EqD Writer Training Grounds short stories by Georg

by Georg

Apple Bucking Twilight Time

The Cutie Mark Crusaders have created and lost the perfect apple bucking machine at the same time Cheerilee has discovered her special somepony.

You don’t think the two could be related, do you?

[Apples][And][Education]

EqD prompt: The Cutie Mark Crusaders have learned how to mix potions, fix things, and do magic! Show how they use their new skills to contribute to pony society!

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Week 9 - Twilight time
-or-
Apple Bucking Twilight Time
(I would like to give special inspirational credit to Cheerilee’s Thousand by xjuggernaughtx)

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“Miss Cheerilee! Wait up! Slow down! We need to talk with you!”

Cheerilee slowed her energetic gallop to a halt and tucked the covers over her saddlebags before the Cutie Mark Crusaders came zipping up in their pegasus-propelled scooter and wagon. She had been so close. If she had just been able to get around a corner, she might have been able to escape, but there was no way she could outrun Scootaloo’s devilish machine.

It only took a moment to slip on her Teacher’s Smile, an all purpose facial expression taught in the first year of college and used to armor the respective instructor against all manners of student-driven indignities. In Cheerilee’s case that armor’s thickness could be measured in yards and with a density of tempered steel.

“Hi, girls. I was just headed home, but I can talk with you for just a minute if it’s really important.”

Please say it’s not important. Please say it’s not important. Please say it’s not important.

“Thanks, Miss Cheerilee. It’s really, really, really important,” said Apple Bloom.

Buck.

Scootaloo shoved a complicated set of diagrams under Cheerilee’s nose and said, “We were working on our science project with Miss Twilight, and she suggested that we make something practical and useful, so we decided on making an apple picking robot to help out at Sweet Apple Acres. I made the structure and all of the parts from some really complicated blueprints I found in this old book.”

“How I Did It. Interesting title, but I don’t see—”

“And ah worked up the e-licks-er vi-tee from a recipe that I got from Zecora,” said Apple Bloom. “Twilight bought the ingredients and supervised my work. We only blew up her chemistry set twice before we got enough to run all the hydraulics and stuff that Scootaloo packed into the picker. Ah still think we may have made it too big.”

“It made the parts easier to work with,” said Scootaloo. “Besides, that’s what the book said to do.”

“And I used Starswirl’s Hippomorphic Transformation to give my creation life!” shouted Sweetie Belle as thunder rumbled in the background.

“Are you done with the thundercloud?” called Ditzy Doo from above, still holding her hooves over the ominous grey cloud floating above the wagon.

“Yep! Can you please take the cloud back over to the library so we can recharge our project when we find it, Miss Doo?”

Cheerilee watched the grey pegasus fly off with the cloud before turning back to the three eager little fillies. “So you’ve misplaced an apple-picking robot. That shouldn’t be very hard to find even in Ponyville. Why don’t you start where you last saw it, and work out from there. Now, I’ve got a nice gentlecolt caller waiting for me back at my house, so I’ll just leave you three to—”

“No!” the three of them chorused.

“There may have been some unexpected interactions between the mechanisms and Apple Bloom’s elixir,” said Scootaloo.

“Or Starswirl’s spell might possibly have interacted a teensy bit more with the library that we expected,” added Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah,” added Apple Bloom. “It was just supposed to soak up the information in the books we stacked around it on apple bucking and farming to charge it’s in-ate meta-thaumato-a-logical cer-ree-brum, but the whole library glowed.”

“I may have put too much power into the spell,” said Sweetie Belle, hanging her head in shame. “At least it didn’t burn up like my cooking.”

“Wait a minute,” said Cheerilee. “You made it alive?”

“Um. Maybe a little,” said Apple Bloom, digging the toe of one hoof into the grass.

“Do we lose any points for making another abomination of nature for our science project this year, Miss Cheerilee?” asked Scootaloo. “At least this year, our project didn’t try to eat anypony.”

“I still say we should have tried the custard recipe again this year,” complained Sweetie Belle. “I mean, there’s no way we could make an expanding polymorphic ooze that would threaten Equestria again. Last time was just a fluke.”

“Oh, come on! Our Manual Apple Removing Vehicle, Improving Nature robot was the greatest idea ever,” said Apple Bloom.

“You named your robot Marvin,” said Cheerilee with only the slightest twitch of her upper lip to display her sudden urge to beat her head against a nearby building. “Is he… I mean it, that is. Is it somewhat a light shade of chocolate brown with a dark blue mane and—” Cheerilee quickly cut off her description before giving a bit more personal information than the Cutie Mark Crusaders really needed to know about her love life.

“You found it? That’s great!” cheered Apple Bloom, exchanging a high hoof with the rest of her friends. “Where is it?”

Cheerilee double-checked her saddlebags to make sure the flaps were securely fastened, much as Marvin was securely fastened back at her home, only with a few more interesting knots. “I found him wandering around town and took him somewhere… secure.”

“Great!” said Scootaloo, putting her helmet back on and hopping back on her scooter. “Let’s go get it back to the library so Twilight can be the first to check it out.”

