Blackest Knight
Chapter 23
Apple Bloom dragged John to a treehouse, and John noticed that Lyra was still following him. They climbed into the wooden structure. John followed the yellow filly inside and was instantly assaulted by two stares.
“Hey Sweetie Belle! Hey Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom did not notice that they were staring at the human. “Ah brought the human that saved Canterlot!”
“Hello, my name is John,” the two fillies looked at each other before the white unicorn with a purple and pink mane stepped forward.
“My name is Sweetie Belle! My sister is Rarity.”
“Ah, I have met her. I thought you looked like her.”
The orange pegasus with a purple mane stepped forward. “I’m Scootaloo!”
John smiled, “It is nice to meet you two.”
“So are you gonna go crusading with us?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I guess so, Apple Bloom invited me and I had nothing else to do.”
The fillies chattered amongst themselves and walked over to a spot marked with a red and white target. “Come over here John!” Scootaloo called.
The fillies and the human flanked the target and John sat down while the fillies discussed their plans for the ‘crusade.’
“We could be Cutie Mark Crusader Firefighters!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“Or Cutie Mark Crusader Movie Producers,” Sweetie Belle offered.
“Ah don’t know, Ah think Ah lost mah imagination.” Apple Bloom looked deep in thought.
“We could be Cutie Mark Crusader House Demolishers, or Bungee Jumpers!” Scootaloo seemed determined to do something dangerous.
Apple Bloom, the voice of reason, remarked, “Ah wouldn’t be surprised if explosions followed either of those.”
Scootaloo kept trying, “How about Cutie Mark Crusader Knights?”
John was amazed that the conversation kept spiraling. Sweetie Belle would offer outlandish ideas while Scootaloo would propose dangerous ones. John had no idea what a manticore was, but he doubted the fillies could fight ten at once. At least Apple Bloom was there to discuss why Sweetie Belle’s ideas were impossible because of monetary means, as well as why Scootaloo’s were too dangerous.
“Ah don’t know how we would be able to run one restaurant, much less a hundred,” Apple Bloom shot down Sweetie’s plan to run a super chain and looked at Scootaloo, “And Ah don’t think anypony’s gonna let us fight Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance at once.”
John looked out the window and saw Lyra’s head disappear behind a tree. She was out of hearing range, so John had an idea that would not only take care of his tail, but not endanger the fillies. He turned to the Crusaders and proposed, “How about Cutie Mark Crusaders Anti-spies?”
The fillies looked at him. “Anti-spies?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yes, you see, Lyra has been following me all day. She doesn’t know that I know, so this would be the perfect chance to get your cutie marks in espionage, as long as you follow what I say.”
The fillies started to grin as they began to understand what he was saying. They looked down at the target. “This is a good thinking spot,” they claimed in unison.
Lyra tried to discern what the human and the fillies were talking about. She couldn’t hear them and couldn’t get closer because the club house was housed within a clearing. John would see her for sure if she tried to get closer, and she had already had several close calls earlier that day.
She ducked back behind the tree as John and the fillies came out of the club house. She followed as they began the walk into town. Lyra was making notes on how the human walked, talked, moved, and spoke. Each individual action was dutifully marked down in her little notebook in excessive detail that would have impressed Twilight.
They made their way along the road, flanked by apple trees on either side. Lyra looked down to jot down how a slight breeze caught John’s hair and it swayed ever so slightly. When she looked back at the group, however, the human was gone. The fillies were chatting amongst themselves, continuing down the road.
Lyra looked around, but John was nowhere in sight. She was afraid that he had run off, but the fillies acted as though he were never there to begin with. With no other option, Lyra continued to follow the fillies, hoping John would return, or she would get a clue about where he had gone.
As the fillies made their way towards town, Lyra worked herself closer to hear their conversation. All they talked about was school work and the coming weekend as they reached the town. She looked down quickly to note the continued disappearance of John and looked back to reveal only the white and orange fillies. Lyra looked around frantically for the yellow filly. The others acted as if nothing was amiss. Lyra continued to follow them. She was beginning to become freaked out about the sudden disappearances.
The fillies continued to chat as they walked into town. Lyra vowed not to let them out of her sight, keeping the notebook held in her magic. They were walking straight down the street while her eyes were glued to them. They turned a corner and Lyra soon followed them. Only the white unicorn filly was walking down the street.
Lyra followed the filly, she kept taking sharp turns, but Lyra was right behind her. Lyra’s sight never left the filly until she heard a sharp whistle behind her. The sound disturbed her and she snapped around to see a bird go flying. Lyra snapped back around to see that the white filly had disappeared as well.
Lyra began running through the town, not even trying to hide anymore. She tried to catch sight of any of the fillies or John. As she was running through an intersection, she caught sight of the white unicorn filly rounding a corner to her left. She quickly turned and skidded around the corner the filly had taken.
The filly was gone, but the orange filly was at the farther down the road, taking another corner. Lyra dashed to follow the filly, but the new street held only a glimpse of the yellow filly disappearing around another corner. Lyra sprinted after the filly.
As Lyra rounded the corner, she was greeted with the sight of all three fillies sitting in the center of the town. They had their backs to her, chatting amongst themselves. Lyra hesitated before cautiously approaching the group.
Lyra heard the yellow filly speaking, “She wrote down a bunch of notes about John.”
“She even dotted all the i’s with hearts,” the orange pegasus commented.
“How did you even get the notebook, Apple Bloom?” The white unicorn asked.
The yellow filly answered, “After Scootaloo ducked behind the trash can, she followed you and the notebook was held behind her.”
The orange pegasus continued, “I grabbed it out of her magic as she passed me.”
The filly Lyra guessed was Apple Bloom laughed, “Ya’ll should have seen her face when Sweetie Belle disappeared.”
The fillies laughed and Lyra was beginning to get the feeling they were talking about her.
The filly Lyra presumed was Scootaloo spoke, “I would have thought she had noticed John standing behind her by now.”
Lyra turned around and was greeted with the chest of the human. She paled and shrieked. John chuckled and put a hand on her shoulder.
“You aren’t very perceptive, are you?”
Lyra looked up at John. “How long have you been there?”
“I’ve been following you since you since I split off from the fillies.”
She blushed, she had not noticed. “I … You …”
John laughed and the fillies walked over to them. “Once each of us split off, we got to where we could lure you here,” Apple Bloom said.
“I’m surprised Sweetie Belle didn’t give us away with her awful hiding spot behind a lamp post,” Scootaloo chuckled.
The filly that must be Sweetie Belle scoffed, “At least I didn’t hide behind a trash can.”
The fillies laughed, and John joined in. Lyra blushed. Then, the fillies suddenly looked back at their flanks and, seeing they were still blank, groaned.
“Do not fret young ones,” John said, “At least you all learned the importance of perception. Maybe sometime I will teach you camouflage.”
The fillies cheered at the promise and rushed to hug the human, who chuckled.