Chapters "AH, MAN! WHY WON'T THIS THANG WORK?" Applebloom yelled dramatically to her friends, while beating the machine brutally with her hooves.
Sweetie Belle shrugged, "I dunno, but I'm not sure that hitting it will help."
"Ooh! Ooh! I know! I know!" Scootaloo jumped excitedly. "Try kicking it!"
"See, Applebloom! Scoot's thinking outside of the box!"
"But, how do I kick it if it's on a table?" Applebloom asked. She couldn't buck it, because she was sure that it would break the strange device and she couldn't risk getting Sweetie in trouble for breaking her sister's machine. Even if it is just a huge, boxy, bully that nopony even likes, and it should just leave because it is broken and won't work!
"Duh! Just, like, jump on the part on the ground!"
"Thanks for that smart tip, Scoot," Applebloom said sarcastically. But she jumped on the floor pedal anyway. To her surprise, the idiotic white box of doom actually started!
For about a second.
"Hey! Why did it stop? SWEEEEEEEETIIIIIIE BEEEEEEEEELLE!" Applebloom wailed for her friend, who was, in fact, standing right next to her.
"WHAT?!" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo cried in unison.
"Why did it stop?"
Sweetie Belle groaned and facehooved, shaking her head mumbling not-too-sweetie words about Applebloom. Sweetie Belle then stepped up and nudged Applebloom away from the machine. "Let me try, Applebloom," She placed a white hoof on the pedal and quickly pushed it down. The silly mechanism worked, but again only for a second. "Hmmm..." She pushed it down again, but this time she let it back up, and then pushed it back down. The atrocious apparatus appeared to work a slight bit longer this time around, so Sweetie figured that pushing the pedal was the way to start it.
But how to use it?
Sweetie Belle cautiously pushed the pedal, slowly, to make sure that the calamitous contraption didn't run too quickly. "Okay... well I think I got it working, but I'm not completely sure how Rarity works this thing. Scoot, could you grab me a roll of material?" she asked.
Scootaloo saluted and ran towards the back room of Carousel Boutique. "Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo called, "There's, like a ton of stuff back here! What kind, err, color do you want?"
Sweetie looked at Applebloom. "Umm...I don't know." Applebloom said. "Don't look at me. What's her favorite color?"
After a thoughtful second, Sweetie Belle screamed, "SCOOTALOO GET PURPLE SILK!"
"MM'KYYYY!" Scootaloo tried to yell and ran back in with a roll of deep purple fabric pinched between her teeth. "Hemm ya go!"
Sweetie Belle took the fabric from her friend's mouth with her magic, "accidentally" hitting Applebloom with it.
"Ouch! Sweetie! That hurt!"
"And so did my ears when you screamed into them," Sweetie said sweetly while unrolling the fabric with her hooves. "Eew, Scoot! It's all wet."
"Heh, heh, sorry about that," Scootaloo pawed at the ground with her hoof.
"It's fine!" Sweetie Belle chirped. She continued pumping the pedal of the machine. "Now... how to work this thing..." Sweetie Belle cut a portion of the silk off from the rest of the roll and pushed the roll itself out of her way.
Folding the silk in half, she carefully put it under the needle that thrust up and down as her hoof moved. Ever so carefully, she began to slowly push it forward so that she got it just perfect, and-
"Oh, for pony's sake, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo shoved Sweetie Belle out of the chair.
"OUCH!"
Scootaloo furiously ran the machine and quickly slid the material under.
"Done! " Scoot said. "And faster than you!"
"She's right ya know." Applebloom had produced a stop watch from somewhere and showed her ground bound friend. "Ah whole 5 seconds faster."
Sweetie Belle squeaked, "Scoot! The line isn't very straight at all! Let me fix it-"
"No!" She pulled the soon-to-be accessory away as Sweetie reached for it. "Hey!" Sweetie used her magic to grab it away from Scootaloo. "That's cheating!"
"Gals?" Applebloom said. But it wasn't heard over the other two's arguing.
"Just let me fix it, Scoot!" Sweetie Belle started up the strange appliance and put the silk back under the needle.
"No! We need to finish quickly if we want our cutie marks!" Scootaloo pulled on the fabric, and Sweetie Belle pushed.
"Gals!" Applebloom got in between her two friends, and somehow managed to push the menacing mechanical box off of the table.
The Crusaders were quiet for a second, and then- "OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH! RARITY IS GONNA KILL ME!" Sweetie Belle screamed.
Scootaloo facehooved. "Applebloom, take Sweetie Belle to her room," she grabbed a baseball bat and began walking slowly up to the broken machine laying on the ground. "I'll take care of the evidence..."
Applebloom eyed Scootaloo but took Sweetie upstairs anyway.
"Sweetie Belle? Ya feelin' okay now? Cuz, the mare at the hospital said that-"
"I'm fine now, Applebloom! Okay? I'm just going to write my Last Demands and prepare myself for my funeral. Which hat is better, black or flowers?" Sweetie Belle rummaged through the closet tossing clothes out behind her. "Why are these all so big?!?!"
A muffled cry of protest came from beneath a huge pile of frou-frou gowns, and then a red bow popped out. The small earth pony clawed to the top of the pile, gasping for air. "MAYBE IT'S CUZ WE AIN'T IN YOUR ROOM!" Applebloom screamed.
"WHAT?! Why aren't we in my room?"
"Cuz Ah don't know where it is! Why would Ah?!"
"Well didn't you read the signs?"
"WHAT SIGNS?"
"The ones I put on the door so that I would stop stomping into Rarity's room!"
"Well Ah can't read glitter!"
Sweetie Belle groaned and stomped out of her sister's room, leaving the disarray where it remained.
"Wait! What about Rarity's room?" Applebloom called out the door.
"Leave it! We'll blame it on Scootaloo!" she called back.
Shrugging, Applebloom walked out and closed the door behind her.
Sweetie Belle strode into Carousel Boutique's backroom, "SCOOTALOO!" Scootaloo came out from behind a rack of gowns, innocently kicking a piece of metal back under the rug.
"Heh, um... Yea, so are you guys ready?" Scootaloo asked quickly.
"No. We haven't finished it yet!" Sweetie motioned to the silk they fought over not minutes ago.
"Ah guess we should decorate it. Don't ya think Ms. Cheerilee would like somethin more, um, decorative?" Applebloom picked the silken accessory up, eyeing the uneven stitching and the rips. "And Ah thank our saddlebag needs a handle."
Scootaloo's eyes got a sinister look to them as she quickly disappeared around the corner and returned with a giant bottle of white glue. Before Applebloom could protest, she poured the entire bottle on her head, coating her and the purse in the sticky substance. Then, she disappeared again.
"SCOOTALOO!" Applebloom tried to set the sticky bag down before she returned, but it was stuck to her hoof. So, when Scootaloo returned to 'decorate' it again, She covered Applebloom and the bag in colorful feathers, glitter, and gem dust.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were on the floor in tears, clutching their stomachs from the sight of their sticky, colorful friend.
Applebloom growled. "Hey, gals! Wanna hug?" The angry earth pony tackled her friends in a bear hug, spreading the icky sticky-ness to them.
"Eww! Applebloom!" Scootaloo cried.
"Serves y'all right!" Applebloom tried to stand, but found she was stuck to the floor. "Uh, oh. Um, gals? Can y'all move at t'all?" The three fillies struggled to move, but the glue held them captive.
