PonyFall: Onward Valiant Crusaders

by Fullmetal Pony


The Talk

        “I miss trains,” Apple Bloom complained. “They were so much bigger and we didn’t have to all smush together like this.”

        “Sorry, girls,” Doug murmured from the driver’s seat. “This car’s only meant to seat five at most.”

        Maybe it was the late night runs to the supermarket back at school, but the setup didn’t feel too odd to me. Apple Bloom seemed okay in Pinkie’s lap and Sweetie and Scootaloo, while having limited elbow-room, still managed to fit into the right side of the car behind Doug. At least we hadn’t had to put anyone on the floor or the trunk.

“Well... Angel seems to like it,” said Fluttershy.

        He also seemed to enjoying kicking the back of my seat. The kid was worse than Rachel. At least he couldn’t reach Sweetie and Scootaloo from Fluttershy’s lap and he didn’t appear too keen on messing with Apple Bloom.

        The kicking was also keeping me from focussing on anything. On top of the sleep deprivation from the plane ride, all the talking from the back was melding into a cacophony of sound. I’m pretty sure I heard a small trumpet. My eyes started to feel heavy.
        
        I shifted up in my seat and straightened my posture a little. I did not need jet lag on top of all the other issues. One of which came to my mind as I searched the car for a way to stay awake: where were we going?

        “Um... so... ya live around here?” I asked Doug.

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “Yeah, but we’re heading towards a nice hotel that I know of. It, uh, well, it’ll probably be better-suited given the number of people we have to shelter.”

“Good point,” I agreed. A thought came to the forefront of my clouded mind. I shifted around in my seat and glanced back at Sweetie. “Might also be better to stay in a hotel in case you have another magical issue.”

Sweetie brought her eyes to the ground and murmured, “Yeah.”

        Doug looked at me again with a flicker of surprise in his eye. “Sorry about the other day. The girls and I had some... issues to deal with.”

        Doug’s attention went back to the wheel and he tilted the wheel towards me and drove into the dirt.

        “Wh-what are you doing?” My eyes darted around the car to see why we’d pulled over. Nothing seemed to be wrong with anyone or anypony, but the Crusaders looked as confused as I probably did.

        “We should probably have a quick chat, and the others should stretch their legs a bit,” Doug calmly replied. “We’ve been cramped up in the car for almost an hour, and we have about another hour to go.”

        I unbuckled my seatbelt and sighed, “I thought Australia was a small place.”

        Doug gave a small chuckle.

        “Are we getting out?” asked Scootaloo.

        “Just for a quick stretch,” I explained. It was easier said than done, getting out of my seat sent the blood rushing to my head. My hand traced along the side of the car and found the door handle next to Fluttershy and Angel’s seat.

I opened up the door and the little bastard took the chance to hop right on my foot. Bunnies only live like six years, so in relative terms he’d be an adult. He needed a good accidental smack by my cast. The soreness in my foot and him darting away from me ruined immediately carrying out the idea, but a plan was a plan at least.

The rest of the group made their way out as well without any further harm to me. Doug did stop Scootaloo and Sweetie from coming out the right side, due to traffic coming by them, but we all eventually got out. Standing up did feel good now that my head wasn’t swimming and the pain in my foot was fading.

“Okay everyone, John and I need to go discuss a few things. Feel free to stretch your legs,” Doug called out. I slanted myself against the car and let him give his little spiel. “And have a bit of a run around, or listen to the stereo. Just keep away from the highway obviously, and keep out of the trees and bushes since there are venomous creatures out here.”

“Alright, let’s go.” He came over to me and dragged me over to said trees and bushes. At the same time, flashes of Cracked articles came to my mind, many of which involved profanities, lewd references, and that Australia can and will mess you up.

“Uh, can’t we stay by the car?” I nervously asked.

“Nah, let them have some time together.” Doug then casually pushed a spider about the size of half his hand out of his way. It vanished into the bushes, but seeing it sent a shiver up my spine. The articles were right. 

“They’ve been through alot and we need to discuss this alone anyway,” he continued, ignorant of giant arachnid he’d just ticked off.

Yes, alone... with god knows what else around us. “You’re sure? I mean, maybe we should keep an eye on them at least...” I saw something move out the corner of my eyes and noted a massive bug, I think, crawling across the ground. I stepped out of its path. “I haven’t really told them about wildlife here outside of the Reef.”

