After the events that happened in Equestria, such as The Return of Nightmare Moon, Discord and his constant need for chaos across Ponyville, Chrysalis's invasion towards Canterlot and the resurrection of a dark pony whose desire was to take back control of the Crystal Empire, things seemed to settle down for good after a group of brave ponies, consisting of two unicorns, two pegasus and two earth ponies managed to stop all of these events from succeding. Well, only the Crystal Empire incident was avoided by other couple of ponies known as Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadence.
In any case, life started to have its finally deserved peace and things went smoothly as Twilight finally became an alicorn and a princess as well. However, because a princess's duties always come first, according to the royal rules, she was forced to slowly distancing herself from her best friends back at Ponyville. She still spent time with her friends in Canterlot, such as Luna and Cadence, but it wasn't the same according to her.
The pain of having your best friends taken away because of Royal Duties was a burden Twilight had to deal with.
But that isn't the reason why we are gathered here, oh no. Twilight may have a lot of new problems to deal now that she is a princess, but our story focuses on somepony else. 3 someponies and a dragon to be exact. This group of individuals we are talking about are none other than the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Spike, Twilight's one and only assistant.
Time flew fast in a blink of an eye and 7 years have passed since then. A ridiculous amount of things can change during 7 years:
Friends moving on, living a new lifestyle somewhere else, saying goodbye to a close relative, among other things. But if there is one thing that hasn't changed over the years one simple thing. The CMC are still looking for their cuite marks. Ironic, don't you think? The only thing that you expected to change and yet it didn't.
It was a lovely evening, with the sun setting down on the horizon and a beautiful sight could be seen from afar. In a nearby treehouse, there were a group laying inside, with a frustated expression on their faces.
An orangish coated pegasus, whose purple mane was pointing everywhere, was laying facing the ceiling on the floor, sighing. On a nearby table was sitting a white coated and dual purpled maned unicorn, whose attention was fixed to the maganize she was holding. Meanwhile, on the other side of the table was residing a red slightly-curled mane and yellow coated mare earth pony, who was distracting herself with a plastic ball sending it high and catching it.
The sun finally was out of sight, and the three ponies remained in their original until a familiar voice could be heard from outside.
"Applebloom!" called out the voice, "It's dinner time!"
"Coming!" said Applebloom as she proceeded to open the window to take a good look at her sister Applejack, who was calling her, "And don't ya dare to start without me!"
Her sister snickered at the memory of the previous time Applebloom missed out dinner, "Alright, but don't take to' long, ya hear?"
"Sure thing, sis'!" answered Applebloom as she snuck her head back into the treehouse, "Well, girls, it seems that we din't get our cutie mark today, either."
"Of course we didn't get it!" replied the unicorn, still looking at her maganize on her hoof, "There is nothing else we can do to get it! We have tried everything! Skydiving, Treasure hunting, Monster Tamer-"
"A bunny ain't a monster, Sweetie." interrupted Scootaloo who was just waking from the racket outside the treehouse.
"The point is... we are running out of ideas. If we keep this up, we will be a blank flank our whole lives!"
"We might en' up as Grandma Smith... only without a cutie mark.'" said Applebloom.
"Don't say that," said an optimistic Scootaloo as she got into a more confortable position, "I'm sure we will get our cutie marks before we get way too old. That's why we formed the Cutie Mark Crusaders, to get our Cutie Marks! We just can't give up!"
"Ah wish ah could be as optimistic as yah Scoots," said Applebloom looking at the floor with a sad expression on her face, "Ah mean, look at us. It has be'n 7 years and th' only t' get her cutie mark was mah cousin Babs Seed. We ain't 9 no more, we ar' 16 now! Well, excep' for yah Sweetie Belle. Yah ar' one older."
"Don;t remind me..." said Sweetie with an upset tone. Silence followed and no one spoke for little while. It was Scootaloo who took the lead and broke the silence.
"Hey girls, don't be like that! How about we all go on a little trip to the forest like we did years ago, just for fun?" suggested Scootaloo as she got into a normal position and got up.
"That seems like a great idea, but Rainbow Dash won't be here this time to protect you from The headless pony, boooooo!" said Belle while reminding Scootaloo of the previous "incident". Applebloom tried not to laugh, but it didn't work so well as she fell to the ground laughing about it.
"Hahahaha... that's right. Yah came up with all sort' of excuses, just tryin' t' make Rainbow t' stop! Yah even made Sweetie sing just f'r yah in order t' sleep! Hahaha, it was priceless!"
"Ha. Ha. Real funny." said Scootaloo with an annoyed expression towards them, "It's the last time I tell you a secret. Looking at the bright side, at least this managed to cheer you up". This caused Scootaloo to smile at bit, looking at her friend on the floor.
