GreentextSavant - Glorioasa and the Condor

>After a long thunderstorm, the sky finally begins to clear up in the early morning.
>Gloriosa steps out of her office, and inhales the rain-scented air surrounding her as the wind hits her face.
>This morning is going to be perfect for a nature walk.
>After a few minutes of stretching, Gloriosa trots down the path towards the cabins and pulls out her megaphone to wake up the sleeping bunkmates.
>"Attention campers! Rise and shine, it's time to head over to breakfast and catch this morning air before it lifts!"
>Inside the cabins, everyone goes about their usual routine of crawling out of bed and getting dressed.
>Gloriosa gathers her backpack and supplies from her office before hurrying back to the opening to find the students neatly lined up, but most of them are groggy and tired-eyed.
>Even Timber Spruce, the one who had planned this morning walk alongside Gloriosa starts to sway where he stands.
>"Oh, this is going to be wonderful!" Fluttershy clasps her hands together and locks her fingers in glee. "How far are we going to go?"
>"Well..." Gloriosa spins around and eyes the rugged horizon. "We haven't taken the south route for a little bit, and the river is down that way too."
>Rainbow Dash yawns. "We're going to go swimming if we go to the river, right?"
>Gloriosa excitedly nods in response and looks over to the other campers. "If you want to, that is. The important part is the hike over there through the scenic route."
>Pinkie Pie begins to bounce up and down in her hiking boots.
>"Well, I see someone's ready to get going." Gloriosa grins.
>"Oh, not just me!" Pinkie reaches into her hair. "Gummy can't wait to go crawling around in the swamps and stuff!"
>She pulls out her pet alligator and rests him on her shoulder.
>"Aww, isn't he cute?" Gloriosa coos.
>The group of students gathers in a circle to count everyone and take attendance.
>After a couple more minutes, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna join the circle.
>"I, uh, I see everyone's up and early for this trip." Luna watches the sky get brighter and brighter.
>"It's okay if you're tired." Assures Gloriosa. "The walking's gonna get our blood pumping by the time we're halfway there!"
>"Oh, it's just that I've been up all night." Luna adds.
>"Oh you have?"
>"Yeah..." Luna giggles. "It's sort of a thing I do every now and then."
>"It's okay, Sister. You can sleep somewhere once we get to the site. Remember? Like back in the day."
>Luna nods as Gloriosa gets the campers mobilized into a line again after roll call is over.
>"Alright, everyone follow me!" Gloriosa leads the group down the dirt path and past the buildings.
>Just like that, the campers start off into the distance, some starting to lag behind due to fatigue.
>But Gloriosa is far from one of them, laughing a little as Gummy scurries past her.
>However, there is no one in the entire group that noticed what was floating in the sky just above the trees.
>For a short instance, Applejack notices it through her blurred vision, but before she came to her senses and looked harder, it was already gone.
>The girl assumes it was her imagination and shakes her head.
>The troop whistles a tune as they march through the woods.
>Gloriosa constantly checks on them with her eyes watching for anyone showing signs of slowing their pace.
>But she's mostly trying to see if the hiking is helping them wake up more.
>Surprisingly enough, Fluttershy has made it to the head of the group.
>She's not whistling the tune, but humming it to herself as she hears the birds in the distance sing along with her.
>Pinkie Pie bounces on her heels as she hikes; her pet alligator scurries around the trees looking for something to clamp his jaws onto.
>"I bet I can lap you three times." Rainbow Dash tells Trixie as she plans to swim in the lake after getting back to camp.
>"If you backed out of swimming in the river because you're too tired, why would you do any better in the lake?" Trixie asks. "Is the current too strong for you?"
>"It's the timing of it all! Duh!" Rainbow Dash defends. "The only thing is that it's too early for me to swim."
>Trixie squints at her. "Uh huh. And Trixie just knows that you're not going to end up saying the same thing at the last minute once we get back."
>"Something came up last time!"
>"Well you have nothing else to do today, so there's no reason for something to come up this time, isn't there?"
>"You're just trying to intimidate me because you know I'll beat you."
>"Oh please. Trixie knows that being a good runner doesn't mean you're a good swimmer."
>"It's pretty much the same thing!"
>"We're here!" Gloriosa announces from the front of the group next to Fluttershy.
>Everyone stops and drops their belongings as though they were carrying hot potatoes.
>Rarity, who barely had time to do her hair before the hike, slips a hat onto her head and lies down with her head perched on the bag she was carrying.
>Trixie sets herself down next to the water, giving Rainbow Dash a slightly challenging look.
>Applejack yawns three times in a row... now four times in a row.
>"Whoa! What's that?" Flash points to the sky after looking in the direction the group just came from.
>Everyone looks in the direction as well, just in time to make out the form of an unusually large bird swooping down from the treetops.
>"Aah!" Rainbow Dash doesn't hesitate to jump into the river.
>The campers start to panic as the large bird flies around just above their heads.
>"What is that?" Rarity cowers under her bag.
>"Stand back, I know what it is." Gloriosa finds Timber standing right next to her with the same expression on his face as her. "It's a Condor."
>By now, most of the campers hide behind the trunks and try to stay on the opposite side of those trunks form the bird.
>"Oh my..." Fluttershy keeps her back to the tree and peers around it. "I had no idea condors were that big.
>"Everyone just stay calm and away from open spaces." Instructs Timber.
>"Yes, just stay where you are until Timber and I scare it away. We got this."
>Rainbow Dash has already swam to the opposite side of the river and began running for her life as the bird draws close to her for a moment.
>But it soon swings back around to the side of the river with more people.
>Gloriosa and Timber have already pulled out a couple of blankets. They begin to wave them around to intimidate the condor.
>Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie climbs to the top of one of the trees with Gummy. "Ooh, this is fun!" She squeals.
>Not even Sandalwood can climb the tree like Pinkie Pie had.
>Gummy starts to leap from tree to tree as Gloriosa and Timber take care of the (magic) condor from below.
>"Over here! Come on, try to eat us! Over here!" Timber waves his arms around like a madman as Gloriosa flaps the blanket around.
>They have to follow the general direction in which the condor is in relation to them, soon running in circles on the grounds the troop had stopped at.
>Rainbow Dash watches them from the other side of the river, not taking any chances and staying within the safe confines of the bushes.
>"Whoa! That's a big bird!" Pinkie Pie points straight at the condor as it approaches her head on.
>Before it can reach her, Pinkie Pie leans back on the branch and does some sort of acrobatic swing-flip as the condor zooms by, missing the girl completely.
>Pinkie finds herself upright again after doing one full revolution of the branch she's sitting on.
>The condor rises above the trees behind her and back up into the sky.
>"That thing better not come near me!" Applejack grunts as she keeps herself on the opposite side of the bark from the bird, keeping a grimacing expression on her face.
>But as soon as she sees the wingspan of the bird come near once more, she yelps and leaps away to a larger tree to hide behind.
>Gummy soon scurries into a cavity in one of the trees, taking refuge in an owl's home.
>The owl isn't present at the time, but there is a much bigger bird that barely misses the little alligator.
>Gloriosa stands in the middle of the opening with the blanket, moving it around as much as she can to get the condor's attention.
>It isn't long before the bird starts circling her.
>Gloriosa stands her ground, but her legs start shaking and her mind starts racing.
>She waves the blanket around as the condor zooms past every few seconds.
>That wingspan is wider than Gloriosa is tall.
>"Over here!" Timber throws his water bottle at the bird to distract it.
>But he misses, and the water bottle almost goes flying into the river.
>As the other campers stay out of sight in the trees, Timber then rushes over to his sister as she distracts the bird.
>The condor continues to circle around and around the two before lowering its elevation and sticking its talons out.
>With his side of the blanket in his hands, Timber helps Gloriosa try to divert the condor to the other side of the river, yelling to Rainbow Dash to stay hidden until the condor is far enough away.
>It has been a few minutes of waving the blanket around, and Gloriosa has been doing it for much longer.
>The two siblings are starting to get out of breath, but Timber still has some stamina left.
>"You take it from here. I'm going to check on the campers." Gloriosa pants as she lets Timber grab both sides of the blanket.
>Timber nods and starts waving away at the gargantuan bird.
>Gloriosa catches her breath as she leans against a tree trunk. "Is everyone alright?"
>"We're good." Applejack responds as she ducks behind a nearby log.
>"There aren't many condors in this forest, are there?" Fluttershy shivers in her hiking boots.
>"Trust me, they're rare around here. We just got a little bit of bad luck this time around." Gloriosa forces a laugh. "Heheh... well that's our adventure for the day, huh?"
>Fluttershy solemnly nods even though no one can see her.
>"Gloriosa, look out!" Timber's voice pierces the air.
>Before Gloriosa can turn around, the condor's talons latch onto her shoulders.
>She didn't realize she was only at the edge of the trees.
>Gloriosa is lifted into the air.
>No matter how hard she kicks, Gloriosa can't get herself to break free of the talons that hold her in mid air higher and higher.
>Timber cannot reach for her anymore, and the condor does finally leave the premises, but not in a way that Gloriosa had intended.
>With her eyes shut, Gloriosa begins to scream for help as her brother fails to come up with a plan of getting her back onto the ground.
>"Help! Timber! Help!" Gloriosa is losing her bearings and soon thinks more about clinging to the bird some more just so she doesn't fall to her death.
>The talons pierce through the fabric of Gloriosa's shirt and lock her into the hold. It's almost surprising that this condor was able to lift the weight of a full grown adult off of the ground.
>But then again, this bird is probably the same size as most people, if not bigger.
>About a minute or two later, Gloriosa looks down to find what appears to be the ground a few feet below her.
>Without thinking twice about it, she sees it as her only option and starts to squirm around with the talons only holding her in the air by her shirt.
>She slips out, and tumbles onto the ground as the condor continues forward.
>Gloriosa cups her hands over her chest and ducks behind a couple of bushes. She wouldn't dare move under these circumstances.
>It doesn't take long for the condor to realize the difference in weight, and it comes circling back around after dropping Gloriosa's tattered shirt somewhere off in the distance.
>Gloriosa runs into the cover of some nearby trees, but soon realizes why the ground suddenly looked so close.
>The condor carried her to the top of a cliff.
>No time to dwell on this. Gloriosa ducks back down into the safety of the bushes and keeps her chest covered by her hands.
>The condor circles a few areas around her before heading off somewhere else.
>The wind begins to pick up.
>Gloriosa begins to shiver, hugging herself tighter as the cold forest air chills her skin.
>She waits a couple more minutes before checking to see if the condor is gone.
>It's nowhere in sight.
>Gloriosa emerges from the bushes with nothing but a hand-bra keeping her from being exposed.
>Though, it's not like anyone would be able to see her all the way up here at the top of a cliff.
>She can almost see the camp from up here, and has a good view of the rest of the campers down by the river after getting her bearings.
>With her legs shaking ever so frantically, Gloriosa dashes between the trees. There’s no condors in sight, but there’s no way down to the bottom of the cliff in sight either.
>At the same time, Gloriosa scans the ground for her shirt, no matter hot tattered it would be at this point.
>But it’s nowhere to be found, and she silently curses to herself.
>She never thought she would come fact to face with a downside to never wearing a bra.
