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executive writing operative: numbuh 711, double-codenamed 'trojanhorse'
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cd mission files
load operation_crystal.fnd
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foals next door mission

operation: c.r.y.s.t.a.l.▮

decrypting mission acronym...
cadets'
rigorous
youth
soldiering
towards
adultless
life▮

begin mission(y/n)
y▮

Today was May 31st, the last line of defense for the season of spring, and the harbinger of summer. It held many a meaning - For fillies and colts in Canterlot, it marked the beginning of summer vacation; for others it foretold the brutal heat that would be there to torment them at every turn; for others still it meant the lines at Whinnyland and Equestrian Studios would be at an all-time long. For Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom, it held a very specific and very important meaning...it meant that today, their train to Camp Maredock, aka the Foals Next Door Training Academy, would soon depart. Their clocks were synchronized for 3PM, and now it was just a matter of waiting.

The Crusaders had already explained to their family and close friends the 'summer camp' they would be going to, and that they would be taking a train over there. And now it was time to say good-bye...

“Alright, Apple Bloom!” called Applejack from downstairs, walking up the staircase to greet her little sister. “Ah jus' wanna check with you to see yer all packed an' everything!”

She observed everything the little filly had packed, and listed them off in order of importance.

“Sleepin' bag?” she asked.

“Eeyup!” Apple Bloom responded.

“Toothbrush?”

“Yep!”

“Mane-brush?”

“Yep!”

“Couple o' boxes of apple juice for the road?”

“The same ones you made, thanks Sis!”

“Some sunscreen for the camp?”

Apple Bloom laughed nervously at that question. “Yep..”

“Spare bow?”

“Yep!”

“Spare blanket?”

“Got it!”

“Spare bra?”

“Already packed it Applejack- wait what,” Apple Bloom coughed upon hearing the last item on Applejack's checklist.

Applejack chuckled. “Ah'm jus' messin' with you now. Y'all probably don't need a bra over at Camp Maredock.”

Apple Bloom blushed. “Ah shoulda known y'all would try t' trip me up, sis.” She then smiled, and gave her big sister a long, warm hug. “But ah'll admit, ah'm gonna miss that a lot when ah'm over there..”

“Don't you worry a thing, Apple Bloom,” Applejack beamed. “Yer only gonna be away for 'bout a month, is all.”

Apple Bloom pawed at the ground nervously. It was true, she'd be at camp for a month and seven days, and that would be a month of seven days of hard, brutal days of military training. She hated having to lie to her sister like this, but it was necessary to keep word from getting out about the Foals Next Door.

“Awww, don't be shy, sis,” Applejack cooed. “Ah know it's scary, bein' away from home fer a long time, but if the goin' gets tough, y'all don't need to feel scared to write home to me..”

Apple Bloom smiled up at her sister, and nodded. “Ah'll be okay, Applejack.”

With that said, Apple Bloom closed her bag and walked downstairs to greet the rest of her family goodbye.

“Y'all have fun now, ya hear?” asked Granny Smith.

“Yep!” smiled Apple Bloom. “Ah'll be back in a month...and don't let Applejack get too worked up while ah'm gone, okay Big Macintosh?”

“Eeyup.”

With no more words to be said, Apple Bloom walked out the door and headed to the Ponyville Train Station...

In another part of Ponyville, a different pair of sisters were on the verge of saying a different kind of farewell.

“Sweetie Belle?” asked Rarity, “are you sure you're completely packed?” Sweetie Belle nodded, gesturing up the multiple suitcases on her bed, and Rarity embraced her in a tight, warm, binding hug.

“Well, Sweeite, I hope you have a wonderful time at Camp Maredock,” she smiled. “Oh! But please, dear, be on your best behavior.”

Sweetie Belle giggled. “I will.”

