//------------------------------// // 8. Too Late For Rumble's Camp // Story: Renaming Starlight's Village // by Brass Polish //------------------------------// As Scootaloo went up and down the road passing out drinks to the Villagers, she was pleased to see they were all enjoying the Papier Mache Street Fair; all except two ponies who were sculpting a sofa out of soggy paper. “Hi, there,” said Scootaloo, stopping to admire the stallion’s and mare’s handiwork. “Having fun?” “Sure,” said the Stallion. “We’re having fun. We only wish our son could be here.” “We begged him to come out and take part,” sighed the Mare. “He always refuses us when we try to get him up off his bed and out of his room.” “He only leaves the bedroom to use the privy,” said the Stallion, “and for meals, and that’s only because we refuse to serve him breakfast, lunch, and dinner in bed.” Scootaloo stepped down off her scooter. “Is this because he’s scared of earning his cutie mark, Mr and Mrs…” she looked at the signature on the papier mache sofa. “Silk?” “You can call me Muga.” “And I’m Coan.” ***** “Our son, Mussel, was born back when Starlight Glimmer was running this Village. So we had drummed anti-cutie mark dogma into him from a young age. We’re not making excuses, but all the parents in this town were doing it at that time. Starlight had had us all convinced that trying to discover a talent was bad, and that the best thing those of us who had foals could do is stamp that desire out of them as quickly as possible. Then when we all discovered that she was a fraud, we owned up to our son. We showed him our cutie marks as soon as we got them back, and we told him we were wrong. We told him that trying to find a talent or ability isn’t a bad thing at all. But the damage was done. Mussel was so steeped in anti-cutie mark stricture, his brain won’t let him try anything. We’ve tried to get him involved with activities; swimming, kite flying, lawn bowling, cooking, stuff like that. But no matter how much we encourage him, his weak but persistent yearling memories tell him that striving for individual talent is bad. All he does these days is lie around in his room. No toys, no books, no paper and pencil. It’s the only thing he feels safe doing.” ***** “Does he even come out for school?” Scootaloo asked. She looked around for some sign of a schoolhouse in the Village. “There isn’t a school in this town,” Muga told her. “We all send our foals to boarding school when summer’s over.” Scootaloo frowned. “Mussel spends entire summers shut up in his room, but he does go to school for the rest of the year. And he does do the work,” siad Coan. “His grades are good. No cutie mark for it, though. So it’s the only productive thing he feels safe doing.” “We’ve apologised countless times for misleading him,” Muga sighed. “We’ve owned up to how wrong we were when Starlight was in charge. It’s just no use. All that anti-cutie mark rot we drummed into his young head won’t leave.” “Can you and your Crusader friends help?” asked Coan. “If you can convince him to at least try something, we’ll be sure to nurture him and let him know we’re pleased with him.” “Hey Scoots!” they heard Double Diamond call from down the road. “Refill?!” Scootaloo hastily remounted her scooter, and told the Silks that the Cutie Mark Crusaders would come to their cottage tomorrow. ***** The next day, the heat and humidity was back. “I can’t imagine being stuck in a bedroom around the clock in weather like this,” Sweetie Belle panted as she and Apple Bloom followed Scootaloo down the road to the Silks’ cottage. “Good thing you came up with that fan idea,” Apple Bloom remarked. “Or Mussel might not have survived before we could get to him.” Scootaloo knocked on the Silks’ door. Muga and Coan invited the Crusaders in and showed them where Mussel’s bedroom was at once. “Mussel,” Coan said softly into the dark room. “You have visitors. This is Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle. They are the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” The Crusaders could make out a lump in the darkness rolling over on the bed. “Well… I’ll just leave you to it,” said Coan. ***** Coan had left the door open, but the Crusaders were still struggling to see anything. Sweetie Belle lit her horn, and Mussel came into sharper focus sprawled on his bed. “Hi, Mussel,” said Apple Bloom. “Whatcha doing cooped up in your room? Aren’t ya bored?” “Aren’t you boiling?” put in Sweetie Belle. Now that they could see where the window was, Apple Bloom drew the blinds and opened the window to let a breeze come in. Scootaloo looked around; in the window light, the room looked dirty. There was a thin layer of dust on almost every surface, and most of the corners had spider webs in them. “Don’t you ever clean up in here?” she asked Mussel. “I can’t do that,” said Mussel sharply. “What if I’m good at it?” Scootaloo sat on the foot of Mussel’s bed. “If you’re good at something, then a lot of ponies could benefit from your efforts. If you do nothing but lie in bed, you’re no use to anypony. Lying in bed all day, you’re just a freeloader.” Mussel sat up. “Oh, no. I don’t like the sound of that. Maybe… I guess… I could do some chores around the house…” “I think that’s a great idea,” smiled Scootaloo. “Why don’t we start by doing some dusting in this room?” ***** Mussel stretched, cracked his neck, and stood up. “I, uh… I don’t know where to get a broom or a dust pan,” he admitted. “Why not ask your parents?” asked Sweetie Belle. Mussel