Chapter Thirteen: Becoming A Crusader

私の小さい馬：大きな鉱石の物語

MY LITTLE PONY: THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT CRYSTALS

Daijuusanshou: Kuruuseedaa ni Natte Iru

だいじゅうさんしょう：クルーセーダーになっている

第十三章：クルーセーダーに成っている

Chapter Thirteen: Becoming A Crusader

It was the next day, and Gash had just woken up and was getting ready for school. He had eaten the breakfast that Fluttershy had provided him-scrambled eggs, an apple and some orange juice. It seemed strange to the child that one like Fluttershy-who believed wholeheartedly that animal life was incredibly precious-was completely fine with sacrificing it in eggs. When he had finished eating, he let his curiosity speak.

“Hey, Fluttershy?” he asked.

“Yes?”

I’ve just noticed: You’re making me eggs-essentially the unborn fetus of a bird, and you seem to be completely fine with killing it. What’s up with that?” he curiously quizzed.

“Well, Gash, some of my chickens lay unfertilized eggs, which means that there is no embryo inside. It’s not killing anything,” she explained.

“Ah…What’s a chicken?” he inquired.

“It’s a fairly large, white bird…most of them are cultivated and lay eggs for consumption, like this,” she added.

“Ah,” he understood, nodding. She smiled at him.

“The more you know,” she said. “Speaking of knowing more, are you ready for school?” she gently questioned.

“Yeah,” he answered, standing up and stretching. He put his saddlebag around his side and started toward the door.

“Would you like me to walk you there?” she softly interrogated.

“Ah…sure. Why not?” he accepted. The two made their way out the door and off to the school.

Fluttershy and Gash walked through the small wooded area separating Ponyville from her cottage. As they walked through the village, they ran into the same problem Gash had every single day. Gash sighed and they continued walking. She saw him walk faster and faster and was falling behind.

“Gash, are you alright? You seem angry all of a sudden,” she worriedly asked.

“I don’t like it when others stare at me, so I’m walking as fast as I can in order to get away,” he quickly said, increasing his pace once again.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” she sympathized.

“It’s alri-“ he started, but was cut off by a small cloud of dust in his face. “What the f-“

When the dust had settled, he saw Diamond Tiara running forward away from him. He stopped for a moment, closing his eyes and sighing. He muttered a few words to himself unintelligibly and just continued walking.

“Gash, are you okay?”

“Yeah…I’m fine…Just give me a moment,” he sighed out loud, walking.

‘Something’s wrong with him,’ she thought. ‘I wonder what it is…’ she pondered, trotting up to him.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Fluttershy, I am. I just need a second to myself,” he reiterated, continuing to walk.

“Um…okay…” she awkwardly replied, slowing her pace.

It was soon too late for that thought as they approached the schoolhouse. Gash looked up, sighing once again.

“Um…we’re here, Gash. Do you want me to walk you in?”

“No, it’s alright. Thank you, though,” he appreciated, walking to the front doors.

“Oh, okay…Have a nice day, Gash!” she yelled out.

“Alright. You too,” he said back.

When he stepped in, he ignored all of the stares, going straight to his desk. He took out his paper and writing utensils and sat back, waiting for the class to start.

“Heya, Gash!” Apple Bloom called out from behind him. He instantly turned around in his seat.

“Oh, hey Apple Bloom,” he addressed her.

“How are you?”

“I’m alright. Yourself?”

“I’m alrahght as well!”

“So, we noticed that you don’t have anything lahke a cutie mark on your body,” she started.

“We?”

“Me, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle,” she clarified.

“Ah,” he understood, allowing himself a second to remember what cutie marks were about.

“And we were wondering if you had any  ahdea what your special talent was,” she finished.

“Well, I have a feeling that if I can even have a special talent, it will have something to do with electricity, as that is what I seem to excel in,” he explained.

“Ah see. Do you think you can get a cutie mark?”

“Well, seeing as it’s something that ponies alone have, I’d say that I probably can’t. What were you having in mind?”

“Ah was just a little curious,” she explained.

