The Cutie Mark Crusaders’ Woodland Adventures

Chapter 2

Everypony trotted over to their tents, ready and willing to go to sleep that night. Almost all of them looked exactly the same, except for Rarity’s pointlessly extravagant two-story tent. Each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders slept with their respective sisters. Berry Pinch was with Berry Punch. Diamond Tiara slept with Silverspoon. Filthy Rich brought his own tent. Derpy and Dinky shared theirs and cuddled all night. Rumble decided to sleep with Button Mash (who started to cry) and left Thunderlane alone. Cheerilee and Twilight Sparkle shared a tent. Many of the remaining students had their own tents and almost everypony were on the fast track to sleep. Everypony, save for two earth pony fillies, named Noi and Piña Colada.

“Noi, are you still awake?” Piña asked her friend.

“Yes. Do you think anypony else can hear us?” Noi responded.

“No. I think they’re all falling asleep by now.”

“Their game is weak.” Noi laughed. Piña Colada gave a slight chuckle at her joke, but then remembered what they needed to talk about.

“Quiet, Noi.” Piña Colada hissed and Noi went silent. “I still need to talk to you about Scootaloo.”

“Oh. Scootaloo? Are you talking about her being so close to Rainbow Dash?” Noi asked.

“No, I’m talking about her mane.” Piña answered coldly. “Of course I’m talking about her relationship with Rainbow Dash!”

Noi flinched at Piña Colada submissively.

“Even though the Rainbow Dash Fan Club recently disbanded, we will always be honorary members. Scootaloo created the Fan Club, but she had abandoned us. She had taken the easy route, subverted every single member of this club, and unfairly monopolized Rainbow Dash all to herself! And we all know what happened to the last pony who tried to do that, don’t we Noi?”

“Yes, I do remember.”

“But her actions were small potatoes compared to the atrocities that Scootaloo had already done. We need to teach that egotistical brownnoser a lesson about sharing, don’t we Noi?”

“I couldn’t agree with you more, Piña.”

“Starting tomorrow, we need to learn all there is to know about that no-good piece of airspace and I know just the pony who will tell us everything that we need to know.”

“Piña, who are you talking about?”

“Tomorrow,” Piña answered her friend. “We’re going to have a chat with Sweetie Belle.” Piña smiled at her friend and fell into her sleeping bag, indicating that it was time to go to sleep.

“Hey, Cheerilee!” Button Mash complained. “What’s for breakfast?”

“There are granola bars in the saddle bag. Why don’t you go get one?”

“Thanks!” Button ungraciously galloped away.

“Only take one!”

“I will!”

Twilight Sparkle trotted over to Cheerilee with a look of worry in her face. She could hardly get any sleep last night, because she kept thinking about how they could possibly be lost in the EverFree Forest. She knew that this forest was a dangerous place filled with predatory animals and other life-threatening dangers. Since she couldn’t fall asleep, she tried to distract herself by listening to the incessant chatting from Noi and Piña Colada’s tent. She couldn’t understand what they were saying and it only lasted for about ten minutes.

“Hey, Cheerilee.” Twilight tried to hide her nervousness.

“Hi, Twilight.”

“Do you have any idea where we are?”

“No.” Cheerilee sighed.

“Then, what should we do?” Twilight asked in a sympathetic voice.

“I’m guessing if we could find some sort of landmark, like a river or something, we could use that to help us find our bearings.”

Twilight put her hoof to her chin and fell into a state of thought. An epiphany shot into her mind.

“What if we get Rainbow Dash to fly up into the sky and look for any landmarks on the map?”

“Good work, Twilight!” Twilight stared at her. “Sorry. I’m just used to saying that to my students. I hope you’re didn’t think I was being condescending.”

“I wouldn’t mind being your student,” Twilight whispered. “Well, anyway, I’m going to go get Rainbow Dash. I think she still might be asleep.”

“Okay, Twilight. The sooner we get out of here, the better.”

Twilight trotted over to Rainbow Dash’s and Scootaloo’s tent. She used a spell to open up the zipper, only to see Dashie sitting there. She was reading the fifth book of the Daring Do series for what could possibly be the twenty-seventh time.

“Rainbow Dash.”

“Twilight! I was just about to get to a really good part! Daring Do is about to play one of the Puppet Master’s sadistic games to get the Orb of Atonement!”

“Yes, that is a particularly good scene. But, you’re the only pony who can do this.”

“Alright. I’ll do it. Besides, Daring Do will be here when I get back. So, what is it you want me to do?”

