Crusader

by Ephraim Blue

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sad, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Scootaloo, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 6623

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are all friends and founders of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They all try to earn their cutie marks, but what happens when Scootaloo fails to get hers?

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are all friends. Together, they can do anything! They, as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, will find a way to earn their cutie marks!
But trouble arises when Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle get their cutie marks and leave Scootaloo alone as the only crusader left.

If I have to say this story was inspired by anything, I'd say it was inspired by BlackGryph0n and Bassik's song: Crusader.

It's an amazing song, and I feel inspired by it in some ways.

Published 2014-03-19 23:10:04 UTC
Last updated 2014-09-08 19:25:23 UTC

Prologue - Once a Crusader...

Crusader

By: Ephraim Blue

Prologue - Once a Crusader...

Scootaloo was your average everyday filly. She went to school, played with her friends, all that good stuff. However, there is one thing about her that she isn't all to proud of.

She can't fly.

Being a pegasus, she was supposed to fly, but her wings weren't fully developed yet. She tried not to think about it. She had crusading to do!

The Cutie Mark Crusaders is a small group that three friends formed to try different things to earn their cutie marks. These activities varied from skydiving to making sweets. All of these attempts either fail, or succeed. They fail most of the time, but one day they are going to succeed in earning their cutie marks.

There are currently four members of the group at the moment. Apple Bloom, a yellow earth pony with a red mane. Babs Seed, a dark orange earth pony with a purple mane(She's also Apple Blooms cousin). Sweetie Belle, a white unicorn with a bright purple mane, and Scootaloo. She was, well I already told you. Anyway, she's orange with a dark purple mane. I didn't tell you that, did I?

Babs lived in Manehattan with her sister. She once took a visit, but had to leave after a week. She did, however, have just enough time to become an official member of their club.

But that's besides the point. I'm here to tell you a devastating tale that happened not to long ago with these friends. A tale, that started...

...on a stray night.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were to trying to get their stargazing cutie marks. It turns out, they didn't know a single one.

"Is that one Orion?" Apple Bloom asked Twilight. They didn't have their own telescope, so they borrowed hers.

"No, Apple Bloom, that's The Big Dipper," she told her. "Orion is over there." She pointed toward another part of the sky.

"What's that one?" asked a curious Sweetie Belle as she pointed to a bright star in the sky.

"That's the North Star. It helps guide us north."

"What's this called?" Scootaloo asked.

"Scootaloo, I thought you were here to study about stars. Not flowers."

"I know, but this flower is more interesting than a couple of dots in the sky."

"Oh, Scootaloo," she said. "Astronomy is very helpful. You may not know it, but one day, you might need astronomy to help you with finding your way when you are lost. Our ancestors used it to find Equestria."

"Yeah, but why might I use it?"

"I don't know. It may be helpful to you one day. It may not be today, or tomorrow, but one day you might use it."

"It just seems boring to me."

"Well, you can get your cutie mark in flower sniffing all you want," Apple Bloom said. "We will get our cutie marks in astronomy in no time!"

"Actually, girls," Twilight interrupted. "I'm afraid its your bedtime."

"Aww," Sweetie Belle wined. "We don't need to sleep."

"Yes you do. If you don't get to sleep, you wont be able to go crusading with a good night's rest."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Well what are we wasting for?" Apple Bloom eagerly asked the other girls. "Lets head home right away and meet back at the clubhouse tomorrow at ten!"

"Yeah!" said an overly excited Scootaloo. "Tomorrow's Saturday, meaning we can have a full day of crusading!"

"That's a great idea!" Sweetie Belle said. "Lets get home right away!"

"All right," they said together. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS FAST SLEEPERS! YAY!"

With that, they all went to their respective homes, leaving Twilight in the lawn of her home.

"Girls will be girls," the princess said. "They might all be closer to finding their cutie marks than they think."

Scootaloo awoke with a jolt. Waking up at the crack of dawn was definitely not her special talent. Still, she only awoke this early to prepare for the early day of crusading.

