The Crusaders Go Crusading, Vol. 640971

"I'm bored," Scootaloo announced for the eleventh time that hour.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Scootaloo was just as useless. "Apple Bloom?"

"Ah can't think of anythin'" she sighed, trying to remember the list of crusader ideas they'd drawn up and taped to the wall of the clubhouse a few days ago, the inexhaustible list of adventures to go on while Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and their friends were away in Canterlot. "How about Cutie Mark Crusader Beekeepers?"

"We did that already, remember?" Sweetie recalled.

“Ow…ow…ow…” The three fillies hiked into the Ponyville Medical Clinic, painful little red bumps visible under their coats.

“Oh my goodness!” Nurse Redheart noticed them and rushed over. “What happened?”

Sweetie Belle tried to fake a smile. “Crusading.”

“I see…” Nurse Redheart ushered them out of the waiting room and into the back. “I’ll see if I can find you all some ointment.”

“It didn’t exactly work out.”

“Oh, yeah,” Apple Bloom blushed in embarrassed memory. She scratched the back of her head, trying to think of more ideas from the list they’d made up. “Uh…Cutie Mark Crusader Jazz Bassoonists?”

Nurse Redheart cocked an eyebrow at the odd scene in the corner of the room—the long reddish-brown tube rocked back and forth along the wall as four little orange legs flailed wildly out from under it.

“Tell me again girls, how did Scootaloo’s entire face end up stuck inside the bassoon?”

“Uh…” Apple Bloom smiled nervously. “Crusading?”

The flailing of the legs and wings managed to tip over the instrument. It clattered to the floor, leaving Scootaloo’s helpless limbs kicking aimlessly at the sky. Muffled calls for help reached the ears of all assembled in the lobby of the clinic.

“Right,” Nurse Redheart started reluctantly toward the upended tube and the struggling filly who had somehow managed to become trapped inside it. “I’ll see if I can get her out.”

“I don’t think music is in any of our futures,” Scootaloo decided, lifting her head up from the blanket. “Next.”

“Cutie Mark Crusader Lumberjacks?”

The sliding door of the Ponyville Medical Clinic parted once again, and three battered fillies stumbled in, covered in copious amounts of tree sap and pine needles. Nurse Redheart sighed. “Crusading?”

“Yup,” they answered in unison.

“What a surprise. Follow me please…”

"Ugh!" Scootaloo groaned loudly. "This isn't getting us anywhere! We've done everything on that list and we still don't have our cutie marks!"

"Well we can't just go home," Apple Bloom reminded them. "Unless you want to sit in the living room and watch Granny Smith napping in her rocker."

"No thanks," Sweetie refused.

"I wish Applejack was back from Canterlot already," Apple Bloom complained. "We could always find something fun to do together."

Silence fell on the town square again, broken only by the rustling of the breeze in the leaves and the occasional chirping of far-off birds. There was always work to be done around Sweet Apple Acres, and Applejack had  way of combining work and play into a wonderfully fun romp around that made the hours fly by like lightning. Rarity was a posh society pony as always, but lately she'd been much more open to letting Sweetie Belle help with her designs than she had been in the past, and now only forbade Sweetie from helping on very important commissioned pieces. Rainbow Dash had taken to offering Scootaloo flying lessons to help her strengthen her wings and eventually fly as well as Ponyville's own chief weatherpony did. But all three of them, along with Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie, had been summoned to Canterlot by the princess on some sort of “thanks for saving the universe twice” vacation several days ago, and weren't due back until later tonight. All the while, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had been staying at Sweet Apple Acres, venturing out during the day to chase their ever-elusive cutie marks and escape the boredom that was an apple farm without Applejack. But the prepared list of crusades had been depleted, and now, for the first time ever, the three intrepid fillies found themselves without a purpose.

Another few moments passed in unbroken silence.

"Oh, come on!" Scootaloo groaned, growing more and more frustrated with their collective boredom. "There's got to be something we can do around here!"

“We could just go wandering around,” Sweetie suggested.

“What?”

“You know. Just wandering around Ponyville for awhile. Maybe something will turn up.”