“Is that so? In that case, your curiosity should’ve been soothed,” he told, nodding his head.

“Okay. Thank you, Gash!”

“No problems.”

The first class subjects flew by as Gash managed to concentrate and take decent notes on the material, which satisfied his intellectual tastes. Recess soon started, and he walked outside. He debated between staying at school and going home.

In staying at school, he would certainly become more educated and have time to talk to and get to know Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo a little more. He would also be making Fluttershy happy by staying and fulfilling his not-vocalized promise of making friends. The obvious cons were that he would have to deal with the uncomforting stares that plagued him wherever he went. He would also probably have to face Diamond Tiara again, and after what happened the day before, that was the exact opposite of what he wanted.

In going home, we would be able to cut off the now suppressed feelings of anxiety and discomfort that being there gave him. He would also not have to meet Diamond Tiara that day. He worried, however, that going home would disappoint Fluttershy and limit his education even more than what had been taken from him during his bout with depression over the last few months.

He looked between the two options-the schoolhouse or his new home-but couldn’t come to a decision. He took a moment to think about the incident yesterday with Diamond Tiara. She had injured him and paralyzed him pretty badly for a few moments. In a deeper context, he realized that if they ever were alone, she would attack him and he would have to defend himself. He could tell that his ‘Zakeru’ strikes were becoming a bit more powerful. If he ever needed to use them against Diamond Tiara again, they would surely kill her; if he didn’t use them, she would surely kill him.

It was a difficult decision, but he didn’t have to make in as his thoughts were interrupted.

“Hey, tubby!” Diamond Tiara shouted.

‘Fucking damn it!’ he thought.

“What now?” he asked, frustrated.

“I’m still angry from what happened yesterday, you know.”

“Yeah. If you would leave me alone, it wouldn’t be an issue for you.”

“Well, I just need to emphasize my anger with you. If you can’t tell, I’m quite the livid type right now.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t clearly obvious.”

She growled, lunging at him. He thought he already knew how this would go down, so he dodged to the left. She pushed into the ground, turning herself toward him and launching. She hit him in the stomach, causing a little blood to be coughed. He grabbed her by the front legs and pushed her in front of himself.

“Do you really want to do this again? Because right now, I’m not really feeling like screwing with your stupid crap today.”

“What, too chicken?”

“Do you really believe your petty insults have any impact on me? Because they don’t. In fact, your insults make you look dumber than you actually may be. So I suggest that you stop before this gets ugly.”

“Oh, now you’re trying to mock my intelligence? Well, those words only make you look like a stupid fool!”

She broke her fore hooves away from him, revving it up to slam it into his jaw. He saw this coming, so he put out his fist to block it.

“Ooh…bad move.”

He lifted her up and threw her away from him as he ran toward her flying body. He used the schoolhouse’s structure to his advantage and parkoured his way up on top, jumping off the roof. He then grabbed her in midair and threw her into the leaves of the tree. She fell through the branches, but never actually touched the ground as she was hanging by leaves and sticks. Luckily for Gash, she had no injuries, and was only ailed by her dirty coat. Gash landed in front of her, pulling his book out.

“Now, if you don’t stop attacking me, I might just need to shock you,” he threatened, earning a wide-eyed, frightened stare from the filly. “And I don’t want to have to do that, because it makes me look bad. Do you want that?” he asked, earning a horrified nod from the pink filly. “I thought so. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going home now,” he announced, putting his book back in its pouch and walking towards the end of the yard.

“Wait, Gash!” Scootaloo shouted. Gash turned around.

“Uh…Yes?” he answered, stopping and turning around.

“Why don’t you stay and finish the rest of the day off, since you’re already here?” she asked, walking to his side. “I don’t think she’ll bother you again today,” she whispered, nudging at him.

“Okay…Even if she doesn’t, isn’t every…pony scared of me already? I just gave her another beating! Now it’s going to get worse!” he exclaimed.

“It’ll be fine. You didn’t even hurt her!” she told, pointing towards Diamond Tiara.