Getting out of bed was probably the hardest part of getting up in the morning. The bed was so comfortable, and leaving it meant she had to greet the cold air outside of her covers. The bed seemed to call to her, persuading her to stay in and forget about the day. She couldn't let that happen. The Cutie Mark Crusaders couldn't truly be the group if they all weren't there.

Getting out of bed, she greeted the air. Shrugging it off, she went over to the showers to heat up her coat. If it was heated, she wouldn't have to deal with the air outside, which was much colder than the air inside. Starting the shower, she thought about what she and her friends would be doing that day.

We could go on an adventure through the Everfree Forest, she thought as the warm water dripped down her coat. The water felt nice, considering that it seemed to be below 35 degrees in there. We haven't had an adventure in there recently. Although, the last time we went through there could have been the end of us, Fluttershy and Twilight. Besides, we promised Fluttershy that we wouldn't go in there unless to ask Zecora something.

She continued to think about many other things she and her friends could do. She continued to think until she felt no more comfort in the water that fell upon her. Getting out, she quickly dried her coat and carefully dried her delicate wings. They might not grow at all if she didn't do it carefully.

Looking at the clock, she saw that it was now 9:30 AM. Quickly grabbing a slice of toast, she ran outside with her scooter. Flapping the wings on her back, she sped down the path to their clubhouse. When she got there, she didn't expect to see what she did see.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had their cutie marks.

Chapter 1 - The Last Crusader

Chapter 1 - The Last Crusader

Scootaloo was totally seeing, but at the same time, not believing it at all. What?! she thought to herself. How in Equestria did they get their cutie marks before me? Without wasting another second, she raced down the rest of the path, slowing down just in time to come to a halt in front of her two friends.

"Oh, hi Scoot," Apple Bloom said. "Guess what? Sweetie Belle and I just-"

"I know," Scootaloo replied softly. "I saw, but, how? How did you get them?"

"Well," Sweetie Belle started. "Apple Bloom was helping her brother and sister gather apples from the trees, when she hit the tree, and all the apples fell from it." She pointed to the Apple Bloom's cutie mark with the image of an apple blossom. "I got mine when I was in the shower this morning. I was singing a song I really liked when it just appeared," she showed her own cutie mark; the two separated eighth notes notes on her flank.

Scootaloo stared in bewilderment. "What are we going to do now?" she asked her friends. "We can't all go crusading for our cutie marks if some of us already have them."

"Sweetie Belle and I have talked about that to," Apple Bloom replied. "We wont be a part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore."

"WHAT?! That can't be true! We're all friends! We do everything together! Why are you going to leave me?"

"We're not going to leave you," Sweetie Belle told her. "We just wont be a part of the club anymore. You can do all the crusading you want, and we can still hang out when we all have free time."

"But it wont be the same..." her voice trailed off for a second. "We wont be able to go on adventures together as long as we all aren't in the club."

"Don't worry about it, Scoot," Apple Bloom told her. "We can still be fri-"

"No!" Scootaloo shouted. "We can't! We were only friends because we didn't have our cutie marks! Now that you two have yours, we can't be friends!"

"Scootaloo, that's not true..."

"Yes it is! If you two want to be friends, go ahead! Leave me alone from now on!"

Scootaloo didn't bother staying to hear them object. She hopped onto her scooter and rode away as fast as she could.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stayed behind and watched their friend leave on her scooter, leaving a trail of dust behind her.

"We did this, Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom said. "We shouldn't have told her we were leaving the club."

"But Apple Bloom," Sweetie Belle started, "if we didn't leave, we would just ruin the entire time for Scootaloo. If we already have our cutie marks, we wouldn't have any fun with her if she was the only one crusading."

"I know, but we still shouldn't have told her so soon. We should have stayed in the club until she was ready to hear that from us."