"...haha... ahhh.", exalted Applebloom as her laughter died down, "Sorry, it's just.... it made mah laugh just thinkin' about it. Now that Ah'm better, ah say it's a good idea t'go campin' ".
"It's a deal then!" shouted Sweetie Belle.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS NIGHT CAMPING YAY!"
There was a helmet bumping at the end of the sentence. Upon looking at what they just did, the three started giggling when they noticed they used to do that a lot when they were still fillies. It has been a long time since they have performed that unique shout together, causing them to remember their past adventures and feel a little nostalgic. Even if each mission turned out to be a failure, the three fillies still had fun in the end. However, mission after mission, they slowly stopped doing that and eventually, the mission naming dissapeared. At least that is what they thought.
Each time they went out to search for their cutie marks, their friendship started to grow stronger snd stronger. With time, their bond became really strong and they have stayed with each other, despite the adversities. Still, the fcat that they didn't have their cutie marks yet was a sad thought. Suddenly, the group snapped out of their thoughts as a strong and loud yell was heard from outside.
"APPLEBLOOM! IF YAH DON'T COME HERE IN TH' NEXT TWO MINUTE', YAH AR' SO GONNA GET A SPANK SO HARD THAT YAH WON'T BE CAPABL' OF SITTIN' STRAIGHT F'R TH' NEXT TWO MONTHS, YAH HEAR ME!?"
Applebloom didn't waste any time and inmediately went trotting to where her sister was calling(?) out. She wanted to have a cutie mark, but she didn't want to have a spanking mark, despite her age, that's for sure.
That left Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle in the treehouse, hanging. They couldn't help out but to snicker after seeing such scene, since it reminded them of previous and similar events with their sisters. Sweetie with Rarity and Scootaloo with Rainbow (Yes, Rainbow decided to become Scootaloo's sister), only that each sister had a different way of dealing with them.
"I hope Applejack doesn't ground and restrain her from coming tomorrow" prayed Sweetie with her doubts.
"Don't worry. Applejack may be harsh on her, but I'm sure she will allow Applebloom to come along" replied once again the optimistic Scootaloo.
"If you say so..." said Sweetie still doubting her, "So, when and where do we gather tomorrow?"
"How about right here at 4 p.m.?"
"I'm okay with it."
"Great! See you tomorrow!" said Scootaloo as she saw Sweeyie Belle walk out the door, only to stop at halfway.
"One more thing," stated Sweetie Belle, "Don't forget your Rainbow Dash's doll. Who knows if the The headless pony shows up? Who will protect you from him~?". With that said, she shut the door behind her and ran away.
"For the last time, IT'S AN ACTION FIGURE!" yelled Scootaloo at Sweetie, who was running away in the distance, "Shesh, I really have to be careful with my secrets, otherwise they might use them against me..."
She looked at her Rainbow' doll and smiled, thinking of how she knew such an awesome pony. She was about to leave, but before Scootaloo left, she made sure that the treehouse was carefully locked, because if anypony curious enough decided to enter it, he or she wouldn't enter. Ponyville might be a safer place more than others, but it still has some problems around.
In her way home, she found a certain dragon heading to the opposite direction. Curious about this, she spoke.
"Spike? What is he doing out so late?" she thought as she proceeded to wave at him, "Yo, Spike!"
The dragon stopped his trajectory as he noticed a orangish pegasus calling out for him. He waved back, showing a wide smile at his friend.
"Hi, Scootaloo. What are you doing out this late?" he asked, "If you don't hurry, Rainbow is gonna scold you for sure"
"Oh, about that. Yeah, the reunion took longer than what we thought it would take."
"I can see that..." he confirmed.
"But what are you doing out here anyways? Don't you have to be pilling some books or something? After all, you are the library's owner now." she said.
"Oh...It's just that Sweetie Belle asked me to deliver a mail to Applebloom after Rarity exploted, worried about her sister outside at this hour," he explained as he showed Scootaloo the letter he was talking about, "And since Derpy (Ditzy, Bright Eyes, you name it) isn't awake, I'm heading towards the Sweet Apple Acres to deliver it."
"Oh, yeah. That seems to be a mail from Sweetie alright."
"Well, I hope Rarity doesn't ground Sweetie since you three have an appointment tomorrow at the forest, right?", Scootaloo was surprised Spike knew about this.
"How do you know about that?" she asked.
"Umm, it turns out that Sweetie told before giving me the letter, you know? How am I supposed to explain the reciever the contains on the letter if I don't even know what it holds?" he explained. Spike didn't thought that if someone tells you the contains of a letter, it would be a bad thing, although it may or not look like it.
