Heart Plus - Dawn Arc

by SparkStone

Chapter 19 - Camping with the Cutie Mark Crusaders

I was packing up the apple pies in the cart, ready to go. Big Macintosh and I were heading out to deliver them while Granny Smith was taking care of the farm. I was about to head out until my little sister happened to also have packed something up.

"Uh…Applebloom? What's with that bag?" I asked.

"Don’t you remember? Me and the others are going to get our survivalist cutie marks!" Applebloom stated.

"Didn't you do that already?"

"No, that was camping. This time, we're gonna spend the night at the Everfree forest!"

"WHAT!? I can't let you do that!!"

"But you said it was okay when I asked!"

"Eeyup." Big Mac agreed.

I tried to remember what they were talking about. She was right, it was about a few days ago when I was out in the fields apple bucking. Applebloom came up to me with an excited expression.

"Hey sis! The girls and I got a great idea! We're gonna get our cutie marks by surviving in the Everfree forest for the night!"

"What!? There is no way I'm gonna let you do that!" I stated, still apple bucking.

"Aw, come on! We already have it all planned out and got supplies and everything!"

I sighed, because even if I said no, I knew she'd get into trouble anyways. "How about this? I go with you to make sure ya'll stay alive and well?"

"That's okay! It'll be great!"

"Alright, when are you going?"

"Hmm…In about three days."

"Alright then. You get ready by then."

She cheerfully ran out yelling out, "YAAAAY!"

After a moment of her leaving, I went back to apple bucking before thinking, "Wait…Do I have anything planned? Hmm…Ah, I'm sure it'll come to me."

Back to the present, I started to remember everything.

"Ah, horse apples…" I cursed.

"I thought you were coming with us." Applebloom reminded me.

"I know, but I forgot today's the day I was going to deliver pies. Sorry Applebloom, maybe next time."

She gave me a sour face before whining and moaning while lying on the floor. I stared at her as she stood in our way for about ten minutes, enough to make me say, "ALRIGHT! I GET IT! I'll…find somepony else to watch over you."

She swooped up to me and hugged me tightly. "Thank you so much!!"

I rolled my eyes while I signaled Big Mac to wait a bit longer. Walking to town with Applebloom, the first stop we went to was Rarity seeing that Sweetiebelle was probably with her at the moment. When I got there, Sweetiebelle was all packed up too, excited as Applebloom.

"I'm so excited!" Sweetiebelle exclaimed. "Are you ready to go?"

Rarity came into the room and said, "Ah! Applejack! Applebloom! So great to see you two."

"Hey Rarity, I need to talk to you…" I trailed off as Rarity quickly continued.

"Applejack, I must thank you for watching over the three. I would have been frightened knowing the three fillies would get into trouble running around in that icky forest with who knows what."

"Yeah, but there's a problem."

"What is it? Did you forget something? Need supplies?"

"No, the problem is that I have to do an annual delivery somewhere, and nopony back at the farm can watch over them. So I was wondering if you could watch them."

"If I could watch them?" Rarity repeated. "I'm afraid I can't. Gold Shield invited me over to his house for a romantic dinner. He's been getting ready for three days! Can you believe that?"

"Well I'm sure he's glad he was prepared three days before…" I muttered to myself. Sighing, I made sure, "So that's a no, huh?"

"Sorry, but I'm sure some of our other friends will watch over them. Sweetiebelle, why don't you go along with them since you'll be camping soon anyways?"

"Great idea Rarity!" Sweetiebelle replied. She ran up to Applebloom and the two stood in duo. "We're ready!"

With Rarity out and obviously Gold Shield, I had to ask some of my other friends. I made my way to Twilight's and asked her if she was free.

"Sorry Applejack." Twilight replied. "I need to reorganize the library again because I lost one of my combat spell books. I don't think I can protect them without it anyways."

"I see…Well, I'm sure I'll find somepony." I thought.

Next was Pinkie Pie at Sugar Cube Corner.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cake already have me foal sitting their kids! Sorry!" Pinkie informed me.

"It's alright." I assured her.

I then headed to Fluttershy.

"I'm sorry, but the Angel wanted to have a picnic today." Fluttershy explained.

"Right…"

And with that, I was almost out of ideas. Applebloom and Sweetiebelle were clapping hooves together while I took a moment to think this through.

"Almost all of my friends…What should I do?" I thought to myself.

Just then, another one of Applebloom's friends, Scootaloo rode in with her scooter. She stopped in time and as usual, carried a bag of supplies ready to go camping…surviving…in the Everfree forest.

"Hey Applejack! Sorry I'm late!" Scootaloo apologized. "Just had some last minute things I needed to get! So, when are we going?"

I sighed and said, "I don't think you girls can go."

"WHAT!?" They all screamed together.

"Well, I can't take care of you since I'm busy delivering pies, and so is everypony else with other things! I'm sorry, but I don't have anypony to watch over you three."

"Oh! I know! I know!" Scootaloo claimed raising her hoof up high. "We can ask Rainbow Dash!"

"I don't know…" I replied, knowing her daredevil antics. "She might not be the best choice to…"

"Oh come on! She's awesome! She's totally qualified in my book!"

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Applebloom questioned. "Let's go find her!"

"YEAH!" They all yelled in unison, running off to find Rainbow. I sighed as I followed them. Looking for her took a while thinking she was sleeping on a cloud somewhere. When we found her, she was way high up there.