>After a minute or two of searching around, Gloriosa discovers that there is no easy way off of this cliff at this time, and she simple goes back to her cover in the bushes before the condor comes back.
>Gloriosa waits until the wind dies down, then goes scurrying around some more in search of her shirt.
>She doesn’t even care if it’s completely ripped apart; she’ll still wrap it around herself so she doesn’t have to give the campers an awkward moment when she returns… whenever that will be.
>At this point, it pretty much doesn’t matter whether or not Gloriosa covers up her chest. There’s no one else around anyway, to the best of her knowledge.
>The distant sounds of everyone calling for her are barely heard, and Gloriosa starts to debate in her head if it’s a good idea to call back.
>But of course, surviving comes first, and Gloriosa momentarily shouts back in hopes that at least one of them will hear the sound of her voice.
>There’s no easy way of telling if they can hear her; it’s impossible to even make out what they’re saying as they yell.
>How on earth did this bird carry Gloriosa so far in such a short time?
>But that’s not relevant anymore. The topless counselor weaves in between the trees again, this time keeping her hands free.
>Her bare breasts bouncing with each step she takes.
>But it’s not that distracting, as the feeling has usually been pretty familiar anyway.
>No shirt can be found, however. Gloriosa assumes she can just spot the campers from a distance, hide behind something and call for one of the girls to come over and help.
>Several minutes of searching pass before Gloriosa finds the land’s elevation begin to slant downward. But it’s only as she’s heading away from the voices of the others.
>She still calls out to them, but still can’t tell if they are responding, or still calling out to see if she’s alive.
>After a few more paces downhill, Gloriosa finally finds that she’s on the side of the cliff that eases down into flatter land.
>She knows she has to hurry around the thing in order to make it back to the campers. The girl gets moving, making no effort to cover her chest without a thought about it in her mind.
>The birds nearby stop chirping for a brief moment when Gloriosa races past the trees they nest in.
>She runs through the wild, finding her way around the trees and shrubbery that pose a minor obstacle for her.
>The same river soon comes up in Gloriosa’s path, leading around the cliff and back to the place where the campers had planned to settle for the day.
>But the flow of the water is going in the opposite direction.
>However, this doesn’t matter. And Gloriosa begins to follow the river along the banks to meet the campers upstream.
>She doesn’t hear their voices anymore, but that’s probably because of the sound of the rushing water dominating a lot of the other sounds.
>Gloriosa slows her pace so she doesn’t get out of breath.
>After what feels like fifteen minutes, Gloriosa finally starts to recognize where she is. It’s a good thing she’s been around her multiple times before.
>She makes her way down the edge of the river and spots the opening where the campers had set everything up.
>But as she draws closer, she soon realizes that there isn’t anything moving over there.
>Gloriosa looks again, and again, and again. But there aren’t any people over there.
>She walks up to the bags and blankets that still lay scattered about. It’s only now when she hears the distant calling once again.
>But they come from different directions this time.
>They’ve gone looking for her.
>Even though that’s the case, Gloriosa still manages to find something to cover herself with from one of the bags.
>No one had apparently brought any clothes with them; they weren’t planning on staying here longer than just the late morning and afternoon.
>And since everyone already had their swimsuits on under their clothes, there’s nothing much left for Gloriosa here but a large handkerchief that thankfully fits around the girl’s body. But just barely.
>”Gloriosa?” A voice startles the counselor from behind.
>”Aah!” Gloriosa spins around to find Rainbow Dash emerging from her cover on the other side of the river just now. “Rainbow!”
>”They just went looking for you!”
>”Yes, I noticed! Do you know where everyone went?”
>”Timber led the group upstream and said the river was easier to cross in that direction.”
>Gloriosa looks in the direction to see that they are already long gone. “Did they determine a time to return back to here?”
>Dash shrugs and gets ready to swim back across the river, getting ready to plan how to find everyone else.
>Gloriosa sighs and gets ready to explain her shirtless behavior to the other girl.
>”So, uh…” Rainbow Dash’s eyes don’t stop drifting down.
>”The condor had me by the shirt and I had to slip out to get away.” Gloriosa explains.
>”Oh. Okay, that makes sense.”
>Rainbow Dash looks around in the distance for any of her friends.
>”Anyway, we gotta hurry.” Urges Gloriosa. “It’s going to be a long walk back to camp, and the longer we spend out here, the longer we risk being out here when it starts to get dark.”
>Dash nods.
>”Not only that, be that condor is still out there. Come on, let’s go!”
>With that, Gloriosa takes off with Rainbow Dash following her.
>It’s hard to believe that no one thought to stay by the camp in case Gloriosa found her way back. But then again, it did look like that bird took her pretty far up the mountain.
>They only go a little bit down the river until they finally spot Applejack and Fluttershy searching through a cluster of trees on the other side of the river.
>”Hey!” Gloriosa calls out while she waves.
>The two turn around and discover that Gloriosa is alive. Applejack immediately starts heading back as Fluttershy looks around the forest for anyone else.
>”Is everyone else nearby?” Asks Gloriosa.
>”We didn’t know what to do so we all went off in the same direction.” Applejack replies. “That hawk thingy took you to the top of that cliff over there so we all decided to try and go up there to follow in the same direction.”
>”So that means they’re near here, right?”
>”Should be. Hold on.” Applejack takes a deep breath and jumps into the river.
>She’s pushed downstream a little ways before grabbing onto a branch on the other side. Applejack emerges from the water as Fluttershy looks for the narrow part of the river she had used to cross by stepping on stones.
>The girl spots it, but on her way over, she spots Celestia and Luna not to far from her.
>She waves, but neither of them can see her.