Gash turned around to see her walking off toward the school house, her head hanging low and pouting rather loudly. She was trying to pull leaves and sticks out of her mane and tail as she walked. The other schoolfoals were shocked at first, but soon they were pointing and laughing at her as she had once again been shamed by Gash. Gash was a tad confused on how to feel.

'Wha…?'

“They aren’t even a little scared about what I just did?”

“You were able to make her go away without actually hurting her, so instead of the others being shocked about what you just did, they’re laughing,” a voice came from behind. “However, you could’ve still handled it in a nicer way, but it’s still decent progress,” she continued. Gash turned around and saw Twilight standing there, with a small grin etched onto her face.

“Well, uh…Thanks, I guess?”

“You’re welcome,” she smilingly replied. The sight of a smile on Twilight’s face shined a chuckle and a grin of his own.

“Now, why don’t you go back to school now? I’m sure that you could learn a few things or two there,” she remarked.

“Uh…yeah. I think that I’ll do that. See ya, Twilight.”

“Bye!” she said back, walking away.

‘That went better than I thought it would.’

“Well, I guess I will stay,” he said to Scootaloo, who smiled at him.

“Awesome!” she shouted, dragging him backward toward the school house.

School went well for the rest of the day for Gash. He could tell that the schoolfoals were becoming a little more comfortable around him, which greatly pleased to Gash’s well being and sanity. When he was getting ready to go home, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom all approached him.

“Hi, Gash!” they all shouted, causing Gash to recoil in his chair a bit.

“Oh…” he said, slouching back to a comfortable position in his seat. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Wanna come hang out with us for a bit?” Scootaloo offered.

“Yeah! We have something special planned for you!” Sweetie Belle informed.

“So, what do ya say?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Uh…sure, why not? Just let me pack up first,” he accepted.

“Awesome!” Scootaloo cried.

Gash packed up his school supplies into the pack and was led outside by the three exuberant fillies, who brought him to a small wagon with a scooter attached.

“A cart? What’s this for?” he curiously quizzed.

“Get in!” Scootaloo ordered, getting a slight head tilt from Gash.

“”Uh…Alright,” he complied, lifting himself up into the pseudo-car. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle also hopped in, motioning for him to sit down.

“Gash, sit down and hold on!” Sweetie Belle demanded.

“Okay,” he fulfilled, sitting down on the wagon. He put his hands on the sides and gripped it tightly.

“Are you all good back there?” Scootaloo asked, stepping onto the scooter. She was now wearing a helmet that was purple with orange flames running along it.

“Yeah!”

“Mhm.”

“Yup!”

“Alright! Let’s roll!” she shouted, flapping her tiny wings. The cart suddenly propelled itself at an incredible rate, shooting through the town.

“Holy crap!” Gash shouted, nearly lifting off of the seat. He resituated his hands to the front end of the cart and held on with all of his might to not fall off.

The town rolled by at an intense pace, as buildings and ponies zoomed by Gash’s vision. This amount of sheer speed was amazing for Gash, but he could swear that it felt like his face was being torn off from his head. He didn't even care that he was being stared at anymore. This was just completely exhilarating!

         Six or seven minutes later, they were riding through an apple orchard and soon arrived at a tree-house of sorts. When Scootaloo stopped the scooter, Gash went flying forward, straight into the tree. He slid down and flipped around, looking very dazed. He attempted to stand up, but found that he was falling over on his face more and more.

“Gash, are you alright?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yeah, I’m…” he started, but suddenly had a sensation in his throat. “On second thought, give me a moment,” he requested, running off into the apple orchard.

The three could hear a vomiting sound in the distance, and they felt concerned for their human friend.

“Is he okay?” Scootaloo wanted to know. Before the question could be answered, Gash came back through.

“Alright, sorry ‘bout that. I needed to take care of some business real quick,” he “explained.” They just stared at him for a moment, which confused Gash.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” he asked.

“Um…Yes, actually. Rahght on yer chin,” Apple Bloom described.

