, you’re not. Now give me more burger.”

As Pinkie Pie slipped another chunk of hamburger under the table, to the sound of chomping, the other girls all looked at each other. Sunset wished she could shake the ever looming feeling of dishonest and general cruminess that came with knowing that no matter how this situation played out, chances were some Soul Reapers would get hurt, and as Rarity pointed out, possibly killed. She kept thinking back to the moment Celestia had asked her if something was wrong, beneath Discord’s shop. 

Should she have confided the truth to Celestia? 

Was she making a mistake, going ahead with this plan?

She shook her head. She had to lead, here, and get these doubts out of her head. “Right now the important part is that we confirm where the lab is. Twilight and Adagio have narrowed it down to two possibilites. One is the higher locations in the northeast mountain slopes. The ones that are directly opposite of the mountains Discord and Ditzy train us. The other possibility is the lake.”

“What, like on the lake?” Rainbow Dash asked quizzically.

“No, beneath it.”

“Is that possible?” asked Rarity.

“No reason it couldn’t be,” Sunset replied, “I’ve studied enough Kido at this point to know that Soul Reaper spells can create spaces that would keep water out and maintain a dry spot even while underwater. So it’s possible it’s down there.”

“Dude, how would we even check that?” Rainbow Dash asked, “I mean, I’m an awesome swimmer, but I think we’d be pretty obvious if we tried swimming to the bottom of the lake.”

“We might not have to,” Sunset said,”Remember, Celestia wants to meet with us tonight, and ostensibly the whole reason she arranged for us to be out here is so we could help with the research on the portal to Equestria. I think she’s likely to take us, or at least one of us, to the lab anyway. So the plan right now is to wait, see if the lab gets revealed to us, and if it does, contact Twilight and Adagio with the location. If that doesn’t happen, then we work on checking the mountains or the lake and see if we can find it ourselves.”

“Then after that, we do the Kraken thing as a distraction,” said Pinkie Pie, stabbing a hot dog with a fork and wiggling it about, “While we’re Krakening, Twilight and Adagio do the rescue.”

“Yeah, about that, has Adagio said what the other Arrancar are supposed to be doing during all that?” asked Rainbow Dash, “Because so far it sounds like that’s kinda a big deal.”

Sunset chewed her lip for a second, “Well, Adagio has been keeping me posted on that... and the plan on her end is...”

----------

Adagio cleared her throat loudly, making sure all present were paying attention to her. The little cave hideout was rather crowded now. Besides herself, Di Roy, Roka, and Gaw, both Gilda and Grogar were present, along with half a dozen Arrancar warriors working with Gilda that were essentially on loan from Guto. They all stood in a rough semi-circle around one of the side walls of the cave, where Adagio had used her trident to carve a map into the stone surface.

“The key to our mission from Lord Tirek is test the city’s defenses, which means we are not trying to defeat the enemy but rather gauge their strength.”

“Yeah, yeah, we heard you the first time,” Gilda said, “But Lord Tirek isn’t going to give two craps if we kill a few humans in the process.”

“My point is that blowing up random buildings is a waste of energy when the Soul Reapers and Quincy alike have proven they’ll respond to the mere presence of significant numbers of Hollows. Not long ago this city was surrounded by Gillian-class and that drew out Captains and Sternritter alike to defend the city.”

“Yes, but it takes time to wrangle that many Gillians together,” Gilda said, eyeing Grogar, “Took you, what, a few days at least?”

“True,” said Grogar, his face rather frustratingly neutral and difficult for Adagio to read.

She’d been looking for any signs of what Grogar was thinking, especially over the past few days after she’d been visited by Discord and had him clandestinely examine her for monitoring devices. Devices that Discord had found, and confirmed her fears that Gograr had not entirely released his clutches on her. It made her skin crawl just thinking about it. Fortunately Discord had also had little trouble removing the devices, as there’d only been two of them, designed to transmit visual and audio data. According to Discord he thought it was unlikely that Grogar was receiving the transmissions here in the living world. The devices would need special receiving equipment that was likely still in Hueco Mundo.

Regardless, Adagio was glad to have the things out of the body, and Discord’s confirmation that there were no other hidden surprises left in her from her former captor. Yet it remained an infuriatingly frustrating fact that Grogar was here, he had a copy of her siren gem, and she still didn’t know just what plan he had in mind or how much he might know of her plans. 

Keeping all of that emotion off her face, she looked at both Grogar and Gilda, her voice icy cool, “We don’t need Gillians. It’s easy enough to gather lesser Hollows in numbers, and if we turn them loose around the city outskirts, it will provoke a response. I already know from the scouting efforts of my own vassals that there are at least a contingent of ten or so Soul Reapers, perhaps even twice that, occupying the city, with no less than lower ranking officers among them, and likely one Lieutenant. We also can confirm at least one Captain in the area, but it's very likely there are more.”

“What about the Quincy?” asked one of Gilda’s companions, who's white hair, with its tips tinged green, made her recognizable as Greta. 

“Their numbers are more nebulous,” she lied, “I can’t give exact numbers, but given the response from the Gillian attack some time ago, there’s probably at least two or three Sternritter that will respond.”

She tapped her trident to the map of the city, “So what we shall do is divide and... well, not conquer, but divide and test. Releasing Hollow swarms here, north of downtown, here, south of the school, and here, just east of the upper class housing area, will be the most likely areas to provoke response. Gilda, your warriors will work with my subordinate, Gaw, to subdue any Lieutenant or lesser officers among the Soul Reapers that arrive.”

Gilda turned golden eyes towards Gaw. Gaw, lifting her chin, stared back with equally gold eyes. Gilda apparently liked whatever she saw there, and nodded with a fanged smirk. 

“Fine by me. So I take it we Espada hold back until the big fish appear, then move out to grill them?”

“More or less,” Adagio replied, “Once we see Captains or Sternritter hit the scene, yes, we move out to engage them. However, we do this only until we know for certain no further forces are going to appear, and we confirm the strength of the enemies present. Our task is gauging these defenders, not destroying them. If Lord Tirek wanted that, he would have said so. That being the case, when I give the signal of three Ceros shot into the sky, all forces are to immediately retreat to Hueco Mundo.”

Gilda’s lips curled, “Still think that’s dumb. If we can beat an enemy, we oughta do it and do it proper so they’re damn well dead and no longer a problem.”

“Oh, I do believe Lady Adagio has the right of things,” said Grogar, and Adagio’s skin practically felt like it was bathed in rancid oil from the way he twisted the word ‘Lady’ from a proper term of respect for a superior to something entirely too... personal. 

At Gilda’s look, Grogar continued, “Do keep in mind that we are merely the Tenth and Ninth Espadas. There are Captains and Sternritter that would be problematic for us to beat, and I doubt either of our enemies would send their weakest to guard this city.”

“Hence why Lord Tirek wishes us to probe the defenses in the first place,” Adagio said, “No doubt he wants to know just how dedicated the Soul Reapers and Quincy are to protecting that portal.”

She didn’t doubt there was more to it than that, however. Tirek did not strike her as a man who did things for simple, blunt purposes. Chrysalis might assume she was the most prolific schemer among the Espada, but Adagio suspected Tirek was far more canny than some might give him credit for. If she was the one ordering such a probe into Canterlot City, her own motivations would be not just to test how strong the defenses were, but to test the competence of two new Espada such as herself and Gilda. It would also serve as quite the distraction if she had other intentions, such as launching a strike elsewhere while Soul Society’s and the Quincy’s attention were drawn to Canterlot City. 

Again she wondered at Grogar’s presence. Was he here totally of his own volition or was Tirek using Grogar as part of some further plan? Again, Grogar’s expression revealed nothing, other than a faint aura of self-assured smugness. 

Be confident, if it pleases you, old withered wretch. You’re not the only one with hidden plans.

Keeping her own thoughts from turning her own expression into a wolfish grin, she instead forced a stern look towards Gilda and Grogar, “I trust there’s an understanding between us, now? I want no confusion once this kicks off. We engage, but only until we’ve confirmed what it is we’re up against in full. Then we fall back.”

Gilda still looked ready to chew rocks, but blasted out a sigh and grumbled out, “Fine. But what about those girls? You haven’t mentioned them yet, I’ve noticed.”

“Ah, yes, I’d nearly forgotten,” Grogar said in a tone that suggested he most certainly hadn't, “Those young human girls who’d gained such extraordinary powers lately. Shouldn’t we be making it a point to test their abilities as well? Why, I do believe Lord Tirek still might desire one of them captured for experimental purposes.”

Was that what Grogar was here for? Adagio wanted to sneer, but kept herself under control. “I haven’t failed to account for them. My vassal’s scouting confirms that they’re presently with their school’s class, attending a local ‘camp’. It’s far enough away from the city that if we make our attack, it would take them some time to arrive to interfere. If they do happen to show up, then leave them to me.”

“Why?” asked Gilda, eyes narrowing, “You interrupted my fight with that bacon-headed dweeb once already! I want another crack at her!”

“I already explained to you that Sunset Shimmer is too much for you, Gilda,” Adagio said flatly, “And if she has her friends with her, then altogether you’d certainly be no match. Instead you’re best off supporting Grogar against an enemy Captain of Sternritter. Lest either of you forget, I amd the strongest Espada present, so if those girls show up, leave them to me. Understood?”

Grogar merely nodded, while Gilda growled under her breath, “...Got it.”

“Great. Now that that’s out of the way, on to the matter of timing. I would order this attack to begin tomorrow, but recent intelligence gathered by Di Roy has brought to light the possibility of other forces at work in the region,” Adagio said, and as she’d hoped, Grogar actually looked faintly surprised and interested.

Good, he didn’t know. That or he’s acting, but I don’t think he’s that good an actor.

She’d debated whether or not to bring the information Di Roy had brought to her to light or not, but Grogar’s arrival had forced her hand. Gilda she knew she could browbeat into following her lead, regardless of whether Adagio gave a reason to delay the attack or not. Because they did need to wait, at least until the lab’s location was confirmed. With Grogar here, she needed another excuse. Fortunately what Di Roy had told her gave her the perfect excuse to use.

