Prelude: Fall

Three fillies sat together outside the school house, whispering conspiratorially.

“What should I do?” Scootaloo asked.

“Maybe Rarity would know,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Ah can't help you there, Scoots,” Applebloom said, “Maybe you should just ask him?”

“I can't do that,” the blind filly hissed, “What would he think?”

“That you're brave,” Sweetie answered.

Scootaloo sighed dejectedly, “Oh, who am I kidding. He wouldn't like me anyway.”

“Aww, does wittle Scootawoo have a cwush?” said a snobby, condescending voice followed by her slightly less annoying toady.

Applebloom ground her teeth, “Go away, Diamond.”

Diamond Tiara ignored her and scoffed, “A Canterlot pony like Storm Feather would never like trash like you. Can't you see that? Oh, wait, you can't!” The two bullies walked off laughing.

Applebloom glared at the two brats until Sweetie Belle broke her out of it, “Hey, come on. Midnight's probably still at his shop. Let's go see if he wants to hang out.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Scootaloo said, unable to completely hid how much the taunting hurt.

The three decided to just hop in their “Crusader Mobile” and head off. Midnight helped design it based off a car from his old world, but instead of using a corestone engine, this car is powered by pegasus fillies.

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“I'm home!” Midnight called as he entered the large house, recently built onto the side of the library tree.

“We're up here!” called his wife's voice.

Midnight made his way to the room he and Twilight shared, “How are my two lovely ladies, today?”

“Hungry,” Twilight said, holding the tiny form of their one year old daughter, happily suckling away at her mother's teat.

Aurora Star was born just the previous fall. The mauve coated filly had a little powder blue mane on her horned head. Her little lavender eyes were hidden behind her eyelids as she enjoyed her meal.

“Is it okay if I brought company?” asked Midnight.

Twilight smiled, already knowing who it was, “As long as they behave.”

Midnight turned opened a window and called out, “Alright, come on up.”

The sounds of twelve small hooves came up the stairs and soon formed into three little fillies. The past year and a half had been good to them. Sweetie Belle was about two inches taller than her friends, but Applebloom had gained noticeable muscle mass from a year’s worth of apple bucking. Scootaloo, being a pegasus, was getting left behind by her friends as far as size went, but she didn’t care.

The three were having it rather rough. Not one of them had their cutie marks and were the oldest foals in town to still be blank flanks. At eleven – twelve for Sweetie Belle, who just had her birthday – they were starting to think they were never going to find their special talents.

“Hi Twilight,” Applebloom greeted, “How've ya been?”

“I've been fine Applebloom,” Twilight answered, “How about yourself? Are you getting the hang of apple bucking yet?”

“Yes ma'am,” replied the filly, “Ah can already clear a tree in one buck. Applejack said she couldn't do that 'til she was fourteen. 'Course, I'm a lot stronger than she was when she was eleven.”

“That's great,” Twilight smiled and turned to the other two, “What about you two?”

“Not much different for me,” Sweetie said.

“I just finished reading my first braille novel! It was awesome, too!” Scootaloo cheered.

“Oh, congratulations, Scootaloo,” Twilight beamed, “I'm glad. I have a whole selection of braille books just for you. I had Rainbow pick them out. She insisted you wouldn't enjoy a book about the migratory habits of the north Equestrian swallow, but that's okay, I'll get it for your birthday next month.”

“Uh... that's okay, Mrs. S,” Scoots chuckled nervously, “You don't need to get me anything.”

“Oh? Because I was also getting the complete set of Shadow Mare for you.”

“Well... I suppose if you did get me something, I’d be very grateful,” Scootaloo said sheepishly.

“That's what I thought,” Twilight chuckled, “Let me just burp her and you can play.”

Twilight held Aurora to her barrel and lightly patted her back until an adorable burp was heard. The loving mother then put the filly down on the bed. Aurora looked up and smiled at the sight of her favorite preteens. She made adorable baby talk as she crawled toward them.

“Hey, Aurora,” Applebloom cooed, “Did you miss your aunties?”

Aurora laughed and put up her front hooves, asking to be picked up. Applebloom scooped her up and held her over her head. She squealed in joy at the exhilaration of being so high... from her perspective anyway.

“You wanna go for a ride?” Sweetie Belle asked.

The filly cooed in affirmation, and Sweetie's horn lit up. Her green aura surrounded the filly as she was whisked into the air. There were few ponies Twilight would allow to do this, but Sweetie was one. Twilight marveled at the incredible amount of control the young white filly had. It wasn't the level of herself or Rarity, but it was better than your average adult unicorn and at twelve years old to boot.

