Going up?
The air in Manehattan was filled with excitement and energy as New Years Day drew ever closer. Though this did nothing to stifle the bone chilling temperatures that would force most sane ponies into the nearest building. The streets were filled with ponies wearing festive costumes and whacky clothing, playing in the snow, or making their way to the nearest store to get great deals before the year closed.
In the midst of this cold chaos, four fillies made their way to a street corner where they had a good view of where the majority of the crowd was going, Celestia Square. Towards the center, they could make out a stage, a few street performers and other attractions that ponies flocked towards. But the one thing that stood out the most was a giant, crystalline ball at the top of a pole, which stood atop one of the buildings in the center of the square.
“Well, there it is,” Babs Seed pointed towards the ball. “The Celestia Square New Years Ball.”
“Wow,” Apple Bloom said. “Look at the size of that thing!”
“And you said that it’s lit up at night?” Scootaloo asked.
“Yep, it’ll be lit up tonight,” Babs Seed nodded. “And it’ll be lowered during the last sixty seconds of the year.”
“How did they get that thing up there in the first place?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Actually, that one’s been up there for a few years now,” Babs Seed said. “I heard that they keep it there for the year, and raise it on New Years Eve. But I hear it’s been fitted with some fancy crystals from the Crystal Empire this year. That oughta’ be somethin’ special to see tonight!”
Babs looked back to her Ponyville friends as they stared at the giant orb in awe and wonder. Apple Bloom was wearing a red scarf that matched her mane, and a pair of pink earmuffs to match her bow. Sweetie Belle’s mulberry and white scarf accomplished the same thing. The only one who broke this trend was Scootaloo, who sported a sky blue scarf that went well with her orange coat, along with her snow white earmuffs. Babs Seed put a hoof to the green scarf around her own neck, a Hearth's Warming gift from her cousins, embroidered with bright red apples at the ends.
“Thanks again for the scarf Apple Bloom,” Babs Seed said, running the soft material through her hoof. “I love how it matches my eyes, and it’s so soft!”
“Aw, it was nothin’” Apple Bloom blushed. “If anything, we should be thankin’ you. Today was so much fun!”
Throughout the day, Babs Seed had taken her friends on a small tour of Manehattan. They had gone to the park, met the Manehattan CMC, played in the snow, and did some sledding and ice skating. The final item on the list was seeing the New Years Ball up close, or at least as close as they could, given the ever-growing crowd around the building.
“Yeah, today’s been fun and all, but I kinda wanna head back,” Sweetie Belle shivered. “It’s freezing out here.”
“Sounds good,” Babs Seed nodded. “Besides, we’ll still be able to see the ball drop from the apartment.”
Apple Bloom looked at the growing crowd near the ball. “How long have those ponies been standin’ out here? It’s still in the afternoon for Celestia’s sake!”
“I’ve heard that some ponies have been out here since eight this morning,” Babs Seed replied.
“What! You mean they’ve been standing out here in the ten degree weather since eight o’clock today?” Scootaloo asked, baffled at what she just heard.
Babs shrugged, “The things ponies will do for good seats, I guess.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders took the F-train subway back to Babs’ apartment complex in Farrier Hill. The whole trip back, they talked about what they got over Hearth’s Warming, as well as ideas for New Years resolutions. Indeed, New Years Eve was a time for ponies to look back and think about all they’ve accomplished, and how they could improve themselves in the coming year. For most fillies and colts however, it was an excuse to stay up far past their normal bedtime without any reprimanding from adults.
“I think I’ll make a resolution to learn how to cook,” Sweetie Belle thought aloud. “Maybe take some lessons from Rarity when she has time.”
“Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom put a hoof on her back. “I think we ALL would support you in that endeavor.”
Everypony chuckled as Babs called the elevator. “I think you wrote to me about that once. How bad is your cooking Sweetie Belle? I’m not exactly that great myself.”
