Chapter 21
The sun pierced through the windows of Big Mac’s room telling him it was time to wake up. He stretched his body eliciting a few cracks her and there. Yawning he stepped out of his room to start the first thing on his list of things to do. Knowing that AJ probably needed help waking up again after his time in Canterlot, Big Mac decided to start with him. After knocking on the door he cracked it open and poked his head in. “Time ta wake up.” The lump in the sheets rolled around and grumbled something incoherent. “What was that?” Big Mac asked with a smile.
AJ lifted his body up and glared at the red blob in the door with bloodshot eyes. He was about to repeat himself, but stopped. Now that Big Mac was bigger than him it probably wasn’t the best idea to mouth off to him. So he decided to use nicer words from his vocabulary. “I said you suck, let me sleep.”
Big Mac chuckled. “Sorry, can’t do that. You have ta wake up just like th’ rest of us.” He left the room to continue his duties.
AJ sat there in bed for a minute attempting to wake up. He blinked his eyes over and over in a vain attempt to get them to focus. “Why can’t I see?” Then he realized he wasn’t wearing his glasses yet. He glanced over to the night stand where his glasses usually sat. He was already half blind without his glasses, and that was intensified ten fold due to how tired he was. He couldn’t see anything. “Where the hell are they?” He stuck his hoof out and started feeling around the table in search of his glasses.
Everything seemed so much easier once he was able to see. Getting himself out of bed he stretched his limbs with a big yawn. Using his magic he opened the curtains letting more sun through, brightening the room considerably. Shaking the remaining cobwebs from his head he turned to leave the room. He stopped dead in his tracks when he got about two meters from the door. Something had caught his eye.
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Applejack jumped out of bed when she heard a blood curdling scream. She rushed into the hallway to see Big Mac already at AJ’s door. “What’s goin’ on?!” she asked, brushing some of her hair out of her eyes. She hadn’t had the time to get her hair ties in yet.
“No idea, but Ah plan on findin’ out!” Big Mac bucked the door open and rushed into the room with Applejack on his tail. There they saw AJ cowering on top of the dresser holding his knife’s scabbard in his magic. The knife itself was imbedded in the floor a little ways in front of them. “What in tarnation’s goin’ on…”
“STOP!! Don’t come any closer!” AJ lowered his voice to that of a whisper. “It will see you.” AJ launched the scabbard at the floor. It harmlessly bounced and skidded across the floor. “NO!! Now what am I going to do?!”
“What’re ya talkin’ about? What will see us?” Applejack asked in a slightly annoyed tone. It was too early to deal with something like this.
“That!” AJ pointed his shaky hoof at the floor near his knife.
Big Mac and Applejack scanned the floor for a few seconds before they saw what AJ was pointing at. On the floor, about a foot away from the knife sat a small spider, no bigger than a pencil eraser. Applejack stared at the shivering pony with a deadpan look. “That’s what all th’ fuss is about?”
“Yes!”
“It’s tiny.”
“IT WILL KILL US ALL!!!”
Applejack facehoofed. “What th’ hay’s with all th’ shoutin’?” came a voice from the door. Applejack and Big Mac turned to see Apple Bloom standing in the doorway rubbing her eyes.
Applejack let out a sigh. “Mr. Scardy Pony here’s scared of a tiny little spider.”
“THEY WILL TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!!” Apple Bloom walked over to the spider and looked at it. “Don’t get too close Apple Bloom. It’s just lying in wait for somepony to…”
He was interrupted as Apple Bloom lifted her leg and stomped down, squashing the spider. “There, it’s dead. Can Ah go back ta bed now?”
“Go right ahead. Try not ta sleep too late though,” Applejack said with a smile. Spike was still probably asleep in Apple Bloom’s bed and Applejack wanted to let her get back to him.
As Apple Bloom started to turn she was quickly swept up by AJ in a bone crushing hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re my hero!” After a little bit Apple Bloom was able to pry herself away from the hug and work her way back to her bedroom.
