Cutie Mark Sentai Crusader! The Prologue Movie the Book Yay!
By: Raising Shadows
The Premise: The tale of The Greatest Crusader is a tale as old as the Princesses themselves. A symbol of the light of Equestria, his adventures were legendary. However, bad blood doesn’t dissipate over time and eventually one snaps into insanity. A Pony with a mad desire, to make all of the, “lesser races,” submit to Equine rule and overthrow the Immortal Princesses. However, with a little luck, and perhaps the fates to guide them, five fillies and one colt will save the Elements of Harmony, Equestria’s reputation, and the world itself. All while trying to find their Cutie Marks. However, will their small size prevent them from their mission? And will the bad ponies get their comeuppance? Read on my dears, as the legend awaits.
A/N: The references to certain shows in this story are not owned by me. Also, the names of certain characters do not belong to me as I did not create the universe of the fandom from which they are from. All credit goes to the authors and creators of the said shows and the said universes.
Chapter 1
-Bedtime Stories and Nightmares -
Quiet and unnerving. That was what the night was to most of the soldiers on the exploration ships from Equestria thought. Though the beauty of Princess Luna’s moon hung above their heads, and the waters weren’t necessarily harsh and un-manageable, it seemed to the ponies that there was something not right in the world.
“I don’ like it.” One pegasus pony, Stoutwind, nickered as he stared out into the horizon. He was clad in a full set of special made pegasi chain armor, which glimmered in the torch light from where he stood on the right side of the ship. On the first glance, his coat would have been mistaken for orange in the light, but it was a sort of golden color like one would see on a pie. Flecks of his blue mane fluttered a little as a gentle sea breeze fluttered through the folds of the leather helmet he wore. “The Captain could be leading us off of the edge of the world for Faust’s sake and we don’t even know it.”
“And you suspect that you could do a better job?” A voice asked. Stoutwind looked down onto the deck of the ship and could see one of the unicorn ponies on the Night Watch lying down for a moment. Stoutwind turned his attention to the unicorn, seeing his snow white coat and dark gray mane against the dark bronze colored armor he wore. The unicorn’s horn was glowing, which held up the torch with a rim of blue colored magic. Stoutwind could also see that the unicorn’s cutie mark was a simple map with a bright red X in the middle, indicating that it was a treasure map of some kind.
“No, I wasn’t saying that.” Stoutwind retorted.
“What were you saying then?” The unicorn lazily asked, standing up and leaning his front hooves from across the oak railing.
“I was just saying that... Look, it doesn’t matter what I was saying. Somethin’ in deep down in me wings tells me that there’s somethin’ out there.” He snorted, staring at the unicorn crossly. “Besides, there’s not a bit o’ gold in all th’ world ta make me feel better about doin’ this thing.” Stoutwind went back to gazing out at the sea, still feeling uneasy about how the night was acting around him.
“And I thought that I had seen everything!” The unicorn exclaimed in a whisper, chuckling a little. “A pegasus, scared of something that’s been beyond his control!”
“You callin’ me a coward?” Stoutwind asked, glaring at the still chuckling stallion next to him.
“No friend, I’m saying that you are a smart one. You aren’t the only one who’s nervous about the past few days.” The unicorn answered flatly. “Trust somepony with a few years of experience, don’t let your fears control you, but don’t let them go. It’s the only thing that will keep you alive long enough to see your work in this service come to some kind of advantage. The name’s Steel. Tempered Steel at your service.”
“Well then, why are you here?” Stoutwind asked him.
“Oh, I suppose to let you know that the time for the shift of the guard is to change. I’ll be taking over. Get some rest lad.” Tempered Steel replied honestly, watching the pegasi’s expression change.
“Oh, well thank’ee kindly. I mean, I do need some time ta relax a little. Maybe even get some sleep before dawn.” Stoutwind said, stretching. He watched as the unicorn smiled gently, before flying off and down to where the crew slept.
As soon as Stoutwind was gone, Tempered Steel grinned darkly. “Now that the watch is gone, the ship is totally defenseless. Soon the treasure of Grimclaw the Terrible will be mine!” He thought viciously.
----
“And that’s the story for tonight.”