“Now, remember,” Rarity reminded her, “if the camp counselor offers a food you aren't fond of, please be considerate and at least try it, though I have doubts that it will be anything other than a buffet. If someone asks you out on a date while you're away, please make absolute certain that the colt isn't over the age of eighteen. Remember to brush your mane every day; there's no point in not keeping up appearances. And if-”

As Rarity listed off the various things she wanted Sweetie Belle to remember while at Camp Maredock, the filly in question rolled her eyes. If she'd told her the truth, it would be a different conversation altogether. 'Truth be told,' Sweetie Belle thought, 'I kind of prefer the prim and proper Rarity to the overbearing Rarity sometimes. And...well, I kind of prefer seeing Rarity to begin with. I'm going be away for just over a month, but it doesn't make it any less-'

“-and be sure to always get a good night's sleep. Did you get all of that?”

Sweeite Belle blinked. “Huh?”

“I asked if you were going to remember all of that,” Rarity repeated.

“Yeah.” Sweetie Belle gave a fake smile, one made to prevent another long lecture on how to behave at Camp Maredock. Thankfully, it worked, as Rarity returned her smile.

“Well, I think it's almost time for you to head over to the Train Station, yes?”

Sweetie Belle glanced at the clock, which read 1:45 PM, and gasped. The train left in just over an hour, leaving her plenty of time to get to the station, but considering how many suitcases Rarity sent with her, it was going to take forever to get over there.

“I don't want to hold you up any longer than you need,” Rarity sighed, her smile fading, “but...I'm going to miss you while you're away.”

Sweetie Belle gave her sister a big hug. “You don't need to worry about me, Rarity,” she smiled. “I'll be okay.” She took another look at the clock, which now read 1:46. “Though, I'd actually better get going.”

And on that note, Sweetie Belle rushed out the door, her multiple suitcases hoisted on her back, and Rarity watched as her little sister left to head to Camp Maredock...

“You're here early, Thcootaloo...” mused Twist, eying the orange pegasus who lay on the bench in front of the ticketing station. They had agreed to meet at 2:30, yet it was currently 2:15, just ahead of schedule.

“Yeah,” admitted Scootaloo. “I just didn't have that much to pack.” Twist narrowed her eyes in response. “Well that and I'm pretty excited. Can't fault me on that, can you?”

Twist chuckled. “Yeah, it'th pretty exthiting for newcomers. But trutht me, anyone who goeth to camp never want'th to go back. You thure you got everything you need?”

Scootaloo nodded. “Got my scooter, my helmet, a couple of posters, my new pair of shades, the essentials.”

Button Mash scowled. “I know you're excited, Scootaloo, but if you're especially unlucky, none of that stuff will be used. At all.”

Scootaloo blinked. “It won't?”

“Nope. In fact, they'll probably confiscate most of your personal belongings when you get in there. It's formally 'against the rules' to bring anything with you to Camp Murdock,” he explained. Then, just as Scootaloo gulped, he gave a grin that could rival Numbuh 911's. “That being said, we will let you know of a very specific way to keep your belongings with you at camp.”

Scootaloo raised on her eyebrows. What did he mean by 'specific'? “Are you sure?”

Button Mash smirked. “I'll explain when we get on the train. But trust me, you're gonna love it. When I told Numbuh 911 about it the other day, he nearly laughed his butt off!”

Scootaloo glanced at the clock. It now read 2:20. So they still had time to get ready.

“Speaking of Numbuh 911, where is he?” she asked.

“He's not gonna be with us on the train,” Button Mash admitted. “He was asked to go up to Cloudbase to go over a mission...'important', he said, but I'm not sure if he's telling the truth...”

“How important?” Scootaloo asked, curious as to how bad this mission was.

“Well...he told me not to tell anyone, so, eheheh...sorry!” he laughed.

“Aren't you nervouth about going?” asked Twist, placing a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder.

Scootaloo blushed and bit her snout. “N-No, of course not!” Another round of eye narrowing from Twist made her adjust her answer. “Okay, maybe a little.”

