Shadow of the Crusaders

by Spore Harvest

Scroll 5 "sweet dreams"

Apple Bloom was angry. Why? You may or may not be asking yourself, well she was angry at Mike because he lied to her. He told her that there are not going to be any side effects to him being fused with me, but lo and behold there are side effects. One of them was that I look allot paler than usual to the point where it is noticeable and the other thing is that I have a mark in the palm of my hand.

"No side effects he said. No problems he said. I promise you Mike when I get my hands on you I'm going to choke you, then I'm going to wait until you regenerate and then I'm going to strangle you."

I was so angry that I almost hit the Sweet Apple Acres sign. Thank Celestia I noticed or I could have added bloody nose to the list of side effects. With that little problem avoided I made my way to the orchard to hopefully find Big Mac so that I could ask him if there are any other chores that need to be done. After a couple of minutes of searching I finally found him.

"Hiya Big Mac. How's it going."

Big Macintosh or as he prefers it Big Mac is a pretty big stallion I think it has something to do with his tall stature and big muscles. He has red fur and an orange mane. He usually wears some jeans and a red flannel shirt.

"Pretty good Apple Bloom." And then he probably noticed how pale I was. "Hey are ya feeling alright there. You look a little sick."

I'm really reconsidering helping Mike now.

"Yeah I'm alright probably just a little cold it'll pass. So you have any chores for me to do?"

He looked at me and after some time finally said.

"As a matter of fact I do. Could you please prepare the barn for cider season. You probably know what I mean."

Ah yes cider season this is probably the best time of year for the Apple family because it's popular. They say that we make the best apple cider in all of Equestria, and because of its popularity we need to make allot of cider so that everypony can enjoy a mug.

"Of course I can do that anything else to do after that."

"Nope, that will be all. After you finish you should probably get some shuteye to sleep away the cold okay."

"Okay Big Mac I'm going to go take a nap right after I finish."

After I said that he gave me a smile and went right back to work. With the task in mind I went of to the barn. When I arrived I opened the door and looked inside and then I sighed. It looked like a tornado went through tools scattered on the floor, the barrels strewn all over the place and it looked like someone opened a hay bale and strewn its content all over the place.

"Well I asked for this."

And with that said I went of to cleaning.

***

After a couple of hours of work I finally finished cleaning the barn. Yeah it was hard but I still finished before dinner, and now that I'm done I am going to take a well deserved nap. With that in mind I went of to the main house. There in front of the house rocking in her chair was granny Smith. She was probably waiting for me and Applejack to return so that we can go and eat.

"Hello granny who are you waiting for."

Her fur was a light green colour and her mane was completely grayed out, which was natural since she was so old. She was also wearing a some nice dark blue overalls with a nice light green t-shirt which was a slightly lighter green then here fur.

"Oh hiya there Apple Bloom I'm just waiting for a package to arrive."

"Really what did you order."

"Oh nothing fancy I just asked Wood Cutter if he could make me a new rocking chair and I know what you are going to say so don't. I did this without you're brother or sister knowing so can you keep it a secret."

"Yeah, you can count on me, but can I ask where did you get the bots to buy it."

"I just sawing up my bits over the last two months and I was just able to afford it."

"Oh okay then I'm going to go inside and take a nap."

And with that said I went up to my room to take a nap and hopefully see Mike to give him a talking of a lifetime and to get some answers about some questions that I have about this ordeal. I really don't like being in the dark about this.

As I entered my room I noticed that the window was still open. I opened it this morning because it was hot inside. So I went over to it and closed it. After I finished that I decided to check the place, I know that that sounds a little paranoid, but since that last changeling attack, let's just say that I'm not taking any chances. So I checked the inside the closet, under the bed and finally I checked inside my bathroom. When I finished, I just splayed out on my bed and went to sleep.

***Dreamscape***

I again found myself in the black abyss which meant that I'm going to see Mike soon. And speak of the devil he appeared. His head popped out of a trap door right in front of me, and then he turned to me.

"Ah hello Apple Bloom, taking a nap I see. Well let's not dawdle we have little time and allot of things to talk about."

And then he waved me to come down the trap door, but I was to shocked to move, and then he came back.