“It seems that we have some unusual guests in the woods, and an unknown force capable of summoning entities of exceptional strength,” she said, and described the scene that Di Roy had witnessed of the young girls battling the plant-like wolves. She did withhold some information, however, leaving out the identities of the three small children, whom she knew two of which were younger sisters to Sunset’s friends. She just described them as unknown young human girls with powers not unlike the Fullbrings, but also made it clear that the stone bird that had arrived to save the girls was likely not a Fullbring. 

For once, Grogar’s smugness was gone, replaced by a speculative expression and one that also showed signs of... concern? “The wooden wolves don’t correspond to anything I’ve encountered or have recorded in my lab’s data.”

“So what? They sound weak,” Gilda said, and Grogar looked at her as if she were a simple minded child.

“As are lesser Hollows, yet here we stand as Espada. Just because we witness one group of weak enemies does not mean stronger ones do not exist, and since these plant-like creatures exuded no spiritual pressure, we must assume they use a different type of power. Magic, perhaps?”

Gilda’s eyes clouded over as she thought. It was quite remarkable, Adagio thought, to see the burly girl trying to think, like watching a monkey try to get the round peg into the right hole. “So, uhh... you’re saying there’s like... bigger magic things out there?”

“A distinct possibility, and a sign, I believe, that the Soul Reapers are playing around too much with that portal,” Grogar said, sniffing as if he smelled a foul scent, “Starswirl, no doubt. That half-baked amature. He’s as likely to tear open a wider hole in the fabric of space than actually learn anything valuable about the portal with his haphazard attempts at experimentation.” 

“I don’t suppose you have any idea what the stone bird was?” Adagio asked, not liking having to ask Grogar anything, but she was admittedly very puzzled herself about where that creature had come from. That one, Di Roy had said, had exuded spiritual pressure, so she knew it wasn’t an Equestrian creature. Yet she didn’t think it was a Fullbring either. Di Roy had reported the girl, Scootaloo, had shouted a name, ‘Alerion’. Fullbring’s weren’t activated with a name like that. 

Grogar’s smugness returned as he held up a hand in a speculative motion, saying, “You’re still very young and inexperienced in the lore of the spiritual realms, Lady Adagio, despite you’re impressive rise to power. While Hollows, Soul Reapers, and Quincy are the greatest powers at play in the living world, there have always been outliers. Groups so small an inconsequential they couldn’t be considered ‘factions’, just curiosities. Humans capable of wielding spirit energy in a form of ‘magic’, which gave rise to legends of witches and warlocks. Failed Soul Reaper experiments that were turned loose in the realm of the living, leading to folktales of ‘vampires’ and ‘werewolves’. Sometimes creatures from the Beast Realm end up crossing to this realm as well, responsible for countless stories of mysterious lake monsters or mountain yetis. This ‘stone bird’ could be the result of any of those things. A Beast Realm creature, a summoned guardian from a literal ‘witch’, or even the pet of some other similar entity.”

Adagio frowned. If what Grogar was saying was true, it meant that Alerion could have been anything. “That still leaves us with the question of whether this represents the presence of another group in the area that could prove a threat. For that reason alone I wish to spend at least a few more days performing scouting of the area. Once I can confirm no further threats exist to interfere, then we launch our attack.”

“Works for me,” Gilda said, glancing towards the back of the group towards Roka and Di Roy, “You said Gaw’s helping my warriors out, but what’re these two going to be doing when all this goes down?”

Hm, that’s a sharper question than I expected from you, Gilda, Adagio thought, smiling thinly, “Roka is merely here for medical support if needed, and is on loan from Lord Lament. Clearly I’d prefer the daughter of the Fourth Espada to be kept away from the fighting. As for Di Roy, he is Roka’s... escort. To make sure no harm comes to her. They will hold down the fort here while the battle takes place.”

Di Roy snapped a mock salute, “You can count on me, boss lady! I won’t let any dastardly Soul Reapers or scummy Quincy lay a finger on her!”

Gilda blanched, “Right, whatever. Sorry I asked.”

“If there are no further questions, I think that covers the plan quite succinctly,” Adagio said.

Grogar shook his head, and Gilda shrugged. At that, Adagio said, “Then do as you will for now, as long as you keep a low profile while doing it. Roka, I’m going for a walk for some fresh air. Care to join me?”

“Oh? Yes, of course,” Roka said, inclining her head. Adagio ignored Grogar’s stare as she left the cave, but fortunately he didn’t say anything. Once outside, Adagio made a point of getting a good distance from the cave itself and doing a quick check with her Pesquisa to ensure she and Roka were alone before letting out a sigh.

“I hate that man so unbelievably much...”

Roka closed her eyes, nodding, “I can only imagine. He put you through a lot, from what I understand.”

Adagio gripped her trident tightly, finding a comfortable spot to sit on a nearby boulder. They were on a short hill, heavily covered in trees. There wasn’t much of a view, but she could just barely make out the blue stretch of the lake some number of miles to the west. She looked at Roka with burning eyes.

“He did, and never will again. I’ll die before I ever let him touch me. I just wish I knew what he was doing here.”

“If it's not too prying a question, that gem he has...” Roka began, and Adagio felt cold, even under the bright summer sun, as if even those warm rays couldn’t push past the freezing feeling in her heart.

“The same as mine,” she said, touching the red gem gently pulsing in the center of her Hollow hole, “This gem is... a part of me in a way that is not unlike a Zanpaktou. Sirens are born with these gems. They contain the core of our essence.”

“Siren, the species you were before death, and what you were when you lived in the world beyond the portal. I wouldn’t mind hearing of those days, if you wish to share,” Roka said, voice inviting, but also not pressing. Adagio had to wonder at just how Roka ever became such a calm minded, open individual while growing up in Las Noches, or dealing with an unstable fellow like Lament as a father figure. 

She smiled at Roka, but it was a small one. Adagio didn’t trust people very easily, but Roka did come close to fitting the bill. Then again, trust had also gotten her sisters into trouble back in Equestria, so Adagio’s heart clenched with a sensation of anger that made her want to shut that door to trust and never open it again. Which would be stupid, because she needed Roka’s help, and the help of her father.

“Someday, perhaps,” Adagio said, “But not today, Roka. We have far too much to focus on, and right now Equestra is... very far away.”

“I understand,” Roka said with a nod, then looked at Adagio with a piercingly frank stare, “Then what is it you wanted from me.”

“Heh, I couldn’t just ask you to walk with me to vent at?”

Roka shook her head, “No. Not you. You rarely do things without purpose, Adagio Dazzle. I appreciate that about you, in fact. You understand the value of give and take, without falling prey to the temptation of only taking.”

“Hmm, if you say so. But, yes, I did need something from you. I need you to be the lynchpin of our backup plan,” Adagio said, eyes glancing towards the distant lake, “If all goes according to plan, then you, Di Roy, and Twilight Sparkle will be able to enact a rescue of Ember from the lab while the rest of us are battling who knows how many Soul Reapers and Quincy. However, I’ve certainly come to understand that even the best laid plans rarely go as intended. Something will go wrong, and so depending on how catastrophically they do go wrong, we needed a backup. I spoke with your father extensively before we came here, and he has agreed to be that backup.”

Roka’s eyes went wide, “Father did...?” The Arrancar took a moment to absorb that, “He must trust you more than even I imagined. But I’m confused. Wouldn’t Torch have been a better choice? He was all but flaming at the mouth to come rescue his daughter.”

“Which is exactly why I don’t want Torch to be a part of this,” Adagio said, voice hard, “I want Ember rescued, but I’d rather half the countryside doesn’t get turned to ash in the process. Torch would come with his entire bloody horde and fall like a firestorm on the city, the forest, the camp, and burn everything in their path. That’s a level of destruction I’d just as soon keep out of the situation.”

“And you think Father is... less destructive? I love him dearly but even I know he can be... unpredictable,” Roka said, voice delicate.

“I’m aware Lament is unstable, Roka, but he’s still a better choice as backup than Torch. Besides, Torch is also still recovering from his wounds suffered fighting the Sternritter.”

“Yes, but Father also has had his Resurreccion sealed by that woman that attacked the tower,” Roka pointed out, “He can’t utilize his full power.”

“Given what I’ve seen of your father fighting, he won’t need his full power. Besides, his only role would be to act as emergency reinforcements in case things go wrong either with the rescue attempt, or with our battle at the city. I need you to be the one to send the signal. He insisted on that. If things go wrong, you make the choice, and decide if your father is needed. I’m trusting you with this duty, Roka.”

Roka was contemplative for a moment, a soft breeze stirring her raven black hair around the half-skull mask that still covered one side of her face. A twitch of uncertainty, and even fear, flushed across her pale features. “What about Twilight Sparkle? Have you considered how she would react to Father appearing before her again?”

“I have, in fact,” Adagi replied, keenly recalling the danger posed by a potentially out of control Twilight, “I wouldn’t have even considered this if I hadn’t floated the idea by her first.”

Roka’s voice was understandably disbelieving, “And she agreed?”

Adagio made an off hand gesture, expression tight with frustration, “Agreed is a strong word. It’s more that I think she recognizes the logic of using Lament over Torch as a backup, and if I were to guess, she’s forcing herself to remain logical rather than emotional about this. I wouldn’t have suggested it if I had a better plan, but the fact is, I don’t.”

“I suppose she must be trying very hard to control her emotions,” Roka said, sympathy lacing her words, “Even working with me for the rescue must be difficult for her. Still, I truly hope it doesn’t come to having to summon Father to battle. Both for Twilight’s sake, and Father’s. I still fear what might happen with his power sealed away as it is...”

Adagio nodded, but also tried to offer a small smile of confidence, “I wouldn’t worry too much. Even with those seals, Lament is incredibly powerful. I’m hard pressed to think of anyone who could seriously pose a threat to him.”

