Cutie Mark Crusader Saviors of the World

by D101 Reviews

Chapter Two: The Bloody Nose

Chapter Two: The Bloody Nose

There are moments when even to the sober eye of reason, the world of our sad humanity may assume the semblance of Hell...

Sweetie Belle mumbled softly in a fitful sleep, her eyes slowly opening. She expected to still be in a similar state of pain to the one she had passed out in. Yet the worst she could say for herself was that she was feeling sore. Her right cheek was bizarrely numb for some reason but other than that she actually felt fine. There was an itching sensation on her forehead. With a small grunt she lifted her hand to scratch the irritating sensation away, opening her eyes as she did so.

She looked up not to the burnt orange sky she had passed out looking at, but to a sloped ceiling, made of wooden slats. That wasn't to say however that hey were not coloured orange. In a sense they were, as flickering orange lights danced across the wooden slats. When she noticed this, Sweetie Belle finally detected the faint crackling and spitting sound of a nearby fire. It was also at this point that some signals finally reached her brain from her hand. The itching sensation on her forehead appeared to be moist. She patted the space around her horn before her fingers pressed onto some damp, soft and cool. She gripped it gently and lifted it up to look at it. A drop of water from the damp towel dropped onto her face with a soft splat.

She shuddered and threw the towel away carelessly, letting it drop to the floor with a thump. There was movement somewhere nearby, followed by soft footsteps as someone approached. She looked up and just managed to catch a glimpse of the someone bending down and putting the towel back on her forehead.

"Please," said the figure, and Sweetie knew from the tone it was a mare. "You hit your head near the base of your horn when you passed out. This is all I can do to reduce the swelling."

Sweetie Belle blinked, her vision clearing enough to see the face above her. It took her a few moments to recognise the mare her swam before her gaze.

"Nurse... Redheart?" she whispered softly. The alabaster mare gave a soft, sad smile.

"I wouldn't know about that young one," she said, her voice a little raspier than Sweetie Belle remembered. "I am just a simple healer. Doing what little I can."

She made as if she wanted to move away, but stopped for a moment, looking down at Sweetie Belle, in particular her cheek, the one that felt so incredibly numb. She seemed to debate something internally for a few moments before she turned away. Sweetie Belle watched her go, until she saw the fire that illuminated the room, set into a stone mantle. On either side of its fiery glow were the huddled figures of Applebloom and Scootaloo, hunched up, each under a roughly woven blanket.

Sweetie Belle peeled back the covers of her bed and slid her legs to the floor and got unsteadily to her feet, before padding gingerly over to where Scootaloo and Applebloom crouched. They looked up when she approached and smiled when she sat by them.

"Where are we?" Sweetie Belle asked, surprised at how hoarse her voice sounded. Applebloom handed her what appeared to be a tin cup, filled with an amber liquid. She smiled and took a sip, before gagging at the burning sensation that trickled down her throat after the liquid. "Wait, better question, what is this?"

Applebloom gave a bitter chuckle. "Manehatten Bourbon," she said, taking a sip from her own cup. "It's cheap 'n' stings like an angry hornet but at least it tastes nice."

Sweetie Belle paused at that, having finally stopped her coughing fit and finally allowed the taste of the Bourbon to grace her palate. She had to admit that Applebloom was right. Though it wasn't anything compared to the fantastic Apple family cider she was used to drinking, the Bourbon had a distinctly fruity taste that lingered on the tongue. It was a pleasant taste, and one that Sweetie Belle thought she might get used to.

"I think I like it," she said, though uncertainty was definite in her voice. Scootaloo gave a small chuckle. "So where are we anyway?"

"The Bloody Nose," Scootaloo said. "Like I said, it's an inn."

"How'd we get here?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I mean... weren't we outside the boutique?"

"We were," Applebloom confirmed. "'Parrently Red Heart and a few others found us. and brought us here."