"No, Apple Bloom. Staying in the club meant doing completely pointless things for her enjoyment. We had to leave. Its a part of the Cutie Mark Crusader's Rulebook. 'Section 5; Subsection 7: When a crusader gets their cutie mark, they are then no more a part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.' That was one of the biggest rules we had when we started the club."

"Couldn't we change the rules?"

"No. Only a crusader has the power to change the rules. That was the last rule of the rulebook."

"That means that..."

"Yes, Apple Bloom. Only Scootaloo can change the rules now."

"That's not what I was going to ask. I was going to ask if we were able to join the club again."

"No. We cant do that either. Section 7; Subsection 3 says that you are only to be permitted as a crusader once."

"That settles it then."

"Really?"

"Yes. Scootaloo was right."

"About what?"

"You are a dictionary."

Upon reaching her house, Scootaloo sat at the doorstep, crying. She cried until she couldn't cry anymore. Even then, she still felt like crying. Walking inside, she once again greeted the air. Instead of being cold like earlier that morning, it was stale. Not the slightest bit of life seemed to occupy the air inside her home.

Yet, she still greeted it. It was home. Away from those two who pretended to be her friends. Away from the club.

Away from everypony.

It was true. She was an orphan. Her parents had left her when she was only 5 years old. They just left her in the house she stayed at. Whenever somepony asked where her parents were, she always told a slightly different story. She normally said her mom was at the market, while her dad was on a business trip.

She missed them. She wanted to have a true family. A family that would treat her like their child.

That could never happen. Anypony with half a mind would never adopt her. She was selfish, rude, loud, unsatisfactory, and had a scooter as her most prized possession. Why would anypony want to adopt her?

Before earlier that day, the club was the closest thing she had to a family. They all enjoyed the things she did, played together, and even went through the worst together. Now, there was nothing left. No friends, no family, nothing.

Just a sad, orange pegasus with a purple mane. With nothing left in the world to live for, Scootaloo climbed into her bed. She didn't care that it was nearly 11 o'clock AM. All she cared about was the fact that she was alone now.

She thought about the club as she tried to go to sleep. She was the only crusader left. Apple Bloom's cousin in Manehattan, Babs, used to be a crusader. She wrote to Apple Bloom last week to say that she got her cutie mark in bully-prevention. She also wrote that all members in the Manehattan branch of the club had also gotten their cutie marks.

This officially made Scootaloo...

...The Last Crusader.

Chapter 2 - Dreamscape

Chapter 2 - Dreamscape

Scootaloo finally fell asleep. She was worried that she would spend the rest of the day trying to cry out the tears she didn't have. It also felt good to get some rest after the days rather... surprising events.

Sitting on the middle of a large meadow, Dream Scootaloo was in the warmth of the sun. She felt like she could do anything. She would defy all nature, laws, and even the rule of the princesses if it meant getting to sleep in a meadow like this.

Without warning, a small cloud appeared overhead, blocking out the sun from the world Dream Scootaloo rested upon. The small pegasus filly noticed the change of light and warmth reaching her, and looked up to see that one cloud on the way of her sunlight.

With an extremely tired yawn, Dream Scootaloo shook her hoof at the cloud and said in a sleepy voice: "Shoo cloud. *Yawn* Go fly over somepony else's head."

The cloud didn't listen. It stood there in the sky. It didn't even move a slight inch when the wind started blowing, making it even colder than it already was.

Annoyed, the filly stood up and yelled to the cloud: "Hey! Cloud! Move it! If you don't move within 10 seconds, I'm coming up there and you'll regret it!"

"10!"

The cloud remained in its solitary position.

"9!"

Nothing happened. The cloud stayed where it was.

"8!"

The cloud moved! No, wait, that was just a petal of a white flower.

"7!"

"Scootaloo."

"6!"

"Scootaloo."

"5!"

"Scootaloo!"

The filly jumped at the voice that seemed to appear next to her. She turned to see no other pony than The Princess of the Night herself.