"Crud! How do we get our cutie marks if we're stuck to the floor?" Scootaloo questioned. She flapped her wings quickly, but that only caused them to get stuck as well. "Gah!"
~~~
The three fillies pranced down the road toward school, their gift in tow. "Mwhy da Ah gmma cmrry 'is 'ang?" Applebloom complained.
"Because you got us stuck to the floor for, like, 5 hours!" Scootaloo exaggerated.
"Well, actually it was more like 45 minutes," Sweetie Belle interrupted, "But it was really uncomfortable!"
Applebloom grumbled, but desperately wanted to get the taste of glue out of her mouth. So she quit talking and ran to the door of the school, her two friends following quickly.
Scootaloo rammed into the door of the school with her head, before falling promptly on the ground. "Umm, Scoot? You know that there is a door there, right?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yes! I know! I was just," -Scootaloo chuckled nonchalantly- "Ya know, tackling it for good measure. Just to make sure it didn't try any funny business." Scootaloo hit the door a few times with her hoof, presumably making sure that it knew who was boss.
"Crap!" A voice exclaimed on the other side of the door, followed by several crashes and bangs. The three fillies outside of the door glanced at each other.
"Ms.Cheerilee?" Sweetie Belle called.
"One second!" the grade school teacher opened the door a crack. "Oh. Um, hello girls. Can I help you with anything?" She asked with a worried smile.
"Mwe mmde ya a hmmbmg!" Applebloom exclaimed.
"A what?"
Scootaloo facehoofed. "Can we come in Ms.Cheerilee?
"Oh. Um..." Their teacher glanced around her classroom, before opening the door for the fillies. "Of course you can." She laughed nervously, glancing at her desk.
Applebloom ran in first, and set the glitterful monstrosity down on Cheerilee's desk. "Oh! Ms.Cheerilee, where d'ya get this perty vase from?" Applebloom looked at the elaborate glass 'vase'. It had many different colors on it, and several different openings. "It almost looks like ah tree, 'cuz of the branches."
Sweetie Belle walked over and stared at it. "Oooh! Rarity would love that!" Sweetie Belle looked at Cheerilee who stood nervously by the door. "Where, oh where did you get it at? If I gave Rarity a vase like this, she would totally forgive me for wrecking her boutique!"
"Um, I'm so sorry girls, but, uh, that's a one-of-a-kind vase. There are no more like it in Ponyville." Sweetie Belle pouted, doing her best puppy-dog look, but Cheerilee didn't take the bait.
"Let me," Applebloom said, and did her best pouty face, with even her bow ears drooping slightly. Cheerilee gave in.
"Oh, all right... Just take it. Is that all?" She asked.
"Nope!" Scootaloo replied and handed her the sparkly, feather-ful, saddlebag. Cheerilee forced a fake smile, and slipped it on.
"It's, er, so... unique? Thank you, girls." Cheerilee said.
The three fillies smiled proudly and proceded to glance at their rumps. Their smiles went sour. "Aw, man! Still no cutie mark? What gives!" Scootaloo sulked.
Cheerilee groaned, "Oh, girls. Still? Your cutie marks will come with time. Just be patient."
"But we're so tired of being patient, Ms.Cheerilee! Almost all of the other foals have their cutie marks already!" Scootaloo sat down, "And besides, we tried being patient yesterday! It was just a whole boring day of sitting with Granny Smith watching-" Scootaloo shudders, "Soap operas ."
The trio nodded. Cheerilee sighed, "Fine, girls. You want some advice? Try finding a role model. Maybe they'll help you." She began pushing the trio out the door. "Bye, girls!" she slammed the door.
Slumping on the door, Cheerilee mumbled to herself, "I need a drink..."
Sweetie Belle clutched the 'vase' to her chest. "Get a role model? Hey! Why not Ms. Cheerilee! If we act like she did when she was our age, we'll be sure to get our cutie marks!"
The three raced off to the clubhouse, a slew of new ideas coming to their minds.
~~~
"Hey, didn't we already try being Cutie Mark Crusader rock stars?" Scootaloo asked staring at the trio's choice of clothing.
"Eyup," Applebloom said. "Ya got us kicked off the stage with your awful song." she giggled, and got hit by Scootaloo.
"Knock it off, Applebloom," Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle. "So what do we do now? We're already wearing these awful 80's clothes." She attempted to smooth down her checkered dress, and pulled up her leg warmers, one neon yellow, the other striped pink and green. "I hate this outfit! And my mane keeps falling in my face!"
"Yea, I know," Sweetie Belle said placing several multi-colored silly bands on her legs. "But we gotta do this if we want to trick the space-time continuum! Now, can somepony help me fix my dress? It's so poofy!" Applebloom tugged at the end of Sweetie's hot pink dress, complete with blue tights and bright yellow headband.
Applebloom sat down. "Y'all think you got it bad, just look at meh! These clothes are so tight Ah can hardly move!" She picked at the leopard print tights she was wearing. She also bit at the shiny blue jacket she adorned even though it was the middle of summer. "Let's just get this over with!"
"C'mon, girls! I'm sure Twilight has some books about what ponies did back in the olden days!" Sweetie Belle marched out of the clubhouse, with Rarity's 'vase' in her saddlebag. She figured she could drop it off after they hit the library.
~~~
The trio of fillies sat in Sweetie Belle's room reading out of the book Spike had gotten for them. "Ok, so this book says that everyone liked these fancy drinks, and listening to rock music, and-" Sweetie Belle's eyes skimmed the page, "-and smoking? I don't think Rarity would let me smoke, even if it could get me my cutie mark."
"Well, where can we go to do that?" Scootalo asked.
"Right downstairs! Rarity has fancy drinks like the ones in this book in the small fridge she keeps hidden under her desk. Also, we've got a radio, so why don't we just turn on some-" Sweetie Belle looked at the book again, trying to sound out the name. "-Metal licka? Hmm... M-E-T-A-L-L-I-C-A."
"What in the hay is a metal licker?" Applebloom asked and took the book From Sweetie Belle.
"Apparently it's a band." she replied.
"Well c'mon! We gotta get started right away!" Scootaloo raced downstairs, followed by the rest of the Crusaders.
~~~
"Uhhh..." Applebloom groaned and stood up, to instantly fall back down. "Ow." She mumbled and held her head. "Sweetie Belle? Where are we?" She slurred.
"Jail." Sweetie Belle stated calmly.
"WHAT?! How? When?!"
"Umm... A little bit ago. The policemare listed a whole bunch of rules that we broke when we tried to get our cutie marks. Oh! And no, they aren't there. I already checked."
Applebloom shook her head and looked toward Scootaloo, who seemed to be in some sort of a trance-like state. She kept laughing mumbling to herself and staring at odd points in the cell. She looked like if she stood up, that she would either fall over, or pass out.
"Sweetie Belle, will ya just tell me how we got here?" Applebloom asked.
Sweetie Belle began a recap of the day's events, starting with when they left Carousel Boutique. "Well, we had just finished drinking most of Rarity's fancy drinks, though you probably had the most Applebloom, but anyway, we ran into Pinkie Pie. She saw Scoot with Rarity's drinks and invited us all to a party she was having in her basement.