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“Watch out sugarcube, don’t want any spiders ta sneak up on ya,” Applejack said with a laugh. She and AJ were on their way to go sell apples. Applejack was pulling the stand, while AJ carried the still drowsy Spike on his back.
“Ha ha, hilarious,” AJ growled back.
“What’s so bad about spiders anyway?” Spike asked, ending his sentence with a yawn.
AJ sighed. “I don’t know. They’re just creepy, crawly, disgusting, revolting, abominations on man and pony kind...and I just don’t much care for them.”
“Ain’t that a bit much? They’re just bugs right?” Applejack asked.
“Arachnids, actually,” AJ stated, earning him a deadpan glance from Applejack. “Anyway, I wasn’t always so afraid of them. Hell I actually liked them when I was a kid.”
“How does one go from likin’ somethin’ ta nearly pissin’ himself at th’ mere sight of it?”
AJ shook his head. “Not entirely sure how it got to that point, but I think the biggest contributing factor was when I was a kid every now and then I would have this one dream.”
“A dream sounds really good right about now,” Spike commented. “It would mean I’d still be asleep.”
Applejack chuckled at Spike. “What kinda dream would do that?”
“It was always the same dream every time. I would be running down this gravel path with tall grass on both sides. Behind me there was this giant spider, easily ten times my size, chasing me. Why, I don’t know. No matter what I did it always knew where I was. I tried to hide in the grass, I tried running down side paths, nothing. In the distance I could always see my house, my one bit of safe haven, but it would never get any closer. I don’t remember any of them ever ending, if they even had an end. I would always wake up before anything could be resolved. Never put any thought into what they might mean. I always just figured it to be just another dream.”
Applejack thought to herself for a bit. “Ah’m not really inta th’ whole psychologimihuzits stuff. So Ah really can’t help ya there.”
“Don’t bother. I’m sure it’s nothing,” AJ said with a smile.
They continued down the path, making idle conversation until they came across the usual spot. “Alright. You go drop Spike off at th’ library while Ah set up th’ stand. Come back when yer done.”
AJ saluted Applejack. “Righty-o boss.”
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AJ knocked on the door to the library. Hoofsteps could be heard on the other side of the door. Twilight opened the door with a smile. That smile quickly turned to a scowl once she saw Spike. “Morning Twilight. Just here to drop off Spike. Something wrong?”
“Good morning.” Twilight grabbed Spike by one of the fins on the side of his head and dragged him over to her before glaring at him. “Oh, you are SO grounded.”
“Ouch, what did I do?! I kept the library clean. I didn’t stay up all night eating gem stones, I didn’t…” Spike stopped dead when Twilight levitated a DVD case in front of him. The blood drained from his face. “Oh shit…”
“SPIKE!!” A zipper formed on Spikes lips and zipped shut.
AJ grabbed the DVD case in his own magic. “Plot pounders 10? What kinda movie is that?”
“The kind baby dragons get grounded for watching,” Twilight said grabbing the case and throwing it away.
Spike unzipped the zipper. “Twilight, I can explain everything. You see, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and I had a sleep over, and Scootaloo brought over some movies and…”
Twilight re-zipped Spikes mouth. “I can’t believe you’re going to blame Scootaloo for this. You are in so much trouble. How could you bring such trash into the library.” Twilight slammed the door.
AJ just sat there for a minute listening to them argue trying to figure out what had just happened. Somewhere in there AJ heard Spike shout something about Twilight’s personal book stash, and ‘secret’ box hidden under Twilight’s bed. At that point he figured it was best to leave the two of them be and walked back to the stand.
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“So Big Mac’s not going to be home for dinner?” AJ asked. He and Applejack were on the way back to the farm.
It was a good day for sales so Applejack was in a good mood. “Nope. His meetin’ with th’ Mayor’s going ta take a while longer yet. An’ with Apple Bloom spendin’ th’ day at Rarity’s we got th’ house ta ourselves. More pie fer the two of us.”
“Dinner’s sounding pretty good right about now,” AJ said as he felt his stomach growl a little bit.
“Hold yer horses sugarcube. We gotta pack up th’ stand first.”