“Aww... But Mommy what happens?” A small, dark green unicorn foal with a blue mane and tail asked from his bed, looking up at his mother with a tired smile. His mother a bright yellow unicorn with an orange mane and tail smiled as she closed a heavy leather bound book, her amber eyes glowing in the gentle lantern light.
“Well, you won’t find out unless you behave and go to sleep mister.” The foal’s mother scolded playfully. “And all good little crusaders need their sleep.” Her horn flared up with a pink aura, tucking her son in underneath the covers of the bed.
Their surroundings weren’t much, a small bedroom with a small bookcase on the opposing side of the room which was carved into the hill that they lived under. The bed that the foal was currently laying in was not much bigger than he was; ends of his tail were visible underneath the blanket that draped over the side of the bed. There wasn’t much in the forms of color; most of their surroundings in the light were a dark and muddy brown, which would have made the room bleak and miserable for most foals.
“Mommy?” The foal asked, stifling a yawn as he tried to remain awake.
“Yes Utopian dear?” His mother replied, watching her colt fall asleep.
“Do you think that I could be a great crusader some day?” Utopian asked, snuggling on the only pillow that his room had.
“Well, if you are already. You’re my little great crusader Utopian.” She said, kissing him on the cheek before getting up from a stool that she had brought in from another room. “Now I’ll see you in the morning. Good night my little crusader.” She said, blowing out the lantern and picking it up with her magic.
Utopian watched as his mother trotted calmly out of the door, before snuggling into the comforts of his own bed. His parents didn’t think that he knew about there situation, about how poor they were after his father was fired from his job for something he didn’t do, but he knew. Utopian wasn’t a simple foal who would ignore things that were above his head, he was one of those who did his part to help around the house. No task was turned down, whether it was helping out with the brick layers in downtown Applewood, or it was running food down to the railroad builders in the mountains that essentially sealed off Applewood from the rest of Equestria.
But Utopian was also a foal with a dream. He wanted to live like a rich pony, like a pony who had money. He wanted to be seen in Canterlot as a very important pony, one of the most important ones second to Princess Celestia. He had heard of how his father was one day going to make things better for him and his mom, and how he was going to buy them a house in Canterlot, but the, “Nightmare Moon Damned Griffons,” kept hounding him from sunrise to sunset.
As Utopian stared blankly at the ceiling, he could hear from deeper into his house the sounds of his mother coughing. That was another thing that made Utopian want to help out. The shape of their, “Castle under the hill,” was taking its toll on his mother. Medicine was expensive, even for herbal remedies that one could find in a Zebra’s stall. And even though there were plenty of Zebra in the area, Applewood was not only Equestria’s Cinematic Capitol of the World but the prime location for immigration, most weren’t willing to share their remedies unless you asked the right ponies and had the right amount of coin.
The unicorn colt’s life was far from perfect. Well, by most standards anyways, but he was still glad to have his family. And still glad that there was something that he was wanted for.
As he drifted off onto the realms of the dream world, a loud banging immediately shook him awake. Utopian heard his father shout something that sounded like a cross between a roar and a groan, “I’m comin’, I’m comin’,” and heard hoofsteps head towards the front door. The young foal climbed out of bed after throwing the small blanket off of himself and galloped to his bedroom door as fast as his hooves would carry him.
After waiting a few moments and hearing the deadbolt on the front door of his house unlock, Utopian quietly opened the door and poked his head outside. To his left, was his parent’s room, dark and quiet as it ever could have been. His right however was a different story.
Against a cold, black night sky, visible only through the open front door stood an intimidating creature. Its body was covered in black feathers as its front legs ended in razor sharp talons. A thin, whip-like tail calmly hung from the back of the beast as a set of paws meant for a lion made up its hind legs. The creature’s head was covered in white feathers, as a simple black eye patch covered its right eye. Several scars adorned the creature’s beak as its amber eye darted from inside the beast’s skull.
“Shadowfang, what do you want?” Utopian’s father, an all black unicorn stallion with an onyx colored stone for a cutie mark asked.
“Ahh... Strip Miner. What a pleasant surprise. I thought I might’ve found you here.” The creature hissed with an icy venom, extending one of his claws out to his father. Utopian watched his father take it nervously, before backing down and trembling.
“I see that you’ve cut yourself a nice hole in the ground here. I just hope that it lasts.” The creature called Shadowfang scoffed, looking in the home with his available eye.
