A Look Back

by Bluecatcinema

Crusaders Forever?

Princess Miracle was being given an impromptu lesson in Princesshood by her mother. Celestia had brought her along to a meeting at the Canterlot city planning committee, meaning she had to endure all the endless, boring talk about things like "tax reforms" and "gentrification" and other things she had no clue about.

"I believe a new natural foods store in that location could really help the economy." A green Unicorn mare declared.

"That does sound like a good idea..." Celestia noted.

Miracle laid back in her seat, bored beyond belief.

"Please stop fidgeting, darling." Celestia told her.

"I can't help it." Miracle groaned. "This stuff is so boring!"

"It may be boring, but it essential to the livelihood of Canterlot and its citizens." Celestia declared. "One day, it will be your responsibility to attend such meetings."

"Really?" Miracle groaned. "Is it too late to abdicate my position?"

"Very funny young filly." Celestia frowned.

"I don't see how all this stuff is so important." Miracle sighed.

"You will when you're all grown up." Celestia told her. "Once you're a grown mare, you'll embrace this, and do everything you can to help make this city better."

"I wish I could be a filly forever..." Miracle sighed.

"Well, you won't be." Celestia declared. "One day, you'll be an adult, and so will your friends. They'll all have their roles to play in adult society, each one contributing to the betterment of Equestria."

"...We will, won't we?" Miracle realised.

"Of course." Celestia nodded. "It's all a part of growing up."

"Yeah, I guess..." Miracle muttered.

Miracle sat through the rest of the meeting quietly, engulfed in thought. She had always been aware that her longevity would mean she would outlive Hurricane, and even her cousins, Vito and Pureblood. But she had accepted that, believing that she could spend their lifespan with them, always sticking together, as they did when they were the Cutie Mark Crusaders Royale. But now she realised that this would not be so. Once they were all grow up, they would go off on separate vocations. There really wasn't going to be as much time as Miracle thought...

After the meeting ended, Celestia and Miracle returned to the castle.

"I know it wasn't exactly being sitting in on the meeting." Celestia declared. "But you were a good girl to be so patient."

"Can I go play with the others now, mom?" Miracle asked.

"I don't see why not." Celestia smiled. "You're not an adult yet, after all..."

"Thanks, mom!" Miracle beamed, racing off to the courtyard.

"Have fun, darling." Celestia chuckled.

Just as Miracle expected, Hurricane, Vito and Pureblood were already at the courtyard.

"Hey, guys!" She smiled.

"Hey, Mir." Hurricane grinned.

"You back from that 'take your foal to work' day Aunt Celestia dragged you on?" Vito asked.

"Yep." Miracle nodded.

"How was it?" Pureblood asked.

"Boring." Miracle scowled. "I can't believe I'll actually have to do that stuff myself when I'm older."

"Tough break, pal." Hurricane pat her on the shoulder.

"I am so not looking forward to growing up." Miracle sighed. "I'd rather be a kid for a little longer. You guys know what I'm talking about, right?"

The others didn't look like they agreed.

"...Right?" Miracle asked.

"Actually, I'm kinda lookin' forward to be a grownup." Hurricane admitted. "I'll be able to join the Royal Guard, like dad. Captain Fletcher says I've got the making of a great strategist in me..."

"And I can't wait to try my hoof at being a chef." Pureblood smiled. "Uncle Sonny's been teaching me all sorts of great cooking tricks. Maybe someday, I can open up a restaurant like he did. Maybe over in Bitaly..."

"Pfft, boring!" Vito snorted. "Once I get big, I'm going to go traveling around, see the world. I'll even bring Glinda along for the ride..."

"Really?" Miracle frowned.

"Hey, uncle Lars gave me a thirst for knowledge." Vito shrugged. "I gotta get out there and feed it."

Miracle was dismayed. It seemed they were going to be even further apart as adults than she feared...

"I don't believe what I'm hearing." She scowled. "You're all just going to go off doing all this stuff? What about us? The old team. CMCR forever?"

"We'll still see each other." Hurricane pointed out.

"Not often enough." Miracle snorted.

"What's gotten into you, Mir?" Pureblood asked.

"Me? What's gotten into you?" Miracle snarled. "Don't you realize we're all going to drift apart as we get older?"

"Hey, that's part of growing up." Vito shrugged. "Just gotta live with it."

"Well maybe I don't want to live with it!" Miracle yelled, becoming emotional. "Maybe I don't want to grow up. Maybe I just want everything to stay the way they are!"

"But they won't, Mir." Hurricane told her. "Things change! And all we can do is prepare for the changes, even embrace them!"

"Then go and enjoy the changes!" Miracle snarled. "See if I care!"

Miracle stormed out of the courtyard, tears running down her face.

"Was it something we said?" Vito frowned.

