Transparent Living

by PinoyPony

Chapter 33: The New Crusaders

-Early April-

Dazzle woke up to a hoof prodding her. Her eyes slowly opening, she saw a foggy image of Coco.

“Five more minutes,” Dazzle rolled over.

“C’mon, Dazzle.” Dazzle felt Coco tap her hooves on the edge of the bed. “It’s spring break for you! Surely you don’t want to spend all of it sleeping!”

“More sleep, thank you,” Dazzle grumbled as she buried her face in the pillow.

“You slept most of the day yesterday!” Coco said. “C’mon! get up!”

Dazzle glared at Coco. She noticed Coco was grinning ear to ear. “You’re acting a little funny this morning.” She observed. Usually Coco was a still a little groggy from getting up also.

Without another word, Coco clutched Dazzle’s hoof and dragged her out of her cocoon of sheets. Dazzle felt the slight cold nip her, but not as much. It was the usual when getting out of bed.

Dazzle got to her hooves and trotted with Coco out. She sniffed the immediate aroma of Coco’s cooking. Smell of bread baking and the sharp smell of spice.

Biscuits and Gravy. Dazzle couldn’t complain. Coco’s breakfasts were always good.

When she trotted down, the hallway, Coco seemed to have a quicker pace than usual. When Dazzle tried to catch up with Coco, she turned the corner and then…

“SURPRISE!” A crowd said.

Dazzle just about slipped on the hardwood. Coco caught her.

“What?” Dazzle asked as she regained her balance.

“Happy birthday, Dazzle!” all of them joined in unison.

“You can’t forget you own birthday, silly!” Coco said while ruffling Dazzle’s mane.

Dazzle just gawked. It was Florin, Montressor, and Marigold, along with the Hearts, and Napoleon and Bling.

“Hey Dazzle! Come sit by us!” Bling said while patting the couch cushion.

Dazzle made her way over to the couch. Napoleon sat on one end, and Bling on the other. She took the open seat in the middle.

“Wow! You turn twelve today!” Bling cheered. “I wish I was twelve!”

“Give it a couple months,” Marigold said. “You’re almost there, Bling-Bling.”

“We are going to have a group breakfast this morning.” Coco said while trotting over to the kitchen.

“And after that, we’ll play some board games!” Napoleon pulled out a binder filled with papers. “I even brought Ogres and Oubliettes!”

“Egghead,” Bling teased.

“Just wait until you roll a one! I will not have mercy on your character!” Napoleon teased back.

Bling chuckled.

“After that, I have a spa day reserved in the afternoon.” Florin trotted towards her. “It’s about time we fix that ratty mane of yours.”

“Wow!” Dazzle said. “This is so nice of all of you!”

Florin pointed a hoof at Coco. “Thank Coco. She planned the whole thing!”

Dazzle glanced at her mother, who was setting up the table with plates. Coco sheepishly smiled briefly and turned back to what she was doing. Dazzle hopped off the couch and rushed over. Dazzle about tackled Coco, but Coco regained balance along with the balanced china she was holding.

“Thank you!” Dazzle embraced Coco.

“You’re welcome, Dazzle!” Coco hugged her back. “Florin, Montresor, and Napoleon got a present for you, along with Marigold and Bling, and the Hearts. You can open them when we get back from the spa.” Coco went back to setting the table.

“Sounds good!” Dazzle said. “Although, speaking of the Hearts, can we visit Vertigo? I think she’s past the contagious phase by now.”

Coco finished up by placing the bowl of biscuits on the table and the gravy boat on a hot pad.

“That sounds wonderful.” Ms. Heart said as she trotted towards the table and took a seat. “She really must miss us.”

“What time are you thinking?” Coco asked. “We have a little time before the spa, or after.”

“Before,” Dazzle said. “We shouldn’t delay visiting a friend.”

“Right you are!” Napoleon said.

“Breakfast’s ready!” Coco announced.