----------

“Captain Sweet Cider?” Celestia said in surprise as she saw the tall, red skinned goliath of a woman walking through the gates of Camp Everfree. The unbelievable tall and well muscled Captain would be entirely invisible to anyone normal, of course, but Celestia was still shocked to see the Captain of the Tenth Division just strolling on up in broad daylight without any apparent care in the world.

It was only an hour past lunch. The campers had all split into two groups, one that had been taken off into the forests for an introductory hike, and the rest already having a whale of a time swimming in the lake or taking out several canoes and boats out onto the shining blue waters. Celestia knew Applejack had gone with Fluttershy and Sunset Shimmer on the hike, while the other girls had stayed to oversee the lake activities. Luna was with Celestia at the camp center, going over the schedule for the next few days, and Luna looked up at Celestia’s exclamation and soon looked out the same window Celestia was and spotted Sweet Cider.

“What in the world is she doing here?”

“I don’t know,” Celestia said, glancing around quickly. The camp center was empty save for her and her sister. Gloriosa Daisy had gone... somewhere. Celestia wasn’t certain where and that bothered her, but she didn’t have time to go tracking down the camp owner. Her brother was cleaning up the barbeque with the help of a few or her more diligent students. So there was no one around who’d see it if Celestia slipped out the back of the camp center to confront Sweet Cider.

“Stay here, Luna, and cover me,” Celestia said, moving swiftly to the camp center’s side door. 

Luna nodded and moved to the main entrance, keeping a lookout while Celestia hurried outside and swiftly walked to meet with the fast approaching Sweet Cider.

Captain Sweet Cider was fully dressed in her black robes and white Captain’s overcoat, her Zanpaktou hanging through the sash at her hip. Sweet Cider’s green eyes, so much like those of her daughter’s, found Celestia and gave an acknowledging nod.

“Afternoon, Captain Celestia,” Sweet Cider said.

“To you as well, Captain Sweet Cider,” Celestia replied with a polite bow, “I’m afraid that given I’m currently in a gigai, we should find somewhere private to talk before this goes any further.”

“Guess yer right on that. C’mon, we’ll head on inside, then we can chat it up.”

Celestia kept an eye out to see if anyone noticed her walking to the gate, seemingly to meet and speak with no one, before turning around. As luck had it, no eyes were turned her way, so she was able to just as quickly return to the camp center with Sweet Cider following close behind. Once inside Sweet Cider and Luna also exchanged quick greetings, and the three Captains found themselves clustered around one of the center’s long meeting tables. The camp center really wasn’t that large of a building, largely consisting of a main room with an almost classroom-like layout and atmosphere. There was a kitchen in back, and a pair of offices beyond the meeting room, and a small recreation room adjoining the kitchen. All was made of rich log wood that gave the walls a warm tone of natural brown. 

It certainly wasn’t the kind of setting one would expect three Captains of the Gotei 13 to sit and have a talk.

“So, I’m somewhat surprised to see you here, Captain Sweet Cider,” Celestia said, “I thought Captain Commander Scorpan wished you and the Tenth Division to continue work on rebuilding in Seireitei.”

Sweet Cider leaned back in her chair, making the entirely too small, plastic and steel camp chair squeak under her bulk. “That’s what I thought too, but then the ol’ man comes inta my Division office himself, no word o’ warnin’, an’ asks me personally ta put work on reconstruction on hold an’ muster a hundred o’ my boys n’ girls ta come here.”

“That many?” Luna said.

“Yup, got Silverstar gettin’ them situated in the city right now, linkin’ up with them Eleventh Division already there. Hmph, bet Lieutenant Posey’s having a litter o’ kittens over havin’ a hundred o’ my people suddenly show up at her doorstep. Anyways, Scorpan said he wanted ta reinforce yer defenses here, an’ put me in charge o’ protecting both the city an’ this here camp.”

Celestia found herself feeling oddly ill at ease over this development. On the surface, having Sweet Cider here with so many additional Soul Reapers should have been a comfort, yet she was concerned whether or not this might provoke a response from the Quincy. One or two Captains might not raise the Quincy’s suspension very much, given the Equestrian portal was considered a strategically important location. However, with Sweet Cider here that would start to get the Quincy thinking. Thinking maybe the Soul Reapers had made some kind of breaththrough with the portal, and wanted to safeguard it better. Which wasn’t entirely untrue. Starswirl kept saying he was close to something akin to a breakthrough with the portal, but so far all Celestia knew for sure was that there were ever more strange fluxuations with the portal. 

“There’s more to it than that, isn’t there?” Luna said, mirroring Celestia’s thoughts, and Sweet Cider gave Luna a wide, knowing grin.

“Ya don’t gotta be head o’ the Second Division to parse that out, do ya? Well, ol’ man Scorpan didn’t exactly spell it out ta me in words, but he made it clear that he was worried somethin’ was gonna go down here. He didn’t say what. I don’t think he rightly knows what is gonna happen, but he’s got somethin’ that’s makin’ him think you folks would need an extra Captain on standby with a whole bunch o’ reinforcements.”

Sweet Cider’s eyes gained a hard edge to them that gave their green surfaces a reflection like an emerald crystal, “An’ if I was a bettin’ gal, I’d say it’s got somethin’ ta do with that Zero Divison big wig that’s been hangin’ around Seireitei.”

Celestia and Luna exchanged looks. They knew about Captain Medley of the Zero Division, and that she was at Seireitei to ‘observe’ things after the shake up that Starlight Glimmer’s actions had caused throughout the Gotei 13. Celestia didn’t much trust Medley, and neither did Luna, but there was very little that could be done. The authority of the Zero Division superseded even that of Central 46. They were one step away from being the literal voices of the Soul Queen herself. 

“What do you think has the Captain Commander worried where the Zero Division is concerned?” Celestia asked carefully, but Sweet Cider just shrugged.

“I ain’t a’ oracle. I just know the ol’ man’s been... grumblin’ ‘bout that creepy little gal, an’ quite frankly I don’t blame him. This Medley is the first Zero Division member I’ve met, an’ she straight up gives me the willies. Dang smiles too much, an’ it ain’t ever a smile that touches her eyes, ya know?”

“Well, at any rate, I am glad you’re here, but I sincerely hope your presence or that of your people won’t be needed,” Celestia said, and turned a glance towards Sweet Cider’s Zanpaktou, “As an aside, how have you been feeling lately?”

“Huh? Oh, ya mean my  Zanpaktou an’ my Fullbring bein’ all fused together. Eh, hard ta say. Starswirl told me that it’d be a bit ‘fore I started feelin’ any side affects o’ having that chain taken offa it. Ain’t gone nuts yet or nothin’.”

“I see, well that’s good. Do you intend to see your family while you’re here? Your daughters? Both of them are here at the camp.”

Sweet Cider’s expression grew more guarded then, although she didn’t let it stay that way long as she sank in her seat and looked away from Celestia and Luna, staring out one of the windows. “Don’t know. I want ta see ‘em both somethin’ fierce, but some part o’ me feels like it ain’t right if one o’ them can’t see me right back. Also ain’t sure it’s a’ good idea to distract myself while I’m on the job. I... I do wonder how big my little Appleblom’s gotten, or how the ol’ homestead is doin’...”

There was a weight of uncertainty in the otherwise usually very strong and confident Captain’s voice, and Celestia couldn’t help but offer a kind and understanding smile, “For what it’s worth, I don’t personally think there should be any reason to hesitate. You may have passed on to the next life, Sweet Cider, but they are always going to be your family. There is no harm in seeing them, and watching over them, even if they can’t see you.”

“Ah, don’t go gettin’ so sappy with me, Celestia. I... I’ll think ‘bout it, okay?” Sweet Cider said, standing back up, “Anywhos, only came by ta check in’ with you an’ Luna, so ya’ll knew I was here with part o’ my Division. Ya can let Starswirl know fer me, too? I don’t feel like vistin’ any creepy lab. Don’t much like what’s goin’ on with that Arrancar girl down there...”

Luna rolled her eyes, “Hollow, Sweet Cider. The enemy, remember?”

Sweet Cider’s nose exuded a frustrated snort, “I ain’t naive, Luna. Just don’t like it much. Stinks too much o’ the same kind o’ bullcrap that was done ta me n’ my friends back in the day. I’ve stuck with Soul Society fer now, but damn it all, it’s gettin’ ‘bout time we stop doin’ things that make us look no better than those we’re supposed ta be fightin’.”

Luna looked ready to argue, but Celestia stood and held up a placating hand, “I tend to agree with you, Sweet Cider. Perhaps a discussion we can continue another day. For now, I’m glad you’re here. I just sincerely hope your presence won’t actually be needed.”

----------

“You’re sure you felt a reaction from Sunset, and it wasn’t just your imagination?” Twilight asked, examining the geodes carefully under her most recent iteration of the magical scanning devices. She and Gloriosa were sitting in the alchemic lab trailer, surrounded by tables filled with the gadetry of Quincy alchemy, which really wasn’t that different from conventional chemistry when one boiled it all down to the brass tacks. Beakers and hoses bubbled with liquids, and silver ginto tubes spun in cylindrical mixers. The buzz of computers and the nose curling smell of chemicals filled the air.

Twilight sat across from Gloriosa at one of the center tables, the camp owner looking at Twilight with a hint of consternation as she crossed her legs, “Quite sure I haven’t felt anything like what I did when I touched that Sunset girl’s hand, yes. I’m not prone to letting my imagination run away from me.”

“Of course, sorry. I just want to make sure. So far all I’ve learned about this necklace and the geodes attached to it has added far more questions than provided answers. I’m not even sure what causes the random surges in the equipment we’re testing here at the lab. Your mere presence caused a M-Cell overload before, but we haven’t been able to replicate that effect consciously.”

Gloriosa chuckled self-consciously, “Not that we haven’t caused other things to go wrong. You did tell Sour Sweet I’m sorry about her computer?”

Twilight waved a hand, “I did. You did. Sour Sweet knows you're sorry. Really I don’t even know why the magic fried the computer. It’s not even Quincy based tech. Just normal, old fashioned human science. It’s like the magic is just... acting up at random. Like its a cranky, ornery baby going into random fits.”