Too late. He’s been checked out more than once already.

“Wait a minute, girls. While I was examining Marvin—” far more closely than I’ll admit to you “—I noticed a couple of things.” One in particular. “He certainly seems really smart for a robot. Sweetie Belle, when you said Starswirl’s spell gave him all the knowledge that was in the library, does that include the section under the stairs, marked ‘Restricted: Adults Only’ with the locking bar across the books?”

“Yep! Twilight said that’s the first thing she checked.”

“And Scootaloo, Marvin seemed to be awfully strong.”

“Yeah, we wanted him to be able to buck apples all day long, so I put in the extra-durable hydraulic actuators on all of the parts, even the special one that Twilight had to order from that company in Las Pegasus.”

“Um. Yes.” Cheerilee swallowed and turned to smile at Apple Bloom. “And this ‘elixir vitae’ that you used for the hydraulics, did it have any… special properties?”

“Naa, just the usual stuff. Immortality, turning base metals into gold, stuff like that. Although once we got the robot all filled up and Sweetie cast the spell, its coat and mane all sparkled for a bit and turned really real. Twilight seemed really excited and said she could hardly wait to put Marvin through a series of extensive tests this evening.

That would be the single Princess Twilight Sparkle. I guess if you can’t find a talented special somepony, make a talented special somepony.

“Well, I can’t blame her,” said Cheerilee with a broad grin. “But your science project needs to be graded before I can turn it back over to her. Why don’t you run back and tell her I’ll bring… Marvin over this evening after I get done grading his performance. I mean grading your science project.”

“Are you sure, Miss Cheerilee?” asked Scootaloo. “I mean, we wanted to make sure this project was perfect. There still are a few minor little things we need to work on, and—”

“Don’t worry, girls. As far as I can tell so far, Marvin is going to get all three of you an A+.” And a gold star from the teacher for Marvin. “Now I need to get home before the ice cream melts and the strawberries get all gooey, so you three should go to the library and give Twilight my message, and I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“Well, if you say so, Miss Cheerilee.” Apple Bloom perked up. “That means we have more Twilight Time this afternoon to find our Cutie Marks. Do you have any ideas for us, Miss Cheerilee? Miss Cheerilee? Where did she go?”

“Well, I hope she gets Marvin back over to the library before it runs out of power,” said Sweetie Belle. “I don’t think it soaked up as much lightning as it really needs to get a full charge.”

“You don’t think we’ll lose any points for that, do you?” asked Scootaloo.

* * *

It was nearly closing time at Barnyard Bargains, and Sparkler was watching the minute hand creep closer and closer to the magic moment. Keeping the store open this late at night was a dumb idea in Ponyville. Once the sun went down, the streets rolled up and all of the ponies went home. Absolutely nothing interesting happened after dark in this town, not even—

The little bell over the front door of the store went ‘ding’ in that frustrating cheerful fashion that nothing should exhibit after dark, and the town schoolteacher dragged herself through the doorway. Her mane was tangled and standing on end in places while a rather disturbing look was in her eye that stated quite clearly that she had a specific purpose in mind, and that any pony who got in her way was going to be flattened. Stepping up to the cash register, Cheerilee heaved a massive bag of bits onto the table and growled an order.

“Batteries. Give me every battery you have in the store.”

Comments

[Georg]

Poor Cheerilee.

[Talon and Thorn]

I guess Marvin ran out of juice just a little bit prematurely.

[Silverweed]

Cheerilee truly seems to have a knack for picking just the right sort of stallion or stallion-like-automatons

Oh and I wonder if Marvin complained about opening doors or the mass of knowledge he has before his power went down.

[nemryn]

Oh my.

[Seether00]

Oh dear. Well looks like males have rendered obsolete. What do we do now?

[BradtheBrony]

*Sees new one shot chapter is up*
*Proceeds to read*
*Gets inundated with innuendos, enjoying himself immensely*

Another fine chapter, good sir. Well played. Also the bot-o-pleasure is named Marvin, eh? That wouldn't happen to be short for Marvin Hayes, would it? (Hopes ya get the joke I am trying to make)

4021092 I think you mean:
newnownext.mtvnimages.com/2013/11/george-takei-oh-my.png

[BenRG]

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SEX TOY MANUFACTURERS! YYYAAAYYY!!!"

This could really only happen to these three. Really, it could only happen to them. Well, at least Cheerilee got something out of it - a coltfriend. I'm wondering just how much effort Celestia is going to have to make to hush this up because the knowledge that the girls can make the perfect Stallion or Mare to order will have rich ponies beating a path to their doors. Not only for purely carnal purposes either!

“Do we lose any points for making another abomination of nature for our science project this year, Miss Cheerilee?” asked Scootaloo. “At least this year, our project didn’t try to eat anypony.”

I...? What...? No. No, Ben, don't ask. You don't want to know.

[Kenshinryuu]

ROTFLMAO! You make my mouth hurt when I smile.

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

I...CAN'T...BREATHE!HAHAHAHA