"Oh, um. Your highness," Dream Scootaloo said as she bowed before the princess.

"Please, call me Luna," she said. "Might I ask, why were you yelling at that cloud?"

"I was enjoying some sunlight on the fields here when it appeared over-top my head."

"Do you know why it moved there?"

"No, but I do wish it would move."

"Why don't you ask it politely to move?"

"Clouds don't work like that, princ- er, Luna."

"They do in other dreams I've entered."

"What do you mean?"

"You're dreaming, Scootaloo."

"Really?" she asked as she poked one of her hooves at the air around her. Just like the last time she realized she was in a dream, it waved. "It seems so real, just like last time."

"Dreams have a tendency to do that. Tell me, young one. Why are you sleeping in the middle of the day?"

Dream Scootaloo sat on the ground around her. "I don't know," she confessed. "I guess that it has something to do with what happened earlier today."

"And what was that?"

"Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle got their cutie marks before me."

"Oh, my," she said. "Well, that couldn't have been the only thing that depressed you. What else is it about?"

"They can't be a part of our club anymore. We all founded it, but since they got their cutie marks, they can't participate in the club at all."

At that point, Scootaloo was crying again. She didn't care that it was a dream anymore. She didn't care if The Princess of the Night was in front of her. She wouldn't have cared if Celestia herself was in front of her. She was sad. She wanted her friends to do fun stuff in the club with her once again.

"What did you say to them?"

Scootaloo stopped crying, looked at the princess and asked: "What?" *sniff*

After they told you they got their cutie marks, what did you say to them?"

"I- I s- said that I n- never wanted to see them a- again." *sobs*

"Don't cry, young one. Remember, they will always be there for you. Even if you are completely lost, they will be there for you."

"But, Luna, what if-" Dream Scootaloo started, but stopped once she realized that the princess had vanished into thin air. Thinking about what to do with the rest of the dream, she looked up, saw the cloud, and thought.

Waking up from her dream, Scootaloo looked at the clock next to her bed. It read: 3:17 PM. Getting out of bed, she trotted over to the fridge to take out an apple. The Apple Family grew the best apples around. They were soft, juicy, and ripe to the core. They came into the market every Thursday to sell more apples to the public.

Normally, Scootaloo wouldn't be able to pay for them, but she got a small part-time job at quills and sofas. She went there every Tuesday, worked on restocking the shelves, and earned a small pay which she used to pay for food for the week. It was a small pay, but it was enough to keep her going.

Biting the apple made her think of Apple Bloom. Her 'friend' was a part of the apple family. She worked there, earned money from working on chores, stiff like that. Trying to get her 'friend' out of her mind, she quickly devoured the apple.

Continuing through the house, Scootaloo sat on her old couch. It wasn't much of a couch, but it was enough for her comfort. The couch made her think of Sweetie Belle's sister, Rarity. She was a fashion designer who made her living making clothes for the needy.

This started getting on the young filly's nerves. She didn't want to remember her friends. Her friends left her behind. She would find new friends!

A thought then raced through the young filly's mind.You'll find new friends? it asked. Ha. You are alone now, Scootaloo. Its time you learned that.

Scootaloo got off the couch and ran toward the door, stopping just in time to come to a halt in front of it. Staring at the door made her wonder. Could she find new friends? Would her old friends accept her as their friend again?

No. They didn't want to be around her anymore. Her friends basically came to her face and said: 'Now that we have our cutie marks, we are going to stop hanging out with you.'

Moving away from the door, Scootaloo sat on the floor of her house. She didn't want to be alone, she wanted her friends.

But after what she said to them, how could she face them now? Laying on the floor, she stayed there, and silently cried once more.

Chapter 3 - Work In Progress

Chapter 3 - Work In Progress

Scootaloo awoke the next morning on the floor. She was so tuckered out by all that had happened, she must have fallen asleep where she sat.

