//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Crusader Camp // by Lighthawk //------------------------------// “Hey…Sparks…hold up…a moment,” Circular Reason gasped, his pace dropping rapidly from a full out sprint to a dragging trot. “Wimp!” Fire Ruby called back from her commanding lead in the impromptu race that the two foals had fallen into. Neither of them had any idea why they were racing, just that somewhere along the way in their run to go off on their own, things had turned into a competition. “Cheater,” Reasoning panted. “Am not!” Ruby shot back indignantly as she turned around and started back. “Are so,” the colt insisted. “Having dragon blood is totally cheating.” “Pfft!” Ruby declared with a raspberry. “It’s not cheating if you can’t help being that awesome.” “Thank you Aunt Dash,” Reasoning said sarcastically, taking a seat on the grass as he tried to catch his breath. Ruby trotted on up to him, and flopped down next to her cousin. “Soooo…” she prompted. “What?” Reasoning asked. “Oh nothing, nothing really, just…” “Just what?” “Just that I totally kicked your flank!” Ruby exclaimed with a grin, pointing a hoof at his face. “And not even by a little bit either, I stomped you right into the…” “You hear that?” Reasoning asked, cutting her off. “Hey, no fair interrupting when I have bragging rights!” “Dang it Sparks, I’m serious, shut up a second and listen.” Ruby scowled at him, but she shut her mouth and did so. The scowl quickly turned into a quizzical expression as a soft, continual sound reached her ears. “What is that?” she asked. “I think…it kind of sounds like somepony crying,” Reasoning said after a moment. “I think it’s coming from over there,” Ruby said, pointing a wing towards a grove of squat, wide trees sharing space with some thick bushes along the shore of a small pond. The two foals glanced at each other for all of half a second before they both nodded in silent agreement, and then took off at a trot towards the sound. They had to duck under the lowest branches of the short trees, and soon found themselves inside a nearly cave like space beneath the low canopy. The branches of the trees wove and knit together above, forming a virtually solid ceiling that turned the bright afternoon sun into a diffused, gentle luminesce. The grove had a sweet, oddly familiar scent to it, which seemed to be wafting from the numerous brightly colored pods that hung all over the trees. They were leathery looking, oblong growths in all shades of yellow and red. Huddled up against one of the many trunks was a tan coated earth pony filly. Her face was buried in her forelegs as she cried, making the tightly curled ringlets of her mane bounce as she shook with each sob. Her tail was similarly curled, if not nearly as tightly, and both were shot through with a swirling pattern of dark brown and off white. Ruby and Reasoning crept forward towards the filly, both walking quietly even if neither was certain exactly why they were reluctant to make their presence known. Maybe it was the sense of intruding upon a moment that felt like it ought to be private, though that did nothing to deter either from walking right up to the crying foal, who only finally realized she was no longer alone when a fallen branch cracked under one of Ruby’s hooves. The filly froze at the noise, going dreadfully still for several long seconds before she ever so slowly brought her gaze up. She stared with red rimmed eyes at the two newcomers in a silence that was broken only by her occasional sniffle. “Uh, hi,” Reasoning finally managed to say with only a slight bit of awkwardness. “Um, sorry to interrupt you while you’re…ah well that is to say we were just passing by when we heard you uh…look what I’m trying to say is…” “Oh for the love of Luna,” Ruby cut in impatiently, bumping Reasoning aside with a hip and thrusting out a hoof of greeting towards the filly. “Hey, name’s Fire Ruby, you?” “Uh, oh,” the filly replied uncertainly, flinching back slightly. She quickly ran a hoof over her eyes, wiping at her tears. “Marble Rye.” She eyed the offered hoof for a second, before hesitantly reaching out to bump her own against Ruby’s. “Nice to meet you,” Ruby said firmly. She flicked a wing