>”Ah think they should be comin’ back by here in a bit. At least one of ‘em.” Applejack notices Fluttershy waving into a part of the woods she can’t see well into. “Fluttershy, you see someone?”
>”It’s Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna.” Informs Fluttershy.
>”Well don’t just stand there and wave! Call out to them!”
>Applejack momentarily does the exact same thing, cupping her hands in front of her mouth and yelling in the direction was waving in.
>The two woman pick up on Applejack’s voice immediately.
>”Are you alright?” Celestia hurries over through the shrubbery with her sister behind her. “Did you find Gloriosa?”
>”Yeah! She’s right here!” Applejack tells them. “Go get the others and tell them to come back!”
>”Right! Come on, sister. Let’s hurry before that bird comes back.” Celestia scans for any movement at the base of the cliff.
>After Celestia and Luna head off, Fluttershy continues over to the stepping stones that go across the river.
>She balances herself on one and then hops onto the other.
>”They’re going to meet at the crossing point, right?” Asks Rainbow Dash.
>”Ah imagine they would eventually. The rest of this river doesn’t seem to easy to cross without swimming.” Applejack watches Fluttershy make it to the middle of the rock bridge.
>But she also notices something approaching her from the other direction. It’s swooping down from the sky.
>It takes less than a second for Applejack to piece it together and let out a scream. “Fluttershy! Jump in the water!”
>Fluttershy stands stiff at the sudden outburst, looking over to Applejack who is trying to direct her attention towards the opposite direction where the condor spreads its talons.
>”Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash gasps as she runs over to the girl’s direction.
>By the time Fluttershy thinks to look the other way, the talons are already clamped onto her shoulders. Fluttershy is lifted into the air more quickly, being a little lighter than Gloriosa.
>”Nooo! Fluttershy!” Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Gloriosa start yelling over and over again as they watch the giant bird carry a screaming Fluttershy away.
>”Hello? What’s going on?” Trixie, out of breath, stumbles over to the scene as the condor disappears. The girl only catches a brief glimpse of it.
>”It took Fluttershy!” Applejack kicks the dirt on the opposite side of the river from Trixie.
>”The condor?”
>”Yes.” Gloriosa confirms from right next to Applejack. “It’s taking her to the top of the cliff, I’m very sure. We have to go back up and save her!”
>Right before the group heads off in the cliffs direction, Gloriosa adds: “But can someone stay at the camp this time?”
>Applejack and rainbow Dash exchange glances. Trixie raises her hand with her words in between heavy breathing. “Trixie will go back to the camp and stay there.”
>Everyone nods in agreement, and take turns going across the stone bridge until Trixie is the only one on the same side of the river as the camp.
>The other three race into the trees in the direction of the cliff, keeping their eyes on the sky.
>Celestia and Luna are moving through the trunks of trees and patches of shrubbery as quickly as they can, soon finding more and more of the group.
>Everyone is told to follow them, and that once the entire group is whole once more, they will cross back onto the other side of the river as they had to get over here.
>Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Sunset follow close behind Celestia and Luna before they notice Rainbow Dash calling out to them from behind.
>”Rainbow, where have you been?” Rarity automatically asks.
>”No time! We gotta get to the top of the cliff now!”
>Rainbow Dash races right past the other girl, followed by Applejack, Trixie and Gloriosa Daisy.
>”Wha… Gloriosa?” Rarity stutters.
>”I escaped but it took Fluttershy!” She points up to the top of the cliff. “C’mon, we have to go!” She grabs Celestia’s and Luna’s attention as she says all this.
>Gloriosa’s lack of a shirt doesn’t become much apparent to the others as everyone collectively realizes that Fluttershy is in the hold of that giant bird.
>…
>Timber Spruce grabs the rocks on the side of the cliff with all of his strength and pulls, straining as he looks up to see how much further he has to go.
>The guy is about halfway, and he is already panting from exhaustion.
>From behind, he hears a distant screaming slowly approaching. He turns his head for a split second to spot that same pair of wings, but a different person in the talons below them.
>”Is that…” He mutters to himself.
>The condor soars above, soon disappearing behind the top of the cliff with Fluttershy trapped in the grip of its talons.
>Timber responds to this by trying to climb even faster, inching his way closer to the top of the cliff. Every 45 seconds or so, he checks to see how close he is.
>But he never looks down for the sake of keeping himself focused on the top and not the possible fall to below.
>He half expects to see Gloriosa somewhere up there still, until he hears his sister’s voice call from below a few minutes later.
>”Timber?”
>He refuses to look down, calling down instead. “Gloriosa? Is that you?”
>”I’m down here!”
>”What happened?” Timber still needs to focus on getting to the top.
>”I escaped the condor! I was trying to get everyone regrouped, but then it came back and took Fluttershy!”
>”Ergh…” Timber grunts. “I think I saw her! The condor was right above me and flew over the cliff!”
>”Still, get to the top! Don’t come back down! It’s faster this way!” Instructs Gloriosa. “And keep calling for us so we can find you once we go around! But look for any signs of the condor or Fluttershy!”
>Timber’s arms are shaking, almost completely out of energy. He knows he needs to get this climb done now or else it means his life.
>”A-Alright!” Timber slowly scrambles up past the last couple of feet of rock.
>Meanwhile, Gloriosa leads the group around the base of the cliff.
>”Um…” Rarity finally notices Gloriosa’s attire. “Gloriosa… is that my handkerchief?”
>Gloriosa nods in response. “I lost my shirt escaping the condor, so I used this.”
>Norman and Flash in the back of the group blush a little while Sandalwood bites his lip. Trying to imagine how it happened as they follow everyone else.
>After several more minutes, the group is soon completely reunited in the trees below the cliff with the exception of Fluttershy.