When she woke, she tried to remember what dream she had throughout the night. She remembered the dream with Princess Luna, but not her most recent dream. Strange, she thought. I remember most of my dreams. I wonder why I can't remember this one?

She ignored the fact that she couldn't remember the dream. She had to get off the floor and take care of herself. Getting up was still the hardest part of the day, even if she slept on the floor. She went to her room to see what time it was. There were no other clocks in the house other than that one.

Looking at it, she concluded that it was exactly 8:30 in the morning. Well, time to get to work, she thought to herself.

The day started out normally. Se got up, made breakfast, ate, and headed out the door to do crusading like she did every Sunday.

But today was not like every Sunday. Today was different. Today, she was alone. Alone to do what she wanted, when she wanted to do it. But she didn't like it at all. She always went crusading with her friends. Today was as if she lost the most important thing in the world.

She shook off the feeling. Her life would get better. It had to get better. If it didn't...

No, Scootaloo, she thought to herself. You don't want to think about it.

Having left her house, Scootaloo grabbed her scooter and flapped her tiny wings as hard as she could. She sped down the path toward the clubhouse. On the way there, she noticed somepony very unusual. They had a orange and green mane, blue eyes, a small blue watch on their front left leg, and was a grey unicorn. That has got to be the strangest pony I've ever seen in my entire life, she thought as she sped past them.

She made her way to the clubhouse. It was pretty simple, since it was once Applejack's clubhouse when she was a filly. It was pretty worn down when she showed it to them, but Apple Bloom had fixed it up really nice.

She shook her head. Who needs her, she thought. Who needs friends.

Entering the clubhouse, she noticed that nothing had changed from the last time she had been here. The thinking spot had stayed right below the light bulb, the map of Ponyville had a couple of red X's on it, and the roster that they used to tell if they were all here was still on the wall.

The first thing she did was tear down the roster. Being the last crusader, she didn't need to tell if there wasn't somepony there. The next thing she did was use advantage of the drawbridge that Babs put in when she visited during the carnival. She would always have it up. It would never go down again. Then she would build a secret passage to the clubhouse. She would put in a trap door, dig a tunnel under the ground, and hide the entrance of the tunnel under one of the apple trees close by.

It would definitely take awhile. But, since she had nopony else to help with the work, she had to do it by herself. Until then, she had to keep the drawbridge down. It didn't matter, though. It wasn't as if anypony else wanted to come up there.

She composed a small list of things she would need. A saw, a ladder, a shovel, and possibly something that would drill out the center of the tree, if it wasn't hallow. It would definitely cost a lot. Most likely, more than she could earn in a week. Still, she would have to do her best if she wanted to earn enough to finish modifying the clubhouse. The worst part would probably be the fact that she would have to deal with school until she could work on Tuesday.

Oh no, she thought. School!

She had completely forgotten about school! She couldn't go there after what happened yesterday! Everypony knew that the three of us are the Cutie Mark Crusaders; well, were anyway, but still. They would freak out Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom getting their cutie marks, they would start to bug her and tease her about not having it!

The two that would treat her the worst, would probably be Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They were always calling the three of them 'blank flanks' just because they didn't have their cutie marks. But now that there was only one left in class that didn't have their cutie mark, they would focus all of their taunting on her!

I can't go to school tomorrow. I just CAN'T! I wouldn't have a single moment of quiet during our free time. I would be the laughing stock of the whole school. Oh, I know what to do now! I'll just skip school! It doesn't hurt to badly if I miss a single day! But then again, I would just have to go to school the next day, and they would make fun of me then. What to do, what to do, what to do.

That's it! I know what to do!

She quickly got to work. She grabbed her scooter and raced down the path to The Carousel Boutique. Knocking on the door, Sweetie Belle's sister, Rarity, opened the door.

"Why hello, Scootaloo. What brings you here? She asked.

"I need a favor, Rarity."

"Why would you ever need me to do a favor for you?"

"Its about school tomorrow," she said.

"Really? What do you need?"

"I need a casual dress."