"Why not a hospital?" Sweetie Belle said, frowning. "I mean, surely Ponyville General-"

"Let me stop you right there," Scootaloo said, holding up her hand. "What makes you think that Ponyville General is even standing? The library is gone, Sugar Cube Corner is gone, Cloudsdale is gone, the boutique is gone, Sweet Apple Acres is gone. Everything we remember is gone. This isn't Ponyville anymore Sweetie. I don't know where the hell we are but it sure as shit ain't home."

Sweetie Belle blushed and looked into her mug. Her cheek throbbed and she rubbed her palm against it, wincing as she did so.

"Yeah, I know that feeling," Applebloom muttered. "Didn't think getting our Cutie Marks'd hurt so much."

"What?" Sweetie Belle gasped. Even this, small piece of seemingly insignificant news lightened her spirits ever so slightly. Scootaloo however gave a bitter chuckle.

"Don't get too excited Sweetie. They aren't our Cutie Marks."

She looked at Sweetie Belle then, and Sweetie Belle's eyes widened. The cheek she hadn't seen, Scootaloo's right cheek. The same one that so hurt Sweetie Belle. A black mark, like a inkblot of darkest night decorated Scootaloo's face, and in the centre, a crystal white, crescent moon.

Sweetie Belle blanched, shocked. "But... that's... that's"

"Princess Luna's Cutie Mark?" Scootaloo supplied for her. "I know."

"But... no two ponies have the same Cutie Mark," Sweetie Belle protested. "How can you have Princess Luna's?"

"It's not just her," Applebloom muttered, and looked up. Sweetie Belle reeled back again, shocked. Applebloom didn't bear Princess Luna's Cutie Mark. Instead on her cheek was a brilliant yellow circle surrounded by tendrils of orange flame. A brilliant sun. The Cutie Mark of Princess Celestia.

"That's not possible," Sweetie Belle said, swallowing.

"Yeah well, here's the real kicker," Scootaloo said, holding up a small hand mirror and handing it to Sweetie Belle. She looked at it, tilting her face so that she could look at her own cheek. She dropped the mirror like it was something evil, but the image she had seen was burned into her mind. It was even more impossible than what she had seen on Scootaloo and Applebloom's faces. A six point pink star overlaid on a second white star of equal points, surround by five more of the same.

"That's... that's..." Sweetie Belle croaked. Scootaloo edged closer to Sweetie and slung an arm over her shoulder and hugged her.

"I know I know," she said softly. Sweetie Belle shook her head.

"Twilight... Twilight's Cutie Mark is on my face," she whispered. "That's... that's just... wrong."

"Ain't it just," Applebloom said. Her shoulders sagged. "Ah did this," she mumbled. "This is all my fault."

"Now where in the heck did you get that idea from?" Scootaloo snapped. "As far as I recall you don't have a time machine or any reason to go steal Cutie Marks from the Princesses."

"Ah worked it out," Applebloom muttered. "While you two were still asleep. We signed that deal. That, Diaboles guy... he said he'd give us Cutie Marks for our souls. Well we got our Cutie Marks and we done been sent to Tartarus for it."

"If that's the case then this isn't your fault AB, it's our fault," Scootaloo said defiantely.

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle chimed in. "Like you said we all signed that deal."

"But ah was the first," she mumbled. "If Ah hadn't, then you two wouldn't either. An' now... now my family's...."

"Okay first off we don't do everything you do because you think it's a smart idea," Scootaloo sighed. "I mean we all do stupid shit and we do it together because we're friends. We all wanted our Cutie Marks AB, just because you were the first to sell your soul for one doesn't mean you can take the fall for me and Sweetie Belle too."

"Yeah," Sweetie Belle agreed nodding. "We're all equally to blame for whatever's happened. Stop trying to be a martyr."

Applebloom frowned. "Martyr? What's a martyr?"

"Nothing, what's a martyr with you?" Sweetie Belle said, smiling softly. Despite the situation, Applebloom smiled. Scootaloo gave a chuckle as well, shaking her head.

