//------------------------------// // Crusaders unite! Part 1 // Story: feral power // by The oracle //------------------------------// As sweetie belle woke up, she gave a lazy yawn and stretched her hooves. When she jumped off the bed, she heard a crunch as she landed on a piece of glass. She remembered last nights activities and thought ' So last night wasn't a dream. If it wasn't a dream, what type of magic did I use? You know what, it is way to early to be thinking about stuff like this.' As she shambled down the hallway, she tripped on the rug right before the stairway, and started to fall down it. When she reached the bottom, she landed on her face and gave a groan of pain. She heard hooves on the tile, and Rarity asking " Are you alright Sweetie?" Sweetie said in a low groaning tone " Face hurts. I am going to rip that rug apart fiber by fiber, and laugh evilly while doing so. It shall be glorious." Rarity gave a chuckle, picked her off the floor and then commenced set her in a chair. She saw golden scrambled eggs, perfectly browned toast, and perfectly cut orange slices. As she raised a forkful of eggs, the heat and the taste woke her up.she quickly started to devour the food in front of her After several minutes in silence, she ran about, gathering her saddlebag and lunch. As she started to sprint out the door,Rarity called out with a worried expression " Sweetie, you know that if anything is wrong, anything at all, you can tell me right?" " I know. I'll see you later sis," and with that, she ran out the door. As she ran out onto the dirt road, she caught sight of Apple bloom sitting on a fence right outside the school house. " Hey Apple bloom!" Apple bloom Turned her head, and hopped off the fence. " Hey Sweetie. Hey, have you seen Scootaloo?" Just as Sweetie was about to reply, a blur of orange whizzed by. Scootaloo swerved to a stop, and took off her helmet, her hair falling down around her neck. Frowning, she shook her hair, returning it to its spiky state. " Hey girls. What's up?" Applebloom replied " Hey scoots. Now remember girls, we're meeting in the clubhouse after school to see what kind of cutie marks we an try for." "Blank flanks like you shouldn't deserve to have a treehouse. Only normal fillies should have them." Scootaloo sighed at the regrettably familiar voice, and turned towards the culprit. " Hello Diamond. Did you need to fill a bully quota for the day or something?" She then looked to her sides, and didn't see her usual henchmare. " Hey, where's Silver Spoon?" Diamond grinned " Oh, silver? She's around." Just then, Sweetie head scootaloo fall to the ground, with a smirking Silver Spoon walking backing towards a laughing Diamond. AppleBloom angrily Yelled " What the hay was that for!?" Sweetie Bell growled at the bullies, and she felt her anger return at not being able to defend her friends. The cold feeling returned, but this time there were voices that went along with it. ' Summon us, and we will make your problems go away. 'Suddenly, one voice in particular stood out from the rest.'Use us, and we will rip those two into shreds!' After hearing this, the others went silent for a second, but quickly returned, agreeing with it, and saying similar things. Just as she was about to give in, Scootaloo picked herself up, got on her scooter, and said " Come on girls, lets go." As they walked away from the laughing bullies, scootaloo gave an angry groan. " I wish somebody would put them in their place." Apple bloom gave a sly grin, and said " I bet you wish a certain dragon would help you, huh?" Scootaloo blushed heavily and stammered " Me and spike are just friends. Besides," she asked almost sadly " doesn't he have a crush on Rarity?" Sweetie bell decided to put in her two bits and said " Yeah, but I bet if some pony by the name of Scootaloo were to show him that she doesn't return his feelings, he would be very grateful, maybe crush grateful?" Just as Scootaloo was about to reply, they heard the school bell which meant they only had a few minutes before school started. " Drat!" Apple bloom spat. " When school is over Scoots, we are continuing this conversation." As they ran, Sweetie bell heard that voice once more. 