"Rainbow!" I called her, but she couldn't hear me.

"Let's all shout to call her!" Sweetiebelle suggested.

Together, we huffed up a deep breath and yelled, "RAINBOW!!!" But even that, she couldn't hear us.

"Maybe that's not Rainbow." Applebloom thought.

"Oh please! She's the only pegasus I know that sleeps on a cloud in the morning." I stated. Annoyed, I picked up a rock and kicked it to the cloud. I heard a thud followed by somepony yelling, "OW!"

"Looks like that got her attention." I said to myself somewhat amused.

"Got who's attention?" Rainbow asked behind me.

"Got your attention…Eh?" I looked at Rainbow, surprised she was right by me. "Weren't you on that cloud?"

"I was flying over there." Rainbow pointed to the other way. "I don't know who you hit, but they were loud enough for me to hear."

We looked back up to the cloud to see Kasin climbing out of it.

"KASIN!?" Rainbow and I shouted.

"Who's he?" Scootaloo asked.

"I think that's the boy Applejack's been talking about." Applebloom thought.

"Oh! I know! I heard he's a human and that his name is Kasin!" Sweetiebelle answered.

Kasin glared down at us before he jumped off the cloud and landed on his feet to the ground. "Who the heck threw that rock!?"

The girls pointed at me, earning themselves a glare from me too. I gave a sheepish look at Kasin saying, "Sorry about that Kasin. I thought you were Rainbow when we were calling for her…Wait a minute…How can you stay in a cloud?!"

"Oh yeah!" Rainbow realized. "Did you get somepony to fly you up there before getting a cloud walking spell?"

"What? No." Kasin replied. "I jumped up there."

"But…I thought you can't stand on clouds." I commented.

"That was before I had chaos powers. Now that I can use it, I can turn my happiness into a energy coating letting me touch clouds." Kasin explained.

"WHOA!" the girls said.

"Who are they?"

"Oh! That's right!" I realized. "You never met Applebloom before. I guess you never met Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo either."

"No I have not. Nice to meet you three. I'm Kasin."

"Nice to meet you mister Kasin!" Sweetiebelle greeted. "I'm Sweetiebelle!"

"Thanks Sweetiebelle. By the way, just call me Kasin."

"I'm Applebloom." She introduced herself.

"Ah, I heard a lot of stories about you from Applejack." Kasin stated.

Applebloom blushed in embarrassment while Scootaloo rushed up to Kasin and said, "Hey! What's up! My name's Scootaloo!"

"Scootaloo huh? Nice to meet you!" Kasin spoke while bumping her hoof with his fist.

"So what's going on AJ? Why are you watching these kids?" Rainbow asked me.

"That's the problem. I gotta find somepony to watch over the fillies while I go deliver some pies with Big Mac. But everypony I asked so far has plans already."

"Oh, that's it? Don't worry! I'll keep an eye on them!"

"Heh…Right…great news…"

"What? You don't think I'm responsible enough to watch over them or something?"

"Well…You do have a tendency of doing some…extreme stunts…"

"True, true…but if I could remember this, Scootaloo told me something about a survival trip to the Everfree forest or something. Is that by any chance where they're going?"

"Yep, that's the place."

"Then what better bodyguard than me? I'll watch over them just fine!"

"You don't understand Rainbow, I need somepony who can make sure they're fed and set their tents right. True, they also need to be strong, but those other qualities are important too."

"What's that about cooking?" Kasin entered the conversation. "And about setting tents?"

"The three of us are going to the Everfree forest tonight to get our survival cutie marks!" Applebloom claimed.

"Ah…Wait, what? Just the three of you?"

"Yeah! It's gonna be great!" Scootaloo added.

"No way am I gonna let little girls just waltz in the forest like it's no big deal. Place is crawling with who knows what, and I'm sure not gonna let my friends sisters get eaten or whatever." Kasin declared.

That gave me an idea. "Then why don't you go with them?"

"Hmm?"

"You see, under a lot of circumstances, I can't find anypony to take care of them just in case for tonight. So I was wondering if maybe you could watch over them."

"Hey! What about me?!" Rainbow questioned.

"Fine, and you can help too."

"Sure, why not." Kasin agreed casually. "Gold Shield is having a date with Rarity anyways, so he wants the house to himself for a while."

This was great! Now Kasin will watch over them. I'm sure he can keep them all in the clear knowing that he's been in the army, knows how to cook, and he's strong so that way the girls will be safe. I think I can make deliver the pies knowing that he's going to watch over them for tonight.

Applejack was lecturing to me about what I should do, what I shouldn't do, what should I have, what I shouldn't have, what to look out for, what to look for, and so on and so forth. After about nearly an hour of that, I used that time while she was talking to pack stuff myself. Food supplies, medical supplies, sleeping bag made by Rarity, tent made by Rarity, matches, and some of Applejack's rope. I along with Rainbow, Applebloom, Sweetiebelle, and Scootaloo ventured deep into the Everfree forest. We traveled for quite some time, but I was merely listening to the girls on where they wanted to go. I'm here to watch over them, not to tell them how to get their cutie marks. If they need my help, they'll call. Passing through rivers and quietly traversing through the cliff pathways, the trio took this very seriously until…

"I'm hungry!" Scootaloo complained as she stroked her hind hoof to kick the ground, riding her scooter slowly.