“Could it be tied to those creatures I told you about?” Gloriosa asked carefully, and Twilight looked to give the matter some serious thought, one finger tapping the table while her other hand kept holding the scanner. Gloriosa couldn’t help but notice the way the artificial hand’s finger made a more metallic *tink* noise on the table than an organic one would, and wondered again how Twilight had lost her hand.

“Without having one of these creatures to study, I couldn’t say. You said your, um, ‘sentry flowers’ have seen wolves that look like plants?”

Glorisoa nodded, “Those are the most common ones, although I don’t think there are that many out there, and they’ve stayed away from the campgrounds. The only other thing they showed me I didn’t get a good look at. The flowers only send clear images and sound from things very close by, and whatever it was, it was far away in the deeper woods. Large, however. Bear sized, at least, but I could have sworn it had... wings.”

“These entities sound like they’re from Equestria,” Twilight said, “Same as the geodes, or at least the magic that powers them. It’s possible magic is unstable in this area. My scanners haven’t given me enough data to be certain of that, but there have been some odd fluctuations over the past few days.”

“So what should we do about this reaction I had to your friend?” Gloriosa asked, “Do you have any idea what it might mean?”

“Sunset and my other friends have all been heavily exposed to Equestrian magic. I have too. It’s possible the geodes react to that magic. I could always see if you have a similar reaction to me.”

Twilight switched the scanner to her artificial hand and extended her flesh and blood one to Gloriosa. After a hesitant second, Gloriosa reached out and took hold of Twilight’s hand.

It was both the same, yet different from Sunset Shimmer. The resonance was there, a sudden a noticeable shock of tingling sensation that rushed up and down Gloriosa’s arm. But where Sunset Shimmer had had a sense of unimaginable, pulsing warmth, the sensation from Twilight was more akin to a suffocating avalanche, threatening to sweep Gloriosa away. 

With a cry she broke away from Twilight, and found herself laying on her back on the trailer floor, Twilight kneeling over her with concern.

“Gloriosa, are you okay!?”

The trailer door was flung open and Sugarcoat rushed inside, with Sunny Flare poking her head in right behind her.

“What happened?” asked Sugarcoat, “We heard a scream.”

“T...that was me,” Gloriosa said, rubbing her head as she looked at Twilight’s offered hand, and shook her head, “I think that would be a bad idea.”

Twilight, looking somewhat abashed, nodded and stood up while waiting for Gloriosa to pick herself back up. Twilight looked over at Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare, “Just confirming the theory that Gloriosa is having a reaction to people who have been exposed to high levels of Equestrian magic.”

“Well warn us next time,” said Sunny Flare, “Damn near made me have a heart attack.”

“I don’t suppose you two are making any actual progress on figuring out how Gloriosa’s necklace actually works?” asked Sugarcoat.

As Gloriosa took her seat again, Twilight remained standing, going over to a nearby laptop and turning the screen towards Sugarcoat. It displayed lines of data and several digital photos and videos showing Gloriosa. In one video Gloriosa held the geodes and directed soft green light into the ground, where a fresh patch of flowers suddenly burst from the soil. In another video, she changed the shape of a nearby tree so its branches formed simple circles of squares.

“So far we know the magic gives her incredibly fine control over plant life. Why this is I believe has to do more with Gloriosa herself than the geodes. The geodes are essentially batteries of raw magical power, containing a truly massive amount of energy. At a guess, I’d say these geodes represent the strongest collection of magic currently present in the living world, besides myself or my friends. As for the power to control plants... well, look at this.”

She pulled up a new screen, showing a digital graphic of Gloriosa Daisy herself, with multiple traces of green light flowing through her body, while the necklace of geodes formed several streams of multi-colored light that flowed into her. 

“The necklace powers Gloriosa, but as the magic energy in its raw form enters her own body, it fuses with her spirit energy. Like any living human, she has a small amount of spirit energy at her core, but as we know with my friends, magic enhances spirit power and I also believe the opposite may also be true. From what I can tell, the magic of the geodes is granting Gloriosa a power that suits her spirit energy. It’s still technically magic, but Gloriosa’s soul focuses the magic through a sort of lens of spirit energy that makes it exclusively revolve around the use of plants.”

Sugarcoat glanced at Gloriosa, “So, what, you can’t do anything else with the magic?”

Gloriosa shrugged, “Not that I’ve been able to figure out. Every time I use the magic, it expresses itself through nature. I guess I’m just spiritually tied to nature then?”

“That’s not surprising, given your background,” Twilight said, “If you died, and became a Soul Reaper, I wouldn’t be surprised if your Zanpaktou took on nature based powers. I think the geode’s magic is just manifesting through your spirit in a similar fashion. And since the geodes contain so much magic, your command over nature is actually incredibly strong as well.”

“It does feel like every time I use it that my whole body is just... bursting with energy,” Gloriosa said, shaking her head and holding herself tightly, “Sometimes it feels like its a bit too much, like I can’t even see myself when I’m using it.”

“Which is why I recommend only using it in an emergency, at least until we understand the magic and the geodes themselves better,” said Twilight, glancing away briefly, “Believe me when I say that over using magic can lead to disastrous results. That’s why I’ve kept our experiments thus far as low key as possible.”

“Do you have any idea where the geodes or the magic inside them even came from?” asked Sugarcoat, “Because it seems very odd to me that something this powerful just happened to be sitting in a cave in the middle of the Everfree. Someone or something would have had to put it there, right?”

“An excellent question, Sugarcoat, and one I sadly don’t have an answer for yet,” said Twilight, adjusting her glasses and bringing up a map on the laptop, showing an overhead view of the Everfree Forest, “Gloriosa has shown me the cave’s location, and I’ve been considering checking it out, but we’ve had too many other things on our plate to deal with right now.”

Not to mention the cave in question was right where Adagio had her present base of operations set up, so the last thing Twilight could do was go there. She’d asked Adagio to look around, but Adagio had reported finding nothing of obvious interest outside of an empty pedestal-like rock formation that matched the description of where Gloriosa found the geodes. But no further clues as to what the geodes were even doing there.

“For now I’d like to just keep focused on the geodes themselves. Speaking of which...”

She walked back over to where she’d set her scanner down on the table after Gloriosa had fallen, and picked the device back up, “I need to go over this data, which may take a fair bit of time. Gloriosa, you’d best return to the camp before your missed. I appreciate you coming to me about the odd reaction to Sunset, and the creatures you spotted in the forest. I’ll be sure to have Sugarcoat take one of the girls on patrol to make sure none of those creatures get too close to the camp.”

“Thank you, Twilight,” Gloriosa said, pausing at the trailer door as if she wanted to say more, but instead just offered a small parting wave before heading outside. Sunny Flare and Sugarcoat watched her go, then Sunny hopped up into the trailer, closing the door behind her.

“Twilight, not that I want to sound like I’m questioning your judgment, but isn’t it a little dangerous to keep having her come into the lab like this?” said Sunny Flare carefully, “She may have agreed to work with us, but neither she nor her brother are actually Quincy.”

Twilight paused before answering, “Strictly speaking Sombra has made us a fully authorized and independent research unit under my juristic and command, with only him ranking above me on that chain of command. Filthy Rich and Soarin’ already know about Gloriosa and her involvement, because it’s not as if I could keep that secret, but because of the nature of our research I also have authority to put a gag order on that information going any further than who I authorize. In short, Filthy Rich had to know because he’s operating the conversion of the new training camp, and Gloriosa is directly connected to that. Soarin’ had to know because he’s my bodyguard and it's impossible to keep it a secret from him. Neither of them will spread the information further until I deem it necessary. To take a page from Sugarcoat’s book and put things more bluntly; it doesn’t matter if Gloriosa and Timber are Quincy because as far as their status is concerned, they have my confidence, which is good enough for Sombra. Hence, good enough for any other Quincy.”

“Right,” said Sunny Flare, “Just wanted to make sure we weren’t seriously violating any rules here. To also put it bluntly as Sugarcoat would, you seem to really like this Gloriosa and are very trusting of her, despite her holding onto a ludicrously powerful source of magic that has already proven to screw with our experiments.”

“I’m starting to feel uncomfortable with all these comparisons to myself,” said Sugarcoat, “I do know how to speak delicately. I just usually choose not to.”

Twilight smiled at Sugarcoat, “No offense meant. But, yes, I take your point, Sunny. I’m not trying to be reckless. I just can’t ignore what Gloriosa represents, either. She’s a unique magic user, with access to the very power our unit exists to research and understand. I’m already making incredible strides, and I believe with her cooperation, we’ll find entirely new avenues to grasping just what Equestria’s magic is and why it works the way it does. From there, the sky itself may not even be the limit on what we can achieve.”

Which for Twilight meant a whole host of things. It meant understanding the magic inside her that even with Midnight’s help still eluded her. It meant being able to help Sunset and her other friends. It meant having the leverage needed to truly affect change in the Quincy, because if she ushered in a new era of combined reishi/magic tech, backed by Sombra’s support, then she could make the other Sternritter listen to her when it came time to explain the benefits of partnership over war with the Soul Reapers and Hollows. 

She just had to reach a little further, even if she was all too painfully aware of the dangers magic could represent. Already she suspected the overabundance of magic contained in the geodes might be affecting Gloriosa’s personality in subtle ways the woman probably wasn’t aware of. She hadn’t known Gloriosa long enough to really be sure, but her protectiveness of the geodes was obvious. Twilight knew magic was difficult to let go of, once its power was infused inside you. But there were good ways to channel it. Sunset, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were all living proof of the good magic could accomplish.

The reaction of the geodes to her friends was interesting, and as she took the time to look over the data from her scanner, she started to suspect it wasn’t mere coincidence, either. It was almost as if the geodes were pulled towards the magic inside her, and Twilight imagined the reaction had been the same with Sunset. Were the geodes simply resonating with a similar form of magic, or was the connection stronger than that? If only she knew how the geodes even got where they were. That still struck her as incredible odd.

