Paw Prints - A Crusader Teens Mystery
Chapter 1: Acclimation
Chapter 1
Morning broke in Ponyville, and it was already shaping up to be another beautiful, cloudless day. The sunlight spilling in through Rarity's kitchen window illuminated a cozy, colorful dinette and three teenage ponies, already up and hard at work around the table. Today they had commandeered a large pile of Rarity's sewing materials and were using them to make big, gray, rat plushies.
"...and that's why Snails and Silver Spoon never came back to the Homecoming rally!" finished Sweetie Belle, pulling a stitch taut. "It took the firefighter-ponies two hours to get their braces untangled!"
"I guess the firefighters are trained to deal with the worst sights imaginable," said Scootaloo. They both burst out laughing.
Apple Bloom, who had been very quiet up until now, suddenly threw her plushie down on the table and said, "Look, ah'm sorry, but does this plan strike anypony else as just a little too crazy?"
They both stared at her for a moment.
"Of course it's crazy," said Scootaloo at last, resuming her sewing. "That's the brilliance of it. That's why they'll never see it coming!"
"Ah just can't shake the bad feelin' ah have about all this."
"But it's your plan!" said Sweetie Belle. "And it's a good plan."
"Except for all the sewing," complained Scootaloo. Her hoof slipped and she accidentally stuck herself with the needle. "Ouch! Darn it, this is so hard!"
"I don't know how Rarity does it all day," said Sweetie Belle.
"At least you have magic," said Scootaloo. "You should try sewing with just your hooves! Good thing the unicorns do all the tayloring around here. I have no idea how pegasi are supposed to clothe themselves."
"I guess that's why pegasi used to wear a lot of togas," said Sweetie Belle.
"Listen to me, will ya!?" shouted Apple Bloom, pounding on the table.
The other two looked up, surprised.
Apple Bloom took a deep breath and let it out again. "Look," she said, "Ah know that we've been doing all manner of crazy an' dangerous an' jus' downright horse-apple insane things for years now--"
"Yeah," said Scootaloo fondly. "Good times."
"And ah know that we've always escaped real bad consequences, and sometimes we even done a bit a' good, like when we proved that old farmer Deep Pockets was stealin' water from the community aquifer."
"We got our picture in the newspaper for that!" said Sweetie Belle. "We were heroes!" She and Scootaloo exchanged a hearty brohoof.
"But this is different," noted Apple Bloom. "We've got to keep this one a secret, even if we're successful."
"We'll know what we did," said Scootaloo.
"Those animals we save will know what we did, too," said Sweetie Belle.
"But, but," Applebloom stammered, "Hi-Tech Corporation is a big, powerful, and rich. This ain't some school bully or crazy old hermit. Hi-Tech could get us in real bad trouble with the law if we get caught."
"Legal trouble??" said Sweetie Belle with an arched eyebrow. "What could possibly be so bad that you use an excuse like legal trouble to get out of it?"
"It's the spell," said Scootaloo, knowingly. "She's still nervous about the spell."
"Oh, Apple Bloom, don't be such an earth pony," said Sweetie Belle, waving a hoof at her. "If you're scared about being transformed into a rat, just say so."
Apple Bloom glowered at her. "An earth pony?? Just because ah can't do magic doesn't mean ah'm afraid of it!"
"We've got nothing to worry about," Scootaloo reassured her. "Sweetie Belle has been practicing and practicing, there's no way she could screw it up."
"Yeah," said Sweetie Belle. "You'll see. I'm a lot better at magic than I used to be! Well, a little better. Well, I can do magic now anyway." She brightened up. "But that's why we're making these cute stuffed rats! Spells are way easier to perform when you've got a totem to focus on. I can make us into a trio of little rats, and change us back, easy-peasy."
"Ah said ah ain't afraid a' no magic!" said Apple Bloom.
"Well, what the hay is your problem, then?" said Scootaloo. "And don't tell me legal whatchamacallits. That's just a smoke screen, AB." She put on her sunglasses. "And I don't fly into smoke screens."
Sweetie Belle giggled.
Apple Bloom looked between her two best friends, then hung her head in shame. "It's the rats," she said. "Ah'm afraid of rats."
The other two Crusaders both stared at her for a few heartbeats of silence. Then Scootaloo broke out into laughter. "Apple Bloom, you're supposed to be the brave one!"
"For your information, ah'm the clever one," said Apple Bloom, unamused. "You're the brave one."
"I thought I was the fast one!"
"I guess I'll have to be the pretty one!" sang Sweetie Belle, batting her eyelashes. Scootaloo groaned and beaned her from across the table with a half-finished rat plushie.
"Seriously, girls," said Apple Bloom sadly, "Ah don't think ah can do this with you. Ah just can't get the image of those pink little claws outta mah head... brrrr... and their nasty little yellow teeth..."
"Why didn't you say something earlier??" asked Scootaloo.
"Ah didn't want to be the one to ruin the plan," said Apple Bloom with a sigh. "Ah thought ah could do it. But now...it's not even the gettin' turned into a rat that bothers me. Not really. It's what happens afterward, gettin' put in a big crate full'a real rats and all. Rats as big as ah'll be!" She groaned and covered her eyes. "Just... don't tell nopony okay?? About mah phobia?"
"Don't worry," said Sweetie Belle, patting Apple Bloom's hoof. "We would never do that!"