towards Reasoning. “The dork here is my cousin Circular Reasoning, though I just call him Pi.” “Pie?” Marble asked with a sniffle, looking over at the colt in puzzlement. “Is he a good baker or something?” she asked softly. “Not that kind of pie,” Reasoning replied. “The math kind.” “Oh…okay…” Marble said, clearly confused. “Pi is...uh,” Reasoning paused, then glanced at Ruby. “How the heck did aunt Twilight put it?” “Me? You expect me to remember anything she says when she goes off on one of her science or math or magic rants?” Ruby scoffed. “Well anyway, it has to do with the math of circles, and my first name is Circular, plus my mom’s last name is Pie, like the baking kind, so…” Reasoning trailed off in his attempt to explain the nickname. “You know, I don’t think anypony but your mom actually laughed when aunt Twilight made that joke,” Ruby remarked. “Yeah, most of them just kind of groaned or looked confused,” Reasoning agreed after a moment’s thought. “So…so your aunt made a bad math joke about Circle’s name, and you just decided to keep it going?” Marble asked. “Yeah, she was trying to suck up because Hearth’s Warming was coming up and she thought she might be able to get some extra presents,” Reasoning supplied, and then ducked quickly as Ruby swung a wing at him. “I was not!” the half dragon filly protested. “She totally was,” Reasoning said to Marble, who seemed taken a bit off guard by the direction the conversation had taken. “And she kept it up all week, and it just kind of stuck after that.” “I’m going to stick you in the lake there if you keep lying!” Ruby threatened, striding forward. Reasoning darted to the side, putting Marble between him and his cousin. The earth filly’s eyes went wide as she looked back and forth from her suddenly undesirable position. “Whoa, time out, time out!” Marble exclaimed desperately. “Come on chicken, face me like a stallion why don’t ya?” Ruby taunted, ignoring the earth filly. “Yeah no, rather not get another set of teeth marks,” Reasoning retorted, his horn lighting up as he spoke, and Ruby felt something suddenly smack into the back of her head. She let out a yelp of surprise and spun around, finding one of the odd, elongated pods rolling away from where it had bounced off her skull. Then she felt another fleshy impact against her flank. Ruby spun back around to see a second pod bouncing away, a third already floating next to Reasoning in his magic’s bright blue aura. “Uh…” the colt hesitated, and then tossed the pod to Marble, who caught it by reflex. “She did it!” “What!” the earth filly half-shrieked indignantly. She looked about ready to chuck the pod at him for that, but Ruby beat her to the punch, stepping forward and kicking one of the grounded pods at her cousin. Unfortunately it flew wide of her target, who proceeded to stick his tongue out at her. “Missed me, missed me, miss…oh sweet Celestia!” Reasoning’s taunting singsong quickly cut off as Ruby charged, and he did the only sensible thing he could. He ran like crazy, with Ruby in hot pursuit. Marble Rye watched the two darting in and out of the trees with something between amusement and bewilderment. Ruby was obviously faster than Reasoning, but the unicorn seemed to be more nimble than the pegasus, slipping around and between tree trunks in order to just keep ahead of his pursuer. The whole while the two were volleying taunts and insults back and forth, Ruby generally offering up threats and mockery of Reasoning’s courage, while the unicorn tossed back sarcastic barbs about the pegasus’s intelligence. The chase came to a sudden and decisive end as it swung back around by Marble, who promptly tossed the pod still in her hooves right at Reasoning’s head. The unicorn managed to skid out of the way of the unexpected obstacle, but the loss of speed sealed his doom. Ruby pounced on him, and the two went down in a heap. “Say uncle!” Ruby declared as she pinned Reasoning to the ground, one of his legs sticking out at an awkward angle. “Ack! Spike!” the unicorn yelped. “Say you’re sorry!” “You’re sorry!” “No, say you’re sorry!” “Only that I got caught!” Reasoning said defiantly. “And that girls always team up,” he added with a grumble. “Hey! You tried to frame