Cutie Mark Crusader Revengers

by Minds Eye

Chapter 3: For Great Justice!

Sweetie Belle charged out of the clubhouse the moment she saw her friends. “I got it! I got it! Follow me!” She led them on a gallop through Sweet Apple Acres, and through half of Ponyville, before Apple Bloom asked the obvious question.

“What are you doin’?!”

“Just keep running! Twilight is going to freak!”

Scootaloo couldn’t believe her. “We’re going to the library?! Why?”

“Just keep running! We need to be scared and surprised!” Golden Oak Library loomed closer. Sweetie barreled into the door with no hesitation, nearly knocking it off its hinges. “Twilight! Twilight! You have to help us!”

The alicorn dropped the stack of books she was moving. “Good heavens, girls! What’s going on?”

“A meteor!” Sweetie Belle shrieked in terror. “I saw a meteor heading for Equestria! It’s gonna hit us!” Twilight gasped in horror and sprinted upstairs. Sweetie Belle turned to the other crusaders with a chuckle. “I just dangled a rock in front of our telescope. Wait till she comes over and sees it!”

Scootaloo grimaced in pain and walked out the door. Apple Bloom followed her. Twilight called down to her a moment later. “Sweetie, I don’t see anything. Are you sure it was a meteor?”

Oh sweet Celestia. Sweetie Belle felt her cheeks flush red. “Um...no. It...it might have been something else.”

Twilight stuck her head over the edge of the second floor with a smile. “It was probably some dust or a bug on your lens. Happens to me all the time.”

“Y-Yeah. Thanks for checking, Twilight!” Sweetie left the library to face the disbelieving stares from her friends. “I...I forgot.”

Scootaloo face hoofed. “You forgot. You forgot Twilight Sparkle had her own telescope. It’s right there on the balcony, Sweetie Belle! What else did you forget?!”

“Well, Rarity’s leaving to make a personal delivery to Manehattan, so I need some place to sleep tonight. Can we stop by the boutique so I can get my sleeping bag?”

---

Apple Bloom looked at the blue powder in the vial she was holding. “I still can’t believe we pulled that off. Crushed poison joke, right here.”

Scootaloo smirked at her. “And you thought I would start talking like a chicken.” Apple Bloom grinned as the pegasus turned around to look down the street. That would be pretty funny. Scootaloo wasn’t looking, she had the powder ready to go...

Sweetie Belle snatched it out of her hoof. “Go on, Apple Bloom. I’m right behind you.”

Ah, so much for that idea. Apple Bloom stepped out and strolled past Ponyville's cafe, where Twilight Sparkle was enjoying a daffodil and daisy sandwich. "Howdy, Twilight!"

"Good afternoon, Apple Bloom. Lovely day we've had without those pesky meteors, isn't it?"

"Sure is!" Apple Bloom smiled as she walked past the princess. "Hey, I had a question about that story you read us the other night."

Twilight Sparkle turned in her chair to look back at Apple Bloom. "Earth Plow and the Dragon? What about it?" Sweetie Belle crept out of the alley and quietly made her way forward.

"Uh...I liked it! It's not every day you hear about the earth pony being the hero, you know?"

"Oh Apple Bloom, that's not true. The Earth Pony Protagonist is a common literary device used to generate a feeling of suspense and hopelessness in the face of an overwhelming threat, or to simply illustrate the value of brains over brawn in such a situation. In fact, the last century has really seen an explosion of critical and commercial interest in the archetype. The Fox Pony adventure series in particular has had real success in both aspects of-"

Hurry up, Sweetie Belle, HURRY UP! Apple Bloom kept an eager grin plastered on her face, but her endurance was running low. Sweetie Belle was not standing idle, however. Twilight was truly animated about this subject. The little unicorn was forced to keep her balance on the table, dodging the alicorn's wings, all while trying to spike the glass of water with the poison joke. Miraculously, she pulled it off. Sweetie Belle jumped off the table and ran back the way she came.

"-doesn't really compare with the quality of writing in the early Rein-aissance period, of course. Any other questions?"

"No! No, uh, nope! That's all I needed to know. Thanks." Apple Bloom sprinted to safety. She dove into the alley to rejoin the crusaders, not even caring if Twilight was watching. "I...I am never doing that again!"

Scootaloo patted her back. "You got that right. Milkshakes are on me tonight, girls." The pegasus peeked around the corner to check their target again. "Now all we have to do is wait for-uh, oh."

Apple Bloom felt a bolt of lightning run through her body. "What do you mean 'uh, oh?'"

Sweetie Belle joined Scootaloo at the corner. "It can't be that bad-uh, oh."

Apple Bloom groaned and trudged to join her friends. "What's happen-uh, oh."

