//------------------------------// // Chapter One: Ten Years Later // Story: Dawn of the Crusaders // by VietNinja220 //------------------------------// [Ponyville] The birds and animals started stirring as the light of Princess Celestia’s sun shone upon the land that we know as Ponyville. Doors swung open and ponies started to walk outside onto the morning dew to greet the rising sun. The deep red of the sunrise was an amazing sight, poking its rays above the mountains and casting an almost perfect glow upon the citizens of Ponyville. As Celestia rose the sun higher and higher, more and more ponies started to come out, ready to take on the day and show off their near-utopia to the Princess in Canterlot. Everywhere across Ponyville town square, ponies were conversing and slowly trekking to their destination, knowing that today is going to be a great day once again. Three ponies in particular knew that today was not going to be just a normal day, but a spectacular one, a day that they would never forget. One of these three lived in the Northern edges of Ponyville. Apple Trees orchards covered the landscape and the ground was painted with the luscious green of the 24,567,237 blades of grass that grew on this land. This expansive apple farm was known as Sweet Apple Acres, the go-to place for the freshest apples and most delicious apple cider in all of Equestria. A bright red barn sat upon the only patch of land that was not covered by apple trees. All of Ponyville knew this very barn. It was once known as the home of good old honest Applejack, the best rodeo horse of all of Equestria and the most honest pony you will ever meet. Even after her untimely death, the apple business of Sweet Apple Acres stayed as strong as ever, thanks to the leadership of the estate’s new owner, Apple Bloom. With Big Mac not as much of an apple bucker as he was ten years ago and Granny Smith being old as ever, Apple Bloom decided to take over the business alongside with her childhood friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. These three would always run around the orchards in the morning, helping to clear out the field of all of the ripe apples using Apple Bloom’s great expertise to choose which trees to harvest from and Sweetie Belle’s magic and Scootaloo’s flying skills to harvest them, just fast enough so that the three would have enough time to hang out during the day. Today was different however. Today was not going to be any ordinary day for the three Cutie Mark Crusaders. Today was going to be the day that they would go visit Canterlot with their old schoolteacher and now mentor, Cheerilee. Cheerilee was more than most ponies would imagine. Despite living as a normal old schoolteacher, she managed to research and memorize the techniques of many different ancient artes that were hidden away from most of society. After the accident ten years ago, the Cutie Mark Crusaders went to Cheerilee for help and she ended up mentoring them in these ancient artes in case the time comes. This ancient magic was very commonly seen before the rise of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna and was locked away after a select few would abuse it. Just as unicorns could wield powerful magic in today’s time, earth ponies and pegasi were able to use this kind of magic back then as well and now all three are only able to use just a sliver of the power that was scattered across the land, and now, Cheerilee was going to show the Cutie Mark Crusaders the origin of their tremendous power and show them how it was locked away for centuries. “Ah can’t wait to see what Miss Cheerilee has in store for us! Ah mean, earth ponies having magic like unicorns? Who knew?” Apple Bloom said ecstatically. She had grown to be very similar to her late older sister. Just as tall and hanging her mane tied back in a ponytail with a red ribbon. On her flank, she wore her new cutie mark, an apple and a paintbrush, in which she obtained just weeks after the accident at town square as she was depressed, trying to paint her problems away just as something to mess around with. “It does seem interesting, although us unicorns are probably not as impressed, seeing how we already have magic at our disposal.” Sweetie Belle replied. She had also grown to be like Rarity, in both personality and appearance. After the accident, Sweetie Belle had to take over Carousel Boutique and look her best in order to please her customers. She eventually grew into it and even as she was about to go on a small adventure, she still had her sister’s signature blue eye shadow and long graceful eyelashes. Her mane is now much longer and dangling down on her side with curls galore. On her flank, she displayed her cutie mark as well, a black musical quarter note on a pink scale, to signify her long love of singing that she discovered at around the same time as Apple Bloom, again to mourn for the loss of her sister. “Still, unicorns had even stronger magic back then. Who knows what we have in store for us? If we’re headed out for an entire day for just one place, it HAS to be good!” Scootaloo exclaimed. Scootaloo ended up looking more like Rainbow Dash, despite only acknowledging her as a sister rather than being a blood relating sister. Scootaloo also ended up growing out her mane and tail. While still sporting her signature curl on the front, her mane swooped down her neck and ended right before her wings. The bottom end of her mane ended with several spiked points, strongly resembling Rainbow Dash’s