//------------------------------//
// Chapter #6 - Animal Antics 
// Story: The Great Crusade 
// by TheGJ90 
//------------------------------//






Scootaloo







The CMCs' Clubhouse. Thursday afternoon.


Like usual, my super-cool movie club friends and I were watching a film together. The movie was none other than the Incredible Hulk. The newer one, not the old one or the even older TV show with the super sad music. Even though we had watched this movie many times before, we still enjoyed its awesomeness. Our favorite scene was about to play out on the projector screen, a fact that made me feel really excited as I took a handful of buttered popcorn out from my bowl. As I stuffed my face with popcorn, we watched as the Hulk's opponent, the vicious Abomination, swung this long thick metal chain around, aiming it closer and closer to the helicopter with each swing. He knew that the Hulk's lady and her jerk of a father were in the copter, but he was all for killing them. To make matters worse, attached to the end of the chain was a hunk of stone big enough to crush someone under its weight! As he swung, he asked the father and daughter with a deep monstrous voice;

"Any last words?"

I knew what was coming next. My friends knew what was coming next. That didn't make seeing it happen any less awesome! Right after the villain spoke, the Hulk got up to his feet and ran up to stand between the copter and Abomination. With the kind of rage that only he could muster, he raised his fists to the sky while yelling out a phrase that the three of us were quick to yell with him after shooting up from our seats, our happiness made clear by our giant smiles;

"HULK... SMASH!"

He did exactly that by slamming his fists onto the ground before with so much strength, he caused large cracks in the earth to form and rapidly spread to his enemy, who was in the middle of taking a big step forward in an attempt to slam his chain onto Hulk. Once he stepped into the large crack in front of him, the resulting loss of his footing caused him to accidentally throw the chain up into the air. The rock was the first to fall, hitting him with enough force to break into dust and pieces. The chain itself fell on a spot near him. We clapped, cheered, and laughed as Hulk continued to do Hulk things, our popcorn making a mess of the wooden floor. Movies like that one were really good at getting our blood pumping! Just then, I heard someone knock on our clubhouse door and call out to us with a polite feminine voice that was very familiar to us;

"Little ones! May we come in, please?"

That was obviously Rarity and we were quick to guess that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were with her. We ran up to the door, with Apple Bloom being the one to open it. After our sisters walked in, we gave them warm hugs while I exclaimed;

"Come on, girls! You're always welcome in our clubhouse!"

The older girls chuckled a bit before Rainbow Dash told us while gazing at the movie as it finished up, her chin held in thought with her right hand;

"The MCU's Incredible Hulk, huh? Awesome choice, squirts."

I beamed at her within moments of hearing those words and told her excitedly;

"Thanks! That movie has really cool action scenes!"

Sweetie Belle chimed in with this big smile on her face while holding her hands up to her chin;

"Yeah, and the relationship between Bruce Banner and Betty is soooo romantic!"

I could never figure out why she liked romance stories so much. With a quick shake of my head, I responded as politely as I could while containing the urge to groan;

"Eh, those two were be a bit sappy at times in the film, but given the kind of story we were watching, I can work with that."

I caught sight of Apple Bloom nodding her head before adding with a smile;

"Yeah, the trouble that Bruce was havin' over bein' the Hulk made livin' life mighty tough for him."

She looked up at the paper-ponies that were hanging around our clubhouse's ceiling. I could see her eyes sparkle a little even as she allowed a hint of sadness to be mixed in with her grin. With a sigh, she noted softly;

"Ah'm sure Miss Sunset would relate to that in a way, if she watched the movie..."

For the three of us movie buffs, our thoughts turned to the memory of the Fall Formal, of what Sunset had turned into. I hoped that, unlike Bruce Banner, she wasn't being haunted by her own angry monster. Applejack's understanding tone of voice pulled us out of our heads and got our attention;

"Ya'll understand her better.", she said with a look of love in her eyes that I thought was really cool. Apple Bloom replied while looking back at Applejack, that same love in her voice with a tiny bit of regret added in;

"We're tryin' to, big sis..." Silently, our sisters and us showed each other love, understanding, and goodwill with our eyes and grins. Rainbow Dash, after a few seconds of silence, decided to move things along in her own way;

"Okay, enough with the sappy stuff!", she exclaimed with a chuckle. I saw one of her awesomely confident smirks on her face when she went on to declare;

"We've got an opportunity for you squirts."