Scootaloo wasn't very convinced about this, but she decided to believe him, "Okay then, I believe you. For one second there, I thought you eavesdropped at the treehouse again like that one time years ago"
"Hey, don't blame me for that time. You girls took that book knowing it was meant for an adult audience and I'm not supposed to allow that," he explained, "And it only happened once. I never intended to do that anyways, but you made me do it." As Spike said those words, a faint flashback started to appear in Spike's mind.
It has been 2 years since Twilight became a princess. Her duties certainly drove her away from her best friends, but she had a kingdom to rule now. There wasn't time to spend time with her friends even if she wanted. Spike could notice the sadness in her eyes everytime they met. Now, she doesn't have him as well. Something changed within her and she wanted Spike to take care of the library to replace her. Spike argued why, but she didn't bothered answering why. She just ordered it. End of discussion.
Spike started living again in the library after the incident at the castle some weeks ago. He didn't mind, but he felt Twilight needed someone at her side, but there wasn't a thing he could do, despite his position and relation with Twilight. He just dealt with it.
Fortunately, Twilight managed to convince royalty to allow her to visit her friends every 2 weeks, which they agreed to it. This caused not only to cheer up Twilight, but her friends as well, including Spike. She finally got the breaks she deserved every now and then, and what a better way than spending quality time with with her best friends in the whole wide world. Spike's worries vanished and things seemed to be brighting up.
One day, he was checking the library's inventory and he noticed a book was missing. An A rated book, only for Adult audience. Spike knew exactly who took it. He cursed at himself for not noticing what kind of book it was. He inmediately went to the only place the suspect was. Suspects, to be exact.
Upon arriving at the suspects's location, which was undoubtably the CMC's treehouse, he walked towards it and stood in front of the door. Before he could knock, he heard a voice and it didn't sound very pretty.
"...ap...Appl... Applebloom... are you... sure this is what the.... book says?" said a lightly rowdy voice, who he identified as Scootaloo.
"A-Ah'm sure of it..." said a country voice, most likely to be Applebloom, embarrased by what she was seeing, "It says t' do positio' numbah 4, with yah' flank tiltin' up, rubbin' th' other pony's scrotch..."
"But we don't even have that! What does it mean, anyways?" asked an innocent, yet curious Sweetie Belle who was at the recieving end.
"Beats me" said Applebloom.
"Can I... at least change position? I'm staring to feel a little awkward right now..." replied Sweetie Belle.
"Make that the two of us" added Scootaloo.
"Make it t'ree" concluded Applebloom.
"I still don't know how are we supposed to get our cutie marks by doing this... poses" said Sweetie.
"That's because there is not a cutie mark that involves such things!" he thought from the other side of the door. Spike didn't have to see what were they doing to imagine their positions. After all, the book he gave accidentally was 'Kamasutra: A pony's guide'.
Out of nowhere, a big and loud yell could be heard from behind Spike, causing him to jump and open the door unwillingly. He was too focused on where the yell came from, that he didn't noticed he just entered the treehouse with the CMC still in their 'positions'. Hew looked back and noticed a certain rainbow trail flying away and laughing in the distance.
"Darn it, Rainbow!" he yelled, upset from the prank he fell, "One of these days, I'll swear I'll get my wings and you will see what are you dealing with!". Spike suddenly remained silent after analyzing where he was know. Spike looked to the insides of the house and noticed the mares blushing at him. He knew he was in big trouble.
"Oh boy. I'm SO bucked right now".
Before he knew it, a bunch of objects were thrown at him, which he managed to avoid most of them.
"NONONONONO! DON'T LOOK! IT'S TOO EMBARRASING!", Sweetie was too busy hiding her face in a corner after Spike saw her in that position.
"Oh, horseapples. I wanna dissapear right now. It's too much. Please, I want to dissapear right now", Scootaloo was covering her intimate parts with her tail as she began to think how was it possible that Spike caught her doing 'certain' poses.
On the other hand, Applebloom didn't waste anytime thinking what to do as she inmediately started to throw things at Spike.
"YAH DARN EAVESDROP'ER! GO BURN IN'A FIRE'! GET OUTTA HERE! AH HOP' PRINCESS LUNA BANISH'S YOU T' TH' MOON FOR DOIN' TH'S!" shouted Applebloom, still throwing things at Spike. He did evade all of the thrown objects, but he needed to do something. He had to.
And everytime he wanted to speak, an object interrupted him, causing the conversation to reach nowhere.
In a blink of an eye, Applebloom stopped throwing things, which caused Spike to have a better look at her. She was holding a bookshelf on her own. This caused both fear and amazement to the young dragon.
"Wow, so the Apple bucking finally gave it's-" were Spike's last words as the bookshelf hit him, knocking him out cold.
The next morning, he wakes up with a lot of pain inside a hospital. Next to him was laying a small yellow note that said:
Sorry for knocking you out, but you deserved it!
- Applebloom, Scootaloo & Swetie Belle.