"We can't eat now!" Applebloom told Scootaloo. "We need to find a camp site first!"

"What do you think Kasin?" Sweetiebelle asked me.

"I'm just here to see that you're alright." I told them. "Other than safety and staying alive, it's all up to you."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rainbow asked me. "They're just kids."

"So what? I was eleven and I had to go through something like this. They could be capable, let's just watch."

"You were eleven when you traveled through the Everfree forest?!" Applebloom questioned.

"Not this forest specifically, but I had many challenges when I was young and alone. I had to pick up a lot of things to get on my feet and start moving."

"Tell us about it!" Sweetiebelle pleaded.

"If you want to hear about it, okay then. It's not a fun story though."

"Nah, that's what they all say!" Scootaloo claimed. "Go on! Tell us!"

I sighed and began. I told them a brief summary of my life. Losing my family when I was ten. Living with my uncaring grandfather, striving through the world alone and just to lose it all again. Memories that don't give any pain anymore but still numb my mind, thinking what could have happened. They were all saddened until I began to tell them what happened next. I opened my eyes to Equestria. told them my adventures with Rainbow Dash and the others, what we went through, who we fought, and everything we did for each other. The fillies were astonished and were excited as I finished the story.

"Then I met you girls, and now we're out surviving in the Everfree Forest!" I joked.

They laughed as we finally stopped at a clearing. It was near a waterfall with a pond and a circle of trees surrounding the area.

"This is it! This is the place!" Applebloom declared.

"Good choice." I told them. I sat down by a tree and kept a close eye on them. The girls were setting up their tents while Rainbow Dash flew over to me.

"So that's you plan? Let them do their own work?"

"The difference between me and them is I had to go through this stuff because I had no choice. They want to go through it to earn something. So why bother them? If they need help, they'll ask." I explained.

"Hmm…Yeah, that makes sense."

For a while, the girls were setting up their tents. They started out pretty good at first…that was until they somehow messed up somewhere and turned the tent into a scrap ball. I sighed and held myself back for a few more moments to see if either, they'll redeem themselves somewhere or ask for help. The results…none. The scrap ball turned into a mere pile. I couldn't even tell if that was the tent before it got ruined. I went ahead to make my own tent and told Rainbow to make hers. Maybe if I built mine, they'll copy what we do and follow on. When me and Rainbow built ours, we finished up quickly. The girls got an idea and went back to their messes. We waited for a while to…Okay, you know what? In the end, we burnt it. Because they messed up SO BAD, that it was only useful to burn for firewood. We roasted marshmallows over the fire while we gazed up at the stars.

"That was hilarious." I couldn't help but say followed by a chuckle. "I guess camping isn't your cutie mark."

"Yeah, but we're alive, aren't we?" Applebloom pointed out. "That makes us survivalists!"

They checked their flanks but saw nothing and sighed. I nodded 'no' as I said, "That's not a survivalist. Survivalists live through all kinds of dangers that comes to them and make it out of any situation. Being alive is the greatest thing, but it's complicated comparing it to living and surviving."

"I get it!" Scootaloo spoke. "We gotta go into a lot of danger and then get our cutie marks!"

"Yeah!" The other two cheered.

"No!" I shouted. "That's not how it works either!"

"Well, how does it work?" Sweetiebelle asked.

I sighed and said, "I said it was complicated, but to simply put it, looking for trouble won't get you anywhere but trouble."

"Oh…alright then…" Applebloom sighed sadly. "Well that's okay! I'm sure the next time we try something, that's when we'll get our cutie marks!"

"YEAH!" The three cheered. "Cutie mark crusaders, go!"

"Cutie mark crusaders?" I repeated.

They gasped as if it was a big deal. "That's right! You haven't heard of us!" Scootaloo pointed out.

I nodded 'no', and then got pulled by Rainbow telling me, "It's just the three of them doing a bunch of stuff to get their cutie marks."

"Ah, okay then." I understood. "That's cool I guess. Even if you three keep failing, you'll have a lot of skills since you're familiar with all of them."

They gasped before Sweetiebelle said, "I haven't thought of it like that before!"

"Maybe if we keep on getting familiar with everything, we'll have a…uh…Everything cutie mark!" Applebloom declared.

"YEAH! Everything Cutie mark crusaders!" They cheered.

"Nice going." Rainbow remarked to me.

"Ah crud…" I muttered, slapping my face in shame of my actions. "You know what? Eventually, they'll find it on their own."

After a while, the fire started to get dim and no one was in the mood to call it a night.

"Aw! I don't want to go to bed!" Applebloom complained.

"Me neither!"Sweetiebelle agreed.

"Well, the fire is going out. If you want to stay awake, someone's gotta get the firewood." I informed them

"Y-You mean…out there…?" She asked pointing to the dark forest.

"Yes. The trees here aren't dry enough to burn since we're near a pond. So we need to go deeper in the forest to find better ones."

"I'll go!" Scootaloo decided.

"Me too!" Rainbow joined in.

"No." I told them. "Rainbow, one of us has to stay here and keep an eye on the campsite along with Applebloom and Sweetiebelle."

"Oh, right." Rainbow understood.

"So, I guess that means me and Scootaloo are heading into the forest then."

"Alright Kasin! Lead the way!" Scootaloo told me.

"Right, right. Let's go."

