Sweet Apple Acres was a sweet, rich little retreat, as its name would lead you to believe, it was a place that represented working for your family and keeping committed to what you do. The sun warmed the air gently and the clouds remained clear over the farm, thanks to Rainbow Dash working overtime the night before. The trees were getting their much-needed bathing in sunlight to grow and the field’s gentle scent smelt of the fresh blades of grass that flourished in the ground. The birds tweeted softly, nesting in the soft leaves of the apple tree branches; which swayed lazily in the caressing breeze.
Applejack woke up as the sun shone through her bedroom curtains; she slowly opened her eyes as the light shone through her eyelids. She sat up in bed, stretching out her hooves with the refreshing satisfaction of a good night’s sleep. She glanced at the time for a moment, expecting no surprise as the clock ticked by the hour. 11am.
She gasped and her eyes went wide. Falling into a panic, she immediately leaped out of her bed, shocked by such a late reading on the clock. She threw the duvet covers aside, galloping through the heavy oak door of her room and down the splintering floorboards of the old staircase. She had overslept again. She was muttering to herself as she raced down the steps.
“Just what an’ the heck is goin’ on with me?”
She shook her head in disbelief of the time, with her eyes rolled up to her head, uttering what was the most on her mind:
“An’ why did nopony try to wake me up?”
Applejack ran into the kitchen and took out a plain white bowl from the cupboard. After snatching some milk from the fridge, she sat down at the ancient, stained dining room table, swallowing a mouthful of cornflakes from the bowl of cereal, before taking another spoonful and loudly crunching on them. Still buzzing with adrenaline and angry that her wake-up call was from the late morning sun and not from her brother, she soon jumped off the chair and rushed to the door, leaving the breakfast bowl behind. Grabbing her Stetson as she passed by the hall, she burst through the front door into the light outside. The lush, green fields and trees shone colour and freshness upon her figure. Applejack took a long, deep breath of the sweet air to immediately let it out in an angered cry.
“MAC!!”
The birds scampered from the trees at the outburst. A deep, southern-accented voice shouted out from behind her. Applejack turned around to face where it came from.
“Ahm right here, sister. What’s the big idea with all ya shoutin’?”
“Why didn’t you wake me up when I was sleepin’? How could you have forgotten? Is it really that hard to wake me up?!”
Macintosh glared at his sister, he tried hard to resist raising his voice at her unjust expectations.
“Who d’ya think I am, your babysitter?! It’s your responsibility, Applejack, and thanks t’you, we’re behind on buckin’!”
All fell silent. Thankfully, Mac rarely showed signs of anger, but when he did, nopony dared to mess with him. His coat burned redder than usual, a sign that he was on the edge of losing his temper.
Applejack clenched her teeth and her eyes grew as wide as dinner plates. Mac grew wary, assuming fear; he lowered his voice, breaking the tension of the moment by returning to his usual quiet, mild-mannered state.
“I didn’t wake you so you could learn to get up on your own without me spoon-feeding you all the time. I know it’s hard to break a habit, but you gotta try to be disciplined about gettin’ out of bed.”
Applejack remained stiff in shock.
“You sayin’ we’re already behind on buckin’??
“Eeyup.”
“Ahhh shoot!”
She stomped hard with her hoof, burying it in the grass.
“C’mon Mac, we need to work. Right now! Double-time! I have an order to fill by this afternoon and I’m not letting it slip away!”
Applejack hadn’t heard a word of her brother’s concerns for her. Mac shook his head as he saw Applejack take off to her first apple tree of the day.
“…This is why you need to calm down, AJ. Since when did panickin’ ever solve anythin’ on this farm?”
He muttered to himself, something he often did just to give himself some company as he worked. Mac retreated to the barn for a moment to wheel out the applecart. He quickly strapped himself into the harness and galloped to catch up with his sister. Applejack was always eager to begin, and was already bucking hard against the first tree as Mac caught up, apples raining down from the branches and onto the grass. The stallion began collecting them to put inside the crates, wiping a drop of sweat from his brow as he did so.
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Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo overheard the shouting from Applejack. They all sat inside the old tree house at the back of the farm. The little room was very minimalist. The walls were made of nothing more than the wooden boards that held the roof over their heads. A crudely hoof-drawn map of Ponyville was tacked to the wall opposite the single-glazed window looking out to the house. A rug was on the floor that the Crusaders had lain down on so they didn’t get splinters from the floorboards. The team hadn’t been on any escapades for a couple of weeks. The group meeting was calling for another adventure, but the shouting outside had them preoccupied.
“I hope AJ’s alright,”
Scootaloo gazed through the window towards the barn, distracted.
“Scoot?”
A young voice called her down from the windowsill. As the small pegasus turned away from the window, she looked towards Applebloom sitting on the corner of the rug. As Scootaloo sat down on the opposite corner, the earth pony began to speak.
“Applejack’s been actin’ real strange these last few days. Ah swear the hard work’s makin’ her sick! Working on the farm is real hard and all, but now its goin' way over AJ’s head. It isn’t just affecting her that she’s real stressed: she’s been so cold towards me. Ah hate to sound like a baby, but she ain’t told me a story in like 4 whole days. As much as ah tell her ah don’t want any of ‘em, ah still love it when she tells me a good pony’s tale.”
Scootaloo sniggered immaturely, holding her hooves over her mouth in an attempt to conceal it. Sweetie Belle scowled at the pegasus making her feel guilty, but Applebloom carried on speaking.
“She’s so worried about her work that ah’m almost scared to see her. Like ah’m an inconvenience, y’know? I don’t want her to be mad at me for being in her way. I just want her to be happy for me, but she hates me now. It's like, she cares more for her work than she does for any of us. Me, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, she just doesn’t see us as a family no more. She sees us more like workers and slaves. What happened to her? What am ah' supposed to do?”
Applebloom slumped down into the old rug. Seeing her friend in such a state was heart-wrenching for Sweetie Belle. She sat down next to the earth pony’s small frame and rested her hoof around Applebloom. She knew exactly how she felt.