---

“Unfortunately, you will have to wait in the waiting room until she comes out.” Dazzle instructed Napoleon, Bling, and their families. “Only Vertigo’s parents are allowed past these doors.”

“Aww. But I want to see her cutie mark!” Napoleon said.

“You’ll just have to wait a few seconds longer, Napoleon.” Dazzle said. She motioned for the Hearts to follow her.

Vertigo’s Parents walked with her through the doors. Down the hallway a little bit, they came to a tunnel. Dazzle stepped through and held her breath as white powder jetted onto her coat from above.

“Just step inside, and hold your breath. This is to protect you from dermal contact with the Corrosion.” Dazzle instructed.

Mr. and Ms. Heart followed suit. Promptly, Nurse Transfusion and Nurse Radius held out a glass container. Both Vertigo’s parents bowed as the Nurses fitted their wings with the protective cover.

“Alright, we are ready to go.” Dazzle led the way towards Vertigo’s hospital room.

“How’s she doing?” Asked Ms. Heart.

“A lot better.” Dazzle said. “You will need to continue to let her wings heal, but within a month, she’ll be back to flying.”

Once they entered the room, Vertigo spat out her colored pencils and held out her hooves. “Mom! Dad!”

“It’s great to see you again, sweetie!” Ms. Heart said.

After a long embrace, Ms. Heart began, “First things first! We want to see your cutie mark!”

Proudly, Vertigo pushed the roller table away and whipped the blanket away from her flank. She displayed her cutie mark with pride.

“Oh, that is amazing, sweetpea!” Her father said. He turned to Dazzle. “Is it okay if I pick her up?”

“It should be fine.” Dazzle said “Mind her wings though. They are still tender from the final pH bath treatments.”

Mr. Heart nodded. Carefully and tenderly, he lifted his daughter onto his back. “Your friends are waiting for you. Want to go see them?” He asked.

“Boy, do I wanna!” Vertigo pointed towards the exit like a captain of a ship. “Onward!”

As they trotted to the exit, Vertigo started, “So, it was really odd to see my friend Dazzle as a mare.”

“It’s odd for us too.” Ms. Heart looked back at Dazzle.

Dazzle grinned sheepishly as she followed them out.

“Dazzle is a great nurse!” Vertigo said. “She helped me during when times were lonely!”

Mr. Heart looked back at Dazzle and mouthed ‘thank you’.

‘You’re welcome!’ Dazzle mouthed back.

“What would you like to do for your cutie-mark party, sweetpea?” Her father asked.

“Ooh! I want to invite Napoleon, and Bling, and their family! Oh! Little Cookie, and Jade Tail and…”

“Woah, that’s a lot of foals!” Mr. Heart answered. “Let’s just start with inviting the ones that are here.”

As soon as they burst through the doors, Napoleon and Bling rushed over.

“Lemme see! Lemme see!” Napoleon blurted.

“Geez… you’re so impatient.” Bling nudged him.

Napoleon blew a raspberry at Bling.

Ms. Heart set Vertigo down. Vertigo happily skipped towards Napoleon and strutted in front of him. “Ta-da!”

Napoleon jaw dropped. He just about fell over, but Bling lent him a shoulder to lean on.

“I’m glad you like it,” Vertigo giggled.

“How long until you can fly again?” Bling asked.

Vertigo turned towards Dazzle.

“Two or three weeks, give or take.” Dazzle answered.

“Enough about me!” Vertigo said. “How did things go at the science fair?”

Napoleon scratched the back of his neck.

“Napoleon got fourth place.” Bling solemnly said. However, like a wind-up toy he sprung back to life with an upbeat in his tone. “But, since one of the winners declined the offer to go to CSGU, Napoleon got his scholarship!”

“That’s great!” Vertigo hug-tackled Napoleon.

“OOOF! Uhm… thanks, Vertigo.” Napoleon said.

“You doing okay?” Vertigo asked. “I’d thought you’d be excited!”

