Embrace the Magic!

Spike was gnawing through the vines that imprisoned Twilight and Sunset.

“Nice work, Spike,” said Sunset, wriggling free. She studied the blocked entrance. “Twilight, you have to use your magic.”

“I don’t think I can lift something that big. Even if I can, I don’t know for how long.”

“It’s our only chance of getting out of here and helping our friends,” Sunset Shimmer pleaded.

Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated on the boulder. It wobbled. It shook. It lifted a tiny bit off the ground. Twilight concentrated even harder, with all her might. She got it up another foot. It was just high enough for the girls and Spike to slide under. It slammed down to the ground behind them when they were out.

Relieved, the girls hugged each other. The snap of a branch made them whirl around. It was almost as if they could hear the plants and the trees and the vines of the forest growing. What was that strange noise coming from near the lake?

Back at camp, each geode on Gloriosa’s necklace was glowing. The brambles blocked the sun.

“Why are you fighting me?” she wailed. “I’m doing this to save our camp. I’m doing this for you.”

The girls pretended to be listening. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was sneaking up behind Gloriosa.

“Gloriosa, let’s think about all this for a moment, shall we?” Rarity was stalling for time. “I mean, I think Camp Everfree is absolutely delightful, but I just don’t know that I’m ready to give up my weekly trips to the spa.”

“To the spa?” screeched Gloriosa.

“Oh dear,” Rarity whimpered. “What did I say?”

Rainbow Dash sped toward Gloriosa, but she couldn’t reach her. She was too high above them. She flew backward toward her friends.

Timber was trying to talk to his sister. “This isn’t the way!”

“I appreciate your concern, Timber,” Gloriosa bellowed. “But I got this!”

“No, you don’t!” cried Timber.

The bramble bushes were still growing. They were creeping toward the campers. They were getting closer and closer. Soon there would be nowhere left to stand.

No one could get through to Gloriosa. She was transformed by desperation and by magic. Her eyes glowed vibrant and green.

Sunset and Twilight were stunned when they returned to camp—and couldn’t get in. This was the sound they’d been hearing. It was the brambles getting bigger and bigger. Spike tried to gnaw a hole for them to get through, but it was no use.

“Twilight, do you think you can use your magic?” asked Sunset.

Twilight hesitated. “I don’t want to use too much. Midnight Sparkle could take over.”

“Our friends are in there,” Sunset Shimmer reminded her.

Twilight focused her energy on the brambles. She concentrated. She shut her eyes. Slowly, a gap widened. It was just big enough for the girls and Spike to crawl through. But it closed right back up once they were through.

The first thing they saw was Timber begging his sister to stop. “Please, Gloriosa. What you’re doing is crazy. You have to listen to me!”

“That isn’t Gloriosa,” Sunset Shimmer whispered to Twilight. She ought to know. Magic had turned her into a monster before, too.

Relieved, the other girls noticed Sunset and Twilight. “You’re okay!” gasped Rarity.

But Sunset was already talking to Timber. “That isn’t your sister. It’s someone who’s been consumed by Equestrian magic.”

Timber Spruce nodded. “Whoever you are, you have to let my sister go! Please, Gloriosa, come back! I need you!”

But Gloriosa stared at him haughtily as if she didn’t know him.

The brambles were invading the campground. Kids huddled in tight clusters and tried fighting them back. They were even approaching Gloriosa. They’d wrapped their prickly vines around her legs.

“Gloriosa!” called Timber again, hoping to pull her back from the brink.

Applejack noticed the danger everyone was in and signaled to Rarity. Rarity enclosed everyone in a diamond dome. The brambles crawled over the surface of it. The thorns pierced the powerful substance and sent cracks rippling through it. It was only a matter of moments before it shattered.

Rarity was straining, trying to beat back the brambles. “I can’t keep this up forever.” She gasped.

“It’s up to you!” Sunset Shimmer turned to Twilight in desperation. “You can use your magic to pull apart the brambles surrounding the camp.”

“You have new magic, too?” Rainbow Dash was stunned.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” asked Applejack.

Twilight was focused on the creeping brambles. “No. There are too many of them. It would take too much magic. I can’t.”

“It’s the only way!” urged Sunset Shimmer. “You have to embrace the magic inside you.”

“But what if she takes over?” Twilight Sparkle worried. “What if instead of saving everyone, I turn into Midnight Sparkle and only make things worse?”

“That won’t happen.” Sunset Shimmer’s voice was forceful. She meant it. “We won’t let it.”

Twilight Shimmer looked at the terrified campers. Crack. The diamond dome was breaking. She looked at Gloriosa, who was wild and out-of-control. She looked at the wall of brambles. She could do this. She had to. For her friends. This time it wasn’t about power; it was about friendship.

Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated. The brambles edged backward, but they were clearly fighting the magic.

“Come on, Twilight!” said Sunset Shimmer. “You have to be stronger than she is.”

Twilight’s eyes opened. They were glowing—in exactly the same way they did when she turned into Midnight Sparkle. A unicorn horn emerged out of her forehead—just like Midnight Sparkle’s. Black wings, just like Midnight Sparkle’s, sprouted from her back.

Twilight wasn’t Twilight anymore. She was Midnight Sparkle. She cackled devilishly. “You will never control me. I will always be a part of you!”

But when she blinked, the girls could tell that Twilight Sparkle was fighting back. “No!” she shouted.

“Twilight, listen to me,” Sunset Shimmer commanded. “You are in charge!”

“You are a light, darling,” Rarity told her. “A force for good.”

“Yeah,” added Rainbow Dash. “You can kick the darkness’s butt!”

“We’re here for you!” encouraged Pinkie Pie.

Fluttershy looked up at her friend, her eyes brimming with tears. “I believe in you!”

“You are not Midnight Sparkle,” said Sunset Shimmer.

Her eyes blinked. One minute she was Midnight Sparkle. But then Twilight was back. “No,” she struggled to say. “I… AM… TWILIGHT SPARKLE! And the magic I carry inside me is the Magic of Friendship!”

The Magic of Friendship is the most powerful magic of all. It was as if her words harnessed everyone’s magic. All the brambles flew apart.

Gloriosa fell to the ground. “No! Stop!” Her necklace broke apart and magically divided into seven segments. Gloriosa’s eyes fluttered and were no longer glowing green gems. She was herself again. Timber rushed over to her.

She barely knew where she was. “What happened?”

“It’s okay,” Timber Spruce told her. “It’s gonna be okay.”

The seven glowing rainbow-colored pieces of her necklace were floating up from the ground. They spread apart, each one headed to one of the girls. A swirl of light surrounded each of them. Instinctively, they reached for one another’s hands. They were rising into the air. They were ponying up! Powerful white light beamed from their circle out toward the remaining brambles. The brambles vanished. They didn’t grow back. They were gone.

The campers cheered.

The girls gently came back to earth. Their ears and pony tails were gone.

Spike leaped into Twilight’s arms. “You did it!” He noticed her gem. “Hey! Nice bling.”

“Awww,” gushed Rarity, seeing them together.

Each of the girls reached up and touched her neck. They were each wearing one of the geodes as a necklace.

“What are these?” Applejack wondered.

“I’m not sure,” said Sunset. “But clearly we have some kind of connection to them.”

“I almost don’t care what they are. They’re gorgeous,” enthused Rarity. “And will totally go with the other collection I was working on for the camp fashion show.” She noticed the broken dock, the exhausted campers. “That’s probably canceled, isn’t it?”

But maybe it wasn’t after all.