“Rarity is like that too. I know what it’s like and it’s made me sad. But you know what’ll fix this mess? Go talk to her. It works all the time. I know she doesn’t mean any harm to me and I know for sure that AJ wouldn’t want you to be sad either.”
Applebloom took in the words for a moment.
“Really? Do you really know how mean she’s been?”
“Well, I can relate. Rarity doesn’t want me to be anywhere near anything when she’s working, like I’m some sort of accident waiting to happen. But she means well. Sometimes you just gotta let ponies do their own thing and they’ll come round.”
“… ah hope so…”
She hid her face in her hooves, knowing that the idea had worked for Sweetie Belle in the past, and there was no reason to think that this would be any different.
She looked up at Sweetie Belle smiling weakly, grateful for her concern. It took a lot to make her smile these days, even just for a moment, and she was glad to have somepony who was capable of listening.
Scootaloo reached her hooves around them both to give them a hug. It was what everypony needed and they both appreciated it. After a brief, happy moment, the three of them broke off the embrace. It had been too long since they had shared something like that.
Applebloom remembered why they were there in the first place.
“So what’ll we do now? We haven’t had a crusade for a while and we’ve explored all of Ponyville.”
It had been Scootaloo’s idea to bring them to the tree house, so she could unveil her new plan in secret. A grin crept up her face, and she announced her grand proposal loud and clear.
“Yep, we’ve been everywhere in Ponyville. So now it's time to go... to Canterlot! It's time to find out who we are once and for all and get our cutie marks there!”
Applebloom lifted a hoof in an urgent protest.
“Canterlot?? But it’s so far away! AJ would be worried sick if ah left town an’ got that far…”
She looked at the map of Ponyville. It was a crudely drawn thing: a piece of scrunched up paper marked with coloured crayons.
“… How would we even get there anyway? We don’t have any bits to travel there.”
Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement. Rarity wouldn’t be too pleased if she left Ponyville either. However, Scootaloo’s spirits were far from dampened. She had been expecting a negative reception for her ambitious plan, and prepared her reasoning for going so far out of town.
“Here’s why I say we go there: Canterlot is full of powerful unicorns. They must have all sorts of talent and Sweetie Belle could get her cutie mark for sure if we go there. Who knows what she could learn? I mean, Ponyville isn’t really the right place because there isn’t enough stuff to do with magic here. Unless it has something to do with studying some old books in a library, and we all know how that turned out when we tried it…”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes at the memory of going through piles and piles of ancient, dusty hardback books. She puzzled over how Twilight Sparkle even got a buck out of doing that sort of thing day after day.
“…We gotta go to where the action is to find out who we really are and Canterlot’s that place for sure. After all, if we don’t try, how would we ever know? How would we ever discover new things if we don't go looking for them?”
Sweetie Belle tried to poke a hole in the pegasus’ plan.
“How do you suppose we get there, Scoot? The only real way to get there is chariot or the train. And we don’t have any bits.”
“Pfft…we can just get there on the scooter. Even if it is real far away, you know how fast the scooter is. Come on. We’ll be back before Applejack and Rarity know anything about it.”
Scootaloo was already leaving the tree house. She strolled to the edge of the doorway and jumped down into the foliage below with a soft thud. Sweetie Belle jumped down after her and approached the orange pegasus.
“Well... ok, as long as it won’t be for too long, Rarity’s out of town so we can sneak past the house. I’m not sure where she’s gone though, or how long she’ll be out. She never said…”
Back in the treehouse, Applebloom tore the map off the wall that would take them to Canterlot. She didn’t know why exactly, but she had a feeling that she would regret going out to the city. With the state Applejack was in, she just hoped nopony did anything too reckless. Scootaloo grabbed the scooter from the other side of the tree as Applebloom clambered down the ladder with the map in her mouth.
As soon as the trio embarked onto the scooter, the eager pegasus fired up her wings and began to zip out of the farm. It took mere moments as their clubhouse was right at the back of the farm and away from Applejack’s line of sight.
The scooter roared down the path towards the built-up city far into the distance. Scootaloo cheered triumphantly at the start of an exciting new journey.
“Cutie Mark Crusaders away!”
______________________________________
Rainbow Dash hadn’t seen that little pipsqueak Scootaloo for a few days, and as far as she was concerned: good riddance. She found the young filly irritating, and even though she knew that pony aspired to be just like her, her biggest fan's constant attention would be no help with Dash’s current situation. Perhaps later she could do with a few cheers… The thought of the attention made Rainbow grin smugly for a moment, although it didn't last long as she remembered where she was going. She was flying to the Pegasus city of Cloudsdale in order to pay a long overdue debt - reconciliation with her oldest friend.
Rainbow had been close to Gilda for as long as memories last and losing a playmate she had known for so long was something she could never dare to do. She wasn’t doing this just because she was the Element of Loyalty. In fact, that title seemed almost meaningless now. As she flew on, her thoughts turned to what had happened the last time they met.
Perhaps she had been in the wrong to turn Gilda down and pull those pranks on her that time. She knew that the griffon was up for a good joke; at least, she had said so herself. But there are only so many pranks anypony could be on the receiving end of before it goes too far and it begins to cause upset: even for class clown, there’s a limit.
Dash sighed as she effortlessly soared through the sky. She could sympathise with Gilda's actions after being made fun of. She hated being on the receiving end too. But at the same time, it wasn’t cool to say that she hated being pranked. In Gilda’s position, where coolness and inspiring ponies with her awesomeness was the ultimate virtue, it would’ve been impossible to confess that she was upset.
Her attitude could’ve just been a simple misunderstanding on the ponies' part: maybe Gilda just wanted to keep appearances up by putting on a brave face for the party, so nopony’s moment of fun was ruined. Perhaps she was misunderstood. Gilda didn’t really have bad intentions. She had just been forced into a corner that she couldn’t back out of, into a test that she feared to fail, and she had inevitably snapped under the immense pressure. All of this just meant one thing to Dash: she really needed to talk to Gilda.
