Neither rain, nor snow, nor dark of night can stay a Cutie Mark Crusader from her appointed meeting. But a lot of rain and a leaky clubhouse roof can certainly make the meeting less enjoyable. In fact, most of it was being spent hauling and emptying buckets rather than discussing new ideas for earning cutie marks.
“Hey, maybe we can get our cutie marks in bucket emptying!”
Scootaloo snorted at the suggestion from the overly-optimistic unicorn filly. “That's a dumb idea! I don't wanna spend my life as part of a bucket brigade!”
Apple Bloom dumped another bucketful out the window before rushing the tin pail back to its spot underneath the leak directly above the podium. “Maybe when this storm lets up, we can try our hooves at a roof repair cutie mark,” she suggested hopefully.
“Except you're the one who fixed up the clubhouse to begin with,” Sweetie Belle pointed out. “If you didn't get your cutie mark then, why would you get it for repairing the roof?”
“Good point,” the yellow filly conceded, her ears drooping a bit. “But we still gotta fix up those leaks soon as the rain stops.”
“No kidding,” Scootaloo griped as she hauled another bucket to be emptied.
…...........
Hours of guarding against indoor flooding later, the rain finally stopped and the sun filtered through the clouds again. And that was all the invitation Apple Bloom needed to grab her tools and scamper out onto the balcony, where a still-soaked, rickety old ladder leaned sideways against the wall.
“Girls, help me with this ladder!” the young earth pony called to her friends.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle complied, helping Apple Bloom raise the ladder against the roof. As the youngest Apple climbed, the other two Crusaders tried to keep the ladder steady.
“Careful up there, Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle called. “The roof is still really wet. Maybe we should wait until it dries.”
“That could take days,” Apple Bloom griped. “Scootaloo said the pegasi were going to be bringing in showers on and off for the next few days in order to help fill the creeks for summer. And we need this roof repaired now!”
“It's not like it would kill us to meet somewhere else for a while,” the pegasus filly in question said.
“Ah'm not gonna be that long!” Apple Bloom replied, hopping onto the roof to begin her repairs.
No sooner had the yellow filly made her way to the top of the roof's slope and begun hammering loose shingles into place than her hooves began sliding on the slick, wet wood. Apple Bloom scrambled to get her hooves underneath her, but every move caused her to slide back even faster. Before she knew it, she was sliding out of control right toward the edge of the roof.
“AAAAAAHHHH!”
The other two fillies, helpless to aid her, could only watch as their friend plummeted over the edge of the roof to the ground several lengths below.
“Apple Bloom!”
When Apple Bloom finally came to, her head ached fiercely, and her vision swam. The sound of somepony's voice saying her name became clearer and louder as she gained her bearings. She looked up toward the source of the voice. As her vision cleared, the face of an orange earth pony mare came into view. It was a comforting face, somewhat familiar, though Apple Bloom couldn't quite place who it was. The mare smiled warmly.
“Sorry to wake you, Captain Bloom, but you're needed in the war room immediately,” the mare said.
“Wha?” Apple Bloom muttered. She sat up and looked around her. She seemed to be in some sort of shack, and she could hear dull thuds and distant explosions outside. “Uh...what's goin' on?”
“Don't you remember?” the mare asked, helping Apple Bloom stand. “You were treated for a minor head injury, and we've been letting you sleep it off. But we need you awake and fully alert now. The ponies are waiting for their commanding officer.”
Now Apple Bloom was thoroughly confused. “Commanding officer? Head injury? Ah don't get it.”
The orange mare sighed. “You are Captain Apple Bloom of the Fourth Cavalry of the EUP, under the command of Princess Celestia herself, with many ponies under your command. I'm Lieutenant Orange Blossom, and Lieutenant Jonagold is waiting for you in the war room. We're fighting against King Sombra and his ally, Grimhilde of the Griffon Kingdom. And you are our most dependable, talented captain. We can't win this battle without you!”
Apple Bloom's jaw dropped. She shook her head. Me, a captain in the military?? In a war against King Sombra? What the hay is going on? This is either a dream or...some kind of weird spell that sent me back in time.
“Captain, if you're ready?” Lieutenant Orange Blossom said, ushering a still disoriented Apple Bloom through a low, narrow doorway into another part of the shack.
As Apple Bloom traveled deeper into the structure, she realized it was a bunker. Perhaps she really was sometime in the past, when Celestia and Luna fought and banished King Sombra. Apple Bloom had never considered that the fight against Sombra might have been an all out war.
When the two ponies arrived in the “war room,” Apple Bloom found herself in a cramped space, gathered with several other ponies around a low, poorly lit table, going over maps. Everypony present was dressed in armor, and when Apple Bloom looked down, she discovered that she too was wearing a metal breastplate and shoes to match.