“You don't need to be tho worked up about it. There are going to be thome fillieth who are nervouth, tho you're not alone,” reassured Twist, a smile forming on her face. “If thothe fillieth are nervouth, they aren't wrong. Though no one want'th to go back, they'll all agree it wath worth it. You're thure you're ready?”

“You bet!” smirked Scootaloo.

“Scootaloo!” called Apple Bloom, who'd just arrived. Scootaloo waved her over to their location, and the yellow earth pony dashed over to their location.

“Hey, Apple Bloom!” greeted Scootaloo. “You got everything packed?”

“Yep!” she chirped.

“Sleeping bag?” she asked.

“Yep.”

“Apple juice for the road?”

“Eeyup- wait...”

“Mane brush?”

“Scoots, don't you start too!” grumbled Apple Bloom.

“Juuuuust checking,” she snickered. “Anyway, you excited?”

Apple Bloom gave her own smirk in response. “You kiddin'? Ah can't wait!”

Then, by the sound of luggage carrying and exhausted panting came Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom and Twist winced at the sheer amount of luggage Rarity had sent with her; Scootaloo, chuckled. Button Mash gave her a smug, knowing look.

“What's so funny, you two?” asked Sweetie Belle. "Rarity sent me with boatloads of luggage, that's normal."

“I'll explain on the train,” smirked Button Mash, shaking his head, “but since you two are here, I'm gonna guess everypony else is coming too?”

Sure enough, a pretty reasonable crowd of young fillies and colts came over to their bench. Scootaloo recognized some of the faces from the crowd – Dinky Doo, Rumble, Berry Pinch, Pipsqueak, Featherweight, the list went on. She wondered if they were all here for the same reason. She also wondered if the Foals Next Door really had this much influence.

She took one last look at the clock. It finally ticked to 2:30.

“Ith everypony here?” Twist called to the crowd. She scanned the number of fillies and colts in the area, and then resumed. “Alright, I take it you're all here for the trip to Camp Maredock, is that right?” Waiting for the crowd to nod to confirm, she then stated, “Well in that cathe, the train leaveth in thirty minutes, tho I highly thuggest you all uthe the little coltth and little fillieth' room now, becauthe it'th gonna be-”

“Hold up,” Apple Bloom interrupted. “Why do we need to use the bathroom now?”

“Becauthe if we don't, we'll have fillieth and colth athking to stop at a bathroom when they could before,” Twist explained.

“But don't the Ponyville Express have a bathroom on-board?”

“Oh come on, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo groaned, “let's just get it out of the way so it doesn't become an issue.”

With that, the fillies and colts split up to use the different bathrooms, and as the Crusaders followed Twist into the bathroom, they noticed she actually wasn't going into any of the stalls, but up to the wall at the end.

“Whoa whoa, wait, yer not gonna use it?” asked Apple Bloom.

This time, it was Twist's turn to smirk. “Oh, Apple Bloom, you haven't theen nothing yet.”

And she gave the bathroom wall three sharp knocks. After a moment of awkward silence, a deep, gruff, yet feminine voice sounded from behind.

“Wot did she say, then?” it asked, in about as close to a fake and thick Trotney accent as one could get.

Twist took a deep breath in, and recited, “It's not banana this season.”

Another moment of awkward silence passed. Then, with a very mechanical rumble, the wall slid open, to reveal a passageway leading downstairs, a more fancy staircase and railing than before, and a roughed-up pegasus filly in a conductor's outfit, one who hid her cutie mark with tight, cargo pants. The fillies 'whoa'ed as this happened. “Well alwigh', then, Numbuh 1619! Wite this way, lil' 'uns!”

“Thank you, Numbuh 58A,” Twist smiled.

“Much obliged,” she smiled in turn, and from there she led the entire group of fillies downstairs, into a deep, dirt-stained passageway. This passageway in turn led to what was probably the most impressive thing Scootaloo and her friends had seen all day.