We left the campsite to Rainbow, Applebloom, and Sweetiebelle. Me and Scootaloo traveled into the woods once more looking for a good trail of dry trees. With us running into marshes and swamps, dry wood was hard to find. As we looked, we began to talk.

"So Kasin! How was it like when you first used your powers?" Scootaloo asked.

"My first time?" I repeated. "Hmm…The first time I used it…"

The first time I used it was during the battle in Canterlot out of rage. The feeling was hard to describe, but I tried to find the best words for it.

"I was angry on my first time, so it was like…relieving my stress by yelling." I answered.

"Whoa…" she responded. "You're really cool, you know that?"

"Thanks, but it's no big deal."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, I was never interested in fighting to begin with. I only learned and trained myself at first to survive since I didn't have any friends…but now that I do, I got stronger so I could protect them…I got better at things just for them."

"Wow…You must really like them."

"Something about those girls tell me that they have the power to give back life to anybody who's been lost for too long. Those girls have the ability to revive the will to live."

"Hmm…I never thought of it like that. That's really cool!"

"What about you Scootaloo? How was your life?"

"My life?" She repeated, looking down and seem to be hesitating. "I-It's fine I guess. I made my scooter, I learned how to ride it, and all that stuff."

"You made that scooter? It was pretty well built."

"Really? Well, yeah, I did make it. Just took a few junk off and screwed it in together."

"Junk? What, you get your tools off the scrap yard?"

"Um…yeah? I mean, why not? Don't waste stuff, you know? Heh, heh…"

"True that, sister." I chuckled.

She looked at me with a sudden glimpse of hope in her eyes. "D-Did you call me…sister?"

"Well…Why not? I mean, you and I have a lot in common. We built our gear. Your scooter and my trusty slingshot." I pointed out while showing it off. "You worked on riding around your scooter, I worked on shooting with my slingshot. Our stories maybe a bit tweaked, but I think we almost live identical lives."

Scootaloo was smiling solemnly and said, "I-It means a lot that you called me…your sister…"

"Hey, don't sweat it! It's no big deal."

"Heh, yeah…but even so, I really appreciate it…bro…"

Just as we walked further, we heard footsteps. I brought Scootaloo behind me and looked out for whatever it was. Timber wolves were coming out of the bushes with a threatening look on their faces.

"Scootaloo…stay close…We're about to go through real survival." I told her.

I was hanging with Applebloom and Sweetiebelle while Kasin and Scootaloo went out to get firewood. The two were watching the fire go out slowly, worried that it would go out.

"Don't worry you two." I assured them. "If I know Kasin, he's getting that firewood as we speak!"

"Really?" Applebloom asked.

"Yeah, I mean, he's changed."

"What do you mean 'changed'?" Sweetiebelle asked.

"Well, when we first got him out of a crater and all that stuff." I started off. "He was the shyest and most scared kid I ever met."

"Really?" The two asked in unison.

"Yeah! He was even afraid of Fluttershy's animals! Can you believe that!?" I couldn't help but laugh

"I-Is Scootaloo safe with him?" Sweetiebelle asked, unsure of Kasin's skills.

"Oh, no, no, no! I didn't mean it like that!" I quickly responded. "Even if Kasin was the same back then, he's still somepony you can count on. When he was shy, he still fought with all his heart when we needed him. He fought and beat Gnosis and Scorch when they were roughing us all up! He went all in at the battle at Canterlot! He even defended us whenever somepony made fun of us!"

"Whoa…" They both said.

"Yeah, pretty cool, huh?"

"But wait…" Applebloom thought. "Why did Kasin leave Ponyville for two months?"

"Yeah, why did he stay in Canterlot for so long?" Sweetiebelle added.

I sighed and tried to remember without hurting my head. "Well…We tried our best fighting in Canterlot, but…We weren't good enough. Princess Luna got wrecked because we weren't ready."

"I heard what happened to her…" Sweetiebelle softly spoke. "That was pretty bad…"

"What's even worse was…Kasin was there when she fell. He saw it happen right before his eyes."

They kids were silent. Maybe that was too much. They were thinking about how much Kasin went through before and after he went to Equestria. They started to tear up feeling sorry for him.

"T-That's so sad…" Applebloom stuttered.

"How awful…" Sweetiebelle cried.

"Hey, but it's alright…" I told them. They looked up at me so I could continue. "She's not gone. She's just asleep. Someday, she'll wake up again."

They sniffed up and wiped their eyes before smiling again. I looked off to the moon and went on with the story.

"Kasin somehow got better. I think it was because of Princess Celestia. After that, he wanted to get stronger so none of us will go into the state Luna is. So he could protect us and everypony else he loves…"

"Wow! Kasin's really cool!" Applebloom cheered.

"He's a hero!" Sweetiebelle added.

"He's not the only one who started working on their skills. He inspired the rest of us to get stronger. After those two months, we've gotten better, and now we're ready!" I claimed.

"Ready for what?" Applebloom asked.

"Anything."

The girls were exited and were all amazed. I told them our last huge battle, the one in Manehattan. I told them all the fights we won, all except for one that was cheated.

"Shale…" They muttered.

"Shale's the guy who's leading the revolutionaries." I told them.

"Why is he doing it?" Applebloom asked.

"Cause he thinks he can lead Equestria better than Princess Celestia."