AJ put on a fake pout. “Ugh, fine. Slave driver,” he said with a smile. He and Applejack laughed as they came up on the farm. “Oh by the way, have you ever heard of a movie called Plot Pounders 10?” Applejack stumbled and nearly fell on her face. AJ looked over to see that she was blushing. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was agape. “What?”
Applejack took a few seconds to get her bearings. “I-uh, umm, why’d ya ask?” Applejack had a big, sheepish smile on her face.
“Well, when I brought Spike back to the library Twilight grounded him for apparently watching the movie.”
Applejack looked shocked again. “Twilight had a movie like that in th’ library?”
AJ shrugged. “Apparently. Though Spike did say something about Scoot’s bringing it over or something like that. She threw the movie away after she confronted Spike with it.” They stood there for a few seconds. “Sooo?”
“So what?”
“Are you going to tell me what the movie is?”
Applejack began to blush again as she let out a sigh. “Well, it’s a…”
“AHH!!!”
AJ and Applejack both looked at the farm house. “What was that?!”
“That sounded like Rainbow!”
AJ looked at Applejack. “I thought you said she was in Appleloosa right now!”
“Guess Ah was wrong, come on!” Applejack quickly unhitched herself and bolted into the farmhouse. AJ quickly followed behind her. They heard more screaming coming from upstairs and followed it to one of the rooms.
“She’s in here!”
Applejack bucked the door down and the two of them rushed in the room. “Rainbow, we’re here ta OH SWEET CELESTIA!!!”
In front of them on the bed sat Rainbow Dash and Braeburn. Both of them had wide eyes, mouths agape, and their faces were burning with embarrassment as they lay there, connected at the hips. Applejack and AJ had just barged in on the two mid-rut. “Oh, wow. This is awkward,” AJ said as he tried to look anywhere but the scene unfolding before him.
As quickly as she could, Rainbow pulled off of Braeburn and covered them both with the blanket. “Uhhh hey guys heheh. How uh, how are you this fine evening?”
Blushing like mad, Applejack turned away. “S-sorry, we’ll just…”
“Hey wait a minute.” AJ interrupted. “This is my room! Aw come on, now I have to wash those sheets!”
Applejack smacked him in the back of the head and glared at him. “Shush you!” She quickly exited the room. After he finished rubbing his head AJ followed behind her; lifting the door back into the jam to be fixed later.
Rainbow and Braeburn just laid there in the bed for a minute just staring at the door. After a while Braeburn turned to Rainbow. “So uh, you didn’t wanna continue, did ya?”
“Not really, no.”
“Good, neither did Ah.”
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The two ponies apprehensively came down stairs about a half an hour later. Before coming down they both made sure to take showers to wash any hints of the deeds they had just done. As they passed the kitchen a delightful aroma filled their nostrils. They turned into the kitchen and stopped dead when they saw Applejack and AJ getting ready for dinner. AJ was the first to notice the two of them as he brought some plates over to the table. “Hey, pull up a chair. Plenty of food to go around.”
“Umm, sure,” Rainbow sheepishly said; slowly making her way to the table and sitting down. She kept her eyes on the indigo pony walking around the room. “So who’s the new pony anyway?”
Applejack looked over and smiled. “That’s right. Ya weren’t at th’ party last night so ya wouldn’t know.”
“Know what?”
“That’s AJ.”
Rainbow just stared at Applejack for a moment before busting out laughing. “Hahahaha, good one Applejack, but seriously, who is he?”
“No seriously, it’s me. What, I haven’t changed that much have I?” AJ asked jokingly as he looked at himself.
Dash’s eyes widened in shock. “What?! How is that even possible?!”
“Don’t ask.”
It was about then that Applejack noticed that Braeburn was still in the other room. He sat there shuffling his hooves from side to side. “Aint’cha hungry Braeburn?” Applejack asked as she turned her head from the oven.
He refused to look Applejack in the eyes. He was just too embarrassed. “Ah…Ah think Ah’ll just stay out here.”