The blue pegasus eventually reached the main Nimbus cloud for the landing ponies and trotted into the blue and white world of the city that she had grown up in. She knew the place well, which was vital, as the maze of white clouds made every corner look the same. As Rainbow hurried along, a few passers-by turned their heads to follow the striking beauty of her multicoloured mane and tail that were blew gracefully in the high winds. Some ponies believed that her colours were created by her inherent magic. Dash was used to the attention she received, and normally enjoyed the ‘legends’ that would occasionally follow her, but all the chatter wasn’t important to her now. Her focus was her oldest friend, who meant a whole lot more to her than fellow pegasi massaging her ego.
______________________________________
For the rainbow factory, it was just another typical day of concocting formulae and potions. The pegasi workers all got on with their jobs of weaving magic into the multi-coloured liquids, to be processed in a phenomenon that was known to spark myth from its beauty. To anypony else, it was be an incredible sight to behold, but to the workers, it was just another day at their stations and offices. In the centre, there was a fountain where the rainbow fluid was stored, ready to be cast upon the sky wherever rain fell and Celestia's sun shone through. However, beside that lake of multicoloured chemicals was a familiar face. She had lain down on the factory floor right beside the main fountain. The factory workers knew who it was, but her beast-like nature and her legendary form kept helping hooves repelled. Nobody messed with Gilda, not even when she wasn’t meant to be there. Especially now, with a face of such fury, mere eye contact was not dared.
Gilda rested carelessly beside the fountain edge looking down into the rainbow pool, seemingly lost in bitterness and sorrow. She looked back into her memories of the blue pegasus along with the other fliers that were in flight school. When she and Dash were little, they grew up and matured with each other in a sisterly relationship, partners in crime for their dubious antics and renegades.
Since they had first laid eyes on each other, their bond together had been unbreakable. They shared all their time together. Like when she had retreated to a quiet place on the clouds to learn to fly and she fluttered her fluffy little wings for the very first time. It wasn’t from the help of her parents, but from Rainbow Dash giving her a helping hoof by sharing exercises together. Then there was the time she got Dash to fly for the first time, by throwing her with all her might, after hours of relentless exercising during their youthful rites after school.
She used to race with her every afternoon once they knew how to fly, tearing through the Cloudsdale streets two abreast, avoiding obstacles and swooping through fast, narrow alleyways with the wind their feathers. Gilda remembered the pure adrenaline that had coursed through her entire being back then. The danger had felt so euphoric, the risks they took as other pegasi trotted along nearby, having been dizzied by their blinding speed. They had been so close to being hurt, yet Gilda had never felt so alive in her life. Being in the fast lane felt so cool, so carefree. She had been living for the moment with her friend and she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. At the time it had seemed like it would last forever, but the past pleasures had ended, and now their relationship was on a knife edge. Not for grim death, but for the end of their unbreakable friendship.
Gilda felt hopeless, confused and depressed. She just wanted to be cool, it was all that she knew and the only thing that felt good. It felt like a complete betrayal that she was so quickly thrown in the dirt by Dash, along with the only good times she had ever had, just because she couldn’t get on with Dash’s new friends.
The mere thought of her new friends sickened Gilda’s stomach and lit a raging fire in the back of her head. She had been robbed. But she couldn’t let those sweet, blissful, completely unforgettable memories end and be reduced to nothing, left to crash and burn with their friendship. She saw a vision of Dash far off in the distance as the immediate surroundings of the factory slowly faded and disappeared, her eyes gently closing to rest.
Dash’s figure appeared clear in the darkness as a blue speck, growing larger and talking in a murmur that grew in the background as Gilda watched her draw nearer. The darkness of Gilda’s surroundings faded once again to become the brilliant blue of outside. It was a different place, but she recognised where she was. She was back in flight school again. Dash’s voice grew clearer to the point of almost being able to make out the words as she steadily approached. But Gilda didn’t even need to understand the words coming from her mouth. She knew what she was saying in that memory. The place she was in, why Dash was there and coming closer. It was a memory Gilda deeply regretted, the repercussions of which still followed her.
The griffon was standing in a corner, resting herself against the walls of the school building, alone. It was a moment in which she grieved for her parents, who had abandoned her from her birthplace of the Griffon Kingdoms to Cloudsdale. She had nothing for shelter other than the box and blanket she had been left with during that stormy winter night. The ice that embraced her box in the blizzard was all she could ever recall. She couldn’t even remember her parents' faces - as if they had never existed.
Her pegasus friend approached, looking at her with a weak smile, she kept talking in a murmur, but Gilda wouldn't listen. She was in such agony for what her parents had done to her as she yearned for their love and care. She just wanted to cry so damn much, but she couldn’t allow herself to let go. Crying in front of Rainbow Dash? How pathetic. Losing her cool because she was upset? That’s the lamest thing to happen to anypony.
“Gilda… are you okay?”
Her voice echoed in a numb haze of sound.
“I’m fine, Dash! Just leave me alone.”
“You don’t look so good. What’s up?”
Dash looked nervous, but the warmth of her presence gave Gilda an ember of warmth. She hid a weak smile. Those violet eyes, the rainbow stripes, her attitude. She felt herself slipping, she felt her armour begin to crack as Dash drew closer. The urge to cry grew alarmingly. She just wanted to show her feelings, but no. Crying, especially at school, was just not an option.
But Gilda’s heart continued to race with tension, her mind reaching meltdown, and she finally slipped, her feelings erupting. She felt her fear of showing feelings try to give in to the yearning to be rescued, but the hatred she felt for her parents was just too strong. The emotional battle raged inside her, but if it spilled out, all of it would happen right there, right then. And right in front of a pony she could never dare to hurt.
Gilda shoved Dash away and escaped, flying straight up towards the sun. Her friend never followed her. Never could she show her feelings to anypony, especially in public. Not then, not now. And as she climbed towards the blazing sun, the gold of its colour became a blinding whiteout, which descended down into the final blackout. Gilda opened her eyes.
She hated that memory. She could have let herself go and revealed her dark past, but at the terrible cost of her coolness for revealing her sensitive side. She hated herself to an inch of her life.