Spike returned to his realtiy as he noticed that Scootalo was still in front of him. He slightly blushed after the memory he got of Scootaloo's 'pose'.
"Don't remind it, I spent the next 4 months recovering and trying to explain you three that it was an accident, but MAN! You girls can be stubborn!" he said while scratching the back of his head, "Also, it's hard to look at you girls without thinking about that.... especially you..."
Scootaloo suddenly blushed upon hearing this and looked away.
"S-S-Shut up... just go deliver the mail to Applebloom, otherwise she might fall alseep before you get to her" she ordered.
"Okay, sure thing Scoots...", the teen dragon obeyed and went on his way to deliver the mail with the blush still on his face, "See ya later..."
"Bye..."
Anyways, so, after doing that, she went home where it was located next to Rainbow's house. She was living alone during that time.
Once she arrived home, she dropped all of her belongings to a table near the door and headed to her bedroom where she threw herself at the bed. Cuddling happily, she suddenly started to remember the reason why she was alone and not with her parents.
Because Scootaloo's parents couldn't take care of her because of some problems they had and still have, she had to move somewhere near her sister in order to have somepony to rely on. Her parents agreed and she has lived next to Rainbow ever since then.
There was one thing bothering Scootaloo though, something she only felt for those she considered really special to her, and she didn't know what it felt or what it meant.
With a notable sad tone, she whispered, "Celestia darn it... why does this always happens to me whenever I'm around him?". She placed her hoof where her heart kept beating, confused about what she was feeling, "If only I could be more like Rainbow, otherwise I wouldn't be feeling this... THING in my heart... Ughh..."
The day went by and all of the mares returned home, waiting anxiously for tomorrow to arrive. After all, they decided to go just for fun. Or was it? But, there was a small thing yet to happen. Something is about to happen at the Sweet Apple Acres...
After the earlier encounter with Scootaloo, Spike finds himself heading towards the Sweet Apple Acres, with a troubled mind along the way. If he wasn't trying to deliver a letter right now, he would be in his bed, sleeping, not giving a single care about the world, but since his friend said it was urgent (according to her), he couldn't say no. That would have been low or rude.
Spike was scratching the back of his head so fast, that it almost seemed like it was trying to burn his own head. He tilted his head upwards and let out a deep groan.
"Argh... why did Scoots had to remind me about that? It was an accident! It's not like I wanted to see in the first place," he said, only to be followed by a blush and a slight head scratching, "Although, there are a few things that I did want to see and saw..."
Spike reacted to what he was saying a few moments ago and shook his head in an attempt to shake off those kinds of thoughts, "No, no, no! They are my friends and nothing more. I can't be thinking dirty things about them..."
He sighed and looked to the stars in the sky, "Things sure can be complicated, can they?".
In a red painted, two stories tall house, there were a quad of ponies. One, wearing a red coat and short blonde mane, was sitting on a chair next to a round table, the other pony, who was in her eighties to say the least and had a silver mane, was entering the dinner room where our first pony was located. The last two ponies were having an argument in the living room.
The silver maned pony heard the fighting ponies from the dinner room and sighed, "Ah wondah what ar' they fighting 'bout t'is time".
The blonde maned pony answered quickly her question, "Applebloom arriv'd late and Applejack is trying' t' teac her it ain't good f'r her t' do that, but it ain't good lookin'". He quickly changed his attention to the apple pie in front, raising his spoon to take a bite. Her grandma stopped him before he could eat it.
"Now hold on, we ain't eatin' 'till everypony has sitted," she nagged and looked to where she was still hearing the arguing ponies, "We all 'now that losin' your parents is hard, 'specially when your parents leav' t'ree kids wit' mahself. Ah 'now Applejack is only tryin' t' look out f'r her, but she has t' 'nderstand she ain't a filly no more"
Sighing, thinking about the past, Grandma Smith turned her head around and noticed that Big Mac was about to eat a piece of apple pie. She gave him a death stare and he inmediately dropped the filled spoon next to his plate. She nodded upon seeing this and proceeded to sit down.
Across the room, two ponies were arguing about something and the heat was slowly increasing.
"Ah told several times that yah can't be out that late at nig't! Who 'nows what might happ'n to yah!" said a very upset Applejack, trying to make understand Applebloom her message.
Applebloom, using a slightly upset tone, spoke back, "Sis! Ah ain't a foal or a filly! Ah'm a gro'n up now! Ah ain't in need fer a foalsitter!". Applejack got into an even angrier mood after she heard her lil' sister talk to her like that.
"Now yah listen little sister! As lon' as Ah'm aroun' t'is house, either yah follow mah orders or-....", Applejack was going to finish her sentence, but she stopped and tried a more passive approach, "Listen Applebloom, ah 'now yah ar' a big pony now, but that changes nothin' t' th' fact that Ah'm just tryin' to take care of yah... also does Big Macintosh an' Grandma Smith."