        “I trust them to do the right thing,” he replied. We continued for a short bit and came to a clearing dotted with small rocks. I thought I saw something hide under one of them. Doug apparently had the same idea and upturned them while I stood on the edge the area. After his quick inspection, he took a seat on one of the rocks and gestured to a nearby one.

If he did it’s safe, if he did it’s safe, I repeated to myself as I inched down onto the rock. 

        “So...” he said once I was as comfortable as I could be in a forest surrounded by things that could very easily kill me in ten seconds and think nothing of it. ““How have you been coping with having to take care of, well, them?” he asked while gesturing over to the car’s direction.

        “Well...” I shifted my cast upwards. “Things could have gone a little better.”

“Too right. So Discord did that to you, did he? I guess you and the girls were lucky.” He looked me in the eye. “How are they coping?”

I slumped my shoulders and sighed. “They’ve gotten over that. Lord knows what they saw back when he was really out of control.” I shuddered a little at the memories from Discord’s visit. “Bigger issue is Sweetie’s magic. I was hoping Pinkie and Fluttershy might know something about that.”

“Well, neither one of them are unicorns. I’m not sure how much help either of them will be.” He paused. “I suppose just having them talk might help a little. It certainly couldn’t hurt.”

“Yeah.” I scratched the back of my head. “I mean, Pinkie’s taken care of unicorns before and Fluttershy’s a close friend of Rarity’s... maybe they learned something about them? If they’ve got nothing, they can at least help out Scootaloo.”

Doug raised an eyebrow. “What’s up with Scootaloo?”

“She got really spooked by Indiana Jones.” My left hand tensed up around my cast. I sucked in my breath. “Oh Jesus, do Fluttershy and Pinkie know about the show?”

Doug simply nodded.

I corked my neck. “They had no issue with it?”

Doug shrugged in response. “To be honest, it’s hard to tell. I think that may actually be the least of their concerns right now.” He pushed himself off his rock and began to sojourn around the clearing. “Their main focus seems to be getting everypony back together and getting home.”

“Surviving here is a more pressing issue though,” I grunted. “I’ve got Sweetie sick as a dog from her magic, Scootaloo breaking down, and Apple Bloom ready to snap. It’s... god, I don’t even know what it is, but it’s bad.”

“Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to get these Equestrians back to their rightful home?”

The stare Doug gave me sent a shiver down my spine. The clearing went silent, save for something slinking around in the bushes. I looked at him and chuckled. “I just caused my mother and sister to get into a car accident to get the Crusaders here, stole from my family’s bank account, and smuggled a bunch of minors across countries. Ha! Liam Neeson be damned.”

        Doug turned away from me for a moment and then asked, “Are they alright? Your mother and sister?”

        “They’ll be pissed...” I leveled my eyes up to his, “... but I did what I had to.” I pressed my face against the palm of my left hand. I’m so screwed when I get back home.

“Good,” Doug said with a discomforting grin. “Because after tonight, there won’t be any more hotels. We’ll be roughing it in the Outback with no electricity, no communication with the outside world, and probably not even any toilets. We’re almost completely out of money and have nowhere else to stay for the moment. Tonight’s stay at the hotel will be a luxury compared to what Angel, the girls and I have had to put up with lately, and if you meant any of what you just said, you won’t speak a single complaint about any of it. Is that clear?”

He then spun around and made his way back to the path we’d taken to the clearing. I remained anchored to my rock. I pressed my face further into my palm. He... he can’t be serious. Oh no, no, no.

I wobbled to my feet and shuffled after him. “W-what do we do? Stay out there and wait?” He kept on trudging through the forest while I trailed my cast against the trees to stay balance. I stopped and leaned against a boulder. “For god’s sake! Discord is still out there!”

Doug stopped and leered, towering over me. “So is Twilight Sparkle!” he growled. “So is Rarity and Princess Luna!” he lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. “And we’ve heard nothing from them. For all I know, they’re still out there, alone and afraid. They might have no food, no shelter, and nobody there to protect them. Things are going to be rough for us for a while, but the Equestrians have it worse.”

Something in leapt off a tree nearby. It sounded like a bird. My side was aching again. I needed my meds.