"…Princess Celestia isn't a bad ruler, is she?" Sweetiebelle asked.

"No way! The Princess has been there for us plenty of times! I can't even count how many times she tried to make things right!"

"Yeah, there's no way anypony out there knows how to handle a kingdom like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!" Applebloom told Sweetiebelle.

"I guess you're right." Sweetiebelle smiled. "By the way Rainbow, what do you think of Kasin?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "He's my friend."

"I know, but I mean…well, do you like him?"

"Yeah, he's a great pal."

"No I meant do you LIKE, like him?"

Oh pony feathers! Now these two are on my case!?

"Eh heh…um…" Shoot! I think I'm blushing!

"Is that a yes?" Applebloom asked.

I sighed and said, "Look! You better not tell anypony, or I swear! I'll bring a thunder cloud and zap the bunch of ya!"

They nodded still giving a giddy smile. I breathed in and said, "Yes."

They screamed like little school fillies, all giddy for romance and whatnot. They then started to ask a bunch of questions.

"Does he know? Did you ask him out yet? How long have you felt?" They asked.

I shoved my hoof in their mouths and said, "One more question on this topic, and that's it!"

They nodded as I let them off. Sweetiebelle went ahead and asked, "When did you start liking him?"

I held my chin for a while thinking about that day. The day when Lightning Dust came into town. Blushing, I said, "It must be when he was the only one who said that I was going to be a Wonderbolt when we were fighting Lightning Dust, who said I couldn't…"

"Aww~!" They squealed.

"Okay! That's it! No more questions!" I warned them. "Gah, where's Kasin with the firewood already!? It's getting dark."

Right on time, Kasin and Scootaloo came back with a buck load of wood piling on their backs.

"Whoa, where'd you get all that?" Applebloom asked.

"It was crazy!" Scootaloo began. "We were walking, and then all these timber wolves came out and started attacking, but then Kasin was all like, BAM! BOOM! SHAZAAM!"

Kasin simply smiled and said, "We survived."

They unloaded the wood and relit the fire. We stayed up a while longer, roasting more and more marshmallows. While we ate, the two were whispering to Scootaloo about the whole thing. I could tell because she gave a surprised look at me and Kasin and smiled. What was else would she be thinking? What I didn't get was the next thing that happened.

"You know what?" Scootaloo started off. "It is getting kinda late…"

"Yeah, I think we should go to bed now." Applebloom added.

"Totally!" Sweetiebelle agreed.

"Really?" Kasin wondered. "Are you for real? We just got back a ton of timber wolf wood and now you're telling me you want to go to bed? You are three strange little girls."

"Oh, but what's this?" Applebloom pointed out. "There's only two tents!"

"Yeah. We burned yours, remember?"

"We can't all sleep in the same tent!" Sweetiebelle pointed out as well.

"We can split. I don't mind sleeping out here either, I tend to take a long look at the stars for-" Kasin trailed off as the three raced in his tent. Kasin sighed and said, "I guess we'll be sharing tents while the girls have their slumber party in theirs."

I get it now. Those little runts are trying to get us alone! I couldn't help but blush at this. "Uh, yeah! Sure thing."

"Before we call it a night, wanna stargaze with me?"

"Um…sure!"

He lied down on the ground and looked up high. I did the same thing right next to him and just looked. It was pretty, I'll give it that. The moon was shining and everything seemed perfect. Now was a good time to make my move…

"You always stargaze?" I asked.

"Yep. I do it once a night. I never really get tired of it either." He answered.

"How come?"

"My mom used to tell me stories of each and every constellation. She would make up random fairy tales and told me about them each time I went to bed. I always envied the creatures that would be remembered by the constellations. Of course, I also miss my mom…"

Bad zone! Bad zone! "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up."

"It's no big deal. I'm sure she's happy to see that I'm still loving the stars as usual."

Okay, I'm in the clear. "Can you tell me some constellations?"

"You want to know about the constellations?" He asked me somewhat surprised. "Well, I guess I could tell you a few. The big dipper here exists apparently. The pegasus is over there, followed by the unicorn and the earth ponies."

"Whoa…I never noticed that before…"

"The pegasus constellation is just a wing of one for the stars. The unicorn is a sparkle of magic. The earth pony is the actual thing because the book says they believe all the ponies were originated from this common ancestor. Of course, further research denies this fact and…" He trailed off.

"Why'd you stop?"

"I almost forgot, you're not into that sort of stuff." He laughed.

"N-No! I wanna hear some more! It's actually interesting!"

He gave me a surprised look before getting up and saying, "Okay, no. If I know Rainbow Dash, she gets bored of facts and learning things that have nothing to do with action and speed."

Shoot! He's onto me! I got up and rebutted, "C-Constellations are cool! I mean, the pegasus is up there!"

He pounced onto me and pushed me to the ground. He was over me pinning me to the ground.

"Nice try Rainbow. If you're serious, tell me about how the shape of the pegasus is looks like the Wonderbolt?"

"Easy! They're the best fliers in Equestria."

"Ah ha! You weren't listening! I just said the constellation of the pegasus was just a wing of one thirty seconds ago!"

Ah shoot…"Whoops…"

He smiled and started to laugh. "Geez Rainbow, I don't know what you're planning, but it must be one heck of a scheme!"

"Eh heh…right?"