What connection did the Everfree Forest of this world have to Equestria? 

----------

The girls rested on the shore of the lake, each of them taking a load off and sitting around several blankets that had been set out. The sun was starting to fall behind the mountains, casting a few last ember glows upon the lake’s reflective waters. Behind the girls, the camp still bustled with some activity, a number of campers still hanging out around the campfires that Gloriosa’s wilderness survival lesson had seen them building. 

Many other campers had retired to their tents to wind down, since it was going to be an early morning. The next day’s activities would start with various craft projects, including kite making, wood carving, and how to make useful survival tools like fish hooks and lean-toos. Sunset was kind of looking forward to it, but her enthusiasm was somewhat dampened by the knowledge that she and her friends weren’t just here for the carefree fun of a summer camp.

“Has anyone seen ‘Principal’ Celestia?” she asked her friends after they’d all settled down, “She did say she’d come see us once the day’s activities were done.”

“Last I saw of her she was with Luna heading towards the camp center, but that was at least an hour ago,” said Fluttershy, offering a few nuts to a pair of squirrels that had wandered up to the group. 

“I imagine she’ll be here soon,” said Rarity, “But she’s likely waiting until it gets fully dark and she can meet with us with fewer prying eyes or ears about.”

“At least we got a’ nice full day o’ normal ol’ campin’ in ‘fore all this Soul Reaper stuff comes up,” said Applejack, picking up a stone and giving it a quick toss across the lake. With her enhanced strength, the stone skipped nearly to the lake’s center, and the farm girl blushed, “Near as normal gits anymore, nowadays.”

“Well I definitely had tons of fun, and plan on having tons more, no matter how things go with our crazy plan to-” Pinkie Pie began to say loudly, until all the girls glared at her as one and she grinned sheepishly, rapidly lowering her voice to a whisper, “Rescueay the Emberay, secretlyay.”

“I wonder what the egghead is up to right now?” said Rainbow Dash, “Kinda sucks Twilight couldn’t play camp counselor with us. I’ve been missing her and her doopey glasses.”

“Well, she’s got her duties with the Quincy now,” replied Sunset, a tint of blue melancholy entering her tone, “It might be a long time before all of us can really get back to the way things were. If things ever go back to the way they were.”

“Personally I say we should be embracing the new, darlings,” said Rarity, giving her hair a brief toss out of her face, “Fashions change, and so too do our lives. Even if we get clear of all this spirit war nonsense, we’re also soon looking at moving on from high school. This year marred graduation for some of us. Fluttershy, I know you’re looking at veterinary school, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I’m going to be looking at the catalogues to find which university might be best,” Flutershy said, hugging her knees after she finished feeding the squirrels, “I don’t really want to move out of town, though, so I might just go to Canterlot University.”

“Yikes,” said Rainbow Dash, “I totally spaced that you’re basically the oldest of us. Well, you and technically Sunset. How old are you again?”

Sunset chuckled, “Ain’t ever answering that one, no matter how much you ask. Far as my ‘human’ birth certificate is concerned, I’m eighteen. Which also means I got to figure out what I’m doing next. If anything.”

“Oh c’mon Sunset, you’ll be awesome at whatever you decide to do, so don’t mope about it!” Rainbow Dash said, “in fact, let’s stop thinking about all this heavy stuff! Geeze, makes my head hurt. Where the heck is Celestia, anyway?”

“Hey everyone!”

All eyes turned to see a familiar head of green hair as Clover came running over, smiling and waving. Sunset had to raise her eyebrow as she saw the Soul Reaper had her gigai dressed up in forest green khaki shorts, with a thick overshirt that looked suited to a Daring Do novel, along with big leather boots. 

“You look like you’re dressed for safari, Clover,” Sunset said, standing to give the girl a greeting hug once she was within arm's distance.

Clover’s cheeks popped with rose color as she looked at herself, “Hey, I’ve never been camping before. I picked whatever clothes looked outdoorsy. I tried reading up on modern camping techniques and dress, and this seemed appropriate. Sorry I missed most of today, too, but I had to deal with getting the new arrivals in town situated.”

“New arrivals?” asked Rarity, eyebrow shooting up.

“Yeah, the Captain of Tenth Division arrived today, along with about a hundred extra Soul Reapers. Took me and Posey quite some time to find places to stay for all of them.”

A quiet descended on the rest of the girls, their looks ranging from stunned to worried. Sunset felt like she’d just taken a punch to the gut. A hundred more Soul Reapers!? Alongside Captain Sweet Cider, of all people!? That... that might throw a remarkably giant wrench in their plans. She had to inform Adagio as soon as possible! Her and Twilight both! 

Clover noticed their looks, her own face turning worried, “What’s wrong? You guys are acting like I just told you half of Las Noches was descending on us.”

“We’re just surprised, is all,” said Applejack, recovering from her shock first and approaching Clover, “So my ma’s here, eh? Wish she’d come ta see me.”

“Well, from what I understand she had duties of her own to perform, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she came to see you soon. I just imagine she didn’t want to interrupt your work here at the camp,” Clover said, casting glances towards the other girls, “Is... something going on? I don’t want to push it or anything, but you all have kind of felt off lately.”

Sunset licked dry lips and said, “Do you remember what I said before? That if it was something you could help with, I’d tell you?”

“Yes. And if it’s not, I understand, I just want to know if everything is okay.”

Sunset was very tired of having to lie to her friend. She glanced at the other girls, “Command decision here. We all trust Clover, right?”

“Abso-positively-lutey!” said Pinkie Pie with zero hesitaiton.

“She’s always been our friend, since day one,” Fluttershy said.

“Hey, Clover’s had our backs plenty of times. If we’re doing this, I’m game,” replied Rainbow Dash.

Applejack gave Clover a hard look, and sighed, “I trust ya, Clover. But ya need to understand that if we talk ‘bout what’s goin’ on, it’s gonna put ya in a hard spot.”

“Indeed,” said Rarity, “You may be better off not knowing, for your own protection. That said, you do have my trust.”

Clover looked nervous, but there was a warm look in her eyes as she smiled, “This has got to be the most terrifying moment of heartwarming trust anybody’s ever shown me. As in, I’m grateful for the vote of trust, but kind of scared as to what you might be about to tell me.”

Sunset looked at the Soul Reaper and put a hand on her shoulder, gently squeezing, “You went against Soul Society for us once. I don’t want to put you in that position again. You want the truth, we’ll give it to you, but I need you to understand this will put you in a very hard spot. You can still walk away-”

Clover’s own hand came up and touched Sunset’s over her shoulder, also gently squeezing. Clover’s smile was honest as she said, “Are you kidding? Me, walk away from you guys? Whatever’s going down, I’m in. No matter what it is.”

Well, that was that then. With a deep breath, and one last look to make sure no one else was around to listen in, Sunset sat down with Clover, with her other friends surrounding her, and told Clover in full what was happening and what the plan was.

By the end of it, Clover was wide eyed, and took nearly a full minute of silence with her face contorted into an expression of deep thought.

“Wow...” she said at last, “Okay... so, first off, thanks for telling me, and I get exactly why you were so hesitant to bring me in on this before. This isn’t quite like trying to rescue Captain Celestia and Luna from execution. That was saving fellow Soul Reapers form a clear injustice. This...? This is a much more sticky situation.”

“I know, the whole thing is a real mess-” Sunset began, but Clover went on as if she hadn’t heard.

“I mean you’re basically telling me that the plan is to rescue an Arrancar from my own Davison's research lab, an Arrancar we kind of need to have a chance of opening a way to your world. Celestia and Luna were innocent of treason, you know? I help you do this, I’d be completely, one hundred percent, no doubt about it, guilty of betraying Soul Society. They wouldn’t even have to throw the book at me. There's entire walls of scrolls containing laws that would describe in detail how screwed I’d be.”

“Hey, you’re the one who wanted to know so badly,” pointed out Rainbow Dash, and Clover let out a humourless laugh.

“Oh, I didn't say I wasn’t going to help you do it. If anything I’m extremely relieved you trusted me here. This way I can help you plan better, help you rescue this Arrancar in a way that ought to minimize potential damage. Honestly, I’m also relieved because... well... I’ve seen the experiments proceeding on the Arrancar in question. I’m not convinced Captain Starswirl is barking up the right tree.”

“What does that mean?” asked Sunset, but right then Rarity perked up and looked out across the camp.

“Girls, it’s Celestia,” Rarity warned, and everyone looked to see that indeed Celestia was walking their way, coming from the camp center.

They all quieted down and made their own attempts at acting natural, although Sunset was far from certain they pulled it off very well. Thankfully either Celestia didn’t notice, or assumed the girl’s uneasiness was due to the fact that she was there to discuss the portal with them and what purpose the girls were actually at Camp Everfree for... at least from the Soul Reaper’s perspective. 

“I hope everyone had a good first day here?” asked Celestia in a plain, conversational tone, clearly trying to dispel their unease.

“It went great,” said Sunset, “Got to admit, I’m kind of wishing we’d come here just for camp and nothing else, because this place is just the kind of spot we’d need to really unwind.”

“It’s beautiful out here, and the animals are all very friendly,” agreed Fluttershy, “I would love to come here again sometime.”

“It is a wonderful place,” Celestia said, “I remember it well from the last time I was here with my sister.”

“Yeah, what’s up with that?” asked Rainbow Dash, “You two are, like, super old Soul Reapers, right? So how were you here before, as ‘kids’?”

Celestia laughed that rich, chiming laugh of hers, “Before there was ever an Equestrian portal discovered here, this city was still heavily utilized by the old Quincy family’s. Hence Soul Society still considered it worthy of observation. Luna invited me along on a recon mission here some years ago, and we used younger gigai’s back then. It made it easier to fly under the Quincy’s proverbial radar that way. Going to summer camp was my idea, however. I just wanted to get Luna to loosen up some and enjoy the living world while we were here. Remembering this camp is partly why I recommended Captain Starswirl move his lab to this area.”

“Speaking of which, that’s why we’re here, right?” said Sunset, “To help with the experiments on the portal.”

