//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 Camping by ourselves can't go too badly right? // Story: The Adventures of the Cutie Mark Crusaders - Fillies on a Mission! // by Wolfie 03 //------------------------------// The girls were just coming back from having tried to earn their Video Game Cutie Marks. As they walked along the dirt road, much poorer after their latest attempt at finding their special talent, they lamented on how they had to save up their bits for months and it was all gone in an afternoon. “I had to help Rarity for weeks to get so much saved up. And we can't even play the games at all, let alone get a Cutie Mark for it...” Sweetie Belle sighed as they walked through the main gate of Sweet Apple Acres. “Yeah, well, I had to do twice as much delivery work around town to earn those bits.” Scootaloo shook her head sadly. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shot her a look concern, they knew it was harder for their friend to earn bits to just get by let alone play video games. “Ya are findin' enough tah eat right? Ya didn't spend all yer bits playing them games, right?” Apple Bloom nudged the peagasus with a frown on her face. Scootaloo waved a reassuring hoof to the others as she nonchalantly replied. “Yeah, I have enough for the basics... thanks for sharing some of your bits with me.” Scootaloo hung her head unable to look at her two friends, ashamed to have to borrow bits to keep up with them while playing games. “Of course we shared bits! It wouldn't be much fun if only two of us got to play longer.” Sweetie Belle nudged Scootaloo from the other side with a smile. Scootaloo smiled wanly back and nudged her two friends in return. Soon they were engaged in a game of tackle tag on the way to their Clubhouse, laughing the entire way. Applejack smiled as she heard the Crusaders come up to the Clubhouse. She had helped move some blankets and pillows to the Clubhouse for the girls' first sleepover without an older pony there to watch them. After the sleepover at Fluttershy's, the Crusaders took it easier during sleepovers (though that was only when somepony was watching, they still found things to try). Now they would be having one all on their own, though Applejack was going to check on them in the morning. Old sisterly habits were hard to suppress. As the fillies walked up to the Clubhouse, they saw Applejack already there and shouted greetings to her. “Heya Sis'!” “Hey Applejack!” “Hi Applejack!” “Well howdy girls! Got all the supplies up here waitin' fer ya. You girls ready fer tonight?” Applejack crossed her hooves as she looked at the fillies filing past her into the Clubhouse. “You bet we are!” Scootaloo jumped a little into the air as they saw all the blankets and pillows as well as the abundance of snacks and games. Sweetie Belle jumped around the piles as Apple Bloom gave her big sister a hug. “This is going to be great!” Sweetie Belle yelled as all three girls began to set up everything. “Yeah, well, so long as none y'all go into them woods again. Ya hear me?” Applejack gave each girl a piercing stare to ensure that they did as they were told. “Yes.” All three fillies stood with their heads down in acceptance and defeat. Applejack, being the embodiment of honesty, had Apple Bloom tell her what had happened with the Timberwolf. Apple Bloom had at first wanted to show off how she was growing up and getting stronger, but soon learned that that was not how others were going to see it. Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were grounded for two weeks, another reason why it took so long to save up the bits to play video games. It took a lot of begging, pleading and arguing before either big sister was even willing to consider a sleepover (let alone one that had no supervision). Though it was Applejack who was the first to crack and talked Rarity around to agreeing to it, not that she needed much convincing; the younger unicorn was getting into trouble while trying to stay out of trouble and Rarity only had so much patience. After being assured that they would behave, Applejack gave a nod and headed back to the fields to get some more apple bucking done before night came. Once Applejack was out of hearing range, Sweetie Belle turned to Scootaloo and sighed. “Sometimes you have it really easy Scootaloo. You didn't get into heaps of trouble because of that Timberwolf.” Scootaloo deadpanned her upon hearing this, unable to see how having no family meant she had it easy. Sweetie Belle blushed and looked downwards as she mumbled “sorry.” Apple Bloom merely face-hoofed and decided to get the sleepover started in style as well as break up the awkward atmosphere. As Scootaloo remained looking at the unicorn in annoyance with Sweetie Belle unable meet her hurt purple eyes, a pillow came flying over and smacked Sweetie Belle in the face. Before Scootaloo could decide between laughing at the attack or to be annoyed still, she received a pillow into the face as well. The tense atmosphere that had been growing was broken by laughter as pillows flew around the room, truces made and broken in moments, and rolls of blankets provided small defense to return fire from. Pillow fights weren't the least of fun the girls did, they had borrowed some games from Pinkie Pie (who had a rather large collection) and they played pin the tail on the pony, go fish, snakes and ladders and many others. They had the best of snacks