The Last Cutie Mark Crusader 18, Part 1 of 4

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"Tag! You're it!" Cloud Blazer yelled as he sprinted away, galloping as fast as his little legs could carry him from Scootaloo.

"Oh, it's on now!" she screamed back.

Apple Bloom squealed as she dodged around a barrel, also running from the orange filly. Sweetie Belle was hiding in a hay bale, and she burst forth just as Cloud Blazer and Scootaloo ran by. She taunted them and ran off in a different direction. The orchard was filled with the joyful sounds of the colt and fillies as they played together. Glancing back, Cloud Blazer could see that she was gaining on him. He aimed for a fence, charging toward it as fast as he could run. At the last second, he leapt as high as he could, flapping his wings just enough to get him over it. Scootaloo shrieked a moment later as she crashed into wooden planks. The colt landed on the other side and turned around. She looked a little dazed, and the other two were actually rolling on the ground laughing. Scootaloo shook her head, her mane unkempt from the rowdiness.

"No fair! We can't play if you cheat!" she huffed at him.

"Are you okay?" Sweetie Belle asked. Apple Bloom was still laughing.

"I'm sorry," Cloud Blazer said, approaching her with the fence between them. She looked rather angry with him.

"No you're not," she pouted. "You're it!" she cried as she reached through the fence, tagging him by surprise.

He instinctively stepped backward, and she had already run halfway back to the barn. Sweetie Belle had the sense to hide has he scrambled through the gaps in the fence. Apple Bloom was still laughing so hard that she couldn't run. He walked right up to her and tagged her. She sort of waved him off as she recovered.

"You just," she took a breath, "You should have seen her face when she hit that fence."

Apple Bloom looked silly rolling in the mud, her pink bow filthy. Cloud Blazer let the moment take him and joined her guffaw.

"Aren't you going to chase us anymore?" Sweetie Belle called out from her hiding place.

A clap of thunder startled the four. Sweetie Belle let out an ear piercing scream. The thunder rolled and subsided. They stood now, staring into the sky. Dark clouds were rolling and almost boiling above. They came in fast, and wind began blowing fall leaves all around in swirls.

"Y'all get inside! A storm's brewing," they heard Applejack call from the house.

With only a moment of hesitation, the four galloped toward the safety of shelter. Half way there the rain came down in heavy sheets, so thick that it blinded Cloud Blazer. As they continued running, his hoof caught something, maybe a root or a rock. He went sprawling on the ground, taking a face full of mud. The smell of the rain filled his nostrils as he got back to his hooves and continued running. By the time they made it into the house, they were drenched. Dripping and covered in mud, Applejack threw towels at them.

"Get cleaned up, y'all. I'll fix some supper," she said.

“I wanna help!” Apple Bloom offered.

"Thanks, sugar cube. I'm about fit to be tied today," she replied, gesturing at her pregnant body. From the look of her, she could deliver a pair of foals any minute.

As they prepared for dinner, Cloud Blazer cleaned himself up, making a mess of the towel.

"Come to me!" a voice interrupted him.

Startled, he turned about. He wasn't in the house anymore. He was outside in the rain, standing in front of Princess Twilight's castle. Applejack and the three fillies were still with him.

"Should I go? Should I follow the voice?" Cloud Blazer nervously asked Applejack.

The rain was coming down, and running off of her hat in a steady stream. "I don't think she's calling to you," Applejack said solemnly.

Everything went suddenly dark, and pain shot through Cloud Blazer, followed by numbness. The dream faded away and for what seemed like several minutes, he lay there in agony, unable to see or hear anything. The sharp ache was still there, but after a few minutes he felt almost giddy. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Blurry at first, things eventually came into focus around him. He was in what looked like a hospital room. Despite the euphoria, he was afraid to move, as it had been so painful the last time. He couldn't tell if he was alone, but the door to his room was open. There was a curtain on the left side, which probably was dividing the room between himself and another patient. This looked just like the Ponyville hospital.

Trying to remember how he'd come to be here proved difficult. His mind was so foggy at the moment, he began to wonder if he were dreaming again. But if he had been dreaming, he would never have wondered that, so he decided that he must be awake. Breathing was not nearly so painful or gravelly as it had been before. Gently, he began to turn his head a little. On the right side of the room, there was a wall with shelves and all sorts of medical supplies and things stored there. There were also chairs, and a white mare was sitting in one of them. He didn't recognize her, but he felt like he should. She had a purple mane, two different colors, and a horn. She must be a unicorn. She looked like she was sleeping. As he watched her, the feeling that he should know her was growing stronger, but he still couldn't place her identity. It was a curiously unsettling sensation.

Turning his thoughts back to his current situation, Cloud Blazer tried to think back through it. He remembered playing in the field by the barn, and then it started raining. Had he been injured in the rain? Turning back carefully, he tried to assess his physical condition. There seemed to be bruises and healing cuts all over. He had bandages on his legs, and a cast on his hind right leg. It was completely immobilized. If the bandages had been only a little more complete, he'd look quite a lot like a mummy.

The unicorn stirred, and Cloud Blazer looked back at her. Her eyelids fluttered, and she awoke, making a good long stretch. She shook herself a little, and then opened her green eyes. They sat there a moment looking at each other before Cloud Blazer recognized her.

"Sweetie Belle," he said. He wasn't actually trying to address her; it was more a statement of recognition.

"Cloud Blazer!" she practically leapt to his bedside. "How are you feeling? Are you okay? We've been so worried about you."

"Oh... yeah..." he said, still feeling far away. "I'm alright... I think I fell down in the mud..."

"What?" she seemed a little confused.

"The rain... I must have fallen down..."

“It’s not raining, and there isn’t any mud.”

“You didn’t see? The thunder.”

"It must be the medicine," she concluded. “They gave you something for the pain. Well, I'm just glad to hear you speaking again."

"Was I... not speaking? Sorry..."

She smiled at him, and somehow, that made everything seem better. Things began to go foggy again. Cloud Blazer could feel himself slipping back into unconsciousness.

"I'm... going... again..." he said.

She began to speak, but he couldn't understand her. He had a fleeting thought that Scootaloo was also there because he could feel his mane being gently stroked again. He made a final effort to see her or say something, but it was no use. The euphoria, the pain, the good feelings, and everything else slipped away as Cloud Blazer drifted to sleep again.