>The notice the ground level begin to rise in one direction, and notice the shallow end of the cliff through the trees.
>”There!” Gloriosa exclaims. “Let’s hurry.”
>Applejack leans over to Rainbow Dash. “Fluttershy can still talk to animals, right?”
>Rainbow Dash perks up as she realizes that Fluttershy can. “Oh my gosh, I didn’t think of that! That makes our chances better! She can hold it off until we come up and rescue her!”
>…
>With a thud, Fluttershy is dropped into a large nest at the top of a tree.
>”Oof! Oh… uh…” She slowly looks up to find the condor spreading its wing right in front of her.
>It blocks out the sun, casting a heavy shadow over the girl. Fluttershy begins to squeak in fear.
>”N-nice… birdy?”
>The condor pauses after Fluttershy says something, soon waiting for her to say something else.
>”Um…”
>Fluttershy’s mind is spinning, without a trace of a thought about what to do in a situation like this. Fluttershy barely had any idea that birds could grow this big, and starts to fear that it is about to eat her.
>”Eep…”
>”What’s wrong little lady?” The condor suddenly seems to speak.
>Fluttershy’s eyes shoot wide open after being shut from sheer terror. She takes another look at the condor and gasps as she remembers her ability.
>”Uh… I… hi?” Fluttershy can hardly get any words out at all.
>”You look scared~” The condor hops down into the nest and begins to menacingly pace back and forth. “I don’t scare you, do I?”
>Fluttershy is trembling uncontrollably. “I… well… you are really big for a bird…”
>”Really big for a bird?” The condor almost laughs as it speaks. “Lemme tell you somethin’… All of the other birds in this forest are SMALL for birds. I am normal size for a bird!” It flaps its wings, prompting Fluttershy to curl up into a fetal position.
>”B-but…”
>”Aw, what’s wrong? You’re just not used to birds being normal sized like me?” A grin can be heard in the condor’s tone.
>”Please… just let me go…”
>The condor pauses again, and then looks around at the surrounding sky.
>”Oh, really? You want to go down, do ya?” The condor leans down to Fluttershy’s eye level, watching her eyes well up with tears that stream down her face. “I just wanted to say hello, is all. Why don’cha wanna stay up here with me?”
>”Be-be… beca-”
>”Is it because I scare you?” The condor is starting to sound more excited. “You ain’t got nothing to be afraid of, little lady. Don’t be like that.”
>It creeps closer to her.
>Fluttershy can’t really tell if she can hear anyone else around from inside the nest. But there is a possibility that what she hears out there is a lone set of footsteps.
>Fluttershy tries to crawl away, but a talon grabs onto her ankle.
>It's dragging her back.
>"Come on, now. I don't know why you gotta be scared of a bird."
>"Please... stay back!" Fluttershy huffs out some air as the condor lands on top of her. She tries to scramble away but the talons still clasp onto her ankles.
>Once again, Fluttershy begins to scream. But it's not a wasted one.
>Right outside of the next, an out-of-breath Timber Spruce peers up at the nest, having just spotted it.
>"Fluttershy?" He wheezes as the screaming continues.
>But Timber isn't going to take any chances. He picks up a rock from the ground and hurls it at the nest.
>The contraption shakes from the impact, and the condor is thrown off balance.
>Timber spins around. "Gloriosa! Where are you?"
>He gets a distant response from someone, but it's still too far away to be able to tell, who it is.
>While waiting, Timber picks up another rock and throws it at the nest.
>He hears a loud squawking come from it along with Fluttershy's terrified screaming.
>"What's going on out there?" The condor exclaims as it's thrown off Fluttershy.
>Fluttershy had heard Timber's voice from outside the next, and she screams his name.
>"Timber! Help me! I'm in here!"
>Another rock ricochets off of the side of the nest.
>Now agitated, the condor catapults out of the nest.
>"Hey! I recognize you!" It shrieks, only being understood by Fluttershy.
>Timber faces the screeching bird, picking up a stick but not having the full energy to use it.
>"What are you doing?" The condor lowers down towards Timber with its wings rapidly flapping. "Huh? You want a piece of me?"
>Fluttershy pops her head over the top of the nest, looking down at Timber facing off with the condor.
>"Alright... alright..." Timber slowly back away as the condor advances.
>He's shaking now, but far from breaking.
>The guy grits his teeth and tightens his grasp on the stick.
>"Timber?" Gloriosa's voice is apparent this time.
>"Wha..." Timber doesn't take his eyes off of the giant bird.
>But the condor looks over and recognizes Gloriosa.
>"What's this? You came back?" It sneers.
>Gloriosa steps forward as the condor squawks at her. She furrows her brow and plants her feet.
>"Everyone group together! We got this!" Gloriosa shouts to the others.
>The other campers had run over to here around the mountain cliff as well. As they arrive, they all form a small crowd of campers.
>"Alright, listen. The best way to scare it off is to make as much noise as possible."
>Timber stumble next to Gloriosa as the condor starts to circle high above its next.
>"Right. We need to intimidate it."
>The campers start to collectively scream. Fluttershy ducks back into the nest as the condor continues to circle it.
>A few seconds of this pass, but Rainbow Dash soon wants to see if she can get her friend down.
>"Fluttershy! Try to slide down the trunk." Rainbow yells up to the other girl.
>"What?" Fluttershy peers out form the nest again.
>"Slide down the trunk!"
>Before Fluttershy can ask how that's going to be possible, she remembers that the condor probably can't understand what Rainbow Dash is saying.
>There's no way to be sure, but it definitely knew what Fluttershy said before.
>"It'll work, trust me!" Rainbow's voice is almost overwhelmed by the noise of the others trying to intimidate the condor.