That claim made us very curious and excited. Whatever she had in mind, I was sure it was going to be twenty-percent cooler than the average opportunity! We listened closely as she explained;

"Flutters is working in the Animal Shelter right now. But, that place is really short on staff today. So, she needs some help."

She bumped her chest with her right fist while looking super-proud of herself before adding;

"Obviously, I'm not gonna leave our friend hanging!"

"Neither are we, sugarcubes.", noted a confident Applejack before Rarity declared with her patented dignity while looking right at us;

"However, we thought it would be great if you little dears could assist Fluttershy as well."

It took me less than a second to realize what was going on: our big sisters were handing us a chance to made amends with Fluttershy on a silver platter! I quickly turned to gaze at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, both of whom were looking as excited as I was. Clearly, we all knew that it would be totally lame of us to pass this up! With a hop and a triple-high-five, we declared in loud and proud unison;

"CANTERLOT MOVIE CLUB: ANIMAL SHELTER HELPERS! YAY!"

It took our sisters a moment or two to recover from our sudden vocal blast of awesome joy. 






Canterlot City Animal Shelter's entrance lobby. Thirty minutes later.


Fluttershy was thrilled to see the six of us in the shelter. While giving each of us hugs that reminded me of my aunts' cozy quilts, she told us with that gentle voice of hers;

"Oh, I'm so glad that you girls came to help."

I was quick to respond with gusto;

"We're always happy to help out a friend!"

Apple Bloom then asked her on our club's behalf;

"So then, sugarcube, what do we need to do around 'ere?"

The best animal expert in town looked around the lobby, which had cages, aquariums, and terrariums along the walls that were filled with all sorts of animals. Cats, dogs, fish, lizards, and so much more. After taking a few seconds to silently think, Fluttershy looked at the six of us and spoke with joy growing in her soft voice;

"Apple Bloom: you and Applejack can go to the canine play area. The doggies have already enjoyed their food and need someone to play with for a while."

She couldn't help but gush and giggle;

"Oh, those sweet pups are going to love you!"

I looked at the two Apples to find that they were already fist bumping each other, with Applejack telling her little sister;

"Ya'll ready to make them critters happy?"

"Ya' bet your keister, Ah am!"

Before I could blink, Fluttershy spoke again;

"Sweetie Belle: You and Rarity have cat duty. Make sure they are given love and care. Unlike the dogs, the cats haven't had their lunch yet. Also, some of them will need a good wash."

Sweets and Rarity smiled brightly at each other as Fluttershy told Rainbow and me;

"You two can help me clean up the terrariums to start with. The occupied ones are due for a cleaning and I'm expecting new lizards to arrive today. So, I want them to have beautiful living space here."

Dog duty, cat duty, and cleaning duty. That sounded good to me! Flutters wasn't finished yet, though;

"I have some staff on hand who can help with the cats and dogs, which leaves me to help with the terrariums.", she said while giving me an appreciative glare that was filled with the sweetness that only someone like Fluttershy could express. With the day's mission set, Apple Bloom called to Sweets and I with that exuberance that I always knew her to have;

"Movie Club huddle!"

After we ran up to her and formed the huddle, Sweetie Belle whispered to us;

"Rarity and I have plenty of experience with cats. You can thank Opalescence for that."

She shuddered a little before adding;

"My right arm still remembers her claws."

Apple Bloom, after giving Sweets an understanding smile, noted;

"If them pups are anythin' like our Winona, then Applejack and Ah will have fun gettin' our work done."

I chuckled confidently before telling my two awesome friends with a smirk pulled right out of Rainbow Dash's playbook;

"Rainbow and I got the lizards' homes on lock. They'll be clean and cool when we're done."

"Bring it in, ya'll.", said Apple Bloom, which prompted us to high-five each other while exclaiming with giant smiles;

"Movie Club: GO!"

With that settled, Applejack and Rarity guided their little sisters to where the cats and dogs were waiting for them, laughing together as they walked through the nearby door and out of sight. This left Rainbow, Fluttershy, and me to group up, with the animal expert leading us to the terrariums. My excitement over what we were going to do shot up to space as we walked, although I was doing a great job of keeping it reigned in. I mean, come on, I was gonna help my friends make it up to the kindest person in the world! Cleaning duty was not gonna be a problem for me, if it meant making her smile.






