A few years back, when Princess Twilight still lived in Ponyville, she knew three little fillies. Their names were Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. Of all the ponies in town, they were some of the few not to have their Cutie Marks. And they wanted them more than anything else in the world.
Being the wise and benevolent leader she was, Princess Twilight established for them Twilight Time, to help these fillies learn and practice skills under her supervision, and it worked beautifully. In just a few short months, they had found their talents and obtained their Cutie Marks. Applebloom in potion brewing, Sweetie Belle in magic, and Scootaloo in all things building and repairing.
Jump forward to now, and these three continue to practice their skills every day, and have even set up their own business helping any ponies who require services in potions, magic, or mechanics.
“Applebloom, who was that mare in the hood, the one who just left?”, asked Sweetie Belle as she entered the shop.
“I don’t know”, replied Applebloom, “But she did give me an order to fill, and even paid in advance!’
“Oh neat! What did she want?”
“She just wanted me to make a solution for her, so she can enrich some metal she’s got. It’s really technical stuff.”
“Hmm… “
They sat in silence for a little while. Applebloom sat and munched on an apple she had, while Sweetie Belle amused herself with an apple of her own, turning it into an orange and back again, over and over. When she got bored, she broke the silence.
She said, “Let’s go see what Scootaloo’s doing.”
They walked a few buildings down to Scootaloo’s workshop. They first space they had rented didn’t have enough room for a potions lab and a mechanic’s workshop, so they reserved a smaller, secondary space just for Scootaloo.
“Hi Scoots”, shouted Applebloom as she the garage where her friend was working. “What’s that?” She gestured to the great sphere taking up the majority of the room.
“Think of it like an all-in-one science tool.”, replied Scootaloo, “It can do all sorts of things, like manipulate elements, transfer electrons, and even accelerate atoms. The interface is awful though, but it’s not like that’s my problem. The mare I’ve been building it for will be picking it up any minute now.”
As if on cue, the hooded mare from before enters the room and begins walking towards the device.
“Oh hey!”, said Scootaloo, “I finished that thing you ordered, exactly as you specified.”
The cloaked figure said nothing but nodded and dropped a bag of bits on the ground. Then, she enveloped the machine and herself in a whitish-blue aura, the air shook slightly, and both were gone in a blink.
“Hey, wasn’t that my customer?”, Applebloom asked
“Yeah, I think it was.”, replied Sweetie Belle, “If you want, I know a spell that I can use to follow her.”
“I’m not that curious, I’ll just ask her when she come to pick up her… “
It was too late, Sweetie Belle had already cast her magic, and she was gone. Applebloom and Scootaloo were left alone to stare at each other for a whole five seconds before they heard a thud, and Sweetie Belle fell backwards out of thin air.
“Ow!”, she yelled, “That mare put a brick wall in the middle of space! I’m going back in and taking it down.”
Before she could disappear again, Applebloom caught her and said, “Why don’t you just let it go, she obviously doesn’t want to be followed. If you’re so curious about what she’s doing, just wait until she comes back to pick up the potion I’m making for her.”
“But why was she wearing a hood? Why didn’t she speak? Isn’t that suspicious?”, asked Sweetie Belle
Scootaloo chimed in, “Wow, Sweetie Belle, I’ve never known you to be paranoid. It’s none of our business what she’s doing, and that’s fine.”
So they went about their daly lives for the next week. Sweetie Belle thought about the hooded mare occasionally, and what she was doing, but the other two practically put her out of their minds. Once she asked Applebloom what kind of solution the mare ordered, and Applebloom just replied that it was only special water, a heavier-than-normal kind of water and nothing else.
After a week, Applebloom’s concoction was ready, and the mysterious mare showed up at their place of business to retrieve her order. Sweetie Belle was waiting with Applebloom, because she wanted to ask the mare what she was doing. She was no longer suspicious that whatever it was was bad, now she was only curious.
The mare entered, the building and approached the counter where the two were sitting. Applebloom handed over a large jar of her water and said, “Here you go ma’am, just like you asked.”
The figure lifted up the jar with magic, and then raised her hood to reveal a blue unicorn head with a pale white mane.
“Why thank you, Applebloom.” she said
Sweetie Belle gasped, “It’s Trixie!”
“That’s the Great and Powerful Trixie, to you.”
“But… but… “, Sweetie Belle stammered, “What are you doing here?”
“What, are you saying I can’t buy things?”
“No, it’s just that you hate Ponyville, so what are you doing here?”
“Remember the last time I was in Ponyville, the sixth time, I think.”, as she said this she began walking out the door, “Well, if you recall, I said the next time I show my face in town, I’d leave it in ruins.”
Trixie was now out the door, and Sweetie Belle could just see her through the window, making her way to the large sphere that was waiting for her. That exit line about leaving the town in ruins scared both Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, and they followed Trixie outside.
When they got there, she was standing on top of the machine, and shouting to all the ponies standing around.
“BEHOLD! IT IS I, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE! YOUR PRINCESS TWILIGHT IS NO LONGER HERE, AND SO I HAVE COME TO TAKE MY REVENGE ON THIS WRETCHED TOWN FOR ALL IT DID TO ME!”
“Oh, like the last time you were here, when you failed miserably?”, a stallion in the back chimed in. “Are you trying again?”
“Yes!” Trixie shouted, “But this time your beloved princess isn’t here to protect you, and this is no magical humiliation. I’m going to kill you all!”
“What!?”, somepony shouted, “Kill us?”
“Yes again! What I’m standing on right now is a bomb, the most dangerous kind of bomb in all of existence, with a core of plutonium, kindly enriched by that pony down there!” As she said this she pointed to Applebloom, “She supplied me with the heavy water.”
All the ponies turned to stare at Applebloom, and she began to get nervous.
“I didn’t do it on purpose!”, she said, “And don’t worry, it takes months to enrich plutonium, we’ll all be fine.”
“I’ve cast a spell to speed up the process.”, said Trixie, “It’s done already, and now… “, she jumps down and bucks a button on the bomb’s console, “You all have one minute to live. And there’s nothing that can stop this bomb from detonating.”
In a flash of light and a fit of maniacal laughter, Trixie had gone to leave the residents of Ponyville screaming for their lives. Ponies ran left and right, shouting in terror and proclaiming that the end was neigh. All but Sweetie Bell. She just frowned and walked toward the bomb.
Concentrating with her magic, she lifted the device into the air. All the residents of Ponyville stopped to stare at her. Then, with a flick of her horn, the bomb split cleanly in half, and dropped to the ground with a thud.
Author's Note
This is my submission for EQD's Writer's Training Grounds. It's not my best work, but eh, I've been pretty deprived of sleep this last week. Anyways I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for repeating the word "Applebloom" so much.
