//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: The Crossover Chronicles: Adventures in Equestria // by Cool_Quick //------------------------------// Chapter 2 Preparing for the Gala (Rainbow Dash) “So, what are these ‘Crusaders’?” Luigi asked, his voice cracking slightly at “Cru.” I tried not to laugh, but trying not to laugh at Luigi is like trying not to roll your eyes when Twilight starts giving a lecture. In case you don’t know, it’s impossible. “They call themselves the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders,’” I answered, flying backwards to see Luigi. Jack gave me a look, as if he was thinking, “Seriously? Do you have to show off?” I gave him a secret raspberry. “What’s a Cutie Mark?” Jack inquired. I groaned inwardly. I hate answering 20 million questions, especially from Twilight. But, these dopes were from other worlds, so I tried to stay cool. Which isn’t hard, since I’m awesome. “It’s a special mark a pony earns when he or she discovers their special talent.” I pointed to my Cutie Mark, a lightning bolt coming out of a cloud. I earned it ten years before, when I performed my first Sonic Rainboom and showed off how awesome I was. I’m even better now, and ponies can count on me to help them in a jam. Or, just to be awesome. “I see,” Luigi said thoughtfully. I hoped that meant he was done, but there are those times when that sentence is followed by a “So…” which is followed by another question. I begged for the first option. By now, we were inside the park heading right towards a clubhouse nestled in one of the trees. “It’ll be interesting to meet them. I just hope they aren’t too hyper,” Luigi said hopefully. “Look out!” came a voice from the clubhouse. An orange blur came shooting from the clubhouse right toward Luigi. Luigi, unable to react in time, was flattened under the blur, which was another Pegasus with a purple mane; clearly just a filly. Obviously Scootaloo. “Whoops, sorry mister,” the Scoot apologized, helping Luigi to his feet. “I hoped I could finally fly today. I guess not.” “I’d really love to have a day in which I don’t get hit by something for once,” Luigi was heard muttering. I once again almost broke out laughing. I quickly tried to think of something else. “Don’t worry about it, Scootaloo,” I said encouragingly, pumping a fist in the air. “You’ll fly amazingly one day. Just watch!” Scootaloo looked at Jack. “Who are you?” Jack quickly stopped chuckling at Luigi, and tried to look serious. “I’m Jack.” Luigi drew himself up a bit, trying to look dignified. I broke into an inward giggle at his failure at the dignified department. “Luigi’s my name.” Scootaloo smiled. “Nice to meet you.” Then, she frowned. “Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! I’ve got some new friends to introduce!” There was a rumble of hooves inside the clubhouse. “Oh, no…” Luigi squeaked. Oh, no, I thought, but for a different reason. Two more blurs flew right into Luigi, knocking him back over into the grass. One of the blurs was a yellow-green earth pony, who introduced herself as Apple Bloom, and a white unicorn who said she was Sweetie Belle. Both fillies were in a hyper mood today. Even as early as the time was, they had energy. “Anyway, why’d ya come here?” Apple Bloom inquired; her voice the same drawl as Applejack’s, helping Luigi out of the dirt. Luigi gave a heroic sneeze which made him fall back over, and Jack almost fell over himself from laughing. I had tears of mirth in my eyes, and the fillies were laughing until their lungs and Luigi’s pride hurt. I just couldn’t hold the laughing anymore. Jack had an interesting laugh. When he was chuckling, his laugh was deep in his gut. When he was really losing it, his laugh was high pitched. It was a combination of funny and a bit creepy to hear. I wondered how it could be creepy. His deep voice had a bit of a husk, which made his chuckle a bit raspy, and more of a cackle, but only slightly. “Ah apologize,” Apple Bloom said, helping Luigi back up. “That was a bit funny though.” Not for me, Luigi’s face said. I quickly tried to stop laughing.“We came to take you to Rarity’s,” I finally said after recovering from my laughing fit. “She wants to try some dresses on you.” “I don’t want a dress,” Scootaloo complained. “I don’t care if it is the Grand Galloping Gala, I hate dresses.” “You know, that’s exactly the same reaction Wario had when Rarity talked about making him a suit,” Luigi recalled. “Who’s that?” Luigi sighed. “You’ll find out.” Indeed you will, I thought, smiling to myself. He was quite the character. Anytime I needed a laugh, he knew how to make them. He also made some terrible smells. I wished I could stick him at my house in Cloudsdale, and use him as a security system. Ponies would smell the fart, and collapse. Priceless! Jack finally recovered himself, and got a good look at the fillies. “You know, I think these are the strangest couple of days of my life,” I heard him say. “You’ve got a point there,” Luigi agreed as he watched Scootaloo try to fly again, but crash on top of Apple Bloom, earning a mild protest from the latter. “Okay,” I said. “We need to go to Rarity’s. Are you girls coming or not?” The three fillies all grumbled assent. “Great,” Luigi said. “Now forward march please. I’d like to get the Gala over with ASAP. So, let’s go.” He started mock-marching forward, but the fillies just stared at him. I rolled my eyes. “Uh, hello,” Luigi remarked, realizing that his point wasn’t getting through. “Come on. Move the hooves.” The fillies continued to stare at him. “I think what my friend is trying to say is, follow us to Rarity’s shop, please,” Jack interpreted. Instantly, the fillies’ blank expressions became understanding ones, and they followed Luigi, Jack, and me out of the park. Yesterday had been super weird and today promised to be super strange. (Alternate P.O.V.) Meanwhile, in a galaxy not so far away, a conference was being held. If you can call a meeting between two people a conference. Darth Vader was kneeling before his master, who was seated on a sci-fi style throne by a window overlooking the stars. It was quiet in the room, and the only sounds that could be heard were Palpatine’s fingers drumming on his chair, and Vader’s breathing. “Rise, my friend,” the emperor said in a gentle tone. Vader slowly got to his feet, wondering what Palpatine would think of the news he had just been given. “Now,” Palpatine declared, cocking his head. “What news do you bring? I believe it has to do with Skywalker and his pathetic friends.” “Yes, Master,” Vader said. “The captain has located the planet that Skywalker and his friends are on.” The emperor made a motion that said ‘go on.’ “They are on the planet of Equestria.” Palpatine’s eyes gave a flicker of surprise. “I haven’t heard about that planet before.” “The planet is clearly seen on our maps, my master.” “Very interesting,” Palpatine said thoughtfully. “Shall we go there, my master?” “One more thing,” the emperor said. “What creatures dwell in this planet?” Vader breathed for a moment. “Ponies,” he said. Palpatine snickered. “Ponies?” he laughed. “This will be too easy. We’ll crush them before they even know what’s happening.” Vader watched the emperor cackling on his chair, thinking about the ponies. Seriously, ponies? Too easy. “Set the course for Equestria,” Palpatine commanded after recovering from his laughing fit. “They’ll never know what hit them.” “Yes, my master,” Vader said before departing from the room. Watching Vader disappear down the hallway to report his orders to the captain, Palpatine snickered again. Ponies? It’d be like crushing a fortune cookie. None of those ponies could possibly have anything that could stop them. (Back to Rainbow Dash) “Ah, there you are,” Rarity said in relief as Jack, Luigi, the three fillies, and me came inside the boutique. “And you got the fillies, too! I’m so glad they weren’t too troublesome.” “Yeah, they were just little angels,” I heard Luigi mutter to himself, as he nursed his body, which had gotten flattened, as well as injured by him falling over. Sweetie Belle came over to Rarity. “You needed me sis?” “Yes, and actually, I needed all three of you.” Rarity gestured to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, who were trying not to be noticed by hiding behind Luigi. I snickered, and gently batted Scootaloo into the open, which dragged Apple Bloom along behind her. “Please don’t give me a frilly dress,” Scootaloo begged after looking up at the frowning Rarity. “I know what you like darling,” Rarity said. “It’s not frilly, so quit complaining or I’ll be sure to give you a nice frilly pink dress.” “Eeeewwww!!” Scootaloo exclaimed as Jack and Luigi tried not to laugh. Rarity smiled and then her smile became a frown. “Just out of curiosity, what time is it?” “Sometime between 12 A.M. and 12 P.M.” Wario declared, with a decisive fart. I groaned. What a weirdo. “Ooooh, I love guessing!” Pinkie Pie squealed, bouncing up and down, and almost hitting the ceiling. “It’s ten o’ clock! No, it’s 10:30! Or…” “It’s five minutes to eleven,” Jack said after looking at his watch. “That is, if Equestrian time is the same as our time.” “No, you’re right,” Twilight said, returning from the kitchen where Rarity’s clock was. “It is five to eleven.” “Oh, my!” Rarity exclaimed. “You have to all get dressed at once!” Something in the tone of her voice suggested to everyone that disobeying was not an option. Rarity handed everyone their suit or dress that she had made especially for them, and each person took turns going into the changing room and coming out in their new suit or dress. I sure hoped mine wouldn’t be too frou-frou. Only two of them complained. The first was Scootaloo, who really still didn’t like wearing a dress. I had to go into the room and help Scootaloo overcome her pride. When Scootaloo finally came out, she looked great, and earned some pleased remarks from the other two fillies. The other complainer was Wario. He absolutely loathed suits, and no amount of entreaty from anyone was going to make him put it on. Even after Rarity sweet-talked him, he still absolutely would NOT wear a suit. Finally, it took Applejack threatening to buck him all around town like a soccer ball to get him to, not without muttered complaints, put it on. We were all pretty sure it wasn’t going to look nice for long. When it was Luigi’s turn to put on his suit, he walked inside the changing room with a confident step. He got the suit on, and was feeling really good about himself… until he tried to put on his tie. All of us heard grunts and struggles and all sorts of intriguing sounds. Mario finally said, “Do you need some help with your tie?” “Yes,” Luigi gasped from inside. The room was filled with laughter, including mine, as Mario, shaking his head and sighing, went into the changing room to help Luigi out. However, the laughter died when Luigi appeared. He looked amazingly nice (especially since Mario helped him). Instantly, all the girls in the room noticed, especially Rarity. I had my mouth open in a quite stupid, I mean, amazing look. Rarity clopped up to Luigi with a smile. “Oh, darling, you look astounding.” “Uh… thanks?” Luigi responded, trying to look dignified. Ed came out wearing a green suit with a matching green tie. He looked very nice, and even had his black hair brushed somewhat. I still felt like I knew him somehow, but I couldn’t place where. Jack was last to put on his suit. He looked just as nice, if not nicer than, Luigi, and got just as many gasps and stares. Jack wore, just like the other guys, a black suit and a bow tie, with pointed black shoes, and a white shirt with matching white gloves. It seemed to fit him. I saw Ness give Jack a look, as if he thought he had seen Jack before. But, the look passed. “Is that everyone?” Rarity asked after she had stopped goggling at Jack. When no one spoke up, she said, “Okay, then, I guess we’re ready?” “Yep,” Jack said. “Now, let’s go have fun.” We all cheered as we were led by Rarity, outside, and towards what would become the start of our troubles.