Miracle hurried over to her room. Locking herself in, she jumped onto her bed, put a pillow over her face, and screamed. Moments later, there was a knock at her door.

"Go away!" She groaned.

"Come on Mir, it's us." Hurricane's voice called. "Let us in."

"Why bother?" Miracle sighed. "You're all just dying to leave me behind one day, anyway!"

"'Course we won't." Hurricane insisted.

"Yeah." Vito nodded. "We'll still be friends, just... further away."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful!" Miracle said sarcastically.

"Nice, V." Pureblood frowned.

"Me? What did I say?" Vito scowled.

"Why don't you just come out, and we can talk?" Hurricane asked.

"I don't feel like talking right now." Miracle said sourly. "Just... leave me alone. You all will eventually, so why not now?"

"That won't happen, Miracle." Hurricane declared. "Miracle?"

Miracle didn't answer.

"What now?" Pureblood asked.

"I don't know." Hurricane shrugged. "Not much we can do if she won't even talk to us."

"So much for you being the smart one..." Vito snorted.

"What's going on?" Celestia asked, as she approached them.

"Oh, jeez..." Pureblood cringed.

"Well?" Celestia asked.

"Miracle's... not herself." Hurricane declared. "She got really upset just now, and locked herself in her room."

"Upset?" Celestia frowned. "About what?"

"Well, we were all talking about what we're gonna do when we're grown up, then she just lost it." Vito said bluntly.

"I see." Celestia nodded. "Maybe I should talk to her."

"Good luck." Pureblood smiled.

Using her powerful magic, Celestia unlocked the door, and entered the room.

"Miracle?" She asked.

"Please don't, mom..." Miracle sighed. "I don't wanna talk to any pony."

"But your cousins and Hurricane are worried about you." Celestia pointed out.

"It doesn't look like it to me." Miracle sneered. "They were all talking about how they can't wait to grow up and leave me behind."

"I'm sure they didn't mean it like that." Celestia soothed her.

"But they will, though." Miracle sniffed. "We'll be going to other places, other things when we grow up. We'll barely see each other..."

"Now don't start thinking like that..." Celestia urged.

"Why not?" Miracle asked. "You said it yourself; We'll all be going down different paths."

"But that doesn't mean you'll be apart." Celestia smiled. "Bonds as strong as yours can't be severed by distance."

"Nice words, mom." Miracle frowned. "But it doesn't change anything."

"Neither does sulking in your bedroom." Celestia pointed out. "It's better for you to talk these issues out with the others, instead of keeping them bottled up inside."

"Hmph!" Miracle buried her head in the pillow.

"Please... just think about it." Celestia pleaded.

Miracle locked the door behind her with her magic.

The next morning, Miracle went out into the courtyard, and stared into space, still overcome with the harsh truths of growing up.

"Hey, Mir."

Miracle turned around to find the others behind her.

"What do you guys want?" She scowled.

"Come on, Miracle, don't be like that." Pureblood frowned.

"Like what?" Miracle spat. "The only one worried about our friendship coming apart? I'm sorry. I thought we were Crusaders forever! Or are you in such a rush to grow up that you've forgotten all that?"

"We haven't forgotten anything." Vito assured her.

"You think you're the only one worried about us growing apart?" Hurricane asked. "Of course you're not!"

"I... I'm not?" Miracle gaped.

"Of course." Pureblood nodded. "Heck, some of us have already been through something like that. Remember when V and me thought we were going to be split up when our uncles offered to teach us?"

"Sure I remember." Miracle nodded. "You guys were really upset about it."

"That's putting it mildly." Vito snorted, remembering the argument he and Pureblood had.

"We all understand how you feel, Mir. We've been a team for so long, now." Hurricane smiled. "Even before becoming Crusaders, we were tight. Best friends."

"Yeah." Miracle smiled half-heartedly. "Those were the days..."

"I still remember the day we became Crusaders." Pureblood recalled.

"Yep." Vito grinned. "That was all your idea, Miracle."

"It was a good one, wasn't it?" Miracle sighed.

"Good? Try great!" Hurricane chuckled. "Remember our first try at getting our Cutie Marks? Playing all those sports?"

"Boy, do I." Vito chuckled. "We wound up hurting a lot of innocent Guards that day..."

"At least we found out none of us were athletically inclined." Miracle noted.

"Hey, try telling Pure!" Vito scoffed. "I will never get how he is so strong."

"Probably because I ate all that mashed alfalfa when I was a foal." Pureblood smiled.

"Ugh, I hated that stuff." Vito cringed. "Still do."

"It didn't matter how good or bad we were." Hurricane shrugged. "We still didn't get our Cutie Marks."

"Yeah, we actually thought we'd get them on our very first day as Crusaders." Miracle recalled. "We must have been crazy..."

