Unforeseen Consequences - Crystal Lake

“Twilight’s plan may have sucked hard, but man, the place she picked up for this whole fiasco is incredible… wanna bet that it was Cadence who told her about it?”
>Thorax shook his head, his mouth was still wide open but he still replied nonetheless “I traveled far and wide across the Crystal Empire but I never saw something like this”
“No kidding, now I know why my moms wanted to keep the surprise as a surprise”
>Maybe it was a good thing that you didn’t pay attention to Sunny Hill’s explanation because your surprise when coming out of the “bus” was huge! Seriously, you couldn’t be more impressed even if you tried.
>Since the “Camp Crystal Lake” was located in the northernmost part of the Crystal Empire right in the limit of the Crystal Heart’s reach, the landscape was actually a beautiful forest covered in snow rather than the greenery that you saw before.
>It was kind of surreal, you could see a violent blizzard raging on the horizon, but the camp and everything before it was still bathed by your mom’s sun.
>Despite you wearing the jacket that your mom Celestia gave you… as well ass your cool goggles and necklace… you could feel the chill wind starting to get you… dang man, that blizzard was no joke.
>That said, this particular trait gave the most outstanding element of the camp an extra bonus
>As it turned out, the “Crystal Lake” name wasn’t some cheesy poetic thing. Nope, the “lake” that this camp was literally a massive chunk of the same crystal that the Empire’s castle was made out of, and just like that place, this “lake” shone like a crazy diamond.
>The one thing that you didn’t understand was why this place had the word “camp” in the title. Instead of tents, campfires and small cabins, you basically had small but super luxurious cabins connected by an actual road lit by street lights, and at the end of the road, you had a huge mansion.

>Honestly, calling those things cabins was an understatement, you swear that they were the size of houses, the road was on par with what you’d see in the Crystal Empire or Canterlot, and that mansion? Man, not even Blueblood had a place like that.
>What you wanted to say is that nothing in this place looked like a camp! Heck, they even had frickin’ butlers taking the luggage off of the “bus” for Pere’s sake!
>Speaking of buses, you could see another glorified wagon right by the huge mansion. The difference with yours is that… well… it clearly had a much higher budget.
>So that means that Cherrywood was already here. Oh, man! You couldn’t wait to see her! If you were lucky to get paired with her… which probably won’t happen because you had a terrible luck.
>Dang it, you were gonna get paired with some class A jerks, weren’t you? Well… at least you still had Thorax, because there was no way that Sunny Hill would sent him to a different cabin than you… right?
>Aw, screw this! If any of those idiots tries to mess with you, then you will give them a test of your magic! After all, you had a couple spells that needed some target practice…
>Oh, man… what if they also start nagging you about Chrysalis and the hive? Or about your everyday life as a Prince? Ugh… you wish that some of your mom Celestia’s patience had rubbed on you because… dang it, this was gonna suck.
>Well, darn it. Your mood had gotten destroyed by your own overthinking… and your schoolmates weren’t looking too peachy either. Most, if not all of them had their heads down and a look of utter disappointment in their faces.
>Like Ruffle Truffle, who walked by your side holding a disgusted look on his face “Pffft! Looks like the lame-o’s from the Stink School got here before us. You wanna bet, nerd? Then The Ruffle bets that those dudes are gonna rub that in our muzzles too!”

>Thorax poked you to call for your attention and whispered into your ear “I can feel a lot of negative feelings coming from your friends. I think that this is the perfect moment for one of Anon’s patented speeches”
>You looked around and dang, they did look incredibly down. So you leaned closer to Thorax and whispered back
“Dunno, they looked pretty bummed out. Do you think that it will work?”
>Thorax let out a small chuckle and gave you a little tug “I mean, if you want me to bet, then I’m betting all in the colt whom speeches kind of changed the mind of an ancient evil Queen.”
>You rolled your and shook your head as you let a chuckle of your own.
“Yeah, she just drained my love dry and put me in a two week long sleep instead of destroying me, but alright my man, I don’t want to lose all my bits to you, but… let’s wait a bit, alright? At least until everyone isn’t scattered around”
>Luckily, the wait wasn’t long, because once the butlers took the luggage wherever Sunny Hill told them to, she ordered everyone to gather around in two lines.
>Sunny Hill was holding a paper sheet on her right hoof, same that he read a couple times before she looked left and right and cleared her throat “Alright, my little ponies! When you hear your name, please go to your assigned cabin so you can meet your new friends. Don’t worry about your luggage, the wonderful staff has already taken it there”
>Okay, this was your chance. You quickly got out of the line and walked to Sunny Hill’s side. Of course, she looked at you with annoyance and asked with a similar tone “Mister Anon, if you want to talk to me, please wait until the end of the cabin assignment, please”
“Actually, Miss Hill, I want to say some words to my classmates before they go to their cells… I mean, their cabins. Y’know, do my job at giving guidance and all that”

