//------------------------------// // 3:(S)imply Child's Play. // Story: "Where Will I Go?" // by gordobraveheart //------------------------------// “Is he awake?” “Ah don’t know, maybe?” “I got an idea. Quick, get me a feather from one of your pillow’s ASAP!” I couldn’t fall asleep at all. The thoughts of yesterdays events still roamed freely around my mind, and even though I closed my eyes, it didn’t help. In fact, I don’t feel tired, and as much as I want to sleep, to rest, anything, I simply can’t. I thought that closing my eyes would help me sleep, even if I tightened my eyelids, but that didn’t help either. So, all I did was kept my eyes shut and just listened to every noise around me. Sometimes I would hear creaks in the floorboards, random shuffling in other rooms, and later I heard a rooster caw, almost waking up everypony in this household in such earliness. “Are you even ticklin’ him?” “Yea! Well, I think I am, the feather just brushes over him.” Well, save for these two. They’ve been awake long after the rooster crowed and all the other residents left the house. I’m guessing that they were going to do work in these fields, and decided to leave the kids to themselves. They tried “waking me up” with a feather, and by the sounds of their frustration, the feather doesn’t seem to do any work. I find this actually amusing, because I believe this has been going on for five minutes now. I guess it’s time for me to wake up. “Morning girls,” I say so suddenly, opening my eyes. I heard those two squeal, mostly because they didn’t expect me to wake up without a hesitation. I sat up, looking around the room, faking a yawn and wiping my eyes as if I was actually tired. “I see the feather trick didn’t come out as you planned it, now did it?” “You were awake the whole time?” Scootaloo said as she walked closer to me. She had a look of disbelief, then a look of annoyance. “That’s not cool. I was hoping I could have woken you up with the feather.” “Whole time?” I thought back to how I couldn’t sleep, then shrugged. “More or less.” I stood up and stretched my bones, even though I didn’t have the urge. I guess it’s just a regular thing, and I didn’t ignore it. I looked around the room and found Applebloom near a mirror, adjusting a big bow right on top of her head. “You have more of those?” “A whole bunch!” She said, walking over towards me. “Applejack gave it to me when I was a lot younger, and Ah’ve been using it ever since.” She smiled happily, then walked over to me and nudged my forearm with her maw. “Now get up! We’re gonna go somewhere!” Doing as I was told, I stood up and stretched again, only my legs. Though I was curious. “Where are we going, Applebloom?” Both Scootaloo and Applebloom turned their heads towards each other, smiling, then turned towards me. “Cutie Mark Crusading!” We left the house after Applebloom went to go say goodbye to her grandmother, Granny Smith, who I have yet to meet myself. After she did that, we walked down the rows and rows of apple trees, making me feel like I was walking in a never ending maze. I have yet to walk into that orange pony again, Applejack, and hear that male voice I heard when I was in the barn. Applebloom and Scootaloo were each on one side of my leg, almost as if we were a trio. But what about Sweetie Belle? After what seemed like six hours, we finally reached the end of the orchard, at least, one side of the orchard. The plain was just like how I remembered it, flat, clean cut grass, some trees and one large treehouse. It was a lot more advance than I last got a good look at it. The stairs were built flat like, blue and yellow with a few steps built into it. The door and window shutters were a dark peach color, with see-through cut out hearts on all of them. The walks on the outside were a peach color, and the roof was a brown color with a large tree branch sticking out of it with some apples in the mix. The house had a porch, and a fence. For three little girls, they sure have a lot of skill when it comes to handycraft. Or is it hoofcraft? The similarities in this place has me all confused. “Wow, for a treehouse, it looks pretty nice.” I say in awe. Scootaloo and Applebloom nodded in satisfaction, then began pulling my left and right pants leg. They wanted me to step inside, and I just couldn’t say no to those cute little faces. I was hesitant, because I wasn’t so sure if I could fit inside. But, I climbed up the steps anyway, giving it a chance. As soon as I went inside the treehouse, I was amazed. For one, I was shocked that I could fit inside, the house was pretty big. Second, the whole colors and objects in this place popped out. The windows had neat curtains, the walls were a nice dark yellow, little chairs were scattered around here and there, painting utensils were all over a small table, and a blue ladder was connected to the roof. This house even had a second story! These little kids know their way around the hammer. “Alright, let’s start the meeting!” I turned around to see little Applebloom standing on her hind legs right behind a those kind of stands you see when somebody important is giving a speech. Scootaloo pulled my pants leg and signaled me to sit down right next to her, on a little chair. At first, I was fine with just standing, but I accepted it anyway out of just being polite. “Okay everypony!” Applebloom looked at me, then coughed. “Whoops, Ah mean, okay everypony and human! Today is a new day for all of us!” Again, she looked towards me and pointed her little hoof at me. “Yesterday, we met a new friend! At first, we thought he was just a monster, but after he saved us from that Timberwolf, Ah think he’s actually a good pony-er, colt. Colt?” I nodded. “Yea, colt!” “Um...thank you?” I wasn’t too sure what they were both doing, greetings maybe, but I let her continue her little speech. “Ah here by declare our new friend a member of our club. Mister,” I felt a tug behind me, and as I turned around, I noticed Sweetie Belle pop up out from behind Scootaloo, who was smiling. They both presented a large handkerchief, but in their eyes, I’m sure it was a cape. On the inside, it had a gold-like thread, and on the outside, it was a dark red with an emblem stitched on quite nicely like, but it still pretty good. The emblem was a small pony, also wearing a cape. “Welcome to the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” “Wow, this is really nice. Except, there’s one problem.” I looked up at Applebloom, who was right between both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. All three of them had a sad face. “You...you don’t like it?” Sweetie Belle said in such a quivering tone. “I do like it! I really do!” I said, trying to calm her down. “It’s just that...I don’t know what a Cutie Mark is, let alone what A Cutie Mark Crusader does.” That’s when I heard all three of them gasp simultaneously. One by one, they rushed up to me with questioning and knowledgeable eyes. “You don’t know what a cutie mark is?” Applebloom said, walking around me. She had a hoof under her chin, trying to think of a way to explain. “How can Ah put this? A cutie mark is sorta kinda mark on your flank. You get it when you discover your natural talent.” “Yea, like, how my sister has one.” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “She has three blue diamonds on her flank. Her talent is...well, I don’t really know what is. She’s good with fashion, I can tell you that!” “Oh, so like Applejack has one, right?” I said, now fully intrigued into the subject. “Well if she has one, do you have them too?” “That’s why we made the club, the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” Scootaloo said, turning around. I noticed how she and the other two didn’t have a mark either. “We don’t have ours yet, but the reason why we made the club is because we can help ourselves and other blank flanks find their special talent!” Her wings buzzed, almost as fast as a hummingbird's wings. “Oh...I don’t have a cutie mark.” As soon as I said that, all three of them ran around the house and grabbed various of objects. Sweetie Belle has a map, Applebloom grabbed a hardhat, and Scootaloo brought a checklist. “Um, what is all of this?” They all smiled widely, and I knew where this was heading. “Cutie Mark Crusaders Human Helpers!” We traveled around the apple orchards trying to get my cutie mark, even though I’m sure humans don’t get them. But no matter how many times I told them, they just wouldn’t drop it so easily. First, they thought I was good at picking apples, but I couldn’t reach the apples even after I jumped. Next, they thought I was good at plowing the fields, but it appeared that I was too weak to plow. We tried everything barn and apple related, but nothing happened. I didn’t feel any different, just the same as when I first got here. Cold. “I’m sorry girls, but it seems like this isn’t working. Honestly, I don’t think humans can get cutie marks.” I said to all three of them, who were just about to set up a trampoline. What they wanted to do I had know idea, but I’m glad I stopped it. “Plus, with these things you're all doing, one of you could get hurt bad. If not, somebody else, and by somebody, I mean me.” “Ah guess you’re right,” Applebloom said, taking off the hardhat. “Ah think we should take a little break. Right Crusaders?” “Yea. Besides, we tried everything on the list, and none of them didn’t do a thing.” Scootaloo said, throwing the checklist on the ground, then sighing. “Trying to earn a cutie mark is hard.” “Hey, don’t look so down Scootaloo.” I spoke, walking over to her and petting her mane. She seemed to like like it, because she smiled, but then quickly wiped away that smile and moved my hand off of her, trying to look like tough pony. I chuckled at that. “Things take time to grow. I’m sure you, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom will get your marks in due time. It’s,” I stopped myself from talking, trying my best to think of a metaphor. I walked over to an apple tree and pointed to an apple, making sure the Cutie Mark Crusaders, or to shortened it, C.M.C, were paying attention. “It’s similar to a nice, juicy apple. You have to give it time for the apple to grow from the seeds. You can’t just rush it, it all takes time. You get what I am saying, right?” I looked at all of their faces, and all had a different point of view. Sweetie Belle had a more understanding look, while Applebloom was still processing the little life lesson. Scootaloo was- “Uh...ya lost me.” “Sweetie Belle! Applebloom! Scootaloo!” I look behind me to see a hard working Applejack walk towards us, pulling a large cart filled with both green and red apples. She stopped right next to me, and right in front of the C.M.C. “Ah need ya’ll to do me a favor.” “Sure sis, whatta ya need?” Applebloom said ever so cheerly. “Ah need ya to go to Twilight’s house and see if Spike ain’t busy. As much as Ah hate to say it, but we need some help.” She finished her sentence with a gulp, like it’s a bad thing to get this Spike fellow. I wonder if he’s been here before? “Sure thing sis, we’ll be back here in no time!” Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo saluted Applejack, which in returned, she smiled. She walked away from us and continued her work in the orchards, again completely oblivious to me. “So...Where does this ‘Spike’ live?” I said, looking around but only seeing trees. “Spike lives with Twilight Sparkle, the librarian at the Golden Oaks Library.” Sweetie Belle said, rolling up the map and placing it behind her-Wait, do ponies even have pockets? “Yea, they both live in a tree house.” Scootaloo chimed, picking up the checklist. “Like yours?” I said, curiously. All three of them giggled. “What?” “They don’t live in a tree house like ours, silly.” Sweetie Belle replied. “Their house is a tree. You’ll get it when we get there.” “We?” I repeated, pointing a finger at myself. “Yup. Who knows, maybe Twilight has a book or something you might find interesting.” Commented Scootaloo. “We should probably get going now-we don’t want to keep Applejack waiting.” “Alright Crusaders and mister, let’s get going!” Applebloom walking right between her other two friends. These ponies...For some reason, I feel attached to them. Like, if I want to leave, I can’t and I wouldn’t want to. These little ones got such a vivid imagination, trying to find their cutie marks, going on crazy adventures, and just having fun at the same time. I smile, walking behind them. Even though whatever they do seems like childs play, I still have fun with these three. I mean, I barely know them, but... Anyhow, we began our walk to Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, where we are going to meet Spike and Twilight Sparkle. What kind of name is ‘Spike’ and ‘Twilight Sparkle’ anyway?