Applejack sighed. “Braeburn, what happened up there was embarrassin’, but ya can’t let it get ta ya. Me an’ Big McIntosh don’t let embarrassin’ things stop us. We just shake’em off and go on with th’ day.”
“Things like what?” AJ asked.
Applejack felt he face heat up. “Um, well, ya know…things.”
“They’ve probably walked in on each other clopping or something like that,” Rainbow said completely straight faced. Applejacks reaction told her she was right. Braeburn had his hoof to his mouth trying to hold in his laughter. He made his way into the kitchen at last.
AJ looked confused. “Clopping?”
“You know, masturbating.” AJ mouthed an ‘oh.’
Applejack facehooved. “So Braeburn, what’re ya doin in Ponyville?”
Braeburn smiled. “Ah figured Ah should come ta visit y’all more often. With Rainbow goin’ home it gave me a good reason ta come.”
Applejack nodded. “Makes sense.” She placed the last of the food on the table. “Soup’s on eveypony, dig in!”
“By the way Applejack, you never did tell me what that movie was,” AJ said as he served himself some pie.
Applejack groaned. “Can’t we just drop it?”
“What movie?” Rainbow asked.
“Plot Pounders 10.”
“Oh, it’s a porno.”
“An’ just how do ya know that?” Braeburn asked with a grin.
“I needed some way to get off before we got together,” Rainbow said with a smug grin.
“Hot,” AJ jokingly said with a laugh.
“OKAY, THAT’S IT!!! NO MORE TALKIN’ DURIN' DINNER!!! EVERYPONY JUST SHUT UP AN’ EAT!!!” Applejack shouted.
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Big Mac finally walked through the door with Apple Bloom following behind him at around seven. Apple Bloom immediately ran up to her room to play as Big Mac went into the living room. There he found AJ passed out on the couch, snoring loudly, with his left hind leg twitching in the air as he dreamed. “He passed out shortly after dinner.” Big Mac turned his head to see Applejack motioning for him to go into the kitchen with her. Entering the kitchen; Big Mac sat down in a chair. “You hungry?”
“Eeyup.” Big Mac looked into the living room. “Not that Ah mind, but what’s he doin’ sleepin’ on th’ couch?”
“He let Braeburn use his bed while he’s in town.”
Big Mac raised his eyebrow. “Braeburn’s here?”
“He’s out in th’ barn practicin’ fer th' Appleloosa Rodeo right now,” Applejack said as she motioned out the window. “So how’d th’ meetin’ with th’ Mayor go?”
“Not too bad,” Big Mac said as he lowered his head slightly. “Taxes’re goin’ ta be raised slightly. Nothin’ we won’t be able ta handle though.”
“Is it goin’ ta be a permanent increase?” Applejack asked as she placed some of the leftovers on the table.
“Nnope. Just till th’ end of th’ year. Mayor Mare had th’ idea ta help build up th’ emergency reserves incase Ponyville has anymore incidents.” Big Mac smiled at his sister. “Thank ya kindly.”
“Mah pleasure,” Applejack said with a smile. She sat down with a mug of hard cider as Big Mac began to eat.
As he ate, Big Mac noticed that Applejack’s smile was slowly but surly turning into a sad frown. She gave a sad sigh as she took a swig of her drink. “Somethin’ wrong?”
Applejack was silent for a moment. “Do you think we’ll ever lose th’ farm?” Big Mac raised an eyebrow and looked at her; silently begging her to continue. “What if…what if th’ farm get’s destroyed again, an’ we can’t rebuild? Or what if we die like mom an’ dad an’ there’s nopony to pass on our genes? There’d be nopony ta take care of th’ farm when we’re gone! Or…”
Applejack was cut off as Big Mac wrapped her in a hug. “Ah know ya worry ‘bout th’ farm Applejack. Ah do too; all th’ time, but ya can’t keep dwellin’ on that kinda thing. If th’ farm gets destroyed, we’ll rebuild and replant if need be. Us Apples’re strong. We can fight through anything if we try.” He got a mischievous grin on his face. “An’ it’s kinda funny ta hear mah fillyfoolin’ sister talk about passin’er genes on.”