“Ah,” he understood, squatting and picking a leaf up from the ground. He wiped his chin using it and threw it in another direction. “Thank you,” he gratified, looking back toward them. “Anyway, what is this place?”

“This is our tree-house! Come inside! We have a surprise for you!” Sweetie Belle called, climbing up the stairs leading into the house.

“Ooh!~ I like surprises,” Gash cracked.

The clubhouse was a bare-brown color with a slightly darker roof. The door leading inside was a dark-pink color, with a heart cut into the top. Above the door was a small, basic window that was separated with a little-white divider, with a small pane of glass on both sides. A yellow patio went around the right side of the house, stretching around the back side. On the sides of the small tree-bound cabin was another window, of which didn’t have any glass on it. Gash walked up the stairs with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

The inside of the clubhouse was the same color as the outside, and had a small, beige carpet at the doorstep. There were purple drapes over the windows and a small lantern hung from the ceiling. There was a large banner with a pony standing on its hind legs above a podium that Sweetie Belle was standing at. Scootaloo manned two large, taiko-like drums and Apple Bloom was just standing to the opposite side of the podium. Sweetie Belle pulled a large manifest from beneath the podium.

“What’s this? A club of some sort?” Gash asked.

“Exactly! We’ve been trahying’ to get our cutie marks for a long tahme now, and we thought that it’d be cool to let you join the club! We’re its founding members, and technically, its only members.” Apple Bloom explained.

“Ah. So, what do you do around here?”

“Well, let us show you some of the highlights of the clubhouse, should you choose to join us!” Sweetie Belle said.

“Alright.”

“That is where we do our roll call,” Apple Bloom started, pointing to the back of the room where Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle we at. Sweetie grunted and Scootaloo used a pencil to check off a line on a sheet of paper on the wall, of which had the three’s faces on it.

“I see,” he got as the two fillies quickly dashed over to a table that Gash could’ve sworn wasn’t there when he first entered the clubhouse. There was a plate and a glass on it.

“That’s where we eat our lunch,” she continued, as Sweetie Belle pretended to eat food on the plate and Scootaloo pretended to pour water from a pitcher.

“Okay,” Gash said, as Scootaloo rapidly shot out from the table and onto a stool in the back-left corner of the room. The lamp was hanging overhead.

“Sometahmes, we sit here and think of great ahdeas!” she further explained, as the lamp made a dinking noise and turned on.

“Wow, you guys have this really planned out!” he exclaimed, impressed at the way the clubhouse was run.

“Thanks! Sometimes it can take us a while to think of new ideas to get our cutie marks, but it’ll be worth it in the long run once we do get them!” Sweetie informed.

“Wow, you three are really into this,” he observed.

“Yeah, finding our special talents is at the top of our to-do lists, and we work hard all the time to fulfill that goal!”

“Well, I’m sure that if you concentrate on what you enjoy, you’ll eventually find something you’re good at,” he enlightened.

“That’s what everypony says to us…” Scootaloo mumbled.

“So what do you say, Gash? Do you wanna join?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Sure, why not? What’s the harm?” he accepted.

Scootaloo softly and rhythmically tapped the drums four times, and then started banging on them in a 1-2-3e-4e-1e-2e-3-4-1e-2e-3e-4e-1 pattern, slyly smiling the entire time. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were knocked off balance, and looked at Scootaloo with mild frustration when she tapped the drum one last time a few moments later. Sweetie Belle began to read the large scroll.

“We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect Gash to join us as a brother, friend, confidante, ally, guy-pal, chum of chums…” she trailed off.

“Ahem!” Scootaloo coughed.

“Well, you wrote this,” Sweetie Belle said back.

“Oh, huh. Yeah…” she awkwardly realized.

“…homeboy, amigo, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” she continued, ruffling through the script. “Oh, yes here. And fellow Cutie Mark Crusader! You are solemnly sworn in, here, this day, in witness of your fellow sisters, friends, confidants, compadres…” she once again trailed.

“Congratulations!” Scootaloo shouted. “I’ve gotta remember to revise that,” she mumbled, throwing a cape with streamers and confetti out at Gash. The three outgoing fillies all giggled at this.