as well, popcorn, s'mores (though they couldn't have a fire in the clubhouse) and hay-fries. They gave little thought to actually earning any cutie marks at the moment and merely enjoyed their first non-supervised sleepover. Not that they didn't have any planned, but that was for later when the rest of the Apple Household were asleep. Since Apple Bloom knew when her sister went to bed, she figured when Applejack would come by to check on them before settling in for the night. She was able to warn the girls just before the older mare checked on them. “Guys, mah sister's comin'. If we at least put out the light and make like we're gonnah go to tah bed, we should be good fer the rest o' the night.” The others nodded and got the blankets and pillows out while Apple Bloom blew out their firefly lantern. Even though the fillies laid down, they couldn't remain quiet and giggled every now and then, along with either telling each other to be quiet or telling jokes. This helped to make it seem like they had nothing planned and were slowly winding down the sleepover for the night. Applejack chuckled to herself as she heard another round of giggling coming from the Clubhouse before settling her hat more firmly on her head and trotted back home. She knew they weren't asleep but at least they stayed in the clubhouse. Applejack knew she was a little overprotective of her sister, but she just didn't want to lose any more of her family, not if she could help it. Back in the Clubhouse, Scootaloo was growing impatient with lying in bed waiting for the older ponies to fall asleep. “Is she gone yet? This is boring!” “Well, she may be gone from the Clubhouse, but she takes ah few minutes tah git ready fer bed.” Apple Bloom said with a shrug as she looked over to the bored peagasus. Sweetie Belle had a book open in front of her as she used her magic to make a small amount of light to read by. She was reading about their latest attempt, Astronomy, and had borrowed 'Astronomy for Beginners' from the library. She was so into the book that she didn't notice when the others asked her a question until the Clubhouse went completely silent. The young unicorn looked up to find her two friends staring at her. “Did ya hear me Sweetie Belle?” “Huh?” Scootaloo face-hoofed as she sighed. “Apple Bloom asked if we have all the right equipment for tonight.” “Oh. Yeah, we have everything. We just need to find a good place to set up.” Apple Bloom waved a hoof dismissively. “Ah know jus' the place; won't take too long tah git there either. Hmmm.... Ah think it's been long enough, we could start getting ready.” Apple Bloom had a hoof to her chin as she checked her internal clock to see if it had been long enough for her big sister to have gone to sleep. Sweetie Belle smiled while Scootaloo hoof-pumped. “Sweet!” She softly yelled, getting up from her 'bed'. Soon they had all their supplies firmly in mouth and exited the Clubhouse. Sweetie Belle lead the way with her horn lit up while Apple Bloom gave directions to the hill they were going to set up on. In the forest that bordered the family run orchard was a Timberwolf pup who couldn't forget the defeat given to him by a certain trio of fillies. He had found some other wolf pups who were willing to help him with his hunt and he had searched for the past two weeks to track down the fillies. And now, he had finally found them. They had set up on a hill midway from their Clubhouse to the Everfree Forest and the breeze brought their scent to the wolf pup's searching nose. He signaled the others and they began the hunt for their latest prey. “This is boring! I thought we'd be finding comets and shooting stars and stuff, not trying to make this dumb thing work.” Scootaloo scuffed at the grass under her hooves, disappointed in the lack of action. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were trying to align the telescope, with Sweetie Belle reading out loud how to do so and Apple Bloom trying to make it work. “Well, Ah'm sorry Scootaloo, but this telescope don't want tah work. Ya sure we didn't get a broken or or fake joke one right?” Apple Bloom looked towards the light-grey unicorn who looked up from her book. “I don't think Twilight would do that. Sigh, I guess this means we aren't Astronomers either.” Sweetie Belle closed the book with a snap and stood up. The others sighed as well before they started to pack up everything. “Hey guys? Is it just me or has it gotten really quiet suddenly?” Scootaloo paused in her packing to look at the others. Before either one had a chance to respond, a roar sounded from around them, and while it wasn't as loud or powerful as a full groan Timberwolf, it had the desired effect of scaring prey. Just as the trio began to think on what could possibly make such a sound, the bushes near the hill they had set up on exploded with three Timberwolf pups who began to run towards the young fillies. The girls shouted in surprise and fright and ran back into the orchard as fast as they could manage, without bothering to pick up their supplies. “What are we gonnah do?!” Apple Bloom yelled as they ran back in the general direction of the Clubhouse. “We have to fight back!” Scootaloo yelled in return without slowing. “How?!” Sweetie Belle shrilly asked as she threw back her head, this night was going from bad to worse. “Let's set up traps and ah-” Scootaloo had a hard time thinking while running from the growling wolves