The Legend of Everfree

by Perdita Finn

  “Twilight, you have to stop looking at this as a bad thing.”

  “Easy for you to say!” Twilight’s face crumpled. “Magic turned you into something beautiful. The last time I tried to use it, it turned me into a monster. I’m just so afraid it’s going to happen again.”

  “Yeah, last time I turned into something amazing,” agreed Sunset Shimmer, remembering how she had brought Twilight Sparkle back to reality at the end of the Friendship Games. “But I’ve let magic turn me into a monster, too. You heard what I did at the Fall Formal, right?”

  Spike spoke up. “You tried to turn everyone into your own personal zombie army.”

  “Pretty much,” confirmed Sunset Shimmer. “So, if anyone understands what you are going through, Twilight Sparkle, it’s me. I can help you. And the rest of our friends can be there for you, too. But not if you run away.”

  Twilight considered what her friend had said. At last, she answered. “I’ll stay. But I still don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be near the rest of our friends right now. Not until we know why this is happening.”

  “Understood,” Sunset agreed.

  The girls began heading back to camp. The woods were quiet. All they could hear was their feet crunching over branches and leaves—until, thud.

  “What was that?” Sunset tried to see into the darkness.

  Very quietly, the girls tiptoed in the direction of the sound. A shaft of moonlight cast the shadow of a figure on the ground. The light glinted off steel. It was an ax. The figure was carrying an ax!

  Sparks in the Dark

  “Ahhhhh!” screamed both girls simultaneously.

  “Ahhhhh!” screamed the ax-wielding shadow in response.

  It was Timber. “Wait,” he said. “Twilight?”

  “Timber?” She sighed with relief. “I’m so glad it’s just you. What are you doing out here?”

  “With an ax,” added Sunset Shimmer.

  “I was chopping down firewood,” he explained.

  The girls realized that right behind him was a large wagon filled with logs. But something wasn’t right.

  Sunset Shimmer was skeptical. “In the middle of the night?”

  “We needed more for tomorrow night’s campfire. And if I didn’t take care of it tonight, it would just be one more thing Gloriosa would add to her list.” He did a perfect imitation of his overeager sister. “I got this!”

  Now it was Timber’s turn for questions. “What about you two? Why are you hanging out in the woods in the middle of the night?”

  Twilight was embarrassed. She didn’t know what to say.

  Sunset Shimmer stepped in for her. “I was sleepwalking,” she lied. “Twilight found me and was bringing me back to camp.”

  “Mmhmm.” Twilight nodded.

  Timber smiled warmly at Twilight. “You’re a good friend. Come on. I’ll walk you guys back. I’ll protect you from… Gaea Everfree.” He made all kinds of creepy sounds and said her name again. “Gaea Everfree.”

  “Come on,” Sunset urged. “That’s obviously just a spooky story you made up to tell around the campfire.”

  “Oh no,” answered Timber Spruce. “It’s legit. How else would you explain what happened at the docks? And that weird thing where the earth shook?”

  Twilight glanced at Sunset. Could there really be another source of the magic at Camp Everfree?

  “Come on,” said Timber. “I know a shortcut back to the tents.”

  He slipped his hand into Twilight’s, and the two of them walked a little bit ahead together. Sunset noticed tiny sparkles of glitter trailing out of Timber’s pocket. She lifted her finger and pointed it out to Spike.

  “Legit, huh?” she whispered to the pooch. “I think we just found our Gaea Everfree.”

  Spike wasn’t so sure. “But why would he work so hard to make us think she was real?”

  “You heard what he said about wishing his sister would sell the camp. If nobody wants to come here because it’s home to some angry ancient nature spirit, it sure would help his cause.”

  “We should tell Twilight,” said Spike.

  But Sunset stopped him. “Not yet. She’s obviously going through a lot right now. We should probably be a hundred percent sure before we tell her the guy she likes is a jerk who’s trying to run everybody out of camp.”

  Spike nodded in agreement. Oh boy, he thought, it’s time Twilight Sparkle had a break. The last thing she needed was more trouble.

  A Superpowered Afternoon!

  Most of the campers were huddled around the picnic tables. Whenever the wind blew or a bird sang, someone would jump. Every now and then, one of the braver kids would look toward the shadows in the woods.

