Chapters Becoming A Cutie Mark Crusader
My name is Fire Hoof. I am an orange pegasus with black hooves. My mane and tail are long and flowing, and are also orange and black. My muzzle, like my hooves, have a similar black pattern. I am ten years old, and my passion is flying, drawing, and racing. My family is from Whitetail Woods, but yesterday we moved to Ponyville. I am sitting in my new chair, at my new desk, at my new school.
The teacher is very smart. Her name is Ms. Cheerilee. She is the color purple, and her cutiemark is three flowers. I wish I had my cutiemark. To my left sits an orange pegasus filly with short purple hair. She looks fun, but I am too shy to talk to her right now. To my right sits a silver earth pony with blue glasses. In front of me is a white unicorn with curly hair. Ms. Cheerilee begins class.
First she introduced me to my classmates. "Alright, students. Now, as you all may have realized, we have a new student starting today! Her name is Fire Hoof, and she is all the way from Whitetail Woods! Fire Hoof, would you like to tell the class 'hello'?"
"Hi... I'm Fire Hoof, but you can call me by my middle name, Bolt." I said shyly.
"Wow! That's an awesome middle name, Bolt !" The orange pegasus next to me said.
"Hello! I'm Silver Spoon." The gray pony to my right stated.
"And I'm Sweetie Belle! Nice to meet you!" The unicorn in front of me squeaked.
The class continued to greet me.
"It's great to meet all of you!" I say, feeling not as shy as earlier.
Ms. Cheerilee clapped her hooves, but that did not get the class' attention. Instead, she yelled, "Alright, class! Sit down, and be quiet!"
At once the room became quiet as all of the little ponies looked at the teacher and obeyed her. I did, too.
Our teacher taught us english first, then math, and then finally history. We had recess next.
I walked outside, but I had no friends yet to go talk and play with. The white unicorn that sat in front of me, Sweetie Belle, walked up to me. Behind her was the orange pony Scootaloo, and a yellow earth pony with red hair and a pink bow.
"Do you want to be a part of our club?" The high-pitched unicorn asked me.
"What kind of club is it?" I asked.
"You know how you don't yet have your cutiemark?" Sweetie asked me.
"Yeah...?" I say back.
"Our club, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, helps ponies just like us get our cutiemarks!" Scootaloo said.
"Sure, I'll join!" I giggled.
"By the way, my name is Apple Bloom. What did you say your name was again?" The yellow pony asked me in a country voice.
"Fire Hoof. But if you'd like, my middle name is Bolt. It's a lot cooler, I think." I replied.
"It is an awesome name!" Scootaloo says.
Just then, Silver Spoon and a pink pony began to walk towards us.
"Those are bullies! Don't pay any attention to them, Bolt." Apple Bloom says, looking nervous.
"Is that another baby?" The pink earth pony next to Silver Spoon asked. She was looking straight at me.
Scootaloo walked in front of me saying, "No! Don't make fun of any of my friends!"
"Really? I think we already did!" Silver Spoon said, a smile growing on her face.
I feel like I am about to cry. My cheeks became pink. I didn't cry, though. It was hard, but I held it in.
The two bullies walked away, laughing with themselves.
"Like we said, don't pay them any attention. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are big meanies, but that won't stop us from having fun and being awesome!" Scootaloo said.
"I have a farm, and on it is our group clubhouse. It used to be my sister's, but then she gave it to me and my friends. After school, you should come with us! Then we can make you a real Cutie Mark Crusader!" Apple Bloom said, changing the subject.
"Sure thing! But, I do have flying practice, so it can't be very long." I reply, a smile on my face.
Ms. Cheerilee rang the bell on the schoolhouse; it was time to go back inside.
We ate lunch. I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with celery. Scootaloo brought a leftover hayburger from her dinner last night, and Sweetie Belle was eating a salad. Apple Bloom had some cinnamon apples from her lunchbox. We continued to talk.
"My sister says she used to eat cinnamon apples when she was little, too." Apple Bloom said, swallowing a slice of her treat.
"Who is your sister?" I asked her, curious.
"Her name is Applejack. She's a little bit older than me, well, not a little bit, but, we get along just fine for being so far apart in age!" She replied.