"It was a really, really fancy party, I could tell 'cuz she had a whole bunch of fancy drinks laid out for the guests, and bowls full of small, white mints, and little lines of sugar all cut up nice and neat. Oh, yea, and she had a whole bunch of the fancy vase's that we got for Rarity, too. Though, I'm starting to wonder if they are really vases and not cups, 'cuz everypony was drinking out of them. Isn't that silly?
"Well, Scootaloo had a mint, but we didn't 'cuz she said they tasted really bad, and you went over and asked Pinkie to play some metal licker and drank a whole bunch more-"
"Just get to the point, Sweetie!" Applebloom said to her rambling friend.
"Oh, yea. Sorry. Well, when we left Pinkie's party, It was really, really late, so a policemare stopped us and talked to us and made us do a silly little test. Then she looked through my saddlebag and saw Rarity's vase, and a couple empty bottles of the fancy drinks and took us down here in and locked us up in this cell. She said that she'll call our sisters to come pick us up." Sweetie Belle finished.
"So, to sum it up, we're in trouble AND we ain't got our cutie marks?" Applebloom said, exasperated. Sweetie Belle nodded. "Oh, this is ah disaster!"
Just then, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity walked in led by the policemare.
Rarity's mouth fell open, as if she thought the call from the policemare was just a joke, and she fainted onto the ground.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash quickly shut their mouths, and facehooved.
Scootaloo stared at her hooves and waved them around. "Oooh... So...Pretty..."
"Applebloom! No more!" Sweetie Belle said, as she pried the bottle of fancy drink away from her friend.
Applebloom groaned and reached for it, "Jus' wun mor', Swee'," she slurred. "Ah wunna beat Pinkee..." She lost her balance and fell to the floor. "Oops. Hey, why's everthin' moovin' 'round all swirly-like?"
Sweetie Belle facehooved. She used her magic to grab Applebloom and pull her along on her hunt for Scootaloo.
"Noooo! Swee' Bell', wai' jus' 'nuther secon'. Swee'," Applebloom couldn't even stand, so Sweetie was literally dragging her through crowds of ponies.
"Nope. We've got to find Scootaloo and get out of here! Can't you see what it's doing to you?" Sweetie Belle said, dodging a couch, that curiously held a couple who were lying on it, hugging. Why would they lie down to hug? Sweetie thought, but returned to the task at hoof.
"But, Swee' Bell', tha' stallyun wus gon' show me his special b'nana, an' Ah wunna see it!" Applebloom whined. Sweetie kind of wanted to see it too, just to see if it was, in fact, really special as he had emphasised with his hooves. But, she couldn't stay and wait for some stallion to show her a banana, no matter how special! She had to get her friends home!
"But, Applebloom, if we stay any later our sisters' are gonna kill us!" Sweetie Belle saw an orange and purple streak bound across the room and hoped that it was Scootaloo.
The streak stopped abruptly into a wall, knocking it out. Sweetie rushed over. It was Scootaloo. "No! Oh, please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please don't be dead," Sweetie said and, taking a bottle of fancy liquid from Applebloom, poured it out onto Scootaloo's head.
"AAAH! RAPE!" Scootaloo jumped up and cried punching the nearest pony -Applebloom- in the face.
"No, Scootaloo! You're not being rapped or whatever the hay you just said," Sweetie Belle said taking yet another bottle of the fancy liquid from Applebloom. Where in the hay are you getting it from, Applebloom?!
Scootaloo jumped up an tried to run off again, but Sweetie grabbed her with her magic before she could get far. To do this, though, she had to let Applebloom go. Well, seeing as how Applebloom's too dizzy to stand, that would be fine for a second. But how in the hay is she supposed to get those two home?!
Sweetie Belle looked around, and saw Pinkie Pie standing at a table not two feet from her current predicament. "Pinkie! I need your help!" Sweetie Belle called, gaining the partier's attention.
"Yea?"She mumbled and yawned. "Oh. Um, hold on just a sec, kay?" Pinkie Pie turned back to the table and smelled a sugar line. That's kinda weird... Pinkie turned around, bouncing. "Yea, yea, yea?!?! Whadya need Sweetie! I got lots of things! I got balloons and cider and a party cannon and-"
Sweetie Belle cut her off before she could continue her rant, "I need some rope, please."
"Yea, yea, yea! I was just getting to that!" Pinkie raced to the back and came back a second later with a braided rope in her mouth. "Here ya go, Sweetie! I was gonna use it for Caramel later, but I'm sure the cuffs will work just as well!" She smiled and bounced away.
"Thanks, Pinkie. I'll see you tomorrow!" Sweetie Belle said while tieing up Scootaloo. She carried the rope in her mouth to guide Scootaloo without her running off, and used her magic to drag Applebloom, so she couldn't get anymore of those stupid, fancy drinks.
Once outside, Sweetie pulled/dragged her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders towards the center of town.
As the Crusaders headed towards town hall, two police ponies saw them. "Are those foals?!" the mare, Officer Swift Justice, cried.
"Is one tied up?!" the stallion, Officer Gleaming Night, cried.
"We've gotta check this out, Night," Officer Justice said. Night nodded. The partners galloped down the street after the fillies.
Sweetie Belle didn't notice them, until Night yelled,"Stop! In the name of Justice!"
"No, that's my name," Justice said, and stopped at where the fillies were standing/lying.
"You know that's not what I meant." Officer Night stopped next to her.
"But, that's what you said."
"Really, Justice? You want to do this now?"
"Do you wanna do this now?"
"No!"
"Okay then, stop the chit-chat and start arresting some foals! Or I'll have you reported for goofing off on the job!"
"But you- and I- GAH!"
"Really, Night? You wanna do this now?"
Officer Night facehoofed.
"Umm... Hello?" Sweetie Belle said.
"YOU'RE UNDER ARREST FOR FOALNAPPING! GET ON THE GROUND NOW, DIRTBAG!!!" Officer Night yelled, and brandished his small flashlight threatningly.
"Woah, Night. Calm down. I never told you to arrest some little fillies," Officer Justice said, and bent down to comfort Sweetie Belle who was almost in tears.
"What? But that's EXACTLY what you said!" Officer Night threw his flashlight down in anger.
"That's it. You just need to go cool off, Night! Just get the carriage so we can take these fillies to the station if need be. Yes! Just go!" Justice shooed him away.
As soon as Night got halfway across the street, Justice yelled to him, "Night! What the hay?! You're never supposed to leave your partner alone! These fillies could easily overpower me!" Night turned around and glared at her.
"Fine." His eye twitched. "I'm sitting right here." Night sat down in the middle of the street. "And I'm not moving."
"Suit yourself!" Justice called, and looked down the road.
"AAH!! SONOFAPONY!" Officer Night screamed, as a carriage barreled down the road and hit him.
"Are you gonna help him?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Nah. Look, the stallion that hit him is gonna do it." Officer Justice replied.
The stallion looked at Officer Night, and then Officer Justice before taking off down the road, leaving Night in the street holding his crushed wing.
"Ookay, um... Why don't you just let those other fillies go," Justice told Sweetie Belle. "I'll grab a coach to take y'all down to the station. It's kinda late for fillies your age to be walking around alone."
"HEY! NIGHT! WE DO NEED THAT COACH, AFTER ALL!"
"I'm a little busy, Justice! As you can see, I HAVE A BROKEN WING! But, no, don't concern yourself with getting the coach, or helping me! I'll do it!" Night yelled sarcastically.
