Codename: Foals Next Door

by TrojanHorse711

Rating: everyone
Tags: Crossover, Diamond Tiara, Alternate Universe, Other, Original Character, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Scootaloo, Adventure
Length: 20287

A mysterious new colt comes to Ponyville; having no cutie mark makes the CMC try to befriend him. However, there's more to One-Hit Wonder than meets the eye. Foals Next Door, BATTLE STATIONS!

>please enter your codenumbuh
>711
>please enter your password for confirmation
>anonisameaniepants▮
>confirmed!
>Executive Writing Operative: Numbuh 711, double-codenamed 'TrojanHorse'
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>load mission specs? (y/n)
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>...
>description: A mysterious new colt, One-Hit Wonder, arrives in Ponyville one day, and although he seems to get along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders pretty well, he has a very unique perspective on cutie marks. Once Scootaloo initiates a plan to find out what's up with him, they soon realize their lives are about to be turned on their heads, and that One-Hit Wonder, along with nearly every filly in their class, is part of a larger, more dangerous organization that spans all across Equestria, whose sole purpose is to combat adult tyranny - the Foals Next Door.
>
>authorative notes: Story takes place in an Alternate Universe because chances are by the end of the story it will contradict canon events in Season 5. It starts a few days after Bloom and Gloom for the purpose of sequence. Crossover elements come into play in Chapter 2. For optimal viewing use Consolas and High-Contrast Dark...or not. S-See if I care, c-cruddy adult!
>
>special notes: on indefinite hiatus until trojan recovers from writer's block.
>
>begin mission? (y/n)
>▮

Published 2015-05-05 14:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-05-17 22:18:56 UTC

Operation: C.U.T.I.E.-M.A.R.K. (01)

Author's Note

Numbuh 711 - Mission Logg #01

Hey y'all. Trojan here. It's been a while since I've posted anything, huh? Anyway, I started writing this a few weeks ago, but now I've gotten to a point where I can start uploading it.

I've done quite a bit of greentext writing on /mlp/ (you might know me better as 'writeslut'), but it's actually been a while since I've written a proper fanfiction, and it's been years since I've written a Kids Next Door fanfiction (I think the last one I tried was in 2011?), so you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little rusty. However, I was inspired to write this when the infamous g:KND teaser landed, and it's probably gonna stay in my head until it's done. I was also, admittedly kind of inspired to do this by another KND crossover fanfic on here, Codename: Cutie Mark Crusaders (Hey, Amante! When's the next update, bub?).

As stated in the description, in this continuity Codename: FND takes place after Bloom and Gloom, but it will almost assuredly become an alternate universe by the end, especially if Season 5 pulls a major game-changer for the Cutie Mark Crusaders (i.e. them getting their cutie marks). One word of advice when reading is to enjoy the ride and remember that nothing is ever as it truly seems...

Begin transmission...▮

Operation: C.U.T.I.E.-M.A.R.K. (01)

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

operation: c.u.t.i.e.-m.a.r.k.▮

decrypting mission acronym
cutie-mark
union
test
interested

equines

marks
aren't
really
kool?▮

begin mission? (y/n)
y▮

No pony knew where he came from that fateful Tuesday.

Well, that wasn't exactly true; he said he came from a distant island off the coast of Saddle Arabia. But his appearance, a rough-ish looking red unicorn with a hoodie, certainly didn't make him seem like it. Perhaps it was the way he dressed back home? Certainly he wasn't familiar to anyone in Ponyville.

Nevertheless, it was Wednesday that this new young unicorn colt began his first day at Ponyville Elementary.

"Good morning, class!" beamed Ms. Cheerilee.

Every student beamed and said "Good Morning Ms. Cheerilee" to their lovely teacher. Every student, of course, except the new pony. No one really mentioned it, out of sheer politeness, though no doubt it got everypony wondering. The fillies who wondered most of all were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, mostly because for some reason he had no cutie mark. They didn't say a word about it, but they thought it. Would this pony be a great new member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders?

"As you might have heard, we have a new student joining us today. Would you please introduce yourself to the class?"

Wordlessly, the young colt nodded and went up to the front of the classroom.

To the Crusaders' surprise, despite how rough-ish and thick he dressed he made no attempt whatsoever to hide his flank. His very, VERY bare flank.

He scanned the entire class, before giving his 'welcome speech'.

"Greetings, fillies and colts. I no doubt may have caused a bit of commotion for showing up in town one day. But that isn't to say I am not your friend. Everyone, my name is One-Hit Wonder."

One-Hit Wonder. That was his name. He hadn't mentioned it at all before, and it never really came up because up to that point he avoided most interaction with everypony else.

Scootaloo felt a bit offput by his name, however. That sounded like something a hitmare would be called. Or an assassin. Or something.

It definitely fit his wardrobe, she noticed. But he felt a little too polite. She almost expected him to have a more 'tough-guy' accent, almost like a younger Rainbow Dash...except not a unicorn.

She wondered if that made sense in her head.

"As I've already explained before class, I've moved in from a distant island off the coast of Saddle Arabia, the name of which is really hard to pronounce, so...I might not be accustomed to the locale of Ponyville. You'll have to forgive me on that."

He gave a small smile. Maybe it was to have everypone who was offput by him remain calm.

'Maybe it was to assure them that he meant no harm,' Scootaloo thought. 'Or maybe it's to lead them into a false sense of security.'

"But I'm open to this new...experience, so I hope to start my days in Ponyville off on the right note."
He sat back down as the classroom gave a mild round of applause.

"Thank you, One-Hit Wonder," Cheerilee smiled. "We're excited to have you here. I...I hope the classrooms of Ponyville aren't that different from those of your hometown."

"No, no, of course not," he said with a cheesy grin.

'Yep, something's off about him,' Scootaloo thought. 'There's no way someone with that unfriendly name, that unfriendly hoodie and no cutie mark can be THAT, well, friendly. But he seems so friendly, I kind of want to believe...'

"Well, if there are no more questions," said Cheerilee, "I think we can get started. Now, open your books to page 30 and..."

Hours later, the bell finally rung free, giving the young fillies and colts the liberty of leaving the classroom. And to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, it meant that now was the time of their newest and biggest stunt to try and get their cutie marks.

"Well, ah hope yer ready," Apple Bloom called, a smile on her face, "cause it's gettin' about that time!"

Sweetie Belle grinned, and giggled in excitement. Scootaloo grinned, but it wasn't a full-fledged grin like Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.

"Apple Bloom, are you sure this is gonna get us our cutie marks?"

"Sure it is, Scoots!"

"I mean, these past few ones were kinda, well..."

She didn't want to say 'ruined', or 'sabotaged', because using those terms typically made fate do them over. Turns out that wasn't the case today, as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, the two biggest bullies in Ponyville Elementary, appeared before them.

Before any of them could prepare for their typical volley of insults, they called over to another pony, specifically the affably roughish unicorn.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't One-Hit Wonder," sneered the pink filly.

He didn't respond, and he simply walked right past them. He didn't even tense up as they spoke condescendingly to him, something very few classmates did.

Undaunted, she continued “...I'm sorry, I meant to say One Hit Blunder!”

"Well, well, well,” he snapped, “if I could find a well to wish upon that would be wonderful.” He paused for just a moment before continuing. "I'm to assume you know exactly where the well might be, then? Might be a good home for you."

This was hardly a blow to their ego, but nevertheless one which Silver Spoon fumed at. Diamond Tiara didn't even twitch, so she smirked, "Even if I did, why would I tell that to a blank flank?"

As Diamond Tiara and her cohort, Silver Spoon, used their whole inventory of 'blank-flank insults' towards One-Hit Wonder, the Crusaders cringed.

'Yeesh,' Scootaloo thought, 'not even two full days in Ponyville and they're already doing their whole routine.'

One thing they noticed, however, was that he didn't even bat an eye. One-Hit did, however, give her a grimace. “And why is being a 'Blank Flank' a bad thing, might I ask?"

"Because like, you don't have your cutie mark, so you may talk big but you're good for nothing as far as I'm concerned."

Here, he gave a sly smile. 'Uh-oh, what does he have in mind?'

“Tell me, miss...erm," he coughed, as it slowly dawned on him that he didn't know her name.

"Diamond Tiara."

"Tell me, Diamond Tiara, is a 'cutie mark' really everything about a pony?"

She cocked her head in slight confusion. "Of course, blank-flank. It's what makes a pony complete! You of all fillies should know this."

One-Hit smile became smug with the force of a thousand smirks. It was a smirk that would make Rainbow Dash proud. "So in other words you're just a self-absorbed snob? Is that right?"

The surrounding fillies all 'ohhhhhh'-ed at the most heavy-hoofed insult he just gave, Crusaders included. No pony had ever dealt a blow like that to her ego before.

“Wha- how dare you!" she yelled.

"Am I wrong, then?" he questioned.

Diamond Tiara's face was red as a beet. 'I've never seen her get THAT angry before,' Scootaloo thought.

"Of course you are! Just because I have a crown cutie mark doesn't mean I'm a jerk."

Scootaloo heavily considered butting in to point out her hypocrisy. But she didn't. It sounded like One-Hit Wonder had it under control.

"So we're technically in agreement. A cutie mark does not and shouldn't define who we are. So now you can cease with the blank flank insult," he stated. His face then slackened, probably because he was done with his moment of ego deflation. “Thank you, and have a jolly good day.”

He then started to walk off, before Diamond Tiara cut him off. As coolly as One-Hit handled that situation she was never one to take things lying down.

"Listen here, One-Hit Blunder," she hissed, her face ascrunched with anger, "just because you're new here doesn't mean you're exempt from the pecking order. To me, you're nothing but a blank flank."

He gave a matching scrunch to compensate. "You may talk big," he snarled, repeating her words to her face, "but to me, you're nothing but a bully who picks wholly unnecessary fights because she can." Then, he gave her a glare that could pierce actual diamonds. "Be warned, though, I'm not the pony you want to pick fights with."

She paused, as if to wrap her head around what he'd said.

"Not the pony to pick- you're the one picking fights, One-Bit!" she yelled.

"I made zero effort to ambush you, Diamond Tiara; if anything I was the one who got ambushed. However I'm about leave this dialogue, so I would seriously advise-"

Angrily, she tried to buck him in the face, interrupting his train of thought. Almost effortlessly, One-Hit Wonder ducked out of the way and grabbed her hind legs in place, prompting a number of worried gasps from the surrounding schoolfillies. He did not let go, and the pink, pompous filly struggled to escape his grasp.

"Urgh! Lemme go! GRRR!" Diamond Tiara grunted as she tried to break free from his hooves.

"Like I said," he growled in his most 'unfriendly' tone he made since coming to Ponyville, "I'm not the pony you want to pick fights with."

After he felt he made his point clear, he gently let go of the school bully and continued on his intended path doing...'whatever it was these Saddle-Arabian islanders did', Scootaloo thought. I need to ask him sometime.