>Sunny Hill raised an eyebrow at you but ultimately shrugged it off and rolled her eyes “Very well, Mr. Anon. I’ll just ask you to make it brief, please.”
>You let out a small chuckle and nodded at her
“Whatever you say, Miss Hill.”
>Okay, this is one of the few things that you were actually good at. So, there was no pressure to blow this up like you usually do.
>You then turned to your classmates, closed your eyes and sighed. When you opened your eyes again, you had a much more serious but powerful look… or well… as much as you could. You still couldn’t imitate your mom Luna’s super cool looks.
“I’m not going to ask you how you’re feeling today, because it doesn’t take a genius to see that all of you are in pretty low spirits. I’m also not going to ask you the reason for your sad mood, it is pretty obvious too. What I’m going to tell you however, is that you have nothing to worry about and nothing to fear. Despite the reputation those guys have, they are ponies just like us”
>One filly from your class said “Yeah! But they are a buncha jerks who think they’re better than everypony else!”
>And everyone else followed her with a “YEAH!”
>You took a long sigh and nodded.
“I know there are certain ponies who love to look down on others, but my friends, that kind of abuse only works if you let it happen, and we’re not going to let it happen. Do you know why?”
>Your classmates looked at each other and shrugged
“Let me ask you something, what’s the name of our school?”
>Gale Breeze, from your class, rose her hoof and quickly asked “Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns!”
>You smiled at her as you waved your hoof
“Exactly! And what does that mean?”
>Melodica, another gal from your class, quickly responded “That the name makes no sense ‘cuz we have earth ponies and pegasi too?”

“Well… yeah, I dunno why we still have that name when the school stopped being unicorns only like two hundred years ago but whatever, that’s not the point. What I wanted to say is that while we may not have a high budget as them, or be as rich as them, but we’re still the school with the highest level in Equestria! And you know why that is?”
>Your schoolmates looked at each other, only that this time, with slightly higher spirits. You took this opportunity to walk among them and deliver the hook of your speech.
“Because you guys are the most talented foals in the entire kingdom! Just look at you! I can see the next top hoofball players, alchemists, journalists, musicians, researchers, wizards, weather engineers…”
>You could see your classmates becoming more and more confident. Some eagerly nodded, others jumped in their place, the point was, they got their spirit back up which was pretty cool.
>When you returned to your initial spot, frickin’ Thorax said “And the next best Prince!”
>That made you stop dead on your tracks and fall completely silent. Best Prince? Nah, your moms were as good as a royal could get, and you still had a whole lot to learn and…
>Sunny Hill placed her hoof on your shoulder and whispered on your ear “Just say yes, Mr. Anon. Otherwise, you will plunge the morale into a lower place than where it was before”
>So you rubbed the back of your head and shrugged
“I mean, the competition is super tough but… sure. I’ll try to be the best Prince I can be for all of you”
>Your classmates cheered with a super loud “YAY!” Sunny Hill patted your back but told you to go back to your place if you didn’t want to get an extension for your detention time.
>When you returned to your place in the line, which was the last spot, you pulled Thorax to you and whispered into his ear “Best Prince? C’mon, man! That wasn’t funny! You almost made me screw my speech up!”

>Thorax nervously shook his head “B-But it wasn’t a joke! I really think that you are the best prince I’ve ever met!”
>You rolled your eyes and let out a groan before letting Thorax go.
“That’s because I’m the only Prince you’ve ever met”
>Thorax shrugged “I don’t know why you’re acting so grumpy. I’m not the only one who thinks that, I mean, the Princesses said the same about you like a thousand times, even Discord thinks the same thing!”
“That’s because they are my moms and uncle! Of course they will think that of me!”
>Thorax rolled his eyes and gave you a teasing smile “Alright, Mr. Grumpy McGrump. Whatever you say.”
“…shut up…”
>After Sunny Hill calmed everyone down, she pointed at the huge mansion at the end of the road and said “Before I assign everypony their cabin, I have to give you one last instruction. In approximately two hours, a welcome meeting will take place in that beautiful building, after that, we will have a five star dinner provided by the staff. Please be aware for when the announcement is made”
>Your classmates nodded and cheerfully replied in unison “Yes, Miss Sunny Hill!”
>A big smile appeared in Sunny Hill’s face as she nodded and looked at her paper sheet “Very well, Comet Trail and Melodica! You will be staying at cabin A-1…”
>Pair after pair of foals were sent to their respective cabins, and every time they said something like “Let’s do this!” or “Let’s show those guys who rules!”
>Thorax and you were the very last ones to be mentioned, and while that was kind of annoying, at the very least you still got paired with your friend.
>Everything was fine and dandy now, even more since you were the only souls walking down the “camp” road. It gave you the chance to talk to Thorax more naturally.