"But they ain't nagging mah ways like yah do" she assured.
"That is 'cause they ar' ain't youn' or aggresive as mahself, but what Ah'm doin' is f'r yer sake, 'lil sis" explained Applejack, trying to convince her what she did was wrong.
"That means ah'm not goin' wit' Sweetie and Scoots tomorrow fer campin', right?"
"Eeyep"
Normally, Applebloom would give up and let this conversation end, but this wasn't the young and innocent (well, maybe she is still innocent at some points) Applebloom we all knew back then. She was growing up and she felt like a need for independence.
"Ah can't beli've yer talkin' t' Rarity and Rainbow 'bout this! We are just tryin' t' git our cutie marks! Why won't yah let me go!?" she complained.
"Hold on! First of al', yah ain't talkin' t' me like that, 'nless yah want a real red mark on yer flank!" threatened Applejack, "and secon' of al', yah'll only go t' that trip, if only, and ah repeat, if only someone 'nocks on th' door in th' next 5 seconds!"
Not even a second passed before a knock could be heard at the main door. Both Apples had a surprised face as they inmediately changed their expression into one of joy and another of confusement.
"Well, ah'll be... either ah summon'd a g'ost or it was simply th' wind." Applejack thought as she walked towards the door to open it with Applebloom behind her. To her surprise, it wasn't the wind. It was a young, purple, teen, fellow dragon standing right in front of them, completely clueless of what is happening.
"Howdy Spike," she greeted with a fake smile, "How can ah help ya?"
"Oh, good night, Applejack! I just came here to deliver a letter to Applebloom from Sweetie Belle", said Spike as he pulled out a letter from his handy bag and showed it to her. Applebloom's instincts kick in as she proceeded to stand in front of them, grab the letter and walk away. Applejack couldn't believe the amount of disrespect she just showed.
"Holy ropes, ah swear that pony som'times... so sorry Spike, she is just a tad upset 'bout som'thing" she explained.
"Actually Spike, yer just in time!" she said as she looked at him, grateful of his convenient arrival, "Thanks to yah, now ah can go campin' wit' Scoots and Sweetie"
"And what makes yah thin' that is goin' t' happen?" asked Applejack.
"If mah memory ain't wron', yah said 'Yah are going to that trip only, and ah repeat, if only som'pony knocks on th' door in th' next 5 seconds'". she confirmed.
"Alright, ah know ah said that, but yah need Rarity''s and Rainbow's permission to 'llow Scootaloo and Sweetie to tag along" she said, confident that Rarity must have rejected Sweetie Belle's offer. She had another thing coming.
"Okay then, sis. Let's hear it. Spike if yah can, please"
"Eh, sure..." he said as he took the letter and and held it in front of him.
From Sweetie Belle To Applebloom:
Dear Applebloom, I'm asking Spike to deliver this letter to you to let you know that we will gather tomorrow at 4 pm at the treehouse to go camping.
My sister, Rarity didn't liked the idea in the beggining for the whole thing about the forest been dangerous and mysterious, but since Rainbow was somehow in her house, after she heard what my sis told me, Rainbow managed to convince her to let us, Scootaloo and me, go camping like we planned.
Even though Rainbow helped us, she said there was a thing we are supposed to do tomorrow, in exchange for allowing us to go camping. You could say it was deal of some sort... We have no clue what she is preparing us tomorrow, but it's the least we can do to thank her.
So! Without any more delays, we will see you tomorrow.
P.S. Don't forget all your camping equipment!
Applejack couldn't believe that her friends allowed their younger sisters to go at such dangerous place. With all the back support they had, it was almost impossible to neglect their appointment. She sighed and spoke.
"Argh... ponyfeathers... well, it looks like yah win, Applebloom," she admitted only to show a devious grin and point to where Spike was standing, "But!.... Spike is goin' wit' yah"
"WHAAAAAT!?" yelled both teens, showing a shocked expression.
"That's right, Spike is comin' wit' yah whetha' yah like it or not" she ordered. "Let's see how you handle this one, little sis!" were her thoughts.
Applebloom was sick of having someone looking out for them, even if that someone was a guy that was about their age. Sure, Spike may be a little older than the CMC, but her point stood the same. She wanted that piece of independence all teenagers go through as they grow up, and rejecting her deal would only cause her to skip the camping plan, in other words, Applejack would be obtaining what she wanted for Applebloom in the first place.
After thinking throughly her proposal, she accepted.
"Fine, he can come alon'"
"Glad t' hear-", Applejack was suddenly interrupted by her little sister.