"I have a sister, too!" Sweetie Belle said, "Her name is Rarity. She makes dresses, and sometimes she goes a little too far in making sure they are perfect! Just don't tell her I said that!" She giggled.
"I don't have a sister at all, but I feel like Rainbow Dash is like a sister to me. She's so cool the way she makes super-ultra-awesome-amazing Sonic Rainbooms!" She said. "She flies through the sky like a bullet, and because of her mane she makes rainbows everywhere she goes!"
"I sometimes look like I have fire on the tips of my hooves when I fly fast," I say. "I like flying through clouds, too. They're really fun. Do you fly a lot, Scootaloo?" I asked her.
"Well... I can't exactly fly." She confesses quietly.
"Do you have a sister?" Sweetie Belle asked me, realizing that Scootaloo didn't want to talk about flying anymore.
"Her name is Vanilla Mocha. She has white fur and brown hair, and is trying to open her own coffee shop. Although I have wings, she has a horn. My dad is a pegasus, and my mom is a unicorn. My little brother is a pegasus like me, though." I say.
We continued to have lunch.
Author's Note
This is my first story! Please no rude comments. (I am a lot younger, and my sister helped me write this.) Vanilla Mocha helped me write it.
Becoming A Cutie Mark Crusader
School was finally over, and I started out of the school building. I heard Scootaloo's voice behind me. "Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom- don't forget we have a Cutie Mark Crusader meeting in a few minutes at the clubhouse!"
Sweetie Belle approached me saying, "Follow us! We will take you to the clubhouse."
"Alright!" I replied, standing taller on my hooves, becoming dignified.
I followed the three ponies to Apple Bloom's farm she told me about, and then into the clubhouse. Even as I was walking in, I felt right at home.
"Take a seat!" Apple Bloom said, motioning me to sit down in a wooden stool.
I did as I was told, and after a few seconds of silence, Apple Bloom began speaking.
"I would like to nominate you, Fire Hoof, as an official member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders! From this day forth, we will all go and explore the wilderness together, hoping to find out our inner talents and special abilities. While we were once three, then four, and now five, we will continue to establish our foundation through the help of the children of Equestria in light of-"
"Who's the fourth? There seems to only be three of you." I asked, not meaning to interrupt.
After a long stare of irritation from Apple Bloom, she finally replied to me saying, "My cousin, Babs Seed, became a member last year. You are the fifth."
"Oooooooh!" I said, rolling my eyes slowly.
Apple Bloom cleared her throat, preparing to speak again when Sweetie Belle said, "I think we should give her the cape now- no more speeches."
Apple Bloom sighed in return. Scootaloo came up to me, and had given me a red cape with a blue shield on both sides, with a yellow pony in the middle of the shield. I gasped from excitement as I stood up and put it on.
"Thank you very much! Wow, now I really am a real part of your group!" I exclaimed. I looked up at a clock hanging in the clubhouse. I gasped again, but this time from worry. "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" I panicked.
"What's wrong?" Scootaloo asked me.
"I'm gonna be late for my new flying practice!" I said.
"It's already starting now?" Sweetie questioned.
"Yes! And today is my first day... I cannot be late!" I replied.
"We'll see you tomorrow at school! Good luck!" The crusaders said.
"Bye! See you tomorrow!" I called back, rushing out the door, slamming it shut.
I ran frantically to the park, where I saw many other fillies and colts standing in a perfect line. A blue mare with a multi-colored mane wearing a ball cap stood in front of them, pacing back and forth as she talked. Assuming she was the coach, I hurried up and got in line next to an orange pegasus colt.
"Hi." The colt whispered.
"Hi... who are you?" I asked.
"I'm Tristan. Who are you?" The colt replied.
"Fire Hoof. But I prefer my middle name, Bolt." I smiled. I turned to look at his face; I hadn't gotten to actually see what he looked like yet. He had bright blue eyes, and a short and messy, but extremely cute blonde mane. His cheeks were covered in light freckles.
"Alright, fillies and colts, let's get busy!" The mare said before blowing her loud whistle. "Everypony needs a buddy, so find somepony and get out there and warm up!"
I chose Tristan, and to my surprise, he wanted me to be his buddy too.
We did wing-ups first. I took off my cape and sat it on the ground so it wouldn't get messed up. I counted 12 wing-ups for me, but Tristan only did 10 before he got tired. I was better than a boy! I laughed at this thought inside.