He leaned up to my nose and said, "I really missed your pranks you know. Sending me up to clouds and pushing me off, sometimes you even sneak dirty magazines into my books to mess up my reading time."

"Oh…you remember that?"

"How could I not!? Cheerilee stopped talking to me after that!" He told me before our noses poked. "But even though you do all this stuff that drives me crazy…I loved the thrill of it."

"Really?"

"I was shy, timid, cowardly, all that stuff…then I met you, the daredevil that kept challenging me to go through whatever the heck you put me through. From the pie that got custard in my scars to the time you made me wake up on the cloud. The question is, why'd you stop?"

"What?"

"After Lightning Dust got what she deserved, you stopped…I thought I did something wrong after that day…" Kasin said, getting off of me. "I never like it when my friends act out of character…but you've all become…different. I'm not sure if it's because we're growing up, or that something changed."

Oh, he has no idea…"It's not that I don't want to hang out with you anymore…It's not that at all."

"Then why are you treating me so different than before?"

"It's because…well…!" Come on! Say it! "I just think you deserve more respect!" Eh, maybe later…

"More respect?"

"A-After you stood up for me, I thought that…maybe I shouldn't treat you like a kid anymore…maybe I should be more respectful…"

Kasin frowned and said, "Rainbow, I'm seventeen! You're older than me, and you know it! I never complained enough to ask you to stop it entirely, in fact, I wish you girls didn't change what you do around me…Everything's been weird, but I don't know why."

"Kasin…"

"Is it because of Canterlot? Or that I've gotten special privileges? If I could, I would give it all away just so we can have a picnic together like we usually do sometimes…but now we don't even do that…"

"I…I'm sorry Kasin…I didn't mean to make you feel bad…"

"I don't feel bad…at least not to change, but what I want to know is, why? Is there something between us?"

What's he asking? "What do you mean?"

"Do you feel something different about me?" He asked. "If so, tell me."

This was it. The moment of truth. I was about to answer-

"Hold on…" He spoke. He looked at the tent and saw the fillies peeking out of the tent. "Chaos sense works every time."

"Oh…busted…" Scootaloo said.

Kasin sighed and said, "Well, seeing how you three can't go to sleep while me and Rainbow talk privately, I think I'll go to bed too just so you can sleep. Goodnight Rainbow."

I sighed in disappointment. "Goodnight Kasin."

Kasin went into the tent while Applebloom and Sweetiebelle swooped back in theirs. Scootaloo came out with her head lowered. "Sorry Rainbow…We tried to keep quiet…"

"It's okay Scootaloo." I assured her rubbing her mane. "Someday, I'll have it in me to tell him…"

I woke up from a straining night of frustration taken off my chest. Days of young has passed I thought. so does that mean the fun in my life in Equestria is now gone? I crawled out of the tent and saw Rainbow chilling out on the coast while the fillies were swimming in the pond. I went over to them thinking over my actions from last night.

"Kasin!" Rainbow said as she pulled up her sunglasses. "You kinda took a long nap."

"Yeah, listen." I began to say. "I'm sorry about last night. I don't know what I was trying to say. Things are just moving really fast now. I feel it's only a matter of time that things will get to the point where we'll even defeat Shale and his revolution. With that, stress is just finally getting to me is all."

"Ah, don't sweat it!" Rainbow said casually. "It happens sometimes. We all go a little wacko at least once in a while. It just matters that you're alright."

"Thanks. By the way, why aren't you swimming?"

"Just thought I chill here for a while."

"Alright then, in the meanwhile, I'm gonna change for a swim!" I informed her before going to the tent. After a moment, I came out with my green swimming trunks and nothing else. Rainbow took a look at me and brought on a red face. "What's with you? You're as red as apples."

"A-Ah…You're not…wearing a shirt…"

"No, I don't need to wear a shirt to go swimming…why?"

"Y-You know what? I think I'll go for a swim too."

Not sure what to say, but whatever. I dove into the pool of water while Rainbow did a cannonball. With a few splashing around, we spent the time swimming in the pond. We swum below to see fish below us and a small crevice of baby turtle eggs hatching. Going up to the air, we looked at the waterfall and dared ourselves to swim under it. The pressure of it pushes the fillies away easily, but I managed to get in with Rainbow. Staying in for a while, Rainbow eventually got tired and was pushed away by the waves while I remained. Coming out of the falls, we all watched Rainbow do one final trick before we packed up and started heading home. She flew up to the mountain where the waterfall was coming out of and stood on top.

"You guys ready?" Rainbow asked.

"Aw yeah!" Scootaloo cheered.

Rainbow jumped off and flew straight down. Within a moment, she did something that astounded me. A ring of rainbow erupted with a sound of a sonic boom. She flew into the pond making a massive cannonball which practically washed us back to shore. Walking out of there fine, she asked, "What'd you think of that?"

"What…How did you do that!?" I questioned. "What was that!?"

"What? I never told you about my Sonic Rainboom?"

"No! I never heard of it before! Is it basically you breaking the sound barrier and that happens?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I'm the only pegasus who can do it."

"That…Was so amazing…"

"Really think so huh?"

"Yes! It was so amazing! It's beyond what I can imagine! It's…" I couldn't help but blush, seeing how much of a fan I was of Rainbow. She never ceases to impress me. She smiled back saying, "Yeah, I know I'm awesome!"

I grinned and went back to packing everything up. As I did, I noticed Rainbow was looking at my naked back.

