Assumptions

by EminenceGris

Chapter IV: She Needs to Fly

Assumptions IV: She Needs to Fly

The group of three small fillies, going by the name “Cutie Mark Crusaders” has long become a stable staple of Ponyville townscape. Yet, their presence behind a gingerbread-like cottage in the small hours of the morning was a little unusual, since most of their misadventures took place after school or in the weekends. They stood in a small circle, facing each other, huddling together against the chilly morning breeze.

“What do we want?” the small orange pegasus demanded, her breath condensing in the chilly morning air.

“OUR CUTIE MARKS!,” the two other fillies chanted in unison.

“When do we want them?” their energetic friend queried, her wings now fluttering with excitement.

“Now!” the small earth filly stammered.

The white unicorn remained silent, and looked down to the ground. “Are you sure a gravity-defying cutie mark is a good idea?”

“Sweetie Belle, we have been over this. Some of the coolest ponies in existence have had a gravity defying cutie mark. Nelly Hoofstrong, or Laika, or the pony who invented gravity.” Scootaloo replied, irritated.

The small white unicorn stood quite still for a while. She put her front hoof on her forehead, closed her eyes. “But how will Apple Bloom and I defy gravity. We’re not even pegauses... And wasn’t Laika a dog?”

“Don’ worry. That’s why we’re here to borrow Pinkie Pie’s fly-sick-elle…” the yellow filly started, but was soon cut off by her far more enthusiastic companion.

“Yeah, Dash told me about Pinkie Pie being able to fly on a machine. If Pinkie Pie can operate it all by herself, so I’m sure the three of us will do even better! Now all we need is to borrow it for the day.” The orange filly’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she finished the sentence.

“So why do we need to sneak in early in the morning and take the fly-sick-elle without asking? I don’t want a burgling cutie mark!”

“Don’ worry Sweetie Belle. Ya aren’t gonna get a burglin’ cutie mark… I think. Will she?” The young earth pony asked, turning to face the mission’s leader.

Scootaloo looked around her. Both her friends now stood still, their front hoofs scraping the ground, occasionally casting each other worried glances, not looking up.

“Come on you guys. Don’t chicken out on me. Besides, if you’re meant to get an infiltration cutie mark, you’ll get it anyway. I mean, didn’t the adults tell us to try as many things as we can to find out our super special talents?”

Her two friends just stood there, still staring at the ground.

The red-maned filly suddenly held up her head and beamed at her friends. “Ah know how we can get that bike and get around Pinkie Pie, now listen here…”

And as the three little fillies huddled together, the whispers of their new plan rose up towards the sky which they were hoping to conquer.

>>

Pinkie had not been expecting to see customers so early in the morning. As soon as she flipped the sign, declaring the Sugar Cube Corner “OPEN”, a white unicorn filly came in followed by her pale yellow friend, inhaling all of the sweet flavours of freshly baked goods on display. They soon parted their ways, Sweetie Belle still circling the store, while Apple Bloom went straight to Pinkie Pie.

“Good morning Apple Bloom. Isn’t it a bit too early for cakes?”

“Good morning’ Miss Pie” Apple Bloom replied with all the politeness she could muster. “We’re actually here because it’s Scootaloo’s birthday soon, an’ we’re lookin’ fer advice on bakin’ a cake fer her.”

“Ooooooh. Scootaloo’s birthday? But that means there’ll be a party!” The pink pony started bouncing around the shop. “When is her birthday anyway”

“It’s just after New Year’s, actually” the yellow filly answered, and her eyes swelled to the size of saucer. “Will you be able to help us, pleeeaase?”

“Yes. I’ll do everything. The snacks, the games, the drinks, the guest list…” The room’s perimeter quickly dissolved into a pink blur. Suddenly, a voice began shouting from the haze. “A TAIL TWITCH, A KNEE-JERK, FOLLOWED BY A BLINK. Someone is taking something that isn’t theirs to take. Aaaaaaargh…”

The baker suddenly stopped her bouncing and came into focus, about five feet above the ground. Staying suspended in mid-air way longer than anypony should, the two crusaders could see her head turning around in a full circle.

“I’m sorry…”cried Sweetie Belle. “I just saw this cupcake and thought it would be perfect for Scootaloo, so I took it to get a better look at it.”

The baker suddenly landed on the ground and looked at the cupcake in the unicorn filly’s hoof. She leaned forward, balancing on her front limbs, one of her eyes closed, the other one almost in the cupcake. She took a deep breath.

“It’s perfect,” she shouted enthusiastically and jumped up. “Orange pumpkin base with purple blueberry glazing, Sweetie Belle, you’re a genius. I’ll bake a whole batch of these for the party!”

“Thank ya kindly, Pinkie Pie. We’re sorry for bargin’ in like this so early in the mornin’,” Apple Bloom said.