Big Macintosh was standing in front of the cafe, picking up several overturned boxes and putting them back in his cart. He shook head after Twilight spoke to him once, twice, and a third time. As he strapped himself back to the cart, Twilight's water glass hovered out to him. He smiled and drank it all with a single gulp.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders threw themselves back against the wall. Scootaloo looked panic-stricken. "How long do we have?"

Apple Bloom trembled. "It was overnight last time. But that was when they touched it. He drank it."

The sound of Big Mac's cart grinding against the ground drew closer and closer. Sweetie Belle nervously stepped out as he passed by. “Heya, Big Mac! Are...are you feeling alright?”

Maybe it didn’t work? Maybe crushing the flower ruined the effect? Her big brother stopped and nodded at the fillies. “Verily!”

Oh, no. Four ponies stared at each other with huge eyes. Big Mac raised a hoof to his mouth. “Verily? What...what foul sorcery is this?! I speak as a jester!”

The last thing they needed was a scene like this! “E-Easy there, brother. We can fix this. You just need-“

“Thou can fix this?! What knavery hast thou wrought now?!”

Scootaloo leaned in and whispered. “Apple Bloom, what are you doing?!”

“He’s my brother; we can’t just leave him like this! Let’s just get him-“

“Keep thy distance, foals! Sister Applejack awaits these parcels, and then I shall seek counsel with the Lady Twilight-“

“NO!” The crusaders all shouted in unison and jumped on one of his hind legs to pin him in place. “No,” Scootaloo repeated, “we can fix this. Let’s get you to the spa...”

---

Somewhere on the edge of the Everfree Forest, a great beast made its way around Ponyville. It lumbered through the trees to remain hidden, moving on two short, thick legs. Two long arms swung at its side as it walked. With a tall, round body topped off with a bundle of leaves as hair, it could pass for a tree itself. Every step brought it closer and closer to its target. All it needed was the cover of night to advance into the town.

The legendary Sass Squash had returned.

Once, this creature stalked the orchards of the Apple family. Apple Bloom remembered how badly it frustrated her sister by evading capture while it replaced apples with squashes, though it all turned out to be a hoax. Now, however, there was no time for games. This thing was big, and it was weird, and that meant hopefully Twilight Sparkle would never see it coming.

Scootaloo grunted as she took another heavy step forward and brought the suit to life. Granny Smith did this by herself?! This enormous suit Apple Bloom mentioned sounded like a sure thing, but an hour inside the thing had her feeling like the end of an all-day training session with Rainbow Dash. Of course, the constant weight of her two friends standing on top of her didn’t help. “I’m having second thoughts about this one.”

“Too bad,” Apple Bloom snapped while swinging her forelegs to work the suit's arms. Scootaloo didn’t blame her. Big Mac was back to normal, but he was still steamed. That meant Applejack would be steamed. With Sweetie Belle looking for a place to sleep anyway, the crusaders decided to play it safe on a sleepover at the clubhouse.

“If you ask me, we shouldn’t have helped him,” the unicorn said. “Did you see how the twins blushed when he called them ‘lovely flowers of maidens?’ I think we did him a favor making him talk like that.”

“I thought we were still hoping for him and Cheerilee?”

“We are not having this conversation now,” Apple Bloom insisted. "How's it look up there, Sweetie Belle? We still on the edge of the forest?"

"Sure are! We should reach the other side by sundown, then on to Ponyville. I do have one question, though."

Scootaloo sighed. This again? "Apple Bloom told us that Applejack would recognize the suit's tracks. We don't have time to taunt Twilight with fake-"

"No, not that. How are we going to cross this stream?"

"Stream?" Apple Bloom sounded confused. "What stream? There shouldn't be a stream."

"Well, maybe you should tell it that, because it's there on our right. Would we ruin the suit if it got wet? It isn't getting any narrower."

Apple Bloom didn't answer. In fact, she was quiet for a long time. Scootaloo was getting worried. "Equestria to Apple Bloom. Everything OK?"

"Gals, did we go left or right when we left the farm?"

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me we went the wrong-" A familiar scream of surprise cut her off. “Was that who I think it was?”

"Yep. Goin' left takes us close to Fluttershy's..."

"She-She's actually coming towards us," Sweetie Belle said. "What do we do?!"

Fluttershy's soft voice called out, but Scootaloo couldn't make it out. "What did she say? Are we busted?"

"Keep your voice down! Play it cool. She thinks we're an animal."

"Well that won't last! Turn, girls, turn! I'm getting us out of here." The two fillies standing on her back shouted as Scootaloo moved the legs as fast as she could.

"Not so fast!"

"Keep it down!"

"Losin' my balance!"

"Me too!"

"EEEEEEEEK!"

The suit tipped over and landed with a dull thud. Scootaloo felt something kick and pound from the outside. "Great. Just great. We fell on her, didn't we?"