“Look,” he said in a softer tone. “When I first contacted you I had everything sorted out, but things changed. It was too late to cancel your flights and we still needed to reunite the ponies that we have found. There’s nothing more to do than just... not give up. Now come on.”

With that, he went back to the car. I followed; at least the car wasn’t filled with giant spiders and whatever else was in the forest. My head loosely swung from my neck. Everything was hurting my head. Didn’t I keep my meds on me?

We emerged back onto the roadside. If it was anything of a consolation, everyone else seemed accounted for. Scootaloo and Pinkie were hunched over Fluttershy and staring down at something in her arms. The little bastard was hovering behind her as well. Apple Bloom didn’t appear interested in whatever it was and was off to the side.

“Hey captain, look at what Fluttershy found!” Pinkie called out with a grin.

Sweetie broke me away from the others though. Her color looked a little pale and her eyes were shaky. “Sweetie?” I nervously asked. “You okay?” Don’t tell me it’s another magical issue.

“Hey, John!” Scootaloo said with a smirk. “Come look at this! It’s awesome!”

“Not now, Scootaloo. I need t—” My eyes flicked down to her for a second and that was all I needed. I tensed up every muscle and froze. “Holy hell!”

Coiled around Fluttershy’s arms was a brown snake. It wasn’t as big a rattler but that really didn’t matter because a snake was still a snake.

        “Get back!” Doug hissed. I heard my heart thumping in my chest. A snake was bad on its own, but hearing the guy who just brushed away a monstrous spider freaked out sent me on full alert. Pinkie scooted away from Fluttershy, but Scootaloo remained where she was.

        “Scootaloo,” I commanded, “get away from the snake.”

        Scootaloo frowned and slid away.

        “W-what’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked, oblivious to the probably eight different kinds of lethal snake flicking its tongue along her arms.

        “It’s nothing.” I saw the veins in Doug’s neck bulging. “Say goodbye to your little friend now, we have to get going.”

        “Oh... okay then,” Fluttershy replied in a slightly crestfallen tone. “Goodbye, little cutie. You go back to your family now.”

        I inched back as she set the snake down. It flicked its tongue again and then slithered off into the grass. Doug and I both released held breaths at the same time.

