Waking up wasn't something anypony wanted to do, and with the way things had went, Applebloom wanted nothing to do with anything. Her sister and brother who once loved her with every fiber of their being now disowned her, the town she grew up in banished her, and the few friends she had looked as if they wanted to be anywhere but together. The farm filly groggily attempted to stand up but noticed a two lavender hooves kept her down, one under her own hoof, and the other around her stomach, it was comfy last night but now she wanted to get moving.

Somehow the filly with the bow managed to move the hooves to free herself without disturbing their owner. She stretched some and then made her way to the center of the clearing. Looking around everypony else was still asleep thought it was easily mid-day. She wasn't sure what to do, where she wanted to go, or why she even cared, however she did not want to be up and around by herself.

She went to where Sweetie Belle was, at some point she broke free of her sister's grip in the night, and nudged her gently. The white unicorn filly rolled the other direction, not wanting anything to do with whomever was impeding on her peaceful sleep. Applebloom, being the stubborn one wasn't having this. She nudged the filly again, this time a little harder. Sweetie Belle finally came to and opened her eyes fully, making a mental note to curse whoever this was. She got up, repeated the same initial routine as Applebloom and sat by her friend. They didn't speak for some time.

“So...” Sweetie Belle began, “What's up?”

“Ah dunno.” The farm filly sighed, “Ah just hate bein' all by mahself in the mornin'.”

“Well, you could've gone back to sleep.” The unicorn said matter-of-fact.

“Ah can't go back ta sleep once I've woken up. Ah've tried, jus' doesn't work.”

They were silent again, shuffling their hooves about, stretching them some to try to feel as awake as possible.

“Ahm bored.” Apple Bloom sighed.

“Me too.” Sweetie Belle groaned. She beamed then at the sudden thought of potential fun. “Let's wake up Scootaloo.”

“Ah woulda but, she's with Fluttershy, and Shy's got her pretty good, you know how scared that pegasus can git, and Scoot's ain't the prettiest patch on the pasture in the mornin'.”

Sweetie Belle could care less, she made had already made her way to where Fluttershy and Scootaloo were nestled by the tree, Scootaloo wrapped in two hooves and a pair of wings, contempt as could be. Sweetie Belle had an idea. Scootaloo liked food, and would most certainly rouse into the day with some snack in hoofs' reach.

Only problem is they didn't have any food. Sweetie felt her tummy rumble itself, she was hungry too.

Applebloom heard her stomach's discontent and hers sang to the same tune, they looked at each other for a second, then Applebloom remembered something. She gestured Sweetie to follow her into the forest.

Sweetie wasn't too sure about leaving the safety of the clearing but Applebloom had surged ahead and so she was left to trot after her.

“Where are we going Applebloom? I don't think we should be out her like this, what if somepony is looking for us?” Sweetie whined.

“Aw don't be such a foal Sweetie.” Applebloom jeered, “Ah remember Twi said somethin' bout' Zecura.”

“The Zebra witch?” Sweetie barely remembered her.

“Sure.” Applebloom said somewhat annoyed, “Ah remember she showed me what ah could eat if ah was ever lost in the forest, ahm sure we can find plenty of stuff ta eat 'round here. She says thick bushes and wild brush means that ain't any ponies been 'round for awhile so there's sure to be somethin'.”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle continued a bit deeper, Sweetie Belle making a guide in her head as to how to navigate back to the clearing, though she was more interested in food at the moment. She bumped into Applebloom who had stopped.

“What do you see?” Sweetie Belle tried to poke her head over the filly and decided to come to her side instead. What she saw was a very thick scraggly bush with berries of many kinds. She reached out a hoof to take one, though a cream colored hoof smacked it away.

“Now ya can't jus' go an' pick whatever ya see on these here bushes.” Applebloom lectured, “Ya'll hafta know the right ones.”

“So...what are they?” Sweetie Belle was shaking from excitement but deflated some at the idea this wasn't going to be easy.