"That was terrible," she said, before turning to Applebloom. "So yeah, we're in this together, so we share the blame together. That's the first thing, and the second thing is that that wasn't your family AB." Applebloom looked up sharply. "Your family is still out there. Your family is in Ponyville, watching the Eclipse. Just like Cloudsdale is still out there. Just like the Boutique is still selling the best damn dresses in Equestria. Whatever's gone wrong, we can fix it."

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle and Applebloom cried out in agreement.

Scootaloo raised her tin cup into the air. "One more crusade," she said solemnly. "Cutie Mark Crusader World Savers!"

"Cutie Mark Crusader World Savers!" Applebloom and Sweetie Belle chorused, clashing their own mugs with Scootaloo's before bringing them to their lips and draining them. The tin cups each fell to the floor with a quick clatter as the three finished teir drinks and leaned close together.

"So," Sweetie Belle said quietly. "What's our first move?"

"We need to find out what's happened recently," Applebloom said. "We know that Cloudsdale's gone, but I think we can all assume that happened years ago by now."

"Yeah," Scootaloo said nodding in agreement. "There's no way they would've been able to make a stature that fast."

"So we gather information then?" Sweetie Belle asked for confirmation. "How do we do that then?"

"Well how'd they do it in the movies?" Applebloom asked.

"Oh!" Scootaloo said, snapping her fingers. "I remember talking to Button Mash about something like this. He said that the best way of getting information in games is to ask about in inns or stuff like that."

Applebloom smiled slightly. "Well Ah guess all we have to do is go downstairs and ask a few questions."

"We can't ask anything too obvious though," Sweetie Belle said. "We don't know anything about this place. We can't risk raising suspicion."

"Agreed," Scootaloo said. "We stay under the radar. Covert. Like in those Con Mane movies."

"Secret agents," Applebloom nodded, getting to her feet, "Let's go."

"Wait," Sweetie Belle said. "If we go down, what happens if someone asks us a question?"

"Yeah," Scootaloo said. "We need some kind of explanation as to why we're asking questions."

"Good call," Applebloom said, sitting back down again. "So... what's our story?"

---

"Okay so let's go over it again so we don't forget it," Scootaloo said, looking pointedly at Sweetie Belle.

"I won't," Sweetie Belle huffed, folding her arms.

"We're orphans from out of town," Applebloom said. "Our orphanage was burned down and we've been traveling cross-country for a while now and we're confused and disorientated."

"Not exactly a whole lie is it?" Scootaloo said.

"Great, let's see if it works then," Sweetie Belle said, the three of them getting to their feet.

The door opened up to a small stairway, slinking downwards to where the three of them could hear the sounds of many ponies talking. There was no laughter however. No music, nothing they associated with a bar or an inn in the past. They looked nervously at one another before the began to make their way downstairs. The floorboards creaked ominously as, one by one, the reached the landing.

A single corridor greeted them, with bare wooden walls and doors at irregular intervals, marked with crudely fashioned brass numbers. As they passes each door a new noise reached their ears. Sometimes it was the groan of someone in pain. Other times it was the sputtering of a drunk, coughing up the last remnants of bile from their throats. And once it was the creek of bed springs, almost drowning out the moan of mare and stallion. Almost.

They carried on regardless, reaching a second, more open staircase, and the sounds of conversation were louder now. They crept downstairs, fearful of being discovered though they did not know why. Their own silence made every other noise seem much louder by comparison, and every sound that reached them made their apprehension rise higher.

When the reached the ground floor they came out into what the recognised vaguely as the ground floor of Sugar Cube Corner. It had a similar layout at least. There were tables and chairs and lots of ponies sitting down. But the tables were more numerous, the chairs more clustered together, and the ponie were looking dour and miserable. The counter that they remembered for selling pies and cakes and other such things, was now an wooden bar, behind which a grizzled earth pony stallion stood. The shelves behind the bar were similar to the ones they recognised, but instead of holding jars of sweets, they held bottles of spirits and various glasses.