'Not because I kind of like him,' she reasoned. 'Because he's a new pony...a cool new pony. Right.'

In the meantime, the Crusaders thought it best to go Crusading before things got out of hoof again.

"Alright, so, Apple Bloom. Let me see if I've got this straight."

As it turned out, today's crusade took place in the thick of the apple forest. Apple Bloom had something somewhat different planned for this particular crusade.

"This potion you wanted us to try is supposed to take a tree sapling and turn it into a tree."

"Not exactly, Scoots. See, me an' Sweetie Belle learned a spell from Zecora that kin transmutate-"

"Transfuse,” Sweetie corrected.

"Yeah, transfusate, two objects together the other day. So ah thought maybe we could fuse a tree," she held up an apple tree sapling to showcase, "an' a house together to grow a new clubhouse!"

"A..new clubhouse?"

"Oooh, maybe it'll be bigger than the one we have!"

That sounded like a great idea in Scootaloo's head. It had so much potential, and it could that one 'idea' that gained them their cutie marks.A cutie mark in house growing. That sounded amazing, if not innovative.
However it had all the potential to go wrong. Horseshoe's Law, or something like that.

"Are you sure it'll work?"

"Well, Sweetie, are you up to try it?"

"Yep! I've been getting really good with my magic, so...well, I'm confident."

Somehow, Scootaloo doubted that.

"We don't even have a house to transformate-"

"Transfuse."

"Whatever. Are you saying we're fusing OUR clubhouse with the tree?"

With a grin on her face, Apple Bloom brought out a piece of paper.

"This here blue-color paper-"

"Schematic."

"Sure. This schematic is gonna be the blood o' the sapling fer the treehouse to grow from, and-"

They then heard a rustle in the tree above them, making the fillies jump for a moment in surprise. "Pardon me for interrupting, but..." drawled the voice of One-Hit Wonder, "did I just hear that you wanted to grow a treehouse?"

The three fillies looked up at the tree. Indeed, the new colt had followed them for some reason.

"Whoa! Aren't you One-Hit Wonder?" Scootaloo called.

"Yes, that's my name."

The Crusaders stalled their plan to fangirl over the new colt, giving him compliments such as "You really showed those two bullies!" and "That speech was so awesome!" and "You didn't even flinch when they called you a blank flank!" and-

"Whoaaa, whoa, settle down,” he chuckled. “I'm not here to be fangirled over. I was just passing by, but I couldn't help but notice what you were trying to do. It sounds very...well, interesting, to say the least."

They calmed down and explained to them their idea, from start to finish.

"...so you think that by transfusing a treehouse schematic and an unborn sapling and by casting a spell it will somehow grow a treehouse, construction materials and everything? Is that what I'm hearing?"

"...well when you put it that way, it kinda does sound silly," admitted Sweetie Belle, her optimism draining slightly.

"But we think we can do it!” reassured Apple Bloom. “Ah saw the spell in action before, and ah think this has the kind o' power to work!"

He raised an eyebrow. 'Yep, he's definitely not convinced,' Scootaloo thought.

"I mean, we're not entirely sure it will work, but-"

"No, no, please, do continue," he assured, a mischievous smile forming on his face. "I'd love to see this magic happen."

They nodded, and with no further delays, Apple Bloom placed the treehouse schematics onto the sapling. Sweetie Belle then cast the transfiguration spell, to let the finer details written on the house seep into the unborn tree.

One-Hit Wonder watched very as the blueprints soaked into the infant plant. He made no change in expression, however. 'If he's impressed,' Scootaloo thought, 'he certainly doesn't show it.'

Then, Apple Bloom put two drops of the 'growth potion' onto the sapling.

They all watched in awe as the sapling transformed into what could only be called a pure tree-house. It was almost exactly the same as the blueprints showed.

"It worked! Ah can't believe it, it worked! ...well, kinda."

The only key difference was that the house was incredibly small, no taller than any of the fillies.

Scootaloo sighed in relief. Something had finally gone right. One of their crusades actually didn't burn up into smithereens! And in front of One-Hit, to boot! Sure, it hadn't been completely successfullbut the important thing is that it worked!

"Well, colour me impressed! It truly isn't something I see everyday," smiled One-Hit.

The Crusaders looked at their flanks in hopes that this was in fact their their calling.

...after a few moments, they sighed.

"Dang, I was sure that would be it."

"You were sure about what, exactly?" asked One-Hit Wonder. His smile had faded; not a good sign for Scootaloo.

"That it'd be what would get us our cutie marks. Buuut, it didn't."

He grimaced. "I see..."

Okay, something was up. Scootaloo could no longer deny it. Before she could push him on it, Apple Bloom asked, "Well, it's kinda our goal to find ways to get our cutie marks. And, well, ah know it's yer first day, but-"

He cut her off. "But you want me to join this Cutie Mark Crusaders club, am I correct?" She paused, surprised he knew about their club, and nodded to confirm. "Well I'm sorry to disappoint you three girls, but I'm not interested."

And he started walking off, potentially to never see them again.

"Well, wait a minute!” Apple Bloom called. Aren't y'all worried about not getting your cutie mark?"

He stopped, as if she struck a nerve with him.

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but it's not that I do or don't want my cutie mark. It's just that I officially don't care, so to speak. If I'm good at something, I'll find it when it happens, but it's not my goal, and I don't want my cutie mark to become my goal, ever."

"An obsession?" Scootaloo wondered aloud.

"Yes. I've seen many young ponies back home be among the best ponies I've ever met. Once they got their...cutie marks, a good number of them changed, changed into something far worse, riddled with diseases such as an inflated ego. They became selfish, jaded, arrogant, all because they had their cutie mark now. Because to them, their cutie mark didn't just dictate their job. It became who they were. You three actively trying to get your cutie marks worries me a lot, to put it bluntly, but if you want to get your cutie marks, you need to know never to fall into the same patterns as this Diamond Tiara."

That really dampened their moods. For all their misdeeds, for all their misadventures, no pony had ever compared them to Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon.

"But by all means, go and search for what you want to be good at. However, if you want my advice, I would stop trying to be good at things you're not and start trying to hone the things you are. Because you still have your youth, your minds are still expanding, and your brilliance shines ever brightly than it ever will, so you have the power to define yourselves in ways other than your cutie mark.”

He sighed. “The world could use more ponies like that."

He once again tried to walk off, before being cut off yet again, this time by Scootaloo herself.

"Hold up. You've gone from friendly, to mister tough-pony, to gentle to, well, this! How are we supposed to believe you?!"

"You're not. A completely understandable reaction, all things considered.”

"And are you, of all the fillies in Equestria, REALLY gonna be the one saying we CAN'T prove ourselves?"

"Well, no. You can, and I think I know how, but I'd rather you find that out for yourself."

Before he could escape her annoyed rant, Scootaloo gave him one last question.

"Just who do you think you are, One-Hit Wonder?"

He paused, and stared directly at her. 'This wasn't a look of anger,' she noted. 'No, this was a look of wonder..'

"Someone," he said, "who can see the untapped potential you have, Scootaloo."

She gasped as he walked off, this time unstopped. She didn't know who this pony was beyond what he did today, but she knew for a fact she never told him her name...

transmission paused
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Operation: C.U.T.I.E.-M.A.R.K. (02)

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cd mission files
load operation_cutiemark.fnd
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"Ah don't get it," grumbled Apple Bloom, as she slurped on her milkshake after school the next day. "This pony don't like Diamond Tiara, but he don't like cutie marks. It don't make sense."

If any of them weren't suspicious of One-Hit Wonder after what happened yesterday, they certainly were now.

"Well, Apple Bloom, I guess he's just, well, I dunno, neutral?"

"What the hay do neutrons have to do with this?"

"I think she means we're not supposed to look too deep into what he said," Scootaloo pointed out. After thinking about it for a second, she affirmed, "Though that doesn't explain how or why he knew my name."

She had thought back to yesterday. Ms. Cheerilee hadn't called her name at all that class to answer a question. She did call Button Mash, Twist, Gallop J. Fry, and a couple other ponies, but not her.

And the only pony who would talk about her outside of class was Rainbow Dash, but she didn't think the two would get along.

"Scoots, ah have no idea if anythin' what he said can be taken at face value," Apple Bloom argued. "He was skepticy as can be."

"I think you're looking for the word shady," corrected Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom looked at Sweetie Belle, a perplexed look very blatant upon her face. "...okay, ah gotta ask. Since when did you become a dictionary alluvasudden?"

"Oh come on, Apple Bloom, I've been that way for years now."

"But ah've never really noticed 'til jus' now, what gives?"

As the two were fighting, Scootaloo had noticed that the colt had come in, gotten an ice cream – blueberry, by the looks of it - and sat down with Button Mash and Twist.

"Ah'm not saying bein' a dictionary is a bad thing, but most offuss don't even know what yer talkin' about sometimes."

"Well excuse me for knowing what these words are, Apple Bloom."

Scootaloo ignored them. They were just having a little argument. It wasn't the first time they argued about Sweetie's uncanny knowledge of certain words.

What she was interested in was the kind of talk the other group of fillies was having.

"...thho, you're thith One-Hit Wonder I'ff been hearing about?" asked Twist in her very noticable lisp. It'd been at least a year since Apple Bloom last talked to her, and it was surreal hearing her once again.

He nodded.

"Thweet. I'ff heard great thingth about you, and I'm thuper happy you're gonna be with uth!"

"Yeah!" squeaked the nasally voice of Button Mash. "I hear you're really good at video games."

'Video games?' she thought. 'Wasn't Button Mash the only pony who constantly played those things?...for that matter, did One-Hit Wonder even know what video games were?'

"Errrr, I'm not the best, but maybe," he chuckled.
'Apparently.'

"Now when did y'all become Scootaloo?"

"I'm not Scootaloo, I don't even have wings."

'Buhhhhh..'

"Well, One-Hit Wonder,” asked Twist. “I hear your mithhion ith going well?"

"But of course,” he drawled.

'Mitthion? Was she trying to say mission? Okay, this was getting-'

"Equestria to Scootaloo, come in Scoots!"

'Wait what-'

"Buh- wha- yes- Houston- I'm here!" she shouted. An awkward silence passed before Apple Bloom smiled. "Uhhh, I mean..."

“Scoots, ah was worried y'all were a mite hot under the collar, with the sweatin' an' all."

"O-Of course not. It's barely even 70 degrees out."

"So it is a crush on 'im," teased Apple Bloom.
Her heart skipped a beat.

"A c-crush?! On who?" This time, both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle giggled as she realized just who they thought she had a crush on. "No way. Me and him?!"

"C'mon, Scoots, ah ain't judging,” giggled Apple Bloom.

"No, seriously. I was just...uhhhhh..." She struggled to think of a good excuse. "Just uhhh...spyin' on him, that's all."

This did not make their smirks disappear. "To see why he's all shady and...stuff."

She looked back at the other group. One-Hit Wonder already had gotten up and said his goodbyes to Twist and Apple Bloom.