Fifteen minutes later.


Let me just say this right now: Lizards. Are. AWESOME!

Their scales look sooo cool, they come in many shapes and sizes, and they're pretty chill to hang with! Seriously, they didn't cause much of a fuss when we were moving them out of their terrariums. That was probably because Fluttershy showed us how to properly handle each type of lizard we encountered. As we went to work on cleaning up those cool living spaces with care, I asked her;

"You said something about expecting new lizards earlier?"

"Oh yes!", she replied with what was barely an indoor voice before explaining;

"Soon, we'll be getting two iguanas and a leopard gecko."

That last one got my attention, even as I continued to clean up a terrarium with a wet wash cloth;

"A leopard gecko?", I asked her. Just the mere mention of the creature was enough to make her gush with a big grin;

"He's a little lizard with beautiful scales that look very much like a leopard's coat, spots and all."

A lizard that looked like a leopard? The mental image alone looked so cool to me! Before I could investigate further, however, the doorbell rang. Fluttershy ran up to the door and opened it up while I had put my focus on my super-important job. I was nearly finished with cleaning up the terrarium in front of me when a portable plastic lizard cage was placed inside of it with a careful thud to my left. Curious, I had put my wash cloth down and took a look at the cage. Plastic stuff was usually made to be transparent, so I could clearly see the little guy inside. He was taking a nap on a corner at the back of the cage. I didn't want to disturb his rest, but Fluttershy decided to raise the plastic container up to her face and wake him up with that gentle loving voice of hers;

"It's time to wake up, little one. Your new home is waiting for you."

Slowly, the leopard gecko stirred, his scaly body moving little by little as he woke up. With a quick shake of his body and head, he looked right up at the kind girl and then at me. With Fluttershy, he seemed calm and chill like any lizard. But, once he peeped at me, he suddenly looked really nervous. He even backed up as far into his corner as he could, as if he was afraid of me. I couldn't let such a cool creature live in fear like that! I walked up to the terrarium as she hovered the cage over it for a moment before placing it down onto the dirt below. Once in position, I angled my body so that my face was aimed right at the cage's door, which stood before the dirt, grass, and plants that littered the terrarium. With a smile meant to calm him down, I told the lizard with a soft voice;

"It's okay, little dude. No one's gonna hurt you."

Rainbow Dash, who had just finished her own work, had walked up to a spot next to me and gave him her own pep talk;

"Yeah, we're way too awesome to hurt you.", she told her with a voice that was just as soft and soothing. The kind that, normally, she only used on me whenever I was really afraid. As the memories of the times when my most awesome sister-at-heart was there for me played in my mind like scenes from a movie, I kept my eyes on the gecko, who was slowly walking up to the door. Seeing this, Fluttershy carefully opened the door. At that moment, I figured a little more encouragement was needed;

"Yeah, you got this. One step at a time.", I told to him. He seemed to like those words, for his steps towards the door became faster and more confident over time. Before long, he scurried out of the cage and onto the dirt before stopping to look around. As the cage was removed from the terrarium, I complimented the little dude in the best way I knew how, only with the softness from before;

"Awww yeah. That's what we're talking about."

The way I figured, being all loud and boastful like normal would have scared the spots off of him, and that would have been mean and lame of me! Wanting to reward him for his bravery, I reached out with my right index finger to pet his head, only for Fluttershy to gently hold my right hand. I looked over at her as she told me;

"You can reach out, but wait for him."

Doing as instructed, I allowed my right index finger to rest in front of his head. The gecko looked at it, curiosity and fear in his eyes. He slowly walked up to the finger and placed his right foot on it. It tickled a little, which made me giggle softly. The giggles continued as he carefully climbed up onto my finger. With slow and gentle care, I raised it up to my face, allowing me to get an up-close look at the gecko. He tilted his head to the side as I told him honestly;

"Like I said, little dude: no one's gonna hurt you."

I'm not entire sure what had resonated within him at that moment. Maybe it was my words? Maybe it was the confident smirk I had shown him? Both, perhaps? Whatever it was, it encouraged him to let out a smile that was just as wide and bright as it was chill and cool! Just the sight of it made me almost want to gush at him Fluttershy-style!

Hehe, almost.

Speaking of the animal-lover, she gasped in surprise before gushing like there was no tomorrow;

"Oh my gosh! I've never seen him smile so adorably before!"