        “See?” Doug said with a wry smile, “I told you they’d be fine."

~~~

        The hotel was a place at least, that was more than I’d be able to say in a day. The beach wasn’t far off and I’d stared at it all through the drive. I really didn’t want to look at anything else. Doug could just keep driving for all I cared and that little bastard of a bunny could jump off in the ocean and never come back.

        The car ride was quiet and I didn’t really listen to any conversation that popped up. Although, I was half-expecting some other poisonous creature to have slid into the car. Fricking Australia.

        “I’ll be right back,” said Doug as he put the car in park. He then ran off to get keys.

        I kept my head slumped against the window. What else was there to do? I wasn’t about to tell the girls I’d just royally screwed them over. If the snake had been any indication, I’d just endangered them even more. My stomach clenched up a little, I needed some actual food.

        A Coke can was thrust out to the side of my head. “Ya want some, brony?” Pinkie asked, giving the can a small jiggle. “You’re a brony, right? I’ve always wanted to meet one.” She smiled at me expectantly.

        “I guess.” My hand lightly pushed the Coke away. “Sorry, not a big soda drinker... there isn’t some water back there, is there?”

        “Hmm...” she said, scratching her chin and looking around. “No, but there’s plenty outside! I wouldn’t drink that though if I were you. Not even if you’re really, really thirsty.”

        “Trust me, I know,” I sighed.

        Doug came back with a pair of keys dangling from his left hand. I reached down and pushed myself out of the car. This time, I didn’t bother to open the door, out of a combination of annoyance and exhaustion. Instead, I moved to the back, but Doug’s group was already heading into the hotel while the Crusaders had followed me to the back.

        “Um, shouldn’t we go with them?” asked Sweetie.

        “I thought we’d unpack first,” I replied. Guess it wouldn’t make much sense to fully unpack if we’re just staying a night. I placed my hand and cast on Sweetie and Scootaloo’s backs and led the Crusaders over to the hotel. “We’ll probably get it later.”

        Three beds, two rooms, lounge area, and kitchen. Despite the grim financial situation, the rooms were actually quite nice. It reminded me of the hotel my family stayed at in California from a few years ago. It felt more like a second house than a hotel save for the size.

        The beds looked really nice too. Nice and soft. A little rest on them wouldn’t hurt. I walked over to one but the Scootaloo beat me to it and pounced on it. The other Crusaders followed suit.

        “This is so comfy!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

        “It’s kinda like...” Sweetie paused and pressed her face up against a pillow. “It’s nice.”

        Apple Bloom fell onto her back and spread out her arms. “This is definitely better than the hotel we stayed at with Ms. Sybil. That one kinda smelled.”

        I’m gonna kill him, I thought. I would have regardless for dropping that bombshell on me, but treating the Crusaders to this wasn’t right. Maybe Pinkie and Fluttershy had roughed it here, but at least they were adults. Even then, they didn’t even seem frightened earlier. Something was going to happen and now it’d be on my head.

“Okay everyone, can you all come into the lounge please?,” Doug’s voice called out from the lounge room.

We listened and piled into the room. Doug’s group was all on the couch or the chairs save for Doug himself, who chose to set on the floor next to the Crusaders and myself. “I’d just like to say a few things regarding our situation.”

No. No, no, no. I opened my mouth to say something, but Doug’s glare shut me up.

“Because I know things haven’t been easy for you and it’s not going to get much easier. It’s practically a miracle that we’ve been able to get our two groups together in a relatively short amount of time,” he continued.

The Crusaders turned to each other and then back to Doug. He leaned in a little closer to them. “Have you three ever gone camping?”

“No,” Sweetie bluntly answered.

Scootaloo scratched her chin and looked over to Fluttershy. “Does that time with you count?” Fluttershy gave a small smile and nodded. “Okay, guess we did.”

“I don’t know,” said Apple Bloom slowly. “Camping is more than just going into the woods for a little while. Ya gotta set up a tent, a fire, and stones to keep critters out. That’s what App... that’s what you’re supposed to do.”

Doug’s eyes focussed on Sweetie. “Have you ever wanted to go camping?”

“Apple Bloom did say it was fun... and I did want to go...” Sweetie mumbled.

“I’m going to leave it up to you three, then.” He looked in my direction, like I had the answer or something. “We might need to go camping for a while until we can find your friends and family. It should be fun, but we might have to camp for a long time. That means you might have to put up with sleeping on the ground or even...” he waved his hand in front of his face as if some pungent smell was there, “...having to be dirty for awhile. But if you can do that for us, it should help us while we look for the others.” He got back up to his feet. “If you don’t want to, it’s okay. I can try to find another way.”

There was a silence in the room. Only Apple Bloom moved her head to look at the Crusaders, me, and back to Doug. “Ya promise you’ll find our families?”

“Apple Bloom...” Sweetie said with a slight whine in her voice.

“Sweetie, he found Pinkie,” Apple Bloom retorted. “Pinkie knows everypony, so I’m sure it’ll be easy to find them.”

Doug held his hand out to Apple Bloom. “It might not be that easy, but I promise that we won’t give up,” his eyes went over to Fluttershy and Angel for an instant, “until we have found them all.”

“Okay.” Apple Bloom took Doug’s hand and I saw it tense up a little. “Deal.”

Doug’s eyes scanned over the other Crusaders. “All agreed?”

“If Apple Bloom says okay, then I’m in,” Scootaloo said with a shrug.

Sweetie tilted her head down. “If I can see Rarity... it’s fine.” She looked back up at Doug with a small smile. “She’s gonna be mad that you got us dirty though.”

Doug smiled back at her. “I look forward to explaining myself to her in person. We’re going to need some supplies for when we leave. There’s a store a short walk up the road from here with fresh food, anyone want to come with me?”

“Oh, um... I was kinda hoping we could go swimming. If that’s okay with you.” Pinkie suggested. Maybe it was the shock from the snake or maybe it was jet lag, but I must have missed the point where she’d slipped into a swimsuit.

“Swimming?” Scootaloo now had small grin on her face. It has been a while...”

“If we’re gonna be dirty, we might as well swim,” Sweetie conjectured.

“Wait, wait.” I raised up my hands to get everyone’s attention. “Girls, the ocean isn’t the safest place to be, especially since we’re all pretty tired from the flight.” Not to mention box jellies and whatever else likes to live in Australia. “Second, we don’t even have swimsuits.”

“Uh, duh,” Pinkie retorted. “There’s a swimming pool just outside. And of course you have swimsuits!” She gently bounced around the couch.

“No, we don’t,” I replied. “Trust me, I packed the bags and there weren’t swimsuits in there. They’re probably the only things I didn’t pack.” I shuddered slightly at the clothing I did have to buy.

Pinkie indicated some bags by the couch. “You mean these bags?” she asked innocently.

“How did...” I paused and looked to the Crusaders. “I didn’t drag those up, right?”

“No...” Scootaloo’s eyes went over to the bags and her eyes widened. “Oh, no way!” She rushed over to the bag and pulled out a light blue swim suit with a few streaks of yellow here and there. “This is awesome!”

“Scootaloo, put that back. It’s not ours.” I got up and marched over to the bags. Crap! I must have grabbed... The large strip of duct tape my family affixed to all our luggage was there, as was the tag with my name on it. Perplexed, I fully opened up the bag.

Everything was still in the same order as I’d packed it, save for the three pieces of swimwear atop it all. There were two smaller girls swimsuits, one a simple yellow and the other white with frills on the ends. Finally, there was a pair of brown swim trunks. None of them were mine.

“See?” Pinkie playfully asked. “You do have swimsuits!”

I picked up the trunks and looked at her. The merits of arguing with her were not something I wanted to test. “Okay, dropping where these came from, can you swim like this?”

“Well...” Pinkie glanced down at her swimsuit. “I guess I could swim without it, but Dougie seems to get mad when I do stuff like that. Weird, right?”

“I...” Oh, for Christ’s sake. “Fine, lets go down.” I spun over to the girls and was about to instruct them on pool safety, when I saw that Apple Bloom had vanished in the confusion over the suits. “Where’s Apple Bloom?”

“Oh.” Pinkie vaulted off the couched and gestured over to the door. “She went with Dougie, Fluttershy, and Angel.”

“Went where?” I asked in an exasperated tone.

Pinkie hefted her hands into the air and shrugged. “Dunno. Probably to get more Coke... I kinda drank the rest of it...” Her voice became a whisper. “Please don’t tell.”

I sighed and grabbed the extra room key Doug had left on a table by the couch. I probably needed some sun anyway after the flight. There might be a vending machine down there too.