Twilight smiled as she watched her daughter have the time of her life. She flew through the air doing twists and turns. It was at a slow pace, but to the filly she might as well have been going faster than Rainbow Dash.

“So, what are you girls planning to do today?” Twilight asked.

“Probably just go for a drive,” Applebloom answered.

“Yeah, we're kinda running out of ideas for crusades,” Scootaloo said dejectedly.

Sweetie set Aurora back down on the bed and turned to her big brother, “We've been retrying old crusades, trying to see if maybe we did something wrong.”

Scootaloo scoffed, “Hang gliding still isn't any of our cutie marks.”

“Twilight, has there ever been anypony who never got a cutie mark?” Applebloom asked, desperation in her voice.

“No, never,” answered the unicorn.

“Great, so we're going to be the firsts,” Scootaloo huffed.

“Hey now, don't be like that,” Midnight admonished, “You'll find it.” The three fillies didn't respond, they just looked downcast. “Hey, why not go for that drive? Maybe the fresh air will help you clear your heads.”

“Okay, c'mon girls,” Applebloom turned to leave, “Bye, Twilight and Midnight. Be a good girl Aurora.”

The others said their goodbyes and followed the farmer outside to a waiting buggy. Applebloom climbed behind the wheel as Sweetie climbed in beside her. Scootaloo took her place standing on the back of the Crusader Car.

“Ready?” asked the pegasus.

“Ready!” Applebloom confirmed.

Scoots' wings buzzed to life and the car shot off. Scootaloo loved their car. It wasn't as good as her scooter, but it was the closest thing she had, and with Applebloom at the wheel she didn't have to worry about crashing.

Applebloom steered the vehicle outside of town where they could really let loose. The second the left the last building behind, Applebloom gave the word and Scootaloo gave it everything. Their speed nearly doubled, and the three of them whooped and hollered at the exhilaration of speed.

They were so lost in their excitement they never noticed the shadow pass overhead until a pair of massive talons dropped on top of them, crushing the sides of the car and trapping the three fillies.

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“Hng... wah... rururu... habatahabata,” Midnight made funny sounds and faces as his daughter laughed and squealed at the silliness.

“Is daddy being funny?” Twilight asked Aurora.

“Daddy's a comic genius, isn't he?” Midnight asked his little daughter to which she replied by smacking him in the nose. Midnight recoiled, rubbing his snout, “I guess that's a 'no', then?”

Play time was interrupted as a sound filtered through the window. Midnight and Twilight looked at each other as they recognized the noise. It was the sound of ponies screaming. The blue stallion rushed to the window and threw it open to see what was causing the commotion. His eyes widened in shock at the sight of a massive hawk, easily sporting a seventy yard wingspan, soar over town. The roc apparently spotted something that it liked as it tucked its enormous wings and dove at something just outside of town.

Midnight didn't need to see what it was to know it was likely a pony the aerial predator was after. His seal glowed as Legs, his name for the heart stone core's mobility platform, transferred from Clink to his newest golem.

Midnight was out the door and, using his seal to augment his legs, leaped high into the air and landed perfectly on the back of Wingnut. The winged golem beat its leathery wings and advanced on the roc as it headed toward a distant peak in the Everfree. As he approached, the object in its grip became clear. It was a cart... one he recognized immediately along with the screams of the three fillies within.

“Girls!” he called to them, his voice bespelled to carry to them.

“Midnight!” Applebloom's voice carried back, “Help! Don't let it eat us!”

“Don't worry, girls, I'll save you!”

At least, he was trying. Wingnut was just a tiny bit faster, but not by enough. His plan decided upon, he charged his seal with the most powerful photon bolt spell he could. As they reached the mountain that likely hid the hawk's nest, the Guardian unleashed his attack. It flew straight and struck true, impacting on the bird’s lower spine. With a shriek, the hunter dropped its prey and Midnight dove to intercept. His dive brought him within feet of his sisters, but a massive pair of wings thrusting in his direction sent him and the fillies tumbling away from each other.

Midnight was sent crashing into a tree, knocking him out instantly. The three fillies slammed into the side of the mountain and landed in a heap in a shallow crevice.

“Ow, mah head,” Applebloom groaned.

“My back,” Sweetie added.

“My everything,” Scootaloo chimed in.

“Well, it could have been worse.”

The moment the words left Sweetie Belle's mouth, the stone ground cracked.

Applebloom gave her horned friend a deadpanned stare, “Ah hate you.”

The ground gave way and the three plummeted, screaming into the darkness. The slight tremors knocked loose boulders down, sealing the fillies away.

Author's Notes:

Act II is go! This one is going to get a little dark, but those of you that know me, that just means a happier end.