behind them. “Ah know! Let's git to the Clubhouse! We'll use the stuff in the attic and fight back!” Apple Bloom took the lead as they angled more towards the Clubhouse and continued to run for all their worth. “But – but – We won't be able to stop them from coming up the ramp!” Sweetie Belle panicked, though she followed along. “Ah know! Ah'll make it so we can stop them from comin' up!” Apple Bloom yelled as she thought of the best way to knock the ramp off. The Timberwolves couldn't believe it. The other pups didn't agree to this kind of long case, but after failing to catch any of the fillies, they felt the need to teach the young ponies who was boss. The wolves knew the young ponies couldn't run forever and with each pace they slowly edge closer, until they were nipping at their heels. Apple Bloom slowed down a little when they were running up the clubhouse ramp, and as soon as the others were up on the porch, she dropped her hind heels harder on the lower part of the ramp-way before scrambling up the rest of the way. The Timberwolf pups had slowed down when they saw the structure in the tree, never having seen anything like it before. Just as they were getting over their slight shock at the Clubhouse, Apple Bloom had given the rope that helped hold up the ramp a sharp pull, pulling up the upper half of the ramp much like a draw bridge while the lower part fell to the ground. The Timberwolves jumped back as the lower ramp fell with a clatter and dust cloud. As they growled at the loss of their prey, they circled the tree, watching the Crusaders as they sat catching their breath. Given the slight respite from being chased, the trio sat and looked at each other in concern. “What did you have in mind Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo asked a little breathless, as she looked at the earth pony. “Yeah, otherwise we're now trapped up here. Unless they can climb.” Sweetie Belle looked at the wolves below who in response to seeing one of their prey gave a ginormous leap, making it most of the way up to the porch. Sweetie Belle gave a squeal of fright as she pulled back, and the others reached out and pulled their unicorn friend away from the railing. “Don't give them ideas.” Scootaloo stated as she held onto the grey-white filly with Apple Bloom holding onto her other side. “Look, Ah have an idea. It's ah little dangerous though; not like we got much of ah choice.” Apple Bloom looked down at the wolves, but not leaning too far to entice them to jump up to reach their latest prey. The two others looked at each other and shrugged. They turned back to the farm pony and nodded together. “What's the idea Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo asked as they finally got their breath back. “Alright gals. Here's the plan. We grab the remains of the hang glider; we'll use the cloth to net them pups and use the frame to fight them off.” Apple Bloom said as she started to reach into the attic. The others nodded along and helped to get the hang glider out, thought Sweetie Belle was a little unsure of the plan. “Shouldn't we go and try to get help from your sister Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle asked as they opened up the cloth and removed all the poles from the contraption. “No way! We got in trouble fer fightin' with one of them things! Imagine if we tell 'em that we had to fight three of them.” Apple Bloom said as she hefted a pole to test its weight and how easy it would be to use. The last punishment was still fresh in the unicorn's mind and she nodded along, unwilling to be grounded once more. As the trio had the metal poles in their mouths, they grabbed the cloth and made sure it would unfurl like they would need it to when the time was right. But first they had to make sure that they had all three Timberwolves in one spot so that they would all be trapped under the make-shift net. Scootaloo volunteered to look out over the edge and tease the wolves in order to get them all together in one spot. “Na na! Ppphhhtttfff. You can't get us, you dumb twigs!” Scootaloo waved her hooves along the side of her head and stuck out her tongue, in the universal sign of taunting. The Timberwolves had enough, they gathered together and were prepared to either leap up there or climb the tree to reach their prey. Just as they all crouched down to jump, the three fillies jumped down instead and managed to get all three wolf pups trapped in one fell swoop. They had left just enough of the metal bars attached to the cloth to act as a weight to hold it down over the wolf pups, during which the fillies then proceeded to take different corners and smack at the wolves with their poles. The Timberwolves weren't prepared for such a counter attack. They ripped through the cloth with their wooden fangs and claws, but this made them easier targets for the fillies to hit at, since they could not rip their way out completely in one move. None of the pups were used to such resistance, and soon wanted nothing more than to retreat. As they tried to edge away, they noticed that they were only being attacked on three sides that were rather close to each other and not evenly paced out, leaving a bigger side undefended. The wolf pups edged towards this opening, and finding that the fillies drew closer together forcing the invading animals back, ripped through the cloth in one last ditch attempted to get away and took off in the gap left for them. This