cringed. “They won’t be mad at you,” insisted Scootaloo. “Hey, no need to ask them,” interjected Apple Bloom. “There’s a duster out in the hall.” She slid out of the room, and returned seconds later with a feather duster. She held it out to Mussel. “But what if… I’m good at cleaning my room?” he shuddered. “If you get a cutie mark for doing chores,” said Scootaloo, “then your parents won’t have to do all the housework themselves anymore.” Mussel calmed down, and took the feather duster from Apple Bloom. ***** The Crusaders watched as Mussel began to sweep the dust from his bed, his side table, his empty shelves, and then the floor. Gradually, he became less tense. It was challenging work; it was still warm in the room despite the breeze from the window, and they couldn’t turn the ceiling fan on because it would just blow the dust around. Clearing away the spider webs was taking a while as well. Spiders would crawl onto the duster and even onto Mussel’s hoof. He wasn’t disturbed; he was used to spiders. He simply flung each one out of the window and into the small but very tidy and nicely landscaped back garden. It wasn’t long before the Crusaders realised that the room didn’t look so dark now that Mussel had given it a good cleaning. ***** “Good grief, that was quick!” Mussel and the Crusaders jumped; they hadn’t seen Muga and Coan look in on them through the door. “Uh…” Mussel shivered a little. “Well done, Mussel,” Coan gave her son her warmest smile. “We’re very pleased, son,” said Muga. “You did a great job cleaning your room.” “You… like it?” asked Mussel. “Thanks. I… I could clean other rooms in the house, if you like.” Muga and Coan were delighted, and made a point of letting Mussel know it. Mussel’s tension dropped as he ventured out of his room for something other than food, school, or nature’s call for the first time in his life. “Thank you, Crusaders,” Muga said. “Well, we’re probably not done yet,” said Sweetie Belle. “Yeah, we just got him outta bed and doing stuff,” said Apple Bloom. “But it’s a start,” said Scootaloo. And they offered to check up on the Silks later that week. ***** It was a good thing they did. “Well we gave him a fair amount of chores to do, we think,” Muga said, showing the Crusaders a copy of Mussel’s list of chores. The Crusaders glanced over it. “Just one or two things a day? That’s not bad.” “He’s pretty good at tidying up around the house,” Coan put in. “Doesn’t look like he’ll be getting a cutie mark for it though.” “Oh, that’ll come in time,” insisted Apple Bloom. “And whether or not it’s for housework…” “That’s not what’s bothering us,” interrupted Muga, scratching his neck. “The trouble is whenever he finishes a chore, he asks us if we want him to do another one.” “Whenever we tell him there’s nothing else we’d like him to do that day, he goes back to his room,” said Coan. “But not to lie around like he used to. He just cleans his room. It would be nice, but he does it so often, there’s nothing left to clean.” “And what’s worse,” added Muga, “he’s always apologizing.” “For what?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Well as he puts it,” Coan told them, “for not earning his keep until now. For being a freeloader for his whole life.” Scootaloo gulped. “What does he have to apologize for?” asked Muga, frowning at nopony in particular. “It’s our fault he was so lazy to begin with. He doesn’t need to do this to make amends to us.” ***** Scootaloo groaned. “I didn’t mean to make him feel bad. I was just trying to motivate him outta bed.” “It’s okay, Scootaloo. It was a good start,” insisted Apple Bloom, scratching her ear. “Tomorrow, let’s just try inviting Mussel out to… I dunno, play buckball or something.” “Do you think he’ll leave the house?” asked Scootaloo. “Or will he just want to not leave his parents to do all the work while he enjoys himself.” “Look, stop beating yourself up,” Sweetie Belle grunted, scratching her chin. “We’ll see how it goes, okay? A Crusader’s work is never really done.” The summer weather had brought with it another problem; mosquitoes. It was worse than ever this year, according to the Villagers. Fortunately, it wasn’t too bad indoors. All the same, Scootaloo had trouble sleeping that night; she was too keen to continue motivating Mussel to enjoy himself and try to find out what he was good at. And she especially wanted to make up for her misleading comment about him being a layabout. ***** The next morning, Scootaloo got up, recovered from a flashback/nightmare she’d just had, scratched a mosquito bite on her leg, and left Sugar Belle’s Cafe to go see Mussel. “I’ve just got to try and convince him to leave his house and do something other than clean up for his parents,” she said with determination. As soon as she reached the Silks’ cottage, the front door burst open, and Mussel came scrambling out into the front yard. He was covered in mosquito bites. “I need those spiders back!” he wailed, scratching himself vigorously. “Okay, okay, calm down!” said Scootaloo sharply. “And stop scratching. Just take it easy, and let’s go into the back yard.” They walked around the cottage and started combing the back garden for spiders. “Sorry for making a mess, Mom and Dad,” Mussel said as though Muga and Coan were there with them, “but I need these little guys back.” And he began depositing every spider he found into his bedroom through the open window. He and Scootaloo spent half an hour scanning the hedges and lawn furniture for spiders. Then they both crawled