  Gloriosa just couldn’t figure out what was going on. “Why aren’t you out there windsurfing?” she asked in concern. “Or making dream catchers? Or playing tetherball?”

  Lyra and Trixie exchanged a knowing glance.

  “We’re not doing anything with some angry nature monster running around,” Lyra told Gloriosa.

  “The Great and Powerful Trixie,” explained Trixie, “is totally creeped out.”

  “Nature monster? There’s no nature monster,” Gloriosa said sternly. Recovering, she added in an extra-sweet voice, “Please, everyone should be having fun. It was just a silly story. Now who wants to go windsurfing?”

  One of the kids squinted, looking out at the water. “It’s not even windy.”

  “Don’t worry,” chirped Gloriosa. “Just get changed and meet me there. I promise it will be super fun.”

  The campers shrugged. If Gloriosa was going to be there, maybe everything would be all right. They might as well give it a shot.

  Down at the dock, Rainbow Dash and the other girls were back at work with repairs. Rainbow Dash had just carried a heavy plank. “Phew,” she said, placing it down. She had walked very slowly across camp, as slowly as she could because she didn’t want to take off again at super speed—but that made the work even harder. She looked over at Rarity, who was sewing something. “You gonna give us a hand here, Rarity?”

  “Would really love to,” answered Rarity. “But I really need to get the stitching on this poncho done if it’s going to make it into the camp fashion show. Though at the pace you all are working, I don’t know that the runway will ever be finished.”

  “The dock,” Applejack corrected her. “The dock is our gift to the camp. And it’s gonna get finished. That is, if Rainbow Dash would hurry up and bring me more wood.”

  Applejack was trying to nail a section of the railing onto the dock. She struck it gently, very gently, with her hammer—and nothing happened. She struck it again—very gently. Ten swings later, she managed to drive in the first nail.

  Rainbow Dash was hesitant. “I can’t go any faster,” she complained. “I don’t want to end up in the woods again—”

  “Don’t be silly,” Applejack interrupted. Rainbow Dash pointed at Applejack’s extracareful hammering. She clearly didn’t want to risk overdoing it like she had at the climbing wall.

  “Really?” asked Rainbow Dash.

  “I know I said we should try to forget about all this new magic business, but I can’t.” Applejack sighed. “All I wanna do is finish this dock, but I’m scared of using any of my strength. What if I hammer the board into splinters?”

  “And I really want to help out,” added Fluttershy. “But I’m afraid of what might come to help me.” She had her eyes on a nearby squirrel.

  Applejack was out of nails.

  “Oh, here you go,” said Pinkie Pie, tossing her a small pack.

  “No!” screamed all the girls together, remembering the mess-hall mess.

  Applejack dove away from the pack of nails like it was a grenade. She covered her head with her arms. Rarity produced her glittering diamond force-field cocoon. The pack of nails landed right next to Applejack.

  “What?” Pinkie Pie wondered. Then she smiled, getting it. “Oooh, did you think the nails would explode like the sprin
kles? Wow! Glad that didn’t happen, huh?”

  Rarity apologized for her force field. “Sorry, girls. I didn’t mean to. I don’t know how to control this.”

  “It’s okay,” said Rainbow Dash.

  “None of us does.” Fluttershy sighed.

  “Which is why we shouldn’t pretend this isn’t happening.” Sunset Shimmer had made a decision.

  “Are you magic now, too?” asked Rainbow Dash.

  “It started last night,” Sunset Shimmer revealed. “I can touch people and it’s like I can feel what they’re feeling and see their memories.”

  “Oooh!” squealed Pinkie Pie. “Fancy. Try me! Try me!”

  Pinkie Pie grabbed on to Sunset Shimmer’s arm. Sunset Shimmer saw pink cotton-candy clouds. It was like a movie playing in her head. She heard peppy party music. She saw a whole line of identical Pinkie Pies all diving at the same time into a giant swimming pool filled with fudge. They swam and kicked and danced. At last, there was only one Pinkie Pie. As she stepped out of the pool, a giant jelly bean handed her a towel. A marshmallow towel! Pinkie Pie gobbled it up.