me!” Marble protested, seizing up another pod and hefting it like a weapon. “Sorry about that, survival instinct,” Reasoning told her. “Ruby’s just so quick to violence.” “Am not!” the pegasus denied, smacking him with a wing. “See?” Reasoning grinned. “Jerk!” Ruby said. “Brute,” the colt shot back. “Sissy stallion!” “Daddy’s girl.” “Dummy head!” “Poo face.” “Blunt horn!” “Wobbly wing.” “Enough!” Marble shouted. The two looked up at her from the ground, and she ducked her head in a slightly self-conscious manner. “Uh, I meant, please, that’s enough?” “Eh, sure. Truce?” Reasoning offered. “…truce,” Ruby accepted with a shrug, letting her cousin free and getting back to her hooves. She glanced over at Marble as the three of them settled into an uncertain silence. “So…uh, what were you crying about?” “I…uh, I wasn’t…I mean…” the filly hedged. “Really Sparks?” Reasoning asked drily. “What?” Ruby demanded defensively. “Something really upset her, maybe we can help?” “No, it was nothing,” Marble said softly. “Nothing at all, really.” “You sure?” Ruby pressed, and the earth pony nodded swiftly. “Very sure, just being silly about something stupid,” Marble said. She looked around suddenly, trying to find something else to talk about. “So, do either of you know what kind of trees these are?” “No clue,” Ruby replied reluctantly, still eying Marble like she wanted to push on with the previous topic. She glanced over at Reasoning for support, but the colt had accepted the new subject readily enough and had picked up one of the fallen pods, turning it over with his magic. “I don’t know either, never seen these kind before. Is this thing a fruit you think?” “Looks more like a squash to me,” Marble put in, eager to keep the conversation going the direction it was, away from her crying like a little filly. Just because she was one didn’t make it any better. “Squash from a tree?” Ruby asked. Reasoning’s puzzled expression slowly turned into a smirk as he eyed the pod, and he glanced over at Ruby. “Hey, dare you to eat one,” he said, his magic floating the bright red object before her. “What? No way,” Ruby said, pushing the pod away with a hoof. “Double dare you,” Reasoning pressed. “I am not going to…” Ruby began, but Reasoning kept going. “Double. Diamond. Dog. Dare you,” he said ominously. “Ooooo…” Marble said seriously. “Oh…” Ruby said gravely, hesitantly turning her attention back to the pod. She swallowed drily, and took hold of the thing between her hooves. “Come on, you eat rocks, how bad could this be?” Reasoning reasoned. “Gems, thank you very much!” Ruby said hotly. “Rocks, gems, what’s the difference?” “You’re really going to stand there and say that to me?” Ruby demanded. “Your mom used to be a rock farmer, how do you not know any better?” “Key words, used to be,” Reasoning replied. “And stop stalling.” “Wait, she eats rocks?” Marble asked. “Gems!” Ruby half shouted. “And smart mouthed ponies,” she added in a growl at her cousin. “She’s half dragon,” Reasoning explained. “Uh huh,” Marble replied dubiously. “No, he’s actually telling the truth this time,” Ruby said. “My dad’s a dragon.” “Sure he is,” the earth filly agreed in a tone that plainly stated she didn’t believe a word. “And my dad’s a griffin.” “And my dad was the wildest party my mom ever threw,” Reasoning stated. “Uh, what?” Marble asked, blinking. The colt shrugged. “That’s all she’s ever told me whenever I’ve asked.” “Given some of the stuff Aunt Pinkie does, I wouldn’t be surprised if she meant that laterally,” Ruby added. “Literally,” Reasoning corrected. “No, that would be aunt Twilight,” Ruby replied, earning a frustrated groan from her cousin. “No, not literature, liter…” “I am so lost right now,” Marble interrupted. “…yeah, you know what, never mind,” Reasoning said. “Besides, we have a dare in progress.” “Aw nuts,” Ruby muttered. “Not going to forget that,” the unicorn smirked. “Come on, take a bite. You know, unless you’re scared.” “I’m not scared of anything!” Ruby declared. She turned her attention to the pod, and with a snarl bit off a chunk of the end. “…well, how is it?” Reasoning asked after watching his cousin valiantly try to chew up the mouthful, though her progress quickly slowed before grinding to