Princesses of Equestria

Chapter 7: Homecoming

On a fine spring evening, not far from the Everfree Forest's borders, the Cutie Mark Crusaders stayed up way past bedtime, camping on their treehouse's verandah by the light of an oil lamp.

"Lovely sky tonight," sighed Sweetie Belle. The starry expanse overhead reminded her of Queen Eponia. Were there other giant mares out in the vast reaches of deep space? Was that constellation shaped like a horse? It totally was!

"Care to shoot for our astronomy Cutie Marks?" said Sweetie, hurrying to the makeshift telescope Princess Twilight had installed so that, officially, the Crusaders could try their hooves at birdwatching Marks and, in truth, so Scoots could fangasm over Rainbow Dash as she did the daily weather rounds in that awesomazing way of hers.

But since Dash was busy helping Princess Twilight after her awesome spell went, like, not so awesome, there had been no pegasi, awesomazing or otherwise, to admire tonight.

Thus, Scootaloo stayed where she was, and ate a marshmallow instead. Apple Bloom was game enough (perhaps she'd discover a new star and name it after herself!) yet no sooner did she put eye to eyepiece, than a midge bit her blank flank. Apple Bloom tried ignoring it, but that only encouraged the midge's friends. And their friends. And their extended families, too.

"Ouch!" Apple Bloom swatted at the swarms of bugs drawn to the treehouse's glow, and to its tasty owners. "Forgit astronomy, Sweetie Belle, it's pest control Marks we need."

Yelping from a nip to her shoulder, Sweetie busted out her makeup kit, evoked telekinesis, tried using her lipstick and eyeliner as anti-midge missiles. She had no more luck than Apple Bloom. Midges buzzed mockingly, and closed in for the kill.

The time had come. Grinning, Scootaloo pulled a leftover zap apple cider bottle from under her helmet, uncorked it, and took a swig. She'd nicked the stuff when that freaky lightning blew Granny Smith's cider stand to queendom come, and though Scootaloo had hoped to save her prize for the next changeling uprising, her friends' safety took top priority.

"Three words, Apple Bloom," Scootaloo said through bulging cheeks, sparking juice dribbling down her chin. "Bug. Zapper. Marks."

Ptooey! Zap! Bullseye! A smoking midge nosedived.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie's faces lit up. The bottle passed hooves, swigs were taken, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders gleefully zapped midges out of the sky left, right and center until their bottle was empty. Humbled by a barrage of deadly logies, the remaining pests initiated a swift tactical withdrawal. In T-minus five seconds, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had cleared tree house. A professional pest controller could've done no better.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders, yay! " cheered the three valiant bug zappers, reveling in their hard-earned victory.

"Hi there."

The Crusaders yelped, their valiance forgotten. Somepony they didn't know was watching them intently from the forest floor, masked by the gloom beyond their lanternlight. The Crusaders stared. The filly (they could barely tell she was one from her sleek silhouette) stared back. They kept on staring. She kept on staring. They blinked. She didn't. It was kinda creepy.

"... hi," they said, and gave her three friendly waves. She waved in return, smiling vacantly, but said nothing else.

Just kept on staring.

"You lost, miss?" Sweetie Belle asked politely, more than a little creeped out now.

"Lost?" The filly hunched in on herself, dull grey eyes fixed on something the Crusaders couldn't see. "I've been lost for so long." Another shiver. Then, another smile. Colder than the last. "But now, I'm home." She made a gesture that took in the Everfree Forest, Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres, the treehouse, and the Crusaders themselves.