//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Danny Meets the Cutie Mark Crusaders 
// Story: Saving a Hopeless Soul 
// by Mister E-Nonymous 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 2: Danny Meets the Cutie Mark Crusaders







(Danny's Point of View)


Rainbow Dash has been taking me around Ponyville. I still couldn't believe that I came here and became a pony. And according to Twilight, I was brought here by one of the princesses of this world so I might be happy again. I'm still unsure about all of this, but I hope that this Princess Luna is right in bringing me here. I really don't want to go back to my aunt and uncle.

"Hey! Rainbow Dash!" came a voice. Rainbow and I looked to our rights and saw three small girl ponies running up to us. The orange pony with the purple mane asked, "What are you up to, today?"

"Well, I've been quite busy," Rainbow Dash said. "Showing this guy around."

The three of them noticed me and smiled at me. The yellow one asked, "Oh, who is this colt?"

"Girls, meet Danny," Rainbow said, introducing me. "He's not really from around here. And by here, I mean the world we're on."

"Wait!" said the white one. "Are you saying that he's from another planet?!"

"That is awesome!" said the orange one. "A pony from another planet! That's the coolest thing that has ever happened here in Ponyville!"

"Well," Rainbow Dash said. "He wasn't really a pony to begin with. He was originally something called a human, and they're the intelligent creatures of their world."

"Seriously!?" asked the girls. Then they pulled me down to their eye level.

"Hi!" said the yellow one. "Ah'm Apple Bloom!"

"I'm Sweetie Belle!" said the white one.

"And I'm Scootaloo!" said the orange one. "And together, we are...

The three of them took in a deep breath and shouted, "THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!" That was so loud, I had to cover my ears, which weren't in the same place they were before. And I think that my hearing has gotten better with me being a pony now.

"That hurt my ears," I said.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that," said Apple Bloom. Then she noticed something on my side. I looked towards it, and all I could see is one of the wings I had. "Oh, my gosh!"

"What? What is it?" I asked.

"You don't have a Cutie Mark!" said Apple Bloom. "Wanna join our club?"

I was confused at that, looked towards Rainbow Dash and asked, "What's a Cutie Mark?"

"A Cutie Mark is a special mark that appears on our flanks when we find out our special talents," Rainbow Dash said. "As you can see, I have mine right here. This mark represents my love for racing and going fast. And as you can see, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo don't have theirs yet."

I looked towards Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, and they showed me their flanks, which didn't have a mark at all.

"These three are trying hard to earn their marks and find their special talents," Rainbow Dash said. "Perhaps you should be in their club, just for fun. But don't do anything dangerous."

"Do I have to?" I asked. Then I was pulled in by a yellow hoof.

"Don't worry 'bout it, Danny," said Apple Bloom. "You'll be in safe hooves when we're around."

"Come on," said Sweetie Belle. "You'll have tons of fun with us."

"You could have a lot of fun with us," said Scootaloo."C'mon. Let's go have some fun."

I wasn't sure if I should go with them. I turned my head towards Rainbow Dash and she said, "You'll be fine. Just don't do anything crazy dangerous, and have him at Sweet Apple Acres by tonight."

"Why is that?" Apple Bloom asked.

"What did I just say about him when introducing to him?" Rainbow Dash asked.

They stopped and thought about, and then they realized. Sweetie Belle said, "Oh, that's right. He's new here, and Pinkie Pie must be setting up a 'Welcome to Ponyville Party' for him." She then leaned in towards me and said, "She does that for every new pony in town."

"And we're going to be having the party at Sweet Apple Acres?!" Apple Bloom asked. "Sure. We'll have him there by tonight." Then Scootaloo ran off to head somewhere.

"Where's she going?" I asked.

"She's probably running off to get her scooter and the wagon attached to it," said Apple Bloom. "It's how we get around fast."

"Oh," I said. "You girls have helmets, right?"

"Of course we do," said Sweetie Belle. "But, we don't have a spare one for you."

"Hang on," said Rainbow Dash. She then pulled out some gold coins and said, "Head on to a store and get him a helmet before you go speeding on that."

"Good call," said Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle used some weird green energy to pick up the bits from Rainbow Dash. I was surprised on how she was doing that.

"How are you doing that?" I asked.

"Huh?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Doing what?"

"That thing with your horn," I said.

"Oh," she said in realization. "Right, you probably don't know about us ponies and what we can do. We can talk after we get you a helmet."

I nodded and then Rainbow Dash started flying and said, "Well, I've got to go check on things. I'll see you kids at Sweet Apple Acres tonight. See ya."

Then Rainbow Dash took off.





I was sitting on the wagon between Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle while Scootaloo was using her scooter to pull the wagon. Apple Bloom was wearing a blue helmet, Sweetie Belle was wearing a light green helmet, and Scootaloo had a purple helmet with two white stripes going down the middle. The helmet I got was red with two blue arrows pointing towards the front.

"So, about that light from that horn," I said to Sweetie Belle.

"Oh, right," Sweetie Belle said. "Well, you see, all ponies have magic of their own. Unicorns can use their magic to lift things, even do a few spells. My magic isn't really that strong, but I'm getting better."

"And earth ponies have magic that increases their own strength and endurance," said Apple Bloom. "Ya get a lot more when you work on a farm like mah family."

"And what does pegasus magic do?" I asked. I had no idea when I wasn't born a pony. Let alone a pegasus.