“Well, I—”
“She managed to burn some orange juice, and made some bubbling charred goop she called toast,” Scootaloo butted in.
Babs Seed just stared at Sweetie Belle. “How...is that possible?”
“Oh, come on!” Sweetie Belle threw her hooves up. “That was years ago! I’ve gotten better...kinda!”
The fillies laughed as they entered the elevator.
“So, what do they do for New Years back in Ponyville?” Babs Seed asked as she pushed the button for her floor.
“Well, the Mayor hosts a party at Town Hall,” Apple Bloom said as the doors closed. “Then at midnight, they shoot off some fireworks to celebrate the New Year.”
“I remember last year, we took out a bunch noisemakers and tinsel and made a mess of the living room,” Scootaloo said. “My aunts gave me some tinsel and a horn, and just said to go nuts. That was fun...until we had to clean it all up the next morning.”
“Maybe we should come to your house next year,” Babs suggested.
All of a sudden, the elevator stopped and the lights turned off, plunging the lift into an eerie darkness. A few moments later the lights flickered back to life, and the elevator continued its journey up.
“What was that all about?” Apple Bloom asked nopony in particular.
“Power surge maybe?” Babs Seed shrugged.
“Um, what’s wrong with the floor lights?” Sweetie Belle pointed to the top of the door. The lights that indicated what floor the elevator was on had stopped working.
“Huh, guess something must have gotten fried,” Babs Seed pressed the button for the 7th floor again, but even the button lights wouldn’t work. “Weird…”
The elevator slowed to a stop. “Oh well, I’ll know when we get to our stop, there’s that modern art piece just outside the door,” Babs Seed assured everpony. As the door opened, the elevator seemed to get hotter and more humid. Outside of the elevator was a large, overgrown jungle.
“What the…” Apple Bloom trailed off. A rumbling filled the air as a massive T-Rex stumbled into view. Everypony jumped back as it leaned back and let out a long, loud roar. The door closed as the dinosaur turned towards the elevator.
“Whoahoho!” Scootaloo laughed. “Babs, why didn’t you tell us about this? Is this something the apartment does for New Years?”
“Wicked special effects,” Sweetie Belle nodded.
“Um…” Babs Seed stared at the door. “That’s not normal.”
“No kiddin’ its not,” Apple Bloom chuckled. “We should ask Twilight how it’s done. Maybe we can—”
“No, I’m bein’ serious!” Babs Seed grabbed Apple Bloom. “This isn’t some New Years prank the landlord pulls!”
Apple Bloom’s smile quickly dropped. “Say what?”
The elevator bell dinged, and the doors opened to a grassy plain dotted with a few trees. The only thing separated this landscape from the ones in postcards was the fact that everything seemed to be block shaped...even the sun.
“Suddenly, I feel like I’ve spent too much time at the arcade…” Sweetie Belle said.
An odd creature waddled into view. It was tall, green, kind of skinny, had four feet all close together, and much like the surrounding landscape, looked like it was made out of various blocks. The creature turned towards the elevator, looking at the fillies with its two empty looking eyes black eyes, and a large mouth turned into an open frown.
“Uh...what is that thing?” Apple Bloom backed up as the creature got closer to the elevator.
“Maybe it’s friendly?” Sweetie Belle hesitantly suggested.
The creature stopped in front of the doors. It began to flash, slightly inflate, and make a noise akin to a burning fuse before exploding, leaving behind a blocky crater. The fillies starred at said crater as the doors closed, watching several small blocks of dirt spin in place.
As the elevator continued its journey, Apple Bloom broke the silence. “What?!” she shouted.
The elevator doors opened once again, this time to a fancy looking room, where an Earth Pony stallion and a Unicorn mare were in a heated argument.
“Honey, you need to calm down,” the stallion said.
“Don’t tell me to be calm!” the mare yelled. “You tell me the truth!”
“Who are these ponies?” Apple Bloom whispered to Babs, who could only shrug.