"Thanks, Night! You're a real trooper!"
Officer Night's eye twitched, and his mouth fell open. "How did I get stuck with Justice?" He asked himself. Still, he stood up and hobbled over to get the coach.
Sweetie Belle shook Applebloom to grab her attention. "Don' touch meh, Swee', Ah'm mad at ya," Applebloom slurred, and grabbed a bottle of the evil, yet oh-so-fancy liquid from Sweetie Belle's saddlebag. In the process, she knocked it over and Rarity's intricate 'vase' rolled out of it. Justice walked over to look at it, while knocking the bottle out of Applebloom's hoove's.
"Alright, girls, by the looks of ya, I think I need to issue a sobriety test," Officer Justice looked at the fillies, and motioned for them to stand.
Sweetie Belle was able to stand with ease, but Applebloom was barely able to get up off the ground, and when she did, she wobbled as though she was going to fall back down. Scootaloo was too lost in her own world to even hear Justice.
"You first," Officer Justice pointed her hoof at the most stable filly.
"Oh, my name's Sweetie Belle, and that's Applebloom and Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle smiled.
"Alright, just walk in a straight line and turn, Scootie Bloom," Justice watched as Sweetie did just that. The officer nodded, "Ok, ok. Now stand on your back two legs," Sweetie was successfully able to do this for 5 seconds before faceplanting the concrete. "Mmhmm... Count backwards from 20."
"Umm, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, err... 15, no, wait... 13! 12, 10-" Sweetie Belle missed a number, though that could have been the result of the concussion she had.
"ERRR!! INCORRECT!!! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! YOU LOSE! YOUR GOING TO JAIL, SCUMBAG!!
"I'm sorry!" Sweetie squeaked, and sank to the ground.
"It's ok, we still have one more test! You may not go to jail, after all!" Justice smiled.
This mare is CRAZY! Sweetie thought. Oh, Celestia, help me! "Oh, um... O-ok..."
Justice pulled a small flashlight from the pocket of her vest and held it in her mouth. "Jus' fowow dee wite wif your eyes," she said. Sweetie really, really didn't want to go to jail, so she did as she was told, keeping her eyes on the light as the officer waved it back and forth. "Alright, you passed..." Justice grumbled, and placed the light back in her vest pocket. I never get to use my nightstick! She thought.
Just then, Officer Night limped up with the police carriage hooked onto him. "Thanks, Night! Now, GET IN THE COACH SAPPLE BELLE!!!" Justice yelled.
Screaming, the brave and bold Sweetie Belle jumped into the carriage, and proceeded to hide under the seat, bravely.
"All right, you-" Justice pointed at Applebloom. "-you're next! C'mon! C'mon! Get up!" She poked the passed out pony.
"Ah jus' wanna..." Applebloom snored.
"C'mon already!"
"But, but, Brayeburn alredee got da, da pants frum da hen house..." Applebloom sat up, and fell back down. "Oops," she sat up again, this time leaning on Scootaloo to support herself. "Wut da buck do ya want? Ah wus tryin' ta, umm.. Ah don' 'member but it wus 'portant! Ah thank... Wus it?"
"Look, kid, I just need ya to walk in a straight line and turn around. Got it?" Officer Justice said. She looked over, and apparently Officer Night had passed out. "Sleepin' on the job, eh? I'll have to have him reported..."
Applebloom somehow managed to stand up, "No!" She stood up on her back legs, and proceeded to fall flat on her back. "Ah will not concede!" she yelled, shaking a hoof in defiance.
Sweetie Belle piped in, "Applebloom, just do it, or I'll blame our current disaster on you instead of Scootaloo!"
Standing up and shaking herself off, Applebloom said, "Ah don' wunna! Ah will not concede!" she stumbled forward and turned around to look at Officer Justice. "Ah won' do wut Ah jus' did for you. So, ha!" She stuck her tongue out at her.
"Umm... okay? I need you stand on your back legs, now," Justice ordered.
"NEVER!!"
"Ok," Justice grabbed out her nightstick, and hit Applebloom on the head with it. "Don' dis da p'lice!" she shouted, her mouth full of nightstick.
"Ok, ok! Ah'm sorry!" Applebloom had fallen to the ground and was covering her head.
"Good!" Justice placed her nightstick back into its holster. "Now, stand on your back legs for as long as you can." Applebloom stood up on her back legs, for maybe half a second, before falling flat on her back, again. Justice sighed, "Alright, count backwards from 20."
"Umm... 20, 19, b, c, q, um.. orange, 4, w, 7, 8, a, tree, 5, 4, 3, 2, x, y, and z, now Ah know mah 1BD's, next time won't ya sang wit meeeee!" Applebloom sang.
Justice facehooved. "Alright, just, keep your eyes on the light." Justice pulled the small flashlight from earlier back out. She had to lean over Applebloom to shine it into her eyes, because Applebloom wouldn't stand back up. Justice waved the flashlight back and forth, but Applebloom just closed her eyes."Open your eyes, kid!" She opened them, but still couldn't follow the light.
"Alright, you're clearly intoxicated, so just get in," Officer Justice pointed to the carriage. Applebloom got up and stumbled in. "Now for the last one."
Scootaloo had been strolling around staring at different things, and laughing. "Hey, kid!" Justice didn't even ask her to walk in a line, she just shone her flashlight into Scoot's eyes. Scootaloo's pupils were huge, and Justice quickly decided that she was also intoxicated, and tried to push her towards the carriage. "C'mon, kid! Just... Move..." she couldn't get Scootaloo to budge. Sighing, Justice tried to think of how to get the filly into the carriage.
"Oh, wow... Rainbow Dash..." Scootaloo mumbled, a goofy smile on her face.
"Hey, look! Rainbow Dash is in the back of that police coach!" Justice shouted and pointed towards it.
"RAINBOW DASH!" Scootaloo jumped in, flying over her friends and hitting the opposite door. Quickly, Justice closed the door behind her.
Officer Justice jumped into the front seat of the coach, waking up Night. "Hey, Night! Listen, for sleepin' on the job, you're required to pull the coach back to the station. Enjoy!" Justice got comfortable for the trip back to the police station. "Justice has been served," she whispered to herself.
"Ooh... This is super... Ah guess..." Applebloom wandered around Sweet Apple Acres, looking at the many, many, many apple trees littered throughout the West Orchard. Applebloom sighed, "Ah'm so bored! Ah HATE bein' grounded from mah friends! Scootaloo, this is all your fault!" she shouted to herself. "Ah'm sure of it." She nodded and sat down, leaning against an untended apple tree.
"Yea, well you're no prize, either, Applebloom! No sane pony talks to trees!" Scootaloo said, falling out of the tree onto Applebloom. Applebloom pushed her off. "Oof! Hey!" Scootaloo glared at her earth pony friend.
"Scootaloo! You can't be here, don't ya 'member? Ah'm grounded from ya! And if AJ sees-" Applebloom was cut off by Scootaloo shoving an apple in her mouth.
"Calm down! She won't! Sweetie Belle's on her way over right now, and then we can do some crusading!" Scootaloo grinned.
"Well, how'd ya even get outta yer house? Ah thought you were grounded! An' so is Sweetie Belle!" she sputtered, spitting out the rotten apple and the worm who'd made its home within.
