//------------------------------// // 25~Honorary Crusader // Story: Youngblood // by Centurion Pike-Wall //------------------------------// December 19th, 3095 Imperial Calender (1522 AD) Scootaloo's house *KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK* Rainbow Dash sighed, standing up from the breakfast table. "I'll get it", she grumbled. "No. I got it", Rumble said, placing a sippy cup next to Rainbow for her youngest daughter. "I spent a long time getting this recipe right, and I'll be damned if you don't eat it because you blow a fuse yelling at your old friends." Rainbow opened her mouth to reply, before sighing and slinking back into her seat. "Right. Thanks, Rumble." She took the bottle, offering it to Ignis. While she did that, Rumble went to the front door. He opened it, blinking in surprise when he didn't see anypony. He then lowered his gaze, smiling as he saw Styx was at the door, bundled up in a parka. "Oh, hey Styx. Is there something you need?" "Yeah", she said. "I was wondering if Catalia would want to and come play with me and my friends." "Oh", Rumble said. "Well, we're having Breakfast at the moment. Come inside; I'll talk to Rainbow about it." "Oh, alright", Styx said, slipping past Rumble as he shut the door. "Who is it?", Scootaloo called. Rumble peaked around the corner, replying, "It's Styx. She wants to know if Catalia can come play with her friends." DJ's eyes narrowed, causing Styx to shuffle her hooves nervously. Rainbow, meanwhile, said, "Catalia, do you want to?" "Sure", Catalia said, her voice a mix of excited and nervous. "I mean, when in Zebrica, do as the Zebricans do, right?" "That's my girl", Castus said, nuzzling her. Rainbow said, "You have to finish your breakfast first, Catalia. But, then you can go play." Catalia nodded. "Thanks, mom!" "Hey, where's your bathroom?", Styx asked Rumble. He pointed down the hall and said, "There's a small one in that door beneath the stairs." "Thanks", Styx said. She went down the hall, opening the door and entering the small room. It was indeed pretty small; only a toilet, sink, and mirror. She took care of her business, washing her hooves and exiting. She bumped into DJ, who was waiting for her. "Oh. Hi?" "Listen", DJ said, leaning in closer and giving Styx a good look at his scarred eye. "I heard from my brother what your friends often get up to. I find out that the idiocy of you or any of your friends, hurt my sister, the Gods themselves won't be able to protect you. Clear?" Styx nodded. "Crystal." He raised his head, stepping to the side and allowing her to pass. "Good. Have a good day." He pushed past her into the bathroom, leaving Styx alone in the hallway. +++++~+++++ "Y-you're certain that structure is sturdy?", Catalia asked. The two of them approached a small treehouse, not far from Sweet Apple Acres. At one point, it had been painted fully in dull orange with a dark red tile roof. However, recently the paint had begun to chip and a few of the tiles on the roof were missing. The green ramp was chipped slightly, with at least one of the wooden brackets missing. "Well, I mean, yes?", Styx said. "It hasn't broken since Miss Applejack put it up." "Wasn't that at least two decades? Closer to three, if I recall?", Catalia asked. "It's been spruced up", Styx said, heading up the ramp. "Don't worry." "Hey, Styx!", Cherry yelled, sticking her head out the window. Styx stumbled back, nearly falling off the ramp to the snow below. "Who're you talking to?" "Cherry!", Styx yelled, breathing heavily. "Don't. Do that." "Okie. Now, answers. Who are you speaking to?", Cherry said. "Just go inside", Styx deadpanned. "I'll introduce you to all to her." The hyper pink mare stuck her head back inside while Styx turned back to Catalia. "Come on. Don't worry." Catalia took a deep breath, before following her up the ramp. The inside of the Clubhouse was surprisingly well decorated, with several pictures of both the group of foals in front of her and of the original Cutie-Mark-Crusaders. A carpet was on the floor, while a podium of sorts sat on the far side fo the room. Besides Styx, an odd mix of four other foals sat on the carpet, all of them looking at Catalia. She instantly froze again. Her paralysis