'You may have refused to summon us this time, but make no mistake. One day, you will use us, and on that day, you will bow to the queen of the everfree.' As they sat down in their desks, mrs cherilee marked their names on the roll call. She smiled and said" Hello class." The class droned back " Hello ms cheerlie." She gave a maternal smile, and announced " Since today is national safety day, we will be learning about the everfree forest." The class started to whisper about rumors they had heard. " I heard that hydras shoot lasers out of their eyes! I also heard from my sister that there is some kind of monster that lives in the everfree that looks like a pony." Ms Cheerilee cleared her throat and said " Class." With the colts and fillies ignoring her, she tried again a little louder. " CLASS." she still got no reaction. Finally, she yelled angrily " CLASS! The little children turned around to face their red faced teacher. As she calmed down, she cleared her throat and continued. " First we will be learning about manticores." As she droned on, Sweetie bell laid her head on her desk. ' This is going to be a long day.' ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the school bell realesed the colts and fillies for reccess, Sweetie ran out with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, intending to play on the swings. As they talked idly about plans to get cutie marks, they noticed that Diamond tiara was talking to Dinky, and that Dinky was crying. They looked at each other, jumped off the swings and rushed towards the scene. As they got closer, they could hear Diamond saying"... At least I'm not the daughter of a RETARD!" Dinky, after hearing that, broke down in sobs. As they were about say something, Rumble jumped into the fray. " Hey, leave dinky alone!" He shouted while hugging Dinky. " He then started to murmur " Hey, it's going to be alright. I'm here." Diamond gave a groan, and said " Why do you stick around her? She's the daughter of a retard and yet, you insist on being her colt friend. Why have her when you could have me?" Diamond then threw her head back, and tried to half lid her eyes, failing miserably. He looked at her and sneered. " I would rather be the colt friend of some pony who's mother you call a retard, than the daughter of a spoiled brat." After hearing,that diamond let loose a scream, and lunged at Rumble. As he tried to push her off, her hit her face as she was clawing at his stomach. Apple bloom tried to pull them apart, but when Diamond's hoof hit her face, she jumped at her. Scootaloo ran to get ms Cheerilee, and Sweetie went with her. When they reached her, she looked at them and asked with a sigh," Let me guess, Diamond Tiara is picking on some pony again." Sweetie almost yelled " And she's fighting with Rumble and Apple bloom!" As Cheerilee rushed out to the schoolyard, she saw that the other students had formed a ring and were shouting " Fight! Fight! Fight!" Cheerilee broke through the ring, and pulled them apart! " Stop this instant!" As she looked at each of them, she saw that rumble had several lumps over his eye, and that diamond had some cuts on her lip. When she looked at Apple bloom, she wasn't surprised to see that she only had one or two bruises on her legs and face. She turned to the three offenders and yelled"You are all serving detention today and tomorrow and will have to tell your parents exactly why that is. Now, go inside while I write your detention slips." As they slinked inside, Applebloom went over to Dinky, and gave her a quick hug. She then trotted inside the school house, sneering at Diamond all the while. -------------------------------------- As the school bell rang, letting the colts and fillies free, they gave loud screams of joy. As Sweetie and Scootaloo walked out, Cheerilee called out to he pair of friends " Don't bother waiting up for Applebloom. She is going to be here a while." Sweetie turned to her friend and said " So, what do you want to do today?" Scootaloo pondered this and said with excitement " Let's meet whoever your seeing in the everfree!" Sweetie stuttered and said " What makes you think I'm meeting anyone in there!" Scootaloo rolled her eyes and said " Come on sweetie bell, for the past few days, I've seen you go into the everfree for hours on end. So, who is it?" Sweetie bell sighed, and said " If I show you who I'm meeting, you can't tell any pony ok?" Scootaloo said solemnly " I pinkie promise not to tell any pony about who you are meeting." There was a roll of thunder in the background. Sweetie said " Follow me." As they walked Scootaloo looked around. " Uh, Sweetie bell, I don't see whoever we are looking for." Sweetie said with a much more mature tone, " Just wait. She'll be here any second now." Suddenly there was a loud flash of light and Phoenix stepped out of the shadow of a nearby tree. " Hello Sweetie Bell." She said warmly. She then took notice of Scootaloo and asked " Hey, I know you." Scootaloo stuttered " M M M Moster!" She then passed out on the ground. " Well that could have gone better."