gap had been intentional since the girls wanted to drive the wolves away, knowing that they couldn't fight forever and that the metal rods would only last for so long before giving away completely. While the Timberwolf pups were running back to the forest, the fillies were left standing in place, unsure if it was really all over or not. As they stood panting from their efforts, watching the retreating wolves, Scootaloo felt the need to yell. “RRRAAAAAAAARRR!!!!” She shouted with all her might in both triumph and to drive home the point to the retreating Timberwolves. The others felt the need to join in and soon they all had a little bit of a sore throat, though they felt much better. After they became silent once more, Sweetie Belle couldn't help but giggle, in effort to release the pent up tension. Soon all the girls were laughing as they lay on the ground, happy that once again no one was hurt and that they fought off three Timberwolves this time! “Ah sure hope they learned their lesson this time 'round. Don't know how much more o' this kind o' fightin' I could handle.” Apple Bloom wiped her brow as she stood once more, looking towards her friends with a smile. “Yeah, even for me, this is a bit much. Let's stay out of the forest for a while, ok?” Scootaloo asked as she stood with a smirk and looked towards the metal poles they had used to hit the wolves with. They were bent completely in half and were much worse off than when they had first crashed the glider. “Sounds like a good idea to me. Let's get this put away, you never know when we might need it again.” Sweetie Belle began to pick up the pieces of cloth and roll it up once more. “Sure thing Scootaloo. Though Ah'd rather have some good ol' fashion Crusadin' than fightin' fer mah life. I'll fix up the ramp so we can git all this back up jus' fine.” Apple Bloom began to pick up the pieces of wood left over from the ramp when Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both stopped her with a hoof to each of her shoulders. “Uhm, it works fine like it is now, we just have to walk more carefully since it's a bit steeper. Why don't we just, ah, keep it as a draw bridge for tonight?” Scootaloo asked as she glanced around the orchard. “Yeah, what she said.” Sweetie Belle felt the need to pitch in with her two bits as well. “Oh, yeah, Ah see what y'all mean. Sure, it would be easy tah fix later when Ah can see what Ah'm doin' anyhow. Let's git back up there.” Apple Bloom realized why her two friends may want the Clubhouse to be a little inaccessible at the moment and helped gather the metal rods to be put back into the attic. After a quick clean up (no one really felt like staying on the ground anymore) the girls turned their light back on and laid their beds next to one another, with Sweetie Belle in the middle and Scootaloo and Apple Bloom on either side. After they had made sure the ramp was up, and all windows and the door was closed. And just as a side precaution, they kept some of the slightly less bent metal rods nearby. They fell asleep facing the doorway next to each other, and it was to Applejack's complete confusion the following morning when she found the ramp a mess but the crusaders tucked way, still sleeping off their late night adventures. She glad she kept her lasso with her even on the farm, otherwise she would have had to waken up the Crusaders to check on them. With a quick spin, she got a hold of the ramp and pulled it earthwards once more so that she could check on the trio. She couldn't help but smile when she saw that they were asleep next to each other facing the doorway with the light still on and the club a mess from all the games they played last night. “Shoot. Ah guess they must have stayed up later than Ah thought they would. Well, it's a good thin' Apple Bloom don't got any chores tah do fer the day, Ah guess Ah could let them sleep fer a little longer.” Applejack chuckled as she blew out their firefly lantern and lightly bucked the ramp closed after she had gotten down from the Clubhouse. What Applejack didn't realize was that even if it was a light thump, the sudden sound brought the Crusaders to wakefulness at once, looking about them for green eyes or stinky breath. As Apple Bloom looked around the room, she noticed how much light was filtering through the cracks in the windows and doors and sighed in relief. “It was jus' mah sister you guys. It's jus' about after mornin', she was probably on her way to start apple bucking and was just checking on us.” Apple Bloom got up and pointed a hoof to the light. “See? She must'a put out the light too. Ah KNOW we left that on durin' the night.” The others relaxed with a sigh as well, they weren't under attack. As Sweetie Belle laid back down for a moment, Scootaloo stood and stretched. “Maybe we should take martial arts or something. Anything so we don't run into that kind of problem again.” Scootaloo suggested as she looked about the Clubhouse, noting the mess. Sweetie Belle got up as well and began to pick up the various games. “Where would we find someone who could teach us that?” She asked as she stacked everything into a corner. “Well, Rainbow Dash taught me martial arts before. Ah'm not too good at it, but maybe if we did it together...” Apple Bloom trailed off as she picked up the blankets and pillows, while Scootaloo started to gather the snack wrappers and throw them out. At the knowledge that her hero taught