Scootaloo lethargically hauled her stiff body up off the blanket and stood up. “Anything to kill an hour,” she shrugged.

The Crusaders left the town square and set off, wandering down the streets and looking for anything that seemed worth investigating. They searched around Sugarcube Corner, but even the very mention of the name “Cutie Mark Crusader Master Bakers” had drawn a lot of awkward glances from passersby.

They’d already tried the bowling alley, too, as well as just about everywhere else in town. It seemed like every time they set themselves to something they felt confident about, they fell flat on their faces and wound up in the only situation worse than having blank flanks—having blank flanks and being humiliated in front of a whole town full of ponies.

As they reached the outskirts of Ponyville on the side of town that fringed the Everfree Forest, her silent lamenting was broken by a racket of scratching, digging noises coming from one house’s back yard. The crusaders stopped, ears erect, and listened—they could all hear it.

“Something’s back there!” Scootaloo whispered urgently.

“It sounds like a monster!”

“It’s probably somepony just doing some gardening,” Apple Bloom reasoned.

Scootaloo looked mischievous. “It couldn’t hurt to have a look, could it?”

“Ah…Ah don’t…”

“We’re supposed to be looking for anything interesting, right?” Sweetie Belle was intrigued by the noise. “I’ll come with you, Scootaloo.”

The pegasus and unicorn crept through the front yard toward the house. Apple Bloom fell in behind them after a few seconds, right as Scootaloo reached the back corner of the building and poked her head around to check the back yard. She pulled back immediately, startled.

“What? What is it?” the other two pleaded in urgent whispers.

“It’s…”—Scootaloo paused for dramatic effect—“it’s a Dangerous Creature from the Everfree Forest!”

“No way!”

“Yes way! See for yourself!”

And so they did.

And so it was.

A Dangerous Creature from the Everfree Forest.

The invader was huge and menacing, tearing up the vegetables behind the house with its massive claws and shoveling everything into its enormous mouth, crunching violently with long, sharp teeth. But what was most terrifying wasn’t the creature itself, but the fact that two more of the beasts were standing nearby, committing similar atrocities on the other crops being grown in the small backyard garden. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom shrank back away from the horrific sight, ducking back around the corner in fear.

“Told you,” said Scootaloo.

“What do we do now?” Sweetie Belle wondered. “They’ll steal all that pony’s food!”

“They’ll do more than that!” Apple Bloom told her. “If we don’t do something, they’ll wipe out all of Ponyville!”

“But they’re just—”

“Ssh. Apple Bloom’s right. We have to stop the Dangerous Creatures from the Everfree Forest before they get bored with this pony’s garden and move on to the rest of the town!”

“But what can we do?” Apple Bloom wondered hopelessly. “We’re just fillies!”

Sweetie Belle blinked. “Yeah, and they’re just—”

“Ssh!” Scootaloo cut her off again. “Come on, Crusaders! We need to get our equipment.”

“Equipment?” Sweetie asked, still out of the loop. “What equipment? What are we doing?”

“Something we should have done a long, long time ago,” Scootaloo answered as she made her way back through the front yard away from the creatures.

"What's that?"

“Cutie Mark Crusader Creature Catchers.”

"Here," Apple Bloom announced their arrival to the others. They'd been following her for what felt like forever as she led them out of Ponyville and into the wilds that surrounded it. This was hardly the Everfree Forest, but the plains of the countryside could be just as dangerous if a pony wasn't careful. Apple Bloom had brought them out here in search of something she said was better than their regular creature catching equipment—how could they expect to win a fight against three Dangerous Creatures from the Everfree Forest when all they had was an old quilt and a wicker basket?

"Here?" Scootaloo was confused. "Why are you bringing us here?"

"You see that old castle over there?"

“Yeah.” Scootaloo realized what she was talking about—an ancient structure so old that Princess Celestia herself probably didn’t remember its construction. It stood alone on a hill, dominating the blackened trees that surrounded it and spread out in all directions.

