//------------------------------// // 2: Ponies? Really? // Story: Lost Crusaders // by Diloboi //------------------------------// The three creatures tumbled from the perch upon the toilet, and directly towards me. I could do little but brace myself and yelp in shock as they came crashing down on me, knocking me down to the floor in the process. I hissed in pain as contact was made with the hard tiled floor, then again when the orange one landed directly on my stomach, knocking the breath from my lungs. I sputtered and gasped for air as I heard the dull thuds of the other two hit the ground. I laid splayed out for a few seconds before catching my breath and looking at the three offenders. The orange one was still laying flat on me, rubbing its head with its forelimb. The white one looked like its head was spinning, and laid on its stomach. The yellow one, however, was up on its 4 legs looking between the orange one and me with wide eyes. "...Scootaloo? You might wanna move..." It spoke in a high voice with a southern accent. Weird. The orange one stopped the rubbing and finally realized its situation. It's large purple eyes widened before it shambled back to its feet... hooves? It quickly backed up before assuming what I thought to be a defensive stance, it getting low to the floor while giving me a glare. The yellow one stood to its right while the white one scooted behind. "Back creature! These ponies are under my protection!" It said in a scratchy voice while pawing its hoof at the floor. Ponies? I sat up and then looked over the three, trying to come up with some sort of response before settling on one. "...What?" Nice work dum-dum. "If you want to get past me, you'll have to... pass me." It stumbled over its words, sounding unsure at the end of it's sentence. Shaking its head, it again fixed me with a hardly threatening glare. They're pretty cute if I'm being honest. I took a breath to steady myself, then spoke again, "Listen... Pony thing... I don't want any trouble." I said awkwardly, quite unsure if I was going crazy or not. Was there something in the pizza? "I don't believe you!" It cried. "Scoots, maybe we should just calm down..." The yellow pony spoke, bringing up a hoof and resting it on the orange pony's shoulder... I don't know a thing about horse anatomy. It turned to regard the other pony, "Apple bloom! It's evil! It made us fall so it could eat us probably!" It faced me again, pointing an accusatory hoof, "I'm on to you!" The yellow pony facepalmed... facehooved? It put a hoof to its face before setting it down and speaking, "Scootaloo! I slipped and we all fell. It's hard holding both of you, and it was slippery!" The orange one turned, looking much less sure of itself. I took the opportunity to speak, trying to clear up the fog of confusion building in my head. "Uh- Excuse me? What are you?" The orange one began to open its mouth before it was beaten by the white one, who had left its hiding place behind them. "We're ponies. I'm a unicorn, she's a pegasus, and she's a earth pony. What about you?" It spoke in a high pitch tone. "Oh! I'm a human." The unicorn gave a blank face to my response while I pondered what she said. Ponies that can talk. And are also fictional creatures. Cool. "What's a who-man?" The orange pegasus spoke, its snout wrinkling as it pronounced the words. "Well... It's what I am. I walk on two legs, have hair on my head, have hands... all that stuff." The three ponies paused for a second, looking uncertain by the glances they gave each other. The trio resumed looking at me, and I held eye contact with them for an uncomfortable amount of time. I was able to get a look at the three, taking in details. The pegasus had a semi-short hair-cut, with purple eyes and small wings on her back. I pondered for a second on how these could even carry her. The Unicorn had curly hair, and the horn poking out of her forehead looked to be made of bone or something. She also had emerald colored eyes. The yellow pony had bunched up thing of red hair, while the rest was tied up by a massive bow on the back of her head, and large orange coloured eyes. They all three had little ears that poked form their heads, small, stubby legs ending with hooves, and small snouts capable of expressions. Overall, the three didn't resemble typical horses much, save for their ears. The yellow pony spoke up, "I've never seen a who-man... do you have a name Mr. who-man?" "Yeah. It's Kay. Also its 'human', not who-man." I said, rolling my eyes lightly. The three nodded in understanding at the same time, which brought a small smirk to my face. I asked my own question too, "What are your names?" Again the yellow pony... Apple something, answered, "My name's Apple Bloom. This is Scootaloo, and this is Sweetie Belle." The orange one followed up while striking a pose, "...And together..." She paused before the three belted out in sync, "We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Together they struck poses not unlike that of a super hero team. I resisted the urge to laugh and instead a large smile broke out across my features that I tried to hide with a balled up fist. The three broke out their poses and gave their own smiles back. I sat for a moment when I thought of a question for the three little ponies. "What are you doing here?" I noticed the three's smiles dropped when I asked. Scootaloo found the ground much more interesting, Sweetie Belle shifted from to side to side and looked away, and Apple Bloom looked down slightly, "Well... We kinda went into a room off limits and-" The sound of the wooden door getting pounded one cut the small pony off. My mind went blank before a voice rang out from the other side. "Kay? Are you alright in there? I heard a shout or something. Did you actually fall in?" I heard some shuffling outside before she spoke again, "I'm going to open the door. Just to make sure you're not dead." My mind caught up and I could only think one thing. Shit.