The End of the Crusaders
The Cutie Mark Crusaders really went out with a bang this time. They really brought the house down. As they finished their performance, the entire set fell down on them. The big, heavy set pieces may have nearly crushed them, but the crowds' reaction was what truly hurt. Everyone in the crowd watched in either awe or shock as the act was finished. But when the Crusaders climbed out of the wreckage, they were deeply saddened by what they heard from the audience. The crowds' reaction was not applause, but laughter. The ponies in the crowd were laughing at them.
The Crusaders knew that no one truly enjoyed the performance for what it was. They trotted off of the stage with their heads held low and deep sorrow in their eyes. "Wow, that did not go as well as I expected." Scootaloo said. "I can't believe they're laughing at us!" Apple Bloom said. "Was it that bad?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Back on stage girls, it's time for the awards!" said Cheerilee to the sullen fillies. "Back on stage? No." retorted Sweetie Belle. "They'll just laugh some more." came from Apple Bloom. "Yeah what's the point?" questioned Scootaloo. "Now girls, let's be good sports. You made a great performance. You should be proud. Now come on!" Cheerilee told them. They all trot onto the stage, but the Crusaders attempt to hide behind the other performers, trying not to be noticed. "Let's hear it for all of our talented fillies and colts!" asks Cheerilee. The crowd stamps their hooves in applause. Each award is handed out to their respective winners, until it comes down to the Crusaders or the last other team. Our little fillies are shaking with fear for what will happen when the award is placed. "Finally, the last award of the night goes to: The Cutie Mark Crusaders!" The fillies say in unison, "What?" "For best comedy act!" Cheerilee states further.
"What? Comedy?" Scootaloo asks in disbelief. She looks at her fellow Crusaders, and they all tear up. Now knowing that the audience thought that their performance was a joke, they all run off of the stage, wanting to be as far away from all of the other ponies as possible. Eventually, climbing the incline into their tree house, they all come to rest on the floor, and break out into deep crying over what happened at the performance. "How could they think it was a comedy act?" begs Apple Bloom to her friends. Sweetie Belle then whispers, "But, it... it came from our hearts. It's what we do, isn't it, girls?" "Yeah. It was. But if everypony else thinks that what we do is a joke, then maybe we should just end it. Forever." says Scootaloo, who then gets up, grabs some rope off of the table, and shows it to the others. "If everypony else thinks that our way of life is a joke, then maybe they would be better off without us in theirs." The others look at her with wide eyes, but eventually agree with what she means, and they nod. After all, the Cutie Mark Crusaders always love to do things to the extreme. They get to work, preparing for their final attempt at something useful. Scootaloo manages to stack up some furniture to hang the ropes by on the ceiling, while Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom write a note explaining what has happened. When Scootaloo finishes, they all write a note to their respective sister figures.
After much work, rigging up the ropes to hang from the ceiling without breaking, they climb up onto a bookshelf in the room, and prepare for the end. "Ready, girls?" Scootaloo told them. "Three... two... one... Go."
3 hours later "Hey, Big Macintosh, have you seen Apple Bloom anywhere around here? I can't find her anywhere." Applejack questioned her big brother. "Nnnope." was his reply. "Well shoot. I need her help with some apple cleanup, and she ain't nowhere to be found. Maybe the Cutie Mark Crusaders are planning something in that tree house. Maybe they weren't happy about what happened at the talent show? They sure didn't seem like it." Applejack trots off to the tree house, seeking her little sister. But, what she will find there will shake her to the core.
As the Alabmaran-accented pony approached her little sister's tree house, she called out to her and her friends, but got no answer, not a peep. Applejack started to climb the ramp, becoming both suspicious and scared as to what she might find. But when she finally reached the top, she nearly had a heart attack. Hanging by their necks from the ceiling by ropes, were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, with the expressions of martyrs on their little faces. Apple Bloom's big sister could only stare in absolute terror at the sight of their limp body's, hanging high off of the ceiling. Applejack finally regained some sense of herself, and ran off to tell Twilight what she found.