Applejack giggled. She knew Big Mac was just joking around. He always did, and he never meant any harm. Big Mac had made it very clear from early on that he would have been proud of both Applejack and Apple Bloom no matter what choices they made. “Thank’s Big McIntosh. Ah guess ah am bein’ a little foalish, aint ah?” Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, what about you? Do ya have a special somepony yet?”
Big Mac was happy for his crimson coat. “W-well ah have found somepony ah like, but ah don’t know if she likes me back.”
“Ah’m sure Fluttershy’ll say yes if ya just ask’er.”
Big Mac’s eyes widened as a noticeable blush started to show through. “H-how do…”
“Mare’s intuition,” Applejack said with a laugh. “Ah’ve seen how ya look an’ act around’er when she visit’s. It’s not hard ta put two an’ two together.”
Big Mac smiled. “An’ Ah thought Ah hid it so well.” He sat back down to finish his dinner.
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“So I actually get to buck today?” AJ asked with a hint of excitement in his voice.
“Eeyup. Ah think yer finally ready ta help us harvest now,” Big Mac said.
“And by finally ready you mean now that I’m a pony, right?” AJ asked with a smirk.
Big Mac chuckled. “Eeyup.”
“Thought so.” With a smile AJ walked up to the tree they were standing in front of. “Alright, let’s do this.”
“Don’t get too exited now. It’s not as easy as it looks. It takes practice ta be a proper apple bucker.” Big Mac watched as AJ eyed up the tree and turn around. “Don’t be discouraged if ya don’t knock them all down on th’ first kick.”
“Please, I watched you and Applejack do this tons of times. I think I can handle it,” AJ confidently said.
“Oh really? Alright then, let’s see how ya do.”
Making sure he was lined up with the tree, AJ planted his front hooves. He reared up and thrust his hind legs out at the tree. Upon connecting with the tree only one thought that ran through his mind. There was only one thing that could describe this incredible sensation what he was feeling. “AAAAHHHH!!!” AJ fell to the ground, and began rolling around in pain. After kicking the solid tree it felt like he had just shattered the bones in his legs. To add insult to injury the apples he actually managed to knock down ended up falling on top of him. He was too busy writhing around to even notice Big Mac laughing.
After a minute AJ was finally done making a scene, and Big Mac was able to regain his composure. “So, are ya ready ta listen now?”
AJ got up and shook out his legs as he glared at the bigger stallion. He was about to throw a 'witty retort' at him when suddenly, “AJ, Ah gotta new job fer ya.” He turned to see Applejack and a bouncing Apple Bloom. “Yer goin’ ta babysit th’ Cutie Mark Crusaders t'day.”
“It’s not babysittin’ Applejack. He’s goin’ ta become an official member of th’ Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Apple Bloom said with extreme glee.
“I’m going to be a what now?”
“Well, Ah figured that since ya don’t have a cutie mark yet, we could help ya find it while ya help us find ours! Ah ran it by th’ girls yesterday and they agreed. Come on, we have ta hurry ta Carousel Boutique!” Apple Bloom quickly ran down the path.
AJ turned to Applejack. “I don’t get a choice in this, do I?”
Applejack shook her head. “Think of it as an extra job ya have ta do sometimes. You watch over’em fer us an’ make sure they ain’t gettin’ inta too much trouble. You'll still get paid fer a full day’s work.”
AJ sighed. “Guess I should probably get over to Rarity’s then. I’ll see you later.”
AJ started to follow Apple Bloom down the path only to see her running back. “Hurry up ya slow poke! We still have ta initiate ya as a crusader!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” AJ increased his pace to a gallop to follow Apple Bloom.
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“Now just where is Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked. She, Sweetie Belle, and AJ were waiting under the tree next to the boutique.
“I don’t know. She said she would be here a half an hour ago,” Sweetie Belle said. “Maybe we should go get her.”
“Let’s give her a little bit yet. Maybe she had to do some chores or something before coming. Happened to my friends all the time,” AJ said matter of factly.