“Nopony’s been in that castle for centuries—it’s been sealed up tight and everypony’s too scared of it to go inside,” Apple Bloom continued in a low, mysterious voice. “Legend has it that there, in that castle, are three suits of magical armor and three enchanted flaming swords, all for the taking, if only somepony brave enough to go inside would come along and take them.”

“What’s the catch?” Scootaloo asked. “More monsters?”

“Yup,” Apple Bloom nodded. “They say that the armor is protected by.. a hideous green ogre!”

The other two gasped as Apple Bloom lunged forward at them, mimicking the monster’s attack. Sweetie Belle wondered, “But if it’s dangerous just to get this armor, is it worth it? What if the Dangerous Creatures from the Everfree Forest can still get us, even if we have it?”

“The armor is Dangerous-Creature-from-the-Everfree-Forest-proof,” Apple Bloom answered matter-of-factly.

“How do you know?”

“Because. It just is.”

“Then let’s go get it!” Scootaloo charged eagerly, buzzing her wings as she galloped even though she still couldn’t get off the ground with them.

The Crusaders reached the door to the castle and stood blankly before it, too intimidated to just barge casually inside.

"Alright now, everypony, we have to be quiet," Apple Bloom cautioned as she gingerly pushed the heavy wooden door open a few inches. Its old hinges creaked audibly, echoing against the far back walls of the castle's antechamber. Apple Bloom winced. "If we're lucky, we might be able to slip in and out without the monster even knowing we were here."

The yellow sunlight cut through the gloomy shadows of the interior, painting a golden rectangle in the shape of the door, with Apple Bloom's silhouette at the center.  Once they stepped inside, once they passed the edges of that comforting patch of light, they would be entering uncharted territory.

Scootaloo took the first bold step forward, and the others fell in behind her. With ears erect and head held low she led them slowly, stealthily across the ancient stone floor, moving deeper into the gloom. Almost immediately, a low noise reached their ears and set them alert—it was the ominous sound of a huge, hideous monster snoring loudly in its sleep.

“Do you hear that?” Sweetie Belle drew attention to the obvious. “It’s asleep!”

“Ssh,” Scootaloo hushed her, “you’ll wake it up! Alright, Apple Bloom, where’s this magical armor of yours?”

“Ah…it should be this way…” Apple Bloom looked confused. “Ah don’t know fer sure. All Ah got ta go on is some old pony’s tales.”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom followed her around the corner, the crushing darkness of the ancient fortress weighing heavily down on them. Their eyes grew accustomed to the dimness of the castle interior, and the guardian of the armor came into view. Apple Bloom saw that she was indeed as horrible as the tales had warned. Its skin was creased and wrinkled with age immeasurable, scarred in places where adventurers from centuries past had tried and failed to slay it. It was slumped backward in the chair, lost in a deep sleep. Scootaloo imagined it had little better to do here, as boring as serving as the eternal guardian to a few suits of armor few ponies had ever even heard of had to be one boring life.

The Crusaders placed one hoof in front of the other as delicately as they could, but the hard stone floor sent all her steps reverberating through the whole castle. With twelve little hooves all clip-clopping down the corridor, even at a slow and quiet pace, Apple Bloom was worried. What could they do against such a creature if it awoke? What could anypony do?

“Ahh….ahh….” Sweetie Belle stopped in her tracks and looked up, her mouth open and eyes pinched shut in anticipation of a sneeze.

“Oh, come on Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo scolded her in a harsh whisper. “Do you have any idea how cliché that is?”

Sweetie lowered her head as the sneeze faded away. “Sorry,” she whispered back. “There’s a lot of dust.”

“Come on everypony!” Apple Bloom kept them moving, moving ahead into the room at the end of the corridor. The guardian’s snoring went on uninterrupted, inspiring Scootaloo with a bit of confidence—they’d walked literally right in front of the monster without it even taking notice of them.

“Here it is.” Scootaloo saw several treasure chests arranged about the room, highlighted by the beams of light flowing in from the outside—unlike the corridor and antechamber, this room actually had windows. “The armor’s got to be in one of these chests.”