Now she had no opportunity to make up for it. Rainbow betrayed her by turning to her new friends. All that time, all those moments that she had enjoyed with Dash, all of it now seemed completely meaningless. It had crippled Gilda’s foundations.
She longed for a way that she could justify her forgiveness. Perhaps Dash just wasn’t being herself? The words that her friend had said to her were words that Gilda couldn’t understand. It just didn’t make sense. She couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary in her own actions, she had only been doing what she knew: protecting Rainbow Dash and gifting her with the joy of being the rainbow-coloured jewel on the sky’s crown, the most awesome pony around. Even if she wasn’t a Wonderbolt, she would always be the silver lining in the griffon's dark clouds. Dash was the only pony Gilda ever wanted to hold on to. She was her only outlet, the only protector she had from her demons, the only one who had the power to save her.
Deep down, she knew she was mean to everypony else. She knew she was horrible. But she couldn’t afford to let anypony else spirit Dash away. She was the only pony Gilda ever had and would ever need. Her existence was Gilda’s lifeline. All of those memories, all of those times they shared together. They meant everything to her, and not just that, but the sweet disposition of Dash’s soul too. Her friendliness, how she made Gilda feel good, how strongly they bonded as they both shared their lives together. It let Gilda know that she was important to somepony. That she had value, despite her parents leaving her to die. Dash was going to protect her from anypony who would dare to break that bond. But now, none of the protection mattered. For she had been betrayed by Dash for the very same evil that she swore to protect her from. The friendship they had had together had now reduced to ashes. Gilda’s life- reduced to nothingness.
The sight of the rainbow chemicals that surrounded her didn’t make the bitterness go away. She held her tears deep down, splashing the fountain with her claw in frustration. She hated Rainbow’s new friends. They had taken away what belonged to her, the one thing gave her life some happiness in the black shroud that was her past when she had nowhere to go and no one else to turn to.
She tried to think on what to do, but her mind was melting, deforming the foundations of the mighty, strong griffon, rebuilding itself on a devouring black hole that ate at her sanity. She needed her friend to save her, but her heroine was gone. The one and only voice left inside her called out, in one cold, bitter, twisted wave that breathed a death rattle for her spirit. Grown from hatred of the parents that left her to die, the voice screamed out for revenge, whatever the cost was. Gilda bared her teeth in anger and scored the stone floor with her vicious claws.
She zoned out of that horrid train of thought and quickly rose from her perch, scowling at the rainbow fountain once again. She turned to leave the factory, barging her way through the workers and knocking over equipment with her splayed wings. The workers did nothing to stop her; they merely dealt with it, being too afraid to get in her way.
She made it to the ever-blinding light of the midday sun outside; it meant nothing to her that the day was so brilliant and clear. As her eyes adjusted to the light with a flutter of her eyelids, she saw another familiar face in the sky as she looked up to take off. It was exactly who she was looking for, yet for the sake of her friend’s safety, exactly who she dreaded to meet.
______________________________________
Rainbow watched her oldest friend passing through the towering golden doors of the factory to leave the large structure. It was a friend that she hadn’t seen for a month, but it was exactly who she needed to meet. Dash swooped down to land on the surrounding clouds, treading carefully in Gilda’s direction. She weaved around, passing winged commuters as they stopped to look at her and continuing to ignore their stares. It was time for an overdue chat, but the blue pegasus was not at all prepared, as her little buddy was way beyond reasoning with words.
The journey to Canterlot was rocky and bumpy. The dirt tracks were heavily grooved from the wheels of chariots and pulverized by heavy hooves, creating potholes in the road. The path was treacherous and uncomfortable, but at least it was quiet. The other ponies that regularly travel down there must be preoccupied with their own professions to not commute on a road normally filled with traffic. This proved to be quite a relief for Scootaloo. Not so much for being held up in traffic that would’ve slowed the journey to Canterlot down, but more so that they were at less of a risk at being seen by somepony who would recognize them. If they discovered the crusader’s intentions, it would quickly end their crusade prematurely and once AJ would find out that they had gone so far away, the crusade they had embarked on could well be the last one they would ever do.
The other two fillies standing close behind Scootaloo as they stood on the scooter’s platform; they hadn’t brought the trailer with them as it was too difficult to carry. The crusaders took the time they had to reflect upon what they were to do in Canterlot. Especially Sweetie Belle, who was just as worried about Rarity coming back home as she was excited for the discovery of her talent.
Sweetie Belle had a one-sided conversation with Applebloom who was in front of her. But the earth pony looked glum; she repeatedly turned her head back towards Ponyville, feeling guilt for leaving her sister and brother behind on the farm.
“All of them unicorns, all of those things that they would be doing using their magic… I’m gonna try it all! I’ve got to!”
As Sweetie Belle exclaimed, she dug her hooves into Applebloom’s sides, causing her to jump and to turn her head around to face the unicorn.
“Think of what we could do there! Won’t it be awesome, Applebloom?”
She turned away to face the scooter’s main heading and sighed to herself.
“Well, lets just try an’ keep outta trouble. AJ can’t afford to go an’ rescue us if somethin’ goes wrong.”
Scootaloo indulged in her need for speed at the front of the scooter as the others chatted. Her wings were beating hard, forcing the wind behind her to propel the scooter along the long stretch of straight track. She grit her teeth and gripped her hooves hard onto the handlebars as the walls of Canterlot were approaching. The tracks became busier with other colts pulling chariots and carts; along with the blur of cherry trees; shrubs and wildflowers they were once rushing past, becoming the cobblestones of buildings and settlements. The center of Canterlot was within sight for Scootaloo; as her eyes peeked under the visor of her helmet, the walls that made up the entrance to the city had invited them to come inside.
As they passed through the gates, everything immediately felt so different compared to Ponyville; unicorns were rushing past one another without giving a single passing smile. Housing towered above the crusaders as they passed through the narrow alleyways that made up the Canterlot streets; it was a rather intimidating place for three mere fillies to be wondering around.