“I-Is that..?”

“Yep!” smiled Numbuh 58A, gesturing to the train that was stationed before then. It was much more streamlined than any of the Ponyville Express models, being laced with silver, bronze and sapphire on the coat, a curvature at the very front, magnets in place of bogies, and the letters 'FND' on the side painted in pink. Pegasi of all different colors, all of them foals, were doing maintenance checks on the vehicle, as if they were trained by professionals. “You're lookin' here at a real beaut' wahn of the most bloomin' advanced trains Equestria's ever knahn. We call it-”

12345123451234512345123451234512345123451234512345123451234512345
FOALS NEXT DOOR 2X4 TECH: H.O.R.S.E.P.O.W.E.R.
Heavyweight
Operating
Railway
Sends
Embalmified
Ponies
Outta
Where
Evil
Reigns
12345123451234512345123451234512345123451234512345123451234512345

To say the fillies were impressed was an outright lie – they were awestruck by how magnificent the H.O.R.S.E.P.O.W.E.R. was.

“Yes, indeed-y,” explained Numbuh 58A, a maniacal grin on her face, “the H.O.R.S.E.P.O.W.E.R. is a real piece o' 2x4 Technology tat was first invented in 63 BLB, by a bonafide innovator of 'er nickle an' dime, Numbuh 581. She built the H.O.R.S.E.P.O.W.E.R. as a way ter smuggle Crystal Foals ahht of the Crystal Empire durin' the reign of Kin' Sombra, and she built tracks that would lead in and ahht of 'is prison camp for any stragglers that just up and ran. The camp was never found by the Princesses when 'ey made the rest o' th' bloomin' Empire disappear, but it was reworked as what you'll find ter be Camp Maredock.”

“Whoa, so that's what she built before Luna's banishment?” asked Dinky. “I heard the first trains didn't even get invented until 200 years after! You're not telling me she built that before?”

“Not exactly.” Numbuh 58A raised her hoof to grab the unicorn's attention. “See, this here's the sev'nf remodel. The hirst model was kinda loike the wahn ya find upstairs.”

A number of murmurs of “cool!” and “whoa!” and “wooooow!” and stuff to that extent emerged from the crowd.

Twist looked across the boarding station impatiently. “Where in Equestria is Numbuh 64?”

“COMING!” called the voice of Button Mash, as he and his group of colts, and another similarly dressed colt. “S-Sorry I'm late, I...er..”

“What took you tho long, Numbuh 64?!” grumbled Twist.

“W-well, you see..” he stammered.

“Fohst an' Cothy above! This lil' colt, Numbuh 63 or somethin', 'e tried ter speak in a funny voice, 'e did,” the new colt called. “Oi thought he were an adult!”

“OH COME ON!” shouted Button Mash. “Can't you take a little messing around?!”

“We take our jobs real serious, mate,” glared Numbuh 58A. “Don't ye go spookin' Numbuh 58B like that, alwigh'?”

Button Mash muttered something under his breath.

“Wot did you say to me?!” yelled Numbuh 58B.

“Nothing.”

Numbuh 58B cleared his through. “Anyway, as I wos 'bout ta say-”

“ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS!” boomed a voice from the muffled loudspeakers. “THE 'HEAVYWEIGHT OPERATING RAILWAY SENDS EMBALMIFIED PONIES OUTTA WHERE EVIL RAINS' IS PREPARING TO DEPART. PLEASE BOARD THE VEHICLE WITHIN FIFTEEN MINUTES, OR YOU MAY BE LEFT BEHIND.”

On that note, both groups of foals rushed to the boarding platform to actually board the locomotive.

“Tickets, please,” a filly at the boarding platform inquired in a rather posh accent, not unlike Rarity's. She was a finely dressed pony, with clothes similar to those Steamer and All-Aboard wore, albeit smaller to fit her stature.