"Well are you coming?"

Then I snapped out of it and followed him down the trap door. When I came down I was yet again shocked. Why? Well everything was made out crystal and almost every colour of the rainbow. I would describe it a bit more but the colours were slowly changing. After a moment I finally noticed Mike sitting at a low end table sitting on a cushion, eating biscuits and drinking tea.

"Come on now, the tea's getting cold."

That snapped me out and I walked over to the table and sat down.

"Okay then AB. Can I call you AB?"

I just nodded.

"Okay you probably have allot of questions. So what do you want to know first?"

I gave it a little thought and then I decided to ask the most obvious one.

"What does the mark in my hand mean and what does it do?"

"Ah starting with the heavy stuff eh. Okay, to answer the first one the mark is the mark of my empire it basicaly tells anyone that you are part of the empire,as for what it does, well let's just keep that a surprise until you go to bed." He said with a shit eating grin.

"And why can't you tell me now?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Because that would ruin the surprise. So next question."

I guessed that was going to be the best answer I was going to get, so I asked the next question.

"Where are we? Is this like my subconscious or something different?"

"Ah let's see. We are in the space between your conscious and unconscious mind also known as the dreamscape. Here you or I could do basically anything that we desired. The only rule that I placed inside is that we don't have control over each others creations. For examp..." That is when I stopped him.

"So what you are saying is that I can dream up whatever I wish for and you can't do anything to it."

"Basically yeah."

After he confirmed my theory I tried to dream up a simple ball, so I closed my eyes and thought about a simple red ball. Then I heard a puff sound and then something hit me on the head.

"Ow! Did it really have to appear over my head?"

"Well no but I think you didn't specify where you wanted it to appear so it appeared over your head. Trust me you did way better then I first did. I forgot to place this table and it appeared over my head." Then he patted his head. "It really hurt."

And then I visualised the scene in my head and couldn't help but chuckle a little. When i gathered my composure I asked the next question.

"So going to happen to me when I collect all the armor. Will I be consumed while you regenerate around me?" I asked a little worried I don't even know where that question came from.

"Oh no no, that's not what is going to happen. First of all since you want to get your friends involved, they are going to get a piece of my armour and when we do collect all of them you all are going to remove them from your body and then I'm going to regenerate."

"Okay, so how are we going to break this news to my friends."I asked a little worried.

"Ah here we have the million dollar question. Well your encounter will begin with a simple handshake. While you are holding their hands I'm going to brand the same mark into their hands and the..."

I stopped him again. "Why do you need to do that and is it going to hurt them?"

"To answer your first question, they are going to need the mark so that they can see me otherwise they wont be able to. Another thing the mark will allow us to do is communicate through them."

"Like some sort of telepathy or something?"

"Precisely, and it will also allow us to connect in the dreamscape."

"Well that does sound good, but is it going to hurt them?"

"I can see that you are worried, but don't be. To them it is going to feel like a simple static shock. The real pain will appear when they put on a piece of my armor like it did to you."

"So it's only going to hurt when they put a piece of the armour on."

"Yeah pretty much let's hope that they can handle it. So do you have any other question, or do you perhaps know your wish?"

"Yes one more and this is the last one. Why do I look so pale to others."

"Ah that's just your body acclimating to the new magic that is inside you." I wanted to ask if I really have magic, but then he stopped me by raising his hand. "Yes AB you have magic and I am going to teach you how to use it latter. So about that wish."

"To be honest I don't want anything and since I can't wish for your armour to appear, I seriously have nothing that I need."

"Well the offer will stay open until you need it. I like you AB you didn't waste your wish on something stupid and are actually giving it some thought." Then everything started to crack around me. "Ah it seams you are waking up. Well I'll see you when you go to sleep and be prepared for a workout."

And with that said everything turned white.

***Real world***

I awoke to find myself back in my room.

"Well that's going to get disorienting very quickly. Well might as well figure out if dinner's ready."

With that I got out of bed and went downstairs. When I got down there I found that everyone was already sitting at the table probably waiting for granny to bring out dinner. Speaking of dinner, the smell that was coming from the kitchen was simply delightful, so it wasn't a surprise that it waked me right up from my slightly groggy state of mind. I greeted my family and sat down behind the table.