Apple Bloom put a hoof to her chin. “Ah don’t know. She usually finds some way ta skip out on’er chores if she can. Maybe she got sick or somethin’.”
“If that’s the case we should probably go see how she’s doing.” AJ stood up. As he did he felt something drop onto his back near his withers. “What was that?”
“Eww, it’s a spider!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.
AJ tensed up as the blood drained from his face. “Spider?” He slowly turned his head to see a big spider slowly moving along his body.
The two little fillies watched as AJ stared at it with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. He was shaking uncontrollably. “Um AJ, are ya okay?” Apple Bloom asked.
“SPIIIIIDEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!” Like a bolt of lightning AJ was gone. He was running around the area like a bat out of hell, screaming his head off, trying to get the spider off his back.
“What in Celestia’s name is going on out here?!” shouted Rarity as she opened the door of the boutique. All the commotion had interrupted her creative flow and she couldn’t have that. “What is with all the screaming and hollering?!” It didn’t take long for Rarity to get an answer as she saw AJ blindly running straight at her. Screaming she dove for cover and slammed the door; only for AJ to run straight into it head first. When Rarity opened her eyes she saw many long, snakelike cracks in the door leading to an indigo horn sticking through it.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were about to rush over to help AJ when they heard something up in the tree. “Is that…laughing?” Sweetie Belle asked. The two fillies looked up to see something squirming around in the branches of the tree. The object suddenly shifted and fell off the branch it was perched upon; landing on the ground with a thud. “Scootaloo?!”
Squirming on the ground in both hysterical laughter and pain from the fall was Scootaloo. “HAHAHAHAHAHAH! THAT’S HILARIOUS! OW MY RI-HI-HI-HIBS!”
Rarity, who had rushed out the back door of the boutique, came up behind the stunned AJ. His horn was still embedded in the door. “What in Celestia’s name were you doing?! You ruined my door!”
“Sph…spider…evil…dooooooomed…” AJ managed to garble out before unceremoniously falling limp as unconsciousness took him.
“Spider?” Rarity looked over to see a spider lying next to AJ. Using her magic she apprehensively lifted the spider up to examine it. It didn’t take her long to notice that it was made out of plastic and had a thin, nearly un-seeable thread tied around it. “This is fake.”
“A fake spider?” Apple Bloom put two and two together. “Scootaloo, did you do this?!” Scootaoo was still laughing as she got to her hooves. “That wasn’t very nice Scootaloo! Ya know he’s terrified of’em!” Unfortunately for AJ, Apple Bloom had told her fellow crusaders about AJ’s little incident the previous morning.
“Aw lighten up Apple Bloom. It was funny.” Scootaloo fell to her rump as she began laughing again. She stopped when she noticed it get a lot darker. Opening her eyes she saw an angry Rarity holding the spider standing in front of her. “Uh oh.”
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“Thank you for coming over on such short notice Fluttershy. He’s right over there on the couch,” Rarity said as she led Fluttershy into her living room.
“Oh, it’s no problem at all Rarity,” Fluttershy said with a smile. Fluttershy walked over to the couch and removed the ice pack to inspect AJ’s head. “Oh my, how did this happen?”
Rarity gave a ladylike snort and looked over to the corner. “Yes Scootaloo, how did this happen?” In the corner Scootaloo was sitting on a stool with her forelegs crossed and a scowl on her face. Rarity made her sit in the corner and wear a stylish fuchsia dunce cap for what she had done. She grumbled something nopony could hear. “What was that dear?”
Scootaloo groaned. “I pranked AJ and he got hurt because of it.”
“Oh dear, you shouldn’t do that Scootaloo. What if he was severely injured?” said Fluttershy.
“So head trauma and brain damage isn’t severe?” AJ moaned out as he lay limp on the couch. He was still dazed from his intimate encounter with a door.
“Darling I’m sure you’re fine. It's just a…little bump,” Rarity said with a sheepish smile.
“I don’t know, it looks pretty big to…” Sweetie Belle was interrupted as Rarity stuck a hoof in her mouth.