was broken by Styx tapping on the podium. She said, "Hello, everypony. Before I call this meeting of the New-CMC to order, I'd like to introduce a new friend I made. This is Catalia, the daughter of Rainbow Dash." Catalia raised one of her paws, giving them an awkward wave. "Umm... Hi?", Catalia said. She let out a surprised squeak when Cherry Pie sprang out of her seat and tackle-hugged her, knocking off her glasses. "It's so, so, so, so, so, so, so nice to meet you! My mom-well, one of them-told me all about your mom and how they were super-duper best friends. I hope we can also become super-duper best friends! Ohh!! Maybe even super-duper-UBER best friends!" "Where are my glasses!?", Catalia yelled, slipping out of Cherry's grip and patting around for them. Silver stood up, hooking the curved end of the frame with one of her horns and lifting it up to Catalia. "Here you go." "Thanks", Catalia said, grabbing and putting them back on. As she let out a deep sigh of relief, Apple Fritter said, "Cherry!" "What?", Cherry asked. "I was just saying hi and hoping we could be friends." Grace leaned up next to her and whispered, "Dear, she likely can't see well without her glasses. Do try and be more careful, will you?" "Oh, I am so sorry, and I-" "It's fine, it's fine", Catalia said, clearly coming down from the edge of panic. "So, you said you're the Cutie-Mark-Crusaders?" "Yep", Apple Fritter said. "We even got the capes and everything." Catalia blinked. She said, "Why? I mean, statistically speaking, most Equine creatures that get Cutie Marks only start to get them around the age of 10 on average. I'm assuming you're not ten, so I'm just questioning the decision to do something like this that seems so needlessly... risky?" She smiled sheepishly, rubbing her elbow. Cherry said, "Because it's fun!" Silver nodded, adding, "Besides, it's something to do. Mom and Dad are pretty busy sometimes, so having fun with my friends is a good way to spend time." "Personally, I agree with you, Catalia", Grace said. "About the risky part. Trust me, I've tried to get them to try something more up to my tastes-" "You mean tea parties and fancy clothes?", Fritter asked, his expression a mix between disgust and horror. "What? Does the Prince Apple Fritter the First not like wearing a suit?", Grace teased. Fritter opened his mouth to yell, but his voice left him when he heard a panicked squeak come from Catalia. She backed up, bowing her head and pressing one of her paws to her shoulder. "Ave, Princeps!", she exclaimed. Fritter sighed, fixing Grace with a withering glare. "Lookie what you did now", he groused, before rubbing his temple. "Look, ya don't have'ta call me Prince-teps... or however y'all pronounce it. Ah honestly got no love fer mah title, and if y'all could ignore it, ah'd very much appreciate it." "R-right", Catalia said. "So, you just do it because it's f-fun?" "Yep!", Cherry said. "Now that introductions and the author's obligatory characterization have been taken care of, let's figure out what we're doing today!" Catalia once again blinked, turning her gaze to Styx. The gray filly shook her head, whispering in Catalia's ear, "Forget it. She inherited Miss Pie's 'Zaniness'. Trust me, both mom, dad, and I have tried to work it out. Don't. Bother." Catalia nodded, turning to the group. "So, what exactly are you all planning to do?" "You mean, what we're planning to do!", Cherry said. "What?", Catalia said. Silver said, "Well, you're the niece of one of the original Crusaders. Plus, you're Styx's friend, right? At least, she described you as such." "Yeah", Styx said. "Don't worry. It won't take any commitment or anything like that." "But, I don't know if I can get a cutie mark", Catalia said, lowering her head. "Admittedly, it's a bit of an imperfect science. But there seems to be a different chance for hybrids of equine and non-equine species to get Cutie Marks. It tends to be higher in more equine-like species, like Bighorn hybrids and Hippogryphs. But, among other sub-hybrids like Cargaths-That's what I am, technically-the odds seem to be much lower, and-" She was cut off by Styx shoving her hoof into Catalia's mouth. "In that case", she said. "Silver has a low chance of getting