wild mane. Scootaloo’s tail looked almost exactly like Rainbow Dash’s, excluding the twenty percent cooler rainbow, but still sporting a very cool light purple. Her cutie mark was a purple butterfly, despite her attitude being nothing like Fluttershy, who also wore a butterfly cutie mark. Scootaloo got this mark long after Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle acquired theirs, as Scootaloo tried to perform her first trick while flying, something she slowly learned after the accident to show Rainbow Dash just how much she had grown. The first move Scootaloo pulled off was one of Rainbow Dash’s favorites and is now Scootaloo’s signature move: The Butterfly. “Anyways, let’s go then! Ah don’t want to keep Miss Cheerilee waiting!” Apple Bloom cried. She was obviously the most excited about the trip, seeing how earth ponies were always known for not having any magic, not traditional horn magic, not even the magic to move weather. “Ok Ok! Chill out, Apple Bloom. We’re almost done. Celestia, and I thought I was fast.” Scootaloo replied bluntly. The three wore their saddle bags and prepared to leave for the Ponyville Library, which Spike now handles after Twilight’s death, and also the meeting spot for the trek. “Bye, Big Mac! Bye, Granny! I’ll see you guys in a week!” Apple Bloom yelled right before rushing out of the door. “Bye! Thank you for the stay!” The other two said before running to catch Apple Bloom. The three galloped towards the library as fast as they can. Well.. only Apple Bloom actually wanted to. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were more trying to simply keep up. Within minutes, they dashed through the town and turned straight into the Library. It looked exactly the same as it had 10 years ago, just with a lack of a purple pony. Apple Bloom walked up, preparing to knock the door. Before she could get her hooves on it, the door opened up. “Hey guys!” A small dragon answered. Spike, who had been living in the same library this entire time, did not change too much. Dragons tend not to age very quickly if they are very generous and not have the ordinary gem protecting lifestyle of normal dragons. Spike only grew about a foot since the accident and was more of a small kid than a baby now. “Come on in! Cheerilee is still lagging behind but she’s coming.” Spike said with his usual smile on his face. The three ponies walked in the library. Just as how the outside looked exactly the same, the inside looked no different than ten years ago either. The only big difference was the bright orange glow that came from a perch on top of the door leading to another section of the library. The source of that glow was Spike’s old pet, Peewee, a phoenix that Spike had adopted after he had followed the rare dragon migration and saved its life from bully teenager dragons back when Twilight was still with him. Just as Spike was about to close the door, he noticed a cloud of dust headed his way. At the center, it seemed to be a pony, a redish-purple pony to be exact. “I think that’s Cheerilee coming, guys!” Spike yelled with excitement. “Where?” Apple Bloom yelled as she ran out to see if it was really her. “Ohmygosh! Miss Cheerilee’s here!” The other two ran outside just in time to see Cheerilee slow down just at the library entrance. “Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! It’s nice to see you girls again!” Cheerilee said with a smile across her face. “Ah know, Ah’m sorry we didn’t have much time to meet up. You see.. Us three had to tend to all of Sweet Apple Acres after Big Mac was getting a bit rusty at the job and Sweetie Belle here had to take over Carousel Boutique.” Apple Bloom explained. “But it’s fine. So what do you have in store for us, Miss Cheerilee?” “I think Apple Bloom probably the most excited out of all of us for this trip hehe” Sweetie Belle muttered under her breath. “This may seem kind of overwhelming, but I’m going to take you all to Canterlot, more specifically to the sanctum of the Elements of Harmony!” Cheerilee explained. “Why the elements, Miss Cheerilee? I thought they were made by Princess Celestia a thousand years ago, and the artes that you tell us about were used about 1,500 years ago.” Sweetie Belle asked. Despite being a pony of fashion, she was very fond of asking questions and learning many things, like Twilight was. “Well girls, the Elements were actually created using the magic that I told you about. Some of this magic was abused and Princess Celestia called upon all of the citizens of ancient Equestria to lend her their powers in order to seal this threat using the Elements of Harmony. One of the most notable power abusing individuals is known today as King Sombra, the tyrant who enslaved the Crystal ponies, who was defeated by Spike right here.” Cheerilee lectured with great enthusiasm. “Aww, it was nothing, just doing my job.” Spike replied with a small red blush across his face. “Anyways, with Apple Bloom jittering like this, I think we should depart soon. You three agree?” Cheerilee asked. “Yeah!” All three yelled. “Then let’s go, to Canterlot!” The four started galloping towards the Ponyville Train Station, hoping to catch the next train to Canterlot. Nearby the library, two ponies stopped walking as they heard the screams from the library. “Hmm.. so they’re going to Canterlot..” The first pony muttered. “Yes, and it looks like Cheerilee is going to show them the Elements of Harmony.” The second pony replied. “Well.. This may be our lucky break…..”