Gash caught the cape, looking over the design on it. The design was the same as the banner that hung above, but now, looking closer, he could see the pony on the cape wearing a cape of its own. On the other side were the words “Cutie Mark Crusaders” in gold, all-caps letters.

“Oh ,cool! A cape to go along with it! This is great!” Gash joyfully expressed by giving the three a group hug. They were all happily laughing at his sudden glee. “Thank you all!”

“Heheh…no problem!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

“Yeah! We’d always be willing to help out a friend!” Scootaloo cheered.

“Once friends, always friends!” Apple Bloom chanted.

“Let me tell you three something: Your friendship truly means a huge amount to me, and I’m glad that I’ve gotten the chance to meet you,” he told, letting tears of happiness roll down his face as he laughed.

The three continued to laugh and hug for quite some time before Gash softly broke the hug. Gash didn’t know what it was that he was feeling, but it was a new emotion to him. He could feel a warm, fuzzy sensation around his body as he felt a strength that he hadn’t ever felt be brought into his heart. A huge whirlpool was spinning eagerly with a vast euphoric entity within his body, and it was a truly magnificent feeling.

“Whoa, Gash! You’re glowing!” Scootaloo informed as she and the others stepped back from him.

“I am?” he asked, shocked. From within his mantle, he could see his book shining brightly within. He pulled the book out to see the emitted light in its true glory.

“Your book is…glowing?” Sweetie Belle said, confusedly. Gash opened the book to the page that was glowing the brightest and saw new words revealed on the page.

“The fifth spell: Gi-rei-do. Gireido.”

“The fifth…spell? You have magic, Gash?” Scootaloo asked.

“Uh-huh…Haven’t you seen me use it? Don’t you remember the fight I had with Diamond Tiara a coupIe months back?”

“We heard about it, but we didn’t know that you used magic,” Scootaloo answered.

“Huh. I’m surprised you didn’t see it. Practically the whole town was watching.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah. And then the fight broke up and we went on our not-so-merry ways for the day,” he lied.

“Wow…Ah didn’t know that! What kahnd of magic do you have?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Electricity.”

“That’s a pretty rare tahpe of magic you’ve got there. Ah don’t know anypony else who’s ever had electric magic. Can you show us?” she asked.

“Well, I would, but I’m pretty busy for the rest of the day. I’ve got homework and exercising and other things to do for right now, so maybe later?” he suggested.

“Okay! Does that mean you’re leaving?” Scootaloo asked.

“That’s what I was planning on,” he informed.

“Do you want a ride?” she offered.

“Nah, I need to get in some jogging today, and this would be a good chance to do so,” he informed, tying the cape around his neck and putting the book in his mantle. “Thank you much for the offer, though,” he gratified, giving a low bow.

“Bye!” they all shouted as he walked toward the door.

“See ya tomorrow!” he shouted back, running out the door.

Gash travelled back to Fluttershy’s cottage in large bursts of jogging and taking short breaks between. When he got home, he did his homework and then did the other exercises Rainbow Dash had taught him the previous day. On top of that, he added sit-ups to his repertoire. The rest of his day was spent learning about various kinds of animals that he’d never seen-different kinds of birds and insects, and even a bear.

Before he went to bed, he was reading his spellbook, pondering what the new spell ‘Gireido’ did. He hadn’t heard of a spell like it yet, and he didn’t know what kind of sorcery it would bring. He set his book down on a table next to the couch and fell asleep, covering himself with the blanket. He noticed something, though.

“Fluttershy?” Gash asked.

“Yes?” she answered, coming to him.

“Where’s Chrysalis at?”

“She said that she was going on a shopping run.”

“Oh. This late at night?”

“Well, I think that she noticed the fridge was almost empty, so she went at night so we’d have food in the morning.”

“Oh, alright.”

With his worry gone, Gash tucked himself into the makeshift bed, making himself comfy. He soon fell asleep, awaiting what the next day would bring him.