"Never," agreed Scootaloo. "But girls, this doesn't change anything. We still can't take 'no' for an answer! You were right, High Tech is a big, dangerous company, so I know for sure that we can't do this without you. Apple Bloom, you will just have to get over your fear of rats!"
Apple Bloom looked up at her two friends. Once, they had been the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but they had all gotten their marks years ago. They still called each other Crusaders, though. What did it stand for now if not this? "Ah...ah guess you're right!" said Apple Bloom, setting her jaw. "Those poor animals need us!"
"That's the spirit!" said Sweetie Belle. "We'll do whatever it takes to help you get over your fear of rats!"
"Well, now, wait a second," said Apple Bloom, suddenly wary. "Ah'm almost afraid to ask what you've got in mind."
"It's simple!" said Scootaloo, "If you are forced to confront your fear, then your phobia will be cured! Just like what happened to Cheerilee on that field trip to the Canterlot Zoo. She's not afraid of bugs anymore, right?"
Apple Bloom started backing away from the table. "As ah recall, Cheerilee accidentally fell into the insect habitat. She was lost in there for hours."
Scootaloo grinned. "Acclimation!"
* * *
Warm sunshine flooded the country cottage, falling across Fluttershy's pillow and waking the pegasus from the bad dream she was having.
Fluttershy climbed out of bed and let Angel out the back door, brushed her teeth and combed her hair. Then she took her Xanax and did some light housework while she waited for the pills to kick in. Dusting in particular had always been a useful outlet for her anxiety at this time of the day.
A knock on the door startled her, and she immediately darted into the kitchen and hid there with the shades drawn. Please, just assume I'm not home, and go away. Most ponies did, eventually, if she stayed quiet long enough.
But whoever this was knocked again. And again. And even a fourth time.
"Fluttershy!" called a voice. "It's Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo! Open up, we know you're in there!"
Oh... well... they were friends. That was different. Fluttershy was still a little irritated at having her solitude disturbed, at least before her medicine was working, but the girls meant no harm and maybe they could use her help. She took a moment to calm herself, then went over to the window beside the door. Sure enough, the slender shapes of three teenage ponies standing on the doorstep shone through the frosted glass.
Fluttershy opened the door with a big smile.
"Oh, hi girls! I'm sorry, I didn't hear you knocking, I was just finishing up washing the dishes and my hooves were all wet..." Fluttershy trailed off as Angel Bunny stomped past them, back into the house. He looked annoyed to have been kept waiting for even a moment, just because his owner didn't like to answer the door.
"That's how we knew you were home," said Apple Bloom in a small voice, trying to suppress her laughter.
"Hi, Fluttershy!" said Sweetie Belle. She leaped forward and hugged the surprised pegasus.
"Hi...Sweetie?" Fluttershy stammered, putting a hoof on the doorjamb so she didn't fall over. "What can I do for you today?"
"We need a pet rat for Apple Bloom!" said Scootaloo.
"Oh...my!" said Fluttershy. Now this was something she could get excited about. "Why...why that's wonderful!! Better than wonderful! They really do make great pets. They're so smart and industrious! And their little ears, and their noses are so cutesy wootsie."
"They're not cutesy!" said Apple Bloom. "Or wootsie. They're clawy and scratchy and twitchy and wriggly and all kinds of unpleasant!"
"No way, rats are cool," said Scootaloo. "They can squeeze through any hole in the world, no matter how small."
Apple Bloom looked a little sick. "That jus' makes me like 'em less."
"Why would you want a pet rat if you don't like rats?" asked Fluttershy.
"Apple Bloom has a rat phobia," explained Scootaloo. "She has to get over it. Sweetie Belle and I thought she should be, like locked in a cage with lots of rats...kind of like what happened to Cheerilee at the zoo that one time. She was afraid of bugs and now she's not really anymore. Acclimation!"
"Cheerilee had a nervous breakdown because of that incident," said Fluttershy.
"Cheerilee was well on her way to a nervous breakdown long before that," Sweetie Belle assured her.
Apple Bloom nodded heartily. "So anyway, ah said, 'Y'all can throw mah cold corpse in a cage with rats 'cause that's the only way I'm goin' in!' So then Sweetie Belle said 'I have another plan. Let's go get a pet rat from Fluttershy!'"
"If she has to take care of a rat, then she'll get used to it faster," said Sweetie Belle. "And she'll be able to see all the nice things about rats."
"That makes sense to me," said Fluttershy. "But Apple Bloom, why are you wanting to come to terms with your phobia now?"
Apple Bloom exchanged looks with the other two Crusaders.
"Conquering a phobia is difficult," said Fluttershy. "Facing it can be very scary. Ponies don't usually do scary things unless they have a reason."
"Uh..." said Apple Bloom, "Ah want to be the...very best Apple Bloom...that ah can be?"
Fluttershy placed a hoof to her chin. "Well...I suppose that is as good a reason as any." She still sounded unconvinced.
"Actually," said Scootaloo with a sigh, "We're trying to infiltrate the laboratories of High Tech Cosmetics. We have reason to believe they've been involved in cruel and illegal animal testing practices for years now, and we want to gather enough evidence to expose their crimes to the world."
The other two Crusaders gaped at her.
"Scootaloo!" hissed Apple Bloom. "We were gonna break it to her gently! You can't just come right out and ask--"
"I'm in," said Fluttershy.
"You...what?"
"I'm in. Now what kind of practices are we talking about here?"
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