“Is too!” Sweetie Belle shouted, poking Scootaloo in the snout.
“Is not!” The orange filly replied, like a very mature pony would. This argument had being going on for nearly half an hour now, and had the house beside them not been empty, they would have had an irate older sister and brother slamming on the door and yelling them to go the buck to sleep.
“Can you y’all both be quiet!” A third filly, Applebloom, complained towards the two of them, causing the arguing girls to grumpily cross their forelegs and sit down on the ground. “When I said we should talk about colts, I did not want to start an argument!”
“But her tastes are bad!” Scootaloo called back, causing Sweetie Belle’s fur to stand on end like a cat. She even hissed like one too!
“Well I’m sorry that your interests only extend as far as colts that shop at Warm Subject!” The small unicorn shouted back.
“At least the colts I like have roughness and mystery to them! You just want a crybaby!” The petite pegasus fired in response.
Applebloom just let out an exasperated groan. Everypony said that at slumber parties, they were supposed to talk about colts, but nopony warned her it would ignite such a stupid argument.
“They’re not crybabies!” Sweetie Belle whined, stomping her little hoof. “Just because a colt is kind and actually shows emotions, doesn’t make them a wimp!”
“Nice colts finish last!” Scootaloo shouted back, causing the room to descend into silence. The two fillies remained silently huffing at each other for a good few minutes, staring at one another with livid gazes before they both simultaneously turned to Applebloom.
“Uh… girls?” The small farmpony asked nervously, eying the door.
“You haven’t told us what kind of colts you like yet.” Sweetie Belle replied in a low voice.
“Yeah, c’mon! Don’t hold out on us!” Scootaloo growled.
“Uh… well…” She swallowed her nerves down and went for a diplomatic response. “I think we’re still a bit too young to think of colts like this… But… Sis always told me I should get a hardworking colt with a steady job.”
Sweetie Belle blinked. “That’s… it? That’s not a romantic interest! That’s a plan for financial stability in our failing economy!”
Scootaloo blinked and placed her hoof on her chin. “Actually… my aunts always said being able to afford a house is a fantasy for my generation… so why not a romantic one! You know what, that’s a good idea, Bloom.”
“Thanks! I think I’d want to go for a colt who’s studying to become an accountant or a mortician. Always jobs for those. Y’know, death and taxes. Either that or a colt who knows his way around farm equipment.”
Sweetie Belle only frowned in response. “You two are depressing.”
“So, who are we going to play with?” The young colt asked as he trotted beside Twilight, taking in the sights of the slowly waking country town.
“A group of fillies, little sisters to some of my best friends. They’re a pretty hyper trio, always shouting and running and trying to earn their cutie marks. They even made a club about it, calling themselves ‘Crusaders’.”
The embodiment of death gasped and clapped his hooves together. “You don’t mean the Cutie Mark Crusaders, do you?”
Twilight blinked in confusion and felt a trickle of cold sweat run down her forehead. This couldn’t be good. “You… know about them?”
The aspect gave a childlike laugh and nodded. “Of course! We’ve got a running bet on how long it’ll be until one of their accidents takes a life! The smart money is on five years, at least that’s what big sis says.”
The princess only frowned in response as she made a mental note to hire a security detail for the young girls. They were possibly more of a danger to themselves and society than even she realized. After a few more minutes of walking, they turned onto the farm property proper, they early morning sun casting the grass and endless hills of trees a honey-gold hue. “Now, the girls will still be asleep, but I’m going to take a quick peek to make sure they’re okay. You can play with them once they wake up. I’ll make you all breakfast then.”
Death pouted adorably. “Fine.” He grumbled. “But they better wake up pretty soon!”
Twilight just smiled and rolled her eyes, pushing open the door to the barn.
“There’s not really any point in us arguing about this.” Applebloom said with a slight yawn. “This town is almost all mares. The chance of a single colt our age suddenly showing up is next to impossible.”
“Yeah…” Sweetie said with a grumble. “I should probably see if Button wants to get back together again.”
“How many times have you guys broken up now?” Scootaloo inquired, tilting her head to the side.
“This week, or in total?” Sweetie asked.
Suddenly, the door to the barn slowly creaked open, and the girls squinted in the sudden bright amber light that flooded the previously candle-lit barn. As they stared into the blinding glow, their eyes matched with Twilight’s own as she glanced down at the girls and gave them a reproachful glare. “I’m pretty sure you girls were supposed to be asleep by midnight.”
The fillies glanced around for an excuse while Sweetie Belle gave her biggest, most innocent smile. “Oh, we were! But, we woke up when Granny hurt her hip, and we couldn’t get back to sleep after! We were just so worried about her!” She lied perfectly.
“Yeah, it was super scary and stuff!” Scootaloo shouted out in false agreement.
“We were up since then talking about how worried we were, and making plans to go visit her!” Sweetie completed the fib.
As their eyes finally adjusted to the glaring morning sun, their gazes all locked on a small figure standing next to Twilight’s tall form. It appeared to be a small earthpony colt with bright white fur, pitch black hair-ruffled adorably, and for some reason, swaddled in a ragged black cloak with a billowing hood coiled around his withers. The massive scythe leaning against his side only added to the confusing picture.
“Dibs!” Scootaloo shouted out before the other girls could react.
“Aw, horseapples.” Applebloom cursed.