The morning arrived that Sunday, as mornings are known to do at least once a week in our part of the world. I climbed out of bed, the sun greeting my face ready for another fun day of Crusading.
Sunday was the day off, in which no work was done. Handily, Crusading didn’t qualify as work, so I was free to do that as I saw fit. But before that, I had to go shower. The water blasted off the dirt and grime of the night, and I was ready, barring getting dressed, for a good day.
After choosing to wear my trademark outfit, and remembering this time to put the bow in my hair, I wandered down the stairs to see breakfast being readied, a glorious assortment of bacon, sausage and hash browns. There were also grits, not something I would have especially associated with California, but I suppose Pa may have brought it with him from West Virginia. The family took their seats, and we began conversing.
“So, what’s everyone up to today?” asked Ma.
“Well, Bright and I were gonna do some work on one of the Apple Shakers,” Grand Pear noted. “That piece of machinery will help us when apple season comes around in September.”
“We’re mechanisin’?” Granny Smith said in horror. “But the best taste can only be achieved by hand pickin’!”
“The problem is,” Pa observed, “demand is outstripping supply. “You know how disappointed everyone gets when we run out every year because we can’t pick those apples fast enough!”
“Then why not get the youngin’ ta climb trees and extract some?” Granny suggested.
Applejack shook her head. “Apple Bloom’s not strong enough to get those apple baskets down. She’s better off stayin’ on Sadie's footplate and runnin’ the flywheel.”
“Ah’m good with machines,” I added.
“I think we know where she got that from!” Grand Pear laughed. “Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, eh Mrs Smith?”
Granny Smith shook her head. “You Californians,” she grumbled.
“On the topic of Sadie,” PaBright Mac continued, “Big Mac, didn’t somebody offer you a pair of traction engines for sale?”
“Alongside a diesel tractor, yes,” my older brother answered. “Ah can’t remember off the top o’ mah head how much it cost, but it should be affordable what with the flow of money comin’ in.” He looked at me. “Assumin’ Sugarcube here’s appetite don’t increase further.”
“Hey!” I replied. “That ain’t funny!”
Ma took to laughing. “I think that’s the longest sentence you’ve ever spoken, Big Mac!”
“It ain’t!” he replied. “The very longest was that time Ah did Joyce. 3,687 words. Longest sentence in the English language”.
I inwardly groaned. I remembered studying that, and finding it a piece of absolute nonsense. “That’s a lotta words ta say in one go,” I said.
“Especially given he usually only gives one-word answers!” Applejack laughed.
Big Mac turned bright red. This was only a small shift in colour shade given his skin tone, but we got the message.
Once we had finished, and I had helped clear away the plates, Ma asked to see me.
“Apple Bloom, about tonight,” she began.
“Yeah?” I answered.
“How many of you will there be taking part in this event of yours?”
“There’s six of us. Mahself, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Rumble, Pipsqueak, and Button Mash.”
“Where are you planning on doing things?”
“Down in the basement. We can easily rig up a projector and link up Sweetie Belle’s laptop to project onta the back wall.”
“Will you need refreshment?”
I cursed mentally. We’d already been through this bit. “Ah asked the girls-ah mean the others-to bring popcorn. Ah suppose some cider wouldn’t hurt.”
When I saw the look on Ma’s face, I quickly added, “Soft, of course.”
“Before you go to have your meeting, I’ll be cooking you some dinner. How does Apple Family pizza sound?”
That set off my taste buds. “They’ll like that idea, Ah’m sure.”
Ma smiled again. “That’s all. But don’t stay up too late, you’ve got school tomorrow!”
“Got it!” I called back, heading for the kitchen and running for the door.
Big Mac dropped me off at the park, where Sweetie Belle and Em-Scootaloo!-were waiting.
“Hi!” Sweetie Belle called.
“Nice to see you again Bloom!” Scootaloo answered.
“Ah’m so glad the Crusaders could meet again,” I said. “So then, what are we gonna do this week?”
“Explore the tomb of Ahuizotl?” Sweetie Belle suggested. “Hopefully we’ll get out before Stalwart Stallion locks us in!”
“It’s Mojo,” Scootaloo corrected. “And I think we’ve already done that. How about we journey to the city of clouds, and do battle with Sky Pirates?”
“We already did that Scoots!” I pointed out. “Why not try outer space?”
“An adventure with aliens?” Scootaloo nodded. “Sure, why not?”
“I hope they’re not xenomorphs,” Sweetie Belle added, shaking a little.
“Technically they’re not called xenomorphs,” Scootaloo added. “That was just a bit of nonsensical babble from Gorman.”
“How are ya even old enough ta have seen that?” I asked, before, realising my sentence made no sense.
“When my dad’s around, we sometimes watch films together. Besides, it not that scary or gory,” Scootaloo countered.
“Rarity has enough trouble with me watching railway videos on YouTube,” Sweetie Belle noted.
“Why?” I asked. “There’d be no California without the railroad!”
“She thinks it is, quote, ‘most unladylike to use or be interested in such smoky machines’,” Sweetie Belle said, in the (deliberately) worst British accent I had ever heard. I should know, I used to be British!
“Well, fiddlesticks to that!” Scootaloo exclaimed, and we fell about laughing.
Well, our exploration of the abandoned space station was a success, although it was infested with horrifying monsters. Naturally, we fought our way out of the station, and on our escape, we blew the thermic regulator, destroying it utterly and ending the alien threat forever (or at least, until we needed another adventure),
That took most of the afternoon, and a truck came by, with Grand Pear at the wheel.
“What’s happened Grandpa?” I asked, as we got in.
“Yer father’s had an accident with one of the machines,” he groaned. “He hit his head on the shaker and it knocked him out.”
“Is he OK?” I asked, panicked.