"You thure you know how to get to the treehouth?" asked Twist.

"I'm sure."

“Good. Meet uth at theven,” she waved.

As he left, so did Twist and Button Mash. And it was then that the Crusaders realized just where they talked about.

"...why are they going to the clubhouse?"

The fact that the trio was meeting up at what might be the Crusaders' clubhouse really startled the eponymous little fillies. It could easily be nothing. But the way One-Hit Wonder was acting all day yesterday and today certainly put that into doubt.

"I think we should investigate," Scootaloo suggested.

"What? Are you serious?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"I am. If we can find out what he's doing at the clubhouse, maybe we can find out what's really going on."

"Or maybe you can finally confess yer love to 'im."

The pegasus blushed and rolled her eyes. 'I am not in love with him...'

"Ah mean, ah'm up fer it,” reassured Apple Bloom, placing a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder, “but ah'll have to make sure it's okay with Applejack first."

"Same here, gotta let Rarity know,” Sweetie Belle confessed. “I mean, I don't think I'm busy tonight, but Rarity might need me for something.”

"Alright, that settles it. We meet at the Clubhouse at 6PM."

As it stood, they were all fully available.

Applejack basically told her sister, with a pat on her head, "Sure! Jus' don't get into too much trouble with Scootaloo's parents, alright?"

Rarity was much more encouraging, if the amount of bags and fancy stuff she sent with Sweetie Belle was any indication. “And remember, Sweetie Belle, if Scootaloo's parents offer dinner, be polite and eat it!”

Scootaloo didn't have much trouble in preparing to go to the treehouse. All she needed to take was her scooter, just in case they needed to bolt for some reason.

Regardless of their situations, it was now 6:30PM, and just as One-Hit Wonder's 'mission' was about to begin, so were the Crusader's.

"Any sign of him?" asked Scootaloo.

"Eenope. All ah see are trees."

"So standard fare," Sweetie sighed.

"Eeyup."

They kept looking throughout the hour. Unfortunately, for the first good part of the hour there was little to no sign of him. That was, until...

“I see him!" squealed Sweetie Belle.

"You do?!"

"Ya do?"
They scrambled to the lookout point. Indeed, Sweetie had actually spotted the young colt, walking along the forest path on his own. And...He continued to walk along the path, outright ignoring the clubhouse as he did so.

"Well, this might've been a bad idea," lamented the unicorn.

"Scoots, yer suuuure it was the Clubhouse?"

"Look, I know he said 'treehouse',” explained Scootaloo. “There's only one treehouse in the whole forest, and we're standing on the edge of it."

"Well, there might be more than one,” suggested Sweetie Belle.

“Maybe.”

Undaunted, they decided to undertake plan B, which was basically to follow him into the forest.

This proved simple enough; they were at the very least quiet enough so that sound wouldn't be an issue, and he didn't stray off the beaten path too much.

The colt finally stopped at a stump. He took a look around, to see if there was anypony there.

'Horseapples, if he finds us it's over!'

Finding no one, at least to his knowledge, in the general vicinity, he stepped onto the top of the stump, and placed his hoof on top of it. And with a loud, mechanical "SCHWUUP!", he went down through the very stump itself. The Crusaders took a moment to let that sink in.

"Whoaa..." gasped Apple Bloom.

"Whoa,” sighed Sweetie Belle.

“...okay, I wouldn't call it whoa,” Scootaloo deadpanned, “but it is strange.”

The Crusaders took a quick look around the stump to see what it actually was. It seemed to be just a 'normal' stump, the only difference being that it was apparently hollow.

"Though...now I'm a little scared."

"Oh c'mon, Scoots!” complained the young earth pony. “This was yer idea!"

"I know, but...you saw what just happened."

"Well, is it a good kind of scared, Scootaloo?" cheered Sweetie Belle.

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

They prodded the top of the stump, to see if something would happen this time. Nothing happened.

"Hmmm...ah dunno what he did to make it work,” noted Apple Bloom.

"Try standing on it?" asked Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom climbed onto the stump, to see if weight was an issue...nothing happened.

"Ah don't get it. It worked for him."

Scootaloo jumped onto it, to see if it needed more weight.. "Maybe he was doing a pose when he did it."
Then, finally, Sweetie Belle jumped onto the stump.

"Would a ballerina pose be a good one to try?"

"No, why would being a ballerina be super important?" asked Scootaloo. “...and why would One-Hit Wonder be a ballerina?”

“Ya never know. He could be,” mused Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo scowled. “I'm pretty sure he...”

A tingle in her nose started to form just then. She tried to finish her sentence to try and prevent what would happen next. ”He...he...hahhhh..”

But alas, it was destiny. “ACHOO!”

Her built-up mucus slithered all over the stump.

Click!

The three fillies screamed as the top of the stump suddenly gave way under their very hooves, and even more as they fell into the depths of the stump. It was a downward slide they slid down, but it was extremely nervewracking for all three of them, if their voices were anything to go by.

"I'M STARTING TO REGRET THIIIIIIIIS!"

"THIS IS WAAAAAY TOO FAAAAAAAST!"

"LAME APPLESAAAAAAAAAAAAUCE!"

Eventually, after a long, long slide down, they landed onto the ground, which was thankfully softened by a...pillow?

Upon further inspection it was indeed a bedroom pillow.

Once they could feel their legs, they started to take a gander at the place.

"What do y'all see?"

"I see a sign..."

It was dark inside the room. However, it was just light enough for her to read it.

"It reads...'push button to leave now'?" Sure enough, there was a button, one that was definitely red. Kind of like you'd see in one of those new sci-fi movies. "And then it reads...'Gauntlet just ahead. Beware, Adolt?' What the heck does that mean?"

"...maybe the button just leads us back outside," noted Sweetie Belle. "That makes sense, right?"

"Yeah, and there's clearly gonna be a staircase that'll just magically take us up from thirty thousand feet underground,” groaned Scootaloo. “Oh! Maybe it's a trampoline that'll make us jump outside, because it makes just as much sense as this."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "None o' this makes a lick of sense in all honesty. Ah'm startin' to think that this might be more trouble than it's worth." She looked towards where the Gauntlet sign was pointing, a lone door leading to who knows where. "But...ah guess we don't got much of a choice."

With their hackles up and with a gulp, they opened the door.

Inside the door was a long, LONG hallway. Farther than the stump led them to believe, and much farther than any of them had anticipated. However, to their surprise, it was a long, empty hallway.

Or so it seemed.

"Well, this seems friendly enough," smiled Sweetie Belle. "I'll just go on ahe-"

"No!" Scootaloo whispered, motioning her friend to stop before something happened.

She recalled Rainbow Dash reading these Daring Do books to her before, and she definitely remembered that hallways like these were never truly empty. She scanned the surrounding area. Although by all perception it looked empty, she noticed several slits and holes in the walls, as well as an incredibly uneven ceiling.

"Okay, I think this may be a 'death-trap' kind of gauntlet,” explained Scootaloo. “I'm nervous as anypony about doing this, but if we want to keep going, we need to be quick about it."

"Are ya sure?"

"I am. There's no way things are gonna be this easy. I mean, didn't the sign say 'beware'?"

Apple Bloom took a look ahead. "It sure seems empty t' me."

"I've read enough Daring Do to know why that is," confirmed Scootaloo.

"...ya read Daring Do too?"

"Not the point."

She looked ahead to see if there was an 'end' to this gauntlet. The only 'end' she saw was another door at the end of the hall. Hopefully that would be the end of it.

"Okay, on the count of three, we floor it. Ready girls?"

"Ready, Scootaloo!"

"Ready, Scoo- wait what."

She had her eye on the prize.

"One,” she counted..

"Scoots, this is a bad idea and ah don't think it's gonna-"

"Two.."

No pony was gonna stop them. No pony in Equestria would stop her from getting to the end.

"Scootaloo, ah really think we should-"

"Three!"

The Crusaders rushed forth to try and make it to the end.

Almost immediately the 'death traps' Scootaloo was talking about started to appear, ranging from candy corn arrows to gingerbread crushers to cookie cutters made of actual cookie crust. It would have been a dream come true for Pinkie Pie.

Now was not the time to think about that, however.

They dodged each sweet-themed death trap, not because they were good at it but because they needed to stay alive. Scootaloo shifted and swirled around these candy-corn arrows in her scooter, Sweetie Belle tried to magick away the cookie cutters, and Apple Bloom just swatted away the gingerbread crushers.

It was brutal, beyond anything any of them had ever experienced. But thankfully, the end was in sight.

"I see it! We're almost-"

Almost as if on cue, the walls shifted once more, and on either side, two pieces of peanut buttered bread started closing in at an alarming rate.

"We're not gonna make it!" called Sweetie Belle.

"Yes we are! I know we are!"

If they could just jump through, they would make it!

It was only a split-second margin of error they had to make the jump, Scootaloo calculated. She had to manage time on the fly in her training Rainbow Dash. But it was in that very split second that they made it.

They had surpassed the Gauntlet.

"I can't believe we made it.." breathed Scootaloo.

They took a moment to breathe before looking back at the gauntlet. Indeed, as Scootaloo had predicted, it was a death trap marathon. But why was it sweets themed? Scootaloo walked over to the bread and, for lack of a better idea, tasted it.

“Scootaloo, are you crazy?”

She took a moment to let the substance sit in her mouth. After a few seconds, she confirmed her suspicion. “It's definitely peanut butter.”

They shared an awkward silence. “Why in Equestria would a death trap be sweet?” asked Apple Bloom. “Ah don't have any clue why anypony would do that, and it don't make a lick of sense.

They decided to leaned closer to the door to see if there was anything else up ahead.

"...tho, Numbuh 911, you're thure that they're going to attack on Thunday?"

None of them could doubt it. That was Twist's voice.

"Course I am, Numbuh 1619," drawled the voice of One-Hit Wonder. "If this is indeed 'Brandon Brander' we're talking about, I have no doubt he will strike at the crack of dawn."

If the alarm bells didn't sound before in their heads they certainly did now. So they listened intently.

"But why Ponyville?" asked what appeared to be Button Mash's voice. "Shouldn't he be in Manehattan right now?"

"I have no clue, honestly. But all the signs are there, and with this being a three-day weekend, he's more than likely to strike. I'd advise all operatives in Sector P to at least be on guard."

All three Crusaders were alarmed. This was the very proof that something was very suspicious with One-Hit Wonder. This wasn't just him being shady. This was an outright conspiracy. One that Twilight would go nuts over. But now Twist and Button Mash were a part of this conspiracy. Several questions ran through their heads.

What were they up to?

Why did they have numbers?

And just who the heck was Brandon Brander?

"Ah'm startin' to like this less n' less," whispered Apple Bloom. "Can't we jus' go home?"

"Not until we get answers. Look, I'm sorry I had to put you two through this, but it was gonna bug me until it happened."

"But it was fun, right?" chirped Sweetie Belle with a weak smile.