"And things just got crazier from there." Pureblood smiled. "Like when you guys took part in that fashion show."

"Which you refused to take part in." Hurricane recalled. "Until we gave you a little persuasion, that is..."

"Still couldn't get me on that stage, though." Pureblood said proudly. "I did a pretty good job behind the scenes... and speaking of pretty, that's when I met my future penpal and fillyfriend, Strut Step." He sighed blissfully.

"Yeah, it wasn't that good of a meeting for the rest of us." Vito snorted.

"Still, we struck the audience speechless when we went out there." Hurricane grinned, recalling the stunned reactions of the crowd (unaware that it was because of how terrible they looked).

"We really left a mark there." Miracle noted. "Too bad no Marks were left on us that day..."

"How about when Hurricane roped us into looking after Michael?" Pureblood asked.

"Don't remind me." Vito scowled. "We spent all day chasing after that little rugrat."

"I had no idea he'd be such trouble." Hurricane shrugged. "He was never so troublesome at home..."

"We did a better job getting V and Pureblood to make up after that big argument of theirs." Miracle recalled.

"It was a good plan." Hurricane chuckled. "Even if we accidentally left dad buried for four hours..."

"Speaking of accidents, remember when Miracle turned her grampa into a Vampony?" Vito snorted.

"Real nice, V." Pureblood glared.

"What?" Vito asked. "Aside from all the terror, it was actually pretty cool!"

"Although her mom did end up turning Dad into Mr. Shovelface the vampire." Hurricane frowned, as she then turned towards the sky. "That's supposed to be an insult on Robert Pattinsteer, by the way."

"Okay..." Vito frowned, perplexed by Hurricane's action. "That was a real mess, though. Miracle was really shaken up about turning her own grampa into a monster."

"'Monster'?" Pureblood scowled. "Seriously?"

"It's no problem." Miracle shrugged. "I'm over it. Hey, remember when we found out Mist was pregnant?"

"I remember Hurricane blabbin' the secret to her dad." Vito frowned. "Who then told Daring, who told mom, who told-"

"I get it." Hurricane scowled. "What, a filly can't make one mistake?"

"Let's forget about that." Pureblood declared. "Hey, remember the wild Nightmare Night our uncles put together?"

"Like I could ever forget." Miracle shuddered. "I'd never been so scared before..."

"Yeah, Vito practically soiled himself." Hurricane pointed out.

"No, I didn't!" Vito scowled, "I knew it was them the whole time!"

"No, you didn't. They told us off-screen that they were those monsters." Hurricane corrected.

"Huh?" Pureblood frowned. "What do you mean, 'off-screen'?"

"Just dusting off the ol' fourth wall, PB." Hurricane shrugged. "Haven't really used it for a while."

"Sometimes, I forget how weird you can be..." Vito shook his head.

"I didn't even know it was possible to feel that afraid." Miracle noted, trying to get back on track.

"Speaking of feelings you never felt before, how about when you got that massive crush on Spike?" Hurricane smirked.

"I-I wouldn't call it 'massive'..." Miracle blushed.

"It was something, alright." Vito jeered.

"How would you know?" Pureblood shot back. "You were so scared of the guy, you hid in your room the whole time he was there!"

"Can I help it if dragons freak me out?" Vito scowled. "Let's talk about something else. ...Hey, how about that Hearth's Warming Eve when we got all charitable?"

"Mostly us." Pureblood snorted. "It took you a while to get into the giving spirit."

"But I did it in the end, didn't I?" Vito huffed.

"You sure did." Hurricane smiled. "Giving your scarf to that little filly was so sweet."

"What can I say?" Vito smirked. "That's just the kind of guy I am."

"And you never let us forget it." Miracle rolled her eyes.

"After that, we finally started getting our Cutie Marks." Pureblood grinned.

"Naturally, I was first." Vito boasted. "Using my unparalleled magic skills to teach a supposedly 'hopeless' student, turning her into a regular prodigy... and getting a fillyfriend into the bargain."

"Even if she did turn out to be a Changeling." Hurricane noted.

"Didn't bother me as much as you'd think." Vito admitted. "She's got some pretty gorgeous eyes..."

So you keep saying." Pureblood rolled his. "But I got my Cutie Mark after perfecting great-grampa Clyde's aquilegia soup. It's funny, though. I just wanted to make it taste better. I never imagined it would end up revealing my special talent. It was a real surprise."

"You wanna talk surprises?" Hurricane snorted. "How about when I found out I was a bona fide genius? Came totally out of left field!"

"I still say you should have gotten a second opinion." Vito snarked.

"Funny." Hurricane glared. "I think dad was more shocked than I was. Something about his own kid better smarter than him really shook him up."

"As I recall, you were pretty shaken up yourself." Miracle noted.