“That is the idea,” Celestia explained, gesturing for the girls to follow her along the lakeshore. As they started walking, Celestia continued to say, “Since the portal is formed of Equestrian magic, and you girls are the only source of that magic we know of, I believe Captain Starswirl thinks that having you present will provide a better means for him to understand the portal itself.”

“Which in turn means he believes that studying your magic and its relation to the portal will also make it easier for him to determine a means of utilizing an Arrancar’s Garganta to bridge a path to Equestria,” Clover added, “Although given how different Hollow energy is from Equestrian magic, I’m not certain it will work.”

“As Starswirl himself is prone to remind us, nothing is ever certain,” said Celestia, her expression growing shadowed and grim, but perhaps that was just a trick of the fading light as the sun went deeper behind the mountains and cast everything in violet dusk. “I do hope these experiments bear fruit sooner rather than later. I know how eager you all are to go to Equestria and help protect it from Starlight Glimmer’s predations.”

“So you’re taking us to the lab?” Sunset asked, and Celestia glanced back at her. “How far away is it? The Everfree Forest is a pretty big place to go hiking in the middle of the night.”

“Yes, and it may be closer than you think.”

Celestia stopped at a point nearly at the southern tip of the lake, which had taken a good fifteen minute walk to get to. By this point dusk was rapidly turning to full night, although there was just enough light between the last shreds of sunlight and the now vast array of stars in the sky to accompany the moon that Sunset found she could see almost as easily as in broad daylight. Celestia raised her hand to the air and touched what appeared to be a glassy shimmer. A rectangular hole opened up in the air, like a doorway through a  mirror. 

Within was a small stretch of beach that had been hidden from the outside by Kido wards. An ornate bridge of bright red wood led out onto the lake for about twenty feet, then swept straight down into the water, where the water itself was parted like a glass tube was set into it, even though the only thing Sunset could see holding the water at bay was an array of glowing paper talisman with kanji written upon them. 

“Ooooh, swanky,” said Pinkie Pie, “You Soul Reapers would totally rock it at building your own Sea World!”

Celestia laughed lightly, “If only we were able to spend our energies on such pursuits, the world would likely be better for it. Come, the lab is below.”

“It’s at the center of the lake?” asked Rarity, “Why put it down there?”

“It’s far less likely to be stumbled upon by any local humans, wouldn’t you agree?” 

Rarity thought about that for a moment, and conceded the point with a shrug. Sunset and the girls followed Celestia down into the water, the bridge turning into a stairway that led down at a sharp angle into the dark depths of the lake. 

----------

“Today went pretty well, didn’t it?” said Timber, wiping his brow as he finished putting away the last of the kitchenware leftover from dinner into the dishwasher. When Gloriosa didn’t immediately respond, he glanced over at her and found his sister sitting at the small kitchen table, staring out the window. Her fingers were idly caressing the multi-colored geodes of her necklace. Timber Spruce frowned and went up to her, waving a hand.

“Hello? Timber to Gloriosa, you awake in there?”

“Huh?” she blinked, then gave him a sisterly smirk and batted his hand away, “Oh don’t tease me. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”

He could imagine. It seemed every day leading up to the campers arriving Gloriosa had spent over at Twilight’s field lab. He’d barely seen her for a lot of that time, and had needed to do nearly twice the prep work he normally did to get the camp ready. He wasn’t bitter over that, he knew how much Gloriosa wanted to learn more about those geodes and the powers they gave her... but he did worry about her. 
“A lot’s happened,” he said, looking out the window as well. The moon hung over the lake, shining a wide, silver gleam upon its dark surface. “Finding that necklace has really been like throwing open Pandora’s Box for us. It seems like the whole world’s gone upside down since you found that thing.”

“It’s not a thing Timber,” Gloriosa said, with more heat in her voice than he’d expected as she clutched the necklace tightly, “It’s magic. My magic. I can use it to fix a lot of problems we have around here, once I learn to get a handle on it’s powers.”

“Whoa, didn’t mean anything by that, sis. Just saying, life’s gotten way more complicated than we’re used to, and... and I just want you to know I’m behind you all the way. I want both of us to be safe, no matter how dangerous things get, you know? We’re all we’ve got.”

His words seemed to make her relax, and she let go of the necklace and sighed as she reached out and squeezed his hand, “I know. With mom and dad gone, it really is just us. That’s why I don’t want to lose you, or this camp. I want us and our home to be safe.”

He squeezed back, “It will, sis. Just be careful, okay? I like Twilight-” realizing how that might sound he quickly amended, “I mean, I like Twilight in a ‘she seems okay’ sense and not in a, er, ‘more’ sense. Okay, starting over. I think Twilight can be trusted, and I like that she’s helping us out, especially you, with your whole nature magic thing. But still, just be careful. We still don’t really know much about what’s going on with these Quincy. The girls seem cool, but just keep an eye out and watch your back out there.”

Gloriosa looked at him, then nodded slowly with an amused smile, “I can do that. But perhaps I ought to ask you to keep an eye out too? You seem like you’d like to watch Twilight quite... closely.”

“Ugh, sis, please, I barely know her. And she’s probably underage.”

“Mmmhmm, and you’ve just been bringing sandwiches up to the trailers all week out of simple, platonic friendship.”

“How is that implausible? Sandwiches are very platonic!”

“Except I noticed that when Twilight mentioned she really likes tuna sandwiches, there always seemed to be a few more of those in every batch you brought to lunch.”

“Gah, you’re not going to drop this, are you? Fine, tease away, but just remember this for when you end up crushing on someone, because payback is going to be coming in spades, sis.”

She laughed, and it was a good, natural, tension popping laugh that made Timber Spruce relieved to hear. As long as Gloriosa could still laugh like that, he felt like they could handle pretty much whatever insanity life was about to throw their way. Glancing at his watch, he said, “Well, most the campes ought to be asleep by now. Best I go out and do a quick runaround to make sure everything is A-okay.”

“Good idea,” Gloriosa let out a yawn, “I think I’ll hit the hay a bit early tonight. I’m feeling bushed.”

“I won’t be far behind. Sleep well, sis.”

They parted ways outside the camp center, Gloriosa heading off to their family cabin, which was situated in a cluster of trees just south of the main camp area, while Timber Spruce headed north to the tent grounds. There was a short trail through a line of trees to get to the clearing where the tens were, and as Timber emerged there, he saw most of the tents were dark with sleeping campers. A few still had lights on, night owls staying up late to chat, read, play board games, ect. Timber didn’t bother them. There wasn’t a curfew or anything, so campers could stay up late at their own risk of drowsiness in the morning. His only job was to make sure everything was fine, no fires that weren't put out properly, or any rambunctious teenagers doing what they shouldn’t. 

He’d gone from one end of the tent grounds to the other, and was halfway to making his way back when he spied the sight of a cluster of shadows just making their way from one of the larger tents. It was one of the few tents that had been assembled together from a pair of normal tents, and while Timber didn’t get a good look, it seemed like about half a dozen shapes quickly sneaking out of the back of the tent and moving off towards the thicker treeline north of the tent grounds.

Now what in the world are they up to?, Timber wondered, considering his options.

There was no curfew, and technically no rules against going into the forest, even at night. Everfree was a pretty safe place, with next to no hostile animals. But going into a forest at night was always somewhat dangerous. Terrain was rough in places, and people could easily trip and break a leg or arm. There were a few sharp ravines and even sheer cliffs around that an unwary teenager might tumble down, possibly fatally. 

So, rules or no rules, he ought to go after these silly kids before they hurt themselves. Probably just a group that thought it’d be ‘cool’ to see the forest at night. Maybe they were even doing some kind of childish dare. Either way, it was his duty to make sure none of them got hurt.

Still, that didn’t mean he couldn’t teach them a bit of a lesson while he was at it. So instead of rushing off after them at full speed, Timber grinned mischievously to himself, and proceeded to sneak after the group.

----------

The laboratory was smaller than Sunset Shimmer had expected. Granted she wasn’t quite sure what she’d expected to see, but the rather humble collection of bubble shaped white tents surrounding a fairly simple metal platform and scaffolding that surrounded the portal statue was not the mental image she’d had. The more impressive sight was simply how effectively the Soul Reapers wards kept the lake water at bay, essentially creating a dome shaped ceiling of water where Sunset could still see the shadowy shapes of fish darting about. 

The only other thing of real note was the containment device, shaped like a vertical ring, that was on the central platform alongside the portal statue. There, Sunset saw a girl who looked little older than she or her friends, with wild blue hair and a pair of horns curving down from her brow. The pitch black Hollow hole in her abdomen confirmed her as a Arrancar.

So that’s Ember. She’s not looking too good... Sunset thought, noticing the pallid cast to Ember’s skin, and the way she hung in a sagging manner from the restraints that kept her fixed to the containment ring. Glancing about, Sunset didn’t see Ember’s Zanpaktou anywhere, and imagined it had to be kept somewhere else, perhaps in one of the other lab tents. There were a number of monitoring devices and strangely shaped terminals hooked up to even odder arrays of cables and strange devices hooked to both the containment ring holding Ember, and the Canterlot High statue that held the Equestrian portal. Sunset could only guess it was all for the experiments being conducted.

When she and the girls came through along with Celestia and Clover, they were quickly greeted by a melancholy looking Lieutenant Meadowbrook. He looked tired, with faint, gray circles under his eyes. 

“Captain Celestia, Third Seat Clover, young ladies,” he nodded to all of them in turn, “Captain Starswirl has been expecting you.”

“Please, take us to him, Lieutenant,” replied Celestia cordially, and Meadowbrook gave a swift bow without preamble, and turned to lead them around the side of the central platform. On the north side they saw Captain Starswirl sitting at one of the terminals set around the side of the platform, old fingers dancing over the keys as he worked on what appeared to be some kind of simulated model of portal physics. Sunset was somewhat familiar with some of the magic theory behind portals, but had to admit that even when she’d first discovered the existence of the mirror that would eventually take her to the human world, all that time ago, she’d never fully grasped how the portal worked.