Chapter 4 - School

Chapter 4 - School

The dress was perfect. It was just spectacular to think that Rarity made this in a couple of hours. Scootaloo was just glad that Sweetie Belle wasn't at home then. She was, of course, expecting her to be out with Apple Bloom that day anyway.

They can hang out with each other for all I care, Scootaloo thought. After all, they have their cutie marks. They would obviously hang out with each other more often.

She continued thinking dark thoughts, doing her best to keep them out of her life. However, she still had school, and that meant that her 'former friends' would be there. There would also be Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon picking on her about not having her cutie mark.

But that was what the dress was for. She asked Rarity to make the dress to hide the fact that she didn't have a cutie mark. She would go telling them that she was practicing her talent that she 'supposedly' gotten yesterday. She would also tell them that while practicing her talent, she got a huge scar and didn't want others to see it.

The only problem with the dress, was that she absolutely hated it. It wasn't bad, it was just to girly. She enjoined adventure and danger as much as Rainbow Dash. Wearing a dress was against her nature, but she had to wear it. If she didn't, her plan to be less bothered would fail miserably.

However, this plan was foolproof. Nothing could go wrong today.

Well the day's mood fell as soon as she entered the school grounds. When she did, she saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle standing in the middle of a crowd of ponies. Obviously, it was about them getting their cutie marks and they decided to show off in front of the entire school.

They were lucky. They wouldn't have Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon crawling down their backsides every day. Scootaloo would have to wear the dress wherever she went just to avoid anypony from knowing her little secret. As long as nopony knew, she would be fine.

She walked down to the crowd of ponies. If she wasn't a part of the crowd, she might stand out to others, and be asked immediately about her dress.

Open reaching the crowd, she could hear several ponies cheering for the new cutie marks in the class.

"Those cutie marks are awesome!" she heard one say.

"How did you get them?"

"What do they mean?"

The cheers went on for about another 5 minutes. They probably would have gone on longer, but that was when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon showed up.

"Oh look, its the Cutie Mark Crash Dummies," Diamond said.

"Where's Scootaloo?" Silver Spoon asked. "Or did she fall of utter embarrassment that we would outshine you all today?"

The two bullies laughed, not realizing that Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were staring blankly at them.

When they did notice, Diamond said: "Why are you staring at us like that? Stop it or I might lose my beautiful face from sheer ugliness."

"Ya all wanted to know why we was starin' at you," Apple Bloom began.

"And this is the reason," Sweetie Belle continued. After she said that, both of them turned to show their new cutie marks to the two bullies.

"What?" Diamond asked. "How did two of the lamest ponies here get their cutie marks?"

"Yeah," Silver Spoon said. "You two along with Scootaloo don't deserve to have a special talent."

A dark thought crept into Diamond Tiara's mind. "Speaking of Scootaloo, where is the flightless wimp?"

Scootaloo cringed when she heard this. Hearing somepony like her saying that made her angrier than a timber wolf protecting her cubs. She couldn't bear to just sit back and listen to her rude comments.

"I'm sure she would love to show us her cutie mark," Diamond continued. "Oh, that's right. She can't fly, and anypony of her age who can't fly doesn't deserve their cutie mark."

That stung, Scootaloo thought. If she says one more rude remark about me not being able to fly...

"Yeah," Silver Spoon commented. "She doesn't deserve to be like the rest of us."

"I know, right?" Diamond Tiara said. "What makes it even better, is that she really is like a chicken!"

"Why's that?"

"Two reasons. One, chickens don't get cutie marks. Two...

"Chickens can't fly!"

That's it! I'm going to...

"Diamond Tiara!"

All the students turned to see Cheerilee waking towards the crowd of students. Some of them parted, allowing the teacher to walk strait up to the rotten filly.

"Are you making fun of other students again?"

"No," she replied flatly.

"Yes," replied the other students.

"Well," Cheerilee continued. "we're just going to have to talk to your father about this, aren't we?"

