Call of the Crusader!
Fire... The core of all life past, present, and future. Fire that keeps the heart burning with passion and the lust to advance into the unknown. Fire that warms the spirit towards the yearning of companionship as well as unity. Fire that heats the physical body from the fireplace or the lantern in the street. It is fire that lights our hours, our fears, our hopes, and our dreams. Know as well that there is no greater fire -no greater light- than the Sun high above in the sky.
To scientists, it's a ball of gas perpetually ablaze by small explosions and a super heated core. Or, something akin to that. To the dreamer, the Sun is a ball of fire that burns for all eternity to keep darkness away and protect those who live within its glow. Everyone has beliefs about the Sun and what it really means. However, one thing is very certain: the Sun is the greatest source of light anyone could ever see with mortal eyes. Also, that only one pony can hope to control it... Princess Celestia.
Wait a sec! Ain't it possible fer' Princess Luna ta' move the Sun too? If'n ya' figure Princess Celestia can move both; don't it just stand ta' reason er' somethin'?
...As I was saying... Princess Celestia -OR MAYBE PRINCESS LUNA TOO- can be the only one with the power to move the Sun on their own. If something at all were to happen to Princess Celestia -OR PRINCESS LUNA- all of Equestria would be thrown into catastrophe! The world would be plunged into an environment killing limbo between day and night for all eternity. Crops would wither, animals would be driven into famine, civilization would start to crumble. All would indeed be lost...
Now wait on a sec there too! I thought unicorns used ta' lift an' drop the Sun day in an' day out 'round the time of Equestria's makin'? We did a play on it an' everythin', remember? So, couldn' unicorns just start doin' that again?
Who's telling the story here? Did I butt in when you were telling yours?
Yeah! Let her finish already! We're missing out on perfect weather outside for this!
I'm jus' sayin'! Plus, she keeps thrown those big words in there! I can't hardly understand the story!
...Back to the story... Lost. Everything now and ever was would be lost in the harsh cataclysm brought upon by the dawn sky. Equestria and all else would cease to be. That is why we need to keep the Fire alive. The fires in our hearts, spirits, homes, minds, and everything else in-between. As long as that fire exists, Equestria and every pony in it will find the power to thrive; or better yet, fix the problem itself. It is this fire that lights burns -BURNS- in the chests of every Crusader! So I tell you now, there exists no force, no wind, water, or earth that can ever put out the roaring flame of a Crusaders fire.
"That story changed darn fast near the end. Ain't complainin' though. Means we get ta' leave now!" Apple Bloom cheered and jumped to her hooves.
Scootaloo followed Apple Bloom's lead and hopped to her own hooves, leaving Sweetie Belle sitting on the clubhouse floor in a small fit of a huff. Sweetie Belle's horn twinkled a little and led to a single candle between the little fillies to blow out, leaving the group in the dark for just a moment before Apple Bloom opened the clubhouse door. The afternoon Sun flared its light into the Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse, making the three fillies adjust their sight to the stronger source of light when it hit them. However... It was strange. Adjusting from the small, flickering and pretty dim light of a candle to the afternoon sun should have hurt their eyes a little more. But, it felt like nothing.
The three looked outside to the sky and saw, astounding to their eyes, that in spite of it being the afternoon, the sun was hanging over the horizon like it was dawn. Sweetie Belle looked back at the clock in the clubhouse, making sure that they hadn't been inside for over four hours. Her worries were confirmed when she saw the clock showed it was only two o'clock. A trustworthy clock as it was -set by Apple Bloom herself- Sweetie Belle didn't for a second question if it was wrong. And if the clock wasn't wrong...
Scootaloo narrowed her eyes, gazing off into the distance with a look of true bravery. For a moment, the pegasus just looked at the oddly placed sun, just feeling how wrong things were right now. A feeling that was replaced within Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in the blink of an eye by determination when Scootaloo spoke. "...Call the Crusaders..." When Scootaloo whispered that simple command, the die had been cast.
Much like a Pinkie-Promise, an oath of blood, or the law of Last-One-In-Is-The-Rotten-Egg; The call of Crusaders was to be heard, obeyed, and carried out the moment it was made. Even if that meant skipping snack-time or nap-time. It was, indeed, that important. All Crusaders knew this... All.
Friends through eternity,
And, lo, Ponyville sounded with a triumphant call! A call that echoed to the mountains and shook the depths of the ocean. A call that made the evil weep and the strong roar! A call... That all Crusaders looked to the west for once it sounded.
Loyalty, honesty,
Pipsqueak, smallest of any colt his age yet dashing all the same, chipped away at a piece of wood while whistling a jaunty tune to himself. But his chipping halted on a dime when he heard 'The Call'... In a swift motion, he bucked the piece of wood he was working on aside and galloped out into the meadows outside of Ponyville; leaving behind without a goodbye to his dark home.
We'll stay together,
Through thick or thin.
Twist, worker and proud honorary of the Cake Family, gave a customer she finished baking for a broad smile from over the counter. The customer smiled back, but Twist hadn't noticed. Instead, all her senses were absorbed into her ears when she heard 'a call'. A call that made her swing her hooves up and knock the collection of baked goods onto the customer before Twist herself jumped over the counter and broke for the exit without a second thought.
Friends forever,
We'll be together,
Rumble, swift and true among the junior pegasus fliers, lifted himself up and down from the grassy floor as he performed a few wing-ups. Under his labored breath, a voice heavy and cracking with tire, he sounded off the number ten before collapsing onto the unforgiving land. He huffed and puffed in his weakness after a workout for a good moment. A moment that ended when he 'heard it'. Suddenly, his body abandoned all desire to rest and his wings shot wide to begin his assent into the air.
We're on top,
Cause we play to win.
Dinky Hooves, the dullest crayon in the box they say, looked at the reflection of herself in the mirror for a good while. A tilt of her head this way and that seemed to not get what she was looking for out of herself. Her eyes dropped a second as she sighed sadly. However, sadness and despair drained from her as courage and excitement took root. Excitement that was sparked when from outside her home, she heard 'a sound'. The sound of titans! Of heroes and the like! A sound that made her beyond excited to the point that she didn't even care that she was now breaking out from her second story window and was being sent plummeting to the street below.
Apple Bloom braced herself again, her lungs tired and on fire from the last few calls she did. Yet, she had to do it... It was the call of the Crusaders! She took in a powerful breath one last time and shouted at the top of her lungs from the clubhouse: "YER' IN TROUBLE IF YA' DON'T GET TO THE CLUBHOUSE RIGH' NOW!" The Call... Of the Crusaders.