A trio of adventuring ponies hunkered down in a thick patch of shrubbery as they eyed their target before them. Scootaloo, the leader, brought out a pair of binoculars and looked through them at the nearby castle. A group of impish creatures with large, squinted yellow eyes, large teeth, even larger ears, and devil-like horns vigorously guarded the small fortress, warily glancing about for intruders. “Okay, warriors,” Scootaloo whispered to her two faithful companions, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. “Looks like there’s four of them waiting for us up there. One’s got a bow, the rest got pitchforks.”
“Heh, that sounds easy!” Applebloom snickered.
“So what’s our plan of attack?” Sweetie Belle asked. “There’s four of them and three of us, and they got an archer. We need to take him out as quickly as possible.”
“I agree,” Scootaloo answered. “I’ll take out the archer. Applebloom, use your grappling hook to get yourself and Sweetie Belle onto the wall so we can take care of the rest. Then their treasure’s as good as ours!”
“Yeah!” the other two crusaders spoke, bumping hooves in anticipation of a certain victory.
Scootaloo then withdrew her trusty sword and shield. Sweetie Belle summoned her spear with her magic. Applebloom readied her grappling hook. Once they were all prepared, Scootaloo jumped out of the bushes and took to the air, pointing her blade at the surprised castle defenders. “CHAAAAAAARGE!” she cried.
The other crusaders rose up, letting loose their own battle cries as they galloped forth, the defending Miniblins scrambling to get to their positions. The three pitchfork-wielding Miniblins defended the wall, while the archer took up the right tower. Scootaloo boldly flew up to the enemy battlements just out of melee range to taunt the creatures. “Servants of evil!” she boasted. “Your doom is at hoof! Prepare to meet your maker!”
The Miniblin archer readied an arrow and aimed at the heroic pegasus. “Nyeh nah!” it cried, firing at Scootaloo.
Scootaloo raised her shield in the nick of time, and the arrow bounced harmlessly off of it. “Ha!” she proudly proclaimed. “Give it up, scrawny! You can’t hit me!”
“Nyeh!” the Miniblin countered, readying another arrow.
Scootaloo braced herself, ready to lift her shield at a moment’s notice.
The Miniblin drew back the bowstring.
Scootaloo tensed, waiting for the moment to strike.
And then the archer abruptly changed its aim, instead aiming towards the ground. Scootaloo didn’t even have a chance to react before the Miniblin loosed its deadly dart…
…and found its mark.
“Agh!” Sweetie Belle suddenly cried, recoiling as she felt the dreaded arrow pierce her soft belly. “T-they got me!”
“SWEETIE BELLE!” Scootaloo and Applebloom cried out in unison as their comrade fell to her hooves and grasped at the instrument of her doom.
“Nyehehehehehe!” the Miniblin cackled at its victory.
Scootaloo glared at the wretched monster. “You’ll pay for that, you horrid beast!”
She then dove in, sword at the ready. The Miniblin only had time to widen its eyes in realization before Scootaloo’s sword hit home, knocking it off the tower where it would meet its own demise, screeching “NYEEEEEEEH!” all the way down. Before the remaining Miniblins could reach her, Scootaloo flew back down to her fallen friend’s side. Sweetie Belle lay on her back, her head resting on Applebloom’s knees. “Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo mourned.
Sweetie Belle looked up at her dear friends and coughed weakly. “It…it’s too late for me. Go…get the treasure…Don’t…let them…win…”
And then Sweetie Belle’s eyes closed, and she went limp in Applebloom’s hold. “S-she’s gone,” Applebloom whimpered, looking up at Scootaloo with a mournful expression.
Scootaloo’s eyes steeled. “Then we must not let her sacrifice be in vain! Let’s end this!”
Applebloom nodded, and the two of them returned to battle. Applebloom stood on her hind legs and twirled the grappling hook over her head to gain momentum as Scootaloo flew towards the battlements to give her a chance to get up there. Applebloom let her grappling hook fly, and struck her mark. Making sure it was firmly hooked onto the wall, Applebloom began to climb.
Meanwhile, Scootaloo landed on all fours on the battlements herself, the three Miniblins’ attention now directed at her. They eagerly brandished their tridents in preparation for a tough fight. “Nyeh neh!” they chorused. “Ny nai! Na nyeh!”
Scootaloo flashed a feral grin, brandishing her own weapons. “Come at me, bro.”
At that moment, Applebloom reached the top and hopped onto the battlements. She then reached over her shoulder and armed herself with her trusty battle axe. “Hey!” she yelled, catching the Miniblins’ attention as well. “Y’all didn’t forget ‘bout little ol’ me, did’ja?”
One of the Miniblins broke off from the impending fight with Scootaloo and confronted the battle-ready farmpony. “Nyeh!” it shrieked as it jabbed at Applebloom.
“H’yah!” Applebloom yelled, parrying the blow with her axe, forcing the imp back.
The Miniblin leaped back out of range of Applebloom’s swing, scrutinizing its opponent warily. Meanwhile, Scootaloo was forced to fight off two foes at once. They tried to pin her against the wall, but Scootaloo caught on to their tactic and took flight once more, landing on the opposite side to turn the situation against them. In response, one went over the edge and crawled across the wall like a gecko, getting back onto the battlements directly behind Scootaloo. Seeing this, Scootaloo pushed the other one back with her shield to disorient it and tried to take the remaining one out before its ally could recover. The Miniblin jabbed at her, but she turned it aside with her sword and knocked its weapon out of its hands with her shield. Weaponless, the Miniblin could only look on as Scootaloo thrust her sword into its chest, the poor creature letting out a woeful cry before collapsing at her hooves.