>Fluttershy shivers, but know that she has to try it.
>It's not easy to climb out of the nest with how high the walls go, but Fluttershy soon finds herself balancing on the branch with her arms and legs clutching onto it.
>Gloriosa notices this and urges the girl to keep going.
>"Why are you all so annoying?" The condor grunts as its ears are pierced by the multiple voices. "Aah!"
>It start to swoop down again, with its talons pointed straight for Gloriosa.
>The girl jumps out of the way, and so do the other campers once the talons come their way as well.
>Timber tries to hit it with the stick but misses.
>On the tree, Fluttershy hugs the trunk after she makes it over to it.
>"Holy cow! This bird is huge!" Applejack gasps as the condor nearly flies right into her.
>Rainbow Dash faces the tree once again, finding Fluttershy starting down the length of the trunk.
>"That's it! You got it!" The athlete encourages while oblivious to the talons behind her.
>Gloriosa reaches out her arm. "Rainbow Look out!"
>In a split second, Rainbow Feels herself being lifted up by the shoulders.
>But she's not having it that easily.
>The girl starts kicking as hard as she can, actually starting to throw the condor off balance.
>She's lowered enough to start reaching for the ground with her feet.
>Gloriosa comes up and grabs at the condor with her hands.
>The condor frantically tries to flap its wings and lift off once more, but it lets go of Rainbow Dash in the process.
>At this same moment, Fluttershy loses her grip and falls a short distance to the bushes below.
>"Fluttershy!" Rarity runs over to the girl as the condor starts to circle again.
>In a fit of rage, the condor circles around to strike Gloriosa once more.
>The wind picks up a little more, and Gloriosa's hair gets in her face as she ducks out of the way and tries to find where the condor is flying to next.
>She knows she has to act quick.
>But the other campers are right next to her, trying to fend off against the condor.
>And the bird is far too distracted to try and snatch up Fluttershy again.
>Rarity kneels by her friend, grabbing her hand and pulling her up and out of the bushes.
>Fluttershy exhales and holds onto her friend as the two retreat behind the trees.
>Meanwhile, the condor becomes increasingly miffed about the strike on its nest.
>Its ears ringing from the shouting, and its vision is starting to become blurry and saturated from the effect on its ears.
>It's eventually forced to fly away after it has trouble seeing.
>The group of campers assumes that they scared the condor away instead of angered it.
>Defeated, the condor flees from its own nest.
>Everyone collectively sighs in relief as they watch the pair of wings disappear.
>"Fluttershy... are you alright?" Rarity asks her friend before they both emerge from behind a couple of tree trunks.
>Fluttershy gives a silent thumbs up.
>"Come on, let's get out of here." Timber slips his shirt off. "Here, Gloriosa."
>Gloriosa accepts the shirt and slips it on before returning the handkerchief to Rarity.
>Everyone's blood stops boiling, and they start down the shallow end of the mountain.
>Timber is on the verge of passing out.
>After they make it to the river, at the spot where they're supposed to cross, everyone has to cross in pairs.
>Just in case a certain avian giant returns for whatever reason.
>And everyone's eyes are glued to the sky.
>Holding hands, and soon grabbing their belongings at the site the stopped at a couple of hours ago.
>A towering feeling of relief warming them as the air starts to get cold despite this.
>They group together, locking arms now as they slowly trot through the woods back in the direction of Camp Everfree.
>"Well, that was fun." Flash exhales. "But... let's not do that again."
>"I hear that." Timber Spruce looks behind the group for any signs of the condor.
>Many of the campers have started to become paranoid of the bird returning.
>No one had much of a chance to see what was happening in the sky through their tired eyes.
>That is far from the case now.
>Everyone has become calm, but alert.
>...
>Right before the sky starts to turn color at the end of the day, the group makes it back to camp.
>Late afternoon, maybe somewhere around four or five.
>The campers are more than interested to go to bed now, and and more than welcome to so do.
>Even Gloriosa and Timber head off to their beds, out of energy for the day.
>Everyone rests. The condor returns to its nest to find the intruders gone.
>It doesn't bother to try and find out where they went... until the next day.
>None of the campers took the south route again.
>About four days ever since the incident.
>The camp is quiet in the morning, and the campers are fast asleep in their cabins. Expecting nothing.
>Timber Spruce is the first to get out of bed, strolling outside, taking his ax with him. He uses the tool to chop a couple of branches off of some nearby trees for firewood.
>The rising sun gives him just enough light to see what he’s doing.
>But it isn’t in the right place in the sky to cause a shadow to be cast that Timber would notice. Something flies overhead undetected.
>And Timber is completely oblivious to the fact.
>But after getting back to the center of camp, he does feel a strange sensation come over him.
>Something odd, something peculiar. There was definitely something that changed overnight, but Timber is too focused on carrying the heavy firewood around to focus much on it.
>Gloriosa gets out of bed a few minutes after.
>The brother and sister soon meet and do their usual morning routine of preparing the camp for the campers to do things in when they wake up.
>Just cleaning things and setting up all of the activities people can choose to do.
>The summer morning air starts off cool, but warms up by the time the sun peeks over the trees. The insects buzzing and the birds chirping in every single direction.
>Nature. The very sound that Fluttershy awakens to.
>The girl yawns and stretches her arms out, soon gently waking up her pet bunny Angel.
>Pinkie Pie is still knocked out, with a pile of candy wrappers next to her bed.
>Fluttershy silently tiptoes past her and gathers her soap and shampoo.
>Meanwhile, in another cabin, Principal Celestia is just waking up herself.
>She rolls over a couple of times, but doesn’t open her eyes until Vice Principal Luna finally comes back from outside.