Twilight was on her balcony when she heard it. One of her best friends, Applejack, was screaming her name at the top of her lungs while galloping at maximum speed. Twilight normally would have asked her what was wrong from up there, but at the sense of urgency she picked up from her tone, she just went out. "Applejack, what's wrong?" Twilight asked her. "Tree house... Crusaders... ropes... dead..." was all she could get out before she fell to the ground, out cold from shock and exhaustion. Twilight, and everypony else in the vicinity gasped at the mention of the last word. "Dead? But... how?" she stammered, before shouting as loud as she could, using magic to amplify her voice across Ponyville, "DASH!" Dash heard, and zoomed over to her. "What you need, Twi-" "Get the rest of us and bring them to the Crusader' tree house." "But, what-" "Just do it!" she screamed, and teleported to the building in question. Dash noticed Applejack, on the ground, unconscious, and decided to just do it, so she brought her friend's body with her to Carousel Boutique.
Twilight reappeared at the once clubhouse for the group of fillies who would be willing to do anything to get their cutie marks. She didn't notice anything odd about it, so she went up the ramp. However, when she came up to the main room, she nearly vomited at the sight of the dead fillies. She came out of it when she heard her friends' voices outside. "Twilight? You there?" Rainbow Dash called out. "Girls? I... I just don't know." she mumbled as she walked out. They regrouped, and Twilight told them to expect the worst as they went in to see what had happened.
When Rarity saw Sweetie Belle hanging there, she turned her head and vomited on the floor. Fluttershy, too, vomited, and then promptly fainted. Dash, who was hovering, fell down in the doorway at the sight of Scootaloo, her wings locked up from the sight of her biggest fan's corpse hanging from the ceiling. She had also been carrying Applejack while she went in, so the earth pony hit the floor as well. She woke up from the hit, but almost passed out again when she realized it hadn't been a dream, and her sister was really dead. It was then, that Twilight noticed something on the floor, next to the Crusaders.
Twilight then walked over to the bodies, and picked up a note sitting on the floor. She read it aloud: "To whoever finds us first, we have decided that the ponies of Ponyvilles' lives would be better off without us. After the reception of our performance in today's talent show, we have decided that, if everypony thinks that our attempts to get our cutie marks are a joke, then perhaps we should just end it now. Our performance was not a comedy act; it came from our hearts. But if everypony thinks that it is a joke, then we won't be bothering them anymore. *To Rainbow Dash, from Scootaloo: I'm sorry if I failed you. I always tried to live up to your expectations in teaching me to fly, I really did, but I just wasn't good enough. I know that you didn't fail, because you could never really fail, but that I failed you. I'm sorry. *To Rarity, from Sweetie Belle: Rarity, I'm sorry I always caused so much trouble in your shop. I just wanted to spend time with my only sister. But, now I know you had more important things to do than play with me, so I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for bugging you so much. To Applejack, from Apple Bloom: Hey sis, I'm sorry I always disobeyed you. You're my big sister, and I should listen to you when you think something could happen to me. I'm sorry for all of the trouble that I've caused you and your friends, and I hope that you can forgive me.* Goodbye, everypony, forever. Signed, The Cutie Mark Crusaders.
As Twilight finished, Rarity burst into tears, thinking of all of the times that she shooed her sister away when she wanted to do something together. Now, the fashionista couldn't regret not playing with her sister more often any more than she did now. Rainbow Dash thought of all of the times she had snapped at the little orange pegasus when she messed up a flying lesson from her idol. Equestria's best young flier could do nothing more than sit on the floor, in shock from what her impatience may have led to. Applejack remembered all of the times Apple Bloom had disobeyed her word, and all of the fun times that they had together. She broke down in tears at not understanding what had happened after their performance. They had hung themselves because they thought that no one liked what they did. But now, she wouldn't be able to tell Apple Bloom that her sister thought what they did was great.
"Twilight, I think we should go back to town and start preparing a funeral. Everypony else will want to say goodbye, even if the Crusaders didn't think that they would." Applejack suggested. "Yes, I think we should get something started, to honor them. They may have had the wrong idea of what everypony thought of them, but we should try to do whatever we can to remember them." Twilight responded. Pinkie's mane started to puff up a little, but stayed partially straight, and she asked, "Oh, I guess I should go get a party ready, shouldn't I, Twi?" The studious pony, trying to make her friend feel as good as possible, said "Yes, I think that would be great, Pinkie. Let's go get a party started."