“Ya can't eat tha black ones 'cause they give ya a tummy ache,” Applebloom went through, explaining the ailments and alleviations each particular berry produced, giving the occasional “safe one” for Sweetie to try, one was rather bitter but the others were sweet and flavorful.

“Wow Applebloom, these are really good!” Sweetie Belle was happy as could be now that she was finally eating something.

“Yeah well, you know...” Applebloom blushed, proud of herself for being the 'big pony' for once.

“It's always good to know what's around these parts just in case.”

The two fillies then worked on detaching the senior branch of the bushel to bring it back in its entirety to the clearing. Sweetie Belle had already weeded out the “bad ones” and so they began assaulting the branch with their teeth until it came loose, then hoisted it on one anther’s back and trotted back to the clearing. Stumbling some trying to stay close but they did it nonetheless.

Sweetie took a hooffull of berries and trotted to Scootaloo, she wasn't that grand with cooking but she could so some basic levitation, she was able to magick the berries up to Scootaloo's nose that automatically detected them. She stirred a bit and lazily opened her eyes to see. She looked up at her pink-manded protector and grimaced. Unlike Applebloom and Sweetie Belle this was going to take some work if she wanted to not wake her.

She looked around for options but she was far too snug. She gently tapped Fluttershy's hooves to wake her up.  Much to their surprise Fluttershy woke up rather calmly, she must be too tired to be startled.  She got up on her hooves and Scootaloo shot out from her now empty plot and dove into the pile of berries. Making a mess of herself.

“Mm! These are awesome!” Scootaloo grinned, “Where'd you girls find these?”

“Applebloom knew a thing or two about how to find them.” Sweetie gestured a hoof to a grinning Applebloom whose cheeks burned red with embarrassment.

“Now girls, this is very nice and all but you really shouldn't be heading out into the forest by yourselves. Remember what happened when I was foalsitting you girls at my cottage?”

Sweetie and Applebloom nodded, shot down a bit by this. Scootaloo was rather displeased.

“So? I don't see you going out there and bringing us food!” The smaller pegasus growled stamping a hoof for emphasis. “Lay off them we're not even awake yet!”

Fluttershy meekly retreated to the base of the tree and looked on as the fillies gorged on their find. Scootaloo, feeling bad pushed a decent pile in Fluttershy's direction. She silently accepted her apology and ate daintily.

It was some time that the remaining three mares woke from their slumber, Twilight had heard some of the exchange between Scoots and Fluttershy and refused the temptation to wake up then. Rainbow Dash was the only one who had the fortune of waking up on her own terms. By then however, the berries were gone. The ponies below were contempt and simply sat around charring and playing.

“Nice to know you left some for me.” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she plopped on the ground.

Nopony else was in too good of a mood to deal with her grogginess, Scootaloo lead her into the forest to scavenge her own food.

“What do you want brat?” Rainbow hissed, she assumed this was some kind of appeasement.

Scootaloo was put off as well, “Maybe for you to be a little less cranky. Look, here's a bush of berries, don't eat the black ones and you'll be fine.”  The filly then made her way back when a cyan hoof tapped her back. She wheeled around to see Rainbow Dash looking at her with a look of shame.

“Ah, sorry kiddo, this whole thing hasn't been too grand for any of us. Besides, I'm not too fun in the morning so for future reference, its best to let me do my thing.”

Scootaloo simply nodded and trotted off back to where the ponies were.

Rarity had eaten with the initial haul as well and was in the process of tediously magicking her mane back into its pristine form, aiding Sweetie Belle as well who in her ill-fated attempts managed to set her own mane on fire. They had managed to find a stream to where they could see their reflection.

“You doing alright Sweetie Belle?” Rarity casually asked,

“I guess.” Sweetie Belle sighed, “I guess things could be worse.”

Her sister simply nodded and put a hoof on her when she had finished her mane, “Twilight will find a way out of this I'm sure, she usually does.” The mare smiled and they both made their way back out.

“Wait, why just Twilight and not us?” Sweetie was curious.