“I keep telling you, they were standard business trips—” the stallion began.
“And SHE just happens to be there, during EVERY SINGLE ONE!” the mare screamed.
“She’s my secretary, of course she’s gonna be there.” The stallion approached the mare. “Just listen to me for a second and—”
The mare lit up her horn and pulled a crossbow from behind a shelf, leveling it at the stallion. “I’m done listening! Don’t take another step.”
“Uh oh…” Sweetie Belle whispered with more than a hint of panic in her voice.
Everypony looked to Scootaloo, who was at the button panel rapidly pressing the button to close the doors.
“You don’t have the guts...” they heard the stallion calmly say. A moment later, a loud THUNK was heard. Everypony looked up to see a crossbow bolt embedded in the wall behind them. All four fillies heads whipped back to the dramatic scene before them. The stallion was close to the Unicorn mare, his hoof having pushed the crossbow out of the way. They stared longingly into each others eyes for several long moments before the stallion said, “You are the only one I will ever love…”
The mare’s horn dimmed as she dropped the crossbow. The two ponies embraced in a passionate kiss as the doors closed, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders released a collective breath they didn’t know they were holding.
“That was really scary!” Sweetie Belle said, putting a hoof to her rapidly beating heart.
“That looked like something straight out of one of those dramas on record my Aunt Lofty is always listening to on Friday nights,” said Scootaloo.
The elevator doors opened once again, this time to a rather dark, and strange place. There were no lights in the sky, if one could even call it that, save for a small white star desperately trying to pierce through the endless darkness that surrounded the place. Floating in the inky blackness were large pieces of black shale, forming strange islands and structures which floated in the air. The Cutie Mark Crusaders could also see several ruins floating around, and at one point Apple Bloom could have sworn she saw some strange type of whale swimming through the murk. The place seemed to be less of a landscape and more like some strange void.
“It’s so cold here,” Babs Seed shivered quietly.
There was a whooshing noise, like someone had blown out a candle, and a young man appeared on a shale outcropping in front of the elevator, his back turned to them. He wore a brown coat, blue pants, black boots, and had brown hair. Darkness seemed to ooze from his very being as he stared out into the void. He turned toward the elevator, staring at the fillies with his black eyes, a look of surprise etched across his smooth face.
“Who are you?” the man asked in an empty, yet curious voice. “How did you get here?”
Before the fillies could utter a word, the doors closed and the elevator continued its ever strange journey upwards.
When the elevator doors opened again, this time to a young man with red hair, dancing on a stage behind a microphone. The man had a smile on his face as he began to sing an old pop song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
As the song ended, the doors closed. For a few moments there was silence, until Sweetie Belle began to hum the tune they just heard. “That was kinda catchy, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, kinda sounds like something my dad would like,” Babs Seed nodded.
“Eh, it was alright,” Scootaloo shrugged. “But...it kinda got under my skin.”
“What, you didn’t like it?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“It’s not that, it was a decent. It just...kinda annoyed me for some reason. I can’t quite put my hoof on it.”
“I think I know what you mean,” Apple Bloom piped in. “Listenin’ to that...it kinda made me feel like I was duped or somethin’.”
“Yes, exactly!” Scootaloo said.
The elevator slowed to a stop once more, and the doors slid open to reveal a short hallway leading to a blue wall. Judging by the smell of fresh paint, and the heavy cloth laid out on the floor, it was clear that the wall was painted only recently.
“So…” Apple Bloom trailed off. “Is this it?”
“Yeah, this is a bit boring,” Scootaloo said.
“Seriously?” Babs Seed turned to Scootaloo. “After everything that’s happened, you’re complaining about one of these whacky stops as bein’ too borin’?”
“Well, I don’t know. I guess I was just expecting something at least a little interesting to happen.”