>As you walked to your cabin, Thorax was gleefully hopping around you “Oh, man! I could feel my indigestion coming back when your teacher was reading that sheet, but hah! I got the same cabin as my best friend! Yay!”
>He then stopped dead on his tracks and nervously started looking at every direction “Uhh… I actually didn’t hear where we are staying… o-oh dear… I feel a party going on in my stomach!”
>You rolled your eyes and looked at your friend with a teasing face.
“Gee, I can’t believe how good the ruler of the changelings is at paying attention. Really, that’s some top tier attention span you have there, my man”
>Thorax rubbed the back of his head and gave you a nervous smile “Sorry… I was listening to one of your friend’s stories about her latest slumber party. I’m sure that it can be super useful for my feeling’s forums!”
“Man, that’s super weird, even for me… Anyway, our cabin is F-5, the furthest one from the mansion and the bus, I can imagine this was another one of Sunny Hill… jokes…”
>From the corner of your eye, you noticed something odd happening at the other side of the lake. A group of shadows dancing around, and some lights on the distance…
>Huh, maybe it was some illusion caused by the raging blizzard happening near there. You squinted your eyes and… nope, those were shadows, you couldn’t tell what creature, but that definitely was no optical trick.
>When you walked a bit closer to the lake to see a bit better, Thorax suddenly placed his hoof on your shoulder, making you jump in fright… and accidentally use the frickin’ Canterlot voice.
“AAAH! WHAT THE HAY, MAN!”
>Thorax had the same reaction as you, since he immediately jumped away “AH! S-SORRY! I-I was worried because you just spaced out!”

“YEAH, MAN! BUT WHY DID YOU HAVE TO SCARE ME LIKE THAT!”
>Thorax shrugged and said “I don’t know! But… uh… how can you yell so loud?”
“I DON’T KNOW! IT USUALLY HAPPENS WHEN I’M REALLY ANGRY!”
>Your friend rubbed the back of his head and raised an eyebrow at you “So… are you angry?”
“WELL…”
>You cleared your throat a couple times and shook your head
“No, no I’m not… I just… c’mon, you had to see them too!”
>Thorax placed his hoof on your shoulder and asked with a worried tone “What do you mean, Anon?”
“Look at the other side of the lake, man! Those shadows that I saw are real and they followed us here!”
>Thorax looked to where you were pointing at and then at you “Yes, that blizzard looks pretty bad, but you don’t have to worry about it. The Crystal Heart will keep it at bay.”
“Wha-?”
>When you turned around, the shadows were gone… of course they were. To make things worse, when you looked back at Thorax, you could see some of the foals peeking outside their cabins.
>Thorax was still worried about you “Anon? I think you are a bit too tired from the trip. What do you say if we head to our cabin and rest?”
>You let out a sigh and looked at the other side of the lake where you only saw trees and snow.
“I’m telling you man, there were a bunch of shadows there, and they had lights too!”
>Thorax let out a small giggle as he placed his hoof around your neck and gave you a gentle tug “Whatever you say, Mr. Grumpy McGrump. I still think you are the best Prince ever though… and the weirdest too.”
>You narrowed your eyes at your friend and let out a groan
“… Shut up…”

>After some walking, you and Thorax arrived to the cabin where you were gonna spend the weekend… and unlike the others, this actually looked like an old cabin in the woods.
>Gee, the thing looked like it was going to fall apart. The place may as well be a tools shed.
>Thorax was standing in front of the cabin, looking at it completely baffled. He raised an eyebrow and said confused “Anon… I think that your teacher hates you.”
“No! Sunny Hill hates me? I would’ve never suspected that!”
>You shook your head and sighed as you walked past your friend and placed your hoof on the cabin’s door.
“Let’s just end with this and meet the other poor idiots who got scammed into coming to this… field… aw man…”
>AND SITTING ON THE BUNK BEADS WERE ROYAL BLOOD AND CHERRYWOOD! OF COURSE!