Scootaloo’s assumption was correct. Each of the old wooden chests contained a full suit of shiny plate armor that still maintained its untarnished platinum sheen after hundreds of years. It was the ideal kind of armor for doing battle with Dangerous Creatures from the Everfree Forest. Even the Wonderbolts’ flight suits or the armor of Celestia’s Royal Guard wasn’t as sophisticated as these; the magical enchantments placed on these pieces made them all but impenetrable, in turn protecting the Crusaders from even the most dangerous types of creature ever.

“Put it on, everypony,” Apple Bloom urged. “We still need to sneak back past that monster to get out of here.”

Sweetie and Scootaloo did so, sliding their hooves into boots and strapping breastplates to their chests. Then, as the last of the helmets went onto Sweetie Belle’s head, another errant dust particle found its way over to her. Sweetie sneezed loudly, losing her magical grip on the helmet. It fell, and the world seemed to move in slow motion as the heavy metal helmet plunged down towards the hard stone floor. Apple Bloom launched herself towards it in a dive, forelegs extended to try and catch it.

But she was too far away. The helmet hit the ground with a loud clattering bang that resounded all the way down the hall and to the far end of the castle. The guardian’s snoring ceased, and it stood up from its stone chair in a startled panic.

“WHAT ARE YOU FILLIES DOING IN HERE?” its voice boomed, shaking the very walls of the castle. It started towards the invaders, its eyes afire with rage. “YOU DON’T BELONG IN HERE. BEGONE!”

Apple Bloom picked up the dropped helmet, threw it onto Sweetie Belle’s head, and charged away from the creature towards the windows on the opposite wall. “Everypony RUN!” she wailed, her voice joined by a frightened shriek from Sweetie Belle when the helmet handed backwards on her head and blinded her completely. Apple Bloom grabbed her and shoved her in the proper direction while Scootaloo jumped up and bucked open one of the windows. She paused to grab the weapons that accompanied their armor, then made her escape.

The orange pegasus disappeared into the glare of the sunlight, and Apple Bloom wasn’t far behind. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, and she found the strength to heave the blinded and still screaming Sweetie Belle through the window before jumping through herself. The three fillies hit the warm afternoon grass and ran, heading in no particular direction other than AWAY. The guardian wouldn’t follow them through the windows, so they were safe. They’d stolen the enchanted weapons and armor and lived to tell about it, a feat nopony had ever pulled off before.

Now outfitted in the finest enchanted plate armor in all of Equestria (with all their helmets facing the proper direction) and carrying glistening silvery swords crackling with magical fire, the three brave Cutie Mark Crusader Creature Catchers were an intimidating sight to behold. They rushed back to the place of town where they'd first seen the Dangerous Creatures from the Everfree Forest, and were amazed by what they saw. The Dangerous Creatures from the Everfree Forest had devastated an entire city block. Yards were torn apart, pony carts overturned and set on fire, and walls had been ripped off the sides of houses. Hungry once more from all their destructive handiwork, the creatures were taking a break at the center of the chaos, munching greedily on another pony’s backyard garden crops.

“Look at them, all proud of what they’ve done,” Apple Bloom snorted.

A purple mare walked calmly down the street, seemingly unaware of the danger she was in. Sweetie Belle recognized her immediately and jumped into her path to get her attention.

“Miss Cheerilee! You have to get out of here! Don’t you see those Dangerous Creatures from the Everfree Forest over there? They’re…dangerous!”

Cheerilee looked skeptically at the garden the creatures had invaded, but her expression changed drastically when she saw the creatures that had taken up residence there. “Oh, yes, I see them! Somepony needs to do something about them!”

“Never fear!” Sweetie struck the most inspiring pose she knew. “The Cutie Mark Crusader Creature Catchers are here!”

“Get yourself to safety, Miss Cheerilee. We’ll take it from here.”

“Thank you, Cutie Mark Crusaders,” she thanked, turning around and trotting anxiously down the street towards where she had come from. “Ponyville is counting on you!”

"Ready, Crusaders?" Scootaloo rallied the others.