Scootaloo paused. "Er...well.."

"Because I certainly had fun."

"Well, as much as ah'm scared outta mah wits...ah had fun too,” Apple Bloom admitted. Even if it is real dangerous."

Scootaloo smiled, and continued listening.

"Do we even know what kind of plan he's got, Numbuh 911?" asked Button Mash.

"No clue, Numbuh 64. However, the best defense in any attack plan is really, really thick pants. I'll have Numbuh 22nd Century develop flank armor. Am I clear, Numbuh 22nd Century?"

"You got it, Numbuh 911," spoke the ever-eager voice of Gallop.

'Great, he's involved too?' pondered Scootaloo. 'Are we the only fillies in our school who AREN'T involved?'

"Alright, are there any questions as of this time?" asked One-Hit Wonder. A pause. "Alright, in that case, I'll be right back. I'm kind of getting a little hot under the collar."

'Uh-oh', Scootaloo thought.

"It'th not even theventy degreeth out,” noted Twist.

"Still getting used to the weather here in Ponyville. Out of town, and everything. Give me a moment."

She motioned them to hide. Now. So they found a nearby cardboard box.

Apple Bloom gave her a look, one that clearly said 'are you serious?!'

Scootaloo nodded, so they hid under it.

As the colt came out, he paused. Almost as if he was thinking about something. Almost as if he were looking for something.

'At least he can't find us under the box-'

"You know, if you three wanted to come with me tonight,” he called, “you could have just asked."

'...Aww, crud.'

Without any further warning he lifted off the box from above. They gasped as One-Hit Wonder glared down at them.

"Nu-Numb- ER, One-Hit Wonder, I-"

"Don't think for a second I didn't anticipate you following me here," he growled, in a very angry tone. "Now, you three are going to tell me what you overheard and what you saw, and none of you are leaving until we are on the same page."

They explained to him everything they had heard, from the meeting at the 'treehouse' to the death traps to the mysterious pony named 'Brandon Brander'. He nodded as they listed these off.

"Very, very unfortunate, that you overheard this much."

"Look, we're really sorry we tried to follow you, apologized Scootaloo.,“but we just wanted answers. Answers less shifty than the ones you gave us.” She scowled at him in turn. “Because let's face it, you were being very vague yesterday."

He raised an eyebrow.

"But we didn't come all this way to be kicked out now. So you have to tell us what in all of Equestria is going on."

His face contorted, into one of surprise. A moment of silence passed, then...

"Fine."

The Crusaders smiled-

"But only if you promise NOT to tell anyone outside of whoever else is here. Alright?"

"We promise,” the three of them said, going through the motions of a Pinkie Promise. They could already tell that this was meant to be top-secret. Plus nopony would likely believe them if they talked about it, so..

"Very well. Come with me." And with that, One-Hit Wonder led them inside into what appeared to be a conference room. Inside the room were, as heard from before, Twist, Button Mash, Gallop, and even Berry Pinch and Dinky. To say these fillies were a little shocked was an understatement, if them pointing makeshift weapons at the Cutie Mark Crusaders was any indication.

"Stand down, everyone. I need to explain some things to them."

"Numbuh 911? What is the meaning of this?!" yelled Gallop. “You can't just blow our cover to-"

He glared at the orange-maned colt. "I said, stand down."

They paused, and then lowered their weapons. Scootaloo glanced over at the other fillies. These were their classmates, ponies they've seen all the time at Ponyville Elementary.

Yet they seemed different now, almost alien. Twist in particular seemed very somber when she looked at the Crusaders.

Once everypony was quiet, One-Hit Wonder scanned the room. Maybe, finally, after all that happened, they would get some answers.

"Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle. Since you three followed me all the way here at night, I suppose I owe you an explanation," he admitted. Clearing his throat, he explained, "I am Numbuh 911, a member of a global organization called the 'Foals Next Door', one which fights against the evil dominance of adult tyranny."

Confusion spread all across the Crusaders as they cocked their heads in confusion.

'Actually, forget anypony believing us, I don't even believe HIM.'

"What do you mean, 'adult tyranny'? That sounds a little ridiculous."

“Ah don't mean t' be rude,” Apple Bloom noted, “but that jus' sounds like y'all don't like adults.”

"It doeth thound ridiculouth, Apple Bloom," sighed Twist. "But it'th much, MUCH more complicated than that."

"You see," elaborated One-Hit Wonder, “you may call our disagreement with adults ridiculous, but there are many ponies, adult mares and stallions, that have an embedded and irrational hatred of foals, colts, and fillies, or anyone younger than them. And although I wish it weren't the case, most of these ponies let this hatred become their being. In many cases it starts with the discovery of one's cutie mark, but then it grows. It's a seed that cannot simply be unrooted."

"That's absurd," argued Apple Bloom. "Yer not saying everypony older 'n us hates foals?"

"Not everyone,” corrected One-Hit Wonder. “In fact, Ponyville seems to be an exception."

"Ah sure hope so, cuz mah sister Applejack's a grown mare and she loves me like ah were her daughter or somethin'."

"And Rarity, even though we have our little spats,” confessed Sweetie Belled, “my big sister's really nice most of the time!"

One-Hit Wonder smiled. "And Equestria could use more ponies like Rarity and Applejack. But..." A projector loaded up, and it displayed several slides onto a wall. Photographs of the horrors of whatever this 'adult tyranny' was. "The unfortunate truth is that most ponies are not like them. These ponies have suffered, much worse than one would by the hooves of an average school bully."

Among the ponies in these photographs were two unicorn colts being spanked by their parents.

"Snips and Snails. Beaten by their intellectual parents for not adhering to impossible standards."

Then a photo of a pegasus colt doing very hard labor, handling lightning with his bare hooves.

"Rainy Feather. Forced to work in the weather factory under the legal age."

The next slide showed-

"Wait, what's mah cousin doin' in there?!"

"Babs Seed. Pressured off from many stores and public services, if not outright banned, for not having her cutie mark like the rest of them."

This was enough to make Apple Bloom shake in fear.

"A-Ah knew she was bullied fer not having her cutie mark before, and she talked about it months ago, but ah didn't think it was this bad!" Apple Bloom stuttered.

One-Hit Wonder grimaced, as did the others. "Now you know what we're fighting to prevent."

"Wait a minute," interjected Scootaloo, "are you ALL really fighting? Against, well, this?"

Button Mash scowled. "Yeah, problem is, there are some adults, who have superpowers, beyond those of every unicorn that wasn't Twilight, that try to enforce this bias against foals. We call them 'supervillains', and it's tough for colts and fillies to fight against. That's where the Foals Next Door comes in."

"As you can see, we've been highly secretive for years," elaborated One-Hit Wonder, "risking our lives and sacrificing our foalhood to guarantee that the...well, foalhood of everyone else is safe and sound. Granted, it's been fun a lot of times, but it's highly dangerous."

"And...Twist, Button Mash, Small Fry, y'all were a part of this from the beginnin'?" asked Apple Bloom.
They looked at one another.

"Yeth. We were."

Apple Bloom's face was scrunched as she glared at Twist.

"So that's why you left me, that's why ah never saw or met with you again until...well, this. Ah thought ya left me cuz ah didn't have my cutie mark."

Scootaloo cringed. The two of them were best friends up until Twist got her Cutie Mark.

"Apple Bloom, I wanted to tell you, I truly did!” pleaded Twist. “I wanted to warn you about what wath going on. I wanted to make thure you didn't throw your life away for your cutie mark! But...but I didn't want you to think I wath no better than..." A lonely tear dripped from her glasses as she said the next few words. "...than Diamond Tiara."

A silence passed between the two fillies for a small, fleeting moment.

"This would be where I would end my explanation," sighed One-Hit Wonder, "and I would ask you to leave. The exit is, for reference, at the beginning of the Gauntlet, and it's supposed to trampoline you out."

“Called it,” Scootaloo muttered. 'I can't believe I called it. I was just joking!'

"That being said, however...you came in through the Gauntlet."

Their heads perked up at this.

"Yeah, actually I was wondering about that,” Scootaloo scowled. “Why have all those death traps?! And...why were they all sweet-based?"

"Although they're not DEATH traps per se,” explained One-Hit Wonder, “they were placed in case an intruder found his way to the entrance. Most ponies can't even make it all the way through without being stuck."

"Stuck? Okay, so that's why it's sweet themed."

"Actually," interjected Gallop. "I was trying to make it lactose-themed for months now, but they decided to go for glucose instead. Numbuh 302 said it went bad fast, but lactose-based products have a better stickifying effect if you ask me."

"Thank you, Numbuh 22nd Century," groaned One-Hit Wonder. "Anyway, usually only Foals Next Door operatives make it through in one piece. What really interested me is that you three made it all the way through with no powers or no idea what to expect." He approached them, as if to fully confront them. "So with that in mind...would you three be interested in joining the Foals Next Door?"

To say the Crusaders were shocked was an understatement. They'd just met this pony, this One-Hit Wonder, who's apparently part of a top-secret worldwide super foal soldier fighting for the rights of foals everywhere. This pony, who was very experienced if his squabble with Diamond Tiara was proof of it. This pony was asking them to join their group. Of all the ponies in Equestria, One-Hit Wond- no, Numbuh 911 wanted the Cutie Mark Crusaders to join the Foals Next Door.

If they were dreaming, they might have woken up by now.

"Are you sure you want us to join you?” asked Scootaloo. “After what we said earlier about cutie marks?"

"An' yer askin' us if we want to put ourselves in danger the whole way?"

"Plus I'm pretty sure this is gonna get us in MORE trouble if things go wrong like we're used to, especially if Rarity or Twilight find out!"

He shook his head. "Again, I'm not going to force you," One-Hit Wonder admitted. "This is entirely your decision."

Scootaloo recalled exactly what he said. That their minds were still expanding. That they had the power to define themselves in ways other than their cutie marks.

That he was, indeed, somepony who could see the untapped potential in her.

"Okay,” sighed Scootaloo. “I know I'm really gonna regret this somewhere along the line, and it's gonna suck for everypony involved, but...I'm in."

One-Hit Wonder gave a small smile.

"And are you willing to give it your all in the Foals Next Door to help defend the rights of our youth?"
Scootaloo returned his smile with a determined face of her own.

"I am."

After a moment, Sweetie Belle said, "I'll join, if Scootaloo's in."

The two fillies looked at their Crusader leader in expectancy. After a few seconds, Apple Bloom sighed. "...shoot, if y'all are doin' this, ah guess ah'm in as well."

"Excellent!" One-Hit Wonder exclaimed. "I'll be seeing the three of you tomorrow afternoon at Sugarcube Corner to go over the details of your official training."

"Training?" the three of them asked.

"Yes. There's an official training program, a boot camp if you ask me, that all cadets must go through in order to become full-time Foals Next Door operatives."

'Boot camp? That sounds terrible!' thought Scootaloo.
Then, Numbuh 911 smiled. "However, if the talent I see in you all is indeed your untapped potential, I have no doubt you'll be among the stongest operatives in the organization..." he glanced at Scootaloo, "if not outright the best."