"Hold on, ah ain't done yet. Ah said he can come alon', but he is only takin' us there. He ain't stayin' wit' us," clarified Applebloom only to recieve a lifted eyebrow from Applejack, "After he takes us, he is goin' back on his own. Then yah pick us up t'morrow at 5 p.m. Got it?"
Applejack looked at her for a few seconds, thinking about the condition. She sighed, approached to where she was and held her close in a warm hug.
"Alright, alright, yah win. It looks like ah taught yah well, yah devilish kid"
"Ah learn'd from th' best!"
Soon after, both sisters performed a brohoof. And it was awesome.
Spike was looking at them, grinning to the scene he was witnessing. Even though his opinion didn't matter to them, he didn't feel the need to object the sudden involving issue. He shook off a bit and headed to the door.
"Well, since I'm suddenly involved, I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow at 4 p.m." said Spike as he spreaded his wings and was getting ready to take flight, "Make sure you don't forget anything!"
With that said, he flew away waving goodbye at the sisters on the ground. They waved back and headed back inside the house. The only problem was that Big Mac already ate the apple pie, leaving the sisters with nothing to eat for dessert. They went to bed and the big day was coming soon. Suddenly, Without noticing, everyone went to sleep.
Tomorrow, the Cutie Mark Crusaders will be camping for the first time on their own.
A beautiful day was shining and it seemed luck was today with with the group's side. A couple of ponies could be seen from far, checking up the necessary things for the trip. Sweetie Belle, with Scootaloo next to her, was holding a paper and a pen scratching the things that were on list.
"Mosquito Repelent?" asked Sweetie.
"Check!" answered Scootaloo.
"Bottle of water?"
"Yup!"
"Food for two days?"
"Yeah... I don't know why so much, but yeah, it's here"
"I know you are just like Rainbow. Both of you have a fierce stomach, that's why we are taking that much."
"Yeah, yeah... but anyways!"
"Real life size Rainbow doll?"
"Got it! ....."Wait a moment, how did you-"
"You just told me, besides" pointed Sweetie at Scootaloo's backpack which was undoubtable bigger than yesterday, "Your backpack gave it away"
"Darn it, I knew I should have brought the inflatable one" whispered Scootaloo while looking away.
"Oh? You have TWO Real life size Rainbow dolls~? I'm quite surprised Scootaloo~"
"S-Shut up. I brought the doll and that's that" she affirmed.
"Okay, okay, don't take my head off, alright? Just messing with you" replied Sweetie as she gave her a mocking stare.
"Please, don't mess with me right now. I'm already having quite a battle over some feelings about a guy..." confessed Scootaloo as she blushed at the thought.
"Scootaloo? Having a crush? Well that's news I never thought I would hear" said Sweetie as she approached Scootaloo, "So.... Who is the lucky guy?"
"S-sorry. Can't say..."
"Awww, c'mon tell me!" she insisted.
"Please, I'm asking you to drop the topic. I'm not ready to confess to him anyways..." she said while vlushing into a deeper red. Sweetie noticed she was getting ahead of her and backed off a bit.
"Sorry, I won't ask... but I'm sure you will tell him eventually, just wait for the day to come and you will when is the time, okay? I'm sure the stallion will drop to your feet when you confess!"
"Hehe... yeah... stallion...", Sweetie didn't care much about her last phrase and focused on when was Applebloom arriving.
"Geez, where is Applebloom? She is late!" said a desperate Sweetie.
"Right here, Sweetie" said a voice in a distance, revealing to be Applebloom, "Geez, yah soun' just like mah sister"
"Tell me about it" said a voice behind her. Sweetie and Scootalo looked behind her and noticed a green, teen dragon carrying all of Applebloom's stuff.
"SPIKE!" said in harmony the two ponies.
"Hehe, hey girls. How are you doing?" answered back the dragon. Sweetie and Scootaloo turned their heads towards Applebloom, who was surprised at the sudden stare she received.
Sighing at their stare, she took a normal pose, "Long story, girls, Ah'll explain later. Anyways, did yah fin' any good spots aroun' here?"
"Oh? Right! Yeah, I found two great spots,", then she took a big map with two marked spots on it, "The first option would be near a waterfall, which there is a cave next to it where we can camp. The other one is located next to a river with a great sight of the forest. So? Which one?"
"Waterfall" said the ponies.
"Great! Let's get going then!"
Then the group started to move to where the waterfall was located.While they were traveling to the marked area of the forest, Applebloom took that time to explain why did Spike came along. The two ponies understood and thought the reason was justified.
"So, that's he ended up here" said Scootaloo.
"Eeyup!"
"I only need to take you girls there. After that, you will be on your own" affirmed Spike.
"It's a shame you aren't a pony, Spike. Otherwise you could have gone with us in this trip" pointed a very relaxed Scootaloo. She stretched her arms in the airs and placed them on her back, chilling.