one. Minotaur and Pony are about as far apart as you can get. But she's still a Crusader. It doesn't matter if you can get a mark; it's about having fun." Catalia nodded nervously. "Ok... ok. So, in that case: What are we going to do?" +++++~+++++ "Jeez, Cherry", Styx said, giggling. "Where did you get all this?" "Oh, dad and one of my moms helped set it up", Cherry said, grinning ear to ear. The six of them stood at the top of a hill near the edge of town, AROUND where Rarity often scavenged for gems. Below them, a sheet of ice had been set up, snaking side to side to form massive slide down the side. Mattresses lined the side of the slide, while the slide ended in a snowbank. "One of your moms?", Catalia asked. "Yeah!", Cherry said. "I have three parents!" Catalia blinked again. Grace said, "Her parents are in a herd. It's an old pony tradition. Not practiced very much anymore, but it's not unheard of." Catalia reached into her cloak, taking out the glowing rune. She took it out, muttered, "I swear, it's like reading a book about pre-unification Bighorns.", before putting it back inside the pocket. "Ok. So, how exactly does it work?" "Well", Cherry said. "My moms started dating first, and wanted to have a foal; me! While looking for somepony to help with the process, they met my dad, and-" "Uh, Cherry?", Silver said. "I think she meant how we are gonna Bobsled down." "Oh, yeah!", Cherry said. "I'll go get it." She bounced off, leaving the rest of the foals waiting around. After a bit, Catalia sat down, pulling out a small book from her cloak. Apple Fritter looked over her shoulder, asking, "What'cha readin'?" "Um...", Catalia said, shifting nervously. "I-it's called the Historia de triumphante. It's about th-the Triumphators of the Pryhan Empire. It d-doesn't include my mom, but all the ones before that." "Cool", Apple Fritter said. "Sounds like mah ma tellin' me and Southern 'bout her and her friend's adventures." Catalia said, "The two are similar. Not fully comparable, given both the nature of recent Equestrian history and the necessity the Imperial Army requires in order to qualify for the Triumphators Cross. I mean... Elama, I'm rambling." "Oh, don't worry, Dear", Grace said. "We all have our quirks. I, for one, can't stand dirt or mud. Silver faints whenever she sees blood. Cherry also rambles, albeit more from being hyper-active than from nerves. Fritter here can't act formally to save his life-" "Ah can to!", he interjected. "Just... don't feel like it, is all." "And Styx is blunt and inquisitive", Grace finished. Silver nodded. She said, "Grace is right. Just be yourself." "I got it!", Cherry yelled. She came back, sitting in the back of a long, blue sled. It was shaped more like a Pryhan land-skiff than a traditional sled, with high sides, seats, and a small windshield. Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich were pushing it, bringing it to a stop just before the slide. "Everypony on board!", Cheese Sandwich yelled. "The Polar Express is pulling out!" All of the others piled in, Catalia the last to do so. As the fastened the seatbelts and put on the helmets inside, Pinkie said, "Make sure you lean into the turns." "Got it, got it", Cherry said. "Just send us off!" The two adults pushed forward, sending the sled over the edge and onto the slide. As instructed, all of the foals leaned to one side as the sled came to the first bend, before leaning even further to the side as the next one came up. They soon came to the final turn, before going down the flat slope to the ground. However, as they neared the end, the sled hit a small indent in the ice, sending it spinning off of the ramp. Fortunately, they were close enough to the ground to avoid any serious damage, both to themselves and to the sled. All of the foals groaned, peeling off their helmets. Cherry was the first to recover and said, albeit with a slight slur to her speech, "That was fun! Who wants... to go again!" Catalia, breathing heavily, shakily adjusted her glasses. She took out the rune again, looking at it as if willing it to combust. "Glorium. Why'd you have to give me a taste for all of your crazy stuff?" She slid the rune back into her pocket, before she said, "You know what? Why not?"