a halt as her face scrunched up. He got his answer when Ruby darted over to one of the shrubby bushes and spat the offending remains out. “Eww!” a voice shrieked from within the bush, making everypony freeze. Well Reasoning and Marble froze. Ruby suddenly dropped into a crouch, bellowed “Spy!”, and leapt into the bush. There was a startled yelp, the sounds of a scuffle, and a moment later the pegasus reappeared, hauling another filly along with her by virtue of a headlock. “Ow ow owie!” the newcomer protested as Ruby dragged her out into the open. She was an earth pony, with a golden brown coat and amber mane, and was perhaps an inch or two taller than the pony mare-handling her. Not that the extra height seemed to be helping her out in the slightest. “Who do you work for, spy?” Ruby demanded. “Ow, what?” the unlucky filly exclaimed. “Who do you work for?” the pegasus repeated, slower. “Who do you report to?” “Uh, Ruby?” Marble said, but the words fell on deaf ears. “Sparks, what makes you think she’s a spy?” Reasoning asked, stepping forward. He did not however come close enough to risk getting involved in the tussle. “Uh, she was spying on us, hence, she is a spy,” Ruby declared. Then added with scorn. “Duh!” “Well actually…” Marble tried again, with the same lack of results. “Maybe she was just hiding?” Reasoning suggested. “Yeah, right, that’s what she’d like us to think,” Ruby scoffed. “What would she be hiding from?” “Oh I don’t know,” Reasoning said reasonably. “Maybe the psycho dragon pony?” “You’re lucky I have my hooves full right now Pi, or else…” Ruby growled. “I’m not a…” the headlocked filly tried to object, but her captor talked right over her. “Silence! Now talk! Why were you watching us?” The trapped pony hesitated, looking around desperately for a way out. Or at least a clue as to which contradictory command would make the scary pegasus least upset with her. “Because she’s my sister,” Marble supplied in the following silence. Another silence followed the statement. “Are you sure?” Ruby asked skeptically, and Reasoning rolled his eyes. “Yeah, just a bit,” Marble replied drily. “Fire Ruby, meet Honey Wheat. Honey, that’s Fire Ruby. And this is Circular Reasoning.” “How you doing?” Reasoning asked with a wave of greeting. “I’ve been better,” Honey Wheat said earnestly. “Now then, Ruby, would you mind if I requested that you to stop strangling my sister?” Marble asked primly. “How do you know she’s really your sister?” Ruby asked, eying the filly suspiciously. “She could be an imposture!” “Well she does rather look a lot like my sister, who I just saw not half an hour ago when she arrived with me and my parents at camp.” “So? She could be…a…a changeling! She could have snatched your sister, stuck her in a cocoon, and taken her place!” “Seriously? Is she serious?” Honey asked. “Silence changeling spy!” “Oh for the love of Luna,” Reasoning sighed. “Hey, Sparks?” “What?” “Okay, let’s go ahead and just assume she is a changeling, because I really don’t feel like trying to argue the point.” “O…kay?” Ruby replied uncertainly. “Well then, why are you still holding onto her?” Reasoning asked. “Don’t you know changelings can suck the love right out of you?” “No they can’t…can they?” Ruby asked. “Can you do that?” she asked the filly in her hooves. “I…” Honey Wheat paused a moment, and her eyes brightened. “Actually yes, as a matter of fact…” She turned her head around as far as she could in order to look up at Ruby. “Come, look into my eyes, foolish pony.” “Ack!” Ruby yelped, jumping away from the other filly. “Is it always like…this with her?” Marble asked Reasoning as Honey started to stalk after Ruby, taunting her to come closer. “As an uncle of mine would put it, eeyup,” Reasoning replied as he watched his cousin getting chased around the grove, threats of devouring the love for her friends and family following her. “And gems!” Reasoning called out. “Be sure to eat her love of gems, that should be a really tasty emotion!” “Pi, you traitor!” Ruby shrieked as she started hurling pods in order to discourage the potentially emotion eating monster. “Well, I guess we don’t have to worry about camp being boring, do we?” Marble commented. “Nnope,” Reasoning agreed.