"Yeah, it's a shame," said Spike while scratching his cheek, "But it doesn't matter that much though. It's you girls having fun and finding your cutie marks that matters"
"Still, ah'm sorry mah sis tagged yah alon', Spike. But thanks to yer help, ah could come wit' Scoots and Sweetie t' go camping, so... thanks"
"Don't worry, and even if she hadn't forced me to do it, I would have helped you anyways. Anything for a great and cute friend!" said Spike as he blushed a little as he noticed what he said at the end of his sentence and looked away bashfully. Applebloom wasn't the exception, as she proceeded to do the same.
"E-eh... t-t-hanks, Spike... yah really are a gentl'man..."
"Hehe, you know me. Spike, the gentleman..."
After a long hour and a half walk later, they arrived at their destiny. The waterfall looked as beautiful as the group thought it would look like. After staring at the waterfall for a little longer, they proceeded to enter it. The end of the cave couldn't be seen, but it mattered since they stayed at the entrance of the cave, which had enough room for all of their euqipment to fit in.
The group started placing things up meanwhile Spike went ahead and collected some firewood for them. Upon his return, he noticed the camp was set up already and after a quick check, he noticed everything was in order. After a small stretch from Spike, he spreaded his wings and waved to his friends before taking flight back to Ponyville. The group sat down after he left and started talking about how are they going to get their cutie marks.
"I say we go deeoer into the cave and maybe we will find something that will help us find our cutie marks. Something like an ancient relic or something awesome!" said an excited Scootaloo.
"Okay, Scoots, we all know that is really dangerous. Who knows what might be lurking in there...", she shivered just at the thought of what could be deeper into the cave.
"Well, we coul' try goin' out at night t' see who is th' bravest amon' us and git a bravery cutie mark!" suggested Applebloom.
"Nah-ah. I rather stay inside, if I must say so. How about we tell ghost stories? It's safer!" she suggested.
"No, it's way toooo boring. We need something exciting! Not a bunch of silly stories..." said Scootaloo.
"Yah say 'cause yah are afraid that it will repeat what hapenn'd last time" pointed Applebloom.
"Okay, first of all," said an annoyed Scootaloo, "It only happened once, and second, I'm much braver tha last time"/ Suddenly, a low howl was heard from the other side of the cave. It almost sounded like someone was saying something.
"WHEEERE ISSSS MYYYY IIRRRROOONNN PIIIICCCCKKKAAAXXEEE...."
"Okay, nice try girls," said Sweetie, who was a little nervous, "Now stop trying to scare me..."
"Ah din't do it..." replied a equally nervous Applebloom.
"Me neither...", Scootaloo wasn't the exception.
"B-b-b-b-but.... we are the only ones here.... s-s-s-so.... who....?". Without any warning, the voice was heard again, only closer this time.
i]"WHEEERE ISSSS MYYYY IIRRRROOOOONNNN PIIIICCCKKKAAXXEEE...."
"Hey, this isn't funny anymore girls... stop using your magic Sweetie..." said Scootaloo, who was even more scared.
"Uh... Scoots, look...", she pointed to Sweetie's horn, which it wasn't showing any kind of glow. Scootaloo was shocked and looked back at where the voice was being heard. She managed to spot at silhoutte moving in the dark, at a slow pace. This caused the momentum to break and so did Scootaloo's bravery.
"...R....R.R...R.R.RRRRUUUUUNNNNNN!!!!" yelled Scootaloo as she pulled both girls into the tent. Applebloom didn't notice the Mo growing in one of the rocks and slipped, rolling into the edge of the waterfall. She managed to hold on to one of the branches that stood out from the cliff. The others didn't notice that.
"Oh Celestia! If only ah had heard mah sister, ah wouldn't be in t'is situation! Please, somepony save me!" she thought as she held on to her dear life.
Back at the tent, Scootaloo and Sweetie were thinking of what would have happened if they hadn't come to this trip.
"Oh no, I'm too young to die! I haven't reached my goals yet!", said Scootaloo as she grabbed her Rainbow doll and hugged with might, "Oh Rainbow, I wish you were here..."
"Dear Celestia! Rarity was right! I'm too young for this! I can't handle this kind of situations! Please someone, help us!" thought Sweetie as she hid her head between her legs.
The footsteps were louder and louder as the unknown figure approached the tent. The ponies were at verge of crying and the moment the silhoutte opened the tent, they yelled in fear. The silhoutte revealed itself to be a miner working at the night shift.
"Excuse me girls, haven't you per chance seen my iron pickaxe anywhere?" said the miner as he ignored the pain in his ears from the sudden yell. The two of them shook their heads and the miner sighed. Out of nowhere, a familiar voice was heard behind the miner.