As the trio made their way, there was a brief clearing between the walls of the surrounding buildings. The clearing revealed Celestia’s castle within the mountain ranges. It contrasted the gray of the peaks and the green of the hills with its shimmering white walls; inspiration flashed in Applebloom’s eyes as she caught a glimpse such majesty. But the daydreaming was cut short by Sweetie Belle’s stern shoving as the trio reached the outskirts of the central plaza; it was completely filled with an army of oncoming unicorns. All of them were complete strangers, but yet, crusaders marched on, even Applebloom, who knew now that there was no turning back from Canterlot now.
“So how in Equestria are we gonna get our cutie marks here?”
Sweetie Belle struggled to shout over the crowd. Scootaloo followed closely behind her.
“Look around you! Surely there’s somepony here who can help us. We just need to look around the right place.”
The weight of the scooter dragging behind Scootaloo made keeping up with Sweetie Belle tiresome, not to mention the occasional pony tripping up over the scooter as it scraped along the cobblestone path.
But soon the trio were finally free from rushing commuters, as they had made it to the center of the square, for an opportunity to catch a breath. As Scootaloo made it to the inner circle with the others, she could be heard properly by everypony.
“Sweetie Belle! You can learn some magic here if we find a sorcerer pony of some kind”
Sweetie Belle smiled.
“Yeah, that’s a great idea! We’ll do that first then. But what about you guys? How are you going to get yours?”
Applebloom glanced at Celestia’s castle in the mountains before turning back to Sweetie Belle.
“Don’t worry about that right now, we’ll deal with that later. I have an idea if all else fails. Lets look for this sorcerer pony for now! After travellin’ this far, ah want to see this crusade deliver the goods! Let’s have a look around.”
Sweetie Belle cast a huge grin across her face. This could be it! This could be the day that her wish is granted! It lead her to wonder.
“Why didn’t we think of Canterlot before?”
The team pushed their way back into the relentless crowd of unicorns one last time. It was an equally tough slog, but the crusaders grasped their hooves together tightly, to prevent being separated as they hurried to keep up with Sweetie Belle. She lead the pack as she charged through the streets as the excitement welled up inside her; she believed she had finally fulfilled her ultimate wish.
The stalls that they all rushed past sold general goods, things such as apples, flowers and the occasional article of clothing.
The unicorns of Canterlot appropriately liked the style of magic robes and hats, but Sweetie Belle merely turned her head up as she smiled. Learning from Rarity, she recognized taste when she saw it. The glitter and stars that covered each robe were far too ostentatious for any working class pony; Applejack doing bucking in a dress like that? Sweetie Belle giggled.
But as they raced through the streets, with Scootaloo chasing after the other too on her scooter, the laughter slowly grew silent. As time wore on, searching for somepony who could help in each and every narrow alleyway within their sight, it seemed like their call wouldn’t be answered. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom dwelled on leaving their homes; Applebloom’s guilt for leaving Ponyville grew more and more for leaving Applejack behind on the farm with every alley they galloped through. Sweetie Belle wondered if Rarity would ever be back home again, but hopefully not before she would back first. Even after traveling all the way to Canterlot to have their wishes granted, their hope faded with every passing moment.
The crusaders soldiered on; they didn’t come to Canterlot to come back with nothing. Hungry, thirsty and exhausted, they walked down yet another unlikely alleyway, but what set this one apart was that a peculiar blue tent had been erected on the side of the street; the fabric was littered randomly with stars and swirl patterns. The crusaders staggered to the entrance, out of breath from running. Sweetie Belle pointed out the fluorescent lettering on the banner that hung above the entrance.
“’Great and Powerful Trixie- The Fortune Teller’s Tent’… hey, I know that mare.”
She scorned at the sign as she remembered that day in Ponyville...
“Some admirable pony she was. I’m not learning how to snake-charm a rope from somepony who’s a showoff.”
“Who dares talk about the Great and Powerful Trixie behind her back!? Don’t you foals think I’m not listening?”
The muffled shouting had come from inside the blue tent. Startled, Sweetie Belle blushed from embarrassment and guilt, swiftly turning her head back and forth between Applebloom and Scootaloo as if questioning what todo. But without a word spoken between the three of them, she nervously entered the blue tent to apologize to who shouted at her.
Scootaloo rested the scooter on the wall of the street, as she decided to enter the tent with Sweetie Belle; with Applebloom also following.
The inside of the tent was mostly bare, with nothing much more than a table and two cushioned chairs, as light with a blue-ish hue illuminated the room. On the center of the table was a large crystal ball resting on a small pillow, with a violet mist being seen through the ball. The air was warm and damp, but somewhat comfortable. At the end of the table, sitting at one of the chairs, Trixie sat enraged from such words being heard behind her back’ she growled angrily at the crusaders as she spoke.
“Just who do you think you’re dealing with here, some common little foal that allows such petty insults to be thrown at her? I am the great and powerful Trixie! Now get out of here before I banish you to your rightful place in the Everfree Forest!”
Her hat is lifted off her head with her magic to reveal her horn glowing angrily. It didn’t seem as though she was bluffing; she took great pride in her abilities of magic, so much so that she was willing to abuse it for her own cause.
Sweetie Belle stepped forward.
“Trixie, it was I. I said those things and I’m so sorry for upsetting you. I can understand that you’re angry, but please hear us out. We know that you need to be confident for your acts to be awesome and I’m sure that you’re not the arrogant pony I thought you were. You’re a great and powerful magician and I truly believe that you can help us!”
Trixie immediately stopped her magic and her hat fell back onto her head; Sweetie Belle was good with her words when it counted the most, even when the words she uses are what got her in trouble in the first place. The magician sneered to herself, her ego restored in its full. She maintained her composure despite almost losing it moments before.
“Yes, well, it is I, Trixie’s duty here, to show off her great power to help other ponies, so you are forgiven, young foal. So what brings you here? What do you want?”
Her arrogance and force of character was enough to get under anypony’s skin. But Applebloom stepped forward and stood by her friend’s intentions.
“We’re tryin’ to earn our cutie marks. Is there any way you can do any magic to help us? Can you teach Sweetie Belle here any magic to get our marks somehow?”
The unicorn laughed and pointed accusingly.