“Sorry for taking the cupcake,” Sweetie Belle apologized as she kept her head low and curtsied.

“That’s okay girls. We’ll discuss the party for Scootaloo later. Have a fun day at school.”

As she waved the two fillies goodbye, another series of twitches ran through her body. Oooh, looks like I’ll see them again today. I hope it’ll be fun.

>>

The bare branches of trees in the Ponyville Park soon became spiky black silhouettes against the faint orange sunset. Caramel looked around him, but nothing remained of the couple of small colts and fillies that had played there few hours previously. He dropped the bag he was carrying in his muzzle and dropped it onto the hard ground. He opened it and surveyed its contents. A few boxes full of bon-bons, truffles and nougat cubes sat there, their use by date indicated they would be unfit to sell tomorrow. He looked around the park again, craning his neck to see any hint of a small colt or filly that would be willing to take the store’s unsold confectionery and share it with their friends of siblings. The park was eerily still. Funnily enough, whenever Caramel arrived, there were always some foals, along with their mothers, but they always seemed to leave just after he arrived, their voices hushed, the foals avoiding looking in his direction and trotting very close to parents, while the mothers shot him murderous glances.

Caramel looked into the bag and sat down underneath a solitary lamp in the middle of the park. He took out the one of the cocoa-coated champagne truffles and took a bite, his troubles melting away together with the chocolate on his tongue.

>>

“Are you sure it’s gone? You didn’t just put it in the cellar or something?” Rainbow Dash asked, her eyebrow raised.

Opposite her, a pink mare was nervously bouncing around the empty counters, on which greasy paper and a myriad of crumbs were left after a long work-day.

“I’m positive. I always keep it in my entrance hall, you, know. That way I always see it when I use the back door to my apartment. But when I went there today it was gone. But I know for sure it was there in the morning, because, I was just thinking about strawberry frosting and you know my flycycle is pink and…” Pinkie’s mouth was silenced with a cyan hoof.

“All right, can you remember when you last had one of your twitches?”

“Must have been in the morning. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle came in. Would you believe it, they want me to throw a birthday party for Scootaloo after New Year’s. So I was like: ‘I’ll organize the party and bake’ since I really, really love parties, you know…” The small light-blue hoof once again met Pinkie Pie’s lips.

Rainbow Dash’s brow furrowed. “You know, the kid’s birthday is in the summer. You were away, so we just threw a little something in the library…”

“So they didn’t want the Scootaloo cupcake?”

The pegasus hesitated. She really wanted to hear the rest about this Scootaloo cupcake, but on the other hand, if the crusaders did somehow manage to get their hooves on one of her friend’s contraptions.

“Okie, Dokie Lokie. We can go look for the together, and when we find them, we can celebrate in the bakery, just the two of us,” the pink baker shouted and threw her hooves up into the air with jubilation.

“No Pinkie Pie. We’ll need to split up. I’ll go to Applejack’s and you go to Rarity’s. If they’re not there, we’ll meet up at their clubhouse. GO!”

As the faint rainbow trail blazed out of the Sugarcube Corner into the night, the pink mare looked at it longingly for a split second, before her own blurry pink trail extended in the other direction.

>>

Apple Bloom was circling the strange machine, now parked in front of their clubhouse. Every so often she bowed down to observe minute details on the chassis or the two small platforms that now adorned the front and back of the bicycle.

“Are ya sure it’s all right, Sweetie Belle?” she asked, unsure.

“Yeah. I fixed an extra seat above the first set of pedals, so that two of us can use it at once”

“But ponies have four legs, Sweetie Belle…” Scootaloo objected. “This thing only has two pairs of pedals. For two ponies”

“I’m not stupid. We’ll just have to sit like that green unicorn and only use our hind legs…”

“Ah dunno…” The little earth pony started backing off slowly. “Seems kinda dangerous. It only has one sled. It’ll topple over before we even take off”

“Don’t worry Apple Bloom. I put little side sleds at the back, and if we go downhill, I’m sure we’ll have enough speed…”

“An where will Scootaloo be?” The yellow filly asked, the hesitation in her voice was slowly diminishing.

“I’ll sit at the front, since I know the most about flying!” The orange filly’s chest puffed up as she fluttered her small wings.

“All right, let’s do this. CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS GRAVITY DEFIERS!” the trio shouted as they put on their helmets and straddled the strange contraption. As the machine started moving down the device vibrated vigorously with every bump on the road, sending shivers down the fillies’ spine. Apple Bloom gulped. This wasn’t going to end well.

>>

Rainbow Dash could hear the three fillies’ voices in the distance. She accelerated over rows and rows of apple tress towards their clubhouse. She landed with a loud THUD. Her mane was frazzled and dripping with sweat. She looked around frantically. The clubhouse was empty. A thin groove in the muddy dirt road was the only clue of the direction they were heading in. Rainbow Dash whipped her mane back and speeded towards Ponyville Park.