"So Apple Bloom you feeling any better after your little nap?" Asked Big Mac

"Tons better. I really needed that nap." I answered

"It really did you good, the colour has already returned to your face." Applejack added.

"Well that's enough chit chat, it's supper time. Now dig in." Granny then said while bringing the food to the table. Today we were having a nice salad with some mashed potatoes and grilled carrots. To say that it was delicious would be an understatement. Granny may be talented in making apple pies, but she can also make other different kinds of food that are also very delicious. We didn't talk much during diner, Applejack said something about going to Canterlot tomorrow, because the princesses need him for something. It was probably ether another emergency or there is something that they need to prepare and I really hope its the latter.

After we finished up dinner I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When I was ready I got into bed and went to sleep.

***Dreamscape***

"Back so soon. I didn't know you liked me that much." I heard a cheery voice say from behind me. When I turned around I found him standing in front of a boxing ring next to an armour stand in the middle of a nice grassy plain with a single cherry tree which he was leaning against. That certainly confused me and I think it showed on my face, because he started to laugh.

"What's so funny."

After he finally calmed down he answered "Oh, it's just your face it's exactly the same as last time, you should really stop being surprised by this by now."

That snapped me out of it. "Yeah it's just the situations that I find you in are really bizarre."

"You'll get used to them, but now we have some training to do. So you want to get started?"

"Yeah of course. So what will be our first exercise."

"The first thing I am going to teach you is how to summon and dispel your gauntlet."

"But isn't this your gauntlet?"

After a pause he said "for the duration of this quest it is going to be yours so try to not break it. Well let's begin. First we are going to meditate, so that you can empty your mind and block out all distractions. We are going to be doing this for at least one hour and after that I'm going to give you further instructions."

With that said he sat down and crossed his legs. Then he formed an o with his hands and placed it over his stomach. After that he closed his eyes and was completely still. Taking the hint I repeated what he did and tried to relax.

"Okay AB you're doing good now relax and breath slowly, after an hour we are going to continue."

And then he went quiet. Taking his advice I started to relax and then I slowly took in a breath. I held for a moment and then I slowly breathed out. This was actually quite relaxing for me, so I took a mental note to do this everyday, because it might help me in school. Then I emptied my mind and let the calmness take me.

***

After an hour I felt something poke me.

"You did good AB most people don't last this long." He said in a proud voice.

"Well it wasn't that hard. It was very relaxing and I'm definitely going to be doing this allot more."

"Okay AB that's god now that you know how to clear your mind now comes the difficult part you are going to have to clear your mind and then imagine your gauntlet appearing on your arm."

"Well that sounds like something that I can do. Well let me try."

And I did so. I cleared my mind, when I finally did that, I tried to imagine my gauntlet appearing, but it didn't happen.

"It's not happening, what am I doing wrong?"

"Well I already gave you the answer you just need to figure it out." He said with a shit eating grin.

"What does that mean?"

"Let me give you a little hint, you remember what you asked me about earlier."

I thought about it for a moment and then it hit me. "Has it something to do with the mark you gave me?"

"Right on the money."

With that piece of information I tried again. I then felt some sort of cold sensation in the middle of my hand. When I took a look I saw some crystals growing out of the mark. It crawled around my hand and up my forearm, then it finally stopped at my elbow.

"Wow, it actually worked!" Yes it worked, but it looked a little different from the time I first found it, for one it was a different colour for starters. Where before it was black, blue and dark purple it was now a black, a dark red and green.

"Huh so that's what it looks like, well it does look a little different, but not bad. Well can you dispel it?"

I did as he asked and it disappeared. "Well now I am able to summon and dispel it at will. So what now?"

"Well that ends our lesson for the day, tomorrow night we are going to introduce this place to your friends and put together a plan of action to gather up the armour." After that he smiled and waved. "Okay AB enjoy the rest of the night. Goodnight."

And then he disappeared down his trap door and since I was now alone I decided to train what he taught me. That is how I spent the rest of the night.

Author's Note:

Well guys here's another chapter and it's a little longer. Again I remind you to comment, like and share if you liked it.

Okay see you in the next scroll.