"Ah'm ready!" Apple Bloom stomped eagerly at the ground.

"Ready!" Sweetie Belle squeaked.

“Then let’s do this!” Scootaloo pulled her sword from its sheath on her side and charged in, leading the others in a tight wedge formation. They charged the garden, armor glistening in the sunlight and weapons burning with bright orange fire. They shrieked a terrifying war cry, and the creatures looked up in surprise. Scootaloo swung her sword at the nearest one, but it jumped backwards and dodged her. Apple Bloom brought hers down in a stabbing dive, but the creature on her side was just as fast. Sweetie Belle lunged forward timidly, missing her target entirely.

Scootaloo recovered, swinging her blade in a wide, sweeping arc that singed all three of the hideous beasts with the magical fire of the enchanted swords. One lashed back at Sweetie Belle, landing a blow square to her chest with its massive, impossibly sharp claws. But her armor was too strong; the anti-Dangerous-Creature-from-the-Everfree-Forest enchantment Apple Bloom had put so much faith in had come through. The claw glanced harmlessly off the white unicorn’s breastplate without so much as throwing Sweetie Belle off balance. She swung her blade again, cutting a deep gash in the creature’s clawed hand.

The Dangerous Creatures from the Everfree Forest knew they were routed, and there was nothing they could do to get through the ancient magics of the Crusaders’ armor. They turned tail and fled, abandoning Ponyville and making a beeline for the safety of their native Everfree Forest.

“Don’t let them get away!” Apple Bloom shouted, chasing after them. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed, holding their flaming swords aloft and galloping at full tilt after the creatures as they crossed the narrow plains that separated Ponyville from the dark, foreboding Everfree Forest. The creatures ducked and weaved through the brush, sprinting over moss-covered logs and skirting around low-hanging vines without getting their feet caught and tripping. This was their native turf, and they knew how to move quickly and effortlessly through it.

The Crusaders tried to follow, but they tripped over stumps and roots, and their faces were scraped by branches that seemed to be able to target only the parts of them that weren’t covered in impenetrable enchanted armor. The Dangerous Creatures from the Everfree Forest slowly pulled away, eventually disappearing completely out of sight.

Scootaloo stopped running, panting heavily and out of breath. The others stopped, too, once they realized that the whole chase had been unnecessary. There was no way those creatures would be coming back to Ponyville anytime soon. The Crusaders had fought them off with their armor, and as long as they had it they’d be sure to win. Giving the creatures a good chase and driving them deep into the heart of the Everfree Forest was just icing on the cake. Speaking of cake, Sweetie Belle decided that the Crusaders were worthy of one in celebration. She dropped her sword so she could tell the others, forgetting to first grab it with her telekinesis so it wouldn’t fall to the ground.

“No!” Scootaloo jumped to try and catch the sword before it fell, but she was too far away. The enchanted blade, its full length bathed in magical fire, landed perfectly on a dry patch of underbrush and dead wood. The whole clump lit up instantly, a burst of heat driving the fillies away before they could grab the sword and get it out of there. The flames quickly grew and swelled larger, to the size of a bonfire and beyond. It was already out of hand, and steadily growing ever larger. As it burned, a grey mare with a blonde mane sat down beside Scootaloo and held out a stick with a fat white marshmallow impaled on the end of it.

“Derpy?” Scootaloo was baffled. “What are you doing here? You need to get back! This fire’s going to burn down the whole Everfree Forest!”

“Oh,” Derpy said, her usual happy and carefree face drooping slightly. “Oops.”

Hot orange flames flicked up into the sky high above the Crusaders’ heads, reaching upwards as if trying to ignite the thick forest canopy above.

“Do you know what’ll happen if the fire reaches those trees?” Apple Bloom was visibly scared, her voice wavering with fear. “It could spread all the way to Ponyville!”

“We have to stop it. But how?”