>”Well…” Celestia groans with her arms stretching straight up. “You’re back a early.”
>”I ate dinner early last night, so I want to be able to get breakfast as soon as I can before I pass out.” Luna slips her hiking boots off and tosses them aside.
>”Oh. Well you didn’t run into any wolves or bears last night, did you?”
>Luna smiles playfully. “Nope.”
>”No lions, tigers, snakes…?”
>With a giggle, Luna throws a pillow in Celestia’s direction.
>”Heh, alright, alright.” Says Celestia before yawning. “But everything went smoothly, yes?”
>”Yes, I told you, I’m perfectly fine walking around at night.” Assures Luna. “If there was any danger, I’d be able to tell from a long ways away and avoid it. I’m used to the dark.”
>”If we ever catch enough fireflies, I’d like to see if I can come with you next time.” Celestia tells Luna through yet another yawn.
>”Perhaps.” Luna slips on some casual sneakers. “Anyway, when does breakfast start? I’d like to have some waffles and sausage patties before going to bed.”
>Luna walks over to the window and sees Fluttershy exiting her cabin.
>Fluttershy now paces across the camp, soon making it to the camp washroom.
>There is only one shower available to use, and Fluttershy finds a plume of steam coming out from it.
>She’s too nervous to knock on the door, so Fluttershy simply stands out there and waits for her turn.
>After about a minute or so, Fluttershy recognizes Rarity’s voice.
>Even more time passes, and Fluttershy knows that the other campers are going to want to go in there at some point too.
>”Um… Rarity?” She speaks nowhere near loud enough for the other girl to hear her.
>Rarity still keeps taking forever to finish her shower. What on earth could she be doing in there?
>Gloriosa’s voice soon sounds over a megaphone.
>”Attention campers, rise and shine!…” She goes about her daily morning announcements.
>Fluttershy waits for Rarity to come out still as Gloriosa walks around the center of the camp in circles, not seeming to pay any mind to the girl outside of the shower.
>”Ugh, is she still in there?” Applejack startles Fluttershy.
>”Eep! Um… yes. I think so.” Fluttershy then asks, “Why are you two up so early?”
>”Well naturally, A’hm an early riser. It’s a given when you do work on a farm every day from dawn to dusk. As for Rarity, she told me she wanted to use the shower before everyone else for some reason. And ah think I know why now…”
>”Oh…”
>”She’s gonna use up all the hot water by the time she comes out! It’s time to stop this!” Applejack bangs on the door. “Rarity!”
>”Oh! Uh, occupied!” Rarity calls back out. “I’ll be out in a minute!”
>”You should have been out forty five minutes ago! What in the hay could you be doin’ in there that’s so important?”
>There are a few seconds of nothing but shower water running before rarity answers.
>”Just… things…” She responds in a quieter tone.
>Applejack stomps her foot on the ground and peeks under the gap of the wooden door. The door rises just high above the ground enough for someone to reach their arm through.
>But it’s hard to see into the shower room because of Rarity’s clothes piled up against the gap.
>”If she wants to do this, fine. She’s gonna learn the hard way.” Applejack reaches in and snatches Rarity’s clothes from inside. “If she won’t leave the shower room after almost an hour, at least her clothes still will.”
>Rarity immediately noticed the draft that enters the room from her clothes being taken away. “Hey! Did someone open the door?”
>Fluttershy covers her mouth in embarrassment by proxy. “Oh… my…”
>”Don’t feel sorry for her, Fluttershy. She needs to learn that other people could use some hot water too. I’ll do this every mornin’ if ah have to.” Applejack tosses the clothes around the corner behind the washroom.
>”What’s going on over here?” Luna strides over as Gloriosa finishes up her morning announcement.
>”Just waitin’ for… for… oh god, look out!” Applejack points behind Luna and ducks.
>Luna instinctively ducks to the ground as well, letting the condor’s talons just miss her.
>Fluttershy screams and high-tails it back to her cabin. Applejack scrambles to her feet and flees as well.
>”And at about five we will…” Gloriosa turns around, distracted by Fluttershy’s screaming. “Oh my god! Everybody stay inside!”
>”What’s going on out there?” Rarity calls from under the water.
>Everyone in their cabins, who had been listening to Gloriosa from the megaphone, jump to their windows in curiosity to witness the return of the gargantuan bird.
>It somehow found its way to the camp.
>Gloriosa and Timber retreat to their cabin.
>Everyone is indoors now, and the condor circles a few of the buildings around the camp a couple of times to scout for any potential prey.
>The campers stay by the windows with the curtains shielding their faces from view, with the exception of their cautious eyes.
>”Hello? What’s going on out there?” Rarity now exits the shower and wraps her towel around herself.
>But discovers that her clothes are missing.
>”Applejack!”
>Inside of the cabin, Applejack realizes what she’s done.
>The clothes rest at the base of one of the hind corners of the building.
>Overhead, the condor screeches as it comes back around in circles.
>”What do we do?” Gloriosa takes short peeks out the window. “Like… wait for it to go away?”
>”That could take a while.” Timber stays near the door.
>”Well don’t we have anything in here to scare it away with?”
>Timber looks over to a bed. “The sheets!”
>He pulls them off of the bed and marches towards the door.
>”I don’t see it anymore!” Gloriosa tells Timber. “Wait until it’s nearby.”
>Meanwhile, back in the shower.
>”Where are my clothes?! I demand to know instantly!” Rarity shouts from inside the room, using the second towel for her hair to re-stuff the gap at the bottom of the door.
>She starts banging on the door and calling out to everyone outside.
>”Applejack, did you take them?”
>The girl Rarity is calling to can barely hear the voice coming from the shower room.