'This must be the conductor herself,' Scootaloo thought.

Not wasting any time, Twist, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and the others gave her their tickets, and she stamped them with what appared to be the Foals Next Door logo.

“Thank you, Numbuh 1619,” nodded the filly. “I want all new recruits to meet up in Cabin 25 for a briefing, understood?”

“Yes ma'am, Numbuh 58C ma'am!”

“Good. I'll be taking your luggage right here. Please watch your step, madames.”

At her approval, everypony put their luggage onto a conveyor belt that led directly to a different compartment of the vehicle. Then, Twist led her group aboard the station and guided them through the train that looked 'cooler and cooler by the minute' according to Rumble towards what appeared to be Cabin 25.

“This is so cool!” Rumble squeed. “I've been on many trains before, this just blows 'em out of the water!”

“I know, right?” asked Dinky, a similar expression of glee on her face. “I've never been on a train before today, it's so amazing!”

“Oi can't believe a couple a' kids made this,” breathed Pipsqueak. “It's jus' amazin', innit?”

Once everyone was settled in, all of the Numbuh 58's entered the room.

“Attention! Everypony, I'm Numbuh 58C, and these two are,” she gestured to the similarly-dressed Trotneys on both sides, “Numbuh 58A and Numbuh 58B. We're all the 'conductor', so to speak, and as they may have already informed you this is the H.O.R.S.E.P.O.W.E.R. Mk7, the fastest railway in the history of the Foals Next Door. Now, I asked you to put your luggage on the conveyor belt before entering. Everypony's luggage is safely aboard the vehicle, are they not?”

Everypony nodded. “Good, because when we reach Camp Maredock, they will be confiscated.”

A round of murmurs and gasps emerged from the crowd, with Sweetie Belle loudly complaining, “YOU MEAN RARITY SENT ME WITH ALL THESE BAGS FOR NOTHING?!”

“Please, everypony, settle down!” yelled Numbuh 58C, motioning the crowd to silence. “It's Foals Next Door protocol to confiscate all baggage, including personal belongings, at the gate when you first arrive at Camp Maredock. In fact, it's the second rule you'll encounter when you reach the camp.”

“Second?” asked Apple Bloom, skeptical of the whole ordeal. “Then what's the first?”

“I'm glad you asked, madame,” Numbuh 58C smiled. “The first rule of Foals Next Door training is that the rules, if you can even call them that, are meant to be broken.”

This lead to another round of gasps from the room full of colts and fillies, who were shocked that an official operative, a 'rule-maker', in fact, was telling them to break the rules. “Now, Numbuh 1619,” she gestured to Twist, who waved nervously, “and Numbuh 64,” she then gestured to Button Mash, who gave a cheesy grin, “will be instructing all recruits on the proper method of smuggling personal belongings into Camp Maredock at 5PM tonight in their respective cabins, as an informal first training session all potential operatives must go through. I would advise all recruits attend these sessions, as it will give you a sweet, sweet taste of what to expect in the Foals Next Door. Numbuhs 64 and 1619 will also be assigning you your cabins, so you'll need to follow them down the hall to find your cabin. There are no quiet hours, because we will be arriving at the Camp at approximately 9:30, barring any delays.”

“Wait, hold on, I thought this thing was fast!” Scootaloo noted. “Isn't this thing near the Crystal Empire?”

“It takes a grand total of one hour to reach the approximate area of the Empire, where it takes three or four on the Ponyville Express,” explained Numbuh 58C. “We'll be making a pitstop at Canterlot to pick up fillies from that area, but trust me, Camp Maredock is far, far north; at the north pole, in fact.”

'Whoa,' Scootaloo thought in amazement, 'this place is farther than I thought!'

“Now, please follow your group officers to your cabins.”

On that note, Twist and Button Mash got up and called for their group to come with them. Excitedly, the fillies and colts followed them down the hall, and the two operatives assigned each filly and colt their cabins.