“Get some water!” Apple Bloom ordered, already taking off her helmet and rushing back the way they had come in with it gripped between her teeth—she’d seen a small pond awhile back that they could ferry water from using their helmets. She ducked under vines and around branches, pushing through all the forest’s attempts to ensnare her with its aggressive growth. She reached the pond and stooped down beside it, plunging the helmet into its depths until it overflowed with filthy brown water. She turned and ran back the other way, stumbling back through the underbrush to the fire. When she arrived, she twisted her head and flung the helmet’s contents at the flames.

The water wasn’t enough to douse the fire, as it was being fueled by the magics of the enchanted sword.  The flames kept growing, climbing further upward towards the trees. Apple Bloom’s ears folded down in hopeless realization that that wasn’t going to be enough.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle joined in on the second run, following Apple Bloom back through the treacherous forest to the pond, filling their helmets with water, and pushing back to dump them on the fire. Derpy watched curiously as they came stumbling back, water sloshing all over the place until they had barely enough left to throw at the fire. It’d sizzle a bit and kick up some more smoke, then grow right back as soon as they left for another round of water.

“This isn’t working,” Scootaloo decided. “We need to do something else!”

“Like what?” Sweetie Belle couldn’t think of any other way to put out fire besides dumping water on it—if that wouldn’t work, what would?

“We could ask Zecora,” Apple Bloom suggested. “Her hut isn’t far from here, and I bet she has some kind of herbal potion that puts out fires.”

Scootaloo shrugged. “Worth a try. You go do that, we’ll try to keep it under control until you get back.”

Apple Bloom bolted off, ducking through new paths and dodging new tree branches and low-hanging vines. She’d been to Zecora’s hut many times, and the area of the forest surrounding it was familiar to her. She recognized some of the trees, the flowers that had started out in the zebra’s private herb garden and were now expanding out into the nearby forest area. Before long, she saw the hut itself, a squat little wooden structure standing ominously alone in the wilds. The little filly rushed up to Zecora’s door and barged inside without even bothering to knock.

“Hey, who is this who comes into my room?” the mystic zebra shouted, turning away from the bubbling cauldron at the hut’s center. “Oh, my apologies, ‘tis only Apple Bloom.”

“Zecora! I need your help with something important.”

Zecora raised an eyebrow questioningly—she’d noticed Apple Bloom’s suit of enchanted armor. “Dressed like this, I have to ask: just what is this dire task?”

“There’s a fire in the Everfree Forest and Ah need your help putting it out before it wipes out all a’ Ponyville! We really need a potion or something that could help us out. Do you have one?”

“That I do, my little filly,” Zecora went over to her potions cabinet. “But why are you here dressed so silly?”

“This is magical enchanted Dangerous-Creature-from-the-Everfree-Forest-proof armor!” Apple Bloom defended quickly, wanting to get back to the fire before it got out of hoof. “Now can we please have the potion? We need it!”

Zecora took a bottle off the rack. “Here you are, young Apple Bloom. A potion used when fire goes boom. Pour a drop on fire’s heart, and snuff it out—with a start.”

“Thanks, Zecora.” Apple Bloom took the bottle and galloped out of the hut as fast as her little legs could carry her. She had to get back to the others right away. There was no time to waste.

When she arrived, the fire was larger than ever, and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were hopeless to defeat it on their own. But with this potion, the magical elixir Zecora had provided, there was hope. All she had to do was uncork the bottle and—

Apple Bloom tripped over a root and fell, and the bottle went flying. It soared right over the fire it was intended to extinguish All four of them watched in horror as it landed on a rock and shattered, the luminescent blue liquid spilling out all over the ground. The Crusaders gasped. They could do nothing but watch as the potion seeped into the dirt, leaving the fire burning just as powerfully as ever.

“What now?” Scootaloo managed. “That was our only hope!”

“Ah’m sorry everypony…” Apple Bloom said solemnly, “Ah just ruined everything.”

A flash of light burst from the heavens, and the downdraft of powerful wings rushed down, kicking up dust and dirt and leaves in a whirlwind that whipped around the burning fire and gradually suffocated it. It shrank back in size, diminishing down all the way to the glowing embers. Scootaloo kicked dirt and rocks over onto it, snuffing out the embers before they could light again. Apple Bloom looked up at their savior, and saw the benevolent smile of Princess Celestia towering high over her.

“Princess!” Sweetie gasped, never expecting to see the ruler of all Equestria coming to their aid like this.

“Ah’m sorry we couldn’t take care of this on our own, Princess,” Apple Bloom averted her eyes. “Ah guess we just weren’t cut out to be Crusaders. We’re just a couple a’ fillies in over our heads...”

“My little ponies, just because you can’t save the universe single-handedly doesn’t mean you’re worthless.” Celestia’s voice was warm and comforting. “You put up a very valiant effort here today. All of Ponyville owes you a great debt.”

“But we didn’t put out the fire,” Scootaloo reminded her. “You did.”

“True, but you kept the flames in check with your water until I could get here. And had Apple Bloom not tripped over that root and spilled the potion, then you would have put it out before I even arrived.”

“She’s right!” Sweetie cheered. “We actually did save Ponyville!”

“You certainly did,” Celestia praised them. “Come, I’ll lead you out of the forest and back to town. You deserve a heroes’ welcome, and a royal feast of more muffins than you can eat.”

The train from Canterlot arrived in Ponyville on schedule, and Twilight Sparkle and her six friends departed to go their separate ways. Applejack, disappointed that the good times they’d had in Canterlot were over but happy to be home again after a full week away, slowly hiked across Ponyville with her luggage in tow. She walked with Rarity and Pinkie Pie for awhile, but was left walking alone once they’d passed by both Sugarcube Corner and the Carousel Boutique. Enjoying the mild weather Rainbow Dash’s temporary replacements had managed to conjure, Applejack worked her way across town to Sweet Apple Acres, and was surprised to bump into Cheerilee at the gates.

“Howdy, Cheerilee,” she greeted with a tip of her hat.

“Oh, hello, Applejack,” Cheerilee returned, as if surprised to see the bags she was carrying behind her. “I was just coming by to see if I could buy some more apples—I’m fresh out. I forgot you were just coming back from vacation today. Is this a bad time?”

“No, s’good as any, I s’pose. Come with me up to the barn.”

“Of course. How was your stay in Canterlot, by the way? I hear it’s beautiful up there this time of year.”

Applejack shrugged. “The big city ain’t fer me, but it’s nice to get away from work for a few days an’ relax. Oh, and the Princess let Pinkie Pie host a party in the ballroom one night. I can’t remember the last time I stayed up that late.”

“Probably the last time Pinkie threw a party.” 

The sound of childish laughter reached her ears, and Applejack turned to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders galloping out of the Everfree Forest with Derpy Hooves flying erratically above them. “What in tarnation?”

Cheerilee smiled. “Oh, they’ve been at it all day. A couple rabbits got into my garden earlier, and they swung their little wooden swords around and then chased the rabbits off like they were a trio of dragons.  They even warned me to stay away for my own safety. I played along. It was really amusing.”

“Why are they wearing a bunch of our old pots and pans?”

“I have no idea,” Cheerilee chuckled.

Applejack joined in the lighthearted laughter. “Granny Smith won’t be too pleased. She hates it when Apple Bloom and her friends fool around in the kitchen.”

The Crusaders went galloping along to the barn, but Derpy’s course deviated and she landed, whether she had intended to or not, directly beside Applejack and Cheerilee.

“I’m Princess Celestia!” she announced proudly. “I made a campfire!”

“In the Everfree Forest?” Cheerilee was startled. “Derpy, that’s dangerous!”

“No, no, no, no, I flapped my wings and put it out. The Crusaders helped me. I’m Princess Celestia!” she looked back fondly at the celebrating fillies by the barn. Or, she may have been looking at one of the apple trees in the east field. It was always hard to tell with her.

“Looks like they’ve saved Ponyville twice today.” Cheerilee smiled, turning back to Applejack. “Now we know who to call if we have any more problems with brush fires or rabbits.”

“Ah’ll say,” Applejack grinned. “Apple Bloom! What’ve you three been doin’ all this time Ah been gone?”

All three of the fillies answered in unison.

“Crusading!”