>”Rarity, don’t go outside!” She warns. “The condor is back!”
>From inside the shower room with the water still running, Rarity can’t hear a word Applejack says. She momentarily opens the door with her towel tightly wrapped around her.
>”Where are my clothes?”
>After she pokes her head out the door, the shower water becomes less apparent to her ears, and she can hear Applejack’s warning more clearly.
>”Rarity, listen to me! The condor came back!”
>”I don’t care! Where are my…” Rarity’s eyes are drawn up to the sky as she notices something looming her way.
>It’s that same extra-wide pair of wings.
>The door is slammed with Rarity’s heart beating out of her chest on the other side. The towel is returned to the bottom of the door and the water is shut off.
>”Where is everyone?” Rarity shouts as loud as she can to make sure they can hear her.
>”We’re all inside!” Applejack explains. “Just don’t come out till we figure out how to deal with this condor!”
>The air outside grows silent as Rarity dries herself off.
>At the counselors’ cabin, Gloriosa keeps on searching for the condor. The window she looks out of faces away from a portion of the camp.
>”I’m gonna go out there.” Timber announces with his hand on the doorknob. “Can you come with? It’s better if there’s two of us.”
>”No, not yet!”
>”It’s fine! That thing won’t sneak up on me very easily.” He opens the door and steps out. “Come on, it can’t lift us up if we lock arms.”
>Gloriosa hesitantly steps away from the window and walks in Timber’s direction.
>From their windows, everyone watches Timber Spruce step out into the open, with Gloriosa following closely behind.
>Several feet away, the megaphone lies on the dusty ground, having been dropped in the panic.
>The siblings maneuver their way over to it.
>”I have an idea.” Timber answers the question Gloriosa was thinking of asking.
>He picks it up with his eyes still scanning the sky. Then speaks into it. “Attention everyone. We’re going to need you to all come out here as quickly as you can when I say so.”
>Gloriosa gets the blanket ready and Timber gets ready to point the microphone at the condor if he needs to.
>”Looks like we’re doing a little surprise teamwork lesson!” Timber continues.
>”Wait… do we all have to go out there?” Rarity calls from within the shower.
>Gloriosa looks in the direction of the building and pieces together the situation.
>Not having heard Applejack’s warning about the clothes. She’s oblivious to the clothes being around the corner.
>”Well, come out if you’re decent! If not, then just stay inside.” Gloriosa corrects her previous statement.
>Rarity shivers in her towel, and the campers shiver in fear as they hesitantly await the call to come out and defend Camp Everfree from the condor that circles it from all angles.
>”I don’t see it.” Timber has Gloriosa’s back.
>”There!” Gloriosa points after having been looking in the opposite direction.
>The condor is about to swing back around and head in the direction of the camp.
>Gloriosa puts the megaphone back up to her face and speaks into it.
>”Come out now! We have about twenty seconds!”
>Everyone who wasn’t too tired to get out of bed comes rushing out their doors and towards the sound of Gloriosa’s amplified voice.”
>Timber gets the blanket ready as everyone gathers around him and his sister.
>They’re all prepared to yell like last time, clustering their heads around the mouthpiece of the megaphone the best they can.
>From the distance, the condor comes soaring towards the campers in a blind rage, seeking nothing short of revenge.
>It gets closer, and closer still.
>”Get ready.” Timber urges with his hands clenching the sheets.
>Once the condor’s talons expand, Timber starts flapping the blanker around with the campers behind him.
>He prepares his ears for the worst.
>The megaphone vibrates with the force of dozens of voices.
>Timber’s ears are assaulted by the sudden outburst, but it doesn’t manage to do major damage to his hearing.
>With a swift motion of his arms, Timber swipes the blanket over the condor as it flies by.
>Its wings stick out from the sides, but its head is caught.
>Tries to surge forward but gets held back, Timber is holding strong in the wake of the loud voices around him.
>And the voices painfully ring into the condor’s ear holes.
>It screeches in agony as it tries to fly in the opposite direction now. But it loses balance and falls to the ground. This is when Timber tackles it and grabs the wings himself.
>”Gotcha!”
>Having stayed inside out of pure fear, Fluttershy peeks out the window of her cabin. The first thing she notices is Timber using his bodyweight to hold the bird to the ground as the campers continue shouting at it.
>She can hear what the condor is really saying.
>”Please stop! It hurts! It hurts!” The shrieking is only understood by the one girl.
>The condor’s tone has shrunk to a writhing cry, even more strained at its head is pushed against the dirt below.
>The other campers soon back away as Timber kneels on top of the giant wings to prevent them from flapping. The sounds of bones snapping can soon be heard.
>This condor isn’t going to fly again.
>”AAaaaahh! PLEASE! PLEASE STOP! MY WINGS!”
>All Timber processes from that is ear-piercing screeches of pain coming from the dangerous predator. He knows he has the upper hand now.
>The high ground.
>”Everyone turn away!” He orders.
>The campers scurry to safe distances and most of them close their eyes. More bones in the condor’s wings can be heard snapping followed by cries of agony that can only be truly understood by Fluttershy.
>With his hands around the bird’s neck, Timber clasps down and twists as hard as he can. As though he’s wringing the neck of a giant chicken.
>The condor makes gargling noises as its neck lets out several crackling noises. It’s eyes grow wide and soon go blank of expression.
>There is a loud snap, and the condor’s legs immediately cease their kicking. Falling completely limp with the rest of the bird’s body.
>Fluttershy’s eyes tear up, literally feeling the condor’s soul being ripped out of it’s doomed prison of flesh.

Eh, this is getting a little too dark, so I should probably end it there and not go any further into that territory.

THE END