"NO!"

"Come on, Diamond."

The two of them left the crowd alone. It was still about 10 minutes till homeroom, so almost everypony went back to doing what they were doing.

And that, was ask Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle about their cutie marks.

Author's Note

I know I haven't updated this story in awhile. Sorry, but I haven't had many ideas swarming in my head like I do with my other stories.
Also, its school I'm trying to describe here. As well as problems that occur. You try doing that with no difficulty. I dare you.

Chapter 5 - Small Talk

Chapter 5 - Small Talk

The school day was turning out pretty well for Scootaloo. At first, she was afraid that she would have to go through the day listening to everypony else talking about Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's cutie marks, or worse, being made fun of for her dress she was wearing.

Turns out, the only pony who ever asked about the dress was their teacher, Cheerilee. She told her the cover story, and she bought it! Everypony else went inside after that to begin the school day after that. Now all she needed to do was make it through this day, and do the same thing tomorrow. After that, she could work to pay for all the stuff she needed.

The class was let out to recess around noon. Scootaloo went over to play some jacks when her two former friends came up to her.

She turned away, hoping to ignore the fact that they were walking directly toward her and possibly wanting to engage in conversation.

However, it still happened.

"Scootaloo!" She could hear Sweetie Belle's voice calling to her. She started to walk away, but Apple Bloom had already caught up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Wait," Apple Bloom said. She turned her shoulder, making her 'friend's' hoof fall to the ground. "We're sorry, alright?"

She was no longer walking away, but she didn't dare face them. "We're sorry 'bout makin' you feel bad," Apple Bloom continued.

"Yeah," Sweetie Belle said. "Please, give us another chance. We can stilt be friends, right?"

Scootaloo remained silent. "Scoots..."

"Don't... call me that," she finally spoke, still facing away from them. "You two shouldn't call me that anymore."

"Fine then," Sweetie said, a bit agitated. "Scootaloo, we know that you're wearing the dress to hide the fact that you don't have a cutie mark. Please, give us another chance."

"To accomplish what?" she asked back. "If I did give you another chance, what would it accomplish? You two already have your cutie marks. What would you accomplish by me giving you another chance?"

Sweetie Bell was silent, but Apple Bloom spoke up. "You getting your old friends back."

That comment made Scootaloo's eyes widen. It was true. Without them, she didn't really have any other friends. Rainbow Dash could be her friend, but she had many other things to do, and didn't always have time for her. Other than that, who could be her friend.

She slowly turned to see her former friends looking at her with pleading eyes. "I- I want to be alone," she said, immediately cutting through the two of them.

"Scootaloo, wait!" she heard Sweetie Belle call, but didn't listen. She dashed away from them, though it was hard to do it with the dress she was wearing. This entire thing wasn't fun. Not having any friends wasn't fun.

She turned to see if Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle had followed her. She saw neither of them, and assumed that they decided to fulfill her wish of being alone.

But, honestly, she didn't want to be alone. She wanted to have friends to play with. She wanted to be around those like her. She wanted something more than what she currently had, something others couldn't give her.

But what was there that could fulfill her wishes? How could she be friends with those who wouldn't enjoy doing what she did? Who was like her? What could she want that others can't give her?

Then it struck her. Her cutie mark.

Of course! she thought. Its so obvious! How come I didn't see it before!

Getting her cutie mark would fix everything. She could hang out with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle again, and not have to worry about them not enjoying what she did! She would have friends again! She wouldn't be alone anymore!

She smiled as several thoughts went through her head. After school today, she would do everything she had to in order to get her cutie mark.

Author's Note

THE STORY IS NOT DEAD!

Well, I do say that I am sorry for this long update. The ideas I had for this story seemed to disappear, being replaced with ideas for other stories. Hopefully, the rest of the story won't be like this.

Oh, I'm kinda sorry for the short chapter too. Sorry, but this is all I could come up with for it.