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

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

Author's Note

Incoming encrypted transmission
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZRT
BZZZZZZRZTRSTRZRRT
TvTGF9uGypZ3ssFkvcxqWKuaCSgcot5enEHut44g4QU4A6UpueXGNix9YxkpuD7KeiyLip9F9dTlZTVvfMC4NQ==
BZZZZZZRZTRSTRZRRT
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZRT

Operation: C.U.T.I.E.-M.A.R.K. (03)

please enter your codenumbuh
2388
please enter your password for confirmation
AnonIsAMeaniePants▮
confirmed
logging in...
Successfully logged in!
cd mission files
load operation_cutiemark.fnd
continue transmission▮

The next day was a Friday, and once class was over it would mark the beginning of a three-day weekend, a break from schoolwork coveted by many fillies. For Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, however, this marked the beginning of a new era in their lives.

Indeed, they had accepted the offer of One-Hit Wonder, codenamed Numbuh 911, to join the unfamiliar organization called the Foals Next Door. It was only last night that they had been informed of the worldwide battle to end this horrible yet ridiculous concept called 'adult tyranny'. The details still remained fresh in their minds, and many questions swirled in their heads like cotton candy in a machine. Was everything they'd been taught growing up really a lie? Was having a cutie mark really all that and a bag of Nightmare Night candy?

But that wasn't their concern right now. Instead, their concern was class. The clock continued to tick in what seemed like the longest day of school they'd ever had.

Today, in World History, Ms. Cheerilee was talking about the history of Equestrian Wars, including the Saddle-Equestrian War of 711 ALB. Specifically, she was lecturing her young, studious fillies about the fateful terrorist attack the Saddle Arabians made on Canterlot on June 26th of that year.

However, for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime, the Crusaders weren't paying full attention. For one, it may have been that they would get to know the full truth behind these different wars. Or, it might have been that they would be able to make history, one that might not go down in the 'adult'-made books. Or, it could have been that they were busy staring at the clock.

Whatever reason, be it mundane or mysterious, they forced themselves to seem like they were paying attention.

'RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!'

"Alright class, once again your homework is to complete the questions in page 33 in your History Book," the teacher beamed. "Have a wonderful 3-day weekend!"

With no more distractions to concern themselves over, the students all rushed out the door to enjoy their weekend, and the Crusaders, Twist, and Button Mash - now or soon to be known as the Foals Next Door - headed to Sugarcube Corner...

"It was real nice of ya to treat us today, Twist!" smiled Apple Bloom. "Ah mean, ah know we're doin' official stuff an' all, but we could've paid for mah own."

"Oh, it wath nothing," Twist lisped. "However, even if you offered to pay it still would have been free."

"Why not?" she asked.

"Well, thith ith the funny thing, right?” she smiled. “You know how One-Hit Wonder ith new to Ponyville?"

Indeed, it was only a few days ago that One-Hit Wonder had come to Ponyville. It was all but assumed that he moved in out of nowhere, from the island off the coast of Saddle Arabia, but even that was put into doubt now.

"He's been here since Tuesday,” Scootaloo mused. “Why?" It took a split-second before she realized what she meant. "Oh, you mean-"

Almost if it was on schedule out of the blue came the sights noises of party poppers, horns, and confetti as Pinkie Pie, Ponyville's Premiere Party Planner sprang out of nowhere to welcome the fillies that sat at the table. Indeed, because One-Hit Wonder was, in fact, a new pony by default, he had the esteemed privelege of getting an all-expenses paid 'Welcome to Ponyville' party from Pinkie Pie herself. And with her came the guest of honor, One-Hit Wonder himself.

He was so happy to be here, he even wore an over-the-top party hat, just for the occassion. His deadpan, unamused scowl spoke volumes of his enthusiasm over the party she threw for him. One Pinkie Pie left to go get the cake and ice cream, he sighed.

"I look ridiculous."

Scootaloo had to stiffle a giggle.

"Yes, go on, laugh it up," he grumbled. "I just wish someone-" (here he glared daggers at Twist, who gave him a toothy smile in return) "-had told me about Pinkie Pie."

"Oh lighten up, One-Hit Wonder," chuckled Scootaloo. "It's a party."

"Yes, a party that is wholly unnecces-" he complained, before being rudely shushed by everypony at the table. "...What?"

"Rule of hoof,” Sweetie Belle warned, “if Pinkie Pie offers a party on her paycheck, never refuse.” He tilted his head in confusion. "Trust me on this."

He sighed. "Very well. However, we need to go over basic information about the enrollment to the FND Training Academy; we can't simply put it off because of a party."

"Right."

One-Hit Wonder had explained to them the night before that the location of the academy was, simply put, very cold. So when he laid down a couple of posters, advertising a place called "Camp Maredock", a 'fun for fillies of all ages summer camp', complete with pictures of fillies having fun in Spring-Time activities, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were baffled.

"...ah thought this was a winter camp, not a summer camp," Apple Bloom remarked. The way One-Hit Wonder described made it sound like it was a grueling process. This didn't look anything like it.

"It'th not," Twist whispered. "Thith ith juthet the cover-story. We don't thow the actual Camp Maredock for obviouth reathons. Uthually, we taketh new recrutth during the thummer, and it goeth from the firtht of June to the theventh of July, and 'thummer camp' ith the typical cover thtory."

"But why obscure the winter part?" asked Sweetie Belle. “I thought most fillies would love to play in the snow.”

"Well, that's a fair point," smirked Button Mash, "but most fillies don't play in the snow during the summer. And would your parents be willing to send you off to the military?"

"...good point.”

“However,” noted Scootaloo, “it's the middle of April, so there's still a ways to go, right?"

"Applications go from-" began One-Hit Wonder, before pausing. "...hold on a second."

He motioned everyone to quiet down as the bounding steps of Pinkie Pie came pronking forth with the party food. She'd baked him a huge, extravagant cake, gihugic in stature and slathered with blueberry-colored frosting. There were six miniature fake party cannons placed on the edge of the layers, colored velvet red for the occasion.

"Here you go, One-Hit Wonder a cake with very berry blue! I baked it extra special, and it's just for you!" she sang, prompting a couple of giggles from the other fillies. She also put the rest of the desserts on the table, including a trio of milkshakes for the Crusaders, a peppermint chocolate bar for Twist, and a sundae for Button Mash.

"Miss Pinkie Pie, this really isn't necessary," he complained.

"Oh, quit being such a silly filly, One-Hit!" she beamed. "I mean, it's not banana this season."

He rolled his eyes as she bounced off. "'Not banana this season', she says," he deadpanned. "I do not understand her at all." Twist coughed.

"Well, er, do you like blueberry?" Scootaloo sighed.

"Yes, but that doesn't explain how she knows I like it," he grumbled. "And let's not get into what she calls a 'doozie', or her twitchy tail, or-"

"Don't ya worry none 'bout Pinkie, One-Hit," reassured Apple Bloom. "She's just being Pinkie."

"...just being Pinkie? What in the world does that mean?"

Scootaloo tried to go into more detail, but Twist cleared her throat, so she decided not to. They were getting off-topic, anyway.

"Anyway...applications go from the 5th of January to the 8th of May, so I'll need the three of you to fill out a basic form so an official Foals Next Door operative can submit them to Global Command."

"Global Command? Where's that?"

"On the Cloudbase," explained Button Mash. "Oh pony, the Cloudbase. It's this really cool cloud-tree-station-thing that orbits Equestria and it's where the Soopreme Leader, Numbuh X-squared commands all active operatives."

"Really?" asked Scootaloo.

"Yep. I'll explain more on the trip to Camp Maredock. But it's super cool," he gushed, "and I highly recommend checking it out when you get a chance. It's got these super-cool new inventions called elevators and escalators, and don't even get me started on the sliding doors, and-”

So Button Mash, Twist, and One-Hit Wonder were gonna escort them to either the camp or the Cloudbase. That seemed really cool.

One-Hit Wonder cleared his throat. "Since apparently we're getting off-topic again," One-Hit pointed out, glaring at Button Mash as he did so, "I'll give these forms to you now, but you have to fill it out on your own time without anyone else watching. Is that clear?"

The Crusaders nodded, and he smiled. "Alright. Now...apparently I've got a huge cake to eat."

So they cut it into several slices so everypony could enjoy it. One-Hit Wonder got the first slice, obviously, but he offered the second one to Scootaloo. She accepted it, and savored the taste of blueberry. It was delicious. As they talked, they used the meeting slash party to catch up on what the other was up to these days, and what things they were up to outside of the Foals Next Door, and what kind of hobbies One-Hit had, etc.

As she munched on her slice, she noticed something very odd. Not once had Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon butt in to mock them. Not that she complained, but it was very weird. Usually they would come to pick on them at this time.

So she looked out the window to see what the outside was like right now.

And that's when she saw the both of them, smiles on their faces, confronting a large stallion, about the size of Big Macintosh, with a cowboy hat, a bandana, and a very thin staff.

This made alarm bells inside her ring very loudly. Typically, Diamond Tiara would avoid those kinds of 'disgusting mud ponies', not befriend them. So why in Equestria would-

"You alright?" asked One-Hit Wonder.

She blinked. Apparently she was staring off at a distance.

"Kinda. Hey, One-Hit Wonder, I got a question."

"Shoot."

"Well..." she gulped. "who is this Brandon Brander you were talking about earlier?"

He grimaced. "Remember those supervillains we talked about? He's one of them."

“Yeah...he'th nath-ty,” affirmed Twist. “Like, thuper creepy nath-ty.”

"Ah...I see. What does he, well, do?"

Diamond Tiara was talking to this stallion, and he seemed to have a smug grin on his own face as well. He had a deep, chocolate-brown coat.

"He's made it his goal to give every little filly in Equestria his own 'brand' of Cutie Mark,” explained Button Mash. “Normally it would be a good thing, but the problem is, the ones he gives out are cursed; they rapidly increase the rate of aging, and dulls their personality. Plus, he doesn't give them much of a choice. It's just sick and wrong.."

“So he's like this Starlight Glimmer pony Rainbow Dash talked about weeks ago,” she mused.

“Well,” admitted Twist. “I'll have to double check, but I think Tharlight wath a Foalth Next Door operative, but got kicked out for being an extremitht againtht all cutie markth.”

Diamond Tiara gave him a bag of bits, and smiled up at him. He took it, and said what she could have sworn was a 'thank you'.

"Which is why Sunday, I want you, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to remain OFF the streets," commanded Numbuh 911. “Got it?”

"Got it. But er..."

He shook their hooves, and they walked off as pompously as they ever had.

"What exactly does he look like?"

"Unicorn with brown coat and bandana," Twist explained, "though it'th kinda hard to tell with hith bandana on...He'th a darkly one, jutht tho you know."