“I am! Well… I actually did a lot of thinking…” His ears drooped. “I realized that I’d be leaving my friends behind.”

Vertigo’s casts lowered with her wings. A while ago, her wings were propped up in excitement. But, now, she realized Napoleon’s train of thought. Dazzle marveled at how deep of a thinker Napoleon was. She noticed he was a bit reserved over the past couple days. He spend a great deal weighing in the pros and cons of taking to his dreams.

“I kinda want to decline also and stay here.” Napoleon said. “Ever since I was little, I dreamt of going to CSGU… I thought it would be a no-brainer when I achieved my dreams. All my life, I put academics first. I didn’t care for anything else but getting into Celestia’s school. But now, I find it to be the hardest decision in my entire life.”

Dazzle felt a familiar shock of sorrow wash over her. Napoleon had quite the dilemma now. Either go to Canterlot, like he always wanted or stay with the friends he made in the very short span of three months. It reminded her of leaving Silver Spoon behind to go on a leap of faith to Mane-hattan. Even if it had almost been a year, those long, painful feelings were still fresh and sharp.

“Don’t you dare, Napoleon.” Bling cut in.

Napoleon turned to the Bling. “What?”

“Don’t you dare.” Bling repeated. “You’ve worked too hard and dreamed too much to give up now.” He sighed. “I would’ve been glad to be rid of you in the past.”

That statement earned him a nudge from Marigold.

Bling smirked at his mother. “But now, since you are my friend, and friends care about each other, I don’t want to see you go either.” He trotted up to Napoleon. “However, a true friend wouldn’t want you to give up something you enjoy for them. You can go. I want you to chase your dreams.” He placed a hoof carefully over Vertigo’s shoulder, careful not to poke her wings. “Vertigo and I will always be here. Dreams don’t wait.”

All three of them joined together in a hug.

“I will never forget you guys!” Napoleon said. His voice was mellow, yet had the hitch characteristic of holding back a sob.

Dazzle knew what it was like to leave friends and go to an unfamiliar place. It was scary, walking a path without your friends to support you. But she knew that Napoleon would be just fine in Canterlot. Suddenly, she got an idea.

As soon as they let go, Dazzle suggested, “If it helps, all of you can write letters to each other!”

“That’s a great idea!” Vertigo cheered. “You gotta tell us all about the things you are learning!”

Vertigo must’ve caught onto the fact that Napoleon loves to share his knowledge.

“And if you need an honest opinion about something, I’ve always got your back!” Bling said.

Napoleon smiled. “Will do. You need to tell me about your crusades here in Mane-hattan!”

“Wait… Crusaders?” Bling asked. “Can we do that?”

“I think so… Babs officially took me in as a Crusader way back when. Since she is no longer the leader, I probably can take all of you in!”

“That should be it!” Napoleon said. “However, we need some re-branding. We can call ourselves the New Crusaders of Mane-hattan!”

“I’d like that idea!” Bling said. He pointed to Napoleon “Since you came up with the name, you should be our leader!”

“What about Dazzle?” Vertigo asked, pointing to her. “She’s the one who brought us together. Shouldn’t she lead?”

“I appreciate the offer, Vertigo,” Dazzle began. She knew she had to answer quickly for sake of allowing Napoleon to take charge and grow in the magic of friendship. In which, she formulated her words carefully. “But I’m merely the glue that brought us all together. Napoleon has been the one to take charge―” She winked for good measure “―he was the one who led the science fair project after all.”

Napoleon smiled― although kind of awkwardly.

Bling smiled and looked at Napoleon. Napoleon was also beaming. The three of them lifted their hooves up in the air.

Coco nudged Dazzle “Go! Join in with them!”

Napoleon held out a hoof. The others joined in, and Dazzle joined her hoof in.

“New Crusaders of Mane-hattan!” Napoleon said.

“New Crusaders of Mane-hattan!” The rest cheered in unison.