The other Miniblin had recovered by this time and pressed its attack, trying to keep Scootaloo on the defensive. At the same time, Applebloom was furiously dueling her opponent, trying to hack it down, but it always managed to counter her attacks with its pitchfork. Frustrated, she swung at the Miniblin’s head, attempting to rend it from its shoulders.
A fatal mistake.
The axe struck only empty air, and before Applebloom could comprehend the consequences of what had transpired, she watched in horror as her enemy rose up and plunged its weapon into her belly. “Da-dink!” the Miniblin cackled in triumph.
Applebloom’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “Aargh! Oh no!” she moaned. “Ah’m done for!”
Scootaloo gasped as she saw the ultimate fate of her remaining friend. “Applebloom! Nooooo!”
Applebloom looked at Scootaloo, sorrow in her eyes. “Ah’m sorry, Scootaloo…”
And then the farmpony fell on her back, closed her eyes, and died. Her slayer then turned towards Scootaloo, eager to finish her as well. But Scootaloo wasn’t going to have any of that. Fueled by the loss of her friends and comrades, she went on the attack, cutting down her foe before confronting the last Miniblin. The monster giggled menacingly. “Nyehehehehehehehehehe!”
“Laugh in Tartarus, you murderer!” Scootaloo yelled, swinging her sword.
The Miniblin parried, but Scootaloo followed up by pushing with her shield, sending it towards the edge. She drew back just before the Miniblin could fall off. As it desperately attempted to maintain its balance, Scootaloo landed the finishing blow, slashing open the Miniblin’s belly with enough momentum to send it over the edge. The mortally-wounded creature wailed all the way to the bottom before falling silent as it hit the ground.
And just like that, the battle was over. Scootaloo looked over the fallen bodies of her enemies and her friends and sighed sadly. “We won,” she morosely spoke to nopony in particular. “The treasure is mine, but…I have nopony to share it with. My friends are all dead, and my victory feels hollow. My heart is hollow. I…cannot go on.”
Scootaloo then turned her own sword on herself, pointing its sharpened tip towards her own belly. “And thus, Scootaloo, adventurer extraordinaire, draws her last breath…”
And then she plunged her sword into her own gut, seppuku-style, letting out a final groan. “Goodbye, world…”
And then Scootaloo fell on her back and closed her eyes, unmoving forevermore. Silence reigned across the battlefield as another trio of figures walked onto the scene, taking note of the unmoving bodies of the fallen splayed all around the place. “Well, they look like they’re havin’ fun,” Applejack dryly commented.
Vaati scoffed. “Fun? Dear Applejack, war games are serious business. Why, what happened here is an event that shall go down in the pages of history as a truly memorable battle. Though I think it could have done without the melodramatics.”
“War games?” Rarity huffed. “Such uncouth behavior for young fillies…”
Vaati and Applejack gave her a look. “B-but at least they appear to be enjoying themselves, right?” she hastily corrected with a nervous smile.
At the sounds of their family members’ voices, the previously-dead Cutie Mark Crusaders immediately got up and brushed themselves off, the Miniblins following suit. Sweetie Belle used her magic to return the foam-tipped arrow used to usher in her pretend demise to the Miniblin archer, while the other Miniblins picked the rubber balls from the tips of their pitchforks that had rendered their weapons suitable for play-fighting. Scootaloo picked up her wooden sword and shield and flew up to Vaati. “Hey, Dad!” she greeted cheerfully.
Vaati smiled. “I take it you all had fun testing out the new play castle Big Mac built for you guys?”
“Uh huh,” Scootaloo replied, nodding her head vigorously, the Miniblins chattering in agreement.
“That was fun!” Sweetie Belle said. “We should do that again sometime!”
“I’m sure it was, Sweetie dear,” Rarity responded gently. “Now let’s get you home. Dinner’s almost ready and you need to be ready for school tomorrow.”
Sweetie Belle sighed. “Okay, sis.” She looked over at her friends. “Bye, Scootaloo! Bye, Applebloom! Bye, Miniblins!”
“Bye!” they all chorused.
“See you later, Applejack, Vaati,” Rarity politely bade as they headed back towards the main part of town.
“Dinner’s ready, sugarcube,” Applejack said, nudging her little sister. “Ya need to eat so we can git-cha to bed at a decent hour so you can git ready fer school in the mornin’.”
“Okay,” Applebloom agreed, fetching her wooden axe and grappling hook. “Bye, guys! See ya tomorrow!”
“See ya, Vaati,” Applejack said as she and Applebloom headed home.
“Farewell,” Vaati responded.
“Bye!” Scootaloo said, the Miniblins chattering goodbyes as well in their own language.
Vaati looked down at his charges. “Alright, little warriors of legend,” he teased. “Ready to go?”
Scootaloo and the Miniblins all nodded in confirmation, and thus Vaati teleported them all back to the palace. Today had definitely been a fun day for Scootaloo, and she hoped she could get some other classmates in on the fun in the future.