"Hey, girls!" Sweetie Belle appeared in a bright purple flash, but unfortunately, she was about 10 feet in the air. She fell promptly on her face. "Ooooh... Maybe not my best idea..." She sat up and shook her head, dispersing the birds that had begun to circle.
"Sweetie's been staying with Rarity, and she's way too busy to be constantly checking in with her!" Scootaloo walked over to help Sweetie up, and when that failed, she grabbed onto Sweetie's tail and drug her over to where Applebloom was still sitting. "And my parents are outta town!"
"Scootaloo, your parents are always outta town!" Applebloom argued.
"Yea!" Sweetie piped in, her off-white coat was covered in dirt, turning it a mottled-brown color. She was lying on her back and her eyes were still swirling around and around, until she blinked, that is. The filly jumped up, and stood next to her friends. "So what crusading are we gonna do today?"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders stood around and chatted for a while, but it quickly escalated into an argument between Applebloom and Scootaloo.
"Cutie Mark Crusader skydivers!" Scootaloo shouted, shoving her nose into Applebloom's face.
"NO! We already did that! Ah say Cutie Mark Crusader matchmakers!" She yelled and shoved back.
"No, we already did that !"
"Nuh-uh!"
"YOUR BROTHER WAS THE ONE WE MATCHED!"
"WELL, WHY DON"T WE JUST TRY AGAIN?!"
"NO!"
"YES!"
"NO!"
"YES!"
"Oh, my! How delightful!" a third voice laughed. Discord popped his head out of a nearby tree, grinning wildly.
"Discord?!" the fillies cried in almost-perfect unison. Applebloom glared at Scootaloo and punched her. "Mah idea was better," she whispered.
"The one and only!" he sang, rather overdramatically.
"What in tarnation do you want, Discord? Last time you were here, you flooded tha farm!" Applebloom said, and waved her front legs around for emphasis. The other two fillies nodded in agreement.
"Yes, well, I was pretty sure I apologized for that... Maybe... Yes, well, anyway, I came to help you with your crusading! Doesn't that sound just peachy?" He disappeared, then reappeared staring Applebloom directly in the eye, with visible sparkle. He was biting his lip, trying to contain his excitement. He was making an audible "squeee" sound, and bounced on his mismatched legs.
"Uhhh... Whadya mean by that?" Applebloom asked, pushing him back.
"What I mean, is that I heard of your last attempt at 'crusading' and I came down to Ponyville to tell you to not give up!" Discord smiled mischievously. "At least don't give up Cheerilee's 'role model' advice," He laughed. "It was probably the most productive thing she ever taught!" He fell onto the ground rolling with laughter.
"Wait, so we gotta wear those awful 80's clothes again? UH! BUMMER!" Scootaloo groaned and fell back.
"No, you don't have to dress up in that horrid attire once again. But, you could find a different pony to be your role model! Perhaps... Applejack?" He grinned a showed off a portrait of Ponyville's most hard-working mare. Applebloom took it from him.
"Hmm... Mwadya fank, galsh? Shoob we trush 'im?" She said, her mouth full of Applejack's face.
Scootaloo nodded, "Sure, why not? I mean, I'm pretty sure he's never actually directed any danger to us."
"Yea! Why, not?! This could be fun!" Sweetie Belle smiled.
Discord laughed and hugged the small filly. "Well, of course it will be fun, my dear! It will be most fun, indeed!"
"Well... Alright, Ah guess... But Ah'm watchin' you!" Applebloom threatened, dropping the picture.
"No, need! I will be departing shortly, my dear fillies! Enjoy your crusading!" He laughed maniacally, and disappeared with a colorful flourish and a wave of his claw.
The fillies coughed at the smoke he left behind. "Well, alright! Let's get to it, gals!" Applebloom smiled, and coughed some more. "Dear Celestia! What is that smell?"
Scootaloo inhaled deeply and shuddered. "Eew! It smells like really, really potent cinnamon! Mixed with, I dunno, skunk maybe? Uch! Totally, skunk!" Scootaloo sputtered and coughed, spitting out the taste it left her with.
"I don't smell anything!" Sweetie Belle grinned. "But that could be a side effect of my concussion!" she laughed wildly. Scootaloo and Applebloom exchanged looks. "What?"
~~~
Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom sat under their thinking light in the privacy of their clubhouse. They were gathered around the small, wooden table they'd set up. They were literally wracking their heads trying to find a way to make Applejack their newest role model. After hitting her head several times with her hooves, Sweetie Belle jumped up. "OHOHOHWOWOWOWOW! I KNOW!"
"Well?!" the other two asked.
"Well, what? Oh, right! Well, we can just do what we did with Ms. Cheerilee! Just do what she did to get her cutie mark! So..." She motioned with her hooves.
"Well, AJ said that she got her cutie mark when she ran away an' follered ah rainbow home, where she realized that tha farm was her love! But, does that mean that we gotta run away an' foller a rainbow? 'Cuz tha rainbow might just lead us ta some angry, pony-hungry dwarves protectin' their gold!" Applebloom panicked and hid under the table.
Scootaloo rolled her eyes and pulled the filly back into her seat. "No! Dwarven cannibals don't live at the end of a rainbow, Applebloom!" Applebloom relaxed into her seat. Scootaloo continued, "They live in closets around Ponyville!" Applebloom jumped out of the chair and hit her head on the ceiling, then quickly scurried under the table. She refused to come out until somepony murdered the cannibalistic, closet dwarves that were sure to be infesting her and everypony else's closet.
Sweetie Belle facehooved. "And I thought I was the psycho of the story..." she mumbled. "APPLEBLOOM!" She was impossibly floating in mid-air until she ceased screeching. Applebloom popped out from under the table, and sat wild-eyed in the chair, staring at Sweetie. "Thank you. Now, yes, we do have to follow a rainbow, but we're following it to our destiny! AJ's was an apple farm, so I wonder what ours is gonna be! Also, I think it would be smart if we acted like AJ on the way! That way, maybe we can trick fate into thinking that we are her, and fate will lead us to our true destiny BY WAY OF RAINBOW!!! How cool is that?!"
The other two fillies stared at her for a short while. They contemplated the many words she'd spoken, and were trying their best to safely piece them together without an explosion like last time. Applebloom was the first to speak,"Uhh... M'kay? Ah guess... Should Ah be worried that Ah'm so desperate for ah cutie mark that Ah'm listenin' to Discord an' Ah'm goin' along with a plan thought up by Sweetie Belle?"
Scootaloo thought for a moment. "Nah."
"So..." Sweetie Belle grinned and trotted to the ramp leading out of their clubhouse. She stopped and looked back at her fellow Crusaders.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER IMPERSONATORS!" the three screamed and ran out of their clubhouse into the tree line.
"But first we've gotta get out of here without being seen. How?" Sweetie Belle asked once they were hidden safely in the apple grove.
"Oh, oh, oh! I know! Cutie Mark Crusader Ninjas! All we gotta is sneak to the gate and find a way around it! Then we're home free!" Scootaloo laughed, quickly quieting herself.
"Yea! Let's unleash our inner ninja again! Ah've practiced since last time!" Applebloom whispered.
One five-second costume change later, and the three ninja fillies were tip-hooving towards the front gate. They'd tried to think of a way around it, but they couldn't find one, so instead they conceded to just running through it as soon as the coast was clear.
