Lost at Home

Lost at Home: A My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfic by the *Secondbestscribe*

Chapter Two: The First Day of the Holidays

If, at daybreak, one was to look out of the top window of the new barn at Sweet Apple Acres on the first day of the school holidays, one would see four filly-shaped silhouettes trailing cape-shaped silhouettes while running towards Ponyville with a chorus of "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER PARK RANGERS!" and a brief yet particularly loud four-way high-hoof.

One would also feel warned by some eldritch sixth sense that it would be a good idea to lock the doors and learn how to run away from lions.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Babs Seed were riding around Ponyville in the Crusader cart, being pulled by a currently-flightless pegasus filly. If anyone had been awake at this hour, they would have heard whooping and cheering, courtesy of the three other fillies that were riding in the cart.

"Aw, jeepers, Apple Bloom, this is awesome!" whooped Babs, throwing her hooves up in the air as her cape streamed out behind her.

"I know, right?" squealed Sweetie. "This is so fun!["

"HAH!" came Scootaloo's voice from up front. "You think this is awesome? This is awesome!"

With those words, Scootaloo kicked her wings into overdrive, giving the CMC a burst of speed. Screams of delight met the pegasus' ears, and she grinned as she propelled herself with her hind hoof, bits of rock being left behind as the clop of her hoof on stone tapped out a catchy-sounding tune.

Ponyville was now a mere multi-coloured blur enveloping the Crusaders. Babs and Apple Bloom whooped excitedly, while Sweetie hunkered down and screamed with a mixture of fear and ecstasy. Scootaloo threw back her head and yelled, "THIS IS SO AWESOME!"

Her hoof kept tapping out the beat, and the sound was whipped towards the other Crusaders by the speed of their riding. Sweetie's ear twitched as she heard the beat, and she straightened up, unsung words suddenly filling her mouth. The unicorn let four steady beats pass, then she suddenly jumped into the song with a grin, the familiar tune catching the attention of Apple Bloom and Scootaloo:

"Look, here, are four little ponies,

Ready to go and face the world,

Four fillies, each with a story,

Destiny waiting to be unfurled!"

Babs and Scootaloo looked at each other in confusion, but Apple Bloom was bearing a large grin. Suddenly, she jumped in to add a verse of her own, smiling all the while.

"When you're a younger pony,

And yer flank is really bare,

There's no need to wait fer sun-up,

In order to see what must be there - "

"So the four of us show the light,

So that everypony can see,

That we'll get our cutie marks,

And we'll do it as a team!"

Sweetie looped a hoof around Apple Bloom, and they started to sway in time with the beat that Scootaloo's hoof was now tapping out as if in a mantra.

"We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders,

On a quest to find out who we are,

And we will never stop the journey,

Not until we have our cutie marks!"

Scootaloo turned to Babs and slipped her a wink. Before the city filly could reply, the pegasus opened her mouth and let a mixture of harmonics and discords loose.

"They all say that you'll get your mark,

When the time is really right,

But the Cutie Mark Crusaders say,

That they can't wait through another night!"

"So we wake up in the morn," sang Apple Bloom, "and keep crusadin' 'till the sun goes down."

"And as we canter around with our capes," added Sweetie, "everyone knows that the 'saders are in town!"

Babs, having finally worked up the courage to do so, opened her mouth tentatively to sing along with the chorus.

"We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders,

On a quest to find out who we are,

And we will never stop the journey,

Not until we have our cutie marks!"

The Crusaders suddenly exploded in a lapse of giggling and general all-round high-hoofing. Babs in particular was feeling particularly flushed; she felt as if she had just passed a test or something, an entrance exam into the School of Cutie Mark Crusading.

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle was chattering excitedly.

"That was so cool! That singing was so fun and we sounded so good and - "

While she gibbered, the unicorn's horn started to spark excessively with green magical aura. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at her in sudden horror. Scootaloo's hoof stopped tapping abruptly, and her wings came to a grinding halt.

"ABANDON CART!" screeched Apple Bloom. "ABANDON CART!"

Apple Bloom leapt out from the side of the cart, dragging a shocked Babs along with her. Scootaloo tucked and rolled, her head held between her hooves. The three fillies collapsed in a cloud of dust; when it cleared, they were revealed in the midst of it, coughing and wheezing.

"What," stammered Babs, struggling to her hooves, "was that?"

Apple Bloom dusted off her bow with the precision of one that absolutely hates a dusty bow. "Well, nopony actually understands it, but basic'ly Sweetie's going through this... erm... thing... ah reckon 's a unicorn thing. Anyway, Twilight says that - "

"Twilight?" interjected Babs, confused.

"Y'know," said Scootaloo airily, waving a hoof. "Newest princess, alicorn, Element of Magic and all that?"

Babs' face cleared of confusion. "Aw, ah-kay... wait, ya know her?"

"Yup!" grinned Apple Bloom. "Well, as 'Twi', most'y. Applejack introduced 'er to me!"

Babs did nothing except for shake her head and blow her mane out of her face. "Well, anyways, what's up with Sweetie, eh?"

"Some kinda unicorn life-phase with pent-up magic or somethin'," explained Scootaloo. "She's learning how to use magic or something. I think. Erm, you know how earth ponies can get stronger as they grow older? And how pegasi can, ahem, fly?"

Babs nodded.

"Well, Twi says that Sweetie's body is kinda... gettin' used tah magic, ah guess," added Apple Bloom, shrugging.

Babs thought with a hoof cupping her chin. Then, eventually, she said, "Well... a'ight. Seems tah make sense."

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded in unison.

"In fact, AJ says that Twi - " began Apple Bloom.

A large, sparking, green and above all magical explosion cut the bow-clad earth pony off. The remaining Crusaders looked at each other, shocked, then chorused the name "SWEETIE BELLE!" in horrified unison. They turned and ran towards the site of the explosion, each with a cape leading their tails, each one fearing for their magic-stuffed unicorn friend.