"He's also got this evil looking cowboy get-up besides," Button Mash shuddered. "Cowmare boots, cowmare hats...kinda like Applejack, only eviler."

"Is 'eviler' even a word?" questiond Sweetie Belle.

"Ah think so, probably."

"No, I'm pretty sure-"

Scootaloo cleared her throat to get their attention, and took one last look outside the window. The stallion was now heading over towards Sugarcube Corner.

Towards them.

"You said he was coming on Sunday, right?" asked Scootaloo.

"Yes, if previous records of his attacks are to be believed," One-Hit Wonder noted. “I mean, a three day weekend is a prime time to attack.”

"Did they say anything about bribery?"

He blinked. "No, why?"

Then, realization dawned on them just as Brandon Brander walked through the door and toward the table the little ponies were sitting at. Everypony's hackles tightened in fear and anticipation as he licked his lips and gave the foals a toothy smile.

“Good afternoon, fillies and colts...” he grinned, his gravelly voice dripping with venom.

Button Mash glared at him. “What are you doing here, Brandon?”

He sneered. “Y'all probably know why Ah'm here, lil gamer grub,” he explained. He pointed towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders, “but ah'll tell ya. A lil' birdie told me these lil' uns didn't have their cutie marks yet.”

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom instinctively covered their flanks.

“Oh, don't you worry none, little 'uns,” the stallion chuckled, “Ah'm not gonna hurt y'all. If y'all will sit still, it'll be over before you know it-”

“Did Diamond Tiara send you to- mmmpgh!” blurted out Scootaloo, before One-Hit Wonder covered her mouth and stuck his front leg before her.

He grinned, bearing his unpolished teeth in the process. “Oh, she did, and it was the derndest thing, too! These lil' rich fellers told me about 'oh how horrible it was you all didn't have yer cutie marks', and 'oh Mister Brandon sir, could you give these three poor unfortunate fillies the thing they've been searching for their whole lives?'...” he said, mimicking Diamond Tiara's obnoxious voice. “They're real cute.”

“Forget it,” warned One-Hit Wonder, giving the stallion a deep glare. “They're not interested.”

He glared at One-Hit Wonder. “Ah didn't 'spect to see you here, Numbuh Nine-One-Wonder,” Brandon Brander snarled. “But ah'll 'scuse that, considerin' you don't have yer cutie mark either.” One-Hit Wonder's scowl deepened, causing him to gwaffaw. “Yer all real cute, ya know that?!”

“Yeth,” Twist smirked. She looked at Button Mash and One-Hit Wonder knowingly, the latter of which levitated the remaining cake off the table. “And you know what elthe we are?”

He cocked his head. “Y'all tell me, Miss Sweetsmaker.”

And in that moment, One-Hit Wonder, known now as Numbuh 911, donned a pair of sunglasses, to indicate that it was on. “Foals Next Door...BATTLE STATIONS!”

Immediately after he called that out, Brandon Brander shot a quick bolt of magic towards them. Button Mash (codenamed Numbuh 64, as the Cutie Mark Crusaders recalled) jumped upwards with a makeshift gun-like weapon, while Twist (codenamed Numbuh 1619) and Numbuh 911 forced the table down to act as a shield. It proved surprisingly effective, and the table suffered little more than a dent and a few burn marks.

As Numbuh 64 whistled for every other operative in the room to gear up, Numbuh 911 turned to the Crusaders. “If Brandon so much as touches you with his Cutie Mark staff, you'll be 'marked' with his curse marks, and it's going to be a very rough process getting it removed.” He gave them a makeshift knife slash gun slash...ranch, apparently. “This is a-”

12345123451234512345123451234512345123451234512345123451234512345
FOALS NEXT DOOR 2X4 TECH: R.A.N.C.H.E.T.E.
Really
Awesome
Nife-
Cannon;
Horse-ranch
Engaged
To
Equalizaer
12345123451234512345123451234512345123451234512345123451234512345

“-and it's set to defense. Use it to defend yourselves if he finds you. Stay there, and don't let him anywhere near you, got it?”

In fear, they nodded, and took the custom arms and he leapt into battle with his own R.A.N.C.H.E.T.E., dueling Brandon against his own staff.

They marvelled as the three operatives, now joined by Gallop (codenamed Numbuh 22nd Century) and First Base (who they didn't see at the meeting), effortlessly fought against this first adult supervillain as he whipped and swung his Cutie Mark staff around. He was a pony that Twilight could have easily taken down, though they noted that he was a lot stronger than most of the bullies she'd taken on before. So to see these foals take him on like they were, that left the Crusaders awestruck.

That being said, however, Brandon Brander was putting up a heck of a fight. He managed to block every attack the operatives mounted on him, and even countered them. For what it was worth, the Crusaders helped by shooting their R.A.N.C.H.E.T.E., but it did really little in comparison to what seemed like years of experience from Numbuh 911 and his friends.

Soon, Scootaloo started to notice something. “Aw no, I think I'm running out of ranch!” At the sound of her voice, Brandon's head immediately screwed towards their location, and he started walking over to them.

“Eep!”

Numbuh 911 jumped in between the stallion and the table, and boldly declared, “You will not pass.”
“Ahahaha...y'all crack me up, sometimes,” he grinned, as he cast a bolt of magic.

“Oof!” grunted Numbuh 911 as he got hit with the spell, subduing him onto the floor with the Crusaders and knocking off his sunglasses in the process.

“Numbuh 911!” gasped Scootaloo. She shook him to try to wake the unicorn foal, while Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom kept firing with what little ammo they had left.

“Uuuurnnnnnng...” moaned Numbuh 911 with very little semblance of conciousness. “...don't turn the telly off yet, mummyyy....”

Soon, even Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bwelle ran out of ammo. Noticing their leader was down, Numbuh 1619 and Numbuh 64 called the others to dogpile onto Brandon. Unfortunately, he knocked them all back with a shield spell. As if he'd never been attacked, he walked forward to Numbuh 911.

“It's yer lucky day, nine-double-one,” he cackled. “Time for yer brand new cutie mark..”

Scootaloo looked at the adult, the monster that was about to fully defeat her friend. There was no way she was strong enough to take him on.

Then, she looked at his birthday cake, which was only partially eaten, with the fake party cannons still on the second laye-

'Wait...I got it!'

Without warning, she grabbed one of the miniature party cannons.

“Scootaloo, are you crazy?!” asked Apple Bloom.

But Apple Bloom's warning was ignored as the pegasus filly shot forward to cover her new friend, and aimed the fake cannon at the adult.

'BOOM!'

Brandon Brander was taken aback as the fake cannon actually shot a dense load of confetti and cake batter towards him, and he was knocked back, presumably out for the count. The other operatives slowly got up to see if Brandon Brander would get up as well.

“...”

After ensuring that he was in fact knocked out, they tied him up so he wouldn't be able to attack them when he regained consciousness.

Slowly, slowly, Numbuh 911 himself started to rouse from his forced slumber. “Urrrgh...what happened?”
Scootaloo took a deep breath, then explained, “The mini-party cannons on the cake had actual party cannons in them...I used them to take out Brandon.”

“You did? So you're the saviour of this mission?” he asked. She nodded. “...and how did a decoration contain a weapon?”

“Pinkie Pie?” asked Twilight, as she tried to calm her pastel-pink friend down. She came in here a few minutes ago and was tearing the castle apart in trying to find something. “What are you looking for?”

“One of my party cannons went missing!” Pinkie hurriedly explained, as she took a look in the library. “I think I left it in here when I was hiding them a few weeks ago, and I'm just trying to make sure I didn't leave one in here from then!”

“Are you sure it's not in the cake you said you were making for the new pony?”

“One-Hit Wonder? Yes, but I don't know if I hid it correctly! I can't believe I hid them so good!”

“...it's a long story,” Scootaloo chuckled. “But the important thing is, we're okay.”

Numbuh 911 nodded. “Good work, team..”

"Whoa! That wath awethome!" Twist complimented.

"You totally TKO'ed that scrub, Scootaloo!" squealed Button Mash. "He didn't see it coming!"

As the others cheered Scootaloo for the fact she took down a notorious villain, One-Hit Wonder started to walk off.

“Wait!” Scootaloo called. When he turned back to see what she wanted, she hooved him the glasses he lost.

“You forgot these.”

He paused for a moment, before telling her, “Keep them.”

“Wha- aren't they your's?” she asked.

“Yes, but...” he smiled. This, she thought, was the smile of a friend, “I think they'll look better on you.”

She gasped. “You really-” He nodded to confirm, and she returned his smile.

And as Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Twist, Button Mash, and every other operative in the room gave cheers to the savior of the day, Scootaloo smiled. If this was what being a Foals Next Door operative was going to be like, she'd be a part of it any day...

By Sunday, things got much calmer. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash had been told what happened at Sugarcube Corner, and the Crusaders told them some of the finer details. For obvious reasons, they omitted a few important details (i.e. Anything relating to the Foals Next Door), but they got the gist of it. Applejack and Rarity coerced their sisters into staying home for the whole of Saturday out of borderline parental worrying, but by Sunday Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were back in business. However, things were much different than before, and it was that afternoon that Scootaloo was heading towards the 'treehouse' on her scooter.

“Hey, Scootaloo!” called the brash voice of Rainbow Dash from atop a nearby cloud.

Scootaloo screeched to a halt. “O-Oh, hey Rainbow Dash!”

The rainbow-maned pegasus flew down to meet with her favorite filly. “So...I hear you're going to be off to Camp Maredock this summer, right?”

She gave a fake, cheesy grin. “Y-Yeah, it's gonna be super fun!”

Rainbow chuckled. “I'll bet. I hear it's really nice this time of the year.”

'By nice, it'll mean not as cold as normal..' lamented Scootaloo.

“Well, I just want to talk with you a second.”

'Uh-oh...'

“So...” Rainbow Dash declared, “I'm not entirely sure I heard correctly, but apparently you're the one who knocked this Brandon pony out a few days ago. Is that right?”

Scootaloo gulped. On one hoof, she wasn't allowed to talk about stuff involving the Foals Next Door, and she had to refrain from talking about her interaction with the supervillain. On the other hoof, this was Rainbow Dash, her idol and mentor way before One-Hit Wonder came to Ponyville. She couldn't just lie to her like that!

“...yeah.”

“Ah, I see...” Rainbow Dash trailed off for a second. Almost as if she were contemplating something. 'Almost as if she knew...'

“Why?” asked Scootaloo.

“Well, I mean, the pony was a jerk, to put it mildly,” Rainbow shrugged, putting a hoof around Scootaloo. “I'd rather you not get hurt, but everypony's gotta learn how to defend themselves at some point, so I'm glad you did it.”

'O-Oh..'

“Wow, thanks,” smiled Scootaloo, returning the warm embrace.

“Anyway,” Rainbow said, “I gotta run. The Princesses are holding the Summer Sun Celebration in a few weeks, and can you believe they asked me to perform a Sonic Rainboom at the celebration?!”

Scootaloo giggled. “I'd believe it. Nopony's as fast as you!”

