The Last Cutie Mark Crusader 20, Part 1 of 10

Revolution

Cloud Blazer flew over the Everfree Forest, his eyes scanning for anything amiss. The night air was warm as it flowed over him. Scootaloo was beside him, and together they shot through the night like arrows loosed from a bow. The forest beneath them was dark, lit only by the full moon overhead.

"See anything?" he asked her.

"Nothing yet.”

They continued moving fast, the trees just far enough below that they wouldn't hit them. They swayed in the warm breeze, and the scents of the forest filled the air. The stars were burning so brightly above that Cloud Blazer was certain he'd never seen a night sky so lit.

"There!" Scootaloo shouted as she changed course, heading directly into the Ghastly Gorge.

"Wait!" he called after her.

"Keep going; I'll catch up," she called back.

He halted and hovered there a moment, watching her go. Cloud Blazer turned back to continue when he saw something running across the forest floor. He dropped straight down to the ground, which had been a forest until he landed. It was now a crater with low destroyed tree stumps scattered about the perimeter. Everything was burned, and ashes fell from the sky. He saw it again, darting from tree to tree.

"Wait!" he called as he began running forward.

The pale yellow streak zipped right in front of him, and Cloud Blazer spun to his right and galloped after the little yellow rabbit. He was able to overtake it, leaping on top and cradling it in his front legs. The rabbit squirmed and struggled against him, but he held it as firmly as he dared for fear of crushing it.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said as gently as he could.

The rabbit stopped struggling and looked at him with large teal eyes. It was almost solid yellow, but for its pink, fluffy tail. The face that stared at Cloud Blazer was filled with trepidation as it quivered in his grasp.

"It's going to be okay," he tried to calm the rabbit.

"Come to me!" that familiar chorus voice boomed.

Cloud Blazer jumped up onto his hind legs, holding the rabbit close and looking around. As usual, nopony was nearby, and he suspected that the voice was coming from the moon again.

"Check this out!" Scootaloo said, startling Cloud Blazer a little. "You found the rabbit?"

"Yes, I did," he said, clutching it with one fore-leg and turning on three hooves to face her.

Scootaloo grinned as she held out a blue crystal.

"That's perfect!" he exclaimed.

Removing his saddle bags, Cloud Blazer opened them. They put the rabbit and crystal inside, but the cupcake leapt out. Scootaloo reached for it, but missed. As he scrambled to close the pack, Scootaloo ran off after the cupcake as it bounded away through the crater. In a moment, Cloud Blazer was in the air. He flew above to spot for Scootaloo, but the cupcake was so small that he would have to stay low just to see it in the moonlight. It bounded one way and then another with Scootaloo keeping pace behind it. She closed the distance in a small straightaway, but when she dove to capture it, the pink cupcake leapt high into the air, flipping several times. Cloud Blazer seized the moment and dropped down to grab it, but he was too far away. Barely touching it, the cupcake spun as it fell back down; Scootaloo had just enough time to get back up and snatch it out of the air before it landed.

"Nice catch!" Cloud Blazer exclaimed.

He came down beside her, and they got the little pink cupcake into his saddle bag before it could leap away again.

"Come to me!" the voice from the sky boomed again.

Cloud Blazer cringed, but Scootaloo did not react.

"What do we need next?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," he replied, his mind too foggy for actual thought.

"Come to me!" the moon insisted. The deafening noise of its voice reverberated through the night.

When Cloud Blazer looked up, the entire sky was filled with the silvery moon. It grew larger and larger until it had consumed the heavens, the forest, the crater, and even Scootaloo and Cloud Blazer with pale silver pulsating light.

He awoke to find a crowd in the room with him. Camera flashes were going off in rapid succession. Looking about, Sweetie Belle was nowhere to be seen. It looked like news photographers were taking the pictures.

"He's awake!" a silver mare with purple eyes exclaimed. It was Silver Spoon.

"And how are you feeling today?" the subject of the photographers asked him. It was Mayor Diamond Tiara.

Cloud Blazer coughed, and then nodded. "Better than yesterday," he replied.

"Glad to hear it," she said. "If there's anything you need, you just ask for me, okay?" she said as the cameras clicked away and other ponies took notes. She then gave him a business card and posed for another picture.

"Thanks," he said in confusion by what was happening.

The mayor walked away, the photographers parting for her and following after as she made her exit. Cloud Blazer turned to face the other patient in his room, as the curtain was pulled back, but the teal mare was asleep. He laid his head down and listened as the entourage made its way up the hall.