"Hey Kasin." Rainbow began. "What's that on your back?"

"Hmm? What's on my back?" I asked.

"It looks like a cutie mark!" Applebloom pointed out.

"Yeah! It's a broken heart!" Sweetie belle continued.

"Oh. Are you talking about my birth mark?" I questioned.

"That's your birth mark?" Rainbow responded. "Wait, you have a birth mark?"

"Yeah, why? It's no big deal."

"What's a birth mark?" Scootaloo asked. "Is it like a cutie mark?"

"No Scootaloo, a cutie mark is a symbol you get once you find your special talent. A birth mark is just a symbol you had when you were born. It doesn't mean anything though."

"Are you sure?" Sweetiebelle asked. "I mean, that birth mark REALLY looks like a broken heart, kinda like your shirt too."

Rainbow nodded in agreement. "Yeah, what's with that symbol anyways? Why do you wear that around?"

"In all honesty, my birth mark was originally a whole heart, but ever since the fire at my old home, I was burned on my back, scraping it and making it look like a broken heart. Ever since then, I guess it became my new thing to show it off." I answered.

"You got burned on the back?!"

"It's no big deal. I mean, it was like seven years ago. I got over it."

"But still…it's pretty weird how much you show off that picture like it's who you are."

"Maybe it is. It doesn't matter though, either way, I'm still me."

Rainbow smiled and said, "Yeah, I guess so."

"We better get going. We don't want to keep your family waiting."

Applebloom and Sweetiebelle nodded, but Scootaloo seemed to trail off at the distance.

"Scootaloo?" I called.

"Huh? What?" She reacted.

"Ready to go home?"

"Y-Yeah, I am."

That was peculiar, but I chose not to mind it. I walked the girls through the woods and kept going for a while. Along the way, the trio started doing something annoying. Applebloom walked next to me and kept making me go towards Rainbow while Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo did the same to Rainbow towards me. Eventually, I started walking really close to Rainbow, girls refusing to let me off with some space. I sighed while Rainbow was looking up in the air. For a while, she started to slowly lean on me, and now ended up walking with Rainbow on me. I tried to ignore it until we both suddenly tripped and fell. I swear, I thought I saw Applebloom tripping me while Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo pushed Rainbow towards me, but being so fast, I couldn't tell. When we hit the floor, Rainbow was on top of me and her face was really close to mine. For a while, we stared at each other for some time before I said, "Uh, Rainbow? Kinda holding me down here."

"Uh, oh! Right!" Rainbow jumped off of me.

The fillies slapped their faces as if they were hoping something would happen. I finally decided to make sure that doesn't happen again for the day. "Listen you three, as much as I love your adorable little faces, I really don't like these antics of yours. Pushing me and Rainbow around there is something quite rude."

"We weren't trying to bother you!" Sweetiebelle claimed.

"Then what were you trying to do?"

"We were trying to-" Before she could tell me, Applebloom and Scootaloo covered Sweetiebelle's mouth, preventing her from talking. I rolled my eyes and continued on the path we went. Passing the many trees, we got lost. Rainbow and I didn't say anything in order to not worry the girls, but by each passing moment, they start to catch on.

"Um…didn't we pass that rock?" Applebloom asked.

"Yes, we did." I answered.

"And didn't we cross this river before?" Sweetiebelle added.

"That too." I answered.

"Aren't these our hoof prints?" Scootaloo asked also.

"Yep." I answered.

"Are we lost?" They all asked in unison.

"Totally." I answered yet again.

They all gave a surprised look while Rainbow hit my head saying, "Oh, nice going! Might as well tell them that it's getting late and we're in the middle of the forest without any supplies."

"Oh hey! I forgot! Look up Rainbow, the sun is halfway it's mark. If we stay here a few more hours, we're not gonna get back home in time before Rarity and Applejack whoop us for being late."

"Oh, come on!!"

"Are we gonna stay here forever!?" Applebloom asked worringly.

"I assure you, no matter how lost we are, we aren't stupid enough to not go in a straight line out of this forest." I told her. "But I can't assure your family not killing us for being so late."

"Hey look! Isn't that Zecora's hut?" Sweetiebelle pointed out to a tree with a door.

Similar to the Golden Oaks Library, it was a house built within a tree. What was different was the various amount of tribal themed décor placed around the swamp tree and it was shorter than the one at Ponyville. I waited a bit longer to see a Zebra come out, sparking my interest.

"A zebra!?" I pointed out.

"You've seen a zebra before?" Rainbow questioned.

"Yeah, why? I mean, it's a pretty well known creature."

"I didn't know that when I first saw her."

"Well, as long as you didn't think she was some sort of monster, it's alright."

She seemed a bit guilty and looked away whistling. I shrugged my shoulders as I went over to the zebra, remembering the owner of this building was one named Zecora.

"Hello? Zecora is it?" I called to her.

She turned to me and reacted with widened eyes, throwing a potion at me. I coughed while she said, "Who goes?! Friend or foes!?"

"Not a foe! Not a foe!" I hastily replied, feeling something change. "What the heck did you throw at me!?"

"Zecora!" the cutie mark crusaders called, racing over.

"Don't hurt him! That's our friend!" Applebloom informed her.

Zecora looked at me and tilted her head. "You don't seem wild, but rather innocent like a child."