Rainbow smirked. “You know it. Anyway, see ya, kid!”

And with that, Rainbow Dash flew off to go practice, leaving Scootaloo to head towards the treehouse. She waded her way through the thick of the woods upon her scooter until she found Numbuh 911 atop the same stump from before. Thankfully, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom found there way over at the same time.

“Greetings,” said One-Hit Wonder. “Did you get the form filled out?”

“You bet!” affirmed Scootaloo.

“Eeyup!”

“Yep!”

And they showed him the paperwork they had to fill out. He took a few quick glances at it before accepting it, and smiled. “Alright, I'll foward these to Cloudbase Headquarters, and in the meantime...” He levitated three tickets – train tickets, in fact – to the three little ponies, “here are your tickets. The train leaves on May 31st, destination: Maredock. Are you ready?”

Scootaloo smirked, and donned her new sunglasses. “I was born ready...”

end transmission
save mission specs? (y/n)
y
submit mission? (y/n)
y
logg out? (y/n)
y
numbuh 711 logged out▮

Author's Note

Numbuh 711 - Mission Logg #02

And with that, Operation: C.U.T.I.E.-M.A.R.K. comes to a close. But we're not done with Codename: Foals Next Door. No...we're just getting started.

One thing to note: I added the OC tag starting with this chapter with the proper introduction of the first of many FND-exclusive OC's in this fanfic, Brandon Brander. I decided to go for a gruff, tough cowboy adult as the starter, one that sounds like Grant Goodeve or something. He's the kind of fraud who promises something for children that they want, but gives them something they don't. Seriously, those guys are crazy!

Anyway, I think that's gonna be it for this mission logg. See you all next chapter.

incoming encrypted transmission
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZRT
BZZZZZZRZTRSTRZRRT
PzJmfHusPALbmH+jkPVtsFXkPDwXfh/dfrD8ZPMfg+c=
BZZZZZZRZTRSTRZRRT
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZRT
BZZZZZZZRTTTTis this thing working?
Okay, Numbuh 711 here. Sorry about that, the FND transmitter's been acting up lately, and it's been giving me encrypted messages for whatever reason. I'll try not to be too annoying with them, but just know it's gonna be a pain in the flank to keep it from acting up. In any case, I'm sure the encrypted messages aren't anything to worry about...
End transmission▮

Operation: C.R.Y.S.T.A.L. (01)

please enter your codenumbuh
711
please enter your password for confirmation
AnonIsAMeaniePants▮
confirmed
executive writing operative: numbuh 711, double-codenamed 'trojanhorse'
logging in...
successfully logged in!
cd mission files
load operation_crystal.fnd
now loading
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
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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...▮

Operation: C.R.Y.S.T.A.L. (02)

please enter your codenumbuh
2388
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anonisameaniepants▮
confirmed
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Successfully logged in!
cd mission files
load operation_crystal.fnd
continue transmission

Current time: 5:00 p.m. ponyville standard
current location: sombra road, crystal wasteland
current destination: camp maredock
current cabin: 20▮

“Is everypony settled in?” Button Mash called to the crowd of eager foalish recruits. Earth Pony, Unicorn, Pegasi, and Crystal Pony alike were settled in cabin 20, i.e. his room.

Just as Numbuh 58C promised, the H.O.R.S.E.P.O.W.E.R. was indeed fast. It was almost a blitz to get from the boarding station to a similar underground station in Canterlot; less than half an hour in fact. It took even less time to go from Canterlot all the way to the next-to-last stop at the Crystal Empire to pick up new Crystal Pony recruits. From there, it was a long road up to Camp Maredock, so for the moment the little ponies were interested in the training session the conductor had promised.

“Alright, we good? Okay, we good,” he smiled. “Alright, recruits, this is your first training session you'll encounter while in the Foals Next Door. If you're here, you're probably wondering how you're gonna get ever single bag you brought with you on this trip,” he explained, looking at Sweetie Belle as he talked about that last bit. She blushed furiously as he did so. “As Numbuh 85C explained, the guards will take your stuff at the gates, and if they find anything, it doesn't matter whether it's a bomb or a bag; if they find it, it's unofficially theirs. 'Finders, Keepers,' as they say. Furthermore, prior to disembarkation all recruits will be given a 'Recruit ID'.”

Here, he showed off what it looked like; it was a thick identification card with the FND logo, containing an unflattering picture of Button Mash when he was younger, as well as the year he joined. As the fillies snickered at how bad he looked, he continued, “Yeah, yeah, I know I'm not that good with pictures. Deal with it, scrubs. But the ID contains something that the guards are hardly ever aware of.”

He pressed a hidden button on the card, and it shot a green-colored laser on the floor, which in turn generated a full-sized GameBox Three, a controller and three games marked 'backlogg 2 compleet', prompting a number of whoaaa's, ooh's and ahh's from the crowd. He then pressed another button, and the pile of objects got zapped by a blue-colored laser which snatched up the objects into whatever was generating the laser in the first place. “This is what the research fillies down at the Science Lab have been working on for the past few years, and they've finally gotten out of beta and are currently testing it. It's what I like to call-”

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FOALS NEXT DOOR 2X4 TECH: S.M.U.G.G.L.A.R.
Securing
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'Gainst
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“...that's how.” Button asked, a smug grin spread wide on his face.

“Whoa, you're sayin' that this will let us sneak all our luggage past the guards?” asked Rumble.

“Precisely,” he answered. “They do a barcode scan, but they never check to see if the ID card itself has anything else. And it's just a one-time check at the gate, so after that you should be set.

“To create an ID, all you have to do is go to the minicomputer in your room – you probably already noticed it when you got your cabin number – and have it take a picture of you. There will be on-screen prompts that will tell you how to work the machine, but it should be pretty simple.”

Scootaloo nodded. She'd seen the device in her room when she first got there, but assumed it was broken or leftover from the last pony who used it. 'So that's what that was for... interesting.'

“Then, it'll take the picture and assemble an ID card which will have the S.M.U.G.G.L.A.R. in it. The blue button stores your luggage inside the device, which should be in the luggage department, while the green button rematerializes it. It won't work on other 2x4 technology, so as to not accidentally store the H.O.R.S.E.P.O.W.E.R., and for obvious reasons it won't work on other ponies or on the ground itself. But everything else is fair game. So...any questions?”

A Crystal Pony, Glass Slipper, raised her hoof. “So if we get our stuff taken because we didn't do this, will we get it back?”

Button Mash smiled. “Course you will...right after you graduate or get booted out of the academy. Whichever comes first. Next?”

Another Crystal Pony, Red Herring, raised his hoof, and asked, “I keep hearing about 2x4 technology but I'd like to know what that is. Can you say?”

“All recruits will be given an official, descriptive overview at the camp,” he explained, “but basically it's a special science that takes normally inconspictual...inconspiceral...” He stumbled on his words. “Oh, I know there's a word for it...”

“Inconspicuous?” Sweetie Belle corrected.

“Thank you!” he chuckled. “It takes inconspicuous objects and turns them into cool weapons and gadgets. Trust me, it's really cool! Next?”

An Earth Pony, Caramel Coffee, raised his hoof. “Why do you play your very few games on that piece of trash?”

“Next?” he asked, raising his voice.

“So that's it, then?” asked Pipsqueak, raising his hoof while doing so. “We jus' store our baggage an' go pas' the guards? That almost sounds too easy!”

“It's not,” Button warned, his tone becoming stern for once. “The guards haven't caught on that it's installed in every ID card yet, but they aren't dumb. If they see you walking through security check with a smug grin on your face, they'll immediately assume something's up, and ask to do another security check. If you are at all careless, you may be caught trying to smuggle your stuff in, and that will reflect poorly on your record from the higher-ups. I mean, they also know about it, but they choose to score you on it because it's important to get this...'bluff training', they called it, in. If you ask me, the name they gave it is stupid.”

“What a load of rubbish,” Pipsqueak muttered, unconvinced of this whole thing.

“And I'm glad you asked about that,” Button Mash said, his tone lowering further into something far more sinister, “because as the pony administering this bluff training, I'm required to give you a check-up. All of you.” The cabin fell silent as the implications of what he might do sunk in. He glanced at Pipsqueak and scanned him for a second. “Pipsqueak, was it? Do you have a crush on Princess Luna?”

His face contorted to shock. “W-What? No!”

Button Mash smirked. “First blood. Stuttering is pretty much a dead giveaway when asked a shocking question like that. I mean I'm not judging, buddy, but she's way out of your league.” Pipsqueak blushed as Button then turned to an Appleloosean who snickered at this lie being effortlessly snuffed out. “Apple Crumble.” Her snickering ceased. “I hear you like oranges. Am I right?”

“...no I don't!” she hissed, a blush forming on her face.

“You blushed,” Button commented. “It's rare for a guard to notice a blush, but it's helpful to figure out.”

“W-well, so what?” she whined, her face now as red as an apple. “It's not a crime to like both apples and oranges, is it?”

He looked around the room, trying to find a pony to demand a truth from. Inside, Scootaloo panicked. She did not want to be put on the spot like this.

'Don't pick me don't pick me don't pick me don't-'

“Scootaloo?”

'No!'

“Y-Yeah?” she asked.

He gave a grin far more sinister than that of any villain she had encountered up to this point. “Rainbow Dash, or One-Hit Wonder?”

The crowd 'oh'-ed as he asked that. Scootaloo took a deep breath and admitted, “Rainbow Dash.”

He raised an eyebrow at her answer. “Well I mean you all keep bugging me in saying that it's obvious, right?”

Button Mash chuckled. “Well, I'm sure you're telling the truth.”

“Course I am-”

“But,” he emphasized, so as to not let her get too excited, “a snappy attitude like that probably won't work too much in your favor when we get there. Fast-talkers typically don't last long against guards.”

Scootaloo paused. “They don't?”

“Security 101, recruit,” he explained. “The most likely suspects to be hiding something are those who try to fast-talk out of a security check.”
He tried to scan the room for another pony to call on, but Scootaloo was masking a sigh of relief. 'I can't believe he bought that,' Scootaloo thought. 'I mean, it was like picking between two kinds of chocolates, so...it wasn't really a lie. Kind of a half-truth..'

Pony by pony Button Mash called on to 'bluff check', with results ranging from “You paused,” to “What's with all the sweating?” to “Hmm, I believe you,” and the last pony on his list was-

“Apple Bloom?”

“Eeyup?”

“Dog pony, or cat pony?” he asked.

“Dog pony, duhhh.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You sure?”

“What kinda dog-owner do ya take me for?”

“So what was that thing you did with Opal a few weeks ago?”

Apple Bloom returned a scowl of her own. “Y'all seriously don't remember what ah've been doin' with Sweetie Belle and Scoots before?”

Button Mash's eyelids narrowed to what was almost a thin slit. “Who's to say you're not lying, Apple Bloom?”

A smirk emerged from her lips. “Yer forgettin' who mah sister is.”

