Ponywatching

by ThunderTempest

Prompt #526: They Understand

“So, I guess the Cutie Mark Crusaders are done for, then.”

It was Apple Bloom who broke the silence in the Crusader’s clubhouse.

“What?” said Scootaloo, “You mean we have to stop hanging out and...”

“No, I think she means the name, dummy,” said Sweetie Belle, “We can’t crusade for our cutie marks anymore, can we?” Sweetie twisted to show off the tri-coloured shield that had appeared earlier that day.

“I guess not,” grumbled Scootaloo, “but it kinda felt good to be working towards it, even if we weren’t really getting anywhere.”

“Hindsight is twenty-twenty,” chirped Sweetie, before a frown crossed her face, “I don’t know what that means. But Rarity says it when she’s looking at her old designs, so maybe something about the past?”

“Girls,” said Apple Bloom, “I think Scoots mighta been onto something. It always felt like we were working towards something while we were crusadin’ for our cutie marks, no matter how many times we failed. And that’s something that I can get behind.”

“Yeah, but what do we do now? I mean, we got Diamond Tiara turning over a new leaf,” said Sweetie, as Apple Bloom grimaced, “we got our cutie marks, so we can’t crusade for our normal stuff.”

“Okay, but we know all about cutie marks, right?” said Scootaloo. At the other’s nods, she continued. “We helped that Troubleshoes guy figure out the meaning of his mark, and we’ve helped a couple of other ponies find theirs. So what if we started helping other ponies with their cutie marks?”

“You mean like Cutie Mark Detectives?” asked Sweetie.

“Sort of, but more awesome,” said Scootaloo.

“That’s your answer for everything,” sighed both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. For a while, the three sat in silence, thinking.

“So, like, maybe we could,” began Scootaloo, “I dunno, help out other ponies who don’t have their cutie marks yet? I remember what it was like being bullied by Diamond Tiara, and I don’t want another pony to have to go that alone if they don’t have to.”

“So what, like some kind of friend service or something?” asked Apple Bloom, “that ain’t a half-bad idea. I could get behind that.”

“Yeah, me too. And maybe we could help those ponies find their cutie marks too!” added Sweetie.

“Sounds good,” said Scootaloo, “but man, am I beat from today. I just want to sleep for, like, a week.”

Author's Note:

Written for Prompt #526: "The Never-Ending Crusade"

The prompt: Now that we have our Cutie Marks, what should we crusade for?