Sweetie Belle woke up much later than most of the other students. She got out and saw the large EverFree trees that surrounded her. She smelled the fresh woodland scent that enveloped and stimulated her senses. Sweetie Belle was a happy camper.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle, mind if I talk to you for a moment?” Noi walked out of the shadows.

“Sure, um, is your name Nope?” Sweetie Belle asked innocently.

“No, my name is Noi.”

“Oh. My mistake.” Sweetie Belle smiled awkwardly. “So, what is it that you need to talk about?”

“Something important. Come follow me.”

Sweetie Belle followed the light orange filly to a secluded area away from the other campers.

“I’m curious about your friend.”

“Who? Applebloom or Scootaloo?”

“Scootaloo. You see… I’m a huge fan of Rainbow Dash, and I want to congratulate Scootaloo for being able to get so close to her.” Noi tried her best not to sound as if she’s jealous.

“I see,” Sweetie Belle commented.

“But… I want to know the details. How exactly did they get so close?”

“Oh! So, it went like this...”

Noi gave a slight smile, when she realized that Sweetie Belle was too innocent to suspect any form of ulterior motive.

“That’s what you want me to do?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Hah! That’s easy! Don’t worry, I’ll find a landmark as soon as possible.”

“Rainbow Dash, wait! Don’t forget the map. You’ll need to see if anything matches up to it.”

“I wasn’t going to forget the map, Twilight.”

“Then, why was it on a rock over there?” Twilight pointed towards a peculiar rock, with a map balancing itself on it.

“Oh, right.” Rainbow Dash took the map in her hooves and flew higher and higher passed the tops of the trees. As she came to the halfway mark, she could see nests of Phoenixes perched in the trees. They looked at her quizzically and then looked up. Rainbow Dash continued to fly up. She could’ve flown faster, but that would increase the chances of hitting a tree, then falling, and hitting something much harder. The Phoenixes looked up to Rainbow Dash. Some of them looked fidgety. As Dashie flew upwards, she noticed a lot more Phoenix nests. Almost of them were staring at her.

She continued to fly closer and closer to the canopy and one of the Phoenixes flew from her perch. Soon, the others followed suit. The Alpha Phoenix flew headfirst into Rainbow Dash’s wing.

“Hey! What’s going on?!” She looked up to see a horde of territorial Phoenixes coming right for her. They attacked her wings, giving her slight burns in the process. Rainbow Dash tried to protect herself with the map, but that proved to be useless when the map burned. She flew down as the Phoenixes continued to attack her. One Phoenix took Rainbow Dash by surprise and burnt most of her wing, causing the cyan Pegasus to plummet to the ground.

Fortunately, before she could break her neck, Twilight had used a spell to slow down Dashie’s descent.

“Rainbow Dash! What happened?!” Twilight asked with a sense of fear in her voice.

“Phoenixes,” she answered.

“I see.” Twilight commented. “I’m going to have to tell Cheerilee about this, don’t I?”

“Don’t worry, Twilight. I’ll be there with you to explain everything.”

The two mares slowly trotted their way to Cheerilee. Twilight had her head down, while Rainbow looked completely forward. For a split-second, Rainbow saw Twilight looking defeated, so she put her hoof below her chin and raised Twilight’s head in an attempt to cheer her up. Twilight pushed Rainbow’s hoof away, and looked back to the ground.

“Cheerilee?” Rainbow Dash called out to the teacher, who had been placing a bandage on Button’s hoof after he fell.

“What is it, Rainbow Dash?”

“Something went terribly wrong.” Rainbow answered.

“Well, it’s not her fault,” Twilight interjected. “I should’ve told her about Phoenixes being territorial.”

Cheerilee said nothing as she continued to administer the bandage to Button’s hoof.

“No, it’s my fault,” Rainbow Dash countered. “I shouldn’t have gotten so close to the Phoenix nests.”

“But that’s only because I told you to.” Twilight objected.

Cheerilee told Button Mash that he can go now, and sent him on his merry way. She turned to the two other mares trying to get her attention.

“What’s all this about Phoenix nests?” Cheerilee asked.

“Well, when Rainbow Dash was out looking for a landmark, she… got attacked by Phoenixes.”

“Oh! Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?” Cheerilee asked sympathetically.

“Oh, I’m fine,” Rainbow Dash answered. “I just can’t fly for a while, that’s all.”

“Well, we can always just get Thunderlane to do it. I’ve heard he’s a good flyer. So, where’s the map?”

“Umm… the map…” Twilight took a charred piece of paper from her saddlebag. “The Phoenixes got to it.”

For a while, Cheerilee said nothing. She just stared at what used to be a readable map of the EverFree Forest.