As if the elevator was listening, the floor opened up beneath them. Everypony screamed as they fell onto a polished, metal slide. The slide looped around and around, twisting in circles and zig zagging them every which direction. The fillies pressed their hooves into the slippery surface in an attempt to slow down, but it was useless as they seemed to go faster with every twist and turn they hit. After a long ride, the slide leveled out, depositing the Cutie Mark Crusaders back into the elevator in a small heap.
Scootaloo, having ended up on her back, looked back towards the door. She stared up at the chute they just slid down as the doors closed. “Okay…” she started. “That was a little too interesting.”
“Okay, this is gettin’ ridiculous!” Apple Bloom got up and straightened out her scarf.
‘Yeah!” Sweetie Belle piped in. “Pardon my Prench, but what the [BEEP] is going—” She paused, looking around the elevator. “Did...anypony else just hear that beeping noise?” She turned to her friends who stared at her like her hair was on fire. “What?”
“Um...there was a black square in front of your mouth just a second ago,” Apple Bloom said, motioning towards her mouth.
“What the [BEEP] are you talking—” Sweetie Belle’s head darted left to right.
“There it was again!”
“Is this [BEEP]ing elevator [BEEP]ing censorin’ us!” Babs Seed said. She then stuck her tongue out, trying to wipe something off of it.
“You alright there Babs?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I don’t know, I got this weird soapy taste in my mouth.”
When the elevator slowed down, the Cutie Mark Crusaders grew tense. They prepared themselves for whatever craziness the elevator might throw at them. The doors opened up to what looked like a filly’s birthday party in a bakery. Fillies and colts ran around playing games and eating any number of sugary treats.
“Huh...well this ain’t so bad,” Apple Bloom nervously chuckled, trying not to tempt fate.
“Wait, doesn’t this look an awful lot like Sugar Cube Corner?” Sweetie Belle asked. “And don’t a lot of these ponies look like some of our classmates?”
Apple Bloom looked up to see Snips and Snails over by a bowl of punch, and Twist dancing to a song on the dancefloor.
“Why do I feel like I’ve seen this before?” Apple Bloom thought aloud. She felt a light tapping on her side. “What?” Apple Bloom turned to Scootaloo, who merely pointed back towards the party. Apple Bloom followed her hoof towards a table at a corner of the room. There she saw...herself, along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, all without their Cutie Marks.
“So I was thinking,” the blank flank Apple Bloom began. “Now that we’re friends...I mean, we are friends, right?”
“How could we not be?” Scootaloo asked. “We're totally alike. We don't have cutie marks, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon drive us crazy—”
“Totally crazy!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.
The three new friends shared a laugh before Apple Bloom continued. “Well, now that we're friends, what if the three of us work together to find out who we are and what we're supposed to be?”
“Ooh! Ooh!” Sweetie Belle put a hoof up. “We could form our own secret society.”
“I’m liking this idea,” Scootaloo nodded.
“A secret society,” Apple Bloom smiled. “Yeah. We need a name for it though.”
“The Cutie Mark Three?” Scootaloo suggested.
“The Cutastically Fantastics?” Sweetie Belle offered.
“How about…” Apple Bloom shot up. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders?”
“It’s perfect!” Scootaloo said.
“This is gonna be so great!” Sweetie Belle said.
“We’re gonna be unstoppable!” Apple Bloom declared.
“What do you say we celebrate with some of these delicious cupcakes?” Scootaloo balanced a blue cupcake on her nose before setting it down on the table.
“Not the cupcakes,” Apple Bloom stopped Scootaloo from taking a bite from one of the atrocities of baking she helped make earlier. “Trust me.”
“Let’s see if there are any cookies,” Sweetie Belle suggested.
“Yeah! Come on.” Apple Bloom said, leading her new friends towards the snack table.
Meanwhile, the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the elevator watched their blank flank selves run off into the party, enjoying the first of many fun days together, as the doors closed.
