Society as We Know It

by Comma Typer

Cutie Mark Crusaders Weathering the Storm

It was a torrid storm, turbulent in its forceful winds and breezes, mighty in the strength of its rain, overpowering in the sound of its winds—the trees swayed, a few apples fell, and the ground was soaked in water as the storm went on, raging.

A flash of lightning was followed by a crack of thunder, eliciting a collective scream from the only source of light in the fields of apple trees.

Inside the brightly lit clubhouse, the clock ticked on, the pictures on the walls were there, and the three Cutie Mark Crusaders were huddling around, hugging each other and fearfully looking out the window and then quickly closing their eyes.

"It's gonna come down!" Sweetie Belle yelled, cowering with her two front hooves on her head. "How are we going to survive this with the entire clubhouse intact?!"

"You're overreactin'!" Apple Bloom said. "Our barn's gone through harder times than this! You should ask Scootaloo! I bet she should tell you about—"

"Don't ask me!" Scootaloo protested. "Just because I'm a pegasus doesn't mean I can tell you if this storm is going to break this building or not!"

Then, another flash of lightning.

"Agh!" the three fillies yelled.

And thunder.

"Argh!"

They were cowering again, hugging and huddling.

"This is even worse than that time in Appleloosa!" Sweetie Belle said. "At least we weren't stuck in one place!"

"Yeah, but we were lost!" Scootaloo yelled. "It was our first time in the forest!"

"Just look at the bright side!" Apple Bloom said, raising her voice above the sound of the raining torrents. "At least we helped out Trouble Shoes!"

"I don't see how that will help us!" Sweetie Belle yelled.

Then, moments of silence as the storm went on, the rain pattering on the roof, the winds howling outside, the thunder bellowings its sound.

"It doesn't look like this storm is going to end soon," Scootaloo said. "We might as well sleep over here."

"Isn't the first time," Apple Bloom noted.

The fillies stood up.

Apple Bloom closed the curtains of one window with her hoof.

Sweetie Belle closed the curtains of another window with her hoof.

The curtains themselves were pink and red in color, showing simple designs—one had flowers on it, the other was mere abstract containing a checkerboard pattern and a few elegant patterns.

Scootaloo flittered a little distance towards the wall of pictures.

A picture with a purple frame depicted a gray pegasus colt with gray mane and tail flapping his wings, holding a chisel with his mouth, wearing safety goggles, and smiling in front of a statue of the three Cutie Mark Crusaders.

A picture beside it had a slightly fancier frame; it depicted two ponies in front of a sunset. They were looking to the left together. The stallion was Big McIntosh, the mare was Cheerilee.

Another picture showed three ponies—Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity—in mechanics' clothes.

Various pictures showed the faces of more—there were Babs Seed, Tender Taps, Pipsqueak, Diamond Tiara, Bulk Biceps. There was even a picture of Gabby's face.

"I'm sorry to distract from the situation, but," Scootaloo spoke, "let's take Apple Bloom's advice and look at the bright side. Like, remembering what we've done for all these ponies."

"Yer' right," Apple Bloom said, approaching the wall of pictures with her gaze upwards.

Sweetie Belled reached the wall. Her horn glowed a green glow and a picture glowed and was adjusted. "There!" she said. "Now, all the pictures are aligned with each other."

Scootaloo snickered. "That's not what I meant!"

Apple Bloom smiled. "Well, it's organizin' ar' fon' memories o' the ponies we've helped 'long the way!"

And the two other fillies nodded in agreement.

"Ah wonder 'bout Babs," Apple Bloom then said, her smile having gone away. "We haven't been talkin' with each other since...a long time."

"What about the letters you've been writing to each other?" Sweetie Belle said, raising the topic.

"Letters can go a long way," Apple Bloom said. Then, she sat down, sulking. "But, talkin' face-to-face, right in front o' each other—that's what Ah've been missin'. All the good times we could've had here in Ponyville—it would almost be the complete Cutie Mark Crusaders' party."

"We just need Gabby," Scootaloo said. "Well, at least she writes more letters to us than Babs."

"More than Ah could read," Apple Bloom said. "She's fine an' all, but sometimes, Ah just couldn't keep up with the pace."

"You know that we write back to her sometimes," Sweetie Belle said. She offered a hoof to Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom took her hoof and stood up.

"Say, speaking about the griffon in our group," Scootaloo said, "what about we try taking in another creatures into our group?"

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at her with strange looks, their eyebrows raised in curiosity. "What?" the two said together.

"We already have a griffon," Scootaloo said, "Discord is an honorary member—"

"Ah don't think honorary members, especially one like Discord, is goin' to make much o' a difference for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Ah mean, what's Discord doing for us, anyway?"

---

The changelings except Nastic were shivering as they sat beside Discord who was reading a newspaper quietly while sipping a cup of tea. He took the newspaper, sneezed, and it became a chocolate version of itself. He tied a balloon to it and let the newspaper go, letting the chocolate newspaper float around. This caught all of the passengers' attentions.

"And, why are you here?" Nastic asked as nonchalantly as he could—an inkling of trembling was in his voice as he eyed the draconequus before him.

"I am here because I want to," Discord replied. "Nothing more, nothing less. I've never been to the train in a few days. I need to keep up with my train quota?"

"You have a train quota?" Nastic said. "What does that even mean?"

"It means what you might think it means, or a variation of it—does it matter to you?" He tied another balloon and ate it. "Just let me be and let me enjoy the train ride."

Then, a pegasus smacked onto the window beside them. The pegasus slowly slipped off the window.

The changelings and everypony there looked at the pegasus on the window.

"Before you ask, it was my fault," Discord said. "I'm not in the mood for being evasive right now."

---

Scootaloo shrugged. "I don't know."

"That's the point!" Apple Bloom said. Then, she paced the room. "So, we can't ask a dragon—they're probably too rough."

"We could ask a zebra!" Sweetie Belle said, a smile appearing on her face suddenly. Then, her face suddenly went away. "But, Zecora would just like to make potions—she's content with that."

"And, the breezies are off-limits, too—I think."

"We can try," Apple Bloom encouraged. Then, she frowned. "But, that might take a lot of work—havin' to go 'round to find a way just to get to their place!"

"Yaks may not be so open to the idea," Scootaloo said. "Pinkie Pie just went there like, I don't know, recently. Probably it's best just to let your sisters and their friends which, of course, includes Rainbow Dash—" She grinned "—to let them get used to the idea of friendship."

"Which leaves us with the changelins'," Apple Bloom said.

"What about the Crystal Ponies?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Apple Bloom placed a hoof on her chin. "Yeah..."

"But, a changeling who is a Cutie Mark Crusader would be awesome!" Scootaloo yelled.