“That’s ridiculous! Nopony is capable of doing that! Earning your cutie mark is something you get when you’re great and powerful just like myself. You don’t get a cutie mark by cheating or cutting corners. As you’re all weak, do you really expect yourselves to get cutie marks at such a tender age? Hah! You’re all wasting your time asking me, so get out of here; I have other personal matters to attend to.”
A smoke bomb was set off inside the tent as she finished her offensive speech. As the smoke rose, she was nowhere to be seen; she had sneaked out the back of the tent as the fog lingered. The warm air inside the tent became acrid in scent from the chemicals of the bomb; making the three young ponies choke, they had no other option but to leave, Trixie had enough of their presence. As they left the tent to take in the fresh air, Sweetie Belle despite this, looked on at the situation, still believing there was hope.
“Come on, girls. We still have time to earn our cutie marks, Trixie probably couldn’t get out marks to appear permanently if she tried.”
But despite her forward thinking, Scootaloo’s belief in her withered, she commanded her outlook with pessimism.
“But what’s the point? There’s nothing for us left here; we have looked all over this town and Trixie was the only hope we had to get any results. We’re not finding our cutie marks today; let’s face it. C’mon, Let’s just go home and figure this out some other time.”
She climbed on board the scooter, expecting everypony else to embark.
“Hang on a second…”
Applebloom called out towards Scootaloo.
“I know this sounds crazy, but maybe we should head up there.”
The little yellow filly pointed a nervous hoof towards the hills, with the great castle overhanging in the mountainside. Even though the sight of the Celestia’s castle sparked her idea, she still wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked understandingly perplexed; surely she wasn’t talking about going up there was she?
“…Ah know, stupid suggestion. But they’re some powerful ponies in that place. Trixie doesn’t have the power, but Celestia sure will. Ah just saw the castle when we got to this town an’… ah just thought it’d be cool if we went there, y’ know?”
Scootaloo thought to herself about it and oddly, gave a smug smile.
“You’re right, that would be pretty cool. I guess I could do with a bit of danger right about now; how could I be following Dash’s footsteps if I didn’t live a little? Haha! After all, we’re all here for a reason. And the only way ponies get their cutie marks is to go against the odds, take risks, face fears, do the impossible! Darn, why didn’t I think of this? I’m in!”
Sweetie Belle’s voice came in from behind Scootaloo, she giggled as she stood there.
“You two have completely lost your minds… But then it is a pretty awesome idea; I’d do anything to get a cutie mark. Let’s face it, Scoot is right. If we’re gonna find ourselves, we gotta be brave and go for any chance we have. Let’s storm this castle!”
“Cutie Mark Crusaders: HOORAY!!”
The three ponies cheered merrily, they were all a bit scared; they didn’t know what could happen if they did put a foot wrong, but they learned from experience that the unknown could be holding a blessing for them.
The three fillies drew the attention of passers-by from the cheering, they didn’t know if they should be confused or to be somehow happy for them. As Scootaloo donned her blue bicycle helmet and the other two squeezed aboard the scooter; it wasn’t comfortable squeezing three fillies onto a standard-sized skateboard, but the crusaders knew it would’ve been impossible to walk around Canterlot with a trailer dragging behind them. Scootaloo was almost thankful of her forward planning.
The fillies followed the winding mountainside path towards the castle, the road was conveniently placed to be within sight from the town as it was the main road that royal figures and the guests for the Grand Galloping Gala would all take. The crusaders turned to wonder at the mountain peaks that loomed over the road. They were jagged and high, their peaks being obscured by cloud cover; the mountains seemed to be almost warning them to turn back. But the crusaders kept following the path that was magically carved out of the rock.
The crusaders couldn’t believe what they were about to do- to meet the great Princess Celestia and accomplish their mission and fulfill their pony rite of passage, defying the peril it could bring. But they where determined to get their what they desired, and storming Celestia’s castle seemed to be the most exhilarating way to do it.
The late afternoon loomed. The shadows from the sun were being cast upon the mountains, making the warnings from the mountains seem ever the greater, but with the destination nearing, the crusader’s excitement grew. Getting their cutie marks could be as easy as asking Princess Celestia kindly for a lend of her power; understandably, that was something to get excited about. The views were spectacular, being high up with the clouds meant that the crusaders could see everything from Canterlot’s bustling city square, all the way to the morbid summit of Midnight Castle, many miles away on its small its own island to the west. In short, vision was limited to the curvature of the planet itself and each view unfolded its own story.
Scootaloo sneered as the mountains finally gave up their secret of Celestia’s home. Within the gray of the earthy peaks, lay beautiful foliage and wildflowers, filling the air with a mild, sweet scent as they passed by. But before the crusaders had time to stop, they had made it to the final short pathway, where up ahead, the brilliant white walls that inspired Applebloom to come here were approaching front of them. Now the main gate of Canterlot castle and the crusader’s destiny, had finally met together in the same place and at the same time.
A guardspony was defending the gate as to be expected. Scootaloo stopped the scooter and the crusaders stepped off it in the most respectful manner they could towards the guard, who remained standing perfectly still. No reaction had come from the guard, even when three mysterious fillies had just taken the perilous path. He stood silently, waiting for the crusaders to make their move towards the royal walls.
As the three of them advanced, something didn’t feel right. It was strange how an establishment that housed such royalty and power seemed to be defended by one lone guard; either it was their tea break, or there could be some trickery in play. Applebloom may be young and ambitious, but she wasn’t naive. She wanted to turn back, but Sweetie Belle turned her head to the earth pony, smiling weakly in the hope to encourage her, but she was just as scared.
Scootaloo walked proudly and respectfully towards the guard, who had been scrutinizing the three filly’s every movement. He firmly stood his ground, looking straight ahead with a frown on his face; his golden armour gleaming in the waning sun. He waited for one of the ponies to cross a line in the dirt, in which he was instructed to practice his standard procedure. Scootaloo who was out in front was the first to step on the line.
“Halt! Not another move!”