Babs Seed looked from the elevator doors to her Ponyville friends, and back to the door. “Apple Bloom...was that—”
“The day I first met Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom finished, tears starting to fill her eyes. “The day we founded the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
“That was Diamond Tiara’s cute-ceañera,” Scootaloo remembered. “Who would’ve thought that she would end up helping us get our Cutie Marks in the end.”
“Good times...good times,” Sweetie Belle said longingly. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom nodded.
Babs Seed stared at them with a raised eyebrow. “You all sound like a bunch of old mares. You bring some crochet needles too?”
Apple Bloom gaped at her cousin before lightly punching her in the shoulder. “You jerk!” she laughed.
“Way to kill the mood Babs!” Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
As everypony laughed Sweetie Belle noticed something odd. “Hey girls...does it feel like this thing is going faster?”
Indeed, everypony felt a flutter in their stomachs as the elevator seemed to go faster and faster. “Uh...Babs?” Apple Bloom said, getting closer to everypony as they huddled together. The elevator continued to ascend faster, to the point where it started to shake. A few tense moments passed as the four fillies clutched onto each other before the elevator slowed to a stop, and all grew quiet. The elevator doors silently opened to one of the most beautiful sights anypony could behold. Below them, the planet of Equis stood out amongst the black void of space, along with the countless stars that decorated it.
“Whoa…” Babs Seed breathed. “Is that...what I think it is?”
“Are we really in outer space?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Um, Sweetie Belle…” Scootaloo said, sounding concerned.
“What?” Sweetie Belle turned to Scootaloo. For a moment, she was wondering why she had to look down at Scootaloo, and why she suddenly felt lighter. Looking down, she became alarmed when she realized her hooves were no longer touching the ground!
“Whaaa!” Sweetie Belle yelled, flailing her hooves helplessly as she floated in zero gravity. Looking around, she could see her friends having various degrees of freak outs as the laws of physics decided to take a quick siesta.
“Well, I reckon this answers your question!” Apple Bloom said as she struggled to right herself, having been turned upside down in an attempt to hold on to the side bars.
“This is so cool!” Scootaloo yelled as she pushed off the wall, aiming for a straight flight towards the opposite side of the elevator, but somehow managed to turn herself over. Flailing her legs, she pinballed off the wall and into Apple Bloom and Babs Seed. Everypony stared at each other, and the strange predicament they found themselves in, and laughed. They floated around the elevator, trying to catch one another or do tricks, or just stopping to admire the view. Before long though, the doors closed, and everypony was unceremoniously dropped back onto the ground.
“Aw, come on!” Apple Bloom groaned. “Could’ve left us just a few more minutes.”
“Yeah, honestly,” Scootaloo said, rubbing her head.
Everypony felt a lurch in their stomachs once again as the elevator moved. Only instead of up, the elevator seemed to be going down, at a rather rapid pace. “Oh, what now?” Babs Seed grabbed onto the side bars as the elevator began to shake again. Everypony gripped onto the side bars for dear life as the elevator seemed like it would rock itself apart at any moment.
“I WANT OFF THIS CRAZY THING!” Apple Bloom yelled as she squeezed her eyes shut. A few moments afterwards, the lift quickly decelerated, until it came to a stop. The doors opened to reveal a short hallway. On the wall directly in front of the elevator, was a colorful juxtaposition art piece.
“Huh, sweet painting,” Scootaloo remarked.
“Wait, isn’t this…?” Babs Seed trailed off, her eyes going wide. “Everypony out, now!”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders leaped out of the door, not even sparing the elevator a glance as it closed behind them.
“Oh sweet Celestia, thank you!” Sweetie Belle slumped against the wall.
As the fillies took a moment to collect themselves, Apple Bloom shot a glare towards the elevator. “Alright, for my resolution, I think I’m gonna avoid all elevators like the plague. All in favor?”
The remaining Crusaders gave off a resounding “Aye!”.
“Yeah,” Babs Seed nodded. “Why don’t we just...get to my place before something else happens, alright?”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders murmured their agreement, trudging along the hallway towards Babs Seed’s apartment.