The sun was beating down once more upon Sweet Apple Acres, and in the clubhouse four individuals had gathered after their holidays. The silence that had fallen upon the room inside the clubhouse suddenly vanished as Apple Bloom banged her fist upon the table.
“Hear ye, hear ye!” she called, in a loud voice. “The first post-holiday session of the Crusaders is now in session!”
“Roll call!” Sweetie Belle called out. “Scootaloo?”
“Here!”
“Cozy Glow?”
“Present!”
“Apple Bloom?”
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Of course, Ah’m here, otherwise Ah wouldn’t have been able ta call the meetin’ ta order!”
Sweetie Belle nodded, and ticked off the name. “And I’m here as well.” She looked up. “So, how’d it go?”
Scootaloo spoke up first. “We got a diesel, which was pretty boring. It was barely working on the climb, and we had lots of trees to look at! In a word, dull.”
Apple Bloom went next. “At least we got some good steam action out in New Mexico.”
“What happened?” Cozy Glow asked, her face suddenly aglow (which was rather apt when you thought about it).
“The locomotive on the front made a truly wonderful noise, which Ah recorded and then augmented with footage Grand Pear recorded,” Apple Bloom continued. “It were great fun!” She then paused again, and rubbed the portion of her otherwise yellow arm that had gone slightly pink. “Gettin’ hit by flyin’ ash weren’t so much fun, though...”
Sweetie Belle went next. “We arrived late, so got to look around a bit, and then got to drive a replacement engine as the original one broke down.” When the others looked at her in surprise, she quickly explained. “Dad and I. We drove. Well, I drove, he fired.”
Cozy Glow went last. “Mine was fairly ordinary, compared to yours. We just went up and down the line a few times. That was it, really.”
Apple Bloom spoke again. “Glad ta hear y’all had fun! Now Ah say we go and edit those clips together! Who’s with me?”
“YEAH!” they all cried, and headed out of the clubhouse toward the house, with plans in their heads and happiness in their hearts.