“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “You might want to take it easy for a bit though.”
“So we won’t be able ta do any crusadin’ t'day?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I’m afraid not Apple Bloom,” Rarity said; the relief clear in her voice. "It will just have to wait till tomorrow.”
“We can still make him an official member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders though, right?” Sweetie Belle asked with hope.
Fluttershy gave her a warm smile. “I don’t see why not.”
With glee Sweetie Belle rushed into her room and returned carrying a folded cloth. She placed it on the floor in front of her and Apple Bloom. “Alright now, repeat after me. Ah solemnly swear…” Instead of repeating what Apple Bloom said AJ just groaned. “Aw come on, you have ta repeat after me. It don’t count unless ya do.”
“Now Apple Bloom remember, he’s had a rough day,” said Rarity. “I’m sure he’d repeat what you said if he wasn’t feeling so crummy. Isn’t that right AJ.”
“Mmhm.”
Apple Bloom started pouting. “Ah guess its fine. Just nod if ya agree then. Alright let’s try this again. Ah solemnly swear…That Ah will work hard ta help mah fellow crusaders find their cutie marks. And if Ah find mah own cutie mark…Ah promise that Ah will continue mah quest an’ help mah fellow crusaders find their own.” AJ nodded after each break. “Then it’s official! Welcome ta th’ Cutie Mark Crusaders!”
“To commemorate this, I made you a matching cape!” With unsteady magic, Sweetie Belle lifted up the cloth and unfolded it. It looked like the other crusader capes, but bigger. There was also one more very big difference. “I asked Rarity if I could use more of her golden silk but she said no.”
“And I’m very proud of you Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said with a big smile. “You remembered to ask before you used it this time.”
Sweetie Belle’s smile grew. “Since I couldn’t use the gold silk, I had to find some other fabric to line it with!” She turned the cape around to show the inside of the cape. The lining was a turquoise color fabric. It looked to be extremely soft and practically glowed in the light. “I think it still looks nice.”
When Rarity saw the material Sweetie Belle used she shrieked and ran down stairs. “SWEETIE BEEEEEEELLE!!!!!!!” She came stomping back upstairs holding a piece of turquoise fabric with a big hole cut in it. Her eye was twitching as she stomped closer to Sweetie. “How could you use this fabric?! Do you realize how hard it is to get a hold of it?!”
“Umm, no?”
“You can’t get this in Equestria. It must be special ordered and shipped over from the Griffin kingdom!” Rarity started pacing around in anger.
“Ah think we should get goin’, right Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom said as she started backing out of the room.
“Oh yeah.” Scootaloo was more than happy to remove the cap and get off of the stool. “We’ll see you later Sweetie Belle.” The two fillies ran down the stairs and out of the building.
“Wait! Don’t leave me here alone!” Sweetie cried out. She looked over to Rarity who was glaring down at her. She started shuffling her hooves on the floor. “I’m sorry Rarity.”
Rarity let out a frustrated sigh. “I know you are Sweetie Belle, but I have to do this. You’re grounded for the rest of the day.”
“Okay.” Sweetie Belle slowly made her way into her bedroom and closed the door.
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“Looks like yer first day as a crusader went about as well as Ah expected,” Applejack said with a laugh.
Before Fluttershy had left the boutique she had wrapped the top of AJ’s head in bandages. When Applejack saw him coming down the path with a wrapped up head and a cape lazily draped over his back she knew something had happened. The sad thing was she almost expected something like this to happen so she wasn’t really surprised. “Yea about that, how much do you think a new door for the boutique would cost.”
“Why do ya ask?”
“No reason.” AJ walked past Applejack.
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((I think I may secretly have something against doors. Why else would I abuse them so much in this chapter. As for the spider stuff, I fucking HATE Spiders. HATE, HATE, HAAAAATE spiders. I have actually used the ‘take over the world’ and ‘kill us all’ lines when describing spiders. And that dream is an actual dream I used to have when I was younger.
My little pony © Hasbro
Friendship is magic © Lauren Faust))