After I slowly brought my finger back down to the terrarium, the little dude walked off of it to rest on the dirt. Without warning, Fluttershy had wrapped me up from behind in one of her famous Flutterhugs, which was warm, snugly, and full of love. Holding me close, she happily explained;

"You and Rainbow Dash did that little angel more good than you know!"

After taking the time to enjoy the warmth and peace that only a Flutterhug could give to a person, I asked her after she released me from her grip;

"Why was he so scared?"

Right then and there, I had put two and two together and made trouble before asking a different question. This time, my eyes were narrowed seriously as my voice was filled with concern;

"Was he hurt?"

Fluttershy looked really sad when she gazed at the gecko, who was climbing up one of the plants. Before she could explain, however, the sudden and loud opening of a door rang out from the hallway that the other girls had walked down earlier. Turning around to see what the commotion was about, I saw Apple Bloom walking up to Fluttershy while giving off a neutral expression that was clearly forced. Applejack stood behind her while looking very worried for her little sister. What had really got my attention, however, was the powerful smell that AB was giving off. It took me a second to figure out what had given her that smell as I covered my nose to protect myself from it. With a voice that sounded calm enough to be concerning to my mind, she told a terribly worried Fluttershy politely;

"My big sis and Ah were warned by the staff person in the doggy play area that one of the critters, a bull mastiff named Fluffikins, was mighty constipated..."

She sighed before adding with resignation, her pink bow drooping to emphasize her mood;

"Do Ah even need to say it?"

Without further ado, Applejack escorted Apple Bloom to the nearest bathroom to wash off the stink. I really felt for AB as I watched them walk back down the hallway. While trying to wipe the smell from my mind, I turned back over to face Fluttershy and asked her;

"You were saying?"

She was about speak again when another door flew open loudly. I was able to catch Sweetie Belle rushing up to Fluttershy with terror all over her face! After panting for a moment, she quickly exclaimed to her with squeaks in her frightened voice;

"One of the cats got into the catnip and shared it with several others before we could catch her!"

Uh oh. I had never taken care of cats before and even I knew something of the chaos that catnip could unleash! I could hear the loud and constant meowing of hyped up felines coming from the room Sweets had escaped from. Before Rainbow, Flutters, or myself could react, however, Rarity yelled out from that room with a mortified screech;

"WE REQUEST REINFORCEMENTS, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!"

A mere second later, Rarity loudly pleaded to what I assumed was at least a few of the cats;

"No, little ones, my boots are NOT scratching posts!"

With sheepish grins aimed right at Rainbow and me, Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle ran into the room and closed the door behind them before catnip-powered cats could swarm into the lobby. Feeling quite surprised that Rarity was not lamenting over her outfit being damaged, I turned to Rainbow, who was trying very hard to not laugh at the expense of my friend and her sister. Shaking my head while mentally thanking her for at least trying to be awesomely polite, I returned to my cleaning duty, with Rainbow Dash following suit.






Thirty minutes later.


Rainbow and I had just finished cleaning stuff up when Fluttershy returned alongside two disheveled Belle sisters, who looked quite relieved to be free from the feline menace. It was hard to tell what was more cut up by cat claws, their hair or their clothes! For Rarity, her tall purple boots had taken the most damage, yet they were still not too damaged to be safely worn. Sweetie Belle's trusty jacket, by comparison, was ripped all over. It was a good thing she had spares waiting for her back home. As one can imagine, they both smelled of cat fur and the contents of several litter boxes. I had also noticed the fact that Sweets' eyes were considerably bloodshot. A few moments later, Apple Bloom and Applejack had returned as well. Thankfully, neither of them smelled of doggy stink this time, but their clothes were riddled with mud and dirt. Not even AB's beloved bow and Applejack's trusty Stetson hat were spared. Unlike the Belles, the two Apples were all smiles. While trying, and failing, to hold back her mirth-filled snorting, Rainbow Dash asked them;

"Soooo... how did it go back there?"

Apple Bloom, with a hearty chuckle, explained jovially;

"Other than the incident with Fluffikins, we had a fun time with them puppers!"

Applejack belted out a laugh that was just as hearty before noting;

"Yeah, Fluffikins felt really bad about stinkin' up Apple Bloom. His big ol' ears were droopy and everythin'!"