~~~
'Dash' spoke through her three-way radio, "Lil' Red and Snow, do you copy? Over."
'Snow' looked across the path at 'Dash'. "Snow copies. Over," she whispered into the device.
They let four minutes pass, but they still hadn't heard a word from 'Lil' Red'. "Lil' Red, do you copy? Over," Dash asked with more urgency. She couldn't lose another teammate! Not again! "Lil' Red! Do you copy?! Over!" she shouted into her transmitter, not even trying to be quiet anymore. She just wanted her friend, her teammate. She just wanted Lil' Red to copy. She had to copy, it had been fifteen minutes! Time was of the essence, at least it seemed that way. "Lil' Red?! Do you copy?! OVER!"
Dash stared at the transmitter for a few minutes, awaiting Lil' Red's eventual response. It beeped, but Snow's voice came on, "I... I don't think she made it, Dash." Dash looked across the dirt path, expecting to see Snow, but she didn't. "We both knew that this could happen... And it did. And, I'm not sure we can bust her out this time. I'm sorry... Over."
"Snow, where are you?! Over!" Dash shouted into her transmitter, but forgot to push the 'talk' button. "Oops." She pressed it and repeated her question.
Snow's high-pitched voice popped online, she was worried and her whispers were rushed. "I... I'm sorry! I went back! I just had to find her! And now I'm lost and Big Red's just a yard away, so I'm staked out in a tree. I'm... I'm so sorry, Dash. I'm so sorry... Scootaloo... Over."
The transmitter emitted a high-pitched buzzing sound, signaling that nopony was online. "NO! SWEETIE BELLE! GET BACK ON, DAMN YOU! I'M NOT LOSING YOU BOTH! SWEEEETIE BEEELLE!!! OVER!" Scootaloo cried into it, knowing fully that nopony could hear it, or her, as she was completely alone. She'd done it again. She'd lost her teammates, only this time she lost them both.
And it was all her fault.
They'd wanted to stampede the gate, but Scoot had offered up a better suggestion. She'd offered up a plan, but it was apparently too risky for beginners like them.
Scootaloo stomped her hoof in defiance. "I am not going down without a fight! You want a battle? Well, I'll give you a war!" she growled and ran off towards the Apple house, keeping an eye out for her fallen comrades and their treacherous foes. "Over!"
She trotted through the orchard for at least 10 minutes before reaching the small farmhouse that the Apples' called 'home'. Scurrying up a nearby tree, Scootaloo looked into the window of Applebloom's room. She wasn't in there. Not wanting to dive in without a plan, Scootaloo attempted to radio her once more. "Lil' Red, do you copy? Over." She listened to the static for several seconds before she just went on with her 'plan', if you can even call it that.
The space between the tree and Applebloom's windowsill was about 15 foot across, and if she fell it would be a two-story drop. Scootaloo wasn't worried. She flapped her wings furiously and jumped as far as she could, just barely managing to catch the windowsill in her mouth. She pulled herself up, and through the open window. As soon as she got in, she collapsed to the floor. Slowly, she managed to crawl to the door and put her ear to it.
Scootaloo listened as intently as she could, but couldn't hear anything other than Granny Smith snoring during her nap. She peeked her small head out of the door, but upon seeing nopony, she walked into the hallway. Suddenly, her transmitter buzzed to life. "Scootaloo? Sweetie Belle? Where are ya? Ya ain't in tha meetin' spot, over." Scootaloo stared at the device in awe.
Scootaloo wasted no time, and swiftly pressed the button to talk, "Applebloom? YOU'RE ALIVE?! Over."
"Well, duh! Ah ain't gettin' caught! No way! Now, get on over ta tha meetin' spot with Sweetie Belle!" She replied.
"Aye, aye, sir!" Scootaloo literally jumped out of the window and raced towards their prearranged meeting spot. Halfway there, she realized that Sweetie Belle was still very in need of a rescue mission. "Applebloom! Sweetie Belle's been caught! Over," Scootaloo shouted, but again she forgot to push the talk button. She repeated the urgent message into her radio, this time pressing the button first.
"Well, what are we waitin' for! We gotta organize ah rescue mission, now!" Applebloom replied. "Umm, wait. Where is she? Over."
"Um... She's in a tree near Big Mac! Meet me there, over," Scootaloo planned and rushed off towards her cornered companion. Upon reaching said companion, she saw Applebloom gallop through the bushes, dragging them along with her until she rammed right into a tree trunk. Seconds later, a squeak came from above her and Sweetie Belle fell directly onto her.
"Hi, Applebloom! Thanks for catching me," Sweetie Belle chirped and hopped off her friend's face and neck area.
Applebloom raised her head for a second and slurred, "Pigs're useless on vegan diets..."
Scootaloo jumped up and punched the air, "Mission successful!"
~~~
"In order to get our cutie marks, we're going to have to think-"
"NOOOO!!!! WHY?!?! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?!" Scootaloo screamed, stopping Sweetie Belle mid-sentence.
"AHEM!" Sweetie growled in the direction of the overdramatic pegasus. "As I was saying, we're going to have to think like Applejack and act the way she does, right?"
"Right" Scootaloo and Applebloom agreed.
"So..." Sweetie motioned with her hooves.
"Oh! Right! Well, Applejack's whole attitude is generally brutally honest-" Scootaloo began.
"An' real stubborn!" Applebloom cut in.
"And she believes that running away will solve all of life's problems!" Sweetie Belle finished. "So let's do that!"
"But ain't those traits, um... I dunno, undesirable?" Applebloom asked.
"Yup! Wait... what would a mean, stubborn, and flightful cutie mark even look like? Ya know what? I don't even care. Let's just try this out of pure desperation!" Scootaloo raced off towards the edge of town with her friends following close behind.
~~~
"Honesty, honesty, hmm... Oh! Applebloom, you know those cupcakes you brought us yesterday?" Scootaloo asked.
Applebloom narrowed her eyes at the pegasus. "Yea...? What about mah delicious cupcakes?"
Scootaloo opened her mouth to speak, but Sweetie Belle sang over her, "They were burnt!"
"Not even like golden-brown, but burnt to a fiery, black death!" Scootaloo emphasized by jumping up, but she hit a lamp post and fell onto her back.
"But y'all said that ya loved mah cupcakes!" Applebloom argued.
"We lied!" Sweetie Belle lifted Scootaloo off the ground with her magic and flipped her back onto her hooves. "C'mon, girls! We're almost there!" She skipped a little faster towards the train station.
Applebloom yelled the start of a race before speeding off in front of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "You're so on!" Scootaloo shouted and flapped her wings to gain momentum. She managed to race ahead of the earth pony, but only by a nose. Applebloom quickly gained on her and it went on like that, with Applebloom getting ahead, then Scootaloo, and then Applebloom. Unbeknownst to the racing fillies, Sweetie Belle had teleported and was awaiting her friends' eventual arrival at the ticket counter.
Several minutes later, Applebloom and Scootaloo arrived and collapsed onto the wooden platform. "I-" Scootaloo said between breaths, "-so-" She exhaled deeply, "-won."
"Nuh-" Applebloom attempted to argue, "-uh."