Button's eyes widened in realization. “Oh. Right, Elements and...stuff.” He blushed in embarrassment as the fillies snickered at his blunder. “W-Well, anyway, that about does about it for this meeting.” He glanced up at the clock. “It's 5:45 right now, so that leaves you with about four hours to freshen up on your bluff skills. So go on, get some grub, and practice. And if any of the guards ask, tell them we never talked about this.” He cleared his throat before shouting, “FOALS NEXT DOOR RECRUITS, DISMISSED!”

With that, the recruits left the cabin in about as orderly a fashion as you would expect from a group of colts and fillies.

current time: 6:30 p.m. ponyville standard
current location: still sombra road, crystal wasteland
current cabin: 11▮

“Scoots, yer not eatin',” noted Apple Bloom, pointing to the plate of unfinished, delicious-looking food on her friend's plate.

“I'm just not that hungry,” lied Scootaloo. She looked out of the window of her cabin, out at the thick fog that was cast over the wasteland of ice and snow.

“That's what you said when we went to lunch earlier,” Sweetie Belle pointed out. “You gotta eat something!”

“I'll be fine,” grumbled Scootaloo. “I think they'll have something to eat at Camp Maredock.”

Apple Bloom raised her eyebrow. “At nine in the dark.”

“They'll probably have some leftovers from dinner.”

Her eyebrows did not droop. “Leftovers from dinner at what's basically a boot camp.”

“Maybe.”

“Forgive me fer askin', but what's on yer mind?” she inquired.

“Well...” she sighed, “I'm kind of nervous. That's all.”

“Shucks, Scootaloo, ah am too,” reassured Apple Bloom.

“No, I mean like, we're hundreds of miles away from home, out in the middle of this frozen wasteland, doing something that may or may not be worth it. You'll have to forgive me for being a little scared, y'know?”

Then, right as she finished her sentence, Sweetie Belle gave her a thick, warm hug. “Don't worry, Scootaloo. We're in this together, and even if whoever's in charge is a mister grumpy-pants we'll still have each other.”

“Maybe,” she grunted.

A series of knocks landed on her cabin door, to which Scootaloo called, “Come in!” Through the door came Rumble and Dinky, both of which were srtill at the dining hall. She could tell because of the chocolate sauce on Rumble's face. Scootaloo gave a weak laugh. “Heh, sounds like you pigged out tonight.”

“Oh, did I ever!” Rumble smiled, a small burp escaping from his mouth. “Their ice cream is delicious!”

“Lemme guess,” observed Apple Bloom. “He ate the whole thing, didn't he?”

“He did,” Dinky confirmed, who then smiled up at the winter-grey pegasus. “But I think he looks kinda cute with it on.”

Rumble's face turned red as she said that. “No! I'm not cute!” The others giggled at his sudden outburst, and he scrambled to rectify the mess his face was in.

“Anyway,” said Dinky, her eyes rolling at his backpedaling, “the reason we came in here was to ask you if we could, well..”

“Well...?” Scootaloo asked, motioning her to continue.

“Well, we saw you at Sugarcube Corner back with Numbuh 911,” smiled Rumble, his voice turning eager, “and you were real amazing the way you took on that Brandon Brander jerk!”

“And you weren't here for this, Rumble,” Dinky noted, “but I saw them at the meeting the day before, and apparently they got past that death trap hall before getting trained!”

“And well, we were wondering-”

“If we could-”

“Join your team?”

They blinked. “Team? As in, at the camp?”

“Yeah,” explained Rumble. “Apparently the new ponies are supposed to form ranks or something, and pretty much the only thing is that we can't form a group of over five while at Camp.”

“Ah wasn't told 'bout this,” noted Apple Bloom.

“Problem is,” frowned Dinky, “if it's just me and Rumble I don't think there's much between us that can, well, get stuff done. But you three were pretty good, so...can we?”

Scootaloo smiled. “I mean, I'm probably not good enough for you two-”

“You not being awesome, what?” joked Rumble.

They shared a hearty laugh between them before Scootaloo responded, “Well, when you put it that way, sure! I wonder what they'll name our team...”

“Th' Foal Five?” suggested Apple Bloom.

“The Acuire-sition?” suggested Sweetie.

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders?” deadpanned Rumble.

“Oh come on, ponies!” grumbled Dinky. “I'm pretty sure I heard them say our name will just be a letter.” They chuckled as she pointed that out. “I'm serious! They're saying it'll be Sector E, or Sector V, or something like that.”

“Well, Ah dunno about y'all,” Apple Bloom snorted, rolling her eyes when doing so, “but ah'm gonna get seconds.” She started to get up with her plate and head back to the dining room.

“Me too!” chirped Sweetie Belle, levitating her own plate and leaving the cabin. She only stopped to call back to Scootaloo. “Scootaloo, are you gonna go too, or...?”

“Uh, I'm fine,” she said, looking back to her own still-unfinished plate.

“You sure?” asked Rumble. “Because they still got a lot of ice cream left.”

Scootaloo's belly rumbled upon hearing him say that. “Well...I guess it wouldn't hurt to have some. Just give me a minute.”

He nodded, and he and Dinky went with Sweetie Belle out of the cabin. She waited a moment, then looked back out the window. What she saw caused her to blink.

She had seen a campfire, a bright, bright campfire, out in the middle of the wasteland, with a set of old-fashioned tents and a uniformed stallion tending to the fire. Squinting, she saw that the pony was actually much older than the standard soldier in the Canterlot Army, and that the tents were not unlike those she might have read in The Knights of the Round Stable. The tents almost seemed medieval to her, in fact.

Then, the pony was prodded by two other, similarly-dressed stallions, holding spears of some weird kind, and the three of them doused out the fire and returned to their tents for what she assumed to be the night.

“Why in Equestria would these ponies be out this far from the Empire?” she wondered aloud.

“Scoots, you comin'?” called Apple Bloom.

She snapped out of her trance and called back, “Coming!” Ignoring the mysterious travelers, she rushed out to get some ice cream, and the sight of those stallions faded into the distance..

current location: camp maredock, crystal wasteland
current time: 9:00 p.m. ponyville standard
current order: restock on jett fuel and ice cream
note to conductor numbuh 58c: leave some ice cream for me, ya gloot! -numbuh 58b

9 o'clock rolled around faster than most of them anticipated, and very soon, they were closing in on Camp Maredock. As such, every pony created their own ID card and secured their luggage within the laser storage that was the S.M.U.G.G.LA.R. and prepared for disembarking. Scootaloo took a quick look out at the camp as the train approached it. Camp Maredock was in fact fairly inviting, albeit something you definitely would expect to see in a boot camp. It was being occupied by a number of foals, both colt and filly, who wielded hoofball launchers, spotlights, golf-clubs, party cannons of a different brand; almost a jackpot of Foals Next Door weapons in Scootaloo's eyes.

That did nothing to detract from the fear she had of attending the Foals Next Door Training Academy.

“Attention, passengers!” sounded the booming voice of Numbuh 58C. “We are approaching Camp Maredock. Prepare to disembark in T-minus less than thirty minutes. Retrieve your luggage and get organized just inside the gates. Numbuh O-57 will be with you shortly thereafter. Numbuh 58C, out!”

And those 'less than thirty-minutes' passed like nothing. Soon enough, they passed underground into the Camp Maredock boarding station that, while not even close to as fancy as Ponyville or Canterlot, was still relatively clean. As the foals disembarked, they started to notice two guards – a colt and filly respectively – who had wrinkles and what appeared to be mane on their faces. Scootaloo could have sworn the wrinkles were pencilled in.

Foal by foal went through a process where they scanned their ID onto a glass pane. It glowed green if it was successfully 'scanned', but glowed red if it wasn't working properly. They all did this before entering the gates, where they would stand at attention and wait for an instructor to appear before them. Scootaloo held her breath as her ID was scanned and accepted, and only exhaled once she was sure she got past the guards. She then trotted to her friends and waited for this Numbuh O-57.

Soon enough, the operative himself walked out of the front door. He was a light-purple colt with a dark green helmet. He wore a thick green coat with several medals of different colors embedded upon it, and with slits in the uniform to let his wings stretch. His face was covered in red, a thick scar-shaped marking on his left eye. Behind him, there was a whole mess hall with an array of tables. Behind him were two halls going to his left and right. All around, the place was colored ice-blue, giving a friendly reminder that this pace was brutally cold.

“Attention!” he barked, his voice sharp enough to act as a knife. “I am Numbuh Oh-Five-Seven, and I've been given either a blessing or a curse to have you little foals under my instruction! I don't expect any of you sorry lot to survive without cryin' for your parents, but it is to my understanding that you won't! However, if you desperately want to be Foals Next Door material you gotta prove you're Foals Next Door material, so from 6 at dawn until 9 at dusk, you will be undergoing hard, hard training to work those horns, hooves, and feathers to their very best. And if you expect things to be as simple as eatin' cake or ice cream, you got another thing coming!”

Scootaloo winced as he shouted his plans. One-Hit Wonder wasn't kidding when he said this was gonna be like a boot camp. This Numbuh O-57 definitely played the role of boot-camp instructor. His voice was incredibly gruff, though she noted that it was about as gruff as a colt could be, and almost a satire of the typical boot-camp instructor.

“Before we start any official training, rule of thumb is that I am to be called 'Commander'. Right now, I want all recruits in be, because it's currently past light's out, which are as strict as they're going to get. Bunks are down to my right,” He gestured with his left hoof towards that hall. “..and your bunk number is the same as your cabin number.” An awkward silence passed through the crowd of recruits as they waited for him to continue his speech. “I said NOW, maggots!”

The bunch of recruits didn't need any more convincing right then. “Sir yes sir!” they shouted, and they quickly marched out down the left hall to find their beds. Scootaloo made three mental notes to take with her to bed.

One, that this was gonna suck, whether she wanted it to or not.

Two, that this was exciting because if Numbuh O-57's training is as over-the-top as his voice was, this wasn't going to be quite as bad as she feared, even if it was cold.

Three, that she needed to not get on Numbuh O-57's bad side.

As she found her bed and tried to get adjusted to it (the bunk was very uncomfortable when compared to the cabin's), she made one final note before the lights shut off.

Four – 'What have I gotten myself into?'

*click*
*bzzrt*

current time: 9:45 p.m. ponyville standard
time of arrival: 9:30 p.m. ponyville standard
preparing to disembark...▮

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

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

Author's Note

Numbuh 711 - Mission Logg #04

I agree with Caramel Coffee. Squee-U is best console.

There's quite a bit in this chapter: A new piece of 2x4 smuggling technology, some mysterious stallions, a bunch of lamb-bashing in the absense of Button Mashing, some silly British accents and a lead into what may be the most difficult thing I have yet to write - the speech patterns over-the-top drill sergeant. Oof...

This chapter was pretty good to write, but I feel like next chapter will be even better for me to write. Until then, Numbuh 711 out!

End transmission...▮