Rainbow went by my side and checked on me. "Hey Kasin! Are you alright? She didn't bruise you or anything, did she?"

"Kasin?" Zecora repeated. "Ah! You're Kasin Fluttershy has told me about, the same I helped make the potion for no doubt!"

"What?" I responded. "You know Fluttershy? Wait, what potion?"

"The same one to mend the bone, and I see it has fixed it to the tone."

"You made the bone remedy!?"

"With the help of Fluttershy, and did it without a cry."

I smiled warmly remembering my ordeals as well as Fluttershy helping me through them. "Fluttershy…"

"What brings you here? I hope nothing I fear."

"We just got lost on the way back to Ponyville." Sweetiebelle answered.

"Don't worry! Since we're at Zecora's, I know the way back from here on out!" Applebloom claimed.

"Great! Maybe your family won't skin me alive after all!" I happily commented. "By the way, Zecora, does that mean you're a doctor since you can make medicines like that?"

"I make many remedies for many sick entities." Zecora answered.

"Yeah! She can even fix my tooth when I chipped it!" Applebloom added.

"Really? I guess I know where to go if I got some freaky problem then!" I laughed.

"Uh, Kasin?" Rainbow called, tapping my shoulder. "I hate to be the girl who rushes you, but it's gonna be late if we don't hoof it to Ponyville."

"Ah, right. Sorry to greet and leave, but I need to take these three home. Talk to you later, okay?"

"Goodbye and be safe! Stay on the path and do not strafe!" Zecora warned us.

"Got it! See ya!"

As we left, I started to see the sunshine over Ponyville. As we left the forest, I noticed something on my shirt. The potion Zecora splattered on me.

"Ugh! What is this stuff anyway!?" I complained. "Ew, it's sticky…"

"Let's worry about that later." Rainbow recommended.

"Right! We gotta walk you three all home! Come girls! Time to go!"

They all nodded and followed me and Rainbow. Along the way, I noticed Scootaloo was a bit down for some reason. She must be upset that the trip is over. As we stepped over to Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack walked out to greet us.

"Howdy ya'll! You gave me a bit of a scare seeing how long it took for that trip." Applejack stated.

"Sorry AJ." I apologized. "The trip took a little detour, but everything is fine now."

"As long as my little sister is alright, then it's all good. Come on in Applebloom!"

"Alright! Bye Kasin! It was nice meeting you!" Applebloom said before heading back home.

"Ya'll take care now!" Applejack said, heading home as well.

"Bye!" We all said to them.

Next was Sweetiebelle, who just needed to be dropped off at Rarity's. When we got there, the house was empty. We looked around and saw a note that said the following.

Dear Sweetiebelle

I will most likely be very late and will not be able to tend to your welcoming back home. To my sincerest apologies, I have prepared you a basket of your favorite foods and cleaned up the house to make it your own for the night. Again, I apologize for this being on such short notice, and I hope you had a wonderful time with your friends.

Love, Rarity.

I rolled my eyes thinking what the two lovebirds were doing, especially at OUR house! Gold Shield and I haven't even finished unpacking yet! I swear, that pegasus gets to me sometimes when Rarity is involved. However, I digress.

"Sweetiebelle, are you gonna be okay here tonight alone?" I asked.

"Yeah, it'll be alright." She assured me. "She sometimes falls asleep doing her job when I get home, so it's nothing new."

"Alright then. Take care!"

We left her at the boutique, and in my mind, I regret letting a young child in a house alone. But I trust her house instincts better than her survival instincts, so I tried to pay it no attention. Last was Scootaloo, which came to a peculiar stop.

"Um…hey…listen…" Scootaloo told us. "I can go home by myself. No biggie."

I looked up to see the sun has passed setting. It was night. "Sorry, but I need to apologize to your family for not getting you home on time."

She seemed distressed and said, "N-No, it's alright, trust me. I can take it from here."

"Scootaloo, I don't want my first impression to your folks to be, 'the human who couldn't get my Scootaloo home in time'. I just gotta make sure they understand."

"L-Listen…um…as much as I want to, I don't feel like I should tell strangers where I live."

I stood there staring at her. I didn't know what to say. That was…hurtful. "Did you just call me a stranger?"

"W-What? Oh! I-I didn't mean…I…"

"After what we've been through? After the talk we had? What was that about being happy I called you sister?"

"I…I messed up, but look…I can't show you where I live…that's all…"

I huffed, being more than peeved. I felt insulted by a little filly that had turned my friendship around and messed it all up. "You know what? Whatever. Go home."

"Kasin, I'm sorry-"

"No! I don't want to hear it!" I said while walking away. "Thought we were friends…"

I left Scootaloo behind as I headed home. Rainbow flew over to me and said, "Are you sure that was a good idea? I mean…she's just a kid."

"I don't know Rainbow…" I said, looking down. "She just says one thing, then says another. It's hard to forgive that, especially when I thought we were really close."

I sighed, seeing how my first talk with kids had turned two out of three. Not a bad score to go by, but I felt a little stinging wonder why Scootaloo had just said something so rude. Tonight, I head home after Rainbow heads back to her home. I checked inside to see Gold and Rarity sleeping together on the couch. I rolled my eyes as I passed through the packages we have yet to unpack and head to my bed. My sleep tonight was rough, seeing how it ended in a pretty bad way.

One can only hope the next day is better.