  Sunset pulled her hand free, laughing. “So that’s why you’re always so happy,” she said to Pinkie Pie.

  “Yup!” Pinkie Pie grinned.

  But Sunset Shimmer’s glimpse into Pinkie Pie’s mind made her realize something important. She turned to the group. “Girls, we can’t just brush aside these powers because it doesn’t seem like the ideal time to get them. What if it turns out that they could actually make things better?”

  Rainbow Dash looked skeptical. Fluttershy seemed frightened. Pinkie Pie was the only one who seemed to agree with her.

  “So you have magic,” Sunset Shimmer sang to her friends. “And it’s not that great. But when it found you, it was fate. It’s scary but it’s wonderful, too. Just keep at it, and you’ll agree. Embrace the magic, then you’ll see. It’s better once you know it’s part of you.”

  She smiled at Pinkie Pie. “Oh, to have your energy! How amazing life would be! You can turn the everyday into a blast.”

  Sunset Shimmer’s eyes fell on Rainbow Dash. “Super speed, it’s so much fun. In five seconds, you’ll get it done! You really know what it means to be fast!”

  Sunset Shimmer’s words inspired Pinkie Pie, and she charged a small amount of sprinkles and placed them on the end of a wooden board. They exploded—making holes in the wood so they could be easily nailed together. In no time at all, Rainbow Dash was able to assemble them into benches. Pinkie Pie high-fived Rainbow Dash.

  Sunset Shimmer was delighted. “If you embrace the magic, there is so much you can do. If you just embrace the magic, you’ll find a better you.”

  Applejack took a breath. It was time to try out her superpowers. She picked up all the benches like they were twigs. There was a boulder in her path and she pushed it out of her way with her foot like it was a marble. She grinned from ear to ear. That wasn’t so bad.

  “Super strength, what’s there to say?” Sunset Shimmer beamed. “There’s nothing standing in your way. Moving things with ease? It must be swell!”

  In her exuberance, Applejack didn’t see a rope, and she tripped over it. Just as she was about to fall in the water, Rarity stretched out her hand and created a shimmery shield. Applejack landed on it and slid to dry land.

  Sunset Shimmer clapped her hands. “Crystal shield, it’s more than bling. Protect your friends from anything. Even if that something is themselves!”

  Fluttershy was inspired. She carried the sign she’d been making over to the woods, and a flock of birds flew behind her. A bear appeared and helped her post the sign. The birds decorated it with flowers and vines. This was better than anything Fluttershy had ever imagined.

  “Animals, they’re mysteries,” sang Sunset Shimmer. “To talk to them is quite a feat. I’m sure they have interesting things to say.”

  A bird trilled in Fluttershy’s ear. Fluttershy nodded and laughed.

  All of Sunset Shimmer’s friends were magic. Magically magic.

  “As for me,” realized Sunset Shimmer, “I’ve got the touch. Close to someone, I can learn so much. It’s a power I hope never goes away.”

  The girls were happy. They were ready to embrace the magic! They were ready to discover these strange new powers. They were ready to be themselves in a whole new way.

  They worked on the dock. They sang together.

  “If you just embrace the magic, there is so much you can do!”

  Magic didn’t have to be scary. It could be wonderful!

  Flash Forward

  “Okay.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “That was pretty awesome.”

  “And look what you managed to accomplish,” Sunset Shimmer pointed out. The dock was finished! It looked just like the designs.

  Rarity was thrilled. “Please, please, please, can we do a run-through for the fashion show on it right this minute?”

  “Thought you weren’t finished with the stitchin’ on your poncho.” Applejack sighed.

  Rarity made a quick stitch. “I am now!”

  Sunset Shimmer was happy for her friends, but there was one more thing she had to attend to. “Get started without me. I gotta go find Twilight. Seeing what we’ve been able to do here might make her embrace this new magic, too.” She gulped, realizing she’d made a mistake. “Uh, not that she has any.”

  Sunset Shimmer headed back toward camp, past the boathouse, but stopped. The door was shut, but she could hear someone yelling. Someone was very angry.

  “I just wish you hadn’t told them that ridiculous story.” It was Gloriosa.