It seemed like Starswirl had been learning a lot with his experiments, if the images Sunset was seeing on the large, oval shaped terminal screen was any indication. Granted she didn’t understand much of it, but from what she could grasp at a glance, the Soul Reaper Captain of the Twelfth Division had divined a lot of the fundamentals of how the portal’s construction worked. She also noted that besides the Equestrian portal’s simulated model, there was another that looked a lot like the Garganta portals she’d seen.

“Ah, good, you’re here,” Stariswirl said at their approach, turning in his chair and getting up, dusting himself off, “You’ll forgive my appearance. I’ve barely the time for proper hygiene when there’s this much work to be done. Captain Celestia, good to see you gain. And you young Canterlot ladies, thank you for coming. I think with your assistance we may well be able to crack this particular science egg wide open.”

“Just as long as you don’t crack anything else open while you’re at it,” Sunset found herself saying, “That portal still has a trap attached to it.”

Rather than any apparent offense, Starswirl gave her a wry look, “Oh yes, I’ve hardly forgotten the danger of setting that barrier off. Thankfully I do believe our Arrancar guest will end up providing a means of circumventing it.”

“Is she... okay?” asked Fluttershy, her own eyes swimming with sympathy as she looked towards Ember, “She seems almost sick.”

“Hmm?” Starswirl glanced at Ember as if he were looking at a specimen pinned under a microscope, “The Hollow remains alive. The energy drain from several previous attempts at simulating her Garganta has left her weaker than I’d like, but she’s in no danger of expiring. Each test has helped me refine our theories and provided a host of new data. I’m certain with you young ladies providing the next piece of the puzzle that we can form a proper connection with the portal to Equestria and link it to an open Garganta. It will just take some more trial and error.”

“Out of curiosity, why can’t this be done using the portals you Soul Reapers utilize?” asked Rarity, crossing her arms and giving the whole lab a faintly distasteful glance, “The Senkaimon, I believe they’re called?”

“An astute question,” Starswirl said, turning to Rarity, “The difference is largely in power and versatility. Senkaimon are engineered to lead directly to the Precipice Realm, which connects the living world and Soul Society. You need a means to navigate the Precipice Realm to then get to Soul Society, since the Senkaimon itself is not directly linked to it. Comparatively, Garganta are directly linked to Hueco Mundo, so one doesn’t require any additional means of navigation, one just has to cross through the Garganta to get to where you’re going. Theoretically speaking all we have to do is figure out how to substitute Hueco Mundo for Equestria in regards to the Garganta’s destination link, and that should allow one to use a Garganta to travel directly to Equestria.”

“Or,” Meadowbrook said, “We’re also working on the vice versa approach of linking a Garganta to the Equestrian portal we already have, effectively altering the portal into being like a Garganta. Since the space within a Garganta portal is nearly an infinite void, the trap that’s inside the Equestrian portal wouldn’t explode outward, as if shunted through a tube, but explode in all directions and lose most of its potency in the void, then allowing someone to cross through it like any other Gargnata, straight to Equestria.”

Applejack took off her hat for a moment and scratched her head, “I don’t quite understand what yer sayin’, but it all boils down ta doin’ more experimentin’ stuff with the help o’ our magic, an’ you’ll be able ta make a portal that’ll get us over ta Sunset’s home turf?”

“That is indeed the hope,” Starswirl said, moving back to his terminal and resuming his seat, “And a few hiccups aside, I do believe we’ve made great progress.”

“Hiccups?” asked Sunset, and Clover was quick to interject.

“With your permission, Captain, I could explain?”

“Ah, yes, please do Clover. I need to finish the adjustments to this model before we begin the next experiment anyway,” replied Starswirl almost absent mindedly as his eyes focused upon the screen in front of him. 

Clover turned to the girls, and even gave Meadowbrook a quick glance, “The Lieutenant could also probably explain this better, but you should know there have been a few... unusual magical surges in our early experiments.”

“Surges? Like what?” Rainbow Dash asked with a tilted head.

“We’re actually not really sure,” admitted Clover, “I wasn’t here for all of them, but I was here for one of them. It was like when we tried outputting energy from the Arrancar and interface it with the portal, or even just increase the porals own output, we’d get random surges of energy from both the portal and the local area.”

“I’d suggested we hold off further portal tests until we learned more about these surges, but the Captain believes we’re too close to a breakthrough,” said Meadowbrook, and Celestia looked at him with a thoughtful gaze.

“Do you believe these surges represent a serious enough danger to warrant halting research?” she asked, not in a tone of accusation but rather honest curiosity and desire for the Lieutenant’s opinion. Meadowbrook cast a furtive look towards his Captain, Starswirl utterly absorbed in his work.

“So far there’s been no overt sign these surges are causing any harm, but I’m hesitant to say there’s no danger. Magic, no offense to the young ladies present, is a very unpredictable and dangerous form of energy. Doubly so because we don’t really understand it very well. Every day we’ve been here we’ve made strides, it’s true, in furthering that knowledge, but for all we know the next surge might open up a portal to somewhere we don’t want it to go. Or open up one we can’t close. That said, I’m aware it's important we complete this research, in order to stop a criminal who’s threatening both our world and this Equestria.”

“I wish there was a better way to go about this,” Sunset said, “Even in my world, magic research always carries an element of risk. Plenty of stories about unicorns that got on the wrong side of a magical experiment and ended up turning themselves into potted plants, creating a sentient ooze that ate their castle, or teleported themselves into a wall. Magic is unpredictable because it’s literally the power to alter the world to your whim. You can’t experiment with that without serious risk of unforeseen consequences, because it’s impossible to predict what magic will do once it decides to run amok.” 

Meadowbrook gave her a serious look, “I’m inclined to take your warning to heart. If it were purely my call alone, I’d even suggest halting further experiments until we had a better grasp on the origin of the surges. As it stands, Captain Commander Scorpan has put this project entirely under Twelfth Division’s jurisdiction, so Captain Starswirl is the only one who can actually make the call, one way or another.”

“You do realize I can hear you all over there, right?” said Starswirl, apparently finishing what the was doing and standing up once more from his terminal, “I’m old, but neither blind nor deaf.”

“Sorry Captain,” Meadowbrook said with a smile of long suffering familiarity, “You have told me more than once to never hesitate to speak my mind.”

“Indeed. And contrary to what some may think, I do listen to valid points of criticism. I also am not dismissing young Miss Shimmer’s words of caution. In fact one of the numerous reasons I wanted her and her friends present here at the lab was so that someone with actual experience in the use of magic could provide some insight. That being said, Miss Shimmer, do you have any ideas what might be causing these surges?”

She went up to the terminal, “That depends, do you have any data on them?”

To that Starswirl gave her a smirk, keying up several new screens of information readouts, “As if I would fail to record them.”

Sunset couldn’t help but smile a bit and feel a tiny hint of giddiness, despite the circumstances. After all, what unicorn who spent any amount of time studying magic didn’t know about Starswirl the Bearded? Sure, this wasn’t actually her world’s Starswirl, but he did have that old, curmudgeonly wizard look that seemed to fit the mental image of the unicorn legend. She imagined if Princess Twilight were here, she’d geek out just a tad at this. Still, she shook the feeling off and turned her full attention to the data. It took her a few moments to parse out the Soul Reaper’s odd annotations, but she started to get a picture of things.

“Okay, so from what I’m seeing here, the ‘surges’ are... huh, they’re a lot like what happened when Starswirl, er, I mean, my world’s Starswirl first invented teleportation.”

Starswirl’s bushy white eyebrows rose, “Invented teleportation?”

“Yes, a lot of spells in the modern age stem from Starswirl’s work to expand magical theory. There’s books for practically every spell he invented, including copies of some of his original notes. Looking at your data here, it just reminds me of when he was working to develop teleportation, Starswirl noted that the spell would experience surges that would distort the area around him. He found out later this was due to the teleportation field lacking a means of restricting its fluctuations while in proximity to other sources of magic, which would cause refractions of magical energy. He had to move his experiments to the middle of nowhere until he developed a way to contain a teleportation spell’s energy to a limited field, to prevent surges.”

“Really? So what you’re telling me is that when we’ve activated the portal, increasing its energy output, the magic has lacked a means of containment and is refracting off of other sources of magic, hence causing surges?”

Sunset scratched her chin in thought, “I can’t be sure of that, but the surges sound similar to what I remember reading about in Starswirl’s notes.”

“Would you be able to replicate the kind of containment teleportation spells use to prevent that side effect and apply it to the portal here?” asked Starswirl, eyes alight with a sort of inner fire that Sunset had sometimes seen in Twilight when she got on a scientific bender. 

“If I were still a unicorn, sure. My friends and I might have magic inside us, but I can’t use it the way I would as a unicorn. That said, the spirit energy used to cast Kido spells may be different than magic, but it can still interact with magic. It's not impossible a properly attuned Kido ward might have the right affect and keep the magic from causing those surges.”

She shook her head, “I’m not sure how to even start doing that, and there’s another question I’d rather answer first.”

“Allow me to guess. If these magic surges are caused by uncontained magic ‘refracting’ from other sources of magic... then just what are these other sources of magic?” supplied Starswirl, and Sunset Shimmer nodded. 

“The girls and me only got here today, and you had these surges well before that. So that means there has to be another source, or even multiple sources of magic in the area.”

“Just how close would these sources need to be in order to cause the anomalies they have?” asked Clover, “Pretty close, right?”

“Yeah, I can’t say for sure, but definitely within the general area. Probably a few miles, I’d guess.”

“Hmm,” Starswirl stroked his beard in thought, “My suggestion then would be for you to work with my Third Seat and Lieutenant on developing a Kido ward for the portal, while the rest of you young ladies keep an eye out for anything that might consist of these other magic sources. We can delay further experimentation until then.”

“That sounds more than reasonable to me,” agreed Sunset, giving a questioning look towards Clover and Meadowbrook, “I’m afraid my Kido studies have mostly focused on Hado and Bakudo. Those wards you guys use I’m still pretty unfamiliar with.”