"No kidding." Hurricane nodded. "It was like everything was changing fast, and I didn't even know who I was anymore. But after using my smarts to help take down that thug, it all became clear. I knew who I was, and where I belonged. And I got my Cutie Mark too."

"Which left me as the last Crusader standing." Miracle noted. "I thought I'd never get my Cutie Mark. Then all that stuff with Echo's monster form happened."

"Ooh, that was scary." Pureblood shuddered.

"Yeah." Vito cringed. "And I thought what happened on Nightmare Night was terrifying."

I really thought it was the end when he had me cornered." Hurricane returned. "But our own little Miracle saved the day."

"I just couldn't let him hurt you." Miracle recalled. "I knew I had to save you somehow, and then this power just surged out of me. I didn't just save you all, I saved Echo too. And I earned my Cutie Mark on top of that."

"It was pretty awesome." Vito admitted.

"A night I'll never forget, at least." Pureblood nodded.

"Those were good times, alright." Hurricane smiled.

"But those times are over." Miracle's face fell again. "And our foalhood will be over soon, too. And slowly but surely, we'll drift apart, new jobs, new responsibilities pulling us away."

"That's not going to happen." Hurricane declared.

"How can you be sure?" Miracle asked.

"Seriously?" Vito snorted. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders Royale, remember? Even with our Cutie Marks, that's never gonna change!"

"Vito's right." Pureblood smiled. "Look at everything we've been through together. All the fun and excitement."

"Sure, we're worried that we might end up drifting apart." Hurricane admitted. "But that doesn't mean we have to stand by and let it happen."

"Sure, when we're grown up, we won't see each as much as we do now, but that doesn't mean we'll be friends any less." Vito declared.

"That's right." Pureblood smiled. "Cutie Marks or no Cutie Marks, adults or no, we'll always be connected, no matter what."

"We'll always be together." Hurricane added. "If not in pony, then in spirit."

"You're right." Miracle smiled. "You're all right. Gosh, I've been so silly, haven't I?"

"Nah." Vito shrugged. "We've all been there."

"But as long as we support each, we won't have to go back." Pureblood declared.

"Oh, yeah." Hurricane nodded. "Ain't that the truth."

"I'm done worrying about the future." Miracle declared. "Time to focus on the present. And presently, how would everypony like to get some smoothies? My treat!"

"You read my mind." Vito chuckled.

"I'm in." Pureblood grinned.

"Me too." Hurricane nodded. "Lead the way. And Mir? It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back." Miracle nodded. "Thanks for helping me out of my funk, guys."

"No problem." Pureblood beamed.

"Crusaders forever, right?" Vito asked.

"Right." Miracle beamed.

"Let's get moving." Hurricane declared. "Those smoothies won't drink themselves! Unless they made some new kind of cannibal smoothie..."

"Oh, Hurri..." Miracle rolled her eyes, as the twins guffawed.

Miracle had realised how wrong she was to worry. Friends like these would always be there for her, no matter the distance between them. They really were Crusaders forever.

Author's Note:

Behind The Scenes:

* Ah, "Cutie Mark Crusaders Royale". I have to say, I was initially reluctant to do this story, since I had already done "Cutie Mark Crusaders: The Next Generation" a while back. But Ebony managed to convince me otherwise, and I'm so glad he did, because this really turned out great.

* This story involved another time skip, taking place three years after "Growing Pains".

* In "A Nightmare In Dodge Junction", Caboose was going to mention how he went Vampony hunting with the Belmonts, as a nod to the Castlevania game series.

* The horror icons the Napoleons dressed up as in "The Legion of Nightmare" were based on Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th), Freddy Krueger (Nightmare On Elm Street), Leatherface (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Pyramid Head (Silent Hill 2), Psycho Mantis (Metal Gear Solid), and Freddy Frazzbear (Five Nights at Freddy's), and Slenderman.

* Miracle was set up to be a future love interest for Spike because we'd already put the little guy through the ringer in "Love Equestria Style" and felt he needed some love himself.

* "My Dad Vs Your Dad" was partially based on an episode from the series Enlisted. (From Ebony: That series was wrongfully killed before it's time. Damn you, FOX!)

* (Ebony Stallion) The "More Cutie Mark Chronicles" chapter was to give more backstory for each of our OCs, especially the brothers, who also got their middle names.

* (Ebony Stallion) Oddly, "Medal Madness" was made because we wanted to do a Equestria Games chapter, and it ended up focusing more on the Napoleons. But it did build up some things, like hint at the Ms. Harshwhinny and Marshall Starr bit.

* "Darkness and Light" served to introduce Echo Alchemy, who went on to a starring role in later stories.

Comments

[HolyCross9]

Yes, I remember very fondly reading of these four's journey in attaining their cutie marks.

[Skyfall360]

I STILL haven't read it yet...