~~~

“Wee!” Pinkie crashed into the pool, unleashing a decent deluge of water. The Crusaders followed in, creating smaller blasts of water. For once, I was glad that hotel pools were tiny puddles. The deepest it went was five feet and that was only at the absolute end of the pool. The Crusaders’ feet at least skimmed the bottom everywhere else. They did look a little silly doing the doggy paddle, but it beat flailing to stay afloat. Pinkie, meanwhile, did the butterfly.

Unfortunately, the search for a vending machine had proved futile. I sighed and reclined back into one of the white plastic chairs that lined the pool. I reached into my backpack and switched out my regular glasses for my shades. After I placed them on, something wet landed on my feet.

It turned out to be a inflatable beach ball. “Come on!” Pinkie called out, waving her hands in the air. “Jump in!”

“Would love too.” I raised up my cast while I picked up the ball. It slipped out of my hand and rolled back into the pool. “Can’t exactly swim with this on.”

“Then take it off!” Pinkie exclaimed.

An additional feeling of discomfort grew in my gut. Hearing Pinkie say that just sounded off. “It’s a cast. It doesn’t just come off. Besides...” Sweetie and Scootaloo were engaged in a splash fight. Surprisingly, Sweetie appeared to be winning. “It looks like ya’ll are having enough fun at it is. I’m fine with just taking a rest.”

“Okay...” Pinkie replied in a downtrodden tone. She spun around and leapt at the Crusaders. A smile was now firmly on her face. “Pinkie Slam!”

Sweetie and Scootaloo screamed as Pinkie dropped into the water between them. Both of them were left sputtering water.

“Pinkie, you’re too good at swimming,” Scootaloo coughed.

Duh!” Pinkie lightly tapped Scootaloo on the forehead. “Do you know how many parties involve pools and swimming? A ton! I was even thinking of making an underwater party cannon! It was gonna be super fun!”

“Really?” Sweetie asked. “Did it do anything special?”

Pinkie dramatically spun her head to look at Sweetie. “Of course! It’s a bit harder since you can’t use confetti or other paper stuff, so I used floating decorations instead! Oh! Lets see who can hold their breath longest.”

