The Final Crusade

by Enfield

Life On The Beachside

The next few days were classified as “the best ever” by the Crusaders, James had taken them to Roanoke Island and down to the other end of the Outer Banks, there was also the day when James and the Crusaders ended up having dolphins swimming around them while they were in the sea. One day after everything had settled down, James was sitting a beach chair reading a book when he looked up and saw Apple Bloom walking over to him.

“Something wrong?” James asked.

“Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo found some weird slimy thing in the water,” replied Apple Bloom. James stood up and dropped the book into the chair.

“It’s probably a bloody jellyfish,” said James walking over to the two girls, “They don’t have any stinging ones around here but I still have to stop them just in case.”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell were wading around in one spot obviously looking for something, James walked up to them and they stopped.

“Come on now,” James said, “Don’t try and search for it.”

“But it was so cool,” said Scootaloo.

“What was it?” Sweetie Bell asked.

“A jellyfish,” replied James, “It might be a stinging one since it’s breeding season.”

“I didn’t feel anything,” said Scootaloo.

“Something brushed across the top of my foot but that was it,” said Sweetie Bell.
James couldn’t afford any risks, the tide was picking up and there were entire colonies of jellyfish showing up, most being carried by the tide.

“Let’s get out of the water before we get swamped,” James said gently pushing Apple Bloom out of the water. Scootaloo huffed and followed Apple Bloom, James was just out of the water when he heard a yelp of surprise come from Sweetie Bell.

“What’s the matter, were you stung?” James asked.

“I don’t know,” Sweetie Bell replied, “But my foot hurts and now I’m afraid of these things.”
James walked over to help her, she was limping a little bit. James span around and knelt down with his back facing her.

“I’ll carry you,” James said, “You shouldn’t move that leg around too much.”

“Thanks James,” Sweetie Bell said as she jumped up and held her arms around James' neck. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked a little annoyed.

“How come she gets carried back to the house?” Scootaloo said.

“Because she’s injured and I don’t want anything to get worse,” James replied.

“Why can’t she walk?” Apple Bloom asked.

“It’s because of the venom,” replied James, “I have to neutralize it while it’s still isolated, any movement could make everything worse.”

James got Sweetie Bell inside and managed to extract the poison and heal Sweetie Bell’s foot before it got any worse. As James was putting a bandage around the stung area James' parents came in from the front door.

“Great news everyone,” Dave said.

“What is it?” Apple Bloom asked.

“You remember those Jeep tours that we took last year James?” Katherine asked.

“Yes,” James replied helping Sweetie Bell off of the kitchen counter, “What about it?”

“We’ve managed to get two Jeeps so everyone can go!” Katherine said.

“That’s right,” said Dave, “Three of us can go in one jeep each.”

“When do we go?” James asked.

“Once you lot get ready we can go now,” said Dave.

The Crusaders couldn’t believe that they were about to go on a tour of the dunes in Jeeps. James was a little concerned about Sweetie Bell’s condition but she assured him that she was fine, the tour guide took the group outside where several other people were mounting up in jeeps and waiting to go.

“Everyone ready to go?” the guide asked the group he was guiding.

“We’re still trying to get this jeep started,” said another tour guide as he was attempting to start a haggard old jeep with four collage students inside it.

Several minutes of hasty repairs later the jeeps were all rolling toward the dunes. Dave, James and Scootaloo were in one jeep and Katherine, Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom were inside the second jeep. As they drove onto the beach Scootaloo couldn’t help but wonder why they were taking a tour of the dunes.

“James,” she said over the roar of engines, “What are we doing on these tours anyway?”

“We look for wild horses and see if any dunes have migrated over the years,” replied James.

“Wild horses?” Scootaloo asked, “There are horses here?”

“Sure have been,” said James.

The tour of the dunes was a little uneventful until the tour group had reached a stopping point near a large housing complex in the middle of the dunes, several horses were wandering around the building eating the grass that came out of the sand. The tour group dismounted to get a better look.

“As we see here the horses are grazing near this house,” the tour guide said, for a cool looking guy, he did sound rather boring to James. As he thumbed through the songs on his iPhone some commotion tore his attention away from his phone. He looked up and saw the Crusaders with the horses right next to them.

“What just happened?” James asked the tour guide.

“The horses just stopped eating and walked over to them,” the tour guide replied, “Never seen that before.”

“Same here,” said James, “The horses usually retreat into the dunes.”
The group watched as the Crusaders stroked the horses and appear to communicate with them.

“What are you three up to?” James asked.

“We’re just seeing the horses James,” said Sweetie Bell.

“They remind us so much of home,” said Apple Bloom. James could help but wonder if there was some sort of connection between the Crusaders and the horses, it sounded silly the idea that the Crusaders could communicate with the animals but James had to accept the fact the Crusaders were ponies themselves at one point.
Once James and the Crusaders got back to the jeep garage Dave and Katherine quickly ushered them back to their SUV and they drove off without another word.

“Let’s not speak of this ever again,” James said. Everyone agreed, mainly because interaction with the wild horses was illegal and the Crusaders had pretty much broken that law. Dave stopped at a large shopping area and Katherine decided to go out shopping. James couldn’t agree more, as they got out of the car James gave twenty dollars each to the Crusaders.

“Spend it wisely,” said James, “This is my own money I’m giving you and I don’t want it wasted.”

“Thanks James!” the Crusaders all said simultaneously.

“You’re giving them some money to spend?” Dave asked.

“I don’t want to look like I’m getting everything while these kids get nothing,” James replied, “You know I’m a good person.”

“Alright, you can be in charge of them while we go off by ourselves,” Katherine said to James as she and Dave walked away.

“Don’t get separated,” said Dave.

“I’ll make sure we won’t,” said James, he then turned to the Crusaders, “Where to first girls?”
Apple Bloom suggested a store that sold beach trinkets to start at and James eventually took them to several stores, the spree ended in a stop to an ice-cream shop. As they sat outside eating ice cream that James had bought them James' parents found them.

“How’s it going for you four?” asked Dave.

“We got some neat stuff,” said Sweetie Bell showing them a seashell necklace the she bought, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had also bought seashell necklaces.

“Sounds like you had a good time,” said Katherine.

“We sure did,” Apple Bloom said wiping chocolate off her face.

“So how about we go to the other Mini-Golf course? The one with the massive waterfall that you liked the look of,” Dave said. James and the Crusaders nodded, soon they were at that course and enjoying it quite a lot. However at the eleventh hole, Sweetie Bell started complaining of pain in the foot that was stung by a jellyfish.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Apple Bloom asked Sweetie Bell.

“I’m okay,” replied Sweetie Bell, “It’s just that my foot really hurts.”

“Don’t stress yourself over it,” James said as he lined up a putt, “No seriously, stress makes the pain worse.”
Sweetie Bell shrugged off the pain and tried to enjoy herself. James had a hard time trying to score anything decent, Apple Bloom could be classified a master because of her score and Scootaloo managed to have her ball return to her after she hit, it bounced around the course and ended up at her foot. Once they finished their game Dave and Katherine took them back to the house so that James could check if Sweetie Bell’s sting was any worse.

Comments

[Hunter96]

Uh oh

[Godiswithus3]

My brother would get along with Applebloom. He loves to play golf.