“That’s fine,” replied Meadowbrook with an encouraging smile, “They’re not actually that complex. Clover and I will give you a crash course, while you do the same for us on magic principles. Between the three of us, maybe we can work something up that will let us experiment on the portal more safely.”

“Here’s hoping...” Sunset said, wondering if this would even matter at all, considering that in a few days time, this whole lab would likely be raided, and their Arrancar 'specimen’ taken. Then again, even with Ember gone, they could still possibly find ways to experiment with the portal. Developing a Kido ward that would make that theoretically safer wasn’t a bad idea, no matter how Adagio’s rescue attempt panned out. 

----------

Despite a truly amazing carpet of stars coating the sky, and an exceptionally bright moon out, the Everfree Forest quickly became dark for the cluster of young campers. The thick overhang of tall evergreen pines all but blotted out the light from the night sky, leaving on silver shafts of light that pierced the darkness periodically. Even so, navigation wasn’t overly difficult at first, if only because the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been smart enough to bring plenty of flashlights for everyone. 

Even so, the tangled undergrowth was enough to trip up even the nimblest feet, and certain members of their group were hardly that nimble to begin with.

“Argh! How many tree roots stick up like this!? I thought roots were supposed to go underground and stuff!” exclaimed Diamond Tiara, having nearly fallen flat on her face for the fifth or sixth time since they snuck away from the tents. She was only saved from eating a mouthful of dirt by the proximity of Silver Spoon, who’s surprisingly swift reflexes caught her friend every time Diamond Tiara was about to faceplant.

“Ya could always chicken out an’ head on back,” drawled Applebloom with a sense of smug teasing clear in her voice. 

“Not happening,” Diamond Tiara replied firmly, “We’re not backing out of this bet.”

An owl’s hoots echoed through the inky black of the forest, and Diamond Tiara nearly jumped, then gave Applebloom a fierce look with her face turning almost red enough to glow, “This forest isn’t that scary.”

“Heheh, I kinda like how everything smells so fresh and piney,” said the eldest of their number, Derpy Doo following along behind the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their rivals with a carefree smile on her face.

“Who invited her along, again?” asked Silver Spoon, and Sweetie Belle turned a flashlight towards her.

“She wanted to come, so why not? Thought maybe it’d make you scaredy cats feel better to have an older student with us. Call it a handicap.”

To that Silver Spoon just rolled her eyes, while Derpy laughed happily.

“I think it's kinda cute the way you girls are having a test of courage. You all must be really good friends.”

“We are not!” both Applebloom and Diamond Tiara all but shouted at the same time, then looked at each with disgusted expressions and pointedly went silent.

They  were technically following a forest trail they’d been shown earlier in the day during the hikes around the forest near the lake. Timber Spruce had kept the day hike to the easiest trails, but had shown where several other, rougher trails started that led further into the deep woods, and towards the foothills at the base of the distant mountains. The campers might try some of the harder trails later in the week, but Timber warned that those trails could be tough on first timers. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had taken some time during dinner that evening to work out their plan, and had decided to use one of the trails heading for the deep woods to the north. It wouldn’t be as rough or steep as the trail towards the foothills, but they reasoned it’d be ‘scarier’ there, especially once Scootaloo’s Doll came into play.

They’d actually snuck off after dinner to a hidden clearing they’d seen during the hike around the lake, where Scootaloo had summoned Alerion and explained the plan.

”This is utterly beneath me,” Alerion had said, managing to convey complete disdain despite his barely moveable stone features.

“C’mon Alerion, these girls have some frights coming, after the year they’ve put me and my friends through. It’ll be fun. Think of it like hunting practice, like we used to do all the time!” said Scootaloo.

Alerion turned his head to the side, “Scaring small children like a cheap Halloween decoration is an insult to my majesty and might! I should stomp you flat for such a disrespectful-”

“I’ll give you a whole, fresh box of oranges.”

“...” Alerion paused, then said,”Two boxes.”

And that had essentially been that. Alerion was up in the sky now, supposedly keeping track of the group’s progress. Sweetie Belle leaned in close to Scootaloo, and whispered, “You sure he can even see us through all the trees?”

“Don’t worry,” Scootaloo whispered back, “Alerion can sense where I am pretty much always. He’ll just wait until I give him the signal to swoop down and scare the pants off those two.”

“Three,” Sweetie Belle reminded her, “We’ve got Derpy here now. I kinda feel bad for her, she doesn’t deserve to be frightened or anything.”

“Hmm... yeah, I see you’re point, but not much we can do about that now. We can apologize to her later.”

“Hey,” said Silver Spoon, “What are you two whispering about over there?”

“Nothing you need to be concerned about,” Sweetie Belle said, “You just keep an eye out. Who knows what kind of spooky things might be lurking out there, just waiting for little girls to wander by for a snack.”

Silver Spoon visibly rolled her eyes, but Diamond Tiara glanced about the surrounding shadows, licking her lips.

“Do we know for sure there’s no wolves or bears or anything out here?”

“Getting nervous already?” asked Applebloom. They’d reached a bend in the trail that swung around a particularly thick cluster of trees, and as they did so, the ground started to fill with strands of fog. 

“No,” insisted Diamond Tiara, “I’m just thinking in practical terms. I’d hate to see any of you get mauled by a wild animal. I don’t think there’s actual monsters that are real, I’m not a toddler, but wildlife is a real thing.”

“Well if we run into any wolves, maybe you can tell them how rich your daddy is and they’ll leave you alone,” chided Sweetie Belle.

“I think wolves are cute,” said Derpy, “But I like cats more.”

“Wolves aren’t the same thing as dogs, Depry,” said Scootaloo, who started to look around with an extra hint of nervousness as she noticed the fog was growing thicker. It now clung to the ground at hip height, making it even harder for the girls to see where they were going. The trail bent upwards, rising towards a low hill that was covered in overhanging branches from a pine tree that looked as if it had taken a lightning strike to the base of its trunk at some point. It now leaned over the trail, casting it in even deeper shadows.

“What was that?” Diamond Tiara suddenly said, swinging her flashlight to the left.

Applebloom rolled her eyes, “What was what?”

“I thought I saw something move through the trees.”

“Maybe it’s bigfoot.”

“Ugh, I’m not lying, I saw something moving out there!”

“Well,” Applebloom said, “Ya wanna turn back? ‘Cause me n’ the girls are still goin’, an’ if you go back, we win.”

Diamond Tiara was clearly struggling to control a rising fear, not helped by the sudden outburst of another set of owl hoots. Yet she swallowed the fear, eyes hardened as she suddenly picked up speed and walked ahead of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. As she passed by, Applebloom heard Diamond Tiara muttering, as if it were a lucky charm.

“I’m a Rich... I’m a Rich...” 

 The Cutie Mark Crusaders followed her up the small hill, Derpy and Silver Spoon following behind, but a moment later Silver Spoon herself paused.

“Wait,” she said, in a tone of voice that none of the Cutie Mark Crusaders had ever heard from the girl. It was sharp, and hard, almost like a command.

“Huh?” Applebloom glanced back at Silver Spoon, who’s eyes were looking towards the trees to the left of the trail. Oddly, she wasn’t using her flashlight. 

“What is it, Silver Spoon?” asked Diamond Tiara from the top of the hill, “I’m not going back! I will not lose to these simple minded bumpkins.”

Silver Spoon’s expression remained fixed on the forest, far more serious than anything Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, or Scootaloo had ever seen on her face. Her eyes narrowed behind her glasses.

“Something isn’t right,” she said, slowly, as if carefully choosing her words, “We should go back.”

“No way, not a chance,” said Diamond Tiara firmly.

“Diamond-”

“I said no, Silver Spoon, I’m not-”

“Diamond! Look out!” 

A shadow crept over Diamond Tiara from behind, blocking out what little star and moonlight there’d been. With her face draining to that of a pale phantom’s, Diamond Tiara turned around. All she saw was a giant, bestial shape looming over her, well over ten feet tall. She caught faint hints of a feline face, with dripping fangs. Incomprehensibly, the creature stretched bat-like wings from its back, and a scorpion’s tail swayed with eager menace arched over it’s head. But mostly it was that hungry maw that kept Diamond Tiara’s attention as she tried to scream, but no sound by a horrified squeak came out.

None of the other girls knew what the creature was, but the Cutie Mark Crusaders could only assume it was like those plant wolves. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were both taken aback enough to be slow on the draw in reaching for the focus items of their Fullbrings. Even Scootaloo had to shake her daze before she started thinking to shout for Alerion.

None of them would have been fast enough to stop this lionine monster from savaging Diamond Tiara, who was helpless at the top of the hill.

At least, none of them except Silver Spoon, who’d sensed the creature coming, and while this was no Hollow, she’d been trained since she was barely old enough to walk to be not just a playmate for Diamond Tiara... but a bodyguard.

Before even a second had passed, Silver Spoon snapped out her left arm, and a silver, five pointed cross on a shot chain shot out from under her sleeve, where it’d remained hidden for most of her life. She’d never even shown it to her best friend, who was ignorant of the truth, at her father’s behest. 

No point hiding things now, Silver Spoon imagined, as blue particles of reishi flowed from out of her Quincy cross, and a rough, but solid bow of raw blue energy took shape. She was still too young and inexperienced to do more than form simple, single reishi arrows, but her own father’s strict drills had given her the speed do form her bow, drawn aim, and fire without even thinking about it. 

The azure arrow streaked past Diamond Tiara’s face by scant inches, and embedded itself in one of the monster’s gleaming eyes. 

An unimaginable roar of rage and pain split the night air, and the monster reared away. Diamond Tiara did scream then, all but falling back down the hill while the other girls all looked in in mute shock. 

Whatever satisfaction Silver Spoon had at hitting her mark and protecting her charge was swiftly swept away by the answering roars of the wounded beast that echoed from the trees all around them. Then, as several more pairs of yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness, and massive shapes lurched forward from the deeper woods, it became very apparent that the girls were not only not alone in the Everfree Forest... they were surrounded.