Pinkie ducked her head underwater and the Crusaders did the same. I inhaled deeply and soaked in the tranquil moment. Considering the living conditions starting tomorrow, quietude would be an incredibly rare commodity.

About fifteen seconds later, Sweetie was up for air. Scootaloo followed thirty seconds after that, gasping for breath. A minute after the contest started, Pinkie emerged and smiled. “I win.”

“No fair,” Scootaloo complained. “Your lungs are bigger!”

Pinkie looked down and examined her chest. “Hmm, guess you have a point.”

“That’s not what she meant!” I exclaimed before a fit of coughing hit me.

“Well, it’s true!” Pinkie replied. She brought her attention back to the girls. “Okay, so no more breath holding. More splash fi—”

“Ha! I got the first move!” Scootaloo exclaimed. Her fire was quickly snuffed by Sweetie splashing her in the face. The three of them devolved into a mess of water and color.

~~~

 
       The bed really was incredibly soft. The Crusaders and I had struggled up the stairs to the room, completely drained of energy. I managed to get the door open and slumped into one of the bedrooms. Sweetie and Scootaloo didn’t even get that far and crashed on the couch, if the two fwumps I heard were any indication. I removed my shades and collapsed on the bed.

        A door closing got me to open my eyes, but I really didn’t want to. I pressed my hands into the bed and reluctantly sat up. I put my glasses back on and saw that someone else had entered into my room. “What?”

        That bastard of a bunny was just standing there with his arms crossed. He wasn’t getting me this time. If he tried anything, my cast would be hitting his face. Wasn’t my fault if I accidently decked him when he got too close to me while I was asleep. At least, that’s how the story would go.

        After a few moments of glaring, Angel pointed at me.

        “N-no Fffwuffooshy!” he warned. Then he turned on his heel and sped away, leaving me baffled on two counts. One, he could do something other than annoy me, and two, he was jealous.

        The bunny has a complex. I raised my head to the sky, wondering what odd force had brought this upon me. And I have issues if he actually sees me as a threat.

~~~

        I munched down on some stir fry. The fact that Doug could cook was a positive at least. My enjoyment of the meal was a little stymied by the glare Angel was giving me. I chose to ignore it and focus on my food.

        Scootaloo had a similar train of thought in mind and gladly devoured her meal. Only her plate out of all the Equestrians resembled mine, due to the cubes of beef here and there. The rest of them ate a mixture of rice, eggs, and veggies.

        Pinkie was the main source of noise at the table. She happily chatted with Fluttershy and recollected the pool’s events. How she had so much to say about it, I don’t know. Then again, everything was kind of blur, especially after the nap.

        Sweetie reclining back in her chair got my attention. Her plate was still pretty full though. She took shallow breaths and wasn’t looking that good.

        “Sweetie?” The alarm bells were ringing again. “What is it?”

        “It’s happening again,” she whimpered. “My head hurts.”

        Fluttershy stopped eating and looked alarmed. “Oh dear... oh no! I haven’t had time to talk to her about it yet...” She shifted her head down and looked like she might as well have caused the mess.

        “Is this her magic?” Doug asked.

        “P-please,” Sweetie cried. She doubled over and clutched her stomach. “I d-don’t wanna!”

        Apple Bloom rushed out of her spot and took Sweetie’s hand. She glanced at Doug and then back at Sweetie. “Sweetie, listen! It’s gonna be alright, but ya gotta settle down!” Her eyes started to tear up. “Ya won’t have to do this much longer. Doug said he’s gonna help find sis and Rarity and—”

        “Rarity?” Sweetie called out in confusion. “Rarity! Help! I—” Sweetie’s pleas devolved into an animalistic scream.

        The hairs on my arm pricked up. A burning smell flooded my nostrils despite a lack of flame. There was a green flash and I hit the ground.

        The rest of the room apparently followed me. My ears were now ringing and I felt even more dazed than before. My cast brushed against broken pieces of glass that would have given my arm a few nasty cuts if not for its plaster shield. I quickly retracted my unguarded left hand and lumbered back to my feet.

I surveyed the room and froze. Everyone else was in a similar state of disarray, except for Apple Bloom and Angel. Blood stained both of their clothes, which were blackened and fringed in places. Neither of them was moving.