Read chapter here
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Harry goes on his first Crusading missions with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. They all end as well as you think.
Tropes that were flung into a lake by a catapult include:
- Catapult to Glory: The CMC built a trebuchet to see if they would get a Cutie Mark in Weapons of Mass Destruction / Siege Engineering. They didn't but the Ponyville Lake got the world's best diving board out of it.
- Culture Clash: While most pony children think that learning about the history and royalty of Equestria is boring, Harry finds it fascinating to read about wars with mythical creatures and magical alicorn princesses.
- Ditzy Genius: Twilight didn't think it would be inappropriate to let the CMC (who've been known to do anything to try and get their Cutie Marks) borrow books on ancient weapons of mass destruction and siege engines. Applejack has a talk with her about it later.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Downplayed; Harry acts as the test dummy for the trebuchet instead of letting Scootaloo do it, as she helped save his life and he won't let her risk hers. Of course, it becomes obvious paragraphs later that the trebuchet isn't fatal (at least, so long as you're being launched into a lake), so this wasn't really a sacrifice.
- It's All My Fault: Harry tries to take the blame for the trebuchet destroying one of Applejack's trees. He doesn't get away with it, as he forgot that Applejack bears the Element of Honesty and can tell when people are lying. But she thinks it's sweet that he tried to defend his friends.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Applejack admits that she's impressed that the fillies managed to build a working trebuchet in a week, but still punishes them for wrecking one of her trees by having them chop up the felled tree for the next two afternoons.
- Say My Name: The fillies when Harry is accidentally the first pony launched.
- You Are Grounded!: Along with chopping up the tree they destroyed, Harry and the CMC are grounded for two weeks. Harry actually doesn't mind it; he lives in a library, so he just spends the time trying to read up on the school subjects he's behind in.