The guard sternly shouted, breaking the intense silence, his voice echoing over the mountain range. Scootaloo jumped, the pressure on the trio was accelerating. The guard pony looked down upon them with angered eyes. Applebloom gulped and bravely stepped forward and tried to speak to the guard.
“Ummmm… Good afternoon good sir, we were just wonderin’ to see if there was anypony around who knows how to earn a cutie mark.”
The guard remained still and silent, without showing any of his confusion. He thought to himself:
“Why would they come here to ask for such a thing? Did Celestia ask for them to come here, three fillies and no escort for them? This seems fishy. One step closer and they’re out of here.”
Applebloom stammered as she talked, but if she wasn’t going to talk to the guard, who would? Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle practically hid behind her in fear.
“Is there a chance you could ah, you know… give us a hint to where we could ah… find somepony… who…who could help?”
There was no response. The guard merely stared at the yellow filly; but even he was unsure what to do.
“Ah, hello? Sir? Is there anypony there? We just need some help...”
Applebloom took another step forward. It was one step too far for the guard.
“HALT!”
The guards horn quickly began to glow angrily, with bright sparks jumping from it as Applebloom stepped beyond the line. The guard didn’t like doing this to anypony who could be innocent, but it was his orders. Nothing got past the line without punishment. The crusaders froze in fear; the guards power was enormous. Nothing could be done to stop him; fleeing would only make him release his power. The magic created an angry buzz as it grew stronger, the sparking beconing brighter and more frequent.
“Please, stop!”
Applebloom asked for forgiveness, even though what she had done eluded her. But the her request simply gave the guard more time to build up his power; begging would not get them out of this. Applebloom winced towards the others; fear had reduced her to a bystander of her own doom. But then having quickly accepted her fate, she calmly approached her friends from behind her to embrace them, getting a precious crumb of comfort that she wasn’t alone in all of this. As the guard was about to unleash the mysterious power along with whatever it would bring, Applebloom wished for her return home to never crusade again. Maybe, just maybe, things will turn out good in the end.
But than a sharp, piercing scream cut through the tension like a knife, causing everything that was happening to immediately cease. It was a feminine scream; a cry for help, but then soon after, a loud crash- the shattering of stained glass seemed to have come from the other side of the castle walls. The guardspony immediately relinquished his energies and turned around to peek through the castle gates. He swiftly darted his head around left and right, wondering where the alarming sounds could have come from.
Beyond the castle walls, the guardspony caught a glimpse of two passing shadows running away from the corner of his eye. He opened the royal gates, ready to run, but then he faced the crusaders and gave stern commands with a gruff and flustered tone.
“Celestia will not tolerate any disobedience from any of you! You will all stay exactly where you are! Understand?”
He chased after the shadows, leaving the crusaders with the opportunity to simply walk through the gates and inside the castle grounds. As the crusaders proceeded through hallowed walls, the mayhem that ensued inside the castle quickly became apparent. One of the beautiful stained glass windows to the right of the castle had been shattered, hoofprints had been stamped into the turf leaving the window, that headed in the direction of the elusive shadows.
The screaming, the struggle, breaching the castle walls with such ease, it made the adrenaline in Scootaloo begin to surge in excitement, As Applebloom and Sweetie Belle wondered at what had just happened, Scootaloo, relishing on the thrill, made herself a swift predicament.
“I bet it’s a thief that’s done this and I’m going to bring them to justice! That’ll show Trixie that we’re not weak! That’ll show the guards we’re good. Princess Celestia is going to be so pleased, she’ll have to give us our cutie marks! Lets go after them!”
Sweetie Belle couldn’t believe what she was saying
“Are you crazy?? We’re lucky that we’re here at all! We came here to meet the princess! Put your ego to one side and do what we came here to do, Scoot!”
“I am doing what we came here to do Sweetie Belle-to get our cutie marks. So I can prove to myself that I have something to be proud of, that I can do anything I want. Caching this thief would be something I can be happy for, that we can all be happy for! Face your fears, go for any chance we have. Now c’mon, they’re getting away!”
“But Scoot, wait!”
Scootaloo had already began to follow the prints, which had led her around the corner of the tower that stood on the outskirts of the castle. The other crusaders were reluctantly followed in fear of being caught by another guard. Around the corner was a garden filled with a wide variety of beautiful, sweet-smelling plants cut into the garden. As the hoofprints lead onto pavement, the tracks had disappeared. It was anypony’s guess where this thief could have gone to.
As Scootaloo ran, she began to hear the same sound as before, that feminine voice that was screaming just moments earlier. But also in the distance was another murmuring voice, which sounded like distant shouting; it was male, but it had a Canterlot accent. Scootaloo decided to after the shouting; it could have been a guard, or it could have been coming from the other shadow that ran, they risked their lives to get to the castle, there seemed to be no point in not continuing. The guards were nowhere to be seen, presumably the guard that stood at the gate must have taken a wrong turn; hopefully that was the case
As Scootaloo ran to the other end of the royal garden, passing doorways, flowerbeds and glass windows, the shouting was becoming louder and clearer, as the young filly was about to turn around the corner of the castle, she stopped; as the argument in the distance became comprehensible. The female voice caught Scootaloo as odd, it sounded familiar…
“Darling, please! I’m so sorry! I…I got ahead of myself. Please I’ll do anything if you let me go! I just wanted you to take me back…”
As Scootaloo listened, Sweetie Belle had quickly caught up, just as Scootaloo turned around to hear where the approaching sound of clopping hooves was coming from, they had both collided with each other. Scootaloo had been taken completely by surprise, she had fallen over; but the shouting continued from around the corner, luckily it didn’t seem like Scootaloo had blown their cover. Applebloom approached the pegasus, who was still getting up, in a daze from bumping into Sweetie Belle.
“Scoot, if you wanna catch this pony, y’ need to be more careful.”
“What? It was her fault! She knocked me over!”
“Girls... look…”
Sweetie Belle peeked around the corner of the castle, the shadowy figures were now out in the open, at what looked like the edge of a balcony. The figures both had brilliant white coats, one with a blonde mane and a suit that was dirty and torn up; but the other pony... Blue eyes, a violet mane and tail, jewels for a cutie mark… Sweetie Belle’s jaw fell open.