“What do you want Shadowfang?” Utopian’s father snapped, getting irritated.
“Well, I came here to let you know that there’s a job that the don wants you to do...” Shadowfang’s eye rested on the stallion before him. “You figure with all of the pegasi he’s sent onto their turf, something would have gotten done to take care of it. But I guess, a unicorn has to get this job done.”
Utopian’s father shook his head. “I told your boss that I’ll have no part of his mafia any more. I’ve already taken too many lives; I have a family now and have a foal to raise. I-”
“You’ll do as you’re told.” Shadowfang said curtly, glaring at the stallion. “Lest you want anything to happen to your family. I mean, cures for Haystack Fever are hard to come by when there done right. And I mean you do care for Amber don’t you?” Shadowfang asked, watching the color fade from Strip Miner’s coat.
“Wh-What does he want me to do?” Strip Miner asked, defeat hanging in his voice.
“Come now, no need to look so glum. It’s just this one job and you won’t have to see me or anypony else related to the Don again.” Shadowfang replied. “In fact, you do this job right, and I may even see to it that dame of yours get’s taken care of. Now let’s go, you don’t want to keep the Don waiting.” He said, ushering the unicorn pony out into the night. Utopian could only watch as a wicked smile came across the griffin’s face as he closed the door with his tail, chuckling a little as he did so.
That was the last time Utopian would ever see his father. The following morning, several officers from the Applewood Police Department came to his home, reporting the news to his mother. Utopian couldn’t believe it; he was going to help them out of the mess that they were in someday. But just as he contemplated the loss of his father, his mother collapsed. Right on the floor, while the officers were there. She was dead before they even got the chance to finish the tea she had given them.
In that blink of an eye, Utopian’s world was shattered. He wouldn’t hear about how he was a good pony any more from his mother. He wouldn’t be able to hear stories about how his father was going to turn things around in their life. The foal was all alone, and had nopony to care for him. A foal’s worst nightmare.
Utopian’s life then went on a downward spiral from then on. He didn’t know of any relatives that would take him in, his father never really spoke of them much, and any foster home that he was placed in treated him worse than a rampaging manticore. There were days when his life brightened, but they were spent lost in his book, “The Legends of the Great Crusader,” as it was the only thing that kept his foalhood alive.
It all changed when he had gotten his Cutie Mark. It was at a time when nopony wanted to respect him at all. Utopian was sitting outside his home in Canterlot, a very strict and disciplined unicorn family from the well-to-do side of the city had adopted him a few months after his parents died, and waited for his, “Father,” to come home from his post in guarding the palace. Utopian had developed an utter distaste for both the blond-maned cherry colored pegasus mare that dared to take his mother’s place inside the desolate two-story mansion behind him, but could do nothing but wait for the soldier to come home.
As Celestia’s sun descended towards the horizon, he could see the stallion slowly trudge down towards the house from the main street that led from the palace. He was a tired and battle-hardened unicorn whose light blue mane and brown coat clashed with the banged up and damaged golden armor that he wore. The stallion also had several bruises in his face where the results of training and failure to perform were administered on him.
Utopian stood and watched quietly, not moving from where he stood on the small front lawn at his adopted parents’ home. The stallion calmly trudged past the front gate and stopped, staring at the small unicorn colt curiously.
“An’ whadd’re you ere’ for boy?” He asked quickly, glaring at Utopian.
“Ms. Stone told me to come out-” Utopian began before getting cut of by an armored hoof to the face.
“Wha’ did I tell yeh about that? Yer our colt now and yeh goin’ to bucking act like it.” His adopted father snapped.
“You didn’t give birth to me...” Utopian mumbled, purposefully loud enough to where his adopted father could hear.
“Wha’s that?” He snapped, stamping his hoof down on the ground hard. The front door to there home opened wide, revealing Utopian’s adopted mother on the other side.
“Skipping Stone is that you?” The pegasus mare asked, a small tray balanced perfectly on her head.
“Yeah Innocence, it’s me.” The unicorn replied. “I was just askin’ what Junior was out ere’ for, an’ he’s about to get started wif me again.”
“You didn’t give birth to me, you didn’t raise me, heck you don’t even treat me like a regular pony. Why should I show you any respect?” Utopian snapped, unable to control himself.