>>

The blank-flanks lost control of their vehicle. Scootaloo was fluttering her underdeveloped wings wildly, but to no avail. Sweetie Belle’s face was screwed up in concentration, trying to conjure up magic that simply wasn’t there. Apple Bloom was pedaling backwards frantically, which only turned the propeller in the other direction, but did not manage to slow down the flycycle, which was now sliding down the muddy slope. Just before a sharp turn in the road, the ground had leveled somewhat and sloped up, forming a little ramp.

For a few brief seconds, the crusaders defied gravity. Flying over the hedgerow that separated the road from Ponyville Park, Scootaloo actually managed to launch herself into the air, propelling herself into a nearby pond, landing with a spectacular splash. Sweetie Belle chose to duck to the side, landing in a pile of hay that the park wardens did not clear up yet. She did a few more barrel rolls, but the worst of the impact was already absorbed by the time she hit the mud.

Apple Bloom, noticing the desertion of her friends, yanked her hind legs from the pedals, ready to jump off as well. Her left leg came free, but right leg was yanked back by the strap. Uh oh. The ground was now approaching fast. She saw a thin tan colt in the distance, running toward the site of the crash. The small yellow filly closed her eyes, clenched her jaw and prayed to Celestia.

>>

The aftermath of the flycycle ride was not a pretty sight. On the edge of the pond, a small pegasus was covered in mud and reeds and shivering wildly. A look of horror and regret was etched on her face. She looked around, and seeing not one of her companions, began to sob uncontrollably. A small white unicorn emerged from behind the pile of hay, her mane disheveled.

“Hold on Scootaloo” she shouted in desperation as she limped towards her friend, producing a small jolt of pain cursing through her body with every step.

Both fillies now looked around, seeking their third companion. They trotted frantically on the spot, not knowing where to turn. A shuffle of hooves behind the rose bushes alarmed the two largely uninjured crusaders. “She’s behind there! Come on, we need to help!” The pegasus pointed her hoof at the shrub. I hope she’s all right. She will be. She needs to be.

Whatever the two fillies might have expected, they didn’t expect to see a grown colt leaning over the shattered remains of the flycycle, from which two streaks of red hair protruded.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Scootaloo demanded as they galloped to save their friend.

The slight beige stallion slowly turned his head. “Well, I was just over there and I… I heard noise and… I thought I could help. I found her like this. I… I think she needs a doctor, but somepony better stay by her side. You know, to make sure she doesn’t…” He suppressed a large lump rising in his throat. “I have no idea how serious it is, but she doesn’t move…”

“Apple Bloom!” the orange filly shouted.

“APPLE BLOOOOOM!!!” The unicorn’s pale green eyes welled up with tears as she stood above her friend.

A barely audible whisper rose from the wreckage. “Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle? Ya’ll all right?”

The three ponies breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Are you all right, Apple Bloom, do you feel anything?” Caramel enquired, his voice still quivering.

“Ah’m fine, Ah guess, ‘xcept Ah can’t move with all this stuff on me. An’ who’re you any…” The pile of rubble moved slightly as the filly squirmed. “Ouch, mah leg!” Apple Bloom wailed and continued sobbing quietly. She tried sitting up, and clenched her jaws, her eyes closing as another sharp jolt of pain reverberated through her body.

Caramel and the two fillies started removing the wreckage, carefully, piece by piece. Soon, the yellow filly was free to sit up.

“You girls are in serious trouble,” a voice spoke behind them. The ponies turned to see a cyan pegasus, hovering menacingly above them.

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo squealed eagerly, only to back down.

“I’m here too!” a high pitched voice materialized, followed by a bouncing pink mare. “What you fillies did was very silly. I mean, the flycycle is a very dangerous machine if used in the wrong way.”

“Pinkie, take these two home,” Rainbow Dash ordered. “I’m sure their parents would want to know what they’ve been up to.”

“Okie dokie lokie. Come on girls…”

“But Pinkie, your bike, we’re sorry,” Sweetie Belle whispered.

“Don’t worry, my little ponies. I can fix it up in no time. Just promise next time you want to loan something from somepony, you need to ask first.” The pink mare was once again bouncing around.

The three fillies nodded frantically.

“All right, off you go,” she nodded at Pinkie Pie. “Caramel, you stay with Apple Bloom while I go fetch nurse Redheart and Applejack.”

The small farmer filly watched as Rainbow’s trail disappeared behind the horizon. She then turned to Caramel. “So yer Caramel? The pony who sneaks around the park tryin’to give candy tah little foals?”