"Harry!" The girls yelped at the ear-shattering pitch of Fluttershy's scream. "Harry, help me!"

Sweetie Belle's scream matched Fluttershy's to a T. "Harry?! No! No! Now what?!"

"Get out!" Apple Bloom shouted. "We gotta get out!"

"Ow!" One of Apple Bloom's hooves dug into Scootaloo's ribs. "Stop! What are you two freaking out about?"

"Harry!" Apple Bloom shouted again. "Harry's the name of her-" A deafening roar bellowed out from behind them. "Her...her bear..."

A second roar, closer than the first, filled Scootaloo with terror. "Oh, buck. Abandon ship! Run, run, run!"

---

Moonlight filled the clubhouse. The Cutie Mark Crusaders sat facing each other, ignorant of their ability to turn on a light switch. Scootaloo kept her head down, unwilling to look at her friends. Her friends, for their part, must have felt the same way. A long, unbroken silence followed them ever since the Great Scolding of the Everfree Forest. Looking back, Scootaloo would have preferred going twelve rounds against Harry the Bear. Anything would have felt better than the crushing wave of disappointment Fluttershy inflicted on them.

A small voice finally entered the stillness from Sweetie Belle. “I...I just wish she was angry.”

Apple Bloom gave a wordless whine. “Applejack’ll be angry enough for the both of them.”

Scootaloo winced. Fluttershy wasn’t going to keep what happened a secret. She gave the girls a choice: either they told Twilight what was going on or she would. With two ponies knowing the story, it was a safe bet the others would too. Rarity, Applejack, even Rainbow Dash. How would her new sister react to an accidental attack on her oldest friend?

“And...and Fluttershy was right,” Apple Bloom continued. “Nothin’ good came from this. We crossed all over Ponyville planning and plotting and-and what did we really do? We just made our friends mad.”

“Well my idea didn’t make anyone mad,” Sweetie Belle said, “but you’re right. I mean, it’s a book. We’ve done all this because Twilight wouldn’t let us read a book.” The book! Scootaloo snapped her head up with wide open eyes. This was all about the book!

Apple Bloom looked troubled when she saw Scootaloo’s expression. “E-Even Rainbow Dash told us to just let it go...”

“She told me to think a few moves ahead,” Scootaloo said, starting to pace back and forth. “We gave up too soon yesterday. We did learn some things. Twilight hates being wrong...she hates it so much she tried to follow a book when a tree smashed through her house...she'll try to be right...but Twilight is out of our league...so who’s league is she...ugh!” She fell to the ground and covered her head.

Apple Bloom put a hesitant hoof on her shoulder. “You’re not making a lick of sense. Let’s try and get some sleep. We’re gonna need a doozy of an apology-“

Sleep? Sleep! Scootaloo jumped back up with a cry and paced again. “No sleep! We have work to do! Applejack said Twilight would make time for us...Fluttershy’s making us talk to her anyway...we can even see it done!”

Sweetie Belle kept her concerned eyes on Scootaloo, but spoke to Apple Bloom. “Are you following any of this?”

“Not one word.”

“Don't you get it? We just need-“ Scootaloo stopped suddenly. “Something. We need something. We need to send something to help convince her. And her.”

“Apple Bloom, she’s scaring me.”

Scootaloo turned and Sweetie Belle shrunk under her scrutiny. “Can you get us inside Rarity’s shop?”

“Y-Yes, there’s a spare key. But-“

Apple Bloom stepped in front of her. “But we’re not going anywhere till you start talking sense!”

That was fair. Scootaloo took a deep breath. “We’re going to fool Twilight, but we need help. So do I. I have an idea, but I can’t do it alone. This will be a long night, and it may not even work, and I know we've screwed up a lot, and-“

“I’m in!” Sweetie Belle smiled when Apple Bloom whirled around. “We’re already in trouble, right? How much worse can it be?”

“Lots,” Scootaloo said. She looked Apple Bloom dead in the eyes. “But this is our last chance to see this done.” She raised a hoof into the air. Sweetie Belle did the same. Apple Bloom smiled, and the three jumped up for a triple hoof slap before tearing out of the clubhouse.

Victory awaited.

Comments

[Brother_William]

For Great Justice...
That sounds familiar.
*looks at his WoW account*
I KNEW IT! ACHIEVEMENT!
Did you do this on purpose?

[Minds Eye]

3917521 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, actually

[SuperPinkBrony12]

The CMC have dug their own graves. They're so going to get busted. Do they seriously think this will work?

[Jirodyne]

3918508 Of course not. All they see is 'We get back at twilight!' they do NOT see every other effect that will happen, such as mass murder, a few nuclear launches being detected, and angry sisters.