AB looked up at her big sister and exclaimed with joy;

"Yeah, but once he got cleaned up and ah forgave him, his ears perked up and he started lickin' my face like Winona does, only with a bigger doggy tongue."

She turned her attention over to Sweetie Belle and Rarity before asking them;

"So, how did things go for ya'll?"

Sweets answered as simply and calmly as she could;

"As the two of us, Sandalwood, and Fluttershy took part in the Great Cat-Nip War of this era, I had learned three things."

She raised her right hand to begin counting with her fingers;

"One: At least a few of the cats in this shelter may be related to Opal."

Her bloodshot eyes went wide as she went on while continuing to count;

"Two: Cat litter stings the eyes."

With one more count with her fingers, she finished with a sigh;

"And Three: I have absolutely no idea how Goldie Delicious takes such good care of all of her cats."

Rarity, with a polite titter and sympathetic glare aimed at her sister, noted to us;

"Thankfully, our combined efforts, helped along by Fluttershy's timely use of her tambourine, were enough to reign in the felines."

She patted Sweetie on the head while telling her lovingly;

"I'm sure it won't take long for the eye-drops to take effect, my little gem."

Sweets silently pouted a little as Apple Bloom told me;

"I'll bet the lizards didn't cause ya'll as much of a ruckus, Scoots."

Giving my farming friend a cool smirk, I respond;

"Nah, these scaly buddies have been no trouble at all."

Just then, an idea popped into my head: An idea so awesome, I couldn't bare the thought of not putting it to work right then and there! With a big smile, I told the two pairs of girls before me;

"There's this totally cool lizard that you gotta meet!"

I moved out of their way to let them get a good look at the leopard gecko, who sat in his terrarium while looking at all of the new faces. Those four faces suddenly beamed with joy as they rushed over to greet him. Sweetie Belle was the first to do so, the chaos from earlier shoved aside;

"Oh my goodness, you are so cuuuuute!"

Rarity was gushing just as much as her sister was;

"Oh, darling, you are simply adorable, and you look quite handsome with those spots!"

"You're lookin' mighty healthy too, little critter.", Apple Bloom told him with a smile, her bow as bouncy as her joy. Applejack belted out a hearty Apple laugh before declaring with a tip of her hat;

"A pleasure to meet ya', sugarcube."

The little dude looked nervous at first, from what I could tell when I poked my head between Sweets and AB to check on him. But, once the compliments rolled in, he started smiling again. Apple Bloom was the first to react by exclaiming happily;

"That smile, ya'll! It's as bright as the sun, Ah tells ya'!"

The others gushed and laughed over him being his awesome self, while just stood back and enjoyed the sight alongside Fluttershy, who walked up to my left side. She then gave me a head pat before saying softly;

"I know I got a story to tell about that lovable little guy, but that can wait for a while."

I was fine with that, since I was pretty content with watching my sister and friends be really nice to the gecko. She then noted to me;

"We still have work to do, but I'd say we should let those four have some fun for a bit, if that is okay?"

With a chuckle and a smile, I told her;

"I'm sure the animal shelter's newest friend will love that."






Two hours of shelter work later.


By the time we were done, the iguanas had also arrived and were properly settled into their new terrarium home. Lizards had a habit of being territorial, accordingly to Fluttershy, so we made sure that the newbies had plenty of space away from other lizards to keep them from fighting each other. With the work finished up for the day, we made ready to leave with our sisters. But, not before talking with Flutters one more time;

"Thank you so much for helping us today!", she told the six of us with sweetness in every word, her eyes sparkling with appreciation and cheer. Rarity gave her a hug while responding with dignity and a smile;

"Helping you today was a pleasure, darling!"

"Thank you for having us here, Fluttershy!", AB, Sweets, and I told her in joyful polite unison. She responded by giving each of us big Flutterhugs while declaring;

"Oh, you've been a great help today, you little angels!"

Once the hugs were finished, we showed her our best angelic smiles with our eyes closed for full effect. With that, we gave her our goodbyes and left the animal shelter one by one, with me being the last one out. But, before I left, I walked up to the leopard gecko and told him with the biggest smile I could give him;

"I know someone in town is gonna give you an awesome home one day, you'll see!"

With hope in my heart and pride over a job well done, I exited the shelter and followed Rainbow Dash home. I didn't know why, but I had this feeling that we would see that gecko again soon...