“Captain!” a stallion greeted. “Glad to see y'all are feeling better.”
Apple Bloom's ears perked up at the familiar accent. The stallion who held it looked as strangely familiar as the mare had. He was a large, golden colored earth pony with a rust red mane and tail, and fuzzy fetlocks not unlike Big Macintosh. With his armor covering his flank, Apple Bloom couldn't see his cutie mark.
“We're awaiting orders, captain,” Orange Blossom said.
Apple Bloom looked over the map. If this was a dream, she might as well enjoy it. She turned to the stallion who had addressed her. “What's our situation, uh, Lieutenant...?”
“Jonagold, ma'am,” the yellow stallion replied. He put a hoof on the map. “King Sombra's alliance with Grimhilde's forces is strong, and Grimhilde herself has mobilized her forces against us specifically. She's obsessed with taking ya down, Captain.”
“She was responsible for the attack that recently injured you,” Orange Blossom added. “That griffon will stop at nothing to destroy you.”
“But don't y'all worry none, ma'am,” Jonagold said. “We're all behind ya 100%.”
“Hmm...” Apple Bloom mused. “So this...Grimhilde...why exactly is she obsessed with me?”
Orange Blossom opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by an explosion that rocked the bunker. A unicorn stallion, his armor and fur covered in soot and soil, rushed in, out of breath.
“Captain, Grimhilde's forces have breached our line! They're right on top of us! We have to fall back!”
Jonagold nodded. “Retreat back to position B, and we'll regroup there! Let's go!”
As ponies poured out of the bunker, Apple Bloom looked up to see an army of heavily armored crystal ponies charging at them. Above her, the sky filled with griffons. The filly began to panic. This dream was quickly turning into a full on nightmare.
“Captain Bloom, hurry!” Orange Blossom called.
Jonagold urged Apple Bloom into a gallop, staying by her side. As they caught up to Orange Blossom, the trio rushed for the forest as the ponies around them engaged the enemy.
Suddenly Apple Bloom skidded to a halt. “Wait! We can't just leave all these other ponies! Ah'm supposed to be their captain!”
No sooner had she turned to help the troops, over the objections of her lieutenants, than a large griffon landed in front of her.
“Captain Bloom?” the hybrid boomed.
“Uh...y-yes?” Apple Bloom said meekly.
“I come bearing a message from General Grimhilde of the Griffon Kingdom. She has terms for you; your surrender in exchange for allowing your troops to go free.”
“She ain't goin' anywhere, bird brain!” Jonagold snapped, stepping in front of the filly. Orange Blossom did the same, glaring daggers at the griffon.
The griffon snorted. “Be reasonable. We outnumber your ponies five to one, and we've got them on the run. And I'm sure the captain has a few questions for the general. She can come quietly and have an opportunity to ask those questions, or she can watch everypony around her die.”
Apple Bloom looked around uncertainly. If this is a dream, then...Ah can't be hurt, right? So Ah might as well find out more about this Grimhilde. She took a deep breath, and pushed past the two ponies keeping her from the messenger. She stood as tall as she could, puffed out her chest, put on her most serious face, and looked the griffon in the eye.
“Do Ah have your word that if Ah go with you, y'all will leave mah troops alone?”
The griffon gave her a smug grin and said, “You have the general's word, Captain.”
“Captain, you can't!” Orange Blossom cried.
Apple Bloom turned to her lieutenants. “Y'all get the troops to safety. Ah'll see if Ah can talk some sense into this Grimhilde.”
The griffon messenger took flight, and Apple Bloom allowed him to lift her up with his talons and take to the sky. Jonagold galloped after the pair with a panic-stricken face.
“Apple Bloom, wait!” the stallion cried. “There's something you need to know!”
In an instant, Jonagold was out of earshot, and Apple Bloom was beginning to feel the exhilaration of soaring through the sky. This was turning out to be a pretty cool dream after all.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Apple Bloom thought she saw a blur. Before she could properly register it, something struck her griffon courier, who screeched. Apple Bloom wrapped a hoof tight around the griffon's talon and looked around to see what had happened. In front of her appeared a pegasus.
“Don't worry, Captain, we'll save you!” the pegasus said with a salute.
The griffon didn't give Apple Bloom a chance to respond. He dove, spinning in a loop in an attempt to out-maneuver the pegasi that were now closing in on him. Apple Bloom yelped as the aerial combat grew more intense, with pegasi landing repeated blows on the griffon, and the griffon snapping and scratching back with beak and talons. One pegasus bucked the griffon hard in the face, stunning the creature and causing him to lose his grip on the filly.
Apple Bloom's mind reeled as she plummeted toward the snow-covered ground. She saw flashbacks—odd flashbacks—involving the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the clubhouse. She thought she heard them calling her name. But as the ground grew closer, their voices were drowned out by her own panicked screams.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”