“He’s fine, but he’s got a bit of amnesia,” Grand Pear replied. “He’s got most of it, but there are some gaps.”
Scootaloo looked at me nervously. “I hope he’s OK, because my family owes him a lot.”
“We fixed the hole where the rain got in, right?” I asked.
“Did you?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yeah.”
We arrived back at the house to start setting up for the evening. Down the basements, we began pushing the old furniture around to clear space for the seating. This included pushing a pair of platforms into place to create racked seating, for the cinema affect.
Next came assembling the screen.
“No, Scoots, the tripod does NOT go on the roof,” I pointed out.
“I know that!” she exclaimed. “Besides, you don’t seem to be having much luck yourself.”
“Sweetie Belle!” I called. “How’s the screen?”
“Mounted to the post, but we can’t unroll it yet.”
After Scootaloo had got the tripod in the right place, we mounted the post, and unrolled the projector screen. It was white, and covered a considerable space.
Now came the fun part. We powered up the projector, and linked the laptop into the machine. The display came up-blank.
“There’s no picture!” Sweetie Belle despaired. “This is terrible!”
Scootaloo looked around the front. “The screen lock is engaged.” She pushed the catch back, and the picture came up on the test card. This was really Sweetie Belle’s screensaver, a gif of 611 running past the camera.
“When was that recorded?” I asked.
“The 1994 season, when it was last operational,” Sweetie Belle replied.
I kicked myself. 611 won’t come back until next year!
Satisfied that everything was ready, we relaxed for a bit in the living room, until there was a knock at the door.
I ran to answer it. At the other side were Pip, Rumble and Button Mash.
“Howdy y’all!” I called, as I let them in.
“We good to go for tonight?” Button asked.
“That we are!” I replied. “We can’t start until after dinner.” We sat down, and it was interesting to observe how their faces turned red when they came into closer contact. Of course, I knew how I felt about Pip, which made my amusement at how the others were blushing a little hypocritical, but we happy together as friends, and potentially something more...
My thoughts were shaken free when Ma called us. “Dinner’s ready!”
We went to the table to enjoy our meal together. The pizza was absolutely delicious; one of the benefits of being the daughter of an amazing cook, after all. The conversation flowed like good (soft) cider, and great fun was had by all.
“So, how’s Thunderlane?” Scootaloo asked.
“He’s fine, thanks,” Rumble replied. “He’s going for the Wonderbolts, and if he manages that, then he’s really made it.”
“Tell him I wish him the best,” Scootaloo answered.
I noticed that Button and Sweetie Belle hadn’t said anything in a while. I looked over and simply saw the two of them gazing into each other’s eyes, noticeably blushing.
“Erm, hello?” I asked. “Earth to Sweetie Belle?”
She shook her head in surprise. “Sorry, Button and I were just...ya know.”
Ma came over. “You know, Mac and I were just like you two when we were dating.”
“We’re not like that!” Button protested.
“Sure ya are,” I snorted.
“Says you!” Rumble exclaimed. “Scoots came across you kissing Pip!”
I went crimson. Pip seemed totally oblivious to this fact.
“Well, I do love her, I admit,” he said.
Another awkward (and dare I say, jovial) conversation later, we trooped downstairs to partake of the evening’s event. Sweetie Belle put the disk in the computer, and set it running. She then started her camera and pointed it at us.
“Hello, everybody! This is Sweetie Belle!”
“Scootaloo here!”
“And Ah’m Apple Bloom! We are the CMC!”
“The Canterlot Movie Club!” we chorused, and high-fived together.
“This evening, we have some special guests to join us,” Sweetie Belle continued, rotating the camera as she did so.
“I’m Pipsqueak!” said Pip.
“Rumble, at your service.”
“Hi. I’m Button Mash. I’m 12 years old, and I like-”
“Yes, thank you Button,” Scootaloo interrupted. “Today’s entry is What’s Up.”
“This movie has a curious history,” Sweetie Belle continued. “It appeared in 2010, and probably looks like a knockoff of Up, but the two films have almost nothing in common.”
“If everyone’s ready,” I said, with a smile, “let’s go!”
The film was a most puzzling experience.
“That plot made no sense,” Rumble observed.
“Yeah, many of the scenes felt like they solely existed to draw out the runtime, and the audio editing was dreadful!” Button added.
“It could have been animated a lot better,” Pip added. “I’m pretty certain that metal doesn’t bend in that matter. You know, the Eiffel Tower scene?”
“What was with the rampant racism?” I asked. “They were unnecessarily harsh on that French guy, and the Chinese one felt a little...stereotyped.”
“A little?” Scootaloo asked. “That last line was needlessly cruel, not to mention the dialogue sucked.”
Sweetie Belle shrugged. “It certainly had its comedy value, but I wouldn’t watch again. Besides, the studio that made it, Video Brinquedo, solely exists to make knockoff films. It makes The Asylum look high budget, and that’s saying something!”
“Please, I still haven’t forgotten Transmorphers!” Scootaloo begged.
“Or American Warships,” I added.
“The film that parodies was pretty terrible,” Rumble noted.
“So, what do you want us to watch next time?” asked Sweetie Belle to the camera. “Let us know in the comments. Until then, see ya!”
She turned the camera off, and ejected the disk. “I’m thankful that’s over,” she said. “It was awful!”
“Agreed,” Button said.
Suddenly, there was a call from upstairs. “Guys, your parents are here!”
One by one, my friends went on their way. I always felt sad when my friends were not around. It was as if a piece of me was missing. Those three filled a piece of my heart that I didn’t even know was missing, and we would stay together until the end of time.
As I got ready for bed, I reflected on the fact that I’d only known them for a few months, but it was the closest I had ever been to anyone in my life.
I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
Little did I know, but our friendship would be put to the ultimate test.