  Curious, Sunset Shimmer pressed her ear against the door to listen better.

  “This is all too much for you,” said Timber Spruce. “You have to let it go.”

  What were they talking about? Oh, she realized, he wanted his sister to sell the camp! He wanted her to get rid of it.

  The door swung open and Sunset Shimmer barely missed being hit by it. Gloriosa stormed out. Timber Spruce followed his sister. When they were gone, Sunset Shimmer stepped out from among the shadows.

  “Sunset Shimmer?” Flash Sentry had spotted her. “What were you doing behind that door?”

  “What? Um… n-nothing,” she stammered. “I, um, lost an earring. Um, there it is!” She bent down and pretended to find something.

  Flash fell for it. Something else was on his mind. “Hey, listen. I’m glad I ran into you. I really wanted to thank you.”

  “For what?” Sunset Shimmer wasn’t listening very carefully. She was thinking about what she’d heard.

  “For the tough love,” said Flash Sentry. “Telling me I should get over Twilight. I needed to hear it.”

  “Sure,” Sunset Shimmer said distractedly. “No problem.”

  “Is something wrong?” Flash noticed.

  “What? No, why?”

  Flash smiled at her. “Come on, Sunset, we used to date; I know when something’s bothering you.”

  Sunset decided to confide in him. “Okay, here’s the deal…” she said. “My friend really likes someone, but I think that someone isn’t who she thinks he is. I don’t want to upset my friend by telling her what I think, but I also want to protect her, because if what I think is happening is really happening… then she deserves to know. You know?” She took a deep breath.

  Flash was thoroughly lost. “No.” Now Flash was distracted—by how the sun picked up the gold highlights in Sunset Shimmer’s hair. “What I do know,” he said, “is that your friend is lucky to have someone like you to look out for her.”

  “Really?” Sunset Shimmer was surprised by his compliment.

  “Yeah,” he said. “You know, you’ve changed a lot since we went out. You’re so much… nicer.”

  Sunset Shimmer was surprised. When they had dated, she had been different. All she’d wanted was power. She didn’t know anything about friendship and how much magic there was in it. But it meant a lot to her that Flash had noticed. “Thanks.”

  Flash l
ooked down at his feet, a little embarrassed. “You know, maybe you and me, we could start over… as friends…”

  But before Sunset Shimmer could answer, she spotted Timber Spruce sneaking into the forest. What was he up to? She had to find out. She had to protect Twilight. “Sounds great,” she said distractedly. “I gotta go.” She took off in the opposite direction.

  Poor Flash Sentry watched her disappear. “Cool.” He sighed in disappointment. “I wanted to start over later, too.”

  On the Mystery Trail

  Sunset Shimmer was tracking Timber Spruce through the woods. She moved quietly; she was careful not to step on any twigs or dry leaves. She stuck to the shadows. She kept a safe distance back.

  But she lost him. Somehow he managed to disappear.

  “Shoot,” muttered Sunset Shimmer. Where had he gone? She tiptoed through a stand of trees and looked over a cliff into a ravine. A dark figure was slipping into the open mouth of a cave. Who was it? It was definitely a human being and not a magical creature. But was it Timber Spruce? She wasn’t sure.

  A bolt of sparkling light shot out of the cave.

  Uh-oh. Maybe somebody else out there was magic, too. Sunset Shimmer pulled out her phone and quickly sent a text to Twilight Sparkle.

  Twilight was curled up on her cot with Spike beside her. She was reading a book when her phone buzzed. “It’s Sunset,” she told Spike. “She says to meet her by the rock quarry.”

  Spike looked worried. “I thought we weren’t supposed to hike out that far.”

  “She says it’s important,” insisted Twilight.

  Together, Spike and Twilight headed into the woods. They were just about to turn toward the quarry when pulsing orbs of rainbow-colored light appeared above them.

  “What is that?” Twilight wondered, looking up at them. She didn’t see the giant spiderweb right in front of her! She stumbled into it. She started to scream—but a hand covered her mouth.

  It was Sunset Shimmer.

  Waiting by the ridge, Sunset Shimmer had seen the strange lights. She held up her finger to her mouth to warn Spike and Twilight to keep quiet.