“Hey hey hey hey!” Both adults snapped, glaring at Utopian like he was a sort of hardened criminal.
“You lissen ere’ colt, an’ you lissen good. Yer no good father was nuthin but a bum. A right ole’ bum.” Skipping Stone snapped, his horn flaring up with a light red aura and wrapping Utopian around with his magic.
“Yer mom was a useless wench.” Innocence continued from inside the house.
“They didn’t care for you, like we do. They didn’t love you enough to stay with you all these years. I mean what did you expect when one was involved with the mob, and the other died because she was too sick to even help herself?” Innocence said, setting the tray down and watching as Utopian was flung inside by Skipping Stone’s magic.
“Nopony wants ya’. Nopony needs ya, heck Faust hasn’t even decided about yer cutie mark yet. Yer useless to this world, an’ it was fate’s job to give you to us.” Skipping Stone snapped, glaring at Utopian. He laughed, picking up the unicorn’s book with his magic and grinned. “The Legends of The Great Crusader? I was ne’er one fer books meself, but you seem to like this ere’ book more than you like tha’ two ponies who only give to bucks about you so,” The Unicorn smiled wickedly, watching as Utopian’s eyes went wide. After a bit of concentration, more on casting the spell than to restrain Utopian, the leather bound book that Utopian treasured more than life itself was on fire. “Enjoy it now.” He said plainly, levitating the burning book in front of Utopian’s face.
As the small colt leapt to grab his book with his hooves, only to have it yanked out of the way, something buried deep with in him snapped. With each successive leap, he got more manic, and angrier. His hatred from his past few years of life, his misery of being forced from one foster home to another, and his new desire for his book to be back safe in his hooves all began to boil over until-
“STOP.” Utopian bellowed, his horn blazing with a pulsing green light.
The next few moments hung in the air forever. Nothing seemed to make a sound. Skipping Stone’s magic seemed to flicker and fade for a few seconds as the book descended from its grasp. Utopian lunged for the book and immediately proceeded to stamp out the flames as his adopted father stood there, non-moving in the hall with a blank expression in his eyes.
After a few moments the older unicorn looked down and glared, his horn flared up with magic again. Utopian struggled, watching as the aura surrounded him with his book and gave his adopted father a determined glare.
“NO. YOU WILL NOT TAKE THIS FROM ME.” Utopian bellowed again, his horn flaring up a second time.
Skipping stone stopped, his horn stopped glowing as he dropped Utopian to the floor. He staggered a bit before shaking his head. Utopian’s horn continued to glow as the older unicorn continued to tremble. “I... I... I...” He uttered, trembling shakily as his voice slowly went in and out of sync.
“Honey... Skipping Stone what’s wrong?” Innocence asked, looking at her husband nervously.
“I... I will not take that from him...” Skipping Stone answered in almost a trance-like voice.
Before anypony could realize what had happened, Utopian was nowhere to be found. Only small, damaged bits of his book remained as he left the house and set off on his own. He couldn’t explain his magic, he didn’t care at the time, but whatever he had done to his father felt good. It felt really good.
And he was prepared to do it again if necessary.
Utopian spent the rest of his foalhood on the run, going from town to town and city to city and learning how to control
his powers and eventually began to understand what his cutie mark meant.
It was during this epiphany that he had found out there was some truths to the stories of the Greatest Crusader. Truths that were forever at one point made to be sealed away for the good of the four-legged populace for all of time.
It was in that book that contained the exact coordinates of getting to what was known as the Temple of Grimclaw the Terrible, an ancient Griffin Sphinx that had plans on remaking the world in his own image. An image where the Griffin Race was the territorial power in their world and not the ponies. The stories told of a grand and golden temple, wrought with fountains aplenty and acres of the finest meals that could ever be seen. No mortal except the Greatest Crusader was ever thought to have found it, and supposedly after his passing none ever would again.
Utopian sat drifting for days, awash on a sea of mental desperation. He had no home, he had no friends or family, he had nothing to rely on. He was at the literal bottom of the barrel in Equestrian society, and had nopony to fall back on.
The unicorn then remembered that there was something he could do to change things. “If I can’t ask for help in getting me the ultimate powers of the God of Griffins, then I’ll make the fools help me.” He thought deviously, settling off with a new goal in mind.