"Now, get up there with your buddy and show me what you can do!" The coach shouted, flying into the sky.
"Hey, Tristan! Wanna race?" I asked him.
"Where to?" He asked me.
"To that cloud and back." I said, pointing my hoof out to a big, fluffy white cloud in the distance.
"Alright!" Tristan shouted enthusiastically, flapping his wings faster as we hovered in the same spot above where we did our wing-ups.
"Ready..." I said.
"Set..." Tristan continued.
"Go!" We shouted at the same time. At once we took off, leaving nothing but dust behind us. We were neck and neck. We spun around the cloud, and as we made our way back to the finish line, I accelerated my speed and won by six feet.
"What?!" Tristan shouted, not even bothering to finish the race.
"I'm fast..." I said quietly.
"No, not that." Tristan said, shaking his head as if he had seen a ghost and was trying to erase it from his memory.
"Well then, what?" I wanted to know.
"Y-your hooves- they caught on fire." He said, his big eyes starring at me. His big, dreamy eyes.
Becoming A Cutie Mark Crusader
"Well, they don't call me Fire Hoof for nothing!" I say, putting my front left hoof on my chest.
"But, why Fire Hoof- why not Fire Hooves ?" Tristan asked, confused.
"I don't think Dinky is my sister." I reply, smiling. Tristan laughed, and I began to laugh with him.
Suddenly, our coach, Rainbow Dash, swooped down beside us. "Why aren't you two flyin'? This isn't talk time, it's fly-time! Now, get up there and show me whatcha' got!"
"I don't think Fire Hoof needs to do any more practice here- she's a lot better than you think she is." Tristan replied.
I looked over at the orange colt beside me. "You think that I'm that good?" I asked him.
"Yeah... you were on fire up there- literally!" He responds.
"Wait- what?!" Coach stops flapping her wings. "What do you mean, literally? So she was really on fire, huh?"
Instead of replying, I fly up into the air. I come flying back down to earth with great speeds. The wind slapped my face, and the only sounds I could hear was the air passing by my ears. My wings closed in on my sides- I couldn't keep them out any longer. My legs began burning- it hurt. Suddenly, I looked down, and I saw that my hooves were once again on fire. I would have gasped, but the wind was so strong in my face that I couldn't have said a single word, much less a noise. Looking up, I realized that I was near the ground. I tried to slow down, but I couldn't. I hit the ground with a thud, diving into the dirt below the grass that I had burrowed through when I crash-landed.
"O-o-ouch..." I mumble, sitting up. I look up to find Coach, Tristan, and a few other ponies looking right back down at me.
Clearing her throat, Coach Dash asked me, "Hey kid- you okay? That must've hurt... I remember my first big crash like that. But did you see that?! You were awesome up there! Your hooves caught on fire, you went super fast, and-"
Tristan cut her off. "I don't think she's ok, coach."
Rainbow stopped talking and looked at my right wing. "Kid, are you double-jointed in your wing?"
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"You're right wing... it's pushed back pretty far. Either you're double jointed in there or you're wing could be... broken."
Gasping, I stand up. I try flapping my wings, but only my left one does. "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" I panic as a tingling feeling travels through my broken wing. "It's really starting to hurt!" I feel like crying, but I try to hold it in. The pain was too much.
"She should go to the hospital," Tristan said, "It's for her own good. Maybe her wing isn't really broken."
Soon, an ambulance comes and takes me to the Ponyville Hospital. As I am lifted onto a stretcher, I am put into the back of the wagon. The doors begin to close, and I see the rest of the class starring back at me outside. Coach Dash tries to smile, but is unable to. Tristan's sad blue eyes pierce into me like nothing else did. At once sadness overflows me as they begin to drive off.
My older sister walks into the Hospital room.
"The doctors say that if your wing isn't really broken you could come home in a few hours," The white unicorn says, "But if it is, you might have to stay here overnight." She sits down beside me.
"I hope the tests come back in soon. The X-rays were tons of fun, though." I reply.
Nurse Redheart, as if on cue, came trotting in. "Your results are back."
I sit up in the hospital bed. "Really?" A smile grows wide on my face.
"Your wing isn't broken- it's just sprained."
"Yay It's not broken- wait, what?" I ask.