through the window and into Mussel’s bedroom. Mussel was pleased to see that the spiders had promptly started to build webs. “I just hope my parents won’t be disappointed,” he groaned, scratching his back. Scootalo shut the window. “I’m sure they’ll understand.” ***** There was a knock on the door. Muga entered, also covered in mosquito bites. “Mussel, I’ve made some revisions to your list of chores,” he said, trying to keep a straight face. “From now on, any spider you find, leave it be.” “I’m sorry, dad,” said Mussel. “It’s alright, son,” said Muga. “I didn’t think of this either, and neither did your mother.” “I’ll go look for more spiders in the garden and bring them in the rest of the cottage,” Mussel said sharply. ***** So once again, Scootaloo helped Mussel scour the garden for spiders; and also kept him from scratching so much. Mussel at least had something to distract himself; he was hard at work looking for spiders. Every one he found, he let them crawl all over him. “This way I don’t have to make so many trips,” he said to Scootaloo. “I’ll bet it feels nice to have them crawl all over your mosquito bites too,” said Scootaloo. “A bit,” Mussel admitted. Eventually, Mussel was satisfied with the amount they’d collected. They went back into the cottage, and Mussel visited each room and gave a little shake. Spiders fell off of him, and started scuttling around looking for places to build a web. “When you’ve got all the spiders off of you,” said Coan, who was also covered in mosquito bites, “I’ve drawn you a cold bath to help ease the stinging.” “Thanks, Mom,” said Mussel as he deposited a tiny spider behind a cupboard. Soon, Scootaloo was looking Mussel all over to see if there were still any spiders on him. “I think it’s safe for you to have your bath now,” she said. So Mussel clambered into the basin. “Ah, that’s better,” she sighed. ***** Scootaloo was about to tell Mussel she was sorry for insinuating he was a lazy freeloader when there was a knock on the front door. Muga answered it. “Yep. She’s here,” huffed Apple Bloom. Scootaloo’s cheeks went red when she saw that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle too were covered in mosquito bites. “I left the front door open when I left, didn’t I?” she muttered. “Now the Cafe’s full of mosquitoes,” Sweetie Belle frowned. “Oh don’t worry,” said Mussel. “There’s probably still some spiders left in the backyard. I’ll go and fetch some for you.” And he stepped out of the basin and headed for the backyard, trailing water on the floor as he walked. ***** Scootaloo told Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle about how getting rid of the spiders in the Silks’ cottage had given them a big mosquito problem, and how Mussel was now trying to get the spiders back. “We spent almost an hour looking for spiders in the garden,” she said. “He must be running out by now.” They found otherwise when they entered the backyard to find Mussel almost covered in spiders once again. “How are you still finding spiders?!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “It’s easy,” grinned Mussel. “They’re everywhere. I found that out after cleaning the house all week.” It looked like it was getting easier the more he did it. This time, when he was satisfied, his coat was almost black with spiders. He looked much as he’d done the first time the Crusaders had met him in his dark bedroom. “So,” he said, “could you show me the way to the Cafe?” ***** “What in Equestria is this?!” shrieked Sugar Belle. “All these mosquitoes are bad enough! We don’t need more bugs in here!” “These aren’t bugs, Mrs Belle,” said Mussel politely. “These are spiders.” Sugar Belle blinked. “Oh. Well thanks. But I don’t think we’ll need that many.” “Okay then,” said Mussel as he stood in the middle of the Cafe and spiders started to crawl off of him. “I won’t leave all of them here. I’ll leave before they’ve all crawled off of me. Maybe there are more cottages in town who’d like some spiders to deal with these mosquitoes.” Sugar Belle and the Crusaders watched as spiders left the surface of Mussel’s body and the whiteness of his coat gained clarity. Scootaloo gasped. “You got it!” As the number of spiders on his body dropped, Mussel’s flank came into focus, and there was his cutie mark; a spider web with an insect on it. ***** Muga and Coan showed up at the Cafe, and for the first time, they were not looking pleased with their son. “Mussel, you’ve left a trail of water all over the…” Then they noticed his cutie mark and forgot all about the mess he’d made. “Oh, son! We are so proud of you!” Muga and Coan scrambled forward to hug Mussel; but it didn’t last long as they were disturbed by all the spiders. “Don’t worry, Mom and Dad,” smiled Mussel. “I’ll get them all off. I’m gonna visit every cottage in town and ask them if they have a big mosquito problem they’d like me and my little friends to deal with.” Muga and Coan told him they were happy with this, and Mussel left the Cafe with many spiders still crawling all over him. “You were right, Crusaders. Now that I know what my unique talent is, a lot of ponies can benefit from it,” he said on his way out. “Thanks.” “You’re welcome,” said Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo sighed. “Well, we got him out of bed and out of the house, he’s found a unique talent, and he’s enjoying himself… but I feel like he’s gone from being a couch potato to a workaholic.” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle chuckled. “It’s a start.”