Sweetie Belle skipped over to her panting pals, sipping from a soda she'd ordered a few minutes before. "Actually, I won! Now, hurry up! We're gonna miss the train! It was supposed to leave 3 minutes ago, but my adorable face was able to get the conductor to wait an extra 5 minutes." Sweetie Belle dropped her drink on Scootaloo's head and rushed off, patiently waiting at the door of the train. Somehow, the two fillies were able to get up and stumble into the train, with Sweetie Belle getting in last. She dropped a gem into the tip jar, and practically drug her friends into the last train car.
The conductor stared at the fillies rushing into the back of his train and thought of kicking them out because he hadn't gotten a ticket. Looking at the gem given to him by the white unicorn he thought better of it, and went off into his captain's quarters.
~~~
"Does runnin' away count if ya take a train, or does it count as travelin' away, or maybe trainin' away?" Applebloom asked.
Scootaloo thought for a second, then replied, "Nah! I still think it's running away even if we take the train!" She jumped up and ran all around the train car, bumping into several baggage mountains along the way. She stopped short when realization hit her like the bag of rocks that had fallen onto her from a particularly wobbly mountain. "Hey," she asked, rubbing the bump that realization had given her, "Where is this train even going?"
"My brother's house, of course! We can go live with him until the rainbow shows us the way home where our cutie marks will await us!" Sweetie Belle chirped and bounced in her seat, in turn causing Applebloom and Scootaloo to bounce, too.
Applebloom hopped onto the bench facing Sweetie. "Wait, so you've got a brother? Since when?!"
"Solar Spell has been my brother since, I dunno... Forever? I told you about him last week after Rarity snooped through my saddlebag!" Sweetie Belle stared intensely at Applebloom. Applebloom quickly looked out the window and whistled innocently. "Honesty, Applebloom!" Sweetie growled.
Applebloom sighed, "Well, Ah can't be expected ta listen ta everythin' you say, Sweetie Belle! You just talk SO MUCH! So, Ah just politely pretend ta listen, so Ah can spare your feelin's...Heh."
Sweetie Belle was about to forgive her, as she did have a tendency to ramble on and on about some things, but she couldn't because Applejack is stubborn, thus she must be stubborn as well. "Even if I do ramble, you should still listen because it's only nice! YOU just aren't a nice pony, Applebloom!" Sweetie argued.
Applebloom gasped, and the two fillies bickered back and forth for several minutes until Scootaloo shouted, "QUIET DOWN!" Sweetie Belle and Applebloom turned to look at her. "Now you're both awful ponies, but in a good, "friendly hatred" kinda way. Alright, already? Sheesh!"
The silence lasted for hardly a second before the argument began anew, this time with Scootaloo joined in. It continued for the entirety of the train ride.
~~~
"Solar Spell lives here ?!" Scootaloo gasped as the Cutie Mark Crusaders strolled down the shimmering streets of the Crystal Empire. Ponies bustled about, constantly bumping into the three fillies who were making their way to the Crystal Palace. It took endless amounts of weaving and ducking just to get there, but they managed despite the turmoil.
The three fillies made an attempt to enter the palace, where two guards blocked their path and would not allow them to enter. Sweetie attempted to persuade them with her adorable face, but to no avail. Applebloom stepped up and made her legendary 'Sad Applebloom' face, but even that didn't work. Scootaloo grabbed her friends and pulled them into the crystal bushes beside the palace.
"Alrighty, girls, now that you know that your plans were a total bust, so let's go with mine!" Scootaloo whispered. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exchanged glances, this could not be good.
~~~
(Scootaloo P.O.V.)
I threw on my ninja outfit and ran out to see Sweetie Belle and Applebloom ready to go. I pull my muzzle mask down, so that I can talk, "Remember the plan! Stick to it, and DO NOT stray from it! Got it?" They nodded, and I pulled my mask back up. I signaled phase one of my awesome and totally foal-proof plan. We dispersed to our places to initiate it. This was DEFINITELY going to work, and nothing was going to change that.
I peeked out of the crystal bushes and looked down the royal path. An array of crystally, color bombs exploded and created a mass of color-potent fog. As I had expected, the two guards exchanged glances of "Wow, really? Is that all they've got?" thus giving me the perfect distraction to really get them out of my way.
I.
Blew.
A bubble.
The bubble did exactly as I had expected, and floated towards the stallions guarding the entrance. It floated past the crystal one's eyes, and then past the green one's. They both immediately chased it, yelling that they should be the one to pop it because of something they'd done earlier. I thanked the wind for blowing the bubble down the path and away from the palace.
I whistled a short tune and ran through the gates, my fellow CMC following me in. Each of us found a hiding space where nopony would ever think to look, all before the guards rushed back to their stations, with a rather embarrassed look on their faces. Time to initiate phase two.
I glanced out from my hiding place and scoped the premises. I saw that the hallway branched into four, just like Sweetie Belle said. In each hallway there were two guards walking it. Possibly a buddy system of some sort, but I didn't have much time to think about it if I wanted the mission to go without a hitch. According to Sweetie Belle we needed to go down the far left hallway, so I watched as the guards paced their hallways and quickly found a pattern.
I signaled Sweetie Belle by stomping my hoof twice, then whistling four notes, and then motioning with my eyes which hallways she had to do. She nodded, and I clicked my tongue 3 times, telling her how many seconds we had to get into the hallway before the other guards could spot us. I waited until the timing was perfect, and then I whistled. Sweetie Belle went right to it, and threw out four balls, two down one hallway, and two down another. As I'd expected, the guards chased the balls down the hallways, leaving an opening for us to slip down the one we'd needed.
I'd estimated that we'd have about 7 seconds before the guards returned, so we ran down the hallway and hid behind the first door we came across. I ran in first, swiftly followed by Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, who just barely made it in time. I looked around, and apparently I had just ran into the bathroom. The staff bathroom. The stallion's staff bathroom. This was not expected, but luckily I had planned for it. I pulled a long overcoat out of my pocket, along with a lavender, handlebar mustache. "Event SBR, girls!"
Seconds later, we had transformed into a stallion leaning against the bathroom wall with yellow legs and an orange head with an awesome mustache. Sweetie Belle had said that Solar Spell's quarters were down this hallway on the left, and that it would be labeled 'D/N' on the door. I had to wait for the few stallions in the restroom to clear out first, but as soon as they did we transformed back into CMC ninjas. I peeked out of the door, and saw that the guards in the hallway were back on duty. Time to initiate phase three.
Applebloom pulled four, red apples out of her pocket and passed them to Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle used her magic to levitate the apples down the hallway while I watched to make sure she wasn't noticed. If she was, I had a backup plan for it. Luckily, she wasn't caught, and the guards didn't notice her set the apples by them. I released my breath and made one, short whistle, and the guards looked over and saw the apples. The mare was curious, but the stallion was hungry and didn't question the appearance of some lunch.
With the guards now focused on food, we made our way out of the bathroom and silently rushed down the hall. I noticed the door immediately, and peered through the small window. The room had nopony in it, so I opened the door and walked in, glancing around. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom walked in as soon as I gave the all clear. I shut the door after Applebloom before examining the room closer.
~~~
Solar Spell had just finished a long day's work, and was hoping for the quiet embrace of sleep...
His hopes quickly vanished as he opened the door to his quarters and saw three small fillies bouncing on his bed. "Sweetie Belle?!" He gasped as his younger sister tackled him into an embrace. "H-how did you even get in here?!"