"Well, according to Scootaloo," said Sweetie Belle, "pegasi magic allows them to fly and... something else. What was it?"

"We're able to walk on clouds!" said Scootaloo through the wind.

"Oh, that's it," said Sweetie Belle.

Then I realized something and said, "That explains why I was on that cloud when I woke up like this, and not fall through."

"You woke up on a cloud?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"I was up about 200 feet in the sky," I said. "And I was right under a storm."

"Oooh," said Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

"That's a bad place for somepony to be while under a storm," said Scootaloo. "And being a different species, I bet you can't fly yet."

"No," I said. "I thought it was a dream at first, but when the lightning hit me on my stomach and felt pain, that idea just vanished."

"Yeah, I can understand that," said Scootaloo. "How about we get a snack?"

We stopped back at Sugarcube Corner for a snack. We went inside and saw a blue pony with a pink mane at the desk.

"Oh, hello there, dearies," said the mare. "Oh, and who is this young colt you have here?"

"Mrs. Cake, meet Danny," said Apple Bloom. "He's new to Ponyville."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meetcha, Danny," said the mare. "I'm Cup Cake. You can call me Mrs. Cake. What brings you four here?"

"We're here to get a snack," said Scootaloo.

"Alright, there," said Mrs. Cake. "What will it be?"

I thought about it. I then saw some doughnuts. I then asked, "Can I have a doughnut? A chocolate bar to be exact."

"Sure, dearie," said Mrs. Cake. "What about you girls?"

"I'll have a maple bar," said Sweetie Belle.

"I'll take an Apple Fritter," said Apple Bloom.

"And I'll have a glazed doughnut," said Scootaloo.

"What about some drinks?" Mrs. Cake asked.

"Milkshakes," said Scootaloo. "You like milkshakes, right?"

"Yep," I said. "Chocolate is my favorite."

"Alright," said Scootaloo. "Four milkshakes. Two chocolate, one vanilla, and one strawberry."

"Alright," said Mrs. Cake. "That'll be twelve bits."

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo pulled their allowances, and even payed for my order. We then sat down at a table, waiting for our orders to come. We were waiting for them, but then two fillies came in. Both of them were Earth Ponies. One of them was pink with a light purple mane with a white stripe and a tiara in her mane. She also had a tiara for a Cutie Mark. The other one was gray with a silver braided mane with light blue glasses and a light blue pearl necklace, and her Cutie Mark was of a spoon of some kind.

"Oh, look, Silver Spoon," said the pink one in one of those mean tones. "If it isn't the blank flanked losers."

"They are so pathetic," said the silver one.

"What do you two want?" asked Apple Bloom.

"You blank flanks don't get to ask us with that kind of attitude," said the pink one. Then she noticed me. "Oh, look. You finally got a new loser to join with you. Keep on trying with your pointless quest because there's nothing you blank flanks will ever be good at. That goes for you as well, new colt."

What she was saying was hurting me emotionally. This is worse than the things my aunt and uncle said to me. But the girls sitting by me had my back.

"Don't you dare talk down to Danny like that," said Scootaloo. "He's had been abused by his aunt and uncle who treated him more like a slave than family."

"Ha!" laughed Diamond Tiara. "You expect me to believe a pathetic lie like that?! You better not get in my way!" She looked at me angrily. "Or else you're gonna be hurting a lot more than what you want me to think you've been through!"

Then Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked away from us. I was really upset of what those two said. But then I felt three pairs of hooves wrapping around me. I looked at the three girls who were trying to get me feeling better.

"It's okay, buddy," said Scootaloo. "You'll never be treated like that. Besides, you're not with your aunt and uncle anymore."

"Yeah," said Apple Bloom. "If I had some relatives that treated my like your aunt and uncle did, I would've reported it to someone who would save kids from abusive family members."

"You deserve only the best," said Sweetie Belle.

Then Mrs. Cake came in with our orders, and we started eating. Well, I started with the milkshake I had. When I saw Apple Bloom holding her Apple Fritter with her hoof, I got confused on how she was able to grip it. Then I looked at Scootaloo, eating her doughnut, and gripping it with her hoof. I then asked, "How are you two holding those with your hooves?"

"What do you mean?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, when I was human, I had hands and fingers to grab things," I said. "It was a lot easier. My fingers were like that Spike's dragon's claws. Except I had five fingers instead of four."

"Ah, Ah get it," said Apple Bloom. "The fingers ya had made it easier to grab things. Guess having hooves might make it a challenge for ya."

"Yeah," I said.

"Well, let me help you with that," said Scootaloo. She then grabbed my hoof, and pulled it over my doughnut.

"Now, imagine grabbing the doughnut with those fingers you had, and try grabbing yer doughnut," said Apple Bloom.

I was imagining grabbing my doughnut. I had my eyes closed, and I flexed and said, "Okay, I'm grabbing it."

"Now imagine pulling the doughnut up to your mouth and eat it," said Scootaloo.

I imagined pulling the doughnut and bringing it to my, slightly bigger mouth, and I took a bite out of my doughnut. And the weirdest this is, I actually tasted it. I then opened my eyes, and saw that I was actually holding the doughnut with my hoof.

"I'm... I'm holding it..." I said.

"You actually are," said Scootaloo. "Nice job, buddy. Go on and eat up."

I smiled and continued eating my doughnut. At least I would have some good friends as long as I am here. I really don't want to go back to my aunt and uncle. I rather be here and happy than back there and be treated badly.