//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Dino Crusade // Story: The Star Child // by Joeycrick //------------------------------// Two weeks later… "Alright, try to hold it as long as you can, Yoshi!" Twilight called out as she readied her quill and notebook. Yoshi stood in the center of the room, bracelets covering his arms and legs. Despite being only two weeks old, he was aging surprisingly quickly, already speaking in full sentences. Twilight was still trying to learn as much as she could about the green dinosaur, taking as many notes as she could whenever she noticed something new. And right now, Twilight was in the library's lab, attempting to unlock the secret behind Yoshi's ability to ascend during a jump by waving his arms and legs wildly. An ability that they decided to call the Flutter Jump. Yoshi gave a nod and took a massive leap upwards, trying to keep himself airborne as long as he could. Twilight quickly looked over the data she was getting from the bracelets Yoshi was wearing, only to frown and grumble under her breath. "This isn't making any sense," she muttered, tapping her quill against her chin. "How are you able to keep yourself airborne using just your arms and legs? From what I've observed, you don't have any appendages that would normally help a living creature remain airborne, and it doesn't look like your Star's doing anything to help with that, either." His face strained with effort, Yoshi stopped waving his limbs and dropped onto the ground, landing on his feet. "Whew..." he gasped, taking a deep breath before turning to Twilight. "I honestly don't know how I'm doing it, either," he replied. "I'm just able to for some reason." Twilight sighed and slammed her notebook shut. "I think it's best to just stop trying to figure this out," she said, rubbing her head. "I don't want a repeat of what happened when I tried to figure out how Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense worked." "Pinkie Sense?" Yoshi asked as he slid the bracelets off his arms and legs. "What's that? Is that something to do with Pinkie Pie?" "Well…" Twilight slowly began, trying to figure out a way to explain it. "Basically, it's a bit of a sixth sense that lets her predict the immediate future using sudden twitches that her body gets." Yoshi stared at Twilight, confusion on his face. "Really?" "Yep," Twilight answered with a nod. "If her tail twitches, something's about to fall. And if she gets an ear flop, followed by a knee twitch, then an eye flutter, there's gonna be a rainbow in the sky. Sounds ridiculous, I know," she added, seeing Yoshi's jaw drop in disbelief, "but it's something that just simply can't be explained." She then chuckled, remembering her attempts at figuring out the Pinkie Sense long ago, when she was still a unicorn. "Believe me, I've tried, and it did NOT go well." Yoshi giggled in amusement. "What happened?" A sheepish grin formed on Twilight's face as she led Yoshi to the stairway leading out of the lab. "Um... let's just say that I was on fire," she said, giving the dinosaur a wink as she turned off the lights and shut the door behind her. Yoshi followed Twilight up the stairs, his shoes creaking against the steps. Another riddle that Twilight tried in vain to piece together was how precisely he got them. Living beings aren't typically born wearing clothes, yet Yoshi hatched from his egg with a pair of loafers on his feet. Twilight eventually deduced that some otherworldly magic was responsible for the feat, since Yoshi's parents were also somehow able to leave a farewell letter to their son inside his unhatched egg. Speaking of which... Another question crossed Twilight's mind as she thought about Yoshi's parents. I wonder if they're alright... it's already been two weeks, and there hasn't been any word from them yet. I hope they're managing to hold out against whoever this Lord Koopa is. I'd hate for Yoshi to grow up without ever seeing his parents... "Twilight?" A voice snapped the alicorn out of her thoughts. "Huh?" she said in surprise, turning around and spotting a worried look on Yoshi's normally-happy face. "Is something wrong, Twilight?" he asked. "You've been standing at the doorway to the library for quite a few moments." Twilight bit her lip, contemplating on whether or not she should tell Yoshi about his parents. She then shook her head. "Nah, it's nothing," she answered with a small smile. No... there's no need to worry him about this yet. He's still young, after all. "Just thinking about what we should do now," she finished as she opened the door and stepped into the library. "I haven't quite planned ahead yet. Got any ideas?" Yoshi sat down at a chair, placing his hand on his chin in thought. "Well..." he began, "I'm actually kinda interested in those books you and Rainbow Dash keep going on about. Y'know, with that Do pony. What's it called again-?" "You want to read Daring Do?!" Twilight blurted out, flying right up close to Yoshi's face with a giddy smile and startling the dinosaur. "WAHHH!!!" Yoshi screamed, almost toppling over from his chair. "Ohmygosh!!!" Twilight squealed as she entered into full fangirl-mode. "Which one should we read first? The Marked Thief of Marapore? How about The Forbidden City of Clouds, that one's my favorite!" Yoshi just stared, watching Twilight bounce around the room like a rubber ball. "Um... whatever the first one is?" he said slowly with a nervous grin. Twilight screeched to a halt in midair and clapped her hooves together. "Of course! The Quest for the Sapphire Stone! That's perfect! Just let me get it from my bedroom!" And with a bright flash of her horn, Twilight vanished. Yoshi blinked for a few moments, still trying to process what just happened. "Okay... that was a bit awkward," he muttered as he sat in his chair, his legs dangling above the floor. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! Yoshi's head snapped towards the direction of the front door. "Huh... wonder who that is?" he said to himself, standing up from his chair and trotting towards the door. With a twist of the doorknob, he opened the door and was greeted with the sight of three little fillies. "Hey Twilight, you think you could help...?" Apple Bloom's voice drifted off as she and her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders caught a glimpse of Yoshi, who was roughly the same size as them. None of them said a word as the fillies stared at the strange creature. "Um... can I help you three?" Yoshi asked, not sure what to make of the three fillies. "It talks...?" Scootaloo whispered to Apple Bloom. "Why is it wearin' shoes?" Apple Bloom whispered back, pointing at the two loafers on the dinosaur's feet. "He's really adorable-looking, though," Sweetie Belle added. "Oh! Hello, Crusaders!" The four of them turned around, spotting Twilight coming down the stairs with a smile and a book levitating beside her. "Hi, Twilight!" Sweetie Belle called out as she waved. "Um... is this a bad time?" she added, casting an aside glance at Yoshi. Twilight simply chuckled. "Not at all," she replied, before placing a hoof on Yoshi's shoulder. "Girls, I'd like you to meet Yoshi the Dinosaur." Apple Bloom stepped forward and held out her hoof. "Nice to meet ya!" she said. "My name's Apple Bloom. I'm Applejack's little sis." Yoshi smiled as he shook the young filly's hoof. "Nice to meet you too, Apple Bloom." "I'm Scootaloo!" the small pegasus declared proudly, wearing a cocky grin. "Sweetie Belle, Rarity's younger sister," Sweetie Belle said as she offered her hoof, which Yoshi shook. Then the three fillies bunched up together, all smiling widely at Yoshi. "And we're..." Scootaloo announced dramatically. "THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!" All three fillies jumped into the air, their hooves outstretched as they yelled out the name with pride. Twilight merely rolled her eyes in amusement while Yoshi looked on curiously. "Cutie Mark Crusaders?" he repeated, his eyebrow raised in confusion. Twilight nodded. "Have you ever noticed those special marks that ponies have?" she asked the dinosaur, gesturing to the six-pointed star that adorned her flank. "Those are what we call 'cutie marks.'" "We don't have ours yet, though," Apple Bloom added as she turned her head and looked behind her. "As Crusaders, our job is to help our fellow 'blank flanks' earn their cutie marks!" Scootaloo said, before her ears drooped in embarrassment. "Problem is, we're still having trouble trying to earn ours." "And how do you earn a cutie mark, exactly?" Yoshi asked. "It happens when a pony discovers something about them that makes them truly unique, be it a special talent or some other notable characteristic that they have," Twilight explained. "And a cutie mark is basically a reflection of that unique thing." "So we've been doing all kinds of stuff, hoping that one of them will earn us our cutie marks!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "That sounds really interesting!" Yoshi said with a grin. Twilight chuckled as she remembered all the trouble the three fillies had caused during their crusades. "You have no idea." The Crusaders circled around Yoshi, looking him over curiously. "You some kind of dragon or something?" Scootaloo asked with a raised eyebrow. "Where'd you come from?" "I'm a dinosaur, actually," Yoshi replied. "And I just showed up on Twilight's doorstep one night, still in my egg." "He's from another world," Twilight added with a small smile. "He's a Star Child, and he carries a powerful magic inside of him." The Crusaders' jaws dropped upon hearing that, and all three of them began crowding Yoshi, excitedly bombarding the flustered dinosaur with nonstop questions. "So you're some kind of alien?! That's so cool!" "Does that power of yours let you blow stuff up?!" "No wonder you're so adorable! Are there others like you out there?!" "WAHHHHH!!!" Yoshi squealed loudly as the Crusaders packed tightly around him, continuing to ask him questions. "Some personal space, please!" "Come on, girls," Twilight chuckled as she watched Yoshi waving his arms wildly, attempting to escape the Crusaders' grasp. "Give him some room." Her horn lit up, and she used her magic to separate the three fillies and Yoshi, who was trying to catch his breath. Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her head, grinning sheepishly. "Heh... sorry 'bout that, Yoshi." Yoshi brushed some dirt off his legs and smiled. "It's no big deal," he assured them, waving his hand dismissively. "That Crusading stuff does sound really interesting, though!" "Really?" Scootaloo asked, looking confused. "No offense, but I'm not sure you'd be able to earn a cutie mark." "I'm actually talking about the 'helping others' part," Yoshi clarified. "Maybe I could help you out?" "Hmm..." Apple Bloom placed a hoof on her chin. "I don't see why not, honestly," she answered. "You want to be a Cutie Mark Crusader, Yoshi?" Yoshi smiled confidently and nodded his head. "Alright then," Scootaloo replied with a smile. "But we have a bit of a ceremony to go through before we can officially make you one. And we have some stuff to take care of first." "Oh right... what brings you three to the library?" Twilight asked the three fillies. "We were hoping you'd help us out with some schoolwork," Sweetie Belle replied. "We've got a test coming up on mixed fractions, and we haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet." Twilight grinned as she used her magic to grab a textbook from the shelf. "Well, I'll be glad to help you out with that!" she exclaimed happily. The Crusaders jumped up in joy. "Thanks, Twilight!" Sweetie Belle cheered. "No problem," Twilight answered, looking down at the three fillies and the dinosaur with a smile. Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she got an idea. "Why don't you join us, Yoshi?" That question caught Yoshi completely off-guard, and he turned towards Twilight with a surprised look. "Whoa, really?" "I don't see why not," Twilight said with a shrug. "In fact, I'll try to see if we can enroll you in school." "School?" Yoshi repeated, his eyes widening. Twilight nodded. "It's possible for me to just home-school you myself, but I think enrolling you would be a better option," she explained. "That way, you can meet other children in your age group and try to make some friends yourself." "Yeah, like us!" Scootaloo added, playfully nudging Yoshi's arm. "And don't worry, Miss Cheerilee's really nice!" Apple Bloom grinned as she patted Yoshi's shoulder. "And the four of us can hang out together!" "Come on, it'll be a lot of fun!" Sweetie Belle chimed in. "Ahem..." Twilight cut in, opening her textbook with a smile. "Let's worry about that after we finish our lesson, alright?"