She looked at her two friends, wondering whether or not it was safe to break the vow of secrecy she'd taken regarding their plan. Scootaloo shook her head. "Umm... We walked in?" She giggled, not completely lying, but not telling the whole truth either. "That's Scootaloo and that's Applebloom. Umm... You wouldn't mind if we stayed with you for a while, would you?" She looked at him with an innocent smile on her face.
Solar Spell facehooved. "Of course you can. Does Rarity know about this, and what about their parents?" Solar Spell pointed at Scootaloo and Applebloom, who were at a table trying to act dignified by sipping tea and wearing whatever fancy clothes they could find, including, but not limited to: a monocle, reading glasses, a black, tailed overcoat, a top hat, a fedora, a bowtie, a tie, a glass slipper, and a pair of white leggings.
Solar Spell had to do a double take and wondered how in the hay they were able to do a costume change so quickly. Sweetie Belle answered, "We ran away, so no. They have no idea."
Solar Spell's mouth fell open. "YOU DID WHAT?!" He yelled, and Sweetie backed up some.
She chuckled nervously, "Yea... Heh. Funny isn't it?" She bumped into the table where Applebloom and Scootaloo were arguing over how many lumps of sugar were too many. Scootaloo pulled off her fedora and Applebloom pulled off her monocle and they placed them on Sweetie Belle.
"Sweetie Belle, you know that you can't just run away from your problems!" Solar Spell said, and sat down to look at her.
"I know, but I only ran away to get my cutie mark!" Sweetie jumped up, knocking her top hat off, to the dismay of Scootaloo.
"What?! That doesn't even make sense!"
"Well, if me and my friends aren't welcome here, then we'll just go somewhere else! C'mon girls!"
Scootaloo and Applebloom shed their fancy clothes and marched out of the room with Sweetie Belle. "Where are we going now?" Applebloom asked.
Sweetie Belle shrugged, "I dunno. Wanna visit Shining Armor and Princess Cadence?"
Scootaloo smiled deviously. To get to the princess, they were going to need a plan...
~~~
(Scootaloo P.O.V.)
I sat up and rubbed my head. Everything felt groggy and for the first few minutes I could hardly think, and moving was definitely out of the question. All I could really do was sit on the cold, crystal floor and rub my head. When the pain abated, I raised my head to see Sweetie Belle sitting in the corner next to an unconscious, pale-blue, unicorn. Who was that again? Oh! Solar Spell. Wait, why was Solar Spell passed out in the corner? I looked to my left and saw Applebloom staring wide-eyed at me.
"What? Where are we?" I tried to stand up, but I fell down almost immediately.
Before Applebloom can respond, Sweetie Belle does. "We're in the Crystal Dungeons," she calmly states.
"WHAT?! HOW?!" I jumped up, but too quickly and I fell back. Luckily, Applebloom was there to catch me.
Sweetie Belle looked at Applebloom, who only sighed. "Well... In short, Ah got caught an' you came ta rescue meh which only got you caught an' you got hurt 'cuz tha guard didn't see ya comin' and thought ya were ah big threat an' all, so he kinda bucked ya inta ah wall, an' then when Sweetie Belle an' Solar Spell came ta get us, she got caught an' tha guards thought Solar Spell was ah traitor, so they threw him in here, too an' he was so stressed out that he passed out an' now we are in so, so, so, so, so much trouble all 'cuz of meh!" Applebloom took a deep breath, and sighed. "An' Ah'm so, so sorry, Scoot! We didn't even find tha rainbow, so this was a huge disaster for nothin' 'cuz we don't even have our cutie marks!"
I stared at her for a second, just trying to process everything that she said. "All... For nothing?" I asked. Applebloom sadly nodded.
A bright burst of blue appeared, and Discord walked out of it. "Helloooo!" he sang. "My, my, my! Why so blue, little ponies?" he snapped his claws and turned us all blue, except for Solar Spell because he was already blue.
"Knock it off, Discord! We're not in the mood. Too many failures, I guess," I groaned.
"What do you mean, little ponies? Think of the successes you've had today!" He laughed. We all stared at him, causing him to literally roll his eyes. "Fine, very well. For starters, you broke into the Crystal Palace without detection! Now, tell me that isn't impressive!"
Sweetie Belle nodded, a small smile forming on her face. Her blue hue faded a bit. "Yea! Scootaloo, your plan worked perfectly!" At that moment, I smiled a bit.
"Ha, ha! Now, don't you remember sneaking out of your punishments! Not every foal can do that, you know!"
Applebloom laughed, "Eeyup! An' without gettin' caught, too!" Her shade of blue lightened.
"And to think of the magnificent chaos you wrought along the way! As I so often say-" Discord snapped his claw and appeared in a teachers dress and wig eating an apple, "There is nothing better than well defined-chaos!"
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were laughing and completely back to normal, but I was still blue. "But, we still failed. We couldn't even finish our journey..." I kicked at the floor of the cell. Discord appeared behind me and put a paw on my shoulder. I looked up at him. He snapped his claw and made a rainbow from this side of the cell to the other end where nopony was sitting. I stood up, beside my fellow Crusaders and walked to the end of the rainbow. I felt the blue drip off of me as I held my head high and looked at the small, but beautiful rainbow Discord had made for us.
I saw him tearing up at the other end, so he blew his nose in Solar Spell's mane, "Oh, they grow up so fast! Yesterday you were arrested for drinking with Pinkie Pie, and today you're being held in a dungeon for being a potential threat to the princess! It's beautiful, isn't it, Spell?" Discord looked to Solar Spell who only groaned in response. "I agree completely," Discord sighed.
Author's Note
Sorry for how long it took to get this chapter out, but there were some... unforeseen complications. Read on if you really want to know them...
Alright, so you DO care! Well, you know me, I'm just surfing the interweb on Google Images and I type in "Sweet Apple" because, you know, I'm looking for pictures of Sweet Apple Acres, and one of the results that came up said "Sweet Apple Massacre" so I thought, 'Hey! This seems like another horribly scarific story like Rainbow Factory or Cupcakes except with the Apple family!' So I click on it and scroll the images because I didn't really wanna read it, I just wanted to see what it was about! So as I'm looking through these images I've got all these photos plain-out telling me "DO NOT READ THIS!!!" and, knowing me, I took this as a challenge. I was all like, 'Oh? DON'T READ IT, YOU SAY?! Well... NO! Don't tell ME what to do, Google Images! I'm PURE LOGIC, DAMNIT! AND NOPONY BE TELLIN' PURE LOGIC WHAT TO DO!' So I hop onto the interweb and search "Sweet Apple Massacre'' and the fic pulls up, naturally. So I click it, and this thing IS SO AWFUL. I mean the tone is awful, the writing is awful, and the story is HORRENDOUS and INCEST-FUL! I mean just SO VULGAR! I'm shaking just thinking about it... UCH!! I mean I couldn't even FINISH THE DAMN THING! I got to a certain point and I was like, "HOLY F****ING CRAP DUDE!!! WHAT THE HECK AM I READING?!?!" Then I proceeded to throw up my dinner and close my laptop. I'm not lying, guys. It's the honest truth. So I was TOTALLY OFF the topic of ponies for a little over a week maybe two, before I realized 'Damn, I can't leave 'em hanging... And I do have a few ideas...' So I wrote this up using all of four days... ish... maybe.