“How?? What in Equestria is she doing here?? Why??”
Sweetie Belle was as dumbstruck as she was relieved to have found her. She leaped out from hiding and called out for her sister.
“Rarity!!”
The white stallion ignored it, but the call of her name distracted Rarity.
As the crusaders caught sight of her, the state she was in became apparent. Her mane and tail were ravaged; beads of sweat were running down her face and she was covered in scrapes and cuts.
As Rarity glanced towards the far corner of the castle, seeing the small filly standing there with the other crusaders also beginning to reveal themselves. She slowly turned her head in awe with her eyes wide open and her mouth agape.
“What?? Her?? Them?? How did they… what is she… “
Her voice trailed off in bewilderment, until she snapped, finally realizing the gravity of the situation. Her sister and her friends were in great danger.
“Girls, get out her here, right now, this instant!”
“But Rarity…”
“I don’t care how you all got here and I don’t have time to explain why I’m here either. Just get out of here right now and I’ll have time to explain everything later.”
“You’re not going anywhere! You were that stupid mule at that stupid Gala weren’t you? And now you’ve raided my living quarters and destroyed my room. Do you really think that you’re getting away with this?”
The other white stallion had made himself apparent. It was Prince Blueblood, his condition reflected his anger; his suit was ripped and his coat was covered in dirt. He bared his teeth and scowled, slowly walking closer towards Rarity as he snarled. Rarity backed away from him, but unbeknown to her was that she walking towards the edge of the castle’s main balcony. At the edge of the balcony was the grand gorge, where the castle was being held in suspense.
“You destroyed my palace. You ruined my reputation and now you’ve made me into a beast! For that, you shall fall!”
Rarity looked in horror, quivering and shaking in fear. She had reached the very edge of the balcony, instinctively grabbing hold of the wooden handrails, unaware of the sheer drop that was looming behind her. Right below her at the bottom of the drop was a rocky desert of a landscape, with nothing more than a small lake to the wayside.
As Rarity continued to back up, but not getting any further away from the prince, Applebloom looked on alarmingly, as the old wooden handrail Rarity rested on had begun to buckle under the stress,. Yet Rarity didn’t stop, unaware at what she was doing, shaking in fear at the enraged prince. She closed her eyes and turned her head away as the prince readied a charge, the balcony beginning to splinter from the strain.
Applebloom couldn’t take the scene anymore. Why she was there, why Rarity was in this mess, why Blueblood was out of control, the fact that Applejack and her friends cared about her, for a moment, it no longer mattered. Applebloom was ready to take a stand to this tyrant prince and to save her friend’s sister, whatever the cost. She charged with all her strength, leaving her friends behind to witness the scene as it unfolded.
Within the same moment, Blueblood had turned from blue to red in determination to banish Rarity from the great castle. He charged like a wild animal, careering towards Rarity with accelerating speed. Defenseless, shaking and frozen in fear, Rarity shielded her face, preparing to embrace the impact. In a period of time that felt like eternity, Blueblood and Rarity had connected, the force of the impact causing the railing to shatter. She fell through the railing, down into the immense maw of the cliff. It was now too late.
Applebloom made it to the edge with Blueblood by her side, but she didn’t stop; a tear streaked down her face as she dived through the gap in the railings with all her strength and bravely fell after Rarity.
She had lost all of her worries and cares now. If it was to be her day to die, so be it, nothing could be done about it now. Sweetie Belle would need to take care of herself if anything happened. But Applebloom was prepared to sacrifice everything to not see that come to pass. She just loved her friend too much; she would never allow anything that was within her power to stop her from being happy; even when it seemed utterly foolish.
As Applebloom and Rarity fell for what seemed like a lifetime, not a sound was heard from anypony, no screaming, no calling, nothing. Although it couldn’t be heard, Applebloom’s heart was exploding inside her chest as she took in the sheer drop.
Rarity was rapidly accelerating towards her from below and before Applebloom could react, they collided hard. But the adrenaline made them not suffer from any pain; instead they embraced in their weightlessness, to assimilate their last moments together as the ground beneath them rapidly drew closer, quickly sealing their fate.
But then Applebloom glanced other way to the lake’s deep blue, looking at the cooling shades of the deep water. As frightening as their situation was, the water helped Applebloom to be calm, it was a picturesque thing to look to just before the end. But when Applebloom looked the other away was when she realized that Rarity and herself were actually over the water.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle merely stood at the balcony, shell-shocked. Not a word was spoken or a sound made albeit for the sound of Blueblood’s clopping hooves as he slowly left the scene. Seeing her big sister and one of her best friends both fall to their deaths was beyond any sight or sound Sweetie Belle could see or hear.
She slowly turned to Scootaloo, tucking her head underneath Scootaloo’s wing, and tears began to fill her eyes; the pegasus felt the very same pain and hysteria. She let Sweetie Belle cry into her wing, as her heart was left abandoned in darkness. As she cried, she pictured her and Sweetie Belle, back at the tree house, still together like they were during that fateful morning, enjoying life, feeling excited, hearing laughter, feeling good; a pleasant time. But back in the real world, there was none of that to speak of for miles around; the world was empty, only crushing tears and profound loneliness filled the void.
Breaking the silence was a loud, distant splash of water. For a moment in time, nothing else had happened. But as they heard the splashing again, Sweetie Belle lifted her head out of Scootaloo’s warmth and walked slowly to the wooden railings, Scootaloo followed, keeping close to her if she needed any comfort.
At the bottom of the gorge was the lake, near the edge of the water seemed were ripples in the water that slowly grew to fill the entire area of the lake itself, and in the center of the ripples, Applebloom and Rarity had finally surfaced.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other in disbelief, they may just had made the jump. From that small, infinitely precious grain of hope, Sweetie Belle and Scoot smiled. For what it was worth, they held each other, beginning to laugh as the realization of their friend’s survival meant they could share another moment together in the tree house and Rarity may carry on to be the best sister that Sweetie Belle could have wished for.
