CRUSADERS OF THE LOST WORLD
A WHOLE NEW WORLD
~1~
"So, crusaders, what's the plan for today?" Apple Bloom asked her two life-long friends with enthusiasm brimming with both confidence and sheer optimism. Her two other friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, returned such blithe with their own to match. The usual quota consisted of helping any poor soul with their problematic plights relating to their cutie marks. Having recently received their own, the three friends finally felt as if their mark within the world was starting to blossom.
"Oh, that's easy! The same thing we always do! Help ponies with their marks!" exclaimed Scootaloo, vibrant as ever. Apple Bloom nodded unconsciously, weighing her options. Helping ponies as per quota seemed pretty standard, she loved it as well! Nodding her head, she faced her two friends confidently.
Walking to the door and promptly opening it halfway, she turned back to her friends. "Ah' wonder who's gonna be the lucky filly or colt today!"
Scootaloo suddenly grinned, elbowing Sweetie Belle, which annoyed her. "Think it'd be Button Mash? Wonder how that one ought ago~" She hummed in a sing-song manner. The pale filly blushed in retrospect, which was also fully visible due to how white her coat was. Scootaloo guffawed, and Apple Bloom merely smiled at the antics.
"S-Shut it, chicken. . ." Sweetie retorted, though this did not faze her at all. Apple Bloom decided to intervene before any more silliness were to commence, tapping Scootaloo on the shoulder.
"Alright, alright, calm down you two." Apple Bloom pointed her hoof towards the door. "I got this mighty awesome crusadin' idea we could start with. Rock climbing!"
"Rock climbing?" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle said in unison, utterly confused.
"Yeah! We could-" Apple Bloom started until she realized her blunder. She wasn't exactly crusading for cutie marks anymore. "Oooh, right... Sorry, y'all. My mind's going a bit loony."
"We already have our cutie marks, so we don't have to do silly stuff like that anymore, remember?" Scootaloo stated. Apple Bloom nodded again, her face a bit more pouty.
"I know, I know. Mah' bad, Scoots." But was it so bad? Apple Bloom was suddenly starting to think that her life plus her friends' were getting pretty stagnant as a result of this and, well... slice of life-y, if that made sense. She yearned for something more adventurous, more daring! She had found it odd when once a cutie mark enters your life, how it could dull your horizons. Not to say she hated her cutie mark! She loved it! The filly just didn't desire for it to be the framework for all her activities.
As she meditated on this fact, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were whispering to each other whilst oddly staring at their farmpony friend. It was weird for them to see her so deeply invested in her thoughts whilst in the presence of conversation, all the while not telling them what was on her mind before going to such a state. They did share everything, after all, even personal qualms.
"Is she alright?" Sweetie Belle muttered to the pegasus. Scootaloo shrugged her shoulders in response, knowing only as much as she did. They both tilted her head at Apple Bloom's idle expression, which subsequently turned into disappointment. She stayed like this until Scootaloo mustered the courage to snap her out of it, fueled by both concern and sheer curiosity.
The orange pegasus donned a smirk, sneaking up to Applebloom and placing her hooves on her shoulder before shaking the poor filly erratically. "Hey!" she stretched out, "Equestria to Apple Bloom! You even in there?" She lightly tapped her temple with the flat end of her hoof. Apple Bloom eventually knocked out of her stupor, blinking wildly.
"S-Scootaloo! Stop that..." Apple Bloom demanded, slithering out of her grasp. Sweetie Belle caught Apple Bloom, who was spinning like a top after getting out of Scoots' relatively iron grip. Apple Bloom muttered her thanks, though now it was her turn to lecture the filly.
"Are you alright, Apple Bloom? You were dazed for a bit there, so we had to snap you out of it." Sweetie Belle stated, earning an apologetic smile from the country filly. Apple Bloom then walked further along slightly so she could properly face both her friends.
"Sorry, ya'll. It's just . . . I think we should take a teeny-weeny break from helping other ponies and maybe do something else for a change?" She suggested, expecting some flat-out no's from her two buddies. Surprisingly, by the looks of it, Sweetie Belle was going over the notion quite thoughtfully, but as expected, Scootaloo was the one that had a problem with it.
"For a change?" Scootaloo parroted, mildly shocked. "This is like. . . our job now! Why would you wanna stop?" The orange filly demanded an answer.
Apple Bloom erratically flailed her hooves in front of her in a clarifying manner. "No! No. . . It ain't like that, Scootaloo. I'm perfectly content with mah' cutie mark. Remember all our wild, crazy crusader adventures back in the day?"
Sweetie Belle had to giggle at that. "Back in the day? You make it seem like it was so long ago." Apple Bloom shared in the virtues of laughter with the unicorn.
"Well, yeah! I mean, it does kinda feel that way!" They both giggled momentarily.
Scootaloo felt both lost and left out. Nevertheless, she filled herself with conviction and crossed her hooves. "Well, I ain't going! Why should I when my cutie mark calls me to do something a hecka' lot more important!?" She argued. Apple Bloom was about to pipe in, for it was her idea after all, but interestingly enough, Sweetie Belle beat her to the punch.
"Lighten up, chicken! It's just for one day..." The unicorn argued back, "Out of all people, I'd thought that you would be on board!"
"We've already been other this, you two. We decided we'd get a hobby. Can't you just go dance with Tender Taps or something if you want to do something else 'for a change?'" Scootaloo parroted the last part.
"That's different. I'm talkin' about something we can all do together. Remember all the misadventures?"
"They were all stupid!"
Sweetie Belle piped in once more, "What, you chicken?" Scootaloo did not respond nicely to this.
"Stop calling me that! And no, I'm not chicken!"