“Scootaloo?” asked Button Mash.

“Yeah?” she replied.

“You're going to be in cabin 11,” he stated, pointing to the cabin door that clearly said '12', and Scootaloo hesitantly entered the room. It was a very comfy room, with a single, appealing-looking bed, a lamp, and a mysterious device. There was one thing it was missing, however; two very important 'things' in fact...

“Aren't Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom going to be here?” she asked the young, brown colt.

“Apple Bloom?”

“Yep?”

“Your cabin number ith 15.”

“Alright.”

Button Mash sighed. “Unfortunately, the rooms aren't designed for multiple ponies...”

“Thweetie Belle?”

“Yeah?”

“Your cabin number'th 13!”

“Cool!”

He gave a weary grin. “But, as long as quiet hours aren't in effect, which basically means the whole trip, you can go and bug them all you want.”

“Alright,” Scootaloo sighed. Typically, she and the other two Crusaders stuck together, so it would be pretty weird not being together for the entirety of the trip.

“Hey,” Button Mash said, “don't worry too much about it. Just relax, and enjoy the trip.”

Scootaloo nodded, and he got back to assigning his group of ponies their cabins. “Rumble?”

“Yeah?”

“Cabin 14.”

“Got it!”

Scootaloo immediately took to the bed to see how comfortable it was. She let the sudden rush comfort take in. It'd been so long since she had a decent, relaxing bed. The one she had at her home was never up to scratch, and now she knew if she were given the chance to take this bed home she would due to how comfortable it was...

“IS EVERYPONY ABOARD, NUMBUHS 64 AND 1619?” barked Numbuh 58C.

“YES MA'AM!”

“ALRIGHT. ALL ABOARD, NOW LET'S MOVE!”

Very soon after their voices boomed, the sound of the train whistle blew, and the train started to gradually move from a tortoises' pace to that of a carriage, to that of the Ponyville Express. And it didn't stop there – it steadily became faster and faster until it got a speed that Scootaloo could only dream of before, and as the train stopped moving underground and rose into the foreground, she could see the edge of Ponyville disappear behind her. She could only watch as it, and with it the remnants of the life she once knew vanished at the incredible speed of the H.O.R.S.E.P.O.W.E.R...

transmission paused
save mission specs? (y/n)
y

logg out? (y/n)
y
numbuh 711 logged out▮

Author's Note

Numbuh 711 - Mission Logg #03

And so begins the trek to Camp Maredock!

One of the many things I love about Codename: Kids Next Door was the amount of world-building it did. Its mythos was almost revolutionary for its time in the era of Saturday Morning Cartoons, and I wanted to start on that in this chapter with the introduction of the H.O.R.S.E.P.O.W.E.R. and the legend behind it. Mostly I'm working off of currently-released MLP material as a starting point for world-building, so any comic or episode up to Bloom and Gloom is considered 'useful', for lack of a better term.

Last chapter, we got introduced to the R.A.N.C.H.E.T.T., and this chapter we got introduced to our first vehicle, the H.O.R.S.E.P.O.W.E.R., and that brings me to something I want to talk about - the 2x4 tech. For the most part, since this doesn't take place on Earth, a lot of the 2x4 tech is going to be different here, meaning instead of the M.U.S.K.E.T., you'll be seeing the R.A.N.C.H.E.T.T.. There will be many other replacement technologies throughout the fanfic, and the main reason for this is because of the acronyms. The best thing KND was known for, if not the storybuilding, was for acronyms for nearly everything. I'm not gonna skimp out on those here when I get the chance.

A note about updates: I may or may not be as consistent with them as some people would hope. That being said, I've got a story pre-planned up to the penultimate and final operations, and I have a specific end game in mind. ..what? I'm not telling!

That's pretty much everything I've wanted to say that isn't spoiler-material, so I'll cut this mission logg short. See you next chapter.

End transmission...▮