They looked at each other nervously, before they made their way over to the bar, attempting to avoid anyone who got too close and keeping their heads down. No one really paid them any heed. They were too busy with their own mutterings to care about three young mares like them. And the ones that did they tried to avoid eye-contact with.

The bartender looked at them as the approached, wiping down a dirty glass with an equally dirty rag. Despite his grizzled and rough appearance, there was a kind edge to his eyes, and he set three glasses on the bar, filling them with more bourbon.

"Here," he said, his voice gruff. "Have a seat ladies."

Applebloom looked at the glass, then at her friends, before looking at the bartender. "We... we don't have any money Mister."

The bartender nodded. "And I didn't ask for any. I seen your type before. Drifters. Never really given a chance. No home, no parents. No... anything. I'm not the kinda scum that'd take money from the poor. The Bloody Nose ain't for those who got cash kid. It's for those who've got nothin'."

Applebloom looked at him, before taking a seat and taking a drink. "Thank you."

The bartender snorted. "Don't mention it." He watched as Scootaloo and Applebloom sat down on the ragged barstools either side of Applebloom. "Name's Hard Liquor by the way."

The three mares introduced themselves one by one and Liquor nodded to each in turn, a twinkle in his eyes showing all the smile he needed.

"Never seen you three before now," he said as they drank. "You new in Ponyville?"

Applebloom nodded. "Orphanage burnt down," she said. Liquor cursed under his breath.

"Ain't they got nothin' better to do than torment little uns?" he asked himself. "When was this?"

"We don't really know how long," Scootaloo supplied. "Lost track of the days."

Liquor nodded sagely. "Suppose you three are a bit disorientated then?" They nodded.

"We don't know what's been happening since we left the orphanage," Scootaloo said. "And nopony there really talked about Ponyville much."

"There ain't much to say about Ponyville," Liquor shrugged. "Pirates come through from time to time. We have a deal see. I take care of refugees for 'em, the Cap gives me booze she's managed to get from Stampede. And as for news, well, you haven't missed much. Let's see... well the annual rabbit hunt was last week... uh well else happened?... Oh, the Elusive managed to break into the Manehatten first bank a few days ago. Don't they'll do with four-thousand scraps but they'll find a good use for it... Ah that's about it really."

"There isn't anything more you can tell us?" Applebloom asked.

"Not a whole lot kid," Liquor shook his head. "Word doesn't come through Ponyville often. Not unless you count the Autumn Equinox. His Majesty is sure to make a big speech from his castle in Stampede."

The venom that dripped from his tongue as he spoke the words, 'his majesty,' washed over them like a ripple.

"His Majesty?" Sweetie Belle asked tentatively.

"Yeah. The high and mighty King Discord."

Comments

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

Great new chapter, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Although Discord being king kinda shocked me. What the hay happened after the Crusaders made that deal, anyway?!

on anpother note, I did notice a bit of a name-flub in this chapter, though. To wit:

"Yeah, I know that feeling," Applejack muttered. "Didn't think getting our Cutie Marks'd hurt so much."

I think you meant Apple Bloom here, right?

[D101 Reviews]

5068603 Crap Also, you'll find out what happened, in time.

[Todpole]

Nice bit of foreshadowing. And I can see why Liquor would be pissed at the villains. They did attack Ponyville at least twice, maybe more and killed a baby for seemingly no reason.
Can't wait for the next part. Hopefully we see some Demons or other dark creatures. And I want to see how they'll react to Twilight.
P.S. Look back at the previous chapters and found this near the end of the prolouge. Might want to look back and fix it along any others you might find.

"Please sign here," he said. Applejack was the first to take the quill,

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

5068649 No biggie. We all make the occassional writing flub, hon.

And I can't wait to! Should be good......!

And interesting.