"Sprained , Hoofsie. It means that you just stretched out your wing too much and you got hurt from it." My sister tells me.
"So, I can go home?" I ask the nurse.
She nods. "Yes, but you must wear your cast on it. It is swelling, but you'll be ok if you don't fly."
"Will I ever be able to fly ever again?" I ask.
"Of course, darling. Just let it heal, and then either come back here or go to your doctor. We'll tell you if it is better enough to fly or not."
Becoming A Cutie Mark Crusader
I'm home from the hospital now. My sister said that I couldn't go to flying practice until my wing is completely better- and that would be for weeks! I'm laying on our sofa, in the living room. There's not really much to do without friends, especially when you can't play anything sporty anyways! The only thing we have is checkers... and I always win, so there's not much competition. It's fun to win, but when you win every game... it just gets old and boring.
So, there I was, laying on the sofa. Not doing anything, really. Then, I heard hoof-steps. I looked over to see my unicorn sister, Vanilla Mocha, trotting towards me. "Hey, Hoofsie. Thought a game might cheer ya' up." She smiles.
"A game? Can we chase each other? Run? I know you can't fly... and that I can't until my wing gets better... can't we play tag, or hide-and-seek, or even-"
My older sister cuts me off. "No, sorry... mom and dad said 'no' to the athletic stuff, 'cause they know you. You'd be all running along, and then you'd be tryin' to fly out of habit- you'd be flying without having to think about it!"
I sigh. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
She smiles again. "Hey, I have the checkerboard. Wanna play me a game?"
"I guess..."
"Great!" Vanilla says excitedly, setting up the game quickly using her magic.
I watch as she sits every piece in perfect order. "Hey, what color do you want to be? Red or black?" She asks me.
"Red, please."
"Okie-dokie!"
I made the first move, and by the fourth time it was my turn, I jumped one of Vanilla's checkers. By the end of the game, I had jumped all of Vanilla's checkers; I had won again! Vanilla cleaned up the game, and I went back to being bored.
Half and hour later, we hear a knock on the door. "I'll get it." Vanilla says. I hear mumbling sounds coming from the foyer, but I can't tell whose voices it is, or what they're saying. I sigh again, and remain laying on the couch. A minute later, I hear a whole group of hooves coming towards me. I look up to see who it is.
"Hey, Fire!" Tristan says, along with Coach Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom.
"Hi, guys! It's great to see all of you!" I sit up, a huge smile on my face.
"Rainbow Dash told us what happened," Scootaloo said, the rest of the crusaders nodding their heads in agreement. "We're glad you're ok... is it really broken, though?"
I look at the right wing- the one in the cast. "No, it's just sprained." I smile a little. "I can't move it, though, and I can't go to flying practice until it's completely better." My smile fades.
"Can you still come to the Crusader clubhouse?" Apple Bloom asked me.
"Can I?" I look at my older sister.
"I'd think so... mom and dad shouldn't have a problem with it. They did say no to flying, and you do have to go to school... and it's right behind school... hmm, I'll go ask them." She trots off into the rest of the house.
"What was going to the hospital like?" Sweetie asked me.
"It was kinda scary... but the X-Rays were fun!" My smile comes back a little.
"Kid, I'm proud of ya'. You were pretty brave to go to the hospital in the ambulance. And when you can come back to practice, I'm gonna make sure ya' have tons of fun with that special power of yours. I've already thought of a cool-awesometasic routine for ya'!" Coach Dash says, smiling.
Before I can reply, Tristan says, "I missed you a lot when you left... and I feel guilty now. I told Coach about your firey hooves... it's all my fault."
"Tristan... it's not your fault. No pony knew I was going to crash- not even me. And, now, Coach has me set up for a great show to put on! It'll be great! And she probably wouldn't have known if you never told her." I smile to the both of them.
"Aww, thanks." Tristan replies.
"Yeah, you're right kid. And when you do put on that show, everypony in town- maybe everypony all over Equestria- will know about you! Isn't that great?!"
"Yeah..." I say, not wanting Rainbow to know I'm nervous.
"Well, I've gotta go- I need to see Fluttershy at the Hayburger in a few minutes. See ya', kids!" Dash flies out the door.
"Bye..." Tristan says, hugging me.
"Bye." My smile widens, but then goes away after he leaves. Soon everypony is gone, and I am alone again.