"Do you mean this pickaxe?" said the familiar voice, revealing to be Spike.
"Ah! Yeah, that one! Thanks son!"
"You are welcomed. If are wondering where it was, it was next to a rock in the end of the waterfall" he explained.
"So that's where it was! I guess I forgot where it was. Anyways, thanks son!" said the miner.
"No problem"
"SPMMMIIMKNNNN!" yelled a nearby voice as Spike somehow noticed somepony was calling him. He went out and spotted Applebloom who was holding to her dear life. He got scared about this and reacted.
"HOLD ON APPLEBLOOM! I'M COMING!"
Spike jumped and spread his wings as he took flight and got closer to where Applebloom was. He took hold of her and lifted her to where her friends were. After Spike dropped Applebloom safely to the ground, she inmediately went into a hug as an expression for saving her. He was taken back by this, but gave back the hug as well.
Soon after, when the trio was finally calmed down after what it seemed to be the worst scare of their lives, the miner went back to his night shift inside the cave, thanking Spike once again for helping him find his pickaxe and Spike proceeded to place Scootaloo and Sweetie in their beds, where they stayed with them until they fell asleep. Applebloom was the only one who wasn't sleepy after such incident. That's a tough pony for you.
Applebloom and Spike headed to the edge of the cliff, carefully walking to avoid slipping again. After they sat down and watched the moonnight together, Spike was the one to break the silence.
"So, aren't you going to sleep like the others?" asked Spike.
"After what happen'd, ah don't thin' ah'll be catchin' any sleep that easily," she said as she started to yawn, "'Sides, after seein' them hold on t' somethin', it makes mah wanna hug somethin' as well, just t' feel safe..."
Spike carefully listened what Applebloom told him and started to think something quite daring. After a couple of minutes of thinking, he spoke, "You know?", Applebloom looked at him curious of what he was gonna say, "You can..... hug ME if want to.... just fall asleep I mean..."
Applebloom blushed after hearing that, but didn't hesitate to do so. She went and hugged Spike in a spilt of a second. He sure was surprised to see such a fast answer.
"Spike, thanks. Yah always know how t' make somepony feel nice d'spite th' situation" she said. Spike smiled at her flatter and held her close with his wings.
"You don't have to thank me, I was raised this way, so it's natural for me to do so" he said.
"Spike, ah have a doub'"
"What is it?"
"How did yah know we were in dange'?". Spike was ready for a question like this.
"To tell you the truth, I never left actually," this caused Applebloom to lift an eyebrow without looking at him directly, "When you girls saw me leave, what I really did was to take a detour and fly to another part of the waterfall, just to make sure you weren't harmed or anything. I would never forgive myself if something happened to one of you. After I heard the miner's voice, I remembered I saw a resemblance of a pickaxe nearby the waterfall and went down to look for it"
Spike looked and sighed to the horizon, thinking of what happened next. "I thought that if I went looking for the pickaxe, I would have enough time to come back to avoid... THAT to happen. I guess I was wrong. I arrived at the ast moment and you girls had a horrible experience, a trauma if possible.... I'm guessing you girls won't be camping anytime soon, right?"
Applebloom looked at the tent's location, with a serious expression on her face.
"Maybe nevah again" said Applebloom.
"Yeah I thought that might be the case...", then Spike remembered what Applebloom went through as well, "Also, when I didn't see you with the girls, I was worried something actually happened to you, if you hadn't yelled my name (well, at least what seemed to be my name) at that moment, I wouldn't have noticed and Celestia-knows what would have happened to you. I'm glad I was right on time to help you out"
Applebloom blushed into a crimson red as she heard that coming from Spike. She saw his reflection on the water and thought carefully what happened back there. If she remembers correctly, he didn't help her. He did more than that and she was gonna make sure he knew that.
"When yah didn't notic'd mah pres'nce, ah realiz'd yah cared 'bout me and yah evan took the liberty to search fer me. Yah didn't help me out. Yah saved my life and that makes yah mah hero, Spike..."
"I guess that is true..." said Spike as he scratched the back of his head, "I mean, why shouldn't I have worried about you?"
Applebloom looks at him, confused of what he said.
"After all,", he proceeded to look at her face and stroke it gently, "You are one of my best friends in the whole wide world". Somehow, after Applebloom heard that, she wasn't sure if she was either happy or sad. Maybe she expected another answer from him, but who knew how she felt. Not even herself knew what she felt like.
Later, the exhausted Applebloom began to feel the aftermath of the sleepness. Before she knew, she felt asleep, hugging Spike. He noticed how she was slowly sleeping and thought she looked cute when she was sleepy.
"Hehe, sweets dreams, Applebloom..." were his last words as he looked at the horizon once again. The night was mighty in that moment and everything seemed to be falling back into peace mode. Soon after, everything went dark....