“Well...I'm not really the most resourceful mare this side of the Everfree Sweetie, you of all ponies should know that. I am repulsed by the most mundane things.”

“Yeah but Applebloom found food, and it turns out Scootaloo is great and getting through thick brush and branches, I'm sure we can all work together and make some good come out of all of this.” She smiled at the thought.

Rarity smiled as well, her sister seemed rather confident and optimistic, A far cry from last night where life itself seemed futile and without merit.

Now that they were all fed, awake, and In as pristine form as their conditions allowed, they all sat in a circle around the now fruitless bush and discussed the long term matter at hand.

“I don't suppose anyponmy has any real ideas.” Rainbow Dash began, she wanted to start this conversation assuring her friends she didn't want any part in the planning process.

“Ooh!” Applebloom was excited, this could be her second contribution to the their plight, “We could build our own little house an' live off the land! Ah could help! Ahm really good with buildin' and fixin' things!”

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but snort at the idea of the three fillies micromanaging a home construction project, especially with the scant materials they had. Applebloom deflated some. The silence that followed being a polite rejection.

Twilight looked to Rarity who nodded, much to Sweetie Belle's dismay. Twilight let out a sigh. She opened a saddlebag she mad managed to take with her though the chase and up to this place. Inside were the scrolls and even the book that she had been scrutinizing all this time. There was no going back so why not?

“Or, we could do something great, we may be a meek team but—we could travel to someplace like Manehatten, publish these findings in a book and disperse it throughout--”

Rainbow Dash yawned. “Lame! We're not going all the way to Manehatten just to write a stupid book. We already had one mob too many.”

Scootaloo remembered their excitement from when they had first seen these papers and heard of their taboo accounts.

“Or, we could do what we were gonna do anyway!”

Everypony looked her direction for her to elaborate.

“Well, remember when we said we should be 'Cutie Mark Crusader Freedom Fighters'? Why not go down in history doing the most awesome thing imaginable! Kicking Celestia's flank and saving Equestria!”

“Yeah!” The other two fillies squealed in excitement.

“OK squirt listen.” Rainbow Dash said, suppressing a fit of laughter. “You expect us—just us five to just trot on over to Canterlot, over-throw the crown and everything to go smooth in between?”

Scootaloo deflated, her ears dropped.  “Well—it's an idea isn't it! Better than nothing!” She pouted.

“She has a point.” Twilight said, “We really have nothing to loose at this point.”

Rainbow was baffled, “Twi come on, you can't possibly be serious!” Twilight simply nodded.

“I concur.” Rarity stood up, head held high, “If they have the audacity to have us ousted by a band of ignorant cowards than by the heavens we can give them a taste of their own medicine!”

“YEAH!” The three fillies bounced with excitement.

“But uh, just us?” Fluttershy asked.

The excitement deflated back into reality as they realized, there was no way they were going to pull this off alone.

“We are going to need reinforcement.” Twilight acknowledged. “Fluttershy, you're not banished, perhaps you and Rainbow can go to Cloudsdale and recruit some assistance, if any other place in Equestria ought to bare a grudge against all of this it must be them.”

Rainbow busted out laughing, “Oh this is rich! You actually thing the council would take this seriously? I don't think so!”

“Well, what's your alternative then?” Rarity snapped.

“Yeah Rainbow Crash, you seem scared,” Scootaloo mocked.

Being cornered by Rarity was one thing, being called her least favorite name by her former 'number one fan' was the straw that broke the ponies back.  “I got nothin'.” She shot a glare of hate Scootaloo's way who shrunk back into the other two fillies.

“I guess it's worth a shot.” Fluttershy said.

“There's the attitude!” Twilight beamed, “Now all we have to do now is figure out how we're going to make this work! We all need to comb over these pages and brainstorm some ideas, then we can come up with the most effective way forward.”

“YAY!” the fillies squealed. “CUTIE MAR--” they stopped some, cutie marks were kinda lame now but they shrugged, it worked.  “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER FREEDOM FIGHTERS—ya!” Next Chapter: Rainbow Douche Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 40 Minutes