Caramel facehoofed. Although it does seem that way. “Well, now that you say it, it sums it up pretty neatly.” She sat down next to her and smiled gently. “I bet you don’t know why I do it. You see, my boss does not believe in throwing food away. So every time we have some unsold chocolates, we try to distribute them. He figures if more ponies knew of our products, they might come in and buy more. But of course, it does come across as a little creepy.” He gave a small laugh.

“Do ya have some left?”

“Sure. Here you go.” He handed over a small box of caramel cubes.

“Thanks mister. An’ sorry for the trouble. Ya see, mah friends and Ah are jus’ tryin’ tah earn our cutie marks.” Her ears drooped in an apologetic gesture. She sat still for a while, sniffling quietly. A small cloud floated above their heads and stopped, as if contemplating its next move.

“Well, you did a pretty dangerous thing there. Everypony gets a cutie mark eventually. Even I did, so a group of young bright fillies such as yourselves shouldn’t have any problems.”

“How’d ya get yer cutie mark?”

“It’s a strange story, actually. You see, I have two siblings, an older brother and a younger sister and all three of us have the same cutie mark and we all got it at the same time. We are triplets, you see. When we were about your age or just a little bit older, we went on a nature camp with school. We lived in the city, so it was a big adventure for us. Anyway, during one of our outings we got a little sidetracked admiring some rare plants. We got left behind, and being the foals we were, all three of us forgot to bring a map, or a flashlight, or anything really. My sister lost our lunch along the way too, so our situation was pretty dire. After some panicking, we decided to stay put, hoping the camp leaders would find us. My sister made us a small tent, I gathered some berries so we had some food and my big brother just slept, but kept watching over us when the night fell. They found us in the morning, and we found we all had our cutie marks…”He pointed at his flank, adorned by three blue horseshoes.

“Wow,” Apple Bloom said, her eyes sparkling. “But I don’t get it. What do horseshoes hafta do with yer talent?”

“Well, you see, I think each of us sees our cutie mark differently. The way I see it, it reminds me that no matter how bad the situation seems, no matter what your talent, you need to be able to help and work with other ponies to resolve it.”

The small filly looked at Caramel, and then towards the horizon. Two figures galloped towards them.

“Apple Bloom!!!” one of the approaching ponies shouted in a familiar drawl.

“Applejack!” the small filly shouted and tried jumping up, but Caramel put his hooves on
her haunches and shook his head. Apple Bloom looked up to him, but remained seated.

The two mares arrived a few seconds later. Nurse Redheart was still catching her breath after the long gallop, while Applejacks strained face showed signs of relief of finding her little sister in a relatively good state.

“Apple Bloom,” the orange farm pony finally spoke. “We’ll talk ‘bout it later. Ah’m just glad yer alive and conscious.” And without any further thought, she hugged her little sister fiercely, crushing the small filly under weight of her emotions and tears.

She then turned to the beige colt. “Thank ya fer keepin ’an eye on ‘er.”

“It… it was nothing” Caramel stammered.

“Don’t say that. She means a lot to Mac and mahself. We raised her since she was a tiny foal. So... thank you.”

“Well, I… I guess I better get going…” he turned around to leave.

“Thanks Caramel. Ah'll see ya soon, Ah guess.” Applejack waved him goodbye.

He turned around to look at the scene one last time. Nurse Redheart was orbiting the little filly, examining the extent of her injuries, while Applejack was giving lecturing the little filly, Apple Bloom nodding her head every so often. The little cloud overhead had since gone. Carmel looked up at the setting sun. Against the dark blue sky, a light blue feather floated down and landed on his muzzle, tickling his nose. He gave a little sneeze, and left for home, but not before he deposited the feather in his bag.

>>

Rainbow Dash was propelling a small cloud forwards with a considerable speed. She felt a tiniest tingling in her belly. Time for dinner. Or so she thought.

Comments

[Henry]

“Come on you guys. Don’t chicken out on me." Scootaloo saying "chicken" *snicker*

[Delicious]

She sat down next to her and smiled gently. It should be He sat down next to her or She sat down next to him.

[RealityCheck]

I liked the theory that he has THREE horseshoes because he's always losing things....

[EminenceGris]

262475 I always saw Caramel as less than lucky, but that would be a crappy talent to have; losing things, so I made the missing horseshoe represent the fact that he needs to be a part of a group in order to accomplish anything, to stress the importance of teamwork and whatnot. It's a bit far-fetched, but if you're able to overlook that it works quite well.

[SFaccountant]

So Caramel makes a habit of going to the park and offering candy to children...
Isn't it strange how something basically generous and innocent has become widely associated with something as twisted as pedophilia?
Man, societal paranoia sucks.

On another note, the CMC totally deserve thief cutie marks after that heist. That execution was PERFECT. And they even got around the Pinkie sense! Nothing short of masterful!