“Cheerilee? Are you okay?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah… I’m okay,” Cheerilee answered. “We… we need to get some water… and some food. We might be here for a while.”

Applebloom and Apple Jack were about to do some fun sister activities together, but then Twilight came up to AJ and explained the situation to her.

“Rainbow Dash hurt her wing? Ah’m awfully sorry,” said Apple Jack. “Is there anything Ah can do to help?”

“Actually, there is. Would you mind trying to find water around here? If you don’t find any, that’s fine. We have plenty of water bottles. It’s just… we might be here for a while.”

“Anything for you, Twilight,” Apple Jack turned to face her sister. “I’m sorry, sugarcube. It seems I got my hoof wrapped up at the moment. Hey, maybe you should play with some of your Crusader friends.”

“But, Apple Jack! Scootaloo’s hanging out with Rainbow Dash and I think Sweetie Belle’s still asleep.”

“Well, there’s plenty of other fillies you could talk to,” said the orange mare. “Maybe you can play with one of them.”

Applebloom looked to the ground, muttered ‘okay’, and trotted away.

Apple Jack sighed. “Come on, Twilight.”

“Right behind you, AJ.”

Applebloom was muttering to herself. She had been excited to spend more time with her sister, but now she had to do something ‘more important’ as if anything was more important than spending time with your sister. She wouldn’t be too ticked off, if it weren’t for the fact that both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were indisposed. Applebloom looked around for any signs of someone to talk to, but nopony was around.

Then, a light yellow Pegasus with a purple mane and a pink flower cutie mark trotted passed Applebloom.

“Hey, where ya goin’?” Applebloom asked.

“It’s none of your concern.” Princess Erroria answered coldly.

“Yer name is Princess Erroria, right?”

“No. Ponies just started calling me that when I kept mispronouncing my name.”

Applebloom didn’t remember Erroria having any other name, but she did remember when she had a lisp that made her almost impossible to understand. Realizing they were treading on uncertain grounds, the farmfilly decided to change their conversation.

“Well, where ya goin’?” Applebloom asked again.

Princess groaned. “You already asked me that. And, I already told you. It’s none of your concern!” she yelled. “Besides, I can’t be seen talking to a… a blank flank like yourself.”

The young filly looked away.

“What does me bein’ a blank flank have to do with anything? Does it have to do with the fact that you’re walking over to Diamond Tiara’s tent?”

Princess Erroria blushed. “That is none of your concern, blank flank!”

Applebloom, noticing Erroria’s flustered face, began to tease her.

“Princess, do you… I dunno… have feelings for a certain pink filly?”

“No…” Princess Erroria answered as the redness in her face intensified.

That did it. Applebloom giggled to herself.

“Well, Ah’ll be. I never would’ve expected you of all ponies to have a crush on Diamond Tiara.”

“Shut up.”

“Actually, I can see it now. You and Diamond Tiara are sittin’ together at Sugarcube Corner, sharing a milkshake and holding hooves. Then, you find there’s only one cherry. You two share that cherry, and your lips barely touches hers…”

Princess Erroria punched Applebloom square in the nose.

“How many times do I have to tell you to shut up? You annoying blank flank!” she screamed.

Holding her nose, Applebloom galloped away. She realized she had gone too far, but she felt she didn’t deserve to be punched. Maybe she wanted to be with her friends so much, that she begun to treat Erroria like they were the best of friends since they were foals.

“Look, Twilight! Runnin’ water!” said Apple Jack. “And it’s not too far from camp.”

“It’s a good thing we found it so quickly. But, I wish that it was a full-fledged river, rather than a creek.”

“Why, Twilight?”

“Rivers have names. If we found the river, we could follow it and make our way back to civilization.”

“Oh, so that’s why yer disappointed.” Apple Jack commented. “Well, at least we have water.”

“At least we have water.” Twilight echoed.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo raced to see Applebloom. When they heard she got hurt, they wanted to help her feel better.

“What happened, Applebloom?” asked Scootaloo.

“Ah fell and hit mah nose.”

“I’m so sorry, Applebloom,” said Sweetie Belle. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Ah can’t think of anything. But… thanks, Sweetie Belle.”

Sweetie Belle was apparently lost in thought. She put her hoof to her chin, then brightened up and said something loud enough for almost everypony around them to hear.

“Idea!” she sang.

At first, everypony else stared at the three, but they went back doing their usual business. Sweetie Belle laughed nervously.

“What’s your idea?” asked Scootaloo.

“I know something that’ll make you feel better,” Sweetie Belle told Applebloom.

“What?” the farmfilly asked.

“Tonight, we’re going to play Truth-or-Dare. And everypony’s invited.”