Another thing to note. You all know how this story was inspired by Black Gryph0n and Bassik's song Crusader? Well, a thought occurred to me earlier.

I was thinking about doing one story in relation to each of the songs in the IMmortal playlist they have. For example, this one is Crusader. Then, another story would be called Academy, in relation to their newest song, so far, and a third would be Faster Than You Know, and ect.

I don't know what to say about it. What do you guys/gals think?

Chapter 6 - The Unexpected Twist

Chapter 6 - Attempts

School seemed to fly by after recess. Scootaloo didn't think about anything else except for what she planned to do to earn her cutie mark.

Once school actually did let out, she ran(as fast as she could in a dress) toward the clubhouse. It would have been faster with her scooter, but you don't ride a scooter while in a dress.

She eventually reached the clubhouse. The first thing she did there was take the dress off and threw it onto a hanger, which hung from a rack.

The next thing she did was find a paper and pencil, and wrote down all the activities she had done while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were still in the club. Scuba diving, bowling, ect.

Once she finished coming up with all those, she flipped the paper over, and began to brainstorm ideas about what she could do to get her cutie mark.

No ideas came to mind.

"This is hard," she said to herself. "We've already done everything! What else is there to do?"

She thought a bit about Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Both of them had their cutie marks. What difference was there between what the three of them had done and what those two did to earn their cutie marks.

Apple Bloom had gotten hers for apple bucking, which was something that they hadn't done before. Sweetie Belle had gotten hers for singing, which was also something they hadn't done before.

Well, they did try singing before, once. It was when they were taking a part of the play for school. But that was Scootaloo singing, not Sweetie Belle.

Then the answer crossed her mind. Of course! she thought. It's not what we all do together. It's what we enjoy! We always tried to get the same cutie marks for all three of us! I should focus on what I like doing, and not what we did!

And that's what she did. She darted outside, completely forgetting about writing down stuff to crusade about. She knew exactly what she enjoined doing.

Scootaloo dashed down from the clubhouse, though it wasn't much of a clubhouse without a club. There was once the Rainbow Dash Fan Club, but that disbanded after the Mare Do Well incident, and Rainbow wasn't as popular anymore.

She thought about the mare she admired as somepony to look up to. She had earned her cutie mark when she was probably the same age as her, and when she found what she loved doing.

She eventually reached her home, and for the first time, there were two ponies waiting there. A mare and a stallion. This confused Scootaloo greatly. Why were they there... for what reason?

She cautiously approached the couple, or whom she assumed she was a couple since they were together. When she came close enough to talk to them, she spoke.

"Umm, can I help you two?"

The two ponies turned to Scootaloo, slightly shocked in the process. "Scootaloo?" the mare called. "Is that really you?"

"Um, yeah, can I help you two?"

"Of course you can!" the mare continued. "We're your parents, and we've come to take you home!"

Author's Note

The title to this chapter is a bit too cliché, don't ya think? :trollestia:

Anyway, I'm sorry for yet another(EXTREMELY) short chapter, and for the long time its taken to update. School started recently, and I haven't had much time to work on this story as much as I wanted.

For those of you who have noticed, this story of mine is now part of an actual series I created! I haven't come up with an actual name for the series, so I just called it The Scootaloo Series.

You may have also noticed that the sequel of this story is definitely planned! It will be called Taking Off, but that's all the spoilers I will give about it.

In other news actually relating to this chapter: Scootaloo's parents?!? Who expected that, honestly? Well, me obviously, but who else?

Don't answer that, it was rhetorical.

In other news that totally does not relate to this story at all: I've done another story based off BlackGryph0n and Bassik's song: Another End! You can find it in my stories list, or the 'top ten stories of mine' list off to the side of the cover of this story.

In even more unrelated news, I'm also working on Zero Gravity! It's another story based off of the amazing BlackGryph0n and Bassik, so I hope you all look forward to that one as well!

Well, hopefully I'll have the next update soon. Until then, continue reading!

Also, :twistnerd: