literature

CMC Manehattan, chapter 1

Deviation Actions

legomaster00156's avatar
Published:
573 Views

Literature Text

Babs walked into a lonely but well-maintained apartment on the 22nd floor or a skyscraper in Manehattan. Along the walls hung a crayon-made drawing of Manehattan, a picture of her face, and a banner that said "Cutie Mark Crusaders Manehattan Division". She pulled her cape off of a coat hanger, and wrapped it around herself. She then stepped up onto a wooden box at the back of the room, and cleared her throat.
"Welcome to the fourth meeting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders Manehattan Division," she said to the empty room. She tried carefully to hold back her accent in a formal tone. "Before we begin, we will conduct a roll call." She turned to the picture of herself. "Babs Seed. Present." She paused, and then turned around. "We will now- oh, who am I foolin'?"
She groaned, and sat on her haunches. She'd started this club as soon as she left the Ponyville a month ago, and through she'd managed to get a small room as a base of operations (the apartment owner had apparently found her pleading expression cute enough), she hadn't found a single other blank-flank who wanted to join her.
She blew her mane out of her face, nearly missing a quiet rap on the door. Her ears perked up. Maybe somepony was here to join! She almost got up, but then froze as another knock came at the door. What if it was a crook wanting to break in? Oh, but crooks didn't knock, did they? Did they?
As a third knock came at the door, she cautiously stood up and walked over. She cracked the door open, and came face-to-face with a purple pegasus filly. The filly had a long, light blue mane, and appeared more nervous than Babs.
"Uh... is this the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse?" the filly whispered. Babs immediately noticed that her accent wasn't as pronounced as Babs' own, and figured she had roots outside of the city.
"Yeah, it is. Why ah ya' here?" Babs asked, tilting her head.
"Oh, um, I was just wondering if... you know... if you were accepting new members?" the filly asked. She ducked away. "But it's fine if you're not. I mean, I wouldn't want to intrude."
"Hah, am- I mean, ah we?" Babs asked, a grin quickly finding it's way onto her face. "Come on in, lady! What's yer name?"
"Sea Pearl," she answered, as she walked into the sparcle-decorated room. Babs saw the lack of a Cutie Mark, which affirmed her interest. "So, where are the others?"
"They're late," Babs lied reflexively. "Nice ta meet ya', Pearl - I can call ya' Pearl, right? Name's Babs Seed. I made this little group. In here, we promise you'll be safe from bullies and other scum. Earn yer Cutie Mark, too."
"Oh, good. I've been having some trouble, actually. With the bullies, I mean. Oh, but don't tell anypony I said that. The bullies will-"
"Where and who ah these bullies?" Babs interrupted.
"Um, older fillies and colts at flight school, up in the clouds," Pearl answered nervously.
"Ya' need to snitch. Not kiddin'. Tell somepony in charge about yer troubles, and they'll go 'way faster than you can say Cutie Mark Crusaders," Babs said simply. "But enough about dat. Let's get ya' sworn in. Then we can get yer face added to the list, and I'll see about getting ya' a cape. Oh, but first, the rules!"
Babs opened up the wooden box she stood on to act as the leader, and pulled out a piece of paper with a few lines of writing on it. She smiled, and began to read off the rules.
"Rule one: help yer fellow Crusaders whenever ya' can. Rule two: don't do anything dangerous or illegal. Rule two and a half: don't be afraid to do dangerous things when ya've got a fellow Crusader with ya'. Rule three: keep in contact with all other branches of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, especially the Ponyville branch. The standing leader of the Crusaders reserves the right ta make changes and additions ta the rules."
Babs looked at Pearl who simply stared back. Babs smiled again.
"So, do you, Sea Pearl, swear ta' uphold these rules?" Babs asked.
"Yes," Pearl answered. Babs sighed, and shook her head.
"No, no, no. Ya've gotta say 'I swear', or it don't work!" Babs insisted.
"But I thought swearing was bad," Pearl said, blinking.
"No, cussin' is bad. Swearin' is fine," Babs replied, rolling her eyes. "So, say it!"
"Um... I swear," Pearl said, smiling sheepishly.
"Well, then, by the authority vested in me by the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I hereby instate ya' into our club," Babs said, with a voice of authority. She was internally screaming with delight at having finally inducted a new member into the Crusaders.
"Oh, thank you, Babs!" Pearl shouted, suddenly wrapping her hooves around Babs' neck in a hug. "What do we do first?"
Babs pulled away from the hug, and stepped over to the picture of her face.
"Let's get ya' onto the roll call, Pearl," she answered.
----------
A group of five fillies and two colts were in the apartment. There were two pegasi fillies, two unicorn fillies, one Earth-pony filly, a unicorn colt, and an Earth-pony colt. Two of them were Babs and Pearl, who together stood on a much larger wooden box with a podium.
"Welcome to the nineteenth meeting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders Manehattan Division," Babs said to the audience. "We will first conduct our roll call. Babs Seed. Present. Sea Pearl."
"Present," Pearl answered.
"Sweet Cakes," Babs continued.
"Present," the first unicorn filly answered. She had a smaller stature than the other ponies in the room. Her curly mane was a peachy shade that went well with her off-white coat.
"Ruby Shiner."
"Present," replied the Earth-pony colt. Despite the effiminate name, he was probably the biggest and meanest-looking member of the group, and certainly the oldest. He was at least a year older than Babs herself. He had a red coat and a cropped maroon mane, both of which undoubtedly had lead to his name. His accent was even rougher than Babs', and had hints of a country life.
"Holly Day," Babs said.
"I'm here," answered the second unicorn filly. She had a pine green braided mane, and her coat was an unfortunately clashing blue.
"High Life," Babs said.
"Present," replied the unicorn colt. He had a light grey coat and a carefully maintained dark blue mane. He spoke with an upper-class Manehattan accent, contrasting with Babs' crude city accent. He seemed altogether out of place amongst the rest of them, save for his lack of a Cutie Mark and his young age.
"Rain Drummer," Babs said.
"Hi," the second pegasus filly said simply. She had an unremarkable brown coat and a turquoise mane that she kept purposefully short.
"Good, everypony's here," Babs said, smiling. "'Fore we go brainstormin' for our Cutie Marks, does anypony have any announcements for the club?"
"I do," Pearl answered. Babs nodded, and stepped aside from the podium to let her up. "Despite our complaint to the principal, Rain Drummer has ben having increasing bully problems at her school down here on the ground. We have arranged for a meeting with the parents of those involved, but at the moment, I believe she may need a bodyguard until the issue is dealt with."
"Dat would be me," Ruby said, standing up to his full height. In this position, he towered over everypony else in the room. "Ah'll make sure the poor filly doesn't have any problems on mah watch."
"Um, thanks. It's not necessary, though," Rain said quietly.
"Nonsense. Ah'll stick by yer side till this whole mess is cleaned up," Ruby promised. "Hah, and besides class, o' course."
"I would rather enjoy seeing what would happen if somepony picked on her under your protection," High Life said, grinning. "Rain, you could not be in scarier hooves."
"Unless yer countin' High Life's personal army," Ruby answered. "We can just ask da bloke outside da room, instead."
"It's not actually a personal army. It's my parents' bodyguards," High Life answered. "And I didn't ask him to accompany me here. My mother is simply paranoid about my safety."
"That's ridiculous. Nothin' dangerous happens to us," Babs said, rolling her eyes. "So, who's in favor of skydiving for our Cutie Marks?"
"Cutie Mark Crusaders Skydivers, yay!" the whole room shouted out at once.
The first branch of the Cutie Mark Crusaders is begun in Manehattan.
© 2012 - 2024 legomaster00156
Comments1
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
todd-fox's avatar
Manehatten is doomed for the devils from above cometh.