martial arts, Scootaloo jumped into the air as she yelled in excitement. “Yeah! We should totally try for our martial arts Cutie Marks! And if it doesn't work out, well, we'll just learn enough to not have to run from every fight we come across.” She crossed her hooves and nodded firmly, running away looked really uncool and she didn't want to seem uncool to her hero. Apple Bloom laughed a little, amused and worried in equal parts that their peagasus friend thought they would get into more fights. “Ah tried and didn't earn anything. But it's still ah good idea... we won't be telling anyone about last night right?” Apple Bloom cast a worried glance to the others, unwilling to get into trouble for something they couldn't help. Sweetie Belle also looked towards the peagasus, she didn't want to get into trouble either but knew that Scootaloo would want to try and brag about fighting three Timberwolves to her hero to make her seem cooler. “Fine! We won't tell anyone what we're doing anymore or show off our awesome skills or anything until we get our Cutie Marks, alright?” Scootaloo huffed as she looked at the others with a pout. What was the point in doing really cool things if you couldn't tell others about it? The others, however, just nodded happily as they stuffed the supplies (minus the trash) into the attic. “Alright, that ought'a do it. But if we want tah put anythin' else in there, we'll have to get someone tah either make it bigger or add another room or somethin'. Ah'm gonnah go and fix the ramp now and then we can go Crusadin' more, alright?” Apple Bloom asked as she walked towards the door, already thinking of the things needed to fix the ramp. Sweetie Belle nodded along happily while Scootaloo turned to their list to see what else they could do. “Oh and Scoot? Ya know that if'in you ever needed a place to stay or hide out in or anythin', that the Clubhouse is always open, right? Fer all of us, o' course.” Apple Bloom looked over her shoulder towards the orange peagasus who didn't look away from the list. “Yeah, I know. I'll keep it in mind.” Came the soft reply as Sweetie Belle also took a peek at the peagasus. Apple Bloom nodded once more and continued out of the clubhouse while Sweetie Belle sat next to their subdued friend and looked at the list, trying to decide on how to spend the day. “Oh no! We left our Astronomy gear back at the hill! Applejack may find it!” Sweetie Belle suddenly exclaimed, after she had saw 'Astronomy' on their list of things to do. Scootaloo groaned as she face-hoofed. She had forgotten as well. “Come on, before anyone sees it and wonders what we were doing there!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle climbed down the half-ramp and ran towards the hill, just as Apple Bloom was coming back with the supplies needed to fix the ramp. The young farm pony was confused at first as to why her friends were running that ways when she suddenly remembered what they had tried to do in the first place. Since she knew that they would be able to get all the supplies by themselves (and Timberwolves are less likely to come out in day time to the farm) she merely returned to her work on the ramp. Little did any of them know that a pink mare was slowly trotting back to her bakery home with a yawn. Pinkie Pie had spent the entire night awake, making sure nothing else went wrong for the girls. It had been quite the shock for the pink mare to receive the Pinkie Sense that something was happening at the farm, and she had ran as fast as she could to see what was wrong. Once Pinkie saw that the Timberwolf pup was back with friends, she knew she would have to step in this time, even if it was to just slow down the pups as they chased the fillies into the orchard. Pinkie Pie was going to take even more drastic measures to deal with the wolf pups until Apple Bloom said she had an idea. The party mare wanted to see what the girls could do and made sure they were able to get into the Clubhouse safely at the very least. Luckily she had her black spy suit on, which hid her much better than her normal pink coat which often helped her blend into a party but did not help on secret rescue missions, and the girls never noticed the extra help. When she had heard their plan, she nodded to herself, pleased with the idea and that they came up with it on their own. She helped get the Timberwolves into position (though Scootaloo was doing a good job taunting) and helped make sure that the wolves stayed confused while being hit under the make-shift net. Once the wolves had run off and the girls were back in their Clubhouse, Pinkie Pie settled down in a nearby tree to keep watch. She didn't want anything to go wrong again, though the Crusaders handled it rather well. Only after Applejack was up and in the fields and the Crusaders back to normal did the pink mare feel that her job for the night was done. Though she was surprised at how the Crusaders seem to be attracting trouble like nopony's business. (I guess it's their destiny. This town is rather odd, and ever since Twilight came it has gotten even weirder. Though it's not her fault at all! In fact, this town has gotten SO much more interesting! I'd rather not be anywhere else, especially if she's not there. And it's nice seeing the girls helping each other too... Anyways, time to bake! Maybe I should make them a 'congratulations on winning' cake? Hmmm, I'll need the right coloring for that....)